



Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Emanuela Piasentini and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net






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  |Transcriber's note.                                         |
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  |The original punctuation, language and spelling have been   |
  |retained, except where noted at the end of the text.        |
  |Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.|
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  |The [oe] ligature has been rendered as oe.                  |
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  |Alternative spellings:                                      |
  |chateau: chateau                                            |
  |camerara: camarera                                          |
  |Fenelon: Fenelon                                            |
  |Ferte-Senneterre: Ferte-Senneterre                          |
  |Hotel: Hotel                                                |
  |Leganez: Leganez                                            |
  |Orleans: Orleans                                            |
  |Querouialle: Querouialle                                    |
  |Saint-Megrin: Saint-Megrin                                  |
  |Sevigne: Sevigne, Sevigne                                   |
  |Tremouille: Tremouille                                      |
  |Tarent: Tarente                                             |
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                             POLITICAL WOMEN.


                                   BY

                           SUTHERLAND MENZIES,

                   AUTHOR OF "ROYAL FAVOURITES," ETC.


                            IN TWO VOLUMES.

                                VOL. II.


                          HENRY S. KING & CO.,

             65, CORNHILL, AND 12, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.

                                 1873.




                        [_All rights reserved._]




CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.


BOOK V.--_continued._

                                                               PAGE

  CHAP.  III.--The struggle between Conde and Turenne--Noble
               conduct of Mademoiselle de Montpensier--Fall of
               the Fronde                                         3

          IV.--The Duke de Nemours slain in a duel by his
               brother-in-law Beaufort                           12

           V.--Triumph of Mazarin                                16


BOOK VI.

  CHAP.    I.--Closing scenes--Madame de Longueville             35

          II.--Madame de Chevreuse                               49

         III.--The Princess Palatine                             54

          IV.--Madame de Montbazon                               61

           V.--Mademoiselle de Montpensier                       69

          VI.--The Wife of the Great Conde                       80


PART II.

  The Duchess of Portsmouth                                      93


PART III.


BOOK I.

PRINCESS DES URSINS.

  CHAP.    I.--Two ladies of the Bedchamber during _the war of
               the Spanish Succession_--Lady Churchill and the
               Princess des Ursins--Political motives for their
               elevation in England and Spain                   127

          II.--The Princess des Ursins--The married life of
               Anne de la Tremouille--She becomes the centre of
               contemporary politics in Rome                    131

         III.--Madame des Ursins aspires to govern Spain--Her
               manoeuvres to secure the post of Camerara-Mayor  141

          IV.--The Princess assumes the functions of
               Camerara-Mayor to the young Queen of Spain--An
               unpropitious royal wedding                       148

           V.--Onerous and incongruous duties of the
               Camerara-Mayor--She renders Marie Louise popular
               with the Spaniards--The policy adopted by the
               Princess for the regeneration of Spain--Character
               of Philip and Marie Louise--Two political systems
               combated by Madame des Ursins--She effects the
               ruin of her political rivals and reigns
               absolutely in the Councils of the Crown          161

          VI.--The Princess makes a false step in her
               Statecraft--A blunder and an imbroglio           175

         VII.--The Princess quits Madrid by command of Louis
               XIV.--After a short exile, she receives
               permission to visit Versailles                   184

        VIII.--The Princess triumphs at Versailles              192


BOOK II.

  CHAP.    I.--Sarah Jennings and John Churchill                207

          II.--State of parties in action on the accession of
               Queen Anne--Harley and Bolingbroke aim at
               overthrowing the sway of the female
               "Viceroy"--Abigail Hill becomes the instrument
               of the Duchess's downfall--Squabbles between
               the Queen and her Mistress of the Robes          215

         III.--Success of the Cabal--The Queen emancipates
               herself from all obligations to the Duke and
               Duchess of Marlborough--The downfall of the
               Duchess and the Whigs resolved upon--The
               Duchess's stormy and final interview with
               the Queen                                        233

          IV.--The disgrace of the Duchess involves the fall
               of the Whigs--Anne demands back the Duchess's
               gold keys of office--Extraordinary influence of
               Sarah and Abigail on the fortunes of Europe--The
               illustrious soldier and his disgraced wife
               driven from England                              242


BOOK III.

