T HE LI F E

CARDI NAL RI CHE LI E U .

W I L LIA M RO B S O N,

T m n s m r o n or
’
m cn m n s
“
m s r om z -o r
' '
m E B U S A D BS , n o. E T C .

afi iflg m um m ns i llu s tra timts .

L ON DON
 PRE F ACE .

W H E N u n derta kin g to wri te a l ife of C a r di n a l

Ri c h eli eu I w a s qu it e s u ffi cie n tly i mp r e sse d w ith th e
,

diffic u l ties of th e ta s k I n the first pl a c e I kn e w

.
,

that n o on e shoul d atte mpt to g i ve a n accou n t of th e

a ctio n s o f a n y di st i n g ui s he d char a cter wit h o u t m a ki n g
,

a n ear n e s t a n d u n prej u d ice d in qui ry in t o the m o t ives ,

the ca rr yi n g ou t a n d the resul t s of them i n t h e n e x t

, ,
'

I believe t h at there e x ists n o s u ch e xtr a or di n a r y dis

c r e a n cy in the m at er i als a t comm a n d resp ect in g th e
p ,

histo ry of a n y p erson a s i n th e i n sta n c e o f Richeli e u

, .

With so me w rit e rs h e i s ab ove hum anity — W ith at leas t

,

a s m any far be n e a th it a n d lastly th e m a n h i s

, , ,

p olicy hi s p ow er , t ogether wi th th e p erso n ages he w a s

,

mi x e d u p w i th a n d the t i m es h e li ve d i n h av e prove d
, ,

so attra cti v e to n oveli st s a n d play w riters t h at -

,

Rich elieu h a s tak e n a pl a c e a n d a c olouri n g in th e

m inds o f ge n eral readers which n o sober an d h o n est
,

biographe r c a n h op e to rem ove or equal .

F or th e a ctio n s of thi s w orld fam ed m in is ter I have

-

go n e to e very authority av ail able whethe r writte n

,

co n te m p oran e o u sly or subse quently . F ortu n a tel y i n ,

b
iv PRE F ACE .

a dd it i o n to n u m ero us e x p re s s a ccou n t s of h i m a t h is ,

er i od m emoi rs be g a n to a b o u n d a n d o f these I have

p
m ade free b ut c aut i o u s u s e
,
M em o irs a r e e steem ed
.
,

a n d j u stly g reat a ssistant s t o m oder n history

,
but a t
th e sam e t i m e th ere i s n o e v ide n ce w e should be m ore
c areful i n a dmitt i n g There are n ecessaril y m ore
.
, ,

p erso n al b i a se s i n
p ri va t e m em o ir s t h a n in a n
y other
descri p ti on o f wr i tin g t ha t c a n b e co n s ul te d a s h i story .

A fter e x a m ini ng several of th e e st abli she d b i og rap hi es

o f the Card in al I a d o pte d Le C lerc a s the b est u i de
, g
i n the c ourse of the eve n t s ; a nd I w a s l e d th e m ore
r ea dil y to d o s o fro m fi n di n g hi m m oderat e th ough
li ber a l a n d wh i lst e xp ress in g a b horre n ce for th e
,

C ar di n a l s e n o rmi ties ful ly a c k n o wledg in g hi s m er i t s

’

a s a m i n ister T o reco n cil e the discrep a n c i es wa s a

.

t hi n g im p o ss i ble therefore th e o n ly w ay w a s to s u b
°

m i t the c lash i n g acco u n t s t o the t est o f hi story .Th e

r esult s o f th e a c t i o n s o f such a m a n a s Ri chel i e u a fford

u s a c learer a n d sou n der kn o wled g e of th em tha n the

r i t ers ca n d o A
j
r elat i o n s o f p re u d i ced
p a r ty w . s re

ards th e m is leadi n g hal o o f r o m a n c e wi th wh i ch the

g ,

n a m e i s sur ro un ded I happ e n to be s om ewhat fo r

,
’
tu n a te l y placed 3 for wi th th e e x c ept i o n o f Dum a s
,

“ ”
Three M u s k eteers which n ot w i thsta n d in g n u m erous
, ,

fa ul ts i s st r iki n gly c orr e c t a s to the cha racters a n d the

,

p er i od ,
I n e ver rea d o r s a w either n ovel o r play o f
w hi ch Rich eli e u w a s the hero But t houg h fa n cy
.
“

”
free myse lf I have g reat dre a d that my hear ers m a y
,

n ot be s o a n d that they w ill ta k e u a li fe o f Richel i eu

, p
w ith th e e x p ec ta t i o n of bein g e x cite d i n eve r y pag e .

N ow n o m a n m o re completely belo n g s to th e hi s t o ry
o f h is t im es tha n he does 3 o u ca n n o m o r e s epa r ate
y
 PREFA CE . V

A rm a n d Je a n D u P lessi s C ar di n a l du k e de R i ch eli e u
,
-
,

fr om Lo ui s X II I of F r a n c e tha n you c a n t hi n k of
.
,

C a s t o r Wi th out P ollu x A belard w i th out Helo i se o r

’

, ,

Ro m e o w i th out J u lie t a n d of a ll th e s overe i g n s t h at

ever e xi sted Louis X III w a s on e of th e m os t vap i d
, .

a n d uni n terest in .
g F au st w a s n ot a fo ol th erefore ,

th e m achin atio n s o f M ep h i s tophil es a r e w o rth w at ch

i ng but Lo ui s w a s a p ip e that m i g ht have bee n
p layed on by mu ch l e s s s ki lfu l p erfor m e rs tha n
Ri ch eli e u. B e s i des a mi ni st er h a s n ot onl y to w eave
,

o r to u n ra vel c o u rt cabal s to th wa r t amo r ou s i n trigu e s

, ,

a n d t erri fy a l l a rou n d h i m w i th hi s m yster i ou s p ower

h e m u st be a fin a n c i er a n d b e ve r sed in th e dull a rcan a

,

o f fore i g n d iplomacy .Richelieu had n ot on ly to fo il

B u c ki n gham o r th e D u chess de Chev r eu se —h e had to ,

o b se r ve a n d comp et e w i th O x e n s ti er n G rotius an d , ,

O li vare z : he h a d n ot o n ly to display sple n dou r i n

h imsel f a n d h i s n o m in al m a s ter h e h a d t o rac k th e
,
-

e a sa nt ry a n d o pre ss a l l th e m i ddle classes to obt a in

p p
m ea n s to pay fo r i t . I o n ly dra w att e n t i o n to these
c ircum sta n ce s fo r th e purp ose o f rem i n d i n g my readers

that th ey m u st n o t loo k for a ro m a n ce but at the

sam e tim e if they feel a ra tio n al desire to b e m ade
a cquai n ted with th e h i story o f a m a n eminently r e ,

m ark able i n h i m self an d e x ceedin gl y in flue n tial u p o n

,

h i s n at io n I feel but lit t l e apprehe n s i o n in layi n g the

,

follow in g p ages before them With respect to my

.

own ob serv atio n s , scattere d through the w ork I have ,

gi ve n utteran ce to them n at ur ally a s th e event s of

, ,

my story cam e u n der m y p en I had n o prej udice

.

a gai n st Richelieu before I b ecam e th oroughly

u a i n te d with hi s characte r but I flatter my s elf tha t
q
vi PREFA CE .

eve ry w e ll t on ed min d a t th e co n c l u s i o n of the b o o k

-
, ,

w i ll a g r e e wi th m e in p r o n oun c in g h im m o re re
m a rka ble for h is a buse s o f p o w e r th a n for h is a bili ty
in ob t a inin g or p re s e rv in g

W R .

Ap r i l , 1 8 5 4 .
 CONTE NTS .

CH AP TER I .

Introductory ob servations Pa g e 1

CHA PTER II .

D e sc en t, b ir th, fam il y— E d uc at ion— In th e a r m — B ec om e s

a nd
y
b i shop of Lucon D e u ty of th e cl erg y o f Poitou F i r s t ap p ear
—

anc e a t c ou rt— M ary e M ed ic i— C ou rt c abal s— Introduce d to th e

C oun c il — De Luyne s— A ssass ination o f Conc ini— M inis try di s
ra c d — A c c om ani e s th e qu ee n -
m o th e r to B l ois— B ani s he d to
g e p
A vig non — Re tu rns to court — D e ath o f D e Luyne s — Cre at ed
C ard in al Pa g e 9

CHAP TER III .

Re -adm i tte d to th e counc il Wins th e fa vour o f Loui s XIII T h e

—
.
—

T hirty Y ea rs W a r Poli tica l E vents M arriag e o f Charl e s I o f

’
— —
.

E ng l and with th e Prince ss H enri ett a o f F ran c e— I nc reas e o f

ow er D i fii cu l ti es G as to n D Or n a n o Chalais Pl ot ag ain s t
’
—

i c h eli eu —M arriag e o f G as ton E xe cution of Chalais— Buc king

—

h a m — A ffec ts t o wish to re tire —A nne o f A u s t ria Pa g e 3 6

CH AP TER IV .

Th e H ug ue nots — La Roc he ll e— T re aty o f M anco n— D is p ute s o f He n ~

r i e tta 1n th e E ng li s h c ourt- P eac e with th e H u g ueno ts Pa g e 62

 C ON TE N T S .

CH A PTER V .

P eace wi th S p ain- In te rnal affairs of F ranc e— W a r with E n l an d

D e ath o f th e d uc hess o f Orl eans Il lne ss of Louis X I I I
—
i eg e o f .

L a Ro chell e — T h e E ng li s h at L a Rochell e — D efe at o f th e E ng li sh

— T h e fam ou s d k e o f L a ch g qui ts th e sieg e
R o e ll e — Th e kin
y
— Re turns F ather J osep h C as sion A bortive att em p t o f
th e E ng l ish B uc ki ng ham assassinated Surre nd e r of La
Pa g e 75

CH A P TER V I .

I ntrig ues conc ernin g th e m arriag e o f th e d uk e of Orl eans Pol itical —

even ts — W a r wi th S avoy T re aty wi th th e Hug uenots k ne ss

— —

o f th e card inal V iol ence of th e queen m other Du k e of Orl ean s

— - —

d is s a ti s fied Q u arrel o f Richelieu with th e queen m other Th e

— - —

card ina l m ad e g ene ral iss im o E xp e d ition in to S avoy S ucc e ss es

— —

— T reaty o f Ra tis bo n n e Suc c e ss ag ainst S p a i n D ang erous —

illne ss o f th e king h i s une xp ec ted rec overy F res h quarrel s —

wi th M ary d e M e d i c i D a y o f th e Dup e s Gas ton l e ave s th e cou rt

— —

— T h e qu een m othe r l eft at C om p ieg n e T h e Ma r ill a c s — Pa rl ia

- —

m en t insu l t ed — T h e queen m othe r e scap e s to th e N e therl an d s

-

A rtfu l p ol icy o f th e card i na l Pa g e 1 3 5

CH A PTER VI I .

M ary d e M e di c i i n th e N e therl and s Intrig ue ag ainst th e d u k e of

—

Guis e— W a r ag ains t th e duk e o f Lorraine— C ap tur e o f Pi g n er ol

T reaty wi th L orraine P arl iam ent o f P aris re b u k e d Gus tavus
— —

A d ol p hus C ontin ue d d i ffe re nce s wi th M ons ieur A nother t rea t y

— —

wi th L o r r a i a ri a l o f M arshal d e M arill ac E xe cution o f —

M arill ac Montm orenc i H u m ilia tion o f th e m ag nat es— S kirm i sh

— —

o f C as te l naud a ry— G as ton re conc il e d T ri a l con d e m nat ion a n d

—
, ,

e xec ution o f M ontm orenci P a g e 20 8

CH A PTE R VII I .

T he card inal at B ord eaux His ill ness M onsieur retir a s to B rus s el s
— —

— Th e w a r in G erm any— T h e que en m oth er D isg rac e f C h a - — o

tea un eu f E xtraord inary trial o f th e Che vali er J a r s

—
Parl iam ent —

o f P aris s e ve r e l v rebuk e d — S p l end our o f th e c ard i nal Ri c he l i eu —

,

O xen s ti er n a n d Grotius T h e hou s e o f Lorrain e

,
—
Pa g e 2 54
 C ON TE N TS . ix

CH A P TER I X .

queen m other a n d G aston T h e duk e of Lorraine

T roubl e s with th e - —

at Paris Richel ieu p e rs e cutes hi s b ene factress M ary d e M ed ic i

—
,
—Richel ieu a s a financ ier A ffairs o f Lorrain e M ary a n xi o— —

to re tu rn to F ranc e opp osed by th e card inal Re tu rn o f

,
—

G as ton Pa g e 2 7 9

CH AP TER X .

P ol itical v nts Lorraine th e wa r in Germ any F resh d ifferenc es

e e —

wi th G as ton Puyl au rens arres ted d i es 1n ri s on— G as ton s

’
—
p
m arri ag e M ary i m p l ore s to be re cal l ed U n ea s m e s s o f R iche l ieu
— —

-A b as e m e nt o f th e p rinc e s o f th e bl oo d F oreig n p ol it ic s —

Phili p sbourg re tak en by th e I m p eria l is t s d ep ress ion o f th e

c ardi nal —
F rench revers e s V ig orous e ffort s o f th e nat ion Di s
— —

tre ss of F rance— Rom e op p os ed to th e car d inal T h e c a m aig n —

op ene d in I tal y S p ain a n d G erm any Reverses — Ri c e l i e u

, ,

g r e at l y d ep r es s e d —Th e car d in a l
T
p rese nt s hi s p al ace with o ther ,

wea l th to th e kin g
, Great e xert ions of th e Frenc h S ieg e o f
— —

C orb ie G as ton a n d D e S oissons consp ire ag ainst th e ca rd inal ;

—

d efeat ed by h i m Th e card inal annoy s A nne o f A us t ria R es u l t

— —

o f a s torm y ni ht— Suc c e ss e s o f th e d uk e o f S axe W eim ar The - —

g
d uches s o f S avoy F ather C a u s s in — Susp icious d eath o f th e d u k e
—

o f S axe W eim ar
-
Sup ers tit ion o f Richel ieu a n d F ather J os ep h
—

B irth o f Louis X IV — T h e queen m other i n H oll and a n d E ng l an d

.
-

— S h e m ak es stron but vain effort s to be rec al l e d Pa g e 3 1 6

g

CH AP TER XI .

C ruel cond uc t o f Richel ieu to M ary d e M ed ici T rial o f th e D u k e —

d e l a V al e tt e T h e D u ke d E p e rn on G re at p ower o f th e card inal

—
’
—

—D e ath o f F ath r J
Difier e n c es with th e p op e B risach
’

e os e p h — —

F resh annoyan c es to A nn e o f A u s tria T h e k in g s Pl atoni c atta ch —

’

m e nt fo r M es d am e s d e l a F a e tte a n d d e H aut e vi ll e Re volution —

y
o f Portu g al M ili tary succ es s e s F irst c am p aig n o f th e g reat
—

Cond é— Rel ig iou s affairs B i rth o f th e king s s ec on d s on th e ’

foun d er o f th e p re s ent hous e o f Orl eans C in q M ars— E nm i ty o f — -

th e c ar d inal a n d C in q M a rs Th e D u k e d E n g h e i n ( th e g re at
’
- —

C ond é) m arrie s a ni e c e o f th e c ard inal Sp l en d i d nu p tial s F u r — —

ther abasem ent of th e p arl iam ent Part o f Lorrain e re to re d to — s

t h e d u k e — S ta te o f F ranc e u nd er R i chel i eu C on qu e st o f Rou s —

sill on T h e qu ee n m other d riven from E ng l and by th e m achina

— -
,
tions o f th e ca rd inal take s re fu g e a t C ol og ne M anifes to o f th e
,
—

C o u n t d e Sois s ons Cons p irac y o f th e m al co nt ent nobl es D eath

— —

o f th e C m m t d e S oi s ons s P a g e 3 67
X C ON TE N TS .

CHAP TER XI I .

C onsp ira cy of C i n q Ma r s — S ickness o f th e king a n d th e card inal

~

C i n q M ars p l ot di s c overed — C in q M ars De T hou a n d th e Duk e

-
’
-
, ,

d e B ou i ll on, arre ste d - In t ervi ew o f th e k ing a n d th e c ard inal

T rial a n d e xe cution o f C in q -M ars a n d De T hou— De ath o f M ary
d e M ed i c i— Pom p o f th e card inal — P e rpi g nan ta k en— D ec l ine o f
th e card inal s heal th— C ivili ty o f th e p rinc e o f Orang e— A rrog anc e
’

o f R i chel i eu— R ap id d ec l in e — C ircum s tanc e s p re c e di ng h is d e ath

— D e ath o f t h e c ard inal i n h i s 5 8 th e ar— Hi s w ill fun eral , a n d
, y ,

e p i ta p hs— D e s c ri p t ion o f his p e rson, & c — A n e c d o te s— O b s erva

.

tions u p on h is charact er, as a m a n a n d a m inis ter Pa g e 4 3 4

 LI F E OF RI C HE LI E U .

C H A P TE R I .

I NTRODUCT ORY O BS E R V ATI ONS .

FEW n ames have acquired such un i versal celeb rity a s

that of Richelieu ; s o much s o that with most wh o hear it
,

a n d repeat it it i s nothing but a myth symbolis i ng ambition

,

and crooked policy ; thou g h rendered familiar to t hem by

the poet the romancer and the orator they yet know b ut
, , ,

little o f the kin g he lived under and r u l ed over or of th e ,

r eal acts by which he distinguished himself Striking .

incidents of a life m arked by a most extr aordinar y cou rse

of circumstances have been seized upon by pop ular autho rs ,

and coloured an d distort ed according to their Opin io n s or

the obj ect of their writings leavi ng general r e a ders worse
,

than ignorant of the man and h i s action s .

Richelieu i s on e o f those extr aordinary characters wh o ,

thou g h not placed in a n exalted positio n by the accide n t

of birth have by the exercise of the powers bestowed
, ,

upon them by their Creator elevated themselves un to the

,

ru l ers guides an d we m ay s a y destin ie s of their fell ow

, , , ,

m en .

Richelieu again h a s to tak e rank amon g and be c om

, , ,

pared with the few who have either s eiz ed or won the
scep t re from the han ds of royalty and have govern ed ,

despo t ically in the name of an indolent or imbeci le master .

I f success or long retention of position be taken as the

tests in t his ca t egory he will be found to be the hi ghest
, .

Sej a nu s ventured hi s head in the lion s m onth whe n he ’

13
2 IN TR O D U CT O RY O BSERVA T ION S .

allowed Tiberius to be held up to ridicule on the stage ;

he found though the ferocious beast might be so enervat ed
,

by vice and luxury as to al l ow him to be a sub tyrant to -

his people it was not safe to s p ort wi th royal weaknesses

, .

Wolsey in the same way wh ils t subser vient to the will

, ,

and passions o f his mas t er mi g ht plunder hi s subj ec t s ,

with impuni t y ; but the moment he i n the too anxious ,

prosecu t ion of his own ambition presumed to thwart even , ,

by Opinion the lust of the headstron g monarch his pile O f

, ,

wealth only served as a stimulus and an excuse for his

downfall M a z a r in s reign was i n conjunc t ion wi th a
.
’

woman of moderate intellect o v er a child ; and t hou g h he , ,

endea v oured to perpetuate his power by s t udiously neg

le eting the educa t ion of his pupil he Only j ust died in ,

time to avoid disco v erin g to h i s cost the v as t di fference

, ,

between Louis XIV and his father But Richelieu when

. .
,

he had once firmly grasped the reins never relaxed h i s ,

hold : tryi ng circumstances might more than once make , ,

them appear to tremble in his hands but we do n ot

belie v e he at any time lost his self possession o r de -
,

s a ir e d of reco v erin g his domination o v er the weak minded -

p
king He knew that he had tau g ht Louis to feel as well
.

a s to think tha t he coul d not do wi t hout him and therein ,

consis t ed his security Tha t the king was sometimes we a ry

.

o f his sla v ery — as what slave howe v er happy is n ot P

,
— we
, ,

can well belie v e but we can fancy no man more destitute

than Lo uis XIII would hav e fel t when he awoke the
.

morning aft er he had dismissed Richelieu It is tru e he .

only breathed an in sul t o v er his minis t er s corpse but he ’

had r e c en tly l os t hi s mother he himse l f was fast s inking ,

i nto his grave and it migh t look like a prospect O f dy ing

,

in peace to be liberated from a control which had s o many

years held him in awe .

Bu t there is still another phase in which the li fe o f

Richelieu may be ad v antag eously contem p lated al thou g h ,

Becket Wolsey Ximenes Maz ari n Al beroni and Fleury

, , , , ,
 IN TR O D U C T O R Y O BSERV A T I ON S . 3

form parts of the picture ; we mean that of what we con

sider t o be the u tt erly incompatible combination of the
churchman and the s t atesman ; o f a man who de v o t ed ,

nominally to God and the superintendence o f the s imples t

a n d purest reli io n the world has ever seen h a s been led
g ,

by ambi t ion or circumstances to deviate from his proper ,

holy path and mingle thin g s sacred with mundane i h

,

te r e s ts and mundane ambition Ximenes m a y stand ou t

.

nobly from this group and Fleury comparatively harm

,

lessly ; but the land o f the I nquisi t ion was s o completely a

monk ridden nation that Church government seemed most
-

n atur al to it and Fleury is s o mixed up with all that is

,

v ile that he cannot quite escape the stains of cont a ct

, .

Dubois is to o contemp t ible in all ways to be named wi t h

the above for t hou g h more than o n e o f them were dese
,

crated by err ors if n ot crimes they were not a s he was

, , , ,

the mere o ffspring o f corruption There i s o n e o f thi s .

class to whom we feel anxious to pay a tribute of the

highest respect but the abbé Suger the wise and good ,

minister o f Louis VII lived at a period when the Church

.
,

possessed most of the knowledge that existed and princes ,

and peoples fell naturally under the direction of church

men as the ignorant seek the guidance of the wise But
, .

Richelieu was more a statesman than a cardinal ; he never

allowed Church i nfluence to interfere with affair s of state ,

except when he thought it could a ssist them He was .

ambi t ious of a cardinal s hat becaus e bein g a church man

’

, , ,

that was the highest honour but one he could aspire to

for that one honour we feel assured he had no wish ; h e
woul d much ra ther have chosen to rul e the rich kin g dom
o f France a n d its imbecile king than to be seated in the ,

uneasy Papal chair wit h the sovereign t y of the be g g arl y

,

states subservien t t o i t His persecution of t he Hu g u e

.

no ts as we shal l p l ainly see in the foll owin g pa g es wa s

, ,

dictat ed by policy no t by his rel i g ion or posi tion in the

,

Church ; and al though we may be dis g us t ed at som e of

B 2
4s I N TR O D U C T O RY O BSERV AT ION S .

the cruelties that attended it we cannot de n y the s ound

,

n ess o f that policy . It i s true that whilst endeavouring to

ex tirpate the Pr o t estan t s in France he was assisting them
,

in Germ any ; but Francis I wh o was a king o v er all

.
, ,

an d not a churchm an an d who had not hal f the excuse

,

that Richelieu had did the same an d eve n tr eated the

, ,

H u guenots with infinitely greater severity .

But we will not protract discussion of character whi lst

ou r readers are ignorant of facts When Sh a kespeare
.

desires to m a ke us acquainted with a person he does ,

not describe him in elaborate phraseology or e v en beau ,

tiful poetry but he brings the li v ing man before us and

, ,

makes him speak and act : a faithfu lly followed recital of -

the life and action s o f Richelieu will be more i nstructive

tha n the longest an d most cri t ical commentary And yet .

we shall not fore g o our privilege of remarking upon m en

and events as we fa ll in with them : to dwell upon the
g ood to po int distinctly ou t the bad an d dra w deductions
, ,

from both is the honourable task o f the historian or

the biographer— h e i s otherwise a mere chronicler .

Before we launch our hero on the theatre in which he is

to play so conspicuous a part we must however cast a
, , ,

glance over the pol itical situation of France and Europe

generally together with the moral state of society at the
,

period of his appearance ; such an in quiry being absolutely

necessary before we can properly j udge o f him or the
events and chan ges he brought abou t .

I f a g enius o f g reat power had the choice o f a period

in wh ich it could eminently distingu i sh i t sel f it co uld ,

scarcely find one more calculated to draw forth its energies

and exhibit its influence than that in which Richelieu
li v ed The world might be said to be i n a ferment
.
.

En g l an d was be g inning i ts i mmortal strug g le Holla n d

was completi n g hers Spain was still conten din g wi th the
European di fferences brou g ht u pon her by her accidental
associa t io n wi th Austria a n d the N etherla nds ; a n d Germ a n y
6 IN TR O D U CT O RY O BSERV A T ION S .

weake n ed the country an d impoverished the people wh o ,

lov ed him for his amiable qualities Louis XII persevered . .

in the cl aims made by his predecessor in It aly by which ,

he embittered a reign tha t mi g ht have been happy and ,

drai ned h is people .

With Francis I an d his two riva l s Henry VI II and

.
, .

Charles V modern hi story is said by many to begin I f

.
, .

this be so the modern history o f France from Francis 1

, , .

to the most splendid d a ys o f Louis X I V i s nothing but .

,

o n e continued scheme o n the part of monarchs and their

m inisters to establish a despotism Henry II fol lowed

. .

the example o f his father in love o f pleasure an d reckless

n ess ; and after h i m ensued the awful period in which the
,

o ffspr ing of Catherine de Medici un der her tutelage and ,

guidance desolated France and outraged humanity The

, .

relig ious w ars and the disputed claim o f Henry I V

, .

a lmost destroyed the e ffects of the work o f Louis X I .

The great nobles became again of consequence whe n ,

their suppor t wa s cour ted by the contending parties ;

they constantly annoyed him e v en when seated on the
throne ; and when his melancholy death thr e w the reins
,

o f governme n t into the hands of an intemperate woman ,

they became dangerous to both the so v ereign and the

people . But the oppression thou g h equal was very , ,

di fferent from that exercised by the ol d barons by mean s

o f strong castles lance and sword , it was n ow produced
,

by corruption We cannot better describe the state o f

.

society at this period than by presenting two pictures

drawn by the skilful hand of An qu etil the celebrated and ,

trustwor thy his t orian I t wa s the early years of the

re g ency of Mary de Medici that we may fix u pon as the
epoch at which the nobles began to cease to blush at pro
m oti n g impositions and to take part i n t hem more bol dl y
,

e v en than they had done before the time of Henry I V .

Princes of the blood dukes and peers marshals of France

, , ,

a n d nobles o f the h i ghest ra nk j o i ned with s i mple clerks

, ,
 IN TR O D U C T O RY O B SE RV A T ION S . 7
calculated with them the produce of a tell to be placed
upon a free passa g e or of an octroi upon a free city ;
,

what could be drawn from the revival of an obsolete

right from provisionin g from an excl u sive privi lege from
, , ,

a crea t ion of officers or letters o f nobility ; from the c om

positio n which would be accorded for ol d arrears or pre
tended ol d debts They examined h ow aids g a bel les
.
, ,

and other imposts co ul d be quietly augmented When .

all was secretly arranged with the public leeches the ,

interested parties supported the proj ects in the coun cil ,

and secured their passing All frauds appe a red to be

.

allowable when they were proved to be lucrative .

Governors demanded bodies of g uards which they n eve r

completed augmentation s of garrisons for the sake of the
,

pay a n d sums for fortifications frequently useless They

, .

themselves made the b a r gai ns and arranged with the

,

contractors at the expense of the king Survivorships in .

public o ffices were g ranted for three ge n erations Tho s e .

who found themselves excluded by this required as sign

m ents upon the royal treasury N othin g wa s more
.

commo n than the doublin g and trebling o f appointm ents

from the highest ofli c er to the lo west Some obtained .

dowries for their daughters others the payment of their

,

debts s o that it became a general pill age an d in a short

, ,

time all the money amassed by Henry I V and deposited .

in the Bas t ille g lided away like water that h a s found an

Openin g S ul ly describes all these manoeuvres a s n ew
.
,

astonishing and unworthy of the French nob ility,whom

,

this avidity of gain degraded and disgraced I f this .

profusion had procured the regen t t h e tranquill ity s h e

desired somethin g mi ght be said to have been g ained ;
,

but j ealousy arose among the nobles upon the more or the
less they had recei v ed a n d to preven t the discord which ,

from famil ies mi g h t ha v e extended to the state t he re g ent ,

was obl i g ed to g ive o v er a g ain without any increased

”
certain ty of securing the hearts of the recipients .
8 IN TR O D U CT O RY O BSERVA T ION S .

S u ch i sthe pictu re of the Cour t and that of the city , ,

drawn by the same master hand i s not at a ll less cu rious-

, .

A fter the con secration o f Louis X II I says the writer .

, ,

disp utes for precedency were not only continued but ,

i ncreased althou g h at that p eriod they were such that

,

s everal great n obles and others fearin g to be confounded

,

with upstar ts refused to be present at the consecration

, .

There were several young princes at court nearly ,

r elated an d upon friendly term s as persons of that rank

, ,

genera l ly are Sometimes a taste for the same pleasures

.

uni ted them sometimes the interests of their servan t s

d ivi ded them ; an d from that time they became rivals ,

enemies and brawlers

, Living in the capital they made
.
,

i t a point o f honou r always to appear superbly equipped ,

a n d never went from on e place to another without a train

O f ge n tleme n mounted upon richl y caparisoned horses th e -

,

n oise and splendour of which attracted the attention of

the people A s the streets were badly paved it wa s a
. ,

point o f deference to yield the side next the houses which ,

wa s called the height o f the p avement and to require it ,

w a s to a ffect a pre em i n ence subj ect to disputes ho wever

-
,

li ttle equality there might be between the persons I n the .

quarrels w h ich often ensued between the brave and p u n c

til i ou s sometimes sharpened by other motives the populace
, ,

took part and riots which disturbed the city frequen tly
,

o ccurred * Chain s were then extended across the stree t s

.
,

the drum s beat an d the principal citizens placed them

,

s elves un der arms at the head of their quarters to restrain ,

the workmen an d a r tiz a n s whom curiosity drew from their

l abours I n this disposition of men s minds occasions for
.
’

m eetin g s were dangerous circumstances and the regen t ,

wa s obliged in 1 6 1 1 to pre v ent the opening of the fair o f

, ,

St G ermain because i t i s better said S he th a t 500 tr a d er s

. , , ,

s hou l d be r u i ne d th a n th e p ea c e of the s ta te s h ou l d be

T hi s m us t strong l y rem ind o ur read ers of a s c ene in “

Th e
 F A M I LY AN D B IR TH OF R I C HE L I E U . 9

d i s tu r bed A just reflection which ought to teach the

. ,

little what they gai n by meddling with the disputes Of the

”
great .

Such wa s the gen er a l state of society at the beginn ing

of the 1 7 th ce n tu r y .

C HA P T E R I I .

D esc ent b irth , am il y E d u cation I n th e arm y B ec om e s

,
a nd f — — —

b ishop o f Lu con D ep ty o f th e c l erg y o f Poit ou F irs t ap p ear

— u —

anc e a t c u rt Mary d e M e d ic i C ourt c abal s Intro d c e d to th e

o — — — u

C ou n c il D e L yn e s A s sas s i ation o f C onc in i M i i stry di s

—
u — n —
n

g rac e d A c c om p an e s th e qu e en m other t o B l o is B is he d to
— i - —
a n

A vig non R etu rn s to cour t D eath o f D e L u yne s Create d

— — —

C ard i nal .

ARM AN D JE AN D U P LESS I S Cardin a l duke de Richelieu ,

-
,

was the s on of Francis d u Plessis kni g ht of the orders of ,

the king Grand Provost of the Hotel and Lord o f Riche

, ,

l ieu a v i l lage of Poi t ou and o f Susan de la Por t e dau g hter

, , ,

o f a celebrated and rich advocate He was born o n the .

5 th of September 1 5 8 5 as som e s a y in Pari s bu t a s

, , ,

others assert with more probability at the ch a teau of

, ,

Richelieu where more than two centuries after the

, , ,

chamber was stil l pointed ou t in which he first saw t he

light He was answered for a t the baptismal font by
.

Armand prince de Conti who g ave him his o wn name

, , .

His father who was a well educated man for a nobleman

,
-
,

o f the period fancying he perceived grea t promise of

,

t a l ent in the child commenced his educa t ion at a very

,

early age ; he however died when Armand was l ittle

, ,

m ore than fi v e years Ol d leaving th ree sons of whom he , ,

was the younges t and two dau g hters The eldest s on, .

inherited the paterna l es t ate the second was an eccle ,

s i a s ti c a n d Ar m an d wa s destined for the army

, O ne of .
10 THE B I S H O P or L YON S .

the dau ghters m a rried René de W i g n er o d lord of P ont ,

.

C ou r ta y ; and the other Urbain de Maillé marquis de

, ,

Brez e afterwards a marshal o f France The bishopric

, .

o f Lu c on had become in a manner hereditary in the

, ,

family and was held by the second s on His relations

, .
,

howe v er conceived such hopes from the precocious talents

,

o f youn A rm a nd that they p ersuaded him to abando

g , n

the profession of arms and enter the Church in which , ,

with the bishopric of Lu c on a s a first stepping stone they -

,

thought his abilities would have a better chance of success .

Bein g of an exceedingly ardent nature howe v er short a ,

time he had devoted to military studies there is no doub t ,

he made some progress in them an d that the kn owledge ,

he then acquired wa s n ot only useful to him i n after life ,

but gave a tone to his char acter He might always be .

said to be o f the Church militant Hi s brother wh o .

,

appears to have been a devout and studious man readily ,

resig n ed the s ee of Lu c on to Ar mand and entered the ,

order o f the Chartreux When the cardinal wa s in

.

power he wa s unwillingly d ra g ged from the cloister

,

w a s made successively bishop of A ix and of Lyons

, , an d
in 1 6 2 9 received the cardin a l s hat from Pope U r ba n VI I I
,
’
.
,

who in this circumstance departed from the re g u l ation s

, ,

laid down by Sixtus V that two brothers should not be

.
,

admitted into the sacred college a t the same time He .

w a s afterwards appointed Grand Almoner o f France and ,

commander of the order of the Holy Ghost He was fixed .

u pon to term i nate t he di fferences betwee n Rome and

France an d acqu i tted himself of the mission with success

, .

During a pestilence which devastated his bishopric he ,

conducted himself in a manner worthy of a F enelon not ,

merely assisting t he S ick wi th hi s purse and hi s influence ;

but by de v otin g himself to bearin g food medicine and , ,

comforts personally to them

, He was howe v er on
, .
, ,

some occasions too subservient to the V iews and feelin g s

,

of hi s brother Whe n the unhappy d u chess de Mon t

.
 E D U C A T ION OF BI C HE L I E U . 11

m orenci p assed through Lyons after the melancholy ,

death of her husband and wished to seek consolation in ,

the house of Madame de Chantr el celebrated for her ,

great piety the bishop positively and sternly r efused her

,

this relief He was a n austere man and often regretted

. ,

his posi t ion sayin g i n his last moments he would rather

, , ,

die on the humble couch o f Alphonse du Plessis than in

the splendid bed of the bishop of Lyons He endowed .

s e v eral monasteries in his diocese His epitaph written . ,

“
by himself i s worthy of bein g preserved in a n ote fi This
,

retired churchman although forced into r a nk by hi s more

,

ambitious brother appears s o little i n the busy life of the

,

cardin al that ha v ing once necessarily mentioned hi m we

, ,

have felt ourselves ob l iged to give thi s slight sketch of hi s

career .

A rmand was first placed unde r the prior o f St Florent .

,

in Poitou ; from h i m he passed to the college o f N avarre ,

and aft erwards to that o f Li z i eu He studied theology .

with great ardour and wa s a doc tor at twenty after havin g

, ,

gone through t he Theses in a rochet and camail a s a ,

n ominal bi shop For fear his youth shoul d retar d hi s

.

bulls he hastened to Rome and pronoun ced s o excell ent

, ,

a Latin harangue before the holy father that he wa s n o ,

longer deemed too young for his sacred functions But .

some historians assert that he in this fir st public a c t of ,

his l ife adopted the system which he ever aft er pursued

, ,

o f disregarding means if the obj ect were worthy o f attai n

ment He is said to have presented the pope wi th h i s

.

elder brother s baptism a l registry in stead of hi s o wn

’

thus appearin g to be older than he reall y wa s ; and that

he aft er wards was obli g ed to ask absolution for the fa l se
hood We suspect that this story most likely had i ts
.

b ir th from the subsequent character of the cardi nal ; as it

may be presumed that a rare precocity of talent backed ,

Pau p er natu s su m ,
Pa u p er i em vovi , Pau p er m or i or , inter
12 E N TR A N C E ON P O L I T I C A L L I FE .

b y the r equest of the king would be sufficie n t to over ,

come the di fficulty He wa s consecrated at Rome i n

.

1 6 0 7 in his twenty -second year and immediately s et

, ,

about the conversion o f heretics the instruction of his ,

clerg y and the reformation of abuses a s the duties of a

, ,

pastor in his diocese He wa s entirely given up to h i s

.

ecclesiastic a l functions to the period of the assembly of the

States General in 1 6 1 4 where he appeared as deputy of the
, ,

clergy of Poitou He here gave such proofs of h i s elo

.

q u e n c e that he was deputed to address the king A s the

, .

interpreter of the griefs of the clergy the bishop of Lu c on ,

insisted upon them and gave them extension proportioned

,

to the in terest he doubtless felt he person a lly had in them .

A mong other things he com plained that ecclesiastics were

,

too seldom called to the councils of their soverei g ns ; as

if he said the honour o f serving God rendered the m
, ,

in capable o f serving their king His most liv ely image , .

The orator invoked the example of the Druids whose ,

advice the G a l lic ancestors of the French always followed .

He ended his address by eulo g izing the prudence of the

king who even after attainin g his m a j or i ty fi left the
, ,
‘ t

gove rnm ent of the state i n the hands o f the queen mother - .

He supplicated the young m onarch to persevere in a course

s o wise and proper and to add to the au g ust title o f
,

m o th er of th e ki ng the name of m o th er of th e ki ng d om
, .

This was entering u pon the road to fortune boldly : to

celebrate to a k ing s face hi s o wn nullity in order to
’

obtain an Opportunity of making court to his mo ther was ,

worthy o f being the first poli t ical step e v en of a Richelieu .

He must have been quite master o f the kin g s charac t er ; ’

Louis was then fourteen and few kin g s even at that age
, , ,

would have relished such a compl iment : Mazarin woul d

n ot have ventured s o far with Louis s on The o ffice of ’
.

almoner to the queen regent was the reward of this sk ilful

piece of adul ation A t this point commences the r e a l life
.

Th is t ook p la c e a t th e a g e of fou te en r
.
14 M A R Y D E ME D I C I .

hypocritical n or V icious ; s h e was t he slave o f impul se .

N obody says A n qu etil in his work entitled L I n

, , ,
‘ ’

tr ig u e d a C a bi n e t carried passion and the spirit of v en

’

g ea n c e further than Mary de Medici did She could not .

endure ei ther remon strances or obs t acles a nger rendered

her capable of every thi n g ; and when any secret interest
compelled her to conce a l her feelings constrained nature
,

expressed itself in the alteration of her countenance and

her he a l th Her passions were extreme friendship with
.

her was blind de v otion an d hatred execra t ion Whoever

, .

had once o ffended her could never flatter himself with the
hope o f reco v ering her good graces nor even of being ,

tolerated ; therefore persons s o situated preferred endea

v ou r i n g to destroy her to dependin g upon her indulgence
,
.

She consequently experienced the contrary to that whi ch

happens to mild and moderate characters : they are n ot
more exempt from crosses and contradictions than others ,

but their pat ience brin gs b a c k alienated minds and every ,

thing g enerally ends to their adv antage ; whereas Mary

de Medici after some s u cpe s s es snatched rather than
, ,

obtained u nderwent the most humiliating re v erses which

, ,
”
punished her without correctin g her Bu t we can not
.

help thinkin g this pictur e rather severe W hen we look .

at the corrupt state of the nobility which we have g iven

in a preceding page a n d when we remember that this
,

queen was always subj ect to the fascination o f ei ther the

love or hatred of such a master mind as that of Richelieu
-
,

we cannot but pity her on many occasions an d generally ,

entertain con sideration for her errors : her S itua t ion was
a lmost inconcei v ably d i fli c u l t O ne day when Sully
.
,

reproached her with want of acti v ity s h e repli ed : I ,

find people enough to poin t ou t e v ils but not on e to ,

dir ect me t o a rem edy : I ha v e done all that is humanly

possible for the good of the state but God has not been
,

w illin g to bless my e fforts I hav e g ive n liberty to

.

the Prin ce de Co n dé— I have disarmed the kin g — I have

 M A R YS F A V OU R I T I S M
’
. 15

deprived the Marshal d A n c r e o f his govern m en t i n ’

Picardy— I ha v e allowed him to b e dri ven from the cour t

—I have done good to every one— I ha v e injured nobody
”
I do not know what more t o do N ow thou g h this may .
,

be the speech o f a V iolent intemperate woman it h a s no , ,

internal e v idence of being that of a viciously vin dictive one .

Richelieu from the strength of his polit ical genius cer

, ,

ta i n ly e ffec t ed great thin g s and thence the admiratio n of ,

many French wri t ers is carr ied s o far a s to allow them to

s ee no V ices in the minister and n o redeeming V irtues i n ,

h i s Opponen t s Mary de Medici in a v ery short time

.
, ,

became the obj ect of Richelieu s m ost persevering and ’

cruel enmity ; therefore whi l st the great and successful

,

cardinal is the obj ect of indiscriminate eulo g y h i s bene ,

fa c tr e s s is proportiona t ely condemned to obloquy

, , The .

writer o f a life of Richelieu is cons t antly compelled t o

turn to the pages o f his t ory to v erify or contra d ict the ,

extr avagant praises heaped upon him by biographers .

A u ber y who wrote wi thin twenty years o f his death

, ,

decks him with all virtues and all talen t s and his readers ,

a r e driven to his t orical facts to dispel the partial picture .

Mary s principal faul t was one which h a s led i nn u m er

’

able princes t o destruc t ion— she was the sla v e of favourites .

She brou g ht wi t h her from I tal y a principal atten dant

named Ga l e g a i who was married to Concini a Florentine
, ,

of low bir th and they together possessed unlimited

,

power over the queen both before her husband s death

,
’

and aft er Henry I V was at first annoyed by thi s

. .

fa v ouri t ism but when he found his new wife sufficien tl y

,

obli g ing to allow him peaceab l y to enj oy the society of his

mis tress the Marquise de V er n eu il in t he same palace
, ,

w i th herself he felt bound to be indul g ent t o her par t ial i t ies

, ,

s o much more innocen t than his own Aft er t he deat h of .

Henry IV the influence of these fa v ouri t es became u n

.
,

bounded I t is true in a cour t of such v ol canic principl es

.
, ,

a t rifle wa s s u fli ci en t to s et all in a blaze ; but t he appoi nt

16 C A B A L A G AIN ST TH E F A V OU R I TE S .

m e nts an d dignities bestowed upon this weak a n d i n con

sequent I talian disgusted every o n e He wa s made a .

marshal of France without ever havi n g drawn a s word

, ,

first gentleman of the chamber governor of N ormandy , ,

m inister without kno wi n g a single l a w o f the kingdom

, ,

and with his ill got wealth p u rchased the marquisate o f

,
-
,

An cre A strong party wa s created i n the cour t against

.

this i njudicious conduct o f the quee n headed by the ,

p r ince de Cond é a first cousin of the king s and father

,
’

of the great Condé A t first this cabal was successful ;

.
,

Richelieu wa s introduced into t he coun c i l which un der , ,

the di rection of the prince became all p owerfu l maki n g ,

-
,

the queen a n d her favourites particularly the Marquis ,

d A n c r e sensible of its dom i nation The partisans o f the

’

.
,

prince even carried their insults s o far that the duke de ,

Longue vi lle took possession by force of Perenne o f which ,

Concini was governor The quee n the n perceived her

.

danger and determined to meet it Ch a rles of Valoi s

, .
,

count d A u ver g n e who was considered the most formidable

’

enemy of t he reigning branch had been seized for s u s ,

p ec ted conspira cy against Hen ry IV and had remained

twelve years a prisoner in the Bastil le Thi s prin ce .
,

Mary released from d u rance for the purpose o f Opposin g ,

h im to Condé Condé a n d h i s partisans Ven dOm e a

.
, ,

n atur a l s on of Henry I V Bouillon an d Mayenne the n .

, ,

bega n to be aware of their peril and a greed never to be ,

all to gether at the Louvre at any time Cond é wa s .

arrested on the l s t of September on entering the ,

council : the order had bee n g ive n to s eiz e his partisan s at

the same t i m e but the ir precaution saved them an d they
, ,

flew to arms The kin g excused this step to the par liamen t
.
,

i n a bed of j ustice by al l e g ing the culpable V iews o f th e

,

prince h i s cousin whi ch were s o fa r i ncompatible with

, ,

the duties p f a subj ect that they appeared to a im eve n ,

at the th rone and the pretension s of his p a rtisan s which

, ,

were subversive of roy al authority The p a r li a m e nt di d .

 C ON CI N I S
’
F A V OU R I T I SM . 17

n ot venture a reply ; Condé was conveyed to the Bastille ,

a n d the queen set three armies on foot for t he suppressio n ,

of t he malcon t ents who had taken re fuge at Soissons

, .

The pride o f Concini n o w kn e w n o bounds He was .

absen t in N ormandy when Condé was arrested and

, , ,

re turned like a despo t t o his em pire He bestowed o fli ce s .

,

a n d excluded tried ser v ants from their char g es Richelieu s ’

.

a scendancy in t he coun cil increased an d t he old ministers ,

were forced to retire : the m a rshal was the gui din power g

o f all. B u t t he queen i n her earnes t des ire to place

,

e v ery thin g i n his hands was short sighted enough to

,
-

a llow him to interfere with t he kin g ; and the arro g ant

fav ourite drew upon himself the hatred of that prince by

endea v ourin g to chan g e or thwar t his pleasures .

The king likewise had a fav ourite the Duke de Luyn es ,

by his skil l in traini n g sparrow hawks and o ther con -

,

cession s t o th e p u er 1l e tas t es of Louis had g ained a ,

perfect ascendancy o v er his weak mind The con t es t the n .

was be t ween the two fa v ourites Louis was married and .

was g rowin g into manhood ; an d what may be almos t

termed the first ac t of his public life dam n ed his charac t er ,

to all posterity and was a frequent source of remorse to

,

himself .

N o twi thstanding his pride and extraordinary fortune ,

Concini was no t blind to his real posi t ion ; and in a con ,

versa t ion which he held abou t this t ime wi t h B a s s o m p ie r r e ,

he expressed the anxious d e sire he fel t t o lea v e Fran ce

and re t urn in t o I tal y t o e nj oy his weal th in peace : I
,
“

had no t a penny said he

, when I came into France ; I
,

enrich e d m y self by my marriag e All kinds of mis .

for tunes ha v e lately fallen upon me a t once ; I lost my

friends I was dri v en from my g o v ernmen t ; t he populace ,

whic h ha t es me i n sul ted me ; m y peo ple were hun g ; I

,

was forced t o fly ; my house was pill a g ed ; my darlin g

dau g h ter died ; and ye t my wife wou l d n o t lea v e th e
q ueen . I have weal th enoug h for a s overei g n princ e ; I
c
18 A S S A S S I NA T I O N or C O N C INI .

have o ffere d the pope s ix hundred thousand crow n s for

the u sufruct of the duchy of Ferrara and I S hall s t ill
”
have more than two millions to leave t o my s on What .

depredations m u st this man a n d his wife have com mitte d ,

to g et toge ther such a s u m in th e space o f less than

seven t een years ! a n d at whose expense ? He had n ot ,

however lo n g to enj oy hi s good for tune or to be anxi ous

, ,

about securi n g it O n the 2 4 th o f A pril Louis ordered

.

h im to be arrested upon his appearance at t he council .

A s he entered Vitry t he captain o f the g uard a ccosted

, , ,

him told him he wa s h i s prisoner and demanded hi s

, ,

sword Concini m ade a movement but without waitin g

.

to s ee whether it was to surrender or to defen d himself ,

Vitry and t wo o f his followers instan tly fired their pistols ,

and he fell dead upon the floor of t he council chamber .

At the present t ime such a n open a ssass i nation and in

, ,

such a place appears not only revolting but al most i n

,

c r ed 1bl e . Bu t as we j udge that to be the fairest tri a l

,

when a man is subj ected to the opinion of his peers s o n o ,

on e can be properly exonerated or condemned when a c

c u s e d o f crime without reference to the spirit of the a g e

,

in which it was committed I n the year 1 6 1 7 we cannot

.

lay our finger upon that country in Europe in which

a ssas sination mi ht not be said t o b e common ; and in
g
France itsel f during the precedin g half century bloo d
, ,

had been shed in such frightfu l profusion a s to make u s ,

place t he value o f human life in a very l o w scal e in the

es t imation of all ranks B u t we d o not v enture to ex
.

tenuate the detestable proceedin g Concini had been .

g uilty o f ten times more peculat ion t han aft erw a rds
brought Mar ill ac to the block ; and Louis might hav e
preserv ed h i s character from this deep stain by the a p
e a r a n c e even of a trial I t w a s t he ac t of a bo who
p .
y ,

h a d been a kin g before he had the power to think I t is .

said to hav e truly deno t ed his after charac t er ; but though

h e and Richelieu made h i s a cru el and bloody reig n there ,
 C ON D U C T OF THE P O P U L A CE . 9

is n o o th e r a c t o f this kind laid entirely to th e king .

Twenty seven years aft er u pon his death bed we find it

-
,
-
,

wa s the principal event of his life that gave him u n ea s i

ness However consonant i t m a y appear wi t h t he prompt
.
,

bold and decided tone of Richelieu s chara cter there is n o

,
’

re a son to believe that he wa s instrume n ta l in t his dis

gracefu l affair .

The news o f th e a s s a s s m a ti on o f C oncini wa s at first

received by Mary de Medici with astonishment an d g rief ;
but th e circumstance wa s so awful that it quickly forced ,

reflection b a ck upon herself and her an xiety for th e wido w

o f the slaughtered man whom s h e had lo v ed so warm l y
, ,

was e ffaced by the idea o f her o wn fu ture prospec t s I .

”
have rei g ned se v en years exclaimed she I m u s t hence
,

”
forward t hink of no o ther crown but that of hea v en !
Bu t if there wa s grief i n the apartments of t he queen
mother and in th e palace o f Concini Paris w a s in a sta te ,

o f mad j oy We shall have s o many o cc asions to spe a k

t
.

o f s cenes which must a ppear improbable to t he readers o f

the present age that we think we cann ot do be tter than

,

o ffer t he m a d etail of what followed t his event a s fur ,

n i s h ed by an histo rian in o rd er that they m a y ju d ge of the

,

sta te of the public morals and manners in France a t the ,

com m en c ement o f t he seven te enth century ; particul arly

a s the great m a n whose memoirs we have undertaken to

write wi ll be fou n d to be so intimately mixed up wi t h it

, .

“
A s soon a s Ma rshal d A n c r e w a s dead some of the ’

troop of a ss a ssins hastened to plunder his body O ne .

t ook his d iamon d ano t her his sword ; this on e seized

,

u pon h i s scarf that upon his cloak

, The bo dy wa s t hen .

carried to a small chamber belon gin g to th e soldiers of

the g uard I n the evening his clothes were closely
.

searched and a s some s a y a vast amount of property

, , ,

wa s found in his poc kets but this accoun t is con t radicted

by others Be that a s it m a y he wore o v er his shirt 8
.
,
.

gold chain to whi ch wa s sus p ended a reliquary c onta in

, ,

0 2
20 B U R IA L OF CON C INI .

in g n othin g but a small piece of white linen The by .

” ”
s t anders i m mediately cried ou t A charm l Sorcery ! ,

and some refused to touch it for fear of becoming possessed

by a d e v il I t was evidently a relic Concini b eing very
.
,

supers t i tious The body was afterwards placed in a clo t h

.

whic h cos t fifty sous an d buried a t n igh t without any

, ,

ceremony benea t h the organ o f St Germain l A u xer r oi s

’

. .
,

A pries t of th e parish wishing to chant a psal m commonly

used on such occasions the persons who had brought the
,

body by order of the k i ng flew i n the face of the priest ,

”
and s t opped his mouth This scoundrel said they i s
.
, ,

undeserv ing of t he prayers of any one The g ra v ediggers .

took such pains to put the stones down quickly an d care

fully t ha t i t was di fficul t to discov er tha t a body had bee n
,

n ewly interred there N ever theless the people were soon

.
,

acquain t e d w i t h i t and some of the lowest rabble flocked

,

to the church O ne o f them by scra t ching round the

.
,

s tones soon foun d t hey had been recen tly raised an d the
, ,

tumul t became so g rea t that the pries t s were oblig ed to

driv e t hem ou t by force But the clerg y belon g ing to the
‘

church hav in g gone to j oin the solemn procession which

is made e v ery year on the 2 5 th of A pri l the populace ,

pour e d in from all parts and s e t abou t disinterring the

,

body t o the cry of Vive l e Roi

, The clerg y on their ,

r et urn from t he procession were una ble to quell the ,

tumu l t or s t op t he proceedin g s .

The g rand provos t had orders to go to the church with

-

some sol d i e rs and rescue the body bu t the mob

,

threa t en e d t o bury that o fficer aliv e if he dared to inter

fere . It a p p eared that the enemies of Concini were
pleased w i th le tting the peo ple ac t as they pleased a s a ,

sin g le company of the re g iment of t he guards would have

su fficed t o disperse them I n fac t whils t a body o f
.
,

soldiers was passing on e of them g a v e his match to the

,

mob t o serv e a s a cord by which t o h a ng the body After

, .

being dragged fro m th e church i t wa s for some time ,

22 TERR O R OF TH E M INI STER S .

“
o rders that the governors shou l d be writte n to that the ,

marshal and h i s wife taking advantag e o f h is youth an d

,

the ascendancy they had gained over the mind o f the

queen his mother had left the young monarch n othing
,

but the n ame of king ; that he had been forced to conceal

h i s g ood intentions by feigni n g to think o f a nything but
,

the government o f the state ; that various persons hav ing

stron g ly ur g ed the queen his mo ther to al low the kin g
from t h at t ime to take upon h imself the management of
a ffairs the Marshal d A n cr e had has tened from N or
,
’

m a ndy to endeavour to prevent the execution of h i s good

,

a n d j ust designs ; that i n the indispensable necessity for

placing his person i n safety and to prevent the genera l ,

c on fl a g r a ti on with which France wa s thr eatened he had ,

o rdered th e captain o f h i s guards to arrest Con cini but

that the marshal having come to the Louvre well a ecom
,

a n i e d wished to r esis t ; that in consequence pistol shots -

p ,

”
were fired some of which laid him dead o n the spot
, .

Louis fi n ished this letter by giving n otice that he meant

fro m that t ime to govern for himsel f a n d to extricate hi s ,

k ingdom fro m the extreme peril into which i t had b een

precipi t ated by the dangerous counsels the quee n had
follo wed .

The news o f the death of Conc i ni s o terri fied th e

m inister and h is creatures that n o on e o f them believed
,

himsel f in safety M a ngo t keeper of the seals Richelieu

.
, , ,

bishop of Lu c on an d Barbini went in the first place to

, , , ,

conceal themsel v es i n the queen s stables where t hey ’

remained for some time uncer ta i n what part they had best
,

take A fter a lon g deliberation they sent Br a g el on e to

.
,

implore the assistance of Mary de Medici S u ffic ien tl y .

embarrassed o n her o wn account Mary gave k i nd wor d s ,

to Barbini : But added s h e , a s to the keeper o f th e ,

s e a l s and t he bishop of Lu c on I d o n ot know what to ,

”
sa y. The queen -mother preferred her intendant to the
othe r two ; S he rightly j udged by the r igo ur h er s on
 T HE I R D I S GR A CE . 23

bega n to exhibit towards her that h er credit d estroyed , ,

i n a n i nstant would not perhaps be s u fli c i e n t t o save

, , ,

Barbini I n fa c t her prayers and tears could not pre v ail

.
, .

Man g o t and Richelieu having no longer a nything to hope ,

for o n the part o f Mary de Medici formed the resolutio n ,

o f hazardin g everything and goin g to the Lou v re to lear n ,

’

their fa te Mango t entered first and went straight to wards

.
,

the apar tmen t s of the q ueen -mother Vitry perc eiving him .
, ,

c ame t o h i m a n d told him not to procee d bu t to a wait t he ,

o rders of the kin The keeper o f the seals wa lked two or

g .

three turns i n the cour t by the side o f him who ha d j us t de

s troyed t he great prop of h i s fortune Vitry soo n left h im .

a lone and nobody wa s eager to j oi n company with the poor

,

keeper of the seals Tired wi th seein g himself poi n ted at

.
,

a n d o f under oing the insulting looks o f those who r e

g
j o i c e d i n h i s disgrace Man g ot s ent to ask permissio
, n to
pay his respec t s t o his Maj esty Y oun g Lom enie s on o f .
,

the secreta ry of state c ame to tell him on the part o f the , ,

king that he wa s to go and fetch the seals and brin g

, ,

them to him immediately Mangot obeyed and returned .

,

to t he Lou vre for t he las t time bringing w i th him the ,

marks o f h i s dignity Vitry met hi m a t the foot o f the .

‘

s tairc a se and cried i n a j ee ring to n e

, Where a r e y ou
g oing n o w mo n sieu r,wi t h yo u r sati n robe ? The
, king
will not ha v e anything more to do with you Mangot .

r eplie d humbly t hat he had brou g ht the seals which the

, , ,

kin g had sen t for He wa s the n permi tted to ascend the

.

s tairs at the tO p of which he remained a long time ex

, ,

posed to the railleries o f everyb od y De Luyn es a t lengt h .

c a me and demanded the seals of him Well we have .

,

g ot the s eals cried Louis with g reat delig ht

, we wil l ,

h ave the finances t oo The disconsolate Man g ot passed

s t ill se v eral very uncomforta ble ho u rs at t he Lou v re : h i s

i n qu 1 e tu d e wa s doub l ed when he was conduc t ed to Vi tr y s

’

a par tment by four guards who did not l eave h i m till ,

e v e n ing whe n they gave hi m permis sio n t o go ; and he

,
 E XE CU T I ON wm o w.
’
24 or C O N CI N I S

r eturned cheerfu lly home rej oiced at being let off s o

,

cheaply .

Richelieu bishop of Lu c on endured a t first gr eat

, ,

m or ti fica ti on ; but more bold than Mangot he at once

, ,

presented himself before his M a j esty Well M de .

, .

”
Lu c on said the king retaining his seat upon h i s billiar d
, ,

table of which he made a sort of thro n e

, I a m at length ,

”
del ivered from your tyranny The prelate wa s discon
.

c er te d ; as he was preparing to reply some thing in h i s

j ustification the kin g shar ply ordered him to re t ire Hi s
, .

Maj esty had forgotten the great hopes he had give n

Richelieu s ome days before : he was reminded o f them ,

a n d sent word to the bishop of Lu c on that the post o f ,

s ecretary o f state wa s restored to Villeroy but that he ,

would still be on e o f h i s M a j esty s councillors of state ’

i n fact an o fficer from the king conducted him to the door

,

o f the chamber in which the council wa s assembled As .

s oon a s Vi ll er ov an d the old ministers learnt that the

b ishop o f Lu c on wa s about to enter they raised s o many ,

di ffi culties that the prelate did n ot dare to show himself ;

,

but rem a ined standin g at th e door under the pretext of ,

conversing with the president Mir on Richelieu even .

a ffected generously to give up his pretensions which did ,

n ot however prevent his enemies from reproachi n g him

, ,

wi th this apparent mark o f humili ty a s a certain proof that

he had be t rayed Mary de Medici and Concini in order ,

to g a i n the g ood graces o f Luynes .

I n order to satisfy the cupidi t y o f the ki ng s favourite

’

i t was necessary n o t only to bring C on c i n i s wido w to the

’

sca ffold but to cas t every obloquy upon the memory of

,

both A mong o ther charges s h e was accused of witchcraft ;

. ,

every kind of indigni ty a n d misery was inflic t ed upon her

to the hour o f her execu t ion which s h e underwent wit h
,

s uch firm n ess and pie t y that many o f the Parisians who

had insulted the remains of t he marshal shed tears at the

d eath of h i s widow De Luynes obtai ned the c on fis c a
.
 R I C HE L I E U A T BL OI S . 25

tion o f a l l that Co n cini an d h is wife h a d possessed i n

France and I t aly .

Favourites are little beloved by contemporaries or ,

a d mired by posterity ; there is howe v er g reat reason , ,

to think that the unfortunate Con cini was no t by many ,

de g rees s o worthless as he i s genera l ly painted ; in deed

, ,

very trust w orthy writers d escribe hi m a s an amiable and ,

consequently an injured man .

Richelieu who had obtained office a n d a seat in the

,

council by mean s o f Concini a n d the queen -m o ther h a d ,

a difficul t par t to play a ft er the catastrophe o f the murder

o f t he one and the disgrace of the o ther
, De Luynes . ,

aware of his abilities woul d h ave had him remain in the

,

council ; but whether j udging that favour buil t upon

, ,

such a weak foundation as that o f this young man wa s ,

no t likely to last or whether followin g t he fa r s i g h ted

,
o

policy that seems to have been intu i tive i n him he ,

thou g ht proper to aff ect to be o f the queen s par ty still ’

and left the court to attend her to Blois to w hich place ,

she was banished Some writers conceive a m ystery i n

.

this ; his aft er life being such a tissue o f poli t ical intri g ue
-
,

they believe that n o action o f hi s w a s dictated by the

motives he made apparent O ne says Here was the
.

Marshal d A n c r e assassinated his w ife beheaded ; Man

’

g ot the keeper o f the seals reduced to a pri v ate station ;

, ,

Barbini in prison ; and yet the bishop of Lu c on who had ,

been their creature retained his place in the council !

,

They m u st be extremely partial to the futu re cardinal an d

minister who belie v e this to be t he result of merit a lone .

The conclusion they draw is that he attended the queen ,

either as a spy upon her ac t ions or with a vie w to use his ,

art and eloquence to restrain her violence and induce her ,

to ac t consistently with the wishes of the kin g his ,

favourite and ministers The obj ect was cer t ain ly wor thy
, .

o f t he means empl oyed if this was t he case for Mary

, ,

had still a stro n g party i n France : s h e had reig ned seve n

26 B A NI S HE D TO A V I G NON .

years a s regent ; though violen t s h e w a s not voi d of i n ,

te lli g e n c e ; thou g h a bit t er enemy s h e was a warm and ,

liberal friend ; the king s weakness w a s known and his ’

favouritis m dreaded and abhorred ; therefore her n ame ,

a n d cause were even to her melancholy death th e rally

, ,

ing words o f dis a ffected nobles and par tisan s Bu t we are .

more inclined to t hink t hat these reasons for the con

'

tinu a n c e o f the impor tance o f t he queen -mother wei g hed

with Richelieu than that he wa s employed by the king ;
,

for after a very short residence wi th her at Blois he w a s ,

o rdered to re t ire to a small ben efic e he possessed i n

Anj ou cal led Coursai ; thence he wa s commanded to g o
,

to his bishopric o f Lu c on an d at length took refuge a t ,

Avignon This certainly would not have happened if he

.
,

had been the kin g s a ge n t or spy In deed t here is n o

’
.
,

reason t o think that at this period he wa s a t all perso ,

n ally in the good graces of Louis

, Fortuna t ely for him .
,

when pressed by Concini u pon his takin g o ffice to resig n , ,

h i s bishopric o f Lu c on a s incompatible with the posi t io n

,

o f secre ta ry of state for war a n d forei g n a ffairs he had ,

refused to do s o at the risk of o ffending the fa v ouri t e

, ,

who wanted the s ee for another creature ; an d he had n ow

that ben efic e to fa l l back on .

I n his re treat at Lu c on he devoted himself to the com ,

posi t ion of le a rned controversies ; an d when from sus ,

p c io n s en t ertai n ed by the cour t th at theology was not

i
the sole obj ect o f h i s meditations he w a s ordered to leave ,

tha t place as too near to Blois and to reside at A vi gnon

, , ,

i n t he Pap a l S tates he still ostensibly prosecuted the same

,

s tudies and wrote his book

, The Perfec tio n of t he ,
”
Chris tian To pl a ce h i s retreat from public a ffairs
.

b eyond all suspicion he scarcely permitted h i s brother or

,

bro ther -i n l a w to visi t him ; a n d he p a ssed t wo years at

-

Avi g non persisting in the declaratio n that he never would

,

leave tha t place without the consent of De Luy nes and ,

Wi th o u t th e hope o f bein g s ervice a ble to him But wh o .

 THE QU EE N -M O TH ER AT B L OI S . 27

can believe that his ardent spirit and p olitic genius havin g ,

been once en g aged i n state i ntrigues could abando n a ll ,

hopes o f r e -en te ring the great a rena ? T h a t he still w a s

busy thou g h u nobserved is the less doub t ful from the
, ,

circ u mstance of h is eldes t brother Du Plessis bein g , ,

r etained near the queen -mother i n a confidential situa ti o n ,

during her residence a t Blois ; and from h i s be ing a ft er ,

wards a t once fixed u po n a s the person m os t likely to

,

a ffect a rec o nciliation betwee n th e king and Mary de

M edici I f he had ceased entirely to ho ld communicati on

.

with her this certainly w ould not have be e n the case

, .

The queen dowager had c arr ied into her retreat the
same taste for in trigue and the same p a ssio n for domination
that s h e had evinced during her r ege n cy but a hos t of
chu rchmen pla c e d about her perso n succeeded in keeping
,

her within bounds by painting in vivid colours the m is

,

fortun es which wou l d e nsue to France if s h e persisted in ,

her (p retensions She corresponded with her s on a n d

.
,

flattered herself that a visit whi ch he p romised to mak e

her would bring about a return of the i nfluen c e s h e had:
,

s o lo n g exe r cised over hi m B n t summer pas sed away

.
,

a utumn lik ewise w a s go n e an d wi nt e r was a d v an cin g

, ,

without any favourable in telli g ence from the cour t .

The queen renewed her compl a ints se veral n obleme n ,

appe a red to take an interest i n her situati on and sent h er ,

secret testimonials of t heir sympathy with it But it w a s .

her character alone which rendered her uncomfor t able ;

if s h e co uld have sacrifi ced h er ardent desire for rei g nin g ,

her p osi tion far from be ing a mortify ing one might have
, ,

r endered her h a ppy a s the kin g a llowed her a revenue

,

s ufficient to satisfy all her wishes There ca n however be

.
, ,

n o doubt that her restle s s spiri t wa s constant ly excited by

the ambition o f those around h er and o f those a t a dis t ance .

Whils t her mind wa s i n this state h er release from ,

Bloi s was undertaken by an I tal ian named Ru c c c l a i a

, , .

we a l thy volupt u ous intriguin g churchman

, , Tho u gh a n .
28 B U C C E LL A I S
’
IN TR I G U E S .

a bb é he kept one of the most sumptuous houses an d be s t

,

furnished t a bles in Paris shaming the French by his ex

,

u i s ite cookery and the elegance o f his en t ertainments

q .

Bein g known t o be attached to the Marshal d An c r e he ’

recei v ed orders after the assassinat ion of that favourite

, ,

to re tire t o his abbey and to hold no communication wi th

,

the queen mo ther B u t of wha t av ail is au thority a g ainst

- .

de t erminatio n in designs intrepidi ty in dan g er and con

, ,

s ta n c y t ha t is proof agains t all fa tigue ? By mean s of

disguises and n i g ht j ourneys underg oing hardships that ,

we are surprised such a m a n could endure he succeeded ,

in g ainin g access to the queen then to t he Duke de ,

Bouillon who m he endeavoured to in t erest in her cause

, ,

a n d las tly to the powerful Duke d E p er n on A t this ’

.
,

period this duke held fi v e great governmen t s ; t hree in the

,

interior o f the king d om S aintonge l A n g ou m oi s and the

, ,
’

L im o u s i n bei n g provinces in which were a mul t i t ude of war

,

like g en tlemen devo t ed to their governor His o ther two

, .

go v ernments were three bishoprics and Le Bou l o n n o i s ,

situated on t he frontiers The first enabled him to dra w

.

succours from Germany and the secon d t o keep up a ,

con n ection wi th En g land He was also commander of .

sever a l cities among which was Loches near B l ois The

, , .

Duke d E p er n o n in addi tion to this power possessed

’

, ,

great weal th ; he was colonel o f the French in fantry ,

whic h pl aced se v en or ei g ht thous a nd o f the best dis -

c i p l i n e d men in t he kin g dom under his command ; and as ,

a cro wn t o th e whole h a d se v eral youn g an d v i g orous

,

s on s
, capa ble o f assis t ing h i m in any thin g he mi g ht
undert ake He enj oyed such a repu t a tion for prudence
.
,

firm ness and for e si g ht tha t i t was ex pec t ed a crowd of

, ,

m a lcon t ents would flock t o his s t andard th e m omen t it ,

was raised U nder Henry I V he had found his master

. .
,

a n d a mas t er he es t eemed ; so t ha t afte r se v eral u seless

a ttemp t s t o g ain a u thori ty in the kin g d om he h a d resolved ,

to con fine himself t o t he honours at t ached t o his places .

 ’
30 RI C HE LI E U s RET U R N TO THE QU EE N -M O THER .

A t this period Richelieu wa s i n appeara nce vegetating

,

a t Av ignon where P ope Paul V only permi tted h i s resi

, .

dence with re g ret This ponti ff had seen him at Rome

.
,

an d looked u p on him as a d an gerous in t riguer ; his good

Opinion o f him not bei n g increased by hi s havin g deceived
his holiness wi th regard to hi s baptism The embarr a s s .

ment i n which Richelieu knew the cour t the n was ga v e ,

him reaso n to co nj ec ture that h i s services mi g ht be

a cceptable and he o ffered them by mean s of the Marquis
,

d e Po n tc ou r ta i his cous in
, They were at once accepted
.
,

a n d he recei v ed permissio n to repair to the queen mother - .

Before the prelate arr ived at An goul eme this court ,

m ystery was d ivu lged by the in discre t ion o f the king

he publicly asked t he Marqui s de Vil leroy if the Lord

d Al i n c ou r t hi s father w a s sufficiently well served in h i s
’

, ,

government to be sure o f a rresting the bishop of Lu c on ,

who wa s about to pass through it i n cog n i to Villeroy .

immediately wrote to his father ; a n d the latter placed s o

many spies on the route t hat Richelieu wa s discovered ;
,

and though the prelate had a passport in proper form be ,

de t ained him at Lyon s but wi th great re s pect The kin g

, .
,

who had only m eant to j oke and who believed that ,

Richelieu must have passed before D Al in c ou r t could ’

receive the n otice wa s n o soo n er aware of hi s detention

, ,

tha n he sent an order for him to be allowed to continue

his j ourney . This advent u re betr ayed th e collusio n of
Richelieu with the court .

When he arrived at Angoul eme his conduct towards the ,

quee n wa s exceedin g ly pruden t He did not assume the .

importa nce o f a pers on who proud o f the confidence o f

,

bo t h parties pretends to make hi mself the so u l and centr e

,

o f t he m atters in hand the org an of t he mean s and the

, ,

exclusive concil iator He lis t ened to everybody and di d

.
,

not appear to desire any advantage any pre -eminence , ,

over the o the r deniz e n s of the co urt whe ther old or n ew , .

RE C ON C I L IA T ION OF T HE K I N G AN D QU EE N -M O THER . 31

He caused himself to b e i n tr o d u c te d to the queen by th e

Duke d E p er n on ; he a ffected to cour t the e s teem a n d
’

friendship of tha t nobleman a n d said that he wished onl y

,

to owe the good -will o f the prin cess to his kind ofli c es .

This conciliatory demeanour w on a l l hearts an d d i s ,

posed those who were influential to listen to h i s per

suasions The bishop o f Lu c on s econded by the M a rqui s
.
,

de B e th u n es a ne g otiator Of the greatest m erit had the

, ,

honour to make a n d conclude a n accommodat ion wi th the

queen -mother and t he Duke d E p er n on ; th e la tter o f whom
’

withou t these n egotiations wo u ld hav e been pursued by

,

justice as guilty of high tre a son which if it had not cost , ,

him his life would at least have been the means Of h i s

,,

losing his Charges an d of hav ing h i s property confiscate d

, .

D E p er n on for his knight errantry in releasing the queen

’
-

w a s the person who su ffered m ost by that conju n c t ure ;

an d ye t B a s s om pi err e says that he gained more than h e
lost by the money gi ven to him for levies Of troops wh ich
, ,

le v ies he did n ot m ake ; a matter not at all improbable .

Richelieu preceded the queen to meet t he king and ,

recei v ed thanks proportionate to the s ervices he had just

rendered .

Luynes h a vi n g wi s h ed to force the queen mother to -

abandon the Duke d E p er n on to make o f him as he sai d

’

, , ,

a n example that princess re p lied that she never would

, ,

desert a m a n who had risked everythi n g in order to

release her from cap tivity ; and that s o far from leav in g ,

him exposed to the resen t ment o f his enemies she would ,

throw herself betwee n him and a ll a tt em p t s made to

injure him She was notwi thstanding after wards on the
.
, ,

point Of s a cr ificing him a t the instance Of th e Abbé

,

Ru c cel a i who had a gai n quarrelled wi t h D E p er n on

,
’
.

Bu t be tter feelings en sued and s h e determined to proceed

,

to t he last ex tremi t ie s rather than yield to the favourite .

Such wa s the despera te s tate of the a ffair when a s we , ,

32 IN TERV I E W OF TH E KIN G AN D QU EE N -M O THER .

ha v e said the intervention Of a single man of Richelieu

, , ,

bisho p of Lu c on restored t he peace which had seemed

, ,

hopeless .

The D u ke d E p er n o n Obtained n othing for his chi v alric

’

en t er prise but t he thanks Of Mary and a diamond ; for

her part the recon ci l ia t ion produced all she could desire
, .

She Ob t ained t he go v ernment O f A nj ou wi th regal ri g hts , ,

the ci ties O f Angers Chinon and Pon t de Cé a s places of

, , ,

safe ty wi th four hundred foot an d two companies o f

,

cavalry paid by the state to guard them The appoint

, , .

men t s of her househol d were much increased and she had ,

permission to v isi t t he k in g but under the express con ,

di t ion t hat i t should be onl y for an in t erview because it , ,

was said circums t ances would not allo w them to reside

,

toge t her a t t hat moment .

The in t ervie w between Mary de Medici an d her s on

took place a t the cas t le o f C ou r c i er e s near Tours A t , .

mee t ing they evinced more sur prise than t en d e rness

,

“
Mons ieur my son exclaimed the queen h o w y ou are
, , ,
”
grown since I s a w you ! I am grown madame , ,

replied Louis for your service

, Mary w a s fla tt ered .

by t he attentions an d caresses o f her dau g h t er i n l a w ; - -

but if she had had her choice s h e would have pre ferre d ,

the good graces of her son She o n e day asked t he prince .

Of Piedmon t her s on i n -l a w
, How shall I se t about
-
,

Obtaining t hem ? “
He replied Love tru ly and sincerely ,

a ll t ha t he lo v es ; those words contain t he l a w and the

”
prophets The lesson was good and Mary de Medici
.
,

secured the misery O f her life by ne g lectin g i t .

Richelieu who had been the principal ag en t in brin g in g

,

about the peace O f A n g ers be tween Louis X I I I and h is .

mo ther was at the t ime supposed to be ill rewarded for

, , ,
-

his trouble but all that such a genius as his wan t ed w a s

Opportuni t ies and his re t urn to court Opened many t o him :
,

he w a s made intend a n t of th e queen mother s household -

’

and had other means of acquir ing wealth placed wi thin hi s

 R I C HEL I E U S I N TERFERE N C E
’
. 33

r each But he had been promised a cardinal s hat ; a n d

.
’

i ns t ead of recei v in g that honourable reward he soon foun d ,

tha t enem ies and envious persons accused him of having

thoug ht much more o f his own interests tha n of those Of
t he kin g dom and O f no t hav ing hesitated even to sacrifice
,

his mis tres s to Obtain the di g nity he so much coveted .

Whate v er may ha v e been the secret moti v e O f his conduct ,

a motive of which though we m a y suspect its fidelity we

, ,

a r e not able to speak with certain ty we are bound to ,

admit that his conduct was wise an d conformable t o soun d ,

policy ad v antageous to France which it tra nquillized an d

, , ,

to Mary de Medici whom it satisfied Al l th at that

:

, .

princess could require was to return to her son wi th the ,

same honours and the same authority she had previously

enj oyed ; to re t urn to him n ot by force an d as a suppli ,

can t but triumphan t an d courted The malcontents had

, .

endeavoured to persuade her that to attain this obj ect , ,

she must make herself feared by employing their forces .

Richelieu on the contrary wished Mary to employ the

, ,

support of these nobles and the display of their power ,

n ot to contend with her s o n but to make herself necessary ,

to him He succeeded in this by depriving Mary e v en

.
, ,

ag ainst h i s duty and promises to her of the power Of ,

rendering herself redoubtable and by engag ing her t o ,

return to An gers Thus the bishop of Lu c on had ter .

m i n a te d in an instant a civil war which mi g ht have

, , ,

pro v ed dangerous to both the principal parties concern e d

in it : from the well known char a c t er of the nobl es who-

put themselves forward there cou l d be very li ttle doub t ,

as t o their O bj ect .
.

Richel ieu had rendered a n essen tial ser v ice to the

mother the son the favouri te a n d all France and there
, , ,

fore all appeared grateful t o him Luynes cour t ed th e .

fu ture cardinal and t he marria g e of o n e of his rel a tion s

,

with one of Richel ieu s nieces was th e seal t o t his new ’

reconcili ation Richelieu was g ive n t o understand tha t

.

D
3 41 B I C H E LI E U A MB I T IOU S OF T HE C A R D I NA LSH I P .

the king had h is promotion to the cardinal s hat very ’

m uch at heart ; the minis try despatched courier aft er

courier and wro te the most pressin g letters which they
, ,

a lways took care to communicate to the Obj ect of them .

The Marquis de C oeuv res ambassador to Rome had , ,

orders to press the Pope warmly on the subj ect and ,

really wa s very zealous The Sovereign Pon tifl di s s em

'

bled for some time ; but at last annoyed by the i m p or tu

, ,

n i ti e s of the ambassador he told him he was bein g deceived

, ,

and showed him letters from the king himself which ,

proved that h i s m aj esty took n o in terest in the pub l ic

entreaties made in favour of the bishop of Lu c on ; s o t hat
the promotio n of 1 62 0 passed without any benefit to
Richelieu He knew very well who i t w a s that had
.

Opposed him in this instance ; the ministers Father ,

A r n or ex the king s confessor a n d Luynes himself

,
’
A ny
, .

other than the bishop O f Lu c on would ha v e appeared

o ffended a t such treachery and w oul d have forced these
,

false frien ds to remove the obstacles which their j ealousy

h a d placed i n the way O f his ad v an cement ; but well ,

acquainted with the nature O f courts he p ursued a more ,

politic course He nei ther murmured n or complained

.

be a ffec t ed to s a y that his misfortune was a consequence

o f the ill will of t he PO e and of persons who were envious
-
p ,

o f his posi t ion : he was thankful to his French friends ,

and continued to li v e wi th them a s if he had on l y g rati tude

and praises to besto w u pon them By this conduct he .

removed their desire to injure him ; an ordinary occurrence

in courts where hatred is seldom indulg ed in by h alves
, .

N otwithsta nding the family al liance the Duke de ,

Luynes s t ill continued to be the secret enemy of the

bishop o f Lu c on and a s long a s he lived succeeded in
, , ,

thwart in g all the endeavours of the queen mother to pro -

cure the so earnestly cove ted hat for her p r o teg é I n 1 6 2 2 ’

.
,

the Duke de Luynes only the year before made cons t ab l e

,

o f France in th e midst of the most rapid career Of honour s

,
 DE A TH or DE L UY N E s . 35

a nd s u ccess died Of a fever in the thir ty -secon d year of

, ,

hi s a g e . A ll fa v o u rites have Obtain ed an unenviable cele

br i ty a n d few have been honoured by more con temporary
,

abuse than D e Luyn es The cur ious searcher in to the .

history of these times mi g ht find volumes of libel s a g ai n st

t h is youn g man whose character a n d history would not
,

h a ve the leas t interest if they were n ot connecte d with

events and person s of s o m uch more con sequence tha n
hi mself Like Conc ini De Luy n es had good qualities ;
.
,

but they were obscured if n ot des troyed by the unmeri te d

, ,

favour he enj oyed Whilst the m i nis t er and companio n

.

'

Of Louis he efie c ted many praiseworthy changes bu t th e

,

extrav a gant way i n whic h he wa s loaded with honours

spoiled hi m and drew upon him the hatred o f all classes
, .

We h a ve before us at this moment a closely -printed , ,

volume o f more than five hundred p a ges contai ning ,

n othing but satirical and abusive a rti cle s in prose an d ,

verse a gainst thi s favourite of a day The volume wa s

, .

printed when the pieces were collected j ust a year a fter

, ,

hi s death I t i s in excellent preservati o n ; bu t bea r s no

.

si n o fl i d — the fate we sho u l d fancy

g f ow n
g ev er been r ea , , ,

o f m ost of such documents .

I n the same year 1 6 22 Richelieu Obtained hi s cardinal

, ,

s hip ; a n d in wa s admit t ed into the Roy a l Council .

A t this period commences the history of the Cardinal

Richelieu whose ministry i s on e of the most famous in the
,

world s annals He wa s i n the thirty-nin t h year Of h i s

’
.

a g e ; he had established a reputati on for eloquence for ,

political wisdom for firmness Of character and great

, ,

energy and acuteness i n all he u n dertook ; t he other par t s

Of his character whether g ood or evil were soon and
, ,

s tr ik in g l y developed .
 ’
36 B I C H E LI E U O B TAIN S TH E C ARDI N A L s HA r .

C HA P T E R I I I .

Re ad m i tte d to th e counc il — Win s th e favou r of Lo uis XIII — T h e .

T hirt y Y e ar s Wa r Pol itic a l E vents — Marriag e o f Ch arl e s I o f

’
— .

E ng l a nd wi th th e Prin c es s H e n ri e tta o f F ranc e— I nc re as e of

p o w e r D i tfi c u l ti e s G a s ton D O rn an o
’
C h a l ais— P l o t ag ain s t
R ic heli eu M arria g e o f G a s ton E xec tion of Ch al ais Buc king
— — u —

ha m —A ffe c t s to wi s h to ret ire — A nne o f A us tria .

T HE new cardi n al havin g received the ba r e tte i n gre a t ,

pomp from the hands of the king and acquitted himself o f

, ,

the usual thanks hastened to lay his blushin g honours at

,

the feet Of Mary de Medici This purple said he

.
, ,

“
for which I am in debted to your m aj esty w ill constantly ,

r emind me Of the solem n vo w I have taken to shed my

”
blood if necessary in your defence
, , Almost his whole .

a fter life wa s an awful comment upon this vow and speech

- .

The death of De Luynes had res tored the credit of the

queen mother She was a gain admitted into the council
- .

but expressed little satisfactio n at t hat C ircumstance a s ,

long a s the same priv ilege wa s refused to the Card i nal de

Richelieu She availed herself of a favourable Op por
.

tu n i ty to urge her wishes to the king ; bu t hi s maj esty

expressed himself strongly upo n the subj ect sayin g I “
, ,

kno w him better than you do madame ; he is a m an of ,

boundless ambition Perseverance howe v er overcame

.
, ,

Obs t acles wi thout removin g repugnances : Richelie u wa s

admitted to t he council under the express conditio n tha t
he should confin e himself to Offerin g h i s Opinion .

The minister Vieuville assi s ted g reatly in throwing Ope n

the doo r of the council -ch a mber but very s oon repe nt ed ,

o f h a ving give n himself suc h a colle a gu e ; hi s subsequent

conduct to wards him showed that he fe a r ed him much

m o re tha n he loved hi m He n ot on ly c once a l ed a ffa ir s
.
38 R I CHEL I E U RE - A D M I TTE D TO THE C OUN C I L .

cas es basely receive it The cardi n al explained to him

, .

the reasons for the state o f decay into which France had
fallen and the means that ought to be t a ken to restore her
,
.

From that moment a correspondence of ideas and action s

wa s established between t he monarch an d th e minister ,

which supported that mi n ister a gainst all efforts either ,

domes t ic o r foreign even ag ainst the l a s situde Of Louis and

,

Richelieu themselves who Often disgusted by t he contrast

, ,

o f their characters and ready to separate were constantly

, ,
‘

drawn together agai n hy the necessi ty for assis ting each

other in the execution o f the plans they had formed .

But still fur ther than this the reciprocity described s o

, ,

well by A n qu e til was not s o equal as he represents it .

Playing upon a weak mind O f which he had m a de himself ,

m as t er the wily cardinal took care that the kin g should

,

constantly feel this necessity : from the moment the

compact was made Lou i s was never at peace ; his,

minister alway s contrived he should be i n vol v ed in some

trouble or other from whi ch his o wn genius shrunk
,

a ppalled and from which he t hought nobody could e xtr i

,

ca t e him bu t the great cardinal

’

Soon aft er Richelieu s admission to the council the ’

s ystem o f the cour t w a s entirely chan g ed The discus .

sions of the council were required to be kept secret ,

whereas the Spaniards had bee n a ccustomed by on e ,

mean s or o ther to be a s well acquain ted with them a s the

,

members themselves The mode of conductin g political

.

affairs was likewise chan g ed ; inste a d O f the ruses ,

manoeuvres fin e s s es and a ffected delays which the Frenc h

, ,

ambassadors had bee n a ccustomed to employ at other

courts they had positive orders to speak a n d act wi th
,

firmness The ambassador from the court of Rome

.
,

s eeing a new minis ter when the cardin a l took the lead i n
,

the council fan cied he should render h i m a service by

,

writin g him a long letter pointi n g o u t the usual routin e ,

h e must p u r s ue i n n egotiatio n s wi th his co urt T o this .

 THE TH I RTY Y E A Rs
’
WA R . 39

document Richelieu s h or tly r eplie d The kin g is n o longe r ,

“

disposed to be amused ; you may tell the Pope that a n

army will be immediately sent into the Va l tel in e The .

Pope s nuncio complained of the expedi t io n of the French

’

i n fa v ou r Of the Grisons aga i nst the Pope a n expedition ,

s ai d he made by a Ca t holic prince and reco m mended by

, ,

a cardinal again st t he Pope himself in favour of a n

, ,
”
heretical peop l e Y ou must be very much embarrassed
.
,

s aid the nuncio to Richelieu when the question o f thi s ,

” “
war i s deli berate d in the council ! N ot at a ll r e ,

plied the cardinal when I wa s made Secretary o f State ,

the Pope g a v e me a brief by which I am permitted to s a y

and do all in sa fety Of conscience tha t may be useful to
, ,
”
the state But sup pose it should be proposed to
.

”
assist heretics ? a dded the nuncio Well I thi nk .
,
-
,

repli ed Richelieu cooll y I th in k my brief woul d even

, ,
”
extend to that .

Al l Europe began at this period to be agitated by the

, ,

famous thirt y years war between the Catholics and ’

Protes tants Of Germany Th e indolent emperor Rodolph .

had been in part despoiled Of his states by the ambitio us

, ,

Mathias his brother who inherited t he imperial dignity

, , .

Mathias d ied without ch ildren i n 1 6 1 9 He had w h ilst , .

,

livin g caused Ferdinand of Stiria his cousin german

, ,
-
,

grandson Of Ferdinand I brother of Charles V to be .

,

electe d kin g Of Bohemia This prin ce brou g ht up by .

,

Jesuits and crowned by Spaniards wished to deprive th e ,

Bohemians of liberty o f conscience they became irritated

by his attempts carried a complaint to the coun cil of
,

Pra g ue and t hrew three of the O fficers of the government

,

o u t O f t he win d ows into the ditches O f the cas t le They .

immediately raised troop s refused to reco g n ize Fer ,

di n a n d II as successor to Mathias and o ffered the i m

.
,

perial crown to Frederick V the e l ector palatine son -in .

, ,

law of James I kin g of En g l and and ne phew of the

.
, ,

s tadtholder o f Holland If Henry I V h a d been livin g

. . ,
40 THE VA LT E LI N E .

he wo uld h a ve eagerly seized upo n such a n opportunity

for lowerin g the pride of the house of Austria : but the
fa ther of the pal atine had actively a ssis te d the Calvinists
o f France and the perfec t ly Catho lic and Spanish spiri t
,

which a t th a t time go v erned Louis X III and his cour t

. .

m ade him abandon the cause o f the P rotestan t s in

G ermany and neglect the grand part he mi g h t have
,

a ssumed o f arbit r ato r o f Europe The king howe v er .

, ,

was sensible that he ought to dispute wi th the Spaniards

a n d the house o f A ustria the possessio n of t he Va l tel in e ,

a valley of t he A lps a dependency o f the Grisons w hich

, ,

a l ways furnished easy means of co m m u nicatio n betwee n

G ermany and I taly * .

The cardinal fur ther signified to the P ope s nuncio that ’

a s the council was n o longer governed by ligh t heads t he ,

a ffa i r would be quickly settled ; the king o f Fran ce bein g

determined to proceed wi t h a quick and firm step The .

Marquis de C oeuvres wa s immediately sent into Switzer

land not to negotiate but to raise
, S wiss and lead
, ,

them into I taly Thou g h the cardinal was s u fli ci en tly

.

unprej udiced to under t ake such a war for t he public good

without scruple he found that the king and queen mo ther
,
-

en tertained conscientious doubts and he called an assembly ,

o f bishops and notables who sanc t ioned the war A ft er

,
.

m a ny m i litary events this war was terminated in 1 6 3 6 by

, ,

F ather Joseph ; bu t not as an historian remarks wi thout , ,

numerous complain t s being made by the n e g o t iators of ,

the duplici ty of the Cardinal de Richelieu The war o f .

I taly had obliged him t o treat wi th t he Hu g uenots for ,

Th e Va l tli n e, or Va l te l in e, is a fert il e vall e y o f S wit z erl an d ,

fifty mil es long a n d ab ou t fou rte en broad , in c l o se d

b e t we e n t w o
cham s o f h ig h m ountains ; th e north c ha in s ep arate s i t fr m th e o

G risons th e south from th e V en etian t errit ori e s i t is bou n d e d o n

,

th e e as t by th e c ountry o f t h B o r m io a n d on th e we s t by that 0 1
e ,

C bi a va n a a n d th e d chy o f M il an
u T h e ri er A d d a fl ws th rou g h
. v o

i ts whol e l eng th int o th e lak e Com o

, T h e inhabitant s a r e a l l .

Rom an Catho lic s ; they have n o m anu fac tu r e s bu t e xp o rt win e , ,

s il k p l anks c hees e b u tt er a n d c attl e
, , , , .
 M A RR IA GE OF CH A RLE S I . AN D HE N R I ETT A .

fear of having too much on h i s hands at o n ce Some .

concessions which the cardinal imposed upon himself

,

with regr et drew upon him the blame of zealous Ca th o

,

l ic s
. We hav e a n idea that under such an arbitr ar y ,

government as that of Louis X I II and h i s cardinal .

minister there could be no liberty o f the press and

,

yet fe w periods have been more ri fe i n libels and

p a squinades in some of these Richelieu wa s styled ,

the P on tifi of th e Ca l v i n i s ts th e C a r di n a l of L a Ro c he l l e
’

, ,

th e P a tr i a r c h of th e A th ei s ts But s till he held o n hi s .

course crushi ng the authors li ke insects whe n he cou l d

, ,

discover them a ffectin g to despise them whe n he cou l d

,

n ot ; but never forg etting them O ne of these satires s o .

uvi ol en tl y irr i t ated him that he s wor e the author should

,

“
die if he could find ou t who he w a s a ver y needless
“
oath says with n a i ve te the wri te r who relate s it ; hi s
, ,
’

,
”
word would have been su fficien t .

The next principal affair e ffected und er the a uspice s of

the cardi nal was the marriage o f Henrietta o f France ,

daughter Of Henry I V and sister Of Louis X III wi t h . .

,

Charles prince of Wales , The court of Spain had at .

first expressed a wish to unite a n infanta of Spain wi t h

th s prince but it would scarcely appear they were i n
i
,

earnest I n addition to the difference of religion which

.
, ,

with S panish Catholics was a serious obj ec tion Spai n , ,

was if this marriag e took place to give up t he palatinate ;

, ,

to do which she was as little inclined as the En g lish

monarch was anxious to Obtain i t back for his s on i n l a w - - .

The Spaniards j ealous of the countries of France and

,

En g land being t oo closely united procras tinated this ,

a ffair in the hope that t he daughters of France would a l l

,

be married ; bu t Charles aft er his unpleasant t ri p t o ,

Madrid in passin g i n c og n i to throu g h France became

, ,

enamoured of Henrietta and wi th the warm th of a lo v er , , ,

endeavoured immedia tely to bri ng abou t a union wi th

that princess .
42 THE E N GL I SH A LL I A N CE .

This marri a ge which produced such s eri ou s co u se

,

q u e n c e s for England was planned , a s far as regards t he

,

propriety of it and the a r ticles which were to accompany

i t by the master spirit of whose life and actions we a r e
,
-

treating ; and i t is s o exceedin g ly interesting aft er seeing ,

t he results to vie w the moti v es which guided him in the

,

affair that we think we sh a ll be pardoned if we gi v e a

,

somewhat lon g extract from his most esteemed but parti a l

biographer A u ber y ,

The cardinal w a s the n newly established in state

a ffairs bu t he soon made it apparent tha t he knew how to
,

treat them : for t he king desiring him t o S peak his min d

freely upon this matter he n o t only added many reasons
,

to those that had been given at the firs t d eli bera t ion but ,
‘

he likewise pointed ou t such judicious means to h is

maj esty for conducting the treaty that Louis co ul d not ,

su fficien tly admire his prudence and sag acity .

A mong the r easons which rendered this alliance

desirable he represented to him t h at Englan d being
,

closely allied wi th France by this m a rriage there wa s ,

e v ery reason to hope that they woul d unite thei r armies for
the assistance of the princes of Germany seeing that E n g ,

land had st ill more interest than France i n r e estab - ~

l i s hi n g them Tha t this marriage would bring as much

.

glory to the cro wn and state a s ab a sement and confus ion to

their enemies ; i t bein g besides necessary to s et bounds
to the insolence of the Huguenots thi s marriage woul d be
,

wonderfu ll y ad v anta g eous inasmuch as it woul d prevent

,

the kin g of Great Britain from lend ing them assistance ,

and th e kin g of France mi g ht hope to Obtai n vessels

from that coun t ry with whic h t o reduce t he Roc h el l a i s to
,

obedience Besides a ll this he added that t here wa s

.
,

great reason to h Op e that madame would no t a lit tle assist

th e a d vancement of the Roman Catholic reli gion in E n g
land i f s h e wa s dearly beloved by the king and the princ e
,

her hus ban d a s n o doubt s h e wa s ; s o that on all s ides

, , ,
 FRE N CH V I EW S IN T HE E N GL I S H A LL IAN CE . 43

he augu red nothing but great happiness from the marriage ,

j udg ing it ad v isable to employ all poss ible a ddres s a n d

prudence to accomplish it speedily .

A u ber y then proceeds to poin t out h ow far th e result

a nswered the c ardin a l s anticipations and says that but
’

, ,

for the intri g u e s of the Duche s s de Chevreuse a nd th e ,

misconduct of s ome of the attendants wh o a cc ompanied

Henrie tta it wo u ld hav e be e n complete ; a s s h e quickly
,

gained great infl u ence over bo th James and hi s s on Charles .

A t the present day we are at a los s to conceive h ow

s uch articles o f marriage a s th ose a g reed u p o n by the tw o

courts coul d e v er ha ve been allowed to pa s s in En g land

, .

From the second a rticle we may trace t roubles an abdi ,

cation an d a change o f dynasty ; but the cardin a l li ttle

,

thought it would be the mean s of producin g such a

revolution and such a constitutio n a s n o other par t o f the
worl d at any age h a s beheld E very portion of these
. .

a rticles i s favourable to the res toration o f Roman ism i n

“
Englan d ; bu t that which says that the children born
o f this marri a g e shal l be brou g ht up a n d educated by

madame in the Catholic religion up to the age o f thirteen ,

wa s n o doubt the source of muc h tempo r ary evil but o f

, , ,

far more permanent g oo d .

The abo v e named biographer who published hi s work

-
,

withi n t wenty years aft er the cardi n al s dea th S peaks ou t ’

s o plainly when describing this marriage a n d the views o f

,

the French in promoting i t that we feel we S ho ul d r eall y

,

spoil hi s Opinions by gi v in g them in a n y other words than

his own A ft er detailing the marria g e ar ticles he says
.
,

This was all that co uld he wished for at the time for th e
adv antages of religion un til madame who was endowed
, ,

wi t h e v ery quality o f mind an d bo dy that could render

a princess beloved should acqu re a
, i g rea t power over the
mind of K in g James and that o f hi s son t he prince of
, ,

Wales could fi n ish the res t The kin g expec t ed this from
, .

h er z e a l and addr ess wi th s o much the more confidence ,

 THE CA RD IN A L S ’
L RM S
A A .

from ladies hav i ng great influe n c e ove r their husban ds

a n d t hei r fa th ers in -l a w when they a r e de a rly beloved by
a
,

t he m .

The g reat e ffec t o f thi s u nion wa s the inclination to

Romanism in Charles I I and the infatuate d preferen ce o f
.
,

it i n James II ; otherwise it g oes am ong hundreds o f

.
, ,

other instance s of th e kind to prove that such ties have ,

not the least strength whe n te s t ed by national interes t s .

Charles I was soon at wa r wi th F rance notwithstan ding

.
,

h i s close con n ec t io n w ith the king of that country How .

much blood a n d treasure Were S pe nt to pre v ent what was

thought would p r ove the a ggra ndiseme n t of the French
by the ac cession of a Bourbon to the crown Of Spain !
Before he died Philip V wa s at war wi t h his native
, .

country .

N otwithsta ndin g the fortunes a n d the credit o f the

cardinal appeared to be such a s to excite envy he ex ,

r i en c e d serious alarms as to his power and was not at

p e ,

ease e v e n wi th respect to h is personal safe ty He com .

plained bit t erly to the nuncio Spada th at with regard t o , ,

h is fortunes he served a prince who was by n o means

,

generous ; that the recompense o f hi s labours had bee n

nothing but a small abbey and that loaded wi t h deb t s if , , ,

he were t o qui t the ministry he S hould be obliged to con ,

ce a l himself from the pursui t o f hi s creditors “

My .

”
credit ad d ed he
, is not better established than m y
,

fortune Placed between the queen mo ther and her s on

.
-
,

o f diametrically Opposite charac t ers I have the g reatest ,

trouble ima g i nable to lessen the repu g nance of t he on e ,

and to moderate the temper of the o t her and am con

'

”
s ta n tly in d a nger Of losing t he good gr a ces o f both .

The kin g in part icular on perceiv in g t he least inclination

, ,

towards his mo ther in the p on d u c t of the prela te imag i ned ,

tha t s h e had the preference in his mind and v iews and ,

direc tly took O ffence : in some of these momen t s of s u s

p c i on in fluenced by the young fa v ourites who surrounded
i ,
 R I C HEL I E U AND C O LBERT .

wou l d have terminated in a very S hort time a fter the

dece a se o f the k i ng To extr icate Gas ton from plots an d
.

rebellions to prevent his attaining undue power to endea

, ,

vour to draw him into cl os e connection with himself and , ,

that failing to keep clear of mortally offending him were

, ,

the tasks of Richelieu a s long as he lived a ft er becoming

m inister Ho w galling such a conte st wi th such a petty
.

c haracter must have been to Richelieu may be easil y

imagined A n d here a re flec tion forces i t self upon u s

. .

Wi th all hi s a cknowledged abilities the life and m i n i s tr v ,

o f Richelieu present less i n struction to statesmen of ou r

d ays th an those o f most other men in his position His .

histo ry furnishes abundan ce of incidents to the n ovelist

a n d the play -writer because it i s made up of court cabal s
,

a n d intrigues s tru g gles to attain a n d maintain power dis

, ,

gusting exhibitions O f favouri t ism fri g htful instances o f ,

p er fid y and cruelty His foreign policy.mi g ht be com

prised in a nut shell— but the court intrigues in which he
-

w a s n ot only mixed up but was a principal agent will , ,

take place next to fiction a s long as the passions and vices ,

o f men and women are Obj ects o f curiosi ty an d in terest .

