people in general.

On one occasion he called the cardinal "the Grand Turk," and the remark
was reported to his mother, who sent for him and scolded him severely
for it. The queen-regent did not share the general dislike of the
minister, for they were on the most intimate terms of friendship. It was
not a matter of record, but it was believed by many, that Mazarin had
been privately married to Anne of Austria. The minister had brought his
relatives to Paris, where he was in a situation to advance their
fortunes. One of his youngest nephews had been appointed an _enfant
d'honneur_ of the king, who did not confine his dislike to the minister,
but extended it to his family. Two of these were designated to remain
with his majesty when he went to bed, and Laporte had been instructed by
the queen to give each of them a stand with two candles in it, as an
emblem of office and a token of honor. The king had the selection, and
he forbade Laporte to give it to the young Mazarin.

The minister was one of the most adroit and cunning diplomats of his
time, or any time. He was an Italian by birth, and had been in the
military and diplomatic service of the Pope, in which capacity he had
been recognized as a man of transcendent abilities by Richelieu, who had
retained him in France, where he became a naturalized Frenchman. He was
the most obsequious of courtiers, and he made himself indispensable to
the queen, who nominally wielded the executive power of the government.
He filled one of the most difficult political positions imaginable, and
did it with consummate skill, though he very nearly sacrificed himself
to the indignation of the people and the nobility in the accomplishment
of his purposes.

Richelieu had deprived the representatives of the people of many of
their powers and liberties, and the Parliament had attempted to recover
them under Mazarin. He caused their leaders to be arrested, which
initiated the war of the Fronde, consisting more of a series of riots
than of organized warfare. This disturbance compelled the court to
retire to St. Germain, where Louis was born. The young king was conveyed
there under the protection of the Royal Guard, which forms an exciting
scene in the series of Dumas, Pere, "Les Trois Mousquetaires." Though
humiliated and banished, Mazarin triumphed in the end. He had the
hardihood to arrest the Great Conde, who had made the rebellion a
success at one time. The minister was driven from the seat