as she should be in a condition to confer it upon me or that I believ'd I might be more serviceable to her in some other employment than Master of the Wardrobe to the King which I then had I liv'd in this resolution till the Cardinal's Death after which the Queens Enemies beginning to make their court to her it was not strange that I who had before devoted my self entirely to her carefully sought all opportunities to testifie my zeal to serve her and in a very little time I found one which I carefully embraced and proposed to her Majesty by Monsieur de Brienne and having afterwards spoken to her my self concerning it she judg'd that it would be advantagious for her service and thank'd me in such terms as both doubled my desire to serve her and encreas'd my hopes What I propos'd was the buying the Office of Colonel of the Swisse in which I neither regarded the great summ of Money that I imploy'd in it nor many other considerations that the sight of a Wife and three Children might produce who were inevitably ruin'd if by my death my place should be lost to them without recompence I then sacrificed to the Queen all my Family without regret and whether it was that my free manner of proceeding pleas'd her or that she believ'd I might be capable to serve her from that time I daily receiv'd more of her favours than I had done before she spoke of me to some of her greatest confidents as of a man who had entirely devoted himself to her and whom she esteem'd for his fidelity ordering the Bishop of Beauvais in whom she then most confided to communicate freely to me all things that might be for her service this was about the same time that the Duke de Beaufort return'd from England for as soon as Cardinal Richelieu was dead the Bishop of Lisieux by the Queen's order writ to him to return and he without any other precaution immediately left England and as soon as he was landed in France writ to me by a Gentleman nam'd Drouilly wherein he declared that he reposed much confidence in me and also desir'd me to serve him in what I could with the King and added That Monsieur de Montresor who he knew not only to be my Cousin Germain but also my most intimate Friend and who likewise was very particularly his had assur'd him that I would be glad to serve him The answer that I thought the fittest to make Drouilly was That Monsieur de Beaufort did me too great an honour in confiding in me and that I beseeched him to tell me in what I might be serviceable to him protesting to execute whatsoever he should require of me with little success perhaps but with much zeal and fidelity Whereupon he told me That Monsieur de Beaufort desir'd that with some other of his Friends I would take upon me to declare directly to the King his return into France but at the same time he told me That having delivered a Letter to Monsieur de Bri nne wherein the Duke de Beaufort had desir'd the same thing of him that he had of me the good man a better Courtier than I perchance might have been had told him that the way to ruine his interest was to execute what he propos'd for he himself who knew better how the World then stood than he who was so newly come from beyond Seas was of opinion that it should be first told to the chief Ministers and that he would go that minute to find them out The affair being thus I told him it was now past consulting and that since the chief Ministers knew of the Duke de Beaufort's return it was fit to expect what they would do and not to undertake any negotiation with the King without them which would but provoke them and make them his Enemies for my own part I was just returning from Paris to St. Germains where the King was with design that if I saw a favourable moment to serve him I would not to let it slip as soon as I came to St. Germains thinking to tell the Queen this news I found that she was already well instructed of it I since heard it was by the Bishop of Lisieux Some time afterwards Messieurs de Sully de Rets de Fiesque de Chabot and I went to Anet to visit the newly arriv'd Duke 't was in this Journey that I enter'd into a more strict bond of friendship with him for before I was not much acquainted with him and also in some occasions was engag'd in interests contrary to his as in my opinion the greatest mark of esteem and love is trust 't was by that I was engag'd by him he express'd himself to be extreamly oblig'd to me for my frank answer to Drouilly he discours'd with me without the least reserve of all his concerns and at length upon the present state of the Court not in very polite terms he not being naturally eloquent but yet by words which plainly manifested the most beautiful and noble thoughts that could be wished and wherein I observed that he was much fortify'd in England having both carefully studied and well retain'd the maxims of some men of honour and integrity whom he had there frequented but what bound me yet more to him was two things one whereof was the straight union I knew he had with Monsieur de Montresor whose interests was always mine and the other was the extraordinary zeal that appear'd in him for the Queens service which was the party to which I absolutely adher'd this last consideration it was that weigh'd down the ballance and 't was the same that united me ever since to him but because it will appear more plain in the following discourse I am oblig'd to return nigher its beginning to deliver it more exactly After the Cardinals death all France was fill'd with an imagination of an entire change in the management of affairs all people knew that he maintain'd his power with the King only by the awe he had over him therefore it was believ'd that the cause dying with him the Kings hatred would fall upon all the remains of his family and party but these hopes which only served to flatter so many were soon ended for in a few days after they saw with wonder his house confirm'd in its ancient dignity his last Will entirely observ'd save only in one point which was the change of the Offices of Sur-intendant of the Admiralty and the General of the Galleys the first whereof were given to the Duke de Brezé and the last to the Petit pont de Coâ—rlay Duke de Richelieu although his Eminence on his Death-bed had desired the contrary and had design'd the office that was given to the one for other I shall not speak of the bustle this business made between the Dutchess d' Aiguillon and the Mareschal de Brezé who spoke against her all that his rage could suggest I will only say that
