MAZARIN, Julius, son of Pietro Mazarini, a noble Sicilian, was born at Piscina in the Abbruzzi on the 14th of July 1602. Having received the elementary part of his education at Rome, he passed into Spain with the abbé, afterwards cardinal, Jerome Colonna, at the age of seventeen, and, during three years, he attended courses of law in the universities of Alcala and Salamanca. But he soon abandoned jurisprudence in order to embrace the military profession, and in 1625 was sent, with the rank of captain, into the Valteline, where the pontiff then had an army. From this time he began to display his talents for diplomacy. The generals of his Holiness, Conti and de Bagni, sent him successively to the Duke de Feria, general of the Spaniards, and to the Marquis de Coeuvres, afterwards Marshal d’Estrées, who commanded the French troops; and in both missions he acquitted himself in such a manner as to merit the commendations of these chiefs. He then returned to Rome, where he resumed the study of jurisprudence, and took his doctor’s degree. But the disputed succession to the duchies of Mantua and Montferrat having kindled up a new war, he quitted law for diplomacy, in which line nature had peculiarly qualified him to excel. The competitors were the Duke d’c Nevers, whose cause was espoused by the court of France, at which he resided, and the Duke de Guastalla, who was supported by the emperor, the king'o. Spain and the Duke of Savoy. The pope, desirous to prevent[7:14:341] a war, of which Italy was about to become the theatre, sent cardinal Sacchetti to Turin to act in favour of the Duke de Nevers, and Mazarin accompanied him in this mission. The talentsofthe latter were very soon appreciated by the cardinal, who confided to him the care of the negotiation. The mediation of the pope was disregarded, the war commenced, and Louis XIII., in person, forced the pass of Susa, which constrained the Duke of Savoy to treat with him and to separate himself from the Spaniards. Sacchetti returned to Rome, leaving to Mazarin the title of in ternuncio, with power to continue the negotiations, and to effect a peace. Cardinal Barbarini, nephew of the pope, having been sent by his uncle in quality of legate to Piedmont, honoured Mazarin with the same confidence which had been reposed in him by Sacchetti; and thus a young man, less than thirty years of age, with a title of little or no importance, was seen interposing with different powers, and treating with all, in order to effect a pacification. With this view he made several journeys, one of which laid the foundation of his fortune. It was at Lyons in 1630 that he first saw Louis XIII., and had a long conference with cardinal Richelieu. The cardinal conceived the highest opinion of him, and feeling that France wanted an able and devoted man in Italy, he succeeded in gaining the young diplomatist, who from this time openly shewed himself favourable to the interests of France. He returned to Italy without having obtained any success in his mission, and the war continued; but the Duke of Savoy having died his son gave his entire confidence to Mazarin, who immediately resumed the work of peace with fresh ardour. The Spaniards were besieging Casal, and the French wished to relieve the place; but by negotiating with the chiefs of both armies he induced them to consent to an armistice for six weeks. When this truce had expired he demanded a prolongation, which the French refused, and at the same time prepared to attack the lines. Mazarin then proposed a treaty, in which they stipulated the hardest conditions. To engage them to relax in their demands, he represented the formidable state of the Spanish army, and the hazard of an attempt to force their entrenchments; but failing to persuade them, he passed over to the Spaniards, reported to them the conditions required by the French, and, still employing the same logic, urged the superiority of the French, and their ardent desire for the combat. This time he succeeded. The Spanish general assented to every thing. Mazarin immediately quitted the Spanish trenches, and riding at full gallop towards the French, regardless of the balls which whistled around him, waved his hat, exclaiming “Peace, peace.” The soldiers repulsed him, crying ont “No peace ;” but he, nevertheless, addressed himself to the marshal de Schomberg, who accepted the treaty, and caused his troops to lay down their arms. This peace was confirmed the following year by the treaty of Cherasco, which was negotiated by Mazarin. About the same time he secured to France the town of Pignerol, having persuaded the Duke of Savoy that he would be indemnified for the sacrifice, and deceived both the Spaniards and imperialists who had only evacuated Casal and Mantua on condition that the French garrison should quit Pignerol. Such conduct excited against him all the hatred of the Spaniards; but it earned for him the acknow-ledgmeqts of Louis XIII. and of Richelieu. This minister wrote to the pope, on the part of his master, to congratulate liis Holiness on the ability displayed by his negotiator. But in a court altogether ecclesiastical, the military habit was no recommendation. In 1632, Mazarin quitted it, and immediately received a benefice, with the office of referendary of the two signatures in the chancery. Richelieu gave instructions to the French ambassador at Rome to obtain for Mazarin an employment which should bring the latter into contact with himself. In 1634 he was appointed vicelegate of Avignon, and before he had quitted Rome to repair to his post, his wishes were fulfilled by an order which he received to proceed to the court of France in the capacity of nuncio extraordinary. The object of this mission was to intercede in favour of the Duke of Lorraine, who had been deprived of his estates by Louis XIII.

