The sedition of the FRONDE,' though it nearly caused a revolution in France, is important in the general affairs of Europe only as crippling for some years the power of that country, and ranging the military talents of Condé on the side of Spain; and we shall therefore enter but very briefly into its history. Although the victories of Condé and Turenne had gratified the national vanity and thrown a lustre on the administration of Anne of Austria and Mazarine, they had not been purchased without many sacrifices and privations. As a financier, Mazarine had neither skill nor conscience, and Eméri, his agent, was entirely unscrupulous. The taxes had been everywhere increased, and in some places, as Languedoc, it had been necessary to levy them by force. But it was the Parisians, and especially the sovereign courts, that had been chiefly incensed by the tyrannical proceedings of the cabinet, of which we only can select a few examples. In 1644 Eméri had thought proper to revive an obsolete edict, passed in 1548, soon after the invasion of Charles V., and inspired by the fear that the capital might be besieged, by which it was forbidden to erect any buildings outside the walls of Paris. Its operation, however, had subsided with the alarm which gave it birth, and the vacant space had been covered with the dwellings of the poorer classes of the population. The proprietors were now called upon to pay a tax in proportion to the space occupied; and in case of non-compliance they were threatened with the demolition of their houses. The president Barillon and several others, who pleaded in favour of these poor people, were snatched from their homes and incarcerated. Barillon was carried to Pignerol in Piedmont, where he soon after died. Among other odious ways of raising money, Mazarine resorted to a forced loan, and subjected to a duty all articles of consumption entering Paris. This last measure, as it touched the pockets of all, may be regarded as the principal cause of the disturbances which followed. Having thus disgusted the citizens, his next step was to alienate the magistrates. The guaranty of hereditary succession to offices that had been purchased, renewable every nine years, expired on January 1st 1648; and Mazarine, to insure the submission of the Parliament, and compel them to register his edicts, refused to renew it. As there were between 40,000 and 50,000 families in France dependent on these places, the discontent thus occasioned may be imagined. New magistrates were created, and the old ones were only This ridiculous name, which, however, is sufficiently characteristic of this half tragic, half comic disturbance, is said to have been derived from the slings CHAP. I.] CHAMBER OF ST. LOUIS. 5 continued in their places at a sacrifice of four years' income. In order, however, not to offend the whole Parliament, the edict was confined to such chambers as were not strictly courts of justice; as the Chambre des Comptes, the Cour des Aides, and the Grand Conseil. But these chambers called upon the Parliament to defend their rights; and by an Arrêt d'Union, deputies from all the chambers were appointed to meet together in the Chambre de St. Louis, and consult for the common good. The Arrêt was annulled by the Royal Council, yet the self-constituted chamber continued its sittings, and instead of confining itself to questions concerning the interest and jurisdiction of the Parliament, it now announced its object to be nothing less than the reformation of the State. France seemed to be on the eve of a revolution, and the scenes then passing in England might well inspire the Queen and her minister with dread. After a little attempt at violence, Mazarine yielded, and allowed the Chamber of St. Louis to proceed. Nothing seemed wanting to the success of the movement but sincere and resolute leaders. But these were not forthcoming. The two chiefs of the Parliament, the advocate-general Omer Talon and the president Molé, were honest, well-intentioned men, but not of the stuff which makes revolutionists. How could a thorough reform proceed from the Parliament? Men with bought places which they regarded as an estate with succession to their heirs; bred up in all the forms of legal etiquette, and imbued with an unbounded reverence for the royal perogative.2 Many, indeed, there were among the French princes and nobles willing to promote any disturbance that might overthrow Mazarine; for, if the people hated the Cardinal for his financial measures, the nobles both detested and despised him for his personal character. Mazarine had not that firmness which had at least made Richelieu respected. He could be worked upon only by fear or importunity; and even the promises extorted from him by these means were often broken. As a foreigner, too, he was naturally the object of suspicion and dislike, and from his ignorance and neglect of the ancient laws and customs of the country. At the head of the malcontent nobles was the King's uncle, Gaston d'Orléans. But the Catiline of the Fronde was the young and profligate abbé Francis Paul de Gondi, afterwards the celebrated Cardinal de Retz. Gondi, Count de Thus, at the beginning of the Fronde, when Anne of Austria, in an overbearing tone, demanded whether the Parliament pretended to control the King's will, the awe-stricken lawyers replied: "qu'ils ne peuvent, ils ne doivent décider une telle question, pour laquelle il faudrait ouvrir les sciaux et les cachts de la royauté, pénétrer dans le secret du mystère de l'Empire." Michelet, Richelieu et la Fronde, p. 315. . 6 THE CARDINAL DE RETZ. 3 [Book V. Retz, of Italian origin, had come into France with Catherine de' Medici, and had, as we have seen, been one of the principal advisers of the massacre of St. Bartholomew. Since that period the family had been in almost hereditary possession of the archbishopric of Paris, and at the time of which we write the uncle of the abbé Gondi was in the enjoyment of that dignity. The nephew had attached himself to the Duke of Orléans, and Mazarine had endeavoured to gain him by making him coadjutor to his uncle, and consequently successor to the archbishopric; an unlucky step for Mazarine, since this post gave the abbé great influence with the Parisian clergy, and enabled him to excite through the pulpits the fanaticism of the populace. The Coadjutor and the nobles with whom he acted had, however, no real sympathy either for the people or the Parliament; they were actuated only by vanity and self-interest, and the desire to wring as much as possible from the fears of the Court. Perhaps the only sincere leader of the movement was Broussel, an aged