the Chancellor, and succeed—­Richelieu is admitted to the Council—–­Indignation of Conde—­Richelieu becomes all-powerful—­His ingratitude to the Queen-mother—­The Queen-mother is anxious to effect a matrimonial alliance with England—­Richelieu seconds her views—­The King of Spain applies for the hand of the Princesse Henriette for Don Carlos—­His demand is negatived by the Cardinal-Minister—­La Vieuville is dismissed from the Ministry—­Duplicity of Louis XIII—­Arrest of La Vieuville—­Change of ministers—­Petticoat intrigues—­The Duc d’Anjou solicits the hand of Mademoiselle de Montpensier—­The alliance is opposed by the Guises and forbidden by the King.

During the absence of the King from Paris, the Marechal d’Estrees, who was at that period Ambassador at Rome, was engaged in soliciting two seats in the Conclave, the first for the Archbishop of Toulouse, and the second for the Bishop of Lucon; while Marie de Medicis lost no opportunity of entreating Bentivoglio, the Papal Nuncio, to further the interests of the latter, impressing upon him that no period could be more favourable than the present, when Louis XIII had enforced upon a whole refractory province the performance of the rites which it had so long rejected.  To this argument the Cardinal had nothing to object, and he accordingly listened with complacency to her representations; but they were rendered abortive by De Luynes, who privately informed him that neither the sovereign nor himself sincerely desired the promotion of Richelieu, and that their apparent anxiety for his advancement had been merely assumed to gratify the Queen-mother; while, far from being disposed to consider the dissent of the Pontiff to this application as a slight, his Majesty would be gratified should he reject it, as he had reason to feel dissatisfied with the Bishop of Lucon, whom he was consequently not disposed to support in an ambition which he considered to be at once inordinate and premature.  Paul V needed no further hint; he had been unwilling to countenance the elevation of two French prelates, and accordingly he replied to all the urgent solicitations of M. d’Estrees with evasive replies, until at length, wearied by his pertinacity, he laid before him a letter from Louis himself wherein he revoked all his former orders.  The indignation of the Ambassador was only exceeded by that of Richelieu when they severally discovered that they had been duped; but the death of the Pope, and the election of Gregory XV, which occurred in the following month (February), once more renewed their hopes.

The demise of Paul V was followed by that of Philip III of Spain, and negotiations were immediately commenced with his successor for the restoration of the Valteline to the Grisons, which were happily concluded for the moment; but, whatever satisfaction this event might have elicited at the Court of France, it was counterbalanced by another, in which the great nobles felt a more personal and intimate interest.  On the 2nd of April Charles Albert, Due de Luynes, was invested with the sword of Connetable de France; and thus in the short space of four years, without having distinguished himself either as a warrior or a statesman, had risen from the obscure position of a Gentleman of the Household, and of a petty provincial noble, to the highest dignity which could be conferred upon a subject.