the State also obliged them to it This Proposition was advantagious enough to the Duke d'Anguien to make him readily accept it therefore he ordered me to endeavour all I could to bring it about and because the commerce I had with him might perhaps be suspected by the King of Monsieur especially at a time when they had but just before given him the Command of the Army and that by all means it was of great importance to keep it secret he desir'd me to give the Queens Answers only to Coligny and that we should be the only Witnesses of their Intelligence There were no Articles of Agreement in writing Coligny and my self were intrusted with their Promises which were That the Queen would grant the Duke d'Anguien the favour of being preferr'd before Monsieur not only by the marks of her Esteem and Confidence but also in all the Employs from which she could exclude Monsieur by such expedients agreed upon betwixt them as might not engage him to an open breach with the Queen The Duke d'Anguien promised on his part to be inseparably united to the Queens Interests and make his Addresses to her alone for all the favours he desired at Court The Duke d'Anguien departed soon after to command the Army in Flanders and give a Beginning to those great things which he so gloriously accomplished The King whose Sickness augmented daily being willing to give at the end of his Life some marks of Clemency either out of Devotion or to testifie to the World That Cardinal Richelieu was more to blame than himself for all the violences which were done since the Queen Mothers disgrace consented That the most considerable of those who had been Persecuted should return to Court to which he was the more willingly disposed because the Ministers foreseeing many disorders endeavoured to oblige People of Quality to secure themselves against all that might happen in a Revolution like this that threaten'd them Almost all that had been banished the Court returned and as there were many who were bound to the Queen either by the services they had done her or by that Bond with which Disgrace ordinarily unites persecuted persons there were few of them who had not so good an opinion of their services as to expect a recompence proportionable to their Ambition and many believed that the Queen having promised them every thing would continue the same opinion of them in her Sovereign Authority which she had in her Disgrace The Duke de Beaufort was the Man who entertained the greatest hopes he had of a long time been most particularly devoted to the Queens Interests and she gave him so publick a Proof of her Confidence in him in making choice of him to take care of the Dauphin and the Duke of Anjou one day when they thought the King was a dying that it was not without reason that they began to consider his Credit and to find a great deal of likelihood in the opinion he endeavoured to give them of it The Bishop of Beauvais who was the only Servant of the Queens whom Cardinal Richelieu thought too inconsiderable to put away from her and who by his assiduity had found an opportunity of ruining almost all those whom she had a kindness for was of opinion That he ought not to oppose the Duke of Beaufort's favour and therefore desired to strike in with him to ruine the Contrivances of Cardinal Mazarin who began to get ground they perswaded themselves that they could easily accomplish their designs not only from the opinion they had of their Credit and the experience which the Bishop had made how easily he had ruined such as were more considerable to the Queen by their Services than Cardinal Mazarin but also because being Cardinal Richlieu's Creature they thought that this Relation alone would exclude him and that the Queen had too publickly condemned the Conduct of Cardinal Richelieu to continue in the management of affairs one who was put in by him and who was the Author of the Declaration which the King had just before issued out whereat the Queen seemed displeased to the last degree This confidence made the Duke de Beaufort and the Bishop of Beauvais neglect many precautions during the latter end of the Kings Life which would have been necessary to them after his Death and the Queen also was at this time not enough resolved to receive the Impressions which they would have given her She concealed her Mind from me less than from any body else because I having had no Interests but hers she was not jealous that I would joyn with any Party but what she her self should choose 'T was she who desired me to be the Duke de Beaufort's Friend in a Quarrel with Marshal de lay Meilleray and ordered me to see Cardinal Mazarin that she might avoid the occasion of being complained of by the King who was perswaded that she hindered her Servants from visiting those whom he had confided in So that I not being at all suspected by her might know more easily then any body what Impression the reasons of both parties made upon her Mind She began to fear the imperious and haughty humor of the Duke de Beaufort who not contenting himself