MEMOIRS
OF
MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE
VOLUME II.
(Ttjc (Tour Tit jfraucc IBtrttton
LIMITED TO TWELVE HUNDRED AND
FIFTY NUMBERED SETS, OF WHICH THIS is
AT... 969
MEMOIRS
OF
MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE
ON
ANNE OF AUSTRIA AND HER COURT.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
C.-A. SAINTE-BEUVE.
Kranslatrti bg
KATHARINE PRESCOTT WORMELEY.
ILLUSTRATED WITH PORTRAITS FROM THE ORIGINAL.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
BOSTON:
HARDY, PRATT & COMPANY.
1902.
Copyright, 1901,
BY HARDY, PRATT & COMPANY.
All rights reserved.
Unibrrsito i3rrss:
JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER L 1648.
PAGB
Affairs of Spain and Portugal. Mazarin vainly attempts to negotiate
peace with Spain. Conference at Saint-Germain between parlia-
ment and the princes. Council held in the queen's carriage.
Double game of the minister in proposing concessions himself and
deterring the queen from making any. The Prince de Conde and
the Due d'Orleans incline to the views of Parliament. The queen
wishes to resist. Comedy played in the council chamber. Sad-
ness of the queen in yielding to parliament. Joy of the princes.
Popular tumult at the Palais. The coadjutor [Cardinal de Retz].
Chateauneuf and Chavigny instigators of parliament. The
queen's anxiety. She is not supported by the princes. Fresh
concessions on her part. Peace with parliament. Deep dissatis-
faction of the queen. Return of the Court to Paris. Irritation
of the Due and Duchesse d'Orleans. Mademoiselle thinks of
marrying the king. Joy of the Parisians at the return of the king.
The discontented rally to the Due d'Orleans. Conde works
against the duke on the mind of the queen. The Abbe de La
Riviere urges his master to be reconciled. Conditions of this
agreement. La Riviere made Minister of State. The queen
hopes for peace. The hope short-lived. Rebellious spirit of par-
liament. Violent speech of President Viole against Mazarin.
Uprising of the populace. Libels and placards against the queen.
The coadjutor stirs up the clergy of Paris. The Mare"chal de
Villeroy enters the council. End of the year 1648 1
CHAPTER II. 1649.
Return to Court of the Duchesse de Vendome. Anarchical condition
of France. Madame de Longueville undertakes to govern her
brothers. The queen, in concert with Conde and the Due d'Orle'ans,
decides to shake off the yoke of parliament. Her resolution to
Vi CONTENTS.
PACK
leave Paris. Alarm in the city. The Eve of the Epiphany.
The queen escapes during the night of the 5th of January, and goes
to Saint-Germain. Madame de Longueville refuses to follow her.
Anger of the Parisians. Madame de Motteville dares not leave
Paris. Parliament orders the burghers to take arms. Fury of
the people. Letters from the king and queen to the people of Paris.
The queen commands that the city be starved out. Proposals
in parliament. The queen will not listen to them. Had she done
so, future evils might perhaps have been avoided. Parliament
declares Mazarin the enemy of the State. It raises troops and
money. The Due d'Elbreuf offers to command its army. The
Due de Bouillon makes overtures to parliament. Madame de
Motteville attempts to leave Paris. Pursued by the populace.
Takes refuge with the Queen of England in the Louvre. Madame
de Longueville ; her character and purposes. She takes sides with
parliament. Concerts measures with the coadjutor. She is joined
by the Prince de Conti, the Due de Longueville, and the Prince de
Marsillac. Anger of the Prince de Conde' at their action. The
Due d'Elboeuf made general of the army of parliament .... 34
CHAPTER III. 1649.
Blockade of Paris. Dues de Bouillon and de Beaufort enter the
Fronde. Origin of that name. The Prince de Conti made
generalissimo. Wrath of the Prince de Conde against his brother
and sister. Gloom of the Due d'Orle'ans. The Bastille surren-
ders to the Fronde. Parliament raises an army. Popularity of
the Due de Beaufort. Selfish policy of the leaders of the Fronde.
Rouen closes its gates to the king's envoy. Lack of food in
Paris. Exasperation of the populace. Fine sortie of the Due
de Beaufort. Poltroonery of the Parisians. Relations of the
Due d'Orleans with parliament. He resists advances from the
frandeurs. Plans of the coadjutor, Chateauneuf , and others of
theyronrfeurs. Birth of a son to Madame de Longueville. Inun-
dation of Paris ; sufferings of the poor. The queen in favour of
peace. The Prince de Conde wants war. Negotiations of Mazarin
with the frondeurs. The fight at Charenton. Exasperation of
the leaders of the Fronde at the idea of peace. Parleys between
the Court and parliament. Reception by parliament of an envoy
from the Archduke. Affairs of England. Murder of Charles L
Distress of Queen Henrietta. Madame de Motteville joins the
queen at Saint-Germain. Jests of the Court about the Fronde.
Frank report of Madame de Motteville to the queen. Anne of
Austria believes that in upholding Cardinal Mazarin she upholds the
royal authority 62
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV. 1649.
PAGE
The queen's irritation at the advice of the nuncio and the Venetian
ambassador. Mazarin puts to profit the insults heaped upon him.
The queen sends food into Paris. The Fronde declares peace
impossible with Mazarin. The populace begin a riot. The Due
de Beaufort, leader of the outcry, is forced to pacify it. Coolness
of Matthieu Mole. Dissatisfaction of the generals of the Fronde.
Conference at Ruel. Mazarin excluded from it. Sale at
auction of the cardinal's furniture and library. Disloyalty and
repentance of Turenne. Deceitful speech of the coadjutor before
parliament. Peace signed at Ruel. It dissatisfies both courtiers
and.frondeurs. Excessive claims of the generals of the Fronde.
Vexation of the queen. The coadjutor stipulates for his friends.
End of the civil war. The Court remains at Saint-Germain.
Financial incapacity of Marechal de la Meilleraye. Portrait of
his wife. D'Emery returns to the finances. The leaders of the
Fronde at Court. The Due d'Orleans and the Prince de Conde go to
Paris. The latter renews his intercourse with Madame de Longue-
ville. The coadjutor holds aloof from the Court. Embarrass-
ment of the Due de Longueville on seeing the queen. Arrival at
Court of Madame and Mademoiselle de Longueville. Return to
Court of the Due de Vendome. Projected marriage between his
son, the Due de Mercceur, and the cardinal's niece, Mademoiselle de
Mancini. Alienation of the Prince de Conde. The queen goes
to Compiegne. Madame de Motteville joins her there. Feelings
of the Princesse de Conde. The Prince de Conde leaves the Court.
The queen goes to Amiens, and the Due d'Orldans to Paris.
Mazarin seems to weary of his dependence on the Due d'Orleans
and the Prince de Conde 91
CHAPTER V. 1649.
Seditious writings. Affair of the Due de Beaufort and Jarze. The
Due de Candale challenges Beaufort. The marshals of France
end the quarrel. Coolness of the Due de Nemours to Mazarin.
Arrogance of the Prince de Conde. Raising of the siege of Cam-
brai. The coadjutor visits the queen, but without seeing the min-
ister. The Due d'Orleans calms the Parisians. Pitiable state of
France. Poverty of the king's household. Affectionate reception
given by the queen to the King of England. He resides at Saint-
Germain. Solitude in which he is left. Marriage of the Queen
of Poland. The Prince de Conde goes to Compiegne. Madame de
Chevreuse received by the queen. Return of the Court to Paris.
Viii CONTENTS.
PAOB
Euthnsiasm of the Parisians. The coadjutor and parliament,
etc., received by the queen. The queen goes to Notre-Dame.
Rapturous greeting of the fishwives. She visits the Queen of
England. The king goes on horseback to the Jesuit Church of
Saiut-Louis. Settlement of the marriage of the Due de Mercceur
to a Mancini. Displeasure of the Prince de Conde'. Remon-
strances addressed by the queen through the chancellor to parlia-
ment. Reply of Matthieu Mole, the president. Ball at the
H6tel-de-Ville on the king's twelfth birthday. The Prince de
Conde welcomes the malcontents. The queen does not wholly
approve of all her minister's actions. The Prince de Conde exacts
Pont-de-1'Arche for the Due de Longueville. The queeu refuses.
The prince declares himself Mazarin's enemy. Joy of the
frondeurs. The whole Court declares for the Prince de Conde'.
The Due d'Orle'ans, prompted by the ambitious caution of the Abbe
de la Riviere, assists the Prince de Conde'. Madame de Longue-
ville's offers to the abbe". The queen and cardinal yield, and Condd
obtains his demand 121
CHAPTER VI. 1649.
Mazarin approaches Madame de Longueville. Illness of the queen.
Madame de Longueville the real source of all these troubles. The
tabouret granted to the Princesse de Marsillac and Madame de Pons.
Conde and his family are reconciled with the queen and cardinal.
The nobles jealous about the tabourets. They protest to the
queen. General uprising of the nobles ; they appeal to the Prince
de Conde. Jarze, his character. The princes (not of the blood)
join the nobles in remonstrating. The cardinal not altogether dis-
pleased. He allies himself with Madame de Longueville. The
Due d'Orle'ans abandons the affair of the tabourets. Spirit of
revolt among the people of Bordeaux. Ideas of reform mooted
in the assembly of the nobles. Inspired by the coadjutor, the
nobles invite the clergy to join with them. The queen withdraws
the gift of the tabourets. The people of Bordeaux seize the Chateau
Trompette. Deplorable state of the finances. Difficulties in
recalling d'6mery. Return of Chavigny from exile. Jarze"s love
for the queen. He is roughly rebuked by her. The Prince de
Conde' protects him. The frondeurs revive. The Prince de Conde
and the Due d'Orle'ans prevent the punishment of Bordeaux.
Con >U : hostile to the cardinal. La Boulaye endeavours to rouse the
people of Paris. The frondeurs attempt to assassinate the Prince
de Conde'. First communion of the king. Marriage of Madame
de Pons to the Due de Richelieu. Conde aids aud abets it. His
haughty behaviour on the subject of this marriage 163
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VH. 1650.
PAGE
Proceedings of the Prince de Conde against the coadjutor and the Due
de Beaufort. The frondeurs conspire with Mazarin to ruin the
Prince de Conde. The queen alarmed by the power of the Prince.
The frondeurs cause the Abbe de la Riviere to be suspected by
the queen, the cardinal, and the Due d'Orleans. The Duchesse
d'Aiguillon joins the enemies of the Prince de Conde. The affair
of Mademoiselle de Soyon, which ruins the Abbe de la Riviere with
the Due d'Orleans. The plot against the Prince de Conde. Con-
flicting views of the cardinal and the frondeurs. Uneasiness and
isolation of the Prince de Conde. Dramatic circumstances of his
arrest and that of the Prince de Conti and the Due de Longueville.
They are imprisoned at Vincennes. The Due d'Orleans aban-
dons his favourite, the Abbe de la Riviere. Grief of Madame de
Longueville and the Princesse de Conde' (mother) at the imprison-
ment of the princes. Exile of the princess and flight of Madame
de Longueville. Portrait of Madame Du Plessis-Guenegaud.
Grave words of Chavigny on hearing of the princes' arrest . . . 203
CHAPTER VIII. 1650.
Rush of courtiers to the Palais Royal on the arrest of the princes.
Selfish exclamation of the Marquis de Villequier. Boastf nlness of
the frondeurs. The Due de Bouillon, Turenne, and the Prince de
Marsillac take flight. Moderation of the queen in speaking of the
Prince de Conde. The Due de Beaufort rides through Paris to
show himself. Parliament appears to be satisfied with the arrest
of the princes. Visit of the Commandeur de Jars to the Princesse
de Conde, mother of the princes. Dismissal of the Abbe de la
Riviere. Turenne raises an army to release the prisoners.
Madame de Longneville strives in vain to rouse Normandy. The
king and queen go to Rouen. Flight of Madame de Longueville.
Submission of Champagne to the king. Chateanneuf is made
chancellor in place of Seguier. Mazarin's policy among the vari-
ous parties. The Duchesse de Bouillon is imprisoned in the
Bastille 231
CHAPTER IX. 1650.
Ineffectual efforts made in parliament on behalf of the princes ; defeated
by the frondeurs. Intrigues of the princess-palatine (Anne de
Gonzague) in their cause. The Due de La Rochefoucauld (the
X CONTENTS.
PAGE
Prince de Marsillac) excites the people of Bordeaux in favour of
the princes. The king at the siege of Bellegarde. The mother of
the Prince de Conde' appeals to parliament for justice to her sons.
The Due d'Orleans hesitates to protect her. Her death, caused
by her grief, at the close of this year. The Court returns to Paris.
Madame de Longueville, the Dues de Bouillon, de La Rochefou-
cauld, and Turenue declared guilty of lese-majeste. Bordeaux
stirred up by them in favour of the Prince de Conde. The princes'
friends grow stronger. They treat with Spain. Portrait of Gour-
ville. Death of d'Emery. Miserable condition of the finances.
The Due de Saint-Simon remains loyal to the king. The Span-
ish army, commanded by the archduke, appears on the frontier, and
is joined by Turenne. The queen goes to Compiegne. Military
matters. The frondeurs inveigle the Due d'Orleans. The Court
returns to Paris. Departure of the king and queen for Bordeaux.
Offers of the Prince de Conde" to Mazarin to obtain his liberty.
The parliaments of Paris and Bordeaux intervene on behalf of
the princes. Successes of the Spanish army. Propositions of the
parliament of Paris and the Due d'Orle"ans for peace. Struggle
between the friends of the Prince de Conde", the Due d'Orleans, the
coadjutor, and the frondeurs, etc. The king threatens Bordeaux
with a siege. Madame de Motteville's sister enters a convent.
The Due de Bouillon prevents the Bordeaux deputies from return- 254
ing to the king
CHAPTER X. 1650-1651.
Advance of the Spanish army. The princes are removed from Vin-
cennes to Marcoussis, lest Turenne should release them. Influ-
ence of the frondeurs on the Due d'Orldans. The former begin to
make secret proposals to the friends of the Prince de Conde".
Feigned proposals of peace from the Spaniards, which deceive the
Parisians. Placards against Mazarin. Siege of Bordeaux by
the king. Amnesty granted to the Dues de Bouillon and de La
Rochefoucauld. The Princesse de Conde' (wife of the prince)
received by the queen. The king and queen enter Bordeaux.
Cold reception. The queen starts for Paris, and falls ill. The
Due d'Orleans goes to her at Fontainebleau. Orders sent to re-
move the princes to Havre. Vain efforts of the coadjutor to
obtain the hat by negotiations with Mazarin. The latter distrusts
the frondeurs, and would have preferred an alliance with the Prince
de Conde". The queen returns to Paris. Death of the Prince of
Orange. The princes are conveyed to Havre. Hypocrisy of the
Duchesse d'Aiguillon. Recovery of the queen. Mazarin goes
CONTENTS. Xi
PAGE
to the army. Death of the Princesse de Conde, the princes'
mother. Her last words about Madame de Longueville. Portrait
of the Princesse de Conde (Charlotte de Montmorency). Storms
in Parliament. Successes of the army. Shrewd conduct of
Mazarin towards the soldiers. Intrigues of the princess-palatine
with the frondeurs against the minister. Te Deum at Notre-Dame.
Parliament demands that the princes be set at liberty. The
cardinal secretly holds out hopes to the friends of the princes.
Visit of the Due d'Orleans to Mazarin. The duke's character.
He is influenced by the coadjutor. Weakness in being led.
Stands in his own light regarding the marriage of his daughter
to the king. Second interview with the cardinal, who urges him
to give up the coadjutor and the Due de Beaufort. This moment
decides the future of the duke and minister. Supper at the minis-
ter's. Intrigues of the princess-palatine with the frondeurs in the
interests of the Prince de Conde, the Due de La Rochefoucauld,
etc. Threats and warnings addressed by all to Mazarin. Parlia-
ment demands the release of the Prince de Conde. The coadjutor
suddenly declares before parliament that the release of the princes
is necessary to the welfare of the State, and that the Due d'Orleans
ordered him to say so. Mistaken course of the Due d'Orle'ans.
He could have done the same thing peaceably with the queen which
he now did by alliance with the frondeurs 289
CHAPTER XI. 1651.
The Due d'Orleans comes out violently in favour of the princes. Exacts
the dismissal of the cardinal. Sends a haughty message to the
queen. Sends the coadjutor to Parliament to declare him openly
against the cardinal. Dissimulation of Mazarin, who offers to the
queen to leave France. The queen desires to see the Due d'Orle'ans.
He refuses to see her. Her distress. She consults Le Tellier as
to whether it was her duty to dismiss her minister. The queen
complains to Parliament of the coadjutor. Parliament demands
the dismissal of the minister. The queen's firmness. Departure
,of Mazarin^ Anxiety of the queen. Conversation, with. Madame
de MbtteviUe. Fears caused by the departure of the cardinal in
tKe mlhdi' "oT the princes' friends. The queen gives no positive
assurances to parliament of the release of the prisoners. Violent
conduct of the Due d'Orle'ans towards the queen. Clamour in Par-
liament. Parliament decrees the banishment of Mazarin, February
9, 1651. The queen suspected of intending to leave Paris secretly
with the king. Probability that this was true. Agitation in
Paris. The queen lets the people see the king asleep. The queen
virtually imprisoned in the PjJajs-Roval^ Her_ jeply to Madame
xii CONTENTS.
PAGE
de MotteviUe'8injuiry_a8jtg whether she had really meant to leavo
1'aris. Ilnrsli treatment of her by the Due d'Orlc'ans. - - Tho
cardinal goes to Havre. Finds himself obliged to release the
prisoners against his will. His meeting with them, and his ridicn-
lons position. The princes return to Paris, and are received by
their friends and the public with acclamation 320
APPENDIX.
On the relations of Anne of Austria with Cardinal Mazarin .... 355
INDEX . . 359
LIST OF
PHOTOGRAVURE ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
CONDE (Louis II. DE BOURBON, PRINCE DE), THE GREAT CONDI: Frontispiece
By David Te"niers; Chantilly.
CHAPTER
II. LONGUEVILLE, ANNE GENEVIEVE DE BOURBON (DuCHESSE
DE) 57
Picture of 17th Century; Chantilly.
IV. TURENNE (HENRI DE LA TOUR D'AUVERGNE, VICOMTE DE) . 97
By Philippe de Champaigne; Munich.
V. BEAUFORT (FRANCOIS DE VENDOME, Due DE) 125
From a contemporary print.
"VTI. ORLEANS (GASTON DE FRANCE, Due D') 208
Picture of 17th Century; Versailles.
X. LA ROCHEFOUCAULD (FRANCOIS, PRINCE DE MABSILLAC AND
Due DE). AUTHOR OF THE MAXIMS 315
From a contemporary print.
XI. LE TELLIER (MICHEL) 336
Picture of the 17th Century; Versailles.
FAC-SIMILE LETTER.
I. Louis DE BOURBON (THE GREAT CONDE) TO HIS FATHER,
HENRI DE BOURBON, PRINCE DE CONDE 8
MEMOIRS
OF
MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE.
I.
1648.
IT was not in France and England only that a malignant
constellation was seen to threaten the welfare of kings.
Spaniards, whose fidelity has been so lauded, were to be at
this conjuncture more dishonoured than Frenchmen, because
they attacked by conspiracy the person and life of their
king, while our nation complained only against the king's
authority and that of his minister. The chiefs of the Span-
ish Court had resolved to marry their infanta [Maria Theresa]
heiress of the kingdom, whom her father seemed to destine
to the house of Austria, to the son of the King of Portugal.
Being Duke of BraganQa, the latter had made himself king,
because he claimed a more legitimate right to the crown
than that of the King of Spain; and after the disastrous
days when he had beaten the forces of Spain he took pos-
session of his kingdom easily. As the new king had relatives
and friends in the Spanish Council who supported his inter-
ests, he formed with them the project of this marriage ; and
no doubt his party would have obtained a great advantage
by thus uniting the two crowns. But the King of Spam,
who expected, in making peace with France, to recover the
VOL. II. 1
2 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
crown of Portugal whenever it pleased him, stopped all those
who were plotting this affair.
The story as then told to our queen stated that among
the negotiations of the King of Portugal (which in their
main object were innocent) the conspirators were mingling
a design against the life of the King of Spain. The Duke
of Medina-Sidonia, of the house of Gusman, was the leader ;
as a relative of the Duke of Bragan^a he had joined the
intrigue. He was, however, saved, and obtained his pardon
from the King of Spain on condition that he would give the
names of the other guilty men. This he did, escaping him-
self with nothing worse than exile.
The Duke of Hijar, being accused, was put to the question
ordinary and extraordinary, but as he confessed nothing he
was merely banished. His broken bones, the signs of his
constancy, must have served him as a sad memory of his
misfortune or his crime. The Marquis of Ayamonte was
beheaded, with Don Carlos of Padilla and some others;
but, on account of the war, we could not then learn all
particulars. This account, which is very brief, I heard from
the queen, who did me the honour to tell it to me, having
heard it herself by way of Eome.
About this time the King of Spain, following his previous
determination, married his niece, the daughter of his sister
the empress. She was received by him with great marks of
joy and tenderness, and the marriage obtained the blessings
of love and fruitfulness.
A Spaniard named Galareto, on his way from Flanders,
where he had served as secretary of State to Spain, remained
a few days at Saint-Germain and had long conferences with
the cardinal respecting the terms of peace. Possibly the
minister may then have seriously desired it, in order to
get money and troops free to punish those who were now
1648] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 3
attacking him. As the hatred of the people had no other
legitimate pretext for murmuring against him than the sus-
picion that he did not desire peace, the queen took particular
pains to call attention to these interviews, saying repeatedly
that she and Cardinal Mazarin desired nothing so much as
this blessing, and that if the king, her brother, would only
consent, peace would assuredly be made.
The king as he was walking about the park was shown to
this Spaniard, who thought him well-made and very amiable.
The queen, from a reserve which her minister inspired, did
not receive him, although she had known him formerly when
attached to the Marquis of Mirabel, the last ambassador of
Spain to France. It is to be believed, nevertheless, that it
would have been far better had she seen him herself instead
of leaving him to see only the cardinal ; for in her quality as
regent, mother, and sister she was surely more fitted than
any other to work for the great object of peace. But she
wanted to leave the whole appearance of it to the cardinal,
that he might profit by it in the eyes of the people; and
as, moreover, she was persuaded that her minister was sin-
cerely acting for the welfare of France, she thought that
in an affair of such consequence she ought to follow his ad-
vice and be guided by his ideas rather than by her own.
All Europe had supposed that on assuming the government
she would carefully apply herself to the means of making
peace, considering the affection she had shown all her life
for her brother the King of Spain. But her most attached
servants, who feared she might show too much warmth for
his interests, turned her from thinking of them, and spoke
to her frequently of the reserve she ought to have on that
subject.
These lessons made a strong impression on her; and
as she desired to do her duty generously, she strove to act
4 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. L
as if the sentiments of nature, which up to this time had
made her love her family with great tenderness, had been
effaced. But in seeking to go right she went so far that she
no longer seemed to be the same person nor to have the
same heart. The affection she felt for the king her brother
was long concealed under a wise patience, which kept her
wishing and awaiting favourable moments when, not clash-
ing with her duty or wounding the love she bore to the king,
she might give signs of the legitimate desires she had for
peace and for the welfare of both kingdoms. But so far she
had only dared form wishes to obtain it from Heaven, fearing
that if she made any step towards those whom France re-
garded as enemies, she might deprive it of the advantages
given by the glorious victories so far won over her nation.
The queen was, nevertheless, the only person fitted to
judge equitably between the two monarchs. She alone
could, through the noble sentiments that were in her as to
the interests that touched her so nearly, make each of the
princes yield some portion of his claims; and blood and
nature, being governed by reason, would have given her the
means to form her judgment to the advantage of both
parties. The troubles that she saw fomenting in France
through the actions of parliament made her justly aware
that it was time to think seriously of peace ; but the pro-
posals made to this Spaniard were received so coldly that it
was impossible for the queen to advance in her purpose.
The King of Spain appeared to claim advantages too ex-
cessive to allow her, as a good mother and a regent truly
attached to the interests of the State, ever to grant them.
The first day of October having been chosen for resum-
ing the conference with parliament at Saint-Germain, the
deputies arrived, charged with new proposals and twenty-
five articles, which they made known. All were granted
1648] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 5
except the two (which I have already noted as being re-
fused) relating to the liberty of prisoners, and the privilege
which parliament demanded of taking cognizance of all
imprisonments within twenty-four hours of arrest. It was
arranged that the deputies should return two days later to
complete the negotiation. Cardinal Mazarin was not present
at any of these conferences [parliament having exacted his
exclusion], and the chancellor had been excluded by order
of the queen, to keep company with the minister. He
was, however, sent to this one, as being necessary to the
king's service, to maintain his interests, and explain them
to the princes, who could not comprehend the quibblings
of parliament.
The day after this conference took place parliament gave
a decree in favour of the people; intending no doubt to
strengthen itself more and more by that course. This
decree forbade the levying of a tax of forty sous a head
laid some time previously on all forked hoofs [pieds four-
chus sheep and oxen] entering Paris.
On the 3d of October the deputies returned to Saint-
Germain, according to the resolution already taken. The
princes at once reproached them for this decree given
against the king's service on the very eve of an adjustment.
They told them that such a proceeding was a visible sign
of then* bad intentions, and showed that they had no true
desire for reconciliation. To this they answered, in self-
justification, that the tax had never yet been levied ; that
the butchers had always vigorously opposed it ; that the
tax-committees themselves, when reporting to the king,
confessed that they had never received anything from it;
and that, this being so, parliament had supposed that it
might, without prejudice to the king's service, rescind it
and give this relief to the people.
6 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. x.
From that they passed to the articles of the last con-
ference, to which they added new demands, either for the
general good or for their private interests. The chief ob-
struction on this occasion was their first demand. They
claimed that they had on their side an ordinance of Louis
XL, by which that king decreed that no one should be kept
hi prison twenty-four hours without being sent before his
natural judges. They argued strongly on this point; but
finally yielded in regard to the Court people, consenting
that knowledge as to them should be given to the judge
within three months. They admitted that the king, for
various causes that might arise, was often obliged to make
prisoners on suspicion only, and that such accusations might
require a long time to verify. But for men of the robe,
they maintained their rights under the ordinance of Louis
XL, as having more reason to fear immediate punish-
ment than those who were included in the three-months
clause; and this concerned in general all the subjects of
the king.
They said no more about Chavigny, or any one else.
They laboured solely and with all their power for the
re-establishment of this law, knowing well that if they
succeeded the prisoner 'must be released in three months
and easily freed of the chains in which the king held him.
They knew, moreover, that this demand of theirs was
agreeable to all France. The love of liberty is strongly
imprinted in human nature. The wisest minds who, until
now, had disapproved of the actions of parliament, could
not in their hearts dislike this proposition. They blamed
it apparently, because it was impossible to praise it in the
eyes of the world ; but in point of fact they liked it, and
could not help esteeming such boldness and wishing it a
favourable success.
1648] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 7
The conference having lasted till late in the evening,
nothing could be decided, for the deputies were absolutely
bent on obtaining what the queen was determined not to
grant. The princes left them and went to fetch the car-
dinal in his apartments, and together they came to find the
queen in the park, where she was taking a drive while
awaiting the success of the long negotiation. The council
was held in the queen's carriage as to what must be done.
The chancellor stated the case and showed the obstinacy
of the deputies in demanding the safety of prisoners by
withdrawing them from the sole power of the kings, to have
them tried judicially and free from the influence of favour-
ites, which they declared to be sometimes unjust.
The queen, hearing the chancellor speak of the obstinacy
of the parliament deputies, interrupted him to say that in
her opinion they ought to be steadily refused in what they
asked, and punished for their actions without listening to
any further propositions for peace. She commanded the
chancellor to give his opinion, which agreed with hers ; and
she concluded by saying she would rather die than allow
the authority of the king her son to perish in her hands.
The cardinal, who contributed by his private advice to
increase these sentiments in the queen's heart, where they
were by nature imprinted, continued in this council to show
that he wished for peace and desired to grant to parliament
what it asked. His object was to make the public think he
was ever inclined to gentleness, and that to him was owing
all the leniency of the government, which, as the differ-
ence of opinion between the queen and himself proved, would
be far more severe were he not her minister ; and that
it was he who prevented the punishment of parliament
and people, which the queen showed that she passionately
desired.
8 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
The Prince de Conde*, conscious that he was capable of
unbounded ambition, and having great designs which might
rouse suspicions against him in the minds of the king and
the ministers (not to speak of his interest in Chavigny), was
not, as I have already said, sorry for this public safety which
parliament demanded. He did not desire to go to the
Bastille, like his father. He was therefore bold enough to
give his opinion contrary to that of the queen ; recognizing
in the minister's mind that he was ready to yield the point
now, and leave its execution to time which changes all
things.
The Due d' Orleans, who by reason of his birth had less
to fear and no prisoner to protect, and who had, moreover,
a favourite who wished to please both queen and minister,
was at first in favour of supporting the royal authority.
But, as no one seemed willing to draw upon himself the
public hatred and that of parliament in particular, he re-
verted, after having satisfied the queen's desire by an
appearance of support, to a certain moderation which
approached the opinion of the Prince de Conde" and ended
by conforming to that of the cardinal, who, apparently, pre-
ferred conciliation to war.
This change, it is true, in no wise pleased the cardinal ;
who desired that the princes should be as firm as the queen,
in order that he himself might be the only one to show com-
plete benignity to the people. Could that be so, the
deputies would be forced to turn to him and receive from
his hand the favours they desired to obtain. But every one,
in a game like this, plays for himself and cares nothing for
his companions, nor yet for the State. The queen alone
really acted for the good of the kingdom, but gained no
glory by it As she never appeared to act for herself, what
she said was not received by the princes, the parliament, or
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1648] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 9
the people with the respect which was due to her quality
as regent and to her good intentions, for the reason that
every one was convinced she followed in reality and nearly
always the advice of the cardinal.
The minister had strong reasons which obliged him not
to break completely with the deputies. Our armies, at this
season, were still necessary on the frontier ; and he had no
money to spend on the punishment of Paris, which from its
grandeur was difficult to chastise. He believed, with reason,
that chastisement could not be attempted without fear of a
general rebellion throughout the kingdom, which had al-
ready breathed in various directions the contagious air that
reigned in the capital. By letting matters languish along
he merely hoped to win some advantage, as regarded par-
liament, by seeming to be the one who contributed most to
conciliation and to granting it the privileges it demanded ;
but, in spite of his wiles, he was compelled to share with
the princes the shameful credit of concession.
The queen, the princes, and the minister parted in the
wide open space which separates the two palaces [of Saint-
Germain]. The princes returned to meet the deputies in
the new palace, which the Due d'Orle"ans occupied, and the
cardinal went to his apartments. The latter was followed,
as usual, by a large number of courtiers, who, ill-treated
though he was by parliament and people, did not abandon
him, because he was still the master of their fate.
The princes told the deputies that so far they had won
nothing from the queen; but they promised to make fur-
ther efforts to conquer her firmness. With this hope, they
begged them to return on the morrow, assuring them that
by that time they would doubtless be able to settle the
matter. This day seemed to be fatal to the State, inasmuch
as it was now a question of making a dangerous war, or a
10 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
very shameful peace, in which the first of the European
kings beheld himself constrained to obey his subjects and
to grant them, against his will, all that it pleased them to
demand of him.
The queen, having returned from her drive, which no
doubt was little enjoyment to her, came to the circle and
seated herself, and I saw in her face and in her eyes that
matters were not going to her liking. Shortly after, the
princes arrived, which made her leave the circle for the
council. Before entering it, she drew the Mare*chal de
Villeroy to a window, to make him listen to her troubles.
She did not complain of the cardinal, though his opinion
was given against hers; she perfectly understood that he
could not do otherwise and was forced to appear to wish
for peace in order to avoid the hatred of parliament, of
which he already had too much. Her resentment was
against the princes who abandoned her on this occasion ;
and I heard her say to the mare'chal : " Truly, if I consented
to such demands, and allowed the king's authority to be
reduced to such a point, my son would become a fine king
of cards ! I must not be urged, for I will never consent."
I do not know what the king's governor replied ; but
after these words she went into her cabinet, where the
council was held. Before it began, and before we left
the room I noticed that the Prince de Cond^ approached the
queen to speak to her on behalf of parliament. He said, as
far as I could understand, that the time for punishment was
passed ; that it ought to have been applied at the first signs
of disobedience. To which the queen with much emotion
answered : " Eh bien, monsieur, we will say no more of that ;
it was a blunder; but we will not make another which
would be worse."
When we saw this trouble among the chief personages of
1648] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 11
the State we retired to let them decide among them the
fate of France. It was then that a harsh contention began
between them. The queen was alone in her opinion, which
she sustained courageously. They all abandoned her, ex-
cept the chancellor, who had a secret order not to change
his sentiments ; and all endeavoured to batter into ruins her
firmness and her resolution while she withstood their efforts
with a strength which would have been invincible had she
not in the end been badly advised. She spared neither
Monsieur nor the prince ; she attacked the cardinal, perhaps
not believing that she hurt him much. She said to him
before the others unwonted severities, blamed him for his
softness, and prophesied that all his kindness would be
useless.
The doors of the cabinet opened before the usual time.
The cardinal, who was accustomed to remain with the queen
after the council ended, came out first, and from the look
on his face he seemed to be in an ill-humour. The Prince
de Condd followed, but the Due d'0rle"ans stayed with the
queen to try to soften her pain and resentment. The
Abbe* de La Eiviere was called in by his master, to make
a third in the conversation, in which the queen's heart alone
was full of bitterness and sorrow. Half an hour later the
Due d'Orldans returned home quite pensive, though in point
of fact he was not in the least distressed. His favourite
did his part as if the matter in question touched him
keenly. He was, however, well satisfied, believing in his
soul that this humbling of the minister would serve his own
elevation.
The Prince de Conde" returned a moment later to see the
queen. He made, obligingly, two trips to her, to induce her
to see the cardinal's innocence, and restore him to her good-
will. We then saw, by all these actions, that some new dis-
12 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
turbance had arisen in the cabinet, and that matters were
apparently not going well. As for me, I was not long un-
certain ; for the queen, shortly after, being alone and about
to enter her oratory to pray to God, I asked her the cause of
all I had seen ; and, pitying her distress, I entreated her to
tell me what the cardinal said about it. She did me the
honour to reply, in a tone as if she were a little angry with
him, " Let him say what he likes ; I shall not change my
resolution." "And what is your resolution, madame?" I
asked. " It is," she replied, " to do the contrary of what he
wants me to do." Then with a smile to me she added:
" You can well imagine he is not so unreasonable as to really
wish for that which would be ruin to the king. He cannot
do any better ; but all the same I am angry with him because
he is too kind."
These words made me at once comprehend the whole story
and unravel the causes which had produced this little strug-
gle. I quickly perceived that the fuss had been made ex-
pressly to try to bring the princes to support the royal
authority in order to make manifest the cardinal's gentle-
ness, and to diminish the credit which the Due d'Orle'ans
and the Prince de Conde* would otherwise win from par-
liament.
The next day I said to one of my friends (M. de Sen-
neterre), who was in the secret, that I had guessed the
whole of the fine comedy which had been played the day
before. He gave a great cry, and said : " Ah, madame ! be
careful not to seem to know such things. At the present
moment, that is the greatest secret of the sanctuary."
After I had reassured his fears I told him that my light
came from a sure source, and asking questions on what I
thought I knew as well as he did, he owned that all parties
were hoodwinking the others and that the queen alone was
1648] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 13
acting in good faith. For though she thought she was play-
ing a comedy in behalf of her minister, to screen him from
public hatred on account of this refusal, it was nevertheless
true that she had no desire to grant the demands of parlia-
ment, and that the cardinal had not deceived her, having told
her that by standing firm against the princes, she might per-
haps bring them back to her opinion, which he very much
desired. Consequently, he considered that her resistance
could not fail to be advantageous to him. It would make
his own mildness the more apparent in case the queen was
able to maintain herself against parliament and princes.
And, if he were compelled to change the queen's senti-
ments, he would still make manifest his gentleness and
his power combined.
This gentleman told me that he did not believe the car-
dinal could easily bring himself to advise the queen to
change the resolutions she had already taken (though he
had made a show to the princes of trying to persuade her to
do so), because he saw she was anxious over the affair and
regarded the claims of parliament as the extinction of the
royal authority. But finally, results having astonished him,
he was obliged to do so. He saw the princes favouring par-
liament in spite of the protection they had promised to the
king's interests and to his. He lacked both money and
power to do better, and perhaps, also, he was mistaken in
the judgment he made of the royal power and strength.
During the time the queen held firm the cardinal resolved
to wring from parliament the best compromise he could;
and when all his measures were taken he made her change.
On the evening of that day, before she went to bed, the car-
dinal's secretary, Hugues de Lyonne, came twice to see her
and held long conferences with her on behalf of his master.
The next day, on leaving mass, Le Tellier, secretary of State,
14 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAF. i.
also came to her, and finally brought her to grant to the dep-
uties all they desired, on condition that instead of the three
months they asked on behalf of prisoners, as the time in
which they must be brought before their judges, six were to
pass before the king was obliged to send them there.
Affairs being in this state a council was held before the
arrival of the deputies, at which it was agreed that a decla-
ration should be drawn up, in which the queen should state,
for the relief of her conscience, or rather the repair of her
credit and honour, that it was at the entreaty of the princes
and under the present necessity of the State that she had re-
solved to grant to parliament the things demanded. This
declaration the queen signed with incredible grief, and the
feelings of a queen who truly loved her children and the
State. She let herself be guided, against her will, by the ad-
vice of her minister, who gave it against his will. Many
persons then believed that the cardinal, who was not loved
in spite of being well-served, was deceived, partly by him-
self, in fearing the princes too much, but chiefly by persons
who told him that the queen's firmness was making him
detested, and that a decree was about to be issued against
him.
In consequence of this resolution, the deputies, on arriving
at Saint-Germain, found their affairs settled for them, and
that nothing more difficult remained to do than to thank the
queen and princes ; after which they departed, full of pre-
sumption, to impart their victory to their colleagues. Parlia-
ment then did as usual, that is to say, assembled ; and it was
voted to send deputies to the chief-president to examine all
the articles to which the Court had agreed and those that
parliament still demanded, in order to draw up themselves
the declaration they wished the king to make to them. But
malignity was then so abounding in the minds of all that
1648] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 15
some counsellors advised, for the purpose of continuing to
assemble, that it was best to leave the king to send them
what declaration he pleased and then deliberate over each
article.
For some days after this assassination of the royal au-
thority the queen was sad ; but the Due d'0rle*ans and the
Prince de Conde' were in a state of extreme satisfaction.
They considered themselves masters of the State, the Court,
the nobility, the parliament, and the people ; they let them-
selves be nattered by the pains taken by the various supreme
courts and private individuals to obtain their favour. Men of
the world are naturally fond of intrigue and of pleasing great
personages. All those who approached the princes never
ceased to talk to them of their power, and of the changes
that might take place in the kingdom which would give them
a power still greater. They were not as yet possessed by
sentiments prejudicial to the service of the king and queen,
and they had no intention of abandoning them; but they
did, nevertheless, do them harm by the compliance they now
showed to the last assumptions of parliament. The com-
placency which all this admiration of their power and the
fine ideas that flattered them excited in their hearts was
dangerous to the State; and the courtiers increased the
danger by continual adulation.
The Prince de Conde" had returned from the army with
very upright intentions; the great services he rendered to
the queen at that crisis were strong proofs of it. But he
had in his own family persons whose minds were contami-
nated J who now set to work to corrupt him. It is difficult
to maintain interests that are opposed to one another. His
present change withered the beauty of his sentiments, but
did not destroy them altogether. I know that, when the
1 The allusion here is to his sister, the Duchesse de Longueville. TR.
16 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
queen complained to him that he abandoned her, he made
her fresh protestations of fidelity, which, however, did not
prevent her from continuing for some time displeased with
him.
She dared not think him sincere when he promised to be
faithful to her. I know, through Chancellor Se'guier himself,
that the Due de Longueville did all he could to turn his
brother-in-law from the attachment he had always shown to
the interests and desires of the queen by opposing the de-
mands of parliament, and had him warned by a friend that
he was ruining the State and his own personal fortunes by
that course. His answer was that he knew very well what
he was doing, and was resolved, on all occasions when he
found his duty and the will of his superiors in harmony, to
follow his present course as the best and safest.
The minister, in granting to parliament all its demands,
was compelled to set Chavigny at liberty at the end of six
months. This being so, he thought it better to let him out
of prison at once. But all these great favours granted to the
reformers of the State brought no repose whatever to the
queen. Daily their demands increased, and were now no
longer what they were at the first conferences. On the 12th
of October the populace, excited by pernicious spirits seeking
to share in the government, assembled tumultuously at
the Palais de Justice in relation to a certain tax imposed
on tavern-keepers, which caused a quarrel between them
and the wine-merchants. The provost of merchants, en-
deavouring to separate them, nearly lost his life. They
flung themselves upon him and broke his carriage to pieces,
and this canaille came near doing the same to himself.
This news was reported to the queen, who, after asking the
advice of the princes as to what she had better do, sent, dur-
ing the night, a lettre de cachet to parliament, ordering it, in
1648] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTE\ 7 TLLE. 17
the king's name, to come before him. That evening, as I left
the queen, wishing her relief from anxiety and pitying her
for her troubles, she replied : " Pity me rather because I have
not been able to avenge the king as I have always desired
to do. If I could have done so they would not now be in a
position to do me harm, nor should I be in one that needs
pity."
All these disturbances caused fresh anxiety to the queen
and her minister, who saw plainly that parliament was not
acting alone, but that many ambitious persons must be
moving the machinery ; among whom were justly suspected
the coadjutor of Paris [afterwards Cardinal de Ketz] and the
special enemies of the minister, such as Chateauneuf and
Chavigny, who wanted both his place and his ruin. The
part they took in these events must have been great, since
ambition and revenge two great motives which nearly
always give birth in the heart of man to injustice and crime
were the source of it. To them we must add the mal-
contents, of whom the house of Vendome and its friends
made a large proportion. There were still some unfortu-
nates left of the routed " Importants," and this troop also
was numerous.
On the 24th of October the chief-president brought to the
queen on behalf of parliament the declaration drawn up by
themselves, in which all their demands were fully explained,
and whereby it was easy to see that they were more insa-
tiable than wise senators should be whose duty it is to mod-
erate the excesses of others. Council was held thereupon,
and as it was plain that peace must be accepted on this occa-
sion in order to avoid war, the different sentiments gave
rise to many disputes and arguments in the cabinet.
The queen urged the princes to assist her and to keep the
promise they had made to her at the last conference to chas-
18 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CIIAI-. i.
tise the rebels if they were not content with the favours she
had then done them. She represented that the demands
parliament now made upon her ought to compel them to
hesitate no longer, but to renounce peace and follow her
sentiments. They answered that they would never separate
from her interests, but that the matter now was threatening
to the State. The cardinal continued to play his usual
part that of making the queen seem harsh, while he him-
self took the gentler path.
The Mare'chal de La Meilleraye, who, according to appear-
ances, would certainly speak in harmony with the minister's
views, was of opinion that all the demands of parliament
should be granted in order to be done with it and with the
ground of all its disputations. He strongly represented the
pitiable state of France, the king's necessities, the general
revolt of the people, their insolence, and the little affection
noticeable in the hearts of Parisians towards the king and
queen. He did not forget to dwell on the audacity of par-
liament and that which such an example inspired in all the
other supreme courts of the kingdom ; on the foreign war ;
and on the intestine war which would have to be fought
against rebellious subjects, who would perhaps follow the
bad example of England. He concluded by saying that it
was absolutely necessary to make peace on whatever terms
it pleased parliament ; and his opinion was followed by that
6f all the others.
A person who was then in the most secret counsels told
me that if the princes had shown more firmness in the
queen's interests, the campaign being then nearly over, the
minister would gladly have undertaken to punish Paris ; but
as it was, he supported the advice for peace because he did
not venture to risk anything on the little protection he could
hope for from them.
1648] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 19
Peace being thus resolved, the declaration was signed and
sealed and sent to parliament. That assembly did the king
the favour to receive it, and also to obey the queen, who now
ordered them, for the hundredth time, not to reassemble.
One of my friends [M. de Tellier], on leaving this council,
told me, laughing, that he should be very sorry if parliament
demanded his head, because it would surely be cut off and
given to them without discussion, promptly. The Due d'Or-
le"ans and the Prince de Conde", seeking to acquire the good-
will of parliament, rivalled each other in doing all that was
possible to please it. And the minister, not daring to main-
tain the royal authority against all these powers, allowed it
to be wholly beaten down ; and, thinking only to gain time
and preserve his office and person, he hoped to keep himself
out of danger by granting whatever was asked of him
which he might not perhaps have been able to refuse in
view of the wretched state of things.
The conclusion of this peace set Chavigny at liberty,
which was one of the principal articles secretly granted.
He was ordered to go to one of his houses ; which he did
with great joy, acknowledging to his friends that he had
suffered extremely from the deprivation of his liberty. He
told them he could never have believed that a prison could
do such harm unless he had felt it ; and that experience had
made him know that it was one of the most intolerable evils
that could happen to men in the whole course of their lives.
As he had always had a certain piety (he was even a trifle
Jansenist), I do not doubt that, having contributed under the
reign of the late Cardinal Eichelieu to making many persons
unhappy in this way, he saw his sin and humbled himself
before God. I believe that he made this wise reflection
because it was just and reasonable to make it.
The day on which the peace was granted and received, the
20 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. 1.
queen did me the honour to tell me that she wished never to
hear mention of the matter again, as the remembrance would
be eternally grievous to her. She owned to me that it gave
her pain to see any of those who had contributed to this com-
promise. Her minister was the first cause of her sorrows, in
not having stopped the course of the evil at its beginning.
She saw this, but, not wishing to allow of its discussion,
she added that the cardinal, who seemed to be of the num-
ber, was not blamable like the rest, because he had been of
their opinion more through policy than from inclination ; and
that she found her quality of queen had been of little use to
him, inasmuch at she was not the mistress.
This trouble being appeased, Discord flung another apple
into the cabinet and stirred up a little war which seemed
likely to cause a greater.
On the eve of the feast of All Saints the queen started
from Saint-Germain to return to Paris to enjoy the repose
for which this last declaration seemed to warrant her in hop-
ing. Before leaving she went to pay a visit to the Duchesse
d'0rle*ans, who had just been delivered of a daughter. This
princess hated Monsieur's favourite, the Abbe* de La Eiviere,
but for several reasons she chose to take his part openly. So
much so that when the queen came to see her she showed
that she resented strongly the affront that Monsieur felt had
been done to him [in the queen and cardinal having yielded
to the desire of the Prince de Conde* to obtain for his brother,
the Prince de Conti, the cardinal's hat which they had
already promised the Due d'Orle'ans should be bestowed by
the pope on the Abbe* de La Eiviere]. Madame had said
openly, a few hours before the queen came to see her, that
until now they had only scratched Monsieur, who did not
choose to feel it ; but in this affair he had received a great
sword-thrust through the body and was forced to complain.
1648] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 21
She was much opposed to the whole Cond6 family, from
the sort of emulation which is always to be met with among
persons of her birth. She liked the queen but little, and
the cardinal still less on account of the interests of her
brother, the Due de Lorraine, whom she ardently desired to
see restored to his States. She imagined that if Monsieur
would only take more authority in the kingdom, it would be
easy for him to raise the Due de Lorraine from the abyss
into which he had fallen. The help that Monsieur had
formerly received from her brother during his exile at
Nancy had drawn upon him the anger of the late king ; and
that anger had caused him to lose his States and his happi-
ness, and for that reason she believed that Monsieur was
bound to protect him. It therefore seemed to her that by
supporting her husband's favourite against the queen's minis-
ter she should put him on her side and make him serve her
legitimate passion for her brother's interests ; obliging him,
by sustaining his interests, to support hers in return.
Consequently, the queen's visit passed coldly, and ended
without the Due d'0rle*ans, who was in the room, approach-
ing to speak to her. This was much disapproved by the
persons most interested ; for men, in general, cannot pay too
much civility to women, and the duke in particular owed
much to the queen, who, for grandeur, had no equal upon
earth. But Monsieur, being in Madame's chamber in pres-
ence of the queen, talked the whole time to Mademoiselle,
his daughter, who for a thousand other reasons was, like her
step-mother, in a state of extreme satisfaction at her father's
anger. She also had no real good-will to the Abbd de La
Eiviere, but she desired to stir up Monsieur, not only to
revenge himself on the queen (who had somewhat tormented
her in the matter of the archduke), but, ambitious as she
was, to support another grand interest of her own. which
22 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
Monsieur did not sufficiently further. She would therefore
have found it very convenient if his favourite should inspire
him with stronger thoughts on the subject ; and on this
occasion she neglected nothing to induce the abbe* to do so.
She was eleven years older than the king, but, in spite of
that difference of age, she did not think it unreasonable to
desire him for her husband. She had beauty, intelligence,
wealth, virtue, and royal birth. She believed that all these
qualities combined deserved that honour. Her beauty, how-
ever, was not without defects ; and her mind was not always
hi a condition to please. Her vivacity deprived her actions
of the dignity which is necessary to persons of her rank ; and
her soul was too readily carried away by her feelings. Some-
times this very temperament took from her complexion a
little of its perfection and gave it flushes ; but as she was
fair, with beautiful eyes and a beautiful mouth, and her
figure was fine and rounded, she had certainly all the air of
great beauty.
Cardinal Mazarin also went to take leave of Madame,
whose confinement would keep her some time longer at
Saint-Germain ; and her apartment opening from that of the
Due d'Orle'ans, he was received very coldly by that prince,
who told him, speaking of the affair of the cardinal's hat
promised to the Abbe* de La Riviere and given to the Prince
de Conti, that he was not willing to submit to such an af-
front. That was the term he used to express his resentment ;
and it was cause enough why the minister did not return to
Paris to enjoy without the dread of new disquietudes a peace
he had so dearly bought. On that same day the king and
queen, the Prince de Conde*, and the whole Court returned
to the famous city, where, in accordance with the usual fic-
kleness of a populace, the queen was received with every
sign of extreme rejoicing.
