Prince of Conti

“ His cousin, the Duke, is engaged in the same pursuit. The Prince de Conti has not brought back much honour from the campaign; he is too much addicted to debauchery of all kinds.
Although he can be polite when he chooses, no one can behave more brutally than he does occasionally, and he becomes more and more mad daily.
At one of the last opera balls he seized a poor little girl just come from the country, took her from her mother's side, and, placing her between his own legs, amused himself by slapping and filliping her until he made her nose and mouth bleed. ”

“ The Parliament just then was at its tricks again; its plots began to peep out, and the Prince de Conti joined in its intrigues in order to try and play a part indecent, considering his birth; little fitting his age; shameful, after the monstrous favours unceasingly heaped upon him.
Repelled by the Regent, he turned, as I have said, towards Law, hoping for more success. His expectations were deceived; prayers, cringing meanness (for he stopped at nothing to get money) being of no effect, he tried main strength, and spared Law neither abuse nor menaces. ”

“ M. le Prince de Conti appeared dull, pensive, his mind far away perhaps. I was not able during the sitting to see them except now and then, and under pretext of looking at the King, who was serious, majestic, and at the same time as pretty as can be imagined; grave, with grace in all his bearing, his air attentive, and not at all wearied, playing his part very well and without embarrassment.
When all was ready, Argenson, the Keeper of the Seals, remained some minutes at his desk motionless, looking down, and the fire which sprang from his eyes seemed to burn every breast. ”

“ No consideration for my interest!"
"How does it affect you, but advantageously?—such an alliance is an honour to our whole family."
"Surely I am as well fitted to be Princesse de Conti as my cousin?"
"And the gentleman's choice is to go for nothing? You remember the Prince always greatly admired Mademoiselle Martinozzi."
"The Cardinal has taught you your lesson:—I meet with the same unkindness from you all; but if he does not attend to my interest from affection, he may from weariness of my complaints, and of them I promise him the full benefit." ”

“ Scene II. Conti, The Prince.
PRINCE. Good morning, Conti. How goes it with you? How does art thrive?
CONTI. Art is starving, Prince.
PRINCE. That must not--shall not be, within the limits of my small dominions. But the artist must be willing to work.
CONTI. Work! that is his happiness. But too much work may rain his claim to the title of artist.
PRINCE. I do not mean that his works should be many, but his labour much: a little, but well done. But you do not come empty-handed, Conti?
CONTI. I have brought the portrait which your Highness ordered ”

“ He is a horribly ill-made little man, and is always absent-minded, which gives him a distracted air, as if he were really crazy. When it could be the least expected, too, he will fall over his own walking-stick. The folks in the palace were so much accustomed to this in the late King’s time, that they used always to say, when they heard anything fall,
“It’s nothing; only the Prince de Conti tumbling down.”
He has sense, but he has been brought up like a scullion boy; he has strange whimsies, of which he is quite aware himself, but which he cannot control. ”

“ The Cardinals and the Princes of the blood had the entrees of the chamber and those of the cabinet, so had all the chief officials.
I was the first who had the 'grandes entrees' from the Regent. D'Antin asked for them next. Soon after, upon this example, they were accorded to D'O. M. le Prince de Conti, the sole prince of the blood who had them not, because he was the sole prince of the blood who did not come from Madame de Montespan, received them next, and little by little the privilege was completely prostituted as so many others were. ”

“ Supported by his brother-in-law, the Duke de Longueville, by his brother, the Prince de Conti, and a number of the first nobles of the land, he soon aimed at governing the state, opposed the Court in all its proceedings, dictated to the Regent, and insulted the minister. The crafty Italian, however, now feeling himself more secure, determined at once to coalesce with his former enemies, in order to punish one, who, from his protector, had changed into his tyrant. ”