  CHAP.    I.--Delicate and perilous position of the Princess
               des Ursins after the Battle of Almanza--She
               effects an important reform by the centralisation
               of the different kingdoms of Spain--The Duke of
               Orleans heads a faction inimical to the
               Princess--She demands and obtains his recall--Her
               bold resolution to act in opposition to the timid
               policy of Versailles--The loftiness of her past
               conduct and character--The victory of Villaviciosa
               definitely seats the House of Bourbon on the
               throne of Spain                                  251

          II.--The Princess's share in the Treaty of Utrecht--At
               the culminating point of her greatness, a
               humiliating catastrophe is impending--Philip
               negotiates for the erection of a territory into
               a sovereignty for Madame des Ursins--The sudden
               death of Queen Marie Louise causes a serious
               conjunction for the Princess--Her power begins
               to totter                                        264

         III.--The Princess finds herself friendless in
               Spain--Suspicions and slanders rife with regard
               to the relations existing between her and the
               King--The projected creation of a sovereignty
               fails, through the abandonment of England--Philip,
               in consequence, refuses to sign the Treaty of
               Utrecht, but Louis XIV. compels the King and
               Princess to yield--Their _tetes-a-tetes_ causing
               great scandal, the King suddenly orders the
               Princess to find him a wife                      272

          IV.--Among the Princesses eligible to become Philip's
               consort, he chooses the Princess of Parma--Alberoni
               deceives Madame des Ursins as to the character of
               Elizabeth Farnese--The Camerara-Mayor's prompt and
               cruel disgrace at the hands of the new Queen--She
               is arrested and carried to St. Jean de Luz--Her
               courage under adversity--She returns to Rome, and
               dies there                                       287


BOOK IV.

          I.--_Closing Scenes_--The Princess des Ursins         301

         II.--Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough                     307




BOOK V.

(_Continued._)




POLITICAL WOMEN.




CHAPTER III.

  THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN CONDE AND TURENNE AT PARIS--NOBLE CONDUCT OF
  MADEMOISELLE DE MONTPENSIER--FALL OF THE FRONDE.


