Meanwhile the illness of Louis XIII threw France into the apprehension
which unsettled States ever feel on the approach of the death of princes.
Although Richelieu was the hub of the monarchy, he reigned only in the
name of Louis, though enveloped with the splendor of the name which he
had assumed. Absolute as he was over his master, Richelieu still feared
him; and this fear reassured the nation against his ambitious desires,
to which the King himself was the fixed barrier. But this prince dead,
what would the imperious minister do? Where would a man stop who had
already dared so much? Accustomed to wield the sceptre, who would prevent
him from still holding it, and from subscribing his name alone to laws
which he alone would dictate? These fears agitated all minds. The
people in vain looked throughout the kingdom for those pillars of the
nobility, at the feet of whom they had been wont to find shelter in
political storms. They now only saw their recent tombs. Parliament was
dumb; and men felt that nothing could be opposed to the monstrous growth
of the Cardinal's usurping power. No one was entirely deceived by the
affected sufferings of the minister. None was touched with that feigned
agony which had too often deceived the public hope; and distance nowhere
prevented the weight of the dreaded 'parvenu' from being felt.

The love of the people soon revived toward the son of Henri IV. They
hastened to the churches; they prayed, and even wept. Unfortunate
princes are always loved. The melancholy of Louis, and his mysterious
sorrow interested all France; still living, they already regretted him,
as if each man desired to be the depositary of his troubles ere he
carried away with him the grand mystery of what is suffered by men placed
so high that they can see nothing before them but their tomb.

The King, wishing to reassure the whole nation, announced the temporary