“ The charms of the young princess naturally drew around her many adorers; but, though she had neither affection nor esteem for her husband, and was far from insensible to the homage which was paid her, her conduct would not appear to have merited any very severe censure until some years after her marriage, when a soupirant presented himself whom it would have been difficult for any woman to resist. This was Louis François de Bourbon, Prince de Conti, the young man for whose pardon, it will be remembered, the Great Condé had petitioned Louis XIV. on his death-bed. ”

“ Conti, Armand de Bourbon, Prince de (brother of the Great Condé) , his extravagant adoration of his sister, Madame de Longueville, 141; marries Anne Marie Martinozzi, niece of Mazarin, 142; declared generalissimo of the army of the king, 159; the problem as to who was the author of the rupture of his marriage with Madame de Chevreuse, 227; his ardent passion for her, 231; is made lieutenant-general in Guienne by Condé, 276; finishes, where he begun life, with theology, 142. Corneille, Pierre, his Emilie painted as a perfect heroine, 82. Fiesque, Gillona d’Harcourt, Countess de, 195. ”

“ He failed to obtain military assistance from the Swiss, and by the king’s command yielded the disputed territory to Marie, although the courts of law had decided in his favour. In 1697 Louis XIV. offered him the Polish crown, and by means of bribes the abbé de Polignac secured his election. Conti started rather unwillingly for his new kingdom, probably, as St Simon remarks, owing to his affection for Françoise, wife of Philip II., duke of Orleans, and daughter of Louis XIV. and Madame de Montespan. ”

“ The Duke flicked his arm and turned, smiling, to the Castellan.
'You shall provide Messer Tassino,' said he smoothly, 'with his liberty, and a swift horse.'
A week later, Sforza the second of Milan set out for his Capital, in all the pomp and circumstance of state which befitted a mighty prince greatly homing after conquest. His path, by all the rules of glory, should have been a bright one; yet his laurels might have been Death's own, from the gloom they cast upon his brow. ”

“ The kingdom of Sicily and Naples has not been wanting in men to desolate it; where now are they that will defend it?" This letter of the Pope's announced storms ready to break forth. Many of those who had called Charles to the throne regretted the house of Swabia, and directed their new hopes toward Italy, strengthening Conradin, heir of Frederick and of Conrad. This young Prince quitted Germany with an army and advanced toward Italy, strengthening himself in his march with the party of the Ghibellines, and with all those whom the domination of Charles had irritated. ”

“ Now, secure in the friendship of Cæsar and the love of Italy, he has given back his spirit to God who gave it. Rejoice, therefore, and render praise and glory to Francesco Sforza's name, because by his wisdom and virtue he conquered fortune, and has died a Prince on his throne, reigning in peace and happiness over his native land. So, my dear lord, I beg you dry your tears, and meet those who love you as I do with a serene brow. The fame of your learning and greatness is known everywhere. Rise above the blows of fate, and console yourself with the thought of your Duke's blessed end. ”

“ At length the latter is somewhat recovered, and continues to be great friends with the Duke: this is very pleasant to the Duc de Conti, and makes him behave so strangely that his infirmity is observed by the people. It is fortunate for us that Law is so great a coward, otherwise he would be very troublesome to my son, who, learning that he was joining in a cabal against him, told his wife of it. “Well, Monsieur,” said she, “what would you have him do? He likes to be talked of, and he has no other way of accomplishing it. ”

“ Speak, oh! speak quickly! I fear we may be observed; every step of mine is watched.”
[172]
“Madam,” cried More, “a general peace has been concluded. The emperor’s difficulty with the Holy See is ended; he consents to surrender all the conquered territory originally belonging to the Ecclesiastical States. He binds himself to re-establish the dominion of the Medici in Florence; he abandons Sforza, leaving the Pope absolute master of the destiny of that prince and the sovereignty of the Milanese. ”

