CM
100
CO
MEMOIRS
OF
MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE
VOLUME III.
(Eour tie jFrance
LIMITED TO TWELVE HUNDRED AND
FIFTY NUMBERED SETS, OF WHICH THIS is
MEMOIRS
OF
MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE
ON
ANNE OF AUSTRIA AND HER COURT.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
C.-A. SAINTE-BEUVE.
Sranslntrti bo
KATHARINE PRESCOTT WORMELEY.
ILLUSTRATED WITH PORTRAITS FROM THE ORIGINAL
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. III.
BOSTON:
HARDY, PRATT & COMPANY.
1902.
Copyright, 1901,
BY HARDY, PRATT & COMPANY.
All rights reserved.
.DC
JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. 1651.
PAGE
The cardinal forced to leave France. His letter to the queen. Parlia-
ment excludes cardinals from the ministry. Return of Madame
de Longueville to Paris. Rupture of the marriage of the Prince
de Conti with Mademoiselle de Chevreuse. Ill-will between the
Prince de Conde, Madame de Chevreuse, and the coadjutor.
Secret intrigues of the latter. His proposals to the queen against
Conde. The latter quarrels with Matthieu Mole, President of
Parliament, the Due de Bouillon, and Turenne. Conde's undecided
conduct. Mortifying position of Chateauneuf, Keeper of the Seals.
Recall of Chavigny. Dismissal and fury of Chateauneuf.
His portrait. The coadjutor and Beaufort instigate the Due
d'Orle'ans to attempt a coup d'etat. Conde averts the storm.
Return of the chancellor, Seguier, to the council. His character.
The queen yields to the demands of the Due d'Orleans. Noble
conduct of Mole. Conde obtains the government of Guienne.
Mazarin's influence continues. Secret negotiations of ambitions
friends and enemies with him. Desperate efforts of Chateauneuf
to recover power. Proposes to put Conde in prison for the second
time. The coadjutor behind it all. Shocking proposals to the
queen against Conde. Conde hears of them, and flees from Paris
with his family. The Prince de Conti explains to parliament his
brother's departure. Letter of the Prince de Conde to parliament.
The Due d'Orleans speaks in his favour. Able reply of the
queen to Mole 1
CHAPTER II. 1651.
Dismissal of Le Tellier, Servien, and de Lyonne. Conde returns to
Paris. The queen has relations with the frondeurs. Conde pre-
pares to rebel. The Due de Longueville abandons him. Made-
moiselle de Longueville. Manifesto of the queen against Conde.
VI CONTENTS.
PAGE
He declares it calumnious. Embarrassment of the Due d'Orleans.
Gives a writing to justify Conde. Conde's manifesto in reply
to that of the queen. Hatred between Conde and the coadjutor.
Deliberations in parliament. The queen sends a guard to
protect the coadjutor. The latter half-killed by the Due de La
Rochefoucauld. Parliament begs the queen to grant a vindication
to Conde. Inaction of the army. The coming majority of the
king gladly expected by the queen. The celebrated cavalcade for
the king's majority. The ceremony in Parliament. The queen
prepares for the struggle against Conde. Hesitation of Conde'
before civil war. Madame de Longueville decides him. He is
received at Bordeaux with enthusiasm. Treats with . Spain.
Turenne refuses him his concurrence. The coadjutor attempts
negotiations with Mazarin. Mazarin obtains the cardinal's hat for
him. His treachery in return. The king and queen start for
Guienne to oppose Conde. The Court at Bourges. The queen
orders Mazarin to return. He resolves to raise troops and re-enter
France at the head of an army. Furious alarm of his enemies.
Parliament sets a price upon his head. His return with an army 32
CHAPTER HI. 1652.
The Prince de Conde puts his troops into winter quarters, and foments
the rebellion of Bordeaux. The Due de Rohan-Chabot stirs
Angers to revolt. Is compelled by Mazarin to retire. Death of
Chateanneuf . Turenne returns to Court. End of Le Tellier's
exile. Mademoiselle goes to Orleans in the costume of an Amazon.
Her behaviour there. Negotiates to marry the king. The
queen refuses. Dissensions in Conde's army. The coadjutor
receives the hat and becomes Cardinal de Retz. Conde rejoins
his army. Warlike ardour of Madame de Longueville. Jealousy
and resentment of La Rochefoucauld. Conde' defeats the king's
army. Mazarin prevents the king from putting himself at the
head of his troops. Conde received in Paris in triumph. Wel-
comed by parliament. Seizes Saint-Denis. Negotiations for
peace. Agreement of the king with the Due de Lorraine.
Conde takes his army to Saint-Cloud. Madame de Motteville
rejoins the Court at Saint-Denis. The Battle of Porte Saint-
Antoine. The queen on her knees all day at the Carmelites.
The dead and wounded on both sides. Mademoiselle rouses her
father, goes herself to the Bastille, orders the gate of Saint-
Antoine to be opened, and thus saves the Prince de Conde. Paris
receives Conde' with enthusiasm. Assembly held at the H6tel-de-
Ville. Burning of the H6tel-de-Ville. Fatal results for the cause
CONTENTS. Vli
PAGE
of Conde. Madame de Motteville leaves the Court for a time.
Suspicions, just or unjust, of Conde'. He proposes a council which
comes to naught. From this moment his cause fails. He nego-
tiates with Spain and leaves France. Cardinal Mazarin also de-
parts for a time. Amnesty. Exile of thefrondeurs. The Due
d'Orleans flees to Blois. Mademoiselle is sent away. Entry of
the king into Paris. Arrest of Cardinal de Ketz. End of the
Eronde 60
CHAPTER IV. 1653-1657.
Cardinal Mazarin returns to Paris. Madame de Motteville also.
Submission of Bordeaux. The Prince de Conti marries Anne de
Martinozzi, Mazarin's niece. Madame de Longueville retires to a
convent. Conversation of the queen with the Prince de Conti
about the Fronde. Cardinal de lletz escapes, and goes to Home.
The king goes to parliament in hunting-dress, and forbids it to
assemble. Exile of several of the members, to the queen's satis-
faction. The king ; his appearance and dignity. His attachment
to Olympe Manciui, the cardinal's niece. Fetes at Court (1655).
Watchful care of the queen over the king. Tournament held
by the king (1656). The king and queen go to Compiegne.
Valenciennes taken by the Spaniards. Parliament interferes;
demands to know the actions of the council. Arrival of Queen
Christina of Sweden. Letter of the Due de Guise describing her.
Goes to Compiegne. Details about her person and her stay in
France. She leaves Compiegne, visits Ninon de 1'Enclos, and
departs for Savoie. The king and cardinal go to the army.
Taking of La Capelle. The king returns to Paris. Death of
Madame Mancini, and of her daughter, the Duchesse de Mercceur.
Marriage of Olympe Mancini to the Comte de Soissons. Inclina-
tion of the king for Marie Mancini. His passion for Mademoiselle
de la Motte-d'Argeucourt. The Due d'Orle'ans returns to Paris,
and is well received by the king and queen. Mazarin's tyranny
over both the king and queen. Thwarts in every way the queen's
influence with the king ; dismisses her chosen officers. Affairs of
England. The King of England leaves France 89
CHAPTER V. 1658.
Portrait of Anne of Austria. Mademoiselle returns to Court. Illness
of Mazarin. Second journey of Queen Christina to France. She
is relegated to Fontainebleau. Murder of Monaldeschi. Indig-
nation at Court. She returns to Rome. Illness of Conde.
Quarrel between the Jesuits and the Jansenists. The king and
viii CONTENTS.
PAGE
queen go to the army. Return to favour of the Due de Beaufort.
Siege of Dunkerque and its sale to England. Destitution of the
soldiers. Mazarin makes himself sutler and commissary. The
king's poverty. The Battle of the Dunes, June 4, 1 658. Illness
of the king. Selfish precautions of the cardinal. Taking of
Gravelines. Death of Cromwell. Mazarin regrets him. Letter
of the Queen of England to Madame de Motteville on his death.
Lamoignon made President of Parliament. Praises lavished on
Mazarin for that choice. Passion of the king for Marie Mancini.
Project of his marriage with Marguerite de Savoie. The queen
desires his marriage to the Infanta of Spain, or to the Princess
Henrietta of England. The cardinal takes measures to thwart her
for his own interests. Other aspirants for the king's hand. The
queen fears the influence of Marie Mancini. The king and queen
start for Lyon to meet the Duchesse de Savoie 126
CHAPTER VI. 1658-1659.
Meeting of the Courts of France and Savoie. The King of Spain sends
an envoy to stop the marriage with Princesse Marguerite. The
king wishes, in spite of his mother, to marry her. The infanta is
proposed to him. He accepts. Joy of the queen. Jealousy of
Marie Mancini. Noble conduct of the Princesse Marguerite de
Savoie. Arrival of the Due de Savoie at Lyon. Return of the
Court to Paris. Success of Turenne in Flanders. The queen
displeased at the king's passion for Marie Mancini. The king
resists his mother. Mazarin sounds the queen as to a marriage of
the king with his niece. Indignant reply of the queen, which the
cardinal resented to the end of his life. Don John of Austria
passes through France incognito. The queen receives him (her
bastard nephew) at the Val-de-Grace. The cardinal exiles his
nephew for impiety. Worthy conduct of the cardinal, who turns
the king from marrying his niece. Departure of Marie Mancini.
Grief of the king. Absolute power of the cardinal. His
ingratitude to the queen, his benefactress. Confidential conversa-
tion of the queen with Madame de Motteville. Departure of the
king and queen for the Spanish frontier. Last interview of the king
with Marie Mancini. Madame de Motteville spends the winter
with the Duchesse de Navailles 157
CHAPTER VII. 1660.
Death of the Due d'Orle'ans. Judgment on him. He is little re-
gretted. Return of the Prince de Conde to France. Journey of
Madame de Motteville. Description of the Pyrenees. The Court
CONTENTS. ix
A PAGE
arrives at Saint-Jean-de-Luz. The He des Faisans. Difficulties
in the negotiations for peace. The queen writes to the infanta.
Letter of the queen to her niece. Restoration of the Stuarts in
England. Conclusion of the peace. Joy of the Court. Cere-
mony of marriage by proxy. Portrait of the infanta. Her
greeting of Mademoiselle. Meeting of Anne of Austria with her
brother, the King of Spain, and the infanta. Louis XIV. sees the
infanta incognito. His delicate attentions to her. The two kings
solemnly swear the peace. Louis XIV. and Anne of Austria go to
fetch the young queen. The two Courts separate. Grief of the
King of Spain. The new queen is dressed for the first time in the
French fashion. Ceremony of the marriage of Louis XIV. with
the Infanta Maria Theresa. Portrait of the two queens. The
joy of the married pair and of the queen-mother 186
CHAPTER VIII. 1660-1661.
Return of the King of England to his kingdom. Entry of the king
and queen into Bordeaux. Journey through France to Vincennes.
Illness of Cardinal Mazarin. Public entry of the king and
queen into Paris. Description of their persons. Monsieur is
betrothed to the Princess Henrietta of England. Misalliance of
the Duke of York with the daughter of the Earl of Clarendon.
The Queen of England takes a proposal to her son, Charles II., to
- marry Hortense Mancini. The cardinal honourably refuses to
marry one of his nieces to the Due de Savoie. He falls seriously
ill (1661 ) . His avarice ; his meanness to both queens. Return of
the Queen of England to France. The king and queen visit the
cardinal. He marries his niece Marie Mancini to Prince Colonna,
and his niece Hortense Mancini to the son of the Marechal de La
Meilleraye, who took the name of Mazarin. Steps taken by the
king to form a council before the cardinal's death. Mazarin grasps
the two chief offices at Court for his nieces, the Princesse de Conti
and the Comtessc de Soissons. His will. He robs France to
enrich his family and friends. His piety. His farewells. His
ingratitude to the queen. Anne of Austria's judgment on him.
His death, March 7, 1661. Sentiments of the king and the queen-
mother on the cardinal's death. Louis XIV. takes the government
of his kingdom into his own hands. Political advice bequeathed
by the cardinal to the king. Louis XIV. assembles his ministers
and the officers of the crown. Declares his intention of governing
the kingdom himself; when he wants their advice he will ask for it.
Relief of every one in being delivered from the cardinal. Hia
enormous wealth. He is soon forgotten by his nieces. His con-
tempt for the French nation 218
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX. 1661.
PAGE
Distribution of the king's time. His aptitude for public business.
Marriage of Monsieur with the Princess Henrietta of England,
daughter of Charles L and granddaughter of Henri IV. Portrait
of the princess. The Court at Fontainebleau. The happiness of
the royal family. Favour of the Prince de Conde and the Due de
Beaufort. The Queen becomes jealous of Madame. The Com-
tesse de Soissons and Madame do all they can to please and amuse
the king. Madame shuts her ears to Madame de Motteville's coun-
sel. Letter of the Queen of England to the latter. The queen-
mother commands Madame de Motteville to advise the queen to
have a little more patience with the king's amusements. Vexation
of the king with Madame de Motteville. He forbids her to be with
the queen in private. Anger of the queen against the Comtesse
de Soissons. Two fine speeches of the king. Le Tellier protects
Colbert. Together they undermine Fouquet with the king.
Monsieur becomes uneasy at his wife's dissipations. Exile of the
Comte de Guiche and his sister, the Princess of Monaco. Noble
sentiments of Anne of Austria. Arrest of Fouquet. His threaten-
ing fortifications at Belle-Isle. He has the whole Court in his
pay. Papers compromising many persons both in politics and
gallantry are found in his house at Saint-Man de. Le Tellier's
opinion of Louis XIV. Birth of Monseigneur the Dauphin.
Madame de Montausier (Julie d'Angennes) made his governess.
Madame de Motteville proposed by the queen-mother and the Queen
of England as governess for the children of Monsieur and Madame.
The king refuses this. Reflections on life at Court .... 242
CHAPTER X. 1662-1664.
Anne of Austria desires to retire to the Val-de-Grace. Madame de
Motteville dissuades her. The Carrousel at the Tuileries. In-
trigue of the king with Mademoiselle de La Motte-Houdancourt, maid-
of-honour to the queen. The Ducbesse de Navailles, as mistress of
the queen's household, remonstrates with him. The king, insti-
gated by the Comtesse de Soissons, is angry. The iron gratings.
Mademoiselle de La Valliere fixes the heart of the king. Jeal-
ousy and suffering of Queen Maria Theresa. The king's indiffer-
ence to them. Louis XIV. buys Dunkerque and Mardick.
Anonymous letter addressed to the queen. What came of it.
Happiness of the king ; distress of the queen. Efforts of the
queen-mother to divert the queen. Illness of Anne of Austria.
CONTENTS. Xi
PAGE
The king's tenderness for her. She recovers through taking an
emetic. Sufferings of Maria Theresa through jealousy of La
Valliere. Madame de Navailles displeases the king. The Com-
tesse de Soissons relates the king's amours to the queen. A base
intrigue (1664). Fetes at Versailles. The queen-mother afflicted
with a cancer. The favour of La Valliere. The Court goes to
Fontainebleau. The Due and Duchesse de Navailles exiled from
Court. The two queens weep bitterly over this. Madame de
Montausier takes Madame de Navailles' place in the queen's house-
hold. The king and the queen-mother on bad terms. The king
fails in respect to his mother. The violent grief she feels at this
makes her resolve to retire to the Val-de-Grace. Their reconcilia-
tion by their mutual act. The king asks her pardon. His confes-
sion to his mother. The contradictions in his nature. Madame
de Motteville absents herself from Court by advice of the queen-
mother 274
CHAPTER XI. 1664-1665.
Birth of the Due de Valois, son of Monsieur and Madame. Favoura-
ble treatment of Madame de Motteville by the king. Recurrence
of the queen-mother's illness. The king dares to bring Mademoi-
selle de la Valliere to play cards in the queen-mother's apartment.
- Anger of the queen ; distress of the queen-mother. Singular
principles of Monsieur and Madame de Montausier. The Court
goes to Versailles. Illness of Queen Maria Theresa. Solicitude
of the king. Illness of the queen-mother ; declared to be a cancer.
Her doctors. Her resignation. The evil increases. Empirics
&re called in. Sufferings of the queen-mother during the winter of
1664. Her delicacy and cleanliness (1665). The king learns the
truth of the cabal against Madame de Navailles. Madame admits
her regard for the Comte de Quiche. Mademoiselle de Montalais,
her maid-of -honour, dismissed. Return of the Comte de Quiche.
Apparent sincerity of Madame to her husband. Vardes gets
possession of Madame's correspondence with the Comte de Quiche.
She quarrels with Comtesse de Soissons. Acknowledges her
whole conduct to the king. The Comte and Comtesse de Soissons
dismissed from Court. The Comte de Quiche exiled. The Court
at Saint-Germain. The queen-mother's life in danger. Her will.
Grief of Louis XIV. Tranquillity of her soul. Her courage in
suffering. Touching conversation between Maria Theresa and
Anne of Austria. The empiric Alliot is employed. The queen-
mother preserves her unselfish affability. The king and Court go
to Versailles. The queen-mother remonstrates with the king on
the subject of Mademoiselle de la Valliere. The delicacy of her
Xll CONTENTS.
PAGK
organization. Her cruel sufferings. Her pious resignation.
She blesses her children. The king signs her will. The queen-
mother is brought back to Paris. Barbarous treatment of Alliot . 305
CHAPTER XH. 1665-1666.
The queen-mother speaks to the king in behalf of the Due and Dnchesse
de Navailles. The king promises to recall the duke, but not the
duchess. Le Tellier's equivocal conduct in the matter. The
queen-mother insists on the duke's recall. The king gives him the
government of La Kochelle. Singular instance of Louis XIV.'s
jealousy of his power. Death of the King of Spain. The king
already counts on evading the " renunciations." The new King of
Spain gives promise of a prosperous reign (1666). Amusements at
Court. The queen-mother's life in danger. They send for an-
other empiric. Wedding of Mademoiselle d'Artigny, confidant
of the king and Mademoiselle de la Valliere. The queen-mother
calms the queen's jealousy. Horrible sufferings of the dying
queen. Incidents of her illness. Wonderful firmness shown by
her. Private conversation with each of her children. The Arch-
bishop of Anch administers the holy viaticum. She blesses her
children. Her last command to the king. Receives the extreme
unction. Maria Theresa not insensible to the thought of gaining
undivided sovereignty. Her tender remembrance of the queen-
mother shown later to Madame de Motteville. Diminution of the
king's affectionate feeling for his mother. Last moments of Anne
of Austria. Her death, January 20, 1 666. Her wilL Her feel-
ings and behaviour as to these Memoirs of Madame de Motteville 336
INDEX. ... 357
LIST OF
PHOTOGRAVURE ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAOB
Louis XIV Frontispiece
Picture of 17th Century; Louvre.
CHAPTER
III. MONTPENSIER (ANNE-MARIE-LOUISE D'ORLEANS, MLLE. DE),
LA GRANDE MADEMOISELLE 62
On vellum, 17th Centur}'; Portraits Nationaux.
IV. MARIE MANCINI 107
By Pierre Mignard; Berlin.
V. ANNE OF AUSTRIA 126
By Jean Nocret; Versailles.
VII. JOURNEY OF Louis XIV. AND MARIA THERESA 209
By Van der Meulen; Louvre.
VHI. ORLEANS (HENRIETTA ANNE, DUCHESSE D'), DAUGHTER OF
CHARLES I. OF ENGLAND 222
By Rigaud; Portraits Nationaux.
IX. LA VALLIERE (LOUISE-FRANCOISE, DUCHESSE DE) .... 259
From a contemporary print, with " privilege from the king."
By N. de L'Armessin.
FAC-SIMILE LETTER.
YTT. Louis XIV TO THE PRINCE DE CONDE 336
MEMOIKS
OF
MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE.
I.
1651.
WHEN Cardinal Mazarin fully comprehended the angry
temper of the princes towards him and had learned the
exact state in which the queen then was, he resolved, seeing
that his affairs were going from bad to worse, to make his
way toward the frontier of Picardy, attended by a hundred
horsemen. His friends and those belonging to him made up
this cavalcade. He met with no annoyance except at Abbe-
ville, where they refused him entrance ; but he was received
at Dourlens by de Bar, who was governor, and on his side.
He stayed for some time in that place, intending to wait for
news of what was happening in Paris. It was bad; the
mutterings against the queen were so many that she was
constrained to send Beringhen and Euvigny to beg him to go
farther away ; which he did, after refusing reiterated offers
from the governors of places on the frontier, who were more
faithful to him than his friends at Court.
He wrote the queen a letter, which was read before the
council and thought fine enough to be publicly praised.
Here is a copy taken from the original :
2 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
" MADAME, As soon as I saw in the letter that your
Majesty has done me the honour to write to me, and per-
ceived by what M. de Kuvigny added to it, that the king's
service and yours required that my retirement from Court
should be followed by my departure from the kingdom, I
assented very respectfully to your Majesty's decision, the
commands and laws of which will ever be the sole rule of
my life. I have already despatched a gentleman to seek an
asylum for me ; and though I am without suitable attend-
ance and denuded of everything necessary for a long journey,
I start, without fail, to-morrow morning to go direct to
Sedan, and from there I shall continue on to whatever place
may be obtained for my residence. I am too much bound
to defer to the wishes of your Majesty to hesitate the least
in the world in taking this resolution.
" It is not, madame, that many others in my place, with the
justice and the number of friends that I possess, would not
have found means to shelter themselves from the persecu-
tions I endure; on which I will not think, preferring to
satisfy the passion of my enemies rather than do aught that
might be prejudicial to the State, or displeasing to your
Majesty.
" Although on this occasion they have had the power to
prevent his Eoyal Highness from following the instincts of
his natural kindness, they have not failed to show him,
against their will, that they had a very good opinion of my
fidelity and zeal for the good of the State and my entire
resignation to the orders of your Majesty. For, unless they
were wholly convinced that I am immovable in those senti-
ments, they would not have had so little prudence as to
push me with such violence without reflecting on the
knowledge I must have of the secret and most important
affairs of the kingdom (having managed them so long) or on
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 3
the friends that my services and your Majesty's good-will
have obtained for me, and who are considerable, in numbers,
rank, and the ardour they have shown for me in this crisis.
" But I have too great a sense, madame, of the favours I
have received from your Majesty to be capable of doing
aught to displease you ; and if I must need sacrifice my life
I will do it with pleasure to give you satisfaction. I shall
have much in the midst of my misfortunes if your Majesty
will have the goodness to retain some recollection of the
services I have rendered to the State since the late king, of
glorious memory, did me the honour to intrust me with the
principal management of his affairs, and to request your
Majesty, several times before his death, to maintain me in
the same office.
" I have fulfilled that employment with the fidelity, zeal,
and disinterestedness of which your Majesty is aware, and
(if it becomes me to say so) with some success, inasmuch as
all persons of sense, and even the Spaniards, admit that they
were less astonished at the great conquests of our armies
during the first five years of your regency than they have
been to see that during the last three we have been able to
sustain under assaults and save from wreck the vessel bat-
tered on all sides and furiously shaken by the storms that
domestic differences have raised.
" I could have wished, madame, to hide from foreigners
the bad treatment I have received, and so prevent the blame
of it from recoiling upon a nation I have always honoured
and cherished tenderly; but when they see me wandering
among them with the persons who are nearest to me in
search of shelter, they will have some reason to be astonished
that a cardinal, who had the honour to be sponsor to the
king, should be treated in such a manner, and that twenty-
two years of faithful service should not have won for him a
4 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
safe retreat in some portion of the kingdom, the limits of
which have been so notably extended by his efforts.
" I pray God, madame, that inasmuch as what has now
happened to me can never change the inviolable passion I
shall preserve till death for the prosperity of your Majesties
and the grandeur of the State, it may conduce to the speedy
cessation of disorders, and thus show that those who have
attacked me were against my person only."
From Dourlens Cardinal Mazarin went to Germany, and
his longest residence was at Bruhl, a town in the electorate
of Cologne. Great honours were shown to him in all the
lands of the King of Spain. It is to be believed that
foreigners were friendly to him because the persecution done
to him was to their advantage.
The queen having appeared to abandon Cardinal Mazarin
to parliament, that body resolved to draw up a declaration
against him such as the Assembly desired. In this declara-
tion it was proposed that all cardinals, French or foreign,
should be excluded from the government ; and it was thought
that the Due de Beaufort, being then dissatisfied with the
coadjutor, because on two or three occasions he had con-
cealed from him the inward mystery of their negotiations,
had inserted this clause as a vengeance upon him. The rea-
son given was that cardinals, both French and foreign, swore
fidelity to the pope. The exclusion had been proposed on
certain occasions, but never decided ; but parliament now in
forbidding the return of Cardinal Mazarin excluded from
the ministry all those in the position of the coadjutor, whose
great passion was to become both cardinal and prime
minister.
The queen, thinking to thwart that ambitious man, was
delighted at what parliament was doing on this occasion, and
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 5
offered cordially to send them the declaration in that very
form. The chief-president sent her word that if she would
hold firm on that point he would support it and serve her
in every possible way. The coadjutor, however, made so
many intrigues and worked so successfully that the clergy
opposed it.
That body, in which there is, to say the least, in certain
individuals as much ambition a"s piety, and more desire for
the honours of earth than for the glories of heaven, assem-
bled to complain of the wrong done them by this proposed
exclusion from the ministry. They deputed the Archbishop
of Embrun to see the queen and entreat her not to send that
declaration to parliament, because it took from her the lib-
erty of using such of their profession whose merits and ca-
pacity had heretofore given to our kings very able ministers.
The Due d'Orle'ans also opposed it and the contest lasted a
long time ; but finally, as I shall relate elsewhere, the decla-
ration had no effect on French cardinals, although the chief-
president made great efforts to maintain it as it was, in order
to thwart the coadjutor and to keep his promise to the
queen.
The queen gave the declaration the princes demanded and
in terms very honourable to them. She recognized their
innocence, and declared that she gave them their liberty at
the prayer of France, and restored to them the possession of
all their property and all their dignities. She also annulled
the declarations which had been made against Madame de
Longueville, the Vicomte de Turenne, and all others of their
party, and restored them to their first estate.
Beringhen, who had gone with Euvigny by order of the
queen to see the cardinal, returned on the first of March.
He told us he found him in the greatest need ; he was en-
cumbered with his nephew and nieces, and had neither
6 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. L
household nor money, and he felt great pity for him. As the
cardinal now feared everything, and no longer despised any
one, Beringhen told me that he spoke of me as if desiring
that I would be his friend ; but I was not clever enough, or
sufficiently attentive to my interests, to profit by his good
moments.
Madame de Longueville, vindicated and triumphant,
thought of nothing now but of getting back to Paris and ex-
cusing herself to the Spaniards, with whom she had made a
treaty. They had begged her, seeing the state of affairs in
France, to remember that she had pledged herself not to sepa-
rate from them until the general peace was signed. But she
now sent them word that she wished to go to Paris to work
for that peace, and if, after making every effort to succeed
they were not satisfied, she promised to return to Stenay in
order to completely fulfil her promise. She sent Sarrazin,
secretary of the Prince de Conti, to Brussels to thank the
archduke for the help she had received ; and that prince, by
advice of the Spanish minister, was satisfied with what she
promised. Accordingly they allowed her to return to Court
in the hope that she would, at least, cause fresh disturbances
by which they might profit as much as by the peace she of-
fered them but could not bring about. At the end of a few
days she arrived in Paris, as much pleased with the present
prosperity of her brothers as she had formerly been distressed
at their misfortune.
In the position in which the Prince de Conde' and Madame
de Longueville now found themselves, it may be judged that
if they had carried their good fortune as far as it might have
gone, this family would have risen to the highest degree of
extreme power to which princes of the blood could attain.
But God, who chose to protect France from their ambition,
permitted the Prince de Conde* to make two fortunate blun-
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 7
ders which deprived him of his new friends and forced them
to hate him more than ever. Having agreed between the
Due d'Orle'ans and himself to the marriage of the Due
d'Enghien with Mademoiselle d'Alenon, the duke's daugh-
ter, he did nothing to bring it to a conclusion. And he fol-
lowed the wishes of Madame de Longueville in relation to
the marriage of the Prince de Conti to Mademoiselle de
Chevreuse, which she advised him, as soon as she returned
to Paris, to break off. She did not think it desirable to
bring into the family a person who, as the wife of her
brother, would have preceded her everywhere, and who,
moreover, being young and beautiful, might have effaced,
and would certainly have shared, her own gratification in
pleasing and in receiving adulation. Neither did she wish
that a sister-in-law should take from her the influence she
wielded over the mind of her young brother, by which she
had been able hitherto to make herself of importance to her
family.
To persuade the Prince de Conde, she made him feel that
the Prince de Conti, if he married, would claim the share
that he owned in the family property. Through this per-
sonal interest she made him resolve to break the promise
to Madame de Chevreuse ; and this failure was a first great
obstacle to his future greatness ; for that princess had far too
much ability and influence to receive such an insult without
finding means to avenge it. The Due de La Eochefoucauld
had encouraged Madame de Longueville in this bad purpose.
He hated the frondeurs ; and declared that Madame de
Chevreuse had not recognized the great services he had
rendered her during the dismissals she had to bear under
Cardinal Eichelieu.
The queen, who readily understood how much there was
to fear from a marriage of the Prince de Conti to Made-
8 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVTLLE. [CHAP. i.
moiselle de Chevreuse, saw with much pleasure the obstacles
that Madame de Longueville was putting in its way; and
the service she thus did her, though unintentional, diminished
the annoyance she felt in seeing her work openly for peace
with Spain without counting herself as having any part in it,
and receiving, with the disdainful smile that was natural to
her, not only the people of Paris, but the greatest seigneurs
who flocked in adoration around her.
The Prince de Conti did not dislike Mademoiselle de
Chevreuse; he had an understanding with her through
Laigues, confidant of Madame de Chevreuse ; but the Prince
de Cond^, to disgust him with her, told him she had lovers
who did not displease her ; and in this way he roused a little
jealousy in his brother's soul which worked as he desired.
So that finally the queen, after many negotiations, let Madame
de Chevreuse know, with the consent of the whole Conde'
family, that she did not desire the marriage to take place,
because it had been arranged for purposes against the service
of the king. This command caused all the propositions
on the subject to vanish and nothing more was heard of
them.
The Prince de Conde* did this outrage to Madame de
Chevreuse without making any excuse to her, or even trying
to heal the vexation she must surely have felt by soothing
words. In this way he lost a friendship which being, as he
deserved, converted into hatred, caused the princess, for the
purpose of being revenged upon him, to turn to the queen
and serve her so usefully that she contributed largely to the
return of Cardinal Mazarin.
The Prince de Conde* also lost the coadjutor; not only
because the latter took sides in all things that related to
Madame and Mademoiselle de Chevreuse, but because he
found himself powerless to make the Prince de Cond^ obtain
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 9
for him the hat, which was the end and aim of all his
intrigues and (it may be said) of his crimes and his virtues.
So that, changing his feelings to the prince as soon as he no
longer hoped anything from him, he made his friends, both
men and women, talk to the queen and try to reconcile her
to himself ; and there is no doubt that he also sent to nego-
tiate with the cardinal.
The queen, about this time, said to me one day, speaking
of the coadjutor and of how he was making everybody
address her in his behalf, that the Duchesse d'Aiguillon
urged her to pardon him and to make use of him in order to
get herself out of the position in which she then was. And
she added these very words : " That she saw the duchess
was right; policy required it; but she had such horror of
that man that she could not bring herself to do it." I urged
her to dissemble on this occasion, and not to listen to her
resentment, however reasonable, so that she might the
sooner be in a position to act freely, whether in friendship
or in enmity.
Some time later she was almost forced to have intercourse
with him and try if she could, through the unruliness of his
passions, rind a remedy for her troubles. De Lyonne saw
him by her command ; I think at Montrdsor's house. The
propositions were cruel on the part of the coadjutor against
the life of the Prince de Conde'. They were such that the
queen, who was good and generous, could not approve them,
and the aversion she then showed put a stop to these con-
ferences. It was supposed that de Lyonne, not wishing to
injure the prince, warned the Mare"chal de Gramont, who
immediately told Chavigny, and Chavigny revealed the
danger to the prince ; and this produced in the end great
events through the precautions which he believed he owed
it to himself to take. But the queen would seek no peace
10 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAT. i.
through ridding herself of an enemy by iniquitous measures.
A Christian princess of moderation and virtue was not capa-
ble of entering in any way into sentiments as violent as
those of the coadjutor.
The Prince de Cond^ also lost the chief-president, Mat-
thieu Mold, because he declared that he would never be satis-
fied until he had driven Le Tellier from the council and
from the service of the king, in order to put in his place
President Viole, whom he preferred to Champlatreux, son of
President Mold, who hoped to become secretary of State.
The most virtuous men cease to be virtuous when then-
interests are concerned. There lay the source of all the
faults of this wise magistrate. His firmness, his integrity,
the zeal he had for the good of the State and for the service
of the king which shone through his weakness, all his
virtues in short lost their full brilliancy because he did not
do all that he ought to have done. By that alone he
deprived himself of the advantage he might have had in
being esteemed as one of the first men of his period. His
family pretensions had made him too much of a partisan of
the Prince de Condd and had often caused him to fail in his
duty ; but the mortifications the prince put upon him, which
were constantly increasing made him more faithful. It is to
be wished he had served as a lesson to those who came
after him.
The Prince de Conde' also lost in course of time the Due de
Bouillon and the Vicomte de Turenne for having, so they
said, supported their interests very faintly on several occa-
sions. Even the princess-palatine, who was not satisfied
with his gratitude, seemed in some way less attached to him.
Nevertheless, she did all she could to induce him to put
himself on good terms with the queen, and Madame de
Longueville thought for some time that the thing could be
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 11
done ; but the prince would not enter into any such relation
on account of the obligations he had lately contracted to
the Due d'0rle*ans, from whom he thought he ought not to
separate.
It is to be believed also that the engagement he was under
to hate Cardinal Mazarin, more from honour than from actual
feeling, embarrassed him, and that he did not choose to follow
in any way the example of the frondeurs, who were con-
stantly feigning contradictory sentiments at one and the
same time. These were, according to all appearances, the
real reasons which kept him from allying himself with,
the queen ; and this uncertain state stopped the legitimate
projects he might have formed to the advantage of his future
greatness. It is difficult for a man to satisfy all his obliga-
tions, his interests, and his sentiments. These things bear
within them difficulties which set him adrift in a multipli-
city of thoughts and desires which he makes for himself, and
often force him to follow a path he does not wish to follow.
Thus the Prince de Conde* remained undecided in presence
of all that came before him, and from having too much good
fortune he found at last that he had not as much as he
might have had. He had only understanding enough with
the queen to bring about some change in the council, and
to obtain the government of Guienne, for which Servien and
de Lyonne, by advice of the princess-palatine, made him
hope. It was under an appearance of acting for the public
good that they worked for it, but it was really more in the
hope that the prince would drive out Le Tellier, whom they
did not like and whose office perhaps they wanted. He was,
in fact dismissed soon after, at which he was greatly pained;
but this dismissal was no loss to him, for he kept both hap-
piness and fidelity ; which rarely happens.
The Keeper of the Seals, Chateauneuf, discovering that he
12 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
had contributed to drive away the cardinal only to become
himself a mere figure-head of a minister to the king and
queen, was filled with bitterness and vexation. He knew
that the queen confided in others than himself; and that
she regarded him as an enemy. He tried in every way to
acquire her confidence; and often protested to her that he
wished to be solely attached to her interests ; he offered to
separate from the Due d'Orldans and all the other persons
who gave her umbrage ; he offered also to reconcile her with
the princes, and, in short, neglected nothing to make her
feel she would find in him a minister more useful in her ser-
vice than the one she had lost. The queen received these
offers with apparent good-will, but, in reality, she did not
allow herself to be moved by his promises. Her confidence
was wholly given to another. Believing that she did her
duty, she was not capable of weakly changing her course,
and she listened to these propositions only to humour the
speaker. He ought to have known the impossibility of his
design in view of the many intrigues he had gathered about
his person, which the queen must necessarily fear. Had he
been wise he would have seen that the sole reward which all
those intriguers could look for would come from repentance.
At length the queen, unable to endure him any longer,
desired to give the Seals to the chief-president [Matthieu
Mole*], who had served her well after the return of the
princes and also since ; for, on becoming detached from the
Prince de Cond^, he had applied himself wholly to her
interests expecting now to receive from her the favours
he had hoped from others. But the Mare'chal de Gramont,
a friend of Chavigny, Longueil, now become chancellor to
the queen, and some others brought the queen and the
cardinal to consider favourably Chavigny's return to Court.
They made the queen see that to make the change she
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 13
desired and to gain more influence in parliament she must
feign to no longer desire the return of Mazarin, and bring
back Chavigny, his greatest enemy. They wrote to Bruhl
and made the cardinal understand that Chavigny's return
was necessary to throw dust in people's eyes, and, moreover,
that it was better to have him in the council than Chateau-
neuf because the cabal of the latter was the dominant one,
and consequently Chavigny was less to be feared. However
that might be, the cardinal consented, because at that time
his strongest passion, as he wrote his friends, was to change
the council and get rid of the Keeper of the Seals. This
was one of the things I saw later in the letters he wrote at
this time to Madame de Navailles.
While all these things were taking place the Keeper of
the Seals, who was ignorant of them, who hated Chavigny,
and felt the coming of his own dismissal, saw plainly that
great affairs were going on without him and against him.
He must have been aware that he was about to lose the
Seals, for he could scarcely suppose the queen had changed
the council and brought back Chavigny, in spite of the Due
d'Orle'ans, to pause there and go no farther in satisfying her
resentments ; and shortly after she sent him her commands
to return them. He did so, and the chief-president, Mole*,
received them at once on condition that he would not leave
his office of president. The queen then sent a despatch to
Chancellor Se*guier ordering his return to Court, to hold the
council on business affairs, and to be present at all the
councils of the king as chancellor of France. The Prince de
Conde*, who heard of the appointment of Mold as Keeper of
the Seals through Chavigny and Lyonne, had some under-
standing as to these changes with the queen, who made
them the more boldly because she believed they would
tempt him to return to her.
14 MEMOIES OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
What Chateauneuf suffered when he saw himself without
the Seals cannot be stated too strongly; he alone whose
ambition is excessive can form any idea of it. His first
thought was to rush to the Luxembourg with the Seals,
demand the protection of the Due d'Orldans, and hold out
against the queen. After he had given them up he repented
not having carried out this idea ; but the queen had taken
him by surprise; the summons came unexpectedly, and
gave him no time to deliberate on what he should do.
God willed this for the preservation of France, to which
this action would have cost much blood. I wish to believe
also that his own will restrained him, and that, loving the
State, he would not for his own interests risk its ruin.
This man had great qualities. He had a firm soul, a bold
mind, and a heart that desired glory; he was skilful at
intrigue and had great experience in managing affairs. He
was so respected by friends and enemies that he refused to
both sides equally what he did not think it right to give
without either of them daring to complain. But he had
much for which to humble himself before God and men
in having formerly, in the days of Cardinal Eichelieu,
condemned to death an innocent man, the Mardchal de
Marillac. The universal opinion was that his ambition
had then caused him to basely betray his conscience and
his honour.
He had another fault, which made him ridiculous ; he was
too fond of ladies ; their companionship and their flatteries
pleased him; and the ladies, for their selfish ends, sought
him too eagerly. By their intrigues they greatly contrib-
uted to his grandeur and his fortune, while at the same
time they made him contemptible. Besides these humiliat-
ing stains, it may be said that the desires which Court
favour excited in his soul made him unworthy to live, be-
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 15
cause to live an exalted life he did base things that did
not become a man such as he desired to seem.
The news of his downfall having reached the Luxem-
bourg, the Due d'Orldans became excited in a manner that
was quite terrible, and his anger seemed likely to cause
strange effects. He fulminated against the queen, and
swore she should suffer for this affront. The coadjutor, or
Montrdsor by his order, or both together, told the duke that,
inasmuch as the queen had dared to strike this blow as
regent, he ought to do the same and strike another as lieu-
tenant-general of the kingdom. They proposed to him to
make the burghers take arms, and the Due de Beaufort
offered him all his influence for that purpose. They said
that the canaille ought to be roused ; that they ought to go
to the Palais-Eoyal and carry off the king, and to the presi-
dent and take away the Seals by force, and if he made any
resistance kill him and fling him into the street. In short,
all that can be imagined most cruel, most violent, even
against the person of the queen, was proposed on this occa-
sion, and, according to appearances, the execution thereof
was ardently desired by the coadjutor, no doubt by
ChSteauneuf also, who had, as I have just said, very crimi-
nal moments; both these men being filled with the most
violent passions that ever occupy the human soul.
The Prince de Conde", who was present at these furious
proposals, after assuring the Due d'Orldans that he had
nothing to do with the return of Chavigny and that he
wished to remain inviolably attached to his interests,
declared that he could not approve of such violent counsels,
the execution of which would be difficult and blamable.
He told the Due d'Orle'ans that he was ready to put him-
self at the head of his troops and shed the last drop of his
blood in his service, but that he could not take part in
16 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
things that would no doubt be disapproved by all right-
minded persons. This wise address silenced the most
rebellious, because reason and authority combined have
great force. The recent obligations the Prince de Conde*
was under to President Mole", the friendship he had for
Chavigny, and some natural humanity, which never abandons
heroic souls, made him hold this language. Moreover, he
desired at this time, as I have said already, to obtain from
the queen the government of Guienne, of which he was not
yet quite secure, and his interest therefore lay in pleasing
her. He now acted advantageously for her in averting this
storm, the mere threatenings of which were horrible.
It is therefore to the Prince de Cond alone that we
must give the glory of having prevented this mad project
which would have doubtless turned to a second Saint-
Bartholomew. Madame de Longueville told me afterwards
that she believed on that day that Paris would be destroyed
by fire and blood; that the anxiety was great throughout
the whole royal family; and that she spent the night,
without going to bed, in expectation of the evils that might
happen ; and when the morning came and she saw that the
designs of the coadjutor had not been put into execution
she flung herself on the bed of the Prince de Conde*, dressed
as she was, to sleep a few hours; but her mind was too
full of all the things that fatal counsel might have produced,
and her soul was long depressed with gloom and horror.
As for the queen, she had no share in this anxiety, and
knew nothing of the danger she had been in until it was
over.
The chancellor, Se*guier, arrived the next day, and was
received by the queen with every demonstration of good-
will If he had shown that alacrity which is praiseworthy
when a man can legitimately pretend to the grandeurs of
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 17
fortune, he might have filled his office amply. He was
learned, eloquent, and skilful in affairs of the council.
The queen had need of a minister, a man of honour, who,
with upright intentions, should undertake to serve her
well. He had a portion of those good qualities; but his
soul was not sufficiently filled with a desire for the fame
which virtue alone can give, and he did not make himself
esteemed as much as, perhaps, he deserved to be. We soon
saw him return into nothingness, and come out of it again,
without ever having really had what is called favour and
consideration. He was so little of a courtier that he asked
the queen what he had to do, and when she told him to
rest and not to come to the Palais-Eoyal unless there was
need of it, he accepted that permission and went there so
little that presently he did not go at all. He piqued him-
self on a certain humility that did not care for authority
but preferred to continually obey a superior. This submis-
siveness caused him to enjoy a peaceful good fortune,
which was of longer duration than most, but also less
brilliant.
When the coadjutor saw that his terrible counsels were not
followed, he wished to retire from Court, and told the Due
d'Orldans that, not being useful in his service, it was better
he should separate from him, for the queen, who hated him,
might be more tractable if he were gone. Followers of the
Prince de Cond^ told me that one of the reasons which
forced him to abandon President Mold was this feigned
retirement of the coadjutor ; for seeing that the Due
d'0rle"ans had really some ground for complaint, and being, if
the coadjutor left him, the only person in his confidence, he
could not avoid entering somewhat into his interests. But
this departure of the coadjutor was mere dissimulation. He
took leave of the Due d'Orle'ans in Holy Week ; and for
VOL. III. 2
18 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
some time only saw him secretly ; but he soon returned
to him openly. I never knew the true reason of this sham
separation.
The Due d'Orle'ans, however, continued to complain of the
queen, and the queen to defend herself. This quarrel
threatened France with a great contest and caused anxiety
to those who longed for the good of the State. But at last
it became necessary that the queen's firmness should be con-
quered, and she herself made to yield to reason and to the
anger of the Due d'Orle'ans. The ministers, to please the
duke, all worked upon her to change her mind ; the friends
of President Mold were the first to advise her to abandon
him ; telling her that it was better to take the Seals from
him than to drive the Due d'Orle'ans into civil war. The
queen, being persuaded by these reasons, consented to satisfy
the duke's demands. The new Keeper of the Seals who had
only appeared at the council once or twice, was compelled to
fall back into his old position. This was against his will,
but he did it, nevertheless, with very good grace. The queen
sent for him and, much ashamed at what she did, asked him
to bear with patience this sacrifice for the good of the State.
She told him that to satisfy Monsieur she was compelled to
ask him to return what she had given him ; she said she was
in despair at this necessity, but she assured him that as soon
as she was able to bring it about the Seals should be again in
his hands. The president, without seeming shocked, but
with a smiling face, told her that he was only too happy to
know by this means the esteem in which she held his
fidelity, and too happy also to be able to contribute to her
repose. Then, taking from his neck the key of the Seals
which hung there, he gave it to her, until such time as she
sent for the keys themselves. The queen was much grati-
fied ; the keys were brought to her and given to Chancellor
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 19
Se"guier, who was not sorry to have them once more in his
own keeping.
The Due d'Orle'ans being satisfied in this way, the per-
sons he had driven from the council remained apparently
quiescent, and the queen believed she might now hope for a
truce to her troubles. To be the more secure, she resolved to
give the Prince de Condd the government of Guienne.
Having pacified the Due d'Orle'ans she wanted also to gain
the prince ; truly trying to win back his friendship either by
obliging him or through the influence of his friends, espe-
cially that of the princess-palatine ; but all was in vain.
Whether on the side of policy he did wrong in holding
firmly out against the queen's advances I leave to the judg-
ment of those who desire to reason upon it, and can say no
more than I have already said ; but, if I dared, I should find
much to say against the dissimulation he employed with the
queen to obtain the government of Guienne. For at this
time he made her hope for his friendship ; and when I took
the liberty to speak to her about it, she told me that she
believed that through this benefit he would become entirely
her friend, and that he had spoken of it in that manner.
When the rumour got about that the queen meant to
give him this government many persons represented to her
that she would ruin herself and was not following the
maxims of either prudence or the State. The queen, struck
by the arguments of her own servants, paused, and was some
time in doubt whether she ought to execute the agreement.
The Prince de Conde*, warned of this cooling of her intention,
proposed to her, in Chavigny's presence, to give it up, pro-
testing that he wished for nothing that would cause her
uneasiness. Chavigny, to please the queen, said to the
prince before her : " Monsieur, is it in earnest that you
return to the queen the promise she made you on this
20 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
affair ? " The prince having answered yes, the queen thanked
him and said no more ; so that matters remained for some
time uncertain. But the Prince de Conde*, of a temper that
chose to have whatever he had once desired, and who knew
the great advantage of this government, set the creatures of
Cardinal Mazarin, Servien and de Lyonne, to work in his
favour ; and the queen was at last brought by their inter-
vention to bestow it. They told her it was advantageous to
give Guienne to the Prince de Cond4 in order to detach him
in some degree from the Due d'0rle*ans, and reunite him
with herself ; that he possessed already the affection of that
province, so that she was giving him nothing new ; that the
government of Bourgogne, which he held at present, could
be given to the Due d'Epernon in exchange for that of
Guienne, which would thus put a final end to the complaints
of the Bordeaux people.
Among the conditions of this exchange it was agreed, in
view of other considerations, that the Due de Candale should
give Auvergne to the Due de Mercoeur. This gratified the
queen, because the latter was soon to marry Mademoiselle
Mancini ; and in order to encourage that marriage she
wished to do him every favour that would bind him to it.
This desire of the queen, which could only have been in-
spired in her by the cardinal, showed plainly that the nego-
tiators were acting under orders from him.
The Due de Longueville, who had retired a little into the
background after making certain advances to the queen, now
addressed himself to de Lyonne, and through him recovered
some intimacy with her, which was, no doubt, like everything
else, concerted with Cardinal Mazarin.
Madame de Longueville, who was now on bad terms with
her husband and had her private intrigues and fancies to
carry on at Court, not wishing to have the queen wholly
1651] MEMOIKS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 21
against her, sent her friend the princess-palatine to promise
the queen on her behalf all she could desire of her. After
much consultation, the princess sent Bartet to the cardinal to
assure him of Madame de Longueville's regard, and at the
same time hold out to him the hope that they would work
together to restore to him the good-will of the Prince de
Conde".
Many other persons now held communication with the
cardinal, because the firmness of the queen astonished the
Court and convinced them that the minister would speedily
return. For this reason, each of his friends and his enemies
desired to negotiate with him, and all, except the Due
d'Orldans and the Prince de Condi*, sent messengers to him,
asking his protection in various matters. These journeys
led to great negotiations, but none that equalled that of the
two most ardent lovers of Dame Fortune I mean old
ChSteauneuf and the coadjutor. The first, at the close of
life, after having upset the State to drive out the cardinal
and been punished by his own dismissal, desiring now to re-
enter the cabinet, formed an intrigue in favour of the man he
had so lately driven away. Not ashamed of his perpetual
variations he asked the Marquis de Senneterre and the
Mare'chal d'Estre*es to say to the queen that if she would re-
place him as Keeper of the Seals he would promise to be the
servitor and friend of Cardinal Mazarin ; assuring her also
that he would restore between the cardinal, herself, and the
Due d'Orle'ans a perfect union.
At first the queen paid no attention to this proposal, be-
cause she did not think it sincere and because she had so
great a contempt for ChSteauneuf. But he, not rebuffed,
sent his sister Madame de Vaucelas to entreat the Marquis
de Senneterre to see him. Senneterre, knowing the queen's
.disgust at anything that came from that man, refused to go,
22 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
and sent the Mare*chal d'Estre'es in his stead. The latter on
his return begged Senneterre to allow Brachet (a man for-
merly his servitor, whom he had given to the cardinal) to go
to the cardinal and assure him of Chateauneuf's entire fidelity
if he would reconcile the queen to him and replace him as
Keeper of the Seals.
