yet his Presence his Language and his popular Air with a Conduct adroit enough gain'd him the love of the People of Paris and the rather because they thought him irreconcileable to the Cardinal for imprisoning him from which he would never change till he was necessitated by the revolution of Affairs to be reconciled unto him In the mean time the King's Army possessed all the Posts about Paris and though the Parliament were more in number yet the Generals never made an attempt to open a Passage insomuch that the Provisions came in with difficulty only by Brie for Monsieur le Prince could not put a Garison in Brie Comte Robert without dividing his Forces and had also quitted Charenton which the Prince de Conty possessed himself of fortified and put into it 3000 Men under the Command of Canleu This made Monsieur le Prince resolve to attack this Post which secured the Provisions of the Parisians and also to give terror to his Arms. Thither therefore he went on the eighth of February with the Duke of Orleans and all the Princes and Lords of the Court and committed the Assault to the Duke de Chatillon whilst he himself went to an adjacent Hill to hinder all relief from Paris The Duke executed his Orders with all the Valour possible but at the last Barricade he received a Musquet Shot through his Body of which he died the next day lamented by both Parties for his excellent qualities in the flower of his age and just upon his enjoyment of the Honours which his Services had acquir'd him The taking of this as it very much diminish'd the Honour of the Generals and Forces of the Parliament so it was lookt upon as miraculous in the Person of Monsieur le Prince to have carry'd a place in the presence of an Army and at the Gates of Paris from whence ten thousand Men in Arms came out to be Witnesses of it This Battel and those of the Bois de Vincennes of Lagny and de Brie in one whereof the young Duke of Rohan shewing himself the worthy Successor of his Father's Vertue lost his Life being all disadvantageous to the Parisians inclined them to some thoughts of a Peace which notwithstanding it was difficult to effect because of the different Interests in the Parliament which hinder'd it The number of those who were disaffected to a Peace though inferior to the other yet appeared more because they disguised their Hatred and Ambition with the name of Publick Good and Safety which is not to be found said they in an agreement with the Cardinal The more moderate durst not shew their good intentions because besides the danger in doing so they would have been eluded and it was better to stay till the minds of the people were a little wearied the strength and hopes of the Party more weakned before they declared themselves As for the People the richer sort would not expose themselves to the Multitude which having not suffered much from necessity and being animated by some People of quality was glad enough of this pretence for War and cried out against such as desired a Peace All the Generals except Monsieur de Beaufort who wholly devoted himself to an hatred of the Cardinal and love of the People whom he design'd to make use of afterwards contrived their particular Reconciliation and every one had his private Friends at Court to make his conditions better Monsieur d'Elboeuf held Correspondence with the Abbot de la Riviere from the beginning Monsieur de Bouillon with Monsieur le Prince and the Marshall de la Motthe was engaged with the Duke de Longueville who was retired into Normandy where he fortified himself with Arms Men and Money to make his Treaty more advantageous by the mediation of Monsieur le Prince As to the Prince de Conty because he had no inclinations but what his Sister inspired him with who was cruelly affronted and slandered by the injurious discourses of Monsieur le Prince about her Conduct time alone must allay these heats and the necessity of Affairs bring this Family to a reconciliation as it quickly did The Coadjutor only was the principal Promoter of this War wherein he had but too much desecrated his Character amidst Sedition and Arms which banish't from his mind all thoughts of Peace and thwarted every thing that spoke in favour of it because he found not wherewith to satisfie his Ambition On the other side the Court swell'd with good success and the glorious Warlike Actions of Monsieur le Prince expected yet greater from him and would impose too rigorous conditions on the contrary Party so that apparent necessity was a Sovereign Law which determined both Parties to a Treaty of Peace besides that Civil war being contrary to the nature of all the World every one was ready to return from his errors and animosities it being the humour of our Nation to become Dutiful with the same levity that it becomes Mutinous and to pass in a Moment from Rebellion to Obedience And now see the present occasion that was offered The King on the 20th of February sent a Herald clad with his Coat of Arms his Staff cover'd with Flower-de-Luces accompanied with two Trumpetters He came to the Port St. Honoré and said That he had three Pacquets of Letters to deliver to the Prince of Conty to the Parliameut and to the City The Parliament being advertis'd thereof determin'd not to receive or give him Audience but to send the King's Council to the Queen to tell her That their refusal was purely a mark of Obedience and Respect since Heralds were not sent but to Sovereign Princes or to Enemies That the Prince of Conty the Parliament and the City being neither beseeched her Majesty to let them know her Pleasure from her own mouth The Kings Council were well received by the Queen who told them That she was satisfied with their excuses and submissions and that when the Parliament return'd to their Duty they should experience the effects of her Kindness and that the Persons and Fortunes of every one in particular not one excepted should find there their security the Duke d'Orleans and Monsieur le Prince gave them the same assurances Many material reasons were the cause that the Court was so ready to be indulgent for besides the constancy of the Parisians the difficulty of raising Men and Money the Revolt of Gascony Provence and Normandy and of many other Cities which followed the Parliament as Poictiers Tours Angiers and Mant you must know there was yet a more pressing Motive The Prince of Conty seeing that the Army in Germany had pass'd the Rhine to come into France against Monsieur Turenne and that his Party could not subsist without a powerful foreign Aid had sent the Marquiss de Normoustier and Laigues to the Arch-Duke to invite him to joyn his Forces to the Party of Paris to constrain the Ministers to conclude a general Peace The Spaniards resolved
AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE Late Troubles DURING THE WARS of PARIS CONTAINING The Material Transactions and Private Intrigues practised by the Rebels and Traytors for obtaining the Regency and Government Shewing the Endeavours used by them to maintain a Confederacy disadvantageous to the Kings Authority With the manner of their imprisoning the Court the Nobility and the People And an Account of the Parliaments Proceedings in declaring them Enemies to the King and Government LONDON Printed for Henry Chapman near Stanhope-Court at Charing-Cross MDCLXXXVI An Historical Account of the late Troubles during the Wars of Paris Containing the material Transactions and private Intrigues practised by the Rebels and Traytors for obtaining the Regency and Government THE Persecution which I suffered during the Authority of Cardinal Richelieu being ended with his Life I thought of returning to Court The King's Sickness and the little Inclination he had to trust his Children and State with the Queen made me hope that I should quickly find considerable occasions of serving her and giving her at that juncture of Affairs the same marks of Fidelity which she had received from me in all the Occurrences wherein her Interests and those of Madam de Chevereuse were contrary to Cardinal Richelieu's When I came to Court I found it as submissive to his Will after his Death as it had been during his Life his Kindred and his Creatures there had the same Advantages which he had procured them and by an effect of his Fortune whereof you 'l find very few Examples the King who hated him and wish'd his Ruine was forced not only to dissemble it but also to Authorize the Disposal which Cardinal Richelieu made in his Will of the principal Charges and most important Places of his Kingdom He also chose Cardinal Mazarin to succeed him in the Government of Affairs and so was assured of Reigning much more absolutely after his Death than the King his Master could do all the thirty three Years that he enjoy'd the Crown Notwithstanding the King's Sickness being desperate there was some probability that things would e're long change and that the Queen or * The King 's Brother so called Monsieur coming to the Regency would be reveng'd upon the Remains of Cardinal Richelieu for the Injuries which they had received from him Cardinal Mazarin Monsieur Chavigny and Monsieur de Noyers who then had the greatest share in the management of Affairs resolved to prevent this Mischief and to make use of the Power which they had over the King's Mind to oblige him to declare the Queen Regent and to Reconcile themselves to her by this Service which ought to appear so much the more considerable to the Queen as she believed the King far from any such thoughts by reason of the little Inclination he alwayes entertained for her and because of the League which he believed she yet had with the Spaniards by the means of Madam de Chevreuse who had fled into Spain and was then at Brussels Monsieur de Noyers was the first who gave the Queen hopes that they might win the King by his Confessor to Establish her Regent thinking thereby to tye her strictly to him and to exclude Monsieur de Chavigny whom she most favoured in Cardinal Richelieu's Life-time but Monsieur de Noyers soon found himself far from his designs for the Confessor had Orders to withdraw and he himself was afterwards turn'd out It seem'd to me that this Change did not at all lessen the Queens Hopes and that she expected from Cardinal Mazarin and Monsieur de Chavigny the same Service which Monsieur de Noyers designed to pay her both of them every day gave her all the assurances of their Fidelity that she could desire and she expected a proof thereof when the Kings Sickness growing to such a height that there remained no hipes of Cure gave them an opportunity of proposing to him to regulate every thing whilst his Health would permit him to choose a Form of Government himself which might exclude from the management of Affairs all those whom he held suspected This Proposition altho it was apparently against the Queens Interests did notwithstanding seem to him too favourable to Her He could not consent to declare her Regent and also could not resolve to share the Authority betwixt her and Monsieur The Intelligences which he suspected her guilty of and the Pardon which he had but just before granted to Monsieur for the Treaty of Spain held him in an Irresolution which he could not have overcome if the conditions of the Declaration which Cardinal Mazarin and Monsieur de Chavigny proposed to him had not furnished him with an expedient to diminish the Queens Power and render her in some manner Dependent upon the Council which he intended to establish Notwithstanding the Queen and Monsieur who had had too many Testimonies of the King's Aversion and who almost equally suspected that he would exclude them from the management of Affairs sought all manner of ways to acquire it I was informed by Monsieur de Chavigny himself That being sent to the King from the Queen to beg his Pardon for all that she had ever done and also for having displeased him in her Conduct beseeching him particularly not to believe that she had any hand in the business of Chalais or that she had the least design of Marrying Monsieur after Chalais had killed the King To which he answered Monsieur Chavigny without being moved In the condition I am in I ought to Pardon her but I am not bound to believe her Every one presently then thought they had a Right to pretend to the Regency to the Exclusion of one another and if Monsieur was not long of that mind he at least believed that he should be declared Regent with the Queen The hopes of the Court and of all the Kingdom were too different and all the State which had almost equally suffered during the Favour of Cardinal Richelieu expected a Change with too great an Impatience not to receive with joy a Turn from which every one hoped an Advantage The different Interests of the chief Men in the Kingdom and the most considerable in the Parliament obliged them to side either with the Queen or Monsieur and if the Interests which they made for them underhand did not break out more it was because the King's Health which seemed something repaired made them fear lest he should be advertised of their Practices and make the provident cares which they took to establish their Authority after his Death to pass for a Crime It was in this juncture that I believed it would be of Importance to the Queen to be assured of the * The now Prince of Conde Duke d' Anguier She approved of the Proposal I made of gaining him to her side and being a very particular Friend of Coligny's in whom the Duke d' Anguien wholly confided I represented to them both the Advantages that would accrue to the Queen
present Obstacles and to regain an absolute and independent Authority nevertheless he fomented not his Discontents either in private or publick as if he had a mind to let his Resentment sleep awhile that it might afterwards break out with the greater Violence On the contrary upon his return from Burgundy to paris before he had seen the Court he powerfully sollicited his Friends to receive the King with the Cardinal and testified the same earnestness as if it had been for his own Interests it may be because he took a pride to perfect so glorious a Work as that of re-establishing him or because he vainly flatter'd himself that so great a Service would be always present to the Eyes of the Queen He staid till the Court returned to Compeigne where he receiv'd more Demonstrations of Friendship than when he went from thence either to make him remit something of his averseness to the Marriage which was the fatal cause of their division or rather that he might act with his wonted vehemency at the Kings return to Paris which was look'd upon by all the Provinces as the Seat of the Empire When the King made his Entry with the Queen and all the Royal Family in the same Coach the Cardinal was in one of the Boots with Monsieur le Prince who by his Presence encouraged him against those Fears which he might justly apprehend when he saw himself in the midst of an incredible Croud of People who had so much horror for his Person but only the joy of seeing the King again possessed every