THE second-rate actors in this shifting drama presented no less
diversity in the motives of their actions. Beaufort, who commanded the
troops of Gaston, and Nemours those of Conde, although brothers-in-law,
weakened by their dissentions an army which their concord would have
rendered formidable. The necessity of military operations required their
absence from Paris; but they preferred rather to there exhibit
themselves to their mistresses, decked out in a general's uniform, and
grasping the truncheon of command. No greater harmony existed between
the Prince de Conti and Madame de Longueville than when La Rochefoucauld
severed them. At Bordeaux they favoured opposite parties, and
contributed to augment the discord prevailing, and to weaken the party
of the Princes by dividing it. The Duchess de Longueville, when no
longer guided by La Rochefoucauld, did not fail to lose herself in
aimless projects, and to compromise herself in intrigues without result.
On Nemours being wounded, his wife repaired to the army to tend him, and
the Duchess de Chatillon, under pretext of visiting one of her
chateaux, accompanied her as far as Montargis; thence she went to the
convent of Filles de Sainte-Marie, where, believing herself quite
incognita, she went, under various disguises, to see him whom she had
never ceased to love. These mysterious visits soon became no longer a
secret to any one; and then Conde and his sister could convince
themselves how different are the sentiments which love inspires and
those which self-interest and vanity simulate. The great Conde, by his
intelligence and bearing, had all the means of pleasing women; but
obtained small success notwithstanding. Mademoiselle Vigean excepted, he
appears to have been incapable of inspiring the tender passion, in the
truest acceptation of the phrase. He went further than his sister, it
seems, in the neglect of his person. It was his habit of life to be
almost always badly dressed, and only appeared radiant on the field of
battle. So that the Duke de Nemours was not the only rival with whom
Conde had to contend for the favours of that beauty for whom Louis XIV.
in his boyish amusements had shown a preference, and which has furnished
a theme for some agreeable trifling to the sparkling muse of Benserade.
An abbe, named Cambiac, in the service of the house of Conde, balanced
for some time the passion to which Nemours had given birth in the bosom
of the Duchess de Chatillon, and the jealousy of Nemours failed to expel
Cambiac. The Duchess kept fair with him as the man who had obtained the
greatest sway over her relation, the Princess-dowager de Conde. The
condescension of the Duchess de Chatillon towards this intriguing and
licentious priest procured her, on the part of the Princess-dowager, a
legacy of more than a hundred thousand crowns in Bavaria, and the
usufruct of an estate worth twenty thousand livres in rent per annum.
Cambiac, however, retired, when he knew that Conde was his rival. But
the victor of Rocroy had more address in winning battles than in
conducting a love intrigue. He was clumsy enough to employ as a
go-between in his courtship of his new mistress a certain gentleman
named Vineuil, who was, it is true, one of his most skilful and attached
followers, but whose good looks, agreeable and satirical wit, and
enterprising character rendered him a very dangerous emissary among
women. He had even acquired some celebrity through his successes in that
way. Madame de Montbazon, Madame de Mouy, and the Princess of Wurtemberg
had successively experienced the effects of his seductions. Vineuil made
himself very agreeable to Madame de Chatillon, and if Conde were wronged
by him in that quarter, he never knew of it; for Vineuil was always in
great favour with him. Nemours excited his jealousy, and Nemours only
dreaded Conde. However, shortly before, in the month of March, 1652, the
Marquis de la Boulay and Count de Choisy, both enamoured of this Queen
of Hearts, were bent on fighting a duel about her. A rumour of their
intention got wind. The Duchess de Chatillon heard of it, and appeared
unexpectedly on the spot fixed by the two adversaries for a rendezvous;
and at the very instant they were about to unsheath their swords, she
flung herself between them, seized each by the hand, and led them into
the presence of the Duke d'Orleans, who charged Marshals l'Hospital,
Schomberg, and d'Etampes, then in Paris, to arrange that affair and
prevent a duel. In this they succeeded, but these rivalries and gallant
intrigues very sensibly weakened Conde's party, and hindered there being
anything secret or combined in the execution of projects determined upon
in the councils of its chief.

In the meantime, the siege of Etampes had been raised; and the army of
Conde had issued forth, probably with the intention of attacking Turenne
if he were found engaged with the Duke de Lorraine. On its approaching
Paris, Conde took the command of it, and fixed his head-quarters at
Saint-Cloud, in order to manoeuvre on both banks of the Seine. The
proximity of his camp to Paris did him far greater harm than even a
defeat would have done. With but a scanty commissariat, Conde was of
course obliged to permit every sort of licence. All the crops were
ruined in the neighbouring fields; the peasantry were plundered,
injured, and their domestic peace destroyed; and the country-houses of
the rich Parisians were pillaged and burned in all directions. The evils
of civil war now came home to the hearts of the people of the capital,
and, forgetting how great a part they themselves had taken in producing
the results they lamented, they cast the whole blame upon Conde, and
regarded him thenceforth with a malevolent eye.

That prince was distracted with different passions and different
feelings. He was himself desirous of peace, and willing to make
sacrifices to obtain it. His fair mistress, the Duchess de Chatillon,
linked with La Rochefoucauld and the Duke de Nemours, confirmed him in
seeking it; but, on the other hand, his sister, who sought to break off
his connection with Madame de Chatillon, joined with the Spaniards, to
whom he had bound himself by so many ties, to lead him away from Paris,
and to protract the war. Gaston's daughter, too, Mademoiselle de
Montpensier, mingled in all these intrigues, and took the same unwise
means to force herself as a bride upon the young King, which De Retz
took to force himself as minister upon his mother. But while these
separate interests tore the capital, the peril of the army of Conde
became imminent. Turenne having brought the Court to St. Denis, caused a
number of boats to be drawn up from Pontoise, and commenced the
construction of a bridge opposite Epinay.