I must here note the remarkable circumstance that
ChSteauneuf in sending this pledge to the Marquis de Sen-
neterre, let him know, through the Mar^chal d'Estre'es, that,
this alliance once made with Cardinal Mazarin, he, Chateau-
neuf, would agree with them all to put the Prince de Cond^
in prison for the second time. But Senneterre, as he then
told me, did not approve of the proposal and saw plainly that
passion and a desire for revenge had inspired it ; and, more-
over, that it came originally from the coadjutor, and perhaps
from Madame de Chevreuse also. He eluded any reply, and
Brachet departed bearing to the cardinal the compliments of
the poor madman.
That is the name which we must give to those who have
the unbridled desires to which courtiers are subject. The
madness that makes them run after honours at the cost of
their peace and their safety is a horrible blindness, which
prevents their seeing that these dignities, with which they
are so infatuated, are only imaginary blessings which they
must quit in twenty-four years at most. Senneterre was not
a man disillusioned of vanities and ambition ; his soul was
only too much attached to earth ; but he was virtuous and
sensible, and in confiding to me these secrets he did not
cease to wonder at the extreme avidity that these two men
showed for favour, what they would endure to get it, and the
readiness with which they would undertake anything to
reach their ends.
The cardinal, seeing that the gift of Guienne had not
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 23
brought the Prince de Concte to live better with the queen,
listened to the proposals of Chateauneuf, in which the coad-
jutor had a share. I do not know all the particulars of this
negotiation, in which there were many actors. But it seemed
to me that they proposed the union of the Due d'0rle"ans
with the queen, provided she would put the Prince de Cond<*
again in prison, according to proposals already made, and
also replace Chateauneuf as Keeper of the Seals until the re-
turn of Cardinal Mazarin. The coadjutor pledged himself to
work for this ; but in all his conduct, it seemed to me, so far
as the queen did me the honour to tell me about it, that it
tended much more to ruin the prince than to favour the
cardinal.
None of these proposals pleased the queen, who listened to
them all, detesting the bad ones, and distrusting the others.
She asked counsel of a few persons who would give it con-
scientiously. Senneterre, to whom she spoke, and whose
capacity she valued, told her frankly (though he was no ad-
herent of the Prince de Conde") that he advised her not to risk
putting him again in prison ; because those who were now
beginning to dislike him and complain of him would turn in
his favour as soon as they saw him attacked ; and that she
would only give mischief-makers the opportunity for further
mischief ; and, moreover, that by such an act she would
establish the Due d'Orldans and all his cabal, which was
great, and composed of her enemies, namely : the coadjutor,
Chateauneuf, Madame de Chevreuse, the Due de Beaufort,
and all the Fronde ; that it would end in her becoming their
slave, and that the cardinal, whom she desired to reap
advantages from it would, on the contrary, come to manifest
ruin ; it being certain that as soon as they were masters they
would never let him return.
He told her finally, as he related to me himself, that he
24 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
advised her in all sincerity ; and that lie dared say to her
that his counsel was the best. The queen, thinking his rea-
soning strong and judicious, showed more coldness to the
frondeurs than they expected, for they believed that their
proposals would have been received with warmth.
I was told, by the same friend, in great secrecy, that the
queen having consulted in confidence a learned doctor, an
ecclesiastic of a celebrated Order, as to the propositions
made to her against the Prince de Conde* by his enemies,
he told her that she might treat him as a criminal and an
enemy to the State. But the queen, having a horror of
such principles, left the casuist to follow the advice of the
statesman. The latter had religion and honourable senti-
ments hi all things, but he was never suspected of loving-
kindness ; nevertheless, he was in this matter more in
conformity with the laws of the Gospel and the inclinations
of the queen than the churchman; whose verdict for the
most cruel actions was shocking, the gentler having been
rejected by his human wisdom. The queen was some time
without making any answer regarding Chateauneufs res-
toration, because she wanted to obtain the advice of Car-
dinal Mazarin.
As there is no secret that can be kept hidden at a Court,
the Prince de Conde* was fully informed of all these negotia-
tions. He already knew the proposals that had been made
against his life and his liberty, 1 and since receiving certain
1 Montglat says : " Lyonne, having seen the coadjutor about the scheme
for seizing the Prince de Conde", either from imprudence, or for the pur-
pose of saving himself from exile, told something about it to the Mare-
chal de Gramont, who communicated it to Chavigny, who repeated it to
the prince. The latter was much surprised and immediately left Paris and
retired to Saint-Maur. This warning did not save Lyonne, who was dis-
missed from Court." The coadjutor, whose ambition was illimitable, was
the soul of all these negotiations, and all these projects against Conde.
But he was not the only one. Montglat affirms that " the Comte d'Har-
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 25
warnings he had lived with the greatest precaution. While
in this state, he was one evening in bed conversing with his
intimate friends, when Vineuil entered and warned him of
some scheme against his person, saying that a company of
the Gardes was ordered to march towards the hQtel de
Conde". The prince rose immediately, mounted a horse,
and rode off in haste to Saint-Maur, followed by all his
family, the Prince de Conti, Madame de Longueville, the
princess his wife, the Due de La Eochefoucauld, the Due de
Eichelieu, the Mare"chal de La Motte, and several others.
At five o'clock the next morning the queen was awak-
ened by Comminges, who came to tell her this news. She
sent at once for the Due d'Orle'ans and the Marshal de
Villeroy. The duke came and assured her that it was not
with his knowledge that the Prince de Cond had gone, and
he behaved very well to her. For some days he had visited
her civilly and his docility showed the good success of the
negotiations with Bruhl.
It was now said everywhere that what had alarmed the
Prince de Conde" was only the fact that a captain of the
regiment of the Gardes, in order to bring in a supply of
wines without duty, had put, out of his own head, a troop
of soldiers at the gate of Saint-Germain. These armed
men having been noticed by the servants of the Prince de
Conde", they warned him. He sent to see if it was true;
finding it was really so, he did not doubt that some enter-
prise was formed against his liberty or his life ; and, joining
these circumstances with preceding warnings, he resolved
to go away. But what induced him even more to do so
was, the terms on which he now lived with the queen ;
court and the Marechal d'Hocquincourt offered to kill the Prince de
Cond^, but the queen felt a horror at the proposal and would not employ
it, so that they sought for other means to secure his person." FB. ED.
26 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
for he could not help knowing that she was far from satis-
fied with him. She had just granted him all the favours
he had asked ; and yet he would not go to see her and
by all his actions showed an aversion to her. If, through
the prince's conduct, the queen then had thoughts contrary
to the advice given her by the Marquis de Senneterre,
which she had seemed to approve, I am ignorant of it and
I never perceived it in any way.
The Prince de Condd having departed, a council was held
at the Palais-Eoyal to consult as to a remedy for this eviL
The Due de La Eochefoucauld came in from Saint-Maur
to see the Due d'Orle'ans and assure him of the prince's
regard and friendship, and to protest anew his gratitude
for all the services he had done him. He explained to the
duke the reasons which had forced the prince to take alarm
and to fly. He came afterwards to the Palais-Eoyal, where
he conferred with the Mare'chal de Villeroy, and said to
the queen that the Prince de Conde* had left the Court,
believing that he could not stay there in safety. He told
her also that the Court was made up of two cabals from
which the prince was obliged to protect himself, the
mazarins and the frondeurs. Besides which, he complained
that the queen had not done for him certain things for
which he had entreated her (but these things were really
trifles). The queen acknowledged openly that she had
not done them (although she had promised them) in con-
sequence of his ceasing to come and see her. She now
resolved to send the Due de Gramont to him, on behalf of
the Due d'Orle'ans and herself, to assure him of their good
intentions, and say to him that he had nothing to fear from
those from whom he said he feared all; and that if he
would return, a pledge of absolute security for his person
should be given him.
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 27
The Prince de Condd replied to the Mare"chal de Gra-
mont haughtily and roughly. He spoke respectfully of the
Due d'Orldans, but very ill of the queen ; saying it was
impossible to trust her word ; that she had already deceived
him, being skilful at that business, and that he would not
run the risk of being so treated a second time ; that he could
not endure the cabal of the mazarins, and so long as he saw
the valets of the cardinal having influence he would never
return to Court; and that if the queen insisted on his re-
turn, she must first dismiss Lyonne, Servien, and Le Tellier.
The Mare*chal de Gramont, as a good servant of the queen,
did not approve of this answer ; it disgusted him with the
negotiation, and was the reason why he soon after left
Court and went to his government of Be*arn.
On the 7th of July, the Chambers having assembled to
deliberate on the execution of a decree given against the
lawlessness of certain soldiers, the Prince de Conti took oc-
casion to say that he believed the Assembly would be glad
to hear from his lips the reasons the Prince de Cond had
for retiring to his house at Saint-Maur. After relating all
the circumstances, he said that the prince had felt it neces-
sary to think of his safety ; that he knew of negotiations
that were continually going on with Cardinal Mazarin, of
the interchange of couriers, and of the journey of the Due
de Mercosur to Bruhl to marry the cardinal's niece; con-
sequently, he believed that he was no longer in safety at
Court.
x The Prince de Conti added that many things had made
his brother believe that his suspicions were well-founded,
and that he had reason to apprehend being imprisoned a
second time by the underhand plotting of the cardinal, for,
as every one saw, he was governing more absolutely from
Bruhl than he had ever done in Paris; that Servien, Le
28 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
Tellier, and Lyonne were acting by his orders only; and
that being so, he came to make a declaration on his
brother's behalf that his intentions were wholly upright
for the service of the king and the good of the State ; that
he had not withdrawn because of any private discontent;
and that he disclaimed having, for himself or his friends,
any pretensions or interests. The Prince de Conti said
that he was very glad to make this declaration to parlia-
ment on behalf of his brother in order to make it known
to all France, and he presented a letter from the Prince
de Conde* to the Assembly, which, he said, explained the
prince's veritable sentiments better than he himself had done
by what he had now said.
The Prince de Conti having ended his speech, a counsellor
named Menardeau read the letter aloud :
" MESSIEURS, The esteem' that I have always had for
your Assembly, its justice and its zeal for the good of the
State, and the obliging proofs I have received thereof in the
protection you gave to my innocence during my imprison-
ment, induce me to inform you of the reasons which have
led me to retire from Paris to my house of Saint-Maur, hi
order to prevent the calumnies and artfulness of my enemies
from making some impression on your minds. I must there-
fore tell you, Messieurs, that after a great number of warn-
ings given to me of evil designs formed against me, and
false rumours spread before the public to render my conduct
suspicious to the king and odious to every one, I have been
compelled to abstain from paying my respects to their Ma-
jesties and from assisting in their councils as often as I
could have wished. I have awaited, as every one knows, the
guarantee of the Due d'0rle*ans, hoping that his Eoyal High-
ness would dissipate the distrust that my enemies may have
1651] MEMOIKS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 29
given of me to the queen, and would re-establish at last that
confidence and re-union of the royal family so desired by,
and so necessary to the State, and which his Eoyal Highness
and I have sought ever since my release, as it was our duty
to do.
"But seeing that his Eoyal Highness's efforts have not
been able to produce the effects I had hoped from so im-
portant a mediation, and warned of many enterprises against
my person, of the divers journeys to Cologne, and particu-
larly that of M. de Mercosur, at the very time that you for-
bade them ; warned also of the evil effects of this intercourse,
of the negotiations at Sedan, of what passed at Brisach [town
of which Cardinal Mazarin had made himself master] ; and,
finally, of all the matters delayed at Court until the final
decisions of Cardinal Mazarin could be received, and of the
extraordinary influence of his agents engaged on my ruin
(already stated to this Assembly), I have thought it my duty,
not only for the safety of my own person but for the security
of the State, to shelter myself from events that I have al-
ready experienced ; the consequences of which could only be
fatal to France, which would never allow, any more than
it did last year, that a prince who has had the honour to
render such beneficial services to the king and to the State,
and who has never had the slightest thought, as he here
protests, against the king's service and the public welfare,
should be again oppressed and imprisoned for the interests
and by the advice of Cardinal Mazarin for the reason that
he has never been willing to consent to his return.
"I shall add nothing, except the protestation I hereby
make to you, and have already directed to be made to the
queen, that I have no claims for myself or my friends ; and
that whenever we can feel assured that Cardinal Mazarin
is wholly without hope of return, and the dismissal of his
30 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. i.
creatures ensures my safety, I will not fail to visit their
Majesties and continue my efforts for the service of the king
and the State.
" I am, Messieurs, your affectionate servant.
"LOUIS DE BOUEBON.
"From Saint-Maur, July 7, 1651."
After the reading of this letter President Mold said that
parliament had worked with great assiduity to procure the
liberty of the Prince de Conde*, hoping that his presence,
seconding the efforts of the Due d'Orle'ans, would restore
peace to the State and put an end to the disturbances which
had so long afflicted it. But he saw with regret the prince's
retreat from Paris, which could come only from a premedi-
tated design or from fear ; if from design it was regrettable ;
if from fear he must return. The Prince de Conti, inter-
rupting him, said that no one could believe it was design,
because the Prince de Conde* had ever tended to the service
of the king and the good of the State, and he had no better
guarantee of his good intentions than the Due d'Orle'ans;
as for fear, it was well founded.
The Due d'Orle'ans, taking speech, said it was true
that his cousin the Prince de Cqnde' had always had good
intentions; that the great services he had rendered France
did not allow of their being doubted, and that he himself
was witness that since the prince's release he had desired
the good of the State; that the queen had told him, the
Due d'Orle'ans, that she had never thought of any attack
upon the prince's liberty, and he was obliged to believe
what she said; that he had striven to remove these sus-
picions from the prince's mind, and he certainly believed
that had he come to his house he would have been in safety ;
but it was not strange that a man who had once been taken
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 31
prisoner should be distrustful, and that it was very true that
the mind of the cardinal still reigned in the council.
[After much discussion on this and the following day] a
great tumult arose in the assembly, and every one said that
satisfaction must be given to the Prince de Conde* and the
remains of Mazarin exterminated ; for the cardinal must no
longer be brought into consideration with the princes of the
blood. The tumult lasted so long that the chief-president
was astonished, and saw that he must change his intention
of having the matter further deliberated. He addressed the
Due d'Orle'ans, asking him to bring about the reconciliation
of the Prince de Conde", and exhorting him to work for it.
Without wasting time in particularizing all that took
place in the deliberations of parliament on the affair of the
Prince de Conde*, it suffices to say that the conclusion was
that the queen should be very humbly entreated to give a
fresh declaration by itself against Cardinal Mazarin; such
as would reassure all minds and give the Prince de Condd
all necessary security for his person. Nothing was said
about the securities already given. This decree pleased the
queen, because the appearance of royal authority was kept
up, and the persons whom the Prince de Conde" asked to
have dismissed were not named; she was left apparently
with power to exercise her own will in that matter.
Parliament came in a body to see the queen, and President
Mole* made representations of the decree which were mild
and respectful. The queen replied that as for the declaration
against Cardinal Mazarin which they demanded, she wished
them to draw it up themselves, and she would return it to
them such as they made it; as for the rest she would con-
sult her council.
II.
1651.
THE securities that the Prince de Conde" then demanded
were the banishment from Court of persons whom parliament,
out of respect, had not designated by name. [Servien,
Lyonne, and Le Tellier.] The queen hesitated between yes
and no ; she did not know whether it was well to send away
the cardinal's adherents or not. Her feeling at first was
against doing so. But it was represented to her that such
action had been heretofore taken at the request of princes of
the blood ; also that she ought to take from the Prince de
Conde" all pretext for civil war ; and that she was bound by
great reasons to prevent that calamity if she could. Follow-
ing this advice, she resolved to send away these persons, and
give this proof to all France of her love for peace and for
the welfare of the State; to which may be added certain
little aversions she had to Servien and Lyonne, which
removed all painfulness as regarded them. Le Tellier
went away with the certain hope of return. The queen
had much liking for him. He had quarrelled with the
Prince de Conde" and was well-beloved by the cardinal.
So that he had nothing to fear but absence; which may
always prove dangerous to those who are envied, and who,
consequently, have enemies. But he carried with him the
satisfaction of a conduct without reproach and consistent for
the right, and of being the only one of the three exiles whose
integrity was not suspected. They departed, after taking
leave of the queen, who had a private interview with each
1651] MEMOIRS OP MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 33
of them, and, accompanied by their wives and children,
retired to their estates.
Parliament having been summoned to the Palais-Koyal,
the chancellor spoke to its members in the queen's name,
telling them that the affection her Majesty had for the State,
and her desire to preserve the union of the royal family in-
duced her, in order to give complete security to the Prince de
Cond^, to send away from the king's councils those who were
suspected by him. He exhorted the Assembly to contribute
to the peace which all must desire between the queen and
the princes of the blood, and to work for the repose of the
State with the zeal and affection they ought to have for the
service of the king.
The Prince de Conde" may perhaps have been vexed to
have no further pretext for complaint, and he showed much
surprise at what the queen had done. He returned to Paris
and went to parliament. There he demanded that the dis-
missed men should be included in the declaration which was
to be made against the cardinal, in order that there might be
no future possibility of their return. But the chief-president
said that the prince had not previously made that demand ;
that he had sufficiently declared his wishes and what he
demanded for his security ; that he had then said that he
desired nothing further than the dismissal of the creatures of
the cardinal ; and as this was a new matter it could not be
included in his former demand ; otherwise it would require
all to be done over again. The question was put to the
vote, the whole Assembly agreeing with the president. Con-
sequently the Prince de Conde"s request was excluded, at
which he showed vexation.
It now seemed that the prince, less clever in this respect
than his adversaries, did not take pains enough to avoid, as
he might have done, occasions to vex the queen. He listened
VOL. III. 3
34 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. n.
to the mischief-makers about him, who longed for war, and
let himself be led, perhaps without his will having much
part in it. If he had not quitted the Court he would, no
doubt, have greatly embarrassed those who wanted to drive
him out of it, and right-minded persons would have been
well-content. It would not have been difficult for him to
obtain all security there, as much by the public support of
the Due d'Orle'ans and parliament as by that of private
persons, the latter being really the stronger. He would have
found all security in the heart of the queen if he had sin-
cerely desired to forget the past and live with her in a
manner becoming towards her, the State, and himself,
even if that course had cost him the sending of a missive
now and then to the absent cardinal ; because little things
should always yield to great ones when neither the little
nor the great shock equity. In the state in which they
then were, the frondeurs, having detached themselves from
the Due d'Orle'ans, ought to have been abandoned, especially
by the Prince de Conde*, whom they had sought to ruin ;
and consequently both princes ought now to have rallied to
the queen and laughed at the public madness which, with-
out just reason, had corrupted the minds of all by a chimeri-
cal hatred to the name of Mazarin.
The Prince de Conde", renouncing peace and determined to
oppose Chateauneuf, took parliament for his means and went
before it on the 2d of August. He used the fiction then in
fashion, that is to say, the phantom I have just mentioned, as
his alleged reason for battering his enemies to destruction.
He let it be known that those enemies (without naming
them) were in secret treaty with the cardinal at Cologne
and he denounced all those who had intercourse with " the
Mazarin." It was voted to obtain evidence against such per-
sons and to hear them in their defence.
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 35
The queen, finding that the prince was thus making head
against the king in Paris, and having many subjects of com-
plaint against him, now began to think seriously of protect-
ing herself. She at last took measures with the frondeurs,
who, since their reconciliation with the cardinal, stood fairly
well with her, and had, necessarily, some share in her con-
fidence. On the other hand, the prince, drifting daily far-
ther and farther from a reconciliation with her, thought of
war, and began to prepare for what might happen to him.
He sent to Spain, and did all that prudence, in view of the
bad state in which he then was, obliged him to do.
Madame de Longueville desired war in order not to return
to her husband, who wanted to see her, but with whom she
had quarrelled. The Due de La Rochefoucauld, as he after-
wards told me himself, wished for peace, because he had felt
the evils of civil war, and his demolished house made him
hate that which had proved so damaging to him. But un-
able to fail in following the wishes of Madame de Lon-
gueville, and seeing the signs of an open rupture which
would soon compel the Prince de Conde* to break with the
Court, he was of opinion that she ought to go to Montrond
and there await the results of the intrigues which she herself
had started. The Prince de Conde* having approved of this
advice, she left Saint-Maur with the Princesse de Conde* and
the young Due d'Enghien and went to await at Montrond
what might happen to the prince, who, without having a
veritable intention to make war, found himself, as I have
just stated, necessitated by his own conduct to make it in
spite of himself ; which thanks be to God, proved always to
be to his own disadvantage.
The Due de Longueville now seemed to separate himself
wholly from the Prince de Conde". His daughter Made-
moiselle de Longueville, contributed much to this change;
36 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. 11.
for though she passed for sharing her step-mother's purposes
at the time the Prince de Cond^ gave himself up so heed-
lessly to the vain enterprises of Madame de Longueville and
the Prince de Conti, still she had never entered into them
except from a sense of obligation, which threw her into a
party of which her father the Due de Longueville was a
leader and for which he had suffered imprisonment. Being
herself princess of the blood of the third royal branch,
consequently niece of the last Comte de Soissons, whose
pitiable fate caused him to perish at the battle of Sedan, she
could not love the princes of the house of Conde*, and particu-
larly not Madame de Longueville, her step-mother, who she
felt had never considered her sufficiently. All this made
her ardently desire whatever seemed to her most advanta-
geous to the Due de Longueville and to the princes her
brothers (sons of Madame de Longueville), and in this she
showed the goodness of her mind and the integrity of her
intentions, which led her to wish that those in whom she
had interest should attach themselves to their true duty.
The Duke of York [afterwards James II.] having desired to
marry this excellent princess, the Queen of England ordered
me to speak to the queen about it. I did so. The queen
answered that this prince, being son of a king, was too high
to be allowed to marry in France; and for that political
reason the matter could go no further. The duke was
grieved ; he esteemed the princess ; her virtue and her per-
son pleased him ; and her wealth (she being heiress of the
late Comte de Soissons) would have been very agreeable to
him, for at that time he had not much himself. At any
time this marriage would have been suitable for him and for
her.
The queen, seeing now that she could no longer hope for
peace from the Prince de Cond^, and not wishing to use the
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 37
violent remedies proposed to her, took the gentlest and least
hazardous method of defending herself against him, assisted
by the advice of Senneterre, whose wisdom and shrewd
moderation were a great support in opposing the extreme
sentiments of those she did not respect. That old seigneur
now spoke to her without fear of displeasing the Due
d'Orle'ans, for whom he had always had some attachment ;
and in spite of the circumspection he observed towards the
queen, he gave her some salutary advice. He had been
faithful to both sides; and at this time he hoped, through
the new alliance between Cardinal Mazarin and the fron-
deurs, to see before long a complete reunion between the
queen and the Due d'Orle'ans. In that hope they all worked
together; until it was determined between the queen and
Chateauneuf, the Mare'chal de Villeroy and the coadjutor
that the king and queen should make a declaration against
the Prince de Conde', which should be sent to parliament and
to all the supreme courts, by which the queen should make
known to the public her just causes of complaint.
The declaration was drawn up as agreed upon. It then
became necessary to show it to the Due d'Orle'ans. The
queen did so. She asked him to read it in her oratory the
evening before it was sent to parliament. The duke was
surprised at it, and tried to dissuade the queen from her pur-
pose; but she let him see that she was absolutely determined
on sending it. The Due d'Orle'ans, after saying all he could
to prevent her from doing so, appeared to acquiesce. He
corrected two points that could not be proved against the
prince, and went off to bed full of grief and uneasiness, but
without making up his mind between the two parties.
To render this declaration more agreeable to the public, at
the beginning of it was placed a protest against Cardinal
Mazarin, which, having been read and published in presence
38 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. n.
of their Majesties, was expected to have power to persuade
the public that the queen no longer thought of the cardinal.
Parliament was summoned, and the Comte de Brienne read
the declaration to the Assembly. It was remarkable that on
this occasion the Prince de Conti, who seldom went to see
the queen, chanced to be present at the reading, and said
aloud that the prince his brother could easily defend himself
from such calumnies.
The next day the Prince de Conde* went to parliament and
said to the Assembly that he had been wholly surprised to
learn the calumnies which his enemies heaped upon him ;
and above all that they used the authority of the king for
that purpose; that his birth and services said enough for
him; that he thought the Due d'Orldans knew the facts
of his whole conduct and the falsity of the things imputed to
him, and would inform the Assembly about them ; as for the
rest, he could easily justify himself. He spoke haughtily,
and turned towards the coadjutor when he mentioned his
enemies; for he was not ignorant of the proposals he had
made against him nor of his conferences with the queen.
This matter being of great consequence, two counsellors
were deputed to go to the Due d'Orldans and beg him to
come to parliament. The embarrassment of the duke in not
knowing what to do between the queen and the prince made
him hesitate. He told those who came to fetch him that he
was ill and about to be bled and that he could not go. They
urged him to appoint a day, and he told them that at
six o'clock that evening he would let them know when he
could go.
The next day, August 19, the Prince de Cond^ came to
parliament with a document in the handwriting of the Due
d'Orle'ans, in which the latter in spite of all that had passed
between the queen and himself and the consent he had in a
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVTLLE. 39
certain way given to the declaration made against the Prince
de Conde", vindicated him as to all the chief points on which
the queen accused him. This contradictory action, for which
the Due d'Orle'ans was not wholly without excuse, gave the
queen reason to complain of him ; but he declared his motive
to be that he wished to balance matters in order to bring the
queen and prince to a reconciliation and so prevent civil
war; and also that wishing to associate himself with the
Prince de Cond6 as having, both of them, offended the queen
and both having reason to fear her, he had abandoned her
on this occasion and given his strength to the prince in
resisting her.
Besides this vindication, the Prince de Conde* also brought
to parliament his reply to the queen's declaration, which was
read in presence of all and in which he gave the reasons for
his conduct in all the chief matters for which he was con-
demned. The coadjutor, hearing himself named therein,
tried to defend himself. The Prince de Condd and he blamed
each other for many things; and the coadjutor told the
prince he had broken his word ; but I do not rightly know
the details of the conversation.
The prince and the coadjutor being now declared enemies,
each, holding himself on the defensive, went to parliament
with a large suite. The Prince de Conde', through his birth
and his authority, had many friends and followers ; and the
coadjutor, through the strength of his cabal, had also a very
large number ; there was therefore good reason to believe that
this quarrel would not end without bloodshed.
August 21, parliament assembled to deliberate on the vin-
dication of the Prince de Conde', which the Due d'Orle'ans by
his document had rendered easier than his enemies expected.
The animosity was such that each side wished to be in a
state to attack and defend. The coadjutor on this day which
40 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. n.
every one expected would be terrible, fearing lest his friends
were not in sufficient number to equal the suite and the
power of the Prince de Cond^, entreated the queen to allow
him to borrow a few of the Gardes. Laigues, who had been
a captain of the Gardes, brought him a quantity of soldiers ;
so that the Palais [parliament building] was full of armed
men, ready to give battle at the first signal.
When the leaders on both sides had taken their places
word was brought that the great hall was so filled with
armed men that it was impossible to discuss and vote in
safety ; on which the Prince de Cond requested the Due de
La Kochefoucauld to go out and send away his suite. The
coadjutor also said that he would ask his friends to retire,
and went out abruptly for that purpose. He reached the
door before the Due de La Eochefoucauld. As soon as he
appeared in the great hall and the partisans of the prince
saw him they all took sword in hand ; those of the coadjutor
did likewise ; and at that moment they were on the point of
killing one another without any special order to do so.
The coadjutor seeing this, and fearing to get into the
midst of so many swords drawn against him, tried to return
through the little room of the ushers, by which he had come.
But at the door of it he met the Due de La Eochefoucauld
who shut it in his face. The coadjutor knocked and pushed.
The duke continued to keep it closed, opening it only a trifle
to find out who was accompanying the coadjutor. The coad-
jutor, seeing the chink, pushed the door violently to enter ; but
he could only get in part way, and was caught as if half
crushed between the door and the frame of it, unable to ad-
vance or retreat. The Due de La Eochefoucauld left him a
long time in this position, having stopped the door from open-
ing farther by fastening an iron hook which was on his side of
it. Many of the coadjutor's friends and those of the Prince
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 41
de Conde* who were in the usher's room said he ought to be
released, and his friend, Montre"sor, struggled to do so ; but
the Due de La Kochefoucauld prevented it.
Meantime the coadjutor was not at his ease ; for besides
the fact that the posture was not agreeable, he had reason to
fear that some dagger would deprive him of life through that
part of his body which remained behind. During these
sorry moments he heard close by him the two troops threaten-
ing each other horribly, and he had need of all his firmness
not to be in terror at the state in which he was. Shouts
were made towards the Chamber, and at the noise Cham-
platreux, son of President Mold, came out, and by his
authority the door was opened in spite of the Due de La
Eochefoucauld.
The coadjutor having returned to his seat complained of
the duke and his violent act, declaring that he meant to
assassinate him. The duke, who was sitting near him,
remarked brusquely that there would not be much harm
done if he did ; but that, in point of fact, not knowing why
so many swords were drawn, he had thought only of the
safety of the Prince de Conde*. The Due de Brissac, a rela-
tion of the coadjutor, who sat on the other side of the Due
de La Eochefoucauld, answered in a threatening manner.
The latter, being between the two, said that if it were not
for the place in which they then were, he would strangle
them both ; whereupon the coadjutor, using a certain nick-
name given to the duke during the war of Paris when they
were both on the same side, said : " My friend La Franchise,
don't be so malignant ; you are a coward and I am a priest ;
for which reasons we shall never do each other much
harm."
The whole morning was employed in calming this disturb-
ance and in sending away the troops, who were so eager for
42 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVTLLE. [CHAP. n.
the fray, before the members could leave the Chamber in
safety ; and ten o'clock struck before the affair had quieted
down. It is really surprising that the day passed without
actual misfortune or carnage; and that some hot-headed
fellow had not killed the coadjutor at that door. It did not
appear, however, that there was any such intention ; chance
alone took part in the affair, and the action of the Due de
La Eochefoucauld, though rather rough, was excusable at
times like these, and in regard to an enemy as hated as the
coadjutor.
On the 22d, parliament discussed the vindication of the
Prince de Conde". Many were in favour of it; but finally
President Mold brought most of them round to his opinion,
and it was voted that all the documents should be sent to
the queen and that her Majesty be supplicated to consider
the importance of the matter, and be very humbly entreated
to reunite the royal family ; also it was voted that the Due
d'Orle'ans should be requested to act in the matter.
On the 26th, parliament came to see the queen, and
President Mol made her an harangue in favour of the
Prince de Conde". He urged the queen to make peace with
him, exaggerated the prince's innocence and how necessary it
was that he should be shown to be innocent, to avoid the
evils that might otherwise happen to France. For this
speech he was praised, because he made it in spite of his
hatred to the prince. Some one said to him afterwards that
it was thought strange, and that persons had tried to per-
suade the queen that it was wrong in him to urge her so
strongly on behalf of the Prince de Conde 1 . To which Mol
answered that at the Palais-Royal in presence of the queen,
he felt himself obliged, for the welfare and peace of the
State, to talk of the prince's innocence, but that in parlia-
ment it was necessary to make known his faults.
1651] MEMOIES OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 43
The parliament, the princes, Cardinal Mazarin, and those
who while hating him ran after him, occupied all minds so
exclusively that no other news of the day was even men-
tioned. It seemed as if Paris were the whole of France and
that beyond the circuit of her walls there was nothing in the
world that could tempt men to any curiosity. We still had
a fine army that was doing nothing, because the squabbles in
Paris held it in lethargy. The queen, fearing to need it in
order to remedy some great danger at home to the king or to
herself dared not employ it against the foreign enemy her
domestic enemies, Frenchmen, gave her far more anxiety.
While all these difficulties and divisions filled the public
mind, the period of the king's majority approached ; and the
queen never doubted that it would prove to be the sovereign
remedy for all her woes. She hoped to recover power by it,
and to find herself freed from the servitude to which she was
reduced in being compelled to render account of her actions
to the Due d'Orldans and the Prince de Conde". She hoped
to see her son a king in his own right, clothed with sovereign
power belonging to himself alone. She was certain of the
goodness of his heart towards her ; and, from the fine qual-
ities she knew were in him, she had reason to believe, in
view of his gravity and prudence, that he would re-establish
in his person the legitimate royal authority, and destroy in
others that which had been unjustly usurped from him in
consequence of his minority.
About this time the terms of the recent agreement be-
tween Cardinal Mazarin and the frondeurs were acci-
dentally divulged, having been found on the high-road to
Cologne, in a package carried by a courier belonging to
the Marquis de Noirmoutiers. They were at once printed
and circulated through Paris by order of the princes.
I shall here give a printed narrative of the ceremonies
44 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. n.
attending the coming of age of the king ; on which occasion
a declaration of innocence was issued in favour of the Prince
de Conde*, who went at that time on a little journey into the
country, not being on sufficiently good terms with the queen
to occupy the position during the ceremonies to which his
birth entitled him. 1
The celebrated Cavalcade made at the majority of the king,
copied from a newspaper [un imprime] which then ap-
peared :
" The Sieur de Saintot, master of ceremonies, having re-
ceived from the Sieur de Ehodes, grand-master of the same,
the orders that their Majesties had given him some days
before that of the majority, in order to prepare what was
necessary for the accomplishment of so august an event,
went on the 5th of this month [September] to notify parlia-
ment that the king would go there on the 7th and hold his
lit de justice for the declaration of the said majority. . . .
" On the 7th, at eight o'clock in the morning, the Court
having gone to the Palais-Cardinal, the master of ceremonies
went to tell the king, then in his bed-chamber, that the queen
was coming to see him, with Monsieur his only brother,
the Due d'Orle'ans, the Princesse de Carignan, the Dues de
Vendome, de Mercosur, de Chevreuse, d'Elbosuf, de Beau-
fort, the Prince d'Harcourt, the Chevalier de Guise, the
Dues de Lillebonne, d'Uzes, de Eoannez, d'fipernon, de Can-
dale, and d'Arnville, the marshals of France, the officers of
the crown, and all the other nobles of the kingdom then at
Court.
" His Majesty at once sent the Due de Joyeuse, his grand
1 The following account of the cavalcade on the king's majority, taken
by Mme. de Motteville from some " imprime " of the day, is extremely
long and minute ; an abridgment is given here. TR.
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 45
chamberlain, to meet her at the door ; and the said master of
ceremonies conducted the whole company to the alcove of
the king's bed. His Majesty advanced to the opening of the
balustrade and received the queen, who bowed to him. Then,
having tenderly kissed her, he made her a brief discourse ;
at the end of which Monsieur gave him a very respectful
salutation as for homage, and so did after him the Due
d'Orle'ans, and all the princes, dukes, officers of the crown,
and grandees of the kingdom. Following which the king
commanded the master of ceremonies to mount each one on
horseback according to the precedence to which he was en-
titled ; starting all the seigneurs and nobles who were hi the
courtyards and gardens of the palace in the same order. . . .
" After this great mass of the nobles, marched, in very fine
order, the company of the light-horse of the queen, composed
of more than one hundred cavaliers led by the Chevalier de
Saint-Mesgrin, lieutenant of the same, in a coat covered with
gold and silver embroidery, and mounted on a very beautiful
white horse, caparisoned, its mane and tail adorned with
many ribbons and the saddle-cloth enriched with embroid-
eries like those on the coat; having before him four trum-
peters dressed in black velvet, trimmed with silver lace.
" After these came the company of the king's light-horse,
two hundred cavaliers in coats of gold and silver cloth;
mounted on large and very fine horses ; preceded by four
trumpeters dressed in blue velvet laced with gold and silver,
and commanded by the Comte d'Olonne, cornet of the said
company, arrayed in a garment of gold and silver em-
broidery, crossed by a baldrick adorned with fine pearls, and
wearing a hat with white plumes, dead-leaf and flame-coloured,
with a gold cord around it, mounted on a white horse very
well caparisoned, the scarlet saddle-cloth being embroidered
like the coat
46 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. n.
" Next came the company of the grand-provost on foot ; he
himself in a very superb coat, alone, on a fine horse with a
saddle-cloth embroidered in gold. This company was joined
immediately by that of the Cent-Suisses in new habiliments
with the black velvet caps, gold cords and plumes of the king's
livery. . . . The aide of the ceremonies followed on horse-
back ; then all the seigneurs of the Court, governors of
towns, lieutenants-generals of the provinces, very magnifi-
cently arrayed and superbly mounted with saddle-cloths of
gold embroidery on different colours. . . .
" Six of the king's trumpeters came next, dressed in blue
velvet and preceding six heralds on horseback, wearing coats
of arms of crimson velvet, sprinkled with golden fleurs-de
Us, caduceus in hand and velvet caps on their heads. Behind
them appeared the Sieur de Saintot, master of ceremonies,
going and coming to keep each one in his place ; then the
Marquis de La Meilleraye, grand-master of artillery, the
marshals of France, riding two and two, all richly clothed
and mounted on large horses, the trappings of which were
laden with gold and silver.
" After them rode, all alone, the Comte d'Harcourt, grand
equerry of France, bearing attached to his baldrick the king's
sword in its blue velvet scabbard sprinkled with golden
fleurs-de-lis which he raised upon his arm. He was dressed
in a doublet of cloth of gold and silver, and trunk-hose with
embroidery of the same, mounted on a dapple-gray charger
with crimson velvet trappings adorned with gold embroidery
in Spanish point, with initials of the same, and having, in
place of reins two scarfs of black taffetas. Pages and
valets in great number, wearing new clothes with many
white, red, and blue plumes, their heads bare, followed the
Comte d'Harcourt, preceding the body-guard on foot, also the
ushers and the mace-bearers.
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 47
" Then appeared the king, whose august countenance and
gentle gravity, truly royal, and his natural civility made
him observable to all for the delight of the human race ; and
redoubled, in great and small, the prayers they offer daily
for his health and prosperity.
" His Majesty, dressed in a coat so covered with gold em-
broidery that neither the stuff nor its colour could be dis-
cerned, seemed of such tall stature that it was hard to
believe he had not yet completed his fourteenth year. This,
joined to the impatience of many, brought about that one of
the young seigneurs riding before him was saluted with
shouts of ' Vive le Eoi ! ' before the king appeared. But all
were undeceived as soon as they perceived his grace and his
skill in managing his cream-coloured barb (covered with a
trapping closely scattered with crosses of the Saint-Esprit
and golden fleurs-de-lis) the gay spirit of which made it rear
and curvet, verifying the words of Plutarch, that horses
never flatter kings ; which gave occasion to our king to show
himself one of the best riders in his kingdom. . . .
" To right of his said Majesty rode the Due de Joyeuse,
grand chamberlain, and behind him the Mare'chal de Villeroy
his governor, the captains of his Gardes, and the Sieur
de Beringhen, his chief equerry, all gallantly dressed and
mounted. The princes followed in great numbers, and the
dukes and peers, without precedence of rank and in confusion,
closed the cavalcade ; which was followed by the Suisses of
the Queen's Garde, her pages and footmen and some Gardes,
the Due d'Uzes, her chevalier of honour, and the Comte
d'Orval, her chief equerry, on horseback.
" The coach conveying the queen came next ; in it was
Monsieur, the king's only brother, the Due d'Orldans, the
Princesse de Carignan and her daughter the Princesse Louise,
the Duchesse d'Aiguillon, the Marquise de Senece', lady-of-
48 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. n.
honour to the queen, and the Marquise de Souvre". The
lieutenants and the Gardes surrounded the coach and the
Sieur de Comminges, captain of the queen's guards, rode
behind it. After which came trumpeters before the coaches
of the maids-of-honour, the ladies of the Court, and the
suite of their Majesties.
" This great cavalcade marched the length of the rues
Saint-Honor^, de la Ferronnerie, de Saint-Denis, past the
Chatelet, by the rue du Crucifix-Saint-Jaeques, the bridge
Notre-Dame, the Marche'-Neuf, and entered by the rue
Sainte-Anne into the courtyard of the Palais de Justice.
All these roads swarmed with people, being lined with tiers
of seats up to the second storeys, on which a number of the
greatest people of the city were seated. The rest of the
spectators were at the windows, which were enlarged by
opening the walls of the rooms, where a like ardour had
gathered together all persons then in the town, the very
roofs of which were covered, and where, as elsewhere, shouts
of * Vive le Eoi I ' interrupted only by tears of joy, rose to
heaven, expanding the hearts of all present and accompany-
ing his Majesty to the foot of the stairway to the Sainte-
Chapelle, where the principal officers awaited him.
"His Majesty having dismounted, he was received in
the said Chapelle by the Bishop of Bayeux and his
clergy. . . . And mass having been said his Majesty left the
church and walked in the accustomed order preceded by the
Cent-Suisses, drums beating, the trumpeters of his chamber,
six heralds at arms, two mace-bearers, and surrounded by all
who had accompanied him; the queen being close to his
person, followed by the Due d'Orle'ans. Arriving in the
grand Chamber the king mounted his lit de justice; the
queen placed herself on the left on entering, which was
the king's right, and next were seated Monsieur, the Due
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 40
d'0rle*ans, the Prince de Conti, the dukes and marshals of
France, etc. . . .
" Silence being made, the king spoke in this manner,
" ' MESSIEUKS, I have come to my parliament to tell
you that, following the law of my State, I intend to take
the government myself; and I hope by the goodness of
God that it will be with piety and justice. My chancellor
will tell you more particularly my intentions.'
"According to which command of his Majesty the chan-
cellor, who had received it standing, took his seat and made
an harangue, in which he enlarged very eloquently, as was
usual with him, on what the king had said, adding very
judicious reflections on the past and on the present. After
which the queen, bending a little forward on her seat, made
the king the following speech,
" ' MONSIEUE, This is the ninth year that, by the last will
of the late king, my very honoured lord, I have taken care
of your education and the government of your State; God
having, by his goodness, blessed my labour and preserved
your person, which is dear and precious to me and to all
your subjects. Now that the law of the kingdom calls you
to the government of this monarchy, I return to you, with
great satisfaction, the power which was given me to govern
it ; and I hope that God will do you the favour to assist you
with His spirit of strength and prudence, to render your reign
a happy one.'
" His Majesty replied,
" ' MADAME, I thank you for the care you have been
pleased to take of my education and of the administration of
my kingdom. I beg you to continue to give me your good
advice, and I desire that you shall be, after myself, the head
of my council.'
" The queen then rose from her place and approached the
VOL. III. 4
50 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. n.
king as if to bow to him; but his Majesty, stepping down
from his lit de justice, went to her, and, embracing her,
kissed her ; after which they returned to their seats.
" Monsieur, the king's only brother, next advanced and
bending one knee to the ground at his Majesty's feet kissed
his hand, protesting his fidelity. The Due d'Orle*ans did
likewise ; also the Prince de Conti, but with deeper humility ;
and all the other princes, the chancellor, the dukes and
peers, the ecclesiastics, the marshals of France, the crown
officers, and all others present at the session, rose in their
places at the same moment and did homage to the king.
" Then the chief -president, standing, with bared head, took
speech, and after a deep bow, all having a knee on the
bench, he made a very grave discourse on the wise conduct
of the queen during her regency, on her royal virtues, by
which she had set so august an example to his Majesty, and
on the good education she had given him.
"The chancellor then ordered that the doors should be
opened and the people admitted; after which the Sieur
Guiet, clerk of the parliament, read aloud the edicts issued
by the king against blasphemy and duelling, and the decla-
ration of the innocence of the Prince de Conde" ; the latter
stating that, according to the opinion of the king's lawyers,
all warnings that the prince was plotting against the king
whether within or without the kingdom, were not believed by
his Majesty, who, on the contrary, condemned them as false
and artfully invented. And he therefore willed, and it
pleased him, that all writings on this subject given to parlia-
ment, and which were sent to his other courts and to his
good city of Paris, be suppressed, and, if need be, revoked and
annulled as false and counterfeit, so that in future nothing
might be imputed to his cousin the Prince de Conde'. . . .
" Then, every one rising, the grand-master of ceremonies
1651J MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 51
made them all walk, in the same order by which the king
came, to the foot of the staircase of the Sainte-Chapelle,
where the master of ceremonies placed every one as before,
except that the king took a coach; and their Majesties, the
nobles, the seigneurs, and the grandees of the kingdom then
returned to the palace by the Pont-Neuf and the Croix-du-
Trahoir, where the Sieur Francois, intendant-general of the
fountains and aqueducts of France, in order to show his per-
sonal joy on this occasion and to contribute to that of the
public, stopped the course of his waters to give place to that
of wine, which flowed from nine o'clock in the morning until
six at night. . . .
" And as the joy which accompanies these great events can-
not be restrained within the limits of ordinary gaiety, the
agreeable uproar redoubled towards evening and continued
nearly all the night, with shouts of ' Vive le Roi ! ' accompa-
nied by healths drunk to their Majesties, and bonfires
lighted in all the streets ; so that the light from these fires,
added to that of lanterns placed in every window, made day
in the midst of darkness ; earth adding an infinite number
of artificial stars to those in the sky, as if to contest their
right to the glory of alone illumining so happy a night, the
joy of which extended to all the towns of France ; for, know-
ing the day of this solemnity, they one and all gave every
possible mark of their satisfaction at the same time as
Paris."
The queen saw the end of her regency with veritable joy ;
if any regret mingled with this joy it was that of not placing
in the hands of the king her son as absolute a sovereign
authority as she wished. She had such tenderness for him
that she would have been quite capable of saying, like that
ambitious Roman matron who consulted the Fates : " Let me
52 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. n.
die, provided he be emperor I " if she had not been too good
a Christian to wish for death from motives of vainglory, or
to say more than what I have heard her say on several occa-
sions : " Let him be master, and I no longer anything." But
the youth of the king and the state in which France then was
kept her from expecting to see him at once securely firm
upon his throne; and the fresh disturbances which soon
shook it made her counsels still too necessary to allow her
to gratify the desire she had long felt to retire to the con-
vent of the Val-de-Gr&ce.
The king's majority, therefore, did not bring to her the
repose she expected ; but it gave her strength to defend her-
self against those who were preparing for a second war, more
dangerous than the first on account of the great leader who
undertook it, and the intrigues which for a long time
strengthened his party.
Chateauneuf being replaced in the ministry and the
Marquis de La Vieuville as the superintendent of finance
(a place he had formerly filled), the chief-president, Mole*
received the Seals. Immediately after these great changes
the queen sent Marechal d'Aumont with troops to attack
those of the Prince de Conde* who retired to Stenay and
other places. 1 He was still undecided as to what he should
do, having some desire for reconciliation. He went to
Angerville, the house of Pe"rault, where he waited a whole
day for an answer from the Due d'Orle'ans in regard to a
reconciliation which the prince had proposed to him ; but
1 There seems some omission or discrepancy here. The last account
given of the Prince de Conde showed him at his country-house of Mont-
rond, where he had gone to avoid being present at the ceremony of the
king's majority, dissatisfied and distrustful, but not preparing for actual
war. Moreover, at that ceremony his innocence of sucli intentions was
publicly proclaimed. It certainly seems as if in this, as in her other
troubles with the Prince de Conde (and, indeed, with parliament), Anne of
Austria was the aggressor. TR.
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 53
the person sent with this answer failed, through some acci-
dent, to arrive on the appointed day, and the Prince de
Conde* started the day after for Bourges, which had declared
for him. 1 Croissy went there to see him to tell him from
the queen and by the advice of her new minister, Chateau-
neuf, that if he would stay peaceably in one of his towns
until the convocation of the States-General he would be
given good quarters for his troops ; and the Due d'Orleans
promised that, if he could, he would persuade the queen to
hold the said convocation at Saint-Denis, or in some place of
which he was not suspicious.
The prince had still a sufficient inclination for peace ; it
was even thought he had moments when he would not have
been implacable as to the return of the cardinal (because he
hated Chateauneuf) if he had dared to separate from the
Due d'Orldans, who seemed to be opposed to it, though
feebly and in a manner that was full of contradictions and
uncertainty. Chavigny, and all who approached the prince
were of the same mind. The Due de Nemours was the car-
dinal's enemy only at intervals, letting himself be led by his
notions rather than by any well-formed purpose. The Due
de La Eochefoucauld who seemed to be, and really was, the
mainspring of all these great movements, had, as he told
me himself, an aversion to the war, but he consented to it
because Madame de Longueville desired it so passionately.
The Prince de Conde" having consulted them on these last
propositions, they one and all concluded for war ; saying
that at the head of an army, whether the minister re-
1 Montglat says : " He stayed there [Angerville] several days. The
Due d'Orleans attempted his reconciliation, and sent to this place to induce
him to return to Paris ; but they could never reassure his mind, or take
from him the distrust he had of the queen and the cardinal ; so that he
left Angerville and went straight to Bordeaux, the capital of his own
government." FR. ED.
54 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVTLLE. [CHAP. n.
turned or not, he would be forced to reckon with him and
would doubtless grant him everything that he chose to
ask.
The prince, in spite of this advice, would not yet decide ;
he wished to go to Montrond, where Madame de Longue-
ville then was, and make his final resolution with her. It
was there that he was as it were forced to declare himself
against the king. And to tell exactly how it happened
it was a woman in this private council who voted for
war, and carried it against the greatest captain of our times.
He finally resolved to undertake it, and told them all that
inasmuch as they willed it he should do it, but they must
remember that he drew the sword against his own will, and
might, perhaps, be the last to sheathe it, meaning thereby
to make them understand they were involving him in a
bad affair, in which they might not like to follow him to
the end.
The Prince de Conti, Madame de Longueville, the Dues de
Nemours and de La Eochefoucauld, and President Viole, see-
ing that his agreement was given in spite of himself, and fear-
ing he might change his mind, made a private treaty among
themselves, in which they promised one another to remain
united for their common interests, in order to hold firmly
against him if he proved capable, in making a reconciliation
for himself, of failing to obtain for them the favours they
claimed from the Court.
The Prince de Conde*, though dismissing Croissy, did not
neglect to keep a back door open for negotiation, so as not
to be without all chance of it. Nevertheless, he prepared
for war. He left the princess, his wife, and the Due
d'Enghien, their son, at Montrond, sent the Prince de Conti
and Madame de Longueville to Bourges, and started from
Montrond, September 16, with the Dues de Nemours and
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 55
de La Kochefoucauld for Guienne. He was received in
Bordeaux with many demonstrations of joy and affection.