I n a country enj oying any t hin g approximating to a free

government such things cannot possibly occur ; n o t a
single One of t he m any plots that stained t he reign of
Louis XIII wi th p er fidy and cruelty cou l d be dreamt of
.

n ow. But wha t is still more s trange the same contrast , ,

or nearly the same exists bet ween the minis tries of

,

Richelieu and Colbert I t is true the power of Louis X I V

. .

was more set tled determined and arbitrary than t hat of

, ,

his fa ther Louis X III h a d a ll possible inclination to be a s

. .

despotic a s h is son but the t ime wa s not come ; and if

,

i t had he had not strength o f charac ter enou g h to hav e

,

rei g ned un a ssisted h e mi g ht have been as despotic a s his

—

s on was but he must alway s have ru l ed by proxy

, .

The hi sto ry Of the ministr y of Richelieu is the his tory

o f the co u rt ; the people sta n d for n othi n g i n it but a s
 ’
C OLON E L D O BN A N O . 47

obj ects of plun der N either women nor court in tr i g ues

.

en t er in to t he a c c ou n of the m inistry of Colbert ; the

g
nati o n and its inte rnal and foreign prosperity includin g , ,

far more than had ever before been t houg ht of a tt ention ,

to t he interests of the people were his obj ects and steadily

, , ,

wisely and nobly he carrie d them out We do n ot deny

, .

tha t the circumstances a n d the state o f France and of

Europe were widely different ; we at th e s a me time do not
deny the great talents of Richelieu ; but a s the prime ,

minister of a great kingdom whose mission i s to guide it ,

t o and keep i t in the road of prosperi ty and honour we

, , ,

thinks Colbert rank s very far above Richelieu a s a man ,

we thi nk there are few with any claims to distin ction wh o

do not .

Colonel d Or n a n o a man o f courage and abil ity but of

’

, ,

a most res t less dissatisfied temperament had been ma de

, ,

governor o f Gaston the king s brother and instead of

,
’

regulating t he conduct o f th e prin ce and avert ing th e ,

d an g ers incidental to his position seem s n o t only to have ,

thrown himsel f headlong into every court intri g ue but to ,

have employed h i s influen ce o v er Gaston s mind to m ake ’

him discontented and rebellious This error wa s soo n .

percei v ed by Richelieu and D O r n a n o wo ul d have bee n

,
’

made quickly and painfully aw a r e of his mistake but the ,

politic cardinal j udged it best to temporise : D O r n a n o w a s ’

a mbi tious p resumed immoderately upon the favour of his

,

young ch a rge and gave it to be unders t ood tha t unless he

,

were made a marsh a l the minis t er wo ul d repent Riche .

lieu and the king hesitated whe ther they should arrest
him or exalt him ; but t he cardin a l deemed it best to
comply wi th his wishes sayin g he might prove grateful
, ,

for the baton and if he should n ot b e s o it would be as

, ,

easy t o arrest the marshal a s the colonel .

’
I t has bee n j us t ly remarked by one o f Richelieu s
numerous bio g raphers that o n e of h i s principl es explains
,
48 IN TR I G U E S or
'
D O RN AN O .

gentlemen whose bir th or merit gave them any prete n

,

s ions solicited employments or favours he by s ystem

, , , ,

ranted them more eve n than t hey had a right to hope

g
for ; but whe n once exalted if th ey exhibited a n y s ym p
, ,

toms of discontent or if he found that instead of bein g

,

grat eful they were in any way o pposed to him he treated ,

them without mercy the hi g hest rank the gre a test merit , ,

t he longest ser vices were no protection against hi s wrat h

, .

D O r n a n o experienced thi s Favours onl y seemed to

'

incite him to fresh intrigues against hi s apparent bene

factors The cardin a l wa s the great obstacle to the
.

ambition o f the princes and nobles who fil led th e court ,

consequently there was always a cabal i n existence again st

him . A marria g e was proposed between Monsieur a s the ,

eldest brother of a kin g o f France i s always styled and ,

Mademoiselle de Montpensier a most beautifu l person and , , ,

at that time the rich est heiress in Europe This union

, .

was opposed to the views of D O r n a n o ; he dreaded the ’

influence o f a beautiful woman particularly one so circum ,

s ta n ce d over the weak m ind o f his charge and he did a ll

, ,

i n his power to set Gaston against the marriage N ot .

satisfied with this he was constantly feeding the discon

,

tent and raising the hopes o f the prince The kin g s .

’

constitution wa s weak ; although married se v eral years he ,

had no children a n d the eyes of t he newly -mad e marsh a l

,

were d a zzled wit h t he hopes of one day r u li n g Fran ce a s

prime minister But in such a path he crossed that of a
.

m ore powerful genius than h is o wn ; wi th h i s usual deci

s ion and promp t i t ude Richelieu had him arrested sen t
, ,

him to the Bas tille and kept hi m there a s long a s he

,

li v ed .

But the s eed s of d iscontent sown in the mind of Gasto n

did not fail to g erminate ; a s erious plot in which he was ,

involved quickly a fte r broke out o f which the impruden t

, ,

Chalais master of the wardrobe wa s the vic t im Th er e

, , .

doe s n ot a ppe a r to h a ve b e e n a plot worthy of n otice for ,

 c n xt xrs
’
PL O T .

years in F rance in whi ch the Duchess de Chevreuse w a s

, ,

not co ncerned A fascinatin g woman o f cons iderable

.
,

t a l ent and extraordinary beau ty s h e employed the a d va n ,

t a ges of nature together with consummate art to seduce

, ,

h er v arious lovers in to her view s and make them minister ,

t o them wi t h the zeal of p a s sion I n this m elancholy .

a ffair her m a gic i n fluen c e w a s exercised o v er more than

,

o n e o f the conspirators ; Chalais a n d the Grand Prieur ,

Vendome were both her lovers

, .

The unfortunate Cha lais m a ster of the wardrobe the , ,

issue o f the i llustr ious and ancient house of Talley rand

Peri g ord enj oyi ng the favour o f the king and holdin g a
, ,

d is tin g uished post in t he cou r t might have created fo r ,

h imsel f a fate worthy of envy if a s a n ardent and i m p r u , ,

dent lover he had not b ee n hurried into extrav a g ant

,

proj ects the success of which could hav e procur ed him n o

,

”
personal a d v antage The intrigu e says A n qu etil
.
, ,

which led Chalais to the scaffo ld resembles on e o f t hose ,

family events in which neighbours strangers and eve n , ,

s ervants are mixed up Fro m mali ce inconsiderate ze a l.

, ,

o r curiosity t hey examine the a ffair draw wrong conclu

, ,

sions resp ec ti n g it they report it in a n a l ter e d aspect and ,

making an im portant matter of a t rifle expose the fortune , ,

hono ur and sometimes the lives o f the persons compro

,

”
mised . Thus in thi s unfortunate a ffair by the side of ,

the first persons in the state fi g ured obscure people in ,

servile conditions duell is t s notorious women an d a mul

, , ,

titu d e of in t riguers who were tr eated with con t empt, ,

whil st one ill us t rious head paid the forfeit for all the res t .

Monsie u r had been persuaded that it wa s Richelieu who

pre v en t ed h i s having free access to his brother or obtaining ,

from hi m the fav ours he wa s desirous o f I f the cardin a l .

“
were no t i n existence he was told y o u would become
, ,

all -powerfu l by the a scenda n cy you would acquire over th e

,

ki n g ; he must t herefore be got rid of ; and Louis h imsel f”

, ,

tired of the tyranny o f the prela te wi ll not be disp l eas ed ,

n
50 PL O T D I S C O VE RED .

by the even t With this view a tr0 0 p of gid dy yo ung

,

m en formed a plot to a ssas sinate the cardin a l at Limours ,

a c ou n tr -house at a short distance from Fontainebleau

y ,

to which he sometimes retired Chalais wa s to strike the

.

first blow a n d wa s to fly i nto Holland until he had

,

obtained the king s pardon P ressed perhaps by some

’
.
, ,

feelin g of remorse he to l d his secret to the commander of

,

V a lence He wa s disgusted wi th the idea of assassina t ion

. ,

a n d told the cardinal o f it a s if t he avow a l came from

,

Chalais this he did with a view of mitigating Richeli eu s ’

a n g er
. Valence s tale w a s that under the pretence of
’

, ,

dining at Limours Monsieur would send hi s officers to

,

the house ; when he himself shoul d have a rrived a pre ,

tended qua rr el should take place of which advant a ge wa s ,

to be taken to consummate the enterprise Richelieu .

would n ot at first believe the story ; but his doubts were

, ,

quickly dispelled by the arrival of the announced party .

The cardinal im m ediately called for his carriage a n d ,

d rove to Fontainebleau where Gaston was: He presented

,

himself boldly before him an d said I f your royal high

, ,

n ess intended to make a n entertainment in my house I ,

should have been flattered by being permitted to do the

honours of it ; but as you wish to be at perfect liberty I ,

”
give it up to your pleas u re Hav ing pronounced these
.

few words wi thout waiting for a reply the car dinal bowed
, ,

and retired leav in g Monsie u r an d hi s accomplices in the

,

gre atest confusion .

Terrified at such a black con spiracy Richelieu endea ,

v ou r e d to fathom the motive s of it ; he interroga t ed

se v eral person s i nter e sted the family of Chal ais wi th
, ,

which he wa s int imately connected and questioned Chalais ,

himself very closely He obt a ined more excuses tha n

.

confessions ; but yet enou g h of the latter to draw from

the foolish young man some words of repentance an d to ,

allow h i m to tell him that a melan choly fate aw a ited hi m

if he meddled with in trigues aga in But this wa s a vain .
 D U CHES S DE c n nvn xu s n . 51

threat to on e equa lly an enthusiast in love an d friendship .

There are proofs that he loved Madame de Che vreus e ,

who had been the wido w of the Constable de Luynes ;

and that s h e detes t ed the cardi n a l who had a s it is said , , ,

from j ealousy thwa rted her in her love for Buckingham

, ,

whom s h e adored : others s a y it was the earl of Holland

s h e loved an intimate friend of Buckingham s and wh o ’

, ,

came into France wi t h him I t i s not therefore certain

.

tha t this la dy paid Chalais with an equal retur n but s h e ,

gave the youn g ma n s u fficient encourag ement to inspire

him with her o wn feelings of hatred and to e n gage hi m ,

in her plans of vengeance against the cardinal .

Chalais was also t he inseparable friend of the Chevalier

de Ven d é m e Grand Prieur o f France The latter had
, .

won his regard by o ffering to be his second in a quarr el .

The Grand Prieur professed himself to be the open enemy

o f Richelieu whom he a cc u sed of diver tin g from his
,

house the favours the king wa s willing to bestow upon it .

He h a d inspired with hi s own d is content his brother the ,

Duke de Ven d bm e governor o f Bretagne like himself

, , ,

a s on of Henry I V and spared no pains to impar t his

.
,

hatred to all who approached him This w a s indeed the . , ,

only passion that engendered this conspiracy We d o .

find in it an English agent and an Abbé Scaglia the , ,

ambassador from Savoy ; but they must be considered

less as political representatives than ministers of hatred
the fir s t an instrument o f the animosity of Buckingham ;
,

the second a prou d man the personal enemy of Richelieu

, , ,

who boasted of bei ng tbe on ly M a r d oc beu s wbc ba d no t

bowe d th e kn ee bef or e th i s ba g yb
ut/ A m a n .

E arly in the month of Ju ly , 1 6 2 6 ,

the cour t repaired
to N an t es to celebrate the marriage of Monsie u r with
Ma d emoiselle de Montpensier the beautiful a n d immense l y
,

we a l thy h eir e s s wh om thi s volatile prince had for some t ime

,

refused t o espouse When arri v ed at N an t es peo pl e found

.
,

with astonishment that a criminal t rial was t o be mixed up

11 2
 2 L o u vr e m .

with the marriage festivities We m ust s ay s a n author .

, ,

writing on thi s subj ect have more detailed memoirs than

,

any we are possessed o f to know who wa s the powerfu l ,

noble who upon hi s return to court aft er severa l yea rs o f

, ,

absence found his mistress a ttached to a gentlem an

,

n amed L ou vi g n i the confidant o f Chalais The latter

, .
,

i n order to win this im po rtant personage o v er to their

party endeavoured to persuade Lou vi g n i to renou nce the
,

lady who w a s s aid to be a woman of high quality

,
.

L ou vig n i refused and wa s forced to fight wi t h the Duke

,

de Ca n d a l e the s on of the D u k e d E p er n on ; which lead s

,
’

us to suspect wi th great probabili ty that C a n d a l e w a s

, ,

the supplanted party The favour ed lo v er found himself

.
,

o n account of this quarrel threatened with ill trea tment ,

-

by powerful persons and he imagined that he had no better

,

means to extricate hi mself than to seek fo r protection

from the Cardinal de Richelieu to whom he related all ,

he knew true or fa l se of the proj ects o f the master of

, ,

the wardrobe Thus the matter i s related by M on tg l a t

.
,

Madame de Mottevill e and Ba s s om p i er r e , .

L ou vi g n i in his d epositi on i mplica t ed many person s of

, ,

the hig hest rank at court ; but the Coun t de Chalai s alone
wa s arrested on the 8 th of J u ly
, Lo uis XIII a s h a p . .
,

pened to him se v era l times durin g his l ife passed from ,

the warmest affection for Chalais to the bitterest hatred .

He wa s taught to believe that Chalais detested him ; that ,

i n the discharge of hi s duti e s near his person he cou l d ,

n ot refrain from contemptuous g es tu res whe n the k i ng s ’

back was turned ; that he was when all hi s batteries were ,

ready to arrest the king ; tha t after that he was to be

, ,

declared unfit for marriag e and the throne w a s to be give n , .

to hi s wife and Monsieur He found in the letters o f th e

.

maste r of the wardrobe and Madame de Chevreuse

many thin gs n ot v ery respectfu l toward s hi mself : these
young people lau g hed at the king s coldnes s of co n s titu ’

t ion a n d his o ther n atur a l defect s

, Be side s m uch levi ty .
,
54 M A RR IA GE or G A ST ON .

h Op e, he confessed severa l false things which he r etracted ,

o n the sca ffold O n the other side the partisans of the

.
,

car dinal say that it wa s from pity that he undertook t o

dr aw t he tru t h from this young man wh om he loved ; ,

that he would hav e obtained pardon if he h a d been i n

g e nu o u s ; and that he wa s only punished because he
endeavoured to deceive the cardinal wi th respect to facts ,

of which he possessed proofs I f this visit g av e hopes to

.

Chalais they las ted no longer than the time requi red to
,

c a l m the t errors o f Gaston O n learning the imprison

.

ment of Chalais the prince prepared to make his escape

,

but he was detained nay more he was married on t he

, ,

5 th o f August to Mademoiselle de Mon t pensier an d ,

-

r eceived , in addition to her immense fortune a large ,

apanage from t he state with the ti tles of Duke of O rlean s

,

a n d Chartres Count of Blo i s Lord o f Mon t ar is & c & c

, , g , . .

Mademoiselle Montpensier brought him the sovereignty

o f Dombes , the principality of La Roche sur Y on the - -
,

duchi es of Montpensier and Ch a te ll er a u t the estate of ,

St Farg eau with other cou nties viscounties and baronies

.
, , , ,

and enorm ous sums o f money We enter into this last .

detail to show h o w im possible it is to satisfy the wishes o f

some people ; wi t h all these honours an d thi s wealth this ,

man was never contented or quiet .

Ch a l ais was in formed o f thi s marri a ge by the report of

the cannon ; he said no thing but awai t ed i n sadness the
,

fate which the eve nt a n nounced to him He was al ready .

prep a r ed by t he treatment he had u nderg one from t he

firs t of the month He wa s placed in a cell from which
.
,

he was brought before the commissioners on the 1 1 th .

N 0 o n e knows what wa s asked o f him whether there

.
,

were witnesses a g ai nst hi m or whether they were con

,

fronted wi th o thers ; there remains no document to thr o w

a l igh t upon t his strange trial the papers relati v e to which
,

were all c a r eful ly kept fr om the knowledge of the public :

 E X EC U T ION or C HAL AI S . 55

if we we r e i n possession of them we might find circum ,

sta nces that would make him appear less guilty His .

defenders say that advantag e was take n of the complaints

and re g rets which escaped hi m during hi s cap t ivi ty which ,

were collec ted by his g uards wh o were admitted as wit ,

nesses against him O n Tuesday the 1 8 th of August o n

.
, ,

the s e l l ette which is the same as being at the bar in

,

England he persisted i n sayin g that he had bee n thir tee n

,

days a member o f the factio n ; but that he h a d only

remained s o by order o f the king and the c a r dinal on the ,

king s service
’
.

It appears that the unfortun ate young m a n was not put

to the question Some s a y that he exclaimed on the s c a f
.
«

fold T h i s i s n o t w h a t wa s p r o m i s e d m e C u r s ed .

c a r d i n a l th ou h a s t d ec e i ved m e
, O thers assert that he
said ex pressly I t wa s n o tf r o m the h op e s of p a r d o n th a t
w er e g i ven m e th a t I co nf es s ed bu t bec a u s e m y c o n vi c ti on
w a s co m p le te Amidst this chaos of contradictions a ll
.
,

t ha t c a n be positi v ely said is that if Chalais wa s con ,

d em n e d j ustly he was at least co n demned very i r r eg u

, , ,

b l a r l y His sentence was pronounced o n the 1 9 th and

.
,

wa s carried into execution the same day The e fforts o f .

his friends to delay the execution i n the hopes of obtaining ,

pardon only served to add to the physical su ffering of the

,

punishment They g ot possession of the person of th e

.

regular executioner and conce a l ed h i m T h e authorities

, .

employed a cri m inal who was suppo sed to be expert i n

this horrible trade but who caused hi m to endure great
,

and protracted pain The unfortunate Count de Chalais .

recei v ed one stroke of the s word and thirty -four blo ws of

a cooper s axe retaining his sense o f pain as was prove d
.
’

, ,

by his cries to the t wentieth ! We cannot read this

,

melanchol y circumstance without concei ving a warm and

j us t i ndi g natio n a g ainst Richelieu ; i n t he i n fl i c ti on s of all
pun i shmen t s he was cruel Jus t ice and sound pol icy may .
“
 ’
56 L O U VI GN I s E VI DE N CE .

requir e their victims ; but barbarity o nly m ak e s the

’
i mmolation disgustin g an d diverts men s minds from the
,

c rime to the punishment .

The mother O f Chalais of the n oble hou se Of Montluc

, ,

did all that can be expected from a tender and desolate

parent She implored the pardon o f her s on with all the
.

eloquence o f grief but Louis Mary de Medici an d , ,

Richelieu were inflexible Gaston also made vain e ffort s

, .
, ,

i n favour o f Ch a l ais ; he sent the Pr esident de Coi g ne u x

to entreat the cardinal that conformably with the promise
,

o f the king brought to his royal highness by the s a me

,

Coigneux the execution might be postponed a few days

, .

“
I c a n do n o thi ng i n th e m a tter coldly repli ed Richelieu
, .

E nraged at seeing himself thus tr ifl ed with Monsieur had ,

his horses put t o h i s carriage directed his minister to ,

Oppose the execu t io n o f Chalais unti l he had been heard

i n the presence o f L ou vi g n i and retired to Chateau -Br i a r t
,

to avoid bein g a spectator of the bloody tragedy that wa s

being prepared Ch a lais and L ou vi g n i were confronted
.

before the keeper o f the seals and the other j u d ges The .

former denied everything The latter wa s then asked h ow

.
,
“
he learn t the conspiracy against the king Being out .

shooting replied th e confu sed an d hes itating Lou vi g n i

, ,

I heard some persons dressed in g ray whom I do not

, ,

know say to each other beh i nd a bush all that I have

, , ,

repeated to se v era l noblemen Of the court From this .

m iserable evasion every unprejudiced person concluded

,

that L ou vi g ni had bee n s ubor n ed by the C a rdin al d e

Richelieu .

A biographer has a s a cred duty to perform ; he must

“
n either ex t enuate n or s e t down au g h t in malice ; he
,

s hould if pos sible divest himself of every bias partiality

, , , ,

o r prejudice I f we have g iven too d a rk a shade to the

.

portrait Of the cardinal in this picture we cannot all o w it ,

to be en t irely attribut ed to the natural lean ing of a ll

persons of goo d feelin g tow a r ds the s u fferin g The prin .
 B U CK I N GH A M
O
. 57

cip a l authori ty in favour of Richelie u i s h i s his to rian

A u ber y ; but h i s work is s o entire a eulogy of Louis X III .

a n d hi s m in ister that in c a s es o f importa n ce like this h i s

,

evidence can s carcely be admitted A u ber y wrote unde r .

the regency a s it may be called of Mazarin Mazari n

, , .

wa s the p r o teg é O f Richelieu and wa s war mly r ecom

’
,

mended to Lo uis X III by t he dying cardin a l A u ber y a l so

.

wrote i n the reign Of Lo uis X I V the s on of Lo uis X III .

, .

the consequence of bo t h which facts is that he give s ,

a colouring to the action s o f king an d minister tha t pos

te r i ty mus t kno w to be a fa ls e on e : we j udge of cause s

by e ffects.

A mong the pers on s engaged in this famo us pl ot there ,

is mentio n Of an agent Of the duke of Buckin g ham Thi s .

compels u s to retrace ou r steps for a short distance This .

favo u ri te of James I and Charle s I had bee n the com

. .

panion of the prin ce o f Wales i n to Spain and France ;

a n d whe n the marr iage Of Charles wit h Henriet ta w a s

r esolved on w a s sent to Paris a s the proxy o f that prin c e

, ,

n ow kin g , usual in roy a l marriages This wa s very .

a n noying to Richelieu a s there existed an antipathy

,

between the two ministers arising in some de g ree from

, , ,

difference Of character but whi ch wa s hei g htened by

,

other fortuitous circ u mstances With the reckle s s gal

.

lantry of the age Buckingham had declared himself the

,

a dmire r o f An ne of A ustria ; a n d the car dinal n o twi th ,

st a n di ng hi s great self command wa s stron gly sus pected

-
,

o f not bein g insensible to the charms o f that young a n d

beautiful princess Thi s English nobleman

. say s ,

Madame de Motteville a contemporary was well made

, , ,

an d of a h a ndsome countenance he had an exalted mind ,

”
and wa s magnificent and liberal .

The favou rite of a powerful king he had at his com ,

m and all the royal tr easures to expend ; and i t is said , ,

the crown j ewels to a dorn himself wi th Buckin g ham .

brought in his tra i n a ll the weal thy a n d hands ome youth

58 AN N E
’
OF AU STR IA .

Of England Frenchmen being not much inclin e d to

.

j ealousy and Frenchwomen being naturally disposed to

,

gal lantry all viewed with equal deli g ht the coming of

,

this brill iant and g iddy troop : a l l hear t s were quickly i n

int el l ig ence and pleasures formed connec t ions which
,

Richelieu could not behold without umbrage The a s s u m p .

tion of Buckin g ham had o ffended him ; an d hi s lo v e for

A nne o f A ustria which he made no e ffort t o conceal
, ,

completed the dislike for him not only of Richelieu but , ,

o f every sen sible person of the court I n fact B u cking .

,

ham not only presented himself before the queen as a ma n

who wished to p l e a se but he spoke plainly and a c c om
, ,

a n i e d hi s declara t ion with the ordinary i m p r u d e n c i es O f

p
the passion O f lo v e such as sighs fits of absence i n c on , ,

siderate eagerness a ffected languor precipitate departure

, , ,

sudden returns Every on e p e rceived a l l this and th e

.
,

king himself not the last He conceived violent suspicion s

.

against his youn g queen and yet the most malignant

ton g ues have n ot been able to reproach her with anything
but not hav ing ins t antly repu l sed with sufficient h a u g h ti ,

n ess the gal lantries of a man whose love s h e perhap s

,

viewed with secret complacency but without any return , ,

o n her part beyond th e ordin ary inclination naturally fel t

,

by the most prudent women not to be harsh to persons

who eviden tly lo v e them .

Richelieu in order to please h i s master an d gratify hi s

, ,

o wn spleen contri v ed to i nflict se v er a l m o r ti fic a ti o n s upon

,

the amorous ambassador which produced n one bu t e v il ,

results B u ckin g ham was n o t a man to be insul t ed with

.

impun i ty A s for t he poor y oung queen the j ealousy Of

.
,

t he kin g an d the cardinal brou g h t her nothing but misery ;

and if she was pleased wi th the a tt entions of the En g lish
duke it wa s a gratification dearly purchas ed : the kin g
,

became a keen sighted s py upon all her actions and th e

-
,

cardin a l was her enemy to the hour of his death .

Early as this wa s in the card in al s ministry the characte r ’

,
 ’
THE C a RD I N A L s W I SH TO E E r IE E . 59

of it was soon displayed Vieuvi lle wh o had in trod uced

.
,

him to the council and had be en h i s patr on was disg r aced

, , ,

an d a prisoner in the ca s tle of A mbois e ; Chalais wa s

executed under doubtful circumstance s ; of the two son s
of Henry I V . the g rand prieur died in pr ison at Am boise
, ,

a n d the Duke Of Ven d Om e wa s not libe ra te d till aft er he

had confessed a l l that was required Of him and Marshal

O rnano died in priso n at Vincennes There can be n o .

doubt that this plot was a s erious o n e from t h e names ,

a n d numbers O f the parties engaged i n it ; but as it wa s

principal ly directed agai nst the cardi n al and no pro of wa s ,

ever adduced of its extending to the king it either pr ove s ,

that Richelieu was g enerally and j ustly hated or tha t he , ,

a s the severe censor o f corruption and im morality raise d ,

a combination against him o f the viciou s a n d the frivolous

perhaps truth adopts a middle Opinion .

I t was on this memorable occasion the cardinal first

played off a piece o f hypocrisy which he practised s o
,

frequently afterwards that the king must have been either

,

immensely obtuse to be s o imposed upon or else have felt ,

really his inability to do without hi s minister Richelie u .

a ffected t o be deeply wounded by the appearance Of public

dislike ; he said that all his earnest endeavours for the

g ood o f the king and the state were misrepresent ed ,

encountered nothi ng but malignity and made him bi tter ,

enemies His spirits a n d his health he told the king

.
, ,

sunk under this se v ere trial and he begg ed to be allowe d

,

to retire from public a ffairs But in no instance did this

.

wily poli tician make this offer but whe n his m a s ter w a s
involved in such difficulties a s to cause him to dread being
left to his o wn resources The weak king was made
.

sensible of disaffection ; wa s taught to belie v e tha t more

o f it attached to his person than really did ; he was j eal ous

o f his bro ther and hi s wife and dreaded the influence of

,

his mo ther o v er the n e v er contented nobles ; he was a t

-

war with Sp a in ; the thi r ty years war was g oing on i n’

60 ANN E or Au e IA .

G ermany and he wa s perpetually eithe r at war with the

Hugueno t s or i n fear of their rebellion —how could such
,

a man as L o uis at such a time con sent to part wi t h

, ,

a m i n i s ter cle ar i n head prompt i n hand and indefatigable

, ,

i n vigil ance ? He implored the cardin a l n ot to desert

him ; a n d a s in every other such instance the request
,
‘
,

i ncreased instead o f diminishing the burden o f power

whi ch Richelieu affect ed to be tired O f but which wa s as ,

d ear to him as the breath o f life A g uard was granted .

to the cardinal with the ci ty o f Brouage a s a place o f

,

s afety or re t reat S O much di d this intrigu e increase h i s

.

p ower tha t it w a s genera l ly suspected he had designedly

,

r ais e d and kept up this storm to a fford hi m a n oppor tunity

o f crushin g his enemies .

The fa te Of A nne o f Austri a became pitiable The .

hatred of Richelieu wa s lik e an incubus ; in g reat an d in

little thi n g s he s e e m ed to take a delight to show i t He .

i nstituted g reat reforms i n her household ; several o t her

c onfiden t ial women were dismissed ; the en tr ee of men to

her apartments eve n a t the hour of the c i r c l e was p r o

, ,

hi bi te d except in the king s presence ; a se v ere eti quette

’

w a s established whi ch put an en d to a l l the i nnocent

,

p leasures natur a l ly loved by a y oung and beautiful woman .

A nn e was d eeply hurt at this pet ty malignity but bein g

helples s against the cardi nal s power she was forced to ’

d is semb l e and pas s e d the best da ys of her youth in anxiety

,

a n d ennui .

With Mary de M edici a gainst whom h i s hatred soon ,

broke o u t there w a s something like an excuse if not for

, ,

that passion a t least for suspicion an d watchfulness She

, .

wa s a res t l ess v iolent woman of su fficien t consequence

, ,

a n d abil i ty to be a focus Of discontent ; but A nne of

A ustria born wi thout a n y taste for cour t intrigue ne v er
, ,

formed on e O ut of part iality to some of her women s h e

.
, ,

i n order to scree n them sometimes allowed her nam e ,

to b e mixed with affa irs o f whi ch s h e had no knowledge ,

62 r u n H U G U E NO T S .

C HA P T E R IV .

Th e H u g u eno ts — La Roc hell e T rea ty Of Ma n con ~

D i s p u te s of
He a e tta in th e E ng lis h c ou rt— P e ac e w ith th e H u g ue nots .

WE ome to a c ircumstan c e in the life of Richelieu

n ow c

w hi ch is g enerally said to redound very much to his

honour ; if amongst a l l the means he employed to Obtain
,

s ucc ess he s ometimes had recou rse to what a m a n o f

,

feelin g wo u l d have shrunk from the whole of the a ffair , ,

both i n conception and ex ecution proves the soundness of ,

hi s political views .

N 0 country was ever mor e uncomfortably situated than

France at the pe riod of the maj ority of Louis X III wi th r e .
,

gard to the religious Op i nions of the inhabi t a nts Altho u gh .

the maj ority of the kingdom wer e Roman Catholics a ,

great and a formidable number were Protestants or other ,

w ise Cal v inis ts

, These latter had been eleva te d into a
.

great party i n prec eding reigns The persecutions Of .

F rhn c i s I wi th the horrors o f the reigns O f Charles I X

.
, .

a n d Henry III under t he auspices of the odious Catherine

.
,

d e Medici had as i s a l ways the case with such proceed

, ,

ings only exasperate d the Pr otestants and increased th e i r

,

n umber When Henry I V o u t of policy instead of con

. .
,

v i c ti on chan g ed his reli g ion although he Obt a ined peac e

, ,

a n d a kin g dom by the doub t ful act we have no reason to ,

think that many were conver t ed with him His Protestant .

subj ects felt that he w a s still one of them i n his heart ;

and thou g h his firm hand kept bo th faiths upon as good
a n d p eacefu l terms as possible yet there was nothin g to ,

induce the n ew church to revert back a gain to the Old .

The edic t of Nantes wa s appreciated by t he Protestants ,

a n d wa s estee m ed a wis e an d a prudent step by the

 THE H U G U E NO TS . 63

j udicious of all creeds ; but it fostered in the hea r ts Of the

Ca tholics .

Richelieu wa s not o nly aw a kened to the consideration

o f t his question by the mutu a l aggressions o f both pa r ties

his poli t ical wisdom pointed ou t to hi m that France w a s

labourin g under an anomaly which must destroy the
peace and prosperity of any country There mi g ht be .

s aid to be two governments two intere s ts two leading , ,

Obj ects i n on e kingdom The name of reli g ion became a s

.
,

it has occ a s ionally been in Europe for a thous and years ,

a n excuse for the ambitious designing and disaffected , , .

Men quarrelled or affected to quarr el about a di fferen ce

, ,

o f shade i n Christianity who were not governed by o n e ,

Christia n principle The cities granted to the Protes t ants

.

a s places O f safety became places o f refuge even to person s

who had sinned a g ainst the laws of society The rebel .

against the king un der the plea of fai th found succour

, ,

a n d encouragement i n cities that professed to be the

property of that ki n g and par t of h i s kingdom Am
, .

bi ti ou s nobles when aiming at a participation at least of

, , ,

sovereig n rule looked upon the cities of the Protestants

,

a s so many strongholds in which they might defy regal

authori ty Thus Richelieu i n entering seriously i nto th e

.
,

contest with the Hu g uenots attacked two o f the greatest ,

evils France laboured under— a double government and ,

a too powerful nobili ty At first it may be said that the

. ,

Hu g uenot nob ility were not the most dangerous this we

all ow ; but in all national quarr els the disaffected m a ke
common cause .

A bou t the year 1 6 1 8 the reformed party became very

,

uneasy at the strong partial ity shown to t he Catholics by

t he g o v ernment At an a ssembly held by them at
.

Lindun in 1 6 1 9 they a greed to make common cause wit h

, ,

t heir bre thren who were then menaced i n Beam

, Their .

remonstrances to the k i n g were vain ; and two years ,

la ter in a general a ssembly at L a Rochelle they divided

, ,
64 T HE H U GU E N O Ts .

their 700 ch urche s into eight circles a n d drew up a ,

k ind of constitutio n i n for ty-seve n a rticles in which ,

were regu l ated by th e a u th or i ty of th e ki ng a s they said

, , ,

th e levies for the pay and discipline o f troops which wa s

n othing short of creating a separate g overnment in the
s ta te
. Louis X III marched against them an d subdued
.
,

S aintonge an d Poi ton La Rochelle w a s invested and .

,

Montauban defended by the Mar quis de la Force s u s

, ,

ta i n e d a glorious siege which usel essly cost the lives o f,

Catholics amo n g whom was the Duke of Mayenn e

, ,

s on o f the celebrated leader of the Leag ue in the pre ,

ceding century A c r y wa s raised throughout France

'

a gainst the the n reigning favourite the Duke de Luynes , ,

to whom these reverses were attributed Whilst su fferi ng .

un der this addit ional cause of hatred De Luynes wa s ,

a ttacked by fever and died L es d i g i er es a leader in the

, .
,

r oy a l a rmy bein g a Protestant foun d the temptation o f

, ,

the rank of constable too strong for his faith and wa s ,

c onverted for the sake Of succeeding to t he envied post of

the deceas e d favourite This con v ersion became a sign a l

.

for a great defection i n the C a l v i n ist par ty The Marquis .

de la Force an d the Count de Ch a till on grandson o f

, ,

C olign i surrendered the on e Montauban the other

‘

, , ,

A igues Mortes for a pecuniary gr a tification a n d a

-
,

mar s hal s baton What woul d the stout admiral have

’
.

said to this defa l cation i n his grandson ? Rohan r e

mained incorruptible but was desirous of peac e Th is
, .

was signed at Montp ell ier by the ad vice of Mary de ,

Medici who w a s jealous of the influence Of the Prince de

,
'

Condé which a l ways increased in time o f war and di

, ,

m inished in pe a ce By this peace the edict o f N an t es wa s

.

confirmed the king permi tt ed the Protesta nts to assemble

for the interests of their wor ship but he interdicted all ,

political meetings .

I t was after the peace of Montpellier sign ed in 1 6 2 1 , ,

that Richelieu had o btai n ed the card ina l s hat and th e ’

,
 m s H U GU E N O T S . 65

M arquis de Vieuville had thrown ope n th e d oors of th e

counc i l chamber to hi m .

The calamities of France arose from the weakness of

the k i ng the ambition of the princes of the blood con
, ,

s ta n tl y grasping at a share o f power a n d the pride a n d ,

i nsatiable avidity o f the nobles accustomed to sell their ,

obedience and their services and always a t the comman d,

o f an y leader o f a party formidable to royalty who had

, ,

the least chance o f s atisfyin g their thirst for wealth The .

strength of France became thus co n stan tly divided t he

.
,

government un certain the tr eas ury a n allowed obj ect of

,

pillage a n d the whole kingdom a prey to an ar chy

, The .

Spaniards took advantage of these cal amities to dominate

in the coun cil by mean s of members purchaseable by their
,

gold ; an d their powerful political i nflue n ce held the

P rotestant party i n a constant a l arm without however , , ,

crush in g it ; it accustomed it to look u po n i t self a s a

separate divisio n o f the nation ; thence a r edoubtable
scourge to France Many s t rong places st ill belonged to
.

the Calvi n ists ; an d seduced by the successful example of

the U ni te d Pr ovinces they formed the chi merical ide a of
,

constitutin g themselves into a republic of which L a ,

Rochelle wa s to have bee n the bu l wark and the capital .

But as we have said much of the above wa s changed

, ,

the moment Richelieu began to feel firm i n h is seat i n the

council His policy wa s alwa ys heedless of creeds : he
.

s a w the ev i l o f the claim s of the C a lvinists but he ,

deemed attentio n to the Spaniards m ost n ecessary He .

assisted a Protestant people by sending succour to the ,

Grisons against their Catholic vassals the inhabitants of ,

the Va l teli n e The Marquis d e C oeuvr es advanced

.

rapi dl y into this important vall ey ; r epul sed the papal

troops an d took the str ong places a s fas t as he could come
,

to them .

The Spani a r ds avenged themselves by o fferin g their

s u ppor t to the Calvin is t s wh o began loudly to compl a i n
,

r
66 PE A C E W I TH THE H U G U E NO T S .

that the co n di t ions o f the peace of Montpellier were n ot

observed and that the go v ernment wa s erec t in g fresh
,

forts roun d La Rochelle The articles of this peace were

.

obj ects of contention ; the Roch ell oi s said the kin g had
n o right to build forts ; the Catholic government on the ,

other side said that the Ro ch ell oi s n ot being con verted

,

to Romanism a s they had agreed to be the kin g was at

, ,

liberty to take mean s to keep them in subj ection We .

have no opportuni ty o f examining these articles but it ,

seems in consiste n t wit h the still stron g state of the

P rotestants to suppose they shoul d have made such an
a greement .

The grantin g them permission to e nj oy their worship ,

a n d at t he same time to require them to abandon it a

p ,

pears pl a i n contradiction ; A u ber y never theless says the , ,

Catholics had the advantage in the argum ent .

The Roch ell oi s belie v ed themselves to be so m uch

i njured that they were the aggressors in the renewal o f
,

the war Th e mom ent they thought Coeuv res was e n

.

ga g ed in the Va l teli n e Soubise their naval commander

, , ,

took possessio n of the island of Rhé which co n sti t u t ed ,

th e security o f the port of La Ro chelle and Rohan n o w , ,

the Protestant leader raised Languedoc Richel ieu i m

, .

mediately sent D E p er n on Th emines a n d Montmorenci

’

, ,

again st them ; Montmorenci dis persed their fleet an d ,

Thoir as carried the isle of Rh é A ft er these mischances .

,

the Ro ch ell ois were again g lad to ob t ain peace Pu blic .

clamour o n thi s occasion a ttacked t he cardin al for not

cru shing the Calvin ist par ty which now seemed so much ,

weakened ; but it wa s ne v er h is policy en t irely to destroy

a public gr iev a nce— h e made a wide dis t inction between

that and a private enemy O n this occasion he repli ed

.
,

Ye s I have scanda l ised the world once more

, a ll u d

ing , by these words to his alli ance wi t h the Grisons and

,

th e E n glish as well a s the marriage o f Madame wi th the

,

Pr otes t ant ki n g of Englan d .

 H E N RI E TT A I N E N GL AN D . 67

The war gainst the Spaniards and the Pope in the

a

V a l telin e was for a time terminated by th e t reaty of

, , ,

M on con in Arr agon in 1 6 2 5 ; a treaty not at all d i s a d

, ,

va n ta g eou s to France Richelieu hastened to conclude it

. ,

i n order to face th e co u rt storm which was brewin g against

him an d which we described before t ur ning ou r attention
,
0
to the Huguenots .

Charles I kin g o f E n gland had placed four Protestant

.
, ,

l adies the duchess o f Buckingham the marchioness o f

, ,

Hamilton an d the countesses o f Denbigh and Carlisle

, ,

abou t t he person of his queen ; but he said nothin g to

her about remo v ing those who had come with her from
Fra nce or her other French domestics When we r e c ol
,
.

lect the views of t he pope and the French court wi t h

regard to this marriag e we cannot b e surprised that ,

Henrietta s a t tendants would quickly misconduct them

’

sel v es and awaken the Protestant j ealousy o f the En g lis h

,

go v ernment and people Henrietta soon found the .

di fference bet ween the despotic cour t of France and the

country into which she had married where well under ,
-

stood liberty was attainin g full g row t h and power She .

,

n o doubt h a d influence o v er the husban d who l ove d h er

, .

and she s o far carried out the scheme of her family as to

educat e to their cos t her sons in the Romish fai th ; but
, ,

she ne v er made the least progress in proselytisin g th e

people of Engl and Wi t h the French writers o f th is.

t ime the cour t is e v erything and to the king of En g lan d ,

a l one they lay the blame of not keeping his word wi t h

regard to the queen s Fren ch attendants Whether the

’
.

deed was his or his best adv isers without preparing her ’

for a separation which could only ha v e bred usel ess

,

altercation as parting from her a ttendants must n ec e s

, ,

s a r il y ha v e woun ded her feelings and hurt her pride a l l

, ,

the forei g ners were at once sent to Somerset House and ,

recei v ed ord e rs to prepare to return to France in four

and twenty hours
- The kin g went to s ee t hem declare d
. ,
68 EMB A SS Y To E N G L AN D .

his will and made them some presents ; but their request s
,

for delay were not listened to and they were immediately

,

embarked . The French writers whilst .relatin g thi s ,

a ffair wi th con siderable a crimony a dmit that these ,

persons had misconduc t ed themselves and that it might ,

ha v e bee n otherwise if they had not Henrietta deeply .

,

o ffended wrote d ic tl y to Fran ce complaining o f the i n

, ,

frac t ion of the marriage a rticles an d demandi ng the ,

protection and support of the king her brother Louis .

a nd his council were much embarrassed being very ,

desirous to avoid a ruptu re with England Richelieu .

proposed to send Marshal Ba s s om p i er r e as ambassador ,

ex traordinary in order to arrange a matter amicably which

,

the cardinal apprehended might produce unpleasan t con

sequences . The expedient wa s s o much the better
received by Louis and his ministers as they s a w the ,

dangers o f a war that might overthro w a ll their plans

a ga i nst La Rochelle The instruction s for the marshal
.

were drawn up at N antes where the kin g then was a n d

, ,

his majesty ordered him to prepare to depart im mediately .

Louis was at the same time informed that Montague wa s

o n his way to N antes to o ffer the king of En g land s
,
’

compliments on the marriage o f the duk e of O rleans with

the Princess de Montpensier which had the n recently ,

taken place The cardin a l c a used Montague to be i n

.

formed that he must retrace his steps he suspected him ,

with reason to be a creature of Buckin g ham s Monta g ue

,
’
.

was fol lowed by C a s t leton who begged the king on th e

, ,

p a r t o f his mas t er to excuse the proceedings he had foun d

,

i t necessary to adopt wi t h respect to the quee n of Eng

land s foreign attendants The messen ger and h i s compli
’
.

me n ts were very coolly received an d orders were sent to ,

Ba s s om pi er r e to ret u rn immediately These mutua l .

discontents of the two courts threatened a rupture ; but

i t does n ot appear that Buckin gh a m had then engaged
Char le s to break wit h Fra n c e Infa tuate d with h i s s illy
.
70 N EW S or THE FRE N C H IN E N GL AN D .

aft erwards destroyed hi m without any benefici a l results to

,

the Catholic re l igion O n th e contrary it wa s so com

.
,

l tel y ruined by them that neither he nor his sons who

p e , ,

entertained the same wish wi th their fa ther were able to ,

establish it . We English readers perceive by this that

Catholics think Charles I wa s a s much in clined to .

Ro mani sm a s h is sons Charles and James .

Soubise on the p a rt of the Roch ell oi s wa s in Englan d

, ,

a t that t ime but wa s not received at cour t

, though the ,

king di d not dare to dismiss him for fear of o ffending h i s

Protestant subj ects who had with reason alre a dy begun
,

to murmur at C h a rles havi ng sent se v en vessels against

the Roch ell oi s A suspicio n wa s n ow entertained that
.

it wa s the secret policy o f the two monarchs to establish

Roman i sm i n both countries ; their position ho wever , ,

was very differe n t ; Richelieu s poli cy in suppressing the ’

Huguenots a s constitutin g a second government in the

,

s tate was prudent and so u nd

, whereas in England the ,

a ffair wa s just the revers e : the maj ori ty of Charles s ’

subj ects were Protestants and he must have been to t ally

,

ignorant of the character of the English if he expec t e d ‘

to convert them without a struggle dan gerous to hi m self .

But Charles never understood the character of hi s people ,

or h i s own positio n among them .

Blainvill e the French ambassador at London had

, ,

orders to requ ire Charles I to forbid his subj ects to assist

.

Soubise or receive hi s vessels into their ports and to expel

, ,

them a s enemies The French counci l l ikewise directed

.

Blainville to observe that h is most Christian maj esty

hoped the king of En g land would not take it ill if t he
French ships pursued the vessels o f the Ro ch el l oi s i nto
Bri t ish ports and destroyed them there : this wa s not like the
former demand required but onl y named a s a courtesy he
, ,

hoped he might expect from his brother -in law I n order - .

to appease the murmurs o f his subj ects Charles replied ,

that the king of Fran ce ought to be satisfied with Soubise

 D I FF I C U LT I ES W I TH E N GL AN D . 71
n ot being ad m itted at c ourt ; but a s to expelling the ships
from h i s ports that was a matter qui te ou t of the ques t ion
, .

He likewise hinted that it woul d be more to the i nterests

o f the king of France to be at peace with his o wn s u b

e c ts a s it wo u l d render him more capable of contending

j ,

a g a i nst h i s enemies Upon this Blainville assumed a

.

hi g her tone and thr eatened the English with reprisals

,

I f the Engli sh choose to harbour a rebel subj ect of

France they may some day meet with a retort i n kind
, ,

t hat will much annoy them nevertheless a s there seems ,

to be an importance attached to the perso n of Soubise I ,

wil l say no more about him ; but not s o with the ships ;
they were the property o f my master and h i s subj ects ,

they have been unlawfully seized by Soubise and the ,

French will recapture the m wherever they may fin d

”
them .

Far from listening to these complaints or thr eats the ,

king o f England redemanded h is vessels of the king o f

France and as n o attention was paid to hi s claims he
, ,

seized some French vessels that were in his ports .

The Roch ell oi s began to percei v e the a i m of Lo u is an d

hi s minister they perceived by the conditions o ffered to
them that t heir privileges were all in danger and that it ,

was their intention to deprive them of all mean s of

defending their rights They therefore sent deputies to
.

the co u rt of London requestin g ass i stan ce if the war

,

should continue Thi s pe tition wa s well received by the

.

E ngl ish pri v y co u ncil and part of their fleet wa s ordered

,

to hold itself in readiness .

N otwithstanding this the kin g of E n gland evi dently

,

did no t wish to break with France bu t sent ambassadors

,

to prop ose to form a leag ue for the r e establi shm ent of the
-

Elec t or Pal a t ine to endea v our t o proc u re peace wi th the

,

Ro ch el l oi s and to demand the vessels of war which had

,

bee n lent to t he French go v ernment the year before .

L ouis replied that w i th re g ard to the first article he had

, ,
72 EMB A S S Y To E N GL AN D .

parti cular r eason s for n ot e n tering into such a leagu e bu t ,

h e shoul d perhaps adopt means o f r e -establishi n g the

, ,

elector without that A s for the Roch elloi s he would n ot

.
,

r efus e them peace whe n they returned to their du ty bu t ,

he would n ot condescend to treat with any foreign power

in a questio n concerning his o wn subj ects With regar d .

t o the vessel s there wa s on e a British vessel o f war

, , ,

whic h he wo uld r eturn but the others being armed

m erchant -vessels let to him by contract for a s lo n g a
,

period a s he wanted them he should only return them

,

whe n he thought proper .

Al though in speaking of the Roch el l oi s the ambassador s

, ,

s aid that they were only influenced in their advice by

the i r desir e for the common good of France that they ,

had no connection wi th them and only wished the powers,

o f Louis to be free to act a ainst their common enemies

g ,

the Spa niards in a very short tim e the British privy

, ,

counci l ordered succours to be sent to La Rochelle r e ,

c alled their ambas sadors from France and determined ,

u po n sending Buckin gham upo n a n expedition to be

a uthorized by the parliam ent Buckingham a ffected to
.

s a y to Blain ville that he wa s very sorry to s e e the two

crowns come to such a point ; that he should lose the

whole fruit of the services he had rendered Fran ce a s he ,

wa s in danger fr om the parliament on that account that

the ki ng hi s master had assisted in ruining Soubise from ,

hi s affectio n for the ki n g o f France and from his desire ,

to chastise a rebelli ous subj ect ; but now when he s a w ,

the extermination of those o f his religion in France wa s

determined on he could not remain neuter an d he w a s
, ,

s upported by his council and t he whole o f his na t ion .

He added that their allies would be exposed to g reat

,

d angers and that the S paniards would n ot fail to deri v e

,

a dvantages from thi s misunderstan ding He finished his .

s peech with the mean threat that most likely the queen and

what atte n dants s h e had left wo uld s uffer by this ruptur e .

 DEP U T A T ION FR O M LA R O CHELLE . 73

Louis whe n m a d e aware o f t his disposi t ion of the

,

En g lish resolved to finish the business with the Roch el l oi s

,

a s quickly a s possible They had sent depu t ies t o Paris

.

at the commencement of the year but as they had not ,

brou g ht wi t h them the articles sent to them in the month

o f N ovember the king would not s ee them a n d they
, ,

were referred to Marsh a l Schomberg They o ffered to .

reform their magistracy bu t would not hear of an i n ,

tendant of j ustice With regard to their fortifications

.
,

they were un willing to raze any but those tha t had bee n
built since the year 1 6 2 1 and that only on condi tion that
,

the kin g s forts Fort Louis a n d those commenced in the

’

isles o f O leron an d Rhé should be demolished a t the ,

s ame tim e I t w a s observed that the discours e and

.

m ann ers o f the deputies were nothin g like so humble as

they had been on previous occasions Whether they were .

an ima t ed by their h Op es of succour from England or that ,

they were co n fident the other Hu g uenots of the kingdom

wo ul d rise they seemed very little disturbed by the
,

me n aces that were held ou t to them About this time .

the Hugu enots of the Vi va r ez surprised Pou s in a small ,

place on the Rhone but it w a s speedily recaptured by the

,

Constable L es d ig u i er es .

The cardinal was n ot a little p u zzled at thi s conj un cture

by two diffic ult things : he wished intern al peace to be
establi shed a n d at the same time that the interests an d
, , ,

reputa tion of the state should be s o strongly suppor ted

abroad tha t no weakness should be percep t i ble I f he
, .

should relax with regard to foreign policy to preserve ,

peace he could not be cer tain of i t at home I t was no t

, .

the Huguenots he most d readed he could appease them

by adherin g to the edict of N an tes : but he saw a powerful
Catholic p a rty forming agai n st him at the head of whom ,

would mos t likely be the Prince de Condé Men who .

e nvied the lofty posi t ion of t he cardinal had a plausible

pretext to excite zealous Catholics a g ains t him as a n
74 PE A C E WI T H THE RO C H E LL O I S .

encourager of heretics a crime of which much wa s

already said i n Spain and at the court of Rome P eace .

wi th the Hu g uenots was necessary to pre v ent a rupture

wi th England ; but if he neglected this opportun i ty of
takin g La Rochelle and destroying the asylum of the
,

enemies o f the crown he would draw upo n h imself the

,

a nimadversions o f the whole Ca t holic world .

Before the disposition of the English council was k n own ,

the Ro ch elle deputies had b een very ill t reated an d ,

Marshal Schomberg told them that if the king did his duty
by them he would hang them a ll They were upon this
, .
, ,

about to return home but the government con t rived to

,

hold them i n play a little longer ; the Duke de la Tre

mouille even wrote to his brother the Count de Laval , ,

who wa s in La Rochelle to propose more advantageous ,

articles as if on h i s own account A t length a s there

, .
,

appeared no chance o f c ompromising the matter honour

ably wi th the English who were beginning to prep a re for
,

assisting the Huguenots it wa s j ud g ed best to make peace

,

with them This peace was accordingly signed o n the 5 th

.

o f February 1 62 6 ,Upon the face of it it had an appear

.

ance o f fairness ; the king did not descend grea tly fro m
h i s dignity and almost as much wa s granted to the
,

Huguenots as the relig ion of a minority could expect ; bu t

the king an d his m i n ister took especial care not to admit
the destruction of the royal forts which had been recently
built near La Rochell e or to all ow any thing that might
,

strengthen the military posi t ion o f the inh abitants every

thing that w a s acco rded was to their religion and a s tha t ,

wa s their ostensible plea they cou l d not complain , .

When the ar ticles were si g ned the Cardinals Richelieu ,

an d Rochefoucaul d went ou t from the council -chamber ,

i n order not to appear too publ icly to sanction any tr uce

with the heretics although the first had not only concocted
,

the peace but spoken very stron g ly in fav our of it .

To perfect the satisfactio n of the Huguenots the king ,

 A FF A I RS OF FR AN CE . 75
published an edict much in their favour in which it wa s
, ,

declared that the ar ticles of t h e edict of N antes sho u ld

remain i n force in all their inte grity
, .

This peac e furnished matter for the enemi es of Riche

lieu : h e wa s a ccused of want of religion and o f hav ing ,

little re g ard for the peace o f the state N umbers of libels .

were p u bl ished agai nst hi m throughout a ll E u rope The .

parl iament condemned some o f these an d the cardin a l wa s ,

not in want o f able pens to take h is par t N 0 way would .

have been so e ffectu a l in silencing all these attacks a s the

revealment o f Richelieu s real i ntentions : thi s peace wa s
’

but a poli t ical postponement till a more favourable opp or

tu ni ty ; the lion -paw of England wa s r a i sed to keep him
from his prey ; he onl y bided his time till the lion
s ho ul d be either diverted from his charge or asleep .

C HA P T E R V .

P ea c e with S p ai n— Int ernal affairs o f France— W a r with E ng l a n d

D eath o f th e d uches s o f Orl eans— i l ln e ss of Louis X III — S ieg e of .

L a Ro chell e — T h e E ng lish a t L a R oc he ll e D e feat o f th e E ng l i sh

—

— T h e fam ous d k e o f L a R o c h e ll e —T h e k ing qui t s th e si eg e

y
Re turn s F athe r Jos ep h — C assion— A b ortive a ttem t o f th e
—

E ng lis h B u c king h a m assassinate d Surrend er of L a

— — chell e .

AFTER diplomatic man oeuvr es and fin es s es enou g h to

fill a volume but not at all interesting to readers of the
,

present day peace was made with Spain as well as with

,

the Ro ch ell oi s and the cardinal had time to turn hi s

,

attention t o home affai rs He had n ow a Ss u m e d and

.

placed himself in the position whi ch he ever after held s o

firmly and yet this was o n e of the occasions on which he
,

affec ted to wish to retir e from public affairs ; but hi s con

duct durin g the two pas t years of hi s m inistry an d th e ,
76 R I CHE LI E U S W I S H
’
F OR RET I REM E N T .

desig n s which he gave ou t he meant to carry in to e xe cu

tion prevented h i s assertio n from obtaining credit with
,

any on e I ndeed if we fol lo w the career of the cardinal

.
,

with an observant eye we shall find frequen t instances o f

,

h i s bein g o n e o f those men who havin g adopted hypo ,

c r i s y a s their principle of actin g fancy t hey at all times ,

succeed i n deluding others a n d only decei v e themselves

, .

He alleged his wa n t o f health an d stre n gth he declared

hi s mind and body were n ot strong enough to all ow h i m to
keep at the helm He told Cardinal Spada that he had a
.

great desire to visit Rome and to remain there for three

,

years ; but at the moment he knew that his presence at

court was indispensable n ot only o n account o f state
,

affairs but to defend himself ; absence woul d have ruined

,

him We have said that his hypocrisy was sometimes

.

transpar en t : what m u st this same Cardinal Spada have

thought whe n a fe w days after the above he told him
, , ,

that in the space of eighteen months he hoped s o com

p l e tel y to change the face o f a ffairs i n France that the

kingdom woul d not be known for the sam e ; he added

that the Huguenots wou l d be extirpated the ta i ll es ,

removed and parliaments r estored to their proper con

,

s equence .The biographer wh o m entions this adds with ,

a proper appreciation o f the cardinal s character he ’

e ffected the first with respect to the Ro ch ell oi s but a s ,

for the other two the good prelate never dreamt of doing
,

a nythin g of the kind .

We m ust n ow d irect ou r atte ntion to the internal a ffairs

of France over which Richeli eu had such complete con
,

trol The king convened an a ssembly o f the notables

.
,

which met at the end o f 1 62 6 and separated in the fol ,

lowing F ebi u a r y This assembly besides the kin g the

.
, ,

queen -mother an d Monsieur consisted o f the Car dinal de

, ,

la Va l ette the Marshals de la Force and B a s s om p i er r e

, ,

o f the presidents o f parliaments and the presiden t s o f ,

chambers with their procureurs -g eneral the presidents of

, ,
78 A SSE M BL Y OF THE N O T A B LE S .

and that his keeper of the seal s would put the m i n p os

session of his wi l l .

Marillac keeper Of the seals be g an by saying that the

, , ,

k ing had convoked them for th e purpose o f takin g t heir

ad v ice upon great and important a ffairs o f state in ,

imitation of h i s predecessors wh o had sometimes s u m ,

m on e d the three estates and sometimes notable persons

, ,

i n smaller n umbers He then launched ou t into praises

.

o f the ki n g and i nto thanks to G od who h a d enabled

, ,

hi m to discover various plots formed against his authority ,

which he had established more firmly on their ruins .

A ft er this he represented that the civil wars S ince 1 6 20

, , ,

had consumed immense sums and that the king had in , ,

a ddition been obli g ed to assist the fo reign allies of the

,

state ; that the or d inary revenue o f the king did not

exceed sixteen m illions of livres and that for several years ,

he had been obliged to expend from th i r ty six to forty -

,

much o f which had been raised by on e means or anothe r ,

but that the king was s t ill in deb t more than fifty mil
lions ; that ou this account he had determi ned to
, , ,

retrench all useless ex p enses an d had already suppressed,

the posts of constable and a d mir al whose salaries had not ,

a mounted to less than four hundred thousand livres per

a nnum ; that it was his wish all useless fortifications

should be razed that the garrisons necessary to hold
,

them might be w ithdrawn ; that he wished to repurchase

h i s domai n that ha d been sold or pledged at too l o w a
price a s well a s the ta i l l es and the farm i ng of the imp ost
,

upon salt ; t hat to au gment the revenues of the sta t e he

, ,

wished to enco u rage commerce which his neighbours ,

were drawing a ll to themselves But above all the .

, ,

keeper dwelt upon two articles which requir ed new and ,

strong resolutions the one wa s the bad administra t ion o f

the finances and the other the frequent rebellions
, .

The Marsh a l de Schomberg spoke aft er Marill ac an d ,

s a i d among other thi ngs that the king ought always to

, ,
,
 A SSE M B L Y OF T HE NO T A BLES . 79

hav e on foot thirty thousand well paid troops a n d that -

he had giv en him memorials to find means to suppl y th i s

expense which he would communicate to t he as sembly
,
.

When he had finished t he Cardinal de Richelieu arose

, ,

a n d spoke u pon t he same subj ec t s as the keeper o f the

seals had done to which he added ,

“
That i t did n o t
require many ordinances to put e v erythin g to rights but ,

o nl y to ha v e such as they did make well executed ; that

the repurchasin g of the roy a l domains of the a i ds and o f , ,

re g istry fees would cost more than two millions but that
, ,

i n n ocen t m e a n s must be employed to obtain them ; that

he in t ended to labour incessan tly to redeem the a ffairs of
the crown and that if it were permitted to him to execu t e
s o good an d g lorious a desi g n he should be aft erwards ,

content to die and shoul d think he had cause to render

,

warm thanks to God .

The first president of Paris spoke after the c a rdi nal ,

and was warm in his praise of He n ry I V and Louis X III . .

,

his s on. He exhorted the assembly n ot to be mute a s

others had been an d fini shed by implorin g God to giv e
,

the kin g ch ildren .

I n conclusion the keeper of the seals said that the kin g

,

would send the propositions of the assembly by the pro ,

c u r eu r general
- to the parliament o f Paris ; an d thus
,

ended the opening sitti ng o f thi s assem bly in which e v ery ,

o n e was disposed to hold Opinions in ac c orda nce wi t h those

o f the king .

Although permission seemed to have been g iv en to the

notables to seek for means to remedy the disorders that
had been pointed ou t to them they did not hin g withou t ,

the g ood pleasure of the ministers who only looked t o ,

them to authoriz e their con duct and not to reg ul at e or ,

censure it as the states would hav e done

, .

I n this assemb l y an exposition of the finances said to

, ,

have been written by the Marquis d E fli a t was read ’

, ,

r ecapitulati ng the income and ou t g oings of the s t ate an d ,

80 A RT I F I CE OF TH E C A R D INA L .

ending by discovering the tr u e motive for the assembling

the notables The ministers wished to lay upo n their
.

shoulders a l l t he hatred tha t the n e w impositio n s were

likely to create .

The poli t ic cardinal onl y made his person al appearance

twice i n th i s assembly ; at the Opening as we have al ready ,

said and about s ix weeks after He took his place i n a n

, .

exalted chair close to Mo n sieur who presided and above , ,

the Cardin a l de la Va lette He presented divers articles

.
,

which were read by the g r qfier after whi ch the cardin al

spoke and explained them at le n gth I n the first article
, .

he proposed to moderate the pain s an d penalties in cu rred

by state criminals and to be satisfied with deprivin g them
,

o f their posts after the second act o f disobedience This .

was another of the thinly covered and a s we think we a k

-
, , ,

subterfuges o f this generally esteemed profound politician .

I t deceived nobody what the n could be the u s e o f , ,

employ i ng it ? I t only added conte mpt to hatred The .

cardinal whose constant maxim it wa s n ever to pardon

,

state criminals onl y proposed this excessive moderation i n

,

order that the assembly might rej ect it altogether The .

subserv ient assembly perceiving what were the cardin al s ’

r e a l wishes refu sed to liste n to hi s proposition an d

, ,

prayed the king to have the ancient laws against state

crimin a ls execu te d to the letter Some other o f his arti
. .

cles regarded preparations by s ea and land again st the

English who were again threatening to assist the Rochel
,

lois never long i n a state of qu ietude The assembly

, .

gran te d a ll the minister demanded without the leas t ,

reference to the expense .

When money was wanted i n a n em ergency it h a d bee n ,

the custom for many years to sell the posts and O ffices o f
th e court the army and o f t he tr ibun a l s of j ustice an d to
, , ,

allow those who purchased the m to s ell them again ; n o

o n e be in g able to obtai n them w ithout m oney n o atte n ,

tio n wa s con sequently pai d to eithe r the ra nk or m erit of

 D ECL A R A T I ON
’
THE KI N G S . 81

tho s e wh o presented themselves ; and the poor noblesse

were entirely cut off from the means o f bettering their
position The noblesse presented a memorial to th e king
.
,

i n which they described the condi t ion to which they were

reduced and supplicated him to release them po i n t ing out
, ,

several favo u rs tha t he might gran t to the nobili ty of his

ki ngdom .

To reply to th is requ est an d prevent a l arm being take n

,

with re g ard to the new proj ects of war with which the ,

whole kin gdo m resounded the king issued a declaration

, ,

dated the l 6 th of Febru ary in which after hav in g , ,

remarked that h i s wish to assist h i s people a n d enable ,

them to enj oy a solid peace had been the cause for a ssem
,

bling the notables he declared that his inte ntio n was

, ,

firstly to bring all hi s subj e cts together into the unity of

,

the Catholi c Church by a l l the g ood m ea n s of m i ld n es s

, ,

lo ve p a ti en c e a n d g o o d exa m p l e
, , Secondly to r e -estab .
,

lish the digni ty of the Church by the ex a ct observance of ,

the ecclesiastical consti t utions and the royal ordinance s ,

which c on cerned them Thirdly to maintain h i s subj ec t s

.
,

o f the pretended reformed religion in all the liberty t hat

had been granted t hem leaving them in the tr an quil enj oy

,

ment of their property their o ffices the benefit of th e

, ,

edic t s and t he favours they had obtain ed of hi m un t il it ,

should ple a se G od to enlighten their hearts a n d brin g ,

them back a gain to the bosom of his Church Fourthly .

,

to bestow upon the noblesse se v era l fav ours an d privile g es

to enable them to enter int o ben efic e s posts a n d o ffices , , ,

whe ther of his maj esty s household or the army a ccordin g

’

to their capabili ty for them Fifthly to have the chil

.
,

dren o f poor g en tlemen instructed in t he exercises suitable

to their condi t ion and to employ t he members o f this
,

order by sea and land wi t h appointments s o well paid a s

, , ,

to make them wor thy o f en vy to r e es t abli sh commerce - ,

and to do so by renewin g an d au g men t in g its pri v i l e g es .

Sixthly to assist the peopl e by remo v in g a burden of

,

G
82 F INAN CE .

three millions of li vr es during the five ensuin g years ,

reckoning as part of t his the s ix hundred thousand liv res

, ,

from which they had been relie v ed i n 1 6 2 7 s o that they

would be entirely relieved of them in the year 1 6 3 2 .

But the e v il was that whi lst g iving wi th on e hand a s

, ,

m uch was taken away with the other and of that which
was promised only what s uited the con v enience of the
,

minis t er wa s performed A great deal was said about

.

restori n g mari t ime commerce the superintendence o f ,

w hich the king had given to the Cardin a l de Richelieu

but nothing was n ecessary but to lea v e commerce to
the industry and enterprise of individuals which are ,

infini t ely greater and more active than those o f a minister ,

who knows nothing about trade and who has such an ,

immense number of other affairs on h i s hands ; to s a y

n othin g o f the probability o f his bein g misled by false
a d v ice
,
and h i s be i ng decei v ed by interested persons .

All that a m i n is ter could have done at that time or indeed , , ,

o u g ht to do at any other in favour of commerce w a s to

, ,

lessen the duty on articles of trade This proj ect then .

, ,

produced no great results a n y more than did many others

,

put forth by the g reat cardinal to amuse the people whom ,

he impoverished by useless wars kept up as he said for , , ,

the good o f the state but in reality solely for the pur , ,

pose of making hi mself necessary to the king and retain ,

ing power But independen tly of this had he acted

.
, ,

honestly and t o the best of his ability it might not have

, ,

been much better for the people ; for a l though endowed ,

wi th talents that enabled him t o grapple with great politi

cal ques t ions he w a s miserably deficient i n the prin cipal
,

r eq u i si t e for a min ister — h e was n o financier

, I n cases .

of n eed he had recourse to the readiest though perhaps

, ,

the most impolitic and unjust means that first presented

themsel v es I n states governed by kin gs who depend
.

u p on their s ubj ects for their revenues where standing ,

a rm ies must be m aintained a n d every wheel of governme n t

,
 DISMIS SAL OF THE N O T A B LES . 83

m ust be kept in mo tion by money the principal quality of ,

a minister must be to be a financier Colber t was edu .

c a te d i n coun t ing houses Richelieu in the army and t he

-
,

church ; therefore the first kne w h o w to get the money

,

before he spent it whereas Richelieu could spend it faster

,

than Colbert could and ava iled himself of any bungl ing
,

means that presen ted themselves to obtain it I n feudal .

times when kings had vast ext ents of crown lands and
,
-
,

were served b y their lie g es or tenants in fie f this qu a l ifi ,

catio n was n o t o f so much importance ; but since feudalism

died away an d royal ty and standing armies have bee n
,

maintained by taxes a minister must be a financier, .

A t leng th the assembly of the notables having drawn

, ,

up several sheets upon the propositions made durin g their

si ttings were dismissed on the 2 4 th o f February ; and a s
,

much atten t ion was paid to their adv ice a s the council
thou g ht proper to afford it To increase s till fur ther the.

authority o f the minister the king pub l ished letters ,

patent in which he said that the Cardi n a l de Richelieu

, ,

o n account o f the signal and important services which he

h a d re n dered and still rendered t o t he state should have

, ,
’
en tr ee voice and deliberative opinion in parliament a s
, , ,

well i n assemblies o f the chambers on council days a s ,

during the pleadings ; an d should have a seat on the

peers side wi th the same rank and the same de g ree that
’

he held i n the council of s t at e The cardinal to t ake .

,

possession of this new honour went a few days aft er to ,

the parliament accompanied by several prela t es and a

,

number of the n oblesse He a t the same time took t he

.

oath for the charg e o f superintendent of navig ation whi ch ,

an e d ict of the king s had recently conferred upon him

’
.

It had been a greed by the peace of La Rochell e that ,

the forts buil t by the Ro ch el l oi s shoul d be demolished ,

and they be g an the work of des t ruc tion ; bu t when the

g overnmen t i nstead of raisin g t heirs as t hey were equally
, ,

bou nd to do b uilt n ew and lar g er ones they at o n ce per

, ,

G2
84 C AU S E S OF D I FFERE N CE W I TH E N GL AN D .

c e i ve d that their e ne mies had made peace solely fo r th e

sake o f g ai nin g time ; and they n o t only discontinued th e
disman tling of the forts but despa t ched S oubis e to
,

entreat the king of Englan d to assis t them a gainst th e

d esigns Of the court Th ev likewise sent a gentleman
.

n amed Blancard wh o wa s s o s uccessful in c onvincing

,

several of the British ministe rs of the consequence o f pre

venting La Rochelle from falling into the hands o f the
k ing o f France that o n e o f them said in Open counc il that
, ,

it would be less prej ud icial to England to lose the kin gdom

o f I relan d than to permit the re d uction o f La Rochelle ,

and thus connive at the destruction of the Pro testan t

r eligion i n France .

This feeli n g wa s commo n i n En g land ; but it i s probable

that the kin g who really seldom interested himsel f
,

greatly about religio u s matters would not have interfere d

,

s o far as going to war in this qu a rrel if he had not bee n

urged to it by Buck ingham Three motives acted upo n

.

this vain and ambi t ious favourite I n the first place he .

‘ ,

expected that ladies of h i s family should hold the highest

r ank near t he queen s person bu t the Catholics knowin g
’

their own views upon the king conceived that the Pr o ,

te s ta n ts mi g ht entertain similar ones upon the queen an d ,

availed themselves of the marriage articles which allowed ,

n one but Catholics to be the immediate attendants u pon

her maj esty This exclusion irritated him greatly
. .

The second cause of resentment arose from h i s havin g

been repeat edly refused by both the kin g an d the cardinal
a r ecep t ion at the court of France to which he attached ,

much importance He had writ t e n several sh a rp letters

.

to Richelieu on this subj ect and had received similar one s

,

in re t urn His third motive wa s his generally believed

.

rom a n t ic attachment to An ne o f Austria whi ch obstacl e s ,

seemed to in crease and which furn ished an additio na l

,

r eason for the prohibition of the king her husband .

These impediments to the pride and guilty passion of a

 6 DE S CE N T OF THE E N GL I S H .

marrying his brother again and gave orders to Puylauren s ,

and Le Coigneux in whom the prince placed mos t c on fi

,

d e n c e to di vert hi m from such a purpose by leadin g him in t o

, ,

all kinds o f pleasures for whic h purpose he supplied t he m

,

w i t h as much money as they could want Bu t the queen .

mo ther wh o fe a red t hat the kin g would have n o childre n

, ,

immediately formed the idea of marry ing Monsieur to one

of t he daughters o f t he grand duke of Florence over ,

whom she hoped to exercise most authority in the event

of her becoming queen But this desig n met wi th strong
.

opposition and was even the cause of the banishmen t o f

,

Mary de Medici which took place some time aft er

, .

Before the k ing s il lness he had named the duke o f

’

O rlean s lieutenant general of his armies an d under him

-
,

Marshals B a s s om p i er r e an d Schomberg Whilst Louis .

was confined at Vill er o i n ews was received t hat the d uke ,

o f Buckin ham had e ffected a descent upon the isle of

g
Rh é in spite o f Thoiras who after having three times
, , ,
’

repulsed the English w a s forced to retire to Fort St, .

Martin which was in no condition to sustain a siege

, .

Many French were k i lled On t his occ a sion the canno n Of ,

the En g l ish ships being v ery destruc t iv e Thoiras him .

self was wounded an d lost t wo brothers A t the same

, .

time Buckin g ham sen t six ships of war to cruise o ff the

,

mou t h of t he Garonn e and as many to that of the Loire , ,

to preven t vessels issui n g from those ri v ers and to keep ,

the co u n t ry in al arm The kin g was no t informed of this

.

e v ent for fear of incre a sin g his m a l ady Buckin g ham had
, .

w i t h him a hundred and t wenty vessels an d had landed ,

eigh t thousand men who aft er beatin g Thoiras laid sie g e

, , ,

to Fort St Martin The duke o f O rleans who wa s wi t h

. .
,

the kin g became impa t ient to take his command ; bu t the

,

c a rd inal t old him he could no t adv ise the ki n g in his pre ,

sen t state to permit h i m to do so The duke ho wever

, .
, ,

became so much annoyed by the delay tha t he could not ,

possibly be restrained But the king had bee n s o lo n g

.
 THE I SLE OF RH E . 87

inspired with j ealousy against his brother that it was not ,

a difficul t ma tter for the cardi nal who had taken great ,

pains to feed that passion to have him recalled The , .

mandate reached the duke at Saumur but Mary de ,

Medici extremely an g ry at the manner in which Gaston

,

wa s treated obtained permission from the king for h i s

,

pursuing his j ourney and be repaired to Poitou where

, ,

the army was assembled We canno t refrain from pausing

.

here t o consider this picture of a court There is not a n .

action that is not go v erned and g uided by vile and at the ,

same time transparent motiv es I n all this is there one

, .
,

thou g ht bestowed upon the people over whom they ruled ,

and for whose benefit the actors ou g ht to ha v e thought

themselves placed in such exalted positions ? With king ,

queen cardinal duke and cour t iers each and all are
, , , ,

actua t ed by the narrow principle of ill j ud g ing self interest - -

.

Richelieu spared no pains to throw succours and pro

visions into the isle o f Rhé ; but a l l h i s cares would have
pro v ed useless if Thoiras had proved less brave or Buck ,

i ngham had had any knowled g e of t he art of war The .

cardinal had been for some time go v ernor of O leron and

Brouag e which governments were of little value in them
,

selves but whi ch he had been anxi ous to Obta i n as places

,

o f safety for himself in the event of m or e c ou r t plots i n

, , ,

which h e mi g ht not prove the s tron g est He doubled the .

g arrisons of these places and caused the troops

, to be paid
all tha t was due to them with his own money in order to ,

encour a g e them to act with v igour however they might be ,

employ ed He likewise got to g ether a number of barks

. ,

both wi th oars and sails to convey troops and provision s

,

to Rhé as soon as it would be possible .

A fe w days after landing the d u ke of Buckin g ham ,

pub l ished a manifesto da t ed t he 1 1 th of Ju l y no t on ly to

, ,

excuse his proceedin g s wi th re g ard to France bu t to make ,

the En g lis h belie v e tha t t h e ir kin g was ac t uat ed by a

pure zeal for r el igion He said that the g reat anxiety
.
 ’
88 B U CK IN GH A M S M ANI FEST O .

which the king of Great Britain entertained for the

reformed reli g ion had induced him to seek the sister of
the king o f Fra nce in m arriage that he mi g ht be in a
,

bet t er situation to suppor t the French Protes t ants : tha t

h av ing rendered himself mediator an d g uaran t ee o f the
last t reaty o f peace he could not s e e th e contra v entions
,

o f t he minis t ers of the kin g of France without complain

i n g ; and that U pon the refu s a l which had been g i v e n to

the Reformers an d himself to do them j ustice and on ,

account o f the prepara t ions against La Rochelle he had ,

fel t it his duty pro m p tly to take arms in their defence .

That by the promise which had frequently been given to

him to satisfy the Protestants at a proper season and ,

when they should render themselves worthy of it by their

submission he had always understood that the demolitio n
,

o f For t Louis was to be e ffected ; whereas s o far from that

,

for t bein g razed the for t ifica t ions of it had been augmented
, ,

and o ther forts constructed in the isle of Rhé .

The co u r t of France had never reco g nised the king Of

England a s mediator or g uarantee o f t he peace but it ,

w a s very probable tha t his ambassadors had prom i sed the

Hu g uenots to s ee that it was observed I t was still
.

fur ther certain that s o far from t heir being a l lowed the
,

enj oyment of the i r privil e g es causes for quarrellin g with

,

them were being constan t ly sought for and e v ery on e ,

could see that t heir rui n was only put o ff for an early a n d
a n ad v antageous oppor t uni ty Al thoug h this was denied
.

i n public it was admi tt ed in pri v ate an d the event made

, ,

it clear that the Roc h ell o is did n ot complain wi thout

reason . Thus the manifesto w a s not so false as the
partisans of the court wished to make it appear .

The Duke de Rohan who was t o hav e formed a c orp s

,

d a r m ec in Poitou s imul t aneously wi th t he descen t of the

’

English h a d not the success he expec t ed

, He was not .

pop u lar with a portion o f the Huguenot noblesse whi ch ,

wa s on e of the causes of the r ui n of his par ty They wo uld .

90 C OUN C I L U P O N A SS I ST I N G RH E .

or the English were not dri ven from the isle of Rh é he ,

mus t soon capitulate He at the same time poin t ed out

.
, ,

that troops m i g ht be in t roduced into the island by the

For t de la Pr é e and the En g lish be attacked This
, .

proposi t ion was discussed in t he council of the king and

'

several o f the members were of Opinio n t hat the isle of

Rhé shoul d be alto g e ther abandoned in order tha t a ll t he
,

forces might be employed in the blockade of La Rochelle ,

u ntil sie g e could be laid to it in form They asserted .

that the king had not troops enou g h to achieve bo th these

obj ects at once But the cardinal a g reed with Thoiras
.
,

a n d represented that the king would soon have troops

enough to g uard the posts he had taken up round La
Rochelle and for the enterprise proposed ; that by with
,

drawing the troops from the isle o f O leron and j oining ,

to them t wo thousand men from the army commanded by ,

Monsieur they mi g ht throw into the isle of Rhé fi v e or

,

s i x thousand foot and five hundred horse which j oined , ,

wi th the g arrison of St Martin would be qui t e su fficient

.
,

to dri v e the English to their ships tha t i t w a s e x t remely

im portant for t he king to preser v e that island because if ,

the English made themselves completely mas ters of it ,

the isle of O leron must soon fall into their hands that
by possessin g these two islands the enemy woul d keep ,

the nei g hbourin g coasts in a state o f perpe tual al arm ;

that they would draw considerab l e s t ores of money corn , ,

wi n e and sal t from O leron ; tha t they woul d no t only

,

pre v ent the trans port of the s a l t of Brouag e of Marenne , ,

and the neighbourin g coasts bu t woul d g reatly interrupt

,

th e trade o f Bourdeaux But abo v e a ll if t he En g lish

.
, ,

were allowed the triumph of re t aini n g Rh é th e most ,

”
sinis t er e ffects would ensue throu g hou t the kin g dom .

These reasons were su fficien tly s tron g in t hemselves ,

even if they had not been su p por t ed by the a u thority o f

the cardinal t o induce the council to lis t en t o the propo
,

s itio u of Thoiras I t wa s therefore resolved to emb a rk

.
 P O L I T I C A L TRE A T I E S . 1

the number of troops the min ister had n am ed i n as many ,

vessels as could be procured fit for the p urpose and ,

attempt the succour of the island Some assert that the .

cardinal pled g ed hi s j ewels to raise the money necessary

for this e xp ed i on ; but there is re a s on to believe the
'

g
repor t emanated from himself i n order to enhance t he ,

publi c Opinio n of h i s ze a l for reli gion The histori a ns .

s a y the kin g was n o t straitened for money ; and if the

cardinal advanced any it wa s more from ostentation th a n

,

necessity He never los t an opportunity for being

.

tal ked of .

About this time the Spaniards by their ambassador , ,

o ffered to supply Louis wi t h forty vessels havin g for ,

some time before nourished a pique against the En g lish ;

but they were so long in coming that no dependence coul d ,

be placed upon them ; and in fact they never came at , ,

all The French g overnment likewise renewed an alliance

.

with the United Provin ces for fear they should furnish
,

the En g lish with vessels They undertook to assist

.

France against any power except the king of England at

the s ame time promising not to assist the la tt er against
France They further engaged not to make peace with
.

Spai n without giving France t hree mon th s notice that ’

they were negotiating The kin g on h i s side entered

.
, ,

i nto an obligation to len d the United Provinces a mi l li on of

livres annually This a g reem e nt wa s to last three year s
.
,

as a former o n e had done I n cas e of its infraction by the

.

States they were to repay the kin g immediately the

, , ,

m oney they owed him and send back th e French troo ps

,

t hat were i n t heir armies The Spanish ambassador com

.

plained loudl y of this treaty made with pe op les who were

,

in arms a g ainst Spai n at the very momen t that c bu n tr y

,

w a s preparin g to assist France a g ain s t her rebe l lious

subj ec t s Louis replied tha t he h a d only formed this
.

league in order to pre v ent t he Dutch from l andi n g s h ips

to the Englis h ; an d a s s oon a s they were compelled to
92 E xF E D I T I O N AG AIN ST THE E N GL I S H I N RH E .

s tay at home the king wo ul d soo n let hi s Catholic

,

m aj esty s ee h ow good his intentions were towards him ,

even with respect to the Dutch U pon hearin g o f this .

r eply the ambassador o f the United Provinces complained

,

i n his turn and said if the French alre a dy con t emplated

, ,

breaking the le a gue h i s masters wo ul d be oblig ed to take

,

m easures accordin gly The ambassador was paid wi t h the

.

same coin as that o f Spain ; but time alone cou l d deter

m i ne w i t h which of the two Louis m eant to keep h i s
word .

Whilst preparing for the a ttack upon the E n glish n o ,

Opportunity was lost of throwin g i n men and pro v isions to

the besieged citadel in S pite o f the guns o f the En g li sh
, .

The king also recovered fro m h i s fever and j oined the ,

a rmy before La Rochelle co m manded by Monsieur a n d the

,

D u ke d A n g ou l é m e The king brought with him the two

’
.

other lieuten a nt generals and assigned a separa t e body to

-
,

the command of Mars hal B a s s om p i er r e because t he latter ,

would not accept the Duke d An g ou l é m e as a colle a gue ; ’

and because i t was the custo m tha t the army in which the
kin g was present coul d o nly be commanded by marshals
o f France when any were with it
, The cardinal fa v oured .

the duke but the firmness o f Ba s s om p i er r e prevai led

, ,

s imply becau se his services were of conse q uence .

N otwi thstanding all the cardinal s e ff orts t he expedi ’

tion a g ain s t Rh é could not be got ready before the begin

n ing o f N o v ember A t length
. foot and 3 00 horse ,

the best tro ops in the army landed in the ni g h t of the

'

5 th to t he 6 th Of N o v ember led by Marsh a l de S c h om ,

berg an d Louis de Maril l ac The large En g lish ships .

n ot bein g able to approach the shore conten t ed them ,

s elves wi t h firing upon t he troops a s they passed from a ,

d ist a nce ; but they killed very fe w and as soon as the , ,

French came opposite to Fort St Martin they in t renched .

,

themsel v es The next day the French army formed in

.
,

o rde r to a tta ck the Englis h in their tre n ches if they di d ,

94 L A R O CHELLE C L O SEL Y BES I EGE D .

conducting the released prisoners D e Meaux wa s like .

wise commanded to address himself to the Danish ambas

s ador at the court o f London Denmark having already ,

o ffered to mediate betwee n the two crown s The En g lish .

prisoners on their arri v al i n London were loud in praise

, ,

o f the kindness o f the French king and gave all the ,

a ssis t ance in their power to the mission o f De Meaux .

The deputies from La Rochelle who were in London , ,

warmly soliciting fr es lf succour soon obtained intelligence ,

o f these political manoeuv r es and in a memorial to the ,

king employed e v ery ar g ument the desperate state Of the

,
’

city could su g g est to induce him to p er for rn his promises

,

to his c o religionis t s The king of England although he

- .
,

received the deputies courteously was in heart more , , ,

inclined to fa v our Catholics i n England than to assist

Calvinists i n Fran ce and did not hasten the d eparture of
,

the flee t Buckingham however seriously piqued by h i s

.
, ,

la t e want O f success used the utmost exertions to for wa rd

,

t he expedition and pressed the king to afford him a n

,

Opportuni ty o f retrieving h i s wounded honour The .

parliament wa s m uch dissatisfied with the condu ct of the

court .

Whilst these a fl a ir s were goin g on i n England the ,

king and the cardinal continued to lay close siege to La

Rochelle The cardinal took i n common with the other
.
,

g enerals a cert a,i n extent of the lines of circu mvallatio n to

g uard and caused a fort to be built which was named
, ,

F or t Ri c h e l i eu .

The duke o f O rleans left the army and returned to ,

Paris on the 1 5 th o f N o v ember I mmediately aft er the .

d ea th o f the duchess Mary de Medici e v er anxious to

, ,

hav e the re ins of power i n her own hands entered ear ,

n e s tly into a plan for remarryin g Gaston and fixed upon ,

a d aughter of the gran d duke of Florence as most likely-

,

t o sui t her ambitious views But unfortunately for her .

, ,

M arguerite the gran d duke s eldest daughter wh o wa s

’
-
, ,
 M O RE C OU RT IN TR I G U ES . 95

ha ndsome and of a proper age wa s en g aged to the duke,

of Parma ; whilst A nne the second daughter was not

, ,

only too young but s o exceedingly u g ly that the duke of

, ,

O rleans wou ld not hear of the mat ch Mary then tried .

to persuade the duke of Parma to marry A nne ; but to ,

the great annoyance of the queen mother Parma would -

,

n o t g ive up h i s beau tiful a fli a n c e d bride and Gaston a s ,

positively refused to al ly himsel f with childhood and ugli

ness Mar y de Medici not onl y feared that the k in g
.

wo u ld have n o children but placed faith in astrolo g ic a l

,

predictions which declared he woul d never reach thirty

,

years of a g e ; a n d he was n ow twe nty ei g ht Although - .

o f a cold p hl egmatic temperament very t hin and very

, ,

dry the k in g was s o addicted to the sports of the field

, ,

that no weather or fatigue impeded h i s pursui t of t hem

an d hi s mother wa s in constant apprehension that h i s
weak constitutio n would sin k benea th his exertions and
exposure to cold and rain The duke of O rleans on the
.
,

contrary loved sensual pleasures a s much as his brother

,

hate d them ; and the fear for hi m w a s that he would ,

destroy his health by hi s indulgences A ll these reasons .

urged Mary to make every exertion to bring her plan to

bear but she met with not a probabili ty of success for
, ,

in addition to Gaston s aversio n for the ugly princess

’

neither the k ing the queen nor the cardin a l although

, , ,

apparently seconding her views assisted them in earnest , .

The king wa s too j eal ous of h is brother to wi sh hi m to

marry again s o soon Ann e o f A us tr ia wa s already too
.

sensible of the weight of the authority o f the queen mother -

to desire to have it increased ; an d t he cardinal although ,

the creature of thi s princess would have been exceedin g l y

,

s orry to see Monsieur married and the father of several

children because he knew that prin ce entert a i ned no love

,

for him ; an d with a family likely to succeed to t he crown ,

he would have lessened h is authority in the state In .

a ddi tio n to this Richelie u who artfully a n d by degree s

, ,
96 A C OU RT I MBR O G L IO .

wa s tealin g power from the hand s of h i s be n efactre s s

s ,

began to be we a ry of pre s ervi ng an appe ar an ce of respect

for her will .

There wa s i n th e co urt of Fra n ce a princess seventee n

, , ,

years of a g e the d aughter o f the Duke de N evers whom

, ,

her parents had take n g reat pains to thro w in the w a y o f

the duke o f O rleans Their pla n s o far succeeded as to
.

make him for m an attachment for her ; a n d though he ,

sometimes said he did n ot wish to m a rry at a l l at other s ,

he said a s the duke Of P arma would not give up Mar

,

g u erite he, woul d marry the daughter o f the Duke de

N evers But Mary de Medici was exceedingly averse to
.

this match ; s h e n ot onl y thought Mademoiselle de N evers

to be a delicate girl n ot likely to have a family but she
, ,

hated that branch of the house of Go n zaga which had ,

’

upon all occasions been Opposed t o her This a fl a ir caused .

a delightful court imbroglio which we should no t have ,

m entioned had it n o t bee n connected a s we shall s ee , ,

with the life o f the cardin a l .

The Duke de Vend ome who had bee n placed at Vin ,

cen a c s a s we ha v e s a i d continued to protest h i s innoce n ce

, ,

a s regarded desi g ns against the king ; but he was obliged

to confess having conspired against the authority o f the

m inister to a s k pardon of the kin g for that o ffence and to
, ,

r enounce h i s government o f Brittan y Having done a l l .

this the king s ent him letters o f grace a s far as concerned

, ,

h i s life ; bu t refused to restore him to liberty although he ,

permitted h i s r elation s and friends to visit him at Vin

c e n n es The grand prieur who would n ot condescend to
.
,

follow the example of h i s bro ther wa s n ot allowed similar ,

pri v ileges ; no on e an any pretence wa s permitted to

, ,

r elieve the drear iness o f h i s imprisonment .

The Count de Soisson s had l eft the kingdon but still ,

however far removed could n ot escape the wra th of the

,

cardin a l The Countess de Soissons compl a i n ed bi t terly

.

to Fa t he r Ber u l e that it h a d bee n a s serted tha t th e

,
98 THE n v xs or L A R O CHELLE
. .

those wh o a dmit of a hal f dependency ; a m a n o n ce hi s

-

mus t be entirely his or he became hi s bitter enemy only

, ,

a waitin g - the fitti ng occasion to sho w h i s resentment .

The Abbé Sc a glia a mbas sador from Savoy experienced

, , ,

a bout the same period the effects o f the cardinal s an ger

’

, ,

excit ed by h is having too warmly Opposed the treaty o f

Monzon The ar tful prelate wishing to have the abbé
.
,

r ecalled and never at a loss for a n exped i ent accused hi m

, ,

o f complici ty i n Ch a lais ca ba l ; o f having treated with the

’

grand prieur ; and o f having offered on the part of the ,

duke of S avoy to supply Monsieur with a considerable

,

body o f troops The abbé positively denied the whole

.
‘

o f this and spoke in his o wn j ustification several time s

,

before the cardin a l and the other ministers ; but a s h i s ,

j us t ification wa s n o t the obj ect desired by the cardinal he ,

wa s told to request hi s i m mediate recall from his master ;

an d was promised in the event o f his obtaining it that h e
, ,

should bear with him su fficient evidence of his innocence .

I n compliance with this he wa s in a shor t time transferred

,

to the embassy from Savoy to Flanders aft er w h ich ,

Richelieu seemed to thi n k he co uld n ot load him wi th too

many civilities .

The c a r dinal still carr ied on the siege o f La Rochelle

with unremitting energy ; but notwith standi ng the close ,

n ess o f the blockade the in cessan t attacks upo n the

,

forti fications and the employment o f every artifice either

, ,

o f strate gy or policy he foun d all h is e fforts useless a s

,

lon g as t he s ea wa s op en to the besieged To close the .

entrance to the port had bee n a t once perceived to be t he

readies t a n d most natural means to overcome this evi l ;
a n d an I tal ia n e n g ineer named F a r g on i had endeavoured
, ,

to e ffect this i n various manners but tempests o r the tide s , ,

e v en soon destroyed the fru its of hi s labours A t length

, .
,

the cardinal proposed to make a dyke of stone i n which ,

there shoul d be a n O p ening le ft for the pas sage o f t he tide .

Th is dyke i s alway s looked u po n a s the cardin al s gre a t ’

 T HE D YK E OF LA
. R O CHELLE .

achieveme n t ; but who will s a y that the conception was

his own ? I n an army commanded by marsh a l s Of France ,

and o fii c er e d by men experienced in the a r t o f war the ,

idea of this celebrated dyke wa s on e t hat w a s very likely

to suggest itself ; it mi g ht e v en have originated wi t h a
soldier or labourer of l ow rank ; but if the cardi nal
thou g ht proper to adopt it a s his o wn where was the m a n ,

then in France who would have dared to dispute the

paternity with him Be this a s i t may it cannot be denied ,

that Richelieu set this great work o n foot and carried it ,

through i n spite of the Obstacles incessantly th ro w n i n

his way by the enemy and natu re The work was c om .

m e n c e d at a place where the g ulf w hi ch forms the port o f

La Rochelle i s seven hundr ed and forty t o ises in breadth * ‘

,

and where the Operations wo u l d be ou t of the re a ch of the

cannon o f the city To form the dyke immense posts
.
,

were driven into the bottom of the s e a at di s ta n c es of ,

twelve feet and others across them between which were

, ,

placed stones wi th nothing to bin d them together but the

slime and mud deposit ed by the sea Sever a l vessels .

loaded with stones were likewise sunk at different points ,

to s treng then it A t the bas e it was twelve toises wide

.
,

growin g narrower by degrees to the top where it wa s on l y ,

fo u r I t wa s at the summit above t he fl ow of the hi ghes t

.

tides s o that the soldiers who gu a rded it might always

,

rema in dry -footed Batteries were erec ted to defend it

.
,

both within and without and additional artillery wa s

,

plan t ed on either shore This we give a s its perfect state ;

.

bu t it wa s a work of tim e great exertion and patien ce to

, , ,

brin g it to this point .

The besie g ed at fir st flattered them selves that thi s

desi g n could not succeed as the s ea wo ul d be sure to
,

carry away as it had done before everything by which

, ,

m a n woul d pr e sume to Oppose i ts co urse N or was thi s .

1 00 P I N O L A A T L A R O C HELLE .

hope wi thou t good foundation for if they had had a ,

larger stock o f pro visions or their English allies had don e

,

their du ty their city would not have been reduced to

,

capitulatio n by this work however stupendou s Withi n , .

a few weeks of the capitulation the winds an d wave s ,

vindicated their power dispersed part o f the dyke and

, ,

left a wide entrance open to the p ort and t he city A n .

historian says : The cardin a l wa s very proud o f h i s

dyke bu t the Roch el l oi s might have laughed at h i m
,

a n d it if they h a d but had provisions for a few m ore

weeks .

Whilst this work wa s being carried on the Spanis h ,

fleet very badly equipped and much injured by weather

, ,

arrived under the command o f D on Frederic de Toledo

, .

The Marquis de L ég a n ez came likewise and with h im th e ,

celebrated Spinola The kin g eagerly led this great

.

s oldier to examine the various wo r ks of the siege an d ,

w a s chagrined by his disapprov a l o f many Of them .

Amon g other adv ice he to ld Louis there were but two

,

mean s of taking La Rochelle— he m u s t ei tlz er c l os e th e

en tr a n c e to th e p or t or op en hi s p u r s e
, The cardinal paid .

him much respect styling him hi s father on account o f

, ,

his age O n his return to Spain s o far from approvi n g

.
,

the con duct of the Co u nt duke O l a e fi who had sent

- i v r z “

the fleet to assist the king of France Spinola advised t he ,

Spanish monarch to despatch immedia t e succours to the

Ro ch el l o is He could talk of n othi n g else and insisted
.
,

upon the present cou rse a s on e most op p osed to the true

policy o f Spain He said the idea o f helping t o mak e
.

t he king of France absolute in h is sta tes was the m ore

ridiculous from France having j ust concluded a le a gu e
wi th the U ni t ed Pro vi nce s to assist them against t he
Spaniards Richelie u was fortun a te in ha v ing w h il st in
.

power such a rival a s O liv a rez a man Of very mean ,

What read er ca n m ee t wi th thi s nam e wi thout thinking of Gi l

Bi a s
102 THE C A R D INA L M A DE G E N ER A L .

only liste n ed to the advice o f the generals but eagerly ,

caught at and appropriated everything he thought wor thy

o f attention le t it come from what quarter it m ight
,
.

Besides h is passion for command was s o insatiable that

, ,

he car ed n ot what he un dertook or how in consistent i t ,

might be with hi s holy vocation s o that he did but com ,

m and N 0 on e was likely to press on the operations with

.

such zeal a s he would Hi s presence was a security for

.

the fideli ty of the various leaders who in the event of , ,

'

shortness of pay or any d is a fl e c tion among the troops ,

might have brou g ht a bout the failure o f the enterprise .

Thus however strange it a ppears to u s that a bishop an d

,

cardinal should comman d a n army it wa s the most pru ,

d ent arran g ement that Louis could make I ndeed as we .

,

shall s ee it wa s the n not a n un commo n thing for a n

,

ecclesiastic to be i n a milita ry command On the day o f .

the king s departure after havin g received the farewell

’

compliments of hi s gener als a n d o fficers he turn ed h i s ,

hors e on one side towards a gentleman of quality who had

come to receive h i s orders and aft er leanin g upon hi s
,

shoulder for some time i n silence he said : My heart i s ,

s o oppressed at leavin g Monsieur l e Cardinal and by the ,

fear that some ill accident may happen to him tha t I c a n ,

s carcely speak Tell him from me that if he h a s a n y

.

desire to make me think that he loves m e h e will take ,

care of h imself and wil l not incessan tly go in to dan g erous

,

s ituations a s he i s in the habit o f doin g daily : let him

,

think what a state my affairs would be in if I were to lose

h im . I am well aware h ow many persons are engag ed i n
endeavourin g to prevent his bein g charg ed wi th the heavy
burthen he supports But s o hi g hly do I v alue his services
.
,

that I shall never forget I n fac t th e ki n g had ,

not s u fli c i c n t stren gth Of mind to govern alone and had ,

already co mm itted s o many inj ustices i n favour of the

A u be r y .
 ’
H O WE LL S H I ST O RY OF L OUI S m m 103

cardinal that the number o f the discontented wa s very

,

g reat and he felt he coul d not do without him

, A n d yet .

t is king whose imbecility reduced him to miserable sub

h ,

s er v i en c y to a man he feared and never l iked i s by author s ,

o f hi s o wn and the nex t reign held up a s a pat tern fo r

,

monarchs Howell a writer wh o published hi s work i n

.
, ,

1 64 6 and w hi ch now lies before me dedicates the history

, ,

o f this monarch to Prin ce Charles o f W a l es an d begi n s ,

in these words I present your Hi g h n e s with the life o f

you r Roy a l O ncle of France A s u c c es s fu ll a n d triumphant
,

K ing both at home a n d abro a d throughout the whole

course o f h is raigu and that i n S O constant a d egree a s if
, ,

Fortune herself had bin h i s Companion an d Victory hi s ,

Ha n dm a yd : They attended Him o er the Al ps They ’

ushered Him o er the Pyr en eys ; They were hi s harbinger s

’

o er t he Rhine and they brought h i s horses to drink of

’

the Danube ; They were Hi s p i lots a t S ea an d they fil led ,

h is S a yles upo n the O cean where he wa s incompar ably

,

more powerfull tha n all hi s

When the kin g wa s gone the car din al pressed on the
,

works with all the rapidity that the seas on a n d the sorties
of the besieged would p ermit ; and succeeded in com
p l e ti n g hi s li nes o f circumvallation s o satisfactorily a s to

place all the forts i n a state of defence an d of interco m ,

m u ni c a ti om with on e another But the dyke ad v anced

.

more slowly on a ccount of the greatness of the labour and

the bad weather which afterwards put a stop to the works
,
.

The cardinal perceived plainly that the siege wa s likely

to be protra cted for a length of time he had great
reas on to fear that the army wou l d be di mi ni shed by the
ne g ligence a n d deceit of the captain s an d that t he enor ,

mous expense would in the end compel hi m to abandon , ,

Th e au thor O f this exqui s ite p ie c e o f ad u l ation wa s a g reat

intim ate f iend o f B en J n on a d th e fi t wh o bo re
e O gi c e
t a ve

tfi
er , a n r o s n rs
,

from th e
104 A TTEM P T To S U RPR I SE TH E C I T Y .

the enterprise He likewise dreaded that the soldiers

.
,

ill -paid and over fatigued woul d desert a s had been the
-
, ,

case at many o ther sieges In order to remo v e these .

apprehensions he gave orders that the troops should be

,

r eviewed every week and appoin ted a commissary to each

,

r e g iment wh o S ho u l d hi m se l f pay the soldiers and w h o

, ,

S houl d take care there were n o p a s s e vo l a n s * Thus the - .

,

c ardinal knew every week the actual n umber of his troops ,

a n d that only such a s were i n the camp were paid ; whereas

b efore there had always bee n a number o f p a s s e vo l a n s -

,

a n d many more men were paid tha n were i n e ffective

s ervice . He also gave orders that the soldiers Should be

provided with clothes to protect them against the cold o f
the win ter and S pri ng a n d pursued such good re g ul a
tions that there wa s al ways an abundance of provisions in
,

the camp without the peasants o f the surround ing country

,

being su bj ected to the i ll treatment of the soldiery

- .

Shortly after the kin g s depar ture the cardin al caused

’

the Roch ell oi s to be summoned to surrender and to thro w ,

themselves upon the clemency O f h i s maj esty ; bu t they

r efused even to listen to the her a l d A few days aft er .

this attempt the car dinal enter t a ined the slight hope of
,

tak i ng the city by surprise His pla n was to p etard the .

false gate o f the S a l i n a s the N ew Ga te an d tha t o f

, ,

S t N i c ko l a s
. to escalade the bastions o f th e Ga bu t and ‘

o f the E e a n i l e to endeavour to break the chain an d

g
surprise the fort of Tho iras whilst false alarm Shoul d be,

give n i n other places He selected for this enterprise th e

.

n igh t o f the 1 1 th of March and approached to wi thi n S ix

,

hundred paces of the ci ty with abou t ei g ht thousand men

, ,

horse and foot and the Marshals B a s s om p i er r e and

,

S chomberg The bear ers o f the petards were sen t towards

.

v arious sides and fi v e hundr e d m en a dvanced under

,

Mar illac to suppor t the firs t a tt ack ; but the n i g h t wa s

Men tak e p l ace
wh o in a m us ter , without b e ing en rol l ed , a nd
c heat th e p aym as ter .
106 JE AN G UY T O N M AYO R
, or L A R O C HELLE .