“ The lord de Conti, like a valorous knight, hastened to their relief, and did wonders; but he was surrounded, and fell, which was a great pity.—Soon after, the duke of Nemours made an agreement with them to return home, on receiving a sum of money,—which they accepted and retreated, to return again to seek more money.
The inhabitants of Brescia were now (unfortunately for them) advised to quit the french interest, and put themselves under [Pg 123] the dominion of Venice, for which they severely suffered. ”

“ For a time the regent, Marie de’ Medici, was content to suffer the great Sully to hold office, but soon favouritism and the greed of princes, to the ill-hap of France, drove him in the prime of life from Paris into the retirement of his château of Villebon, and a feeble and venal Florentine, Concini, took his place. The Prince of Condé, now a Catholic, the Duke of Mayenne, and a pack of nobles who professed solicitude for the wrongs of the pauvre peuple, fell upon the royal treasury like hounds on their quarry. ”

“ The Duke also conferred upon his fortunate and trusty counsellor valuable property in the parish of San Piero a Quintole, a farm and buildings at Fiesole, and lastly, in 1565, a very fertile estate at Peccioli, originally the property of Piero de’ Salviati.
Had Messer Sforza Almeni only been content with these opulent benefactions, all might have gone well with him; but, alas, human ambition and the interests of self lead good men often enough astray, and the Duke’s private secretary began to look for favours at the hands of the heir to the Ducal throne, the Prince-Regent Francesco. ”

“ As, therefore, the children of the young queen were excluded from the expectation of ascending the Spanish throne, which the sons of Philip by his first marriage were of course destined to inherit, the idea was conceived of forming an establishment in Italy for Don Charles, her first-born; and the Quadruple Alliance provided that the young prince should be guaranteed in the succession both of Parma and Piacenza, and of Tuscany, on the death of the last princes of the Farnese and Medicean dynasties. ”

“ He delights, he is beloved; he is admired whensoever he will. He owes his success more to his voice than to his talent as a composer, though he would rather be a man of genius like Rossini than a performer like Rubini. I had committed the folly of attaching myself to him, and I was determined and resigned to deck this idol to the end. Conti, like a great many artists, is dainty in all his ways; he likes his ease, his enjoyments; he is always carefully, even elegantly dressed. ”

“ Naturally of great ability, he received an excellent education and was distinguished both for the independence of his mind and the popularity of his manners. On this account he was not received with favour by Louis XIV.; so in 1683 he assisted the Imperialists in Hungary, and while there he wrote some letters in which he referred to Louis as le roi an théâtre, for which on his return to France he was temporarily banished to Chantilly. Conti was a favourite of his uncle the great Condé, whose grand-daughter Marie Thérese de Bourbon (1666–1732) he married in 1688. ”

“ All these splendours were far overpassed, however, in 1493, when the Moro’s diplomacy was rewarded by an imperial alliance for the House of Sforza, and Bianca Maria, the Duke’s remaining sister, rode forth from the Castello in a chariot of gold to her marriage with the Emperor Maximilian. The imagination reels with the descriptions of the rich robes and jewels, the pavilions and triumphal arches, the garlands, the blazoned hangings, the allegorical masques, the noise of music and of applauding crowds on these occasions. ”

“ In the midst of this magnificent escort advanced Charles VIII, both he and his horse covered with splendid armour; an his right and left marched Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, the Duke of Milan's brother, and Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, of whom we have spoken so often, who was afterwards Pope Julius II. The Cardinals Colonna and Savelli followed immediately after, and behind them came Prospero and Fabrizia Colonna, and all the Italian princes and generals who had thrown in their lot with the conqueror, and were marching intermingled with the great French lords. ”

“ But for this the cardinal would be the happiest man in Italy, for he possesses everything that can make life agreeable; but by this one domestic misfortune all the gifts of fortune are annulled, and the enjoyment of his wealth is embittered to the cardinal by the continual fear of finding nobody to inherit it.
The whole of this information I have obtained from Biondello. The prince has found in this man a real treasure. Every day he becomes more indispensable, and we are continually discovering in him some new talent. ”