He dismissed the chief-president, and sent Lenet, a man of
much intelligence, to Spain, where he made a treaty as
advantageous as possible, which obliged the prince to com-
mit himself wholly to war and gave him great ideas of the
success he might expect from it. He issued many commis-
sions, and found many persons to take them; which gave
his side much influence at first ; and he did what he could
to win over M. de Turenne and entice his army, but did
not succeed.
As everybody had an interest in peace, there was no one
who, by himself or by his friends, did not strive to bring
it about. Gourville, a clever man and one of expedients,
who from being confidant of the Due de La Eochefoucauld
had become that of the Prince de Conde", remained in Paris
to watch what happened there and report it to the prince.
He did not despair that matters might yet be reconciled;
and he even went to Poitiers to stay with my brother, who
had gone with the king in his capacity as reader of the
bed-chamber, in order that he might enable him to speak
to the queen without its being remarked upon. But the
princess-palatine wished to do this herself, although it was
still too early to attempt to break ties that so many persons
had formed in the heat of their first emotions and the
great hopes they had now conceived.
The coadjutor, seeing that the negotiations which were
being made at the Court and in Paris with the Due
d'Orle'ans by many persons, among them my friend Madame
Du Plessis-Gue'ne'gaud, lady-of-honour to the Dilchesse
d'Orle'ans, were all tending to persuade the Prince de Conde"
to be reconciled with the queen, and fearing that this would
happen, sent Bartet to Cardinal Mazarin with an offer to
56 MEMOIES OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. n.
make the Due d'0rle*ans consent to Ms return to France
and the restoration of good-will between them, provided
that, in return for this service, Mazarin would make the
king nominate him for the hat on the next promotion.
Madame de Chevreuse and the Marquis de Noirmoutiers
strengthened these offers by assurances of his fidelity and
gratitude. Bartet, a great deliverer of fictitious statements,
told the cardinal that the coadjutor had a noble and gener-
ous soul, and would be his friend. So that, finally, the
absent minister, pressed on all sides and cajoled by so many
fine assurances, made the king give the coadjutor the nomi-
nation he coveted with such eagerness, through the hands
of the Due d'Orle'ans, fearing lest a recommendation known
to come from Cardinal Mazarin, whom the pope did not
like, might spoil his affair in Eome. The cardinal was ill-
rewarded for this benefit. The coadjutor, instead of return-
ing the sincerity of his action by equal loyalty, had no
sooner got what he asked and had seen the Prince de
Conde* fully committed to war, than he laughed at the car-
dinal and showed himself his enemy as openly as before.
The queen, hoping to remedy by her courage all these
betrayals and to check the war which was being fomented
in Guienne and in Berri, resolved to go in person and
oppose these pernicious designs. She started on this great
journey on the 24th of September, accompanied by the
king, by Monsieur the king's brother, her ministers, and
all the Court. On reaching Fontainebleau, Chateauneuf
advised them to go straight to Bourges, which they did, and,
in spite of the presence in that town of the Prince de Conti
and Madame de Longueville, the enterprise succeeded fortu-
nately. Before leaving Fontainebleau on the 2d of October
the king gave command of the army in Guienne to the
Comte d'Harcourt; and the queen sent Ondedei to Bruhl
1651J MEMOIES OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 57
with an order to Cardinal Mazarin to return to Court. He
was still the master ; Ch&teauneuf complained that confi-
dence was not placed in him. The cardinal at once took
passports from Spain and came to Dinan, where, Navailles,
Broglie, and several other of his friends to whom he had
given governments, having come to meet him, he resolved
to raise troops and re-enter France at the head of an army.
But the Spaniards refusing him passports, he left Dinan
secretly by roads full of Spanish troops and those of the
Prince de Condd, and finally reached Bouillon.
This news gave furious alarm to his enemies. Parliament
redoubled its decrees ; and the mutineers of that Assembly
forced the passage of one by which a price was set upon
his head, and fifty thousand crowns were promised to who-
ever should kill him. That sum was to be taken from the
sum obtained for his furniture and library, which were
ordered to be entirely sold. All Europe regarded this
decree with astonishment; and the sober part of the
Assembly, although in the minority, which had given on
other occasions so many proofs of fidelity to our kings, was
scandalized.
The queen told me afterwards that this decree, far from
chilling her desire for the cardinal's return, made it more
determined ; she knew by this how necessary it was to teach
the king's subjects that it did not belong to them to order
what he should do. Chateauneuf, without acting openly,
was of the same opinion as the parliament of Paris. Accord-
ingly, on advices received from his friends at Court, he said
that the king's affairs were doing well, that the Prince de
Conde' was half conquered, and that if Cardinal Mazarin
returned now, the pretext for the war which was beginning
to die out, would be greatly strengthened.
The queen, wishing for that return, nevertheless desired
58 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAT. Ii.
the good of the State in preference to everything else ; and
the fear she had that this return might give fresh strength
to the Prince de Condd made her hesitate for a time. The
1 Duchesse de Navailles told me afterwards that being with
the queen one day and urging her to bring back the cardinal,
her Majesty replied in these very words : " I know the car-
dinal's fidelity, and how much need the king and I have of a
minister who is wholly for us, in order to put an end to the
intrigues at Court of those who want to step into his place.
I know that the insolence of the parliament of Paris ought
to be punished, and that this could not be better done than
by his return ; but it must be owned," she added, " that I f ear
evil for the cardinal ; and also that his too hasty return may
injure our affairs; and that is why I find difficulty in
resolving upon it."
Madame de Navailles, who was interested in the cardinal's
return on account of the attachment her husband had to
him, told me that this speech of the queen so alarmed her
that, instead of regarding it as a result of the queen's wisdom,
she believed it the sign of a change in her, and she therefore
wrote instantly to the cardinal to come back, for he would be
ruined if he did not hasten to resume his place. This advice
had its intended effect. The cardinal put himself at once in
a condition to follow it; and it may be that such great
prudence on the part of the queen at this juncture displeased
him, and that the memory he retained of it lessened his
future gratitude towards her.
All question of negotiations was now at an end, for the
cardinal, hastening his return, prevented the schemes of his
enemies and re-entered France at the head of such good
company the Mardchal d'Hocquincourt, the Dues de
Navailles and Broglie, Manicamp, de Bar, and all the
governors on that frontier who joined him January 2, 1652
1651] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVELLE. 59
that lie found himself at the head of an army, small, but
composed of such fine men, commanded by such good officers,
who wanted on this occasion to show the cardinal their
affection and gratitude for the favours they had received and
for those they expected, that it was easy to see he could pre-
serve his head in spite of parliament, and vanquish the
obstacles which the Due d'Orle'ans wished to put in his way.
That prince sent a few fighting men against him, but they
did not venture to appear. Two counsellors of parliament
went along his route to order the bridges destroyed ; but one
was taken prisoner and the other took flight. So that the
cardinal arrived safely at Poitiers, where the Court then was,
on the 28th of January.
The king went out to meet him with the whole Court;
and the queen, being the one who had protected and main-
tained him against, as one may say, all France, could not see
him again without much joy. The king's council had
annulled the decree of parliament against him, and had for-
bidden the sale of his property, but this was not enough to
re-establish the authority of the king, which was, in some
degree, attached to that of the cardinal. That is why his
head, attacked on all sides and with a price put upon
it, threatened with intrigues at Court more harassing to
him than the threats of parliament, was now, at the same
time, full of care for all the affairs of the kingdom, which
were certainly great enough at this time to employ his full
capacity.
in.
1652.
THE Prince de Condd had despatched the Due de Nemours
into Flanders to put himself at the head of the troops that
the King of Spain had sent him ; and not feeling able to
resist the Comte d'Harcourt, who was pursuing him with the
legitimate authority, he put his troops into winter quarters
and applied himself wholly to fomenting the rebellion of
Bordeaux.
The Due de Eohan-Chabot, who had always been in the
interests of the Prince de Conde*, though with more restraint
than the others in regard to the minister, wished, being
governor of Anjou, to stir Angers to revolt ; which obliged
Cardinal Mazarin, who was beginning to form plans to
reduce Bordeaux, the seat of empire of the Prince de Conde*,
to change his plans and go at once to Saumur to remedy the
harm the Due de Eohan was likely to do. For this reason
the Court left Poitiers on the 6th of February. The Mare*-
chal d'Hocquincourt, Broglie and Navailles, who commanded
under him, attacked the Due de Eohan and pressed him so
closely that he was forced to ask for a suspension of arms,
in the course of which it was agreed that he should retire to
Paris and abandon his government for a time.
Before the Court left Saumur, Chateauneuf, disgusted to
find himself useless through the return of the cardinal, took
leave of the king and queen and retired to Tours, where the
minister soon after sent him an order to go to his country-
house at Montrouge; at which place he died, laden with
1652] MEMOIKS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 61
years and intrigues which are very empty works before
God. His friend, the Commandeur de Jars, also retired;
but was reconciled after a period of repentance. The
Vicomte de Turenne, now completely detached from the
Prince de Conde' and restored to the good graces of the king
and queen, came to Court ; where he was received by their
Majesties with many marks of good-will ; as was also Le
Tellier, who was the first of all those who had been exiled
for love of him who was now re-established.
Fear of the influence the Due d'OrMans had in the city of
Orleans, which was his apanage, and the little confidence
that was felt in its governor, the Marquis de Sourdis, made
the Court on its return resolve to leave the high-road, which
passed through Orleans, and go to Gergeau, where Vaube-
court and Palluau were to meet and await the Mare'chal de
Turenne, who was sent with two thousand five hundred men
to command them. The Due de Nemours took the same
route with the enemy's army, intending to seize Gien or
Gergeau, where the Due de Beaufort was to be with the
army of the Due d'OMans. But the Mare'chal having
forestalled him, the Due de Beaufort, in attempting to
drive him out, lost many men and was forced to retire.
It was said at the time that the skill of our new general
[Turenne] had saved the king and queen and all the royal
household, who without him would have fallen a prey to
the enemy, whose whole army was now encamped around
Orleans.
The Due d'0rle*ans had been advised to go himself to pre-
vent the king from entering the city ; he thought, however,
it was best for him not to leave Paris but to send Mademoi-
selle in his place. She went with much joy and determina-
tion, followed by the Comtesses de Fiesque and de Frontenac
and many other ladies, all dressed as amazons, and accom-
62 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. in.
panied by the Due de Rohan, several counsellors of parlia-
ment, and many of the young men of Paris. 1
I have some knowledge of the sentiments of this princess,
which, however they may be twisted and turned, were crimi-
nal. But it may be said in her behalf that, her passion
being legitimate, there was something grand and excusable
in her actions. The fine countenance of the king, the
majesty he bore in his eyes, his form, and all his great and
noble qualities had no charms for her. The closed crown
[sign of sovereignty] was the sole object of her ambition.
And if Alexander for a similar passion has received such
praises for his unjust conquests, was not Mademoiselle in
some degree excusable if, being of the blood of our kings, she
desired to see their crown upon her head ? I have heard the
queen say she did not blame her for belonging to the party
of which her father, the Due d'Orle'ans, was the leader, nor
for making war, nor for having desires as noble as hers ; but
she did blame her for her violence and the rudeness she had
shown in regard to herself. Mademoiselle has always spoilt
her affairs by the excitability of her temperament, which
makes her go too fast and too far in all she undertakes ;
whereas if she had been more moderate in her conduct things
would, perhaps, have succeeded much better for her.
Mademoiselle presented herself at one of the gates of
Orleans, 2 and at the same moment the Keeper of the Seals
was at another gate, demanding entrance in the king's name.
He had been sent to call the people to obedience and to dis-
1 Mademoiselle's insatiable vanity led her to have her portrait fre-
quently taken in her amazon costume. Mignard painted her as Bellona
[see a reproduction of the picture in Vol. I of Saint- Simon's Memoirs in
this historical series]. The one here given is from a miniature on vellum,
and appears to have been done as a reminiscence later in her life. TR.
2 She relates at great length in her Memoirs her arrival at Orleans
and the brilliant part she played there. She was twenty-five years old at
the time, having been born in December, 1627. TB.
1652] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 63
cover, by the manner in which he was received what the
Court might expect there. The principal persons of the
town assembled, and were much embarrassed to know what
they should do ; which shows that they would have received
the king had he gone there at once without hesitating, for
the inhabitants did not open the gates to either Made-
moiselle or the Keeper of the Seals.
During this interval, Mademoiselle, who was walking
about, advanced to the edge of the moat close to the water.
The boatmen seeing her there came over to salute her with
great cries of joy. The Comte de Fiesque, who was in the
city, had won the people by the money he gave them. So,
whether it was through the people without or the people
within, the fact is that Mademoiselle entered the town by a
little round gate that opened on the river, which was walled
up but was broken through to give her entrance.
As soon as she was in the town all the people followed
her with applause and admiration. She went to the H6tel
de Ville ; made herself mistress of the most powerful persons
in the place and prevented the entrance of the Keeper of the
Seals. The governor, the Marquis de Sourdis, though a ser-
vitor of the Due d'Orle'ans, was not pleased with the coming
of Mademoiselle. He limited her power as much as he
could ; his firmness and the right his rank as governor gave
him, kept him from submitting to all the obedience the
princess desired to exact from him.
Some time before Mademoiselle's arrival at Orleans she
had written a letter to Madame de Navailles, to be shown to
the queen, in which the princess showed much desire to
serve the latter, and let it be known that she was entering
out of necessary compliance only in what was taking place
in Paris ; but she also made it fully understood that she
desired to be considered as a person who could pretend to
64 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. in.
the closed crown. This letter, which I have read, was ill-
received by the queen who was too accustomed to treat the
princess without much consideration.
Mademoiselle was keenly hurt that her good-will was not
kindly received. She now wrote another letter to the same
person, in which it was plain that she felt herself mistress of
a party. She wrote that she had always hated the minister,
who had never treated her well ; declared that she wished to
marry the king, and boasted that she alone had prevented
the royal troops from entering Orleans. She showed plainly
that she was not to he despised, and that she could be use-
ful to the queen, provided she were satisfied, but that she
could only be satisfied by becoming queen. And finally,
she declared that she could put things in such a state that
they would ask for her on their knees ; adding the following
words, which I copied from the original : that although this
subject was very agreeable to her she was too much pestered
about it to like to hear of it, because all of her party, think-
ing to please her, never talked to her of anything else.
There was much cleverness in this letter, as there is in all
she writes. But the queen did not want this princess for a
daughter-in-law, and the war she was now making against
the king was not a good way to reach her ends. The queen,
on her return, related to me a trifling thing that Mademoi-
selle did which displeased her. They had purchased in
Orleans what was needed by the Court, and had carried to
her certain provisions for the table of the king, the queen,
and other persons. Looking them over she saw some mush-
rooms, which she took and threw away, saying : " They are
too nice, I won't have the cardinal eat them."
The orders of the Due de Nemours which came from the
Prince de Cond to his army, were to cross the river Loire, to
secure Montrond, and march thence towards Guienne ; those
1652] MEMOIES OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 65
to the Due de Beaufort, which came to the same army from
the Due d'Orldans in Paris, were opposed to these, because
the duke wanted to keep forces to defend himself against the
king in case he were attacked, and thus sustain his reputa-
tion in parliament and among the people in order to prevent
them from abandoning his party, which might happen if he
were left with no forces but those of intrigue.
The coadjutor, who at this time had the entire confidence
of the Due d'Orldans, encouraged this purpose and increased
his fears, in order to render the duke's army useless to the
Prince de Cond4, whom he hated. He still hoped to make
himself considered at Court by showing that power was
wholly on his side. This policy served him in obtaining
his hat, which he received about this time, according to the
agreement Cardinal Mazarin made with him, of which I
have already spoken.
The Prince de Conde' now resolved to leave Bordeaux and
come to his army. He chose the Due de La Eochefoucauld
to accompany him, and left General Marsin with the Prince
de Conti and Madame de Longueville, as much to keep them
united as to preserve Bordeaux in his interests. The fac-
tions there were many, and a good understanding in his
own family was not well established. Madame de Longue-
ville was feared. Women who have hearts filled with
passions and who try to impart them even to those, they
do not love, are always to be feared on both sides ; and it
is difficult to trust them. For this reason, the Prince de
Conde* did not find in her, though she was his sister, com-
plete security, and the Prince de Conti, perhaps because he
loved her too much, sometimes hated her; for, wanting her
to love him more than anything else in the world, he had
the pain of seeing that he did not have share enough in
her secrets.
VOL. III. 5
66 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. in.
These differing feelings, as I have been told by those who
were then their confidants, gave rise among them to great
divisions, and the intrigues of individuals produced much
disturbance in their little court. The Prince de Conti, won
over by the minister without knowing that he was so,
wished for peace ; Madame de Longueville, unable to have
it with either the Court or herself, wished to make herself
feared both by the Court and her brothers. She fomented
war as long as possible, and the Prince de Conti and she,
from different motives, strove to make themselves masters
of both the parliament and people of Bordeaux.
The Due de La Eochefoucauld gladly left Bordeaux to
follow the Prince de Conde", for the charms of Madame de
Longueville, so long his joy, were now his despair. His
passion had changed its nature. Instead of love, jealousy
now filled his heart. He suspected her of wishing to please
the Due de Nemours, and this suspicion caused him great
anguish ; it was indeed impossible that having had so large
a share in the good graces of so great a princess, he should
not feel its loss with bitterness. But, besides the loss of
the inclination he believed she no longer felt for him, he
also believed that she had ceased to take part in his inter-
ests, and had abandoned all care for his fortunes, which he
valued as much as he did the woman whom he loved.
He had discovered certain of her letters, as he told me
later, in which it seemed to him that she tried to injure
him with her brother the Prince de Conde*, forgetting his
long services and his demolished houses. It is not sur-
prising that he was hurt by such things, and that her in-
constancy seemed to him the most enormous crime that
could have been committed against him ; for the more he
gloried in his share of a heart that so many honourable men
desired to possess, the more it seemed intolerable to him
1652] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 67
to be driven out by another. He felt this to excess, and
was justly blamed for following his vexation too blindly
and for carrying it too far; his anger turned him from a
lover into an enemy, from an enemy into an ungrateful
man, whose cruel insults went beyond what a Christian
owes to God and what a man of honour owes to a woman
of her quality.
Their mutual change led to another, some time later, in
Madame de Longueville ; for it taught her to know that
human creatures were unworthy of her esteem and affection.
She has since made a good use of this by giving herself up
wholly and in a manner truly admirable to Him who, being
her Creator, deserved that she should belong only to Him.
Her virtue was so great and her conversion so perfect that
through her our century has had reason to admire the effects
of grace and the marvels worked by God in our souls when
it pleases Him to illumine them with His light and to make,
out of great sinners, a Saint Paul and a Saint Augustine.
About this time the Prince de Conde received news that
the brigade of Mare"chal d'Hocquincourt was still in quar-
ters not far from Chateau-Begnard and was about to be
joined on the morrow by that of the Vicomte de Turenne ;
which made him resolve instantly to march his whole army
to the attack of d'Hocquincourt before he had time to
gather it together and advance towards Turenne. H-e did
this ; carried five camps instantly ; routed the king's troops
and captured their baggage. Three thousand horses were
taken; everything was overturned; a part of the king's
army escaped, the rest was pursued for nearly four hours
to Auxerre.
This defeat would have been greater still if the Prince de
Conde" had not received news that the Vicomte de Turenne
was advancing; and the wise conduct of the latter, his
68 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. in.
prudence and firmness, checked the victory of the Prince
de Conde* and saved on that day the king and France, who
were in great peril from the successes of the prince. The
Dues de Nemours and Beaufort showed on that day that if
they did not possess moderation they at least possessed
valour. The first was shot through the body, a large
wound but favourable. The Due de La Rochefoucauld and
his son, the Prince de Marsillac, did actions that would
have been worthy of all praise if it were possible to bestow
it on Frenchmen who, instead of serving the king, were
fighting to ruin him.
Messengers came to Gien to give the king and queen
news of the defeat of the troops of Marechal d'Hocquincourt
with amplifications ; and the alarm was great. The king
so my brother who accompanied him throughout this jour-
ney, wrote me mounted his horse with all the people of
quality then about him, and started from Gien ; but the car-
dinal stopped him at the beginning of the plain and pre-
vented him from following the generous impulse which in
the flush of his youth made him desire glory. While the
baggage was being loaded and the carriages prepared to cross
the bridge (which they thought of destroying if need were
after the Court had crossed it) news arrived that the loss had
not been very great, that the Prince de Conde' had retired to
quarters, and that the Vicomte de Turenne had done the
same.
The king's army having withdrawn, the Prince de Condd
marched his to Cheitillon. There he stayed two days and
then went to Paris, leaving the command of his army to
Clinchamp and the Comte de Tavannes. He took with him
the Dues de Nemours, de Beaufort, and de La Rochefoucauld,
and went to enjoy the applause which awaited him after so
perilous an absence, ending in a victory attended with so
1652] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 69
much glory. That applause was indeed sufficient to fully
satisfy him.
On the 22d of April [1652] he went to parliament to take
his seat with the Due d'Orle'ans, where he was warmly re-
ceived, though coming, as he did, from giving battle against
the king. The two princes protested to parliament their
good intentions, justified their motive in taking up arms,
and said they declared once more that provided Mazarin
was removed from Court, he and his adherents, they would
immediately lay them down. They put in this last clause
so that in case the pretext of Mazarin himself was taken
from them, enough was left to last ten years by accusing
daily some new person of belonging to the cardinal's party ;
for in fact they might include the whole Court under the
name of " mazarins " and " adherents."
On that day there were loud cries of joy in favour of the
princes, no one daring to speak for the king or to represent
that it was not right to receive the Prince de Conde* still
bloody from the battles he had fought against him. The
deputies who had gone to the king with the written remon-
strances which parliament had addressed to him against the
return of Cardinal Mazarin, made their report on this occa-
sion, and complained of not being well received and their
remonstrances not being read, according to long-established
custom, in presence of the king. The whole Assembly was
scandalized; the king's lawyers exclaimed loudly, and said
that the king had told them he would send in search of
testimony against the cardinal; and that after having seen
and read it, he would send it to them for their opinion. The
Assembly cried out against this, although it was a thing in
order and advised by their chief-president, who was still
attached to the service of the king and knew more than any
of them.
70 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. HI.
News was brought to the Prince de Condd in Paris, that
Miossens, and the Marquis de Saint-Mesgrin, lieutenants-
general, were marching from Saint-Germain to Saint-Cloud
with two cannon, intending to drive out a hundred men of
the Cond regiment who were intrenched on the bridge, of
which they had destroyed one of the arches. The prince
mounted his horse with those who happened to be near him,
intending to go there. The rumour having spread about
Paris, eight to ten thousand persons followed him, honest
men and burghers; which caused the king's troops to con-
tent themselves with firing a few cannon-balls and then
retiring.
The prince wishing to profit by the good-will of the bur-
ghers led them to Saint-Denis, where there was a garrison of
two hundred Suisses. His troops arrived there soon after
dark, and those who were within, having taken the alarm,
fired at them. The Due de La Kochefoucauld told me that
the Prince de Conde*, being in the midst of three hundred
horsemen, all men of rank in his party, found himself aban-
doned by nearly all of them after the third discharge of
musketry, and that he himself was one of seven who stood
by him. The prince made them enter Saint-Denis by an
old breach in the wall which was not defended ; and soon
after, all who had abandoned him came back, each alleging
some particular excuse for his cowardice which was common
to all.
The Suisses tried to defend some barricades in the town,
but being pressed, they retired into the abbey, and surren-
dered two days later as prisoners of war. No disorders took
place ; but on the evening of the same day the king's troops
retook the town ; and Deslandes, captain of the Cond regi-
ment, whom the prince had left in command, retired, in his
turn, into the abbey, which he held for three days. Though
1652] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 71
this action was not celebrated, it had some brilliancy ; it
increased the good-will of the burghers to the Prince de
Conde', for each man of them was glad to be able to say he
had been to the war under him.
The cardinal now resolved to besiege tampes with the
whole of the royal army. There was ground, for several
reasons, to expect a happy issue ; the plan was a fine one,
and would show the enemies of the State that the king was
not wanting in forces, nor his minister in courage ; but the
Due de Lorraine put a stop to it. 1 The princes had long
awaited him with impatience, and the cardinal had pre-
vented this succour by pretexts of peace which he offered to
make with the duke. But the usual levity of the latter kept
him from deciding on what might have been more to his ad-
vantage. He came with his troops, who camped near Paris :
where they committed great disorders and were to many a
just punishment for their faults. No one dared complain;
self-willed crimes usually make men more patient than the
philosophy of the severest stoics.
The king, who was now receiving continual deputations
from parliament, sent a written response, expressing the
wish to satisfy his people, and showing that he was willing
for conferences on the subject by ordering that the same
deputies should be sent to him again. The question: of the
return of these deputies was deliberated in parliament in
presence of the princes, and it was resolved that they should
both (Presidents de Maisons and Nesmond) go back to the
king. They started June 13 for Melun, where the Court
1 Charles IV., Due de Lorraine, was brother of the Duchesse d'Orleans,
who had long entreated him to come to the help of the princes. The
Spaniards on their side urged him to the same thing. . . . He decided at
last to do so ; and marched his army of eight hundred men to Lagny,
where he left it, and entered Paris on horseback, where he was received
with incredible applause by the people. ... FR. ED.
72 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. m.
then was ; an agreement having been made two days earlier,
between the king on one side and the Due de Lorraine and
the princes on the other, for a suspension of arms in order to
negotiate a peace. Things being in this state and the Due
de Lorraine with his army, the king brought his to Saint-
Denis to force the duke to agree to a peace or to fight ; and at
the same time he wrote to the King of England and begged,
as his good brother who desired the public welfare and a
general peace, to go and see the duke and bring him to
terms.
The King of England, who was then in Paris, started at
once, although he saw clearly that he would disoblige his
uncle the Due d'Orle'ans, and went to the camp of the Due
de Lorraine, which was about nine miles from Paris. He
found on arriving that the two armies were fighting, and that
the king's advanced guard was already attacking the Lorrain
troops. The King of England, who was there to talk of
peace, stopped short and sent word to the Due de Lorraine
that he had come to put him on good terms with the king,
and he was amazed to find things in such a state. The duke
came to see him and assured him he was as much surprised
as himself, and, whether for effect or truly, he complained of
the Court, saying that they had been amusing him with
negotiations for peace and all the while attacking him in
force. At this moment Beaujeu arrived from the king and
assured the Due de Lorraine that this attack was only
intended to force him to make terms and he entreated the
King of England to continue to work for peace. Paper was
laid on a table and that day, Saturday, June 15, an agreement
was drawn up that was more advantageous to the king than
to the duke, who obtained nothing more than to be allowed
to return whence he came without any loss.
The wrath of the people and the anger of the princes was
J652] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 73
great when they learned the results of the negotiation. The
burghers of Paris had testified affection for the enemies of
the king and hatred to his friends. When the Due de
Lorraine first arrived in the rebellious city and heard the
shouts of joy with which the people welcomed his coming,
he said he could never have supposed that entering that city
as the king's enemy he could be so well received.
As a result of this agreement on the part of the Due de
Lorraine, the Prince de Conde' resolved to return to his army,
fearing lest that of the king might attack it. He rejoined it
at Linats, took it first into camp near Villejuif, and then to
Saint-Cloud, where it remained for a long time.
Up to this time I had remained in Paris, where the
absence of the queen and the sight of the revolt had made
me very uncomfortable. But now, knowing that the Court
was at Saint-Denis, I resolved to go there and escape from
Paris, which, however, it was difficult to do as all the gates
were guarded. I succeeded, however, by the help of one of
Mademoiselle's carriages, which took me to'Chaillot; from
there I was escorted by my brother, who, having come from
Saint Denis to fetch me, had reconnoitred all the roads by
which we could pass ; and although on that day the environs
of Paris were covered with troops of the king and of the
Prince de Conde', we passed safely through them by a cross-
road and reached the Court from which I had been absent so
long.
We found that the king's army was in the act of crossing
the river to fight the enemy at Saint-Cloud ; but the cardinal,
hearing that the prince was quitting Saint-Cloud and march-
ing to Charenton, immediately made our army recross the
river and take the same road ; so that we saw from our win-
dows, when we woke on the morning of the 2d of July at
Saint-Denis, the last troops of the rear-guard inarching
74 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. HI.
towards Paris to attack those of the Prince de Cond4 near
the faubourg Saint-Martin, and later in the faubourg Saint-
Antoine.
On the other hand, the Prince de Conde", seeing that the
king's army was swelled by the troops of the Mardchal de
La Ferte", and therefore that he could not march his troops
through Paris as he had hoped to do in order to post them
on the tongue of land formed by the junction of the Seine
with the Marne, was obliged to start them early in the night
of July 1 ; and, in order to secure their arrival where he
wanted them to be before the army of the king could inter-
cept him, he led them by the Cours and along the outside of
the city, which was the very road we had taken a few hours
earlier and where we had almost met the first troops of his
vanguard. It would have been a terrible adventure for a
cowardly woman to find herself in such company; but as
these troops marched in order with their officers at their head
they would not have done us much harm. And I must also
say, to the praise of all, that never was there a war fought
with so little animosity. We heard and saw threats, shouts,
and insults, and even bad actions, but never those massacres
and barbarities that we read of in history, and which other
rebellions have produced,
These sheep (for they seemed such) of the Prince de
Conde", believing constantly that some one of the gates
would be opened to them, skirted the walls of Paris from the
Porte Saint-Honor^ to that of Saint-Antoine, to take the
route I mentioned. I did not know the danger I had been
in until after it had passed, when I was wakened in the
early morning by the roll of drums from the king's army
going towards that of the prince to give it battle. For this
purpose they made the king go to Charonne, where he
stationed himself on a little hillside, whence he could survey
1652] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 75
the action about to take place, which was, according to all
appearances, to bring about the ruin of the prince, the
destruction of the rebel party, and the end of the civil
war.
The queen rose that morning very early and went to the
Carmelite convent of Saint-Denis to pass so important a
day at the foot of the altars. I went to her at once, with
the emotion and the beating heart that one needs must
have on such an occasion, when one sees at close hand the
inevitable loss of so many brave men on both sides. There,
the queen heard, almost immediately, that Saint-Mesgrin,
having too much ardour and haste, was killed in a narrow
street through which he had imprudently led the company
of the king's light-horse, which he commanded. Le Fouil-
loux, ensign of the queen's Gardes, was killed there also.
Mancini, the cardinal's nephew, young and brave, and already
a man of honour, was mortally wounded ; he paid with his
life and his blood for the misfortune of his uncle, who
seemed to be the pretext of this unjust war.
The queen mourned them all extremely ; and as it seemed
to her that they were killed before her very eyes, she
appeared more touched than on other occasions when she
and the king had lost good servants. During this battle
the queen was on her knees the whole time, before the
Holy Sacrament, except for the moments when she went to
the grating to receive couriers who came from the king to
tell her of the death of various persons. Her suffering was
great ; for I can truly say that the crime of her enemies did
not efface the regret that she felt at their death. She
grieved for those who died in the service of the king, and
those who perished on the other side assuredly had some
portion of her pity. I saw her distress, for I had the
honour to be alone with her nearly all that day. Madame
76 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. in.
de Senece', who attended her, was taken ill and remained in
a cell of the convent without approaching the queen ; but
the princess-palatine came to see her in the evening of this
terrible day.
The Prince de Cond^ acquired on this occasion a brilliant
glory by the fine actions that his valour led him to perform,
and by his conduct, which was esteemed and praised on
both sides : 1 also for the good fortune which he had not to
perish, he and his troops, as, according to all the maxims of
war, so said the most valiant, ought to have happened. He
was not attacked until the moment when he could use the
intrenchments which the burghers of the faubourg Saint-
Antoine had thrown up to prevent themselves from being
pillaged by the troops of the Duo de Lorraine ; and this
luck was what saved him, by giving him the means to dis-
play in his defence the great heart and extreme capacity
which made him one of the greatest captains that ever was
in Europe. Fortunate in every way, had he not tarnished by
his rebellion the great services he had rendered to France,
to which we may truly say he did great good and great
evil
The Due de Nemours, who fought beside the Prince de
Cond^ had thirteen strokes upon him or his armour. They
came to tell the queen he was dead. I noticed that she had
the goodness to regret him as an enemy of merit, and one
who was well-intentioned for peace. The Due de La Eoche-
foucauld received a musket-shot in the face below the eyes,
so that he instantly lost his sight. The young Prince de
Marsillac, his son, was seen leading him across Paris in
this pitiable state. Later, he recovered his sight ; and
about the same time his reason showed him that while
blindness of soul may be accompanied by certain charms,
1 See the Memoirs of Cardinal de Retz and of Mademoiselle. TE.
1652] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 77
it is worse than that of the eyes and will cause us far more
veritable evils. I have since heard him say himself, won-
dering at the earnestness he had had in what then hap-
pened, that, in the state in which he was, his sole thought
was to excite the populace to pity him by the sight of his
wound, and that from the Porte Saint-Antoine to the h5tel
de Liancourt, where they took him, he spoke continually to
those whom compassion obliged to stop and look at him,
exhorting them to go to the support of the prince ; which
exhortation may not have been useless to him. The Due de
Navailles, who commanded the king's troops on the Picpus
side, after posting them advantageously, pressed those of the
Prince de Cond^ and it was here that so many persons of
mark were killed or wounded, all brave and meritorious
men, among them, Flamarin, who was among the most
regretted.
Up to this time the Parisians had been quiet spectators
of this great combat ; a part of them were won over by the
servants of the king ; it was even said that the officers of
the colonelle [colonel's company], which was then on guard
at the Porte Saint-Antoine, were of the number, for they
prevented all entrance and exit. The Due d'Orle'ans was at
the Luxembourg, beset by Cardinal de Eetz [lately the coad-
jutor], who, anxious to rid himself of the Prince de Conde*,
now hoped to see him perish. He told the duke that the
prince had made terms with the Court and that this battle
was only a farce. The Due d'Orle'ans, thus filled with
doubts, made no effort to assist the prince.
Mademoiselle, seeing her father's perplexity, came to
rouse him ; representing to him strongly his duty and the
obligation to which his honour and his blood bound him, to
support one who risked his life and that of his friends for
the common cause. She told him that the dead and dying
78 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. in.
now being brought from the battle were fatal proof enough
that the prince had made no terms without him ; so that,
finally, the Due d'Orle'ans was moved by her persuasions.
She herself carried his orders to the H6tel-de-Ville to make
the burghers take arms. From there she went to see the
battle from the towers of the Bastille ; it was even thought
that she commanded the governor to fire the cannon on the
king's troops ; but she has since told me it was not done by
her orders. I know, however, that the king and queen were
convinced to the contrary, and perhaps with reason. How-
ever that may be, she went herself to the Porte Saint-
Antoine, not only to induce the burghers to receive the
Prince de Conde and his army, but also to go out and fight
for him. She ordered the gates to be opened, and so in-
spired the burghers to favour him that she saved him and
kept him from destruction, which was inevitable had he
remained longer outside exposed to the forces of the king
and the valour on our side. 1 The number of men of note
brought in from the battle either dead or dying completed
the object of stirring up the populace in favour of the Prince
de Conde'. He was received in triumph ; entering the city
sword in hand, literally covered with blood and dust, and
welcomed by the plaudits and benedictions of all the
people.
The minister, seeing that the cannon of the Bastille had
been criminally fired on the king's troops, wisely ordered the
latter to retire ; and though this day had not been as favour-
able for him as he hoped, he did not allow himself to appear
cast down by ill-fortune, and he bore the loss of his nephew
1 For an account of all this see Mademoiselle's own Memoirs, in
which she admits that she ordered the cannon of the Bastille to be fired.
An exploit for which, as Saint-Simon says, Louis XIV. never forgave
her. TR.
1652] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 79
with great firmness, though he was, in truth, sensibly afflicted
by it.
The Prince de Conde* and Mademoiselle, who each did on
that day, in his and her own way, memorable actions, are to
be pitied for being engaged in supporting an unjust war,
which deprives them of the praises they would otherwise
have earned. I should have great pleasure in here giving
them all they deserved, if they had fought for a legitimate
cause ; but a good Frenchwoman cannot say more than that.
On the evening of this great day the queen was occupied
in succouring the wounded soldiers who were brought to
Saint-Denis during and after the battle. They made a hos-
pital of the market and of the great hall of the Abbey, but
there was difficulty in getting enough straw for the wounded
to lie on and enough soup to feed them. I was lodged in
the great room above this hall, for want of other place, not
having leisure to go to the convent of the Filles-de-Sainte-
Marie, where the queen had billeted me the evening before.
I was therefore obliged to remain in the Abbey all night.
The next morning, leaving that room, I passed through the
hall, where I saw many wounded, most of whom were dying,
but nearly all were demanding something to eat with un-
paralleled avidity, and not one was thinking of his salvation.
This picture of human misery forced me to make lamenta-
tions over the evils of war ; but, after all, there is nothing
in the universe that the Lord has not created : He derives
His glory from all, and in all things we must ever say,
Gloria in excelsis Deo !
The negotiations of private individuals acting from self-
interest began once more ; but the Prince de Conde', in view
of the good state of his affairs, no longer wanted peace.
Chavigny and all others of his party were of opinion that
he ought to profit by the good disposition in which the peo-
80 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. in.
pie seemed to be towards him. They proposed an assembly
at the H6tel-de-Ville, to recognize the Due d'Orle'ans as lieu-
tenant-general of the crown of France ; and next to unite
themselves inseparably to procure the dismissal from the
kingdom of Cardinal Mazarin. The Due de Beaufort was to
be appointed governor of Paris in place of the Mare*chal de
1'Hopital ; and Broussel was to be established provost of the
merchants in place of Le Febvre.
But this assembly, from which they expected to derive
such great advantages, proved to be one of the principal
causes of the ruin of this party, the influence of which
diminished visibly after a horrible violence that occurred on
the day of its session and threatened to destroy all those
who were present at the H6tel-de-Ville. God, who willed to
take pity on France, caused the Prince de Cond^ to lose by
this means all the advantages which the battle of Saint-
Antoine had given him. While the assembly was in ses-
sion, a troop composed of all sorts of armed men were stirred
up to come and shout at the doors of the H6tel-de-Ville that
the friends of Cardinal Mazarin must instantly be delivered
up to them, and that such was the will of the Prince de
Conde".
At first it was thought that this noise was only an ordi-
nary effect of the impatience of the populace ; but when
those who had assembled saw that the crowd, the uproar,
and the tumult were increasing, and that doors were being
burned and shots were fired through the windows, they be-
lieved themselves lost. Many, to escape the fire, exposed
themselves to the fury of the populace, and numbers of them,
of all conditions and all parties, were killed. This was the
only time that the civil war produced actions of cruelty. I
was with the queen at Saint-Denis when the news was
brought to her. They added that the H6tel-de-Ville was in
1652] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 81
flames and the whole town in fire and slaughter ; which a
few hours later was found to be not wholly true. The queen
heard of this fatal event and felt it with the horror such dis-
order deserved. Each of us offered prayers for the safety of
the city where confusion reigned, regarding it with that love
one must always feel for one's country.
Some days after the burning of the H6tel-de-Ville, I left
Saint-Denis to go into the country to pass this grievous time
of war, and there wait quietly till peace was made before I
returned to Court. It was impossible to live at Saint-Denis
without foraging, and I had not enough valets to be served
suitably ; for this reason, I deprived myself of the presence
of the queen, who was all my joy. I have reason to believe
that in quitting her I lost that favourable moment of for-
tune which never returns, if we are so unlucky as to let it
escape us. The cardinal was meditating a temporary absence
to take from the princes and the people the Mazarin pretext ;
and finding me then with the queen and the only one in
whom he could put any confidence, he asked me one day,
without preamble or explanation, what I desired in order to
satisfy me. I, who had nothing in my mind at the moment
but the horrors of war and a desire to flee from its inconven-
iences, answered imprudently that I was going to Normandy
and it was no time for him to think of me ; but that on my
return I hoped he would not forget me. I did not perceive
the mistake I had made until after I had left the Court. I
received the punishment I deserved, for though the minister
had reason to be satisfied with my conduct, he let me know
subsequently that men only think of doing good according to
their own needs and fancies.
I left the queen in great hopes of being soon able to van-
quish her enemies by the good understanding which she and
her minister had in Paris, which seemed greatly strengthened
82 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVLLLE. [CHAP. in.
by what had just taken place at the H6tel-de-Ville. I even
saw, before leaving, several of the presidents of parliament
who came out to see the king. The wisest of that assembly,
whose intentions, as a general thing, had doubtless not been
deliberately criminal, returning to ideas more conformable to
reason, now cured themselves of the enthusiasm of wishing
to reform the State. They separated themselves from the
most factious members, and shortly after, nearly all of them
returned to their duty and let it be seen that Frenchmen are
not so traitorous actually as they sometimes appear.
Every one demanded to know the cause and the source of
what was done at the H6tel-de-Ville. Not only was it not
known at Saint-Denis, but to this day we are ignorant of
who it was that authorized so barbarous an action, which
was always attributed more to the Prince de Conde' than to
any one else. But those who desire to judge more favour-
ably believe that the Due d'Orle'ans and the Prince de
Condd made use of the Due de Beaufort as a means to
frighten those of the assembly on the king's side, and that
the orders of the latter being ill-given or ill-understood the
harm done was much greater than was desired, and the inten-
tions less terrible and wicked than they seemed to be from
their effects. A fact which ought to convince persons of this
is that the Prince de Conde* did all he could to prevent
the increase of the evil ; but this did not efface either the
impression that violence was in the minds of all, or the
hatred which necessarily followed it.
In consequence of this uncertain suspicion the power of
the princes was dreaded by right-minded men, and the eyes
of all were opened to see the evils to which their rebellion
was leading them ; the just and gentle rule of their sovereign
seemed to them an inestimable good, and they resolved to
seek its recovery as then- only happiness. The princes,
1652] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 83
meantime, not supposing themselves to be so near the end of
their power as they really were, thought only of strengthen-
ing it by fresh means.
They proposed to create a council, composed of the princes
of the blood and Chancellor Se"guier, to whom the loss of the
Seals had caused a loss of patience. To these they added
the princes of their party, the dukes and peers, marshals of
France and general officers, two presidents of parliament and
the provost of the merchants, with power to judge definitively
of all things concerning war and police. But this scheme
succeeded as ill as the other ; it had fatal consequences inas-
much as the Due de Nemours and the Due de Beaufort,
already natural enemies though brothers-in-law, quarrelled
for precedence and fought with pistols in Paris behind the
H6tel de Vendome. The Due de Nemours drew upon him-
self the vengeance of heaven for having forced this fight on
the Due de Beaufort. He was killed, and his death mourned
by all those who knew the merit of a prince who was in-
finitely amiable and gifted with many fine qualities.
It was not without reason that the queen regretted his
loss, as I saw on the day of Saint-Antoine when she
believed him killed ; for he had acted generously in regard
to the king by sending word to the minister that his demands
would not prevent the peace, and that he willingly re-
nounced all his advantages to return to his duty, which he
had abandoned only through ties of friendship to the Prince
de Conde* and to his own harm. The Due de La Eoche-
foucauld told me afterwards that he had made the same
renouncement, though in truth there was reason to suppose
he was not indifferent to the terms always proposed for him
when there was talk of peace.
After these disturbances, the king's authority began to
recover strength, and that of the princes to lose it alto-
84 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. in.
gether. The Prince de Conde", no longer having his two
friends, the Dues de Nemours and de La Rochefoucauld,
who pressed him always to accomplishment, allowed himself
at last to be connected with the Spaniards, all the more
because Madame de Longueville urged it. He saw himself
hated in Paris after the burning of the H6tel-de-Ville ; he
was tempted by the fine promises of the foreigners, and the
charms of Madame de Chatillon, whom he did not hate, had
not enough force to keep him from embarking his fortunes
with theirs.
He made a certain show at the last, however, of being
willing to negotiate with the minister ; though at the same
time he was taking his measures for war. He offered the
place of the Due de Nemours to the Due de La Roche-
foucauld, who did not accept it on account of his wound,
which still threatened to destroy his eyesight ; so that the
command of the prince's army was given to the Prince de
Tarente, son of the Due de La Trdmouille.
The affairs of the princes going thus from bad to worse,
the cardinal, to give time for the good servants of the king
to serve him by making known to the Parisians the delusion
in which their extravagant and obstinate hatred of him held
them, resolved to leave the Court for a certain time ; but as
absence is always dangerous, he attempted before he left to
come to terms with the Prince de Conde 1 . He sent Langlade
to the Due de La Rochefoucauld with conditions of peace
almost identical with those that the prince had seemed to
desire ; but the latter, carried away by destiny, now refused
to listen to them, the offers of the King of Spain having
put new ideas into his mind. By this course he put him-
self under the necessity of leaving France, which he did
soon after.
The cardinal also departed, but before he went, the Prince
1652] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 85
de Conde* caused another decree to be issued against him in
which he was accused of keeping the king a prisoner. The
Due d'Orle'ans also caused himself to be declared generalis-
simo of the armies of the king, and both of them did all
they could to maintain the authority of the council which
they had so ill-established. All these enterprises having
succeeded badly, the Prince de Cond^ was at last constrained
to go to Flanders in search of other laurels. These had, of
course, the misfortune to offend his legitimate master, but,
for all that, they did not fail to increase his glory in all
countries and his great reputation. We may even presume
that he felt much joy in having forced his enemy, Mazarin,
to flee the country before him.
After the departure of Cardinal Mazarin the king went to
Compiegne, where he received, from every direction, signs of
the approaching end of the rebellion and of the repentance
of his people. The cause of the princes was weakened by
the departure of the minister, and the pretext for the
delusion under which they lived being thus removed, all
good Frenchmen returned to their duty.
Cardinal de Eetz now wished to obtain for himself the
credit of this peace, and by following the inclination of the
Due d'Orle'ans, to recover in that fine way the good graces of
the king. He claimed to have served his Majesty well in
these last affairs, and his friends said so for him; but so
many persons were then hastening to do right that his ser-
vices had not much merit, and what they had was effaced by
the factious enterprises which preceded them, and which
were strongly imprinted in the queen's memory.
The Court being at Compiegne the king received these
protestations of fidelity from his people, and then, wishing to
return to Paris, he issued a general amnesty. The principal
frondeurs were exiled, and the Due d'Orle'ans was forced by
86 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. m.
the king's presence to leave Paris, where he had wielded so
unrighteous a power. The duke was compelled to flee
before the king, whom he would not go to see, though the
Due de Damville, before the arrival of the king, brought him
an order to do so.
In refusing to see the king, who had the kindness to wish
to see him and offer him a pardon for things now past, he
ought to have exiled himself at once and so have avoided
the grief of seeing all his enterprises overwhelmed with
shame and misfortune. But he remained for some time un-
decided what to do; and the king and queen, who now
regarded his absence as necessary, finding, as they approached
Paris, that he was still there, held a council in their carriage
to resolve upon a course. It was then decided, as the queen
did me the honour to tell me on my return from Normandy,
to send troops direct to the Luxembourg to seize his person.
The Due d'Orldans, being warned of this, and knowing the
evils that threatened him, left Paris at the very moment the
king entered it, and went to calm his fretful and useless
solicitudes at his Chateau de Blois, where the disillusion of
vain grandeur and ambition produced in him the desire for
those solid and veritable good things that last eternally ; and
he thus had reason to count himself happy to have been
unfortunate.
Mademoiselle had orders to leave the Tuileries, where she
had lodged until now. She started for Saint-Fargeau, regret-
ting all her efforts which had been ill-repaid, undeserving as
they were and little agreeable to him who had been the
cause of them.
This fortunate peace brought the king back to Paris
October 21. He entered the city on horseback, accompa-
nied by the King of England, and followed by Prince Thomas
(who seemed to be left in the place of Cardinal Mazarin),
1652] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 87
several princes, dukes, peers, marshals of France, and crown
officers. This entry was viewed by the Parisians with ex-
treme joy, and their acclamations were great. Cardinal de
Ketz met and congratulated the king and queen at the
entrance to the Louvre, accompanied by all the clergy,
which was not a disagreeable sight to them.
Immediately after this the king received the two parlia-
ments as one, forbade it to meddle in the affairs of State,
exiled whom he pleased, and went to live in the Louvre, not
to quit it again, having experienced, through the annoying
adventures he had had in the Palais-Eoyal, that private
houses without moats were not suitable for him. The next
day, October 22, parliament assembled in the gallery of the
Louvre, where the king, being on his lit de justice, gave the
orders I have just related.
After the king's return, Cardinal de Retz, compelled by
decorum, came, about Christmas-time, to the Louvre to pay
his respects to the king and queen. These two royal person-
ages had resolved to have him arrested whenever he should
come to make his obeisance ; but it was long before he could
resolve to do so. His visit relieved the queen of a great
anxiety. For two months she and the king had been await-
ing a good opportunity to execute their intention, as being
necessary to their repose. Pradelle, captain of a company of
the infantry of the Gardes, who had the order, entreated the
king to sign it with his own hand, because he felt that, as
this stroke ought not to fail, he might perhaps be forced to
kill him rather than allow him to escape. But the queen,
more Christian than politic, could not bring herself, for any
interest, to consent to an act of vengeance and cruelty; so
that the king and she, being of the same mind, waited until
God was pleased, in blessing their good and just intentions,
to give them the means of making sure of his person in
88 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. in.
a more gentle manner ; which came to pass, at last as they
wished.
This famous perturber of the Court, having at last resolved
to pay his respects to their Majesties, went first to the apart-
ment of the Mare'chal de Villeroy, intending to go from
there to the king, who had been warned by the Abb^
Fouquet that de Retz was in the Louvre. On the way he
met his Majesty as he was coming down from the queen's
apartment. The king, employing on this occasion that
judicious moderation which has since been so admirably
practised by him in all his actions, looked pleasantly at the
cardinal and asked him if he had seen the queen. De Retz
having answered no, he invited him, amiably, to follow him ;
and at the same time ordered Villequier, captain of his
guards, to arrest him the moment he should leave the queen,
which was done punctually. Thus ended in him the last of
the Fronde. He had been the leader and the source of it,
and he was the last to be struck down. I heard these
particulars related afterwards by the king and queen one
day when they were talking of the matter before me.
IV.
16531657-
CARDINAL MAZARIN was at Sedan, awaiting the execution
of this great exploit. As he had felt on a former occasion
the inconvenience of not having enough money to defend
himself powerfully against his misfortunes, he was deter-
mined to repair that mistake, and, more for love of himself
than from hatred to his enemies, he resolved to avenge him-
self on all France by exhausting it of money to fill his own
coffers. He returned to Paris February 3, 1653 ; and I re-
turned from Normandy at the same time ; so that my Me-
moirs will no longer be mixed up with intelligence derived
from others. I usually write only of what I know myself,
or from those who have been either actors or confidants.
