MEMOIRS OF JEAN FRANCOIS PAUL de GONDI, CARDINAL DE RETZ

Written by Himself

Being Historic Court Memoirs of the Great Eventsduring the Minority of Louis XIV. And the Administration of Cardinal Mazarin. 

BOOK III. 

MADAME:--Cardinal Mazarin thought of nothing else now but how to ridhimself of the obligations he lay under to the Prince de Conde, who hadactually saved him from the gallows. And his principal view was analliance with the House of Vendome, who had on some occasions opposed theinterest of the family of Conde. 

In Paris the people libelled not only the Cardinal, but the Queen. Indeedit was not our interest to discourage libels and ballads against theCardinal, but it concerned us to suppress such as were levelled againstthe Queen and Government. It is not to be imagined what uneasiness thewrath of the people gave us upon that head. Two criminals, one of whomwas a printer, being condemned to be hanged for publishing some thingsfit to be burnt and for libelling the Queen, cried out, when they wereupon the scaffold, that they were to be put to death for publishingverses against Mazarin, upon which the people rescued them from justice. 

On the other hand, some gay young gentlemen of the Court, who were inMazarin's interest, had a mind to make his name familiar to theParisians, and for that end made a famous display in the public walks ofthe Tuileries, where they had grand suppers, with music, and drank theCardinal's health publicly. We took little notice of this, till theyboasted at Saint Germain that the Frondeurs were glad to give them thewall. And then we thought it high time to correct them, lest the commonpeople should think they did it by authority. For this end M. DeBeaufort and a hundred other gentlemen went one night to the house wherethey supped, overturned the table, and broke the musicians' violins overtheir heads. 

Being informed that the Prince de Conde intended to oblige the King toreturn to Paris, I was resolved to have all the merit of an action whichwould be so acceptable to the citizens. I therefore resolved to go tothe Court at Compiegne, which my friends very much opposed, for fear ofthe danger to which I might be exposed, but I told them that what isabsolutely necessary is not dangerous. 

I went accordingly, and as I was going up-stairs to the Queen'sapartments, a man, whom I never saw before or since, put a note into myhand with these words: "If you enter the King's domicile, you are a deadman. " But I was in already, and it was too late to go back. Being pastthe guard-chamber, I thought myself secure. I told the Queen that I wascome to assure her Majesty of my most humble obedience, and of thedisposition of the Church of Paris to perform all the services it owed totheir Majesties. The Queen seemed highly pleased, and was very kind tome; but when we mentioned the Cardinal, though she urged me to it, Iexcused myself from going to see him, assuring her Majesty that such avisit would put it out of my power to do her service. It was impossiblefor her to contain herself any longer; she blushed, and it was with muchrestraint that she forbore using harsh language, as she herself confessedafterwards. 

Servien said one day that there was a design to assassinate me at histable by the Abbe Fouquet; and M. De Vendome, who had just come from histable, pressed me to be gone, saying that there were wicked designshatching against me. 

I returned to Paris, having accomplished everything I wanted, for I hadremoved the suspicion of the Court that the Frondeurs were against theKing's return. I threw upon the Cardinal all the odium attending hisMajesty's delay. I braved Mazarin, as it were, upon his throne, andsecured to myself the chief honour of the King's return. 

The Court was received at Paris as kings always were and ever will be, namely, with acclamations, which only please such as like to beflattered. A group of old women were posted at the entrance of thesuburbs to cry out, "God save his Eminence!" who sat in the King's coachand thought himself Lord of Paris; but at the end of three or four dayshe found himself much mistaken. Ballads and libels still flew about. TheFrondeurs appeared bolder than ever. M. De Beaufort and I rode sometimesalone, with one lackey only behind our coach, and at other times we wentwith a retinue of fifty men in livery and a hundred gentlemen. Wediversified the scene as we thought it would be most acceptable to thespectators. The Court party, who blamed us from morning to night, nevertheless imitated us in their way. Everybody took an advantage ofthe Ministry from our continual pelting of his Eminence. The Prince, whoalways made too much or too little of the Cardinal, continued to treathim with contempt; and, being disgusted at being refused the post ofSuperintendent of the Seas, the Cardinal endeavoured to soothe him withthe vain hopes of other advantages. 

The Prince, being one day at Court, and seeing the Cardinal give himselfextraordinary airs, said, as he was going out of the Queen's cabinet, "Adieu, Mars. " This was told all over the city in a quarter of an hour. I and Noirmoutier went by appointment to his house at four o'clock in themorning, when he seemed to be greatly troubled. He said that he couldnot determine to begin a civil war, which, though the only means toseparate the Queen from the Cardinal, to whom she was so stronglyattached, yet it was both against his conscience and honour. He addedthat he should never forget his obligations to us, and that if he shouldcome to any terms with the Court, he would, if we thought proper, settleour affairs also, and that if we had not a mind to be reconciled to theCourt, he would, in case it did attack us, publicly undertake ourprotection. We answered that we had no other design in our proposalsthan the honour of being his humble servants, and that we should be verysorry if he had retarded his reconciliation with the Queen upon ouraccount, praying that we might be permitted to continue in the samedisposition towards the Cardinal as we were then, which we declaredshould not hinder us from paying all the respect and duty which weprofessed for his Highness. 

I must not forget to acquaint you that Madame de Guemenee, who ran awayfrom Paris in a fright the moment it was besieged, no sooner heard that Ihad paid a visit to Mademoiselle de Chevreuse than she returned to townin a rage. I was in such a passion with her for having cowardly desertedme that I took her by the throat, and she was so enraged at myfamiliarity with Mademoiselle de Chevreuse that she threw a candlestickat my head, but in a quarter of an hour we were very good friends. 

The Prince de Conde was no sooner reconciled with the Court than he waspublicly reproached in the city for breaking his word with the Frondeurs;but I convinced him that he could not think such treatment strange in acity so justly exasperated against Mazarin, and that, nevertheless, hemight depend on my best services, for which he assured me of his constantfriendship. 

Moissans, now Marechal d'Albret, who was at the head of the King'sgendarmes, accustomed himself and others to threaten the chief minister, who augmented the public odium against himself by reestablishing Emeri, aman detested by all the kingdom. We were not a little alarmed at hisreestablishment, because this man, who knew Paris better than theCardinal, distributed money among the people to a very good purpose. Thisis a singular science, which is either very beneficial or hurtful in itsconsequences, according to the wisdom or folly of the distributor. 

These donations, laid out with discretion and secrecy, obliged us toyield ourselves more and more unto the bulk of the people, and, finding afit opportunity for this performance, we took care not to let it slip, which, if they had been ruled by me, we should not have done so soon, forwe were not yet forced to make use of such expedients. It is not safe ina faction where you are only upon the defensive to do what you are notpressed to do, but the uneasiness of the subalterns on such occasions istroublesome, because they believe that as soon as you seem to be inactiveall is lost. I preached every day that the way was yet rough, andtherefore must be made plain, and that patience in the present case wasproductive of greater effects than activity; but nobody comprehended thetruth of what I said. 

An unlucky expression, dropped on this occasion by the Princesse deGuemenee, had an incredible influence upon the people. She called tomind a ballad formerly made upon the regiment of Brulon, which was saidto consist of only two dragoons and four drummers, and, inasmuch as shehated the Fronde, she told me very pleasantly that our party, beingreduced to fourteen, might be justly compared to that regiment of Brulon. Noirmoutier and Laigues were offended at this expression to that degreethat they continually murmured because I neither settled affairs norpushed them to the last extremity. Upon which I observed that heads offactions are no longer their masters when they are unable either toprevent or allay the murmurs of the people. 

The revenues of the Hotel de Ville, which are, as it were, the patrimonyof the bourgeois, and which, if well managed, might be of special serviceto the King in securing to his interest an infinite number of thosepeople who are always the most formidable in revolutions--this sacredfund, I say, suffered much by the licentiousness of the times, theignorance of Mazarin, and the prevarication of the officers of the Hotelde Ville, who were his dependents, so that the poor annuitants met ingreat numbers at the Hotel de Ville; but as such assemblies without thePrince's authority are reckoned illegal, the Parliament passed a decreeto suppress them. They were privately countenanced by M. De Beaufort andme, to whom they sent a solemn deputation, and they made choice of twelvesyndics to be a check upon the 'prevot des marchands'. 

On the 11th of December a pistol, as had been concerted beforehand, wasfired into the coach of Joly, one of the syndics, which PresidentCharton, another of the syndics, thinking was aimed at himself, theMarquis de la Boulaie ran as if possessed with a devil, while theParliament was sitting, into the middle of the Great Hall, with fifteenor twenty worthless fellows crying out "To Arms!" He did the like in thestreets, but in vain, and came to Broussel and me; but the formerreprimanded him after his way, and I threatened to throw him out at thewindow, for I had reason to believe that he acted in concert with theCardinal, though he pretended to be a Frondeur. 

This artifice of Servien united the Prince to the Cardinal, because hefound himself obliged to defend himself against the Frondeurs, who, as hebelieved, sought to assassinate him. All those that were his owncreatures thought they were not zealous enough for his service if theydid not exaggerate the imminent danger he had escaped, and the Courtparasites confounded the morning adventure with that at night; and uponthis coarse canvas they daubed all that the basest flattery, blackestimposture, and the most ridiculous credulity was capable of imagining;and we were informed the next morning that it was the common rumour overall the city that we had formed a design of seizing the King's person andcarrying him to the Hotel de Ville, and to assassinate the Prince. 

M. De Beaufort and I agreed to go out and show ourselves to the people, whom we found in such a consternation that I believed the Court mightthen have attacked us with success. Madame de Montbazon advised us totake post-horses and ride off, saying that there was nothing more easythan to destroy us, because we had put ourselves into the hands of oursworn enemies. I said that we had better hazard our lives than ourhonour. To which she replied, "It is not that, but your nymphs, Ibelieve, which keep you here" (meaning Mesdames de Chevreuse andGuemenee). "I expect, " she said, "to be befriended for my own sake, anddon't I deserve it? I cannot conceive how you can be amused by a wickedold hag and a girl, if possible, still more foolish. We are continuallydisputing about that silly wretch" (pointing to M. De Beaufort, who wasplaying chess); "let us take him with us and go to Peronne. "

You are not to wonder that she talked thus contemptibly of M. DeBeaufort, whom she always taxed with impotency, for it is certain thathis love was purely Platonic, as he never asked any favour of her, andseemed very uneasy with her for eating flesh on Fridays. She was sosweet upon me, and withal such a charming beauty, that, being naturallyindisposed to let such opportunities slip, I was melted into tendernessfor her, notwithstanding my suspicions of her, considering the thensituation of affairs, and would have had her go with me into the cabinet, but she was determined first to go to Peronne, which put an end to ouramours. 

Beaufort waited on the Prince and was well received, but I could not gainadmittance. 

On the 14th the Prince de Conde went to Parliament and demanded that acommittee might be appointed to inquire into the attempt made on hislife. 

The Frondeurs were not asleep in the meantime, yet most of our friendswere dispirited, and all very weak. 

The cures of Paris were my most hearty friends; they laboured withincredible zeal among the people. And the cure of Saint Gervais sent methis message: "Do but rally again and get off the assassination, and in aweek you will be stronger than your enemies. "

I was informed that the Queen had written to my uncle, the Archbishop ofParis, to be sure to go to the Parliament on the 23d, the day thatBeaufort, Broussel, and I were to be impeached, because I had no right tosit in the House if he were present. I begged of him not to go, but myuncle being a man of little sense, and that much out of order, and being, moreover, fearful and ridiculously jealous of me, had promised the Queento go; and all that we could get out of him was that he would defend mein Parliament better than I could defend myself. It is to be observedthat though he chattered to us like a magpie in private, yet in public hewas as mute as a fish. A surgeon who was in the Archbishop's service, going to visit him, commended him for his courage in resisting theimportunities of his nephew, who, said he, had a mind to bury him alive, and encouraged him to rise with all haste and go to the Parliament House;but he was no sooner out of his bed than the surgeon asked him in afright how he felt. "Very well, " said my Lord. "But that isimpossible, " said the surgeon; "you look like death, " and feeling hispulse, he told him he was in a high fever; upon which my Lord Archbishopwent to bed again, and all the kings and queens in Christendom could notget him out for a fortnight. 

We went to the Parliament, and found there the Princes with nearly athousand gentlemen and, I may say, the whole Court. I had few salutes inthe Hall, because it was generally thought I was an undone man. When Ihad entered the Great Chamber I heard a hum like that at the end of apleasing period in a sermon. When I had taken my place I said that, hearing we were taxed with a seditious conspiracy, we were come to offerour heads to the Parliament if guilty, and if innocent, to demand justiceupon our accusers; and that though I knew not what right the Court had tocall me to account, yet I would renounce all privileges to make myinnocence apparent to a body for whom I always had the greatestattachment and veneration. 

Then the informations were read against what they called "the publicconspiracy from which it had pleased Almighty God to deliver the Stateand the royal family, " after which I made a speech, in substance asfollows:

"I do not believe, gentlemen, that in any of the past ages persons of ourquality had ever received any personal summons grounded merely uponhearsay. Neither can I think that posterity will ever believe that thishearsay evidence was admitted from the mouths of the most infamousmiscreants that ever got out of a gaol. Canto was condemned to thegallows at Pau, Pichon to the wheel at Mans, Sociande is a rogue uponrecord. Pray, gentlemen, judge of their evidence by their character andprofession. But this is not all. They have the distinguishing characterof being informers by authority. I am sorely grieved that the defence ofour honour, which is enjoined us by the laws of God and man, shouldoblige me to expose to light, under the most innocent of Kings, suchabominations as were detested in the most corrupt ages of antiquity andunder the worst of tyrants. But I must tell you that Canto, Sociande, and Gorgibus are authorised to inform against us by a commission signedby that august name which should never be employed but for thepreservation of the most sacred laws, and which Cardinal Mazarin, whoknows no law but that of revenge, which he meditates against thedefenders of the public liberty, has forced M. Tellier, Secretary ofState, to countersign. 