Guyton m ayor of the city a man of experience and spirit

, , ,

took care that they should be spared a s much a s possible ,

till the anxiously expected supplies fro m England should

arr ive He also i ssued his orders for the defence of the
.

city with much prudence and firmness but he could not

prevent numbers Of soldiers who wou ld n ot submit to the
,

s elf denial s prescribed

- from deserting daily to the be
,

siegers carrying with them informatio n of the bare state

,

o f the place A t first the besiegers received these deserters

.

but they soon discontinued the practice a s they feared ,

they were only relieving the city of s o many useless

m on th s The cardinal would n ot eve n allo w the mo ther
.

o f the D u ke de Roha n an d hi s sis ter -i n -law to leave L a

Rochelle ; n ot only with the view that they might help to

consume the scanty pro v ision s of the city but for fear ,

they shoul d raise a cab a l i n favour of the Duk e de Rohan ,

who w a s carr ying on the war for the Protestant par ty i n

Languedoc an d wa s giving the Prince d e Cond é an d th e
,

Duke de M on tm er en c i a great deal of trouble Some .

a uthors s a that these ladies refused to leave La Rochelle

y ,

where their presence and exhorta t ions kept up the fainting

spirits of the besieged ; and though reduced for thr ee ,

month s to l ive upon h or s efles h and eve n worse food they , ,

still acted with a firmn ess worthy of the cause they were
engaged in .

The Roch ell oi s had looked forward with hopeful impa

ti en c e for the tide o f the full moo n of the March equinox ,

which i s generally very high ; but it had not much

e ffect only overturning about three toises o f on e en d
,

o f the dyke which were soon restored

, They were .
,

howe v er cheered by the arrival O f a few barks which

, ,

brought them a little corn and the intelligence that the

,

succours from England were about to s et ou t The .

cardinal also was aware O f this and the Spanish S hips

, , ,

having departed had great reason to fear that t he forty

,

French vessels that were left would n o t prove su fficient

 THE KI N G RET U R N S To THE C A M P . 107

to de fend t h e port agai nst the en trance of the E n g lish .

But the dyke for the formatio n an d stren g thening of

,

which sixty -two vessels had bee n sunk was n ow in a s t ate ,

o f defence and it was hoped that the naval army draw n ,

up at the entrance o f the gulf an d supported by a quan ,

tity o f ar tillery pl a n ted alon g the shore on both sides ,

would be able to resist a gr eat number o f vessels .

I n this conj uncture the cardi nal thought it expedien t

,

that the king S hould return to the camp to encourage the ,

s oldiers by h i s presence when the succours from Englan d

should appear Louis arr i v ed on the 24 th of April an d

.
,

th e necessary orders for defendin g the d yke a g ainst the

English were immediately issued A short time aft er the .

kin g s return Father Joseph who had likewise become a

’

, ,

soldier was informed by a Roch ell oi s wh o understood n o

, ,

more o f the ma t ter than the Capuchin did that it was ,

possible to get i nto the city by a condu it through whi ch

its i mpurities were discharged The busy ecclesiastic de .
,

lig hted a t having a finger in the pie repaired directly to ,

the cardinal with a plan for i ntroducing troops by mean s

,

o f this sewer ; and as everything wa s well received by

his eminence that came from Joseph the king was i n ,

formed qf the disco v ery and orders were given for the
,

a ttempt Writers I suppose ou t o f dislike for the cardi

.
,

n a l s confidant th row an a ir of ridicul e over thi s a lfa ir

’

, ,

a n d say that some indescribable machin e was invente d to

facilitate the enterprise ; but that it wa s deemed n e ces

sary in the first place to discover t he pas sage This wa s
, , .

done du rin g a very dark ni g ht ; when upon soundin g the ,

fil th wi th a long pole it wa s found to b e s o deep that the

, ,

desi g n was deemed perfectly impracticable by persons

acquain t ed wi th the place ; and notwithstanding the rage ,

o f the Capuch in who would have persis t d a t all risks

, e ,

it w a s obli g ed to be abandoned .

Here al thou g h in the mi d s t of this celebrated S iege we

, ,

feel called upon to make ou r rea ders better acquai nted

 08 F A THER J O S EPH .

with Father Joseph This mo nk who i s ge n e ra lly term ed

.
,

the d m e-d a m n ee or famili a r Of the gr eat cardinal by h i s

’

, , ,

a ttachment to h i s master and his u n scrupulous z eal i n h i s

s ervice h a s rendered their names inseparable : R i chelie u

,

a n d Joseph are like F a ust and Mephistopheles .

Leclerc d u Tremblay better known as Father Joseph

, ,

owed the commencement o f hi s for tunes to Antoinette

d O r l ea n s de Longueville wh o took the veil after the
’

death of her husband the Marquis de Bell I sle He w a s

,
- .

the director of this lady and seconded her warmly i n ,

r eforming the Benedictin e n uns commonly called the ,

Daughters of Calv a ry How he became connected wit h

.

Charles Duke de N evers a n d afterwards of Mantua i s

, , ,

un know n ; but these two chime ri cal and restless sp irits

seemed drawn together by affinity of characters and v iews .

Their grea t scheme was to in sti tu te a new gran d order o f

chivalry and form a universal Christian crusade against
,

the i n fid el s .T o relate the particulars of this a bsurd

undertaki n g wo uld lead us too fa r from ou r way ; su ffice it
to s a y that it brou g ht little but ridicule to all that were
concerned in it The evil with Joseph wa s that it le ft a
.

strange hankerin g in his mind for military adventures ,

an d that they general ly turned ou t to his S hame various .

O

s to r ies a r e told o f the droll half military half-monkish -

,

costume which he sometimes a ppeared in and o f his vain ,

attempts at hors emanship : on e of the lat t er which can ,

n ot be repeated is said to have amused Richelieu greatly

, .

B ut if the car di nal som etimes di verted himsel f with the

eccentricities of the Capuchin he wa s well acquain t ed ,

with the energetic n atur e o f h is char acter and t rusted ,

and employed him more in hi s e fforts to destroy his per

s onal e n emies tha n any other agent He sent him to t he .

diet of Ra ti s bop n e a s the n egotiator bes t fitted to form a

,

close alliance betwee n France Sweden an d the Protes , ,

tant pri nces of Germany and to s ow mistrust and j ealousy

,

betwee n the em peror an d the Catholic princes The .

1 10 J O SEPH AN D GA S S I O N .

bluntl y Thi s dispute furn ished the cour t with matter for
.

laughter an d on e wit even ventured to apply to the kin g

,

for g uards to prevent a duel between a Capuch i n and a

Huguenot but Joseph never forgot it and consequently , , ,

like his master n ever forga v e i t A s the anecdo t e con

, .

n e c te d with this circumstance s trongly S hows the character

o f Joseph and the ascendancy he had over Richelieu we

, ,

w ill select it from the number that are told in ridic u l e ,

o f this otherwise dr eaded military monk The cardinal .

h ad formed a high opinio n o f Ga s s ion and as he a l ways , ,

made it hi s endeavour to attach men o f ability to hi s

in terests he wished to make him captain of h i s guard
, .

But u pon mentioning h i s purpose to Joseph the latter

, ,

replied : Such mere swordsmen are more fit to kill

people tha n to keep proper watch over a master They .

are lions that cannot be tamed and it is alway s dan gerous ,

t o place oneself between their paws N ei ther shou ld they .

be detained too long at court ; they are far better in camp

o r at t heir quarters The cardinal was so deferential to
.

the Op inio n of the father that he either woul d no t or ,

”
durst no t contradict him Good man said he in h i s
.
, ,

usual manner we will both have ou r way : Ga s s i on

,

shall not be at the head of my guards but he shall be ,

min e n evertheless
, .

The connection o f Richelieu with this brave an d

honourable man h a s furnished more than o n e in teres t in g
incident for no v el i sts and play wr i ghts Richelieu although .
,

backed by the promise s of t he k i ng c ould not corrupt

, ,

him O n on e occasion e v ery means w a s tried

.
, The .

”
leagued pri nces said Richelieu , have already ende a ,

vou r e d to seduce others in to their par ty and they w i ll n o t ,

”
fail to attempt to g ai n you I will kill the first that
.

shall a ttempt i t replied Ga s s i on , That is not what we .

-

”
wi sh s a i d the cardin al ; you must a ppear to enter int o
,

their views promise the m your troops for fear they

, ,

s houl d s eek o ther s e n te r i n to the i r leagu e on certai n c on

,
 GA SS I O N . 111

diti ons ,hear all they w ill s a y to you in order to inform ,

m e ; and when they shall call upon you to fi g h t you c a n ,

”
boldly declare you rself a faithful servan t o f the king .

The cardin al whose eyes were fixed upo n Ga s s ion

,

during this proposal s a w that he wa s embarrassed and

,

u neasy and ad d ed
, in the hope o f encouraging him that
, ,

it wa s by the king s orders he spoke an d he had no power

’

,
”
t o change t he plan agreed upon a fter all he said the , ,

welfare of the state often renders such a r ti fic es n ecessary ,

i n order to defeat the pro! ects o f factions an d all action s ,

become le g iti mate and eve n glorious when the safety o f

the kingdom i s at stake or a civil war can be pre v en t ed
,
.

Ga s s i o n contin uin g to S ho w by hi s manner that thi s

, ,

morality wa s not at all to h i s tas te Richelieu made on e ,

last e ffort to persuade him ; but a ll in vain The capt a in .

,

aft er hav i ng reflected for a considerabl e time broke ,

silence and said

, Monsei gneur depend u pon me in , ,

life or to death whe n t here is occasion to serve you ; but

,

let it be without intrigue and without treachery I will .

giv e a good account of your enemies but the war I make ,

”
a gainst them must be an Open on e Monsieur .
,

replied the car d inal with a dissatisfied a i r the king will

, ,

be served aft er his o wn fashion ; but he has the means of

rewardi ng liberally a ll who do serve him A ft er t his .

they sep a rate d g reatly dissatisfied wi th each other

, .

N othing could in duce Ga s s i on t o play the part o f a

tr aitor ; but yet he felt g rieved at bein g compelled to give
u p t he hopes he had entertained from t he patrona g e of the

a l l powerful minister
-
Richelieu sent for him again and
.
,

was struck wi th the trouble an d a nxiety depicted in hi s

coun t enance ; Ga s s i on wa s incapable of personal fear bu t ,

he was a soldier o f fort une an d was moved to his heart

,

to find the honour he worshipped made an obstacle t o hi s

prospec t s I have g iven you much pain my poor
.
,

colonel said Richelieu

, bu t I am obl ig ed to you for
,

feeli n g it ; you a r e m ore my frie n d th a n you believ e

1 12 GA S SI O N .

yourself to be a n d I am n ot quite sur e th at you ar e not

,

more dissatisfied with what you said to me yesterday than

I am . Ga s s ion confessed that he deeply regretted that
he could n o t in a ny case prove his devo t ion to his
, ,

”
eminence Monseigneur said he
. I can offer you n o , ,

more than my life I woul d lay it down willingly in your

,

service ; but I cannot eve n for your sake sacrifice my , ,

” ”
honour Enou g h enough monsieur r eplied the car
.
, , ,

dinal ,your fortunes may be the worse for it but you ,

”
will not lose my esteem Ho w refreshing is such a little
.

bit in a hi story like th i S! A nd yet how consi s te n t the

policy o f the cardinal to the en d ! Hi s affectation o f
esteem for honour which he neither preached nor practised
, ,

was no t hing but a lure throw n ou t to prevent a good an d

bra v e m a n from becoming his enemy .

But notwithstanding his ridiculous m ilitary pretensions

, ,

Father Joseph by h i s acuteness promptness un tirin g

, , ,

S pirit and S incere a ffection made himself n ecessar y to the

, ,

cardinal ; who though aim ing at much and capable of a c hi ev

,

ing much still like other men wa s glad of the u ndoubted

, , ,

support o f a kindred mind From their power their inti .

,

mate connection and their garments the people called on e

, ,

H i s S ca r l et E m i n en ce and t he other H i s Gr ey E m i n en c e
, .

On many a trying occasio n Joseph came to the rescue ; on

some even when the cardinal s genius paled before seem ’

i n g l y overwhelming circumstances the e n ergy of the ,

Capuchin brou g ht a ll to a triumphant issue In fact .

,

Joseph was a s Richelieu confessed a s he mourned ove r

, ,

the death o f h i s faithful coadj utor the car dinal s ri ght ,

’

A few dav s a fter Father Jo s eph s fail ure the Engli sh ’

fleet appeared ; it consisted of about fifty ship s of war ,

an d o f forty o thers lade n with provisions The Fren c h .

fleet composed of smaller vessels un der th e orders o f the

, ,

Commander de V a lence wa s draw n up in the canal , ,

be tween the two point s a n d the s toca d o of the s unke n ,

1 14 DE AT H O P RU C RI N GHA M .

he entertained d esign s advantageou s to the hon o ur a n d

”
l iberty of the British n ation .

Deli vered from his fears of the E n glish the cardinal ,

wrote a letter to the Roch ell oi s in which he exhorted ,

them to surrender But buoyed u p by the hopes of

.
,

fresh aid from En g land or that the s t orms o f autum n

,

would destroy the dyke they would not condescend t o

,

m ake any reply I n t he mean time mat t ers were not

.
,

quite prosperous in the royal camp the heats o f summer

had brought dysenteries amon g t he troops followed by ,

mal i g nant fevers ; the cardinal was obliged to S hift h i s

quarters and the ardour o f the soldiers diminished daily
, .

O n the v ery day the cardinal wrote to t he Ro ch ell oi s ,

the duke o f Buckingham was stabbed a t Plymouth by an

a ssassin named Felton as he was about to embark o n
,

another expedition in favour o f La Rochelle The .

murderer was a Scotch e nthusiast who S O far from , ,

evinc i ng repentance gloried in havin g destroyed a n

,

enemy to the state an d rendered a great serv ice to his

,

coun try The death of thi s nobleman made no chan g e in

.

the intentions of the king of England ; and he assured

Soubise and the deputies from La Rochelle t ha t this
accident S hou l d not delay the assistan ce he meant to send
them .

A s soon a s the news of Buckingham s death reached ’

the camp the cardinal judged it a favourable momen t for

,

u rging the Ro c h ell oi s to surrender and he sent them pro ,

o s a l s by means of Arnaud who entered the ci t y under

p ,

pretence of procurin g the exchan ge of his brother i n law - -

,

t he Marquis de F eu qu i er es w h o had been a prisoner for

,

some months A considerable par t o f the go v ernmen t

.

r ecei v ed the propos a ls favourably and deputi e s were sen t

,

to the cardinal ; these hav in g heard h is o ffers repeated

,

from hi s own mouth returned and g av e their repor t t o

,

the rest But whether they feared the kin g and the
.
,
 E X P U L SI O N OF U S ELE SS M OU TH S . 1 15

c ardinal would not keep their word or that they con cei v ed ,

the sacrifices they were call ed upon to make w ere too

great the citizens refused to accept the terms and deter
, ,

mined to wait for succours from England .

A n d yet whilst formin g this resoluti on they were

, ,

reduced t o the last n ecessity and a g reat number of the

,

people only lived upon shell fis h a n d roots which became

-
,

daily more d ifficul t to be found Some of the magistrates .

advised capitulation ; but a s this would be placing them

selves a t the mercy of the cardin a l who when once i n , ,

La Rochelle would only execute a s much of the capitul a

,

tion a s suited him the m aj ority of the people excited by

, ,

the energetic m ayor refused to consent to it

, The .

Opposi t e party in order to work upon the pity of the

,

people procured a resolution to be passed by which all

'

, ,

useless mouths were to be expelled the ci ty They judged .

that such a measure would create s o strong a feeling a s to

d ispose t hem to surrender O ne night a multitude o f Old
.
,

men women and chil dr en were got to g ether and driv en

, , ,

o u t at the city gates without the least attention being

,

p a i d to their entreaties an d l a mentations These u n .

fortunat e wretches went a s soon as i t was li ght to surrender

themsel v es at the forts and lines o f the besiegers but ,

they were driv en away by musketry s o that they were ,

forced to remain in the open fields between the l i nes and ,

the city where they subsisted upon grass herbs and the
, , ,

leav es of trees So far from pityin g them the kin g an d

.
,

t he cardinal ordered t hem to be fired upon t ill the i r fello w

cit izens readmitted them into the city : they even ordere d
all t he g rass in the neighbou rhood to be cut an d carried
away i n order to deprive them of that poor resource
,

against starv at ion .

The king gav e the citize n s to u n derstand that if they

persis ted to ex tremity he would gi v e them no quarter
,
.

They o ffered to s urrender if they were allowed to preserv e

I2
1 16 D EP U T A T I O N TO TH E C A R D I NA L .

their privileges ; but they were told their privileges were

lost and they must thro w themselves ent irely on the
,

kin g s pleasure
’
.

The cardinal however after wards consented to g rant

, ,

them their liv es their property and a few small privile g es

, ,

attached to the magis tracy upon condi tio n that aft er ,

having asked pardon of the king they should admit him ,

into the city and pay four instalmen t s that were due to
,

the army The Roch el l oi s O ffered to ask pardon of the

.

k ing wi th ropes about their necks provided he would ,

lea v e them t heir religious and m a gisterial pri v ile g es ;

without saying anything more about the demoli t ion of
Fort Lou i s and o f those of the isles of Rhé and O leron
, .

They a l so required the king to p a rdon Rohan Soubise , ,

an d the cities of Languedoc and tha t he S hould mak e ,

peace with England The cardinal re p lied that the king

.

was determined to punish Rohan and Soubise ; that a s to

the ci t ies o f Languedoc t hey would be t rea t ed with the
,

clemency they deserved without the interference o f the

,

Ro ch el l oi s ; with regard to En g land i t was not for them ,

to prescribe to the king what he ou g ht t o do and it wa s

quite enough for them to esc a pe the punishment they
merited for having drawn Fran c e into a war wi th that
country Thi s is on e o f the many in stances in which we
.

are called upon to admire the statesmanlike conduct and

lan guage of the cardinal We pity the Ro ch ell oi s we .
,

feel an i nterest in their cause we have no sympathy wi th ,

Louis or his minister ; but i n the circums t ances nothi n g , ,

could be more to the p u rpose or more dignified than this

reply .

The deputies havin g returned to the city the cardinal ,

was much s u rprised instead o f recei v ing a reply to hear

, ,

the artillery Of the besieged resume its full p l ay They .

also endeavoured to s et fire to the gallio t s between the

canal and t he dyke But fail ing in this desi g n t hey sent
.
,

a dr um to a s k permissio n for their deputies once again to

1 18 WE A R E FF O RT S OR TH E E N GL I S H .

wind advanced within c a n n on shot of the Fre n ch fleet

,
- .

E ach vessel delivered both i ts broadsides and then r e ,

tired . The corp s d e ba ta i l l e a n d the rear -guard d i d the

same an d the whole fleet return ed three times to the
,

charge in S imilar order whilst the tide served The .

French replied in the same m a n ner with all t heir ar till ery ,

a s well from the batteries a s from the fleet The Ro ch ell oi s

.
,

o n their part fired upo n the galliots a n d the land troops

, ,

but it wa s from s u ch a dis ta n ce tha t they produced n o

e ffect .

A t te n o clock the s ea r etir ed a n d with it the E n glish

’

retired also They did nothing the remainder of the da y

.

but thro w a few harmless rocket s an d laun ch a few fir e

boats agai nst the French fleet The land arti llery did
.

them considerable damage a n d they lost about two

,

hundred m en an d several S loops whereas the Fren ch

lost not on e vessel and only twenty -seven soldiers The
, .

En g lish followed up the sam e plan the n ext day and w ith ,

a s little success They did n ot dar e to attempt to board

.
,

for fear the land army S houl d in tha t case s om e to the

, ,

a ss i stan ce o f the fleet ; n or did they venture to break

through the dyke or approach the ope n ing That would .

i ndeed have bee n a bold stroke ; but it wa s ridicul ous

to un dertake to succour a place pressed s o closely as to
be reduced to n ecessity withou t riski n g something But
, .

Cla rendo n a sserts that s m all hopes were entertained i n

England of the success of this expedition The Englis h .

appeared to be dis posed to r eturn to the attack with the

evenin g tide but they only a dvan ced hal f way
, .

Th e Ro ch ell oi s who were on board the E n glish fleet

reques te d to parley w i th the French generals and two ,

were allowed to lan d i n the quarte r o f Ba s s o m p i er r e .

They were sent to the car di n al o f whom they demanded

,

permission to be allowed to e n ter La Rochell e and retur n ,

and in form the English Of the state of the city When he .

le a rnt this wa s the i r only Obj ect i n coming he quickly ,

 C OUN C I L ON B OA R D T HE FLEET . 9

sent them b a ck a gain without gatherin g a ny fruit from

,

t heir foolish errand .

A ft er this the win d w a s s o contrary f or several days

, ,

that the English were ob l iged to rem a i n at anchor Durin g .

th is leisure they judged it wa s a good opportunity to

,

endeavour to come to a n accommodation an d wi th that ,

vi e w Lord Montagu e sent to pay h i s compliments to th e

cardin a l The cardi n a l thin kin g from thi s that he wante d
.

to fin d occ a sio n for a conference se n t four English pri ,

s on er s to the fleet without r a n som charg i ng them to make ,

his compliments to Mont a gue a n d to tell him that ther e ,

wa s every reaso n to hope that pe a ce might be brought

a bout if he would consent to confer with him in private .

The prisoners on the i r arrival at the fleet communi

, ,

c a te d the i r message to Lord Monta gue wh o as sembled a ,

council to which Soubise a n d the Rochelle deputies were

,

likewise summoned He told them what th e prisoners

.

had reported to him a n d a dded that he beli eved it woul d

,

be advantageous for the common cause to seiz e th is oc ca

sion the cardinal o ffered to reconnoitre th e dyke unde r ,

the pretence Of going to speak to him ; a n d that by takin g ,

an engin eer with him he coul d n ot fai l to brin g back a

, .

satisfac tory account of it The Rochelle deputies wh o .

,

suspec t ed that Montague onl y sought a n Opportun ity to

trea t without them opposed thi s proj ect strongly They
, .

represented that the m oment the fleet S ho uld dis co ve r

that any negotiatio n wa s commenced there wo ul d be a n ,

end of all inclinatio n for fighting ; that a s to reconnoitrin g

the dyke by thi s me a ns the French genera l s were rather
,

to o cunnin g to a l lo w them to s ee the weak parts ; and

that Montag ue a n d his en g ineer afte r bein g shown th e ,

strongest parts of it woul d come back to m a ke a report

,

conforma ble with the desig ns o f the enemy and calculated ,

to disco u rage everybody The English O fficers however

. , ,

who were not much devoted to the cause a lthou g h they ,

professed to be s o brought the cou n cil to concl ude that a

, .
1 20 M ON TA G U E V I S I T S THE DY K E .

boat Should be sent to the French gen erals to dem and an

exchange o f prisoners and a safe conduct for Mon t agu e
, ,

which accordingly was executed O n the morr o w the .

prisoners were exchanged a n d the day after that Mon ,

tague went to have an interv iew with the cardinal O n his .

re t urn he said he had been very well received and that

, ,

the cardinal had made him proposals touching the general

r epose o f Christendom .

Montague and h i s engineer returned a second time

and after having dined wi th the cardinal and held a con ,

ference with him they the next morning were t a ken in a

, , ,

galliot to the dyke an d were S hown everything that had

,

been constructed to embarrass the passage of the chan nel .

They who sent these inspectors might safely hav e assured

themselves that if there wa s to be a dupe i n this exp os i
,

ti on it woul d not be the cardinal minister but whether

,
-

s o or not the ofli c er s o f the fleet were not much surprised

,

at being told by Montague and his engineer on their ,

return that they had seen quite enough to convince them

,

that approach to the city was impractica ble Mon t ague .

added that the cardin al had made such proposals that he

, ,

t hou g ht it his duty to submit them to his royal master ;

that he should therefore instantly go to England and ,

would return with orders in a fortnight Charles who .

,

only assisted La Rochelle in compliance wi th the wishes of

his people wa s much more pleased than o t herwise with
,

Mon t ague s conduct and the cardinal s ad vances

’ ’
.

N ever o m i t tin g an opportunity for practisin g h i s tor

tuons policy Richelieu immediately set about turning
,

these V isits to advanta g e The Roch ell oi s on board the

.

fleet naturally became alarmed by them an d by the ,

departure of Monta g ue to t hem then and t he famished , ,

inhabitants o f the ci ty he adr oitly caused it to be inti

,

mated that it woul d be a shame and a dis g race to t he m

,

to allow their r econciliatio n with their native king to b e

1 22 I N TERV I EW W I TH THE C A RD I N A L .

t hey wh o made this prayer would act with perfec t s i n

c er i ty and i n a manner which
, perhaps might n ot be
, ,

useless in the service of the king .

“
The car din al replied to them with mildness that he ,

would not at that moment rever t to their errors or those ,

o f t heir fello w citizens ; they were great but the good ,

n ess o f the king wa s greate r : that he wa s quite W illing to

exert himself in procuring their pardon of his maj esty ,
”
provided they would return S incerely to their duty .

He afterwards asked them what cause they had to be

co nfident they could bring the Ro ch ell oi s to a sense of
their error The deputies replied that the citizens kne w
.

n oth i ng o f their design but if his maj esty would permit

them to go and spe a k to them they had such strong con
,

siderati ons to lay before them that they had no doubt ,

they would be of their opinion .

The cardinal wished to be informed What these reason s

were ; a n d the deputies replied that being possessed o f
,

n o better a r t than that of having none they wou l d reve a l ,

them with perfect sincerity to a person they were not i n a

position to deceive and fro m whom they had e v erything
,

to hope and to fear They confessed that they had done

.

everything in their power to obta in prompt and e ffec t ive

s uccours for La Rochelle but that they had been made
pain ful ly sensible of the m isery of solicitin g assis t ance
from foreigners who only i nterest themselves for those
,

who im mor e their protection i n proportion with the co n

,

vi c tion they are made to feel that it i s for their o wn

a dvantage . They had had great hopes held ou t to them

but the e ffects that fol lowed them had rather resembled
s u ch a s would be made by people who W ished La Rochelle
to be taken instead o f be in g relieved The English had .

entered into a n alliance with the Roch ell oi s a lit tle before
the precedi ng ha rvest a s if to prevent t heir provi din g
,

themselves with corn They had consumed a g reat part

.

o f their provisio n s whilst they were i n th e isle of Rh é ,

 PLE A D IN G S OP THE DEP U T I ES . 1 23

which was an other m ean s of r educing them m ore quickly

to extremity Havin g promised to s end them corn on
.

their return to England and being pressed to do s o by

,

t he deputies they had not supplied them with any thou g h

, ,

they might have done it wi th the greatest eas e Having .

sent a pparent succours in the month of May they were ,

o nly brought tantaliz i ngly withi n S ight of the ci ty and ,

then carried away agai n without an attem pt to land them ,

althou gh the Ro ch ell oi s on bo a r d the fleet implored them

to grant them some vessels with which they wo u ld endea
,

vour to force an entran ce into the port at their own risk

The last succours had arrived S O late tha t the English , ,

wh o were not at all ignorant o f the s tate o f the city ,

seemed to wis h it m ight be taken before their comin g ;

or at least that it m ight be reduced to such extr emity
, , ,

that it would be obli g ed to rely entirely upon them for a n

a ccommo d ation with the king o f France which wo uld be ,

made at the expense o f the Roch ell oi s a n d for the a d va n

,

ta g e o f the me d iators I n fact there w a s n o doubt

.
,

Montag u e wa s gone to Engla nd to persuade the ki ng to

agree to the p r Op os a l s that had been made to hi m Re .

fl ec ti n g upon all this the dep uties had thou ght that whe n
,

a ccommodatio n wa s o n ce m etn i on e d it wo u ld be more

,

agreeable to the kin g an d more advant a geous to their

,

fello w-citizens to receive pardon from hi s pure clemency

,

than by the intervention of a forei g n prince who had ,

proved S O bad a gu a rantee of the treaty of 1 6 2 6 They .

hoped to m ak e these reason s clear to their fellow -citizens ,

”
if the card in al would g ive the m permissio n to g o to them .

The minister pr a i sed their good intentions and told ,

the m that they certain ly would obta i n much more from

the k in g by addressing themselves directly to him than if ,

a foreig n pri nce meddled with the a ffair He then asked .

them what pled g e they could give that they wou l d serve
hi s maj esty i n the manner they promised They replied .
,

they co uld offe r two : the firs t wa s the vi sible adva n ta ge of

1 24 THE C A RD IN A L S ’
O PPE RS .

those for whom they tr eated ; an d the secon d wa s th a t on e

o f them should remain in the camp to answer at the peril ,

o f his life for the sincerity o f hi s colleague The cardinal .

said he hoped the king would place trust in them and ,

would lea v e them both at liberty to execute their design .

To give them even more mean s of executing their purpose

with success he added
, That he did not conceal from
them that the disturban ces in I taly ga v e h i s m aj esty s o
m uch uneasiness that the days consumed before La
,

Rochelle appeared to hi m s o many years and that he ,

would purchase e v ery on e of them at a great sacrifice .

That the Roch el l oi s had given him to understand that they

had still pro v isions for three months ; if that was the
case he would give t hem ca r te bl a n c h e but if it was not
, ,

s o it wo u l d not be j ust that ob stinacy S hould obtain that

,

which mi g ht b e granted to a free and voluntary s u bm i s

sion That in order to ascertain this hi s maj es ty wo u ld
.
,

send commissioners into the city among whom Shoul d be ,

the depu t ies themselves to search into t he state a n d

,

quantity of the pro v isions and to bring hi m a fai thful

,

account o f them ; an d that if they were exhausted he ,

s hould require the Roch el l oi s to surre n der at discretion .

The deputies implored the cardinal not to make t hem

th e bearers of such s a d n ews and to reflect that it was
,

impossible to g ive an exact account of the pro v isions in

the city because the indi v idu a l s who had t hem concealed
,

them with g reat care When e fforts had been made i n

.

the precedi n g May to ascertain the quantity only enough ,

for o n e month had been found an d ye t S ix mon ths h a d

,

passed S ince that inquiry ; besides accou nt must be taken ,

o f a ll th e fish and S hell fis h which the s ea brought them

-
,

o f the herbs the leather the parchment

, , and everythin g ,

from which juices for food could be obtained E v en t hou g h .

all this would no t suffice for the subsistence o f all t he

besieged for three months it mi g ht b e S o economised as
,

to be enough and more tha n e n ough for thos e who were

,
126 A C KNO WLEDGE D D I S TRESS OF T HE C I TY .

The city deputies agai n o ffered to return to their

obedience and supplicated the cardinal to procure them
,

h i s maj esty s pardon He promised them to d o s o and

’
.
,

s aid that the kin g wa s go n e on a n excursion for a week ,

a n d that he would speak to him abo u t it imme d iately after

h i s ret urn .

Upon this on e o f the deputies exclaimed :

, Wh a t ,

M on s ei g neu r a week , Why ther e a r e n ot p r ovi s i on s ,

en ou g h i n L a R o c h e l l e f o r th r ee da y s Then the cardinal

m ade them a lon g sp eech in whi ch he forcibly represe nted ,
'

to them the evil consequences of their obstinacy after

which he added that he wo u ld di spose the king to grant
, ,

them a pardon and immediately s et about drawin g up

,

a r ticles for them to take back to La Ro chelle He o ffered .

to have them pardoned for the past to gra n t them their ,

lives free exercise of their religion an d the enj oyment of

, ,

their property A s to their privi leges and the form of

.

their governme n t the king woul d communicate his will ,

o n those subj ects The fortifications of the city were to b e

.

razed The city deputies said that these articles would

.

certainl y b e received and took leave o f the car dinal wh o , , ,

at th e same time dismissed those from the fleet Before

, .

separatin g he perm i tt ed them to speak to each other and

, ,

the fleet deputies implored the others to have them com

prehended i n the tr eaty .

The cardinal nevertheless granted separate pardon s to

, ,

the citizens and to all who had left La Rochell e since the
,

c ommencemen t of the war Those o f the fleet fearing to .

b e excluded by the inhabitants of the city who i n their , ,

extremity mi g ht be compell ed to d o all that was requ i red

,

of them and having n o confidence in the English threw

, ,

themselves entirely upon the generosity of the m inister ,

a n d beg g ed him to in tercede not only for them but a l s o ,

for all whom this war had compelled to leave the kingdom .

The cardinal promised them this and ordered a declaration ,

to be mad e to them by which the kin g proclaimed forget ,

 C ON S U LT A T ION ON B OA R D . 1 27

ful n ess o f th e past pe rm itted them to return to hi s ports

, ,

e v en with the prizes they mi g ht have made ; allowed

them equ a l ly with hi s other subj ects the free exercise of
, ,

their religion ; restored them to the possession of their

property except the fruits of it that had been consumed
,

and granted th e space of three months for all inhabitants

o f Rhé and La Rochelle to retur n to their homes and ,

partake o f the sam e advantages .

The minister Vincent who wa s on e of the French

,

deputies from the fleet was the bearer o f the king s

,
’

declara t ion to them who had sent him ; an d having

assembled them all on board on e of the Rochelle vessels ,

which was i n the fleet he read it to them

, O pinions .

were div ided a fter this reading and in spi te o f all Vincent
,

could say there were many who pu t n o fai t h in it

, .

Besides t he English declared they were not willing to

,

allow a l l t he French vessels to go because they said t hey

, , ,

wanted them for the purpose Of carryin g out some enter

prises Ou the coasts of Poitou Saintonge and Brouage
, , .

They were an g ry with Vincent and the others wh o had

treated with the cardin al ; not because they were sorry to
s e e La Rochelle fal l in to his hands but because they ,

wished to have g a i ned credit with him for obtaining it .

Mon t ague wa s return ed with full discre t ion to act but

, ,

the cardinal wh o would n ot allow a foreign p ower to

,

interfere i n the reco n ci liation of the subj ects o f the king

w i th the i r sovereign was beforehand with him an d had
, ,

promptly granted tolerably equitable condit ions to the

French on board the En g lish fleet By removing t he .

necessity for seekin g protection from foreigners he ga v e ,

t hem an inducement to return to France and prevented ,

th e En g lish from employin them in keeping up an i n

g
t elli g en c e in the kin g dom and promotin g fresh dis turb a nces .

A S regarded peace wi t h En g land aft er t he bad conduc t of

,

Buckin gham and wi t h the knowl ed g e that Charl es I w a s

, .

not on very good terms with h i s subj ects he made it to ,

1 28 A RT I CLE S OE C AP I T U L AT IO N S I G N E D .

be understood that the king o f E ng land should ask it of

his most Christian maj esty ; and La Rochelle being r e
d u c e d he spoke o f the En g lish with muc h contempt
, .

O n the 1 6 th o f O ctober the French fro m the fleet ,

came to thank the cardinal for the pardon he had Obtained

for them from his m aj esty ; a n d on the same day the ,

city deputies came to say they accepted the articles .

The next day wa s employed in put ti ng them into bette r

form and i n re g ulating t he man n er in whi ch the king s
,
’

troops should enter the city for fear they S hould cause ,

much disorder O n the 2 8 th the articles were signed by

.
,

the mag istra t es o f La Rochelle i n the n ame of the city , ,

and by Marillac and Du Hallier camp -masters o n the , ,

part o f the king who as well a s the cardinal and the other
, ,

generals refused to S ig n them I t wa s asserted that it

, .

was not consistent wi th th e dignity o f the cro wn to

capitulate with its subj ects ; but t here is great reason to
t hin k that this mode of signing the treaty was meant in ,

time and season to diminish the ri g hts w h ich the Rochel

,

lois pretended to have in consequence of the capitu l ation .

The articles were upon the face of them as favourable

, ,

a s a rebellious conquered city co ul d expect

, but most of
t hem a s will be seen were only made for the occas ion
, , ,

and to be observed as long a s it was convenient .

The articles bein g signed the Rochelle deputies went ,

the next day to Laleu where the king wa s to solicit h is , ,

pardon ; an d on the 3 0 th o f the month the Swiss a n d ,

French guards entered the c i ty i n the morning l e d by the ,

Duk e d An g ou l ém e Marshal Schomberg and several

’

, ,

o ther dis t in guished o fficers The quarters having been .

appoin ted the cardinal appeared about two 0 cl ock A t

,
’
.

hi s entrance Guy ton the mayor presented himse l f

, , , ,

accompanied by s ix archers who a s usual marched , , ,

before him ; but the cardin a l ordered him to dis m iss the
a r chers and to abstai n from the function s o f h i s o ffice o f
,

m ayor th a t dignity bein g ta citly s uppre s sed by the a rticle s

,
13 0 S U RRE N DER OF LA R O CHELLE .

was to send i n provision s bury the dead and cl e anse and

, ,

purify the streets and houses This done he read mass .

,

in the church of St M a rguerite which had been c on s e

.
,

cra t ed afresh by the archbishop of Bordeaux and a d ,

m inistered the communion to the keeper o f the seals and

M a rshal Schomberg A fte r this ceremony he left the
. ,

city for th e purpose of accompan ying the king on his

entran ce . He r ode alone o n horseback immediately ,

before the k in g preceded by the Duke d A n g ou l ém e and

’

the Marsh a l s B a s s om p i er r e and S chomberg .

The takin g of La Rochelle is considered on e of the

great achievements of the life of Richelieu and is V iewed , ,

o f course by his biographers in the light in which they

, ,

co ntemplate h i s characte r altogethe r For ourselves we .

,

think there is more to be said for his policy in this

instance tha n for an y othe r i n h i s remarkable career .

Leclerc on e o f the best writers on the subj ect takes a

, ,

decided part against the cardinal a n d advances reasons i n ,

support o f his Opinion s that are almost unanswerable .

A ft er enumeratin g all the horrors and lamentable c on s e

q u en c es o f the S iege the breaking
, o f treaties the ill ,

o bservance o f the edict of N antes a n d d welling upo n ,

what might have been done by k i ndness and encourage

m ent he concludes by observations that really astonish
,

u s whe n we remember that they were written in the reign

o f Louis XI V before even the v oice of Voltaire had bee n

.
,

r a ised i n fa v ou r o f the free discussio n o f such subj ects .

He says , I t i s in vain to assert that there wa s reaso n

to fear the Huguenots of La Rochelle would h ave bee n
induced to rise with every state disturbance that ambi
tious men mi g ht have ins ti g ated since it is certain that , ,

let the great do what they may a s long as the people are ,

tolerably well off and are convinced that those who

,

go v ern them do n ot seek to despoil them o f their privi

le g es a n d the fruits o f their industry they do n ot allow ,

themselves to be s edu ced ; and a lways prefe r the a ssured

 REFLECT ION S . 13 1

e nj oym ent of what they have to a ll the uncertain hope s ,

that can be held ou t to them There is no example of the .

subj ects of a m onar chy in the quiet enj oyment o f l iberty

,

o f conscience a n d o f their property and having n o good ,

reason to suspect that there wa s any idea o f deprivin g

them of them taking up a rms a gainst their prince But
, .

a s soo n as they whose revenues and authority are founded

,

u po n certai n Opinions of peoples and which have n o ,

relation wi th the welfare of the state take a part i n the ,

administration of a ffairs or engage princes to adopt their

,

s entiments we n ever fail to s ee e v erythi n g sacrificed to

,

the interests a n d passions o f those Whose duty it i s to

furnish examples opposite to this fat a l conduct which h a s ,

overthrown s o many states and caused s o much blood to

,

flow Besides they who consider peoples as so many Slave s

.
,

bound to suffer everything from sovereigns reckon a s ,

nothing all the in fractions whi ch the latter make i n the best
established prin ciples an d the most equitable laws The
,
.

greatest V iolences Of ministers a r e according to them n ot , ,

at all Opposed to public prosperity ; but if the people

presume to S ho w any resentment it is a cri me which ,

n othing ca n expiate a n d there i s no dan ger n o loss i n

, , ,

their opinion to which the state may not be exposed not

, ,

only to prevent these people s b ut to preve nt their fal lin g

,
”
into the like agai n .

B u t when we ask wa s France i n thi s Utopia n state o f

, ,

the people being in the e nj oyment o f their consciences

,

and their property ? We know Henry I V S prophecy or .

’

every man s h en in the pot on a Sunday ; but it wa s

’

n ever real ized : he himself though i n comparative peace

, ,

was kept in cons t ant a nxi ety by some ambitious discon ,

tented noble or o ther Besides his rei g n was an anoma

.
,

lous one not likely to recur with any other monarch : we

,

should hope tha t he was a Pro t estant in hi s heart ,

a l thou g h publicly professing Catholicism for the peace o f

hi s co u n try . I t wa s impossible for two g over nm ents to

13 2 REFLECT IO N S .

subsist in a k ingdom as they did duri ng th e early p a rt of

the reign o f Louis XI II and for th a t kingdom to e nj oy .
,

peace or prosperity The Hugu enot s n ot o n ly had privi

.

le g es and freedom of worship they had walled a n d forti ,

fie d cities which s et the edicts o f kings and min isters

, ,

ho wever wholesome at defiance This constituted the

, .

di fference between the positions o f Richelie u an d Colbert .

I n Colber t s days these dan gero us centre s of in surrectio n

’

, ,

and refu g es o f the dis a ffected were destr oyed a n d by , , ,

encourag ing the industry of Hugu enots he promoted the ,

best interests o f Fran ce Whe n these latter were for .

gotten when the great minister wa s dead a n d Louis

, ,

X I V revoked the edict of N ante s wa s perpetrated th e

.
,

great act of impolicy ; ve r y much gr eate r than that by

which Richelieu h a d sought to brin g the country a ll un de r
on e g o v ernment .

But wh ilst differi n g from Leclerc in ou r Opi ni o n of the

cardinal s obj ect we qui te agree with him i n dete s ta tio n
’

o f the unscrupulous m e a n s by which he effected it .

Whilst employed i n the siege he n eve r n eglected for a , ,

m oment his o wn power or the mean s of s ecurin g i ts

, ,

continuance He had succeeded a lthough he h a d bee n

.
,

minister s o few ye a rs i n m aking the kin g quite a puppet

, .

The despotic king of Fran ce had far less power than ou r

constitution a l monarchs of Englan d have ; but a las for ,

F rance ! h is minister wa s n ot a responsible on e He n ever .

forg ot the exercise o f hi s plan o f m a king creatures wh o

s hould depend upon him alone Beauplan captai n of his .
,

gu a rds having falle n i ll he s et F athe r Joseph to work to

, ,

ascertain from a n o fficer o f whose merit he e nterta i ned ,

a high Opinion whether he would accept the post on his

,

terms i n the event o f the death of Beauplan ; the con

,

d i tion s be i ng u n reserved unscrupulous devotion to the ,

will o f the cardinal He r equired hi s o fficers to consider

.

him a s their s ove r ei gn ; a n d tha t in a ll co urt chan ges , ,

13 4 DE P A RT U RE OF TH E E N G L I SH FLEET .

other than the Ca tholic relig ion who should not be a llowed
,

to take up a habi tation in the city unless they should have

been previously domic iled there and had n o t left i t i n con
,

s equence o f t he descent o f the English ; and las tly fo r the ,

mainte n ance of t hese n e w re g ula tions which equal ly con ,

cerned the state and the religio n o f the state i t w a s ,

ordered there should be a n intendant o f j ustice i n that .

city and in the provinces of A nnis Poi t ou and Saintonge

, , , ,

whose j urisdictio n should extend fro m the river Loire to

the G aronne and the Gironde .

Thus terminated the privileges Of La Rochelle the ,

prin cipal ci ty o f the Hug uenots I t is said t ha t t he

.

cardinal had intended to a s k for the government of this

city for himself ; but as it w a s necessary to dismantle it ,

i t became not wor th his consideration He wished to b e .

m aster of a strong place to which h e could re t ire i n case

,

of need .This very expression which is often repeated , ,

proves how necessary it must have been for a go v ernment ,

which expected s treng th or stability to endeavour to get ,

r id of these s t rongholds which were all over the kingdom

, , ,

at the se r vice o f the noblemen appointed to be go v ernors

o f the provinces in which they were si t uated The walled .

town s were what feudal castles had bee n a discon

tented noble re tired to his provincial town a s he had ,

formerly ensconced himself in h i s feudal cas tle or to wer .

The English fleet was detained by contrary winds for a

few days wi thin si g ht of La Rochelle after it was taken ; ,

but on th e 1 1 th of N o v ember i t set sail for England with

, ,

the loss o f twenty two vessels fi v e o f which were burnt

-
, ,

and the rest were ei ther sunk or uselessly consumed in

their endeavours to burn the French fleet A ll the French .

writers agree in their Opinion of the abortive ill j udged ,

-
,

and badly execu ted expedi t ion o f the En g lish for the
succour of La Rochelle A s there was lit tle other occa
.

sion for a war beyond the unjus t ifiable on e of interferin g

betwee n a m o narc h an d his people we c a n not approve of ,
 A RETR O SPE C T I VE GL AN CE . 13 5

these expedition s an d whe n we j udge by the results h ow

in e fficiently they must have bee n carried o u t eve n ou r ,

n a tionality can n ot i nduce u s to s a y a word in defe n ce of

them .

C HA P T E R VI .

Intrig u es c onc ernin g th e m arriag e of th e d u ke o f Orl eans— Pol itical

e vent s — W a r with S avoy T reaty with th e H u g ueno ts S i c kne ss
— —

o f th e C ardi n a l V io l enc e o f th e Que en Mother D u k e o f Orl e an s

— - —

d i s s a ti s fie d Quarrel o f R i che li eu wi th th e Q u e en M o ther T h e

— - —

Card i nal m ad e G eneral is s im o E xp e d ition into S avoy S u c c ess es

— —

—T re a ty of ag ains t S p ain Dang erous

Ra tis bo n n e S u c c es s
ill nes s o f th e K ing : hi s u ne xp ec te d rec over y Fres h qu a rrel s —

with M ary d e M ed ic i Da y o f th e D p es — G as ton l eave s th e C our t

— u
- T h e Q u e en M o ther l e ft a t C om p ieg ne T h e Ma r i ll a c s
-
P arl ia — — '

m en t ins u l t e d — T h e Q u een Mo ther es c ap e s to th e N e th er la n ds

-

A rtfu l p o l ic y o f th e C ard inal .

TH E siege of La Rochelle wa s too remarkable an e v ent

to be passed over li g h t ly or to allo w us to interrupt the
,

account of it by any other subj ect We must now there . ,

fore cast a retrospective glance o v er the lat ter months of

,

this siege to observe what passed of importance to ou r

,

h istory Court i ntrigue had been principally occupied by

.

the subj ect of t he marriage o f the duke of O rleans which , ,

on accoun t of the king s havin no children began to be a

’

g ,

ma t te r of importance The Duke de N evers now duke of

.
,

Man tua wa s naturally desirous that his dau g hter should

,

be the fu tu re queen and not only O ffered the duke a

dowry of ei g ht hundred thousand crowns with her but ,

commissioned his sis ter to bribe all the favourites of the

very weak duke who could influen ce his choice But .

M ary de Medici would not hear of this match and wa s a s ,

e a rnest i n her endeavours to unite him wi th one of he r

own family a s her s on wa s i n hi s refusal to espo u s e
,
136 QU E S TI O N or
’
GA S TO N s M A RR IA GE .

A nne de M edici the lady s h e preferred I ntrigu e s lette rs

, .
, ,

j ourneys ensued terminating i n the k i ng s i nsisting upo n

,
’

Gaston giving his promise tha t he would n ot ma r ry Mary

de Gonzaga wi thout the consent o f their maj esties .

This lady s aunt the D u chess de Longue v ille howeve r

’

, , ,

with true woman s tact persisted in her endeavours to

’

bring about the match and took her niece to every plac e
,

where G aston was likely to be met wi th The quee n .

m other to put a n end to this practice wrote to the d u ke

, ,

o f Ma n tua i n I taly to desire him to send for h i s daughter ;

,

a n d the p oor duke anxious for the suppor t o f France i n

,

his new territories did not dare to refus e althou g h hi s

, ,

darlin g pla n might b e defeated by it The duke of .

O rlean s however was s o exceedingly a n gry at thi s pr o

, ,

c ee d i n g
, a n d wa s s o warm i n h i s r emonstra n ces to the

ki ng that the j ourney w a s postponed by comman d of h i s

,

m aj esty The Cardin a l de Richelieu without whose con

.
,

s ent the k i ng n ever took a step o f s uch consequence w a s ,

o f Opin io n that Monsieur should be ind u lged i n this

in stance ; hi s o wn obj ect being either to conciliate the

du ke of O rleans or to th wart the plans of the queen
,

m other i n order to perpetuate h i s o wn government Mary .

de Medic i wa s exceedingly pro v oked at this interference ,

a n d began stron g ly to suspect that the car d in a l had much

m ore regar d for his o wn i nterest s th a n for those o f hi s

benefactres s .

O n his r eturn to Paris after the ta king o f La Roch elle

, ,

the cardinal r eceived a visit fr om the duke o f O rleans ,

who pre s sed him to obtai n their m aj esties permission to ’

m arry M ary d e Gonz a ga and told him that he shoul d ,

c onside r hi s doing s o a s a particular obliga t ion Th e .

cardi n al replied that Monsieur being the second perso n

,

in the s ta te he had always con sidered himself bound to

,

obey him but that in thi s ins t an ce a l l that he coul d d o

, ,

wa s to promise to be n eu ter wi t hout either opposing or ,

fa vo uri ng his w is he s Tha t his r e a s on fo r thi s wa s that

.
,
13 8 F INAN C IA L ME A S U RE S .

very little consideration but on e whom he could easily

,

win if he stood in need of him .

Whils t the siege was going on the Prin c e de Cond é ,

a n d the Duke de Montmorenci were e n gaged in endea

vou r i n g to subdue the Duke de Rohan in Lan g uedoc , ,

each with an army much larger than he could bring int o

th e field : the two royal armie s amounted to men ,

whereas De Roha n never had more u n der his command

than about We will not go into the circums t ances
o f th is war which duri n g that year very little concerned
, , ,

the card i nal ; but we cannot but observe that the Prince ,

de Condé and the Duke de Montmorenci who had very ,

little reason to love the cardinal an d whom he never ,

treated in a manner person s O f their birth had a right to

expect were exerting themselves for his glory and con
, , ,

sequen tly for his au thority which became fa t al to on e o f

.
,

them and upon which the other was dependen t as long

,

a s he lived By destroying the strength o f the Huguenots

.

i n Languedoc which had al ways been one o f the principal

,

centres of their party by taking their places wasting

, ,

their lands and thwarting all their views to the utmost of

,

the i r ability they only hastened the taking of La Rochelle

, ,

to which the cardinal wa s s o pledged that his reputatio n ,

an d au thority would have bee n j eopardised if he had ,

fai led .

The expen se of keeping up s o many armies compelled

the king to demand the s u m o f three mill ions of li v res of
the clergy which was granted ; to create several n ew
,

o ffices which were put up to sale ; to make annuities to

,

the amount of three hundred thousand livres upon the ,

Hotel de Ville of Paris and to hav e recourse t o se v eral

,

o ther extraordinary means for raisin g mo n ey pr omp t ly .

A mong this lis t our readers will not fail to remark the
,

usual resource o f all incapable French financiers the ,

inven t ion o f ofli c es for sale ; than which no thin g i n a

govern men t c a n be m ore imbec i le sho rt S ighted a n d ,
-
,
 S TA TE OF I TA LY . 13 9

w i ck ed Th e evi l wa s immense to th e community and

.
,

n ever failed to recoil upon its perpetrators This wa s on e .

o f the convenient mean s resor ted to by Franc i s I whe n .

,

rendered poor by his wars a n d h i s pleasures and left a n ,

i n delible stain upon his reign .

I taly beau t iful Italy wa s at this time a s at most

, , ,

othe r s s in ce the break i ng up o f the empire the ba ttle

, ,

g round for conte n ding claimants a n d the arena o f i n ,

trigue ; i ts great states were divided into petty prov inces ,

s o v arious and yet s o attractive that there wa s scarcely a

, ,

c on ti n e n ti a l p ower that had not either present o r an t ici

patory pretensions to a share of the boo ty Spain Ge r .

,

m any N assau Savoy all are mixed up wi th Mantua Milan

, , , , ,

Venice an d other I talian states i n such a confusion O f

, ,

claims an d contests that the historian has gr eat di fficulty

,

in tr acing the Obj ects or action s of each The poor Duk e .

de N evers contending for Mantua complained of every

, ,

body a n d appealed to e v erybody but was assist ed by

, ,

nobody France to which he had most reas on to look

.
,

for aid wa s su fficiently occupied with the great siege ;

,

besides which Mary d e Medici who had still some power

, , ,

hated him on a ccount o f h i s daughter A ll that France .

coul d do was to give orders to the Marshal de C r e qu i to

r aise foot and 8 00 horse and make his way a s ,

speedily a s possible i nto Montferrat the Marshal d Hu x

’

elles was also sent to take the comman d of his a rmies ,

wi th orders to force his way into Montferrat in spite of ,

the duke of Savoy The duke of Savoy had quickly made

.

himself master of Alba and Trino ; and Don Gon z a l vo

earnes tly pressed him to j oin him i n layin g siege to Casal ;
but Charles Emanuel preferred takin g places he mi g ht
retain for his own adv antag e to losing tim e in pu tt in g the
,

Spaniards in possession o f their share Casal was a place .

of g reat consequence to Piedmont ; the p ower tha t held

Casal mi g ht seriously inconvenience Piedmon t a t p leasure , .

The car din al bein g of opinion that Casal n o w besieged by

, ,
140 A FF AI RS OF THE D UK E OF M AN TU A .

no less a captain tha n the famous Gon z a l vo de Cordova ,

should be relieved a s soon a s possible made ex t raordinary ,

e fforts to e ffect n ew levies for that purpose The duke o f .

M an t ua ha v ing r efused to pl a ce his sta t es in the hands of

the empero r th a t pote ntate became likewise h is a ctive
, , ,

en emy .

N eith er the cardinal n o r the French n a tion could

e n dure t he ide a of a llowing Spa in to oppress t he duke o f

M a ntua ; wi t h them h i s ri g ht s an d claim s we r e i n dis

u ta bl e becau s e he w a s a Frenchman Bu t to send hi m
p , .

a n e ffective body Of troops whilst en g aged before L a

,

Roche lle wa s impossible ; s o the cardinal to gai n time

, , ,

m ade variou s proposals at Madrid and Turin which a s he , ,

n o doubt ex p ected a n d perhaps , hoped were a l l di s

, , ,

a pproved o f .

The troops s ent i n to I taly under the Marquis d Hu x ’

elles pr oved to be of n o use C r equ i influenced a s it w a s ,

s up po sed by the queen -mother obs t inately refused to act ,

i n conj un c t io n wi t h him or to march indeed at all ; a n d

, , ,

the expedi t io n r ather assisted than injured the duke of

Savoy wh o if he had not bee n withheld by respect fo r
, ,

Louis XII I might have followed up h i s vic t ories to

.
,

the serious detriment o f France The emperor thinking .

,

th e Oppor tunity fa v ourable for establishing h i s sei g nori a l

c laims o ffered to hold Casal
, in trust t ill t he a ffair wa s
, ,

a rr an g ed ; a n d proposed that the Spaniards an d the

Savoyard s should keep possession till the s ame ti m e of , ,

the places t hey had taken : but these t r ansparent ofl er s

'

were to o unj ust and indeed too absurd to be lis t ened to :

, , , ,

i t would ha v e been only dispossessing the legi t imate s u c

cessor o f the s tates o f the house o f Gonz a ga and leaving ,

to the usurpers all that force o f a rms a lone had put i n

their power .

Bu t the m oment La Rochelle wa s taken th e cardinal ,

turned his a ttentio n to ano ther of his g rea t obj ec t s — th e

a bas ement of th e house o f A u s tria to be beg u n by assis t ,
14 2 TR O O P S S E N T T o D A U PH I N Y .

u nj ustly of their states But i n addition to these r eas on s

.
, ,

which in themselves are impor t ant your own interests ,

engage you to turn your attention and your arms in that

direc t ion ; and I will venture to promise you if you form ,

this resolution an d carry it ou t properly that the issue

, ,

o f th is enterprise w ill not be less for t una t e than that o f

La Rochelle I am not a prophet but I be lieve I c a n

.
,

a ssure your maj esty that if no time be lost i n executin g

,

this design you will have raised the siege o f Casal an d

, ,

have gi v en peace to I taly by the mon th of May ; a n d

that returning with your army into Languedoc you
, ,

wil l reduce a l l to Obedience and give peace to your ,

own subj ects by the end o f July ; s o that your maj esty

m ay a s I h O p e r eturn victoriou s to Paris in the co urse of

, ,

August .

The cardinal s Opinio n prevailed an d about fou rtee n

’

thousand me n were ordered to march towa rds D a u ph i ny ,

under the command of Thoiras More t roops were to be .

r aised i n D a u ph in y and the Marqui s d E s tr é es wa s to

,
’

brin g o thers from Picardy which would altogether , , ,

compose a n ar my capable o f delivering the duke of

Mantua from his fears o f the Spaniards and Savoyards .

But this armament wa s n ot destined to verify the car

di n a l s predic tion : the winter the plague which ra g ed
’

, ,

i n D a u p hi n y and Provence with the obstina te Huguenots ,

i n Languedoc a ll united i n delaying i ts Operations d urin g

,

the year 1 62 8 .

A s a bribe to Gaston to induce him to g ive up h i s idea ,

o f marrying M a ry de Gonzaga he w a s declared general o f ,

the army of I tal y and the king m a de him a present of

,

crowns for his equipment ; but the duke lost it all

in on e e v ening s play and his command came a s w ill be
’

, ,

s een to n o t hin g
, The kin g aft er being prevailed upo n ,

by h is mother to place h is bro t her at the head of the army ,

was seized with on e o f his frequently recurring fits of

j ealousy an d r epen ted that the duke would have a cha n ce
,
 THE R I N G TA xE s C O MM AN D OR THE A RM Y . 143

of rivalling or exceeding him in g lory ; for be it under ,

s t ood Louis arrogated to himself th e reductio n o f La

,

Rochelle although he wa s really quite in n ocent o f the

,

m atter A s usual he carried his tr oubles to the cardinal

.
, ,

and told him that he could not consent that Monsieur

s hould command the army o f I t a ly and that he must con ,

”
tr i ve to deprive him o f the post The cardinal replied
.
,

that there was but on e means o f taking t he command

from the duke which was that the king should go hi m
, ,

s elf ; but if he did form that resolution he must carry it ,

into e ffect within a week There can b e very little

.

d oub t that this a l l fell ou t exactly a s th e cardi nal in

tended ; the r oyal brothers were like play thin gs in h is
hands .

The king a greed to do a s h i s m in i ster wished and pre ,

p a red for his immediate departur e The duke wa s to .

a t ten d the king i n quality of lieutenant -general with the ,

Marshals de C r e qu i de Ba s s om p i er r e and Schomberg

, ,

the m es tr es de -ca m p were Va l en ca i Thoiras and D A u r i a c

-
, ,
’
.

O n the 1 5 th o f Jan uary the king went to the parli a

m e nt where the k eeper of the seals signified the necessity
,

the kin g felt for goin g to assist the duke of Mantua by

force o f arms ; n egotiations had proved useless and by ,

being procr a s tinated they mi g ht cause the ruin of that

prince The parlia ment approved o f the design accordin g
.
,

to custom and sanctioned all the declarations that h a d

,

been proposed for brin g ing money i n to the king s coffers ’

.

Louis then published a n amnes ty for all the Hu g uenot

cities and for all those of that party who would avail
,

themselves of that pardon withi n fift een days o f its pub

l i c a ti o n without even excluding Soubise o r Rohan
, It .

was believed t hat most of the Hugu enots upon seeing all ,

chance of successful resistance over woul d lay down their ,

arms and abandon such a desperate cause .

The next day amids t a heav y fal l of sno w the kin g s et

, ,

o u t for D a u hi n d two days aft er the car d in al

p y ; a n , ,
144 M ARC H OF TH E A R MY .

follo wed him Monsieur went with the kin g a s fa r a s

.

Lyons bu t instead of accompanyin g him further he

, ,

turned aside towards Dombes an d from thence returned ,

to Paris Before leavin g the rou te to D a u ph i ny he told

.
,

Marshal Ba s s om pierr e that there could be nothing fo r

him to do i n the army n ow the Cardinal de Richelieu wa s
with it for he wo u ld n ot o n ly perfor m h i s duty bu t th e
, ,

kin g s likewise it wa s well known he s aid that the year

’

, ,

before the cardinal h a d come to L a Rochelle and dragged

, ,

the king with him against h is will ; only for the p ur po s e of

depriving hi s brother of the comman d .

The king and the cardin a l having ar ri ved at Gre n oble ,

s et o u t in very bad weathe r from that place for the foo t

, ,

o f t he A lps which we r e covered with sno w

, A s soo n a s .

they j oined the army whose march wa s ext re m ely painful

,

a n d slow the Comm a n der de V a l en ca i wa s sent to the

‘

d u ke o f Savoy to demand a pass a ge a n d provisions for the

a rmy consistin g of twenty -eight thousand men Th e
,
.

king requir ed s afe pass a ge an d provi sions for money in,

return for which he o ffered to give up Tr i no to the duke

o f Savoy wit h states i n Montferrat yieldi n g twelve thou
, ,

s and crow n s o f a nn ual revenue provided he would ,

renoun ce all pretensio ns to that duchy Charle s Emanuel .

seemed disposed to gi v e satisfactio n to the king ; but he

delayed the execution o f h i s promises a s long as he co ul d ,

a n d continued to fortify hi s places He made different .

v a gue proposals by the Count de Verru e which bore n o ,

relatio n to the matter in question ; an d the count declared ,

a t len g th th a t he reall y h a d n o powe r to conclude any

,

A s i t wa plai n the duke o f Savoy on ly wanted to gain

s

t ime to complete hi s fortifications or to allow Casal to fall ,

i nto t he hand s O f the Spaniards the a rmy continued to ,

ad v ance O n re a ch in g Chaumont the prin ce o f P ied

.
,

m ont came to confe r with the c a rdin al The prela t e .

pressed h i m to gran t what the kin g a s ked rather than to ,

146 P A SS A GE OF THE D O LRE .

passage between the two mountains They were recon .

n oi tr e d by a man ostensibly sent to Susa with a let t er to ,

the Coun t de Verru e This man reported what he had

.

s een and the at t ack was planned accordingly

,
.

At se v en O clock in the morning the king and the

’

cardinal repaired to the field o f bat tle and commenced ,

the attack upon the barricades whilst o ther troops passed ,

a long t he heigh t s of the mountain o n the ri g ht and left .

These no sooner appeared on the flanks of the Piedmontese

than the latter fell into disorder and yielded the passage ,

to the royal troops They were pursued wi th s o much

.

v igour that if t he generals had permitted it the French

, ,

troops might have entered Susa with the fugitives ; but

the king did not think fit to allo w the city to be sacked .

They contented themselves with taking up a positio n clos e

to the g ates an d the duke of Savoy feeling his inability ,

to defend the city ordered the governor to surrender it

,

the followin g day A s for himself he made his retr eat as

.
,

qu i ckly as possible an d n arrowly escaped being taken by

,

the forlorn hope o f the conquering army Thus the .

French without loss and in a very few hours m ade

, , ,

themselves masters of a pass that might have been de

fended against even a larger army if the duke of Savoy ,

h a d had as much c a pacity for carrying o n a war as he had

eagerness to under take on e He was soon obliged to .

a dopt a very di fferent tone from that whi ch he had ass u med

the preceding year .

O n the 8 th of hI a r ch C r equ i and B a s s om p i er r e ( S ch om

,

berg being wounded ) passed the Do ire and fixed their ,

quarters at Bussolen g o Before proceeding further t he .

,

king sent the Ma r qu i s d e Santerre to Turin to pay his ,

compliments to his sister the princess of Piedmont ; and ,

o n S a n te rr e s re turn
’
the marshals had orders n ot to
,

undertake anything till the marquis had been to the duke

o f Sa v oy and o ffered him peace if he woul d allow free
,

p assage for the ar my to Casal an d furnish provision s fo r ,

 TRE A T Y W I TH THE Ds OF S AVO Y . 147

money The duke of Savoy who looked for much worse

.
,

conditions was very glad to be let o ff at s o cheap a rate ;

,

an d on the 1 1 th o f March he sen t the prin ce of Piedmont

,

t o Susa where he a g reed wi th the cardinal to the fol low

,

ing art icles : 1 The duke promised to grant at present

.
,

and for the future a free passage for the French troops
,

throu g h his sta t es and to supply them with necessary

,

provisions 2 T h e French were to be a l lowed to p u rch ase

. .

a l l the corn and other ar t icles o f food that they could

con v ey to Casal 3 The duke promised moreover tha t

. .
, ,

Don Gon z a l vo should raise the siege of Casal ; should

wi thdraw his troops from Mantua ; should be bound t o
under t ake nothing for the future in the states of the duke
, ,

o f Mantua and should fur nish wi thin s ix weeks a r a tifi , ,

cation of these promise s by h i s Catholic maj esty 4 He . .

was to enter into a league with the pope the king the , ,

republic o f Venice and the duke of Mantua for the

, ,

defence of the states of the latter and for the preservation ,

of t he repose of Ital y and should subscribe to thi s leagu e

as soon as three of the powers should have signed it .

5 To assure the king o f the execution o f this promise he

.
,

wa s to place in his m a j esty s hands the citadel o f Susa

’

and the castle of St Fran c ois 6 The k ing on h i s part

. . .
, ,

promised to cause the duke o f Mantu a to cede to the duke

o f Savoy Trino with states producin g a revenue o f fift een
, ,
'

thousand gold crowns T i ll this w a s efl e cted hi s m a j esty

.
,

consente d that the d u ke shoul d retai n all he had taken in

Mon t ferr at upon conditio n that he shou l d surrender i t
,

when the king should restore to hi m the citadel o f Susa

a n d the cas t le o f St Francis The kin g placed garrisons
. .

i n these two pl a ces an d Gon z a l vo sent in his ra t ifica t ion

,

o f the trea ty onl y req u ir i ng a n a d m i s s s i on t hat the kin g

,

did not come into I ta l y for the purpose o f in v ading his

’

mas t er s terri t ories This the king instan tl y complied

.

with ; and for the present the a ffair was con cl uded
, , .

The king wh ilst at Susa received the ambassadors of

, ,

L2
148 PE A CE W I TH E N GL AN D .

almost a l l the princes of I taly and concluded two impor

,

tant t r e at ies ; one was the league with the Republic o f

Venice and the duke of Savoy for the preserva t ion o f the
,

states of t he duke of Man t ua and the peace of I taly the

other was the conclusion of a peace wi t h En g land King .

Charles after threatening to do a great deal and putting

, ,

himself and his people to vast expense wi thdrew from ,

the contest wi thout having increased the reputation o f

himself or his country He was forced to have recourse
.

to the Vene t ians to obtain a disadvantageous peace The .

F rench writers are se v ere upon Charles ; they s a y he ,

promised by this treaty to execute fai thfu lly the articles

o f the queen s marria g e -contract which he had s o oft en
’

v iolated , and as often renewed with s o much humili ty ;

a n d agreed that if any change took place with regard t o

the queen i t should be by the consent of the two crowns

, .

Tired o f remainin g at Susa because t here wa s n o ,

spor ting in such a mountainous country the kin g wen t to ,

the blockade of Pri v as where the Hu g uenots had not

,

laid down their arms leavin g the cardinal with the g reater
,

part o f the army in quality of g eneral and Marshals

, ,

B a s s om p i er r e and C r e qu i as lieute n ant generals But all

- .
,

a ffairs being satisfactorily arranged the c a rdinal and ,

B a s s om p i er r e followed t he king i n a few days lea v ing ,

C r e qu i as lieutenant g ener a l beyond the moun t ains The

-
, .

a ccoun t we have fel t i t necessary to

g ive of t his I talia n
exp edition may at first appear t o belon g ra ther to his tory
than bio g raph y ; but i t canno t fail to be obser v ed tha t ,

thou g h the king was the nominal leader the cardin a l w a s ,

the g uiding and go v erning spirit of both the mili ta r y

achievements and t he polit ical conclusions A nother cir .

c u m s ta n c e likewise s t rikes us forcibly in re v iewing the

events of this S hort war which is the incalculable a d va n

,
.

ta g e of having persons possessed o f entire power on the

s cene o f ac t ion . I f the poli tic but j ealous cardinal an d ,

th e timi d suspicious kin g had bee n left at Par is a n d the

, ,
1 50 A RT I CLE S S ETTLE D W I TH TH E H U G U E NO TS .

kin gdom and to promise to remain absent from F ran c e

,

during th e king s pleasure a short time aft er he embarked

’

a t Marseilles for Venice .

O n entering N esmes t he king published the decl a ration

,

he had promised the Huguenots He left t hem liberty of .

worship and the enj oyment o f their property but he

, , ,

took from them a ll corporate strength all political in ,

flu en c e and all possibility o f excitin g civil troubles

, The .

las t article stipul ated that the Catholic religion should be

r e -estab l ished everywhere and that the Huguenots should,

r estore the ecclesias tical property the churches and the ,

monas teries o f w h ich they had become possessed durin g

the wa r .

The cardinal wa s at thi s time su ffering from a tertian

fever but he notwithstanding deemed it prudent that
, , ,

the king shoul d r etur n to Paris either from a fear that ,

Louis would be incommoded by the summer heats of

Lan guedoc or because he did not think it to his in terest
,

that the queen -mother shoul d be left s o long alone For .

hi mself he remai ned in Lan g uedoc in order to superintend

, ,

the demolition of the fortifications of the Huguenot

places particularly those of Montaub a n This ought to
, .

have bee n the duty of the Prince de Condé Wh o had the ,

command of the troop s posted round the city ; but the

i n habitants irrita ted a g ain st him o n account of t he wan ton
,

devastation he had committed and the hatred he enter ,

ta i n e d for all Huguenots m ore from caprice than de v otion

, ,

an d which he evin ced by the cruel manner in which he

treated all who fell into hi s hands refused to e ffect the ,

capitulation i n order to avoid havin g to deal with a man

,

who ha ted them and who really loved nothing but money
, .

They secretly gave the car d inal to un derstand the reaso n

o f their delay an d told him that if he came himself to
,

execute the treaty of peace he sho uld be welcome an d , ,

should Wi t ness the obedience they were willi n g to render

to the king s declaratio n He a ccordin gly con t rived th at
’
.
 S U RRE N D E R OF THE H U G U E NO T C I T I ES . 151

the Prince de Co n dé should volun t a rily renounce this task ,

under the pretence of illness which woul d not allow hi m ,

to under g o the necessary fatigue .

I n the meanwhile the cardinal se nt the k ing s declaratio n

’

to the parliament of Toulouse in order to have it verified ,

there without modifications ; fearing some wo ul d be i n

,

tr o du c e d on account o f the sentences that had bee n

pronounced against the Hugu enots This verification wa s .

made on the 1 8 th of August pure an d s imple a s th e , ,

cardinal had wished to avoid driving the i nhabitants of

,

M on ta u ba n to extremities Thus after a few n e g otiation s

.
,

with the people of that city wh o were anxious to preserve ,

a part of their fortifications but who at length complied ,

with all that was desired o f them the cardinal made h i s ,

public entry at the he a d of two thousan d foot an d some

,

cavalry which were to leave the city when he did He r e

, .

m ained there two days and was received with extraordinary

,

acclamations by a people wh o did not n aturall y respect

Catholic ecclesiastics But the wonderful success of
.

almost everythi ng the cardinal h a d undertaken dur in g

his mini stry and the gr eat authority he enj oyed from the
,

king in ad dition to the bad state of Huguenot a fl a ir s

, ,

with perhaps the knowledge everybody possessed of the

, ,

cardinal s love of praise rendered them a s great fla tter er s

’

a s other people There wa s n o honour they were no t

.

prepared to render him and not onl y the magistrates but

, ,

eve n the ministers went to compli ment him in the nam e

o f the Consistory in the most submissive terms He
,
.

“
replied to them among other thi ngs
'
,
That it wa s not ,

the custom i n F r a n c e to receive them a s a Church body a t ,

any time or on any occasion but that he received them a s ,

men of letters that in th a t qu a lity he shoul d al ways b e ,

h a ppy to see them and he w o ul d endeavour to prove t o

,

them whenever they me t that diversity of reli g ious

, ,

Op i nions shou ld never prevent his renderin g them all the .

good ofli c es i n h i s power : that he made n o d i fference

1 52 THE D U KE OF O RLE AN S .

bet wee n subj ects but for the more or less fidelity they
,

evinced and which a s he hoped being thenceforward

, , ,
’
equ a l i n both religions he should treat all the k ing s
,
”
s ubj ects alike .

Uz es and Castres shared the fate o f Montauban a n d ,

the Huguenot party entir ely deprived of t heir cities o f

,

s afety were reduced to dependence o n the mere good will

,
-

o f the king who paid n o more attention to his declara t io n s

,

than his ministers thought expedi ent From that t ime .

the par ty dimin ished insensibly ; and notwi ths t anding ,

the obedience they exhibited to the soverei g n the govern ,

m ent scarcely ever ce a sed to labour for t heir ruin until ,

u n der another reign they were entirely annihilated by

,

the revocation o f the edict of N an t es Colbert wo ul d .

,

perhaps in h i s adm iration o f their indus t r y and com

,

m er c i a l spirit have ameliorated their destiny ; but under

, ,

such a master as Louis X IV he could only encourage

them as m echanics and traders — h e could do nothin g for
them as Huguenots : a l l his wise policy was able to e ffect
was to put off the evil day a s injurious to the king as i t
,

wa s fatal to one o f the best classes of his subj ects .

The duke of O rleans preserved h i s character of a dis

t u rber of t he peace wherever he was Without feelin g .

a n
y great o r S i ncere a ffectio n for Mary of Gonz a g a he ,

p ersisted in his demands to be allowed t o marry her an d ,

even laid more than one plan for carryin g her off This .

gr eatly irritated his mother and led her t o the commission

,

o f violence equal to h i s o wn She seized the princess and

.

her aunt the Duchess de Longueville and had them con

, ,

v ey e d to the Bois de Vincennes U po n this the duke

.

was so enraged that he threatened t o re t ire to the states

o f his appana g e an d to remain at Blo i s or O rlean s till he
,

r eceived satisfaction .

The queen mo t he r sent couriers to the king in all h a ste

-
, ,

to inform him o f what s h e had done The rela t ions of .

the princess were loud in their complain ts and to appease

1 54 THE PR I N CES S DE N E M OU R S L I BER ATE D .

the favour o f the queen mother bega n to be heedless of-

,

that princess s support and likewise to fear he might inj ure

’

himself irretrievably wi th the duke o f O rlean s if he strongly

or Openly assisted her designs He consequently o ffered .

very li tt le opposi t ion to the attempts of the enemies of

the queen mothe r who di d n ot fail to communicate to the
-
,

king all that wa s said by the public on this a fl a i r ; almost

'

everybody taking part wi th the duke Mary de Medici .

became convin ced that the car di nal had grown cool with
regard to her interests and began characteristically to
, , ,

hate h i m a s fervently a s s h e had formerly loved him .

Wh en the king and the card inal returned the princesses ,

were liberated a n d the cardi nal expressed hi mself warmly

,

and openly on the subj ect whi ch gr eatly irritate d t he ,

quee n mother The only con dition attached to the return

- .

o f the pr i ncess to court w a s that the duke should promis e

,

not to marry her wi t hout the consent o f their maj esties .

This young lady m ust have fancied herself of great im por

tance : her father sent a nobleman to fetch her a pparently ,

wishing to ha v e her at hi s own court but most l ikely i n , ,

reality for the purpose o f forcin g matters to an issue ;

,

but the queen mother dreadin g some violence on the p a r t

-

of t he d uke did n o t dare to let her go

, .

A s the kin g approached Paris the duke o f O rleans to , ,

avoid seein g h im retired to Joinvill e a place i n Cham

, ,

pagne belon g in g to the du ke o f G uise He g ave ou t at

, .

the same time that it was his i ntention to go in to Lorrain e

,

or Flanders unt i l he had received sati s factio n for the

inj uries and ins ul ts that h a d been heaped upon him By .

this conduct in s t ead of rendering the king more fa v our

,

able to him he only con t rived to make himself of less

,

consequence at cour t ; and the king refused to grant him

any favou r unless he came to ask for it in a submissive
manner The cardinal by his vi gorous measure s had
.
, ,

made the kin g absolute master in hi s kin g dom and n o ,

on e however dissat i sfied ven tu red to show h i s discontent

, ,
 G A S T ON RET I RES To L O RR AIN E . 55

p ublicly or to o ffer that assistance to the du ke of O rleans

, ,

which n o t long before wo ul d have bee n caught at by

, ,

a mbitious nobles as a cloak for their o wn rebelli on The .

king therefore took very li ttle heed of what his brother

, ,

either said or did The queen wished h im to retur n ; the

.

duke was exorbitant i n hi s demands and the cardi nal ,

would not a llo w the king to treat wi th his brother at a ll ,

whi lst the lat ter persisted in the line of conduct he had
a dopted .

Galled by the contempt show n for hi m at court the ,

duke r etired to Lorrain e The queen mother w a s s o .

-

a g itated at learning hi s departure that she wa s obliged to ,

be bled All France blamed her severity to wards this

.

pri nce whom s h e wished to govern like a ch ild and eve n

,

the king at length gave her to understand by a few words , ,

that he thought s h e had gone too far This completed her .

affliction as s h e had calcu l ated upo n the kin g s authority

,
’

to bring her younger son to a proper sense of h i s duty .

Shortly after this the d u ke of O rleans published a kind of

,

manifesto in wh ic h n ot darin g to complain of either the k in g

, ,

or the queen mother he accus ed the Car dinal de Richelieu

-
,

and the Marquis d E fli a l of the disorders that still existed

’

in the state This step of the duke caused the cardinal

.

positively to refuse the queen to interfere at all i n t he

a ffair of his marriage The duke of O rleans the n wrote a
.

long letter to the king i n which he pointed g u t the causes,

he had for be i ng dissatisfied with the court ; without ,

however goin g far into the details Hi s principal com

, .

plain t was directed against the cardinal whom he called ,

th e M a y or of th e P a l a c e
of th e p es en t ti m e and who he
r , ,

said had usurped the royal authority Then followed the

, .

moderate demands of the prince who s o short a time ,

before had married the rich heiress o f Mon t pensier ! He

,

required if i t were des ired that he should return to cour t

, ,

tha t his appanag e should be g re a tly increased ; t hat a large

s u m of money s h o u ld be give n to hi m for the discharge of
1 56 THE C A RD IN A L RET U R N S To C OU RT .

his debts together with the govern m e nt of a province ;

,

that he should be a dmitted i nto the close council and be ,

declared lieutenant -general o f the king in all the armies

where the king did not command i n perso n ; that the Duke
de Vend om e S hou l d be liberated and have his govern ,

ment of Bri ttany restored to him ; and in conclusion , ,

that se v eral posts pe n sions & c shoul d be given to the

, , .
,

Duk e de Bellegarde the Preside n t de Coigneux a n d

, ,
‘

P uylaurens his principal advisers

, .

The cardinal returned to court at the commencement of

the autumn a n d was received very coolly by the quee n
,

mother ; who moreover did n ot eve n deign to look at th e

, ,

Marshals Ba s s om p i er r e and S chomberg when presented

to her by the cardinal The queen at length asked him
.

“
after his health He replied . I a m be tter th a n m a ny
,

”
wh o a r e h er e wi s h m e to be O n hearing these words
.

the queen coloured ; but feignin g n ot to pay attention to

them she laughed at seeing the Cardin a l d e Berul le enter
,

in a short cloak and white boots upon which Richelieu

observed th a t h e wi s h ed he s tood a s h ig h i n h er f a vou r a s
,

th e p er s on s h e l a u g h e d a t Hereupon several words

.

passed o n both sides ; but the unfriendly dialogue was

i n terrupted by the entrance o f the kin g who expressed ,

great j oy at seeing the cardinal and took him into his ,

closet where the prelate described the m a n ner in which

,

the queen had received him an d had recourse to h i s ol d

,

trick of earnestly desirin g to be allowed to wi thdraw from

public affairs But the king replied tha t he would recon
.

cile them ; and havi n g spoken to hi s mother s h e appeare d ,

to consent O n the following day therefore the cardin a l

.
, ,

went to the queen mother to endeavour to reinstate him

-

self i n her g ood Opin ion But that princess instantly

.

began by reproaching h i m with in g ratitude a n d with ,

hav ing ab a ndoned her in the a ffair of Gas t on s marriage ’

.

They rose t o such high words that the king who wa s , ,

informed of what wa s going on came hastily to the ,

1 58 C ON T INU E D D I S P U TE S .

her i n spite o f her an ger a gainst him he woul d never

, ,

fail to serve her and render her good o ffices with the king
,

her son of which s h e stood i n great need because his

, ,

maj esty had constant e v idence that s h e wished to pre

ser v e her authority even to the d isadvan t age of h i s ,

maj esty s a n d that by her excessive rigour s he had con

’

strained her other son to retire from court ; that the

cardinal had added thereupon that s h e shoul d remember , ,

”
she might require his support .

A nother time as S he related the cardinal wishing to

, , ,

“
entrap her said since s h e conceived her honour enga g ed
, ,

in excluding Mary of Gonzaga he could not adv ise her to ,

consent to t he marriage ; but i n order to appease the ,

duke of O rlean s a n d to prevent the whole kingdom from

,

thinki n g it stran ge that e v eryth i ng he requested was

refused She had better shut her eyes and wi thout giving
, , ,

her consent allow Monsieur to marry the princess cl a n d es

,

ti n el y . A dvantage might al ways be taken o f the cir

c u m s ta n c e since if s h e did n ot have childre n a s the
, ,

queen mother said she wou l d not it would be very easy

-
,

to declare this marriage null and to have it entirely dis ,

”
sol v ed . But the queen mother very j udiciously rej ected -

this adv ice because all that was said o f the sterility of the
,

princess o f Mantua was very uncertain ; a n d if she ,

had children their legitimacy m i g ht be doub t ed a n d

, ,

serious d ifferences and c a l a m i tips m i g ht ensue .

During these disputes the cardinal appeared very

pensi v e ; he perceived that the least passionate blamed
him for ingratitude to the queen -mother ; and he feared ,

if the king should die as several astrologers had pre ,

dicted he shoul d be exposed to the anger of that princess

, ,

a n d perhaps to that o f the new king wit h Whom it wo u l d

, , ,

b e no easy matter to be reconciled In addi t ion to these .

causes for anxiety many persons o f the first order par , ,

t icu l a r l y the members o f the house o f Guise secretly ,

endeavo ured to make the cardin a l yield to the queen .

 E X A LT A T IO N OF R I C HEL I E U . 1 59

About this t ime died Prince Berulle the quee n -mother s ,

’

o nly council lor who had been m ade card in al two years
,

before Richelieu did not like him although he was an

.
,

upright man and of exemplary life He had more than

, .

once treated him as a man without capacity on account of ,

the counsels he had given the queen -re g ent during the
absence o f th e king particul arly in th e a ffair of the
,

i mprisonment o f the princess o f Mantua Everybo dy w a s .

convinced t hat the queen mo ther only desired to reign a s

-

long as s h e lived and that she as sumed too much authority

,

o v er her sons The kin g felt s o perfec tly assured of this that
.
,

the anger o f his mother against t he Cardinal de Richel ieu

served but to augment hi s confiden ce in his minis t er .

A short time aft erw a rds the kin g issued letters patent
,
-
,

i n w hi ch a fter having proclaimed the praises o f the

,

Cardinal de Richelieu he declared him p r i n c ip a l m i n i s ter

,

of s ta te . The cardinal had perform ed the fu nc t ions of

thi s o ffice S ince a short time aft er his admission to the
council ; but a s the rank he held a bo v e the o ther minis
,

ters o f state appeared to be rather attached to his d ign ity

o f cardinal tha n t o h i s p erson these letters patent distin ,
-

g u i s h e d him above all the rest by giving him the title o f

p i nc ip a l m i n i s ter of s ta te rather than that o ffir s t which

r , ,

only deno ted the rank .

The Duke de Bellegarde came to court on the part of ,

the d u ke of O rleans to endeavour t o obtain some t hing

, ,

and to implore the queen mother not to be reconciled to

-

the cardinal upon whom Monsieur was determined to be

,

reven g ed He told the queen -mother that the duke would

.

marr y whatever pr i ncess her m a j esty pleased The du k e .

c o n s e n te d to r e t urn to France and t o remain for some

‘

time at O rleans without seeing the kin g prov ided his ,

appanag e was increased by a hundred thousand liv res of

rent i n esta t es which was a t le n g th gran t ed him by
, ,

assignin g to him the duchy of Valois in addition to what ,

he already possessed .
1 60 RE VERSE S IN I T A L Y .

As might have been easily supposed a s soo n a s the ,

French army left in It aly was found to be unequal to the

task o f maintaining a ll the ad v antages gained by the ki ng
and the cardin a l the emperor the king of Spain a n d
, , ,

e v en the duke o f Savoy in defiance of the peace made ,

wi t h the lat t er renewed the attacks upon the duchy of

,

Mantua The French lost one fortress after another till

.
,

at le n g t h they had no place left but Casal and Pon te s tur e

for the defence o f Mon t ferrat .

The cardinal made every exertio n to remedy this state

o f th i ngs and Fren ch troops were immediately marched
,

towards the pass of Susa o f which the king assign ed the ,

command to t he cardinal A few d ays before his departure

.
,

a Spanish agent named N avas about to return to Spain

, , ,

hav ing come to take leave the cardinal charged him to ,

inform his mas t er an d more particu l a rly the Count

,

“
O livarez That the king w a s stil l desirous to live in
,

p eace with his Catholic maj esty and re t ained the same ,

views wi t h respect to I taly ; but if no regard were paid

to his g o o d wil l Sp a i n might be assured that France wa s
,

qui t e in a condition to go to war wi t h any power that wa s

unwilling to preserve peace an d woul d not shun it : by ,

this his Ca tholic m aj esty mi g ht perceive that the kin g le ft

him free choice — peace or war .

A t leng t h an army o f twenty thousan d foot and two

thousand horse being assembled in D a u p h in y the kin g ,

expedited le tters pat ent to the cardin a l dated the 24 th of

-
,

D ecember in which aft er bestowing great praises on that

, ,

prelate he gave him the title of l i eu ten a n t g ener a l r ep r e

,
-
,

s e n ti ng the p er s on of th e ki ng which h a d never before ,

be en giv en to any on e He was permitted to receive an d

.

hear the ambassadors o f princes and the d e pu t ies o f cities

and communities and to sen d ambassadors to the same a s
, ,

he j udged proper for the kin g s service Hi s enemie s ’

.

said in order to re n der his power odious th a t th e Ici ng

, ,

h a d desp oi l ed hi m s elf of a l l h i s a u thor i ty i n h i s f a vo wr ,

1 62 A FF A I RS OF P I E D M ON T .

off er to allow a passage for the army through the states o f

the duke his fa ther and to beg the cardinal to come to
,

that place t o confer wi th him .

The cardinal replied tha t he would consult with the

Fren ch marshals and o ther nobles who were wi t h him at
Lyon s on the subj ect He then c a l led to g e ther the
.

marshals the Duke de Montmorenci an d the Marquis

, ,

d A li n c ou r t go v ernor o f Lyons and laid the message

’

, ,

before them The g o v ernor said he saw no imprudence or

.

improprie ty in complying wi th the wi sh of the prince .

Marshal Schomberg who spoke nex t said , That for , ,

se v eral reasons h e was n ot o f opinion the cardinal should

,

go t o the Pont de Beau v oisin He thou g ht it wou l d .

appear as if the cardinal went to seek the prince from an

eagerness to obtain peace an d that the Spaniards when ,

they became aware of it would in consequence only mak e ,

i t on terms ad v an t a g eous for t hemsel v es The p r e p os i ti o n .

o f t he prince was n o t hing but an artifice to re t ard the ,

m arch of the army and t he execu t ion of the king s i n

’

ten t ions. It was from vanity that the Spani a rds who ,

were quite as eager for peace a s the French were wished ,

to trea t before t he French army left the kin g dom I t w a s .

his Opinion that the duke Of Savoy shou l d be told plainly

that he pl ayed too neuter a par t in thi s affair which made ,

hi m wish t o negotiate in a place belonging half to t he

king and half to himself I n conclusion he said t hat i t .
, ,

was his advice t he cardin a l should reply tha t having ,

a ffa irs at Lyons tha t woul d occupy a week a n d being ,

likewise indisposed he could not go t o Pont de Beau v oisin ;

,

but if the pri nce woul d come to Lyons he shoul d b e

.
,

recei v ed with the respect due to his rank ; and if he co ul d

no t come the cardinal wo u ld see him at Chamberry i n
, ,

his way to I taly if he were willing to meet hi m there

, .

ll I a r s h a l de la Force and the Duke de Montm orenci agreed

with Schomberg an d approved of the ad vice
, .

Marshal de Ba s s om p i er r e was o f a di fferent opinion ,

 A FF A I RS OF P I E D M ON T . 1 63

a nd assigned very cogent reasons for i t He said that .

,

unles s t here were secre t moti v es for refusing to l i sten to

proposal s for pea ce he could n ot s ee W h y t he cardinal
,

shoul d not go The prince of Piedmont was well a ffected

.

towar d s France was brother in l a w t o the kin g and had

,
- -
,

come fifty leagues i n fearful l y cold weather t o propose

matters to the cardinal that mi g h t be very ad v an t a g eous to
the crown I n fact all he said answered s o reasonab ly wh a t
.
,

had been adv ised by Schomberg th at it mi g ht be t hou g ht ,

the c ardinal must act in a ccordance wi t h t he v iews of

B a s s om p i er r e who in additio n to being a g ood soldier
, , ,

w a s a shrewd intelligent man , But no twiths tanding .

,

every momen t s absence from court w a s fu l l of da n g er to

’

t he ca rdinal he loved to play a hi g h par t in t he eyes o f

,

Europe ; the first Opini on wa s most pleasin g to his vani ty ,

a n d he a d o p e d it .

He wrote t o the kin g who approved o f h i s conduct and

, ,

forbade him to liste n to any proposi tio n that could be

made him for a mere suspension o f arms or to en t er into ,

any long negotia t ion His wish was t o ha v e ei ther a

.

prompt and secure peace or a war He added I f t he

, .
,

emperor h a d thought proper to g ran t th e duke O f Mantua

the in v esti ture of h is s t a tes an d t he king o f Spain would ,

have allowed him to e nj oy them i n peace France would ,

n e v er ha v e dreamt of c a rrying her arms i nto It aly ; and

there was nothin g S hort of this that should pre v en t hi s

troops from crossing the mounta ins .

A s no ad v ances were m a d e on the part o f Aus tria the ,

cardina l set forward from Lyon s to wards Susa on t he ,

2 8 th of January He sent D Hem er y to t he duke of

.
’

S av oy to amuse him wi th proposals fo r fear of his

, ,

becoming so irritated agains t France as to j oin t he ,

I mperiali s ts a n d Spaniards at once I f the duke had .

done so i t woul d hav e become necessary for the French

,

to commence by a ttackin g Piedmont for fear o f leav ing ,

a formidable en emy i n their rear .

M 2
1 64 THE A R MY A D V AN CES .

The duk e o f Sav oy was hi g hly ince n sed at the app a ren t
want o f respect to his s on ; but the cardinal gav e h i m to
understand that it Would not have been consistent with
,

the dignity of the ki n g to treat with the duke of Savoy a s

a n e qual which he woul d have done if his m i nister had
,

gone to the frontiers to a place named by the prince o f

,

Pie dmont Al though th e duke h a d little reason to b e

.

satisfied wi th this evasion of the cardinal s he did not fail ’

to send his son to Susa where he had several conferences

,

w ith that minister . The prince wished to beg in by hi s

own enemies first and attack the republic of Genoa an d
,

the duchy of Milan upon which term s he said his father s

,
’

troops should instantly j oin the king s a n d he would n o t’

only fu rnish e v erythin g wanted from his own states but ,

would give up places of stren g th The cardinal however .

, ,

was too g ood a politician to be so misled these proposal

had nothing to do with the views o f the Fren ch and he ,

insisted upo n the duke s appointing the stations for

’

provisioning the army on its march towards Ma ntua ,

which was i n much danger from the Spaniards .

The duke of Savoy being thus closely pressed by the

cardinal complied and the army advanced to Condoné
, , ,

and from thence to C a z a l e tto where instead o f finding

, ,

the promised provisions it was reduced almost to famine

, .

Whilst he soj ourned here the cardin a l learn t tha t Casal

,

a n d Po n tes tu r e had recei v ed the provisional aid o f which

they had s t ood so much i n need ; and he sen t his final

resolu tions to the duke to force him t o decl a re himself
, .

The pr i nce of Piedmont came t o the cardinal to say that ,

h e a ccepted his o ffers on the part of his father ; but that

n ot ha v in g set tled his a ffairs with the Genoese he intended ,

to do so before entering into a fresh expedi tion and that ,

was the reason why hi s army wou ld n ot at present j oin

that of the French .

This reply gave th e ca r din al to u n derstan d that the

duke was only s eek in g to gain tim e a n d a t the s a m e , ,
1 66 THE M I L I T A RY C A R D INA L .

The next day the design w ehave mentioned w a s to be

,

put into execution and t he duke w ould cer t ain l y have

,

been taken if he had not by some means obtained intel

, , ,

l ig en c e of the cardin a l s intended unpleasant visit an d

’

re treated in t he ni g ht to Turin The cardinal accused

, , .

the Duke de M on tm or en c i o f having warn ed the duke of

Savoy ; but as he did not do s o till aft er h i s death whe n ,

i t was Richelieu s obj ect to load his memory wi th obloquy

’

we cannot attach much importance to the accusation .

A n d here w e cannot hel p expressing a wonder that thr ee

marshal s a mili t ary duke and th e o fficers of a large army
, ,

should in these important military expedi t ions for the

, ,

t ime have submitted to be s o imperiously led by a priest

, .

We ha v e see n an instance where mere v a ni ty prevailed

over wise counsel ; there must have be en innumerable
occasions i n which his e v er busy humour and his ignoran ce
O f the art of w ar rendered him ridiculous to the men tha t

surrounded him Wa s it h i s indomi t able charact er an d

.

his supreme influence with the kin g or was it the power ,

o f his genius whic h penetrated th e s trate ies o f wa r a s

, g
easily as it unra v elled the p olicies of courts that secured ,

hi m this implicit obedience ? I t is d i fli cu l t to s a y : French

writers do not instruct us for they are partisan s either , ,

eulo g ising to t he se v enth heaven or denouncing to per

di tion this man who played s o conspicuous a part in their
annals For our par t we think po wer and g enius com
.
,

hi n e d in producing this e ffect He had made his power .

dreaded by the hi g hest an d the proudest ; and his g enius

had so in v ariably borne him through d i fficulties and tri a l s
of all kinds that e v en soldiers might t h in k he coul d
,

handle t he sword as well a s the crosier .

Pon t is a n Officer who was pre s e nt in thi s expedi t ion

, ,

say s that the cardinal was clothed in a water coloured -

cuirass with a dress of li g ht brown embroidered slightly

, ,

wi th g old He had a feather round his hat ; two pa g e s

.

walked before hi s h orse on e of who m b or e hi s gauntlets

, ,
 THE C A R D INA L S SE N S I T I vE N E s s
’
. 1 67

a nd the other his head armour ; two other p a ges marche d ,

o n e on each side of him le a ding t wo v aluable charg ers

,

close behind him followed the captain of his g uards .

Wi th these appointments he passed the ri v er Doiro o n ,

horseback wi th a sword by his side and two pistols a t his

, ,

saddle bo w ; and when he had reached the o ther side he

-
,

made his horse curvet a hundred times before the army ,

boasting aloud of not bein g ignorant of horsemanship .

Puyse g ur another ofli c er t ells u s that a heavy ra in fell

, ,

durin g t he day and that the soldiers we t t o the skin

, , ,

a ccording to their licen t ious manner o f speaking freely ,

and aloud con signed the cardinal and h is people t o the devil .

The cardin a l hearin g these impreca t ions and seein g thi s ,

o fficer near him called to him told him that the guards
, ,

were v ery inso l ent an d asked him if he did n ot hear w h a t

,

they were saying ? Puysegur replied that he di d but ,

t hat it was the custom wi th soldiers when they s u fl er e d ,

a n d t hat they were equall y loud in the praise of the i r

general when they were a t their eas e He likewise said .

he woul d tell them to be a little more circumspect if he ,

wished it Can we n o t i n such a scene i magine the

.
, ,

s oldier lau g hin g in his sleeve whilst he made this promise

to the pranked up churchm an ? O n their arri v al at

Ri voli the car di nal to ok up his quarters i n the cas tle i n
, ,

t he middle of the town The soldiers who foun d abun

.
,

dance o f pro v isions there were soon consoled for the

,

fa ti g ues of t he day ; and the cardinal heard them in the ,

mids t of their carousals drinkin g v ociferously to th e h ea l th

,

of th e r e a t C a r d i n a l d e R i c he l i eu ! The o f
fi cer going
g
aft erwards t o recei v e his orders from him because the ,

g uards only receive theirs from the king when he com

mands in person or from his represen t a t i v e when he is
,

absen t the cardinal t old hi m tha t t he soldiers had g reatl y

,

reformed t heir speech and manners and t here w a s no ,

occasion to censure them .

The same day he sent S er vi en to Turin to tell the duke ,

1 68 PI GN E RO L RE SI E GE D A N D TA K E N .

that the army had only come to Rivoli becau se i t cou ld no

longer subsist where it wa s a n d that this cir cu m stan ce ,

could n ot inter ru pt the good feeling of the cardinal pro ,

v i d ed the duke responded to it But the duke was s o .

e nra ged at the trick that had been played him tha t he ,

would n either s e e S er vi en n or listen to any o n e who

en d eavoured to mollify his anger S er vi en returned a .

second time to speak to the princess of Piedmont a n d

, ,

the duke at le n gth se n t a gentleman to n egotiate with the

,

cardinal But the prelate had determined to besiege

.

Pi g n er ol which he heard wa s not in a high s tate o f

,

defence O n the 2 0 th of March the place was invested

.

by C r equ i who was detached with s ix thousand foot and

,

a thousand horse The better to deceive the duke the.

,

car di nal caused it to be given ou t that he was going to

T u rin and the commander of the artillery led it towards
,

that pl a ce for more than a leagu e followed by the whole ,

army which m ade the duke believe that the cardin a l

,

really meant to attack h i s capita l and he promptly recalled ,

some troops which he had commanded to throw t hemselves

into Pig n er ol Thereupon the cardinal rec a l led hi s van
.
,

and ordered back his artillery The rear was comman d ed .

to half face to the ri g ht an d all marched strai g ht towards

-
,

Pi g n e r ol The a rmy invested that place on ev ery side on

.

the 2 l s t The works proceeded with such d il ige n ce that

.

the follow i ng day a battery o f three pieces o f cannon wa s

in full play which com pelled the inhabitants w h o might
, ,

have held out at least a fe w d a ys to surre n der The cardinal , .

entered the ci ty a n d at once commenced the attack upo n

,

the castle into which the g overnor o f the place Count

, ,

d E s c a l a n g u e had w ithdrawn with ei g ht hun dred men

’

, .

At the same t ime the t roops bega n to w ork at the lines

o f circumvalla t ion as it wa s feared they would be de
,

t a i n e d some time before th e cas t le it bein g buil t upon a ,

r ock and a ppeari n g impre g nable

, .

The me s tre de camp had orders to build a for t u po n

- -
‘
 70 I M P O RT AN C E OF PI GN E RO L .

m eans of which s h e held the dukes of Savoy in a state of

dependence or at least prevented their tak i n g u p a rm s
, , ,

a gainst her with impunity up to the peace o f Ryswick i n , ,

1 6 9 7 by which this place was razed and res t ored to

,

Victor Amadeus du ke of Sav oy

, .

The cardinal who knew the importan ce of this c ity

, ,

immediately s e t abou t fortifying it regu larly and placed ,

a n e fficient g arrison in it Although he had every reas on

.

to return as quickly a s possible to Paris he would not ,

quit Pi g n er ol before that place w a s put in a complete

s tate o f defence . When sending the news of his conques t
to the king he gave hi m the reasons which had induced
,

him to break wi t h the duke and which principally con ,

s isted i n that pr i nce havi n g show n n o disposi t io n t o observe

the treaty of Susa I f these reasons had been even less

.

strong tha n they were the takin g of Pig n er ol to which

, ,

the cro wn had some an cient pretensions would have given ,

them gr eat force ; and the kin g did not fail to bestow
warm approbatio n upon the condu ct of h i s military
minister .

