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diff --git a/27192.txt b/27192.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..aeb8a25 --- /dev/null +++ b/27192.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9716 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Political Women (Vol. 1 of 2), by Sutherland Menzies + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Political Women (Vol. 1 of 2) + +Author: Sutherland Menzies + +Release Date: November 7, 2008 [EBook #27192] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK POLITICAL WOMEN (VOL. 1 OF 2) *** + + + + +Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Emanuela Piasentini and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +------------------------------------------------------------+ + |Transcriber's note. | + | | + |The original punctuation, language and spelling have been | + |retained, except where noted at the end of the text. | + |The [oe] ligature has been rendered as oe. | + | | + |Alternative spellings: | + |Chateau: Chateau | + |Chateauneuf: Chateauneuf | + |Chatillon: Chatillon | + |Claire Clemence de Maille: Claire Clemence de Maille | + |Gondi: Gondy | + |Guemene: Guemenee, Guymene | + |heyday: heydey | + |Hotel, hotel: Hotel, hotel | + |Meilleraye: Meilleraie | + |Montresor: Montresor | + |Muenster: Munster | + |Orleans: Orleans | + |Scudery: Scuderi | + |Seguier: Seguier | + |Sevigne: Sevigne | + |strenuously: strenously | + |Tallemant des Reaux: Tallement des Reaux, Tallemant de Reaux| + +------------------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + POLITICAL WOMEN. + + + BY + + SUTHERLAND MENZIES, + + AUTHOR OF "ROYAL FAVOURITES," ETC. + + + IN TWO VOLUMES. + + VOL. I. + + + HENRY S. KING & CO., + + 65, CORNHILL, AND 12, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. + + 1873. + + + + + [_All rights reserved._] + + + + +CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. + + + PART I. PAGE + + INTRODUCTION vii + + + BOOK I. + + CHAP. I.--Anne de Bourbon (sister of the Great Conde) 3 + + II.--The Duchess de Longueville 12 + + III. & IV.--The Duchess de Chevreuse 17, 35 + + + BOOK II. + + CHAP. I.--Anne of Austria's Prime Minister and his policy 43 + + II.--The Duchess de Montbazon--Affair of the dropped + letters--The Quarrel of the rival Duchesses 66 + + III.--The _Importants_ 77 + + IV.--Conspiracy of the Duchess de Chevreuse and the Duke + de Beaufort to get rid of Mazarin 82 + + V.--Failure of the plot to assassinate Mazarin--Arrest + of Beaufort--Banishment of Madame de Chevreuse and + dispersion of the _Importants_ 99 + + VI.--Results of the quarrel between the Duchesses--Fatal + duel between the Duke de Guise and Count Maurice de + Coligny 110 + + + BOOK III. + + CHAP. I.--The Duchess de Longueville and the Duke de la + Rochefoucauld 121 + + II.--La Rochefoucauld draws Madame de Longueville into + the vortex of politics and civil war 131 + + III.--The Duchess de Chevreuse driven into exile for the + third time 143 + + IV.--Fatal influence of Madame de Longueville's passion + for La Rochefoucauld--The Fronde 149 + + V.--Madame de Longueville wins over her brother Conde + to the Fronde 161 + + VI.--The causes which led to the _coup d'etat_--The + arrest of the Princes 168 + + VII.--Madame de Longueville's adventures in Normandy--The + _Women's War_ 178 + + + BOOK IV. + + CHAP. I.--The Princess Palatine 187 + + II.--The young Princess de Conde conducts the war in + the south 203 + + III.--State of Parties on the liberation of the Princes 214 + + IV.--The Duchesses de Longueville and de Chevreuse and + the Princess Palatine in the last Fronde--Results + of the rupture of the marriage projected between + the Prince de Conti and Mademoiselle de Chevreuse 221 + + V.--Conde, urged by his sister, goes unwillingly into + rebellion 257 + + VI.--Madame de Longueville coquets with the Duke de + Nemours 262 + + + BOOK V. + + CHAP. I.--Conde's adventurous expedition 275 + + II.--Political and gallant intrigues--The Duchess de + Chatillon's sway over Conde--Shameful conspiracy + against Madame de Longueville 290 + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +IN selecting the careers of certain celebrated women who have flung +themselves with ardour into the vortex of politics, the author's choice +has not been so much an arbitrary one as it might seem, but rather +guided by instances in which the adventurous game has not been +restricted to the commonplace contentions of the public platform, or the +private salon, but played on the grandest scale and on the most +conspicuous arena; when Peace and War, crowns and dynasties, have +trembled in the balance, and even the fate of a nation has been at +stake. + +The untoward results of the lives thus devoted--dazzling and heroic as +some passages in their dramatic vicissitudes may appear--point the moral +of the futility of such pursuit on the part of the gentler sex, and +indicate the certainty of the penalty to be paid by those who by +venturing into the fervid, exhausting struggle, and rashly courting +exposure to the rough blows of the battle of political life, with its +coarse and noisy passions, have discovered too late that the strife has +done them irreparable injury. In the cases of those selected it will be +seen that the fierce contention has commonly involved the sacrifice of +conjugal happiness, the welfare of children, domestic peace, reputation, +and all the amenities of the gentle life. + +That clever women abound in the present day we have undeniable +proof--many as clever, no doubt, as that famous philosopheress Madame du +Chatelet, who managed at one and the same moment the thread of an +intrigue, her cards at piquet, and a calculation in algebra, but who may +still lack the qualifications indispensably necessary to make clever +politicians. Perhaps, therefore, we might be allowed to suggest that it +would be well for ladies who are ambitious of figuring in either or both +spheres that politics and diplomacy are special and laborious pursuits, +involving a great deal of knowledge as difficult, and in the first +instance as repulsive, to acquire as Greek or chemistry. Yet, fully +admitting their capacity to qualify themselves intellectually, and +supposing them to attain the summit of their ambition of figuring +successfully in public life, a grave question still arises--would they +thereby increase or diminish their present great social influence? They +have now more influence of a certain kind than men have; but if they +obtain the influence of men, they cannot expect to retain the influence +of women. Nature, it may be thought, has established a fair distribution +of power between the two sexes. Women are potent in one sphere, and men +in another; and, if they are conscious of the domestic sway they already +exercise, they will not imperil it by challenging dominion in a field in +which they would be less secure. + +Root and bond of the family, woman is no less a stranger by her natural +aptitudes than by her domestic ministrations to the general interests of +society; the conduct of the latter demands, in fact, a disengagement of +heart and mind to which she can only attain by transforming herself, to +the detriment of her duties and of her true influence. Ever to +subordinate persons to things, never to overstep in her efforts the +strict measure of the possible--those two conditions of the political +life are repugnant to her ardent and devoted nature. Even amongst women +in whom those gifts are met with in the highest degree, clearness of +perception has been almost always obscured by the ardour of pursuit or +that of patronage--by the irresistible desire of pushing to the +extremity of success her own ideas, and especially those of her friends. + +Again, let us imagine political life to resemble a great game at cards, +the rules of which have been settled beforehand, and the winnings +devoted to the use of the greatest number; well, a woman ought never to +take a hand in it. Her place should be at the player's elbow, to warn +and advise him, to point out an unperceived chance, to share in his +success, more than all to console him, should luck run against him. +Thus, whilst all her better qualities would be brought into play, all +her weaker would not in any wise be at stake. + +We would put it, therefore, to the womanly conscience--Is it not a +hundred times more honourable to exercise, so to speak, rights that are +legitimately recognised, though wisely limited, than to suffer in +consideration, and often in reputation, from an usurpation always +certain of being disputed? + +It has been the author's endeavour to show the truth of these +conclusions by tracing the political career of certain well-born and +singularly-gifted women--women whose lofty courage, strength of mind, +keen introspection, political zeal, and genius for intrigue enabled them +to baffle and make head against some of the greatest political male +celebrities of modern history, without, however, winning us over to +their opinions or their cause; women who, in some instances, after +passing the best period of their lives in political strife, in +fostering civil war, in hatching perilous plots, and who, having cast +fortune and all the "gentle life" to the winds, preferred exile to +submission, or to wage a struggle as fruitless as it was unceasing; +until having arrived at the tardy conviction of its futility, and that +they had devoted their existence to the pursuit of the illusory and the +chimerical, they found at length repose and tranquillity only in +solitude and repentance. + +In the stirring careers of certain among these remarkable personages, it +will be seen that the mainspring of their political zeal was either the +fierce excitement of an overmastering passion, an irresistible +proclivity to gallantry, or an absorbing ambition, rather than any +patriotic motive. This may go far to explain the singular sagacity, +finesse, and energy displayed in their devotion to what otherwise +appears alike mischievous and chimerical by those three high-born and +splendidly-gifted women who figured so conspicuously in the civil war of +the Fronde; and, though so much self-abnegation, courage, constancy, and +heroism, well or ill displayed, may obtain some share of pardon for +errors it would be wrong to palliate or condone, their example, it is to +be hoped, will prove deterrent rather than contagious. La +Rochefoucauld--a moralist, though by no means a moral man--who well knew +the sex, had seen at work these political women of the time of the +Fronde. That opportunity does not appear to have inspired him with an +unbounded admiration for them from that point of view. + +Of the peril and mischief that fair trio inflicted upon Anne of +Austria's great Prime Minister and the State he governed we have an +interesting personal record. When, in 1660, Mazarin's policy, triumphant +on every side, had added the treaty of the Pyrenees to that of +Westphalia, the honour of the conclusion of the protracted conference +held at the _Isle of Pheasants_ was reserved for the chief Ministers of +the two Crowns--the Cardinal and Don Louis de Haro. The latter +congratulated his brother premier on the well-earned repose he was about +to enjoy, after such a long and arduous struggle. The Cardinal replied +that he could not promise himself any repose in France, for there, he +said, the _female_ politicians were more to be dreaded than the _male_; +and he complained bitterly of the torments he had undergone at the hands +of certain political women of the Fronde--notably the Duchess de +Longueville, the Duchess de Chevreuse, and the Princess Palatine, each +of whom, he asserted, was capable of upsetting three kingdoms. + +"You are very lucky here in Spain," he added. "You have, as everywhere +else, two kinds of women--coquettes in abundance, and a very few +simple-minded domestic women. The former care only to please their +lovers, the latter their husbands. Neither the one nor the other, +however, have any ambition beyond indulging themselves in vanities and +luxuries. They only employ their pens in scribbling billet-doux or +love-confessions, neither one nor other bother their brains as to how +the grain grows, whilst talking about business makes their heads ache. +Our women, on the contrary, whether prudes or flirts, old or young, +stupid or clever, will intermeddle with everything. No honest woman," to +use the Cardinal's own words, "would permit her spouse to go to sleep, +no coquette allow her lover any favour, ere she had heard all the +political news of the day. They will see all that goes on, will know +everything, and--what is worse--have a finger in everything, and set +everything in confusion. We have a trio, among others"--and he again +named the three fair factionists above mentioned--"who threw us all +daily into more confusion than was ever known in Babel." + +"Thank heaven!" replied Don Louis, somewhat ungallantly, "our women +_are_ of the disposition seemingly so well known to you. Provided that +they can finger the cash, whether of their husbands or their lovers, +they are satisfied; and I am very glad to say that they do not meddle +with politics, for if they did they would assuredly embroil everything +in Spain as they do in France." + +It was during the minority of Louis XIV. that Mazarin had but too good +cause to complain of the three clever and fascinating women he thus +named to Don Louis de Haro, who through their political factions, +intrigues, and gallantries gave Anne of Austria's Minister no rest, and +for a long period not only thwarted and opposed him, but at intervals +placed the State, and even his life, in imminent jeopardy. + +Fortunately, in our political history the instances are rare of women +who have quitted the sphere of domesticity and private life to take an +active part in the affairs of State. We say "fortunately;" for in our +opinion such abstention has tended to the happiness of both sexes in +England. + +In French memoirs, politics and scandal, the jokes of the _salons_ and +the councils of the Cabinet are inextricably mixed up together, and +reveal a political system in which the authority exercised under free +institutions by men had been transferred to the art, the tact, and the +accomplishments of the female sex. We therein see how much women have +done by those subtle agencies. If France was a despotism tempered by +epigrams, it was the life of the _salons_ which brought those epigrams +to perfection; and the _salons_ thus constituted a sort of social +parliament, which, though unable to stop the supplies or withhold the +Mutiny Act, still possessed a formidable weapon of offence in the power +of making the Government ridiculous. Such was the difference existing +between two quite distinct modes of government; between Parliamentary +government and closet government; between the mace of the House of +Commons and the fan of the Duchess de Longueville. England, as we need +hardly say, has never had a government of this description. The nearest +approach to it which she has ever seen was under the sway of Charles the +Second, and, accordingly, the nearest approach to French memoirs which +our literature possesses is in the volumes of Pepys and Hamilton. To the +almost universal exemption of Englishwomen from taking an overt part in +political affairs a striking exception must be made in Sarah, Duchess of +Marlborough. She is the strongest example, perhaps, in the history of +the world--certainly in the history of this empire--of the abuse of +female favouritism, and the most flagrant instance of household +familiarity on the destinies of mankind. Sarah Jennings, the political +heroine of her age, and Viceroy, as she was called, in England, had, +however, for contemporaries two other remarkable women, who touched the +springs of political machinery quite as powerfully as--if not more +powerfully than, save herself, any to be found within the limits of +Europe--Madame de Maintenon and the Princess des Ursins. In the +respective careers of that other formidable trio of female politicians +may be traced the important, the overwhelming, influence, which female +Ministers, under the title of Court ladies, had obtained over the +destinies of England, France, and Spain. At that momentous period--the +commencement of the eighteenth century--the memoirs of a _bed-chamber +lady_ constitute the history of Europe. The bed-chamber woman soon +became the pivot of the political world. The influence of Mrs. Masham +first endangered and finally overthrew the power of the great Duke of +Marlborough. Some of the characteristics of the reign of Charles the +Second reappeared partially and in a very unattractive form under the +two first Georges, and have served to impart a tinge of French colour to +the memoirs which describe their Courts. But, fortunately for England, +neither Walpole nor his royal master were men of refined taste. It would +have been hard for a monarch like Charles the Second, or a minister like +Lord Bolingbroke, to resist the charms of those beautiful and sprightly +girls who sparkle like diamonds in all the memoirs of that time. Their +political influence was but small. George the First and his successor +pursued their unwieldy loves and enjoyed their boorish romps in a style +not seductive to English gentlemen. Politics were surrendered to +Walpole; and the consequence was that, although there was plenty of +immorality under those gracious Sovereigns, yet the feminine element of +Court life had no longer that connection with _public policy_ which once +for a brief space it had possessed; and the resemblance to French +manners in this respect grew less and less, till it disappeared +altogether with the accession of George the Third. + +During the reign of that domesticated paterfamilias a slight exception, +it is true, occurred in the instance of Georgina Spencer, Duchess of +Devonshire. Young, beautiful, amiable, and witty, and not altogether +free from coquetry, she reckoned amongst her admirers some of the most +distinguished men of that day. She fascinated them all without +encouraging the pretensions of any; and notwithstanding the jealousy +which so great a superiority necessarily excited among her own sex, and +despite the rancour to which the inutility of their efforts to please +her gave birth in the bosoms of certain of the men, she preserved a +reputation for discretion beyond all suspicion. One circumstance of her +life might indeed have cast a slur upon her fair fame if her +irreproachable conduct, added to her natural graces, had not condoned a +species of notoriety which opinion in England very generally reproves. +The Duchess of Devonshire had friendly relations with the celebrated +Charles James Fox, and that friendship had taken the tinge of party +spirit. Fox presented himself as a candidate to represent Westminster in +Parliament. He had two very formidable opponents, and it was thought +that he would have succumbed in the struggle had not several amiable and +energetic women made extraordinary efforts to procure him votes. At the +head of these fair solicitors was the Duchess of Devonshire. A butcher +whose vote she requested promised it to her on the condition that he +might give her a kiss. To this she cheerfully consented, and that kiss +added one more vote to her friend's poll. Such familiarity was far less +shocking to our English manners than the too active and public part +taken by a lady of distinction in politics. Very few of her countrywomen +before her time had given occasion for a like scandal.[1] + + [1] An anecdote of her has been preserved which proves how very + general was the impression the grace and beauty of the Duchess of + Devonshire made upon men in every station of society. On one + occasion of her being present on the racecourse at Newmarket, a + burly farmer who stood near her carriage, after having for some time + gazed at her in a species of ecstasy, exclaimed aloud, "Ah! why am I + not God Almighty?--she should then be Queen of Heaven!" The Duchess + preserved her personal charms far beyond the period of life when + they commonly disappear among women, though she lost one of her eyes + a few years before her death in 1806. + +The existence of those literary assemblies in France during the +eighteenth century, the most important of which were those presided +over by Madame du Deffand, Mdlle. de Lespinasse, and Madame Geoffrin, +were a characteristic feature of the time. It is a notable fact that the +abstention from politics in those assemblies indirectly tended to +increase the power and importance of the women who frequented them. +Alluding to their influence, Montesquieu caustically remarked that a +nation where women give the prevailing tone must necessarily be +talkative. Then, however, it was the men who talked and the women who +listened. The men talked because they could do little else; women gave +the prevailing tone because men of all classes were partly compelled, +and partly willing, to gather around them. The nobles being excluded +from politics--in which none but the Ministers and their creatures could +interfere--exercising no control either as individuals or as a body, +naturally gave themselves up to the pleasures of society. Their +political insignificance thus increased the power and importance of +women. + +To a far greater degree was their power and importance increased, on the +contrary, during the first decade of the French Revolution, when, from +the exceptional position they held, the _salons_ of Madame Roland, +Madame Necker, Madame de Suard, and others were essentially +political--that of Madame Roland being almost an echo of the Legislative +Assembly. But women who love freedom abstractedly for its own sake, and +are ready to suffer and die for a political principle, like Madame +Roland, are very rarely met with. + +Towards the close of the century the female leaders of the hitherto +literary and social _salons_ were so irresistibly swept into the +whirlpool of public questions and events that they for the most part +involuntarily became mere political partisans. Among others, but with a +considerable modification on the score of the literary element, may be +instanced Madame de Stael, who by descent, education, and natural bias +was inevitably destined to aim at political power. The extent and +prominence of that exercised by her must have been considerable, though +certainly overrated by Napoleon, in whom, however, it excited such +unreasonable apprehension as led him to inflict ten years' banishment +from France upon the talented daughter of Necker. + +It must not be inferred that we desire to reduce women to the condition +of a humiliating inaction. Far from it. In the position we would place +them they could never feel, think, or act with greater interest or +vivacity. Whilst it is desirable that every kind of artifice or intrigue +should be interdicted from the interior of their domesticity, it is +quite permissible for them to watch attentively important matters that +may be occurring in public life. To that function they may bring their +care and their solicitude, in order to follow and second continually the +companion of their existence. "Les hommes meme," says Fenelon, "qui ont +toute l'autorite en public, ne peuvent par leurs deliberations etablir +aucun bien effectif, si les femmes ne leur aident a l'executer." Such +was the legitimate influence exercised by the Princess Esterhazy, Ladies +Holland, Palmerston, and Beaconsfield, in our day. It is no secret that +the late lamented Viscountess Beaconsfield took the deepest interest in +every great movement in which her illustrious husband was engaged. Such, +too, was the case with Lady Palmerston, in reference to the great +statesman whose name she bore. The influence of women in the politics of +recent days is something peculiar and new. Our time has seen many women +whose share in the politics of men was frank, unconcealed, and +legitimate, while yet it never pretended or sought to be anything more +than an influence--never attempted to be a ruling spirit. By following +these examples, the women of England may make their power felt, without +demanding to be put upon the same footing as their husbands. + +Woman's reign, it has been truly said, "is almost absolute within the +four walls of a drawing-room." It is undisputed in family direction and +in the management of children; but the cases are rare indeed where it +extends to _public questions_ of any kind. The Frenchwoman of the +present day is essentially a woman. Her objects are almost always +feminine; she does not seek to go beyond her sphere; she understands her +mission as one of duty in her house and of attraction towards the world; +she is generally very ignorant of politics and all dry subjects, and +shrinks from any active part in their discussion. Of course there are +exceptions by the thousand; but the rule is that she voluntarily +abstains from interference in outside topics, whatever be their gravity +or their importance. She may have a vague opinion on such matters, +picked up from hearing men talk around her, but the bent of her nature +leads her in other ways--her tendency is towards things which satisfy +her as a woman. It naturally follows that men do not give her what she +does not seem to want. They consult her on matters of mutual interest, +they ask for and often follow her advice in business; but in nine cases +out of ten no husband would allow his wife to tell him how to vote at an +election, or what form of government to support. This distinction is +infinitely more remarkable in France than any analogous condition would +be in England, because of the existence there of several rivals to the +throne, and the consequent splitting up of the entire nation into +adherents of each pretender. Yet even this exceptional position does not +induce Frenchwomen to become politicians. Some few of them, of course, +are so, and fling themselves with ardour into the cause they have +adopted; but, fortunately for the tranquillity of their homes, the +greater part of them have wisdom enough to comprehend that their real +functions on the earth are of another kind. + +The majority of the champions of the enfranchisement of the sex have +loudly protested against the hackneyed truisms, formerly so rife, which +impute to women every imaginable form of silliness and frivolity; that +they, like Alphonse Karr's typical woman, have nothing to do but +"_s'habiller, babiller et se deshabiller_." But it will be well to +remember the existence of another class of maxims of even greater +weight, which dwell on the subtle influence of women, and of its +illimitable consequences. "If the nose of Cleopatra," remarks the most +famous of these aphorists--Pascal--"had been a hair's-breadth longer, +the fortunes of the world would have been altered." Has the influence of +the sex decreased since the days of the dusky beauty whose irresistible +fascinations + + "----lost a world, and bade a hero fly?" + +Rather, is it not infinitely more subtle, wider, and more prevailing +than ever? No one who recognises the skill with which that immense +influence may be exercised can listen without astonishment to the flimsy +arguments which are usually advanced in support of the question of the +political enfranchisement of the sex. That the results of giving this +particular form of ability--a power which is irresistible to the highest +intellectual refinement--the political arena for its field have not only +proved widely injurious to women who have so exercised it, but to those +most closely connected with them, it has been the author's object to +show. + +"And what hope of permanent success," it has been cogently asked, "could +women have if they were to enter into competition with men in callings +considered peculiarly masculine, many of which are already overstocked?" +We are also brought here again face to face with that evil--the +lessening or the complete loss of womanly grace and purity. Take away +that reverential regard which men now feel for them, leave them to win +their way by sheer strength of body or mind, and the result is not +difficult to conjecture. Let the condition of women in savage life tell. +Towards something like this, although in civilised society not so +coarsely and roughly exposed to view, matters would tend if these +agitators for women's rights were successful. Husbands, brothers, sons, +have too keen a sense of what they owe of good to their female relatives +to risk its loss; or to exchange the gentleness, purity, and refinement +of their homes for boldness, flippancy, hardness and knowledge of evil. + +Nature, herself, then, has disqualified women from fighting and from +entering into the fierce contentions of the prickly and crooked ways of +politics. There is a silent and beautiful education which Heaven +intended that all alike should learn from mothers, sisters, and wives. +Each home was meant to have in their gentler presence a softening and +refining element, so that strength should train itself to be submissive, +rudeness should become abashed, and coarse passions held in check by the +natural influence of women. High or low, educated or uneducated, there +is the proper work of the weaker sex. And, finally, we venture to +address her in the words of Lord Lyttelton:-- + + "Seek to be good, but aim not to be great; + A woman's noblest station is retreat; + Her fairest virtues fly from public sight; + Domestic worth--that shuns too strong a light." + + + + +BOOK I. + +PART I. + + + + +POLITICAL WOMEN. + + + +CHAPTER I. + + ANNE DE BOURBON, + SISTER OF THE GREAT CONDE, AFTERWARDS DUCHESS DE LONGUEVILLE. + + +THE brilliant heroine of the Fronde, of whose grace, beauty, and +influence Anne of Austria was so jealous--not to speak of the mortal +rivalry of the gay Duchesses de Montbazon and de Chatillon--although the +youngest of that famous trio whom Mazarin found so formidable in the +arena of politics, obviously claims alike from her exalted rank and the +memorable part she played in the tragi-comedy of the Fronde, priority of +notice among the bevy of the Cardinal's fair political opponents. + +Some time in the month of August, 1619, Anne Genevieve de Bourbon-Conde +first saw the light in the donjon of Vincennes, where her parents had +been kept State prisoners for three years previously. She was the eldest +of the three children of Henry (II.) de Bourbon-Conde, first prince of +the blood, and of that Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency, "the beauty, +perfect grace and majesty of her time."[1] The lovely Montmorency on +coming to Court in her fifteenth year had sorely troubled the heart of +the amorous soldier-king, Henry of Navarre, who had married her in 1609 +to his nephew of Conde with the covert hope of finding him an +accommodating husband; but the latter, alike defiant and uxorious, made +the jovial Bearnois plainly understand that he had wedded the blooming +Charlotte exclusively for himself. The _gaillard_ monarch, however, at +length grew so deeply enamoured that the prince, perceiving there was +too much cause to fear the result of the constant assiduities of his +royal uncle, fled precipitately with his young wife from France, only to +return thither after tidings reached him of the great Henry's +assassination. To the fair Montmorency's very decided proclivity to +gallantry was to be attributed--if we may believe the scandal-loving +Tallemant des Reaux--her long confinement, by the Regent Marie de' +Medici's consent, within the gloomy fortress of Vincennes, rather than +any reason of State for her sharing her husband's imprisonment. In fact, +it was believed that the jealous prince procured her incarceration +simply to keep her out of harm's way. + + [1] Lenet. + +Deriving from her mother the threefold gifts of grace, beauty, and +majesty, the fair Bourbon inherited also, it must be owned, a share of +that princess's inclination to _l'honnete galanterie_. The restriction +to a _share_ should be noted; for at no period of her heydey, not even +during the licence of the Fronde, could Anne Genevieve be accused of +having--as Madame de Motteville tells us the Princess de Conde +had,--adorers "in every rank and condition of life, from popes, kings, +princes, cardinals, dukes, and marshals of France, down to simple +gentlemen." + +The mind and heart, however, of Anne de Bourbon, although predestined, +alas! eventually to culpable passion, seemed at first but little +inclined to the gay world--with all its blandishments and seductions, +or even to its innocent pleasures. When quite a child she was in the +habit of accompanying her mother in her visits to the convent of the +Carmelites at Paris. For though still possessing great personal +attractions, Madame de Conde had become serious and of a somewhat +demonstrative piety. Those visits, which were frequent, strengthened +Anne's gentle and susceptible mind in its tendency to devotion. The +impression, too, which somewhat later the tragic fate of her uncle, the +unfortunate Duke de Montmorency,[2] left on her memory, inspired her +with the resolution to quit the outer world at the earliest possible +moment, and, renouncing all its pomps and grandeurs, hide beneath the +veil her budding attractions. Although her mother opposed an inflexible +resistance to her embracing that holy vocation, and strove to combat by +forcible arguments the cold and disdainful demeanour exhibited by her +daughter when mixing in gay society, the fair girl persevered from the +age of thirteen to seventeen in her longing to embrace the life of the +cloister. Futile for a time were the parental arguments, unfruitful +every effort! Anne Genevieve would not consort with worldlings, +persisted in her distaste for mundane pleasures, and continued to +cherish persistently her desire for conventual seclusion. At length the +princess, in 1636, having resolved upon the adoption of more energetic +measures, suddenly ordered her daughter to make preparations for +appearing at a Court ball, and that, too, in three days. With what +despair did the young princess hear the cruel sentence! What affliction, +too, befell the Carmelite nuns when they heard of the fatal mandate. +What a flood of sighs and tears and prayers! The good sisters gathered +themselves together to take counsel one with another, and decided that, +since Mdlle. de Bourbon could not avoid the wretched fate that awaited +her, before going through the trying ordeal she should indue her lovely +form with an undergarment of hair-cloth (commonly called a _cilice_), +and, protected by such armour of proof, she might then fearlessly submit +herself to all the temptations lurking beneath the ensnaring vanities of +her Court attire. The _cilice_, however, did not, it seems, prove +invulnerable as the aegis of Minerva, for the subtle shafts winged by +homage and admiration pierced through that slight breast-plate to a +heart which in truth was by nature framed to inspire and welcome both. +The Princess de Conde rejoiced greatly at her daughter's conversion to +more reasonable views of mundane existence. The commencement of her +noviciate was no longer thought of, and her visits to the Carmelites +became sufficiently rare. But it was only a deferment of that calm +vocation, it being Anne de Bourbon's destiny to embrace it at the close +of her feverish political career. + + [2] Brought to the scaffold by Richelieu in 1632. + +This era of her entrance into the great world was probably the happiest, +the most joyous of the fair Bourbon's life. Lofty distinction of birth, +great personal beauty, and rare mental fascination, contributed to place +her in the very foremost rank of the Court circle--in the "height of +company"--conspicuous amongst lovely dames and distinguished men of the +time. Her peerless loveliness at once meeting with universal +recognition, "la belle Conde" was toasted with acclamation by courtiers, +young and old--at Chantilly, at Liancourt, at the Louvre, and at the +Hotel de Rambouillet. Contemporaries of either sex have rendered +unanimous testimony to the varied and exceptional character of her +attractions, and we will let a woman's pen add to Petitot's pencilling +some of those delicate traits which neither the burin nor even the vivid +tints of the enamel have the power to convey. + +"Her beauty," says Mdme. de Motteville, "consisted more in the +brilliance of her complexion"--("it had the blush of the pearl," writes +another contemporary)--"than in perfection of feature. Her eyes were not +large, but bright, and finely cut, and of a blue so lovely it resembled +that of the turquoise. The poets could only apply the trite comparison +of lilies and roses to the carnation which mantled on her cheek, whilst +her fair, silken, luxuriant tresses, and the peculiar limpidity of her +glance, added to many other charms, made her more like an angel--so far +as our imperfect nature allows of our imagining such a being--than a +mere woman." Somewhat later, the smallpox, in robbing her of the bloom +of her beauty, still left her all its brilliancy, to repeat the remark +of that eminent connoisseur of female loveliness, Cardinal de Retz. + +To sum up the general opinion of her contemporaries: Mdlle. de Bourbon +rather charmed by the very peculiar style of her countenance than by its +linear regularity. One of her greatest fascinations lay in an +indescribable languor, both of mind and manner--"a languor interrupted +at intervals," says De Retz, "by a sort of luminous awakenings, as +surprising as they were delightful. This physical and intellectual +indolence presented later in life a piquant contrast to her +then"--according to Mdme. de Motteville--"somewhat too passionate +temperament." She was of good height, and altogether of an admirable +form. It is evident also, from the authentic portraits of her still +extant, that she had that kind of attraction so much prized during the +seventeenth century, and which, with beautiful hands, had made the +reputation of Anne of Austria. In speech, we are told, she was very +gentle. Her gestures, with the expression of her countenance, and the +sound of her voice, produced the most perfect music. But her peculiar +charm consisted in a graceful ease--a languor, as all her contemporaries +expressed it--which would quickly change to the highest degree of +animation when stirred by emotion, but which usually gave her an air of +indolence and aristocratic _nonchalance_, sometimes mistaken for +_ennui_, sometimes for disdain. + +Crediting the unvarying testimony of these and other of her +contemporaries, the daughter of Bourbon-Conde must have been at least as +beautiful as her mother--endowed, indeed, with almost every attribute +and feature of female loveliness. + +"Beauty," remarks a philosophic panegyrist of physical perfection, +"extends its prestige to posterity itself, and attaches a charm for +centuries to the name alone of the privileged creatures upon whom it has +pleased heaven to bestow it." Beauty has also its epochs. It does not +belong to all men and to all ages to enjoy it in its exquisite +perfection. As there are fashions which spoil it, so there are periods +which affect its sentiment. For instance, it belonged to the eighteenth +century to invent _pretty_ women--charming dolls--all powder, patches, +and perfume, affecting the attractions which they did not possess under +their vast hoops and great furbelows. Let us venture to say that the +foundation of true beauty, as of true virtue, as of true genius, is +strength. Shed over this strength the vivifying rays of elegance, grace, +delicacy, and you have beauty. Its perfect type is the Venus of +Milo,[3] or again, that pure and mysterious apparition, goddess or +mortal, which is called Psyche, or the Venus of Naples.[4] Beauty is +certainly to be seen in the Venus de' Medici, but in that type we feel +that it is declining, or about to decline. Look at, not the women of +Titian, but the virgins of Raphael and Leonardo: the face is of infinite +delicacy, but the body evinces strength. These forms ought to disgust +one for ever with the shadows and monkeys _a la Pompadour_. Let us adore +grace, but not separate it in everything too much from strength, for +without strength grace soon shares the fate of the flower that is +separated from the stem which vitalizes and sustains it. + + [3] Quatremere de Quincy, Dissertation upon the Antique Statue of + Venus Discovered in the Island of Milo. 1836. + + [4] Millingen: Ancient Inedited Monuments. Fol. 1826. + +What a train of accomplished women this seventeenth century presents to +us! They were not all politicians. Women who were loaded with +admiration, drawing after them all hearts, and spreading from rank to +rank that worship of beauty which throughout Europe received the name of +French gallantry. In France they accompany this great century in its too +rapid course; they mark its principal epochs, beginning with Charlotte +de Montmorency and ending with Mdme. de Montespan. The Duchess de +Longueville has perhaps the most prominent place in that dazzling +gallery of lovely women, having all the characteristics of true beauty, +and joining to it a charm exclusively her own. + +In early girlhood she had been taken, along with her elder brother, the +Duke d'Enghien, to the Hotel de Rambouillet; and the _salons_ of the Rue +St. Thomas du Louvre were probably the most fitting school for such a +mind as hers, in which grandeur and finesse were almost equally +blended--a grandeur allied to the romantic, and associated with a +finesse frequently merging into subtilty, as indeed may be discerned in +Corneille himself, the most perfect mental representative of that +period. + +To follow step by step the course of Anne de Bourbon's life at this +period of it through all its earliest rivalries, would involve the task +of recording the manifold caprices of a tender, yet ambitious nature, in +which the mind and heart were unceasingly dupes of each other. It would +be like an attempt to follow the devious path of the light foam and +laughing sparkle of the billow-- + + "In vento et rapida scribere oportet aqua." + +Our purpose lies mainly with her political life, but ere entering upon +it we will give a short but comprehensive view of her character in the +words of one who, more than anybody else, had the means of judging her +correctly--La Rochefoucauld. "This Princess," writes the Duke, +"possessed all the charms of mind, united to personal beauty, to so high +a degree, that it seemed as though nature had taken pleasure in forming +in her person a perfectly finished work. But those fine qualities were +rendered less brilliant through a blemish rarely seen in one so highly +endowed, which was that, far from giving the law to those who had a +particular admiration for her, she transfused herself so thoroughly into +their sentiments that she no longer recognised her own." + +Now La Rochefoucauld should have been the last person to complain of +that defect, since he was the first to foster it in the Duchess. In her +bosom love awoke ambition, but the awakening was so sudden, in fact, +that any difference in the two passions was never perceptible. + +Singular contradiction! The more we contemplate the political bias of +Madame de Longueville the more it becomes mingled with her amorous +caprice; but when we analyse her love more narrowly (and later on in +life she herself made the avowal), it appears nothing else than ambition +travestied--a desire to shine only the more magnificently brilliant. + +Her character, then, was entirely wanting in consistency, in self-will; +and her mind, be it observed, however brilliant and acute, had nothing +that was calculated to counterbalance that defect of character. One may +possess the faculty of right perception without strength of mind to do +that which is right. One may be rational in mind and the contrary in +conduct--character being at fault between the two. But here the case was +different. Madame de Longueville's mind was not, above all else, +rational; it was acute, prompt, subtle, witty by turns, and readily +responsive to the varying humour of the moment. It shone voluntarily in +contradiction and subterfuge, ere exhausting itself finally in scruples. +There was much of the Hotel de Rambouillet in such a mind as hers. + +"The mind in the majority of women serves rather to confirm their folly +than their reason." So says the author of the "Maxims;" and Madame de +Longueville, with all her metamorphoses, was undoubtedly present before +him when he penned the sentence. For she, the most feminine of her sex, +would offer to him the completest epitome of all the rest. In short, +evidently as he has made his observations upon her, she also seems to +have drawn her conclusions from him. So the agreement is perfect. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + MADAME DE LONGUEVILLE. + + +A YOUNG Princess of the Blood so lovely, fascinating, and witty as Anne +de Bourbon, was surely destined, it might be thought, to contract an +early and altogether suitable matrimonial alliance. It was therefore +somewhat surprising to find how much difficulty there was in mating her. +Foremost among those who sought her hand was that hair-brained, +handsome, coarse-mannered Duke de Beaufort, younger son of Caesar de +Vendome, himself the bastard of the jovial Bearnois by the _Fair +Gabrielle_.[1] Beaufort inherited his unfortunate grand-dame's +beauty--had a Phoebus-Apollo style of head, set off with a profusion +of long, curly, golden locks; was a young, brave, and flourishing +gallant, and somewhat later (during the Fronde), from his blunt speech +and familiar manners with the Parisian mob, became the idol of the +market-women, and was therefore dubbed _Roi des Halles_. But this +scapegrace suitor withdrew his pretensions in order to gratify, it is +said, the handsome though decried Duchess de Montbazon, who had +enthralled him in her flowery chains as a led-captain. On entering her +nineteenth year Mdlle. de Bourbon was promised in marriage to the Prince +de Joinville, son of Charles of Lorraine (Duke de Guise), but that young +nobleman having died prematurely in Italy, no other serious matrimonial +project seems to have been entertained until the Princess had reached +her twenty-third year. The fortunate suitor was one of Beaufort's +rivals--or, rather, colleagues--for that would be the more correct term +when designating their mutual relations to the unscrupulous Duchess de +Montbazon. The widower, Henry of Orleans (Duke de Longueville), by +birth, dignity, and wealth was looked upon as the first match in France. +Unfortunately, in his case, those dazzling attributes were materially +abated through disparity of age, for he had reached the ripe maturity of +forty-seven, whilst the bride of his choice had not yet seen half that +cycle of summers. To be twenty-four years her senior was, for the +husband of a youthful princess so excelling in wit and beauty, certainly +a formidable inequality, and so Mdlle. de Bourbon seems to have thought. +At the command, however, of her father, who intimated that his +determination was inflexible in thus disposing of his daughter's hand, +Anne Genevieve meekly complied, and was espoused in June, 1642, to Henri +de Bourbon, Duke de Longueville.[2] + + [1] Created Duchess de Beaufort by Henry IV. + + [2] The Duke was descended from the "brave Dunois," bastard of + Orleans. + +The young Duchess found herself speedily surrounded by a swarm of +courtiers, attracted by her sprightly and refined intelligence, her +majestic beauty, her nonchalant and languishing grace. What more +adorable mistress could an audacious aspirant dream of? Bold adventurers +for such a lady's love there was no lack of; and would not many be +encouraged with the thought that such a prize could only be defended by +a husband already verging towards the decline of life, and whose heart, +moreover, was believed to be in the keeping of another? The sighs of the +suitors, however, all adventurous and calculating as they might be, were +wasted, their hopes altogether fallacious. For six long years there was +nothing more accorded to that crowd of often-renewed adorers save the +smiles of an innocent coquetry. He who, during that period of honest +gallantry, coming near to La Rochefoucauld, seems to have made the +liveliest impression, was Coligny; and it was only slanderers who +whispered that the young Count was happier than became the adorer of a +heroine of the De Rambouillet school. + +Madame de Longueville, nevertheless, possessed the characteristics of +her sex; she had alike its lovable qualities and its well-known +imperfections. In a sphere where gallantry was the order of the day, +that young and fascinating creature, married to a man already in the +decline of life, and, moreover, with his affections engaged elsewhere, +merely followed the universal example. Tender by nature, the senses, she +herself says in her confessions--the humblest ever made--played no minor +part in the affairs of the heart. But, surrounded unceasingly by homage, +she found pleasure in receiving it. Very lovable, she centred her +happiness in being loved. Sister of the Great Conde, she was not +insensible to the idea of playing a part which should occupy public +attention; but, far from pretending to domination, there was so much of +the woman in her that she allowed herself to be led by him whom she +loved. Whilst, around her, interest and ambition assumed so frequently +the hues of love, she listened to the dictates of her heart alone, and +devoted herself to the interest and ambition of another. All +contemporary writers are unanimous on that point. Her enemies sharply +reproach her alike for not having a fitting object in her political +intrigues, and for being unmindful of her own interests. But they appear +not to be aware that, in thinking to overwhelm her memory by such +accusation, they rather elevate it, and they are assiduous to cover her +faults and misconduct--faults which, after all, are centred in one +alone. In short, some writers cast the greater part of the blame the +young Duchess's conduct merits upon her husband, who, according to them, +knew not how to make amends for his own disadvantage, on the score of +disparity of age, by an anxious and indulgent tenderness. + +Before their marriage was solemnised it was stipulated that the Duke de +Longueville should break off his _liaison_ with the Duchess de +Montbazon--then notorious as one of the most unrestrained among the +women of fashion at the Court of the Regent. This, however, the Duke +unhappily failed to do. + +In declaring its adhesion to Mazarin at the commencement of the Regency, +the House of Conde had drawn upon itself the hatred of the party of the +_Importants_, though that enmity scarcely rebounded upon Madame de +Longueville. Her amiableness in everything where her heart was not +seriously concerned, her perfect indifference to politics at this period +of her life, together with the graces of her mind and person, rendered +her universally popular, and shielded her against the injustice of +partisan malice. But outside the pale of politics she had an enemy, and +a formidable one, in the Duchess de Montbazon. That bold and dangerous +woman having by her fascinations enslaved Beaufort, the quondam admirer +of Madame de Longueville, the young Duke through her intrigues became a +favourite chief of the _Importants_. Amongst the earliest to swell the +ranks of that faction were two other personages who had played a very +conspicuous part during the reign of Louis XIII. The first of these, +Madame de Montbazon's step-daughter, was the witty, beautiful, and +errant Duchess de Chevreuse, whom Louis had judged so dangerous that he +had expressly forbidden by his will, when on the point of death, that +she should ever be recalled from exile to Court. By the same prohibition +was affected the former Keeper of the Seals, the Marquis de Chateauneuf, +who had displayed considerable talent under Richelieu, but had +ultimately made himself obnoxious to that great Minister, after having +given many a sanguinary proof of his devotion to him. A glance at the +antecedents of that remarkable woman, Madame de Chevreuse, the early +favourite of Anne of Austria, will now be necessary in order to +understand clearly her relative position to the Queen and Mazarin at the +commencement of the Regency, as well as to those incipient _Frondeurs_, +the _Importants_, at the moment of her dragging the Prince de Marsillac +(afterwards Duke de Rochefoucauld) into that party. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + THE DUCHESS DE CHEVREUSE. + + +FROM the long-sustained, vigorous, and very eminent part played by Marie +de Rohan in opposing the repressive system of the two great Cardinal +Ministers, her name belongs equally to the political history as to that +of the society and manners of the first half of the sixteenth century. + +She came of that old and illustrious race the issue of the first princes +of Brittany, and was the daughter of Hercule de Rohan, Duke de +Montbazon, a zealous servant of Henry IV., by his first wife Madeleine +de Lenoncourt, sister of Urbain de Laval, Marshal de Bois-Dauphin. Born +in December, 1600, she lost her mother at a very early age, and in 1617 +was married to that audacious favourite of Louis XIII., De Luynes, who +from the humble office of "bird-catcher" to the young King, rose to the +proud dignity of Constable of France, and who, upon the faith of a +king's capricious friendship, dared to undertake the reversal of the +Queen-mother, Marie de' Medici's authority; hurl to destruction her +great favourite, the Marshal d'Ancre; combat simultaneously princes and +Protestants, and commence against Richelieu the system of Richelieu. +Early becoming a widow, Marie next, in 1622, entered the house of +Lorraine by espousing Claude, Duke de Chevreuse, one of the sons of +Henry de Guise, great Chamberlain of France, whose highest merit was the +name he bore, accompanied by good looks and that bravery which was +never wanting to a prince of Lorraine; otherwise disorderly in the +conduct of his affairs, of not very edifying manner of life, which may +go far to explain and extenuate the errors of his young wife. The new +Duchess de Chevreuse had been appointed during the sway of her first +husband, _surintendante_ (controller) of the Queen's household, and soon +became as great a favourite of Anne of Austria as the Constable de +Luynes was of Louis _the Just_. The French Court was then very +brilliant, and gallantry the order of the day. Marie de Rohan was +naturally vivacious and dashing, and, yielding herself up to the +seductions of youth and pleasure, she had lovers, and her adorers drew +her into politics. Her beauty and captivating manners were such as to +fascinate and enthral the least impressible who crossed her path, and +their dangerous power was extensively employed in influencing the +politics of Europe, and consequently had a large share in framing her +own destiny. A portrait in the possession of the late Duke de Luynes[1] +represents her as having an admirable figure, a charming expression of +countenance, large and well-opened blue eyes, chesnut-tinted fair hair +in great abundance, a well-formed neck, with the loveliest bust +possible, and throughout her entire person a piquant blending of +delicacy, grace, vivacity, and passion. The following summary of her +character by the clever, caustic, but little scrupulous De Retz, graphic +as it is, and based on a certain amount of truth, must not be +unhesitatingly accepted, it being over-coloured by wilful +exaggeration:--"I have never seen anyone else," says he, "in whom +vivacity so far usurped the place of judgment. It very often inspired +her with such brilliant sallies that they flashed like lightning, and so +sensible withal, that they might not have been disowned by the greatest +men of any age. The manifestation of this faculty was not confined to +particular occasions. Had she lived in times when politics were +non-existent, she would not have rested content with the idea only that +they ought to have been rife. If the Prior of the Carthusians had +pleased her, she would have become a sincere recluse. M. de Luynes +initiated her into politics, the Duke of Buckingham and the Earl of +Holland corresponded with her upon them, and Chateauneuf amused her with +them. She gave herself up to their pursuit because she abandoned +herself, without reserve, to everything which pleased the individual +whom she loved, and simply because it was indispensable that she should +love somebody. It was not even difficult to give her a lover by setting +an eligible suitor to pay her court with an ostensible political motive; +but as soon as she accepted him, she loved him solely and faithfully, +and she owned to Mdme. de Rhodes and myself that, through caprice, she +said, she had never really loved those whom she esteemed the most, with +the exception of the unfortunate George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. +Devotion to the passion which in her might be called eternal, although +she might change the object of it, did not prevent even a fly from +causing her mental abstraction; but she always recovered from it with a +renewed exuberance which made such phases rather agreeable than +otherwise. No one ever took less heed about danger, and never woman had +more contempt for scruples and duties: she never recognised other than +that of pleasing her lover." + + [1] This nobleman died at Rome in December, 1867, at the age of + sixty-five, having gone thither to aid the Pope against the + Garibaldians. + +This epigrammatic sketch is almost worthy of the exaggerated author of +the _Historiettes_,[2] and the reader is advised to accept only its more +salient and truthful traits--the keen and accurate glance of Mdme. de +Chevreuse in scanning the prevailing aspect of the political horizon, +her dauntless courage, the fidelity and devotion of her love. Retz, +moreover, mistakes entirely the order of her adventures; he forgets and +then invents. In striving after epigrammatic point, he sacrifices truth +to smartness of style, and writes as though he looked upon events in +which the passions of the Duchess made her take part as mere trifles, +whereas among them there were some than which none were ever of graver +or even more tragic moment. + + [2] Tallement des Reaux. + +Mdme. de Chevreuse, in fact, possessed almost all the qualities +befitting a great politician. One alone was wanting, and precisely that +without which all the others tended to her ruin. She failed to select +for pursuit a legitimate object, or rather she did not choose one for +herself, but left it to another to choose for her. Mdme. de Chevreuse +was womanly in the highest possible degree; that quality was alike her +strength and her weakness. Her secret mainspring was love, or rather +gallantry,[3] and the interest of him whom she loved became her +paramount object. It is this which explains the wonderful sagacity, +finesse, and energy she displayed in the vain pursuit of a chimerical +aim, which ever receded before her, and seemed to draw her on by the +very prestige of difficulty and danger. La Rochefoucauld accuses her of +having brought misfortune upon all those whom she loved;[4] it is +equally the truth to add that all those whom she loved hurried her in +the sequel into insensate enterprises. It was not she evidently who +made of Buckingham a species of paladin without genius; a brilliant +adventurer of Charles IV. of Lorraine; of Chalais a hair-brained +blunderer, rash enough to commit himself in a conspiracy against +Richelieu, on the faith of the faithless Duke d'Orleans; of Chateauneuf, +an ambitious statesman, impatient of holding second rank in the +Government, without being capable of taking the first. Let no one +imagine that he is acquainted with Mdme. de Chevreuse from having merely +studied the foregoing portrait traced by De Retz, for that sketch is an +exaggeration and over-charged like all those from the same pen, and was +destined to amuse the malignant curiosity of Mdme. de Caumartin--for +without being altogether false, it is of a severity pushed to the verge +of injustice. Was it becoming, one might ask, of the restless and +licentious Coadjutor to constitute himself the remorseless censor of a +woman whose errors he shared? Did he not deceive himself as much and for +a far longer period than she? Did he show more address in political +strategy or courage in the dangerous strife, more intrepidity and +constancy in defeat? But Mdme. de Chevreuse has not written memoirs in +that free-and-easy and piquant style the constant aim of which is +self-elevation, obtained at the expense of everybody else. There are two +judges of her character the testimony of whose acts must be held to be +above suspicion--Richelieu and Mazarin. Richelieu did all in his power +to win her over, and not being able to succeed, he treated her as an +enemy worthy of himself. + + [3] Mdme. de Motteville. + + [4] Memoires, Petitot's Collection, 2nd series, vol. li. p. 339. + +To revert briefly to her long-continued struggle with Richelieu, it must +not be forgotten that for twenty years she had been the personal friend +and favourite of Anne of Austria, and for ten years she had suffered +persecution and privation on that account. Exiled, proscribed, and +threatened with imprisonment, she had narrowly escaped Richelieu's grasp +by disguising herself in male attire, and in that garb traversing France +and Spain on horseback, had succeeded in eluding his pursuit, and after +many adventures in safely reaching Madrid. Philip IV. not only heaped +every kind of honour upon his sister's courageous favourite, but even, +it is said, swelled the number of her conquests. Whilst in the Spanish +capital she had allied herself politically with the Minister Olivarez, +and obtained great ascendancy over the Cabinet of Madrid. The war +between France and Spain necessarily rendering her position in the +latter country delicate and embarrassing, she had, early in 1638, sought +refuge in England. Charles I. and Henrietta Maria gave her the warmest +possible reception at St. James's; and the latter, on seeing again the +distinguished countrywoman who had some years back conducted her as a +bride from Paris to the English shores to the arms of Prince Charles, +embraced her warmly, entered into all her troubles, and both the English +King and Queen wrote letters pleading in her behalf, to Louis XIII., +Anne of Austria, and Richelieu with regard to the restoration of her +property and permission to rejoin her children at Dampierre. She herself +resumed the links of a negotiation with the Cardinal which had never +been entirely broken off, and the success of which seemed quite +practicable, since it was almost equally desired by both. That +negotiation was being carried on for more than a year, and when link +after link had been frequently snapped and re-soldered, only to be once +more broken, Richelieu at length gave his solemn word that she might +return with perfect safety to Dampierre. + +On the eve of her departure from the English Court, a vessel being in +readiness to convey her to Dieppe, where a carriage awaited her landing, +the Duchess received an anonymous letter warning her that certain ruin +awaited her if she set foot on the soil of France, followed by another, +still more explicit with regard to Richelieu's designs to effect her +destruction, from no less a person than Charles of Lorraine. This second +warning from so reliable a source, followed shortly afterwards by other +advice--held by her in the light of a command--enchained her to a +foreign land. She for whom during ten long years the Duchess had +suffered all things, braved all things, her august friend Anne of +Austria cautioned her not to trust to appearances. Thus vanished the +last hope of a sincere reconciliation between two persons who knew each +other too well to discard distrust and to confide in words, of which +neither were sparing, without requiring solemn guarantees that they +could not or would not give. + +Choosing stoically, therefore, to still undergo the pangs of absence, to +consume the noontide of the days of her attractive womanhood in +privation and turmoil rather than risk her liberty, Mdme. de Chevreuse +on her part did not remain idle. From the moment she felt convinced that +Richelieu was deceiving her, attracting her back to France only to hold +her in a state of dependence, and if need were, to incarcerate +her--having broken with him, she considered herself as free from all +scruple, and thought of nothing further than paying him back blow for +blow. Her old duel with the Cardinal thus once more renewed, she formed +in London, with the aid of the Duke de Vendome, La Vieuville, and La +Valette, a faction of active and adroit emigrants, who, leaning on the +Earl of Holland, then one of the chiefs of the Royalist party and a +general in the army of Charles of England; upon Lord Montagu, an ardent +Papist and intimate adviser of Queen Henrietta Maria; upon Digby and +other men of influence at Court, maintained likewise the closest +intelligence with the Court of Rome through its envoy in England, +Rosetti, and especially with the Cabinet of Madrid; encouraging and +kindling the hopes of all the proscribed and discontented, strewing +obstacles at all points in the path of Richelieu, and accumulating +formidable perils around his head. + +On the breaking out of the Civil War in England, Mdme. de Chevreuse +repaired to Brussels, where in 1641 we find her acting as the connecting +link between England, Spain, and Lorraine. Without attributing to the +Duchess any especial motive beyond seconding an enterprise directed +against the common enemy, she did not the less play an important part in +the affair of the Count de Soissons--the most formidable conspiracy that +had hitherto been hatched against Richelieu. Anne of Austria was +certainly privy to the plot and lent it her aid. She might have been +ignorant of the secret treaty with Spain; but for all the rest, and so +far as it menaced the Cardinal, she had a perfect understanding with the +conspirators. That high-handed Minister, by overstraining the springs of +government, by prolonging the war, by increasing the public expenditure, +and by oppressing all classes whilst he crushed some in particular, had +excited a hatred so bitter and widespread that at length he governed the +State almost entirely through terror. Whilst the grandeur of his designs +commanded respect and veneration from a select few, his genius towered +above the bulk of his countrymen. But that harsh rule, continuing +unrelaxed, and so many sacrifices being perpetually renewed, at length +wearied out the greater number, the King himself not excepted. Louis's +reigning favourite, the Grand-Ecuyer, Cinq Mars, undermined and +blackened the Cardinal as much as possible in his royal master's +estimation. He knew of the conspiracy of the Count de Soissons, and +without taking a share in it, he favoured it. He might therefore be +reckoned upon to figure in the next. The Queen, still in disgrace in +spite of the two heirs she had given to the crown, naturally breathed +vows for the termination of a rule which so oppressed her. Gaston, the +King's brother, had pledged his word, however little the reliance that +might be placed upon it; but the Duke de Bouillon, an experienced +soldier and an eminent politician, had openly declared himself; and his +stronghold of Sedan, situated on the frontiers of France and Belgium, +offered an asylum whence could be braved for a long while all the power +of the Cardinal. A widespread understanding had been established +throughout every part of the kingdom, amongst the clergy, and in the +Parliament. There were conspirators in the very Bastille itself, where +Marshal de Vitry and the Count de Cramail, prisoners as they were, had +prepared a _coup de main_ with an admirably-kept secrecy. The Abbe de +Retz, then twenty-five, preluded his adventurous career by this attempt +at civil war. The Duke de Guise, having effected his escape from Rheims, +and taken refuge in the Low Countries, was about to share the dangers of +the conspiracy at Sedan. But the greatest--the firmest--hope of the +Count de Soissons rested upon Spain: that power alone could enable him +to take the field from Sedan, to march upon Paris, and crush the power +of Richelieu. He therefore despatched Alexandre de Campion, one of his +bravest and most intelligent gentlemen, to Brussels to negotiate with +the Spanish Ministers and obtain from them troops and money. There he +addressed himself to Mdme. de Chevreuse, and confided to her the mission +with which he was charged, which she hastened to second with all her +influence. Having prevailed upon Olivarez to strenuously support those +requirements which the Count de Soissons and the Duke de Bouillon sought +at his hands, she despatched letters by a secret agent in the service of +Spain to the Duke de Lorraine, entreating him not to fail her in this +supreme opportunity of repairing her past misfortunes and of dealing a +mortal blow to their remorseless enemy. The Duke Charles, thus solicited +at once by Mdme. de Chevreuse, by his kinsman the Duke de Guise, by the +Spanish Minister, and, more than all, by his own restless and +adventurous ambition, broke the solemn compact he had so recently made +with France, entered into an alliance with Spain and the Count de +Soissons, and prepared with all diligence to march to the aid of Sedan. +And whilst Mdme. de Chevreuse and the emigrants brought into play every +engine they could lay hands on, Lamboy and Metternich set out for +Flanders at the head of six thousand Imperialists. France--all the +nationalities of Europe, were on the tiptoe of expectation. Richelieu +had never been menaced with a greater danger, and the loss of the battle +of Marfee would have proved a fatal event had not the Count de Soissons +met his death simultaneously with his triumph. + +If Mdme. de Chevreuse were a stranger in 1642 to the fresh conspiracy of +Gaston, Duke d'Orleans, Cinq Mars, and the Duke de Bouillon against her +relentless foe, it would have been the only one in which she had not +taken a leading part. It is indeed more than probable that she was in +the secret as well as Queen Anne, whose understanding with Gaston and +Cinq Mars cannot be contested. La Rochefoucauld repeatedly remarks +touching a matter in which he seems to have been implicated, "The +dazzling reputation of M. le Grand (Cinq Mars) rekindled the hopes of +the discontented; the Queen and the Duke d'Orleans united with him; the +Duke de Bouillon and several persons of quality did the same." De +Bouillon also declares that the Queen was closely allied with Gaston and +the Grand-Ecuyer, and that she herself had invited his concurrence. "The +Queen, whom the Cardinal had persecuted in such a variety of ways, did +not doubt that, if the King should chance to die, that minister would +seek to deprive her of her children, in order to assume the Regency +himself. She secretly instigated De Thou to seek the Duke de Bouillon +with persevering entreaties. She asked the latter whether, in the event +of the King's death, he would promise to receive her and her two +children in his stronghold of Sedan, believing--so firmly persuaded was +she of the evil designs of the Cardinal, and of his power--that there +was no other place of safety for them throughout the realm of France." +De Thou further told the Duke de Bouillon that since the King's illness +the Queen and the Duke d'Orleans were very closely allied, and that it +was through Cinq Mars that their alliance had been brought about. Now, +where the Queen was so deeply implicated it was not likely that Mdme. de +Chevreuse would stand aloof. A friend of Richelieu, whose name has not +come down to us, but who must have been perfectly well informed, does +not hesitate to place Mdme. de Chevreuse as well as the Queen amongst +those who then endeavoured to overthrow Richelieu. "M. le Grand," he +writes to the Cardinal,[5] "has been urged to his wicked designs by the +Queen-mother, by her daughter (Henrietta Maria), by the Queen of France, +by Mdme. de Chevreuse, by Montagu, and other English Papists." At length +the Cardinal, on an early day in June, 1642, retired to Tarascon, +ostensibly for the sake of his health, but doubtless for safety also, +accompanied by his two bosom friends, Mazarin and Chavigny, and the +faithful regiments of his guards. Finding himself surrounded by peril on +all sides, and representing to Louis XIII. the gravity of the situation, +he cited that which had been alleged of Mdme. de Chevreuse as amongst +the most striking indications of the truth of what he stated.