"We demand justice, gentlemen, but we do not demand it of you till wehave first most humbly implored this House to execute the strictestjustice that the laws have provided against rebels, if it appears that wehave been concerned directly or indirectly in raising this lastdisturbance. Is it possible, gentlemen, that a grandchild of Henri theGreat, that a senator of M. Broussel's age and probity, and that theCoadjutor of Paris should be so much as suspected of being concerned in asedition raised by a hot-brained fool, at the head of fifteen of thevilest of the mob? I am fully persuaded it would be scandalous for me toinsist longer on this subject. This is all I know, gentlemen, of themodern conspiracy. "

The applause that came from the Court of Inquiry was deafening; manyvoices were heard exclaiming against spies and informers. Honest Doujat, who was one of the persons appointed by the Attorney-General Talon, hiskinsman, to make the report, and who had acquainted me with the facts, acknowledged it publicly by pretending to make the thing appear lessodious. He got up, therefore, as if he were in a passion, and spoke veryartfully to this purpose:

"These witnesses, monsieur, are not to accuse you, as you are pleased tosay, but only to discover what passed in the meeting of the annuitants atthe Hotel de Ville. If the King did not promise impunity to such as willgive him information necessary for his service, and which sometimescannot be come at without involving evidence in a crime, how should theKing be informed at all? There is a great deal of difference betweenpatents of this nature and commissions granted on purpose to accuse you. "

You might have seen fire in 'the face of every member. The FirstPresident called out "Order!" and said, "MM. De Beaufort, le Coadjuteur, and Broussel, you are accused, and you must withdraw. "

As Beaufort and I were leaving our seats, Broussel stopped us, saying, "Neither you, gentlemen, nor I are bound to depart till we are ordered todo so by the Court. The First President, whom all the world knows to beour adversary, should go out if we must. "

I added, "And M. Le Prince, " who thereupon said, with a scornful air:

"What, I? Must I retire?"

"Yes, yes, monsieur, " said I, "justice is no respecter of persons. "

The President de Mesmes said, "No, monseigneur, you must not go outunless the Court orders you. If the Coadjutor insists that your Highnessretire, he must demand it by a petition. As for himself, he is accused, and therefore must go out; but, seeing he raises difficulties andobjections to the contrary, we must put it to the vote. " And it waspassed that we should withdraw. 

Meanwhile, most of the members passed encomiums upon us, satires upon theMinistry, and anathemas upon the witnesses for the Crown. Nor were thecures and the parishioners wanting in their duty on this occasion. Thepeople came in shoals from all parts of Paris to the Parliament House. Nevertheless, no disrespect was shown either to the King's brother or toM. Le Prince; only some in their presence cried out, "God bless M. DeBeaufort! God bless the Coadjutor!"

M. De Beaufort told the First President next day that, the State androyal family being in danger, every moment was precious, and that theoffenders ought to receive condign punishment, and that therefore theChambers ought to be assembled without loss of time. Broussel attackedthe First President with a great deal of warmth. Eight or tencouncillors entered immediately into the Great Chamber to testify theirastonishment at the indolence and indifference of the House after such afurious conspiracy, and that so little zeal was shown to prosecute thecriminals. MM. De Bignon and Talon, counsel for the Crown, alarmed thepeople by declaring that as for themselves they had no hand in theconclusions, which were ridiculous. The First President returned verycalm answers, knowing well that we should have been glad to have put himinto a passion in order to catch at some expression that might bear anexception in law. 

On Christmas Day I preached such a sermon on Christian charity, withoutmentioning the present affairs, that the women even wept for the unjustpersecution of an archbishop who had so great a tenderness for his veryenemies. 

On the 29th M. De Beaufort and I went to the Parliament House, accompanied by a body of three hundred gentlemen, to make it appear thatwe were more than tribunes of the people, and to screen ourselves fromthe insults of the Court party. We posted ourselves in the FourthChamber of the Inquests, among the courtiers, with whom we conversed veryfrankly, yet upon the least noise, when the debates ran high in the GreatChamber, we were ready to cut one another's throats eight or ten timesevery morning. We were all distrustful of one another, and I may ventureto say there were not twenty persons in the House but were armed withdaggers. As for myself, I had resolved to take none of those weaponsinconsistent with my character, till one day, when it was expected theHouse would be more excited than usual, and then M. De Beaufort, seeingone end of the weapon peeping out of my pocket, exposed it to M. LePrince's captain of the guards and others, saying, "See, gentlemen, theCoadjutor's prayer-book. " I understood the jest, but really I could notwell digest it. We petitioned the Parliament that the First President, being our sworn enemy, might be expelled the House, but it was put to thevote and carried by a majority of thirty-six that he should retain hisstation of judge. 

Paris narrowly escaped a commotion at the time of the imprisonment ofBelot, one of the syndics of the Hotel de Ville annuitants, who, beingarrested without a decree, President de la Grange made it appear thatthere was nothing more contrary to the declaration for which they hadformerly so exerted themselves. The First President maintaining thelegality of his imprisonment, Daurat, a councillor of the Third Chamber, told him that he was amazed that a gentleman who was so lately near beingexpelled could be so resolute in violating the laws so flagrantly. Whereupon the First President rose in a passion, saying that there wasneither order nor discipline in the House, and that he would resign hisplace to another for whom they had more respect. This motion put theGreat Chamber all in a ferment, which was felt in the Fourth, where thegentlemen of both parties hastened to support their respective sides, andif the most insignificant lackey had then but drawn a sword, Paris wouldhave been all in an uproar. 

We solicited very earnestly for our trial, which they delayed as much asit was in their power, because they could not choose but acquit us andcondemn the Crown witnesses. Various were the pretences for putting itoff, and though the informations were not of sufficient weight to hang adog, yet they were read over and over at every turn to prolong the time. 

The public began to be persuaded of our innocence, as also the Prince deConde, and M. De Bouillon told me that he very much suspected it to be atrick of the Cardinal's. 

On the 1st of January, 1650, Madame de Chevreuse, having a mind to visitthe Queen, with whom she had carried on in all her disgrace anunaccountable correspondence, went to the King's Palace. The Cardinal, taking her aside in the Queen's little cabinet, said to her:

"You love the Queen. Is it not possible for you to make your friendslove her?"

"How can that be?" said she; "the Queen is no more a Queen, but a humbleservant to M. Le Prince. "

"Good God!" replied the Cardinal; "we might do great things if we couldget some men into our interest. But M. De Beaufort is at the service ofMadame de Montbazon, and she is devoted to Vigneul and the Coadjutor;"at the mention of which he smiled. "I take you, monsieur, " said Madamede Chevreuse; "I will answer for him and for her. "

Thus the conversation began, and the Cardinal making a sign to the Queen, Madame de Chevreuse had a long conference that night with her Majesty, who gave her this billet for me, written and signed with her own hand:

Notwithstanding what has passed and what is now doing, I cannot butpersuade myself that M. Le Coadjuteur is in my interest. I desire to seehim, and that nobody may know it but Madame and Mademoiselle deChevreuse. This name shall be your security. ANNE. 

Being convinced that the Queen was downright angry with the Prince deConde on account of a rumour spread abroad that he had some intriguinggallantries with her Majesty, I weighed all circumstances and returnedthe answer to the Queen:

Never was there one moment of my life wherein I was not devoted to yourMajesty. I am so far from consulting my own safety that I would gladlydie for your service . . . I will go to any place your Majesty shallorder me. 

My answer, with the Queen's letter enclosed, was carried back by Madamede Chevreuse and well received. I went immediately to Court, and wastaken up the back staircase by the Queen's train-bearer to the petitoratoire, where her Majesty was shut up all alone. She showed me as muchkindness as she could, considering her hatred against M. Le Prince andher friendship for the Cardinal, though the latter seemed the more toprevail, because in speaking of the civil wars and of the Cardinal'sfriendship for me she called him "the poor Cardinal" twenty times over. Half an hour after, the Cardinal came in, who begged the Queen todispense with the respect he owed her Majesty while he embraced me in herpresence. He was pleased to say he was very sorry that he could not giveme that very moment his own cardinal's cap. He talked so much offavours, gratifications, and rewards that I was obliged to explainmyself, knowing that nothing is more destructive of new reconciliationsthan a seeming unwillingness to be obliged to those to whom you arereconciled. I answered that the greatest recompense I could expect, though I had saved the Crown, was to have the honour of serving herMajesty, and I humbly prayed the Queen to give me no other recompense, that at least I might have the satisfaction to make her Majesty sensiblethat this was the only reward I valued. 

The Cardinal desired the Queen to command me to accept of the nominationto the cardinalate, "which, " said he, "La Riviere has snatched withinsolence and acknowledged with treachery. " I excused myself by sayingthat I had taken a resolution never to accept of the cardinalship by anymeans which seemed to have relation to the civil wars, to the end that Imight convince the Queen that it was the most rigid necessity which hadseparated me from her service. I rejected upon the same account all theother advantageous propositions he made me, and, he still insisting thatthe Queen could do no less than confer upon me something that was veryconsiderable for the signal service I was likely to do her Majesty, Ianswered:

"There is one point wherein the Queen can do me more good than if shegave me a triple crown. Her Majesty told me just now that she will causeM. Le Prince to be apprehended. A person of his high rank and meritneither can nor ought to be always shut up in prison, for when he comesabroad he will be full of resentment against me, though I hope my dignitywill be my protection. There are a great many gentlemen engaged with mewho, in such a juncture, would be ready to serve the Queen. And if itseemed good to your Majesty to entrust one of them with some importantemployment, I should be more pleased than with ten cardinals' hats. "

The Cardinal told the Queen that nothing was more just, and the affairshould be considered between him and me. 

We had several conferences, at which we agreed on gratifications for someof our friends and to arrest the Prince de Conde, the Prince de Conti, and the Duc de Longueville. 

The Cardinal took occasion to speak of the treachery of La Riviere. "Thisman, " said he, "takes me to be the most stupid creature living, andthinks he shall be to-morrow a cardinal. I diverted myself to-day withletting him try on some scarlet cloth I lately received from Italy, and Iput it near his face to know whether a scarlet colour or carnation becamehim best. "

I heard from Rome that his Eminence was not behindhand with La Riviereupon the score of treachery. For on the very day he got him nominated bythe King, he wrote a letter to Cardinal Sachelli more fit to recommendhim to a yellow cap than to a red one. This letter, nevertheless, wasfull of tenderness for La Riviere, which Mazarin knew was the only way toruin him with Pope Innocent, who hated Mazarin and all his adherents. 

Madame de Chevreuse undertook to see how the Duc d'Orleans would relishthe design of imprisoning the Princes. She told him that, though theQueen was not satisfied with M. Le Prince, yet she could not form aresolution of apprehending him without the concurrence of his RoyalHighness. She magnified the advantages of bringing over to the King'sservice the powerful faction of the Fronde, and the daily dangers Pariswas exposed to, both by fire and sword. This last reason touched him asmuch or more than all, for he trembled every time he came to theParliament; M. Le Prince very often could not prevail upon him to go atall, and a fit of colic was generally assigned as the reason of hisabsence. At length he consented, and on the 18th of January the threePrinces were put under arrest by three officers of the Queen's Guards. 

The people having a notion that M. De Beaufort was apprehended, ran totheir arms, which I caused to be laid down immediately, by marchingthrough the streets with flambeaux before me. M. De Beaufort did thelike, and the night concluded with bonfires. 

The Queen sent a letter from the King to the Parliament with the reasons, which were neither strong nor well set out, why the Prince de Conde wasconfined. However, we obtained a decree for our absolution. 

The Princesses were ordered to retire to Chantilly. Madame deLongueville went towards Normandy, but found no sanctuary there, for theParliament of Rouen sent her a message to desire her to depart from thecity. The Duc de Richelieu would not receive her into Havre, and fromthere she retired to Dieppe. 

M. De Bouillon, who after the peace was strongly attached to the Princede Conde, went in great haste to Turenne; M. De Turenne got into Stenai;M. De La Rochefoucault, then Prince de Marsillac, returned home toPoitou; and Marechal de Breze, father-in-law to the Prince de Conde, wentto Saumur. 

There was a declaration published and registered in Parliament againstthem, whereby they were ordered to wait on the King within fifteen days, upon pain of being proceeded against as disturbers of the public peaceand guilty of high treason. 

The Court carried all before them. Madame de Longueville, upon the Kinggoing into Normandy, escaped by sea into Holland, whence she wentafterwards to Arras, to try La Tour, one of her husband's pensioners, whooffered her his person, but refused her the place. She repaired at lastto Stenai, whither M. De Turenne went to meet her, with all the friendsand servants of the confined Princes that he could muster. The King wentfrom Normandy to Burgundy, and returned to Paris crowned with laurels ofvictory. 

The Princess-dowager, who had been ordered to retire to Bourges, camewith a petition to Parliament, praying for their protection to stay inParis, and that she might have justice done her for the illegalconfinement of the Princes her children. She fell at the feet of the Ducd'Orleans, begged the protection of the Duc de Beaufort, and said to methat she had the honour to be my kinswoman. M. De Beaufort was very muchperplexed what to do, and I was nearly ready to die for shame; but wecould do nothing for her, and she was obliged to go to Valery. 

Several private annuitants, who had made a noise in the assemblies at theHotel de Ville, were afraid of being called to account, and therefore, after M. Le Prince was arrested, they desired me to procure a generalamnesty. I spoke about it to the Cardinal, who seemed very pliable, and, showing me his hatband, which was 'a la mode de la Fronde', said he hopedhimself to be comprised in that amnesty; but he shuffled it off so longthat it was not published and registered in Parliament till the 12th ofMay, and it would not have been obtained then had not I threatenedvigorously to prosecute the Crown witnesses, of which they were mightilyapprehensive, being so conscious of the heinousness of their crime thattwo of them had already made their escape. 

The present calm hardly deserved that name, for the storm of war began torise again in several places at once. 

Madame de Longueville and M. De Turenne made a treaty with the Spaniards, and the latter joined their army, which entered Picardy and besiegedGuise, after having taken Catelet; but for want of provisions theArchduke was obliged to raise the siege. M. De Turenne levied troopswith Spanish money, and was joined by the greater part of the officerscommanding the soldiers that went under the name of the Prince's troops. 

The wretched conduct of M. D'Epernon had so confounded the affairs ofGuienne that nothing but his removal could retrieve them. 

One of the greatest mischiefs which the despotic authority of ministershas occasioned in the world in these later times is a practice, occasioned by their own private mistaken interests, of always supportingsuperiors against their inferiors. It is a maxim borrowed fromMachiavelli, whom few understand, and whom too many cry up for an ableman because he was always wicked. He was very far from being a completestatesman, and was frequently out in his politics, but I think never moregrossly mistaken than in this maxim, which I observed as a great weaknessin Mazarin, who was therefore the less qualified to settle the affairs ofGuienne, which were in so much confusion that I believe if the good senseof Jeannin and Villeroi had been infused into the brains of Cardinal deRichelieu, it would not have been sufficient to set them right. 