to uphold the pretensions of the Duke de Vendosme his Father to the Government of Britany upheld also the pretensions of all them who had suffered under the Authority of Cardinal Richlieu thereby not only to engage all people of Condition for their particular interests in a Cause which to them seemed just but also to have a pretence of striking at Cardinal Mazarin and by filling the Principal Offices of the State to make Creatures and give such resplendent marks of his favor that the cause thereof may be attributed to all that was most capable of satisfying his Ambition and Vanity On the other side the Queen consider'd that after having trusted her Children with the Duke de Beaufort it would be a fickleness which all the World would condemn to see her pass in so short a time from one extreme to the other without any apparent Reason Mazarin's and Chavigny's fidelity were not known to her enough to be assured that they had no hand in the Declaration and thus finding doubts on all sides it was not easie for her to take any resolution which she should not repent of afterwards Notwithstanding the King's Death obliged her to it and the World quickly learnt that Cardinal Mazarin's cares had had the success he wished for at a time when 't was thought that the Queen look'd upon him as the Author of the Declaration all the displeasure fell upon Monsieur Chavigny and whether Cardinal Mazarin was innocent or that he justify'd himself at his Friends cost who was in appearance no more guilty then himself whichsoever it was he in fine stay'd in the Council But as I do not pretend to write all the particulars of what passed at this time and that what I do at present is
of Condy heard news of his Army that he was going to joyn he was told that it was not far from Lory near the Forest of Orleans about eight Leagues distance from Chastillon He was told moreover That there was ten or twelve Light-horse of the Kings Guard besides several of the Kings Officers lodg'd in the Town of Chastillon wherefore fearing to be discovered he parted from thence for Lory in all speed about Midnight with a Guide but the Guide had like to have been the cause of his being taken for after having travelled a long time he found they were not above a little League from Gien when quitting that Road to go into that which leads to Lory Monsieur le Prince passed within thirty yards of the place where Saint Maur waited for him and whether it was that he knew him not or that he durst not attack him nothing interrupted his passage to Lory where he had certain intelligence of his Army which lay but two Leagues from him He would have staid to have baited his Horses at Lory but although he still took the same care to disguise himself that he had done all the rest of the way Both he and the Duke de la Rochefoucault were known by some of the Inhabitants of the Town many whereof were the Kings and the Duke d'Orleans's Servants but that rather prov'd serviceable to him than hinder'd him for some of them got on Horseback and bore him company to the Army He met the Van-Guard at the entry of the Forest of Orleans where some of the Horse ask'd him Who comes there but immediately knowing of him the whole Army was in so great Surprise and Joy that it cannot be express'd for it never had more need of him and never less expected to see him The animosity between the Duke de Nemours and the Duke de Beauford still increased insomuch that the hopes of the party daily diminished by the Divisions that were amongst the Heads of it and at a time when the approaches of the King and his Army ought to have made them prefer the Publick Interest before Private Quarrels to make an end whereof was of too great Importance to Monsieur le Prince not to endeavor it with all imaginable eagerness and what plain'd his way and made it more easie for him to perform was That his arrival taking away from them both their chief Commands it also took away the principal Spring which fed their Jealousie and Hatred Things being in this posture the Army march'd to Lory where it rested one day and then march'd forward three or four more in which time they came to the Walls of Montargis which yielded without the least resistance but they soon quitted that place which being stored with Corn and Wine might be serviceable in time of more need besides it would be an example of their moderation which might produce many advantageous Effects to the party in other Towns The Army march'd from Montargis to Chasteau-renard where Gourville arriv'd at the same time from Paris to inform the Prince what his Friends opinions were how he ought to carry himself towards Monsieur and the Parliament Their Counsels were quite different for some of them advised him to stay with the Army representing to him That the whole Resolutions of Monsieur and the Parliament always depended upon the event of this War and that as long as he was at the Head of a Victorious Army the Power of the King would be in his hands instead whereof his going to Paris would deprive his Army of all the Reputation which his presence gave them and would oblige him to leave the Command of it to those same people whose Divisions and Incapacities were before upon the very Brink of producing so great Disorder Chavigny on the contrary sent positively to Monsieur le Prince that his Presence was absolutely necessary at Paris that the Cabals of the Court and of Cardinal de Rets daily increased in the Parliament and undoubtedly they would draw the Duke d'Orleans in to them if Monsieur le Prince came not himself to free him from the dependance he was now in and to put the Duke de Rohan and Chavigny in possession of a place for which without his presence they could not contend any longer with the Cardinal de Rets But the Dispute