The celebrated Lord Bolingbroke had an insurmountable horror of a cat: he frequently visited the Marechale de Mirepoix, and always waited in the anti-room till he was assured that all the cats, of which she possessed several of a famous Angora breed, had been turned out. These animals were so sociable, that they would sit on the large Loto table, and whenever a counter rolled near them, they would play with it with their paws in their usual graceful manner. I have often been fortunate enough, says M. de Levis, to be of their party without ever having to complain of them. One day, when the valet de chamber, after carefully searching every where, believed there could not be a cat in the apartment, Lord Bolingbroke came in, but immediately screamed and rushed back; the next day it was discovered that one of the cats had been accidentally shut up in a closet. ❦ [Sidenote: Anne of Austria: a Sketch.] Anne Maurice was daughter of Philippe III. King of Spain, and of Margarette of Austria; she was born at Valladolid, on Saturday the 22nd of September, 1601; married to Louis XIII. King of France, called “the Just,” the 9th of November, 1615, and not till after twenty-three years became a mother, giving birth first to Louis XIV. and next to Philippe of France, Duke of Orléans, who married the Princess Henrietta of England, daughter of the unfortunate Charles I. and of Henrietta sister of Louis XIII. At the death of this monarch, his son being only _nine_ years of age, he declared Anne of Austria Regent, and during the period of her administration, to that in which she surrendered the direction of his kingdom, at the majority of Louis XIV. she fully justified the election; her great strength of mind and justice of conduct never giving way, though intestine dissention and foreign wars rendered her task not a little arduous. More than once the Queen Regent abandoned her capital during the tumult of the parliamentary faction, supported by the Duke of Orléans,[15] the late King’s brother. The spirit of discontent gave the ministry of Cardinal Mazarin as its source, but it was long before the Queen would yield her predilection for, and support of this minister. His eventual exile restored peace at home, but it was not of long duration, and the Cardinal returned to negotiate the marriage of his sovereign with the Infanta of Spain, niece to the Queen Regent. This amiable Princess was not only chosen by Anne of Austria as the means of restoring peace between Spain and France, but also as interesting to her by the ties of maternal affection, being her brother’s daughter.