Senneterre, perceiving that Cardinal Mazarin and I were not cordialfriends, undertook to reconcile us, and for that end took me to theCardinal, who embraced me very tenderly, said he laid his heart upon thetable, that was one of his usual phrases, --and protested he would talk asfreely to me as if I were his own son. I did not believe a word of whathe said, but I assured his Eminence that I would speak to him as if hewere my father, and I was as good as my word. I told him I had nopersonal interest in view but to disengage myself from the publicdisturbances without any private advantage, and that for the same reasonI thought myself obliged to come off with reputation and honour. Idesired him to consider that my age and want of skill in public affairscould not give him any jealousy that I aimed to be the First Minister. Iconjured him to consider also that the influence I had over the people ofParis, supported by mere necessity, did rather reflect disgrace thanhonour upon my dignity, and that he ought to believe that this one reasonwas enough to make me impatient to be rid of all these public broils, besides a thousand other inconveniences arising every moment, whichdisgusted me with faction. And as for the dignity of cardinal, whichmight peradventure give him some umbrage, I could tell him very sincerelywhat had been and what was still my notion of this dignity, which I oncefoolishly imagined would be more honourable for me to despise than toenjoy. I mentioned this circumstance to let him see that in my tenderyears I was no admirer of the purple, and not very fond of it now, because I was persuaded that an Archbishop of Paris could hardly missobtaining that dignity some time or other, according to form, by actionspurely ecclesiastical; and that he should be loth to use any other meansto procure it. 

I said that I should be extremely sorry if my purple were stained withthe least drop of blood spilt in the civil wars; that I was resolved toclear my hands of everything that savoured of intrigue before I wouldmake or suffer any step which had any tendency that way; that he knewthat for the same reason I would neither accept money nor abbeys, andthat, consequently, I was engaged by the public declarations I had madeupon all those heads to serve the Queen without any interest; that theonly end I had in view, and in which I never wavered, was to come offwith honour, so that I might resume the spiritual functions belonging tomy profession with safety; that I desired nothing from him but theaccomplishment of an affair which would be more for the King's servicethan for my particular interest; that he knew that the day after thearrest of the Prince he sent me with his promise to the annuitants of theHotel de Ville, and that for want of performance those men were persuadedthat I was in concert with the Court to deceive them. Lastly, I told himthat the access I had to the Duc d'Orleans might perhaps give himumbrage, but I desired him to consider that I never sought that honour, and that I was very sensible of the inconveniences attending it. Ienlarged upon this head, which is the most difficult point to beunderstood by Prime Ministers, who are so fond of being freely admittedinto a Prince's presence that, notwithstanding all the experience in theworld, they cannot help thinking that therein consists the essence ofhappiness. 

When truth has come to a certain point, it darts such powerful rays oflight as are irresistible, but I never knew a man who had so littleregard for truth as Mazarin. He seemed, however, more regardful of itthan usual, and I laid hold of the occasion to tell him of the dangerousconsequences of the disturbances of Guienne, and that if he continued tosupport M. D'Epernon, the Prince's faction would not let this opportunityslip; that if the Parliament of Bordeaux should engage in their party, itwould not be long before that of Paris would do the same; that, after thelate conflagration in this metropolis, he could not suppose but thatthere was still some fire hidden under the ashes; and that the factiousparty had reason to fear the heavy punishment to which the whole body ofthem was liable, as we ourselves were two or three months ago. TheCardinal began to yield, especially when he was told that M. De Bouillonbegan to make a disturbance in the Limousin, where M. De La Rochefoucaulthad joined him with some troops. 

To confirm our reconciliation, a marriage was proposed between my nieceand his nephew, to which he, gave his consent; but I was much averse toit, being not yet resolved to bury my family in that of Mazarin, nor didI set so great a value on grandeur as to purchase it with the publicodium. However, it produced no animosity on either side, and his friendsknew that I should be very glad to be employed in making a general peace;they acted their parts so well that the Cardinal, whose love-fit for melasted about a fortnight, promised me, as it were of his own accord, thatI should be gratified. 

News came about this time from Guienne that the Ducs de Bouillon and deLa Rochefoucault had taken Madame la Princesse into Bordeaux, togetherwith M. Le Duc, her son. The Parliament was not displeased with thepeople for receiving into their city M. Le Duc, yet they observed moredecorum than could be expected from the inhabitants of Gascogne, soirritated as they were against M. D'Epernon. They ordered that Madame laPrincesse, M. Le Duc, MM. De Bouillon and de La Rochefoucault should haveliberty to stay in Bordeaux, provided they would promise to undertakenothing against the King's service, and that the petition of Madame laPrincesse should be sent to the King with a most humble remonstrance fromthe Parliament against the confinement of the Princes. 

At the same time, one of the Presidents sent word to Senneterre that theParliament was not so far enraged but that they would still remembertheir loyalty to the King, provided he did but remove M. D'Epernon. Butin case of any further delay he would not answer for the Parliament, andmuch less for the people, who, being now managed and supported by thePrince's party, would in a little time make themselves masters of theParliament. Senneterre did what he could to induce the Cardinal to makegood use of this advice, and M. De Chateauneuf, who was now Chancellor, talked wonderfully well upon the point, but seeing the Cardinal gave noreturn to his reasons but by exclaiming against the Parliament ofBordeaux for sheltering men condemned by the King's declaration, he saidto him very plainly, "Set out to-morrow, monsieur, if you do not arrangematters to-day; you should have been by this time upon the Garonne. "

The event proved that Chateauneuf was in the right, for though theParliament was very excited, they stood out a long time against themadness of the people, spurred on by M. De Bouillon, and issued a decreeordering an envoy of Spain, who was sent thither to commence a treatywith the Duc de Bouillon, to depart the city, and forbade any of theirbody to visit such as had correspondence with Spain, the Princess herselfnot excepted. Moreover, the mob having undertaken to force theParliament to unite with the Princes, the Parliament armed themagistracy, who fired upon the people and made them retire. 

A little time before the King departed for Guienne, which was in thebeginning of July, word came that the Parliament of Bordeaux hadconsented to a union with the Princes, and had sent a deputy to theParliament of Paris, who had orders to see neither the King nor theministers, and that the whole province was disposed for a revolt. TheCardinal was in extreme consternation, and commended himself to thefavour of the meanest man of the Fronde with the greatest supplenessimaginable. 

As soon as the King came to the neighbourhood of Bordeaux the deputies ofParliament, who went to meet the Court at Lebourne, were peremptorilycommanded to open the gates of the city to the King and to all histroops. They answered that one of their privileges was to guard the Kingthemselves while he was in any of their towns. Upon this, Marechal de LaMeilleraye seized the castle of Vaire, in the command of Pichon, whom theCardinal ordered to be hanged; and M. De Bouillon hanged an officer inMeilleraye's army by way of reprisal. 

After that the Marshal besieged the city in form, which, despairing ofsuccour from Spain, was forced to capitulate upon the following terms:

That a general pardon should be granted to all who had taken up arms andtreated with Spain, that all the soldiers should be disbanded exceptthose whom the King had a mind to keep in his pay, that Madame laPrincesse and the Duke should be at liberty to reside either in Anjou orat Mouzon, with no more than two hundred foot and sixty horse, and thatM. D'Epernon should be recalled from the government of Guienne. 

The Princess had an interview with both the King and Queen, at whichthere were great conferences between the Cardinal and the Ducs deBouillon and de La Rochefoucault. 

The deputy from Bordeaux, arriving at Paris soon after the King'sdeparture, went immediately, to Parliament, and, after an eloquentharangue, presented a letter from the Parliament of Bordeaux, togetherwith their decrees, and demanded a union between the two Parliaments. After some debates it was resolved that the deputy should deliver hiscredentials in writing, which should be presented to his Majesty by thedeputies of the Parliament of Paris, who would, at the same time, mosthumbly beseech the Queen to restore peace to Guienne. 

The Duc d'Orleans was against debating about the petition to the Queenfor the liberation of the Priuces and the banishment of Cardinal Mazarin;nevertheless, many of the members voted for it, upon a motion made by thePresident Viole, who was a warm partisan of the Prince de Conde, notbecause he had hopes of carrying it, but on purpose to embarrass M. DeBeaufort and myself upon a subject of which we did not care to speak, andyet did not dare to be altogether silent about, without passing in somemeasure for Mazarinists. President Viole did the Prince a great deal ofservice on this occasion, for Bourdet a brave soldier, who had beencaptain of the Guards and was attached to the interest of thePrince--performed an action which emboldened the party very much, thoughit had no success. He dressed himself and fourscore other officers ofhis troops in mason's clothes, and having assembled many of the dregs ofthe people, to whom he had distributed money, came directly to the Ducd'Orleans as he was going out, and cried, "No Mazarin! God bless thePrinces!" His Royal Highness, at this apparition and the firing of abrace of pistols at the same time by Bourdet, ran to the Great Chamber;but M. De Beaufort stood his ground so well with the Duke's guards andour men, that Bourdet was repulsed and thrown down the Parliament stairs. 

But the confusion in the Great Chamber was still worse. There were dailyassemblies, wherein the Cardinal was severely attacked, and the Prince'sparty had the pleasure of exposing us as his accomplices. What is verystrange is that at the same time the Cardinal and his friends accused usof corresponding with the Parliament of Bordeaux, because we maintained, in case the Court did not adjust affairs there, we would infallibly bringthe Parliament of Paris into the interest of the Prince. If I were atthe point of death I should have no need to be confessed on account of mybehaviour on this occasion. I acted with as much sincerity in thisjuncture as if I had been the Cardinal's nephew, though really it was notout of any love to him, but because I thought myself obliged in prudenceto oppose the progress of the Prince's faction, owing to the foolishconduct of his enemies; and to this end I was obliged to oppose theflattery of the Cardinal's tools as much as the efforts made by those whowere in the service of the Prince. 

On the 3d of September President Bailleul returned with the otherdeputies, and made a report in Parliament of his journey to Court; itwas, in brief, that the Queen thanked the Parliament for their goodintentions, and had commanded them to assure the Parliament in her namethat she was ready to restore peace to Guienne, and that it would havebeen done before now had not M. De Bouillon, who had treated with theSpaniards, made himself master of Bordeaux, and thereby cut off theeffects of his Majesty's goodness. 

The Duc d'Orleans informed the House that he had received a letter fromthe Archduke, signifying that the King of Spain having sent him fullpowers to treat for a general peace, he desired earnestly to negotiate itwith him. But his Royal Highness added that he did not think it properto return him any answer till he had the opinion of the Parliament. Thetrumpeter who brought the letter gathered a party at Tiroir cross, andspoke very seditious words to the people. The next day they found libelsposted up and down the city in the name of M. De Turenne, setting forththat the Archduke was coming with no other disposition than to makepeace, and in one of them were these words: "It is your business, Parisians, to solicit your false tribunes, who have turned at lastpensioners and protectors of Mazarin, who have for so long a time sportedwith your fortunes and repose, and spurred you on, kept you back, andmade you hot or cold, according to the caprices and different progress oftheir ambition. "

You see the state and condition the Frondeurs were in at this juncture, when they could not move one step but to their own disadvantage. The Ducd'Orleans spoke to me that night with a great deal of bitterness againstthe Cardinal, which he had never done before, and said he had beentricked by him twice, and that he was ruining himself, the State, and allof us, and would, by so doing, place the Prince de Conde upon the throne. In short, Monsieur owned that it was not yet time to humble the Cardinal. "Therefore, " said M. Bellievre, "let us be upon our guard; this man cangive us the slip any moment. "

Next day a letter was sent from the Prince de Conde, by the Baron deVerderonne, to the Archduke, desiring him to name the time, place andpersons for a treaty. The Baron returned with a letter from the Archduketo his Royal Highness, desiring that the conferences might be heldbetween Rheims and Rhetel, and that they might meet there personally, with such others as they should think fit to bring with them. The Courtwas surprised, but, however, did not think fit to delay sending fullpowers to his Royal Highness to treat for peace on such terms as hethought reasonable and advantageous for the King's service; and therewere joined with him, though in subordination, MM. Mole, the FirstPresident, d'Avaux, and myself, with the title of AmbassadorsExtraordinary and Plenipotentiaries. M. D'Avaux obliged me to assure DonGabriel de Toledo, in private, that if the Spaniards would but come toreasonable terms, we would conclude a peace with them in two days' time. And his Royal Highness said that Don Gabriel being a lover of money, Ishould promise him for his part 100, 000 crowns if the conference that wasproposed ended in a peace, and bid him tell the Archduke that, if theSpaniards proposed reasonable terms, he would sign and have themregistered in Parliament before Mazarin should know anything of thematter. 

Don Gabriel received the overture with joy; he had some particularfancies, but Fuensaldagne, who had a particular kindness for him, saidthat he was the wisest fool he ever saw in his life. I have remarkedmore than once that this sort of man cannot persuade, but can insinuateperfectly well, and that the talent of insinuation is of more servicethan that of persuasion, because one may insinuate to a hundred where onecan hardly persuade five. 

The King of England, after having lost the battle of Worcester, arrivedin Paris the day that Don Gabriel set out, the 13th of September, 1651. My Lord Taff was his great chamberlain, valet de chambre, clerk of thekitchen, cup-bearer, and all, --an equipage answerable to his Court, forhis Majesty had not changed his shirt all the way from England. Upon hisarrival at Paris, indeed, he had one lent him by my Lord Jermyn; but theQueen, his mother, had not money to buy him another for the next day. TheDuc d'Orleans went to compliment his Majesty upon his arrival, but it wasnot in my power to persuade his Royal Highness to give his nephew onepenny, because, said he, "a little would not be worth his acceptance, anda great deal would engage me to do as much hereafter. " This leads me tomake the following digression: that there is nothing so wretched as to bea minister to a Prince, and, at the same time, not his favourite; for itis his favour only that gives one a power over the more minute concernsof the family, for which the public does, nevertheless, think a ministeraccountable when they, see he has power over affairs of far greaterconsequence. 

Therefore I was not in a condition to oblige his Royal Highness byassisting the King of England with a thousand pistoles, for which I washorridly, ashamed, both upon his account anal my own; but I borrowedfifteen hundred for him from M. Morangis, and carried them to my LordTaff. --[Lord Clarendon extols the civilities of Cardinal de Retz to KingCharles II. , and has reported a curious conversation which the Cardinalhad with that Prince. ]--It is remarkable that the same night, as I wasgoing home, I met one Tilney, an Englishman whom I had formerly known atRome, who told me that Vere, a great Parliamentarian and a favourite ofCromwell, had arrived in Paris and had orders to see me. I was a littlepuzzled; however, I judged it would be improper to refuse him aninterview. Vere gave me a brief letter from Cromwell in the nature ofcredentials, importing that the sentiments I had enunciated in the"Defence of Public Liberty" added to my reputation, and had inducedCromwell to desire to enter with me into the strictest friendship. Theletter was in the main wonderfully civil and complaisant. I answered itwith a great deal of respect, but in such a manner as became a trueCatholic and an honest Frenchman. Vere appeared to be a man ofsurprising abilities. 