mans mind whence they banished all thoughts of the late Troubles and Enmities When their Majesties were come to the Palais Royal they accepted the Submissions of the Duke de Beaufort and the Coadjutor and Monsieur le Prince concluded so fair a Journey with telling the Queen That he thought himself happy since he had now fulfill'd his promise which he made to bring the Cardinal back to Paris Her Majesty answer'd Sir This Service that you have done the State is so great that the King and my Self would be ungrateful if we should ever happen to forget it A Servant of Monsieur le Prince's who heard this Discourse said That he trembled to think of the Greatness of this Service and feared that this Complement would one day be look'd upon as a Reproach Monsieur le Prince answer'd I don't doubt it but I have done what I promis'd The Retreat of the Duke de Longueville to his Government of Normandy during the War of Paris 1649. AS the Duke de Longueville was going into the Old Palais he met with Monsieur de St. Luc who was sent to St. Germains to the Marquess d'Hectot to endeavor to bring him over again to the Court Interest He told him with a Countenance full of Joy St. Luc It is not long since I hated you mortally and I Sir answered St. Luc hate you no less at present than you then hated me If I had not been deceived You would not have been here and if you had not been deceived first I should not have been suffer'd there This short Discourse being ended Monsieur de Longueville design'd to go to the Parliament which was met to consult whether they should receive him or no. Some of his Friends were against his going alledging That he both expos'd himself and the Party some were sent up to the top of a high Tower to observe how the People stood affected and when it was told him that they heard shouts of Joy on every side he immediatly went out accompanied with those that attended him and presented himself at the Palais After having received a thousand Acclamations all the way as he pass'd he surprised the Gentlemen of the Parliament who never thought of so unexpected an Adventure and after having taken his Place spake after this manner Having always very much honored and loved you I am come with all the Danger that a Man of my Quality can expose himself to to offer you my Estate and my Life for your preservation I know that the greatest part of Governors do not use to do so but when they have reaped all the Benefits of your Services that they could get from you in a time of Peace they abandon you as soon as they see you in Danger As for me who have a thousand Obligations to you I pretend here to acknowledge them both as a Governor and as a Person sensibly obliged I come to do you all the Service I am capable of in a Conjuncture so dangerous The Primier President making no answer to this Speech and shewing by the trouble in his looks how much the Presence of the Duke afflicted him all the Gentlemen gave him Testimonies of their Joy who were animated by the mouth of a Counsellor of the Great Chamber called Monsieur who made him this fine Speech The same difference which was betwixt the Wolf and the Shepherd Most Courteous Prince is observable betwixt the Count d'Harcourt and your Highness on such occasions as these the Count d'Harcourt came either like a Wolf or like a Lion but always like a ravenous Beast to devour us we would not open the Doors to him for fear of receiving an enemy into our Bowels we in favor let him take a turn about our Walls which he did casting on us Eyes all sparkling with anger tanquam Leo rugiens For you Great Prince you are come like a true Shepherd to shelter all your Flock Bonus pastor ponit animam pro ovibus suis It is too true that you do so atqueideo Mon Seigneur we commit to you the keeping of this City and the safety of all the Province it is your part to be careful of our Preservation and ours to help your Cares with all the assistance that is in our power The Speech being ended Monsieur de Longueville rose up and after he had saluted every one in particular with his ordinary Affableness went out of the Palais accompanied by his Friends and followed by the People who conducted him with new Acclamations The Gentlemen of the Parliament reflecting upon the Joy which the Burgesses expressd to see their Governor began to fear an absolute Slavery and to hinder this Calamity designed to make their terms with him but whether Monsieur de Longueville perceived their Intention or because he would bring them into an intire confidence in him he was willing to prevent and to assure them That they should always have the disposal of every thing He told them That the Affairs he was about were properly the Parliaments and not his own that he desired nor nor ought to have any other Imployment then to lead an Army for the good of the State and their particular Services that all the Taxes should be made by their Orders that they themselves should establish Commissioners of their Company for the Receipt and Distribution of the Publick Treasure and in fine as they had the principal Concern in the success
condition of the Court till events breakin gs this Union so necessary to the State brought upon it most fatal mischiefs Before I relate them I must take notice of the Prince of Condy's death happening just before these troubles which was so much the more considerable because it was the common opinion that if he had liv'd he had prevented them by his Prudence and Authority which gave a check to the Ministers and was revered by the Parliament The Union of these Powers was so solid a Pledge of the Tranquillity of the Kingdom that it gave the Ministers too much confidence and encouraged Emery Superintendent over the Kings Revenue to levy great Taxes Now because this Conduct although colored with a Foreign War and the Defence of the State was introduced in the time of Cardinal Richlieu's Ministry and was but a consequence of that it will not be impertinent to speak thereof This Minister whose absolute Polity had violated the antient Laws of the Kingdom to establish the immoderate Authority of his Master which he was the dispenser of look'd upon all the Rules of this State as forced Concessions and bounds imposed on the power of Kings rather than a solid Foundation of governing well and because his very long Administration was authorized with great success during the life of of the late King he quite chang'd all the forms of Justice and the Kings Revenues and introduced the Royal Will for the Sovereign Tribunal of the Lives and Estates of Men. This so violent method of Governing continued till his death and the King surviving him but a few months left to the Queen with the Regency the establishment of his Orders for the Taxes which seemed necessary to maintain the charges of the War Her Majesty being in the beginning of her Regency constrained to be expensively Liberal drain'd her Exchequer whereupon Emery was obliged to put in practice all the Expedients his Wit could invent without being restrained either by Justice or pity or the despair into which he might drive the People To this end after having consumed the Peoples Estates by new Subsidies he extends his Arts as far as the Cities Taxes Rich and Poor Creates new Offices Seizes the Publick Rents forc'd them to give him Credit prepares more new Edicts and by this rigorous imposition upon Estates in every kind drove the Companies Commonalties and Corporations into a secret Revolt In fine all Springs being drain'd dry he would have seiz'd