LEWIS DE BOURBON, PRINCE OF, was born at Paris Sept. 7. 1621. He was styled Duke d'Enguien, till he succeeded to the title of Prince of Conde by his father's death in 1646. As he was of a tender and delicate constitution, the prince sent him to the castle of Montrond in Berry, that he might breathe a more pure and salutary air. Here he was educated in his infancy by some experienced and prudent citizens wives. When he was of a proper age, the prince took upon himself the task of governor, and appointed for his assistant M. de la Bouffieres, a private gentleman, a man of honour, fidelity, and good nature, and who made it a rule to observe inviolably the orders that were given him. Two Jesuits distinguished for their genius and knowledge were also given him for preceptors. He formed him a household of 15 or 20 officers, all men of the greatest virtue and discretion.

With these attendants the duke d'Enguien went to settle at Bourges, where he frequented the college of Jesuits. Here, besides the ordinary studies, he was taught ancient and modern history, mathematics, geography, declamation; also riding and dancing, in which last he soon excelled. He made such a surprising progress, that before the age of 13 he defended in public some questions in philosophy with incredible applause. applause. At his return from Montrond, he had for his tutor M. de Merille; a man deeply versed in the knowledge of common law, of ancient and modern laws, of the holy scriptures, and of the mathematics. Under his direction the duke went through that new course with prodigious success. He acquired a critical taste in the arts and sciences, which he retained all his life; he never suffered a day to pass without dedicating two or three hours at least to reading; his thirst for knowledge was universal, and he endeavoured to search every thing to the bottom. His chief inclination, however, lay towards the military art; and at the age of 18 he obtained permission to make his first campaign as a volunteer in the army commanded by M. de la Meilleraye. This campaign was unfortunate; and the duke d'Enguign was only a witness of the marshal's imprudence and disgrace. Nevertheless, in this campaign he laid the foundation of that renown which made him afterwards considered as the greatest general of his age.

On his return to Paris, the duke waited upon Cardinal Richelieu at Ruel. That minister was so pleased with his conversation, that he soon after made proposals of an alliance with the prince of Conde; by marrying the duke d'Enguign to Claire Clemence de Maille Breza, the cardinal's niece. The duke consented to this match out of obedience to his father; but the force he put upon himself by yielding to it was so great, that he fell dangerously ill. It was long before he got the better of his distemper; but at length he not only recovered, but became so strong as afterwards to bear the greatest fatigues with ease.

The duke made two more campaigns as a volunteer; the one under the marshal de la Meilleraye, the other in the army of Louis XIII. which conquered Rouffillon. In 1643, at the age of 22, he obtained from the king, at the persuasion of Cardinal Mazarin, the command of the army destined to cover Champagne and Picardy; which command was confirmed to him after the king's death by the queen regent, Anne of Austria, to whose interest he was strongly devoted. In this situation, though he never had been present at any battle, he soon gave such a specimen of his abilities as crowned him with glory. The Spaniards, who threatened France with an invasion, were defeated by him at Rocroi; and this signal victory made him from that time considered as the guardian genius of his country. He next formed the project of besieging Thionville, and proposed it to the council of regency. They consented with fear and distrust; but the duke carried it into execution with such skill, activity, and courage, that he became justly the subject of general admiration. In two months time Thionville surrendered. At length, having covered Alsace and Lorraine from the enterprizes of the Imperialists, the duke returned to Paris, where he obtained the government of Champagne, and of the city of Stenai.

The three following years were little more than a series of military operations. The three battles of Fribourg, in which the duke d'Enguign triumphed over Velt Marshal Count de Mercy, the greatest general in all Germany; the taking of Philipbourg, and a great number of other places, which rendered him master of the palatinate, and of the whole course of the Rhine; the victory of Nortlingue, by which he revenge the vicount du Turenne's defeat at Mariendal; the siege and conquest of Dunkirk; the good and bad success of his arms in Catalonia, where, though he was forced to raise the siege of Lerida, he kept the Spaniards in awe, and cut to pieces their rear-guard; these are the principal events which distinguish the campaigns of 1644, 1645, and 1646.

