Attack of le Palais Gallien.-Action at la Porte Dijeaux.-Growing desire for Peace.—Negotiation concluded.—Interview at Bourg be- tween the Princess and the Queen Regent.-The Court enters Bor- deaux.-The Princess retires to her Father's house of Milly.-Her reception at Valençay, and at Montrond.-Condé conveyed from Mar- coussy to the citadel of Havre.-Death of his Mother.-Steps taken in the Parliament of Paris towards his liberation.-Change of Affairs. -The Queen Regent detained as a captive.—Mazarin a fugitive at the head of three hundred horse.-His interview with Condé at Condé arrives at Paris.-Arrival of the Princess from Montrond.-Power of the House of Condé at this period.-Erroneous Policy of the Prince. Fresh dissensions with the Court.-He retires to St. Maur, and to Montrond.-Renewal of the Civil War.-Condé at Bordeaux.— His campaign on the Charente.-Return of Mazarin to France.-Mili- tary movements on the Loire.-Mademoiselle de Montpensier at Or- leans.-Her Courtship by Charles II. of England.—Victory of Turenne Secret departure of Condé from Gascony.-He traverses the centre of France in disguise.-Adventures on the journey.-His sudden appear- ance at his army of the Loire.-The action of Gien decided by his presence.-Firmness of Turenne in retrieving the day.-Condé pro- ceeds to Paris. His treaty with Spain.-His altercations with the Parliament.-Siege of Etampes.-Battle de la Porte St. Antoine at Paris.-Conflagration and Massacre at the Hôtel de Ville.-Siege of Montrond. The place taken and demolished.-Decline and fall of PAGE greatest victory revisited.--The Princess of Condé maintains herself at Bordeaux.--Her good conduct and popularity.--The Bordelais yield, and the Princess embarks at Bordeaux.--Her harsh treatment by the Prince.--Siege of Arras raised by Turenne.-Queen Christina of Sweden.--Condé forces the French lines at Valenciennes.--State of affairs at Madrid.--Battle of the Downs, near Dunkirk.--Peace of the First interview between Condé and Louis XIV.-Absolute power of Mazarin. His death at Vincennes.-Retreat of Condé to Chantilly. -His Son's marriage.-Death of Anne of Austria.-Mysterious event at the Hôtel de Condé.-Accusation against the Princess.-Its valid- ity examined. She is sent a prisoner to Châteauroux.-Rabutin Visit of Louis XIV. at Chantilly.-Tragic fate of Vatel.-Condé takes part in the campaign of Holland.-His Nephew the Duke de Longue- ville killed.-Condé himself wounded.-He returns to France.--His campaign in 1674 against the Prince of Orange.--Battle of Seneff.-- Condé commands on the Rhine after the death of Turenne.--His final retirement at Chantilly.-His affection for his Son.-His taste for gardening.-Embellishment of Chantilly.--Illness of his daughter-in- law, the Duchess de Bourbon.--Condé hastens to rejoin her at Fon- tainebleau.--His own illness and death.--His last injunction with respect to the Princess.--She dies in Prison eight years after him.— THE LIFE OF CONDÉ. CHAPTER VII. Attack of le Palais Gallien.-Action at la Porte Dijeaux.-Growing desire for Peace.-Negotiation concluded.-Interview at Bourg between the Princess and the Queen Regent.-The Court enters Bordeaux.-The Princess retires to her Father's house of Milly.-Her reception at Valençay, and at Montrond.-Condé conveyed from Marcoussy to the citadel of Havre Death of his Mother.-Steps taken in the Parliament of Paris towards his liberation.-Change of Affairs.-The Queen Regent detained as a captive. Mazarin a fugitive at the head of three hundred horse.-His interview with Condé at Havre.-Condé and his brothers set free. AFTER the capture of Vayres and of the Island of St. George, the Royal army, having thus occupied the principal posts around Bordeaux, took measures to carry on with vigor the siege of the town. In order to watch the operations more closely, the Cardinal conveyed the Court to Bourg, a large village at the mouth of the Dordogne. On their side the Bordelais, without losing courage, prepared themselves for an obstinate resistance. Having obtained information from the bakers and corn-dealers, they found they had sufficient provisions in the town to last them a year. Reassured on this point, they resolved to increase their thirty-six companies of militia to two hundred men each, superseding at the same time all those who from their age or infirmities were incapable of service; and the gentlemen of the Princess were to share the guard together with the bourgeois. They caused also, by means of their sluices, the water from the river to be retained at a certain height, so as to enable them, if necessary, to flood the marshes, which defended the greater part of the town. The two Faubourgs which appeared the most exposed were that of the Bastide, on the other side of the Garonne, and that of St. Surin, near the gate of Dijeaux. Under the direction of the Dukes de Bouillon and de la Rochefoucauld considerable works were raised at these two points. A great many houses were embattled; several barricades were made at the entrance of all the streets and a little mound in front of the gate of Dijeaux, gradually formed by the accumulation of filth and rubbish which had been thrown out of the town, served for the foundation of a half-moon. By a decree of the Parliament each house was to furnish one man to work at the fortifications, and the populace, always eager for novelties, assembled there, as though it had been a merry-making or a fête. Pains were taken to keep them in this happy humor. The principal ladies in the city were seen carrying earth in little baskets ornamented with ribbons; the Princess herself insisted upon taking part in the toil, to animate the others; and the young Duke d'Enghien, mounted on a little white horse, went from post to post to visit the works, and caused every one to exclaim when he passed, "Long live the King and the Princes, and down with Mazarin!" At night the Dukes regaled the ladies with fruits and sweetmeats, and the workmen with wine. Then Clémence used to take them excursions in a graceful galley, which had been equipped for her use, and which was called after her, "The Princess;" she was greeted by the firing of all the guns of the vessels in the port, and by acclamations of joy from the people on the shore. On the sails of her galley, as well as on the standards of her soldiers or the militia, was embroidered the device which she had adopted from the commencement of the war: this was a grenade bursting and spreading its fire on all sides, with this word, Coacta, meaning that as the grenade never causes any noise of itself so the Princess only did so because she was compelled.* Meanwhile, the country people of the neighborhood—from the marshes, which are still called by the Latin name of Palus-— made common cause with the townspeople, and every morning brought them many prisoners whom they had taken in their dykes * Compare two passages in Lenet, vol. ii., pp. 229 and 451. |