the Revenues of the Chambers of the Courts of Aids and the great Council who complained to the Parliament which thereupon made the famous Arrest d'Vnion This Act was a signal to all the disconted the Renters the Treasurers of France the Kings Secretaries the Assessors the Officers of the Taxes and of the * Impost of Salt in France Gabelle In fine people of all conditions repaired thither exposing their Griefs to the Parliament demanding reparation The Names of the Farmers and of Emery fell under a publick Curse every one cry'd out against the violent exaction of the Customers the unbounded Power of the Intendants the Cruelty of the Soldiers the rigorous force used to the poor people by the selling of their Goods and the imprisonment of their Persons and the heavy weighty Taxes in a word against this oppression as great to the last degree destructive of the Lives Liberties and Estates of all the Kings Subjects The Parliament appearing sensible of the publick miseries received the Petions of the afflicted People offered to do them Justice and by professing that they bore a part in their sufferings gained their affections to that degree that they looked upon them as their Revenging and Redeeming Gods I don't pretend to give a recital of the Assemblies of the Chambers of the matters they treated of there of the Counsels and Results of their Conferences and of the Remonstrances of the Company carried to their Majesties by the chief President Moles there are Memoirs enough filled therewith it suffices to say that there were three Parties in the Parliament The First was that of the Frondeurs a Name given in Raillery to those that were against the Court. These People being Zealous to stop the course of the present Calamities had the same Object though from a different Motive that those had who were Interested by their Fortune or particular Hatred against the Principal Minister The Second Party were the Mazarins who were perswaded that they ow'd a Blind Obedience to the Court some out of Conscience to maintain the Peace of the State others out of Respect to the Obligations they had to the Ministers or Interest with the Men in Business And the Last were such as Condemn'd the Violence of the First yet approved not the Coldness of the Second but kept themselves betwixt both to act upon occasion either according to their Interest or their Duty Thus the Parliament was divided the greatest part whereof who at the first had no love for Innovations yet for want of Experience in the Affairs of the World were very glad to be Commissioners for Regulating the Abuses that were Crept into the Government of the State and to see themselves Mediators betwixt the Court and the People It was insinuated into them that this Imployment gave consideration and lustre to their Persons that Charity oblig'd them to succor the Distressed in their Pressing Necessities and that the Duty of their Charges which were instituted to Moderate the Extreame Power of Kings and Oppose their Irregularities prompted them to it That they ought to know that the Ministers of France were of late years perswaded that it was to Reign Precariously if their Power extended only to permitted things That the Laws are stifled by Fear and Justice by Force That to our Misery our late Kings left the Management of the State so much to them that they became themselves a Prey to their Passions That the time is come when they must revive their Antient Orders and that Harmonious Relation which ought to be betwixt a Lawful Command and a Reasonable Obedience That for this end the People Invoked their Justice as the only Refuge to prevent their extreme Oppression That so Holy a Commission approved by Heaven and followed with Publick Acclamations would Skreen them from all fear or if there should be danger that it is the property of Eminent Vertue to signalise it self in a Tempest rather than in a Calm and that Death which is common to all Men is distinguish'd only by Oblivion or by Glory These Venmous Discourses made so much the greater Impressions on their Minds because Men have a Natural Inclination to believe whatever flatters their Greatness so that they suffer'd themselves to be charm'd with the fine words of Tutelar Gods of their Countrey and the Restorers of Publick Liberty He that infus'd this Poyson into them with most Artifice was Longueil Counsellor in the Great Chamber who being push'd on with a Spirit of Ambition to advance his Fortune in
his Family and his own Greatness to take the Queen into his Protection and she to fly to him as her only refuge that he being of a hot nature would reduce things to the greatest extremity and that it was already talk'd that he was coming with the Regiment of Guards to force the Palace of Orleans to reduce that company of Seditious which were about his Person They Remonstrated to la Riviere if he would pretend for his private Interest to make a division in the Royal Family and cause a Civil War If it was reasonable that he should be offended because a Prince of the Blood was preferr'd before him That he would become the object of the hatred and vengeance of Monsieur the Prince and of all his Family that the load he laid upon his Master was too weighty that he would quickly be weary of it or that if he broke off with him his favor would become a prey to others and as to the Cardinalship that the Prince of Conty would either give it over or the Court demand two Caps for the First Promotion The two Commissioners of the Court found the Minds of the Duke de Orleans and de la Riviere very well disposed to understand their Reasons for Time had done much towards an Accommodation and this Minister was already perswaded by his own fears that things ought to return to the same degree of concord that they were at before and so they did upon this Agreement The Declaration agreed upon by the Kings Council and the Deputies of the Soveraign Courts seem'd to secure the Repose of the State and to quench the least sparks of Fire which threatned it but the Ambition of those who hated the present Government and desired Innovations had taken too deep root in their Minds to keep within the bounds of Mildness So that they omitted no endeavor or practise whereby they might incite the Parliament and People to disturb it They represented to them that this great business of the Barricadoes this Victory of Subjects over their Soveraign this Diminution of Royal Authority the Publick Invectives against the Cardinal would never be forgotten That his want of Power made him at present prudently dissemble his Resentments but that they would break out with so much the greater violence That it was never heard that so powerful a Minister was ever attack'd without being ruin'd to all intents and purposes that he stayes only for favorable occasions a Division in the Parliament a change in the People the King's Majority in a word the Benefit of Opportunity which cannot be wanting to him who absolutely disposes of the Royal Power that therefore they must make use of the present junctures if they would get rid of so dangerous an Enemy That the Duke of Orleans was a sober Man and one too knowing in the Affairs of the World to oppose an universal concourse That Monsieur le Prince will bethink himself that the true Refuge for Princes of the Blood and his own Reputation against the jealousie of Favorites must be the Publick Love of the People so that at the most to please the Queen they will appear to defend her but weakly and with reservedness Lastly That