ncessant sounds of guns
firing--let off, happily, without other end or aim, except to show to
the guards, the Swiss troops and the military who surrounded the Palais
Royal, that the people were possessed of arms.

The shade of Richelieu was Mazarin. Now Mazarin was alone and
defenceless, as he well knew.

"Foreigner!" he ejaculated, "Italian! that is their mean yet mighty
byword of reproach--the watchword with which they assassinated, hanged,
and made away with Concini; and if I gave them their way they would
assassinate, hang, and make away with me in the same manner, although
they have nothing to complain of except a tax or two now and then.
Idiots! ignorant of their real enemies, they do not perceive that it
is not the Italian who speaks French badly, but those who can say fine
things to them in the purest Parisian accent, who are their real foes.

"Yes, yes," Mazarin continued, whilst his wonted smile, full of
subtlety, lent a strange expression to his pale lips; "yes, these noises
prove to me, indeed, that the destiny of favorites is precarious; but ye
shall know I am no ordinary favorite. No! The Earl of Essex, 'tis
true, wore a splendid ring, set with diamonds, given him by his royal
mistress, whilst I--I have nothing but a simple circlet of gold, with a
cipher on it and a date; but that ring has been blessed in the chapel of
the Palais Royal, * so they will never ruin me, as they long to do, and
whilst they shout, 'Down with Mazarin!' I, unknown, and unperceived by
them, incite them to cry out, 'Long live the Duke de Beaufort' one day;
another, 'Long live the Prince de Conde;' and again, 'Long live the
parliament!'" And at this word the smile on the cardinal's lips assumed
an expression of hatred, of which his mild countenance seemed incapable.
"The parliament! We shall soon see how to dispose," he continued, "of
the parliament! Both Orleans and Montargis are ours. It will be a work
of time, but those who have begun by crying out: Down with Mazarin! will
finish by shouting out, Down with all the people I have mentioned, each
in his turn.

* It is said that Mazarin, who, though a cardinal, had not
taken such vows as to prevent it, was secretly married to
Anne of Austria.--La Porte's Memoirs.

"Richelieu, whom they hated during his lifetime and whom they now praise
after his death, was even less popular than I am. Often he was driven
away, oftener still had he a dread of being sent away. The qu