[6] + + [5] Archives des Affaires Etrangeres; FRANCE, tom. CI. + + [6] Archives des Affaires Etrangeres; FRANCE, tom. cii. Inedited + Memoir of Richelieu. + +But what _was_ the party in fact then conspiring against Richelieu? Was +it not the party of former coalitions--of the League, of Austria, and of +Spain? And Mdme. Chevreuse at Brussels, through her connection with the +Duke de Lorraine, the Queen of England, the Chevalier de Jars at Rome, +the Minister Olivarez at Madrid--was she not one of the great motive +powers of that party? When, therefore, such machinery was found to be +again in activity, it was quite reasonable to suspect the hand of Mdme. +de Chevreuse in all its movements. + +The gathering cloud that now lowered so thick and threatening above the +head of Richelieu seemed pregnant with inevitable destruction to his +power and life. But ere long his eagle glance pierced through the +overshadowing gloom, and the aim of Cinq Mars' dark intrigue became +clearly revealed to his far-seeing introspection. A treachery, the +secret of which has remained impenetrable to every research made during +the last two centuries, caused the treaty concluded with Spain through +the intervention of Fontrailles, and bearing the signatures of Gaston, +Cinq Mars, and the Duke de Bouillon, to fall into his hands. From that +instant the Cardinal felt certain of victory. He knew Louis XIII. +thoroughly; he conjectured that he might in some access of his morbid +and changeful humour have uttered reproachful words against his Minister +in the favourite's ear--even expressed a wish to be rid of him, as did +our first Plantagenet when tired of the despotism of Thomas a +Becket--and had perhaps listened to strange proposals for effecting such +object. But the Cardinal knew right well also to what extent Louis was a +king and a Frenchman, and devoted by self-interest to their common +system. He despatched, therefore, Chavigny in all haste from Narbonne +with irrefragable evidence of the treaty made with Spain. Louis, +thunderstricken, could scarcely believe his own eyes. He sank into a +gloomy reverie, out of which he emerged only to give way to bursts of +indignation against the favourite who could thus abuse his confidence +and conspire with the foreigner. It was needless to inflame his anger, +he was the first to call for an exemplary punishment. Not for a day, not +for an hour, did his heart soften towards the youthful culprit who had +been so dear to him. He thought only of his crime, and signed without an +instant's hesitation his death-warrant. If Louis the Just spared the +Duke de Bouillon, it was merely to acquire Sedan. If he pardoned his +brother Gaston, he at the same time dishonoured him by depriving him of +all authority in the State. Upon a report spread by a servant of +Fontrailles, and which Fontrailles' memoirs fully confirm, his +suspicions were directed towards the Queen; and no one afterwards could +divest his mind of the conviction that in this instance, as in the +affair of Chalais, Anne of Austria had an understanding with his +brother, the Duke d'Orleans. What would he have done had he perused the +statement of Fontrailles, the Duke de Bouillon's memoirs, a letter of +Turenne, and the declaration of La Rochefoucauld? Their united testimony +is so concordant that it is altogether irresistible. The Queen racked +her brains to exorcise this fresh storm, and to persuade the King and +Richelieu of her innocence. Anne went much farther; she did not confine +herself to falsehood and dissimulation. Menaced by imminent danger, she +went so far as to repudiate that courageous friend who had been so long +and steadfastly devoted to her. Had fortune declared in her favour she +would have embraced the Duchess as a deliverer. Vanquished and disarmed, +she abandoned her. As she had protested in terms of horror against the +conspiracy that had failed, her two young, imprudent, and ill-starred +accomplices, Cinq Mars and De Thou, mounted the scaffold without +breathing her name. Finding also both the King and Richelieu violently +exasperated against Mdme. de Chevreuse, and firmly resolved to reject +the renewed entreaties of her family to obtain her recall, Anne of +Austria, far from interceding for her faithful adherent, warmly sided +with her enemies; and further, to indicate the change in her own +sentiments, and seem to applaud that which she could not prevent, she +asked as an especial favour that the Duchess might be estranged from her +person, and even from France. "The Queen," wrote Chavigny, Richelieu's +Minister for Foreign Affairs, "has pointedly asked me if it were true +that Mdme. de Chevreuse would return; and, without waiting for a reply, +she signified to me that she should be vexed to find her presently in +France; that she now saw the Duchess in her proper light; and she +commanded me to pray His Eminence on her part, if he had any mind to +favour Mdme. de Chevreuse, that it might be done without granting her +permission to return to France. I assured her Majesty that she should +have satisfaction on that point."[7] + + [7] Archives des Affaires Etrangeres, FRANCE, tom. CI. + +Poor Marie de Rohan! Her heart already bled from many wounds, but this +last was the "unkindest cut of all." Her position had indeed become +frightful, and calculated to sink her to the lowest depth of despair. No +hope of seeing her native land again, her princely chateau, her +children, her favourite daughter Charlotte! Deriving scarcely anything +from France, deeply in debt, and with credit exhausted, she found +herself entirely at the end of her resources. How thoroughly did the +banished woman then realise the woes of exile--how hard it is to climb +and descend the stranger's stair, experience the hollowness of his +promise, and the arrogance of his commiseration. And, finally, as though +fated to drain her cup of bitterness to the last drop, to learn that +she, her long-loved bosom friend and royal mistress, who owed her, at +the very least, a silent fidelity, had openly ranged herself on the side +of fortune and Richelieu! + +In a condition of mental torture the most acute, resulting from such +accumulated misfortune, Madame de Chevreuse remained for several months +with no other support than that of her innate high-souled courage. At +length, towards the close of that eventful year, the golden grooves of +change rung out a joyous paean to gladden the heart of the much-enduring +exile. Suddenly Marie--all Europe--heard with a throb that the +inscrutable, iron-handed man of all the human race most dreaded alike by +States as by individuals, had yielded to a stronger power than his own, +and had closed his eyes in death (December 4, 1642). Within a few short +months afterwards the King also, whose regal power he had consolidated +at such a cost in blood and suffering, followed the great statesman to +the tomb; having entrusted the Regency, very much against his will, to +the Queen, but controlled by a Council, over which presided as Prime +Minister the man most devoted to Richelieu's system--his closest friend, +confidant, and creature--Jules Mazarin. + +A passage in the funeral oration on Louis XIII. summed up briefly but +significantly the result of Richelieu's gigantic efforts to consolidate +the regal power. "Sixty-three kings," it said, "had preceded him in rule +of the realm, but he alone had rendered it absolute, and what all +collectively had been impotent to achieve in the course of twelve +centuries for the grandeur of France, he had accomplished in the short +space of thirty-three years." It was against that absolute power +incarnate in Richelieu, which from the steps of the throne hurled men to +the earth with its bolts rather than governed them, that Mazarin was +destined later to encounter the reaction of the Fronde. + +Distrustful of leaving Anne of Austria in uncontrolled possession of +regal authority, Louis by his last will and testament had placed +royalty, including his brother Gaston as lieutenant-general of the +realm, in a manner under a commission. And further, Louis did not +believe that he could ensure quiet to the State after his death without +confirming and perpetuating, so far as in him lay, the perpetual exile +of Madame de Chevreuse. + +As the pupil and confidential friend of Richelieu, Mazarin had imbibed +both that statesman's and the late king's opinions and sentiments +touching the influence of that eminently dangerous woman. Though he had +never seen her hitherto, he was not the less well acquainted with her by +repute: dreading her mortally, and cherishing a like antipathy to her +friend Chateauneuf. He knew the Duchess to be as seductive as she was +talented, experienced and courageous in party strife--an instance of +which was that she could sway entirely a man of such ambition and +capacity as the former Keeper of the Seals. Attached, moreover, in +secret to Lorraine, to Austria, and to Spain, all this was as absolutely +incompatible with the exclusive favour to which he aspired at the hands +of his royal mistress as it was with all his diplomatic and military +designs. The solemn injunctions of the late king's will, while +denouncing Madame de Chevreuse and Chateauneuf as the two most +illustrious victims of the close of his reign, embodied also the heads +of the policy which it was that monarch's wish should be continued by +Richelieu's successor. "Forasmuch," ran the will, "that for weighty +reasons, important to the welfare of our State, we found ourselves +compelled to deprive the Sieur de Chateauneuf of the post of Keeper of +the Seals of France, and have him sent to the Castle of Angouleme, in +which he has remained by our command up to the present time, we will and +intend that the said Sieur de Chateauneuf remain in the same state in +which he is at present, in the said Castle of Angouleme, until after the +peace be concluded and executed; under charge, nevertheless, that he +shall not then be set at liberty save by the order of the Queen-Regent, +under the advice of her Council, which shall appoint a place to which he +shall retire, within the realm or without the realm, as may be judged +best. And as our design is to take foresight of all such subjects as may +possibly in some way or other disturb the precautionary arrangements +which we have made to preserve the repose and safety of our realm, the +knowledge that we have of the bad conduct of the Lady Duchess de +Chevreuse, of the artifices which she has employed up to this moment +without the kingdom with our enemies, made us judge it fitting to forbid +her, as we do, entrance into our kingdom during the war: desiring even +that after the peace be concluded and executed she may not return into +our kingdom, save only under the orders of the said Lady Queen-Regent, +with the advice of the said Council, under charge, nevertheless, that +she shall not either take up her abode or be in any place near to the +Court or to the said Queen-Regent." + +Within a few days only after the decease of Louis XIII. that same +Parliament which had enrolled his will reformed it. The Queen-Regent was +freed from every fetter and restriction, and invested with almost +absolute sovereignty; the ban was removed from the proscribed couple so +solemnly denounced, Chateauneuf's prison doors were thrown open, and +Madame de Chevreuse quitted Brussels triumphantly, with a cortege of +twenty carriages, filled with lords and ladies of the highest rank in +that Court, to return once more to France and to the side of her royal +friend and mistress. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + RETURN OF MADAME DE CHEVREUSE TO COURT. + + +AFTER ten years' absence from the scene of her former triumphs, social +and political, did the brilliant Duchess then once more find herself +safe and free in France. The _Gazette de Renaudot_--the _Moniteur_ of +that day--recording the return of Madame de Chevreuse, on the 14th of +June, 1643, remarks[1]:--"During such long exile, this princess has +manifested what an elevated mind like hers can do, in spite of all those +vicissitudes of fortune which her constancy has surmounted. The Duchess +went to pay homage to their Majesties, during which visit she received +so many tokens of affection from the Queen-Regent, and gave her in +return such proofs of her zeal in everything relating to her service, +and so much resignation to her will, that it indeed appears that length +of time, distance, or thorny asperities can only prevail over common +minds. Hence the great train of visitors from this Court to her daily, +and for which her spacious hotel scarcely affords room, does not excite +so much wonder as the fact which has been the subject of remark, that +the fatigue consequent upon long journeys and the rigour of adverse +fortune have worked no change in her magnanimity, nor--which is the more +extraordinary--in her beauty." + + [1] No. lxxvii. p. 579. + +Making due allowance for the inflated diction of the complaisant Court +newswriter, let us endeavour to approach somewhat nearer to the truth. + +Madame de Chevreuse had then entered upon her forty-third year. Though +still surprisingly well-preserved, her beauty, tried by adversity, was +visibly on the decline. The inclination to gallantry still existed, but +subdued, politics having gained the supremacy. She had formed the +acquaintance of, and held political relations with, the most celebrated +statesmen in Europe. She had figured at almost all its Courts, the +strength and weakness of its several Governments were known to her, and +in her wanderings, having seen "men and cities," she had acquired a +large experience. The tried favourite hoped to find Anne of Austria the +same as she had left her--averse to business, and very willing to allow +herself to be led by those for whom she had a particular affection; and +as Madame de Chevreuse had been in her youthful days paramount in the +Queen's affection, she fully expected to exercise over her that twofold +ascendancy which love and capacity would jointly give. More ambitious +for her friends than for herself, she saw them already rewarded for +their long sacrifices, replacing everywhere the creatures of Richelieu, +and at their head, in the highest post, as first minister, him who for +her sake had broken with the triumphant Cardinal, and had endured an +imprisonment of ten tedious years. She did not care much about Mazarin, +with whom she had no acquaintance, whom she had never seen, and who +appeared to her unsupported either by the Court or the French nation, +whilst she felt herself sustained by all that was illustrious, powerful, +and accredited therein. She believed that she could make sure of the +Duke d'Orleans through his wife, the beautiful Margaret, sister of +Charles of Lorraine. She could dispose almost at will of the Houses of +Rohan and Lorraine, particularly of the Duke de Guise and the Duke +d'Elbeuf, like herself just returned from Flanders. She reckoned upon +the Vendomes, upon the Duke d'Epernon, upon La Vieuville, her old +companions in exile in England; upon the ill-treated Bouillons, upon La +Rochefoucauld, whose disposition and pretensions were so well known to +her; upon Lord Montagu, who had been her slave, and at that moment +possessed the entire confidence of Anne of Austria; upon La Chatre, the +friend of the Vendomes, and Colonel-General of the Swiss Guards; upon +Treville, upon Beringhen, upon Jars, upon La Porte, who were all +emerging from exile, prison, and disgrace. Among the women, her young +stepmother and her sister-in-law seemed secure--Madame de Montbazon and +Madame de Guemene, the two greatest beauties of the time, who drew after +them a numerous crowd of old and young adorers. She knew also that among +the first acts of the Regent had been the recall to her side of the two +noble victims of Richelieu--Madame de Senece and Madame de Hautefort, +whose virtue and piety had conspired so beneficially with other +influences, and had given them an inestimable weight in the household of +Anne of Austria. All those calculations seemed accurate, all those hopes +well-founded; and Madame de Chevreuse left Brussels firmly persuaded +that she was about to re-enter the Louvre as a conqueress. She deceived +herself: the Queen was already changed, or very nearly so. + +To show due honour to her former favourite, however, Anne of Austria +despatched La Rochefoucauld to greet and escort her homewards; but +before he set out she charged him to inform the Duchess of the altered +disposition in which she would find her royal mistress. During that +audience Rochefoucauld did his utmost to reinstate his charming friend +and close ally in the Queen's good graces. "I spoke to her," says he, +"with more freedom perhaps than was becoming. I set before her Madame de +Chevreuse's fidelity, her long-continued services, and the severity of +the misfortunes which they had entailed upon her. I entreated her to +consider of what fickleness she would be thought capable, and what +interpretation might be placed upon such inconsiderateness if she should +prefer Cardinal Mazarin to Madame de Chevreuse. Our conversation was +long and stormy, and I saw clearly that I had exasperated her." He then +started to meet the Duchess on the road from Brussels, and found her at +Roye, whither Montagu had already preceded him. Montagu had travelled to +Roye to place Mazarin's homage at the feet of Madame de Chevreuse, with +the view of bringing about at any cost an union and identity of policy +between the old and the new favourite. He was no longer the gay and +sprightly Walter Montagu, the friend of Holland and Buckingham, the +enamoured knight ever ready to break a lance against all comers for a +glance of the bright eyes of Madame de Chevreuse. Time had changed him +as well as others: he had become a bigot and a devotee, and already +contemplated taking orders in the Church of Rome. He still remained, +however, attached to the object of his former adoration, but above all +he belonged to the Queen, and consequently resigned to Mazarin. La +Rochefoucauld--ever ready to ascribe to himself the chief share in any +undertaking in which he figured, as well as the character of a great +politician--asserts that he entreated Madame de Chevreuse not to +attempt at first to govern the Queen, but to endeavour solely to regain +in Anne's mind and heart that place of which it had been sought to +deprive her, and to put herself in a position in which she would be able +to protect or ruin the Cardinal, according to conduct or circumstances +emanating from himself. + +The Duchess listened attentively to the advice of both her old friends, +promised to follow it, and did so in fact, but in her own peculiar way, +and in that of the interest of the party she had so long served, and +which she would not abandon. As Anne of Austria seemed much pleased at +seeing the noble wanderer again, and gave her a warm reception, Marie +did not perceive any difference in the Queen's sentiments, and flattered +herself that by constant assiduousness she would ere long resume that +sway over the Regent's mind she had formerly exercised. + +Operating against this not unreasonable expectation of Madame de +Chevreuse, Mazarin had a silent but potent ally in the newly-awakened +inclination of Anne for repose and a tranquil life. The first draughts +of almost supreme power tasted by the long-oppressed Queen were not yet +embittered by faction and anarchy. In bygone days, insult, neglect, and +persecution had stirred her at intervals into mental activity, and urged +her upon dangerous courses; but now, having obtained all she aimed at, +happy, and beginning to form attachments, she entertained a dread of +troublesome adventures and hazardous enterprises. She therefore feared +Madame de Chevreuse quite as much as she loved her. The astute Cardinal +anxiously strove to foster such distrust. He looked for support from the +Princess de Conde, then high in the Queen's favour, both through her own +merit as well as that of the Prince her husband, but more than all +through the brilliant exploits of her son, the Duke d'Enghien; through +the services also of her son-in-law the Duke de Longueville, who had, +with honourable distinction, commanded the armies of Italy and Germany, +and by her recently-married daughter, Madame de Longueville, already the +darling of the _salons_ and the Court. The Princess, like Queen Anne, +had in the heyday of her beauty been fond of homage and gallantry, but +had now grown serious, and displayed a somewhat lively piety. She held +Madame de Chevreuse in aversion, and detested Chateauneuf, who, in 1632, +at Toulouse, had presided at the trial and condemnation of her brother, +Henri de Montmorency. She therefore had striven, in concert with +Mazarin, to destroy or at least weaken Madame de Chevreuse's hold upon +the Queen. Armed with the last will of Louis XIII., they had made it +appear something like a fault in the Queen's eyes to disregard it so +soon and so entirely. They had given her to understand that former days +and associations could never return; that the amusements and passions of +early youth were but "evil accompaniments"[2] of a later period of life; +that now she was before all things a mother and a Queen; that Madame de +Chevreuse, dissipated and carried away by passion, and cherishing the +same inclination for gallantry and idle vanity as hitherto, was no +longer worthy of her confidence; that she had brought good fortune to no +one; and that in lavishing wealth and honour upon the Duchess the debt +of gratitude she owed her would be sufficiently discharged. + + [2] Madame de Motteville, tom. i. p. 162.--"Mauvais + accompagnements." + + + + +BOOK II. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + ANNE OF AUSTRIA'S PRIME MINISTER AND HIS POLICY. + + +AND now what was the actual position of Mazarin on succeeding to power +in 1643? + +Richelieu had died admired and abhorred. The people, glad to be +delivered from so heavy a yoke, obeyed with joy the incipient rule of +the Queen-Regent. The courtiers were at first enchanted with a +Government that refused nothing asked of it. It appeared, as one of the +number said, that there were no more than five little words in the +French language: "_La reine est si bonne!_"[1] The State prisons threw +open their gates; the rights of parliaments were respected; the princes +of the blood and the great nobles were restored to their governorships. +There was for a season one unanimous concert of praise and thanksgiving. +But when the princes and parliaments were desirous, as before +Richelieu's rule, of participating in the general direction of the +State, and especially in the distribution of place and patronage, great +was the surprise of both at finding a steady resistance on the part of +the Queen-Regent. To see her manifest a disposition to govern without +them was looked upon as something scandalous. Every attempt she made +thenceforward to retain a power which they evaded, or to repossess +herself of that which she had imprudently suffered to escape from her +grasp, seemed to them nothing less than a continuation of the odious +system of Richelieu. Their exasperation was increased to the highest +degree, therefore, when they beheld her give her entire confidence to a +foreigner, to a Cardinal, to a creature of Richelieu. By that triple +title Mazarin was equally hateful to the great nobles, the members of +parliament, and the middle class. The tyranny of Richelieu had in the +end attained to something noble by the high-handed heedlessness of all +his acts. If the people were to be trampled on, it was a species of +consolation that their oppressor was feared by others as well as +themselves. But that the oppression of the doomed French nation was to +be continued by a more ignoble hand was altogether intolerable. +Frenchmen had begun to ask one another, who _was_ this Mazarin who had +come to rule over them? He could not--like Richelieu--boast of his high +birth, of descent from a long line of noble ancestors--Frenchmen. Poets +and romancers, ye whose imaginations delight to dwell upon sudden +downfalls and rapid rises, mark well that little lad at play upon the +Sicilian shore near the town of Mazzara! Springing from the lowest of +the plebeian class, his family have not even a surname. He is the son of +one Pierre, a fisherman, whose humble hut stands yonder beneath the +cliff. But a day will come when that lowly-born lad, joining his +baptismal name to that of the town which sheltered his cradle, will +become Jules de Mazarin, robed in the Roman purple, quartering his +shield with the consular fasces of Julius Caesar, governing France, and +through her preparing and influencing the destinies of entire Europe. + + [1] De Retz Memoirs, Petitot Collection. + +It was not, however, by easy steps that Richelieu's disciple and +successor obtained a firm grasp of that plenary power which the master +mind of the former had consolidated and long wielded so grandly and +terribly. The Queen herself at the commencement of the Regency had not +yet renounced her former friendships. During a considerable portion of +her married life Anne had impatiently endured the slights and +disparagements to which she was so long subjected, both by her husband +and his Minister. Through engaging in divers dangerous and unsuccessful +enterprises, she had been deprived of all influence, and was a queen +only in name. But, a woman and a Spaniard, she had descended to +dissimulation, and in that "ugly but necessary virtue"[2] made rapid +progress. Up to the time of Richelieu's death she had played a double +game--made partisans in secret, with the object of subverting the +Cardinal's power, whilst feigning the semblance of friendship towards +him, and did not scruple to humiliate herself on occasions, in order to +carry her point. After that great man's decease, through rare patience, +great caution, and a persistent line of conduct, she ultimately attained +that for which she had been willing to make any and every sacrifice--the +Regency. During the King's last illness, the mistrusted Queen and wife +had profited by Mazarin's unhoped-for service, as Prime Minister, in +prevailing over the unwillingness of the dying King to appoint her +custodian of his son, and Regent during his minority. She regarded this, +therefore, as a first and most important service on the part of Mazarin +towards her, and for which she felt proportionately grateful. Such was +the Cardinal's first stepping-stone to the good graces of Anne of +Austria, and his twofold talent both as a laborious and indefatigable +statesman and a consummate courtier, speedily helped to secure for him +her entire confidence. The singular personal resemblance he bore to that +desperate _enamorado_ of her early womanhood, the brilliant Buckingham, +may probably also have served him as a favourable prestige. On her +accession to power Anne did not manifest much firmness of character. +Naturally indolent, she disliked the drudgery attendant upon business +details, and hence continued through convenience the services of a man +who, by taking off her hands the wearisome routine of State affairs, +allowed her to reign at her ease. + + [2] Madame de Motteville. + +Mazarin, moreover, had never been displeasing to her. He had begun to +ingratiate himself during the month preceding the death of Louis +XIII.,[3] and she named him Prime Minister about the middle of +May--partly through personal liking, but more through political +necessity. Far from appearing to resemble the impassive and imperious +Richelieu, Anne perhaps might have recalled with agreeable emotion the +words of her deceased consort when he first presented Mazarin to her (in +1639 or 1640)--"He will please you, madame, because he bears a striking +resemblance to Buckingham." By degrees the liking increased, and grew +sufficiently strong to resist every assault from his enemies. At the +same time the Minister to whom the Queen owed so much, instead of +dictating to and presuming to govern her, was ever at her feet, and +prodigal of that attention, respect, and tenderness to which she had +been hitherto a stranger. + + [3] Louis died May 14th, 1643. + +It is a delicate matter to investigate with exactitude the means by +which Mazarin obtained entire sway over the Queen-Regent, and one which +La Rochefoucauld scarcely touches upon; but it is too interesting a +point in history to be left in the dark, and thereby to altogether +disregard that which first constituted the minister's strength, and +soon afterwards became the centre and key of the situation. After a long +season of oppression, regal powers and splendour gilded the hours of +Anne of Austria, and her Spanish pride exacted the tribute of respect +and homage. Mazarin was prodigal of both. He cast himself at her feet in +order to reach her heart. In her heart of hearts she was not the less +touched by the grave accusation brought against him that he was a +foreigner, for was not she also a foreigner? Perhaps that of itself +proved the source of a mysterious attraction to her, and she may have +found it a singular pleasure to converse with her Prime Minister in her +mother tongue as a compatriot and friend. To all this must be added the +mind and manners of Mazarin--supple and insinuating, always master of +himself, of an unchangeable serenity amidst the gravest circumstances, +full of confidence in his good star, and diffusing that confidence +around him. It must also be remembered that Cardinal although he was, +Mazarin was not a priest; that imbued with the maxims which formed the +code of gallantry of her native land, Anne of Austria had always loved +to please the other sex; that she was then forty-one and still +beautiful, that her Prime Minister was of the same age, that he was +exceedingly well-made and of a most pleasing countenance, in which +_finesse_, was blended with a certain air of greatness. He had readily +recognised that without ancestry, establishment, or support in France, +and surrounded by rivals and enemies, all his strength centred in the +Queen. He applied himself therefore above all things to gain her heart, +as Richelieu had tried before him; and as he happily possessed far other +means for attaining success in that respect, the handsome and +gentle-mannered Cardinal eventually succeeded. Once master of her heart, +he easily directed the mind of Anne of Austria, and taught her the +difficult art of pursuing ever the same end by the aid of conduct the +most diverse, according to the difference of circumstances. + +But favourable and indeed gracious as his royal mistress had shown +herself towards him personally, and apart from any particular line of +policy, at the outset of his premiership Mazarin had nevertheless to +contend against a formidable host of enemies; and not the least +redoubtable among them might be reckoned that intrepid political heroine +the lately-banished Duchess de Chevreuse. No sooner did she again find +herself at the side of Anne of Austria than the indefatigable Marie set +to work with all her characteristic dash, spirit, and energy to attack +Richelieu's system and its adherents, now directed by Mazarin. + +The first point she sought to carry was the return of Chateauneuf to +office. "The good sense and long experience of M. de Chateauneuf," says +La Rochefoucauld, "were known to the Queen. He had undergone a rigorous +imprisonment for his adhesion to her cause; he was firm, decisive, loved +the State, and more capable than anyone else of re-establishing the old +form of government which Richelieu had first begun to destroy. Firmly +attached to Mdme. de Chevreuse, she knew sufficiently-well how to govern +him. She therefore urged his return with much warmth." Chateauneuf had +already obtained as a royal boon that the "rude and miserable condition" +of close incarceration under which he had groaned for ten years should +be changed for a compulsory residence at one of his country houses. +Mdme. de Chevreuse demanded the termination of this mitigated exile, +that she might once more behold him free who had endured such +extremities for the Queen's sake and her own. Mazarin saw that he must +yield, but only did so tardily, never appearing himself to repulse +Chateauneuf, but always alleging the paramount necessity of conciliating +the Conde family, and especially the Princess, who, as already said, +bore bitter enmity towards him as the judge of her brother, Henri de +Montmorency. Chateauneuf was therefore recalled, but with that +reservation accorded to the last clause of the King's will, that he +should not appear at Court, but reside at his own house of Montrouge, +near Paris, where his friends might visit him. + +The next step was to transfer him thence to some ministerial office. +Chateauneuf was no longer a young man, but neither his energy nor his +ambition had deserted him, and Mdme. de Chevreuse made it a point of +honour to reinstate him in the post of Keeper of the Seals, which he had +formerly held and lost through her, and which all Queen Anne's old +friends now saw with indignation occupied by one of the most detested of +Richelieu's creatures, Pierre Seguier. This last, however, was a man of +capacity--laborious, well-informed and full of resources. To these +qualifications he added a remarkable suppleness, which made him very +useful and accommodating to a Prime Minister. He moreover had the +support of friends who stood high in the Queen's favour, and was further +strengthened by the opposition of the Condes and the Bishop of Beauvais +to Chateauneuf. The Duchess perceiving that it was almost impossible to +surmount so powerful an opposition, took another way of arriving at the +same end. She contented herself with asking for the lowest seat in the +cabinet for her friend; well knowing that once installed therein, +Chateauneuf would soon manage all the rest and aggrandise his position. + +At the same time that she strove to extricate from disgrace the man upon +whom rested all her political hopes, Madame de Chevreuse, not daring to +attack Mazarin overtly, insensibly undermined the ground beneath his +feet, and step by step prepared his ruin. Her experienced eye enabled +her promptly to perceive the most favourable point of attack whence to +assail the Queen, and the watchword she passed was to fan and keep alive +to the utmost the general feeling of reprobation which all the +proscribed, on returning to France, had aroused and disseminated against +the memory of Richelieu. This feeling was universal--among the great +families he had decimated or despoiled;--in the Church, too firmly +repressed not to be unmindful of its abasement;--in the Parliament, +strictly confined to its judicial functions, and aspiring to break +through such narrow limits. The same feeling was still alive in the +Queen's bosom, who could not have forgotten the deep humiliation to +which Richelieu had subjected her, and the fate for which he had +probably reserved her. These tactics succeeded, and on every side there +arose against the late violence and tyranny, and, by a rebound, against +the creatures of Richelieu, a storm so furious that Mazarin's utmost +ability was taxed to allay it. + +Madame de Chevreuse likewise supplicated Anne of Austria to repair the +long-endured misfortunes of the Vendome princes, by bestowing upon them +either the Admiralty, to which an immense power was attached, or the +government of Brittany, which the head of the family, Caesar de Vendome, +had formerly held--deriving it alike from the hand of his father, Henry +IV., and as the heritage of his father-in-law, the Duke de Mercoeur. +This was nothing less than demanding the aggrandisement of an unfriendly +house, and at the same time the ruin of two families that had served +Richelieu with the utmost devotion, and were best capable of supporting +Mazarin. The Minister parried the blow aimed at him by the Duchess by +dint of address and patience, never refusing, always eluding, and +summoning to his aid his grand ally, as he termed it--Time. Before the +return of Madame de Chevreuse he had found himself forced to win over +the Vendomes, and to secure them in his interest. On Richelieu's death +he had strenuously contributed to obtain their recall, and had since +made them every kind of advance; but he soon perceived that he could not +satisfy them without bringing about his own destruction. The Duke Caesar +de Vendome, son of Henry IV. and _The Fair Gabrielle_, had early carried +his pretensions to a great height, and had shown himself restless and +factious as a legitimate prince. He had passed his life in revolts and +conspiracies, and in 1641 had been compelled to flee to England through +suspicion of being implicated in an attempt to assassinate Richelieu. He +did not dare return to France until after the Cardinal's death; and, as +may well be imagined, he came back breathing the direst vengeance. +Against the ambition of the Vendomes Mazarin skilfully opposed that of +the Condes, who were inimical to the aggrandisement of a house too +nearly rivalling their own. But it was very difficult to retain Brittany +in the hands of its newly-appointed governor, the Marshal La Meilleraie, +in face of the claim of a son of Henry the Great, who had formerly held +it, and demanded it back as a sort of heirloom. Mazarin therefore +resigned himself to the sacrifice of La Meilleraie, but he lightened it +as much as possible. He persuaded the Queen to assume to herself the +government of Brittany, and have only a lieutenant-general over it--a +post, of course, beneath the dignity of the Vendomes, and which would, +therefore, remain in La Meilleraie's hands. The latter could not take +offence at being second in power therein to the Queen; and to arrange +everything to the entire satisfaction of a person of such importance, +Mazarin solicited for him soon afterwards the title of duke, which the +deceased King had, in fact, promised the Marshal, and the reversion of +the post of Grand Master of the Artillery for his son--that same son on +whom subsequently Mazarin bestowed, with his own name, the hand of his +niece, the beautiful Hortense. + +Mazarin was so much the less inclined to favour the house of Vendome +from having encountered a dangerous rival in the Queen's good graces, in +Vendome's youngest son, Beaufort, a young, bold, and flourishing +gallant, who displayed ostentatiously all the exterior signs of loyalty +and chivalry, and affected for Anne of Austria a passionate devotion not +likely to be displeasing. "He was tall, well-made, dexterous, and +indefatigable in all warlike exercises," says La Rochefoucauld, "but +artificial withal, and wanting in truthfulness of character. Mentally he +was heavy and badly cultivated; nevertheless he attained his objects +cleverly enough through the blunt coarseness of his manners. He was of +high but unsteady courage, and was not a little envious and +malignant."[4] De Retz does not, like La Rochefoucauld, accuse Beaufort +of artificiality, but represents him as presumptuous and of thorough +incapacity. His portrait of him, though over-coloured, like most others +from the coadjutor's pen, is sufficiently faithful, but at the +commencement of the Regency, the defects of the Duke de Beaufort had not +fully declared themselves, and were less conspicuous than his good +qualities. Some few days before her husband's death, Anne of Austria had +placed her children under his charge--a mark of confidence that so +elated him that the young Duke conceived hopes which his impetuosity +hindered him from sufficiently disguising. Indeed, these were presumed +upon so far as to give offence to the Queen; and, as the height of +inconsistency, he committed at the same time the egregious folly of +publicly enacting the led-captain in the rosy chains of the handsome but +decried Duchess de Montbazon. It was only, however, by slow degrees that +the Queen's liking for him abated. At first, she had proposed to confer +upon him the post of Grand-Ecuyer, vacant since the death of the +unfortunate Cinq-Mars, which would have kept him in close attendance +upon her, and was altogether a fitting appointment--for Beaufort had +nothing of the statesman in him; with little intellect and no reticence, +he was also averse to steady application to business, and capable only +of some bold and violent course of action. The Duke had the folly to +refuse this post of Grand-Ecuyer, hoping for a better; and then, +altering his mind when it was too late, he solicited it only to incur +disappointment.[5] The more his favour diminished, the more his +irritation increased, and it was not long ere he placed himself at the +head of the Cardinal's bitterest enemies. + + [4] La Rochefoucauld. + + [5] Mazarin himself has furnished this fact, otherwise unknown, in + one of his diaries (_Carnet_, pp. 72, 73). The Cardinal-Minister was + in the habit of jotting down the chief events of each day in these + small memorandum books (_Carnets_), which he kept in the pocket of + his cassock. + +Madame de Chevreuse hoped to be more fortunate in securing the +governorship of Havre for a very different sort of person--for a man of +tried devotedness and of a rare and subtle intellect--La Rochefoucauld. +She would thereby recompense the services rendered to the Queen and +herself, strengthen and aggrandize one of the chiefs of the +_Importants_, and weaken Mazarin by depriving of an important government +a person upon whom he had entire reliance--Richelieu's niece, the +Duchess d'Aiguillon. The Cardinal succeeded in rendering this +manoeuvre abortive, without appearing to have any hand in it. And +herein, as in many other matters, the art of Mazarin was to wear the +semblance of merely confirming the Queen in the resolves with which he +inspired her. + +In thus attributing these various designs, this connected and consistent +line of conduct, to Madame de Chevreuse, we do not advance it as our own +opinion, but as that of La Rochefoucauld, who must have been perfectly +well informed. He attributes it to her both in his own affairs and in +those of the Vendomes. Neither was Mazarin blind to the fact, for more +than once in his private notes we read these words:--"My greatest +enemies are the Vendomes and Madame de Chevreuse, who urges them on." He +tells us also that she had formed the project of marrying her charming +daughter Charlotte, then sixteen, to the Vendome's eldest son, the Duke +de Mercoeur, whilst his brother Beaufort should espouse the wealthy +Mademoiselle d'Epernon, who foiled these designs, and even greater +still, by throwing herself at four-and-twenty into a convent of +Carmelites. These marriages, which would have reconciled, united, and +strengthened so many great houses, moderately attached to the Queen and +her minister, terrified Richelieu's successor. He therefore sought to +foil them by every means in his power, and succeeded in prevailing upon +the Queen to frustrate them in an underhand way; having found that the +union of Mademoiselle de Vendome with the brilliant but restless Duke de +Nemours had caused him more than ordinary anxiety. + +If the intricate details of those counter intrigues of Mazarin and +Madame de Chevreuse be followed attentively, we are at a loss to say to +which of the two antagonists the palm for skill, sagacity, and address +should be given. Whilst Mazarin was astute enough to make a certain +amount of sacrifice in order to reserve to himself the right of not +making greater--treating everyone with apparent consideration, rendering +no one desperate, promising much, holding back the least possible +_proprio motu_ of himself, and surrounding Madame de Chevreuse herself +with attention and homage without suffering any illusion to beguile him +as to the nature of her sentiments--she, on her part, paid him back in +the same coin. La Rochefoucauld says that during these _mollia tempora_, +Madame de Chevreuse and Mazarin actually flirted with each other. The +Duchess, who had always intermingled gallantry with politics, tried, as +it appears, the power of her charms upon the Cardinal. The latter, on +his side, failed not to lavish honeyed words, and "essayoit meme quelque +fois de lui faire croire qu'elle lui donnoit de l'amour."[6] There were +other ladies also, it seems, who would not have been sorry to please the +handsome First Minister a little. Amongst these might be numbered the +Princess de Guemene,[7] one of the greatest beauties of the French +Court, who, certainly, if only one half the stories related of her be +true, was by no means of a ferocious disposition in affairs of +gallantry. This lady, as well as her husband, were both favourable to +Mazarin, in spite of all the efforts of Madame de Montbazon, and Madame +de Chevreuse, her sister-in-law. It may be readily imagined that Mazarin +devoted great attention to Madame de Guemene, and did not fail to pay +her a host of compliments, as he did to Madame de Chevreuse; but as he +went no further, the two gay ladies were at a loss to conceive what so +many compliments coupled with so much reserve meant. They sometimes +asked which of the two was really the object of his admiration; and as +he still made no further advances at the same time that he continued his +gallant protestations, "these ladies," says Mazarin, "si esamina la mia +vita e si conclude che io sia impotente."[8] + + [6] La Rochefoucauld, Memoirs, p. 383. + + [7] Anne de Rohan, wife of M. de Guemene, eldest son of the Duke de + Montbazon, and brother of Madame de Chevreuse. + + [8] Carnet, iii. p. 39. + +Political intrigue had become such an affair of fashion among the Court +dames of that day, that those of the highest rank made no scruple of +bringing into play all the artillery of their wit and beauty whenever +they could contribute to the success of their enterprises. Still endowed +with those two potent gifts to an eminent degree, Madame de Chevreuse +brought all her various influences into perfect combination, and had +grown so passionately fond of the fierce excitement of conspiring, that +love was to her now merely a means and political victory the end. She +devoted literally her entire existence to it, living in the confidence +and intimacy of the Vendomes and other noble perturbators of the hour. +Her activity, her penetration, her energy obtained for her among the +party of the _Importants_ the importance she coveted. It was not long, +therefore, ere she begun to give Mazarin cause for grave anxiety. During +the encounters resulting from this strenuous antagonism, reconciliations +occasionally took place, in which even the Cardinal's coldness, +caution, and his laborious occupation, could not, it is said, place him +beyond reach of the Duchess's irresistible fascinations. But the latter, +well aware that the _role_ of Mazarin's mistress would not give to her +grasp the helm of the State, which he reserved exclusively to himself, +preferred, therefore, rather to remain his enemy, and figure at the head +and front of the faction antagonistic to his government. + +This flirting and skirmishing had gone on for some time, but at last +natural feeling prevailed over political reticence. Madame de Chevreuse +grew impatient at obtaining words only, and scarcely anything serious or +effective. She had, it is true, received some money for her own use, +either in repayment of that which she had formerly lent the Queen, or +for the discharge of debts contracted during exile and in the interest +of Anne of Austria. On returning to Court, one of her earliest steps was +to withdraw her friend and _protege_, Alexandre de Campion, from the +service of the Vendomes, and place him in a suitable position in the +Queen's household. Chateauneuf had been reinstated in his former post of +Chancellor (_des Ordres du Roi_), and later his governorship of Touraine +was restored to him on the death of the Marquis de Gevres, who fell at +the siege of Thionville; but the Duchess considered that that was doing +very little for a man of Chateauneuf's merit--for him who had staked +fortune and life, and undergone ten years' imprisonment. She readily +perceived, therefore, that the perpetual delay of favours ever promised, +ever deferred in the instances of the Vendomes and La Rochefoucauld, +were so many artifices of the Cardinal, and that she was his dupe. This +conviction put the spirited partisan upon her mettle. She began to +titter, to mock, and to expostulate by turns, and sometimes twitted the +minister in pert and derisive terms. This, however, betrayed a want of +her ordinary precaution, and only served to fill Mazarin's quiver with +shafts to be used against herself. He made the Queen believe that Madame +de Chevreuse sought to rule her with a rod of iron; that she had changed +her mask, but not her character; that she was ever the same impulsive +and restless person, who, with all her talent and devotedness, had never +worked aught but mischief around her, and was only instrumental in +ruining others as well as herself. By degrees, underhand and hidden as +it might be, war between the Duchess and the Cardinal declared itself +unmistakably. The commencement and progress of this curious struggle for +supremacy has been admirably depicted by La Rochefoucauld; and, while +the autograph memoranda of Mazarin cast a fresh flood of light upon it, +they enhance infinitely Madame de Chevreuse's ability by revealing to +what an extent that Minister dreaded her. + +In every page of these invaluable _carnets_ he indicates her as being +the head and mainspring of the _Importants_. "It is Madame de +Chevreuse," he writes repeatedly, "who stirs them all up. She endeavours +to strengthen the hands of the Vendomes; she tries to win over every +member of the house of Lorraine; she has already gained the Duke de +Guise, and through him she strives to carry away from me the Duke +d'Elbeuf." "She sees clearly through everything; she has guessed very +accurately that it is I who have secretly persuaded the Queen to hinder +the restoration of the government of Brittany to the Duke de Vendome. +She has said so to her father, the Duke de Montbazon, and to Montagu. +She has quarrelled with Montagu, in fact, because he raises an obstacle +to Chateauneuf by supporting Seguier." "Nothing discourages Madame de +Chevreuse; she entreats the Vendomes to have patience, and sustains them +by promising a speedy change of scene." "Madame de Chevreuse never +relinquishes the hope of displacing me. The reason she gives for this +is, that when the Queen refused to put Chateauneuf at the head of the +government, she stated that she could not do it immediately, as she must +have some consideration for me, whence Madame de Chevreuse concludes +that the Queen has much esteem and liking for Chateauneuf, and that when +I shall be no longer where I am, the post is secured for her friend. +Hence the hopes and illusions with which they are buoyed up." "The +Duchess and her friends assert that the Queen will shortly send for +Chateauneuf; and by so doing they abuse the minds of all, and prompt +those who are looking to their future interests to pay court to her and +seek her friendship. They make an excuse for the Queen's delay in giving +him my place, by saying that she has still need of me for some short +time." "I am told that Madame de Chevreuse secretly directs Madame de +Vendome (a pious person who has great influence over the bishops and +convents), and gives her instructions, in order that she may not fall +into error, and that all the machinery used against me may thoroughly +answer its purpose." From this last entry it is clear that Madame de +Chevreuse, without being in the smallest degree possible a _devote_, +knew right well how to make use of the _parti devot_, which then +exercised great influence over Anne of Austria's mind, and gave serious +uneasiness to Mazarin. + +The Prime Minister's chief difficulty was to make Queen Anne--the sister +of the King of Spain, and herself of a piety thoroughly +Spanish--understand that it was necessary, notwithstanding the +engagements which she had so often contracted, notwithstanding the +instances of the Court of Rome and those of the heads of the episcopate, +to continue the alliance with the Protestants of Germany and Holland, +and to persist in only consenting to a _general_ peace in which the +allies of France should equally find their account as well as that +country itself. On the other side, it was continually dinned into the +Queen's ear that it was practicable to make a separate treaty of peace, +and negotiate singly with Spain on very fitting conditions, that by such +means the scandal of an impious war between "the very Christian" and +"the very Catholic" King would cease, and a relief be afforded to France +very much needed. Such was the policy of the Queen's old friends. It was +at least specious, and reckoned numerous partisans among men the most +intelligent and attached to the interests of their country. Mazarin, the +disciple and successor of Richelieu, had higher views, but which it was +not easy at first to make Anne of Austria comprehend. By degrees, +however, he succeeded, thanks to his judicious efforts, renewed +incessantly and with infinite art; thanks especially to the victories of +the Duke d'Enghien--for in all worldly affairs success is a very +eloquent and right persuasive advocate. The Queen, however, remained for +a considerable interval undecided, and it may be seen by Mazarin's own +memoranda that during the latter part of May, as well as through the +whole of June and July, the Cardinal's greatest effort was to induce the +Regent not to abandon her allies, but to firmly carry on the war. Madame +de Chevreuse, with Chateauneuf, defended the old party policy, and +strove to bring over Anne of Austria to it. "Madame de Chevreuse," wrote +Mazarin, "causes the Queen to be told from all quarters that I do not +wish for peace, that I hold the same maxims as Cardinal Richelieu on the +point--that it is both easy and necessary to make a separate treaty of +peace." On several occasions he made indignant protestation against such +arrangement, pointing out the danger with which it was fraught, and that +it would render ineffectual those sacrifices which France had for so +many years made. "Madame de Chevreuse," he exclaimed, "would ruin +France!" He knew well that, intimately associated with Gaston, her old +accomplice in all the plots framed against Richelieu, she had won him +over to the idea of a separate peace by holding out the hope of a +marriage between his daughter Mademoiselle de Montpensier and the +Arch-duke, which would have brought him the government of the Low +Countries. He knew that she had preserved all her influence with the +Duke de Lorraine; he knew, in fine, that she boasted of having the power +of promptly negotiating a peace through the mediation of the Queen of +Spain, who was at her disposal. Thus informed, he entreated his royal +mistress to reject all Madame de Chevreuse's propositions, and to tell +her plainly that she would not listen to anything relating to a separate +treaty, that she was decided upon not separating herself from her +allies, that she desired a general peace, that with such view she had +sent her ministers to Munster, who were then negotiating that important +matter, and that it was superfluous to speak to her any more upon the +subject. + +Though baffled on these different points, Madame de Chevreuse did not +consider herself vanquished. She rallied and emboldened her adherents by +her lofty spirit and firm resolution. The party feud went on--intrigues +were multiplied--but up to the close of August, 1643, no change had +taken place, though the acrimony of party feeling had become largely +increased. Finding that she had fruitlessly employed insinuation, +flattery, artifice, and every species of Court manoeuvre, her daring +mind did not shrink from the idea of having recourse to other means of +success. She kept up a brisk agitation amongst the bishops and devotees, +she continued to weave her political plots with the chiefs of the +_Importants_, and at the same time she formed a closer intimacy with +that small cabal which formed in some sort the advance-guard of that +party, composed of men reared amongst the old conspiracies, accustomed +to and always ready for _coups de main_, who had of old embarked in more +than one desperate enterprise against Richelieu, and who, in an +extremity, might be likewise launched against Mazarin. The memoirs of +the time, and especially those of De Retz and La Rochefoucauld, make us +sufficiently well acquainted with their names and characters. The former +mistress of Chalais found little difficulty in acquiring sole sway over +a faction composed of second-rate talents. She caressed it skilfully; +and, with the art of an experienced conspirator, she fomented every germ +of false honour, of quintessential devotedness, and extravagant +rashness. Mazarin, who, like Richelieu, had an admirable police, +forewarned of Madame de Chevreuse's machinations, fully comprehended the +danger with which he was menaced. No one could have been better informed +as to his exact position than the Cardinal: and the plans of the Duchess +and the chiefs of the _Importants_ developed themselves clearly under +Mazarin's sharp-sightedness--either by their incessant and +elaborately-concerted intrigues with the Queen, to force her to abandon +a minister to whose policy she had not yet openly declared her adhesion, +or, should it prove necessary, treat that minister as De Luynes had done +the last Queen-mother's favourite d'Ancre, and as Montresor, Barriere, +and Saint-Ybar would have served Richelieu. The first plan not having +succeeded, they began to think seriously about carrying out the second, +and Madame de Chevreuse, the strongest mind of the party, proposed with +some show of reason to act before the return of the young hero of +Rocroy, the Duke d'Enghien; for that victorious soldier once in Paris +would unquestionably shield Mazarin. It became necessary, therefore, to +profit by his absence in order to strike a decisive blow. Success seemed +certain, and even easy. They were sure of having the people with them, +who, exhausted by a long war and groaning under taxation, would +naturally welcome with delight the hope of peace and repose. They might +reckon on the declared support of the parliament, burning to recover +that importance in the State of which it had been deprived by Richelieu, +and which was then a matter of dispute with Mazarin. They had all the +secret, even overt sympathy of the episcopate, which, with Rome, +detested the Protestant alliance, and demanded the restoration of that +of Spain. The eager concurrence of the aristocracy could not be doubted +for a moment; which ever regretted its old and turbulent independence, +and whose most illustrious representatives, the Vendomes, the Guises, +the Bouillons, and the La Rochefoucaulds were strenously opposed to the +domination of a foreign favourite, without fortune, of no birth, and as +yet without fame. The princes of the blood resigned themselves to +Mazarin rather than to liking him. The Duke d'Orleans was not remarkable +for great fidelity to his friends, and the politic Prince de Conde +looked twice ere he quarrelled with the successful. He coaxed all +parties, whilst he clung to his own interests. His son, doubtless, would +follow in his father's footsteps, and he would be won over by being +overwhelmed with honours. The day following that on which the blow +should be struck there would be no resistance to their ascendancy, and +on the very day itself scarcely any obstacle. The Italian regiments of +Mazarin were with the army; there were scarcely any other troops in +Paris save the regiments of the guards, the colonels of which were +nearly all devoted to the _Importants_. The Queen herself had not yet +renounced her former friendships. Her prudent reserve even was wrongly +interpreted. As it was her desire to appease and deal gently on all +hands, she gave kind words to everybody, and those kind words were taken +as tacit encouragement. Anne had not hitherto shown much firmness of +character; a certain amount of liking for the Cardinal was not unjustly +imputed to her, and undue significance already attributed to the +steadily increasing attachment of a few short months. + +Mazarin, on his own part, indulged in no illusions. He was decidedly not +yet master of Anne of Austria's heart; since at that moment--that is to +say, during the month of July, 1643--in his most secret notes he +displays a deep inquietude and despondency. The dissimulation of which +everybody accused the Queen obviously terrified him, and we see him +passing through all the alternations of hope and fear. It is very +curious to trace and follow out the varied fluctuations of his mind. In +his official letters to ambassadors and generals he affects a security +which he does not feel. With his own intimate friends he permits some +hint of his perplexities to escape him, but in his private memoranda +they are all laid bare. We therein read his inmost carks and cares, and +his passionate entreaties that the Queen-Regent would open her mind to +him. He feigns the utmost disinterestedness towards her; he simply asks +to make way for Chateauneuf, if she has any secret preference for that +minister. The ambiguous conduct of the Regent harasses and distresses +him, and he conjures her either to permit him to retire or to declare +herself in favour of his policy. + +This exciting contest continued with the keenest activity, but no change +had occurred up to the end of July, and even the first days of August, +1643, though this critical state of affairs had become greatly +aggravated. The violence of the _Importants_ increased daily; the Queen +defended her minister, but she also showed consideration for his +enemies. She hesitated to take the decided attitude which Mazarin +required at her hands, not only in his individual interest, but in that +of his government. Suddenly an incident, very insignificant apparently, +but which by assuming larger proportions brought about the inevitable +crisis--forced the Queen to declare herself, and Madame de Chevreuse to +plunge deeper into a baleful enterprise, the idea of which had already +forced itself upon her imagination. A great scandal occurred. We allude +to a quarrel between the two duchesses, de Longueville and de +Montbazon. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + THE DUCHESS DE MONTBAZON.--THE AFFAIR OF THE DROPPED LETTERS.--THE + QUARREL OF THE TWO DUCHESSES. + + +ON declaring itself of the party of Mazarin, the house of Conde had +drawn down the hatred of the _Importants_, though their hostility +scarcely fell upon Madame de Longueville. Her gentleness in everything +in which her heart was not seriously engaged, her entire indifference to +politics at this period of her life, with the graces of her mind and +person, rendered her pleasing to every one, and shielded her from party +spite. But apart from affairs of State, she had an enemy, and a +formidable enemy, in the Duchess de Montbazon. We have said that Madame +de Montbazon had been the mistress of the Duke de Longueville, and as +one of the principal personages of the drama we are about to relate, she +requires to be somewhat better known. + +We shall pass over in silence many of her foibles, without attempting to +excuse any. Before sketching her life, or at least a portion of it, it +will be necessary, in order to protect her memory against an excess of +severity, to recall certain traditions and examples for which unhappily +her family was notorious. + +Daughter of Claude de Bretagne, Baron d'Avangour, she was on her +mother's side granddaughter of that very complaisant Marquis de La +Varenne Fouquet, who, successively scullion, cook, and maitre d'hotel of +Henry the Fourth, "gained more by carrying the amorous King's _poulets_ +than basting those in his kitchen." Catherine Fouquet, Countess de +Vertus, his daughter, Madame de Montbazon's mother, was beautiful, +witty, somewhat giddy, and very gallant. Impatient of all hindrance, she +had authorised one of her lovers to assassinate her husband; but it was +the husband who assassinated the lover. The tragical termination of this +rencontre does not seem to have cast a gloom over the life of the +Countess de Vertus, for at seventy she began to learn to dance, and when +seventy-three, married a young man over head and ears in debt. + +In 1628, Marie d'Avangour quitted her convent to espouse Hercule de +Rohan, Duke de Montbazon, who was the father, by his first marriage, of +Madame de Chevreuse and of the Prince de Guemene. She was sixteen, and +he sixty-one. Thorough fool as he was, the Duke did not conceal from +himself, it is said, the conviction that such an union was fraught with +some danger to him; but we may venture to affirm that he could not have +foreseen all its dangers. Full of respect for the virtues of Marie de' +Medicis, he recommended her example to his wife; then, with every +confidence in the future, he conducted her to Court. + +In beauty the daughter was worthy of the mother, but in vices she left +her far behind. Tallemant says she was one of the loveliest women +imaginable. Her mind was not her most brilliant side, and the little +that she had was turned to intrigue and perfidy. "Her mind," says the +indulgent Madame de Motteville, "was not so fine as her person; her +brilliancy was limited to her eyes, which commanded love. She claimed +universal admiration." In regard to her character, all are unanimous. De +Retz, who knew her well, speaks of her in these terms: "Madame de +Montbazon was a very great beauty. Modesty was wanting in her air. Her +jargon might, during a dull hour, have supplied the defects of her mind. +She showed but little faith in gallantry, none in business. She loved +her own pleasure alone, and above her pleasure her interest. I never saw +a person who, in vice, preserved so little respect for virtue." +Supremely vain and passionately fond of money, it was by the aid of her +beauty that she sought influence and fortune. She, therefore, took +infinite care of it, as of her idol, as of her resources, her treasure. +She kept it in repair, heightened it by all sorts of artifices, and +preserved it almost uninjured till her death. Madame de Motteville +asserts that, during the latter part of her life, she was as full of +vanity as if she were but twenty-five years of age; that she had the +same desire to please, and that she wore her mourning garb in so +charming a manner, that "the order of nature seemed changed, since age +and beauty could be found united." Ten years before, in 1647, at the age +of thirty-five, when Mazarin gave a comedy in the Italian style, that +is, an opera, there was in the evening a grand ball, and the Duchess de +Montbazon was present, adorned with pearls, with a red feather on her +head, and so dazzling in her appearance that the whole company was +completely charmed. We can imagine what she was in 1643, at the age of +thirty-one. + +Of the two conditions of perfect beauty--strength and grace, Madame +de Montbazon possessed the first in the highest degree. She was tall +and majestic, and she had all the charms of embonpoint. Her throat +reminded one of the fulness, in this particular, of the antique +statues--exceeding them, perhaps, somewhat. What struck the beholder +most were her eyes and hair of intense blackness, upon a skin of the +most dazzling white. Her defect was a nose somewhat too prominent, with +a mouth so large as to give her face an appearance of severity. It will +be seen that she was the very opposite of Madame de Longueville. The +latter was tall, but not to excess. The richness of her form did not +diminish its delicacy. A moderate embonpoint exhibited, in full and +exquisite measure, the beauty of the female form. Her eyes were of the +softest blue; her hair of the most beautiful blonde. She had the most +majestic air, and yet her peculiar characteristic was grace. To these +were added the great difference of manners and tone. Madame de +Longueville was, in her deportment, dignity, politeness, modesty, +sweetness itself, with a languor and nonchalance which formed not her +least charm. Her words were few, as well as her gestures; the inflexions +of her voice were a perfect music.