1648] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVTLLE. 23
The Prince de Condd was delighted to think that this little
quarrel would drive the Due d'Orle'ans from Court, and that
he himself would thus remain master of the cabinet. To reach
his ends he worked with all his strength to destroy his com-
petitor in the mind of the queen. He made her feel the
duke's reproaches in all their ugliness, often assuring her
that he himself would protect her against such imaginary
woes. He told her, laughing, that Monsieur's anger had
never, so far, produced any great harm, and therefore she
might sleep in peace, having nothing to fear.
November 4th, the Due d'Orle'ans went to see Madame, at
Saint-Germain, and on that day a comedy was given at the
Palais-Eoyal to prove to the duke that his displeasure and
his absence caused the queen no anxiety. But only those
of the Prince de Conde"s cabal and the ordinary courtiers
took part in the entertainment. The rest, wishing to show
their partiality to the Due d'Orle'ans, did not attend it. He
returned the next day and appeared at the council with
a face full of discontent. But, besides the fact that his
resentment seemed based on too small a matter, it was
well-known that he often threatened without doing harm;
and every one knew him to be so lazy that it was almost
impossible to fear him.
The Abbe* de La Kiviere said publicly that he was grieved
at what was happening ; that it was not right that the queen
and Monsieur should be on bad terms about his private in-
terests; that his master was resenting the outrage done to
himself ; but as for him, he asked nothing. His extreme
ambition, which led him to care only for the hat, had caused
him to refuse the archbishopric of Eeims and a sum of money
that was offered to him ; but he now saw plainly that the
quarrel could not remain in its present state ; either it must
go to extremes or be turned into the path of compromise.
24 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
Among those who had offered themselves to the Due
d'Orle'ans were the Due de Mercosur and the Due de Beau-
fort ; in making him their compliments they expressed the
desire to attach themselves to his cause. These offers were
joyfully received by the Due d'Orle'ans. But the Abbe* de
La Kiviere kept steadily in his heart a private desire for
reconciliation. He wanted to retain the good graces of his
master, and he feared with reason that, if war were made,
those who became necessary to him by then- swords would
prove more useful to his master than himself and might rob
him of the good he now possessed through peace. He de-
sired, therefore, to replace matters in a tranquil state and
one more stable for himself.
He sent word to the princes of VendSme, without prom-
ising them any special alliance, that he would serve their
interests with Monsieur, and was, in his private capacity,
their servant. But, fearing that the princes would go to the
last extremities against the minister, he advised the Due
de Mercoeur, through a third party, to receive the offers
made to him from the minister, promising that, if Monsieur
was reconciled to the queen as to the present matter, he
would protect the prince's interest at Court and bring about
his reconcilation, with all the advantages he could desire.
The anger of the Due d'Orle'ans was thus negotiated ; the
Mardchal d'Estre"es and Senneterre proposed the conditions
of peace. Monsieur at once declared that he wished the re-
turn of the Dues de VendSme, Mercoeur, and Beaufort. He
asked to have Montreuil for the Due d'Elboeuf, and said he
desired to perform his office of lieutenant-general of the king-
dom, 'the rights of which gave him a very extensive power
throughout the kingdom, and especially in the armies. He
also desired that the Due de Lorraine should return to his
States and be permitted to negotiate with France.
1648] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 25
These proposals were made to Le Tellier, whom the Abbe*
de La Eiviere desired to employ in this negotiation rather
than any other agent. They were received by the queen
with amazement. The Prince de Condd was surprised, not
supposing that the Due d'Orle'ans would carry his resent-
ment with such haughtiness; and the cardinal was much
embarrassed. While the cabinet was consulting as to how
to avoid the storm, Monsieur went off to Saint-Germain to
receive the praises that Madame gave to his generosity, and
her plaudits pleased him much. The queen sent the
Mare'chal d'Estre'es and Senneterre after him, to make him
see the harm he did to himself in demanding from the king
things that were so prejudicial to the royal service.
On their return the queen, who awaited them with im-
patience to learn if her reasoning had softened Monsieur's
soul, made them enter her cabinet with her. They reported
that it had not done so, and that he held firm on all his
demands. As ambassadors they presented his complaints,
and justified, as much as they could, his claims ; for they
did not like the Prince de Conde", and Monsieur's increased
grandeur would not have displeased them. The queen,
coming out after this conversation, seemed troubled, and
showed us by the agitation of her face how much she was
moved by the proceedings of the Due d'Orle'ans.
The cardinal, in spite of his usual policy, was melancholy ;
and the Prince de Conde*, who a few days earlier had shown
such gaiety, diminished his joy. He saw with regret that
his adversary was taking a course of lofty claims, and that
the most important persons in the State were already on
his side. The queen, being distressed by Monsieur's anger,
held a council with her minister and the Prince de Conde*,
at which several matters of great consequence were broached.
For these three personages, seeing that this affair might
26 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. I.
lead to civil war, concluded that to extreme evils remedies
of the same kind must be applied. At any rate they pro-
posed them as if they intended to use them, in order to
alarm Monsieur and disperse by fear that which appeared
to proceed from over-boldness. The Abbe* de La Riviere,
who heard at once certain particulars of this council, was
surprised ; it is natural to fear results that events at Court
are accustomed to produce. But he still thought that his
greatest security lay in peace ; and he was not mistaken.
Seeking that end, he sent word to the cardinal that unless
he saw his master driven to extremities he would pledge his
word and his faith not to let him keep up the warfare out of
consideration for his interests. At the same time the Prince
de Conde", urged by the minister, sent the abbe* word that
he would promise to do his best to let him have the French
nomination for the cardinal's hat, and would endeavour in
Rome to induce the pope to make his brother, the Prince de
Conti, cardinal by favour.
But, in spite of these offers of the prince, matters seemed
to grow more embittered, because Monsieur, who was begin-
ning to get excited by his anger, would no longer go to the
Palais-Royal. It pained him to speak to persons he wanted
to hate ; and those who knew him well said that if the
Abbe" de La Riviere should force him to continue to be
angry his feelings would change towards that favourite, and
dislike would take the place of friendship. So far from
doing so the abbe", considering that it was not suitable that
his master should leave the Court, and not desiring to have
him enter upon a warfare the results of which might be
grievous to himself, implored him on his knees to go as
usual to the Palais-Royal and not allow the Prince de
Cond^ to be sole master of the cabinet. The Due d'Elbosuf,
who wanted his own advantages out of this crisis, urged
1648] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 27
Monsieur to the same thing ; but they were quite unable to
persuade him. He pretended to have the gout and stayed
in bed. Madame and Mademoiselle were in despair, for
they saw plainly that disgust and possibly the fear of
imprisonment would oblige him to reconciliation, which
they did not wish at all.
Thus fear was on both sides, in the Palais-Eoyal as well
as in the Luxembourg. Monsieur's sham gout gave the
queen much anxiety. She ordered the regiment of the
Gardes to hold itself in readiness, and sentries were doubled
around the Palais-EoyaL These orders, of which the Due
d'Orteans was warned, increased his fears, the effects of
which increased those of the queen, who, seeing the great
party which now began to form itself under the duke's
name, had good reason, in view of the bad disposition of
the public mind, to take every precaution against all that
the malignity of men is capable of producing. Some days
after the final agreement was reached, the cardinal owned
to the Abbe* de la Kiviere that he had believed that Mon-
sieur intended to abduct the king ; but the prince was far
indeed at that time from any such thought. He was even
astonished to see by the queen's preparations that she
already considered him an open enemy who intended to go
to extremities. The result was much below expectations.
The prince, instead of taking to a civil-war path, went to
bed ; and repose was so agreeable to him that to keep it up
he pretended to need it. In fact I am not sure that he did
not desire to be really ill, so as to have a pretext to be
done with war altogether, the better to enjoy a perfect
peace.
As the first step toward peace Monsieur came to pay the
queen a simple visit, which was by mutual agreement cold
enough to avoid, in so short a time, any touching on ex-
28 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVTLLE: [CHAP. i.
tremes. But, as a sign of reconciliation the queen made
great complaint that those who sided with Monsieur had
ceased to come and see her. For this reason he begged all
his friends and servitors to go to the Palais-Royal ; which
they did ; and the queen's Court soon resumed its usual
aspect. She, who always loved repose, was much pleased
when they came and told her that her large cabinet was
full of persons attached to the interests of the Due
d'Orle'ans.
December 13th, the Abbe" de La Riviere went to see the
minister, who began the reception by closely embracing him,
assuring him of his friendship and his firm intention to
make him a cardinal. He said with many oaths that he
had not contributed to what had taken place, and showed
that what he had dreaded was the sole rule of the Prince de
Conde\ After these preliminary remarks they entered upon
the main subject, and agreed completely on all the condi-
tions of their compromise.
The first article which they discussed was the affair
which had caused all the rest. The cardinal promised the
abbe* that the king and queen would do what they could to
satisfy him ; that the Due de Mercosur should return to
Court and re-enter the good graces of the queen and minis-
ter already done by the minister himself ; that Montreuil
should be returned to the hands of the Due d'Orle'ans, to
give to whom he pleased; that the queen should consent
to the settlement with the Due de Lorraine, which, however,
was to be only a matter of form to satisfy Madame ; that all
those who had declared themselves in favour of the Due
d'Orle'ans should not be less well-treated by the queen than
before, and that her Majesty would approve of Monsieur's
protecting their interests.
Through this pacification peace and contentment were fully
1648] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVJLLE. 29
re-established at Court ; except with Madame, who found her-
self by this agreement deprived of the hope of drawing her
brother the Due de Lorraine out of his present state. She
saw readily enough that the article relating to him was
fictitious, that it would be without effect, and was only
placed on paper to deceive her. Nor was Mademoiselle
more satisfied than her step-mother.
The evening of the day of this agreement the queen told
us that the Abbe" de La Eiviere had protested to her that
he had been in despair at seeing himself for some time the
cause of her troubles, and that he had asked her pardon with
much humility. We saw, by what happened the next day,
that the secret article of the treaty was that he should
enter the council, while awaiting the time when the queen
could make him a cardinal. He was received as minister
of State to the great satisfaction of his master; the prince
thinking it advantageous to himself to have one of his
followers in a position that would render him in a way
master of public affairs.
The queen, weary of so much persecution, obtained some
comfort from this compromise, which, following closely on
that she had made with parliament, gave her reason to hope
for a truce to her troubles. She was deceived in that hope,
and was not long in knowing by experience that her crown
and peace were incompatible, and that a throne resembles
in its elevation those great edifices which by their height
are more exposed than others to great storms.
Parliament, which had no wish for peace, now unani-
mously demanded to be assembled, and obtained that right
from their chief-president, who, under divers pretexts, had
hitherto prevented it. The queen, seeing their obstinacy,
determined to send the princes of the blood with the dukes
and peers. This accompaniment was designed to dazzle the
30 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
eyes of the public and show that she had not only the pro-
tection of the Due d'Orle'ans and the Prince de Condd, but
also the affection of the grandees of the kingdom. She
wished to show thereby the union of the Court and the fact
that she did not lack for servants to defend and serve her.
Many questions were stirred up by the mutinous spirits
in parliament, who were especially mutinous on that day.
They complained that various points of the last declaration
were disregarded. President Viole asserted loudly that not
only were there great grounds of complaint as to this, but
that many other disorders of the State demanded that they
should think, and think seriously, of their remedy ; that in
order to cure such wounds the evil must be cut at the root
meaning by these words to signify the minister ; that the
soldiers in the field who were not paid would cause great
disorder; that a certain colonel near Paris pillaged and
did great wrongs, and was there expressly to cause terror
to Parisians ; that the person of the king suffered from the
bad management of his ministers; that his kitchen was
upset for the greater part of the year, and that often his
officers had not enough money to keep his house; that
persons of the Court were deprived of their places ; and, in
short, if matters could be carefully inquired into, he was
ready to exhibit them to the public and to name those to
whom he had alluded.
The sudden mutinous uprisings of the Parisian populace
were also great signs of the universal corruption of souls
and minds. This fire, easily lighted, needed no solid mate-
rial to keep it up. The malcontents set going ridiculous
rumours to convince the populace that the queen intended
to avenge herself by sacking Paris. These delusions were
readily believed on their side, and, as regarded the queen,
they caused her serious harm. Libellous writings were cir-
1648J MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 31
culated saying that on Christmas night fatal events would
take place, and those who endeavoured to have that false-
hood believed seemed to succeed in their malignity.
The people, who received these tales without examining
them, were carried away by violent hatred to the queen.
There was scarcely a street or a public square that was not
filled with defamatory placards. At the end of the Pont
Neuf stood a post which was found, every morning, covered
with satirical verses in which the respect due to royal per-
sonages was violated with impunity. The queen knew of all
these insolences without being much pained by them. The
iniquity of those who thus abused the credulity of the people
caused her horror, and the deceived Parisians caused her pity.
Without allowing herself to be surprised or hurt by all that
malice and ignorance gave rise to, she lived tranquilly and
like one whose soul was strong enough to support her under
such circumstances.
The Christmas festivities arrested, for a few days, these
public disturbances. The queen did not go to the Val-de-
Gr^ce as usual, in order to reassure the people, who were
convinced that she meant to take the king away from them.
But all her caution did not prevent the ill-temper of the
Parisians from troubling her, in spite of herself, as soon as
the ftes were over, and causing fresh anxieties to her minis-
ter. He began to despair of the health of the State, and saw
clearly that to cure its malady, empirical remedies would
have to be applied.
The king's lawyers came to ask an audience of the queen
on behalf of parliament, to make representation of various
pretended abuses which were being committed against the
king's service. She answered that she would willingly hear
them, but they must wait until the Due d'0rle"ans, who had
been for some days ill with gout, was in a condition to be
32 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
present. To occupy the minds of parliament, she sent them
a declaration asking that permission be given to borrow
money for the service of the king at ten per cent. At this,
parliament murmured loudly, and thought it ill that the
Cour des Aides had certified it.
The coadjutor had asked for the government of Paris and
been refused ; consequently, he was no better satisfied with
the minister than before. He now secretly inspired the
rectors of Paris with a desire to meddle in the affairs of
State. The employment seemed to them a fine one, espe-
cially on this occasion when they could do much under pre-
texts of conscience which would appear very plausible to the
public. They assembled and went in a body before parlia-
ment to represent that they had a right to oppose the loans
that the king asked for because it was usury, hitherto toler-
ated but never authorized; and that if the supreme courts
now agreed to this request they would be authorizing a sin.
This action of the clergy, which in itself might be good,
but which seemed to emanate from the coadjutor, disturbed
the minister. He was afraid that parliament would profit
by the conjuncture to harass him still further ; for already it
proposed to consult with the Chambre des Comptes on this
matter. All these things obliged the queen to withdraw her
declaration and to say no more about the king's affairs. Thus
the coadjutor gave proof of what he was capable of doing,
and avenged himself promptly for the distrust shown to him,
while awaiting further events which might give him the
opportunity to do more.
On the last day of this year the Mare*chal de Villeroy,
who was awaiting a duchy, was received as a minister in the
king's council, where there were few men who surpassed him
in ability. He was moderate, naturally equitable, humble,
compliant, and withal clever. He had always more or less
1648] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 33
hated the cardinal on account of his attachment to Cha"teau-
neuf, his intimate friend. But in spite of that intimacy, the
wise courtier always found means to preserve and sustain
himself at Court, by submitting basely to the reigning favour.
He did not, however, fail to serve his friends according to
his possibilities, which were limited in every way.
Thus ended the year 1648, which had not been fortunate.
Thorns were mingled with few roses ; and the year we were
now to enter not only had no roses at all, but the evils it
brought were so great that we must find a stronger compari-
son than that to thorns, in order to express what we now
endured and what the malignity of factious minds made all
France endure both those who suffered the evils and those
who procured them ; for war has this misfortune, that it in-
volves in the same suffering both victor and vanquished.
VOL. II. 3
n.
1649.
THE Duchesse de VendOme, after the restoration of her
eldest son, the Due de Mercceur, came to pay her respects
to the queen, accompanied by her daughter the Duchesse
de Nemours. Neither of them had seen the queen since
the arrest of the Due de Beaufort. Though Madame de
VendSme had more piety than intellect, people hailed their
return with joy, for the unfortunate are always loved, and it
was now said that the Due de VendSme himself would pres-
ently reappear at Court. The queen received these princesses
kindly, and told them she had regretted that the violent tem-
per of the Due de Beaufort had forced her to treat him as a
criminal. The factions that disturbed the State were advan-
tageous to this family; for in proportion as the king's
authority diminished, that of individuals increased, and the
ministers consequently had less power to maintain what
seemed to them to be just and necessary.
France was now in such a state that it was impossible it
could remain much longer as it was. Either the king must
recover his power, or his subjects would take from him all
that remained to him and this thought was odious to men
of worth. The king was feeble ; the princes had too much
power; the minister was discredited; and parliament was
undertaking too much against the royal authority. Matters
had gone beyond all ordinary limits ; order was overthrown ;
and Frenchmen, from having too many masters, now recog-
nized none at all It was needful, therefore, that at Court
1649] MEMOIKS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 35
some one of Paris should form a design for surmounting the
other side. All worked at this, and each on his side neglected
nothing to reach that end ! *
While this design occupied the minds of the chief person-
ages of the State, Madame de Longueville appeared upon the
scene to furnish, by her ambition, ample matter for the
judgments of divine Providence. This princess, truly pre-
cieuse and brilliant with every charm, was by nature ex-
tremely lazy. She even neglected to please, and her greatest
pleasure seemed to be to consider and respect herself only.
But the poison of passions having infected her heart, this
inward tranquillity changed first into a love of agreeable
amusements, which turned, in the end, into grievous and
turbulent excitements.
The homage of the Prince de Marsillac, as I have already
said, did not displease her ; and that seigneur, who was per-
haps more selfish than tender, wishing to advance himself
through her, believed it best to inspire her with a desire to
govern her brothers, the Prince de Conde* and the Prince de
ContL As she was capable of great ambition, and he in
whom she had confidence was entirely possessed by it, this
advice pleased her. She saw that by this means she would
have part in all the great affairs occurring at Court ; and all
this, taken together, had power to weaken her reason and her
virtue. She had already persuaded the young Prince de
Conti to let himself be made a cardinal to please his brother
the Prince de Conde", and so leave the latter heir to his in-
heritance. The princess's object in so doing was to oblige
1 At times Mme. de Motteville's sentences are obscure in meaning ; pos-
sibly it is lost in transcribing from the original. When this is the case the
best thing a translator can do at least, so it seems is to give the words
as they stand, and not seek to evolve a meaning. The French volumes
are full of misprints. The above sentence is no doubt an obscure allu-
sion to a design growing up in the queen's mind. TK.
36 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. IL
the Prince de Conde* by this service to give Havre to the
Due de Longueville. But this scheme had no success; the
opposition of the Due d'Orldans put an end to it. Madame
de Longueville, having thus derived no advantage from her
persuasions on the Prince de Conti, while vexed at failing in
her own purpose, still continued to hope for the cardinal's
hat for her brother, though neither he nor she cared much
about it.
This bad beginning only served to embark her more and
more in the cabals now forming against the Court; and
already she had made strong alliances. She tried to induce
her eldest brother, the Prince de Conde", to join them, but
she found him little disposed to be led as she wished, be-
cause her designs were against the State, and he was not
inclined to let himself be corrupted in that direction. This
failure separated her from him to some degree, and obliged
her to keep wholly to the care of governing the Prince de
Conti, whom she intended should serve the purposes that
best suited her. She was more loved than loving ; for her
inclinations were fixed on a single object [the Prince de
Marsillac, afterwards Due de La Rochefoucauld, author of
the " Maxims " ] , which was the mainspring that acted in her
and gave birth to all her other sentiments. But she made
clever use of the tenderness that the young prince her
brother felt for her, and found it easy to subject him wholly
to her will. He so abandoned himself to it that it might be
said he lived more through her than through himself ; and
their affection, by its effects and by its end, has since been
very celebrated.
The queen, on her side, was weary of enduring so much.
She determined to at last set limits to the rebellion of par-
liament, which the favours bestowed had not ended. "With-
out consulting Madame de Longueville and with no intention
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 37
of pleasing her, she gave her, by means of her own action,
great facility in satisfying all her whims; and these two
personages worked, one with the other, from entirely differ-
ent motives to the ends they desired to reach.
The queen, grieving that parliament, under a pretence of
the public good, was filling France with veritable evils,
applied herself earnestly to make the princes see that this
assembly cared for nothing so little as the peace of the State ;
and that all their proceedings and their claims were only
pretexts to bring about the ruin of the kingdom and the
extinction of royalty. She resolved at last to listen to no
more propositions from parliament, and to think only of the
execution of a plan which she believed to be the sole remedy
for her troubles. The cardinal desired intensely to find him-
self delivered, by the punishment of that guilty body, from
its tyranny; and had he not feared the danger of such a
high-handed undertaking he would have been the first to
promote it, as the one who suffered most from the perse-
cution of parliament.
The Prince de Conde* had drawn upon himself the anger
of parliament by a firm and severe reply to President Viole
in the Chamber. He had, moreover, formed a sufficiently
close alliance with the Due d'Orldans through the Abbe" de
La Kiviere (by the bait of the hat) to hope to bend him as
he pleased. He had ill-regulated, or at any rate, ambitious
desires ; great princes such as he are never lacking in them.
He thought by this means he should succeed in his designs
without the opposition he had always feared from the Due
d'Orle'ans, who ranked him in position. He wanted also to
acquire with the queen and her minister a special and com-
plete merit by aiding the queen to avenge the king for the
contempt his subjects were showing to the royal authority.
To effect this he offered himself to the queen, assuring her of
38 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. n.
his fidelity to the scheme she was now turning over in her
mind. He did more : he persuaded her that the enterprise
was an easy one, and told her that with him and the good
soldiers of her armies she need not doubt that she would
soon see the Parisians and the parliament at her feet.
The queen received this comforting harangue with joy.
She was willing to risk all to re-establish the royal power
which seemed to be expiring, and the dangerous condition
of which demanded extreme remedies. With a protector
such as the Prince de Conde", the minister dared to under-
take all, and he counselled the queen to listen to the prince's
advice. She, finding herself thus succoured and consoled,
and very pleased to be able to hope for an end of her
troubles, made a compact between herself, the Prince de
Conde*, and her minister, to leave Paris secretly, in order to
punish it in the strongest manner, and to speak to its people
henceforth by the mouth of cannon.
The Prince de Conde", assuming to be master of his own
family, offered the queen his person, his services, and his
government of Burgundy, assuring her also of that of Nor-
mandy, of which his brother-in-law, the Due de Longueville,
was governor. With these assurances, the queen planned,
on leaving Paris, to establish the camp of the army at Saint-
Germain, whence she could make war on the rebels and re-
ceive from Normandy all the succour she might need. She
also believed she could use that government as a place of
retreat, in case she could not, as easily as she hoped, reduce
Paris and all within its walls to entire obedience. 1
1 Montglat says that Conde" had proposed a still bolder plan. A rumour
was to be spread that the Spaniards were on the frontier, which would
serve as pretext to concentrate the troops in Paris. The king was, at the
time, to be on a hunting party at Vincennes, and then go to the Arsenal
and establish himself in it. Master in this way of the artillery of the Bas-
tille and the Arsenal, he could enter Paris with his army by the Faubourg
Saint-Antoine, blast the barricades with a battery of 20 cannon in the
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 39
For the success of this plan it was necessary to gain over
to their side the Due d'Orle'ans, and this was difficult to hope
for, because, not being the originator of the idea, he might
not give it his approval. He was liked by parliament, and
pleased to be so. Some of those who possessed influence
had offered to make him regent, and still offered it to him
daily. It may not, perhaps, have been in his power to take
the regency from the queen, and we may even believe that
he never had the wish to do so. But he was not sorry to
natter himself with the soft persuasion that he was master,
that he could, if he chose, do much harm to the queen, and
that for not doing it she ought to feel greatly obliged to him,
He also thought that he deserved much credit for this mod-
eration ; and such a state of things did not displease him.
On a rumour getting about that the queen intended to
leave Paris (for the secrets of kings are never entirely
hidden), some of the most important men in parliament
went to the Due d'Orle'ans and implored him, if the queen
really meant to do so, to remain with them, to support
them in their necessity, and not to abandon the great city
where he was so loved to the fury of the minister, a foreigner,
who, being offended, might carry his vengeance to the last
extremity.
rue Saint- Antoine, and as many more on the quai de 1' Arsenal, and thus be
master of the city without resistance. " The Mare'chal de La Meilleraye,"
adds Montglat, " thought this plan very good, according to his natural
temper and the manner of governing under Cardinal Richelieu, who liked
violent remedies." But he added that " Notre-Dame must be seized [now
lie Saint-Louis] to make a place d'armes, and surrounded with cannon to
hold in check the Palais and circumjacent regions."
These plans of Conde and La Meilleraye were not followed, because it
was thought more prudent to begin by removing the person of the king
from the capital and placing it in security under all events ; and they
hoped through famine to obtain the same results. " If bread from Gonesse
is cut off for only one week, what then? " said Conde to the coadjutor,
speaking of the Parisians. FR. ED.
40 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. n.
The Due d'Orleans, in accordance with his laudable senti-
ments, did not take advantage of the desires of these crim-
inal souls, who wished him to unjustly become master until
the king's majority. But, to compensate them for this, he
strongly opposed the queen's resolution ; and when she spoke
to him of her scheme he made every effort to induce her to
change her mind. In vain, however, did he try to arrest the
execution of the project. The queen went to see him at the
Luxembourg, for he still had a little gout, and expressed
a strong desire to see him take part in her scheme. She
begged him, urged, conjured him by that friendship which
had always held some place in the heart of each of them.
Following these entreaties, she boldly told him that, even if
he were capable of abandoning her on this occasion, she
would still accomplish her enterprise ; adding that she was
resolved to confide in the Prince de Conde*, rather than con-
tinue longer in a place where the royal authority was no
longer respected, where her person was insulted daily, and
where that of her minister was threatened with every out-
rage. She told him she believed that he ought to support
her, to teach the parliament and the people not to meddle in
the government ; and that he knew very well that he him-
self had always advised her to do this. She assured him,
moreover, that if he would like her, for his own satisfaction,
to go to Orleans and place herself wholly in his hands, she
would willingly do so, being unable to lose confidence in a
person who, until then, had never given her any real cause
of complaint.
The Due d'Orle'ans, who was naturally kind, and who had
a favourite whose interest it was to see him always content
and at Court, finding himself thus urged by the queen in so
obliging a manner, could not refuse her; and a resolution
was taken by the queen, himself, the Prince de Conde*, and
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 41
the minister to execute this great scheme with all the pre-
cautions that should guard against evil results. Orders were
given, and the day chosen on which to leave Paris; and
those who were the depositaries of this royal secret were
perfectly faithful in keeping it. The Due d'0rle"ans did not
tell it either to Madame or to Mademoiselle ; and the Prince
de Conde* concealed it carefully from the princess his mother
and from Madame de Longueville, that illustrious sister with
whom he believed himself to be so friendly.
In spite of all secrecy, however, a rumour spread through
Paris that the queen had some such design. Parliament was
alarmed ; every one spoke of what they knew nothing about ;
each asked the other what it meant, and no one could say.
But by a presentiment written in nature, truth, though hid-
den, was none the less known. The whole Court was roused ;
and those who were given to reasoning on the affairs of State,
and wished to be ministers in spite of kings, were greatly
preoccupied.
On the 5th of January, the vigil of the Epiphany, that
day so celebrated, which will be talked of, no doubt, in cen-
turies to come, 1 I went in the evening to the queen, with
whom I was accustomed to pass the greater part of my life.
I found her in her little cabinet, tranquilly employed in
watching the king play cards, leaning carelessly on a corner
of the table, and seeming to think of nothing but of what
she was looking at. I placed myself behind her chair to
take part in the same amusement, and do what all Court
people are ever doing, namely : spend many hours uselessly.
A moment later, Madame de La Tre'mouille, who was seated
next to her, made me a sign with her eye and I stooped
1 The other historians of this period, Omer Talon, Retz, and Montglat,
content themselves with mentioning the departure of the Court. The
following interesting details are found only in Madame de Motteville.
FR. ED.
42 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. 11.
towards her to know what she wished to say. That lady,
who was not the least clever woman in the world, speaking
very low, said, " There is a rumour in Paris that the queen
leaves the city to-night." I was surprised at her words.
For all answer, I showed her the queen and the tranquillity
of her mind, and shrugging my shoulders, I wondered, with
her, at this idea, which seemed to me chimerical.
The queen spent the rest of the evening in the same
composure of mind which accompanied all the actions of
her life ; and we noticed nothing except, perhaps, that she
was gayer than usual The princes and minister paid
their court as usual; but they did not stay late because
they were going to sup with the Mare*chal de Gramont, who
gave them a great repast every year on this day. The queen
spoke of her devotions, and told us she should spend the
next day at the Val-de-Gr,ce. Monsieur, our little prince,
on bidding her good-night, made her promise that he should
go with her, and went to bed with that idea.
To amuse the king, the queen cut a cake, and did us the
honour Madame de Bregy, my sister, and me, who alone
were with her to make us share it with the king and
herself. We made her the Twelfth Night queen, because
the bean was found in the Virgin's slice; and to do the
pleasant thing she sent for a bottle of hippocras, which we
drank before her, and having no other purpose in our minds
than amusement, we forced the queen to drink a little of it
also; then, wishing to fulfil the obligations of the extrav-
agant follies of the day, we cried out, " The queen drinks ! "
We supped as usual in her dressing-room, and made good
cheer without the slightest uneasiness. After supper we
talked of a repast the Marquis de Villequier, captain of the
Gardes, was to give us two days later, and the queen her-
self selected those who were to go to it, and said that the
1549] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 43
little violin band of the Prince de Conde" must be sent to
amuse us. In short we were so duped that we laughed
with her at those who had said she meant to leave that
night, and never did she seem to us more cordial or in
better humour.
The queen owned to us, after the execution of her great
project, that she had much trouble during that evening to
keep herself from laughing; and also that she had felt
kindly towards us and some compassion at leaving us in a
city she was about to quit for the purpose of besieging it.
But we always maintained to her that she was not then
susceptible of any emotion of pity, but that joy and ven-
geance filled her whole heart.
Just as the queen was ready to undress, for it was then
very late, Beringhen, chief equerry, for whom she had sent,
entered the cabinet. On seeing him, she rose, and took
him aside to order the king's carriages. Soon after mid-
night she again rose and said she had to speak with Berin-
ghen about a matter of charity. If we had been capable at
that moment of mistrust and had not been perfectly blinded,
that speech of the queen would have opened our eyes,
because she was not accustomed to give us reasons for the
orders she issued ; and we might have known that in case
of a journey the chief equerry would have been in the
secret. But as the queen often spoke with him, we gave no
thought to it, and continued to talk of those agreeable
trifles which make conversation.
After giving her orders the queen undressed ; and as she was
preparing to go to bed Mademoiselle de Beaumont, who had
been supping at Beringhen's, told us Comminges and my-
self that there was some plan in the air, and that what
she said was not a joke. She had guessed it from a speech
made to her by the Mare"chale de Gramont (to whom her
44 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. u.
husband had told the great secret), and though the mare'chale
had said nothing of it to her friend she had so urged her
to leave Paris with her that night that such signs of tender-
ness, added to the rumours then current in Paris, had filled
her with suspicions.
Comminges and I began then to open our eyes, and we
told Mile, de Beaumont how the queen had sent for Berin-
ghen, and had explained her conversation with him to us ;
which now seemed to us an extraordinary affectation. We
then had reason to fear and to doubt. But, as the evil was
without remedy, and as persons never much dread a peril
they do not fully know, after talking together for a few
moments over our miseries, as soon as we saw the queen in
bed we said good-night to Comminges and Villequier,
captain of the Gardes, who came in just as we were separat-
ing. We went home to bed saying to each other that events
would show us the truth of all these mysteries.
As soon as we were gone, the gates of the Palais-Royal
were closed under orders not to open them again. The
queen rose to think over her affairs, but told her secret to
none but her waiting-woman, who slept near her. The
necessary orders were given to the captain of the Gardes,
whom we left in the queen's room knowing no more than
we did. The Mare*chal de Villeroy, not informed of the
plan until it was necessary he should know it, let the king
sleep till three in the morning ; then he made him rise, him
and Monsieur, and put them in a carriage which awaited
them at the garden-gate of the Palais-Royal, where the
queen joined them.
These three royal personages were followed by the
Mare*chal de Villeroy, Villequier and Guitaut, captains of
their Majesties' Gardes, Comminges, lieutenant of the queen's
Gardes, and Madame de Beauvais, her head waiting-woman.
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 45
They went down by a private staircase which led from the
queen's apartments to the garden, and going out by the
little gate beyond the Rondeau they got into the carriages
that there awaited them. The queen, having reached the
Cours, which was the place of rendezvous, stopped there to
await the Due d'0rle*ans, the Prince de Conde', and all the
royal household, who were to join her there.
After supper and cards at the Mare'chal de Gramont's,
which ended earlier than .usual, the Due d'Orle'ans and the
Prince de Conde' went each to his own home to give orders
about their domestic affairs and to send their families out of
Paris. The cardinal stayed where he was, amusing himself
with cards; while his confidants were removing the most
precious things that he possessed, and sending away his
nieces, who were still with Madame de Seneca*. The hour
for the rendezvous having come, he got into a carriage with
a few of his friends, whom he then told of what was hap-
pening, and went to join the queen, who was awaiting him
in the Cours.
There all the chief persons of the Court, who were not
warned until the very moment of leaving, were collecting ;
among them, the queen's lady-of-honour, her daughters, and
many others. Each went for some friend to take with them
and escape together from a city which was about to be the
object of the king's anger. All those who could take flight
did so eagerly. The cardinal's servants, who saw that their
master had a great stake in the success of the journey, were
the most diligent in making their retreat ; and never was a
night, without assault or warfare, more full of horror and
anxiety.
I was warned, like the rest, at the hour when the queen
started ; and one of my friends, in the service of Cardinal
Mazarin, knocked at my door with a carriage and six horses
46 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAI-. n.
to invite me to follow the queen. But I would not do so
for several reasons, all of which concerned my convenience
and peace. The Due d'Orle'ans, having reached the Luxem-
bourg, awakened Madame, who rose much troubled by the
news. He also made his daughters rise, and all together
they went where the queen awaited them. Mademoiselle,
the eldest daughter of the Due d'Orle'ans, had been warned
by the queen herself, who sent Comminges to her directly
after we left the Palais-Eoyal ; and this princess, in the
same surprise as the others, went, according to the orders
she had received, to join the royal family. The Prince de
Conde did the same in his household. The princess his
mother, who insisted that the prince should have no secrets
from her, was surprised to find he had hidden one so impor-
tant. She was nettled. But as there was no time to scold,
she took the princess her daughter-in-law and the little Due
d'Enghien, still in long clothes, and joined the troop in the
Cours.
Madame de Longueville, who had remained to sleep that
night at the hotel de Conde* on account of the Epiphany, was
warned and entreated by her mother to accompany her.
But she, with her mind full of great designs, excused herself
on the ground that she was pregnant, and, moreover, that
she dared not leave Paris without the orders of her husband.
The Princesse de Conde', not accepting these reasons as valid,
urged her to go ; and as she would not do so, she was finally
obliged to say that they could leave her without any anxiety,
for she knew very well that the Parisians would do her no harm.
She refused so persistently that her mother was compelled to
leave her in the great city where her object was to establish
her power. She reigned there for some time ; and what she
did will surely have a great place in the history of our era.
The queen had written and sent by the Prince de Cond a
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 47
note to his mother inviting her to follow her, in which was
a very civil message to Madame de Longueville ; so that
the queen, not seeing her, was rather surprised. But hav-
ing no conception of what was to happen later, the excuse
of pregnancy was accepted, and other occupations soon
prevented her from regretting Madame de Longueville's
absence.
The Prince de Conti was of the party ; and, the whole
royal household having assembled, it took the road to Saint-
Germain-en-Laye. The king, the queen, and all the Court
arrived there without beds, without servants, without furni-
ture, without linen, without anything whatever that was
necessary for the service of royal persons and their followers.
The queen slept in a little bed which the cardinal had sent
out from Paris a few days earlier for this purpose. He had
provided another for the king, and there were besides two
other little camp beds, one of which served for Monsieur,
the other for himself. The Duchesse d'Orle'ans slept that
night on straw, and Mademoiselle also. All others who fol-
lowed the queen had the same fate; and in a few hours
straw became so scarce at Saint-G-ermain that none could
be bought for money.
When the departure of the king, the queen, and the whole
Court was known in Paris, despair took possession of all
minds, and confusion began at the dawn of day by five or
six o'clock in the morning. Cries were loud in the streets
and the excitement was universal. The first who heard the
news sent word of it to their friends, and many persons of
quality fled to Saint-Germain to fulfil their duty. Others,
merely to escape the confusion, had horses put to their car-
riages and left Paris to seek in their country-houses the peace
and security of which the rebellious city was about to be
deprived.
48 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. n.
When my friend came, as I have said, to knock at my door
I had only just gone to sleep ; and God alone knows with
what sorrow I heard of this departure. My astonishment
was not as great as that of others, for we had already seen
the first signs of this disaster ; but I could not help remem-
bering with horror having heard the queen say that if she were
listened to she would besiege Paris and starve it out in ten
days. I at once determined to start at daybreak for Nor-
mandy and remain there during the period of this chastise-
ment, which gave me many fears and would apparently cost
France much blood.
I could not bring myself to go to Saint-Germain without
furniture or means ; for a widow who was not rich was not
in a condition to expose herself to needs that would surely
inconvenience the greatest seigneurs of the Court. On the
other hand, I was not valiant enough to stay in a besieged
city where I might be reduced to the greatest suffering and
form wishes, in spite of myself, against the king's arms.
But the uproar increased so much, and the populace com-
mitted such barbarities in the streets on those who seemed
desirous to leave Paris that I found myself compelled to
stay in my house. Many persons connected with the Court
did likewise. We were long the object of the insults of the
canaille and the animosity of those of the opposite party.
The latter changed to us so much that persons who a week
earlier were paying us visits now became in a moment our
cruel enemies.
Parliament, seeing that visible marks of the royal ven-
geance were about to fall upon it, thought first of the safety
of the city, and ordered the burghers to take arms. The
Assembly seemed at first stunned by the stroke, and the
populace and burghers, who usually act from impulse,
were like madmen, while the others vomited imprecations
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 49
against the king and queen, the minister, and even against
the princes.
The queen, on leaving Paris, wrote a letter to the provost
of the merchants and the sheriffs (who at once transmitted
it to parliament). In it she declared that she wished no ill
to the people, nor to the good burghers. She explained her
purpose, and said that she was compelled to flee from the vio-
lence of parliament, whose cabals and criminal intrigues with
the enemies of the State took from her the means of living
safely in Paris. She promised that she would never cease to
love them, provided they would assist in avenging her upon
her enemies.
The king also wrote to the same a very gentle letter, of
which I have kept a copy. All the circumstances of so
remarkable an event are, I think, worthy of the curiosity
of those who come after us. Here is the letter:
VERY DEAR AND WELL-BELOVED, Being obliged with
keen displeasure to leave our good city of Paris this night,
in order that we be no longer exposed to the pernicious de-
signs of the officers of our court of parliament, who, having
understandings with the enemies of the State, after attacking
our authority in various conjunctures and long abusing our
kindness, have now conspired to seize our person, we
therefore desire, by the advice of our very honoured lady
and mother, to tell you of our resolution, and order you, as
we do hereby expressly, to employ yourselves, in all ways
depending upon you, to prevent that anything shall happen
in our said city to disturb its peace, or be prejudicial to our
service : assuring you, as we hope, that all good burghers and
inhabitants therein will continue in the duty of good and
faithful subjects as they have until now, and that such will
surely receive good and favourable treatment. We shall let
VOL. II. -t
50 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. H.
you know within a few days the results of our resolution ;
meanwhile, confiding hi your fidelity and your affection to
our service, we shall now say nothing further or more
expressly.
Given at Paris this 5th of January, 1649.
(Signed) Louis.
And lower down, : " DE GUE"NE"GAUD."
On the back : " To our very dear the provost of the mer-
chants, and the sheriffs of our good city of Paris."
On the 7th, de Lisle, captain of the body-guard, brought
from the king an order to parliament and to all the other
supreme courts of Paris to remove to Montargis, and the
other courts to a similar place. The assembly refused to
receive the king's order, on the ground that certain formali-
ties had not been observed. Notwithstanding the letters of
the king and queen which gave hopes of good treatment to
the burghers, the queen now forbade all the villages around
Paris to carry into the city provisions of any kind whatso-
ever. Bread was stopped, cattle were stopped; and it was
plainly visible that the king was intending to punish the
city of Paris. 1
The parliament, astonished and not knowing what to
decide upon, chose the course of sending a deputation to
the queen to entreat her to explain to it the cause of her
flight, and to name the persons whom she accused of having
an understanding with the enemies of the State, offering
to bring them to trial. These proud heads bowed them-
selves and began to fear the sternness of their offended
king; at this beginning of trouble certain of the factions
1 According to Montglat, garrisons were posted at Pontoise, Poissy,
Corbeil, and Lagny, to stop all boats, and blockade Paris by water as well
as by land. FR. ED.
1649] MEMOIKS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 51
thought of beating a retreat. Others, with more hardihood,
caused an uproar in the Chamber ; inspired by their own
danger they boldly proposed to issue a decree against the
minister as a foreigner. But they were hissed down, be-
cause in the state in which parliament now found itself,
the wisest minds wished to avoid the dangers that threat-
ened them, even at the expense of those of their colleagues
who, by rebellion and audacity, had caused the danger in
which they now were.
The queen and her minister, who had too often expe-
rienced to their injury that gentleness and clemency were
harmful to the affairs of the king, and who, through the
good disposition of the minds of the princes, might hope for
favourable success in their present undertaking, refused to
listen to the deputies. The queen sent them word that
parliament had no longer the right to be in Paris ; she had
supposed it at Montargis, where all the members of that
body had orders to retire ; she wished them first to obey
the king, and after that she would consider what to do.
Sanguien went to meet the deputies and give them this
answer from the queen ; the same evening, on their asking
to see the chancellor, that head of the law told them the
same thing and sent them away, without entering upon
the subject at all
Able men believed, however, that if the queen had heard
them, in the state in which they then were, stunned and void
of hope, their repentance would have been sincere ; that they
would then have turned out the guilty ones among them
in order to avoid the evils they had reason to fear; and
that the public consternation which surrounded them would
have led them to pay to the king all the respect that they
owed him. But, for the misfortune of many miserable be-
ings who suffered later, the queen thought she ought to put
52 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. n.
no confidence in their apparent contrition. This last clem-
ency, which would, perhaps, have been taken for weakness
and fickleness by the minds of many, might not have re-
sulted to her satisfaction. Something more seemed to be
needed to re-establish the authority of the king and the
power of the minister, such as the queen desired to see
them ; and God chose to make use of the passions of men
to punish their crimes.
The deputies left Saint-Germain on the night of January
7th, having been refused by the queen, and the next day
they made their report to parliament in a manner which
forced that body to comprehend the bad position in which
it stood. Despair gave the members strength ; they believed
themselves lost unless they could escape through ex-
traordinary remedies. The leading minds among them were
affected more or less by the spirit of rebellion ; the guilty
hated the royal power. They had gone so far in their evil
doings that they had plainly shown they preferred the gov-
ernment of a republic to that of a monarchy. And perhaps
there were some in the assembly who were not sorry that
the necessity of defending themselves obliged them to
follow an evil course, because they hoped hi this extremity
for some change in the State which would elevate their
power and lower that of our kings.
They therefore based their hopes on the hatred which the
people and the grandees of the nation felt against the min-
ister; and seeing no good for themselves except in doing
evil to him, they resolved to follow the maxims of Machia-
velli, who says (as I have heard from those who have read
him) that we should never do evil by halves. On this
ground, they issued an edict against Cardinal Mazarin, in
which they condemned him as the disturber of the public
peace and enemy of the king and the State ; they enjoined
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVTLLE. 53
all subjects of the king to attack him, without, however,
bringing him to trial, without hearing him in his own jus-
tification, and without any right whatever to judge him.
As this decree seemed to me worthy of the memory of
men, I kept the original, the terms of which are as follows :
" This day, the court, all the Chambers assembled and
deliberating on the report made by the king's lawyers who
betook themselves to Saint-Germain-en-Laye before the
seigneur king and the queen-regent of France in execution
of the decree of yesterday, the said lawyers being refused
a hearing and stating that the city is blockaded, hereby
decrees and ordains that very humble remonstrances in
writing shall be made to the said seigneur king and the
said lady, queen regent. And inasmuch as the Cardinal
Mazarin is notoriously the author of all the disorders in
the State and the present evils, they have declared and do
here declare him to be a disturber of the public peace,
enemy of the king and the State, and they command
him to retire from court this day, and from the kingdom
within eight days ; and that time having passed, all subjects
of the king are enjoined to attack him, and all persons are
forbidden to harbour him. It is also ordained that a levy
of fighting men be raised in this city in sufficient numbers.
To this end, commissions are delivered for the security of
the city, as much without as within, to escort those who
bring in provisions, that they be brought in all safety and
freedom.
" And the present decree shall be read, published, and fas-
tened, wherever it should be ; so that no one may pretend
ignorance of it. The provost of merchants and the sheriffs
are enjoined to take in hand the execution hereof.
(Signed) " GUIET."
54 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. n.
On the same day the Assembly gave orders to the police,
and also took means to raise money to put the city in a state
of defence. The members taxed themselves first, to set an
example to others, and each counsellor of parliament gave
five hundred francs. All the supreme courts did likewise.
Every porte-cochere paid from twenty-five to fifty crowns.
In this way they raised a great sum [about a million of
francs, says Omer Talon], intended for the payment of their
fighting men. The Marquis de Boulaye was the first to take
a commission from parliament to raise troops in its pay, but
he was shortly followed by much greater seigneurs than
himself.
The next day the Due d'Elboeuf, who was at Saint-Ger-
main, left it on pretence that his mother was ill and came
to Paris to offer himself to parliament as general of its
forces. He was received with joy, and the Assembly sent
deputies to thank him and accept his offer.
The Due de Bouillon, so renowned in our century for his
ability in war and politics, was then in Paris, endeavouring
to obtain his reimbursement for the government of Sedan ;
but he was not satisfied with what was offered to him for
that exchange. In the time of the late king that town had
saved him from the condemnation about to be pronounced
on him for the part he had taken in the conspiracy of Cinq-
Mars. The queen, who wished to treat him well, offered
him large estates and wealth for what already belonged to
the king, but he would not accept them. To reach his ends
and gain better advantages from the king, he now gave out
that he had some thought of declaring himself in favour
of parliament; which gave great hopes to the latter, and
changed despair into fixed intentions of strong defence.
The persons who were attached to the king but remained
in Paris were the ones to be pitied ; for the populace
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 55
threatened continually to pillage them, and we dared not
show ourselves for fear of our lives. My sister and I re-
solved to escape from Paris. We took with us a friend who
was living with me, a person of birth and merit. We did
what we could to get out by the Porte Saint-Honor^, intend-
ing to employ the assistance of certain persons who were
awaiting us outside the gates. But the paupers who were
about the Capucins, seeing that we intended to go out,
crowded about us and forced us to retreat into the church
of those good fathers, where they followed us noisily. At
last they obliged us to go out again to seek help at a guard-
house, where we hoped to find reasonable people. But the
Parisian soldiers, excited against every one who seemed to
wish to go to Saint-Germain, so frightened us by their
threats that we retraced our steps towards the hotel de
Vendome.
The porter of that house, instead of receiving us, shut the
door in our faces, just as some of the scoundrels were pick-
ing up paving-stones to martyrize us after the manner of
Saint Stephen. Mademoiselle de Villeneuve, the friend who
lived with me, seeing one of these wretches approach her
with a cobblestone in his hand to fling it on her head, said
to him in a firm and tranquil tone that he did wrong to kill
her for she had never done any wrong to him. She spoke
with such spirit and reason that the rascal, in spite of his
natural brutality, stopped. He flung away the stone and
went off, but only to follow my sister and me who were run-
ning from the h<5tel de VendSme to put ourselves in safety
at Saint-Koch.
Thanks to God, we arrived there in spite of the insults
and threats of the canaille, eager for prey and pillage. As
soon as I was there I fell on my knees before the great altar
where High Mass was being celebrated. But these dragons
56 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. IL
who had followed us respected divine service so little that
a woman, more horrible to my eyes than a fury, tore the
mask from my face, calling out that I was a "mazarine,"
and I ought to be knocked down and torn in pieces. As
I am naturally not valiant, I felt great fear. I wished in
my trouble to go to the rector, who was my confessor, to beg
for succour ; but my sister, who had more courage and judg-
ment than I, seeing that I was followed by two thieves,
who, as soon as I reached the door, cried out, " Your purse ! "
dragged me from their hands, and prevented me from leav-
ing the church, for there was all to fear from their barbarity.
The populace gathered more and more into the church,
entering in crowds, till it echoed with howls, in which I
could hear nothing except that we ought to be killed. The
noise brought the rector, who spoke to them and silenced
them with difficulty. As for me, pretending to confess, I
begged him to send some one to fetch me protectors. This
he did at once ; and my neighbour, the Marquis de Beuvron,
with the officers of the quarter who happened to be at the
guard-house, and other persons who heard of the peril in
which I was, came to help us, and pushing aside the canaille
did not leave us until they had taken us home, where we
arrived so ill that we were forced to go to bed.
I acknowledge, to my shame, that I have never had an
illness (though I have had some that were very severe) in
which I had a greater fear of death than I had on this
occasion. From that day I thought of nothing but how to
get out of Paris. Not being able to live in peace at home, I
went to entreat the Queen of England to receive me under
her protection at the Louvre. This she did, some days later,
with the greatest kindness, giving me two fine rooms, filled
with the crown furniture, which she and her whole court
were using. I retired there with my sister, Mademoiselle de
?t<z
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 57
Villeneuve, and my women ; and we thought of nothing but
laying in provisions to secure us against famine until the end
of the war, or until I could get a passport to go where I
wished.