I now return to our own affairs. I was told as a mighty secret thatTellier had orders from the Cardinal to remove the Princes from the Boisde Vincennes if the enemy were likely to come near the place, and that heshould endeavour by all means to procure the consent of the Duc d'Orleansfor that end; but that, in case of refusal, these orders should beexecuted notwithstanding, and that he should endeavour to gain me tothese measures by the means of Madame de Chevreuse. When Tellier came tome I assured him that it was all one, both to me and the Duc d'Orleans, whether the Princes were removed or not, but since my opinion wasdesired, I must declare that I think nothing can be more contrary to thetrue interest of the King; "for, " said I, "the Spaniards must gain abattle before they can come to Vincennes, and when there they must have aflying camp to invest the place before they can deliver the Princes fromconfinement, and therefore I am convinced that there is no necessity fortheir removal, and I do affirm that all unnecessary changes in matterswhich are in themselves disagreeable are pernicious, because odious. Iwill maintain, further, that there is less reason to fear the Ducd'Orleans and the Frondeurs than to dread the Spaniards. Suppose thathis Royal Highness is more disaffected towards the Court than anybody;suppose further that M. De Beaufort and I have a mind to relieve thePrinces, in what way could we do it? Is not the whole garrison in thatcastle in the King's service? Has his Royal Highness any regular troopsto besiege Vincennes? And, granting the Frondeurs to be the greatestfools imaginable, will they expose the people of Paris at a siege whichtwo thousand of the King's troops might raise in a quarter of an hourthough it consist of a hundred thousand citizens? I therefore concludethat the removal would be altogether impolitic. Does it not look ratheras if the Cardinal feigns apprehension of the Spaniards only as apretence to make himself master of the Princes, and to dispose of theirpersons at pleasure? The generality of the people, being Frondeurs, willconclude you take the Prince de Conde out of their hands, --whom they lookupon to be safe while they see him walking upon the battlements of hisprison, --and that you will give him his liberty when you please, and thusenable him to besiege Paris a second time. On the other hand, thePrince's party will improve this removal very much to their own advantageby the compassion such a spectacle will raise in the people when they seethree Princes dragged in chains from one prison to another. I was reallymistaken just now when I said the case was all one to me, for I see thatI am nearly concerned, because the people--in which word I include theParliament will cry out against it; I must be then obliged, for my ownsafety, to say I did not approve of the resolution. Then the Court willbe informed that I find fault with it, and not only that, but that I doit in order to raise the mob and discredit the Cardinal, which, thoughever so false; yet in consequence the people will firmly believe it, andthus I shall meet with the same treatment I met with in the beginning ofthe late troubles, and what I even now experience in relation to theaffairs of Guienne. I am said to be the cause of these troubles becauseI foretold them, and I was said to encourage the revolt at Bordeauxbecause I was against the conduct that occasioned it. "

Tellier, in the Queen's name, thanked me for my unresisting disposition, and made the same proposal to his Royal Highness; upon which I spoke, notto second Tellier, who pleaded for the necessity of the removal, to whichI could by no means be reconciled, but to make it evident to his RoyalHighness that he was not in any way concerned in it in his own privatecapacity, and that, in case the Queen did command it positively, it washis duty to obey. M. De Beaufort opposed it so furiously as to offer theDuc d'Orleans to attack the guards which were to remove him. I had solidreasons to dissuade him from it, to the last of which he submitted, itbeing an argument which I had from the Queen's own mouth when she set outfor Guienne, that Bar offered to assassinate the Princes if it shouldhappen that he was not in a condition to hinder their escape. I wasastonished when her Majesty trusted me with this secret, and imaginedthat the Cardinal had possessed her with a fear that the Frondeurs had adesign to seize the person of the Prince de Conde. For my part, I neverdreamed of such a thing in my life. The Ducs d'Orleans and de Beaufortwere both shocked at the thought of it, and, in short, it was agreed thathis Royal Highness should give his consent for the removal, and that M. De Beaufort and myself should not give it out among the people that weapproved of it. 

The day that the Princes were removed to Marcoussi, President Bellievretold the Keeper of the Seals in plain terms, that if he continued totreat me as he had done hitherto, he should be obliged in honour to givehis testimony to the truth. To which the Keeper of the Seals returnedthis blunt answer: "The Princes are no longer in sight of Paris; theCoadjutor must not therefore talk so loud. "

I return now to the Parliament, which was so moderate at this time thatthe Cardinal was hardly mentioned, and they agreed, 'neminecontradicente', that the Parliament should send deputies to Bordeaux toknow once for all if that Parliament was for peace or not. 

Soon after this the Parliament of Toulouse wrote to that of Parisconcerning the disturbances in Guienne, part whereof belonged to theirjurisdiction, and expressly demanded a decree of union. But the Ducd'Orleans warded off the blow very dexterously, which was of greatconsequence, and, more by his address than by his authority, brought theParliament to dismiss the deputies with civil answers and insignificantexpressions, upon which President Bellievre said to me, "What pleasureshould we not take in acting as we do if it were for persons that had butthe sense to appreciate it!"

The Parliament did not continue long in that calm. They passed a decreeto interrogate the State prisoners in the Bastille, broke out sometimeslike a whirlwind, with thunder and lightning, against Cardinal Mazarin;at other times they complained of the misapplication of the public funds. We had much ado to ward off the blows, and should not have been able tohold out long against the fury of the waves but for the news of the Peaceof Bordeaux, which was registered there on October the 1st, 1650, and putthe Prince de Conde's party into consternation. 

One mean artifice of Cardinal Mazarin's polity was always to entertainsome men of our own party, with whom, half reconciled, he played fast andloose before our eyes, and was eternally negotiating with them, deceivingand being deceived in his turn. The consequence of all this was a great, thick cloud, wherein the Frondeurs themselves were at last involved; butwhich they burst with a thunderclap. 

The Cardinal, being puffed up with his success in settling the troublesof Guienne, thought of nothing else than crowning his triumph bychastising the Frondeurs, who, he said, had made use of the King'sabsence to alienate the Duc d'Orleans from his service, to encourage therevolt at Bordeaux, and to make themselves masters of the persons of thePrinces. At the same time, he told the Princess Palatine that hedetested the cruel hatred I bore to the Prince de Conde, and that thepropositions I made daily to him on that score were altogether unworthyof a Christian. Yet he suggested to the Duc d'Orleans that I made greatovertures to him to be reconciled to the Court, but that he could nottrust me, because I was from morning to night negotiating with thefriends of the Prince de Conde. Thus the Cardinal rewarded me for what Idid with incredible application and, I must say, uncommon sincerity forthe Queen's service during the Court's absence. I do not mention thedangers I was in twice or thrice a day, surpassing even those of soldiersin battles. For imagine, I beseech you, what pain and anguish I musthave been in at hearing myself called a Mazarinist, and at having to bearall the odium annexed to that hateful appellation in a city where he madeit his business to destroy me in the opinion of a Prince whose nature itwas to be always in fear and to trust none but such as hoped to rise bymy fall. 

The Cardinal gave himself such airs after the peace at Bordeaux that somesaid my best way would be to retire before the King's return. 

Cardinal Mazarin had been formerly secretary to Pancirole, the Pope'snuncio for the peace of Italy, whom he betrayed, and it was proved thathe had a secret correspondence with the Governor of Milan. Pancirole, being created cardinal and Secretary of State to the Church, did notforget the perfidiousness of his secretary, now created cardinal by PopeUrban, at the request of Cardinal de Richelieu, and did not at allendeavour to qualify the anger which Pope Innocent had conceived againstMazarin after the assassination of one of his nephews, in conjunctionwith Cardinal Anthony. 

[Anthony Barberini, nephew to Urban VIII. , created Cardinal 1628, madeProtector of the Crown of France 1633, and Great Almoner of the Kingdom1653. He was afterwards Bishop of Poitiers, and, lastly, Archbishop ofRheims in 1657. Died 1671. ]

Pancirole, who thought he could not affront Mazarin more than bycontributing to make me cardinal, did me all the kind offices with PopeInnocent, who gave him leave to treat with me in that affair. 

Madame de Chevreuse told the Queen all that she had observed in myconduct in the King's absence, and what she had seen was certainly onecontinued series of considerable services done to the Queen. 

She recounted at last all the injustice done me, the contempt put uponme, and the just grounds of my diffidence, which, she said, of necessityought to be removed, and that the only means of removing it was the hat. The Queen was in a passion at this. The Cardinal defended himself, notby an open denial, for he had offered it me several times, but byrecommending patience, intimating that a great monarch should be forcedto nothing. Monsieur, seconding Madame de Chevreuse in her attack, assailed the Cardinal, who, at least in appearance, gave way, out ofrespect for his Royal Highness. Madame de Chevreuse, having brought themto parley, did not doubt that she should also bring them to capitulate, especially when she saw the Queen was appeased, and had told his RoyalHighness that she was infinitely obliged to him, and would do what herCouncil judged most proper and reasonable. This Council, which was onlya specious name, consisted only of the Cardinal, the Keeper of the Seals, Tellier, and Servien. 

The matter was proposed to the Council by the Cardinal with muchimportunity, concluding with a most submissive petition to the Queen tocondescend to the demand of the Duc d'Orleans, and to what the servicesand merits of the Coadjutor demanded. The proposition was rejected withsuch resolution and contempt as is very unusual in Council in oppositionto a Prime Minister. Tellier and Servien thought it sufficient not toapplaud him; but the Keeper of the Seals quite forgot his respect for theCardinal, accused him of prevarication and weakness, and threw himself ather Majesty's feet, conjuring her in the name of the King her son, not toauthorise, by an example which he called fatal, the insolence of asubject who was for wresting favours from his sovereign, sword in hand. The Queen was moved at this, and the poor Cardinal owned he had been tooeasy and pliant. 

I had myself given a very natural handle to my adversaries to expose meso egregiously. I have been guilty of many blunders, but I think this isthe grossest that I ever was guilty of in all my life. I have frequentlymade this observation, that when men have, through fear of miscarriage, hesitated a long time about any undertaking of consequence, the remainingimpressions of their fear commonly push them afterwards with too muchprecipitancy upon the execution of their design. And this was my case. It was with the greatest reluctance that I determined to accept thedignity of a cardinal, because I thought it too mean to form a pretensionto it without certainty of success; and no sooner was I engaged in thepursuit of it but the impression of the former fearful ideas hurried meon, as it were, to the end, that I might get as soon as possible out ofthe disagreeable state of uncertainty. 

The Cardinal would have paid my debts, given me the place of GrandAlmoner, etc. ; but if he had added twelve cardinals' hats into thebargain, I should have begged his excuse. I was now engaged withMonsieur, who had, meanwhile, resolved upon the release of the Princesfrom their confinement. 

Cardinal Mazarin, after his return to Paris, made it his chief study todivide the Fronde. He thought to materially weaken my interest withMonsieur by detaching from me Madame de Chevreuse, for whom he had anatural tenderness, and to give me a mortal blow by embroiling me withMademoiselle her daughter. To do this effectually he found a rival, who, he hoped, would please her better, namely, M. D'Aumale, handsome asApollo, and one who was very likely to suit the temper of Mademoiselle deChevreuse. He had entirely devoted himself to the Cardinal's interest, looked upon himself as very much honoured by this commission, and hauntedthe Palace of Chevreuse so diligently that I did not doubt but that hewas sent thither to act the second part of the comedy which hadmiscarried so shamefully in the hands of M. De Candale. I watched allhis movements, and complained to Mademoiselle de Chevreuse, but she gaveme indirect answers. I began to be out of humour, and was soon appeased. I grew peevish again; and Mademoiselle de Chevreuse saying in hispresence, to please me and to sting him, that she could not imagine howit was possible to bear a silly fellow, "Pardon me, mademoiselle, "replied I, "we suffer fops sometimes very patiently for the sake of theirextravagances. " This man was notoriously foppish and extravagant. Myanswer pleased, and we soon got rid of him at the Palace of Chevreuse. But he thought to have despatched me, for he hired one Grandmaison, aruffian, to assassinate me, who apprised me of his design. The firsttime I met M. D'Aumale, which was at the Duc d'Orleans's house, I did notfail to let him know it; but I told it him in a whisper, saying that Ihad too much respect for the House of Savoy to publish it to the world. He denied the fact, but in such a manner as to make it more evident, because he conjured me to keep it secret. I gave him my word, and I keptit. 

Madame de Guemenee, with whom I had several quarrels, proposed to theQueen likewise to despatch me, by shutting me up in a greenhouse in hergarden, which she might easily have done, because I often went to heralone by night; but the Cardinal, fearing that the people would havesuspected him as the author of my sudden disappearance, would not enterinto the project, so it was dropped. 

To return to our negotiations for the freedom of the Princes. The Ducd'Orleans was with much difficulty induced to sign the treaty by which amarriage was stipulated between Mademoiselle de Chevreuse and the Princede Conti, and to promise not to oppose my promotion to the dignity of acardinal. The Princes were as active in the whole course of thesenegotiations as if they had been at liberty. We wrote to them, and theyto us, and a regular correspondence between Paris and Lyons was neverbetter established than ours. Bar, their warder, was a very shallowfellow; besides, men of sense are sometimes outwitted. 

[Bar was, according to M. Joly, an unsociable man, who was for raisinghis fortune by using the Princes badly, and who, on this account, wasoften the dupe of Montreuil, secretary to the Prince de Conti. --SeeJOLY'S "Memoirs, " vol. I. , p. 88. ]

Cardinal Mazarin, upon his return with the King from Guienne, was greatlypleased with the acclamations of the mob, but he soon grew weary of them, for the Frondeurs still kept the wall. 

The Cardinal being continually provoked at Paris by the Abbe Fouquet, whosought to make himself necessary, and being so vain as to think himselfqualified to command an army, marched abruptly out of Paris forChampagne, with a design to retake Rhetel and Chateau-Portien, of whichthe enemy were possessed, and where M. De Turenne proposed to winter. 

On the feast of Saint Martin, the First President and theAttorney-General Talon exhorted the Parliament to be peaceable, that theenemies of the State might have no advantage. A petition was read fromMadame la Princesse, desiring that the Princes should be brought to theLouvre and remain in the custody, of one of the King's officers, and thatthe Solicitor-General be sent for to say what he had to allege againsttheir innocence, and that in case he should have nothing solid to offerthey be set at liberty. 

The Chambers, being assembled on the 7th of December, to take the affairinto consideration, Talon, the Attorney-General, informed the House thatthe Queen had sent for the King's Council, and ordered them to let theParliament know that it was her pleasure that the House should not takeany cognisance of the Princess's petition, because everything that hadrelation to the confinement of the Princes belonged to the royalauthority. Talon made a motion that the Parliament should depute somemembers to carry the petition to the Queen, and to beseech her Majesty totake it into her consideration. At the same time another petition waspresented from Mademoiselle de Longueville, for the liberty of the Dukeher father, and that she might have leave to stay in Paris to solicit it. 

No sooner was this petition read than a letter from the three Princes waspresented and read, praying that they might be brought to trial or set atliberty. 

On the 9th day of the month an order was brought to the Parliament fromthe King, commanding the House to suspend all deliberations on thissubject till they had first sent their deputies to Court to know hisMajesty's pleasure. 

