CHAP. XXX. Mazarin was thus led to count upon diminished hostility to him in Paris. Then he reckoned at the least upon the neutrality of De Retz, bound to it by the promised prize of the cardinal's hat, which indeed he received soon after at the hands of the Pope, not, however, without having escaped, numbers of times, assassination from the agents of La Rochefoucauld and the princes. His elevation in rank was, like that of most democrats, the ruin of his influence. His new dignity at once excluded him from the parliament. The Fronde itself no longer looked to De Retz, from whom the Abbé Fouquet succeeded in detaching even the ladies of Chevreuse. It was in the field, however, that the triumph of one party over the other was to be secured. Until Mazarin's arrival the court had certainly the advantage. His coming altogether reversed this state of things. The Duke of Orleans became decidedly hostile, allied with Condé, and withdrew from the royal army half a dozen regiments.* At the same time the Duke de Nemours brought from the Low Countries a Spanish auxiliary force, with which he had the audacity to pass the Seine at Mantes, within a few miles of Paris, and then united with the troops of the Duke of Orleans to take post between Seine and Loire, placing the royal army on the latter river between two hostile forces. This rendered it indispensable for the court and the Mazarinians to get possession of the towns upon the Loire. Their population, however, displayed the greatest aversion to the cardinal. The Duke de Rohan held Angers against them, and Mademoiselle, daughter of the Duke of Orleans, forcing her way most gallantly into Orleans by the favour of the lower populace, against the will of the burgesses, maintained this city in the interests of her father and of Condé. Marshal Hocquincourt succeeded in making himself master of *Memoirs of Mademoiselle. XXX. Angers. But the royal army would never have been CHAP. able to make head against the prince, had not, for its good fortune, Turenne arrived to offer his services, which were instantly accepted. His first act was, indeed, injudicious. The court, protected by the breaking down of all the bridges over the river, was journeying along its southern bank. Turenne, by way of bravado, restored the passage of the bridge of Jargeau. The Duke of Beaufort attacked and would have carried it, but for a barricade hastily erected and desperately defended by Turenne and his officers. Had Beaufort pressed on, Turenne admits, he might have captured king, cardinal, and court. Reports of these military events soon informed Condé that the business and the fate of the war were not upon the Gironde but upon the Loire. Leaving his forces on the former river, the prince undertook to pass in disguise through his enemies, so as to reach the army of Nemours and Orleans.* The army of the Fronde soon felt its new commander, who beat in Marshal Hocquincourt's quarters at Bleneau on the 7th of April, and put his cavalry completely to the rout. There were, however, but from five to seven thousand men of a side. To have completed this destruction of Hocquincourt's army would have left the court at the prince's mercy. This Condé sought to effect, but was baffled by the able manœuvres of Turenne, who, at the head of 4000 men, withstood the prince with 12,000, not allowing him any opportunity of attack, save at a great disadvantage. Soon after, the Prince of Condé quitted the army for the purpose of making the capital declare itself more decidedly. Notwithstanding the hatred borne to Mazarin, the Maré *It was during this journey in disguise that the Prince of Condé and the Duke de la Rochefoucauld were entertained at the house of a gentleman, who, not knowing them, sought to amuse his guests at supper with an account of the amours of XXX. CHAP. chal de l'Hôpital still remained governor for the king, and maintained a kind of neutrality betwixt the contending armies. He was supported by the majority of the parliament as well as by the Hôtel de Ville and its burgess guard, consisting of the better citizens, all of whom resented the calling in of the Spaniards by the Prince of Condé, and the ravages and expense of civil war which he had commenced. The Duke of Orleans, no longer lieutenant-general since the king's majority, had not the power or prestige which he formerly possessed. The Cardinal De Retz had grown lukewarm. The populace alone were prepared to favour Condé and welcome him as the antagonist of Mazarin. The parliament had sanctioned the royal declaration against the prince for having allied with Spain. And it now protested against his appearance till this sentence should be reversed. The Duke of Orleans, to whom they appealed, observed that Condé came possibly for this purpose, and the prince, entering Paris on the 14th of April, proceeded to parliament, and declared that he was most anxious for peace with Spain, and to make his submission to the king, provided Cardinal Mazarin was sent out of the country. The parliament could not but listen to conditions of arrangement so congenial to its own sentiments; and the king and court having come to St. Germains, the parliament, the prince, and all concerned sent deputations thither to treat of peace. Mazarin received all blandly, and made few objections to the demands of any party; but as his object was to gain time and divide them, he threw obstacles in the way of a definitive settlement.