[1] The excess, into which she never +fell, might have been a sort of fastidiousness. Everything in her was +wit, sentiment, charm. Madame de Montbazon, on the contrary, was free of +speech, bold and easy in her tone, full of stateliness and pride. + + [1] Villefore, p. 32. + +The Duchess was, nevertheless, a very attractive creature when she +desired to be so, and such we must conceive her to have been if we would +take account of the admiration she excited, and not exactly like the +person which Cousin represents her when, at the age of nearly forty, she +had become "a Colossus"--to use Tallemant's phrase. At the same time it +is true that, even in youth, she had less grace than strength, less +delicacy than majesty. It is also true that she was free of speech, and +in tone was bold and offhand; but those very defects for which she was +remarkable only the better assured her empire over what, in modern +parlance, would be termed the "fast" portion of the Court, and the +sentiments to which she gave utterance revealed the most singular +extravagance. But not a single voice protested when the Duke +d'Hocquincourt proclaimed her _la belle des belles_. In the eyes of the +foreigner she was the marvel which the generals who dreamed of the +capture of Paris coveted; in other words, she was _par excellence_ "the +booty" most desirable, on the subject of which the Duke of Weimar +perpetrated a thoroughly German joke, which we must be pardoned for not +repeating: Anne of Austria might have smiled at it without blushing, but +it is too gross to risk raising a laugh by its repetition in our days. + +She had a great number of adorers, and of happy adorers, from Gaston +Duke of Orleans, and the Count de Soissons, slain at Marfee, to Rance, +the young and gallant editor of Anacreon, and the future founder of La +Trappe. M. de Longueville had been for some time her lover by title, and +he afforded her considerable advantages. When he married Mademoiselle de +Bourbon, Madame the Princess exacted--without, however, being very +faithfully obeyed--the discontinuance of all intercourse with his old +mistress. Hence, in that interested soul, an irritation, which wounded +vanity redoubled, when she saw this young bride, with her great name, +her marvellous mind, her indefinable charms, advance into the world of +gallantry, without the least effort draw after her all hearts, and take +possession of, or at least share that empire of beauty of which she was +so proud, and which was to her so precious. On the other hand, the Duke +de Beaufort had not been able to restrain a passionate admiration for +Madame de Longueville, which had been very coldly received. He was +wounded by it, and his wound bled for a long time, as his friend, La +Chatre, informs us,[2] even after he had transferred his homage to +Madame de Montbazon. The latter, as may be easily imagined, was again +exasperated. Finally, the Duke de Guise, recently arrived in Paris, +placed himself in the party of the _Importants_ and at the service of +Madame de Montbazon, who received him very favourably, at the same time +she was striving to keep or recall the Duke de Longueville, and that she +was ruling Beaufort, whose office near her was somewhat that of a +_cavalier servente_. Thus it will be seen that Madame de Montbazon +disposed through Beaufort and through Guise, as through her +daughter-in-law Madame de Chevreuse, of the house of Vendome and that of +Lorraine, and she employed all this influence to the profit of her +hatred against Madame de Longueville. She burned to injure her, and was +not long in finding an opportunity of doing it. + + [2] Memoires of La Chatre. Petitot Collection, vol. li. p. 230. + +One day when a numerous company was assembled in her salon, one of her +young lady friends picked up a couple of letters which had been dropped +on the floor, bearing no signatures, but in a feminine handwriting, and +of a somewhat equivocal style. They were read, and a thousand jokes +perpetrated concerning them, and some effort made to discover the +author. They were from a woman who wrote tenderly to some one whom she +did not hate. Madame de Montbazon pretended that they had fallen from +the pocket of Maurice de Coligny, who had just gone out, and that they +were in the handwriting of Madame de Longueville. The word of command +thus once given, the Duke de Beaufort was amongst the first to spread +the insinuation which was a calumny, all the echoes of the party of the +_Importants_ took it up, and Madame de Montbazon herself found pleasure +in repeating it during several following days, so that the incident +became the entertainment of the Court. A frivolous curiosity has very +faithfully preserved the text of the two letters thus found at the +Duchess's house.[3] + + [3] Memoires of Madlle. de Montpensier, vol. i. pp. 62, 63. + +I. + + "I should much more regret the change in your conduct if I + thought myself less worthy of a continuation of your + affection. I confess to you that so long as I believed it to + be true and warm, mine gave you all the advantages which you + could desire. Now, hope nothing more from me than the esteem + which I owe to your discretion. I have too much pride to + share the passion which you have so often sworn to me, and I + desire to punish your negligence in seeing me, in no other + way than by depriving you entirely of my society. I request + that you will visit me no more, since I have no longer the + power of commanding your presence." + +II. + + "To what conclusion have you come after so long a silence? + Do you not know that the same pride which rendered me + sensible to your past affection forbids me to endure the + false appearances of its continuation! You say that my + suspicions and my inequalities render you the most unhappy + person in the world. I assure you that I believe no such + thing, although I cannot deny that you have perfectly loved + me, as you must confess that my esteem has worthily + recompensed you. So far we have done each other justice, and + I am determined not to have in the end less goodness, if + your conduct responds to my intentions. You would find them + less unreasonable if you had more passion, and the + difficulties of seeing me would only augment instead of + diminishing it. I suffer for loving too much, and you for + not loving enough. If I must believe you, let us exchange + humours. I shall find repose in doing my duty, and you in + doing yours, and you must fail in doing yours, in order to + obtain liberty. I do not perceive that I forget the manner + in which I passed the winter with you, and that I speak to + you as frankly as I have heretofore done. I hope that you + will make as good use of it, and that I shall not regret + being overcome in the resolution which I have made to return + to it no more. I shall remain at home for three or four days + in succession, and will be seen only in the evening: you + know the reason." + +These letters were not forgeries. They had been really written by +Madame de Fouquerolles to the handsome and elegant Marquis de +Maulevrier, who had been silly enough to drop them in Madame de +Montbazon's _salon_. Maulevrier, trembling at being discovered, and at +having compromised Madame de Fouquerolles, ran to La Rochefoucauld, who +was his friend, confided to him his secret, and begged him to undertake +to hush up the affair. La Rochefoucauld made Madame de Montbazon +understand that it was for her interest to be generous on this occasion, +for the error or fraud would be easily recognised as soon as the writing +should be compared with that of Madame de Longueville. Madame de +Montbazon placed the original letters in the hands of La Rochefoucauld, +who showed them to M. the Prince and to Madame the Princess, to Madame +de Rambouillet, and to Madame Sable, particular friends of Madame de +Longueville, and, the truth being well established, burned them in the +presence of the Queen, delivering Maulevrier and Madame de Fouquerolles +from the terrible anxiety into which they had been for some time thrown. + +The house of Conde felt a lively resentment at the insult offered to it. +The Duke and Duchess de Longueville desired, it is true, the one by a +sentiment of interested prudence, the other by a just feeling of +dignity, to take no further notice of the matter. But the Princess, +impelled by her high spirit, and still intoxicated by her son's success, +exacted a reparation equal to the offence, and declared loudly that, if +the Queen and the government did not defend the honour of her house, she +and all her family would withdraw from the Court. She was indignant at +the mere idea of placing her daughter in the scales with the +granddaughter of a cook. In vain did the whole party of the +_Importants_, with Beaufort and Guise at their head, agitate and +threaten; in vain did Madame de Chevreuse, who had not yet lost all her +influence with the Queen, strive earnestly in behalf of her +mother-in-law. It did not suffice for the resentment of the Princess and +the Duke d'Enghien that Madame de Longueville's innocence was fully +recognised; they demanded a public reparation. Madame de Motteville has +left us an amusing recital of the "mummeries," as she terms them, of +which she was a witness. + +The Queen was in her state cabinet and the Princess beside her, in great +emotion and looking very fierce, declaring the affair to be nothing less +than the crime of high treason. Madame de Chevreuse, interested for a +thousand reasons in the quarrel of her mother-in-law, was busy with +Cardinal Mazarin arranging the composition of the apology to be made. At +every word there was a _pour-parler_ of half an hour. The Cardinal went +from one side to the other to accommodate the difference, as if such a +peace was necessary for the welfare of France, and his own in +particular. It was arranged that the criminal should present herself at +the Princess's hotel on the morrow. + +The apology was written upon a small piece of paper and attached to her +fan, in order that she might repeat it word for word to the Princess. +She did it in the most haughty manner possible, assuming an air which +seemed to say, "I jest in every word I utter." + +Mademoiselle de Montpensier gives us the two speeches made upon the +occasion. "Madame, I come here to protest to you that I am innocent of +the wickedness of which I have been accused: no person of honour could +utter a calumny such as this. If I had committed a like fault, I should +have submitted to any punishment which it might have pleased the Queen +to inflict upon me; I should never have shown myself again in the +world, and would have asked your pardon. I beg you to believe that I +shall never fail in the respect which I owe to you and in the opinion +which I have of the virtue and of the merit of Madame de +Longueville."[4] That lady was not present at the ceremony, and her +mother, to whom the Duchess addressed herself, made a very short and dry +reply. This reconciliation did not deceive any one of those present; it +was, in fact, only a fresh declaration of war. + + [4] Memoires, vol. i. p. 65. + +Besides the satisfaction which she had just obtained, the Princess had +asked and had been permitted the privilege of never associating with the +Duchess de Montbazon. Some time after, Madame de Chevreuse invited the +Queen to a collation in the public garden of Renard. This was then the +rendezvous of the best society. It was at the termination of the +Tuileries, near the Porte de la Conference, which abutted on the _Cours +de la Reine_. In the summer, on returning from the _Cours_, which was +the "Rotten Row" of the day, and the spot where the beauties of the time +exercised their powers, it was customary to stop at the garden Renard +for the purpose of taking refreshments, and to listen to serenades +performed after the Spanish fashion. The Queen took pleasure in visiting +this place during fine summer evenings. She desired Madame the Princess +to partake with her the collation offered by Madame de Chevreuse, +assuring her at the same time that Madame de Montbazon would not be +present; but the latter person was really there, and even pretended to +do the honours of the collation as mother-in-law of the lady who gave +it. The Princess wished to withdraw, in order that the entertainment +might not be disturbed: the Queen had no right whatever to detain her. +She, therefore, begged Madame de Montbazon to pretend sickness, and by +leaving the party, to relieve her from embarrassment. The haughty +Duchess would not consent to fly before her enemy, and kept her place. +The Queen, offended, refused the collation and quitted the promenade. On +the morrow an order from the King enjoined upon Madame de Montbazon to +leave Paris. This disgrace irritated the _Importants_. They thought +themselves humiliated and enfeebled, and there were no violent or +extreme measures which they did not contemplate. The Duke de Beaufort, +smitten at once in his influence and his love, uttered loud +denunciations, and it was reported that a plot had been formed against +the life of Mazarin. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + THE IMPORTANTS. + + +IT is necessary, at this juncture, to have a just idea of the general +position of political affairs in France, as well as of the attitude of +the faction known as the _Importants_, who were then most active in +opposing the government of Mazarin, in order to understand clearly the +gravity of an incident which otherwise in itself might seem to be of +little consequence. + +La Rochefoucauld, the historian of that party, has made us tolerably +familiar with the men who composed it. They were a band of eccentric and +mischievous spirits, bold of heart, ready of hand, and of boundless +fidelity to one another. Professing to hold the most outrageous maxims, +incessantly invoking Brutus and old Rome, and intermingling gallant with +political intrigues, they suffered themselves to be hurried beyond the +bounds of reason through a Quixotic idea of always pleasing the ladies. +They had all been more or less fellow-sufferers with Anne of Austria +during the period of her affliction and persecution by Richelieu, and +from the commencement of her Regency, these returning exiles and +liberated prisoners had been gathering round her until at last, formed +into a faction, they gave themselves out as the Queen's party, and by +adopting a high-flown, turgid, and mysterious style of phraseology, and +assuming bombastic and braggart airs of authority, coupled with an +affectation of capacity and profundity, obtained for themselves from the +wits of the Court and city the nickname of _The Importants_, under which +they figured until absorbed a few years later in the more general and +popular designation of _Frondeurs_. Their favourite chief was the Duke +de Beaufort, of whom we have already spoken as possessing very nearly +the same characteristics as the rest--at once artificial and +extravagant, with great pretensions to loyalty and patriotism, +professing to be a man of independent action, but in fact wholly ruled +by Madame de Montbazon, who, in her turn, was swayed by the Duchess de +Chevreuse. + +On the sudden disappearance from Paris of one of the most distinguished +of the lady leaders of the _Importants_--like a star of the first +magnitude fallen from their system--the entire party was thrown into +commotion, whilst the more intimate friends and admirers of the banished +beauty raised a fierce outcry. Such an open disgrace of the young and +beautiful Duchess sorely irritated her restless partisans. They +considered themselves humiliated and weakened by it, and there was no +violence or extremity to which they were not prepared to resort. Her +slave and adorer, the Duke de Beaufort, assailed at once on the score of +his political interest and personal gallantry, vapoured and stormed +furiously. Thoughts of vengeance, which, like the mutterings of an +approaching tempest, had begun to brood beneath the roof of the Hotel de +Vendome, now became concentrated in a plot to get rid of Mazarin by fair +means or foul, divers modes of its execution being earnestly discussed. + +In such conjunctures, the Cardinal rose to the level of Richelieu. At +the same time he had to secure safety and success mainly through his own +courage and patience. But he knew right well how to play his part. The +wily minister already stood well with the Queen--had begun to seem +necessary, or at least very useful to her, though Anne of Austria had +not yet formally declared her approval of his policy. Mazarin +represented to her what she owed alike to the State and the royal +authority now seriously threatened. That she must prefer the interest of +her son and his crown to friendships--satisfactory enough at other +times, but which had now become dangerous. He brought before her eyes +most indubitable proofs of a conspiracy to take his life, and entreated +her to choose between his enemies and himself. Anne of Austria did not +hesitate, and the ruin of the _Importants_ was decided upon. + +More dangerous ground could scarcely have been found whereon to post the +_Importants_. The Duchess de Montbazon, as disreputable in morals and +character as she was remarkable for her beauty, had attacked a young +wife, who, having just made her appearance at the Regent's court, had +already become the object of universal admiration. To a loveliness at +once so graceful and dazzling that it was pronounced to be angelic, +Madame de Longueville added great intelligence, a most noble heart, and +was a person of all others whom it behoved the _Importants_ to +conciliate; for her natural generosity of character had disinclined her +to side with the party of repression, and thereby had even given some +umbrage to the Prime Minister. At that moment, she was merely occupied +with intellectual pursuits, innocent gallantry, and above all with the +fame of her brother, the Duke d'Enghien; but there were, it must be +owned, already perceptible in her mind, some germs of an _Important_, +which, later, Rochefoucauld knew only too well how to develop. But the +slanderous attack that had been made upon her, the disgraceful motive of +which was sufficiently clear, revolted every honest heart. The +ungovernable impetuosity of Beaufort on this occasion was--as it +deserved to be--strongly stigmatised. Having formerly paid his addresses +to Mademoiselle de Bourbon, and been rejected, his conduct assumed the +aspect of an obvious revenge. Moreover, Madame de Chevreuse's every +effort being directed towards depriving Mazarin of supporters, she +incited the devotees of either sex who were about the Queen to act +against him, and Madame de Longueville was no less the idol of the +Carmelites and the party of the _Saints_ than that of the Hotel de +Rambouillet. Again, the Duke d'Enghien, already covered with the laurels +of Rocroy, and about to entwine therewith those of Thionville, was so +evidently the arbiter of the situation, that Madame de Chevreuse +insisted, with much force, that Mazarin should be got rid of whilst the +young Duke was occupied with the distant enemy, and before he should +return from the army. To wound him through so susceptible a medium as +that of an adored sister, to turn him against herself without any +necessity, and hasten his return, would be a silly extravagance. +Therefore, all who had any sense among the _Importants_--La +Rochefoucauld, La Chatre, and Campion--anxiously sought to hush up and +terminate this deplorable affair; and Madame de Chevreuse, sedulous to +pay court to the Queen at the same time that she was weaving a subtle +plot against her minister, had prepared the little fete for her at +Renard's garden with the design of dispersing the last remaining +cloudlets of the lately-spent tempest. But the Duchess's politic purpose +was, as we have seen, destined to fail through the insane pride of a +woman who was as senseless as she was heartless.[1] + + [1] Alexandre de Campion, in the _Recueil_ before cited, writes to + Madame de Montbazon:--"Si mon avis eut ete suivi chez Renard, vous + seriez sortie, pour obeir a la Reine, vous n'habiteriez pas la maison + de Rochefort, et nous ne serions pas dans le peril dont nous sommes + menaces." + +Under these critical circumstances how did it behove Madame de Chevreuse +to act? She was compelled to restrain Madame de Montbazon, but she could +neither abandon her nor be false to herself. She resolved therefore to +follow up energetically the formidable project which had become the last +hope and supreme resource of her party. Through Madame de Montbazon, +Beaufort had been dragged into it. The latter had mustered the men of +action already mentioned, and who were wholly devoted to him. A plot had +been devised and every measure concerted for surprising and perhaps +killing the Cardinal. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + THE CONSPIRACY OF THE DUCHESS DE CHEVREUSE AND THE DUKE DE BEAUFORT TO + GET RID OF MAZARIN. + + +ONE need not be greatly astonished at such an enterprise on the part of +two women of high rank and a grandson of Henry the Great. At that +stirring epoch of French history--the interval between the League and +the Fronde--energy and strength were the distinctive traits of the +French aristocracy. Neither court life nor a corrupting opulence had yet +enervated it. Everything was then in extremes, in vice as in virtue. Men +attacked and defended one another with the same weapons. The Marshal +d'Ancre had been massacred; more than one attempt had been made to +assassinate Richelieu; whilst he, on his side, had not been backward in +having recourse to the sword and block. Corneille paints faithfully the +spirit of the epoch. His Emilie is also involved in an assassination, +and she is not the less represented as a perfect heroine. Madame de +Chevreuse had long been accustomed to conspiracies; she was bold and +unscrupulous. She did not gather round her such men as Beaupuis, +Saint-Ybar, De Varicarville, and de Campion merely to pass the time in +idle conversation. She had not remained a stranger to the designs they +had formerly concocted against Richelieu, for in 1643 she fomented, as +we have seen, their exaltation and their devotedness; and it was not +unreasonable, certainly, that Mazarin should attribute to her the first +idea of the project which Beaufort was to accomplish. + +At the same time it must be remembered that the _Importants_ and their +successors the _Frondeurs_ denied this project and declared it the +invention of the Cardinal. It is a point of the highest historical +importance and deserves serious examination, as upon this conspiracy, +real or imaginary, as may be determined after careful investigation, +rests the fact whether Mazarin owed in reality all his career and the +great future which then opened before him to a falsehood cunningly +invented and audaciously sustained; or whether Madame de Chevreuse and +the _Importants_, after having tried their utmost against him, now +resolving to destroy him with the armed hand, were themselves destroyed +and became the instruments of his triumph. The evidence available +irresistibly leads to the latter conclusion, and we think that we shall +be able to show that the plot attributed to the _Importants_, far from +being a chimaera, was the almost inevitable solution of the violent +crisis just described. + +La Rochefoucauld, without having indulged in the insane hopes of his +friends and lent his hand to their rash enterprise, made it a point of +honour to defend them after their discomfiture, and set himself to cover +the retreat. He affects to doubt whether the plot which then made so +much noise was real or supposititious. In his eyes, the greater +probability was that the Duke de Beaufort, by a false _finesse_, +endeavoured to excite alarm in the Cardinal, believing that it was +sufficient to strike terror into his mind to force him to quit France, +and that it was with this view that he held secret meetings and gave +them the appearance of conspiracy. La Rochefoucauld constitutes himself +especially the champion of Madame de Chevreuse's innocence, and +declares himself thoroughly persuaded that she was ignorant of +Beaufort's designs. + +After the historian of the _Importants_, that of the _Frondeurs_ holds +very nearly the same arguments. Like La Rochefoucauld, De Retz has only +one object in his Memoirs--that of investing himself with a semblance of +capacity and making a great figure in every way, in evil as well as +good. He is often more truthful, because he cares less about other +people, and that he is disposed to sacrifice all the world except +himself. In this matter it is hard to conceive the motive for his +reserve and incredulity. He knew right well that the majority of the +persons accused of having taken part in the plot had already been +implicated in more than one such business. He himself tells us that he +had conspired with the Count de Soissons, that he had blamed him for not +having struck down Richelieu at Amiens, and that with La Rochepot, he, +the Abbe de Retz, had formed the design of assassinating him at the +Tuileries during the ceremony of the baptism of Mademoiselle (de +Montpensier). The Co-adjutorship of the Archbishopric of Paris, which +the Regent had just granted him, in consideration of his own services +and the virtues of his father, had mollified him, it is true; but his +old accomplices, who had not been so well treated as he, had remained +faithful to their cause, to their designs, to their habitudes. Was De +Retz then sincere when he refused to believe that they had attempted +against Mazarin that which he had seen them undertake, and which he had +himself undertaken against Richelieu? In his blind hatred he throws +everything upon Mazarin: he pretends that he was terrified, or that he +feigned terror. It was the Abbe de la Riviere, he tells us, who, in +order to rid himself of the rivalry of the Count de Montresor in the +Duke d'Orleans' favour, must have persuaded Mazarin that there was a +plot set on foot against him, in which Montresor was mixed up. It was +the Prince de Conde also who must have tried to destroy Beaufort through +fear lest his son, the Duke d'Enghien, might engage with him in some +duel, as he wished to do, to avenge his sister, during the short visit +he made to Paris after taking Thionville. + +To the suspicious opinions of de Retz and La Rochefoucauld let us oppose +testimony more disinterested, and before all other the silence of +Montresor,[1] who, whilst protesting that neither he nor his friend the +Count de Bethune had meddled with the conspiracy imputed to the Duke de +Beaufort, says not a single word against the reality of that conspiracy, +which he would not have failed to ridicule had he believed it imaginary. +Madame de Motteville, who was not in the habit of overwhelming the +unfortunate, after having reported with impartiality the different +rumours circulated at Court, relates certain facts which appear to her +authentic, and which are decisive.[2] One of the best informed and most +truthful of contemporary historians expresses not the slightest doubt on +this head. "The _Importants_," says Monglat, "seeing that they could not +drive the Cardinal out of France, resolved to despatch him with their +daggers, and held several councils on this subject at the Hotel de +Vendome." That opinion is confirmed by new and numerous particulars with +which Mazarin's _carnets_ and confidential letters furnish us. + + [1] Memoires, Petitot Collection, t. lix. + + [2] Memoires, t. i., p. 184. + +The person whom Mazarin signalizes in his _carnets_ and letters as the +trusted friend of Beaufort and after him the principal accused, the +Count de Beaupuis, son of the Count de Maille, had found means of +sheltering himself from the minister's first searches; he had succeeded +in escaping from France and sought an asylum at Rome under the avowed +protection of Spain. Mazarin left no stone unturned to obtain from the +Court of Rome the extradition of Beaupuis, in order that he might be +legally tried. The Pope at first could not refuse, at least for form's +sake, to have Beaupuis committed to the Castle of St. Angelo. But he was +soon liberated, and provided with a State lodging wherein he was allowed +to see nearly every one who came. Mazarin complained loudly of such +indulgence. "It is all arranged," said he, "that when necessary he may +escape, or at any rate the Duke de Vendome is furnished with every +facility for poisoning him, in order that with Beaupuis may perish the +principal proof of his son's treason. If all this happened in Barbary, +people would be highly indignant. And this is suffered to take place in +Rome, in the capital of Christianity, under the eyes and by the orders +of a Pope!" + +Failing Beaupuis, Mazarin would have liked to put his hand upon one of +the brothers Campion, intimately connected as they were with Beaufort +and Madame de Chevreuse, and too closely in the confidence of both not +to know all their secrets. He himself complains, as we have seen, of +being very badly seconded. And then he had to do with emerited +conspirators, consummate in the art of concealing themselves and of +leaving no trace of their whereabouts--with the active and indefatigable +Duchess de Chevreuse, and with the Duke de Vendome, who, in order to +save his son, set about forwarding the escape of all those whose +depositions might help to convict him, or kept them somehow in his own +hands, hidden and shut up close at Anet. Mazarin was thus only able to +arrest a few obscure individuals who were ignorant of the plot, and +could throw no light upon it. + +But it is needless to exhaust existing proofs in demonstration of the +fact that Mazarin did not enact a farce by instituting proceedings +against the conspirators, that he pursued them with sincerity and +vigour, and that he was perfectly convinced that a project of +assassination had been formed against him, when the existence of that +project is elsewhere averred, when, in default of a sentence of the +parliament, which could not have been given in the teeth of insufficient +evidence, neither Beaupuis, nor the Campions, nor Lie, nor Brillet +having been arrested, better proof being extant in the full and entire +confession of one of the principal conspirators, with the plan and all +the details of the affair set forth in Memoirs of comparatively recent +publication, but the authenticity of which cannot be contested. We +allude to the precious Memoirs of Henri de Campion,[3] brother of Madame +de Chevreuse's friend, whom that lady had introduced also to the service +of the Duke de Vendome, and more particularly to that of the Duke de +Beaufort. Henri had accompanied the Duke in his flight to England after +the conspiracy of Cinq Mars, and he had returned with him; he possessed +his entire confidence, and he relates nothing in which he himself had +not taken a considerable part. Henri's character was very different to +that of his brother Alexandre. He was a well-educated man, full of +honour and courage, not in the least given to boasting, averse to all +intrigue, and born to make his way through life by the straightest paths +in the career of arms. He wrote these Memoirs in solitude, to which +after the loss of his daughter and his wife he had retired to await +death amidst the exercise of a genuine piety. It is not in such a frame +of mind that a man is disposed to invent fables, and there is no middle +way. What he says is that which we must believe absolutely, or if we +have any doubt that he speaks the truth, he must be considered as the +worst of villains. No interested feeling could have directed his pen, +for he compiled his Memoirs, or at least he finished them, a short time +after Mazarin's death, without thought, therefore, of paying court to +him by making very tardy revelations, and scarcely two years before he +himself died in 1663. Thus it may be fairly inferred that Henri de +Campion wrote strictly under the inspiration of his conscience. One has +only to open his Memoirs to see confirmed, point by point, all the +particulars with which Mazarin's _carnets_ are filled. Nothing is there +wanting, everything coincides, all marvellously corresponds. It appears, +indeed, as though Mazarin in making his notes had had before his eyes de +Campion's Memoirs, or that the latter whilst penning them had Mazarin's +_carnets_ before him: he at once so thoroughly takes up the thread and +completes them. + + [3] "Memoires de Henri de Campion, &c.," 1807. Treuttel and Wuertz. + Paris. + +His brother Alexandre, in his letters of the month of August, 1643, had +already let slip more than one mysterious sentence. He wrote to Madame +de Montbazon in banishment:--"You must not despair, madam, there are +still some half-a-dozen honest folks who do not give up.... Your +illustrious friend will not abandon you. If to be prudent it were +necessary to renounce your acquaintance, there are those who would +prefer rather to pass for fools all their days." Like Montresor, he does +not once say that there was no plot framed against Mazarin, which is a +kind of tacit avowal; and when the storm burst, he took care to conceal +himself, advised Beaupuis to do the same, and ends with these +significant words:--"In embarking in Court affairs one cannot be certain +of being master of events, and whilst we profit by the lucky ones, we +must resolve to put up with the unlucky." Henri de Campion raises this +already very transparent veil. + +He declares plainly that there was a project on foot to get rid of +Mazarin, and that that project was conceived, not by Beaufort, but by +Madame de Chevreuse in concert with Madame de Montbazon. "I think," says +he, "that the Duke's design did not spring from his own particular +sentiment, but from the persuasion of the duchesses de Chevreuse and de +Montbazon, who exercised entire sway over his mind and had an +irreconcilable hatred to the Cardinal. What makes me say so, is that, +whilst he was under that resolution, I always observed that he had an +internal repugnance which, if I mistake not, was overcome by some pledge +which he may have given to those ladies." There _was_, therefore, a +plot, and its real author, as Mazarin truly said, and Campion repeats, +was Madame de Chevreuse; if so, Madame de Montbazon was only an +instrument in her hands. + +Beaufort, once inveigled, drew in also his intimate friend, Count de +Maille's son, the Count de Beaupuis, cornet in the Queen's horse-guards. +To them Madame de Chevreuse adjoined Alexandre de Campion, the elder +brother of Henri. "She loved him much," remarks the latter, and in a way +which, added to certain ambiguous words of Alexandre, excites suspicion +whether the elder Campion were not in fact one of the numerous +successors of Chalais. He was then thirty-three, and his brother +confesses that he had caught from the Count de Soissons the taste for +and the habitudes of faction. Beaupuis and Alexandre de Campion +approved of the plot when communicated to them, "the former," says +Henri, "believing that it would be a means for him of attaining to a +position of greater importance, and my brother seeing therein Madame de +Chevreuse's advantage and by consequence his own." + +Such were the two first accomplices of Beaufort. A little later he +opened his mind on the subject to Henri de Campion, one of his principal +gentlemen; to Lie, captain of his guards; and to Brillet, his equerry. +There the secret rested. Many other gentlemen and domestics of the house +of Vendome were destined to take action in the affair, but were admitted +to no confidence. The project was well conceived and worthy of Madame de +Chevreuse. There were at most five or six conspirators--three capable of +keeping the secret, and who did keep it. Below them, the men of action, +who did not know what they would be called on to do; and in the +background, the men of the morrow, who might be reckoned upon to applaud +the blow, when it had been struck, without it being judged fitting to +admit them to the conspiracy. At least Henri de Campion does not even +name Montresor, Bethune, Fontraille, Varicarville, Saint-Ybar, which +explains wherefore Mazarin, whilst keeping his eye upon them, did not +have them arrested. Neither does Campion speak of Chandenier, La Chatre, +de Treville, the Duke de Bouillon, the Duke de Guise, De Retz, nor La +Rochefoucauld, whose sentiments were not doubtful, but who were not +inclined to go so far as to sully their hands with an assassination. And +that further explains the silence of Mazarin with regard to them in all +that relates to Beaufort's conspiracy, although he did not cherish the +slightest illusion as to their dispositions, and as to the part they +would have taken if the plot had succeeded, or even if a serious +struggle had taken place. + +The conspiracy rested for some time between Madame de Chevreuse, Madame +de Montbazon, Beaufort, Beaupuis, and Alexandre de Campion. The final +resolution was only taken at the end of July or in the first days of +August, that is to say, precisely during the height of the quarrel +between Madame de Montbazon and Madame de Longueville, which ushered in +the crisis and opened the door to all the events which followed. It was +then only that Beaufort spoke of it to Henri de Campion, in presence of +Beaupuis. Mazarin's crime was the continuation of Richelieu's system. +"The Duke de Beaufort told me that he thought I had remarked that the +Cardinal Mazarin was re-establishing at court and throughout the kingdom +the tyranny of Cardinal de Richelieu, with even more of authority and +violence than had been shown under the government of the latter; that +having entirely gained the Queen's mind and made all the ministers +devoted to him, it was impossible to arrest his evil designs save by +depriving him of life; that the public weal having made him resolve to +take that step, he informed me of it in order that I might aid him with +my advice and personally assist in its execution. Beaupuis next 'took up +his parable,' and warmly represented the evils which the too great +authority of Richelieu had caused France, and concluded by saying that +we must prevent the like inconvenience before his successor had rendered +matters remediless." Such conclusion embodied as nearly as possible the +views and language of _Importants_ and _Frondeurs_, of La Rochefoucauld +and De Retz. Henri de Campion represents himself as having at first +combatted the Duke's project with so much force that more than once he +was shaken; but the two duchesses wound him up again very quickly, and +Beaupuis and Alexandre de Campion, instead of holding him back, +encouraged him. Shortly afterwards, Beaufort having declared that he had +made up his mind, Henri de Campion gave in on two conditions: "The one," +he tells us, "of not laying his hand on the Cardinal, since I would +rather take my own life than do a deed of such nature. The other, that +if the Duke should arrange that the project should be put into execution +during his absence, I would never mix myself up in it; whereas if he +were himself to be present, I should without scruple keep myself near +his person, in order to defend him against any mischance that might +happen, my duty and affection towards him equally obliging me thereto. +He granted me those two conditions, testifying at the same time that he +esteemed me more for having made them, and added that he would be +present at the execution of the project, so that he might authorise it +by his presence." + +The plan was to attack the Cardinal in the street, whilst paying visits +in his carriage, commonly having with him only a few ecclesiastics, +besides five or six lackeys. It would be necessary to present themselves +in force and unexpectedly, stop the vehicle and strike Mazarin. To do +that, it was necessary that a certain number of the Vendome domestics, +who were not in the secret, should post themselves daily, from early +morning, in the _cabarets_ around the Cardinal's abode, which was then +at the Hotel de Cleves, near the Louvre. Among the domestics let into +the secret, Henri de Campion names positively Gauseville. Over them were +placed "the Sieurs d'Avancourt and De Brassy, Picardians, very resolute +men and intimate friends of Lie." The pretext given out was that the +Condes proposing to put an affront upon Madame de Montbazon, the Duke +de Beaufort, in order to oppose it, desired to have in hand a troop of +gentlemen well mounted and armed. Their parts were allotted beforehand. +A certain number were to pounce upon the Cardinal's coachman, at the +same moment that others were to open the two doors and strike him, +whilst the Duke would be at hand on horseback, with Beaupuis, Henri de +Campion, and others, to cut down or drive off those who should be +disposed to resist. Alexandre de Campion was to keep near the Duchess de +Chevreuse and at her orders; and she herself ought more than ever to be +assiduous in her attentions to the Queen, in order to smooth the way for +her friends, and, in case of success, draw the Regent to the side of the +victorious. + +Several occasions favourable to the execution of this plan presented +themselves. In the first instance, Henri de Campion being with his band +in the Rue du Champ-Fleuri--one end of which joins the Rue Saint-Honore +and the other approaches the Louvre--saw the Cardinal leave the Hotel de +Cleves in his carriage with the Abbe de Bentivoglio, the nephew of the +celebrated cardinal of that name, with a few ecclesiastics and valets. +Campion inquired of one of them whither the Cardinal was going, and was +answered--to visit the Marshal d'Estrees. "I saw," says Campion, "that +if I had made use of the information, his death would have been +inevitable. But I thought that I should be so guilty in the eyes of God +and man that I resisted the temptation to do so." + +The next day it was known that the Cardinal would be present at a +collation to be given by Madame du Vigean at her charming residence of +La Barre, at the entrance of the valley of Montmorency, where Madame de +Longueville was staying, and which the Queen had promised to honour +with a visit, and who had already set out. The Cardinal was repairing +thither, having with him in his coach only the Count d'Harcourt. +Beaufort ordered Campion to assemble his troop and to ride after him, +but Campion represented to the Duke that if they attacked the Cardinal +in the company of the Count d'Harcourt, they must decide upon killing +both, Harcourt being too generous to see Mazarin stabbed before his eyes +without defending him, and that the murder of Harcourt would raise +against them the entire house of Lorraine. + +Some days afterwards information was given that the Cardinal was engaged +to dine at Maisons, with the Marshal d'Estrees, to meet the Duke +d'Orleans. "I made the Duke consent," says Campion, "that should the +minister be in the same carriage with his Royal Highness, the design +should not be executed; but he said, that if he were alone, he must be +killed. Early in the morning he had the horses out and kept himself in +readiness at the Capucins with Beaupuis, near the Hotel de Vendome, +posting a valet on foot in the street to tell him when the Cardinal +should pass, and enjoining me to keep with those whom I was accustomed +to muster at the Cabaret l'Ange, in the Rue Saint-Honore, very near the +Hotel de Vendome, and if the Cardinal journeyed without the Duke +d'Orleans, I should mount instantly with all my men, and intercept him +when passing the Capucins. I was," adds Campion, "in a state of anxiety +which may readily be imagined, until I saw the carriage of the Duke +d'Orleans pass, and perceived the Cardinal inside with him." + +At length, Beaufort's irritation being carried to the highest pitch by +the banishment from court of Madame de Montbazon (which was certainly +on the 22nd of August), goaded by Madame de Chevreuse, by passion, and +by a false sense of honour, he became himself impatient to act. Seeing +that, during the day, he encountered incessant difficulties of which he +was far from divining the cause, he resolved to strike the blow at +night, and prepared an ambuscade, the success of which seemed certain, +and the details of which we have from Campion. The Cardinal went every +evening to visit the Queen, and returned sufficiently late. It was +arranged to attack him between the Louvre and the Hotel de Cleves. +Horses were to be in readiness in some neighbouring inn. The Duke +himself should keep watch with Beaupuis and Campion, during the time the +minister should be with the Queen, and so soon as he came forth, all +three should advance and make a signal to the rest, who, in the +meanwhile, should remain on horseback on the quay, by the river side, +close to the Louvre. All which could be very well done at night without +awakening any suspicion. + +It must be remembered that the person who furnishes these very precise +details was one of the principal conspirators, that he wrote at +sufficiently considerable distance from the event, in safety, and, to +repeat it once again, with no interest, fearing nothing more from +Mazarin, who had recently died, and expecting nothing from him. It must +be also remembered that speaking as he has done, he accuses his own +brother; that, without doubt, he attributes to himself laudable +intentions and even some good actions, but that he confesses having +entered into the plot, and that, if its execution had taken place he +would have taken part in it, in fighting by the side of Beaufort. The +process submitted to the parliament not having led to anything, through +failure of evidence, Campion did not imagine that Mazarin had ever +known "the circumstances of the plot, nor those acquainted with it to +the very bottom, and who were engaged in it." He adds also, "that now +the Cardinal is dead there is no longer any reason to fear injuring any +one in stating matters as they are." He therefore does not defend +himself; he believes himself to be sheltered from all quest, he writes +only to relieve his conscience. + +From these curious revelations we further learn what importance Mazarin +attached to the arrest of Henri Campion; and that writer's statements +are not only substantially confirmed by various entries in the +_carnets_, but read like a translation into French of those pages from +the Cardinal's Italian. "They threw," he says, "into the Bastille, +Avancourt and Brassy, where they deposed that I had mustered them on +several occasions, on the part of the Duke de Beaufort, for the +interests of Madame de Montbazon, as I had told them. This did not +afford any motive for interrogating the Duke, since they owned that he +had not spoken to them; thus he would not have failed to deny having +given the orders which I carried to them on his part. It was then seen +that the process against him could not be carried on before I had been +arrested, in order to find matter whereon to interrogate him after my +own depositions, and so thoroughly to embarrass us both that every trace +of the affair might be discovered. The proof of this conspiracy was of +most essential importance to the Cardinal, who directing all his efforts +to the establishment of his government, and affecting to do so by gentle +means, had been unfortunate enough to be constrained, in the outset, to +use violence against one of the greatest men in the realm, for his own +individual interest, without a conviction to prove that he was +compelled to treat the Duke with rigour. The Cardinal, despairing of +being able to persuade others of that of which he was entirely assured, +had a great desire to get me into his hands. He was nevertheless of +opinion that he must give me time to reassure myself of safety in order +to take me with the greater facility." + +We may add to all this that Henri de Campion, sought after sharply, and +closely shut up in his retreat at Anet, under the protection of the Duke +de Vendome, having fled from France and joined his friend the Count de +Beaupuis at Rome, gives an account of the obstinate efforts made by +Mazarin to obtain the extradition of the latter, the resistance of Pope +Innocent X., the regard shown to Beaupuis when they were compelled to +confine him in the Castle of Saint-Angelo; all of which being equally to +be met with in the _carnets_ and letters of Mazarin and the memoirs of +Henri de Campion, places beyond doubt the perfect sincerity of the +Cardinal's proceedings and the accuracy of his information. + +Are not these, we may ask, proofs sufficient to reduce to naught the +interested doubts of La Rochefoucauld and the passionate denials of the +chief of the Fronde, the very clever but very little truthful Cardinal +de Retz, the most ardent and most obstinate of Mazarin's enemies? It +would seem, indeed, either that there is no certitude whatever in +history, or that it must be considered henceforth as a point absolutely +demonstrated that there was a project determined upon to kill Mazarin; +that that project had been conceived by Madame de Chevreuse, and in some +sort imposed by her upon Beaufort with the aid of Madame de Montbazon; +that Beaufort had for principal accomplices the Count de Beaupuis and +Alexandre de Campion; that Henri de Campion had entered later into the +affair, at the pressing solicitation of the Duke, as well as two other +officers of secondary rank; that during the month of August there were +divers serious attempts to put it into execution, particularly the last +one after the banishment of Madame de Montbazon, at the very end of +August or rather on the 1st of September; and that such attempt only +failed through circumstances altogether independent of the will of the +conspirators. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + FAILURE OF THE PLOT TO ASSASSINATE MAZARIN. ARREST OF BEAUFORT, + BANISHMENT OF MADAME DE CHEVREUSE, AND DISPERSION OF THE "IMPORTANTS." + + +LET us now inquire how the last attempt against Mazarin's life--that +nocturnal ambuscade so well planned and so deliberately set about on the +1st of September, 1643--chanced to fail, and what was the result of such +failure. Without stopping to discuss the conjectures of Campion on this +point, it may suffice to state that Mazarin, who was on his guard, +evaded the blow destined for him by not visiting the Queen during the +evening on which it was resolved to kill him as he should return from +the Louvre. Next day the scene was changed. A rumour spread rapidly that +the Prime Minister had expected to have been murdered by Beaufort and +his friends, that he had escaped, fortune having declared in his favour. +A plot to assassinate, more especially when it fails, invariably excites +the strongest indignation, and the man who has extricated himself from a +great peril and seems destined to sweep all such from his path, readily +finds adherents and defenders. A host of people who would probably have +supported Beaufort victorious, now flocked to offer their swords and +services to the Cardinal, and on that morning he went to the Louvre +escorted by three hundred gentlemen. + +For several days previously, Mazarin had seen clearly that, cost what +it might, he must cut his way through the knotted intricacy of the +situation, and that the moment had arrived for forcing Anne of Austria +to choose her part. The occasion was decisive. If the peril which he had +just undergone, and which was only suspended over his head, did not +suffice to draw the Queen from her incertitude, it would prove that she +did not love him; and Mazarin knew well that, amidst the many dangers +surrounding him, his entire strength lay in the Queen's affection, and +that thereon depended his present safety and future fate. Whether, +therefore, through policy or sincere affection, it was always to Anne of +Austria's heart that he addressed himself, and at the outset of the +crisis he had said to himself: "If I believed that the Queen was merely +making use of me through necessity, without having any personal +inclination for me, I would not stay here three days longer."[1] But +enough has been said to show plainly that Anne of Austria _loved_ +Mazarin. Comparing him with his rivals, she appreciated him daily more +and more. She admired the precision and clearness of his intellect, his +finesse and penetration, and that extraordinary energy which enabled him +to bear the weight of government with marvellous ease--his quick and +accurate introspection, his profound prudence, and at the same time the +judicious vigour of his resolves. She saw the affairs of France +prospering on all sides under his firm and skilful hand. The Cardinal, +it is true, was not quite a nullity, in the fierce war which had +inaugurated the new reign so dazzlingly; but a power of no slight weight +was manifest in the success which had followed his advent to office, +and which proved to startled Europe that the victory of Rocroy was not a +lucky stroke of chance. When every member of the Council was opposed to +the siege of Thionville, and when Turenne himself, on being consulted, +did not venture to declare his opinion on the subject, it was Mazarin +who had insisted with an unflinching persistence that the victory of +Rocroy should be profited by, and that France should extend her frontier +to the Rhine. That proposition, doubtless, emanated from the youthful +conqueror, but Mazarin had the merit of comprehending, sustaining, and +causing it to triumph. If no first minister had ever before been so +served by such a general, neither had general ever been so supported by +such a minister; and thanks to both, on the 11th of August, whilst the +chivalrous _Importants_ were exhausting their combined talents in +putting a shameful affront upon the noble sister of the hero who had +just served France so gloriously, and who was about to aggrandize it +further--whilst they were displaying their vapid and turgid eloquence in +the salons, or sharpening their poniards in gloomy council chambers, +Thionville, then one of the chief strongholds of the Empire, surrendered +after an obstinate defence. Thus, the Regency of Anne of Austria had +opened under the most brilliant auspices. + + [1] Entry in Carnet, iii. p. 10, in Spanish:--"Sy yo creyera lo que + dicen que S.M. se sierve di mi per necessidad, sin tener alguna + inclination, no pararia aqui tres dias." + +But in the height of this national glory and signal triumph, Queen Anne +must indeed have shuddered when Mazarin placed before her all the proofs +of the odious conspiracy formed against him. Explanations the most +minute and confidential thereupon ensued between them. It was now more +than ever compulsory for her to "raise the mask,"[2] to sacrifice to a +manifest necessity the circumspection she was studious of preserving--to +brave somewhat further the tittle-tattle of a few devotees of either +sex, and at all events to permit her Prime Minister to defend his life. +Up to this moment Anne of Austria had hesitated, for reasons which may +be readily comprehended. But Madame de Montbazon's insolence had greatly +irritated her; the conviction she acquired that numerous attempts to +assassinate Mazarin had only by chance failed, and might be renewed, +decided her; and it was, therefore, towards the close of August, 1643, +when the date of that declared ascendancy, open and unrivalled, must be +certainly fixed, of the Minister of the Queen Regent. These +conspirators, by proceeding to the last extremities, and thereby making +her tremble for Mazarin's life, hastened the triumph of the happy +Cardinal; and on the morrow of the last nocturnal ambush in which he was +marked for destruction, Jules Mazarin became absolute master of the +Queen's heart, and more powerful than Richelieu had ever been after the +_Day of Dupes_. + + [2] "Quitarse la maschera." Carnet, ii. p. 65. + +The minister's _carnets_ will be searched in vain for any traces of the +explanations which Mazarin must have had with the Queen during this +grave conjuncture. Such explanations are not of a nature likely to be +forgotten, and of which there is any need to take notes. An obscure +passage, however, is to be met with, written in Spanish, of which the +following words have a meaning clear enough to be understood: "I ought +no longer to have any doubt, since the Queen, in an excess of goodness, +has told me that nothing could deprive me of the post which she has done +me the honour of giving me near her; nevertheless, as fear is the +inseparable companion of affection, &c."[3] At this anxious moment, +Mazarin was attacked with a slight illness, brought on by incessant +labour and wearing anxieties, and an attack of jaundice having +supervened, the Cardinal jotted down the following brief but highly +suggestive memorandum:--"_La giallezza cagionata da soverchio +amore_."[4] + + [3] Carnet, iii. p. 45.--"Mas contodo esto siendo el temor un + compagnero inseparabile dell'affection," &c. + + [4] Carnet, iv. p. 3. + +Madame de Motteville was in attendance on Anne of Austria when the +rumour of the abortive attempt at assassination brought a crowd of +courtiers to the Louvre in hot haste to protest their devotedness to the +Crown. The Queen, with great emotion, whispered to her trusty +lady-in-waiting: "Ere eight and forty hours elapse you shall see how I +will avenge myself for the evil tricks these false friends have played +me." "Never," adds Madame de Motteville, "can the remembrance of those +few brief words be effaced from my mind. I saw at that moment, by the +fire that flashed in the Queen's eyes, and in fact by what happened on +that very evening and next day, what it is to be a female sovereign when +enraged, and with the power of doing what she pleases."[5] Had the +cautious lady-in-waiting been less discreet, she might have added, +"especially when that sovereign lady is a woman in love." + + [5] Memoires, vol. i. p. 185. + +The break-up and dispersion of the _Importants_ once decided upon, the +first step was to arrest Beaufort, and bring him to trial. To this the +Queen gave her consent. Of the authority Mazarin had acquired, such +proceeding was a striking indication, and showed how far Anne of Austria +might one day go in defence of a minister who was dear to her. The Duke +de Beaufort had been, before her husband's death, the man in whom the +Queen placed most confidence, and for some time he was thought destined +to play the brilliant part of a royal favourite. In a brief space he had +effectually thrown away his chance by his presumptuous conduct, his +evident incapacity, and yet more by his public _liaison_ with Madame de +Montbazon. Still the Queen had shown a somewhat singular weakness in his +favour, and at the expiration of three short months to sign an order for +his arrest was a great step--necessary, it is true, but extreme, and +which was the manifest sign of an entire change in the heart and +intimate relations of Anne of Austria. The dissimulation even with which +she acted in that affair marks the deliberative firmness of her +resolution. + +The 2nd of September, 1643, was truly a memorable day in the career of +Mazarin, and we may say, in the annals of France; for it witnessed the +confirming of the royal power, shaken to its base by the deaths of +Richelieu and Louis XIII., and the ruin of the party of the +_Importants_. + +On the morning of the 2nd, all Paris and its Court rang with the report +of the ambuscade laid for Mazarin the night previous, between the Louvre +and the Hotel de Cleves. The five conspirators who had joined hands with +Beaufort in it had taken flight and placed themselves in safety. +Beaufort and Madame de Chevreuse could not imitate them: flight for them +would have been a self-denunciation. The intrepid Duchess therefore had +not hesitated to appear at Court, and she was at the Regent's side +during the evening of the 2nd together with another person, a stranger +to these dark plots and even incapable of putting faith in them--a very +different enemy of Mazarin--the pious and noble Madame de Hautefort. As +for the Duke, careless and courageous, he had gone to the chase in the +morning, and at his return he went, according to his custom, to present +his homage to the Queen. On entering the Louvre he met his mother, +Madame de Vendome, and his sister the Duchess de Nemours, who had +accompanied the Queen all day and remarked her emotion. They did all +they could to prevent him going up stairs, and entreated him to absent +himself for a while. He, without troubling himself in the slightest +degree, answered them in the words of the doomed Duke de Guise--"They +dare not!"--and entered the Queen's great cabinet, who received him with +the best grace possible, and asked him all sorts of questions about his +hunting, "as though," says Madame de Motteville, "she had no other +thought in her mind." The Cardinal having come in in the midst of this +gentle chat, the Queen rose and bade him follow her. It appeared as if +she wished to take counsel with him in her chamber. She entered it, +followed by her Minister. At the same time the Duke de Beaufort, about +to leave, met Guitant, captain of the guard, who arrested him, and +commanded the Duke to follow him in the names of the King and Queen. The +Prince, without showing any surprise, after having looked fixedly at +him, said, "Yes, I will; but this, I must own, is strange enough." Then +turning towards Mesdames de Chevreuse and de Hautefort, who were talking +together, he said to them, "Ladies, you see that the Queen has caused me +to be arrested." The young nobleman then submitted to the royal mandate +without offering the slightest resistance; slept that night at the +Louvre, and the next morning was taken to the donjon of Vincennes, while +a general decree of banishment was pronounced against all the principal +members of the faction. + +The Vendomes were ordered to retire to Anet; and the Chateau d'Anet +having soon become what the Hotel de Vendome at Paris had been, a haunt +of the conspirators, Mazarin demanded them from the Duke Caesar, who took +good care not to give them up. The Cardinal was almost reduced to the +necessity of laying siege to the chateau in regular form. He threatened +to enter the place by main force and lay hands on Beaufort's +accomplices; unable to endure the scandal that a prince even of the +blood should brave law and justice with impunity, he had determined to +push matters to the uttermost, and was about to take energetic measures, +when the Duke de Vendome himself decided on quitting France, and went to +Italy to await the fall of Mazarin, as formerly he had awaited in +England that of Richelieu. + +The arrest of Beaufort, the dispersion of his accomplices, his friends +and his family, was the first indispensable measure forced upon Mazarin +to enable him to face a danger that seemed most imminent. But what would +it have availed him to lop off an arm had he left the head +untouched--had Madame de Chevreuse remained at Court, ever ready to +surround the Queen with attention and homage, assiduous to retain and +husband the last remnant of her old favour, in order to sustain and +secretly encourage the malcontents, inspire them with her audacity, and +stir them up to fresh conspiracies? She still held in her grasp the +scarcely-severed threads of the plot; and at her right hand there was a +man too wary to allow himself to be again compromised by such dark +doings, but quite ready to profit by them, and whom Madame de Chevreuse +had sedulously exhibited not only to Anne of Austria, but to France and +all Europe, as a man singularly capable of conducting State affairs. +Mazarin, therefore, did not hesitate; but on the day following +Beaufort's arrest, Chateauneuf, Montresor, and St. Ybar were banished. +The first-named was invited to present himself at Court, kiss the +Queen's hand, and then betake himself to his government in Touraine. +Richelieu's late Keeper of the Seals deemed it something to have +escaped an open disgrace, to have resumed the eminent post he had +formerly occupied under the Crown, and the government of a large +province. Yet did his ambition soar far higher still: but he kept it in +check, and merely postponed its flight for a less stormy hour--obeyed +the Queen, skilfully remained friends with her, and likewise kept on +very good terms with her Prime Minister--biding his time until he might +displace him. He had to wait a long time, however; but eventually did +not quit life without once more grasping, for a moment at least, that +power which the indulgence of an insensate passion had lost him, but +which an inviolable and unswerving friendship in the end restored to +him.[6] + + [6] Chateauneuf held the seals from March, 1650, when Mazarin went + into voluntary exile, until April, 1651. He died in 1653, at the age + of seventy-three. + +Madame de Chevreuse unhappily lacked the wisdom displayed throughout +this fiery ordeal by Chateauneuf. She forgot for once to look with a +smiling face upon the passing storm, in which she was too suddenly +caught to escape altogether scatheless. La Chatre--one of her friends, +and who saw her almost every day--relates that during the very same +evening on which Beaufort was arrested at the Louvre, "Her Majesty told +the Duchess that she believed her to be innocent of the prisoner's +designs, but that nevertheless to avoid scandal she deemed it fitting +that Madame de Chevreuse should quietly withdraw to Dampierre, and that +after making some short sojourn there she should retire into +Touraine."[7] The Duchess, therefore, saw plainly that she had nothing +for it but to go at once to Dampierre; but no sooner did she arrive at +her favourite chateau than, instead of remaining quiet, she began to +move heaven and earth to save those who had compromised themselves for +her sake. She began, indeed, to knot the meshes of a new web of +intrigue, and even found means of placing a letter in the Queen's own +hand. Message after message was, however, sent to hasten her +departure--Montagu being despatched to her on the same errand, as was +also La Porte. She received them haughtily, and deferred her journey +under divers pretexts. It will be remembered that on going to meet the +Duchess when on her road from Brussels, Montagu had offered her, on the +Queen's part as well as that of Mazarin, to discharge in her name the +debts she had contracted during so many years of exile. The Duchess had +already received heavy sums, but was unwilling to set forth for Touraine +until after the Queen should have performed all her promises. Marie de +Rohan had left the Louvre and Paris, her bosom swelling with grief and +rage, as Hannibal had quitted Italy. She felt that the Court and capital +and the Queen's inner circle formed the true field of battle, and that +to remove herself from it was to abandon the victory to the enemy. Her +retreat, indeed, was an occasion of mourning to the entire Catholic +party, as well as to the friends of peace and the Spanish alliance, but, +on the contrary, of public rejoicing for the friends of the Protestant +alliance. The Count d'Estrade actually went to the Louvre on the part of +the Prince of Orange, from whom he was accredited, to thank the Regent +officially for it. + + [7] "Allontanar Cheverosa che fa mille cabelle." Mazarin's Carnet, + iii. 81, 82. + +Madame de Chevreuse made her way, therefore, to her estate of Duverger, +between Tours and Angiers. The deep solitude that there reigned +around her embittered all the more the feeling of defeat. She kept up, +however, a brisk correspondence with her stepmother, Madame de +Montbazon--banished to Rochefort; and the two exiled Duchesses mutually +exhorted each other to leave no stone unturned towards effecting the +overthrow of their common enemy. Vanquished at home, Madame de Chevreuse +centred all her hopes in foreign lands. She revived the friendly +relations which she had never ceased to cherish with England, Spain, and +the Low Countries. Her chief prop, the centre and interposer of her +intrigues, was Lord Goring, our ambassador at the French Court; who, +like his ill-starred master, and more especially his royal mistress, +belonged to the Spanish party. Croft, an English gentleman who had +figured in the train of the Duchess some years previously, bestirred +himself actively and openly in her behalf, whilst the Chevalier de Jars +intrigued warily and in secret for Chateauneuf. Beneath the mantle of +the English embassy a vast correspondence was carried on between Madame +de Chevreuse, Vendome, Bouillon, and the rest of the _Malcontents_. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + CONSEQUENCES OF THE QUARREL BETWEEN THE DUCHESSES DE LONGUEVILLE AND + DE MONTBAZON.