they must consider that the Declaration which was extorted from the Court when in a weak condition and which will be of force no longer then while it continues so is a Necessity not a Sincere Friendship in the heart of the Queen who but waits the Moment to Revenge her self Those who dispersed such Discourses in Parliament and who declared most against the Court were after Broussel and Longueil the President of Noujon and Blanmenil Enemies to the Cardinal because of the disgrace of the Bishop of Beauvay their Uncle and because their Cousin was retused to be made the Coadjutor of this Bishoprick and Viole because they broke the promise they made him to be Chancellour to the Queen but the person that at this time by the instances of his Friend in Parliament and his Emissaries among the people laboured with most success to make a party to their Association was the Coadjutour of Paris This man who had joyned too many excellent both Natural and acquired Qualities that defect which the Corruption of minds makes to pass for a Vertue was tainted with an extreme ambition and an unbounded desire of increasing his Fortune and Reputation by all sorts of ways so that the Constancie of his undaunted Courage and mighty Genius found a sad and unhappy object which was the troubles of the State and a Compassion to the Capital City whereof he was Arch-Bishop Now judging that this Party could not Subsist with out a Head he cast his eyes upon Monsieur le Prince whom he Assaulted with such strong reasons that it was reported he was perswaded by them or at least seem'd to be so even to give his word to Broussel and Longueil to put himself at the Head of them But whether it was that he did not engage his word and that the Duke of Chatillion who Negotiated for him with the Frondaurs had advanced so farr on his own head without his Orders or rather that the Prince had expressely given it to hinder them from addressing themselves to the Duke of Orleans during his discontent however it was he undeceived those who suspected Him of Favouring his Desire The Coadjutor seeing himself disappointed having a Head of this Importance turn'd his hopes upon the Prince of Conty whose Birth alone was of Great Consequence in the Kingdom This Prince was dissatisfied because he was not one of the Council and much more because the Prince set so little esteem upon him But being entirely Governed by the Dutchess of Longueil his Sister who was netled at the Indifference which Monsieur the Prince shew'd to her he abandon'd himself without reserve to her Opinions This Princess who had a great hand in the sequel of Affairs had all the advantages of Wit and Beauty to so high a Degree and with so many charms and so generally liked that nature seem'd to have been pleased to frame an accomplish'd and perfect Work But a Blemish which is rarely or never seen in a Princess of this merit somthing darkened these fair Qualities which was far from prescribing to those who had a particular Adoration for her she transformed her self so very much into their sentiments that she was not sensible of her own At this time the Prince de Marcillac had a place in her Affections who joyning his ambition to his Love inspired her with a desire of intermedling in Affairs tho she had a natural Aversion to it and made use of the passion she had to be reveng'd on Monsieur the Prince to set the Prince of Conty against him The Coadjutour was happy in his project to see the Brother and Sister disposed to Unite themselves with the Frondeurs by a Treaty into which the Duke of Longueville was drawn being push'd on with the Hopes that the Parliament
would bring about his ill grounded pretensions to be a Prince of the Blood The Court seeing that the Designs of their Enemies prevailed to that Height as openly to demand the Cardinals ruin put all their hope in the Duke of Orleans and Monsieur le Prince and thought that their Union with their Majesties would reduce them into Order Now because the mischief had taken such deep root that there was required a great deal of force to pluck it up they judg'd that the temperate Nature of the Duke of Orleans was not so proper as that of Monsieur le Prince which was incapable of all Moderation Add to this that his Reputation in the Wars the Splendor of his Victories the Forces of his Troops would strike terrour into peoples minds so that they applyed themselves particularly to gain him to espouse a cause so just The Queen to this end made use of very pressing perswasions to Wit Tears and most affectionate words telling him that she look'd upon him as her Third Son The Cardinal promised him that he would all his life depend upon his Will The King himself embracing him told him that he recommended to him the saftey of his State and Person So that the Court consider'd him as the Principal Defender of its Fortune but those who determin'd him were Marshal Gramont and le Tellier by these or the like Arguments they represented to him that by little and little the Parliament would Usurp the whole Authority That instead of bounding their Ambition within the Declaration of the 28 October they would not only be judges of the Affairs of War but also took upon themselves a power to turn out the Minister that at the same time they might set up a new one of their own chusing and further that frequent Mutations are Pernicious to Kingdoms nay that it is sometimes better to suffer an ill one than to change him that it is ten thousand to one but if an usurpation the like whereof was never heard of till now be tolerated they will assault priviledg'd persons and nothing be sacred enough to secure it from Violation by this licentiousness that the Counsellors would be in a fine Condition if they should impose Laws upon Kings and the Princes of the Blood miserable if they received them That this new practice shock'd the Monarchy which is absolute and independant and contrary to the Constitutions of France and even to the Institutions of the Parliament that if there be abuses in the Kingdom they ought to be reformed by the Assemblies of the General States and not by the Decrees of a Company whose suffrages are rather counted than weighed That when ever the Parliament went beyond their Duty they were severely corrected sometimes by the late King sometimes by Henry the Fourth and Charles the Ninth and other Kings their Predecessors upon occasions less dangerous than this That Great Kingdoms cannot be supported by remiss Councils but must give a proof of their Courage and strength and that the justice of Kings consists in their Power That He the Prince was interested in the person of the Cardinal to oppose an enterprise which tends to the Destruction of the Royal Family and that if the Duke of Orleans and his Highness would not stand in the Gap the Queen would be forc'd to go with her Children to Implore the Help of the Princes that were Allies to the Crown Besides that Monsieur le Prince must think that the Innovations made by the Parliament since the Declaration wounded the Establishment of the Peace These Discourses which represented the thing very lively made such an Impression on his Spirit that he would not hear of a neutrality without ever so much as thinking that he might lose the peoples Affection It is certain that Great Minds like this of Monsieur le Prince produce great Vertues but are eminent also for great Defects By an Invincible Excess of Passion he ruin'd all the Advantages Fortune had even to Envy added to his person which were such that the