The policy of the great cardinal had for its objects the aggrandizement of France, as well as the weakening of the power of Austria.

So long as the struggle between the Protestant princes and the Swedes against the Imperialists had been maintained with equal successes on both sides, he had been well content to see Germany watering its soil with the blood of its people.

Nearly a third of the population had been swept away during the terrible war.

Many hundreds of towns and villages had already disappeared, while large tracts of country lay uncultivated, and whichever party won a victory France gained by it.

Her interest, however, lay with the Protestant confederation.