But to return to public affairs : Madame de Longueville,
who remained in Paris on pretext of her pregnancy, had
really stayed with the idea of triumphing over the king, the
queen, and her minister, and, what is more surprising, of
revenging herself on her brother, the Prince de Conde", with
whom she was not satisfied. Her soul, capable of great
designs and strong passions, having lent itself to the enchant-
ment of illusions as to the splendid height of glory and
honour on which fortune might place her, was now follow-
ing with too much readiness the counsels of a man who had
a great and very agreeable mind, but whose ambition, being
still greater, attached him to her as much, perhaps, with the
intention of using her to avenge himself on the queen, drive
away the minister, and attain to all that could gratify the
human spirit, as by the passion that he had for her.
The sweetness of this poison, having distorted her imagi-
nation, made her disdain the usual virtues of women, and fill
herself with desires for the homage of all France, not only
for her beauty, but for the ability of a man of whom she
intended to be mistress. She wanted to make herself a
destiny worthy of her, and increase the grandeur of the
house she had married into, by bringing it nearer to the
level of her own. But, when her reason became subjected to
her passions and to those of others, it was long before she
comprehended that weakness and power are not compatible.
And, forgetting what she had often heard, that everything
here below is vanity and vexation of spirit, she drank in
at first long draughts of pleasure, in making all Europe talk
of her which was, in fact, one of her chief aims. With
58 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. n.
that she had reason to be content ; fame did her justice ; and
long were the charms of her beauty, the delicacy of her wit,
the grandeur of her courage, and the influence she had won
in Paris and throughout all France, published to the world.
But, not being obliged to conceal her defects or what was
blamable in her conduct, she could not avoid such things
becoming known through the same channels as her fine
qualities.
Being thus intoxicated with her great ideas, and filled
with those chimeras that delude the greatest minds, she
allied herself with certain of the parliament, especially with
those who were not pleased with the Prince de Conde" (and
these were the most rebellious in the Assembly) because
they were convinced that if the queen resolved to punish
them it would be by his advice rather than by that of
the Due d'Orle'ans. When Madame de Longueville heard
the rumour that the queen was about to quit Paris, she hesi-
tated no longer, but took measures with the coadjutor, who
desired nothing with more ardour than to find material
suited to the furtherance of his designs.
He wanted to be cardinal; but he also wanted, with
the hat, to occupy at Court the place now filled by him
whom parliament desired to destroy. Thus these two per-
sons, both having the same thoughts in their minds, became
very useful the one to the other, without considering whether
their union, convenient as it then was to them, could last,
and without troubling themselves much about the great
evils which it was destined to cause.
Madame de Longueville, having made her plan and found
that it was time to declare herself openly against the Court,
sent for her brother the Prince de Conti, and her husband
the Due de Longueville, who were at Saint-Germain, telling
them to leave the Court, for ambition called them elsewhere.
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 59
The two princes, led by different motives, followed blindly
the bidding of a princess who was walking in darkness, and
left Saint-Germain secretly on the night of January 10th,
arriving at the gates of Paris before sunrise. They were
received by the burghers of that forlorn city with marks of
great joy; and I have never heard such a noise as their
arrival caused throughout the whole town. Thjs joyfulness
was not without reason; it was a great advantage to the
Parisians to gain a prince of the blood as their protector.
The queen afterwards did me the honour to relate to me
that the evening before this flight from Saint-Germain the
Prince de Conti had appeared at his best ; that never in his
life had he seemed gayer, and that he threatened the Paris-
ians more boldly than any one. The Due de Longueville
did not behave in the same way. She thought him gloomy,
and so visibly confused that she and the cardinal noticed it
and, without divining the cause, wondered at it. It was
afterwards known that on the road to Paris the Due de
Longueville stopped and said to the Prince de Conti : " Mon-
sieur, let us return to the king, and not set fire to all four
corners of France which will indubitably happen through
this separation." The young prince, who was more comply-
ing to his sister than the husband to his wife, would not
hear of it, and held firmly against the laudable sentiments of
the man who had the honour to be his brother-in-law. As
for the Prince de Marsillac, who was with them, I have no
doubt that he went gaily enough to the crime of lese-majeste,
and that this journey seemed to him the finest and most
glorious action of his life.
At Court they were so ill-informed that there was no sus-
picion of this intrigue. The Prince de Conde* had known of
their engagement with parliament, but having disapproved
of it, he took their dissimulation for a change of heart.
60 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. 11.
He never supposed it possible that his family could separate
from him. He had not even the slightest fear of it. But
his own confidence deceived him ; for it is certain that one
of the most powerful motives of the Prince de Conti, and the
most agreeable inducement which Madame de Longueville
used to persuade him to the enterprise, was the pleasure of
showing the prince his brother that he was capable of doing
great deeds without him. The Princesse de Condd, their
mother, who dearly loved the Prince de Conti and Madame
de Longueville, hearing of this flight when she woke in the
morning, seemed much astonished ; and the Prince de Conde*
considered it an outrage done to his person, and a great
obstacle to the designs of the queen, of which he had de-
clared himself the defender. The princess had recourse to
tears and went in that state to the queen, to whom she her-
self told the news, asking pardon for her children for the
harm the queen was about to receive from their infidelity.
The queen was surprised and distressed, but her astonish-
ment did not shake her ; she consoled the princess, and as-
sured her that, not doubting her innocence, she esteemed her
none the less. She at once sent the information she had
received to the cardinal by the Marshal de Villeroy, who
chanced to have been present at the interview. The news
was not agreeable to the minister, who, more interested in
this warfare than any one, saw all the consequences and felt,
a keen displeasure.
The presence of the Prince de Conti stopped the tumult in
Paris ; the respect due to a prince of the blood caused the
horror and desolation that pervaded the whole city to cease
as soon as he entered it. For two days and two nights we
had heard an incessant cry, " To arms ! " uttered in a man-
ner so terrifying that, for my part, not being used to such
serenades by night or such music by day, fear never before pro-
1649J MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 61
duced such extraordinary effects as it now did in my little
family, which, being chiefly composed of women and
girls, keenly felt all the evil of that inconvenient and shame-
ful passion. When the Prince de Conti arrived I was still
in my own house, exposed to the black malignity of the
Parisians. I own that, preferring my life to the success of
the siege of Paris, I never felt such joy as when I heard of
his arrival. I hoped that the populace would no longer be
masters, and that under his authority order would reign. I
afterwards acknowledged all my weakness to the queen;
and my sincerity did not embroil me with her when, after
enduring many perils, I gave her an account of our fears and
adventures.
The Due de Longueville had a patent from one of our
kings by which he claimed to take precedence directly be-
hind the princes of the blood. He thought, moreover, that a
bastard of the royal blood of Valois, such as the Comte de
Dunois, from whom he was descended, 1 who had the honour
of restoring his king to the throne of his ancestors, deserved
to become, if we may so express it, semi-legitimate ; and he
now meant to use the support of his brother-in-law, the
Prince de Conti, to take that rank in parliament, or at all
events to precede the Due d'Elbosuf. But the Lorrain prince
prevented him, for, learning that the Prince de Conti had
gone to bed on arriving in Paris, he caused himself to be re-
ceived in parliament as general of the armies before his com-
petitor could present himself. The Due de Longueville was
almost in despair ; and from that day forth he never went to
parliament, a just punishment for his unfaithfulness.
1 Jean Dunois, Comte de Longueville, called the " Bastard of Orleans "
son of Louis d'Orleans ; fought by the side of Jeanne d'Arc against Eng-
land ; " le jeune et beau Dunois." TK.
III.
1649.
WHILE we were suffering in Paris, the army of the
king was blockading the city and seizing all provisions
on their way to it. The Mare'chal de Gramont commanded
at Saint-Cloud, the Mare'chal du Plessis at Saint-Denis.
Persons of property shut up in Paris suffered with the guilty
the inconveniences of war, from which they deserved to be
exempt because of their innocence and their devotion to
the king's service. Every one feared pillage, and all hid, in
niches or in convents, whatever they had that was precious ;
for order was not maintained, and the greatest disorders
were dreaded. Theft was permitted, crimes were legal,
wicked men were masters; and every one could insult, as
" mazarins " whomsoever they pleased.
Many houses were ransacked by order of parliament, with
much roughness. The rights of individuals were treated
with ridicule as chimeras ; taxes were levied with impunity
on those who had money. Many persons of quality endeav-
oured to escape these disorders by leaving Paris in disguise,
particularly women. But nearly all of them had bad adven-
tures to relate when they reached Saint-Germain, and better
would it have been for each had she stayed where she
was, exposed to famine and war, than find herself as she
did a subject of laughter by the worthy buffoons of the Court,
who told sorry tales before the king and queen, of accidents
that happened to the ladies as they left Paris.
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 63
But amid this laughter the misery of those who had gone
to Saint-Germain continued. They had no money and no
furniture except that which the soldiers pillaged from the
fine country-places which surrounded Paris, and sold for a
song. The hatred of the public to the cardinal was the
avowed pretext for the war, and the greatest misfortune
of the queen's regency. This aversion must have caused her
the saddest and most serious thoughts; nevertheless, that
hatred became a topic of daily pleasantry among the cour-
tiers. Persons who had been maltreated under the name of
" mazarins " made their adventures the talk of the circle; and
these matters were turned so easily into jests that the queen
herself was the first to laugh at the atrocious insults uttered
against her and against her minister.
But the queen did not always laugh; her affairs were
going ill ; the opposite party was increasing. The Due de
Bouillon had declared for the Fronde ; l the Marquis de Noir-
inoutiers also ; and the Due de Beaufort had rushed to Paris
to take part in the war. The Mare'chal de La Motte, in
revenge for his imprisonment, had followed the example of
the others. All were appointed generals, under the Prince de
Conti as generalissimo, with the Due d'Elboauf second in
command. Though the king's army was not large, the
Parisian troops would not have alarmed it if so many brave
1 This is the first time that Mme. de Motteville employs this word.
Montglat gives its origin as follows : " At that time there were troops
of reckless young men who fought with slings [ frondes] and stones in the
moats of the city, often causing wounds and sometimes death. Parliament
issued a decree forbidding this exercise. One day, during a discussion in
parliament, a member having said something about the wishes of the
queen, his son, who was a counsellor of inquests, said : " When my turn
comes to vote I '11 fronder my father's opinion." The word made those
about him laugh ; and after that, those who were against the Court were
called "frondeurs." The word had vast success ; instantly, bread, hats,
muffs, fans, ribbons, handkerchiefs, gloves, and laces, were said to be " in
the Fronde fashion." FE. ED.
64 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEV1LLE. [CHAP. in.
leaders had not seemed likely to be able to. maintain it for a
long time ; consequently, the queen's enterprise now ap-
peared to the Court to be in a bad way.
The Prince de Conde* was furious at the outrage he felt he
had received from his brother the Prince de Conti, and
his sister Madame de Longueville. And what at first was
only a desire to oblige the queen now became a positive
desire to avenge himself upon his family who had parted
from him. He was the first to ridicule the bravery of the
Prince de Conti ; he spared neither his deformed figure nor
the delicacy of his complexion, which, he said, satirically,
did not suit with the fatigues and functions of a general. 1
The Due d'Orle'ans seemed gloomy, and as he had joined
the queen's undertaking against his will, he was vexed that
he had gained nothing from it but insults from the Parisians
and complaints from parliament ; for that body had counted
on his protection, and on the promise he had made not
to abandon it to the vengeance of the minister. The Abbe*
de La Riviere, his favourite, was held in horror by the public,
and he was now accused of having contributed to form the
Due d'Orle'ans' resolution to follow the queen to Saint-
Germain.
The Prince de Conti and Madame de Longueville were
lodged at the H6tel-de-Ville, to serve as hostages to the par-
liament and the city; and the Due de Longueville deter-
mined to go to Normandy to hold that province, by his
presence, to the cause ; which was a great object to his party
and very much against the king's interests.
On the 12th of January, by order of the generalissimo, the
1 The Prince de Conti was humpbacked and deformed. Montglat says
that the Prince de Conde", passing before a monkey tied to the fireplace in
the king's room, made it a low bow, saying : " I salute the generalissimo
of the Parisians."
1649] MEMOIRS OF MA DAMP. DE MOTTEVILLE. 65
Bastille was attacked ; it made a show of defending itself, but
nevertheless surrendered speedily. Parliament decreed that
the taxes levied upon themselves and the money pillaged
from individuals should be used to raise troops ; and com-
missions were issued for 14,000 foot-soldiery, and 4000
cavalry. Those who enrolled themselves were not great
warriors, and the money given to generals, officers, and men
was more than the value of the troops to those who paid it.
The command of the Bastille was given to the son of
Broussel, who did not deserve to be so well rewarded for
his criminal proceedings.
The Due de Beaufort presented a request to parliament
to be vindicated under the accusations made against him
during his imprisonment ; and, just as Cardinal Mazarin had
been condemned without being heard, this prince was ab-
solved without other proof of his innocence than that of
being the minister's enemy. He was received with plaudits,
and blessed by all, as a man ill-treated by fortune, whose
birth and courage might be useful to them. The early rays
of glory which surrounded him at the beginning of the
regency had left some lustre still upon him; and those
who during his favour had made him their hero dared not
change their sentiments. Besides those persons of society,
who were called strong-minded because they were against
the king and who were now attached to the duke, he had the
luck of being ardently beloved by the Parisians and the
fish-wives ; and this popular love gave him such a reputation
during our wars that he won the name of roi des halles [king
of the markets] in all the vaudevilles of that day.
January 15, a proposal was laid before parliament to send
an entreaty to the queen to dismiss from her presence Cardi-
nal Mazarin. It was rejected, as being too mild towards
the Court ; all present said that parliament ought not to
66 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. HI.
limit itself simply to that article ; that it was now in a
position to undertake everything, and to give new laws to
the State. But the princes, and the great seigneurs who
had joined the party, cared much more to obtain from
the minister what they wanted than they did to drive him
away, or amuse themselves by reforming the State. They
all said, however, that they wished to work for that end ;
but only dupes were taken in by that assertion; at that
time, and for very long after, every man sought only his
own private interest, and cared little for that of the public.
If any among them had been capable of zeal and fidelity
to that public good of which they talked so much he would
have renounced these unjust proceedings and known that
the greatest service he could render France would be to
leave it to the government of the queen and the minister
whom they were loading with insults.
There was no one who thought of doing the right and
living virtuously. They all wanted to maltreat the cardinal
in order to humiliate him and put him in a position of em-
barassment ; but nearly all wished to keep him where he
was, in order to get their profits out of him. He gave freely
whenever he was placed in a bad position, and they knew
but too well that he would spare neither dignities nor
money to save himself from danger. The facility with
which he forgave his enemies took from them the animosity
which is usually to be found hi the hearts of those who
know that they have given offence, and who, no longer
hoping for favours, drive their insults to extremes. On
the contrary, the cardinal's enemies always found it very
convenient to look for reconciliation with him, and to obtain,
by tolerating his rule, both pardon and benefits combined.
January 16 and 17, by way of beginning the war, Mare*-
chal de La Motte with about thirty cavalry went in sight
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 67
of the king's troops. The Mare'chal Du Plessis advanced
to meet him. The Parisians, who were frightened, retired,
as they said, out of respect, not wishing to he the first to
fire against soldiers of the king. On the same day the chief-
president, either from some private animosity or to do a ser-
vice to the Court, prevented the coadjutor from taking a
seat in parliament. He claimed to have a right to do so in
the absence of his uncle the Archbishop of Paris. The
chief-president could not long oppose it, for the coadjutor
had many friends. He took his seat after a while in spite
of him, saying that there were many instances of coadjutors
taking the place of archbishops.
The city of Eouen, the parliament of which was attached
to the Due de Longueville and wished to keep itself in a
position to do whatever seemed to him best, acting accord-
ing to the fashion and spirit of the place, made a show of
keeping to the king's side, but gave orders, nevertheless, to
guard its gates, and to the burghers to take arms. The
chief-president was a good servant to the king, but he had
no influence in the Chamber, and all his fidelity was useless.
The queen at once sent the Comte d'Harcourt, with orders
for the government of Normandy, to seize the city of Kouen.
This prince, valiant and bold in war, but too timid in a
matter of peace, stopped on the advice of the chief-presi-
dent, who made him remain in the suburbs of the city,
assuring him that he should be received, and that he him-
self would send him deputies as soon as he had informed
the assembly of his arrival. He advised d'Harcourt to send
his commission to the Norman parliament, to be deliberated
upon ; and asked him to do him the honour to sup with him
that night. The lieutenant-general, Varangeville, who was
faithful to the king, told him he had better not risk this
course, and advised his entering at once and presenting his
68 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. m.
commission in person, in order to surprise the parliament
and not give it time to deliberate upon it, or find means to
exclude him. The Comte d'Harcourt, not being able to judge
which was the surest way, thought it would be prudent to
follow the advice of the president of the Assembly and await
the result of its deliberations in the suburbs. Parliament
decided to elude him in order to gain time; which gave
opportunity for the friends and followers of the Due de
Longueville to intrigue through the city for the purpose of
preventing the Comte d'Harcourt from entering it ; and thus
the king, who had fewer friends in the city than its former
governor, lost his cause.
The Comte d'Harcourt was forced to retire with the vexa-
tion of not having succeeded in his design. He said for his
justification that he went into Normandy without troops and
without money, and that, having thus no means to enforce
authority, he dared not risk being insulted. Which was not
a weak excuse, because, in fact, nothing can be done without
money and without forces, two things that from all time
have been the sinews of war. He retired to Pont-de-
1'Arche, and from there to Scours, where he stayed some
time with few soldiers and much courage, determined to
oppose the undertakings of the Due de Longueville if he
attempted to harass the king at Saint-Germain.
January 21, the generals of Paris made a grand sortie for
the purpose of escorting in a convoy of wheat, which they did
not find, bringing back no other marks of this great victory
than a general catarrh, for the weather was extremely cold.
As bread grew dear the populace of Paris redoubled in fury
against all the persons of quality whom they thought " maza-
rins " ; which made that canaille worse than demons. The
fear of suffering, which ought to have gentled them, served
only to increase their rage. Idlers, who amused themselves
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 69
by shouting, prevented the departure of those who tried to
go to Saint-Germain or to their country houses, doing them
every outrage. The furniture of the king himself and that
of the queen, her clothes and her linen, which she tried to
obtain, were pillaged, and the king's name became so odious
to his subjects that his pages and footmen were hunted in
the street like criminals and enemies. This seditious ani-
mosity was at last so great that it was necessary to change
the livery of those who had the honour to wear that of the
king when they were sent into Paris.
The Princesse de Carignan and her daughter left Paris in
a boat, pretending to go to foreign countries, and carrying
with them their jewels, which were very fine. Parliament
sent to ransack the houses of all those who were attached to
the cardinal, and his banker was maltreated. Wise men saw
these evils with sorrow, and some of the parliament dreaded
the power of so many princes and masters ; but the hour had
not yet come when their minds should be wholly disabused.
The first raising of funds, amounting, it was said, to three
millions of francs, being exhausted, it was necessary for the
leaders of the city and parliament to lay fresh taxes on
themselves. The president, De Novion, alone gave fifty
thousand francs, and, through his example, many persons
made magnificent contributions. But they did not like it ;
and it is to be supposed that they would much have pre-
ferred the obscure condition of private individuals to the
honour they had in commanding princes and being served
by them ; for the wages of such personages are large. The
Due d'Elbceuf alone, under pretence of raising levies, had
cost them already, he and his children, more than forty
thousand crowns. However, they had to maintain past mis-
takes, and provide bread.
The Due de Beaufort, at the head of five or six thousand
70 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. In<
men, made a plan for attacking Corbeil. He was mounted
that day on a white horse, and had put a quantity of white
feathers in his hat. In this condition his fine presence
attracted the admiration of the people, and he received many
blessings as he rode along. The Prince de Conti escorted
him to the gate of the city. The coadjutor, as great a war-
rior as he was a preacher, was of the party ; and the Due de
Brissac, his relation and friend, went with the expedition.
The next day this Parisian army returned without striking
a blow. These boobies deserted their general a few steps
beyond the gates of the city ; and their cowardice was the
reason why the Due de Beaufort, in spite of his valour and
his desire to avenge himself, dared not attack Corbeil ; for
the Prince de Conde*, who was making war in due form, had
thrown twelve hundred men into it to guard it. All that
the bravery of the boobies produced was the capture of a few
beeves and cows, which they brought into Paris to rejoice the
populace. Their warlike exploits ended with that conquest,
about which the Prince de Conde* laughed loudly and made
good stories to the queen. But after all, there was not so
much to laugh at, for they had done what they needed to do
given provisions to Paris and made the royal enterprise
hang fire. Every day it was retarded by the market-men
and peasants, who nightly contrived to evade the king's sen-
tries and brought their produce into Paris, where they sold it
better and at higher prices.
The burghers, who until then had not suffered much, were
so arrogant that they feared nothing ; and their imprecations
against the queen and her minister increased daily with
much insolence. The Prince de Conti and the parliament
had sent to negotiate in Spam, in order to maintain them-
selves by foreign forces when others failed them. They
laughed at the threats of the cardinal, who caused a rumour
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 71
to be spread that he had come to an agreement with the
Due de Lorraine, and that Pigneronda, minister of the King
of Spain, was coming to the frontier to arrange a peace with
him.
But, as the forces of the king outnumbered those of his
subjects, the queen still hoped for a favourable issue to her
enterprise, and said she feared nothing but peace and the
kindness of the cardinal, which might lead him to com-
promise disadvantageously. She affected to say this before
the Due d'Orle'ans ; fearing that he would allow himself to
be persuaded by parliament to enter into some shameful
negotiation to the prejudice of the royal authority and the
interests of her minister. Her object was not to be forced
into letting the latter go ; and by speaking in this way she
meant to make the princes understand that she could not
be prevailed on against him.
The Due d'Orle'ans acted as a loyal prince who wished to
do no harm to the queen ; but he was grieved at the siege of
Paris, and did not wish to lose the tools he had in parlia-
ment. He wrote to that body that he was distressed at the
state in which France then was ; that he had left Paris with
regret, and solely not to leave the king and queen in the
hands of the Prince de Condd ; and that his greatest desire
was to contribute to peace. The Abbe" de La Kiviere, who
knew he was hated and threatened, feared that this hatred
would ruin him, because he had not as many forces to sup-
port him as the cardinal. To soften the minds of parlia-
ment he let them know that his master would protect them
on all occasions, and that he had gone to Saint-Germain for
the purpose of conducing to the public good and to that of
individuals also.
These assurances gave birth to great designs, and drew
upon the Due d'Orle'ans many propositions, both old and new.
72 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. in.
Chateauneuf made them to him through his friends ; Madame
de Khodes, his confidante, and friend of the Due de Beaufort,
assured the Abbe* de La Riviere that if he expected to be
made cardinal by the queen he was mistaken, and that he
would repent not making his master accept the regency
which was offered to him and which might then, per-
haps, have been really given to him. The negotiator, as he
told me himself, was, in case of refusal, to offer to the prince
the rank of generalissimo. But all these negotiations were
fruitless. They were intended merely to separate the Due
d'Orle'ans from the queen and deprive him of the real and
legitimate power he enjoyed, by the lure of false grandeur.
He was wise enough to recognize the solid good he possessed,
and to prefer it to the fruitless calamities that usually follow
an unjust claim. Equity had more power over him than the
intrigues of the frondeurs, the leaders of whom were full of
false theories.
The Prince de Conti and Madame de Longueville, according
to that mistaken human prudence which constantly deceives
itself, also desired to separate the Due d'Orle'ans from the
Court, wishing, perhaps, to see him a discredited and power-
less regent. They therefore made him the same offers as
parliament; thinking that by depriving the queen of his
support they themselves would attain greater power. Per-
haps they thought that the queen, assisted by the Prince de
Conde" and served by the armies and by the grandees of the
kingdom attached to the king, would have sufficient force
to maintain herself ; and if so, by becoming reconciled wi^
the head of their family he and they together could extract
from the minister's weakness all they took the trouble to
ask.
The coadjutor, Chateauneuf, and others, inwardly opposed
to the cabal of Madame de Longueville, wanted more. Their
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 73
plan turned wholly to the greatness of the Due d'Orle'ans.
They wanted him as a ruling regent ; and it is to be believed
that, could they have achieved it, they would have ruined
the queen and the Prince de Conde'. But the Due d'Orle'ans,
whose intentions were good, listened to none of these pro-
posals, and continued steadily in the one purpose of the
peace which he desired to bring about. He did this at last ;
but in a manner very disadvantageous to the royal authority,
which he seemed to be wishing to protect. But he is in-
finitely estimable for not allowing himself to be corrupted
by so many means of temptation and the various tainted
minds which surrounded him.
WHile they were thus negotiating on all sides, Madame
de Longueville gave birth to a son at the H6tel-de-Ville,
who was named Charles-Paris. In spite of her condition,
the pleasure of intriguing gave her strength ; and, delicate
as she was naturally, she did not cease to hear, and talk, and
act ; which shows that passions can carry nature beyond her-
self, and that no one can arrest them but God, by grace and
a great undeceiving.
Misery now began to make itself felt in Paris ; and the
poor already suffered much. All provisions became dearer ;
and although the suffering was not great for a besieged city,
still the famine was a great discomfort to many, and above
all to the poorer classes. The rivers overflowed this year,
and Paris resembled Venice. The Seine flooded it com-
pletely; people went about the streets in boats, but far
from regarding this as an embellishment, the inhabitants
found it a great inconvenience, and the ladies would not
use those famous gondolas so admired on Venetian canals,
to exhibit their beauty.
While calamities increased in Paris, councils redoubled at
Saint-Germain, where anxiety was now proportioned to the
74 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. IIL
bad condition of the king's affairs. Both sides were suffer-
ing. The Due d'Orle'ans, following his inclinations for the
public good, wrote to his friends in parliament, urging them
to think of peace. He did more ; he spoke of it to the queen,
who, notwithstanding her own sentiments, was constrained
to hear him. This advice brought the Archbishop of Paris
to Court on behalf of certain members of the parliament.
He had long conferences with the minister, who expressed
to him a desire to heal matters. Those who controlled the
factious party were not as yet quite disposed for peace ; and
the prelate's journey had no effect at the time, beyond that of
beginning on both sides to trace the ground for future con-
ciliation. The Prince de Conde* forbade him to give an
account in public, on his return to Paris, of the favourable
words that were said to him. The prince feared lest the
people might humble themselves, and the respect they owed
to the king revive in their hearts.
The minister now began to say that he would be willing
to leave France provided the royal authority were not hurt
by his doing so ; and some one saying to him in jest that all
would be well if he would only go, he replied seriously that
he was ready to go, and only asked, for his contentment, to
see the king respected and obeyed by his people.
The Prince de Conde* did not wish for peace, and knowing
of the Due d'Orle'ans' negotiations, he said to Senneterre that
he himself never negotiated with an enemy ; but that, if the
Due d'Orle'ans or the minister showed themselves witling
to do so, he would treat with thousands, because he did not
choose to be thought a dupe and bear the whole burden of
public hatred. He said, moreover, that he wanted to con-
quer the Parisians because they were cowards, and then- gen-
erals men who could not agree together, and whose valour
was useless through the discord of their sentiments and
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 75
cabals and the disorder that is always to be found in a
party made up of many persons.
The queen scrupulously consulted learned men as to
whether, in conscience, she could not continue the war.
She showed them how she had been compelled to begin it
by the cabals in parliament which ended in manifest dis-
obedience, and by the riots of the people ; she made her
intentions of peace, as soon as she saw an end to the causes
of the war, the basis of her consultation. On that under-
standing they replied that she could continue it; but that,
in order not to confound the innocent with the guilty, she
was bound to seek conciliation by all reasonable and possible
means which would manifestly not be to her disadvantage.
Some persons, influenced by the voice of the people and
judging from it of the feeling against Mazarin, told her that
she ought to remove the cardinal from the ministry. But
she would not do this, because she was convinced that such
yielding would be dangerous to the royal authority and
contrary to the service of the king. She saw no man able
to fill his place who was not attached either to Monsieur or
the Prince de Conde'. That is why she always replied on
this point, to those who spoke of it, that she would never
commit the same mistake as the king of England, who
abandoned his minister to public wrath, lest she should
bring upon herself the evil results that prince was now feel-
ing in his own person and in his kingdom.
The cardinal, on his side, was not ashamed to have re-
course to those he had so lately been threatening. He often
sent his friends and servants into Paris to negotiate with
those men in parliament who had the most influence. Some
were well-intentioned, and many wise men had a horror of
the war ; for these good reasons we may believe that the
cardinal's ambassadors were well received. The negotiation.
76 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. in.
was conducted, according to the natural instinct of the
minister, in a way to please the other side, whether that
were composed of his greatest enemies or of those who, not
detesting him, wished to agree with him. In this he re-
sembled that great princess, Catherine de' Medici, who, to
gain time, made peace several times with the Huguenots,
though she knew it only served as a truce to the troubles
and did not make them cease. The apparent gentleness of
her conduct did not in the end serve her ill ; but it some-
times appeared so odious that it is impossible to praise her
for it ; if any good ever came of it we must adore divine
Providence first, and after that attribute honour to the
courageous resistance of that queen.
The frondeur generals received information that the army
of the king was about to attack Charenton, one of their best
routes by which to bring provisions into Paris. They had
thrown a considerable garrison into the place, with a valiant
man to defend it. When the threatened attack was known
in Paris, those commanding there resolved to prevent it
and to issue from the city with all their troops, of whom
they had as many as they wanted. The multitude, in fact,
was unlimited, for every Parisian was now a soldier, but a
soldier without courage.
The generals, who felt their own courage capable of every-
thing, were bold enough to say they would give battle if
they saw fit ; but I think that in saying that they had al-
ready decided it was best not to do so. Policy and com-
mon-sense obliged them to threaten and to fear, and
compelled them to conceal, by putting on a brave front, the
weakness of their side through the miserable troops which
they commanded.
The Prince de Conde*, the terror of the Parisians, came
down (Feb. 8), like a torrent carrying everything before it,
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 77
on the village of Charenton, which was trenched, barricaded,
and well supplied with brave men. The Due d'Orle'ans
was with the king's army in person; and every one who
could bear arms about the Court was there also. The army
was small [about 6000 men], but it was good ; and the fame
of its general increased its power greatly. The Prince de
Conde", accustomed to great victories, carried the place, killed
all who dared resist him, and cut the garrison of 2000 men
to pieces. Clanleu, who commanded, was killed, defending
the place valiantly, and refusing the life they offered him,
saying that he was luckless on all sides, and it was more
honourable to die on this occasion than on the scaffold.
As a result of this expedition the Prince de Conde* put
his army in battle array, and had leisure to bring it into
good order before the troops of Paris could arrive. 1 The
two armies were quite a long time looking at each other
and doing no harm. That of the king had done all it
planned to do ; and that of Paris had very feeble intentions
to attack, and not enough courage to resist the king's forces,
whose meanest hangers-on were Caesars and Alexanders
compared with the best soldiers of parliament. This numer-
ous and bad army never left its intrenchments, which were
the last houses of Picpus ; the rear-guard remaining at ease
in the Place Eoyale, gazing at the bronze horse which bears
the figure of Louis XIII., the sight of which ought to have
shamed them for rising against his son and their king. But
far from having any such sentiment, all their bravado had
but one vent, that of calling down maledictions on the
young monarch whom, a few years earlier, they had re-
1 Montglat says : " 50,000 men came out from Paris and put themselves
in line of battle along the plain from Picpus to the river, and were spec-
tators of the fight (the valley of Fe'camp between them) looking at 10,000
men defeating their friends without daring to advance to their succour."
FK. ED.
78 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. HI.
ceived as a gift from Heaven granted to their prayers. The
two armies retired each to its own side, that of the king
glorious and satisfied ; that of Paris much ashamed at
having given no other proofs of its valour than threats and
insults not made near enough to the enemy to be heard,
for which reason they were not avenged.
On the same day, during the absence of the generals, those
persons hi Paris who were inclined to the Court and friends
of the minister, proposed to parliament through the king's
lawyers to send a deputation to the queen, rendering her
very humble thanks for what the Archbishop of Toulouse
had said on her part. The latter had not so scrupulously
obeyed the Prince de Conti that the leaders of parliament
were not made aware of the favourable treatment he had re-
ceived at Saint-Germain ; and those who had good intentions
now made good use of it. The chief-president, who was
more royalist than frondeur (but of every side as it suited
him), supported the proposal. President de Mesmes, then
rather friendly to the Court, the dean, and some others
did likewise. But those who were called frondeurs made
an uproar and forced those who favoured a deputation to
be silent. But after enduring the opposition for awhile
they again proposed it several times, and each time the out-
cries redoubled as the zeal of its supporters continued. The
frondeurs, beginning to fear they should lose their cause, sent
one of their number in haste to warn the Prince de Conti,
who came instantly to parliament, and represented that
it was very hard on him and on the others of their party that
the assembly should choose to order an act of this importance
while the generals were hi the field exposing their lives
for their quarrel. With these reasons, joined to the shouts
of the frondeurs, he put an end to the proposal and returned
to the H6tel-de-Ville, believing, what was true enough, that
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 79
he had fought with more valour than those who had gone
out to fight.
The chief-president said openly on this occasion that
it was impossible to hold parliament if it was treated in this
manner. Minds were, in fact, so bereft of reason that
during these disorders, and particularly on the days when
important matters were discussed, the members carried little
daggers under their robes, to use at need in the interests
of the party they had at heart.
The generals on their return, learning what had happened
in parliament, saw plainly that affairs were going wrong, and
several among them inclined for peace. They judged it
impossible that their party could long exist; and the fear
they had of perishing made them deliberate, in presence
of Madame de Longueville, as to whether the chief-president
should be arrested. Some were in favour of having him
killed by the populace, and of doing the same by all who
had appeared to approve of the deputation to the queen.
The most extreme proposals were made by those who had
more passion than wisdom. The coadjutor himself was not
more moderate. He did not practise the virtues that Chris-
tianity enjoins on those who desire to live by the rules of
the Grospel, and according to the obligations of a man of
his profession. He risked all to attain the object of his
desires; seeking fame, he exhibited sentiments which dis-
honoured him.
February 12 a herald-at-arms arrived from the king at
the Porte-Saint-Honore", wearing a sleeveless coat of blue
velvet covered with golden fleurs-de-lis, a velvet cap upon
his head, and a baton in his hand, covered with the same
velvet and also studded with fleurs-de-lis. The captain
of the gate told him that he could not let him enter without
permission of the Prince de Conti and the parliament.
80 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. in.
Parliament instantly assembled to consult what to do. It
was decided to refuse entrance to the messenger, and the
king's lawyers were directed to go to Saint-Germain and
represent to the queen that, as the king was not accustomed
to send heralds to his subjects, they had refused to receive
this one as enemies ; and they entreated her to let them
know what it was that she desired to make known to parlia-
ment. This deputation was not displeasing to the Court,
because it was respectful, and opened the way for proposi-
tions of agreement which all men of worth desired. Parlia-
ment also ordered that the colonel of the quarter should
hold the sealed packets brought by the herald, unopened
until further orders.
There were three of these packets: one for parliament, one
for the Prince de Conti, and a third for the city of Paris.
In the first the king made mention of the declaration he had
issued on leaving Paris, in which he had enjoined parliament
to remove to Montargis ; and also of that which had been
given against them in consequence of their disobedience,
in which the whole assembly were declared guilty of Ihe-
majeite ; and the missive concluded by saying that, notwith-
standing all this, the queen, opening the arms of her mercy,
with a kindness wholly extraordinary, promised them, on her
royal word, that if they would obey the first declaration
which condemned them to go to Montargis, and re-establish
the authority of the king by that obedience, she would
restore them to their rights and privileges, and pardon all
their past revolts without ever remembering them ; and in a
special Note they were made to hope for still further favours
if they would send a deputation to the queen.
In the second missive the king informed the Prince de
Conti that, having been declared guilty of lese-majesti in
failing to obey the first declaration, which ordered him to
1649] MEMOIKS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 81
appear within six days before Ms Majesty (in default of
which he had been deprived of his offices and governments),
if he were now willing to obey the said orders of the king, the
queen promised to restore him to his original innocence and
to the enjoyment of his property, offices, and governments ;
and a special Note gave hopes of further favours and a
longer delay if he asked for it.
In the third letter, the city having been invited in the
king's declaration to separate from parliament and its in-
terest, in default of which all the inhabitants were treated as
rebels, they were now informed that if they would return to
their true selves and obey the king, the queen would pardon
all thek wrong-doings, and restore to them their usual rights
and privileges, treating them as good and faithful subjects
whom her Majesty had tenderly loved.
The deputies of parliament asked for passports to Saint-
Germain to go there, as had been resolved on the arrival of
the herald. The frondeurs were in despair at this deputa-
tion, and the Due de Beaufort, master of the populace,
declared that he would kill those who proposed conditions of
peace that did not include the dismissal of the cardinal.
But all these threats could not prevent the negotiations from
being carried on. The queen refused passports to the king's
lawyers, wishing to treat them as private individuals, be-
cause she claimed that parliament was indicted and declared
guilty. This haughtiness, like the rest, could not be main-
tained; she was forced to grant the passports in the form
that the king's lawyers wished ; and she was even obliged to
treat them favourably. Her prudence and her minister ad-
vised her to do so on this occasion, when she was not in
a position to act according to her own sentiments. Matters
were discussed between the minister and the deputies rather
generally, for both sides held themselves reserved, neither of
82 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. in.
them daring to show that they wished what in reality they
desired as the remedy of all their evils.
The deputies, on their return, rendered an account to
parliament of their mission. The generals were alarmed
lest the narrative should change the disposition of minds;
because a desire for peace and tranquillity is naturally
imprinted in the hearts of all reasonable men. The Prince
de Conti, in concert with the other generals, interrupted the
report by presenting to parliament an envoy from the arch-
duke, who promised them the help of Spain, and exhorted
them to defend themselves firmly. Many of those in parlia-
ment were amazed when they heard this mention of the
archduke. Others rejoiced ; and this diversity of sentiment
among the members showed the difference in their virtue
and loyalty. This proposal from the foreign enemy caused
many of those who were only partially inclined to do right
to resolve to do so altogether; for it is not easy to pass
so hastily from wrong-doing to crime, and the venerable im-
pression, engraved on the hearts of nearly all nations, of the
duty of subjects to their sovereign is not so readily effaced.
After the harangue of the Prince de Conti, the assembly
deliberated as to whether it ought to listen to the envoy of
the archduke. They doubted, justly, whether they could
hold intercourse with an enemy of the State; and the
majority of those who composed this assembly wished to
avoid the crime of Use-majesU, and of putting themselves
in the ranks of declared rebels. This extraordinary delibera-
tion ended in a decision to hear the envoy, and after doing
so, to render an account of the matter to the qtleen.
The envoy began by delivering a letter of credentials
to the Assembly, which was written in Paris ; then he said
that the archduke, having refused all the advantages offered
to him by the queen, had commanded him to ask parliament
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 83
for peace between the two crowns on conditions of which
they alone should be judges. He told them that the arch-
duke would not negotiate with Cardinal Mazarin, since that
minister was condemned by their august assembly ; that he
believed there was no safety in dealing with him, but he
hoped to find it through their intervention ; and in case the
peace he asked was refused by the king, he offered to parlia-
ment an army of twenty thousand men, which was now on
the frontier and ready to serve them.
After this harangue, the speaker was thanked and he
retired ; it was then ordered that the king's lawyers should
be heard. They had been interrupted, as I have said, by
the Prince de Conti, expressly to hinder the effect of their
words ; but that malicious trick did not silence then- state-
ment. They told the assembly that the queen had received
them well, and had ordered the chancellor to say to them, in
the king's name, that she had not been displeased by their
refusal to receive the herald she had sent to them ; that she
received their excuses as good and legitimate, proving that
they had a horror of the name of rebels ; that her said
Majesty assured them that as soon as they would humble
themselves and render to the king, her son, the respect they
owed him as good and faithful subjects, she would give
them security for their lives, their property, and their
offices. They said also that the Due d'Orldans and the
Prince de Condd had said the same ; and also that the chan-
cellor had invited them on their return to consult with him
on the means of making a good peace; but they had not
entered into a discussion thereon, wishing to observe in all
particulars the orders they had received from the Assembly.
Further deliberation was held upon this, and it was
decreed that another deputation should be sent to Saint-
Germain to thank the queen for the obliging wprds she had
84 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEV1LLE. [CHAP. in.
said in their favour, and to render her an account of the
envoy of the archduke.
It was about this time that the queen, who was making
war on principle, and, according to the advice of the learned
men whom she had consulted, was working in all kindness
for peace, desired to do a purely charitable action and to
follow the counsel that God himself has given us in the
GospeL In addition to the money which she often sent
secretly to be distributed among the poor, she now sold
some diamond earrings of great value, which she had never
yet worn, and gave the proceeds to those who, in the streets
of Paris, were daily vomiting imprecations against her.
I must here interrupt the history of this negotiation to
mention the most horrible crime ever attempted, the most
criminal action that men have ever committed, which our
epoch has seen with horror, and which took place in Eng-
land while our sovereign was engaged in putting down the
rebellion of her subjects. This tale will cause amazement
to coming races ; and it was surely an evil omen for our
queen, and for the peoples, who saw that the chastisement
of God was about to fall upon the world in punishment for
the injustice spread throughout it by impieties and crimes.
It seemed that divine justice threatened all the kings of
Europe, inasmuch as it did not spare one of the most inno-
cent, but fell upon the head of a great king, who was a good
and kind prince, whose life was exempt from blame ex-
cept for a heresy which he had received from his fathers and
of which his troubles seem to have been the result, just as
the sin of Henry VIII. was their source. The zeal he had
for religion showed his faith; and his good intentions
seemed fitted to draw to him the mercy of God and the true
light he needed to bring him out of darkness. But by an
impenetrable decree of God he perished full of virtues ; and
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 85
his end has shown us what a monster of cruelty is man
when abandoned to his passions with neither piety nor true
religion for his guide.
Never was anything more pitiable than the condition of
the royal family of England. It was persecuted by its sub-
jects, betrayed by those who owed everything to it; and
those from whom it might justly expect assistance were
forced to abandon it. The embarrassments of civil war
which the queen now had upon her hands prevented her
from succouring the King of England, to whom she was
obliged and for whom she said she always retained much
friendship, but to her deep regret, an unfruitful friendship ;
a state of things which was sure to cause shame and sorrow
to a great queen like ours, whose good-will ought to be
accompanied by power, to enable it to show in deeds rather
than by words.
A few days after the horrible murder of the king, the
Queen of England received false news that her husband had
been taken from his prison to the scaffold, where they were
about to behead him, but the populace opposed it. I think
that Lord Germain, his minister, wished to prepare her by
this fabulous tale for the fatal blow. The queen, as she
told us this piteous incident, shed many tears, but took com-
fort in the thought that his people would save him, since
they had thus begun to show feeling in his favour.
February 19, 1649, she received the horrible true news,
and her misfortune could no longer be hidden from her.
An affliction so great, so terrible, and now so certain, pro-
duced within her all the sentiments of sorrow she was capa-
ble of feeling. She suffered infinitely, but she did not die.
She often told me herself that she wondered how it was she had
survived the blow. She knew that life could never again be
pleasant to her. She had lost a crown ; but what she regretted
86 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVTLLE. [CHAP. m.
more was a good, just, virtuous husband, worthy of her affec-
tion and the love of his subjects. She had fallen into a de-
plorable position ; and from being the most opulent queen
on earth she now saw before her, according to all appear-
ances, a lifetime of poverty and afflictions which were enough
to horrify her. She had ideas and noble sentiments, and
was consequently able to see all that she had lost, and what
she owed to the memory of a king who had loved her much,
giving her his whole confidence and showing her extreme
consideration. He shared his grandeur and his wealth with
her ; it was therefore right that she should taste of his bitter-
ness, and mourn all the days of her life for the day of his
death. And she did, indeed, wear perpetual mourning on
her person and in her heart, as much, at least, as she was
capable of; for by nature her mind had more gaiety than
gravity.
On the first day of her sorrow I did not have the honour
of seeing her, because the violence of her grief made her
invisible; but the next day, having obtained by help of
friends, a passport to go to Saint-Germain, I went to take
leave of the sorrowing queen. As soon as she saw me she
bade me kneel down beside her bed. Doing me the honour
to give me her hand, with sobs which often interrupted her
words, she ordered me to tell the queen the state in which
she was, and to say, from her, that her lord the king, whose
death would make her the unhappiest woman in the world,
was lost solely because he never knew the truth : that she
advised her not to irritate her subjects unless she had the
power to quell them completely : that the people were a wild
beast, and untamable : that the king, her husband, had ex-
perienced this, and she prayed God that the Queen of France
might have better fortune than she herself had had in Eng-
land : but, above all, she advised her to listen to those who
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 87
would tell her the truth ; to apply herself to discover the
truth ; and to believe that the greatest evil that can happen
to kings, and that which alone destroys their empires, is igno-
rance of it. She said that if I were faithful to the queen I
ought to tell her these things and speak to her plainly about
the state of her affairs, because it was the greatest service
that I could render her; and she ended with a compliment
addressed to the queen, and certain orders which she gave to
me regarding the interests of the Prince of Wales, now
become king without a kingdom by the death of his father.
The Duke of York, her second son, fifteen years of age,
after escaping from England as I have already said, had
lately come from Holland to be with her. She desired for
the two princes that the king and queen should recognize
the Prince of Wales in France as King of England; and
should treat the second in the same manner as they had
hitherto treated his elder brother. She commanded me to
speak of this to the queen as from her ; then, pressing my
hand, she said, with renewed sorrow full of great tenderness,
that she had lost a king, a husband, a friend, whom she
could never sufficiently mourn, and that this separation must
necessarily be to her for the rest of her life an endless
suffering.
I own that the tears of this princess touched me deeply.
Besides the share I felt in her grief, my mind was struck by
the words she commanded me to say to the queen, and the
misfortunes she had caused me to fear for her. The state in
which I believed her to be, and that in which France actually
was, made a strong impression on me ; and I shall never forget
the wise sayings of this queen, who, undeceived and taught
by her own experience, seemed to presage for us in our coun-
try the greatest evils. Heaven willed to preserve us from
them ; but as we deserved them all from the justice of God
88 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. HI.
we should render thanks for His mercy, and remember this
great lesson to kings, and even to private individuals, namely :
that a knowledge of the truth is necessary for the conduct of
our lives.
On the same day, my sister and I, with our little footman,
left Paris, escorted by a troop of cavalry of the Prince de
Conti's regiment, commanded by Barriere, a gentleman
attached to the service of the prince, who consequently had
the misfortune to be counted among the enemies of the
queen after having been one of her most faithful servants.
We were received at Saint-Denis by the Comte Du Plessis,
who commanded in place of the mare'chal, his father. He
gave us a good supper and good beds, and the next day we
arrived safely at Saint-Germain. We had to make a great
devour and pass through many villages, where we found the
most frightful desolation. Houses were burned and pulled
down, churches pillaged, and an image of the horrors of war
was there painted in its actual truth.
I found the queen in her cabinet with the Due d'Orle'ans,
the Prince de Conde", the Princesse de Carignan, and a great
throng. The Court was then very large, because all those
who were not of the Fronde had gathered about the king.
The queen's apartments were filled with not only the persons
of the highest quality who composed the Court, but also a
great number of soldiers, and I never saw there so many un-
known faces. The queen was in ,the midst of this great
concourse, apparently gay and tranquil. She did not seem
to apprehend the evils with which, in the minds of persons
of good sense, who judged of the future by past and present
events, she was threatened. We must not include among
these the malignant prophecies of those who sought to decry
her conduct, and hoped, by intimidating her, to force her to
dismiss her minister. Such persons did not deserve to be
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVTLLE. 89
listened to, and the apparent gaiety of the queen was
intended to silence them. We cannot doubt this ; because,
in the position in which she then was, it would be difficult,
having the wisdom and reason that she possessed, to feel
true gaiety.
When I left Paris, my heart was full of all that had been
told me in that city. I believed that the queen was threat-
ened with the loss of her crown, or at any rate, that of the
regency. But, being at Saint-Germain, I was amazed when
I heard jests and ridicule against the Parisians and the
frondeurs, and against those who lamented the public mis-
ery. I could not see that any one feared the great party
which seemed so formidable to the rest of Europe ; and in
order not to be laughed at, I was forced to smile with those
who turned into ridicule the most serious matters and scoffed
at both parties, with no other thought than how to profit
themselves by these troubles.
That night, after the queen had retired, she commanded
me to tell her all that I knew of the state of Paris and the
condition of people's minds. As I had real distress in my
soul, I told her freely all that seemed to me contrary to her
interests, not failing to repeat what the Queen of England
had ordered me to say to her. It was supposed in Paris that
the queen was ignorant of the state of its affairs ; that the
minister was making her believe that the city was suffering
extremely, and that the rebels would soon be reduced to cry
for mercy. But the truth is, she was well-informed as to all
that it was necessary she should know ; but wishing to pun-
ish, or at least, moderate the excessive audacity of parliament,
and being, moreover, determined not to send away her minister,
her resolutions were fixed, and public outcries were powerless
to change them. She did me the honour to tell me, what she
had already said to others and, I think, had written, that she
90 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. m.
felt obliged to keep her minister, fearing lest the same thing
happen to her that happened to the King of England,
namely, that after dismissing him, she herself would be
attacked; that the princes, seeing her without a minister,
would seek to give her one ; and not being able to agree, as
it was reasonable to suppose they would not, greater quarrels
would arise than the present ones ; and, moreover, that she
chose to keep him not only because she was satisfied with
his good intentions and his fidelity, but because she was
convinced that in sustaining him she should re-establish the
royal authority and keep herself from losing the regency.