would have surpassed the glory of the greatest men in former Ages if Piety Justice and Solidity had been answerable to that Excessive Valour that incredible Constancy in Adversities and that sparkling Wit which were remarkable in him Monsieur le Prince might have rendred himself ador'd by all the World if he could have manag'd himself with a design to have treated his Affairs with calmness but instead of this he was forc'd by his rash conduct to have recourse to means which brought him to strange Extremities He went with the Duke of Orleans to the Parliament and push'd on by his ill Fate as soon as Viole had invoked the Holy Spirit to illuminate the Princes in their Consideration of the Cardinals Conduct Monsieur le Prince rose up and bid him hold his tongue this inconsiderately raised a murmuring amongst the Young Counsellors with which he was fir'd into a passion and threatned them with his hands and words At this time he lost the Affection of the Company and when this Action was spread abroad the esteem his Victories gain'd him was chang'd into Fear and the love of his Person into Hatred not to say Exceration from which he recovered not but by particular good Fortune And now being interested in a quarrel of his own as well as of the Courts he hearkned to all propositions that were made him for reducing the Parliament They tell him that the speediest and surest way was to besiege Paris that by stoping all the Avenues the people would be starv'd in three Market days and so rise against the Parliament and accuse them of being the Authors of all their miseries In fine that the Parisians were without any to head them without Soldiers and accustomed to soft ease he relish'd these Reasons which seemed strong to him because animated by his Fury to which nothing was impossible so that he made himself the Head of the enterprise to besiege Paris under the command of the Duke of Orleans who at first opposed this design but the sollicitations of the Queen the perswasions of the Abbot de la Riviere and the willful Resolution of Monsieur le Prince overr-ulled his own Opinion and the contrary advice of the Dutchesse of Orleans This being resolved on Monsieur le Prince and the Marshal de la Meilleraye proposed that they might gain their end more speedily to seise upon the Isle of St. Louis the Port St. Antonie the Arsenal and the Bastile and also to put their Majesties in the Bastile but either because this proposition was not well enough grounded or because they were afraid of exposing the Kings person they rather chose to quit Paris than to besiege it After his Majesty had solemnized the Festival of the Epiphany at the Marshal Gramont's House the King retired to the Cardinal's Palace from whence he departed the next day at three a Clock in the Morning with the Queen Cardinal Mazarin and all the Court except
discharged from any manner of acknowledgment by the just resentment of your unkindness Therefore Gentlemen you see there is now no need to make any longer dispute And now it is time to come to his Justification to the People and as he owns himself that he owes his Safety Fortune and Reputation to them There is not any thing he would not do to wash away the ill impression they have of him which comes either from his Misfortunes or the Malice of his Enemies 'T is not but that if he had a Mind not to make any acknowledgment he could find Proofs against such an obligation and whosoever examines things even with the greatest rigour will find without doubt that their love for him was rather a necessary effect of his Destiny than a free and obliging motion of their own for at the name only of the Duke of Beaufort the People were insensibly mov'd and I cannot say by what sentiments but every heart was transported to an extremity of love It is certain that they looked upon him as their only support before he served them or had done any thing that could attract either their Gratitude Love or Esteem so that they have done for him only what they could not hinder themselves from doing therefore he is much more obliged to the lucky Planet that ruled his Birth than to their good Wills Notwithstanding he acknowledges that he owes all things to them and does not pretend by an exquisite Ingratitude to pay real obligations He does not only protest that he will always endeavour to serve the People who have served him but he declares that he shall retain for ever a particular love for them a perfect resemblance of humour a secret agreement of thought a just conformity of words which will maintain an eternal League betwixt them Yet we see the Parisians have not only unjustly broke off this love which reached to the very brink of Folly but are passed into as violent a hatred These are only to reproach him of Perfidiousness and Inconstancy but when they beheld him less miserable they then began to treat him as a Man both ungrateful and corrupted Permit me Gentlemen for I speak without passion if I say any thing in favour of him think me not won to it by interest nor impos'd upon nor that I intend to draw upon me a general hatred to preserve the kindness of a particular person I here profess an entire sincerity and God is my witness I follow no other dictates than my own reason Three things if I am not deceiv'd ruin'd the Duke of Beaufort in your opinion his agreement with the Cardinal his taking the Admiralty and his sollicitations in the last Assemblies For his agreement with the Cardinal unless you are unjust to him you cannot take it ill Had he agreed without considering your interests and had only taken care of his own you then would have reason to complain but it is certain the whole aim of his reconciliation was only to seek a more secure and easie means to ruine the Cardinal for when he saw that all France in Arms could not effect it and that open and declared hatred was fruitless he flew to the appearances of friendship and as he himself says he designs to ruine him when he least thinks of it His Mind which is as capable of Intrigue as of War which is as quick as bold will furnish him with a thousand adroit and ingenious ways not to speak of his politick Star which will lead him to the government of the State and set him beyond the reach of all Italian Politicians If any one a little too nice in the rules of Honour thinks it inglorious in the Duke de Beaufort to retain his intention to ruine the Cardinal after having received such considerable kindnesses from him I answer He treated not with him as a friend but on the contrary I am perswaded that when he took upon him the office of Admiral he shew'd himself the worst enemy he had in the World And Gentlemen do you not believe that the Duke de Beaufort less prejudic'd him in the War of Paris than in the Peace and in your opinion was not Vitry Fight more indifferent to the Court than the negotiation concerning the Admiralty In all the War he was never in a better condition than either to run away or stand and be beaten besides his Courage and his Security never agreed together he seldome went into the field without fear and as seldome return'd into Paris without shame and his most successful enterprizes were only to get Bread without fighting At that time the Duke of Beaufort reduc'd with you to the last necessity to say truth neither much frighted nor much hurt those Troops that came from St. Germains but now let him force the Court let him take even from the Queen her self fourscore thousand Livres a year and you call it still reconciliation and true friendship