cons, there lived, a few years since, a country gentleman, who, when from home, was an agreeable, gentlemanly person; but the moment he returned in sight of his own village, 'the Devil,' as the poor used to exclaim,' would 'jump upon his back;' and on entering his house, if any thing displeased him, he would run after his wife, children, and servants, as if he were out of his senses. But if any one turned again, he would be as quiet and as gentle as an antelope. His favourite maxim was,— 'Do as you like, and give no reason.' This maxim reminds me of Lord Mansfield:- Al'ways decide,' said he to a newly-appointed governor of Jamaica, who expressed a diffidence in respect to the fulfilment of his duty as chancellor of his province; always decide; and give no reason for your decision. 'You will, no doubt, decide well. But if you give your reasons, you may give bad reasons, or not the 'best. Therefore decide, and say nothing.' No judge ever gave, or received, a more convenient lesson of advice than this. CCLII. CARDINAL RICHELIEU, CARDINAL OF LORRAINE, AND CARDINAL MAZARIN. WHEN Peter the Great saw the mausoleum of Cardinal Richelieu, he exclaimed,- Here lies a man, to 'whom I would have yielded one half of my dominions, ' had he taught me the art of governing the other.' Barriere's remarks on this celebrated minister are equally worthy of attention; since there is no small knowledge of human nature implied in them; and they convey more than many much more elaborate pictures. 'While he oppressed the great, he rendered essential 'services to France; and his genius induced the nation ' to overlook his despotism. The abasement of Austria, 'the humiliation of Spain, the violent restoration of ' order in the state, the honours of literature, and the 6 encouragement of commerce, redeemed, in some de'gree, the tyrannical acts of which he is justly accused. 'He imparted to the measures of government something of the loftiness of his own character. Undoubtedly he was feared, but he commanded admiration ; and nothing induces men to forgive attacks made their rights, unless it be the glory which dazzles them, or the happiness they enjoy.' upon Now let us observe what has been said of the Cardinal of Lorraine, especially by Maimbourg. His genius was vivacious and penetrating; his disposition impetuous and vehement; he had a flowing eloquence, and possessed more learning than might have been expected from a man of quality. He was enterprising, and capable of forming great designs; bold and intrepid in the cabinet, but fearful and weak when called upon to execute anything in which danger might be threatened. Let any one, who has leisure and inclination for the employment, consult the various memoirs, biographies, and histories, connected with the circumstances in which these two cardinals were engaged, and he will soon be convinced of the vast distance that subsisted between them; and yet they have been assimilated by some; the palm being sometimes given to the one, and sometimes to the other. This distance does not, however, appear so much in the quality of their minds, as in the attitudes which they were enabled to permit that quality to assume. Thomas calls Richelieu a king by his genius; and he attributes to his counsels the subsequent glory of France. 'Un homme en qui l'audace aux talents fut unie, Profond dans ses desseins, fier dans sa politique,' &c. I think, also, that to Richelieu may be, in some degree, attributed the revolution of France; for his policy dictated an opinion that France could never enjoy the sweets of peace till the Protestants were deprived, not only of their rights and privileges, but of their ecclesiastical polity*. As to his Political Testament, there can, I should suppose, be no question now as to its authenticity. Richelieu was greatly indebted to the skill of Father Joseph, the Capuchin, with whom he concerted all his measures. Richelieu was constrained to live in state, and to be surrounded by persons of all orders and conditions. The Capuchin, in the silence and leisure of *See Mosheim, iv. 65. VOL. II. Y his cell, conceived his plans, revised, and perfected them. As a negotiator, says De Bury, he was the ablest in all Europe. We may know something of Richelieu still more in point. I never venture to undertake any thing,' said he to the Marquis de Vieuville, 'till I have considered it thoroughly; but when I have once formed my resolution, I never lose sight of my object. I overturn; 'I mow down all before me; and then I throw my red 'cassock over it, and cover all.' In fact, Richelieu resembled the best horses of Persia, as described by Della Valle; lively, light, courageous, and equal to all hardships. Always restless *, nothing soothed or contented him; ambitious; cruel to those who offended him; persevering; careless of luxury and convenience; with great discernment, yet revelling in a success not always owing either to prudence or to vigour. Prodigal of the national resources, yet parsimonious of his own he was inferior, in this respect, to the Spanish minister, the Duke d'Olivarez, who was lavish of his own property, and frugal of that belonging to the state. The suspicions and intrigues of the latter, too, never thinned the court to populate the prisons; nor was the charge of treason characteristic of his administration to gratify his revenge. We might here say a few words in respect to Richelieu's rival, Cardinal Mazarin; first quoting a distich from Algernon Sydney : 'Magnus uterque fuit; dignos sed vindice nodos * De Caylus; Servan; Anguetil; Voiture. To which may be added a well-pointed couplet from the French : RICHELIEU, grand, sublime, implacable ennémi ; MAZARIN, souple, adroit, et dangereux ami *.' There was some truth in the poet's assertion, that though Richelieu had too great an authority over his master, he made his master the master of kings †. It was Mazarin's policy to soften, to subdue, to corrupt, and to ruin the French nobility of his time. The instrument, he employed, was luxury. He desired to render them unequal even to the Ursini, Colonni, and Savelli of Italy; all of whom bartered the vigour and virtue of their ancestors for pride ‡, sensuality, and indolence. Had the Cardinal succeeded to his desire, the palaces of France had witnessed the picture Voltaire has given in his description of the famine : 'On vit avec effroi tous est voluptueux, Pâles, défigurés, et la mort dans les yeux, Henriade, chant x. Cardinal de Retz gives a curious picture of Mazarin's manners and influence. Every one,' says he §,' had *In secundis insolentius se gessit Richelius, in adversis con'stantius; Mazarinus in secundis moderatius, in adversis timidius.' -Comparatio Card. Richl. et Mazarin. 12. +Il fut trop absolu sur esprit de son maistre, Mais son maistre par luy sut le maistre des roys.? Vide Sydney Papers, ii. 705. § Mem., i. 34. |