Deputies were sent immediately, to whom, accordingly, the Queen gaveaudience in bed, telling them that she was very much indisposed. TheKeeper of the Seals added that it was the King's pleasure that theParliament should not meet at all until such time as the Queen his motherhad recovered her health. 

On the 10th the House resolved to adjourn only to the 14th, and on thatday a general procession was proposed to the Archbishop by the Dean ofParliament, to beg that God would inspire them with such counsels only asmight be for the good of the public. 

On the 14th they received the King's letter, forbidding their debates, and informing them that the Queen would satisfy them very speedily aboutthe affair of the Princes; but this letter was disregarded. They sent adeputation to invite the Duc d'Orleans to come to the House, but, afterconsulting with the Queen, he told the deputies that he did not care togo, that the Assembly was too noisy, that he could not divine what theywould be at, that the affairs in debate were never known to fall undertheir cognisance, and that they had nothing else to do but to refer thesaid petitions to the Queen. 

On the 18th news came that Marechal du Plessis had gained a signalvictory over M. De Turenne, who was coming to succour Rhetel, but foundit already surrendered to Marechal du Plessis; and the Spanish garrison, endeavouring to retreat, was forced to an engagement on the plains ofSaumepuis; that about 2, 000 men were killed upon the spot, among the resta brother of the Elector Palatine, and six colonels, and that there werenearly 4, 000 prisoners, the most considerable of whom were severalpersons of note, and all the colonels, besides twenty colours andeighty-four standards. You may easily guess at the consternation of thePrinces' party; my house was all night filled with the lamentations ofdespairing mourners, and I found the Duc d'Orleans, as it were, struckdumb. 

On the 19th, as I went to the Parliament House, the people lookedmelancholy, dejected, and frightened out of their wits. The members wereafraid to open their mouths, and nobody would mention the name of Mazarinexcept Menardeau Champre, who spoke of him with encomiums, by giving himthe honour of the victory of Rhetel, and then he moved the House toentreat the Queen to put the Princes into the hands of that good and wiseMinister, who would be as careful of them as he had been hitherto of theState. I wondered most of all that this man was not hissed in the House, and especially as he passed through the Great Hall. This circumstance, together with what I saw that afternoon in every street, convinced me howmuch our friends were dispirited, and I therefore resolved next day toraise their courage. I knew the First President to be purblind, and suchmen greedily swallow every new fact which confirms them in their firstimpression. I knew likewise the Cardinal to be a man that supposedeverybody had a back door. The only way of dealing with men of thatstamp is to make them believe that you design to deceive those whom youearnestly endeavour to serve. 

For this reason, on the 20th, I declaimed against the disorders of theState, and showed that it having pleased Almighty God to bless hisMajesty's arms and to remove the public enemy from our frontiers by thevictory gained over them by Marechal du Plessis, we ought now to applyourselves seriously to the healing of internal wounds of the State, whichare the more dangerous because they are less obvious. To this I thoughtfit to add that I was obliged to mention the general oppression of thesubjects at a time when we had nothing more to fear from the latelyrouted Spaniards; that, as one of the props of the public safety was thepreservation of the royal family, I could not without the utmost concernsee the Princes breathe the unwholesome air of Havre-de-Grace, and that Iwas of opinion that the House should humbly entreat the King to removethem, at least to some place more healthy. At this speech everybodyregained their courage and concluded that all was not yet lost. It wasobserved that the people's countenances were altered. Those in the GreatHall resumed their former zeal, made the usual acclamations as we wentout, and I had that day three hundred carriages of visitors. 

On the 22d the debate was continued, and it was more and more observedthat the Parliament did not follow the triumphant chariot of CardinalMazarin, whose imprudence in hazarding the fate of the whole kingdom inthe last battle was set off with all the disadvantages that could beinvented to tarnish the victory. 

The 30th crowned the work, and produced a decree for making most humbleremonstrances to the Queen for the liberty of the Princes and forMademoiselle de Longueville staying in Paris. 

It was further resolved to send a deputation to the Duc d'Orleans, todesire his Royal Highness to use his interest on this occasion in favourof the said Princes. 

The King's Council having waited on her Majesty with the remonstrancesaforesaid, she pretended to be under medical treatment, and put off thematter a week longer. The Duc d'Orleans also gave an ambiguous answer. The Queen's course of treatment continued eight or ten days longer thanshe imagined, or, rather, than she said, and consequently theremonstrances of the Parliament were not made till the 20th of January, 1651. 

On the 28th the First President made his report, and said the Queen hadpromised to return an answer in a few days. 

It happened very luckily for us at this time that the imprudence of theCardinal was greater than the inconstancy of the Duc d'Orleans, for alittle before the Queen returned an answer to the remonstrances, hetalked very roughly to the Duke in the Queen's presence, charging himwith putting too much confidence in me. The very day that the Queen madethe aforesaid answer he spoke yet more arrogantly to the Duke in herMajesty's apartment, comparing M. De Beaufort and myself to Cromwell andFairfax in the House of Commons in England, and exclaimed furiously inthe King's presence, so that he frightened the Duke, who was glad he gotout of the King's Palace with a whole skin, and who said that he wouldnever put himself again in the power of that furious woman, meaning theQueen, because she had improved on what the Cardinal had said to theKing. I resolved to strike the iron while it was hot, and joined with M. De Beaufort to persuade his Royal Highness to declare himself the nextday in Parliament. We showed him that, after what had lately passed, there was no safety for his person, and if the King should go out ofParis, as the Cardinal designed, we should be engaged in a civil war, whereof he alone, with the city of Paris, must bear the heavy load; thatit would be equally scandalous and dangerous for his Royal Highnesseither to leave the Princes in chains, after having treated with them, or, by his dilatory proceedings, suffer Mazarin to have all the honour ofsetting them at liberty, and that he ought by all means to go to theParliament House. 

The Duchess, too, seconded us, and upon his Highness saying that if hewent to the House to declare against the Court the Cardinal would be sureto take his Majesty out of Paris, the Duchess replied, "What, monsieur, are you not Lieutenant-General of France? Do not you command the army?Are you not master of the people? I myself will undertake that the Kingshall not go out of Paris. " The Duke nevertheless remained inflexible, and all we could get out of him was that he would consent to my tellingthe Parliament, in his name, what we desired he should say himself. In aword, he would have me make the experiment, the success of which helooked upon to be very uncertain, because he thought the Parliament wouldhave nothing to say against the Queen's answer, and that if I succeededhe should reap the honour of the proposition. I readily accepted thecommission, because all was at stake, and if I had not executed it thenext morning I am sure the Cardinal would have eluded setting the Princesat liberty a great while longer, and the affair have ended in anegotiation with them against the Duke. 

The Duchess, who saw that I exposed myself for the public good, pitied mevery much. She did all she could to persuade the Duke to command me tomention to the Parliament what the Cardinal had told the King withrelation to Cromwell, Fairfax and the English Parliament, which, ifdeclared in the Duke's name, she thought would excite the House the moreagainst Mazarin; and she was certainly in the right. But he forbade meexpressly. 

I ran about all night to incite the members at their first meeting tomurmur at the Queen's answer, which in the main was very plausible, importing that, though this affair did not fall within the cognisance ofParliament, the Queen would, however, out of her abundant goodness, haveregard to their supplications and restore the Princes to liberty. Besides, it promised a general amnesty to all who had borne arms in theirfavour, on condition only that M. De Turenne should lay down his arms, that Madame de Longueville should renounce her treaty with Spain, andthat Stenai and Murzon should be evacuated. 

At first the Parliament seemed to be dazzled with it, but next day, the1st of February, the whole House was undeceived, and wondered how it hadbeen so deluded. The Court of Inquests began to murmur; Viole stood upand said that the Queen's answer was but a snare laid for the Parliamentto beguile them; that the 12th of March, the time fixed for the King'scoronation, was just at hand; and that as soon as the Court was out ofParis they, would laugh at the Parliament. At this discourse the old andnew Fronde stood up, and when I saw they, were greatly excited I wavedmy cap and said that the Duke had commanded me to inform the House thatthe regard he had for their sentiments having confirmed him in those healways naturally, entertained of his cousins, he was resolved to concurwith them for procuring their liberty, and to contribute everything inhis power to effect it; and it is incredible what influence these fewwords had upon the whole assembly. I was astonished at it myself. Thewisest senators seemed as mad as the common people, and the people madderthan ever. Their acclamations exceeded anything you can imagine, and, indeed, nothing less was sufficient to give heart to the Duke, who hadall night been bringing forth new projects with more sorrowful pangs andthroes (as the Duchess expressed it) than ever she had felt when inlabour with all her children. 

When he was fully informed of the good success of his declaration, heembraced me several times before all the company, and M. Tellier going towait upon him from the Queen, to know if he acknowledged what I had saidin his name in the House, "Yes, " replied he, "I own, and always will own, all that he shall say or act in my name. " We thought that after a solemndeclaration of this nature the Duke would not scruple to take all thenecessary precautions to prevent the Cardinal carrying away the King, andto that end the Duchess did propose to have all the gates of the citywell guarded, under pretence of some popular tumults. But he was deaf toall she said, pretending that he was loth to make his King a prisoner. 

On the 2d of February, 1651, the Duke, urged very importunately by thePrinces' party informing him that their liberty depended on it, told themthat he was going to perform an action which would remove all theirdiffidence. He sent immediately for the Keeper of the Seals, MarechalVilleroi; and Tellier, and bade them tell the Queen that he would nevercome to the Palais Royal as long as Mazarin was there, and that he couldno longer treat with a man that ruined the State. And, then, turningtowards Marechal Villeroi, "I charge you, " said he, "with the King'sperson; you shall be answerable for him to me. " I was sadly afraid thiswould be a means to hasten the King's departure, which was what wedreaded most of all, and I wondered that the Cardinal did not removeafter such a declaration. I thought his head was turned, and indeed Iwas told that he was beside himself for a fortnight together. 

The Duke having openly declared against Mazarin, and being resolved toattack and drive him out of the kingdom, bade me inform the House nextday, in his name, how the Cardinal had compared their body to the RumpParliament in England, and some of their members to Cromwell and Fairfax. I improved upon this as much as possible, and I daresay that so much heatand ferment was never seen in any society before. Some were for sendingthe Cardinal a personal summons to appear on the spot, to give an accountof his administration; but the most moderate were for making most humbleremonstrances to the Queen for his removal. You may easily guess what athunderclap this must have been to the Court. The Queen asked the Dukewhether she might bring the Cardinal to his Royal Highness. His answerwas that he did not think it good for the safety of his own person. Sheoffered to come alone to confer with his Highness at the Palaisd'Orleans, but he excused himself with a great deal of respect. 

He sent orders an hour after to the Marshals of France to obey him only, as Lieutenant-General of the State, and likewise to the 'prevots desmarchands' not to take up arms except by his authority. You will wonder, without doubt, that after all this noise no care was taken of the gatesof Paris to prevent the King's departure. The Duchess, who trembled atthe thoughts of it, daily redoubled her endeavours to induce the Duke tosecure the gates of the city, but all to no purpose; for weak minds aregenerally deficient in some respect or other. 

On the 4th the Duke came to the Parliament and assured the assembly ofhis concurrence in everything to reform the State and to procure theliberty of the Princes and the Cardinal's removal. As soon as his RoyalHighness had done speaking, the Master of the Ceremonies was admittedwith a letter from the King, which was read, and which required the Houseto separate, and to send as many deputies as they could to the PalaisRoyal to hear the King's will and pleasure. Deputies were accordinglysent immediately, for whose return the bulk of the members stayed in theGreat Chamber. I was informed that this was one trick among othersconcerted to ruin me, and, telling the Duc d'Orleans of it, he said thatif the old buffoon, the Keeper of the Seals, was concerned in such acomplication of folly and knavery, he deserved to be hanged by the sideof Mazarin. But the sequel showed that I was not out in my information. 

As soon as the deputies were come to the Palais Royal, the FirstPresident told the Queen that the Parliament was extremely concerned thatthe Princes were still confined, notwithstanding her royal promise forsetting them at liberty. The Queen replied that Marchal de Grammont wassent to release them and to see to their necessary security for thepublic tranquillity, but that she had sent for them in relation toanother affair, which the Keeper of the Seals would explain to them, andwhich he couched in a sanguinary manifesto, in substance as follows:

"All the reports made by the Coadjutor in Parliament are false, andinvented by him. He lies!" (This is the only word the Queen added towhat was already written). "He is a very wicked, dangerous man, andgives the Duke very pernicious advice; he wants to ruin the State becausewe have refused to make him cardinal, and has publicly boasted that hewill set fire to the four corners of the kingdom, and that he will have100, 000 men in readiness to dash out the brains of those that shallattempt to put it out. " These expressions were very harsh, and I am surethat I never said anything like that; but it was of no use at this timeto make the cloud which was gathering over the head of Mazarin fall in astorm upon mine. The Court saw that Parliament was assembled to pass adecree for setting the Princes at liberty, and that the Duke in personwas declaring against Mazarin in the Grand Chamber, and therefore theybelieved that a diversion would be as practicable as it was necessary, namely, to bring me upon my trial in such a manner that the Parliamentcould not refuse nor secure me from the railleries of the mostinconsiderable member. Everything that tended to render the attackplausible was made use of, as well as everything that might weaken mydefence. The writing was signed by the four Secretaries of State, and, the better to defeat all that I could say in my justification, the Comtede Brienne was sent at the heels of the deputies with an order to desirethe Duc d'Orleans to come to a conference with the Queen in relation tosome few difficulties that remained concerning the liberty of thePrinces. 

When the deputies had returned to Parliament, the First President beganwith reading the paper which had been delivered to him against me, uponwhich you might have read astonishment in every face. Menardeau, who wasto open the trenches against me, was afraid of a salvo from the GreatHall, where he found such a crowd of people, and heard so manyacclamations to the Fronde, and so many imprecations against Mazarin, that he durst not open his mouth against me, but contented himself with apathetic lamentation of the division that was in the State, andespecially in the royal family. The councillors were so divided thatsome of them were for appointing public prayers for two days; othersproposed to desire his Royal Highness to take care of the public safety. I resolved to treat the writing drawn up against me by the Cardinal as asatire and a libel, and, by some ingenious, short passage, to arouse theminds of my hearers. As my memory did not furnish me with anything inancient authors that had any relation to my subject, I made a smalldiscourse in the best Latin I was capable of, and then spoke thus:

"Were it not for the profound respect I bear to the persons who havespoken before me, I could not forbear complaining of their not crying outagainst such a scurrilous, satirical paper, which was just now read, contrary to all forms of proceeding, and written in the same style aslately profaned the sacred name of the King, to encourage false witnessesby letters-patent. I believe that those persons thought this paper, which is but a sally of the furious Mazarin, to be much beneaththemselves and me. And that I may conform my opinion to theirs, I willanswer only by repeating a passage from an ancient author: 'In the worstof times I did not forsake the city, in the most prosperous I had noparticular views, and in the most desperate times of all I fearednothing. ' I desire to be excused for running into this digression. Imove that you would make humble remonstrances to the King, to desire himto despatch an order immediately for setting the Princes at liberty, tomake a declaration in their favour, and to remove Cardinal Mazarin fromhis person and Councils. "

My opinion was applauded both by the Frondeurs and the Prince's party, and carried almost 'nemine contradicente'. 