The pope and the Ve n etians were n ot sorry that F ran ce

had a passage into I taly t o keep Savoy to its duty and to
, ,

be a check upon the house o f Austria ; but they fear ed

that the ruptur e with Savoy would delay the arms of
Fr ance in Piedmont and that in the mean while Casal
, , ,

and Man tua mi g ht fal l into the hands of t he I m p eri ali sts
and the Spaniards To pre v ent this Cardinal Barberi ni
.
, ,

the legate a n d the ambas sadors from Venice pressed t he

, ,

cardinal to come to an accommoda tion with Sa v oy ; but

th is reconcilia t io n was a l l the more di ffic u lt from t he
duke s insisting upo n t he restora t ion of Pi g n er ol and they
’

feared that France would not consent to it .

With thi s purpo se the l eg a to went to Pig n er ol to

,

a scerta in if the Cardinal de Richelieu were wi lling to

r es tore t hat place The card inal told him

. tha t he had ,

n o power to do s o beca us e the king co u ld scarcely be

,
 REST I T U T IO N P RESSE D . . 1 71

aware of i ts capture Although he could n ot give either

.

word or assurance that Pi g n er ol should be restore d ,

neither would he deny all hope of it ; he would even use

his influence to induce the king to restore it ; and he
belie v ed that the intercession of the princess of Piedmont
would ha v e great weight particularly if the restitutio n
,

were asked not in virtue o f any convention but a s an

, ,

e ffect of the k i ng s generosity T he legate replied t hat

’
,

to facili t ate the peace France must gi v e her word that

,

Pi g n er ol should be restore d o u t of con sideration for the

“
princess of Piedmont The cardin a l replied
. that he ,

had not the power to giv e this assuran ce ; and al though

the kin g mi g ht entertain the idea he did not think he had
,

any right to give a promise beforehand only bein g a bs o ,

l u tely obli g ed to restore the place from generosity But .

as soon as ever he learned t he k i ng s intention he wo ul d

’

”
not fail to communicate it to him The le g ate the n
.

proposed a suspension of arms to which the cardin a l

,

replied that if that would tend to the bringing abou t of

,

a secure peace which the legate had the power of knowin g

,

from the Spaniards and t he duke o f Sav oy he would ,

willin g ly propose it to the council and S hould not be ,

i ndisposed to second it ; but if that suspension wa s not

made with a view to a definitive peace i t was useless to ,

say any thing about it Being pressed several times to

.

say what he thought of the restitution of Pi g n er ol he said ,

“
he did not thi nk i t was his maj esty s intention to a ppro ’

p r i a te t hat place but the king might deem i t prudent to

keep it t ill a l l the ar t icles of the peace were entirely
executed because he otherwise wou l d have no s ecuri ty
,

for the performance o f t he treaty Fa ther Valerian a

.
,

Capuchin made t hereupon divers proposi t ions ; bu t the

,

cardinal remained fir m ; a n d as i t was known that the

kin g was g uided entirel y by his counsel s they p l ain ly ,

percei v ed i t wo ul d not be a n easy matt er to g et Pi g n er ol

o u t of hi s hands .
1 72 THE C A R D INA L A T L YON S .

N othing conseque n tly wa s don e Schomberg a d va n ce d

, , .

a t the be g inning o f A pril a s far a s Briqueras : but as

Spinola C ol l a l te an d the duke of Savoy t here opposed

, ,

his passage he did n ot d a re to proceed fur ther ; S O t hat

,

the design of succourin g the duke of Mantua which had ,

’

been the cardinal s o stensible obj ect and which wa s the ,

cause of the royal army crossin g the m ountains came to ,

n othing a s soon a s the F rench h a d fo un d other m eans of

,

r epayin g themselves .

The kin g the queen s a n d th e cou rt cam e to Lyon s to

, , ,

be near the armies ; and the c a rdinal informed his m a j esty

he would j oin hi m a s soo n a s he had placed Pi g n er ol i n a
p rope r state of defence B a s s om p i er r e succeeded i n
.

r a is ing s ix thousand m e n i n Switzerland ; and it wa s

determined to pe rfect the conquest of Savoy a s an indem ,

Di fica ti on for the a dvantages gai n ed by the I mperiali st s

a n d Spaniards in the states of the duke o f Man tu a .

O n the l oth o f May the king s et ou t for G re n ob le ,

Where the cardin a l arrived t he preceding day After .

r e n dering a n accou n t to the king o f a ll that had take n

pla ce i n Piedmont the ca rdinal went to Lyon s to pay his
,

r espects to the two que en s He behaved with s o m uch .

m od eration that it wa s believed he had only gone on this

,

e xpedition to g ain a n opport u nity for a perfect reconcili a

tion with the quee n -mother That prin cess received him
.

'

with a fl a bil ity and exhorted h i m earnestly to bring about

,

a pe a c e ; which he e xpressed h imself quite willing to do

a s s oo n as it co u l d be e ffecte d with honour He said .

there was no d esign formed a g ainst the house of Aus tria ;

the king only m eant to punish the d uke o f Savoy for
bre a k ing h i s word and by the s am e me a n s to support the
,

d uke o f Man tua .

The cardi na l afte rw a r d s r ej oi n ed the king ; a n d the du ke

dom o f Savoy wa s speedily s ubdued by an army of t wenty
thousand men Maz arin then appeared a s a nuncio to neg o
.

tia te for peace and the cardin al o ffered to r estore Pig n er ol

, ,
1 74 e ns u vns A D O LP H US .

of Mantua that they gained possessio n of his capital a n d

, ,

drove him to such extremi ty that he was gl ad t o save his

,

person by taking refu g e in the ecclesias t ic a l states He .

had been miserably seconded by his al lies the Venetians ,

a n d t he French ; the latter after all t heir boasting pro

,

mises had done no thing but defen d Casal The acqu isi
, .

s i ti o n of Pi g n er ol was a selfish a ffair and h a d no t hing to ,

do wi th the common cause ; the cardinal concei v ed the

present advant a ge t o be deri v ed from that a s of much ,

more impor t ance than succouring Mantua .

He howe v er kept up an understandin g with th e pri nce

, , ,

who h a d begun to form the Protestant league in Germany

i n Opposi t ion to the greatness o f the house of A ustria It .

was in the year 1 6 3 0 that Gustavus A dolphus king o f ,

S weden passed into Pomerania ; and the king of France

,

havi n g sent the Baron de Ch a in a c é to h i m t o propose a

league between the two crowns the cardinal took the ,

Opportunity of writing to him and recei v ed a very oblig in g

,

repl y This prince by his victories stopped the pro g ress

.
, ,

o f t he house of A us t ria in a more comple t e manner t han

all the tr e a t ies and intrigues of the cardinal had been able
to e ffec t It is true it cost France five hundred thousan d
.

crowns a year which she eng aged to pay the kin g of

,

Sweden ; but perhaps that was her cheapest and e a sies t

mode of Opposin g the gen eral enemy .

The continued con t est i n Piedmont belon gs rather to

histor y than biography when the cardinal who is ou r
, ,

subj ec t ceases to take a person a l a n d acti v e part in it

, .

The duke of Sav oy Charles Emanuel died leav ing t he

, , ,

ch a racter o f a prince o f great i ntelligence and coura g e ;

but who was a t the same time res tless ambitious and , ,

cruel He was succe eded by bis son Victor Amadeus

. . , ,

brother i n law of the Fren c h king and it was hoped that

- -
,

this a ffini ty woul d bring a bout a nat ion a l reconcil iation ,

and that t he new duke would reco v er back h i s states

rather from the generosity of the kin g than by force o f
 A FF AI RS OF C ASA L . 1 75

arms . But thi s generosi t y w a s incon sistent with the

policy of the cardinal ; he felt t hat his position wi t h
regard t o the queen mother would come t o a crisis and
-
,

t hat he must a t whate v er cost to the country con t inue to

, ,

make himself necessary to his master The French .

generals obtained some ad v an t a ges from the t emporary

grief and consequent languor of the Sa v oyards but the ,

young duke renewed the contest wi t h spirit S till the .

French maintained the upper hand ; but notwithstanding ,

a triumph o v er Victor Amadeus they did not dare to ,

march to Casal for fear the great general who was be

, ,

sieging it mi g ht have been reinforced

, B u t at Casal .

both parties were distressed : Thoir a s w a s shor t of pro

visions and money the siege had th inned his garrison
,

wofully an d the inhabitants began to be tired of such

,

a pro t r a cted conflict on his side Spinola wa s in constant

,

d read of the approach of t he French general s as h i s arm y ,

O f fourtee n thousand men was reduced to four thousan d

by disease and t he circumstance of no quarter bein g g iven

o n ei t her side . I n t h is embarrassmen t M a zarin w h o , ,

performed the fun ction s of the nuncio Pa n c i r ol o aft er ,

u seless j ourneys and endeavours to bring the par t ies to

agree t o a peace at length succeeded in inducin g them to

,

sign a trea ty for a general t ruce from the 4 th of Sep ,

tember to t he 1 5 th Of O c t ober A mon g o ther things it

.
,

was a greed tha t Spinola an d Thoiras should lea v e the

works for the attack an d defen ce of Casal in the state in
'

which they were ; that Spinola should allow the French to

purchase pro v isions in his camp up t o the end of O ctober ;
tha t if peace was not concluded before the 1 5 th the ,

French mig h t att empt to succour the place ; bu t if they

did no t succeed by the l a st day O f the month Thoiras ,

was t o surrender the ci t adel to Spinol a A ll t he i n .

t e r e s te d par t ies who were a t a dis t ance a n d were c o n s e,

quen tly i g noran t of t he serious si t uat ion of bo th S pinola

and Thoiras blamed them g r e a t ly for t his t ruce Spinola
, .
,
1 76 DE A TH or sr m om .

unaccusto m e d to reprehe n sion from an y on e took th e ,

complain t s of the duke of Sa v oy an d the reproofs o f the

Count -duke O livarez to heart ; he performed hi s duties
before C a sal carelessly fell sick from vexation and died
, , ,

with complaints upon his lips against the count duke a n d -

the coun cil of Spain for having a fter a faithful service o f

, ,

th irty two years doubted hi s fideli ty a n d placed more

-
, ,

confidence in the youn g duke o f Savoy than in him This .

fa ul t o f O livarez caused Casal to remain in the hands o f

the French a s will be seen hereafter ; but it must be co n
,

fessed that the cardinal after having made the place a p

,

pear to be Of‘ g r e a t importance did not take much pains ,

to preserve it : it wa s for the duke o f Ma ntua and n ot ,

for France an d there was al ways someth in g s elfish in the

,

policy o f Richelieu .

A short time afte r this Leon Br u l a r t assisted by Fathe r

, ,

Joseph concluded th e treaty a t Ra ti s bon n e wi t h the

,

ambassadors of the emperor which we have m entioned i n ,

our notice of the celebrated Capuchin I n this treaty .

,

after having regulated what the D uke de N evers shoul d

give to the other pre t enders to the successio n of Man t ua ,

the emperor promised him the investiture of his states ,

provided he asked it with due submission Whe n the .

news of this treaty wa s brought to the court the cardin al ,

affe c t ed to disapprove of it and declared a loud that the

,

ambass a dor had exceeded h i s orders But very few .

people believed tha t an old minister like B r u l a r t could , ,

commi t such a fault particularly a s he wa s a ssiste d by

,

Father Joseph to whom the car din al confided his m ost

,

secret thou g hts and who was n o novice in diplomacy I t

, .

was rath er supposed that the cardin a l chan ged his min d
as the face o f a ffairs chan g ed and that he som etimes ,

wished for peace and sometimes for war a ccordin g ly a s ,

he thou g h t the interes t s o f France a n d hi s o w n powe r

were for t he moment a ffected by the on e or the other
, , .

We cannot a fford room for the detail of these negotin

1 78 THE KING S
’
S I C K N ES S Ar
'
L YON S .

The French campaign o f 1 6 3 0 i n I ta ly fi n ished by , ,

Spain being despoiled of all she had taken in Montferra t ;

she had been at great expense of men and treasure and ,

derived no advantage from it Y et we cann ot but think .

the cardinal had more cause to felicitate himself upon the

bad conduct of the Spaniards who seemed not to kno w ,

how t o take advantage of ei ther time or opportunity than ,

to arroga te merit to hi m self for the successes o f t he French

arms .

To return to France The k i ng having subdued all

.
,

Sav oy except the fortress of M on tm eill a n was anxious to

, ,

turn his steps towards home He did not admire Sa v oy .

,

-the country was n ot calcu l ated for his d a r ling and only

pursuits like his predecessor Philip A ugustus who too k , ,

hawks with him on his crusade to t he Holy Land he ,

coul d not find excitement enough in war he must ha v e ,

field sports He s et ou t from S t Jean de Maurienne at

. .

the beginnin g of Augu st an d arrived at Lyons o n the 7 th

,

o f tha t month without accident though he had passed by

, ,

several places infected by the plague But towards the end .

o f September he fe l l sick at Lyons of an imposthume i n ,

the mesentery which caused inflammation of the stomach ;

,

and the physicians not knowin g the cause o f his com

,

plaint belie v ed him past h Op e ; but the imposthume

,

breaking and t he matter dischargi ng itself natu rally th e

, ,

king soon reco v ered his health contrary to the expecta

,
,

tions of everybody .

Wh ilst he w a s ill the two queens n ever left him either

, ,

n ight or day ; and a powerful cab a l wa s got up gainst

a
the cardin a l whose des tructio n w a s determined upon as
,

soo n a s the king shou ld di e The two M a r ill a c s the .

,

keeper of the se a l s and the marshal ; Vautier firs t .

,

physician o f the queen ; the Princess de Conti the Duchess ,

d E lboeu f the C ou ntess de Fargis and others excited the

’

, , ,

queen -m p th er a gain st him and were unceasing in their ,

IN TE R V I E W WIT H T HE K IN G —
.
p . 179 .
1 80 KI NG S
’
REC O VE RY .

king hav ing r ecovered left Lyons fol lowed by the quee n
, ,

mother and the ca rd i nal who embarked upon the Loire , ,

at Roanne in the same boat and appeared in the eyes o f

, ,

all the court perfectly reconciled But the cardinal wh o .

,

knew all that had passed an d to who m the king told a l l ,

he had learnt placed n o confidence i n this calm ; and if

,

the queen mother laboured to i nj u re him in the min d o f

-

the king he took no less pains to irritate her s on ag a i nst

,

her He persuaded this timid j ealous prince that the

.
,

queen -mother preferred the duke of O rleans to him an d ,

that s h e had consulted a strologers for the purpose o f

learning when that prince would ascen d the throne ; as ,

there b eing n o d a uphin t he crown would fa l l to hi m a t

,

the king s death This wa s not entirely without fou n

’
.

d ation an d the king being con v inced of it belie v ed tha t

, ,

whatever the queen did had reference to i t and nothin g ,

could persuade him to the contrary All the quee n s .

cou ld say a g a inst the car dinal made no impression o n his

mind because it was a s di fficul t an d a s incredible that
,

t hat prelate should u ndertake a nyth in g against him a s it ,

w a s easy for the queen -mother and Monsieur to do it ;

a n d it w a s rendered credible they had an inclin atio n to d o

s o by the remembrance of pa st disturbances

, .

O n the arr ival o f the court at Paris the king went to ,

St Germain and to Versail les the n his fa vourite huntin g

.
,

lod g e a n d th e queen mother to her pal a c e of the Luxem

,
-

b ourg I t w a s there that her ha t red a g ainst the car din al

.

broke ou t afresh al though the king did e v erythin g in h i s

,

power to reconcile them ; a n d eve n went to lodge at the

HOtel d es A mbassadeurs i n order to be n ear to his ,

mother an d t o S peak to her m ore frequently

, .

At length he extor te d a pro m se from her that s h e i

,

would li v e on good te rms with the c a rdi n a l ; an d to co m

p i e t e the reconc ilia t ion it wa s agre ed that the ki ng shoul d
,

bring the car din a l and his niece De C om ba l e t on the 1 1 th

, ,

o f N ovember
’
at ele v en o clock in the morning i nto the
, ,
QU A RRRLs or THE QU EE N -M O THER AND R I C HEL I E U . 1 81

quee n s chamber i n order that she might evince that s h e

’

entertained no m a li ce towards them The queen desired .

that the niece should enter firs t ; but when she went to
thr o w herself at the feet of her maj esty to thank her for ,

the favour s h e had granted her the queen instead o f , ,

pardoning her be g an to load her with abuse b efo r e t he

, ,

kin g ; and C om ba l e t left her bathed in tear s at the u n , ,

expected treatme nt she had met with The king did a l l .

i n his power to appease his mother whose transports of ,

r age he said gave h i m great pain But in the hopes that

, , .
,

s h e had exhausted her passio n and would behave more ,

kindly to the cardinal he went to fetch him , .

The card inal who was in a neighbouring apartment

, ,

s a w by the coun tenance o f his niece a s s h e passed through , ,

‘

th a t s h e had not met wi t h a pleasant reception and w a s ,

confirmed in h i s suspicion on entering t he closet o f t he

queen to find anger and vexatio n depicted on her cou n
,

ten a n c e A s soon as he approached her s h e launched ou t

.
,

into all kinds o f invectives s h e said he wa s a vill a in —a n ,

ungrateful mali gnant man — the wretched disturber o f

, ,

th e public peace ; and turning to the k i ng s h e added , ,

There stands the man who would willingly deprive you of

your cr own to place i t on the head of the Count de Soissons
, ,

who is to marry his niece La C om ba l et Upo n this the

, .

kin g interposed and said the cardinal w a s a man of worth

,

a n d honour who served him faithfully and with whom

, ,

he was well satisfied He told her that s h e afflicted h i m

.

very much ; t hat she g ave h i m great pain ; an d that he

coul d not express t he extreme displeasure he felt at her
conduct He added everything he could think of to
.

soft e n her ; but the queen s passion continuing to rise ’

wi th the persuasions he employed to appeas e i t he told ,

the cardi nal to wi thdraw ; and Richelieu retired with a .

conviction that the au thority of the queen would prevail ,

and that he shoul d be compelled to leav e the court The .

king remained some time with hi s mo ther and gave h er ,

1 82 L OUI S A N GR Y W I TH H I S M O THER .

to understand that he was shocked at the violenc e O f her

behaviour an d was surprised she should allow her passion
,

to govern her S O fearfully The queen however was not .

, ,

appeased by all he said but dism issed from her service both ,

La C om ba l et her tire -woman and the Marquis de la Meil

, ,

l er a y e the capt a in o f her guards because they were rela

, ,

tions of the cardi n al .

A t le n gth the king extremely angry that his mothe r ,

should not only break her word with him but treat h i m ,

with great disrespect left the apartme n t saying she had , , ,

tried his patience too severely He asked St S imon who . .

,

had been present what he thought Of all this and the, ,

favourite replied he had fancied h imself to be in another

,

world but that cer tainly h i s maj esty was ma ter

, , Yes ,
s
.
,

I a m m a s ter , exc a l i m e d th e Ici ng , a nd I wi l l l e t th e wo r ld

s ee th a t I I n fac t he very soon after acted more
a m ,

like a master than a s on ; an d it might be an d indeed w a s ,

said that he seemed to consider his obli g ations to the

,

cardinal i n finitely superior to the natural duties he owed

to his parent .

St Simon con trived to i n form the cardin a l he had

.

nothing to fear and accompanied the king to the HOtel

,

d es Ambassadeurs where that prince shut t in g himself up

, ,

wi th his favourite commanded that he S hou l d be denied

,

to e v erybody Havin g unbutto n ed his doublet he thre w

.
,

himself upon the bed and told St Simon he felt as if h e , .

were on fire : hi s mother he said by her indomitable oh , ,

s ti n a c y and the shameful manner in which she had treated

,

the cardinal in his presence a n d against the promise she

, ,

had given hi m had s o disconcerted hi m that he could find

, ,

rest nowhere She wanted to deprive him of a minister

.

o f extr a ordinary capacity and wh o wa s of the grea t est ,

service to him in order to put in h i s place peopl e who

,

were un worthy o f it an d quite incapable of its du t ies ; ,

but when s h e had conceived bad impressions Sh e was n o t ,

susceptible of reason He after wards asked St Simo n . .

184 . D AY or THE D U PE S .

of co urti ers that wa s repairi n g to the Lu xembourg to ,

felicitate the quee n mother upon her hav in g ruined the

-

cardinal which only served to s trengthen the suspicion

,
’

he had for some t i me formed — that the queen mother s,

-

purpose wa s to reign independently O ur readers will .

o bserve that in o n e thing kin g queen cardinal and

, , , ,

co urtiers were a l l a greed — the poor weak ki n g w a s

,

capable of reignin g by himself His s on was not so O l d .

a s he w a s ,when he firmly seized the re i ns that fell from

th e hands o f a deceased minister a n d proudly told his ,

courtiers he wa s from that time h i s o wn master Some .

were fortunate i n this conj uncture St Simon a ppears . .

to have had a ll the qual ities for his post he gave Marshals
B a s s o m p i er r e and C r e qu i a n d the Duke de Montmorenci
, ,

a hi nt not to be forward in o ffering their worship to the

star that wa s said to be rising ; that of the cardinal wa s
not yet s et Still the number o f cred u lous courtiers wa s
.

s o great that that day was ever after known as l a j ou r n ée

,

d es D u p es — the day of the dupes because the e n e m ies of

, ,

th e car d in al were all made dupes .

The king havin g arrived at Versailles the cardinal very ,

q u ickly j oin ed him and throwi ng himself at his fee t

, ,

thank ed hi m a s th e bes t th e m os t cons ta n t a n d th e m os t

, ,

i n d u lg en t m a s ter th a t e ver th e s u n h a d s h on e up o n The .

king replied that he knew he had in him a g ood servan t

, ,

o f so g reat a capacity and o f such extraordinary fideli t y ,

that he thought it his du ty to protect him ; so much t he

more for i ts being an evidence of t he respect a n d gratitude
he ought to entertain for t he queen his mo t her I f he .

had conducte d himsel f otherwise he would have aban ,

d on e d him .He had determined to protect him against

the cabal whi ch was united for his destruction by abusing ,

the goodness and warm feeli ngs of the queen h i s mother .

He S hould continue he added to ser v e him and h e

, , ,

wou l d support him ag ainst a l l who had conspired for his

ru in The car d inal wh o wa s never at a lo s s for tears whe n
. ,
 D AY OF THE D U P E S . 1 85

he w a n ted them thr ew himself again weepin g at the

, , ,

feet of the k ing and began by saying

, He could no t ,

a ccept the honour of remai ning near his maj esty for fear ,

of being t he occasion o f a scandalous division between a

s on an d his mother He would seek s ome so li t u de where
. ,

he could conceal hi mself and where he co u ld weep over , ,

for the rest o f his d a ys th e misfortu ne of having appear ed to

,
”
be an ingr ate tow a rds his benefactress A fter saying this .
,

he kissed the kin g s feet a n d rose The king posi t ively

’

, .

comm a n ded hi m to rem a i n in h i s ser v ice exactly a s he ,

had done : it was h i s will he said and he would be , ,

obeyed The cardinal still urged the same reasons for his
.

departure ; but the king told him it wa s not t he queen ,

but such and such persons whom he named who were the , ,

orig inators of this disturban ce he would n ot for g et them ,

and they should feel he did not He repeated that he .

w ould protect him a gai nst all that he w o u ld b e obeyed , ,

an d that the world S ho uld be made a cquai n ted with the

cause of these broil s .

A fter this t he king dismissed a ll that were present

, ,

except S t S i mo n an d the Cardin a l de la Valette sent for

.
,

Bulli on an d Bo u thi l li er and resolved to give the seals i m

,

mediately to Ch a teau neuf O rders ha d been gi v en to Ma .

r il l a c who held them to come to G latigny near Versailles

, , ,

and he fed himself with the fancy th at this was a mark o f

t he kin g s confidence unt il the m orrow whe n La Vil le aux
’

, ,
-

Clercs came on the part of the king to demand the seals

, ,

o f hi m , and he was taken to prison at Ch a t eaudun I t .

was soon known in Paris what had t ranspired a t Versaill es

and the queen -mother who only the day before w a s s u r
,

rounded by fl a tter in g courtiers found herself al one i n , ,

neglected solitude in her p alace of the Luxembour g

,
.

The cardinal perfectly reas sured wi th regard to hi s

,

positio n wi th the kin g s et about his reven g e upon those

,

who had meditated his ruin wi t h a l l the vindictiveness of ,

hi s n at ur e The two brothers De Marill ac were the first

.
,
186 RI C H E L i E U P RE PA RES F OR REVE N GE .

and the keeper of the seals being already in prison there ,

o n ly remained the marshal wh o was wi t h the army i n ,

I taly A courier wa s despatched to Marshal Schomberg

.
,

to arrest him and send him prisoner to France ; whic h

was executed t he day the courier arrived without creatin g ,

any sensation in t he army .

The greatest enemies the cardinal had about the queen s ’

person were the Princess de Conti and the Duchesses

d O r n a n o and d E l boeu f They were perfectly unanimous
’ ’
.

in the hatred they bore hi m and i n the pains they took ,

to make him odious to the queen mother O ne of them - .

,

at least wa s al ways with her s o that no opportunity was

, ,

lost to exasperate her against the minister and to render ,

a reconciliatio n with his benefactres s improbable The .

Duchess d E l boeu f was irritated against him on account

’

o f his long persecutio n o f the house of Vi n c l é m e an d

the t wo others on account o f the inj ury he did the duke
,

o f Guise by wishing to deprive hi m of the p ost of admiral

,

o f the Levant which he held in h i s quality o f go v ernor of

,

P rovence The cardinal pretended tha t the o fli c e be

.

longed to him a s master of the nav igation an d commerce

o f France ; and the duke o ffered to exchange wit h him

for any oth er em pl oy or e v en to make him a present of

, ,

it bu t wou l d not c e d e it to him as a matter of rig ht O n the

,
.

contrary the car di nal wo u ld n either exchan g e for it nor

,

accept it but in sisted upon his j ust claim to it

, .

The queen -mother after her violent outbreak of the

,

day of St Martin not onl y refused to allo w the cardinal to

.
,

interfere in her pri v ate a fl a ir s but wo u ld not meet him at ,

the co u ncil A t length however by the persuasion of

.
, ,

Cardinal Bagni she consented to s e e him at the firs t

,

co u ncil that should be held pro v ided it was in the apar t ,

men t s of the queen regnant She likewi se insisted upon

- .

the brothers Maril lac bein g s et a t li berty that t he kin g ,

should promise not to al lo w Mon sieur to marry the prin

cess of Mantua without her consent and t hat n o exc ep ,
1 88 GA ST ON RE T U R N S To C OU RT .

a ffair of the m arriage of Monsieur and the car din al p r o

tested that on the contrary he had supported her wishe s
, ,

w i th the king as warmly a s possible A t length the .

queen aft er having said several other thi ngs concluded

, ,

by observing that her future conduct would be governed

by h i s ; s h e shoul d behave towards him as he behaved
towards her The cardin a l as if ou t of respect r eplied
.
, , ,

“
that there was n o proportio n betwee n servants and
masters an d that a s for himself he should never fai l in ,

h is duty towards her and would n eglect n othing that

,

coul d contribute to her satisfaction .

A ft er this interview the queen -mother m et the cardinal

,

two or three t i mes at council but bein g thoroughl y ,

a cquainted with his vindictive disposition s h e ceased to ,

attend an d absolutely refused to s ee him for fear of

, ,

o ffending the few friends who had declared themselve s

for her a gainst the minister

, .

Monsieur h a d again appeared at court and o f cours e , , ,

soon wa s engaged in the cabals that were g oing o n He .

pretended to be reco ncil ed to the cardinal but would n o t ,

at first s ee him The king however i nsisted u p on hi s

'

.
, ,

meeting him an d he did s o with the consen t o f his

, ,

mother wh o hoped by dissembling he might the more

, , ,

c fiec tu a ll y succeed i n ruining the mi n ister The duke .

,

like a ll weak characters in hi g h places was never wi t hou t ,

favour ites his present ones being Puyl aurens and Coig
,

n eu x . These men to forward their o wn purposes per

, ,

s u a d e d the du ke to promise to depe n d entirely o n th e

king s kindn ess ; they even induced h i m to promise his

’

pro t ection to the cardi nal on a l l occasions par t icularly i n ,

connection wi th hi s mother .

These ad ven t urers at length becoming dissatisfie d pre ,

va iled upon the duke with whom the ir wishes were laws
, ,

to return to the party of the quee n mother ; but finding -

the minister thought them unworthy of notice of any

ki n d they endeavoured to pers uade the duke to leave th e
,
 e G A ST O N RET I RE S To O RLE AN S . 1 89

court thinking that he a n d they by such a proceeding

, , ,

woul d the more read ily gain all they wished The .

prince however agreed wi t h his mother that she had

, ,

be tter remain at court to support h i s interests whilst he

, ,

would be busy caballing i n some o f the prov inces She .

e v en made over to him the very v a l uable j ewels s h e had

inherited from her husband and of w h ich s h e s tood i n ,

such real need at a later pe riod .

Having formed this resolution he waited upo n th e ,

cardinal at h i s hotel i n Paris and told h i m that he had ,

been persuaded h is eminence would serve h im when occa

sio n presented its elf ; but find in g he did not keep hi s
promise he came for the p u rpose of withdrawing his own
, ,

o f gi v ing him his protection The cardinal asked him i n

.

wha t he had been wantin g in fulfilling his word The .

prince replied that he had done no t hing in fa v our of the

,

duke of Lorraine and that it wa s very e v ident he h a d

,

ab a ndoned the interests of the queen -mother He added .

that he was abou t to retire to his own a ppanage and that ,

if he were annoyed he knew how to defend himself

, .

Gett ing into his carriage he s et off at once for O rleans

, ,

whils t the c a rdin al went to i n form the kin g of what ha d

p assed .

The retirement of the duke appeared strange to every

body because he wa s not il l treate d at court ; and the
,
-

king was v ery angry with the queen mother for havin g -

consented to this extravagant s t ep althou g h s h e strongly ,

“
denied it The c a rdinal wa s accustomed to s a y he had
.
,

three masters the king the queen mother an d the duke

, ,
-
,

of O rleans all o f whom he wished to serve ; but each I n

,

their rank it be ing unjus t that the last should pass before
,

”
the first He pro t ested to be always disposed to serve the
.

queen mother ; an d a s it w a s generally believed t hat the

-

m isunderstandin g between them was t he cause o f the mis

conduct of Monsieur the kin g be came s o exceedingl y
,

anxio us to reconcile them that his m other appeared to ,

1 90 M A RY D E ME D I C I AN D R I CHEL I E U ’
.

yield to h i s entreaties She des ired her physician to i n

.

form Marshal Schomberg o f her intention but S h e

i nsisted upo n not bein g forced to take back into her ser
vice any of the persons s h e had dismissed ; to w hi ch the
cardinal readily consented .

An d now the cardinal began to s et seriously about on e

o f the blackest actions o f his life He could not enj oy
.

divided power ; whilst he was an unnoticed man and the ,

queen was a t the helm o f the state it had been all very ,

well to profess himself the humble servant of her who

could exalt his destiny but he had brou g h t the mind o f
the king into such a s t ate of subj ec t io n that he felt there
was no obs t acle to his obtaining paramo u nt authority but ,

the pride and wil l o f his benefactress Both Mary de .

Medici and Richelie u knew that Louis was incapable o f

reigning alone ; Mary wished to retai n the power she had
enj oyed durin g her son s minority and Richelieu wa s
’

determined to wrest it from her : Mary s Obj ect was what ’

S he thou g ht nature and habitual exercise o f authority

'

entitled her to ; Richelieu s wa s ambi t ion to gr atify

’

whi ch he did not hesitate ungratefull y to sacrifice her wh o

,

had assisted him s o fa r on the road to his wishes From .

thi s period his conduct towards her i s a tissue o f malig

n ant cunning and cruelty he seemed to think it a life and -

death s t ru g g le bet ween them and that every m ethod w a s

,

j ustifiable which could lead to the d is c om fitu r e of h i s

advers a ry We will o ffer no comment upon the melan
.

c h ol y termination o f the conflict t i ll we come to it i n the

,

course of our n arrative .

The cardinal advised the king to g o to Compiegne and ,

to try to persuade his mother to fol lo w him thi ther be ,

cause Paris wa s not a place in which they could reduce

her by authority to do what they wi shed That princess .

was very much beloved in the capital and the cardinal w a s,

equally ha t ed there s o that that wa s not a place in which

he co uld safely come to extr emities with her The queen .
,
1 92 TH E C A R D I NA L S O P INION S’
.

prosperity o f that country either by Open wars or secre t ,

intrigues ; by which intrigues it was made evident that

the two queens and the duke of O rleans were discontented ,

and united in S howing that t hey w ere s o The parlia .

0

ments th e nobles and the people took advantage o f thes e

, , ,

circumstances to endea v our to weaken the royal a u th o

,

rity Cour t cabals women and the English had but

.
, , ,

recently put all France in a blaze but the present faction

,

was much str onger because the rank of the women was,

more exalted an d their number greater ; Spain too was

, ,

in a better state to act an d E ngland had not failed to ,

interfere since they were i n possession of certain proofs

,

tha t she had furnishe d the malcontents with m oney .

The duke of Lo rraine likewise was of the cab a l S in ce he

, , ,

had done everything i n his p ower to prevent the r a ti fic a

tion o f the treaty o f Ra ti s bon n e The house o f Gu ise .

a n d the parliaments worked upon the same foundation ,

a n d constantly endeav o ured to incite the people to fresh

disturbances Biscaras who had married a niece of the

.
,

M a r ill a c s and wa s governor of Verdun had refused to

, ,

place that city in the han d s o f h is maj esty h Op in g by , ,

that insolence to Obtain the release o f the marsh a l

, .

An d all this h a s been done becaus e the queen mother -

”
is dissatisfied and keeps up a cabal in the court
, .

The cardinal added tha t whil st foreigners were able to

,

maintain a factio n in the court and should s ee the duke of ,

O rleans absent himself from it till he foun d a favourable

opportunity for doing as he wished they had it i n their ,

po wer to t hwart all the designs o f the crown and would ,

k eep up the cabals which were formed in any part of the

‘

kingdo m ; thus peace with foreigners would becom e i m

possible and concord at home wa s not to be looked for
, ,

because foreig n war fomented i ntern al discords There .

was n obody but the king that could fin d a remedy for all
this an d select the person that cou l d cu r e the e v i l He
, .

felt assured that the whole of th e qu ee n -mother s thought s ’

 ’
THE C ARD INA L S H A R A N G U E . 1 93
’
were bent upon h i s the cardinal s destruction an d that
, , ,

s h e woul d never overcome or get rid o f that pas sion : th e

duke of O rleans l ikewise whilst he considers the quee n,

mother l ikely to succeed will unite h i s endeavours with

,

hers A S long a s matter s at home were in this state it wa s

.
,

impossible to put an end to foreign di fficulties or to provid e ,

’
for the necessities of his maj esty s govern ment Fresh mal .

c ontents woul d be formed eve r y day and eve n those most ,

i n teres ted in the service of the king would put forth extra
vagant pretension s By concealing or evadin g it the evil
.
,

woul d become S O great that it woul d be incur able : during

,

the leas t indisposition of hi s maj esty the malcontents mi gh t ,

r ender themselves masters of the perso n o f th e kin g and th e

authority of the s tate wi thout the best an d most faithful

,

s e rvan ts o f the crow n having any recompense or c on fi ,

dence of security on a ccount of the worship that wo uld be

,

o ffered to the ri sing s u n The same thing mi g ht happe n

.

in consequence of the first i n stance o f ill success i n any of -

hi s maj esty s designs s in ce it wo ul d n ot fa i l to be impute d

’

to those wh o had m a de every e ffort to prevent it In .

such circumsta n ce s the faithfu l s ervan ts of the king woul d

be at t he mercy of women whose an ger is k n ow n to be ,

i mplacable . Le Coig n e u x wa s not a m a n to keep with in

the bounds of moderation and wa s on e wh o wou l d neve r ,

believe h ims e l f safe whils t any on e in the i nter es ts of th e

”
first minister were left alive .

The artful min ister a fte r having a wake n ed the fears of

,

the king i n th is man ner contin ued by s aying : I f on ,

“
,

the contra r y a speedy end were put to these co urt di s

,

tur ba n c es by t he means whi ch might appear most saluta ry

to his maj esty the ill -will Of the malcontents woul d at
,

once be deprived of e ffect and wi th ti m e they might be , , ,

brought to re a son Weak remedie s o n ly irri t ate g r eat

.

evi ls but str ong one s either cure or remove them ; a n d to

,

apply these it wa s not nec essary to have r e c o urs e to eithe r

,

fir e or s word In the p rese n t co nj un cture they mus t

.

0
1 94 H I S E X PE D I E N T S .

either make peace wi th foreigners or con cili a te the qu ee n

,

mother an d the duke of O rleans : either he the cardi n a l , ,

must be dismissed from hi s o ffice or the persons who ,

sug g e sted thoughts contrary to the welfare of the s tate

must be remo v ed from the perso n of the queen ; her
m aj esty must likewise be requested to abse nt herself for
some t ime from the court lest her presence S hou l d main
,

tain the evil even without her w i sh ; Monsieur be i ng

,

absent whilst she remained dissatisfied at court it ,

would be almos t imp ossible to put an end to the

cabals .

The cardin a l havi n g proposed these expedients a s if to ,

give the king a choice of the person he should find most

fit continued : A S for peace with foreigners it was not
, ,

to be hoped for wh ilst these internal divisions lasted o f ,

which they would not fail to take advantage ; besides

which it would be necessary to conclude it instantly and
, ,

that co uld not be done without shamefu lly abandonin g the

interests of the all ies o f the state whi ch wo ul d not be a
,

r emedy but another evil ; n ot a solid peace but the co m

, ,

”
m en c em e n t o f a fresh war A ccording to him likewis e
.
, ,

it wa s impossible to come to an understandin g with M on

s ieu r because they who were masters o f hi s mind were
,

a l toge ther insa tiable and would n ever be contented till

,
”
they were absolute m a sters The car d in a l exa g gerated
.

their ill -c onduct ; and then com i ng to the queen s a id :

, ,

“
It wa s equally impossible to expect reconci liatio n with
her women being natu rally vin dictive ; and the queen not
,

o nly di ssimulative but of a countr y and family that rarely

,

pardoned The services he the c a r dinal had rendered

.
, ,

the king and the state would have n o i nfluence to prevent

that princess from proceedi ng to extremities against him .

The prayers of the kin g had proved u seless ; s h e h a d

n ever kept the promises s h e had frequently made him to
live on good terms with h is m ini ster and S he n ever would ,

keep those s h e might m ak e for the fut ur e She would .

1 96 O FFER S TO RET I RE .

r espectfully a s possible Measures must be tak e n to s u r

.

mount all the obstacles which persons o f hi g h considera

tion might oppose to it ; because to commence such a n
,

a ffair without carrying it through would be much worse

,

than if it had never been attempted There was no doubt

.

the kingdom would think the remedy a violent on e ,

because few people were aware of how many and great

evils the state would be freed from by it : All would be
attributed to the first minister ; but that wa s an i n c on ve
n i en c e only to be despised as the sur geon who amputate s
,

an arm p ays little attention to the loss of blood th at may

ensue I f he only thought of himself he ne v er S hould
.
,

hav e resol v ed to propose this expedient because every ,

body would believe that revenge wa s his only motive ,

whilst he wa s really actuated by a desire for the good of

the state ; and a thousan d satires would be wri tt e n a g ainst
hi m . I f he only considered his o wn person he should ,

prefer the risk o f perishi ng without being S landered to ,

placing himself in security by drawing u po n himself the

censure o f the whole kingdom ; but if the welfare of the
sta t e an d the preservation of the king s au thori ty and
,
’

person required it to be thus he would devote hi msel f

, ,

to wha t ever his maj esty a n d h is counci l might thi n k

”
proper .

He fin ished this artful haran gu e by requesting permis

sion of the kin g to re sig n his ministry in case his maj esty
,
”
S hould adopt his ad vice because he said the cabal
, ,

being dispersed the other min isters would be in a condi

,

t ion to ser v e him a s before without havin g anything to

,

fear . He further adde d that the mind of the quee n

,

m o t her wo u l d be the soo n er calmed from finding herself

no lon g er able to do mischief ; an d that they who incited
her being kept away from her would think seriously of
,

recon cili n g themselves with the court That forei g ners .

,

be ing no lon ger able to take advantage o f domestic di s

cor ds wo uld be a nxio us for pe a ce for their own interest
, .
 A GREEME N T OF THE C OUN C I L . 97

In short time a ll hi s maj esty s a ffairs wo u ld r es ume ’

a ,

their ordinary train an d terminate happily but without

,

that there woul d be great risk of their going ill : and if

they did g o ill he should be very sorry n ot to have d i s
,

c har ged hi s conscience by discovering the veritable cause .

I n short justice wa s ma nifestly o n the side of the k i ng

, ,

a n d he would have the a pprobatio n o f the public a s long

a s hi s meas ures succeeded ; but tha t could not possibly

c onti n ue to be the case if the r oot s of a ll the factions were
,
”
n ot boldly eradicated .

All the council a pplau ded the m i niste r a n d a ss u red the ,

ki ng that h i s advice wa s the only on e he co uld foll ow .

There wa s but on e thin g i n which they did n ot agree with

the cardinal and that wa s h i s r esignation whi ch they
, ,

con sidered not a s a n innoce nt means of appeasin g the

public m in d but a s a dangerous a n d impracticable
,

r emedy . A s reg a rded the bani shment of the quee n

m other the coun ci l wo uld n ot ventur e to express their
,

Opinion reserving to themselves the glory o nl y of Obey

in g his maj esty a s soo n a s he sho uld have made u p hi s
,

m ind on the subj ect .

The king adopted Witho ut hesitation the plan of , ,

banish in g his mother from the court ; an d he resolved to

leave her at Compiegne under a good gu ar d after havin g , ,

once more bffer e d her by Father S ufl r en that which s h e

’

, ,

h a d so often refused She did n ot fail to rej ect it again

.
,

bein g as obstinate a s ever ; a n d on the 2 3 r d of February , ,

the court left early in the morni ng without any c om m u

n i ca ti o n to the queen The king left at Compiegne .

Marshal d E s tr é es with eight companies of his guards

’

, ,

fifty men -a t arms a n d fifty light horse giving h im

-
, ,

orders to keep g uard at the gates of the c a s tle and of the

city with as many soldiers a s he Sho uld think necessar y ;
,

to require the Pri ncess de Cont i to depart for Eu i n ,

N ormandy without permitting her to s ee the queen or

, ,

to pas s thr ou g h Paris ; and if the queen mother wished -

1 98 THE QU EE N LEFT AT C O MP I E G N E .

to follow the court or go elsewhere to tell her he h a d

, ,

express orders from the king to beg her to w a it till s h e

knew hi s pleasure on the subj ect .

A S soo n a s she knew that the cour t wa s gone without

her and that she was surrounded by guards the quee n
, ,

broke o u t into violent invectives ag a inst the car dinal ; but

a s there was no remedy s h e w a s obliged to have patience
, .

She wrote sever a l times to the kin g to j ustify herself a n d ,

to complain ; but the king beset by the cardinal and hi s ,

creatures did not allow hi m self to be touched by anything

,

s h e urged The cardin a l wished to make her leave

.

Compiegne which he thou ght to be too near Paris and

, ,

to send her to Mo u li n s in the B ou r bon n oi s o r to A ngers ; ,

a n d s h e wa s even o ffered the government of either o f

these provinces But she positively refused and raised a

.
,

thousand obj ection s which he tried i n vain to remove ;

,

because the more earnest he wa s to make her change her

,

a bode , the m ore fir m S he became in her resolutio n to

remain at Compiegne I n the mean ti me s h e was treated
.
,

with much extern a l respect and was allowed to walk an d ,

ride freely The soldiers eve n were removed to the ou t

.

side of the city in order t hat Sh e might not be reminded

, ,

by the sight of them that s h e wa s a prisoner ; but the

,

avenues to it were all well guarded fo r fear s h e S ho ul d ,

escap e .

There i s on e cir cumstan ce that strikes u s forcibly on

coming to this conclusio n o f o n e of the great events of
’
Richelieu s life ; and that is the readiness with which the ,

kin g gave his consent to the b a n ishment o f his mother .

Hers was a strong dominati n g mind ; his wa s an imbecile

, ,

timid on e : s h e h a d perhaps abused her natural position

, , ,

by governing him too comple tely durin g hi s youth ; a n d

made the mistake of thi nk ing s h e ought to govern hi m
whe n he beca m e a man But habit her rank affection .
, , ,

his weakness and her energy had all conspired to make

, ,

h er deeply r espected a n d eve n fe a r ed by hi m

, Till this .
200 RETR O S PECT I VE GL A N C E .

we o nly re iterate that we have exam in ed i t an d that

ca n ,

o u r convicti on is with regard to the queen and perhaps

, , , ,

D E p er n on that there is no fou ndation for the accusation

’
.
,

Henry I V and hi s w i fe certainly did n ot live on the best

.

terms ; and the fault wa s more h is than hers He wa s .

n ever easy till s h e had s o far humbled herself as to allo w

a hau g hty accepted mistress whose relations as well as her
, ,

s elf had entertai ned hopes O f royalty to live in the sa m e ,

’
palace with her and share her honou r s and her husband s
,

a ttentions . A nd when this m istress was gone it wa s a ,

galling thing for a young woman to be told by her elderly ‘

husband of more than fifty that a nother rival wa s comin g ,

to reign over her at least i n his a ffections

, The Princess
, .

de Cond é will be here in less than a week madam said ,

the ever -amorous m onarch with undisguised delight But ,

.

the history of Mary de Medici does not reveal the character

o f a woman lik ely to be s o a ffec ted by j ealousy as t o lead

her to mu rder She was very un like Henry s first wife

.
’

M arguerite de Va l ois : if s h e was an ambitious woman ,

S he was n ot the S lave of sexual passions We cannot find .

a spot in that part o f her character I n addition to this .

in ternal evidence we may add that there i s nothing bey ond

,

s urmise to fix the crime upon her She wa s hasty violent .

, ,

passiona te we a dmit ; but such a r e not the n atures that are

,

bloodthirsty She hated the cardinal and would hav e

.
,

hurled him from p ow er bu t we do not believe that S h e would

,

have shed eve n h i s blood I t is said then that the young

.
, ,

kin g wa s kept i n i gn orance of this report and that Riche ,

l ieu imparted it to him at this period ; as a fact in order to

, ,

create in him an abhorrence for h i s mother as the murderer

Of his father NVe have no m eans o f a scertaining the
.

truth o f this Ri chelieu wa s quite capable Of employing

.

s uch mean s ; but we do n ot thi nk the s tory n ec es s a r y 1n ,

o rder to accoun t for the ki n g s conduct

’
Louis had become .

the slave to the gen ius of the car dinal and from that ,

m oral degr adatio n n aturall y e n sued a n i n creased love of

 THE C A R D I NA L S S OU R C E ’
OF P O WER . 20 1

self a n d a perfect apathy a s to the happiness o f others .

So long as he was left in the e nj oymen t o f hi s coarse

minded amusements and had an humble favouri t e to
,

caress and fondle he cared for n either n atural affection s

,

nor du t ies The ca rdinal s empire over himself an d his

.
’

kingdom secured him qu i et and rendered labour an d ,

anxiety unnecessary it m ay be easily imagined that such

a s t ate of min d would obli t erate his sense of duty to h i s
mother wi thout i ts bein g necessary to stain her with an
,

imputa t ion of murder His conduct to the beautiful

.

A nne o f Au stria his wife wa s governed by the same

, ,

selfish cold blooded a pathy Though himself insensible

,
- .
,

by cons t it ution to the power o f love j ealousy wa s almost

, ,

th e only strong passio n to which he w a s keenly ali ve ;

which is in comple t e keeping wi th the rest of his character .

Th i s was the ful crum the cardinal used with respect to

Mary de Medici ; although incompetent to exercise power ,

Louis was meanly j ealous of it : Richelieu tau g ht him that

his mo ther not only wanted to rei g n but to let the world see ,

that she rei g ned whereas the cardinal was sa tisfied with
rei g ning more despotically than Mary could have done in ,

the n ame of the king whom he made responsible for even h i s

,

worst ac t s of cruelty : Louis preferred wisely as he thou ght , , ,

the shadow O f power to no power at a ll an d the card inal s ,

’

Machiav elian policy w a s triumphant over Mary s bold and ’

Open v iolence I n the period Sh e stood in need of friends

.
,

Mary h a d not on e capable of con te n d in g with her enemy

o n any point Gaston her n atural a l ly wa s the worst
.
, ,

enemy any cause could hav e into which he entered as a ,

friend His posi t ion m ade him formidable to the cardinal ;

.

a s a man he must have despised him

, The cold sel fish .
, ,

hau g hty D E p er n on was past serv ice ; Con d é from hi s

’

known lo v e of money was always to be bou g ht ; the

,

M a r ill a c s were sacrifice d so was the g allan t Mon tmorenci ;

,

the game was a l l in Richelieu s h a n ds and h e wa s not the ’

m an to S pare h i s anta gonist .

20 2 I MPR I S O N ME N T OF RAS S O M RI E RRE .

The duchesses d O r n a n o and d E lboeu f received in ’ ’

stant orders to depart from cour t and M arsh a l Ba s s om ,

pierre without being accused of a nythin g but a warm

,

attachment to the P rincess de Conti was sent to the ,

Bastille where he remained up to the period of the

,

c a rdin al s death Ba s s om p i er r e s real O ffence was having

’
.
’

refused Richelieu the protection of the Swiss on the day

o f the Dupes An d yet thi s sufficient excuse was not the
.

only thing that made Ba s s om p i er r e hatefu l to Richelieu .

The marshal s nature was entirely opposite to his A

’

good soldier an able diplomatist a man of education

, , ,

B a s s om p i er r e possessed in additio n a fund of bo n h om i e ,

and cheerful conversational wit which made him accept

, ,

able to the king A taste for such a companion as the

.

marshal might have had a n e ffect upon Lou is character ’

a n d have engendered li beral views ; whereas it w a s the

cardi nal s p olicy to feed and cherish all the dark sul len
’

propensities of the king s disposition Vau t ier the queen ’

.
,

mother s physician who had been on e o f t he cardinal s

’

,
’

principal enemies was also sent to the Bastille n otwi th

, ,

standing t he queen s earnest entreaty for his professional

’

attendance She was told she might command his serv ices
.
,

but only on condition that S h e would retire to Moulins .

We are constan t ly remin ded of Lo uis exclamation on the ’

death of the cardinal There i s a great politician dead

most of Richelieu s actions may be defended on the plea
’

Of policy scarcely one of them on the score of humani ty

, .

What could be more paltry than this refusal of the

a ttendance of her physician u nl ess S h e complied with his ,

politic wish ? We should remember s h e was a queen the

'

m other of a king and had rei g ned as a regen t ; and s h e

,

was requ i red to bow to the will of her o wn creature .

The duke of O rleans who had be g u n to make some ,

preparations for taking up arms and holdin g the ci ty of ,

O rleans by force findin g the king was approachin g before

,

he was prepar ed left it suddenly in the month of March

, ,
20 4 TH E P AR L I A ME N T REPR O VED .

priva te affairs and n ot upon affairs of state o f which the

, ,

kin g reserved the cog n i zance to himself When it was .

question o f the tri al of a prince a duke or a n o fficer of , ,

the crown for malversations in the administrat ions of t he

,

finances or of a ffairs Of sta t e the king must address a

, ,

particul ar commission to the parliament to ex t en d its ,

j urisdiction to that case or he would himself appear in ,

person to authorize these extraordinary proceed i ngs I t

, .

wa s true that in order to form a j ud g m ent upo n a com

,

m ission it wa s n ecessary to take cognizance o f the cause

,

but when the obj ect w a s to con firm a declaration whic h ,

a l ways allows criminals a certain ti me to retu rn to the i r

duty there was no occasion for any deliberation All

,
.

which si g nified that the k i ng was desirous of employing

the authority of parliament to destroy the persons who
favoured hi s brother in due form ; but that he wou l d not
,

leave the parliament the power of savin g them if they

were i n noce n t .

The speech of Ch a teaun euf being concluded the king ,

commanded the regi ste r o f the parliament to be brought

to hi m and to have the leaf pointed ou t i n which the
,

deci sion of division of opinion was ente red which he tore ,

ou t wi t h his o wn hand and ordered to be in serted in its

,

place that of the counc il by which the court o f parliament

,

wa s forbidden to deliberate upon declarations rela t i v e to

a fia h s of state under penalty o f interdiction to the coun
,

c ill or s or even severer punishment if deemed n ecessary

, , .

I t wa s further ordered that for the fault committed by,

the cour t of parl i ament the declaration which had been

,

sent should be wi thdrawn and it should be forbidden to ,

take any cogn izance of its contents To m ar k hi s i n dig .

n atio n the k i ng interdicted an d banished tw o presidents

,

a nd a council lor who were however soon after re

, , ,

establ i shed .

And here we cannot r efrai n from mak ing on e of those

c omparison s s o excusable but s o grati fying to the pride o f
 M ON S I E U R AN D THE QU EE N REM ON STR A TE . 20 5

a n Englishman T wo years before this disgraceful ex

.

h ibi ti on in t he Parliament o f Paris C harles I was forced , .

,

greatly again st h i s will by the Parliament o f England to

, ,

pass the Petition o f Righ t s Such events are never u n pr o .

d u cti ve of great consequences in the history o f countries

o n e of these assisted i n leading to the Revolutio n o f 1 6 8 8 ,

th e o t her to t hat of 1 7 9 2 .

U pon heari n g of this Monsieur sent a remon strance to

,

the parliament in which he said he had left the kin g dom

,

o n account o f the violent persecution he had endured from

the Cardinal de Richelieu who had m ade an attempt upon ,

his person as well as upo n that of the queen -mother a s

, ,

prepara t ory s t eps to making a S im ilar atte m pt upon the

person of the king and of rendering himself master of th e
,

kingdom He li kewise pro teste d a g ainst the king s pro

.
’

clamation and demanded reco g nition of h i s pro t est a s

, ,

well a s Of hi s declaration by which he pronounced hi m

self formally a n opponent of the ca rdinal But the kin g .
,

by a decree of council ordered this remonstrance to be

,

suppressed a s cal umnious and iss ued another decree ,

against the procureur of the duke of O rle ans wh o h a d ,

presented it .

The queen -mothe r a l s o sent a remonstran ce to th e

sam e parliament in which s h e decl a red that without
,

having done anythin g a g ai n st the king or the state S he ,

w a s detained at Compiegne under a strict guard She , .

had always s h e said endea voured to preserve peace with

, ,

the princes and the nobles o f the kingdom a s well a s ,

with the ancient allies o f the crown an d to preserve the ,

finances of the country i n a good state whereas A rmand ,

Jean Car d in al de Richelieu had on the contrary en g aged

, , , ,

the king in perpetual wars and had caused him to g o to ,

places in which conta g ious dis t em p ers raged in the heat s ,

o f summer ; he had introduced into h i s maj es ty s min d

’

s uspicions agai nst those most nearly related to hi m a n d ,

a gainst hi s mo s t fai thful s erv a nts hi s in te ntio n wa s to

20 6 M A R Y E S C A PE S FR O M C O MP I EG N E .

r ender hi mself master o f a par t of the kingdom by only ,

placin g in i t creatures subservient to his wil l She also a c .

c u s e d him of other thin s an d requested that in order to

g , ,

save her repu t ation and to make her innocence known to

,

the whole kin gdom a decree should be granted by which it

, ,

might appear s h e w a s anxious to be considered the de

n u n c i a tor of the action s o f the cardin a l and the Opponent ,

o f him and his adherents But the parliament which.

,

had been so roughly treated for deliberat ing upon the

remonstrance of the duke of O rle a ns did not venture eve n ,

to open the quee n s packet but sent it sealed as it was to

’

, , ,

the king .

A short time after u pon learn in g that th e Marshal s

,

Schomberg and D E s tr é es and the Marquis de Brez e were

'

coming to Compiegne with twelve hundred horse to take ,

her from that pl ace by force s h e sought means for making ,

her escape secretly She left Compiegne i n the nigh t

.
,

without being discovered an d went to Chappelle a place

, ,

o n the frontiers o f Picardy where the s on of t he Marquis

,

de Vardes the go v ernor had promised to receive her

, , .

But the cardinal wa s acquainted wi t h her every move

ment and quickly sent the O l d marquis who expelled h i s
, ,

s on from the place and prevented her being received there .

There is e v ery appearance that the c a r dinal was exceed

i n g l y will in g the queen mother should escape as he wa s
-

acquai nted with her intention Of going to La Chappelle

ti me enou g h to prevent her admission to that city he ,

certainly mi g ht have given orders to stop her if he had ,

pleased But it wa s more ad v antageous for him that she

.

S hould l eav e the kingdom ; and the apparent complaisance

o f remo v ing her gu ards was onl y to give the queen mother -

a n opportunity for committing the error which proved s o

i nj urious to her Being informed that s h e would not b e

.

allowed to enter La Chappelle an d knowing no part o f ,

the kingdom in whi ch S he cou ld be secure from the in

exorable vengean ce of the car din al s h e r etir ed i nto ,
20 8 THE C A RD IN A L S P O L I C Y
’
.

the governme n t the mother a n d the brother of the king ,

to raise suspicions o f the quee n hi s wife and to keep at a

,

distance from him all the princes of the blood A s it wa s .

impossible for the cardi nal to undertake to deprive the

k ing Of h i s crown i n order to pl a ce it on his own head
, ,

a n d a s the d uke o f O rleans or other pri n ces o f the blood

might be accused of entertainin g s uch a view the s u s ,

p i c i o u s a n d credulous king wa s taught to mistrust the m

all and after having ill treated them to believe that they
, , ,

were hi s enemies eagerly watchi ng for a fa vou r a bl e opp or

,

tu nity for open ly d eclar in g the m selve s .

C HA P T E R VII .

M ary d e M edi c i i n th e N etherl and s— Intrig ue ag a inst th e duk e of

Guise— W a r ag ains t th e d uk e o f Lorraine— C ap ture o f Pi g n er ol
T reaty wi th L orr a in e Parl iam ent o f P aris rebu k e d Gus tavus
— —

A d ol p hu s C ontinu e d di fier en c e s wi th M on sie u r A nother t reaty

— —

with L orra i ne— T ri a l o f M arshal d e M arill ac E xe c ution o f

—

M arill ac M ontm orenc i— Hum il iation o f th e m a g n a tes Skir m i s h

— fi

o f C as tel nau d ary

— G as ton rec onc il e d - T r ia l cond em nat ion a n d
, ,

e xecution o f M ontm orenc i .

THE cardin a l did n ot fail to ta ke a dvantage o f the c ir

c u m s ta n c e o f t he queen -mother havi n g sought r efu ge i n

the N etherlands ; he convinced the king that if s h e h a d

n ot a good understanding with the Span ia rds s h e would ,

n ot have gon e uninvited i nto their territor i es He had s o .

artfully woven his meshes around the m onarch that from ,

this time he was t he direc to r of every action an d n o on e ,

wa s allowed to approach hi m but such a s would impart

to h im what the cardin al wi s h ed h im to hear a n d n o ,

m ore .

M a ry w r ot e to th e p a r l ia m e n t a n d the p r ovo s t of th e
 THE QU EE N S REM ON S TR AN CE
’
. 20 9

merchants o f Paris protest ing her innocence a n d de

, ,

manding their supp ort against the i ns o l en t m a n who

usurped all authority in France A ft er a charac teristically
.

warm appeal s h e says i f s h e be denied a l l ass i stance i n

, ,

France s h e will lay her cause before the whole o f Chris

,

te n d om. She likewi se wrote in very s trong terms to the

kin g urging him to recall both her and Gas ton at the si g ht
, ,

o f whom at the feet o f their natural mon a rch she predicts

, ,

the guil ty minister would soon fly away She finishes by .

saying : You tell me your a ctions are known to all

“

C h ristendom They may be and favourably a s regards

.
,

war ; but not for your humanity wi t h respect to me ;

for you will renoun ce all claims to it if yo u continue to ,
”
trea t me thus .

I nstead of replying to h i s mother s letter the kin g pub ’

l i s h e d a proclamation filled with the crimes of the queen

mother and the duke of O rleans and the virtues of hi s ,

beloved cousin and counsellor the Cardinal de Richelieu .

A S all the world knew every word wa s o f Richelieu s

’

dictation it surpasses ou r idea eve n of hi s e fir on te r y

, ,

when we read the fulsome praises lavished upon himself .

By this proclamation the queen mother the duke of

,
-
,

O rle a ns and a ll their adherents were deprived even o f

,

means of subsistence ; ever y kin d of property they possessed

was confiscated : the dowry of the queen and the revenues
o f the duke O f O rleans were n o more respected than the

estates of the rebellious nobles The more str ongly to .

pro v e his determina ti o n in this affair or rather the more

“

clearly to show by what prin ciple he wa s guided whi lst ,

he thus reduced t o destitution hi s nearest r elations he ,

appeared to be ne v er tired of heaping benefits of every

kind upon the cardinal His es t ate of Richelieu wa s
.

created a duchy and peera g e a n d a contest arose betwee n

,

the chambers of parliament for t he honour of receiving

him in the qual ity of duk e and peer This at length wa s .

d ecided in favour of the gran d chamber an d he took his ,

1?
2 10 F U RTHER E x A L T ATI O N OF TH E C AR D INA L .

seat accompanied by Condé Mo ntmorenci Chevr e u se

, , , ,

Montbazon De Rets Ventadour the marshals and a

, , , ,

host of the representatives of the old chiva l ric houses of

France From that time he was styled the cardinal -duke
.
,

a s O livarez the kin g o f Spain s first minister wa s called

’

, ,

th e count duke The king likewise bes towed upon h im

- .

the go v ernment of Brittany ; which appointment wa s

consis t ent wi t h the on e he s o strangely held as a cardinal ,

o f s u r in t endant o f n avigation and commerce

- But the .

peculiarity of g over n m en ts at that period was that they ,

bec a me so closely connected with their go v ern ors that ,

the principal city was a place of refuge or safety i n ,

whi ch they very frequently defied even royalty ; and the

great obj ect of Richelieu was to gai n such a security for
h i s person in the even t of a change o f a ffairs at court
, .

A writer Observes up on this : Thus that whi ch wa s a

“

capital cri me in the Huguenots who composed s o con ,

s id er a bl e a part of the state wa s bestowed upon Richelieu

, ,

as a reward for his services a minister might have a city

”
o f refuge th e Hugu enots might n ot
, The Prince de .

Condé who would do anythin g for m oney wa s mean

, ,

enou g h to allow himself to be sent through the provinces ,

to appease the minds of the people who murmured at the ,

excessiv e fa vours bestowed upon the cardinal : he fel t n o

shame at publ ishin g praises of a man who had formerly
imprisoned him and whose fa v our he was never able
,

thoroughly to conciliate Condé a s first prince of the

.
,

blood next to Monsieur cou l d n ot fail to keep a l ive

, ,

the watchfu l j ealousy o f Richelieu The cardin a l wa s .

fortunate i n ha vi ng as heads o f the great houses of Condé

,

and Soissons two very different men from those who

,

illn s tr a te d those n ames in the next rei g n : the great Cond é

and Prince Eu g ene would not have been s o easily dealt
”
with as their immedia t e ancestors were I n L a ng u ed oc . ,

says t he author we have recently quoted h e p r a i s ed h i m ,

i n ter m s wor thy of a m a n i n wa n t of br ea d a n d wh o c ou l d ,

212 JE A L OU SY A G AIN ST TH E D U KE OF G U I SE .

thr one if what he had g ive n was only a small part of th e

,

reward due to him ? We can n ot wonder at the fawn ing

servility of pri v ate indiv iduals or t he extravagant h a u g h c

tin es s of the cardinal after such an e xhibition of meanness

,

i n a prin ce of the blood so proud to all o t hers

, Leclerc .
,

a s we have o bserved on e Of the best biographers of the

,

cardinal has a remarka ble observation upon this speech

,

We may almost fix upon this time as the period of the

extinction of that generous love of truth which formerly ,

made s o to s a y martyrs eve n among Pagans We have

, , .

s een little else in France since the excessive authority o f

the cardinal but extravagant fl a tter i es an d histories

, ,

wr itten on p urpose to a dvance the merit of men an d

objects beyond the truth We suspect that this S haft i s
.

aimed at A u ber y whose voluminous work though v a l uable

, ,

on account of the historical details i s one hymn in praise ,

of the cardinal Voltaire truly characterizes it by saying :

.

”
It is mediocre but much may be learnt from it
, .

The Prince de Condé wa s sent into Pro v ence unde r ,

the pretence o f calling an assembly of the states but in ,

reali ty to ascertain the tone of the public mind to watc h ,

the conduct o f th e duke of Gu ise whom the cardin al ,

hated and to thro w into the shade the authority of the

,

governor o f the province by the dignity of his rank and

,

t he power he had recei v ed from the king The cardin a l .

appoin ted the Marqui s de St Chamond l ieutenant of the .

kin g in Provence for the purpose o f thwarting the duke

,

of Guise in whatever he mi ht undertake against the

g
a uthority of the minister The Prince de Condé wrote to
.

the D u ke de Guise to request him to meet him at Avignon ,

to confer upon a ffairs o f the crown without saying what ,

they were The du ke wa s o ffended at this mode o f pro

.

cee di n g he replied that he could only s ee the prin ce on

the frontiers of Provence and complained to the cardinal ,

o f t he hauteur wi t h whi ch he was treate d The kin g had .

b ee n led to bel ieve th a t the duke kept u p an u nders t a n din g

 G UI SE RET I RES To FL O RE N C E . 213

with the Spaniards and intended to introduce their troops

,

into his go v ernment I t was at t he same t ime said that.

the Duke de Feria ha d received orders to send I talian and

Spanish troops to Barcelona to embark for Provence , .

Whether there was any foundation for this or whether it ,

was a n artifice of his great enemy the kin g by the advice , ,

o f the cardinal ordered the Duke de Guise to come to

,

cou r t He at once refused to Obey because he dreaded

.
, ,

with reason either the Bastill e or the Bois de Vincennes

, ,

a n d as a compromise
, at length obtained pe rm ission o f,

the king to go t o O ur Lady of Loretto and thence to ,

Florence as a g uest of the grand duke

, .

Thi s prince was suspected by the cardinal of hav i ng

s uppli e d the queen mother secretly with money and of
-
,

favouring the Spaniards SO j ealous wa s he that Gondi .

, ,

having bee n to Fl orence where the duke then was upon , ,

hi s private affairs and re turned to France was ordered to

, ,

qu i t that kingdom and with great difficul ty obtained per

,

mission to rema in there I n a long conversation which .

he had with Richelieu the la tter gave him a garbled ,

and g lozin g account of the affair o f the queen mother ; -

from which notwithstan di ng the art w i t h whic h he related

,

it Gondi said he could only g ather what o t her people

,

believed that the cardi n a l had known the queen mother

,
-

wished to escape a n d had afforded her means and O p p or

,

tu ni ty in order to be able to ac cuse her of hav ing

,

intelligence with Spain and prevent the people from ,

being exasperated by her exile The party of that .

princess and Monsieur was extremely weak ; they had

n either friends nor money ; the rigours exercised ag ainst
them had terrified many who would have aided them .

The queen mother cou l d not raise money on her j ewels a s

-
,

i t was feared the king wo u l d claim them as the p roper ty

o f the crown I n order t o confirm the kin g in his i ll wi l l
.
-

towards his mother a strict search wa s made for a l l the,

pers on s whom the quee n had consulted concerning h i s

2 14 E X PE D I T ION A G A I N ST L O RR AIN E .

maj esty s horoscope ; and Senel the kin g s physician a n d

’

,
’

Du Val were condemned to the galleys for having ex

, ,

a m i n e d it and drawn S i nister predictions from it against

,

the li fe Of his maj es ty .

The duke o f O rleans wh o had always kept up a n inte r

,

course with the duke o f Lorraine endeavoured t o persuade ,

him to favour hi s party and that prince got together ,

some troops ei ther for the purpose of taking advan t age o f

,

the distur bances he thought likely to ensue or to defend ,

h i s states against the Swedes who at that time menaced ,

them The cardinal who wa s n o friend of the house of

.
,

Lorraine and who dreaded its aidin g with its p owerful

,

in fluence the cause of Monsieur seized this opportunity of ,

declaring war against the duke Marshals La Forc e an d .

Schomberg were sent into Lorraine with an army a n d ,

were ordered to take several places dependent upon the

bishoprics of Metz Toul and Ver vu n whi ch were said to
, , ,

have bee n usur ped by the du ke of Lorra ine a n d par

ti c u l a r ly to attack Moyenvic which the emperor had ,

seized by the advice a n d with the assistan ce of that

prince .

The kin g and the cardinal intended to make the cam

p a ig n i n person but it wa s in the first place necessary to
, , ,

put in order and cau s e to be executed the proclamatio n

against those who were of the party of the queen mo ther - .

The cardinal feared if this were left to the parliament the

, ,

execution would be tediously prolon g ed because the par ,

l i a m e n t a cted in this case with ill -will an d would pay too ,

much attentio n to forms the members felt that in addi

tion to the dictate s of j ustice they listened to those of
prudence in so acting i t wa s not safe to espouse the an g er
o f t he minister against the duke of O rleans : whil st th e

ki n g remained childless he wa s presumptive heir to th e ,

crown The cardinal t herefore who never loved a n ti

.
, ,

u a te d proceedin s except whe n they were favour able to

q g
hi s own views pe r suaded the king to establish a chambe r
,
216 A FF AI R S OF ITALY .

proposed to him to marr y her s on to his n iece the M ar ,

quise de C om ba l et which had given the queen mother

,
-

room to s a y that the cardinal wished to place the crown

o n the head o f that prince The king to show h o w lit tle
.
,

he valued h i s mother s Opinion a n d at t he same time to

’

, , ,

prove h i s confidence in the cardinal on j oinin g the army ,

left the Count de Soissons as his l ieutenant genera l i n -

P ar is and i n the n eighbouring provinces

,
.

T o revert to the a ffairs of I taly upon which the car ,

d inal had always an eye the duke of Savoy a c c om m o

,

dated matters with the d u ke of Guas talla by the inter ,

position O f the nuncio Pa n c ir ol o and the ambassadors of

the emperor and the king of France The most di fficult .

treaty wa s that o f Quercy i n which the celebrated Mat

,

thi as Galas acted for the emperor and Thoiras and ,

S er vi e n for France The nuncio took the part of mediator

.
,

and the duke of Savoy looked after hi s o wn interests in

person A ft er long a n d tedious ne g otia t ions the affair
.
,

wa s settled but only i n appearance ; for in the oomp h

,

c a te d transactions in which so man y interests were con

cerned it wa s quickly found the parties had only sought

,

to overreach each other : Ioopholes for fresh di fferences

were soon discovered A g reat many fortresses were to
.

change hands an d where the captors had foun d ou t the

,

a dvantages of their conques t s t h is wa s done very u n wil

,

lin g ly
. A mon g t hese Pi g n er ol wa s conspicuous : it wa s
dear to the cardi nal on two accou nts he had won it h im
,

self by a piece o f skil ful generals hip of which he wa s ,

proud and he was as a sta t esman ful ly aware of its value

, , ,

to Fra nce . A lthough France had promised by the recent ,

tr eaty to surrender it to the duke of Savoy he could n ot

, ,

m ake up his mind to do so whatever mi g ht be the con

,

sequences Mos t of the princes of I taly s tren g thened

.

this resolution by secre t messages they were well pleased

‘

that Fran ce sho uld have an Ope n door int o I taly by ,

 PI G N E RO L . 217

which s h e could a t her wil l se n d a n a rmy to check the

, ,

excessiv e power of the Spani ards Besides the cardinal .

,

though t he could not leav e a more illustrious monument

o f a portion o f his genius in which he took great pride ,

than a place o f such consequence which had been s o ,

weakly g iven up to the duk e of Savoy by Henry III .

The difficulty was to find means for keeping it without ,

a gain disturbin g the peace o f I tal y which co u l d n o t be ,

done wi t hout the consent of the duke of Savoy The car .

dinal who had already conceived a g reat esteem for

,

Maz arin and wh o knew that he stood hi g h in the Op inio n

,

o f the duk e o f Savoy char g ed him with thi s ne g otiation

, ,

a n d he acquit ted himself perfectly to the satisfaction of

his g reat teacher We can s carcely ima g ine a poli t ical

.

obj ect that could n ot be e ffected by two such heads a s

those o f Richelieu and Mazarin acting in unison parti en
, ,

l a r ly when a s in the present case self int erest was the

, ,
-

go v erning pri nciple with both : Richelieu h a d a darlin g

obj ect in view ; Mazarin had to sh o w himself worthy of
being a s s og i a te d with the most eminent mas t er of the craft
in which he was a ze a l ous pup il .

The duke of Savoy having consented to leave Pi g n er ol

,
(

i n the hands of the French wa s grati fied by C a n a ves to

, ,

the prejudice of the duke o f Man tua The cardinal wa s .

the professed friend of the du ke of Mantua and by thi s ,

spoliation onl y v erified the proverb whi ch te ll s u s with

whom we have most rig ht to make free .

The Spaniards and the I mperialists who kne w nothing ,

of this ne o t iation which was kept very secret were sur

g , ,

prised t o see France rob the duk e of Mantu a her own ,

a lly
, to grati fy the duke of Sav oy ; bu t t ime soon re
vealed the mystery N o thing wa s to be kn own til l
.

Mantua had been restored the passes of the coun try of

,

the Grisons replaced in the hands of thei r ancien t mas t ers ,

a n d the hostages given up ; because the Sp a n iards who ,

21 8 PRETE N D E D EV A C UA T IO N OF PI GN E RO L .

had a visible in terest in keeping the French on the ir own

S ide of the mountains would have broke n the truce
,

at once if they h a d dreamt of their holding Pi g n er ol

, .

The plan the n was for the French to leave that place
,

according to the word of the treaty and to r e enter it ,

-

accor d in g to the agreement with the duke of Savoy A S .

a security for h i s word the duke se nt i nto France the

,

Cardinal de Savoy an d Pri nce Thomas hi s brothers unde r , ,

the pretence of their pas sin g into Flanders But the .

politic cardinal who knew how slightly prin ces sometimes

,

value ties of blood wa s fearfu l that the duke to whom

, ,

Pi g n er ol wa s quite a s important a s it wa s to France ,

might not keep his promise in a n instance in which he

would be certain of being supported by the whole power
of Spain . I t bec a me then necessary to seek for other
, ,

mean s of holding possession of Pi g n er ol and yet to appear ,

to evacuate it .The Marquis de Vill er oi wa s charge d

with the deli cate task ; and he acquitted himself in such
a manner that he not only deceived the Piedmontese a n d
,

the Spaniards but the French themselve s

,
!
.

He selected three hun dred men to whom he feigned to ,

confide a secret order he had received from the king to ,

march promptly to the citadel of Casal and des ired the m ,

to send their bag gage wi th that of the rest o f the garrison ,

then preparin g to march ou t on the day appointed and ,

tak e the road to D a u phi n y I n the mean time he c on

.
,

c ea l e d these three hundred men i n various places p a r ti c u ,

l a r l y i n a lo ft o f the cas tle which had h a d for a lon g ti me

,

a walled -u p door towards the donj on Vil l er oi divided .

this loft into two by a wooden part ition an d placed ,

wheat on one side and a strong party of his soldiers on

,

the other where the bricked u p door wa s But a s all thi s

,
- .

could n o t be easil y executed wi thout exciting suspicio n

among the Piedmontese who were in the place be spread ,

a report that the plague wa s ac t ive in Pig n er ol parti en ,

l a r l y in the citadel ; an d th is n ot only repressed the

2 20 C ON T INUA T IO N OF A RT I F I CE S .

a nd Vill er oi obtained from them the same day a n attesta , ,

tion that Pig n er ol had been faith ft and honourably

surrendered to the Savoy a r ds I t wa s immedia tely sent .

to Ferrara to e ffect the release o f the hostages .

N O on e was visible in the citadel except four o r five ,

persons acting a s guards to the magazines and the Pied

montese at the gate had orders to let nobody in but a page
belonging to the Count de Verr u é in order to create an ,

Opinion that no on e was in the citadel and allow them to ,

go about more confidently This affa i r lasted thirty two

.
-

days the conceal ed soldiers being amply supplied with

,

provisions During this time the marquis entered five or

.
,

s i x times by Porte de Secour s of which he had kept the ,

keys without bei ng known

, .

I t however became n ecessary to release these soldiers

from their conce a l ment and to give the world to believe
,

that th ey had r e -entered the citadel in spite of the duke

o f Savoy . They mi g ht have had some difficulty in findi ng
a pretence for this if the duke of Feria governor o f Milan
, , ,

had executed the treaty o f Quercy more promptly But .

,

in the fe a r that the French might take advan t age of hi s

good faith he had detained some of the troops he ought
,

to have sent away The French when in formed O f this

.
, ,

began to make heavy complaints and to assert that the ,

Count de Merode wa s th reaten in g the passes of the

Va l tel in e afresh .

The succours of money which the Spaniards were ,

a c cused of sending to the quee n mother furnished further -

,

m atter of grievance an d remonstrances o f a strong

character were sent to the Duke de Feria by means of ,

Mazarin in order to irritate the Spaniards and lead them

, ,

to make some infractio n i n the treaty whi ch might ,

enable the French to say that they had been constrained ,

by the bad faith of the D u ke de Feria to make themselves ,

m as t ers of Pi g n er ol again .

The d u ke on his side beg a n al s o to compla in of the

, ,
 DUKE OF S AvO Y C ONN I VES W I TH R I C HEL I E U . 22 1

French becau se the garrison s of Mantua and Casal were

,

ful l of soldiers of their nation an d that the Grisons were ,

fort ify ing the pass of Steich i n contravention of the ,

treaty O f Mantua He published a kin d of manifesto i n

.
,

whi ch he exposed all the i nfractions he pretended the

French had made i n the tr eaty o f Quercy and said th a t ,

they m ig h t be f o l l owed by s er i o u s i n c on ven i en c es The .

French minis t ers eager for an excuse for quarrel caught

, ,

at these words as imply i ng that a s soon a s French troop s

,

Shoul d be out of I taly he would revenge the infraction s

,

imputed to them They learn t likewise that the emperor

.
, ,

had declared that the i nvestiture sent to the duke of

Mantua wa s null an d void unless the treaty of Ra ti s bonn e
were strictly a dhered to ; and nothing more wa s necessary
to sa t isfy the French that the Spaniards intended to
i nvade the states of the duke o f Mantua afresh .

Thereupon they published a proclamation in concert

with the duke of Sa v oy though in publi c they complain ed
,

greatly of hi m ; i n whi ch aft er having po i nted out th e

,

many instances of bad faith in the Spaniards and their

a ll ies particularly the duke of Savoy the bet t er to co n
, ,

ceal their game they said that the kin g wa s resolved to

,

secure the peace o f I taly by protect ing his all ies in that
country I n furtherance of this S er vi en had orders to
.
,

deman d b a ck again of the duke of Sav oy severa l places i n

Piedmont and among them Pi g n er ol in order to secure
, ,

the French army freedom of pas sage The French minis .

ters following the example of t he cardinal protested

, ,

before God and before men that the king did not do thi s ,

from any ambi t ious motive or to di sturb the peace of ,

I tal y ; but on the contrary to stren g then it and t o al lo w

, , ,

his alli es to enj oy the repose they had s o long wished

for.

The duke of Savoy pretended to think this deman d

extremely stran g e and told S er vi en the reasons he h a d
,

for r efus ing to comply with i t but S er vi en replied tha t ,

222 THE FRE N CH RET AI N PI GN E RO L .

if he did not grant all the ki n g demanded w ith a good

race the army then in D a u phi n y and Prove n ce shoul d
g ,

repass the mountains by force an d place his al l ies i n

,

s ecurity . He gav e the duke three d a ys to consider the

m atter ; aft er which in case o f a refusal he told him he
, ,
_

had orders to proceed instantly with the invasion of Pied

m ont and Savoy The d uk e the n commun icated the
.

demands o f the French to the duke of Feria and took ,

care to require such enormous succours as he knew the

other could not possibly fu rnish adding that he likewi s e ,

wi shed Spain to pay him what s h e owed him I n Short .

,

the duke Of Savoy and the cardinal played their deceitful

game S O well that the duke a ffected to be converted to
,

the French party ; th e duchess wrote to her brother to

i nduce him to make the terms o f the a l liance easy to her
husband ; a s et o f articles were drawn up ; and by the ,

consent of the duke in stead of the Swiss garrison which

, ,

had been stipulated for French t roops mar ched into

,

Pi g n er ol and the poo r concealed soldiers were liberated

from their disagreeable confinement .

The duke of Savoy informed the d u ke of Feri a of the

a greement he had entered into with the French The .

governor of Milan did not dare to disapprove entirely of

the conduct of A madeus although he said he feared it
,

would be very prej udici a l to I t a l y Thus the Fren ch

.

a ppeared to regain possession o f a place they had n ever

a bandoned and they aft er wards prevailed upon the duke
,

o f Savoy to make it over to them enti rely without the ,

Spaniards ever suspecting the trick that had been played

them The want of ability in the Spanish ministe rs in
.

Spain was genera lly blamed a n d it wa s thought strange

,

that the duke of Savoy for the s a ke of a fe w estates i n

,

Montferra t should voluntar ily place him s elf in bon ds by

, ,

giving up Pig n er ol to the French

The poor duke o f Mantua a n d h i s interests were n ever
for a moment con sidered i n this u nprin cipled g a me of
2 24 G U ST A V U S A D O LPH U S AN D L OUI S m m .

which he reproached them with having had the p r es u m p

tion to aim at S haring authority wi th the king He to ld .

t hem howe v er that the king sent them back to their

, ,

duties with the exception o f five o f them who were i nter

, ,

dicted and ordered to follow the cou rt to serve as a n ,

example .

Monsieur was obliged to leave N anci and retire into the

N etherlands whilst the French army advanced towards
,

the frontiers of Germany as if to favour Gustavus A dol

,

h u s ; though at bottom France began to be j e a l ous of hi s

p
victories and to fear that the emperor and the Cathol ic
,

league would succumb entirely beneath the power of his

arms The king of Sweden had frequently expressed a
.

str ong desire to hav e an intervie w wi th Louis X III and .

,

that monarch not to O ffend him a ffected to reciprocate

, ,

the wish ; but there was nothing further from the thoughts
o f the good prince t han to expose hi mself to a close com

parison with on e s o much his superior both in mind and

person Thus a S hort t ime a ft er the kin g of Sweden wa s
.
, ,

informed that the king of France was so seriously indis

posed t hat it wo u l d be impossible for him to come to a n
interv iew an d it was propose d to hi m to meet the Car
,

dinal de Richelieu in whom the king placed entir e con

,

fid en c e and who wo u l d be much bet t er able to treat wi th

,

Gustavus than his master The king of Sweden who wa s.

,

prompt and plain S poken replied that he wou l d send o n e

-
,

o f hi s v ale ts to confer wi th the cardinal he deemed h imself

quite the equal of the king of France and could not at all ,

conceive why he avoided an interview ; kin gs of S wede n

had never yet yielded to kings of France an d a ll kin gs ,

were equal .

This speech of Gustavu s in addition to the suspicion

,

entertained o f h i s having an idea of u n iversal monarchy ,

greatly cooled the zeal of the French court for hi s servi ce ,

and pre v ented the ki n g from declaring Openly against the

ho use of Austria Besides the ca r din a l ha d private
.
,
 o vE RTU RE S To THE C OUN T D E S OI S S ON S . 225

r easons for avoiding great enterprises in which France ,

mig ht not be alwa ys successful I t wa s a l l very well t o .

make a great mat ter o f advantages gained over a small

po wer like Savoy or to call it a war when an army wa s
, ,

marched to quell a refractory noble i n h i s government ;

these affairs amu s ed the kin g an d made him think he ,

deserved t he title of Louis the Glorious a s well as o f Louis

the Just But with suc h a man a s Louis X II I th e
. .
,

ascendancy of Richelieu was in part a p r es tig e and on e , , ,

great defeat would ha v e laid him ope n to his enemies .

The hatred which the queen mother Monsieur an d -

, ,

al most all France entertained for him a s well as that of

, ,

the foreign powers he had s o cruelly o ffended with h i s ,

constant fear o f the king s death altogether made him ’

often think of s ecuring hi mself agai nst any untoward

accidents .

With this view he O ffered hi s n iece C om ba l et in mar

r ia
g e to the Count de Soissons of Bourbon blood an d , ,

not many degrees removed from the thron e with grea t ,

advantages He proposed to place him i n a position no t

.

only to support the relations of his wife but e v en almos t ,

to give laws to the kin g himself The count had n o .

obj ec t ion to the match but wished that the king shoul d ,

declare i n writing that he was desirous thi s marriag e

, ,

S hould take place as advantageous for his service and for

,

the g ood O f th e state and that he therefore commanded

,

t he count to marry the ni ece of the card i nal The minis t er '
.
,

to w hom the kin g r efu s e d n oth in g fancied he should v ery ,

easily ob t ain this fav our and asked it without however , , , ,

bein g ab l e to draw from the king a satisfac t ory answer .

He con t inued therefore to carry on the a ffair o n h i s

, ,

o wn responsibil i t y and employed his creatures t o ur e

, g
the Count de Soissons to its comple t ion To his great .

m or tific a ti o n he however soon discovered tha t the ide a

, , ,

o f the marria g e was displ easin to t he king who judge d

g , ,

wi th r eason that i t would re n der the Count de Soisson s

, ,

Q
2 26 THE K IN G O PP O S ED To THE C A RD IN A L S ’
vI E ws .

to o powerful ; that the Prince de Cond é s econ d prin ce of ,

the blood and the open enemy of Sois sons wo uld j oin the
,
'
,

m alcontents ; and that the king wou l d thu s be left alone

wi th the count and have all the enemies of the cardinal on
,

hi s hands likewise,
.

The cardinal havin g learn t what we r e the k ing s senti ’

m ents upon the matter a ppeared to bow willingly to them

, ,

a n d circul ated a report that his niece w a s about to r etir e

to a cloister thou gh such a step wa s the last thi ng i n the

,

fair lady s thou g hts There must have been some on e

’
.

who secretly made the ki n g sensible that the marriage

would render the count too powerful and would greatly ,

irritate both the queen -mother and the duke of O rleans ,

whom in conscience or i n policy he could n ot for eve r

, ,

keep ou t of the kingdom By stating this Op i nion what

.
,

a n idea historians give u s o f this imbecile monarch ! a s i f

h e were o f himself incapable of forming S O palpable a c on

elusion for hi s own safety an d power The cardinal who wa s . ,

n ot accustomed to any check in that quarter a n d di d n ot ,

seem to apprehend that any on e but hi mself coul d breathe

a though t into his master s ear began to fear that the
’

a ffection of the monarch w a s cooling towards h im a nd ,

he was ext remely melancholy for several days .

The Prince de Condé not having received what h e ,

thou g ht adequate remuneration for preachi n g the cardin a l s ’

praises and enraged at the idea of the Soissons marri ag e

, ,

r etired in disgust to Bruges

, , .

The duk e of Lorraine had o ffered to m ediate betwee n

the king and Mon sieur an d he h a d bee n permitted to
,

propose that if the prince would r etu rn to France a ,

general amnesty shoul d be granted to all who had take n

his part and that they S hould be re -establi shed in their
,

property an d their di gni t ies o nl y excepti ng the govern ,

m ents they had held But they far from being willing to
.
,

place themselves un der the te n d e r m e r cie s of the c a r din al ,

228 TR I A L OF M A R I LL A C .

exerci se and discipli ne in fli cted the death -blow u po n

,

feudalism .

The duke being i n n o state to resist was glad to co m e

, ,

to an accommodation and a treaty was quickly conclude d

,

between that prince and the Cardin a l de Richelieu wh o ,

w a s impatient to return to France in order to oppose th e ,

enterprises of Monsieur The d u ke of Lorraine placed

.

the cities of Stenay Ja m ets and Clermont in the h a n ds

, ,

o f the king , a n d eve n sold him the last entirely th e ,

crown having claims upon it .

Whilst the Cardinal had bee n in Picardy and Lorrain e ,

he had ordered preparations to be made for the trial of

Marshal de Mari llac .A fter having him arrested in
Piedmont he had sent him to the cas tle o f St Men eh a u d
, .
,

an d thence to the citadel o f Verdun A t length accordi ng .

,

to th e cardinal s custom the king established a chamber o f

’

j ustice at Verdun to try thi s matter I t was composed

, .

o f four masters o f requests two presidents and twelve

, ,

councillors of the parliament of Burgundy their commissio n ,

bearing date May 1 3 th 1 6 3 1 Marsh a l de Mar illac wa s

, .

a ccused of pec u lation and some witnesses who had bee n

, ,

collected duri ng the time of his imprisonment accused ,

him o f having appropriated a part o f the kin g s mon ey ’

placed in his hands for the purpose of fortifying Verdu n .

The chamber interrogated hi m confronted him wi th the ,

witnesses made various proceedings in compliance wi th

,

h i s request and that of the procureur an d at le n gth

pronounced a sentence by which he was a l lowed to brin g
proof o f hi s j u s ti fic a tive facts It is impossible in a life of
.

Richelieu o t the extent prescribed us to g i v e an idea of th e ,

n etwork of villany i nj ustice a n d cruel ty with which

, ,

tha t unscrup u l ous m a n always surrounded his victims .

The detailed history of th e Sac r ifices O ffered up by him to

his selfish ambition would make an interes t ing volume if ,

we coul d escape the horrors with which they wer e attended .

They are a s dr am a ti c a s ca u s es c el ebr es a n d deeply im ,

 S E C ON D C O MM I S S ION F OR TH A T P U RP O S E . 2 29

pressive from the conspicuo us rank and i n some i n

, , ,

s tances vir tues o f the sufferers

, The cardinal who had .
,

expected thht t he chamber wou l d pronounce a sentence of

death ordered the comm i ss i on to be revoked and dis
, ,

m issed the j udges When Richelieu proposed to himsel f

.

a n immola t ion of th is kind he was always particular i n ,

the selection o f the scene : h i s princip a l care in that re

s pect being to avoid all places wh ere sympathies for the

a ccused could exist or demonstra t ions o f public Opinio n

,

at beholding injustice might be expected M a r ill a c s .

’

trial took place at Verdun a comparatively obscure city , ,

o f which Va u be c ou r h is implacable enemy was the

, ,

governor A s a marshal of France it migh t have bee n

.
,

expected if justice wa s the Obj ect that the place o f hi s

, ,

trial wou ld have bee n P aris or at least the c a pital city of

,

o n e of the provinces .

Enraged at the postponement of his revenge Richelieu ,

i mme d ia t ely issued ano t her commission a n d this time , , ,

”
to make assurance doubly sure absolutely appointed ,

the S itting in his own country house at Ruel a little ,

v ill age betwee n Paris and St Germain e u Laye The .

- - .

commissio n consisted of the tractable members of the

last and others added to make up twen ty four
,
- .

The marshal excepted to the chamber in g eneral and to

several of the j ud g es in particular and gave stron g rea ,

sons for so doing ; but the counci l pronounced his protest

nul l and in spite of all his efforts he could onl y procure
,

the rej ection of one Ch a teaune uf the keeper O f the

.
,

seal s and the mere creature Of Richelieu presided

, ,
.

Marillac had no doubt committed offences which at the

, , , ,

presen t period mig ht procure an ofli c er s dismissal fro m

,
’

the service ; simil ar pecula t ions were a tt ribu t ed in ra t her

loud whispers t o a colonel of royal blood i n En g l and ,

Withi n the las t fifty years ; but if we remember correc tl y , ,

were shifted off to the convenient and accommoda t in g

s houl der s of a n inferior o fficer B u t in the age o f .
,
23 0 THE TR IA L .

Louis X II I we should s a y that n o comm an d e r wa s fre e

.

fro m that for which Marill ac wa s os tensibly brou ght to

the block Hi s addr ess to his j udges i s s o a ffectin g tha t
.
,

we cann ot refrai n from giving a por ti on of it ‘

O n the 1 8 th of A pril the c om mi ssi oners s e n t for ,

Maril lac at a n early hour ; he r equested to be allowed

,

time to hear mass a n d to c ommunicate which bein g ,

gran t ed he a fterwa r ds p ro ceeded to the chambe r a n d

, , ,

O n hi s entrance bowed respectfully to all the magistrate s

, .

Cha teaun e u f pointed to the s el l e tte u pon which he wa s ,

”
to S it a n d deman ded the u sual oa th o f him :
, Ge n tl emen ,

the n s aid the m a rshal in a fi rm voice an d with a tran qu il ,

but impressive m anne r I a m a war e of all the honour

,

that i s due to this illustriou s assembly in whi c h th ere a r e ,

m an y person s of distin gu ished m erit ; but b eing by th e ,

gr ace of God born a gentleman withi n the j urisdi c tion of

, ,

the P arliame nt of P ar is and the king havin g r a ised me to

,

the di gnity of a marsh a l of Fr an c e I canno t r e cogn is e ,

y ou a s my n at ur al judges n o r ho n ou r you in that quality ,

,

afte r the protests I hav e made an d which I ag ain reite ,

~

r ate . I hope gentlem en you wi ll not co n sider that I

, ,

a c t w ro ngly i n claim in g r ights which my birth a n d my

r a nk entitle me to I f I have made s everal genera l a n d

.

in dividual challen ges it h a s be en with n o view of o ffend

,

i n g your body or an y on e o f those wh o c ompo se it : I

,

yield only to the n ecessi ty of a j us t d efen ce I t i s n ot .

i m possible that m isled by fal s e a c counts I may hav e

, ,

a dvanced i mproper reaso ns for the challenges if it be s o ,

I dis claim them a n d I do n ot except eve n that w h ich I

,

have alleged a gain st M Bretagne I have many r easons .

to suspect h im but I am n a tur ally a n en em y to S lan der s

,

a n d calum n ies ; a n d this i s why I d o n ot blush a gain to

beg you to pardo n me all the unfoun ded o ffensive rem a rks
I may have unintentionally made .

”
A S to you monsieur ad ded Marilla c turn in g to th e
, , ,

k eepe r of the seals I well kn ow yo ur m erit a n d abili ty ;

,
23 2 S P I R I TE D S PE EC H OF M A R I LL A C .

given him to deprive me of life and ho n our ? I speak of

you D u ch a tel et ; of you who have publicly boasted i n
, , ,

the presence of several illustrious persons and have eve n ,

confessed it to some o f those gentlemen who must per ,

m it me to appeal to them a s witnesses that the hymn a s , ,

you call it i s of your composition An d yet yo u hav e had

, .

the hardihood to deny it by a base perj ury before the , ,

sacred person of the king Great God ! if for the com .

,

l e ti on o f the oppression I endure such a man must be my

p ,

j udge employ the sovereign p ower which thou hast over

,

the hearts of men ; make him as moderat e on t he

tribunal as he has been maliciously ferocious on other
o ccasions .

The marshal afterwards exposed the viole n ces exercised in

getting up hi s trial the subornin g of witn esses by Moriq
,

an d L a ffem a s comm i ss i oners ; the threats and impri son

,

m ents employed to intimidate those who refused to speak

’
a gainst their conscien ces ; the rej ection o f all who exc u l

pated hi m ; the alteration s and colourings given to depo

s i ti on s ; the seizure o f papers without furnishing an
inventory of them the subtr action o f all that might
s erve for hi s justification particularly let t ers from the
,

king a n d his ministers ; the unheard o f and unexampled -

cass a t ion of the senten ce of the chamber of Verdun the

chang ing of his first judg es and the ex t raordinary man n er
,

o f remo v ing him to several places He did not forget the .

r efusal made to his wife to be admitted to the presence o f

either the kin g or the Car dinal de Richelieu or the in bu ,

m a n order sent to thi s lady to retire in to a n obscur e

villa g e where S he had died of grief

, I do not present .

myself before you gentlemen for the purpose of defend

, ,

”
ing my life concluded Mar illac ; to a m a n of my age
, ,

a n d in so s a d a situation tha t must be a bur t hen : I have

,

s o Oft e n exposed it before the eyes o f my king that I ,

cannot be suspected of fearing death submissive and

r esig n e d to the w ill of God I w i ll meet it firmly come , ,
 C ON D EM N E D TO D E A TH . 23 3

from where it m ay a nd by whatever m ean s My only

, .

Obj ect i s to retr ieve my honour and my reputation from

the c a l umnies o f m y enemies and to return to the kin g ,

wi thout a stai n the bato n I received from him as a mark

o f the rectitude of my actio n s an d o f m y inviolable fideli t y,
”
i n his service .

I n order to oblige the j udges to condemn him to death ,

the procur eur of the king cited an ordinance whi ch con

d em n e d persons guilty o f peculation to confis c a ti o n of ,

bo dy a n d g oo d s but the others maintain ed that that only

,

meant confiscat io n Of goods and imprisonment A t length .

,

wi thout even examinin g him upo n most o f the pri ncipal

accusations brought aga in st him the chamber proceeded ,

to pass sentence Ten o f h i s judges were for granti ng

.

him life two of them were for acquittal or at most

, , ,

slight puni shm ent ; bu t thir teen pronounced for death ;

s o that according to the form of cr i minal trials he wa s
, ,

only condemned by on e voice Most of the j udges had .

b ee n excepted to on very good grounds such a s public ,

and declared enmity to the accused entertained for a ,

lengt h of time I nstead o f as is the custom in criminal

.
,

m atters taking the voices three times an d requiring the m

, ,

to speak the la s t time slowly to give time for change o f ,

Opinion scarcely were they taken once when Ch a teau

, ,

neuf the president pronounced sentence of death and

, , ,

sent off in telligence of the event to the kin g .

A s soon as the marshal s relations were in formed of the

’

sentence they hurried to St Germain s to i mplore h i s

, .
,

pardon of the king but judiciously though t it best i n

, , ,

the first place to apply to the cardinal to secure hi s inter ,

cession When informed by them o f the reason of their

.

co min g Richelieu pretended to be as tonished and told

, ,

them that they i nformed him o f a thin g h e was not

,

a ware o f but he was very sorry Marsh a l de Marilla c

should by his own error have brought himself into such
, ,

a situ atio n ; to whi ch he a dded S ee the Ici ng s ee th e , ,

23 4 IN H U M A N C ON D U CT OF T HE C A RD INA L .

h i ng ; he i s ver They the n im plored him to gran t

yg ood .

them the favour of speakin g to the kin g a n d interceding ,

for the mar sh a l ; to wh ich he S hortly replied : “

I h a ve
to l d y ou y ou h a d better s ee th e h i ng
, When they thre w .

themselves at the feet of the kin g he replied that he , ,

wo uld s e e h ow it m ight b e proper to act and they might ,

retire They immediately did s o an d the next d a y agai n

. ,

waited on the cardin al They had s ome difficulty i n .

getti ng a dmitted to the antechamber a n d the cardinal ,

a s he passed thro u gh a n d they paid their respects to him, ,

exclaimed Wel l g en tl em en h a ve y ou s een th e Ici ng

, ,

On e of them told him o f the king s reply u po n whi ch th e ’

”
c a r di n a l r ej oi n ed I a d vi s e y ou to o bey th e ki ng .

An other the n again supplicated h i m to intercede with hi s

m aj esty and the minister no longer able to restrain h i s
, ,

p as sio n replied in a stern sharp tone

, I a d vi s ed y ou to
,

r eti r e, bec a u se th e h i ng to l d y o u to d o s o I n ow c om m a n d
”
y ou to r eti r e, f
on th e p a r t o th e k i n
g By t hi s reply they
.

pl a i nly perceived that the death of the mar sh a l wa s in

evitable an d he wa s accordingly executed a t the Greve ,

on the l 0 th o f May protes t ing his innocence , P ecul a t io n .

had n ever t ill that time been punished with death i n

fi a n c e ; therefore that wa s n ot the crime which brought
,

him to the scaffold .

He had had the boldn ess to a dvise the queen mother at -

,

Lyons when the king was S ick to have the cardin a l

, ,

a rr ested in the eve n t of the monarch s death which wa s

’
, ,

a crime the minister never pardoned and which could ,

o nly be expiated by blood A S for his brother the keepe r .

,

of the seals he w a s conducted to Pontoise where he

, ,

s hortly afte r died ; an d thus the cardin al got rid o f two

e n emies who if they had lived might have gi v en hi m

, , ,

r eason to fear them Ambition wa s a sharply -conte sted .

game in these times ; but n o o n e played it s o artfu lly ,

b oldly an d unscrupulously as Arman d Jean Duplessis

, .

I t i s s aid that the c ardin al h a d hi m self solicited th e

23 6 G A S T O N E N TER S FR A N CE H O S T I LEL Y .

the hands of the French S ince the m onth o f O ctober 1 63 1 , ,

a s a deposit was yielded to them by a n agreeme n t S igned

,

the 5 th Of May 1 6 3 2 , .