ended in that they both concluded it was the best course now to fall upon the Kings Army At this time the Prince had advice That the Marshal d'Hoquincourt's Brigade was still in quarters separated from the rest of the Army very near Chastean-Renard that the next day they were to joyn with the Marshal de Turenne which made him resolve to March that very moment with his whole Army straight to attack the Marshal d'Hoquincourt before he could have time to draw his Troops together and retreat to the Marshal de Turenne which Attempt prov'd very successful On his first approach he fell upon two of their Quarters which gave the Alarm to the rest but that hinder'd him not from being presently Victorious over five whereof the four first made small resistance But the Marshal d'Hoquincourt drawing himself up in Battle with Eight hundred Horse upon the side of a Brook where they could not pass over but one by one upon a Bank of Earth very narrow and much broken seem'd as if he would Dispute this Pass with them beyond which the rest of his Men were Quartered that they were going to attack But when he saw that those under the Command of the Duke de Nemours and three or four others were pass'd he retreated behind the Quarters leaving them to be plunder'd and rang'd himself there again in Battle to try if he could take his time and Charge them in the heat of the Plunder Those Quarters there made no more resistance than the others had done but the Houses being all thatch'd as soon as they had set them on Fire they gave so great a Light that it was easie for the Marshal d'Hoquencourt to discern the number of men that were pass'd over and perceiving that there was not above One hundred Horse he advanc'd with above Eight hundred to attack them The Prince of Condy who saw the Force of that Cavalry just coming to break upon them presently made a Squadron of those that were about him and went to meet the Enemy though with so unequal a number that it appear'd as if Chance had drawn them together in that place all the General Officers of his Army to shew him how much one unprosperous Event was capable to make him lose the first Rank where he himself was was compos'd of the Duke de Nemours the Duke de Beaufort and the Duke de la Rochefoucault the Prince de Marcillac the Marquis de Clinchant who Commanded the Spanish Troops the Count de Tauanes Lieuten General Guitault Gaucourt and several other Officers The two Squadrons discharg'd upon each other very close without one man stirring a foot but
remove him in that he knew he should then have a greater liberty to make his particular Treaty Though all things were thus in confusion they did not interrupt the ordinary course of the Negotiations for at the time that Cardinal Mazarine left France in hopes to root out all pretences of a Civil War or to shew that Monsieur le Prince pursued other aimes than his removal he sent Anglade Secretary to the Duke de Bouillon to the Duke de la Rochefoucault and whether it was that he had really a design to treat in hopes to make his return more easie or that he design'd to draw some advantage by shewing the World that he desir'd a Peace at length Anglade brought much more ample conditions than any before and almost the same that Monsieur le Prince had demanded but they were also refus'd and his destiny which drew him into Flanders never let him see the Precipice till it was no longer in his power to retire at length he departed with the Duke de Lorrain after having in vain contrived with the Duke d'Orleans to oppose the Queens being received into Paris but his reputation was not then in a condition to lye in ballance with the Court he received orders to leave Paris the day that the King was to make his entry into it which he instantly obeyed that he might not be a witness of his enemies triumphs and of the publick joy Cardinal Mazarin's Letter to Monsieur de Brienne SIR THE Queen as far as I understand believes that you should have only sent me a Letter from the King as it is usually done to all National Cardinals when news is brought from Rome that the Pope is in danger and that I had a particular Priviledge granted me since besides the first from the King and the Duplicate I have received another and three from you all conceived in terms so pressing to make me without any delay depart from Rome that I confess I was surprized to the last degree being not able to imagine wherein I have been so deficient in my Duty to their Majesties that they should press me to take a Journey with so much Ignominy and Danger and without any means of subsisting To think that a Letter of Recommendation to the Pope would satisfie all as if they knew the World so little at Rome that they could not infer what sort of Protection I was to expect there since I was abandoned to the Persecution of my Enemies in France where the King is Master Nevertheless if I had had the honor to receive a word from the Queen to signifie that it was the Kings and her pleasure that I should go thither as she had the goodness to let me know it when she was pleased that I should go out of the Kingdom and remove as far as the Rhine I do assure you that after having put my Nieces into a Monastery and turn'd off my Family I would have gone thither with two Servants only to confirm their Majesties upon all occasions that my obedience is blind and my Fidelity of Proof I am really ready to do without any reply whatever the Queen shall command me though I cannot receive a greater mortification than to take this Journy in the condition I am in which besides cannot but be prejudicial to the Kings honour Nay which is another unhappiness in this affair they have had the Address to make it pass with the Queen for an act of Grace which was done me that I might yet feel