The victories of the duke d'Enguign, his great reputation and esteem with the people, began now to give umbrage to Mazarin. The cardinal's dislike to him appeared on the death of the duke de Breze, admiral of France. The prince of Conde earnestly demanded for his son the duke de Breze's places. But Mazarin, afraid of increasing the wealth and power of a prince, whom his victories and the love and confidence of the people and the army had already rendered too formidable to him, evaded his request, by persuading the queen to take the admiralty to herself. On the death of his father, the minister's dislike to the young prince of Conde became still more apparent. By the minister's persuasion he had accepted of the command of the army in Catalonia; but, on his arrival at Barcelona, he found neither troops, money, artillery, provisions, nor ammunition. Enraged at this deception, he vented his resentment in bitter complaints and severe threats; but by the resources that he found in this dilemma, the prince added new lustre to his glory.

The campaign of 1648 was as glorious to Conde as those which preceded it had been. To disconcert at once the projects of the archduke Leopold, the prince resolved to attack him even in the heart of the Low Countries; and notwithstanding the considerable difficulties which he had to surmount, he besieged the important city of Ypres, and took it in sight of all the enemy's forces.

Notwithstanding this success, Conde saw himself at the point of experiencing the greatest reverse of fortune. His army was a prey to scarcity, to nakedness, contagious distempers, and desertion. For eight months it received no supply from the minister, but half a muleter. Every thing was supplied by the prince himself; he lavished his money, and borrowed more to supply his troops. When it was represented to him that he was in danger of ruining himself by such an enormous expense, he replied, that "since he every day ventured his life for the service of his country, he could very well sacrifice his fortune to it. Let but the government exist (added he), and I shall want for nothing."

The French army having been reinforced by 4000 of the troops of Weimar, Conde attacked the Spaniards advantageously encamped near Lens, and gained a complete victory over them, which disabled them from attempting anything more, and even from supporting themselves. Afterwards he besieged Furnes, the garrison of which, 500 men, surrendered themselves prisoners of war. But the prince was wounded there in the trenches by a musket-shot above the right hip; and the contusion was so great, that he was forced to submit to several incisions.

The French court, animated with the victory at Lens, thought this a proper time to take vengeance. on the factions which for some time had violently agitated the kingdom; and accordingly imprisoned Broussel and Blanchemil, two of the principal leaders of the country party. This vigorous proceeding, however, occasioned a general revolt. Two hundred thousand men took arms in Paris, barricaded the streets, invested the palais-royal, and demanded the prisoners. It was necessary to release them; but from that time the regal authority was annihilated; the queen was exposed to a thousand insults, and Mazarin dared no longer venture out of the palais-royal. In this embarrassment the queen recalled the prince of Conde, as the only one from whom she could hope for support. He retired to Rueil, whither the regent had gone with the young king and Mazarin. Anne of Austria proposed to him the reducing of Paris by force of arms; but he calmed the resentments of that princess; and instead of being accessory to her vengeance, he directed all his views to pacify the kingdom, and at length brought about an accommodation between the parties, who desired it with equal ardour. But new incidents soon rekindled the combustion. The treachery of Mazarin, and the artifices of the leaders of the country party, occasioned new cabals and fresh troubles. Conde was cajoled by the leaders of both parties; but at last, enraged at the arrogance of the malecontents, who every day formed new pretensions, he took part openly with the court, though he thought it ungrateful, and protected the minister, though he did not esteem him.

The royal family, the duke of Orleans, Conde, and Mazarin, left Paris privately in the night between the 5th and 6th of January 1646, and went to St Germain. The parliament sent deputies to learn from the queen herself the reasons of her departure, and to beg her to name the citizens whom she suspected, that they might be tried. Mazarin had the imprudence to dismiss them without any answer. Exasperated at this, the people again took up arms in order to defend themselves against the enterprises of the court, who had determined to block up and to starve the capital, in order to suppress the party of malecontents. With 7000 or 8000 men, the broken relics of the last campaign, the prince of Conde formed a design of reducing above 500,000 entrenched behind walls. He had neither money nor magazines; he saw himself in the depth of a most severe winter; nevertheless he triumphed over Paris, and this great success completed his glory. It did him too much the more honour, as during the siege he constantly defeated the troops of the malecontents; he prevailed on the army that marched to their assistance under Turenne, to abandon that general; he stopped the progress of the duke de Longueville, who had caused an insurrection in Normandy; and got the start of the Spaniards, who were advancing to give him battle.