--FATAL DUEL BETWEEN THE DUKE DE GUISE AND COUNT MAURICE + DE COLIGNY. + + +AS has been said, the 2nd of September, 1643, had been truly a memorable +day in the career of Mazarin, and, indeed, in the annals of France; for +it witnessed the confirming of the royal power, shaken to its base by +the deaths of Richelieu and Louis XIII., and the ruin of that dangerous +faction the _Importants_. The intestine discords which threatened the +new reign were thus forced to await a more favourable opportunity for +development. They did not raise their heads again until five years +afterwards--on the breaking out of the Fronde, in which they showed +themselves just the same men as ever, with the same designs, the same +politics, foreign and domestic; and after raising sanguinary and sterile +commotions, re-appeared only to break themselves to pieces once more +against the genius of Mazarin and the invincible firmness of Anne of +Austria. + +Mazarin, therefore, who soon found himself without a rival in the +Queen's good graces, continued steadily to carry on within and without +the realm the system of his predecessor, and royalty, as well as France, +reckoned upon a succession of halcyon years, thanks to the re-union of +the Princes of the blood with the Crown, to the tactics and personal +conduct of the Prime Minister, and to his political sagacity, seconded +by the military genius of the Duke d'Enghien. The imprudence of Madame +de Montbazon and her lover Beaufort in the affair of the dropped letters +had the effect of increasing Mazarin's power incalculably, and that at +the very moment that a splendid victory gained by the young Duke +d'Enghien had made him and his sister paramount at Court--paramount by a +popularity so universal that it almost made the Queen and her minister +their _proteges_ rather than their patrons. + +The Duke d'Enghien had returned to Paris after Rocroy, and at the end of +a campaign in which he had taken a very important stronghold, passed the +Rhine with the French army, and carried the war into Germany. The Queen +had received him as the liberator of France. Mazarin, who looked more to +the reality than the semblance of power, intimated to the young +conqueror that his sole ambition was to be his chaplain and man of +business with the Queen. At a distance, the Duke d'Enghien had praised +everything that had been done, and came from the camp over head and ears +in love with Madlle. du Vigean, and furious that any one should have +dared to insult a member of his house. He adored his sister, and he had +a warm friendship for Coligny.[1] He was aware of and had favoured his +passion for that sister. Engaged himself in a suit as ardent as it was +chaste, he readily comprehended that his beautiful sister might well +have been not insensible to the fervent assiduities of the brave +Maurice, but he revolted at the thought of the amatory effusions of a +Madame de Fouquerolles being attributed to her, and he assumed a tone in +the matter which effectually arrested any further insinuation from even +the most insolent and daring. + + [1] Grandson of the famous Admiral de Coligny, who perished in the + massacre of St. Bartholomew. + +Amongst the especial friends of Beaufort and Madame de Montbazon, +foremost of all stood the Duke de Guise.[2] They had manoeuvred to +secure him as well as the rest of his family to their party, through +Gaston, Duke d'Orleans, who had espoused as his second wife a princess +of the house of Lorraine--the lovely Marguerite, sister of Charles IV. +and second daughter of Duke Francis. The Duke de Guise had already +played many strange pranks and committed more than one folly, but he had +not as yet signally failed in any serious enterprise. His incapacity was +not patent. He had the prestige of his name, youth, good looks, and a +courage carried even to temerity. The avowed slave of Madame de +Montbazon, he had espoused her quarrel, and to gratify her had joined in +propagating those calumnious reports, but without exhibiting the +violence of Beaufort, and had remained erect, confronting and defying +the victorious Condes. + + [2] Henry, son of Charles de Guise, and grandson of the _Balafre_. + +Coligny had had the good sense to keep aloof during the storm, for fear +of still further compromising Madame de Longueville by exhibiting +himself openly as her champion: but a few months having elapsed, he +thought that he might at last show himself, and, as a certain +authority[3] tells us, "the imprisonment of the Duke de Beaufort having +deprived that noble of the chance of measuring swords with him, he +addressed himself to the Duke de Guise." La Rochefoucauld says, "the +Duke d'Enghien, unable to testify to the Duke de Beaufort, who was in +prison, the resentment he felt at what had passed between Madame de +Longueville and Madame de Montbazon, left Coligny at liberty to fight +with the Duke de Guise, who had mixed himself up in this affair." The +Duke d'Enghien, therefore, knew and approved of what Coligny did. In +fact, he found himself without an adversary in the affair of sufficient +rank to justify a prince of the blood in drawing his sword against him. +So far as regards Madame de Longueville, it is absurd to suppose that, +desirous of vengeance, she it was who had urged on Coligny, for +everybody ascribed to her a line of conduct characterised by great +moderation, as contrasted with that of the Princess de Conde. Far from +envenoming the quarrel, she wished to hush it up, and Madame de +Motteville thus significantly alludes to that fact: "The enmity she bore +Madame de Montbazon being proportionate to the love she bore her +husband, it did not carry her so far but that she found it more a propos +to dissimulate that outrage than otherwise." + + [3] An inedited Memoir upon the Regency. + +La Rochefoucauld gives some particulars which explain what follows. +Coligny, just risen out of a long illness, was still very much +enfeebled, and, moreover, not very "skilful of fence." Such was his +condition when, as the champion of Madame de Longueville, he confronted +the Duke de Guise in mortal duel, whilst the latter, like most heroes of +the parade-ground, possessed rare cunning at carte and tierce. With +regard to the seconds chosen, they are in every respect worthy of +notice. In those days, seconds were witnesses of the duel in which they +themselves fought. Coligny selected as his second, and to give the +challenge, as was then the custom, Godefroi, Count d'Estrades, a man of +cool and tried courage. The Duke de Guise's second was his equerry, the +Marquis de Bridieu, a Limousin gentleman and brave officer, faithfully +attached to the house of Lorraine, who, in 1650, admirably defended +Guise against the Spanish army and against Turenne, and for that brave +defence, during which there were twenty-four days of open trenches, he +was made lieutenant-general. + +It was arranged that the affair should come off at the Place Royale--the +usual arena for those sort of encounters, and which had been a hundred +times stained with the best blood of France. The mansions around the +Place Royale were then tenanted by ladies of the highest rank and +fashion, amongst the rest, Marguerite, Duchess de Rohan, Madame de +Guemene, Madame de Chaulnes, Madame de St. Geran, Madame de Sable, the +Countess de St. Maure, and many others, under the influence of whose +bright eyes those volatile and valiant French gentlemen delighted to +cross swords. And there many a noble form had been struck down never to +rise again, and many a noble heart had throbbed its last. During the +first quarter of the seventeenth century, the duel was a custom at once +useful and disastrous, inasmuch as it kept up the warlike spirit of the +nobles, but which mowed them down as fast as war itself, and but too +frequently for frivolous causes. To draw swords for trifles had become +the obligatory accompaniment of good manners; and as gallantry had its +finished fops, so the duel had its refined rufflers. In the +comparatively short period of a few years, nine hundred gentlemen +perished in these combats. To stop this scourge, Richelieu issued a +royal edict, which punished death by death, and sent the offenders from +the Place Royale to the Place de Greve. On this head Richelieu showed +himself inflexible, and the examples of Montmorency-Bouteville, beheaded +with his second, the Count Deschappelles, for having challenged Beuvron +and fought with him on the Place Royale at mid-day, impressed a +salutary terror, and rendered infraction of the edict very rare. +Coligny, however, braved everything; he challenged Guise, and on the +appointed day the two noble adversaries, accompanied by their seconds, +D'Estrades and Bridieu, met upon the Place Royale. + +Of this memorable duel, thanks to contemporary memoirs as well as +various kinds of MSS., the minutest details have been preserved. + +On the 12th of December, 1643, D'Estrades went in the morning to call +out the Duke de Guise on the part of Coligny. The rendezvous was fixed +for the same day, at three o'clock in the afternoon, at the Place +Royale. The two adversaries did not appear abroad during the whole +morning, and at three o'clock they were on the ground. A sentence is +ascribed to Guise which invests the scene with an unwonted grandeur, and +arrays for the last time in bitterest animosity and deadly antagonism +the two most illustrious representatives of the League wars in the +persons of their descendants. On unsheathing his sword Guise said to +Coligny: "We are about to decide the old feud of our two houses, and to +see what a difference there is between the blood of Guise and that of +Coligny." + +Coligny's only reply was to deal his adversary a long lunge; but, weak +as he was, his rearward foot failed him, and he sank upon his knee. +Guise advanced upon him and set his foot upon his sword, in such manner +as though he would have said, "I do not desire to kill you, but to treat +you as you deserve, for having presumed to address yourself to a prince +of such birth as mine, without his having given you just cause,"--and he +struck him with the flat of his sword-blade. Coligny, furious, collected +his strength, threw himself backwards, disengaged his sword, and +recommenced the strife. In this second bout, Guise was slightly wounded +in the shoulder, and Coligny in the hand. At length, Guise, in making +another thrust at his adversary, grasped his sword-blade, by which his +hand was slightly cut, but, wresting it from Coligny's grasp, dealt him +a desperate thrust in the arm which put him _hors de combat_. Meanwhile +D'Estrades and Bridieu had grievously wounded each other. + +Such was the issue of that memorable duel--the last, it appears, of the +famous encounters on the Place Royale. We thus see that, though cowed, +the French noblesse had not been tamed by Richelieu's solemn edict. This +last duel did very little honour to Coligny, and almost everybody took +part with the Duke de Guise. The Queen manifested very lively +displeasure at the violation of the edict, and the Duke d'Orleans, urged +thereto by his wife and the Lorraine family, made a loud outcry. The +Prince and Princess de Conde also found themselves compelled to declare +against Coligny--doubly in the wrong, both because he had been the +challenger and been unfortunate in the result. Proof that there was an +understanding between Coligny and the Duke d'Enghien is evident from the +latter not deserting the unlucky champion of his sister, that he +received the wounded man into his house at Paris, afterwards at Saint +Maur, and that he did not cease from surrounding him with his protection +and care in spite of his father, the Prince de Conde. When the matter +was referred to the Parliament, conformably to the edict, and the two +adversaries were summoned to appear, the Duke de Guise announced his +intention of repairing to the chamber with a retinue of princes and +great nobles; whilst, on his side, the Duke d'Enghien threatened to +escort his friend after the same fashion. But the initiative +proceedings were stayed through the deplorable condition into which poor +Coligny was known to have fallen. + +That unfortunate young man languished for some months, and died in the +latter part of May, 1644, alike in consequence of his wounds and of +despair for having so badly sustained the cause of his own house, as +well as that of Madame de Longueville. + +This affair, with all its dramatic features and tragical termination, +created an immense and painful impression not only in Paris, but +throughout France. It momentarily awakened party feelings which had for +some time slumbered, and suspended the festivals of the winter of 1644. +It not only occupied the families more closely concerned and the Court, +but forcibly affected the whole of the highest class of society, and +long remained the absorbing topic of every saloon. It may be readily +conceived that the story in spreading thus widely became enlarged with +imaginary incidents one after another. At first, it was supposed that +Madame de Longueville was in love with Coligny. That was necessary to +give the greater interest to the narrative. From thence came the next +invention, that she herself had armed Coligny's hand, and that +D'Estrades, charged to challenge the Duke de Guise, having remarked to +Coligny that the Duke might probably repudiate the injurious words +attributed to him, and that honour would thus be satisfied, Coligny had +thereupon replied: "That is not the question. I pledged my word to +Madame de Longueville to fight him on the Place Royale, and I cannot +fail in that promise."[4] There was no stopping a cavalier in such a +chivalrous course as that, and Madame de Longueville would not have been +the sister of the victor of Rocroy--a heroine worthy of sustaining +comparison with those of Spain, who beheld their lovers die at their +feet in the tournament--had she not been present at the duel between +Guise and Coligny. It is asserted, therefore, that on the 12th of +December she was stationed in an hotel on the Place Royale belonging to +the Duchess de Rohan, and that there, concealed behind a window-curtain, +she had witnessed the discomfiture of her _preux chevalier_. + + [4] Mad. de Motteville. + +Then, as now, it was verse--that is to say, the ballad--which set its +seal on the popular incident of the moment. When the event was an +unlucky one, the song was a burlesquely pathetic complaint, and always +with a vein of raillery running through it. Such was the effusion with +which every _ruelle_ rang, and it was really set to music, for the +notation is still to be found in the _Recueil de Chansons notees_, +preserved at the Arsenal at Paris. It ran thus:-- + + "Essuyez vos beaux yeux, + Madame de Longueville, + Coligny se porte mieux. + S'il a demande la vie, + Ne l'en blamez nullement; + Car c'est pour etre votre amant + Qu'il veut vivre eternellement." + + + + +BOOK III. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + THE DUCHESS DE LONGUEVILLE AND THE DUKE DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD. + + +THAT Madame de Longueville witnessed the duel on the Place Royale seems +to rest on no reliable authority. Such a trait is so utterly at variance +with her character that its attribution would impute to her the manners +of a semi-Italianised princess of the Valois race. There are besides no +sufficient grounds for believing that her affections had for a moment +been given to Coligny, though doubtless her innate tenderness must have +been touched by his chivalrous love and devotion. Miossens, afterwards +better known as Marshal d'Albret, next tried in vain to win a heart +which had hitherto appeared insensible to the master-passion, but after +an obstinate persistence was ultimately constrained to relinquish all +hope. When, in 1645, M. de Longueville went as minister-plenipotentiary +to the Congress of Muenster, the young Duchess remained in Paris, her +element being still the social sphere of the Court solely--a taste for +political life not having yet been developed through the impulse of her +affections. Let us here add that, notwithstanding the almost unanimous +assertion of contemporaries at this period that even women could not +behold Madame de Longueville without admiration, the heart of this +preeminently gifted creature seems amidst the universal homage to have +been proof against all and every repeated assault. Anne of Austria +loved her but little, partly through a jealous feeling created by her +singular beauty, partly from her great reputation for wit, and also from +her perpetual wranglings for precedence with other princesses of the +blood. In fact, in order to lose no tittle of the prerogatives derived +from her birth, Madame de Longueville had obtained a royal brevet from +the king which maintained her in the rank which she would have otherwise +lost by her marriage. A pride so exacting does not appear to agree with +the peculiar nonchalance that was one of her striking characteristics; +but, later in life, when she had become devout and penitent, she took +care to explain that seeming contradiction. "I have been defined," said +she, "as having, as it were, two individualities of opposite nature in +me, and that I could interchange them at any moment; but that arose from +the different situations in which I was placed, for I was dead, like +unto the dead, to aught which slightly affected me, and keenly alive to +the smallest things which interested me." Reading and study were never +among the things which stirred her into animation. Entirely occupied +with her fascinations and individual sentiments, at no period of her +life did she ever think of repairing the early neglect of her education. +In this respect she was inferior, on the authority even of her +apologists, to many ladies of the Court and city. Intoxicated as she had +been by the fumes of the incense which flattery had wafted around her in +the circle of the Hotel de Rambouillet, she probably had no perception +of her failings on that essential point. The spontaneity of her wit, her +natural aptitude to comprehend and decide upon all sorts of questions, +made up for her deficiency in that kind of information which is acquired +from books and other modes of study, and often stood her in good stead, +both on the part of her detractors and of her partisans, of the lofty +characteristics of "great genius." M. Cousin, who is by no means severe +as regards the errors or demerits of the Duchess, says that "she did not +know how to write." Mademoiselle de Montpensier and Madame de +Motteville, however, both express the very opposite opinion. The first +remarks, speaking of the Countess de Maure:--"The precision and the +polish of her style would be incomparable if Madame de Longueville had +never written." The second declares that "this lady has ever written as +well as any one living." The fact is, so far as may be judged from those +of her letters which have come down to us, that Madame de Longueville's +style bore the reflex of her conversation: there are some passages very +remarkable in their force, some phrases altogether trite and +insignificant. This opinion is quite beside the consideration of her +diction in a grammatical point of view. In her written as in her spoken +language, she seems to have been impassive or to have kindled into +animation according as her thoughts were "dead or living," to use her +own phrase. Speaking and writing, however, are two very different +things, both requiring an especial cultivation; and as Madame de +Longueville was defective in anything like what is termed "regular +education" or "sound instruction," that fact became apparent so soon as +she took her pen in hand. Her great natural endowments shone on paper +with difficulty, through faults of every kind which escaped her notice. +It is really no small gift to be able to express one's sentiments and +ideas in their natural order, and with all their true and various +shades, in terms neither too homely nor far-fetched, or which neither +enfeeble nor exaggerate them. It is by no means rare to meet with men in +society remarkable for intelligence, nerve, and grace when they speak, +but who become unintelligible when they commit their thoughts to +writing. The fact is, that writing is an art--a very difficult art, and +one which must be carefully learned. Madame de Longueville was ignorant +of this, as were some of the most eminent women of her time. There +exists unquestionable evidence to prove that the Princess Palatine was a +person of large intelligence, who was able to hold her own with men of +the greatest capacity. De Retz and Bossuet tell us so. Some letters of +the Palatine, however, are extant in which, whilst there is no lack of +solidity, refinement, and ingenuity of thought, it will be seen that +they often abound with errors, obscure phraseology, and not unfrequently +outrageously violate even the commonest rules of orthography. It must +not, however, by any means be inferred from this that the Palatine had +not a mind of the first order, but only that she had not been trained to +render clearly and fittingly her ideas and sentiments in writing. Madame +de Longueville had been no better taught. Therefore all that has been +said about her on this score must be restricted, alike as to the defects +of her education and the brilliancy of her genius. With those +Frenchwomen who have written at once largely and loosely, it is pleasant +to contrast their contemporaries, Madame de Sevigne and Madame la +Fayette, both of whom always wrote well. + +In the first place, these two admirable ladies had received quite +another sort of education to that of Madame de Longueville. They had had +the advantage of being instructed by men of letters skilled in the art +of teaching. Menage was the chief instructor both of Mademoiselle de +Rabutin and Mademoiselle de Lavergne--to call those accomplished +letter-writers by their maiden names. Menage trained them carefully in +composition, correcting rigidly their themes, pointing out their errors, +cultivating their happy instincts, and modelling and polishing their +vein and style. That talented tutor appears also to have been their +platonic adorer--more platonic indeed than he desired. In his verses he +celebrated by turns _la formosissima Laverna_ and _la bellissima +Marchesa di Sevigni_, and his lessons were doubtless given _con amore_. + +Nature had been lavish indeed in all her gifts to the latter, giving her +a precision and solidity allied to an inexhaustible playfulness and +sparkling vivacity. Art, in her, wedded to genius, resulted in that +incomparable epistolary style which left Balzac and Voiture far away +behind her, and which Voltaire himself even has not surpassed. + +We must now speak of him who was destined to bias, sway, and finally +determine the future course of Madame de Longueville's life through the +conquest of her heart and mind--La Rochefoucauld--the man who induced +her to embark with him on the stormy sea of politics, whose irresistible +tide swept her past the landmarks of loyalty and reputability to make +shipwreck, amongst the rocks and shoals of civil war, of fame, fortune, +and domestic happiness. + +Up to the moment of her appearance on the scene of party strife in +connection with La Rochefoucauld, Madame de Longueville had not achieved +much _political_ notoriety. Neither had her fair fame been compromised +by the very insignificant gallantry of a long train of court danglers, +nor through her involuntary participation in the affair of the letters +with Madame de Montbazon. She could scarcely fail to be touched by the +devotion of Coligny, who had shed his blood to avenge her of the outrage +of that vindictive woman. For a moment, it is true, she had listened +carelessly and harmlessly to the attention of the brave and intellectual +Miossens. Still later she compromised herself somewhat with the Duke de +Nemours; but the only man she truly loved with heart and soul was La +Rochefoucauld. To him she devoted herself wholly; for him she sacrificed +everything--duty, interest, repose, reputation. For him she staked her +fortune and her life. Through him she exhibited the most equivocal and +most contradictory conduct. It was La Rochefoucauld who caused her to +take part in the Fronde; who, as he willed, made her advance or recede; +who united her to, or separated her from, her family; who governed her +absolutely. In a word, she consented to be in his hand merely an heroic +instrument. Pride and passion had doubtless something to do with this +life of adventure and that contempt of peril. But of what stamp must +have been that soul which could find consolation in all this? And, as +often happens, the man to whom she thus devoted herself was not wholly +worthy of her. He had infinite spirit; but he was coldly calculating, +profoundly selfish, meanly ambitious. He measured others by himself. He +was naturally as subtle in evil, as she was disposed spontaneously to +virtue. Full of finesse in his self-love and in the pursuit of his own +interest, he was, in reality, the least chivalrous of his sex, although +he affected all the appearance of the loftiest chivalry. In his +_liaison_ with Madame de Longueville he made love the slave of ambition. + +It will be necessary to touch only slightly upon his career antecedent +to this period. Francis, the sixth seigneur and second Duke de la +Rochefoucauld, was born 15th December 1613. Little is recorded of his +early years, he himself having given no details about them. We only know +that he was very imperfectly educated, his father being desirous that +he should early adopt the profession of arms. Himself enjoying royal +favour in the highest degree, his eldest son, the young Prince de +Marsillac, profitably felt its influence; for, as early as 1626, he +commanded as _mestre-de-camp_ the Auvergne regiment of cavalry at the +siege of Casal. He took an active part in the _Day of Dupes_, the period +at which his memoirs commence. Two years previously, in 1628, he had +married at Mirebeau a rich and beautiful heiress of Burgundy, Andree de +Vivonne, only daughter of Andre de Vivonne, Baron of Berandiere and +Chasteigneraye, Grand Falconer of France, Captain in the Guards of the +Queen-Mother, Marie de' Medici, Councillor of State, and one of the most +trusty followers of Henry IV. The Prince de Marsillac was at first in +great favour at Court, notwithstanding his father's misconduct, but he +suddenly compromised himself in a very imprudent way. Closely intimate +with that virtuous maid-of-honour, Marie de Hautefort, whom the +saturnine Louis XIII. loved as passionately as his peculiar temperament +permitted, and also with Mademoiselle de Chemerault, as lovely as she +was witty, he was by them hurried into a blind devotion to the cause of +their unhappy mistress and queen, Anne of Austria, "the only party," +says he, with unusual candour, "that I ever honestly followed." And very +soon his confidential relations with the persecuted princess became so +marked as necessarily to excite Richelieu's suspicions, the more so that +he ventured to speak of the Cardinal's administration in the boldest +terms. His friends advised him to retire from Court, at least +temporarily; but, as he wished to employ his time usefully, he joined as +a volunteer the army of Marshal de Chastillon, who, with Marshal de la +Meilleraye, beat Prince Thomas of Savoy at Avein. After behaving with +distinction there, he returned, when the campaign was over, to Court, +exhibiting a conduct still more independent, and which resulted in +forcing him to rejoin his father at Blois. + +It was through the proximity of his father's chateau of Verteuil to +Poitiers, where the Duchess de Chevreuse was then living in banishment +from Court, that the Prince de Marsillac first came to ally himself with +the illustrious political adventuress. At the time when La Rochefoucauld +obtained political notoriety, a crisis occurred in France in national +manners, sentiments, and feelings. The nobles, long kept under by the +strong hand of Richelieu, were again rising into faction, and a spirit +of intrigue had seized upon everyone. + +Although still young, Rochefoucauld had renounced enterprises in which +the heart is alone concerned. No longer engrossed with love, he was +wholly given up to ambition; and in order to avenge himself of the Queen +and Mazarin, who had not in his opinion evinced sufficient generosity +towards him to satisfy this later passion, he did not hesitate to fling +himself headlong into partisan intrigue and strife which ended in civil +war. To render himself the more formidable, he was above all desirous of +securing to his party the master-mind of Conde; and as Madame de +Longueville enjoyed the entire confidence of her favourite brother, and +had great influence with him, the natural result was that in due course +La Rochefoucauld made persistent love to the lovely Duchess. Seduced by +the chivalrous manners and romantic antecedents of his youth, and +yielding partly to the occasion, partly to the obstinate persistence of +the suit, and some little perhaps to the maternal blood in her veins, +Madame de Longueville at length surrendered her heart to the daring +aspirant. She could no longer plead early youth as an excuse, for she +had already numbered twenty-nine summers, and was only distant by a very +small span from that formidable epoch in woman's life which a +discriminating writer of the present day has happily termed the +_crisis_. That turning point in the Duchess's career was destined to +prove fatal to her, and the crisis was exactly such as that of which, in +the case of another celebrated woman, M. Feillet has given a lucid +analysis--the crisis brought about by an irresistible passion. Let us +beware of hastily applying to Madame de Longueville that maxim of her +cynical lover: "Women often think they still love him whom they no +longer really love. The opportunity of an intrigue, the mental emotion +to which gallantry gives birth, natural inclination to the pleasure of +being beloved, and the pain of refusing the lover, together persuade +them that they cherish a genuine passion when it is nothing more than +mere coquetry." Better had it been both for herself and for us to +believe that she had only so loved. + +The beauty and intelligence of the Duchess de Longueville formed +certainly, at the commencement, a large share in the calculating lover's +determination to seek a _liaison_ with the Duke d'Enghien's sister. The +crowd of admirers was great around her, and that spectacle of itself +served to inflame the ambition of M. de Marsillac: subsequent +reflection, doubtless, must have redoubled his ardour to achieve the +twofold conquest, in love and party. The Count de Miossens was then +paying the most assiduous court to Madame de Longueville; he was very +intimately connected with Marsillac, to whom indeed he was nearly +related, and whom he kept well acquainted with the course of his amours. +His suit to the lovely Duchess proving, as has been said, entirely +unsuccessful, Miossens eventually left the field clear to Marsillac, the +brave and simple soldier giving place to the self-seeking man of the +world. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + THE DUCHESS DE LONGUEVILLE DRAWN INTO THE VORTEX OF POLITICS AND CIVIL + WAR BY HER LOVE FOR LA ROCHEFOUCAULD. + + +WE have glanced rapidly over the fairest period of Madame de +Longueville's youth, over those years wherein the splendour of her +success in the ranks of fashion was not obtained at the expense of her +virtue. The time approaches in which she is about to yield to the +manners of her age, and to the long-combatted wants of her heart. The +love which she inspired in others, she is, in turn, about to feel +herself, and it is to engage her, at the age of twenty-eight or +twenty-nine, in a fatal connection, which will make her unmindful of all +her conjugal duties, and turn her most brilliant qualities against +herself, against her family, and against France. + +Let us now relate briefly what we know of Madame de Longueville from the +moment of our last mention of her up to the commencement of 1648. There +is nothing recorded which can authorise the supposition that before the +close of 1647 Madame de Longueville had ever passed the limits of that +noble and graceful gallantry which she saw everywhere held in honour, +the praises of which she heard celebrated at the Hotel de Rambouillet as +well as at the Hotel de Conde, in the great verse of Corneille and in +the turgid effusions of Voiture. At the time of the duel between Guise +and Coligny, in 1644, she had seen her twenty-fifth summer. Each +succeeding year seemed only to enhance the power of her charms, and that +power she delighted in exhibiting. A thousand adorers pressed around +her. Coligny was, perhaps, nearest to her heart, but had not, however, +touched it. But one cannot, with impunity, trifle with love. That tragic +adventure of the eldest of the Chatillons perishing, in the flower of +his youth, by the hand of the eldest of the Guises was quickly echoed by +song and romance through every _salon_, and cast a gloom upon the +destiny of Madame de Longueville, and gave her, at an early period, a +fame at once aristocratic and popular, which prepared her wonderfully to +play a great part in that other tragi-comedy, heroic and gallant, called +the Fronde. The glory of her brother was reflected upon her, and she +responded to it somewhat by her own success at Court and in the +_salons_. She acquired more and more the manners of the times. Coquetry +and witty talk formed her sole occupation. Her delicate condition not +permitting her to accompany M. de Longueville to Muenster, in June, 1645, +she remained in Paris. It was the place above all others in which she +delighted, and whether her heart had received some slight wound, or +whether it was still entirely whole, it is clear that she was not very +glad nor greatly charmed to find herself, after her accouchement in the +spring of 1646, under the cold, grey sky of Westphalia, again beside a +husband who was not, as Retz says, the most agreeable man to her in the +world. It is not difficult to divine the feelings with which that petted +beauty of the Hotel de Rambouillet must have left Corneille, Voiture, +and all the elegancies and refinements of life, to take up her abode at +Munster amongst a set of foreign diplomatists only speaking German or +Latin. To her it was doubly an exile, for her native soil was not +merely France--but Paris, the Court, the Hotel de Conde, Chantilly, the +Place Royale, the Rue St. Thomas du Louvre.[1] However, there was +nothing for it but to obey the marital summons, and to set off with her +step-daughter, Mademoiselle de Longueville, who was already more than +twenty years of age. The Duchess quitted Paris on the 20th of June, +1646, with a numerous escort under the command of Montigny, lieutenant +of M. de Longueville's guards. The entire journey from Paris to Munster +was a continual ovation. The Duke went as far as Wesel to meet her. +Turenne, who then commanded on the Rhine, treated her to the spectacle +of an army drawn up in order of battle, and which he manoeuvred for +her amusement. Was it on that occasion that the great captain, well +known to have been always impressionable to female beauty, received the +ardent impulse which was renewed at Stenay in 1650, and which, +graciously but prudently acknowledged by Madame de Longueville, always +remained a close and tender tie between them? On the 22nd of July she +made her triumphal entry into Munster. During the entire autumn of 1646 +and the winter of 1647 she was really the Queen of the Congress. Her +beauty and grace of manner won homage equally from the grave +diplomatists as from the great commanders who were there assembled. + + [1] In which the Hotel de Rambouillet was situate. + +Although the Duchess dissembled her ennui with that politeness and +gentleness peculiar to herself, after the lapse of a few months she had +had enough of her brilliant exile. In the winter of 1647 there were two +reasons for her return to France. Her father, the Prince de Conde, had +died towards the close of December, 1646, to the great loss of his +family and France, the consequences of which were somewhat later vividly +felt. Moreover, Madame de Longueville had become _enceinte_, at Muenster +for the third time, and it being her mother's wish that her accouchement +should take place near her, M. de Longueville was compelled to consent +to his wife's departure for Paris. + +Her return to France, at first to Chantilly, and next to Paris, in the +month of May, 1647, was quite another sort of triumph to that of her +journey to the Rhine and Holland, and her sojourn at Muenster. She found +the crowd of her adorers more numerous and attentive than ever, and in +the foremost rank her younger brother, the Prince de Conti, just fresh +from college, was taking his first lessons of life in the wider range of +the great world. + +Shortly after her accouchement, the Duchess, who during her sojourn +amongst the plenipotentiaries charged with negotiating the treaty of +Westphalia, had acquired a taste, there seems little doubt, for +political discussions and speculations, first began to manifest an +inclination to mix herself up with state affairs. There was little +difficulty in her doing so. The mission which the Duke de Longueville +continued to fulfil in Germany, the continued favour enjoyed by the +Princess de Conde, the ever-increasing influence which the Duke +d'Enghien--recently through his father's death become Prince de +Conde--had acquired by his repeated victories, all these advantages, +joined to the prestige of the personal charms of Madame de Longueville, +placed this latter in a position to take the foremost part in the civil +war about to break out. + +The Court and Paris were then occupied with festivals and diversions, +which all were eager to share with Madame de Longueville. To please the +Queen, Mazarin multiplied balls and operas. At a great expense he sent +to Italy for artists, singers, male and female, who represented the +opera of _Orpheus_, the machinery and decorations of which are said to +have cost more than 400,000 livres. The Queen delighted in these +spectacles. France also, as though inspired by its increasing grandeur, +took pleasure in the magnificence of its government, and seconded it by +redoubling its own luxury and magnificence. The pleasures of wit +occupied the first rank. The Hotel de Rambouillet, near its decline, was +shedding its last rays. Madame de Longueville reigned there as well as +in all the best circles of Paris; and it must be confessed, with her +good qualities she had also some of the defects of the best +_precieuses_. The following is the picture which Madame de Motteville +has traced of her person, of the turn of her mind, of her occupation, of +her reputation, and of that of the whole house of Conde, at this period, +which may be considered as the most felicitous of her life: "This +princess, who during her absence reigned in her family, and whose +approbation was sought as though she were a real sovereign, did not +fail, on her return to Paris, to appear in greater splendour than when +she left it. The friendship entertained for her by the Prince, her +brother, authorizing her actions and her manners, the greatness of her +beauty and of her mind increased so much the cabal of her family, that +she was not long at Court without almost entirely engrossing it. She +became the object of all desires: her clique was the centre of all +intrigues, and those whom she loved became also the favourites of +fortune.... Her intelligence, her wit, and the high opinion entertained +for her discernment, won for her the admiration of all good people, who +were persuaded that her esteem alone was enough to give them reputation. +If, in this way, she governed people's minds, she was not less +successful by means of her beauty; for although she had suffered from +the small-pox since the Regency, and although she had lost somewhat of +the perfection of her complexion, the splendour of her charms excited a +powerful influence upon those who saw her; and she possessed especially, +in the highest degree, what in the Spanish language is expressed by +those words, _donayre, brio, y bizarrie_ (gallant air). She had an +admirable form, and her person possessed a charm whose power extended +over our own sex. It was impossible to see her without loving her, and +without desiring to please her." Some shadows, however, slightly tone +down this otherwise brilliant portraiture. "She was then too much +engrossed with her own sentiments, which passed for infallible rules +while they were not always so, and there was too much affectation in her +manner of speaking and acting, whose greatest beauty was attributable to +delicacy of thought and correctness of reasoning. She appeared +constrained, and the keen raillery exercised by herself and her +courtiers often fell upon those who, while rendering her their homage, +felt, to their mortification, that honest sincerity, which ought to be +observed in polite society, was apparently banished from hers. The +virtues and qualities of the most excellent creatures are mingled with +things opposed to them: all men partake of this clay from which they +derive their origin, and God alone is perfect.... In short it may be +said that at this time all greatness, all glory, and all gallantry were +concentrated in the family of Bourbon, of which the Prince de Conde was +the illustrious head, and that fortune was not considered a desirable +thing if it did not emanate from their hands." + +But, unhappily, frivolous pastimes, of a nature both innocent and +dangerous, now wholly engrossed Madame de Longueville. She was +surrounded by all the prosperities and all the felicities of this life. +Everything conspired in her favour, or rather against her--the triumphs +of mind as well as those of beauty, the continually increasing glory of +her paternal house, the intoxication of her vanity, the secret +promptings of her heart. The trial was too much for her, and she +succumbed to it. In the enchanted circle in which she moved, more than +one adorer attracted her attention; and one of them succeeded in winning +her affections, according to all appearances, at the close of 1647, or +at the commencement of 1648. She was then about twenty-nine. + +Francois, Prince de Marsillac, without being very handsome, was well +formed and very agreeable. As De Retz says, he was not a warrior, +although he was a very good soldier. What distinguished him especially +was his wit. Of this he possessed an infinite fund, of the finest and +most delicate. His conversation was gentle, easy, insinuating; and his +manners were at once the most natural and most polished. He had a lofty +air. In him vanity supplied the place of ambition. At an early age he +showed a fondness for distinction and for intrigues. Profoundly selfish, +and having succeeded in acquiring a knowledge of himself, and in +reducing to theory his nature, his character, and his tastes, he set out +with very contrary appearances, and those chivalrous manners affected by +the _Importants_. One of his first connections, as we have seen, was +with Madame de Chevreuse, who secured him to Queen Anne. When the death +of Louis XIII. had placed the supreme authority in her hands, he +imagined that his fortune was made. He sought successively various +important offices which the Queen could not grant, whatever liking she +might have entertained for him. Having tried several schemes and failed +in all, the Queen applied herself to soothing his disappointments, by +behaviour so tender as to retain him, as would now be said, in a +moderate opposition, and keep him from taking part in the violence of +Beaufort. He was not then covered with the disgrace of the _Importants_, +though he shared it to a certain extent; and he did not cease to be, or +seem to be, very much attached, not to the government, but to the person +of the Queen. He looked continually for some great favour at her hands. +These favours not arriving, he determined to procure through +intimidation what his self-seeking fidelity had not been able to secure +for him. + +It was during this state of his feelings that he met Madame de +Longueville, on her return from Munster, surrounded by the most earnest +admirers. The Count de Miossens, afterwards Marshal d'Albret--handsome, +brave, full of wit and talent, as enterprising in love as in war--was +paying her a very zealous court. La Rochefoucauld persuaded Miossens, +who was one of his friends, that, after all, if he should overcome the +resistance of Madame de Longueville, it would only be a victory +flattering to his vanity, whilst that he, La Rochefoucauld, would be +able to turn it to a very good account. This was certainly a very +convincing and heroic reason for falling in love! We, however, do no +more than transfer, with the utmost exactness, a statement made by +Rochefoucauld himself, which we will now quote word for word: "So much +unprofitable labour and so much weariness, finally gave me other +thoughts, and led me to attempt dangerous ways in order to testify my +hostility to the Queen and Cardinal Mazarin. The beauty of Madame de +Longueville, her wit, and the charms of her person, attached to her all +who could hope for her favour. Many men and women of quality strove to +please her; and besides all this, Madame de Longueville was then upon +such good terms with all her house, and so tenderly beloved by the Duke +d'Enghien, her brother, that the esteem and friendship of this prince +might be counted upon by any one who enjoyed the favour of his sister. +Many persons vainly attempted this game, mingling other sentiments with +those of ambition. Miossens, who afterwards became Marshal of France, +persisted in it longest, but with similar success. I was one of his +intimate friends, and he told me his designs. They soon fell to the +ground of themselves. He saw this, and told me several times that he was +about to renounce them; but vanity, which was the strongest of his +passions, prevented him from telling me the truth, and he professed to +entertain hopes which he had not, and which I knew that he could not +have. Some time passed in this way; and, finally, I had reason to +believe that I could make a more considerable use than Miossens of the +friendship and confidence of Madame de Longueville. I made him believe +it himself. He knew my position at Court; I told him my views, declaring +that my consideration for him would always restrain me, and that I would +not attempt to form a connection with Madame de Longueville without his +permission. I will even confess that I irritated him against her in +order to obtain it, without, however, saying anything untrue. He +delivered her over entirely to me, but he repented when he saw the +result of that connection."[2] + + [2] Petitot Collection, vol. li. p. 393. + +When, subdued at length by the passion shown for her by La +Rochefoucauld, Madame de Longueville had determined to respond to it, +she gave herself up to him wholly--devoting herself in everything to the +man whom she dared to love. She made it a point of honour, as doubtless +it was a secret happiness, to share his destiny and to follow him +without casting one backward glance--sacrificing to him all her private +interests, the evident interest of her family, and the strongest +sentiment of her soul, her tenderness for her brother Conde. + +The truthful Madame de Motteville, after noting the principal motive +which urged La Rochefoucauld in his pursuit of Madame de Longueville, +adds: "In all that she has since done, it is clearly seen that ambition +was not the only thing that occupied her soul, and that the interests of +the Prince de Marsillac there held a prominent place. For him she became +ambitious, for him she ceased to love repose; and in order to show +herself alive to this affection, she became too insensible to her own +fame.... The declarations of the Prince de Marsillac, as I have already +said, had not been displeasing to her; and this nobleman, who was +perhaps more selfish than tender, wishing through her to promote his own +interests, believed that he should inspire her with a desire of ruling +the princes her brothers."[3] + + [3] Mad. de Motteville, vol. ii. p. 17. + +Such being the sordid motives of her wooer, the oft-repeated lines, +therefore, which he wrote with his own hand behind a portrait of the +Duchess must be construed with a considerable abatement of their poetic +ardour:-- + + "Pour meriter son coeur, pour plaire a ses beaux yeux, + J'ai fait la guerre aux rois, Je l'aurais faite aux dieux."[4] + + [4] At a later period, after he had lost his sight from a + pistol-shot received at the combat of the Porte St. Antoine during + the Fronde, and had quarrelled with the Duchess, he parodied his own + distich,-- + + "Pour ce coeur inconstant, qu'enfin Je connais mieux, + J'ai fait la guerre au roi; J'en ai perdu les yeux." + +Such a dissembler then was the coldly ambitious, egotistical, clever +Duke de la Rochefoucauld--a man capable of sacrificing everybody to his +own interests. Madame de Longueville, such as we have depicted her, +could not help being the instrument of a man of like character. M. +Cousin seems to have arrived at that conclusion, since, in designating +that princess as _the soul of the Fronde_, he acknowledges "that she +troubled the state and her own family by an extravagant passion for one +of the chiefs of the _Importants_, become one of the chiefs of the +Fronde." But M. Cousin is very nearly silent touching the Prince de +Conti, of whom the Duchess was the sole motive-power on all occasions, +and he merely says that this young prince submitted to be led by his +sister in order to stand upon an equal footing with his elder brother +whilst waiting for a cardinal's hat. + +Armand de Bourbon, Prince de Conti, born in 1629, was eighteen years of +age in 1647. He had good intellect and a not unpleasant countenance; but +a slight deformity and a certain feebleness of constitution rendering +him unfit for the army, he was early destined for the church. He had +studied among the Jesuits at the college of Clermont with Moliere, and +his father had obtained for him the richest benefices, and demanded a +cardinal's hat. While waiting for this hat dignity, Armand de Bourbon +was living at the Hotel de Conde, partly an ecclesiastic, partly a man +of the world, passing his days with wits and men of fashion, and greedy +of every species of success. The glory of his brother filled him with +emulation, and he dreamed himself of warlike exploits. When his sister +returned from Germany, he went to meet her, and, dazzled by her beauty, +her grace, and her fame, he began to love her rather as a gallant than +as a brother. He followed her blindly in all her adventures, in which +he exhibited as much courage as volatility. When he had made his peace +with the Court--thanks to his marriage with a niece of Mazarin, the +beautiful and virtuous Anne-Marie Martinozzi--he obtained the +command-in-chiefship of the army of Catalonia, in which capacity he +acquitted himself with great honour. He was much less successful in +Italy. On the whole, he was far from injuring his name, and he gave to +France, in the person of his young son, a true warrior, one of the best +pupils of Conde, one of the last eminent generals of the seventeenth +century. Constrained, through ill-health, to betake himself again to +religion, the Prince de Conti finished, where he had begun, with +theology. He composed several meritorious and learned works on various +religious subjects. + +In 1647, he was entirely devoted to vanity and pleasure. He adored his +sister, and she exercised over him a somewhat ridiculous empire, which +continued during several years. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + THE DUCHESS DE CHEVREUSE DRIVEN INTO EXILE FOR THE THIRD TIME. + + +WHEN in the summer of 1644, the Queen of England, the fugitive consort +of Charles I., sought an asylum in France from the fury of the English +parliamentarians, and went to drink the Bourbon waters, Madame de +Chevreuse eagerly desired to see once more that illustrious princess, +who had so warmly welcomed her when herself an exile, at the Court of +St. James's. Queen Henrietta, too, who like her mother, Marie de' +Medici, as well as the Duchess, was of the Spanish and Catholic party, +would have been delighted to have mingled her tears with those of so old +and faithful a friend. But the royal exile did not deem it right to give +way to her inclination without Queen Anne's permission, who at that +moment was according her such noble hospitality. Anne of Austria +politely replied that the Queen, her sister, was perfectly free to act +as she chose; but it was intimated to her, through the Chevalier de +Jars, that it was inexpedient to receive the visit of a person who, +through misguided conduct, had forfeited Her Majesty's favour. This +fresh disgrace, added to so many others, increased the Duchess's +irritation to the highest pitch. She redoubled her efforts to break the +yoke that oppressed her. Mazarin watched and was made acquainted with +all her manoeuvres. He had the comptroller of her household arrested +in Paris, and shortly afterwards even her physician, whilst accompanying +Madame de Chevreuse's daughter in her carriage for an airing. The +Duchess complained bitterly of this latter proceeding in a letter which +she contrived to have handed to the Queen. She asserted that +Mademoiselle de Chevreuse was forced to quit the vehicle, two archers +levelling their pistols at her breast, and shouting all the +while--"Fire! fire!" and they threatened, after the same fashion, the +female attendants who were with her. At the same time that she protested +her own innocence, she did not fail to challenge Anne's sense of +justice, with a view to neutralize the enmity of Mazarin. But the +physician whom he had had arrested, on being flung into the Bastile, +made avowals which opened up traces of very grave matters; and an exempt +of the King's guards was despatched to Madame de Chevreuse with an order +commanding her to retire to Angouleme, and the officer was even charged +to convey her thither. At Angouleme was that strong fortress used as a +state prison, in which her friend Chateauneuf had been confined on her +account for ten long years. This reminiscence, ever present to the +Duchess's imagination, terrified her sorely. She dreaded lest it should +be the same sort of _retreat_ which they now intended for her; and the +active-minded woman, preferring every kind of extremity to being +imprisoned, decided upon renewing the career of a wanderer and an +adventurer, as in 1637, and to tread for the third time the wearisome +paths of exile. + +But how greatly were circumstances then changed around her, and how +changed was she also herself! Her first exile from France in 1626, had +proved one continuous triumph. Young, lovely, and adored by every one, +she had quitted Nancy, leaving the Duke de Lorraine a slave +henceforward to the sway of her charms, only to return to Paris and +trouble the mind of the stony, impassive Richelieu. In 1637 her flight +into Spain had, on the contrary, proved a most severe trial to her. She +had been forced to traverse the whole of France disguised in male +attire, brave more than one danger, endure much suffering and privation, +only to struggle in the sequel with five consecutive years of fruitless +agitation. But, at any rate, she then had youth to back her, and the +consciousness of the power of that irresistible fascination which +procured her adorers and suitors wherever she wandered, even among the +occupants of thrones. She had faith likewise in the Queen's friendship, +and a firm reliance that the time would come when that friendship would +repay her for all her devotedness. But now age she felt was creeping +upon her; her beauty, verging towards its decline, promised her +henceforward conquests only few and far between. She perceived that in +losing her power over Anne of Austria's heart, she had lost the greater +portion of her prestige both in France and Europe. The flight of the +Duke de Vendome, shortly about to be followed by that of the Duke de +Bouillon, left the _Importants_ without any chief of note. The Duchess +had found Mazarin to be quite as skilful and formidable an enemy as +Richelieu. Victory seemed to have entered into a compact with him. De +Bouillon's own brother, Turenne, solicited the honour of serving him, +and the young Duke d'Enghien won battle after battle for him. She knew +also that the Cardinal had that in his hands wherewith he could condemn +and sentence her to incarceration for the rest of her days. When, +however, almost every one forsook her, this extraordinary woman did not +give way to self-abandonment. As soon as the exempt Riquetti had +signified to her the order of which he was the bearer, she adopted +measures with her accustomed promptitude, and, accompanied by her +daughter Charlotte, who had hastened to her mother and refused to quit +her, she succeeded in reaching by cross-roads the thickets of La Vendee +and the solitudes of Brittany; until, approaching within a few leagues +of St.-Malo, she solicited an asylum at the hands of the Marquis de +Coetquen. That noble and generous Breton gave her the hospitality which +was due to such a woman struggling against such adversity. Marie de +Rohan did not abuse it; and after placing her jewels in his hands for +safety, as she had formerly done in those of La Rochefoucauld,[1] she +embarked with her daughter in the depth of winter at St.-Malo, on board +a small vessel bound for Dartmouth, whence she purposed crossing over to +Dunkirk and entering Flanders. But the English parliamentarian +men-of-war were cruising in the Channel. They fell in with and captured +the wretched little bark, and carried her into the Isle of Wight. There +Madame de Chevreuse was recognised; and as she was known to be a friend +of the Queen of England, the Roundheads were not loth to subject her to +sufficiently rough treatment; and afterwards hand her over to Mazarin. +Fortunately, in the Governor of the Isle of Wight, she met with the +Earl of Pembroke, whom she had formerly known. The Duchess appealed to +his courtesy,[2] and thanks to his good offices, she obtained--but with +no little difficulty--passports which permitted her to gain Dunkirk, and +thence the Spanish Low Countries. + + [1] Subsequently, she requested the Marquis de Coetquen to hand over + her jewels to Montresor, who transferred them to a messenger of the + Duchess. But Mazarin was informed of everything from first to last. + He was aware of every tittle of the Duchess's correspondence, and + tried to seize with the strong hand the famous gems which had + formerly belonged to Marie de' Medicis' favourite foster-sister, + Leonora Galligai, created Marchioness d'Ancre. On the murder of the + Marshal d'Ancre, these diamonds and _parures_, valued at two hundred + thousand crowns, with a vast amount of other property confiscated by + an edict of Louis XIII., were bestowed by the king on his lucky + favourite, De Luynes, the first husband of Marie de Rohan. Failing + in his attempt to possess himself of these costly gems, Mazarin + arrested Montresor, and kept him upwards of a year in prison. See + "Memoirs of Montresor." + + [2] See her letter to the Earl of Pembroke, dated Isle of Wight, + 29th April, 1645, in "Archives des Affaires Etrangeres, France," t. + cvi. p. 162. + +The adventurous exile took up her abode for a short time at Liege, and +applied herself to maintain and consolidate to the utmost degree +possible between Spain, Austria, and the Duke de Lorraine, an alliance, +which was the final resource of the _Importants_, and the last basis of +her own political reputation and high standing. Mazarin, however, having +got the upper hand, resumed all Richelieu's designs, and, like him, made +strenuous efforts to detach Lorraine from his two allies. The gay Duke +was then madly enamoured of the fair Beatrice de Cusance, Princess of +Cantecroix. Mazarin laboured to gain over the lady, and he proposed to +the ambitious and enterprising Charles IV. to break with Spain and march +into Franche-Comte with the aid of France, promising to leave him in +possession of all he might conquer. The Cardinal succeeded in winning +over to his interest Duke Charles's own sister (the former mistress of +Puylaurens), the Princess de Phalzbourg, then greatly fallen from her +former "high estate," and who gave him secret and faithful account of +all that passed in her brother's immediate circle. Mazarin required of +her especially to keep him apprised of Madame de Chevreuse's slightest +movement. He knew that she was in correspondence with the Duke de +Bouillon, that she disposed of the Imperial general Piccolomini by means +of her friend Madame de' Strozzi, and even that she had preserved +intact her sway over the Duke de Lorraine, in spite of the charms of the +fair Beatrice. By the help of the Princess de Phalzbourg he watched +every step, and disputed with her, foot to foot, possession of the +fickle Charles IV., sometimes the victor, but very often the vanquished +in this mysterious struggle. + +The advantage remained with Madame de Chevreuse. Her ascendancy over +Charles IV.--the offspring of love, surviving that passion, but more +potent than all the later loves of that inconstant Prince--retained him +in alliance with Spain, and frustrated Mazarin's projects. By degrees +she became once more the soul of every intrigue planned against the +French Government. She did not always attack it from without, but +fostered internal difficulties, which, like the heads of the hydra, were +unceasingly springing forth. Surrounded by a knot of ardent and +obstinate emigrants, among others by the Count de Saint-Ybar, one of the +most resolute men of the party, she kept up the spirits of the remnant +of the _Importants_ left in France, and everywhere added fuel to the +fire of sedition. Actuated by strong passion, yet mistress of herself, +she preserved a calm brow amidst the wrack of the tempest, at the same +time that she displayed an indefatigable activity in surprising the +enemy on his weak side. Making use alike of the Catholic and the +Protestant party, at times she meditated a revolt in Languedoc, or a +descent upon Brittany; at others, on the slightest symptom of discontent +betrayed by some person of importance, she laboured to drive out +Mazarin. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + FATAL INFLUENCE OF MADAME DE LONGUEVILLE'S PASSION FOR LA + ROCHEFOUCAULD.--THE FRONDE. + + +WE do not propose to enter into the labyrinth of intrigues which +preceded the outbreak of the Fronde, but confine ourselves to an +endeavour to trace the motives which led Madame de Longueville to throw +herself into the centre of the malcontents and to figure as the chief +heroine in the varied scenes of that tragi-comedy of civil war. + +The first Fronde was formed out of the _debris_ of the _Importants_. It +was composed of all the malcontents who made common cause with those +members of the parliament who were irritated by the frequent bursal +edicts, notably that which, in 1648, created twelve new appointments of +_maitres de requetes_. + +And now what gave birth to the Fronde, or what sustained it? What roused +up the old party of the _Importants_, stifled for some years, it would +seem, under the laurels of Rocroy? What separated the princes of the +blood from the Crown? What turned against the throne that illustrious +house of Conde, which, until then, had been its sword and shield? There +were doubtless many general causes for all this; but it is impossible +for us to conceal one--private, it is true, but which exercised a +powerful and deplorable influence--the unexpected love of Madame de +Longueville for one of the chiefs of the _Importants_, who had become +one of the chiefs of the Fronde. Yes--sad to say--it was Madame de +Longueville, who, joining the party of the malcontents, attracted +thereto, at first, a part of her family, then her entire family, and +thus precipitated it from the pinnacle of honour and glory to which so +many services had elevated it. + +Scarcely had the treaty of Muenster suspended the scourge of foreign war +for France, than internal dissensions began to trouble the realm. The +hatred which the Parliament bore to Mazarin, through his repression of +its functions, primarily gave birth to civil war. The Duchess de +Longueville became in the faction of the Fronde what the Duchess de +Montpensier had been in that of the League. The former, however, did not +at first attach so great an importance to the cause she espoused. +Characteristically careless, she was by nature little inclined to +agitation and intrigue. We have already shown that before her _liaison_ +with La Rochefoucauld, Madame de Longueville had been a stranger to +politics. Occupied solely with innocent gallantry and the homage of the +most refined society of the day, she allowed herself in all else to be +led by her father and her elder brother. But no sooner was La +Rochefoucauld master of her heart, than she gave herself wholly up to +him, and became a mere instrument in his hands. Having been by him +inspired with ambition, she made it a point of honour, and doubtless a +secret happiness, to share his destiny. + +It seems not improbable that the Duchess might have caught a liking for +politics and negotiation during the conference of Munster. Certain it is +that once plunged into the eddying tide of the Fronde, she loftily +announced the project of remedying the general disorder of affairs. But +she especially desired to employ therein the means which confer +celebrity, and it is difficult to deny that ambition, although without +determinate aim, and the desire of establishing a high opinion of her +intellect, may have had some share in the reasons which induced her to +embrace the party opposed to Mazarin. With herself she drew her husband +into it, as well as the Prince de Conti, her younger brother. As for the +elder, the victorious Conde, he at first declared for the King and the +Queen-Regent, which greatly incensed his sister against him, and caused +her to enter into close compact, amongst others, with the Coadjutor, +afterwards Cardinal de Retz--that mischievous man who figured so +conspicuously as the evil genius of the Fronde. + +The Gondis, who were the chief advisers of the St. Bartholomew, owed to +that terrible exploit the result of being very nearly the hereditary +possessors of the Archbishopric of Paris. But this last Gondi--John +Francis Paul--owed something more: to be at the same time governor of +Paris, and to unite both powers. With such purpose, he artfully worked +upon the city through the curates who, distributing bread, soup, and +every other kind of alms, carried along with them the famished masses. +This young ecclesiastic of the de Retz family had risen into great +favour with the serious and religious sections of the Parisian +community. He was nephew of the Archbishop of Paris, and was himself +Archbishop of Corinth; but as his flock in that metropolitan city were +schismatic (except those who had turned Turks), he had leisure to assist +his uncle in his high office, and was appointed his Coadjutor and +successor. He preached at all the churches, held visitations at the +convents, catechised the young, and consulted with the senior clergy on +the management of the diocese. When he rode through the streets he was +saluted with cheers and blessings, and the orators of the Fronde held +him up as the pattern of all the Christian virtues. At night he put off +his episcopal robes, disguised himself as a trooper or tradesman, and +attended the meetings of the discontented. In a short time he had +distributed seven or eight thousand pounds in stirring up the passions +of the people, and was daily in expectation of being summoned by his +patroness the Queen to exert his influence in quelling them. The +populace, with an Archbishop-governor of Paris at their head, imagined +that they were going to rule there as in the time of the League. This +made them both blind and deaf to the morals and manners of the little +prelate. A braggart, a duellist, and more than a gallant--though having +swarthy, ugly features, turned-up nose, and short, bandy legs--yet his +expressive eyes carried off every fault, sparkling as they were with +intelligence, audacity, and libertinage. Few withstood this subtle +knave, for he was wont to waive all ceremonial and spare everybody +prefatory speeches. The ladies of gallantry--especially those whose +lover he was--were his most indefatigable political agents. The Queen, +at length, suspecting that the worthy Archbishop was not quite the +simple and self-denying individual he appeared, had him watched and +followed. Whilst he flattered himself with the anticipation that his +assistance would be solicited at the Palais Royal, the Queen was making +a jest of him, and Mazarin determined to strike the blow. + +On the 27th of August, 1648, a vast assemblage crowded the spacious +precincts of Notre Dame, to celebrate a _Te Deum_ for the great victory +of Lens, of which the youthful Conde had just sent home the news. When +the multitude were dispersing, a dash was made upon two or three of the +obnoxious councillors who had inflamed the discussions of the +Fronde--for that civil war was fairly on foot ere Anne of Austria and +Mazarin knew of its existence. Two of the intended prisoners escaped, +but a surly, burly demagogue, named Broussel, was tracked to his house +in the mechanics' quarter of Paris, and arrested by an armed force. +Thereupon the populace rose and armed against the Court. They made an +extraordinary stand in the streets, having raised _twelve hundred_ +barricades in the course of twelve hours. They had no further need of De +Retz. It was, however, one of his mistresses, the sister of a president +and wife of a city captain, who having in her house the drum belonging +to the citizen guard of that quarter, gave the first impulse by causing +it to be beaten. The train was thus fired and the flame of civil war +kindled. This was called the _Day of the Barricades_. + +Thus, the royal power which, as wielded by Richelieu, had come to +be considered as absolute, was attacked by three parties +simultaneously--the great nobles, the parliamentarians, and the +_bourgeoisie_; but, notwithstanding the dread of the common enemy, which +united them, those parties were of different origin and conditions of +existence, and consequently had different interests also. The great +nobles wished to exercise power by placing themselves above the law; the +parliament to increase its own through the law; the citizens to +establish theirs at the expense of the law: for in their eyes the law +was full of abuses and the royal power cruelly oppressive. All three +parties, in order to arrive at their several ends, had, therefore, +recourse to violence, or derived aid from it. + +On the return of Madame de Longueville from Muenster, there was already a +ferment in the minds of the Parisians, of which the Regent took little +heed. The Fronde cabal was then brooding in the dark. When the +rebellion, formed by Gondi, broke out at last under the circumstances +just narrated, Madame de Longueville, alone of all the princesses of the +blood, did not accompany Anne of Austria in her flight to Rueil. The +Duchess strove her utmost to strengthen, by the concurrence of her +entire family, the faction whose fortunes she had embraced through +devotion to Marsillac. She did not, however, then succeed in detaching +Conde from the Regent's party. The battle of the barricades followed +close upon that of Lens, Conde's last victory. On his return, that +victorious young soldier found royalty humiliated, the Parliament +triumphing and dictating laws to the Crown; the Duke de Beaufort, with +whom he once thought of measuring swords in defence of the honour of his +sister, freed from his prison in Vincennes, and master of Paris by aid +of the populace who idolized him; the vain and fickle Abbe de Retz +transformed into a tribune of the people; the Prince de Conti into a +generalissimo; M. de Longueville under the guidance of his wife and La +Rochefoucauld; and the feeble Duke d'Orleans fancying himself almost a +King, because he saw the Queen humiliated, and because the Frondeurs, +cunningly flattering his self-love, were treating him like a sovereign. +Conde, at a glance, saw the situation of affairs and his duty also; and +without any hesitation he offered his sword to the Queen. + +Brother and sister were, therefore, about to be arrayed against each +other in the strife of civil war, and a stormy explanation took place +between them. It is asserted that for some time back their reciprocal +tenderness had suffered more than one interruption; that, in 1645, +Madame de Longueville had crossed the loves of her brother and +Mademoiselle du Vigean; that, in 1646, Conde, seeing her too intimate +with La Rochefoucauld, had caused her to be summoned to Muenster by her +husband. But for this we have only the authority of the Duchess de +Nemours, her step-daughter and unsparing censor, and nothing is less +probable. The passion of Conde for Mademoiselle de Vigean extinguished +itself, as all contemporaries affirm. The attentions of La Rochefoucauld +to Madame de Longueville may have preceded the embassy of Muenster, but +they were not observed until 1647, and it is at the close of this year +that Madame de Motteville places them, while attributing them especially +to the desire of La Rochefoucauld to share the confidence of the sister +with the brother. But it is very certain that as soon as the latter +remarked this connection, he disapproved of it entirely; and not +succeeding in his effort to rouse his sister from the intoxication of a +first passion, he passed from the most ardent affection to a bitter +discontent. In the autumn of 1648, on his return from Lens, this +connection had acquired its greatest strength, and become almost +notorious. Madame de Longueville, directed by La Rochefoucauld, did then +everything possible to gain over her brother. She brought all her +allurements to bear upon him, all her fondlings. She put into play +everything which she thought might influence his fickle and passionate +disposition--but failed. Neither did he succeed in gaining over her his +accustomed ascendency. They quarrelled and separated openly. Madame de +Longueville plunged more deeply into the Fronde, and Conde applied +himself to giving the new _Importants_ a harsh lesson. + +The Queen had retired to Saint-Germain with the young King and all the +government. Paris was under the absolute control of the Fronde. It +stirred up the Parliament by the aid of a few ambitious councillors and +by seditious and mischievous inquests. It disposed of a great part of +the Parisian clergy through the Coadjutor of the Archbishop De Retz, who +possessed and exercised all the authority of his uncle. It had +continually at its head the two great houses of Vendome and Lorraine, +with two princes of the blood, the Prince de Conti and the Duke de +Longueville, followed by a very great number of illustrious families, +including the Dukes d'Elbeuf, de Bouillon, and de Beaufort, and other +powerful nobles. It gave law in the _salons_, thanks to a brilliant bevy +of pretty women, who drew after them the flower of the young nobility. +In short, the army itself was divided. Turenne, with his troops, who +were stationed near the Rhine until the perfect conclusion of the treaty +of Westphalia, obedient to the suggestions of his elder brother, the +Duke de Bouillon, who wished to recover his principality of Sedan, had +just raised the standard of revolt, and was threatening to place the +Court between his own army and that of Paris. The parliament of the +capital had sent deputies to all the parliaments of the kingdom, and was +thus forming a sort of formidable parliamentary league in the face of +monarchy. Conde took command of all the troops that remained faithful, +and everywhere opposed the insurrection. He wrote himself to the army of +the Rhine, which well knew him, and which after the rout sustained by +Turenne at Mariendal, had been led back by him to victory: these +letters, supported by the proceedings of the government, succeeded in +arresting the revolt; and Turenne, abandoned by his own soldiers, was +obliged to fly to Holland.