After the glorious return of the cardinal, the Court,
parliament, and all France, began to range themselves
beneath his will. Minds undeceived about their own dis-
like, perceived, through the experience they had gone
through of many troubles, that his rule was better than the
false liberty they had hoped for. The body of the people,
who had despised him, began to fear him, and, having more
respect for him than they had ever yet had, they brought
themselves not only to endure him, but even to adulate him,
comprehending that they ought, in favour of his luck or his
good qualities, to overlook his defects. He set to work at
once to make an end of the Bordeaux war in order to gain
more power for defence against the enemy.
90 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. IT.
The Prince de Conti and Madame de Longueville, who
were still in that rebellious city sustaining the remnants of
a party now wholly beaten down, defended themselves
against him in all the evil ways that tyranny could suggest.
They persecuted those who seemed inclined to serve the
king, and did great injustice to many for which they both
have since repented. The Prince de Conti, becoming in the
end as devout as Madame de Longueville, has since made in
that same city public reparation, and the beauty of his re-
pentance surpassed by a great deal the ugliness of his faults.
This power, which they kept for some time in this way, could
not last long against legitimate authority, and they were
forced in the end to abandon their fortress and submit to
what the king was pleased to do with them. The Princesse
de Conde*, the Due d'Enghien, the Prince de Conti, and
Madame de Longueville left Bordeaux July 24, 1653, to go,
each of them, to the place appointed for them.
After this, the Prince de Conti, unhappy at finding himself
exiled and in bad odour at Court, gave up his ecclesiastical
benefices and asked for the hand of Mademoiselle Mar-
tinozzi, niece of the cardinal, esteeming himself lucky to
become the nephew of the man he had hated and despised.
This marriage did not seem at first sight to be in keeping
with the grandeur and birth of a prince of the blood; but the
fortunes of Cardinal Mazarin were now so dazzling that he
was able to raise his family to the highest dignities and thus
efface the lowness of his race. The Prince de Conti found
many advantages in the choice he thus made of Made-
moiselle Anne Martinozzi; for, with beauty, she had much
sweetness of temper, much intelligence, and good sense.
These qualities, most agreeable to a husband, were perfected
by her piety, which was so great that it had the honour to
follow his in the stern path of austere devotion ; but she had
1653-1657] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE.
91
this advantage over him that she gave to God a soul all pure,
the innocence of which was the basis of her virtue, of her
love for him, of the esteem she had for his good qualities,
and the gratitude she felt for the honour he had done her.
The marriage took place in Paris, in presence of the king
and queen, February 24, 1654
Madame de Longueville on quitting Bordeaux stayed for
a time at Montreuil-Bellay ; then, the moment having come
in which she was to know the truth and follow it, she re-
tired to the convent of the Filles de Sainte-Marie at Moulins,
with Madame de Montmorency, her aunt. It was there, as I
have already said, that she emptied her soul of the false illu-
sions of the world, and filled it with desires for solid good
and real grandeurs ; there she came to know that " the fashion
of this world passeth away " and, gazing at it henceforth
with contempt, she employed her life in the service of God
and the practice of an august repentance. I have heard her
say with sorrow that she felt she could never do enough,
in view of what she owed to divine justice, to atone for the
part she taken in the civil war.
As grace changed her feelings in every way, it did so in
regard to her husband, the Due de Longueville, with whom
she desired extremely to be reconciled ; which happened
soon after, to the satisfaction of both of them. This same
grace, shed into the heart of the Prince de Conti, caused a
reunion between the brother and sister, who had been on bad
terms from the time they were at Bordeaux. Thus this
family, disunited by the folly and vanity of the world, was
restored to entire peace through Christian virtue.
Shortly after his marriage, the Prince de Conti came one
day to see the queen. He was alone with her; the only
witnesses present were the Comtesse de Flex and myself.
The queen, by chance, mentioned past matters and the war
92 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. iv.
made by the" Prince de Cond against the king. She asked
him several questions about certain individuals who pre-
tended to have been faithful without really being so, for at
such times a great many persons desire to hold on to both
sides. He gave her a very exact account of those who were
zealous for the king or passionate for parliament and those
who, not having satisfied either side, were lukewarm to both.
The queen, making him some kindly reproaches for the evils
he had made her suffer, asked if it was true, as had been
said at the time, that the Prince de Conde*, before the first
war of Paris in which he had served the king so well, had
had some thought of making a party for himself and sepa-
rating from the Court ; and also whether it was true that he
had had, for this purpose, certain negotiations at Noisy with
the coadjutor, since become Cardinal de Retz. The Prince
de Conti answered that it was quite true that his brother
had once during that time had a long conference with the
coadjutor ; but he did not think that his intention had ever
been to ally himself with the coadjutor; but that, seeing
such clouds in the ah-, he had wanted to feel about on all
sides and see to which he should throw himself.
The prince added frankly that Madame de Longueville
and he had been alarmed by this conversation with the co-
adjutor, because having taken all their measures to be the
leaders of the party then forming against the king, they
would have been sorry if the Prince de Conde* had come to
interfere with them ; thus acknowledging to the queen what
had always been said, and what I think I have briefly stated
elsewhere, namely that they threw themselves on the rebel
side solely because the Prince de Cond was on that of the
king ; and that if, on the contrary, the prince had placed
himself at the head of the parliament, they would indubi-
tably have stayed by the Court ; for they desired and sought
1653-1657] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 93
no other advantage than the pleasure of being leaders of a
party to which the prince did not belong. He went on to
tell the queen that they had been on ill terms from petty
family interests ; and that, as for himself, he had not been
able to endure the fact that when the resolution was taken
by the queen to besiege Paris his brother had answered for
him to the king and herself without asking his consent ; and
that this contempt had nettled him and made him resolve to
leave the Court at Saint-Germain and show his brother that
he was not a little boy, but could act for himself either well
or ill.
Hearing this, the queen reminded him of the tears shed
by the Princesse de Condd, their mother, when she heard
that he had gone to Paris, and her grief at the part that he
and Madame de Longueville were taking. He answered
that he was not surprised at her feelings, because, consider-
ing the love and tenderness she always felt for them, it was
very hard for her who was not then feeling friendly to the
Prince de Conde', to see the latter on the side she preferred
from duty and inclination, while the two children she loved
best were on the other.
In the midst of this interview the Prince de Conti, as if
waking out of a deep sleep, suddenly cried out that he
thought he must be mad to talk of all these things which
would surely revive a just hatred against him. But the
queen, laughing, told him he could say on without fear,
for she assured him she was so entirely reconciled with him
that it was impossible to rouse in her heart any of the
feelings she had formerly justly felt.
The cardinal, after his return to Paris, was entreated by
the Mare"chal de La Meilleraye to intrust to him the person
of Cardinal de Retz, a relation of his wife ; the minister
resolved to grant the mare'chal this favour, taking his word
94 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAF. iv.
that he would not let him out of his hands without orders
from the king. On this occasion Cardinal Mazarin showed
that the gentleness he had hitherto exercised towards his
enemies might have had its source in his natural kindness,
because he was now in such complete power that he could
not be suspected of leniency from either weakness or fear.
He was ill-rewarded for his readiness to do a good action,
for the Mare'chal de La Meilleraye, who was either badly
served, or too negligent, or deceived by his wife, had the
annoyance, some time later, to see his prisoner escape him.
The cardinal, to crown his gentleness and with laudable
generosity of heart, was not angry with him and was con-
vinced that Cardinal de Eetz broke his fetters without his
connivance. That prelate, being free, betook himself to
Borne, where he carried on all the intrigues that he possibly
could against Cardinal Mazarin, as much with the pope as
by his writings ; and a manifesto which he sent to Paris was
publicly burned by the executioner.
Parliament, which was only humbled because it was not
able to resist the royal power, made several efforts from
time to time to recover its strength ; and there were even
occasions when matters of police and the king's service
seemed to oblige it to assemble. But these assemblies
having been so fatal to France that the very word was held
in horror by the minister, the king opposed them, and came
on one occasion booted and spurred from the forest of Vin-
cennes to the Chamber to forbid the assembly.
After this scene, parliament made remonstrances to the
king on the subject; and the minister, who was wary,
thought himself obliged to show much mildness to the
deputies and to listen to their arguments with the kindness
of a father who knows how to pardon and punish equitably.
At another time, parliament having resisted the will of the
1653-1657] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 95
king on some matter relating to the coinage, Cardinal
Mazarin, who would not suffer it to recover its strength on
any point, resolved to exile some of its members, and a
command was sent to them to retire each to the place
ordained for him.
The queen was not sorry to have a pretext for mortifying
those of the parliament who had given her so many unhappy
years and bad hours. Going into her room on that day, she
called to me to come to her, and said in a low voice, with a
smiling face, "Madame, ten of them are exiled or pris-
oners ! " I answered, laughing myself, " Your Majesty
seems glad of it I" "I am, truly," she said, " but not
wholly ; for I wanted to put them all in the Bastille ; but,
through the cardinal's usual gentleness, only one of them is
there." Then she added that if the chief-president showed
malignancy, he would be treated in the same way.
Having now written with accuracy the things that hap-
pened from the king's majority to the present time, I must in
future give a large part of my attention to the person of his
Majesty, to his sentiments and his actions, which will appear
like the first sketch of a portrait that better painters than I
will have the glory of completing. The love that the queen
his mother bore him filled his heart with tenderness. He
was the object of the desires of Cardinal Mazarin, whose
every care was henceforth given to finding means to please
him. He was beginning also to attract to himself the
eyes and hearts of his subjects ; but as men love and seek
in the person of a king only that which will advance their
personal interests, and as all were convinced that the minis-
ter's favour would last as long as his life which they
judged would be a long one they considered the king's
actual rule to be so far distant that his present power was
neither looked to nor courted.
96 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. nr.
Since the peace and his glorious return to Paris he had
improved in all ways. His fine figure and good countenance
made every one admire him, and he bore in his eyes and in
the whole air of his person the character of majesty which
was, in virtue of his crown, essentially in him.
As soon as public tranquillity admitted of amusements
at Court the young king, who saw more of Cardinal
Mazarin's nieces than of any other young girls, attached
himself, not to the handsomest, Madame de Mercoeur, but to
her next sister, Mademoiselle Mancini, who was very little
younger. According to the description I have already given
of her on her arrival from Italy, it seemed as if all the efforts
of youth and nature could not beautify her ; but in spite of
the defects of her face the age of eighteen produced its effect.
Her eyes were full of fire; plumpness made her fair; her
complexion became beautiful, and her face less long; her
cheeks took dimples which gave her a great charm, and
her mouth looked smaller. She had fine arms and beautiful
hands, and favour, together with grand attire, gave brilliancy
to this very moderate beauty. She certainly seemed charm-
ing to the eyes of the king, and sufficiently pretty to indif-
ferent spectators. The king saw her often, and people almost
feared that this passion, slight as it was, might lead him
to wish to do her more honour than she deserved.
The queen, who knew the king's virtue and that of
Mademoiselle Mancini, was -not troubled by this attach-
ment, because she believed it innocent ; but she could not
endure that it should be spoken of, even in jest, as a thing
that might lead to legitimate consequences. The greatness
of her soul had a horror of such abasement ; and, in truth, it
was plain that the king never had such a thought. Made-
moiselle [Olympe] Mancini herself, who felt that she was not
destined to be queen, thought of her interests and wished to
1653-1657] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 97
become a princess like her sister, the Duchesse de Mercosur.
She had already been offered to the grand-master, son of the
Mare'chal de La Meilleraye ; but he had refused her. This
refusal did not alarm her ; she knew that her cousin Made-
moiselle Martinozzi who was likewise rejected by the Due
de Candale, had married the Prince de Conti. She aspired
to a like happiness ; but meanwhile, as nothing assured her
of it, she was in despair at the grandeur of her cousin,
and her vexation was shown publicly in signs that she gave
on the evening and day of the marriage. The beauty
and modesty of Mademoiselle Martinozzi had attracted to
her the honour of the preference of the Prince de Conti,
for he had been given his choice between her and her
cousin Mademoiselle Mancini, so that the latter was forced
to content herself with the fine prospects in her favour
and the flatteries of her friends in regard to the closed
crown.
The king remained for some time in this state, which, to
tell the truth, seemed more a sentiment which led him to
amuse himself with this young girl, than a great passion.
Nevertheless the inclination that he had for her gave her, in
the absence of Mademoiselle and of Madame de Longueville,
the chief honours and advantages of the Court. The king
always took her out to dance ; she was first in all the pref-
erences that dignities and favours could bestow, and it
seemed as though the balls and other amusements were
made for her only. Madame de Mercceur had her share on
account of her rank, and the king did occasionally dance
with her first ; but she was obliged to be much at the Hotel
de Vend6me, and as she began to have children soon after
she was married she was not always in a state to profit by
these attentions.
During the year 1655 many little balls were given, to
VOL. III. 7
98 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. iv.
which the king often went masked. There was one grand
fete at the house of Chancellor Se*guier, and other pleasures
were frequent among this gay youth. The queen having
begged the Queen of England to come and see the king
dance one particular evening, she agreed to do so ; and the
queen, having put on a mob-cap and a dressing-gown to
show that she was keeping her room, received the Queen of
England in that way, and would have no one present [in
consequence of the Queen of England's mourning] but her
maids-of-honour, and a few young ladies and duchesses,
wives of the crown officers. The party was made only to
admire the king and amuse the Princess of England, who
was beginning to come out of childhood and to show that she
was likely to be charming.
The queen took much pains that the company, though
small, should be beautiful and worthy of the royal persons
who were present with it. The king, too much accustomed
to pay all the honours to the nieces of the cardinal, went, as
soon as he wished to begin the branle, to lead out Madame
de Mercoeur. The queen, surprised at this mistake, rose
hastily from her chair and pulling Madame de Mercoeur
away from the king told him in a low voice to dance with
the Princess of England. The Queen of England, who per-
ceived the queen's anger, ran after her and begged her in a
low voice not to constrain the king, because her daughter
had hurt her foot and could not dance. The queen replied
that if the princess could not dance the king would not
dance either ; on which the Queen of England, in order not
to cause trouble, allowed her daughter to dance, and in her
soul was very ill-pleased with the king.
He was scolded that evening in private by his mother ; to
which he answered that he did not like little girls. But the
Princess of England was then eleven years old, and he was
1653-1657] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 99
between sixteen and seventeen, so that there was no great
disparity between them; though it is true that the king
seemed more like twenty. Before the world, the queen
behaved to him in a manner both tender and respectful ; but
when he committed little faults she reproved him like a
mother ; and on this occasion her anger was just. But she
did not fail to say that evening before several persons that
she had been a little too hasty with so good a son as the
king ; and that she should be ashamed of it if the occasion
had been less important ; admitting, however, that she had
been so astonished to see him lacking in the civility he owed
to the Princess of England that she had not been able to
restrain herself.
The following year the king, continuing to love Made-
moiselle Mancini, sometimes more, sometimes less, wished,
by way of diversion, to make a tournament to ride the ring,
according to a custom of ancient chivalry. He divided his
splendid Court into three bands, each of eight knights. He
was the leader of the first ; the Due de Guise of the second ;
the Due de Candale of the third. The colours of that of the
king were rose and white ; of the second, blue and white ;
and of the third, green and white. They all wore coats
embroidered in gold and silver and made in the Eoman style,
with little caps on their heads covered with plumes and each
with an aigrette. Their horses were adorned in the same
manner, and all were laden with quantities of ribbons. The
ring was run in the space between the garden of the Palais-
Royal and the house where the Queen of England was then
residing. 1
The king came to dress for the affair at the Palais Brion,
1 Montglat says that the Comte de Lude carried off the prize in
this riding for the ring. He received it from the hands of the Duchesse
de Mercceur. FR. ED.
100 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. iv.
a little building which, the Due de Damville (formerly
named Brion) caused to be built in the garden of the Palais-
Royal when he lodged there, and which the king had used,
when he lived in that palace, for amusement and little colla-
tions. All the knights mounted their horses in the garden,
whence they issued to show themselves to the ladies who
occupied the windows and balconies of the Palais-Royal.
Each troop had its brigadier commanding it ; so that after
they were drawn up in order in the alleys of the garden their
issue from it in the same order was charming to witness.
Their dazzling colours, the brilliancy of their coats, their
handsome faces, and the beauty of their horses made one
remember with pleasure having read in romances, and espe-
cially in those of Amadis, something of the same nature.
At the head of the king's troop came fourteen pages
dressed in cloth of silver with rose and white ribbons. They
carried the lances and devices of the knights.
After them came six trumpeters ; following the trumpeters
was the king's chief equerry, dressed in like manner. He
was followed by twelve pages of the king, well mounted,
richly dressed, and laden with plumes and ribbons ; the two
last bearing, one the king's lance, the other his shield, on
which was blazoned a sun, with these words : Ne piu, ne
part "none greater, none equal."
The brigadier commanding the king's troop came next,
richly dressed, but as usual, and without a mask. The king
appeared after him, followed by other knights, all masked
and all richly and gallantly decked ; but the king surpassed
each one of them, as much by his fine carriage, his grace and
skill, as by his quality of sovereign and master.
The blue and white troop followed that of the king in the
same order, which was agreeable to the eye for the softness
of its colours and the fine appearance of the Due de Guise,
1653-1657] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE.
101
whose romantic genius well fitted him for tournaments. He
was followed by a horse, which seemed as if it ought to
carry some Abencerrage or Zegri, for it was led by two
Moors who made it pace along with slow and pompous step.
The duke's shield bore as a device a pyre, on which was a
phoenix, with a sun above, restoring it to life, and the
words, Qu'importa que maton, si resucitan ? " What matter
though it kills, if it resuscitates?"
The Due de Candale came next, and was not less admired ;
green, silver, and gold shining brilliantly from his troop,
while his fine figure and his beautiful blond head received
all the praises they deserved. His shield bore a club and
this device: "It may place me among the stars."
Summer having come, the king and queen went to Com-
piegne, as their custom was, to think about the war. I
stayed that year for some time at Fresnes, with my friend
Madame Du Plessis. She had great merits, much intelli-
gence, and kindness for her friends; with her one could
taste the true pleasures of an agreeable and virtuous society.
I left her on the 26th of August to return to the queen. On
reaching Compiegne it seemed to me that her Majesty
wanted to appear consoled for the loss of Valenciennes and
Conde*, which the Spaniards had taken. The enemy had
gained that much advantage over us, and the partisans of the
Prince de Conde* appeared to imagine that he would be sent
for, and that offers of great things would be made to him
to withdraw him from foreign countries. But the queen was
not so easy to frighten; and Cardinal Mazarin was too
shrewd to let the prince hope long for that which it would
not have been reasonable to give him.
The queen did me the honour to tell me, laughing, as to
Valenciennes, that it was presumptuous to suppose that we
should have nothing but victories; that the prayers of the
MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. IT.
Spaniards must, sometimes, obtain favours from heaven
according as it pleased God to distribute them, now to
one side and then to the other ; and that we ought not to be
shocked by this event. It did, however, cause parliament,
which never lost an opportunity to thrust itself forward, to
give out a decree attacking the council. This decree or-
dained that the masters of petitions should in future be
compelled to send to parliament a report of the decrees of
the council and be summoned by that body to explain them.
About this time we witnessed the arrival in France of the
Queen of Sweden, of whom we had heard most extraordinary
tales. This princess had left her kingdom apparently from
a generous disdain of a crown, and in order not to force her
inclinations in favour of her nearest relation, whom her sub-
jects desired her to marry. She had embraced our religion
and renounced heresy in person to the pope. Some persons
highly estimated this action, and thought that the princess
in resigning the crown of Sweden deserved that of the whole
world. Others accused her of quitting her kingdom either
by force or from recklessness, having loved in Sweden and
in Flanders a Spaniard named Pimentel, who was sent to
her Court by the king his master. In short, she was much
praised and much blamed. She was thought an illustrious
person ; the pens of famous authors were employed, either in
praise or satire, in relating her heroic virtues or her many
faults. On leaving Sweden she went to Flanders, then to
Kome. After these journeys she wished to see France as
well as Italy; and the great reputation she had acquired
made the queen rather glad to meet her.
The King of Sweden, to whom this queen of the North had
left her kingdom, was a warlike prince; he made himself
feared and respected. He had requested Cardinal Mazarin to
see that Queen Christina was well-treated in France; she
1653-1657] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 103
was therefore received in the same manner as Charles the
Fifth formerly, when he passed through France to Flanders.
The king sent the Due de Guise to receive her at her
entrance to his dominions and to pay her the proper compli-
ments. The queen sent Comminges, captain of her Gardes,
for the same purpose. The Due de Guise wrote a letter to
one of his friends which the king and queen read with
pleasure. I kept it because it represents the Queen of
Sweden to the life as she then was:
" I wish, at a time when I am cruelly bored, to amuse you
by sending you a portrait of the queen I am accompanying.
She is not tall, but she has a plump waist and large hips,
handsome arms, a white and well-made hand, but more that
of a man than a woman; one shoulder is higher than the
other, but she conceals this defect so well by the oddity of
her clothes, her gait, and her actions, that one can make bets
about it. The face is large without being out of shape ; the
features the same, and strongly marked ; nose aquiline, mouth
rather big, but not disagreeable ; teeth passable, eyes very fine
and full of fire; her complexion, in spite of a few pits of
small-pox, is bright and rather handsome; the shape of her
face reasonable enough, and surrounded by a very odd head-
gear. It is a man's wig; thick and high on the forehead,
very bushy on the sides, with light-coloured tips at the
bottom; the top of the head is a tangle of hair, and the
behind is something like a woman's arrangement. Occa-
sionally she wears a hat. The body of her gown laced up
behind, crookedly, is made something like our doublets ; her
chemise sticks out all round above her petticoat, which she
wears ill-fastened . and not over-straight. She is always very
much powdered, with quantities of pomatum, and she never
wears any gloves. She is shod like a man, and she has the
104 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. iv.
tone of voice and nearly all the actions of a man. She affects
to play the amazon. She has fully as much glorification and
pride as her father, the great Gustavus, ever had. She is
very civil and very cajoling, speaks eight languages, princi-
pally French as well as if she were born in Paris. She
knows more than our Academy with the Sorbonne added ;
understands painting admirably, as she does all other things,
and knows more about the intrigues of our Court than I do.
In short, she is a very extraordinary person. I shall accom-
pany her to Court along the Paris road ; so you can judge
her for yourself. I think I have not forgotten anything in
her portrait, except that she sometimes wears a sword with a
leather belt, that her wig is black, and she has nothing over
her neck but a scarf."
This queen made her entrance into Paris on the 8th of
September, 1656. The burghers under arms and in fine
clothes, went to receive her outside the gates of the city and
lined the road from Conflans, where she had slept, to the
Louvre, where she was lodged in the king's apartment, in
which was the fine tapestry of Scipio and a white satin bed
embroidered in gold, which the late Cardinal Richelieu had
left, when dying, to the king. She won the hearts of all
Paris, and might perhaps have lost them rapidly if she had
stayed much longer. After seeing all that she thought
worthy of curiosity she left the great city, where she was
continually surrounded by a tremendous crowd, and came to
Compiegne to see their Majesties, who received her not only
as a queen, but as a queen well-beloved of the minister.
The cardinal left Compiegne and went to meet her at Chan-
tilly, where she was to dine. Two hours after dinner the
king and Monsieur arrived like private individuals. The
king entered by a door near the railing of the bed among
1653-1657] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEV1LLE. 105
the crowd that surrounded the queen and the cardinal. As
soon as the minister saw the king and Monsieur he presented
them to the Queen of Sweden as two noblemen of the highest
rank in France. But she knew them at a glance, having
seen their portraits in the Louvre, and replied that she
could well believe it, for they seemed to her born to wear
crowns.
The king, though shy in those days, and not at all well-
informed, adapted himself so well to this bold, learned, and
imperious princess that from this first moment they met each
other with freedom and pleasure on both sides. It was easy
to find the reason of this ; those who sought it perceived that
it was an indubitable sign that the king had in him, by
inclination and nature, the seeds of what was laudable in
this queen, and that the shyness he exhibited proceeded from
his self-respect and his judgment, which made him desire to
be perfect in all things and to dread being found to fail in
any.
The next day the queen went to meet the Queen of
Sweden, accompanied by the king and her suite. The Due
de La Eochefoucauld, and some others who had been most
assiduous to this foreign queen ever since her arrival in
Paris, were the first to appear ; and soon after her carriage
arrived with a blowing of trumpets. Cardinal Mazarin and
the Due de Guise were alone with her ; for she had only a
few poor women to serve her, who were never seen.
As soon as she saw the queen she got out of the carriage,
while the queen advanced two or three steps to meet her.
They bowed to each other civilly. The Queen of Sweden
wished to pay a few compliments and thank the queen for
the good treatment she had received in France, but the queen
interrupted her words to express the joy she had in seeing
her. The eagerness that those around them showed to see
106 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. IF.
this queen was so great that it obliged the two queens to
finish their compliment and flee from the crowd that over-
whelmed them. The king, who had already made acquaint-
ance with the stranger, gave her his hand to enter the house ;
she passed before the queen and let him lead her where he
chose. Many persons thought the queen was too civil to let
her take this precedence; and the king himself when he
grew older felt some grief and vexation about it; and on
several occasions reproached the queen his mother, telling
her she did wrong to yield her place in her own house to this
queen and to the Queen of Poland, considering the grandeur
of her own birth and the rank given her by the crown
of France.
I was one of those who were nearest to these two royal
personages ; and though the close descriptions given of the
Queen of Sweden had pictured her to my imagination, I
own that at first the sight of her surprised me. The hair
of her wig was on that day uncurled ; the wind as she got
out of her carriage blew it about ; and as the little care she
took of her complexion had destroyed its whiteness, she
looked to me, at first sight, like a disreputable gipsy who, by
chance, was not quite brown. As I looked at this princess
all that filled my eye at the moment seemed to me extraor-
dinarily strange, and more capable of terrifying than pleas-
ing. Her gown was made with a little body which was half
in the shape of a man's doublet and the other half in that
of a woman's hongreline ; but it was so ill-adjusted to her
figure that the whole of one of her shoulders (the one that
was larger than the other) came out on one side. Her
chemise was made like those of men; she wore a collar
fastened under her throat with a pin, leaving all her back
uncovered ; for the body of her gown, which was sloped out
round the neck much more than a doublet, did not reach to
Mignard
^ imzne lywanc
cttie
1653-1657] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 107
this collar. The chemise came out below this semi-doublet
like that of a man ; and at the end of her arms and over her
hands she showed the same quantity of linen that men show
when without their doublets and sleeves. Her skirt, which
was gray, bedizened with little gimps of gold and silver like
her hongreline, was short ; and whereas our gowns are long
and trailing, hers showed her feet uncovered. She had
black ribbons tied in bows down the front of her skirt. Her
shoes were exactly like those of men and were not without
grace.
The king led her into a great hall where the Mare'chale
de La Motte had prepared a collation. The king, the two
queens, and Monsieur on entering sat down at table, and we
surrounded them to see this person so different in every
way to other women and whose fame was so noised abroad.
After looking at her with the close attention that curiosity
inspires I began to get accustomed to her clothes, her hair,
and her face. I noticed that her eyes were fine and spark-
ling, that there was gentleness in her face, and kindness
mingled with pride. Finally I perceived, with amazement,
that she pleased me, and from minute to minute I felt I was
entirely changing to her. She seemed to me taller than we
had been told she was, and less deformed ; but her hands,
which had been praised as beautiful, were not so at all;
they were only tolerably well-shaped and not black; but
on that day they were so very dirty it was impossible to
see any beauty, if they had it.
During the collation she ate much and talked of only
commonplace things. The Due de Guise pointed out to her
Mademoiselle Mancini, who stood near her, looking on like
the rest. She made her a deep bow, bending very low in
her chair to show the more civility.
As soon as she had rested for a while in her chamber she
108 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. iv.
came to pay a visit to the queen, who took her to the Ital-
ian Comedy. She thought it very bad and said so freely.
They assured her that the comedians were accustomed to do
better. She replied coldly that she did not doubt it, since
the king kept them. After that, she was taken to her
chamber, where the king's officers waited on her. It was
necessary to give her even valets to serve her and undress
her ; for she was quite alone, without ladies, servants, equi-
pages, or money ; she herself composed her court. Chanut,
who had been minister in Sweden during her reign, was
with her, and two or three ill-favoured men, to whom, for
honour's sake, she gave the name of counts.
It may therefore be said with truth that she had no one ;
for besides these very common seigneurs we saw only two
women, who looked more like old-clothes-women than ladies
of any condition. In short, I am tempted in writing a
description of this princess to compare her to the heroines
of Amadis, whose adventures were grand and their train
about equal to hers, while their pride was in keeping with
that which plainly appeared in her. I even think, in view
of her equipments and poverty, that she did not eat more
meals or sleep any better than Marfise and Bradamante,
and that unless she happened to visit a great king like ours
she did not often get very good fare. The first day she was
careful to say little, which seemed to show her discretion.
The Comte de Nogent, as his custom was, hastened to tell
before her all sorts of old tales, on which she told him
gravely that he was very fortunate to have so good a
memory.
One evening at the Come'die Franaise she showed that
she possessed an impassioned soul : she exclaimed at the
finest parts, and seemed to feel both joy and sorrow accord-
ing to the different sentiments in the lines recited before
1653-1657] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 109
her; then, as if she were alone in her private apartment,
she threw herself back in her chair after these exclamations
and fell into a revery, from which the queen herself could
not draw her though she often tried to speak to her. That
evening, retiring with some of our courtiers, among them
Comminges, who was by no means ignorant, they talked of
many things, and finally of the fidelity due to kings ; and
some one saying that all honest men were faithful, she
replied that in every country that was true, but she had
observed that in France it was not counted a fault to be
lacking in that quality, for the want of it was common
among persons of rank and merit.
This uncouth princess expressed esteem for the intellect
and the capacity of Cardinal Mazarin ; and he, on the other
hand, seemed to have much veneration for her. Her exterior,
to whoever wished to judge her to her disadvantage, deserved
ridicule and laughter ; nearly all her actions had something
extravagant about them. In no way did she resemble a
woman; she had not even the necessary modesty; she let
men wait upon her hi her most private hours ; she affected
to be a man in all her actions; she laughed immoderately
when anything pleased her, and especially at the Italian
Comedy, if the buffooneries happened to be good ; and she
would break out into praises and sigh when serious things
pleased her. She often sang in company ; or she sank into
a revery which came near being slumber ; she was variable,
abrupt, rude, and free-thinking in speech, as much on reli-
gion as on topics about which the proprieties of her sex
demanded more reserve ; she swore in the name of God, and
her free-thinking was shown in her mind as much as in her
actions. It was impossible for her to remain long in the
same place. In presence of the king and queen and the
whole Court she would put her legs up on seats as high as
110 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVLLLE. [CHAP. iv.
the one she was sitting on, and showed them too freely.
She professed to despise all women on account of their
ignorance, and took pleasure in conversing with men, on
evil topics as much as on good ones. She observed none of
the rules which kings are accustomed to maintain in regard
to the respect shown to them. Her two women, hideous
and miserable as they were, lay on her bed familiarly, and
shared with her the half of everything.
Several of our rough jesters formed a plan to turn her
into ridicule, and shame those who flattered her heedlessly ;
but they were never able to find the means ; whether because
of her real merit and the haughty manner in which she
treated them, or because she was protected by the esteem
the minister showed for her and the good reception given
her by the king and queen. The short time she remained
at Court was favourable to her, for her defects, which were
great, were obscured by the fine and brilliant qualities which
were in her, and by the pleasure of novelty, which is of
great value to the hearts of men. Before long, we shall see
her lose, in a shameful manner, all these advantages ; for as
kings are so exposed to the public gaze that what they have
of good renders them celebrated, so their defects will, in a
short time, destroy or diminish their reputation.
The Queen of Sweden left Compiegne September 23d.
The Marquis de Saint-Simon received her at Senlis, and
M. and Madame Du Plessis entertained her at their beauti-
ful house at Fresnes with extraordinary magnificence. Pass-
ing through a certain village near this place she wished to
see a demoiselle called Ninon [de 1'Enclos], celebrated for
her vice, her loose way of living, her beauty, and her wit.
To her alone, of all the women that she saw in France, did
she show any signs of regard. The Marechal d'Albret and
some others were the cause of this, by the praises they
1653-1657] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. Ill
bestowed on this courtesan of our epoch. From there the
Swedish amazon took the hired carriages the king provided
for her, with the money to pay for them, and departed, fol-
lowed by her pitiful troop, without suite, without grandeur,
without a bed to sleep on, or silver to eat with, or any
mark of royalty. Her intention was to return to Borne
through Savoie, where she resumed her rank as queen, and
was treated with much honour.
The army of the king was then besieging La Capelle, and
the king and Cardinal Mazarin started the next day for La
Fere to regulate the affairs of war. The queen remained at
Compiegne awaiting the return of the king. M. de Turenne
commanded the king's troops before La Capelle, and the
enemy, seeing that place besieged, left Saint-Gilain to relieve
it, or to give battle. They camped, with all their forces,
about two leagues from our army ; and M. de Turenne, far
from seeming to fear them, demolished his intrenchments
on their side, so that if they came to attack him he might
have a fine place in which to fight ; but, not willing that the
besieged town should waste any more of his time, he sent
it word that unless it surrendered the next day he would
give no quarter. The officer in command, named Chamilly,
a follower of the Prince de Conde*, thought it better to obey
than run that risk. On the 27th the town surrendered to
the king in full view of the enemy's army, which had the
mortification of raising the siege of Saint-Gilain and of not
compelling the raising of that of La Capelle, the capture of
which was enough to repair the ill-luck of Valenciennes.
But the remnant of the cardinal's enemies, though con-
cealed and shamefaced, did not celebrate our victories with
the same joy that they felt at our defeats, and less was said
about our blessings than about our woes. This iniquity is
practised in all ages; for men are naturally more inclined
112 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. iv.
to blame those who govern them than to praise them ; and
I even venture to say that every private individual lets him-
self do the same to all those with whom civil society con-
nects him. There is no kindness in man, or at any rate it
is rare.
It was said at the time that the Prince de Conde" did all
he could to make the Spanish resolve on giving battle, but
that Don John of Austria was not willing. Thus our vic-
tory was great and not at all perilous. The Vicomte de
Turenne, on this occasion as on others, continued to show
that it was not without reason that he was reckoned one
of the first and greatest captains of our epoch.
The king, after a few days spent at Guise, and seeing
from thence the taking of La Capelle, joined his army and
went in person to conduct a convoy to SaimVGilain, which
supplied that place with a great quantity of provisions and
everything necessary to sustain a siege. This action was
done in sight of the enemy, whose army did not appear,
although it was close to that of the king.
It was very honourable to the minister to have thus, in
so short a time, re-established the reputation of the king's
armies, and replaced his troops in a condition to carry off
victories from those who had hitherto seemed to be masters
of the campaign. After this expedition he brought the king
back to the queen, who was awaiting him with impatience.
They arrived on the 6th of October ; and the whole Court
being now collected at Compiegne, it started two days later
to return to Paris, where the authority of the king became
more and more re-established, and the most disaffected
persons were compelled to own that the minister was at
least lucky.
At the beginning of the year 1657 the Bishop of Mon-
tauban made the funeral oration of Madame Mancini, the
1653-1657] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 113
cardinal's sister, in the church of the Augustins, where the
clergy, there assembled, celebrated a solemn service to her
memory; and the praises given to the names of Mazarin
and Mancini were excessive. Madame de Mercosur, eldest
daughter of Madame Mancini, was deeply affected by her
mother's death. She was pregnant at the time, and shortly
after, having been safely delivered, she died suddenly with-
out giving time to those who were caring for her life to ap-
prehend her death. She had been delivered a few days
when, suddenly, half her body became paralyzed and she
lost speech. The cardinal, her uncle, was not anxious at
the moment, because the doctors assured him she was doing
well. For this reason he had gone to a ballet in which the
king was dancing that day. As he left it, they brought him
word that Madame de Mercosur was much worse. He
hastened to her at once, flinging himself into the first car-
riage he could find. On arriving at the hotel de Vendome
he found she was dying, and being unable to speak she
could only smile to him. She died on the 8th of February,
deeply regretted by all her nearest friends and by the whole
Court, for virtue and beauty attract the good feelings of
men.
Towards the end of the same month Mademoiselle Man-
cini [Olympe], sister of Madame de Mercosur, who, until
now, had had the honour of occupying the king's heart,
abandoned those flattering prospects which did not wholly
satisfy her, and married Prince Eugene, son of Prince
Thomas [of Carignan-Savoie]. She had seen clearly that
the friendship of the king was only by way of amusing
himself ; nor was she satisfied to find that her uncle, Cardi-
nal Mazarin, having no regard to her fortunes, neglected
to marry her, and was using her to preserve his own inter-
ests with the king and restrict him to his family. She had
VOL. III. 8
114 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. iv.
not much affection herself for the king, whose regard for
her she felt was daily diminishing, and she feared that the
little dislikes and vexations that come of reflection might
soon end it altogether.
It was therefore with good reason that she wished to gain
some solid good from his favour by her great and glorious
establishment as the wife of Prince Eugene, who was of the
House of Savoie by his father, grandson of Charles V. by
his grandmother, and of the blood of France by his mother
the Princesse de Carignan. It would thus have been diffi-
cult to find a husband of greater consideration or of higher
birth. Her luck was great in every way ; she found in this
prince a fairly honourable man and, above all, a good hus-
band; so that she had reason to consider herself happy. 1
Her mother-in-law, the Princesse de Carignan, was daughter
of the Comte de Soissons, and his brother, the last Comte
de Soissons had left her part heiress of that illustrious house,
which was a branch of that of Bourbon. Her son, Prince
Eugene, took the name of Comte de Soissons, and under
that name he shared in some degree the favour of the
minister whose niece he now married, and was a good deal
liked at Court.
The king saw this marriage without regret or grief. This
indifference showed visibly that his passion had been only
moderate, and that Frenchmen, at least some of them, had
felt unfounded anxiety. The queen had always said to
those who tried to make her fear the result that it was
ridiculous even to imagine that the king was capable of
such weakness; and she answered firmly for the purity of
her minister's intentions. She said that there was nothing
1 She was the mother of the famous Prince Eugene [Fran9ois-
Eugene de Savoie-Carignan] who fought the wars against France in
Italy, the Low Countries, and Germany ; also the wars against the
Turks. TK.
1653-1657] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 115
to fear from his ambition, and that the friendship of the
king for Mademoiselle Mancini was honourable and without
suspicion that it would degenerate into anything bad. On
the day when the marriage was arranged, the queen, seeing
Cardinal Mazarin and the Princesse de Carignan talking
together of the affair, turned to me and said, motioning
towards them, " Did I not tell you there was nothing to fear
in that attachment ? "
The cardinal, after the marriage of the Comtesse de
Soissons, brought upon the stage of the Court the third of
the Mancini sisters, whom he withdrew from the convent
of the Filles-de-Sainte-Marie where she had been for some
time. He did this in defiance of the dying request of his
sister, Madame Mancini, who had begged him above all to
put her third daughter, Marie, into religion, because she had
always seemed to her to have a bad disposition, and her
late husband, who was a great astrologer, had warned her
that this daughter would be the cause of much evil. But
the cardinal wished to give the king, in her and in her
next sister, Hortense, who was perfectly beautiful, a com-
panionship that would be agreeable to him. The elder of
the two, Marie, next younger sister to the Comtesse de
Soissons, was ugly. She might hope to have a good figure
for she was tall of her age and very erect ; but she was so
thin, and her arms and neck looked so long and so skinny
that it was impossible at present to praise her on that
score. She was brown and yellow; her eyes, which were
large and black, had no fire in them as yet, and seemed
hard ; her mouth was wide and flat ; and, except for her
teeth, which were very fine, it may be said that she was
then very ugly.
Her quality as elder sister made the king prefer to amuse
himself with her rather than with her sister Hortense,
116 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. iv.
because the latter was still a child, and youths of the age of
the king naturally dislike little girls, who belong to the state
they have just left and now think despicable. This prefer-
ence was for a time so moderate that it could scarcely count
for anything. He did not see Madame de Soissons so often,
which seemed to give him no pain; on the contrary, this
new amusement delivered him from the continual teasing of
a person he had formerly liked.
The king was in this state of indifference when, all of
a sudden, he seemed to fall in love with a young girl whom
the queen had lately taken into her service, named La
Motte-d'Argencourt. She had neither dazzling beauty nor
extraordinary intelligence, but her whole person was agree-
able. Her skin was neither very delicate nor very white ;
but her blue eyes and her blond hair, with the blackness of
her eyebrows and the brown of her complexion made a mix-
ture of sweetness and vivacity which was so agreeable that it
was difficult to resist her charm. Considering the features
of her face, one might say it was perfect ; and as she had an
elegant air and a very fine figure, a manner of speaking that
pleased, and danced admirably well, she was no sooner
admitted to the little card-parties at which the king some-
times amused himself in the evening than he felt so violent
a passion for her that the minister became uneasy.
He did not choose to show his feelings to the king, but he
entered into those of the queen, to whom this inclination
caused extreme fear lest it should lead her son to offend
God. She opposed it strongly and reproved him openly one
evening when he had talked too long with the girl. The
king received the queen's reprimand with respect and gentle-
ness ; but he asked her in a low voice not to show her dis-
pleasure before others, because that would make the public
see that she disapproved of his actions.
1653-1657] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 117
The cardinal, on the contrary, said to the king, to insinuate
himself into his good graces, that the queen, his mother, was
too strict, too scrupulous, and that he did right to amuse and
divert himself. In the end, however, he was obliged to show
his real sentiments, for this passion, gathering greater strength
daily, became in a very short time excessive. The king spoke
one day to Mademoiselle de La Motte as a man in love who
was no longer virtuous ; he even offered, if she would love
him, to resist the queen and the cardinal. But she, not be-
ing willing, or not daring to entertain proposals which she
saw were shocking to virtue, the tenets of which are never
effaced in an honourable heart, refused all that would be
against her duty.
The queen, who was very dearly loved by her son, knew
from himself the state of his soul; for the sweetness and
love of so good a mother obliged him to have such confidence
in her that he could not conceal his feelings from her knowl-
edge ; and though in this she was his opponent, she was none
the less his confidant. She did not fail to show him the
danger he was in of offending God; she made him take
notice (as she told me herself) in how short a time he had
wandered from the paths of innocence and virtue ; and the
king, moved by a true Christian sentiment, in which timidity
had no share, told the queen that he felt himself different
from what he had ever been before, and that he believed
himself obliged in conscience to go away from these tempta-
tions to sin.
This resolution was not formed without much pain; he
groaned, he sighed, but finally he conquered. He went to
confession, and requested the queen that he might do so in
her oratory, so that no one might know of it. Then he went
for a little journey to Vincennes, where he won a victory
over his desires that was greater and more praiseworthy than
118 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. iv.
any of which, warriors boast. I do not doubt that this
sacrifice will bring down upon the rest of his life the divine
blessing ; and that on other occasions when his virtue might
be weakened to the loss of innocence, he will receive an
inward strength, the source of which will be in this first
grace.
The king, after thus triumphing over himself, returned to
Paris, resolved not to speak to this young girl again. He
kept his resolution; but it happened that two days later,
being at a ball, Mademoiselle de La Motte went to the king
to take him out to dance. Not being yet wholly strength-
ened, it was noticed that he turned pale, then very red ; and
the girl told her friends afterwards that the hand of the king
trembled all the time that it held hers. The cardinal, to
help him, told him that Mademoiselle de La Motte abused
his confidence and repeated what he had said to her to his
friends, and perhaps also to one of her lovers ; and for that
reason she was unworthy of his good graces.
It is true that the mother of Mademoiselle de La Motte,
in order to pay her court, had sent word to the cardinal of all
the king had said to her daughter ; thinking by this submis-
sion to bring the minister to consent that the king should be
her daughter's lover and make her fortune. Mademoiselle
de La Motte, as she afterwards told me herself, had no part
in this communication ; but the minister, who would allow
no companionship or company except by his choice, used
this so-called confidence to further his designs; which suc-
ceeded because the queen's virtue and the true piety of the
king proved his seconds in winning the fight. At the same
time, the wife of a lover who had formerly possessed Made-
moiselle de La Motte's heart, conceived a strong jealousy of
her and induced her mother to beg the queen to dismiss her
from Court and send her to the convent of the Filles-de-
1653-1657] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 119
Sainte-Marie at Chaillot, where (although she did not go
there by her own choice), disillusioned as to the vanities of a
Court and the passion she had felt for this lover (who, she
felt, did not do all that he might have done for her on this
occasion), she remained voluntarily and led a life that was
very tranquil and very happy.
All the events at Court were now to the glory of the min-
ister. The Due d'Orldans, as if to increase it, was by his
means restored to the good graces of the king and queen.
He came to Paris, where the king received him very kindly ;
he was visited by the courtiers, but without eagerness, and
by parliament as a matter of duty. He showed, by the
manner in which he treated the minister that he recognized
his power and the force of his destiny or rather, that of
the sovereign Euler whose just decrees raise and abase
whomsoever it pleases Him.
The duke, in his retreat at Blois had piously submitted to
the divine will ; he had become devout, his life was exem-
plary, he had his hours of retreat for prayer, he no longer
gambled, and no prince ever enjoyed more repose than he.
His piety would have been altogether estimable if his lazi-
ness had not had some little share in his virtue ; and if his
temperament, averse to trouble and great designs, had not
been like the wild olive-tree on which God grafted His love
and grace. The intrigue and ambition of those who had
been his favourites had often embarked him in the revolts
and conspiracies made in the days of the late king, his
brother, against the minister of that day [Richelieu]. The
misfortunes of his mother, Queen Marie de' Medici, and the
bad advice given to him, had more to do with his conduct
than his natural inclinations ; for it may be said that no one
loved repose more than he, while no one had so little;
having never really enjoyed the inward peace which alone
120 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. iv.
gives rest until his last years, in which he found his
salvation and his happiness. It now seemed as if he
only came to Paris to see the man he had endeavoured to
drive from the kingdom, and to owe to him the obligation
of being reconciled with the king and queen; for he soon
after returned to his solitude, which was much dearer to
him than the great court he had formerly held at the
Luxembourg.
This great prince, uncle of the king, who was in his
earliest years heir presumptive to the crown, and who, in
his later years had been declared lieutenant-general of the
kingdom, having recognized the sovereign authority of the
minister, the other princes, parliament, and finally all
France felt no shame in submitting to it. It was now that
the cardinal triumphed over all his enemies, and he might
have been the most glorious man in the world if he had
been content with overthrowing those who had resisted him,
and enjoying peaceably the excessive grandeur to which
fortune had brought him, without seeking to destroy the
legitimate power of her who had raised him to such heights.
But this he did as soon as he saw himself firmly re-estab-
lished in his old place ; for he now united in his own person
the authority of mother and son, and made himself the
tyrant of their wills rather than the master of them.
He became the sole idol of the courtiers ; he would no
longer allow any one to address others than himself in
asking favours ; and he applied himself with care to remov-
ing from the king's person all those who had been placed
there by the queen, his mother. La Porte, to whom she
had given the place of first valet de chambre of the king as
a reward for his faithful services and the persecutions he
had borne for her in the days of Cardinal Richelieu, was
obliged to give it up. He told me that he thought my
1653-1657J MEMOIES OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 121
brother would not be long without feeling the fate that
hung over all the queen's people ; and he related to me how
the cardinal, coming one day into the king's room when he
was lying down from some slight indisposition, found my
brother reading something to him at his bedside to amuse
him (it may have been a novel of Scarron), on which he
remarked that he was displeased, and blamed my brother
as if it were a sin.
The queen had given my brother the office of reader of
the bed-chamber, and the king made great use of him,
especially on his journeys and when he kept his bed.
Sometimes he would make him sing dialogues with
La Chenaie, another of his gentlemen, and in the guitar
concerts, which he held nearly every day, he gave him a
part to play with Comminges, captain of the queen's Gardes,
and asked him questions, especially about his studies. This
led M. de Ehodes, the king's tutor, as the latter grew older,
to prevent any one from entering the study, even the Mard-
chal de Villeroy and the lieutenant-general of the Gardes,
on the ground that it was made no longer a place for study
but for private conversation ; after which he went to the car-
dinal and rendered an account of it to him as superintendent
of the royal education.
But what displeased the cardinal more than all was that
when the king first entered the council he was often bored,
and once when no one was present but the queen and car-
dinal, he half opened the door to see who was in the ante-
chamber, and seeing my brother, made him a sign to follow
him into the bathroom (which could be entered only through
the council-chamber), either to talk up some plan for a ballet,
or to tune his guitar, or tell him some trifle ; so that he was
with him the whole time the council lasted. This hap-
pened more than once, and sometimes with his drawing-
122 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. iv.
master and others of his little court, during the council, to
which he went and came now and then.
The queen used to tell me how glad she was that the
king made so free with my brother, having a good opinion
of his steadiness. But as he held this office without the
participation of the cardinal, who did not like me, the latter
did not fail to tell the king that he was not to be so familiar
with any one; and that he must not leave the council to
amuse himself with nonsense. He said . so much that my
friends were of opinion that my brother had better absent
himself for a time, and the queen herself advised it. All
of which made me resolve to accept propositions that were
made to me to sell the office, which had not cost us any-
thing, but was likely to give my brother more vexation than
pleasure, for he could get no advantage from it so long
as the cardinal, who was likely to live long, governed
everything.
Langlade was ordered about the same time to resign his
office as secretary of the queen's cabinet; and Carnavalet,
who had been the queen's page and to whom she had given
the post of lieutenant in the body-guards, after being sent to
the Bastille, was ordered to live in his own province, from
which he returned soon after the death of the cardinal.
I cannot avoid speaking here of Cromwell, who governed
England with a power that was wholly absolute and wholly
unjust. The king had been obliged to make a solemn treaty
with him to prevent the King of Spain from preceding him
and making one that would be damaging to France. The
king and queen, to their extreme regret, had received an
ambassador from Cromwell, and had treated him as they
did those of crowned heads. The King of England and his
brother the Duke of York were compelled to leave France
and seek an asylum in Flanders. The queen their mother,
1653-1657] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 123
who still remained at Court, was keenly distressed, and still
more when, some time later, she saw this usurper, by his
cleverness and his intrigues, force the parliament and king-
dom of England into offering him the crown.
