to the
divulsion of factions and the horrors of anarchy.

[5] Retz--La Rochefoucauld--Joly.

But for the happiness of France and the Queen-Regent, Conde was as
unskilful in politics as he was great in war. He kept none of the
promises he had made to the chiefs of the Fronde, the authors of his
deliverance. The marriage of the Prince de Conti and Mademoiselle de
Chevreuse, which had been the base of the treaty, and involved other
engagements, was, as we have seen, remorselessly broken off. The Queen
Regent, in order to succeed in bringing back her favourite minister to
power, had the tact to conceal his advances, and therefore chose in the
first instance to replace him by Chavigny, who was his personal enemy.
Then she negotiated with all parties, and skilfully opposed the Fronde
to the Prince de Conde, the latter to the Duke d'Orleans, the parliament
to the assembly of the nobles, the aversion to Mazarin to the fear which
the Coadjutor inspired. Her ministers, whom she abused, had only the
semblance of power; all that was real was possessed by Mazarin. From
Bruhl, his place of exile, he governed France; the Queen adopted no
resolution without its having been inspired by him, or met with his
approval. Thus hidden by the Regent's mantle, the Cardinal followed with
vigilant eye the quarrels of the Prince de Conde and the Frondeurs,
fomenting them and inflaming them by every means at his disposal,
prodigalising to Conde promises which must in the highest degree have
alarmed the Fronde, and entangling him daily more and more in the meshes
of intricate, tortuous negotiations, until he had seen the separation,
for which he manoeuvred, irremediably consummated. Then he stopped,
and began insensibly even to fall back. The placing of Provence in the
Prince de Conti's hands was deferred; and in fact it was held in reserve
for the Duke de Mercoeur, the eldest son of the Duke de Vendome, who
was seeking the hand of one of Mazarin's nieces; and it was also found
inexpedient to deprive the Duke de Saint-Simon of Blaye to give it to La
Rochefoucauld; and a thousand other difficulties of a like nature were
raised, which both astonished and irritated Conde. Since he broke with
the Fronde, it was apparently to unite himself with the Queen, and the
higher his ambition soared, the more necessary it was to cover it with
respect and deference, in order to hasten and secure the treaty on
foot, and to enchain the monarchy with his own fate.