Conde, betrayed on all sides, could at length perceive what an error he
had committed in quitting the army only to lose himself amidst a series
of impotent intrigues, and in having preferred the counsels of such a
fickle mistress as Madame de Chatillon to those of a courageous and
devoted sister such as Madame de Longueville. Towards the end of June,
he got on horseback with a small number of intrepid friends, and rode
forth to try for the last time the fate of arms.

It was too late. Marshal de la Ferte-Senneterre had brought from
Lorraine powerful reinforcements to the royal army, which thereby
amounted to twelve thousand men. That of the Fronde had scarcely the
half of that number, and it was discouraged, divided, incapable of
giving battle, and could only carry on a few days' campaign around
Paris, thanks to the manoeuvres and energy everywhere exhibited by its
chief. It was evident that no other alternative remained to Conde but to
treat with the Court at any price, or to throw himself into the arms of
Spain, and the famous combat of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, seriously
considered, was only an act of despair, an heroic but vain protest of
courage against fortune. Success would have remedied nothing, and a
defeat might have been expected, in which Conde might have lost his
glory and his life. It was no slight error of Turenne to risk a combat
against such an adversary without a disposition of his entire force, for
at that moment La Ferte-Senneterre was still with the artillery before
the barrier Saint-Denis. Reunited, the Queen's two generals might
overwhelm Conde; separated, La Ferte-Senneterre remained useless, and
Turenne left alone might purchase his victory very dearly. The latter
therefore required that La Ferte should hasten to join him by forced
marches, and that the attack should not be commenced before he arrived.
But the orders of the Court admitted of no delay, and the Duke de
Bouillon himself advised an immediate attack, in order to avoid having
the appearance of manoeuvring with Conde. Hence the fatal combat of the
2nd of July, 1652, in which so many valiant officers, of whom the army
was proud, perished uselessly.

Historians in relating the details of that deplorable day have dwelt
upon the courage and talent displayed by Conde within that narrow arena,
that small space of ground which extended from the barrier du Trone, by
the main street of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, in front of the Bastille.
As usual, he had formed a picked squadron which he led on all points,
himself leading the most desperate charges. He had posted himself in
front of Turenne, disputing foot to foot with him the _Grande Rue Saint
Antoine_, and during the intervals of relaxation of the enemy's attacks,
he rode off towards Picpus to encourage Tavannes, who was repelling with
his customary vigour every attack made by Saint-Megrin, or to hold in
check, on the side of the Seine and Charenton Navailles, one of
Turenne's best lieutenants. It was in the _Grande Rue_ where the rudest
shocks were delivered. Turenne and Conde there rivalled each other in
boldness and obstinacy, both charging at the head of their troops, both
covered with blood, and unceasingly exposed to the fire of musketry.
Turenne, far superior in numbers, was rapidly gaining ground, when Conde
suddenly, sword in hand, at the head of his squadron of fifty brave
gentlemen, forced him to fall back, and the affair remained undecided
until Navailles, who had just received a reinforcement with artillery,
overthrew all the barricades in his path, and in advancing, threatened
to surround Conde. The latter, throwing himself quickly in that
direction, saw on reaching the last barricade his two friends, Nemours
and La Rochefoucauld, the one wounded in several places and unable to
stand, the other blinded by a ball which had passed through his face
just below the eyes, and both in immediate danger of being made
prisoners. All exhausted as he was--for the fighting lasted from morning
till evening,--Conde had still heart and energy to make a last charge
for their rescue, and to place them in safety within the city. He felt
the old flame of Rocroy and Nordlingen firing his blood, and he fought
like the boldest of his dragoons. The citizens on the ramparts beheld
with emotion the Prince, covered with blood and dust, enter a garden,
throw off his casque and cuirass, and roll himself half-naked upon the
grass to wipe off the sweat in which he was bathed. Meanwhile, La
Ferte-Senneterre had come up. From that moment all gave way, and the
Prince, feebly seconded by his disheartened soldiers, with the greatest
difficulty reached the Place de la Bastille. There he found the gates of
Paris shut. In vain did Beaufort urge the city militia to go to the
assistance of that handful of brave men on the point of succumbing:
wearied with three years of discord and manipulated by Mazarin, it no
longer responded to the summons of its old chief. Splendidly dressed
ladies waved signals to their champions and lovers below, and the
streets became alive with the shouting of armed citizens, who desired to
be let out to the aid of their defenders, and could not see with cold
blood the slaughter of their friends. Thousands went to the Luxembourg
to beseech Gaston to open the gates of the city for the reception of
the wounded and the protection of the over-matched. Long trains of
wounded and dying young men began to be carried in; the groans and blood
were horrible to hear and see; and the women of all ranks and ages were
frantic with sympathy and grief. De Retz and terror had so chilled the
Duke d'Orleans into inaction that he would have let Conde perish, had
not Mademoiselle de Montpensier, who was at that time smitten with
Conde, wrung indignantly from her father, by dint of tears and
entreaties, an order to open the gates to the outnumbered Prince.

