of the king himself, who repeated to
his mother, "I know him better than you, madame; he is a man of unbounded
ambition," the "new cardinal" was called to the council at the opening of
the year 1624, on the instance of the Marquis of La Vieuville,
superintendent of finance and chief of the council, who felt himself
unsteady in his position, and sought to secure the favor of the
queen-mother. It was as the protege and organ of Mary de' Medici that
the cardinal wrote to the Prince of Conde, on the 11th of May, 1624, "The
king having done me the honor to place me on his council, I pray God with
all my heart to render me worthy of serving him as I desire; and I feel
myself bound thereto by every sort of consideration. I cannot
sufficiently thank you for the satisfaction that you have been pleased to
testify to me thereat. Therefore would I far rather do so in deed by
serving you than by bootless words. And in that I cannot fail without
failing to follow out the king's intention. I have made known to the
queen the assurance you give her by your letter of your affection, for
which she feels all the reciprocity you can desire. She is the more
ready to flatter herself with the hope of its continuance, in that she
will be very glad to incite you thereto by all the good offices she has
means of rendering you with His Majesty." [_Lettres du Cardinal de
Richelieu,_ t. ii. p. 5.] On the 12th of August, however, M. de la
Vieuville fell irretrievably, and was confined in the castle of Amboise.
A pamphlet of the time had forewarned him of the danger which threatened
him when he introduced Richelieu into the council. "You are both of the
same temper," it said; "that is, you both desire one and the same thing,
which is, to be, each of you, sole governor. That which you believe to
be your making will be your undoing."

From that moment the cardinal, in spite of his modest resistance based
upon the state of his health, became the veritable chief of the council.
"Everybody knew that, amidst the mere private occupations he had hitherto
had, it would have been impossible for him to exist with such poor
health, unless he took frequent recreation in the country." [_Memoires
de Richelieu,_ t. ii. p. 289.] Turning his attention to founding his
power and making himself friends, he authorized the recall of Count
Schomberg, lately disgraced, and of the Duke of Anjou's, the king's
brother's, governor, Colonel Ornano, imprisoned by the Marq