To return to Monsieur who gave the cardinal the most ,

trouble A S soon as it wa s know n that he had formed the

.

desig n o f entering France with the troops he had been

a ble to collect Richelieu informed the Spaniards
, that if ,

they assisted the duke of O rleans i n any way he should ,

consider the peace of Verdu n broken For fear however .

‘

, ,

they Should undertake this enterprise without re g ard to ,

c onsequences the car d inal granted the U nited Pro vi nces

,

all they required from France under a promise that they ,

S hould make neither truce n or peace with Spain By this .

diversion his purpose was to make the Spaniards too busy

o n their o wn account to think Of assisting the duke o f
,

O rleans Thi s prince entered France with fifteen hun

.

dred or two thousan d horse an d threw h imself into ,

B u rgundy He published a manifesto in which he

.
,

treated the cardinal as a tyrant a usurper t he enemy of , ,

the king and of the royal house and in which he said he ,

had taken up arms for the purpose of Opening hi s maj es ty s ’

eyes and making it clear to him that his minis t er wa s

,

deceiv ing him Monsieur assumed the title of lieutenant

.

general of the king for the redress of abuses and the

,

s uppression of the violence of the cardinal He passed .

with h i s troops near Dij on which place having refused ,

hi m provisions s a w o n e o f i ts faubourgs burnt ou t Of

,

r evenge From thence he went into Auvergne where he

.
,

levied three tho u s and foot without committing any ,

ravages being restrained by the presence of N oa ill es the

, ,

king s lieutenan t i n that provi n ce

’
.

The ki ng went to Paris for the purpose of meetin g the

parliame n t a n d verifying a proclamation against the
,

m alconte nts He appeared in this assembly with the

.

cardinal and there pronoun ced the apology of that minis

,

te r by Obs e rvi n g th a t s editiou s people n eve r failed to

, ,
 O BJE C T I ON S OF T HE M A RSH A L S . 23 7

blame the conduct of government A proclamatio n of th e .

k in g s wa s regis t ered i n which the duke o f O rleans and

’

his cause were set forth in the blackest colours and the ,

cardin al a n d h i s mini stry wi t h the hi g hest pra i se ; the

kingdom was said to be in a n unprecedented state o f p r o
sperity and g lory all which was due to the exertions a n d
,

talents of the great minister Monsieur s adherents were

.
’

a gai n declared traitors and he himself wa s allowed S ix

,

weeks to return to his duty .

T wo c orp s d a r m ec were sent against Mons i eur unde r

’

the command of Schomberg and La Force ; but both th e

marshals evinced s o much repugn ance to the task as to ,

create a serious difficulty with the kin g and hi s min ister .

They said it was an unfit thing for a subject t o a ttack ,

wi th the chance of killing the brother of the reig ning

,

monarch and the presump t ive heir to the crown unl es s

, ,

they fou g ht under the command an d in the presence of ,

the king : in the event o f the kin g s death or even of a ’

change of the ministry their situation would be such a s

,

they woul d not willin g ly risk His m a j esty replied that

.
,

with re g ard to his bro t her it was no t his wi sh that he

,

should sustain any personal injur y ; and he desired them

to treat him with the greatest respect La Force replied .
,

that if the duke led his troops such courtesy could not be ,

practised in bat tle The cardinal perceived t ha t if com

.
,

el l e d to ac t it would be but feebly and likewise feared

p , ,

tha t bein g forced upon a duty they di d not like they

, ,

mi g ht be corrup t ed the king s delicate health made such ’

derelictions more than probable I t w a s therefore deter .

mined that t he king should take the command in person .

Monsieur in this hazardous enterprise was made pain

, ,

ful ly sensible O f the penalty attached t o his previous want

Of good faith 3 not a S ingle governor would j oin his s t an
dard in all the provinces he passed throu g h Mos t .

apprehended the king s death ; all hated t he cardin a l

’
.

A p r in ce with his cl a im s a n d inj u r ies possessed of th e

, ,
23 8 C H A R A CTER OF GA S T O N .

qualities of a leader and a n ho n ourable characte r woul d

, ,

have won hosts of adherents but he could not be tru sted

i n any way All knew that it wa s for hi s own s elfish
.

i n terests alone that he wi shed to seduce them to r ebel ;

a n d that fo r the se interests he wo u l d as readily sacrifice
, ,

a friend a s a foe We cannot fancy a more contemptible

.

character than Gaston o f O rlean s A s heir presumptive .

,

he knew the cardinal did n ot dare to touch h i s person ;

a n d he wa s constantly entan gli n g i n his cab a l s s ubj ects

wh o j eopardized every thing an d i n most cases lost , , ,

their lives for a man who a s it h a s j ust appeared n eve r

, , ,

i ncurred any danger A fter all what were h i s i nj uries ?

.
,

- that he coul d n ot have money enough or O ffices to

p o
r ,

duce it to supply h i s vicious pleasure an d maint a i n a n

, ,

i njurious cabal i n the court : he wa s too selfish to pe rm it

u s to think that hi s mother s wr on gs were the m otive of
’

hi s hostility to the cardinal .

The melancholy episode we are enterin g u po n r e mi nd s

u s how frequently i n conspiracies r ebelli ons an d r evol u
, , ,

tions the most estimable characters have been the victims ;

,

the pages of hi story are s o full o f such instances that we ,

r eally can scarcely turn to on e o f these great social c on

vu l s ion s without meeti n g with them In most c a ses thei r .
,

n oble qualities have brought on their r ui n : dazzled by

s ome n oble patriotic aim or s educed by some g e n ero us
, ,

feelin g they ente r blindly upon enterpri ses in which they

,

a r e most likely associa t ed with the ambitious and the

designing ; an d their hi gh prin ciples in case of fail u re , ,

prevent their esc a pin g in the way that mean er n atures a r e

a lm ost sure to d o .

The only pe rso n of im portan ce that j oine d the ill

plan ned an d ill -fated invasion o f the duke o f O rlean s wa s ,

the head of the great house of Montmorenci Henry the .

Second D u ke de Mo n tmorenci peer and m arshal of

, ,

France wa s gran dson of the celebrated constable An ne

, ,

d e M o n tmoren ci He wa s very rich a n d wa s looked

.
,
24 0 C A S TE L NAU D A R Y .

He at first endeavoured under variou s pretexts to raise

, ,

levies wi thout giving umbrage to t he court ; but havi n g

a t length declared himself he induced the states Of Lan
,

g u e d o c to call in the duke of O rleans to protect them t o ,

promise him money for the payment of his troops a n d to ,

engag e never to separate themselves from his interests .

He was likewise promised money and troops from Spain

b ut the money was of small amount and came late the ,

troops never came at all He had a considerable sum Of

.

money in Paris which he sent for ; but the minister

, ,

le a r ning his i ntentions had it seized Thus the party o f

, .

Montmorenci became almost destitute Of everything ; and

when the king s et forward on his march to j oin S ch om
berg who was followin g t he steps O f Monsieur it was not
, ,

in a sta te t o make e ffective resistance if the royal armies ,

were uni ted Monsieur was at the head of two thousan d

.

fe e t and three thousand horse with many volunteers an d, ,

thre e pieces O f cannon ; Marsh a l S chomberg had but a

tho us and fe e t and twelve hundred horse an d was desti ,

tute Of artillery The marshal hav ing arrived at Castel

.
,

n a u da r o n the 1 s t Of September drew his troops up i n

y ,

order of battle the enemy bein g at a short distance The

, .

Duke de Montmorenci either thinkin g that they ought to

,

attack the roy a l army while they were the stronger or ,

that it would be j udi cious to Open the campaign by a

brillian t s troke advised that they shoul d march at once
,

against the enemy He took the comman d Of the va n

.
,

and Monsieur that of the m a in body A ccompanied by .

the Counts de Moret de Rieux and de F e m ill a d e he

, , ,

hastened to the support Of the forlor n hope which had ,

received orders to take possessio n Of an advan tageo us

post .

The Coun t de Moret wa s the first to ch a rge the royal

ca v alry and by his sp irited atta ck thr ew them i nto som e
,

disorder which s o excited Montmorenci tha t a l thou g h h e

, ,

h a d very fe w m en he g a llope d u p to j o i n h im
,
His .
 M ON TM O RE N C I M A D E PR I S ON E R . 24 1

biographe r says that there forgetting the duties of a

, ,

genera l he fought Wi t h the g reatest bravery like a simple

, ,

soldier But the affair of Castelnaudary was nothing but

.

a skirmish in wh ich it became the d u tv of every on e to

,

fight man to man and there was no room for generalship

, .

A party O f the royal infantry i n am buscade in the ditches

came to the assistance of the horse and poured in s o ,

Opportun e an d destructive a volley that the Coun t s ,

de Moret de Rieux and de la Feuillade with several

, , ,

O fficers were kill ed and the Duke de Mon tmorenci wa s

, ,

wounded in many places He might have retreated if .

, ,

at the same time h i s horse had not been shot under him
,

he w a s made prisoner a n d carried off to Lectoure The

, .

army o f Monsieur beheld these generous nobles sacrifice

themselves in this manner without making the leas t e ffort
to ex trica te them or avenge their dea th : they did not
strike a blo w they retreated the infan try disperse d ,

entirely and Monsieur retired quietly with h i s cavalry t o

,

Besiers the few ci ties that had declared in h i s favour

,

returnin g s ilen tl y t o their allegiance— to their k ing .

The duke of O rleans as usu a l bega n to show stron g

, ,

signs of repentance and B a ll ion who after several , ,

fruitless ne g otiations was sent to him on the part of the

,

kin g soon in duced hi m to sign an agreement in Opposition

, ,

to the Opinions and wishes of m ost of his followers The .

g reat est difficulty was the Duke de Montmorenci who m ,

Monsieur insisted upon havi n g restored to hi s liberty h i s ,

honours and hi s property Ba lli o n told the prince that

, .

t he only means of Obtaining what he wished was to submit

implici tly to the will Of the king : to requir e as surance s
Of him was only to irr i tat e him and woun d the confidence ,

he ou g ht to have in h i s goodness ; to pardon Montmorenci

was a favour O f which t he king ought to have the whol e
glory and he injured the duke s cause if he did not l ea v e
,
’

it en t irely at his maj esty s discretion ; the bli n d obedience

’

wh ich he wo uld render the king ou g ht to put him ou t of

B
242 G AS T O N REC ON C I LE D W I TH THE KIN G .

fe a r a n d gi ve him a s certain hope s a s it wa s possible for

,

h im to entertain This s peech o f the cardinal s well drilled

’
.
-

e missary persuaded the duke o f O rlea n s that it w a s by

the king s desire he spoke i n this manner and prevented

’

h i s pressing further for a positive promise for the liberation

o f Montmore n ci Whe ther Puylaure n s a n d the rest
.
,

without whose advice Monsie ur did n oth in g were glad to ,

get rid of M ontmorenci or that they did n ot s ee thro u g h

,

the a r tific es o f Ba llion they in this case committed a n

, , ,

enormous error which greatly discredited their party I t

, .

generally appeared by the conduc t of Monsieur that the

, ,

p ersons he placed confide n ce in were cap a ble o f deceivin g

n obody but himself and were totally unfit for the manage
,

m ent Of a ffairs of a n y ki n d They had bee n a ble to .

m islead him i nto a n exhibi tio n o f discontent with the

court but they had not good sense enough e v er to r e
,

establish his power on a solid foundation or to Obtai n for ,

themselve s an y fru it fro m the in fluence they had over h is

m ind .

I n the trea ty of reco n ciliation signed by Monsieur he ,

humbly confessed his fault implored the king to pardo n ,

him and gave all the securities that could be possibly

,

r equired o f him never to O ffend a A s u pon all such

, g a in .

occasions he aban doned hi s friends and submitted to any

, ,

terms the kin g cho s e to dictate ending his n otable

p alinode by promis ing to l ove a l l wh o s er ve d hi s m a j es ty
, ,

a r ti cu l a
l t
rh C di l -D u lce de R i c h e li eu wh o m h e
p y e a r n a ,

h a d a l wa y s es teem ed f or hi s fid e li ty to hi s p er s on a n d to
th e i n ter es ts of th e ki ng a n d th e s ta te
A fter mutual hollo w expression s Of esteem and forced ,

p r e m i s es on the part o f Monsieur his troop re t ired to ,

Roussillon and he with h i s c on fid a n ts an d domestics by

, , ,

o rder Of the king took up his residence at Tours

, .

Monsieur wrote a let te r to the kin g requesti n g pardon ,

for Montmorenci but i t wa s useless , Montmorenci wa s .

too formidable a n e n e m y for th e cardin al to allow him to ,

 B I C H E LI E U S
’
RE A S ON S F O R SEVER I T Y .

that that nobleman should be pardoned : wi thout that th e ,

duke o f O rleans could n ot with honour retur n to th e

obedience due to hi s maj esty because all his servants were
,

o f Opinion that he ou g ht to risk everything to save th e

'

Duke de Montmorenci I f Monsieur were driven to despai r

.
,

those who ser v ed the kin g would never be safe because ,

the persons O f the other party wo uld j udge that there wa s

n o other means of sa v ing themselves but destroying them .

Monsieur havin g j ust renounced all connections an d

practices opposed to the good of the state there wa s ,

n o thing they could n ot now undertake a gainst the

Spaniards whereas as long a s he was discontented they
, ,
”
could take advantage of no Opportunity .

A fter hav ing stated t hese reasons in favour of Mo nt

m orenci the artfu l orator proceeded : O n the other side
, ,

if they considered t hat the king was without chil d ren an d ,

Monsieur heir presumptive to the crown it would be ,

found that if they did not treat those who had taken h is
,

part wi th rigour the first time the king was ill let h i s
, ,

indisposi t ion be ever so li g ht s o many people would ,

declare themselves for the duke of O rleans that the kin g ,

would never a gain be master ; whereas if the Duke d e ,

Montmorenci were punished a s he deserved to be n o on e ,

woul d ventur e to make any premature declaration i n h i s

favour : numbers of kings had only been able to maint a in
”
their digni ty i n the decline O f life by rigour A ft er .

havin g cited several examples he con t inued : I f nobles, ,

communit ies and the people were once led to believe that
, ,

considera t ion for Monsieur wa s capable of screening th e

sedi t ious from the punishment of death there wou l d ,

always be numbers to be found who believing the i r live s ,

in safety would hazard the i r fortunes in his favour to

, ,

have the chance of increas ing them at the expense of the

state The privation of charg es without depriv ing the
.
,

criminal Of life wa s nothing on this occasio n because

, ,

G a ston bein g co n sidered presum ptive heir of the crow n ,

,
 C O N T INUA T ION OF HI S S PEEC H . 245

they who would lose their charges for having take n u p

a rm s in his cause would hope t o recover them with usury ,

a s soon a s that prince should be upon the throne The .

crime of the Duke de Montmorenci was not a simple

crime o f rebellio n into which Monsieur had seduced him ;
he had urged the duke o f O rleans to enter France a n d ,

had raised a province by means of deliberation of the

s tates a thing that had never happened before
, I t woul d .

be d ifli cu l t and dangerous to keep him in prison : instead

Of extin guishing the party that woul d give it additional ,

s trength Monsieur had submitted to the kin g not from

.
,

i nclination but by necessity : the Spaniards woul d still be

,

the s ame and the queen mother would remai n equa lly
,
-

a ngry Puylaurens would have n o less influence over the

.

mi nd Of Monsieur no less connection with the Lorraines

, ,

n o less a mbition The danger bein g pas t the duke o f

.
,

O rleans would listen afresh to all the evil counsels that

might be given to him I f it were resolved to abandon .

the Dutch and the S wedes the rage o f the Spaniards ,

m ight cease an d if it were deemed fit to sacrifice to t he

quee n mother all those s h e hated and place the kin g in a
-
,

state o f dependence with respect to her perhaps her ,

a nimosity woul d cease likewise ; but if neither the one nor

t he other were done a s in fact neither could be done

, , ,

by the king wi thout destroyin g his o wn power it wa s ,

certain that the more Monsieur s p a rty subsisted i n i ts

,
’

leaders the greater would be the danger o n accoun t of

, ,

their continu a l cab a l s and because the peril being past

, ,

and experienced i t would be thought lightly Of The

, .

D uke de Montmorenci being punished his party woul d ,

decli ne in Lan g uedoc and that Of Monsieur throughout

,

Fran ce ; whereas if he were kept in prison wha t e v er

, ,

o ther head mi g h t be laid low he would al ways ha v e secret ,

friends and they so much the more fai thfu l from hav ing
,

n o other hopes o f adva n cemen t t han from his r e establish -

m en t which they wou l d con sequen tly use every e ffort to

,
24 6 REM A RK S U P ON H I S C ON D U CT .

brin g about A s to Monsieur s petitions in favou r Of

.
’

M de Montmorenci they would be more worthy of con

.
,

sideration if we could depend upon the pr e m i s es which

accompanied them but that wa s n ot possible a s he had ,

repeatedly broke n his word after havi ng bee n treated with

the greatest kin dness by the king and see ing h i s servant s ,

loaded with favo u rs : it would be the height of imprudence

to put faith in hi m I f it were foun d that Monsieur had
.

n o po wer to save the D uke de Montmorenci fewer per ,

s o n s would be eager to serve hi m an d that reason alone

w a s s u fli c i en t to warrant hi s punishment The duk e of .

O rleans bein g unab le to save him would not be inclin e d ,

to in cur inj ury to himself on a ccoun t of hi s death ; the

necessity he wa s un der to pe rmit it wo uld place hi s repu
ta ti on in safety since it i s better to have an arm cut O ff
,

than to lose one s life Even if the duke o f O rlean s shoul d

’
.

thi nk proper to go into Spain by punishing the D u ke de ,

Montmorenci they wo ul d cut the power of that pr ince up

by the roots a s he woul d n ever be able to s e t anothe r
,

par ty on fe e t There wa s n o doubt that the min i sters

.

who counselled the exercise of rigour on th i s occasio n

exposed themselves to many dangers ; but whe n the s er
vice of the king and the state wa s co n cerned it wa s thei r ,

duty to act without any regard to their pri v ate interests .

I n fact to grant the life Of t he Duk e de Montmorenci to

,

the prayers Of Monsieur would be stren gthen ing hi s party

,

and weakening that of the kin g The kin g might n ever .

,

th el e s s d o it from h i s own goodness without any agr ee

, , ,

ment at all ; but there wo uld be m uch more dan ge r in

”
doing it than i n n ot doin g it .

The view we take of history differs from almost a ll

others : it becomes clearer by distance provided the di s ,

tance be n ot s o extended as to make facts Obscure There .

are s o many passion s still awake s o many interests still ,

concerned so many parties still existin g that a true esti

, ,
248 C ON DE M NA T IO N or M O N TM O RE N C I .

Duke de Montmorenci and for givin g orders for the ,

punishment of some bishops and gentleme n wh o had

declar ed in his favour .

From thence the court repaired to Toulouse where ,

the parliament wa s to try Montmoren ci although the ,

proper authority was that of Paris The cardinal who .

,

n ever permitted delay when the Obj ect was to punish an

enemy prevailed upon the king to name this parliame nt
,

in preference to that which le g ally ought to hav e tried

him Ch a teaune uf who had bee n page to the Constable
.
,

d e Montmorenci the father Of the accused and six

, ,

m a i tr es d e r eg u étes came to preside over the trial ;

,

a n d as the Duke de Montm orenci had been taken i n arms ,

he wa s declared g uil ty of high treason and condemned to ,

death aft er having been questioned and having confessed

, ,

that he was guilty Of the main charges A mong t he .

n umerous friends who r us hed to the presence of t he ki n g

to intercede for Montmorenci w a s the famous Jussac , ,

Sieur de St Pr en il captain of the guards who had taken

.
, ,

him prisoner This wa s deemed such a piece o f a s s u m p

.

tion in a private gentleman or rather a soldier of fortune , ,

that the angry cardinal exclaimed S t P r en i l if th e ki ng .

,

d i d y ou j u s ti ce h e w ou l d p l a c e y ou r h e a d wh er e y ou r f ee t
,

a re as if it could be a crime for a brave man to in t ercede .

for an illustrious prisoner he himself had taken St Pr en il . .

was o n e of the most eminent o f the great swordsme n wh o

il lustrated the reign of Louis XIII and s o high was his .
,

r eputation for the brav ery a n d mul t itude of his feats o f

a rms that this same hau g hty minister once said
, If I
were not Cardinal de Richelieu I shoul d wish to be ,

St Pr en il
. The card inal s arro g ant speech may almost
.
’

b e considered a prophecy for the valiant captain became ,

a fterwards o n e o f his victims and wa s beheaded for a n ,

offence o f which he was not g uil ty .

The cardinal ho wever t o save appearances sometimes

, , , ,

in publi c a ffected to feel gr eat sorrow and to exhort per

, ,
 U SELES S E FF O RTS TO S A VE H I M . 24 9

s on s of high rank to solicit the mercy of the king He .

s ent the nuncio Bichi and the Cardinal de la Vale t te on

this sleeveless errand ; but the king was to o well tau g h t

to lis t en to them St Simon a relatio n of the duke s
. .
,
’

endeavouring to bend the stubborn will Of the king Ri che ,

lieu feigned to partake h is grief and j oined in his inter ,

cessions by finding excuses for the criminal ; but he did

,

n ot fail to add that his m aj esty having suppressed the

,

Huguenots and extin guished a dangerous faction in h i s

,

stat es felt himself obliged to m a ke a n example in the

, ,

perso n Of M de Montmorenci in order to keep t he

.
,

nobles within the bounds o f duty The Prin cess de .

Condé sister Of the condemned duke threw herself i n

, ,

t ears at the feet of the cardinal be g gi ng him to in t ercede

,

for her brother ; but the artful prelate in stead o f raisin g ,

her fell on hi s knees before her lamenting with a r e

, , ,

s p on di n g flood o f tears that he was unable to discover

,

any mean s o f softening the kin g — Moli ere himself never

exceeded that sce n e ! The ol d Duke d E p er n on who had ’

been suspected of favouring Monsieur but had never ,

declared himself left his govern ment O f Guienne to mak e

,

his solicitations at the feet of h i s maj esty 1 n the n ame O f ,

all the friends a n d relations o f Montmorenci His appeal .

was a strong on e : after the king had raised him from h i s

knees he said he was bound to acknowledge the error
, ,

o f his friend ; but he felt emboldened in asking this

grace of his maj esty from havi n g himself received a
,

similar on e an d was happy to s a y he had no reason to

,

thi nk h i s maj esty repented of having granted it : he w a s

n ot the only on e who owed hi s maj esty a debt of that
description ; the Cardin a l de Richelieu had had as great a
part as he had ; they had both been i n the interes t s O f
the queen mother at a time i n which the name of a king
-
,

was Opposed to them although their only in t ention had

,

bee n to s erve him ; and if he had t hen abandoned them to

the r igo ur of the laws he would have deprived himself of
,
2 50
‘
PPE A L
’

D E PE RN O N S A .

t he u seful services Of the on e an d of the gr atitude of the ,

o the r . The youth of the Duke de Mo ntm orenci ought to

plead as strongly i n h i s excuse a s their earn est wishe s .

Hi s perso n bein g in hi s m aj esty s han ds he cou ld n ot d o

’

a ny thin g injurious to h is service whilst h i s preservatio n ,

would acquire the king etern al glory He begged h i s .

m aj esty to consider that in h i s perso n a l o n e remained th e

gre a t n a m e of MON TM O RE N C I that the merit of hi s
l

a n cestors the long list o f whom exte n ded to the very

,

c om mencement of the French m onar chy de m anded p a r ,

do n m ore lo u dly tha n his r ash n ess co uld dr aw u pon him

the r igour of the king s j ustice I f he we r e sufficie ntly
’
.

fortunate to Obtain hi s friend s life he wo uld pledge him ’

s elf that i t should only b e employed i n h i s m aj esty s

’

service an d that h i s blood sho uld only s e rve to wash out

,

the stain s of h i s c rim e th at they might be e ffaced fro m

,
”
m emory .

The kin g liste n ed to the Duke d E per n on without i n ’

ter r u p ti n g him and having c a st down h i s eyes whe n he

,

bega n to speak he neither raised them n or r eplied by a

, .

s ingle word whe n he e n ded D E per n on perceived by .

’

th is obstinate sile n ce that the cardinal had S O stron gly

impressed upon the king s mind that the duke must be ’

s acrificed that it wa s im possible to save hi m

, Hi s maste r .

h a d dicta t ed h i s behaviour an d he did n ot dare to reply ,

to such a m a n a s D E p er n on for fear o f committin g hi m

’

s elf . F in d in g a ll in vain the proud duke resumed some

,

thi n g Of h i s n atural character an d said Since yo ur ,

m aj esty gives me n o reas o n to hope for the par don of the

D u ke de Montmorenci I beg I may be pe rm itted to ,

r etire . The kin g replied that it wa s best he should a n d ,

that he himself should n ot remai n long at Toulou se .

Th e D u ke de Mo n tmorenci wa s s o genera l ly beloved ,

and the cardi nal hated tha t i n the court a s well a s among
, ,

the p e ople an expression of g reat sorrow prevailed O n e

, .

day the people of Toul ou s e a s se m bled r oun d the house

2 52 P O S I T I ON or THE QU EE N .

o ccasion i n which by saving the last o f the m ost ill us t ri

,

o u s race i n his kingdom clemency would have done him ,

infinitely m ore honour than severity But in a ddition to .

,

the cardinal having convi nced him that Monsieur and his
partisans had no other design but to dethrone him ,

a l though they mig h t assert that their only enemy w a s th e

m inister the miniature that had been found on the perso n

,

o f the duke had s o violently excited th e j ealousy Of the

k ing that nothing could save him The ever unhappy

, .

queen was rendered more wretched by learning what was

o n e o f the causes o f the melancholy fate of the duke and ,

a fter a strong contest between her sen se o f humanity and

her fear s of her husband and the cardinal was obliged to ,

yield to the latter and refrain from j oining her voice to

,

that of the whole n ation for the pardon of Montmorenci

s h e knew the nature of both too well ; her entreaties

woul d have been looked upon as a confirmation O f their

d ark suspicions The comment upon this story is very
.

s hort and lies qui te o n the surface : it wa s not the err or o f

,

Mon t more n ci that brought him to the scaffold but the ,

j ealousy of the monarch awakened and kept alive by ,

Richelieu and the envy and fears o f the minister who

, ,

dreaded the influence Of such a character a s M on tm o

r en ci s Am ong all the princes or magnates who could
’
.

have disputed the place of honour with Richelieu this ,

u nfort u nate nobleman wa s most feared by the cardinal ;

for i n addition to great abil ities and commandin g posi

,

tion he had a n honour an d a spirit ab ove any price the

,

m in ister h a d it in h i s power to bribe them with .

Two little private -life traits o f Montmorenci will prove

to ou r r eaders perhaps more than public acts the vast
, ,

d ifference between the characters of the victim and the

Oppressor There wa s much of the r omance o f a fine
.

chi valric n ature i n Mon tmorenci Everybody gambled i n .

these days when i n door a musements were s o few ; h ow

,

few we m ay suppose whe n we r ecollect that s u ch a m a n

, ,
 AN EC D O TE S or M ON TM O RE N C I . 53

a s A nn e de Montmorenci th e celebrated constab le an d

, ,

g randfather o f t he C ardinal s victim coul d neither

’
read nor ,

wri t e Education seems to have been in a n anomalous

.

position ; it was either neglected or car r ied to an extreme

perhaps i n this age whe n a pr incely Montmorenci
, ,

wa s left i n a state of utter ignorance there were m en ,

more laboriously an d deeply learned tha n any ou r times

could produce Compare t he youth of Montmorenci— w e
.

mea n A nne — with that Of the fa ntasticall y -educated

Montaigne the one the heir of the first house in Europe
belo w royalty the other the s on o f a Gas con g entleman
, .

A s we said e v erybody g ambled Montmorenci was play

, .

i n g and the stake was high three thousand pistoles

,
-
A .

gen t lema n amon g the lookers on breathe d a sigh and -

,

whispered to his next neighbour : That s u m would make

”
my fortune ! Montmorenci heard him but said nothing , .

The dice were propitious ; he won Quietly takin g u p .

the money he led the gentleman a li ttle on on e side p u t

, ,

it into his hand with a friendly pressure and whispered ,

I wish monsie u r your fortune were more considerable

, , .

Durin g a j ourney into Languedoc some of the companio n s ,

Of t he marshal -duke were discoursing on what consti tu t es

the real happin ess of life an d mai ntained that people i n
,

the lowest condition might live in perfect content Mont .

morenci perceiv in g fou r l a bou r er s in a field dining under

, ,

the shadow of a hedge exclaimed : Let us accos t yonder

,

people and ask them if they think t hemsel v es happy

, .

Three of t hem admitted that confin in g their happiness t o ,

cer t ain comfor t s whic h God had g iven them t hey had ,

nothing more to wish for The fourth however hones t l y

.
, ,

confessed that there was with hi m on e thing wantin g t o

make him happy ; and t hat was to be abl e to acquire a ,

certain li ttle heri ta g e which his forefathers had possessed

,
.

”
And if you had that herit a g e said Montmorenci , ,

”
s hould you be conten t ? A S much s o as possib l e ,

” ”
m onsieur replied the peasant
, How much is it worth ?
.
2 54 O THER S E V E R I T I E S .

s aid the marsh a l T wo thousa n d fra n cs replied the

.
,

“ ”
good man .Let it be given to him said the duke , ,

turnin g to on e of h i s O fficers that it may be said I have

,

a t leas t made on e man happy i n m y life Ca n we fin d .

s u ch incide n ts i n the life Of the cardin a l ? Play -wrights

”
a n d n ovelists will ans wer Ye s But in h i s case what
, .
, ,

were they ? The insidious bounties Of a recruitin g -serj ean t ,

a rtfull y bestowe d i n order to sedu ce s ome m a n of extra

,

o rdin a r y brave ry or sple n di d tale n t s to a s ub s e rvi e n cy to

h is w ill a n d hi s a mbitio n .

C HA P T E R VI I I .

Th e C ard inal a t Bor d eau x— Hi s illn ess — M ons i eur retires to Bruss els
T h e wa r in G erm any Th e
— Q u een M other D i s g ra c e O I C h a
- —

t ea u n e u f— E x tra r in r tria
o d a y h a i r re
l o f th e C e v l e J a — Parl iam t
en
o f P ar i s s ev r e el y eb u k e d — S p l e d o
r n ur ar inalo f th e C d — Ri chel i eu ,

Oxen s tein ,
a nd G
roti hu
us — T h e orrain
o s e Of L e .

B EF O RE leavi n g Toulouse the king did n ot forget to

,

punish all who had been partisan s O f Montmorenci ; the

bishops incurring the severest penalties The co u rt of .

Rome lent a w illing han d in m any Of the spoliations an d

chan ges The n obility had their castles and woods de
.

s troyed a n d tra n quil lity w a s restored in the province

, .

Marsh a l d E tfia t superinten dent of the finances dying i n

’

, ,

G ermany wa s succeeded by B a lli on on e o f the cardin a l s

’

, ,

creatures ; an d the Marquis de Breze who had married ,

o n e o f his sisters was made marshal o f France aft er the

, ,

paltry skirmish of Castelnaudary Marshal Schomberg .

,

as the reward for his share o f the same important a fl a ir

’

h a d th e gover n ment of Lan guedoc vaca n t by the death of ,

2 56 THE C A R D INA L F OR ON C E F O RG O TTE N .

will She had v ery little reason to like the card inal or to
.
,

grace his triumph ; he had but a short time before pro , ,

posed to t he king to repudiate her under the plea o f ,

sterility ; besides which she na turally took too much

,

in teres t i n the house o f A ustria to be friendly with a man ,

who w a s i ts declared enemy The queen wa s unable .

to conceal her annoyance and in spi t e Of all the , ,

honours rendered to her by the cardinal s orders ’

s h e appeared low -spirited an d absent during the whole

j ourney .

She was desirous of seeing the man sio n of the D u ke

d E p er no n at Cadillac to do whi ch it w a s necessary to
’

, ,

cross the Garon ne and the party left their carria g es an d

, ,

went on board boats pro v ided for the passage The Duke .

d E p er n on h a d carria g es ready for th e queen and her

’

suite at her landi ng and gave strict orders tha t others

,

shoul d remain for the cardin a l in case he should be behin d ,

her The quee n s o completely engrossed the attention o f

.

D E p er n o n that wh i lst con ducting her to his house an d

’

, ,

then to her apartments he forgot to i n quire whether th e

,

cardinal had been duly provided with a conveyance But .

the presence of roy a l ty had confused hi s attendants a s

well as himself ; s o that whe n the cardinal lande d he ,

found no carriage left— all were fill ed a n d gone with the

queen and her suite He ho w ever would n ot wait but
.
, , ,

s et forward on foot towar d s the duke s mansion Th a t ’

.

nobleman having paid the first ri tes Of hospitality to h i s

royal visitor went to meet th e cardinal and to his g reat
, , ,

surprise encountered him half way between the ri v er an d

,
-

the house trud g ing on foot in not the best of possible

, ,

humours I t was not the personal fatigue that pained him

.

his pride his dig ni ty were wounded The co n fused duke

, , .

m ade a thousand a polo g ies assured him he had g iven par

,

ti c u l a r orders that there should be a carriage for h i m ,

and was astonished at not hav in g been obeyed The .

c ar dinal feig n ed to be s a tisfied with his excuses but he ,

 TH E C A R D I NA L F A LL S S I C K . 25 7

could n ot s o far overcome his temper as to avail himself

o f a carriage when o n e came and insisted upon walking ,

t he whole way although much inconvenienced by the e xer

,

tion Historians do not tell us s o but we are stron g ly

.
,

incl ined to suspect this was a tri ck o f the courtiers who , ,

having such a person as D E p er n on to throw the blame ’

upon enj oyed the j oke Of making the cardinal walk and
,

we can even fancy them aye an d the queen herself , , ,

peeping out at the windows and laughing a s they saw him

coming up the avenue casting n ot over -lovin g glan ces
,

at his host .

A fte r spending two days at Cadillac the party return ed ,

to Bourdeaux where the cardinal fell seriously ill s o much

,

s o that his life was despa i red o f The belief that he cou ld .

not recover became general an d everybody r ej oiced in , ,

the h O p e Of seeing peace restored to the roy a l family ,

justice administere d according to the laws and the favours ,

of the prince bestowed wi th more equ a l ity upon thos e

who merited them Several balls and other rej oicings
.

took place at Bourdeaux during his illness which denoted

, ,

clearly the hatred entertained for a minister who only

‘

favoured such a s were willing to live and die h i s slaves .

And yet even these were not all overcome by their grief
or fear o f the future ; Chatea un euf at all times s u b ,

missive to his will danced at on e of these balls and that

, ,

when the cardin al believed everybody wa s wearyin g

heaven with prayers for his recove r y : but such a
derelic tion was not likely to be forgotte n or for
gi v en ; i t wa s on e of the principal causes o f Ch a tea u n eu f s
’

The queen did not think it necessary to remai n long at

Bourdeaux al thou g h the cardinal was still in g reat dan g er ;
,

s h e therefore depar ted for La

, , Rochelle with the i n ten ,

tion of returning to Paris by that route During he r .

soj ourn at Bourdeaux the D uk e d E p er n on had made the

,
’

gua rds he had in his quality of governor o f the provin ce

s
 JE A L O U S
’
25 8 OF D E PE RNO N .

la y asi de th eir un i fo r m s a n d m u skets a n d h a d s trippe d ,

h i msel f o f a l l the i n signi a of h i s post ; but whe n the ,

quee n was gon e h e did n ot thi nk it wa s n ecessary to

,

r ender the cardi n al a n hono ur wh i ch wa s only due to the

sover eign G oing therefore to p a y a visit to the m in ister

.
, , ,

wh o w a s a little better he wa s accompanied to the d oor

,

o f h i s lod g ing by his gu ards i n their un iforms and wi th , ,

their muskets on their s houlde rs The cardi n al s people .

’

a ccu stomed to m ake othe r s tremble fl ew to arms whilst , ,

the duke he edless of th e co m u s i on hi s coming had create d

, ,
’
proceeded to the sick man s a ntechamber to inquire after
h i s health The cardi n al d e s ired him to be informed t hat
.

he was still s o ill that h e hoped he would excuse h i s n ot

r eceivin g h im F r om that time the duke continued to be
.

s o a c c om pa n ied a n d whe n the cardi n al s et out for Bro uage

, ,

he attended him to th e ve s s el with his guards an d a

n u mbe r of the n obility of the provi n ce a s if to do h im ,

h ono ur The cardi n al wa s i t i s s a id made to believe

.
, ,

that the duke had formed s om e design a gainst his person ;

a n d that fr om that v i sit he h a d n ever thou g ht hi mself

s a fe at Bour deaux But if the duke h a d entertained such

.
‘

a n i dea wh y did he n ot exec ute it ? he wa s th e stronger

, ,

a n d much bette r b eloved a t B ourdeaux tha n the c a rdi n al

wa s besides the Cardin a l de la Va lette the d uke s s on

’

, , ,

n ever left Richelie u s bed s id e dur in g the whole o f hi s

’

il lnes s Two s uch m en c ould n ot be left i n so peculi ar a

.

positio n without a ttractin g atte ntion to their c onduct .

E very on e knew they were n ot frie n ds a n d a t the same ,

tim e could n ot forget th e r eport of D E p er n on ha v ing

’

afforded Ra va ill a c a n Oppor tunity for striking the second

blow at the a ssassination of He n ry IV There can be n o
, .

doubt that mi str u s t wa s m utu ally ente r tained but m os t , ,

l ikely a ctual crime existe d only in th e im a ginati on Of

,

their friends a n d the people .

Whe n the quee n le ft Bou r d ea u x th e ca rdin al deputed hi s ,

co us i n the M ar qui s de M e iller ay to a ccompan y her an d

, , ,
2 60 GASTO N A GAIN RET I RE S To THE N ETHERL A N DS .

that La Com ba l et dwelt in the disputed residence a n d ,

there received the vi s i t s o f people of the highest ra nk ,

who paid court to her uncle by going to s ee her I t wa s .

believed that on a ccount of this an d of her hav in g pre

, ,

s umed to make alteration s in the house for which part of ,

the walls of Mary s own palace o f the Luxembourg were

’

taken down the queen mother formed the violent r esolu

,
- :

tio n O f h aving her carr ied off ; but there was no doubt
that these al terations were e ffected by the orders of her
uncle a s she wa s not natu ra l ly of a disposition to o ffen d
,

the queen mother wantonly A fte r the discovery of the

- .

i ntended violence s h e did n ot th ink herself i n safety i n

,

that house but went to reside at the cardin a l s hotel an d

,
’

left home very seldom .

The duke of O rleans conceived that when the k in g h a d

wr itten to him That if he ventured to m arch a step
,

towards Roussillon it wo uld cost the life of t he D u ke de

,
”
Montmorenci he had t a citly made him a promise to
,

spar e that nobleman therefore when he heard of hi s ex ,

ecu ti on he co n sidered it a rupture Of the treaty by which

,

h e was bound Irr itated likewis e by the reports with

.

whi ch his dependents constantly fed hi m he left Tours ,

s ecretly o n the 6 th of N ovember a n d on the 1 2 th wrote , , ,

a v ery s tr ong expostulatory letter to the king from a ,

place on his own route i n which he complained in n o ,

measured terms o f the in fractio n of the treaty and o f the ,

whole of his brother s con duct The king returned an ’

.

answer in the same tone an d Mons i eur not having the , ,

courage to proceed to Roussillon retired through Cham ,

pagne to the N etherlands an d wa s warmly welcomed at ,

Brussels thou g h the Spanish ministers attached very

,

little consequence to h i s discontent being persuaded tha t ,

Richelieu cou l d lure him back whene v er it became hi s

policy to do so A S for the queen -mother under pre tence
.
,

o f requiring chan g e o f air s h e se t out for M a li nes the ,

day before hi s arrival She wa s angry with him and n ot

. ,
 A C OUN C I L U P ON P U BL I C A FF AI RS . 2 61

without cause for in the last treaty with his brother s o

, ,

fa r fro m supporting her interests he had ne v er e v e n ,

m entioned her name He followed her but he could not

.
,

prevail upo n her to return to Brussels s h e had resol v ed

to g o and reside at Ghent A squabble for i t is hardly .
,

worth while to seek a higher design ation for such a ffairs ,

took place between the queen s favourite priest an d ’

Gaston s favourite companio n of hi s pleasures and these

’

worthy pers ons contri v ed to s ow a dissension betwee n

their patr ons which gav e the cardinal g reater facili t ies for
,

thwar ting the ir designs th an he could have had if they

h a d remained united .

G asto n sent his reason s for leaving the ki n gdom to th e

kin gs of Spain and En g land and requested their support , .

The k ing had already sent an ambassador into Spain to ,

complain Of the assistance rendered to h i s brother and to ,

j ustify France for that given to th e k i ng o f S weden A .

s hort time after this intelligence was rece ived o f the

,

death of Gustavus A dolphus who was k illed on the 6 th

‘

Of N ovember at the battle o f Lutzen which his army

, ,

gained after his death I t then became evident in France

.
,

that if the Swedes were not more vigorously supported i n

Germany the house of Austria would triumph over t heir
,

party and several persons were sent to urge the Protes

,

tant princes to be more zealous i n their own cause .

At the beginnin g o f the year 1 63 3 the king held a ,

council upon the a ffairs of Germany i n which aft er a long , ,

S peech from the cardinal involving the interests O f France

,

with all Europe t hose of the queen -mother and the duke
,

o f O rleans an d no t forgetting h i s o wn he an d wi t h hi m
, , ,

the council co ncluded that all p ossible means shoul d be

,

employed to keep up the war in Germany and i n the L ow

Countries a g ains t the house o f Austria wi thou t de
, ,

c l a r i n g it openly on the part of France and for this pur

pose i t was determined ambassadors extraordinary should
be se nt to the emperor the Catholic and Protestant ,
2 62 R I CHEL I E U W I S HE S THE QU EE N T O GO To FL O RE N C E .

elector s and the un ited p rov inces to exhort the m to c on

, ,

ti nu e the wa r vi g orously Thi s wa s done a n d every

.
,

m ean s were employed to i n du c e the Swedish ge n er a l s ,

Ba u des s en and Horn to s urre n der to F ra n c e th e pl a ce s

,

they occupied in the elector ates o f Cologn e and Maye n ce '

F r an ce began to be desirous of posses s in g a l l on he r own

s ide o f the Rhine a n d i f M a ye n c e were hers S tra s b our g
, ,

a n d other places woul d m ost li kely follow .

A fte r the c ardin a l s r et urn to P aris he on e d a y se n t

’

for Gondi the F lorentin e resident a n d a fte r talkin g of

, ,

other matters cam e to h i s r eal p ur pose a n d introduced

, ,

the subj ect of the quee n -mother He a s ked G on di wh a t .

h e thought of a n ide a i t wa s s aid the qu een h a d fo rm ed of

'

goin g into I taly ; and u pon G ond i s saying h e h ad n eve r ’

heard s h e intended quitting th e N eth erlan ds the ca rdin a l ,

continued by s ayi n g that the i m prudence a n d fury of

,

F athe r Chanteloub e havin g obliged the kin g to r equire

the infanta to gi ve h i m u p that ma n had be come s o te rri
,

fie d th at he had p ers uaded the quee n to r etire fr om th e

Lo w Countries because he did n ot think him self s afe
,

there The queen -mother h a d i n c o n sequen c e of thi s

.
, ,

requested a place of r efuge from the ki ng Of Englan d bu t , ,

a t the en t reaty o f the kin g her s on i t had be e n de ni ed

, ,

her She had the n begged the s ame kin g to allow h er to

.

come to Plym outh on h er wa y to Spain a n d that h e

, ,

would furn ish her with a vessel to tra n sport her to that ,

country But th a t prin ce be in g as su r ed that if s h e on ce

.
,

s et foot in England s h e wo uld r emain the r e r eplied tha t , ,

he woul d willingly fu rnish he r wi th vessels if he we re ,

cert ai n that the king of Spain wo uld receive her a n d tha t ,

France woul d n ot be o ffe n ded by such a s tep Spai n h a d .

declared it wa s re a dy to r eceive her but the king wa s s o ,

m ove d by pity at her cond itio n a n d at her being den ie d ,

a n a sylum by the Engli sh that he wa s at a loss what to

,
”
resolve upon This p o or wom a n s o the cardinal term ed
. ,

her h a d bro ught a ll these mis fo rtu n e s u pon hers elf by

,
2 64 C H A TE AUN E U F D I S GR A CE D .

to persuade her to go to Flore n ce i n order that s h e m ight ,

b e no obstacle to the t reaties it might be convenient to

m ake with Spain Whilst she an d Monsieur were i n
.

their territories no treaty could b e made that excluded

,

them ; and the cardinal said it was their du ty to submit

themselves to the good pleasure of their king and allo w ,

him to punish all who had followed them Thus n o .

m eans were spare d to make them leave the Spanish

terri t ories The Prince de Condé was sent to Burg undy
.

to force the parliament of Dij on to try the Duke d E lboeu f ,

’

P uylaurens C a u dr a i Montpensier and other of the duke s

’

, , ,

servants They were condemned to death as rebels ;

.
,

they were executed in e ffigy an d their goods confiscated , .

A short time after this the king took the seals from ,

Chateauneuf who had served the cardinal so usefully by

,

m aking his O ffice subservient to his v iolences The causes .

o f this disgrace were not publi cly spoke n of because most ,

Of them were connected personally with th e minister and ,

n ot wi t h the state Some attributed his fall to his attach

.

ment to that universal i n tr ig a n te the D u chess de Chev ,

reuse for Whom the cardinal notwi thsta n din g occasional

, ,

ou t breaks evidently entertained an a ffec t ion

, At a .

moment when h i s j ealou sy was awakened against Chateau

n euf he unfortunately discovered some letters to the
, , ,

duchess from that minister in which he foun d himself ,

ridiculed in t he most outra geou s manner I t w a s added .

that the cardinal had been informed that Chateauneuf

h a d danced at a ball at Bourdeaux when the minis t er was ,

supposed to be dying But the principal cause no doubt

.

was that the keeper of the seals had flat t ered him self he
was on the road to bec ome prime -minister and had e v e n ,

entered into some intri g ues to that end To thwart the .

cardinal in love and power and to wound his vani ty was , ,

indeed crossing the lion s path an d the se a l s were g i v en to

’

S eg u i er and Cha t eauneuf was sent prisoner to the Cas tle

,

o f An goul eme accused of exciting cabals i n the court

, .
 S TR AN GE TR I A L OF THE C HEV A L I ER J A RS . 26 5

Several of his friends were placed i n t he Bastille an d ,

among them the Chevalier Jars who w a s accused of ,

having persuaded the queen mother and Monsieur to -

pass over into England A S there wa s no proof o f this

.
,

the cardinal adopted an ex traordinary method of di s

covering Whether this man had been mixed u p with this
i ntri g ue
. He not only put him in prison but he ordered ,

the j udges who tried him to condemn him W i t h or W i t hout ,

proof o f guilt —to have his head cut o ff gi v in g them h i s

, ,

word that th e sentence sho ul d not be carried into e ffect ,

i f he were innocent He wa s accordingly condemned

.
, , ,

his sentence was read to him and bein g upon the sca ffold
, ,

a fter having o ffered up his prayers wi thout confessing

anything an d placed himself in the posture to receive the
,

fatal blo w he wa s a stonished by hearing the cry o f

,
.

“ ”
Pardon 1 A s he descended the steps of the sca ffold ,

on e o f the j udges exhorted him aft er hav ing thus ex

,

i n c e d the clemency o f the king to di v u l ge the i n

p er e ,

tr i g u e s of C hateauneuf ; but he courageously replied that

i t wa s e v ident he wished to take ad v antage o f h is situa
ti on to make him s a y s omething disad v an tageous to h i s
friend ; but he must kno w that since the terrible image
o f death had not been able to make him speak n othing ,

cou l d draw from his mouth the secrets of h i s friends or ,

anythi ng that might in jure them This w a s almost the .

onl y one of those the c a rdinal brough t to the scaffold

who showed any firmness ; most of them as it were made , ,

him the a m en d e h on or a bl e u n der the pretence of dyin g

,

like Chr is t ians Christianity m i ght induce them to par

.

don him but coul d not teach them to sanction crime with
,

their dying breath But What an awful picture does this

.

incident re v eal of the state of a country subj ected to the

w i cked will of one man ! I f a minister had ven tu r‘ d
u pon such a v ile trick i n Engl and at this period we feel , ,

satisfied h i s executi on wo ul d not have been a mockery .

I t i s a c urio us cir c um stance that at a tim e whe n there

2 66 M AR S H A L D E r Ré E s
’ ’
P ANI C .

m ight b e s ai d to be n o law in Fran ce the m ost e m i n e nt ,

writers u po n i ntern ational and n ation a l laws were prose

e utin g their imm orta l labours i n s ever a l co un tries — a t th e

very mome n t G rotius wa s the S wedi sh r epresentative in

Fran ce a n d be in g n o favourite wi th the cardinal h a d
, ,

a bu n d a n ce of leisure for his studies W a s this a natu ra l .

con seque n ce of the wa n t o f law s be in g felt by g r e a t

m inds ?
Wh e n Chateauneuf wa s s e n t to priso n Marsha l ,

d E tr é es who wa s o n e of h i s m ost intim ate friends hear

’

, ,

in g of the circ u msta n ce at Tr eves where he comm a n ded

, ,

a n a rm y wa s seiz ed with such a p a nic that he quitted the

, ,

a rmy sec r etly a n d ret ir ed to Va u dr eva n e The a rr iva l

, g .

o f a courier bearing despatche s for two other o ffice rs

, ,

a n d n o n e to him brought the fate of Marshal de Mar illa c

,

to hi s mind an d he feared these o fficers had order s to

,

a rr est him But learn ing there wa s n o foundation for h i s

.

a lar m he four days a fte r se n t a ge n tlema n to the king

, , ,

a n d the cardinal to a s k the ir pardo n for his flight an d

, ,

i n ge n uously to confes s th e fear which had dictated it .

Hi s panic furn i shed matter of laughter for the cour t and ,

h e r eceived orders to return to Tr eves The Duchess de .

Chevr e us e wa s a t the same time banished from the court

, , ,

by a n order from the king which gives u s additi onal ,

r e a son to think that j ealousy had s o m eth in g to d o with

th e di sgrace of Cha teau n euf .

A t a s ittin g of the parl i amen t of Pari s in Apri l the , ,

kin g to ok an Opp ortuni ty of r ebukin g tha t as sembly for

h a v in g dared to s end deputie s to St Germai n to request .
,

him to recall the Preside n t de M em es whom the cardin al ,

h a d bani shed The king s ai d he woul d n ever fail to

.

c h a stise thos e wh o refu sed to obey h im ; an d if the p a r

en t would n ot s u ffer the m a gistrates who were s u b ,

execute h i s orde rs i t wa s n ot just to ,

expec t the monarch to countenance the disobedienc e of

h is subj ects He a d ded that he insisted upon be in g
.
2 68 TRE A T Y W I TH S WE D E N .

home the cardin a l wa s b usy i n endeavourin g to e m ploy

,

the house of Austria s o completely with i ts o wn foreig n

a ffairs a s to leave it no time to interfere with those o f th e
,

queen -mother and M o n sieur The le a gue made W ith the

.

late king o f Sweden wa s r enewed with the famous Chan

c el l or O xen s ti er n on e of the few men Of the time able to
,

c ope with Richelieu ; it w a s he wh o insisted upon Grotiu s

b ein g the Swedish ambassado r a t the cour t of France in ,

Opposition to the desire of the cardinal : O xen s ti er n k n ew

he must have a m a n of abili ty at that post Richelieu .
,

n aturally desired hi s a bsence France promised to pay

, .

Christina the daughter of Gustavus a millio n o f livres per

, ,

a n num to continue the wa r in G ermany The two crown s .

boun d themselves to m ake n o trea ty but by commo n

consent a n d to support each others allies
, .

The cardinal likewise wa s an xious to break the nego

ti a tion w h ich was the n goin g on at the Hague betwee n ,

the states general of the Un ited Provinces and the envoys

-

of the Spanish N etherlands concerning a second truce

,

between the king Of Spain and the states -general A S .

there were great obstacles i n the affair itself it did n ot ,

appear d ifli cu l t to keep u p the wa r I n addit ion to this.

,

s ome nobles o f the Spanish N etherlands discontented ,

with the go v ernment o ffered to place i n the hands o f the

,

F rench Bouchain Qu es n oi Avesnes and L a n dr e ci impor

, , , , ,

t a nt places on the frontiers o f A rtois and to excite a ,

general revol t in that country The malconten t s told the

.

kin g that if he let such an Opportunity escape him he ,

would n ever recover it ; and that they who were willing

to plac e themselves i n hi s hands could not li v e in a
perpetual state of in quietude a n d i n danger of bein g
,

discovered .

The cardinal tol d the kin g i n coun cil that Henry ,

IV woul d ne v er have let such an Op p ortuni ty s l ip but

.
,

r egard must be paid to the t i mes The kin g was child

.

less and Monsieur the presumptive heir was in Flanders

, , ,
 THE C A R D INA L S P O L I CY A G AIN ST F O RE I G N W A R
’
. 2 69

with the queen mother The health o f the kin g wa s n ot

- .

s t rong enou g h to a llo w him to engage in a war which

mus t cause him much fatigue of both body and m ind I t .

would be necessar y for the co urt to r emove from Paris .

The king s finances were exhausted Z ealous Catholi cs

’
.

were louder tha n ever in denouncing wars made in favour

o f heretics Considerable a rmies mus t a t the same time
. , ,

be kept up in Champagne an d It aly a s they had strong ,

r easons for dis t rustin g the d u kes o f Lorraine and Savoy .

The character of the French was to become equal ly we a r y

o f long war or peace The ki ng be i ng engaged in a foreign
.

w a r the governors of provi nces wo u l d be the more eas ily

,

led to declare for the duke of O rlean s The least ill -s u c .

cess such a s t he loss of a place or of a battle was capable

, ,

o f causing great excitement in the state If th e ki ng wer e .

to f a l l s i c k, hi s s er v a n ts wou l d be l os t bey on d r e d em
p ti on .

Thus al thou g h i t might appear that advanta ges might be

,

deri ved from a ru pture it would be better to remain qu i et

, ,

a nd be s a t isfied with aiding the enem i es of Spain i n order ,

to a void having them to conte nd with The money which .

the Dutch required to continue the war against Spai n wa s

r eady ; and it was only necessar y for them to execute the
project they h a d propos ed which w a s that if the kin g
, ,

would send before Dunkir k foot and 6 00 horse , ,

they would send t heir army an d fleet to attack that place

w
,

a a fterwar ds t o take Gravelin e s which they o ffered to ,

m a ke over to France But nevertheless care must be

.
, ,

take n that these troop s did n ot cau s e a n Open rupture ;

a n d to a v oid that it would be better to s end them by s ea

th a n by land .

The fact was the cardinal preferred being busy w i th

,

c ourt intri g ues and provincia l war s which amused the ,

king a n d did not take either him or the cardinal Ou t of

,

the kingdom to a g reat open forei g n war in which hi s

, , ,

c hurch militant t alen t s might be too s t rong l y t ested .

The consequence of a ll th is a n d o f s ome a fte r n e g otia

,
2 70 M A RR IA GE OF G A ST ON W I TH M A R G U ER I TE .

t i on s with the Dutch wa s that Fran ce wa s properly ,

n ei ther a t ope n war n or at peace with the hou se o f

Aus t ria ; an d the two crow n s appeared disposed to adopt

w hichever might prove to b e m ost a dvantageous The .

Sp a niards discovered the con spiracy of the Flemish n oble s ,

and by the punishment of some held the others to their

duty I t wa s a g a m e o f chess betwee n Richelieu a n d the
.

Count duke O livare z wh o governed Spain but Richelie u

-
, ,

bein g by far the bette r and more u n scru p ulous player th e ,

a ffairs o f Spai n became worse and worse The ol d cabal s .

were renewed the ol d points of contest such a s the

, ,

V a l tel in e Mo n tferr at the G risons C a s al Lo rr aine were

, , , , ,

a l l throw n once m ore upo n the p olitical carpet The .

cardinal carried thin gs with a high hand bullyin g whe n ,

he thought hi mself safe i n doin g s o bu t more fr eque ntly ,

e m ploying the resource s o f hi s artful genius .

France complai n ed that the duke o f Lorrai n e m a de

d ail y i n fractions in the tr eaty o f Li v erdun ; it wa s s aid
that afte r levy ing troops he had disban d ed them on th e,

frontiers i n order th a t they might p a s s in to the service o f

,

th e kin g o f Spain and that he even permitted th e

,

S p a niards to levy tr oops in his state s He had s urpri se d .

M olshei m a n d ra v a ged the territori e s o f Str asbour g

, ,

Deux -Ponts a n d S a r br u k He had obtained S a ver n a n d

, .

B ackstein fro m th e e m peror a s payment of a n ol d deb t ,

of t wo hu n dred thous a n d crow n s But what mo s t ofl e

'

the c a r di na l wa s th a t i n th e pr e cedin g ye a r Mon sieu r a d

,

cons umm a ted hi s m a rria ge wi th th e Prince s s Marguerite ,

s econd s i s ter of the du ke which h a d bee n s o secretly don e

,

that eve n Monsieur s dom estics knew n othing o f the

’

m a tter . The Cou nt de Vaudemont a n d the Princess de

P h a lsbo urg ha d brought a bout thi s m arriage an d it wa s ,

k ept s’e cr et for a len g th of time Althou h the duke Of . g

Lorrai n e had r e n oun ced a ll c on n ection s that m ight be

displeasing to the kin g particularly that wi th the duke
,

o f O rle a n s he had n ever cease d to k eep i t u privately

, p ;
2 72 T HE TWO C A R D I NA LS -
R I C HEL I E U AND L O RR A I N E .

wa sn ot prepared to go into the discussion of political

affairs in a few days his m a j esty woul d be a t Bar an d ,

then the duke of Lorraine bei n g nearer t o his maj esty

, ,

m ight decide whether he would prefer mildness or force ,

on the part o f t he kin g of France to secure his future ,

g ood conduct The Cardin a l de Lorraine said that h i s

.

brother was ready to deliver to the French all th e places

he held in Alsace ; but that wa s n ot su fficient Richelieu .

replied that i n order to make hi mself certain the duke

,

would not again break his word the king m eant to pl a ce,

a French garrison in N anci the most considerable city o f

,

his states The cardinal of Lorraine then o ffered on th e

.
,

par t o f his brother to consent to the dissolution of the

,

marri a ge of Monsieur with his sister and to a s k pardo n ,

'

for that o fl en c e But the cardin al -duke replied that such

.
,

a reparatio n was n ot equal to the faul t an d th a t h i s ,

maj esty wa s determined to p lace it ou t of th e duke s powe r ’

to break h is word again The king required N anci to be

.

placed i n his hands a s a pledge whi ch would be forfeited

,

the moment the duke undertook anythin g against France .

The cardin a l o f Lorr aine repli ed that thi s would be ,

r equirin g his brother to gi v e up the rest o f his states a s ,

such pledg es were never m ade ; it would be an act of

baseness for a prin ce to despoil hi mself of hi s territories
by the way of negotiation it wa s too great a misfortun e
to lose honour an d territo ries at the same time ; the most
disastrous war co ul d produce nothin g worse Lorraine .

w a s situated betwee n France and the State s of the House

o f A us t ria a n d the dukes of Lorr aine were under the
,

n ecessi t y o f cultivating the friendship o f both parties .

The pledge proposed wo uld s o irri tate the emperor of ,

whom the duchy of Lo rrain e wa s held in fief that he ,

would confiscate it and place the d uke without the ban of

,

the empire which happening whe n th e king was other

,

wise en g ag ed he would not be able to as sis t hi m

, .

All these reason s however s pecious made n o impre s

, ,
 A FF AI RS OF L O RR AIN E . 2 73

s ion u pon Richelieu who wa s determined to rui n the

,

house of Lorraine : the car d inal returned wit h the evil

tidings to his bro ther and the Frenc h army con t inued i ts
,

m arch The c a rdinal duke s tro n gly urged the kin g n o t to

.
-

lose t he opportunity o f conquering Lorraine if the duke ,

made the leas t di fficulty of giv ing up the places he

demanded The king and h i s minis ter a rrived at Dizier
.
,

o n the frontier o f Lorr aine on the 2 3 r d o f A u g ust to

, ,

which pl a ce the Cardinal de Lorraine sent a confidenti a l

messen g er to say that his brother a nd he would consent
,

to place N anci a s a pledge i n the hands o f the Frenc h

kin g i f the Card inal de Richelie u would give him th e
, ,

car d inal his n iece Madame de Co m ba l et i n m arriag e

, , , .

W he ther the Cardinal de Richelieu fancied t his w a s a

feint or had some other re a son s for n o t fallin g in with t he
,

proposal he polite ly thanked the cardinal for the honour

,

he did him and said he shoul d be sorry to have it

, ,

believed that he had induced the kin g to go into Lorraine

for t he purpose o f serving his personal in terests a s would ,

be the case if h e accepted for his niece the honour o ffered

to her The duke o f Lorr aine must in the first pla c e
.
, ,

give the kin g en t ire satisfaction ; aft er that his maj esty ,

would consider w hether thi s marriage woul d be a dva n ta p

g eons to hi s s e rvice ; he himself would defer the matte r

t ill then .

To t he king Richelieu urged immediate a ction I f he

, .

did no t make up his mind he said to a ttack the duke of , ,

Lo rraine at once there wa s no appe ara nce of a p r oba bil i ty

,

o f doi n g it for a len gth of time N anci wa s a place of .

considerable strength r egularly fortified and secure from

, ,

being ta ken by force thi s campaign I t would require .

s e v e n or eight months to reduce it by blockade an d ,

durin g that t ime many thi ngs might happ en ; peace mig ht
be m a de i n Germany or a tru ce in Flanders and in that
, ,

case the Spaniard s would be a ble t o creat e a powerful

di versio n To bl oc k a de N a n ci would r equ ire twe nty
.

T
2 74 A FFA I R S OF L O RR AI N E .

thousan d foot an d th ree thousand horse ; bes i de s which ,

i t would be n ecessary to keep up a small corp s d a r m ec

’ ’

n ear the person o f the kin g all which would incur a great ,

e xpense O n the other hand to su ffer an inj ury W i t hout

. ,

takin g vengeance for it was in a ffairs of stat e to meri t

, , ,

a n d receive a greater Mon ey was useless to his m a j es ty

.

i f he did not employ it when necessary ; tha t i s to s a y to ,

s upport his reputatio n or to aggran dize h is states A .

m illi on of gold would be all the extraordinary expenditure

for th is enterprise A better opportunity never could
.

present himself ; and a s to the total rui n o f the duke of

Lorraine that was not to be dreaded as the wa r i n
, ,

Germ a n y was n ot over ye t nei ther did the N etherlands ,

s eem dis posed for peace All great enterprises have their
.

d i fficulties but this had v ery little because the duke

, ,

c ou l d not wi t h his o wn forces alone make head agai n st

, ,

the king and his allies were s o occupied with their own
,

a ffairs that they could n ot come to h i s succour The .

duke would a lways be a s he then wa s attached tothe

, ,

house of Austria from which nothing could alienate him

, ,

a n d he only wai ted an Opportuni ty for j oin ing that power

to the inj ury of France I f the duke were n ot ruined th e

.
,

m arri a ge o f the duke of O rleans would infallibly subsist ,

a n d would be the source o f etern a l wars ; France must

a l ways be upo n her guar d n ot o nl y wi t h respect to ope n

,

war but sti ll more ag a i ns t secret practices O n the con

, .

tr a r y by r ui nin g th e d uke the marri a ge of Monsieur

, ,

wou l d be broken ; P uylaur ens had said he shou ld not be

s orry to s ee Monsieur reduced to that and Puylaurens wa s ,

too much i nterested and Monsieur had too little firmness

,

to remain attached to a W i fe from whom neither could

expect advantage By this means Monsieur wo u l d be
.

compelled to become reconcil ed to the kin g by o fferin g to ,

take ano ther wife ; whereas while the duke of Lorraine ,

subsisted Mon sieur would never thi nk o f being recon

,

ciled N anci wa s th e b es t rampar t tha t Fr a n ce c ou l d on

. , ,
2 76 ESC A PE OF M A RG U ER I TE OF L O RR AIN E .

tant than that of Richelieu ; it was nothin g less tha n th e

heritage of his a ncien t an d noble family We who hav e .
,

been s o long a ccustomed to s ee Richelieu s m easures ’

s ucceed feel a li tt le gratified at rela t ing an in stance i n

,

which his fello w o f t he barrette completely checkmated

him He h a d requested passpor ts o f the king to enable
. ,

him to come and go and allo w mean s of egress from the

,

city for his equipage an d servants ; which had bee n

gran ted Reflecting that the Princess Margu erite wa s
.

the principal cause o f t he war he had reason to a p pr e ,

hend she mi g ht be i n danger if N anci were taken an d ,

'

resol v ed to attempt to efl ec t her escape and send her to ,

her husban d in F landers He disguised her i n m an s .

’

a pparel and took her i n on e o f hi s carria g es ou t of the

,

city The n a n ol d gentlema n and two soldiers i n th e

.
,

d ress of lackeys conducted her throu gh part o f the roy a l

,

a rmy without raisin g

, suspicio n They travelled twelve .

leagues in the course of the night an d arri v ed at d aw n at ,

Th o i n vi l l e a place belo n gin g to the king of S pain From

, .

thence she wrote to the I nfan ta the queen mother a n d ,

-

Monsieur to request an equipag e and an escort to en a ble

,

her to reach Brussels The duke o f O rleans learnt thi s

.

n ews wi t h much j oy and the queen -mo ther with ver y

,

li tt le less al t hou g h s h e w a s not on good terms with him

, ,

because s h e fancied that having a d aughter -i n -law Oppo sed

to the party of the cardinal s h e might in the end , , ,

triumph o v er all h i s a r tific es Everythin g w a s sent to .

m adame that she desired a n d Monsieur went a s fa r a s

, ,

N a mu r to meet her .

The king and th e cardinal learn t the escap e of th e

princess with g reat disple a sure both with re g ard to the ,

consequences a nd from the idea of having been d uped by

,

the Cardinal de Lorraine The king sen t word to th e .

cardin a l that negotiations bein g at a n end he revoked the ,

passpor ts he h a d give n him and if he did n ot wish ,

 r HE D UK E OF L O RR AIN E Ar CH A RME S . 277

to become a pri soner o f war he had be tter rema in i n the ,

city.

The light an d fickle duke of Lorr ain e however eager ,

for the preservation of N a nci had n o t placed it i n a ,

proper state o f defence ; s o that after disap pointments o f

s uccour and negotiations tricks and evasions t he cardin a l
, , ,

h i s brother o n the 6 th of September S igned a treaty by

, ,

which he promised to surrender N an ci in three days to ,

be held by the king with what g a rrison he pleased as a

, ,

pledge till the good conduct o f the duke or peace i n

, ,

G erm a ny s hould have convinced h is maj esty he had

,

n othin g to a pprehend fro m that quarter The duke like .

w is e consented that the marr iag e o f the Prince s s Mar

uerite should be annulled in due form and that s he
g ,

s ho uld be placed in the king s power W it h in a fortnight

’
.

The Cardin a l de Lorrain e demanded perm ission of the

king to go his brother for the purpose of g ettin g the
,

tre a ty rati d The king in the mean time took Charmes

.
, , ,

and the duke retired to Rem er e m on t from which place ,

he s ent back his brother to try to ob ta i n more favourable

,

t erm s But n o t receiving the s uccours h e expected he

.
,

formed the unequalled imprudent design o f going to treat

wi th the king in person Having demanded a passpor t .
,

i t wa s sent to him at once a n d he arrived at Charmes on ,

the 1 8 th o f September with eight hun dred horse There

, .

he n egoti ated for three day s wi t h the Cardin a l s de Riche

lieu and Bichi and a s might be expected when i n such
, , ,

h a n ds on the third s igned the tre a ty entirely to the

, ,

s atisfac t ion o f his enemies .

Wi t h t h e weak cunn ing of such characters the d uke ,

i magined after he had si g ned the treaty he should b e

,

allowed to retire wi thout at the moment surrendering

, , ,

N anci to the king and had forbidde n t he Marquis d e

,

M oii y who co m manded i n the place for him to o pen t he

, ,

g a tes whatev er let ters he m ight w r i t e to him unless h e

, ,
2 78 THE D UK E OF L O RR AIN E OU TW I TTE D .

sa w a certain mark which they had agreed upon Thus .

,

a ltho u gh he wrote orders for the gates to be opened to t he

k in g s troops as the mark was not affixed to the letter

’

, ,

th e governor refused t o obey But he forgot he had to .

deal wi t h Richelieu the cardinal had a suspicion that he

wan ted to be gone and under the pretence o f treating
, ,

him like a royal prince placed guards round t he house he ,

lodged in The duke soon perceived this and upon i n

.
,

quiry was plainly informed of the reason for doing it s o

, ,

that no lon ger having any hop es of escape he wrote to ,

N anci with the proper mark upo n the letter and the
, ,

garrison t he king thought n ecessary marched into the

place o n the 2 4 th of September occupying all the impor ,

tant posts erectin g a sor t of fort upon the bastions of the

,

ol d ci t y and disarm i n g the in habitants wh o to o

,
were ,
‘

well disposed to wards t he duke The acquisi t ion o f N an c i .

wa s o f the greatest importan ce from i ts r oxim i ty to

g ,

Germany and the duke o f Lorrai ne wa s fro m that time

, , ,

obliged t o go wherever Fra n ce desir ed .

The card i nal duke bein g at Charmes wa s des irous Of

-
,

s eeing Whe t her the o ffer o f the Cardinal de Lorraine to

m arr y his niece w a s sin cere ; an d wi t h this view he paid ,

extraordinary civilities to Ch a m va ll en who had i nterested ,

hi mself in this marriage i n order to engage him to res u m e ,

the n ego t iations A s i n renouncing h i s cardinal s hat the

.
’

Lorraine prince would be obliged to give u p h i s ecclesias

tical proper ty it would be necessary to provide him with
,

the mean s o f keepin g up his d ign ity The car d i nal pro .

m i s ed hi s niece a large dowry an d to m a k e her heiress of ,

the greater part of h i s wealth ; but he required the duke

o f Lorraine to give t o his brother territories that wo ul d

produce a yearly revenue o f a hundred thousand crown s to ,

enable him to suppor t the title of duke which would pass , ,

w ith the said revenue to the descen d ants of the Cardin a l

,

de Lorraine even if the duke should have children I f

, .

the d u ke con se nted to th is the C a rdin al de Ri cheli e u ,

280 PRETE N DE D A TTEMPTS A GAIN ST THE C A R D INA L .

a nd fan cied that that princess would only emb a rr a ss them

by remaining i n the N etherlands Mary de Medici wa s .

ill during the summer a n d the king sent to m a ke inqui

,

ries aft er her health a s much for the s ake o f fa thoming

,

her designs a s for the purpose o f pay i ng her in a ppe a r

,

a n ce a mark of duty which he could not wi t h d ecency

a void . This encouraged the quee n mother to write to her -

s on, and to hint at reconcilia t ion bu t a s in stead of ,

evincin g a ny desire of being reconcile d to the cardinal ,

S he spoke o f him in more inj uri ous term s than ever t her e ,

wa s li t tle hope o f her return ing to France .

Attempt s were likewise m ade to procure the rec a l l o f

Gaston but the Lorr a ine marriage wa s a n insuperable
,

obstacle to reconc i liatio n with him .

O n hi s return from Lorrain e the kin g made some stay

,

a t Met z durin g which the parliame n t of that ci ty con

,

demm e d a man n amed Al fes ton to be broken ali v e u pon

the w heel He confessed to having formed the desi g n of
.

k illing the Cardin a l de Richelieu if he passed by a certain

,

place He had not lon g returned from Brussels in com

.
,

pany with two others who had been in the queen mother s
,
-
’

guards an d he had even come upon a horse bel ongin g to

,

her equerry I t was said that o n his way to the scaffold

.
,

he accused Fa ther Chanteloube and the parliamen t con ,

s equent l y ci t ed him a n d se v er a l others At t he same time .

,

o u t o f respect for the queen -mother a s they said but i n , ,

r eality to defame her her horse was sent back to her and
, ,

S he wa s entreated not to allo w such evil design s to be

formed in her household ; because in a ddi t ion to the ,

p erson o f the cardin a l being extremely dear to t he kin

g ,

s uch scoundrels a s the man w h o w a s execu t ed were c a pable

of undertaking other attempts of the same nature This .

on ly served to a g g ravate a n animosity which was a l ready

excessiv e the Father Chan teloube bein g th e princi pal

,

c onfidant o f the queen -mother To secure the life o f the

.

c a r dina l a gainst s im ila r dan gers the kin g g a ve him i n

, ,
 CH A N TE L OU BE AN D R I CHEL I E U . 281

a ddit ion to the guar d he already h a d a company o f a , .

hundred musketeers whom he selected himself fro m a

,

g reat n umber o f persons anxious to be o f t his body .

I t wa s believed that the cardinal by n o mean s desired

the queen -mother to return to court a s he felt con v inced , ,

fro m what had passed his life would not be safe if s h e

,

were there This was certainly a stran ge u n scrup ulous

.
,

a g e ; Mar y was o f the same r a ce and country a s the

C a therine of the last but does n ot this story read like on e

,

of those plots got up by the n ovelists of the presen t d a y ,

a n d attributed to Richelieu ? There wa s n ot a single part

o f the scheme tha t could n ot have been conceived by t he

cardinal and carried ou t by h i s ever -ready creatures a s

,

to the sacrifice o f life that w a s nothing

, .

Chanteloube a n d Richelieu unconsciously on the par t

,

o f the former played into each other s hands The firs t ’

, .

of these two wor thy churchmen w a s n o t willing to e nj oy

a barren favouritism and persuaded the queen to remai n

.
,

in Flanders t ill somethi ng substantial with regard to posi

tio n and revenues were o ffered to her ; the king he said , ,

must come to that Richelieu aware o f this advised the

.
, ,

king to remain inflexible because h i s authori ty was i n

,

question and that would be sensibly diminished if he per

,

m i tte d t he queen mother to capitulate with h i m

- if S he
returned s h e must leave everything to his g en er os 1 ty I t
, .

was true some people m ight blame him for allowing h i s

mother to remain s o long ou t of the kingdom a n d h i s ,

maj esty mi g h t and n aturally did feel regret at the cir

,

c u m s ta n c e ; but he must recollect he w a s a king as well

as a son and he ought to be more anxious to secure th e

,

welfare of t he state than to sa t isfy the passions an d

caprices o f the queen mother By this m axim which
- . ,

supposed that the welfare o f the state wa s incompat ible

w ith the sa tisfactio n of Mary de M e dici he silenced i n ,

the kin g s breast a l l the plea d in g s of natural a fl e i ifi

’
c t on —

i n deed th ey ever had abode there

, .
28 2 M A RY S E N DS V I LL I ER S To THE KIN G .

The cardinal s prime agent Father Joseph i n a c on

’

, ,

versation wi th Gondi the Floren t ine ambassador said tha t

, ,

if t he quee n was desirous of returning she must begi n by ,

giving his maj esty as surances that S he wo uld never agai n

contrive plo t s against him which i nvolved necessarily , , ,

the undisturbed continuation of the cardinal s power If ’

.

these sureties were given Father Joseph had no doub t the,

king wo u ld prove how dutifu lly he loved her and the car ,

dinal would evince the same gra t itude he had fel t for an d
S hown t o her when they were o n the best terms The .

securities the king and the cardinal wo u ld require he ,

said were the total abandonment o f her servants par

, ,

ticu l a r l y Chanteloube to the king s j ustice and her own

’

, ,

entire submissio n to his generosity He then belie v ed .

that his maj esty on witnessing the destructio n of all who

,

could give her e v il counsels wo uld behave to her wi th ,

the kindness of a respectful son .

Mary de Medici was n ot the woma n to abando n her

faithful servants i n this man ner to the ven g eance o f the
cardinal Richeli eu knew s h e wa s n ot and t his apparen t
.
,

o ffer was nothing but a r u s e to keep her out o f France .

I n the early part o f N ovember s h e se n t Villiers to ,

the kin g a s if to con gratulate him upo n h is happy retur n

,

from Lorraine ; but in reality to try if there were n o

, ,

possible means of obtaining his permissio n to return .

Villiers was desired to s e e the king and among the griefs ,

'

her absence caused her was to represent the a flr on ts s h e

,

daily received from Monsieur at the i nstiga t io n of ,

P u y laurens She implored the king by her messenger to

.
, ,

be careful of his health not only for h i s queen s sake but

,
’

for h ers as sh e would sooner die than be subj ected to the

,

tyranny of Puylaurens She be g g ed his maj es ty t o belie v e

.

that she had no part i n the enterprises of Monsieur and ,

tha t his las t j ourney into Lan guedoc had been take n wi th
ou t he r knowled g e .

The k in g r epl i ed he wa s very sorry the du ke of O rlean s

284 TH E KIN G S ME SS A GE ’
To H I S M O THER .

charged her e nvoy to tell the king that to prove h ow ,

dearly she loved him she would forget all the g riefs the,

c a rdinal had caused her and would eve n enter tain a kind ,

n ess for him for his maj esty s sake She could n o t consent ’
.

to abandon the lowest o f her servants much less Chan ,

t el ou be who had counselled her in matters o f the greatest

,

i mpor t ance ; but he should retire o f his own accord from

the queen s ser v ice when the kin g shoul d command him
’

t o do so I f it were possible for the reconciliation to take

.

place s h e should wish it to b e separate withou t mixing it

, ,

with that of Monsie ur ; an d that P uyl a uren s had informed

her i t mi g ht be s o .

When dismissing Villiers the kin g told him he was ,

grieved a t the annoyances the queen exper i enced in

Flanders ; but if s h e examined her o wn conduct s h e
,
»
,

would find that s h e m ust attribute them all to herself .

I f she would give up her evil counsellors to the punish

ment they meri ted and would respect the fai thfu l servants
,

o f the crown he might be led to believe s h e was n o longe r

,

in the bad state o f mind in which s h e had left France .

He had seen he added a let ter written by Chanteloube

, , ,

in which he said she would ne v er be reconciled to the car

di nal a n d had lau g hed a t Villiers visit ; whilst the quee n
,

r etained such a hypocrite a s that about her n obody could ,

place fai th i n her promises All the creatures o f t he car .

dinal were directed to m ake speeches to V i lliers to the

same e ffect The queen -mother must give u p a l l her s er
.

vants to the an g er of the m ini ster and must recei v e o thers ,

a t his hands and every on e acqua inted with the character

o f Mary de Medici kne w S he would n e v er be red u ced to
,

tha t I f the king spoke ill o f Father Chanteloube the

. ,

queen took her reven g e by abus ing t he cardinal in

unmeasured terms ; and the Abb é de S t Germain her . ,

s ecretary published d a ily cruel satires again s t him m any

, ,

volumes of which are still i n existence .

Towards th e e n d of th e year th e C a r din al de Lorrain e

 THE C A R D I NA L DE L O RR AI N E M A KE S O VERT U RES . 285

ca me to Paris on his brother s a ffairs an d to renew the

’

su bj ec t of his mar riage wi th the niece of the Cardinal de

Richelieu The Lorraine prince w a s anxious to conclude
.

the business a s the welfare of his house was deeply con

,

cerned in it He obtained pe rm ission of the cardinal to

.

s ee his n iece a n d wa s extrem ely pleased wi th her

,
.

N othi n g more wa s n ecessary but the condi t ion s on both

,
’

sides Richelieu insisted upon the cardinal s having a

.

re v enue of a hundred th ousand crown s wi th the title Of ,

Duke de Bar ; an d the Cardinal de Lorraine required

that i n consideration of this m arriage all tha t had bee n
, ,

ta ken from his brother sho u ld be res t ored to him The .

house o f Lorraine likewise believed that t his unio n

mig ht bri n g the king to a cknowledge the marriage of
Monsieur wi th the Princess Margu erite : but there were
many obs t acles in the way o f a ll this .

The Duke d e Lorraine had an uncon querable avers io n

to France and to the car dinal who had been the cause o f
, ,

his bei n g plundered a n d wa s not a t all the m a n to adopt

,

a plan because it seemed to be the most safe

, He h a d .
,

m oreo v er many disputes with Fran c e r eg a rdin g bou n d

,

aries ; and that power did itself justice by force of arms .

The Cardinal de Lorr a in e had bee n promised for a lon g

tim e to a princess o f h i s house the sister of the d uchess
, ,

and she mus t be sent to a nunnery O n the other S ide it .

,

appeared v ery little to the glory of the king to restore

everythin g to the duke of Lorraine aft er s o much t rouble ,

and expense merely in con sideratio n o f the marri a ge of

,

the ni e ce of the first mi n ister I t wa s also to be feared by

.

the la tt er that it would be said h e arran g ed a fia i r s for h i s

'

o wn advantage at the exp en se o f the crown and that the ,

kin g mi g ht enter t ain some j ealousy at the ag grandisement

o f h i s house Monsieur s marriag e wa s likewise an em
’
.

harra s sin g a ffair ; a s there could be no hopes of a perfec tly

good unders tanding with the hous e of Lorraine whil s t i ts
286 MA N CE U VBE S .

But n othin g could b e e ffected by the cardin al witho ut

a rtifice and although he earnestly wished for this union
, , ,

he told the Lorraine prince with astonishing coolness an d ,

s elf-possession that h i s n ie c e was sti ll desirous to become

,

a nun and he found it i m possible to remove that i n cli

,

n atio n from her m ind Thi s wa s only to stimulate the

.

Lorr ai n e princes whom he did n ot th ink s ufficiently

,

d eterm ined upon the m atte r to allow h im to obtain the ,

c onditions he wishe d ; a n d a bove a l l to a scertai n whethe r

, ,

the house of Lorraine could resolve to all o w their places

to remai n i n the han ds of the king The Cardinal de .

Lorraine perceiving Richelieu s design determined to

,
’

meet c u n ning with cunning and affected equal coldness ,

o n his part He went into Lorraine to wait for h i s an swer

.
,

n ot without however leav i ng agents at cour t to act

, , ,

s ecretly i n support o f hi s cause I f a favourable conclusion .

were come to he hoped to derive more advantageous

,

results from it ; and if the negotiation were entirely

broken o ff the cardinal wo uld have no cause to complai n
,

o f the house o f Lorraine which had done him the honour

,

to see k his a l liance A s he wa s about to depart the car

.
,

d inal duke sent him word that in a mon t h he should

-
, ,

know whether Mad ame de C om ba l et coul d be induced to

marry a gain All the world kne w that if her uncle had
.

thou g ht proper s h e should be in stantly married a g ai n ,

particularly to a prince ; s h e would not have required

much entreaty ; but the reaso n s we ha v e g ive n woul d n ot
a llow this m a rriage to be consummated h a stily The .

Cardin a l de Lorraine s et ou t with out concluding anythin g ,

o nly bearing to his brother the deed o f restitution o f t he

r evenues o f the duchy of Ba r a n d a prorogatio n o f his ,

homage of two months .

The cabal among the serva nts of the roy a l fugitives i n

Flanders added grea tly to the annoyances of their pa trons
C h an teloube a n d Puylaurens who had only their own ,

interests a t hear t were violently opposed to each other

, ,
28 8 THE C A R D INA L IN C OUN C I L .

that fickle prin ce would abandon the m both the first

Opportunity .

The cardinal whose spies made hi m acqu a inted with

,

all that was going on caused a council to be held in the

,

presence of the king to consider what should be don e in

,

this conj uncture an d whether i t woul d be prope r for the

,

king to be reconciled t o the duke o f O rleans The .

m inister a ccording to his custom spoke at gr eat le n gth to

, ,

persuade the king n ot to give any sat isfactio n to either

the queen -mother or the duke A fter detailing all that .

his searching brain could discover against both he finished ,

“
by saying : I f th e quee n mo ther and Monsieu r were -

both i n France the next day perfectly satisfied with the ,

king on their o wn separate accounts an d in oppositio n

, ,

to e a ch other it was certai n that before three months had

,

expired they would become discontented and would r e

, ,

u n ite in their discontent ; whereas if Monsieur were i n ,

the kingdom and the queen -mother banished it would

, ,

b e difficul t for the m to maintai n an inj urious c or r es p on

den ce The d uke might return but he must come nu
.
,

condi t io n ally .

The speech O f the cardin a l i s too verbose to allo w u s to

give the whole of i t ; but i t s t enor may be gathered from
the remark of one o f the cardinal s most trustwor thy bio ’

”
g r a p h e r s . This speech says Leclerc confo u nded
, ,

the in t erests o f the cardinal with that of the king an d t he

sta t e and we shall find h i s reasons conclusive if we place
,

t/z e c a r d i n a l wherever he spe a k s o f the interests o f

F r a n c e or O f the ki ng
, I ts tendency w a s clearly to
.

banish Mary de Medici fro m the kingdom ; but as i t

would ha v e been too odious to s a y openly that the kin g
was de t ermined ne v er to be reconciled to h is mother the ,

council i n ap pe a rance concluded j ust the reverse bu t

, , ,

only in appearance because t hey kne w the queen mo ther

,
-

would n ever s o far degrade herself as to d o a l l t hey wished

her She wa s in a dditio n to othe r m atters required to
.
, ,
 THE QU EE N -M O THE R AN D M ON S I E U R . 289

prove that s h e had no part in the late attempts at a s s a s s i

n ation by delivering u p t o justice the authors o f t he per
,

n i c i ou s counsels tha t had originated them ; and the n t h e

king would allo w her to return to France restore to her ,

the enj oyment of her do wry and give her liberty to live,

in on e o f his houses at a distance from the court

, .

A fter various considerations upon the complicated

subj ect of the duke of O rleans among which wa s a n ide a ,

o f the cardin a l s whether it wo u l d be advan t a geou s to the

’

state to promise the go v ernment o f Ma c on to Puylauren s ,

a s a residence for himself a n d Monsieur an d then put ,

him i n pris on instead of keeping faith with him it wa s

, ,

determined to leave the duke of O rlean s where he was if

he would not consent to return upon the conditions the
king had recently O ffered him These conditions were to .

give him a considerable s u m o f money for the discharge

o f his debts to r e establish hi m in his appanages and pro
,
-

perty to make large grants to Puylaurens and to gi ve

, ,

Gaston the government of Auvergne where he and h i s ,

guards would h a v e permission to reside I f he would n ot .

return on these terms Richelieu said he m ight remai n i n

,

Flanders since other means o f bringi ng him back were

,

n either honourable nor useful .

These conditions being proposed to the qu ee n -mother

and Mon sieur were at once rej ected by both The queen
, .

cou l d not submit to s ee her servants worse treated tha n

Monsieur s and the duke flattered himself that much
’

better conditions would be O ffered him if he refused the

fir st But the event proved they were mistaken and that
.
,

they woul d hav e acted much more wisely if they had con
sen t ed to a reconciliation when it wa s offered instead of ,

holdin g out against a party infinitely stronger than theirs .

By his proposals which hi s knowledge of the characters

,

he had to deal with made h i m cer t ain they would not

a ccept the cardinal a ttained hi s obj ect of keepin g the
,

u een mothe r a n d Monsi eur— par tic ularly the forme r

-
lq
U
2 90 PERSEC U T IO N S or THE QU EE N -M O THER .

ou t France a s long as possible From the mom e n t th e

of .

cardinal thought himself s o secure i n power a s to allo w

him to kick away from under him the ladder by which he
had gained it it wa s a life long stru ggle betwee n him a n d
,
-

Mary de Medici In addition to the a dvantage Of s ex

.
,

Richelieu had infinitely more art hypocrisy and self , ,

comman d than his antagon ists ; but Mar y wa s stron g

willed far from void o f understa ndin g and persistent to
, ,

a surprising extent Her want of self-control placed in

.
,

Oppositio n to th e cardinal s perfect self possession give s

’
-
,

her an interest with most persons a s headstrong an ger ,

i s preferable to duplicity and lon g cherished reven ge - .

Paltry persecutions were had recourse to in orde r to

a nnoy her ; her a rch -enemy absolutely seemed to wish to

i rritate her to the point o f committin g herself by some

s erious cr i me The clothes and n ecessaries s h e had been
.

a ccustomed to receive from France were regularly stopped ,

upon the frontier an d subj ected to a rigorous examina

,

tion The queen -m other complained of this insult to the

.

king and took the opportunity o f adding that it was i n

, ,

vai n the cardinal m ade use of s uch malicious expedients

i n order to produce compliance to hi s wishes ; s h e wa s
r esol v ed never to humble herself before h im .

About three months after the treaty of Charmes a s the ,

duke of Lorraine had failed to place h i s s ister Marguerite

i n the hands of the king under the apparently val id ex ,

cuse that her husband the duke of O rleans wa s unwillin g

, ,

to part wi t h her the procureur general presen t ed to the

,
-

p arliament accordin g to the instructions of the minister

, ,

a request to prove that the duke of O rleans had bee n

carried off from France by the princes o f Lorraine and ,

tha t consequently his marriage was n u ll The parliament .

demanded time to in quire into and deliberate upon this

impor tant a ffair Very little however wa s grante d for
.
, , ,

the king and the car din a l went to the assembly on the
1 8 th of Janua ry 1 6 3 4 to or der the verificatio n of a de
, ,
2 92 THE L O RR A IN E M A RR IA G E .

taxe s with which others were burthe n ed We could '

s carcely believe we read correctly We must re m e mbe r .

that the population of France wa s n ot half what i t now i s ,

a n d yet a hundred thousand o ffices could be subtracted

from those that existed How m any could they be ?

.

Public o fficers in Fran ce m ust have been like the gods of,

the ancient Greeks whose fu n ctions were so multifa rious

, ,

a n d the i r numbers s o great that there was eve n a god of ,

sneezin g I t i s but j ustice to the chronicler of this even t

.

to s a y that he too seems s urprised a s he pr ints the word s ,

in I talics .

The case of the parliam e n t wa s a pitiable on e : they

were call ed upon to pronounce at least unpleasant decrees , ,

against a prince who might with in a week b e their , ,

despo t ic master The duke of Lorraine wa s ge n erally

.

blamed for having consented to a marriage which by ,

b eing Opposed to the wishes o f the king had drawn upo n ,

him very disagreeable co n sequences O therwise thi s .

,

marriage was not unequal nor was it disadvantageous ,

‘

to the state ; and there wa s nothing in it to find fault

wi th except its having been entered into without the
,

consent of the king who might have approved of it after

, ,

due apology a s he was i n the end obliged to do N ever

, .

th el e s s to reven g e himse l f for this insult he requi red the

, ,

d uke o f Lorraine to gi v e up Z ire a place between Metz ,

and Thionv ill e for the purpose Of having it fortified Th e

, .

duke instan tly compl ied because he had n o power to d o

,

otherwise The king promised to restore it to him again

.
,

not by letters patent but by letters sealed with the privy

,

seal to denote the superiority of the king He als o

, .

demanded of t he duke the original contract of t he marr iage

o f the duke of O rleans an d a l l the documents he h a d i n
,

his possession rela t ive to this affair He likewise ins is ted .

upon knowing who were the witnesses o f t he cere m ony ,

a n d u pon having the o fficiatin g priest placed in h i s power .

O n the o ther h a nd to m ake the d uke sensible that if he

,
 THE T WO D U KE S OF L O RR AIN E . 293

would submi t he m ight expect more indulgenc e an order ,

wa s sent to t he parliament at Metz to defer the p r oh ibi

tion they had been commanded to make to the inhabitants
o f t he territories dependent o n t he bishoprics o f Met z ,

Tou l and Verdun to acknowled g e for the future the duke

, ,

o f Lorraine ; and the duke was likewise allowed to receive

the revenues of the duchy of Bar wi thout being pressed to

pay his homa g e .

Al though this prince wa s almost stripped of hi s te rri

tories he wa s s o irritated against France which oppressed
, ,

h im i n such a shameful m anner that he sou g ht all sorts

,

o f means of retaliation I n order to be able to declare

.

hi mself Openl y against that country without the fear of ,

being depri v ed of the lit tle he had left he by a deed o f , ,

donation on the 1 9 th o f January made o v er his state s to

, ,

hi s brother N icholas Francis Card i nal de Lorraine under

, ,

the pretext that the person o f the latter was more agree
able to the king than t he duke s I t was evident tha t this
’
.

donatio n w a s but a fein t on the part of the duke as he ,

performed sever a l acts o f soverei g nty subsequently to it .

Aft er he had executed it he retired from Lorraine with

,

eight hun dred horse and two thousand foot and j oin ed ,

the imperial a rmy .

The n ew duke immediately sent C on tr es s on int o

France to inform the kin g an d the cardinal of what had
passed between his brother an d hi m self and promised ,

that he would observe the treaty of Charmes With .

r egard to hi s brother he declared he did not know whither

,

he wa s gone The parliament however did not disconti nue

.
, ,

the proceeding which had been commenced against him .

The Cardinal de Richelieu told C on tr es s on when he pre ,

s ented to him the resi g natio n the duke had made in fa v our

o f his bro t her tha t t here was grea t cause for France t o
,

complain of the duke of Lorraine on two accounts one of , ,

whi ch was h i s wan t o f observance of three di fferent

tr e a ti es wh ich he the c a r din a l h a d hi m self m ade w ith
, ,
2 94 THE TWO DU R E s or L O RR AIN E .

him ; a n d the other wa s the car rying off of the d uk e of

O rlean s whom he had forced to marry h i s sister Fo r
, .

the first the m i nister believed that the sta t es of Lor r a in e

,

were engaged to France a n d therefore could n ot be m ade ,

over to the Cardin al de Lorr ain e but upon the same c on

d i ti on s by whi ch h i s brother held them ; and a s to th e ,

s eco n d the d u ke wa s n ot justified i n abse n tin g himself

, .

Besides the Cardinal de Lorraine had been a n a ccom

,

pli es i n the a ffair a s i n h i s qua l ity of bishop of Toul h e

, , ,

had gr anted a dispensation for the publishin g o f the prope r

ban n s o f the m arriage of Mo n sieur with the Prin ces s
M arguerite a n d had a u thoriz ed a mon k to s a y m as s on
,

that occasion to the prej udice of the curé in orde r tha t

, ,

the affair might be kept secret The cardin al -du ke like .

,

wise reproached him o f Lorrain e with havi ng abused th e

,

the kin g s pas sport for the p urpose Of carry i ng off his
’

,
”
si ster an d sending he r to B rus sels
, .

Th us the prin ces of Lorr a ine were i mmers ed in e mb a r

r a s s m en t and n eithe r knew how to appeas e France n or
, ,

h o w to defend themselves a gain s t h er There appe a re d .

to be n o resource but the m a rriage wi th the cardina l s ’

n iece ; a n d eve n in that a ffair there were great difficulties .

In another vi ew it wa s dan gerous for if the car dinal -duke ,

h a d reason to thin k that hi s n iece had o n ly bee n sought

i n marriage to a mus e an d deceive him h e woul d be s ur e ,

to r evenge himself cru elly .

Con tr e s s on wa s se nt b a ck to the Cardin a l de Lorr ai n e

wi th orders to te ll him that he wa s a t l iberty to follo w th e
s teps of his b r other or to take a n Opposite dir ect io n ; a n d
,

that if he had any regard for his own peace he woul d d o ,

the l atter He wa s required to declare at on ce which he

.

wou ld do an d to let h is action s denote hi s se nti me nts

, .

Above everythi n g he wa s desir ed to express his d is a ppr o

ba ti on of hi s sis ter s marri a ge an d to give up the docu
’

m ents of the ori ginal contr act an d the dis pensation for ,

th e ba nns Con tr es s on wa s furnis hed in writin g wi th

.
29 6 A N G ER OR THE C A RD I NA L .

marriage co ntract ; a n d to all appearance s the r e wa s n on e , ,

i t hav ing perhaps bee n written with the duke of O rleans

’

, ,

o wn hand .N ei ther had they bee n able to find the dis

en s a ti on for the banns but that the Cardinal duke de
p
-
,

Lorraine o ffered to sign o n e as he had signed the other , .

The n ames of the wi t nesses he S aid were not known , , ,

and the m onk who performed the ceremony had left

Lorraine To this the cardinal replied with great warmth
.

I t was quite evident that the Cardinal de Lorraine (for

he never called him duke ) wa s walkin g directly in the
s teps o f h i s brother The answers full o f dissimu l atio n
.

which he sent and which were widely different from all

,

he had spoken plainly reve a l ed h is designs it had

,

al ready been m ade clear by what spirit he was actuated ,

’
when after havi n g denied a n y knowledge o f hi s sister s
,

m arriage it had been found that he had granted the dis

,

p en s a ti on for the banns I t had once bee n thought th a t the

.

Cardin a l de Lorraine was a sincere and honou rable prince ,

but the contrary wa s now evident A S to h is not sendin g .

the contract it was a matter of very l ittle consequence it

,

would soon be discovered how it wa s made The n on p r o .

duction of the origin a l would make the n u l lifying o f the

m a rriage only the more easy The witnesses to t he mar .

r i a g e were well known and with respect to them and the , ,

a bsent monk the king woul d soon let the m know t hat he
,

h a d lo n g hands He concluded by saying tha t i nstead

.
,

o f continuin g to be a s he had been the fri end o f the

, ,

Cardinal de Lorraine if he thus persisted in following the

,

crooked paths of hi s brother he S hould become h is

”
greatest enemy .

A S to the taking of Saver n e the k i ng accordi n g to the , ,

cardinal had n o Occasio n to make excuses for a thin g that

,

was well done and added : if the Cardinal de Lorraine

,

had de fended the place it would have been taken from ,

him by force He would inqu ire into the hindrances

.

O ppos ed b y his m aj esty s

’
O fficers i n the c i ties hold i n
 ’
THE C AR D IN A L OF L O RR AIN E M A RR I E S . 29 7

pledge to the col lection of the dues of the duke of Lorraine

, .

Far from giving time for payin g homage for the duchy of
Bar the cardin al mu st s oon expect to s ee that duchy
,

devolve to the kin g by the felony of the duke and

, ,

i n corporated with the crow n ; a n d the principal might

s hortly follow the a ccessory He meant to s a y by that .
,

th a t the whole of Lorraine might be s ei z ed upon i n ,

vi rtue of a decree of parliament which would condem n ,

the duke to that forfei t ure a s a punishment for havin g

carried off Monsie ur and to defray the expe n ses of the
,

war .

I t wa s thu s the cardin al -duke obliged the weak to

sub m it t o his will un der the prete n ce o f making the king
,

more respected The whole o f hi s m inistry was carried

.

o n with the same high h a nd bec a use he had to deal with ,

people of very little foresight or prudence ; an d h a vi n g' a t

hi s command all the kin gdom and all the authority o f the ,

kin g he crushed them before they were i n a co n ditio n to

,

defend themselves .

Whilst the cardin a l wa s contem plating a fam ily allian ce

w ith the sovereig n house of Lorrain e the i nt en ded bride ,

groom of hi s niece married Claude de Lorraine his cousin , ,

and sister of hi s brother s wife in presence of the duchess’

, ,

sever a l l adies and on e gentleman He wa s induced to .

take thi s bol d step by the proximity of Marshal de la

’

F or c e wh o it was said had orders to seiz e those two pri n

, , ,

cesses and sen d them to F rance for the purpose o f

,
:

enforcing claims which th ey had u pon Lorra ine to th e ,

prejudice of the two princes A s soon a s Marshal de la .

Force hear d of the marri age he invested the ci ty of ,

Luneville and took the n ewly-married couple toge ther

, ,

w ith the D u chess de Lorraine a n d Princess de

Phalsbourg to N a nci to which c ity the ir l iberty was
, ,

l imi t e d th ough they were otherwise treated with perfect

,

r espect .

The late car di n a l whom we s h all henceforth style D u ke

,
2 98 E S C A PE OF T HE PR IN CE SS DE PR A L S RO U RC .

N icholas F ran c i s se nt a gentleman to the court to a n

,

n oun ce h i s m arriage to the king to beg hi m to restore ,

Lu n eville and to g ran t hi m an d the prin cess liberty a s

, ,

he wa s prepared to observe all the treaties with hi s

m ajesty Hi s envoy wa s told that with respect to hi s
.
,

m arriage the ki n g had nothi ng to do wi th it an d a s to

, ,

their being prisoners it wa s n ot tru e the whole o f th e , ,

city of N an ci being free to them But s o far fro m .

r estoring a nythi n g the kin g sai d the Cardinal de Lorr ain e

,

had proved himself to be s o c om pletely of the same di s

position a s his brother that for hi s own security he wa s , , ,

obliged to take possessio n of the rest of Lorr a i ne Duke .

Charle s the n o ffered to m ake over to the kin g La Mothe

a n d Bi eh e two fort i fied pl a ces still i n h i s hands if he
, ,

would liberate his brother an d th e prin cess B u t th e .

ca fi in a l preferred ta ki n g the cities by force and detain in g ,

the prin ce and pri n cesses prisoners a s he m eant to make ,

good u s e o f the r ights of the ladie s : La Force had

o rders to b lockade La M othe prepar at ory to lay ing S ieg e ,

to it .