Mazarin, from the heights of Charonne, where he had stationed himself
with the young King, might well have thought that it was all over with
his worst enemy; and, when startled to hear that Mademoiselle herself
had even ordered the cannon of the Bastille to be fired upon the royal
army, exclaimed, "With that cannon-shot she has slain her husband,"
making allusion to the ambition which the Princess d'Orleans always had
to espouse the youthful Louis XIV. True, on that same day, Mademoiselle
destroyed with her own hand her dearest hopes; but that trait of
generosity and greatness of soul has for ever honoured her memory, and
shields it from many errors and much ridicule. After having solemnly
pledged itself to Conde, it would have been the height of opprobrium for
the House of Orleans to let Conde fall before their eyes: better to have
perished with him, and at least saved its honour.

Mademoiselle has related in what condition she found Conde, when having
placed herself at the window of a little dwelling near the Bastille, in
order to see the troops pass as they entered the city, the Prince
hurried for a moment from the gate to speak to her. He neither thought
of himself, all covered with blood as he was, nor even of his cause,
very nearly hopeless: he thought only of the friends he had lost. It
did not occur to him that they were those who had embarked him in
negotiations the results of which had proved so fatal: he thought only
that they had died for him, and his anguish grew insupportable. "He
was," says Mademoiselle, "in a most pitiable state; he was not wounded
himself, yet he was covered from head to foot with dust and blood, his
hair all disordered, his face flushed with exertion, his cuirass
battered with blows, and having lost the scabbard of his sword in the
fight, he held the blade naked in his hand." As he entered, the memory
of all those he had seen fall around him seemed to rush suddenly upon
Conde, and casting himself upon a seat, he burst into tears. "Forgive
me," said the great soldier, "I have lost all my friends--the gallant
young hearts that loved me." "No, they are only wounded," said his
cousin, "and many of them not dangerously; they will recover and love
you still." Conde sprang up at the good news, and rushed back into the
fight. At the head of all his effective cavalry, he made one desperate,
long-continued charge, and drove the enemy backward for a mile. In the
meantime, the gates were opened wide, and, file after file, the weary
soldiers marched into the city; and dashing homeward after his brilliant
assault, Conde and his squadron galloped in the last: but when the
ponderous bars were once more drawn across the portals, it was felt that
the combatants indeed were saved, but that the Fronde was destroyed.




CHAPTER IV.

  THE DUKE DE NEMOURS SLAIN IN A DUEL BY HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW, BEAUFORT.