He appeared to refuse the title of king and to content
himself with that of protector of the republic ; though the
truth of this really was, as the unfortunate queen told me,
that the army was not favourable to him. He made parlia-
ment draw up nineteen articles containing the powers that
the kings of England had always held over their people,
which included all the prerogatives they enjoyed. He went
to parliament at the end of June (English time) clothed in
royal robes, bearing sword and sceptre, to mark the power
he assumed over war and justice. The three greatest lords
of England held before him, during this ceremony, the three
swords which typify the three kingdoms of which he took
possession ; but he did not put the crown upon his head, to
mark that he did not take the name of king of which it is
the most visible sign.
After this great and terrible act, so fatal to the whole
royal family of Stuart, the Queen of England, to gain some
compensation for her great misfortunes, begged Cardinal
Mazarin to write in the king's name to Cromwell, who
was styled Lord Protector, to ask for her property and her
dowry ; for, though she was sufficiently supported by what
the king gave her, she regarded her position as one of pain-
ful dependence, from which she would be glad to withdraw
herself. The cardinal did this, not merely to comply with
her request, but far more to relieve the king's coffers of this
expense ; because his great economy made him always vexed
to see money coming out of them for others than himself.
After a time the cardinal went to see the Queen of Eng-
land to take her Cromwell's reply, in which this lord pro-
124 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. iv.
tector told him insolently that he would not give her
what she asked, because she had never been recognized
as Queen of England. At first this iniquitous and mon-
strous insolence gave great pain to this poor queen ; but she
immediately recovered herself and told the minister it was
not for her to resent this outrage, but for the king, who
ought not to suffer a daughter of France to be treated as a
concubine ; adding that she was satisfied with the late king
her husband and with England, and that the affront now put
upon her was more shameful to France than to herself.
After this was said she and Cardinal Mazarin talked
about the general peace; and as she hoped great advan-
tages from it for the king her son, in which she was not
mistaken, she exhorted him earnestly to make it. He had
already sent his creature Lyonne into Spain to draw up the
first plan of it with Don Louis de Haro, prime-minister of
Spam; he told the queen that the negotiation had not as
yet had all the success he desired ; but he assured her he
was earnestly working for it, and then asked her what she
thought She related to me this conversation on the day
it occurred and said that as she was some time without an-
swering his question, the cardinal, divining her thought,
said : " I see, madame, that you put no faith in my words ;
but I entreat you to believe that I am speaking the truth
and that I passionately desire peace." The Queen of Eng-
land, who had an agreeable wit, frankly owned that she
doubted him, and urged him strongly to act in a manner
that would convince her. This he promised her; and,
shortly after, he kept his word.
During the campaign of this year, Mare'chal de Turenne,
who commanded the king's army, wished to besiege Cam-
brai The Prince de Conde*, who was then at Valenciennes,
being warned of this intention, threw himself into that town
1653-1657] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 125
in person. The Mare'chal de La Ferte* with other troops
besieged Montme'dy and served the king usefully. The
Due de Navailles, who commanded under him, showed as
much judgment as valour. The king went there ; and the
enemy, knowing this, did not fire for two hours. The
inclination the king had for war led him to make these
excursions with pleasure ; and if he had not been restrained
by the cardinal, who reasoned with him on the necessity of
his preservation, he would have stayed there longer.
V.
1658.
THE queen, 1 by her birth, has no equal ; her ancestors were
all great monarchs ; among them we find some who aspired
to universal monarchy. Nature has given her fine incli-
nations. Her sentiments are all noble ; she has a soul full
of sweetness and firmness ; and though it is not my purpose
in speaking of her to exaggerate her good qualities, I may
say, in general, that there are things in her which could
make her the equal of the greatest queens of antiquity.
She is tall and well-made ; she has a gentle and majestic
face, which never fails to inspire in the souls of those who
see her both love and respect. She has been one of the
greatest beauties of her time ; and even now enough remains
to efface young women who claim to have attractions. Her
eyes are perfectly beautiful ; in them the sweet and serious,
the grave and gay, are mingled charmingly ; their power
has been fatal to many illustrious private individuals, and
nations have felt to their detriment the influence those eyes
have had upon men. Her mouth, though in a way very
innocent, has been an accomplice in all the evils her eyes
have wrought. It is small and rosy ; nature has been liberal
in giving it the charms it needed to make it perfect. By
one of its smiles she can win many hearts ; even her enemies
cannot resist its fascination ; we have often known persons
1 The following portrait of Anne of Austria was written by Madame de
Motteville in 1658, but was not incorporated in her Memoirs. It is placed
here as presenting the queen more particularly in the year we have
now reached. TR.
Nocret
1658] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 127
blinded by ambition admit that the queen made them love
her, even at the time they had most intention of failing in
their duty. Her hair is beautiful ; the colour is a fine bright
chestnut ; she has a great deal of it, and nothing is more
pleasing than to see it combed. Her hands, which have won
the praises of all Europe and are made to give pleasure to the
eye, to bear a sceptre, and to be admired, add skilfulness and
extreme whiteness to their beauty. Thus we may truly say
that spectators are enraptured when this great queen is
visible, either at her toilet when dressing or at table when
taking her meals.
Her neck and shoulders are well-made and beautiful ; and
those who like to see what is beautiful would have reason to
complain that the queen takes such pains to hide them, were
it not for her motive, which forces them to esteem what
opposes their pleasure. Her whole skin is of equal white-
ness, and of a delicacy that I cannot praise enough. Her
complexion is not the same, it is not so fine ; and her negli-
gence in taking care of it almost never wearing a mask
does not contribute to improve it. Her nose is not so perfect
as the other features of her face ; it is thick ; but this thick-
ness does not go ill with her large eyes, and it seems to me
that, while it diminishes her beauty, it contributes at least to
make her face more serious. Her whole person, in short,
deserves the highest laudation; but I fear to offend her
modesty and my own by saying more about it ; that is why
I shall venture to say only that she has beautiful feet,
small and well-shaped.
She is not a slave to fashion, but she dresses well. She is
clean and very neat ; we may even say she is fond of nicety
and nice things ; but without extreme affection for them ;
many ladies in Paris spend more than the queen. Habit, and
not vanity, rules her attire; honourable ornament pleases
128 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
her, because, naturally, she likes to look well, as much in
solitude as in the midst of her Court.
As God is our beginning and our end, and a Christian
princess should only be valued according to the virtue that is
in her, it is right to begin now to speak of her morals and the
piety which seems to be one of the chief adornments of this
august princess. She has certainly a great respect for the
law of God, and her desire is to see it well-established in the
hearts of all Frenchmen. In her earliest youth she gave
signs of devotion and charity ; and from that time, those who
have the honour to serve her have always observed that she
was charitable and that she liked to succour the poor.
Years have strengthened her virtues until now, when we see
her praying and giving continually. She is indefatigable in
the exercise of her devotions; journeys, illnesses, night-
watches, griefs, amusements, or business have never induced
her to interrupt her hours for retreat and prayer. She has
had an extraordinary confidence in God ; and this confidence
has doubtless drawn to her many favours and blessings. She
is strict in her observance of fast days ; and I have often
heard her say on this subject that kings ought to obey the
commands of God and the Church more scrupulously than
other Christians, because they were bound to serve as an
example to their people. She has much zeal for religion ;
much respect for the pope. She takes the sacrament often ;
reveres the relics of saints; is devoted to the Virgin, and
often employs for her necessities gifts and neuvaines by
which all faithful people hope to obtain the favour of Heaven.
It is easy to enter her heart through the good opinion she
forms of the piety of certain persons ; and I have very often
suspected she was deceived by her readiness to revere
virtue. Those who possess her esteem have the power to
speak to her very freely on all things that concern her duty
1658] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 129
and conscience. She always receives their opinion with
gentleness and submission, and the sternest preachers are
those she listens to most readily. Her oratory is the place
she loves best ; she spends many hours of the day there ; and
yet, as I have heard her say herself, with humility, she
wishes people to know that she has not that perfect zeal that
makes a saint and causes the Christian to die to self that he
may live with God and for God. But it seems, in view of
the high and holy inclinations of her soul, that she is
destined to attain this last perfection.
The queen's virtue is solid and without affectation; she
is modest, without being shocked by innocent gaiety; and
her exemplary purity might serve as an example to all
other women. She readily believes in good, and listens
unwillingly to evil. Slanderers and tale-bearers make little
impression on her mind; and when once she is convinced
in favour of any one it is difficult to injure that person with
her. She has a courtly spirit; and like her aunt, the
Infanta Clara-Eugenia, she would greatly enjoy that noble
gallantry which, without offending virtue, is so capable of
embellishing a court. She disapproves extremely of the
rude and uncivil manners of the present day; and if the
young people of this century would follow her maxims
they would be better and more polished than they are.
She is gentle, affable, and familiar with all those who
approach her and have the honour of serving her. Her
kindness induces her to allow the small as well as the
great to be with her; and, without lacking discernment,
she is thus led into conversation with many persons quite
unworthy of such intercourse. This goes so far as even to
do her harm; and I have seen sometimes that persons of
merit might fear from appearances that she would put men
of character on an equality with fools ; but I am convinced
VOL. III. 9
130 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
that the queen, in seeming to do this, is only giving to
fools from pity what she gives to others from esteem and
reason; and this, only when some great thing forces her
to it, and because, by nature, she cannot do a harsh thing
to any one. This gentleness of disposition does certainly
prevent her from distinguishing very clearly those who do
their duty and render her what is her due from those who
fail in respect to her, either from want of proper knowledge,
or to follow the present customs, which seek the upsetting
of all things.
She has much wit ; and what she has is perfectly natural.
She talks well; her conversation is agreeable. She under-
stands jesting and never takes anything amiss ; refined and
witty conversations please her. She always judges serious
things according to reason and good sense; and in public
matters she takes instinctively the side of equity and jus-
tice ; but she is lazy ; she has read nothing. This does not
make her less illustrious, because the great intercourse the
queen has had with the highest personages of her time, the
great knowledge she possesses of the world, and her long
experience in public affairs and the intrigues of the Court,
in which she has had so large a share, have wholly repaired
what may be lacking to her in the matter of books ; if she
is ignorant of the history of Pharamond and Charlemagne
she at least knows very well that of her own time. 1
1 Nevertheless, " her time " was that of the last years of the Hotel de
Rambouillet, of the first years of the French Academy, of the founding
of the Beaux-Arts, of Moliere, Corneille, La Fontaine, Mademoiselle de
Scude"ry, Madame de Sable', etc., of all that made the middle of the
seventeenth century a great epoch of fructifying ideas. But there is
not one line in Madame de Motteville's story that makes the least refer-
ence to this. Anne of Austria's ignorance of Charlemagne seems a small
matter compared with her ignoring the action of the minds of her day in
other ways than war and political and court intrigue. It is to be remem-
bered that she allowed Louis XIV. to be brought up in an ignorance
that made him say illiterate things to the end of his life. TH.
1658] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 131
In her youth all honourable pleasures which a great
queen could permit herself had great charms for her; at
the present time she has lost her taste for them. Her own
inclinations conform to reason ; her kindliness makes her do
many things which she would not do if she followed her
own sentiments. She has no other pleasure in the theatre
than that of pleasing the king, who, from the love he bears
her, takes a peculiar pleasure in being in her company ; and
all France ought to thank her for this compliance, because
it can thus see with joy such a mother with such a son. She
now likes cards, giving several hours a day to them. Those
who have the honour of playing with her say that she plays
like a queen, without passion or eagerness for gam.
The queen is very indifferent to grandeur or personal
power. Her birth has raised her to a height, and she con-
siders all the rest unworthy of her desires ; the faults of
Catherine de' Medici will never be hers. She loves few
persons; but those to whom she does the honour to give
a part of her good graces may boast of being truly liked.
In her youth our sex had the advantage of giving her fa-
vourites who occupied her heart with great and sensitive
attachments. The death of her husband having placed in
her hands, through her regency, a sceptre to maintain, she
was obliged to give her friendship to the man whose capa-
city enabled her to maintain it, and in whom she could find
advice with fidelity, and services with the sweetness of
confidence. In all her different selections, particularly in
this last, she has shown the whole earth how nobly she
can love, and that her heart is incapable of any weakness
or any change when once she is convinced that she is doing
what she ought to do.
According to what I have said, it would seem that the
queen was born to render the late king her husband the
132 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
happiest husband on earth by her affection; and certainly
he would have been so had he willed it; but that fatality
which almost always separates the hearts of sovereigns
having alienated that of the king from the queen, the love
she could not give to him she gave to her children, particu-
larly to the king, whom she loves passionately. The rest
of the persons who have the honour to approach her can-
not, without presumption and very ill-founded vanity, boast
of being loved by her; her love is reserved only for the
elect; but she treats them well, and all receive, accord-
ing as they deserve it, a favourable welcome which binds
them to great fidelity in her service and much gratitude
towards herself. Her kindness takes the place of affection,
of which she does not give a great profusion to poor mor-
tals ; but the favours that come from her, having merely an
appearance of affection, are of inestimable value, as much
for their rarity as from the excellence of the person from
whom they are received.
Though she is not loving to those who have the honour
to be about her, she is safe and secret for all who confide in
her; her behaviour is honest and obliging. In respect to
fidelity she holds herself within the same bounds as private
individuals. She enters into the griefs of those who suffer.
Those for whom she has good-will find comfort in her gentle-
ness; her ears are so attentive to the unhappy, she is so
desirous of consoling them that it seems as if her heart,
indifferent as it appears, must take some part in it. I think
she is not enough touched by the affection persons have for
her; but, as kings all hear the same language, and it is
difficult to distinguish truth from falsehood and artfulness,
it is doubtless excusable, and even reasonable, that they
should not let themselves be easily convinced of what by
its nature is so deceitful
1658] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 133
She hates her enemies just as in early life she loved her
friends. Her natural inclination would be to avenge herself
willingly; she is capable of carrying her resentment to
extremes; but reason and conscience restrain her; and I
have often heard her say that she had difficulty in conquer-
ing herself in this particular. She is seldom angry ; passion
does not get the better of her ; she never bursts into any
excitement unbecoming in a princess who, commanding a
kingdom, ought to command herself; but anger shows in
her eyes, and sometimes her words will give some signs of
it. She has never, to my knowledge, been touched to anger,
except for the interests of the crown, or against the enemies
of the State and the king; consequently, I may say that
I never saw her in that state of mind except from sentiments
worthy of praise.
The queen is naturally liberal; she is capable of giving
with great profusion, and on many occasions she has shown
proofs of this. She is never annoyed with those who ask
help in their necessities, and what she gives them she gives
joyfully; but as she neglects wealth for herself, she also
neglects giving means to others. One of the finest qualities
that I have seen in the queen is the firmness of her soul;
she is never startled by great dangers; the most painful
things and those that agitate her soul the most, bring no
disturbance to her face, and have never caused her to lose
the gravity that is proper for those who wear a crown. On
great occasions she is intrepid, and neither death nor mis-
fortune can make her afraid. She sustains her opinion
without letting it go, if she once thinks it sound ; and her
firmness goes beyond that which policy dictates to passion-
ate persons. Hence she is never shocked by the talk of
vulgar minds ; she finds in her innocence and in her virtue
her safety and her consolation ; and during the Civil War,
134 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
when malice and envy did all against her that they were
capable of producing, she despised their attacks. In all the
actions of her life she is equable ; her days and her years
resemble each other ; she continually keeps to one and the
same rule of life ; we have seen her do the same things
always, whether in what she rendered to God in duty, or
gave to the world out of kindness. She is tranquil, and
lives without anxieties ; she draws from the past no memory ,
and from the future no fear that can trouble her repose;
she thinks only, according to the counsel of the Gospel and
the advice of philosophers, of living for the day; enjoying
gently the good she finds there, without complaining of the
evil she encounters. The thought of death does not alarm
her; she looks for its coming without murmuring against
its relentless power; and it is to be believed that after a
very long life she will receive that dreadful enemy of man
with tranquillity. I wish it may be so ; and that the angels
will then receive her with as much joy as men must suffer
sadness in losing her.
Mademoiselle returned to Court about this time, 1758.
The Comte de Be'thune negotiated her reconciliation with
the cardinal. This was no slight work ; for, in spite of his
facility in forgetting insults, those he had received from Made-
moiselle were deeply graven in his heart ; but, acting in his
usual way, he pardoned her, being no longer in a position to
fear anything. On the other hand, the long exile the prin-
cess had undergone had slightly diminished her pride, and by
disabusing her of the vain hope of obliging the king to marry
her, made her see she could hope for no other establishment,
either within or without the kingdom, except through the
advice and agency of the cardinal ; and that she must, how-
ever much she disliked it, resolve to subject herself to his will.
1658] MEMOIES OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 135
The Comte de Be*thune was a man of honour whose
capacity was mediocre. He was a virtuoso of antiquities,
books, and pictures. He had a good deal of general esteem,
and the minister regarded him as an enemy whom he had
forced to like him for his benefits. From him he received
more willingly than he would have done from any one else
the assurances that Mademoiselle was willing to give him
of her good intentions and of the desire she felt to never
again displease the king and queen by any of her actions.
She now came to Saint-Cloud to await the return of the
Court ; and all persons of rank who were then in Paris went
to express to her the joy they felt at her return. She was
much liked, and deserved to be, not only because she had
fine qualities, but even more for an obliging manner, full of
sincerity, which had hitherto acquired the esteem of all
honourable persons.
The Court returned to Paris, having spent some time at
Metz. The king had gone, during the stay of the queen at
this place, to make a little journey to Nancy. The cardinal,
who accompanied him, felt symptoms of gravel ; and when
he reached Paris on the return of the Court he was not in
good condition. The diminution of his health roused many
cabals and all who could hope for the ministry were sus-
pected of seeing this failure with a great deal of joy. Made-
moiselle, on the return of the Court, was very well received
by the queen, and all past matters seemed blotted out in
regard to her.
About this time the Queen of Sweden, without being
desired and even in spite of the king, made a second journey
into France, which was not as successful as the first. She
was obliged, by an order she received, to stop at Fontaine-
bleau, where she was greatly bored, for few persons went to
visit her ; and her journey, without precaution or assurance
136 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVTLLE. [CHAP. v.
of being well received, met the fate of imprudent actions,
which usually bring grief. She did not content herself
with merely showing that she followed all her fancies
without much reflection, for she now let it be seen that she
had great cruelty, and that her vices and her defects were,
to say the least, equal to her virtues. She caused to be
murdered before her eyes a man who had displeased her,
and the following are the circumstances of that strange
action.
She sent for Pere Mathurin of the Chapel, and gave him
a packet of letters to take care of ; then, having given cer-
tain orders, she summoned before her one of her gentlemen,
named Monaldeschi ; and having led him into the Galerie
des Cerfs, which was near her room, told him he had
betrayed her and must be punished for it. On his denying
this, she sent for Pere Mathurin, and having asked him for
the letters, she showed them to Monaldeschi, who was
amazed on seeing them. He flung himself at the queen's
feet and implored her pardon. She told him he was a
traitor and deserved no pardon ; then, telling the priest to
confess him, she left them both to return to her chamber,
whence she sent Sentinelli, captain of her guards, into the
Galerie with orders for the execution. He was brother to a
certain Sentinelli who was a favourite of the queen, and
Monaldeschi, so it was said, had, out of jealousy, accused
him of many crimes ; but no one has ever really known the
truth of this history; for that reason I speak only of the
action, not of its cause.
Monaldeschi refused for a long time to confess himself ;
he asked pardon of his executioner, Sentinelli, and begged
him to go from him and implore the mercy of the queen
their mistress. This Sentinelli did, but obtained nothing,
except a renewal of her first order. She ridiculed the
1658] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 137
criminal for fearing death, called him a coward, and said
to the captain of her guards : " Go back ; he must die ; and
in order to make him confess himself, wound him."
Sentinelli returned with this miserable and definitive
order for his death; and, trying to wound him with his
sword, he found he wore armour under his doublet, so that
the sword could only wound him in the arm with which he
warded the blow. He then received another on the head,
and when he saw himself bathed in blood he confessed to
Pere Mathurin, who was as terrified as his penitent. The
priest, after confessing him, went to throw himself at the
feet of the pitiless queen, who again refused him; and
finally Sentinelli ran his sword through the victim's neck
and by dint of hacking it cut it through. When dead,
they took the body and buried it quietly without words.
This barbarous princess, after so cruel an action, remained
in her room, laughing and talking as tranquilly as if she
had done a mere commonplace thing, or a laudable one.
Our queen, Christian that she was, who had had so many
enemies whom she ought to have punished, but who had
never received from her aught else than kindness, was
scandalized. The king and Monsieur blamed this action;
and the minister, who was not cruel, was shocked. In fact
the whole Court was horrified at so ugly a vengeance, and
those who had esteemed this queen were ashamed at having
lauded her ; though this was not without scorn of the poor
dead man, who had not had courage to either escape or
defend himself, and had worn against such an event so
useless a precaution; for he ought at least to have had a
dagger and used it valiantly.
After this the Swedish queen was allowed to languish a
long time at Fontainebleau, to prove to her the contempt
that was felt for her ; but after she had entreated the minis-
138 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
ter a great many times to let her come to Paris it was
impossible to refuse any longer. She came therefore to see
the ballet the king danced this year during the carnival,
arriving in Paris February 24, 1658. It was believed that
she wished to establish herself permanently in France, but
no hopes of being allowed to stay more than a few days in
Paris were given her. She was lodged in the apartment of
Cardinal Mazarin at the Louvre ; this was expressly arranged
to show her that she must leave it quickly. But in spite of
all precautions she remained there till Lent, employing her
time as best she could. Nothing appeared in her behaviour
that was contrary to honour, I mean that honour which
depends on chastity ; and if she had failed in that particu-
lar, the charitable people of the Court would not have
neglected to make it known. But in all other ways she
showed little wisdom, little decorum, and much devotion to
pleasure. She went about to all the masked balls, and to
the theatre accompanied by men only, taking the first
carriages she met; and no one ever seemed more remote
from philosophy than she. She finally departed during the
first week of Lent, having received some money from the
king, and returned to Eome, where the deed she had com-
mitted in France did not tend to make her respected.
The Prince de Conde", who was in Flanders, fell ill about
this time, and despatched a courier to the queen entreating
her to send him Guenaud, a physician in whom he had much
belief. She took pains to send him, and the minister as-
sisted in doing so with all his might, to let the great prince
see that misfortune and not hatred kept them separated.
The prince was very ill, and showed during this period, as I
have been told, very Christian sentiments, which had so far
seemed to touch him but little. But I have reason to
believe that in his soul was a foundation of virtue which
1658] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 139
produced in him, on great occasions, a turning towards God,
whose power he adored without submitting wholly, as he
should, to God's commands. I have heard some of his people
say, as to this, that he had sometimes given special signs of
being susceptible of piety, though otherwise he would never
be thought devout. The judgment of men is uncertain;
there is none but God who knows the folds and recesses of
the human heart.
The Due de Candale, the first man at Court for beauty,
magnificence, and wealth, he whom all men envied and
whose esteem all gay ladies longed to obtain, if only as a
trophy to their own glory, this young seigneur, who was in
truth lovable, died at Lyon on his way to Paris from Cata-
lonia, where he had commanded the armies of the king.
He showed much repentance for his faults, and received the
sacraments in a Christian manner. The prayers of his
sister, Mademoiselle d'lilpernon, who had preferred a Car?-
melite convent to the duchies which her father, the Due
d'lilpernon, wished to give her, no doubt won this good death
of her brother from the mercy of God. She wished the
Abbe" de Eoquette to make his funeral oration. 1 Being,
fortunately, at Lyon he was present at the duke's death.
He took for his text this verse of the Psalms : " Thy mercies,
Lord, are more to me than life."
It was at this time that the king went to parliament to
cause the reception of a bull which the pope had issued
against the Jansenists. The queen, inspired by laudable
zeal, thought, with reason, that his royal protection was
necessary to the true doctrine of the Church, which seemed
to be attacked by the opinions of Jansenism in the matter
of grace and free-will, which they appeared to refute. But
1 This Abbe" de Roquette, afterwards Bishop of Autun, was the original
of Moliere's Tartuffe. See Memoirs of Saint-Simon. TH.
140 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
right-minded men were convinced that those who counselled
her under an appearance of acting for the glory of God and
of religion, often involved her in things which did not seem
in all respects conducted in a spirit of charity ; and as these
excellent men were without passion, they desired that peace
might be completely restored among the faithful, and that
all should labour sincerely to bring back to obedience those
they thought had wandered from orthodox sentiments.
They accused the others, perhaps unjustly, of looking upon
this affair as a source from which they could always draw
matters agreeable to the queen's piety, and so make them-
selves masters of the fate of many.
All things can be made out good or made out evil ; but
what seemed to be true, and what ignorant men and women
could know for themselves, was that the Jansenists appeared
to esteem and support the doctrine of Jansenius condemned
by the verdicts of Home ; and therefore that the Jesuits did
not attack them without cause; also that the Jansenists,
who seemed to submit in speech only to the condemnation
of the five propositions [in the book of Jansenius], defended
methodically and with extreme passion the book that con-
tained them ; but, at the same time, they gave to the public
in their writings a morality in which the practice of perfect
Christian virtue was eloquently enjoined. 1 Their lives con-
formed to their writings ; they made profession of respecting
and following the strictest maxims of the Gospel. Madame
de Longueville, who, after her conversion, declared herself of
that party, and desired to regulate her conduct by their
counsels, showed by the austerity of her life how good and
laudable they were.
The Jesuit fathers have a just claim to the title of apostles
1 For a dispassionate account of this famous controversy, see the
"Memoirs of the Due de Saint-Simon." TR.
1658] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 141
of the Indies and China, for, at the cost of their blood and
their life, they have had the honour, through many sufferings,
to make the name of Jesus Christ adored through nearly the
whole extent of the globe, and particularly in barbarous
lands where he was never before heard of. It is a Com-
pany which has always been so filled with great men
great by their knowledge as well as by their piety that
they have ever been considered as pillars of the Church.
But many of the greatest and most esteemed bishops of
France were the leaders of those whom the Jesuits accused
of heresy.
One of their fathers, a man of virtue and renowned in our
century, speaking one day to a lady, a friend of mine, of
these disputes, born and fomented between the Jansenists
and themselves, said, without blaming the adversaries of his
Company and with a feeling of extreme pain which made
him ardently long for the union of all Christians, that the
pride of the human spirit was the source of all this disturb-
ance ; and that he prayed to our Lord unceasingly to kill in
him and in all others that mortal enemy of those who aspire
to eternal life. This saintly man had reason to speak in that
way, for I have always heard that these contests of doctrine
were caused by private animosities.
The king and queen started on the morrow of Easter Sun-
day for Amiens; leaving their life of repose earlier than
usual, in order by their presence to repair the ill effects
which might result from the foolish action of the Mare'chal
d'Hocquincourt [who had negotiated with the enemy].
Before leaving Paris they saw the Due de Beaufort, who had
been exiled since the peace. He had shown much firmness
and dignity in never seeking by any base appeal the good-will
of the minister. He wished to leave time between what he
had done against him and the reconciliation ; and in the end
142 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
he made it advantageously to himself. His father, the Due
de Vendome, anxious to see him again at Court, proposed
his return to the minister, and the latter, forgetting all past
hatreds, regarded him only as the brother of the Due de
Mercosur who had married his niece. Eeceiving him later
as among his friends, he gave him the survivance of the
admiralty, which the Due de Nemours had had during the
war.
The king went first to Amiens, where he stayed some
time devising means to obtain Hesdin. He even presented
himself in person before that place, but the rebellion of
those who commanded there was too firmly established and
the respect due to him was not paid. The minister, seeing
this state of things without remedy, made the king resolve
to go to Calais to carry out the grand design of the year ;
namely, the taking of Dunkerque, which place we were
to attack conjointly with the English ; and the project
was formed to leave the place to Cromwell after it was
taken.
This scheme seemed odious to all right-minded persons,
and the minister was greatly blamed for giving this advan-
tage to the former enemies of France, to a heretic, a usurper ;
but he had his reasons ; he thought that without this con-
cession it would be impossible to save the State from many
evils, and he was convinced that, on the contrary, by this
means he should force the King of Spain to make peace.
Those who murmured against this union with the English
said that, not counting the interests of religion, there was
much to fear in giving additional strength to neighbours
who could never like us, and might put the place in a con-
dition to make war upon us later. In spite of these reasons,
which Cardinal Mazarin had no doubt well examined, the
English crossed the channel and we besieged the place.
1658] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 143
This enterprise, which was as successful as could have been
desired, came near being fatal to France.
The king wished to visit his army, and went to Mardick,
where he stayed some time. This place was infected with
the dead bodies which had remained there from preceding
years, half buried in the sand, without rotting, the extreme
dryness preventing it. There were no conveniences at Mar-
dick ; water and everything else was lacking, and the heat
was excessive. The cardinal, who at every opportunity
made his principal occupation that of gaining money, be-
thought him of becoming sutler and commissary to the
army. He sold, so it was said, wine, meat, bread, and
water, making money on all he sold. He also took the
office of grand-master of artillery, and, from first to last,
made his profits out of everything. Sufferings were great
during the siege, and even at Calais, where all provisions
necessary for life were very dear.
When the king went to Mardick to visit his army he
lived like a private person, dining with Cardinal Mazarin
or the Vicomte de Turenne ; he had no officers, and neither
service nor money. When he went to the army he met
poor soldiers, but gave them nothing because he had noth-
ing to give them; and the worst was that the minister,
corrupting the king's feelings, strove to take away his in-
clination to give, in order to deprive him of the means;
which had as those who were at the siege told me
the worst possible effect; for soldiers grow saving of their
lives when their masters are niggardly of a few pistoles.
The Prince de Conde* and Don John of Austria with all
the Spanish forces approached Dunkerque to prevent its
capture. The Vicomte de Turenne warned the minister of
this, sending him word that his own inclination was to go
and fight them. The cardinal, as vigilant and clever as
144 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
he was saving, knowing in this way and by his private
intelligence that the enemy were advancing, was of the
same opinion himself, and sent word to the general to give
battle. That great captain, who on similar occasions never
failed to acquire a great reputation, left his intrenchments
to attack the Spanish army, and, taking it by surprise,
defeated it. All the valour and firmness of the Prince de
Conde" were not able to arrest the flight of the soldiers, and
the rout was great. 1 The Dukes of York and Gloucester,
who were in this army, did actions worthy of being remem-
bered ; their valour in fighting our troops was all the greater
because it was inspired by the hatred they felt against the
English who were fighting with us. This victory, which
was glorious for M. de Turenne, gave renewed strength to
the king, broke down that of the Spaniards, secured the
taking of Dunkerque, and put us on the road to peace. It
was on the 14th of June, 1658, that this piece of good for-
tune happened to France. It was followed by the capitula-
tion of the place, which took place soon after.
The queen had scarcely time to feel this joy. On the
22d of the same month the king fell ill at Calais of a
continued fever, with malignant symptoms, which put his
life in danger. The fatigues he had had at Mardick, going
himself, in spite of the cardinal, to visit the outposts, to-
gether with the inconveniences I have mentioned and the
extreme heat of the weather, put him in this state. For
fifteen days he was in great danger, and the queen felt all
the distress that the love she bore him would naturally
cause her. She resolved, as she did me the honour to tell
1 This was the famous " battle of the Dunes." Just before the action
the Prince de Conde, seeing the bad disposition of their forces by the
Spanish general, said to the Duke of Gloucester, " You say you have
never seen a battle lost ? Well, you '11 see one now." See the strategic
details of the battle in Montglat. FR. ED.
1658] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 145
me later, that if she lost him she would retire to the
convent of the Val-de-Grace ; although at the same time
she acknowledged that she had been on this occasion in-
finitely pleased with Monsieur's right spirit. He showed
her all possible tenderness, and seemed to dread very much
to lose the king. When the queen told him he must not
go to his brother lest he should take the disease, he wept,
with such oppression of the heart that he was unable for a
long time to utter a word. The queen, from whom I heard
these particulars, was much pleased with him; her heart
was touched by the opinion she now formed of his good-
ness; and from this moment she loved him much more
tenderly than she had done in the past.
The king took emetic wine (then a remedy little employed)
twice ; and God, who was not willing to deprive France of
a prince enriched with so many eminent qualities which
would make him a king worthy of being one, of his mercy
restored him to health ; giving great joy to the queen, to
Monsieur, and to all good Frenchmen.
The cardinal was also well-pleased; but he showed that
he regarded his own interests above all things else, doing
on this occasion acts which dishonour his memory. As he
dared hope nothing from Monsieur, he sent to have all his
valuables and his furniture removed from his house in Paris
and taken to Vincennes. Nevertheless, he took what meas-
ures he could with the Marshal Du Plessis, Monsieur's
governor; he made him great promises, and went to visit
all those who were little or much in the good graces of the
young prince, especially the Comte de Guiche, to whom he
made advances that seemed to come from a base and feeble
soul
After the fortunate recovery of the king the Court returned
to Compiegne, where their Majesties received the first marks
VOL. III. 10
146 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
of the public joy ; they did not stay there long because the
king wished to show himself to his people, and from there
went to Fontainebleau. He did not seem changed by his
illness; and when he arrived in Paris, I, who, not having
gone on that journey, had not seen him ill, thought him
looking as well and plump as usual. He received with
pleasure and some signs of good-will those whose tears had
flowed for him. As I had been of that number and he had
heard of it, he did me the honour to thank me with the best
grace in the world. The king was serious, grave, and very
courteous. His grandeur, joined to his great qualities, im-
pressed respect on the souls of all who approached him.
He spoke little and well ; his words had great power to
inspire love and fear according as they were gentle or stern.
Cardinal Mazarin remained on the frontier to finish the
siege of Gravelines, which he had ordered the Mare*chal de
La Forte" to attack. This was done with such force that the
place surrendered to the king August 30. After this the
minister returned to the king and queen, two weeks after
their arrival in Paris.
Those who loved justice, and especially the attendants on
the Queen of England, received during the king's stay at
Fontainebleau the agreeable news of the death of Cromwell.
The cardinal, however, seemed sorry for it, and he even
appeared to disapprove of the public joy ; but I was glad to
observe on this occasion, by an answer which the Queen of
England made to a letter which I had done myself the
honour to write to her on this subject, with what moderation
she heard that God had avenged her on this cruel enemy.
Here is the letter,
Wednesday, September 18, 1658.
" You could justly accuse me of want of feeling for the
expression my friends have sent me of 'their regard, if I did
1658] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 147
not tell you that I received your letter only this morning,
although it is dated Sunday. In truth, I thought you would
receive the news of the death of that wretch with joy; but I
must tell you that I know not whether it is that my heart is
so wrapped in melancholy that it is incapable of receiving
joy, or that I do not see as yet any great advantages to us,
but I have not felt great rejoicing ; the greatest that I have
felt has been in witnessing that of my friends. I beg you to
thank sincerely for me Madame Du Plessis and Made-
moiselle de Barnave. I would like to have been a fourth hi
your party to rejoice with you. I wish I could say much to
you of my friendship; but in truth, there is more in my
heart than I can express, and my actions will make you see
it on all occasions. I conjure you to believe this, or you will
do me great wrong ; for to the depth of my soul I am among
the number of your friends."
As parliament had now been for two years without a
chief-president, the cardinal, to do a brilliant action which
should establish his reputation in the opinion of all men,
wished to put at the head of that body a leader who had the
approbation of right-minded men. For this purpose, he cast
his eyes on Lamoignon, master of petitions, whom he knew
only through the universal esteem which he had hitherto
won from the public by his ability and his integrity. The
attorney-general Fouquet, now superintendent of finances,
who was one of the first to propose him, referred only to
Lamoignon's great qualities in order to persuade Cardinal
Mazarin to appoint him, flattering the minister with the
honour he would obtain by making this choice on the sole
ground of the public welfare. He did, in fact, receive the
praises of every one ; of the queen above all, who knew that
self-interest had no part in this choice. She gave the
148 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
minister by her approbation a foretaste of the reward with
which a good action is followed ; and this ready approbation
ought at the same time to have made him regret the many
occasions he had let slip in the past to have procured for
himself the enjoyment of so great a good.
The king, since the inclination he had felt for Made-
moiselle de La Motte, had remained semi-enchanted hi the
remains of the old fancy he had always retained for the
Comtesse de Soissons ; amusing himself, however, as occa-
sion offered, with the cardinal's other nieces who lived in the
Louvre. But after a while he tired of going so often to the
Hotel de Soissons, or rather, his heart grew weary of being
so unoccupied. During the stay of the Court at Fontaine-
bleau he seemed to attach himself more strongly to Made-
moiselle Marie Mancini ; he talked to her incessantly ; and
in spite of her ugliness, which at that time was extreme, he
took pleasure in her conversation.
This girl was bold and spirited, but her spirit was rough
and passionate. Her love corrected the roughness, and her
fiery nature made her aware that she was not insensible
to passion. The king perceived this ; and gratitude, in the
private intercourse which the uncle's power obliged him to
have with the nieces, exposed him to an affair in which
Mademoiselle Mancini, keenly desirous to please the great-
est and most charming king on earth, succeeded in her
designs and found in his tenderness enough to warrant her
eagerness and the facility she had shown in loving him too
well though that " too well " was not without its limits ;
for it was always believed that this passion, though violent,
was accompanied with so much virtue, or rather so much
ambition, that she followed it without fear for herself, being
assured of the virtue of the king ; but if she doubted it, the
doubt did not alarm her.
1658] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 149
She saw that the friendship he had had with her sister,
the Comtesse de Soissons, far from injuring the latter, had
procured her a great marriage. A like affair seemed a means
on which she could set her hopes. That is why nothing
repelled her. Her passionate feelings, and what she had of
intelligence, though ill-directed, supplied what was lacking
on the score of beauty. There is no stronger chain to bind a
noble heart than that of feeling itself beloved ; and it is easy
to see how, on both sides, their attachment became as strong
as it was tender. Its effects were great, and would perhaps
have been much greater without the wise conduct of the
queen, to whom God gave strength to resist what they say is
the strongest force in the world, and without the moderation
of the cardinal, who cannot be too much praised in this
affair.
While the king was thus unconsciously becoming involved
in a violent passion, all Europe was watching to see to which
side he would turn in choosing a wife ; and all the princesses
who could aspire to the honour were attentively awaiting
that election. For a long time past the Duchesse de Savoie
had urged the minister to declare himself for the marriage of
the king to her daughter the Princesse Marguerite. This
princess was the elder sister of the Duchess of Bavaria,
whom the duke had chosen in preference to her sister on
account of her beauty; the Princesse Marguerite having
none. The king, who had always said that his wife must be
beautiful, seemed, nevertheless, reduced to take this princess ;
for the minister, who did not wish to marry him until forced
to do so, was inclined, in case of necessity, to prefer the
Princesse Marguerite to all others of her rank. His niece,
the Comtesse de Soissons, had married the eldest son of
Prince Thomas, uncle of the young Duke of. Savoie, and her
children were the heirs of that prince.,
150 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVTLLE. [CHAP. v.
The nieces of Cardinal Mazarin being born to be the
destiny of the princes of Europe, it seemed as though
the uncle, too wise to attempt to put one of them upon
the throne, could not approach it better than by placing
his connection, the Princesse Marguerite, upon it; and it
may have been for this reason that he allowed his con-
sent in her favour to be apparently wrung from him. He
granted to Madame de Savoie, not entirely all she asked for,
but merely that he would bring the king to meet her.
The queen, acting like a mother, thought only of the
king's advantage. She had always passionately longed for
peace, and for the Infanta of Spain as the only princess
worthy of marrying the king. But from the way in which
she had hitherto spoken of this it was easy to see that she
wished it without hoping for such a result. Until lately,
the marriage had seemed to her impossible because the
King of Spain had no son, and her niece the infanta was
therefore heiress to his crown. But a son had recently
been born to him and the queen was again pregnant; so
that this marriage no longer appeared to be past hoping for ;
although there was still very little appearance that it could
be made, because of the well-nigh unshakable maxims of
the Spaniards, who will risk nothing.
In default of the infanta the queen would have preferred
the Princess of England to any other, because she already
loved her; and that young princess seemed at the time to
have such respect for the queen that she considered her
scarcely less than her own mother, the Queen of England.
But the king alone in all France did not like her, or, to
speak more truly, the minister had no interest which in-
duced him to bend the king in her favour. The queen,
however, was accustomed to say that if she could not have
her niece for queen she wanted the English princess; and
1658] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 151
that her only regret was that she was not three years older
in order to please the king, who appeared to neglect her
because she was younger than he, seeming to desire a more
mature wife.
Events showed that deep in the heart of the minister was
a strong desire to make the king marry the Princesse de
Savoie; also, having no objection to peace, he had, in gen-
eral, a sufficiently sincere intention of doing what was best
for the State. He did not doubt that if the infanta could
be obtained she was, through her birth, the most suitable
wife that the king could have. He knew also that the
queen would not be contented without her; but while
appearing, in order to satisfy the latter, to wish the same
thing, he hoped that the difficulties would prove so great
that, without displeasing her, he should reach his ends. To
make the King of Spain speak out, it was necessary to show
him publicly that the king was desirous of marrying else-
where. The plan of the cardinal was, therefore, to make
a journey to Lyon to meet the Duchesse de Savoie and
her daughter, and thus involve the king with the Princesse
Marguerite ; still professing that his intention was to press
the King of Spain by this means to declare himself. By
acting thus he did what he could to content the queen.
But in this way the king would see Princesse Marguerite,
and from that sight the cardinal hoped for good results;
it would put matters in such a forward state that, in case
the King of Spain remained silent (which he believed would
happen), he could seem to let the king choose a wife to
his own taste ; for he did not doubt that, considering the
strong desire the king had to be married, if he were permitted
to see none but the Princesse Marguerite he would take her.
The cardinal was convinced, and with reason, that in spite of
her want of beauty, the king would be pleased and satisfied
152 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
with her, because she was amiable, witty, and sensible ;
which, according to his own humour, was likely to please
him.
The cardinal, seeing in this journey one of two things,
either the satisfaction of the queen, to whom he owed every-
thing, or the obtaining of a queen who was cousin of his
niece, made the king resolve upon it ; but it is indubitable
that hi this his desires were more for his own interests than
for those of the queen. He took this course also to avoid
marrying the king to the Princess of England, who, becom-
ing older and more charming, might please him.
Mademoiselle d'Orle'ans, second daughter of the Due
d'Orle'ans, who was much spoken of for the king, was another
suitable alliance for him; she was very handsome and of
the right age to please him ; but the cardinal did not choose
to give her the closed crown, because the Due d'Orle'ans had
not obliged him to serve him. He saw that many persons
at Court wished this marriage, as suitable to the king by the
birth and beauty of the princess; but the minister would
not listen to these wishes, fearing to lose the influence he
expected to have with the future queen as the one to whom
she owed her happiness.
Mademoiselle, the eldest daughter of the Due d'Orle'ans,
who had made war partly to be queen of France, now saw
herself for that very reason, as well as for being older than
the king by some years, unable to hope for it. She was, in
every way, dissatisfied with her fate, and could not endure
without great suffering the extreme vexation of seeing her
sister suggested for that eminent place. She would doubtless
have preferred to see any other princess on the throne than
that sister ; for the jealousy of self-love was stronger than
ties of blood and nature, and made her incapable of bearing
this preference patiently.
1658] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 153
The cardinal, by the course he took, restored peace be-
tween the two sisters ; but the Queen of England, who con-
sented to, the justice of the queen's preferring the Infanta
of Spain to the princess her daughter, could not endure
without extreme pain that the Princesse de Savoie, her
niece, inferior to her daughter in birth and beauty, should
be preferred before her ; and, without openly showing it she
resented the affair as much as it deserved.
There was also a princess in Portugal who was not with-
out her share in this noble vexation. Comminges, being
then ambassador in Portugal, had sent the queen a portrait
of that princess which made her beautiful although she was
not so ; and he told me himself that the Queen of Portugal,
her mother, who had offered the cardinal great wealth if he
would bring about that her daughter should be Queen of
France, not being able to restrain her vexation at the journey
to Lyon, told him, Comminges, that she was astonished that
the King of France should make so bad a choice.
Mademoiselle Mancini, although she was not a princess,
had her share in the anxiety common to so many illus-
trious persons ; and though in all things she was unworthy
of being compared with them, she was not without equally
lofty desires. She never left the king, she followed him
everywhere, and he seemed to take pleasure in her society.
The assiduity they showed to each other began at last to
displease the queen, and I noticed that about this time she
seemed much troubled. The wife the king was, apparently,
about to take in Savoie did not please her ; and Mademoi-
selle Mancini, who appeared to hold the first place in his
heart, was not agreeable to her. The manner in which the
latter beset the king disturbed the queen ; and, in spite of
the girl's discretion and the fact of her being the cardinal's
niece, the queen showed plainly enough to her confidants
154 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
how much she displeased her. She did not act in the same
way in regard to her feelings about the Princesse Margue-
rite ; she spoke carefully of her, saying that the affair was
not yet settled ; that the principal thing was to make the
king content and happy ; and if that were done she should
be satisfied.
At first, from the dislike she had to this marriage, the
queen was disinclined to go to Lyon; then she changed
her mind and wished to go, in order to try to break it off.
Her tranquillity seemed to be as usual, but she would
doubtless have gladly taken any pains to put obstacles in
the way. She resolved therefore to make the journey ; and
even the minister advised it, not wishing to displease her.
Divine providence seemed to have a great share in this ; for
the fifteen days that the departure from Paris was delayed,
in order to get ready the queen's equipments, were the cause
of our having the Infanta of Spain for our queen ; for those
few days gave time for the person who came from Spain to
propose the marriage with the infanta to reach Lyon in
time to break off that of Savoie.
On one of the days when the queen was preparing to
start, I took the liberty of saying to her that I was pained
to see that she meant to make so long a journey in such
cold weather as that which was just beginning. In reply
she said to me, pressing my arm : " Why do you, who care
for all that affects me, say that ? Do you not see that I
must go ? "
Another day Madame de Senecd and the Comtesse de
Flex, who did not accompany her on this important occasion,
said to her that if the king married they entreated her to
let them know in time to follow her, and if they did, they
would take me with them ; on which the queen, having her
mind full of a contrary purpose, said, nodding her head as
1658] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 155
if to emphasize her thought : " Stay quiet where you are ;
I hope I shall not send for you." But when she spoke
publicly she showed great indifference to this affair, in
accordance with her good sense and judgment.
The queen, however, did me the honour to tell me at this
very time, speaking confidentially of the king, that if the
princess was, as they said, virtuous and pleased him, she
would willingly consent that he should marry her ; because
she was convinced that, if God thus permitted it, it would be
to his advantage; which made me think that if the king
found the princess to his taste, the queen would soon accom-
modate herself to his choice. It is certain, however, that the
sentiments of her soul went so far as aversion to the mar-
riage, and that she seemed to us to agree to it only because
her will was always entirely submissive to that of the
sovereign Master of kings. In all the actions of her life it
may also be noticed that she never evaded what was per-
sonally unpleasant to herself if it were of any utility to the
king or to the good of the State. The journey was therefore
arranged, and the Court started October 25, 1658.
The Duchesse de Savoie, on her side, was not without
uneasiness; though she was certainly the one who had
least. She knew that the cardinal's interest lay in making
the marriage between the king and her daughter ; she saw
no appearance of a proposal from Spain ; and she therefore
persuaded herself that the Princesse Marguerite, having
intelligence and merit, would win the king's regard.
Those who had seen the princess spoke advantageously of
her. They said she was very discreet, had a great deal of
sense, and if she could not be called beautiful, at any rate
she was lovable. In short, Madame de Savoie expected
that this journey would be both glorious and useful to
her, and never imagined that the king, queen, and minister,
156 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. v.
having taken this step towards her, could fail to satisfy
her wishes.
The Princesse Marguerite, as we learned afterwards, had
sentiments very contrary to those of her mother ; she thought
that this journey would have dangerous consequences for
her ; she felt they were going to offer her to one who might
not take her; and as she was prudent and saw herself
exposed to the danger of displeasing, the affair seemed
grievous to her. It was known that she resisted the journey,
and had even feigned illness to avoid it. But though her
precautions could not save her from the humiliation she
feared, she won the respect of all those who saw her at
Lyon ; and if she missed being the queen of a great king-
dom, she at least acquired the reputation of being worthy of
it and that is not a small thing.
VI.
1658 1659.
THE Court of France arrived at Lyon on the 23d of
November, and that of Savoie on the 28th of the same
month. When it was known that Madame Koyale 1 was
three leagues from the town, Cardinal Mazarin started to
meet her at a distance of about two leagues. Monsieur fol-
lowed, and met her with the princesses her daughters at one
league ; and the king and queen went together to a distance
of half a league. When the king knew that they were very
near he mounted his horse and rode to within about ten paces
from Madame Eoyale's carriage. As soon as that princess
saw him she left her carriage to receive him, and the Prin-
cesses of Savoie did likewise ; for Princesse Marguerite had
an elder sister, the widow of her uncle Prince Maurice (who
was called the Cardinal of Savoie), to whom she had been
married for reasons of State.
The king had shown impatience to see Princesse Mar-
guerite, who seemed to be destined for him ; and doubtless
he did not approach her without some emotion. After the
ordinary salutations, and after, as we can well believe, look-
ing fixedly at Princesse Marguerite, he rode abruptly back to
the queen's carriage, seemingly much satisfied at the sight,
and said to her with great gaiety these very words : " She
is very pleasing ; she resembles her portraits ; she is rather
swarthy, but that does not hinder her from being well-
1 Christine, Madame Royale, daughter of Henri IV. of France, and
Duchesse de Savoie; regent during the minority of her two sons. TR.
158 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVLLLE. [CHAP. vi.
looking." Immediately after, the carriages met ; Madame de
Savoie got out of hers, and the queen did the same. In
saluting the queen Madame Royale almost knelt before her,
and taking her hand kissed it forcibly with great submission.
The queen embraced her and her daughters, who both, in
saluting her, knelt on the ground. Mademoiselle saluted
Madame de Savoie as her aunt, and all the princesses
embraced as being near relations.