[1] At ease on this head, Conde marched upon +Paris, and placed it under siege. Instead of disputing the ground, as +he might have done, foot by foot, with the sedition, he allowed it the +freest course, in the certainty that the spectacle of licentiousness +which could not fail to appear would, little by little, restore to +royalty those who had for a moment gone astray. He began by summoning, +in the Queen's name and through his mother, all his family to +Saint-Germain. The Prince de Conti and M. de Longueville did not dare +disobey; but La Rochefoucauld, seeing that the Fronde was in the +greatest peril, hastened after these two princes. Having brought them +back to Paris, he made the Prince de Conti generalissimo--placing under +him the Dukes d'Elbeuf and de Bouillon--and who shared authority with +the Marshal de la Mothe Houdancourt, governor of Paris. Madame de +Longueville excused herself to the Queen and to her mother on the +grounds of her delicate condition, which would not permit her to +undertake the least fatigue. In fact, Madame de Longueville, it may be +noted, was _enceinte_ for the last time in 1648, when, it must be +confessed, her connection with La Rochefoucauld was well known. It was +in this condition that, willing to share the perils of her friends, +proud also of playing a part and of filling all the trumpets of fame, +she enacted Pallas as well as she was able. It is at least certain that +she shared all the fatigues of the siege, that she was present at the +reviews of the troops, at the parades of the citizen soldiery, and that +all the civil and military plans were discussed before her. In this +disorder and confusion, amidst the tumult of arms and vociferations of +the insurrection, she appeared as if in her natural element. She +encouraged, counselled, acted, and the most energetic resolutions +emanated from her. The memoirs of the times are full, in regard to this, +of the most curious details. The Hotel de Longueville was continually +filled with officers and generals; nothing was seen there but plumes, +helmets, and swords. + + [1] "History of Turenne," by Ramsay, vol. ii. + +Notwithstanding all this, the democratic spirit which had originated the +Fronde was not satisfied. It beheld with displeasure all the forces of +Paris in the hands of the brother, of the brother-in-law, and of the +sister of him who commanded the siege. Believing very little, and with +reason, in the patriotism of the princes, the citizens demanded some +sureties from the chiefs who might at any time betray them, and make +peace, at their expense, with Saint-Germain. No one seemed to know how +to appease this clamorous multitude, without which nothing further could +be done. It was then that Madame de Longueville showed that, if she had +forgotten her true duties, she had retained the energy of her race and +the intrepidity of the Condes. Under the advice of De Retz, she induced +her husband to present himself to the Parliament and inform them that he +had come to offer his services, as well as the towns of Rouen, Caen, +Dieppe, and the whole of Normandy, of which he was governor; and he +begged the Parliament to consent that his wife and two children should +be lodged at the Hotel de Ville as a guarantee for the execution of his +word. His speech was received with acclamations; and while the +deliberations were still going on, De Retz proceeded to seek the Duchess +de Longueville and the Duchess de Bouillon, both prepared to act a part +in the scene he proposed to display. He had already caused the proposal +of the Duke de Longueville to be spread amongst the populace; and +hurrying the two princesses into a carriage, dressed with studied and +artful negligence, but surrounded by a splendid suite, and followed by +an immense crowd to the principal quarter of the insurrection--the Hotel +de Ville--those lovely and interesting women were placed in the hands +of the people as hostages with all that was most dear to them. +"Imagine," says De Retz, "these two beautiful persons upon the balcony +of the Hotel de Ville; more beautiful because they appeared neglected, +although they were not. Each held in her arms one of her children, who +were as beautiful as their mothers." La Greve was full of people, even +to the house tops; the men all raised cries of joy, and the women wept +with emotion. De Retz, meanwhile, threw handfuls of money from the +windows of the Hotel de Ville amongst the populace, and then, leaving +the princesses under the protection of the city, he returned to the +Palais de Justice, followed by an immense multitude, whose acclamations +rent the skies. + +On the night of the 28th of January, 1649, Madame de Longueville gave +birth to her last child, a son, who was baptized by De Retz, having for +its godfather the Provost, for its godmother the Duchess de Bouillon, +and who received the name of Charles de Paris; the child of the Fronde, +handsome, talented, and brave; who during his life was the troublesome +hope, the melancholy joy of his mother, and the cause of her greatest +grief in 1672, when he perished, at the passage of the Rhine, by the +side of his uncle, Conde. + +The Prince de Conti being declared _generalissimo of the army of the +King, under the parliament_, and the Dukes de Bouillon and Elbeuf, with +the Marshal de la Mothe, generals under him, De Retz saw the full +fruition of his intrigues. A civil war was now inevitable. The great and +the little, the wise and the foolish, the rash and the prudent, the +cowardly and the brave, were all engaged and jumbled up pell-mell on +both sides; and the mixture was so strange, so heterogeneous, and so +incomprehensible, that a sentiment of the ridiculous was irresistibly +paramount, and the war began amongst fits of laughter on all sides. That +same day Conde's cavaliers came galloping into the faubourgs to fire +their pistols at the Parisians, whilst the Marquis de Noirmoutier went +forth with the cavalry of the Fronde to skirmish with them, and +returning to the Hotel de Ville, entered the circle of the Duchess de +Longueville, followed by his officers, each wearing his cuirass, as he +came from the field. The hall was filled with ladies preparing to dance, +the troops were drawn up in the square, and this mixture of blue scarves +and ladies, cuirasses and violins and trumpets, formed, says De Retz, a +spectacle much more common in romances than anywhere else. + +The serio-grotesque drama of the Fronde was thus initiated. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + MADAME DE LONGUEVILLE WINS HER BROTHER CONDE OVER TO THE FRONDE. + + +THIS first raising of bucklers by the Frondeurs was not of long +duration. At the conclusion of a peace between Mazarin and the +Parliament, a perfect understanding prevailed amongst all the members of +the Conde family. The civil dissensions, however, were sufficiently +prolonged to exhibit the errors of all parties--even those who had +entered therein with virtuous inclinations and intentions, ashamed of +the stains which had tarnished them in the struggle, almost invariably +ended by confining themselves to the narrow circle of individual +interests, and completed their degradation by no longer recognizing any +other motive for their conduct than that of sordid selfishness. All care +for the public weal became extinct; men's hearts were insensible to all +generous sympathy; their minds dead to every elevating impulse--like to +those aromatics which, after diffusing both glow and perfume from their +ardent brazier, lose by combustion all power of further rekindling, and +present nothing else than vile ashes, without heat, light, or odour. + +The peace concluded between the Minister and the Fronde was destined to +be of short duration. It was, properly speaking, nothing but a +suspension of arms, and in no degree a suspension of intrigues and +cabals. That suspension of arms, however, had been accompanied by an +amnesty, including all persons except the Coadjutor. The other chief +personages who had played a part in the insurrection of Paris, and who +now proceeded to visit the Court, were by no means warmly received by +the Queen, though Mazarin himself displayed nothing but mildness and +humility. The Duke d'Orleans and the Prince de Conde visited the city; +and the first was received with much enthusiasm by the populace, who +attributed to his counsels the truce of which all parties had stood so +much in need. The Prince de Conde, whose warlike spirit had not only +aided in stirring up the strife at first, but would have protracted it +still further had his advice been listened to, was not looked upon with +the same favour by the Parisians; but the Parliament sent deputations to +them both on their arrival in the city, to compliment them on their +efforts for the restoration of peace. + +During Conde's visit to Paris, a reconciliation took place between him +and his fair sister, the Duchess de Longueville. The violent language he +had used to her on various occasions, the imputations he had cast upon +her character, and the harsh nature of the advice which he had given to +her husband concerning her, were all forgotten, and she resumed her +ascendancy over his mind so completely as in a very short time to detach +him entirely from the side of Mazarin, and to lead him, before he +quitted Paris, to speak publicly of the Minister in the scornful and +contemptuous manner in which he was usually treated by the leaders of +the Fronde. + +The Duchess de Longueville herself remained as strongly opposed to the +Cardinal as ever. But though she still retained towards Anne of Austria +that dislike which she had always felt, and which the sense of an +inferiority of station greatly augmented in a woman of a haughty and +ambitious character, she found herself obliged, in common propriety, to +appear at Court on the conclusion of the Siege of Paris. The first +visits of her husband and herself, after the insurrection, were rendered +remarkable by the extraordinary degree of embarrassment and timidity +shown by two such bold and fearless persons. The Duke de Longueville +arrived first, coming from Normandy; and was followed by a very numerous +and splendid train, as though he rested for mental support upon the +number of his retainers. The Queen received him in the midst of her +Court, with Mazarin standing beside her; and every one crowded round to +hear what excuses the Duke would offer for abandoning the royal family +at the moment of their greatest need. Longueville, however, approached +the Regent with a troubled and embarrassed air, attempted to speak, +became first deadly pale, and then as red as fire, but could not utter a +word. He then turned and bowed to Mazarin, who came forward, spoke to +him, and led him to a window, where they conversed for some time +together in private; after which they visited each other frequently, and +became apparent friends. + +The reception of the proud and beautiful Duchess at St. Germain, though +not so public, was not less embarrassing. The Queen had lain down on her +bed when the Duchess was announced, and, as was customary in those days, +received her in that situation. Madame de Longueville was naturally very +apt to blush, and the frequent variation of her complexion added +greatly, we are told, to the dazzling character of her beauty. Her +blushes, however, on approaching the Queen, became painful; all that she +could utter was a few confused sentences, of which the Queen could not +understand a word, and those were pronounced in so low a tone that +Madame de Motteville, who listened attentively, could distinguish +nothing but the word _Madame_. + +As there was no sincerity in these reconciliations, it is not surprising +to find that ere long the conduct of the Prince de Conde gave no slight +uneasiness to Mazarin. The Prince had, however, brought back the Court +to Paris; but from that very day he had shown a great change in his +attitude, and it is to the influence of La Rochefoucauld that such +change must be attributed. At that moment, in fact, the Sieur Conde had +become reconciled with every member of his family, and even with his +sister's lover. He drew closer also the links between himself and the +Duke d'Orleans, for whom he shewed great deference, say his +contemporaries, and he began to treat Mazarin with much indifference, +rallying him publicly, and declaring aloud that he regretted to have +maintained him in a post of which he was so little worthy. Enjoying a +great military reputation, feared and esteemed by the bulk of his +countrymen, he chafed at seeing himself compromised by the unpopularity +of the Cardinal. He thought that by drawing closer to the _Frondeurs_, +he should rid himself of the feeling that oppressed him. In the outset, +he had no idea of actively joining that faction, but his sister did the +rest, and hurried him on to become the enemy of that party of which he +had just been the saviour. + +It is true that, for the memorable service which he had recently +rendered, Conde reaped scarcely any benefit; but his noble conduct +increased the splendour of his last campaign of 1648. It added to his +military titles those of defender and saviour of the throne, of +pacificator of the realm, of arbiter and enlightened conciliator of +parties. It gave the climax to his credit and to his glory. +Nevertheless, he did not lose sight of the jealous feeling to which +such claims gave birth, whether on the part of the Duke d'Orleans or the +Prime Minister; and he well knew that he was exposed to one of those +_coups d'etat_, the necessity of which the Chancellor as well as himself +had urged at Rueil. He considered himself as the head of the nobility, +and that important body seemed to constitute all the military power of +the State. But the French nobility was just beginning to lose its former +independence of character in becoming more courtierlike. Instead of +deriving from its strongholds and vassals the feeling of its strength +and equality, it showed itself ambitious of such distinctions as the +monarch could confer. In the indulgence of its vanity it lost sight of +its proper pride; and if that new emulation which the Bourbons had +excited was more easy for the sovereign to satisfy, it was more +difficult for the chief of a party to direct. Moreover, Conde, as the +Duchess de Nemours remarks, knew better how to win battles than +hearts.[1] He found a dangerous pleasure, as did his sister the Duchess +de Longueville, in braving malevolence. "In matters of consequence, they +delighted to thwart people, and in ordinary life they were so +impracticable that there was no getting on with them. They had such a +habit of ridiculing one, and of saying offensive things, that nobody +could put up with them. When visits were paid to them, they allowed such +a scornful ennui to be visible, and showed so openly that their visitors +bored them, that it was not difficult to understand that they did +everything in their power to get rid of their company. Whatsoever might +be the rank or quality of the visitors, people were made to wait any +length of time in the Prince's antechamber; and very often, after having +long waited, everybody was sent away without getting an interview, +however short. When they were displeased they pushed people to the +utmost extremity, and they were incapable of showing any gratitude for +services done them. Thus they were alike hated by the Court, by the +Fronde, and by the populace, and nobody could live with them long. All +France impatiently suffered their irritating conduct, and especially +their pride, which was excessive."[2] + + [1] Duchesse de Nemours, tom., xxxiv. p. 437. + + [2] The Duchess de Nemours was a daughter of the Duke de + Longueville, by his first wife, and as she lived with her + step-mother, the Duchess de Longueville, on very indifferent terms, + her unsparing censure must by no means be implicitly received. + +In looking at the faulty side of Conde's character, we must not forget +to observe the disinterested firmness with which, without considering +either his family or his friends, he had hitherto acted in the interests +of the King. Happy would it have been, if, after having thus terminated +this sad civil war, he had quitted the Court and its intrigues to seek +other battlefields, and to finish another war somewhat more useful and +glorious to France--that which still remained with Spain! Happy, also +for Madame de Longueville, if, taught by her own conscience, in her last +interview with the Queen, and by the shameful _denouement_ of the +miserable intrigues of which she had the secret, instead of still +serving as their instrument, she had shown her courage in resisting +them. Happy too, if, after all the proofs of devotion which she had just +given to La Rochefoucauld, she had firmly represented to him that, even +for his own interest, a different course was necessary; that it would be +better to look for fortune and honours by rendering himself esteemed +than by trying to make himself feared; that ambition as well as duty +showed his place to be by the side of Conde, in the service of the +State and of the King; that it was easy for him to obtain in the army +some post where he would simply have to march forward and do his duty, +trusting to his courage and his other merits! + +But even if Anne de Bourbon had been wise enough to speak thus to La +Rochefoucauld, she would not have succeeded in gaining his ear. His +restless spirit, his ever-discontented vanity, pursuing by turns the +most dissimilar objects, because it selected none within its reach--that +_undefinable something_ which, as De Retz says, was in La Rochefoucauld, +made him abandon the high and direct roads, and led him into by-paths +full of pitfalls and precipices. Through such perilous ways we shall see +the infatuated woman following and aiding him in his extravagant and +guilty designs. Receiving the law instead of giving it, she strives to +promote the passion of another by devoting to his service all her +coquetry as well as greatness of soul, her penetration and intrepidity, +her attractive sweetness and indomitable energy. She undertakes to +mislead Conde, to rob France of the conqueror of Rocroy and of Lens, and +to give him to Spain. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + THE CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE _COUP D'ETAT_--THE ARREST OF THE PRINCES. + + +IN the first scenes of the shifting drama, the Court had supported Conde +in compassing the destruction of the Frondeurs; and Mazarin, with keen +policy, instigated the Prince to every act that could widen the breach +between him and the faction. Whichever succeeded, the party that +succumbed would be inimical to the Minister; and in their divisions was +his strength. But the pride and impetuosity of Conde were about this +time excited to such a degree by opposition and irritation, that it +approached to frenzy, and, unable to overpower at once the leaders of +the Fronde, the vehemence of his nature spent itself upon those who were +in reality supporting him. He still scoffed at, and openly insulted, +Mazarin; he accused the Government of not giving him sincere assistance +against the Fronde. He every day made enemies amongst the nobility by +his overbearing conduct and his rash, and often illegal, acts; and at +length the disgust and indignation of the whole Court was roused to put +a stop to a tyranny which could no longer be borne. + +Anne of Austria long hesitated as to what she should do to deliver +herself from the domination of a man whom she feared without loving: but +at length an aggravated insult to herself, and the counsels of a woman +of a bold and daring character, removed her irresolution. The Duchess +de Chevreuse had been exiled from France, as we have seen, during the +greater part of that period in which Conde had principally distinguished +himself, and she did not share in the awe in which the Parisians held +him. She still kept up what De Retz calls an incomprehensible union with +the Queen, notwithstanding all her intrigues; nor did she scruple to +hold out to Anne of Austria a direct prospect of gaining the support of +the Fronde itself in favour of her Government, if that Government would +aid in avenging the Fronde upon the Prince de Conde. + +Anne of Austria was unwilling to take a step which appeared to border +upon ingratitude, although the late conduct of the Prince might well be +supposed to cancel the obligation of his former services. It seems here +necessary to say a few words upon the connection of a series of sudden +political changes, in order that the reader may understand how such +startling results as those we are about to narrate were brought about. + +The hollow treaty of peace of the 11th March, 1649, had scarcely been +signed ere the Prince de Conde showed himself day by day more strongly +attached to the faction which opposed the Court. Feeling his own +importance, determined to rule; quick, harsh, and impetuous in his +manners, he took a pleasure in insulting the Minister and embarrassing +the Queen. There were some personal grounds for this in the strong +dislike manifested towards his sister by Anne of Austria. That feeling +was signally shown on the occasion of Louis XIV. completing his eleventh +year; when a grand ball was given at the Hotel de Ville, at which the +young King, with all the principal members of the royal family and the +Court, were present. The Queen's orders were received with regard to all +the arrangements, every person of distinction being invited by her +command, except the Duchess de Longueville. That princess, influenced by +discontent, it is supposed, at the reception of the royal family in +Paris, had remained at Chantilly, on the pretence of drinking some +mineral waters in the neighbourhood. The Queen seized the same pretext +not to invite her, replying to those who pressed her to do so, that she +would not withdraw her from the pursuit of health; but at length the +Prince de Conde himself, demanded that she should receive a summons; and +his support was of too much consequence, and the bonds which attached +him to the Court too slight, for the Queen to trifle with his request. + +To the surprise and dissatisfaction of most persons, however, Anne of +Austria commanded that the ball should take place in daylight; +acknowledging, in her own immediate circle, that it was in order to +mortify the ladies attached to the Fronde, the principal part of whom +employed methods of enhancing their beauty and heightening their +complexion to which the searching eye of day was very inimical. Human +malice, of course, took care that the Queen's motive should be +communicated to all the higher circles of Paris; and as vanity is not +only a more pugnacious passion, but a much more pertinacious adversary +than any other, the words of Anne of Austria rendered many opponents +irreconcilable, who might otherwise have been gained to her cause: the +family of the Prince de Conde naturally being among the number. + +France was then able to count the cost of having created a +hero--_expendere Hannibalem_--a prince _a la Corneille_, who carried his +gaze to the stars, and only spoke to mortals from the summit of his +trophies. His sister, Madame de Longueville, had also in the same +fashion soared into the sphere of a goddess. The one and the other, in +the empyrean, no longer distinguished their fellow mortals from such a +height save with a smile of disdain. Great folks, as a contemporary +tells us, kicked their heels in their antechambers for hours, and, when +granted an audience, were received with yawning and gaping. + +The reconciliation effected during the preceding year was rather, as has +been said, a truce between the parties than a solid peace. The +Parliament had retained the right of assembling and deliberating upon +affairs of state, which the Court had sought to prevent: and Mazarin +remained Minister, although the Parliament, the people, and even the +princes, had desired that he should cease to hold that office. It rarely +happens to states in like unfortunate emergencies that among the men who +show themselves most active and skilful in overthrowing a government +there are found those capable of conducting one; and when such do +appear, the chances almost always are that circumstances hinder them +from placing themselves in the front rank. It was to Gaston, the King's +uncle, Lieutenant-General of the kingdom, that belonged, in concert with +the Regent, the chief direction of affairs; but Gaston felt himself too +weak and too incapable to pretend to charge himself with such a burden. +He could never arrive at any decision, and took offence when any matter +was decided without him. Jealous of Mazarin's influence, more jealous +still of that of Conde, neither of the two could attempt to govern along +with him; and nevertheless Gaston was powerful enough to command a +party, and to hinder any one from governing without him: ready to offer +opposition to everything, but impotent to carry anything into execution. +If Anne of Austria had even consented to dismiss her favourite +Minister, and overcome her repugnance to the Fronde and the Frondeurs, +she could not have formed a government with the chiefs of that party. +The Duke de Beaufort, its nominal head, lacked both instruction and +intelligence. De Retz, its veritable chief--an eloquent, witty, and bold +man, skilful in the conduct of business, in the art of making partisans; +brave, generous, even loyal when he followed the impulses of his own +mind and natural inclination--was without faith, scruple, reticence, or +foresight when he abandoned himself to his passions, which urged him +unceasingly to the indulgence of an excessive and irrational +libertinage. Such a man could not have replaced him who for so long a +period had informed himself of the affairs of France under a master such +as Richelieu; who, deeply versed in dissimulation, was inaccessible to +any sentiment that might possibly derange the calculations of his +ambition. Besides, he, as well as Mazarin, would have had the Princes +against him, and could not have resisted successfully their numerous +partisans. De Retz had, through the ascendancy of his talents, great +influence with the Parisian Parliament, but it mistrusted him; and that +body, in its heterogeneous composition, offered rather the means for an +opposition than strength to the Government. Conde, to whom the state +owed its glory, and the Sovereign his safety, was therefore the sole +prop upon which Anne of Austria might have rested; but that young hero +had no capacity for business. He could not then have filled up the void +which Mazarin's retirement would have created. Conde, whose natural +pride was still further exalted by the flattery of the young nobles who +formed his train, and who obtained the nickname of _petits maitres_, +only used the influence which his position gave him to wring from +Mazarin the places and good things at his disposal, and of these he and +his adherents showed themselves insatiable. Thus, Conde rendered himself +formidable and odious to Mazarin, and made himself detested by the +people as Mazarin's supporter, at the same time that by his arrogance he +shocked the Parliament, already unfavourably disposed towards him on +account of his rapacity and his ambition.[1] + + [1] Talon, mem. t. lxii. pp. 65-105.--Montpensier. + +Such was the state of things, when the singular circumstances which +attended the murder of one of Conde's domestics made that prince believe +that the chiefs of the Fronde had conspired to assassinate him. He +thought, by such a crime, to have found an opportunity for crushing that +faction in the persons of its chiefs, and he instituted a process in +parliament against the contrivers of that murder. Public report +particularly pointed to two persons, De Retz and Beaufort; and Conde, by +his accusation, hoped to force them to quit Paris, where they found +their principal means of influence in the populace. But in attacking +thus, as it were, face to face, the two most popular men of the moment, +Conde showed no better tact than in dealing with the Prime Minister. He +conducted himself with so much haughtiness and arrogance, that the young +nobles who surrounded the soldier prince, when they wished to flatter +him, spoke of Mazarin as his slave.[2] + + [2] Motteville, mem. t. xxxix. p. 4.--Guy-Joly. + +The process went on nevertheless. Almost all the judges were convinced +of the innocence of the accused, but Conde pretended that they could not +be absolved without giving a deadly affront to himself. He demanded that +at the very least the Coadjutor and Beaufort should be made to quit +Paris under some honourable pretext, and the Princess-Dowager de Conde +declared that it was the height of insolence in them to remain in the +capital when it was her son's wish that they should leave it. The Queen, +who equally detested the Prince de Conde and the Frondeurs, could +scarcely conceal her joy at seeing them at daggers drawn with each +other; feeling certain that the moment was at hand when their +dissensions would restore her supremacy. + +Under such circumstances Conde had need of all his friends, but he +considered that he was set at defiance, and he gave way all the more to +his wonted pride and overbearing obstinacy. He seemed to take pleasure +in offending Anne of Austria and Mazarin. The young Duke de Richelieu +had been declared heir to an immense fortune, of which his aunt and +guardian, the Duchess d'Aiguillon, was the depositary. The stronghold of +Havre de Grace, which the Cardinal de Richelieu had formerly held as a +place of retreat, was by such title in the possession of the Duchess +d'Aiguillon. Conde desired to be master of it, either for himself or for +his brother-in-law, the Duke de Longueville. The young Duke de Richelieu +was engaged to be married to Mademoiselle de Chevreuse, but the Prince +having remarked that he had some liking for Madame de Pons, a sister of +his own first love, managed to marry him clandestinely to her in the +Chateau de Trye, lent him two thousand pistoles until he should be of +age to enter upon possession of his property, and made him take +possession of Havre de Grace. The Queen was mortally offended at such a +proceeding on the part of Conde, who had moreover threatened to throw +into the sea those she might send to Havre to seize the fortress; but +the Duchess d'Aiguillon's resentment was still deeper and more active. +She was the first to tell Anne of Austria, that she would never be queen +again until she had had the Prince de Conde arrested, assuring her that +all the Frondeurs would lend their hands to aid her in carrying out such +a resolution. + +Almost at this moment, a gentleman named Jarze, attached to Conde, +foolishly took it into his head that the Queen entertained a liking for +him, and it reached her ears that Conde and his friends had amused +themselves whilst at table over their wine with Jarze's revelations of +his amour with her, and that he had begun to feel certain of getting rid +of Mazarin by that means. Mazarin himself probably became somewhat +alarmed, as he spoke pointedly to the Queen on the subject, who +pretended only to have contemplated the ridiculous side of her new +adorer's gallantries. But when Jarze next made his appearance in her +cabinet, she rated him roundly before the whole Court upon his absurd +fatuity, and forbade him ever to enter her presence again. The Prince de +Conde, pretending to feel hurt at the affront put upon Jarze, early next +morning paid the Prime Minister a visit, and insolently demanded that +Jarze should be received that very evening by the Queen. Anne of Austria +submitted to his dictation, but could not endure such humiliation +without seeking to avenge herself. In a woman's heart every other +species of resentment yields to that of wounded pride. A few lines +addressed to the Coadjutor in the Queen's own handwriting, and carried +by Madame de Chevreuse, brought to her side that wily priest and +formidable tribune, disguised _en cavalier_. Certain negotiations, +however, which had preceded this interview, had reached the ears of +Conde, who went to Mazarin to denounce the treachery. The Cardinal, +glowing with a hatred which would have stopped at nothing for its +gratification, laughed and jested, or flattered and soothed the object +of his concealed wrath. He turned the Archbishop of Corinth into +ridicule when Conde blamed him for his duplicity. "If I catch him," said +the Cardinal, "in the disguise you speak of--in his feathered hat, and +cloak, and military boots--I will get a sight of him for your Highness;" +and they roared at the idea of discovering the intriguer in so unfitting +an apparel. But shortly afterwards in the wintry gloom of a January +midnight (1650), disguised beyond the reach of detection, and guarded by +a passport from the Cardinal himself, De Retz was admitted at midnight +by a secret door into the Regent's room at the Palais Royal, and deep +conference was held between the two. The conditions of agreement were +readily stipulated. The Coadjutor with an inconceivable address and most +extraordinary success handled the threads of the intrigues consequent +upon such agreement. He succeeded in making himself the confidant of +Gaston; he made him renounce his favourite, the Abbe de la Riviere; he +engaged him in the coalition which had been just set on foot between the +Court and the Fronde, and he obtained his assent to the arrest of the +Princes. Everything succeeded that was agreed upon. The Queen-Regent, at +the moment of a council being held at the Palais-Royal, gave the fatal +order, and then withdrew into her oratory. There she made the young King +kneel down beside her in order to invoke Heaven in concert with herself +to obtain the happy achievement of an act of tyranny which was destined +to produce fresh woes to the realm, and to rekindle in it the flames of +civil war. + +On the morrow of the 18th of January, 1650, all Paris was electrified at +the news of the arrest of the three Princes--Conde, Conti, and +Longueville. That bold _coup d'etat_ was effected very easily and +unceremoniously. The Princes went voluntarily, as it were, into the +mouse-trap, by attending a great council at the Palais Royal. Anne had +obtained from Conde an order for the seizure and detention of three or +four persons whose names were left in blank; and on the authority of his +own signature, the hero of Rocroy and the other two princes, were led +quietly down a back stair, given over to the custody of a small escort +of twenty men under the command of Guitaut and Comminges, and by them +conducted during the night to Vincennes. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + MADAME DE LONGUEVILLE'S ADVENTURES IN NORMANDY. THE WOMEN'S WAR. + + +THE heroes having thus suddenly disappeared from the scene, the +political stage was left clear for the performance of the heroines. We +are now about to see the women, almost by themselves, carry on the civil +war, govern, intrigue, fight. A great experience for human nature, a +fine historical opportunity for observing that gallant transfer of all +power from the one sex to the other--the men lagging behind, led, +directed, in the second or third ranks. But those women of rank, young, +beautiful, brilliant, and for the most part gallant, were doubtless more +formidable to the minister at this juncture than the men. The two lovely +duchesses, De Longueville and De Bouillon, having shown during the +preceding year of what they were capable; the Queen therefore gave +orders for their arrest. The wary lover of the fascinating politician +who had lately begun to scatter her blandishments equally upon all--La +Rochefoucauld--having been apprised by the captain of his quarter that +some blow was meditated by Mazarin, had sent twice to warn the Princes +through the Marquis de la Moussaye, but who, as it appears, failed to +acquit himself of that important mission. But if La Rochefoucauld's +warning failed to reach the ears of the Princes, he was more fortunate +in effecting the escape of Madame de Longueville. Whilst they were +seeking to arrest him as well as La Moussaye, the Queen despatched a +note to the Duchess by the Secretary of State, La Vrilliere, begging her +to come to the Palais Royal. Instead of going thither she went direct to +the Hotel of the Princess Palatine--like herself beautiful, gallant, and +intriguing, but endowed with a superior intellect. This lady speedily +became the head and mainspring of the princes' party--or of the _second_ +Fronde, and the Coadjutor, who directed the Old Fronde, was fain to +recognise in her a worthy rival, and his equal in political sagacity. +Fearing to be discovered if she remained under the roof of the princess, +a carriage was procured, and the duchess driven in it by La +Rochefoucauld himself to an obscure house in the Faubourg St. Germain, +where they remained until nightfall in a cellar. Thence the Duchess and +her lover set out for Normandy on horseback under the escort of forty +determined men provided by the Princess Palatine. Brave and resolute as +her brother, the sister of Conde rode northwards through that entire +winter's night and the following day, and sought no shelter until worn +out with excessive fatigue she reached Rouen. But the commandant, the +Marquis de Beuvron, although an old friend of the duke, declared he +could not serve her, and refused to raise the banner of revolt in that +stronghold of her husband's government. Her attempt at Rouen thus +receiving a complete check, she had some hope of being received into the +citadel of Havre, but the Duchess de Richelieu, though her friend, was +not so much mistress there as the Duchess d'Aiguillon, who, on the +contrary, was full of resentment against her. Discouraged and repulsed +on all hands, the fugitive Duchess next made her way to Dieppe, where +she thought herself in sufficient safety to part with La Rochefoucauld, +who left her to assist the Duke de Bouillon to raise troops in +Angoumois. In the fortress of Dieppe, commanded by a faithful officer of +her husband, Madame de Longueville found the rest she so much needed. In +a brief space, with spirits recruited, she resolved to make a stand to +the uttermost against the Queen and Mazarin, and having replaced the +royal standard by that of Conde set about putting the citadel in a state +of defence to resist a siege. The Queen, however, having resolved not to +give the Duchess time to raise her husband's government of Normandy into +revolt, on the 1st of February quitted Paris for Rouen. The band of +gentlemen who had gathered round the beautiful Frondeuse thereupon +melted away, and Mademoiselle de Longueville, her step-daughter, +afterwards Duchess de Nemours, quitted her to take refuge in a convent. +As Montigny, the commandant at Dieppe, declared that it was impossible +to hold the fortress, the Duchess left the place by a secret portal, +followed by her women and some few gentlemen. She held her way for two +leagues on foot along the coast to the little port of Tourville, in +order to reach a small vessel which she had prudently hired in case of +need. On reaching the point of embarkation the sea was breaking so +furiously in surf on shore, the tide being so strong and the wind so +high, that Madame de Longueville's followers entreated her not to +attempt to reach the vessel. But the Duchess, dreading less the angry +waves than the chance of falling into the Regent's power, persisted in +going to sea. As the state of the tide and weather rendered it +impossible for a boat to get near the shore, a sailor took her in his +arms to carry her on board, but had not waded above twenty paces when a +huge roller carried him off his feet, and he fell with his fair burden. +For an instant the poor lady believed that she was lost, as in falling +the sailor lost his hold of her and she sank into deep water. On being +rescued, however, she expressed her resolve to reach the vessel, but the +sailors refusing to make another attempt, she found herself compelled to +resort to some other means of escape. Horses being luckily procured, the +Duchess mounted _en croupe_ behind one of the gentlemen of her suite, +and riding all night and part of the following day, the fugitives met +with a hospitable reception from a nobleman of Caux, in whose little +manor-house they found rest, refection, and concealment for the space of +a week. + +The Duchess's tumble into the sea, though a disagreeable, turned out to +have been a lucky accident, for she now learnt that the master of the +vessel she had been so anxious to reach was in the interest of Mazarin, +and had she gone on board she would have been arrested. At length Madame +de Longueville found herself once more in Havre, and having won over the +captain of an English ship to whom she introduced herself--like Madame +de Chevreuse--in male attire, as a nobleman who had just been engaged in +a duel, and was obliged to leave France, she succeeded in obtaining a +passage to Rotterdam. Thence, passing through Flanders, she reached the +stronghold of Stenay,[1] where the Viscomte de Turenne, already +compromised with the Court for having openly espoused the Conde party, +had shortly before the Duchess's arrival also taken refuge. + + [1] Stenay, taken from the Spaniards in 1641, had been given to the + Prince de Conde in 1646. + +It was then that the Duchess, who, under the sway of La Rochefoucauld, +had been one of the instruments of the first Fronde war, became the +motive power of the second and far more serious one--well named by the +witty Parisians "the women's war." From the citadel of Stenay, of which +she took the command, she directed the wills and actions of the men of +her party, into which she thoroughly won over Turenne. Her +importunities, aided by her charms, prevailed so powerfully over his +valiant though fallible heart, that the illustrious captain, after +having struggled painfully for some time with his conscience, allied +himself with the Spaniards by a treaty which placed him, as well as the +sister of the great Conde, in the pay of the enemies of his king and +country. The treaty effectively stipulated "that there should be a +junction of the two armies, and that the war should be carried on by the +assistance of the King of Spain until a peace should be concluded +between the two kings and the princes liberated. That the King of Spain +should engage to pay over to Madame de Longueville and to Monsieur de +Turenne two hundred thousand crowns wherewith to raise and equip troops; +that he should furnish them with forty thousand crowns per month for the +payment of such troops, and sixty thousand crowns per annum in three +payments for _the table and equipages_ of Madame de Longueville and +Monsieur de Turenne." This treaty duly signed, Madame de Longueville +issued, in the form of a letter to his Majesty the King of France, a +manifesto very skilfully drawn up and filled with artful complaints and +accusations against Mazarin, with the design of soliciting through the +one and the other an apology for her own conduct, as though it were +possible to justify herself for having entered into a compact with the +enemies of her country. + +It was during her sojourn at Stenay that she lost her mother (2nd +December, 1650). "My dear friend," said the Princess de Conde to Madame +de Brienne, who was with her during her last moments, "tell that 'pauvre +miserable' who is now at Stenay the condition in which you have seen me, +that she may learn how to die." + +During the whole of this period, the Duke de la Rochefoucauld gave +constant proof of a rare fidelity. M. Cousin speaks very precisely on +this head. "Whilst Madame de Longueville was pledging her diamonds in +Holland for the defence of Stenay, La Rochefoucauld expended his fortune +in Guienne. It was the most grievous and, at the same time, the most +touching moment of their lives and their adventures. They were far away +from each other, but they still fondly loved; they served with equal +ardour the same cause, they fought and suffered equally and at the same +time." Abundant proofs might be instanced of this love and devotion on +their part. La Rochefoucauld wrote unceasingly to Stenay, and gave an +account of everything he did. "The sole aim, then, of all the Duke's +exertions," says Lenet, "was to please that beautiful princess, and he +took endless care and pleasure to acquaint her with all he did for her, +and to deliver the princess her sister-in-law (Conde's wife), by +despatching couriers to her on the subject." He informs us moreover +that, "in every juncture, he forwarded expresses to render account to +the Duchess of all that respect for her made him undertake. At this +moment, in fact, having just succeeded to his patrimonial estates +through the death of his father, La Rochefoucauld recognised no obstacle +in his path, but bravely went forward in the cause he had espoused and +generously sacrificed his property in Angoumois and Saintonge. His +ancestral chateau of Verteuil was even razed to the ground by Mazarin's +orders, and when the tidings of it reached him, he received them with +such great firmness", says Lenet, "that he seemed as though he were +delighted, through a feeling that it would inspire confidence in the +minds of the Bordelais. It was further said that what gave him the +liveliest pleasure was to let the Duchess de Longueville see that he +hazarded everything in her service." It cannot be denied, in fine, that +the Duke at that time yielded himself up to a sentiment as deep as it +was sincere, and which contradicts very happily and without any possible +doubt the assertion so often hazarded that he had never loved the woman +whom he had seduced and dragged into the vortex of politics. Madame de +Longueville and he adored each other at this period, says M. Cousin, and +it is pleasant to be able to cite the opinion of that eminent historian +upon such fact; although separated by the entire length of France, they +suffered and struggled each for the other: they had the same aim, the +same faith, the same hope. They wrote incessantly to communicate their +thoughts and projects, and thus sought to diminish in imagination the +enormous distance which is between Stenay and Bordeaux. + + + + +BOOK IV. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + THE PRINCESS PALATINE. + + +THE arrest of the Princes had singularly complicated events on the +political stage. It had displaced all interests, and, instead of +re-uniting parties and consolidating them, it had the effect of +increasing their number. No fewer than five might be counted, +represented by as many principal leaders, around which were grouped +every species of interest and every shade of ambition. + +In the first place there was the party of Mazarin, alone against all the +rest. This party had for support the ability of its chief, the +invincible predilection, the unshakeable firmness of Anne of Austria, +and the name of the King. Herein lay its whole strength, but that +strength was immense. It was that which ensured the obedience of the +enlightened and conscientious men who had great influence over the army +and the magistrature. These men adhered to the Prime Minister through a +sentiment of honour, and in consequence of their monarchical principles. +Amidst the disruption of parties, they recognised no other legitimate +authority than that of the Queen Regent; but they desired as strongly, +perhaps, as those of the opposite parties, that Mazarin should be got +rid of. That odious foreigner exposed them all to the public animosity +which pursued himself. Anne of Austria frequently employed the artifices +of her sex to avert their opposition in council, and calm their +discontent. + +The party of the Princes, which the success of the enemies of France, +during their captivity, rendered from day to day more popular and +interesting, was composed of all the young nobility. Of its apparent +chiefs, the one alone capable of directing it was the Duke de Bouillon. +But to lead a party it is necessary to identify oneself with it, and +devote oneself to it wholly; and the Duke de Bouillon had views +peculiar, foreign, and even adverse to the interests of his party; and +before such interest he placed that of the maintenance, or rather +elevation, of his own house. The Duchess de Longueville, the Princess de +Conde, La Rochefoucauld, and Turenne had neither sufficient finesse nor +skill in intrigue to be able to direct that party and struggle +successfully against Mazarin; but they were seconded by three men who, +although obscure, displayed in these circumstances extraordinary talent. +Lenet,[1] who never quitted the Princess de Conde throughout these +troubles, but served her faithfully with his pen and advice. Montreuil, +who, although he had never published anything, was a member of the +French Academy and secretary to the Prince de Conde. He managed, with +infinite address, and incessantly devising new means, to correspond with +the Princes, and bring the vigilance of their keepers in default. And it +was Gourville especially, who, after having worn the livery of the Duke +de la Rochefoucauld as his valet, had become his man of business, his +confidant, and friend. It was Gourville who, under a heavy expression of +countenance, concealed a most subtle, most acute, and fertile +intelligence. Persuasive, energetic, prompt, reflective; knowing how to +gain an end by the direct road; or, under the eyes of those opposing, +attaining it unperceived, by covert and tortuous ways. A man who never +found himself in any situation, however desperate it might be, without +having the confidence that he could extricate himself from it. Did the +cleverest consider a position as lost? Gourville intervened, infused +hope, promised to lend a hand to it, and success was immediately certain +and defeat impossible. + + [1] His memoirs give reliable details of all that relates to the + Condes at this period. + +Still Gourville was not, even on the score of ability, the foremost +spirit of his party. The person who deserved that title was a woman--the +celebrated Anne de Gonzagua, widow of Edward Prince Palatine. Through +her proneness to gallantry, she did not escape the weakness of her sex; +but through her imperturbable calmness in the midst of the most violent +commotions, her elevated views, the depth of her designs, the accuracy +and rapidity of her resolutions, and her skill in making everything +conduce to a given end, she combined in its entire vigour the peculiar +character of the statesman with the soul of a conspirator. She had been +through life the intimate friend of the mother of Conde, and she now +laboured with skill, wisdom, and perseverance for the liberation of the +Princes. And such is the ascendency obtained by talent backed by an +energetic will, that it was to her advice all the partisans of the +Princes deferred; her hand that held the threads of their various +intrigues. With her De Retz treated directly, and in the whole course of +the negotiations she displayed a degree of penetration which baffled all +the subtlety of the Coadjutor; and while she foiled his devices against +herself, she directed them aright against their mutual opponents. By her +activity and energy five or six separate treaties were drawn up and +signed between the different personages whose interests were concerned, +each in general ignorant of his comrade's participation. + +It would be presumptuous in any way to attempt, after Bossuet, a perfect +portraiture of this lady, but it may be interesting to glance at the +antecedents of her life up to this period. + +Charles de Gonzagua-Cleves, Duke of Mantua and Nevers, had, by his +marriage with Catherine of Lorraine, three daughters: the oldest, Maria, +whom he preferred to the others, or rather that his pride sought to +elevate her alone to the highest destiny possible, was married +successively to two Kings of Poland, Ladislas Sigismond and Jean +Casimir. The second, Anne, who, as the Princess Palatine, became the +political opponent of Mazarin; and the third, Benedicte, who took the +veil and died whilst yet very young at the steps of the altar. It is the +romantic, agitated, and changeful existence of the second with which we +are concerned: passed in tumult and ended in silence. In it may be found +the invaluable lesson of that admirable antithesis afforded by error and +repentance. Bossuet, in his eloquent, fervent oration upon the life of +that princess, was enabled to derive from a contemplation of it the +highest instruction. He has therein retraced, with an imposing +authority, the errors of a woman exclusively engrossed, during many +years, with worldly interests and earthly vanities, and also made the +emphatic denial that, in their last hours, such awakened minds but +rarely give themselves up without profound anguish, fitful emotion, and +mortal struggle to the contemplation of imperishable joys. Anne de +Gonzagua experienced those extremes. She passed from incredulity and an +irregular life to the most lively faith and exemplary conduct. +Captivated in turn by earth and heaven, worldly and scorning the world, +sceptical and fervent, she had long centred her pride and happiness in +the political affairs of her epoch, until the day came when, wearied +with ephemeral pleasures and touched by grace, she finally renounced the +things of this life and gave herself wholly up to celestial meditation. + +In her earliest youth she had been placed in the convent of +Faremoustier, where nothing was neglected that could tend to inspire her +with a desire for cloister life. Her father, the Duke of Mantua, had +determined that his two younger daughters, Anne and Benedicte, should +help, by taking the veil, to augment the fortune of their elder sister. +Benedicte submitted to her fate, but Anne soon perceived what her +father's plan was, and in her indignation she resolved to defeat it. +Unlike her younger sister, she had an adventurous spirit, an ardent +imagination, a strong desire to play an active part in life. Even to +withdraw from a mode of existence that was hateful to her, she made her +escape from Faremoustier, and went to confide to her sister's bosom, in +the convent of Avenai, her wrath, her _ennui_, and her hopes. For awhile +it seemed as though conventual life was about to exercise a strange +fascination over her. The discourse and example of her sister touched +deeply the youthful heart which had proved rebellious to a parent's +will. It seemed not improbable that she would yield to persuasion that +which she had refused to compulsion. But her destiny determined +otherwise. Events cast her upon another course; her imperfect vocation +yielded quickly to their influence. She had been worked upon, in the +solitude of the cloister, by that mysterious yearning for an encounter +with those struggles which human passions involve, the experience of +which can alone extinguish such yearning in certain souls. It was +necessary that she should see the world, undergo its deceptions, and be +wearied of it, in order to desire repose and be capable of appreciating +the inestimable blessings of peace and silence and tranquillity. + +The Duke of Mantua dying in 1637, Anne was obliged to leave the cloister +on business connected with the paternal succession, and appeared at +Court with Marie, her elder sister. The turmoil of the world and its +sensuous enjoyments speedily engrossed the young and lovely princess, +involved her in their trammels, and only restored her to tranquillity +and solitude after a lapse of many years; for at this time she also lost +her sister, the youthful abbess of Avenai, and the last link which +attached Anne to cloister life was severed by that death. An absorbing +passion, too, was destined to confirm her relinquishment of such +vocation. The youthful Henri de Guise was then one of the most brilliant +gentlemen at the French Court. Grandson of the _Balafre_, his high birth +fixed the eyes of all upon him, at the same time that his impetuous +imagination, his profession, all the aristocratic follies of the +day--remarkable duels, romantic loves, eccentricities, the adventures +and elegant habits of the _grand seigneur_--had constituted him an +oracle of fashion and the hero of every festival. He was fascinated by +the grace and beauty of Anne de Gonzagua, and she herself, in the midst +of that gallant Court which masked a real depravation under the thin +varnish of an ingenious subtlety of expression,--she herself, a disciple +of the Hotel de Rambouillet, where questions of sentiment were +discussed, studied, and analysed incessantly, knew not how to resist the +gilded accents of a young, handsome, and impassioned lover. She let him +see that she loved him. He made her a promise of marriage, signed, it is +said, with his blood; and the affair seemed to promise a happy +conclusion. But their mutual inclination was thwarted by Madame de +Guise. The Duchess thought that the high dignities of the Church would +procure greater wealth, honour, and power for her son than he could +obtain in any other career: Henri was then Archbishop of Rheims. +Nevertheless, he persisted in his love for Mademoiselle de Gonzagua, and +in his design of espousing her. The overtures which he made to the +Vatican were not in vain. He received from the Pope, with the +authorisation to again become a layman, a dispensation which his kinship +to Anne rendered necessary for the celebration of their nuptials. But +the lovers did not hasten to avail themselves of such privilege, +apparently through dread of Richelieu, who was also opposed to their +union. Perhaps that minister, from whom nothing secret was hidden--not +even the unshaped designs of the ambitious,--already suspected Henri de +Guise of being favourably disposed to the interests of Spain, as well as +contrary to those of France. Anne and Henri, therefore, contented +themselves with the possibility which the complaisance of the Holy +Father had given them of contracting an indissoluble bond, and with the +oath by which they reciprocally pledged their faith. Confiding in the +honour of the Prince whom she so ardently loved, Anne consented to +follow him, when he quitted France in order to escape from the espionage +of Richelieu. Disguising herself in male attire, Anne rejoined her lover +at Besancon, according to Mademoiselle de Montpensier, at Cologne +according to other writers; where, as elsewhere, she caused herself to +be called "Madame de Guise"--writing and speaking of her husband, and +defying the assurances which were constantly advanced of the illegality +of a marriage secretly performed by a canon of Rheims in the private +chapel of the Hotel de Nevers. But what are promises, marriage vows, or +even bonds written in blood? + +Henri not long after became unfaithful to the confiding Anne by eloping +with a fair widow, the Countess de Bossut, whom he carried off to +Brussels and ultimately married. Implicated in the conspiracy of the +Count de Soissons, the turbulent churchman was present at the battle of +Marfee, and consequently declared guilty of high treason. He therefore +took up his abode in the Low Countries, where he quietly awaited the +death of Louis XIII. and his minister, then both moribund, to resume his +career at the Court of France. + +Thus abandoned by her volatile lover, and extremely compromised, +Mademoiselle de Gonzagua returned to Paris, where she reassumed the +appellation of the Princess Anne. Her grief for awhile at her +abandonment was great, but happily for Anne de Gonzagua, she was +possessed of youth, and, as Madame de Motteville tells us, "of beauty +and great mental attractions." She had moreover sufficient address to +obtain a great amount of esteem, in spite of her errors. In a few years' +time, during which she took care to avoid fresh scandal, whatever she +might have done "under the rose," she made a tolerably good marriage. +Her husband, her senior by two years only, was Prince Edward, Count +Palatine of the Rhine, son of a king without a kingdom,--the elector +Frederick,[2] chosen King of Bohemia in 1619, but who lost his crown in +1620, at the battle of Prague. Prince Edward, therefore, having no +sovereignty, lived at the French Court. In 1645, then, Anne de Gonzagua +found herself definitively settled at Paris, and it must be owned did +not give Henri de Guise much cause to regret his faithlessness. The +irregularities of the Princess Palatine became notorious, and assuredly +Bossuet, in the funeral oration which he pronounced many years later, in +the presence of one of her daughters and other relatives, whilst +displaying a prodigal eloquence, and a mastery over all oratorical +resource, made use of every artifice of speech, and all the elasticity +of vague terms, in speaking of that period of her life without a +violation of propriety, without disguising truths known to all, without +exceeding either in blame or praise the limits imposed by good taste +upon the reverend orator when he pronounces a panegyric upon those who +not unfrequently have very little merited it. + + [2] This unfortunate Prince had married, in 1613, Elizabeth, + daughter of James I. of England. The celebrated Prince Rupert and + Sophia, Electress of Hanover, were among the other children. + +During those stormy years of the civil wars, through her diplomatic +talents, Anne de Gonzagua shone conspicuously in the front rank of +female politicians. One can readily imagine what must have been, not in +the first Fronde, all parliamentary as it was, but in the second, +entirely aristocratic, in the Fronde of the Princes, the influence of a +woman's mind at once so subtle and brilliant. It was then that Madame de +Chevreuse, Madame de Montbazon, Madame de Longueville, and Mademoiselle +de Montpensier, displayed upon the political stage the resources of +their finesse, their dissimulation, or their courage. The Palatine did +not fall below the level of those adventurous heroines. In the midst of +those intrigues, of that puerile ambition, of those turnings and +windings, perfidy, seduction, manoeuvring promises, of those +negotiations in which Mazarin infused all his Italian cunning, the Queen +her feminine impatience and her Spanish dissimulation, De Retz his +genius of artist-conspirator, Conde his pride of the prince and the +conqueror, Anne de Gonzagua handled political matters with a rare +suppleness, humouring offended self-love, impatient ambition, haughty +rivalries, acting as mediatrix with a wonderful amount of conciliatory +tact, the friend of divers chiefs of parties, and meriting the +confidence of all. + +It would be tedious to relate here her various negotiations, to go over +her discourses, conversations, and numerous letters: it would involve a +history of the Fronde, and that is not our subject. It will suffice to +say that she obtained the esteem of all parties at a time when parties +not only hated but strangely defied each other, and that she manifested +a skill, a tact which Cardinal de Retz--a good judge of such +matters--does not hesitate to praise with enthusiasm. "I do not think," +says he, "that Queen Elizabeth of England had more capacity for +governing a state. I have seen her in faction, I have seen her in the +cabinet, and I have found her in every respect equally sincere." This +eulogium may be perhaps a little over-coloured. But Madame de +Motteville, who also greatly admired the Palatine, probably approaches +nearer to the truth. "This princess," she says, "like many other ladies, +did not despise the conquests of her eyes, which were in truth very +beautiful; but, besides that advantage, she had that which was of more +value, I mean wit, address, capacity for conducting an intrigue, and a +singular facility in finding expedients for succeeding in what she +undertook." Thus spoke the Coadjutor and the Court of her. The +parliamentary party, by the organ of the councillor Joly, confirms such +panegyric: "She had so much intelligence, and a talent so peculiar for +business, that no one in the world ever succeeded better than she did." +The Princess Palatine's political dexterity cannot therefore be +contested: the testimony of the most opposite camps are thereupon +agreed, and it is certain that, without the least exaggeration, it may +be said that no one at that epoch, save Mazarin, better understood the +resources of diplomacy. + +It was especially after the arrest of the Princes that her zeal and +intelligence found occasion to manifest themselves. Madame de +Longueville, as has been said, instantly sought the aid of Anne de +Gonzagua when she learned that her two brothers and her husband were +prisoners. The news made her swoon, and her despair was afterwards +pitiable. The Princess Palatine was touched by it, and promised to +operate on behalf of the Princes. From that moment she became, without +entering into faction and especially without failing in her duties +towards a sovereign whom she loved, one of the most active friends of +the prisoners. Meetings were held under her roof to deliberate upon that +important affair, and, to compass her ends, she contrived to bring into +play the most varied resources. She began by interesting in the Princes' +destiny those even who might have been thought the most irreconcileable +enemies to them. However difficult this work was of accomplishment, she +reunited, as in a fasces, in a single will, personages widely separated +upon other points, and surprised to find that they were pursuing the +same object, for none of them knew the motives which influenced the +actions of the rest. On this head, Bossuet says, with somewhat excessive +laudation, she declared to the chiefs of parties how far she would bind +herself, and she was believed to be incapable of either deceiving or +being deceived. That is rather a hazardous assertion, for if she indeed +aided in the liberation of the Princes, none of the promises she +made--in all sincerity doubtless--became realised. But, says Bossuet +further, and this time with more precision, "her peculiar +characteristic was to conciliate opposite interests, and, in raising +herself above them, to discover the secret point of junction and knot, +as it were, by which they might be united." She had resolved to win over +the Duke d'Orleans, Madame de Chevreuse, De Retz, and the keeper of the +seals, Chateauneuf. She therefore signed with them four different +treaties. With the Duke d'Orleans she promised the hand of the young +Duke d'Enghien in marriage to one of the Prince's daughters; to Madame +de Chevreuse that of Mademoiselle de Chevreuse to the Prince de Conti; +to De Retz, the cardinal's hat; to Chateauneuf, the post of prime +minister. All consented to favour the princess's designs, and Mazarin, +whom she could not convince, found himself surrounded by enemies whose +union was formidable. That minister made allusion to the dread with +which he was inspired when he remarked some years afterwards to Don +Louis de Haro: "The most turbulent among the men does not give us so +much trouble to keep him in check as the intrigues of a Duchess de +Chevreuse or a Princess Palatine." In vain, according to his wont, did +he again attempt to temporise. Anne de Gonzagua, who was ready to open +fire with all her batteries, sought to terrify him by the perspective of +a menacing future. "She caused him to be informed that he was lost if he +did not determine upon giving the Princes their liberty, assuring him +that if he did not do it promptly he would see, in a few days, the whole +Court and every cabal banded against him, and that all aid would fail +him." Mazarin, obstinate in his determination, and unwilling to believe +that she had so thoroughly played her game as to hold in hand the +threads of so many intrigues, begged her to defer the matter, asked time +for reflection, and conducted himself in such a way in short that the +princess saw clearly that he only wanted to gain time. She therefore +hesitated no longer, but allowed those who were agitating impatiently +around her to commence action. + +The party of the Princes had been dubbed by the name of the _New +Fronde_. The old, although it had lost its energy by its union with the +Court, preserved nevertheless its hatred to the prime minister. It was +not in De Retz's power to neutralise wholly these hostile dispositions; +but he could hinder them from being brought into dangerous activity. The +Coadjutor at first with that view acted in good faith, and remained +faithful in the first moments of the agreement which he had entered into +with the Queen. Probably it might then have been possible to attach him +finally to the Court party; but Mazarin could not believe that the +Coadjutor, so fertile in tricks, so full of finesse, was capable of +anything like frankness and generosity. In the practical experience of +life, mistrust has its perils as well as blind confidence, and failure +as often happens to us through our unwillingness to believe in virtue, +as through our inability to suspect vice. Mazarin judged after himself a +man who resembled him in many respects, but not in all. Moreover, he +feared lest he might seek to win the Queen's affection from him; and +that fear was not groundless. De Retz saw himself the object of the +suspicions and afterwards of the machinations of a power which laboured +at his destruction, whilst for that power he was compromising his +influence and his popularity. To reacquire it, he hastened, therefore, +to throw himself with all his adherents on the side of the Princes, and +saw no safety but in their deliverance. This alliance of the two camps, +so long enemies, was concluded between the Coadjutor and the Princess +Palatine, and rendered so firm and secret by the confidence with which +these two party chiefs inspired each other, that Mazarin, who +unceasingly dreaded such a union, and who always suspected it, did not +know it for certain until it revealed itself by its effects.