[36] François Le Clerc du Tremblay, known as the Capuchin Father Joseph, was the elder son of Jean Le Clerc, President of the Court of Requests at Paris, and of Marie de la Fayette. His sponsors were the Duc d'Alençon (brother of Francis II) and the Duchesse d'Angoulême, the natural sister of that Prince. He was a man of great learning and talent, but cunning, ambitious, and unscrupulous, who had attached himself to the fortunes of Richelieu, of whom he was the âme damnée, and who endeavoured to cause him, in his turn, to be admitted to the honours of the conclave. He died suddenly at Ruel on the 18th of December 1638; and some years subsequently the Duchesse de Guise having, at her own expense, repaved the choir of the Capuchin church, the tomb of la petite Eminence Grise, as he was familiarly called by the Parisians, was placed beneath that of Père Ange (the Cardinal-Duc de Joyeuse), in front of the steps of the high altar. Richelieu had caused an eulogistic and lengthy inscription on marble to be affixed to his sepulchre; but the Parisians, who more truly estimated his merits, added others considerably more pungent, among which the most successful was the following:--
"Passant, n'est-ce pas chose étrange
Qu'un démon soit auprès d'un ange?"
"Passant, n'est-ce pas chose étrange
Qu'un démon soit auprès d'un ange?"
[37] Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 118, 119. Siri, Mém. Rec. vol. v. pp. 49-51. Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 184, 185.
[38] Henri de Gondy, Master of the King's Oratory, and subsequently Archbishop of Paris, on the resignation of his uncle Pierre, Cardinal de Gondy, who died in 1616.
[39] Matthieu, Hist. des Derniers Troubles, book iii. p. 639.
[40] Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 121, 122.
[41] Siri, Mém. Rec. vol. v. pp. 53-56.
[42] Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 453, 454. Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 187, 188. Bassompierre, Mém. p. 129. Brienne, Mém. vol. i. p. 339. Richelieu, Hist. de la Mère et du Fils, vol. ii. pp. 306-309.
[43] Mercure Français, 1619. Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 150, 151. Siri, Mém. Rec. vol. v. pp. 59-63. Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 188-191.
[44] Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 153, 154.