Talon, the Attorney-General, did wonders. I never heard or read anythingmore eloquent or nervous. He invoked the names of Henri the Great, andupon his knees recommended the kingdom of France in general to theprotection of Saint Louis. 

Brienne, who had been sent by the Queen to desire an interview with theDuc d'Orleans, was dismissed with no other answer than that the Dukewould come to pay his humble duty to the Queen as soon as the Princeswere at liberty, and Cardinal Mazarin removed from the King's person andCouncils. 

On the 5th of February there was an assembly of the nobility at Nemoursfor recovering their privileges. I opposed it to the utmost of my power, for I had experienced more than once that nothing can be more perniciousto a party than to engage without any necessity in such affairs as havethe bare appearance of faction, but I was obliged to comply. Thisassembly, however, was so terrifying to the Court that six companies ofthe Guards were ordered to mount, with which the Duc d'Orleans was sooffended that he sent word to the officers, in his capacity ofLieutenant-General of the State, to receive no orders but from himself. They answered very respectfully, but as men devoted to the Queen'sinterest. 

On the 6th, the Duke having taken his place in the Parliament, the King'sCouncil acquainted the House that, having been sent to wait on herMajesty with the remonstrances, her Majesty's answer was that no personliving wished more for the liberty of the Princes than herself, but thatit was reasonable at the same time to consult the safety of the State;that as for Cardinal Mazarin, she was resolved to retain him in herCouncil as long as she found his assistance necessary for the King'sservice; and that it did not belong to the Parliament to concernthemselves with any of her ministers. 

The First President was shrewdly attacked in the House for not being moreresolute in speaking to the Queen. Some were for sending him back todemand another audience in the afternoon; and the Duc d'Orleans havingsaid that the Marshals of France were dependent on Mazarin, it wasresolved immediately that they should obey none but his Royal Highness. 

I was informed that very evening that the Cardinal had made his escapeout of Paris in disguise, and that the Court was in a very greatconsternation. 

The Cardinal's escape was the common topic of conversation, and differentreasons were assigned to it, according to the various interests ofdifferent parties. As for my part, I am very well persuaded that fearwas the only reason of his flight, and that nothing else hindered himfrom taking the King and the Queen along with him. You will see in thesequel of this history that he endeavoured to get their Majesties out ofParis soon after he had made his escape, and that it was concerted in allprobability before he left the Court; but I could never understand why hedid not put it into execution at a time when he had no reason to fear theleast opposition. 

On the 17th the Parliament ordered the thanks of the House to be returnedto the Queen for removing the Cardinal, and that she should be humblyasked to issue an order for setting the Princes at liberty, and adeclaration for excluding all foreigners forever from the King's Council. The First President being deputed with the message, the Queen told himthat she could return him no answer till she had conferred with the Ducd'Orleans, to whom she immediately deputed the Keeper of the Seals, Marechal Villeroi, and Tellier; but he told them that he could not go tothe Palais Royal till the Princes were set at liberty and the Cardinalremoved further from the Court. For he observed to the House that theCardinal was no further off than at Saint Germain, where he governed allthe kingdom as before, that his nephew and his nieces were yet at Court;and the Duke proposed that the Parliament should humbly beseech the Queento explain whether the Cardinal's removal was for good and all. If I hadnot seen it, I could not have imagined what a heat the House was in thatday. Some were for an order that there should be no favourites in Francefor the future. They became at length of the opinion of his RoyalHighness, namely, to address the Queen to ask her to explain herself withrelation to the removal of Cardinal Mazarin and to solicit orders for theliberty, of the Princes. 

On the same day the Queen sent again to desire the Duc d'Orleans to comeand take his place in the Council, and to tell him that, in case he didnot think it convenient, she would send the Keeper of the Seals toconcert necessary measures with him for setting the Princes at liberty. His Royal Highness accepted the second, but rejected the first proposal, and treated M. D'Elbeuf roughly, because he was very pressing with hisRoyal Highness to go to the King's Palace. The messengers likewiseacquainted the Duke that they were ordered to assure him that the removalof the Cardinal was forever. You will see presently that, in allprobability, had his Royal Highness gone that day to Court, the Queenwould have left Paris and carried the Duke along with her. 

On the 19th the Parliament decreed that, in pursuance of the Queen'sdeclaration, the Cardinal should, within the space of fifteen days, depart from his Majesty's dominions, with all his relations and foreignservants; otherwise, they should be proceeded against as outlaws, and itshould be lawful for anybody to despatch them out of the way. 

I suspected that the King would leave Paris that very day, and I wasalmost asleep when I was sent for to go to the Duc d'Orleans, whomMademoiselle de Chevreuse went to awaken in the meantime; and, while Iwas dressing, one of her pages brought me a note from her, containingonly these few words:

"Make haste to Luxembourg, and be upon your guard on the way. " I foundMademoiselle de Chevreuse in his chamber, who acquainted me that the Kingwas out of bed, and had his boots on ready for a journey from Paris. 

I waited on the Duke, and said, "There is but one remedy, which is, tosecure the gates of Paris. " Yet all that we could obtain of him was tosend the captain of the Swiss Guards to wait on the Queen and desire herMajesty to weigh the consequences of an action of that nature. HisDuchess, perceiving that this expedient, if not supported effectually, would ruin all, and that his Royal Highness was still as irresolute asever, called for pen and ink that lay upon the table in her cabinet, andwrote these words on a large sheet of paper:

M. Le Coadjuteur is ordered to take arms to hinder the adherents ofCardinal Mazarin, condemned by the Parliament, from carrying the King outof Paris. MARGUERITE DE LORRAINE. 

Des Touches, who found the Queen bathed in tears, was charged by herMajesty to assure the Duc d'Orleans that she never thought of carryingaway the King, and that it was one of my tricks. 

The Duc d'Orleans saying at the House next day that orders for thePrinces' liberty would be despatched in two hours' time, the FirstPresident said, with a deep sigh, "The Prince de Conde is at liberty, butour King, our sovereign Lord and King, is a prisoner. " The Ducd'Orleans, being now not near so timorous as before, because he hadreceived more acclamations in the streets than ever, replied, "Truly theKing has been Mazarin's prisoner, but, God be praised, he is now inbetter hands. "

The Cardinal, who hovered about Paris till he heard the city had taken uparms, posted to Havre-de-Grace, where he fawned upon the Prince de Condewith a meanness of spirit that is hardly to be imagined; for he wept, andeven fell down on his knees to the Prince, who treated him with theutmost contempt, giving him no thanks for his release. 

On the 16th of February the Princes, being set at liberty, arrived inParis, and, after waiting on the Queen, supped with M. De Beaufort andmyself at the Duc d'Orleans's house, where we drank the King's health and"No Mazarin!"

On the 17th his Royal Highness carried them to the Parliament House, andit is remarkable that the same people who but thirteen months before madebonfires for their confinement did the same now for their release. 

On the 20th the declaration demanded of the King against the Cardinal, being brought to be registered in Parliament, was sent back withindignation because the reason of his removal was coloured over with somany encomiums that it was a perfect panegyric. Honest Broussel, whoalways went greater lengths than anybody, was for excluding all cardinalsfrom the Ministry, as well as foreigners in general, because they swearallegiance to the Pope. The First President, thinking to mortify me, lauded Broussel for a man of admirable good sense, and espoused hisopinion; and the Prince de Conde, too, seemed to be overjoyed, saying, "It is a charming echo. " Indeed, I might well be troubled to think thatthe very day after a treaty wherein the Duc d'Orleans declared that hewas resolved to make me a cardinal, the Prince should second aproposition so derogatory to that dignity. But the truth is, the Princehad no hand in it, for it came naturally, and was supported for no otherreason but because nothing that was brought as an argument againstMazarin could then fail of being approved at the same time. I had somereason to think that the motion was concerted beforehand by my enemies, to keep me out of the Ministry. Nevertheless, I was not offended withthe Parliament, the bulk of whom I knew to be my friends, whose sole aimwas to effectually demolish Mazarin, and I acquiesced in the solidsatisfaction which I had in being considered in the world as the expellerof Mazarin, whom everybody hated, and the deliverer of the Princes, whowere as much their darlings. 

The continual chicanery of the Court provoked the Parliament of Paris towrite to all the Parliaments of France to issue decrees against CardinalMazarin, which they did accordingly. The Parliament obliged the Court toissue a declaration setting forth the innocence of the Princes, andanother for the exclusion of cardinals--French as well asforeigners--from the King's Council, and the Parliament had no rest tillthe Cardinal retired from Sedan to Breule, a house belonging to theElector of Cologne. 

I had advice sent me from the Duchesse d'Orleans to be upon my guard, andthat she was on the point of dying with fear lest the Duke should beforced by the daily menaces of the Court to abandon me. I thereuponwaited on the Duke, and told him that, having had the honour andsatisfaction of serving his Royal Highness in the two affairs which hehad most at heart, --namely, the expelling of Mazarin and the releasing ofthe Princes his cousins, --I found myself now obliged to reassume thefunctions of my profession; that the present opportunity seemed both tofavour and invite my retreat, and if I neglected it I should be the mostimprudent man living, because my presence for the future would not onlybe useless but even prejudicial to his Royal Highness, whom I knew to bedaily importuned and irritated by the Court party merely upon my account;and therefore I conjured him to make himself easy, and give me leave toretire to my cloister. The Duke spared no kind words to retain me in hisservice, promised never to forsake me, confessed that he had been urgedto it by the Queen, and that, though his reunion with her Majesty and thePrinces obliged him to put on the mask of friendship, yet he could neverforget the great affronts and injuries which he had received from theCourt. But all this could not dissuade me, and the Duke at last gave hisapprobation, with repeated assurances to allow me a place next his heartand to correspond with me in secret. 

Having taken my leave of the Princes, I retired accordingly to mycloister of Notre-Dame, where I did not trust Providence so far as toomit the use of human means for defending myself against the insults ofmy enemies. 

Except the visits which I paid in the night-time to the Hotel deChevreuse, I conversed with none but canons and cures. I was the objectof raillery both at Court and at the Palace of Conde; and because I hadset up a bird-cage at a window, it became a common jest that "theCoadjutor whistled to the linnets. " The disposition of Paris, however, made amends for the raillery of the Court. I found myself very secure, while other people were very uneasy. The cures, parish priests, and eventhe mendicants, informed themselves with diligence of the negotiations ofthe Prince de Conde. I gave M. De Beaufort a thrust now and then, whichhe knew not how to parry with all his cunning, and the Duc d'Orleans, whoin his heart was enraged against the Court, continued his correspondencewith me very faithfully. 

Soon after, the Marechal du Plessis came to me at midnight and embracedme, saying, "I greet you as our Prime Minister. " When he saw that Ismiled, he added, "I do not jest; you may be so if you please. The Queenhas ordered me to tell you that she puts the King and Crown into yourhands. " He showed me a letter written in the Cardinal's own hand to theQueen, which concluded thus:

"You know, madame, that the greatest enemy I have in the world is theCoadjutor. Make use of him rather than treat with the Prince upon thoseconditions he demands. Make him a cardinal, give him my place, and lodgehim in my apartments. Perhaps he will be still more attached to the Ducd'Orleans than to your Majesty; but the Duke is not for the ruin of theState. His intentions in the main are not bad. In a word, madame, doanything rather than grant the Prince his demand to have the governmentof Provence added to that of Guienne. "

I told the Marshal that I could not but be highly obliged to hisEminence, and that I was under infinite obligations to the Queen; and toshow my gratitude, I humbly begged her Majesty to permit me to serve herwithout any private interest of my own; said that I was very incapablefor the place of Prime Minister upon many accounts, and that it was notconsistent with her Majesty's dignity to raise a man to that high postwho was still reeking, as it were, with the fumes of faction. 

"But, " said the Marshal, "the place must be filled by somebody, and aslong as it is vacant the Prince will be always urging that CardinalMazarin is to have it again. "

"You have, " said I, "persons much fitter for it than I. " Then he showedme a letter signed by the Queen, promising me all manner of security if Iwould come to Court. I went thither at midnight, according to agreement, and the Marshal, who introduced me to the Queen by the back stairs, having withdrawn, her Majesty used all the arguments she could topersuade me to accept the place of Prime Minister, which I was determinedto refuse, because I found that she had the Cardinal at heart more thanever; for, as soon as she saw I would not accept the post of PrimeMinister, she offered me the cardinal's hat, but with this proviso, thatI would use my utmost endeavours towards the restoration of CardinalMazarin. Then I judged it high time for me to speak my mind, which I didas follows:

"It is a great affliction to me, madame, that public affairs are reducedto such a pass as not only warrants, but even commands a subject to speakto his sovereign in the style in which I am now about to address yourMajesty. It is well known to you that one of my worst crimes in theCardinal's opinion is that I foretold all these things, and that I havepassed for the author of events of which I was only the prophet. YourMajesty would fain extricate yourself with honour, and you are in theright; but permit me to tell you, as my opinion, that it can never beeffected so long as your Majesty entertains any thoughts ofreestablishing Mazarin. I should fail in the respect I owe to yourMajesty if I pretended to thwart your Majesty's opinion with regard tothe Cardinal in any other way than with my most humble remonstrances; butI humbly conceive I do but discharge my bounden duty while I respectfullyrepresent to your Majesty wherein I may be serviceable or useless to youat this critical juncture. Your Majesty has the Prince to cope with, who, indeed, is for the restoration of the Cardinal, but upon conditionthat you give him such powers beforehand as will enable him to ruin himat pleasure. To resist the Prince you want the Duc d'Orleans, who isabsolutely against the Cardinal's reestablishment, and who, provided hebe excluded, will do what your Majesty pleases to command him. You willneither satisfy the Prince nor the Duke. I am extremely desirous toserve your Majesty against the one and with the other, but I can doneither the one nor the other without making use of proper means forobtaining those two different ends. "

"Come over to me, " said she, "and I shall not care a straw for all theDuke can do. "

I answered, "Should I do so, and should it appear never so little that Iwas on terms of reconciliation with the Cardinal, I could serve yourMajesty with neither the Duke nor the people, for both would hate memortally, and I should be as useless to your Majesty as the Bishop ofDole. "

At this the Queen was very angry, and said, "Heaven bless my son theKing, for he is deserted by all the world! I do all I can for you, Ioffer you a place in my Council, I offer you the cardinalship; pray whatwill you do for me?"

I said that I did not come to receive favours, but to try to merit them. 

At this the Queen's countenance began to brighten, and she said, verysoftly, "What is it, then, that you will do?"