some effect of the publick joy for the Kings Majority All this hath loaded me with sorrow when I see to what height my friends have prevailed by my disgrace and with what success they have employed their Arts to make me receive such rude usage at a time when I might justly hope that they would give some comfort to the Persecutions which I have suffered for eight Months together with so much Violence and with so notorious an Affront to the Royal Dignity But all this is not comparable to the excess of sorrow which I groaned under after having seen in all the Letters from a great many of my Friends both at Paris and elsewhere the great pleasure they take at the Contents of the Kings Declaration which was Registred in Parliament and cry'd about the City All of them without having consulted together agreeing that since the Monarchy there was never so bloudy a thing contriv'd against any body what Crime soever he had committed No body durst send it me and I may swear to you that I never saw it But to know that the King hath declared that I hinder'd the Peace and was the cause of all the Injuries done to the Allies of France is enough to perswade me that my Master would have me look'd upon as the most infamous and villanous Man that ever was and as the scourge of Christianity and after this they send me to the place of my Nativity to make a parade amongst my Kindred and Friends of the fine Titles which I have brought back with me as a Reward for the 23 years as faithful and advantagious Service as ever was done by the most zealous and disinteressed Minister that ever was All my Enemies have for these six Months laboured with an Industry visible to every body sending Commissaries all over applying themselves to all imaginable contrivances and some of them raising false Witnesses to see if they could blacken me with some Crimes who justifying to the people the oppression they laid upon me did more and more establish their hatred against me though all this produced nothing but very advantageous effects to undeceive them and let them see my Innocence and the Injustice wherewith it was attacked At this time my aforesaid Enemies despairing to do any thing by other ways found the means to perswade their Majesties to declare me without being heard in a most authentick and publick form a Rogue and to impute the hindrance of the Peace to me alone After this methinks they should rather counsel me to hide my self from the sight of Men and bury my self for ever than to go to Rome since I have reason not only to apprehend the people of France but all those who suffer by the continuation of the War have reason to stone him that is the cause thereof I am confident that their Majesties could not have a particular knowledge of every thing that was contained in the Kings Declaration they are too just to be thought by any means that they would consent to declare me the most wicked and abominable of Men and a Traitor And it is a great misfortune to the Kings service that there should not be one who would let him know of what advantage it was to the Enemies of France that all Europe by his Majesties Declaration was perswaded that his chief Minister hindred the Peace The Spaniards can have no greater advantage than to be able to throw upon France the hatred of Christianity
though never so little too violent is enough to kill him if he were at liberty in the heat of devotion that he is now in he never grows weary of praising God for the conversion of the Duke de Longueville and the joy that he has to see him say his Breviary is beyond expression he is sorry to see the Cardinal troubled with the government of so tumultuous a people as those of France and that the refinedness of his Wit may be still in action he wishes him well employ'd in Italy besides the goodness which makes him so much desire the glory of these Gentlemen We must consess that his pains and care of the publick let him take no rest and the interest of the State becomes so precious to him that he cannot suffer it in the hands of another and even Life it self appears useless to him if he does not employ it in governing Without flattering him Gentlemen What is it that we may not expect from his zeal and vast capacity Would you have him hinder the Kings authority from being acknowledg'd Would you have him at the same time oppose the liberty of the Princes and draw the Duke d' Espernon from his Government Would you have him raise a Sedition for the good of the publick cause the City to put up their Chains or arm the factious Would you have him at every assembly in the Palace or at the Town-house at all the Councils There is neither labour nor danger that he refuses for love of you there are great services to be expected from him and the least suspicion of his fidelity would infinitely trouble him for he is always ready to sacrifice his quiet for yours Methinks nevertheless some considerations ought to be had not to exact any thing from him that is above his strength don't expect that he should go imprudently to withstand the Arch-Duke 't is well known that he is unacquainted with War in the open field and to fight with well disciplin'd men to our Heroe is a quite new thing 't is to be like the Gascons and those who are little by their births to pass their lives like the people of Croatia 't is to act like men in despair to set all the fortune of a Nation upon the hazard of one Battel for him whom both Estate and Birth make incapable of any action that may be either mean or foolish he will gloriously maintain his place in the Council and employ all his time to give such advice as will immediately be in every bodies mouth as soon as he has spoke it The end of the Apology for the Duke de Beaufort MEMOIRES OF Monsieur de la Chastre Concerning