Lives of the most eminent literary and scientific men of France, Vol. 1 (of 2)Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft
Science
Lives of the most eminent literary and scientific men of France, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft
Authors, French -- Biography
Condé was opposed by Turenne, who now adhered to the court. These two
great generals felt that they had a worthy match in each other. Before
Condé's presence was generally known, Turenne recognised his influence
in an attack that was made; and exclaimed, as he hurried to the spot,
"The prince of Condé is arrived!"
Warfare was thus transferred to the immediate neighbourhood of the
capital, and intrigues of all kinds varied the more soldierly manœuvres
of the contending armies. It is impossible here to detail either the
vicissitudes of minor combats, or the artifices of De Retz and the other
leaders. Condé found himself forced at last to give way before Turenne.
Finding the position he held at St. Cloud do longer tenable, he resolved
to take up a new one at Charenton. For this purpose he was obliged to
make nearly the circuit of Paris, then held by the duke of Orleans, who
considered himself at the head of the Fronde, but who displayed on this,
as on every other occasion, his timid and temporising character. As soon
as Condé began his march, Turenne became acquainted with it, and
pursued him. Condé advanced as far as the suburbs of Paris, and, for a
moment, doubted whether he would not ask permission to pass through the
city; but, afraid of being refused, he resolved to march on. Danger
approaching nearer and gathering thicker, he determined to make a stand
in the fauxbourg St. Antoine. Here, therefore, the battle commenced. The
combat was hard contested and fierce: it was attended by various changes
in the fortune of the day. At one time Condé had been enabled to
advance, but he was again driven back to the gates of St. Antoine, where
he was not only assailed in front, but had to sustain a tremendous fire
carried on from the surrounding houses. Rochefoucauld was at his side:
he, and his son, and other nobles dismounted, and sustained the whole
attack, without the assistance of the infantry, who refused to aid them.
The duke de Nemours received thirteen wounds, and Rochefoucauld was
wounded by an arquebuse, just above the eyes, which, in an instant,
deprived him of sight; and he was carried off the field by the duke of
Beaufort and the prince of Marsillac. They were pursued; but Condé came
to their succour, and gave them time to mount. The citizens were averse
to opening the gates of the city to the prince's army, fearing that the
troops of Turenne would enter with him: its safety, however, entirely
depended on taking refuge in Paris. The duke of Orleans, vacillating and
dastardly, heard of the peril of his friends, and of the loss they had
sustained, and moved no finger to help them. His daughter, mademoiselle
de Montpensier, showed a spirit superior to them all. She shamed her
father into signing an order for the opening of the gates. She repaired
to the Bastille, and turned its cannon on the royal army; and then,
going herself to the gate St. Antoine, she not only persuaded the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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