Received with the greatest distinction by Richelieu, who even wished to provide him with lodgings in his own palace, Mazarin neglected no means of preserving the good graces of the king and his minister; and in this he was so successful that Louis XIII. promised to name him for the cardinalate, if he was not anticipated therein by the pope. In 1635, the Spaniards had carried off the elector of Treves, who was under the protection of France. This was the pretext for a war which lasted five and twenty years. Mazarin, as minister of the court of Rome, wished to interpose in an affair which regarded a prelate; but the Spaniards remembered his conduct at Pignerol, and their intrigues with the sovereign pontiff procured his recall to Avignon. They even attempted to get his vice-legation revoked; but he anticipated them, and fearing that he would not be left in oblivion at Avignon, he demanded his recall, and in 1636 returned to Rome, where he openly supported the interests of France. It was he whom Richelieu charged to demand a cardinal’s hat for the famous Père Joseph; but the death of this capuchin put an end to the negociation. Richelieu, who lost a faithful friend and useful confidant, now resolved to replace him by attaching to himself Mazarin, who had already given him so many proofs of devotion; and he engaged Louis XIII. to place on his head the cardinal’s hat which had been given to Père Joseph. This demand hurt Urban VIII., who, though at first favourable to Mazarin, had since allowed himself to be influenced against him by his numerous enemies. But Richelieu had himself made the demand, and he knew not what it was to recede. Mazarin nowattach-ed himself irrevocably to France. Being called by Richelieu, he quitted Italy in the beginning of 1639, and proceeded to join the cardinal. The war, which for so many years desolated Europe, had exhausted the different powers, and all were now desirous of peace. The king of Denmark, Christian IV., offered himself as mediator; and Hamburg was fixed upon as the place for the assembling of their ambassadors. Louis XIII. had cast his eyes upon Mazarin, whom he wished to send to this congress; but the troubles which broke out in Savoy led the king to think that he would be more useful in a country with which he was acquainted; and, accordingly, in the beginning of 1640, he was sent thither with the title of ambassador extraordinary. The successes of the Count d’Harcourt in Piedmont enabled him, in December 1641, to conclude a treaty between the Duchess of Savoy and β her brothers-in-law, who, supported by Spain, had disputed with her the guardianship of her son. It was then that Mazarin obtained the hat long since demanded for him; he was included in the nomination of the 16th December 1641, and on the 25 th of February 1642 he received the cap from the hands of Louis XIII. The intrigues which had pursued Richelieu during his whole life assumed fresh force towards its close; but these did not prevent Mazarin from remaining faithful towards his protector, to whom he rendered especial service, when the discovery of the conspiracy of the fifth of March re-established his credit and authority. This minister on his death-bed recommended him warmly to the king; and if Mazarin did not succeed him in his title he was really first minister of Louis XIII., since he had the direction of all affairs of state. Richelieu had governed by terror; but Mazarin was not of a character to employ similar means, and preferred to make himself friends. It was at his request that Marshal de Bassompierre, Marshal de Vitry, andmany other victims of thelastministerwere released from the Bastille. He also recalled several exiled members of parliament, and contributed to the reconciliation of the Duke d’Orleans with the king.