She added that the retention of the regency was desired by
her out of affection for the king ; and she did me the honour
to say, with a sigh, that I knew myself she was not ambitious,
and that rest would be more agreeable to her natural in-
clinations than power. Then she ended her remarks with
these fine words : " She believed she was doing right, and
should leave the rest to the guidance of God, hoping that
in His mercy He would not abandon the innocence of the
king, who, according to all appearances, still kept before his
eyes the grace of baptism."
I found her rather astonished at the message from the arch-
duke, the falsity of which was still unknown to her. She
was touched by the death of the King of England ; and said
it was a blow which ought to make all kings tremble ; but
as for herself, being convinced that she was doing as she
ought to do and could not avoid doing, her mind was tranquil
amid these various storms. In truth, her amiable temper,
fortified by a soul which never allowed itself to be easily
troubled, made her seem at Saint-Germain, surrounded by
her armies, as much at peace as when among the ladies of
her circle in Paris.
IV.
1649.
ON the 22d or 23d of February, the nuncio and the am-
bassador of Venice came to see the queen, one on the part
of the pope, the other on that of his republic. During their
audience they exhorted her forcibly to make peace, and
touched, as she thought, rather too strongly, on what appeared
to be the cause of the war. She was angry ; and interrupting
them, said that she found many persons ready to tell her
that peace ought to be made and everything pardoned; but
nobody spoke of restoring the authority of the king, her son,
which would be destroyed if she did not strive to maintain
it by punishing rebels and forcing them to return to their
duty. She said she had a right to speak thus, because the
consultations she had had on this point with the wisest
men of learning and judgment, whose opinions she wished
to follow, were proof enough of her desire for peace. But
it seemed to her that her own obligations compelled her
to labour first to replace France in a condition to profit
by her kindness, which until then, through the perverse
disposition of minds, had only made matters worse. This
kindness was indeed greater within her and more effective
than apparent, for she always tried to conceal it in order to
make that of her minister more prominent.
February 25, the deputies arrived from Paris; and the
chief-president, who followed the example of the nuncio,
was treated hi the same manner. He was accustomed to
speak with much boldness about the troubles of the State,
92 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. iv.
and the cardinal had always a place in his harangues, which
were usually defamatory lampoons against him rather than
statements to the queen. The one that he delivered on this
occasion was like the rest. After having satisfied his party
and most of his audience on the subject of the minister, he
entreated the queen to put an end to the troubles, to give
them peace, to return to Paris with the king, and thus
restore happiness and joy.
But such boldness failed to rouse the Court to anger against
the venerable magistrate. Cardinal Mazarin did with insults
what Mithridates did with poison, which, instead of killing
him, came at last through constant use to nourish him.
They served him to acquire with the queen the merit of
suffering for her sake and of being the victim of the unjust
passions of the king's subjects ; they also served to mask
the friendship of his friends, who, in real truth, were not
friends at alL
That evening, the chief-president and President de Mesmes
came to see the queen as private persons, and they conferred
in her cabinet, where the princes were, with the minister,
in spite of the edict issued against him by parliament.
Before leaving they made the queen hope for another
deputation to discuss the peace in earnest, and they shrewdly
asked her for provisions and wheat for as many days as the
discussion should last, estimating for each day almost enough
to supply Paris.
The queen did not grant their request, but gave them
hopes that if they acted faithfully she would refuse them
nothing that was reasonable. The deputies endeavoured,
under prospects of peace, to obtain provisions, which were
now getting dearer in Paris, and the people were beginning
to suffer, though not enough to humble them. The queen,
on her side, thought she did wisely in holding out hopes
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 93
that she would give them. She wanted to bring parliament,
through the people's need, to consent to her will, and force
the Parisian generals to the reconciliation which they now
opposed with all their strength.
The deputies, having returned to Paris, made their report
to parliament. The chief-president was blamed for having
conferred with the cardinal without the other deputies;
whereupon a great uproar and frightful cries arose in the
Chamber, which spread from there to the people assembled
in the great hall, the courtyard, and the streets. All were
asking news of the deputation ; and when the rumour ran
that the chief-president had conferred with the minister the
crowds became riotous and declared they would have no
peace with Mazarin, and some proposed to go and pillage the
president's house and punish him for wishing to negotiate
with him. The canaille were paid for shouting against these
preliminaries of peace. The frondeurs, who did not wish for
peace, or rather wished that it should be made by them,
stirred up this sedition against the president expressly to
embarrass and intimidate him. But that magistrate, having
already shown his firmness on several occasions, now made
evident as much courage as before, and, without being
startled, he told the Due de Beaufort that it was his duty
to pacify the tumult ; otherwise the riot would become so
great that he himself, not being able to master it, would
have reason to grieve over the great evils he would thus
have caused the city. Many of the most important men in
parliament united with the president in saying this.
The duke, the leader in the outcry, was at last compelled,
in order to avoid a greater evil than seeing Mazarin again in
Paris, to go himself and pacify the riot. He assured the
populace that they were not being deceived, and told them
that he himself would drive out Mazarin. The uproar
94 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAI-. iv.
being thus appeased, parliament resolved to send more depu-
ties to Court (seven from each Chamber) to negotiate the
peace; which gave some hope to right-minded persons and
made the queen believe that matters would go as she desired.
She could not imagine that the deputies would dare to ask
her for what they knew positively she would never grant.
As the chief-president, after making this stand, left the
gallery of the Palais de Justice to return to his own house, a
great multitude of scoundrels came up to attack him. One
of them having threatened to kill him, the grave magistrate
said to him coldly, "My friend, when I am dead I shall
only want six feet of ground," and, without quickening his
steps, walked on to his own house, well satisfied at having
brought about the second deputation.
If he was satisfied the generals were not ; another deputa-
tion displeased them immensely. They saw that the leaders
in parliament inclined towards the Court; that they them-
selves were not masters of the party, and that peace would
not be, as they chose, the price of their ambition and their
desires. But they consoled themselves by resolving that no
one should be appointed to negotiate with the Court but
those of whom they were sure, and by this means they
still hoped that the negotiation would depend upon their
will
March 2, the king's lawyers came to Saint-Germain to tell
the queen of the deputation ordered by the parliament.
They asked her for passports, and entreated her to name the
place for the conference. Also they made some solicitation
on the part of the Dues de Beaufort and de Bouillon to be
admitted to the said conference ; but though well received as
to the deputation itself, they were refused in the matter of
the dukes. The chateau de Euel was chosen as the place
of meeting that being half-way between Paris and Saint-
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 95
Germain; and the generals, who were especially eager in
soliciting, were not admitted.
The Due d'OrMans, the Prince de Conde", the cardinal, the
Abb de Riviere, and Le Tellier went to the rendezvous, where
the deputies had already arrived with an express order from
parliament not to confer with Cardinal Mazarin. The Court
had been previously informed of this, and the son of the
chief-president, who had brought word of it by order of par-
liament, was treated with much apparent rigour. They even
set guards upon him for a time to let the minister's enemies
see that the proposal was odious to the queen and would be
resisted by the princes of the blood. But this did not prevent
the deputies from absolutely refusing to confer with him;
which caused great embarrassment to both sides, and much
mortification, no doubt, to him who was the subject of it.
The evening of the day that the princes went to Ruel I
was with the queen, who awaited with impatience the issue
of this dispute, without, however, letting those about her
share it. Chamarante, the king's head valet-de-chambre,
arrived very late from Euel to let her know that the confer-
ence ws broken up; then, coming quite close to her, he
whispered in her ear the true reason. The queen, who did
not choose to show that she felt or saw the affront which
parliament thus put upon her minister, began to laugh, and
said to us : " There is no conference ; consequently no
peace, so much the worse for them."
While these difficulties were putting a stop to the confer-
ence, the generals, who had no share, except through cabals,
hi the meeting, came out and camped with cannon at Ville-
juif, threatening Mazarin and declaring him the source of
invincible difficulties. They wanted to make him fear the
hatred of the people, of whom they claimed to be the masters
in spite of parliaments and treaties. The thing that must
96 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. iv.
have caused uneasiness to the minister was the fact that
parliament seemed to approve of the sentiments of the popu-
lace and the generals, inasmuch as the deputies refused so
firmly to open their lips before him on a matter of so much
benefit to themselves.
The next day, as they were about to separate on account
of this difficulty, the Due d'Orldans, always desirous to play
his part in peace as the Prince de Conde* played his in war,
found a means of conciliation, namely : that neither he nor
the prince should be present at the conference. It was
therefore resolved that the two should sit apart, and the
cardinal with them, leaving only the chancellor and Le
Tellier to confer, satisfied that a room between them and
the conference would not hinder them from having a share
in it.
All that day the parliament people were haughty, and
those persons who came from Euel to Saint-Germain did not
believe that matters could be adjusted, for by the manner in
which the deputies spoke it was certain they would be in-
tractable on the subject of the minister. But this ferocity
proved to be an outward show of appearances intended to
satisfy fools, hot-headed persons, and the populace. The
deputies changed their method the next day, and showed
that on breathing the air of a Court its charm had as much
power upon them as upon other men. Nevertheless, the
Parisians, under orders from the generals and parliament,
continued to sell publicly Cardinal Mazarin's property,
which, after the decree issued against him, had been put up
at auction to all comers at any price they chose to give;
and his library, collected with great care, was dispersed
among as many as chose to pillage it.
March 6, the cardinal made a little trip from Euel to
Saint-Germain to inform the queen of what was happening.
Philippe de Champaigne
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVTLLE. 97
That evening, after lie had gone, as those about her were
curious to hear the news, the queen said to Beringhen and
me that nothing was yet done, and there was no solid hope
of obtaining what was desired which was that parliament
should humble itself. But she added that, in the end, she
believed that all would go right. The deputies declared
they had received fresh orders from parliament to demand
the dismissal of the minister ; and the Due d'Orl^ans had
been obliged to go often to the conference to defend the
cardinal when attacked. But the dispute really ended in
a comedy cleverly played; for those who demanded the
removal of the minister knew very well they could not
obtain it, and, as I have already said, they did not greatly
desire it.
During this conference news arrived which changed the
resolutions of many persons, increased the forces of the king,
and lessened somewhat the pride and arrogance of the Paris-
ians. The Vicomte de Turenne, who commanded the army
of the king in Germany, but had recently declared for the
parliamentary side because his brother, the Due de Bouillon,
belonged to it, on attempting to bring his troops to the assist-
ance of the Parisians, had been deserted by the whole army,
which determined to be faithful to the king and marched to
join Erlac, a German in the service of France. Only two or
three regiments remained with Turenne, and on them he
dared not rely ; seeing himself therefore without power, he
retired, confounded and repentant, to Heilbrun. The same
night that the minister made his trip to Saint-Germain, the
Prince de Conde* sent him a letter he had received from the
Vicomte de Turenne, who, unhappy and humiliated, asked
pardon for his fault. In this letter he entreated the prince
to continue to him his protection and to obtain from the
minister forgiveness and absolution for his crime.
VOL. II. 7
98 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. iv.
This news discouraged for a time the parliamentary forces
and the generals, for they had great hopes in that army.
This assistance having failed them, the cardinal thought he
should now have such an advantage over his adversaries
that the re-establishment of his authority could be easily
brought about. He began, therefore, to recover his audacity ;
but his enemies, in spite of this piece of ill-luck, did not in
the least diminish theirs. The coadjutor, anxious to conceal
this bad news from the Parisians as long as possible, appeared
before parliament on the same day, and, in an eloquent
harangue, offered it the troops which Turenne no longer
had, an offer which served to satisfy the Parisians, ill-
informed of the truth.
The minister, full of hope and joy, returned to Euel ; he
found his enemies well-disposed, but not as submissive as he
expected. There were hours when the prospects of peace
changed to prospects of war, and yet, in spite of these fre-
quent variations, it was easy to judge that what was wished
by both parties could not fail to come about.
The generals, wanting to support their interests by some
means, bethought them of issuing an order suspending the
negotiations on the ground that the queen had failed to give
the hundred hogsheads of wheat which she had promised for
every day that the conference lasted. The queen, having
expected it to last but three days, had promised only three
hundred hogsheads ; and the minister had justly cut them
off, fearing lest the time spent at Euel would only serve to
give the city fresh strength to hold out against the king.
According to this prudent reasoning he had thought proper
to put a stop to the royal liberality, and as the three days
had gone by, the conference still continuing, and no more
wheat arrived, a great outcry arose in Paris.
The deputies, alarmed by the order of the generals, sent a
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 99
complaint to the queen that she had failed to give the hogs-
heads of wheat, which they claimed had been promised for
the whole period of the negotiation ; and they told the princes
they had no power to continue it and must have permission
to leave. On which the Prince de Conde" replied haughtily :
" Very well, messieurs, as you have no power, go ! I think
you will soon be forced to come back."
After the deputies had taken leave and left the room
where the princes were, the Due d'Orldans said to the Prince
de Conde* : " Cousin, if those men carry this along till spring
they will join the archduke and form a party dangerous to
the State ; it will be our turn then to humble ourselves. At
the present moment we hold them ; let us profit by the occa-
sion and make peace."
The deputies, on their side, who had no desire to go away,
showed that if some conciliation were shown to them they
would not be reluctant to remain. It was therefore settled
that the deputies should send to Paris to assure their party
that the wheat would be delivered to them, and at the same
time beg the assembly to approve of their continuing their
useful labours. All these conferences had so favourable a
success that on the morning of March 11 the Mare*chal de
Villeroy, who had received letters from Kuel, came to assure
the queen that all was going well ; and at midday a courier
arrived from the minister informing her that peace was cer-
tain, that all the articles were agreed to on both sides, and
it was ready for signature.
The generals of Paris were invited to take part in the
treaty. They were given four days to decide on this course ;
the Due de Longueville had eight (because he was then at a
distance), with hopes that secret articles likely to satisfy
him would be granted ; and the other generals were allowed
to hope for certain favours. This great conspiracy thus un-
100 MEMOIKS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. iv.
done, on the evening of that same day peace was signed and
the queen received the news with much joy.
It may be said that she was almost the only person who
liked this blessing in its whole magnitude. The bitterness
that many private individuals felt in their souls at seeing
that the war had not ended by removing what they believed
to be the real evil was so great that the comfort of peace
and repose did not wholly satisfy them. Their imaginations
were full of such hatred of the minister's conduct, which
was to them odious and seemed to them so contemptible,
that the greatest benefits with him could not be agreeable.
Their aversion to him was like a crystal which changes
objects, through which they saw their evils magnified and
their blessings diminished; and his avarice gave them rea-
son to fear that once re-established in his former power it
would become more intolerable than ever.
Many persons must have wished, however, as I have al-
ready said, to keep him. All those in a position to make
themselves feared could come to better terms with him than
with a firmer man. Lesser people also had great advantages ;
they could find means to be necessary to his interests and
his service, and he gave them the dignities usually reserved
for old officers and those who in war or in legal matters had
spent their lives in the king's service. In proof of this the
armies were now commanded by lieutenant-generals who in
the days of our fathers would have been sent to a regiment
of the Gardes to be taught their profession. He was also
useful to the great seigneurs, to whom he was prodigal of
honours. Such benefits cost him nothing to bestow, for he
valued them much less than money ; and his enemies, who
wrung from him by force all that they desired, had good
reason to value his weakness and his benefactions.
With all these qualities, so accommodating to the am-
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEV1LLE. 101
bitions and the ill-regulated desires of the human mind, he
was hated at Court ; and if the courtiers did not wholly
desire his overthrow, it may at least be said that every
Frenchman despised him. This contempt was the fashion,
and this fashion, which had more of passion than of reason
in it, occupied all minds. It deprived them of the modera-
tion necessary to sober men who ought to make equitable
judgments. No one was willing to praise the good qualities
that really were in him. His intelligence, his clemency,
his great ability, found no tongues in those days that dared
to speak in their favour. Even his servants, who knew him
more intimately, often attributed to timidity that which
seemed good in him. But, notwithstanding his defects and
the mutterings which always attack favour and power, those
who are Billing to consider what was good in him will infal-
libly give it praise. The degradation to which fortune re-
duced him and the great elevation which afterwards adorned
his destiny will fill his life with brilliant fame ; and these
extraordinary events, which have caused us to wonder, will
hereafter make him share the immortality of the most
illustrious men.
There were still some difficulties in signing the peace,
because the deputies, to preserve their credit in Paris, made
signs of opposing the part which the cardinal, as prime
minister, properly had in it. The Due d'Orldans was forced
to let them see that he absolutely insisted that the minister
should sign the articles with them ; and, after making this
remonstrance, they consented. This little farce over, the
deputies softened towards the cardinal visibly, and thus
showed agreement as to the respect they owed to the will
of the king, queen, and princes.
They all returned to Saint-Germain to announce the end
of the civil war, at which some persons, besides those filled
102 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVLLLE. [CHAP. iv.
with the general hatred of which I have just spoken, were
much vexed. The Princesse de Condd was of the number ;
seeing that this great work was done without the participation
of her son the Prince de Conti and her daughter Madame de
Longueville, she could not refrain from showing her vexa-
tion. And those who had relatives and friends in that
party were in despair, because they saw the bad position in
which they were left by this conclusion of the war, from
which they had hoped for the destruction of the minister
and great personal advantages to themselves.
This consternation became so general that some were
rash enough to say publicly that the peace was not advan-
tageous, that the war had better have continued, and that
the king's duty was to punish a rebellion of his subjects.
Without daring to tell the true cause of their vexation, they
went about giving false reasons for condemning the peace,
and concealing their real grievance. They tried to appear
zealous for the State and affected to be great statesmen,
when in truth they were only moved by passions and hatred.
I must not forget to notice here the disinterested firmness
of the Prince de Conde', who, without considering his family
or his friends, went straight for the interests of the king ;
and if the Due d'Orl^ans had acted with the same force,
peace would have been made with more glory.
After the deputies had paid their respects to the queen,
they returned to Paris escorted by the Mardchal de Gramont.
There they were ill-received and ill-treated. Peace with
Mazarin had no charm for Parisians, and it displeased those
who governed them. Many, won over by the generals,
rushed, shouting, to parliament, declaring that sooner than
consent to the enemy of good Frenchmen remaining in
France they wanted war.
On Saturday, March 13, parliament assembled to examine
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 103
the articles of peace. The generals made a great uproar,
and loudly complained of the deputies, who had signed the
treaty without awaiting their consent. The factions were so
strongly on tke side of the generals that the chief-president
was unable to make his report on the deputation to the
Assembly; and all sides reproached him for abandoning his
party. In reply he reminded them that they had been
negotiating with the foreign enemy while the deputation
was at Euel ; and that this proceeding marked the difference
in their sentiments, for while the deputation was working
for peace by their consent, they were working for war
secretly ; and he declared to them that his intention was to
prefer the public good to private hatreds.
This reproach was just; for they had sent again to the
archduke and to Madame de Chevreuse in Flanders, to
endeavour to get assistance for their party outside of parlia-
ment, which they saw was about to abandon them. The
generals and those of their faction replied to this charge
that they had taken that step with the consent of some of
the Assembly ; on which the chief-president, full of courage
and zeal for the good of the nation, said boldly : " Name
those persons, and we will indict them for the crime of
lese-majeste."
The populace, meanwhile, was making its usual uproar
round the Palais de Justice. Hearing that the cardinal had
signed the treaty of peace, some of the canaille, paid to do
evil, bethought them of sending to the public executioner
to come and burn up the treaty, which they declared they
would never allow ; threatening, in their accustomed manner,
to kill the chief-president. But he, who was used to such
amenities, took little notice of them, and sent a message to
the burghers to take up arms and maintain the treaty made
by them ; he told them they had an interest in the public
104 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. iv.
peace and ought now to show themselves worthy men.
They obeyed him, and the generals found themselves much
hampered by their resistance. This was the cause of re-
doubled councils held at Mme. de Longueville's bedside.
This princess, like the rest of her party, was much dis-
satisfied with the bad state of their affairs, and neglected
nothing to better it.
The next day parliament assembled to ratify this treaty
and endeavour to bring about the repose of France, in spite
of the troubles which agitated her. But the factions were
so strong and the difficulties so great that the Assembly
remained in session till six in the evening, in a state of
continual dispute. At last, at ten o'clock, SaintOt arrived at
Saint-Germain, while the queen was supping, to tell her that
the treaty was accepted on condition that the same deputies
should come before her to treat of the interests of the
princes and others of their party, and to make very humble
remonstrances on certain articles of the treaty which they
asked to have revoked.
The generals, who had made themselves masters of Paris,
and felt themselves sufficiently powerful to restrain the
better minds from doing what their duty imposed upon
them, having no confidence in the deputation of parliament,
requested the queen and minister to allow them to send
deputies on their own behalf. This being granted, they
appointed the Due de Brissac, Barriere, and Cr^ci, to pre-
sent their demands and claims. These emissaries arrived
at Saint-Germain March 18, and by their paper of instruc-
tions they appeared to demand all France.
The queen was overwhelmed with grief, and did me the
honour to tell me the same day that she could not endure
without horror that men who had endeavoured to dethrone
the king her son (those were her very words) should now de-
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 105
mand rewards, when they deserved punishment and chastise-
ment for their crimes. Nor was the minister more satisfied.
The hydra, which he was incessantly fighting without being
able to overthrow it completely, embarrassed him much. But
as these demands were the price of his ransom and the
repurchase of his power, he consoled himself for being com-
pelled to grant them, not doubting that, by remaining in
office, he should some day have the means of vengeance and
punishment hi his own hands.
Those who had real reason to complain were the worthy
persons belonging to the Court, who were deprived of re-
wards which they felt they deserved for their fidelity. They
now saw all the favours falling on the heads of the criminals
of lese^majeste, while those who had always been zealous in
the king's service could hope for nothing by following hon-
ourable ways which they had no desire to quit. Anger
filled their hearts the more bitterly because they were forced
to exhibit apparent joy. In fact, it was incumbent to feel a
real joy for a peace that was needful to the welfare of
France, which, unable to maintain at the same time civil
war and foreign war, was about to be ruined by a general
rebellion of the people and the lack of power the parlia-
ments had to control it, the armies of the enemy being
already on the frontier ready to profit by our convulsions.
So many claims and pretensions to satisfy embarrassed the
minister extremely; as fast as he granted favours, whether
to assemblies or to individuals, new claimants and pre-
tenders sprang up with fresh demands ; and the trouble in-
creased instead of diminishing. The fault committed was in
raising the blockade of Paris. The queen's charity forced
her to do so. This was noble and to be respected; but it
destroyed all means of threatening the city with famine. It
was now absolutely necessary to serve the king by impover-
106 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. iv.
ishing him, and to gain peace for the kingdom by ways very
contrary to the good of the State.
The generals were full of distrust for one another ; to their
insatiable desires they now added jealousy. Each had under-
hand emissaries at Saint-Germain, who negotiated for them
individually, and tyrannized over him who still hoped to
tyrannize over them in return. The Due de Beaufort was
not content with what was secretly offered to him. He
demanded much because he still felt in his heart the
proud swellings that remained of his former favour. He
wanted the minister to pay him for his fetters and his
imprisonment. He talked arrogantly; he said aloud that
he would have no compromise with Mazarin. Carrying
his resentment further than others, he made conciliation
more difficult. This arrogance caused peace to be made
without him, and he was left with no consolation but that
of having treated his enemy with much haughtiness ; which
made one see in him a certain grandeur of soul that had
some beauty. Desiring to defend himself to the last ex-
tremity, he sought to rouse a fresh storm by getting a decree
issued which enjoined the deputies to insist on the cardinal
being dismissed by the queen. But this was of no service
to him. Public interest carried the day over personal in-
terests. The leaders of the party were now satisfied, and
others who were not remained in the condition of disap-
pointed persons and enemies of the queen. They were des-
tined in the end to make her suffer what Heaven had
ordained for her by decrees more irrevocable than those of
parliament.
The coadjutor, the spirit that moved a great portion of
this body, having done more harm than any one, would be
likely to gain the highest rewards ; but at this time he was
generous enough to ask only for his friends. He had lofty
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 107
ideas ; for himself he desired only lustre and notoriety ;
his object being to make important connections which
would increase his reputation and his fame. His prin-
cipal aim was to govern either the State or those who
sought to destroy it, and to have a leading part in the great
blessings or the great evils that might befall it. He
obtained for his friends, the Marquis de Noirmoutiers and
Laigues, considerable favours and very solid benefits. The
Marquis de Vitri was made a duke, which he did not
deserve, on this occasion. The Due d'Elboeuf, the Due de
Bouillon, and all the others, having each snatched some fine
portion of- the royal liberality, came to the resolution of
allowing peace to be made ; and thus it was the king who
received that blessing from his subjects, after paying dearly
for it.
Peace, however, gave some repose to the queen, some joy
to the minister, and some pain to his enemies. The month
of March saw the end of the war which had caused much
harm to France, and had not done much good to the king, or
satisfied wholly the desires of the queen, who could have
wished less suffering to the people generally, and more
humiliation to individuals, especially to those she blamed
as the cause of all these troubles, and of all that the State
had suffered in consequence.
The devotions of Holy Week took place in the chapel of
Saint-Germain, where the true piety of the queen and a small
number of good souls was mingled with the gallantry and
irreligion of all the other persons who composed the Court,
and who made it their glory to care for nothing but vanity,
ambition, self-interest, and pleasure.
Easter being over, the deputies of the parliaments of Paris
and Normandy came to thank the queen for the peace she
had given them. The clergy came also, and all the guilds
108 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAF. iv.
of the city, the merchants and trades, according to their
several orders ; all with contented faces, and all requesting
ardently the return of the king to his good city of Paris.
The queen had no reason to consider it so good as to have
any great desire to return to it. She knew that the populace
still talked with insolence and declared publicly that nothing
should be paid to the king unless he returned soon ; and she
also knew there were canaille bold enough to say in the
streets that they would have no Mazarin. These savage
spirits were so used to rebellion and riots that it was diffi-
cult, without resort to exemplary punishment, to make them
resume the habit of respecting legitimate power. To give
time to extinguish the fire still flashing up in their minds,
and let the remaining heat and smoke evaporate, the queen
resolved not to return to the city immediately. She decided
that as soon as she had received her reconciled enemies at
Saint-Germain, she would spend a certain time at Compiegne.
The finances were still in the hands of the Mare*chal de La
Meilleraye, though it was openly said of him that he was
better fitted for making conquest with armies than for mak-
ing money with his pen. Cardinal Richelieu, his relative,
had, in the days of his power, given him distinguished em-
ployments, and as he himself added courage and good con-
duct to favour, he had done fine actions ; but, as I have said
elsewhere, his temper was perverse and irritable. He was
not capable in matters of finance and business; every one
complained of him, saying that the people, being still unsub-
missive, were trying under cover of rebellion to escape the
taxes, imposts, and tailles, and that a man who better under-
stood the method of forcing them to pay was needed. It
seemed, therefore, necessary for the king's service to remove
him from the finances and give that office to a more patient,
vigilant, experienced, and healthier man than he. He was
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 109
gouty, and without having years enough to reach old age, his
body was more broken than that of many who were over
eighty. His hands and feet were helpless, and he often had
plasters over his whole person ; in fact, they were his usual
decoration. Still he was an honourable man, a good friend,
and lived, in every way, as a great seigneur.
He had a young and beautiful wife, the daughter of the
Due de Brissac. Her beauty lay in the delicacy of her
features, the charm of her face, and her fine figure. She was
virtuous, but had too great a desire that every one should
know it. She noised abroad her virtue in a thousand little
external ways, which would have been a great defect in
others, but in her was less blamed because it was mingled
with, a natural charm which made all her actions seem
loveable. She was so afraid it would be thought that she
did not love her husband because of his diseases that she
went about telling every one that she did not believe there
was any man exempt from such infirmities. She declared
that she thought him handsome and he pleased her taste;
and when she was away from him she tried to convince
others that she wearied at not seeing him. It is not an im-
possible thing for a virtuous woman to love a diseased and
gouty husband who has merit and fine qualities and by whom
she is loved: but this affectation caused her hearers not to
believe her ; and as solid virtue is sincere and natural, her
artificial ways convinced others to the contrary of what she
wished to prove.
She was rather grieved that he was forced to give up the
finances, because she feared it would take her from Court ;
but being ambitious she was soon consoled by the great
advantages he obtained in losing them. The Due d'0rle*ans
and the cardinal went to visit him and agreed to give him
all the favours he desired. He asked for a place in the
110 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CIIAP. iv.
king's council ; the succession to his governments of a son by
his first wife, and also the succession to his office of grand-
master of artillery. This affair was kept secret for a time,
and executed later ; we shall then see d'fimery returning to
occupy his former place, with the applause of his friends and
in spite of the hatred of his enemies. The latter did all they
could to prevent it; but his rivals saw him bear away the
victory finally. He was re-established in office with great
satisfaction on his part, for he had felt his dismissal as a man
much attached to the world who had little love or respect
for Him who is its creator and sovereign master.
The Prince de Conti was the first to come out from Paris
to pay his respects to the queen. He was presented by the
Prince de Conde*, and received in presence of the council
After the usual compliments the Prince de Conde* made his
brother embrace Cardinal Mazarin, and warmed up their
conversation as much as he could. The Prince de Conti did
not go to visit the cardinal on this occasion, in order to
keep some little distance between war and peace, and the
Prince de Conde* made this neglect acceptable to the queen.
The Due d'Orldans presented the Due d'Elboeuf ; and the
Prince de Conti, having made his own obeisance, was the one
who presented the rest, namely: the Due de Bouillon, the
Prince de Marsillac, the Comte de Maure, and many others.
The queen received them rather coldly. The minister, on the
contrary, played his usual role of gentleness and moderation,
telling them that he was conscious of having done wrong
to them, and they were excusable for having resented it.
On the same day Madame de Chevreuse, notified of the
peace by her friends, arrived in Paris. As she had played a
part in the public wrong-doing, she now wished a share in
the general pardon. She had obtained for the rebels the
protection of the archduke, which had served to support their
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. HI
forces against the king. It was just that she should be re-
warded for this trouble while all the others were being re-
warded for theirs. Having arrived in Paris from Brussels she
sent to negotiate with the minister, who, according to his wont,
did not rebuff her ; he only wished to mortify her by a slight
delay. By his advice the queen refused the Due de Che-
vreuse, who came to Saint-Germain to ask permission for his
wife to live in Paris. She told him that she could not allow
her to remain in a city still full of the spirit of rebellion ; that
his wife had made countless cabals against her service, and
it was impossible that she should be content with her or
satisfied by her submission until she let her see a true re-
pentance by her conduct. The duke, who was eighty years
of age and very deaf, still made a good appearance ; he tried
to answer for the fidelity of his wife; but the queen ridi-
culed it, thinking that his word was no guarantee, and letting
him know pretty plainly that she thought he had no great
power over his wife.
I was present at this conversation. The duke told the queen
that he had found his daughter, Mademoiselle de Chevreuse,
much improved in beauty, and that she had eyes capable of
inflaming the whole earth. The queen smiled and replied,
shouting with all her might, that he had too much love for
beauty and he ought to begin now to love heaven and virtue.
Mademoiselle de Chevreuse was really beautiful; she had
fine eyes, a beautiful mouth, and a charming shape to her
face ; but she was thin and not fair enough to be a great
beauty. No doubt she was not improved since the disgrace
of her mother which took them from Court ; for it is seldom
that years embellish women who are past eighteen.
The Due d'Orldans made a visit of two days to Paris, and
was received with great honours. Parliament having con-
sulted its registers found that it had once before sent a
MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. iv.
deputation to a Due d'Orl^ans, lieutenant-general of the
State and crown of France ; and accordingly two presidents
and six counsellors were sent in a body to visit him and
return thanks to him for having contributed so much to the
peace. To please the queen, he begged Madame de Chevreuse
to leave Paris ; telling her she would oblige the queen to
treat her well if she thus showed her she had no desire to
profit by the bad state to which the spirit of the Fronde had
reduced the capital. But she, who knew by experience that
the queen no longer respected her, would do nothing of the
kind. She continued her negotiation with the minister ; and
as he made public profession of kindness and the desire to
pardon his enemies, she got from him what she wanted, and
even did so easily.
The Prince de Conde' also went to Paris, but was not
received with the same acclaim as the Due d'Orle'ans. He
was thought more indifferent to peace and more keen for
combat; consequently he was not so well treated. But in
order not to make a marked difference between the two, one
president and two counsellors were deputed to pay him the
same compliments. In the explanations which he had with
Madame de Longueville, she strove earnestly to detach him
from the interests of the queen. She made him comprehend
that he was wrong to sever himself from his family, which
could be more useful to his grandeur. He saw that the
Prince de Conti was obtaining great advantages at Court ; he
felt that Madame de Longueville, who had guided the latter
to this result, was worthy of being listened to, and could be
useful to him in many grand respects. In short, he was
pleased and captured by the flattering illusions of the prin-
cess ; and blood, added to policy, bound him to her by fresh
ties.
This renewal of friendship and confidence led insensibly
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 113
to the formation in the prince's soul of sentiments quite
other than those he had had in the past ; and, little by little,
he began to speak of Mazarin with the same contempt that
the frondeurs felt for him. This was the origin of the
change that later appeared in his conduct, and caused his
haughty and harsh manner in dealing with the queen and her
minister. It produced in the end those great revolutions at
Court which caused such violent disorders throughout the
kingdom and in the royal family.
The coadjutor meanwhile kept in his own intrenchments,
and would not go to Saint-Germain like the rest. Thinking
it proper, however, to appear in the distance, he begged the
Due de Liancourt to offer his respects to the queen and
assure her that he was her most faithful servant, who would
always regard her as his benefactress and mistress. The
queen received his compliments with contempt, and ordered
his ambassador to tell him that she should never consider
him as such ; for, in the first place, he was not a friend to
Cardinal Mazarin, her minister ; and she chose that all those
who were under obligations, like himself, should follow her
sentiments in this respect. Nevertheless the coadjutor, as I
have already said, was in treaty with the minister, from
whom he had received many favours for his friends, and
promises on his own account which, in time, took effect.
The Due de Longueville arrived from Normandy with a
great suite. He came to pay his respects to the queen, who
received him very gravely. I noticed that this prince seemed
almost speechless, unable to say a word of any meaning.
He was a man of great worth. He saw that it was shameful
in him to have done this wrong against the service of the
king and queen, towards whom he had no grounds of com-
plaint ; and also that he had fallen into this error more from
thoughtlessness than conviction. When he arrived every one
VOL. II. 8
114 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEV1LLE. [CHAP. iv.
gathered around the queen to hear what he would say to
her ; for it is difficult to defend a bad cause. He did not
have the boldness to speak at all. He turned pale, then
red, and that was the whole of his harangue. After that
eloquent repentance, he bowed to Cardinal Mazarin, and the
next moment the two retired to a window, where they talked
together for a long time ; after which they visited each other
and continued, apparently, to be friends.
Madame de Longueville and her step-daughter, Mademoi-
selle de Longueville also appeared at Court. The latter had
been, like the rest, a great frondeuse. She had virtue and
much intelligence, and was pardonable for having followed
the sentiments of her father. When these princesses arrived
the queen was in bed, resting after all her fatigues. I had the
honour of being alone with her, and, at the moment, she was
speaking to me of the embarrassment the Due de Longue-
ville had shown when saluting her. Hearing that Madame
de Longueville was coming in I rose, for I was on my knees
by the bed, and placed myself beside the queen, resolved
not to leave, but to listen close at hand, and see if this princess,
always so clever, would be more eloquent than her husband.
As she was naturally shy and liable to blush, all her clever-
ness did not save her from embarrassment on approaching the
queen. I leaned forward between these two illustrious per-
sonages enough to be able to know what they said; but I
heard nothing except " Madame " and a few words uttered so
low that the queen, who was listening intently, could not
understand them.
Mademoiselle de Longueville, after the obeisance of her
step-mother, contented herself with kissing the queen's sheet
without opening her lips. Then, seating themselves on
chairs which were brought to them, they seemed very glad
when I began the conversation by asking Madame de Longue-
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 115
ville at what hour she left Paris, for it was then not two
o'clock in the afternoon ; and to relieve the confusion that
they felt, which evidently embarrassed them, I enlarged
upon their rapid trip. This conversation, in which frivolous
matters alone were mentioned, and the whole visit so stiffly
carried on, only served to increase the queen's resentment
against the princess, who by taking no pains to please her
only displeased her. It also confirmed Madame de Longue-
ville in the evil intentions she retained hi her heart against
the queen. Because, when ill-will exists and those who do
not like .each other make no explanation on the subjects
they have mutually to complain of, silence increases enmity,
and prevents it from ever ceasing.
About the same time occurred the reconciliation with the
Due de Vendome, who had not come to Court since he had
been driven from it by the establishment of Cardinal Mazarin.
He had profited through all these disorders, by showing that
he did not approve of the audacious proceedings of his son,
the Due de Beaufort, and he now desired extremely to be-
come the friend of the minister. To mark this desire he
proposed the marriage of his son, the Due de Mercoeur, with
the eldest Mancini, niece of the cardinal. This proposal was
not refused; it was advantageous to the minister and could
give great conveniences to the prince, who desired its accom-
plishment as a means of returning to favour. The civil war,
in which the cardinal was so maltreated, had proved in one
way not displeasing to him. He found that the gift of offices
and alliances strengthened him and put him in a better posi-
tion to defend himself without continually begging the pro-
tection of the Due d'0rle*ans and the Prince de Conde*. In
changing his conduct he became even more self-seeking than
heretofore, and the ill turns of his enemies made him desire
to make himself feared by those of whom he had hitherto
116 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP, iv
been afraid. For these reasons he now treated the Due de
VendOme as a friend; and the duke was received by the
queen also with every demonstration of good-will.
The Prince de Conde* was beginning to be disgusted with
the conduct of the minister, whose enemies still decried him.
He was, as I have just said, urged by his family to enter
their schemes for the purpose of making himself master of
the Court, instead of being, as they said he was, the cardi-
nal's valet. Madame de Longueville made use of this union
between the minister and the Due de Vendome to make her
brother loathe the intercourse which until then he had kept
up with him. She told him that this new alliance was an
indubitable sign that the cardinal had ceased to regard him
as his chief support, and was taking another protection than
his own at Court ; and it was to be feared that the Due de
VendSme, becoming by this marriage a connection of the
minister, would be more considered than any one by the
king and queen.
These arguments, presented by a sister whom he had
greatly loved, were weapons that combated in the prince's
heart the inclination he felt to peace and the avoidance of a
quarrel with the Court. He, who would have been in de-
spair if any one had supposed he was being governed, now
allowed himself to be led by the princess, his sister, into
that which he would never have done of his own motion.
Shortly after these events I left the queen to make a little
trip to Paris. I found the city still full of the spirit of re-
bellion which had so lately occupied it wholly ; and, without
being a wizard, I readily foresaw that the peace would be
of short duration.
At the same time, March 13, the queen started for Com-
piegne to bring order into affairs of the frontier. Her
stay at Compiegne served to relax her mind from all these
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 117
cares which had troubled her repose. The forest and the
river, the two adornments of the little town, gave her
many agreeable hours and much amusement to the king
and Monsieur, who, being still too young to take part in
the troubles of the State, thought only of pleasure wher-
ever they were.
During this little interval of pleasure the Due and
Duchesse de VendOme, who wished for the alliance with the
cardinal, did all they could to induce the Due de Beaufort
to agree to his brother's marriage with the eldest Mancini ;
but this he refused to do, although to satisfy him they offered
him the government of Auvergne. About this time, having
returned to Paris, I met him one day at the house of his sis-
ter, the Duchesse de Nemours. He told me they were trick-
ing him, for, at the very time when they were offering him
that government, they were trying to give it to the Due
d'Elbceuf in exchange for that of Picardy, which the cardinal
wanted to regain. But, as that exchange was never made, I
think the Due de Beaufort was deceived, or pretended to be,
in order to avoid a reconciliation ; wishing, apparently, either
more than was offered to him, or nothing at all, in order to
remain in a condition of wanting everything.
A few days later the duke fell ill of so violent a colic that
he thought he was poisoned, and ostentatiously took a counter-
poison ; which shows his intention of rousing the affection of
the people of Paris in his behalf. He had more need of
antidotes against his former connections than against any
beverage he might have taken. For it must be said that
Cardinal Mazarin never seemed to us to wish to use evil
means to rid himself of his enemies ; and no favourite raised
to the highest power a subject could attain ever showed more
gentleness and clemency than he. Thus we saw him visibly
protected by God an evident sign to all men that, being the
118 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. nr.
Creator, He hates those who shed blood, and preserves the
peace-makers.
The people of Paris went to see the sick prince, and the
crowd was so great that it was necessary to open all the
doors of his chamber, raise the curtains of his bed, and ex-
pose him to the sight of the populace. This great concourse,
and the flatteries of a few friends made him finally irrecon-
cilable with the minister. He thought he was doing an
heroic action in not being reconciled ; and the adulations of
those who wanted to have a leader in him kept him from
being as well satisfied by the Court as he might have been.
May 27, I went to join the queen at Compiegne. I
made this little journey because it was difficult to live with
comfort in Paris on account of the continual disputes I was
forced to have with her enemies. They blamed her inces-
santly for the protection she gave to her minister, and could
not understand that it would be unjust and dangerous in
its consequences if sovereigns should let their subjects
feel they would do their will. The path of disobedience
and rebellion is always criminal. If the queen had been a
little more jealous of her own authority and power, and if
she had been contented to merely support her minister and
use his ability without affecting, as she usually did, to take
no part in anything, she would have won a more brilliant
reputation than that of the most respected queens. But
her indifference led her to disregard the glory of governing
herself a great kingdom, and to hide what was fine in her
resistance to rebellion. Time alone has revealed that the
best and boldest resolutions came, in a great measure, from
her prudence and firmness.
The Princesse de Cond6 went to Paris to see her daughter,
Madame de Longueville, and rejoin her family. It was
thought that she imbibed a little of their sentiments be-
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 119
cause she fancied that the queen had sneered at her grief
when the Prince de Conti left Saint-Germain, and had felt
some distrust of her. In this I think she was mistaken;
for one day when I was speaking to the queen of the
Princesse de Conde, and saying, what was true, that on
arriving in Paris I had found her very sad, as much on
matters that concerned her Majesty's interests as on those
that concerned Mme. de Longueville, the queen did me the
honour to reply that it was true she felt obliged to her,
and saw plainly that, in spite of her love for her children,
she had felt their separation from Court as much because
she thought it contrary to their duty to the king as because
of the evil consequences to themselves. Adding that she
did not think it strange she should keep up her intercourse
with them, because she could never readily suspect her of
want of fidelity.
Nevertheless, the history of those times seems to say that
the Princesse de Conde, charmed with the lofty reputation
attained by Madame de Longueville, acted in concert with
her (though she did not know all her secrets) to endeavour
to disgust the Prince de Cond with the alliance he had
hitherto maintained with the queen and her minister. The
marriage the cardinal now wished to make offended her
natural inclinations, because the house of VendSme was
always inimical to that of Conde*. And some confidential
friends of Madame de Longueville told me that the Prince
de Conde, on leaving his family in Paris to go to Bourgogne,
told them that he had so far done his duty in supporting
Cardinal Mazarin because he had promised to do so ; but
that in future, if matters took another turn, he would see
what he ought to do.
He went to Compiegne to take leave of the queen before
going to Bourgogne ; and when he left her, she, knowing all
120 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. IT.
that was going on, said to him openly that she believed
they parted good friends, and felt assured their friendship
would always remain as perfect as it had been ever since
her regency ; adding that it ought to be so in spite of those
who desired the contrary. As the speeches of kings and
their actions are nearly always disapproved, many persons
blamed the queen for speaking in this way, because it made
what was a little disagreement too public, and gave reason
to think that it was true that the prince was really seeking
to separate from her.
The minister, wishing to give some attention to the pre-
servation of the frontier, induced the queen to change her
residence from Compiegne to Amiens. He had designs
advantageous to France which sought to set limits to the
advance of the enemy, and, more than that, to calm the
tumults within the kingdom by victories which the good
condition of the king's armies led him to expect. He re-
quested the Due d'Orle'ans to go to Paris and pass some
time there in order to quiet by his presence the outcry still
going on against himself, which gave him great uneasiness
and made him fear that this remainder of public malignity
would always be opposed to his private welfare, and prevent
him from obtaining his share of the peace.
The Due d'Orle'ans, who wished to serve the queen, fol-
lowed her to Amiens. There he helped her to make the
arrangements that were necessary for the king's service;
after which he returned to Compiegne to fetch Madame, who,
for a wonder, had followed him this year, and thence he re-
turned to Paris to smooth the way for him who had need
of his protection and assistance, but who was beginning,
apparently, to weary of this dependence.
V.
1 649.
I LEFT Compiegne to return to Paris the same day, June 7,
that the Court went to Amiens. On my arrival I found all
minds as ill-intentioned as ever, and the placards and lam-
poons of seditious persons even more dangerous to the State
than those which had hitherto been aimed only at the person
of the cardinal. One of them boldly declared that when
rebellion became general, the people had a just right .to
make war against their king; that their wrongs ought to
be decided by arms ; and that at such times they had the
rignt to give the crown to other families, and to change the
laws. Examples were adduced in this manifesto of States
which had changed a monarchy to a government of the
many; seeking in this way to give birth in parliament to
a desire to do like the senate of Venice, or to follow the
example of England. All these bold actions, which may be
called great crimes, so enormous that the mind can scarcely
take them in, came from those who sought to keep up the
rioting and increase it as long as they chose. Parliament
had no part in them, and this particular manifesto was held
in horror by all its members, even the most malignant.
The Due de Beaufort had at this time a great quarrel
on his shoulders, which was the topic of all conversations
in the great world. A few days before the queen left
Compiegne for Amiens, the Due de Candale, Commandeur
de Souvre", Manicamp, Ruvigni, Jarze", the Commandeur de
Jars, and several others wished to go to Paris for a little
122 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. T.
jaunt, intending to rejoin the Court at Amiens. When they
took leave of the queen, Jarze", the least judicious of men,
said to her, smiling, that they were going to support their
own party well The queen replied, addressing them all:
" Ah ! mon Dieu, be wise, all of you, and you will be
doing well."
Arriving in Paris, the two parties met one evening in
the Tuileries. The Court people were in the grand alley
when they saw the Due de Beaufort coming towards them
with the Due de Eetz and a goodly number of frondeur
lawyers. Whether it was that the Due de Beaufort wished
to avoid meeting face to face so many "mazarins," or that
the matter was accidental, as he approached them, instead
of advancing up the grand alley, he took a young lawyer
and drew him aside up a narrow alley as if to talk with him
privately. On this, Jarze*, whose temper was incompatible
with good sense, wishing to acquire credit with the minister,
began to sneer at the Due de Beaufort, saying that the field
of battle remained to them, for that brave prince had avoided
a meeting because the frondeurs dared not face the
" mazarins." On leaving the Tuileries he went to visit
ladies; and told of this adventure in their ruelles, and in
precisely the same terms. The next day he made jokes
about it to all who would listen to him.
As soon as the Due de Beaufort was informed of this,
instead of wisely deliberating as to what was right and
proper to do, he determined hastily to avenge himself ;
which he did in a sufficiently fantastic manner. Our
courtiers, who were thinking of nothing but how to enjoy
life and its pleasures, and Jarze", who never thought of the
echoes he had raised, proposed to go and sup on the terrace
of the garden at Kenard's, each paying two pistoles for his
supper. In the course of that day Jarze" was told that
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 123
the Due de Beaufort had heard what he said of him and
had sworn to maltreat him. Jarze" replied, with belated
wisdom, that he had said nothing that could offend him,
and that he feared nothing from so generous a prince. This
prudent behaviour, not being natural, had no good effect
and did not save him from the wrath of the Due de Beaufort,
who, for becoming too angry and going far beyond the actual
offence, was justly disapproved by every one.
The hour 'for the supper having arrived, the Due de
Candale and all the company, to the number of twelve, went
to the garden intending to enjoy themselves with very good
cheer. Commandeur de Source* was warned by his niece,
Mademoiselle de Toussi, not to go to the feast. She was
informed by a friend of the Due de Beaufort, the Mardchal
de La Motte, who loved her, and married her soon after.
The company learned in this way that they had something
to fear. But as they were just sitting down to the table
when the warning reached them, they thought best not to
change their plan, but to put a good face on the matter.
They were still at the first course when the Due de
Beaufort entered the garden, followed by the Mare'chal de
La Motte, the Due de Brissac, the Comtes de Fiesque,
de Duras, and many other persons of mark, together with
his own gentlemen. They brought with them pages and
lacqueys in great number. The latter had swords and
pistols ; the gentlemen of rank had none. This large troop
of men entered the garden with much noise and great
display.
I heard it said by those who saw them coming and had
an interest in their advance, that at the farther end of the
terrace quantities of swords could be seen borne high,
some naked, some not. Those who were supping, seeing
this array, knew at once that they were destined to other
124 MEMOIHS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
amusement than good eating ; but not being able to hinder
the dance they thought best to wait and see to what tune
it would go. Accordingly, they pretended to take no notice,
and allowed the Due de Beaufort to approach the table,
which he and his company surrounded. He bowed to them
with some trouble in his face, and his bow was returned
with civility by those who were seated. Some among them,
such as Euvigni and the Commandeur de Jars, rose and
bowed to him, to show him respect.
The duke, whose air was proud and haughty, said,
" Messieurs, you sup early." They answered in a few words,
still civilly, as if to end a conversation that was not
convenient to them. The Due de Beaufort, continuing, in
spite of them, asked if they had violins. They answered no ;
to which he replied that he was sorry, because he had meant
to take them away from them; adding that there were
persons in their company who chose to talk about him and
he had come there to make them repent ; then, taking hold
of a corner of the table-cloth he pulled it roughly away,
overturning the dishes, and soiling some of the company,
who attempted to catch them.