The queen returned to her carriage and put Madame de
Savoie next to her on the front seat, which was her usual
place. Mademoiselle sat behind, and with her the Princesse
de Carignan, who had gone to meet Madame de Savoie, as
belonging to her family through her husband. Monsieur sat
at one door with the Princesse Louisa, the widow ; and the
king had the Princesse Marguerite next to him at the other
door. As they drove along he seemed to converse with her
gaily and, contrary to his usual custom, he talked much to
her, and she to him. The queen, who was attentive to all
the king did, told me on her return to Paris that she had
been astonished, and felt pained to see them so well
together.
According to those who witnessed the interview, and even
the queen herself, Princesse Marguerite seemed to every one
in these first moments to have a pretty and well-made
figure ; they thought her eyes very fine, the eyebrows well-
shaped, the cheeks rather pendent, taking that from her
mother, a feature on the Bourbon side when young. A per-
son who was in the queen's carriage wrote me that she
seemed haughty and not embarrassed in finding herself on
this occasion the object of the eyes of all the Frenchmen.
This royal company arrived in the finest order at Lyon;
and those who were in the suite told afterwards of the
grandeur of our Court, and the brilliancy of that of Savoie,
1658-1659] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 159
which was decked with care in all its adornments and was
truly a fine thing to see. The two Courts came together
to the queen's residence, where Madame Koyale publicly
thanked the king and Cardinal Mazarin for having returned
to her the citadel of Turin ; exaggerating the obligation she
had to France with the most excessive flattery she could
imagine ; which did not please the queen, who was not fond
of praise, or superfluous words, or affectations. Madame de
Savoie did not omit to thank the cardinal for all he had
done to please her, and for the influence he had used with
their Majesties to obtain this restitution. After some
moments of conversation, the king and Monsieur took her to
her own apartments, and all things on that first evening
happened to the advantage of Madame Eoyale and Princesse
Marguerite.
God, who destined the king to another princess, the first
in Europe and the greatest in the world, had, in His provi-
dence, ordained that the King of Spain, hearing of this jour-
ney to Lyon, should be alarmed ; and I was told later by her
who became our queen that the king her father, on learning
that the King of France was about to marry, said, "That
cannot be, and shall not be." The princess, after she came
to France, did me the honour to tell me that these words of
the king her father pleased her, for she had not liked the
journey to Lyon. She had in her heart a presentiment
which told her that the king was to be her husband, and
she knew that she alone was entirely worthy of him; go,
to quiet the uneasiness the name of the Princesse Mar-
guerite caused her, she had need to say over and over to
herself the above words which she had heard the king her
father say.
The King of Spain now felt that, in order to make his
words come true, he must quit all craft and show plainly the
160 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. VL
desire and the need he had for peace. He therefore ordered
Don Antonio Pimentel to go to France, confer with the
minister, and offer him both peace and the infanta. Pimentel
was sent hastily without passports, at the risk of being taken
prisoner ; but the time had now come for all animosities to
cease. He told me, when I saw him afterwards at Saint-
Jean-de-Luz, that he came with the thought in his mind that
if arrested he should ask to see the cardinal, and then,
whether free or a prisoner, he should be able to negotiate
with him the marriage he had come to propose. He dis-
guised himself and managed his journey so well that he
reached Lyon on the day of the arrival of Madame de Savoie,
and at the very hour when she entered the town along the
road from Savoie, he was entering it along the road from
Spain two powers destined to combat one another, the
king being the prize of the victorious party. As they were
far from equal, it is not astonishing that Spain won it over
Savoie, and that peace and the vast grandeur of the infanta
were preferred to the Princesse Marguerite, who, bound to
yield in all things to this daughter and granddaughter of so
many kings and emperors, yielded also in beauty, of which
the infanta had much.
Pimentel appears not to have seen the cardinal until the
day after the arrival of Madame de Savoie. Some said that
he saw him earlier, and that the cardinal concealed it from
the queen. I am ignorant as to this, and relate only what
happened outwardly, but I do not think it was so. This
Spanish envoy knew one of Cardinal Mazarin's servants,
named Colbert. 1 To him he revealed himself, and Colbert, as
Pimentel afterwards told me, went at once to tell his master
of his arrival. The cardinal, interested in his journey, sent
1 Afterwards Louis XTV.'s great minister ; he was at this time Mazarin'a
steward. Born in 1619, he was now about forty years of age. FR. ED.
1658-1659] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 161
for him, no doubt with much impatience to know what his
proposals might be.
The queen, on her side, was extremely depressed by the
interview with Madame de Savoie. The Princesse Mar-
guerite was not to her liking ; she did not think her hand-
some; but even if she were, she knew that war would be
more firmly established than ever between France and Spain
by this marriage. She regarded the king her son, by his
crown and by his person, as the most distinguished husband
then upon earth, and she saw nothing in the Princesse Mar-
guerite but virtue and birth, which, high as it was, must
needs yield to that of the infanta ; moreover, she had been
rejected by the Duke of Bavaria, who preferred her younger
sister on account of her beauty. The queen did not know as
yet her good qualities, which later, during her stay at
Lyon, seemed to the queen very estimable, but even had
she then remarked them such as they were, she was sad at
losing finally the hope that her niece the infanta might
give her grandchildren who would be of her blood on both
sides.
Having abandoned the interests of her own family when-
ever those of the king demanded that she should be insen-
sible to them, she could on this occasion pray for peace, so
desired by all Frenchmen, and for a marriage which should
give her son the highest and most illustrious princess in
the world ; her prayers had therefore been as legitimate as
they had long been full of ardour. These first moments of
disappointment were the more painful to her because she
had to bear them alone, and without any hope of remedy on
the part of the king ; for she had seen by the manner in
which he had behaved to the Princesse Marguerite that the
marriage did not displease him. Nevertheless, she wished
to speak to him on the evening of Madame de Savoie's
VOL. III. 11
162 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
arrival ; and also to Cardinal Mazarin, to let them know her
sentiments. But the king, who desired to marry, and was
not repelled by the face or person of Princesse Marguerite,
stoutly resisted her ; he told the queen he wished the mar-
riage, and went so far as to tell her at last that he was
master.
The queen, who did not often weep, shed tears, and felt
the deepest pain at this state of things. She ordered her
confessor, as he told me later, to put up prayers in all the
convents of Lyon, and do all he could to obtain from God
what she so much desired.
Beringhen told me that on this evening, seeing the king
declare himself so openly for the Princesse Marguerite, and
knowing the aversion that the queen had to the marriage,
he went up to her and said : " What do you say, madame,
to all this ? " She replied that she saw but too well all there
was to see ; but she knew of no remedy, inasmuch as the
king was impetuously bent upon it, and the cardinal did
not show that he would second her. Beringhen, like a
man of honour, going straight to the support of the queen,
to whom he owed his whole fortunes, told her that he was
amazed at the proceedings of the cardinal, and that he
intended to speak to him about them.
He went to find him at once, and represented to him the
obligation he was under to restrain the will of the king as
a torrent that was rushing too fast, and to support the feel-
ings of the queen, which were against this marriage. To
this the minister replied that he did not meddle with all
that; as for him, he had not caused the inclination the
king seemed to feel for the princess, which was none of
his business. This was the answer he was accustomed to
make to all who importuned him. When he made it per-
sons knew they were refused, and the wise ones saw that
1658-1659] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 163
he was treating them with ridicule and laughing at them.
A man who did all, who commanded absolutely the whole
kingdom, who would not allow the slightest thing to be
done without his order, was plainly scoffing at the queen
when he declared that he did not meddle in the marriage
of the king! If private persons knew they were rebuffed
and scoffed at by such answers, it is easy to judge what the
queen thought of this one, and whether she believed that
he was indifferent to the most important affair then in the
world, which concerned himself as much as any one; and
whether, moreover, he was not ungrateful to his benefactress
in treating her in this way.
But, at last, the miracle which was to happen did happen
the next day. The interview that Pimentel had with the
minister made him change his course, and gave the queen
reason to believe in the help of heaven, which she had
always found propitious to her just desires and designs.
On the evening of this great day when all things changed
faces, the cardinal entering the queen's room and finding
her sad and dreamy, said to her, smiling : " Good news,
madame ! " " Eh, what ? " exclaimed the queen ; " can it be
peace ?" " More than that, madame ! I bring your Majesty
both peace and the infanta." It is useless to try to repre-
sent what the heart of the queen felt at such surprising
news ; no doubt it was great joy ; but as her wisdom was
great and her temperament equable, neither joy nor pain
appeared externally on her.
The next moment, the queen and cardinal having con-
ferred together, they spoke to the king, who liked the
proposal extremely. He had wanted the Princesse Mar-
guerite only because he wished to be married, and she had
not displeased him; but his good judgment showing him
the infinite distance between her and the Infanta of Spain,
164 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
and being now able to obtain that advantage, he did not
hesitate a moment in giving his consent to the preference.
Mademoiselle Mancini, who was now less thin and had
more fire in her eyes, was consequently not as ugly as
she had been. Her passion embellished her, and she was
even daring enough to be jealous and to reproach the king
for his fickleness and the attraction he seemed to find in
the Princesse Marguerite. 1 As the king was not afraid that
the princess would refuse him, gallantry and love diverted
him in the course of this day from his legitimate object;
and to satisfy that passionate girl he had already begun to
seem colder to the Princesse Marguerite.
This moderating of his feelings was visible to the specta-
tors; for those who wrote to us from Lyon told of the
liking of the first day and the sudden change on the second.
But when the king heard that a more illustrious alliance
was in store for him, what he had already done for Made-
moiselle Mancini was confirmed in his mind by more solid
reasons ; so that from this second day, so fatal to the grandeur
of the Princesse de Savoie, he became more and more indif-
ferent to her. Mademoiselle Mancini, on the other hand,
charmed with the king's fidelity and the power she had over
him, resumed her usual post, which was always near him,
talking with him and following him wherever it. was possible ;
and the satisfaction she felt in believing herself beloved
made her love still more him whom she already loved too
much.
This is the moment when the Princesse Marguerite ac-
* Mademoiselle relates in her Memoirs : " Mile. Mancini came and
asked me, while the king was taking Madame de Savoie to her apartment,
what the king had said of Princesse Marguerite, and how he had behaved
to her. I answered, ' It seemed to me she pleased him ; ' and I heard
that she said afterwards to the king, 'Are not you ashamed that they
want to give you such an ugly wife ? '" FR. ED.
1658-1659] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 165
qujred esteem and glory, and much praise from even the
queen herself ; for, whether the king did not look at her,
or whether he spoke to her, she continued equable in all
her actions, living civilly with all, but never showing any
anxiety to please. As the obligations the cardinal had
taken towards Madame de Savoie were great, this journey,
made in the sight of all Europe, was in itself an engage-
ment; and as the duchess urged both the queen and the
minister to satisfy her, there were days when it seemed as
if the marriage must take place, and others when, by means
of the queen and Pimentel, it appeared to be broken off.
But neither the good nor the evil was seen on the face of
Princesse Marguerite, whose noble pride never abandoned
her. It was the queen herself who did me the honour
to tell me this; it was from her that I learned all these
particulars. 1
The cardinal finally gave Madame de Savoie to under-
stand the obligation the queen was under to take every
means to give peace to Europe; telling her that she ought
to think it right that the queen should prefer the Infanta
of Spain, if she could have her, to her daughter; but he
held out the hope that if this could not be arranged the
king would positively bind himself to marry Princesse
Marguerite. The queen spoke to her in the same terms,
and as the thing was plausible and reasonable, Madame de
Savoie could not be angry. While they were putting her
off with these fine words, the Spanish negotiation was
1 In the Memoirs of the Mare'chal de Gramont we read : " These rapid
and unexpected changes opened the eyes of interested persons, and the
courtiers, doing their usual duty, that is to say, penetrating in a short time
what was secretly taking place in the cabinet, though they got little light
on it, soon came to the conclusion that an envoy from Spain must have
arrived incognito ; and twenty-four hours later it was known that Pimen-
tel was the man who had so suddenly disturbed the fete, and knocked
over all the stools." FR. ED.
166 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
secretly advancing; and the desires of this sovereign prin-
cess, daughter of Henri IV., only served to deprive her of
the happiness to which she aspired.
The Due de Savoie came a few days after his mother to
visit the king; he was well received and acquired by his
presence the reputation of being amiable and witty. He
behaved to the king with great respect; but as, since the
Eegency, the Due de Savoie, his father, had obtained the
favour of his ambassadors being received as those of
crowned heads, this advantage, which he held only under
the kindness of the king and the facility of the minister,
caused him to have the audacity not to visit Monsieur,
on the ground that he did not give him the right hand;
which astonished the whole Court and gave great annoy-
ance to the king and queen. The difference was properly
so great between them that the late duke his father never
covered his head in Madame Royale's presence, because
she was a daughter of France, and in all things, in spite of
his position as husband, he showed her the greatest respect. 1
Mademoiselle assumed that the Princesses of Savoie had
no rank to be considered in relation to hers except that of
grand-daughters of France; she thought she had preced-
ence over them as daughter of the Due d'Orldans, son of
France, elder brother of Madame Royale, and long heir-
presumptive of the crown ; but she was forced to obey the
orders of the king, who chose that she should treat them
on an equality. She consoled herself for this vexation by
1 Montglat says: "He did not visit Monsieur, because he wished him
to give him the right hand from a fanciful notion that he was King of
Cyprus. The cardinal encouraged him in this because he had taken it
into his head to make him marry one of his nieces. And when Made-
moiselle would not give the right hand to the Princesses of Savoie, he
made the queen command her to do so sacrificing thus the honour of
the royal house to his private pretensions and interests. Mademoiselle
did it with great vexation." FK. ED.
1658-1659] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 167
the pleasure of seeing the Due de Savoie, and letting him
see her.
This prince had often been proposed to her as a husband ;
but in the days when she desired a much greater than he,
she had treated him with indifference; now, however, the
match would not have displeased her. The Due de Savoie
must also have looked at her as a princess whom it would
be to his advantage to marry ; as much for the grandeur of
her birth as for her great wealth ; but her age alarmed him
[she was 32 years old in 1659], for he wanted children ; and
her beauty, which was beginning to fade a little, had not
enough power to make him forget what all men naturally
desire in regard to their posterity. 1
Mademoiselle, by her impetuous feelings which prudence
did not always govern, had herself contributed to her un-
lucky fate in wishing to be married. She had not suc-
ceeded in her wishes; always roughly rejecting matches
that would have suited her, because, at the time they were
offered, her fancies had made her desire others whom she
could not have. So, by a continual return at the wrong
moment to the various great princes of Europe, it may be
said that she had rejected nearly all of them, and that
they in turn had rejected her. The qualities of her mind,
the good qualities as much as the bad, had on all occa-
sions injured her.
Madame de Savoie, her aunt, who wanted to govern, had
always strongly opposed the desires of her son when, Made-
moiselle being younger, he had wished to marry her, because
she feared a too enlightened daughter-in-law; but, conceal-
1 Charles-Emmanuel II. of Savoie; he married Jeanne-Baptiste de
Nemours, and died in 1675, leaving a son, Victor-Amadeus, born 1666,
who married Anne-Marie d'Orleans, daughter of Monsieur, Louis XIV.'s
brother, and Henrietta of England, and was the father of Marie-Adelaide
de Savoie, Duchesse de Bourgogne. TK.
168 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
ing that weakness, she confined the force of her reasons for
objecting to the marriage to the temper of the princess,
whom she knew to be capable of anger and arrogance, and
consequently liable to extreme passions which might trouble
the peace of a State and a family. But it was now the Due
de Savoie himself who showed no eagerness in desiring it ;
in fact he treated her so coldly the whole time that he
stayed at Lyon that Mademoiselle believed she had reason
to complain of him for certain jests which she imagined he
had made, unworthy of the respect that he owed to her. He
felt obliged to justify himself as to this, and made the Due
de Navailles, whom he knew, speak to her about it.
A ball was given while the two Courts were together, at
which they rivalled one another in all that was finest.
Mademoiselle, as they wrote me, showed her fine face and
her beautiful figure, which made her remarked for what she
really was ; and though her cheeks had no longer the fresh-
ness of new-blown roses, she none the less, so they assured
me, adorned the assembly by the brilliancy that still re-
mained of a beauty once perfect.
The Princesse Marguerite also showed that she could
sometimes be beautiful. A dark complexion has the advan-
tage by lamp-light ; and they told me that on this occasion
she was well-dressed and danced in a manner that was
much admired. The Due de Savoie, who acquitted himself
worthily, and who (as those that saw him told me), although
of mediocre figure was nevertheless handsome, would not
dance ; this was thought to be from pride and unwillingness
to dance after Monsieur. He kept beside the queen, with
whom he conversed gallantly and with much wit. The
queen having chanced to take off her glove, he threw him-
self on his knees before her exclaiming with much grace on
the beauty of her hands, one of which he took and kissed in
1658-1659] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 169
so agreeable, gay, and respectful a manner that the queen
could not fail to like it. I heard her say she had never
seen a more agreeable man. He had the reputation of being
debauched, frivolous, full of levity, and in no way attentive
to his duties ; his charm carried the day, no doubt, over his
capacity.
At the end of several days the two Courts, after much
negotiation, separated. Madame Eoyale returned home with
a writing signed by the king's own hand, in which he prom-
ised to marry the Princesse Marguerite in case peace was not
made and he could not obtain the infanta. The king and
queen took the road to Paris, where they arrived at the end
of January, 1659.
The queen was pleased at having broken off the Savoie
marriage ; she was full of desires for that of Spain, and well
satisfied to have made the journey. She did me the honour
to tell me on her return that she was convinced that with-
out her the king would have married the Princesse Margue-
rite; for he would at once have so strongly committed
himself that when the offers of Spain were received it might
have been difficult to meet them as they deserved to be met.
The king himself thought he was fortunate to have got so
well out of the affair ; but the cardinal still hoped that the
marriage with the infanta would not take place.
On his return, the king found his affairs on the frontier in
a good state. During his absence, Marshal de Turenne, who
commanded the armies, had posted them in the centre of
Flanders nearly at the gates of Brussels, between the Lys
and the Scheldt. There, he had fortified himself and proudly
maintained the glory of France. The Prince de Condd and
Don John could do nothing against him. His cavalry
ravaged all the neighbouring country, and the enemy was
compelled to endure it.
170 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
The bad condition in which the affairs of the King of
Spain appeared to be might have given us great advantages
in continuing the war; but it was necessary either to
renounce peace forever, or profit by this weakness ; which
confirmed what the minister had always said, namely : that
we must wage war until the King of Spain was reduced to
ask for peace. So many things might arise to give fresh
strength to our enemy that it was only prudent in the min-
ister to make it now, and even to grant it on reasonable
terms ; otherwise it might never have been made, and
would have hung dependent upon those revolutions of for-
tune to which all States are exposed, and to which our Court
is but too subject.
After the queen's return she continued to gently show her
aversion to the Savoie marriage ; and she also let it be seen
that she did not approve of the continuation of the love
the king appeared to feel for Mademoiselle Mancini; the
same scruple which had obliged her to oppose his inclina-
tion for Mademoiselle de La Motte made her disapprove of
this one ; and the quality of cardinal's niece did not prevent
her from expressing her sentiments with a certain freedom.
But that freedom had no effect, because the king's passion
had, up to this time, been protected by the minister. The
queen, as a matter of duty and conscience, which should
always be the rule of our actions, had an aversion for this
girl; personally she had great cause to complain of her,
because, contrary to the disapproval she had expressed of
her conduct, the king never came into her presence without
Mademoiselle Mancini She followed him everywhere, and
whispered in his ear in presence of even the queen herself,
unrestrained by the respect and the decorum which she
owed to her.
All these reasons obliged her to speak to the king ; but
1658-1659] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 171
he did not listen to her counsels with the docility he was
accustomed to show to her. At first he resisted, and even
showed some temper. We must not be surprised if, at his
age, sensual pleasures should endeavour to take possession
of his soul ; they are not accustomed to find Catos who will
have no commerce with them ; and it is easy to see that in
spite of the king's virtue, he was beginning to have more
inclination to follow Csesar's example than that of his moni-
tor. The king and queen continued, nevertheless, united in
heart; the solidity of their affection and their union was
not shaken ; but they did not look at things alike, and
Mademoiselle Mancini was not equally beloved by mother
and son. The king was seeking only his amusement, and
the queen thought only of what could be done to make him
lead the life of a true Christian, and put out of his heart all
that might hinder him from truly loving her niece the
infanta.
The aversion the queen had to Mademoiselle Mancini was
greatly increased by a speech which the uncle made to her.
He was the slave of ambition, capable of ingratitude, and
had an innate desire to prefer his own interests to those
of all others. His niece, intoxicated by her passion and
convinced of the power of her charms, had the presumption
to imagine that the king loved her enough to do all things
for her ; so that she let her uncle know that, on the terms
she was with the king, it was not impossible she might be
queen, provided he would contribute his influence to it.
The cardinal could not refuse himself the pleasure of test-
ing so fine an affair, and he one day spoke of it to the
queen ;' laughing at the folly of his niece, but in a manner
so ambiguous and embarrassed that he let the queen see
what he had in his soul clearly enough to make her answer
in these very words : " I do not believe, Monsieur le car-
172 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
dinal, that the king is capable of such baseness ; but if it
were possible that he should think of it, I warn you that all
France will revolt against you and against him ; and that I
will put myself at the head of the rebels to restrain my
son."
The result of this conversation has been bitter for this
generous mother, through the minister's resentment, which
he hid from all the world, but kept in his heart for the rest
of his life, and which produced, on innumerable occasions,
effects of which the cause was never known. The king
himself may never have known the extent of his minister's
ambition, which was veiled behind the ardour of the girl
and was more pardonable in her than in her uncle, and
could not displease him who saw himself so desperately
loved.
Pimentel came to Paris incognito to conclude his negotia-
tions with the minister. The queen saw him in private, and
the appearances of peace inspired joy in the hearts of all
Frenchmen. God, who so willed it, permitted the Queen of
Spam to give birth to a second son, which gave still stronger
hopes to the queen of being enabled soon to see her niece
the infanta become her daughter-in-law.
At the same time Don John of Austria, by command of
his father the King of Spain, 1 left Flanders, where he com-
manded the army, and returned to Spain. The king gave
him passports to go by way of France, and the cardinal sent
to welcome him on the frontier. Don John wrote in reply
to entreat that he might see the queen. The cardinal
seemed annoyed, and publicly reproved Millet, whom he
had sent to welcome him, for not having evaded the request.
The result was that the queen, who had previously expressed
1 He was the natural son of Philip IV., King of Spain, and an actress
named Maria Calderona. FR. ED.
1G58-1659] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 173
a great desire to see the prince, suddenly spoke coldly about
it; which the courtiers observed to correspond with the
annoyance of the minister, who tried to convince all specu-
lative minds that the alliance with Spain alarmed him, and
that he only entered it by force of events which compelled
him to do so, and out of gratitude to the queen.
What makes it probable that he did not desire it is that
he was, at the same time, holding out hopes to Madame de
Savoie, while he seemed to be the confidant of the queen in
her opposition to that marriage. He said one day to a
friend of his, speaking of this affair, that the aversion the
queen had to Princesse Marguerite embarrassed him ; that for
his own interests he did not wish for the infanta, because
she would not be grateful to him for marrying her to the
king, inasmuch as she considered herself so great that no
princess in Europe was her equal. And he added that he
feared if the infanta came to France she would follow the
example of the queen her aunt, who had hated Cardinal
Richelieu, and would make intrigues against him.
The queen determined finally to see Don John of Austria,
who came to Paris incognito to avoid all difficulty as to pre-
cedence. She received him at the Yal-de-Gr,ce, and felt no
doubt much joy in seeing one of her own blood. He came
vestido de camino, in a large gray coat and a waistcoat of
black velvet with silver buttons, in the French style. The
queen, who wished to see him in private, took no one with
her but Monsieur and a few ladies. I had the honour of
being among those who were thus favoured. I saw the
prince, who, bastard though he was, made himself every-
where respected. He was attended by persons of quality,
and the names of those who were in his suite were the
most illustrious in Spain. He seemed to us short, but well-
made ; his face was very agreeable, his hair black, his eyes
174 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
blue and full of fire ; his hands seemed to me very beautiful,
and his countenance intelligent.
After he had made his salutations to the queen she took
him into a corner of her room slightly apart from the rest.
There they remained together, standing, for three quarters
of an hour, or one hour. From there he went to lodge with
Cardinal Mazarin, who entertained him magnificently. The
crowd was great around him, every one rushing eagerly to
see him. The ladies of the Court were at his dinner and
supper ; but as he did not know their rank he only looked
at them all without speaking to them or asking them to sit
down ; but he answered gallantly and wittily all those who
said anything to him.
The queen made him come to the Louvre by a back
door and through her bath-room, which was beautiful ; she
wished to show him the king, whom he greatly desired to
see ; she having promised that he should pay his respects to
him in private. After he had been a short time with her
in her cabinet, the queen sent for the king, who entered for
a moment to show himself, and as several persons of rank
(in a crowd according to the French fashion) entered with
him, Don John, turning to the queen, said, " Madame, is
this the privacy of the king ? " He praised him much, and
said that if he were not a king by birth he deserved to be
one by election.
The archduke left Paris two days later, having seen
nothing of the city but the fair of Saint-Germain. The
queen was much satisfied, and we knew by the joy she felt
in seeing this prince how truly she loved those she ought
to love. It was Lent, and the queen was pained that he
ate meat the whole time, he and all his suite; she could
have desired that he were more exact and more obedient
to the commands of the Church; but as fish is scarce in
1658-1659] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 175
Madrid, Spaniards are not accustomed to keep fast-days, and
they do not correct that fault when they go elsewhere.
Holy Week following, a troop of young men went out
to Eoissy for the holy days, among them the Comte de
Vivonne, son-in-law of Madame de Mesmes (to whom the
house belonged), Mancini, the cardinal's nephew, Manicamp,
and several others. They were accused of having chosen
that time with sacrilegious intent to make debauches, the
least of which was the eating of meat on Good Friday ; they
were even accused of having committed certain impieties
unworthy not only of Christians, but of men of sense.
The queen, when informed of this affair showed great
resentment. She exiled the Abbe* Le Camus for merely
having intercourse with such dissolute persons ; although he
was not with them on the days when these things happened.
Cardinal Mazarin, to show that he did not protect the crime,
punished all the accomplices in the person of his nephew,
whom he dismissed from the Court and from his presence ;
then, after punishing one he pardoned the rest, who escaped
with the severe reprimands which the king gave them.
This action obliged the Court to praise the cardinal, not
only in his presence, but in all places. Though he had so
often preferred self-interest to fame, he appeared to show by
this conduct that he meant to give the rest of his life to
obtaining it. He saw himself at the pinnacle of grandeur,
and a sure grandeur; and he now wanted not only to
possess the great fortune he enjoyed, but to do some public
actions which should make men know that he was worthy
of it. The crimes of these young libertines gave him an
occasion to signalize himself. His family suffered some-
what; for his nephew, as I have said, was exiled, and his
niece's want of beauty was celebrated in a couplet which
had great vogue and was not to her glory.
176 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
Cardinal Mazarin now prepared to go to the frontier to
bring about the conclusion of the great work of the peace,
in which all Europe was interested ; and the prime-minister
of Spain, Don Louis de Haro, was to go there also. The
cardinal prepared for the journey with all the more satis-
faction, because it was accompanied with public benedic-
tions. It even seemed as if, forced to be wise and cautious
by the strong words the queen had said to him, he had taken
the course of sacrificing all his other desires to the honour
of contributing to so great a good.
The queen saw him start with joy, convinced that he had
driven from his mind all that could displease her. Never-
theless, she was not entirely content. The king's attach-
ment to his niece gave her pain, from the loftiness of her
souL She feared a result which would have been unworthy
of the king ; and she desired that the infanta, bringing to
him a pure heart that was wholly his, might not find his
heart already occupied by an affection in every way un-
worthy of him, and capable of rendering their marriage
unhappy, through the boldness that she knew existed in the
girl's disposition. Nor was she free of fear that an inclina-
tion, little becoming in a king, might carry him beyond his
own intentions. At this moment those intentions seemed
to be in keeping with what he owed to himself; but a
passion, however feeble, when fed and supported by another
stronger and more violent, might change them; and this
was what the queen apprehended.
These thoughts had never come to her in regard to the
Comtesse de Soissons ; but now she was greatly troubled by
this attachment. Her mind having admitted suspicions,
that were only too reasonable, of that which would ruin the
felicity of the infanta, whom she desired to make Queen of
France and happy, she expressed to the cardinal, then pre-
1658-1659] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 177
paring to start, all that she felt. She made him see her
desire to separate the king from one who held him bound in
chains which she thought shameful ; she wished to show to
the king the mirror presented to Einaldo, not only to draw
him from the spell of Armida, but to force him to fly from
so fatal a prison. She now confided in the fidelity the
cardinal was bound to have towards her ; it was from him-
self that she asked the remedy for this evil, although he
had seemed to have criminal intentions about it, and had
already failed her on many important points, usurping all
her power, and taking pleasure in annihilating it.
But, in the end, that heart, which was not good enough to
serve the queen as it should have done, was not wicked
enough to fail her in a matter she felt so keenly ; and it
may be said that the cardinal deserved great praises for
having, in spite of his passion for dominating and for grasp-
ing to himself the whole authority of both mother and son,
resolved finally to do a thing which was contrary to his
grandeur, for the sole reason that it was his duty to do it.
For although the advantages he might hope from his niece's
favour were not certain, and might even seem to him impos-
sible, it is but too well known that it is natural to man to
wish for more than he ought to wish for, and more agreeable
to hope for success in things above his strength than to
restrain himself by wise moderation on the turn of Fortune's
wheel, when he sees that one spoke more might lift him.
Here is one of the finest passages of the cardinal's life,
and one of the principal actions by which he repaid the in-
finite obligations which he was under to the queen. He now
entered with such good faith into her feelings that, in spite
of the ties of blood, and against his interests, he resolved to
remove his niece from all the places where the king could
meet her. The king, however, who had much tenderness
VOL. in. 12
178 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
for her, was so touched by her grief at being separated from
him, that there was a moment when passion carried him so
far as to propose, it was said, to Cardinal Mazarin to marry
her, rather than see her suffer for his sake. The minister,
knowing that the negotiations for peace and for marriage
with the infanta were too far advanced to be broken off,
took, without hesitation, the part of honour, by refusing
what the king asked hi an impulse of violent passion of
which he would soon have repented; probably he would
even have reproached the minister for not restraining him
when he saw the kingdom rising against him to prevent
him from dishonouring himself by so unworthy a marriage.
The cardinal answered, therefore, that having been chosen
by the late king his father, and since then by the queen his
mother, to assist in his councils, and having served him until
then with inviolable fidelity, he could not abuse the confi-
dence reposed in him to allow a thing so contrary to his
fame ; that he was master of his niece, and would stab her,
sooner than raise her by so great a treachery.
The king was finally compelled to consent to this harsh
separation, and to see Mademoiselle Mancini depart for
Brouage, which was the place selected for her exile. This
was not without shedding many tears with her ; but he did
not let himself yield to the words she could not refrain from
saying to him, "You weep, and yet you are the master."
It seemed as if the quality and merits of this girl were not
such as to cause so great a passion; but to this we may
answer that the young king was not the first to be caught
by charms unseen by others, for that which binds two
hearts are often ties invisible for which the stars must be
made responsible ; nor was he the only monarch to feel that
love makes lovers equal.
The evening preceding the day of Mademoiselle Man-
1658-1659] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 179
cini's departure, the king came to the queen in a state of
extreme depression. She drew him aside and spoke to
him for a long time ; then, as the sensibility of the heart
that loves needs solitude, the queen herself took a light
which stood on her table and passing from her chamber
into her bath-room, she asked the king to follow her. After
they had been about an hour together the king came out
with swollen eyes, and the queen followed him, so touched
by the state in which he was, and in which she was obliged
to put him, that it was easy to see that the king's suffering
cost her much. At that moment she did me the honour to
say to me in a low voice : " I pity the king ; he is loving
and reasonable both; but I have just told him that I am
certain he will one day thank me for the pain I give him,
and from what I see in him I do not doubt it."
The king and queen were both deserving of praise for
having on this occasion preserved their union uninjured, he
bearing generously the hard effects of her perfect affection,
she feeling the hurt she did with her own hand to the son
she loved so dearly. She now took pains to cure him by
her loving manners and her treatment, which was as free
from coaxing as it was far from harshness and want of
feeling.
The next day, which was June 22d, Mademoiselle Man-
cini departed, accompanied by Mademoiselle Hortense and
the little Marianna, her sisters; tears were many on both
sides, but particularly on hers. The king accompanied
her to her carriage, showing his grief publicly ; then he
came to take leave of the queen and started instantly for
Chantilly, where he went to spend several days and recover
his strength. He found it in his reason, in his sound nature,
and in a soul such as his, to which God had given the
loftiness necessary to a great king.
180 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEV1LLE. [CHAP. vi.
Q all the things that I have written, it will be seen
r some years the extreme authority the cardinal had
usurped in this kingdom had so absorbed legitimate author-
ity that the queen, in spite of the indifference of her soul
to the desire of governing, had felt, too late, that all that
she had done for him did not prevent him from seeking
to keep the king wholly to himself ; for on many occasions
she had known that he tried to destroy her in her son's
esteem, either by speaking to him seriously, or by jesting
remarks made in presence of herself/
Though the queen's kindness and the nobility of her heart
made her sufficiently blind to the cardinal's conduct to keep
her from suspecting him of malice, it is, nevertheless, certain
that she often felt hampered by the opposition that he
showed to her sentiments. This opposition prevented her
from acting fully and freely in the things she desired to do,
and in all those which concerned her personal satisfaction.
<r "*" *-*'
I During her regency, she had never cared for the power she
'gave to another, because she regarded it as subject to and
dependent on her own ; but, in spite of the indifference she
had shown for it too great in a person of her rank and
birth she could not now prevent herself from seeing that she
no longer had any influence, or from feeling pained by its loss._
When she recommended any action, either to the chancellor,
the superintendent of finances, or some other minister, she
saw plainly that she was not obeyed ; and if she urged its
execution they often answered that they must speak to the
cardinal ; so that she was forced to let those to whom she
spoke confidentially perceive that she was not satisfied with
the man who governed, although she none the less turned a
good face to him.
Her reason made her put up with his faults ; but she like-
wise did so because her judgment kept her from troubling her-
1658-1659] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 181
self about things that displeased her ; and habit, which had
great power over her, joined to many other reasons, rendered
her incapable of thinking of a change which might, as I said
before, make her still less happy. But as she had insight,
she knew the defects of her minister as clearly as she had
known his good qualities. She did me the honour to say to
me one day, when I had made her some complaint about the
cardinal, that he was getting so ill-humoured and so miserly
that she did not know how in future one could live with
him. She commanded me not to show him the vexation that
I felt towards him, saying that in the humour in which I
then was I might say something to displease him, and that
if he were angry with me it would embarrass her ; and there-
fore it were better that I should hold my tongue ; but she
undertook to speak to him herself about my business ; which
she did with much kindness.
My consolation was that I had brought the queen into
confidence with me against the behaviour of him of whom I
complained. It was a species of vengeance that I took upon
him, this making the queen, who had given him the favour
by which he now could do almost everything he chose, admit
his faults. But these last acts of his in connection with his
niece had power to heal in the heart of the queen the
wounds his past and daily unfaithfulness had given it. After
he had sent away his niece she visibly appeared to esteem
his conduct and his sentiments ; the satisfaction she derived
from this nattered her self-love ; it honoured the choice she
had made of him in years gone by ; she felt rewarded for the
constancy she had shown in maintaining him against the
people, the parliament, the princes, and his own private ene-
mies. She did not like praise, and would not allow that
which was now bestowed upon her for the peace and for
the removal of Mademoiselle Mancini, though she alone
182 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE, [CHAP. vi.
had brought them about, and instead of receiving it as her
due she passed it over to the minister. Nevertheless, she
had found strength to fight against him at the time when
she had seemed submissive to the grandeur which he derived
from her, and had compelled him, by her prudence and by a
conduct both firm and gentle, to execute her will.
While the king was at Chantilly the queen received a
letter from him by which she was deeply touched. That
same day, having gone to visit the apartments of the future
queen, I had the honour to attend her, and found myself
alone with her in the Salle des Antiques, where, after visit-
ing all the apartments in the Louvre, she sat down to rest
awhile. She then did me the honour to tell me what was in
the king's letter. I was kneeling beside her. I told her
that I had noticed that morning when she finished reading
it that tears were in her eyes. She acknowledged them, and
following her feelings, she said with enthusiasm : " The king
is good ! " then, repeating the same words, she said again :
" I assure you, the king is good ! "
She did me the honour to tell me what the letter con-
tamed. By it he showed that he estimated the resistance
she had made to him and knew its value. He told her he
felt the greatest impatience to see her and could not live
content without that happiness. He said he had received a
long letter from the cardinal in which he exhorted him to
read, to learn his great business of being a king; and he
was resolved to do so. In this the cardinal showed very
different sentiments to those of former times ; * but, the king
being now of an age to know good from evil, he may have
wished, out of policy, to seem high-minded in his eyes in
order to win his esteem, imagining at the same time that the
1 Louis XIV.'s own account of his childhood and education, as he related
it to Madame de Maintenon, tells a very different tale. TB.
1658-1659] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 183
king's laziness, which he thought much greater than it was,
would always get the better of his reason.
On this occasion I entered upon great topics with the
queen. She spoke to me again of the anxiety the king's
affection for Mademoiselle Mancini had given her and of
the pain that attachment caused her ; and she related to me
what had passed on this subject between the king and the
cardinal; but she seemed to me convinced that what the
king had said was an exaggeration of the pain he felt at an
exile of which he was the cause and was intended to console
her who suffered for his sake and whom he could not satisfy
by his protestations of keeping her forever in his heart, rather
than the expression of a hope to place her on the throne.
The queen gave the cardinal the praise he deserved for
having done his duty on this occasion. From that I passed
to the manner in which he had lived with her since the close
of the war and of her regency, which had not been accom-
panied by as much zeal, fidelity, respect, and duty as in the
days when his fortunes depended absolutely on her good-
will. I touched upon his defects, on his too great power, and
the abuse he made of it as regarded herself ; on which the
queen reasoned with me; and when I took the liberty of
saying that I could not forgive the cardinal for leaving so
little power to her who had given him all and preserved to
him the authority he possessed, she said to me : " He has a
legitimate excuse ; he knows I do not care for power." I
answered that for that very reason he ought to have taken
the more care to make her obeyed and respected. She
coloured at this, and looking at me fixedly said : " You are
right." Then, by changing the subject, she let me see that
such truths were painful to hear because she felt them only
too much. But knowing also that they were said from a
sentiment of affection and true fidelity, and through the per-
184 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vi.
feet confidence I had in her discretion, she was grateful to
me for them, and showed it with much kindness.
When the king and queen rejoined each other at Fon-
tainebleau they seemed to have the best understanding.
The queen was content with having done her duty; and
the king was sad to have lost what he loved ; but his grief,
restrained by his reason and his virtue, was dispelled little
by little, in spite of himself, by amusements and by busying
himself in ordering new uniforms for the occasion of his
marriage.
Some time later, their Majesties left Fontainebleau, in-
tending to rejoin the cardinal and conclude the great work
for which Europe so long had sighed, namely; peace be-
tween the two crowns, and the marriage of the king with
the infanta, the consequences of which might produce great
events in view of the King of Spain's misfortune in having
but two sons, lately born, who were both unhealthy. The
cardinal had sent his exiled nieces to La Eochelle and to
Brouage; and when the Court, on its way to Bordeaux,
approached the place where they were, the king desired to
see Mademoiselle Mancini in passing. The queen did not
oppose it; she let her come to, I think, Cognac. 1 I have
heard it said that this interview was full of feeling, and
tears were shed on both sides. Nevertheless, the king con-
tinued his journey, and the niece returned to her place of
exile.
Here ends the romance; for after this honourable inter-
view things changed, and the king found in the grandeur,
beauty, and virtue of the Infanta of Spain enough to console
him for the loss of Marie MancinL
The interview of the two greatest kings in the world,
1 The place was Saint-Jean-d'Angely, and the date August 13, 1659.
FB. ED.
1658-1659] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 185
which was now to take place on the frontiers of their States,
gave me a great desire to make that journey ; and even if
curiosity had not, on this occasion, been greater than my
laziness, the kindness with which the queen desired me to
make it, herself telling the Duchesse de Navailles (destined
to be lady of honour to the new queen) that it would give
her pleasure if she invited me, would have made me accept
the offer which the duchess made to take me with her. I
bound myself to this great journey, and we started a short
time after the Court. I followed Madame de Navailles to
Niort, of which she was governor. Our intention was to
go on at once and rejoin the queen at Bordeaux; but the
king's marriage being postponed until spring, the Court,
to pass the time agreeably, went to spend the winter in
Provence. As for me, who love repose, I did not wish to
expose myself to the fatigue of that journey, and I remained
with my friend, Madame de Navailles, with whom I spent
nearly seven months.
VII.
i66o.
DURING the stay that the king made in Provence, the
Due d'Orle'ans, who was still at Blois, died after a few days
illness. This prince deserved to be regretted as much for
his own good qualities as for being the son of King Henri-
le-Grand, whose memory should be ever dear to French-
men. We may believe that the duke's death was precious
before God, for it was preceded by a pious and Christian
life, attended with true contrition for his sins. He accom-
panied these virtues, like his brother Louis XIII., with
great firmness of soul, and he faced death without fear or
weakness. The repose he had enjoyed from the time he
retired to Blois had not contributed to his health; on the
contrary, he had aged and changed.
He was formerly the leader of all the factions and cabals
made in his name against Cardinal Eichelieu. That min-
ister often came near perishing as the result of the duke's
enterprises; but the kindly nature of the prince always
kept him from driving matters to a conclusion; he being
so mild that he would never consent to shed the blood of
his enemy, or do any act of violence.
His court was in those early days filled with many of the
great seigneurs of the kingdom, who all desired the honour
of belonging to him, because he was at that time presump-
tive heir of the crown; and his position was doubly raised
by the miserable condition to which his brother Louis XIII.
was reduced. But all this glory was passed. That which
1660] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 187
he acquired under the regency, of which I have given long
and ample description, was also gone; nothing remained
of it but the grievous memory of his vain thoughts and
his useless actions. Since the ill-success of his unfortu-
nate undertakings he had remained in the sort of disgrace
which counts men as dead before they really are so; but
it is to be presumed that he lived the life of the righteous,
and that his penitence and the alms he gave in his solitude
at Blois have won him a place in eternity that is worth
more than the worldly grandeur with which he was once
surrounded.
The king and queen mingled with the regret they felt
at his death the memory of things past, so that their mourn-
ing was not excessive. Mademoiselle was grieved, for the
loss of a father must always be felt; but the lawsuits she
had against him, and the little pains he had taken to marry
her, diminished her sorrow somewhat, so that the firmness
with which she bore it was less an effect of her virtue than
of her indifference. 1
Madame saw her loss, and it is to be supposed that she
felt it much ; but she was so fated to be counted for noth-
ing that her tears were not regarded. His other daughters,
Mesdemoiselles d'Orle'ans, d'Alenc,on, and de Valois were so
weary of living at Blois, and their youth had made them
so passionately desirous of going to Paris, that they consoled
themselves easily enough on seeing the end of their exile;
though apparently the death of the duke was the greatest
misfortune which could happen to them. He thought so
himself, for in his last moments, casting his eyes on his
1 Mademoiselle says in her Memoirs that the little Monsieur, Louis
XIV.'s brother, was, so the king told her, delighted at this death, which
gave him the right to wear a trained mantle. She herself had her apart-
ment refurnished in gray, and put all her servants into that colour. TR.
188 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAI-.VIL
family, he quoted in Latin to a father of the Oratory who
assisted him to die, a passage from Holy Scripture which
represented their desolation.
About this time the Prince de Cond returned to France.
He went to see the king in Provence, where the latter was
waiting until it was time to go and receive the infanta from
the hands of her father, the King of Spain, who was to bring
her to him. I was not then at Court ; and for that reason I
can say nothing personal of this interview. The two min-
isters [of France and Spam], who were at the frontier,
had long been occupied with the question of the reconcilia-
tion of the Prince de Conde". The cardinal wished to treat
him as an enemy who had made war against the king, and
did not desire that the protection of foreigners should obtain
for him the advantages he demanded. The foreigners, on
the other hand, wished to support him to the utmost ; Don
Louis de Haro would yield nothing on this point, and the
protection of the King of Spain was finally so favourable
that with it the prince was able to make the reconciliation
in the manner he desired.
He then returned, proudly, to throw himself at the feet
of the king, who, as I have since been told, received him
with much gentleness and gravity. The prince found the
king so lofty in every way that from the first moment he
approached him he comprehended, so it seemed, that it was
time to humble himself. The splendour of the king's youth
and that genius as sovereign and master which God had
given him, and which was now beginning to make itself
externally visible, convinced the Prince de Condd that what
remained of the past reign was about to be overthrown;
and, becoming wise and moderate through his own experi-
ence, he showed, in his sentiments and conduct, that he
had taken another spirit and new resolutions.
1660] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 189
After passing the winter at Niort, which was uncomfort-
able through the extreme cold we suffered there, we started,
Madame de Navailles and I with her, from that little town
directly after Easter (March 30, 1660). We went first to
Benac, a house of the Due de Navailles, situated at the
entrance to the Pyrenees. We waited there for the return
of the Court, which was to take the same route from Pro-
vence to go, as the two kings had arranged, to the frontier
to conclude the peace.
Benac is situated on a foot-hill at the entrance to the
lesser mountains, which, farther on, become very high ones.
It is not far from the plain of Bigorre, and is in full view
of the Pyrenees, the snowy summits of which are seen from
the windows of the chateau. It is not entirely deprived of
the advantages of a flat country, for the land about the Bigorre
is a rather agreeable valley. From this spot we enter the
heart of the mountainous region, whether by following the
trend of the valleys which are formed by these frightful
mountains, or by taking the high-road to Lourdes, which is a
fortified place about a league from Benac. It appears to have
been placed on the French side to defend the entrance and
exit against the Spaniards, in case they had the audacity to
attempt to enter France from their side. The Due de
Navailles has much property in this province ; he is seigneur
of the Lavedan, which contains seven valleys formed hi its
depths and full of castles and villages. I could easily, by
visiting these estates, satisfy the curiosity I had had to see
this region which Nature had formed in a manner so different
from that of others.
I had always imagined that the Pyrenees were barren and
uncultivated mountains, where no beauty could be seen but
that which fearful solitude joined to their immense height
might give them ; but I was amazed to find that the agree-
190 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vn.
able and the horrible made an admirable blending of the
different beauties of nature. From space to space among
these high and monstrous mountains are very beautiful
valleys ; and though these have not such vast extent as to
give the eye the pleasure of a distant view, they at least
have this advantage, that the eye can rest on a thousand
different objects agreeable to be seen.
Besides the natural beauty of the meadows, grain, and
flax, and vineyards, and all things necessary to life are
grown there. On one side rises a mountain, the summit of
which neighbours the sky and is covered with snow, while
clouds form themselves half-way up its height ; on the other
side are other mountains less high, the slopes of which are
cultivated and planted, like the hills around Paris ; others,
of the same height, are covered half-way down with verdure
and pasturage for cattle, and also, lower down, with grain.
Among them are some that are barren, with no adornment
other than frightful rocks which give, through a certain
horror which they inspire in the mind, a strong impression
of the power of Him who created all things. From these
mountains, and especially from the barren ones, many tor-
rents issue, falling over the summit of the rocks, flowing
among the loose black stones of which the rocks are formed,
and making beautiful cascades; the sound of which is
agreeable and surprising both.
In all these valleys are fine villages and country towns,
well populated. The churches are well served and there
are many priests. The people are, nevertheless, surly ; the
severity of the climate makes them cruel ; but they do not
fail to be devout in their way; on all the roads we met
with many chapels and images of Our Lady. Their lan-
guage is a corrupt Spanish which is difficult to understand.
The peasants are all tall, handsome, and well-clothed.
1660] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 191
They formerly earned pistols and daggers; but lately M.
de Tarbes, their bishop, forbade them to wear them because
they killed one another so often and fought among them-
selves so many battles.
On a little trip which we made to see the beauties of this
region, we dined at Joncala, a handsome country-town, a
dependency of the vicomte de Lavedan ; there we ate good
meat, but particularly the best butter in the world. The
houses are fine ; built of a native stone which seems to have
the nature of marble ; they say that it is marble, but in the
rough. Whatever it is, it is handsome and makes their
houses very neat; they are fitted with wood inside, and
roofed with slate; for these barren mountains are full of
slate mines, and it is got from the black rocks which make
those mountains so frightful.
From Joncala we went to sleep at Bossein, an old castle
belonging to the Due de Navailles, built at the summit of
a semi-mountain. I think it must formerly have been the
habitation of Urgande la deconnue. It is a nearly inacces-
sible rock ; the top of which forms a large, square terrace,
which serves as a courtyard to the castle, whence is seen
one of the most beautiful and fertile plains in the whole
region ; it is more than half a league in breadth, and more
than a league long. The Gave flows through the middle of
this plain and, issuing as it does from the heart of the
mountains, its current is very rapid through the beautiful
valley. This valley is surrounded by the highest mountains
of this region. There is one which, being very straight and
very high from base to peak, is a little separated from the
others ; it is called the Pic du Midi. It is not farther from
the windows of the castle than the Pont-Neuf is from the
Louvre.
From this same point six large county towns can be seen
192 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vn.
below, or on the foot-hills of the mountains. In one of
them is an abbey of importance, with a large revenue, well
built, the monks of which lead an exemplary life ; it is
called Saint-Seurin. The Gave waters the fields of this
plain and makes them beautiful; everywhere are well-
planted orchards, the fruit of which, we were told, is excel-
lent. The entrance to this valley can be closed by an iron
chain, like the famous Vega of Granada in former times.
It is entered by a narrow way between the mountains.
Among these mountains there are also three other entrances
or roads to Spain, which could easily be closed. They are
not more than four leagues distant from Aragon.