No Gentlemen undeceive your selves and believe that he has now perform'd the most subtle of all revenges If in the Complement that he made the Cardinal to thank him for that affair he assur'd him to be as strictly bound to his interest as Chamflury we must suppose he only added raillery to the first injury for 't is to violate the respect that is due to the quality of a Prince to imagine that he could be capable of such a meanness those of the very first quality may stile themselves friends of the chief Ministers but to stoop so low as to make themselves equal to the Captain of their Guards that was never done and all this only to take away from you all reason of suspicion I must ask you if the Duke de Beaufort be less mistrustful than he was before when a person of quality sent a Challenge to him and he sent away the Gentleman to Commeny like Creditors to a Treasurer May not this be call'd an artifice of the Court And is there not a Letter printed which declares enough his opinion in all things he chuses those precautions which his mistrust furnishes him withal if they deliberate at the Palace Royal if they consult at the Hostel de Montbason they have all there particular counsels and in their Closets resolve upon all important affairs I own that the Duke de Beaufort did sollicite for the Cardinal but you can't deny but that it was not so much in his favour as against the Princes and if you can direct but how he may ruine the Cardinal by the Princes and the Princes by the Cardinal you then will lay upon him the greatest obligation in the World 't is the unhappiness of the place wherein he is seated rather than the malice of his nature which makes him dread all men and love no body he retains still what goodness can be preserv'd amongst so many nice interests he does not envy Monsieur le Prince the constancy that he shew'd in the Bois de Vincennes and though
by his inability would give way to Monsieur d' Emery the new Controller-General and faithful Dependant of the Cardinal to act with full Authority as if he was himself Sur-Intendant A little after this promotion the Cardinal believing that he should shew an extraordinary deference to the Queen by endeavouring to acquire the Friendship of those whom she had always believed her faithful Servants He began with the Prince de Marcillac as being the first that the Queen had openly protested to be kind to he desired his Friendship in the most civil and most pressing terms imaginable making him be told That he begged he would wholly abandon him when he perceived him pursuing any private Interest either to procure Riches Offices or any other Advantage whatever or had any intention to prejudice any man of Quality The Prince de Marcillac related to the Queen all that the Cardinal had told him asking her what she pleas'd to command him upon it she answer'd That the greatest pleasure he could ever do her was to receive him for his Friend and spoke of him with such an esteem and eagerness as plainly enough discover'd her Inclination after which the Prince de Marcillac had nothing more to consult but however before he went to see him he imparted all that had pass'd to his particular Friends and amongst the rest was so obliging as to tell it me with all the Circumstances This began to make us look at home and think of our selves it hapning at the same time that Monsieur de Chavigny according to his Fathers method obtained leave to quit his Office which was given to Monsieur de Brienne and it was talked of his being sent either to Rome or into Germany as a Man lost for ever at Court We believed that the Cardinal then having no body whom he particularly loved in Councel it would be easie to enter into League with him and that for our Friendship he perhaps would willingly forsake the Chancellor Having weighed this Design the Bishop of Metz to whom he had also made Propositions of Friendship went to the Queen and after having spoken to her almost in the same manner as the Prince de Marcillac receiv'd the same answer with only this addition That upon the Overtures that the Cardinal had made him she conjur'd him to gain him as many Friends as was possible the Bishop of Metz having told all his Discourse with the Queen to the Duke de Vendosme both the Duke and his Children desired that all their Friends might be informed of every thing that had passed and for that reason desired the Bishop of Metz the Duke d' Espernon the Count de Fiesque Monsieur Beaupuy and my self to meet at their House Campion who was then his menial Servant was also at that Conference Monsieur Bethune and Monsieur Montresor having been their oldest and chiefest Friends ought to have been sent for but I believe the Duke de Vendosme did not desire them perhaps for the reason I have already said of la Riviere whom he would preserve his Friend by the mediation of the Mareschal d' Estreé The Queens command cutting off all occasions of farther differences The Count de Fiesque took upon him to go and tell the Cardinal from all the family of Vendosme the Bp. of Metz and the D. d' Espernon that they desired his Friendship with all freeness and sincerity but that they desir'd to have nothing to do with any body but himself for that reason they had not sent to him till such time that they saw Monsieur de Chavigny out of all bufiness and that the only mark that they asked of his kindness was the Chancellors ruine whom the death of Monsieur de Thou and his manner of proceeding in the business of the Hermits and the tryal of the Duke d'Espernon had made odious The Cardinal after he had assured them that he received the Proposition they had made him with a great deal of Joy and that he esteemed their Friendship at the highest rate answered That he was obliged to them that they did not speak to him of this whil'st Monsieur de Chavigny had any part in the Ministry of Affairs because he could never have abandon'd him but for the Chancellor he was an infamous Man and that at the Kings death he had renounced him and consequently cared not for him now but if he put him out he was not able to hinder Monsieur de Chasteauneufs entring into his place whom he confess'd he could never endure in the Ministry This first Conference ended thus but it furnished matter for many others wherein the Count de Fiesque told the Cardinal That the Gentlemen for whom he spoke desiring to enter into the Bonds of Friendship with him would not begin to shock him in what appeared so much his Interest therefore they only asked of him that whensoever he could secure himself from Monsieur de Chasteauneuf he would remove the Chancellor he made a difficulty to promise that he would remove him and only said at first that he would abandon him but at length he acquiesced and did the same concerning the Duke d' Anguien for having said That he desired to live civilly with him and that he had no design to break off he received no answer when the Count de Fiesque told him That those Gentlemen making choice of him for their chief Friend desired a preference in his mind before all their Competitors This Treaty lasted five or six days because on one side the Cardinal shew'd now an ardent desire of their Friendships and then a little after appear'd cooler in it speaking with greater reservedness And on the other side the Duke de Beaufort would have been willing before they came to a conclusion to have seen Campion return'd whom he had sent to meet Madam de Chevreuse who was then just come to France and with whom his Father the Duke d' Espernon and himself were in a most strict League And as it was necessary that the Count de Fiesque should give them from time to time an account of his Negotiation and be instructed what they would have him say we met during that time five or six times either at the Duke de Vendosm's or the Duke d' Espernons or at the Bishop of Metz or at the Capucins or else at my House And although in all those Meetings there almost nothing pass'd but only to obey the Queen nevertheless they have since endeavor'd to represent it as a Crime and the Plottings of a Seditious Cabal though the Cardinal cannot deny but that the Count de Fiesque daily told him whatsoever was resolved amongst us In five or six days Campion return'd who informed us That Madam de Chevreuse had receiv'd Letters from the Queen before she left Flanders wherein her Majesty seem'd to desire that there might be a right understanding between the Cardinal and Her and that she came prepar'd to do it and advis'd all