On this proceeding they all rose, and all demanded their
swords. The Due de Candale was cousin to the Due de
Beaufort, being son of a bastard daughter of Henri IV.,
as the prince was son of the Due de Vendome, the bastard
son of the same king. This young seigneur, whose presence
alone ought to have prevented the Due de Beaufort from
revenging himself in this way, being deeply offended by the
proceeding, sprang to one of his pages and took his sword
to repair the affront done to the whole company in his
presence. He did not merely put himself on the defensive,
but he attacked the strongest on the other side, and all the
witnesses of his action praised it and said that he showed
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 125
much courage and valour. He received some blows and
perhaps he might have paid with his life for all if the Due
de Beaufort, who meant to attack none but Jarzd, had not
flung himself between the swords on seeing his cousin's
peril, protesting that he had no quarrel with him, and
earnestly begging him not to take part in one that did not
concern him. The Due de Candale did not receive his
excuses; and said he could not take too great a part,
inasmuch as the Due de Beaufort had shown him so little
respect in attacking them all together.
While this dialogue was going on, history shows that
Jarze", being maltreated by pages and lacqueys, slipped away
as well as he could through the crowd. Commandeur de
Jars and Euvigni, who were respected by the assailants, re-
mained among them, blaming their action and demanding
satisfaction for the insult from the persons of quality who
accompanied the Due de Beaufort. These persons replied
that they themselves did not approve of it, and being a hun-
dred to one they could not claim any glory. Consequently
they all set to work to prevent further disorder, and know-
ing that the Due de Beaufort was only bitter against Jarze*,
they shut their eyes as to what became of him, and took
pains to treat the others civilly.
The affair ending thus, they all retired. The Due de
Beaufort thought he had done an heroic action, and his
friends were satisfied with having rendered him a service.
But those who were affronted were keenly irritated against
the prince, and kept up a great desire for vengeance. The
Due de Candale, especially, went the next day to the Bois de
Boulogne, whence he sent Saint-Mesgrin, who belonged to
the " mazarins," to challenge the Due de Beaufort. The
latter replied that he would not fight his cousin, and in-
tended to satisfy him in all possible ways ; and that if he
126 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
did not succeed in doing so, they might attack him in the
streets, and then he would defend himself. Saint-Mesgriii
replied that this was proposing the impossible, because to
fight him in the streets, considering the affection the pop-
ulace bore him, was to go to certain death and not to a fair
combat.
But after this, the Due de Beaufort for several days be-
lieved he should be attacked, not in the streets, but on the
public promenades. He accordingly went about carefully at-
tended by a great suite of friends. He ordered led horses
and a quantity of pistols and swords to be brought, and this
warlike preparation appeared to await the signal for a great
battle, which was never fought. It was more like Don
Quixote's exploits against the windmills than a quarrel of
valiant men like the prince and his friends and those he had
affronted.
The marshals of France exerted themselves strongly to
conciliate the affair ; but the Due de Candale refused to give
his word, and others hid themselves in fear of being obliged
to give it. At last M. de Metz, the Due de Candale's uncle,
to avoid some great misfortune, induced the Due de Candale,
it being impossible for him to fight the duel, to go to Ver-
neuil with him. Jarze* was forced to go somewhere else,
and in this way the affair was put in a position to end
peaceably.
The Due de Mercoaur took the side of his brother against
the Court ; with which the minister was not pleased, saying
that he would not give his niece to the brother of a hare-
brained fellow who hated him, for he would probably, in spite
of the marriage, side with his enemies to insult him. This
anger, and the embarrassment the Due de Beaufort caused
by demanding his share of the inheritance before the wed-
ding, put great obstacles in the way, and the marriage was
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 127
for some time in abeyance. But shrewd persons said that
the real reason of the delay was that the Due de Nemours,
having now returned to Court, was in no haste to bind his
son, the eldest of his family, to the fortunes of a minister
whose grandeur was diminished, whose authority was weak-
ened, and whose present position might not be permanent.
The queen having returned to Compiegne, the Prince de
Conti and the Prince de Marsillac went there to extract from
the minister the rest of the benefits which they claimed.
Madame de Longueville had neglected no means to make all
the favours of the Court fall on the head of the Prince de
Marsillac. He received them, and was treated as a man
whom the queen had reason to fear and must therefore treat
cautiously. Nevertheless, in spite of these fine appearances,
it was thought that he and the Prince de Conti might be ar-
rested. Madame de Longueville and the whole cabal were
afraid of this ; but the queen was not in a position to strike
a firm blow. She therefore took the course of hiding her
hatred and treating them mildly. The Prince de Conti was
not the more tractable for that. He would not visit the
minister, and had the audacity to approve of the Due de
Beaufort's action, and to say openly in presence of the queen
that he had offered him his services on that occasion. He
had in fact done so, not because he really liked him, but be-
cause it was then thought the mark of a noble and generous
soul to show opposition to the feelings and interests of the
queen. Whatever was done to maintain the reputation of
the malcontents and rebels was called virtue and firmness,
and the number of such rebels was so large that to be on
their side was to be among the strongest.
At this time (June 27) our army, in part paid through the
creation of new offices and the care of Cardinal Mazarin, was
fine, powerful, and composed of thirty-two thousand men,
128 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
with eighty pieces of artillery. In this condition, and by
order of the minister it laid siege to Cambrai; the line of
circumvallation was quickly made by means of twenty
thousand crowns given to the soldiers, a crown a fathom.
This move, in times] so dark, seemed grand and worthy of
admiration. It was fitted to show the frondeurs that the
minister was capable of great enterprises, and that he who
resisted so many enemies with gentleness and peace could
make war boldly when required to do so, and was a man who,
in spite of the weakness supposed to be in him, was to be
feared, and would be difficult to drive away.
The Comte d'Harcourt commanded the army ; and such
good troops, under a general who had always been fortunate,
made the queen hope for the taking of the place. But to
her horror, when she was full of this belief, she received a
courier from the general, telling her that the Germans, com-
manded by Erlac, had allowed the enemy to pass through
their lines, that the place was relieved, and he had therefore
raised the siege.
This bad news caused the queen as much sorrow as it
gave joy to her enemies ; and her minister, contrary to his
usual custom, seemed much afflicted. The German troops
had served the king well ever since they had abandoned
M. de Turenne. They had, however, committed such great
sacrileges and done so much harm that their help could not
be valued by Catholics. The Vicomte de Turenne was sus-
pected of having instigated this treachery, through the friends
he still had in the corps, in order to make the minister regret,
and perhaps recall him.
Cardinal Mazarin blamed the Comte d'Harcourt for raising
the siege without orders from the king, and said that if he
had remained where he was he could have continued it suc-
cessfully. As it was, the minister saw his grand project
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 129
ruined in a moment and his hopes lost. It was now ne-
cessary to fall back on his wiles and his studied benignity to
ward off the blows of his enemies, who became, through this
piece of ill-luck, stronger and more dangerous than ever.
During this time the coadjutor gave open signs of the
contempt in which he held the minister by the manner in
which he behaved to him during a trip to Court. For at
last he resolved to pay his respects to the queen, and left
Paris, loudly protesting that he would not visit the cardinal.
The queen, as I have said, was long unwilling to receive
him; but her minister now advised her to do so. He
believed that, being his benefactress, she would convert him
to her side. As she always gave an agreeable turn to what-
ever she wished to say, she made the coadjutor kindly re-
proaches on his conduct, and said she could not be satisfied
with him so long as he would not go to see the minister
whom she chose to support against all their factions. She
said, moreover, that she must think he was not in her in-
terests so long as he did not conform to her sentiments in
this respect ; and she demanded of him this proof of his
gratitude.
The coadjutor, not relaxing his resolution, answered that
her power was absolute over his will; but that he very
humbly entreated her to approve of his not seeing Cardinal
Mazarin so soon; because he should lose his influence in
Paris if compelled to do actions so contrary to his past con-
duct ; that such apparent inconsistency would discredit him
and take from him the means of serving her usefully under
circumstances that might arise ; but when the right time came
he would do all it was his duty to do to prove himself her
servant. In this way he managed to see the queen, have
the joy of despising the cardinal, and the glory of such
haughtiness, together with the hope that the minister, not
VOL. II. 9
130 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
being able to crush him and still fearing him, would make
every effort to win him over not loving him the more for
that. In this he was not deceived. For this audacious wili-
ness, joined to an infinite number of intrigues, enabled him,
in the end, to obtain his cardinal's hat; but he had to long
for it some time yet.
The Due d'Orle'ans, on hearing the news from Cambrai,
and having given as much order as was then possible to
Paris, went to express to the queen the grief he felt at this
mishap. Before leaving the rebellious city, the people of
which were beginning, through the influence of his presence,
to show better inclinations, he assured parliament, the
sheriffs of the city, the guild of merchants, and the burghers,
that the king had no severe intentions towards them, that
all was pardoned, and that the queen desired to return and
take up her residence there as if she had had no ground of
complaint against them. But he told them they must re-
move all obstacles that might hinder that return, and invite
it by their obedience, submission, and respect. He conjured
them also to aid in punishing those who published lampoons
against the king and queen, which was done for the purpose
of exciting hatred against the cardinal. The authors of
these libels had never yet received the just punishment they
deserved, although the queen had ordered it. In conclusion
the duke urged the disaffected to return to their duty, and
did, sincerely, all in his power to contribute to the perfecting
of the peace he had desired with all his heart.
The minister now believed that, in spite of the frondeurs,
he could bring the king back to Paris ; he was convinced,
indeed, that it was necessary, as much to establish in
foreign countries a belief in our internal peace as on account
of the revenues of the king and his finances. The provinces
were paying nothing ; the tailles were not punctually levied ;
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 131
the people were everywhere breathing the sweet air of
liberty and, as usual, complaining of taxes and subsidies.
The poorer peasants and the labourers groaned ; yet it was
impossible to comprehend the reason of their sufferings in
view of the great diminutions made in their favour. They
could only be attributed to the disorder caused by the false
reformations of the rebels.
The king's household was in a pitiable state. It was
badly supplied; his table was often insufficient. Some of
the crown jewels were in pawn ; the armies were not sup-
plied ; the soldiers, though faithful, were not paid, and could
not fight. The chief as well as the lesser officers of the
household, being left without wages, would no longer serve ;
the pages of the chamber were sent back to their families,
because the gentlemen of the chamber had no means of
feeding them. The monarchy, so great, so rich, so opulent,
whose sovereign holds a Court which has ever been the
admiration of Europe, was now in a short time reduced to
poverty.
It was at this time that the King of England came to
France, having been recognized as king by our nation. He
came from Holland to meet his mother, whom he had not seen
since their misfortune. He was lodged at Saint-Germain, the
queen having sent the Due de Vend6me to offer him that
palace as a residence so long as it pleased him to remain in
France. He accepted the offer gladly ; for in the position in
which he was, borne down by a doubly fatal mourning such
as his, he could not wish to be in Paris. When he arrived,
the Due de Vendome met him with the royal carriages and
took him to Compiegne, where he saw the king, who came
out half a league to meet him, and, with the queen, received
him with all the marks of affection their Majesties owed to
so great a prince. The king gave him a truly royal dinner;
132 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
more so through the royal personages who were present than
from its preparation or magnificence. There was no one at
table but the two kings, the queen, Monsieur the king's
brother, the Due d'Orle'ans, and Mademoiselle his daughter.
The English Court remained some time at Saint-Germain,
where it was little frequented by our Frenchmen. Scarcely
any one visited either the Queen of England or the king her
son. Certain great English lords had followed the fortunes
of their king, and these composed his Court. Their solitude
is not surprising; ill-fortune was its cause; they had no
favours to bestow. Theirs were crowns without power,
which gave them no means of elevating men or of doing
them benefits. They had followers enough when wealth,
grandeur, and dignities were theirs, for those brought a
crowd around their persons. The unhappy queen had
formerly had joys and treasures in abundance, for I have
heard Madame de Chevreuse and many others, who saw her
in her days of splendour, say that the Court of France had
nothing like the beauty of hers. But her joy was now a
subject of despair ; her past riches made her feel the more
her present poverty.
As kings are not all unhappy, or, at any rate, not always
so, there was a queen at this time who, after enduring a
hard bondage to an unpleasant husband, married, for the
second time, a king by whom she was loved, and who, by
this very action, gave reason to think he was a worthy man.
The Queen of Poland, having lost a husband she did not
love, found herself beloved by his brother, who claimed the
crown, although his younger brother, under some pretext of
an agreement with the Church, disputed his claim for some
time.
The widowed queen was left rich in money and in
friends ; and she had much influence among her people. So
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVTLLE. 133
that the prince, who esteemed her for herself, found that she
could aid him to surmount the difficulties attending his
election, and make him happy not only by the possession of
her person, but by that of her wealth. Though he was
brother of the late king, and consequently within a for-
bidden degree of proximity, he hoped (as really happened)
that the pope would not refuse him the necessary dispensa-
tion for the marriage. But the queen was then ill, and
dared to think only of death. She came so near it, indeed, as
to think of nothing else, and made her will, leaving her
sister, the Princess Palatine [Anne de Gonzague] heiress of
all her property. The Prince of Poland was in despair, and,
as I have heard it said, gave her by his attentions and
anxieties every mark of his affection. At last, health
being restored to her, the desire to reign once more and
to reign with a prince she could love, led her to work both
for him and for herself.
As the people of Poland were already accustomed to her
rule, and she was acceptable to them because of her capacity
and her gentleness, they were easily persuaded by her, and
the adherents she had made at that Court served her faith-
fully. Her rather advanced age did not displease the
people. They always see with satisfaction the barrenness of
those they put upon the throne, because the grandees of the
kingdom could scarcely refuse to elect their children if they
had them and they were capable of succeeding their fathers.
This compliance deprives the people of a choice; which is
always agreeable to them to make.
Though the inclination the prince had for the queen led
him to wish to marry her, I know from a person who was
with him, in the capacity of agent from our king, that he
felt some regret that she was no longer young. When he saw
himself king he said to my friend that it was true that the
134 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. T.
queen had great merit, and he could not too much esteem
her but he saw what he gave up for that inclination and
esteem, and knew that he might have found a princess
younger and richer, who could have given him alliances
more advantageous than those she gave him, which in that
country served him for nothing.
The marriage took place at the end of her year of mourn-
ing, with all the magnificence required on such occasions.
Our letters were full of it. We learned that she was borne
in triumph to church in a silver-gilt car, lined with cloth of
silver ; that the feast was fine, though the meats were cooked
in the fashion of that country, which is very different from
our delicacies and ragouts ; and, above all, that the King and
Queen of Poland appeared content.
On the 22d of July, the Prince de Conde* returned from
Bourgogne ; and as he had not yet resolved to abandon him-
self to all the passions of a sister who did not govern him
as much as she wished, he seemed to have as great an ardour
for the queen's interests as in the past. Madame de Longue-
ville, who tried with many efforts to change his mind, had
already so changed that of their mother, the Princesse de
Conde*, that she had not seen the queen since the peace, and
seemed by all her speeches entirely cooled towards her.
After making this great change in her mother's mind, the
frondeuse princess, in order to reconcile the populace to her
brother, set a rumour afloat that he had become devout
during his journey, and that a much respected Chartreux
monk of great virtue had converted him, telling him,
meanwhile, that he would some day be glad to follow her
counsels, and warning him he would repent of the protection
he had hitherto given to Cardinal Mazarin.
August 2, the prince left Paris to join the Court, stopping
some days at Chantilly on his way. He reached Compiegne
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 135
on the 6th; and without making any difficulties went at
once to visit Cardinal Mazarin, with apparent good-will, and
showed that his thoughts were very far from being what
was suspected. He next saw the queen, and told her, laugh-
ing, that all that was being said of him was false ; that he
had become neither a frondeur nor a saint ; and he assured
her that he renounced heartily the sentiments of his family,
which he frankly owned were rather tainted ; he promised to
do all he could to bring them back to better ways, and
answered for their fidelity. The queen was satisfied, and
believed she had reason to feel at ease about all rumours to
the contrary of what he said.
A person well-informed on all these matters, and who knew
the prince [the Due de Rohan-Chabot], in explaining to me
his contradictions, told me that he had listened to Madame
de Longueville and his family only to uphold himself in
their minds because both she and the Prince de Conti were
accustomed to think him weak, and to accuse him of base
servility to the favourite. He assured me that up to this
time the prince had no intention of quarrelling with the
Court ; on the contrary, having satisfied his family with this
show of compliance, he meant to make it serve him also
with the minister, by giving the latter a great fear of losing
him. But this person, prophesying the future, told me that
the Prince de Condd, loving quiet and not willing to let him-
self be governed, would, nevertheless, little by little, have
his feelings changed, and that Madame de Longueville
showed all signs of making him go farther than he wished
to go, because, so my friend said, there is nothing, so easy as
to find means of irritating a prince of the blood who always
wants more than can be given to him.
The Due de Beaufort, to fulfil the duty he owed to the
queen, asked if it would be agreeable to her that he should
136 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. T.
go to Compiegne and pay his respects to her. But the min-
ister, who had not succeeded in his policy of consenting that
she would see the coadjutor, by whom she had been so boldly
refused, did not approve of her treating favourably the King
of the Frondeurs. The Due de Beaufort was therefore
rejected ; and the queen did me the honour to tell me on that
same day (when I returned to her at Compiegne) that she
had not been willing to see him, for that he of whom she had
formerly thought so much was now more odious to her than
the others, because we hate the enemies who have been friends
more than those to whom we have always been indifferent.
The Due de Beaufort felt in the same way ; and, having met
him during my visit to Paris, I found that he had more
bitterness against the queen than those of his party who had
never been in her interests.
Madame de Chevreuse, having been ill ever since she left
Paris, had been unable as yet to use the permission she had
obtained to see the queen. On the 8th of August she
arrived at Compiegne, pale from her illness, and her heart
submissive, as it seemed, to the will of the queen and her
minister. She was received during the council, at which
were present the Due d'Orldans, the Prince de Conde", and
the rest of the ministers. Le Tellier, who had managed her
reconciliation, told me that evening that he had had much
trouble in reassuring her on her suspicions ; for in spite of
the queen's word which he had given her, she feared that,
having returned to France without her Majesty's consent, she
would be arrested.
This princess was so weary of exile and banishment that
she greatly dreaded them; and for greater security, she
wanted the chief-president to also promise her on behalf of
the queen that she should be well treated. The queen, who
never kissed any one but the Duchesse d'Orle'ans, Mademoi-
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 137
selle, and sometimes the Princesse de Conde*, had been in the
habit of distinguishing Madame de Chevreuse from the other
princesses by doing her that honour. But she was now-
deprived of it, her Majesty wishing to show that she had felt
all that Madame de Chevreuse had done against her. The
latter entreated the queen to forgive the past, and promised
her for the future the utmost fidelity. Her promises were
received kindly and without reproaches, but with a very dif-
ferent manner from the caresses given her when the queen
was satisfied.
After curtseying to the king, and saying a word to the
minister, she retired, and the queen said, with an explanation
to a member of the council, that she was no longer in any
way Madame de Chevreuse, for she found her as changed as
she was herself; meaning particularly to speak of her face,
which bore no traces of her past beauty. There was much
pressing in the queen's antechamber to see her pass ; and I
saw from this public curiosity how much distinction is given
by the rumour of extraordinary things. Mademoiselle de
Chevreuse, her daughter, whose beauty, though not perfect,
was celebrated, received much praise from those who saw
her ; that which is a novelty always pleases, and that which
does not please is nevertheless admired. Civility and fashion
often compose this admiration, rather than the real feeling
of those who give it.
At this same council it was determined that the king
should soon go to Paris. The Due d'Orle'ans and the Prince
de Conde*, to gratify the Parisians, urged the queen to resolve
upon it, and promised the cardinal their protection. Both
had good and laudable intentions ; but it is to be believed
that they cared very little for what might happen, and that
the present state of things did not displease them. A Span-
ish proverb says, "It is good to fish in troubled waters."
138 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. T.
The minister consented, hoping that the king's presence
might, perhaps, stifle the remains of the sedition. But as he
had seen often enough that this remedy did not always suf-
fice to cure the evil, it was praiseworthy in him to resort to
it in spite of the danger to himself which he might reason-
ably fear. He did more ; he would not even show that he be-
lieved he had anything to fear. Sufferings always lessen the
fury of a people ; and though Paris had not been reduced to
great famine, it is nevertheless true that the populace had been
brought to feel want. A great quantity of the poorer people
were dead; and what was left of the riotous canaille were
only a troop of rascals paid by the frondeurs to shout and
make disturbances.
The presence of the Prince de Conti at Court ; the union
visible, in spite of Madame de Longueville's schemes, be-
tween the queen, the princes of the blood, and the cardinal ;
the return of the Princesse de Conde* to Compiegne, and the
satisfaction she showed at an explanation between herself and
the queen; the reconciliation of Madame de Chevreuse,
which made the Court hope for that of the coadjutor; the
suspicion that the Due de Beaufort was growing more hum-
ble; and, above all, the public joy of the burghers at the
approaching return of the king, put the malcontents out of
hope of being able to maintain themselves against the Court.
They were gloomy, and now began to justify themselves for
the past, fearing the future, and to say that the cardinal did
a clever thing in returning without any show of fear. They
shrugged their shoulders when they spoke of him, and said,
for all answer, that he was luckier than he deserved to be.
Amid this general consternation of the party, there were
some who, among themselves, were mad enough to hope that
the day of the cardinal's re-entrance into Paris would prove
fatal to him. They said that if the populace took it into
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 139
their heads to cry "Vive le Eoi," and "Abas Mazarin,"
he was lost ; and there were persons of the seditious faction
who gave money to attempt this last remedy. But this
miserable scheme, practised so often and of which even fools
were beginning to get disgusted, did not succeed ; and the
time now came when it was necessary that Mazarin should
make himself feared by his enemies. The queen, anxious
not to give opportunity to the evil-intentioned for fresh
designs, hastened from Compiegne. She arrived in Paris
with the king on the 18th of August.
We now wondered at a marvel which was scarcely be-
lievable, in view of what had passed. The king and queen
were received with acclamations and with the customary
shouts of joy practised by the populace on such occasions.
Nothing was said about Mazarin, and all this public ap-
plause seemed to presage a real peace. The Prince de
Conti, who had been slyly chosen by the queen to sit on the
middle seat of her carriage with the minister, gave her the
slip and entered Paris a few hours before the Court, not
wishing, he said, to witness the return of a man whose
declared enemy he was. The queen, who thought it per-
missible to take advantage of all occurrences that might
present themselves, desired to lead in triumph her defeated
enemy, so that the prince's caution displeased her not a
little. When she arrived in Paris she did me the honour
to tell me, laughing, that she was in despair at not having
accomplished her innocent vengeance.
The entrance of the king on that day was a veritable
wonder, and a great victory for the minister. Never did so
great a crowd follow the king's carriage; and it seemed
amid that public gaiety as if the past was a dream. The
hated Mazarin sat in the royal carriage beside the Prince
de Cond^, attentively looked at by the people, who said to
140 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. r.
one another, as if they had never before seen him : " That
is Mazarin ! " Some, observing a carriage with the sides
carefully closed, cried out that he was within it, and in-
sisted on seeing him ; but this was more in jest than malice.
When the king and queen arrived the crowd parted the
gendarmes, the cavalry escort, and the whole suite from the
royal carriage, blessing the king and queen, and speaking
to the advantage of Mazarin. Some said he was handsome,
others held out their hands to him and assured him they
liked him much; others declared that they would go and
drink his health. After the queen had entered her apart-
ments, they began to make bonfires, blessing Mazarin for
bringing the king back to them. Privately he had dis-
tributed money among them, and that was the reason why
they now swore that he was a good man, and declared they
had been deceived into shouting against him.
The queen was enchanted with this reception. She
thought these acclamations were signs of approval due
to her firmness ; and this public rejoicing was all the more
agreeable to her because she expected less. 1 Good judg-
ment had required her return ; and the same judgment had
counselled her to trust herself wholly to the people without
precaution, in order to show them confidence and let the
enemies of the State see that neither she nor the king feared
anything. But, in truth, the day had been dreaded by the
minister, who had received many warnings (sent no doubt
by those who feared his return) that he must be upon his
guard, for the populace intended to rise on seeing him.
The queen, after her arrival, told me that she had been
surprised at the extreme gaiety of the Parisians, and had
1 Cardinal de Retz says that these acclamations signified nothing ; and
at the end of four days the songs and lampoons began again and " the
Frondeurs were more boastful than ever." FR. ED.
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 141
little expected such a fete. It is to be supposed that the
frondeurs were in despair at the change. Indifferent persons
observed it with amazement ; and all had reason to be for-
ever convinced of the fickleness of a populace, and the
facility with which it joins one set of opinions to another.
The Palais-Royal was found as full of leading personages
and people of rank as the streets were of the common
people. The king and queen were saluted by this illustrious
group, and particularly by the Due de Beaufort, whom the
Due d'Orle'ans led from the midst of the crowd into the
little cabinet. The minister was not there, having gone to
rest in his own apartments.
The Due de Beaufort, after bowing to the king, made a
compliment to the queen composed of protestations of fidelity.
She merely replied that results would convince her of the
truth of his words. The Due d'Orle'ans, who knew that the
interview ought not to last long, said aloud that the queen
must be left to rest after the fatigue she had just gone
through ; and he left the cabinet declaring that he was very
tired himself. The Prince de Cond followed him, and the
Due de Beaufort also. The queen bade a cordial good-night
to all the company, and after she was undressed and had
visited her oratory to render thanks to God for the visible
assistance she had received from His all-powerful hand, she
talked to us the whole evening with pleasure of the ap-
plause on her entry, and related the soft speeches made by
the washerwomen, the menders of old clothes, and the
market-women to her minister; which were doubtless more
agreeable to Cardinal Mazarin at that moment than those
of all the fine ladies of Europe.
The next day, the coadjutor, at the head of the clergy,
came to pay his respects to the king and queen. He made
their Majesties an harangue which showed plainly enough
142 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
by its brevity that he disliked being forced to make any at
all. He seemed confused. His audacity, boldness, and
force of mind did not prevent him from feeling on this oc-
casion the respect and fear which custom and duty have so
strongly implanted in our minds for royal personages. The
terror that remorse infallibly causes to guilty persons was
visible on his face. I was standing by the queen ; I noticed
that he turned pale and his lips trembled as long as he spoke
before the king and her. The minister, who was standing
beside the king's chair, showed a face at this meeting which
marked his victory ; no doubt he felt the joy of seeing his
enemy thus agitated.
I noticed also that the coadjutor, in spite of the great
fear that seized him, had enough pride not to look at the
cardinal ; he made his bow to the queen and king without
even glancing at him, and went away angry no doubt with
himself for having shown public signs of the trouble in his
conscience. The queen saw them with joy. That trem-
bling did honour to the firmness of her own courage, which
had steadily overcome so many obstacles ; and as I had the
honour of being beside her during the coadjutor's speech,
she made me a sign with her eye as he left her. When
bent to her she asked me if I had not thought, on observing
the face of the speaker, how fine a thing was innocence.
" His shame gave me pleasure," she said ; " and if I had
any vanity I might even say it gave me glory; but there
is no doubt," she added, " that it is very honourable to the
cardinal."
After this harangue came the parliament, the cour des
comptes, the cour des aides, the grand council, the masters
of petitions, the guild of merchants, the burghers, and all
those accustomed to salute the king whenever he returned
to Paris. All these companies testified by their words that
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 143
they were very submissive. Parliament in general seemed
to be well-intentioned ; but as it now saw that it had strength
to resist the king, and that he could not punish it in the
manner he proposed to do, the assembly felt itself in a posi-
tion to hold firm against the royal authority when it saw
fit; and there was reason to fear it was not yet inclined
to the respect and fidelity it was bound to feel. It is
only too true that the consequences of all this were bad, and
that the wrongs parliament afterwards committed against
the service of the king proceeded from this first engage-
ment, which seemed to have the colour of the public good,
while, in fact, its real source was in the passion and self-
interest of those over whom ambition had always too much
power.
The queen, being in Paris, wished to pay her first visit to
Notre-Dame, where she went to hear mass on the following
Saturday, taking with her the king. In passing through the
streets her carriage was continually followed by the popu-
lace, and all that canaille which had so failed in its duty
and respect towards her now gave her a thousand benedic-
tions. In the Marche'-N'euf the fishwomen who had screamed
the loudest against her tried to snatch her, out of affection,
from her carriage. They flung themselves hi crowds upon
her, each of these megaeras striving to touch her gown so that
she was almost torn in pieces by the villanous troop. They
shouted to her that they were glad to see her back, and begged
pardon for their faults with such cries and tears and trans-
ports of joy that the queen and all her company were
amazed, and regarded the change as a sort of miracle. In
the church it was necessary to lift the king up and show
him to the people, who, redoubling their shouts of " Vive
le Roi ! " showed how strong is the natural impression of
fidelity and love in the hearts of subjects towards their
144 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
king. It is variable and defective, but it always easily
returns.
A few days later the Due de Beaufort came to the queen's
circle to present himself to her like the rest ; but she, irri-
tated at his not having gone to see the cardinal, rose as soon
as she saw him and withdrew into her little cabinet.
The fatigues of these first days over, the queen went to
visit the Queen of England at Saint-Germain. She found
there the King of England, who was awaiting near his
mother some favourable opportunity to return to his own
country and make war upon his rebellious subjects. The
two queens had not seen each other since the deplorable
death of the King of England, which both had mourned ;
one as a beloved wife, the other as a friend. But the queen
avoided speaking to the Queen of England about her sorrows,
in order not to renew her tears; and after the first words of
grief which the occasion obliged them to say to each other,
ordinary civility and commonplace remarks made up their
interview.
The king, to awaken as much as possible the love of his
subjects towards his person, went on the day of Saint-Louis,
on horseback, to visit the Jesuit church in the Rue Saint-
Antoine. He appeared at his best with his beautiful figure
and wearing an admirably handsome suit. The Prince de
Cond^ and the Prince de Conti accompanied him on this
devotional parade, and many seigneurs followed him to take
part hi the public joy.
The cardinal, whose enemies spread it about that he dared
not leave the Palais-Royal, inspired on the same day by
policy, by courage, or by assurances that he could trust the
joy of the people, drove out hi his carriage one hour before
the king, almost alone, with two or three bishops and abbe's,
but without suite or escort, and, crossing the whole city,
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVLLLE. 145
went to await the king at the church of the Jesuits. He
received his share of the public benedictions; and before
entering the church he remained some time surrounded by
the people, to be seen by them and to prove that he had no
fear of being maltreated. The king, having arrived at the
splendid temple, had good reason to render thanks to God,
who had preserved France from the evils which had seemed
to threaten her. The minister had also good reason to give
thanks for protection against his private enemies, and for
being brought safely to a point of favourable change in his
fortunes. It would seem as though the greatest evils never
fail in being followed by favourable events. These, however,
did not last long ; and we shall see the minister again made
to feel, and very bitterly, how much the retention of lofty
offices costs the men who hold them.
The cardinal, wishing now to be absolute master of the
Court, did what he could to win over the Prince de Conti ;
but that prince, prompted by Madame de Longueville, con-
tinued in his plan of being leader of the malcontents. An
ill-intentioned prince of the blood is always to be dreaded ;
his name is a great consideration among factious minds, and
he can be the cause at all times of great evils. The queen,
from this very consideration, compelled herself to treat him
well ; she treated the others in the same way ; but it needed
all Cardinal Mazarin's earnestness to reduce her to such
dissimulation.
The minister, in spite of the vexation shown by the Prince
de Conde" at the proposal of a marriage between the Due de
Mercosur and Mile, de Mancini, resolved to conclude the
affair, and give himself, by means of his nieces, important
alliances ; his purpose was, however, not to vex the princes
of the blood ; on the contrary, he ardently desired to keep
their friendship. But he wanted to exist by himself and to
VOL. II. 10
146 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
have no further need of protectors. 1 He therefore sent Le
Tellier to the Prince de Conde* to tell him that he desired to
conclude the marriage ; that he could not refuse a prince of
such high rank who desired to become his relation, or fail
to recognize his obligation in accepting the offer. He like-
wise informed the prince that those who were his friends
and who knew the Due de Beaufort had assured him, the
cardinal, that it was the hardest blow the duke could receive,
because, to make the marriage in spite of him would prove
how little he was considered ; and, finally, he entreated the
Prince de Cond to consent and to believe it would in no
way detach him from his interests.
Le Tellier related to me how the prince answered him,
laughing and ridiculing the minister : " Ah ! monsieur, so he
is dead, that great prince whom the cardinal feared in so
strange a manner ! Truly, he is well avenged ! " Then,
after a burst of laughter, he took a tone of civility, said the
queen was mistress and could do as she pleased, the cardinal
also ; and that, having already given his consent at Compiegne,
he should not retract it.
The prince, after this, resumed the slight coldness which
had appeared in his manner of acting before his journey to
Bourgogne, and his friends went about telling everywhere
that he had reason to complain that his friendship was
despised, for which those concerned might soon repent. On
several occasions the Prince de Conde* showed his resentment
to this marriage, for, having hitherto always seemed submis-
sive to the power of the queen, he now began to show bitter-
ness about many things, and it was noticed in the council
1 Omer Talon says that " he wished to have all authority in himself,
whom he knew to be by nature weak, timid, and apprehensive ; and he
believed that if he made this marriage the house of Lorraine would unite
with that of Vend6me, adding the person of the Due d'Orteans ; and thus
the Prince de Conde" would find himself weakened." FB. ED.
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 147
that he no longer had any compliance for the minister's
opinion. The dislike he now seemed to take to the cardinal
allied him the more with Madame de Longueville because he
kept less aloof from her sentiments, while she was delighted
to see him discontented and complaining. Without her
influence the minister could have cured him easily by the
pains he took to justify himself about the cause of his vexa-
tion. But as she worked to increase it the prince remained
for some time in a state of indecision, not knowing what he
liked or what he disliked. Sometimes the minister thought
he was returning to him ; then he would turn to his brother,
the Prince de Conti, and hold conferences with the most
dangerous spirits ; he thought all things, listened to every
one, but willed nothing. I have heard a person who, as first
gentleman of the bedchamber, slept near him, say that he
was then in the greatest uneasiness of mind, vexed and dis-
satisfied with everything, because in all things he found
defects and evils.
The minister hoped, considering his conduct in the past,
that he would have great reluctance to quitting the queen's
party. Madame de Longueville and the others, judging by
the evident change now apparent in him, believed that they
already held him bound to their designs ; and with him for
their leader, they hoped for nothing less than to drive out
the minister and make themselves masters of the Court and
all favours; or else to so lessen the cardinal's power as to
make him a mere minister in appearance. To attain their
old and their new ends, they worked with all their might to
revive the malignity of parliament ; in order to bring fresh
embarrassments upon the queen, and new troubles to the
cardinal
Parliament, having on the 2d of September shown signs
of making some stir about the petitions addressed to it by
148 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
the people of Bordeaux, the queen summoned the Assembly
before her in a body. The chancellor pointed out the wrong
they did in proposing to call the Chambers together, which
was formally against what had been decreed by the last
declaration. He told them that, as the queen had no inten-
tion of breaking her word on all that she had promised, she
demanded the same fidelity from them; that the pretext
they were taking had no foundation; that the Provence
affair was settled, the peace sent to them having been pub-
licly accepted, and that the Bordeaux people should do the
same, inasmuch as the conditions sent to them by their depu-
ties were mild and reasonable. He said they ought to think
of the means of giving peace to the whole kingdom, and to
fear, even if they had the best intentions in the world, to
allow the Chambers to assemble, which would only be giving
means to those who were not wise to trouble the peace of
the State once more by their usual factions and unruliness.
The queen and the Due d'Orle'ans told them succinctly the
same things, exhorting them to do right for the king's advan-
tage and that of his subjects.
The chief-president, who on these occasions always seemed
to share the sentiments of his assembly, answered that they
were obliged to come to the help of their associates [of Bor-
deaux] ; that their purpose ought not to displease her Majesty ;
that they had no intention of failing in what they owed to the
king ; that they could, if they chose, show grounds of com-
plaint that certain points of the declaration had not been
complied with, but that they did not so choose ; and they
assured her, in general, that they were good servants of the
King and would prove it on all occasions.
Parliament, however, being ashamed to disobey the queen
at once, resolved, in spite of the cabals of certain individuals
and their secret factions, not to open the letters from Bor-
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 149
deaux except before the Grand Chamber ; and they deputed
some of their members to make this answer.
On "the 5th of September, when the king completed his
eleventh year, the city of Paris, wishing to mark the joy it
felt at his return, gave him a ball at the Hotel de Ville and
a magnificent collation. All the Court was present, by order
of the queen, and the ladies were dressed as much to their
advantage as possible. They danced till daylight, expressly
to avoid all show of fear, on the king's part, of subjects so
recently repentant. The night would have been more fa-
vourable than the day, had this fte been the pretext for some
sinister design. But as this idea was founded only on a
foresight which wisdom suggested to the queen, without any
essential foundation, she told us, to conceal these fears, that
she had ordered the attendance of the whole Court mali-
ciously, expressly to embarrass the painted ladies, some
of whom, belonging to the Fronde, displeased her.
Madame de Longueville, whose vexation at seeing the
king and'queen in Paris kept her'at Chantilly under pretence
of drinking the waters, wished to use this occasion to return
with good grace. She had reigned at the Hotel de Ville
during the siege of the city, and no doubt it was a very dis-
agreeable thing to her to see her power effaced by a greater
than her own. She desired, however, that the queen should
invite her to the ball, and she asked it through her mother,
the Princesse de Conde*, and made her other friends speak
of it. But the queen, who had no desire to treat her so
well, answered coldly that she feared to inconvenience her.
Finally the Prince de Conde* was forced to take part in the
matter, which he did in concert with the princess his mother ;
so it appeared to the public as though Madame de Longue-
ville, in spite of past divisions, was sought by the queen.
The queen, on yielding to this latter attack, did me the
150 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. y.
honour to speak of it with vexation ; she told me she was
astonished that this vainglorious Madame de Longueville
should have made such efforts to obtain so small a thing.
I agreed with her that it was this very self-glorification
which had brought Madame de Longueville to humility,
and that she had wanted this apparent coaxing in order to
let it be seen how much she was considered by all parties.
This royal fete was given and received with entire satis-
faction, as much on the side of the king, the queen, and the
whole Court as on that of the burghers. The day was tine
and cool ; the ladies were not too hot, because the windows
were open the whole time to refresh them. The king, as
was customary, danced with Mademoiselle; the Prince de
Conde" with Mademoiselle de Chevreuse; Madame was led
out by the Due de Eohan; and the Due de Mercosur, the
declared suitor of Mademoiselle de Mancini, danced with
her. The day ended with a splendid collation, and in the
evening there were fireworks which were very fine. After
that the queen took the king back to the Palais-Eoyal,
though it was still early.
While the Court thus seemed in a good state, parliament
still grumbled a little and let no occasion to do so pass.
The marriage which so displeased the Prince de Conde* went
on ; the contract was drawn up. In it the Admiralty was
promised to the Due de VendSme with survivance to his
son; and for dot, two hundred thousand crowns and the
first government that became vacant. The Prince de Cond^
said not a word about all this ; he did as the parliament did,
he grumbled on other subjects. The Due de Bouillon and
the Vicomte de Turenne continued to demand their re-
imbursement for Sedan. Hopes were held out to them of
Auvergne, Chateau-Thierry, and other towns ; but still they
did not get them. The Prince de Cond4 loudly asserted
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 151
their claims and spoke of them to the chancellor; he
was violent and swore at him, saying in a tone of great
anger that the cardinal had promised to satisfy them, and
he must do so. The Due de Longueville, who wished to
profit by his wife's intrigues, declared that he desired to
be given the Pont-de-1'Arche on the river Seine, four leagues
from Kouen. 1 The Prince made this claim his personal
affair. He spoke of it to the minister, and told the Due
de Longueville that the matter was settled, and that the
cardinal had only asked him for eight days to make the
queen consent.
Le Tellier, speaking to me one day of the submission of
mind which the queen seemed to have to the counsels of
Cardinal Mazarin, said that it was not always as great as
people imagined ; that she had many ideas of her own ; and
that she saw clearly that the conduct of her minister was
bad in certain things; she saw that he made persons lan-
guish for rewards, and for that reason he had few friends
even among those who received them, while all those whom
he had bound to him by half-promises long-delayed were
his enemies; that these methods made him lose many
followers ; that he never was able to determine on any-
thing ; that he did not take precautions enough against the
hatred of his enemies, while he did not care enough for his
friends. He assured me that she had often commanded
him to warn the cardinal of his faults, in order that he
might correct them and by thus changing his ways pacify
the mutterings of those who, with some reason, complained
of him.
But though the queen did not approve of all her minister's
1 He also demanded eight hundred thousand livres ; but this seeming
too hard a proposal he reduced it to four hundred thousand, which the
cardinal promised him. FK. ED.
152 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
conduct, she never openly made any complaint against him
except such as were founded on his too great gentleness
and the fact that he pardoned too easily. She thought
herself obliged to sustain him. She feared to weaken her-
self by weakening him.
It seems to me appropriate to relate on this subject a
conversation that Commandeur de Jars and I had with her
about this time, which agrees with what Le Tellier told
me. The queen, speaking to us one evening of public
affairs, came down to private ones, and to details about
persons, and said to us : " You see, people are much mis-
taken when they think that the regard we have for those
whom we trust has the power to hide from us their defects.
I know them very clearly; but as no one is exempt from
faults, I excuse them. I am sorry ; but I do not love them
less if I find in them the principal things, of which fidelity
and security are the chief. I am satisfied with those, and
I bear the rest. I have even this feeling for such persons
I dislike to make known their defects, or complain of the
faults they commit with good intentions and from their
natural temper, of which they are not the masters."
I am not convinced that the queen, so equitable in her
feeling, then knew all that was blamable in the soul of
Cardinal Mazarin. I think she often had moments of great
discernment about him, and that she did not always approve
of his conduct or of all his actions ; nevertheless, her kind-
ness excused them, understanding well that no man is per-
fect. But her perceptions and her reflections were somewhat
obscured by the pains he took to preserve her esteem, and
because the visible iniquity which persecuted him made
her regard him as the victim of evils which always accom-
pany the minority of kings. She believed that he bore upon
his shoulders unjustly the hatred of those who were envious
1649J MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 153
of his place and favour, rather than of those who sincerely
condemned his faults; and pity, as much as reason and
justice, had much to do with her constancy.
It may be said, moreover, and with truth, in order to make
known the queen's sentiments on the matter, that she was
not altogether blind in the confidence she thus placed in her
minister ; and remarks which I have made elsewhere will
prove it. Those who saw the cardinal in private told me
that the queen's firmness (from which he received all his
power and all his glory) displeased him at times when she
was necessary and could be advantageous to him; that he
complained of it to them, saying she hampered him in mat-
ters that she thought useful for the service of God, the
authority of the king, or to public or private welfare ; that
he dreaded the opposition she made to him in such encoun-
ters, and that she paid too much attention to what pious
people said to her; that she was stubborn, and made him
uneasy every time he had to oppose her opinion on things
that touched her heart regarding her conscience and the
king's interests. These complaints began with his rise to
favour, and they increased as the queen became less lazy
and more perceptive of the welfare of the State and what
her virtue required of her.
The Prince de Conde* now began to give trouble to
Cardinal Mazarin by demanding the Pont-de-1'Arche, and
already the minister had placed that affair among those that
the queen would not consent to. It is easy to see, from her
natural feelings, that she could not have liked the proposal ;
and it would have been advantageous to her and her minister
if the Prince de Cond had been able to see that the diffi-
culty was as real as it actually was, and if he could have
understood that he was refused by her rather than by the
minister. During the siege of Paris the Due de Longueville
154 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVTLLE. [CHAP. v.
had asked for this place. The minister, who always promised
readily provided there was time to deliberate on the fulfil-
ment of his promises, had replied to the Prince de Conde",
when speaking of other concessions to be made at that time,
that this particular favour could be easily granted. After
this species of consent, the prince, discontented with the
cardinal, and reconciled with his family, pressed him on the
matter, and drew from him a more positive promise. He
now wanted its fulfilment, and the cardinal would not
satisfy him, because, he said, the queen resisted it.
Here, then, was the prince, excited by himself and his
whole family. He talked as a master, and showed both
spite and arrogance to the cardinal. The latter answered in
self-defence that the place was of such consequence that
it rendered the Due de Longueville absolute master of Nor-
mandy, and that he, having the honour to be prime-minister,
to whom the king and queen had consigned the care of
the interests of the State, was compelled to defend them.
As the minister repeatedly answered the solicitations of the
prince with these reasons, the latter, unable to bear any
longer that he should dare to talk to him of the strength he
showed in defending the State he, whom he had seen so
feeble and had so often maintained by his own protection
turned the subject to scorn, and ridiculing his assumption of
strength on this occasion said as he left him, " Adieu,
Mars ! " and went off to boast to his family of the speech as
if it were worthy to be immortalized.
The minister felt the insult ; the whole Court was stirred
up by the quarrel, and each man formed designs of his own
on the prince's displeasure ; the frondeurs waked up, they
were not fast asleep; the parliament made a commotion;
and the Court, as a consequence of the discord, broke up
into cliques. The uneasiness was great among the false
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 155
friends of the minister. The benefits they had received from
him obliged them in honour to stand by his interests ; but
they were in despair at not being able to drop them, and
they began to cast about for some means to get rid of them.
They imagined that, as the cardinal already had the hatred
of the whole kingdom, he could not exist if he lost the
friendship of the Prince de Cond^, and that it was a bad
omen for them that the royal blood abandoned him.
The queen, following her natural bent, which was always
towards firmness, was as vigilant, as strong, and as confident
in herself as usual, and said openly that she would not give
the Pont-de-1'Arche to the Due de Longueville ; that to do
so would be contrary to all the maxims of the State ; and
she did not care what might happen, provided she did her
duty.
That resolution was praiseworthy, and the minister did
his duty also in refusing the place to the Prince de Conde*,
and using the reasons of the queen to avoid making the gift.
But he did not see that he was in too great a state of weak-
ness himself to dare the anger of a prince of the blood dur-
ing a regency, which naturally diminishes the royal power,
and increases that of the princes. We shall therefore see
him, in this as in so many other occasions, compelled to
yield to then: power and advise the queen, against her
will and his, to let herself be vanquished. We shall also
see, soon after, that it is dangerous for the princes of the
blood to offend kings, who are often obliged to strike great
blows to maintain then- authority ; and dangerous likewise
to their ministers to lightly promise favours of great impor-
tance to persons of a rank and quality to hold them to their
word.
For two or three days, the queen, the Prince de Conde', and
the minister looked at one another with embarrassment.
156 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
One day, however, the Prince and the cardinal talked to-
gether at the council for some time ; but only on indifferent
subjects. When the queen was obliged by decorum to
answer the prince, she did so civilly, but without continuing
a subject, and she avoided in every way being drawn into
speaking of this affair.
At last, on the 14th of September, Le Tellier went to the
prince on behalf of the cardinal, to inform him that he
had again spoken to the queen of his claim, and her
Majesty, knowing of what importance the place was, could
not consent to its remaining in the power of the Due de
Longueville, because she feared that the king her son would
some day blame her for it; consequently he, the cardinal,
was constrained to tell the prince he was unable to influence
her mind, and he begged him to consider these reasons and
not think harm of his inability to serve him on this
occasion.
The prince replied to the ambassador that he begged him
to go and tell the cardinal that he would no longer be
his friend ; that he held himself insulted by this failure of
his promise, and was resolved not to endure it ; 1 that he
would never see him again except at the council ; and that,
instead of the protection he had hitherto given him, he
would henceforth be his declared enemy. On receiving this
answer the cardinal sent word to the prince that he thought
it very strange he should allow himself to be governed by
his sister and his brother, the Prince de Conti, after what he
1 Not only had Mazarin promised Pont-de-1'Arche and four hundred
thousand livres to the Prince de Conde, but he had given him that promise
in writing. Conde* had sent the paper to the agents of M. de Longueville,
declaring that he himself was satisfied with the simple word of the car-
dinal. The minister first said that only the four hundred thousand livres
were promised ; and then that the written promise did not bind the queen.
Hence Condi's violent anger. FR. ED.
1649] MEMOIKS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 15?
himself told him concerning them ; but that, as for him, the
cardinal, he was always at the prince's service. This reply
displeased the prince; who did not like to have it thought
that he let himself be governed. But it was pleasing to
Madame de Longueville, as a plain and public sign of the
power she was beginning to have over him.
And now the whole Court, on this outburst, rushed to the
presence of the Prince de Conde*. The frondeurs were en-
chanted to think him their leader, and to hope that they might
some day fight beneath his banner. They did not doubt that
with him they could overturn France as they pleased, and the
illusion gave them pleasure. Some, even, of those who held
the highest offices in the king's household, crown officers,
went to see him; and the small number of the apparently
faithful who refrained from going did not love him less. The
persons attached to the Due d'Orle'ans followed the example
of the others, and gave as their excuse that the Prince de
Conde* was their master's relative. Those who were attached
to the king and queen alleged, for their justification, that the
king and herself were neutral ; that the quarrel was a private
one between the prince and the minister; that they were
good servants to their Majesties ; that if the Prince de Conti
made a party they would immediately abandon him; but,
matters remaining as they were, they could not fail to offer
their services to the first prince of the blood.
Their proceeding, nevertheless, was blamable. This quar-
rel was that of the king and queen ; right and reason were
on the side of the regent and her minister. But there were
few virtuous enough to be true to their duty ; and those
whom honour and integrity held in this condition said little,
hesitated between the two sides, remained ambiguous, and
declared for neither.
Among those who said they belonged to the party and
158 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAI-. v
friends of the minister, two had to justify themselves to him
for having visited the Prince de Conde'. Their excuse was
that they merely saw him, and did not speak to him or offer
him their services. These two were the Due de Candale and
Jarze*. The latter had said at the house of the Prince de
Conde", speaking of the minister, that he was very lofty and
showed by his indifference that he feared nothing. The car-
dinal did, in fact, put a good face upon the matter ; and when
any one made him speeches on the subject, he answered
coldly that he had no enemies ; that he desired to serve the
Prince de Conde*, and was sorry for his displeasure ; that the
queen was the one who would not grant what he asked ; and
that persons would give him pleasure by making him no
offers on the subject. He said, moreover, that he took
no stand against the prince, to whom he was under obliga-
tions ; and having for protectors the king and queen he
feared nothing.