After satisfying our curiosity as to the beauty of the
Pyrenees, we left Benac May 2, to go to Bayonne, where
the Court had already arrived. We passed through Pau,
which I desired to see; and the respect I have for the
memory of Henri IV. made me visit the castle with care,
and particularly the chamber in which he was born. We
arrived at Bayonne May 5. The queen had the kindness to
see us with some joy, and not without great wonder at my
arriving at last in a region so far from my own, and also at
the triumph I had won over my laziness. The Court did
not delay, but started immediately for Saint-Jean-de-Luz,
where we arrived on the 8th of May. 1
Nothing was talked of but the beauty of the place chosen
for the interview of the two kings, and called the " place of
the conference." Since the preceding year the cardinal and
Don Louis de Haro had conferred there on the peace, the
terms of which had been discussed and drawn up between
1 It was on this journey and during the time that the Court stayed at
Saint-Jean-de-Luz that Mademoiselle began with Madame de Motteville
a correspondence on the subject of " desert solitudes, and the happiness
of the life that can be led there," which correspondence lasted two years.
See the Memoirs of Mademoiselle ; year 1660. FR. ED.
1660] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 193
them. At that time a very handsome building had been
erected on the little island called the lie des Faisans, in
the middle of the river Bidassoa, with two galleries alike ;
one leading towards France, the other towards Spain. They
entered, one on each side, into a large cabinet, where the
ministers had met in council. But now this building was
destined to receive the two greatest kings of Europe. It
had been enlarged and embellished, and it attracted the
curiosity of both nations. Monsieur and Mademoiselle went
to see it, May 17 ; I had the honour to attend them and
truly this cabinet was the most charming place in the world.
The King of Spain had arrived at Saint Sebastian. Many
Frenchmen went there to see him dine, and all declared
that the Court of this king was very solitary, but that the
infanta was beautiful. The king questioned with curi-
osity those who returned, and the queen's inquiries never
ceased. All the Spaniards who came over to Saint-Jean-de-
Luz to see our Court were well-received, and the French
well-treated on the other side; but as the number of the
latter was great and their impetuosity excessive, there were
days when the King of Spain, whose own grandees dared not
approach him when he dined, was almost smothered by the
visitors, and his table was nearly upset.
Meantime the king's marriage was advancing, and, in spite
of the false prophets who threatened evil and predicted it
would never take place, it seemed likely to be a thing
accomplished within a very few days. The kings, however,
were employed in settling the confines of their kingdoms;
on which there was some difference on account of certain
regions which had never yet been inhabited.
The king sent often for news of the infanta. She replied
with a few words of compliment to the king, but sent to the
queen her aunt very tender messages. The Bishop of Fre*jus
VOL. in. l :?
194 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. VIL
told me that having gone to see the King of Spam at Saint
Sebastian, as witness, on the king's side, to the marriage, he
carried a letter from the king to the infanta, written as
though she were actually betrothed to him. Not finding
matters quite in that state, the King of Spain deferring his
consent until certain differences were settled which had not
been decided in the treaty of peace, the Bishop of Fre'jus
dared not present the letter to her to whom it was written.
He told the King of Spain that he had it, and that he pas-
sionately desired to give it to the infanta. The king told
him to keep it ; that it was not yet time to give it. But the
bishop, wishing at any rate to show it to the infanta, in
order to let her feel the king's impatience, held it hidden
in his hand on the day he had his audience with her, and
on delivering the compliments of the king and queen he
said, " But, madame, I have a secret to tell you." At the
word " secret " she cast her eyes slyly around her to see if
her camarera-mayor and the duennas were listening, after
which she let the bishop speak.
He then said to her, letting her see the letter, that the
king his master, thinking himself more fortunate than he
was, had written her this letter; but that the king her
father had commanded him not to give it to her. To which
she answered, in a low voice, " I cannot receive it without
my father's permission; but he tells me that everything
will soon be arranged." On being pressed to say something
in reply for the king, she said, " What I say for the queen
my aunt may be understood for the king." The Comte de
Saint- Aignan, two days before she left Saint Sebastian to
come to Fontarabia to be married, having been sent to visit
her on the part of the king and queen, she said to him, of
her own impulse, after making her compliment to the queen
her aunt, " And to the king also."
1660] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 195
The Bishop of Frdjus had previously been sent from Avi-
gnon to the King of Spain, and had carried to the infanta a
letter in which the queen had the joy of giving the name of
daughter for the first time to her niece. I found this letter
afterwards among the papers of the young queen; having
fallen into my hands I copied it, and now place it here, for it
seems to me that it ought to be precious to those who revere
the memory of the great princess who wrote it, and that they
will, in part, share the joy she then felt. I copied it from
the original in Spanish, and this is the translation :
" MADAME, MY DAUGHTER AND NIECE, Your Majesty
can easily believe the satisfaction and joy with which I
write, in giving to you the name which I have desired all
my life to give you. God, in his infinite goodness, has
granted me this favour. Nothing remains for me to wish
except to see the happy day I have so longed for, when I
can say to your Majesty hi another manner than by written
words how much love and tenderness I feel for you. I will
say no more now ; I rely on what the Bishop of Fre'jus will
say to your Majesty on my part, and on that of another
person whom I will not name. I pray Our Lord, my dear
daughter, that he will guard you for me as I desire and
that is not a little.
ANNE,
Good mother and aunt of your Majesty.
AVIGNON, March 24, 1660.
On the 19th of May news was received at Saint- Jean-de-
Luz which was very agreeable to the king and queen,
namely : the re-establishment of the King of England in his
kingdom. Monk had served him well, and had brought
back to him both the parliament and the army. For a long
196 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vn.
time the people, detesting tyranny, sighed for the legitimate
rule of their king; so that finally the parliament sent a
deputation to the prince, who was then in Flanders, to re-
quest him to return to his country, and to say to him that
they desired for the future, through repentance and fidelity,
to atone for their criminal revolt.
On that same day the king went to visit the place of the
conference which still continued between the cardinal and
Don Louis de Haro for the purpose of settling the confines
of the two kingdoms. He wished to go himself and see how
his troops were to be placed on the day of the interview
between the queen and the infanta after she became queen,
on which occasion he intended to see her. Many Spanish
grandees, especially the son of Don Louis de Haro, were
present, who admired the king, and showed their satisfaction
by the excessive praises they gave him.
There were great delays on the part of the Spaniards as to
certain villages which they demanded from France. These
quibblings disgusted the two kings, and vexed the Court.
Murmurs were heard on both sides, and it was whispered
about at Saint-Jean-de-Luz that the marriage might still be
broken off. Nevertheless, it appeared, from what happened"
at Lyon, that God had ordained it ; and it was, in truth, by
divine orders that we obtained that great princess for our
queen. The negotiations of the ministers came at last to an
end that was honourable to the king ; for, Cardinal Mazarin
having held firm, the King of Spam sent him word that he
took him for umpire, and requested him to settle the dispute
as he thought just.
Le Tellier brought this news to the king and queen on the
day of the feast of the Holy Sacrament, while their Majesties
were at high mass in the parish church of Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
It gave great joy to the whole Court, for everybody longed
1660] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 197
to get back to Paris ; and as the disputed points were not of
great consequence, the minister was praised for finding a way
to relinquish with honour some small portion of what Spain
demanded. Further conferences on the subject between the
ministers and a few trips to and fro of the subaltern nego-
tiators took place, and then everything was arranged. The
divisions were made, a good deal to the advantage of the
king ; the day was appointed for the marriage ; and the in-
terviews between the King of Spain, the queen, and the
infanta, and that of the two kings, were fully arranged.
Wednesday, June 2, the King of Spain left Saint Sebastian
and came to Fontarabia for the marriage, which was to take
place on the morrow, June 3d. Don Louis de Haro, the
Spanish minister, was to marry the infanta in the name of
the king, and the Bishop of Fre'jus was appointed as the
king's witness. I wished to go and see this ceremony and
the Court of Spain. I was not alone in this curiosity ; many
persons, men as much as women, shared it. Mademoiselle
wished to go incognito ; and she did me the honour to wish
to take me with her. Having engaged to go with others I
could not do so , but I joined her at Fontarabia.
When we arrived on the banks of the Andaye we found
boats which the King of Spain had sent, knowing that ladies
were to be of the party. These boats were covered outside
with stuffs of brilliant colours, and inside with crimson
damask, spangled with gold and silver, and curtains of the
same. In the boats were benches and seats richly trimmed.
Carriages of the King of Spain awaited us on the opposite
bank of the river at the foot of the walls of Fontarabia, in
which we were driven to the house of Pimentel, who was an
acquaintance of the persons (Mesdames Colbert and de
Lyonne) with whom I was. There they immediately brought
us chocolate and biscuits, the great Spanish refreshment.
198 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vn.
This house was in the chief square, and during the little
repast I busied myself in gazing at everything before me ; I
am inquisitive, and I like to take notice of things I have
never before known.
First I saw a great quantity of the king's liveries ; those
of the grandees were also hi reasonable numbers, but without
gold lace; which was not improving to them. We saw
several of the grandees themselves pass the house, who,
besides their footmen in livery, were attended by pages of
the king who followed them. "We were told that several had
pages whom the king maintained for them ; some more, some
less, according to their rank and dignity. From Pimentel's
house we were taken to the church, where we found Guards
drawn up in line, without anything to do; because there
were not enough courtiers at the Spanish court to make a
pressure ; 1 it is to be remarked, however, that their expenses
on a journey are defrayed by the king, and therefore no one
follows him unless by his orders. This custom deprives his
court of bustle and splendour ; but in itself it has grandeur.
Never have I been at the slightest ceremony with such
ease. To tell the truth, I was astonished to find in this
place, on so famous a day, such great solitude. We stationed
ourselves in the choir close to the steps of the high altar,
whence we could see the courtine of the king ; that is to say,
the place where he sits to hear mass, which is something like
a bed with curtains all round it. The curtain before him is
drawn so that he can hear the service, and on ordinary occa-
sions he is not visible. This courtine is placed on the right
of the choir, the floor of which was covered with a large
1 Mademoiselle says : " The church had a great portico, with a few
guards at the door. Everything is so well-regulated in Spain that no one
presses to go where he ought not to be ; so there is never any trouble."
See Memoirs. FE. ED.
1660] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVTLLE. 199
Turkish carpet. Beside the courtine was a large bench, also
covered with carpet, which was placed at one corner of the
courtine and formed a square for the grandees of Spain.
Mademoiselle arrived shortly after me, and sat with the
rest of us ; but as it was known that she was coming, some
persons, and even the priests who were waiting to perform
the ceremony, asked me which she was. These priests
occupied the time in talking to me. I could speak Spanish
to them ; they replied ; and I even venture to say that they
spoke to me in terms that were rather too gallant for priests ;
but the corrupted tone of that country wills it so. At the
end of half an hour, or perhaps three quarters, the King of
Spam arrived with the infanta, whom he led by his left
hand. They were not followed by many persons or a great
pageant ; the King of Spain has few guards, and the noise of
drums and trumpets does not accompany him, as it does our
king. They both entered the courtine ; the infanta on the
left of the king her father.
From the first moment that I saw the princess I thought
her beautiful ; and the King of Spain seemed to me to have
the countenance of a man full of kindness. The curtain of
the courtine on the side towards us was left open ; and it was
thought that this was done to favour Mademoiselle, whom
the king looked at often. The grandees placed themselves
on the bench prepared for them ; Don Louis de Haro being
next to the curtain of the courtine, then the Due de Medina
de las Torres, the Marquis de Mondejar, and others.
Mass began at once, and was said low, without any cere-
mony, by the Bishop of Pampeluna. We noticed that even
the ornaments were villanous. Without counting a large
number of French persons who filled the church, our great
seigneurs, who had placed themselves in the choir, stood on
the steps of the altar, beside which were seated the Bishops
200 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vn.
of Fre'jus and Comminges of the Choiseul family. We ladies
were on our knees on the carpet directly opposite to the king
and the infanta.
Mass having been said, the Bishop of Pampeluna, being
arrayed in his pontifical vestments, approached the courtine ;
Don Louis and the Bishop approaching also ; and the infanta,
having slightly advanced, the proxy deed of the king our
master was read aloud, and the bishop immediately married
them. When it became necessary that the princess should
say the " yes " so important to us, she made a deep curtsey
to the king her father, and then pronounced it modestly.
The second time she said it a little louder ; and, the ceremony
being completely finished, she knelt before her father, who
kissed her tenderly and raised her with tears in his eyes ;
which brought them also into ours.
The infanta-queen was small, but well-made. 1 We admired
the most dazzling whiteness of complexion ever seen, and all
her person was the same. Her blue eyes seemed to us fine ;
they charmed us with their sweetness and brilliancy. We
praised the beauty of her mouth and lips, which were rather
full and fascinating. The outline of her face was long, but
the lower part being rounded pleased us; and her cheeks,
rather fat, but handsome, had their share of praise. Her hair
was that silvery blond which suits so perfectly the beautiful
colours of her complexion. To tell the truth, with greater
height of figure and finer teeth she would have deserved to
be ranked among the handsomest women in Europe, and I
thought she resembled closely the portrait my brother had
given me of her. Her bust seemed to us well made, and
sufficiently plump; but her clothing was horrible.
Neither the style nor the fashion of it charmed our eyes.
1 See her portrait by Velasquez in the " Memoirs of Madame," volume
yii. of this Historical Series. TR.
1660] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 201
For my part, whether in France or elsewhere, I think that
I readily perceive what is bad or good. Just as I thought
the dress of Frenchmen ridiculous, with huge bow-knots of
ribbon on their legs, and found much to say against their
little doublets which covered neither their bodies nor their
stomachs, so the garments and the coiffure of the Spanish
women gave me pain in looking at them. Their shoulders
and busts were not covered with anything firm, and their
neck-gear was open behind. With the exception of the
infanta, I did not see one woman among those who attended
her who was not lean and dark. Consequently, it actually
nauseated me to see their shoulders thus uncovered. Their
little sleeves were slashed in the worst style; they wore
scarcely any linen, and their laces seemed to us ugly,
their hanging sleeves were devoid of grace, and their guard-
infanta (hoop), was a semi-round and monstrous machine,
which seemed to be made of several barrel hoops sewn
inside their petticoats ; except that ordinary hoops are round,
while their guard-infantas were flattened a little before and
behind, and projected wider at the sides. When they
walked, this machine moved up and down, giving them a
most ugly appearance.
Their finest coiffure was broad, and of false hair; their
foreheads, too much uncovered and without curls, had no
charm. Some wore their hair knotted behind, with locks
tied here and there by ribbons, which are ugly in Spain.
This latter style of hair-dressing, being the simplest and
most natural, was also the most agreeable.
The infanta-queen wore her hair dressed in the grand
style on the day of her marriage. Her gown was white, of
a rather ugly stuff embroidered with talc, silver being for-
bidden in Spam. She wore precious stones set in a great
deal of gold. Her beautiful hair was hidden by a sort of
202 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DI MOTTEVILLE. [CHAJ-. TII.
white cap around her head, which was more fitted to dis-
figure than adorn her; nevertheless, in spite of her gar-
ments, we perceived her beauty an infallible mark of its
greatness.
From there we went to see her dine, with a very eager
desire to be close to her. When she left her room to come
into that where her table was set, they invited us to
approach her and kiss her hand. The Duchesse d'Uzes,
who was of our troop, was the first to do so; then Madame
de Lyonne, then I, as chance had placed me next to her ;
the others followed in like manner. She then sat down to
table and was served by her ladies and pages.
As in saluting her I had spoken Spanish, she paused at
me, and did me the honour to answer all the questions that
I put to her. Her own hair was not visible ; she wore what
they call in Spanish monos, meaning false hair. I asked her
to let me see her own; she showed it to me, and I had
reason to be certain of its beauty. While she was at table
she commanded me to approach and converse with her. I
passed behind her chair ; and as her ladies, out of respect, did
not approach her, I told her that as she was now our queen
she must accustom herself to endure our importunities.
Mademoiselle, who had gone to see the King of Spam eat
his dinner, now came back ; and as she leaned upon me, I
was their interpreter. Our new queen, knowing it was
Mademoiselle, who did not wish to be recognized, gave her
several smiles, and answered very agreeably all that we
said to her. On leaving table, she came up to Mademoiselle
and said, making signs to kiss her, " I must embrace this
unknown lady." She made her enter her chamber, where
were two hassocks, one of which she ordered given to
Mademoiselle, treating her as a queen, all the while pre-
tending, however, not to know her. In this she followed
1660] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 203
the order of the king her father, who had sent her word to
behave in this manner, because in the interval between the
entrance of the princess and her return to her chamber she
had sent to inquire of the king how she should treat her.
If Mademoiselle could then have remembered her own
ardent desires for the crown of France she might have felt
some bitterness; but she was not given to reflection, and
time, which effaces everything, having had power to change
her feelings, she returned quite content from Fontarabia.
As for us, we thought, after seeing the infanta-queen, that
we ought to return thanks to God for having given her
to us. She resembled the queen her aunt, although her
colouring was different.
The Court of Spain seemed to us deserted compared with
the numerous company of persons of rank who fill and con-
fuse that of our king. What I saw of it, however, which
was but little, seemed to me magnificent. The grandees do
not wear clothes as much embroidered as those of French-
men; but on then" plain and simple stuffs they all had
splendid jewels, which distinguished them from common
people, and gave them a fine appearance. Their clothes
had grace, although their breeches were too narrow, just as
those of Frenchmen looked deformed by their width.
After we had seen the new queen married and had paid
her our court, Pimentel gave us a good dinner. Others
were entertained by Don Louis de Haro : and after our
French troops had been well fed we all returned to Saint-
Jean-de-Luz to tell the queen that we had found the queen
her niece equal to her wishes. We made her portrait, and
our picture increased the impatience that she felt to see
her.
The next day the queen was to satisfy this desire, attended
only by her lady of honour, as was resolved between the
204 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vn.
king, herself, the King of Spain, and the infanta-queen, in
order to enjoy in peace the pleasure of meeting once more
in the course of their lives. Monsieur, whose rank could
not embarrass them and whose person was dear to them,
alone accompanied her. The king was to show himself on
horseback to the infanta-queen through the windows of the
room in which she received the queen; but his impatience
changed this first intention.
So, on the 4th of June, the queen went to see the king
her brother and the queen her niece for the first time;
she was attended by only the Comtesse de Flex and the
Comtesse de Noailles; in fact, the latter had some trouble
in obtaining leave to go. The two kings were to see each
other but once, ceremoniously, and this was to be on the
day when peace was solemnly declared; but, as I have
said, this plan was not followed because the king, as was
natural, desired to see the infanta-queen more closely ; and
the following is how the matter was arranged.
The queen arrived at the conference before her brother
the King of Spain, who was detained at Fontarabia by the
visit of the Due de Cre'qui, despatched by the king to
carry to our young queen, not the crown jewels, but those
the king sent her as a wedding present, which were very
fine. The King of Spain having arrived, he and the queen
embraced each other, the king more gravely than the queen ;
for she wished to kiss him, but he drew his head so far
back that she could not touch it. The queen her niece,
threw herself on her knees before her, and tried a long
time to take her hand, but did not obtain it; instead of
giving her hand, the queen embraced her as tenderly as we
can well judge from the ardent desires of her heart for this
happiness which she now possessed.
Monsieur then approached the King of Spain, and paid
1660] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 205
him his compliment. The king told him he was delighted
to see his Highness ; and the young queen and he paid each
other compliments. Cardinal Mazarin was received by the
King of Spain with many praises to him personally on his
fine qualities, and with assurances of the esteem his Majesty
had always felt for him, which he concluded by saying that
to him Europe owed the peace.
Don Louis brought a chair for the king his master ; and
at the same moment Madame de Flex brought one for the
queen. The two then sat down upon the line which, in
the hall of conference, separates the two kingdoms. The
camarera mayor (lady of honour) brought a hassock from
the Spanish side, for the young queen her mistress, who
then sat down beside the king her father. Monsieur placed
himself on a folding-stool beside the queen his mother.
Their conversation was kind, tender, and eager on the part
of the queen, but too grave on that of the king her brother,
and she seemed to us on her return more content with his
good intentions as to friendship than with his expression
of it.
They talked of the war ; and on the queen lamenting its
duration, the king said, " Alas ! madame, the devil made
it." He said, at another time, "As things are now, we
shall soon have grandchildren ; " to which the queen replied,
" So I hope ; but I ask your permission to wish for a son
to the king rather than a wife for the prince my nephew."
Finally they talked of all those things likely to come into
the minds of a brother and sister who had not seen each
other for forty-five years.
The queen said further, on the topic of the war: "I
believe your Majesty will pardon me for having been so
good a Frenchwoman ; I owed it to the king my son, and
to France." To which the king replied: "I esteem you
206 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vn.
for it. The queen, my wife, did the same ; for, though she
was French, she had nothing in her soul but the interest
of my kingdoms and the desire to please me." This great
king then related to his sister the love he had for the
queen his present wife; he said that she had beauty and
was good, and that he had a great desire to see her again.
Nor did he forget to praise the noble qualities of the
deceased queen, his first wife, daughter of France, whose
memory was held in veneration throughout his States. 1
Cardinal Mazarin, who had amused himself by talking
with Don Louis de Haro, now interrupted the conversation
by approaching their Majesties and saying that an unknown
person was at the door and asked to have it opened. The
queen, with the consent of the king her brother, ordered
him to allow the stranger to be seen. The cardinal and
Don Louis, putting the door half-open, enabled the king
to see the infanta-queen ; but as it was also necessary that
she should see him, they took pains not to hide him. They
had not much trouble in pointing him out to one whose eyes
were so interested in gazing at his Majesty's handsome face,
because his fine figure made him a whole head taller than
the two ministers. The queen coloured on seeing the appear-
ance of the king her son ; and the young queen blushed still
more in considering him attentively. The King of Spain
also looked at him and smiled, saying to the queen his sister
that he had a Undo hierno a handsome son-in-law.
The queen then said, in Spanish, that she would like to
ask the queen what she thought of this unknown person;
on which the king replied, "It is not the time to tell it."
" And when may she tell it ? " asked the queen in Spanish.
1 Madame Elisabeth of France, daughter of Henri IV. Her beautiful
portrait by Rubens will be found in the Brantome yolume of the present
Historical Series of Memoirs. TR.
1660] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 207
" When she has passed that door," replied the king. On
which Monsieur said in a low voice to the young queen,
"What does your Majesty think about that door?" She
answered at once, with a sprightly air and laughing, " That
door seems to me very handsome and very good."
After the king had looked at the infanta he retired, and
went to post himself on the bank of the river to see her
embark. He said to the Prince de Conti and to M. de
Turenne, as he went away, that at first the ugliness of the
infanta's clothes and head-dress had surprised him ; but, on
looking at her attentively he saw that she had much beauty,
and was well assured that it would be easy for him to love
her. The crowd which the Spanish grandees made around
the king in their eagerness to see him, and their admiration
for his person were quite extraordinary. They bore him
along, and pressed upon him ; and the guards of the King
of Spain, mingling with his own guards, taking the same
posture, gave him a thousand benedictions. In short, never
was there an interview of kings like unto this one. Let
us hope that it may have better results than those that
formerly took place between our kings and the kings of
Spain and England.
The young queen wished to thank the queen for the
presents the Due de Cre'qui had brought her that morning
from the king, but the queen replied : " No, no, my daughter ;
you must not speak to me concerning those presents, for they
all came from the king."
When the queen and the King of Spain were ready to part,
both these royal personages found themselves abandoned by
their respective courts ; all the Frenchmen had gone to the
bank of the river to see the King of Spain and the young
queen enter their boat, which was perfectly beautiful ; and
all the Spaniards had followed our king to see him and
208 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vn.
salute the queen, our worthy mistress, whose hands were
nearly worn off by dint of being kissed. Great and small,
grandees and common persons, they all kissed her with in-
credible joy. There was a certain Count Pugnoenrostro,
formerly her page, who came near devouring her hand. The
queen told us, on her return, that she thought she never
should have drawn her hand from his, so tightly did he
hold it.
The king, while the queen his mother was receiving the
salutations of those of her nation, having seen the infanta-
queen embark, galloped along the river bank following the
boat in which she was, hat in hand, with a very gallant air.
He would have ridden as far as Fontarabia but for the
marshes which hindered him from passing. The King of
Spain, on leaving the conference, whether it was that he did
not see the king or that he pretended not to see him, did not
lift his hat, which he had not worn during his interview
with the queen ; but when he saw the king galloping along
the river bank in the attitude of a lover and attended as a
king of France should be, he put himself at the window of
his boat and bowed very low as long as he could see him.
I heard afterwards from Donna Molina, the infanta's first
waiting-woman, whom she brought with her to France, that
she had asked the infanta-queen on her return if the king
were well-made and if he pleased her, to which the young
queen replied : " If he pleased me ? why, certainly he is a
very handsome young man, and he made a most gallant
cavalcade." The king had in fact ridden out with no heed
to the fact that he rode uncovered in presence of a king to
whom he was not accustomed to pay civilities without re-
ceiving greater, or at any rate equal ones ; but at this moment
his grandeur gave way to gallantry, and the splendour of his
purple yielded for once to the sparkling of his love.
^
1
1660] MEMOIKS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 209
We heard afterwards, both from the queen and from
Donna Maria Molina, that the King of Spain, shortly before
the wedding, having had the marriage contract read before
him and before the grandees of his court, said aloud, on
hearing the article of the renunciations : " That is nonsense ;
if the prince, my son, fails to succeed, my daughter will
inherit of right." May God preserve the present Prince of
Spain, now living ! But if Spain were to lose him, it is to be
believed, after the above declaration, that legitimate right,
the king's merits, his power, his noble qualities so vaunted by
the Spaniards at this interview, and the love the whole nation
bears to their infanta, may perhaps give to Frenchmen the
advantage of commanding all Europe; at any rate, by the
acknowledgment of the King of Spain himself, it would be
just if it were so.
On Sunday, June 6, the peace was sworn to with all pos-
sible solemnity ; the two kings met at the conference, each
having the grandees of his kingdom with him. On the side
of our king the princesses and duchesses were also present.
The kings took the oath at a table, each placing his hand on
the Gospels and kneeling down. After this important action
they embraced, saying that they wished also to swear an
eternal friendship.
The next day the king and queen, followed by many men
but no women except the lady of honour and the lady-in-
waiting, went to fetch into France the infanta-queen. After
the two kings, the two queens, and Monsieur had been a long
time together, they separated, with many tears. The King of
Spain and his daughter parted with evident sorrow, and the
queen his sister showed by her tenderness that she felt the
force of blood. The king and Monsieur, when embracing
the King of Spain as their uncle, wept, and were moved at
seeing the young queen in such extreme affliction. Three
VOL. III. 14
210 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. VH.
times she knelt before her father and asked his blessing, and
the King of Spain wept when he quitted her.
The grandees of Spain also showed great tenderness to
their infanta, our young queen, and returned to her often to
kiss her hands and her gown; all of which she received
gravely. Finally, she was put into a carriage, embroidered
in gold and silver, and driven to Saint-Jean-de-Luz, attended
by the Gardes, the light-horse, the gendarmes, the musket-
eers, and three companies of the regiment of the Gardes.
The whole Court were on horseback, all very magnificently
attired.
The young queen was taken to the apartments of the
queen her aunt, where all the princesses were awaiting
her with a fine company. She wore a robe of cherry-
coloured satin, embroidered in silver and gold, and a few
precious stones set after the fashion of her country, that is
to say, in a great deal of gold. The queen, who from that
day took the name of queen-mother, sent the queen, her
niece and daughter, into her chamber to be unlaced, and then
retired herself into her own room to do likewise. As every
one was excluded from the little house which now contained
so many royal personages, and as all men at the request of
the young queen were dismissed, even the captain of the
guards and the ushers, the two queens being both undressed,
the king went to visit the queen to beg her to go to bed.
He told her that her supper should be served to her in bed ;
but she preferred to go and sup with him and with the queen
his mother. He then took her, himself alone, by the hand
and led her to see his mother, whom she found almost en
chemise. On entering she threw herself into her arms and
kissed her tenderly, polling her sometimes aunt, sometimes
mother.
This worthy mother, enchanted to enjoy such happiness,
1660] MEMOIKS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 211
after kissing the young princess with great pleasure, gave
her a folding seat, the only one then in her room. She
looked at her with eyes full of joy, and praising her beauty
made the king, who was no doubt extremely satisfied with
it himself, take notice of it. The young queen, seeing that
the king stood beside her, made room for him on her own
seat, in a tender manner and yet with some embarrassment ;
but he, with a sentiment that might pass for gallantry, did
not take it, but continued to stand beside her. The infanta-
queen was charming thus in half-dress ; for the guard-infanta
was so monstrous a thing that when the Spanish women did
not wear it they looked far better.
The two queens remained alone with the king. Monsieur
was there also, but no other witnesses except a few waiting-
women and myself. They supped with as much familiarity
as if they had been together all their lives. The queen-
mother was very tender to the young princess, who, treating
her as a mother, kissed her hand several times. After
supper, the king took the queen back to her own chamber,
where she was attended only by the Comtesse del Priego,
lady of honour.
The King of Spain, on the other hand, was depressed with
sadness at the separation from his daughter. When he
reached Fontarabia he threw himself upon his bed and said
to those about him : " I return half -dead ; for, to see my
daughter weep it was her duty, and my sister's also;
but to see those two young men hanging to my neck and
crying like children has so moved me that I can bear no
more."
Thus ended this celebrated day, with equal satisfaction
on both sides ; which was confirmed by the assurance the
queen gave to the queen her aunt that she had never had
any inclination for the emperor. She asked the king for
212 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. TIL
a courier by whom to write a letter to her father ; and did
not close her letter after writing it until she had sent it to
the king, begging him to read it. She thus let him know by
this first action how disposed she was to live on the best
terms with him, and to give him even more than he could
wish. But, as all good things here below are mingled with
some troubles, I heard afterwards, that the queen did not
sleep all night, but that many times she said, sighing, to
her waiting-woman, who slept beside her : Ay, Molina, mi
padre " Alas ! Molina, my father ! " She wept for the
father who loved her so tenderly, and whom, according to
all appearances, she was never to see again ; but, after all,
the king's presence had enough charm for her to sweeten
this bitterness.
The next day she rested. The king went to see her in
the morning and was some time with her ; then they went
to hear mass at the Eecollets. The queen was shown her
clothes, linen, toilets, and all the things necessary for the
wedding, which had been put together in reserve for this
occasion ; after which their majesties dined together. After
the repast the queen-mother went to see the cardinal, who
was ill, and the young queen went to the Comedy. That
evening they tried on her French clothes, and put her for
the first time into a petticoat-body, which the Duchesse
de Navailles (appointed that day as her lady of honour) fas-
tened upon her. At first it incommoded her, but she bore
it with gentleness and patience. The king was with her
quite a long time that evening in her chamber ; and though,
up to this time, he had pretended to be ignorant of the
Spanish language, it appeared on this occasion that he knew
it perfectly well. The queen went to bed early to prepare
herself for the morrow, on which the final ceremonies of
the marriage were to take place.
1660] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 213
The young queen woke in the morning, June 9th, and the
Duchesse de Navailles, who had the honour of dressing her,
fulfilled on this occasion the duties of lady of honour and
lady-in-waiting. She had some trouble in making the closed
crown hold firmly on the queen's head, which was dressed
with her own hair solely. There were no means of fastening
it, except to tie it, in the Spanish fashion, with ribbons at the
bottom fastened to those which bound the head, a style
of coiffure different from that she wore on the day of the
wedding at Fontarabia, but quite elegant. She wore the
royal robes dotted with little golden fleurs-de-lis, a fine
costume. Besides the honour conveyed in wearing it, it is
certainly more becoming than any other. It consists of a
petticoat-body and sleeves, with a petticoat of the same,
scattered over with golden fleurs-de-lis. Over this was the
royal mantle, fastened to the upper part of the petticoat-
body, and falling to the ground, with a very long train, the
end of which was cut round.
The king wore a black costume, and no jewels. They
went together to the church along an open gallery a little
higher than the street, which had been built for the purpose,
from the house of the queen-mother to the church. There
the queen was placed beside the king under a high dais of
violet velvet, sown with gold fleurs-de-lis ; the platform,
that is to say, the carpet, chairs, and hassocks, were of the
same, the whole covered with golden fleurs-de-lis.
When the king and queen were placed under the mar-
riage canopy, and the time had come to make them kiss the
pax, it was Cardinal Mazarin who gave it to them, and who
then bore it to the queen-mother, his true benefactress and
mistress. She was placed to the right of the king, on a
high platform separated from his and covered with black
velvet, under a dais of the same, and surrounded by the
214 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. TIL
chief officers and grandees of her Court. The Comtesse de
Flex, her lady of honour, bore her train.
On the face of this great queen we could easily recognize
the inward joy of her soul; which made her so beautiful
that at fifty-nine years of age she could almost have dis-
puted the palm of beauty with the queen her niece ; who,
in truth, did not possess a beauty as perfect as that of the
queen her aunt at her age. The queen-mother had finer
features, she was taller, her bearing was nobler, with far
more majesty, and her face was of handsomer form. She
surpassed her also in the admirable beauty of her hands
and arms ; but the young queen had a more beautiful com-
plexion, the lovely colours of which embellished her ; she
resembled the queen-mother, as I have already said, in a
certain air, and slightly in the shape of the face. This
happy mother, on returning from the ceremony, did us the
honour to tell us, the Comtesse de Flex and me, that the
thought had come into her mind on seeing the queen ad-
vance to make her offering in the royal robes and crown,
that that head, alone in all the world was of sufficient
dignity to wear that crown.
The king, the two queens, and Monsieur dined together.
The young queen, on leaving the church had lam down to
rest awhile ; then she rose and dressed herself in a costume
of white cloth of silver made in. the French fashion. She
then went up to the apartment of the queen-mother ; they
were together for some time in private in her little cham-
ber, no one being present but the Comtesse de Flex, the
Duchesse de Navailles, Madame de Noailles, the Comtesse
del Priego, and myself. The queens after this went out, to
show themselves a little to the public, and to watch the
king, who took pleasure in flinging to the populace the
money which had been struck, as usual, for the occasion.
16S9J MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 215
After a time they all, that is, the king, the two queens,
Monsieur, and Cardinal Mazarin, retired to the little cham-
ber of the queen-mother. They sat there in the alcove of
the bed and talked of indifferent matters.
When it was dark the young queen left the house of the
queen-mother and went to that of the king, conducted by
him and accompanied by the queen-mother and Monsieur.
I do not know who was at the king's house, for I was not
there. Their Majesties supped in public, without more
ceremony than usual, and immediately afterwards the king
desired to go to bed. The queen said to the queen her
aunt, with tears in her eyes, Es tnuy temprano "It is
too soon," which was the only moment of annoyance she
had shown since her arrival, and which her modesty now
forced her to feel ; but finally, on their telling her that the
king was undressed, she sat down on two hassocks beside
her bed to do likewise, without placing herself at her toilet-
table. She wished to gratify the king, even in what shocked
in some degree the modesty that had made her dismiss all
men from her room, even her personal officers. She then
undressed without making any difficulty, and on being told
that the king awaited her she said these very words : Presto,
presto! qu'el Rey m'espera "Quick, quick ! the king expects
me." After an obedience so exact, which we may suspect
to have been mingled with passion, they went to bed, with
the blessing of the queen their mother.
It seemed as if God had shed His favour upon this mar-
riage; for the king showed the greatest tenderness for the
queen, and she for him. She told him she had no will but
his, and that she had quitted the king her father, whom
she loved tenderly, her country, and all that had ever been
offered to her, to give herself wholly to him ; that she did it
with all her heart, but she entreated him to grant her in
216 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vn.
return the favour of allowing her to be always with him,
and that he would never propose to leave her, because it
would be to her the greatest pain she could receive. The
king granted this request so willingly that he at once com-
manded the grand-master of the household never to separate
the queen and himself, no matter how small the house,
might be.
The queen-mother, who knew the king her son to be
rather cold and grave, owned to us that she .had felt great
fear lest the indifference which she imagined to be in the
king's soul should prove injurious to this niece she had so
ardently desired to make him marry. But after she had seen
him act with her as he did during the first days she was in
France, she happily lost that fear, for she saw him then as
open to affection in regard to the queen as she could pos-
sibly have desired. She had only, she said, to ask of God
a continuance of this happiness. We must hope for it ; but
the sorry experience every one has of the instability of the
happiness of mankind, gave her reason to apprehend what
happens so frequently in life.
Soon after the marriage, she did us the honour to tell us,
the Comtesse de Flex and me, speaking of the satisfaction
and contentment of the king, that he had thanked her for
having taken out of his heart Mademoiselle Mancini
(whom he owned he did not at all esteem in the matter of
good sense and reason) to give him the infanta, who would,
apparently, render him happy as much by her beauty as by
her virtue, her compliance, and the affection which she
showed for him.
The young queen told us herself, later, what she had felt
for the king from her childhood. She did us, Madame de
Navailles and me, the honour to tell us one evening that
she had always regarded the king as destined to be her
1660] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 217
husband ; that not only had she loved the king, but she
had even loved his portraits; that the queen her mother,
daughter of France, had often told her that to be happy she
must be Queen of France; and that she wished to see her
wear that crown, or else a veil. In the love she now felt
for the king we soon saw her "pass all bounds and reach
her happy end." Nor need we wonder; the cause of her
passion was a noble one ; and her innocence giving her the
power to let it be seen, such as she felt it, she took pleasure
in publishing it, and in having, by the reciprocal love the
king then showed her, a just ground for glorying in its
excess.
VIII.
1660 1661.
IT was at this time that the King of England returned to
his States. On landing, this young king, who had merit,
and whom the experience of much suffering had made an
honest man, received Monk, who had worthily served him,
with great marks of gratitude. He knighted him on the
spot and embraced him ; the Duke of York, his next brother,
put on the Garter, and the Duke of Gloucester, his youngest
brother, the sword. Shortly after, the king made his entry
into London, where he was received with transports of joy,
such as past tyranny and true repentance must inspire in
a people on recovering a legitimate and amiable king who
seems to them full of good qualities.
The Court travelled day and night to reach Bordeaux on
its way to Paris. There was nothing remarkable in this
stage of the journey except that at Eochefort we had a great
earthquake, the adventures attending which served only to
amuse the public. On the 23d of June, the Eve of Saint
John, the king, the queens, Cardinal Mazarin, the princesses
and duchesses, and all persons of rank and known merit got
into a boat at Langon, and all the Court in other covered
barges. After proceeding two leagues, the aldermen of Bor-
deaux brought for the king a large and beautiful boat, in
which the king, the queens, the cardinal, the princesses, and
all persons of rank placed themselves. It was magnificently
lined throughout with crimson velvet and gold lace ; a table
1660-1661] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLB. 219
in the middle was covered with the same, also a chair of
velvet with silver lace for the queen-mother. The upper
end of the boat was closed with a balustrade, like a cabinet
raised one step, where their Majesties placed themselves.
This balustrade was gilt, and adorned with emblems, initials,
paintings, and devices. The floor of the boat was carpeted,
and all around it were benches covered in crimson velvet
with silver fringes, which served as seats for the ladies. A
gilded balustrade ran round the boat, forming a gallery on
the outside, enriched with devices in Latin decorated in the
same way.
The cabin, which took up nearly the whole boat, was
large ; it had several great windows, and the roof was a
high dome lined with crimson damask with trimmings of
silver and gold. The boat was drawn by four large flat-
boats shaped like galleys, which were blue and scattered
over with gold crowns and initials, and the boatmen who
rowed them were dressed in blue taffeta with gold and silver
trimmings. Many other boats followed this one, and a number
of persons from Bordeaux came in more boats to see the king
pass.
He was saluted on his arrival with firing of cannon and
shouts of the people who filled the quay, which looked like
an amphitheatre made for a gala, because the ground of the
quay slopes upward from the river. Violins accompanied
the king's boat; the sound of trumpets and the roar of
cannon mingled with the music. The king and the queens
took pleasure in it ; and the fine effect of so many things
combined would, as I think, have made this entry beautiful
and agreeable if the heat, which was excessive throughout
the day, had allowed us to enjoy it more comfortably. The
king played cards during the trip, and the Abbe* de Gorde
lost fifty thousand crowns in one hour.
220 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP, vin
After three days spent at Bordeaux, we came on (Sunday,
27th) in the same boat to sleep at Blaye. After that we
drove to Poitiers, a large and ugly town, and thence to
Eichelieu, the famous name of which answers for the beauty
of the place. From there we came to Amboise, then to
Blois and Chambord. From Chambord to sleep at Orleans,
where the entrance was fine ; all the streets were draped
and the people testified the utmost joy in again seeing their
king. Their late rebellion ought to have made them trem-
ble at the sight of their true master ; but their repentance
and their supplications drew to them the effects of his royal
kindness in the forgetting of their faults, for as he had just
given peace to all Europe he would not leave upon this
beautiful city any signs of his indignation. We finally
arrived at Fontainebleau, July the 13th.
After remaining about a week at Fontainebleau, the
queen-mother came to Paris, and the cardinal also. The
king and queen stopped at Vincennes while preparations
were being made for their entrance into Paris. The car-
dinal, whose health was now bad, had the gout, which
struck in, as they say, in consequence of baths he had been
made to take because he also had the gravel. This sup-
pressed gout caused him great suffering in the bowels, which
gave him fever and convulsions that caused fears for his
life. One day, the king, who often came to Paris, asked his
advice on some affair, to which he replied, " Sire, you are
seeking counsel of a man who has no longer any mind, and
who raves." The king, knowing that he did in truth have
moments of delirium, was touched with such grief that he
went away into a little gallery adjoining the cardinal's apart-
ment, and wept there for the man who had served him as
guardian, governor, and minister in one. He had never
known all his faults, and the recent services he had ren-
1660-1661] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 221
dered him showed the king his capacity and his right
intentions.
All the sovereign courts went to pay their respects to the
minister, with sentiments very contrary to those they had
shown in the past. Parliament deputed a president, two
counsellors of the grand-chamber, and one from each cham-
ber of inquests, to thank him for the peace he had just con-
cluded, an honour which until then had never been done
to any minister or favourite. This assembly had recently set
a price upon his head ; but on this occasion their harangues
were full of laudation ; and they testified the utmost vener-
ation for him, without shame for their past injustice or their
present fickleness.
The cardinal was no doubt sensible of this glory, for in
truth it was great ; but, in order to lessen it, God put him
in a state, by the near approach of death, to experience in
himself that the blessings of this life are never perfect. He
answered all according as it was right for him to feel ; and
he spoke to them eloquently. A few days later he felt
better, and this amendment gave hopes that his ailment
would be nothing.
At the beginning of September the entrance of the king
and queen into Paris took place ; until this celebrated day
they had lived at Vincennes. I shall say little about it, and
refer these details to those who assume to inform the public.
It was, however, a fine thing and very agreeable to witness.
The queen was in a triumphal car, more beautiful than that
which is fabulously given to the sun ; and her hair might
have won the prize of beauty from that of the god of day.
Her Majesty was dressed in a black robe embroidered in
gold and silver, with quantities of precious stones of in-
estimable value. The colour of her silvery hair and the
rose and white of her complexion, which harmonized with
222 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vin.
the blue of her eyes, gave her extreme brilliancy, and her
beauty seemed extraordinary. The people were enchanted
in seeing her ; transported with joy and love, they gave her
thousands and thousands of benedictions.
The king was such as poets represent the men they deify.
His costume was an embroidery of gold and silver, as beau-
tiful as it should be in view of the dignity of him who wore
it. He was mounted on a horse that was fit to show him to
his subjects, and was followed by a large number of princes
and the greatest seigneurs of his kingdom. The grandeur
that was seen in his person made him the admired of all,
and the peace he had just given to France, with the beauti-
ful princess he gave to Frenchmen as their queen, revived in
the hearts of his people their zeal and their fidelity ; and all
who looked upon him on this great day esteemed themselves
happy in having him for king and master. The queen-
mother witnessed the passing of the king and queen from a
balcony in the rue Saint-Antoine, and her joy can easily be
imagined from all that I have written on this subject. The
Queen of England, and the princess her daughter were with
her.
The queen-mother, after marrying the king to the one her
heart had always desired, now wished to think of Monsieur,
and, as a good mother, to choose for him what seemed to her
best and most precious in Europe. This was the Princess of
England (Henrietta Anne) whom she had always tenderly
loved, and whom she would have chosen for queen in default
of the infanta. She therefore made the king resolve upon
the marriage, and to bring it to a conclusion she herself
went to ask the young princess of the queen her mother.
She obtained her easily, for Monsieur was worthy of being
joyfully received by the greatest princesses of Europe. The
Duke of York, second brother of the princess, did not make
1660-1661] MEMOIES OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 223
so good a match for himself ; for about this time he married
a young lady, daughter of the Earl of Clarendon, lord-
chancellor of England, in the suite of the Princess Koyal, his
sister, now the widow of the Prince of Orange. The Queen of
England had just lost her third son, the Duke of Gloucester,
who, by the reputation he had already acquired, seemed
likely to prove a great prince ; and her affliction was doubly
increased by the fault of the Duke of York in choosing so
low an alliance which was not suitable for him. After
granting her daughter to Monsieur a few days before the
feast of All-Saints, she started for England to pay a visit to
the king her son, and take measures with him for their com-
mon interests. Her intention was to propose to him a mar-
riage with Hortense Mancini, niece of Cardinal Mazarin,
without other foundation for this scheme than the complais-
ance which Lord Germaine and Lord Montague desired to
show to Cardinal Mazarin. They alleged, as a reason, that
the re-establishment of the King of England among the
people was insecure; that parliament still seemed to have
factions; and that the army was not wholly submissive to
his will. They therefore thought that a large sum of money
would be necessary to pay off the troops, dismiss them, and
buy up what remained of factious persons in the kingdom.
The Queen of England, on arriving in London, found all
things so well arranged, the armies so obedient, the parlia-
ment so submissive, that the proposal of a marriage with
Hortense could not be agreeable to the heart of the king her
son. 1 The necessity for the five millions promised by the
cardinal whenever they were wanted, no longer pressed him
1 Mademoiselle asserts in her Memoirs that Madame de Motteville was
charged at this time by the Queen of England to propose to her the King
of England as her husband; she says that she did not take the matter
very seriously, and refused it, to Madame de Motteville's great dis-
content. FK. ED.
224 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vm.
to demand or accept them. That is why the marriage pro-
posed to him ceased to be desirable ; the army disbanded of
itself by the mere force of his will ; and the parliament was
ready to do whatever he desired. The cardinal was no doubt
vexed at this change ; but it may be said to his credit that
he had, apparently, so little sought the proposed honour, and
had shown such ostentatious indifference to the matter, and
to the urgency of the English lords, that neither envy, hatred,
nor malice could find sufficient ground on which to make
him a reproach. His wisdom and his moderation seemed on
still another occasion almost as advantageous to him, for the
Due de Savoie having offered to marry one of his nieces pro-
vided he would cede to him the fortress of Pignerol, the
cardinal refused, and said to the Due de Navailles, as the
duchess told me, that he wanted to marry his nieces only to
establish his glory, and that such treachery to the king for
the sake of his own interests would bring him shame.
The lord-chancellor of England, unlike Cardinal Mazarin,
asked permission of the Queen of England to appear before
her to pay his respects. She sent him word that she was
willing, provided he did not speak to her of his daughter.
But the king her son, who had promised to support the
marriage out of the affection he felt for the chancellor,
urged the queen his mother so strongly that, conquered at
last by the force he put upon her, and by the advice of
several English lords, the Earl of St. Albans, and the Abbe*
Montague, she consented to the marriage. She pardoned
her son, and received the Duchess of York as her daughter.
The lords thought that she ought to do so, as much for
the sake of her own affairs and to obtain the considerable
revenue the king gave her, as to benefit themselves, particu-
larly the Earl of St. Albans, the minister of her Majesty.
The latter made himself the friend of the lord-chancellor,
1660-1661J MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 225
after holding back for some time and playing the part of
an honest man, which is, not to yield without difficulty.
Lord Montague had no desires for fortune in England; his
attachments were in France, through the friendship the
queen-mother felt for him ; moreover, one may say of him
that in all things in all countries his true piety made him
disinterested.
Early in the following year (1661) the cardinal again
fell ill of a languishing disease. It seemed as though the
gouty humour rose from the legs to the stomach and re-
mained there, causing suffocations which were thought for
a long time to be hysterical. The doctors purged him
frequently; and as he always improved under purgation
it became known in that way, spite of their dissimulation,
that the trouble was humour, and that the humour came
from a bad source. The state in which he was did not
prevent him from thinking of his treasures ; and whenever
he had moments of reprieve he was often seen to be busy
in weighing the pistoles which he won at cards, in order
to stake the lightest of them on the morrow. 1
1 See the Memoirs of the Comte de Brienne, secretary of State under
Louis XIII. " One day," he says, " I was walking through the new
apartments of his palace (I mean the great gallery which runs along the
side on the rue Richelieu and leads to his library) ; I was in the small
gallery, where there is a tapestry all in wool representing Scipio, executed
from designs of Guilio Romano. I heard him coming by the noise of his
slippers, which he dragged along like a very languishing man just out of
a long illness. I hid behind the tapestry and I heard him say, ' I must
quit all this ! ' He stopped at every step, for he was very feeble ; turn-
ing to this side and to that, and casting his eyes on the objects that
struck his sight, he said, from the depths of his heart, ' I must leave
all this ! ' Then, turning again, he added : ' And that, too ! What
trouble I had to get these things ! how can I abandon them without
regret ? I shall never see them more where I am going ! ' I heard
those words very distinctly; they touched me perhaps more than he
himself was touched. I gave a great sigh, which I could not repress,
and he heard me. ' Who is there ? ' he said, ' who is there ? ' ' It is
VOL. in. 15
226 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vm.
The cardinal's avarice was such that the young queen
had no money. All the expenses of her household were
paid by Colbert, a creature of the cardinal, who economized
on everything. The young princess had no money for
cards; for they did not pay her more than the thousand
crowns a month, awarded from time immemorial to the
queens of France for their minor pleasures and charities.
But as cards were the fashion and the queen liked to play
sometimes, that sum was not sufficient; for, being liable
to lose a great deal in one day, it often happened that her
money came to an end, so that she had nothing with which
to give alms or to pay for her pleasures.