what pass'd at the Death of Louis the Thirteenth and the beginning of the Regency IT is difficult for him to appear prudent that is unfortunate and as the most part of men regard only the appearances of things success alone directs their judgements and no design appears to them either well laid or well pursu'd that has not a favourable event In the disgraces that are fallen upon me this last year nothing has more encreas'd my sufferings than to see those of my own friends whom I know most zealous for me blame and condemn me and without just examination accuse me to have been my self by my ill conduct the author of my own ruine It would be too great presumption in me to believe that I was guilty of no faults in all the time I have been at Court since the most refin'd Courtiers are often at a stand on certain occasions and how skilful and pliant soever they be they are often plung'd into accidents from whence they cannot well retire I confess I may have fail'd either for want of experience or in not enough constraining my nature which is an enemy to all manner of deceit or cunning When I first came to wait upon the King I brought to Court a mind unfic for cheating and mean actions and which was too open and free for that place but still that sort of life I thought honest enough to continue ever since and though I have apparently found that it was not the way to make a fortune I still preferr'd the satisfaction of my Conscience an uncorrupted reputation and some few friends men of Honour to the dignities and advantages that I might expect in being a spy or in playing double promising at the same time to serve both parties Perchance it is that I have been too open in this frank manner of living which I have always observ'd or I have stuck too firmly to my friends when they were in a declining posture it is in one of these two points that I have chiefly fail'd but I believe such faults will appear excusable with men of integrity and I hope their ground too honest to have the consequences condemn'd These are without disguising any thing all the crimes that I find my self guilty of and to make it yet more clear I will deduce in few words and very faithfully the most considerable things which pass'd in the last years that I was at Court because that although my private interest was very far distant from the interest of the State yet even the most important publick affairs have been in some manner engag'd with my particular ones Not long after the birth of our present King Louis the Fourteenth seeing that there was nothing for me to expect whilst Cardinal Richelieu was possest of all the power because I would not be servile to him and besides that I was ally'd and in bonds of friendship with many whom he held suspected I believ'd I ought to think of striking in with some other party which might one day raise my fortunes and none appear'd to me either so just or of so great hopes as the Queen's for the King her Husband very unhealthful and in all appearance not being able to live till such time as his Son was at the age of majority the Regency would infallibly in few years fall into her hands whose almost continual adversities suffer'd with so much patience had rais'd her esteem to such a degree that she was thought the best and mildest of Women and the most unlikely to forget those who had adher'd to her in her disgrace these glorious qualities charm'd me and moreover I thought it was honourable to throw my self upon her side in a time when the absolute power of her Persecutor made all weak and interested people shun approaching her and by exquisite tyranny left scarcely one about her but Traytors or those whom dulness exempted from suspicion and made uncapable of serving her in any thing whatever From that time I devoted my services wholly to her which I assur'd her of by Madamoiselle de St. Louis now Madam de Flavacourt and also by Monsieur de Brienne The kind answer she return'd engag'd me yet more so that from that time I resolv'd to quit all thoughts of advancement in the Court till such time
experience in War became useless under pretence of being troubled with Vapors Monsieur de Longueville to sweeten his discontent because he was not Governor of the Court augmented his Pensions but in vain Rucqueville professing generously that he was ready enough to take his Masters mony but to speak ill of him he would not do it for the world Barbarousse remained a long time Neuter without taking either side Boncaeur keeping him still in suspense by the friendship of Marshal Gramount yet during his long consideration he forbore not to raise himself insensibly by doing of good offices and joyfully flatter'd himself with the vanity of an undeserved Repute Afterwards being informed by Letters from his Friends that they seriously endeavored a Peace he designed to quit this timerous Neutrality He had Caesars opinion to fortifie his Courage which was yet drooping and when he came to pass the Reubicon he made a full stop as this great Captain did and after having thought a little cry'd out like him I have pass'd the Reubicon there is but one dangerous cast to lose all upon this he went out immediately in a violent bussle without any consideration of Boncaeur without any regard to his little Henry well knowing that the sight of Wives and Children can soften the fiercest Courage and the bravest Minds or without saying a word to any of his Friends he went to the Duke de Longueville and thus accosted him I have always been your servant but not with so particular a Zeal as that which obliges me to serve you in this Juncture from this day I will embrace your Interests and am come to assure your Highness that I devote my self intirely to you The Joy the Duke at this time felt was great and like those