Many of the ambiguously faithful worked for peace;
among them the Due de Rohan, who was under equal obli-
gations to the Prince de Condd and the minister, and, wish-
ing to stand well with both, desired to see them reconciled.
But a greater voice than all these was needed for success
that of self-interest, the master of the Court.
The Abbe* de La Riviere, in order to force the cardinal to
support his nomination in Rome, and also for the good of the
State, urged his master, the Due d'Orle'ans, to work for peace.
Monsieur, left to his own feelings, seeing the minister in a
bad position, would have been willing enough to abandon
him ; and hi that case would have sought to put a follower
of his own in his place. He feared that by supporting the
cardinal any longer he should himself share the hatred of the
public and that of all honest men throughout the kingdom,
who, without any real foundation of right or justice, made
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 159
profession of despising the cardinal. But his favourite, the
abbe*, did not like the frondeurs. He feared the empire they
might easily obtain over the mind of his master if he once
entered into their sentiments. He told him (as he himself
related to me) that it was dangerous to allow the Prince de
Conde* to form such high designs ; that in course of time all
France would be for him, and it was therefore better to let
him live at Court and keep his, the Due d'Orle'ans', superiority
over him than to let him form a great party, the evils of
which might lead to the worst extremities. He made the
duke at last understand that, under the present state of
things, he ought to support the minister.
The Prince de Condd, whose inclination had no leaning to
civil war, knowing of the Due d'Orleans' intention, went to see
him and was a long time shut up in private with him. The
duke entreated the prince not to allow a party to be formed
of the factious, unruly spirits who already surrounded him ;
he conjured him to prefer the public peace to his private
feelings. The Prince de Conde" promised to avoid for several
days these useless demonstrations ; he placed his interests in
the duke's hands, and together they gave a commission to the
Abbe" de La Eiviere to bring about a peace.
Madame de Longueville and the Prince de Conti did not
wish for peace. They had great designs, which perhaps made
them dream of becoming what Madame de Beaujeu and her
husband had formerly been under Charles VIII., when they
drove out the Due d'Orle'ans and governed the State as they
pleased for a long course of years. When they saw that a
negotiator was chosen they offered him secretly, as he told
me later, to establish him as prime minister in place of the
cardinal if he would join with them and persuade his master
to consent to the ruin of the man they desired to be rid of.
The Abbe* de La Eiviere would not listen to this proposal ;
160 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
he professed to love the State ; he may also have thought
that not being cardinal as yet he could not maintain himself
in so high an office. He was afraid, seeing the impossibility
of harmonizing the interests of his master with the ambition
of u Madame de Longueville, that the Prince de Conti might,
in order to make their agreement null, again take from him
his nomination for the hat. In the midst of such perils he
was wise enough to wish to avoid them alL
September 15th, the Prince de Cond came to see the
queen, followed by a great troop of courtiers. He was a long
time with her, and the minister was present. Their talk
was of common things, but the prince addressed the cardinal
once or twice, a sign of some relenting. The next day, Sep-
tember 16, he came to the council, where he talked to the
Due d'Orle'ans of his claims, affecting to speak very loud in
order that the queen might hear him. He begged Monsieur
to remember that the Pont-de-1'Arche had been promised to
him by the minister with his consent ; and, that being so, he
was obliged to maintain his own interests.
After he left the council, long conversations were held be-
tween the queen, the Due d'Orle'ans, the minister, the Abb
de la Riviere, and Le Tellier. It was then that measures
were taken to appease the quarrel which were much to the
disadvantage of the king and queen. The latter, in spite of
her high-minded sentiments, had the mortification of being
forced to unsay all her protestations that she would never
give that place to the Due de Longueville. She ought not
to be blamed for this ; she maintained the king's interests
as long as it was possible for her to do so, but she was aban-
doned by all those who might have supported her. Cardinal
Mazarin dared not speak against the Prince de Cond^ ; and
the Due d'Orle'ans, under advice of the Abbe" de La Riviere,
was of opinion that the prince should be satisfied. With
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 161
such support the claimant was so strong that it was impossi-
ble to refuse him. 1
The cardinal resolved, therefore, to satisfy the prince's
claims, seeing the many embarrassments he would have upon
his shoulders if he resisted any longer. He desired no
greater good at this moment than to avoid present perils and
reach the king's majority, to which he looked as the remedy
for all his woes. So that Le Tellier, who knew him perfectly,
used to say of him that he thought only of getting through
each day as he lived it.
When the Prince de Conde* had accepted the gift now
made to him he went at once to the Due d'Orldans to thank
him. Then he followed him to the queen, to whom he gave
the thanks he owed for such a present. She at once com-
manded that the minister should be summoned to take part
in the reconciliation and in the conversation, which was
public, sufficiently civil on the part of the prince, and entirely
submissive on that of the cardinal. The Mardchal de Ville-
roy, after a while, drew the Prince de Conde" aside and asked
him if he was satisfied ; whether anything remained in his
heart that might trouble the Court in future ; and whether
the marriage of the Due de Mercosur still displeased him ;
begging him to answer frankly, because it was useless to
have granted him the other favours he had asked if they
could not produce the entire harmony that the cardinal
desired to renew with him. The prince replied, as the
marechal told me on the same day, that he was satisfied ;
and as for the marriage, whether it displeased him or not,
having given his consent thereto he should not complain of
1 According to Guy-Joly, the understanding was so good between the
Due d'Orleans and the Prince de Conde on this affair, that at supper they
pelted each other with oranges ; and he adds that a story was current that
the two princes sent a letter to the cardinal thus directed : A I'illustrissimo
Signor Facquino. FR. ED.
TOL. H. 11
162 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
it ; and as for himself, he should always be ready to render
to the queen the respect he felt that he owed to her.
Though these words seemed to cover a certain secret dis-
satisfaction, they would doubtless have been followed by no
ill-effects if the prince had not had a sister. But he was so
powerfully urged by that princess that the queen's benefac-
tion, which he knew she had granted against her will, only
served to give him a stronger liking for that tyranny. The
marriage of the Due de Mercceur and Mademoiselle Mancini,
which would otherwise not have angered him, was the pre-
text Madame de Longueville now used to keep alive his ill-
will to the cardinal.
The queen did me the honour to say to me on that same
day, as I was telling her of some remarks made by the fol-
lowers of the Prince de Conde', that he had never expressed
to her any aversion to that marriage ; but at any rate she
was not obliged to follow blindly all his fancies; she in-
tended to conclude the marriage, and she now saw by the
dislike every one had to it how advantageous it would be to
the cardinal. The queen saw clearly that her minister was
hated, inasmuch as she admitted herself that what was a
great good to him was thought a great evil by those who
composed her Court. She knew that this hatred was unjust,
and that the Prince de Cond4, who could not reasonably ask
her minister not to give his niece to the Due de Mercoeur,
owed him at least some gratitude for his respectful submis-
sion. It was indeed great, for had it not made the cardinal
say he preferred the prince's friendship to the advantages of
his family and his personal interests ?
VI.
1649.
THE cardinal, whose mind was full of ideas, and who well
knew how to turn himself to all sides, now made some of his
confidants speak privately to Madame de Longueville. He
assured her that he desired to be her friend, and to acquire
her good-will he was ready to do all that was possible to sat-
isfy her. The proposition was pleasantly received. She was
working only to gain influence and she thought she might
hope for it in this direction. The Due d'0rle"ans and the
Prince de Conde* each wanted for himself more power.
Madame de Longueville and the Prince de Conti also wanted
for themselves to have a share in favour. All, in conse-
quence of the minister's position, believed they could reach
then- ends better through him than through others. Thus it
was not distasteful to them to leave him where he was, pro-
vided he was willing to satisfy their desires ; and from the
difficulties they found in getting rid of him they passed
easily to an intention of enduring him in office, on condition
of getting out of him all they wanted. The cardinal, slyer
than the others, hi order to gain time worked, on his side, to
convince them by these very reasons which seemed so op-
posed to him ; and he let them know by persons who seemed
to be their friends, that it would be more convenient for all
to leave him to enjoy the advantages his favour gave him,
because another than he would use that favour with more
arrogance.
164 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEV1LLE. [CHAP. vi.
While Cardinal Mazarin was thinking of his own preser-
vation, the queen fell ill, no doubt from vexation at seeing
no end to these quarrels, in spite of all she had done to pacify
them. She vomited bile and had even a little fever, and was
several days without seeing any but those whom she could
not dismiss. During this time she received the Due de
Longueville, who had been sent for to make his acknowledg-
ments for the promise of the Pont-de-1'Arche. As he knew
that this gift had been made to him in spite of the queen's
wishes, his compliments were succinct, and the queen on her
side treated him coldly. He promised, however, to do what
he could to soften the Prince de Conde* ; but it is to be sup-
posed that he did not take much pains to persuade him, for
if that prince of the blood had been really pacific, the duke
would not have had what he had just obtained through his
arrogance.
The lawless schemes of Madame de Longueville were the
real source of all these evils. She was not altogether con-
tent with what she had done. To satisfy her wholly (in
addition to this place thus given to her), the Prince de
Marsillac must be honoured, and it was at this crisis that
she obtained the tabouret for his wife and the right for him-
self to enter the courtyard of the Louvre in his coach.
These advantages put him above the dukes and on a level
with the princes, although he was neither the one nor the
other. He did not come of a sovereign family ; he was only
a nobleman, and his father the Due de La Eochefoucauld
was not dead. But he was sufficiently grand seigneur and
had enough consideration in the great world to be able to
maintain his foolish visions.
Madame de Longueville had raised to the rank of being
one of her best friends Madame de Pons, daughter of Du
Vigean and widow of M. de Pons, who claimed to belong
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 165
to the illustrious house of d'Albret. This lady was suffi-
ciently amiable, civil, and worthy in her behaviour. All the
wit she possessed was employed in flattery. She was not in
the least handsome, but she had a very pretty figure and
a fine bust. She pleased by her reiterated flattery, which
brought her friends and false commenders, while the friend-
ship of Madame de Longueville, openly shown, gave her
influence. The Abbe* de La Eiviere had for some time past
attached himself to her by ties of inclination and policy.
For, regarding Madame de Longueville as a person who
made a great figure at Court, he thought that Madame de
Pons might be useful to him in pressing his claim for a
cardinal's hat. He thought it very useful to gain a friend
near the princess who would support his interests, and serve
him as means to negotiate through her any matters that
might turn up.
Madame de Pons was as shrewd and ambitious as she
was adulating. She was not, any more than the Prince de
Marsillac, ducal or princely. But her late husband was
loved by those who called themselves of the true house of
d'Albret, and he had left her enough title, even if chimerical,
to aspire to that prerogative. She asked the minister that
the queen should grant her the tabouret ; l and the friendship
of Madame de Longueville who protected her, joined to that
of the Abbe* de La Eiviere, who negotiated this affair, were
causes powerful enough to obtain for her what she wanted.
It was this that caused the false show of peace, which was
only a truce in the veritable quarrel. It was this that made
the Due d'Orle'ans say, a few days earlier, that all things
1 This question of tabourets, which stirred the heart of the Court and
the whole nobility, was nothing less than the elevation to princely rank
of all to whom the queen granted the tabouret. This honour belonged at
that time to none but princes of the blood, bastards of the kings of
France, and to the houses of Savoie and Lorraine. FK. ED.
166 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. n.
would now be harmonized ; and it was this, in conclusion,
that was one of the sources of the troubles that have since
assailed the Court.
As soon as these great points regarding the Prince de
Marsillac and Madame de Pons were granted, the Prince de
Conde* became mild and tractable. He seemed to wish to
render to the queen the respect he owed her ; he submitted
without reserve to all her wishes; and the Abbe* de La
Kiviere, speaking to the queen before me of this affair, told
her he had exacted from the Prince de Conde* that he
would be reconciled to the cardinal without stipulations of
any kind, and remain his friend in the future ; and that the
prince had sincerely promised it. The prince himself said
the same to her ; he assured her of his fidelity, embraced the
minister and promised him his friendship, protesting that he
wished to support his interests. Thus there seemed to be
in all minds a general satisfaction. There was only one
reserve, namely : that the Prince de Conde*, promising every-
thing for himself, would not answer positively for the Prince
de ContL But this gave no anxiety to the minister, because
he believed he had satisfied Madame de Longueville, and
imagined that the disgust the Prince de Condd had felt at
the conduct, of his brother in leaving him to enter Paris at
the time of the blockade was the cause of this reserve.
The queen was semi-contented in the thought that after
so many troubles she might hope for some repose. The
minister was satisfied in beholding so large a number of
enemies the less. The Abbe* de La Kiviere regarded this
general conciliation as the work of his hands. Madame de
Longueville's desires and those of the Prince de Marsillac
were fulfilled, and seeing themselves masters of the Court
they had almost nothing to wish for, except the duration of
their success. But the frondeurs and the malcontents were
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 167
desperate at seeing the great schism end in so trifling a
manner, and their own scheme vanish like smoke.
The stars then ruling were too contrary to peace to leave
the Court long at rest. The calm did not last long. It was
almost immediately broken by the resentment that all the
Court people felt against the two tabourets. All who bear
the name of d'Albret, if they have a true right to it, count
kings among their ancestors; and besides this, many other
great families in France claim high prerogatives. That of
La Eochefoucauld is ancient and illustrious, but the sons
of dukes had never had these advantages; and the whole
noblesse felt itself affronted by the present preference.
Every individual looked in his title-deeds for claims to the
rank of princes, and for ancient alliances which might serve
to raise them to it. In the multitude of great seigneurs
who filled the Court there was not one who did not feel that
he could be a prince as well as the two now raised to that
dignity. The dukes and marshals of France, wishing to
overthrow the new rank of the Prince de Marsillac and
Madame de Pons, said they were themselves the grandees
of the kingdom, and while they did not oppose the tabourets
without duchies which had just been bestowed, they wished
to be treated in the same manner, and that their children
should have the same rank before inheriting their duchies
as had now been bestowed on the Prince de Marsillac.
The queen, who hated the Prince de Marsillac and cared
nothing for Madame Pons, listened placidly to the complaints
of the nobles. But as she had hoped by this very means to
re-establish peace at Court, the same reason obliged her to
maintain what she had done. One evening a person present
[the Commandeur de Jars] told her of the uproar against
the new tabourets. She answered that an outcry was always
made against everything ; that the patents of the new dukes,
168 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. YL
which she had granted some years earlier, had made the
same uproar; this was the same thing and would subside
as easily. She was mistaken ; for while kings can raise
to the highest .dignities private individuals, it being reasonable
that our masters should choose those who please them most
and favour them, to bestow the rank of princes is a very
different matter, and affronts the great families who have
equal claims to it. The queen now learned on this occasion
that kings cannot always do what they please, and that
certain rules must be observed by them, or they fall into
great embarrassments.
This general dissatisfaction gave rise to an assembly of
the nobles, which proved strong enough to destroy the new
tabourets and annul the important negotiation just concluded.
The Marquis de Coeuvres, son of Mare'chal d'Estrdes, the
Marquis de Leuville, and some others proposed to complain
to the queen, and resolved to assemble. They met at the
house of the Marquis de Montglat, grand-master of the ward-
robe, where ten or a dozen gentlemen of rank were present.
It was there proposed to elect a leader to present their
reasons, and the Mare'chal de l'H6pital was chosen for that
employment. He willingly consented, for he was ill-pleased
that other marshals of France had received dukedoms,
while he, who was one of the oldest marshals and had
formerly served the State well, had nothing.
Many persons of rank joined this company, Saint-Luc,
Saint-Mesgrin, Brancas, and many others. They went,
the same day, to the queen, who was in her circle and
knew nothing of their intentions. At first she was much
astonished to see the nobles arrive in a body with a leader
at their head. They filled her cabinets; and even those
who were most nearly attached to her were there with the
rest: the Commandeur de Jars, de Souvre', and the chief
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVELLE. 169
officers of the king were all present. They were quite
convinced that she did not care much to maintain the
favours she had granted more from policy than inclination ;
in fact they believed, with some foundation, that they were
giving her a species of pleasure.
As she saw among this troop many of those whom she
liked the most, she received it gently, merely replying that
she would consider what she had better do. Their supplica-
tions had the success they hoped for; that is to say, their
complaints, coming from a cause for which she and her
minister had no liking, did not displease her. And those
who made them were able to hope that the tabourets, given
only by compulsion, might be revoked by her in a way that
should give the Prince de Condd no right to complain.
This news, spread about Paris, gave great joy to those who
loved order and those who loved disorder. Wise men thought
it was right to oppose the unbridled ambition of private indi-
viduals ; the others rejoiced in general over the revolt of the
nobles. The Prince de Cond was blamed for giving his
protection to chimerical pretensions which affronted all
persons of high rank ; Madame de Longueville was assailed
by slander; and the Abbe" de La Eiviere was lashed with
invective, threatened, and treated as a favourite is when
hated from envy. He was a man of low birth, and among
some good qualities he had certain bad ones.
The next day this troop of nobles assembled again to con-
sider the best means of sustaining themselves. They wished
to avoid the mortification of failing in their purpose, and
desired that their party should be so well constructed that
it could not fail in its effect. Unless they possessed that ad-
vantage, they did not wish to affront the Prince de Conde*
and acquire his ill-will uselessly. Accordingly they deputed
eight of their number to visit the Due d'0rle*ans and entreat
170 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
him very humbly to consider the justice of their complaints.
These eight deputies were Saint-Luc, Saint-Mesgrin, Mani-
camp,the Marquis de Coeuvres, Villarceaux, Fosseuse, Leuville,
and the Commandeur de Souvre*. Monsieur replied that the
queen and the Prince de Cond4 had wished what had been
done, and that, as for him, he took no part in it.
From there they went to pay their respects to the Prince
de Conde", who received them rather coldly. He told them
that the queen and Monsieur were the ones who had favoured
the affair ; that, as for him, he had only given his vote with
the rest ; but being bound, by many reasons, to keep to it, he
was amazed that his friends should wish to give him annoy-
ance by opposing his plans with tumults and public meetings
which would surely bring upon him the hatred of the nobles.
He said he could bear this patiently from those who had
never promised him their friendship ; but as for those whom
he had believed to be his friends, he would never forgive
them.
The Due de Beaufort, who delighted in all that could em-
broil the Court, wishing to please this assembly, sent one of
his gentlemen to offer them his services, either as their leader,
if they thought him worthy, or as a comrade, ready to enter
into all their interests. They thanked him civilly, and
deputed some of their number to return their formal thanks,
but without accepting his offers ; because they did not want
the princes, and still less the leader of the frondeurs, lest the
queen should be made to think they had thoughts very
different from their really innocent actions.
Under the first feelings of anger and excitement which
those who composed the assembly had about the tabourets,
some of them proposed to send deputies to the Abbe* de La
Riviere to tell him the wrong he had done to all of them by
making his master agree to an affair so against the interests
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 171
of people of rank. Their intention was to mingle with this
remonstrance a few words of insult, but their companions
diverted the storm. The abbe' told them that he had only
done as he. did to oblige Miossens, brother-in-law of Madame
de Pons ; and that the Prince de Condd and Madame de
Longueville having already asked the queen for a patent for
the Prince de Marsillac, he had thought that he ought to
serve his friend on this occasion. But that if the Prince de
Cond^, in consideration of their complaints, gave up the
point as to Marsillac, he would willingly ask his master to
do the same in regard to Madame de Pons, as he had no
wish to displease the public for the sake of individuals.
The Prince de Cond^, on hearing of this answer, reproached
the abbs', telling him that he threw the whole assembly on
his shoulders, and assuring him, half-laughing, that it would
have been a glorious distinction to share anything with him,
even the hatred of the nobles. However, the prince, who
was not easy to astound, was a good deal surprised when he
saw that in spite of the declaration he had made against
those of his friends who joined in this assembly, very few of
them quitted it. He openly complained to Jarze", who, know-
ing well that he had displeased him, went to see him. He
shut himself up with the prince, as he told me himself, and
represented to him that every one was amazed that, for a
friend of his brother and sister who was none of his, he was
willing to draw upon himself the ill-will of so many honour-
able men and persons of rank. He told me that the prince
replied in a kindly tone : " You are right, my poor Jarze* ;
but I am resolved never to disunite myself from my family.
I know my strength when I have them on my side ; and you
have now only to choose between my friendship or my
enmity."
Jarze*, who did not want to lose the good graces of the
172 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
prince, answered that inasmuch as he must take a side, he
should quit that of the nobles, and would rather renounce
the rank of nobility than that of the prince's follower. As
no one liked him, because he was by nature brusque, con-
ceited, satirical, and frivolous, those whom he thus abandoned
did not spare him ; they all took this occasion to insult him
in their usual manner, which went far beyond the justice that
honourable men owe to one another.
I wish to neither blame nor approve the sarcasms which
were launched against Jarze" ; but he might be defended on
this occasion for preferring the friendship of a great prince
to a public interest, which would have been considered a
grand thing in a Roman, though a small thing in a French-
man. But it must be owned that Jarze*, in nearly all the
occasions of his life, could be blamed without injustice;
because, lacking judgment, his conduct was defective in
every way. He showed this only too plainly in his attach-
ment to the Prince de Conde* ; for he was the cause, to a cer-
tain degree, of many of the evils which, without him, might
never have happened to that great prince.
The princes [not those of the blood] also assembled at the
hotel de Chevreuse, because they were shocked by the Due
de Bouillon and his brother the Mare"chal de Turenne at-
tempting to obtain their rank. The real princes determined
to unite with the nobles in opposing the elevation of that
family and all others who were endeavouring by intrigues to
take precedence with them. The Due de Vend6me was
deputed to inform the queen of then: intention, and to en-
treat her very humbly not to think it wrong that they should
try to preserve the advantages which their birth conferred
upon them.
This union was by no means displeasing to the minister.
He saw with joy that the Prince de Conti and Madame de
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 173
Longueville, protectors of the Prince de Marsillac, the Prince
de Conde*, protector of the Due de Bouillon, and the Abbe*
de La Kiviere, that of Madame de Pons, were about to be
hated by the princes and nobles, and he liked the opposition
which was now being made to ambitious dreams which could
only bring trouble to the Court. The queen, who at first
wished, out of caution, to maintain the new tabourets, now
followed her inclination and the sentiments of her minister,
and did not disagree with what he did ; in the evenings, at
her coucher she allowed those who were most vehement
against the false princes to speak to her freely against them.
Politicians said that the queen ought to take this occa-
sion to draw to her all the nobles by openly favouring them
against the Prince de Condd. But the cardinal, who did not
want to offend the latter, kept silence, convinced that such
reserve would only produce good effects for himself, held
himself still, and was pleasant to all.
After various negotiations on both sides the Prince de
Conti, who had not yet seemed entirely reunited to the
queen, resolved to be reconciled to the cardinal, or at least
to pretend to be. The Due d'Orle'ans presented him to the
queen, answered for his attachment to the king's service,
and assured her that in future he would be wholly among
the friends of the cardinal. The Abbe* de La Eiviere, who
had procured this union through that which he had sought
to have with Madame de Longueville, was the cause of his
master's consenting to be the mediator of this peace ; and
the reconciliation seemed likely, judging by the words that
all sides said to one another, to be very sincere and durable.
But people of this kind are not accustomed to respect
fidelity and make a virtue of it ; as a usual thing dissimula-
tion is one of their finest qualities. Madame de Longueville
was a party to the reconciliation which, so far as she was
174 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. n.
concerned, was a confirmation of the first. The cardinal
made her great protestations of services ; and the princess,
on her side, promised him her friendship, assured him that
she wished to be his friend, and that she should never join
again in anything that was contrary to his interests, or dis-
please the queen by any of her actions. And for some time
she said publicly that having done her best to get the minis-
ter dismissed, the difficulties had disgusted her, she was
weary of intrigue, and should now think only of amusing
herself. This reunion of the royal family seemed to presage
some repose ; but the only effect that it really produced was
to delay the marriage of the Due de Mercoeur.
The Due d'Orle'ans, to avoid the hatred of the nobles,
resolved to abandon the matter of the tabourets. His favour-
ite consented to this because he preferred to keep friends in
the kingdom rather than serve the interests of Miossens and
Madame de Pons only. He liked the lady as a person
who pleased him and might be useful to his interests ; and
Miossens as an honourable man and his friend ; but he cared
too much for himself to risk his fortunes to please them.
The Due d'Orle'ans accordingly notified the assembly of the
nobles that he would not disoblige them, either as a body or
as private individuals ; and so doing he did what the queen
might have done herself in order to win their good-will.
She was prevented by the shrewd calculation of the cardinal,
who was convinced that the contrary action was necessary
to his preservation, which he considered as much as he did
that of the State.
Parliament, in spite of its professions, did not cease to give
certain little signs of its ill-will. It protected the people of
Bordeaux, whose revolt was gathering fresh force instead of
diminishing. Many reasonable men declared that the gov-
ernor, the Due d'fipernon, by nature violent, had drawn upon
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 175
himself the hatred of these rebels, which had some founda-
tion, and that the people of Bordeaux were not altogether
wrong in resisting him and demanding another governor.
According to all laws of equity and justice our kings ought
not to send tyrants to govern their people; they are their
fathers as well as their masters, and ought to guard them
against the oppression and malice of those who rule them
under their authority. But it is true that the city of Bor-
deaux has always been seditious and rebellious, and that its
inhabitants, who are distant from Court and have long obeyed
English laws, are easily excited to revolt.
The queen and her council had lately thought it advisable
to send the Mare'chal Du Plessis to devise some remedy for
their disobedience. But when the marshal saw the condi-
tion of their minds, he wrote to the queen that matters were
in so bad a state that he believed they could be remedied
only by the presence of a large army, which would give the
Due d'fipernon the means of avenging himself amply. He
also informed the queen that he had not thought proper to
enter the city, because the burghers would not agree to a
cessation of the riot in order to receive him. They had, in
fact, threatened to stone de 1'Isle, lieutenant of the body-
guards, who had lately carried to Bordeaux some orders from
the king; which shows clearly the disorder and rebellion
of this province, and the little inclination it had to peace.
The assembly of the nobles continued, and now grew for-
midable even to those to whom it was not displeasing. On
the 4th of October, the Mare'chal de I'HSpital, who, as I have
said, was its leader, presented to the queen a memorial on
behalf of this body, in which all its reasons were distinctly
written. From the demands it made it was easy to infer
that this affair might become a thing of great ulterior conse-
quences. Many mischievous spirits were in it, with designs
176 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
that were dangerous to the State, and to the minister in par-
ticular. Certain members, who, like Brutus and Cassius,
were friends of liberty, and consequently opposed to the
power of favourites, and even to the monarchy, demanded
the convocation of the States-general, in order that the out-
rages committed against the laws of the State should be
remedied by that body.
These propositions, which always serve as a pretext for
disloyalty, alarmed the Due d'Orle'ans, the Prince de Conde",
and the minister ; for none of them desired to tread the path
of reformation. They resolved, in the council, to leave the
nobles to hope for the revocation of the patents of which
they complained; and the Due d'Orle'ans, as he left the
queen's presence, said aloud that the matter must be post-
poned till the king's majority.
In spite of this, the Due de VendSme was deputed to visit
the assembly of nobles on behalf of the princes. He spoke
with eloquence and vigour; represented the common inter-
est, as much of princes as of noblemen, in opposing the
errors that had of late years slipped into the Court. He
complained of the assumptions of the Due de Bouillon,
and the consent he seemed to have obtained to his claims,
and he begged the nobles to unite with the princes in a
common defence ; promising them, on behalf of the latter,
to do as much for them in all interests of this nature. The
assembly received the Due de Vendome and gave him the
highest seat. Then, after deliberating on his request, they
resolved to accept this union on the conditions named ; that
is, to oppose the rank of prince demanded by the Due de
Bouillon as sovereign of Sedan, and that of Madame de
Pons and the Prince de Marsillac.
The nobles deputed some of their number to go to the
princes, and thank them for the honour they had received,
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 177
and the princes in return gave them their right hands and
conducted them to their carriages. They agreed together on
a concordat, which they signed, reciprocally pledging as-
sistance and protection, and promising not to adjourn until
the queen had granted their demands. By this they meant
the reformation of all the abuses of this nature which had
slipped in during the regency. These concerned not only
the Due de Bouillon, the Prince de Marsillac, and Madame
de Pons, but the Comtesse de Flex, who was already in
possession of the tabouret, in consideration of Madame de
Senece* her mother. They also complained, not being hin-
dered by the grandeur of the house of Rohan, that the
queen had given the tabouret to Mademoiselle de Mont-
bazon. This was attempting to take away a privilege of
which the lady had been in possession for a length of time,
and the matter would thus have troubled the whole Court.
They spoke also against Madame de La Tre'mouille, who had
the tabouret not only for herself but for her daughters, who
could not, they said, possess it unless with the rank of
princess, as the daughters of dukes never had it.
The assembly of the nobles now resolved to send deputies
to the clergy to invite them to make common cause with
them, inasmuch as great numbers of persons of rank were
in that body who had as much reason as themselves not to
permit their prerogatives to be lightly given away. The
Chevalier de La Vieuville and Laigues, who were chosen
for this delegation, knowing that five or six bishops were
to dine that day with the Archbishop d'Embrun, went there
to meet them and perform their commission. Most of these
prelates were thinking only of good cheer ; but the co-
adjutor, who was among them, and who had inspired the
nobles to this proceeding, expressed a wish that the clergy
should share in the interests of the nobles. The desire for
VOL. II. 12
178 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
empty fame, which he imagined he could gain from a report
of his intrigues, made him seize with joy upon every oppor-
tunity to make himself talked about. It was agreed that
all should meet at the Augustins to consider how they
should reply to the deputation ; a day was chosen and their
brother clergy were invited to attend.
The queen, knowing of this resolution, sent for the
bishops, and told them that she intended to satisfy all the
demands of the nobles, and wished to tell them of this
purpose in order that they might not assemble, as the
matter was now in such a state that the nobles had no need
of it. The bishops at once informed the assembly of the
queen's promise to satisfy its demands, and the respect they
themselves were resolved to pay her by obeying her com-
mand. The nobles were not pleased, and the whole assem-
bly murmured against the bishops as if they were masters
of the State. Had the clergy joined with the nobles, parlia-
ment would perhaps have taken part, and thus, without
designing it, the States-general would have been formed.
The dukes resolved to assemble like the rest, and they de-
puted the Marshal de Schomberg to go to the assembly of
the nobles and ask for reciprocal union, for the preservation
of their dignities and the suppression of favours done with-
out justification to some of their number. After which they
rendered an account of their action to the queen, whose
anxiety now became too strong to let the affair go on any
longer without remedy. A council was held on the means
of putting an end to it entirely, at which it was resolved
to send to the assembly four marshals of France to signify
to it authoritatively the queen's will. This was done on
the following day with all the gravity required by the
occasion.
As the nobles were proposing to send other deputies to
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 179
the clergy to force them to take part in their cause, they
were informed that the marshals were on their way to visit
them as messengers from the queen ; and though they
knew already that the deputation brought all that they had
asked, they continued, tumultuously, their discussion, the
malcontents among them being angry that they were
treated so well.
The marshals d'Estre'es, de Schomberg, de I'HOpital, and
de Villeroy having entered the assembly and taken the
seats they were to occupy as chiefs and presidents of the
nobility, they informed the nobles that her Majesty, having
regard to their very humble supplication and to testify the
good-will and esteem she had for their celebrated body, had
been pleased to send them, the marshals, to assure the
nobles that she had revoked the grant of the tabourets to
the Prince de Marsillac and Madame de Pons ; also that of
the entrance to the Louvre to the Prince de Marsillac ; she
promised that no more should be said about it, and that if
she did not keep her word she would permit them to assem-
ble again. As for the Comtesse de Flex, she declared it
was only in consideration of the services she had received
from her mother, Madame de Senece*, that she had granted
her the tabouret, and not on account of her birth or the
blood of the Foix. Nevertheless, in order not to make
the nobles uneasy, she would withdraw that favour. As
for the Due de Bouillon, her Majesty promised to make
no innovations in his favour, and to give him none of the
prerogatives he asked for ; although it had been her inten-
tion to do so.
The four marshals of France offered to be responsible for
the promises of the queen, and to sign them when executed.
The result of this favourable harangue was that the nobles
concluded to send to the princes to inquire if they were
180 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP, vt
satisfied, resolving not to accept the queen's favours until
they received a reply.
The mischief-makers in the assembly attempted, in pres-
ence of the Marshal d'Estre'es, to attack the patents that the
queen had granted early in her regency to him and to others,
and endeavoured to show that they were included in the
present promises of the queen just given through his lips.
This malicious suggestion caused a great uproar, and the
Mardchal d'Estre'es, furious with anger, left the assembly,
declaring that it was unjust to Frenchmen to cry out against
the dignities which the kings gave to the nobles according
to their custom and the laws of the State ; and asserting that
it was the interest of all to maintain them, inasmuch as all
might hope to have the same reward for their services.
After this uproar, all difficulties ended in agreeing to feel
confidence in the words of the queen. And after many
deputations to and fro, too many to relate in detail, it was
resolved to ask for a patent from the queen, signed by her-
self and the four secretaries of State, in which, more particu-
larly, the Due de Bouillon should be excluded from all his
demands (in order to satisfy the princes), and all the other
favours should be revoked.
Some of the more ill-intentioned demanded, in addition to
this patent, a declaration from parliament; but the wiser
members, seeing that this was the cavilling of a bad cause,
objected to the proposal, considering it shameful both to the
king and to themselves. The queen, feeling that the as-
sembly was degenerating into a sorry thing, resolved to send
to it the officers of the crown, and all the persons of rank
attached to the king, to herself, to the Due d'Orleans and to
the Prince de Conde. Some of these had already retired
from the assembly when it began to talk of reforming the
abuses of the State. Many others had left on account of
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 181
the Prince de Conde*, who, up to this time had supported
the affair of the tabourets as his own. But they were all
obliged now to return and serve as barricades against the
mutineers.
This great mass of persons of rank, who had power through
their birth and dignities, carried the day against the seditious
group, and caused a resolution to be passed by the assembly
to accept the patent couched hi the terms they had them-
selves demanded. They concluded finally to thank the
queen very humbly for the kindness she had shown them
and to separate without saying more of a junction with the
clergy.
To this affair succeeded quarrels with parliament, which
assembled to take sides with the people of Bordeaux. It
was voted to make representations to the queen upon the
interests of the latter, which really meant a defence of their
revolt. President de Novion was charged to make them, and
as his inclinations were frondeur and he had much wit, he
acquitted himself with force and vigour, and was much
applauded by those who at that time plumed themselves on
being always against the Court. His harangue was followed
by the news that the people of Bordeaux had seized the
chateau Trompette and demolished it, in order that nothing
might hinder their being masters of their town and province.
These disturbances, whether in the Court, the parliament,
or the provinces, did not fill the coffers of the king. The
princes of the blood helped to empty them, and the want of
submission in parliament kept the people from paying their
taxes. The Mare'chal de La Meilleraye no longer concerned
himself with the finances ; and the minister, not as yet daring
to declare that he intended to restore d'fimery, left them to
be administered by two directors, d'Aligre and Morangis,
men of integrity, but more fitted to be under the rule of an
182 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
able king, who wanted only faithfulness and honesty, than
under a reign troubled by endless revolts and an avaricious
minister overwhelmed by the king's necessities and his own.
The finances collapsed entirely under the management of
these directors, and the minister saw that it was necessary
to give them a chief under whom the king's power would
recover some strength. For all these reasons he resolved to
bring back d'fimery, knowing by experience that it is folly
to imagine you can ever satisfy the public through its
caprices. When subjects revolt, they are driven to it by
causes of which they are ignorant; and as a usual thing
what they demand is not what they need to pacify them.
The minister, resolving at last to propose the recall of
d'fimery, was much astonished when he found in the Due
d'Orle'ans an obstacle to his wishes, and that instead of
d'fimery he proposed the President de Maisons for the office,
as more capable of filling it and more to the liking of every
one, even the parliament. The duke declared that that body
would be grateful to the queen for choosing one of their
number to administer her finances ; and, addressing Cardinal
Mazarin, he advised him to make the appointment in order
to show confidence and give to parliament convincing signs
that he did not fear being accused by them of dipping into
the coffers of the king.
This proposal angered the minister extremely, and obliged
d'Fjmery to seek protection from the Prince de Conde* through
the Prince de Marsillac. In this he succeeded, and by the
same means he won that of the Prince de Conti and Madame
de Longueville, who supported his interests hi every possible
way. On this, placards were posted in all the streets and
public squares of Paris, predicting the ruin of France
through the return of d'Fjmery. The minister was insolently
threatened and treated in the same manner as during the
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 183
war. The fear of a riot obliged him to suspend for a while
the accomplishment of his will. La Vieuville, who had been
superintendent of finances during the time of the late king,
Louis XIII., and was banished to Holland by Cardinal
Richelieu, where he spent many years, having returned to
France by permission of the queen, had strongly desired,
since his return, to recover his former office. He made
offers to the minister and promised him an immense sum if
he would give him power to bring out the hoarded coins of
the people by a system of levying taxes which he declared
would not inconvenience them. So that the minister, in the
uncertainty of being able to bring back d'Emery, pretended
to turn his thoughts to La Vieuville, and proposed him to
the Due d'Orle'ans, saying that as he disapproved of d'Emery,
and the queen did not wish for President de Maisons, she
hoped he would give his vote for the Marquis de La
Vieuville.
The Due d'Orle'ans, whose real wish was to oblige that
president if he were able to do so without displeasing the
queen, could not avoid consenting to this proposal, because it
was just, and in order ; and as he relaxed so far, d'Emery's
friends worked upon him and upon the minister with such
force and such success, that they finally obtained permission,
secretly and from the minister only, that d'Emery should
return to Paris. There he lived concealed for some days,
busy in attending to his interests, the greatest of which was
to change completely in his favour the feelings of the Due
d'Orle'ans. That prince, having held firm for some time,
yielded at last after many conflicts to the cardinal's wishes.
The Abbe" de La Riviere, who had been one of d'Emery 's
friends, and had no ground to complain of him, and had only
opposed him to give pleasure to President de Maisons and
put a man in the finances who was wholly obliged to him,
184 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
resisted no longer, and was forced to let the affair go the way
the current carried it. Thus d'mery was again appointed
to the finances to the satisfaction of the general public and
his private friends.
He promised on his return to pay the fund-holders on the
city [rentiers sur la mile], and applied to that purpose certain
moneys which he distributed weekly. As there were many
persons in Paris who held this sort of property, every one
kept silence on his return. He soon made friends in parlia-
ment, and a man who, one year earlier, had been driven
away with every mark of public hatred was now received
with joy and benediction ; so true is it that a people are
governed only by caprice or by some petty interest. If
d'Emery had returned with as much health as peace he
would have had reason, according to his own maxims, to con-
sider himself happy. He liked a life of pleasure and repose,
and, consequently, favour and riches.
Chavigny since he had left prison had been an exile ; but
having a lawsuit against President Le Coigneux he made use
of that pretext to ask permission of the queen to return to
Paris. Cardinal Mazarin, naturally acquiescent, and urged
by memories of the past, consented on condition that he
should not see the queen. When he arrived, the whole
Court went to visit him. The Prince de Cond went also,
and promised him his friendship as before ; and Chavigny,
discontented and in disgrace, renewed the pledges of his
attachment, always great, and now made stronger and closer
by the ill-treatment he declared he had received from the
cardinal He also asked the Due d'Orl^ans if it would be
agreeable to him that he should go to the Luxembourg
and pay his respects. The prince agreed, and he was
well-received. The Abbe" de La Riviere and Chavigny,
who were enemies, visited each other with that apparent
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 185
civility practised in society by those who hate and envy
one another.
Ambition, which is no doubt the dominant passion of a
Court, will now show us one of the strangest adventures that
ever happened in that of the queen. Jarze', in spite of his
attachment to the Prince de Conde*, which he carefully con-
cealed, had managed to keep in the good graces of the
minister, by means of which he obtained the right to come
to the queen's apartments during the evening hours. For
want of wisdom and common-sense, he took it into his head
to make profession, in the false and exaggerated style prac-
tised towards great personages, of extreme and tender emotion
by continual flattery ; and to show her by his zeal and his
sentiments that he felt for her far more than the usual
fidelity that subjects owe to their sovereigns.
As this vain imagination was ridiculous in itself, the
queen took no notice of it. She answered him always in our
presence as if his speeches were extravagant jests, to which
she paid little attention. As for me personally, I was the
last to perceive his behaviour and remark upon it. I
thought it not worth noticing. One evening, however, my
eyes were opened, and as we were about to retire, Com-
mandeur de Jars, Mademoiselle de Beaumont, and I, I
desired to impart my thoughts to them. After many pre-
cautions to prevent them from laughing at me, I told them
what I had perceived in Jarze", and asked them what it
meant, being half-ashamed myself to imagine a thing so
devoid of good sense, as much on account of the solid virtues
of the queen as from the qualities of the man himself.
They, more malicious and shrewd than I, had for some
time past been enlightened as to Jarze"s manoeuvres, and
they now burst into fits of laughter, asking me if I came
from Japan or the court of the Great Mogul, and making fun
186 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
of me, not because I had no eyes, but because I was so late
in using them. After joking thus, we began to talk the
matter over seriously. Conrmandeur de Jars told us it was
already making a stir in the world ; that the Prince de
Cond and Jarze* were in confidence together in this impor-
tant folly, and the prince had said that a Spanish woman,
no matter how devout and virtuous she was, could always
be attacked with some degree of hope.
We then tried to penetrate the origin of this chimerical
enterprise, and we concluded that it was founded on the fact
that Madame de Beauvais, the queen's head waiting-woman,
was a friend of Jarzd, and being neither young nor hand-
some but wanting friends, had flattered Jarze with the idea
that she would make him agreeable to the queen and would
do him good offices. This promise, so far as she intended it,
related only to Jarze"s fortune. But as he had much vanity
and great imprudence, and did not narrow his desires to the
limits of reason, he took it another way. Instead of en-
deavouring to please the queen as all other courtiers try to
please their masters, he made a scheme to show her that his
heart was burning with an involuntary flame, born in him
by inclination, which respect stifled and which he dared not
manifest except through his eyes. Perhaps he really be-
lieved that by the help of his friend he should succeed in
pleasing the queen, just as a madman loses his reason in a
fine cause.
On this preposterous action they had made that is, the
Prince de Condd and he, so it was believed projects
which had certain actual foundation, having for their end
the overthrow of the cardinal Jarze*, without considering
the virtue of the queen, her age, her life, her morals, and the
respect he owed her, intoxicated himself with the beauty
of this scheme, and believed that his fall, in case it re-
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 187
suited from so high an enterprise, would be more honourable
to him than any grandeur or elevation he could attain in
other ways.
The matter came very quickly to the ears of the cardinal ;
already his spies, to pay their court, were representing to him
the affair as an intrigue of great importance. He loved the
queen as a minister, and, believing himself necessary to her
service, he clung to the possession of her good-will. He did
not fear that his own grandeur would give her umbrage,
because he knew her to be exempt from the spirit of domin-
ion, and also somewhat lazy ; nor did he fear a levity un-
worthy of a royal soul, and yet he was none the less troubled
by this news. He did not feel it like a jealous man dreading
to lose what he loved, because the attachment he had to the
queen was not of that nature, but more that of a miser fear-
ing to lose his treasure. 1
The queen was so incapable of encouraging Jarze*'s extrav-
agant folly that she would not even imagine that he had
such thoughts. I know myself that she had incredible
trouble in replying seriously to what Cardinal Mazarin said
to her about it. She had judged of the man's sentiments by
his natural temperament, which led him always to speak in
hyperbole, and she took his flattery in that way. The min-
ister knew this very well, and could not, for a thousand
reasons, doubt how the matter would turn ; but as persons
who jest on all subjects are to be feared when they show
themselves capable of mingling with their frivolity mischiev-
ous schemes, the cardinal could not bring himself to have the
man at Court, particularly since he saw him attached to the
interests of the Prince de Cond^, although he himself could
claim, through considerable benefactions, his entire fidelity.
1 See appendix to this volume, on the relations of the minister to Anne
of Austria.
188 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. n.
Consequently, Jarze"'s folly made the minister resolve to
ruin him. He succeeded easily, and it was right that he
should do so. He conceived also a great hatred to Madame
de Beauvais, and resolved to have her sent away. He spoke
of it to the queen, and turned the affair so adroitly to the
confidence the Prince de Cond had in Jarz, and the dan-
gerous consequences of that intrigue, that the queen, who
respected and followed the cardinal's advice on more impor-
tant matters than this of Jarz, abandoned the latter instantly
and promised to treat him in such a way that he should feel
all his life what a misfortune it was to fail in wisdom and
good sense.
The queen, however, made several efforts to save her
waiting-woman, and maintained to Cardinal Mazarin for a
long time that she had no share in this folly. The minister
knew that the woman was free-spoken, capable of saying all
things and thinking all things, and that she had shown the
queen, as if in jest, letters that Jarz had written to her.
The queen, who valued Madame de Beauvais, not for her
virtues, nor for the beauty of her soul or that of her face,
but because of her capable fingers and her extreme neatness,
assured the cardinal, as was true, that in the letters shown
to her there was nothing for which Madame de Beauvais or
Jarz could be blamed. She told him that they had made
so little impression on her mind that she did not even re-
member what was in them, and that " Catau " (it was thus
she called her) had always spoken to her of Jarze' as a
worthy buffoon with a lively wit, about whom tales were
told to amuse the public; and that in any case, all her
women told her so much nonsense that she did not trouble
herself to notice or reply to them.
The cardinal's state of mind was not to be cured in this
way. On the contrary, it increased his uneasiness ; the queen
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 189
was forced to abandon Madame de Beauvais, and promise
that the woman should be dismissed. This being decided,
the queen went out the next day early to visit a convent.
Before starting, she ordered one of her people, her silver-
smith, to go to Madame de Beauvais in her name and order
her to leave the Palais-Royal, herself, her husband and chil-
dren, and deliver to him the keys of her coffers. Madame
de Beauvais was amazed at this dismissal. She had just
left the queen, having had the honour to dress her, and her
Majesty had treated her as pleasantly as usual. She resisted
for some time, and said she must see her mistress. She was
compelled to obey, however, because the command had been
so precise that her friends advised her not to resist it.
I was hated by that lady, and I cannot say with truth that
she was unjust to me. But it is also true that I felt no joy
at her departure. The evening of that day, being in the queen's
room among a number of persons who spoke of her with
contempt, as people usually speak of the unfortunate, I felt
my soul as tranquil in respect to her as if I had never known
her. The queen perceived this moderation and calling me
to her said that I seemed inclined to weep at " Catau's " ab-
sence. I answered coldly that I needed no handkerchief
to wipe my tears, but I could also assure her that I felt no
joy, nor would any one hear me speak of her defects as I
had formerly done. The queen, assuming then a serious face,
did me the honour to say she esteemed me the more for it.
I had not always been so virtuous ; but no doubt her misfor-
tune was vengeance enough for me, and consequently my
gentleness was more a sign of my satisfaction than of my
goodness.
Some days later, the queen, when going to bed, said to
Madame de Beaumont and to Comminges, who were alone
with her, that it appeared she had a lover, and that faithful
190 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
friends had told her what was said in the world about Jarze"s
folly. She added, with a mocking tone in which anger was
noticeable, that he was very impertinent, and that she should
be sorry if he carried his madness so far as to compel her to
take notice of it. This speech meant much ; and no doubt
she had agreed with the cardinal to speak of Jarze* hi this
manner before persons who would warn him. Comminges
perceived the queen's purpose, and the next day, seeing Jarze'
arrive at the Palais-Koyal, was about to speak to him and
prevent him from entering the queen's presence ; but being
unable to approach him for a moment because some one ad-
dressed him, he was obliged to let him into the cabinet
where the queen was dressing.
As Jarze' knew to some extent by the dismissal of his
friend, Madame de Beauvais, the position in which he
now stood at Court, he thought he did a stroke of clever
policy by appearing to know nothing and to fear nothing.
But the hour had come when he was fated to be punished
for his imprudence. The queen, having it on her mind
to rebuke him, did not fail, the moment she saw him, to
attack him, but said, in a contemptuous tone, these very
words : " Really, Monsieur de Jarze*, you are very ridic-
ulous. I am told you play the lover. A pretty gallant,
indeed ! I pity you. They will have to send you to the
Petites-Maisons. Though it is true we need not wonder at
your madness it is inherited," meaning by that his
grandfather the Mare'chal de Lavardin, who was passion-
ately in love with the late queen, Marie de' Medici, and
about whom her husband, Henri IV., used to joke with her.
Poor Jarze* was overwhelmed by this thunder-clap. He
dared not say a word in his justification. He stammered
and left the cabinet, full of trouble, pale and undone. In
spite of his pain, perhaps he flattered himself already with
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 191
the sweet thought that the adventure was fine, the crime
honourable, and that he was not ashamed of the accusation.
The whole Court was instantly full of the event ; the riwlles
of the ladies rang with the sound of the royal words. The
name of Jarze" was long heard everywhere in Paris ; and the
provinces quickly had their share of it. Many persons
blamed the queen for showing such resentment, and said
she had done Jarze* too much honour in deigning to stoop
to such anger, which had injured the dignity of the crown.
It may be said, in excuse for this little fault, that she would
not have committed it had she not been forced to do so, by
the fears of her minister, who, seeing Jarze* faithful to the
Prince de Condd and ungrateful to himself, suspected that
under this mask of buffoonery there lay some frondeusc
malignity against him.
The consequences of this tale were dangerous to the
State through its after events. That which in itself was
but a trifle, being mixed with greater things, produced
terrible results. The Prince de Conde", to console Jarze"
under his affliction, took him to Saint-Maur two days later,
and slighting the queen's outburst against him, declared
publicly that he was his friend, and that he liked him. He
said to all who would listen to him that during his quarrel
with the minister, though Jarze* had seemed to be attached
to the Court, he had really remained in his interests, and
had only kept on terms with the cardinal because he
wanted to retain his place as captain of the guards of M. le
Due d'Anjou, the present Monsieur.
