were refused, and he received mortifications on every side. "Thus," said he, "passed the year 1652, with great glory_and little profit; for, from October 1651, to October 1652, I got not a farthing, either of my pay or my pension," In 1653, he goes to meet Cardinal Mazarin, on his return to France, but is not satisfied with his reception.

Speaking of the cardinal's triumphant return, he says

"From this time may be dated the great influence which he enjoyed, even after the time of his death." Civil war extinguished; the Duke of Orleans retired to Blois; the Prince de Condé out of France, and leagued with the Spaniards; all these circumstances left him elbow-room; the courtiers, and the people, looked up to a man, whose good fortune had surmounted so many obstacles; and the favour he enjoyed overflowed with greater violence, than if it had always had free course."

In this year, Bussy was successful in his applications to purchase the post of mestre-de-camp général de la cavalerie legère, for which he paid ninety thousand crowns to Count Paluau, who resigned it. In the latter part of the year, Bussy joins the army at Mondidier, under the command of Marshal de Turenne. Of this extraordinary man, he gives the following portrait, which, considering the terms they were upon, does credit to Bussy's impartiality.

"Henry de la Tour, Viscount de Turenne, was of a middling stature, with broad shoulders, which he shrugged from time to time, when he talked; one of those bad habits which are generally contracted from want of confidence and self-possession. He had thick eyebrows meeting in front, which gave an unhappy air to his countenance. He had seen so much service, that, having a good judgment and an extraordinary application to his art, he had rendered himself the greatest captain of his age. To hear him speak in a council, he appeared the most irresolute man in the world; but when he was obliged to come to a decision, nobody formed one better or more promptly. His true talent, the most valuable, in my opinion, in war, was that of retrieving affairs which were going on badly. When he was the weakest, there was no position whatever, where either from a brook, a ravine, a wood, or an eminence, he would not draw some advantage. Until the last eight years of his life, he was rather cautious than enterprizing, but seeing that rashness was in fashion, he no longer took the precautions he had done, and as he concerted his measures better than others, he won every battle he fought. His prudence was the result of temperament-his boldness, of experience. He had great enlargement of mind, and was capable of governing a state, as well as an army. He was not ignorant of belles-lettres; he knew something of the Latin poets, and a thousand beautiful passages

from the French poets: he was fond of bon mots, and a very good judge of them.

"He was modest in his dress, and in his expressions. One of his great qualities was, his contempt of riches. Never did man care

so little for money as he. He commanded the French army in Germany, at a time when he might have amassed an immense fortune. Nevertheless he abstained, and this extraordinary disinterestedness, joined to the high connections he had in that country, rendered him very popular among the inhabitants.

"He was fond of women, but without attaching himself to them; he liked the pleasures of the table, but without excess; he was excellent company; he knew a thousand stories; he liked to tell them, and he told them well. The latter years of his life he was polite and beneficent: he made himself beloved equally by his officers and soldiers, and as to glory, he knew himself to be so infinitely superior above the rest of the world, that the reputation of others could not annoy him."

This distinguished commander, from the first, took no care to conceal his dislike of M. de Bussy, and this hostility seems to have been as constant as it was injurious. In 1654, Bussy follows the prince de Conti into Catalonia, and this campaign seems to have been one of the bright spots in his life.

"I had," says he, "two great military employments, which I exercised with all the authority possible; I was all powerful with the general, who was a great prince, and a man of infinite wit and sense; and, that nothing might be wanting to my good fortune, I won ten thousand crowns, clear, at play, after living in a very expensive

manner."

The following is his portrait of the prince.

"Armand de Bourbon, prince of Conti, was younger brother of Louis, prince of Condé. He had a very fine head, both as to the face and the hair: it was a great pity he was deformed, for he would otherwise have been a model of a prince. He was destined for the church, but the reverses of his family having called him to arms, he contracted such a taste for them that he could not quit that career, and he studied with great success. He was of a lively, clear, gay spirit, inclined to raillery; he had an invincible courage, and, if there was another man in the world as brave as the prince de Condé, it was his brother; never was there a nobler mind, as to pecuniary interest, than his; he reckoned money at nothing; he was kind and affectionate to his friends, and, as he knew I loved him sincerely, he honoured me with a particular regard."

The year 1655 opens with his regrets at having left the service of the prince, to join Marshal Turenne.

In 1656, he records the death of his uncle, the Grand Prieur of France, which is curious.

"He was an honourable gentleman, and did not want understanding, but he was blunt, and had the sort of politeness that might be expected from a corsair. He could hardly resign himself to death, at first, and shewed it by his reluctance to confess (a weakness common to the sick, who seem to think that by deferring their confession they defer their death, as if God dared not take them in an unprepared state.) At last I made my uncle hear reason, and brought him a worthy monk of the convent of the Petits Pères, who, after confessing him, exhorted him to prepare for death. When he was gone, I went in, and asked my uncle how he liked him; Very well,' said he; He says I have absolution.' The state in which he was, prevented my laughing. However, he was a worthy man, and I shall always revere his memory.

In 1657, he says,

"Nevertheless, years passed away without my receiving any favour from the court; while I saw the creatures of the cardinal, who had neither showed him so much attachment as I, nor served the king so usefully, rewarded. I thought the Marshal de Turenne did me ill offices, but I was astonished that the cardinal, knowing me as he did, should suffer these to make any impression on his mind.

was this the only thing that injured me. The conduct of Nicholas Fouquet, superintendant of finances, had offended the cardinal, and he would not do me any service because he thought me a friend of Fouquet."

