leagued with Turenne, Bouillon, La Rochefoucault, and other great
nobles reached Paris, and were received with acclamations of joy by
the misguided people. Then, again, they obtained the ascendant. But
the ascendency was no sooner gained than the victors quarrelled with
themselves, and with the parliament, for whose cause they professed to
contend. It was in their power, when united, to have deprived the
queen regent of her authority, and to have established constitutional
liberty in France. But they would not unite. There was no spirit of
disinterestedness, nor of patriotism, nor public virtue, without which
liberty is impossible, even though there were forces enough to batter
down Mount Atlas. Conde, the victor, suffered himself to be again
bribed by the court. He would not persevere in his alliance with
either nobles or the parliament. He did not unite with the nobles
because he felt that he was a prince. He did not continue with the
parliament, because he had no sympathy with freedom. The cause of the
nobles was lost for want of mutual confidence; that of the parliament
for lack of the spirit of perseverance. The parliament, at length,
grew weary of war and of popular commotions, and submitted to the
court. All parties hated and distrusted each other, more than they did
the iron despotism of Mazarin. The power of insurgent nobles declined.
De Retz, the arch intriguer, was driven from Paris. The Duchess de
Longueville sought refuge in the vale of Port Royal; and, in the
Jansenist doctrines, sought that happiness which earthly grandeur
could not secure. Conde quitted Paris to join the Spanish armies. The
rest of the rebellious nobles made humble submission. The people found
they had nothing to gain from any dominant party, and resigned
themselves to another long period of political and social slavery. The
magistrates abandoned, in despair and disgust, their high claims to
political rights, while the young king, on his bed of justice, decreed
that parliament should no more presume to discuss or meddle with state
affairs. The submissive parliament registered, without a murmur, the
edict which gave a finishing stroke to its liberties. The Fronde war
was a complete failure, because all parties usurped powers which did
not belong to them, and were jealous of the rights of each other. The
nobles wished to control the king, and the magistracy put itself
forward to represent the commons, when the states general alone was
the a