[3] + + [3] Motteville--Joly--Lenet. + +The parliament formed a fourth party. Not that that body was unanimous; +but it had within itself an honourable majority which was alike inimical +to the Frondeurs, the seditious, and the minister. The parliament +therefore would have been disposed to unite itself to the Princes' +party, and to lend it support; but to do so it would have been necessary +that the chiefs of that party should renounce all alliance with the +foreigner. Turenne and Madame de Longueville had joined with the +Spaniards to fight against France. The young Princess de Conde, with the +Dukes de Bouillon and de la Rochefoucauld, who had shut themselves up in +Bordeaux, had entered into an alliance with them, and had received from +them succour in the shape of money. The Spanish envoys in Paris +conferred daily with the chiefs of the old as of the new Fronde. + +Gaston, who might have been the moderator of all these parties, formed +by himself a fifth among them. His irresolution prevented him giving +strength to any other of the factions, but he constituted a formidable +obstacle to all the rest. His inclination, as well as his interest, +should never have made him deviate from the Court party; yet he was +always opposed to it. Impelled by his jealousy of Conde and of the prime +minister, he acted in a manner contrary to his own wishes. He was, +however, neither wanting in intelligence nor finesse, nor even a certain +kind of eloquence; and the master-stroke of De Retz's address was to +have contrived, in furtherance of the object of his designs, to set +Gaston with the Fronde against the Princes, and afterwards for the +Princes against Mazarin. + +The complication and the multiplicity of parties was as nothing in +comparison to that of private interests, which so crossed each other and +in so many different ways, which turned with such mobility, that, in the +ignorance which prevailed of the secret motives of the principal actors +in that drama so vivid, motley, and turbulent, nothing could be +predicated of what they would do, and a looker-on might have been +disposed at times to have pronounced them as insensates, who were rather +their own enemies than those of their antagonists. + +If the libels of those times are to be credited, and especially the +satire in verse for which the poet Marlet was sentenced to be hanged, +the obstinacy with which the Queen exposed to danger her son's crown, by +retaining a minister detested by all, would be naturally explained by a +reason other than that of a reason of state. The advocate-general Talon, +Madame de Motteville, and the Duchess de Nemours exculpate Anne of +Austria on this head. They are three respectable and trustworthy +witnesses; and, without any doubt, that which they said they thought. +But the Duchess d'Orleans, Elizabeth-Charlotte, affirms in her +correspondence[4] that Anne of Austria had secretly married Cardinal +Mazarin, who was not a priest. She says that all the details of the +marriage were known, and that, in her time, the back staircase in the +Palais Royal was pointed out by which at night Mazarin reached the +Queen's apartments. She observes that such clandestine marriages were +common at that period, and cites that of the widow of our Charles the +First, who secretly espoused her equerry, Jermyn. One might be disposed +to think that the Duchess Elizabeth-Charlotte could have only followed +some tradition, and that her assertions cannot counterbalance the +statements of the contemporary personages above mentioned. But certain +species of facts are often better known long after the death of the +persons to whom they relate, than during their lifetime, or at a time +close upon their decease; they are not entirely unveiled until there no +longer exists any motive to keep them secret. Of the Queen's sentiments +towards Mazarin there can be no doubt after reading a letter which she +addressed to him under date of June 30, 1660, which is extant in +autograph,[5] the avowal she made to Madame de Brienne in her +oratory,[6] the confidences of Madame de Chevreuse to Cardinal de +Retz.[7] Moreover, whatever may have been the motives of Anne of +Austria's attachment to Mazarin, it is certain that they were +all-powerful over her. She lent herself to every project formed by her +minister for the increase of his power and fortune. The war in Bordeaux +was kindled because Mazarin desired that one of his nieces should be +united to the Duke de Candale, son of the Duke d'Epernon; and, in order +not to let the Swiss soldiers march thither without their pay, when +their aid was most necessary, Anne of Austria put her diamonds in +pledge, and would not allow Mazarin to be answerable for the sum +required to be disbursed. + + [4] Mem. sur la Cour de Louis XIV. et de la Regence, + d'Elizabeth-Charlotte Duchesse d'Orleans, Mere du Regent. 1823, + p. 319. + + [5] MS. Bibliotheque Nationale. + + [6] Lomenie de Brienne, Memoirs, 1828. + + [7] Retz, Memoirs, edition 1836. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + THE YOUNG PRINCESS DE CONDE CONDUCTS THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. + + +TO generous and feeling hearts, Conde's misfortune presented all the +characteristics of a real romance. The majority of the women therefore +who meddled with politics were, through sympathy, of his party. The +glory of France under lock and key! The young hero arrested for treason, +and prisoner to whom? The foreign Cardinal Mazarin. All the spoils of +the Condes distributed amongst the _sbires_ of the favourite,--Normandy +to Harcourt, Champagne to L'Hospital, &c. A monstrous alliance between +King and people. The Queen keeping the Bastille in the hands of +Broussel's son--the highest posts bestowed upon the magistrates--a +reversal, in fact, of everything. Did not the French nobility rise to a +man against such a state of things? + +No, everything was at a standstill. Neither Conde's military clients, +nor his numerous seigniories, nor his governments took any active part +whatsoever. Far from it, Madame de Longueville, as we have seen, who +thought to raise Normandy, everywhere met with a repulse in that +province. Neither Turenne nor she could do anything save by accepting +aid from Spain, for which Madame de Bouillon was also doing her best in +Paris. + +But whilst that lovely amazon, Conde's sister, was occupied in her +endeavours to lure the hero of Stenay into the party of revolt by +intoxicating him with love, and wasting time in negotiation and parade, +a succour more direct and much more energetic was given to Conde from a +quarter he had the least expected--from his own chateau of Chantilly. He +had there left his aged mother, his young wife, and a son seven years +old. Mazarin hesitated to have these ladies arrested, fearing the force +of public opinion. The mother went to hide herself in Paris, and one +morning appeared before the Parliament, suppliant, weeping sorely, +stooping so far as to kneel in prayer, to flattery, and even to +falsehood. All being unavailing, she went home to die. + +But most astonishing was the unexpected courage of Conde's young wife, +Claire Clemence de Maille, that despised niece of Richelieu, whom the +victorious soldier had married under compulsion, and whose heir was the +son of the minister's absolute will. On the arrest of her husband she +had been confided to the care of a man of capacity--Lenet, from whose +"Memoirs" we have already cited. He at first conducted her and her son +in safety from Chantilly to Montrond, a stronghold of the Condes, but +fearing to be besieged in it, straightway to Bordeaux. The Parliament of +Guienne had had a deadly quarrel with Mazarin for imposing upon them +Epernon, a governor they detested, and whom the Cardinal was bent upon +allying by marriage with his own family. Great therefore was the emotion +of this city and parliament at seeing that young lady of two-and-twenty +in deep mourning, with her innocent boy, who caught the brave Bordelais +by their beards with his little hands, and besought their help towards +the liberation of his father. The Princess's retinue enhanced not a +little this favourable impression, formed as it was of high-born women, +for the most part young and charming. + +The popular explosion was lively, as always happens among the people of +the south. But even the narrative of Lenet shows clearly the slender +foundation upon which this semblance of popular insurrection rested. The +lower orders, then living in great misery, hoped to obtain through the +Princess some opening for their foreign trade, which would better enable +them to dispose of their wines and help them to live. Mazarin kept down +the local Parliament, and carried everything through sheer terror. +Bouillon and La Rochefoucauld, the Princess's advisers, recommended that +a royal envoy should be cut to pieces. Lenet dreaded lest such an act, +somewhat over-energetic, might render his mistress less popular. Twice +or thrice the populace were very nearly putting the Parliament to the +sword, the majority of which was kept under through sheer terror of the +knife. Spain promised money, and they had the simplicity to believe her. +She hardly gave them a pitiful alms. Meanwhile, however, Mazarin, having +quietly occupied Normandy and Burgundy, made his way towards Guienne +with the royal army. The Bordelais showed an intrepid front, though +somewhat disquieted to see the soldiery about to gather the fruits of +the vintage instead of themselves. The Princess only maintained herself +in the place through the aid of the rabble _va-nu-pieds_, who feasted +and danced all night at her expense, and who shouted in her ears a +hundred ribald jests against Mazarin, compelling both herself and her +son to repeat them. This abasement into which she had fallen made her +desire peace for herself, and permission to leave the city, which was +granted to her, with vague promises of liberating Conde (3rd October, +1650). + +The Duchess de Bouillon had been quite as ardent in politics during the +burlesque activity of the Fronde as Madame de Longueville; and although, +perhaps, equally beautiful, happily she was entirely devoted to her +domestic duties. Her husband on taking flight had been constrained to +leave her behind in Paris, she being near her accouchement, which +circumstance however did not prevent the Queen from giving an order for +her arrest. Although the royal guards were already in the house, the +Duchess contrived to effect the escape of her sons, and during that same +day gave birth to her babe. Shortly afterwards she found a means of +eluding the guard set over her, and would have rejoined her husband, had +her daughter not been attacked with small-pox, but having returned home +to nurse her, was arrested at her bedside and carried to the Bastille. +The Duchess de Chevreuse, always gallant, in spite of waning beauty, +constituted herself the mediatrix between the Queen and the _Frondeurs_; +and although her daughter had openly become the mistress of the +Coadjutor, it was already contemplated to make her the wife of the +Prince de Conti, as a condition of the arrangement by which he should be +set free. Beaufort still continued to be the obsequious lover of Madame +de Montbazon, and, through her, Mazarin was kept well acquainted with +all his secrets. + +No other power than that of female influence could have attached the +French nobility to the Prince de Conde, and determined it to take up +arms for his release. In fact, his hauteur, his brusquerie, his +brutality even, had, in repeated instances, offended that body, and the +Queen imagined that the bulk of the French gentry would witness his +arrest with as much pleasure as the citizens. But the women had been +fascinated by the _eclat_ of his four victories; they agreed to call +him the champion, the hero of France, and it seemed to them that they +shared his heroism in devoting themselves to his cause. As for the +higher nobility, they were not bound by any political principle; they +were very indifferent to the grandeur of France; very ignorant of its +pretensions in foreign affairs, or to what it had been pledged with +other nations. They loved war in the first place for its dangers, and in +the second for the honours and wealth they got by fighting; but even in +the army, far from making fidelity and obedience a rule of conduct, they +cherished a spirit of independence and resistance to the Crown, and +would only allow themselves to be influenced by their chivalric usages. +They gloried in showing themselves reckless of the future, caring more +about the glitter of the present than steady progressive advancement; +equally prodigal of fortune as of life, they were prone to follow +impulse rather than calculation; so that what we should perhaps call a +reckless frivolity was looked upon by them as a sentiment invested with +all the charm of brilliant gallantry. Those even whom neither their +affection nor their interest summoned to the standards of the captive +Princes, rushed gaily from the midst of their ease and festivity into +civil war at the first prompting of their mistresses. + +Gaston d'Orleans, after having consented to the imprisonment of the +Princes, only decided upon entering into the project for their +deliverance under promise of a marriage of his daughter, the Duchess +d'Alencon, with the boy-Duke d'Enghien, Conde's son. Turenne and La +Rochefoucauld, too, often thought less of their glory or the success of +their party, than of what might be agreeable to the Duchess de +Longueville, of whose love they were so envious. More obscure +_liaisons_, which have even escaped the anecdotic abundance of the +memoir-writers of those days, appear also to have exercised their +influence over the conduct of the highest personages. In a letter which +De Retz wrote to Turenne, and which he frankly characterises as being +remarkably silly, the Coadjutor does not disguise that amongst many +serious motives which he gives that great warrior for inducing him to +determine upon peace, he does not forget to hold out a hope of his +seeing once more a little grisette of the Rue des Petits-Champs, whom +Turenne loved with all his heart. The feeblest motives had influence +over such men, all young and ardent as they were--the followers of +different factions, though without prejudices, principles, convictions, +without hatred and without affection. The women therefore naturally +played important parts in all these events, to whom the species of +gallantry and worship of beauty held in honour by the Hotel de +Rambouillet was quite familiar. Thus nothing could be expected of the +Duke de Beaufort, even in that which concerned him closest, if not +assured previously of the consent of the Duchess de Montbazon, who +exercised plenary power over him. Nemours, enamoured of the Duchess de +Chatillon, loved likewise by the Prince de Conde, warmly embraced the +cause of that Prince, because his mistress prompted him thereto; and the +Duchess de Nemours had moved heaven and earth to obtain Conde's +deliverance, in the hope that he would keep sharp watch over the Duchess +de Chatillon, and put a stop to her husband's infidelity. + +De Retz too, notwithstanding the superiority of his intellect, allowed +himself to give way, through his inclination for the fair sex, to the +commission of indiscretions and imprudences which often placed his life +in danger, and caused his best-concerted measures to prove abortive. To +appease the jealousy of Mademoiselle de Chevreuse he permitted himself +to make use of a contemptuous expression concerning the Queen, which was +repeated, and which became the cause of the violent hatred she ever +afterwards bore him. The Princess de Guemenee, furious at having been +abandoned, offered the Queen, if she would consent to it, to procure the +disappearance of the Coadjutor by sending him an invitation, and then +having him confined in a cellar of her hotel. De Retz learned that a +design to assassinate him had been formed, and whenever he repaired to +the Hotel de Chevreuse, by way of precaution placed sentinels outside +the gate of that mansion, and quite close to the Queen's sentries who +guarded the Palais-Royal, without heeding the effect such an excess of +insolence and scandal produced. With every kind of talent fitting to +dominate party spirit, he failed to acquire the confidence of anyone. He +regarded all alliance with the foreigner as odious and impolitic; and +notwithstanding, when his embarrassments increased, he lent an ear to +the Archduke's envoy, and even to that of Cromwell. At the same time, +full of admiration for the Marquis of Montrose, whom he called a hero +worthy of Plutarch, he contracted the closest friendship with the +Scottish royalist, and aided him to the utmost of his ability in the +efforts he was making to restore to the throne the legitimate King of +Great Britain. De Retz, in few words, appeared anxious to show himself +as taking pleasure in exhausting every kind of contrast. When the +intricate plot of the drama in which he was engaged had become so +complicated by his intrigues, that he no longer saw the possibility of +unravelling it, he sought means to retire from the situation with the +greatest advantage practicable for himself and friends, and to obtain +the Cardinal's hat. The marriage of Mademoiselle de Chevreuse with the +Prince de Conti became the essential condition of all the negotiations +which he carried on, whether with the Court or with the Duchess de +Chevreuse. The remembrance of an old and close friendship, the habit of +a familiarity contracted in youth, gave the Duchess de Chevreuse a means +of influence over that Queen, so fixed in her hatred, so inconstant in +her friendships. Anne of Austria, who then, moreover, found herself very +miserable through the obstacles which so many factions created, had +partially restored the Duchess to her confidence. Madame de Chevreuse +appeared also to have the same interests as De Retz, since, like him, +she desired intensely the union of her daughter with a Prince of the +blood. But she had large sums of money to recover from the Government, +and the success of her claims depended on the decision of the prime +minister. She therefore used her utmost tact with Mazarin, negotiating +at the same time with him, as well as with the Old and the New Fronde. +She turned to her own profit the influence that her connections at +Court, with the Coadjutor, and with the Princes gave her in all the +several factions. She was assisted in her intrigues by the Marquis de +Laignes, a man of courage but little intellect, who, from the time of +her exile at Brussels, had declared himself her lover in order to gain +importance in the faction of the Fronde, which he had embraced. As +little more of the attractions of her youth were left to Madame de +Chevreuse, save their pristine celebrity, she had not always to +congratulate herself upon the good humour and behaviour of De Laignes. +The latter had been until then wholly devoted to the Coadjutor; but De +Retz soon perceived that De Laignes entered into projects different from +his own. At length, to have some one who could be responsible to him +for Madame de Chevreuse, he endeavoured to substitute Hacqueville as a +go-between in the place of De Laignes. Hacqueville was the intimate +friend of De Retz and also of Madame de Sevigne; and seconded by Madame +de Chevreuse and Madame de Rhodes, De Retz might have succeeded in the +expulsion of Laignes, if Hacqueville would have consented to that +project. No man could be more obliging than Hacqueville; but, +notwithstanding the disposition he showed to be useful to his friends, +he shrank from such continual immolation of himself. Probably also he +was too honest a man to lend himself to such a procedure. + +Madame de Sevigne,--in every way qualified to play a distinguished part +in the exciting game of politics,--was so entirely devoted to her +husband and children as to be a stranger to all these intrigues; but she +was more or less connected with the persons who seconded the Coadjutor's +projects, and consequently with the Duchess de Chevreuse. An article in +the "Muse Historique" of Loret shows how intimate was the connection of +Madame de Sevigne with that Duchess. In the month of July, 1850, on +returning from a promenade in the Cours, then the fashionable drive +among the highest society, the Marquis and Marchioness de Sevigne gave a +splendid supper to the Duchess de Chevreuse. The noisy manner in which +the Frondeurs expressed their delight made this nocturnal repast almost +assume the character of an orgie; and, for that reason, it became for +awhile the talk of the capital. The rhyming gazetteer thus expresses +himself on the subject: + + On fait ici grand' mention + D'une belle collation + Qu'a la Duchesse de Chevreuse + Sevigne, de race frondeuse, + Donna depuis quatre ou cinq jours, + Quand on fut revenue du Cours. + On y vit briller aux chandelles + Des gorges passablement belles; + On y vit nombre de galants; + On y mangea des ortolans; + On chanta des chansons a boire; + On dit cent fois non--oui--non, voire. + La Fronde, dit-on, y claqua; + Un plat d'argent on escroqua; + On repandit quelque potage, + Et je n'en sais pas davantage.[1] + + [1] Loret, Muse Historique, liv. i., p. 28, Letter 10. + +It will be seen from these details, that already the manners and customs +of the great world reflected the licence of the civil wars, and that +they no longer resembled those of which the Hotel de Rambouillet still +presented a purer model. It may be possible also that there was some +exaggeration in Loret's description: he belonged to the Court party, +received a pension of two hundred crowns from Mazarin, and detested the +Fronde. His rhyming gazette was addressed to his protectress, +Mademoiselle de Longueville, so much the more opposed to the Fronde that +her stepmother was the heroine of that faction. Mademoiselle de +Longueville, whose harsh strictures upon the Conde family have been +cited, and who subsequently became the wife of the Duke de Nemours, is +often mentioned in the writings of her time, although she was never +mixed up in any political intrigue, nor took part in any event. Her +immense fortune, the clearness of her judgment, the elevation of her +sentiments, her grand airs, the severe dignity of her manners, and the +energy of her character, constituted her during the Regency and the +long reign of Louis XIV. a personage quite apart; who submitted herself +to no influence whatever, social or political, and who no more permitted +that absolute monarch to induce her to vary in her determinations, than +to change the fashion of her external habiliments. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + STATE OF PARTIES ON THE LIBERATION OF THE PRINCES--THE CARDS AGAIN + SHUFFLED, AND THE FACE OF THE SITUATION CHANGED. + + +AT the commencement of 1651 all France clamoured for Conde's liberation. +During the autumn Mazarin had led the Queen and the young King against +Bordeaux, then held by the Princess de Conde, carrying--as usual when +forced to use both means--a sword in one hand and a roll of parchment in +the other. Failing to carry the place with the first, the Cardinal began +to negotiate a treaty of peace, the principal item of which was full +pardon to the citizens, and by others an agreement that the Princess and +her son should retire to Montrond: on these terms the city yielded to +its sovereign. The Cardinal also obtained a victory in the field against +Turenne, who had entered the service of Spain and fired upon the +fleur-de-lis. But with this momentary success of Mazarin's cause rose +his pretensions and demands; and the Fronde, alarmed at his recovered +authority, changed its tactics as its Protean genius De Retz frequently +did his clothes--his cassock for a plumed hat and military cloak. It +demanded the trial or liberation of the prisoners it had helped to send +to Vincennes, without delay, and Mazarin removed them for safe custody +to Havre. It then pronounced sentence of banishment on the obnoxious +minister, and ordered him to quit the kingdom within fifteen days. The +town militia kept watch and ward over the Queen, by the command of the +Coadjutor, and hindered her flight to join the favourite. She could +offer no further resistance to those who now called themselves the +friends of Conde, but who were the very same persons who had fought him +in the field a few months before. Orders were given to set the captives +at liberty. Mazarin himself went to Havre to communicate the news of +their freedom, and was received by them with the contempt that he might +have expected. Conde took leave of the Cardinal with a ringing peal of +laughter, and with joyous acclamations, and bonfires, and firing of +guns, made his triumphal entry into Paris. + +Conde was now master of the situation. He found himself equally courted +by the two other chief parties into which the State was divided--the +Queen's, supported by the Duke de Bouillon, and the now repentant and +pardoned Turenne--and the Fronde, which had fallen into the guidance of +the Duke d'Orleans, the Coadjutor, and the Duchess de Chevreuse. His own +was called "the Prince's," and comprised Rochefoucauld and other +personal friends and military admirers. The Duke d'Orleans had gone on +before to meet Conde as far as the plain of St. Denis, accompanied by +the two most conspicuous representatives of the Fronde, the Duke de +Beaufort and Retz, with the Coadjutor of Paris, and there they all +warmly embraced. The Duke, having taken the Prince into his carriage, +brought him in great pomp to the Palais Royal to salute the Queen Regent +and the young King, and thence to the Palais d'Orleans, where he was +feasted magnificently. Some days afterwards (February 25th) a royal +ordonnance recognised the innocence of the Princes Conde, Conti, and +the Duke de Longueville, and reinstated them in all their posts and +governments. On the 27th this ordonnance was confirmed in Parliament +amidst loud cheers. Conde thus found himself at the highest degree of +power to which a subject could reach. Misfortune had enhanced his +military glory; a long captivity, endured with an unalterable serenity +and high-hearted gaiety, had carried his popularity to the highest +pitch. He was the victor, and, as it were, the designated heir, of +Mazarin, who had fled before him, and with difficulty found a refuge +without the kingdom, on the banks of the Rhine. + +Thus, Anne of Austria in some sort a prisoner, and Mazarin proscribed, +the nobility showed itself entirely devoted to the young hero whom it +recognized as its chief. Some among them at once proposed that the Queen +Mother should be confined in the Val-de-Grace, and that the Prince +should himself assume the Regency, others talked even of raising him to +the throne, but Conde did not fail to perceive that his newly acquired +power was not so solid as it was sought to make him believe. + +Meanwhile, Mazarin having quitted Havre, and the inhabitants of +Abbeville refusing him passage through their town, he found an asylum +for a few days at Dourlens; but he was soon driven thence by the +proceedings of the Parliament against him. He then retired to Sedan, +where he took counsel with his friend Fabert, whom he had appointed +Commandant there. He next proceeded to Cologne, being treated with the +utmost distinction and hospitality in all the foreign towns through +which he passed. + +Even in banishment, however, the old influence began to work. The +Cardinal from his place of retirement governed the Queen with as +absolute a sway as ever, and recommended her, as a keen stroke of +policy which would neutralize all parties, to take the young King to a +_Bed of Justice_, and cause him to declare his majority. Couriers were +going daily between Paris and Cologne; treaties between the Fronde and +Mazarin were intercepted or forged, and published in the capital; the +post of Prime Minister remained unfilled, and the Duke de Mercoeur, +notwithstanding all the thunders of Parliament, set out for Bruhl, with +the purpose of marrying Mazarin's niece. Everything announced that the +exile of that hated minister was but temporary, and Conde, perceiving +the object of all these moves, prepared for war, and silently took his +measures accordingly. + +The nobility, who, from the beginning of February, had begun to assemble +in order to take part in the expulsion of Mazarin, now held their +meetings in the monastery hall of the Cordeliers, where might be seen +collected together as many as _eight hundred_ princes, dukes, and +noblemen, heads of the most considerable houses in France, all partisans +of Conde. As this numerical strength of the ennobled classes, together +with the multiplicity of titles among them, is somewhat startling to a +youthful English student, it may be well to remark that France had, in +fact, three aristocracies in the course of her annals from the Crusades +to the reign of Louis XIV. After the time of Louis XI., the +representatives of the _first_, or old feudal aristocracy, the +descendants of the men who were in reality the King's peers, and not his +actual subjects, were few and far between. These were the holders of +vast principalities, who maintained a kind of royal state in their own +possessions, and kept high courts of judicature over life and limb in +the whole extent of their hereditary fiefs. In the long English wars, +from Crecy to Agincourt, the great body of them disappeared, and only +here and there a great vassal was to be seen, distinguished in nothing +from the other nobles, except in the loftiness of his titles and the +reverence that still clung to the sound of his historic name. The +_second_ aristocracy arose among the descendants of the survivors of the +English and Italian wars. They claimed their rank, not as coming down to +them from the tenure of almost independent counties and dukedoms, but as +proprietors of ancestral lands, to which originally subordinate rights +and duties had been attached. Mixed with those, we saw the Noblesse of +the Robe, as the great law officers were called, who constituted a +parallel but not identical nobility with their lay competitors. The +_third_ aristocracy was now about to make its appearance, the creation +of Court favour, and badge of personal or official service--possessors +of a nominal rank without any corresponding duty--a body selected for +ornament, and not for use--and incorporating with itself, not only the +marquis and viscount, fresh from the mint of the minister or favourite, +but the highest names in France. + +The aristocracy of the sword, and of ancient birth, had itself to blame +for this degradation. Great alterations in manners or government--such +as give a new character to human affairs--always seem brought about by +some strange relaxation of morals, or atrocity of conduct, which makes +society anxious for the change. The unfortunate custom in France which +gave every male member of a noble family a title equivalent to that of +its chief, so that a simple viscount with ten stalwart and penniless +sons gave ten stalwart and penniless viscounts to the aristocracy of his +country, had filled the whole land with a race of men proud of their +origin, filled with reckless courage, careless of life, and despising +all honest means of employment by which their fortunes might have been +improved. Mounted on a sorry steed and begirt with a sword of good +steel, the young cavalier took his way from the miserable castle on a +rock, where his noble father tried in vain to keep up the appearance of +daily dinners, and wondered how in the world all his remaining sons and +daughters were to be clothed and fed, and made his way to Paris. There +he pushed his fortune--fighting, bullying, gambling, and was probably +stabbed by some drunken companion and flung into the Seine. If he was +lucky or adroit enough, he stabbed his drunken friend and pushed _him_ +into the stream; and, after a few months of suing and importunity, +obtained a saddle in the King's Guards, or a pair of boots in the +Musqueteers. At this time it came out that in twenty years of the reign +of Louis XIII. there had been eight thousand fatal duels in different +parts of the realm. Out of the duels which were daily carried on, four +hundred in each year had ended in the death of one of the combatants. +When the fiercest of English wars is shaking every heart in the kingdom, +there would be wailing and misery in every house if it were reported +that four hundred officers had been killed in a year. Yet these young +desperadoes were all of officer's rank, and the quarrel in which they +fell was probably either dishonourable or contemptible. Men fought and +killed each other for a word or a look, or a fashion of dress, or the +mere sake of killing. Where morality is loosened to the extent of a +disregard of life, we may be sure the general behaviour in other +respects is equally to be deplored. There was great and almost universal +depravity in the conduct of high and low. Vice and sensuality found +refuge and protection even in the presence of princesses and queens. +People residing in remote places heard only of the gorgeous licence in +which the great and powerful lived. They knew them only during their +visits to their ancestral homes as worn-out debauchees from the great +city, who brought the profligacy of the purlieus of the Louvre into the +peaceful cottages of the peasantry on their estates. It was, indeed, so +much the fashion to be wicked, that a gentleman was hindered from the +practice of his Christian or social duties by the fear of ridicule. The +life of man, therefore, and the honour of woman were held equally cheap; +and the blinded, rash, and self-indulgent nobility laid the foundation, +in contempt of the feelings of its inferiors and neglect of their +interests, for the terrible retribution which even now at intervals +might be seen ready to take its course. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + THE DUCHESSES DE LONGUEVILLE AND DE CHEVREUSE AND THE PRINCESS + PALATINE IN THE LAST FRONDE.--RESULTS OF THE RUPTURE OF THE MARRIAGE + PROJECTED BETWEEN THE PRINCE DE CONTI AND MADEMOISELLE DE CHEVREUSE. + + +WE must now revert to Conde's heroic sister. Having glanced somewhat +hastily at the brilliant part played by Madame de Longueville in the two +first epochs of the Fronde, the war of Paris and that which illuminated +the prison of Conde, we are now about to follow her through the third +and last period, which commences from the deliverance of the Princes, in +February, 1651, and only ends with the war of Guienne, in August, +1653;--the longest, the most disastrous, and at the same time most +obscure epoch of the civil war. It will be necessary to strip the mask +from more than one illustrious actor in it, exhibit the reverse of the +most showy medals, and the shadows which everywhere mingle with glory, +genius, and even virtue itself. The character of the Duchess de +Longueville has its charming, its sublime aspects; but, alas! it is far +from being irreproachable. In dwelling upon the least favourable portion +of her life, we shall often do well to remember that the errors of great +minds sometimes subserve their perfection, by the beneficent virtue of +the remorse to which they give rise, and that the sister of the Great +Conde must probably have felt in all its fulness the vanity of ambition +and of false grandeur, all the bitterness of guilty passions, in taking +an early farewell of them, to resume the austere path of duty, to +return, in fine, to Carmel and ascend to Port Royal. + +Madame de Longueville had remained at Stenay with Turenne for some time +after her brother's and husband's liberation, both occupied in +disengaging themselves from the engagements which they had contracted +with Spain for the deliverance of the Princes, and with negotiating a +truce calculated to clear the way for the much-desired general peace. +Recalled by the pressing instances of her family, she had quitted Stenay +on the 7th of March, before the completion of her work. On arriving in +Paris "universal applause greeted her heroic deeds." Monsieur had +hastened to pay her a visit with Mademoiselle Montpensier, and a train +of ladies of the highest distinction. She went afterwards that same day +to present her homage to their Majesties, from whom she met with the +most gracious reception. That moment was, unquestionably, the most +brilliant of her whole career. In 1647, after the embassy to Munster, +her return to France and its Court had been also a veritable triumph, as +we have attempted to show; but the power of her house and the glory of +her brother constituted nearly all the merits of it. She only +contributed thereto the influence of her wit and beauty. After Stenay, +the _eclat_ which surrounded her was in some sort more personal. She had +just displayed eminent qualities which raised her almost to the level of +Conde. In Normandy she had exhibited herself as an intrepid adventuress, +and a skilful politician in the Low Countries. When, during the +imprisonment of her two brothers and her husband, her sister-in-law, the +Princess de Conde, had been forced at Bordeaux to recognize the royal +authority, she discovered that the destinies of her house had devolved +upon her. She had become the head of a great party. She had treated as +from power to power with Spain; her word had appeared a sufficient +guarantee to the Archduke Leopold and to the Count de Fuensaldagne. She +had held in hand such commanders as Turenne, La Moussaye, Bouteville; +and when, after the battle of Rethel, she seemed to be on the very verge +of destruction, she had succeeded in recovering the advantage, and in +contributing more than any one else to the deliverance of the Princes, +thanks to the profound negotiations carried on in her name by the +Princess Palatine. Whilst statesmen estimated her capacity, the +multitude admired her courage and constancy. She was, in short, in +possession of that political role with which La Rochefoucauld had +dazzled her gaze in order to conceal his own designs:--a glittering +chimera which, mingling itself with that of love, had seduced that +ardent and haughty soul of hers. She was then the idol of Spain, the +terror of the Court, one of the grandeurs of her family. We shall soon +see whether she can better sustain this new ordeal than she did the +first, at the close of the year 1647. + +The Fronde gathered the fruit of its skilful conduct during the month of +January, 1651. It was that faction which, silencing its old animosities +and promptly extending its hand to the partisans of Conde, had +extricated him from prison, in order to acquire and place at its head, +together with the King's uncle, the lieutenant-general of the Kingdom, +the first prince of the blood, the victor of Rocroi and Lens, the hero +of the age. It carried everything before it--at Court, in parliament, +upon the public places; it had proscribed and put to flight Mazarin; it +held Anne of Austria a captive in her palace; already even it had +penetrated into the cabinet in the person of the aged Chateauneuf, in +whom ambition cherished beneath the snows of winter the vigour of youth, +and whose capacity was scarcely inferior to his ambition. The moment had +arrived for accomplishing the work already begun, and for putting into +execution the plan determined upon between the Princess Palatine and +Madame de Chevreuse. + +Those two strong-minded women had conceived the idea of a grand +aristocratic league which should seat the Fronde upon an union of all +the interests which it comprised, close the avenues of France and the +Court to Mazarin, and under the auspices of the Duke d'Orleans and the +Prince de Conde form a government into which the friends of both should +enter, the most accredited representatives of every fraction of a party. +Further, the basis of this plan was that of a double marriage: on the +one side between the young Duke d'Enghien and one of the Duke d'Orleans' +daughters, on the other between the Prince de Conti and the daughter of +Madame de Chevreuse.[1] This latter marriage might be accomplished +immediately. Conde had accepted the proposition without any difficulty. +Madame de Longueville, far from opposing it at Stenay, had embraced the +idea of it with so much ardour that, in a letter to the Palatine of the +26th of November, 1650, after having weighed the different resolutions +to be taken, she stops at this latter, and concludes thus: "_this, +therefore, is what we must stick to_." That marriage was, in short, of a +supreme importance: it gave the house of Conde to the Fronde for ever, +and the Fronde to the house of Conde; for the Fronde was then Madame de +Chevreuse. She disposed, by her daughter, of the Coadjutor, who in his +turn disposed of the Duke d'Orleans, and by him of the parliament. It +was Madame de Chevreuse who, in 1650, had emboldened Mazarin to lay his +hand upon Conde, in making him see that he might strike that bold stroke +with impunity, since she answered to him for the secret connivance of +the Duke d'Orleans and the parliament, who were alone able to oppose it. +Here, Mazarin had committed an immense blunder: seeing himself delivered +from Conde, by the aid of the Fronde, having nothing more hostile to +cope with than the latter, he had imagined himself able to turn round +upon it, and had treated Madame de Chevreuse very cavalierly, who, +growing cold towards the Cardinal, and no longer finding it to her +account to serve him, had lent an ear to the propositions of Conde's +friends, and had procured his release from prison, reconciling to him +the Duke d'Orleans and the parliament, which at first she had stirred up +against him. She brought, moreover, to the house of Conde the most +politic mind of the Fronde, an audacity towering to the height of his +designs, a consummate experience, with the support of her three powerful +families, the houses of de Rohan, de Luynes, and Lorraine. She rendered +sure the alliance of the Duke d'Orleans and the Prince de Conde, and +completed the ruin of Mazarin by constructing a strong government which +probably might have succeeded ultimately in triumphing over the +affection of the Queen. She held in hand a statesman bred in the school +of Richelieu, and whom she judged capable of replacing Mazarin, the +former Keeper of the Seals--Chateauneuf, already a member of the +Cabinet. She believed herself certain of acquiring De Retz by means of +the Cardinal's hat. She had not the least objection to make to the +elevation of the friends of Conde, and she was ready to favour the +ambition of La Rochefoucauld, for whom formerly, in 1643, she had so +greatly importuned the Queen and Mazarin. Add to all this, that on +quitting the citadel of Havre, the young Prince de Conti had not beheld +the lovely Charlotte de Lorraine without being smitten with her charms, +and he himself strongly desired that marriage. Who, then, prevented it? +Who broke off the contracted engagement? Who struck at and wounded by +the self-same blow the Palatine and Madame de Chevreuse? Who restored +them both and for ever to the Queen and Mazarin? Who destroyed the +Fronde by dividing it? We shall find out by-and-by, but let us merely +say just now that it was the rupture of that marriage which again +shuffled the cards and changed the face of the situation. In pitting +against himself those who had so powerfully succoured him in his +misfortune, Conde ought at least to have drawn closer to the Court and +had a serious understanding with the Queen; but he tergiversated, and at +the end of some months of that wavering policy, he found himself +standing unmasked between the Court and the Fronde, both equally +discontented with him, repeating and exaggerating the blunder committed +by Mazarin. The greatest error during the course of a revolution is to +believe that the support of either of the parties who are in actual +collision may be dispensed with. At the close of a revolution the +attempt to dominate may be tried; during the crisis a choice must be +made. Mazarin had fallen through having tried to dominate the Fronde and +Conde at one and the same time; Conde lost himself in thinking to +dominate the Fronde and the Court. + + [1] Retz himself has taken care to inform us of his sad _liaison_ + with Mademoiselle de Chevreuse, throughout the whole of the second + volume and beginning of the third of his Memoirs. Amsterdam edition, + 1731. That unfortunate lady died suddenly of a fever, unmarried, in + 1652. She was born in 1627. + +It is an historical problem very difficult to solve, as to who was the +author of the rupture of the marriage projected between the Prince de +Conti and Mademoiselle de Chevreuse. We are well inclined to believe +that that individual at any rate was the chief author of the rupture to +whom it was the most profitable. The Queen and Mazarin, who from his +place of retirement governed her with as absolute a sway as ever, saw +from the first the danger which threatened them from such an alliance, +entirely unexpected as it was by both. The negotiations between Madame +de Chevreuse, while Conde was prisoner, and Madame de Longueville at +Stenay, had been conducted by the Palatine with such consummate skill +and perfect secrecy that neither the Queen nor Mazarin had the slightest +suspicion of them. When the rumour reached the ears of the Cardinal in +his retreat at Bruhl, near Cologne, he broke out against Madame de +Chevreuse with a violence the coarseness of which even was an +involuntary homage rendered to the profound ability of Marie de Rohan. +The Queen showed herself warmly opposed to it, and the ministers were +ordered to thwart in every way the projected alliance. They began, +therefore, to negotiate with Conde. As a result of these negotiations he +obtained in exchange for his government of Burgundy that of Guienne, one +of far greater importance; he was even led to indulge a hope that +Provence would be given to the Prince de Conti instead of Champagne and +La Brie, and the port and fortress of Blaye to La Rochefoucauld in +augmentation of his government of Poitou, although there was not the +slightest intention of fulfilling that hope. So states the Duchess de +Nemours, the enemy of the Fronde and the Condes, and who, having given +herself to the Court party, must have well known its intentions. De Retz +likewise doubts not that the Queen combated an alliance so evidently +opposed to her interests. Madame de Motteville, the Queen's close +friend, avows it. In short, it is certain, and we have hereupon the +irrefragable testimony of Madame de Motteville, that when the Queen had +succeeded in gaining over Conde, she caused Madame de Chevreuse to be +informed "that she desired that such marriage should not take place, +because it had been concerted for objects inimical to the royal +interests. This command was the cause of all these propositions falling +through and that they were no more spoken of." + +But how did the Queen gain over Conde, and what part did Madame de +Longueville play in the affair? That is certainly what neither De Retz +could know, who was only aware of what passed in parliament, in the +Palais d'Orleans, and the Hotel de Chevreuse; nor the Duchess de Nemours +and Madame de Motteville, who were not in the confidence of the Hotel de +Conde: they could only repeat hereupon what they had heard said in the +Court circle, and they must be considered solely as the echoes of +reports which it suited the Queen to spread. That is so probable that +the one and the other, differing so widely as they did both in intention +and feeling, tell exactly the same tale. Madame de Motteville states +positively that Madame de Longueville, as soon as she returned from +Stenay, advised Conde to break with the Chevreuses, and that La +Rochefoucauld supported her in such design; and these are the motives +which she attributes to her:--"Madame de Longueville, who had been long +jealous of the beauty and graces of Mademoiselle de Chevreuse, could +little bear to contemplate the probability of her being raised to a rank +even more elevated than her own, and still less, that she should obtain +the great influence which such a person was likely to acquire over both +her princely brothers. She had, therefore, exerted all her influence +over Conde, and with him had been quite successful. But Conti was still +in the height of his passion for the beautiful and fascinating girl who +had been promised to him during his imprisonment; he supped every +evening at the Hotel de Chevreuse, and his affections, as well as his +honour, were fully engaged." The Duchess de Nemours says the same thing +in the same terms. + +Confidant and adviser of Madame de Longueville and of Conde, La +Rochefoucauld alone knew the whole truth, and could have told it to +posterity; but it was not to tell the truth that his memoirs were +penned, only too frequently to conceal it, to set in strong relief that +which had been well done, and slur over that which had been badly done, +or to cast the blame of it upon others. Attentive to the study of his +part, and to never accept a bad one, La Rochefoucauld says truly that +the Frondeurs, eagerly pressing forwards the marriage of the Prince de +Conti with Mademoiselle de Chevreuse, and seeing it retarded, "suspected +Madame de Longueville and the Duke de la Rochefoucauld of a design to +break it off, for fear that the Prince de Conti should escape from their +hands only to fall into those of Madame de Chevreuse and of the +Coadjutor;" but he endeavours to give a reason for these suspicions, and +to inform us whether they were well or ill founded. Instead of defending +himself, and Madame de Longueville, he accuses Conde of having "adroitly +increased the suspicions of the Frondeurs against his sister and La +Rochefoucauld, firmly believing that so long as they held that belief, +they would never discover the true cause of the postponement of the +marriage." And what was that true cause? Here it is, according to La +Rochefoucauld: it was that the Prince de Conde "not having as yet +either concluded or broken off his treaty with the Queen, and having +been informed that the keeper of the seals--Chateauneuf--was about to be +dismissed, wished to await that event to conclude the marriage, if +Cardinal Mazarin were ruined by M. de Chateauneuf, or to break it off +and make through that his court to the Queen, should M. de Chateauneuf +be driven away by the Cardinal." + +This interpretation of Conde's conduct does not do him great honour, but +it is a very probable one. In the first place, if La Rochefoucauld knew +how to glide so cleverly over all the ticklish points in which he could +not appear to advantage, he did not, strictly speaking, tell lies; he +retires rather than attacks, unless hurried away by passion, and he was +never in a passion with Conde. And, further, the conduct which he +attributes to Conde springs quite naturally out of the false position in +which Conde had, by degrees, suffered himself to be placed. + +Altogether, we are persuaded that Conde was then sincere. His sole +error, and it is that which marked his entire conduct during the Fronde, +was the not having had, either on this occasion or any other, a fixed +and unalterable object. On the 13th of April the Queen took the seals +from Madame de Chevreuse's friend, Chateauneuf, the representative of +the Fronde in the Cabinet, to give them to the gravest person of his +time, the first president, Mathieu Mole, a worthy servant of the State, +very little friendly to the Fronde, and who then was sufficiently +favourable towards the Prince de Conde. That same day she recalled to +the Council as Secretary of State the Count de Chavigny, who had been +formerly minister for Foreign Affairs under Richelieu. Formed in the +school of the great Cardinal, as well as Mazarin, ousted from place, +crafty and resolute, feeling himself capable of bearing the weight of a +ministry, Chavigny had beheld with a sufficiently ominous countenance, +after the death of their common master, the sudden elevation of a +colleague who had even begun by being his dependent. Since 1643, vanity +had turned him aside from the high road of ambition, and he had +entangled himself in the brakes of very complicated intrigues. In 1651, +he passed as the friend of Conde. It was then only, if we can believe La +Rochefoucauld, that Conde declared himself opposed to the marriage of +his youthful brother with Mademoiselle de Chevreuse; and it was time +that he opposed it, for that marriage was on the eve of accomplishment. +Conti gave proof of the most ardent passion for Mademoiselle de +Chevreuse; he paid her a thousand attentions which he hid from his +friends, and particularly from his sister, for whom he ever professed to +entertain an undivided adoration. He held long conferences with the +Marquis de Laigues and other intimate friends of Mademoiselle de +Chevreuse; it was even feared lest he should marry her without the +necessary dispensations and without the participation of the head of his +family. Conde, therefore, decided to act at once, and the reputation of +the fair lady afforded him a means of attack which he employed with +success upon his brother. He seems to have had no great difficulty in +attaining his object. The Prince de Conti soon received proof that she +was not by any means so immaculate as he had believed: her scarcely +doubtful connection with the Coadjutor was placed in its true light, +and, convinced that the object of his passion was unworthy the love of a +man of honour, he began to look upon her with horror. He even blamed +Madame de Longueville and the Duke de la Rochefoucauld for not having +warned him sooner of what was said of her in society. From that moment +means of breaking off the affair without acrimony were sought; but +the interests involved were too great, and the circumstances too piquant +not to renew and augment still more the old hatred of Madame de +Chevreuse and the Frondeurs against the Prince de Conde, and against +those whom they suspected of taking part in that which had just been +done.[2] + + [2] La Rochefoucauld, p. 69. Retz, tom, ii., p. 223. + +This testimony would justify Madame de Longueville and La Rochefoucauld +himself for having urged Conde upon that disloyal and impolitic rupture, +if one could believe it to be entirely sincere; but it is very difficult +to admit that Madame de Longueville and her all-powerful adviser could +have remained strangers to a determination so important, and there are +many doubts and obscurities resting upon this delicate point. De Retz, +whose introspect was so penetrating, and who does not pride himself on +any great reserve in his judgments, knew not what opinion to +form--Conde, Madame de Longueville, and La Rochefoucauld having +afterwards assured him that they had had nothing to do with the rupture +of the marriage. + +But whose soever was the hand that broke off the projected alliance of +the Condes with Madame de Chevreuse, it is beyond doubt that that had +lost Conde and saved Mazarin. All the errors which followed were derived +from that cardinal one. In it must be discerned the first link of that +chain of disastrous events which ended by dragging Conde into civil war. + +The resentment of Madame de Chevreuse may well be imagined, when she +discovered that she had been tricked, that she had separated herself +from Mazarin and the Queen, and had drawn Conde out of prison only to +receive in exchange such an unpardonable outrage! Already, even a short +time before, when the Queen ousted Chateauneuf without consulting the +Duke d'Orleans, the wrath of the Frondeurs had been such, that at a +council held at the Palais d'Orleans of the whole party, it was proposed +to go, on the part of the lieutenant-general, and demand back the seals +from Mathieu Mole. The most violent expedients were suggested, and some +among the more hot-headed spoke of seizing their arms and descending +into the streets. Conde, who had not yet entirely broken with the +Frondeurs, and was present at this council with a few of his friends, +threw cold water upon every proposal that was made, and energetically +opposed the appeal to arms, declaring that he did not understand waging +"a war of paving-stones and _pots de chambre_," and that he felt himself +too much of a coward for such a campaign as that. + +After some time passed in sharp discussion, the Duke retired into the +apartments of his wife with De Retz, and there a brief consultation +ensued, in which the Duchess d'Orleans, Madame de Chevreuse, and the +Coadjutor endeavoured to persuade him to arrest the leaders of the +opposite party, and rouse the people to insurrection. The Duke d'Orleans +was in some degree moved; Conde, Conti, and the Duke de Beaufort and +others, had retired into the library, and Mademoiselle de Chevreuse, +springing towards the door, exclaimed, "Nothing is wanting but a turn of +the key! It would be a fine thing indeed for a girl to arrest a winner +of battles!" + +The impetuosity of Mademoiselle de Chevreuse, however, alarmed the timid +Duke d'Orleans. Had he been brought to it by degrees, he might have +consented to the act; but her movement towards the door startled him, +and he began to whistle,--which, as De Retz observes, was never a good +sign. Then declaring that he would consider of the matter till the next +morning, he walked quietly into the library, and suffered the guests to +depart in peace whom he had been so sorely tempted to make prisoners. + +At the same time in the parliament all the violent measures taken +against Mazarin were renewed: he was banished and rebanished, with +confiscation of his possessions, and even his books and pictures were +ordered to be sold. A decree had already been passed declaring all +foreign cardinals incapable of serving in France, and of entering into +the ministry. They did not stop there, and certain councillors who were +not in the secrets of the party, and obeying only their passion, +proposed to exclude from the ministry even the French cardinals as being +still too dependent upon Rome. This sweeping motion was carried amid +loud cheers, which resounded through all parts of the hall. Whereupon +Conde laughingly remarked: "There's a fine echo." That same echo was the +ruin of De Retz's hopes, who only so passionately desired to become a +cardinal in order to succeed to Mazarin. Shortly afterwards the division +between Conde and the Old Fronde was declared, and Conde applied himself +to form an intermediate party, a new Fronde, which became sufficiently +powerful to disquiet Madame de Chevreuse and the Coadjutor.[3] +"Imagine," says the latter, "what the royal authority purged of +Mazarinism would have been, and the party of the Prince de Conde purged +of faction! More than all, what surety was there in M. the Duke +d'Orleans!" + + [3] De Retz, tom, ii., p. 205. + + [4] The same, p. 214. + +But De Retz was not the only politician who terrified himself with the +idea of such a future looming thus darkly for France. Mazarin dreaded +it as much as he. His authority was almost universally thought to be for +ever annihilated; but a small number of courtiers who could read the +Queen's heart, judged otherwise, and owed to the skilful line of conduct +to which they adhered under these circumstances the high fortune to +which they attained in the sequel. + +There is little doubt that, in the first instance, Conde might have +carried off the Regency from the Queen, deprived as she was of her prime +minister, and by her own acknowledgment incapable of governing by +herself; but then the direction of affairs belonged by right to the Duke +d'Orleans, of whom Conde was jealous. Conde, however, preferred to keep +the Regency in the Queen's hands, and by rendering himself formidable to +the Government, forcing it to reckon with him. If that union of the +Princes between themselves and the Fronde faction had subsisted, the +re-establishment of the royal authority would have been impossible: and +the commencement of the reign of Louis the Fourteenth, who, although he +had only completed his thirteenth year, was about, by the force of an +exceptional law, to be declared of age, would have offered the +spectacle, so frequent in French annals,[5] of a state a prey to the +divulsion of factions and the horrors of anarchy. + + [5] Retz--La Rochefoucauld--Joly. + +But for the happiness of France and the Queen-Regent, Conde was as +unskilful in politics as he was great in war. He kept none of the +promises he had made to the chiefs of the Fronde, the authors of his +deliverance. The marriage of the Prince de Conti and Mademoiselle de +Chevreuse, which had been the base of the treaty, and involved other +engagements, was, as we have seen, remorselessly broken off. The Queen +Regent, in order to succeed in bringing back her favourite minister to +power, had the tact to conceal his advances, and therefore chose in the +first instance to replace him by Chavigny, who was his personal enemy. +Then she negotiated with all parties, and skilfully opposed the Fronde +to the Prince de Conde, the latter to the Duke d'Orleans, the parliament +to the assembly of the nobles, the aversion to Mazarin to the fear which +the Coadjutor inspired. Her ministers, whom she abused, had only the +semblance of power; all that was real was possessed by Mazarin. From +Bruhl, his place of exile, he governed France; the Queen adopted no +resolution without its having been inspired by him, or met with his +approval. Thus hidden by the Regent's mantle, the Cardinal followed with +vigilant eye the quarrels of the Prince de Conde and the Frondeurs, +fomenting them and inflaming them by every means at his disposal, +prodigalising to Conde promises which must in the highest degree have +alarmed the Fronde, and entangling him daily more and more in the meshes +of intricate, tortuous negotiations, until he had seen the separation, +for which he manoeuvred, irremediably consummated. Then he stopped, +and began insensibly even to fall back. The placing of Provence in the +Prince de Conti's hands was deferred; and in fact it was held in reserve +for the Duke de Mercoeur, the eldest son of the Duke de Vendome, who +was seeking the hand of one of Mazarin's nieces; and it was also found +inexpedient to deprive the Duke de Saint-Simon of Blaye to give it to La +Rochefoucauld; and a thousand other difficulties of a like nature were +raised, which both astonished and irritated Conde. Since he broke with +the Fronde, it was apparently to unite himself with the Queen, and the +higher his ambition soared, the more necessary it was to cover it with +respect and deference, in order to hasten and secure the treaty on +foot, and to enchain the monarchy with his own fate. But the fiery Conde +was incapable of such a line of conduct. Finding unexpected obstacles +where previously he had met with facilities and hopeful anticipations, +he lost his temper, and resumed the imperious tone which already, in +1649, had embroiled him with the Queen and Mazarin. + +It appears also that Madame de Longueville shared in the soaring +illusions of her brother, and that she bore but indifferently well her +newly blown prosperity. Madame de Motteville gives us to understand so +with her usual moderation, and the Duchess de Nemours rejoices to say so +with all the acrimony and doubtless also the exaggeration of hatred.