2% ANNUAL REGISTER,»1768.

peace, to which he had (o power-
fully contributed. Neverthelelis, the
people made loud complaints or’ the
abfence of the king and the court ;
and the malecontents gave realon to
apprehend a new infurrefticn ; the
queen and Mazarin were afraid to
face f0 many enemies. Condé en-
couraged them, and brought them
to Paris, amidPt the acclumations
and bleflings of the public.

The important fervice which
Condé had jufl done the court, en-
titled him to the acknowledgments
of the queen, and eipccially of Ma-
zarin; but the dark foul of that
cardinal only remembered it to pu-
nilh a too fortunate and too power-
ful protetftor; he privately {wore
his deltruciion, at leail that he
fliould give the whole kingdom a
pattern of fubmillion and depend-
ence ou his will. However, not to
excite the public indignation, he
ilill kept up appearances with the
prince, while he ftcretly fpread
about him difgufls, fufpicions, fnares
of every kind, and the moll heinous
calumnies. Our author finely de-
fcribes the intrigues, tricks, arti-
fices, and flrokes of malice, which
dillinguillted the politics of lVlaza-
yin, in order to crufh all parties
one after the other, to dellroy the
prince, and to re-eflablifh his own
authority on the ruins of all the
fafiions.

The ungrateful minifier deceived
the prince, by making him the moFt
flattering propofals, and the mofl:
alluring promifes, which afterwards
he always found means to avoid the
fulfillingn-JFhe enraged prince de-
{pifed the minifler, and treated him
with difdain. After this, they were
reconciled again, only to be again
at variance. Each of them, in turn,

courted the country party, in order

to make it fubfcrvient to their de-
figns. Mazarin, llill cunning and
deceitful, that he might render the
prince and that party irreconcil-
able, thought of an expedient which
anfitered his purpole too well.
There was among the malecontents
a Marquisde la Boulaie, a man of
an infamous charaéter, who had
obtained the confidence of the party,
by fallie appearances of hatred to
the Cardinal, but who fecretly kept
up a corrcfpondence with him. It
is pretended, that he made him an
oflier of killing Condé, without its
being known who gave the blow.
Mazarin was charmed with this pro-
pofal; but, lays our author, he only
required Boulaie to exhibit all the
proofs of an aiTailination, and to
aft in fuch a manner that hvery
thing might concur to render
the country party fufpefted of that
crime. He was puncitualiy obeyed;
the coach was llopped ; fome pifiols
were fired at it, by which two of
the footmen were dangeroufly
wounded; and, after that fhameful
exploit, la Boulaie tool; refuge in
the hotel of the duke of Beaufort,
who was the hero of the party, in
Order, no dcubt, to countenance
the prince’s fufpicion of the male-
contents. Luckily, Conde was not
in his coach when it was flopped,-
the cardinal had fpread the report
of the projeftrd affaiiination ; and,
in concert with the queen and the
prince, he had prevailed to have
the coach fent empty, to prove the
reality of the attempt. Mazarin
countt-rfeited a zeal for the prince’s
life ; he furioufly declaimed againfl:
the rnalecontents, who, he pretend-
ed, had made an attempt on a lite
fo precious to the liate;pand he in-
flamed Condé’s refcntment againfi
the duke of Beaufort, and the

Coadjutor,