Condi de Retz, coadjutor of Paris, and afterwards cardinal, was the life and soul of the revolters, and directed all their motions. He had taken Catiline for his model; and was equally intrepid and capable of the greatest actions; of an exalted genius, but governed by his ambition. He distinguished his hatred to Mazarin by arming the malecontents; and he himself raised at his own expense a regiment which he called the regiment of Corinth; as soon as this corps took the field during the blockade of Paris, it was defeated and dispersed. This check was called the first to the Corinthians. The peace was signed at St Germain; but neither party carried its point, and scarce anyone but Conde acquired glory by this war. After the conclusion of the treaty, the prince repaired to the capital, and traversed all the streets in his coach alone. All persons of any consequence paid their compliments to him, and the parliament sent a solemn deputation to thank him for the peace to which he had so powerfully contributed. The people, however, made loud complaints on account of the king's absence (for the court was not yet returned to Paris), and the malecontents gave reason to apprehend a new insurrection. Conde encouraged the king and queen to return; and at length brought them to Paris, amidst the acclamations and blessings of the public.

The important service which Conde had just done the court entitled him to the acknowledgments of the queen, and especially of Mazarin; but the dark soul of that cardinal only remembered it to punish a too fortunate and too powerful protector. He privately favored the prince's destruction; at least that he should give the whole kingdom a pattern of submission and dependence on his will. However, not to excite the public indignation, he still kept up appearances with the prince, while he secretly spread about him slanders, suspicions, snares of every kind, and the most heinous calumnies. The ungrateful minister deceived the prince by making him the most flattering proposals; and with the most alluring promises, which he always found means to avoid fulfilling. The enraged prince despised the minister, and treated him with disdain. After this they were reconciled again only to be again at variance. Each of them in their turn courted the country party, in order to make it subservient to their designs. At last Mazarin thought of an expedient, which but too effectually answered his purpose, of making an irreconcilable quarrel between that party and the prince. Among the malecontents, the marquis de la Boulaie, a man of an infamous character, had obtained the confidence of the party by false appearances of hatred to the cardinal, but secretly kept up a correspondence with him. It is pretended that he made him an offer of privately killing Conde. Mazarin was charmed with the proposal; yet he only required Boulaie to exhibit all the proofs of an afflication, and to act in such a manner that everything might concur to render the country party suspected of that crime. He was punctually obeyed; the coach was stopped; some pistols were fired at it, by which two of the footmen were dangerously wounded; and, after that shameful exploit, la Boulaie took refuge in the hotel of the duke of Beaufort, who was the hero of the party, in order no doubt to countenance the prince's suspicion of the malecontents. Luckily Conde was not in his coach when it was stopped; the cardinal had spread the report of his intended afflication; and in concert with the queen and the prince he had prevailed to have the coach sent away empty, to prove the reality of the attempt. Mazarin counterfeited a zeal for the prince's life; he furiously declaimed against the malecontents, who, he pretended, had made an attempt on a life so precious to the state; and he inflamed Conde's resentment against the duke of Beaufort. Beaupré and the coadjutor, whom he supposed to be the authors of this heinous outrage. The prince was so strongly prejudiced, that he refused to hear them when they appeared before him to justify themselves. He demanded justice against them of the king; he formally accused them before the parliament, and remained inflexible in spite of the pains which the leaders of the party took to demonstrate to him that he had been imposed upon. However, the affair was brought before the parliament; the accused defended themselves, and the coadjutor, who had discovered the cardinal's secret, unmasked him so well, that the prince agreed to a private negociation with the malecontents; he required nothing more than the coadjutor's leaving Paris, but with the rank of ambassador to Rome or Vienna. That prelate would have consented to it, to satisfy Conde, if Mazarin, some days after, had not given him the choice of any recompense, in order to engage his concurrence in the prince's destruction. Affairs were now in such a dangerous situation, that the cardinal saw clearly it was necessary to hasten to the winding up of the plot. Matter of the queen's mind, which he guided as he pleased; and sure of having inflamed against Conde all the resentment of the malecontents; he fought and obtained, by means of the duchess Chevreuse, the support of that powerful faction, which connected itself the more readily with him, in hopes that the prince's fall would soon enable it to crush without difficulty the cardinal himself. The coadjutor had private conferences with the queen and the minister. Conde had notice of it; and in order to discover if it were true, he endeavoured to surmise it from Mazarin's own mouth. "Cardinal (said he, one day), it is publicly reported that you have nightly meetings with the coadjutor, disguised like a trooper." He accompanied this speech with a quick and penetrating look; but the cardinal, who was a perfect matter of dissimulation, answered him in such a free, artless-like manner, that he entirely removed Conde's apprehensions; and he slighted the information he had received, of the plot forming against him.

