pelled their rulers to concentrate all their energies upon
themselves, he was now constrained to descend to meaner measures, and to
enact the spy upon his sovereign; lest in some unlucky moment the
edifice, which it had cost him so mighty an amount of time and talent
to erect, should be overthrown by a breath.

True, Marie de Medicis was an exile and a wanderer; the royal brothers,
through his means, alienated in heart; discord and suspicion rife
between the monarch and his neglected wife; while even the first passion
of the King's youth had been quenched by Richelieu's iron will. The
affection of Louis XIII for Mademoiselle de la Fayette--an affection
which did equal honour to both parties from its notorious and
unquestioned propriety, but which has been too frequently recorded to
require more than a passing allusion--had been crossed and thwarted; the
fair maid of honour loved and respected Anne of Austria as much as she
feared and loathed the Cardinal-Minister; and she was accordingly an
obstacle and a stumbling-block to be removed from his path. She also was
immured in a cloister, and was consequently no longer dangerous as a
rival in the good graces of the King; yet still Richelieu was far from
tranquil; and the _petit coucher_ of the King was to him a subject of
unceasing apprehension. He was well aware that Louis was as unstable as
he was distrustful; and thus a new mistress, a new favourite, or even a
passing caprice, might, when he was totally unprepared for such an
event, suffice to annihilate his best-considered projects.

Poor Marie! Under such circumstances as these all her efforts at
conciliation were vain; and it is probable that she would have sunk
under the conviction, had not her failing courage been sustained by the
affectionate and earnest representations of her daughter, Henrietta
of England.

FOOTNOTES:

[215] Le Clerc, vol. ii. pp. 197, 198. Sismondi, vol. xxiii. pp. 253,
254. Siri, _Mem. Rec_. vol. viii. p. 354.

[216] Siri, _Mem. Rec_. vol. viii. p. 272. Le Clerc, vol. ii. pp.
202-207.

[217] Le Vassor, vol. viii. pp. 516, 517.

[218] Le Vassor, vol. ix. pp. 154-160.

[219] Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 489, 490.

[220] Siri, _Mem. Rec_. vol. viii. p. 639. Sismondi, vol. xxiii. pp.
362, 363.

[221] Bibliotheque Royale. MSS. de Colbert, entitled _Affaires de
France_, No. 2, 1638.

[222] Despatch of Bellievre of the 29th of December. MSS. de Colbert,
No. 26.

[223] _MSS. de Bethune_, qu