"Madame, " said I, "I will oblige the Prince, before a week is at an end, to leave Paris; and I will detach the Duke from his interest to-morrow. "

The Queen, overjoyed, held out her hand and said, "Give me yours, and Ipromise you that you shall be cardinal the next day, and the second manin my friendship. " She desired also that Mazarin and I might be goodfriends; but I answered that the least touch upon that string would putme out of tune and render me incapable of doing her any service;therefore I conjured her to let me still enjoy the character of being hisenemy. 

"Was anything, " said the Queen, "ever so strange and unaccountable? Canyou not possibly serve me without being the enemy of him in whom I mostconfide?"

I told her it must needs be so. "Madame, " I said, "I humbly beseech yourMajesty to let me tell you that, as long as the place of Prime Ministeris not filled up, the Prince will increase in power on pretence that itis kept vacant to receive the Cardinal by a speedy restoration. "

"You see, " said her Majesty, "how the Prince treats me; he has insultedme ever since I disowned my two traitors, --Servien and Lionne. " I tookthe opportunity while she was flushed with anger to make my court to herby saying that before two days were at an end the Prince should affronther no longer. But the tenderness she had for her beloved Cardinal madeher unwilling to consent that I should continue to exclaim against hisEminence in Parliament, where one was obliged to handle him very roughlyalmost every quarter of an hour. She bade me remember that it was theCardinal who had solicited my nomination. I answered that I was highlyobliged to his Eminence upon that score, and that I was ready to give himproofs of my acknowledgment in anything wherein my honour was notconcerned, but that I should be a double-dealer if I promised tocontribute to his reestablishment. Then she said, "Go! you are a verydevil. See Madame Palatine, and let me hear from you the night beforeyou go to the Parliament. "

I do not think I was in the wrong to refuse her offer. We must neverjest with proffered service; for if it be real, we can never embrace ittoo much; but if false, we can never keep at too great a distance. Ilamented to the public the sad condition of our affairs, which hadobliged me to leave my dear retirement, where, after so much disturbanceand confusion, I hoped to enjoy comfortable rest; that we were fallinginto a worse condition than we were in before, because the State sufferedmore by the daily negotiations carried on with Mazarin than it had doneby his administrations; and that the Queen was still buoyed up with hopesof his reestablishment. 

The Prince de Conde having inflamed the Parliament, to make himself moreformidable to the Queen and Court, some new scenes were opened every day. At one time they sent to the provinces to inform against the Cardinal; atanother time they made search after his effects at Paris. 

I went one day with four hundred men in my company to the ParliamentHouse, where the Prince de Conde inveighed against the exportation ofmoney out of the kingdom by the Cardinal's banker. But afterwards Iabsented myself for awhile from Parliament, which made me suspected ofbeing less an enemy to the Cardinal, and I was pelted with a dozen orfifteen libels in the space of a fortnight, by a fellow whose nose hadbeen slit for writing a lampoon against a lady of quality. I composed ashort but general answer to all, entitled "An Apology for the Ancient andTrue Fronde. " There was a strong paper war between the old and newFronde for three or four months, but afterwards they united in the attackon Mazarin. There were about sixty volumes of tracts written during thecivil war, but I am sure that there are not a hundred sheets worthreading. 

I was sent for again to another private conference with the Queen, who, dreading an arrangement with the Prince de Conde, was for his beingarrested, and advised me to consider how it might be done. It seems thatM. Hoquincourt had offered to kill him in the street, as the shortest wayto be rid of him, for she desired me to confer about it with Hoquincourt, "who will, " said she, "show you a much surer way. " The Queen, nevertheless, would not own she had ever such a thought, though she washeard to say, "The Coadjutor is not a man of so much courage as I tookhim for. "

The next day I was informed that the Queen could endure the Prince nolonger, and that she had advices that he had formed a design to seize theKing; that he had despatched orders to Flanders to treat with theSpaniards, and that either he or she must be ruined; that she was not forshedding blood, and that what Hoquincourt proposed was far from it, because he promised to secure the Prince without striking a blow if Iwould answer for the people. 

The Parliament continued to prosecute Mazarin, who was convicted ofembezzling some nine millions of the public money. The Prince assembledthe Chambers, and persuaded them to issue a new decree against all thoseof the Court party who held correspondence with the said Cardinal. 

The Prince de Conde, being uneasy at seeing Mazarin's creatures still atCourt, retired to Saint Maur on the 6th of July, 1651. On the 7th thePrince de Conti acquainted the Parliament with the reasons for hisdeparture, and talked in general of the warnings he had received fromdifferent hands of a design the Court had formed against his life, addingthat his brother could not be safe at Court as long as Tellier, Servien, and Lionne were not removed. There was a very hot debate in the ensuingsession between the Prince de Conti and the First President. The lattertalked very warmly against his retreat to Saint Maur, and called it amelancholy prelude to a civil war. He hinted also that the said Princewas the author of the late disturbances, upon which the Prince de Contithreatened that had he been in any other place he would have taught himto observe the respect due to Princes of the blood. The First Presidentsaid that he did not fear his threats, and that he had reason to complainof his Royal Highness for presuming to interrupt him in a place where herepresented the King's person. Both parties were now in hot blood, andthe Duke, who was very glad to see it, did not interpose till he couldnot avoid it, and then he told them both that they should endeavour tokeep their temper. 

On the 14th of July a decree was passed, upon a motion made by the Ducd'Orleans, that the thanks of the Parliament should be presented to herMajesty for her gracious promise that the Cardinal should never return;that she should be most humbly entreated to send a declaration toParliament, and likewise to give the Prince de Conde all the necessarysecurities for his return; and that those persons who kept upcorrespondence with Mazarin should be immediately prosecuted. 

On the 18th the First President carried the remonstrances of theParliament to the Queen, and though he took care to keep within the termsof the decree, by not naming the under ministers, yet he pointed them outin such a manner that the Queen complained bitterly, saying that theFirst President was "an unaccountable man, and more vexatious than any ofthe malcontents. "

When I took the liberty to show her that the representative of anassembly could not, without prevarication, but deliver the thoughts ofthe whole body, though they might be different from his own, she replied, very angrily, "These are mere republican maxims. "

I will give you an account of the success of the remonstrances after Ihave related an adventure to you which happened at the Parliament Houseduring these debates. 

The importance of the subject drew thither a large number of ladies whowere curious to hear what passed. Madame and Mademoiselle de Chevreuse, with many other ladies, were there the evening before the decree waspassed; but they were singled out from the rest by one Maillard, abrawling fellow, hired by the Prince's party. As ladies are commonlyafraid of a crowd, they stayed till the Duc d'Orleans and the rest weregone out, but when they came into the hall they were hooted by twenty orthirty ragamuffins of the same quality as their leader, who was acobbler. I knew nothing of it till I came to the Palace of Chevreuse, where I found Madame de Chevreuse in a rage and her daughter in tears. Iendeavoured to comfort them by the assurance that I would take care toget the scoundrels punished in an exemplary manner that very day. Butthese were too inconsiderable victims to atone for such an affront, andwere therefore rejected with indignation. The blood of Bourbon onlycould make amends for the injury done to that of Lorraine. These werethe very words of Madame de Chevreuse. They resolved at last upon thisexpedition, --to go again next morning to the House, but so wellaccompanied as to be in a condition of making themselves respected, andof giving the Prince de Conti to understand that it was to his interestto keep his party for the future from committing the like insolence. Montresor, who happened to be with us, did all he could to convince theladies how dangerous it was to make a private quarrel of a public one, especially at a time when a Prince of the blood might possibly lose hislife in the fray. When he found that he could not prevail upon them, heused all means to persuade me to put off my resentment, for which end hedrew me aside to tell me what joy and triumph it would be to my enemiesto suffer myself to be captivated or led away by the violence of theladies' passion. I made him the following answer: "I am certainly toblame, both with regard to my profession and on account of my having myhands full, to be so far engaged with Mademoiselle de Chevreuse; but, considering the obligation I am under to her, and that it is too late torecede from it, I am in the right in demanding satisfaction in thispresent juncture. I will not by any means assassinate the Prince deConti; but she may command me to do anything except poisoning orassassinating, and therefore speak no more to me on this head. "

The ladies went again, therefore, next day, being accompanied by fourhundred gentlemen and above four thousand of the most substantialburghers. The rabble that was hired to make a clamour in the Great Hallsneaked out of sight, and the Prince de Conti, who had not been apprisedof this assembly, which was formed with great secrecy, was fain to passby Madame and Mademoiselle de Chevreuse with demonstrations of theprofoundest respect, and to suffer Maillard, who was caught on the stairsof the chapel, to be soundly cudgelled. 

I return to the issue of the remonstrances. The Queen told the deputiesthat she would next morning send to the House a declaration againstCardinal Mazarin. 

On the 21st the Prince de Conde came to Parliament accompanied by M. DeLa Rochefoucault and fifty or sixty gentlemen, and congratulated themupon the removal of the ministers, but said that it could not beeffectual without inserting an article in the declaration which the Queenhad promised to send to the Parliament. The First President said that itwould be both unjust and inconsistent with the respect due to the Queento demand new conditions of her every day; that her Majesty's promise, ofwhich she had made the Parliament a depositary, was a sufficientsecurity; that it was to be wished that the Prince had shown a dueconfidence therein by repairing to the Palais Royal rather than to acourt of justice; and that the post he was in obliged him to express hissurprise at such conduct. The Prince replied that the First Presidenthad no reason to wonder at his great precautions, since he (the Prince)knew by recent woeful experience what it was to live in a prison; andthat it was notorious that the Cardinal ruled now in the Cabinet moreabsolutely than ever he did before. 

The Duc d'Orleans, who was gone to Limours on pretence of taking the air, though on purpose to be absent from Parliament, being informed that thevery women cried at the King's coach "No Mazarin!" and that the Prince deConde, as well attended as his Majesty, had met the King in the park, wasso frightened that he returned to Paris, and on the 2d of August went toParliament, where I appeared with all my friends and a great number ofwealthy citizens. The First President mightily extolled the Queen'sgoodness in making the Parliament the depositary of her promise for thesecurity of the Prince, who, being there present, was asked by the FirstPresident if he had waited on the King? The Prince said he had not, because he knew there would be danger in it, having been well informedthat secret conferences had been held to arrest him, and that in a propertime and place he would name the authors. The Prince added thatmessengers were continually going and coming betwixt the Court andMazarin at Breule, and that Marechal d'Aumont had orders to cut to piecesthe regiments of Conde, Conti, and Enghien, which was the only reasonthat had hindered them from joining the King's army. 

The First President told him that he was sorry to see him there before hehad waited on the King, and that it seemed as if he were for setting upaltar against altar. This nettled the Prince to that degree that he saidthat those who talked against him had only self-interests in view. TheFirst President denied that he had any such aim, and said that he wasaccountable to the King only for his actions. Then he exaggerated thedanger of the State from the unhappy division of the royal family. 

Finally it was resolved, 'nemine contradicente', that theSolicitor-General should be commissioned to prosecute those who hadadvised the arrest of the Prince de Conde; that the Queen's promise forthe safety of the Prince should be registered; that his Royal Highnessshould be desired by the whole assembly to go and wait on the King; andthat the decrees passed against the servitors of Mazarin should be putinto execution. The Prince, who seemed very well satisfied, said thatnothing less than this could assure him of his safety. The Duc d'Orleanscarried him to the King and the Queen, from whom he met with but a coldreception. 

At the close of this session the declaration against the Cardinal wasread and sent back to the Chancellor, because it was not inserted thatthe Cardinal had hindered the Peace of Munster, and advised the King toundertake the journey and siege of Bordeaux, contrary to the opinion ofthe Duc d'Orleans. 

The Queen, provoked by the conduct of the Prince de Conde, who rodethrough the streets of Paris better attended than the King, and also bythat of the Duke, whom she found continually given to change, resolved, in a fit of despair, to hazard all at once. M. De Chateauneuf flatteredher inclination on that point, and she was confirmed in it by a fierydespatch from Mazarin at Bruele. She told the Duc d'Orleans plainly thatshe could no longer continue in her present condition, demanded hisexpress declaration for or against her, and charged me, in his presence, to keep the promise I had made her, to declare openly against the Princeif he continued to go on as he had begun. 

Her Majesty was convinced that I acted sincerely for her service, andthat I made no scruple to keep my promise; and she condescended to makeapologies for the distrust she had entertained of my conduct, and for theinjustice she owned she had done me. 

On the 19th, the Prince de Conde having taxed me with being the author ofa paper against him, which was read that day in the House, said he had apaper, signed by the Duc d'Orleans, which contained his justification, and that he should be much obliged to the Parliament if they would bepleased to desire her Majesty to name his accusers, against whom hedemanded justice. As to the paper of which he charged me with being theauthor, he said it was a composition worthy of a man who had advised thearming of the Parisians and the wresting of the seals from him with whomthe Queen had entrusted them. 

The Prince de Conti was observed to press his brother to resent what Isaid in my defence, but he kept his temper; for though I was very wellaccompanied, yet he was considerably superior to me in numbers, so thatif the sword had been drawn he must have had the advantage. But Iresolved to appear there the next day with a greater retinue. The Queenwas transported with joy to hear that there were men who had theresolution to dispute the wall with the Prince. 

["The Queen, " says M. De La Rochefoucault in his Memoirs, "was overjoyedto see two men at variance whom in her heart she hated almost equally. .. . Nevertheless, she seemed to protect the Coadjutor. "]

She ordered thirty gendarmes and as many Light-horse to be posted where Ipleased; I had forty men sent me, picked out of the sergeants and bravestsoldiers of one of the regiments of Guards, and some of the officers ofthe city companies, and assembled a great number of substantial burghers, all of whom had pistols and daggers under their cloaks. I also sent manyof my men to the eating-houses thereabouts, so that the Great Hall was, as it were, invested on every side with my friends. I posted thirtygentlemen as a reserve in a convenient chamber, who, in case of anattack, were to assault the party of the Prince in flank and rear. I hadalso laid up a store of grenades. In a word, my measures were so nicelyconcerted, both within and without the Parliament House, that PontNotre-Dame and Pont Saint Michel, who were passionately in my interest, only waited for the signal; so that in all likelihood I could not fail ofbeing conqueror. 