Cardinal that it was impossible for him to repose any assurance in him not that I believe he ever harbored in his Breast any such Designs as were laid to his charge only his entertainments of the Cardinal were either full of coldness or civility according to the humors of those Ladies Madam de Chevreuse and Madam de Monthazon insomuch that if he gave him occasion to be satisfied with him one day he disoblig'd him as much the next saying That he only came to see him by his Fathers order If in the condition he is in I had a mind to complain of him I should have some reason to do so it being very true that at this time though he did me the honor to dine at my House often and pass the greatest part of the Afternoons with me yet he imparted to me very little of his Conduct And I dare say though I am not the greatest Politician in the Kingdom that if he would have opened himself more freely to me he had never been embarrass'd in that ununluckly and shameful Intrigue of Madam de Longueville's Letters which hapned about this time and into which his Love for Madam de Monthazon hurried him without considering the bottom of the thing and imputing the Malice to those who could not possibly be guilty I can say further That to take this Affair right nothing at all of it is to be believed I never enquir'd into the thing to get more knowledge of it But if Monsieur de Beaufort had spoke to me of it at the beginning I would have advised him without examining the falshood or truth thereof to have given the Letters into Madam de Longueville's hands and I think that this service done to a persson who was once passionately belov'd and who is even yet as much hated is a very sensible reproach and the most honest and glorious Revenge that could be taken But he suffer'd himself to becarried away with anothers Passion and by the breaking out of this cursed Quarrel absolutely threw himself upon a Precipice From that time there was little familiarity betwixt Monsieur d'Anguien and him and besides the remembrance of what pass'd in the Quarrel of the Grand-Maistre and the report that this Prince had ask'd to have his Brother-in-law the Duke de Brezè protected in his charge he gave an answer to a Letter which Monsieur de Beaufort wrote to him upon the Birth of his Son wherein he treated him rudely and in a kind of revenge which his little Pride prompted him to only subscrib'd himself Your most humble and affecttionate Servant But though these little peeks betwixt two such haughty and ambitious Minds were enough to carry them to extreams yet they might have been qualifi'd with some moderation whereas after an Affair which directly wounded their Honor there was no way left for a Reconcilement I confess I speak not upon this subject with a cold heart and that of all that has pass'd since the Kings Death this is the only thing I look back upon with regret and would say with some fort of Repentance if I did not find an infinite number of Reasons that forced me to take that side which I did Those which ought to have disswaded me were first of all Interest almost all my Estate lay in le Berry and under the Government of Monsieur le Prince I saw the Duke de Anguien likely to return to Court within a little while having augmented the glory of his Victory at Rocroy by the taking of Thienville which was judged impregnable and that after such Services it was hard to believe that the Queen would favor any other Party than his The Duke de Longueville had always dealt very obligingly with me and there were few that he spoke to with more confidence In fine it was to be observ'd that I had the honor to be nearly related to Madam la Princess whom I should mortally offend if I offer'd my Service to Madam de Montbazon my relation to whom was further off and less Honorable But also very strong considerations invited me to the other side almost all my Friends were embark'd in it and above all Monsieur de Guise who caress'd me extraordinarily at his return into France and seem'd to choose me for his principal Friend I had the Honor to be nearer him than any of his Quality I had all along dearly loved and very much honor'd him and was the first Author of the strait Union betwixt Monsieur de Beaufort and him which seemed to be one of the principal causes that put him upon this Intrigue I believ'd that the Womens Quarrel would certainly breed one among'st the Men and resolved not to embrace one Party to acquit it again the next day But to speak freely the most essential reason that made me declare was That I knew whatever Caresses the Cardinal made me he had no kindness at all for me and thought that I must of necessity get some other support near the Queen I knew very well if I should hope for one in Monsieur le Prince that he would not displease the first Minister for me if in Monsieur la Riviere the mortal Enemy of my Friends was an invincible Obstacle so that I saw none but Madam de Chevreuse who hiding her Disgrace the best that she could and continuing her ancient familiarity with the Queen seem'd to me to be yet in a condition to protect me Being joyn'd in Interest with her common Friends I had in a little time gain'd a great deal of Freedom and receiv'd from her Assurances to serve me upon all occasions But I had a mind to oblige her to it with something more extraordinary knowing well That she being Vain and Ambitious would be touched therewith and told her That 't was she I had chiefly respect to when I rank'd my self on Madam de Montbazons Party which she receiv'd as well as I could wish and promis'd me all the assistance imaginable I will say nothing of all that afterwards pass'd in this Affair because it was so publick that no body can be ignorant of it only that if the Opinion of Monsieur de Longueville had been followed it had stifled all But Madam la Princess following the heat of her Natural Temper and finding an opportunity of satisfying her old Animosities carried it to the utmost extremity to which I know not whether she was push'd on by the Cardinal who look'd upon our Party as form'd against him and thought it not so much design'd against Monsieur le Prince as against his Authority which increased every day At the Hotel de Madam de Chevreuse there was a meeting of fourteen Princes at which I was not present and would have been sorry to have been so thinking it very useless and impertinent Two days after the Amende Honorable which Madam de Montbazon was to undergo at the Hotel de Conde the Queen being in the Circle call'd me to her and said That she believed I