History. command of the French army. ‘The proceedings against! 
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death 
: 
played 
- ing’ 
vigour 
FRANCE. 
had discovered himself totally unfit for the high office, History. 
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the conspirators were carried on at Lyons, under the 
eyes of ‘the'minister.. Additional proof was necessary 
to condemn them ; the Duke of Orleans was mean and 
base enough to furnish it, in order to.save his own life. 
The Duke of Bouillon his pardon, by giving 
the principality of Sedan; but Cinq Mars and De 
Thou were condemned to death, and-executed in 1642. 
Almost immediately after the execution, | the’ Cardinal 
having received intelligence of the fall of Perpignan, 
wrote to the king, «Sire, your’ enemies are dead, and 
our troops are in Perpignan.” It is said that Louis 
eo on his ‘watch; about the time when Cinq Mars 
was to suffer, said, “ thew an hour, the great man 
will pass his time very disagreeably” 1) wd 
Richelien having thus enenrped aves his enemies, at 
the very moment’ when he was himself’ , the 
grave, returned to Paris ; and as he was obliged to be 
carried in a litter, a breach was made in’ the walls of 
that to allow it to enter. He'survived a few 
days.” Om his death-bed, he ‘to Louis, that 
his ‘counsels had ever been directed to the honour'of the 
crown, and the welfare of the kingdom.’ The character 
of the statesman must have sufficiently appeared from 
hig actions. His plans were undoubtedly comprehen- 
sive and profound, and in the execution of them he dis- 
wonderful vigour ; but he was stained with the 
vices of ambition, hypocrisy, cruelty, pride, and avarice. 
The Emperor Peter the Great of Russia, however, con- 
sidered him as such a complete statesman, that on his 
visit to France in°1717, he is said, on viewing the mo- 
nument of Richelieu, in the church of the Sorbonne, to 
have exclaimed, “Oh, great man, if you had been alive 
now, I would have cheerfully given you the half of my 
empire, if you would have me how to govern 
the other half!” Mary‘de Medicis died soon afterwards 
in exile and poverty at Cologne. 
Somo time before hic “Richelieu had obtained a 
cardinal’s hat for Mazarine, and had introduced him into 
the king’s council. It was therefore supposed that he 
would sueceed his sae tys prime minister ; but Louis 
resolved to govern hi . ‘The servants of the crown 
were retained in their situations ; and the mo ar 
which marked the death of the Cardinal, was the - 
ling from banishment, and releasing from confinement, 
the principal objects of the Cardinal’s resentment and 
jealousy. The war or art with diligence and 
i 3 the Swedes, who were at first doubtful 
of the Ee an wreguictaars sh of the Cardinal, 
had begun to thi udi —— te treaty with 
the Emperor. Mazarine was not, indeed, possessed of 
the situation, or the influence of the Cardinal ; but he 
had sufficient power over the King to persuade him (to 
what indeed he was by no-means indi ) to pursue 
the line of: polities marked out by that statesman. All 
operations ‘of war were concerted with the same 
ies of every kind were ‘fur- 
the 
judgment ent as formerly su 
ished with equal pi ity. "In Germany, Guebri- 
ant, in conjunction with the Swedes, triumphed over 
the Imperialists; while, in Piedmont, Lorraine, Roussil- 
lon, and Catalonia, Schomberg, L’Hospital, and two 
other French generals, were successful. 
Louis, in the midst of these-successes, was fast ap- 
ree ox a latter end ; and; as the ‘tender years of 
is son would exposé the kingdom to dissensions, un- 
less a wise and vigorous regency were appointed,’ this 
subject oceupied his whole attention g the remain- 
der of” His queen, Anne of Austria, never 
partook of his.confidence ; and the Duke’ of Orleans 
him to the highest pitch of military 
597 
by his want of steadiness and vigour of mind ;.and un- 
worthy of it by his seditious intrigues.. He therefore Arrange. — 
resolved to: ‘distribute into different hands the power ments of 
Louis on the 
that: he be hed, inorder to:preserve the tranqguil- 
lity of Gor Eeccam during the minority of Mindubokes 
sor. -The leate of the) children’ was-entrusted to ‘the end, 
Queen, whovhad also the nominalicharacter of regent ;: 
the Duke of Orleans was appointed: head of the coun-. 
cil, and lieutenant-general of the kingdom. But:these 
appointments were. counterbalanced by others, from 
which Louis hoped that neither the Queen nor‘his bro-« 
ther would :be able to. create angen, or to weaken 
the kingdom by the»incapacity or folly of their governs 
ment.» In rar of the death “of the Duke; the Prince 
of Condé was to fill his situation ; \and, ‘after him, ‘the 
Cardinal Mazarine : and it was, in-fact; on the last, that 
Louis, by his a’ ents, devolved the real manage 
ment of the kingdom :during ‘the minority of his:son. 
As’a farther guard ‘against; the Duke of Orleans, the 
King directed that all. affairs) which came before the 
council should be decided by a-majority.of votes. The 
Queen and) the Duke swore»solemnly-to preserve invio- 
late the deed which they had subscribed ; and Louis, to 
render it still ni authentic, Tes neo it to be re-- 
gistered in parliament; After these arrangements were 
completed, Louis: lived) but +a very slescic shes expi- 
ring in the 42d 
reign was so completely under the influence of Riche- 
lieu, that his character is not marked very decidedly by 
his actions: ‘he: acquired: the epithet of Just; but his 
title to it may well be disputed, unless the severity and 
the cruelty of some of the public measures of his reign 
be entirely ascribed to his minister. 
Louis XIV. was only 44 yearsof age when his father- 
died. The prospects) of France during his minority ~ 
were by no means of a satisfactory nature ; the inter- 
nal ‘state of the country exhibited discontent and ex- 
haustion, created tlie measures of Cardinal Riche- 
lieu. The war which he had commenced with the 
house of Austria still continued. The Emperor Ferdi-. 
nand III. less formidable than his father, struggled 
inst the forces of Sweden and France, even though 
e forces ‘of the empire, in many cases, resisted hi 
will and his plans. Philip IV. of Spain had lost Rous 
sillon, Catalonia, and Portugal ; but he’ still continu- 
ed the struggle inst the Portuguese, the» Dutch, 
and the. French. “Bo gland, though involved in civil 
war, was already beginning to exercise that .energy 
which these troubles had created or brought into ac- 
tion, and threatened to become more formidable than 
ever. 
The will of Louis XIII. which ‘has been noticed) His willset - 
was violated almost: immediately ‘after. his . death ; his side. 
widow being invested ‘by an arret of the parliament of 
Paris with continued powers. She immediately gave 
herself entirely up to the direction and-influence’ of 
Cardinal Mazarine,-who was of a subtle and insinuating 
character. 
The court of Spain, imagining that the minority of The Spa- 
Louis afforded them an excellent opportunity of inva- niards in- 
ding France, marched an army from the Low Coun- vadeFrance. 
tries into Champagne, besieged Rocroy, and’ spread 
alarm on every side ; re ahey were oneeke. and un- 
expectedly were opposed by a general who, at this -pe- 
riod, commenced thas lorious canéer which has exalted 
i fame. Previous to 
the death of Louis XIII. Louis of Bourbon, Duke of 
3 
approach of 
his latter 
of his;age, and on the very day His death: 
that he had completed the 33d of his reign. This sove- A. D. 1643.. 