The prince went farther ; and as if the queen were not
the mistress of her words and feelings, he loudly complained
that she had reprimanded Jarze" without warning him, and
that the cardinal had allowed it without his consent, de-
claring that, as the queen had spoken to the Due d'Orle'ans
192 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
and himself of her intention to send away her waiting-
woman, and had made no secret of Jarze*'s folly, she was
equally bound to inform him of the resolution she had
taken to maltreat him, as she knew he was one of his
friends.
The queen replied that she had taken means to make
Jarze retire of his own accord, without obliging her to come
to extremities. She said she had spoken of him with
contempt before Comminges and Madame de Beaumont
the preceding evening, hoping that they would not fail to
warn him. But when, instead of that, he appeared before
her eyes, the anger she felt against him got the better of her
civility. The queen defended herself on this occasion with
much unwillingness. She was displeased that the Prince
de Conde' should exact such dependence from her, and the
day that he took Jarze* to Saint-Maur, she said to me, with
much chagrin, that she was beginning to weary of the
Prince de Condi's haughty manner of acting, and that the
protection he was giving to Jarz displeased her extremely.
The prince, whose very haughtiness was leading to his
abasement, took up this affair with such warmth that he
entreated the queen to see Jarz and forgive him. One of
his gentlemen told me, speaking of this matter, that if the
queen did not pardon Jarze', and kept firm on that point,
there would be trouble in the quarter, and that the prince
would make an uproar. Those were his very words. The
phrase was a common one, but the meaning of it was ex-
traordinary, for there is not a young lady in the land to
whom, in an affair of this nature, liberty is not granted to
act as she sees fit. It was then that the minister saw
clearly that the friendliness shown to him by the Prince de
Cond^, Madame de Longueville, and the Prince de Conti
was only feigned for the sole purpose of dragging from the
1649] MEMOIES OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 193
queen the patent of the Prince de Marsillac ; and their artful
manner of acting now convinced him that he could never
hope for sincere reconciliation on their side.
This trouble roused parliament and the Fronde. As the
latter had not been able to endure the Prince de Conde"s
apparent reconciliation with the Court, imperfect though it
was, they now began to recover vigour. They all wanted
disunion in the cabinet, and they saw with joy that Cardinal
Mazarin could not be satisfied with the Prince de Condd
in this affair. The frondeurs hoped that when matters
came to extremities they should be able to form an alliance
with either the minister or the Prince de Conde* for their
own ends.
To all these disorders were added those of Bordeaux.
The people of that place were protected by the Prince de
Conde*, who did not like the Due d'Epernon, and was, per-
haps, not sorry to have in France a place of refuge from the
Court. The Due d'0rle*ans, on his side, always inclined
to conciliate matters rather than embitter them, wished to
harmonize the affair, and so acted, conjointly with the
Prince de Conde', that the minister was forced to send a
secret order to Mare'chal Du Plessis to make peace with
the rebels, provided they wished it. He sent him sufficient
means to keep up a languishing warfare, but not enough to
end it by force. So that the Bordeaux people, knowing
themselves sustained by two such powerful princes, and
weakly attacked by the king, went from worse to worse, and
it will be long before we see the end of this little war.
At the time of the last quarrel between the Prince de
Cond^ and the minister, the prince shared the sentiments of
the Fronde as to the long-desired ruin of Cardinal Mazarin,
and Madame de Longueville had worked for the union of
the prince with the Due de Beaufort and her friends. But
VOL. II. 13
194 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
she had not been able to induce the latter to enter wholly
into the interests of the Prince de Conde*. They were firm
in the resolution to unite with him only in the matter of
the cardinal's ruin. This resistance had obliged the prince
to be reconciled with the Court rather than enter a cabal
the apparent projects of which would have served only for
the aggrandizement of the Due de Beaufort, the coadjutor,
and CMteauneuf. Still, the prince, who despised the cardi-
nal, though he was sometimes led to prefer his side to that
of the others, negotiated with him more as an enemy than
as a friend. He opposed the elevation of his family and
made it his glory to maltreat him. Thus the present peace
served only to precipitate him into the misfortune the min-
ister was forced to bring down upon him, and to make the
frondeurs, who could not endure the uncertain and doubt-
ful position in which they were, exert every effort to get out
of it.
About this time the Marquis de La Boulaye, a great
frondeur and friend of the leaders of the Fronde cabal, in
order to excite the burghers, rushed through the streets of
Paris, pistol in hand, crying out to the populace, "To
arms ! Mazarin betrays us ! " In this state he reached the
Palais de Justice, where he shouted louder than ever and
gathered a crowd of rascals to shout with him ; but no
decent man rose at his voice, and none allowed themselves
to be duped by such manifest trickery ; so that this noble-
man, unworthy of that title, though valiant and capable, was
compelled to hide himself in the house of the coadjutor, his
good friend, with all the shame that follows a bad action
based on a disgraceful purpose.
They came to inform the queen of this tumult, and the
Palais-Royal was immediately full of the most important
persons of the Court, the Due d'0rle*ans and the Prince de
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 195
Conde* first of all. It was Saturday, and the queen, accord-
ing to her usual custom, wished to go to Notre-Dame, but
they doubted if she ought to make the trip. The unshak-
able firmness of her soul made her determine for herself
that she ought to do so ; she allowed no one to accompany
her but the Prince de Condd, and this he did with a good
grace. As for the Due d'Orle'ans, he was about to go to
Limours, and finding that all things were quiet, he started
on his journey.
At the queen's dinner that day, the Due de Bouillon-La-
Marck, father-in-law of the Marquis de La Boulaye, came to
see her to say that his son-in-law, hearing that persons were
trying to do him bad service with her Majesty, had asked
him to come and assure her that they accused him wrong-
fully of attempting to stir the people to sedition ; that he
had never had that thought and was not capable of having
it. He said it was quite true that having met persons who
attempted to assassinate him, he had shouted for help solely
in self-defence, and with no intention of failing in the re-
spect he owed to her. The queen answered coldly in these
very words, which I took pains to remember : " I have heard
that a pistol was fired at a counsellor of the Cha'telet, but
not that your son-in-law was attacked; on the contrary, I
am assured that he ran through the streets pistol in hand,
to excite the populace, and shouted in the Palais itself, ' To
arms ! ' I hope that what you say in his defence may be
true. Nevertheless, I shall inquire to know if it is so."
La Boulaye having succeeded so ill in his design, the co-
adjutor and he thought it wise to make this bad excuse,
which showed, at least, that he had not the boldness to
acknowledge his scheme.
After this poor comedy, the consequences of which they
feared, the frondeurs sought other means, which succeeded
196 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. TI.
better. The times were favourable for criminals. This one
at any rate went unpunished, and the motive of his crime
was hidden by his silence and that of his friends. Per-
haps they had hoped to raise a revolt in which the min-
ister's life, or that of some one else, could be attacked. As
for me I have never known what were the motives for this
affair, though I have often asked those who apparently could
not be ignorant of them. The whole intrigue was covered
by a thick veil, and no one seemed to know the particulars.
Some of this cabal, if shame does not prevent them, may
leave this secret to posterity. 1
La Boulaye's shouts having had no effect, the frondeurs
apparently judged it wise to efface the memory of the affair
of the morning by another event of more importance. That
same day persons attached to the Prince de Cond4 told me,
as if prophetically, that the frondeurs were intending to do
him harm; and that night, after the council, the prince
having gone to the house of Prud'homme, the bath-man,
one of his equerries went to find him and warn him from
President Perrault, his intendant, that a merchant had come
to tell the latter there was a plot to assassinate the prince ;
and the equerry told him, in support of this warning, that
in passing through the Place Dauphine in one of his carriages,
the scoundrels assembled there had fired five or six shots
into the vehicle ; luckily without wounding him.
This report being made to the prince, the Comte de
Gramont, attached to his service, sent the prince's carriage
bearing his liveries across the Pont-Neuf to see what would
happen. The result was what was expected. The carriage
was fired into, but as no one was there the assassins, or
those who intended to be so, gained nothing. The carriage
1 Madame de Motteville was not mistaken, as will be seen in the
Memoir* of Guy-Joly and Cardinal de Retz. FB. ED.
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVELLE. 197
of the Due de Duras, which came after the other, in which
there were servants only, was treated in the same way and
one of the servants killed. Some of the prince's people told
me that forty or fifty men on horseback were present, and
the same number had been seen in the morning near La
Boulaye's house in which the Due de Beaufort was living.
The next day the whole Court was in trouble over this
event. The queen sent for the king's lawyers, and ordered
them to make inquiry into the affair, showing much warmth
for the interests of the Prince de Conde*. She sent also for
the provost of the merchants, the gentlemen of the city, and
all the colonels of quarters, and praised them for not having
listened to the malignant voices of those whose object was to
embark them in a new sedition, and she exhorted them
to continue to do right. As a reward she promised that
the king would in future have entire confidence in their
fidelity.
Things were now so tangled that it was impossible to dis-
cern who were friends and who were enemies. The Palais-
Royal was filled with an excited crowd, all anxious to see
what would come of this confusion. The queen, in the
midst of the trouble, seemed to me more satisfied than usuaL
She said to her familiar attendants that she consoled herself
by thinking that she was not mixed in these quarrels. And
one day, saying the same thing to me, she added that per-
haps she might profit by them, for she was so placed that
necessarily one side or the other would have need of her.
Things having come to this pass, the coadjutor went him-
self to see the Prince de Conde*, intending, as I have heard,
to form a new alliance with him, and see if from all these
evils he could not pluck something to his own advantage
and against the public peace. The angry prince rebuffed
him and would not see him ; but the coadjutor, not accepting
198 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. TI.
this refusal, asked to see La Moussaye or Toulangeon. On
which the prince ordered them to send word they were not
there; this they told me themselves.
Christmas did not pacify these troubles. The king on
that holy day made his first communion at Saint Eustache,
his parish church, with many signs of a great inclination to
piety,' and the next day a piece of news arrived which sur-
prised the queen, angered the minister, and did a lasting
harm to the affairs of the Prince de Conde', who in this and
all ways now hurried to misfortune ; I mean the marriage of
the Due de Eichelieu with Madame de Pons.
Madame de Pons was the daughter of Madame du
Vigean, who had always been dearly loved by the Duchesse
d'Aiguillon. This affection had brought great benefits to
her family in the days of Cardinal Richelieu, through the
distinction given by the friendship of a person who, as the
niece of so powerful a minister, could not fail to be of ser-
vice to it. Madame de Pons was the widow of a man of
birth and small means. The Duchesse d'Aiguillon, from the
tenderness she felt to her mother, Madame du Vigean, had
often told her not to feel uneasy at her lack of means, for she
promised her a share in her property. Madame de Pons,
less concerned about the gratitude she owed the Duchesse
d'Aiguillon than about her own interests, wanted a more cer-
tain wealth, and took much pains to please the Due de
Richelieu, nephew of the Duchesse d'Aiguillon. In this she
succeeded easily ; for he was young, and she was amiable
and sufficiently well-made to be loved with passion. Madame
d'Aiguillon had begged her to make a worthy man of him ;
and he, being almost young enough to be her son, received
her instructions submissively. Without beauty, she had
many good qualities ; she was kind, gentle, liking to oblige,
and her reputation was spotless. She was one of the clever-
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 199
est women in the sort of gallantry which is more affected
than real ; she knew how to triumph adroitly over a fresh
heart, which, lacking boldness, dares not undertake more
serious conquests. This lady, by nature liberal of sweetness,
and prompted now by her own desires, neglected nothing
that could make her beloved by the young duke. As for
him, wanting discernment as to what he should believe and
do, the pleasure of imagining himself truly loved had great
charms for him.
The Duchesse d'Aiguillon had been chosen by her uncle,
the late Cardinal Eichelieu, to be the guardian of his great-
nephews, thinking that he could find no safer way to preserve
his name than to leave those that bore it under the guidance
of their aunt. He judged that her virtue, intelligence, and
courage would protect them against the effects of envy and
hatred, which are usually the sorry consequences of the great
fortunes of favourites. This illustrious aunt, unlucky in all
her projects, noticing on one occasion that her nephew was
paying little attentions to Madame de Pons, said to the latter
that she wished he were an honest man enough to be in love
with her ; and Madame de Pons, whose plans were all laid,
answered, laughing, that she warned her that if he spoke of
love and wanted to marry her she should never have the
strength to refuse.
This speech was taken by the Duchesse d'Aiguillon as a
jest, which only diverted her. But Madame de Pons, who
was serious in the matter, thought by this warning to acquit
herself of all she owed to the duchess. Believing that she
was justified in preferring herself to others, she employed, to
bring about her marriage, a man attached to the service of
the Due de Richelieu, whom she won over to her interests.
She used, as her great lever, the friendship which Madame
de Longueville felt for her; and through that princess she
200 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEV1LLE. [CHAP. vi.
induced the Prince de Cond to protect her marriage as a
thing that might prove very advantageous to him T Madame
de Pons wanted a husband, and Madame de Longueville
wanted her friend to have the government of Havre-de-
GrSce [belonging to the Due de Kichelieu] a place which
would enable the Due de Longueville to be absolute master
of Normandy. Her object and that of the Prince de Conde'
in protecting Madame de Pons in this marriage was that she
would thus be wholly bound to them and to their fortunes.
Desmarets, the man who was advising the Due de Kiche-
lieu in favour of Madame de Pons, gave him fine illusions in
relation to this marriage. The Duchesse d'Aiguillon thwarted
their secret plans by proposing to marry her nephew to
Mademoiselle de Chevreuse, who was beautiful, illustrious in
birth, and would come into large property, and with whom
the Due de Kichelieu, in spite of his liking for Madame de
Pons, appeared to be slightly in love. But his faithful
friend Desmarets so worked his illusions, aided by honest,
though carefully managed flattery, that he persuaded the
Due de Kichelieu he would do better to marry this ugly
Helen who was destined to make a noise in the world, rather
than the beautiful person his aunt had chosen for him. He
assured him that having the Prince de Cond on his side the
Duchesse d'Aiguillon would not disapprove of his choice or
cause him any uneasiness about it.
All these things together made this marriage, which was
fatal to the Prince de Cond^, painful to the Duchesse
d'Aiguillon, not happy for the married pair, and in no way
useful to Madame de Longueville, who, in course of time,
did not obtain in Havre the assistance she expected ; in fact
it came near causing as many evils to Frenchmen as the mar-
riage of Paris to the beautiful Greek princess brought upon
the Trojans. It was celebrated in the country, in presence
1649] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 201
of the Prince de Conde", who wished to be there, and who acted
in all respects as fathers and mothers are accustomed to do on
such occasions. The queen was much surprised when she
heard that the marriage had been performed in that way
[December 26, 1649]. She saw at once the purpose of the
Prince de Conde" in making it his affair; and this event
went far, together with the cardinal's influence, in destroying
the prince entirely in her mind. His ruin was now deter-
mined upon, as that of a prince who showed continual signs
of a corrupted spirit. Nevertheless, the queen continued to
treat him pleasantly, and the minister also.
The Duchesse d'Aiguillon, hearing the news, was in de-
spair. Having courage and honour, and supporting this
misfortune by her strength of mind, she immediately de-
spatched a courier to Havre (which she ruled under orders
of the late Cardinal Eichelieu until her nephew's majority),
to prevent his reception there. The Prince de Conde 1 had
made him start the day after his wedding, telling him that
he must make himself master of the place in every way.
The queen, on her side, sent De Bar to seize the town and
so prevent the Prince de Conde* from giving the Due
de Longueville, his brother-in-law, complete possession of
Normandy.
When the Prince de Conde* returned from the marriage he
entered the queen's presence with the same face as usual ;
and though he knew she disapproved of his act, and also that
De Bar had started to thwart his object, he did not refrain
from telling her about the wedding, and relating various
anecdotes with much gaiety and assumption. The queen
told him that the Duchesse d'Aiguillon expected to break
the marriage, because her nephew was not of age. To which
he replied arrogantly that an act of that nature, done in his
presence, could not be broken. This prince who had com-
202 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
plained that the queen rebuked Jarze* without consulting
him, now did not think it just that she should regard as a
rebellious act his having taken part in marrying a duke and
peer of France without the king's consent, and with designs
that were visibly dangerous. However, it was necessary at
this moment to feign, and the queen did it so well that the
prince was completely deceived.
Two days later the news arrived that the Due de Kiche-
lieu had been received in Havre ; that De Bar had seen him,
and had persuaded him that he must, for his own sake, keep
Havre for the king, and detach himself from the Prince de
Conde*. The young duke sent a gentleman to the queen and
also wrote to her himself, to make her excuses for his action.
The queen answered that it was true she had blamed him,
and she said to this gentleman that his master bore a name
which owed all its grandeur to the late king, his master, and
consequently he did wrong in failing in the respect he owed
to him. But that if, in future, he repaired his fault by great
fidelity it was not impossible to obtain pardon.
VII.
1650.
WHILE these particular actors were preparing a drama
the great events of which were to surprise and astonish all
Europe, parliament employed itself in judging the quarrel
[relating to the attempted assassination] between the Prince
de Conde", the coadjutor, and the Due de Beaufort. It was
determined, after due deliberation, that the chief-president
should be the judge of the affair. The followers of the Prince
de Cond had appealed to the whole parliament with extraor-
dinary heat, sparing neither promises nor threats in order
to obtain votes ; which was not impossible, for, in spite of the
power of the frondeurs, the chief-president being the prince's
friend, he was sure of many voices in the Assembly.
The next day it was a question of deliberating on the
request presented by the Due de Beaufort and the coadjutor ;
who asked to be received to challenge the Prince de Cond^
as not able to be a judge in his own cause. But the cabal
suddenly requested leave to withdraw their petition, and
consented to judgment, saying that they knew themselves
innocent, and consequently feared nothing. They only
asked to be judged and vindicated at once.
This seemed a fine action, bold and full of confidence in
the justice of their cause, and their friends applauded it
immensely. The courtiers did not praise it before the queen,
believing it would displease her. For, though they judged
she had no reason to love the prince, they felt sure that she
hated the frondeurs more. She had seemed to support the
204 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vn.
prince's interests warmly, and to hear with joy whatever
favoured him. The prince's followers said this also, and with
all the more zeal because they had so great an interest in
maintaining the rights of his case. But no one knew the
real truth of this action ; all these things were only illusions
with which the Prince de Conde*, the courtiers, and the
people were being amused.
The frondeurs, knowing what good reason the cardinal had
to hate the Prince de Conde", were secretly seeking surer ways
than that of parliament to defend themselves against him.
They rightly thought that the ill-will which the minister
bore them would yield in his heart to his interests, and that
in the position in which he now was the greatest luck that
could happen to him would be the overthrow of the Prince
de Conde" without trouble to the State. These reasons led
the cabal, or rather those who were its soul and mind, in
order to save themselves and destroy the Prince de Conde", to
propose to the cardinal to arrest him; telling him that by
putting themselves on his side they could, through their
alliances and friends in parliament, prevent the prince
prisoner from receiving help, and that no one would speak
in his favour.
This proposition was accepted as the salvation of both
sides, and few persons knew of it. Madame de Chevreuse
and Laigues negotiated the great affair with the cardinal
The queen informed the Due d'Orle'ans and made him
approve of the plan. But she did this on condition that he
would say nothing of it to the Abbe* de La Eiviere, on
account of the attachment the latter appeared to feel to the
Prince de Conde*, and the intimacy he had had with Madame
de Pons, now Duchesse de Eichelieu. Jealousy had always
been strong between the two princes, and it was now greatly
increased in the soul of the Due d'Orle'ans by the excessive
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 205
authority which the Prince de Conde" was assuming in the
State. The Duchesse de Chevreuse and the Duchesse de
Montbazon, the two principal personages of the Fronde who
had power over his mind, did not lack subjects through
which to increase his aversion to these continued encroach-
ments ; and they succeeded so well that the Prince de Conde*
began to perceive that the Due d'Orle'ans was abandoning
him and only met him with reluctance. He was not mis-
taken ; the Due d'Orle'ans, having taken a liking to the
counsels of the frondeurs, became impatient to profit by the
downfall of the prince. It seemed to him that the Court
now gave him a fine opportunity to be master of France ;
that is to say, to enjoy by himself alone the favour and
gifts of the Eegent.
On the other hand, the queen and cardinal, weary of the
domineering ways of the Prince de Conde", regarded him as a
usurper of the royal authority and as a prince to be feared
for his arrogance and his ambition. The affair of Jarze*, of
the Pont-de-1'Arche, of the marriage of the Due de Eichelieu,
and the prince's aversion to the marriage of the cardinal's
niece, had so filled the cup of their displeasure that the
queen and cardinal could no longer endure the formidable
grandeur which, according to appearances, might soon become
dangerous to the State. At any rate, it was of ill omen to
the minister personally ; and for this reason Cardinal Mazarin
believed that what he owed to the king, as well as what he
owed to himself, obliged him to put limits to the power of
the prince who now seemed to recognize none.
The frondeurs, to succeed the better in their designs,
caused the Abbe* de La Kiviere to be suspected by the queen,
the minister, and his master, on matters for which he him-
self had given ample ground; and they neglected nothing
that could destroy him, not allowing in his favour the proofs
206 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAI-. vn.
he had given of loving his duty, and of never having gone
wrong in any direction that was contrary to the good of the
State. This favourite, too sure of the one thing in the world
that is most uncertain, acted as though it were impossible
for him to lose the good graces of his master, and risked
displeasing him by forming intimacies which he might think
suspicious. His own interests blinded him; and this con-
duct caused the Due d'Orle'ans to conceal from him the bold
designs of those who hated him, and who gave to all his
actions a bad interpretation.
This semi-minister now perceived an increasing coldness
in the soul of the Due d'Orle'ans for the Prince de Conde' ;
but not seeing the extent of the evil, its causes or effects,
far from following the line of his master's sentiments, he
opposed them. He did this as much to oblige the prince as
to destroy the power of the frondeur cabal, by which he was
hated. He told his friends, to justify his apparent opposition
to the sentiments of his master, that he was incapable of
departing from his duty, but would never allow a division to
come between the two princes, because the Court was not in
a condition to strike a great blow that would bring down
the power of the Prince de Conde* ; he said he did not fear
that that of the Due d'Orle'ans would be annihilated under
the glory of the other, for the latter was ill-sustained by the
royal authority, which seemed without strength or vigour.
But the truth is he was hoping week by week for the
cardinal's hat. His objects went no farther than to tempo-
rize and gain time in which to satisfy that ambition ; and as
men always make to themselves excuses for present faults,
repairing them by virtuous intentions for the future, he
imagined that after his elevation, which would put him in a
position of stability, he could work powerfully for the
grandeur of the Due d'Orle'ans, the happiness of the State,
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 207
and the reduction of the Prince de Conde*. He followed his
passionate desire, and acted as men are accustomed to act
who, thinking that they secure themselves, often work for
their own destruction. Matters that were now happening,
and which were carefully concealed from him, were about to
annihilate his ambition and put an end to his influence and
favour. Happy would he have been if, through a wise disil-
lusion as to those things, he had learned to know their real
value.
To fully comprehend the change we are now to see, we
must remember the siege of Paris and the war fomented by
the coadjutor and the Due de Beaufort, and recall the fact
that at that time the Prince de Conde* had been the minister's
support, the one who alone had never wavered in supporting
him, and who on that occasion had walked straightforward
in maintaining his tottering fortunes and the royal authority.
We must also remember that, after winning four battles
against the foreign enemy, he had acquired the ill-will of the
public and that of his own family by making himself the
defender of this royal quarrel. We must not forget that
Madame de Chevreuse, being in Flanders, had held commu-
nication with the^ frondeurs ; that Laigues had negotiated
with Spain through her ; that the Due de Beaufort had been
put in prison partly at the instigation of the late Prince de
Conde" ; that Madame de Montbazon had been exiled for her
enmity to the Princesse de Conde*, who, mother of a son so
powerful as the then Due d'Enghien, had proudly braved
her enemies, and neglected nothing that could satisfy her
vengeance.
The Duchesse d'Aiguillon, who took part in the present
council, was also in a position which ought to be remarked.
At the beginning of the regency she had saved her right to
Havre with difficulty; and it was great good-fortune for her
208 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. VIL
to have escaped the effects of the dislike that the queen
would naturally bear against her. The late Prince de Conde"
and his son had greatly tormented her by instituting suits
against the inheritance of the young Due de Bre'ze', brother
of the Duchesse d'Enghien. But now, at last, her turn had
come, and as the enemy of the Prince de Cond she was
about to take part in his imprisonment, for she cleverly
found means to enter into this intrigue through the medium
of the Due d'Orleans. And this is how she did it :
The Due d'Orldans had tenderly loved Soyon, maid-of-
honour of Madame. This young woman, moved by devotion
or some inward grief, had flung herself into the great convent
of the Carmelites, intending to become a nun. Monsieur, not
being able to endure her absence, employed the royal author-
ity, that of parliament, and his own, also the entreaties of
Soyon's friends, to make her leave the convent. The person
from whom he received most help was the Duchesse d'Ai-
guillon, all-powerful over Pere Le*on, Soyon's confessor, a
Carmelite monk, who had at least as much ambition as piety.
She applied her influence in that direction with such force that
the conscience of the girl was reassured, and she was induced
to return to Court with the hope of soon becoming lady-in-
waiting to Madame, hi order to remain at Court without being
married. It must be admitted that she lived in the world
with virtue and piety, and showed so clearly that she despised
it that we must respect her return rather than condemn it.
Madame d'Aiguillon, to obtain some benefit from this
negotiation, persuaded the Due d'Orleans that the Abbe" de
La Riviere, jealous of the favour of Mademoiselle de Soyon,
had, by his intrigues, urged her to become a nun. She had,
as I have heard say, no real grounds for this. But as she
wanted the ruin of the Prince de Conde*, and believed the
abbe* to be bound to his interests and a friend to the new
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 209
Duchesse de Eichelieu, whom she had reason to hate, she
thought it necessary to make him lose the good graces of
his master. It is to be presumed that she knew things on
this subject of which I am ignorant, and that she could
without scruple accuse him of this jealousy, which under
certain circumstances would naturally be in his souL As
this lady, by knowledge or by suspicion, was led to believe
that the favourite was susceptible of that passion, so the Due
d'0rle"ans was as easily convinced of it ; and, without much
examining whether what was told him was true or false, he
believed it because of other doubts he was beginning to have
about him. At any rate, he imagined that the Abbe" de La
Eiviere wished that Mademoiselle de Soyon should stay at the
Carmelites ; and that thought, received into a mind already
ill-disposed, was able to ruin the abbe* in his eyes.
It was through this that the frondeurs, who hated the
Abbe* de La Eiviere, allied themselves with the Duchesse
d'Aiguillon; and this was the way by which she entered
into the great negotiation. It was confided to her by the
frondeurs and by the minister, who were both resolved to
destroy La Eiviere. She held the keys of the citadel of
Havre, which, through De Bar's fidelity, was preserved to
her, in spite of her nephew the Due de Eichelieu, and in
spite of the manoeuvres of the Prince de Condd ; so that the
minister, finding her suitable in many ways, partly for the
security he could feel in her hatreds, and partly from
the opinion he had of her capacity, made no difficulty in
speaking to her of the grand project. It was therefore
Madame de Chevreuse, Madame d'Aiguillon, the coadjutor, 1
1 In the Memoirs of Cardinal de Retz we read how Madame de
Chevreuse entered into negotiations with Mazarin and promised him
the concurrence of the coadjutor himself against the Prince de Conde*. '
FR. ED.
VOL. II. 14
210 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vu.
the Marquis de Noirmoutiers, and Laigues who negotiated
the affair with the queen, the Due d'Orl^ans, and the min-
ister. The Due de Beaufort knew nothing about it, because
the frondeur cabal believed he would tell it to Madame
de Montbazon ; and the whole troop did not esteem that
lady enough to let her be mistress of their fate.
This scheme of arresting the Prince de Conde* pleased
the minister, not only by delivering him from a prince of
the blood who despised him, but still more because he
believed he should now become master of France. He saw
one of the cabals destroyed by the ruin of its leader. The
other, which seemed to be giving itself up to him, no longer
caused him any fear ; and by the dismissal of the Abbe* de La
Riviere he hoped in future to have the same influence over
the Due d'Orle'ans as he had over the queen ; and thus his
dominion over all would be complete and secure.
The frondevSrs had other thoughts. They apparently
entered into the minister's interests, but they imagined that
when they no longer had the formidable prince as their
enemy, the cardinal, weak and hated, would not dare to
refuse them anything and would be wholly submissive to
their purposes; that the Due d'Orle'ans, deprived of La
Riviere, would let himself be governed by their friend, the
coadjutor, for whom he showed both esteem and inclination ;
that the duke, being led by them, would make himself
master of the Court ; and that through him their power
over all would be established hi a firm and lasting manner.
Madame de Chevreuse saw herself then in a position to
revive her old desire, conceived at the beginning of the re-
gency, of governing the queen. And her hope was the
better founded because she and her cabal expected in future
to possess the queen by force, and, consequently, with more
security.
J650J MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 211
The Court, inwardly in this state, took the resolution to
execute its intentions promptly, and to arrest the Prince de
Conde", also the Prince de Conti and the Due de Longueville,
in order that the last two should not attempt by a civil
war to succour the first. I have since heard the queen say,
speaking of the imprisonment of the prince, that being one
day in council with the Due d'Orle'ans and her minister,
she and they exclaimed together what a good thing it would
be to arrest the prince ; that after thinking it well over the
thing seemed to them both necessary and feasible ; and that
later, through time and through events, it appeared to be so
easy that they finally executed it without any difficulty.
When the queen spoke of it for the second time to the
Due d'Orle'ans, she again conjured him not to confide the
secret to the Abb de La Riviere. This entreaty was more
especially founded on the fact that in the last reconciliation
of the Prince de Conde* with the minister, which the Abbe*
de La Riviere had negotiated, the prince had made him give
his word that the Due d'Orle'ans should not consent to his
imprisonment, in case such a thing was ever thought of,
without first warning him ; and the prince also desired that
the duke should in his presence, assure him of the same
thing. He believed that the queen would never have that
design unless the Due d'Orle'ans took part in it, and that,
being secured by the pledge of the duke and his favourite,
he had nothing to fear.
The Abbe" de La Riviere, who was unwilling to give his
word in a matter of such consequence without the partici-
pation of the Court, took the advice of the queen and her
minister before he pledged himself to the prince ; to whom,
however, he finally gave the assurance in presence of his
master. The queen and cardinal gave it very willingly in
order to get peace ; for at that time they had no thought of
212 MEMOIKS OF MADAME DE MOTTEV1LLE. [CHAP. vu.
using such severe remedies. But time having persuaded
them such action was useful to the State, the Abbe" de La
Riviere, who in this matter was guilty of nothing but too
much readiness to serve the Prince de Conde", was the victim
offered up by all the actors concerned in this great design.
The distrust the queen felt for him was the cause of his
ruin; a curtain was drawn before the eyes of the Due
d'Orl^ans on which were depicted crimes in the man he
had loved and whom he now felt obliged to punish. It is
to be believed, however, that the favourite might have
agreed to the present design, which would have delivered
him from his eternal dread of the Prince de Conti, who could
at any time, according to his caprice, deprive him of his
nomination for the cardinal's hat. But the abbess innocence
was useless to him because of his apparent faults.
The prince whose liberty was now threatened seemed
uneasy. He felt that his interests were not being supported
in parliament. He fulminated against the frondeurs, and
openly declared that if he did not get justice done him he
would do it for himself, and that as strongly as possible.
He complained that the Due d'Orle'ans was deserting him,
and told his friends that he pretended to be ill when he
begged him to go to parliament. The Abbe* de La Riviere,
with a futile desire for peace, endeavoured to maintain it
between the two princes as the most important affair of the
State. The Prince de Conde 1 , perceiving the influence of his
enemies, showed the greatest resentment; and one of his
servants, a person of rank, told me that his vexation kept
him from sleeping, and that he often walked his chamber at
night and spent many hours in writing and consulting
about his affairs. But while he threatened his enemies,
entreated his friends, and complained of small evils, the
greatest of misfortunes was about to fall upon his head, to
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 213
show him that men, no matter what their position is, can-
not always be wholly fortunate. Though his ill- fortune was
still surrounded by glory, and he was followed into his very
prison with dazzling fame, it may nevertheless be said that
with liberty he lost a grandeur and power which up to that
time had brought him all the felicity that could be desired
in the life of a great prince. It usually pleases God in the
days of our prosperity to show us the fragility of earthly
good.
At last measures were taken to execute that which was
destined to change so many things. The Due de Longue-
ville was ill at Chaillot ; he had shown some aversion to
visiting the king, on account of certain warnings he had
lately received. But as he had promised to be present at
the council, for an affair to be brought up about the Due
de Beauvron, the queen determined to take this occasion to
execute her design. She feigned illness, and this pretended
indisposition gave her a pretext to close her doors and so
avoid any uproar. The council brought a great crowd of
people to the Palais-Eoyal ; but the action now to be per-
formed required security and consequently solitude. For
this reason the queen ordered the captain of her guards to
admit no one except those who belonged to the council.
The Due d'Orle'ans did not come, to avoid being an ocular
witness to the disaster of the prince who was living in
security on his promised word.
The queen lay down on her bed, declaring that her head
ached ; and I heard her say afterwards that she needed to
lie there to hide the trouble of her soul, which was great as
the hour for the council approached. The Princesse de
Conde', who had the privilege of seeing her even at times
when she received no one, came to visit her this very day ;
which greatly increased the queen's emotion; for she felt
214 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. TIL
kindly to the princess, knowing that she had no share in the
conduct of her son. She recalled on this occasion, as she did
me the honour to tell me, with great regret and compassion,
how the Princesse de Condd had always received her caresses
with a gratitude that amounted almost to idolatry ; and that
she little deserved being deprived by her of happiness for
the rest of her life.
This unfortunate mother, very ignorant of her coming sor-
row, sat down by the queen's pillow, and asked her many
questions about her illness, all of which proceeded from a
real uneasiness, for the queen was always so healthy that it
was difficult not to be surprised when she complained of not
feeling welL But all these words were only fresh causes of
pain to her who had more health than peace of mind, and
had as much wish to do the princess good as she now had
the necessity of doing her evil.
On the morning of that day the Prince de Conde* had
gone to see the cardinal, whom he found conversing with
Priolo, a servant of the Due de Longueville, to whom the
cardinal was saying all sorts of pleasant things for his mas-
ter, begging him to come after midday to the council. The
Prince de Conde', entering the minister's room, begged him to
continue his conversation. Then, going up to the fire, he
found de Lyonne, the cardinal's secretary, who was writing
at a little table certain orders that were necessary for the
execution of the great affair of the day. De Lyonne hid
them carefully under the cloth, putting on the best face
possible.
This visit over, the prince went to dine with his mother.
She had had some warning or presentiment of his danger.
So that after dinner, having drawn aside her two sons, she
begged the prince to take care of himself, for assuredly the
Court was not favourable to him. The prince answered that
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 215
the queen had lately assured him again of her friendship,
and that the cardinal was on very good terms with him ; but
that doubtless the mischief came from La Riviere, who
betrayed him, and made his master lean to the frondeurs.
Then he told the Prince de Conti, his brother, that he should
like that very day, in his presence, to rebuke the abbe* as he
deserved. The Prince de Marsillac, whose mind was able
and penetrating, had often judged that affairs were going ill
for their side, and so thinking, had frequently advised that
all three should never be at the council together. But it was
ordered of God that they should not heed his advice. The
Prince de Cond was the first to go to the queen, the two
others followed soon after. He found his mother there, as I
have said, and he remained a short time by the queen's bed-
side in simple conversation.
But as he had many affairs on hand and many vexations
on his mind, he quitted the queen after a few commonplace
remarks, leaving his mother with her. That was the last
time he ever saw his mother ; it was the moment that parted
them forever. The prince passed into the little cabinet out
of which he entered another, a species of passage to a gallery
where the council was usually held. From this little pas-
sage was another leading to the cardinal's apartment, and the
prince was about to take it when he met him on his way to
the queen. They stopped at that place, and the prince talked
to the minister a long time about the various matters that
touched him keenly. He showed that he felt deeply the
protection which parliament was giving to his enemies, and
the coolness towards him which he noticed in the mind of
the Due d'Orle'ans. After this he complained of the Abbe*
de La Eiviere, whom he suspected of promoting the cause of
the Fronde with his master. He told the cardinal he would
greatly like to speak to the abb in his presence ; and know-
216 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vn.
ing that he was with the Mardchal de Villeroy, the king's
tutor, who was ill, they sent for him.
The Abbe* de La Kiviere, hearing that he was wanted by
these personages, hastened to go to them. But in attempting
to enter the queen's apartments he found such difficulties at
the door of the guardroom that he feared this severity was
aimed at himself. For though he knew nothing actually, he
saw that things were embroiled, and felt he was not on as
good terms with his master as usual. Comminges, lieutenant
of the queen's guards, who had received orders conjointly
with Guitaut, his uncle, for the arrest of the princes, seeing
that his men would not let the gentlemen who attended the
abbe" pass, feared that their scrupulous obedience might cause
some suspicions. He therefore made him excuses, and gave
orders that he should be allowed to enter, both he and his
attendants. This civility reassured the abbe", and as soon as
he entered, the prince and cardinal shut themselves up with
him.
Then the Prince de Conde* began vehemently to complain
of him ; told him that he betrayed him with his master ;
that he saw himself abandoned, and laid the whole blame of
it upon him. He told him he ought to remember all the
promises that the Due d'Orle'ans and he, in his private
capacity, had made to him ; that nevertheless they now gave
more protection to his enemies than to him ; but he would
do justice for himself, and should know how to avenge him-
self on those who thus failed him. In speaking of these
things he shouted so loud that the queen, attentive to all that
was happening, had some slight fear at the noise, imagining
that the prince might be complaining of a greater evil
While these three persons were conversing with such
heat the Comte de Servien arrived ; he was in the secret of
the great affair because the cardinal trusted him ; but when
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 217
he tried to enter the gallery they sent him away as an
intruder, and continued their talk till the arrival of the Due
de Longueville. The prince then begged the cardinal and
the abbe* to cease speaking of these affairs before his brother-
in-law. The conversation being thus interrupted they talked
for a few moments of common things, and soon after the
Prince de Conti arrived. The minister, seeing the three per-
sonages in a position to receive the sovereign's decree, sent
word to the queen in their presence that all was ready, and
that she could come to the council ; which meant that she
could now give the final command. The queen at once bade
adieu to the Princesse de Conde*, saying that she was go-
ing to the council ; and this was the last time she ever saw
her. The princess, in spite of her suspicions, went away
without any thought of the immediate evil that was to hap-
pen to her, and the queen sent word to the princes who
awaited her that they could pass into the gallery, where she
would join them.
The Prince de Conde* went first, the Prince de Conti,
his brother, next, and then the Due de Longueville and the
rest of the ministers. The Prince de Conde, while awaiting
the queen, amused himself by talking to Comte d'Avaux on
financial matters, and argued with him on some matter
that concerned the interests of one of his friends. The
cardinal, who remained behind in the little passage, seeing
the princes all in the gallery, instead of following them,
took the Abbe* de La Eiviere by the hand and said to him
in a low voice : " Let us return to my room ; I have some-
thing of importance to tell you." They went away to-
gether, the first, entirely absorbed in his plot ; the second,
as he himself told me, much troubled at not knowing what
to think of this extraordinary withdrawal, which seemed to
him to indicate some serious event.
218 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAF. TIL
The queen, on her side, having risen from her bed, where
she had been lying fully dressed, gave the necessary orders
to Guitaut, captain of her guard. She then took the king,
to whom up to this moment she had said nothing of this
determination, and shut herself up with him in her oratory.
As she was not led to this action by any spirit of vengeance
she made the young monarch kneel down, told him what
was being done at that instant, and ordered him to pray to
God with her for the success of the undertaking, the end of
which she awaited with much emotion and a beating heart.
Instead of the queen, for whom they waited to open the
council, Guitaut entered the gallery. The prince, who was
conversing, as I have said (for all these things happened
together), seeing Guitaut come towards him, thought he had
some favour to ask of him. He went to meet him with that
idea, and asked him what he desired. Guitaut replied in a
low voice : " Monsieur, it is you I want ; I have an order to
arrest you you, the Prince de Conti, your brother, and
Monsieur de Longueville." The prince answered brusquely :
" I, Monsieur Guitaut you arrest me ! " Then, after
reflecting a moment, " In God's name," he said, " go to the
queen and tell her I entreat her to let me speak to her."
Guitaut told him it would doubtless be of no use, but that
he would do it to satisfy him.
As the prince had stepped aside from the others to speak
to Guitaut, and as Guitaut had spoken in a low tone, no one
present had heard the decree against the liberty of the three
personages. So that, when Guitaut left him to go to the
queen as he desired, the prince returned to the others with
a rather agitated face and said to all of them, " Messieurs,
the queen has had me arrested ; " then, turning to the Prince
de Conti and the Due de Longueville, he added, " And you
too, my brother ; and you, Monsieur de Longueville." Then
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 219
he addressed the whole company and said, "I own that
this astonishes me, who have always served the king so
well, and who thought myself so secure of the cardinal's
good-will" After which, turning to the chancellor, he asked
him to go to the queen and beg her from him to allow him
to speak to her, and he begged the Comte de Servien to go
to the cardinal and request the same thing.
The chancellor went to the queen but did not return ; and
Servien, who went to the cardinal, also did not come back.
But Guitaut returned and told the prince that the queen
could not see him, and that he had orders to execute her
will The Prince de Cond then said to him in a perfectly
tranquil tone of voice : " Very well, I am willing, we will
obey ; but where are you going to take us ? I hope it will
be to some warm place." Guitaut replied that he had orders
to take them to Vincennes. The prince then said, " Very
well, let us go." At the same time he advanced towards the
end of the gallery, where there is a door leading to the car-
dinal's apartments, thinking no doubt to go out that way.
But as he was about to open it, Guitaut said to him :
" Monsieur, you cannot go out by that door, for Com-
minges is there with a dozen guards." The prince then
turned to the company, without any sign of distress, his
face serene and tranquil, and bowed to all, bidding them
adieu, and begging them to remember him and to testify
on all occasions, like honourable men as they were, that
he had been a good servant to the king, having always
lived as such, and that he was their servitor. Then, turning
to the Comte de Brienne, secretary of State, he embraced
him and said, "As for you, you are my relative."
During this time, Guitaut had called in Comminges, his
nephew, and the dozen guards who were stationed outside
the door of the gallery awaiting orders. He made them pass
220 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. TII.
on to open a little door to the garden, in order to descend by
a small private staircase by which the prisoners were to go.
The prince, seeing that he was obliged to follow that escort,
said to Comminges before he set foot on the stairs : " Com-
minges, you are a man of honour and a gentleman ; have I
nothing to fear ? " Then he hastily enumerated the things
he had done for him, and the kindness he had shown to
little Guitaut his cousin; and said all he could to make
him feel that he owed him some gratitude.
It was Comminges himself who related to me, a few days
later, all these particulars, expressing astonishment at the
prince's presence of mind and the quickness with which he
recalled to him the kindness he had shown him on many
occasions. Comminges, seeing from what the prince was
saying that he feared some design against his life, answered
that he was a man of honour and a gentleman, and that the
prince might rely on his word that he had nothing to fear
from him, and he had no orders except that of taking him
to Vincennes. On these assurances the prince followed him
without showing any uneasiness and without saying a single
word against his enemies.
The Prince de Conti did not speak at all. He remained
seated on a little couch which was in the gallery, without
showing either fear or grief ; and he allowed himself to be
led away without making any resistance. The Due de
Longueville, who had hurt his leg and did not like using it
on this occasion, walked slowly and unwillingly. Guitaut
was obliged to order two guards to assist him in walking.
And as in advanced age minds have less vigour, and ills
endured are no doubt more depressing, Guitaut told me on
the same day that he found the duke overcome with sadness
and saw on his face that he regarded this misfortune as an
evil that would lead him to the grave.
1650J MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 221
The Prince de Conde*, walking first, came sooner than the
others to the gate of the garden which opens upon the street
through which they were to go. He had to wait for the two
princes who were following him, before the gate was opened
to let him enter the carriage which was waiting to
take them to Vincennes. During this interval the prince
asked Guitaut if he knew the reason of this affair, and
told him he was amazed that he should have accepted the
commission, as he well knew he loved bin]. Guitaut an-
swered that he entreated him to consider that men attached
to their masters and the service of the king were compelled
to act when it was a question of obeying them. He ex-
pressed to him his regret at being constrained by his duty
to do what he was then doing. The prince seemed
satisfied with these sentiments. The two other prisoners
arrived while they were talking together. Guitaut then
opened the garden gate, and the carriage was found all
ready to receive them, with Comminges and some of the
guards. They went out by the Porte de Eichelieu so as not
to cross all Paris with such prey; which obliged them to
make a great devour along very bad roads.
Miossens, with a company of the king's gendarmes, was
stationed in the horse-market, near the Kichelieu Gate. He
had received an order from the cardinal to post himself there
to defend, against the Due de Beaufort, certain prisoners
whom it was desirable to take ; and the cardinal, to prevent
him from knowing the truth, gave him to understand that he
was to fight against the frondeur duke. Miossens accepted
the commission like a brave man of high courage, but with
some uneasiness, not seeing clearly what he had to do, nor
what was expected of him. La Salle, his lieutenant, threw
some light on the matter; and in his anger at seeing that
the minister had not placed confidence in him, he searched,
222 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vn.
so he told me, for Flamarin, a friend of his, intending to
send a warning to the Prince de Cond by him. He thought
he was not obliged to keep a secret they would not confide
to him. But not being able to find his friend, he was com-
pelled to remain inactive, and meantime the prince was
arrested. Then, going to the Palais-Royal for full instruc-
tions, he learned what the affair really was, about which he
had been told so obscurely. The Prince de Cond [as com-
mander-in-chief] had himself signed the order, thinking it
was in his own interests, and that the prisoners whom they
intended to take were the accomplices of his enemies. But
his own eyes showed him who were the prisoners whom
Miossens was ordered to conduct.
As the road by which the prisoners were conveyed was
crooked and difficult, the carriage was overturned at a bad
place. No sooner was it on the ground than the Prince de
Conde*, whose fine figure, agility, and skill were incomparable,
was out and away in the fields. Quicker than a bird escap-
ing from its cage, and taking advantage of the chance, he
was already getting away from his guards, when Miossens,
seeing this, ran after him and stopped him on the edge of a
pit into which he was about to spring. The Prince de Conde*
then said to him (as Miossens himself told me), " Fear
nothing, Miossens, I am not escaping; but see what you
could do for me if you chose." On which Miossens an-
swered that he implored him very humbly not to ask of him
a thing which as a man of honour he could not do ; and he
assured him he was grieved to be forced to such fidelity, but
that he must obey the king and queen.
We may notice from this answer how differently a man of
honour acts when he is trusted from what he does when sus-
pected ; for Miossens had intended to warn the prince before
he received his actual orders from the king. I do not know
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 223
if he told the truth in saying these things; for he would
have been almost wholly estimable through his fine qualities
if he had had as many Christian virtues as he had moral
ones, and if, respecting the truth of the Gospel, he had
hated falsehood and vanity in his talk.
The prince being stopped in this way, they all had to wait
till the carriage was set up again. When they got into it
Comminges commanded the coachman to drive as rapidly as
possible. The Prince de Conde*, hearing this order, burst out
laughing and said : " Don't be afraid, Comminges, no one is
coming to rescue me ; I assure you I have taken no precau-
tions against this journey." Then he asked him what he
thought about the arrest; as for him, he said, he could not
guess the reason of it. Comminges, who had wit and had
read a good deal, replied that he knew nothing, but he sup-
posed the prince's greatest crime was that of Germanicus
who became suspected by the Emperor Tiberius because he
was too worthy, too much beloved, and too great. This an-
swer made the prince thoughtful for a moment ; then he
exclaimed: "By this time Monsieur is rejoicing at having
played me this trick, and his traitor of a favourite, too "
(meaning the Abb de La Riviere), " who no doubt plotted
the whole business."
On arriving at Vincennes he seemed a little touched, and
said to Miossens, who took leave of him at the gate of the
prison, that he begged him to assure the queen that he was
always her very humble servant. When they reached the
chamber they were to occupy, they found no beds to sleep
on. They were forced, all three, to play cards to amuse
themselves, and they spent the whole night in this way, but,
as Comminges told me, they did so gaily and with much
composure of mind. The Prince de Conde', joking with his
brother and the Due de Longueville, told many agreeable
224 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vn.
anecdotes. Which proves the firmness of his courage and
also that although he had seemed excited and had asked
many times uselessly to see the queen and the cardinal, yet
the vivacity of his mind and the strength of his passions
had more to do with those appeals than any weakness. He
added to the occupation of cards a lively argument which
he had with Comminges about astrology. I have heard
Comminges himself say that, having spent eight days with
him on this occasion, he never enjoyed such good hours as
those he passed in conversing with him ; and that if he had
not been so moved with compassion and had been capable of
the sternness required to guard persons of that importance, he
would have liked to remain with him during his whole im-
prisonment. And when, at the end of a week, he was obliged
to leave him, he told me he wept in parting with him, and
that the prince in embracing him had tears in his eyes. It
is nevertheless certain that neither the prince nor the gen-
tleman was ever accused of being susceptible of great
tenderness.
I left the queen in her oratory, refusing to listen to the
entreaties of the Prince de Conde". When she knew they
had gone down and were safely in the carriage, she remained
in the same place and in the same tranquillity till their
journey should be fully accomplished. I also left Cardinal
Mazarin on his way to his apartment, and with him the
Abbe* de La Eiviere. He told the latter when he reached
his room that he had brought him with him instead of
entering the council, because the queen had ordered the
arrest of the Prince de Condd, the Prince de Conti, and the
Due de Longueville.
