[51] In the original, however, the word is piffre, (vulgo)
`greedy-guts.'


Nothing more forcibly shows the danger of consorting with such
bad characters than the calumny circulated respecting the
connection between Henry IV. and this infamous Italian:--it was
said that Henry was well aware of Pimentello's manoeuvres, and
that he encouraged them with the view of impoverishing his
courtiers, hoping thereby to render them more submissive! Nero
himself would have blushed at such a connivance. Doubtless the
calumny was as false as it was stupid.

The winnings of the courtier Bassompierre were enormous. He
won at the Duc d'Epernon's sufficient to pay his debts, to dress
magnificently, to purchase all sorts of extravagant finery, a
sword ornamented with diamonds--`and after all these expenses,'
he says, `I had still five or six thousand crowns (two to three
thousand pounds) left, _TO KILL TIME WITH_, pour tuer le temps.'

On another occasion, and at a more advanced age, he won one
hundred thousand crowns (L50,000) at a single sitting, from M.
De Guise, Joinville, and the Marechal d'Ancre.

In reading his Memoirs we are apt to get indignant at the
fellow's successes; but at last we are tempted to laugh at his
misery. He died so poor that he did not leave enough to pay the
twentieth part of his debts! Such, doubtless, is the end of most
gamblers.