The P rin cess de Phals bour g wa s con fined m or e strictly

than the others from bein g know n to possess a spirit
,

much more difficult to be deal t with an d fro m her being ,

the principal cause of her S ister s marriage But the ’

.

s ame gen i us that had bee n able to co n trive the evasio n of

he r s ister wa s not l ikely to s lumbe r whe n her o wn liberty

,

wa s i n questio n ; and in spite o f the cardinal and hi s ,

gua rds s h e escaped by concealin g herself In the botto m

,

of a carri age in which a sick and lame gentleman 111

, ,

virtue of a pas s port wa s conveyed ou t of the city The

, ,

gu ard exami n ed the carr iage a t the gate but they s a w ,

n othin g but the s i ck gentleman r eclin ing on h i s mattress , ,

wh i ch fortu nately they had the humanity n ot to disturb

, , .

When they had left N anci three hours j ourney behi nd ’

them s h e and her lame friend mounted on horseb a ck

, ,

a n d rode wi th a ll speed to Besan con He r e s cape wa s .

3 00 A FF AI RS GA S T O N THE QU EE N -M O THER
‘

OF AND .

the cardin a l determined to reunite the whole of Lorrain e

to the crown under the pretext of its having bee n a fief
,

o f t he Counts of Champagne and that coun t y hav ing long ,

been in the hands of the kings of France a l l that dep e n ded ,

upo n it must belong to her likewise .

Wh ilst t his wa s passing in Lorr ai n e the cardinal wa s ,

m akin g great promises to Monsieur and Puylaurens for ,

fear G aston should b e reconciled to his mother he hoped

to s ee them soon i n France as he had o ffered them every ,

thin g with the exceptio n of a fortified plac e o f S ecurity

, .

The queen -mother wa s more a ngry with the Duke o f

O rleans than ever an d s a w n o probable mean s o f be
,

coming reconciled to him whilst P u ylaurens retained his

i n fluence She therefore resolved to become reconciled
.
, ,

to the kin g at whatever sacrifice and she saw the more

,

n ecessity for this step from the obvious partial ity sho wn to
‘

G aston by the Marquis d A y ton e g overnor of the N ether

’

lan ds She commanded Chanteloube to write to B ou th il

.

lier that she had made u p her mind to throw herself in to

,

the arm s of the king a n d to be friendly with Richelieu

,

if the king desired it Bou th ill i er con v eyed th e letter

.
,

s till sealed to the king a n d ordered the bearer o f it who

, , ,

had come without a passport to be detained The kin g ,

.

Opened i t i n presence o f the cardinal an d found it to ,

contain what we have stat ed ; the q ueen on l y in addition , ,

r equesting a passport which would allow a m a n n amed

Roche to come and go Father Chanteloube said the

.
,

queen asked for no thing on h i s a ccount but to be allowed

,

to end his days in peace in a convent of his order The .

king called a council upo n the subj ect o f this letter in ,

which i t was Observed that as e v erybody must be surprised

to s e e the queen s o suddenly pass from on e extreme to
a n other it was natur a l to suspect that some artifice was co n
,

c e a l e d under t his proceed in g This idea was stren g thened .

b y the circumstance of Roche hav ing been a n accomplice

o f Al fes ton a n d by a n oth er m an lat ely co n signed to the
, ,
 DE L A LE U SE N T To FR AN CE . 3 01

Bastille havin g accused Chanteloube afresh T he beare r

,
.

o f t he letter therefore received a verbal reply that

, , ,

when Father Chanteloube shoul d n o longer be with the

queen and s h e herself wou ld write attention would be
, ,

paid to her communications .

A s soon as this messenge r r etu r n ed to F lan ders the ,

quee n sent De Lale u with three letters from h er own

h a n d for the king t he cardinal and Bou th ill ier ; the con
, , ,

tents of all which expressed her readiness to do everything

the king required of her par ticularly to be reconciled to ,

the cardinal if he would allow her to return to co urt

, .

The following are the terms i n which she addressed

Richelieu and which must have a ffecte d hi m if it had
, ,

bee n in his nature to have pardoned an injury My

C ou s i n . T h e S i eu r d e B ou thi l l i er h a g i f vi n
n o r m ed m e,

a r t, th a t m h a d a fie c te d y ou s en s i bly , a nd
on
y ou rp y a n
g er

th a t, f ee l i ng g r e a t r eg r et a t s eei n
g m e so l ong d ep r i v ed of
th e p l ea sur e of s eei n
g th e ki ng , y ou w ou l d h a ve i nfin i te

p l ea s u r e i n em l o in
p y g y ou r
p ower i n
p r oc u r i n
g m e th a t

h a pp i n es s I h a ve th ou g h t m y s e lf o bl ig e d to d ec l a r e to y o u ,
,

by th e S i eu r d e L a l eu , w h o m I s en d to th e ki ng , wi th w h a t
sa ti sfa c ti on I r ec ei ve th i s ev i d e n ce o
f y ou r
g o o d w i ll .

P la ce c on
fid en c e i n h i m , a nd be l i eve, m
y c ou s i n , th a t I
”
&c &c
wi s h to be tr u ly , De Laleu was ordered to s ee
.
, .

the cardinal and to declare to him by word of mouth , ,

that the queen entertained no resentment for the pas t ;

that she wished to require no ret u rn for the m arks O f
friendship she had formerly bestowed upon him bu t th e
hope of re g aining by h i s means the good graces of t he
, ,

king and permission to send some of her people to him

, ,

to negotiate for her re tur n : w ith regard to himself he had ,

n o reason to mistrust the queen mother as he was the -

,

stronger and she receiv ed the law from him

, De Laleu .

had particular ins truc t ions to Observe the car d inal s man
’

ner ; for if it denoted suspicion s h e fel t it would be ,

i m possible to e ffect a reconc iliation Wi th respect to .

3 02 THE C A R D INA L EMB A RR A S SED .

Chanteloube the quee n was unwill ing to dismi ss him a s

, ,

her ow n act ; but if the cardinal excluded him from the

treaty as s h e begged him to do he would r et ire from her
, ,

s ervice 0 1 h i s o wn free will .

T h e cardinal found himself extr e m ely e mbarrassed by

these letters because the qu ee n having humbled herself ,

i n a manner that had bee n deemed impossible it m ust ,

a ppear to every on e incredible that the king could forbid

her return to court He n ever theles s was not a t a ll

.
, ,

i n cl in ed to believe tha t h is a ncie nt benefactress could

s i n cerely pardo n him the injuries he had done her a ny ,

m ore than he himself p a rdoned that pri ncess the mann er ,

i n which s h e had treated him previously to her leavin g

France or for the writi ngs a gai nst h i m of which s h e had
,

s anctioned the publi catio n s ince that t ime Besides he .

,

h a d he said r ece ived various advices that F ather

, , ,

Ch a nteloube was engaged in machin ations against hi m ;

a n d that although he pretended to request to be left in

F l a nders he had writte n to a friend that the quee n never

,

woul d aban don him There wa s n oth in g in this that

.

m ight not have bee n r emedied if the king had entertained ,

a n y a fl ec ti on for hi s mother and if the cardinal could have

,

p a rdoned a person who had don e hi m infi nitely m ore good

th an harm .

But inste a d of e nte ring in to consideration s whi ch

,

woul d prese n t themselves n aturally to a well -disposed

m in d the c a rdinal advised the king to continue to in sist
,

u pon her deliverin g some of her fol lowers up to p unis h

m ent ; which he knew s h e co uld n ot do without avowin g
hersel f gu ilty without r enouncin g humanity an d without
, ,

driving from her side all wh o were disposed to serve her .

D e L a l eu received orders to g o to Ru el where the king ,

wa s visiting the cardin al but was surpri sed to find nobody

,

there but the latter He wa s n e v ertheless received wi th

.
, ,

m uch honour and the cardin al told him that the respect
,

h e owed to her wh o s e nt hi m eve n oug ht to comm an d ,

3 04 DE L A LE U RET U R N S TO BR U S S EL S .

desig n s and affected great j oy that h i s enem ies had n ot

,

bee n a ble to destroy t he queen -mother s friendship for ’

“
him . He concluded by s aying : He could n ot refrai n
,

from warn ing th e quee n with the s a m e frankness with ,

which he u sed formerly to speak to her that after what ,

had passed it was impossible for the king n ot to feel much

,

mistrust and that all that m ust be dispersed before a r e

,

conciliation could be established on a sol id foundation

after that had been e ffected s h e woul d receive m arks of ,

th e good disposition of the best s on i n the world an d ,

would s ee the e ffects o f the goodwill of on e o f her

creatures wh o o n this occasion could not depar t from the
,

i ntentions o f the king without o ffe n ding hi m seriously

, .

Before De L a l eu s return to Brussels he r eceived more

’

letters for the king and the cardinal in whi ch the queen ,

mother confirmed what s h e had said i n terms still more ,

humble particularly with regard to the cardinal She

,
.

also requested a passport for Father Suffren her con ,

fes s or whom she wished to send to court

, But she wa s .

told that nobody would be listened to unless he was the ,

’

bearer o f the queen s promise to deliver into t he king s

’

hands the three men he demanded De Laleu returned .

to the N etherlands with these s a d n ews which destroyed ,

all the queen s hopes of seein g he r s on again

’
.

While these ne g otia t ions were pendi ng Monsieur havin g ,

consulted the University o f Lorrain e upon his marriage ,

i t wa s pronounced valid and he had it solemnly confirmed,

by the archbisho p of Mal ines i n the presence of se v e n ,

witnesses The queen -mother wa s requested to be present

.
,

but would not either because s h e wa s unwil l ing to

,

interfere a g ain i n Monsieur s affairs as s h e told him or

’

, ,

that she did not think proper to O ffend the k in g at a time

when s h e wa s endeavouring to conc iliate hi m N o twi th .

s tanding her peaceful inclinations a t the reception of the ,

messa g e by De Laleu s o far from s tooping to the i n ,

human i ty r e o u ir ed of he r s h e c o n fe rred up o n the A bbe

,
 P UYL AU RE N S N E A RL Y A S S A SS INA TE D . 3 05

de St G ermains the O ffice of her first almoner which had

.
,

lately become vacant The court at the same time ordered .

, ,

t he Marshal de C r e qu i the n at Ro me to endeavour to , ,

persuade the pope to declare Monsieur s marriage null ’

by e v ery reason that could be urged But as these reason s .

were eviden tl y only the cloak to t he des i re the king enter

ta in e d for pre v en t ing his brother marrying at all the pope ,

raised great di fli cu l ti es against all that wa s proposed to

The best means would have been to hav e prevailed upon

the duke to return to France as he would then have bee n ,

in the power of the king an d his minister he being alway s ,

to be w o n by the coarse bribe o f money to pay for h i s

pleasures and satisfy h i s fav ouri tes Di ffe rences aros e .

amon g t hese favouri t es and the two principal Puylauren s , ,

and D E lboeu f were at Open feud Puylaurens was shot

’

,
.

at as he was ascending the steps of the palace He wa s .

only sli g h tly wounded but as Monsie u r who wa s g rea tly

, ,

enraged a tt ributed the attempt to D E l boeu f or some o f

,
’

the queen mother s followers it wa s sufficient to com

-
’

plica t e the confusion and trouble i n which the fugi tives

l ived . The queen mother was much injured by the a ffair
-
,

as she was charged with having attempted to assassinate

the fav ouri tes of both her sons in order to lead t hem ,

aft erwards according to her own will O the r s however .

, ,

and as we think with more reason believed that t he

, , ,

Spaniards bein g informed that Puylaurens was ne g otiat ing

,

’
for Monsieur s return wished to break off the ne g o t iat ion
,

by assassina tin g the principal au thor of it This fa il u re O f .

t he a ttemp t onl y delayed Monsieur s return for a Shor t ’

time and i n fact gave Puy laurens a grea t er inclina t ion

, , ,

to brin g i t about as he thou g h t hi mself no lon g er safe i n

,

Brussels .

I f we do not g o quite as far as Sir Robert Walpole and ,

pronounce history on e great l i e we certain l y mus t admit ,

th at we scarcely tur n ove r a page of it wi thout having some

x
3 06 G A ST O N AN X IOU S To RET U R N To FR AN C E .

deceptio n or other laid open to us : political history

seems to be one tissue of decei t one series O f a r tfu ll v ,

devised enigmas which time and sub sequent events u n

,

riddle .Gaston and hi s fav ourite became daily m ore

anxiou s to return to France ; but as they knew this would
b e un pleasing to th e S p a n i a r d s who had g iven them
O
,

refuge they proposed a fresh treaty to those Spaniards o f

, ,

the most extrav a g ant kind ; being conscious they n ever

contemplated abiding by on e word of it they subscribed ,

to any term s the Spanish cour t dic t ated— terms not only
shameful to the duke o f O rlean s as a prince Of France , ,

bu t as a man o f honour There is n o doubt that

.

Puylau rens had cunning enough if his master had n ot , ,

to s ee that this treaty would facilitate their return a s ,

Louis and h i s minis t er would be anxious to termina t e a

con nection which appeared to be growing too in t imate .

The queen mother wa s w a rmly pressed by all parties to

-

enter into this treaty an d her refus a l was even threatened

,

with harsh treatment but s h e had su fficien t firmness and

prudence to refuse to b e a party in an y thin g s o contr a ry
to the interests of her son and his kin g dom The Marquis .

d A yton e wa s sent to the court of Spain with this trea t y

’

to procure the si g nature o f h i s Catholic maj esty He .

signed it and sent it back by sea but as if fate seconded

, ,

the views o f Puylaurens the ship in which it wa s con

,

v e e d was wrecked upon the coast o f Calais th e r a ti fic a

y ,

tion wa s taken by the French was sent to the cardinal , ,

a nd ,as Puylaurens exp ected made him more anxious ,

for Monsieur s re turn wi thin the sphere of his o wn

’

Operations .

The prin cipal obj ection to this was Mon sieur s marr iage ’

the kin g persisted in havin g it annulled and Gaston wa s ,

equall y firm i n maintaining its validity The French .

n ation n a y even the pope for once wa s on the honourable

, , , ,

side of the question ; but it alarm ed the j ealousy of Louis ,

a n d threatened the interests of the cardinal an d the indis ,

3 08 G ON D I SE N T To THE QU EE N -M O THER .

complained of Gaston s having violated the fundamental

’

laws of the s t a t e woul d ha v e had t he king against j ustic e

, ,

or us a ge clo the h i m wi th an authority which a whole

,

people does not pretend to in an hereditary monarchy .

Mon sieur about t his time bec a me reconcil ed to his

, ,

mother o n the occasion of a dis turbance in his house

,

hold during which the queen mo ther sent him all her
,
-

people wi th orders to obey him in e v erything

,
Th e .

Duke d E l boeu f likewise returned to friendl y terms with

’

Monsieur a n d Puylaurens bu t the duke of O rl e ans was

s o li t tl e capable of either keeping order in his househol d ,

or of making himself loved by his ser v ants that most of ,

them abandoned him without taki n g lea v e and returned

, ,

to France al though passports had been refused to t hem

,
.

Bein g in this condi t ion the cardinal took very little heed
,

o f the d uke of O rleans ; he had secured his fa v ourite ,

and therefore could act with re g ard to him when necessi ty

required i t B u t the firm a n d con stant spirit o f the
.

queen mother ga v e him much trouble an d as fro m either

-
, ,

policy or hatred he continued to force her to ex t remity

, ,

he dreaded assassination if she remained so ne a r Paris a s

,

the N e therl ands Florence a g ain occurred t o him and he

.
,

sent Gondi t o her with a kind in v i t a t ion from t he g rand

,

duke t o ascer tain what her feelin g s were on the subj ect
, .

He thou g h t t hat although s h e m i g ht not accept it it ,

wo ul d be qui t e a s well she should kno w th e kin g had n o

Obj ection to her going The quee n recei v ed t he duke s
.
’

complimen t wi th much sa t is faction and said that t he duke ,

had more consideration for her than her sons or her s ons ,

i n -l a w ; th e o n e ill -t reated her and the o thers either ,

refused h er all assis t ance or proved they were weary of

,

a ffordi n g i t She was thankful to the grand d uke and

.
,

required t he time to reply to him t ill Gondi s return from ’

Holland whi ther he was then on his road She expressed

, .

great dissa t is fac tion at the conduct of her domes t ics ,

s ay ing tha t Fa t he r Ch a n teloub e wa s wantin g i n integrity ,

 THE QU EE N -M O THER S S I T UA T IO N
’
. 3 09

a nd the Abbé de St Germains in j udgment ; but she

.

cou l d not make up her mind to dismiss t hem for fear i t ,

should be deemed an admission of having been ill adv ise d .

The king of Spa in she said o nly supplied her wants

, ,

tardil y and unwillingl y an d s h e was frequently without

,

personal necessaries Puy l aurens had beg u n she said by

.
, ,

ruining her and ended by destroying her hopes for after

,

hav in g induced her to t ake a decided par t against the

cardinal by s wearing never to abandon her he h ad con
, ,

vey e d to that prelate every word s h e had said in order ,

to secure his countenance before Monsieur s first de ’

par t ure fro m Paris Dreading her resentmen t for this

.

inj ury he had been her bi tt er enemy e v er since

, .

O n his way back from Holland Gondi agai n s a w the ,

queen She thanked t he grand duke for his kindness

.
,

and without declining the retreat he o fl er ed her said that

, ,

Florence was too far from Paris and if s h e went there a l l

, ,

her a ffairs would be too lon g procrastinated She sho ul d .

,

therefore reser v e her visi t to her nati v e coun t ry till all

,

hopes of accommodatio n should be at a n end She agai n .

repeated h ow little satis faction s h e deri v ed from the s er

v ices o f Chanteloube and St Germains and said that if
.
,

the kin g desired her to dismiss them s h e would do s o ,

willin g l y ; but she would not subj ect herself to a repetitio n

o f the con t emptuous refusal all her concessions h a d met

with a t the beginning of the year Gond i w a s her .

countryman t he representative o f her family in France

, ,

an d she recei v ed the advice he gave her with much mild

ness and poured out h er sorrows freely I n all their
, .

conversa t ions she shed torren t s o f tears and evinced t he ,

stron g est desire to be reconciled to her son leaving ,

e v eryt hin g to his g enerosi ty an d requiring no thin g o f

,

him She e v en said she woul d wish to owe her re t urn to

.

the cardinal an d that she saw plainl y t ha t he al one had

,

power t o ser v e her Gondi was sa t isfied t ha t she wa s i n

.

a conditio n deservin g of pi ty and her speeches wo uld

,
3 10 R I CHEL I E U S RECEPT IO N’
OF M AR Y S MESS A GE ’
. i

have touched any but those to whom through Go n di , ,

they were a ddressed .

Upon hi s return to Paris he rendered an account o f hi s ,

voyage to the cardin a l an d the other ministers an d ,

e n deavoured to represent the queen s si tuation to them i n ’

a way to excite their commiseration The cardinal listened .

to hi m wi t h perfect in di fference although he appeared ,

s atisfied wi th hi s negotiation He s a i d that whilst Fa ther .

Chanteloube convicted of havin g twice attemp t ed to

,

a s sassinate hi m the cardin a l s hould be with the queen

, , ,

n o confidence could be pl a ced i n her a n d s h e a l ways told ,

the same s tory .

Gon d i had another audience of the car d inal ; and whe n

he e n deavour ed to touch hi s feelings by representing the
s a d co n ditio n of the queen -mother a n d repeating h er ,

r esolutio n to forget a ll that wa s past the min ister ,

r eplied that he di d not kno w her s o well a s he did : for ,

o n the day s h e quar relled with hi m in spit e of all h i s ,

submis sions and all the prayers of the kin g s h e said s he , ,

wa s a n d wa s d e ter m i n ed a l wa ys to be i m p l a ca bl e ; which
, ,

made the king reply Th en y ou m u s t h a ve a cr u el d i sp o

,

s i ti on He then launched ou t i n invectives against Fathe r

.

Chanteloube St Ge rm ains and F a bbr on i who m he

, . , ,

s tyled assassin s poiso n ers and execrable wretches

, , Aft er .

c omplaining th at Ch a nteloube had made three di fferent

a tte mpts to assas sinate hi m a s three men who had bee n ,

put to death for the cr ime had co nfessed ; that St Ger .

m a i ns had attacked hi s reputatio n by detestable writin gs

a n d that F a bbr on i had placed money i n deposit at A nt ~

wer p to r ecompense the assassins sent in to France he

, ,

s a i d that wa s t heir least fault for they were guilty of hi g h ,

tr eason He notwithstan ding added that if the quee n

.
, , ,

would have give n them up they would not have been ,

treated with the severi ty they deserved He said if s h e . ,

h a d by that proceeding acknowledged tha t s h e had pu t

, ,

faith in an d pro tec ted th e enemies o f the ki n g he wo uld

, , ,
3 12 G A S T ON S E S C APE FR O M THE N ETHERL A N D S
’
.

him self i n the government But the end proved to hi m .

tha t he was as little acquainted with the minis t er as he ,

was in capable o f truly serv ing his own master .

Monsieur and Puylaurens delighted at hav ing obtained ,

these advantages from the cour t had now n o thin g to ,

think o f but an early escape from the Spaniards who ,

would they were sure prevent their departure if they had

, ,

the least suspicion of their intentio n They seized upo n .

the Opportuni ty of the Marquis d A yton e being g one to ’

confer with the duke o f N eu bou r g to leav e Brussels , ,

under the pretence of a hunting party with Du Farges -

,

a n d S i x others besides servants with led horses

, I ns t ead .

o f looking for foxes they rode with all speed to Capelle

, ,

about twe n ty -five leagues from Brussels and the nearest ,

place belonging to France Monsieur bade farewell to .

nobody no t e v en to Madame whom he aft erwards in a

, , ,

letter recommended to the kindness of his mother From

, .

Capelle he went straight to St Germains where the kin g .

,

then was ; he made his royal brother a high fl own speech -

,

i n which after extrava g ant compliments he asked h i s

, ,

pardon a n d promised to be obe dient for the future ; his

,

a ttendants followed his example and h i s maj esty received ,

them all v ery g raciously .

The cardinal came from Ruel on purpose to be present ,

a t the intervie w He told the prince his absence had

.

given him great pain a s i t had not allowed him an O p p or

,

tu n i ty for renderin g him the services he wished ; and

that he experienced t he grea t est j oy in thinki n g he S hould
b e able to do s o now hi s lon g wished for return had
,
- -

taken place The duke replied that he very much

.

r e g retted he had n ot been sooner undeceived a n d that , ,

from that tim e he should pay the utmost respect to hi s

,

counsels A ft er which t hey embraced

. .

O h Momu s ! Momus ! if these two men had had thy

,

transp arent w indows i n their bosoms wha t difl er en t pic ,

tu r es would the ir hear ts have Ofl er ed to those presented

 M ON S I E R p 3 12
-
RE C O N C I L I A T I O N OF T HE K IN G AN D U . .
3 14 U N E K PE C TE D F I RM N E S S OF G A ST O N .

s ummated just yet ; which gave the courtiers reason to

believe tha t Puylaurens was not s o entirely in the good
graces o f t he minis t er as he though t he was .

T h e king aft er paying Monsieur the money he had

,

promised him and expedi t ing Puylaurens patents sent

,
’

Father Joseph and Bou th il l ier to the duke to tell h i m ,

’

th a t he should ne v er approve of his marria g e but that he ,

would not press him to marry a gain The Cardinal tried .

a fresh reinforcement o f ecclesias t ics and sen t three ,

Jesuits three secular priests besides the general o f the

, ,

Fathers of t he O ra t ory but in spite of all their political

reasonings founded upon the j ealousy o f th e kin g and h i s
,

m inister Ga ston against all that could ha v e been ex

, ,

p ec te d o f h i m firmly maintained that his marriage wa s

,

good He said that since the parliament could only found

.

t he nullity of his marri a ge upon a prete nded constraint ,

which they said had been exercised by the princes of

Lorraine it wa s legi t imate ; because of h i s own free will
, , ,

he had deman ded their sister o f them and they had n ot ,

dared to refuse her To satisfy the kin g he said he would

.
,

agree to live separate from h i s w ife bu t he never wou l d ,

consent to take a no ther Thus the seven theolo g ians

. ,

a ft er harangui n for several hours finding they could

g ,

make no impressio n u pon him returned to report the ir ,

defeat to their mas ter .

Puylaurens was be g in ning to doubt the cardinal s ’

inten t ions and even en te rtained thou g hts of g oing to

,

En g land when the minister sent the A bbé d E l ben e to

,
’

Monsieur w h o wa s then at Blois to tell him that th e kin g

, ,

wa s not at all dissatisfied with h i s conduct and to inform ,

P u ylaurens that he wis hed him to c om e to Paris to espouse

the second dau g h t er o f t he Baron de Pont Ch a t eau They .

j oyfully retu rned to cour t with the messenger and Gas to n

‘

was a g ain banque t ed a t Ruel by the cardinal The king .

published a declara t ion by whic h he r c es t ablished Mon

,
-

s ieur pardo n ed him a ll that had p a ssed and caused it to

, ,
 M A RR IA GES . 3 15

be registered in the Parliament of P aris A t the same .

time the nuptials Of the Duke de la Valette with the elder

,

dau g h ter of the Baron de Pont Ch a teau and those of ,

Puylaure n s with her younger s i ster were celebrated with

,

g reat splendour . The Count de Guiche also married a re

la t ion of the cardinal s of the house of Duplessis Ch evr a i
’

,
.

All these marria g es to ok place on on e day ; the Arsenal

b eing the scene of the festivities at t ending them Puy .

laurens purchased t he duchy o f A r g u il l on of the Princes s

Mary for s ix hundred thou s and li v res an d r eceived very
, ,

considerable gift s from the king ; s o that i n addi t ion to,

h i s qual ity o f duke an d peer he found himself i n posses

,

s io n o f more than s ix hundred thousand crowns Before .

he received his new title s his n ame wa s Antoine de l A g e

,
’

Sieur de Puylaur e ns .
3 16 D U CHE SS OF L O RR AI N E C O MES To PA R I S .

C HA P T E R X .

Pol i tic al v n ts Lorr ain e th e wa r in G erm any Fre s h d ifference s

e e —

W th G a s to P u yl au rens arre st e d d i e s i n p ris on G a st o n s

’
i n — —

m arriag e — M ary im p l ores to be rec al l e d U ne as ine s s O i R i che l ie u

—

—
A bas e m ent O f th e p rinc e s o f th e bl oo d F oreig n p o liti c s —

Phili p s b ou rg retak en by th e im p eria l ist s d e p r e s s i on o f t h e

c ard inal Frenc h re ve rs e s Vi g rous efforts o f th e nation Di s
— — o —

tre s s of F ranc e Rom e op p s e d to th e c ard inal T h e c am p aig n

— o —

op en ed i n Ital y S p ain a n d G erm any Re vers e s — R che l eu

, ,
i i

g r e at l y d e p r e s s e d T h e c ard in al p re s ent s h i s p al ac e wit h other

—
,

w eal th to th e k ing
,
Great e xertions o f th e F rench S eg e o f
— —
i

C orbie — G as to n a d D e Sois s ons c onsp ire ag ainst th e c ard nal ;

n i

d e feat e d by h i m T h e c ard nal annoys A nne o f A u s tria R e s ul t

— i —

o f a st o rm y nig ht S u c c e ss e s of th e d u k e o f S axe W e im ar T h e
— —

d che s s o f S avo y F ather C a u s s i n — S sp ic iou s d eath o f th e d u k e

u —
u

o f S a xe W e i m ar Sup e rs tition o f Richel ieu a n d F ather J os ep h

—

B irth o f Louis X IV T h e que en m other in H ol l and a n d E ng land

.
— -

— S h e m ak e s s tron
g bu t vain e ffor ts t o be re c all e d .

BU T we must n ot let family feuds and court intrigues

entirely divert ou r attentio n from the foreig n policy in
whic h the genius of the cardinal wa s equally busy .

The duchess O f Lorraine came by order of the cou r t to , ,

Paris but prudently fearful of t he purpose for which she

, ,

was sen t she had a declaration drawn up by a no t ary

, ,

before s h e left N anci in which s h e sai d that being obli g ed

, , ,

by the orders o f th e king to g o to Paris she by tha t do , ,

c u m e n t declared that a l l s h e might there execute a g ainst

the in teres t s of the house of Lorra i ne wa s to be considered ,

a s extorted from her by force .

But she attached more importance to her o wn person

than the cardinal did ; matters were carr ied on in Lorra i ne
according to t he system he had laid down wi thou t a n y ,

reference to her ; s h e liv ed in Paris unnoticed a n d u n

annoyed except by having placards issued by the parlia
, ,

men t summonin g her husband as a felon to a ppear before

,

that cou rt affixed to the gates of the HOtel de Lorraine

, ,
3 18 T HE C A R D I NA L C O VET S T HE ELECT O R A TE O F TB E PE S .

’
bee n m ade a gainst the minister s life and a lar g e increase ,

in the number O f h i s guards was deemed necessary Three

’

h undred horse muske t eers were added s o that the cardi ,

nal from that time had a complete body o f guards whilst ,

the mother o f h i s master and his own ben efactress wa s , ,

r educed to the necessity o f dismissing almost all her house

hold serv ants from her inabili ty to support them

, .

The French accuse the Chancellor O xen s ti er n of havin g

a spired to the electorate of M ayence ; but it i s at least

equally clear that Richelieu had S imil ar views upo n the

,

electorate of Tr eves To thi s end he obt a ined from the

.
,

elector by means o f mon ey the coadj utorship of the

, ,

bishopric o f Spires a n d i nduced him to send a cano n to

,

Rome to expedite the provisions o f it a s of his own proper

, ,

movement without being obli ged to appear himself in

, , ,

the a ffair He only wr ote to the Count de N oa ill es the

.
,

French ambassador at Rome to support the request of ,

the canon whom the elector of Treves had sent to Rome

, ,

a n d to speak about the affair to the pope and the Barberin i .

The first time the ambassador mentioned it to t he pope hi s ,

holiness replied that i t wa s a thi n g that coul d n ot be do n e

'
,

bein g Opposed to the con cordats of G erman y A t a second .

a udience N o a ill e s represented to the pope that the S wedes

, ,

being masters o f Spires there wa s n o other mean s of pre

,

servi n g the Catholic rel ig ion i n that city but by forwarding ,

the provisions Of coadj utor to the car din a l He likewise .

mainta ined that there wa s nothin g i n the conc ordats of

German y opposed to the a dm is sion of a foreigner to the
bishopric of Spire s The po pe r eferr ed N oa ill e s to th e
.

Cardinal Datari ; a n d a s the co urt of Rome seldom fa lls

in t o error by acting with precipitation the emperor had ,

time to be warn ed of Richelieu s design and to place such ’

powerful obsta cl es i n the way of it that the affair came to ,

n othing .

The loss of the celebrated battle of N or dl en g en by th e

Swe d ish gene r als the duk e of Wym a r a n d Mars hal Ho rn
, ,
 THE PR O TEST A N T LE A G U E I N D AN GER . 3 19

gave the cardinal s eriou s ap p rehensions He wa s aware .

that this party co u ld only be supported by victories an d ,

be anticipated its entire ruin by the imperialists I f this .

S hould happen there cou l d be little doub t that the i m

,

er i a li s ts would d i rect their whole force a gainst Lo rraine

p ,

whilst the Spaniards wo ul d enter Franche Comté by -

Picardy or Champ a gne the latter hav ing already thr eatened
to make a descent upon Provence and to at t ack Lan g uedoc
,

by land I t was further to be dreaded that the duke of

.

Savoy woul d j oin them a s the French had not kept faith
,

with him with regard to the s u m of money they had pro

m i s e d to pay hi m for Pi g n er ol He had begun to fortify
.

Turin an d Montmelian and gave other evidences of dis

,

satisfaction The cardinal an d h i s prime minister Fathe r

. ,

Joseph had a long consultation upon this a ffair the result

, ,

of which wa s a conviction that the Protestant league wa s

i n great danger from not being able to place a powerful

,

army on foot at once and it wa s absolutely necessary to

,

support it promptly O xen s ti er n and the co n federates

.
,

who had refused Philipsbourg to France n ow o ffered it , ,

and consented that s h e should there cons tru ct a bridg e

across the Rhine and a fort on the other side to protect it
, .

A council was held in which the cardinal employed h i s

,

customary wordy eloquence to convince th e members it

was the interest of France i n all ways to c a rr y ou t
, ,

what he and F a ther Joseph had determined upon ; the

strongest argument being that it was necessary to supply
,

fuel to the war which wa s raging in Germany to prevent a ,

destructive war from being directed against France Many .

o f the par t ies engaged were enemies whom his policy had

made s o and n othing wa s m ore to be dreaded t han to s ee

,

them at peace with each other .

The great result of the promise and assistance o f France

wa s the surrender to that power o f t he fortress o f Philips
bourg ; the cardinal was extremely deli g hted to Obtain a
place capable of s topping the imperialists if they sho u d ,
l
3 20 A ST O RM D I SPER S ED .

attempt to cross the Rhine into Lorrain e an d gave stric t ,

orders to Marshal de la Force to be vi g ilant in preserving

this great acquisition .

A bout this tim e the cardinal had a n Opportunity of

placing another of his rela t ion s in an important post The .

grand mastership of the artillery o f Fran ce became vacant

by the dea t h o f the Marquis de Rony an d it w a s con ,

ferred upon Richelieu s cousin the Marquis de Meilleraye

’

, ,

wi t h permission to perform the func t ions o f it by commis

sion De Rony having been compelle d to leave the court
,

for that purpose The cardinal liked to have his creatures

.

about him A slight storm l i kewise n o w about hovered

.
, ,

i n t he air which ga v e great uneasiness to t he minister

, ,

but it quickly dispersed A report prevailed that th e .

,

king was dis g usted wi th the cardinal because the minister ,

wished to persuade him to go in person to the frontiers of

Germany i n order to gi v e S piri t by h i s presence to the
,

Pro t es t ant par ty But the king preferred remainin g at his

.

country residences in the nei g hbourhood o f Paris where he ,

could be at his ease and enj oy his favourite amusements

,

of hawking and huntin g I t was likewise said that his.

'

confe ssor had infused scruples into his min d upon a fl or d

i n g succour t o heretics u pon t he exile o f the queen and
, ,

the in v asion of Lorraine He absented himself from the.

cardinal for some time ; but the latter hav ing consul ted
ei g h t t heologians of the Sorbonne upon the scruples of
t he king four of them replied that in the present con
, ,

j unc ture of a ffairs his maj esty was obliged to act as he

,

did t o preser v e the peace and welfare of his states and ,

tha t t hat j us t ified his conduct Soon aft er this the king .
,

quietly resumed his habi t s of intercourse wi th the cardinal ,

and e v en went t o t he chateau o f Chilly wher ethe minister ,

then resided to consul t with him a s formerly upon a ffairs

, , ,

o f sta t e.

The duke of O rlean s bei ng restored to favour and ,

P uylaure ns havi n g becom e a d uk e a n d peer of Fran ce;

 G AS T O N S F I RM N E SS
’
3 22 .

tary dissolution of his marriage but protested a gai n st th e ,

a bsurd idea of the princes o f Lo rr ai n e havi ng forced hi m

in to it ; say ing h i s honour and con science told him it wa s

n ot true . He c onstantly spoke With affection of the
Prin cess Marguerite preferring her i nfi nitely for he r
, ,

good qualities to h is first wi fe He o fte n wr ote to her

, .
,

a n d sent her money clothes a n d liveries for he r serva n ts

, , ,

t wo carriages and five thousan d crown s pe r m o nth for he r

,

expenses .

The car din al knowi ng the character of Mon si e ur s u s

, ,

e c te d that this extraordi nary firmness mu st be insp i red

p
’
by Puylaurens who , in the eve nt of the king s death he
, ,

was aware a spired to the posi t ion of prime m i n i ste r

,
o
.

He therefore caused reports to be circul ated affecting the

loy a l ty of the du ke s favourite a n d as s erting that h e
’

m aintain ed an intelligence with the house of Lorraine in ,

th e hopes of being s upported by that fa m ily i f the ki ng ,

di ed He made it a s ort of cr ime in the d u ke of O rleans

'

to be independen t o f him with regard to the succe s ,

s ion to the crown ; an d conceived that he had a right to

have s ecurities again st both the r oyal house a n d th e

princes of the blood .

The cardinal who had always tak e n great pain s to

,

n ou rish the j e a l ousy which the king had e n tertai ned fro m
his childhood against h i s brother e a sily pe rs uaded him ,

that all Monsieur s plans an d plot s had but on e obj ect

'
’

a n d that wa s to dethrone hi m This i de a he said wa s .

, ,

c onsta n tly kept i n view by hi s i n terested favour ites ;

therefore to suppres s it they m ust be destroyed

, , The .

k ing unhesitati n gly a c ce ded to hi s minister s opinion ; it ’

was d e c id ed th a t Puylaur ens should be arrested a n d i n

'

order to d o s o wi th the least trou ble and n oise he m u st ,

be induced to c ome to Paris F or this purpose a ballet .

,

was proj ected for the c a rd inal i n which both the king and ,

Monsieur shoul d d ance They cam e to Par is a ccordin g ly ;

.

M onsieur wa s r eceived with g rea t dem on stratio n s of

 P UY L AU RE N S A RRESTE D . 3 23

a ffectio n a nd r
espect but amidst caresses an d attentions
, ,

coaxing remonstrances respecting h is marriage were n ot

forgotte n to h is gr eat ho n our he remained firm .

O n the day fixed for the arrest o f P u ylaurens the gu ard ,

a t the Louvr e wa s do ubled The precauti on very nearly .

r evealed the secret ; a footma n of the duke s having ob ’

s e rved it told h is m a ster to beware for he wa s convi nced

, ,

the court med itated violence against somebody Thi s .

m a n had n o opportunity to speak to the duke before two

’
o clock a s he wa s a s cending the ste ps o f the Louvre ;
,

a n d prudence or foresight n ot being among his virtues h e ,

despised the w a r n ing an d went straight to the k i ng s

,
’

chamber where he waited till the car di n a l came

, He .

wa s s ent for to the hous e of the keeper of the seals where ,

h e wa s dining a n d had contr ive d to h a ve the Marquis d u

,

F ar gis and Coudrai Mo ntpen s ier of the party Upon leav .

i ng the ca rdi nal a s k ed D u Fa rgi s to a ccompany him to the

,

Louvr e a n d gave orders that the other s ho ul d be a rrested

,

on r i s i n g fr om table Everythi ng wa s prepar ed at the

‘

Louvre for the r ehe a rs a l of the ballet a n d nobody wa s ‘

wa nt in g but Puylaurens who kept them waiting s o lon g ,

that the cardin al bega n to fear he had missed h is a im ,

a n d the b ird wa s flown B ut a fter givin g th e mi n is ter

.

half a n hour s a nxiety he at len gth a r rived ; and whe n

’

the k i ng the car din a l Mo ns ieur and the n oble cou rti er s
, , ,

present had co nversed with hi m freely for s ome tim e the ,

king took Mo n sie ur by the arm an d led him to hi s private

c loset Thi s wa s the S i g n al agreed upon ; a n d the two
.

c aptains of the guard o n duty a rrested the two favourite s

o f Monsie u r w i th out the least di ffic u lty or dis tu rbance .

The king upon being told that h is orders were obeyed

, ,

i nformed his brother o f what had take n place embr a cin g ,

him a n d assu ring h im tha t h e wa s perfectly satisfied

,

w i th h is conduct He a dded that Puylaurens wa s a n

.
,

i n gra te a n d he co uld not expect to be fai t hful ly served by

W
,

o ne h o ha d s o ill r equited th e benefits h e had r e

Y 2
3 24 A P PREHE N S ION S OF M ON S I E U R .

c e i ve d from the crown The duke wa s evidently much .

chagrined ; but in the fear Of being arrested himself h e ,

’
said if Puylaurens had proved un worthy o f his maj esty s
favour it was ri g ht that he S hould be punished
,
The .

cardinal came to t he support of the king which somewhat ,

restored Monsieur s confidence ; who thou g ht that if any

’

i dea o f arresting him were entertained Richelieu would ,

n ot dare to be present The minister soothed him wi th

.

fr esh compliments and told hi m that the king desired he

,

would in fu ture as sist a t the council N ot quite satisfied .

,

the duke replied wou l d the king allow hi m to leave the

,

Louvre and retire to his o wn hotel ? The cardi nal

promptly exclaimed O f course Monsieur ; and a fter
, ,

payin g his resp ects to the queen the prin ce retired ,

.

But a s if he had onl y gone for the purpose o f ascer tain

,

i ng the reality of his position he returned for the evening ,

to the Lou v re though several o f h i s domestics had bee n

,

arrested Puylaurens an d Du Fargis remai ned i n the

.

palace that night and the next morning were con v eyed to
,

the Castle of Vincennes ; but C on dr a i Montpensier wa s

s ent to the Bastille .

The king commanded the publication of a circ ular

letter which was sent to the parliaments an d governors
,

o f provinces to point ou t his reasons for ha v ing arrested

,

s ome o f Monsieur s servants I t wa s conceived i n s u f

’
.

fic i en tly obscure terms because the prisoners were a s yet

,

convicted of nothing ; but it was the general belief that

the minis t er not bein g able to place implicit trust i n
,

Puylaurens had had him arrested and would perhap s g o

, ,

much fu r ther Richelieu sent the Cardinal de la Valette

.

a n d B ou th il li er to Monsie u r to as sure him a fresh of hi s

,

w illingness to serve him and to express his regret that ,

Puylaurens had by the commissio n o f fresh o ffences

, ,

obliged t he king to have him arrested I t was remarked .

that though the cardinal sent messages to the duke he ,

d i d n ot ve n ture to g o to h i s hotel himself a s he had ,

3 26 A SS EMB L Y OF THE C LE RG Y .

car din al without havin g bee n co n vi cted o f a ny c rim e bu t

,

w a nt of subserviency to h i s will The duke wa s however .

, ,

almost the only perso n that regr etted Puylaurens ; hi s

a s sumptio n an d pride m ade hi m hated by everybody .

A s soo n a s he wa s sent to priso n a council w a s establishe d

for Monsieur comprised of people e n tirely dependent upo n
,

the cardinal B ou thilli er s wa s a t th e head of it with th e

.
,

title of chancellor .

A short time after the cardin al c alled a n a s s embly of

,

the clergy of France of who m the kin g demanded their

,

Opinion respecting the m a rr iages Of prince s of the blood ,

who mi g ht prete n d to the succession to the cr own p a r ,

i

ticu l a r l y the n earest whe n they were m ade n ot onl y

,

without the consent of the king but eve n ag a in st h i s will ,

a n d i n defiance of hi s prohibitio n Th e assem bly deputed .

some bishops to con sult upo n this affair with di ve rs ,

'

theologians r egu lar a n d s ecu l a r These bishops havin g

, .

m ade their report the as s embly replied the n ext day

,
”
exactly a s the cardi n al wi shed Such marriages they . ,

s aid , could be rendered n ull by a n cient customs whi ch ,

have nothing unreas onable i n them a n d which a r e ,

authorized by the Church The cu sto m o f F ran c e di d .

n ot permit pr i nce s o f the b lood partic u larly heir s pre ,

s u m p tive o f the crown to marry without the consent of

,

the king an d s till les s i n defian ce of hi s prohibitio n

, .

Marri a ge s of this ki nd were il legitimate an d n ull bein g ,

deficient of a condition without whi ch pri n ce s could n ot

contract a marr iage le g itim ately This cus tom of Fran ce .

wa s a ncient reasonable , established by a legitim a te

,

prescription an d a uthorized by the Church The quee n

, .

m other upo n hearing of thi s declaration wr ote i mm e -

, ,
s

d i a tel y to Ro me to entreat the pope to forbid the French

clergy to m eddl e with the a ffair ; because it was n otorious
that this as semb ly wa s composed of n one but courtier
bishops disposed to s a y anythi ng the kin g an d h i s
,

m inis ter des ired i n orde r to forw a r d their own adva n ce

,
 M I SS IO N To RO M E . 3 27

m ent a n d if the king ch a n ged hi s mind or there shoul d ,

be a minister of a con trary Opinion they wo uld be qu i te ,

r eady to make a decl a ration opposite to the p r eceding on e .

I n the fear that the Spaniard s might obtai n a declara

tio n from the pope contrary to tha t Of the French clergy ,

s o that he hi m self should exp res s di sapprobation o f i t ,

the king sent the bishop o f Montpellier to Rome to in

for m hi s hol i ness o f the reas o ns whi ch h a d in duced the
Freneh clergy to pronou n ce again st the marria ge of the
d uke o f O rlean s But the ambas s ador wa s strictly for
.

bidde n to give the pope to un derstand even by a sin gle ,

word that th e king s tood i n n eed of the pope s authori ty

,
’

to support h i s right or to thr ow a doubt upon the null ity

,

o f the m a rr iage He wa s only to point ou t to the pope

.

the dangerous consequen ce s that might ensue to the ‘

crown from a n a l liance w i th the ho us e of Lorr ai ne ; a n d

wa s charged to represe n t to hi s holi ness all the subj ect s
o f complai n t the ki ng h a d a gains t the pr in ces Of that

family .

The queen -mother kept F a bbr on i a t Rome a s her resi

dent h i s mi s sio n being to e n deavo ur to procur e her
,

r econciliation with her s on a s s h e c o u ld not soft e n the

,

cardinal determined upon leavin g her to die i n b a ni s h

,

m ent ; to exhort th e pope in her n am e to prevent th e

, ,

c rowns coming to a n ope n rupture a n d to procur e the

,

general peac e of Europe She likewise wrote to the

.

emperor t o persuade him to make pe a ce with Fran ce ;

,

perhaps i n the hope that if it were co ncluded s h e might

, ,

be comprised in it and might return to France i n S pite of

,

the cardinal She also wr ote to the kin g o f Spain to th e

.

same e ffect As it wa s the cardina l who had advis ed

.
, ,

the declaration of war i n order to re n der himself more

,

n ecessary to the king tha n he co u l d have been durin g

pe a ce s h e thought S he s houl d a n noy him by takin g an

,

Opposite part ; whi ch was besides more fitting in a

, ,

prince s s wh o wa s m othe r of the kin g of Fra n ce an d of

, .
3 28 M A RY WR I TE S To M A Z AR IN .

the quee n of Spain than that w hi ch the car dinal had

,

m ade the king adopt .

Mary next wrote a lon g letter to the k ing ; and know ,

ing no other means by which it might reach its destination ,

s h e addressed it to Mazarin the n nuncio at the court of

,

France But i n this Sh e was unfortunate ; for in contempt

.
,

o f his character o f nuncio Mazarin wh o was entir ely

, ,

devoted to the cardinal took the letter straight to that

,

m inister Richelie u woul d have suppressed it ; but w a s

.

deterred from doing s o by the queen s declaring s h e had ’

s ent four other copies by different hands for fear thi s

, ,

s hould miscarry The expedient he took to destroy the

.

e ffect of this wa s to accuse the queen m other of having

,
-

e n deavoured to corr upt the Duke de Rohan in favour of

the Span iards The contents of thi s letter principally
.

concerned the war from which the queen endeav oured to

,

dissuade her s on by all sorts of reasons ; and it must be

confessed that either Mary or som e of her advisers
, , ,

coul d write sensibly an d forcibly upo n the subj ect ,

a l though the letter itself be too lon g for ou r purpose .

M azarin in order to acquit himself in appearance o f h i s

, , ,

duty of a nuncio ex traordinary sent to promote peace , ,

required an answer of the king ; but h i s maj esty refused

to g ive him one A s a reason for his s ilence he said if
.
, ,

he replied to such a sedi t ious Spanish letter so full o f ,

fei g ned a ffection whils t the queen mo ther was endeavour

,
-

ing to corrupt the Duke de Rohan he should be obliged ,

to re present to her the injury s h e was doin g to Fran ce .

She made great parade o f the counsels o f the la t e king to

preser v e peace with Spain but the only tendency of t hat
was to decry the present g overnment to render the ,

cardi n al odious and to make the people d iscon t ented

, .

When the queen S hould pro v e herself truly a mo ther he ,

would honour her as such ; it was not out of disrespect

tha t he did not answer her ; but the nuncio was a t liberty
to make her what a n swe r he thought most proper .
330 M A RY WR I TE S To THE KIN G .

q uee n -m othe r wa s a lette r to the pope s tating that

, , ,
'

M ary wa s n ot a s overeign but a s ubj ect of the ki n g o f,

F rance a n d had n o right to h a ve a resident at Rome

, .

The pope r eplied that s im ple bishops had a gents there

, ,

a n d S imil a r examples were n ot uncommon Bu t whether .

a fraid o f a contest with the car di n al or n ot adequately ,

s upported F a bbr on i aba n do n ed hi s mission

, a n d retire d ,

to Florence .

Mary wa s highl y irr i tate d at this in dignity a n d wrote ,

a long a n d viole n t le tte r to the pope which although , ,

c ont a inin g a gr e a t m any s evere truths wa s weakened i n ,

e ffect by the bitternes s a n d un scrup ul ousness of th e

i n vectives wit h whi ch s h e loaded her e n e my She h ow .
,

ever made it clear that the car di na l wa s n ot enti tled to

, ,

the be n efit of the obj ection he h a d raised She the widow .

,

o f a g reat king a n d the m other o f a kin g a n d o f a queen

, ,

wa s s u rely superior a s a subj ect if s h e wa s to be c on

, ,

s i d er ed on e to h i m ; and every on e k n ew that the French

,

a m bass a dors at a ll co u r ts were h i s representa tives a nd ,

’
n ot the king s ; they were only placed at their posts to
defend the car din al s in teres ts and give e ffect to hi s
’

p a s s i o ns. She s a i d s h e wa s awar e the cardinal wa s

e n deavour ing to a cquire a n absolute a uthority over the
pope by th reatenin g to have himself created p a tr i a r ch of
,

F r a nc e but s h e assured h is holi n es s that a l though ca p a ,

ble of a ll kinds of wickedn ess he wa s of to o timid a natur e ,

to un der t ake s o bold and impious a step She made a strong .

a ppeal to the pope to give hi s best e fforts to the prese rva

tio n o f peace ; indeed though bre a thing war to t he k nife

,

a g ain st Richelieu the prin cipal obj ect of her letter a p

,

r e d to be peace betwee n Fra n ce Spain and Germ a n y

p ea , , .

The most di fficult subj ect s h e had to handle wa s the kin g ;

s h e wished to c onc i liate hi m and yet every reflection made
,

him conte mptible She plai nly showed the king to be

.

more depende n t u po n h is m inis te r tha n the min is ter upo n ,

th e kin g .
 PH I L I P S B OU R G TA K E N BY THE I MPER IA L I S T S . 331

F a bbr on i, having deserted hi s post the queen mother s ’

-
,

a rg u m ents were thrown away and h er e fforts to promote

p e a ce proved equally u seless .

Thi s s ame ye a r the cardi n al in dulged i n on e of hi s

favourite policies that o f m ortifying a n d abasing th e
,

prin ces of the blood The Cou nt de Soissons had a dif

.

fer en ce with the m arqu is of S eu ter r e the cardinal haugh

til y hin ted to the Co un tes s de Soissons that her s on m us t
beware for the marquis wa s under his pr otectio n D e
, .

Sois s o n s wa s n ot only forced to dissemble his resentme n t

a gai n st h i s e n emy b ut eve n felt it n ecessar y to visit a n d
, .

c on cili ate the cardin al a thi n g he h a d never before don e

, ,

a s there wa s a poin t of etiqu et te in di s pu te betw ee n

.
‘

them .

Amon gst these domestic trouble s i n which hi s geni us

a ppeared to take delight Richelieu wa s n ot neglec t ful o f
,

fo r eig n discord N egotiation s i n wh ich there wa s no

.

s i n c eri ty were n ot li k ely to promote pe a ce and a ll partie s ,

p r ep a r ed either openly or s ec r etly fo r war The min i s .

te r s favo uri te acquisition of Phi lip sbourg wa s taken by th e

’

imperi a l i sts wi th immens e stores proportionate with th e

, ,

i mportance he had attached to the holding o f it This .

place had bee n purchased of the Swedes and the pan e ,

g yr i s ts of the card in a l boaste d that the m iniste r had foun d

m ean s to acquire for his m aj esty the strongest place i n
G e rm any without drawi ng a sword I ts advantages were
, .

in ca l culable and the gr eater the c onsequence he had

,

a ttached to the acquisitio n of it the m ore severe wa s h i s ,

m or ti fica ti o n at the loss o f it Th e k i ng wa s s o a ffected by

.

thi s cha n ce of war that he eve n gave u p th e thou g hts of a

,

ballet in which h e wa s to h ave danced a n d r et ired to

, .
,

i n d ulg e h i s grief at V ers a ill es T his demonstration wa s .

exceedingly a nnoying to the c a rdi nal ; in such ca s e s he ,

s a id , the r egr et s houl d be dis s em bl e d an d the loss be

, ,

publ icly treated a s of no consequence But even h i s .

politic s pir it yielded to n a tur e : he foun d hi mself s o

332 THE C A R D I N A L M U C H D E PRE SS E D Z

a gitated a s to be incapable of business and retired to ,

Ruel . Fa t her Joseph too who was the relatio n of

, ,

Arnaud — the governor who had surrendered the place

, ,

a n d who had procured hi m the appointmen t — w a s no less ,

m or tified by t his untoward event A s m ay b e supposed .

,

the par tisans of the enemies of the cardinal and h i s c on

fid a n t did not quite suppress their delight at seeing h ow
deeply t heir vanity wa s wou nded .

’
The events o f the thirty yea rs war not only belon g
m ore peculiarly to history than biogra phy but at the , ,

same time , are s o in teresti n g and complicated that we ,

a l most fear to trust ou r pen amon gst them n o twi th s ta n d

ing ho wever the immense sacr ifices forced from the people
, ,

of France the never -failing expedients o f the cardinal

, ,

a n d the b r avery o f t h e French t roops t h e war wa s g reatly ,

»

to the disadvant a ge of the nation .

The S wedish chance l lo r; O xen s ti er n came to Paris for ,

the purpose o f renewing pre ce di ng treaties and devising ,

the best means fo r carry ing o n the war in Germany again st ,

the common enemy Great honours were paid to him at

.

P aris for he wa s not only treated equal ly wi t h the ambas

,
,

s a d or s of all other crowned heads but s t ill further be wa s

-
, ,

lodged handsomely and his expenses were paid, The .

cardinal even visited him an honour he rendered to ,

very few ; but h e would n ot g ive him p recedence in

h i s own house n or feig n to be ill a s he sometimes did i n
, ,

favour of t he En g lish amba s sadors wh O wou l d not a cknow ,

'

ledge his c a rdinal s pre r o g atives O xen s ti er n o v erlooked

’
.

these form ali t ies ou t of cons ideration he said for the

, , ,

merit of t he e xtraordinary min ister he had t o deal wi th .

Richelieu prepared for the su c cess of his military plans

by great e fforts ; he concluded an alliance o ffen siv e an d ,

defensi v e wi t h Holland as wel l as wi t h S weden an d

, ,

s ecured the concurrence of the army of the prince o f

O r a n g e i n t he N etherlands and of that o n the Rhine
'
,

comma n de d by the duke Of S axe -Weimar Richelieu at .

334 M I LI TARY A FF AI RS .

thin gs but the victorious troops abandoned them selve s to

,

the most frightfu l excesses ; the sack o f Ti l em on t roused

th e before undecided Belgians ; they flew to arms a n d ,

thus gave time for the a rr ival o f the imperial a rmy under
P iccolomini This a rm y forced the French to raise the
.

s iege of L ou va in e an d co n fin ed the m to i n activity till the

,

e n d of the campaign .

The French armies in Germany divi ded into s eve ra l ,

bodies under the Marshal de la Force an d the duke of

,

S axe -Weimar were opposed on o n e side by the duke of

,

Lorraine who was beate n by La Force a t M on tbeill a r d

, , ,

a n d on the other by the celebrated Gallas who wa s block ,

a din g a portion of the arm y o f Bern ard in Maye n ce a n d ,

holding that great general h imself i n check at S a r br u ck

‘

Richelie u confided a fresh a rm y of fi ftee n thousan d men , ,

to the Cardinal de la Valette del i ghted at receivin g a ,

mi litary comma n d wh o succeeded i n j oi ni n g and d i s

,

e n gagin g Bern a rd Mayence wa s freed from blockad e ;

.

B ern ard passed the Rh in e and o ffered battle to G allas but ,

he could n ot force him to a ccept th e challen ge Dise a s e .

a n d famine attacked h i s army it comme n ced a disas trous

r etreat and re -e ntered Metz
, reduced to half i ts fo rm er
,

n umbers The duke of Lorr a i ne r e covei e d a part o f h i s

.
'

duchy but wa s soon expelled from it a gai n by a third

,

a rm y commanded by Louis in perso n

, The kin g a t .

tem pted n o great operatio n u po n the Rhin e ; he di d n ot

eve n cross the river ; an d the wrecks Of the th ree armie s
bein g brou ght together u pon thi s frontier covered Cham ,

pagne an d Lorraine th en menaced by the imperialis ts,

u n de r Gallas and John de Worth .

I taly wa s t he third theat re o f the s tr a teg i c oper ation s

o f Richelieu Th e princes a ll ied with France— the duke s
.

o f Savoy P arma and Mantua— were to conque r the

, ,

M ilanese ; an d Marshal Cr equ i with me n had , ,

orders to second them Frequent a ltercation s betwee n .

th e duke of Savoy a n d the m arshal p a r alyze d a ll th e m ove

 R O H A N S U CCESSF U L I N THE Y A LTE L I N E . 335

m e nts o f the army which a fter a dva n cin g failed in an

, , ,

at t ack u po n F r a s c a r ol o and wa s forced to r aise the siege

,

o f Valenza C r e qu i fell ba ck upo n F ran ee a bandoning

.
,

the a l lied prin ce s whose te rritorie s were imm ediately

,

i nvaded .

The French a rmies were onl y successfu l i n the Valte

li n e where the Duke de Roha n s ucceeded i n cutting off
,

a ll communicatio n bet wee n the i mperialist s of Lombardy

a n d A ustria He maintained hi s ground wi th five thou

.
,

s and me n i n an in sur gent country a g ainst the generals

, ,

S er bell on i and F er n a m on t wh o attacked him with supe

,

r ior forces A conqueror at Morbegno Roha n repulsed

.
,

F ern a m on t i n the Tyr ol and then drove S er bell on i an d

,

the Spaniar ds from th e Va l telin e after the battle of Val ,

d u Pr e s to Upon this point a lone the campaign of 1 63 5

.

w a s ho n ourable for France ; the comman d had n ot bee n

divided and the intelligence whi ch conceived wa s un ited
,

with the wil l which executed The r eve r se s o f thi s

.

campaign produced s erio us reflection s i n France The .

l e vie s made to co m plete the a rm ie s o f De la F orce an d

.

o f Fouquiere s we r e quickly d is sipated by desertio n s a nd ,

by the in fidelity of the captain s and colonels wh o ,

caused themselves to be pai d a s if their companies had

been fu ll althou gh they did n ot con s ist of half the ir proper
,

n umbers .

They wh o were a cqu ai nted wi th the state of thi ng s

were surprised to s ee a flouris hing ki ngdom well peopled , ,

and with plenty of mo n ey which professed to keep up ,

an army o f more than m en for the purpose of .

humbling the ho us e of A ustria could n ot bring together ,

m ore t han horse and foot to oppose a n army ,

of men an d wa s i n dan ger of soon seeing the

,

stand a rd of the emperor floatin g before Paris Thi s made .

it e vi d ent that the cardinal had ras hl y engaged in a war

which co u ld not be car ried on lik e co urt intri g ues by , ,

tr icks or i nfu s in g chi mer a s in to the min d of the king

, .
336 D I S TRESS OF THE C OUN TR Y .

O n the king s return from the army on the 22 n d of

’

O ctober the cardinal went a s far as N euilly to meet him

, ,

a n d wa s perfec tly well received Councils were held at Reul .

and St Germains the result of which was the arr est o f the
.
,

Count de C a r m a il for having gi v en Louis prudent advice ;

,

but under the pretext o f not having done his duty O n .

the same day the cardinal tol d the Coun t de Soissons the
,

king wa s ex tremely angry with him and that he would ,

do well to absent himself for some time from court which ,

hint the count immediately complied with He wa s at .

the same time deprived of the title o f general which had ,

been bestowed upon him ; and all thi s was done by the
cardinal in reven g e for the count having adroitly avoided
m arrying his niece N evertheless shortly aft er only to
.
, ,

s how his power the cardin al capriciously recalled the

,

count an d gave hi m the comman d of the army i n

,

Ch a mpagne .

The king S hortened hi s expenses o f all kinds except for ,

the war ; s o that the go v ernors o f pro v inces and the ,

o fficers o f the crown would have bee n obliged to g o

, .

withou t their wages an d pensions if mean s had n ot bee n ,

found to make the kin g dom pay them ; fresh impositions

were quickly and unsparingly levied Some had sufficient .

pat rio tism to prefer losin g them to ruining the countr y ;

but t he greater part avail ed themselves of these me a ns for
s ecuring all that was due to t hem whi ch excited great ,

discontent .

But the minister cared very little a bout what might be

thought o f his exactions provided he wa s obeyed He , .

was much more concerned at le a rning that t he pope

intended t o recall Mazarin whom he had sent to Paris in ,

qual i ty o f an ambassador extraordinary to promote ,

g eneral peace an d obtai

, n the re establishment o f the -

house of Lorraine I n s t ead o f acquit t ing himself o f h is

.

commission Mazarin t hought of nothing bu t g aining the

,

favo u r of t he card i nal duke ; and s ince the a ffair of Cas al

-
, ,
338 THE P O PE AN D THE C A R D INA L .

he would try to subj ect the monks a s he had subj ected ,

the bishops an d secul ar priests by means of ben e fic e s , ,

which the king only conferred a ccording to h i s r e c om

m en d a ti on .

But if the court of Rome did n ot pay the cardinal all

the respect he thought he merited he on his par t did no t , , ,

fail to give the retort courteous He sent to Rome as .

,

a mbassador the Marshal d E tr é es whom he knew to be

’

, ,

obnoxious to h i s holiness and persisted in keepi n g him

,

there in S pite of all remon s tr a n c es : it was even said t hat the

,

rudeness of the marshal brought on the death of Paul V .

The principal obj ect of his mission was to induce the pope
t o beha v e with more mildness towards the duke of Parma .

The duke s terr itory wa s a fief o f the Holy See an d the

’

p ope feared that the duke s connection with the French ’

would dra w upon him the acti v e enmi ty o f the Spaniards ,

and thus j eopardize one o f the few states of which he was

suzerain The marshal had likewise orders a s from the
.
,

king to recommend as often as he could F a ther Joseph

,

a s a candidate for a cardinal s hat But the pope seized

’
.

upon the excuse o f his bein g a Capuchin an d fir ml y ,

refused to grant it Th e pope s denial says more for h i s

.
’

l e g i c t han it does for the spirit that governed the d i g

n i ta r i e s o f the Church He said if he conferred the hat ,

upon o n e Capuchi n it wou ld be a sked for by others of the

,

same order ; and t hus this order which was then s o well ,

regu lated woul d become corrupted by the ambition and

,

thirst for ben efices whi ch pervaded other ecclesiastical

bodies .

Before the armies were ready for the n ext y ear s ’

campaign the duke of Parma came to Paris to pay hi s

,

respects to the king and the c a r dinal The duke of Saxe .

VVe i m a r followed his example and both were entertained ,

wi th splendid hospitali ty ; but the honours o ffered to the

former being a shade more conspicuous than those be
stowed upon the latte r j ealousy wa s cre a ted betwee n the
,
 L os s OF C O R RI E . 339

two gen er als which augured badly fo r the campai g n

, .

What the duke of Parma gained i n pleasure i n Paris he

lost in solid lands at home ; the Spaniards took a d vantage
o f his absence and made themselves masters of several of
,

his fortified places Sensible Observers began already to

.

r em a rk that the duke o f P arma had rashly become a n

opponent to Spain for the sake o f the chimerical hopes

the cardinal -duk e had flattered him with o f being made
master o f a pa rt of th e Milanese a s s oon a s it should be ,

conquered He experience d On this occasion that a

.
,

nei g hbouri ng enemy is more redoubtable than a distant

friend is useful althou g h the power of the latter be n ot at
,

all inferior to that of the former .

The cardin al opened the campaign with a s man y armie s

a s had taken the field the preceding year and met with ,

even great reverses He hoped to subdue Franche Comté

.
-
,

a Spanish province towards which he despatched his best

,

t roops under the comman d of the Pr ince de Condé ; bu t

,

this army was obli g ed to be promptly recalled to defend

Fran ce itself which the imperialists had invaded The
, .

cardinal infant Piccolomini and John de Worth had

-
, , ,

entered Picardy and Champagne with thousand

men ; and the Count de Soissons n o friend to Richelieu , ,

with a feeble army wa s th e onl y defender o f these

,

prov inces Se v eral cities fell in to the hands of the inva

.

ders ; and at length Corbie th e last strong place on

, , ,

these frontiers was take n whilst a second imperial army

, , ,

under Gallas a n d the kin g o f Hungary penetrated into ,

Burgundy The cardinal did all in his power to throw the

.

blame of these misfortunes upon others and e v en had ,

g o v ernors condemned to death for hi g h treason for s u r ,

rendering places which h o had not a fforded them the

m ean s of defending A panic seized the Parisians n ot
.
,

withstanding the presence O f the kin g a n d the constant ,

arrival of fresh troops I nvectives o f all kinds were

.

d irec ted a gainst the c a r dinal for having engaged the

z2
 THE C A R D INA L S UN P O P U L A R I T Y
’

3 40 .

kin g dom in this war without providin g for th e secu ri ty of

its fron t iers particularly those Of Picardy which were at
, ,

s o short a distance from the capital A s he was only .

belo v ed by his creatures the people felt it some rel ief to

,

their troubles to ha v e an opportunity for t ellin g him Of

all t he evi l known of him He wa s n ot only told t hat he
.

had no business with war as it was not his trade but he , ,

was accused of wishing to deliver Paris up to the

Spaniards ; and that it was for that purpose he had had
the walls of the F a u bou r g of S t Honoré demolished under .
,

the pretext of enlarg ing the city Richelieu s proud S pirit .

’

was almost subdued by reverses just censures and Oblo , ,

i e s ; and when we hear h ow deeply he was a ffected

q u , ,

we almos t wonder his delicate constitu t ion sustained the

shock . But his familiar came to the rescue ; Father
Joseph who had made himself master of his mind knew
, ,

exac tly the key upon which to strike and qui ckly nerved ,

him agai n for the struggle To S how his con t empt for .

murmurs and threats boldness of demeanour was neces

,

sary ; t he game was desperate : he overcame his usual

timid i ty an d appeared in the public streets without hi s
,

g uards a risk he had not ventured upon for years .

A shor t t ime before these c a l ami t ies either for the ,

sake of diminishing the envy created by his inordinate

we a l th or from some secret reason which his tory does not
,

g ive us he had be g ged t he kin g to accept of a donatio n

,

he was d e sirous t o o ffer him This great gift consisted of .

his HOtel de Richelieu or Le Palais C a rdinal his Chapelle

, ,

de Diamants his chased silver buffet and his g reat

, ,

diamond He only reserved to himself the use of them

.

during his life with the exceptio n of t he captaincy and

,

c on c i e r g er y of the said hotel to the Dukes de Richelieu ,

his succ e ssors and the property o f the houses that wo ul d

,

be buil t a round the g a rdens The kin g accep t ed of thi s .

dona t ion which by an act passed on the 6 th Of June

, , ,

could n ot be ali en ated from the c row n A la s ! for th e .

3 42 E N TH U S I A S M OF TH E NA T ION .

d ering a ll h i s
nei g hbours and was warmly pressed by a
,

priest on his death bed to purchase mercy by restorin g his

-

ill got weal t h to the inj ured parties g asped out

- Well , ,

”
I will restore i t bu t l e t m e keep i t ti l l I d i e I N ow this
,
-

man a ct ed better than the cardinal did : the latter did not
res t ore his wealth to the people from whom he had ex
tor te d it ; he on l y left it to the powerful man who had
sanc t ioned his robberies an d e v e n partaken of the spoil
, .

The e ffor t s made by the French in this extremi ty may

be j udged of by the following passage which we give at ,

“
length as characteristic o f the times
, Al l the public .

bodies of Paris o ffered their services to the king an d con ,

sen t ed to the immediate impositio n of n ew taxes A ll .

youn g men capable of beari n g a rm s in Paris a n d its

environs were commanded to serve They who had .

several lackeys were obliged to give up one as were ,

workme n wh o had m ore than on e apprentice Building .

in Paris wa s stopped for the purpose of enrolling the

,

car penters and m asons The king ordered that a l l persons

.

having more than on e pair of carriage horses should give -

u p o n e for the use o f the artill ery or the cavalry ; and that

a ll gentlemen all who were exempt from the ta i l l e and

, ,

a ll t he o fli c er s of his hous ehold sho u l d assemble in arms ,

at S t Denis within s ix days

. O n the l s t o f September
.
,

the king wa s at the head of for ty thousand foot twelve ,

t housand horse and a train o f forty pieces of can n on

, .

Monsieur was declared g e n eralissimo o f this army an d ,

the Count de Soissons lieutenant -general which wa s done ,

more for the sake of brin g ing them to good humour than
to favour them The cardinal with his usual milita ry
.
,

zeal wanted to be generalissimo and to have the Count

, ,

de Soissons under him but the count refused to serve a s

,

his lieutenant Al though the army wa s strong enough to

.

dri v e the enemy fro m Picardy the danger the country had ,

bee n in together with th e a ffairs of I taly a n d B u r g undy

, ,

thr e w the kin g i n t o s o p r ofoun d a m elan choly that h e ,

 R I CHE L I E U DEPRE SS ED . 3 43

wa s dis s atisfied with everybody and everythin g The .

c ardinal ventured to remonstrate with h i m o n h i s l ow

spirits and want of firmness which only produced grea t

,

cooln ess on the par t o f hi s maj esty towards h i s minis t er .

He would scarcely s ee him and a n swered him s o sharply

,

when he spoke to him o f state a fl a i r s that the cardinal ,

lost heart and neglected to give necessary orders I t

, .

wa s observed that contrary to h i s cus tom he bestowe d

, ,

m any civilities upon persons he had b e fore despised He .

o n e day even asked St Y h a l whom he hated becau se h e

.
,

wa s at t ached to the party o f the Count de Soissons h i s ,

Opinion upon a matter of consequence Still further he .

,

i nvited him to supper an d St Yba l wa s delighted to s e e

, .

h is proud spirit s o humbled by the fear that the progres s

o f the enemy would bring on his ruin He at len g th .

becam e s o depressed i n body an d mind that if Fa ther ,

Joseph to whom he revealed h i s most secret thoughts had

, ,

not encouraged h im he w a s on the point o f abandonin g

,

his ministry and thus incurring certain destruction at th e

,

pleasure o f hi s ene m ies But the Capuchi n havin g re v iv ed

.

h i s courage be resolved to apply hi mself more earnestly

,

than ever to a ffairs .

This extraordinary depression on the par t of Richelieu ,

we consider a proof of h i s n ot havin g a great mind A n .

honest a nd able min ister does not yield to d ifficulties any ,

more than the skilful seaman trembles at the storm or ,

the brave soldi er blenches in t he face Of the enemy A .

powerful and well -ordered mind i s stimul ated and roused

to action by such obstructions it feels it to be the moment
to prove i t s superiority and acquires strength instead o f
,

sinking into imbecility But Richeli eu s wa s an acute

.
’

and n o t a great mind ; h i s wisdom consisted i n c u nning ,

h i s most powerfu l a g ent w a s duplicity ; an d such qualities

are not e qual to contend with great emergencies .

The army of the Spaniards wa s not strong enough to

conte n d with th a t of the kin g a n d they retra ced their
,
3 44 C O RE I E RET A KE N .

s t eps without having had time to secure the i r conquests .

Corbie was besieged by the ad vice o f the cardinal an d

,

the Marshal de Chatillon i n opposit ion to the opinion o f ,

the Count de Soissons and aft er thr ee assaults was sur

, , ,

re n dered by capitulation N 0 other im portant advantage .

was gained in any quarter during this campai g n C r e qu i .

won the san guinary battle of Tor n a ven te ; but the victory
produced n o result .

’
The recovery of Corbie seemed to restore the cardinal s
S pir its an d re -establish hi s reputation which had been
, ,

much damaged by the successes o f the Spaniards He .

,

however incurred blame for h a ving m ade the duke o f

,

O rleans and the Count de Soissons j oint commanders in

the same army both bein g his enemies
, With that .

sort of s elf deceiving cunning which we maintai n to hav e

-
,

been the fundament a l principle o f most of his policy he ,

flattered himself that the haughtiness of De Soissons

would clash with the arrogance of Monsieur and that ,

their servants whose interests were Opposite would irritate

, ,

them a gainst each other But just the contr a ry took pl a ce ;

.

both princes had long been enemies of the cardinal a n d ,

their j uncture by giving Opportunities for confidential

,

expressions of their griefs only served to hei g hten their ,

hatred again st hi m They were led to believe that if they

.

became strictly united they would draw into their par ty

,

the houses of Guise Vendome Bouillon D E p er n on and

’

, , , ,

D e Retz a l l o f whom he had ill -treated and who were

, ,

much dissatisfied Monsieur an d the count being at

.

P eronne held a coun cil u pon the best means of ruining

,

t he cardinal S ome were o f Opinion that the king Should

.

be adroitly informed that the bad conduct of the minister

was the cause of all the misfortunes of the kingdom and ,

that he had en gaged it in a war which he vainly imag in e d ,

himself able to conduct a l though he was much more ,

capable of exciting ci v il wars than repelling foreign ones .

The other opin io n wa s that it would be best to g et rid of

,
3 46 F AI L U RE OF THE PL O T .

opportunity and that noth ing could be m ore easy th a n

,

the execution o f their proj ect ; the duke wa s i n such a

state of confusion that he uttered nothing but broken ,

ambiguous sentences an d coul d not collect himself s o far

,

a s to sanction the deed The count continued to co n verse

.

with t he cardin a l for some time o n e of the conspirators

being behind him and the others at a S hort distance fro m
,

him Monsieur s unexpected absence n atural ly made the

’
.

conspirators turn i n quirin g glan ces u pon each other ,

which struck the ever-wakeful suspicio n of the cardinal ,

a n d he made a precipitate retreat to his carriage He did .

not learn the danger he had bee n in till some time after ;
but he never again trusted himself i n the hands of h i s
enemies The princes aft erwar d s s a i d that they were
.
,

restrai n ed by the recollectio n of the cardinal s be in g a ’

priest A weak and absurd excuse ; they knew he wa s a

.

priest when they planned the murder ; the execution of it

wa s only prevented by the weakness of Gaston s character
’
.

This a d air ha ving failed the duke an d count determined ,

to pursue the othe r course and ru i n the c a rdinal in the ,

mind of the kin g I n order the more easily to e ffect

.

their purpose they thought it best to engage the dukes

,

d E p er n on de la Valette Bouill on a n d de Retz in their

’

, , ,

scheme ; a n d sent persons to make them acquainted with

i t Bu t this only served to d iscove r their designs without
.
,

s trengtheni n g their party The cardinal aware tha t .

,

some th i ng wa s going on j udged it to be ad visable to ,

separate t hem and preve n t their res i den ce at cour t by

, ,

mak ing them believe that the king intended to ha v e the m

arrested Whe n therefore they went to Paris by order
.
, , ,

o f the king the cardinal remaini n g i n Picardy he had

, ,

this false i ntel li gence c oveyed to them with s o much

address tha t two nights aft er they received it they both
,

took fli ght ; Monsieur returnin g to Blois wi thou t hav ing

s ee n the k i ng and the Count de S oissons ta ki n g s h c l ter
'

,
 G A ST ON S S U BM I SS ION
’
. 3 47

in Sedan without paying hi s farewell compl im ents to h is

,

m a j esty .

When they were no lon ger at court it wa s n ot di fficult ,

for the cardi nal to persu a de the king to anything ; a n d as

the princes gave it ou t that they h a d left Paris for fear
of being arrested he wa s much o ffended havi n g had n o
, ,

intentio n of the sort The next day Monsieur sent the

. ,

king a very submissive letter ; to which h i s maj esty r e

plied in the most a ffectionate terms The cardinal like .

wise wrote to hi m wi th numerous o ffers of serv ice an d

,

reproached him in a bland and friendly tone with the

facility with w h i ch he equally received good an d bad
a d v ice
.

The Coun t de Soissons wh o wa s of a more haughty and

,

spirited char acter wrote the king a letter filled with re

,

p r oa c h es i
, n which he complai ned that a s a recompense
for hi s services he wa s compelled to take refuge with a
,

friend to avoid a prison The kin g however wa s not

, .
, ,

much o ffended by h is complaints and sent him word that

,

he had entertained n o idea o f having him arres t ed an d ,

that if fear alone had driven him ou t of the kingdom h e ,

wa s quite willing he S hould remain where he wa s i n t he ,

enj oyment of his proper ty and all h i s pensions provided ,

he l ived like a qu iet and good subj ect .

The d u ke o f O rleans who still professed to b e attached

to the Count de Soissons appeared tolerably satisfied
,

with the manner i n which he wa s treated and with the ,

m ildness exhib ited towards himself .

Several persons were sent to endeavour to reassure him ,

and Chavigny at length ex torted a promise from him that

he would be no lon g er guided by the cou nsels o f the C ount
de Soissons and a written document in which he i m
, ,

l or e d the kin g t o pu t an end to all the sus p icion and

p
m i str u st that created S O much unhap p iness This cou l d .

b e done he said if the king would consent to h is marriag e

, , ,
3 48 G A ST ON AN D THE K IN G REC ON C I LED .

or constitute him the duke j udge o f its propri ety I f

, , .

the king adopted the latter plan he demanded a place o f ,

securi ty to enable him to give his opinion without risk

, .

The duke added that he hoped the Count de Soissons

would be treated with equal lenity .

Chavigny soon re t ur n ed to Blois wi th a written paper ,

from th e kin g saying that if Monsieur positiv ely i nsis t ed

,

u po n main t aining the validity o f h is marria g e his m a j esty ,

would san ction it provided his brother would promise that

,

he would not espouse the cause o f the house o f Lorraine

'

o r undertake anything prejudicial t o the welfare o f t he

k ingdom A fter various n egotiations ar tfully and cau

.
,

t iou s l y carried o n by the cardinal the vacillating duke ,

consented to a n almost unconditional reconciliation an d ,

pretended to have a viole nt fit of the gout as an excuse ,

for not j oining the Count de Soisson s at S edan To pro v e .

o u r assertion that the cardinal s proceedings were artful

’

we point out one o f them G aston was very earnest for .

the liberatio n of some Of his partisans ; the cardinal said

there was nothing unreasonable in the request their O f ,

fence was n o t great the king would most likely extend his
,

clemency to them ; but the only one that did escape from
durance was the Abbé de la Rivi ere who under t ook to ,

second and a ssist Gon l a s the duke s secretary occupyin g

,
’

that post as Richelieu s creature and spy

’
I n spite of all .

Gasto n s remonstrances prayers an d reasonin g s the car

’

, , ,

dinal woul d not grant him a place o f securi ty .

But such a character as that o f the duke and i n such ,

a position could not be left in quiet even if he had de

, ,

sired it ; disa ffected nobles were constantl y urg ing him to

r ebell ion and the cardinal was at len g t h obli g ed t o place
,

him i n a kind of confinement by posting troops round the ,

environs of Blois wi t h orders to arres t him if he wanted

,

to g o to any distance Long and v a rious messa g es ensued

.
,

o n both par ts t he cardinal act i ng towards the count and

,

th e d u ke a ccord ing to the feel in gs he enterta in ed for the m

3 50 FRES H E N TRE A T I ES o r THE QU EE N -M O THER .

was s o hau g hty to those he did not fe a r easily stooped ,

before all who were able to make him fear them .

I t wa s not the same with the poor queen mother fo r -

,

whom the king and queen of England warmly interceded

with her s on towards the end o f 1 63 7 She had sent
, .

Mo n s ig et to London with instructions to get the king

,

a n d queen to beg that s h e might be r estored to her posi

tio n and that the grace m ight be exten ded to her fol
,

lowers But a s Charles I w a s n ot feared i n France and

. .
,

Mary de Medici if possible less s o sc a rcely a civil

, , ,

answer o f refusal Wa s vouchsafed .

The Emperor Ferdin a n d II died this year Hi s s on wh o . .

,

succeeded him under the n ame of Ferdinand I II oblige d

, .
,

the Duke de Roha n to evacuate the Va l tel in e n otwi th ,

standing the positive comman ds of Richelieu to the c on

tr a r y Rohan placed h i s forces under the command of Gu é
.

briant and served a s a volu nteer with the duke of Saxe

,

Weimar Victor -Amadeus a very insincere al ly of Fran ce

.
, ,

died about the same peri od leaving his throne to a s on o f ,

tende r age and the r egency of h is states to his widow

, ,

Christina a sister o f Louis X II I The war was carried o n

, .

with various success ; but the only in ciden t in which we find

the cardinal personall y concern ed arose from a li ttle differ ,

ence between him and the kin g with regard to the siege of ,

La Capelle but Richelieu easily appeased him by getting

the leaders of the army every on e appointed by hi m self
, ,

to sign a n attestatio n of the correctness of h i s views .

About thi s time the cardi n a l became very j e a l ous o f the

influ ence of the Duchess de Chevreuse over the m in d of
the queen I t is a problem n ot very easily to be solved
.
,

why a d is carded m istres s should be m ore hated than any

o ther person ; but s o it i s and Madame de Chevreuse stood
,

i n this relatio n to Richeli eu A m an wa s arrested for .

keeping up the conn ectio n betwee n the two ladies in a ,

manner that plain ly to ld the quee n s h e m ust be a ccount

a ble to the cardin al for every in timacy s h e formed The .
 L ou r s PL AT ONI C L O VE S
’
. 3 51

su perior of th e Va l de G race who wa s accused o f being ,

concerned i n this intrigue wa s also transferred to another

,

conven t Everything that o ffended the minister was a n

.

a ffair of state and it wa s punished more severely tha n if

,

it concerned the person o f the king A correspondence .

wi th the court of Spai n wa s the ostensible cause of this

dis turbance Watched by a j ealous husband a n d a lynx
.

eyed enemy it wa s n atural for A nne of Austria st ill a

, ,

youn g woman with the a ffections warm i n her heart to

, ,

seek for some consolation i n a n intercourse with her

family and this could possibly only be carr ied on secretly
, .

All the discoveries from shamefully obtained letters only -

amounted to anxious expression of a desir e for peace

betwee n the two countries which s h e hinted could n ot ,

take place while the cardinal rema ined in p ower : but th i s

latter Opinion wa s quite enough to con stit u te the wr iti ng
o f it a s t ate crim e .

A lthough o f a cold temperament a n d little accessible to ,

the shaft s of love Louis i n more in stances than on e

, , ,

e v inced a strong partiality for female society Madame .

de Haute v ille and Mademoiselle de la Fayette we believe ,

m ade a stron g er i mpression upon h i s a ffections than an y

person he w a s connected wi t h during h i s life : and yet

t hese attachments were purely Platonic I t must have .

been a relief to the poor monarch to esc a pe from the

endless lessons remonstrances and threats o f hi s master
, , ,

the cardinal to the soothing society o f such a woman a s

,

M a demoiselle de la Fayette wh o was good a s s h e w a s ,

pleas ing and n ever employed her influence over her frien d
,

to an e v il pur pose I t wa s owing to this amiable lady

.

that a momentary reconciliatio n took place betw een the

kin g and the queen of which Louis X IV was the frui t
, . .

I n t he beginnin g of December the king left Versailles ,

wi t h the purpose of sleepin g at St Maur I n pas sin g . .

through Paris he stopped at the con v ent of the F illes de

,

S t Marie to pay a v i sit to Mademoiselle d c la F ayette

.
, ,
3 52 L OUI S PER S U A DE D TO S LEEP W I TH m s W I FE .

who had become a member o f that sisterhood principally ,

from the machinations of the j ealous cardinal but whom ,

he took every Opportunity o f seeing Whilst they were .

conversing a violent storm a rose which rendered i t

, ,

impossib l e for him to re t urn to Versailles or to go on to ,

St Maur to which place his bed his provisio n s and other

.
, , ,

appointments had been sent The storm continuing with .

unabated violence and night coming on he became as

, , ,

the historians s a y much embarrassed : his chamber at the

,

Lou v re wa s not prepared an d he knew not where to pass ,

the night Such a d iflficu l ty in Paris and near to his

.
,

pal ace gives us a strange idea of the accommodation of a

,

monarch i n those days But if this a ppears surprisin g

.
,

his resource was still more od d if considered as a disco ,

very Gu i ta n t the captain of his guards who wa s accus

.
, ,

tom e d to speak to h im wi t h freedom when his m a j esty ,

expressed his anxiety about his night s lodging ven tured ’

to su g gest that he thought he had better go to the Louvre ,

and sleep with the queen He would be sure he said to .

, ,

find a supper there and an apartment properly prepared

, .

The king r a ised all sorts of weak obj ections saying the , ,

queen supped and went to bed too late for him ; but
Mademoiselle de la Fayette and the captain overruled all
he ad v anced ; he consented more from h i s love of com ,

forts tha n o f the queen ; Gu i ta n t fl ew to the palace to

announce his coming ; supper was forwarded to suit his
taste ; t he queen received h i m kindly —and nin e months ,

aft er that stormy n ight Loui s X I V surnamed D i eu d om zé

, .
,
-
,

was born .

The war continued and wa s only successful on th e

,

Rhine where Saxe -Weimar after ha vi ng bee n beaten a t

. ,

Rheinfeld surprised the A ustrians amidst the intoxicatio n

,

of triumph obtained a complete victory and made four

, ,

of their g enerals prisoners The operations upon t he .

Spanish frontiers were directed by Cardinal Saudis ,

a rch bishop o f Bordeaux an d the P ri n ce de Cond é ; they

,
3 54 F A THER cm s s m
’
s A TTEMPT .

kin g became exceedingly m elan ch oly an d did all he coul d ,

to ascertai n the cause A s the king wa s incapable of co n

.

c ea l i n g an ythin g and a s every on e wh o wa s allowed to

,

a p proach his person except his confesso r wa s a creature

, ,

o f t he cardinal s he soo n learnt that h is m aj esty w a s

’

s u ffering from conscientious scru ples at leaving hi s mother

i n a s t ate o f banishment after s h e had made s o man y

concessions Richelieu wa s quite aware that the king
.

was incapable o f ei ther good or evil thoughts but at the

i nstigat ion o f another ; and soon discovered that it w a s
his confessor who had introduced these feel ings into h i s
m ind . This Jesuit fo n dly imagined that he wa s m a ster
o f the king s conscie n ce and dreamt o f quickly ruining
’

the minister a gainst whom h e had already ven t ured to

,
'

i nsi n uate i nto t he royal ear many evil reports a s it were , ,

i n passing .This wa s a dangerous enterprise on account ,

o f the implacable disposi t ion o f the cardinal if it did not

'

succeed ; an d o n account of the weakness of the king ,

w h o would be sure to tell his minister everythi ng Father .

C a u s s in ; nevertheless after havin g a long time deliberated

, ,

a n d waited for a favourable opportuni ty o f speak i ng

Openly to the king against the conduct of h i s minister ,

believed he had found it and began by representin g to ,

him as strongly as he cou ld all he had to blame in hi m .

He said he ou g h t to be dismissed for four princip a l

r easons .The first wa s the exile o f the queen mother -
,

wh o was left in such a state o f indige n ce a s to be desti

tute of the necessaries o f l ife this reas o n seemed to a ffect
his maj esty The second w a s that the cardinal usurped
.
,

the whole roy a l authority ; that nothin g wa s left to h is

m aj esty but the bare ti tle o f king and the whole kingdom ,

had recourse to the cardinal as the supreme arbite r o f all

fa v ours . The third reaso n wa s th e oppressio n of the
p eople who were reduced to the lowes t sta t e of misery
,

by exorbitant taxes The fourth wa s the c a use of reli g ion

.
,

which the car d ina l wis hed to de s tr oy a s a ppear ed by th e ,

 ca u s sm
’
s E MB A RR A S S ME N T . 3 55

s uccours he had give n to the Swedes a n d th e Protestant s

o f Germany whom he h a d rendered more formidable than
,

they ever were .

When F ather C a u s s i n had finished s peaking the kin g ,

appear ed considerably a gitated a lthough the confessor ,

had said n othing that wa s n ot notoriously public and of ,

which nobody d oubted except the kin g He s eemed .

quite disposed to dismis s the cardinal provided the Jesui t ,

could point o u t a n y person capable Of taking his place ;

but that wa s a point the confessor h a d never thought o f ,

s o little competent wa s he i n h is simplicity to conduct a n

affair of this importa n ce The king then as ked C a u s s in

.

if he were wil l in g to m aintain all he had said face to fa c e

wi th the cardinal The Jesuit wa s a little embarrassed
.

at this question as he kn ew what sort of a m an he h a d to

,

deal with ; but s ummonin g courage from integrity he r e ,

plied,
“
he had n o obj ection a s he h a d advanced n othing
,
”
that wa s not perfectly true The king the n desired h im
.

to come for that purpo s e on a day a ppointed which wa s ,

the 8 th of December .

Whils t waiting for thi s day Father C a u s s in found h im

,

s elf stran gely embarras sed par ticularly when he reflected

that he could place n o confidence in the firmness of the
k in g an d that he had everythin g to fear from the terrible
,

minister A fter havin g s eri ously medita ted upon the best
.

line of conduct to be p urs u ed he r esolved to impart a l l ,

that had ta ken place to the duke of An goul eme a n d tr y ,

to induce h i m to occupy the place o f the first minister .

The Jesuit made the proposition a ccordin g ly ; a n d th e

duke wa s more astonished at the rashness of him who had
formed such an idea tha n he wa s seduced by the fl a tter
,

ing prospect held ou t to him He ho wever fei g n ed to

.
, ,

yield to hi s reas ons filled hi m with hopes and promised

, ,

to support him with a ll h i s str e n gth Father Ca u s s in .

then became impatient for the appointed day i n which h e ,

‘
3 56 L OUI S xn r . AN D HI S C ON FE SS O R .

had brought against him He expected to s ee the card in al

.

i n a n awfu l rage bu t he w a s r esolved to expose him a t

,

whatever risk i t might be .

But we must not se v erely blame eithe r the temerity or

the simplicity o f the Jesuit a short retrospective glance
will show u s that the king s con du ct warranted hi s
’

conduct .

Father C a u s s i n who had passed his li fe i n the o ffice s o f

,

h is profession and i n the study o f the be ll es l e ttr es

, ,

which had taught him a love of the good and the beauti
ful without giving him any idea of what are called state
a ffai rs
, w a s shocked w hen appointed confessor— a p
,

a r e n tl o n account o f the simplicity o f h i s chara cter — a t

p y
the principles of gover nment which Richelieu impart ed to
h i s master and he repeated to h i s confessor
, Loui s .

listened voluntari ly to the expressions o f disgust Of the

father ; an d whe n he felt a ny little pique again st hi s
minister a s he did almost d aily would speak with the
, ,

greates t freedom a gainst him He o n e day said to .

“
C a u s s in
, I t i s a strange thing that the cardin a l can n ot
be conte nted with tyrannising over my people — h e wants to
tyrannise over m e too Misery and poverty are every
.

where a n d yet i n hi s house g old a n d s ilver are i n heaps .

He h a s a number of ben efic e s and n ever says h i s ,

bre viary ; he says he is dispensed from that by recitin g

th e fl ea /r es d e l a cr o i a : ( a very short o ffice ) and I don t
’

believe he ever says them He woul d have me always .

l ive a t St Germain en Laie o n account of his Ruel I

.
- -
, .

have lost my love for hun t ing I should wish to give him .

a lodging i n the palace s o that we might hold a counc il

,

”
a t any tim e but he won t hear o f it
’

, .

The cardi nal in whom the conversations of the king an d

,

his confessor inspired j ealousy and uneasiness oft en con ,

tr i ve d to interrupt them A s he wa s never refused the

.

en tr ee to the royal closet a s soo n a s he kne w t he king

,

w a s shut up wi th h i s confessor he e n tered un expectedly ,

3 58 TH E KI N G
’
S WE AKN E SS .

a ware Of it and s et ou t directly from Ruel for the pur

,

p ose O f considering with h is maj esty the state of the

ben efic es ; bu t ins tead of complainin g of the king hav in g
bestowed this bishopric in a n irregular way without con ,

s u l ti n g him he pretended to be ig n orant that the king had

,

made a nomination an d a s o f himself proposed the Abbé

, , ,

de la Fert e as a proper perso n to fill the s e e saying that ,

i t was but j ust his m a j esty shou ld r ecompense the O fficers

o f h i s c h a p eL
‘

The king n ot dari n g to confess to the

,

cardinal that he had disposed of it of hi s own authority ,

feigned to appro v e Of the choice a s if the n omination had

,

n ot been already made — and the card inal had all the honour
o f it i n the eyes o f the public ; but he retained a war m

r esentment for Father C a u s s i n whom he suspected of

,

hav in g proposed the A bbe Fert e to the king These inci .

de nts had encouraged Fa ther C a u s s in in his hopes but ,

h ow could he rely u po n the principles or the firmness o f

a monarch who had answered h im when he once im mor e d ,

h i m to pay the dowry of M ary de Medici who only r e ,

quested an asylum and a modera te revenue I should ,

l ike to comply wi th her wishes but I shoul d n ot dare to

,

speak about it to monsieur the cardinal ; if you c ould

Obtain it o f him I sho ul d be very glad
, An d this wa s
a king o f France who w a s proud of bein g called the j ust
, ,

a n d i s celebrated by hi s torians a s the great a n d victorious

Above all it wa s the s on o f He nry I V wh o thu s me a n ly

, .

succumbed beneath the frow n of a priest !

But if we t hink Ca u s s in had something like e n courage
m ent for hi s bold at te m pt we cannot find any excuse for
,

the conduc t Of the duke o f Angoul em e except in that ,

b as e truckling policy wi th which the cardi nal s eems to

have imbued a l l who ap proached him .

A ft er the duke of A n g oul eme had left the house o f the

Jesui t a moment s reflectio n made h i m determine w h ich
,
’

part to take he has tened a t o n c e to Ruel and repeated ,

to th e cardinal a l l he had he a r d This ba s e cond u c t wa s

.
 AN G OU LE ME S PERF I D Y ’
. 3 59

gen erally and justly condemned : it may be said th at the

duke w a s certain no dependence coul d be placed upon the
king s firmness and that the affair coul d n ot possibly s u c
’

c ee d ; i n which eve n t he knew equally well

, that if the ,

cardinal learnt from any other mouth than hi s own t he

confidence Father C a u s s in had pl a ced i n h im he would ,

n ever pardo n him B u t this does n ot a t a ll exonerate hi m

.

wi t h respect to the Jesuit ; he kn ew that he con fided in

him as a n honourable man and he ought n ot to hav e ,

mis led him by fair yet fals e promises ; but ho n our a n d

rec titude were ve r y r are prin ciples in the r eign of
Louis X III .

The cardinal tha nked h i s informant for hi s in telligen ce ,

a ssured him that he should n ot fin d hi m u n gr ateful and ,

the n went strai g ht to St Germain s He related to the

. .

king all that ha d pas sed a n d proved that the four heads
,

o f accusatio n were false by a sty le o f reas oning which

,

Louis h a d for a lo n g time been compelled to a cknowledge

, ,

con v incing He pointe d o u t the dan ger there wa s i n

.

l istening to the babbl ing o f busy mi s chievous people a n d ,

s a i d i t wa s not fit such a man a s C a u s s in sho u ld be about

his maj esty s person A s for himself he added he wa s

’
.
, ,

weary of bein g thus misrepresented he ardently wi shed to

re t ire from O ffice and e nj oy a little quiet ; he woul d do
,

s o but his conscience to ld h i m it w a s h i s duty to adhere

,

to his mas ter a s lon g a s hi s services coul d be us eful to

him .

The con fessor went to St Germains on th e a ppointed day

. ,

and on go ing into the antechamber a s usu a l was i nformed ,

that the king wa s closeted with the c a rdinal The len g th .

o f the conference was of bad au ury for the Jesuit and a s

g ,

soon as it wa s over Des N oyes came from the king an d

, ,

told h i m that his maj es ty would no t perform hi s dev otions

tha t day an d he mig h t retur n to Pa r is He j udged by
, .

this messag e that all wa s lost ; and that s a me evenin g a n

exemp t of the guards seized hi s papers and co nveyed hi m ,
3 60 DE ATH or THE D U KE OF A E -WE I M A R
B K .

to Qu im p er c or en ti n in Br i tta n y wh er e he rema ined t il l

, a

the kin g s death ’

.

The illus trious general the duke of Saxe -Weimar d ied , ,

i n 1 63 9 France purchased his conques t s and t ook his

.
,

army i n pay givin g t he command Of the lat ter to t he

,

Duke de Longueville who in concert with Count d c , ,

G u é br ia n t crossed the Rhine and carried o n the cam

, ,

a ig n o f two years beyond tha t river without any de

p ,

cided success but at the same time without a n y serious

, , ,

r everses A ll Richelieu s e fforts were then directed to

.
’

wards Flan ders into which coun try he m arched thre e

,

a rmies under La Meilleraye

, Ch a tillon and Feuqui eres , ,
.

The king det er mined upon bein g present at the opera t io n s

o f t hese armies but events did n o t ans wer his expec ta
,

tions . Feuqui eres was destroyed by Piccolomini at’

Thion v ille ; Ch a ti llo n deprived o f the concurrence o f his

,

c olle a gue only obtained unimportant successes ; and La

,

M eil l er a ye s were confined to the t a king of Hesdin which

’

place he carried before the eyes of the king and received ,

a m a r shal s ba t o n u pon the breach The campaign wa s

’
.

more brilliant in Piedmont ; but this country was at ,

that period a complete centre of intrigues The duchess

,
.

o f Savoy had a Jesuit for a confessor named Father Mo ,

n o d who had a s was the wont with that fraternity

, , great ,

i nfluence over the mind Of his mistress He had e v inced .

consider a ble zeal in the serv ice of the house of Savoy an d ,

the late duke had employed him freque n tly in s t ate a ffairs .

This man partly on his o wn account a n d partly by t he

, ,

wis h o f the duchess w a s a nxious to procure t he retur n of

,

Mary de Medici to France So compl etely was Sa v oy i n .

the power o f France or rather o f the cardinal t ha t t he , ,

duchess did not dare to o ffer her mother an a sylum ; and ,

therefore we may eas ily concei v e that s h e countenanced

,

the views of her confessor He made a j ourney to France .

,

a nd , as i t a ft erw a rds appeared h a d been the princi pa l ,

mea n s of ur ging F a the r Ca u s s in— th a n who m he wa s m uch

3 62 D EAT H or C AR D I N AL D E L A VA L E TT E .

of the duchy i n the family they had recour se to the k i n g

,

o f Spain promis in g a s i s usual i n such cases some stron g

, , ,

pl a ces i n Piedmont a s h is reward The duchess wa s the n .

compelled to solicit the aid of the king ; Richelieu con

fid e d an army to his warlike brother cardinal De ,

la Valette and he under the pretence of protecting the

, ,

s on o f Victor -A madeus invaded the half of h i s states

, ,

but died of a contagious fever whilst carryin g on a war ,

s o u n worthy of having bee n conceived by o n e Christia n

churchma n an d execute d by a n other Richelieu gave .

h i m an able successor i n Henr y de Lo rraine Count de ,

Harcourt wh o revictualled Casal the n besieged by the

, ,

Spaniar ds and a fterwards e ffected a fine retreat from

,

Chiari to Carignano in face of the very superior forces of

,

Prince Thomas a n d L eg a n ez who m he conquered at the

, ,

ba ttle o f La Rotta .

The principal belligerent powers — France the Empire , ,

a n d Spain — notwithstanding some partial success derived ,

n o permanent benefit from this lo n g dis a strous war , ,

which really seemed kept up by the governing ministers

o f Philip I V a n d Louis XII I — O livare z and Richelieu
. .

to gratify their o wn ambition and display their hatred ,

for each other France was exhausted by it a n d Rich el ieu

. ,
'

had recourse to the most shameful expedients to procur e

the necessary subsidies : he seized t he funds o f the
Hotel de Ville cast the holders who ventured to complain
,

i nto the Bas t ille and forbade the Parliame nts to pro tect
,

the m ; he weake n ed the consideratio n o f the magistracy

by selling a vas t number o f fresh j udicia l places ; a n d ,

notwiths t a n d i ng his financial d ifli cu l tie s the very r e ,

verses of t he a rmy seemed to increas e h i s obs t inacy and

make h i m more persistent in the war O n every occasio n .

where the finances a r e the subj ect we find Richelieu n o ,

minis t er : he adopted the re a d ies t the commonest a n d , ,

m os t disgraceful means o f raising money ; there was no

kn o wledge o f th e real resources and p o wers of th e country
 S I E GE OF S T O MER
. . 3 63

d isplayed i n hi s taxation — none of that which m ay b e

called invention of imposts which distinguishes a fertile
a n d active br a i n when hone stly employ ed I f that which .

i s really the mission of a great minister— the welfare

o f t he body o f the people be take n for an thing fe w me n
, y ,

ha v e less deserved that t itle than he .

