those of her family, and
the deepest sentiment of her life--the tenderness for her brother.

France at this time, 1648, was in a position to gain for herself a
peace with the world at her own terms, and her future seemed to be
without a cloud. It was the Fronde that checked her growth and glory,
and the cause of this was the estrangement of the house of Conde
through the action of Mme. de Longueville in passing with her husband
over to the party of the Importants, she being the first of her family
to forsake the government. Under the leadership of La Rochefoucauld,
she cast her lot with the opposing party, allowing herself to be
identified with the interests of those who had endeavored to tarnish
her early reputation. Becoming a leader with Mme. de Chevreuse and
Mme. de Montbazon (her rival), she easily won over her young brother,
the Prince de Conti. After the imprisonment of her husband and her two
brothers, she began her real career as a woman of tactics, politics,
and generalship.

With the connivance of Mme. de Chevreuse and the Princess Palatine, a
general plan had been formed to create a new government by the union
of the aristocracy. The marriage, already spoken of, between the Duke
of Enghien and one of the daughters of the Duke of Orleans and that
arranged between the Prince of Conti and the daughter of Mme. de
Chevreuse were to have united the Fronde with the house of Conde. The
alliances, however, were declared off, and Mme. de Chevreuse went
over to the cardinal and the queen; Conde's fall and Mazarin's success
followed, being the result, mainly, of the determination of Mme. de
Chevreuse to avenge herself upon Conde for having consented to the
breaking of the marriage contracts.

Mme. de Longueville did all in her power to continue the conflict that
Conde had undertaken, but, exhausted by continual excitement and ill
success, she was compelled to retire. After this, her life, spent in
Normandy, at the Carmelites' convent and at Port Royal, became a long
penance, which increased in austerity until she died in 1679. Thus,
her career was at first one of unblemished brilliancy, then a period
of elegant and intellectual debauch, and finally one of expiation.

"Her politics," says Sainte-Beuve, "considered in the _ensemble_, are
nothing more than a desire to please, to shine--a capricious love. Her
character lacked consistency and self-will, her mind was keen, ready,
subtle, ingenious, but not reasonable."