r men! Do you not think that I have
abused the powers you have vested in me? I have carried matters very
far; but there are times when kings would be served, as it were in spite
of themselves. All is arranged, as you know. Sedan will open its gates
to us; and we are sure of Spain. Twelve thousand veteran troops
will enter Paris with us. No place, however, will be given up to the
foreigner; they will all have a French garrison, and be taken in the
name of the King."

"Long live the King! long live the Union! the new Union, the Holy
League!" cried the assembly.

"It has come, then!" cried Cinq-Mars, with enthusiasm; "it has come--the
most glorious day of my life. Oh, youth, youth, from century to century
called frivolous and improvident! of what will men now accuse thee, when
they behold conceived, ripened, and ready for execution, under a chief
of twenty-two, the most vast, the most just, the most beneficial of
enterprises? My friends, what is a great life but a thought of youth
executed by mature age? Youth looks fixedly into the future with its
eagle glance, traces there a broad plan, lays the foundation stone; and
all that our entire existence afterward can do is to approximate to that
first design. Oh, when can great projects arise, if not when the heart
beats vigorously in the breast? The mind is not sufficient; it is but an
instrument."

A fresh outburst of joy had followed these words, when an old man with a
white beard stood forward from the throng.

"Bah!" said Gondi, in a low voice, "here's the old Chevalier de Guise
going to dote, and damp us."

And truly enough, the old man, pressing the hand of Cinq-Mars, said
slowly and with difficulty, having placed himself near him:

"Yes, my son, and you, my children, I see with joy that my old friend
Bassompierre is about to be delivered by you, and that you are about
to avenge the Comte de Soissons and the young Montmorency. But it is
expedient for youth, all ardent as it is, to listen to those who have
seen much. I have witnessed the League, my children, and I tell you that
you can not now, as then, take the title of the Holy League, the Holy
Union, the Protectors of Saint Peter, or Pillars of the Church, because
I see that you reckon on the support of the Huguenots; nor can you put
upon your great seal of green wax an empty throne, since it is occupied
by a king."

"You may say by two," interrupted Gondi, laughing.

"It is, however, of great importance," co