I n looking through the events of this war for circum

s tances relating to the obj ect of ou r biograph y inde ,

pendently of hi s spirit bein g foun d fomenting it on a ll

occasions we only find the following characteristic inci
,

dent . M arshal Cha tillo n havin g n eedle s sly desolated

Ar tois laid siege to St O mer ; and the place not being i n
, .

a very g ood condition he hoped to take it in a short

,

time B u t Prince Thomas threw succours in to the town

.
,

an d delayed the hopes o f the marshal though he still ,

fancied he should succeed Bu t a t length the s am e

.

prin ce a n d Piccolomini compelled the marshal to raise th e

siege a lthough he had a s econd time thrown succours in
, ,

a n d h a d bee n j oin ed by the Mar s hal de la Force Th e .

cardin al wa s quite enraged at this circumstance n ot only ,

from hi s regard for the in terests o f the crown but becaus e ,

he had bee n flattered by the preten ded revelation o f a

n u n o f the convent of Mont Calvaire i n Le M a r ets , ,

that the place woul d be take n This story came by th e

.

medium of hi s worthy coadj utor Fathe r Joseph who , ,

having consu lted the nun told the car dinal that this nun
,

had pas sed three days in prayer to obtai n from God a

revelation of the issue o f the campaign ; and that at
length s h e had fallen into an ecstasy i n which s h e had ,

s ee n two armies fighting near St O mer and that the .

,

victory remained with the army o f the king Upon this .

s illy v ision w h ich mig ht owe its exi stence to the disordere d
,

imagina t ion o f the nun or as i s more likely to the

, , ,

inven tion o f the artfu l Capuchin the cardinal consented ,

to the s iege of St O mer in preference to any other place

. .

I f th e a tte m pt had bee n s u cces s ful the c ardinal a n d hi s

,
3 64 B I RT H o r L OUI S xI v .

confe s sor would n ot have failed to attribute ho n our to this

revelation a n d made it pass a s a sensible proof that
,

Heaven a ppr oved o f the con duct of the min ister

. .

The king w a s s o irritated at th e con duct of Ch a tillon i n

this affair that he sent him orders to resig n the command
,

o f the army to De la F o r c e to retire to his estate o f

,

Ch a tillon and n ot to make h i s appearan ce at court

, .

Ch a tillon however s a w the cardinal at St Quentin and

, , .
,

wa s not badly received ; the m inister judgin g it prudent

n ot to go too fa r with a general who m ight be useful upo n
a n other occasion .

N otwithstanding the general j oy a t the queen s preg ’

n ancy the cardinal did n ot discontinue hi s annoying

,

persec u tions o f that princess a n d eve n o ffered her ,

i n sults that might have proved prej udicial to her heal th .

Louis X IV wa s bor n on t he 5 th of September which

.
, ,

somewhat remarkably was the birth day o f Richelieu ,

- .

This eve nt almost put a n end to the cabals of the n obles ,

a great part o f whi ch wa s founded upo n the hopes that

Gasto n would succeed to the throne I t likewise a p .

p ea r e d probable that it would diminis h the favour of the

min is ter who had take n such pains to draw upo n himself
,

the hatr ed of the queen ; but Louis s servitude h a d be ’

come a habit which he coul d n ot have shaken o ff if he

had been inclined and the cardinal s authority experienced
,
’

n o check This same y ear the queen -mother went into

.

Holland where s h e was very well r eceived ; and fro m

,

thence into England to endea v our to persuade Charles I

, .

a n d hi s queen to rene w their e fl or ts for her return t o

F rance Belli é vr e wa s then ambassador to E n g land ;

.

a n d n otwi thstandi n g h i s wish to avoid he r S he con t rived

, ,

to g et a n opportun ity of speaking to him She told him .

that for some time p a st s h e had sought every means o f

giving the C a rdin al de Richelieu to un dersta n d that
s h e w a s desirous o f returning to France by his i n ter ve n
;
tion bu t h a d n ot b ee n a ble to p r oc ure a n an swer ; th e
,
3 66 D I S TRES S or M A R Y D E MED I C I .

a dopted ; but they were n ever theless obliged to write all

, ,

that was said to them and s h e should expect an a nswer

, .

The quee n o f England told Bell i é vr e that s h e had

a d v ised her mo ther to speak to him because the king ,

had declared that he in sisted upo n n o foreigner inter

fer i n g with respe ct to the queen s return The ambas
’
.

s ador replied that he had n o m ore power to interfere

tha n a foreigner had ; but he n evertheless di d n ot fail to

, ,

write a full accoun t of th e con versation to Richelieu ;

m ore we suspect i n the char acter of a S py than an
, ,

a mbassador This poor q ueen wa s to wander from

.

c ountry to country i n search o f a n asylum bread and , ,

a dvocates ; and foreign ers were prohi bited from saying a

word i n her behalf a n d a mbassadors were n ot eve n to

,

r epeat he r prayers for a s sistance or her confessions of

,

r epentance I n the course o f thi s narrative we have

.

hitherto looked i n vai n for the a ctions that entitled Loui s

to the n oble title o f j u s t or the views which earned
,

for Richel ie u the c ha r acte r of a good m a n or a great

minister .
 RI O H E L I E U S
’
RE C E P T ION or M A RY S M ESS A GE
’
. 3 67

C HA P T E R XI .

C ruel c onduc t o f Rich el ieu to Mary d e M ed i c i— T rial o f th e Duke

d e l a V al e tte Th e D u ke d E p er n on — Great p o wer o f th e c a r d inal
’
—

— D eath o f F ather J o s ep h — D i fferenc es Wi t h th e p op e— B r isach

F re sh anno yan c es to A nne o f A u stria T h e k ing s p l ato ni c attach
—
’
~

m en t fo r M es d am e s d e l a F ay ette a n d d e Ha u te vfll e— Re vol u tion

o f Port il — M ili tary suc c es s e s F ir st c am p aig n o f th e g reat
Cond é li g i ou S affairs B irth o f th e king s s econd s on th e
—
’

fo u n d er o f th e p re s e nt house o f Orl e a n s C i q Ma rs E nm ity of — n ~ —

t h e c ardin al a n d C in q M ars T h e D u k e d E n g h ei n (t h e g rea t

’
- —

C ond é) m arries a nie c e o f th e c ardin al— S p l end id nup tial s — F u r

ther abasem ent of th e p arl iam ent Pa rt of L orraine re s tored to
—

th e d u ke S tat e o f F ranc e und er Richeli eu— Co n que s t of Rous

—

S il lon T h e qu ee n m o ther d riven f o m E ng l and b th e m ac h ina

— -
,
r

tions o f th e c ard ina l take s refu g e a t Col og ne

,
a n ifes to o f t h e

C oun t d e S ois s ons C onsp ira c y of th e m al cont ent nobl es — D ea th

—

o f th e C ou nt d e S o is s ons .

THE cardinal wa s n o m ore a ffect ed i n favour of hi s

benefactress by the letters he received from Bellié vr e ,

than by all s h e had before done to appe a s e him The dis .

positio n that most women have to avenge an affront with ,

t he peculiar char acter of th e queen which led h im to ,

believe that the more s h e wa s a bas ed the more vindictiv e

s h e would become and that if s h e were in France She
, ,

would not fail to discover to the k in g much whi ch he con

cealed from him— but m ost of a l l h i s own implacable
, ,

haughtiness which never permitted him to retract from

,

any thing upo n which he had m a de up his mind— alto g ether

led him to determine to rej ect every o ffer the unfor tuna t e
queen -mother coul d make hi m ; a s for the king he had ,

lon g give n over del iberating upo n anythin g the ministe r

proposed .

The ca rdinal then dictated a lette r to h i s secretary ,

C h er é and the king S ign ed it

, The king appeared to .

write th a t h a v in g r ead an extract fr om the despatche s of

,
3 68 R I C HE L I E U S REPL Y
’
To M A R Y D E ME D I C I .

B el li é vr e regarding p r e p os iti on s made to him b y the :

queen -mother he h a d said wi thout advice from any on e

, ,

i n h i s council that he believed he had no m ore reas o n to

,

place faith in what S h e a dv a nced than he had for a long

time had Her restless disposition made it impossible for
.

her to l ive i n peace i n any place ; s h e could n ot quietly

enj oy her good fortune while s h e wa s in France s h e coul d ,

n ot a g ree with the duke o f O rlean s in Fla n ders a fter s h e ,

had induced him to leave his n ative country or with the ,

princess he had m arried She did n ot go i nto Hollan d

.

withou t a S inister design and wa s already disgusted with

,

England . I f S he had n o t been satisfied with the ex

tr a or d i n a r y authority s h e enj oyed i n France previously to
her leaving the kingdom how cou ld S he be conte nted with
,

that which could n ow be give n to her which must be s o ,

much less ? Were S he to r etur n in the d isposition which

n ow actuated her s h e would immediately excite a ll th e
,

malcontents of Fra n ce to fresh cabals an d disturbance s ,

which she would d o the mor e easily from most of the m

hav i n g formerly bee n connected with her The Span iard s .
,

who had despised her i n their own cou ntry wo uld n ot ,

not fai l to stimulate her to mischief a s s oon a s S he wa s in

France a n d that wa s the real reason for their wishin g he r
,

to return . She h a d for se v en or eight m onths past bee n

endeavouring to form a n ew party i n Sedan with the ,

Duke de Bouillon and the Count de Soissons fro m which ,

attempt fortunately s h e had derived nothing but words

, ,

s carcely a mounti n g to p r e m i s e s : the kin g of En g land ,

a fter having vai nly in terceded for her wa s evidently ,

a nxious to get rid o f her Al l these c on sideratio n s obliged

.

him to remain firm and to adhere to t he proposal he had

,

made t o the queen -mother to retire to Floren ce where S h e ,

should receive all tha t wa s n ec essary for her support ,

a ccordin g to her qu a lity I n short hi s conscience would

.
,

be s atisfied an d h es ho u ld b e j u stified wh en he had don e

,
 RE A S ON S A G AI N ST M A RY S RET U R N
’
3 70 .

queen -m other h er former dangerous power He s a w .

,

without j ealousy in hi s minister a power much greater

, ,

than the queen had ever e nj oyed ; and the cardinal abused
i t more than s h e had don e though perhaps i n another , , ,

d irection without the king seein g the least o ffence

, It .

had become the fixed belief of his m ind that without h i s ,

m i n ister he shou l d be lost a n d h i s kingdom entirely ,

r uined ; he believed that n o other o f a ll those around him

entertained wise a n d honest intentio n s ; a n d therefore h e , ,

s a w n othing in any light but that in w hi ch the cardinal

wished hi m to s ee it .

To avoid the scand a l of in humanity the cardinal would ,

n ot give hi s opinio n in council but r equired the other ,

m inisters to present their se ntiments in written documents ,

which he himself prepared and they s igned These relics .

o f a churchman s cruelty which a r e s t ill preserved in the

’

M emoi r s o f Montresor all express two thi n gs , The first .

i s that the queen mother could n o t return to Fra nce

,
-

without embro i ling i t and that there wa s no other mean s

,

o f preserving tranquillity but to leave her in destitu t io n

ou t o f France u nless s h e would g o to Tu scany the

,

second is that as princes belong m ore to their states tha n

,

to themselves they belong more to them than to their

,

father or the i r mother and are only to o ffer the latter such
,

m arks o f respect a s accord with a more noble duty .

A ccordin g to t hese slaves o f the cardinal Fra nce wa s lost ,

if the king took an y care of h is m other ; the action they ,

said resembled the separation of Christ from the Blessed

,

Virgin ! This opinion w a s se n t to the king and was ,

s i g ned S eg u i er B u llion B ou th i l li er C h a vi g n i and Sublet

, , , , ,

a ll such ack n owled g ed creatures o f the cardin a l that pos ,

t er i ty can n o t possibly err in its decree upon the infamous

transaction .

But stripping off all the state le n dings a n d con

,
“
,

s id er i n g the king and queen -m other a s a man and wo m a n

only , wh a t a despicable m e a n s la ve does the m onarch

,
 TR IA L OF THE D UK E D E L A V A LETTE . 3 71

a ppear ! With the purse o f a great n ation to put his han d

i n t o he did not d are to assist a mother a destitute woma n
, ,

- for S he b ecame n ot onl y figu ratively but literally s o

,

for fear of o ffendin g the M ephi s toph il es to whom he had

given u p h i s soul Mary of England is a ccused o f h ard
.

n ess o f heart but eve n s h e sent relief to her ban is hed

,

father however badly that relief was received

, .

Some time before this the cardinal duke carried ou t the

,
-

tri a l o f the Duke de la Valette who h a d made his escape,

t o England and had bee n very kindly received there

, .

We feel compelled to give this trial at some length as it

'

a ffords a most ins tructive lesson u pon the government o f

F ra n ce under Richelie u when i n h is greatest power ; an d

w e beg ou r re a ders constantly to keep i n m i nd that it took
pl a c e in the year 1 6 3 9 a n d to turn their eyes occasion a l ly
,

towards the opposite s ide of the channel a n d s ee what ,

wa s goin g o n there — we ha v e n o doubt they w ill r eceive

gratification from the con trast .

A ccording to establi shed usage this tri a l ought to have

:

ta ke n pla ce i n the parliament of Paris which is the par ,

l i a m ent o f the peers ; but according to the u s a ge es ta

,

bl i s h e d by t he m inisters the king n amed commissioners

,

from the par liament and the council of s t ate althou g h ,

th e parliament sent a remonstrance claiming t he trial a s ,

belonging to their co urt The D u ke de la Va l ette wa s

.

a ccused o f cowar di ce and treachery and o f havin g left ,

F rance without permission which he had no right t o do

, ,

bein g colonel general of the French infantry governor of

-
,

Guienne and a d u ke an d peer of France The king con

, .
,

tr a r y to a l l custom insisted upon trying De la Valette i n

,

his own p a l ace in stead of the p a rli ament and sent for the ,

judges to S t Germain . The kin g upon their taking

.
,

their places shor tly told the m for what they were come
, ,

a n d commanded them to pronounce j udgme n t thereupon .

The first president begged the king to dispense with h is

j udgme nt i n that place because he s houl d be obliged to
,

2 B 2
3 72 C ON D U CT OF THE KIN G .

pron ounce on e in parliame n t if the king should s e n d the

case to that court which he proved to be a ccordin g to the
,

ordinances The king interru pted him by saying that cou n

.

c ill or s of parliament created di fficu l ties about everythin g ,

a n d wan t ed to hold him in tutelage ; but he insisted upo n

the ir giving their Opinions — h e would be master He .

a dded that t hey were in error if they s u pposed he had n ot

the power to try peers of Fra nce in the manner he deem ed

best a n d forbade them to s a y anything more about it
, .

The Rapporteurs *de la Poterie and Marchant concluded

, , ,

a fter long reasonings u po n bodily seizure , and the kin g ,

told the others to proceed Pe n on beg a n by saying that .

dur ing the fifty years he had been a councillor o f parlia

m ent n othing of s o much importance had been brou ght
,

before him ; he considered the Duke de la Va l ette a s a

m an who had had the honour to marry the natural siste r
o f the king and as a duke and peer ; a n d
, therefore it , ,

was h i s Opinion that this cause ought to be sent to the

parliamen t The king exclaimed that was not votin g ;
.
,

he wa s n ot to be paid in that coin but Penon replied ,

that in the order o f j ustice a reference to another court , “

was a legitimate suffrage The king said he was exceedi ngly

.

vexed and insisted upon their agree ing upon there bein g
,

c ause for trial Penon then repli ed t hat S in ce the kin g

.
,

commanded him he wa s of the Opin io n of the Rapporte urs

, .

The Presidents de N esmond and S eg u i er said the s am e

thing in consequence of the command of the king The
, .

P resident de Bailleul who on enterin g the hall had

, , ,

he a r d the Cardin a l de Richelieu s a y that t he king woul d

o nce m ore exte n d h i s goodness to the Duk e de la Valette ,

s aid tha t he wa s of Opin io n they shoul d avail themselve s

of the kind Opening made by the minister But the latte r .

turned S harply r ound a n d s aid Do n ot presume to cove r

,

yo urself with my ma n tle ; vote : the com man d of the kin g

Judg es of in quir y a nd a ccus a tion a ns wering to ou r g rand j u ries

, .
3 74 S E N TE N CE OF TH E C OUN C I L .

A fte r the presidents the coun cillors of state expressed

,

their Opinions ; and it was remarked that Le Bret alleged

the customs o f the Turks a n d Leo n Br u l er t the most
,

violent proceedings of the Germans as excuses for the ,

i rr egularities o f these proceedings A fter them the duke s .

,

a n d peers spoke and were followed by the cardin al a n d

,

the king They the n rose a n d the king callin g the

.
, ,

presidents before him told them in a tone o f passion that

, , ,

they always disobe yed him— h e wa s very much dissatisfied

with their conduct and he hated all who were unwillin g
,

that he Should try the D u ke de l a Va l ette ou t of parliamen t .

He said they were ignorant m en u n worthy o f t heir o ffices

, ,

a n d h e did n o t kno w that he shoul d n ot put others in their

places He was determin ed he would be obeyed ; he would

.

let them s ee that all their privil eges were founded upo n
bad usages a n d he wo u ld hear n o more said about them
, .

Thus the blindest o f ki n gs to whom the passions of h is

,

m in ister se rved for both jurisprudence and policy violated ,

a ll ordin ances as if there h a d been n o j ustice i n h is

,

kin g dom before th e cardinal -duke governe d it an d that ,

all ancient u s ages owed their origin to weak and foolish

people I t would have been a dangerous task to endea v our
.

to enlig hte n h i m upon h is error n ot o nly on accou n t of

,

the authority o f the minister but of h i s natural obs ti nacy

, ,

w hich was as great a s h i s understanding wa s limited He .

could n ever have been mad e to understand what wa s the

origi n o f laws or the advan tage s that princes have a s
, ,

well a s their subj ects i n the ir being observed

, .

I n consequence of the r esult o f this meeting the Duke ,

'

d e la Val ette wa s condemned by a sentence of the council

o f state to be pla ced in the B a stille to an swer to th e ,

hea ds of the accus ation ; or to be summoned by soun d of

trumpe t to appear within a certain period his property ,

to be i n the mean time sequestrated The evidence wa s

, , .

then taken of fifty witnesses— officer s a s well as sol diers

who could be collected a s m ost l ikely to m ake the accu sed
 RE L LI E VRE S
’
D I SSE N T . 3 75

a ppear guilty Their depositio n s were read in full council

.
,

a n d the procureur g en eral wa s of op in io n that the Duk e

-

de la Valette should be beheaded an d have h i s goods ,

confiscated for the crimes o f coward ice an d treason The

, .

presidents who found it useless to resist with the n oble

, ,

ex c eptio n o f Bell i é vr e approved of a ll the conclusion s

, .

Tha t sp iri ted magistrate s aid th at it wa s a hundred

year s S ince Fran cis I had made a regu l a tion by which he
.
,

o rdered that i n civil matters the plaintiff coul d not obt a i n

a se ntence under the pretence of contumacy unless he

, ,

had justified h i s ple a ; and it wa s still more j ust to act

thus in criminal c a s es in whi ch the honour a n d the live s
,

o f the king s subj ec ts were conce r n ed

’
They wh o were .

a ccused o f contumacy were n ot al ways g uilty o f t he crime

they were to answer for The Duke de l a Valette wa s .

a ccused of treaso n a n d disobedience to h i s gener a l ; with

r egard to treas on it wa s d ifli cu l t to im a g i ne that a Frenc h

,

entleman wh o w a s unde r s o many obligations to the

g ,

ki ng S houl d have entertained s o bas e a thought He had

, .

bee n unable to fin d an y proof of it i n the trial an d the ,

procureur -g en era l h imself seemed to agree wi t h him for ,

he h a d n ot sente nced him i n the term s adopted a gainst

tr a i tor s whi ch wer e tha t their hou s es S hould be demolished
, , ,

their woods cut down and their posterity declared degraded

,

from nobil ity I f the d u ke had had commun ication s

.

with the enemy he wou l d never have been s o weak a s to

,

expose himsel f to such i ns ign i ficant persons as m ost of th e

witnesses were ; tha t woul d have bee n courti ng destru o
tion for hi mself and hi s designs N o witness had proved .

that he had Sent them letters or received an y from t hem ;

or ha d indeed held any kind of corr espondence wi t h th e
, ,

enemy or their con federate s He therefore pronounced .

hi m innocent on th is ch arge A s for dis obe d ience to h i s

.

genera l tha t wa s a p oint purely m i l itary a n acquain tance

, ,

wi th whi ch belonged only to men of the s word ; if the

duke wa s prese nt he perh aps woul d p r ove quite th e
, , ,
3 76 DE LA VA LETTE C O N DEM N ED .

c ontrary I f they a ccepted the witn esses a l l th a t they de

.
,

p osed wa s that a bre a ch wa s practicable a n d if they h a d

, ,

m ounted to the assau l t at o n ce the place woul d have bee n

,

carried I t wa s a dangero u s precedent to sub m it the

.

honour an d lives of generals to the judgmen t of thirty

s oldiers N otwithstanding there w a s no proof of the two
.

prin cip a l charges of which the Duke de la Va lette wa s

a ccused s u fli ei en t to condem n hi m to death he thought ,

hi m s o culpable i n having left the ki ngdom a n d in n ot ,

having appeared to j us tify himself that he deserved to be ,

ban ished for n i n e years to be depri ved of his charges an d

, ,
”
to pay a fine o f on e hu n dred thousan d livres .

The chancellor thereupo n said that by whateve r prin ,

ci pl e the Duke de la Valette had made the k i n g lose the

Opportun ity of taking F on ta r a bi a an d had disobeyed hi s ,

general the action wa s of such gr eat prej udice to the

,

s tate t hat he pronou n ced the co n clusions of the procure ur

,

g éné ral just The king the n threw hi s hat upon the
.

table and said that n ot havin g been brought up in

, ,

parliaments he might not vote s o well a s those that had

, ,

but he woul d s a y a ft er hi s o wn manner that there wa s

, ,

n o questio n o f cowardice or want of S kill in the Duk e de

la Valette for he knew that he wa s deficient in n eithe r

,

bravery nor capacity but that he had n ot bee n wil ling to

,

take F on ta r a bi a A fter addin g someth ing about the bad

.

designs he h a d betrayed on this occasion a s well a s on

o thers he agreed wi t h the procureur g en eral
, Without - .

a n y other fo rmality the a ssembly the n r ose a n d the

, ,

Duke de la Valette wa s condemned by all except B el liévr e .

The coun cil o f state pro n ounced the senten ce that the
Duke de la Valette wa s convicted of high tr eason for ,

havi ng in a cowardly and p er fidiou s manner aban doned

, ,

the king s servi ce at the siege of F on ta r a bia a n d of

’

felony in havin g le ft the kingdo m agai nst the orders of

,

hi s maj esty ; a n d that for these offences he S hould have

his head c ut off a t th e Greve if h e c oul d be take n or if ,
 ’
3 78 THE DU E E D E PE E N O N .

h ow the Duke d E p er n on co uld be p unishable fo r the

’

o ffences of hi s s on A fathe r o f eighty years o f a g e coul d

.

scarcely be responsible for th e courage a n d obedie n ce o f

a s on wh o was a middle aged m a n The D uke d E p er n on
- .
’

wa s a r emarkable character ; orig in a ll y a m ere private

gentlema n by birth he had whe n s car cely ou t o f h i s
, ,

boyhood a cquired immense wealth an d high r a nk by

,

b eing o n e o f the m i n i ons of the in famous Hen ry III .

a n d although we should th ink a ma n could take very little

honour from such a source of di stin ctio n he wa s throu gh , ,

the reign s of Henry I V and Louis X I I I the most .

haughty the most assuming an d m ost unben ding n oble

, ,

m a n i n F ran ce His wealth h i s r a nk hi s government s

.
, , ,

an d co nn ections gave him immen se influence and he wa s

, ,

either mixed up in most of the cabals or deemed the m ost ,

desirable perso n that could be sed u ced i n to them His .

position may be imagi ned whe n we s a y that two o f hi s

s o n s were dukes and peers and the th ird a cardinal A
,
.

m a n who would scarcely bow before Henry I V w a s n o t .

likely to be willi n gly submissive to a mini s ter par tic ul a r ly ,

if that mini ster were a churchman there being n o ,

a cknowledge d n obility i n F rance but that o f the sword .

This very d uke once v entured to sneer at the great an d

g ood Sul ly at the council t a ble for being a financier ; a n d
, ,

S u lly thou g ht it wor th w hile to an swer that he thought

he could wield a s d if nece s sary a s well a s he co uld a
, ,

pen There wa s a perpe tu a l il l feeling between t he c a r

.
-

din a l a n d the du ke ; and the latter being too h igh and to o

powerfu l for eve n Richelieu to atta ck openly and whi ls t
i n h i s vigour he characteristically gr a tified his malignity
, , ,
’
by wo u nding the duke s feelings in h i s s o n s condemnation ’

a n d by disgr a cing his enemy whe n he wa s too old to

r esist him .

Among the i nn um erable cau se s of quarr el betwee n

these two equally haughty a n d grasping m en on e i s S o ,

re m arkable a s a pict u r e of the t im e s th a t we canno t

, ,
 C U R IOU S C A S E OF S H I PWREC K . 3 79

with hold it from ou r readers A fte r the conquest of

.

Portugal by Phil ip II of Spain the i n habitants o f th e

.
,

forme r country were left i n the enj oyme n t of their ancient

privileges The Portuguese stip ulated that they should
.

n ot be forced to unload their m ercha ndise at any Span i s h

port a n d that their vessels comi n g from the Eas t should
,
’

g o straight to Lisbon T w o
. carac ks left Goa on the 4 th ,

o f March 1 6 2 6 lade n with rich merchandise ; a n extr a

, ,

ordinar y quantity o f pearl s diamonds ambergris be z oa r d s

, , , ,

an d other precious thin g s con stituting the cargo A .

tempe s t overtook them at the beg i nn ing of 1 6 27 near the

, ,

co a s ts of Spain an d compelled them to put into C or o g n a

, .

His Catholic maj esty s o fficers vainly pressed the Portu

’

u e s e to discharge their carg o there j e a l ous o f their

g ;
privilege s they would n ot liste n to such a thin g The
, .

king of Spain yielded to their obstinacy and kindl y sent ,

s i x o f hi s best g a lleons to defend the two caracks whose ,

cargo wa s estimate d at eight m illions of livr es The .

caracks and galleons left C or og u a with the first fair wind

but a seco n d tempest arose a n d beat them about s o
,

furiously during twenty two days that on e o f the caracks

-
,

and two of the galleons were wrecked off Cape Briton ,

an d the other carack with i ts thr ee galleons off Breck ,

upon the estates of the Duke d E p er n on The momen t ’

.

he heard o f the accident he hastened to his lor d ship

, ,

collected strictly and sear chingly every ar ticle that wa s

, ,

saved fro m the wreck and a ppropriated all to himself

, .

The Spani a r ds a n d Portugue s e were even plundered of

their clothes fa d were sent to Bordeaux with scarcely
,

s u fficient rags to cover their na kedness .

The Cardinal de Richelieu not less g reedy tha n ,

D E p er n on pretended that a ll S hipwrecked e ffects be

’

lon ged to the admiralty o f which he held a l l the rights

, ,

from his then newly -created post of superintendent of

the commerce and navi g ation of France Fortin maste r .
,

o f the requests wa s sent to Bordeaux with a commissio n

,
3 80 C L AI M S OF
’
D E PE RN O N AN D R I C HE L I E U .

to in qu ire i n to the a ffair a n d to seiz e on the par t of hi s

, ,

m aj esty everythin g that had bee n saved from the wr eck

, .

D E p er n on produced hi s titles proved that his ancestor s

’

had enj oyed for th ree hun dred yeer s the right of Shi p
wr ecks upo n the coasts O f Medoc an d that former king s ,

had gr anted to the lords of C a n d a l e (the duke s eldest s on ’

wa s duke o f Caud a l e ) a ll that could be said to belong to

the sovereig n i n such cases The commissioner pressed .

the duke to give up all he had received without liti g ation .

D E p er n on laughed at hi m an d maintained his rights with

’

s o much haughtiness a n d contempt for the o t her s a u

’

th or i ty that the worthy m agistrate wa s dis g usted an d

, ,

demanded to b e recalled This contest increased the

.

a nimosity already existing betwee n the duke and t he c a r

dinal Richelie u wo uld n ot seem to yield a n d sent

.
,

S er vi en a n other m aster of the requests i n the place of

, ,

Forti n ; but the the n pending war between France an d

E n gland making it prudent n ot to i rritate D E per n on th e ’

n ew commissioner behaved more civilly to him O n h i s .

s ide the d uke yielded a little

, and consented to give up ,

two caskets of small rough diamonds a little ambergris

, , ,

an d some other articles of trifling value S er vi en pre .

tended to be satisfied with this deference o f the duke s ’

,
”
a n d the a ffair was hushed up The historian who gives .

thi s story exclaims a s he ends it : Was t here ever a

m ore disgraceful piracy than this ! A nd it wa s a duke
a n d peer o f Fran ce — i t wa s a c a r dinal who perpe t rated it
, ,

He wrote a hun dr ed years ago ; we in a far more civiliz ed ,

p eriod hope such thi ngs could not n ow be done— but we

,

o nly h O e ; man s thirst for wealth i s not at all les s e n ed

’

p
by the increased mean s for the enj oymen t of it .

We have n ow come to the apex of the cardinal s car ee r ’

h is power wa s the most complete that ever had bee n

enj oyed by a man i n hi s positio n ; he had a ll the authori ty
o f the a n cient mayors of the p a lace and i n addition w a s , , ,

h e a d of the Ch ur ch in Fra n ce The o n ly s uperiority h e .

3 82 F A THER J O SEPH .

s crupulous amb ition was miserably deficient : Richelie u

,

a n d Bonaparte co ul d w in but both were u n d u ly depressed ,

b y losin g .

When Father C a u s s in m ade his attem pt to bring ab out

the disgrace of Richelieu he offered the pos t of min ister ,

to Father Joseph a s well a s to the Duke d An g ou l ém e

,
’

a n d the father a s sensibly a s the duke but i n a far more

, ,

honour able m ann er declined it He wa s faithful to

, .

Richelieu but he would not betray hi s other frie n d and

, ,

kept the matter a secret State secrets are however n ot .

, ,

long secure ; others r elated the c ircumstance to the car

dinal wh o it i s said n ever p a r doned this reticence on the
, , ,

part of his confident but con ceived a j ealousy for him

, ,

which became fatal to the Capuchin But it i s di fficu l t to .

a scertain what pass ed between two m e n s o deeply i n

ter e s te d i n concealin g their inmost thoughts They who .

had Opportunities of exa min ing them closely fan cied they ,

c ou l d perceive a mutual coldness Richelieu wa s satiric a l .

,

a n d exhi bited a haughty phlegmatic dryness of demeanour

,

Joseph wa s hasty and easily o ffended I t wa s observed

, .

that t hese defects i n S pite of which they had always li ved

,

o n such a good u n derstandin g wi t h each o t her bega n to ,

be reciprocally annoying and produced contr adictions and ,

s harp rep a r ties Gestures and wor d s which escaped

.

Father Joseph gave Richelieu to understand that he did

n ot a pprove of hi s in flexibility towards the queen -mother ,

or of his persevera n ce i n r efu s ing to negotiate for peace ,

thou g h th e Oppressed people were clamorous for it an d ,

the Span i ards o ffered to m ake it upon condi t ions a d va n

ta g eou s to the F rench Mademoiselle la Fayette was a
.

r elation o f J os eph s an d although s h e had become a nun

’

, ,

the k i ng still retained his frien dship for her a n d t ook ,

Opportu nities of co n versing with the Capuchin m or e

frequently than ever Richelieu o ffered hi m the bishopric
.

of Mans , in order to get him away from the court but ,

Joseph decl in e d it a n d r edoubled hi s im po rtunitie s for

,
 C ONN ECT IO N or R I CHEL I E U AND J O S EPH . 3 83

the c a rdinal s hat which had been promised him m ore

’

than two years From a l l these c ircumstances the poli

.

tical heads of the day con cluded that the Capuchi n wanted
ca t e equal the cardin al in this dign ity for the purpose of
s upplanting him which a t least the m inis ter had a right
, , ,

to believe and that the di sease which shortly after con

,

ducted Joseph to th e tom b wa s the e ffect o f Richelieu s

’

j e a l ousy But a s A n qu etil sensibly remarks this i s on e

.
, ,

o f the m any black imputations that we ou g ht n ot to

believe without the stron gest proofs I t is easy to prove .

,

on the contrary that these m en remained united to the

,

last for Richelieu during Jos eph S illness showed all the
’

, , ,

a nxi ety o f a war m friend : he wished to have hi m u nder

his o wn eye had him tra nsported to Ruel in a litter and

, ,

watched over hi m with the greatest soli citude Father .

Joseph on h i s side gave the car din a l an unequi v oc a l

, ,

proof of his attachment by forwarding to the king a ,

written document i n which he j ustified every point of

,

Richelieu s minis try a n d represented him a s the only ma n

’

cap a ble o f governing the kingdom Well might the car .

“
dinal then exclai m a t h i s death : I l a ve l os t m y r i g h t
, ,

a rm N ow though A n qu etil i s a favourite authority

,

with us we cannot e ntirely agree with these concl u sion s

,

a l though we must admit against ourselves that the study , ,

o f Richelieu s character necessary for this work has led

’

u s to give faith to a lmost a nythi ng that may be said to hi s

discredit We do n ot s ee anything in Richelieu s w a tch

.
’

fulness and anxiety that mil itates against the assumptio n ~

o f foul play : a revengeful man i s a s observant of the

death o f h i s victim a s a tender friend i s of the departing

,

m oments of on e he loves he m igh t want him n e a rer for

the purpose of making assurance doubly sure Joseph .
,

o n his part felt he wa s dying — h i s ambitious views wer e

,

a t a n end an d perhaps only then carried ou t the

, , ,

hypocrisy under the cloak of which he h a d acted durin g

h is co nn ectio n with the cardinal Riche lie u him self .
3 84 J O SE P H S ’
R E QU E S T To THE K IN G .

evin ced quite a s much hypocrisy on his own death -bed .

We h ave a positive right to believe all that is evil of such

m en .

The author of the Life of Joseph as serts th a t he h a s

s een the ma n uscript i n foli o of the writte n document o f
, ,

which we have spoken but that it had n ever been pri nted , .

The Capuchi n establ ishes i n thi s treatise the follow in g

m axims a s highly Chris tian and political
,

l s t That a prince ou g ht to have a cou n cil to gover n

.

hi s states and a pri me minister at the head o f h i s coun cil

, .

2 n d That a n ecclesi a s tic i s more fit to fill the pla c e of

.

prim e min ister than an y other person .

3 r d Tha t the prince after havin g chosen hi m ought to

.
, ,

love him S incerely to give hi m sovereign authori ty ove r

,

hi s people to load him with riches an d honours to yield

, ,

n o faith to anyth i ng that c a n be said again st hi m but to ,

inform him o f it even though he should have promis ed

,

secrecy and to prefer h i m eve n to hi s n earest rela t io ns

, .

Can we suppose it possible that t h e weakness an d

credulity of a monarch could be S O a bu s ed i Father >

Joseph must have been laughi ng at the imbeci li ty of

Louis ; but if he did Richelieu did the same for h is
, , ,

celebrated political testament which he i s said to have ,

bequeathed to the king wa s n othin g bu t an e nlarge m e n t ,

’
upon the Capuchin s text .

Father Joseph h a s had s o gr eat a part i n th e ca r d in al s ’

i n trigues that we cannot leave him t ill the last

, After a .

nu mber of t he politi cal turnin gs and win dings which s ee m

to constitute the scie n ce o f diplomacy both O livarez and ,

Richelieu showed symptom s of being heart ily tired of

the war ; i ts expe n ses were im mense for both countries ,

and it brought li ttle perman ent advan tage to either By .

the i nterventio n of friends the m inisters r eciproc a l ly ,

wr ote to each other an d it wa s a greed to s end s ecret ,

n egotiators to the frontiers of the two kin gdoms D on .

Mi ch a el de S a lam n ca b e in g a b out to g o to Brussels a s

a
3 86 O P INION S or J O S EPH .

i mmediately r evoked the nom i nation of Father Joseph an d ,

despatched a courier to the French ambassador at Rome ,

ordering him in stantly to signify h i s recan t ation to his

holiness The precaution w a s wisely taken but proved
.
,

u nnecessary for the Capuchin wa s carri ed off three days

,

a fter h i s relapse Father Joseph is dead writes Grotius

.
,

to the chancellor o f Swede n ;

“
he wa s n othing less tha n
a Capuchin The nobles the people a n d the m onk s of
.
, ,

h i s own order all hated him equally ; which is apparent ,

from the libels published a gainst hi s memory The passion .

for obtain i ng a c a r dinal s hat led hi m to i njure the Pr o

’

te s ta n ts a s much a s he possibly could ; and yet with all ,

that we m ay s a y they wil l b e losers by his death ; the

,

p eople l ikely to fill his place will ac t worse than he did .

Richelieu i s the o nly person that re g re t s Father Joseph .

He h a s lost the great a rtisan o f his fin e s s es The C a puchi n .

hoped a little before his death to become archbishop o f

, ,

Rheims The duke of Bavaria ought to be more concerned

.

tha n anybody else the En g lish wil l rej oice becaus e they ,

s uspect hi m o f having fomented the dis tu rbances i n

S co tland : he employed a no ther Capuchin h i s confide nt , ,

”
in that bus iness We m a y observe here that Richelieu
.

o ften boasted of hav ing promoted the tr oubles o f

Charles I s reign Those who g ive n o credit— and they
.
’
.

a r e the maj ori ty certainly — to Richelieu s havi n g a cce

’

l er a te d the death o f h i s confident admit that he wa s very ,

gl a d to find hi mself delivered from a man who h a d become

h is riv al and whose ambi t ion an d temper gave him
,

umbrage and created suspicion He however wa s a .

, ,

s u fficient m aster o f th e ar t they had bo th practised to

weep copiously over his tomb Louis X III be l ieved hi s . .

m inis ter s sorrow sincere : I have lost on e o f my bes t

’ “

” “
subj ec t s said he
, and M l e Cardinal h is confident
, .

”
a nd intimate friend The nuns o f Cal vary whose .
,

founder he was fancied they h a d lost ano ther Moses

, .

They ear n estly b egged to have hi s heart : it was granted

 CH A R A CTER OF J O SEPH . 3 87

them an d C os p ea u bishop of Lisieux preach ed a funer a l

, , ,

sermon i n the i r chu rch with the heart of the deceased

,

monk in his han d They for a long time preserv ed h is

.

m antle with a s much venera t ion as the prophet Elisha pre

s erved that o f h i s master Eli Very stran g el y the king
, .
,

entertain ed s o hi g h a n opinion o f Joseph tha t he con ,

s i d er e d him a saint , divi nely i nspired Richelieu took .

great pai ns to keep t his prejudi ce aliv e and persuaded the ,

m on a r c h to p r es s a man s o wonderfully endowed to furnish

hi m with written maxims for the well go v erning o f his -

ki n gdom The Capuchi n it i s said played his part well

.
, ,

i n this comedy ; he c omposed the lit tle poli t ical t reatise

o f which we ha v e spoken and placed it modestly in the
,

han d s of his maj esty . The artifice was s o gross says ,

the author who relates the anecdote that we can scarcely ,

”
belie v e even Louis X III could be decei v ed by it
. F or .

o u r part we are not surprised at his credulity ; there wa s

,

n oth ing n ew in the lessons — they were but a repeti t ion o f

what the cardinal had taught him Father Ja c i n th e the .
,

companion and confident of Joseph flattered himself with ,

the hopes o f succeeding him ; but Richelieu had begu n to

fear hi s deceased friend a n d would n ot ventu re upon
,

a nother of the fratern ity p a rticul arly a s he promi sed to

,

be even more intrigu i n g than the last : he told him cooll y

he had be tter remain in his convent .

Joseph wa s mi l d a n d in sinuatin g in h i s man ners a n d ,

though he espoused the car din al s interests warml y he ’

a lways spoke of him with moderation ; but when they

deliberated together upon the affairs of government he ,

always proposed the fir m es t and most rigorous measures .

Chavi g ny in his lett ers to the Cardinal de la Vale t te some

, ,

times calls him P a te li n and S ometimes N er o designating

,

by the one the apparent mildn ess of his demeanour and by ,

the other the inflexible ri gour of his character He was .

attached to nobody but the Cardinal de Richelieu for ,

though he professed to be the particul ar friend of Cardinal

2 C 2
3 88 C APA C I TY OF JO SE PH .

de la Valette he was on the point o f a bandoning h im

,

when that prelate after the S iege of L a n dr ec y remained

, ,

i nactive and o ffended Richelieu

, Chavigny took care to .

warn D e la Valette o f this : Be carefu l Monseigneur

“
, ,

s ays he of what you write to Patelin and of what you

, ,

s a y to his relation who i s with you But be sure not to

, .

make a too apparent change i n your manner o f writing

o nly be a little more reserved I have s u fli ci en t reasons .

for telling you this S t ill however write to the s aid .

, ,

Patelin in your usual friendly manner .

” “
“
N ero says he in another o f his letters a s sure s m e
, , ,

every day that he i s your servant ; I have m y doubts ,

”
though whether he be s o truly S O as I am
, .

They who have S poken of Father Joseph a s of a m a n o f

in ferior mind who only treated wi th spies wh ilst Richelieu
, ,

negotiated with ministers and sovereigns a r e egregiously ,

mistaken I t is certain that this monk was a dmit t ed into

.

secrets of the most important kind an d treated directly ,

not only with spies but with princes minis t ers ambassa
, , ,

dors an d generals of a r mies

,
He sketched a ffairs say s .
,

Grotius ,
and th e cardin al put the finishin g hand to
,

”
them . He wa s employed i n the highest negotiations ,

says the Marquis de M on tg l a t principally in Germany , ,

where he fomente d the lea g ue of the prin ces ag a ins t th e

emperor and Wallens tein s con spiracy which woul d ha v e
,
’

d estroyed the house o f A ustria if it had not bee n d i s

covered He also tr eated for the interference of the kin g
.

o f Sweden I n fact he wa s a man o f great capacity wl w

. , ,

r e to a l l E u r op e and who Capuchin as he wa s ; did

s et
fi , ,

his u tmost to render the Lutherans masters of Germany .

O thers have too much exal ted t he merits o f Joseph by ,

placing him abo v e the cardinal who a ccording to their , ,

accoun t only followed the proj ec t s which his confid ent

,

su g g ested When the cardin al lost him he made it appa

.
,

ren t that i f the counsels of Joseph had been useful t o him ,

th ey h a d not bee n absolutely n ece s sary a n d tha t a fter

, ,
3 90 THE A MB I T ION OF J O S EPH .

ries of the world pre served hi m the respect of the great

,

he treate d them wi thout the least considera t ion when they

did not yield to hi s opinions and he spoke to them wi t h ,

the audacity of a m a n who defies circumstances and wh o ,

h a s nothing to lose Bold absolute insensible o n h i s own

.
, ,

account t o the harshness o f command he never ga v e way ,

to o thers He appeared to have n o tender a ffection but

.

for h is congregatio n of the n u ns of Ca l va r y a society he ,

h a d insti t u ted ; but even hi s e n emies n ever reproached

o

h im w i th a p a rticul ar a tta c hm e n t for any on e o f these .

Courtiers thought it extremely strange that he should dis

tr ibute favours without receivin g any for him s elf or h is
family Devotees cou ld n ot conceive how he could s end
.

for th missionaries to preach the gospel and armies to i n ,

undate E u r Op e with bl ood ; h ow he could compose mon

a s tic institutions and employ h ims elf in t reaties of all iance
,

wi t h heretics — but pers on s w el l a cquainted with the world

know there are many a n d widely various obj ects which
c a n be entertained by some m in ds : the di fficu l ty i s to ,

discover which is the re a l principle at the bot t om o f the

heart We c a n only understand by the a bove se n t ence
.
,

quoted from a good authority tha t a ll mean s are good in ,

the eyes o f the ambitious m a n whose obj ect i s t o succ eed ,

by i mposing Hi s contempt for inferior honours and

.

dignities was the e ffect o f h i s con nec tio n wi th Richeli eu

he was in actu a l power thi rd m a n in the s tate : there is
, ,

n o d oubt that if h a d obt a ined the cardinal s ha t th e ’

Archbishopric of Rheims and the first duchy a n d peerag e

,

o f the kin g dom like Becket Wolsey and h i s master he

, , , ,

would have th rown off his m a ntle o f humility to cover t he

ambitious vi ews of Father Ja c in th e or a n y o ther hypo
critical aspirant .

Richelieu knew all this and he behel d him more affected

, ,

a t t he moment of his dea t h by the success o f t heir j oint

,

poli tical Operations than by the rel i g ious exhorta t ions

made to the dy ing He came to s ee hi m when a t th e
.
C OU R A GE , F A TH E R J O S E PH .
—
p . 3 91
 3 92 RO M E AND THE C A RD I N A L .

plans an d to conduc t the a ffairs with which he i n tru sted

,

him a cc or di ng to his o wn ideas We can conclude .

n o thing el s e fr om all t his but that Joseph was a very

~

a mbi t i ous Capuchin and t hat a s we know Richelieu w a s

,

a t leas t a s much so th er e for e th ey must sometimes ha v e

'

clashed notwiths tanding a n a ppearance o f union ; for

”

r eal friendship or real union co u l d not subsis t bet ween

two men whose gran d principle of action it was to decei v e

a n d suspect everybody I f we are to believe the best .

writers o f the period n otwithstan ding what the eulogist ,

Gri ffe t says the j ealousy Richelieu a n d Joseph entertained

,

for each oth er w a s extreme .

France had a quarrel at this time u pon v a rious pre ,

te n oes with the pope ; the compla i nts Were mutual and
, ,

were made wi t h much acrimony Scoti the nuncio at

‘

.
,
i

P aris béin g r e fu s e d an audi ence of the king had a con

, ,

ference with the mi nister Chavi g ny to whom he told ,

‘

home truths with intelligence and spirit A ft er se v eral .

s peeches relative to the peace to w hi ch S coti m aintain e

, d , , ,

F rance was averse he told Chavigny t hat the t hrea t s th e

,

Cardinal de Richelieu made of n ot acknowled g in g the

p ope i n France a s anything more t han the head of the
Church and that only sp iri tu a lly unless his holin es s
, ,

i mmediately g ranted the promotio n o f h i s p r o teg e

” ’

M azari n to the c a r di n a l s h i p tog eth er with the v exation

, , ,

h e fel t fat not obtainin g h i s bul b of abbé g énéral Of .

- ‘

C i ttea u x were the tr ue causes o f the m i sunders t an ding

,

b etw een the p 0 p e a n d the king . The C ardinal g d e

‘
.

Richelieu had he said begun by vi ol en c e a r r es ti n g the

, , t

o p e s u r ie a n d pre v enting him ! Scoti ! from per

'

p c o rs ,
' ‘

forming the function s o f ordin ary and ex t raordinary

n uncio ; he had ass embled a fe w bishops at his own house
to speak abo u t a n a tional council under th e pretex t of ,

th e annats and other pretended gri e fs The Cardinal .

de Richelieu might be assured tha t the m ean s he adop t ed

would n ot obtain the cardinalship for Mazarin ; and a s to
 PER S I S TE N C Y or s oon .
53 9 3
'

the n a tional cou n cil , the French bishop s en ter ta in ed to o

much zeal for the Holy See to u n dertake a thin g of th a t
nature an d wo ul d not fail to g ive public proofs tha t they
,

would n o t To these and other complaints Chav i g ny

.

had no other answer but denial wi thout proof ; and ,

finding himself at a loss took refuge in a hi g h flo wn ,

-

eulogy o f the cardin al his mas t er : a ft er this they

s epara ted .

I n the course of the conference Chav igny had o ffered ,

the nuncio a written paper which forbade him to ha v e a n ,

audience of the king un til he had given him sat isfaction ;

but Scoti persisted in refusin g to receive it It was sent .

to him immediately on his return to his residence by

, ,

Berlise accompanied by an usher o f the council t o de

, ,

li v er i t The nuncio refu sed it a second time and would

.
,

n ot even liste n to the re a ding of it retiring immediately , ,

the o fficer commenced it; into a n otlfir chamber Berlise .

'

le ft it upon th e ta bl e and charged the nuncio s servant to

,
’

give it to him ; but as soon a s he was g one out on e of the ,

a ttendants ran after him and thre w the paper into the

carriag e The king however forb a d ethe French bishops

.
, ,

to ha v e any communication wi t h S co t i and a guard wa s ,

placed at night roun d h i s hotel to preven t any one fro m

leaving it A ll these squabbles termina t ed by the
. . . ~

cardinal s obta ining ih ore promptly the bulls o f the

’ ‘

a
i

ener l hi p of C z a fte r that a s the pope s requisi

’

g s i ttea u x '

,
.

tions only a ffe cted the interests of France and not t hose
‘

o f the minis t er they w ere a l most all read ily granted

,
.

W e t h a ve said in a for m er passag e that t he duke of

.
' ‘

Saxe and France p urchased his terri t ories

and took his hr m y i nto pay but we find i t necess a ry ,

here t o refer to the circumstanc es somewhat i n de t ail .

The duke of Saxe Weimar made war a g ains t t he i m -

er i a l i s ts much more on h i s o w n account than for France

p ,

a l th ci u g l u s h e dre w this ad v a n t a g e from his conque sts

'

that th e trbop s the empero r em ploy ed against him could

‘
3 94 THE DU K E or S A X E -WE I M A R .

n ot act a g ainst her He had passed the winte r wi th h i s

.

troops i n the mounta in o f Vanze and in Fran che -Conté , ,

where he had subdued a great number of smal l pl a ces

that were in ca pable o f resis t ance a n d where his army , ,

fatigued and diminished a full half by t he prece ding

campaign wa s r e -es ta blished a n d considerably enlarg ed
, .

A lthough hi s troops r eceived but little pay the kindness ,

with wh ich he treated them a n d the frequent excursions ,

which he made gained hi m s o c omple tely the love of h is

,

s oldiers that he easily rais ed a ll the r ecruits he wanted .

Hi s prin cipal obj ect the n wa s to keep Bris a ch i n his own

possession and to form a principali ty for himsel f aroun d
,

that city ; for he began to b e weary o f being a simple

French g eneral a n d depending on the caprices o f a
,

haughty chan g eable minister from whom he coul d expect

, ,

n othing but an e ternal slavery a s the reward o f h is

services A fter the captur e o f Brisach the cardinal sent
.
,

him word that he wished him to c ome to Paris to arrange

measures for the next camp a ign— but in re a l ity to per , ,

s uade h im to give that i mportant place up to France .

A s he made a di ffi culty of goin g to Paris the cardin al ,

r efused to pay h i m the arrears that were due of the

amount promised hi m al th ou gh he demanded them with ,

with g reat earnestness He however remained fir m in . , ,

his resolutio n o f not going to F r a nce ; and contented

himself with sending thi ther Colonel d E r l a c h governo r ’

o f Bris a ch who wa s onl y instruc ted to talk about the

,

p l ans for the campaign and to s a y that the preparation s ,

the emperor wa s making to recapture Bri s g ow h a d pre

vented t he duke from coming to Paris The Coun t de .

Gu é br i a n t ha v ing orders to sound the duke upon the

“
s ubj ect o f Brisach he replied blun tly th a t to a s k a
, , ,

c h a s te i r l f her vi r i ni t , a nd br a his
g or
g y a ve m a n f or
”
h o n o u r , wa s The cardinal howe v er
the sa m e thi ng .
, ,

con t riv ed to ex tra c t a promise from D E s l a c n that if t he ’

d uke died he woul d pl a c e 13 t in the h a n ds of th e

3 96 D I S M I SS A L or M AD AM E DE S E N E CY .

they seem ed to be the elemen t i n which he delighted a n d , ,

a s soon a s on e wa s suppressed he a n xiously looked abou t ,

to e i ther discover or get up an other He had reasons .

,

certainly for s o doin g for th eyg en er a ll y tur n ed ou t to

, ,
‘

his ad vantage they became the means of a dvancing him

s elf a n d h i s fri ends or which h e preferred o f ruining h i s
, , ,

enemies .

’
A mong the quee n s a tte ndants the Marquise de S en ecy ,

o ccupied the first rank s h e had been first lady of honour

for t hirteen years an d had always served the queen with

,

the greatest fidelity without s eekin g the favour of the ,

cardinal by betra ying her mistress as most of the cour ,

tiers did Th e c a r din a l fearing t hat this lady who wa s

.
, ,

very in t elligent and shrewd might some day inspire the

-

queen to r ebel against his authori ty determined to get rid ,

o f her a n d without trouble

, , obtained a letter fro m the ,

kin g i n which h i s m aj esty told her that for important

,

reasons he desired her to dismiss Madame de S en e cy from

her service Chavig n y presen ted thi s letter to the quee n
’

a s s h e w a s a bout to s i t do wn to table aft er having been to ,

N 6tre Dame to discharge a vow she had made concerning

t he bir th of the dauphin The queen wa s extremely .

s urprised at the order ; s h e h a d al way s h a d reason to be

s atisfied wi t h the s ervi ces Of this lady a n d expressed ,

gre a t re g ret a t being depri ved o f them She however .

, ,

had self-command enough to r epl y to Chavi g ny a n ,

a cknowledged cre a tur e o f the c a rdinal s that s h e w a s

’ '

born to obey the comm a nds of h i s maj esty and hi s order s ,

s ho u ld be execute d She ver y well knew from what

.

qu a rter this arrow came and in the faint hope that by , ,

a ddressing her enemy him self s h e might bend him she ,

wrote to entreat him to ex ercise his good offices in thi s

a ffa i r an d prevent her losing the service s o f a fai t hful
,

a t tendant But the m i niste r wa s not the man to be over

.

re a c hed by civilitie s ; he w a s too fa miliar with t hem himself

th ro ugh them i n other s a n d he replied that ,
 R I CHEL I E U ANN O YS THE QU EE N . 3 97

he wa s much honoured by the confidence her maj es t y

p l aced in him but he could not offer her be tt er a dvice
,

t han to obe y t he king s wishes The quee n was extremely

’
.

o ffended by this answer and coul d not refrain from say ing
, ,

i t wa s n ot the king s h e wa s cons trained to obey bu t the ,

ca rdinal Without paying the least a ttention to her r e

.

monstrances a n d without even g iv ing her any notice a

, ,

Mad ame de Brassac wh o w a s particularly d is a greeable to

,

the queen as being completely in the interests o f the

,

cardinal wa s placed i n the situation lately occup ied by

,

Madame de S en e cy he s ame reason s whi ch had brought

.

about this dismissal mediately afterwards procure d t hat

,

o f the Baro n de St A nge the queen s m a i tr e d ho tel

.
,
’ ’
.
‘

The cardi n a l s eemed to dread that the queen ; having - .

become a mother wo u ld insensibly g a in a n i nflue nce over

,

the mind of the king and perhaps a s he could not but, , ,

be awa re s h e had no reason to love him might lesse n or ,

destroy his power o v er his maj esty To prevent this he .

~
,

wa s constantly insinuating that the queen w a s much to o

warmly a ttached to th e h ou s e of A u s tr i a and throwing *

opportunities in the kin g s way for mortifying his wife ’

.

A s a n in stance of the sk ill of Richelieu in the manag ement

o f such paltry a ffair s he eng a g ed Louis in a long h u ntin g
,

excurs ion that d i e violence o f the queen s an ger might

,
’

ha ve t ime to a bate before s h e met the kin g .

A short time before this the kin g s attachment for ,

’

Mademoiselle de Hautefort broke ou t afresh and the ,

cardi nal h a d t aken no pains to thwar t this connection ,

because the lady wa s o f a m i ld di s position an d apparently ,

incapable of in tri g ue The king had been attached to her

.

s everal years but had ceased to gi v e her any marks of h i s

,

partiali ty . The whole court wa s asto nished at these

friendships of the kin g s to which n o on e kn e w what ’ ‘

n ame to assi g n ; for al thou g h there appeared much passion

,

in his at tention to both Mesdemoise ll es de la Fayette and

De Hautefor t h e wa s kn ow n to be the c oldest of m e n
, .
3 98 M A DEM OI S ELLE DE H AU TEF O RT .

In stead of s
eeking to converse w ith them in priv a te he
o nly spoke to them i n the presence o f o ther s and that i n ,

the quee n s apartm ent The queen consequently c on

’
.
, ,

c eive d no j ealousy for these ladies but wa s pleased that ,

they could attract the kin g into her society a n d placed ,

perfect confidence in them The kin g only seemed to take .

delight i n their con versatio n a s a relaxation from state

a ffairs The card inal a t fir st viewed these att a chments
.
, ,

with indifference but Madem oiselle de la F ayette w a s a

,

r elation of his ambitious colleagu e Joseph an d as soon a s ,

he s us pected the designs of the Capu in he artfully con ,

tr ive d that s h e sho uld be induced t e tir e to a convent .

The kin g s friendship for Mademoiselle de Hautefort h a d

’

a ppeared equ a l ly harmless with the precedin g o n e but the ,

card in al n o w perceived that s h e had formed a very clos e

i ntimacy with Mademoiselle de C h em er a u t and he kne w ,

that lady to b e of a penetratin g a ctive mind and tha t , ,

s h e wa s very likely to d ictate to her fri end matter for the

roy a l ear which he woul d much rather keep away from it .

I n order to divert the king from these dre a ded friend

s hips the cardinal found excuse s for t a ki n g him to th e
,

frontiers Of A rtois a n d Champagne a n d aft erw a rds into ,

D a u p h i n y i n the h Op e that absence might des t roy them

,
.

The Duke de St Simon who had been for some time th e

.
,

kin g s favourite wa s li kewi se dismissed for some poli ti c

’

r eason and th e c a rdinal exerted himself to introduce i n

,

hi s place Henry d E ffia t Seign eur de Cinq Mars s on o f th e

’
-
, ,

M arshal d E fi a t a youn g in telli g ent m a n o f extremely

’

, , ,

a g reeable person He wa s mas t er of the w a rdrobe an d

.
,

a fter he became favourite the Duke de Belle g arde m a d e ,

o v er to him the post o f grand écuyer The kin g at fir st .

h a d a g rea t disl ike to him from h i s a cqui tt ing himself ,

very carelessly of h is duties a s master o f t he wardrobe ,

a n d from h is enterta ining i nclinations qui t e Opposite to

thos e of hi s m a j esty The c a rdinal howe v er s o worked

.
, ,

u po n th e min d of th e ki n g th a t h i s av e rsion for Cinq ,

4 00 M A D EM OI SELLE DE H AU TEF O RT O UT OF . r Avou n .

be en for a ride o f a few hours A s for Mademoiselle de

‘
‘

Hautefort who had anticipated be in g greeted with a n

;

e ffu sio n o f affection he scarcely looked at her and gave

, ,

public evidence that he would not resume any intercours e ,

with her He even said that he knew s h e did not like

.

Cinq Mars which feeling she had better kept to herself

-
, ,

for he h a d infini t ely more love for that favourite tha n he

had ever had for her or anybody i n the world ; and he
,

should be at no loss to punish all who v entured to cabal

against him An d this man wa s for ty years ol d ! I t ,

would be an in structive and amusing physiologic a l i n quiry .

to ascertain the occult causes o f the passiona t e favouritis m

that s o many m onarchs have exhibited it i s strongly in
favour of adventitious advantages that i n a l most all cases , ,

though s ex wa s ou t of the question personal beauty h a s,

been th e first incentive o f the atta ch ment .

Mademoiselle de Ha u tefor t s receptio n wa s a sufficient

’

proof o f h o w little con sideratio n the kin g had for her ;

but for fear it should return the cardinal ordered bo t h
,

her and Mademoiselle de Ch em er a u t to retire from court .

They both went to Paris where they resided for som e

, ,

time in a convent but a s they recei v ed a great many visits

,

there the latter lady wa s commanded to go to Poito u an d

, ,

th e former not to come within forty leagu es o f Paris The .

queen w a s extremely an noyed by this bani s hm ent of two

ladies in whom s h e placed great confidence and whose ,
*

onl y o ffence wa s their refusal to be dependent on the '

cardinal Thus every on e i n whom s h e could trust wa s

. .

driven from t he service o f t he queen for fear she shoul d ,

:

employ them in subvertin g t he greatness of the minister ;

and t he n e w favourite wa s instru cted to infuse into the
min d of the king a thous and thin gs dis a dvantageous to that
princess The subsequent fate o f Cinq -Mars a s on e of
.
,

t he cardinal s vic t ims h a s created some thin g like a g ood

’

feeling towards h im ; we do not like to s ee a fin e you ng

m an i n the very prim e of life c ut off by the m a lig nity of
, ,
 REV O L U T IO N OF P O RT U GA L . 40 1

a n en emy ; but if we watch the conduct of Cinq-Mar s

, ,

we shall fin d v ery li ttle to admire beyond t hat which i s

nothin g to u s — his person a l graces : he w a s a weak volatile , ,

inconsequent character and hi s takin g s o bas e a part with

,

respect to an oppressed isolated beautiful woman dis

, , ,

g races him a s a man and a gentleman .

Two great events i n which the political influence o f

,

Richelieu is disputed illustrated the year 1 6 40 and were

, ,

o f immense advantage to France The Spanish n ation .

w a s fe a r q y Oppressed by the despotism o f O li v arez an d ,

the Catalonians arose a s on e man and surrendered their ,

cou n try to Fran ce The Portuguese at the same time

.

foun d employment for the court of Spain by shaking off ,

their yoke and placing the duke of Braganza on the

,

throne under the title o f D on John I V

, They had .

become s o we a ry of the Span ish domin ation that n o on e ,

could be foun d to e s pouse the cause of hi s Catholi c

maj esty and withi n eight day s every C a s till i a n had left
,

Por tugal without any e ffusio n of blood The interference

, .

o f Richelieu in this revolutio n i s disputed but we think ,

the evidence i s in favour of him I t i s said that seeing .

,

the Portuguese much d issatisfied with the Span i sh rule he ,

s e nt a person named St Pé to get a ccess to the chancellor

.
,

th e great Captain George d A z eve d o and others a n d to

’

o ffer them the protection and as sista n ce o f Fr an c e if they ,

we re wil lin g to try to drive ou t the Spaniards We ca n .

s carcely su s pect that such a revolution s o well conducte d ,

an d s o speedily te rminated coul d have bee n g ot u p wi th

,

o u t mature deliberatio n and well -concerted pre p aration .

I t must have been a l most impossible to conceal such a n

a ffair from Richelieu ; an d the policy o f as sisting t he Por
tu g u e s e was too ob v ious for h i m to neglect the opportunity
o f annoying the life lon g enemy o f himself and his mas t er
- .

We kno w that good historians deny him the honour o f

hav ing assis t ed in brin g in g abou t a great and desirable
re volution ; but little a s w e a d m ir e hi m we th ink th e
, ,

2 D
 ’

40 2 E AE E E r s B B A VE RY .

voices are on his side : in fact we do n ot s ee s o much to ,

contend for ; to assist the Portuguese wa s the policy of

France t o deny aid would have been fatuity— no on e pre
,

tends that love of liberty or approva l of a good cause

stimulate d him Seriously i nj ured by these enormous
.

losses Spain sustained the war very feebly

, .

Gu é br i a n t who had succeeded the Duke de Longue v ille

,

at the head o f the army in Germany held his ground well ,

in that country ; but the two principal centres of military

Operation s were the n A rtois and Piedmon t A n u merous .

army was collected i n P i ca r dy under the three marshals ,

D e la Meilleraye Ch a ti llon an d Chaulnes ; it entered

, ,

Artois and invested A rras of which place Louis and the

,

cardinal pressed the sie g e in person I t was at this siege .

,

Fabert a soldier of fortune who aft erwards became a

, ,

marshal dis t in guished himsel f Richelie u asked him if

, .

he knew any one who would dare for a hundre d t h ousand ,

crowns to penetrate into the besie g ed place and recon

, ,

”
n oi tr e it : I wi ll g o for honour ! repli ed Fabert ; and he
,
’

kept his word This was a piece of the cardinal s tact

.

a n d observant knowled e o f the men he had to deal with

g .

He kne w what would be F a ber t s answer before he asked ’

him the question : an d yet it is di fficult to imagine h o w

there could be any sym pathy between natures s o Opposite .

I t was in vain the cardi nal i nfant endeavoured to force -

the French lines and compel them to raise the siege

,

A rr a s c a pitul ated The Duke d E n g h i e n afterwards t he

.
’

great Co ndé fleshed his maiden sword in this campaign

'

un der Marshal Meilleraye .

The campai g n of Pie dmont was still more glorious for

the French arm s the Count d Ha r c ou r t with ten thou ’

s and men aga i nst twenty thousand forced the Marqui s ,

de L eg a n ez to raise the sie g e of Casal He then th re w .

himself by a bold an d rapid march upon Turin de

, , ,

fended by Prince Thomas of Savoy a n d invested that ,

pla e I t w s L g c s ob ec ts to d i seng a ge i t The

’
c . a e a n z i .
4 04 I DE A OF E X T I R P A T I N G C A LV IN I SM .

whose violent and hasty te m per but il l accorded wi th the

slo w an d phlegmatic manner in which a ffairs were con
ducted at that court made up all disputes in haste for
, ,

the purpose of recal l ing the marshal I t is posi t ively .

a ffirmed that Richelieu at this time seriously contem

,

plated the extirpation O f the Cal v inist religion in France ,

a n d had se v eral consult tions with S eg u i er on the subj ect

a .

He proposed to have a conference wi t h th e C a l vi n ist

ministers in which he hoped to br in g them to act a s he
,

wished For fear this conference should share the fate of

.

the Colloquy of Pa issy he purp osed in the first place to, , ,

make certai n of eighty members who j oined to those he , ,

might perhaps win by his reasonings would he believed , , ,

bring over the greater par t o f the Huguenots A s for th e .

rest he shoul d employ the kin g s authority an d reduc e

,
’

them by ill treatment or banish them the kin gdom if

-
,

they refused to comply He thou g ht that very few fami .

lies wo u ld not prefer embracing the Catholic reli g ion to

being banished from the kingdom an d hav ing entran ce to ,

their nati v e land barred against them for ever They .

would scarcely resolve to become wanderers upon the face

o f the e a rth i n search of an asylum They would fin d .

insurmountable di fficulties in the sale of the i r property ,

from the want o f buyers or because they must sell it too ,

cheap He fur ther j udged that i f there were reason to

.
,

doubt the sincerity of t he con v erts their childr e n havin g , ,

sucked the Ca tholic reli g ion wi th their milk woul d be , ,

trul y and steadily Catholi cs To carry this desirable

, .

obj ect he deemed it necessary to have it in the first place

, , ,

pronounced by the assem bly that it was possible to b e

sav ed in bo t h creeds because whe n the Huguenots were
persua d e d of that t hey would prefer becomin g Catholic s
, ,

to a v oid the e v il s they would have to suffer by adhering

to Cal v in i sm or to remain exposed to them by rej ectin g
,

a religion by whi ch they o therwi s e be l ieved they should

E I C H E LI E U s
’
W I S H T O BE C O ME PA T E I A E C II O P PE A N OE . 4 05

be saved An d thus reasoned this g r eat minister who

.
,

imagined tha t other people had a s l ittle reli g ion as he had .

Wi th hi m religion and moral ity were both subser v ien t to

,

a shor t sighted mundane policy ; he met wi t h very weak

-

subj ects upon whom to try his arts and he had such suc ,

cess that he became a t length convi n ced that nobody had

,

common s ense but himself and that all the world wa s a s ,

imbec ile and stupid as Louis X III I t is the support of .

the weak and the wicked to think everybody resembles

themselves When the great days o f Louis X I V were
. .

gone when his coun cils were guided by Jesuits and fan a
,

tical wome n i n place o f a Colbert he tried th is scheme of ,

th e cardinal s a l most to the letter and by it cut o ff the

’

, ,

m ost e fficient member o f his kin g dom Colber t would .

have told hi m that on e industrious Huguenot mechanic

was of more use to him than three idle Ca t holic nobles
Mad ame de Main tenon and her J es u i ti c a l allies taught hi m
t h a t hi s s oul was not safe a s the m onarch o f heretics .

He had another ambi tious vision which haunted him ,

for many years of h is life and which he had not abandoned ,

a t the hour of his death : he wished to constitu t e himself

patriar ch of France He believed he had a l ready secured

.

most o f the bishops ; and to gai n over the monks to his

party he endeavour ed to be made abbé g en eral o f the
,
-

t hr ee most powerful orders ; by which he should ob t ain

t heir suffra g es But the c ourt of Rome being aware of
.

h i s ambi t ious desig n s notwithstand ing all his threats

, ,

intri g ues and ins u l t s would never grant h i m the n ec e s

, ,

s ary bulls This ambitious fancy though still cherished

.
, ,

was therefore obliged to be indulged in very secre tl y and ,

the steps taken to ob t ain it were so slo w that dea th over ,

to ok him before he was eve n in sight of the g oal A m a n .

in the enj oyment o f the peculiar reputa t ion of esteem and

love of a l Hop i ta l or a F enelon would in France ha v e
’

, , ,

fo u n d insuperable obstacles to such an atta in ment ; with

4 06 O R I G IN OF THE PRESE N T H OU S E OF O RLE A N S .

Richelieu universally hated as he w a s it was an i m p os s i

, ,

bil ity h i s slave the king even woul d have been ag ainst , ,

him .

O n the 2 1 s t Sep t 1 6 40 the king had a second s on , ,

born who was at fir st named the Duke d A nj ou but

,
’

who aft er the death of Gaston r eceived the title of duke

, ,

o f O rleans a n d was the founder o f the present family of

,

that name This ga v e the queen no additional influence

.

a n d it is even asserted that the cardinal extorted a

promise from the king that in the event of his death and ,

o f his declaring the queen regent he would n ame h i m ,

head of the council of the regency with orders to the ,

queen to follow his advice implici tly I f the cardinal had .

survived his master we have n o idea that this would have

,

proved an exception to the little respect with which the

wil l o f a deceased monarch i s always observed .

This year the grand ecuyer or a s he wa s called , , ,

Monsieur l e Grand was very near losing the kin g s ,

’

fa v our ; and althou g h the minister had several causes for

being dissatisfied with him which went on increasing till ,

t he fatal catastrophe he took g reat pain s to brin g about

,

a reconciliation Cinq-Mars had a mistress i n Paris

.

n amed Marion de l O r m e— to whom the c a rdinal hi mself

’

i s said to have bee n no stranger— to whose residence he

wen t with quickest speed th e moment the king wa s gone
to bed and returned before his hour of ris i ng Marion de
, .

l O r m e was o n e of those women o f pleasure of whom both

’

a ncient and modern history furnish u s with examples :

she had wit intellig ence an d g r a ces a s well as personal

, , ,

beauty and enslav ed the minds of her admirers a s well a s

,

their passions She was the intimate friend an d com

.

panion of the celebrated N i n on de l E n cl os ; and thei r ’

society from its elegancies as well as its voluptuousness

, ,

mi g ht be said t o rival tha t of the A s pa s i a s of antiqui ty .

N o twi thstanding the exertion s o f M l e G rand h i s .

,

n ight s orgie s sometimes m ade him oversleep himself ;

’
4 08 I MPR U D E N C E OE C IN Q MA B S
- .

The kin g having read the letter said to the grand ecuyer ,

Monsieur l e Cardinal informs me that you have ex

pressed to h i m a strong desire t o comply wi t h my w ishes
i n all respects and ye t you do n ot do s o in a ma t ter upon
,

whi ch I begged h i m to speak to you— I me a n your idle

n es s . I ns t ead o f promising the k in g to correc t hi mself
o f this fau l t Cinq Mars repl ied t hat it was out of his
,
-

power to over come h i s ha bits The king replied . To a ,

man o f your condition who ought to render himself

,

worthy of comm andin g armies and who has expressed his ,

”
desire to do s o idl eness is a most i njurious obstacle
,
.

C inq -M a r s rudely replied that he had n ever expressed

a n inclinatio n o f the kind and the king maintained the
,

contrary ; after which he s a id that laziness made a m a n ,

incapable o f everything tha t wa s worth doing ; that it

wa s o nl y fit for the inhabitants o f the Marais amon g ,

whom he h a d been brou g ht up who were entirely ,

a b a ndoned to the pursuit o f pleasure ; and if he persis t ed

i n leading that k in d o f life the sooner he re turned to it

,

the better . The grand ecuyer answered hau g htily that , ,

he was quite ready to return to it ; and the kin g who ,

exhibited more good sense than usual in this i ntervie w ,

r ej oined, I f I were n ot more prudent than yo u I very ,

well kno w what sor t o f an a nswer I shou l d make you o n

”
that head . He added that C i nq Mars having great
,
-

obli g a t ions to him besides being h i s king he ough t no t

, ,

to S peak to him in that manner The grand ecuyer .

,

however resumed the same tone

,
“
He did not v alue
the benefits he h a d received he was quite ready to g iv e
,

t hem back a g a in : he could d o very well wi t hou t them ;

he was quite a s well satis fied wi th bein g Cinq -Mars as
with being called Monsieur l e Grand and he should not ,

change h is manner o f li ving The king and he con.

tin u e d to pro v oke each other all the wa y to t he cas tl e ,

a n d when t hey came into the courtyard the kin g t old ,

hi m tha t whilst he co n tin ued in hi s present humour he

 T HE C A R D INA L S EM P L O YME N T
’
OF A F A V OU R I TE . 410 9

would please to absent himself from his presen ce This .

curious dia l ogue betwe en a kin g and a subj ec t is pre

serv ed i n ale tt er written by Louis himself t o the cardinal ;
it be a rs date January 5 1 64 1 The grand ecuye r re t ired
, .
,

and did not appear before t he king for s everal days .

We plainly perceive by his insolent and has ty deport

m ent that Cinq Mars wa s n o t a man likely to remai n
,
-

long i n the post the cardinal had placed hi m in and we

may likewise s ee t hat either Louis was at heart s till i n , ,

fa tu a te d wi t h his fa v ouri t e or that he was no t of a very

,

impat ient temper The all powerful cardinal however at

.
-
, ,

the earnest en t reaties of the repen t ant Cin q Mars soo n -

,

appeased the king s anger an d the king and hi s fa v ourit e

’

resumed their usual mode o f livin g The minis t er w a s

.

deli g hted at having a n opportunity o f makin g Cinq Mars -

more dependent upon h im by becoming necessary for the

continuation o f the kin g s part iali ty ’
By hi s means he
.

became acquainted wi th all his master s thoughts ; for ’

Louis seemed to seek relief for his cus t omary dissimula

tion and reserve i n the society of Cinq Mars and poured -
,

o u t the most secret workings o f his shall o w mind wi t h the

greatest freedo m Even if he had wished t o conceal any

.

thi n g hi s favourite had only to lead wi th tact to th e

,

subj ect they wan t ed to be enli g htened upon and his real ,

sen t iments were easily discovered beneath t he thin cloak

o f dissimul ation with which he co v ered t hem ; s o that the

cardinal informed of every thing re g ulated hi s conduct by

, ,

this secret intelligence ; and hi s master must sometimes

have thou g ht him i nspired from his power of fa thoming
,

h is thoughts and preventin g his wishes Althou g h the .

kin g abandoned the entire direction of his a ffair s to his

w i ly minister he liked him to communicate every thin g t o
,

him and did not fail to scold him if he learnt he had

,

made any concealment ; if he did not he was sure to ex ,

press his dissatisfac tion i n his pri v a t e con v ersation wi th

hi s favourites ; a n d the cardinal took care in apparent ,
4 10 JE A L OU S Y BETWEE N THE F A V OU R I TE AN D M IN I STER .

i g norance to appease him by the se a sonable fl a tter ies h e

,

knew so well how to mingle in hi s discourse What a .

study is the conduct of t hese two m en to each other ! I t

is like s ading on e of Shakespeare s tra g edies ; it Opens ’

i
views o human na t ure you never could have conceiv ed t o
exist You despise the one you hate the o ther ; bu t you
. ,

are astonished at the manner i n which the dr ama i s

carried on .

A s soon a s Cinq Mars had become reconc iled to the

-

kin g he imagined he had noth ing more to fear although

, ,

t he king had told him that if the cardinal had been a g ai nst
him he would ha v e entirely abandoned him Louis
, .
,

thou g h wil lin g that most of what he said should b e

repeated to t he cardin a l became nevertheless sometimes
, , ,

tir ed of being surrounded by spies ; but the absolute

n ecessity i n whi ch he felt him self for h i s m i nister and the ,

exalted Opinion he had o f hi s capacity pre v ented h is ,

drivi ng these people from his presence a l though he was ,

a nnoyed by them T o have the luxury howe v er o f

.
, ,

speakin g to somebody with freedom he made the grand ,

ecuyer take an oath not to repeat to the cardin a l what he

said to him The acute min is ter soon percei v ed the
.

chan g e and the moment his suspicion wa s awakened the

, ,

destruc t ion of the favourite of h i s o wn creation was

resol v ed upon The enemies o f the cardinal having
.
,

remarked t he coolness whi ch had taken place between

them did not fai l to insinuate to the grand ecuyer that
,

the minister was ill disposed towar ds him and on l y waited

-
,

for an opportuni ty to ruin him Cinq Mars who n atu .

-
, ,

rally coul d not like h i s benefactor looked upon his great

, ,

ness as an Obstacle to his own and entirely ceased to ren ,

der him any g ood o ffices with the king Tha t prince w a s .

not so dull a s not to be v ery soo n con v in ced that Cinq Mars -

kept his word and did not communicate wha t he said

,

to the cardinal ; he consequen t ly became more warm ly

attached to him than ever an d resolved upo n introducing
, .
4 12 C O MME N CE ME N T or THE C ON SP I R A C Y .

easy and mentioned the a fl a ir to the cardinal almost a s a

,

m atter of c ourse ; the minis t er howe v er considered hi m

, ,

bo t h imprudent and presumptuous and took the o pp or ,

tu n i ty of placing before his eyes all h e had done to rais e

him and h i s fa ther from the simple rank o f gen tleme n to
the de g ree of honour they then enj oyed Cinq Mars was .
-

n ot in the least degree less haughty than the cardinal ;

n othin g wou n ds the sp i rit of such a man like proving to
hi m that he owes all that places him in the eleva ted
position he thinks only the due rew a rd o f his merit to the ,

good O ffices of another ; and he s et his mind to work more

ear nestly than ever to destroy h i s benefactor He .

engaged in hi s interests Francis de Thou g randson of t he ,

celebrated historian Jacques Auguste de Thou an a c c om ,

p li s h e d young man in a ll that could qualify him for the

profession o f the long robe who being a rela t ion or friend
, ,

o f sever a l persons whom the cardinal had oppressed an d ,

hav i ng him self a quarrel with him for havin g prevented

his becoming a councillor o f state aft er some hesi t ation , ,

entered into the views of the grand ecuyer and per ,

s u a d e d the duk e o f O rleans an d the Duke de Bouillon to

do s o likewise They flattered themsel v es wi th hopes of

.

success from Cinq Mars being aware that the k in g was

,
-

anxious for peace and had li kewise i ntimated that he

,

wished there were an end to the cab a l s that were con

s ta n tl y kept alive in the k i ngdom by the private i n terests

o f the cardinal Throughout the whole o f this m an s

.
’

ministry these i nterests or his caprices sometimes of the

, , ,

most paltry kind p r oduced e ffects dis a s trous to individuals

,

o r the nation His Oppositio n to the advancement of

.

D e Thou was one o f these Grave historians asser t that

.

his enmity to this promisin g youn g man was caused by his

grandfa ther havi ng mentioned disrespec t fully i n his histo
r i c a l work a person of the name of Du Plessis and whom , ,

after all he cou ld not pro v e t o ha v e been o n e of his

,

r elations The cardinal s inj uries however small were

’

.
, ,
 M A RR IA GE C ON D E W I TH R I C HE L I E U S NI E C E
’
OF . 4 13

r ep a id in earnest for the fancied o ffence of the grandfather ,

he endeavoured to bli g ht th e prospects of t he son ; he of

course made an enem y of him and quite as naturall y , , ,

h unted him to destruction The king had also partly

. ,

from fear and partly from dislike treated some of the ,

creatures the c a r di n a L placed about him with great cool

ness whilst Cinq Mars seemed to be in greater favour
,
-

than e v er ; and t hese circumstances attracted man y i nto

the nascent conspiracy .

Richelieu however at this period strengthened himself

, , ,

by an al liance wi th t he royal house o f Cond é : the Duke

d E n g h i e n m arried the cardin a l s niece the daughter of
’ ’

Marsh a l de Brez e I t is said that the Prince de Condé who

.
,

h a d at first rej ected the prop osals for this marriage was ,

won o v er in part by the great a dvantages which th e

cardinal promised with his niece an d partly by the fear ,

which was ar t fully infused into his mind that if h e ,

scorned this alliance the minister would ruin him in some

,

way or other But Condé wanted nothin g more than the

.

prospect of getting a large portion of the cardinal s wealth ’

into his fam ily The nobles of the re g ency had become
.

so habituated to s ee money con sidered the prim e good ,

that the love of i t ne v er forsook them an d no two usurers ,

in Pa ris coveted i t more warmly than the Prince de

Condé and the proud Duke d E p er n on The betrothment
’
.

was celebrated on th e 1 7 th of February and a superb ,

ballet was gi v en on the occasion in the Palais Cardinal , .

This ballet represented the successes o f the arms of

France ; a n d the decorations o f the hall an d the dresses
o f the actors were chan ed five times The first scen e
g .

displayed the earth embell ished wi th forests wi th the ,

g enius of Harmony supported on c louds and surrounded ,

by a number of S ingin g -birds who con t inued to pour ou t

,

their m el liflu ou s n otes ; in the second appeared It aly

upon a mountain and A rras and Casal in the distance ;
,

the thi rd wa s the s ea surrounded with rocks a n d cover ed

, ,
4 14 G R AN D E N TERTAI N ME N T .

with vessels and galleys with three Sirens ; the fourth,

was an opening hea v en from which the nine muses de

,

scended ; and the fifth wa s the earth with Concord riding ,

in a gilded car The stage bein g changed i n to a ma g ni

.

fic e nt bal lroom the queen accompan ied by all her court

, , ,

placed herself at the upper end and t he Duke d E n g h i en ,

’

havi ng led her ou t to dance the ballet began and the , ,

entertainment wa s finished by a splendid collation The .

nuptials were performed on the l 1 th of the same mon th ,

with the ma g nificence which the cardi nal knew s o wel l

how to displ a y where h i s o wn oste ntatious S pirit coul d be
,

gratified by it Upon perusing the above description

.
,

many of ou r readers will smile and think such an affair ,

rather droll than tasteful I t i s true we live in days .

when science e ffects marvels ; but we must recollect that

this is just such an exhibition as those I nigo Jones and
Ben Jonson had g ot up for K in g James ; it was in an a g e
when bet t er painters were living than any we can n o w
boast ; it w as ab out the time in which Mary de Medici
had bui lt the Luxembourg an d Richelieu the Palais ,

Roy a l ; and lastly let us ask oursel v es h ow the news

, , ,

paper accounts of ou r last pantomimes wil l r ea d two

hun dred years hence ?
But e v en amidst the div ersions attendant u pon this
m arr iage the minister was brooding over a m or ti fic a ti on
,

he intended to in fli ct upon t he parliament of P aris which ,

had dared more th a n once to make some resistance to h i s

, ,

wil l Some weeks aft er t he king called a n assembly of

.
,

a l l the chambers in which he appeared s u rrounded by the

,

princes o f t he blood by dukes and peers and many o ther

, ,

nobles of the co urt He t here read a declara t ion by

.
,

which he forbade the parli amen t to interfere wi th a fl a ir s

o f state and ordered them to receive his edic t s n ot for
, ,

the purpose o f disapprovin g of them but simpl y t o re g is t er ,

them The kin g still further declared tha t he had t he

.
,

power of disposing of all par li amentary offices and t hat ,

4 16 A N C I E N T P O S I T IO N OE THE PA RL I A M E N T s .

th el es s ,in case they should belie v e that parliaments did

n ot gi v e them good counsel they were always in a con ,

dition to employ their absolute power a s appeared by ,

these terms o f their edicts F or s u ch i s ou r g oo d p l e a s u r e .

Declaration s were not addressed to the parliaments for

mere form s sake but to be examined i n order that th e
’

, ,

people m ight aft erwards submit to them without r ep u g

n ance The ancient policy of th e kin g s of France had
.
‘

been to make all pardons emanate from them and leave ,

the exercise of j ustice to the sovereign courts Thi s .

relie v ed the kings from everything that wa s odious in the

exercise of se v ere justice an d freed them from the imp or
,

tu n i ty o f courtiers who without that would have made

, , ,

them commit inj ustices prej udicial to their ow n authority .

I n glan cing over th e history of France we must declare ,

we are at a loss to fin d these prudent kings Every king .

o f Fran ce seem s to us to have fancied him self a n arbitrary

monarch and if even he wa s g ood an d in dulge nt to h i s

,

people his benefits were conferred a s if comin g from a

,

m a s ter I t has been observed by good historians that the

. ,

weakness o f the French parliaments arose from the fact

o f there bein g n o writte n laws to determine the extent of

their function s or rights There i s some s pirit in the

.

passage we have quoted but the admis sion of f or i t i s

,

ou r g oo d p l ea s u r e renders all the rest n u ga tory

, .

A fte r some years of ar bitrary possessio n o f the S tate s

of Lorraine the cardin al foun d that the scand a l Of the
,

seizu re inj ured him very much in the Opin ion of foreign
princes particularly in I taly ; an d either from an o s
, ,

t entations wish to Show h i s power or from policy he , ,

de t ermi n ed to re es t ablish the duke in hi s domin ions The .

duk e had fallen in lo v e with the countess o f C a n tecr oix ,

and wished to repudiate the Princess N icole ; o f which

a ffair we can only find space to s a y tha t the cardinal ,

always fond of fem a l e intervention in his policy availed ,

hi mself of the Coun te s s de C a n te cr oix s i nfluence over th e

’
 D UK E OE L O RR AIN E A T P A R I S . 4 17

duke to incline him to make o v ertures for a reconciliatio n

wi t h France ; he on his S ide promising to use his a u
, ,

th or ity a t Rome for obtainin g the divorce of the Princes s

N i c ol e — s o i s huma n happiness tr ifl e d wi th i n state
q uestions .

The duke came to Paris and s a w the c a rdinal afte r ,

which he had a n interview with the king Whe n pre .

s ented he knelt o n o n e knee

, and said that he came to ,

humble himself before h i s maj esty an d to leave h i s ,

fortun es to h is clemency The king o ffered th ree time s .

to raise him but he said he would not rise from that p os

,

ture t ill h is m a j esty had pardoned his pas t faults The .

king thereupon replied that he had n o remembrance of the

pas t and was willing to aid him for the future The duk e
, .

then rose an d put on h is hat ; after which he paid hi s

,

respects to the queen an d th e duke of O rlean s .

The duke was anxious to receive h i s esta tes a n d to oh

ta in money to maintain his li ttle army but h i s principal
obj ect wa s the divorce a n d here the ca rd i n a l played hi m
,

fa l s e g for notwi thstanding h i s fair pro mise s he gave hi s

’

, ,

w ord to the nuncio tha t he woul d not interfere i n that

.

a ffair ; and i n orde r to preve n t any disagreeable conver

s a t ion wi th the duke abou t it he caused a repor t to be ,

circulated that the ki n g m e a n t to try to bri n g about a

,
'

reconcil iation betwee n the duke and the Prin cess N icole .

The duke wa s restored by solemn treaty but very much ,

to the ad v antage o f Fran ce which retained N anci a s a ,

guarantee till t he war wa s over and several states i n per ,

e t u i ty The duke di d homage for the duchy of Bar but

p .
,

not for that o f Lorraine of which the king of Spain wa s ,

considered suzerain How favourable the condi tions were

.

to France may be judg ed of by the conclud ing ar t icle Th e .

duke promised to observe these articles so fai thfully that ,

he consen t ed in addition to that which he had defini tively

,

m a de o v er to the crown of France that all t he rest o f h i s ,

s tates sho ul d devolve to the said crow n if he acted in any ,

2 E
4 18 S TATE or F R AN C E .

way i n contr avention o f the treaty By this treaty the c a r ? .

d inal pu t the king in a condi t ion to in v ade Lorraine afresh ,

with a much greater appearance o f j ustice if the d uke ,

infringed i n the least upon the articles agreed to ; which ,

from the known vacillatio n an d imprudence o f hi s charac ~

ter there wa s very little doubt he soon would do N ever

,
.

th el es s France arro g ated to hers elf great honour for

,

this restitution an d the ministers lou dly bo a sted o f her

,

generosity .

The i nflexible cardin al proved himself equally formidable

to a ll classes of the nation to t he poor and weak to the , ,

rich and powerful The war was ruinous to the people.

,

a n d the taxes the principal burthen of whi ch fell upon t he

,

peasantry bec a m e i n tolerable Th e im post o f the ta i l l e

, .
,

i n particular wa s levie d upo n them with frigh tful rigour

, .

They were considered i n their vi ll ages a s s o l i d a i r es or ,

bound an d respon sible for on e another an d frequently , ,

when these unfortunate people had exhausted every mean s

to discharge their quota they had their harvests their , ,

furniture and eve n their persons seized to dischar g e the

, ,
,

taxes demanded o f some n eighbours still poorer tha n

themselves Severa l of these miserabl e people who were
. .

thrown into p ri s on on this odious pretence were protected ,

a n d s e t at li berty by the parli ament o f Ro uen whose bene ,

volen t decree s the co unc il or rather the cardin a l im m ed i , ,

a tely ordered to be annulled The i ncreased rig our at .

length drove many Of the inh abitants of lower N ormandy

to despair ; an d desi g nated by the contemptuous epithet
,

Va n u p i ed s or Go -ba r e f ee t they took up arms a n d

- -
, , ,

i ntr enched themselves a mong the hill s of A vranches .

Foreig n tr oops under the stern Ga s s i on stifl ed the i n s u r

, ,

r ection in the blood of the insurgents ; and after the soldiers

c ame t he j ud g es an d the executio n ers Richelieu selecte d .

his ready tool S eg u i er a s the avenger o f roy a l a u thority :

the parliament of N ormandy wa s suppressed the ci ty o f ,

Rouen wa s ch a rged with a n e n o rm ous con tr ibution an d

, ,
4 20 D I STRES S or THE QU E E N -M O THER .

v ictory of Lamothe Houdan court over L eg a n ez at Ler ida , ,

completed the conqu es t of Rou s s Ill on .

To return to the a fl a ir s of the cardinal The quee n

’

m other who had been for some time in London w a s oblige d

, ,

t o leave England in con sequen ce o f the pressing an d

,

secret instances which the car d in a l made to Charle s I .

That prince seriously embroiled w ith his o wn people wa s

, ,

not in a condi t ion to refuse anything to the m inister of

Louis X III for fear he should foment his troubles still
.
,

more than he did and he informed h i s mother-in -law

that she wo u ld oblige him by leavi n g Engl a nd S h e .

wished to return to the Lo w Coun tries bu t in S pite of a ll , ,

the e fforts of the kin g of Englan d t he Spaniards wh o had , ,

been but little pleased wi t h her past conduct would n ot ,

even allow her to pass through their s ta tes The Un i te d .

Provinces did n ot dare to o ffer her a n asylum for fear of ,

O ffending the cardinal ; s o that s h e was obl iged to go to

Cologne where s h e resided u p to the period of her death
, ,

i n a state o f great i n digence .

The cardinal wh o seemed to deri ve ple a sure from th e

,

m or ti fica ti o n s of this unfortunate princess w a s not sorry ,

at seeing her abandoned by her daugh t ers and her sons

i n law a s S h e had been by her s on
-
, He h a d the fu rther .

gratification of learning a t the end o f the year 1 64 1 that

, ,

h i s friend a n d pupil Jule s M az a ri n had received the

cardinal s hat for which Richelieu had s o long import un ed
’

th e O
p p e .

AS the cardinal approaches the great term ination of a l l

h i s m a ch in a tIO n s he appears to take the delig ht i n the m
,

that i s fel t by an experienced practitioner in science or an ,

expert adep t at a game o f skill The Coun t de So i sson s.

had insul t ed him by decli n ing to marry his niece ; the

Duke de Bouillon under whose protection the Count de
,

Soissons resided a t Sedan had refused t o giv e up sell or, ,

exchange ; that important place which Richelieu wan t ed ,

to make the centre of a pr i n cipality for himself ; a n d the

 THE C OUN T DE S OI S S ON S REV O LT ’
. 4 21

a rchbishop of Rheims the s on of the Duke de Guise had

, ,

a quarrel with h i m about some rich be n e fic e s and was ,

o b l iged like wise to r etire to Sedan

, , A gains t t hese then .
, ,

the cardinal commenced operations by annoying d efa m i n g , ,

a n d insul t ing them in every pos sible way Me a ns wor thy .

o f a Machiavel were ba d recourse to to drive t hese hi g h

S pirited nobles to desperation and at leng t h succeeded

, .

They ente red into a league wi t h Spain lon g after they had ,

been accused o f suc h a thing ; fortified all t he places they

held or could take an d declared open rebellio n against
,

the cardin a l . The opinion entertained by a great part o f

France o f th e subj ect o f ou r biography is s o ful ly ex .

pressed i n the Count d e Soissons manifesto and is s o ’

much to the purpose that however lon g we cannot do

, , ,

bette n than lay i t before o u r readers We must preface .

i t by sta ting that t he cardinal who had driven t hem to ,

this ex t remi ty by accusing them before they had com

m i tte d any crime and by ill -treatin g t hem before they
,

had bee n found guil ty began to fear he had embarked i n

,

a perilous a ffair I f he besieged Sedan it mi g ht be with

.
,

s erious loss and still more injurious discredit as that

, ,

place would be de fended by skilful bra v e and desperate , ,

men ; if it were not attacked it wa s to be apprehended ,

tha t as soo n as the princes had a n army they would ,

m ake incursions into the kingdom and if they were suc ,

c e s s fu l in the present state o f public opinion t heir party

, ,

would beco m e more formidable every day A no ther .

circumstance l ike w1 s e gave hi m g reat u neasiness

, ,

Bullion the superintendent o f finances and one of his

, .
,

creat ures h a d recen t ly died and had at his last hour seen
, ,

the kin g and revealed to his m aj esty some v ery dis

a g reeable tru ths He told him that all t he public money
.

was consumed upon the marine and the ar tillery the ,

cardinal bein g in t endant of the marine and his cousin t he , ,

Marshal de la Meilleraye grand master of t he art illery

, .

He s aid the car dinal wa s the au thor of this wa r and k ep t ,

4 22 D YIN G DECL A R A T IO N OF E U L LI O N .

it u p fo r the fu rtherance o f hi s o wn private interests .

Bullion said he had long bee n at a loss how to find money

to support it ; but if hi s maj esty would be plea s ed to .

a fford his kin g dom a few years of peace considerabl e ,

sums might be laid aside for any purpose for whi ch

the kin g m i ght wish to employ t hem The poor dying .

m a n begged th e kin g n ot to repeat what he said to th e

cardinal whil st he lived a s if he did he was sure he , , ,

s hould not be al lowed to die i n his bed The king .

promised hi m and for a wonder kept hi s word A s soo n

, , , .

a s Bullion had breathed hi s last the ki ng repeated h i s ,

death bed confessio n to the cardi n a l wh o only haughtily

-
,

r eplie d that h e wa s s or r y h i s m a j es ty o n ly br ou g h t a
,

d e a d wi tn es s a g a i n s t h i m The king rej oin ed wi th great

.
,

n a w ete
’

, I onl y refra i ned from speaking for the s a ke of

the poor man who said if I did you would certainly
, ,
”
destroy him .

The Mar shal de C ha till on wa s placed at the head of

the army of Champagne a n d the king a dvan ced to ,

Abbeville Here the king put forth a proclam a tion

.
,

declaring the princes in Sedan would be considered ope n

enemies of the state if within a month they did n ot s e
,

knowledge their error an d have recourse to h is clemency

, .

The manifesto of the pri nces wa s called — a m an ifes to ,

for the j ustice of the arms o f the prin ces of pe a ce ; but it

i s the Count de Soissons alone that s peaks A fter h a vin g .

said that h i s conscience obliged him to publ ish the evi l

design s o f the cardinal and that he had onl y abstai ned
,

from it to leave to the kin g the sole glory of chastising

that proud minister wh o had possessed himself of the
,

whole o f the royal authority he con t inued by stating that , ,

he had been obliged during four years to reside in Seda n

, ,

fo r the sake o f safety and h a d gone to n o other place i n

, ,

o rde r to a v oid g ivi ng t he car d in a l occasio n to accuse hi m

o f bein g the enemy o f France N evertheless the cardi .

,

na l had u sed eve ry me a ns to m a ke himself mas ter

4 24 TH E M A NI FEST O .

m any worthy people He had rashly e n gaged th e r eput a .

tio n of the k i ng dissipated his revenues lavished the

, ,

blood of the n obili ty a n d sol di ers ransomed o fficers and , ,

r educed the people to the lowest state o f misery t o sa t isfy ,

his passions and carry ou t his pri vate quarrels He had

, .

o nly declared war for the purpose o f preser v ing his ill g ot -

a uthori ty w hich he could n ot do unless the state were

,

kep t i n continual agitation He had either rendered .

s uspected o r accused of high treason all who had endea

,
-
,

v ou r e d to diminish his power in order to depri v e them of ,

their charges that he might take them himself or dispose

, ,

o f them i n favour o f persons wil l ing to en a e in s u

g g p
porting h i s tyranny He had ruined the best families o f
.

the kingdom for the s a k e of eleva t ing his own an d reduced ,

m any good houses to misery t o enrich l o w and worthless

p eople . He had drained France of money to send specie
to foreig n countries an d fill ed the kingdom wi th a debased
,

c urrency .He had bought of the Swedes and o thers at a ,

very dear rate places he was unable to keep like Philips

, ,

b ourg or which he must restore wi thout reimbursement

, ,

like Brisach a n d others He had squandered without .

discretion the public money in It aly t o acquire friends , ,

whom he had after wards ruined and thus rendered con ,

te m p tibl e the protection t he king had a fforded to the

dukes o f Man t ua Parma a n d Savoy He had made
, ,
.

e ffor t s i n Spain which had brought no thing but dis g race

,

u pon France and e ffec t ed conquests in the N e therlands

, ,

which were bur then some to the stat e a n d only calcula t ed ,

to make the war everlasting He had created an i n finite .

n umbe r o f useless offices and exhausted t he ordinary ,

r esources by selling o r pled g ing the domain s a n d aids at

,

s o hi g h a price that they co uld not be redeemed wi thout

,

inj us tice . He had compelled se v eral religious orders ,

s uch as C ittea u x Clair v aux a n d Prémontré t o elec t him

, , ,

their g eneral imprisonin g the monks who refused t o g i v e

,

hi m the i r voices With r egard to the other orders he had

. ,
 THE M AN I FEST O . 25

persuaded them by a t housand a r ti fic es to elect vicars

, ,

general in France i n order that t hey mi g h t ha v e no com

,

m u n i c a ti on wi t h Rome and tha t he mi g h t make himself

,

h ead of t he Gal l ican Church spiritual ly as well as tem

,

p or a l ly The king had n o lon g er any allies who were able

.

t o assist him all he had were subsidized by Fr a nce and ,

were only able to make feeble diversions a t her expense .

A ll whom the cardinal had supposed to be capable of

r esisting his will had been placed in the hands of the

execu t ioner after having passed through those of corrupted

,

commissioners selected by himself or rot t ed in p r 1s on or

, , ,

were driven fro m the court He had banis h ed t he queen

.

mother from t he kingdom with unheard -of and fri g ht fu l

ingra t itude an d ill -t re a ted all the princes and nobles of
,

the ki n g do n He had violated or a nnihilated all the

b
laws an d ancient ordinances o f the country under the ,

specious pretence of establishing the au thori ty an d a bs o

lu t e will of the kin g He had deprived all t he princes
.

a n d all communities o f their ancient franchises a n d ,

broken the contracts former kings had m ade wi th t hem .