which being too big to keep within the Breast do ordinarily break out and make an Impression upon the Face But it was very much allayed when Barbarousse thus explain'd himself The Declaration I have made is not so general but I must add to it one condition I intend to stay behind when you go to the War which ought not to be attributed to want of Courage but to an unhappy detension of Urine which hinders me from riding Not that I will be useless in the Party I will Negotiate with Madam de Matignon for whom I have always had some kind of Gallantry and besides seeing you have no body here that knows how to make Relations I will undertake the care of publishing your Exploits These last words cheer'd up the Princes heart again for to say truth there was great need of a Gazetier and he was glad to find one so knowing in Narratives Fonterailles came just in the nick to see the great occasion of de la Bouille during his abode in Normandy the Duke de Longueville communicated every thing to him as well as to Varricarville and the Count de Fiesque but Fonteraille could not relish this Confidence well fearing to engage himself too far in the Interests of the Prince and to become the Confident of a second Enterprise upon Pontoise So just an apprehension obliged him to strike off and to carry with him the Count de Fiesque to whom he represented That since they governed their General so absolutely all the Disorders that happened if he should carry things to extreams would be laid at their Door The Duke de Retz from whom they expected such great Supplies came accompanied only with a Page that carried his Arms and his two faithful Squires Some began to talk when they saw him come without Troops but they were quickly satisfied when he shew'd them a long List of all the Bretons who demanded Employment It would cost no more then Two hundred thousand Crowns to equip these Bretons for the Campaign and for want of so little money the Authority of so great a Lord signified nothing It is true he promised to pay it with his Person and to serve as Duke and Peer in the Army of Roüen with the same diligence as he had done in that of Flanders Besides he assur'd them that Montplaisâ—r would come quickly and also give them some hopes of being more secret moreover that Bell-Isle was in a very good condition there was a Garrison in Machecours and a strong Guard kept at Nommiral His manner of living with the Officers was altogether obliging and whosoever was happy enough to have a Buff-coat or a short Cassock of black Velvet might be assured of his Friendship You see the different employments of the most Considerable in the Party If any body wonders that I have given him no account of their Actions it is because I am exactly true and as I saw nothing else so I have said nothing more in the mean time I think my self happy for having acquired a hatred to these Troubles more from Observation than my own Experience It is a Trade for mad and miserable Men with whom honest People and such as are well to live ought not to intermix Fools come thither every day in crouds the proscribed the miserable throng in from both ends of the World Never was there so many entertainments of Courage without Honor never so many fine Discourses and so little Sence never so many Designs without Actions so many Enterprises without Effects all were Imaginations all Chymera's nothing true nothing real but necessity and misery Thence it comes to pass that private Persons complain of the great Men that they deceive them and the great Men of private Persons that they abandon them The Fools are disabused by Experience and withdraw The Miserable who see no change in their Condition go to seek elsewhere some other mischievous Affairs as much discontented Heads of the Faction as with the Favorites at Court The Recapitulation of what was said above together with the Imprisonment of the Princes I. THe reason that obliged Monsieur le Prince to quit the Command of the Army after the Battel at Lens was not only the fear of hazarding his reputation after so many great Successes but also the desire of enjoying the Fruit of his Victories and of being an Agent in the Affairs of State at a time when the weakness of the Government made his Relations and Friends believe that he would be Master at Court II. This second Point is not in its right place and we must first answer to the third which concerns the Assembly met at Noisi near St. Germain The Answer is That under pretence of going thither to see Madam de Longueville the Frondeurs engaged the Prince de Conty and the Duke de Longueville to come into the Parliament Interest with whom they will needs perswade the World that Monsleur le Prince promised to joyn as the Coadjutor all along said and afterwards reproached him with it in the Parliament which was the cause of the Quarrel betwixt the Duke de la Rochefoucault and the Coadjutor in the Palace who had like to have been the cause of his ruine
