638 Retrospect of French Literature—History and Biography. 
myself, I gained a great deal of money at 
play, and was so rich that on the duke de 
Beaufort’s speaking once about a pension, 
I replied, ‘* when his own fortune was re- 
established, it would be time enough to 
think of mine, and until then I would not 
trouble him for any thing. 
“ Amidst the contests of the English, 
which at length led to a change in the 
form of gover ument and the decapitation 
of their king, by an unexampled act of 
cruelty: we received advice that the car- 
dinal de Richelieu was confined to his 
bed, and a short time after that he had 
died.* while at the very heighth of his 
fortune and his glory. Near ly é at the same 
time, and while the exiles were still over- 
whelmed with j joy, the duke de Beaufort 
was honoured with a letter from the 
queen, with whom he was on good terms, 
beseeching him to return immediately to 
France. On this we set out that very 
night, re-embarked at Rye, and landed at 
St. Valeri, where we purchased horses 
without discovering who we were, as we 
learned that orders had been received 
from court to arrest all the dpe who 
came from England.” 
At the beginning of the year 1643, the 
duke de Beaufort sent M. de Campion to 
Paris, to negociate about the return of 
his father, but his treaty proved abortive, 
in consequence of the jealousy of the 
other agents of the prince This desir- 
able object, however, was at length ef- 
fected ; for Mazarin who had succeeded 
to Richlieu, found it necessary to obtain 
the support of the house of Vendome. 
Meanwhile the duke de Beaufort flat- 
tering himself to ibe able to govern the 
queen entirely after the death of Louis 
XILT. an event then supposed to be at no 
vreat distance, that minister became his 
declared enemy. iler matesty, however, 
appeared at that period to place great 
confidence in him, for he was entrusted 
with the care of her children, and the 
command cf the troops. On this the 
duke of Orleans aiid the Prince of Condé 
becoming jealous of the new favourites, 
joined the party of the minister; and the 
cardinal haviag gained the ladies in the 
queen’s coniidence, that circumstance, 
together with certain imprudent proceed- 
ings on his ovyn part, soon lost the duke 
her majesty’s. esteem. 
Beaufort, at the imstigation of the du- 
chesses of Clievreux and de Montbason, 
now entered into a conspiracy to assassi- 
nate Mazarin, Several of the nobility 
* December 4, 1622, 
also, and some officers of the guards were 
acquainted with this plot, against which, 
to the credit of our author, he remon- 
strated. He even appears to have saved 
the minister’s life more than once by 
bringing talse accounts, &c. to his patron. 
Notwithstanding this, he was at length 
prevailed on to mount on horseback, and 
lay wait for him on his retnrn from court 
with a body of armed men. 
This wily dignitary of, the church of 
Rome, however, was on his guard, and 
soon discovered by means of his spies, 
that a project had been formed against his 
life. On this the queen having assembled 
the Duke of Orleans, the Prince de Condé, 
and all the ministers, it was agreed after a 
long consultation, that the Duke de Beau- 
fort should be arrested. Accordingly, in . 
the course of that very evening, happen- 
ing to repair to the Louvre as usual, he 
was seized and carried to Vincennes. 
On this, M. de Campion, at the re- 
quest of the Duke de Vendome, imme- 
diately fled to Anet, while several of his 
friends were taken up, and sent to the 
Bastille. As the cardinal had conceived 
an idea, that our author was privy to the 
whole conspiracy, he by means of the 
Prevot of the Isle of France, laid a trap 
for seizing his person, and had it not been 
for a mere accideiit he would have been 
taken and imprisoned for many years, In 
order to avoid this in future, he deemed it 
prudent to take refuge with a relation who 
lived in the forest of Bretueil in Nor- 
manny, while the duke de Vendome, to 
preserve his own liberty, was obliged 
nearly at the same time to fly in disguise 
first to Geneva, and afterwards to Swit- 
zerland and Italy. 
At length, M. de Campion, deemed it 
necessary to quit the kingdomalso. He 
accordingly repaired to the coast of Brit- 
tany, and embarking near to St. Brieux, 
on board a small vessel, reached Jersey 
after a quick passage. 
“The governor of this island,” says 
he, who was alsy Vice Admiral of 
England, received me and my compa- 
nions with great politeness, and promised 
us his protection. He was called Cate- 
ret, and appeared to be a very estimable 
man. He was extremely zealous in be- 
half of his king, who still disputed his 
crown with the party attached to the par- 
liament, and had retaken Jersey from the 
rebels. We became so intimate, that I- 
dined with him almost daily. He had a 
very amiahle and sociable wife, with 
whom I often conversed freely, but al- 
ways in the most honourable manner, and 
having 