On the morning of the 21st all the Prince de Conde's humble servantsrepaired to his house, and my friends did the like to mine, particularlythe Marquises of Rouillac and Camillac, famous both for their courage andextravagances. As soon as the latter saw Rouillac, he made me a low bowin a withdrawing posture, saying, "Monsieur, I came to offer you myservice, but it is not reasonable that the two greatest fools in thekingdom should be of the same side. " The Prince came to the House with anumerous attendance, and though I believe he had not so many as I, he hadmore persons of quality, for I had only the Fronde nobility on my side, except three or four who, though in the Queen's interest, werenevertheless my particular friends; this disadvantage, however, wasabundantly made up by the great interest I had among the people and theadvantageous posts I was possessed of. After the Prince had taken hisplace, he said that he was surprised to see the Parliament House lookmore like a camp than a temple of justice; that there were posts taken, and men under command; and that he hoped there were not men in thekingdom so insolent as to dispute the precedence with him. Whereupon Ihumbly begged his pardon, and told him that I believed there was not aman in France so insolent as to do it; but that there were some who couldnot, nor indeed ought not, on account of their dignity, yield theprecedence to any man but the King. The Prince replied that he wouldmake me yield it to him. I told him he would find it no easy matter. Upon this there was a great outcry, and the young councillors of bothparties interested themselves in the contest, which, you see, beganpretty warmly. The Presidents interposed between us, conjuring him tohave some regard to the temple of justice and the safety of the city, anddesiring that all the nobility and others in the hall that were armedmight be turned out. He approved of it, and bade M. De La Rochefoucaultgo and tell his friends so from him. Upon which I said, "I will order myfriends to withdraw also. " Young D'Avaux, now President de Mesmes, thenin the Prince's interest, said, "What! monsieur, are youarmed?"--"Without doubt, " I said; though I had better have held mytongue, because an inferior ought to be respectful in words to hissuperior, though he may equal him in actions. Neither is it allowable ina Churchman when armed to confess it. There are some things wherein menare willing to be deceived. Actions very often vindicate men'sreputations in what they do against the dignity of their profession, butnothing can justify words that are inconsistent with their character. 

As I had desired my friends to withdraw, and was entering into the Courtof Judicature, I heard an uproar in the hall of people crying out "Toarms!" I had a mind to go back to see what was the matter; but I had nottime to do it, for I found myself caught by the neck between the foldingdoors, which M. De La Rochefoucault had shut on me, crying out to MM. Coligny and Ricousse to kill me. 

[This action is very much disguised and softened in the Memoirs ofRochefoucault. M. Joly, in his Memoirs, vol. I. , p. 155, tells it almostin. .. The same manner as the Cardinal de Retz. ]

The first thought he was not in earnest, and the other told him he had nosuch order from the Prince. M. Champlatreux, running into the hall andseeing me in that condition, vigorously pushed back M. De LaRochefoucault, telling him that a murder of that nature was horrible andscandalous. He opened the door and let me in. But this was not thegreatest danger I was in, as you will see after I have told you thebeginning and end of it. 

Two or three of the Prince de Conde's mob cried out, as soon as they sawme, "A Mazarin!" Two of the Prince's soldiers drew their swords, thosenext to them cried out, "To your arms!" and in a trice all were in afighting posture. My friends drew their swords, daggers, and pistols, and yet, as it were by a miracle, they stopped their hands on a suddenfrom action; for in that very instant of time, Crenan, one of my oldfriends, who commanded a company of the Prince de Conti's gendarmes, saidto Laigues, "What are we doing? Must we let the Prince de Conde and theCoadjutor be murdered? Whoever does not put up his sword is a rascal!"This expression coming from a man of great courage and reputation, everyone did as he bade them. Nor is Argenteuil's courage and presence ofmind to be less admired. He being near me when I was caught by the neckbetween the folding doors, and observing one Peche, --[Joly calls him "Thegreat clamourer of the Prince. " See his Memoirs, p. 157. ]--a brawlingfellow of the Prince's party, looking for me with a dagger in his hand, screened me with his cloak, and thereby saved my life, which was in themore danger because my friends, who supposed I was gone into the GreatChamber, stayed behind to engage with the Prince de Conde's party. ThePrince told me since that it was well I kept on the defensive, and thathad the noise in the hall continued but a minute longer, he would himselfhave taken me by the throat and made me pay for all; but I am fullypersuaded that the consequences would have been fatal to both parties, and that he himself had had a narrow escape. 

As soon as I reentered the Great Chamber I told the First President thatI owed my life to his son, who on that occasion did the most generousaction that a man of honour was capable of, because he was passionatelyattached to the Prince de Conde, and was persuaded, though without acause, that I was concerned in above twenty editions against his fatherduring the siege of Paris. There are few actions more heroic than this, the memory of which I shall carry to my grave. I also added that M. DeLa Rochefoucault had done all he could to murder me. '

[The Duke answered, as he says himself in his Memoirs, that fear haddisturbed his judgment, etc. See in the Memoirs of M. De LaRochefoucault, the relation of what passed after the confinement of thePrinces. ]

He answered me these very words: "Thou traitor, I don't care what becomesof thee. " I replied, "Very well, Friend Franchise" (we gave him thatnickname in our party); "you are a coward" (I told a lie, for he wascertainly a brave man), "and I am a priest; but dueling is not allowedus. " M. De Brissac threatened to cudgel him, and he to kick Brissac. ThePresident, fearing these words would end in blows, got between us. TheFirst President conjured the Prince pathetically, by the blood of SaintLouis, not to defile with blood that temple which he had given for thepreservation of peace and the protection of justice; and exhorted me, bymy sacred character, not to contribute to the massacre of the people whomGod had committed to my charge. Both the Prince and I sent out twogentlemen to order our friends and servants to retire by different ways. The clock struck ten, the House rose, and thus ended that morning's work, which was likely to have ruined Paris. 

You may easily guess what a commotion Paris was in all that morning. Tradesmen worked in their shops with their muskets by them, and the womenwere at prayers in the churches. Sadness sat on the brows of all whowere not actually engaged in either party. The Prince, if we may believethe Comte de Fiesque, told him that Paris narrowly escaped being burntthat day. "What a fine bonfire this would have been for the Cardinal, "said he; "especially to see it lighted by the two greatest enemies hehad!"

The Duc d'Orleans, quite tired out with the cries of the people, who ranaffrighted to his palace, and fearing that the commotion would not stopat the Parliament House, made the Prince promise that he would not gonext day to the Parliament with above five in company, provided I wouldengage to carry no more. I begged his Royal Highness to excuse me if Idid not comply, because I should be wanting in my respect to the Prince, with whom I ought not to make any comparison, and because I should bestill exposed to a pack of seditious brawlers, who cried out against me, having no laws nor owning any chief. I added that it was only againstthis sort of people that I armed; that there was so little comparisonbetween a private gentleman and his Highness that five hundred men wereless to the Prince than a single lackey to me. The Duke, who owned I wasin the right, went to the Queen to represent to her the evil consequencesthat would inevitably attend such measures. 

The Queen, who neither feared nor foresaw dangers, made no account of hisremonstrances, for she was glad in the main of the dangers which seemedto be so near at hand. When Bertet and Brachet, who crept up to thegarrets of the Palais Royal for fear of having their throats cut in thegeneral commotion, had made her sensible that if the Prince and myselfshould perish in such a juncture it would occasion such a confusion thatthe very name of Mazarin might become fatal to the royal family, sheyielded rather to her fears than to her convictions, and consented tosend an order in the King's name to forbid both the Prince and me to goto the House. The First President, who was well assured that the Princewould not obey an order of that nature, which could not be forced uponhim with justice, because his presence was necessary in the Parliament, went to the Queen and made her sensible that it would be against alljustice and equity to forbid the Prince to be present in an assemblywhere he went only to clear himself from a crime laid to his charge. Heshowed her the difference between the first Prince of the blood, whosepresence would be necessary in that conjuncture, and a Coadjutor ofParis, who never had a seat in the Parliament but by courtesy. 

The Queen yielded at last to these reasons and to the entreaties of allthe Court ladies, who dreaded the noise and confusion which was likely tooccur next day in the Parliament House. 

The Parliament met next day, and resolved that all the papers, both ofthe Queen, the Duc d'Orleans, and the Prince de Conde, should be carriedto the King and Queen, that her Majesty should be humbly entreated toterminate the affair, and that the Duc d'Orleans should be desired tomake overtures towards a reconciliation. 

As the Prince was coming out of the Parliament House, attended by amultitude of his friends, I met him in his coach as I was at the head ofa procession of thirty or forty cures of Paris, followed by a greatnumber of people. Upon my approach, three or four of the mob followingthe Prince cried out, "A Mazarin!" but the Prince alighted and silencedthem. 

[M. De La Rochefoucault, in his Memoirs, says that the people abused theCoadjutor with scurrilous language, and would have torn him in pieces ifthe prince had not ordered his men to appease the tumult. ]

He then fell on his knees to receive my blessing, which I gave him withmy hat on, and then pulled it off in obeisance. 

The Queen was so well pleased with my prudent conduct that I can trulysay I was a favourite for some days. Madame de Carignan was telling herone day that I was very homely, to which the Queen replied, "He has avery fine set of teeth, and a man cannot be called homely who has thisornament. " Madame de Chevreuse remembered that she had often heard theQueen say that the beauty of a man consisted chiefly in his teeth, because it was the only beauty which was of any use. Therefore sheadvised me to act my part well, and she should not despair of success. "When you are with the Queen, " said she, "be serious; look continually onher hands, storm against the Cardinal, and I will take care of the rest"I asked two or three audiences of the Queen upon very trifling occasions, followed Madame de Chevreuse's plan very closely, and carried myresentment and passion against the Cardinal even to extravagance. TheQueen, who was naturally a coquette, understood those airs, andacquainted Madame de Chevreuse therewith, who pretended to be surprised, saying, "Indeed, I have heard the Coadjutor talk of your Majesty wholedays with delight; but if the conversation happened to touch upon theCardinal, he was no longer the same man, and even raved against yourMajesty, but immediately relented towards you, though never towards theCardinal. "

Madame de Chevreuse, who was the Queen's confidante in her youth, gave mesuch a history of her early days as I cannot omit giving you, though Ishould have done it sooner. She told me that the Queen was neither inbody nor mind truly Spanish; that she had neither the temperament nor thevivacity of her nation, but only the coquetry of it, which she retainedin perfection; that M. Bellegarde, a gallant old gentleman, after thefashion of the Court of Henri III. , pleased her till he was going to thearmy, when he begged for one favour before his departure, which was onlyto put her hand to the hilt of his sword, a compliment so insipid thather Majesty was out of conceit with him ever after. She approved thegallant manner of M. De Montmorency much more than she loved his person. The aversion she had to the pedantic behaviour of Cardinal de Richelieu, who in his amours was as ridiculous as he was in other things excellent, made her irreconcilable to his addresses. She had observed from thebeginning of the Regency a great inclination in the Queen for Mazarin, but that she had not been able to discover how far that inclination went, because she (Madame de Chevreuse) had been banished from the Court verysoon after; and that upon her return to France, after the siege of Paris, the Queen was so reserved at first with her that it was impossible forher to dive into her secrets. That since she regained her Majesty'sfavour she had sometimes observed the same airs in her with regard toCardinal Mazarin as she used to display formerly in favour of the Duke ofBuckingham; but at other times she thought that there was no more betweenthem than a league of friendship. The chief ground for her conjecturewas the impolite and almost rude way in which the Cardinal conversed withher Majesty. "But, however, " said Madame de Chevreuse, "when I reflecton the Queen's humour, all this may admit of another interpretation. Buckingham used to tell me that he had been in love with three Queens, and was obliged to curb all the three; therefore I cannot tell what tothink of the matter. "

To resume the history of more public affairs. I did not so far pleasemyself with the figure I made against the Prince (though I thought itvery much for my honour), but I saw clearly that I stood on a dangerousprecipice. 

"Whither are we going?" I said to M. Bellievre, who seemed to beoverjoyed that the Prince had not been able to devour me; "for whom do welabour? I know that we are obliged to act as we do; I know, too, that wecannot do better; but should we rejoice at the fatal necessity whichpushes us on to exert an action comparatively good and which willunavoidably end in a superlative evil?"

"I understand you, " said the President, "and will interrupt you for onemoment to tell you what I learned of Cromwell" (whom he had known inEngland). "He told me one day that it is then we are mounting highestwhen we ourselves do not know whither we are going. "

"You know, monsieur, " said I to Bellievre, "that I abhor Cromwell; andwhatever is commonly reported of his great parts, if he is of thisopinion, I must pronounce him a fool. "

I mentioned this dialogue for no other purpose than to observe howdangerous it is to talk disrespectfully of men in high positions; for itwas carried to Cromwell, who remembered it with a great deal ofresentment on an occasion which I shall mention hereafter, and said to M. De Bourdeaux, Ambassador of France, then in England, "I know but one manin the world who despises me, and that is Cardinal de Retz. " Thisopinion of him was likely to have cost me very dear. I return from thisdigression. 

On the 31st, Melayer, valet de chambre to the Cardinal, arrived with adespatch to the Queen, in which were these words: "Give the Prince deConde all the declarations of his innocence that he can desire, providedyou can but amuse him and hinder him from giving you the slip. "

On the 4th the Prince de Conde insisted in Parliament on a formal decreefor declaring his innocence, which was granted, but deferred to bepublished till the 7th of September (the day that the King came of age), on pretence of rendering it more authentic and solemn by the King'spresence, but really to gain time, and see what influence the splendourof royalty, which was to be clothed that day with all the advantages ofpomp, would have upon the minds of the people. 

But the Prince de Conde, who had reason to distrust both the Fronde andthe Court, did not appear at the ceremony, and sent the Prince de Contito the King to desire to be excused, because the calumnies andtreacheries of his enemies would not suffer him to come to the Palace;adding that he kept away out of pure respect to his Majesty. This lastexpression, which seemed to intimate that otherwise he might have gonethither without danger, provoked the Queen to that degree that she said, "The Prince or I must perish. "

The Prince de Conde retired to Bourges, --further from Court. He wasnaturally averse to a civil war, nor would his adherents have been moreforward than himself if they had found their interests in hisreconciliation to the Court; but this seemed impracticable, and thereforethey agreed upon a civil war, because none of them believed themselvespowerful enough to conclude a peace. They know nothing of the nature offaction who imagine the head of a party to be their master. His trueinterest is most commonly thwarted by the imaginary interests even of hissubalterns, and the worst of it is that his own honour sometimes, andgenerally prudence, joins with them against himself. The passions anddiscontent which reigned then among the friends of the Prince de Conderan so high that they were obliged to abandon him and form a third party, under the authority of the Prince de Conti, in case the Princeaccomplished his reconciliation to the Court, according to a propositionthen made to him in the name of the Duc d'Orleans. The subdivision ofparties is generally the ruin of all, especially when it is introduced bycunning views, directly contrary to prudence; and this is what theItalians call, in comedy, a "plot within a plot, " or a "wheel within awheel. "

ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:

Buckingham had been in love with three QueensCivil war as not powerful enough to conclude a peaceInsinuation is of more service than that of persuasionMan that supposed everybody had a back doorMazarin: embezzling some nine millions of the public moneyPassed for the author of events of which I was only the prophetThe subdivision of parties is generally the ruin of allThe wisest fool he ever saw in his lifeWho imagine the head of a party to be their master