styled Antichrist in it.  Clement VIII. wrote several times about it to Henry IV., complaining that a man of such high standing in the government and in the king’s regard should treat so insultingly a sovereign in alliance with the king, and head of the church to which the king belonged.  The pope’s complaint came opportunely.  Henry IV. was at this time desirous of obtaining from the court of Rome annulment of his marriage with Marguerite de Valois, that he might be enabled to contract another; he did not as yet say with whom.  Mornay’s book was vigorously attacked, not only in point of doctrine, but in point of fact; he was charged with having built his foundation upon a large number of misquotations; and the Bishop of Evreux, M. du Perron, a great friend of the king’s, whom he had always supported and served, said that he was prepared to point out as such nearly five hundred.  The dispute grew warm between the two theologians; Mornay demanded leave to prove the falsehood of the accusation; the bishop accepted the challenge.  For all his defence of his book and his erudition, Mornay did not show any great hurry to enter upon the contest; and, on the other hand, the bishop reduced the number of the quotations against which he objected.  The sum total of the quotations found fault with was fixed at sixty.  A conference was summoned to look into them, and six commissioners, three Catholic and three Protestant, were appointed to give judgment; De Thou and Pithou amongst the former, Dufresne la Canaye and Casaubon amongst the latter.  Erudition was worthily represented there, and there was every probability of justice.  The conference met on the 4th of May, 1600, at Fontainebleau, in presence of the king and many great lords, magistrates, ecclesiastics, and distinguished spectators.

[Illustration:  The Castle of Fontainbleau——­124]

Mornay began by owning that “out of four thousand quotations made by him it was unlikely that some would not be found wherein he might have erred, as he was human, but he was quite sure that it was never in bad faith.”  He then said that, being pressed for time, he had not yet been able to collate more than nineteen out of the sixty quotations specially attacked.  Of these nineteen nine only were examined at this first conference, and nearly all were found to be incorrect.  Next day, Mornay was taken “with a violent seizure and repeated attacks of vomiting, which M. de la Riviere, the king’s premier physician, came and deposed to.”  The conference was broken off, and not resumed afterwards.  The king congratulated himself beyond measure at the result, and even on the part which he had taken.  “Tell the truth,” said he to the Bishop of Evreux, “the good right had good need of aid;” and he wrote, on the 6th of May to the Duke of Epernon, “The diocese of Evreux has beaten that of Saumur.  The bearer was present, and will tell you that I did wonders.  Assuredly it is one of the greatest hits for the church of God that