Mazarin wanted nothing but the support of the duke of Orleans; and at last found means, by the duchess of Chevreuse, to inflame the jealousy of that fickle and inconstant prince, and to engage him to consent to the imprisonment of Conde. Having thus united all parties, and fearing no other obstacle, this ungrateful and perfidious minister made preparations for privately arresting the prince; the order for it was signed January 18, 1650. Conde having that day repaired as usual to the palais-royal, to assist at council with the prince of Conti and the duke of Longueville, the queen gave orders to arrest them all three, and to convey them without any noise to the castle of Vincennes. She was instantly obeyed, and the princes were strictly guarded in that prison.

In this unexpected reverse of fortune, the fortitude and greatness of Conde's mind appeared only the more remarkable. Confined with the other two princes in the tower of Vincennes, where neither supper, furniture, nor beds, were provided, he contented himself with two new laid eggs, and threw himself in his clothes, on a truss of straw, where he slept 12 hours without waking. He still retained his cheerfulness, and dedicated the greatest part of his time to reading; the rest to conversation, playing at battle-door and shuttlecock, to bodily exercises, and the cultivation of flowers.

Mazarin triumphed at the disgrace of the princes, proscribed all those who were attached to Conde, and behaved in the most insolent and arbitrary manner. The prince's friends, however, notwithstanding their being strictly watched, found means to keep up a punctual correspondence with him. They made various attempts to release him: they raised troops, in particular, the dukes of Bouillon and Rochefoucauld, and the vicount de Turenne. The princess of Conde engaged the province of Guienne to declare in his favour; she made war, in order to force the court to release him; at length the partizans of the prince signed a treaty with the Spaniards, to labour in concert for his enlargement. But all these efforts would, perhaps, have been ineffectual, if other more powerful resources had not been employed.

In that gallant and warlike age, every thing was managed by the passions and intrigues of five or six women, who possessed the confidence of the leaders of the state, and of the various parties. The princess of Mantua, wife to one of the sons of the elector Palatine, king of Bohemia, principally directed the councils in the party of the princes. She found means to reconcile the duke of Orleans, the coadjutor, and the malecontents, with the friends of the prince, and united their efforts against the cardinal. The parliament, on the other side, loudly demanded the release of the prisoners. All the orders of the state united in soliciting it, in order that the queen was at last prevailed on to give her consent. At this news, Mazarin was so confounded, that he fled in the disguise of a trooper, and arrived at the gates of Richlieu, where a body of horse waited for him. The parliament, informed by the queen of his flight, thundered forth an arrêt, by which he was obliged to leave the kingdom, with his family and foreign servants, in the space of 15 days, under the penalty of being exposed to a criminal prosecution. The queen desired to follow him with the king; but the nobles and burghers invested the palais-royal, and prevented the execution of this project, which would have kindled a civil war. Mazarin, therefore, perceiving that it was impossible for the queen to join him, determined to go himself to restore the princes to their liberty, and to get the start of the deputies who were coming to acquaint them with it. On his arrival at Havre, he informed the princes that they were free; he entreated Conde's friendship; and was so obsequious as to prostrate himself at the feet of him whom he had so basely oppressed. Conde gave him a polite reception, and spoke to him in a free and cheerful tone; but tired with the mean submissions which the cardinal lavished upon him, he left him without making any promise, and set out in his return to Paris, which he entered as it were in triumph, amidst the acclamations of all orders of men, and the demonstrations of a most sincere and general joy.

After this a civil war ensued, in which the prince of Conde sided with the malecontents. Being pressed by the king's army, he retired into the suburbs of St Anthony, where he behaved with the utmost bravery; when the citizens opened their gates and received ceived him in; and a peace ensued soon after. His hatred of the cardinal, however, made him quit Paris, and take refuge among the Spaniards, who made him generalissimo of their forces; and he took Rocroi. The peace of the Pyrenees restored him to his country; and he again signalized himself at the head of the king's armies. Being afflicted with the gout, he refused the command of the army in 1676, and retired to Chantilly, where he was as much esteemed for the virtues of peace, as he had been before for his military talents. He died in 1686, at Fontainebleau.

town of the French Netherlands, in the province of Hainault, with the title of a principality, and a castle. It is one of the strongest towns in this country, and seated near the confluence of the rivers Haine and Scheldt. It was taken by the allies in 1793, and retaken by the French in 1794. Its name by the convention was changed to Nord Libre. E. Long. 3° 39'. N. Lat. 50° 27'.

town of France, in the department of Calvados, which carries on a considerable trade; seated on the river Nereau, 15 miles west of Paris. W. Long. 0° 37'. N. Lat. 48° 50'.