He held in contempt and laughed at t he princes d u kes

, , ,

peers mars hals and other officers o f the crown He had

, , .

condemned by commissioners dependent upo n himself

, ,

and placed in prison wi t hout even the form of a t rial a ,

number of innocent nobles Bishops had been tried c o n

. ,

tr a r y to the laws o f the state ; other ecclesias t ics had

been deprived o f their be n efice s an d all had been obliged
, ,

in addi t ion t o t he u su a l ten ths to p a y immens e sums, ,

more tha n a third Of their revenue t o main t ain corsairs ,

on the seas commanded by an archbishop and t roops

, ,

upon land who plundered churches kep t i n pay by

, ,

a cardinal . He had extremely ill -t rea t ed t wo arch

bishops presidents of the last assembly of t he clergy for
, ,

hav ing ven t ured to re pres e nt the smal l means o f t he

French ecclesias tics o f France who had furnished fi v e ,

million s an d a half above their ordinary tenths Several .

4 26 THE M ANI FE S TO .

n obleme n had bee n placed upo n the ta i l le forced to the ,

a r r i er e-ba n and deprived of all their employments fo r

, ,

having refused to be o f h i s party P residents and coun .

c ill or s o f the sovereig n courts had been interdicted ,

expelled or detained prisoners when they had dared to

, ,

S peak a word fo r the king and the public or had opposed ,

n ovelties which te n ded to the rui n o f the kingdom .

Many o fficers of j u stice a n d o f the fi n an ces had been

ruined by i nquirie s and n e w regulations The city of .

Paris afte r the ext raordinary aids wi th which it had

,

furnished the ki n g had bee n placed upon the ta i l l e li ke

,

o thers and had see n her citize n s taxed at discretion under

, ,

the fine n ame o f A i s ez Al l other cities which had be en

.

exempt from the ta i l l e would pay it in the same man ner

a s long a s the war lasted— that i s to s a long a s the
y
Cardinal de Richelieu should be m ini ste r e a vy imposts .

had been laid upo n m erchandise — the twentieth denie r

w a s even levied upo n the most necessary thin gs o f life .

Champagne was desolated by s oldiers and G “

a r de s d e S e l fi
which reduced the p e a s a n try to the food and the li tter of
beas ts to die of hunger to take up arms or to beg ; m a de
, , ,

them abando n the cultur e of their field s a n d produced

numberless in con v eniences for the n obih ty the clergy , ,

a n d a l l t he citi z ens o f the s ta te .

A ft er gi v ing this most extraordi n a ry m anifesto c om ,

prising s o many and s uch varied a ccus a tion s a gainst a

m ini s ter as we thin k wer e never brought against any o t her
, , ,

o n e o f the be s t o f t he car din a l s biographers s a ys : Such

’

a r e the complaint s made agains t the C a rdinal de Richelieu ,

a n d ther e i s n o doubt that mos t of them were well

founded The e v il wa s that it wa s to be believed that if

.
, ,

they who censured h i s conduct wi th s o much re a son had

bee n able to take hi s place they would have acted very ,

li ttle o therwise a n d n o better th a n h e did without be ing

, ,

Gua r d s of th e g v rnm en t s al t
o e , in th e sal t working
- di s tricts .
4 28 PETER THE G RE A T AN D R I C HEL I E U .

ill -j udged homag e There is scarcely an e v il that Fran c e

.

has underg one for the last two hundred years tha t may ,

n ot be traced to this man s policy At a period when ’

.

England an d Holland were emancipating themsel v es

nobly from the dominatio n of on e France was cast into ,

a worse despotism than S he had endured i n a n y a g e .

Descartes had written Corn eille had sung m en thou g ht

, ,

a n d were enli g htened ; an d when Fran c e ought to have

taken the S pring wi th other n ation s S h e was seduced in t o ,

the track whic h led to her fearful and yet unsettled

revolution by th e s el fis h ambition of Richelieu ; for he
.

cared no more for the king and his interests than for th e
bauble of the court j ester Tha t which the biographer
.

we have quoted seems to put forward as an excuse we ,

think a ggravates h is o ffences : the greater his abilities ,

the deeper is the dye of hi s crimes ; we may pardon the

errors o f a fool but we j ustly con demn the misdeeds of
,

o n e whom God h a s constituted to know and to act better .

Peter the Grea t s admiration o f Richelieu was character

’

i s ti c ; his policy has been and is perhaps stronger th a n

, , ,

ever that of himself and h i s successors But let Russia

,
.

study the history of France a n d beware : Louis X IV , .

ruled more grea tly and despotically for he ruled over ,

g reat minds as well as innumerable S laves tha n any czar ,

can hope to do ; and the day aft er his death h i s most

, ,

darling laws an d wishes were s et at nought his remains ,

were consigned to the grave amidst t he howlings and

rej oicings o f his people ; withi n a century his r ep r es en
ta t i ve o n the throne w a s dragged to the block — and t o
this hour his descendants are wanderers upon the face o f
t he earth ! Such has bee n the fate o f the d espo t s Richelieu
created : to describe the history o f the myriads o f people
they ruled o v er and maddened into insurrec t ions re v o
, ,

lutions and crimes would require alm ost countless

, ,

volumes .

To preve nt being co n sidered e n emies to the state the ,

 PR O C L A M A T IO N OF THE M A LC O N TE N TS . 4 29

m alco n tent n obles proclaimed that they h a d taken every

possible securit y that the emperor and the ki n g of Spain
would as well as t hemselves lay dow n th eir arms as soo n
, ,

as they had co nj ointly obtained an honourable a n d secure

peace — which t hey believed to be perfec tly impossible
w hi l s t the cardinal had power to break it a s he had done ,

that of Ra ti s bon n e an d whilst every clai m an t sho u ld be

,

kept ou t of tha t which belonged to him They only they .

,

said took up arms to secure th e peace whi ch t he car dinal

, ,

a ffected to desire but to which he wa s in reali ty opposed

, , ,

it was therefore n atural for them to d ei en d t hemselves

a s well a s they could against the viole n ces and tre nch

e r i eS of t he cardinal They e a rnestly ex horted the three

.

estates of th e kingdom to unite with them to obtai n

satisfaction for the inj uries the c a rdin a l had don e them ;
promisin g n ever theless to trea t a ll that remained n eute r
, ,

with mildness a n d declaring the cardinal and h i s partisan s

,

enemies o f the state whom they would p urs u e with the

,

utmost rigour .
‘

Be fore th e appe a rance of thi s proclamation the par ,

l i a m en t of Paris put forth a decree by which all who were

connected with the malcontents or aided them i n a n y ,

way were declared guilty of hi g h treason The Marshal

, .

de Ch a tillon entered the principality of Sedan but ,

e ffected no thing remarkable But Lambic having j oined .

the princes they marched with

, foot an d hors e
to offer ba ttle to Ch a tillon though he had foot ,

and horse more than they had : Ch a t illon had

orders not to risk anything but to endeavour only to ,

prevent their crossing the Meuse and enteri n g the king ,

d om . But the princes havin g crossed the Meuse on t he

night o f the 5 th and 6 th o f July wi t hin a quarter o f a ,

leag ue of his camp without the marshal s g uard s per

,
’

c ei vi n g them as he was advancin

,
g t he nex t day toward s , ,

the ri v er in the expec t ation tha t they mi g ht attempt to

,

cross it he met the ir ar my i n fu ll march a n d prepared to

, ,
43 0 B ATTLE OF M A B S fiE .

give h i m battle n ear the wood o f Mars ee He quickly

, .

got h i s troops in to line and the enemy di d the same but , ,

i n a n arrow and much less advantageous place s o that ,

there wa s great a ppearance of their bei n g beaten The .

m arshal s right wing comme n ced the conflict wi t h a d va n

’

tage ; but t he cavalry of the left wing were seized wi t h

a n unaccountable panic which at first m ade them tur n ,

their backs an d being followed by the horse of the

princes t hey rushed upo n their own infantr y a n d s o com
, ,

p l e tel y disordered the m that whe n attacked by the ,

princes infantry a fter a short resistance they followed

’

, ,

the example o f the cav a l ry w hi ch n othi ng had been able ,

to rally a n d took to flight This movement likewi se car

, .

ried away the right win g an d the m a r sh a l wa s obliged to ,

retreat as well as the others Whils t the rest o f the .

army wa s thus flyin g the regiment of Roussillon and two

, ,

compan ies of cav a l r y which comprised all that did their

,

duty attacked the enemy with s o gr eat vigour that they

, ,

penetrated to the body commanded by the Count de

S oissons That prin ce seeing hi s tr oops g ive way charged
.
, ,

the enemy boldly ; an d a s he wa s fightin g like a S imple

soldier he was shot through the head by a pistol bal l and
,
-
,

fell dead at the foot of h i s horse The three com panies .

continued to conte n d with a victorious enemy til l they

were all cut to pieces The royal a rmy lost only 5 00 men
.
,

for the rest made their escape s o qu ickly into the n eigh
bou r in g woods that the insurgents could n ot follow them
, .

There were however ,prisoners an d amongst them

, ,

m a ny officers of dis ti nction The malconte nts also took .

a l l the cannon baggage a n d munit ions of the roy a l army

, , ,

whi lst o n their o wn S ide they lost but very few men
, , .

But the death of the Count de Soisso n s who wa s the life , ,

sou l and head of their en t erprise wa s much more fatal to

, ,

them than t he vi c tory wa s advan ta geo u s At the moment .

the Count de Soisson s wa s S ho t not o n e of his friends had ,

h is eye upo n hi m an d the c ir cums tance appear ed s o

,
43 2 S U S RI C I O N S A G AIN ST THE C A RD INA L .

without evincing either regr et or uneasi n ess like a m a n ,

who h a d determined u pon his line o f conduc t and wh o ,

knew he could quickly r e establish peace by sacrificin g h i s

-

m inister .
T he death o f the Count de Soissons was n e ce s

sary to the cardinal an d the existence of that n ecessi ty i s

,

quite enough to warran t ou r belief that he brought it

about .

The cardinal had n ever had s o dan ge r ou s a direct revolt

ag ainst his power : he kne w D e Soisson s to be as i m
placable as himself ; i t wa s a life -and -death struggle
be tween them and i n such circumstances he was n ot
l ikely to b e deterr e d by a murder or to wa n t an emissary ,

to execute it A fter the decided vi ctory of the i n

.

s u r g en ts
, if De Soisson s had lived Richelieu would to a ,

certainty hav e been brought to the block The count s .

’

pistol -wound was bu t a n o ther versio n o f the p oisoned cup

of the duke o f Saxe -Weimar and a n exem pl i fica ti o n of
,

the cardinal s maxi m : I overthro w everything I cut

’

”
down everythin g whe n my aim i s determined
, .

How frequently we find in the world s annals that th e ’

l i fe or death o f on e man decides the issue of a n enterpris e

i n which man y thous a nds are emb a rked The loss o f .

De Soissons seemed to paraly z e his party N otwi th .

standing h i s experie n ce and reputatio n a s a leader De ,

Bouillon allowed the roy a l ar my to rally and recruit withou t

any spirited e ffort to oppose them ; and when the king re
tu rned to the S iege of Sedan the duke did n ot vent ur e to
,

resist him but eagerly proposed an accommodation Th e

, .

Duke de Bouillon wa s well received by the king a n d ,

highly complimented by the cardinal Thus this for tunate .

minis t er s a w a terrible storm which h a d threatened h i s

,

exis t ence in e v ery way dispersed by the death of one o f

,

his bitterest enemies The king granted letters of pardon

.

to the duke and his party an d neutrality to the princi

,

a lit o f Sedan i n order that it might not be exposed to

p y ,

the in cursio ns of the Spaniards The submission of .

 THE R I VA L M INI S TER S . 43 3

De Bou illon bein g produced by dread of the strength of

the royal armie s could n ot be expected to be sincere ; he
,

a n d the cardin a l exchanged courtesies but he did not lo v e ,

him more for h is forced hum i liation a s we shall s ee in the

,

events of the n ext year .

I n the mean time the n ever -endin g co nte s t with Spain

w a s goin g on generally to the advantage of France
, .

This wa r wa s re a l ly a game played by the two ministers ,

a n d O liva rez wa s no match for Richelieu N 0 right .

prin cipled mind can either l ike or admire Richelieu ; but

a ll must accede to him h i s t itle o f an acute poli t ician ,

when in collisio n with a man of common i n tellect like th e

Spanish minister I f O livarez had adopted a fa ir an d
.

honourable lin e of policy we have the faith i n the ulti

,

m ate success of rectitude to believe he might in the end , ,

have defeated hi s e n emy ; but it was a co n test of fin es s es

an d intrigues and in s u ch a one Richeli eu wa s i m e qu a ll ed .

Let n one of ou r r e a ders think that we by thi s admission , ,

a l low hi m to have bee n a great m i nister ; we have n o

°

belief in hi s ever having acted upo n th e enl a r g e d an d

n oble principle which sho uld guide a p owerful sta te .

Duclo s i n hi s M em oz r es s u r l a Rég en ce says : The “

’
’

, ,

great m iniste r is he who for great and u sefu l obj ect s

, ,

pr opor tion s his me a n s to his e nte rprises crowns the m ,

with success an d m ay justly take pride in events from

,

having foreseen them prepared them and broug ht them

, ,
”
a bout. We thi nk thi s on e of the fin est definitions of a
great min ister i n a few words that we eve r read ; a n d
certainly it bears n o resemblance to Car din a l de Richelieu :
hi s wa s a minis try of unprincipled m easures and u n
scrupulous mean s I t i s absurd to tal k of h i s debasement
.

o f the gr eat n obles being an act of state policy for the ,

good of the kin g of France they were powerful enemie s

to hi s o wn unbounded authority and he w a s strong ,

enough to cr u sh or check them ; that wa s a ll I f th e .

policy h a d b e en inten de d a n d a t th e s am e tim e s o un d

, , , ,

2 E
43 4 C INQ -M A RS C ON S P I R A C Y’
.

by wresting undue influence from the nobles he mi g ht

have ameli orated t he lot of the people but h i s course lay
in ano ther direction : he bestowed the power upo n the
n omina l ki n g— that he might exercise it .

C HA P T E R XI I .

C onsp iracy of C in q M ars— S i ckn es s of th e ki ng a n d

-
th e d al car in
C in q M ars p l ot d i s c over e d C m q M ars De T h ou
-
’
— -
, ,
a n d th e D u k e
d e B ou ll
i on arr t,
e s e d — I
nt r i e v e w o f th e k
in ar i
g a n d th e c d n l a
T ria ti n
l a n d e xecu o o f C i n q ars M h ath
a n d D e T ou — D e
-
of M
y ar
d e M e d i c i — P m p o f th e c d
o ar ina r i nan ta n
l — Pe p g k e — D ec l m e o f
h a th i t rin
th e c a r d m a l s e l — C i v l i y o f th e p
’
c e o f Or a n g w A r r og a n c e
o f R c el e — R p d d e c l
ih iu a i in r tan
e— C i c u m s r nc es p e c e di g h is d e ath
—D e ath ar ina
o f th e c d ar i n ra
l , in h i s 5 8 th ye — Hi s w ll , fu e l , a n d
ep ita hs
p s ri tion
— De c
p o r on
f h i s p e s n ot
, & c —
A e c d . e s —
Ob s e rva
ti ons u p on h is charac ter a s a m a n a n d a m inis ter
,
.

THE grand ecuyer hav ing a s we ha v e said in a pre ,

ceding chapter become the enemy of the cardin a l he

, ,

turned his whole a t ten t ion to plan s for his destruc tion .

He felt that he S hou l d requi re the aid of Monsieur who , ,

n otwi ths t anding forced appearances had never lo v ed the ,

mini ster who had heaped upon him a ll sorts of annoy

,

a n c es. T h us Cinq Mars found no di ffic ul ty in seducin g

-

the duke into hi s party by representing to him that the

,

c ardinal who w a s quite aware of the decl ine of t he king s

’
,

he a lth wa s labouring to have himself appointed regent

,

by the kin g s wil l to the exclusion o f all who mi g ht pre

’

tend to tha t honour The duke who looked upon t h is

.
,

post as hi s own by birth and who knew the ambition of ,

Richelieu e a s ily belie v ed the grand ecuyer and had

, ,

s everal secret conferences with h im to dev i se means for ,

the great p u rpo se of ruin ing the m inister or destroyin g

th e m a n.
43 6 R I CHEL I E U S S U S P I C ION S A R OU S E D
’
.

that this rumour wh ich h i s enemies took pains to cir cu

,

l a te might become a fact n ever lost S ight of the kin g ,

duri ng his journe y t o Roussil lo n On account of their .

r etinues t hey had bee n accustomed to lodge at di ffere n t

,

places on a j our ney or a march ; but this time t hough i t

, ,

produced great inconveni ences the cardi nal insis t ed upo n ,

lodg ing where th e king lodged a n d never missed having ,

an interview with hi m the fir st thi ng in the morn ing an d

the last at nig ht to dis s ipate by his presence all tha t
,

m ight he infused int o the king s m ind against him

’
.

P arti a l a s Louis w a s to Cinq -Mar s Richelieu wa s s o ,

well acquainted with every portion of the kin g s character ’

and had had such practice i n the m an agin g of it th a t the ,

favourite had n o ch a nce in such a contest and the ,

c a rdin a l eas ily defeated a ll tha t wa s a ttempte d in tha t

quar te r .

It i s asserted that Ci n q -Mars mo r e than o n ce u rged

the necessity for k ill ing the car din al but that neither th e ,

duke of O rlean s n or De Thou would gi ve their conse n t to

the perpetratio n of such a cr im e O ther authoritie s s a y .

that the gr an d ecuyer had a gr eed with Monsieur to

execute this proj ect dur ing the j o urn ey to Languedoc ;
but a l thou g h he met with an excelle nt opportunity a t
,

B ri are he did no t dare to a vai l hi mself of it in the absen ce

,
,

o f the d u ke of O rleans who wa s preve nted a tten ding th e

,

king by a fit of the gout He e n tertain ed a S im il a I desig n

.

at Lyon s where a great numbe r of the n obles of A uvergn e

,

had come to meet the king an d eve n ventured to propos e ,

it to h i s maj esty but he r ej ecte d it with disdain though

, ,

he appeared di ssat i sfied with the cardinal an d a llowed ,

Cinq -Mar s to S peak ill of him Wh ilst this affair wa s i n ,

slow progr ess the duke of O rle a ns endeavoured to atta ch

,

the duke o f Beaufort to the p a rty ; but that n oblem a n

wa s certa in fr om hi s knowle d ge o f the man s character
’

, ,

that the Abbé de la Riv i ere G a sto n s chaplain wa s only

'

, ,

dr a win g hi s m a s te r in to s ome da ng e rou s plot to b e turned ,

 I LL N E SS OF THE C AR D INAL . 437

to h is own advantage by betrayin g it whe n ripe an d , ,

wo u ld n ever have anyth ing to do with it .

The conduct o f Cinq-Mars became s o impru dent as to

a ttract the attention o f everybody I nstead of c on el l i a ti n g .

his master and e n deavouring to preserve the good will of

,

s o liberal a benefactor by a complia n ce with his humours, ,

a n d at t ention to all he said he seemed to take a pleasur e ,

i n con tradicting him and avoided h is society a s much a s

,

he could The kin g i n his partiality for him wa s c on

.
, ,

s ta n tl y inquiring for him and he a s co n stantly wa s not , , .

to be found When hi s friends warn ed him that such

.

behaviour must soo n ruin him he laughingly replied that , ,

the king s breath wa s s o bad he r eally could not endure to

’

g n ear him Such a s p ee ch wou ld find many faithful echoes

o .

i n a court an d we can n ot be a s tonished that the cardinal

,

s hould succeed in destroying the influence of such an as su

min g an d imprude nt man At N arbonne it became very . ,

evident that the kin g s r egar d for Cin q-Mars wa s greatly

’

di mi n ished .

In th is city the cardin al fell seriously ill ; a humo u r

,

had settled in h i s a r m for some time and he had n ow ,

tw o a bce s s es i n h i s chest His relations believed him .

to be struck with d eath and he w a s u nable to si g n ,

the w ill he made on the 2 3 r d o f May I t i s said that .

Cinq-Mars begi nning to be frightened at the coolness he

,

had s o foolishly created in the king had made up his mind ,

to get rid of the cardin al by some mean s ; but learning

from his physicians that he could only live a few weeks ,

he judged it better to allow him to die than to hasten h i s ,

death by an act of violence which might prove fat al to the

perpetrator of it The difference between the cardinal
.

a n d the gr a n d ecuyer had become s o public that i n the ,

camp at Perpi g nan the whole army was div ided into two
,

faction s on e of which wa s styled the royalists and the

, ,

o ther t he c a r d i n a li s ts ; and it appeared that the braves t

S pirits we r e all a ttached to the former .

43 8 V A C I LL A T IN G C ON D U CT OF GA S T O N .

Soon a fter the k in g j o i ned the arm y he had a ser ious

a ttack of illness but which did not last long
, The g rand .

ecuyer howe v er secu red the gu ards a n d the Swiss and

, , ,

m ade the o fficers promise that they woul d assist the d u ke

o f O rleans in the contest about to take place between him

a n d the cardinal respecting the regency Marshals de

, .

Schomberg and de la Meilleraye were of the opposite

party but in the event of the king s death there wa s n o
,
’

doubt they would gi v e way The favour o f Cinq Mars .

-

evidently diminished daily and he now became anxio us ,

to preserve the little appearance of it that wa s left The .

king entirely abandoned h is habit of conversing with him

after he wa s i n bed Al l these evi l omens made Cinq Mars
.
-

press the duke of O rleans to co mmence Opera t ions by

r etiring to Sedan whi lst the kin g as warmly urged him to
,

j o i n hi m at Perpignan But the duke paid n o attention

.

to either o f them He did n ot obey the king under the

. ,

pretence of bein g ordered by h is physicians to g o to the

waters o f Bourbon for th e cure o f hi s gout ; a n d he did
,

n o t go to Sedan becaus e a wr itten order from the Duke

,

de Bou illon to the governor of that place was necessary ,

and he had n eglected to obt a in it before the duke went

into Italy He sent for thi s order but the duke being
.
,

unacquainted with the messenger refused to g ive it The , .

Coun t d A u bij ou x one o f Monsieur s domestics wa s the n

’ ’

, ,

despatched dis g uised as a Capuchin

, .

In the mean ti me the cardin al be in g still S ick at N a r

,

bonne and the king near Perpig nan the minis ter received
, ,

intelligence from Spain that a Frenchm a n had been fr e

quently seen in the a ntechamber of the count duke and -
,

there was a g eneral report that the enemies of the cardinal

were in tr ea ty wi th the Spani a rds but it was not yet
possible for the minister to have a copy of the treaty .

This kept him in a state of perpetu a l anxiety an d he ,

earn estly pressed the kin g to come to N arbonne under ,

th e pretext of con s ulting with him u po n affa i rs of the la s t

4 40 THE KI N G S
’
D I S TRE SS .

portant piece of service I f the Spaniards had k n owi n gly

.

allowed a copy of it to be taken they commi tted an enor ,

mous error ; and if this copy was i n the hands o f any of

the conspirators who could make such a u s e o f it stil l ,

greater blame is due to the leaders of the plot Come .

from whom it m i ght the cardinal received it with

,

great deli g ht and immediately sent off Chavigny to S how

,

it to the king and to advise him to have Cinq-Mars a r

,

rested Although the king had been disgusted by the

.

behav iour of h i s favourite Chavigny had the g reatest,

difficulty in persuading him to place the criminal in the

han ds of justice He went upo n his knees to i mplore
.

God to inspire him with the most proper determ i na t ion ,

a n d sent for Father S ir m on d a Jesuit h i s confessor to , , ,

a s k h i s advice The father confessor did not fa il to s a y

.

that in the case of such an enormous crime the king could ,

n ot hesitate in arresting the person accused of it A c .

cording to the practice o f Louis X III to arrest any on e .

,

for an o ffence again st the state an d to put him to deat h

were the same thing ; a s if he had bee n forbidden once in ,

hi s life to pardon a n enemy of the cardinal s

’
.
,

I t a ppeared scarcely practicable to arrest the gran d

ecuyer in the army he being a great fa v ouri te wi t h the
,

younger officers and the soldiery ; the king therefore , ,

d etermined upon goin g to N arbonne under the pretence ,

o f bei n g disposed to fe v er althou g h he had ne v er been

,

willing to go thither whilst the cardinal w a s there He .

,

besides wished to confer wi th the m i nister relative to the

,

a ffairs of Picardy which province was placed in a dan

,

g er o u s S ituation by the defeat o f the Marshal de Guiche .

When the king went to N arbonne Cinq -Mars whose , ,

charge compelled him to attend upon the person o f h i s

m a j esty followed him al though he had been warn ed that
, ,

h i s design s were discov ered He w a s a rrested on the

.

1 4 th of J u n e n otwithstan din g hi s e fforts to co n ceal

,
 O S S ON VI LLE A RRE S TED . 44 1

him self ; after h i s pursuers had gone o nce fruitlessly ove r

all the houses i n N arbonne he could n ot leave the city , ,
'

every gate being str ictly g uarded De Thou was arrested .

the night before with Chavagnac a H ug uenot an d some

, , ,

o f their people The two last were taken to Tarascon

.
,

u nder a good guard an d Cin q Mars was placed i n the

,
-

citadel of Montpellier .

O ssonville lieutenant of the D u ke de Bouillon s guar ds

,
’

who wa s left on the part of the d u ke with Cinq M a rs a s

, ,
-
,

soon a s h e heard o f th e arrest s et of post to carry the

_
,

n ews to the duke that he might take measures for hi s own

,

safety He passed through M on fr i n opposite to Tarascon

. , ,

on the other S ide of the Rhone where th e Viscount de ,

T u renne the n wa s a n d imprudently though t it necessary

,

to impart the n ews to him Turen n e who wa s unac .

,

q u a i n te d ;with t hese intrigues and who belie v ed that ,

perhaps the cardin al w a s equally i gnorant of them ,

thought he shou l d gr atify him by i n forming him of the

matter and at the same time told him that he had learnt
, , ,

it from O ssonville wh o was on hi s way to I taly The , .

cardinal immediately despatched a man aft er the talkative

messenger with the n ecessary orders for arresting him ;
,

he overtook him at Valence a n d O sson v ille wa s put in ,

prison i n that place O rders had already been sent to .

A ig u ebonn e D u Plessis Pr a l a i n and C a Stel a n m a r ec h a u a :

’
-
, , ,

d e c a m p in the army of I taly to arrest the Duke de ,

Bou i llon This order wa s executed at Casal althou g h the

.
,

duke had promptly concealed himsel f whilst C ou va n g es , ,

the go v ernor of the place was gone to fetch the kin g s ,

’

order for the pu rpose of showin g it to him Thus t he

, .

duke and the g rand ecuyer were taken without any chance ,

of escap e partly by t heir o wn imprudence and partly by

, ,

a sort of good fortune whi ch seemed to att end the desi g ns

o f the minister from whom very few of his enemies
,

es caped wh ilst he extri cated himself either skilful ly or

,
 B A SE N ES S OF T HE D U KE OF O RLEA N S .

fortun ately from the most imminent dangers The d u ke .

wa s confined for some time in t he citadel of Casal and i n ,

the month of A u g ust was transferred to Lyons and pl a ced ,

in the prison o f Pierre A ncise .

Whe n the d u ke o f O rleans learnt that the grand ecuyer

w a s a rrested ins t ead o f seeking m eans or usin g his in
,

fl u en c e to save his friends he exhibited hi s usual i n d iffer,

ence and weakness A s he had no doubt his share in the

.

plot wa s discovered he sent the A bbé de la Rivi ere to the

,

kin g to confess his fault and ask his pardon He wrote .

letters dated t he 2 5 th o f June to the king the Cardinal s

, , ,

de Richelieu and Mazarin and the secretaries o f state , ,

De N oyers a n d Chavigny fi l led with basenesses and

o
,

falsehoods either asking pardon or entreating M a z arin

, ,

and the two secretaries to assis t him in obtaining it The .

duke however burnt the ori g inal treaty which Fontraill es

, ,

had brought him from Spain and onl y kept a copy which , ,

he might have burnt likewise so that if he had had ,

proper firmness he could have been convicted of no thing

, .

A fter this hasty co n fession the kin g pardoned him upon , ,

condi tion tha t he Should go to N isi in Savoy a hous e , ,

bel on g m g to t he Duke de N em ou r s where he should ,

reside with a pensio n of two hundred thousand li vres the

, ,

r est of his re v enues be i ng g iven up to hi s credito rs .

Monsieur wished to see the kin g before hi s departure but ,

the k ing refused and the Marquis de Vil l er oi recei v ed

,

o rders to accompany hi m I t wa s first intended to send.

hi m to Venice a s appears by se v eral let ters but tha t

, ,

in te ntion was changed N either di d he go t o N isi and it

.

a ppears t hat the minister only feigned to wish to send him

o u t o f the kin g dom for the purpose o f te r rifying him into

,

confession of all he knew .

I n the mean wh ile the secretaries of state bo th devoted

, ,

creatures of the cardinal made it the i r business to keep ,

up the kin g s ill -will towards the prisoners The Abbés

’
.

d E fli a t an d De Thou bei ng a n xio us to in terced e for their

’
4 4141 L O UI S LE AVE S UN C O N TR O LLED P O WE R TO R I CHEL I E U .

the cardin a l if he had n ot bee n overpowered by that

,

ge n ius which seemed t o dominate over his mind when it

c a me within th e circle of i ts influence But we can n ot .

a cquit Louis o f cruelty ; h i s childish sports e v en were

comme n ced i n cruel ty and his first act of power the

, ,

a s sassinatio n o f the Marshal d A n c r e wa s perpetrated

’

before Richelieu wa s eve n in his coun sels Cold heartles s .

,

characters are i n ou r belief more disposed to cru elty than

, ,

h ot a n d impetuous n atures ; the latter may commit it i n

the fury o f passion but the former will dwell upon it and
, ,

protract it ; thus r e n dering it more pai n ful in i ts e ffects

a n d more hateful i n i ts character .

The king took the road to Lyo n s and the c a rdinal , ,

u nable to leave Tarasco n desired the secretary of state to

,

“
a s k him If up on i mp or ta n t a n d p r es s i ng a fia i r s h e
’

, , ,

s h oa l d i ve or d er s a s h e u d ed m os t p r op er f or h i s s er vi c e
y j g ,

a s h i s m a es t
j y h a d of ten c om m a n de d h i m to do In
case his maj esty wished he S houl d do s o he begged him ,

write s o to him a s if from hi s own idea The king did

, .

did n ot fail t o d o a s he desired an d wrote him a letter , ,

dated the last day of June in which he told him that , ,

being con strai ned by the pressure of a ffairs and the state
o f the card in a l s health to leave hi m in Langu edoc h i s
’

i ntention w a s that he shoul d act i n every thing that con

cerned the state with the same authority as if he himsel f
were present and that upon pressing occasions he shoul d
, , ,

proceed without waitin g to cons u l t him The cardin a l .

“
r epli ed to the k ing That a s he had never abused the
,

hon ours he had pleas ed to confer upo n him he would in ,

‘

the same mann er u s e the power his maj esty intrusted him
”
with with due m oderation We might a l most suspect
.

Jes u i ti c a l equivocation in this sen tence ; the world which ,

k n ew how he had abused h i s honours might imagine the ,

u s e he would make o f the power .

The d uke of O rleans had at first made a ki n d of general

co n fession , i n which he ack n owledged he had had co n
 G A S T O N WR I TE S H I S C ON FE S S IO N . 445

n ec tion s with the grand ecuyer an d the Duke de

Bouillon and promised to g ive the details to the cardin al
,

bu t t he minis t er required these deta i ls i n wri t in g The .

duke o ffered strong obj ections to this but at len g th c om ,

plied and o n the 7 th of Jul y wr ote a declaration in which

, ,

he told all he knew I t i s dated at A ig u ep er ce in .

,

Auverg ne where he had bee n permitted to stop instead

, ,

o f g oin g to Savoy He basely conse nted to d o everythi n g

.

required of him for the conviction of his frie n ds of the

conspir acy upon condition o f bein g allowed to li ve i n the
,

kin gdom as a private individual an d without an y tra n

i
,

beyond what the k in g wa s will ing to allow him With .

the on e S li ght exceptio n of h i s firm ness with regar d to

his wife this wa s the never -fail in g practice of this we a k
,

m a n fi!
‘
I ndeed that firmness may be better s tyled
,

obstinacy a s it did n ot arise from a n a ffection for the

,

duchess warm enou g h to keep hi m faithful to her .

Monsieur says Chavigny i n a lette r to the Car dinal

, ,

“
de la Valette is at present at Tours where he i s de
, ,

ta in e d by a p eti te i n c l i n a ti on : he a ppears to be very

”
well disposed Whi ch wa s a s much a s to s a y let
.
,

Monsieur have hi s pleas ure and the cardin a l might a ct ,

a s he liked The p eti te i n c l i n a ti on wa s the celebrated

.

Louison Of Tour s by whom he h a d a s on he alway s ,

refused to acknowledge There is n o doubt the cardinal .

and his emissaries threw such i n c l i n a ti ons i n h is way ,

to keep h i m ou t of what they con side r e d m or e s e ri ous

mischief .

The Duke de Bo uillo n upo n learn in g that the duke of ,

O rleans had confessed everything admitted that he had ,

conspired with the gr and ecuyer for the dismiss a l or eve n ,

destruc t ion of the cardinal but de nied havin g c on

, ,

G a s to n wa s trem el y p unctiliou s a n d onc e l ed th e d uke of

ex ,

Mom ba z o n ru d el y d own fro m a n exal ted d ais up o n w h i ch a nobl e

p ar t y w a s di ning a s be m g ,
abo v e h i s ra nk T h e d u k e th ou g h .
,

e x c ee d ing l y i rri ta t e d onl y sai d ,

I be h ove I a m th e firs t frien d you
“

ever assis te d d own from a s caff

,

old M ons ieur

’
.
,
44 6 DE ATH or M A R Y DE MED I C I .

s ented to the treaty of Madrid To institute the tri a l .

,

and pronounce sentence upon the criminals the cardinal , ,

accor di ng to h i s cus tom named commissioners who came

, ,

to the S pot and who went thr ough all the necessary for
,

m a l i ti e s
. The chancellor presided and the other members ,

were L a u ba r d em en t De Marca M er a u m es el De Pari s

, , , ,

De Chaz e an d De Séve likewise kin g s councillors and

, ,
’

masters of requests in ordinary of his household .

Whilst this trial wa s being prepared the cardinal wh o , ,

was still a t Tarascon learnt that the queen mother h is

,
-
,

an cient benefactress and for many years the pr incipal

obj ect of his hatred had died at Cologne on the 3 r d of
,

July . This unfortunate princess had resided at Cologn e

for more than two years in a state o f degradation and ,

distress to which fe w royal persona g es have been ex

posed s h e not only was deprived of the honour s to which
S he had been all her li fe accustomed but e v en of commo n ,

necessaries We cannot j oi n with those who s a y Mary

.

merited all her ill fortunes by her im petuosi ty and

obs t inacy . I f we compare these quali t ies with the
cri mes of her oppressor they become v enial She wa s ,
.

born a princess had been the wife o f a great king and the
,

re g ent of a powerful k i ngdom ; what historians call

the principal faul ts of her character were exhibited i n
Opposing an ungrateful servant whose ambi t ious views ,

and unprincipl ed conduct mus t have been Open to her a s ,

they were pla i n to all the world but to h i s dupe the ki ng .

Her obj ec t was not to obtain a rank or a posi t ion that

was not her due Mar y with all her faults did not want
.
, ,

for strong intellect ; s h e plainly percei v ed her son s in ’

compe tency for business ; S he had ruled him from child

hood and her dominatio n naturally appeared to her more
,

legitimate than that of a creature she had warmed i n her

bosom to s ting her I t wa s a stru g g le for power betwee n
.

them and proved the victory o f art o v er passion The

,
.

protr a cted pe rsecutio n of Mary de Medici by Richelieu is

4 48 R I CHEL I E U P A Y S H ONOU R To THE MEM O RY OF M A RY .

endeavoured to persuade her to s end him a s a S ign of ,

r econcil iation her portrait in a bracelet which s h e wore

,

on her a r m ; but the dying quee n turned from h i m in a n

“
expirin g flash o f passion and exclaimed E tr op p o The
,

very circumstance of her sayi n g in the language of h er

”
n fa n cy , th a t i s too m u ch proves th a t the bitter feelin g
,

wa s n ot exti n ct at the bottom of her heart The mi n is ter .

would n o do ubt have bee n proud of s uch a toke n to

, ,

exhibit to h i s m aj esty a s a j ustification beyo n d reply of

, , ,

h i s conduct The Father Chigi had the ho n esty afte r

.

war ds to admit th at he had r equir ed too much .

The cardi nal ordered a magnifice nt fu n eral se r vi ce to b e

performed for her ; a s if it wa s s a i d to m ake h er a
, ,

repar atio n a fter her death for the ev il h e had inflicted

u po n her whilst living What a n a bominatio n i n the
.

eye s of G d an d
o m a n -
this s ple n di d cere m on y wa s the
celebratio n of h i s triumph The kin g sh owed m uch an d
.

S in cere s orr ow a t learni n g the death of his m other His .

o wn consti tution wa s broke n ; the s eed s of d ea th we re n ot

on ly sown but were growing rapi dly to ripenes s

, an d s u ch
a r e the times when early affectio ns a n d impressio n s r e

tu rn with the greatest force To satis fy the m alice of an

.

i nexorable minister he h a d s a crificed the feelin g s of n ature

, ,

an d left h i s mother to die i n e xile an d in dige n ce Ca n .

we wonder then with a ll his imbecility a n d s ubse rvien cy

, , ,

th at he looked with n o kindly eye up on the m a n wh o h a d

bee n the cause of a ll thi s misery ?
The reside n ce at Tarasco n pr ove d ben eficial to the
cardinal and the moment he wa s a ble to un dertake th e
,

j ourn ey he s et ou t for Paris But he wa s n ot su fficiently

,
.

r ecovered to bear the fatigue o f r idin g on horseback or the ,

j olti ng o f the carri ages an d r oad s of that period s o he ,

ordered a kind o f litter to be m a de large enou g h to ,

contain his bed an d all his conveniences together with a

'

table and chair for the accommodatio n of a person wh o

wa s consta n tly to k eep him compa n y B ut the g r e a t .
 THE C A R D INA L S T RIU MPH A L PR O GRES S ’
. 449

Cardinal de Richelieu wa s not sa t isfied with ease an d

comfort Cleopatra i n her passage down t he Cydnus wa s
, ,

n ot more studious o f spl endour and e ffect than was this

dying churchman i n this famous j ourney He had sub .

dued all his enemies — h e was arbitrary master vindictive

pride was one o f his weaknesses and he determined to ,

exhibit himself to France in a manner more E a stern ,

tha n European The li t ter was covered with damask with

.
,

the convenience o f a waxed clo th to be drawn over it i n ,

bad weather ; i t wa s borne by eight men : the cardinal

d esired to have sturdy peasants chose n for this o ffice ,

but his guards volunteered for the servile task and car ,

ried him by turns as the soldiers of Al exander once carried

,

their beloved leader Whatever might be the weather .

,

the soldiers performing this duty w ere ordered to be

bare headed at that seaso n a n almos t in supportable i n
-
,

con v enience * The litter bein g too wide to pass t hrou g h

.

the g ates of cities a portion of the walls of all the cardinal

,

entered wa s take n dow n which was likewise done with ,

respect to the houses in which he lodged and into whic h ,

he insisted upon being borne in hi s portable chamber .

Pioneers were sent forward to wide n the roads where they

were too narrow and to level them where their roughnes s
,

m ight create an u neasy motion in the litter Thus thi s .

proud man travell ed nearly two hun dred leagues entering ,

every place as i t were by breach : thi s wa s his triumph a nt

, ,

progress after hav in g subdued his private enemies and

, ,

des t royed all the privileges of France — An d death foll owed .

the pompous lit t er frequently rais in g his ready dart and

, ,

laughing at the fantas t ic tricks of h i s victim !

T h e card inal h a d n ot s o m uc h c onsi d erat ion fo r h is s ol d i ers
a s h i s m a s t er h a d fo r hi s c ou rti ers T h e d uk e o f Orl e a ns, wi th th e
.

p ri d e o f a h ttl e m in d , t o o k d el ig h t i n k ee in
p g a l l b are he ad e d -

arou nd h im On a ve ry h ot d a y, th e g entl em en wh o stoo d unco

.

vere d o n th e step s o f th e c arriag e i n which were th e king a n d

M onsieur, w ere fe arfull y anno ye d by th e bu rning s u n T h e kin g , .

ob serving i t, said , with a s m u ch wi t a s”g ood natur e, Put your hats

- “

n , g entl em en m y brother all ows i t

p .

2 G
4 50 TR IA L or TH E C ON S P I R A T O RS .

To return to the conspirators Cinq Mars when con .

-
,

ducted to Ly ons an d examined m aintained that all tha t

, ,

Mon sieur had stated was false He con t inued to be a s .

fir m in his deni a l although he wa s otherwise muc h confu sed

, ,

when confronted wi th the Duk e de Bouillon The cir .

c u m s ta n c e most embarr assing to the j udges was their

having but one C opy of the treaty whi ch made it difli cu l t ,

for them to condemn Cinq Mars without confession They - .

endeavoured to draw the truth from De Thou whom ,

Monsieur and the Duke de Bouillon asserted to be a c

u a i n te d with everything except the league with Spain ;
q
but he persisted i n saying that he knew nothing o f all
they asked of hi m an d t hat he had only been anxious to
,

bring the Duke de Boui llon an d Cinq-Mars t o g e ther for

p urposes that were not at all criminal I t was deemed .

n ecessary to confront the d uke of O rl e ans with the

prisoners but he implored the king so earnes tly to spare
,

h i m that S hame and declared s o positi v ely that ra t her

,

than endure it he woul d fly to the end of the world tha t , ,

a gainst all laws hi s evidence wa s admi tt ed as good with

, ,

o u t con firmation provided he answered to the inter

,

r og a tor i es o f the chancellor in the presence of seven

,

commissioners Cinq Mars i n the mean t ime ha v in g

.
-
, ,

S hown an inclination to confess everything if his life were

spared the cardinal sent Lau bardemont to him who made
, ,

him the promise required upon condition that he wo uld

,

S peak the truth again st De Thou who he was told h a d , , ,

deposed against hi m He fell into this snare and being

.
,

interrogated on th e 1 2th of September by t he chancellor

a n d the Other commissioners he confessed everythi n g
, ,

and replied with regard to De Thou that the trea ty wi t h

, ,

Spain had been communicated to hi m at Carcassonne by

Fontraill es but that he had exclai med against that design
, ,

a n d had blamed it a s strongly a s possible A s for t he .

r est he h a d said more than once tha t if he had not been

, ,

re s tra ined hy the fe a r of inj urin g the guilty parties he wo uld ,

4 52 THE C A RD INA L LE A R N S THE S E N TE N CE .

touched by pity for D e Thou whose whole gu ilt co n siste d ,

‘

i n not havi ng betrayed h i s friend S hould grant them a ,

pardo n I t wa s the cardi n a l s con stant maxim n ever to

’

d estroy any one by halves and he was determined to ,

prevent the chance of the mercy o f Louis by a prompt

executi on Hi s eagerness for the death of De Thou is
.

h ardly to be accounted for The chan cellor wh o wa s.

,

enti rely his creature had employed the most extraordinar y

,

”
a r g u ments tOprocure h i s convic t ion : Think gentlemen , ,

h e sai d
,
“
what reproaches the ki ng will make you if you
c ondem n to death h i s confident hi s favourite whom he , ,

loved s o tenderly an d save your o wn compeer clothed i n

, ,
”
y our o wn r obe A S soon as the executio n was determined
.

o n the chancell or wrote to the cardi n al from his desk i n

,

the co urt an account of all that had passed and sent off ,

h i s exempt Pi c a u d with the message

, , Bic a nd came up .

with the travell in g chamber of the cardinal at two le a g u es

-

from Lyons We S hould have stated that the proud

.

m ini ster had travelled by water from Taras co n to Lyons ,

d raggin g the two prisoners in a boat fastened to the

“ ”
s tern o f hi s ma g ni ficent barge Well said the cardin a l .
, ,

a s Pi ca u d entered hi s chamber
“
what n ews have you , ,

Pi c a u d ? O nly replied the messenger

,
“
that M l e , .

Grand a n d M de Thou are c on dem e d to have their heads

.

”
c u t o ff
. At heari n g thi s the cardinal thou g h it wa s
, ,

with great di ffic ulty cou l d not refrain from rising fro m
,

hi s chair and exclaimin g three times

, M de Z h oa ’ a h ! .

M l e Ch a nce l l or h a s r eli eved m e by th a t f r om a g r ea t

”
bu r th en I Then he added B u t P i ca u d they h a ve no
, , ,

execu ti on e r ! So eager wa s his th irst for blood when ,

put u pon the s cent ! But what a n exclamatio n for a

Christia n prelate an d in such a condition !
,

After the pronun ciation of the senten ce all terres tria l ,

weakness seemed to have abandoned both De Thou an d

C i nq-Mars ; De Thou t urn ed towards h i s friend with a
 E X EC U T ION . 4 53

O ught to compl ai n of you : you have accused me you have ,

brou g ht about my death ; but God only knows how I

have loved you ! Let us die Monsieur let us die courage , ,

”
ou s l y ; an d let u s gain heaven together ! They embraced
each other with great tenderness saying that S in ce they , ,

had bee n such good friends durin g their li ves it woul d be ,

”
a great co n sola t ion to t hem to die to g ether When th e .

chancellor had delivered h is awfu l s entence D e Thou , ,

like a man penetrated by a deep and a ffectin g piety ,

exclaimed God be blessed ! God be praised ! bu t

Cinq-Mars though he listened with proud compos u re to
,

the se ntence was v iolently agitated when the judge came

,

”
to the word u es ti on He did n ot he said fear dea th
q , .
, , ,

but he feared his o wn constancy under torture A fter .

inflicti n g a ll the mental agony they could upon him h e ,

wa s spared the physical ordeal a s the end wa s gained , ,

an d n o more confession wa s n ecessary The cruel policy .

o f the cardinal would n o t allow t hem to choose their con

fes s or s : Father M a l a va l ette a Jes ui t was gi v en to Cinq

, ,

Mar s an d the Father Mo ntbrun of the same society wa s , ,

chosen for De Thou The guar ds who had been placed

.

o ver Cinq Mars shed tears o n quitti n g him

- he bein g ,

much beloved by the soldiery Do not weep my ,

friends said he tears are useless death had never any

, ,

”
terrors for me Both evinced great courage a n d fir m
.

n ess o n the sca ffold but in a very di fferent yet character

, ,

i s ti c way ; whi ch may be described without on e addition a l ,

word by their dress on this awful occasion Cinq M ars

, .
-

wore a nut coloured suit covered with gold lace a black

-
, ,

h a t turned up a l a Ca ta l a n e green silk hose white

, , ,

stocking drawn over them bordered with lace a n d a , ,

scarle t cloak He persisted in wearing his plumed hat t o

.

t he las t no twithstanding a discour teous a tt empt o f one of

,

th e guards t o remove it De Thou wa s clo thed in a dee p

.

mournin g suit o f black and ascended t he scaffold with h i s

,

ha t in h i s hand and his cloak over hi s a r m

, .
4 54 R EFLE C T IO N S U P ON THE C ON S PI R A C Y .

Rom a ncers hav e thro wn an i nterest over the death of

these young men which we think will be lessened by
examination We are proud a n d happy to say that it i s
.

on e o f the featu res o f humanity to regret seeing t he young

a n d p romisin g cut o ff i n their bloom ; our pi ty o v ercomes

ou r sense o f justice particularly as is the case i n thi s

, ,

instance if we ha v e a well founded hatred for the part y

,
-

that in flicts the stroke N 0 on e can doubt that they were

.

gu ilty o f a n a tt empt to r ender themselves masters of the

gover nment by ill egal means ; and we are equally con
vi n c ed that if they had succeeded i n t heir desi g ns the ,

peopl e would have bee n n either more happy nor more

prosperous than they were un der the iron rod of the
cardin a l N either Cin q-Mars De Thou the duke of
.
, ,

O rleans nor the Duke de Bou illon had evinced abilitie s

, ,

to prove that they were equ ally able to direct the foreign
policy o f the state a s the experienced though sel fish ,

cardin a l Richelieu kne w that his own greatness must

.

d epend upon the g reatness o f the state he ruled and , ,

though his policy was tortuous and continually embroiled ,

him with other g overnments when it became his personal ,

in te rests to un t ie the Gordian knots o f it he generally ,

proved himself equal to any on e he m i ght have to contend

with N either the conspirators n or the king could have
.

displayed skill or firmness equ a l to hi s They were .

a ctuated by ambi tion envy and hatred and not at all by

, , ,

a des ire for the prosperity or peace of the people I f they .

h a d s ucceeded the confusion we can imagine must have

, , ,

been great : Cinq-Mars wa s a vain trifli ng coxcomb ; D e , ,

Tho u w a s a vision ary ; De Bouillon was an interested ,

n ot very brilliant par tisan G aston wa s a weak waverin g

, , ,

S hut t lecock to be played with by any o n e who minis t ered to

,

hi s pleasures or fed hi s pas sions Such were no t the me n.

to supersede even Richelieu favo ur ably for France But .

,

we again urge that although the cardinal stood abo v e

,

such a s these he was mor e than as far below the good a n d

,
4 56 REVER S E S OF S P AI N .

f o r ces a r e i n P erp i g n a n a n d y ou r en em i es
S i r e, y o u r ,
”
ar e d ea d .Thus i n on e mon t h France became possessed ,

o f two places o f the greatest importance particularly i n ,

the event o f any wa r wi th Spain Perpigna n secured .

Roussillon and placed her i n a situat ion to preserve

,

Ca t alonia if s h e desired to do s o ; and Sedan closed the

en trance into France again s t the Spaniards on that side ;
whereas before by g a ining the Duke de Bouill on wh ich
, , ,

w a s not a di fficult matter they might enter whenever ,

they pleased The a ffairs of Spai n on the contrary c on

.
, ,

tinned to progress badly The n e w king of Portugal .

,

John I V was successfu l i n his operations against the

.
,

Spaniards both at home an d abroad The ministry o f .

O liv arez by its want o f foresight and prude n ce was

, ,

d estructive of the energies o f that fine country and the ,

open discontent o f se v eral provinces and many of the

higher nobles by distractin g the government crippled i ts
, ,

foreign operations A midst distresses of all kinds the

.
,

Spaniards had made incredible e fforts to succour Per

pignan ; but it wa s remarked that notwi thstanding s i x ,

mon t hs o f unceasing exertion they could only bring ,

m en into the field A S a crownin g m isfortune.

,

these arri v ed too late ; the place had surrendered to

Marshal de la Meilleraye o n the 7 th of S ep tember after , ,

s u ffering grea t ly from famine But if there wa s a s car city.

o f food , t here was none o f the muni tions of war ; the

French took possession of a n a rsenal ca pable of armi ng
men horse and foot of 1 20 pieces of cannon a n d
, , ,

quintals o f powder .

'

A s if the car di nal were doomed to leave France in a

better position tha n her n ei ghbours the affairs of most o f ,

the o ther countri es were if n ot in a disas t rous condi t ion

, ,

i n a state o f serious trouble F rance continued to have .

compl e t ely the a dvanta g e a gainst the S paniards : the

S wedes we r e s ucces sful ove r the imperialists a t a ll po in ts ,
 DE C L IN E OF THE C A R D INA L S HE A LTH ’
. 4 57

a nd England was working ou t o n e of her grea t r evol u

tions and lay in g the foundation o f her fu t ure prosperity
,
.

Riche l ieu oft en boasted that he had been greatl y i n s tr u

m en t al i n fomen t ing the disturbances in En g land and ,

doubtless he had not ne g lected s o g ood an oppor tunity

,

for annoyin g an enemy ; but a s he di ed more than s ix ,

years before the g rea t catastrophe he had not the satis ,

faction of witnessing that I t is not to be supposed that

.

because he was the prophet of despotic authority i n

France that he could have been the supporter of it in
,

England ; t he only principle he acknowledged was exp e

d i en cy : therefore the Calvin i sm he des t royed in France
,

he upheld i n Germany and the liber ty he ann ihilated in

,

h i s o wn country he co u l d consisten tly with his policy

, ,

promote on the other side of the channel A S to the .

sacred principles of religion or liber ty he deemed them ,

beneath the consideration of a great sta t esman .

We now approach t he concluding scene o f this eventfu l

li fe Althou g h he had taken e v ery imaginable care to r e
.

establish his heal th he had labour ed under a S pecies of

,

languor ever since h i s return from Roussil lon The king .

being at F on ta i n ebl ea u i n the mont h of O ctober the

, ,

m inister j oined him there thou g h su ff ering from a S light

,

at t ack of fe v er Fro m thence he wen t to Paris where

.
, ,

s ummonin g t he councillors o f state he proceeded to the ,

discussion of affairs which embraced the whole p olicy of

Europe an d the direction of all the energies of France ,

with his usual acumen listening to propositions lik e a

, ,

m an who had many years to live and flattering himsel f ,

wi th the certainty o f making great an d important con

ques t s ih a very fe w campaigns .

To div er t his attentio n from the serious occupations

which he began to feel insensibly a ffected his heal th he ,

c oncei v ed the fancy of havin g a strange kind of comedy

r eprese n ted in hi s pal a c e co nta i n in g par t of the thoughts
,
4 58 THE RI N G S C ON D ES C E N S IO N To H I S M I NI S TE R .

that occupied hi s mind I t was entitled Europe the prin

.
,

c i p a l actress in it was a princess bearin g tha t name and , ,

w h o had man y lovers all striv i n g to gai n her a ffec t ion s

, .

The two most conspicuous o f these were n amed I ber e an d

F r a n ci on and the merit o f the latter in the end prevailed
, ,

over that of his ri va l Everyth in g of importance that had

.

passed from the Opening of the wa r to t he conspir acy of

Cin q Mars was introduced into this piece
- .

The king continuing to reside at St Germains the .

,

r esults of the deliberations o f the council could n ot be

conveniently carr ied into operation The cardinal being .

anxious about the war measures wished to remove this ,

o bstacle by holding the councils i n the kin g s presence ;

’

but he could not persuade himself to j oi n his maj esty at

S t Germains which he said was t oo exposed a place
.
, , , ,

a n d not at all safe for him on account o f the king s g uards

’

, ,

who were infected wi t h the designs of the late grand e cuyer

’

He proposed therefore to the kin g to come to Paris or

, , ,

to go to St Maur or the Bois de Bologne j us t as o n e

.
, ,

sovereign woul d act wi th h i s equ a l A ft er having see n .

that prince give U p his favourite to his v en g eance and not ,

d are to extend pardon to any on e for fear o f o ffending ,

him he fancied nothing w a s to o great for his merits or

, ,

that the k ing ou g ht not at once to grant i n his favour .

He in sisted upon his weak master s dismissin g Til l a d el ’

La Sale Des E ssar t s and Tr ev ille the captains of h is

, , ,

guards against who m he could urge nothin g bu t that they

,

had not been enemies o f Cinq -Mars He l a id most s t res s .

upo n the dismissal o f Tr eville who he knew had bee n ,

co urted by Cinq -Mars and who had replied tha t he would

,

do whatever the king commanded Being of an open a n d .

intrepid nature he believed him capable o f doin g e v ery

,

thin g i f the kin g gav e the word ; and he became the oh

,

e c t o f his suspicion from ha v ing o n a ll occasions refuse d

j , ,

to attach him self to a n y o ther person but his m a j es ty A S .

Richelieu now more than shared the royal authori ty and a s ,

4 60 L OUI S D I S M I S S E S H I S F A V OU R I TE O FF I CER S .

truce when he heard that the cardinal was leaving N ar

,

b onne and the favour of the grand écuyer was increasin g

, ,

from a conviction that whe n that minister had withdrawn

from affairs there cou l d be no stability expected in the
,

conduct o f France The king was exceedin g ly s truck

.

with this speech and the cardin a l so delighted that h e

,
,
,

wrote to the prince of O range s ix weeks before h i s death , ,

in the following terms — He ( D E s tr a d e) will describe to ’

you the g ratitude I entertain for the favour able sentiments

you express for me for the concer n you S how for my ,

health an d at the impediments which evil minded person s

,
-

have thrown i n the way o f the kin g s affairs I want ’

.

f
woxd s to thank you for the kindness you have sho wn m e
o n these occasions but I beg you to belie v e that I wi l l
,

”
lose no time to prove to yo u that I am trul y & c , .

The king could not however make up hi s min d to , ,

dismiss captains whom he knew to b e warmly attached to

him and of whose fidelity he could not possibly doub t ;
,

but the cardinal in order to force his consent from h im

, ,

sent Chavigny to him with a letter i n which he begged , ,

his maj esty to allow him to retire from o ffice The king .

was so angry at receivi ng thi s messa g e that contrar y to , ,

his cus tom he fl e w into a passion with the secretary a n d

, ,

forbade hi m to intrude upo n his presence again He eve n .

added that the cardinal had sever a l persons about h i m

,

who were sus pected by him and extremely disa g reeable ,

to him and it was but j ust that the minister S hould satisfy
,

him by dismissing them ; a n d he named Chavign y hi mself ,

a n d De N oyers He a l so behaved very rudely to the latter

.

m inister and was wi th great difficulty broug ht in t o

,

good humour by Maz arin But after quarrelling with his .

minister j ust as one private indiv idual quarrels wi th

a nother he made it up i n the same childish way an d
, ,

sacri ficed his most zealous servants to t he caprice of the

cardinal He however permi tted them to sel l their com
.
, ,

missio n s , a n d in the m e a n tim e o r dered their l ie utenants

, ,
 R I C HEL I E U S I N S O LE N CE
’
To THE QU EE N . 4 61

to perform t heir duties and that their pensions should be

,

paid to them where v er they chose to reside He even .

sent a gentleman to Tr eville to assure him that the king

,

lov ed him as much a s ever a n d that abse n ce wo uld not

,

di minish his esteem for him .

I t i s difficult to s a y if Richelieu had lived m uch lon ger

where his arr o g ance and presumption would have stopped .

The queen u pon paying h im a visit at Ruel was not r e

, ,

c ei ve d with even gentlemanly courtesy : he did n ot e v e n

r ise from his fauteuil at her en trance ; a n d i n stead o f

pleading his illness as a n excuse he told her s h e coul d n ot

,

be surprised a s it wa s the custom i n Spai n fo r car dinal s

,

to keep their seats in the presence o f queens The queen .

,

too much i n dread o f him to s a y all S he felt con t ented ,

herself with replying that s h e had bee n accusto med s o

long to consider herself a Fr en ch wom a n that s h e had for ,

gotten the usages o f Spain The king however wa s

.
, ,

seriously o ffended at the car din al s want of respect for her

’

maj esty .

The court bein g purged a s the cardinal s partisan s

,
’

said of the rest of the factions his authori ty appeared

, ,

boundl ess ; but n ature soo n reminded him that he wa s

but a man amidst all his self-g l or ifica tion ; n ot only had
the health o f the king been v isibly changed S ince the
death of Cinq Mars but that of the cardina l declined still
-
,

m ore rapidly Towards the end o f N ovember he wa s

.

attacked by a very serious pain i n the side attended with ,

fever He had been for several years annoyed by piles ;

.

a n d after a severe il l n ess occasioned by them a physician ,

had imprudently entirely s topped them From that t ime .

i t appeared as if the too acid blood was thrown up to the

s uperior parts a tumour wa s formed on his arm to s u b ,

due wh ich both fire and steel had to be call ed in He .

passed the year 1 6 4 1 without much inconvenience ; but

the followi n g year ha v ing closed the ulcer in his arm the ,

h um our havi ng lost that vent so ught a fresh on e a n d ,

 C A R D INA L S L A S T I LL N ESS
’
4 62 T HE .

fo rm ed abscesses o n h is breast which abridged hi s day s

, .

O ne o f h i s biographers h a s the foll owing remark u po n

this I t is oft en the fate o f the g reat to be the worst
ser v ed i n all that concern s the cure of their di seas es ,

because they are only accessible by co u r tiers a n d a s

cour t iers unde r stan d n o other profession but that of
”
flattery they c a nn ot have good physicians
, Thi s r e .

mark is pertinent but we shou ld scarcely venture it on

,

o u r o wn responsibility ; and yet a n ot very remote incide n t

i n the his t ory o f Englan d somewhat s trengthen s it .

As generall y happens in such complaints he wa s subj ect ,

to changes and wa s sometimes better sometimes worse ;

, ,

the hopes o f h i s relation s and dependents rose an d fell

alternately and j oy and grief were by turns impressed
,

u pon their countenances I t is asserted that the manne r

.

i n which the ki n g h a d received his last peremp tory r e

quests although he had a t length complied with them
, ,

had made him a s angry a s if he thought his maj esty wa s

in duty boun d to submit to everythin g he wished and it
wa s e v en said that his e xci te m en t on the occasion s o i n
s

creased the pai n in h is side that he wa s oblig ed to be bled

twice . O n the 3 oth o f N ovember which wa s a Sunday
, ,

the Holy Sacrament wa s put up in all the churches of

Paris t o endeavour to obtai n from Heaven the restoration
,
,

of the powerfu l minister s health ; but t hese pr a yers o f

’

ceremony were not more e fficacious than the interested

vows o f his relations On the following morning he a p
.

r e d bet ter and a ll wh o wished for hi s recovery bega n

p e a ,

to think and to s a y that God himself to ok a n interest in

i t ; but towards the close o f the day their tone wa s sadly
a ltered for the pain and fever increased rapidly
, ,

a ttended wit h such difficulty o f respiratio n that hi s ,

a t tendan t s co uld n ot leave him for an in stant O n the .

2 md of December there wa s a consul tation of physicians ,

the resul t of whi ch w a s a convicti on that t he cardin al had

b ut a short tim e to live The king upon being inform ed
.
,
4 64 A PPR OA C H OF THE A WF U L M O ME N T .

s en tence, a n d I i m p l or e h i m wi th a l l m y h ea r t to c on d e m n
m e if i n m y m i n i s tr I h a ve p r op os e d a n thi n to m s e lf
y y g y
bu t f or th e g oo d of r e l ig i on a n d th e s ta te — He was S O .

accustomed to co n found the g ood he S poke of with h i s

o wn greatness a n d authority that it is really to be
i magined he decei v ed himself and believed t hat all that ,

was advantageous to himself wa s inseparable from the

welfare of the stat e — The next day at dawn he wished to
r eceive extreme un ction an d the curé having replied t hat
,

it was n ot n ecessary— a m an of h i s rank bein g allowed to

d ispense with the forms to which others were subj ect— h e
i n sisted upon bein g treated in the same manner as a com
m on perso n A ft er havin g recited the principal articles
.

o f belief he said
, h e em br a ced th em wi th a p erfec tf a i th
, ,

a n d if h e h a d a h u n d r ed th ou s a n d li ves h e wo u l d s a cr ifice

th em f or th e f a i th a n d th e C h u r c h Upon being asked if .

he did not pardon his enemies h e r eplied “

th a t h e d i d
, ,

i t wi th a l l h i s h ea r t i n th e sa m e m a n n er th a t h e i mp l o r e d
”
D i vi n e Ju s ti ce to a ct This pardon came a
towa r ds h i m .
—

little too late a s he had destroyed or ruined the greater

,

part of all who had bee n opposed to him — He was asked .

if i n case God sho u l d grant him lon ger life he would not
e m ploy it better for Hi s service than he had done to ,

whi ch he replied “
M a y Go d r a ther i nfl i c t up on m e a
,

th ou s a n d d ea th s if h e f or es ees th a t I s h ou ld c o n s en t to a
”
m or ta l s i n He recommended himself to the prayers of
.

all present i n a manner that affected them greatly and a

man who had passed h i s life in the most strict observance
o f the precepts o f the G ospel co uld n ot have evinced

greater confidence in God .

Al though he had bee n give n over by h i s physician s ,

a n d t here appeared no chance o f h i s recovery a n empiric ,

from Tr oyes named Le Fevre bein g presen t and having

, , ,

extravagantly boasted of we do n ot know what water a n d

o f some miraculous pill s the cardinal expressed a wish to
,

try if th is m a n did n ot kn o w m ore than hi s r eg ula r

 THE D E A TH OF THE C A R D I NA L . 4 65

m edical attendants Be fore dinner he took some o f his

.

wa t er and o n e of h i s pill s and a ppe a red to be a litt le ,

relieved He however continued to take leave o f all

.
, ,

wh o approached him wi th a firm voice and a serene,

'

countenance a s if he had n o t the least shade o f fear o r

,

doubt upon h i s mind The king paid him another visi t

.

i n the afternoon and agai n ex p ressed himsel f with g reat

,

feeling and kindness Towards fi v e o clock he t ook

.
’

a n other pill and he fancied himself much better O n the

, .

morning of the 4 th December aft er hav in g t aken medi ,

cine his fever seemed to subside an d his family flattere d

, ,

t h emsel v es he was out o f danger but in a fe w hours he

sunk into such a pe rfect state of weakness and exhaus tio n
that it became v ery plai n the awfu l scene was about to
close . When t his was percei v ed a monk n amed Father , ,

Leon kneeling by his bedside asked him if being S hortly

, , ,

to breat he t he last brea th o f the life o f which he wa s

about to render an account to God a n d drawin g n ear to ,

e t ernity wi t h rapid steps he did not wish to receive th e ,

last absolu t ion The cardinal having by a S i g n expresse d

.

his desire for it the monk replied tha t as t he fl u xion did

, ,

n ot leav e him the use of sp eech he mus t j oin h i m in hear t '

i n a ll he said ; and as a S i g n o f sincere repen t an ce he

, ,

begged h i m to squeeze his hand ; which he did Th e .

ordinary prayers for t he dyin g were then recited to him ,

a n d from time to time S poon sful o f wine were administered

t o keep up his stren g th The cold sweats of death how .

,

e v er seized him ; an d towards midday whi ls t repeatin g

, ,

I n m a n u s tu a s D om i n e & c he gave up the ghost witho ut

, , .
, ,

t he least v iolence o r strug g le He w a s in the fifty eighth .

-

year o f his li fe the eigh t eenth o f his mi nistry a n d the

, ,

n inth mon th of his illn ess .

When we reflect upon this close of such a life we a r e ,

convin ced that o n e of two things or perhap s a combina ,

tion of the two must have produced the extraordinary

,

s erenity with whic h he m et the moment at wh ic h eve n

2 H
466 H I S M AN N ER OF DYI N G .

the most v ir tuous feel some de g ree of doubt if n o t dre a d .

H e must have been s o perfect an ac tor as to en a bl e h i m

'

to play his part through w ith unflinching firmness to the ,

dropping of the curtain ; or he must i n conscience have

'

been convinced that a ll he had done was ri g ht Poets .

a n d moralists paint in vivid colours the d e ath -bed o f the

W icked an d yet we seldom fin d that the closing scene o f

,

the wholesale m urderer the ambitious conqueror or the

, ,

corrupt and u njust j u dge h a s a fforded any impressive

,

lesson to surrounding specta t ors or posterity We do not .

lear n that troops o f h i s victims disturbed the last

moments o f Sylla ; or that the spirits o f the poisoned
'

soldiery of Ja fl a of the Duke d E n g h i en or of the

,
’

countless victims o f the Russian exPed i ti on surrounded ,

the dying bed of Bonapar t e A mbi t ion must throw a

.

S pell over i ts worshippers that produces not only a total

,

death to all feeling but se l fishness but likewise a n ,

abandonment o f all impressions to which common h u

manity i s subj ect We o f course speak of such deaths
.
, ,

a s leave the mind i n the free exercise o f its powers ;

where deliriu m o r lon g prostration precedes t he a wful
moment it ceases to be a psychological question The
,
.

most awful death on record of a g reat criminal is perhaps , ,

that of Charles I X But this man died as if he were

.

t ak i ng leave of his friends for a pleasant j ourney and left ,

n one but grievin g a n d loving hearts behind him His .

great support wa s p u bl i c i ty had he died like h i s victim

Mary de Medici i n i n di g en c
,

a gonizing the departing S pirit with

keeping alive unconquerable hatreds instead of infusing ,

soothing hopes his mode of exit might have been very

,

di fferent Hi s chamber w a s full o f observing ears and

.

eyes ; royalty ministe red to hi s las t wants ; everythi n g

that there took place he kne w belonged to hi story ; he ‘

had played a c onspicuous an d in h i s o wn opinion a

, , ,

gloriou s p a r t The a cto r wa s s o completely posse s s ed by

.
 THE C A R D I NA L S W I LL
’

4 68 .

place or square should be ma d e and a sum of fi ftee n ,

hundred thousand liv res which he said he had v ery ,

serviceably employed i n emergen c i es o f state and if h e ,

had not had this money at command several important ,

a ffairs would n ot have succeed ed ; which made him

beseech his m aj esty to set aside t his s u m for pressin g
’

o ccasions when he should ha v e n o other money in h i s

,

coffers He desired that hi s library should b e preser v ed

.

in its entire ty an d that th e Sorbonn e should name three

,

persons o f whom the Duke de Richelieu should select

,

o n e as librarian
,
with a salary o f a thous a nd li v res
,
.

He r emembered all who had served him to his s a ti s fa c

tion unless he had recompen sed them in his life t ime
,
.

Whe n we compare his legacies an d donation s with the

manner i n which many princes have rewarded their
servants it appears as if we were reading the will of a
,

king when w e read his an d as if we saw those of private

i ndividuals when we re a d the t estaments of these princes
,
.

I f he left immense weal t h to his nephew A rmand de

M aillé and his other heirs we must confess that h e had
, ,

nev er exhausted th e finances o f the state t o enrich him

s elf had scarcely ever allowed the royal arm ies to want
,

for pay or had ne g lec te d any favourable Opportuni ty

,

from unw ill in g ness to incur expense t he ordinary faul ts

—

”
o f ministers of state Although we give this passage
.
,

we cannot agree wi th it ; we only present it that o u r ,

We
i

readers may see other Opinions besides ou r o wn .

think this abnegatio n of self i s contradicted in al most

every page o f the same writer Richelieu died at fifty .

eight aft er an administration of only eighteen years : i n

,

that t i me he lived sumptuously indeed royally ; he con , ,

verted the village o f Richelieu into a fl ourishing town

‘

he built the Palais -C a r d in a l y h e established the Sorbonn e ,

a n d he left coun tless we a l th to hi s famil y a s well a s to the

L ec l erc .
 11 1 8 E UN E BAL .

king . During his reign the people were drive n several

ti m es to despair by his exactions Ho w the n can fair .

his t ory at trib u te anything approachi ng to dis i nterested

n ess to his conduct
His body was Opened and h i s death was found to have,

proceeded from t he t wo abscesses h is lungs were likewise

diseased but his intes t ines were other wise heal thy By a
, . .

little remark o f h i s most celebrated ye t most partial his

torian A u ber y we may learn with what precaution w e
, ,

must follo w h i s accoun t of his idol H e s a g s tlza t th e .

o r g a n s of th e u n d er s ta n d i ng wer e f o u n d to be d ou bl e or
tr ip l e wi t hout saying which p art of the br a i n he suppose s
,

to be the org a n s of understan d ing ; aft er which h e adds ,

to that is to be attributed the viv acity of h i s mind an d ,

the stren g th of his judgment The body remained exp osed .

four days in the habit o f a cardinal upon a bed of brocade , .

A t his feet on on e S ide was his coronet an d on the o t her

, ,

his ducal mantle At the foot of t he bed wa s a cross an d

.

m any si l ver candles t icks wi t h ligh t ed wax can dles O n

, .

the 1 3 th of December the body wa s conveyed to the

church of the Sorbonne u pon a car covered wi th a pall ,

o f black vel v et crossed wi t h whi te satin upon which were

, ,

h i s arms This car was drawn by s ix horses with flowin g

.

furni t ure of t he same kind By the side o f i t walked h is .

pages bearing ligh t ed white wax candles i n their hands

, .

A n in finite multitude in carriages on horseback and on

, , ,

foot followed the body O n t he 28 th o f January a solem n

, .

service was performed for him at N otre Dame to which ,

t he representativ es of forei g n courts were invited in the

fol lowing terms N oble and de v out p erson s pray for ,

the soul of the most hi g h most po werful mos t vir tuous , , ,

m ost illustrious and most eminen t Lord hi on s ei g n eu r

, ,

ARM AN I) J E AN D U P LESS I S Cardinal de Richelieu duke , , ,

peer grand master an d intendant o f the nav i g a t io n an d

,

commerce of France on e of the prelates an d commanders

, .

of the o r der of th e Holy Ghos t head of the coun ci l a n d , ,

 4 70 O P I NIO N S OF R I C HE L I E U .

princip a l minister o f state of the kin g for the soul of who m ,

services will be performed and prayers put up i n t he church

o f Paris in which place on Monday next aft er mid day
, ,
-
,

will be repeated the vespers and vigils o f t he dead i n ,

order that his solemn fun eral service may be there cele
br a te d the follo wi n g m es d a y morning at ten O clock
” ’

, .

A nother grand ser vice w a s performed for him on the 1 4 th

o f February in the church Of the Sorbonne in w hi ch
, ,

I saac Hubert the Theologal o f N otre Dame aft erwards

, ,

bishop o f Vabres pronounced hi s funeral oration

.
, .

Such was the death an d such were the funeral hono urs
,

o f the great Cardinal de Richelieu A nother volum e .

woul d n ot suffice to lay before ou r readers the mass of

m ater i a l s left by contemporary a n d subsequent historians ,

in the shap e of comments upon the life o f this extr a

o rdi nary man The nearer the documents are to h i s own
.

t ime th e more fulsomely l audatory and the more bitterly

,

severe w e fin d them With all conspicuous characters

.

who have had a strong influen ce u pon their times thi s ,

must ever be the case Mazarin was the pupil and s u c

.

cessor o f Richelieu ; for though the king ea g erly recalled

h i s personal friends whom the cardinal had in sisted upo n
banishing be retain ed the minis t ers he had recommended
, .

Where so muc h was to b e bought with fla t tery little ,

u nadorned tru t h can be expec t ed ; s o A u ber

y the most ,

volu minou s bio g rapher of the cardin al who wrote in the ,

time of Mazari n an d published whils t Louis X IV wa s

, .

c arrying ou t that minister s policy is t hough

’
looked u po n, ,

for the course of events the least to be t rus t ed ; hi s book

,

bein g only one extra v a gant eulogy T o coun t eract this .

,

it may well be supposed that the death o f the stern

m i nister liberated a g reat many tongues an d pens that
quite a s e a gerly an d loudly spread everythin g that could
be collected in his dispraise We a r e deceived if we think
.

ours the age p a r exc el l en c e of political squibs sat ires

, , , ,

a n d p a mp h lets ; we h a ve n ewspapers whi c h cir cula t e , ,

4 72 E PI T A PH A TT E I E U T E D T o GE O T I U s .

A co n qu eror everywhere a sl ave i n h i s o wn c ourt , ,

Hi s tyrant a n d ours h a d s c arc el y l e ft th e li g ht ,

T h an h e forc e d hi m to fol l ow h i m to t h e t om b .

Were ever such m isfortunes heard o f

A fter thirt y thr e e ye ars l os t up on th e th ron e
-
,

A n d b e g inning t o reig n h e c e as e d to l ive

”
, .

With all due respect for Father Gr ifl e t a great admirer ,

o f Richelieu and the historia n o f Lo u is X III Corneille s ’

, .
,

portrait bears a stron g resemblance to the cardinal ,

though i t may not be a flattering one We ho wever are .

, ,

sorry to s ee the Fren ch Shakespeare whilst truly de ,

s cribing the minister obliged to give s o favourable an d,

ill deser v ed a character of his master

-
.

The nex t ho we v er se v ere i s not s o virulent as several

, ,

others ; it is excellent o f its kind an d had suc h a repu ,

ta ti o n as to be attribute d to the great Grotius w h o was , ,

a s we have said S wedish resident at the court o f France

, .

He denied the authorshi p but such de n i a ls are not a l ways ,

to be accepted literally .

A d s ta ,
v iator , qu o p r op er a s ?
Quod nu s qu a m vid e bi s a u t aud ie s hi c l eg i tu r .

Arm a ndu s J ohan nes de P l e s s is C ard inal is d e Ri che l ieu,

C l ar us orig in e ag nus ing enio fortun a e m en tis s i m u s
,
m , ,

Q u od que m i r er e ,

S ac erd os i n c a s tr i s the ol og u s in aul a e p i s c op u s sine p l eb e

, , ,

C ard inal i s sin e titu l o r e x sin e nom ine u nu s tam em om nia

, ,

N aturam hab u it i n nu m erato fo tu n a m i n consili o ,

r ,

E ra r i u m i n p i c u l io s ec u r i ta tem i n bell o vi c tor i a m s u b s i g ni s

, , ,

S oc ios i n p r aec in c tu c ive s i n s er vi tu te , ,

A m i c o s in ob s e quio i n i m i c os i n c arc e re
, ,

Ho c ta m en u n o m is er quod om ne s m i s er o s fec i t
,

T a m sa c c ul i s u i torm entu m qu am ornam ent a m ,

.

Ga l li a m s u be g i t Ita l i a m te nui t Ge r m a n u m q u a s s a vi t
, , ,

A ffl i xi t Hi p a n i a m c o r o n a vi t Lu s i ta n i a m c ep i t Lu th e r i n g i a m
s
, , ,

A c c ep i t C a ta l on i a m ,
fovi t S u e c i a m , tr u n ca vi t F la n d ri a m ,
 TR AN SL A T IO N OF THE E PITAP H .

Poe ta p u r p u r a tu s
Cu i sc ena m u ndus g l oria ,
a c h a r a g i u m fu it
s ti p u ri u m g a z , ,

T rag i c u s m a xim s qua m fa bu l a m m al e s ol vi t .

ost reg num tes ta m ento su is di s tr i bu tu m p a u p e r ta te m p op ul o i m p er a ta m

,

Di s s i p a to s p rin c ip e s n obil i ta t e m s u p p l i c ii s e xh a u s ta m
, ,

en a tu m a u c to r i ta te s p o li a tu m e xt ern a s g ent e s be ll o e t i n c en dii s va s t a to s

,

Pac e m te rra m a r i q u e p r o fl i g a ta m ,

C u m fat is c ente c orp ore a n i m u i n g r a vi o r ibu s c on s il s a eg r e ve g e ta r et

,
n

E t n ull ius n on i n te es s et ip sum a u t vive re a u t m ori

r ,

Ja m qu e bona s u i p arte m ortuus a li oru m ta ntu m m orte vi ver e t

, ,

D erep ente sp i rare d es iit e t ti m ere ,

O fl u xa m o r ta li ta ti s
Qu a m tenue m om entum es t int er om nia et nihil !
Mor tu i c orp u s rhe d a e xtu l i t ,

S eonti e qu i te s p edi tes qu e m a g no nu m ero

, .

F ace s p r aetu l er u n t ep he bi c r u c e m n em o quia c u r r us p ubl icam

, , fe r eba t
B eni que h u n c tu m u l u m i m p l et n o n to tu m ,

Que m tot a E u r op a n on im p l eba t ,

Inte r theol og os S itus in g en s di s p u ta n di arg u m entu m

Qu o m i g r a vi t sac ram entu m es t .

H oc te, l ec tor volui , ,

h i c te m eti r e ,

Et a bi .

! T ra n s la t io n !
S tay, p ass eng
r whi ther h a s ten es t thou
e ,

H ere m ayst th ou rea d what thou shal t neithe r s e e n or he ar el sewhere .

A rm and J ohn d u Pl e ssis C ard in a l d e R i chel i eu ,

N obl e by d es c ent g reat i n g e niu s m o st e m inent i n fortun e

, , ,

A n d what thou m ays t w ond e r a t

, ,

A p ri es t in c am p s a d ivin e a t c ou r t , , ,

b is hop without a c u re a c ard inal wi thout a t itl e a kin g without a n a m

, ,
.

Y et on e wh o w a s a ll the se
,

He h a d g re at natural abili tie s F ort u n e i n hi s couns els , ,

h e royal tre asure in p oss e s sion sa fe ty in wa r vi c tory b eneath hi s b ann e

, ,

He kep t h is confe d erate s wi thi n bou nd s hi s c ou ntrym en i n s e rvitud e , ,

His friend s i n subj e c tion h is en em i e s in p rison ,

I n th i s on l
y w r etch ed ,
th a t h e m a d e a ll m en 3 0 ,

B ei ng a s wel l th e tor m ent, a s th e or n a m en t f

o h i s ti m es .
 He subd ue d F ranc e, h e te rrifie d I tal y, h e shook th e E m p ire,
He affli c te d Sp a i n, h e c rown e d Lu s itania, h e took L orraine,
He a c c ep te d C atal onia h e fom ent e d S w e d en, h e m util at e d F l an d ers
, ,

He trou bl e d E ng l an d h e b e g u il e d a ll E u rop e
,

A p o e t c l a d i n p u rp l e,
e st ag e wa s th e worl d l ory h i s c urtain, th e roya l tre a su ry h i s p rop ert y
, g

His su bj e c t wa s , fo r th e m os t p art, trag i c , th e c at a s trop he m el anchol y .

in g ap p rop riate d th e kin g d om to l eg ac ie s b e qu eathed p overty to th e p e<

,

D issip at e d th e p rin c e s e xhau s te d th e nob ili ty w ith p uni s hm ent s

, ,

r e tt th e
p a rl iam ent o f p ow e r d e stroye d fore ig n nat ions wi th fir e a n d s wo
,

B anis hed p e ac e by s e a a n d l and

His bo d y enfe ebl e d h i s m in d harass ed by re stl es s thoug ht s
, ,

A n d n o on e c a ring whe ther h e shou l d l i ve or di e ,

A g re at p art o f hi s bo d y m ort ifie d a n d l ivin g onl y i n o thers d e aths

’

, ,

He sud d enl y c eas e d to breathe a n d to be fe are d ,

O th e frail thi ng s o f m or tal ity !

How short i s th e m om ent b etween som e thi ng a n d nothi ng
o r p s e w a s c onve e d i n a c hario t foll owe d b hors e a n d foo t i n g rea t n u n
y y ,

a g e s carri e d t orc he s non e th e c ros s fo r th e chari o t b ore th e

, , p u bl i c c r os s
Thi s g rave suffic es fo r on e whom a l l E u rop e c oul d n o t satis fy .

He l i e s am ong th e Sorbonis t s ,

A m ig hty arg u m ent o f d is p u t e

Whither h e i s g one is a sa cram ent .

R ead er, thi s i s a ll I woul d have wi th thee

H er ebg m ea s u r e th ys elf, a n d beg on e .

This epitaph almost renders any fu rther comment upon

his character n eedless ; it is his life gathered into short
expressi v e sentences and without reference to the, ,

Latinity is worthy of the man to whom it is at tributed

,
.

The student who wishes to refresh his memory with

regard to the career of Richelieu h a s but to glance over
it and he will find the events reflected as i n a m irror
,
.

I n person Richelieu was a greeable thou g h thin he w a s

o f S lender make but o f a good height
,
Hi s cons t itu t io n .

was delica t e an d was still further impair ed by his con

,

stant application His understanding was prompt and

.

keen and at the same time p ene tra t ing and wi d e in i t s

, , ,

s cope i n all a ffairs o f state Hi s j udgment was more .

4 76 C O NDU CT OF TH E C A R D I NA L .

therefore at all times mistrusted such a l though h e wa s

, ,

too apt to be led away by t hem 3 r d He had oft en bee n . .

heard to s a y that t he great o u g ht to b e very careful not

to keep in their chamber or about their person serv ants
o f a too S harp character ; because by the least word or , ,

even by the least sign they may betray in spite of them , ,

sel ves their most secret sen t imen t s and their best -con
,

c e a l e d desi g ns
”
Thi s last maxi m sa v ours very strongly
.

o f Richelieu whose policy was of the b ack stairs more

,
-
,

obser v ant o f ushers and intriguing women than o f great

statesmanlike views We can imagine no greater contr a st .

than a poli t ical lesson gi v en to Louis X III by h i s .

minister Richelieu an d the celebrated conversatio n be ,

tween Louis X I V and F é n el on aft er which the monarch.

,

“
exclaimed that he had been conversing wi t h the finest
but the mos t chimeric a l mind i n his kingdom .

The kin g s favourites a ft er De Luynes such a s Ba r a d a s

’

, ,

a n d St Simon had contented themselves with t he per

.
,

sonal favo u r o f the monarch without interfering in public ,

a ffairs ; but the cardinal was n o sooner in his maj esty s

’

good graces than he took in hand the administra t ion Of

,

every thing He was arbiter i n all ques t ion s o f peace

.

a n d war master o f the finances

, and dispenser o f all the ,

kin g s favours He disposed o f the stron g est fortified

’
.

places of the state as well as of court employments s o ,

that t he hi g h est an d the lowest were equally solicitous for

his patronage But nothing could be ob t ained o f h im
.

without perfect submission to his will an d devotion to

his ser vice He endu red contradiction with muc h less
.

patience than the king even when he had to deal with ,

s overeigns ; a s we may j udge by the manner in which he

t reated the houses o f Savoy and Lorraine to say no thing ,

o f the queen the queen -mother G a s to n and the prince s

, , ,

o f the blood .

The k i ng s partiali ty for h i m wa s frequently put to a

’

s evere test by his h a ughtiness a n d assumption a nd a t ,

 H I S REL A X A T ION S . 4 77

length degen erated into fear ; he would ha v e liked to be

able to do withou t him and yet nothing terr ified him s o
,

much a s the cardinal s threat o f abandon i ng his post

’

The king wa s once s o near dismissing him as to talk of

depriving the cardinal o f his guards to which -t hreat ,

Richelieu coolly replied he was quite ready to obey h i s

m aj esty o n that as o n every o t her occasion ; but that
whi lst the king employed him he mus t insist upon being
a bl e to li v e in quiet and upon bein g guarded again st the
,
’

ambushes which the factious were al ways l a ying for him .

T o prevent being overpowered by state a ffairs to which ,

hi s feeble consti tutio n did not permit him to a t ten d

wi t hout interm ission he had certain hours o f recreation
, ,

in which he would hear of n o t hing that required applica

tion . For this purpose he kep t about his person the
Abbé Bo is r ober t who amused him wi t h a thousan d
,

agreeable tales and informed him o f all the news o f the

,

court and city calculated to m ake him l au g h : Exercise

,

was likewis e necessary for t he body a s well as the mind

a n d it was his cus t om when much confined to j ump
, ,

aft er di n n er across th e chamber he mi g ht be in and mark ,

his j u mps a gainst the wall But he had a par t icular .

dislike to be foun d e n gaged in such amusements O n e .

day M de Grammont who seems to have been as good

.
,

a cour t ier a s his namesake who made l es d el i c es of t he ’

cour t of ou r Charles II an d who wa s at home i n t he .

,

cardin a l s palace being a re l ation by marriage ca me upo n

’

, ,

him unexpec t ed ly whils t employed i n this exercise .

Richelieu looked a little confused at bein g caught in h i s

doublet and hose but the practised courtier wa s not for
,

a moment at a loss Does your eminence call that

.

”
j umping P cried De Grammon t why I can jump half ,
”
a s far a gain . To j u mpi n g they went ; Gram mont n ot
s upporti ng his boast but allowing the powerful min i ster
,

to beat hi m each j ump by a l i ttl e .

1
,
We m a y l ik ewis e place amo n g h is a mus e m e n ts hi s love of
4 78 H I S L I TE R A R Y JE A L O U S Y .

letters which carried him beyond hi s proper province of

‘

the Mec aenas into the more troubled regions of authorship .

His dramatic e ffort of Mariamne n ot only proved a

“

fai lure in itself but as was certain to be the case with

, ,

such a m a n created an envy and a j ealousy for those wh o

,

excell ed h im : the cardinal who succeeded in most thi n g s ,

he undertook could not bear being surpassed as an a uthor

,

hence hi s enmity towards Corneille He wrote several .

works particularly a book of theological con t roversy

, ,

more in k e eping with his position an d obnoxious to less ,

criticis m than his poetical attempts The celebrated .

poli t ical testament published some time after his death

, ,

has bee n so ably proved not to have been his p roduction ,

that we are compelled to rej ect it A t what period o f his .

b u s y c a r eer could he ha v e found leis u re for such a work

.

I t appears to us to be nothing but deductions from hi s

policy arranged by some cle v er admirer : it is some t hin g
,

like an ext ension of Father Joseph s dying writing a lin e ’

,
-

o f ac t ion is s t ron g ly recommended a ft er it had succeeded .

There is one of his li t erary productions ho wever which , ,

is too characteristic to be mistaken During his quarrel .

with the queen mother and before he had o vercome her

-
, ,

mistrus t ing a to o faithful memory the cardinal when her , ,

e v ery action was watched an d her every word n oted ,

d aily set down in writing the information the sayings the , ,

repor ts which were collected either by himself his friends , ,

o r hi s spies These n otes kept in perfect secrecy and

.
,

al most all written by his o wn hand have passed down to ,

posteri ty under the n ame o f a J ou r n a l m a d e d u r i ng

th e g r e a t c ou r t s tor m and form an odious model of the
,

archi v es of police His acknowledged works consist o f

.
,

1 . The Principal P oin ts o f Faith defended agai nst the

writings ad dressed to the K ing by the Ministers o f
Charenton
~
Poi c ti er s 1 6 1 7
.
, .

2 A Catechism entitled
. I nstr uction of Chr istian
Princes Poi cti er s 1 62 1
. Th i s is hi ghl y spoke n of
, . ,
4 80 TH E P O L I T I C A L TEST A ME N T .

which could only be kn own by a man ini tiated in state

affairs a n d admitted to the bosom o f the royal family
, .

6 I s the famous
. Politic a l Testament o f the C a rdin a l
de Richelieu The authenticity o f this work was warmly
.

disputed by Vol t aire F on c e m a n g e took u p t he defen ce

.
,

an d was backed by several able writers p a rticularly La ,

Bru y ere who said in his epigrammatic style : He who

, ,

achie v ed such g reat things ei ther never wrote at a l l or, ,

must ha v e writ t en a s he has done The evidences in .

fa v our of the cardinal s authorship convince the write r of

’

”
the articl e Richelieu in t he Biographie U niverselle ;
,

but we cannot say they make us alter the Opinion w e have

expressed i n th e l a s t pa g e I f the manuscripts are clearly
.

traced to his p ossession it proves nothing ; for e v ery on e

,

knows the unscru pul ous manner in which he attributed to

himself all that might procure him honour La Bruy ere s .
’

epigram is equally valueless for it is well known that , , ,

w i th some few glorious exceptions men who a c t much and ,

greatl y do not wri t e equally remarkably ; and the style o f

this work is totally different from Richelieu s un d oubte d ’

production s A n En g lish translation published i n 1 6 9 4

.
, ,

entitled The Political Will and Testamen t of t he G reat

M inister of State Cardinal -Duke de Richelieu from
,

whence Louis X I V the present French king has take n

.
, ,

his measures and maxims of government n o w lies before ,

u s and it appear s to be evi dently r a ther the deductions

,

from actions tha n a guide to them I f this work had been .

i n exi stence when Father Joseph bequeathed his shorter

s ystem to the king would the vain glorious cardin a l have
,
-

in stigated that document ? I t must be clear tha t at n o

period after that event the cardi nal had leisure to write
such a work or even heal th and S pirits to dictate it All
,
.

that we think possible is that he might hav e employed ,

writers to put t he principles he had acted upon in the best

lig ht and to g ive them to the world i n such a for m a s
,

redound to h i s fame W e are glad they are p r e

'

! m ight .
 REFLECT I ON S U P ON H I S C H A R A CTER . 481

se r ved as they prove beyon d dispute the short-S igh ted

, , , ,

narro w and selfish policy of the man with whom they are
,

identified We who live n ow kno w the probable results

.
, ,

o f such maxims o f government a n d value them accordin ly

g , .

I t i s in vain to s a y they were the best that could be de

vised for the times because we ha v e only to look at ,

E n g land and Holland for a clear refu tatio n o f that Opinion .

The 7 th work is the Jo u rnal we have mentioned a bove ,

o f which there are many edi t ions that of A msterdam ,

-
,

1 6 6 4 bein g the most esteemed

, .

F or this list we hav e taken the dates a n d some of the

, ,

Opinion s from the Bi og r a ph ie U n iver s el l e and we ca n not

, ,

leave that reall y great work wi thout expressing ou r dis

appointment upon reading the article of Richelieu in i ts
pages I t h a s to o stro n g a Roman Catholic bias for a n y
.

work that a i m s at being u n i ver s a l and i ts recommen datio n

o f the history o f Lo uis X III by Father Griffet a s the b est .
,

s ource o f material s for a life o f Richelieu at once and , ,

to o plainl y stamps their Opinio n o f that minister : Father

,

Gr i fl et s is laudation n ot hi s tory
' ’

, .

Confidence in his o wn tale n ts and i n the superi or i ty o f

hi s genius m ade h i m a i m at a c qu i ring a reputatio n for
,

everything ; which in h i s self constituted j udgment -seat

,
-

o f authors gave birth to envy and j e a l ousy for all who

,

presumed to excel him or differ from him i n Opinion and ,

let it n ever be forgotten hi s j e a l ousy and envy di d not ,

pass over like summer breezes O ne o f h is most n ea tly .

expressed literary decisions wa s addressed to a M C os p ea n .

,

who had dedicated a Latin book to him The cardinal in .

,

return for the civi lity as a minister wh o had not time to ,

write long let ters sent merely these three words : A cc ep i

, ,

l eg i p r o ba v i
,
He prided hi mself upon originating s u b
.

j ects for literary men and once conceived that a dr amatic ,

piece would be best executed if each o f the five acts o f it ,

were wri tten by a separate author A s may be supposed .

,

the dr a ma wa s a fail ur e but the authors we r e well r e m u ,

2 I
4 82 H I S C L A I MS To VERS A T I L I TY OF GE N I U S .

n er a te d . C oll e tet, wh o
contributed but little to this gal
li m a wfr y , expressed his gratitude i n a couplet .

A rm and ,
o r
q u i p u s ix e v rs m a d onn é s i x c ent l ivres
’

Qu e ne p u is-
j e a c e p I l X te
'

vend re touts m es l ivre s

wcannot
r m a n d,
hy
wh o fo r
I ell
s
s i x vers e s has t g iven m e S i x hun d re d livr e

yo u a ll m y boo k s at th e sam e rat e

s ,

He n ot only thought he did everything we l l but that ,

n othin g wa s perfectly done except by himself : thi s le d

him into undertakings a pparently foreig n to hi s educa
tion h i s knowledge or h i s position He wa s not o n ly
, , .

m inister and cardinal with the ambition o f becomin g

,

patriarch of France but he commande d armies in person

, ,

dre w up crimin a l processes a n d interrogated witnesses i n ,

person he was master of the marin e and director of the ,

commerce of the country I t can not be denied that.

m ost o f that which he undertook was done well after t he ,

p rinciple u pon whic h he acted ; but therein lies the

grievance ; if he had been an imbecile man wh o had
attained power by chance and committed blunders we , ,

m ight have pitied an d pardoned him ; but there i s n o

excuse for Richelieu becom i ng a curse instead of a bles s ing

to France His mili t ary tas t e wa s n ot particular to h i m
.

a s a churchman ; his great predecessor X imines said ,

that the smell of gunpowder in a field of battle wa s a s

sweet a s that of incense and severa l cardin a ls and b ishops
followed h i s example dur i ng h is ministry On e of the .

n umerous squibs of the day said on thi s head

U n a r ch evé qu e es t am iral D e B ord eaux .

U n g ros eveque es t c a p a r ol D e Chartre s .

U h p r él at p r es i d e a u x fr on ti er es E veque d e N an t es .

U n autre a d e s troup e s g u er r i er es E veque d e M en d e .

U n c ap uchin p ense a u x c om b at s L e P ere J os ep h .

U n card inal a d es sol d ats L a V a l ett e .

U n aut re c ard inal e s t g en erali ssim o Richel i eu .

M ais, F rance j e c rois qu ici ba s ,

’

T on e g l ise s i m ag nanim e
M ili te, e t n e triom phe p a s .

He gave m o r e e n courageme n t to letters tha n they had

4 84 B A L AN CE OF P O WER .

the house of Austria consequent upon the ch a n ce whi ch

,

m ade Charles V master o f such vast territorie s m ust ,

n aturally have led enlightened statesme n to form a n ide a

o f the necessity for it But we cannot s ee anything s o
.

enlarged i n the p olicy of Ri chelieu ; h i s aim wa s the

domination of France over other countries n ot a n equal ,

i z a ti on o f the balance of power for the whole A j udicious .

modern French expresses himself s o well on

this subj ect that we cannot do better than quote his exact
,

words “
Richelieu wa s n o t merely desirous that the
European balance o f power should be maintained he ,

wished all other nations t o b e humbled ; and he is the

true author of that violent and a ggressive policy too well
followed up by h i s successo r Mazarin Louis X I V an d , .
,

in ou r d a ys b y a conqueror who will be famous to a l l

times an d whi ch makes the glory o f a n ation consist in
,

the abasement an d humiliatio n of a ll others : a policy

al way s fatal in the long r u n an d a source of terrible
,

re ac tions and perpetual wars ; for the love o f country

-
, ,

o f indepe n dence an d nation a l dignity d w ells in the hearts

, ,

o f all peoples . F or them a s for indi v iduals liberty an d

, ,

honour are the most precious o f riches and for a h u m ,

bled or enslaved nation to accept a tr uce or S ig n a peace , ,

i s only to postpone vengeance .

A striking resemblance i s observed betwee n Wolsey

a n d Richelieu ; their faculties and the obj ects to which
,

they were dir ected were surprisingly alik e I n pride

, .
,

o stentation and greediness they are s c a r cel to be disti n

, , y
g u i s h e d from each other ; and it is i n addition singul ar
, , ,

that they should have left almost exactly the same memo
rials o f themselves to their kings a n d to posteri ty Riche .

lieu wa s the more fortunate in dying i n favour ; but he

had a very di fferent m aster to m anage than Wolsey
had : Richelieu would never have remained for eightee n

Bon n ec h o s e .
 MAZ ARI N AN D R I C HE L I E U . 485

years the m inister an d ruler of headstron g , b l uff K in g

Ha l .

The great Ture n ne preferred Maz a ri n to Richelieu ;

but we think few will agree with him Mazarin wa s but .

a weak wavering copy o f h i s i n structor and patron

, .

Maz ari n pe rhaps wa s Wis er th a n Richelieu woul d h a ve

, ,

been in allo wing Turenn e to co n duct a campai g n ; but

,

there wa s a streng th an d v i gour i n Richeli eu s character ’

that Mazarin was greatly deficient in The r egency o f .

A nne o f Aus tria would never have been disturbed by the

Fronde if Richelieu had been at the head of her govern
,

ment ; a n d we very m uch doubt whether Louis X I V .

could possibly have a cquired hi s s trength of char a cte r

under his tutelage .

Although Richelieu i s sai d by h i s partisans to h av e

patroniz ed literature France durin g h i s time scarcely
, , ,

kept pace with the rest o f E urope Descartes Rabelais .

, ,

Montaigne Malherbe Ror tr ou had preceded him and

, , , ,

h i s great contemporary Corneill e Wh o wil l live when he, ,

is forgo tten instead o f owing anythin g to hi s patronage

, ,

experienced the ill e ffects o f his j ealous hatred Descarte s .

had thought a n d wri tten ; but the rulers o f France n o ,

less than the people were subj ect to the m ost a bj ect
,

supersti t ions Richelieu caused Urban Gr a n d i er the

. ,

curé of L on d on to be burn t aliv e for witchcraft ; though

,

m any as serted that the witchcraft wa s only a n invention of

Richelieu and Fa ther Joseph to revenge a political satire ,

attributed to the curé But neither he Mary de Medici

.
, ,

n or his familiar seem to have bee n free from this l o w

,

superstition All were eager to look into the future an d

.
,

w ere weak enough to believe that other m ortals had

faculties for that purpose whi ch were denied to them .

A strolog y was b elie v ed in a n d respected ; and on e of i ts

professors was present i n the room with Anne of A ustri a
whe n Lo u is X I V was born to observe the heavens
.
, .

Upo n closin g the life of Richelieu comments m ight be ,

4 86 O P I NIO N OF m s M INI S TR Y .

ex te n ded without end ; bu t we ha v e given a s clear a n

account o f his actions a s ou r limits would allo w and upo n ,

them an d not ou r remarks will be built the soun dest

, ,

Opinio n o f him Being extraordinary and having pro

.
,

cured military successes the French are naturally proud

,

o f him and have give n him an importance w hi ch a s a

, ,

great minis ter we think he i s scarcely entitled to To

, .
‘

the still greater ch a racter o f a good man he has no claim ,

whatever We have i n the course of ou r work bee n

.
, ,

u n der frequent obligations to A n qu etil and we cannot ,

terminate it better tha n by h i s words : Y e s his ministry ,

w a s br i l l i a n t bu t opp r es s i ve ; and if to oppress a people

,

can be cal led governing them wel l Richelieu must ce r ,

ta i nly be esteemed the first minister In the world : n obody

”
can dispute that ti tle wi th him .

T HE E ND .

R I N TE D
P BY COX ( B ROS ). A ND W YM A N , G RE A T QUE E N ST REE T .