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On the 14th of May 1643 Louis XIII., whose health had for some time been declining, terminated his melancholy existence. We cannot enter into any details of the events that followed, and for an account of which we must refer the reader to the memoirs and histories of the period. It is sufficient to state that, during the minority of Louis XIV. and the regency of Anne of Austria, the administration of affairs was entirely in the hands of Mazarin. The commencement of his sway was attended with the happiest success; and the advantages gained by the king’s armies secured to the cardinal the applause of the nation. But these favourable dispositions were soon succeeded by the murmurs, not loud but deep, of an oppressed people, and also by a combination of the high nobility who were jealous of his advancement and power. The civil wars of 1649, 1650, 1651, and 1652, followed; and as the dissatisfaction daily became more general, it was at length insisted on that he should be dismissed from the royal presence. Mazarin, who knew when to yield as well as how to resist, demanded permission to retire, and immediately withdrew from the kingdom. But such was the singular fortune of the man, that this event may be considered as one of the incidents which mainly contributed to his greatness. Decree upon decree was fulminated against him; his fine library was sold; and a price was even put upon his head; yet, in spite of all the rage of his enemies, he was enabled to return to court with greater power than ever; and so mutable is popular opinion that many who had formerly been his bitterest enemies now became his warmest friends. After this he was instrumental in rendering the state some important services. He put an end to the war between France and Spain, and, in order to consolidate the peace he had re-established, negotiated a marriage between the king and the infanta, which was celebrated at Sant-Jean-de-Luz on the 9th of June 1660. But the cardinal’s glass was now nearly run. His continual application to business brought on a dangerous illness, which terminated his existence at Vincennes on the 9th of March 1661, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. Mazarin, like most ministers, was but little regretted. A courtier writing at the time, says, “Le roi est, ou parait, le seul touche de la mort du cardinal.” He had accumulated immense wealth by very doubtful or equivocal means. His fortune is said to have amounted to near eight millions sterling, all acquired in a period of external war or of internal commotion. On the approach of death he began to feel some scruples of conscience on the subject, but observed that he had nothing except what the bounty of the king had conferred on him. His confessor, however, plainly told him that he must distinguish between what he had actually received from the king and what he had taken at his own hand; and that, in regard to the latter, restitution was indispensable to salvation. In this dilemma Colbert counselled him to give up all his property to the king, which he did by an act dated a few days before his death; but the king, as had no doubt been foreseen, declined the proposed donation, and the cardinal’s conscience was, we presume, satisfied.

The only productions of Mazarin which have been published are his letters. Of these, thirty-six, written by him whilst negotiating of the peace of the Pyrenees, made their appearance in the year 1690; and seventy-seven more on the same subject were published in 1693. The whole were collected and re-printed at Amsterdam, in two volumes, under the title of Négociations Secretes des Pyrenees· These letters are not arranged in the order of their dates; but this error was corrected in a later edition, for which we are indebted to the care of the Abbé Allainval, and the value of which is still further enhanced from its being augmented by fifty letters never before published. This work is entitled, Lettres du Cardinal Mazarin, où l’on voit le Secret de la Négociation de la Paix des Pyrenees, Paris, 1745, in two vols. 12mo. All these letters have been found in an original collection which is preserved in the royal library at Paris. Mazarin wrote a relation of the conferences for the instruction of the king, and with the intention of accustoming him to affairs, and there exist no better diplomatic lessons; for what passed in the conferences is there unfolded with a clearness and precision which in some sort place the reader en tiers with the two plenipotentiaries. In 1663, there was published at Cologne a Testament Politique du Cardinal Mazarin ; but this work, like so many other romances of the same kind, is undeserving of attention. Another political testament of Mazarin appeared under the title of Breviarium Politicoum secundum Rubricas Mazarinicas. It is a bitter satire on his government, and represents him as recommending to Louis XIV. such Machiavellian maxims as these: Simula, dissimula ; nulli crede, omnia lauda, &c. “Ce livre,” says a French writer, “est assez bon dans son espece diabolique.” Much more besides hasbeen written concerning Mazarin, and in regard to his ministry, which embraces nearly twenty years of the history of France. Count Galeazzo Gualdo Priorato is authorof aliis-tory of Cardinal Mazarin, translated into French, Paris, 1688, in two vols. 12mo, but which is not always exact. Another work of the same kind by one Aubery, author of a great number of mediocre productions, professed to give an account of Mazarin from his birth till his death; it was originally printed at Paris in 1688 and 1695, in two vols. 12mo. The history of the ministry of Cardinal Mazarin from 1643 to 1652, by a clergyman, is an able work, but has more reference to the history of France during the period in question, than to that of Mazarin in particular. One of the best apologies which has yet appeared for the conduct of this minister is contained in the work of Jean de Silhou, councillor of state, which was published in 1650, under the tide of Eclaircissements sur quelques difficultés touchant l’ Administration du Cardinal Richelieu, and deserves to be consulted by every student of French history. The Cardinal was the object of innumerable satires directed against him by the Fronde, particularly during the year 1669; but, on the other hand, amongst his most servile flatterers we find the great Corneille, who, in his Mort de Pompée, calls him “homme au-dessus de ľhomme.”

