many
of its most attractive ornaments.

Monsieur, the duke of Orleans, was sullenly residing at Blois. Here he
held a somewhat rival court to the king. He refused to attend the
coronation unless certain concessions were granted, to which Mazarin
could not give his consent. Mademoiselle, the duchess of Montpensier,
daughter of Monsieur by his first wife, a young lady of wonderful
heroism and attractions, who possessed an enormous property in her own
right, and who was surrounded by a brilliant court of her own, could
not consistently share in festivities at which her father refused to
appear.

The Prince of Conde, one of the highest nobles of the realm, and who
had many adherents of the most illustrious rank, was in arms against
his king at the head of the Spanish forces, and sentence of death had
been pronounced upon him.

Cardinal de Retz was a prisoner at Vincennes. His numerous followers
in Church and State refused to sanction by their presence any
movements of a court thus persecuting their beloved cardinal.

It was thus impossible to invest the coronation with the splendor
which the occasion seemed to demand.

The coronation took place, however, at Rheims. Cardinal Mazarin
exerted all his ingenuity to render the pageant imposing; but the
absence of so many of the most illustrious of the realm cast an
atmosphere of gloom around the ceremonies.

France was at the time at war with Spain. The Fronde co-operated with
the Spanish troops in the civil war. Immediately after the coronation,
the king, then sixteen years of age, left Rheims to place himself at
the head of the army. He repaired to Stenay, on the Meuse, in the
extreme northeastern frontier of France. This ancient city, protected
by strong fortifications, was held by Conde. The royal troops were
besieging it. The poverty of the treasury was such that Mazarin could
not furnish Louis even with the luxury of a carriage. He traveled on
horseback. He had no table of his own, but shared in that of the
Marquis de Fabert, the general in command.

It seems difficult to account for the fact that the young king was
permitted to enter the trenches, and to engage in skirmishes, where
he was so exposed to the fire of the enemy that the wounded and the
dead were continually falling around him. He displayed much courage on
these occasions.

The Prince of Conde left a garrison in one of the strong fortresses,
and marched with the main body of his troops to Arras. The