[6] +It must, indeed, be owned, with the heroic instincts of Conde, Madame de +Longueville shared also his haughty spirit. All her contemporaries +ascribe to her an innate majesty which did not show itself on ordinary +occasions; far from it, she was simple, amiable, adding thereto, when +desirous of pleasing, a caressing and irresistible gentleness; but, with +people whom she disliked, she intrenched herself in a frigid dignity, +and Anne of Austria and she had never loved one another. A misplaced +haughtiness towards the Queen is attributed to her. One day, says Madame +de Nemours, she kept her waiting for two or three hours. It is very +doubtful whether Madame de Longueville could have so far forgotten +herself; but it is not impossible that she may have imagined, as well as +her brother, that the fortunes of their house, having emerged more +brilliant than ever from so rude a tempest, had no longer to dread the +recurrence of further ill-omened shocks. + + [6] Madame de Motteville, tom. iv., p. 346; Madame de Nemours, + p. 106. + +They deceived themselves: an immense peril was hanging over their heads. + +Immediately that Madame de Chevreuse had seen that the Queen was growing +colder towards Conde, and did not seem disposed to keep the promises +that had been made him, her keen-sighted animosity instantly determined +her course of action, and being for ever separated from Conde, she again +drew towards the Queen with an offer of her services and those of her +entire party against the common enemy. Mazarin, recognising the error he +had committed in giving himself two enemies at the same time, and that +at that moment the redoubtable individual, the man who at any cost must +be destroyed, was Conde, very quickly forgot his grudges against Madame +de Chevreuse, and advised the acceptance of her propositions. The Queen, +it appears, was very averse to receive De Retz, or avail herself of his +services; she detested him almost as much as she did Conde, well knowing +that they were the two most dangerous enemies of him without whom she +did not believe that she could really reign. Mazarin exhorted her +himself to flatter De Retz's ambition, and, marvellously understanding +each other at a distance--almost as well as when in each other's +presence,--they composed and played out in the most perfect manner a +comedy of which De Retz himself seems to have been the dupe, and of +which Conde was very nearly being the victim. + +Madame de Chevreuse has already been depicted both in good and evil, in +her natural intelligence, quickness, keen introspection, and political +genius, in her indomitable courage and audacity, and all that she was +capable of undertaking in order to attain her objects. It will now be +necessary to thoroughly understand De Retz's character, in order to +perceive clearly the peril with which Conde was menaced. + +By nature yet more restless than ambitious, a bad priest, impatient of +his condition and having long struggled to emancipate himself from it, +Paul de Gondi had prepared himself for cabals by composing or +translating the life of a celebrated conspirator. Then, passing quickly +from theory to practice, he had entered into one of the most sinister +plots framed against Richelieu, and for his first experiment he had +accepted the task, he, a young abbe, of assassinating the Cardinal at +the altar during the ceremony of Mademoiselle de Montpensier's baptism. +In 1643, he had not hesitated to throw himself into the arms of the +_Importants_; but the title of Coadjutor of Paris, which had just been +conferred upon him as a recompense for the virtues and services of his +father, arrested him. The Fronde seemed created altogether expressly for +him. He shared the parentage of it along with La Rochefoucauld. In vain +in his Memoirs does he studiedly put forward general considerations: +like La Rochefoucauld, he was only working for himself, and at least had +the candour to own it. Compelled to remain in the Church, De Retz +desired to rise in it as high as possible. He aspired to a cardinal's +hat, and soon obtained it, thanks to his inscrutable manoeuvring; but +his supreme object was the post of prime minister, and to reach it, he +played that double game which he so craftily concerted and so skilfully +played out. Seeing that Mazarin and Conde were not heads of a government +which would leave to others acting with them any great share of +importance, he undertook to overthrow them, the one by the other, to +carve out his way between them by them, and to raise upon their ruin the +Duke d'Orleans, under whose name he would govern. To effect this he +incessantly urged alike the Duke, the parliament, and the people, to +demand, as the first condition of any reconciliation with the Court, +the dismissal of Mazarin, and at the same time he, under a mask, +exhibited himself as a benevolent conciliator between royalty and the +Fronde, promising the Queen, the indispensable sacrifice accomplished, +to smooth all difficulties, and to bring over to her the Duke d'Orleans +by separating him from Conde. Such was the real mainspring of all De +Retz's movements--even those seemingly the most contrary: first the +cardinalate, then the premiership under the auspices of the Duke +d'Orleans, associated in some sort with royalty, without Mazarin or +Conde. He was fain to hide his secret under the guise of the public +weal, but that secret revealed itself by the very efforts he made to +conceal it, and it did not escape the penetration of La Rochefoucauld, +his accomplice at the outset of the Fronde, afterwards his adversary, +who had a perfect knowledge of his character, and who had sketched it +with a masterly hand, as De Retz also thoroughly comprehended and +admirably depicted La Rochefoucauld. De Retz was indeed the evil genius +of the Fronde. He always hindered it from progressing whether led by +Mazarin or Conde, because he merely desired to have a weak government +which he could dominate. To arrive at that end, he was capable of +anything--tortuous intrigues, anonymous pamphlets, hypocritical sermons +from the pulpit, studied orations in parliament, popular insurrections +and desperate _coups de main_. Such was the man who, towards the end of +May, 1651, was admitted, much against her will, into the secret councils +of Anne of Austria. + +Anything was to be tried, however, which might deliver her from the +exactions of Conde. It was absolutely necessary that she should either +grant his demands, or find some support to enable her to resist them. +She accordingly despatched Marshal du Plessis to speak with De Retz, at +the archbishopric, towards one o'clock in the morning, at which hour he +generally returned from his nocturnal visits to Mademoiselle de +Chevreuse. De Retz was willing to seize the opportunity of avenging +himself upon Conde, and probably judged he might do so without bringing +about the return of Mazarin. He accepted, then, at once the Queen's +invitation, and flung the letter of safe-conduct which she had sent him +into the fire, in order to show his confidence in her promises. The +following night, at twelve o'clock, he was brought into the Queen's +Oratory by a back staircase, and a long conversation ensued between +them. Anne of Austria was very caressing in her manner towards the +Coadjutor, and sought, after winning her way to his confidence, to +embroil him with Chateauneuf, by informing him that it was that friend +of Madame de Chevreuse who was the most opposed to his cardinalate, +because he wanted the hat for himself. It must be remembered that France +at that moment had the appointment of a cardinal at its disposition, and +it had been long promised to the Prince de Conti. Anne of Austria now +offered it to De Retz who, in reply, at the end of a long harangue, +during which the Queen interrupted him impatiently more than once, +assured her that he had not come there to receive favours, but to merit +them. + +"What will you do for me, then?" asked the Queen. "What will you do?" + +"Madam," replied he, "I will oblige the Prince de Conde to quit Paris +ere eight days are over, and will carry off the Duke d'Orleans from him +before to-morrow night." + +The Queen, transported with joy, extended her hand to him saying--"Give +me your hand on that, and the day after to-morrow you are a cardinal, +and moreover the second amongst my friends." + +A few days afterwards, De Retz and Madame de Chevreuse had raised the +entire Fronde against the Prince de Conde. The worthy archbishop had +announced his approach to the enemy he was about to attack by a cloud of +the same kind of libels, satires, and epigrams, which he had always +found so efficacious in prejudicing the people of Paris against any one +whom he thought fit to hold forth to popular odium. At the same time a +multitude of criers and hawkers were sent through the town, spreading, +at the very lowest price, all the sarcasms which had been composed at +the archbishopric in the morning, to render the conduct of Conde +ridiculous, contemptible, and hateful in the eyes of the multitude. + +At length, when the Coadjutor believed that everything had been +sufficiently prepared, he made the Palatine write to inform the Queen +that he was about to go to the parliament. Mademoiselle de Chevreuse was +with the Regent at the time she received this intimation; and the +delight which it occasioned was so great that the virtuous and pious +Anne of Austria caught the archbishop's mistress in her arms, and kissed +her more than once, exclaiming, with no very great regard for decorum, +"You rogue! you are now doing me as much good as you have hitherto done +me harm." + +De Retz kept his word, and went to the parliament, but the progress +against Conde was so slow that Mazarin, the Queen, and De Retz, began to +revolve more summary measures, and, towards the latter part of June, +their deliberations ended in a sinister project of again arresting or of +assassinating Conde. + +This obscure affair, as yet only partially unveiled, and which probably +will never be so entirely, is not so dark and impenetrable, however, as +to prevent us from seeing, within the shadow thereof, fearful and +criminal purposes, to which even the more open vices of the age are +comparatively light. We are told by De Retz that the Marshal de +Hocquincourt, with more frankness than the rest, proposed in direct +terms to assassinate Conde. The Coadjutor himself, however, Madame de +Chevreuse, and other leaders of the Fronde, but above all Senneterre, +who had about this time obtained a great share of the Queen's +confidence, opposed not only the bold crime proposed at first by +Hocquincourt, but also all the schemes which he and others afterwards +suggested, and which, though apparently more mild, were all likely to +end in the same event. + +Rumours of what was meditated soon reached the Prince's ears, who then +saw clearly the nature of his position. He perceived that he had +quarrelled thoroughly and for ever with the Frondeurs and with the +Queen, and that henceforth he was placed between imprisonment and +assassination. He felt certain that this time, should he fall into the +hands of his enemies, he would be treated far more harshly than in 1650, +and that probably he might never see the light again. He despised death, +but the idea of perpetual incarceration was insupportable to him, and +that idea fastening itself by degrees on his mind caused projects to +enter into it which until then had only momentarily crossed it. + +Too high-minded to quit Paris as though he were terrified, Conde +exhibited no change in his conduct; merely confining himself to no +longer visiting the Palais-Royal or the Palais d'Orleans, and never +going abroad without a numerous escort of officers and retainers. +Already for some time past foreseeing the storm that was gathering +against him, he had taken serious measures to confront it: he had +strengthened all the fortresses that were in his hands. He had +despatched to Flanders the Marquis de Sillery, La Rochefoucauld's +brother-in-law, under pretext of finally disengaging Madame de +Longueville and Turenne from the treaties they had made with the +Spaniards in 1650, with secret instructions to renew them, and to +ascertain how far he might reckon on the assistance of Spain if he were +compelled to draw the sword. The Count de Fuensaldagne did not fail, +agreeable to the policy of his court, to promise much more than was +asked of him, and he omitted nothing calculated to stir up Conde to have +recourse to arms. + +Chance had a share in urging Conde to take a further and almost decisive +step in the dangerous path that was opening before him. One evening, +just as he had lain down on his bed and was chatting with Vineuil, one +of his trusty friends, the latter received a note which directed him to +warn the Prince that two companies of guards were advancing on the side +of the Faubourg Saint-Germain. It was thought that those troops were +about to invest the hotel. Conde jumped out of bed, dressed himself, +mounted his horse instantly, and, accompanied by a few attendants, took +his way through the faubourg Saint-Michel. On gaining the high road, he +heard the clatter of a somewhat strong body of horsemen approaching, and +thinking that it was the squadron in search of him, he fell back at +first in the direction of Meudon; then, instead of re-entering Paris, +when day broke he sought an asylum in his chateau of Saint-Maur. He +reached it on the morning of the 6th of July; and it may readily be +guessed what the effect, in Paris and throughout the kingdom, of such a +retreat was, and for such motives. The Princess de Conde, the Prince de +Conti, Madame de Longueville, La Rochefoucauld, the Duke de Nemours, +the Duke de Richelieu, the Prince's most intimate friends, and more than +one illustrious personage, such as the Duke de Bouillon and Turenne, +repaired immediately to Saint-Maur. In a day or two, Conde saw himself +surrounded by a court as brilliant and as numerous as that of the King, +and there he kept up a right royal festivity. After a while he sent a +considerable number of officers disguised into Paris, who bestirred +themselves in every quarter in his favour; and when he considered +himself in a position to hold his own against both the Queen and the +Frondeurs together, he quitted Saint-Maur and returned to his hotel near +the Palais d'Orleans, desiring to put a good complexion on the aspect of +his affairs and to impose upon his enemies by that bold and high-minded +conduct.[7] He appeared again also in the parliament, now once more +become the battle-field of parties. De Retz, full of his own individual +hatred, augmented by that of Madame de Chevreuse, seconded at once by +the friends of the Duke d'Orleans and by those of the Queen, burning to +tear from the Court and win, by serving it, the cardinal's hat, the +object of his ardent desires, the necessary stepping-stone to his +ambition, brought all his courage and vanity towards enacting the part +of the Prince's enemy. And there, during the months of July and August, +in that pretended sanctuary of law and justice, passed all those +deplorable scenes which De Retz and La Rochefoucauld have related, and +in which Mazarin, from his retreat on the banks of the Rhine, rejoiced +to see his two enemies waste their strength, and work unwittingly but +surely their common ruin and his approaching triumph. + + [7] La Rochefoucauld, p. 83. + +A crisis was clearly inevitable. Conde could no longer perceive any +sign of a pacific issue from the position in which he had been placed, +or rather in which he had placed himself, and at his right hand stood +Madame de Longueville and the Prince de Conti, who held no opinions +contrary to those of his sister, urging him to cut the knot which he +knew not how to untie. La Rochefoucauld stopped him for a moment on the +threshold of war, entreating Conde to allow him to undertake fresh +negotiations. The Prince consented willingly thereto. Madame de +Longueville was opposed to it. La Rochefoucauld, speaking to her with +that authority which his long devotion gave him, represented to her the +terrible responsibility which she took upon herself both towards Conde +and the State, and he obtained from her a promise that she would +withdraw for a time from the arena of strife, and accompany her +sister-in-law, the Princess de Conde, to Berri, and allow him to remain +in Paris by the side of Conde in order to make a last essay towards +conjuring the tempest. + +The fitting moment has now arrived to examine the conduct of Madame de +Longueville in these grave conjunctures, the different feelings which +animated her, and the true and lamentable motive which determined her +thus to hurry her brother into civil war, and herself with him. + +Let us remember:--Anne de Bourbon exhibited extraordinary contrasts in +her character, entirely opposite qualities which, developing themselves +in turn according to circumstances, gave a particular impress to +different periods of her life. She derived from nature and the Christian +education she had received a delicate and susceptible conscience, a +humility in her own eyes and before God that would have made her an +accomplished Carmelite; and at the same time she was born with that +ardour of soul which is termed ambition, the instinct of glory and of +grandeur. This instinct, which was also that of her house and her age, +soon obtained the mastery on emerging from her pious adolescence, and +when she despaired of overcoming her father's resistance to the serious +desire she had manifested of burying herself, at fifteen, in the convent +of the Rue St. Jacques, with her already formidable beauty and the +nascent desire to shine and to please. That desire was at once Madame de +Longueville's strength and weakness, the principle of her coquetry amid +the amusements of peace, as of her intrepidity in the midst of war and +danger. Once condemned to live in the world, she transferred the dreams +of glory which she dared not realise for herself, to gild her brother's +wreath of laurel,--that Louis de Bourbon, almost of the same age as +herself, the cherished companion of her infancy, so witty, so generous, +so bold, that he was at once a friend and a master, and the idol of her +heart, before another object had usurped the place or after he had +abandoned it. In the first and the last portion of her life, which are +incomparably the best, she referred everything to Conde, and Conde had a +confidence in her altogether boundless. The suspicious and penetrating +Mazarin had very early formed that opinion of her, and in the _carnets_, +to which he has confided his very inmost feelings, he depicts her with +the pen of an enemy, but of an enemy who knew her well. "Madame de +Longueville," says he, "has entire power over her brother. She desires +to see Conde dominate and dispose of all favours. If she is prone to +gallantry, it is by no means that she thinks of doing wrong, but in +order to make friends and servitors for her brother. She insinuates +ambitious ideas into his mind to which he is already only too much +inclined." If, in 1648, she became violently enraged against her +brother, it was that, fascinated and misled by La Rochefoucauld, she +thought that Conde, by serving the Court and Mazarin, was false to his +own fame. In 1649, she had only too far contributed to make him enter by +degrees upon that fatal path into which La Rochefoucauld had lured +herself. Here, pride nourished the hope of one day seeing the Condes +replace the D'Orleans. When, in 1850, a son was born to Gaston, the +little Duke de Valois, who did not live, she fretted at an event which +threatened to strengthen and perpetuate a house for which she had no +affection, and in a letter which has remained inedited up to the present +day, she allows the thoughts that had insinuated themselves into her +heart to appear. "I think," she writes to Lenet on the 22nd August, +1650, "that the news of the birth of M. d'Orleans' son will no more +rejoice my sister-in-law than it has delighted me. It is to my nephew +that we must offer our condolence." In 1651, that ambition was carried +to its highest pitch. Madame de Longueville experienced the natural +intoxication that the power and prosperity of her house was calculated +to give her; and when we think of what perils she had just surmounted, +by what homage she was surrounded on all sides, that she was then +thirty-two, that she was in all the splendour of her beauty, and also +under all the strength of her passions, we might well be disposed to +pardon her that fugitive intoxication, if it had not likewise drawn down +disastrous consequences upon herself, upon Conde, and upon her country. + +And here again occurs the question we have just raised. Was it Madame de +Longueville who caused the rupture of the projected marriage between the +Prince de Conti and Mademoiselle de Chevreuse? If hers was the chief +fault, we look upon it with regret, that in the eye of posterity she +should bear the blame of such a fault. If she only yielded to the advice +of La Rochefoucauld, we have the more excuse for her, and assert that +the fault comes home to him. As we have seen, that affair is still +involved in much obscurity, and since De Retz himself hesitates, we +ought to feel well justified to hesitate in our turn. But it must be +confessed, the suspicions of the Frondeurs and the accusations of the +Queen's friends have such great weight that it is scarcely possible to +avoid attributing to Madame de Longueville a sufficiently large share in +the deplorable rupture whence so many evils sprang. Her complaisant +biographer, Villefore, is on this point in accordance with Madame de +Motteville. Without doubt the marriage of the Prince de Conti with +Mademoiselle de Chevreuse was far from meeting with universal approval. +The prudes of the Hotel de Rambouillet, and Mademoiselle de Scuderi in +particular, protested strongly against such an alliance. The old outrage +was remembered which, in 1643, Madame de Montbazon, aided by Madame de +Chevreuse, had dared to perpetrate upon Madame de Longueville; the +audacious manners of the mother also, which seemed to have been +inherited by the daughter; the equivocal reputation of the latter, the +suspected and almost public _liaison_ which she carried on with De Retz. +Vain objections!--which Madame de Longueville could not allege, for she +perfectly well knew all that when at Stenay she had authorised the +Palatine to pledge her word for hers. Other reasons for her conduct must +therefore be sought, and the reasons can only be those which her enemies +have given, and in the foremost place the jealousy of influence, the +desire of retaining over her younger brother, the Prince de Conti, an +empire that Charlotte de Lorraine would, infallibly, have deprived her. + +That irreparable error, in bringing about the perilous position in which +Conde speedily found himself, necessarily led Madame de Longueville to +the commission of another error, in some sort compulsory, and which was +the complement of the first; it is certain that more than anyone else +she incited her brother to take the resolution he ultimately determined +upon adopting. La Rochefoucauld says so, and all contemporary writers +repeat the same. We will merely make this essential remark: Madame de +Longueville had at first very readily entered into the reconciliatory +plans of Conde and La Rochefoucauld, and into their negotiations with +the Court; it was only when those designs had failed, when towards the +month of June negotiation had given place to violence, when she saw her +brother surrounded by assassins, liable at any moment to fall under the +blows of Hocquincourt, or to be flung again into the dungeons of +Vincennes, it was then that trembling with fear and indignation, and ill +as she was in health, she rushed to Saint-Maur; and that, finding there +the flower of the aristocracy and the army assembled, she felt her +warlike ardour of 1649 and 1650 rekindle. She thought that nothing could +resist on the field of battle the victor of Rocroy and Lens, seconded by +Turenne, who at Stenay had shown such a lively and tender attachment for +her, and the sentiment of which she had never ceased to treat with all +the exquisite tact of which she was capable. She had also great +confidence in Spain, which was at her feet, and lavished upon her every +kind of deference. She urged, therefore, Conde to fling further +perfidious and useless negotiations to the winds, and to appeal to the +fortune of arms. + +But to these different motives, the force of which Madame de Longueville +summed up the value with the authority of her intelligence and +experience, was joined another still more potent over her heart, and +which had been the original mainspring of her resolutions and conduct. +La Rochefoucauld alone has no right to impute it to her as a crime. For +ourselves, we do not hesitate to make it known upon the evidence of +irrefragable testimony; for we are not composing a panegyric of Madame +de Longueville, but narrating certain passages of her life, in which +that of the seventeenth century, with its grandeurs and its miseries, is +so completely identified; and if we feel a sincere admiration for the +sister of the great Conde, that admiration does not close our eyes to +her errors. It is not unseemly to admire a heroine whose lofty qualities +are mingled with weaknesses which remind us of her sex. It is, moreover, +the first duty of history, such as we understand it, and desire to have +it understood, not to stop at the surface of events, but to seek for +their causes in the depths of the soul, in human passions and their +inevitable consequences. + +As has been already said, Madame de Longueville did not love her +husband. Not only was he greatly her senior, but there was nothing about +him that responded to the ideal which that illustrious disciple of the +Hotel de Rambouillet had formed for herself, and which she pursued in +vain through guilty illusions, until that which she sought and found at +its very source--no longer in the school of Corneille and of +Mademoiselle de Scuderi, but in that of her Saviour, in the Carmelite +convent and at Port Royal. Never was woman less prone to gallantry by +nature than Anne de Bourbon; but, as we have just remarked, her heart +and her imagination created in her the necessity of pleasing and of +being beloved; and it was that want, early cultivated by poetry, +romances, and the theatre, and somewhat later corrupted by the example +of the society in which she lived, which lured her far from the domestic +hearth, and hurried her into the brilliant and adventurous career amidst +which we find her in 1651. Then her greatest fear was to fall again into +her husband's hands. M. de Longueville had very willingly followed his +wife in the Fronde; his own discontentments of themselves drove him into +it, as well as his uncertain and mobile character which led him to +embark in novel enterprises with as much facility as it urged him to +abandon them. In 1649 he had figured as one of the generals of Paris, +and had raised Normandy against Mazarin. One year of imprisonment had +cooled him, and in 1651, having recovered his government of Normandy and +tasted some few months of that peaceful grandeur, he found it so much to +his liking as to be not readily tempted to re-embark upon a stormy +course of life at the age of nearly fifty-seven. Reports, only too true, +had informed him of what until then he had only surmised +imperfectly--the declared _liaison_ of his wife with La Rochefoucauld. +He had been greatly irritated at it, and Conde's enemies, with De Retz +at their head, carefully fostered his ill humour, and his daughter, +Marie d'Orleans, afterwards Duchess de Nemours, seconded them to the +utmost of her power. + +She detested her stepmother, whose faults her strong common-sense led +her easily to scan, without her own vulgar and commonplace mind being +capable of comprehending the Duchess's great qualities. It was +impossible less to resemble each other. The one adored grandeur even to +the romantic and the chimerical, the other was entirely positive and +matter-of-fact, and absorbed with her own interest, especially in those +relating to her property. Alienated from the Fronde through the jealous +hatred she bore towards her stepmother, who in turn liked her almost as +little, and probably also did not take pains enough to manage her, +Mademoiselle turned towards the Queen, and strove to gain over her +father to the same party. Therein she succeeded by degrees. The Duke de +Longueville could not overtly separate himself from Conde, and at first +promised him all he required; then he shut himself up in Normandy, and +there followed a dubious line of conduct which neither compromised him +with the Court party nor that of Conde. But he recalled his wife +peremptorily, and sent her a mandate to rejoin him. That mandate was +pressing and threatening, and it terrified Madame de Longueville. She +knew that her husband had been informed of everything, and that he was +wholly given up to the influence of his daughter. She feared +ill-treatment; she felt certain at least that once in Normandy she would +no more quit it, and that her time would be passed between an aged, +irritated husband, and an overruling step-daughter, who would apply +themselves in concert to retain her in the solitude of a province, and +perhaps to make her expiate in confinement her bygone triumphs. The idea +of the sorrowful life which awaited her in Normandy produced very nearly +the same effect upon her as the thought of a second imprisonment upon +the mind of Conde. She sought for a means of avoiding that which was to +her the worst of all evils; there was an assured though dangerous +one--war, which would prevent her from repairing to Normandy, under the +pretext more or less specious that she could not abandon her brother. +Such was the design she formed within herself and very soon resolved +upon adopting, and the fresh negotiations which La Rochefoucauld +proposed thwarted her doubly. Should those negotiations prove successful +they would deprive her of the only pretext she had for not rejoining +her husband in Normandy, and she thought it strange that it was La +Rochefoucauld who would expose her to that peril. From that moment +doubtless angry explanations took place between them. She perceived that +La Rochefoucauld was wearied of his sacrifices, that he wished to +reconcile himself with the Court, repair his fortunes, and taste the +sweets of peace; whilst in the eyes of the superb princess the paramount +consideration with him, for whom she had done so much, ought to have +been never to forsake her, should they both together rush to certain +ruin. But La Rochefoucauld was no longer wound up to a tone so lofty, +worthy of the Great Cyrus and of their chivalrous love of 1648, and the +haughty Madame[8] was deeply wounded at the discovery. Nevertheless, she +was not insensible to what there was of reasonable in La Rochefoucauld's +advice, and not to incur the entire responsibility of the part which her +brother might take, she consented to follow her sister-in-law, the +Princess de Conde, and her nephew, the Duke d'Enghien, into Berri, one +of Conde's governments:--a journey which moreover had the advantage of +separating her from her husband. She set out, therefore, on the 18th of +July for Bourges, taking with her the elder of her two sons, the +younger, Charles de Paris, born in 1649, not being able to bear the +fatigue of the journey. M. de Longueville recalled her from Berri as he +had from the capital, and he insisted on the return of his son in terms +so forcible that she was compelled to comply, so far as the boy was +concerned. Thenceforward, being alone and exposing only herself, without +breaking with M. de Longueville, and by using all her wit to colour her +disobedience, she eluded his orders, remained in Berri, forming in the +depth of her heart the most ardent desire for war, but calm in +appearance; sometimes accompanying the Princess de Conde to Montrond, at +others making somewhat lengthened visits to the Carmelite convent at +Bourges. And thus she awaited the issue of the negotiations, counselled +and carried on by La Rochefoucauld, which should decide her destiny. + + [8] The name she figures under in the _Grand Cyrus_. + +La Rochefoucauld must indeed have very earnestly longed to bring to a +close the life of fatigue and danger which he had for three years led, +to have been able to cherish any illusion as to the success of the steps +he was about again to take. Where was the hope of regaining the Fronde +which had just been outrageously deceived, after it had given itself to +the Prince de Conde in his misfortune, and had extricated him from it? +If La Rochefoucauld thought that the alliance of the Fronde was +necessary, he ought to have set about it sooner and at the proper time, +persuaded Conde and his sister to keep their word, and sealed the +alliance agreed upon between the Prince de Conti and Mademoiselle de +Chevreuse. He had not done so; and now that he had allowed a treacherous +war to spring up between Conde and the Fronde, by what charm did he +think he could suspend it? With the Queen also all negotiation was +exhausted and superfluous. An understanding should have been come to +with her when she was so disposed, when Conde was all-powerful, when he +could either have more readily abased or exalted the Crown: _Tum decuit +cum sceptra dabas_. But at the end of August, Conde, embroiled with the +Court and with the Fronde, had nothing left save his sword. That was +sufficient, doubtless, to make everybody tremble, but was it enough to +inspire confidence in anyone? La Rochefoucauld obtained, therefore, on +all sides to his advances only very vague responses. The time for +negotiation was passed irrevocably, and whilst La Rochefoucauld +exhausted himself in useless efforts, the Queen and the Fronde concluded +a treaty together, with the common design of overwhelming Conde. + +This treaty was the work of Mazarin, the masterpiece of his political +skill. It authorised the Frondeurs to speak against the Cardinal in +parliament for some time forward in order to cover their secret +understanding. The hat was assured to the Coadjutor, high posts and +great advantages to the principal friends of Madame de Chevreuse, the +first rank in the cabinet given to Chateauneuf, and a solid peace +established between Mazarin and the powerful Duchess, under the +condition that his nephew Mancini, provided for with the duchy of Nevers +or that of Rethelois, should marry Mademoiselle de Chevreuse. The draft +of this projected treaty fell into the hands of Conde through the bearer +of the paquet in which it was enclosed being in the service of the +Marquis de Noirmoutier, and the Prince caused it to be printed in order +to ventilate and bring to light the alliance between the Frondeurs, the +Queen, and Mazarin. Madame de Motteville, so well informed of everything +relating to the Queen and the Cardinal, considers that treaty as +perfectly authentic, and she gives the different articles of it, "as the +best means for understanding the changes which were made by the Queen +immediately after the King's majority." + +That majority had been declared on the 7th of September in a _Bed of +Justice_, with all the customary pomp. As the first Prince of the blood +did not think it possible to be present at it in safety, during that +evening the Queen in her indignation had whispered these significant +words to De Retz: "Either M. le Prince or I must perish."[9] + + [9] Retz, tom. ii. p. 291. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + CONDE, URGED BY HIS SISTER, GOES UNWILLINGLY INTO REBELLION. + + +ANNE OF AUSTRIA now seriously prepared to make head against Conde, and +with that intent she rallied round her all the forces of the Fronde +united with those of the royal army. In fine, with the firm design of +inspiring the Fronde with perfect confidence, at the same time that the +nomination of France to the Cardinalate had devolved upon the Coadjutor, +the Queen again brought into the cabinet, as a sort of Prime Minister, +the statesman of the party, the friend and instrument of Madame de +Chevreuse, the aged but ambitious Chateauneuf, with the two-fold +engagement to serve Mazarin in secret and to contribute to the utmost of +his power to destroy Conde. In such arrangements, let it be thoroughly +understood, no one was acting with good faith: De Retz and Chateauneuf +in nowise proposed to re-establish Mazarin; Chateauneuf did not dream of +making another man's bed, but, once having attained power, he intended +to keep it for himself, and Mazarin was firmly resolved to dismiss +Chateauneuf as soon as he could. But if these crafty politicians were +ready to betray one another in everything else, there was one point on +which they were sincerely united--the destruction of Conde. At that they +laboured in concert, or rather vied with each other. Queen Anne +manifested therein a fervour, a constancy, a marvellous skill, and +succeeded in carrying off from Conde the chief supports of his great +strength. He saw that war was inevitable, and yet, says Sismondi, he +only yielded to it with repugnance. "You will have it so," said Conde at +last; "but understand that if I do draw the sword, I shall be the last +to return it to the scabbard." It was the women especially who hurried +their admirers into the _melee_. + +Considering the nomination of the New Cabinet, with Chateauneuf at its +head, as a veritable declaration of war, Conde went to Chantilly, and, +it is said, had a very narrow escape from falling into an ambuscade +which the Court had prepared for him at Pontoise. + +He remained for some few days at Chantilly, pensive and agitated in +presence of the great resolution he was on the eve of taking. The +mediation of the Duke d'Orleans, the only one he could accept, offered +no security, the Duke instead of governing the Coadjutor and Madame de +Chevreuse, was then governed by them. His individual inclination was to +come to an understanding with the Queen and even with Mazarin, as he had +very clearly shown. He had continually returned to it; but after so many +lying words and odious plots, the execution of which alone was wanting, +he thought he would be in a better position to treat solidly with the +Court at the head of a powerful and victorious army, than in the midst +of wretched intrigues, unworthy of his character, in which he +momentarily staked his honour and his life. He never permitted the idea +of raising himself above royalty to enter into his mind; he merely +thought that to obtain better conditions from it it was necessary to +render himself imposing to it, and to make himself feared. That is what +was then passing in his mind. Civil war inspired him with horror, and we +may learn from La Rochefoucauld,[1] who was then in his most intimate +confidence, that he long weighed "the consequences of so grave a +determination." Let us be chary, therefore, of accusing Conde of levity; +let us recognise that insensibly his position had become such that he +could neither remain in it nor quit it, in one way or another, save with +equal danger. + + [1] La Rochefoucauld, p. 76. + +Among the different motives which rendered Conde averse to civil war, +the passion that he had just begun to feel for the Duchess de Chatillon +must not be forgotten. We shall return a little further on to this +episode in Conde's life. It is sufficient to remark here that it was +grievous to him to quit the lovely Duchess, who then was residing very +close to Chantilly, in the charming chateau of Merlon or Mello, near +Pontoise, the enjoyment of which had been granted to her for life by the +old Princess de Conde, Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency, who expired +in her arms at Chatillon-sur-Loing, in December, 1650--a gracious grant, +which the Prince, her son, had hastened to ratify with a somewhat +interested generosity. Madame de Chatillon had her reasons of more than +one kind for being opposed to the war, and in the intimate counsels of +the Prince she urged him to an understanding with the Court. In that she +made common cause with La Rochefoucauld, and was in open quarrel with +Madame de Longueville. Sensible of Conde's passion without sharing it, +she managed that lofty lover with infinite tact, at the same time that +she was deeply enamoured of the young, handsome, and brave Duke Charles +Amadeus of Savoy, Nemours,[2] who from his youth and adventurous +instincts would have longed for war, and whom she alone, seconded by La +Rochefoucauld, retained in the party of peace. + + [2] Charles Amadeus had succeeded to the title and rank of his elder + brother, the Duke de Nemours, one of Conde's intimate friends in + youth, who had been killed early in action, even before Rocroy. + Conde had transferred to Charles Amadeus the affection which he bore + his brother. The young duke had married the beautiful Madlle. de + Vendome, daughter of Duke Caesar, and sister of the Dukes de + Mercoeur and Beaufort, and by her he had two daughters who became, + one the Queen of Portugal, the other the Duchess of Savoy. At the + death of the Duke de Nemours, in 1652, his title passed to his + younger brother Henri de Nemours, Archbishop of Rheims, who then + quitted the church, and espoused Madlle. de Longueville, the + authoress of the Memoirs. + +Everything, however, tended to precipitate Conde towards the fatal +resolution. Prudence did not permit him to remain any longer at +Chantilly,[3] and it behoved him to place himself beyond the risk of a +_coup-de-main_ by withdrawing to his government of Berri, whither he had +already sent his son, his wife, and his sister. It was, it is true, the +road to Guienne, but he might stop there. All the population was devoted +to him, and the tower of Bourges and the strong fortalice of Montrond +offered him a safe asylum. + + [3] La Rochefoucauld, p. 96. + +Conde, even after reaching Berri, still hesitated, not wishing to take +any step before again conferring with his sister, who was then at +Montrond with the Princess. There he held a final council, a supreme +deliberation, at which Madame de Longueville, Conti, and La +Rochefoucauld were present. More than one grave motive urged him to war: +the well-founded dread of assassination or of a fresh incarceration, the +ardent hatred of his enemies, of the Queen and the Fronde, the power of +Chateauneuf which certainly had not been given him in vain, the +inutility of negotiations with people who seemed decidedly to have taken +their choice, the necessity of avoiding the fate of Henri de Guise, the +consciousness of his strength so soon as his foot should tread the +field of battle, the promises seemingly so sure of the Bouillons and +many others. At the same time, his good sense, his loyalty, the scarcely +stifled instincts of duty, and his innate aversion for anything which +resembled anarchy, restrained him; and in that prolonged and dubious +struggle between conflicting feelings, there were others which hurried +him onward. Madame de Longueville, the Prince de Conti, La Rochefoucauld +also urged him to declare himself against the Court, and Madame de +Longueville with more vivacity than anyone else.[4] Conde still +resisted, explaining to them all the strength of royalty, the ascendancy +of the King's name, the weakness and treachery of factions, the bad +faith of Spain. Then concluding by yielding, he addressed them in these +memorable words: "You commit me to a strange line of action, of which +you will tire sooner than I, and in which you will abandon me." He spoke +truly as regarded Conti, and perhaps also La Rochefoucauld; but it +remains to be seen whether Madame de Longueville, after having helped to +drive her heroic brother into civil war, did not follow him with an +inviolable constancy, whether she did not share, even to extremity, the +dangers and adversities of the Prince, and whether, during his long +exile, she reappeared for a single moment at Court or in those _salons_ +of the Louvre and the Palais Royal, which had witnessed her early +successes, and in which her wit and beauty still promised her fresh +triumphs. + + [4] Mad. de Motteville. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + MADAME DE LONGUEVILLE COQUETS WITH THE DUKE DE NEMOURS. + + +HIS determination to unsheath the sword once taken, Conde put his plans +into execution without throwing one glance behind him. Having collected +together in Berri his family and chief supporters, he distributed +amongst them the several parts they had to play in their common +enterprise. After this, accompanied by La Rochefoucauld, he went to take +possession of his new government of Guienne, and there raise the +standard of insurrection, leaving in Berri his wife and son, his sister, +the Prince de Conti, the Duke de Nemours, with the President Viole and +others whom he nominated to important functions. He had placed his +brother at the head of affairs there, and given the military command to +the Duke de Nemours. But the result of these arrangements was +disappointing to him. The Duke de Nemours undoubtedly possessed the most +brilliant courage, but he had neither the talents nor the steadiness of +a general. Still absorbed with his passion for Madame de Chatillon, who, +as has been said, had long retained him in the party of peace, he found +in Berri a counter-attraction in Madame de Longueville who drew him +towards that of war; and it would seem that he occupied himself more +with paying court to the lovely lady than of raising and arming soldiers +and making Berri a focus of resistance, both political and military; +for very speedily the Prince de Conti and he were reduced to defend +themselves in Bourges instead of being able to operate in the open and +make any advance. The new Minister Chateauneuf showed himself worthy of +the confidence of Madame de Chevreuse and the Fronde. He made the Queen +understand that it was necessary to combat the revolt foot to foot from +its very first step, and he persuaded her to march herself with the +young King into Berri at the head of a strong army. He nobly inaugurated +the new ministry by that measure, which had two objects: the one direct +and immediate, to strangle the insurrection at its birth; the other +still more important, to set royalty at liberty far from Duke Gaston and +the Parliament. The city of Bourges, which had shown so much enthusiasm +on Conde's arrival, opened its gates to the King and Chateauneuf. The +strong tower which defended the city, offering no resistance, was taken +without a blow being struck, and instantly demolished. The Princess de +Conde, her son, Madame de Longueville, Conti, and Nemours were forced to +take refuge hastily in the citadel of Montrond. On learning that Palluan +was advancing on that fortress, Conti and Nemours not wishing that the +precious pledges confided to their charge should incur any risk, left +the Marquis de Persan in Montrond, and with what remained to them of +their faithful troops escorted the Princess, her son, and Madame de +Longueville as far as Guienne, which they reached by the end of the +month of October. + +It was during that rapid journey and their very brief sojourn in Berri +that certain obscure relations, it would appear, were formed between the +Duke de Nemours and Madame de Longueville, the report of which reaching +Bordeaux, exaggerated probably by interested and malevolent underlings, +wounded La Rochefoucauld and drove him to a violent rupture. A loyal and +confiding explanation might have sufficed to disperse a cloud, such as +at times will obscure the most settled friendships. La Rochefoucauld +brewed a storm out of it which, thanks to his Memoirs, has sent its +echoes down to posterity. His separation from Madame de Longueville was +marked by an eagerness which excites the suspicion that he had longed +for it.[1] He ought at least to have stopped there, but hurried away by +an implacable resentment, he accused her, or caused her to be accused by +Conde, of having wished to betray his interests to serve those of the +Duke de Nemours, giving her even to understand that "if a like +prepossession took her for another, she was capable of going to the same +extremities if that person desired it."[2] The accusation is yet more +absurd than odious. The Duke de Nemours was not the least in the world a +party chief; he was a friend of Conde, whose fidelity could only be +shaken through his love for Madame de Chatillon. To detach him from +Madame de Chatillon was therefore to give him wholly to Conde. Moreover, +Madame de Chatillon, like La Rochefoucauld, was for peace, she had won +over the Duke de Nemours to it, and both together urged Conde thereto. +To carry off the Duke de Nemours from such conspiracy and to seduce him +to the war party, was to serve the interests of Conde like as his sister +intended. Thus the principal and the dominant motive of Madame de +Longueville's conduct was just the opposite of that which La +Rochefoucauld imputed to her. Let us add further that she had always had +a rivalry of beauty with Madame de Chatillon, and that her vanity was +not sorry to humiliate a rival whom she did not tolerate by depriving +her for a few days of a lover of whose attachment the latter fancied +herself perfectly secure. Love and the senses had nothing to do with it +in this matter. The gratification of the senses, it has already been +remarked, did not ensnare her; she was proof against their surprises. +Previously the Duke de Nemours had addressed his ardent homage to her, +but all the attractions of his handsome person and his lofty bearing had +made no impression upon her, and she only bestowed a thought on the +amiable Duke when she had some interest to forward by reviving such +conquest. And this is not an opinion hazarded at a venture; it is +furnished us by a person thoroughly well informed, and who had no +affection for Madame de Longueville; the testimony therefore is the more +valuable: "M. de Nemours[3] previously had not much pleased her, and +notwithstanding the attachment he appeared to entertain for her, as well +as all the good qualities and grand airs of which he could boast, she +had found nothing charming about him save the pleasure he showed himself +desirous of giving her by abandoning Madame de Chatillon for herself, +and that which she had of depriving a woman whom she did not like of a +friend of so much consequence." Now how far had this _liaison_ of a few +days gone? Bussy is the only contemporary who offers any reply to this +question in the cynical light of his _Histoire amoreuse des Gaules_. But +who would accept that satire literally? It proves only one thing, the +unfortunate notoriety which the imprudence of Madame de Longueville +derived from the Memoirs of La Rochefoucauld published in 1662. Before +those Memoirs saw the light, not a word is anywhere to be found on a +point as obscure as it is delicate. After, Bussy was delighted to repeat +La Rochefoucauld, and Madame de Longueville has thus fallen into the +scandalous chronicle. + + [1] "La Rochefoucauld, depuis assez longtemps ayant envie de la + quitter, prit cette occasion avec joie."--Mad. de Nemours, p. 150. + + [2] La Rochefoucauld, edition 1662, p. 198. + + [3] Mad. de Nemours, pp. 149, 150. + +Let us abstain from defending her; although even we should be convinced +that she knew where to stop in that dangerous game of coquetry, she is +not the less culpable in our eyes both towards La Rochefoucauld and +herself, and we do not hesitate to say that she went so far as to +deserve the calumny. Doubtless she was justly hurt by the incertitude of +La Rochefoucauld, who, after having plunged her into civil war in 1648 +with no other motive than that of his own interest, would have made her +abandon it in 1651 through the same motive still; which at one moment +impelled her towards the Fronde, at another brought her back to the +Court, at the will of his fickle hopes, and linked her with Madame de +Chatillon for the purpose of engaging Conde in negotiations the success +of which involved their separation and procured her a prison in +Normandy. Yes--she had grave cause of complaint against La +Rochefoucauld. She might have quitted him, it is true, but not for +another. She had only one means of covering, of almost condoning the +single error of her life, which was to maintain faithful to it, or to +renounce it for virtue and Heaven. And it is just that which Madame de +Longueville appears to have done, if that sad and rapid episode had +remained unknown; but there is no favourable shade for those personages +who appear in the glaring front of the stage of this world; their +slightest actions do not escape the formidable light of history: the +weakness of a moment is recorded as an irredeemable error against them. +That of Madame de Longueville, fugitive as it may have been, dubious +even as it was, sufficed to tarnish a fidelity until then victorious +over so many trials; it needed to be atoned for by the sincere +conversion which was speedily about to follow it, and by five-and-twenty +years of the severest penitence; and still further it forces us to place +Anne de Bourbon, in the record of great sentiments and exalted loves, +above Heloise and Mademoiselle de la Valliere. + +At any rate the assurance is consoling that this error, which we have +attempted neither to conceal nor extenuate, is the single one +perceptible in the private life of Madame de Longueville. But let us +turn aside from these wretched instances of feminine fragility in one of +the loftiest minds, in order to follow Conde and the march of events in +Guienne. + +We will first, however, by a brief retrospect, endeavour to render the +shifting phases of the two Fronde wars more capable of being easily +followed. + +Dating from the arrest of Broussel, nothing could exceed the rapidity of +events; the wheel of fortune had turned with such terrific mobility for +those of her favourites who sought to attach themselves to it. The +revolt had, in fact, broken out on the 26th of August, 1648; in January, +1649, the Court withdrew to Saint Germain, at the risk of never +re-entering Paris; in April, the sword of Conde imposed the treaty of +Saint Germain, and the King returned in October. Mazarin shortly +afterwards believed himself strong enough to arrest, in January, 1650, +Conde, Conti, and Longueville. A year after that bold _coup d'etat_ he +was himself obliged to flee (February, 1651) from his enemies, and quit +France. At the end of eight months, Mazarin returned with an army to the +aid of royalty; but it required two years of negotiations, intrigues, +and patient waiting, it needed the errors which the indecision of the +Duke d'Orleans brought about, the rash violence of Conde, urged onwards +by his sister, it required, indeed, the entire ruin of France ere the +Cardinal could, after having led the young King by the hand to the very +gates of his capital, resume that place in the Louvre which he had +sagaciously abandoned. + +It is difficult to narrate occurrences in their proper order during this +period: intrigues, broken promises, pledges given to two different +parties at the same time, such were the smallest misdeeds of all these +princes and prelates. As one step further in wrong-doing, they entered +into negotiations with the foreigner, and invited armies across the +frontier which devastated the provinces. And through what motives? Gondy +wished to avenge his former mistress, whom Conti had rejected, and whom +an agent of Conde, Maillard the shoemaker, had publicly insulted. +Conde's pretensions were nothing less than dragging at his heels a squad +of governors of towns and provinces who, at his summons, would be ever +ready to raise the standard of revolt and to impose the will of their +leader upon the head of the state, whether Minister, Queen, or King. +Orleans would not yield one jot to his young cousin of the blood-royal, +Conde; Madame de Longueville feared the severity of an outraged husband. +The civil war, in forcing her to flee from one end of France to the +other, or abroad, could alone delay her return to Normandy, her +re-establishment beneath the conjugal roof, towards which she had +conceived such an aversion. + +Conde accused Gondy in the Parliament chamber of being author of a +_factum_ condemning severely the Prince's conduct. La Rochefoucauld, +getting Gondy between two doors, treacherously seized, and was about to +strangle him, had not the son of the first President, M. de +Champlatreux, come to the rescue, at the very moment that one of the +bullies in Conde's pay had drawn his dagger to despatch him. + +Two days afterwards (17th of September) the King had attained his +thirteenth year, and one day beyond; and by the ordonnance of Charles V. +became of age and capable of governing for himself. + +A change of ministry--Chateauneuf being recalled to head the Council and +Mole to the Seals--deprived Conde of all hope of imposing the conditions +of a reconciliation; therefore, as has been said, at a Council held at +Chantilly with his chief adherents, Conti, and the Dukes de Nemours and +La Rochefoucauld, he determined to set out for Berri. The impartial +student who examines the conduct of the Prince de Conde is at this +juncture compelled to draw an indictment against him, under pain of +belying his conscience and the truth; he must concede that Conde rashly +engaged in civil war, and exerted himself to drag France into it, solely +because he could not endure any authority above his own. He was desirous +of being first in the State, of disposing at will among his creatures of +honours, dignities, strongholds, and governments. On such conditions, he +would have consented to let Mazarin, Orleans, De Retz, or any other, +govern the realm, for the administration of which he felt himself that +he had neither the slightest inclination nor the smallest capacity +(October, 1651). + +The Fronde is reputed, not without reason, to have been one of the most +interesting as well as _diverting_ periods in French history; that in +which the volatile and frivolous vivacity of the national character +shone with irresistible comicality. How striking was the contrast +between it in its main features and the great Civil War waged at the +same time in our own country! Yet the Fronde had its serious--terrible +aspect, too, in the wide-spread misery it entailed upon France, as may +be seen from the valuable statistical researches of M. Feillet. That +writer cites the following passage from the record of an eye-witness of +what he describes:[4]--"No tongue can tell, no pen describe, no ear may +hear that which we have seen (at Rheims, Chalons, Rethel, &c). Famine +and death on all sides, and bodies unburied. Those remaining alive pick +up from the fields the rotten oat-straw, and make bread of it by mixing +it with mud. Their faces are quite black; they have no longer the +semblance of human beings, but that of phantoms.... War has placed every +one on an equality; nobility lies upon straw, dares not beg, and +dies.... Even lizards are eaten, and dogs which have been dead perhaps +some eight days.... Moreover, in Picardy, a band of five hundred +children, orphans, and under seven years of age, was met with. In +Lorraine, the famished nuns quitted their convents and became +mendicants: the poor creatures gave themselves up to be dishonoured for +the sake of a morsel of bread. No pity, no remorse. An execrable and +sanguinary war upon the weak. In the heart of the city of Rheims, a +beautiful girl was chased from street to street for ten days by the +licentious soldiery; and as they could not catch her, they killed her by +shooting her down. In the vicinity of Angers, Alais, and Condom, upon +all the highways of Lorraine, women and children were indiscriminately +outraged, and left to die drenched in their blood." + + [4] La Misere dans la Fronde. + +What could be more _diverting_? The Duke de Lorraine--that restless +knight-errant who preferred amusing himself with civil war to the quiet +enjoyment of his throne--amused the noble ladies of his acquaintance +with a recital of these pleasant incidents; his gallant army, he said, +was quite a providence for the old women.... + +After further pursuing his appalling statistics of the misery and +horrors inflicted by the Fronde at a later date, M. Feillet +remarks:--"And yet, notwithstanding all this suffering, which we have +only cursorily sketched, at Court nothing else was thought of but fetes +and diversions; for the young and brilliant bevy of Mazarin's nieces had +come to increase the circle of beauties whom the youthful King and his +gay courtiers vied with each other in paying homage to, and +entertaining. The warm attachment of Louis for more than one of his +Minister's nieces, and especially Marie de Mancini, is well known. In +imitation of their Sovereign, the youthful nobility and a large portion +of the city gallants plunged into unrestrained dissipation--intervals of +licentiousness ever succeeding like periods of turbulence and anarchy. +Such heartless indifference to the sufferings of the people on the part +of the King and his Court evoked the following couplet, which was put +into the mouth of Louis by a contemporary pamphleteer:-- + +"Si la France est en deuil, qu'elle pleure et soupire; + Pour moi, je veux chasser, galantiser et rire." + +But we are somewhat anticipating events, and therefore return to them in +the order of time. + + + + +BOOK V. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + CONDE'S ADVENTUROUS EXPEDITION. + + +CONDE passed several months in Guienne, occupied with strengthening and +extending the insurrection at the head of which he had placed himself, +and in repulsing as far as possible in the south the royal army, +commanded by the skilful and experienced Count d'Harcourt. Amidst very +varied successes, he learned from different quarters the bad turn which +the Fronde's affairs was taking in the heart of the kingdom, the +intrigues of De Retz who held the key of Paris, and the deplorable state +of the army on the banks of the Loire. + +On receiving these tidings at Bordeaux in the month of March, 1652, +Conde saw clearly the double danger which menaced him, and immediately +faced it in his wonted manner. Instead of awaiting events which were on +the eve of taking place at a distance, he determined on anticipating +them, and formed an extraordinary resolution, of a character very much +resembling his great military manoeuvres, which at first sight appears +extravagant, but which the gravest reason justifies, and the temerity of +which even is only another form of high prudence. He formed the design +of slipping out of Bordeaux, traversing the lines of Count d'Harcourt, +to get over in the best way he might the hundred and fifty leagues which +separated him from the Loire and Paris, to appear there suddenly, and +to place himself at the head of his affairs. + +He left behind him in Guienne a force sufficiently imposing to allow of +it there awaiting in security the successful results he was about to +seek. In possessing himself of Agen, Bergerac, Perigueux, Cognac, and +even for a moment of Saintes, and by pushing his conquests into Haute +Guienne, on the side of Mont-de-Marsan, Dax, and Pau, he had made +Bordeaux the capital of a small but rich and populous kingdom, +surrounded on all sides by a belt of strongholds, communicating with the +sea by the Gironde, and admirably placed for attack or defence. This +kingdom, backed as it was by Spain, was capable of receiving continuous +succour from Santander and St. Sebastian, and a Spanish fleet could +approach by the Tour de Corduan, bringing subsidies and troops, whilst +Count de Dognon's fleet, sailing from the islands of Re and Oleron to +join it, might easily surround and even beat the royal fleet, then +forming at Brouage under the Duke de Vendome. In 1650, during the +imprisonment of the princes, Bordeaux had defended itself for more than +six months against a considerable army with the young king at its head, +and which was directed by Mazarin in person. Conde, and all his family +were adored there, by reason of the hatred felt for his predecessor, the +imperious Duke d'Epernon. The Bordeaux parliament was also equally +involved in the Fronde as was that of Paris, with which it had allied +itself by a solemn declaration. Under the parliament was a brave and +ardent people, which furnished a numerous militia. + +Conde had named the Prince de Conti his lieutenant-general--a prince of +the blood giving lustre to authority, dominating all rivalries, an +appointment calculated to render obedience more easy. He was aware of +Conti's levity, but he knew also that he was wanting neither in +intelligence nor courage. He believed in the ascendency which Madame de +Longueville had always exercised over her brother, and he hoped she +would guide him still. He had confidence in that high-souled sister whom +formerly he had so warmly loved; and although intrigues and a sinister +influence, to which we shall shortly further allude, had diminished the +high admiration he had had for her, and to which he later returned, he +reckoned upon her intelligence, upon her pride, upon that lofty courage +of which she had given so many proofs at Stenay. At his sister's side he +left his wife Claire Clemence de Maille-Breze, who had behaved so +admirably in the first Guienne war. He left her _enceinte_ with their +second child, and with her he gave to Bordeaux and placed as it were in +pledge in its hands, to hold the place of himself, the Duke d'Enghien, +the hope and stay of his house, the peculiar object of his tenderness. +So that there, he left behind him a government, he thought, which would +look well alike in the eyes of France and of Europe. + +In reality, to what did Conde aspire? To constitute himself the head of +the nobility against the Court? The nobles thought it harsh to be so +treated. To commence another Fronde? To do that, it was necessary to +have the parliaments under his thumb; and he had already been compelled +to threaten the deputies of that of Aix with the bastinado. Did he look +forward to an independent principality, as he later on desired to obtain +from the Spaniards? Or rather did he think of snatching from the Duke +d'Orleans the lieutenant-generalship? It is difficult to divine what may +have passed through his capricious brain. He was constant in nothing. It +was seen later still that he would very willingly have changed his +religion, offering himself on the one side to Cromwell, and to become a +protestant in order to have an English army; on the other to the Pope, +if he would help to get him elected King of Poland. + +The income of the Condes in 1609 amounted to ten thousand livres, and in +1649, besides the Montmorency estates, they held an enormous portion of +France. First, by the Great Conde, they had Burgundy, Berri, the marshes +of Lorraine, a dominant fortress in the Bourbonnais that held in check +four provinces. Secondly, by Conti, Champagne. Thirdly, by Longueville, +their sister's husband, Normandy. Fourthly, the Admiralty, and Saumur, +the chief fortress of Anjou, were in the hands of the brother of Conde's +wife; they fell in through his death, and were sold again by them as +though they were a family birthright. Later still, they negotiated for +the possession of Guienne and Provence. + +Amidst the cares of administration and of war, Conde carried on an +assiduous correspondence with Chavigny, then fallen into disgrace, who +kept him well informed of the state of affairs at Court and in Paris. +They had assumed quite a new face during the last few months. Mazarin in +his exile had not learned without inquietude the ever-increasing success +of Chateauneuf. He saw him active and determined, accepted as a chief by +all colleagues, skilfully seconded by the keeper of the seals, Mole, and +by Marshal de Villeroi, the king's governor, an ambiguous personage, +very ambitious at bottom, and jealous of the Cardinal's favour with the +Queen. Chateauneuf, it is true, had only entered the Cabinet under the +agreement of shortly recalling Mazarin; but he incessantly asked for +fresh delay; he tried to make the Queen comprehend the danger of a +precipitate return,--the Fronde ready to arouse itself anew, the Duke +d'Orleans and the Coadjutor resuming their ancient opposition, and +royalty finding itself once more without any solid support. Anne of +Austria gradually acquiescing in these wise counsels, Mazarin, who at +first had with difficulty restrained the impatient disposition of the +Queen, finding her grown less eager, became alarmed: he saw that he was +lost should he allow such a rival to establish himself.