The Abbe" de La Eiviere was at first so astonished by this
news that, not being able to believe it, he regarded it as fab-
ulous, and treated it for a while as a jest, swearing it was
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 225
impossible it could be so, until both he and the cardinal
were laughing with all their might. The latter laughed
because the thing was true, the other because he believed it
false. At last, on the entrance of the Comte de Servien, who
came to tell the cardinal that the Prince de Cond^ asked to
speak to him, and of Miossens, who came for his last orders
from the lips of the cardinal himself, the abbe" could doubt
no longer the truth of this strange story, and addressing
Cardinal Mazarin with a great change from his recent gaiety,
he said he was 'astonished that the affair had been concealed
from him ; that he saw himself ruined ; and that he had not
deserved from the queen or the minister such treatment.
The cardinal justified himself as well as he could, saying
that the reason this matter had been withheld from him was
on account of the pledge he had given the Prince on behalf
of the Due d'Orle'ans that he would not allow him to be put
in prison without giving him due notice.
The Abbe" de La Riviere was not satisfied with that reason,
and wishing to efface from the minister's mind the opin-
ion that he would have saved the Prince de Cond^ from
this danger could he have done so, he employed his strength
in proving to him that he should have found some-way to
evade the promise he had given to the prince. He assured
the cardinal that to rid him of the Prince de Conti was the
greatest service he could have' done him, and he added that
as the cardinal must have known this was so, he saw plainly
that he meant to ruin him. The cardinal, not knowing how
to reply, took him by the hand and led him to the queen,
whom they found still shut up in her oratory.
The queen was prepared with what she had to say to him.
She let him enter the oratory, and bidding him close the
door made him excuses for what she had done against him,
and assured him she would obtain the cardinal's hat for him,
TOL. II. 15
226 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vn.
and also the restored good-will of his master. This was not
at all the queen's intention, still less that of her minister, who
did not wish the Due d'Orle'ans, in the position in which he
was now to be placed, to have a favourite about his person
who, seeking to be cardinal, might become his equal in
dignity, and possibly more powerful than he. The royal
authority being weakened, there was reason to fear that
the abbe", losing the pacific spirit he had hitherto shown,
might become troublesome. But as the cleverest persons
sometimes mislead themselves by their own arguments, the
cardinal soon after became aware that he had taken his
measures badly ; for he encountered from the frondeurs
precisely that which he had only feared from the abbs'.
After this mild conversation the abbe* went off full of
trouble, hope, and fear, to his master at the Luxembourg.
He found the Due d'Orle'ans enchanted at the success of the
affair, and very much embarrassed towards himself. He
reproached the prince for the distrust he had shown to him,
and tried to prove to him that he was wrong in suspecting
him of infidelity. But for all his words the prince had
neither heart nor ears. The wiliness of the minister, the
affair of Mademoiselle de Soyon, the intrigue of the Duchesse
d'Aiguillon, and the influence of the Fronde, which the
abbe* had neglected for the Prince de Conde' and Madame de
Longueville, all these things had so roughly assailed the
affection the Due d'Orle'ans had formerly borne him that his
ruin was at last determined. Nothing less than all this
would have sufficed to destroy the fortunes of this favourite,
who had seemed so firmly established that few men hi those
days, subject to the favour of Cardinals Eichelieu and Mazarin,
had more luck or more power than he. The Due d'Orle'ans,
however, having once changed to him, abandoned him to his
enemies and promised them to dismiss him. He remained
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 227
ever after convinced that the hat had turned his brain, and
that his desire for it had made him faithless to his service
and to what he owed him ; and, according to appearances, he
had some ground to think so.
When the queen knew that the princes were well on their
way she sent at once for M. de La Vrilliere, secretary of State,
and told him to summon Madame de Longueville, in the
king's name and her own, to the Palais-Koyal, where it was
intended to arrest her. She was not found in her own house,
and her servants went to inform her of the disaster to her
brothers at the house of the princess-palatine, where she then
was. The news made her faint away, as the princess-pala-
tine told me herself; and no one seemed more agitated by
the disaster than she. She went as soon as possible to the
hotel de Condd to see her mother, to whom she cried, on en-
tering the room : " Ah ! madame, my brothers ! " The
Princesse de Condd was as yet ignorant of the fate of her
sons. The Comte de Brienne had come, by command of the
queen, to tell her of their misfortune ; but he had not yet
dared to give her the deadly blow. So that hearing Madame
de Longueville's exclamation, she was overcome with surprise
and said : " Alas ! what is it ? My sons, my children, are
they dead ? What has happened to them ? "
The Comte de Brienne, going up to her, told her they
were not dead, but that the queen had had them arrested,
and had sent him to tell her so. He ordered her at the same
time, in the king's name, to go to one of her country-houses,
and to take with her her daughter-in-law, the wife of the
Prince de Conde', and the Due d'Enghien, her grandson.
La Vrilliere, who had gone to find Madame de Longueville
and give her the order to go to the Palais-Eoyal, not having
found her came to the hotel de Cond in search of her. She
answered this messenger that she should take the advice of
228 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. VIL
her mother as to what she should do. The two princesses
in this interview suffered together all that grief could make
them feel on such an occasion. Madame de Longueville,
taking counsel of her mother, believed that the queen only
summoned her to arrest her. She pretended to be willing to
obey ; and then, seeing that this was no time for tears, instead
of going to the queen, she begged the princess-palatine, her
best friend, to drive her away from the hotel de Conde"
that she might consult with her as to what she should do.
The princess-palatine at once started with her in her own
coach and took her to a little house in the faubourg Saint-
Germain, where she sent for her step-daughter, Mademoiselle
de Longueville.
Her friends came to her. The Prince de Marsillac, and her
brother-in-law, the Marquis de Sillery, offered to follow and
serve her on this occasion. She accepted their offer gladly,
as the only succour that remained to her. After this she got
into the carriage of her friend the princess-palatine, who as-
sured her that she would faithfully serve her during her
disaster; which she effectually did with much ability and
courage. Madame de Longueville started instantly and
drove all night, intending to reach Normandy as quickly as
possible. She arrived there the next day as weary as she
was distressed ; and, to add to her desolation, she was not
favourably received. [The parliament sent to beg her to
leave their city ; and the young Due de Eichelieu refused to
receive her at Havre.] Her children remained with her
mother, the Princesse de Conde 1 , who, having taken no part in
her intrigues, nevertheless had a full share in the misfortunes
which her ambition had brought upon her family.
Half an hour after the arrest of the Prince de Conde',
Chavigny, who was in his interests, still ignorant of the news,
went to see Madame Du Plessis-Gue'ne'gaud, who had just
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVELLE. 229
heard it from a lacquey sent to her by her husband, who,
being Secretary of State, had witnessed the arrest at the
council. This lady was a daughter of the late Mare*chal de
Praslin. Her birth gave her persons of the highest rank
as relations, and her own excellence gave her many friends.
The queen, who did not know her well, never treated her
with the distinction that her good qualities deserved. And
her heart, full of the noble pride which to human reason
seems legitimate, made her endeavour in consequence to
make for herself and in her own house a species of do-
minion which should console her for a privation which she
could not bear without suffering when at Court.
For these reasons she received many visitors, and there
were few cabinet secrets concealed from her. She was by
nature susceptible of much affection and much hatred. Her
tenderness for her friends induced her to take part in their
interests ; and she found herself, without thought and with-
out consulting reason, nearly always opposed to whatever
was against them. Those who hated the minister found
fidelity, inspiration, and much animosity against him in her ;
though perhaps it was unjust, and more from fancied wrongs
than from any apparent subject of complaint she had against
him. As everybody thought her capable of secrecy and as
well-fitted to advise them in their affairs as she was to con-
sole them in then- troubles, they all went to her to pour into
her bosom the worries which commerce with the world is
sure to bring to those who love it most. Through her own
feelings she took part in the emotions of others, and this
combination made her too sensitive to what, at this period,
pleased, or displeased her. Besides these good and bad
qualities, she had an unblemished virtue. She was quite
agreeable in person; and, together with a serious nature
capable of the highest things, she had an extreme gaiety,
230 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MO1TEVILLE. [CHAP. vn.
so that many good things met together in intercourse with
her and in the pleasure of her society.
This lady, such as I represent her, was dearly loved by
Chavigny. He kept nothing hidden from her, and the close
alliance he had with the Prince de Cond^ against the minis-
ter was known to her. When she saw him, not doubting
the grief the prince's imprisonment would cause him, she
spoke of it pityingly. Chavigny, who had not as yet heard
the news, was keenly distressed; it surprised and shocked
him. Then, after reflecting a few moments, he raised his
eyes to heaven and striking his hands together, he exclaimed :
" It is a great misfortune for the prince, and for his friends.
But, to tell the truth, the cardinal has done well ; without
this, he was lost." These words hid, no doubt, many mys-
teries ; and in view of the then state of things, it may be
said that the minister on this occasion was not unskilful, and
that he deserved a favourable success for his boldness.
VIII.
1650.
THE queen, being informed that the princes had arrived
and were surrounded by the thick walls of the prison of
Vincennes, ordered the gates of the Palais-Eoyal to be
opened and every one to be allowed to enter. The news
being divulged, the crowd was great in the queen's apart-
ments. The Frondeurs had frondtd so well that they had
put their enemies hors de combat, and they hastened to
come and enjoy their victory in the place where, shortly
before, they were hated and treated as enemies. Curiosity
also brought a crowd of persons to learn the causes and par-
ticulars of this great event. Even those who pitied the
princes came too, some to make a good appearance and avoid
being suspected ; others to judge of what would follow and to
form projects for the future.
I was sitting by my fireside when I heard the news, and
the Marquis de Villequier, captain of the guards, afterwards
duke and marshal of France, was with me. He was sur-
prised by the misfortune of the Prince de Cond^, being one
of his friends, and calling himself his follower. But as the
slightest personal interests of men touch them far more
keenly than the greatest misfortunes that happen to their
friends, instead of feeling for the disaster to this great prince
according to the friendship he had for him, he cried out, say-
ing : " The execution of that order belonged to me ; I ought
to have arrested him. I am ruined ; it shows they distrust
me." I told him he ought not to be troubled by that dis-
232 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vin.
trust, for which, not having given cause for it, he might be
consoled by thinking that it saved him from putting a friend
in prison. He agreed with me, through the shame he felt at
his exclamation, and went off to the queen full of pain and
fury. He made great complaints to the minister, and per-
haps took care to redouble them in order to efface the stigma
he feared he carried on his forehead, of being a partisan of
the Prince de Condd, which would not have been very proper
in a captain of the body-guard ; and was not really so, for he
was quite incapable of failing in his duty.
As soon as Villequier had left me, I went to the queen
out of curiosity, taking no part in the affair other than
might be useful to her service. On entering her room I was
surprised to see so many new faces. All the frondeurs, the
minister's enemies, filled it completely. Each held his sword
in his hand (sheathed, however), and all were swearing that
they were good servants to the king, and were about to be
defenders of the queen and of the power of the State. I
thought their assumption ridiculous, and their blustering
rather too strong; and as there were some worthy men hi
that cabal who were friends of mine, I told them what I
thought, and made them agree that I had reason to laugh at
them. After that I talked with certain wise and moderate
men. They thought that the imprisonment of the Prince de
Conde" was undoubtedly a bold and vigorous action, which,
apparently, would do good to France, and calm the too
violent passions of the illustrious prisoner. But, as weak
bodies, whose bad humours are too easily stirred up, cannot
take medicine without great commotion, they thought it
doubtful if the Court, being agitated by the many factions
which for so long a time had disturbed its peace, could now
benefit by the remedy.
By this act, Cardinal Mazarin showed clearly that he was
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 233
not so feeble but that he could take steps of great power
when it pleased him ; and one of those whom he consulted
in this affair [Laigues] told me that when he proposed to
the cardinal to arrest the prince, he did not hesitate for a
moment to resolve upon it. It is certain, however, that he
had shown such fear of displeasing him, and had behaved to
him with such submission, that he had himself opened the
way to be abused by him. The Prince de Conde', by nature,
was not as formidable in the cabinet as in war, and if he had
only met with some firmness in the minister's soul, those
who knew him thoroughly said he would have been gentle
and tractable ; they declared that his last violent oppositions
came from his belief that the cardinal was held in contempt
by every one, and from the flatteries of his courtiers, who,
in speaking of the minister, always called him the prince's
slave.
On that same day there were persons in the interests of
the Prince de Conde* who told me, speaking of the causes of
his imprisonment, that, by the minister's own admission, he
had, during the war, promised the Pont-de-1'Arche to the
Due de Longueville, to draw him by that hope to the king's
side ; and that when peace was made he confirmed the
promise. They added that before the war there was a
secret negotiation between the cardinal and the Due de
Longueville, by which the minister made the duke expect
Havre-de-GrSce, provided he arranged with the Prince de
Conde", his brother-in-law, for the marriage of Mademoiselle
d'Alais, daughter of the Due d'Angoulme, the prince's
cousin, with Mazarin's nephew Mancini ; and that the car-
dinal, to give his nephew the rank that would make him
worthy of a marriage with a princess who bore the name of
Valois (as granddaughter of a bastard of Charles IX., and
niece of the Princesse de Conde*), had proposed to bestow
234 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vm.
upon him the sovereignty of Charleville and the Admiralty ;
but the Prince de Conde", not willing to break his word to
the Due de Joyeuse, brother of the Due de Guise, to whom
he had promised Mademoiselle d'Alais, broke up the negotia-
tion and would not hear of it, all the more because he
wanted that sovereignty for himself.
The prince, in course of time, used these very things to
show that he was not criminal in wishing that Havre should
be in the hands of his friend the Due de Richelieu,
inasmuch as the cardinal had held out the hope of it to
the Due de Longueville, solely for the aggrandizement of his
family. And when the prince was angry about the mar-
riage of the Due de Mercceur, the cardinal admitted he had
first sought alliance with him by the marriage of his nephew
to his relation, Mademoiselle d'Alais, and had been refused.
The followers and nearest friends of the princes, seeing
them arrested, escaped to the different places they com-
manded with as much expedition as was possible. The Due
de Bouillon and the Vicomte de Turenne were the first to
take flight. They and the Prince de Marsillac were missed
by a few moments only ; for, by the queen's determination,
they were to share the same fate, but were warned in time.
On the evening of this celebrated day, the queen, appear-
ing before the whole Court, spoke of the Prince de Conde"
with great moderation. She said to all that she was sorry
to have been forced, for the peace of the State, to order his
arrest, considering his merit, his birth, and his services ; but
that the king's interests went before all other considerations.
She received Madame de Montbazon, who came to congratu-
late her with the eagerness of a person well-pleased, coldly,
and told her she was not capable of feeling joy for a thing
of that nature; she had thought it necessary, but did not
find it delectable ; and would have considered herself very
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE.
happy if the Prince de Conde* had kindly not compelled her
to it.
That answer seemed to me to proceed from a truly royal
soul; and equity obliged me to feel joyful for it. I ap-
proached the queen, and after praising in a low voice that
humanity, I took the liberty of kissing her hand as if to
thank her for it. As for myself, personally, I had no
attachment to the illustrious prisoner. I acknowledge, how-
ever, that the fall of so great a man stirred me to pity, and I
was vexed to see his enemies triumphing in his misfortune.
They were a thousand times more guilty towards the queen
than he, and had nothing on their side to save them but
luck and fortunate conjunctures.
The day ended with an interview of an hour which
Laigues had with the queen. She was in her bed when he
talked with her, and it was he who closed her curtains at
midnight. That great amateur of new things was bold in
proposing them, firm in supporting them, and very skilful hi
persuading others to accept them. But all that the queen
was obliged to do in favour of these new and bad servants
could not prevent her from speaking of the Prince de Conde"
with the esteem she owed to him ; and her judgment was
the reason why this cabal was forced, in these first days, to
set bounds to their joy. Their moderation did not last long.
A few days later, without the queen contributing in any
way, the imprisonment of the prince, became a topic of jest
and gaiety to all the courtiers; each, believing that he
made himself agreeable by so doing, tried to manifest his
satisfaction.
The following night the Due de Beaufort, by advice of
the Due d'Orle'ans, rode through the streets on horseback to
show himself to the people, and to reassure certain little
men who fancied they were being deceived and believed it
236 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [COAT. vm.
was their own good prince who was put in prison. The re-
joicings were great in Paris at the imprisonment of the
Prince de Conde*, whom the people hated because of the
opposition he had always shown to their protector, the Due
de Beaufort. That favourite of the populace, seeing himself
in a position to profit by the favours of the Court, wished to
be reconciled to the minister. He sent him congratulations,
and even wished to show him submission by taking his
orders for the dangerous ride he took through the streets
that night. 1
The next day, as soon as the queen woke, her great cabinet
and her entire apartments were so filled with people that it
was difficult to pass through them. She was no sooner
awake than the Due d'Orle'ans came to see her. They con-
versed together for some time, she being still in her bed ;
and it was easy for the spectators to guess the subject of
their conversation.
I had heard the evening before that the Abbe* de La
Riviere was standing ill in his affairs, and that he had not
been in the secret of this great event. I went up to him to
know if that were so. He answered that it was true he had
no knowledge of the imprisonment. "If so," I said, "are
you not lost ? " " No doubt of it," he answered. " My mas-
ter no longer speaks to me; my foot is slipping, but I am
tranquil for all that." He left me to follow the Due
d'Orle'ans to the apartment of the cardinal, who still kept
up a show of great friendship for him. As soon as the
queen had risen, she received the congratulations of a great
many persons of rank, who assured her of their fidelity, and
several relatives of the prisoners were among their number.
The queen sent orders to Catalonia to arrest Marsin, who
1 This famous ride with torches of the " king of the markets " lasted
from nine in the evening till two in the morning. FR. ED.
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 237
commanded the army in Spain. He was a follower of the
Prince de Conde", and had obtained his appointment through
him. Parliament and the other sovereign courts were sum-
moned ; and the queen gave them the reasons which had
compelled her to secure the* persons of the three princes ;
and having told them the reasons, the assemblies seemed
satisfied.
The Princesse de Conde* sent to entreat her Majesty to let
her stay one day in her own house, and one day at the Car-
melites; which the queen granted readily. During those
two days all the persons of rank in Paris went to visit her,
to prove to her the part they took in her sorrow. This
princess was held personally in high esteem, partly because
of her own self. Her children gave her no share in their
schemes or their authority ; though the power which they
possessed naturally increased hers.
The Commandeur de Jars went to see her with the rest.
He belonged to the cabal of Cha'teauneuf, which opposed
the house of Conde*, but the princess, knowing him to be a
man of honour, embraced him, weeping bitterly. She then
said to him : " Commander, you have always been my friend ;
you see the state hi which I am; may I make you an en-
treaty ? " " Yes, madame," he said, " and provided that it is
within my power there is nothing that an honourable man
can do that I would not do with joy in your service." " My
poor son, the Prince de Conti," the princess then said to
him, " is infirm, delicate, and unwell ; he will suffer much
from not having his valet, who understands how to serve
him. I beg of you, obtain from the queen an order to send
the man to him ; and that will hi some degree comfort me."
The Commandeur de Jars, who has the heart of a true gen-
tleman, left her at once to do her this little service, and went
immediately to the queen, to whom he repeated what the
238 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vm.
princess had said to him. It was kindly received by the
queen ; so much so that the valet was sent that same day to
Vincennes for the comfort of the Prince de Conti, whom his
mother loved with extreme tenderness.
The Due de Beaufort and the coadjutor, who had not as
yet seen the king and queen, went on the 22d of the month
[January] full of apparent, or veritable, glory and satisfac-
tion at their destiny, to salute their Majesties at the Palais-
Eoyal; the Due d'Orldans presented them. They were
received in accordance with the times; that is to say, as
persons to whom all things happen according to their wishes,
and not according to their deserving. The Abbe" de La
Eiviere did not resemble them. His favour was dying, and
his courage sustained him for only a few days longer. He
was not at this presentation, but he came to the queen's
apartment shortly after. I asked him in what state his
affairs were. He answered, laughing, that he was very
feeble, and living on a regimen. He spoke the truth; but
in spite of his regimen his disease grew worse. The minister
began to show the p little will he had to keep his word to him ;
consequently, his favour was threatened with a speedy end.
The queen, in my presence, did not omit to ask him how he
stood with Monsieur. And he, as if it were a jest, replied
that his master no longer looked at him, and having lost his
nourishment he expected to die of inanition.
Seeing himself lost, he judged it best to end with a good
grace. He tried to speak once more with the Due d'Orl^ans,
in order to justify himself to him ; but the prince avoided
the interview and would not hear him. When he saw clearly
that his disaster had no remedy and his master had no ears
for him, he asked him, through his friend, the Marquis de
Termes, for permission to pass a fortnight at his house at
Petit-Bourg. That favour was readily granted, and apparently
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 239
for a longer time. He gave that night a supper to his friends,
at which he showed such gaiety that many of them thought
he was reinstated. He departed the next morning at six
o'clock without showing either grief or anxiety.
He lost at one stroke court favour, the hat, and the hope
he had that, in default of the hat, he should be made Arch-
bishop of Beims. But, in resigning at last the hope of being
cardinal, he seemed to lose his ambition, and to wish to
leave all anxieties behind him to his successor. He was
betrayed in the house of the Due d'Orle'ans by those he had
obliged and who owed him their fortunes, and was followed
only by a few who owed him nothing. He returned to the
latter what he had received from the former; and they
were ill-paid. The great property which remained to him
might, nevertheless, have given him the means to do better
by them ; but he was a man, and resembled ordinary men.
Some time later, the Due d'Orle'ans sent him a command
to go to one of his abbeys, and afterwards to Aurillac, in the
depths of the Auvergne, and to return the seals of the Order
which he had bought of the Keeper of the Seals, Chateau-
neuf, for three hundred thousand francs. He did not always
put a good face on his misfortune ; he suffered these evils
with little patience and much grief. But, having a high
spirit, he appeared at first to show courage and firmness
in bearing his disaster, receiving its worst blows in an
estimable manner. He played the first act of the comedy
well; the rest deserves no praise. No virtue can exist,
unless it is founded on piety.
Boutteville, with a few others, under pretext of what had
happened formerly in the garden of the " Kenard," chal-
lenged the Due de Beaufort to fight, which he would not
do, not for lack of courage, for certainly he was brave, there
was something grand about his soul ; but he did not choose
240 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAF. vin.
to involve himself in private quarrels. He thought it was
better to live to enjoy the fruits of the miserable intrigues
in which he was concerned. Princes often affect to avoid
combats with private individuals, and this one followed the
principle very willingly.
Towards the end of the month of January news came that
the Vicomte de Turenne had taken the rank of lieutenant-
general of the army of the king, in order to liberate the
princes. The queen having lately dismissed the troops that
the princes commanded, many of them went to join the
Vicomte de Turenne at Stenay, and mustered, as the queen
was told, some three thousand men. It was determined to
send the Due de VendQme at once into Champagne, with an
army to oppose this enemy, and with orders to seize the
government of Bourgogne, which belonged to the Prince
de Conde*.
The queen, on her side, resolved to go to Normandy to
make sure of that province, which she judged ought not
to be left under the influence of Madame de Longueville.
The parliament of Eouen, and many persons of rank were
showing some disposition to create an uproar in favour of
the frondeuse princess. But the Marquis de Beuvron, gov-
ernor of the place, an old friend of the Due de Longueville,
was resolved, though perhaps against his own wishes, to do
his duty ; and having shown him plainly that he could not
serve him, he made his wife aware that she must not expect
much support. Madame de Longueville, seeing herself ill-
received, determined to go to Dieppe, and find some encour-
agement there. Many of the gentlemen of the province
went to Dieppe to visit her ; they took her a few soldiers,
and some offered money, and lent it to her. The Prince de
Marsillac had already quitted her to go to his government in
Touraine, intending to form a party hi that part of the country
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 241
where he was powerful, through his friends and his influence.
No one of rank and importance remained with her but Saint-
Ibal, Traci, and Baviere, and a certain Saint- Andre", very
skilful in fortifications. There were also a few provincials of
consequence who did not abandon her. She intended to
remain in Dieppe as long as she possibly could, and if
the king drove her out of it, to take ship and seek in foreign
countries, like Madame de Chevreuse, the refuge that the
unfortunate always find there.
Montigny, governor of Dieppe, a worthy man, in receiving
Madame de Longueville, did not neglect to assure the queen
of his fidelity. The Marquis de Beuvron had done the same.
In that he was praiseworthy. Both were under great obliga-
tions to the Due de Longueville ; and though their conduct
was alike, their sentiments may have been different.
Madame de Longueville had attempted to go to Havre. But
the Due de Eichelieu could not receive her because he was
not wholly master there. The principal officers were all for
Madame d'Aiguillon, who naturally disliked a rebellious and
ungrateful nephew. So that Madame de Longueville, who
had procured this government for the husband of her friend
(Madame de Pons) with the intention of profiting by it her-
self, had the vexation of finding that marriage so far the
cause of her troubles that she did not receive even the
slightest relief or comfort from it.
The queen, in accordance with her resolution, left Paris
February 1, and arrived at Eouen on the 3d. Before start-
ing, she sent to arrest the Duchesse de Bouillon, who was
so adroit that the moment she saw the man who came to
arrest her, she saved her male children by sending them to a
place of safety. This lady has been famed for the love she
bore her husband, for that which her husband gave her, for
her beauty, and for the part which fortune caused her to
VOL. II. 16
242 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vin.
play in the events of the Court. She was delivered of a
child the very day of her arrest ; but without inconvenience
to her person, for she received, by order of the queen, all the
succour necessary to her in that state. On all occasions of
forced severity, such as kings are obliged to meet, the queen
almost never failed to give to the unfortunate persons all
the mitigations that reasons of State permitted.
The cardinal remained a few days longer in Paris to
attend to his affairs.
Mademoiselle de Soyon, lady-in-waiting to Madame, allied
herself wholly with the minister after the departure of the
Abb^ de La Eiviere. Those of the cabal which now reigned
over the Due d'Orle'ans, among them Haze* and Belloy, ensign
of his guards, brought forward Goulas, secretary of the mili-
tary commands of the Due d'Orle'ans, whom the Abbe* de
La Eiviere had always held unjustly at a distance from his
master. He was his enemy, and for that reason he thought
he ought to injure him. But such conduct was neither
laudable nor legitimate, though customary and profitable.
All these persons promised the cardinal entire fidelity, ob-
taining from him a few little favours and great promises for
the future. The cardinal's intention was to use these petty
favourites, whom he could pay with small things, to prevent,
by them, the Due d'Orle'ans from delivering himself over to
the frondeurs. All such precautions served him nothing,
however ; he soon found out that the latter were bent on the
usurpation of favour, and he began almost at once to seek
means to humiliate and destroy them in their turn. They
wished to belong to all the councils, and assumed to rule
in affairs of State.
Cardinal Mazarin was not liberal of his power nor of his
honourable employments. He valued them too much to let
others share in them. He himself wrote all the despatches
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 243
on foreign affairs; he alone exercised nearly all the great
functions at Court. It is to be believed that the persons so
lately become his friends were suspected by him. Still, he
had to show a good face towards them; this was no time
to let them see what was in his heart. He was obliged to
leave Madame de Chevreuse near the Due d'Orle'ans, with
little security as to the conduct of that prince, and to wholly
abandon parliament, the cabal for the princes, and Paris itself
to the Fronde. As a hostage for the latter's fidelity he car-
ried off on his journey the Marquis de Noirmoutiers, a great
frondeur, that he might keep in communication with the
others. He then went to join the queen and assist in driving
the Duchesse de Longueville from Dieppe.
The Comte d'Harcourt, who had the maintenance of the
government of Normandy, commanded the army of the king,
which was small. The royal person was not attended as
usual; the king had but forty guards, thirty light-horse
cavalry, and thirty gendarmes. He had little money and
few troops; but the authority of legitimate power often
equals the strength of big battalions.
The king and queen were received at Eouen with signs of
great joy, such as a young king whose beauty and innocence
were certain to please his people, deserved. They had never
seen him, or the queen, who, though she had travelled
through nearly all France, had never yet been to this great
and important city. On the 7th of February, Chamboi, who
commanded in Pont-de-1'Arche and had orders from Madame
de Longueville to surrender the place at the first summons,
gave it up at once, on payment of two thousand pistoles,
which he demanded for the costs of the garrison.
The queen, on arriving at Rouen, sent word to the Due de
Richelieu to come and see her. The Abbe* de Richelieu
came to Court to assure their Majesties of his brother's good
244 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vin.
intentions and those of Madame de Eichelieu, his sister-in-
law. The latter desired to have her marriage confirmed by
the king and queen. She worked for this by negotiations
with the minister, who finally allowed himself to be per-
suaded. He sent her word that if she and her husband
continued faithfully attached to their duty, the queen would
give her the tabouret, and she should be treated as Duchesse
de Eichelieu ; which was done a few days later.
La Croisette, who commanded in Caen, with fifty thousand
livres of revenue from the Due de Longueville his master,
sent at once to assure their Majesties of his fidelity, and re-
ceived in the city and castle a substitute appointed to com-
mand them hi his stead.
Mademoiselle de Longueville quitted her step-mother, and
with the queen's permission, went to Coulommiers to spend
the first months of the imprisonment of her father the Due
de Longueville. She had much intelligence and merit. Her
virtue and the tranquillity of her life sheltered her from the
storms of the Court ; and though she bore the name of fron-
deuse, the queen, who knew the little bond there was between
herself and her step-mother, thought it was just to leave her
in peace to enjoy her greatest pleasures, which she found in
books and in the ease of an innocent idleness. For these
reasons her retreat was respected by all and gave great com-
fort to herself. The desire for knowledge and solitude suits
with sad circumstances when persons are wise and virtuous
enough to feel all that they should feel.
The queen sent commands to Madame de Longueville to
leave Dieppe and go to Coulommiers. But the princess's
heart was too ulcerated against her enemies to obey orders
which she believed to come from them under the name of
the queen. She felt herself capable of great enterprises,
and thought it better to preserve herself for something more
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 245
useful to her party than mere rest in that house, where,
indeed, she was not sure of perfect safety.
On receiving the order of the queen, she pretended to be
ill and said she would obey it as soon as she recovered.
Le Plessis-Belliere was ordered to Dieppe with a few troops,
and when she heard of their approach, she did her best
to win over the governor of that city, and persuade him to
hold out against the royal forces. M. de Montigny, as was
always believed, wishing to be faithful to the king, repre-
sented to her the difficulty of such an undertaking, and
made her see that he could not, alone, without money and
without troops, do as she wished. In conclusion he advised
her to escape by sea and go to Flanders to await better times.
Madame de Longueville, who knew that the greatest service
she could render the imprisoned princes was to keep Nor-
mandy for them, did not yield to this last blow. She
attempted to win to her side the burghers, the officers, and
the lower classes of the town. She talked to them vigor-
ously, using soft and humble entreaties, and said everything
she could to rouse them to take up her defence. She made
use of the public hatred against Mazarin, representing to
them how glorious it would be if they sent word to the king
that they would open to him the gates of their city pro-
vided he would not bring the minister with him.
They, who loved their peace and felt no uneasiness at
being governed by Mazarin, whom they would as readily obey
as any other, replied, very naturally, that they were servants
of the king, and it was not just to take from him the liberty
to employ whom he pleased to serve him. They declared to
the princess that their intention was to send to their
Majesties an assurance of their fidelity, with a message to
the king that he could be master of their city when it
pleased him to come there, Madame de Longueville, being
246 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vin.
thus without resource, saw all her hopes evaporate. But her
great courage did not abandon her, and she now thought
seriously of escape. She made a general confession, which
seemed to bear all the marks of true contrition, and al-
though she retained her intention of making war, she had
no great scruple in doing so, believing that self-defence
permitted it.
When she found herself close-pressed by Le Plessis-
Belliere, who threatened to besiege the castle in which
she was, she went out by a little door in the rear, which
was left unguarded, followed by those of her women who had
the courage not to leave her, and a few gentlemen. She
walked two leagues to reach a little harbour, where there
were only two fishing-boats. She resolved to embark, against
the advice of the sailors, with the intention of going out
to a large vessel, which she kept at anchor expressly for
the purpose of saving her in case she was forced to fly. The
wind was so strong and the surf so high that the sailor who
had taken her in his arms to carry her to the boat, not being
able to resist them, let her drop into the sea. She expected
to be drowned ; but was finally recovered and dragged out
of danger, more troubled by her ill-luck than depressed by
the accident.
Having recovered her strength and revived her courage,
she wanted to make another attempt in the same periL The
wind, increasing every moment, prevented this, and made her
resolve to take horses and ride forward en croupe : this the
ladies and maids in her suite did also. In this state she rode
all night, arriving in the morning at the house of a gentle-
man of Caux, who received her and concealed her with much
affection and good-wilL From there she sent one of her
people to order the vessel that awaited her to coast round to
where she was. But it turned out that the master of the
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 247
ship had been bought by the cardinal, and she would have
been arrested had she gone on board as she intended.
Following this adventure, she remained for some fifteen
days, hiding from place to place, according to the intelligence
that reached her ; until at length she sent to Havre, where
she engaged the captain of an English vessel, on board of
which she was received as a gentleman who had just fought
a duel This captain, being well paid, asked for no further
information, and came to fetch her hi a little bay. The ves-
sel then took her to Holland, where she was visited by the
Prince of Orange, his wife, and mother ; after which she went
to Stenay. When there, she wrote a letter to the king in
the form of a manifesto, which was highly thought of. It
was full of artful complaints ; and without doubt she com'
posed it herself, having always been able to write as well as
any one in the world.
While the king was thus fortunate in Normandy he was
not less so in Champagne. The Chevalier de La Rochefou-
cauld was in Damvilliers, where he commanded for the
Prince de Conti. The officers under him bound him and
put him, in that state, into the power of the king, with the
place itself, which the Prince de Conti had obtained by
the treaty of Paris. Clermont was also recovered from the
princes, the Mare'chal de La Forte* contributing much
through his connections in the place.
The queen, believing from the report of Le Plessis-Belliere,
who had entered Dieppe, that Madame de Longueville had
embarked (inasmuch as he could not find her), resolved to
return to Paris. She left Rouen February 22d, after seeing
the Duchesse de Richelieu and giving her the tabouret. She
went by Gaillon to see that fine residence of our archbishops ;
where she received a courier from the Comte d'Harcourt,
assuring her of the embarkation of Madame de Longueville.
248 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vm.
On her return to Paris she received the whole frondeuse
cabal with manifestations of good-will that were most agree-
able to them. But as they wanted effectual proofs of it,
they demanded the return of Chateauneuf and his appoint-
ment as Keeper of the Seals. They all went very direct to
the support of one another, particularly to that of the man
whom they regarded as their leader, and to whom they
wished eventually to give the place of the minister.
The cardinal, who knew very well to what their desires
tended, listened to these proposals with reluctance. He re-
sisted for some time. But, having no reason to doubt the
firmness of the queen, he believed it prudent on his side to
please the cabal, and give some authority to Chateauneuf, in
order to show to all that he was in a position to fear nothing.
He wanted to make them see that their wishes if granted
would be of none effect, and would only serve to undeceive
their belief that their friend, when brought near the queen,
could influence her against him. The intrigues the latter
had made against the service of the king had displeased
the queen, as mother and as regent ; and in equity she could
no longer esteem him.
The cardinal, thus urged by false friends and his own
judgment, resolved to yield with a good grace. He hoped
that Chateauneuf, as Keeper of the Seals and a good citizen,
being brought to know he could not have the first place,
would content himself with the second; and that perhaps
he might be able to use him to moderate the impetuous
ardour of the Fronde. The coadjutor had himself so great a
cabal, a soul so audacious, a heart so filled with passions,
and a genius so powerful in making him beloved by those
who knew him, that it was already difficult for the minister
to prevent him from entering the heart of the Due d'Orldans,
and consequently impossible to refuse whatever they deter-
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVELLE. 249
mined upon. By thus putting the prince on their side they
had reason to think that their will would soon be immutable
law. But the clever dissimulation of him whose master they
expected to become surmounted in the end the force of the
strongest of them.
The return of Cha"teauneuf being thus determined by both
sides, on the first of March at seven in the evening, La Vril-
liere went in the king's name to obtain the Seals from Chan-
cellor Se*guier. He gave them up, saying that he believed
he had served the king well, and had worthily discharged
his duty during the seventeen years he had held that
office ; and that he knew it was reasons of State, rather than
his own undeserving, which obliged the queen to this step.
That was why he begged her to believe he resigned the Seals
without regret, hoping that she would ever treat him as the
very faithful servant of the king and herself. Se"guier, who
knew the state of things, and who felt that his own ambition
was limited to the Seals themselves, did not doubt the
reluctance of the minister to make this change. For these
reasons he returned them without much show of regret,
and did what men compel themselves to do on such occa-
sions, namely: receive with firmness the rough blows of
fate and misfortune.
I saw the Seals brought to the queen's oratory, where she
was praying to God. They remained there till the morrow,
when they were carried to Cha"teauneuf at Montrouge.
Formerly they had been taken from him to give them to
Sdguier, who now lost them in the same manner that the
other had lost them earlier. These events are games of for-
tune directed by the will of the King of kings, who disposes
of the destiny of His creatures as He will A Court is full
of such changes.
The new, and old, Keeper of Seals received this last favour
250 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vm.
when he was over seventy years of age, though full of
health, courage, and ambition. He still formed great de-
signs for the future, without reflecting that that future was
for him too short a space in which to put many projects
and chimeras.
The next day, Ash- Wednesday, he came to pay his re-
spects to the king and to thank the queen. It is to be sup-
posed he began his compliments with the minister : I was
assured that he made them strong, and told him that he de-
sired to be his true friend. The Palais-Eoyal was that day
crowded with people. This man, who had been so visited at
Montrouge when without power, now easily became the idol
of the courtiers. They believed he would drive out the min-
ister, or, at any rate, take part in the ministry. When he
arrived, every one followed him, all wanted to see him.
It seemed as if they thought that Cardinal Mazarin had
already fallen from greatness, that he was no longer the
queen's minister, that she herself was changed, and that all
authority was now placed in the hands of the new-comer.
The next day he entered the council, and resumed his
former place. It was perhaps thought proper to pay homage
to a man who had known how to skilfully triumph over the
minister by forcing him to put him in an office from which,
to all appearance, he would soon rise to the higher place.
The queen thought it wrong that such signs of public joy
should be given for his return, and she did me the honour to
say that she did not know why they made such a noise about
that man, and they were mistaken if they hoped he would
ever be more than he was then. As she was really consider-
ing her minister, and believed it to be both her duty and
glory to sustain him, this applause given to Chateauneuf
was the cause why she fortified herself against these innova-
tors, and formed a design to keep ChSteauneuf from succeed-
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 251
ing in his purpose to win her confidence, which she resolved
not to give him.
The cardinal, whose great desire was to maintain himself
in the place he held, showed a good face to his rival and be-
haved as though he did not fear him. He offered him his
house, wished him to live there for some time, and treated
him so amiably that Cha'teauneuf was forced to praise him
and publicly acknowledge that he owed him much and was
his servitor and friend. The queen, to gratify the Fronde in
every way, gave the government of the Bastille to the son of
Broussel, who had usurped it during the war. She brought
into her very circle that man who had caused her so many
painful hours, and treated him well. All these things were
done by advice of the cardinal and according to his usual
policy which was to gain time and to dissimulate.
After the establishment of Cha'teauneuf as Keeper of the
Seals, the queen resolved to go into Bourgogne to strengthen
the authority of the king by the taking of Bellegarde, which
still held out for the Prince de Conde*. She started March
5, followed only by her ladies and the Princesse de Cari-
gnan with her daughter, the Princesse Louise.
The cardinal remained in Paris a day behind the queen to
recommend himself to the charitable offices of Madame de
Chevreuse, the coadjutor, and the principal leaders of that
troop. Things were so troubled, the storm seemed so near
to bursting, and prophecies were so alarming, that on this
day many persons, on both sides, believed that the cardinal
would be assassinated, and several warnings were sent to
him. He started at last, leaving in Paris the Due d'0rle*ans,
the Keeper of the Seals, and the whole frondeur sect. Le
Tellier and Servien, secretly employed by the queen, stayed
behind to serve the king, and be the faithful champions of
the minister against his bad friends.
252 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vni.
Politicians noticed that on leaving Paris the niinister,
always wily, had exhibited much good-will to the followers
of the imprisoned princes; and that, wishing perhaps to
cause some fear to the Orleans cabal, he had affected to treat
those of the opposite party well, in order to show the cabal
that if it did ill by him he might defend himself against its
oppression through the Prince de Conde*.
The queen on leaving Paris had given Comminges the gov-
ernment of Saumur, vacant by the death of the Due de Bre'ze',
father of the Princesse de Conde*, the prince's wife. He
went there soon after to take possession, but was refused an
entrance. The Prince de Marsillac, who, within a few days,
had become, by the death of his father, Due de La Koche-
foucauld, and who had correspondents in Saumur, was the
cause of this refusal. Under pretext of his father's funeral,
he assembled two thousand gentlemen to go to the help of
that quasi-rebellious town. But Comminges, more fortunate
than he, had offered money in the name of the king to the
person who commanded the place, had concluded his treaty,
and taken possession before the other seigneur arrived.
Directly after the departure of the queen the Duchesse de
Bouillon, arrested in her house in Paris by order of the king,
found means to deceive her guards and cleverly escape from
her chamber. Mademoiselle de Bouillon, her daughter,
whom she had with her, went in to see her. Pretending to
find her mother asleep, she asked the sentinel who was
stationed in the antechamber to light her down. The sen-
tinel took the light, and walking before the young lady, en-
abled Madame de Bouillon, following her daughter in a bent
attitude, to reach the staircase and descend into the cellar,
where the little Mademoiselle de Bouillon and her women
having gone to join her, they all escaped through a vent-hole,
by the help of friends outside who drew them up with ropes.
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 253
Madame de Bouillon was hidden for some time in a private
house, and as she was just about to make her escape from
Paris her daughter had the small-pox. This generous mother
being unwilling to leave her, she was at last discovered in
the house of one Bartet, agent of the King of Poland, and
taken to the Bastille with Mademoiselle de Bouillon, the
sister, and the very good sister, of the Due de Bouillon.
These two ladies had ambition ; it was even said that they
had too much ambition, that this passion in the soul
of Madame de Bouillon was the cause of the misfortune of
her husband and her family, and that it was not without
reason that the queen feared them. They remained in
the Bastille until the peace of Bordeaux, when they were
set free, with the universal esteem of every one who knew
their value.
IX.
1650.
THE partisans of the Prince de Conde" were not asleep;
they were working to rouse parliament in their favour, and,
following past examples, they tried to stir the public through
its interests. Parliament assembled on the 29th to establish
a chamber of justice at the H6tel de Ville. Some private
persons, to obtain what they wanted from this court, fo-
mented these movements. Longeuil, to get his brother
made superintendent, was always ready to make trouble,
and the followers of the princes used him to attain their
ends. But the frondeurs, with a show of being for the
queen, avoided all discussion in regard to the princes, and
for their own interests subdued the little effort easily.
The son of President Le Coigneux had the boldness to
be the first to propose, in one of the courts of inquiry, to
bring the princes to trial, that they might be treated accord-
ing to the declaration of Saint-Germain, by which the king
promised not to retain prisoners after six months without
bringing them to trial, or absolving them if they were inno-
cent. He demanded that the princes be treated according
to this promise. But their party was still a weak one ; Le
Coigneux was hissed by the whole assembly, and his proposal
had no effect.
The princess-palatine on her side worked in favour of the
prisoners. She had already found means of sending letters
to them, and those who were working for their liberty
assembled often at her house. This princess, like many
other ladies, did not dislike to make conquests with her
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVlLLE. 255
eyes, which were really very fine. But besides that too dan-
gerous advantage of our sex, she had what was better ; I
mean intelligence, skill, and capacity to conduct an intrigue,
and great facility in finding expedients by which to succeed
in whatever she undertook. As soon as she had resolved to
serve the princes she applied herself carefully to find means
to succeed in her design. As it seemed to her necessary to
draw the frondeurs to her side, she made use of Madame de
Rhodes, a friend of hers, to propose to Madame de Chevreuse
the marriage of the Prince de Conti to her daughter Mademoi-
selle de Chevreuse, and she sought to win over the other leaders
by equally considerable interests touching each in particular ;
and these were not hard to find, for they all had them, either
great or small.
The Due de Nemours, a friend of the Prince de Cond
and ill-satisfied with the minister, was one of those who
acted the most powerfully through his friends for the liberty
of the prisoners. [He even prepared a plan of escape while
the princes were imprisoned in the castle of Marcoussis.]
President Viole was a violent solicitor, and Longueil did
marvels inasmuch as he never ceased intriguing. They all
approved the ideas of the princess-palatine, especially that
of the marriage of the Prince de Conti to Mademoiselle de
Chevreuse. Madame de Longueville, informed of it by the
princess, sent her word from Stenay that she thought it
good and that they might all work for it. The princess,
neglecting nothing that could bring about the success of
her work, lost not a moment in advancing step by step.
But these great undertakings are not done easily; time
alone brings them gently to their end, which is often not
that which men are seeking. God, who changes and per-
fects them, gives them finally the end that He thinks it
best they should attain.
256 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. a..
While these intrigues were being premeditated in Paris,
the queen was in Bourgogne, where she was received with
many marks of affection. The army of the king could not
undertake the siege of Bellegarde as soon as she expected,
on account of the floods ; it was forced to wait until
April 4, when the investment of the place began ; and the
cardinal, who went in person to visit it, approached so
closely that he narrowly escaped being killed, one of his
gentlemen being wounded beside him.
On the 12th of the same month, the queen, warned that
the friends of the princes were trying to rouse parliament in
their favour, sent an order to the Princesse de Conde", the
mother, to go to Montrond, inasmuch as she was holding
communication with the enemies of the State. At the
same time orders were given to a lieutenant of the body-
guard to arrest her daughter-in-law, the Princesse de Conde*,
and keep her a prisoner at Chantilly. This princess, being
warned, and advised by those who thought her person nec-
essary to their designs, put one of her daughters in her bed,
and escaped in spite of the guards, with her son, the Due
d'Enghien, and went to Montrond before the king's people
arrived there. It was thought that the queen had ordered
the princess-mother to go to Montrond because the escort
of the king's guard who conducted her could then seize
the house, which is strong and capable of some resistance.
But she, instead of going there, escaped during the night and
remained for some time hidden, so that the queen did not
know where she was. Meantime her daughter-in-law reached
Montrond with others of her party, who seized the place in-
tending to use it for their safety.
Already the Due de La Eochefoucauld and the principal
friends of the princes, who saw plainly that Montrond was
not capable of holding out against any considerable force,
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 257
were at work to win over the inhabitants of Bordeaux, by
fomenting their discontent against the Court and their hatred
to the Due d'Epernon. They made them see the obligations
they were under to support the cause of the Prince de Conde"
inasmuch as one of the principal reasons of his imprisonment
was (so they said) the help and protection he had always
given them in the councils of the king. But at first they had
difficulty in rousing the Bordelais to a desire to put them-
selves on the prince's side, and his followers were obliged to
exert all their ability and all their ardour to bring them to it.
In Bourgogne the siege of Bellegarde continued, and
many prayers were offered, both by the frondeurs and by
the followers of the princes, that it might not end soon ; for
both sides hoped that the bad state of affairs would prove
advantageous to them, though in very different ways. The
king, young as he was, went to the camp to show himself to
his army. The soldiers were delighted to see him, and bore
without murmuring the necessity of being paid in that
money only. The disturbance of his public affairs put such
great disorder into his finances that the troops for that
reason were ill-paid.
Saint-Micau, who commanded in the city, fired upon the
king ; but having recognized his mistake, he sent to make
excuses. The presence of the young monarch, inspiring
those who fought for him, gave them fresh force, and the
rebels commanding in Bellegarde were weakened by it. At
the end of a few days they asked to capitulate, and promised
to surrender as soon as they could send to Stenay. During
the truce which was granted to them, the people of the camp
and town visited each other ; and as they were all French-
men, relations and friends, there was much caressing, with
keen regret for being obliged to kill one another as if they
were enemies. That is the misery of civil war.
TOL. II. 17
258 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. ix.
April 27, the day the Chambers assembled, the Prin-
cesse de Conde*, mother, who, ever since her escape from
Chantilly, had been secreted in Paris, appeared before parlia-
ment at five in the morning, accompanied by the Marquis de
Saint-Simon, and the Duchesse de Chatillon, to ask for
justice on the imprisonment of the princes her sons. She
presented her request to all the counsellors of the grand
chamber. Many refused it; but one named Des Landes-
Payen, took it for the purpose of reporting to the Assembly.
She asked in this petition for safety for her own person,
representing the fresh persecution which had compelled her
to leave Chantilly, where she was living without thinking of
aught else than praying to God ; and she entreated parlia-
ment to be pleased to take cognizance of the detention of the
princes, and to require that, in accordance with the king's
declaration in favour of State prisoners, they should be
brought to trial if they had failed in their duty to the king ;
or if not, that they should enjoy the privileges granted to all
the king's subjects.
After Des Landes-Payen had reported the petition, the
first president was deputed to ask the Due d'0rle*ans on
behalf of parliament for security for the princess. He re-
plied that she must obey the king, in order to give him time
to determine what he should say more precisely. While
the deputation was absent the princess went from chamber
to chamber asking justice and mercy together. She shed
tears which told the weakness of our sex, and said words
that showed the force of her sorrow, and the greatness of
her downfall. The answer made by the Due d'Orl^ans not
being definitive, it was decreed that in consideration of her
safety, parliament, while awaiting the further answer of the
Due d'Orle'ans, should take her under its protection, and that
she should be asked to stay within the precincts of the
1650] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 259
Palais de Justice, in any house she might be pleased to
choose.
The next day parliament again sent the president to the
Due d'0rle*ans to speak of the interests of the Princesse de
Conde*. But the duke reproved him harshly and treated him
as a partisan of the princes. The frondeurs, who did not wish
that parliament should escape them and go over to the cause
of the princes, served the king faithfully on this occasion,
and employed all their strength and influence in making the
petition of the princess of none effect. The Due d'0rle*ans
who also had a great interest in preventing the Prince de
Condd from getting out of prison, maintained the authority
of the king, and said that the princess must obey him and
leave Paris, inasmuch as she was there against the king's
orders. They all succeeded in their o
