at Rome, to remove him from the country. He refused to accept it. The
boy-king was growing reckless, passionate, self-willed. He began to
feel the power that was in his hand. The cardinal was warned of his
danger. He smiled, and said "that, sustained by his ecclesiastical
rank, he had nothing to fear."

The court issued an order for the arrest of the cardinal. It was
placed in the hands of Pradelle for execution. But the king was told
that the cardinal would never suffer himself to be arrested without
resistance; that, to secure his seizure, it might be necessary to take
his life. The king seized a pen and wrote at the bottom of the order,

"I have commanded Pradelle to execute the present order on the person
of De Retz, and even to arrest him, dead or alive, in the event of
resistance on his part.

"LOUIS."

It was deemed very important to arrest the cardinal, if possible,
without exciting a popular tumult. The palace of the cardinal was well
guarded. He never went out without a numerous retinue. Should the
populace of Paris see him endangered, they would spring to his rescue.

At length De Retz was earnestly invited to visit the queen at the
Louvre, in token that he was not hostile to the court. It was one of
the most dishonorable of stratagems. The cardinal was caught in the
trap. As he was entering the antechamber of the queen upon this visit
of friendship, all unsuspicious of treachery, the captain of the
guard, who had been stationed there for the purpose with several
gendarmes, seized him, hurried him through the great gallery of the
Louvre, and down the stairs to the door. Here a royal carriage was
awaiting him. He was thrust into the carriage, and five or six
officers took seats by his side. To guard against any possibility of
rescue, a numerous military escort was at hand. The horses were driven
rapidly through the streets, and out through the Porte St. Antoine.

At nine o'clock the cardinal found himself a prisoner at the castle of
Vincennes. The apartment assigned him was cold and dreary, without
furniture and without a bed. Here the prisoner remained a fortnight,
in the middle of December, with no fire.

The arrest of the cardinal created a great sensation throughout Paris.
But the chateau was too strong, and too vigilantly guarded by the
royal troops, to encourage any attempt at a rescue.

[Illustration: THE CASTLE OF VINCENNES.]

In the mean time, Mazarin had placed himself