The coadjutor, archbishop of Paris, afterwards the cele brated Cardinal de Retz, fomented and took advantage of these disturbances : he was a man of a restless, intriguing, and seditious character ; excessively profligate in his prin ciples and manners, but possessed of very superior talents. He was jealous of Mazarine, at the same time that he de spised his abilities. Thinking himself better qualified to fill the place of prime minister, he employed all his talents and his powers of intrigue to inspire the nobles with the same jealousy of Mazarine, which filled his own breast ; at the same time, he inflamed the people and roused them to sedition, by representing the ignominy of submitting to the oppressive administration of a stranger. The Parlia ment of Paris warmly seconded his pretended views of re. formation ; and a civil war was inevitable.
The talents of A lazarine were by no means equal to the approaching danger ; and Anne of Austria, entirely under his guidance, was nearly as unpopular as himself. She could not appear publicly in the streets without being in sulted ; she was continually reproached with sacrificing the good of the nation to her attachment to a foreigner ; and ballads and madrigals were sung in the street, on the sub ject of her amours. The women took an active and zeal ous part at this crisis ; and many of the most celebrated generals declared for or against the court, as they were or dered by their respective mistresses. In consequence of this state of things, and of their apprehension of greater danger, the queen regent, along with her children and Ma zarine, left Paris, and retired to St Germains. Here, at cording to Voltaire, their distress was so great, that they were obliged to pawn the crown jewels in order to raise money : the king himself was often in want of common necessaries ; and the pages of the chamber were dismiss ed, because they had not the means of maintaining them. The parliament now proceeded to extremities ; they de clared the Cardinal a disturber of the public peace, and an enemy to France : this was the signal of revolt : a separa tion of parties took place. The Frondeurs, as the rebels were called, were headed by the Prince of Conti, brother of the great Conde, and the Dukes of Beaufort, Bouillon, and Longueville. The Prince of Conde, though dissatisfied with the court, engaged in the royal cause, and joined the Queen at St Germains. But the rebels wasted their time in disputes, or vain parade, and neglected to take measures even for the defence of the capital ; they were soon there fore thrown into alarm, when the Prince of Conde, at the head of 6000 troops, advanced against it. The Marshal Turenne, who had been allured by the Duchess de Longueville, sister of Conde, in vain attempted to defend Paris with an undisciplined rabble. A conference was agreed to ; and a treaty concluded at Rouel, by which a general amnesty was granted, and the appearance of peace restored, .without, however, any sincerity of reconciliation
or extinction of hatred on either side.
The court returned to Paris, and the Cardinal was re ceived with joy by that very people, who, such a very short time before, had threatened his life. It is this levity of the French nation,—the absurd and contemptible mixture of a frivolous gallantry with the intrigues of state, and even with civil commotions,—and the influence exercised by the Duches of Longueville, and other women of a libertine character, in making the most eminent leaders several times change sides, that mark out these civil wars, otheT wise contemptible, as objects of interest and study to those who wish to gain a minute, profound, and intimate acquain tance with the character of the French nation.
In 1650, the Prince of Conde repeatedly insulted the Queen and the Cardinal, while, by hi, haughtiness, he dis gusted the coadjutor who now supported Mazi•ine, and by whose advice the prince, together with his brother the Prince of Conti, and the Duke of Longueville, were arrest ed at the council table. The citizens of l'aris, on this oc casion, celebrated with public rejoicings the imprisonment of these men, whom they had lately hailed as their deliv erers. Alazarine, however, had not gained prudence, and his triumph, of course, was of short duration. Conceiving himself secure, he affronted the Duke of Orleans, who im mediately deserted the court, and became the Lead of the Fronde. On this, the parliament again took courage, and demanded the liberation of the Princes of Conde and Conti, and the Duke of Longueville ; and passed sentence of per petual banishment against the Cardinal, who went in per son to liberate the princes, in the hope of gaining their fa vour ; but they treated him with contempt. lie was then obliged to flee to Lein and afterwards to Cologne. The coadjutor this time remained faithful to the court ; and by his intrigues, the Duke of Bouillon and Marshal Turenne were detached from the Fronde. 1 n 1651, I\ lazarine again entered the kingdom with 6000 men, upon which Conde took up arms, and the parliament declared him guilty of high treason, though he was only going to oppose the Car dinal, against whom they had so very lately passed a sen tence of perpetual banishment. Conde, in this extremity, quitted Paris, to arm in his support the provinces of Guien ne, Poitou, and Anjou, and to ally himself with the Span iards. During these convulsions, Louis XIV. being now of age, ordered the parliament to remove to Pontage, and a few of the members obeyed ; but the greater part remain ed. Thus there were two parlia int its ; their resolutions, however, had now fallen into such contempt, that the iivai factions disdained their mediation or and prepared to ter initiate their differences by the sword. Conde, in league with the Spaniards, appeared in the field against the king, and the Marshal Turemie supported the court.