counsellor of the Parliament; a man of small means, who occupied an humble dwelling in the heart of the city, but whose firmness and resolution made him the idol of the populace. We cannot, however, detail at any length the intrigues of the Coadjutor and the events of the Fronde: how the Court, supported by the éclat of Condé's victory at Lens, caused some of the noisiest orators of the Parliament, and among them Broussel, to be arrested; how the people rose, barricaded the streets and compelled his release. Seeing that the populace were no longer under the control even of the Parliament, the pride of Anne of Austria began to yield to the influence of fear, and to the advice of the unfortunate Henrietta of England, who since 1644 had been residing in France. By the declaration of October 24th 1648, one of the crises of the Fronde, the Queen conceded all the demands. of the Parliament. Thus, on the very same day when the French policy was completely successful abroad by the conclusion of the peace of Westphalia, the government at home was in a state of dissolution; and that triumph of diplomacy-so much were the minds of the people engrossed with their domestic affairs-passed almost unheeded. The support of Condé, who had returned to Paris in September crowned with the prestige of victory, and who had helped to bring about the arrangement with the Parliament, was contested 3 Vol. II. p. 208. It is from Gondi's own writings, the celebrated Mémoires du Card, de Ritz, that we learn the part which he played in the Fronde; but it may be suspected that he has sometimes given an exagge rated description of his achievements, On this point see Ranke, Französisché Gesch., B. v. S. 194, ff. CHAP. I.] CONDÉ BESIEGES PARIS. by Mazarine and the Coadjutor. Condé was, however, a dangerous confederate. His character, except on the field of battle, did not show to much advantage; his judgment was unsteady, his temper violent and overbearing. As he had a great contempt for the Parisians, and detested the lawyers, the Court found little difficulty in buying him by the alienation of some of the royal domains. His conduct towards the Parliament soon brought matters to a crisis. That body having been convened for December 16th, to consider how the Court performed its engagements, some of the members complained of the quartering of troops in the neighbourhood of Paris. Condé, who attended the meeting as one of the guarantees of the Declaration of October, replied with menacing words and gestures, which were resented with a storm of groans and hisses. Condé, in great irritation, now went to the Queen, and pressed her to allow him to attack Paris with his troops; and after some deliberation it was resolved that, while the Spanish war was interrupted by the winter, Paris should be reduced to obedience by military force. On January 6th 1649, Anne of Austria gave the ignal by retiring with the Court to St. Germain. A civil war was now begun. Condé blockaded Paris, and the Parliament on their side, after treating with contempt a royal order to transfer themselves to Montargis, declared Mazarine an enemy of France, and ordered him to quit the Court in twenty-four hours, and the kingdom in a week. They allied themselves with the other Parliaments of the kingdom, and took into their service many nobles with their retainers; among whom may be named Condé's brother, the Prince of Conti, the Dukes of Longueville, Elboeuf, Brissac, Bouillon, Beaufort, and the Marquis de la Boulaye. The Parisians chose Conti for their generalissimo; but they were no match for regular troops under a general like Condé. They were defeated in every skirmish; by February they began to feel the effects of famine; and on March 11th, they were glad to conclude a peace with the Queen, through the mediation of the Duke of Orléans, which, from its being negociated at the former seat of Richelieu, has been called the Peace of Ruel. This peace, though ultimately abortive, arrested France on the brink of destruction. Turenne, who had been directed to remain with his army in Suabia till the spring, in order to insure the execntion of the Peace of Westphalia, had signified to the Court his disapproval of the siege of Paris, had told Mazarine to rely no longer on his friendship, and had ended by placing himself and his army at the service of the Parliament and the public. Such a step on the part of the sedate Turenne seems almost inexplicable, 8 ANARCHY ARREST OF CONCÉ. [BOOK V. except, perhaps, from some personal resentment against Mazarine, and the desire to recover Sedan for his family, confiscated by Richelieu in 1642.5 The Archduke Leopold, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, emboldened by these troubles, had advanced with his forces as far as the Aisne between Laon and Reims; but on learning the peace of Ruel he recrossed the frontier, and he and his lieutenants subsequently took Ypres and St. Venant. To wash out this disgrace, Mazarine directed against Cambrai the troops which had blockaded Paris, united with the ancient army of the Rhine; but Harcourt, who commanded (Condé had refused the post), though he gained some small successes, failed in the main enterprise. Meanwhile all was anarchy in France. In the provinces order and authority were shaken to their foundation; the taxes could not be regularly levied, and it was difficult to find money even for the expenses of the King's household. Provence and Guienne were in a state of revolt; Paris and its Parliament were still restive. It cannot be doubted that the consummation of the English rebellion had some influence on these troubles. At Paris it was the universal topic. Nothing was talked of but liberty and a republic; the monarchy, it was said, had grown decrepit, and must be abolished." As the best method of quelling these disturbances and procuring a little money, the Queen with the young King returned to Paris, August 18th, accompanied by Mazarine and Condé, and were well received by the Parisians. But Condé, by his pride and insolence, soon rendered himself insupportable, not only to the Queen and Mazarine but even to the Fronde. The Cardinal availed himself of this latter circumstance to ruin the Prince. He persuaded Condé that the Coadjutor and the Duke of Beaufort, now one of the chief demagogues of Paris, intended to assassinate him. Conde's carriage was actually fired at while passing over the Pont Neuf, and a valet killed. Mazarine has been suspected of having concerted this affair; however that may be, he at least knew how to avail himself of it. Condé denounced the outrage to the Parliament, and involved himself in an implacable quarrel |