[1] Therefore, +passing suddenly from an apparent resignation to an extraordinary +audacity, he had, towards the end of November 1651, broken his ban, +quitted his retreat at Dinan, and had resolutely entered France with a +small force collected together by his two faithful friends, the Marquis +de Navailles and the Count de Broglie, and led by Marshal Hocquincourt. +He had by main strength surmounted every obstacle, braved the decrees +and the deputies of the parliament, reached Poitiers where the Queen and +young Louis the Fourteenth had eagerly welcomed him; and there, in +January 1652, after speedily ridding himself of Chateauneuf, too proud +and too able to be resigned to hold the second rank, he had again taken +in hand the reins of government. + + [1] Mad. de Motteville, tom. v. p. 96. + +This bold conduct, which probably saved Mazarin, came also to the +succour of Conde. The second and irreparable disgrace of the minister of +the old Fronde had exasperated him as well as had the umbrage given him +by the Duke d'Orleans. He thought himself tricked by the Queen, and had +loudly complained of it. Conde's friends had not failed to seize that +occasion to reconcile him with the Duke, and to negotiate a fresh +alliance between them; and as previously the Fronde and the Queen had +been united against Conde, so also at the end of January 1652, that +Prince and the Fronde in almost its entirety were united against +Mazarin. + +Madame de Chevreuse alone, with her most intimate friends, remained +faithful to her hatred and the Queen, dreading far less Mazarin than +Conde, and choosing between them both for once and for all with her +well-known firmness and resolution. De Retz trimmed, followed the Duke +d'Orleans, using tact with the Queen, so that he might not lose the hat, +and without engaging himself personally with Conde. + +If Burnet is to be believed, it was at this conjunction that Conde made +an offer to Cromwell to turn Huguenot, and embrace the faith of his +ancestors, in order to secure the aid of the English Puritans. + +However that might be, it was not illusory to think that with such a +government and the continual assistance of Spain, Bordeaux might hold +out for at least a year, and give Conde time to strike some decisive +blows. The resolution that he took was therefore as rational as it was +great. It would have been a sovereign imprudence to remain in Guienne +merely to engage Harcourt in a series of trifling skirmishes, and after +much time and trouble take a few little paltry towns, when in the heart +of the kingdom a treason or a defeat might irreparably involve the loss +of everything, and condemn Bordeaux to share the common fate, after a +more or less prolonged existence. Taking one thing with another, Guienne +was doubtless a considerable accessory; but the grand struggle was not +to be made there; it was at Paris and upon the banks of the Loire that +the destiny of the Fronde and that of Conde too must be decided; it was +thither, therefore, that he must hasten. Every day brought him tidings +that jealousies, divisions, quarrels were increasing in the army, and he +trembled to receive, some morning, news that Turenne and Hocquincourt +had beaten Nemours and Beaufort, and were marching on Paris. Desirous of +preventing at any price a disaster so irreparable, he resolved to rush +to the point where the danger was supreme, where his unexpected presence +would strike terror into the souls of his enemies, revive the courage of +his partisans and turn fortune to his side. When Caesar, on arriving in +Greece, learned that the fleet which was following him with his army on +board, had been dispersed and destroyed by that of Pompey, he flung +himself alone into a fisherman's bark under cover of night to cross the +sea into Asia to seek for the legions of Antony, and return with them to +gain the battle of Pharsalia. When Napoleon learned in Egypt the state +of France, from the shameful doings of the Directory, the agitation of +parties, and that already more than one general was meditating another +18th of Brumaire, he did not hesitate, and however rash it might appear +to attempt to pass through the English fleet in a small craft, at the +risk of being taken, or sent to the bottom, he dared every peril, and by +dint of address and audacity succeeded in gaining the shores of France. +Conde did the same, and at the end of March 1652, he undertook to make +his way from the banks of the Gironde to the banks of the Loire, without +other escort than that of a small number of intrepid friends, and +sustained solely by the vivid consciousness of the necessity of that +bold step, his familiarity with and secret liking for danger, his +incomparable presence of mind and his customary gaiety. + +On Palm Sunday, 1652, Conde set forth upon his adventurous expedition. +He was accompanied by six persons, La Rochefoucauld and his youthful +son, the Prince de Marcillac, the Count de Guitaut, the Count de +Chavagnac, a valet named Rochefort, and the indefatigable Gourville, +under whose directions all the arrangements of the journey seem to have +been contrived. The whole party were disguised as common troopers, and +each took a false name, even amongst themselves. For some time they +followed the Bordeaux road, and using many precautions proceeded until +they reached Cahusac, where they encountered some troops belonging to La +Rochefoucauld; but being anxious almost as much to avoid their own +partizans as the enemy, Conde and his companions hid themselves in a +barn, while Gourville went out to forage. He succeeded in procuring some +scanty fare; and they rode on till some hours had passed after +nightfall, when they reached a little wayside inn, where Conde +volunteered to cook an omelet for the whole party. The hand, however, +which could wield a truncheon with such effect, proved somewhat too +violent for the frying-pan, and in the attempt to turn the omelet, he +threw the whole hissing mass into the fire. + +The little band having reached a certain spot, quitted the main road, +and began to traverse the enemy's lines. For eight days they encountered +many perilous incidents and underwent incredible fatigue, riding +throughout the same horses, never stopping more than two hours to eat or +sleep, avoiding towns and crossing rivers as they best could; threading +at first the gorges of the Auvergne mountains, then descending by the +Bec d'Allier, and making their way to the Loire. The memoirs of La +Rochefoucauld and Gourville must be consulted for the details of that +extraordinary journey, and all the dangers it presented. No less than +ten times did they escape being taken and slain. Their wearied horses at +last could carry them no longer. La Rochefoucauld was tormented by the +gout, and his son was so worn out with fatigue that he fell asleep as +he went. Conde, whose iron frame resisted to the last, was alone +indefatigable, sleeping and working at will, and always cheerful and +good humoured. + +Upon approaching Gien, at which place the Court then was, Conde had +twice very nearly fallen into the hands of parties sent out to take him +alive or dead. Having escaped almost by a miracle, on the last occasion, +soon after reaching Chatillon, he gained information that the army of +Beaufort and Nemours lay at about eight leagues from that place, and +hastened with all speed to join it. At length, to his great joy, he saw +the advanced guard before him, and several of the troopers came +galloping up with a loud "_Qui vive!_" Some of them, however, almost +instantly recognised Conde, and shouts of joy and surprise soon made +known through the whole army what had occurred. + +He found the forces of the Fronde as divided as were its chiefs. He took +the command of it immediately; thus doing away with the principal cause +of the jealousy existing between Nemours and Beaufort. He reviewed and +reunited it, gave it one day's rest, seized, without striking a blow, on +Montargis and Chateau-Renard, and threw himself with the utmost rapidity +on the royal army. It was scattered in quarters distant from each other +for the convenience of foraging, and on account of the little dread with +which Beaufort and Nemours had inspired it. Marshal d'Hocquincourt was +encamped at Bleneau, and Turenne a little farther off, at Briare; the +two Marshals were to unite their forces on the morrow. Conde did not +give them time for that: that same evening, and during the nights of the +6th and 7th of April, 1652, he fell upon the head-quarters of +Hocquincourt, overwhelmed them, and succeeded in routing the rest, +thanks to one of those charges in flank which he in person ever led so +energetically. Hocquincourt, after fighting like a gallant soldier, was +forced to fall back for some leagues in the direction of Auxerre, having +lost all his baggage and three thousand horse. No sooner did Turenne +hear of the fact, than he sprang into the saddle, and marched with some +infantry both to the assistance of his brother officer and to the +defence of the King, who, resting secure at Gien, might have fallen into +the hands of the rebels. As he advanced through the darkness of the +night, the Marshal saw the quarters of Hocquincourt in one blaze of +fire, and exclaiming, with the appreciation which genius has of genius, +"The Prince de Conde is arrived!" he hurried on with the utmost speed. +Having neither cavalry nor artillery, and having sent word to +Hocquincourt to rally to him as soon as possible, he marched on in good +order throughout that long and dark night to join the bulk of his troops +which Navailles and Palluan were bringing up. For an instant he halted +in a plain where there stood a rather dense wood on his left, with a +marsh on his right. Those around Conde thought it an advantageous post; +Conde judged very differently. "If M. de Turenne makes a stand there," +said he, "I shall soon cut him to pieces; but he will take good care not +to do so."[2] He had not left off speaking when he saw that Turenne was +already retiring, too skilful to await Conde in the plain and expose +himself to the Prince's formidable manoeuvres. A little further off, +he found a position much more favourable; there he firmly posted his +force, determined to give battle. In vain did his officers urge him not +to hazard an action, not to risk the last army which remained to the +monarchy, and to confine himself to covering Gien whilst awaiting the +coming of Hocquincourt. "_No_," replied he, "_we must conquer or perish +here._" + + [2] It is Tavannes who has preserved the details of this interesting + incident. + +Turenne, it is true, was very inferior in cavalry to Conde, but he had a +powerful and well-served artillery. Having encouraged his troops to do +their duty, he posted himself upon an eminence which he covered with +infantry and artillery, drew up his cavalry below in a plain too narrow +to permit of Conde deploying his own, and which could only be reached by +traversing a thick wood and a causeway intersected by ditches and boggy +ground. From such strong position, Conde could, in his turn, recognise +his illustrious disciple. No great manoeuvres were then practicable, +and as time did not permit of an attempt to turn Turenne, it was +necessary to crush him out of hand, if that were possible, before he +could effect a junction with Hocquincourt. The defile was the key of the +position; and both sides fought therein with equal fierceness. Turenne +defended himself sword in hand, and upon the six squadrons which Conde +hurled against him he opened a battery, as they passed, with terrible +execution, showing a courage equal to that of his heroic adversary. +Conde, judging from what he now saw, believed the position in the hands +of Turenne to be impregnable; and it being too late to execute any other +manoeuvres with success during that day, he continued to cannonade the +royalist army till the evening, without any other attempt to bring it to +a battle. + +Napoleon has not spared Conde in this affair any more than other +critics. He sums all their opinions up in one piquant phrase, which it +appears he was unable to resist, and which made him smile in uttering +it. "Conde," said he, "for that once, was wanting in boldness." The +dictum is both brief and incisive, but there was no foundation for it, +in a military point of view. There was, in truth, no want of boldness on +Conde's part throughout that campaign: far from it, his whole line of +conduct was a succession of audacious actions and combinations. What +could be bolder than that forced journey of nearly ten days for more +than one hundred and fifty miles with half-a-dozen followers to go and +take the command of an army? What bolder than the resolution taken out +of hand to throw himself between Turenne and Hocquincourt, to cut in two +the royal army and to disperse one half of it before attacking the +other? Did Conde lose a moment in marching against Turenne and pursuing +him sword in hand? Was it his fault that he had to cope with a great +captain, who knew how to select an excellent position, and to maintain +himself in it with immovable firmness? In the attack of that position, +did Napoleon mean to reproach Conde with want of boldness? Turenne, it +is true, covered himself with glory, for he successfully resisted Conde; +but Conde, in not having been victorious, was not in the slightest +degree beaten. The strategy, therefore, on that occasion was +irreproachable. As will be seen, it was in his policy only that he +failed. Conde quitted the army at a very ill-timed moment, in our +opinion, but that step was taken through considerations which had +nothing to do with the science of war. + +To revert for a moment to this much-criticised action of Bleneau. +Towards night, Hocquincourt appeared upon the field, having rallied a +considerable part of his cavalry. Conde then retired, finding that his +attempt was frustrated, and took the way to Montargis; while Turenne +rejoined the Court, and was received by the Queen with all the +gratitude which such great services merited. Her first words went to +thank him for _having placed the crown a second time upon her son's +head_. + +The terror and confusion which had reigned in Gien during the whole of +the preceding night and that day may very well be conceived when it is +remembered that the safety of the King himself, as well as the Queen, +was at stake, and that the life of the favourite Minister might at any +moment be placed at the mercy of his bitterest enemy, justified in +putting him to death immediately by the highest legal authority in the +realm. Neither were the ill-disciplined and irregular forces of Conde at +all desirable neighbours to the troop of ladies who had followed the +Court; and, as soon as it was known that Conde had fallen upon +Hocquincourt, the whole of the little town was one scene of dismay and +confusion. + +The royal army and that of Conde now both marched towards Paris, nearly +upon two parallel lines. But the great distress which the Court suffered +from want of money caused almost as much insubordination to be apparent +amongst the troops of the King as amongst those of the rebels. Little +respect was shown to Mazarin himself; and the young King was often +treated with but scanty ceremony, and provided for but barely. + +After quitting the neighbourhood of Gien, Conde, urged by the desire of +directing in person the negotiations and intrigues which were going on +in Paris, left his army under the command of the celebrated Tavannes, +and hastened to the capital. The Count de Tavannes, whom he had selected +to fill his own place, was without doubt an excellent officer, one of +the valiant _Petits-maitres_[3] who, upon the field of battle, served +as wings to the great soldier's thoughts, carried his orders everywhere, +executed the most dangerous manoeuvres, sometimes charging with an +irresistible impetuosity, at others sustaining the most terrible onsets +with a firmness and solidity beyond all proof. But though the intrepid +Tavannes was quite capable of leading the division of a great army, he +was not able enough to be its commander-in-chief, and he had not +authority over the foreign troops which the Duke de Nemours had brought +from Flanders, and which he made over, on accompanying Conde to Paris, +to the command of the Count de Clinchamp. The army, thus divided, was +capable of nothing great. Conde alone could finish what he had begun. +Once engaged in the formidable enterprise that he had undertaken against +the Queen and Mazarin, there was no safety for him but in carrying it +out even to the end. He ought, therefore, to have waged war to the +knife, if the expression be allowable, against Turenne, conquered or +perished, and to have constrained Mazarin to flee for good and all to +Germany or Italy, and the Queen to place in his hands the young King. To +do that, Conde should have had a definite ambition, an object clearly +determined; he ought to have plainly proposed to himself to assume the +Regency, or at least the lieutenant-generalship of the kingdom in the +place of Gaston, by will or by force, in order to concentrate all power +in his own hands; that he might become, in short, a Cromwell or a +William III.: and Conde was neither the one or the other. His mind had +been perturbed by sinister dreams; but, as has been remarked, he had at +heart an invincible fund of loyalty. Ambition was rather hovering round +him than within himself. But whatsoever it was he desired, and in every +hypothesis--for his secret has remained between Heaven and himself--he +did wrong in abandoning the Loire and leaving Turenne in force there. +That was the true error he committed, and not in wanting audacity, as +Napoleon supposed. It was not a military but a political error--immense +and irreparable. He might have crushed Turenne, and ought to have +attempted it, but he let him slip from his grasp. The opportunity once +lost did not return. Turenne until then was only second in rank; by a +glorious resistance he acquired from that moment, and it was forced upon +him to maintain, the importance of a rival of Conde. Mazarin grew from +day to day more emboldened; royalty, which had been on the very brink of +ruin, again rose erect, and the Court drew towards Paris; whilst, +prompted by his evil genius, quitting the field of battle wherein lay +his veritable strength, Conde went away to waste his precious time in a +labyrinth of intrigues for which he was not fitted, and in which he lost +himself and the Fronde. + + [3] Upon the _Petits Maitres_, see Mad. de Sable, chap. i. p. 44. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + POLITICAL AND GALLANT INTRIGUES--THE DUCHESS DE CHATILLON'S SWAY OVER + CONDE--SHAMEFUL CONSPIRACY AGAINST MADAME DE LONGUEVILLE. + + +CONDE arrived in Paris on the 11th of April, and found everything in the +utmost confusion. It would be impossible to follow all the petty +intrigues, or even make allusion to all the events which affected the +relative situations of the parties in the capital; but it may be +observed that the tendency of both parties was to hold themselves in the +neighbourhood of Paris. The chiefs of the Fronde hurried into the city, +to receive the congratulations due to their exploits from the fair +politicians who had won them to their cause. The Queen also established +her head-quarters near the capital, to be ready for any turn of popular +sentiment in her favour, and to hear the reports of her spies on the +proceedings of her enemies. She knew what dances were to be given, and +who were to attend the assemblies of the duchesses of the Fronde. On one +occasion when Turenne knew that half the officers of Conde's army were +engaged to a brilliant fete at the Duchess de Montbazon's, he made an +attack on the enemy's camp, and was only repulsed by the steadiness of +some old soldiers, who gave time for reinforcements to arrive. But the +crisis was at hand; for each party began to be suspicious of the other +gaining over its supporters--Mazarin lavishing promises of place and +money, and the Duchess de Chatillon, invested with full powers by +Conde, appearing in the opposite camp as the most irresistible +ambassadress that ever was seen. + +Thus matters stood in the early summer of 1652, and "all that was most +subtle and serious in politics," La Rochefoucauld tells us, "was brought +under the attention of Conde to induce him to take one of two +courses--to make peace or to continue the war; when Madame de Chatillon +imbued him with a design for peace by means the most agreeable. She +thought that so great a boon might be the work of her beauty, and +mingling ambition with the design of making a new conquest, she desired +at the same time to triumph over the Prince de Conde's heart and to +derive pecuniary advantages from her political negotiations." + +We have already cursorily mentioned the Duchess de Chatillon: it is now +indispensable, in order to thoroughly understand what is about to +follow, to know something more of that celebrated personage. + +Isabella Angelique de Montmorency was one of the two daughters of that +brave and unfortunate Count de Montmorency Bouteville, who, the victim +of a false point of honour and of an outrageous passion for duelling, +was decapitated on the Place de Greve, on the 21st of June, 1627. She +was sister of Francois de Montmorency, Count de Bouteville, better known +as the illustrious Marshal de Luxembourg. Born in 1626, she had been +married in 1645 to the last of the Colignys, the Duke de Chatillon, one +of the heroes of Lens, killed in the action of Charenton in 1649. Left a +widow at twenty-three, her rare loveliness won for her a thousand +adorers. She was one of the queens of politics and gallantry during the +Fronde; and even, after manifold amours, at thirty-eight could boast of +captivating the Duke de Mecklenbourg, who espoused her in 1664. To +beauty, Madame de Chatillon added great intelligence, but an +intelligence wholly devoted to intrigue. She was vain and ambitious, and +at the same time profoundly selfish, moderately scrupulous, and somewhat +of the school of Madame de Montbazon. While both were young, she had +smitten Conde; but he had thought no more of her after becoming absorbed +with his love for Mademoiselle de Vigean. After that elevated passion, +so sorrowfully terminated,[1] and after the fugitive emotion with which +the lovely and virtuous Mademoiselle de Toussy could still inspire him, +Conde stifled his chevalaresque instincts and bade adieu to the _haute +galanterie_ of his youth and of the Hotel de Rambouillet. A few +insignificant and commonplace attachments, of which no record has +survived, alone excepted, Madame de Chatillon only is known to have +captivated his heart for the last time; and that _liaison_ exercised +upon Conde and his affairs, at the epoch at which we have arrived, an +influence sufficiently great for history to occupy itself therewith, if +it would not be content with retracing consequences and as it were the +outline of events which pass across the stage of the world without being +understood, without penetrating to the true causes which are to be +discovered in the characters and passions of mankind. And, of all +passions, there is none at once more energetic and wide-grasping than +love. It occupies an immense place in human life, and in the loftiest as +well as the lowliest conditions. In our own times, we have seen it make +and mar kings. In an earlier epoch, by detaining Antony too long in +Cleopatra's arms at Alexandria, the formidable tempest gathered above +his head which nearly overwhelmed him at Munda. It played a great part +in the war which Henry IV. was about to undertake, when a sudden death +arrested him. One can scarcely resist a smile on seeing historians for +the most part taking no account of it, as a thing too frivolous, and +consigning it altogether to private life, as though that which agitates +the soul so powerfully were not the principle of that which blazes forth +exteriorly! No, the empire of beauty knows no limitation, and in no +instance did it show itself more potent than over those great hearts of +which Alexander the Great, Caesar, Charlemagne, and Henry IV. of France +were the owners. We may well place Conde amongst such illustrious +company. + + [1] Mademoiselle de Vigean took the veil on the prince being forced + to marry the niece of Cardinal Richelieu. + +One graceful memento of Madame de Chatillon's power over Conde has +descended to our own day. At Chatillon-sur-Loing, in what remains of the +ancient chateau of the Colignys, which Isabelle de Montmorency derived +from her husband and left to her brother, in that salon of the noble +heir of the Luxembourgs, as precious for history as for art, wherein may +be seen collected together, by the side of the sword of the Constable +Anne, the likeness of Luxembourg on horseback, with his proud and +piercing glance, as well as the full-length portrait of Charlotte +Marguerite de Montmorency, Princess de Conde, in widow's weeds, there is +also a large and magnificent picture, representing a young woman of +ravishing beauty, with perfectly regular features, with the loveliest +bright chestnut hair, grey eyes of the softest expression, a swan-like +neck, of a slight and graceful figure, painted with a natural grandeur, +and embellished with all the attractions of youth, enhanced by an +exquisite air of coquetry. She is seated in an easy attitude. One of her +hands, carelessly extended, holds a bouquet of flowers; the other rests +upon the mane of a lion, whose head is drawn full-face, and whose +flaming eyes are unmistakably the terrible eyes of Conde when seen with +his sword drawn. Here we behold the beautiful Duchess de Chatillon at +twenty-five or twenty-six, and very nearly such as she has taken care to +describe herself in the _Divers Portraits_ of Mademoiselle de +Montpensier. The head stands out wonderfully. It would be impossible to +instance a more charming countenance, but it is somewhat deficient in +character and grandeur, and quite different from that of Madame de +Longueville. The latter's face was not so regularly symmetrical, but it +wore a far loftier expression, and an air of supreme distinction +characterised her entire person. + +Madame de Chatillon and Madame de Longueville had been brought up +together, and very much attached during the whole of their early youth. +By degrees there sprung up a rivalry of beauty between them, and they +quarrelled thoroughly when Madame de Longueville perceived after the +death of Chatillon, that the young and beautiful widow, at the same time +that she was welcoming very decidedly the homage of the Duke de Nemours, +had also evident designs upon Conde. Madame de Longueville had her own +reasons for not being then very severe upon others, but she knew the +self-seeking heart of the fair Duchess, and she was alarmed for her +brother's sake. She feared lest Madame de Chatillon, having great need +of Court favour, might retain Conde in the engagements which he had with +Mazarin, while she herself was forced to drag him into the Fronde. The +quarrel was renewed in 1651, as we have seen, and it was in full force +in 1652. Madame de Chatillon and Madame de Longueville were then +disputing for Conde's heart: the one drew him towards the Court, fully +hoping that the Court would not be ungrateful to her; the other urged +him more and more upon the path of war. We have related how Madame de +Longueville, well knowing the strength of Conde's friendship for the +Duke de Nemours, who was in the chains of the Duchess, very +inopportunely mingled politics and coquetry in Berri, and tried the +power of her charms upon Nemours, in order to carry him off from Madame +de Chatillon and from the party of peace. No one ever knew how far +Madame de Longueville committed herself on that occasion; but, as we +have remarked, the slightest appearance was enough for La Rochefoucauld. +As he had only sought his own advantage in the Fronde, not finding it +therein, he began to grow tired, and asked for nothing better than to +put an end to the wandering and adventurous life he had been for some +years leading by a favourable reconciliation. Madame de Longueville's +conduct in cutting him to the quick in what remained of his tender +feelings for her, and especially in the most sensitive portion of his +heart--its vanity and self-love--gave him an opportunity or a pretext, +which he seized upon with eagerness, to break off a _liaison_ become +contrary to his interests. Thus, in April, 1652, when he returned to +Paris with Conde, and there found Madame de Chatillon, he entered at +once into all her prejudices and all her designs, as he afterwards owned +to Madame de Motteville:[2] he placed at her service all that was in him +of skill and ability, and descended to the indulgence of a revenge +against Madame de Longueville wholly unworthy of an honourable man, and +which after the lapse of two centuries is as revolting to every +right-minded person as it was to his contemporaries. + + [2] Mad. de Motteville, tom. v. p. 132. "M. de la Rochefoucauld m'a + dit que la jalousie et la vengeance le firent agir soigneusement, et + qu'il fit tout ce que Mad. de Chatillon voulut." + +Madame de Chatillon was not contented with carrying off the giddy and +inconstant Duke de Nemours from his new love, then absent; she exacted +at his hands the public and outrageous sacrifice of her rival. The +reprisals of feminine vanity did not stop there: the ambitious and +intriguing Duchess went further, she undertook to ruin Madame de +Longueville in her brother's estimation. With that object she set +herself, with the assistance of La Rochefoucauld, to decry her in every +way to him, and sought even to persuade him that his sister was not +attached to him as she made it appear, and that she had promised the +Duke de Nemours to serve him at his expense; whilst Madame de +Longueville had never dreamed in any way of separating Nemours from +Conde, but only from her, Madame de Chatillon, purposely to engage him +more deeply in Conde's interests, in the light that she understood them. + +Madame de Longueville's policy was very simple, and it was the true one, +the Fronde once admitted. Assuredly, it would have been better alike for +Madame de Longueville, for Conde, and for France not to have entered +upon that fatal path by which the national greatness was for ten years +arrested, and through which the house of Conde very nearly perished; +but, after having embraced that sinister step, no other alternative +remained to a firm and logical mind than to resolutely pursue its +triumph. And that triumph, in Madame de Longueville's eyes, was the +overthrow of Mazarin, a necessary condition of the domination of Conde. +Such was the end pointed out to her by La Rochefoucauld when engaging +her in the Fronde at the beginning of 1648, and she had never lost sight +of it. It was to attain it that she had flung herself into the Civil +War, and that she had ended by dragging therein her brother; that, +worsted at Paris in 1649, she had striven in 1650 to raise Normandy; +that she had risked her life, braved exile, made alliance with a foreign +enemy, and unfurled at Stenay the banner of the Princes. In 1651, she +had advised the resumption of arms, and now she maintained the +impossibility of laying them down, and that, instead of losing himself +in useless negotiations with the subtle and skilful Cardinal, it was +upon his sword alone that Conde should rely. She thought him incapable +of extricating himself advantageously from the intrigues by which he was +surrounded, and therefore urged him towards the field of battle. She had +always exercised a great sway over him, because he knew that her heart +was of like temper to his own; and if passion had not blinded him, he +would have rejected with disdain the odious accusations they had dared +to raise against her, as he had done in 1643, in the affair of the +letters attributed to her by Madame de Montbazon: he would have easily +recognised that Madame de Chatillon, Nemours, and La Rochefoucauld would +not have joined to blacken her in his eyes, as a vulgar creature ever +ready to betray him for the latest lover, save in the manifest design of +embroiling them both, of securing him, and of making him subserve their +particular views. Nemours alone knew what had taken place during that +journey from Montrond to Bordeaux, and the man who is base enough to +constitute himself the denouncer of a woman to whom he has paid the +warmest homage, is not very worthy of being believed on his word. +Besides Nemours has not himself spoken, but Madame de Chatillon and +Rochefoucauld, who have attributed to him certain sentiments, and we +know with what motive. + +It would be difficult to imagine a conspiracy more disgraceful than that +formed at this juncture against Madame de Longueville; and that feature +in it the more shameful perhaps was that La Rochefoucauld himself boasts +of having invented and worked this machinery, as he terms it. The three +conspirators were dumb, but through different but equally despicable +reasons. Madame de Chatillon desired singly to govern Conde, and alone +to represent him at Court, in order to reap the profits of the +negotiation. Nemours was desirous of pleasing Madame de Chatillon, and +looked forward also to have his share in the great advantages promised +him; and, lastly, La Rochefoucauld was actuated by a pitiless spirit of +revenge, and in the hope of a reconciliation necessary to his own +immediate fortunes. + +But here arose a delicate point, if we may speak of delicacy in such a +matter: in the whole cabal, the least odious was, after all, the Duke de +Nemours, more frivolous than perfidious, and who was deeply smitten with +Madame de Chatillon. He loved her, and was beloved. The return of the +Prince de Conde, with his well-declared pretensions, caused him cruel +suffering, and his rage threatened to upset the well-concerted scheme. +The lovely lady herself could not sometimes help being embarrassed +between an imperious prince and a jealous lover. Happily the future +author of the _Maxims_ was at hand. La Rochefoucauld took upon himself +to arrange everything in the best way possible. It was not very +difficult for him to direct Madame de Chatillon how to manage Conde and +Nemours both at once, and to contrive in such a way that she might +secure them both. He made the moody Nemours comprehend that, in truth, +he had no reason to complain of an inevitable _liaison_, "qui ne lui +devoit pas etre suspecte, puisqu'on voulait lui en rendre compte, et ne +s'en servir que pour lui donner la principale part aux affaires." At the +same time, "he urged M. le Prince to occupy himself with Madame de +Chatillon, and to give her in freehold the estate of Merlon." In such a +fashion, thanks to the honest intervention of La Rochefoucauld, a good +understanding was kept up, and the conspiracy went quietly forwards. +Conde had no mistrust whatever. A veil had been cast over his eyes; his +martial disposition lulled asleep in the lap of pleasure and in a +labyrinth of negotiations, and cradled in the hope of an approaching +peace. + + + + +INDEX. + + + AIGUILLON, Duchess d', her resentment against Conde for forcing her + young nephew Richelieu into a clandestine marriage, i. 174. + + ANCRE, Marshal d', assassinated, i. 17. + + ANET, Chateau d', a haunt of conspirators against Mazarin, i. 105. + + ANNE OF AUSTRIA, Queen of Louis XIII. of France, her reception of Mad. + de Chevreuse on her return from exile, i. 39; + her dread of adventures and enterprises, 39; + Mazarin's entire ascendancy over her, 47; + hesitates to take a decided attitude between Mazarin and his + enemies, 65; + evidence of her love for Mazarin, 100; + her Regency opens under most brilliant auspices, 101; + the conspiracy to take Mazarin's life determines her to adopt his + policy, 102; + orders the arrest of Beaufort, 104; + her lively displeasure at the duel between Guise and Coligny, 116; + her jealous feeling against Madame de Longueville, 122; + retires before the Fronde to St. Germain, 155; + her endeavour to mortify the ladies of the Fronde by giving a + day-light ball, 170; + her delight at seeing Conde and the Frondeurs at daggers drawn, 174; + secretly confers with De Retz relative to the arrest of Conde, Conti + and Longueville; gives the fatal order for that _coup d'etat_,176; + orders the arrest of the Duchesses de Longueville and de + Bouillon, 178; + quits Paris for Rouen to confront Madame de Longueville, 180; + the affirmation of the Duchess d'Orleans that the Queen had secretly + married Mazarin, 201; + evidence of such marriage, 202; + finds herself in some sort a prisoner on the proscription of + Mazarin, 216; + seriously prepares to make head against Conde, 257; + her fervour, constancy, and marvellous skill manifested towards + weakening Conde, 258; + the great danger of herself, the King, and Mazarin at Gien, 287. + + ANNE-GENEVIEVE DE BOURBON-CONDE, Duchess de Longueville, her birth and + parentage, i. 1; + her desire for conventual seclusion, 5; + her great personal beauty, 7; + her character, 10; + suitors for her hand, 12; + married to the Duke de Longueville, 13; + her conduct towards a crowd of adorers, 14; + has a formidable enemy in the Duchess of Montbazon, 66; + the quarrel between the rival Duchesses in the affair of the dropped + letter, 71; + public apology made her by Madame de Montbazon, 74; + unoccupied with politics at this juncture, 79; + error of the _Importants_ in not conciliating her, 79; + scandalised by Coligny's championship of her in the duel with + Guise, 117; + said to have witnessed the duel from behind a window-curtain, 118; + verses on the occasion, 118; + Miossens (afterwards Marshal d'Albret) tries in vain to win her + heart, 121; + her two individualities of opposite natures, 122; + her defective education, 122; + character of her epistolary style, 123; + the different kind of education given by Menage to Madame de Sevigne + and Madame de la Fayette, 124; + the conquest of her heart and mind by La Rochefoucauld, 125; + _resume_ of her life (up to 1648), 131; + queen of the Congress of Munster, 133; + acquires a taste for political discussions and speculations, 134; + Madame de Motteville's portrait of her at this period (1647), 135; + she sacrifices everything for La Rochefoucauld, 140; + exercises a somewhat ridiculous empire over her brother Conti, 142; + fatal influence of her passion for La Rochefoucauld, 149; + throws herself into the first Fronde, 149; + ultimately involves in it every member of her family, 150; + arrayed against her brother Conde in civil war, 154; + she shares all the fatigues of the siege of Paris, 157; + her energy and intrepidity, 158; + is given up as a hostage to the Parliament by her husband, 159; + gives birth to Charles de Paris, _the Child of the Fronde_, in the + Hotel de Ville, 159; + is reconciled to Conde, resumes her ascendancy over him, and + detaches him from Mazarin, 162; + her embarrassment on reappearing at Court, 163; + the perilous path she is led into by her infatuation for La + Rochefoucauld, 166; + undertakes to mislead Conde and give him over to Spain, 167; + the Queen orders her to be arrested; she escapes to Normandy with La + Rochefoucauld, 179; + her adventures in Normandy. She raises the standard of revolt at + Dieppe, 180; + pursued by the Queen, she assumes male attire and reaches Rotterdam + and Stenay, 181; + becomes the motive power of "_the Women's War_" or _Second_ + Fronde, 182; + the message from her dying mother, 183; + her gracious reception by their Majesties on her return from + Stenay, 222; + the most brilliant period of her career, 223; + the idol of Spain, the terror of the Court, and one of the grandeurs + of her family, 223; + her motives for opposing the marriage of her brother with + Mademoiselle de Chevreuse, 228; + urges Conde to cut the knot, and make war upon the Crown, 246; + her conduct, feelings and motives examined at this juncture, 247; + was she the cause of the rupture of Conti's projected marriage, 248; + peremptorily commanded to join her husband in Normandy, 253; + she perceives a change in La Rochefoucauld's feelings, 254; + follows the Princess de Conde into Berri, 254; + the Duke de Nemours pays court to her, 262; + certain obscure relations between them drives La Rochefoucauld to a + violent rupture, 264; + a rivalry of beauty leads her to humiliate Madame de Chatillon, 265; + how Madame de Longueville fell into "the scandalous chronicle," 266; + her grave cause of complaint against La Rochefoucauld, 266; + Madame de Chatillon attempts to ruin her in Conde's estimation, 296; + her fatal policy in the Fronde arrests the national greatness for + ten years, and nearly ruins the House of Conde, 296; + the disgraceful conspiracy formed against her, 298. + + ARISTOCRACY in France, its constitution in the reign of Louis XIV., + i. 217. + + + BEAUFORT, Francis de Vendome, Duke de (called the "King of the + Markets"), a suitor for the hand of Anne de Bourbon, 12; + a leader of the _Importants_, 15; + a rival of Mazarin in the Queen's good graces, 52; + his character as sketched by La Rochefoucauld, 52; + becomes the led-captain of Madame de Montbazon, and the bitterest + enemy of Mazarin, 53; + his spite against Madame de Longueville, 71; + his conduct in the affair of the dropped letters, 73; + insinuates that they were from Coligny, 71; + irritated at the banishment of Madame de Montbazon, he enters into a + plot against Mazarin, 76; + the ungovernable impetuosity of his vengeance against Madame de + Longueville strongly stigmatised, 80; + prepares an ambuscade to slay Mazarin, 95; + the plot fails, 99; + is arrested and imprisoned at Vincennes, 105; + released by the Fronde and becomes master of Paris, 154; + Madame de Montbazon exercises plenary power over him, 208; + becomes one of the most conspicuous leaders of the Fronde, 215. + + BEAUPUIS, Count de, detected plotting against Mazarin, escapes to + Rome, 86; + his denunciation of the evils of Richelieu's inordinate authority, + 91. + + BEAUTY IN WOMAN, true definition of, 8. + + BOUILLON, de la Tour d'Auvergne, Duke de, conspires against + Richelieu, 25; + one of the party of the _Malcontents_, 109; + joins Conde at Saint-Maur, 245. + + BOUILLON, Duchess de, given up as a hostage to the Fronde, 159; + quite as ardent in politics as Madame de Longueville, 206; + arrested by the Queen's order at her daughter's bedside, and thrown + into the Bastille, 206. + + BRIDIEU, Marquis de, acts as second to Guise in duel with Coligny, + 113. + + BUCKINGHAM, George Villiers, Duke of, his political correspondence + with Madame de Chevreuse, 19. + + BURNET, Bishop, his assertion of Conde's offer to Cromwell to turn + Protestant, 280. + + BUSSY-RABUTIN, Count de, value of his satire of Madame de + Longueville, 265. + + + CAMPION, Alexandre de, his mission to Madame de Chevreuse, 28; + his censure of Madame de Montbazon's conduct, 80. + + CAMPION, Henri de, attributes the conception of the plot to destroy + Mazarin to Madame de Chevreuse in concert with Madame de + Montbazon, 89; + he stipulates with Beaufort that he should not strike Mazarin, 92; + sought for by Mazarin, he takes refuge at Anet, and afterwards at + Rome, 97. + + CANTECROIX, Beatrice de Cusance, Princess de, Charles, Duke de + Lorraine madly enamoured of, 147. + + CAUMARTIN, Madame de, a portrait of Madame de Chevreuse sketched by De + Retz to please the malignant curiosity of, 21. + + CHATEAUNEUF, Charles de l'Aubepine, Marquis de, released from an + imprisonment of ten years, 34; + why detested by the Princess de Conde, 40; + restored to office through Madame de Chevreuse, 57; + banished to Touraine, 106; + bides his time for displacing Mazarin, and holds the seals on the + Cardinal going into exile, 107; + deprived of them by the Queen, 230; + restored to office to serve Mazarin in secret, 257; + nobly inaugurates his ministry by marching with the Queen and young + King into Berri, 263; + Mazarin learns with inquietude his ever-increasing success, 278; + again displaced by Mazarin, 279. + + CHATILLON, Isabelle Angelique de Montmorency, Duchess de (sister of + the illustrious Marshal de Luxembourg), the Great Conde's passion + for her, 259; + she urges Conde to an understanding with the Court, 259; + manages her lofty lover with infinite tact, 259; + is deeply enamoured of the young Duke de Nemours, 259; + invested with full powers as an ambassadress by Conde, 291; + her desire to triumph over Conde's heart, 291; + her antecedents and character, 292; + the important consequences of her liaison with Conde, 292; + a portrait of her at twenty-five described, 293; + causes of her quarrel with Madame de Longueville, 294; + she exacts from Nemours the public and outrageous sacrifice of her + rival, 296; + attempts to ruin Madame de Longueville in Conde's estimation, 296; + her embarrassment between an imperious Prince and a jealous + lover, 298. + + CHAVIGNY, Count de, his career, 231. + + CHEVREUSE, Marie de Rohan, Duchess de, her illustrious lineage, 17; + marries, first, Charles de Luynes, and afterwards Claude de + Chevreuse, 17; + as great favourite of Anne of Austria her extensive influence over + the politics of Europe, 18; + her personal characteristics, 18; + summary of her character by Cardinal de Retz, 19; + cause of her failure as a great politician, 20; + her adventures in exile, 22; + her great ascendancy over the cabinet of Madrid, 22; + seeks refuge in England, 22; + Richelieu's designs to effect her destruction, 23; + acts as the connecting link between England, Spain and Lorraine + during the Civil War in England, 24; + negotiates with Olivarez for the destruction of Richelieu, 26; + was she a stranger to the conspiracy of 1642? 26; + abandoned by the Queen on its discovery, 30; + her frightful position, 31; + her perpetual exile decreed by the will of Louis XIII., 32; + is dreaded by Mazarin, 33; + her triumphant return to Court, 34; + her position and political influence, 36; + the new relations between her and the Queen, 39; + she attacks Richelieu's system as adopted by Mazarin, 48; + procures the return of Chateauneuf to office, 49; + pleads for the Vendome princes, 50; + manoeuvres to secure the governorship of Havre for La + Rochefoucauld, 53; + the skill, sagacity, and address of her counter-intrigues, 55; + tries the power of her charms on Mazarin, 55; + devotes her whole existence to political intrigue and conspiracy, + 56; + want of precaution in her attacks upon Mazarin, 58; + her curious struggle for supremacy with the Prime Minister, 58; + the head and mainspring of the _Importants_, 58; + her tactics to displace Mazarin in favour of Chateauneuf, 59; + she organises a _coup-de-main_ to destroy Mazarin, 62; + arranges with the Cardinal the composition of Madame de Montbazon's + apology, 74; + her politic purpose of a fete to the Queen foiled by the insane + pride of Madame de Montbazon, 76; + her efforts to deprive Mazarin of supporters, 80; + her share in Beaufort's plot, 82; + Madame de Montbazon only an instrument in her hands, 89; + her behaviour on the failure of the plot, 106; + recommended by the Queen to withdraw from Court, 107; + carries on a vast correspondence under the mantle of the English + embassy with Lord Goring, Croft, Vendome, and Bouillon, and the + rest of the _Malcontents_, 109; + her irritation at being prohibited from visiting the Queen of + England, 143; + Mazarin watches her every movement, 144; + ordered to retire to Angouleme, she goes for a third time into + exile, 144; + her bark is captured by the English Parliamentarians and she is + carried into the Isle of Wight, 146; + Mazarin has Montresor arrested in hopes of possessing himself of her + costly jewels, 146; + applies herself to maintain an alliance between Spain, Austria and + Lorraine--the last basis of her own political reputation, 147; + preserves her sway over the Duke de Lorraine, 148; + frustrates Mazarin's projects to win over the Duke, 148; + becomes once more the soul of every intrigue planned against the + government, 148; + constitutes herself the mediatress between the Queen and the + Frondeurs, 206; + partially restored to the Queen's confidence, 210; + assisted in her political intrigues by the Marquis de Laigues, 210; + a splendid supper given to her by Madame de Sevigne, 211; + forms a plan with the Princess Palatine of a grand aristocratic + league against Mazarin, 224; + the Fronde in 1651 was Madame de Chevreuse, 225; + she procures Conde's release from prison, 225; + her resentment at the rupture of her daughter's marriage, 232; + she raises the entire Fronde against Conde, 242; + opposes the schemes to assassinate Conde, 243; + Chateauneuf, her friend and instrument, is made Prime Minister, 257; + remains staunch to the Queen and Mazarin through the last Fronde, + 280. + + CHEVREUSE, Charlotte Marie de Lorraine, Mademoiselle de, her projected + marriage with the Prince de Conti, 224; + supreme importance of such marriage, 225; + disastrous results of its rupture, 232; + impetuously proposes to turn the key upon Conde, Conti and Beaufort + at the Palais d'Orleans, 233; + her suspected and almost public _liaison_ with De Retz, 249; + dies suddenly of a fever, unmarried, 224. + + CINQ MARS, Henri de, undermines Richelieu with Louis XIII., 25; + his death-warrant, 29. + + COLIGNY, Count Maurice de (grandson of the famous Admiral de Coligny), + an adorer of Madame de Longueville, 14; + the dropped letters falsely attributed to him, 71; + as champion of Madame de Longueville, he challenges the Duke de + Guise, 113; + fatal result of the duel, 117; + dies of his wounds and of despair, 117; + scandalous verses on the occasion, 118. + + COETQUEN, Marquis de, hospitably receives Madame de Chevreuse when + exiled, 146. + + CONDE, Louis de Bourbon, Prince de, arbiter of the political situation + after Rocroy, 80; + his furious anger at Madame de Montbazon's insult to his sister, + 111; + hailed by the Queen as the liberator of France, 111; + receives into his house Coligny wounded in duel with Guise, 116; + the state in which he found Paris after his victory of Lens: he + offers his sword to the Queen, 154; + applies himself to giving the new _Importants_ a harsh lesson, 155; + marches upon Paris and places it under siege, 156; + the climax of his fame and fortune as defender and saviour of the + throne, 164; + he tyrannises over the Court and government, 168; + he insults Mazarin and embarrasses the Queen, 169; + his want of capacity for business, 172; + his train of _petits-maitres_, 172; + on the murder of one of his servants he tries to crush the Fronde + leaders, 173; + forces the young Duke de Richelieu to marry clandestinely + Mademoiselle de Pons, 174; + wounds the Queen's pride by compelling her to receive Jarze whom she + had banished for fatuously believing that she had loved him, 175; + arrested on the authority of his own signature and imprisoned at + Vincennes, 177; + what constituted the strength of the Princes' party in the Second + Fronde, 188; + the majority of the women who meddled with politics were, through + sympathy, of his party, 203; + his aged mother supplicates in vain for his release, and returns + home to die, 204; + his liberation effected by no other power than that of female + influence, 206; + he treats Mazarin with contempt at Havre, and on his release becomes + master of the situation, 215; + is courted by both the Fronde and Queen's party, 215; + eight hundred princes and nobles partisans of Conde, 217; + his sole error not having a fixed and unalterable object, 230; + applies himself to form a new Fronde, 234; + resumes the imperious tone which had previously embroiled him with + the Queen and Mazarin, 237; + Hocquincourt proposes to assassinate Conde, 243; + he retreats to St. Maur and holds a Court there, 245; + reappears in Parliament, 245; + Chateauneuf and Mazarin labour to destroy him, 257; + he narrowly escapes an ambuscade at Pontoise, 258; + motives which rendered him averse to civil war, 259; + his final determination to unsheath the sword, 260; + raises the standard of revolt in Guienne, 262; + his adventurous expedition, 275; + to what did Conde aspire? 277; + his inconstancy--offers himself to Cromwell and to become Protestant + to have an English army, 278-280; + the income and possessions of his family, 278; + he escapes for the tenth time being taken and slain, 282; + takes command of the Fronde forces and throws himself upon the royal + army, 283; + routs Hocquincourt and attacks Turenne unsuccessfully, 285; + unjust accusation of Napoleon I. that Conde wanted boldness at + Bleneau, 286; + he leaves the army and hastens to Paris, 287; + in abandoning the Loire he commits an immense and irreparable + error, 289; + invests Madame de Chatillon with full powers as an ambassadress, + 291; + imbued by her with a design for peace by means the most + agreeable, 291; + a graceful memento of her power over him still existing in the + ancient Chateau of the Colignys, 293; + Madame de Chatillon and Madame de Longueville dispute for Conde's + heart, 294; + the overthrow of Mazarin a necessary condition of the domination of + Conde, 296; + is advised by his sister to rely upon his sword alone, 297. + + CONDE, Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency, Princess de Bourbon + (mother of the Great Conde and Madame de Longueville), her + influence with Anne of Austria, 39; + her detestation of Madame de Chevreuse, 40; + tries to destroy her hold upon the Queen, 40; + her lively resentment at the insult to her daughter in the affair of + the dropped letters, 73; + demands a public reparation from Madame de Montbazon, 74; + her demeanour during the "mummeries" of the apology, 74; + obtains the privilege of never associating with Madame de + Montbazon, 75; + supplicates in vain for Conde's release, and returns home to die, + 204. + + CONDE, Claire Clemence de Maille, Princess de Bourbon (daughter of the + Duke de Breze, and wife of the Great Conde), shut up in Bordeaux + with the Dukes de Bouillon and de Rochefoucauld during "the + Women's War," 200, 204; + only maintains herself in Bordeaux through the aid of the rabble + _va-nu-pieds_, 205; + forced to take refuge hastily in the citadel of Montrond, 263. + + CONTI, Armand de Bourbon, Prince de (brother of the Great Conde), his + extravagant adoration of his sister, Madame de Longueville, 141; + marries Anne Marie Martinozzi, niece of Mazarin, 142; + declared _generalissimo_ of the army of the king, 159; + the problem as to who was the author of the rupture of his marriage + with Madame de Chevreuse, 227; + his ardent passion for her, 231; + is made lieutenant-general in Guienne by Conde, 276; + finishes, where he begun life, with theology, 142. + + CORNEILLE, Pierre, his _Emilie_ painted as a perfect heroine, 82. + + + FIESQUE, Gillona d'Harcourt, Countess de, 195. + + FOUQUEROLLES, Madame de, her terrible anxiety lest she should be + compromised by the dropped letters, 73; + confides the secret to La Rochefoucauld, 73; + the letters are burnt in the Queen's presence, 73. + + FRONDE, the, what gave it birth and sustained it, 149; + _Day of the Barricades_, 153; + the royal power attacked by three parties simultaneously, 153; + the adherents of the Fronde, 156; + initiation of the Civil War, 159; + sordid selfishness of the Frondeurs, 161; + carries everything before it in 1651, 223; + brief retrospect of the two Fronde wars, 267; + one of the most interesting as well as diverting periods in French + history, 269; + contrast between its main features and the contemporary civil war in + England, 270; + the wide-spread misery it entailed on France, 270. + + + GUISE, Henri, Duke de Guise (grandson of the _Balafre_), espouses the + cause of Madame de Montbazon in the affair of the dropped + letters, 73; + confronts and defies the victorious Condes, 112; + fights a duel with Coligny, the champion of Madame de + Longueville, 115; + his insulting words on unsheathing his sword, 115; + result of the duel on party feeling in France, 117; + his _liaison_ with Anne de Gonzagua, 193; + becomes unfaithful to her and elopes with the Countess de + Bossuet, 194. + + GUYMENE, Anne de Rohan, Princess de (sister-in-law of Madame de + Chevreuse, and daughter-in-law of Madame Montbazon), her numerous + crowd of old and young adorers, 37; + her flirtation with Mazarin, 56; + furious at having been abandoned by De Retz, offers the Queen to get + him confined in a cellar, 209. + + + HACQUEVILLE, Monsieur de, refuses to be a go-between of De Retz and + Madame de Chevreuse, 211. + + HAUTEFORT, Marie de (afterwards Duchess de Schomberg), influence of + her piety and virtue, 37; + witnesses the arrest of Beaufort, 105. + + HENRIETTA MARIA, Queen of Charles I. of England, her warm reception of + Madame de Chevreuse, 22; + seeks an Asylum in France from the Parliamentarians, 143; + asserted to have secretly married her equerry, Jermyn, 202. + + HOCQUINCOURT, Charles de Monchy, Marshal d', proclaims Madame de + Montbazon "la belle des belles," 70; + is beaten by Conde at Bleneau, 284. + + HOLLAND, Henry Rich, Earl of, his political correspondence with Madame + de Chevreuse, 19; + encourages the faction of Vendome, Vieuville, and La Valette, 23. + + + IMPORTANTS, the--Rochefoucauld's account of that faction, 77; + irritated by the banishment of their fascinating lady-leader, Madame + de Montbazon, they plot to murder Mazarin, 78; + their ruin decided upon by the Queen and Mazarin, 79; + their error in not conciliating Madame de Longueville, 79; + was the plot real or imaginary--a point of the highest historical + importance, 83; + failure of the plot and ruin of the faction, 104. + + + JOINVILLE, Prince de (son of Charles de Lorraine), suitor for the hand + of Anne de Bourbon, 12. + + + LAIGUES, Marquis de, declares himself a lover of Madame de Chevreuse + to gain political importance, 210. + + LONGUEVILLE, Duchess de, see ANNE DE BOURBON. + + LONGUEVILLE, Marie d'Orleans, see Duchess de NEMOURS. + + LONGUEVILLE, Henry de Bourbon, Duke de, marries Anne de Bourbon, 13; + titular lover of Madame de Montbazon, 70; + plenipotentiary at the Congress of Munster in 1645, 132; + gives up the Duchess as a hostage to the Fronde, 159; + raises Normandy against Mazarin, 158; + he imperatively commands the Duchess to join him in Normandy, 253. + + LORET, his rhyming description of the supper given by Madame de + Sevigne to Madame to Chevreuse, 212. + + LORRAINE, Charles IV., Duke of, involved in the conspiracy of Soissons + through Madame de Chevreuse, 26; + prefers amusing himself with civil war to the quiet enjoyment of his + throne, 271. + + LOUIS _the Just_ (XIII. of France), signs the death warrant of his + favourite, Cinq Mars, 29; + his decree of exile against Madame de Chevreuse, 33. + + LOUIS XIV., his majority declared, 256. + + LUYNES, Charles de, Favourite of Louis XIII., marries Marie de Rohan + (afterwards Duchess de Chevreuse), 17 + + LUYNES, the (late) Duke de, aided the Pope against the Garibaldians, + 18. + + + MAULEVRIER, the Marquis de, writer of the dropped letters addressed to + Madame de Fouquerolles, 13. + + MAZARIN, Jules, Cardinal, succeeds Richelieu as Prime Minister, 32; + his origin, 44; + is hated by the nobles, parliament, and middle classes, 44; + installed in office, 45; + his first service to Anne of Austria, 45; + his striking personal resemblance to Buckingham, 46; + how he obtained entire sway over the Queen-Regent, 47; + applies himself to gain her heart, 47; + finds a formidable opponent to his policy in Madame de + Chevreuse, 48, 54; + is terrified by her matrimonial projects, 54; + flirts with Madame de Chevreuse, 55; + his attentions to Madame de Guymene, 56; + his difficulty to make the Queen comprehend his policy towards + Spain, 60; + declares that Madame de Chevreuse would ruin France, 61; + forewarned of a conspiracy to destroy him, 62; + the great families opposed to him, 63; + his anxieties and perplexities, 64; + the relations between him and the Queen, 64; + his intervention in the quarrel of the rival Duchesses, 74; + his resolution in confronting the plot of the _Importants_, 79; + did Mazarin owe all his great career to a falsehood cunningly + invented and audaciously sustained? 83; + the plan of the attack upon him, 92; + escapes assassination from Beaufort's nocturnal ambuscade, 99; + compels the Queen to choose her part by addressing himself to her + heart, 102; + becomes absolute master of the Queen's heart, 102; + banishes the conspirators and arrests Beaufort, 106; + his tactics and political sagacity, 111; + first introduces Italian Opera at the French Court, 135; + concludes a peace with the Fronde parliament, 161; + insulted by Conde, 169; + what constitutes the strength of his party in the _Second_ + Fronde, 187; + goes into Guienne with the royal army, 205; + banished by the Fronde, 215; + treated with contempt by Conde at Havre, 215; + with difficulty finds a refuge at Bruhl, 216; + in his exile governs the Queen as absolutely as ever, 217; + his immense blunder (in 1650), 225; + rebanished and his possessions confiscated, 234; + governs France from Bruhl, 236; + foments quarrels between Conde and the Fronde, 236; + composes with the Queen a political comedy of which De Retz became + the dupe and Conde very nearly the victim, 238; + the draught of his treaty with the Fronde, the masterpiece of his + political skill, falls into Conde's hands, 256; + alarmed at the success of Chateauneuf, he breaks his ban, and + returns to France, 279; + Conde and the Fronde united against him, 280; + to gain supporters lavishly promises place and money, 290. + + MEDICI, Marie de (Queen of Henry IV. and mother of Louis XIII.), her + imprisonment of Charlotte de Montmorency, 2; + conspires against Richelieu, 28. + + MIOSSENS, Count de (afterwards Marshal d'Albret), tries unsuccessfully + to win the heart of Madame de Longueville, 122; + gives place to La Rochefoucauld, 130. + + MONTAGU, Lord, the intimate adviser of Queen Henrietta Maria, and + slave of Madame de Chevreuse, 24; + Anne of Austria's confidence in him, 37; + his mission to Madame de Chevreuse, 38; + becomes a bigot and a devotee, 38. + + MONTBAZON, Hercule de Rohan, Duke de (father of Madame de Chevreuse + and the Prince de Guymene), marries at sixty-one Marie d'Avangour + aged sixteen, 67; + recommends the example of Marie de Medici to his young wife and + takes her to Court, 67. + + MONTBAZON, Marie d'Avangour, Duchess de, called by d'Hocquincourt "la + belle des belles," the youthful stepmother of Madame de Chevreuse, + her parentage and antecedents, 67; + married at sixteen to a husband of sixty-one, 67; + her personal and mental characteristics, 68; + contrast in manners between her and Madame de Longueville, 69; + her numerous adorers; the Duke de Beaufort her titular lover, 70; + her malignant hatred of Madame de Longueville, 71; + employs her influence over the houses of Vendome and Lorraine to the + injury of her rival, 71; + the affair of the dropped letters, 71; + the party of the _Importants_ espouse her cause, 73; + she is compelled to make a public apology before the Queen and + Court, 74; + the pretended reconciliation only a fresh declaration of war, 75; + her conduct at the collation given the Queen by Madame de + Chevreuse, 76; + is banished by the King's order, 76; + she inveigles Beaufort into a plot to destroy Mazarin, 89. + + MONTESPAN, Francoise-Athenais de Rochechouart Mortemart, Duchess de, + her fame as a beauty, 9; + relations to her of the Dukes de Longueville and Beaufort, 14. + + MONTPENSIER, Anne Marie Louise d'Orleans (known as _La Grande + Mademoiselle_), daughter of Gaston, Duke d'Orleans and cousin of + Louis XIV., preserves the text of the dropped letters, 72; + gives the two speeches made on the occasion of Madame de Montbazon's + reparation, 74. + + MOTTEVILLE, Frances Bertaut, Madame de, her amusing recital of the + "mummeries" in the affair of the dropped letters, 74; + her account of the Queen's reception of the news of the abortive + attempt to kill Mazarin, 103; + her portrait of Madame de Longueville, 135; + the principal motive which urged La Rochefoucauld to woo the + Duchess, 140. + + + NEMOURS, Marie d'Orleans, Duchess de (daughter of Henri, Duke de + Longueville), her harsh censure of the pride and impracticability + of the Condes, 165; + quits Madame de Longueville to take refuge in a convent, 180; + moves heaven and earth for the release of Conde that he might keep + watch over the Duchess de Chatillon, 208; + her character, 212; + the enemy of the Fronde and the Condes, 227; + her detestation of Madame de Longueville, 252. + + NEMOURS, Charles Amadeus, of Savoy, Duke de, prompted by the Duchess + de Chatillon, his mistress, embraces the cause of Conde, 208; + pays court to Madame de Longueville instead of making active war in + Berri, 262; + the obscure relations between them at this juncture, drives La + Rochefoucauld to a violent rupture with Madame de Longueville, + 264. + + + ORLEANS, Gaston, Duke d' (brother of Louis XIII.), conspires against + Richelieu, 25; + his incapacity to govern, 171; + his jealousy of the influence of Conde and of Mazarin, 171; + makes De Retz his confidant, who obtains his assent to the arrest of + the Princes, 176; + becomes the head of a fifth party in the Second Fronde, 200; + consents to the liberation of the Princes on promise that his + daughter should marry Conde's son, 207; + governed by De Retz and Madame de Chevreuse, 258. + + + PETITS-MAITRES, the train of Conde called, their character, 288. + + PALATINE, Anne de Gonzagua, Princess (widow of Edward Prince + Palatine), peculiarities of her epistolary style, 124; + her large intelligence, solidity, refinement and ingenuity of + thought, 124; + becomes the head and mainspring of the Princes' party, or Second + Fronde, 179; + the formidable political opponent of Mazarin, 179; + her extraordinary political and diplomatical ability, 189; + her antecedents, 190; + her _liaison_ with Henri de Guise under a promise of marriage, 193; + disguised in male attire she joins her lover at Besancon, 193; + abandoned by the volatile de Guise, who elopes with the Countess de + Bossuet, she returns to Paris, 194; + is married to Prince Edward, Count Palatine of the Rhine, 194; + by her conciliatory tact she obtains the esteem of all parties in + the Fronde, 196; + De Retz's eulogium and Madame de Motteville's opinion of her, 196; + she operates on behalf of the imprisoned Princes, and negotiates + four different treaties for their deliverance, 198; + an alliance with the two camps concluded by her with De Retz, 224; + she conducts with consummate skill the negotiation between Madame de + Chevreuse and Madame de Longueville, 227. + + PHALZBOURG, Princess de (sister of Charles IV. of Lorraine), acts as a + spy over Madame de Chevreuse in the interest of Mazarin, 147. + + POLITICAL INTRIGUE, an affair of fashion among the ladies of Anne of + Austria's Court, 56. + + + RAMBOUILLET, Hotel de, 9. + + RETZ, John Francis Paul Gondi, Cardinal de, the evil genius of the + Fronde, 151; + his influence over the Parisians as Coadjutor, 151; + his character--ladies of gallantry his chief political agents, 152; + his conspicuous merits and faults, 172; + his master-stroke of address, 201; + his best concerted measures abortive through his inclination for the + fair sex, 208; + fails to acquire the confidence of anyone--is threatened with + assassination, 209; + lends an ear to Cromwell and contracts a close friendship with + Montrose, 209; + has the same interests with Madame de Chevreuse in securing the + union of her daughter with Conti, 210; + an analysis of his character, antecedents, and aspirations, 293; + admitted unwillingly into the secret councils of the Queen, 240; + his midnight interview with Anne of Austria, 241; + holds the key of Paris, 275; + he trims and follows the Duke d'Orleans, 280. + + RICHELIEU, Cardinal de, his government through terror, 24; + conspiracy to destroy him, 26-30; + result of his efforts to consolidate the regal power, 32. + + RICHELIEU, Duke de, engaged to Mademoiselle de Chevreuse, but forced + by Conde to marry clandestinely when under age, Mademoiselle de + Pons, 174. + + ROCHEFOUCAULD, Francis, second Duke de la--his career as Prince de + Marsillac, 127; + his character of the Duchess de Longueville, 10; + his advice to Madame de Chevreuse, 39; + Madame de Fouquerolles confides to him the secret of the dropped + letters, 73; + he delivers her and her lover from their terrible anxiety, 73; + seeks to hush up and terminate the quarrel of the rival Duchesses, + 80; + constitutes himself the champion of Madame de Chevreuse's innocence + of Beaufort's plot, 83; + allies himself with that illustrious political adventuress, 128; + desirous of securing to his party the master-mind of Conde to avenge + himself of the Queen and Mazarin, 128; + makes persistent love to Madame de Longueville and wins her + heart, 129; + his cynical maxim on the love of certain women, 129; + his personal and mental characteristics, 137; + the way in which he superseded Miossens as the lover of Madame de + Longueville, 139; + his sordid motive as her wooer, 140; + his restless spirit and ever discontented vanity, 167; + effects the escape from Paris of Madame de Longueville, 178; + gives proof of a rare fidelity through the whole of "the Women's + War," 183; + his ancestral chateau of Verteuil razed to the ground by Mazarin's + orders, 183; + his conduct at this time contradicts the assertion that he never + loved the woman he seduced and dragged into the vortex of + politics, 184; + his version of the true cause of the rupture of the marriage between + Mademoiselle de Chevreuse and Conti, 229: + grows weary of a wandering and adventurous life, 255; + the report of certain obscure relations existing between Nemours and + Madame de Longueville drives him to a violent rupture with the + Duchess, 264; + his accusation more absurd than odious, 264; + to indulge his revenge against Madame de Longueville, he enters into + all Madame de Chatillon's designs, 295; + directs her how to manage Conde and Nemours both at once, 298. + + + SCUDERY, Mademoiselle de, and the prudes of the Hotel de Rambouillet + protest strongly against the marriage of Conti with Mademoiselle + de Chevreuse, 249. + + SEGUIER, Pierre, Keeper of the Seals, his character, 49. + + SEVIGNE, Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de, gives a splendid + supper to the Duchess de Chevreuse, 211. + + SOISSONS, Count de, his conspiracy to destroy Cardinal de Richelieu, + 25. + + ST. MAURE, Countess of, the polish and precision of her epistolary + style, 123. + + + TAVANNES, Count de, a valiant _petit-maitre_ to whom Conde gives + command of the army after Bleneau, 257. + + TURENNE, Marshal de, raises the standard of revolt in behalf of the + Fronde, 156; + is won over to make a treaty with Spain by Madame de Longueville, + 182; + thanked by the Queen after Bleneau, for having placed the crown a + second time on her son's head, 287; + achieves the importance of being a rival of Conde, 289; + attacks the enemy's camp when half the officers of Conde's army were + at Madame de Montbazon's fete, 290. + + + VIGEAN, Mademoiselle de, Conde's love for, 292. + + VENDOME, Duke Caesar de, the faction of, with La Vieuville and La + Valette, when emigrants in England, 23; + his pretensions and agitated life, 51; + decides to exile himself in Italy and await the fall of Mazarin, + 106. + + VITRY, Marshal de, prepares with Count de Cramail a _coup-de-main_ + against Richelieu, 25. + + + + +END OF VOL. I. + + + + +BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. + + + + + +------------------------------------------------------------------+ + |Transcriber's Note | + | | + | | + |The following changes were made to the original text [correction | + |in brackets]: | + | | + |Page 16: (afterwards Duke de Rochefoucald [Rochefoucauld]) | + |Page 33: Angoulesme [Angouleme], until after the peace be | + |Page 43: French language: ["]_La reine est si bonne!_" | + |Page 79: royal authority now seriously theatened [threatened]. | + |Page 85: oppose testimony more distinterested [disinterested], | + |Page 85: confidental [confidential] letters furnish us. | + |Page 146: _varures_ [parures], valued at two hundred thousand | + |Page 157: troops, at the parades of the citizen soldiery.[,] | + |Page 165: exposed to one of those _coups d'etat_ [d'etat], | + |Page 179: the Secretary of State, La Veilliere [Vrilliere], | + |Page 184: firmness,["] says Lenet, "that he seemed as though | + |Page 202: Footnote 6: Leomeni[Lomenie] de Brienne, Memoirs, 1828.| + |Page 231: to look upon her with horror. "[removed]He even blamed | + |Page 232: From that moment means of of[removed] breaking off | + |Page 232: and obscurities resting upon this deli- [delicate] | + |Page 234: missing anchor for Footnote 4 | + |Page 269: La Rouchefoucauld [Rochefoucauld], getting Gondy | + |Page 269: Rouchefoucauld [Rochefoucauld], he determined to set | + |Page 279: his ban, quitted his retreat at Dinan, and and[removed]| + |Page 282: went out to forage. He suceeded[succeeded] in procuring| + |Page 303: her personal characteristics, 18:[;] | + |Page 310: attack's[attacks] the enemy's camp when half | + +------------------------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Political Women (Vol. 1 of 2), by +Sutherland Menzies + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK POLITICAL WOMEN (VOL. 1 OF 2) *** + +***** This file should be named 27192.txt or 27192.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/1/9/27192/ + +Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Emanuela Piasentini and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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