se quays the gallants and
ladies of the period were wont to promenade at nightfall. _The Isle_,
as it is now familiarly known, is one of the most peaceful quarters of
Paris, and has a strangely provincial aspect to the traveller who
paces its quiet streets.

In 1622 Paris was raised from its subjection to the Metropolitan of
Sens, and became for the first time the seat of an archbishopric; the
diocese was made to correspond to the old territories of the Parisii.

Among the many evils attendant on a monarchy, which Samuel recited to
the children of Israel, that of the possibility of a regency might
well have found place. Louis XIV. was less than five years of age when
his father died, and once again the great nobles turned the
difficulties of the situation to their own profit. By a curious
anomaly, while women were excluded from succession to the throne of
France, the queen-mother was invariably preferred to all other
claimants for the Regency, and Anne of Austria became regent in
accordance with old custom. She retained in office Cardinal Mazarin,
Richelieu's faithful disciple, chosen by him to continue the
traditions of his policy. The new cardinal-minister, scion of an old
Sicilian family, was a typical Italian; he had none of his
predecessor's virile energy and directness of purpose, but ruled by
his subtle wit and cool, calculating patience. "Time and I," was his
device. He was an excellent judge of men, and profoundly distrusted
"the unlucky," always satisfying himself that a man was "lucky,"
before he employed him. Conscious of his foreign origin, Mazarin
hesitated to take strong measures, and advised a policy of
conciliation with the disaffected nobles. Anne filled their pockets,
and for a time the whole language of the court is said to have
consisted of the five little words "_La reine est si bonne_." But the
ambitious courtiers soon aimed at higher game, and a plot was
discovered to assassinate the foreign cardinal; the Duke of Beaufort,
chief conspirator, a son of the Duke of Vendome, and grandson of Henry
IV., by Gabrielle d'Estrees, was imprisoned in the keep at Vincennes,
and his associates interned at their chateaux.

The finances which Richelieu had left in so flourishing a condition
were soon exhausted by the lavish benevolence of the court, and were
unhappily in the hands of Emery (a clever but cynical official, who
had formerly been a fraudulent bankrupt), whose rigorous exactions and
indifference