He subjoins the following character of the celebrated minister, Fouquet:

"His father, who was of a good family of Brittany, and had been maître des Requêtes in the reign of Louis the XIIIth, was employed by Cardinal Richelieu as a man who wished to make his fortune, in ogni modo, but died too young to reap the fruit of his subserviency. Nicholas Fouquet, his son, married a wife who had a large fortune, with which he bought the place of maître des Requêtes, and afterwards that of procureur général to the parliament of Paris, during the civil war of 1650. In this post, he made himself of importance to Cardinal Mazarin; and this circumstance, aided by the intrigues of the abbé, his brother, raised him to the post of superintendant of finances, at the death of the Marquess de la Vieville. The rapid advance of his fortune made him say, that it was only necessary to desire intensely, and to labour assiduously, in order to obtain success in any thing. He had great acuteness and delicacy of tact, a large share of ambition and vanity; and the favours which had been showered upon him by fortune, in the early part of his life, had engendered in him a thirst for great enterprizes. He had so

strong a turn for building, that he went on with his house at Vaux when he had scarcely enough to live on. When he was at the head of the finances, the expenses of his house, his table, and of every other department, exceeded those, not only of his predecessors, but even of any king who had hitherto reigned. Any body might be his pensioner who liked; and few of the great lords of the court were deterred by shame from being in his pay. Those who were in possession of high offices might dispose of his purse, provided they would but connect themselves closely with him. It is, therefore, not surprising that the cardinal, who saw all this, was dissatisfied with his conduct."

We pass over the long details of the campaigns which follow, only extracting the following observation on the small credit to be attached to accounts of battles.

"Historians," he 66 says, never doubt but a man who has been in a battle has a perfect knowledge of all the events of it; yet they ought to know that, perhaps, this very man was in the rear-guard, where he could not so much as see the enemy, and that even if he were in the advanced-guard, he could, perhaps, see only straight before him; and, at all events, that he must have uncommon coolness to see distinctly what was before his eyes, and to make a faithful report of it."

Bussy gives the most frightful pictures, and affords the most pitiable example of the envy, the treachery, and baseness of a court. Among the circumstances that were turned to his disadvantage, were the occurrences at a party of pleasure at Roissi, a country house of his friend, Vivonne's. The relation of the freaks of some of his wild companions is sufficiently amusing, but we have not space for it here. They were, however, exaggerated at court in the most extravagant manner, and construed into offences against religion and the king. After an explanation with the queen, which, he hopes, had set the affair at rest, it is revived, and he and Vivonne are sent into exile, that is, to his estate in Burgundy. He stays there four months, and then goes to Paris disguised; soon after which, he receives permission to return, and appears in public.

In 1660 died Gaston, Duke of Orleans, whom he thus describes :

"He was a handsome prince, born for pleasure; he had a most agreeable wit, knew a variety of things suited to his rank, and spoke admirably in public. The ambition of his favourites, rather than his own inclinations, had engaged him in dissensions with the kings, his brother and nephew. At length, tired of these troubles, he retired to Blois in 1653, and finished his life more regularly than he began it."

Peace was now proclaimed between France and Spain, and this, he says, was the climax of his misfortunes. During a

short retirement at Bussy, in this year, he wrote that unfortunate satire on two ladies of the court, which afterwards became the reason, or the pretext, for his long disgrace and imprisonment. The following is an instance of the lofty style in which the nobles of France were wont to address the minister.

"I called on the cardinal, who had the gout. saw me, Ah!' said he, poor exile, here you are.'

I, here I am, with as much zeal for your eminence's had just received the greatest favours from you."

As soon as he Yes, Sir,' said services as if I

Soon after this, he thus records the death of this extraordinary man.

"Cardinal Mazarin died on the 9th of March, 1661, in his 59th year. Never had man been born under such fortunate auspices. He was of a good family at Rome. He had an extraordinary fine face, handsome eyes and mouth, large forehead, well formed nose, and open countenance; he had a great deal of wit, and nobody told a story more agreeably; he was very insinuating, and had resistless attractions when he wished to please; he played all games requiring skill and address perfectly well. He was at first attached to the house of Colonna, afterwards to Cardinal Sacchetti; then he was captain of cavalry, and, lastly, Cardinal Antonio Barberini had him in his service, and made him take orders. Having displayed ability in some negotiations, he was employed at the peace of Casal, which he concluded in favour of France.

"Cardinal Richelieu got him the cardinal's hat; and, at his death, left him in office. Louis XIII. employed him, and had so great a value for him, that, at his death, he ordered that he should be one of the directors of the state, during the minority. Queen Anne of Austria, being regent, chose him prime minister. In this office he continued for eighteen years, during which he experienced great reverses; but it seemed as if fortune sent them only to increase his honours, by the triumphant manner in which she extricated him from them. For this reason, he took, for his device, a rock lashed by the waves, with the motto, Quam frustra et murmure quanto.

"He had neither hatred nor friendship, and only displayed either as his interest dictated. He was mortally offended at being compared to Cardinal Richelieu, who was, however, his master, and surpassed him in great qualities. The quantity of business he undertook wore out his constitution, which was excellent, and might have lasted forty years longer.

"A few days before his death, he appointed Armand de la Porte, grand-master of the artillery and son of the Marshal de la Meilleraye, his principal heir, on condition of his marrying Hortentia Mancini, one of his nieces, and taking the name of Mazarin. Various reasons were assigned for this choice; nor did any body do him the honour to be