162 PROFESSOR SMYTHE AND HIS OPINIONS. 



ever, he seems to have been first sensible that he had mistaken the first 

 duties of a sovereign. ' My son,' said he on his death-bed to the Dau- 

 phin, ' cultivate peace as the source of the greatest good. Avoid war as the 

 source of the greatest evil. My example in this respect has not been a good 

 one. Do not imitate it. It is this part of my reign that I most regret.' " 



Louis XV. " I have announced and must continue to announce to ye the 

 reign of Louis XV. a prelude to the French revolution. The chief points in 

 the foreign politics of this reign are the acquisitions of the Duchies of Lor- 

 raine and Barr ; and the interference of the Due de Choiseul in the affairs of 

 Genoa, by which the island of Corsica was annexed to the French monarchy. 

 Disputes had arisen between the Corsicans and the republic of Genoa. The 

 Genoese wished to know what they were to pay the French Government for 

 the hire of troops to reduce that island. The Due de Choiseul proposed 

 higher and higher terms at length the possession of the island itself. He 

 then announced himself as a mediator affirmed that it was a dependence 

 far too uncertain and burdensome for a republic like theirs, and that it would 

 be for their advantage to be relieved from it. The negotiation was carried 

 on so secretly that the jealousy of England was never awakened, and he suc- 

 ceeded succeeded by slaying the brave with his bayonets, and bribing the 

 irresolute with his gold. But there is a righteous retribution which awaits 

 nations as well as individuals. Who could conceive from this island, so be- 

 trayed and trampled on, from its inhabitants, so cruelly enslaved and re- 

 morsely butchered, one should arise who should crush the Bourbons under 

 foot one to whom thrones were footstools one who should become the 

 bitterest scourge of monarchs, and of France in particular!" 



FENELON. " He was tutor to the Duke of Burgundy. This prince was 

 the grandson of Louis, and heir-presumptive to the throne the hope and 

 promise of France. His history is curious. This prince was at first head- 

 strong, profligate, and cruel ; but, by the instructions of wise and good men, 

 and the never-ceasing care of Fenelon, became so well-informed and accom- 

 plished, so virtuous and discerning, that if he had lived and come to the 

 throne, it is quite a problem whether the Trench Revolution would have oc- 

 curred. For him the Adventures of Telemachus were written. And we 

 may suppose them to have been the subject of those great moral and political 

 lessons which he endeavoured to impress upon the young duke's mind. 

 They were considered quite a satire upon the character of Louis XIV. 

 upon his despotism, his selfishness, his love of war, his jealousy and ambi- 

 tion. He presses the importance of the equal distribution of justice; how 

 seldom a search is made by sovereigns for good and great men, and conse- 

 quently how rarely they are approached by them ! He inculcates peace, 

 which he proves to be the grand aim and object of every wise and good ruler. 

 His work was deemed an elaborate satire upon the character and pursuits of 

 the reigning sovereign. He was banished to his bishopric of Cambray, not 

 so much on account of his religious heresies, but because his political lessons 

 were not relished by the court." 



Louis XVI. " He was too gentle and benevolent for the times in which 

 he lived. He was not of a temperament to resist the machinations of those 

 who were opposed to him. Louis was resolved on two things only : not 

 shedding the blood of his people, and not giving up his religion. He sat in 

 his palace at the Tuilleries, observing every thing, but preventing nothing. 



" The king meant well. He had the good of his country at heart ; but he 

 lost the moment when concessions can be granted with dignity, and accepted 

 with gratitude. Had the king been less of a good man, and his ministers 

 more adroit, we should have had no Revolution." 



FRENCH NOBLESSE. " It is melancholy to reflect on the conduct of the 

 noblesse at this critical juncture the interval between forming the two 

 houses ; their miserable jealousy, their selfish policy, their narrow views. 



