Qui de nos maux a ri plus de vingt ans ...

Il est passé....”

That well-known rondeau was one of the mildest among the satirical poems full of hatred, violence, and indecency which circulated in society after the death of him whom they called “le ministre des enfers.” And if his countrymen had listened for an echo of their rejoicing, they might have heard it in the “great contentment” of the enemies of France.

Cardinal de Richelieu’s noblest monument in Paris is his stately building of the Sorbonne. His resting-place in the crypt of its Church was disturbed in the Revolution, and his bones were scattered, but his embalmed face-mask was preserved by reverent hands and ultimately replaced in his tomb. The Church is no longer used for worship; but Armand de Richelieu still reclines there in marble peace. His eyes are raised to the heaven in which he certainly believed. He is supported in his mortal weakness by Religion, holding the book he wrote, when Bishop of Luçon, in defence of the Catholic Faith; and Science—in the likeness of his beloved niece, Madame d’Aiguillon—lies mourning at his feet.

INDEX

Printed by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury.

Transcriber’s Notes

A few minor punctuation errors and omissions have been silently corrected.