But to return to Henry IV., the great gambling exemplar of the
nation. The account given of him at the gaming table is most
afflicting, when we remember his royal greatness, his sublime
qualities. His only object was to _WIN_, and those who played
with him were thus always placed in a dreadful dilemma--either to
lose their money or offend the king by beating him! The Duke of
Savoy once played with him, and in order to suit his humour,
dissimulated his game--thus sacrificing or giving up forty
thousand pistoles (about L28,000).

When the king lost he was most exacting for his `revanche,' or
revenge, as it is termed at play. After winning considerably
from the king, on one occasion, Bassompierre, under the
pretext of his official engagements, furtively decamped: the king
immediately sent after him; he was stopped, brought back, and
allowed to depart only after giving the `revanche' to his
Majesty. This `good Henri,' who was incapable of the least
dissimulation either in good or in evil, often betrayed a degree
of cupidity which made his minister, Sully, ashamed of him;--in
order to pay his gaming debts, the king one day deducted seventy-
two thousand livres from the proceeds of a confiscation on which
he had no claim whatever.

On another occasion he was wonderfully struck with some gold-
pieces which Bassompierre brought to Fontainebleau, called
_Portugalloises_. He could not rest without having them. Play
was necessary to win them, but the king was also anxious to be in
time for a hunt. In order to conciliate the two passions, he
ordered a gaming party at the Palace, left a representative of
his game during his absence, and returned sooner than usual, to