as we shall see anon Now though Monsieur le Prince disavow'd that he ever made any such promise yet there is very great probability that he would have made himself head of the Frondeurs upon hopes of reducing them to the Court Interest to which he as zealously adhered as ever whatever he pretended but when he perceived that they would give him no Authority over them but what was destructive of the Power he design'd to support he pretended to forget himself and to have never had any correspondence with them III. The departure of the Prince de Conty the Dukes de Longueville and de la Rochefoucault and of the Marquis de Noirmoustier from St. Germain was an effect of those Measures which were taken at Noisy But Monsieur le Prince who was altogether for the Court Party made his Brother joyn with it the Duke de Longueville also rendred himself as well because he is naturally irresolute as because he hoped that things would be soon accommodated But being the Duke de la Rochesoucault and the Marquis de Noirmoustier were interressed by their League with the Frondeurs to make him stand to his word they at last constrained him to follow the Prince de Conty to Paris It is true that they came not thither at the time appointed and this delay obliged the Parliament to review the Offers of the Duke d'Elboeuf and confer upon him the Office of General who presently made so strong a party in the Parliament and amongst the People that it was in his power to cause the Prince de Conty and all those who accompanied him to be arrested accusing them of holding intelligence with the Court and of coming with the consent and contrivance of Monsieur le Prince who had abandoned them This went so far that they set a Guard upon the Hotel de Longueville and at last constrained the Prince de Conty and the Dutchess de Longueville to go to live at the Hotel de Ville But that which brought this suspicion upon them was because the Engagement they had made to be of the Parliament party was entrusted only with a few particular Persons of this company who durst not declare till the presence of the Prince de Conty and those that were with him gave them liberty to publish this secret IV. The Provisions which were permitted to be brought into Paris were not the effect of any Intelligence which Monsieur le Prince had with his Relations who were shut up there for there were never so great Quarrels amongst them as at this time but it was because the Court desired extreamly to conclude a Peace speedily before the arrival of the Archduke and his Army and a general Insurrection of all the Provinces And the entrance of Provisions was a condition without which they would not begin the Conference V. Here we must explain the second Point because it was after the War of Paris that the Prince of Condy and Cardinal Mazarin fell out The principal occasion of their Misunderstandings proceeded from the Cardinals throwing the hatred of the People upon the Prince de Condy and making him to be reputed the Author of all the Violences which they suffered insomuch that Monsieur le Prince who believed he could not better raze out this Impression than by the means of the Frondeurs whose Affections and Sentiments the People espoused resolved to reconcile himself to them by making an open Breach with the Cardinal and letting them see that he did not depend upon the Court so much as they imagin'd Not that he intended by doing this to declare himself their Head but to become more formidable to the Court to regain the Peoples affections and to make his Conditions more advantageous And forasmuch as he was sensible of the mischief which the Divisions in his Family had brought upon him he ardently desired to be reconciled to the Prince of Conty the Dutchess of Longueville and the Duke de la Rochefoucault who at that time was the sole Confident of the Prince de Conty and the Dutchess de Longueville Therefore it was for all these Reasons that he took an occasion to break off with them upon their refusal of the Government of the Pont de l'Arche to the Duke de Longueville but because he would not long continue ill at Court he quickly thought that he had done enough and was reconciled to the Cardinal within eight days This lost him the Frondeurs and the People again and brought him no advantage but the reunion of his Family VI. Monsieur le Prince supported the Interests of Bourdeaux cheaply to oblige a great Parliament and a strong City that this might render him more considerable at Court and put him into a better condition of making advantages by it VII The League betwixt the Prince de Conty and the Abbot de la Riviere was agreed upon without Monsieur le Prince's being made a Party in it that is to say That Monsieur le Prince had no further to do in it then barely to consent that the Abbot de la Riviere should upon the Peace with Paris procure the Prince de Conty's re-establishment in his Governments Monsieur de Longueville's in his and over and above the Government of Danvilliers upon condition that the Prince de Conty should wave his Pretensions to the Cap in favor of the Abbot de la Riviere In was the Duke de la Rochefoucault who treated about this Affair because the Prince de Conty had no mind to be an Ecclesiastick and because he judged that so long as the Abbot de la Riviere was in hopes of being Cardinal he would engage Monsieur always to take such Measures as the Prince de Gonâ—â— desired and so he did till the Imprisonment of the Princes that the Abbot de la Riviere was discharged â—ith the consent of these Gentlemen VIII The fifth Point explains this as well as the second and therefore it will be needless to speak any more of it IX The Affair of Jolly was never so well discovered as to give a Man ground to speak positively of it But what I believe is that la Boulage who raised the Sedition in the morning with the Confederacy of the Duke de Beaufort attempted to raise another in the Evening to alarm the Court and thereby shelter himself from the danger he was in for the first Likewise the Cardinal who had of a long time sought an occasion to set the Prince de Condè at open War with the Frondeurs made use of this Accident to divide them irreconcileably He made the Prince of Condè believe that they meant it against his Person The Declaration which he made thereof to the Parliament at last gave occasion to the Frondeurs to reconcile themselves to the Court and to lay the Design of Imprisoning the Princes which was soon after executed and which produced all the mischiefs that have since befallen us The Princes de Condè de Conty and the Duke de