The character of Mazarin has been compared, or rather contrasted with that of Richelieu, and variously shaded according to the opinions and predilections of those by whom it is delineated. “Cardinal Mazarin,” says President Hénault, “was as gentle as Cardinal Richelieu was violent; one of his greatest talents consisted in knowing men thoroughly. The character of his policy was rather finesse and prudence than force....This minister thought that force should never be employed but in default of other means; and his mind supplied the courage required by circumstances; bold at Cassai, tranquil and active in his retreat at Cologne; enterprising when it was necessary to cause the princes to be arrested, but insensible to the pleasantries of the Fronde; despising the bravadoes of the coadjutor, De Retz,and listening to the murmurs of the people as one listens on the shore to the noise of the waves of the sea. There was in Cardinal Richelieu something greater, vaster, and less composed; in Cardinal Mazarin, more address, more management, and fewer extravagances. People hated the one and derided the other; but both were masters of the state.” The parallel between these two great men has been attempted by several writers, and some have placed Mazarin above the minister who had the merit of distinguishing him amongst the crowd. That which Voltaire has traced in the seventh canto of his Henriade is more just, but incomplete. Gaillard gives the preference to Mazarin. “If we inquire,” says he, “of what use they have been to the world, we shall find that it is unquestionably better to have allayed disorders than to have occasioned them; that it is better to have terminated a war [7:14:343]of thirty years, than to have maintained and kept it alive. The peace of Westphalia and that of the Pyrenees are two epochs which place Mazarin above Richelieu and the greatest ministers. These monuments of peace far outweigh the honour of having invented means that were new, or revived means that were old, for disturbing Europe.” Bussy, in his Mémoires, has preserved a portrait of Mazarin: “Never man,” says he, “had so fortunate a birth as his. He was born a Roman gentleman; and he had studied in the university of Salamanca, where, having one day had his horoscope cast, he had been assured that he would be pope. He had the finest physiognomy in the world; the eyes and the mouth beautiful, the forehead large, the nose well proportioned, and the visage open. He had much wit; no one related a story or anecdote more agreeably. He was insinuating, and was sure to be loved by those whom he took the trouble to please. He excelled in all games of skill and address.” Insensible to the pamphlets which were daily discharged against him, he usually observed when any one of them was mentioned, Laissons parler et faisons. Indifferent about an opposition, which exhaled in satirical couplets, “Qu’ils cantent, ces Français,” said he, “pourvu qu ’ ils payent” Of all the pieces directed against him, the only one which appears to have given any annoyance was the Mazarinadeoĩ Scarron,who in consequence lost his pension of 1500 livres, which had been bestowed upon him by the minister whom he sought to render ridiculous. But he did not neglect men of letters, and charged Menage to furnish him with a list of those who deserved rewards or encouragement. The arts were also the object of his protection; and it is well known that he introduced the opera into France. As a statesman, he belonged almost entirely to the Italian school, themaxims of which he had early imbibed; he trusted chiefly to his knowledge of men, and the dexterous employment of those arts by which that knowledge may be made effectual; his policy was too subtle and refined to impress a common observer with a just conception of its real quality; and as to his ambition, it had nothing of that high-reaching and aspiring character, which dignified even the aberrations of Richelieu, and was too nearly allied to avarice to command general respect. (a.)