It was customary, in the days of the late king, to give the
queen-mother on New Year's day twelve thousand crowns,
but the young queen was given only ten thousand francs;
which annoyed her because the queen-mother had told
her she was herself accustomed to receive twelve thousand
crowns. This difference displeased the queen, and she
complained of it to the Duchesse de Navailles. That lady,
thinking to do the cardinal a service, warned him of this,
I, monseigneur, who am waiting to speak to your Eminence.' 'Come
here, come here,' he said in a mournful tone. He was naked in his
camlet dressing-gown, furred with squirrel-skin, and had his night-cap
on his head. He said to me, ' Give me your hand, I am very weak ; I
can't bear much more.' 'Your Eminence ought to sit down,' and I
wanted to give him a chair. 'No, no,' he said, 'I am glad to walk
about; I have business in my library.' I gave him my arm and he
leaned upon it. He would not let me speak of public matters. ' I am
no longer,' he said, ' in a state to hear them ; speak to the king, and
do what he says; I have other things in my head now.' Then, return-
ing to his thoughts, ' See, my friend,' he said, ' that beautiful picture
of Correggio, and that Venus of Titian, and that incomparable Deluge
of Annibale Carracci, for I know you love pictures and understand them ;
ah ! my poor friend, I must quit all that ! Adieu, dear pictures I have
loved so well, and which cost so much ! ' " Montglat, in describing his
end, says : " He showed no fear of death, but an incomprehensible attach-
ment to money to his last breath." TK.
1660-1661] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 227
and advised him to treat her mistress better ; she told him
also that the young queen was sensitive, and knew both
the good and the evil that was done to her. To which the
cardinal replied that the queen would have money when
it pleased him to give it to her ; but he did not promise to
give her any. He seemed angry with the queen-mother for
wishing that the twelve thousand crowns I have mentioned
should be given to the queen, and said with emphasis,
" Alas ! if she knew where that money comes from, and
that it is the blood of the people, she would not be so
liberal with it." He, who staked every day three or four
thousand pistoles, who had all the money of Trance in
his coffers, who let his niece, the Comtesse de Soissons,
gamble away immense sums daily, he, who pillaged every-
thing, who allowed the greatest robberies to be committed
on the French people, he, I say, who was found, after his
death, to have filled with untold treasure all the places
under his rule and also those of his friends, he had the
hardihood to reproach his benefactress, the mother of his
king, the mother of France and of the poor, because she
wished the twelve thousand crowns given to her by the
late king, her husband, to be given to the new queen ! In
this, we can see what his tyranny, his hardness, and his
ingratitude were in things about which he acted out his
nature.
On Sunday, February 6, the gallery of the Louvre, called
the Galerie des Hois, caught fire and was almost entirely
burned, together with an adjoining salon which had just
been built. The king was compelled by this accident to
go to Saint-Germain for some days to allow the Louvre to
be cleaned.
On Friday, February 11, the cardinal, who was then at
Vincennes, felt himself in a bad state. He sent the Due
228 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vm.
de Navailles to the king to tell him he was very ill and
desired to see him. The king wept before the duke and
told him that he was losing much; that if the cardinal
could have lived four or five years longer he would have
left him capable of governing the kingdom; but that now
he should be embarrassed, not knowing whom to trust;
and that his greatest desire was to manage his affairs for
himself. This news of the cardinal's illness brought the
whole Court back to Paris, and the king went at once to
Vincennes. The queen-mother joined him there, and was
served by the officers of the young queen, as she did not
take her own with her. That same day, llth, they gave
the cardinal an emetic towards evening, which greatly re-
lieved him ; for that reason they gave him another on the
13th, from which he was better for a day or two, on account
of the great evacuation ; but immediately after he fell back
into the same troubles.
The Queen of England arrived in Paris on the 20th of
February, and was well received by the king and the queen,
who went as far as Saint-Denis to meet her, with all the
grandeur and attendance of the kings of France.
On the 22d the king and queen-mother, who were at Vin-
cennes, went to see the cardinal. They found him much
worse that day and more oppressed. He spoke of his death
and said very touching things. The king and queen-mother
were with him two hours, and came away weeping and much
affected. At the end of February he again grew worse;
and not knowing how to dispose of all his innumerable
treasures, he married his niece, Marie Mancini, who had
returned to Court, to the Conne'table Colonna [Prince Lorenzo
Colonna] with a dot of a hundred thousand francs a year from
Italian funds, and his beautiful house in Eome, which he
bequeathed to her. The king, after her return, lived with
1660-1661] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 229
her with more signs of indifference than of passion. Some
persons said that he had a few moments of tenderness which
threatened to relight his early flame ; but I am ignorant of
this, and can say nothing about it.
The cardinal also married Hortense Mancini to the Grand-
master, the son of the Mare*chal de La Meilleraye, making
him heir to his property and obliging him to give up his own
name of La Porte, which was fairly honourable, to take that
of Mazarin with enormous estates and establishments. For
a long time the Grand-master had been in love with Made-
moiselle Hortense, and had refused to marry the Comtesse de
Soissons, hoping to get her younger sister ; but the cardinal
kept the latter, who was beautiful, for kings or at least for
sovereign princes. Until now he had shown aversion to let-
ting the Grand-master marry her, seeming not to esteem him
personally ; but now that death, taking him by the throat,
did not give him time to accomplish, in the nieces who
remained to marry, the grandeur of his hopes, he was fain to
take the Grand-master as a pis-aller. The latter was already
very rich, for his father through the favour he had had with
Cardinal Eichelieu, his relation, had much property and
many dignities. He seemed fortunate in being led by fate to
the enjoyment of this great inheritance ; but it is not being
really fortunate to be too rich.
On the 3d of March, the second day of Lent, I went to
Vincennes. Cardinal Mazarin, who had been better for a
day or two, was so ill that morning that he was obliged to
receive the holy viaticum. The queen-mother was awakened
by this news. She had heard him groaning in the night,
because he was lodged on the other side of her chamber, and
his illness was of a nature to suffocate him continually.
The king held a council that morning before the queen-
mother was awake, and he came soon after to render her an
230 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vrn.
account of what had taken place. On the same day she did
me the honour to tell me that Le Tellier, Fouquet, and de
Lyonne were destined, not to govern, but to serve the king.
She spoke to me of Mare'chal de Villeroy as a man who
loved the State and had capacity, but who was weak. She
believed, however, that he would be of the council which
did not happen. She seemed to me convinced that Le
Tellier was an able man in his office, an honourable man, but
not capable of the first place. She did me the honour to
remark that she believed the attorney-general, Fouquet, be-
ing capable, though a great thief, would be master of the
others. As for de Lyonne, she showed me that she intended,
if she could, to remove him from the council after the death
of the minister.
The cardinal, who was superintendent of the household of
the queen-mother, begged her to allow him to give that office
to his niece the Princesse de Conti. The Comtesse de Flex,
her lady-of-honour, was vexed at this, but the queen-mother
remedied the trouble, for, in order to soften the mortification
of seeing a lady placed above her, she gave a patent as
duchess to her mother Madame de Senece", with reversion to
herself and her heirs male, a very unusual favour, but one
which the queen asked urgently of the king as a thing she
desired eagerly.
On the 3d of March, public forty-hour prayers were
ordered to be put up for the cardinal in all the churches of
Paris, which is usually not done for any but kings. The
queen now believed she was pregnant, and this was a conso-
lation to the king which easily cured the grief he felt for the
state in which he saw the cardinal, whom he greatly loved.
It was his first attachment ; childhood had set its seal on
this affection.
The princess-palatine sent the minister, under compulsion
1660-1661] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 231
and to her great regret, the resignation of her office of super-
intendent of the household of the young queen, which he
then gave to the Comtesse de Soissons, wishing, before he
died, to put his two nieces in these offices, which are fine.
He left the Grand-master (husband of Hortense Mancini)
his governments, his palace fully furnished in Paris, and
incalculable sums in money ; besides which, he had married
his nieces the Princesse de Conti, the Duchess of Modena,
the Comtesse de Soissons, and the Princess Colonna, and had
given them each a large dot. He also left two hundred thou-
sand crowns to the little Marianna, the last of his nieces, and
the government of Auvergne to whoever married her. 1 As
for his nephew, Mancini, although he disinherited him, not
thinking him worthy to bear his name, this discredited
nephew received the principality or duchy of Ferretti in
Italy, the duchy of Nevers in France, with a part of his
house and much other property. He gave to each of his
Mercosur grand-nephews great revenues and benefices ; and
to all his friends governments, bishoprics, and money. He
re-established the Due de Lorraine in his States, in part
recompense for what he had refused him ; and each of his
recommendations, or laudations made the destiny of the
greatest seigneurs of the kingdom. He made his will and
signed it March 6th, and as he had received the viaticum
he seemed to wish to give the rest of his time to his
salvation.
On Thursday, March 3, which was the day on which he
received the communion, the queen-mother said to me, in
presence of the king, that the cardinal was then very small
1 The Due de Bouillon married her ; she had much taste for poesy ;
and in after years was the friend and protectress of La Fontaine ; but
being compromised, with the Comtesse de Soissons, in the Voisin trial she
was exiled from France. TR.
232 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vm.
before God; that his feelings of humility were great, and
that she hoped that God would have pity on him. There
are two things which it is difficult to think of as compatible,
Christian humility with love for the good things of earth
and for that grandeur which made him dispose of a whole
kingdom as he pleased. He gave away all offices that were
then vacant, and many that were not his. It is true that
he did this with the king's consent, and no doubt this
encouraged him to believe that he could take all and give
all with impunity to his own family. The excuse itself
was not, however, legitimate ; it was abusing, in a manner,
the feelings that habit had formed in the heart of the
king towards him in order to take from him his power, his
finances, the right of bestowing offices, governments, abbeys,
bishoprics, and, in general, almost everything that was in
his gift.
Cardinal Mazarin was suspected of not having much
religion. His youth was dishonoured by the bad reputa-
tion which he had in Italy; and, as I have already said
in speaking of him, he had never shown enough reverence
for the sacred mysteries. His life, morally well regulated,
seemed not to have as its rule of conduct the gospel
maxims. It could have been wished for his sake that the
last years of his life, when he did virtuous actions, had been
ruled entirely by the desire of salvation. But God alone
knows what is in man, and laudable appearances ought
nearly always to oblige us to believe the good we see in
others to be sincere ; because we cannot discern the thoughts
and feelings of which we unjustly seek to be the judges.
The minister showed much firmness and tranquillity of
mind in his last days. He worked with Le Tellier on the
affairs of the State. On the 4th and 6th he even made
despatches for Rome, which he signed. On the 7th, the
1660-1661] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 233
day on which, he received the extreme unction, after taking
leave of the king, the queen-mother, and Monsieur, whom
he entreated not to take the trouble to come and see him
again, he gave the king eighteen large diamonds, a very
tine diamond to the queen-mother, a bouquet of diamonds
to the young queen, and several emeralds of immense size
to Monsieur. He gave a diamond to the Prince de Conde",
with many praises and great signs of friendship, and one
to the Mare'chal de Turenne, and appointed as his succes-
sors in the ministry those I have already named.
He received the extreme unction in his chair, answered
for himself, and thanked those who administered it. He
sent for his servants, and let them all see him; having
had his beard trimmed, and being clean and agreeable-
looking in a flame-coloured gown, with his cardinal's cap
on his head, like a man who braved death. He spoke to
them in a very Christian manner, asked their pardon with
many signs of humility, and confessed that one of his crimes
before God had been the anger and roughness he had shown
to them. He told them what he had left for them, and did
all this in a gentle, kindly manner. Then he embraced his
friends and made them compliments. In the midst of this
occupation he was seized with faintness and said, " I am
weakening ; give me some pomegranate water." After tak-
ing it he said, "I revive," and continued talking to those
about him. He occupied the rest of the day in acts of faith
and contrition : which he did in a devout, firm, and tranquil
manner. He signed his will ; and he also signed, towards
night, despatches on the king's service, and though he
seemed to wish to think of God only, as long as he could
speak and hear he ordered all that seemed to him useful to
the State.
The king and the queen-mother sent again to ask him
234 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vni.
what lie desired should be done after his death, and it
seemed ^as^ if his words were to be oracles to guide the
future. | There was, undoubtedly, much grandeur and beauty
in his death, but his reputation was blackened by the in-
gratitude he showed to the queen his benefactress, in having
tried to put coldness, dislike, and distrust of her in the mind
and heart of the king, in order to possess them wholly him-
self; he even went so far as to blame her for giving alms
and for giving too much attention to devout persons. She
perceived all this on many occasions, as I have already
said. 1 ,
^ On the 8th of March, the queen-mother, after holding her
court in the queen's apartments, came for a moment to the
cardinal's chamber to inquire how he was. She sent for
Colbert, who told her he was very ill, and that he did not
think he would live through the night. The queen-mother
was affected by these words and the tears came into her
eyes ; then, taking me aside, she did me the honour to tell
me, speaking of the cardinal, that she had always known
him better than any one ; that she had not undervalued the
opinion of those who held that she ought to have dismissed
him from Court; but that having found in him a faithful
devotion to the service of the king and the good of the
State, she had believed it was just that she should excuse
his faults in view of his good intentions.
She added, later, certain particulars about the regret the
cardinal had expressed at having displeased her by his con-
duct, for which he asked her pardon with every sign of
great repentance. She said also that she had been vexed
that the king, instigated by the minister, had taken a dis-
like to the princess-palatine ; which had forced her to
resign her position as superintendent of the queen's house-
hold in order that it might be given, as I have said, to the
1660-1661] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 235
Comtesse de Soissons. The latter princess did not please
the queen-mother and had never lived on good terms with
her. The remains of the old attachment which the king
had for Olympe Mancini made the queen-mother fear she
might recover a place which it seemed that her sister Marie
had lost only to return to her.
The queen-mother also did me the honour to tell me
that the king would doubtless take pleasure in governing
the kingdom himself ; that she was very glad of this, and
intended to show him, by the moderation of her conduct,
that she did not desire to rob him of any of his authority.
It was through these sentiments that she lost the advan-
tage of entering the council ; for which she was blamed by
many persons, who imagined, perhaps with reason, that she
was led to do this by self-interested advice of which she
did not detect the cause ; still, the truth is that her natural
inclination made her desire repose and retirement.
On the evening of the 8th of March the king, no longer
having the cardinal, summoned the ministers, and I then
beheld the living take the place of the dying, with a begin-
ning of grandeur, parade, and bustle which made me marvel
at the changes of this world. The king shut himself up
with them ; and the queen-mother, after they had departed,
went to see him. As she was lodged in the old and small
apartments, because the large apartments in the new build-
ing were being painted, she left her chamber, which was
next to that of the dying man, and went to sleep in the
king's apartments.
The cardinal died between two and three o'clock in the
morning of March 9. The king, on awaking, called his
nurse, who slept in his room, and leaving his bed, made her
a sign with his eye to know if the cardinal was dead. He
did this for fear of waking the queen, or of troubling her
236 MEMOIES OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vni.
by the fatal sight of death, which, in itself, is always
frightful. Being answered " yes " he dressed himself and
sent for the ministers, Le Tellier, Fouquet, and de Lyonne,
and commanded them to do no business without speaking
to him about it ; declaring also that he did not choose that
persons asking favours should address themselves to any one
but himself. He then went to see the queen-mother. They
dined together and afterwards started as quickly as possible
for Paris. The queen was carried in a chair, the Marquis
d'Hautefort, her chief equerry, and Nogent, old but vigor-
ous, accompanying her on foot.
The king was afflicted by the death of his minister, and
wept much. The queen, his mother, stronger than he and
more disgusted with human beings through the knowledge
she had of their imperfections, felt less grief. She regretted
the cardinal, and had moments when long habit and the
good qualities she had loved in him, together with the
service he had rendered her in sending away his niece,
made her feel his death, but in a tranquil manner ; and the
memory of his ingratitude, great and small, soon and easily
effaced that grief.
Their Majesties, having arrived, rid themselves of the
crowd which they found at the Louvre and in the ante-
chambers by shutting themselves up in the cabinet of the
queen. She had borne the journey well, and by the state
in which she then was, the king, the queen-mother, and all
France had reason to hope for the joy of soon seeing her
the mother of a dauphin. This young princess was in no
way afflicted by the cardinal's death, but the amusement the
king had resumed with the Comtesse de Soissons, though
apparently slight, displeased her so much that if she seemed
to be grieved it was only because, as the philosophers say,
the lover was transformed into the beloved object. Never-
16GO-1661] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 237
theless, these three royal personages, finding themselves
together, and away from the dead, began to breathe in peace.
The pleasure of liberty, which they saw before them in its
usual charms, gave them an agreeable thought, after these
first emotions, which consoled their affliction. The queen-
mother was the first to say, to those who carelessly dis-
coursed of the cardinal's death, that no more need be said
about it ; that she feared it might make the king ill ; and
that he ought now to busy himself with something better
than useless words.
The king, as soon as he saw his minister approaching his
end, showed that he meant in future to govern his kingdom.
He said that he did not approve of the life of a do-nothing
king, who let himself be led by the nose. He added that
he saw plainly that people might reproach him for having
done what he blamed ; but that his past conduct must be
attributed to the esteem he had had for the cardinal on
account of his ability, and to the habit of submission and
dependence to which his childhood had accustomed him.
The queen, his mother, who had felt the burden of the yoke
she had imposed upon herself, was resolved in future to
submit to no other power than that of the king her son ;
she was therefore most desirous that he should work him-
self, and for himself. She was not ambitious, but she was a
sufficiently good mother to wish to help him in every way
she could.
All right-minded persons were of the same opinion ; and
the cardinal in dying, whether from a desire to do his duty
in giving good advice to the king, or because he did not
wish for a successor in the glory of royal favour, bequeathed
to him as a principal maxim, to do his own business and
never again to raise a prime-minister to the height that he
himself had reached ; confessing to him that he knew, from
238 MEMOIKS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vin.
the things he could have done injurious to his service, how
dangerous it was for a king to put a man in that position.
He also left other counsels and valuable precepts, which the
king himself wrote down, in order to remember them for
his guidance.
On the morning of the day the king heard of the car-
dinal's death he shut himself up alone for two hours, to
work at the regulation of his life and his affairs; and as
soon as he arrived in Paris he gave orders that on the mor-
row the grandees of the kingdom, to whom he wished to
make known his resolution, should be at the Louvre in the
apartments of the queen-mother at four o'clock.
That day the queen-mother went to the Val-de-Gr^ce to
perform her devotions; on her return in the evening, the
officers of the crown and the ministers being assembled, the
king said to them that God had removed from him a minis-
ter who had taken charge of his affairs from the days of his
childhood ; that this care had been so much to his benefit
that he could wish it had pleased God to preserve it to him
longer; but since it was His will to deprive him of this
help he intended in future to govern his kingdom himself ;
and he hoped that God would give him grace to acquit
himself well, and would bless the good intentions which he
now had to act in accordance with justice and reason ;
adding that for this result he did not desire a prime-minis-
ter, but should make use of those who held the offices to
act under him according to their several functions, and if at
any time he needed then- counsel he would ask them for it ;
so saying he dismissed them.
This resolution was taken to keep close the secrets of
public affairs, and to hold off the Prince de Condd and other
grandees of the kingdom, who, if they could have gained
the smallest share in the government would have taken a
1660-1661] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 239
greater, and enfeebled the royal authority as much as they
could. The king arranged his hours, ordered all those who
had favours to ask of him to present petitions, and said that
on Saturdays he would answer them.
After the ceremony the king and the queen-mother went
up to the queen's apartments, and we thought we already
saw on their faces marks of their satisfaction, and it was
easy to judge that the faults of the dead man would soon
seem to them greater than they had ever thought them ; for
he was not contented with exercising sovereign power over
the kingdom ; he exercised it over the sovereigns them-
selves, having on many occasions no more compliance to
the king than he had to the queen, and not allowing him
the liberty to dispose of anything of importance. He was
so jealous of that authority which did not belong to him
that he himself filled nearly all the offices; so avaricious
that he wanted to make profit out of everything; so dis-
trustful that he was easy to alarm; so abstracted and
gloomy that for most of the time one scarcely dared to
speak to him, while he often pretended to be in a bad
humour to prevent those who thronged about him as he
passed along from taking that time to speak to him. That
is why it was visible that, from the king to the least of
the courtiers, few persons (unless they were under great
obligations to the cardinal) failed to be glad they were
at last delivered from him.
The king, that evening, made the Prince de Conde* enter
the little cabinet of the queen, and read before him and
before the rest of us several items of counsel which the
minister, who had great perspicacity and long experience in
public affairs, had left him in writing, and which were, in
truth, very good ; and as we saw that Mare'chal de Villeroy
was excluded from the council, because he had never re-
240 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. vin.
covered the good graces of the minister after he was accused
of failing in gratitude towards him, everybody imagined that
that exclusion also was a thing he had inspired.
The king, the queens, and the whole Court went into
mourning for the cardinal ; a thing which had never before
been done; for kings wear mourning for none but sover-
eigns, or princes who have the honour to be related to them,
and he was neither the one nor the other. The first few
days were spent solely in talking of the immense wealth left
by the cardinal. Le Tellier, his friend, told the Duchesse
de Navailles and me that he had three millions five hun-
dred thousand francs from the offices in the queen's house-
hold, which the king had given him, and which the minister
had sold, even down to those of the washerwomen; and
that this sum, which formed part of his wealth, did not
come from the Treasury. He told us also, to excuse his
great riches and show us that they were not wrung from
the people, that he did a great business traffic in his govern-
ments, particularly in Brouage ; that he enjoyed the benefit
of various sums intended for the payment of ambassadors,
for the artillery, for the admiralty, and so forth ; that he
took it upon himself to pay them, and did not do so ; con-
sequently it is to be believed that he took a great deal
without it being possible to convict him of taking it from
the Treasury.
I heard Le Tellier say at the same time, speaking of the
cardinal, that he had two supreme passions : the desire for
glory, and that for wealth; that in dying, his great for-
tune, with which his mind seemed too busy, had greatly
diminished the glory of his fine actions, and thus he had
failed to fulfil the first of his desires because he had given
himself too much to the second. I heard Le Tellier say
also that two days before the cardinal died, he wished to
1660-1661] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 241
write his will and express it clearly in fine language; and
that he was working over it when he, Le Tellier, urged him
to leave it, fearing that such close application might weaken
him ; on which the cardinal became vexed with him and
said, half angrily and yet laughing: "Let me alone; the
constraint you put upon me is worse than death ; " and he
seemed at that moment to speak of death as if he laughed
at it, although at another moment he had said to him in a
very serious tone : " This is a strange crisis, monsieur ; I am
a man and a sinner, and I ought to fear the judgments of
God; but one must hope in His mercy."
His nieces, to whom he left great wealth, did not regret
him in the least. A certain Italian, their servant, reproach-
ing their ingratitude, said to them : " Mesdemoiselles, you
avenge all Frenchmen for the hardness your uncle the car-
dinal practised upon them by that which you have for his
memory." He spoke truly ; for Cardinal Mazarin, generally
speaking, had a great contempt for this nation.
VOL. III. 16
IX.
i66i.
THE king succeeded to the throne of France on the day of
Louis XIII. his father's death, being then only four years
old ; but it may be said that the day of Cardinal Mazarin's
death was really that of his coming to the crown, that on
which he began to be king and to show that he was worthy
of being so ; for it was then that he resolved to take upon
himself the care of his affairs, and to make it known that all
favours to be bestowed on great and small depended on him,
alone. For these reasons he now began to regulate his life
as follows:
He resolved to rise at eight or nine o'clock, although he
went to bed very late. On leaving the queen's bed he went
to his own; then he prayed to God and dressed himself.
His business affairs obliged him to close his doors in the
morning, as much to attend to this vast work as to relieve
himself of the crowd. Mare'chal de Villeroy, in the capacity
of having been his governor and esteemed worthy of becom-
ing his prime-minister, alone had permission to see him ; and
in this preference the mare'chal found consolation for his
other privations. About ten o'clock the king entered the
council and remained until midday ; then he heard mass,
and the rest of the time until his dinner he gave to the
public, or to the queens in private.
After dinner he often stayed for quite a long time with
the royal family ; then he returned to work with some of his
ministers. He gave audiences to those who asked for them,
1661] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 243
listening patiently to such as had something to say to him.
He took the petitions of all who presented them, and gave
answers on certain days appointed for so doing; and as a
council of conscience had been established in the beginning
of the regency, he now re-established it on a certain day.
As the single desire for glory and to fulfil all the duties of
a great king occupied his whole heart, by applying himself
to toil he began to like it ; and the eagerness he had to learn
all the things that were necessary to him soon made him
full of that knowledge. His great good sense and his good
intentions now made visible in him the rudiments of general
knowledge which had been hidden from all who did not
see him in private ; for he suddenly appeared a politician in
affairs of the State, a theologian in those of the Church, pre-
cise in matters of finance, speaking with justice, taking
always the right side in council, sensitive to the interests of
private persons, but an enemy to intrigue and flattery, and
stern towards the grandees of his kingdom whom he sus-
pected of a desire to govern him.
He was agreeable personally, civil and easy of access to
every one ; but with a lofty and serious air which impressed
the public with respect and awe, and prevented those he con-
sidered the most from emancipating themselves even in
private intercourse, although he was familiar and gay with
ladies. One of the things which may have contributed to
make the king take this course was the reputation the King
of England had acquired after he returned to the throne.
The great praises the king heard given to him for the man-
ner in which he governed his kingdom much less sub-
missive to its kings than ours stirred him to emulation,
and increased, if that were possible, the passion he had to
make himself greater and more glorious than all the princes
who had hitherto worn crowns.
244 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP, ix
Shortly after the cardinal's death Monsieur's marriage with
the Princess Henrietta of England took place. The king
had never had much inclination for this marriage. He said
himself that he felt the natural antipathy to English people
which is said to have always existed between the two
nations; but it was easily effaced in him by the ties of
blood, which invited the princess and himself to like each
other, and by the agreeable intercourse which in their earli-
est youth had accustomed them to be at any rate personal
friends. The queen-mother loved the Princess of England ;
she desired her as a daughter-in-law ; and when the cardinal
died the king found himself so far bound to the marriage
that he did not even think of breaking it. He gave Mon-
sieur the appanage of Orleans, such as the late Due d'Orle'ans
had possessed it, save and excepting Blois and Chambord.
The Princess of England was rather tall ; she had grace,
and her figure, though it was not without defects, did not
then seem as spoilt as it really was. Her beauty was not
the most perfect; but her whole person, though far from
well made, was nevertheless, through her manner and charm,
altogether agreeable. Her complexion was very delicate and
very white, mingled with a natural rosiness, comparable to
roses and jessamine. Her eyes were small, but soft and
brilliant ; her nose was not ugly ; her lips were red, and her
teeth were as white and fine as one could wish ; but her face
was too long, and her thinness seemed to threaten her
beauty with a speedy end.
She dressed and wore her hair in a style that suited her
whole person ; and as there was something in her that made
itself loved, it may well be believed that she was not averse
to pleasing, and easily succeeded in doing so. She had not
been able to be queen ; and to repair that vexation she
wanted to reign in the hearts of honourable persons, and find
1661] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 245
fame in society by her charm and by the beauty of her mind.
It was already visible that she had ideas and reason ; and in
spite of her youth, which until then had concealed her from
the public, it was easy to judge that when she found herself
on the great stage of the Court of France she would surely
play one of the leading r6les.
These two agreeable persons were married at the Palais-
Royal on the last day of March, 1661, in presence of
the king, the queen-mother, the queen, and the Queen of
England. The ceremony was performed in private, and no
one was invited to be present except the Mesdemoiselles
d'Orleans and the Prince de Conde*, as the nearest relatives of
the pair.
Towards the end of April the Court went to Fontainebleau
to pass the whole time of the queen's pregnancy ; and as
this would be long, the king made plans to render their stay
agreeable by the accompaniment of all the honourable
pleasures and amusements that could be desired. It is
natural to men to reckon the glory of their epoch by that of
their hey-day only. This is a matter in which few persons
escape falling into some absurdity. I can nevertheless say
that, without being of the age or sentiments of young people
of fifteen, I had never seen the Court more beautiful than it
seemed to me then. The glorious period of the queen-
mother's youth was almost entirely hidden from me by my
youth and by the years I had lived in Normandy until the
death of the late king; I saw in perfection only that which
succeeded this period, namely that of the regency ; the first
five years of which were accompanied by great prosperity and
by all permissible and possible amusements. For my part, I
enjoyed them at that flowery age when all seems wonderful ;
but even so I prefer that of which I am about to speak ;
chiefly because France was now governed by its true master,
246 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. ix.
who had not only all the qualities of a great king, but also
all those of an honourable man.
The queen-mother, by her virtuous conduct, had acquired
once more a great reputation ; she was loved and revered by
all for her gentleness and courteous manners, and she
made the happiness of great and small by her kindness.
She was the consolation of the miserable through her
charity and through the constancy of her virtuous piety ;
by becoming the protectress of worthy persons it may
be said that she was the cause of the good works that
were done throughout France. Though she was now nearly
sixty years of age, she was still charming, and it may be
said without flattery that she had great beauties. Besides
the fact that her face was fresh, her beautiful hands and
arms had lost nothing of their perfection, and the fine braids
of her hair had the same thickness and colour as when she
was twenty years old. Her health, joined to her natural
sweetness, made her ready and willing for all pleasures in
which she could take part. No one perceived that it might
have been more her compliance than her inclination that
induced her to join in them ; and those pleasures that no
longer suited her she willingly saw others enjoy.
The young queen, her niece and daughter, was beautiful,
virtuous, and full of piety; she loved retirement rather
more than a queen of France, who owes herself to the
public, should love it ; but this defect, being founded on her
devotion, deserves more praise than blame, and ought, at
least, to be readily pardoned.
Monsieur, as I have often said, was an amiable, witty
prince ; very gentle and familiar with all ; Madame had the
gift of pleasing ; she was the ornament of the Court, and as
everybody loved her, she, on her side, did not hate them.
She gave herself up to all that sixteen years of age and
161] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 247
propriety could desire and permit. She did this with grace
and ardour. The king continued to love the queen his
mother, and that illustrious mother loved him even better
than in the past, if that were possible. Neither ambition
nor jealousy troubled their repose. The king sought glory
only ; and the queen his mother, desiring it solely for him,
and informed of all matters by him, was content, provided
they were rightly done, liking as well to have them done
by him as by herself, and even better. She loved the queen
very tenderly, and that princess could not be content unless
she were near her. Monsieur had always lived cordially
with the queen his mother ; and that illustrious mother, to
reward him, had given him for wife the sister of a great
king, and one with whom he could find much delight.
This young princess, who, until then, had had the queen-
mother as her sole protectress, being now Monsieur's wife
and entirely one with the royal family, soon effaced by her
own merits the dislike the king had seemed to feel for her
during her childhood. She became agreeable to him, not
only in her person> but by the inclination she had for the
same pleasures. At first, the queen-mother arranged these
herself, and tried to establish their innocence and to guard
against the dangers that are usually met with in the excite-
ments of young people, particularly those of grandees. In
short, the whole royal family lived together in a union and
concord that were far from common.
This peace produced another and very complete one
among the dwellers at Court, where it would have been dis-
graceful not to have followed the example of their august
master. Virtue and piety now reigned there by reason of
that which the queens professed. They spent more time in
prayers than the king to satisfy fully the glorious title
given to our sex, of "devout women."
248 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. ut.
The king, who up to this time had been, or had seemed,
virtuous, appeared in all things to wish to bear justly the
title of " Very Christian." He tolerated no vice ; debauched
men could not please him ; he had a horror of blasphemers
and impious persons. These good sentiments, aided by the
vigilant and pious care of the queen his mother, had abol-
ished duels, so that brave men were no longer dishonoured
by refusing to fight. In this respect all preceding reigns
must, it seems to me, yield precedence to the happy begin-
ning of this one, since virtue, innocence, and peace reigned
upon the throne, not only as regarded him who occupied it,
but in some respects in regard to those who approached it ;
that is to say, as much as the natural evil in man, his
foibles and his passions, would allow. For there are no
periods and no good examples which are entirely exempt of
these.
This prosperous condition made the Court very large, and
pleasures reigned abundantly. The Prince de Cond^ held
the first rank after Monsieur; the king showed great con-
sideration for him, and the prince, whose various experi-
ences had altogether changed him, now proved that he was
as grand through his humility and gentleness as he had
been in his victories. His son, the Due d'Enghien, though
still very young, gave, on all occasions, signs of intelligence
and judgment. Often the king, the queens, Monsieur, and
Madame, being on the canal in their gilded boat shaped
like a galley, their Majesties would take a collation in the
open air, when the Prince de Conde*, in his quality of grand-
master, served them with such respect and so easy an air
that it was impossible to see him act in that manner and
remember things past without praising God for present
peace.
We also saw the Due de Beaufort, that leader of the
1661] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 249
" importants " and the frondeurs, the " king of the markets "
in former times, hastening to follow the king his master
at all times, and seeking to please him ; sometimes by
taking dishes from the hand of the Prince de Conde (be-
cause the boat was too small to admit the proper officers),
sometimes in hunting, where he accommodated his own
pleasure to that of the king.
Besides the princesses and ladies who belonged to the
Court, the maids of honour of the two queens and of
Madame held a great place, and among them were some
who were very beautiful. Balls, comedies, excursions in
open carriages, and hunts were frequent. In short, nothing
that could divert and amuse was lacking during this charm-
ing sojourn. The different courts and the various gardens
of Fontainebleau seemed fairy palaces and gardens, and its
desert places Elysian fields. It is not, however, in such
things that happiness consists, but rather in the exercise
of virtue and in peace with one's own self and with those
we love ; the power of the greatest kings, the abundance of
all that they enjoy, the ease with which they obtain every
sort of pleasure, does not make their felicity any greater
than that of their subjects ; and here is the proof of it.
Two months or more went by in this happy state, where,
on all sides, things seemed to represent the manner of living
in a golden age rather than that of ordinary life in the
present day, when the innocent pleasures of our prosperous
Court were poisoned by the bitterness which is ever insep-
arable from it. Virtue and piety had seemed for a time to
be in favour, but ambition and other passions were not long
in making war upon them ; and whatever pains the queen-
mother took to maintain them it was soon seen that as
man's life is a vapour which rises from the earth and is
dispersed in a moment, so reason and virtue are easy to
250 MEMOIRS OF MADJLMS DK MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. ix.
disturb and corrupt, and that human happiness has no
duration.
Although the queen-mother did not like the frequent
excursions of the king with Monsieur and Madame, the
close union and solid friendship between the king and her-
self was unchanged. As she had, until then, been the con-
fidant of his pleasures, and had, on the other hand, told him
that the queen her daughter, unable to endure losing him
from her sight, was often distressed by things which were
really nothing at all, so she now told him that he ought
to pardon an ill-humour which came from the excess of
tenderness the queen felt for him, and try to give her as
little cause as possible for uneasiness. At the same time
she endeavoured to make Madame see that her late hours
and her hunting parties might injure her health. But
youth does not readily yield to reason, and takes as reproof
the best counsels that are given to it. So the amusements
continued in full force.
The endeavour and care of the Comtesse de Soissons (now
mistress of the queen's household) was to have the king
much in her apartments, to please him, and take part in
his excursions and amusements. The king loved the. queen
dearly, and did not give her any grounds to suspect him
of loving others more than herself; but the force of the
queen's suspicions was so great that, almost without think-
ing of it, she found herself inimical to those whom she did
not dislike, simply because she naturally felt averse to all
that parted her from the king.
Madame, who was beginning to make a great figure at
Court, declared for the Comtesse de Soissons, not only be-
cause Monsieur considered the latter his friend, but because
her youth invited her to amuse herself, and she wanted
company about her whose presence would be agreeable to
1661] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 251
the king, while that of the queen, leading a pious and rather
retired life, was not so suited to him. Moreover, the queen
would have been her superior; whereas the Comtesse de
Soissons, needing protection, was in every way submissive
to her. Madame remembered also, with a certain noble
vexation, that the king had formerly disdained her when
she might have expected him to marry her ; and the pleas-
ure bestowed by vengeance made her welcome joyfully the
contrary sentiments which appeared to be rising in the
king's soul towards her. Monsieur, too, desired to please
the king, and was aware that the consideration he now
showed for Madame was advantageous to him. These
three persons, each for his or her own interests wished to
please one another; and blood and nature justifying this
union, it soon began to appear as great as it really was.
The Comtesse de Soissons, by consent of the three, had
been associated with them, as agreeable to the king and
necessary to Madame; but Madame was still more neces-
sary to her ; for not being liked by the queen, nor sustained
by the king as much as she desired, she needed to call
pleasures to her aid, and to strengthen her position by the
compliance she showed for the slightest things that came
into the head of the king. Hence, following the inclina-
tion of a king only twenty-one years of age to amuse him-
self, and that of a princess of sixteen or seventeen to follow
his example, the daily pleasures, the repasts, the excursions
into the woods lasting till two or three o'clock in the morn-
ing began to be practised in a manner that had a more than
gallant air, and as if the lust of pleasure would presently
corrupt a virtue which had been, with good reason, all the
more admired because it was a rare possession at the king's
age.
But the sight alarmed the queen, who was distressed to
252 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. ix.
find the king so occupied with other objects. At first the
queen-mother condemned her fears ; she told her it was not
right to wish to restrain the king, and that the honourable
pleasures which he sought ought not to give her pain. Their
continuance, however, went to such extremes that the queen-
mother finally ordered me to advise Madame to put some
moderation into these amusements.
The young princess would be likely to have confidence in
me, as much for the honour the Queen of England did me in
treating me with kindness and believing me attached to her
interests, as for the assiduous services I had rendered to her-
self on all occasions with the queen her mother-in-law. I
spoke to her therefore ; and as she was gentle and complying,
she appeared to wish to follow my advice, receiving it with
a good grace. I may truly say it was such that, had she fol-
lowed it, she might, without offending the king or failing in
the proper compliance which she owed to him, have pre-
served his good graces and established herself firmly in his
esteem and in that of the whole Court, while at the same
time she would have fulfilled what she owed to the queen
her mother-in-law, which ought to have been to her an indis-
pensable obligation.
But she disdained these benefits, which would have cost
her nothing but a little self-restraint, and from which she
might have drawn very great advantages; for had she
merely deprived herself of excursions which shocked propri-
ety and injured her health, and shown the king that she re-
nounced them of her own will, the king would have praised
her conduct, because a reasonable action always inspires
respect in those who are reasonable themselves. She would
also by the same means have acquired great merit in the
eyes of the queen-mother, letting her gently know that she
followed this course to please her. But her natural senti-
1661] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 253
merits were opposed to prudence. She listened with her ears
to the counsels I gave her, and rejected them through the
promptings of her heart, which led her to follow vehemently
whatever she wished that did not seem to her criminal nor
wholly contrary to her duty, so long as it amused her.
From a letter which I received about this time from the
Queen of England it will be seen that she too was uneasy at
what was going on at Fontainebleau, and because the queen-
mother was not satisfied with Madame's conduct. She com-
manded me to serve her daughter as another herself. I had
done so already with all the fidelity I was bound to have for
her sake, and I continued to do so ; but the young princess
would not profit by my good intentions. The copy of the
queen's letter which I place here is made from the original.
I have kept very many of the letters which this great prin-
cess did me the honour to write to me, and which showed
the goodness and beauty of her mind. The long habit which
she had of writing in the English language had slightly cor-
rupted her French ; but good sense and reason are perfectly
expressed in them :
Letter of Henrietta- Maria of France, Queen of England, to
Madame de Motteville.
" I believe that in your soul you are saying : ' That Queen
of England no longer thinks of me.' This is not true ; M. de
Montague will tell you that I do keep my word and remem-
ber you. In letters I own to a little laziness, and I admit I
have done wrong in not writing to you the satisfaction that
I had in receiving two of your letters. I ask you to continue
them, provided you have leisure; having seen yesterday
ladies who have just come from Fontainebleau, who tell me
you are always with the queens, and that no one can have
254 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. ix.
more access to them than you. I fear that by. letters it can
not be had, from the way in which they speak. If you
have many rumours where you are, I have much silence
here ; which is more suitable for remembrance of friends ; of
whom I believe you are sufficiently convinced that you are
of the number ; and you may be assured of its continuation.
You have with you another little myself who is strongly
your friend, I do assure you. Continue to be hers ; that is
enough to say to you."
Shortly after this, the queen-mother commanded me to
advise the queen, who did me the honour to have some con-
fidence in me, to bear with more patience the king's diver-
sions ; and also to represent to her that he ought to be master
of his own actions ; that she had no real grounds for alarm,
and that although his virtue seemed to be attacked it was
not vanquished. She also thought it well that I should en-
deavour to unite the queen and Madame in friendship.
Though she loved the queen by far the most, she considered
Madame also, and would have been delighted to see them on
good terms together. I worked for this union, and so did
Donna Maria Molina, the queen's assaffata (head waiting-
woman) and favourite, who was a very kind person and full
of good-will
We found means, by reasoning, to calm the queen's mind,
as much as it was possible to do. She was satisfied with our
counsels and took them as marks of our affection for her ser-
vice. Madame, to whom I spoke as proposed, seemed also
satisfied ; but what I said to her on both matters was made
known to the king, and was, no doubt, told to him in a man-
ner disadvantageous to me. I do not wish to know whence
proceeded my misfortune, for what concerns royal persons
ought to be to us respected mysteries. Madame may even
1661] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 255
have spoken without any intention of injuring me, and from
an impulse of confidence, which to her young mind may have
had nothing contrary to honour.
However that may be, the Comtesse de Soissons, knowing
it, and regarding me as the friend of her enemy, Madame de
Navailles, found means to envenom everything that came
from me, and to make the king hate my efforts to obey the
commands of the queen his mother. He spoke to the queen-
mother about it and said, showing his vexation against me,
that he thought it very wrong that I was so often tete-a-tete
with the queen, and that I gave advice to Madame which
appeared to be in some way opposed to his amusements.
The queen-mother defended me generously; and as the
right, which may displease on certain occasions, never fails
to impress the souls of those who esteem it, the king, being
unable to accuse me of anything against his service, and
learning from the queen-mother that I had acted only by
her orders, showed that he had some good-will to me by
owning to his mother, as she did me the honour to tell me,
that it was true he had found the queen in better humour
ever since I had spoken to her. But, wishing to sacrifice me
to the Comtesse de Soissons, who hated me mortally, he con-
tinued to treat me as if I had deserved his dislike ; so that
he forbade the queen to allow me to be in her apartments
during private hours. By so strong a mark of his aversion
he made me readily understand that my fortunes were in
a bad way ; but, knowing that I had done nothing that was
capable of shaming me, I felt on this occasion that innocence
is a great preservative from such evils. I even believed I
ought to hope that the king, having much intelligence and
equity, would sooner or later know that my intentions and
my words had been conformable with my duty.
One day, speaking to the queen-mother of these things,
256 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. ix.
being shut up with her in her oratory, that princess and I
agreed that we were both very unfortunate in not applying
ourselves to love and serve God rather than kings ; because
the latter know not the heart, however faithful we may be to
them. They can be deceived, and ill-treat the most innocent
persons as though they were guilty. It is a great evil not to
be able to expect from sovereigns a just reward for our affec-
tion and our fidelity to their service ; but at least it is sooth-
ing to our misery to be able to find some among them
sufficiently reasonable to console us themselves for the ills
they are able to make us feel. My faults, in short, did not
make me blush, and they increased the good-will which the
queen-mother and the queen felt for me.
Many of the leading persons at Court seeing that the
queen-mother had much confidence in me, and not knowing
what would be the upshot of these small beginnings of dis-
agreements, made me many compliments, and showed they
were ready to take part in the vexation I felt at having
displeased the king, whom from duty and many other
reasons, I must have wished to please. The rumour ran that
I was about to be dismissed ; but it is probable that the king
never thought of it, and the rumour died away through the
public signs which I received from both the queens of their
good-will. For instance, the queen-mother commanded me
to go to the queen from her and say something to her ; she
gave me this order at her toilet, speaking loudly, so that if,
by chance, my disobedience should displease the king, she
would have the right to defend me. Two days later, the
queen-mother being with the queen, their Majesties sent a
valet to fetch me. He found me in the grand alley leading
to the kennels. I went in some fear, for the position I was
in kept me in a state of continual uneasiness.
On entering the queen's cabinet, where the two great prin-
1661] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 257
cesses were, surrounded by their circle and by much, com-
pany, my fears were dispelled ; for, on seeing me enter, they
began to laugh; and on my approaching the queen-mother,
she did me the honour to say that she wanted to see me only
to show a good face to me before the Comtesse de Soissons,
adding : " Without having anything to say I wish to talk to
you a great deal, and in a whisper, in order to vex her."
That evening, on going to the Comedy, the queen-mother,
passing through the queen's apartment, where I was stand-
ing in a corner, turned out of her way and came up to me
to say, laughing : " I continue the comedy ; for the Com-
tesse de Soissons, who attends me, will refrain from injuring
you with the king if she sees how I consider you."
This little affair, as appears from what I have now said,
contributed much to irritate the queen against the Comtesse
de Soissons, and began to rouse in the heart of the queen-
mother real vexations against Madame, which were much
increased by the little pains the latter took to satisfy her.
These dissatisfactions made the courtiers imagine that sen-
sual delights might perhaps detach the king from the queen-
mother ; but that great prince was too attached to his duty,
and too naturally virtuous for such disunion to arise. The
hour for pleasure over, he always returned to the queen his
mother; .rendering her all that he ought as a well-beloved
son, and showing how much consideration he felt for her.
Not only did he love her, but he said to her things which
proved how much he respected her. And in truth, she had
given him reason to do so by her disinterestedness, and by
the tender and respectful affection which she had for him.
During the last week of May the Prince de Conde* told
the king that a portrait of Henri IV. had been hung on a
gibbet at Auxerre with a dagger in his breast, and a very
criminal Latin inscription against his person. The king re-
VOL. III. 17
258 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. ix.
plied, " I console myself by thinking they would not do as
much for a sluggard king [roi faineant]" Another day he
said in confidence to a person he esteemed that if he ever
made war he should go to it in person ; and the one he spoke
to having replied that it would be a great imprudence, and
even a fault in a king to risk his life in that way, and that
France had formerly suffered much from the imprudent
valour of Francois I., the king replied : " Imprudent if you
please; but all the same, that imprudence put him in the
rank of the greatest kings." It was at this time that he gave
a new order to the grand provost to punish all persons who
swore, with the greatest severity.
Cardinal Mazarin, before he died, had given the king some
advice, so it was said, against the Superintendent Fouquet ;
he believed him too prodigal of the finances, and he advised
the king to install Colbert under him, to watch his conduct
and stop the profusion of his liberalities. Le Tellier loved
the State, and did not love Fouquet, or at least he did not
esteem him ; and Colbert, his ally, who had been his clerk,
and whom he had formerly given to the cardinal to serve
him in the management of his domestic affairs, was at that
time very agreeable to him. He believed him to be wholly
for his interests, and persuaded himself that he could always
hold over Colbert a complete superiority. This reason led
him to care for his fortunes and to put him in a position to
help him to destroy Fouquet, whom Colbert believed to be
his enemy. They each wished to join with the other for
their private advantage ; showing to the king only a desire
for that of the State and his service. The king, who knew
the defects of the superintendent, received their advice,
which, being supported by the counsels of the late cardinal
and strengthened by Fouquet's bad conduct, had the effect
usually produced by faults of individuals, on the one hand,
1661] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 259
and the secret designs of those who seem to be disinterested
and faithful, on the other.
Monsieur, who had allowed Madame to engage in excur-
sions and pleasures rather more than propriety permitted,
began now to be annoyed by these excesses. His presence,
and the innocent intentions of Madame, who, up to this
time seemed to have no other object than pleasure in
general, had taken away all danger ; but this extreme devo-
tion to amusement, even when Monsieur deemed it necessary,
was more a pain than a pleasure to him ; and now, changing
his sentiments, he felt a repugnance for the very things he
had formerly approved.
The queen-mother, wishing to remedy these growing dis-
satisfactions, complained of Madame to Lord Montague, her
old servitor, and spoke of her also to the Earl of St. Albans,
minister of the Queen of England, telling them that the prin-
cess took no pains to please her by her conduct, and showed
her no consideration. She wished them to represent her
complaints to the Queen of England, now leading a pleasant
life at Colombes in a house she had lately purchased there.
She sought peace ; and knowing that the inclinations of
Madame's soul were good, she was not as yet seriously uneasy
about her actions, because she believed them blameless.
It was about this time that the king first made known his
inclination for Mademoiselle de La Valliere, one of Madame's
maids of honour. She was amiable, and her beauty had great
charms from the dazzling white and rose of her complexion,
the blue of her eyes which had much sweetness, and the
beauty of her blond hair which increased that of her face.
At first, Madame and the Comtesse de Soissons seemed
pleased ; they contributed to the intimacy by their compli-
ance, seeming glad to be discharged in this way of the little
grievances of the queen. The queen-mother was distressed
260 MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. [CHAP. ix.
by this new passion ; she feared danger from whichever side
it came ; but she was advised not to oppose it with violence,
and her own prudence made her approve and follow that
advice ; all the more because, several days earlier, she had
been suspected of having commanded me to have Mademoi-
selle de Pons removed from Fontainebleau to Paris by my
friend Madame du Plessis, to withdraw her from the eyes of
the king, who seemed not to dislike her.
The method that the queen-mother took to moderate this
new inclination of the king for Mademoiselle de La Valliere
was to warn him cordially, representing to him what he owed
to God and to his kingdom, and telling him that he ought to
fear that many persons would use that attachment to form
intrigues about him which would some day be to his injury.
She begged him also to help her to hide his passion from the
queen, for fear her grief might cause some evil effects to the
life of the child she was then bearing. The king esteemed
this advice; and the secret was kept throughout the Court
with such care that the queen, who was then pregnant some
four or five months with Monseigneur the dauphin, concluded
the period of her pregnancy without knowing it.
What is usually termed fine gallantry was producing at that
time many intrigues. The Comte de Guiche was sent away,
some time later, for having the audacity to regard Madame
with rather too much tenderness. As it is to be believed
that she was virtuous, she desired to convince the public
that she acted in concert with the king and Monsieur in
having him sent away ; but his exile was short, and we may
suppose that his crime did not much offend the object of it ;
for this passion, though apparently disapproved by her, could
not, according to the false maxims inspired by self-love, bring
her anything but fame.
The Duchesse de Valentinois, sister of the Comte de
1661] MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE. 261
Guiche and daughter of the Mare'chal de Gramont, who had
married the Prince of Monaco, remained at Court after her
brother's exile ; but not for long, because her spirits, or rather
her rashness, threw her
