An Article that is not so Dry as it Looks
Originally published in Pearson's Weekly (C. Arthur Pearson Ltd.) vol.1 #8 (13 Sep 1890).
Certain numbers have been regarded with superstition, and certain events connected with numbers are of curious interest. The number fourteen has often been said to have singularly influenced the life of Henry IV. and other French princes. On May 14, 1029, the first King of France named Henry was consecrated, and on May 14, 1610, the last Henry was assassinated. Fourteen letters compose the name of Henri de Bourbon, who was the fourteenth king bearing the titles of France and Navarre. On December 14, 1553, that is fourteen centuries, fourteen decades, and fourteen years after the birth of Christ, Henry IV. was born, and the ciphers of the date added together give the number 14. May 14, 1554, Henry II. ordered the enlargement of the Rue de la Ferronnerie. The circumstance of this order not being carried out occasioned (as will be seen) the murder of Henry IV. four times fourteen years afterwards.
May 14, 1552, was the date of the birth of Marguerite de Valois, first wife of Henry IV. On May 14, 1588, the Parisians revolted against Henry III., at the instigation of the Duke of Guise. On March 14, 1590, Henry IV. gained the battle of Ivry. On May 14, 1590, Henry was repulsed from the Faubourgs of Paris. On November 14, the same year, the sixteen took oath to die rather than serve Henry. On November 14, 1592, the Parliament registered the Papal Bull, giving power to the Legate to nominate a king to the exclusion of Henry. On December 14, 1599, the Duke of Savoy was reconciled to Henry IV. On September 14, 1606, the Dauphin, afterwards Louis XIII., was baptised. On May 14, 1610, the King was stopped in the Rue de la Ferronnerie by his carriage becoming blocked with a cart on account of the narrowness of the street. Ravaillac took advantage of the occasion to stab him.
On May 14, 1648, died Louis XIII., son of Henry IV., on the same day of the same month as his father. When the ciphers of 1643 are added the result is fourteen, the same as in the case of the date of the birth of his father. Louis XIV. mounted the throne in 1648, add these figures and you get fourteen. He died in 1715; add again, and you get fourteen. He lived seventy-seven years; add once more, and the result is fourteen. Louis XV. mounted the throne the same year; he died in 1774, the extremes of which are fourteen and the sum of the means is fourteen. Louis XVI. had reigned fourteen years when he convened the States general, which was to bring about the Revolution. The number of years between the assassination of Henry IV. and the dethronement of Louis XVI. is divisible by fourteen. Louis XVII. died in 1794; the extreme digits of the date are fourteen, and the first two give his number. The Bourbons were restored in 1814, also marked by the extremes being fourteen and by the sum of the ciphers being fourteen.
Louis TX. was born in 1215; add the ciphers and you have 9. Charles VII. was born in 1402; the sum of the ciphers is seven. Louis XII. was born in 1461, and 1+4+6+1=12. Louis XVIII. was born in 1755; add the digits and you have eighteen.
December 2 is a remarkable day in Bonapartist annals. On December 2, 1804, Napoleon I. was crowned. The same day in the next year he won his chief victory of Austerlitz. On December 2, 1851, Napoleon III. made himself master of France, and on December 2, 1852, he was proclaimed Emperor.
There is a tradition that the number three is stamped on the Royal line of England, and that there shall not be more than three princes in succession without a revolution; William I. and II. and Henry I.; then the revolution of Stephen. Henry II., Richard I., John;
then invasion of France. Henry III., Edward I, Edward II.; the last was dethroned and put to death. Edward III. and Richard II., dethroned. Henry IV., V., and VI.; and then the Crown passed to the house of York. Edward IV. and V. and Richard III.; the Crown won by Henry Tudor. Henry VII. and VIII. and Edward VI.; Lady Jane Grey's usurpation. Mary, Elizabeth; the Crown passed the house of Stuart. James I., Charles I.; revolution. Charles II., James II.; invasion of William of Orange. Here the law ends.
The number eighty-eight seems to have been fatal to the House of Stuart, and the date September 8 had influence on the fortunes of Oliver Cromwell. Robert II., the first Stuart king, died in 1888; James II. was killed at the siege of Roxburg, in 1488; Mary Stuart was beheaded in 1588; James II. dethroned in 1688; Charles Edward died in 1788, and with his death the hopes of the Jacobites. Oliver Cromwell was born September 8, 1599, won the battle of Dunbar, September 8, 1650, and that of Worcester, September 3, 1651. He died September 8, 1658.