SOME few days after the fierce fight of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine,
Conde had an interview with the Duke d'Orleans, "who embraced him with
an air as gay as though he had failed him in nothing."[1] Conde uttered
no word of reproach out of respect to his daughter. He did not behave
exactly in the same way towards Madame de Chatillon. She had addressed a
note to him begging him to visit her. She showed this effusion to
Mademoiselle, saying, "He will at least see from that the uneasiness
which is felt for him." But Conde's mind was disabused, and when he met
her who had been his ruin, "he cast upon her, we are told, the most
terrible glances conceivable, showing by the expression of his
countenance how much he despised her."[2] Well would it have been if
soon afterwards the grand-nephew of Henry IV. had not lent anew his ear
to the song of the syren and resumed the slavery of her dishonouring
fetters!

    [1] Mademoiselle de Montpensier, tom. ii. p. 148.

    [2] The same.

It is not to our purpose to retrace the melancholy scenes of which,
after the combat of Saint Antoine, and during the remainder of the month
of July, 1652, Paris was the theatre. It would be only to dwell upon the
sad spectacle of the agony and supreme convulsions of a beaten party,
struggling in vain to escape its fate, and seeking safety in excesses
which only served to precipitate its destruction.

Conde left no violent extreme untried to determine Paris to make further
sacrifices for his cause. Dissatisfied with the deliberations of the
Hotel de Ville, he caused it to be carried by assault by the populace,
who killed several of the _echevins_. The Fronde, however, was
approaching its last agony. Divided amongst themselves by selfish
interests, and outwearied with endless intrigues, the majority of the
Frondeurs only awaited a fitting opportunity of treating with Mazarin.
An amnesty soon made its appearance, and the Cardinal took the step of
quitting France once more in order to facilitate a reconciliation. But
Conde, on his side, was very little disposed thereto, for he had gone
very far indeed to retrace his steps. Furious at having failed to reach
the object which he had thought to attain, exasperated by the
abandonment of his partisans, by the sarcasms of pamphleteers, he
demanded securities and large indemnifications; and proposed such hard
conditions that all accord with him became impossible. Thereupon he
collected some troops around his standard, a tolerably large number of
gentlemen, and rejoined the Duke de Lorraine, who was advancing upon
Paris. Their united forces amounted to eighty squadrons and eight
thousand infantry. Turenne had scarcely half that strength; but he
manoeuvred so skilfully round Paris, that they failed to get any
advantage over him. Conde withdrew; and when the King, on his return to
the Louvre, published a second amnesty (October, 1652), the Prince had
crossed the frontier, after having taken several strongholds in his line
of march. Shortly afterwards, he became generalissimo of the Spanish
armies, whilst a decree of the parliament declared him guilty of high
treason and a traitor to the State.

Previous to Conde's departure from Paris, intense indignation had been
excited in every well-balanced mind by a shocking event--the Duke de
Nemours having been slain by the hand of his brother-in-law, the Duke de
Beaufort, in an abominable duel. From De Nemours the provocation had
come, and all the wrong was on his part; but as the victim, he was
deplored by all those who were ignorant of what had contributed to bring
about the affair, and for some time the new governor of Paris (Beaufort)
could not show himself in public.

In the Dukes de Nemours and La Rochefoucauld, Conde had lost his two
pacific advisers. In vain had he offered to La Rochefoucauld the post of
Nemours, the command under him, and thus to be the second authority in
his army. La Rochefoucauld had excused himself on account of his wound,
and Conde gave the vacant command to the Prince de Tarente.
Henceforward, Madame de Chatillon quite alone was unable to
counterbalance the counsels and influence of Madame de Longueville, and
Conde plunged deeper than ever into the Spanish alliance and the war
waged by that nation against France.

Whilst all these events were happening, Bordeaux had become the theatre
of continued troubles. Madame de Longueville no longer agreed with her
younger brother; the inhabitants of the city, who had only entered
half-heartedly and been almost forced into rebellion, became impatient
to extricate themselves from the constrained position in which they were
held. As the sequel to negotiations which the city carried on with the
Duke de Vendome, who blockaded it, there was a general amnesty.

When Conde retired to the Netherlands, it was not long before it became
known, to the national humiliation, that the best soldier of France, a
prince of the blood and