The Memoirs of Jean Francois Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz | Page 4

or pointers, at the end of
each file for those who may wish to sample the author's ideas before
making an entire meal of them. D.W.]

MEMOIRS OF JEAN FRANCOIS PAUL de GONDI, CARDINAL
DE RETZ, v1
Written by Himself
Being Historic Court Memoirs of the Great Events during the Minority
of Louis XIV. and the Administration of Cardinal Mazarin.

ORIGINAL PREFACE.
Our Author, John Francis Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz, Sovereign
of Commercy, Prince of Euville, second Archbishop of Paris, Abbot of
Saint Denis in France, was born at Montmirail, in Brie, in October,
1614.
His father was Philippe Emanuel de Gondi, Comte, de Joigni, General
of the Galleys of France and Knight of the King's Orders; and his

mother was Frances Marguerite, daughter of the Comte de Rochepot,
Knight of the King's Orders, and of Marie de Lannoy, sovereign of
Commercy and Euville.
Pierre de Gondi, Duc de Retz, was his brother, whose daughter was the
Duchesse de Lesdiguieres.
His grandfather was Albert de Gondi, Duc de Retz, Marquis de Belle
Isle, a Peer of France, Marshal and General of the Galleys, Colonel of
the French Horse, First Gentleman of the Bedchamber, and Great
Chamberlain to the Kings Charles IX. and Henri III.
This history was first printed in Paris in 1705, at the expense of the
Duchesse de Lesdiguieres, the last of this noble family, whose estate
fell after her decease to that of Villeroy.
His preceptor was the famous Vincent de Paul, Almoner to Queen
Anne of Austria.
In 1627 he was made a Canon of the Cathedral of Paris by his uncle,
Jean Francois de Gondi, first archbishop of that city, and was not long
after created a Doctor of the Sorbonne.
In 1643 he was appointed Coadjutor of the archbishopric of Paris, with
the title of Archbishop of Corinth, during which, such was his pastoral
vigilance that the most important affairs of the Church were committed
to his care.
As to his general character, if we take it from his own Memoirs, he had
such presence of mind, and so dexterously improved all opportunities
which fortune presented to him, that it seemed as if he had foreseen or
desired them. He knew how to put a good gloss upon his failings, and
oftentimes verily believed he was really the man which he affected to
be only in appearance. He was a man of bright parts, but no conduct,
being violent and inconstant in his intrigues of love as well as those of
politics, and so indiscreet as to boast of his successful amours with
certain ladies whom he ought not to have named. He affected pomp and
splendour, though his profession demanded simplicity and humility. He

was continually shifting parties, being a loyal subject one day and the
next a rebel, one time a sworn enemy to the Prime Minister, and by and
by his zealous friend; always aiming to make himself formidable or
necessary. As a pastor he had engrossed the love and confidence of the
people, and as a statesman he artfully played them off against their
sovereign. He studied characters thoroughly, and no man painted them
in truer colours more to his own purpose. Sometimes he confesses his
weaknesses, and at other times betrays his self-flattery.
It being his fate to be imprisoned by Mazarin, first at Vincennes and
then at Nantes, he made his escape to Rome, and in 1656 retired to
Franche Comte, where Cardinal Mazarin gave orders for his being
arrested; upon which he posted to Switzerland, and thence to Constance,
Strasburg, Ulm, Augsburg, Frankfort, and Cologne, to which latter
place Mazarin sent men to take him dead or alive; whereupon he retired
to Holland, and made a trip from one town to another till 1661, when,
Cardinal Mazarin dying, our Cardinal went as far as Valenciennes on
his way to Paris, but was not suffered to come further; for the King and
Queen-mother would not be satisfied without his resignation of the
archbishopric of Paris, to which he at last submitted upon advantageous
terms for himself and an amnesty for all his adherents. But still the
Court carried it so severely to the Cardinal that they would not let him
go and pay his last devoirs to his father when on his dying bed. At
length, however, after abundance of solicitation, he had leave to go and
wait upon the King and Queen, who, on the death of Pope Alexander
VII., sent him to Rome to assist at the election of his successor.
No wonder that King Charles II. of England promised to intercede for
the Cardinal's reestablishment; for when the royal family were starving,
as it were, in their exile at Paris, De Retz did more for them than all the
French Court put together;