* The Duke de Bouillon, for example, being one of the negotiators, the cardinal observed that it was not fair to grant everything to the Prince of Condé till he in turn had secured the Duchy of Albret, * De Retz. XXX. which was to recompense Bouillon for Sedan. There CHAP. broke in also the intrigues of the women. Madame de Chatillon, who had captivated Condé, was the enemy of Madame de Longueville, his sister, and their mutual pique caused hesitation in the prince, and gave occasion for delay to the cardinal. The Duke of Orleans, too, became jealous of the many advantages offered to the prince, and De Retz fanned the feeling: so much so that the Duke made private overtures for a separate peace with the court.* Turenne at the same time took advantage of the prince being in Paris, and being engaged in negotiation, to attack his army and inflict upon him little short of a defeat, near Etampes † (May). Condé, however, hastened to take his revenge, and drove the royal army from St. Denis, at the head of the burgess guard of the Parisians. This parity betwixt the contending parties was broken in the month of June by the arrival of Duke Charles of Lorraine, at the head of a small army of 8,000 men. Nominally he was in the service of the King of Spain; really, he was in negotiation with Mazarin for the restoration of his duchy; and as the latter hesitated (it is but just to the cardinal to admit that he was ever unwilling to sacrifice the great territorial interests of the kingdom to his own), Duke Charles marched to Paris, where he appeared in friendship with the Parisians. Condé, of whom he demanded Stenay, would not pay for his support at that price, whilst Mazarin was lavish in promises to him. At the same time the cardinal ordered Turenne to raise the siege of Etampes, and come and offer battle to the Duke of Lorraine. Turenne gained Villeneuve St. George's by a rapid march, and signified to the duke that he must either withdraw or fight.‡ *La Rochefoucauld, Memoirs. Journal du Temps, De Retz. It was at this time that Charles the Second offered his intervention or mediation between the contending † James the Second's Memoirs. XXX. The Duke of Lorraine preferred the former alternative; to the great annoyance of his sister the Duchess of Orleans (June 16). The negotiation between the prince and the court had in the meantime led to no result. Mazarin did not refuse to make his own withdrawal one of the terms of peace, but he insisted on the prince disarming before he withdrew. This condition was difficult to arrange, whilst the greatest distress began to prevail in Paris. The war had put an end to all trade, all earning, and wasted the environs, so that no provisions entered the city. There were 100,000 who lived on alms. The parliament and the municipality met to consider how best they could come to the relief of the famished. They were instantly surrounded by clamours raised by two opposite and contending parties, one shouting "Peace!" the other, "No Mazarin!" The first was organised in favour of the cardinal, by the two Fouquets, Abbé and Procureur, the other by the Duke of Beaufort, who subsequently summoned his rude followers to meet in the Palais Royal.* An insurrection was evidently brewing. The parliament and the municipalty took their precautions, however, in order that the solemn sitting to be held on the 26th in the Palais de Justice might pass without tumult. The prince had promised to submit to any conditions of peace, provided Mazarin was exiled. After the meeting, the only disputed point in which was who should carry the message to the court, the judges of the parliament were assailed as they came forth by the mob, and scandalously treated. All were kicked and beaten, some shot at and pierced by halberts. Whilst the populace thus took vengeance on the parliament, the burgess guard were but slow to its defence, being indignant at the delays thrown in the message was the Duke of York, the * Omer Talon, Régistre du Parlement et de l'Hôtel de Ville, Histoire du Tems, &c. |