Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/318

 306 MAZAKIN MAZATLAN Paris refused to consent to a new impost, and the cardinal caused Blancmesnil, its president, and Broussel, one of its most popular members, to be arrested. Instigated by De Ketz and the other leaders of the opposition, the citizens of Paris rose in insurrection in August, 1648, and thus began the civil war of the Fronde. Maza- rin fled to St. Germain with the queen regent and the young king, and was proscribed by the parliament. Peace was restored March 11, 1649, chiefly through the influence of the great Conde, who, however, conducted himself with such arrogance that Mazarin caused him to be arrested and imprisoned, Jan. 18, 1650, to- gether with the prince of Conti and the duke of Longueville. The parliament espoused the cause of the princes, and issued a decree of banishment against Mazarin. As the parlia- ment was sustained by the people, the cardinal liberated the princes in 1651, and fled to Ger- many. His influence over the queen, to whom he is supposed to have been secretly married, was so great that he still governed the king- dom from his exile ; and in 1652, the excite- ment against him having apparently subsided, he entered France at the head of an army of 6,000 men under the authority of a passport from the queen. The prince of Conde was at this time again in rebellion, and the young king Louis XIV., who had recently assumed his majority at the age of 13, was at Poitiers with his court, and toward that city Mazarin directed his march. The news of his return to France created great commotion in Paris. The parlia- ment hastily assembled, decreed that the car- dinal was a rebel, and ordered his magnificent library and other property to be sold, and from the proceeds of the sale 150,000 livres set apart as a reward to whoever should deliver him up dead or alive. Mazarin, regardless of these de- crees, continued his march, and at the end of a month reached Poitiers, where he was received by the king and the court with the greatest demonstrations of delight. The civil war con- tinued for some months longer, being carried on by the princes and the parliament on the pretext that the king was a prisoner in the hands of Mazarin, whose foreign birth made him peculiarly unpopular. At length the car- dinal, finding that nearly all parties were weary of the contest and only needed an excuse for laying down their arms, tendered his resigna- tion as prime minister, and withdrew from the court. The parliament then submitted, toge- ther with all the principal leaders of the Fronde except Conde, and the king returned to the capital amid the acclamations of the people. Louis immediately ordered Cardinal de Retz, the principal instigator of sedition, to be ar- rested and sent to prison at Vincennes. Maza- rin, who had meanwhile taken command of the army on the frontier, and gained some suc- cesses over the Spaniards, seized the occasion to return to Paris. The king and the courtiers went out several miles to welcome him, and he entered the capital in triumph, in the same car- riage with the king, amid general rejoicings. His first care after his return was for the public finances, which were in great disorder, and next for his own. His financial skill and his thrifty habits soon restored his fortunes, and he advanced those of his family, which included a number of beautiful and profligate nieces. (See MANCINI.) From his return to Paris till his death Mazarin ruled France with absolute power, the king quietly submitting to his guidance. His last great stroke of policy was his negotiation of the peace of the Pyre- nees with Spain in 1659, and the marriage of Louis XIV. with the Spanish infanta, which was celebrated in the following year. Mazarin had accumulated during his administration 40,- 000,000 livres, an enormous sum at that time. On his deathbed his conscience troubled him about his property, and he gave it to the king, who after keeping it three days restored it, and it became the inheritance of his relatives. His "Letters" were published in Paris in 1745. MAZATLAN, a maritime city of Mexico, in the state of Sinaloa, at the head of a bay at the entrance of the gulf of California, 530 m. N. W. of Mexico ; pop. in 1867 (according to offi- cial reports), 11,681 ; in 1871, 12,706, of whom about 4,000 constitute a floating population, mostly merchants and traders, who in summer resort hither from Chihuahua, Sonora, Jalisco, Colima, and Durango. The upper part of the town, standing in front of rocky hills, is some- what irregular ; but that facing the bay con- tains some very good streets with handsome residences, mostly in the old Castilian style of architecture. There are five public squares, on the largest of which, the plaza de Armas, enclosed with railing, and embellished with orange trees, stand the chief public buildings. On another square nearer the beach are the custom house, the offices and residences of the commandant and captain of the port, and the public stores, all tastefully constructed. The American consul reported in 1873 that many of the houses were vacant, and some as well as the custom-house wharf greatly decayed, and that business was rapidly declining. Other reports, however, are more favorable. The climate is damp, and in summer exces- sively hot, the mean temperature from June to October being about 90 F. ; while during the remainder of the year the temperature ranges from 70 to 75, and frequent rains inundate the country, rendering travel almost impracti- cable. Silver mines abound in every direction, those which are worked on the largest scale being the property of Americans, and valued at $2,000,000. Although the soil favors agri- culture, the only products are cotton, corn, and beans, for home consumption. Such im- mense quantities of bananas are used in the town and its neighborhood that tjie local sup- ply is quite insufficient, and the fruit is yearly imported to the value of about $200,000. The chief articles of export are dyewoods, fine pearls, and gold and silver. Mining machinery