What mighty interests were staked on the life of the Duke of Burgundy! and how different an aspect might the history of France have borne if he had attained the age of his grandfather or of his son;--if he had been permitted to show how much could be done for humanity by the highest virtue in the highest fortune! There is scarcely anything in history more remarkable than the descriptions which remain to us of that extraordinary man. The fierce and impetuous temper which he showed in early youth,--the complete change which a judicious education produced in his character,--his fervid piety,--his large benevolence,--the strictness with which he judged himself,--the liberality with which he judged others,--the fortitude with which alone, in the whole court, he stood up against the commands of Louis, when a religious scruple was concerned,--the charity with which alone, in the whole court, he defended the profligate Orleans against calumniators,--his great projects for the good of the people,--his activity in business,--his taste for letters,--his strong domestic attachments,--even the ungraceful person and the shy and awkward manner which concealed { 63}from the eyes of the sneering courtiers of his grandfather so many rare endowments,--make his character the most interesting that is to be found in the annals of his house. He had resolved, if he came to the throne, to disperse that ostentatious court, which was supported at an expense ruinous to the nation,--to preserve peace,--to correct the abuses which were found in every part of the system of revenue,--to abolish or modify oppressive privileges,--to reform the administration of justice,--to revive the institution of the States General. If he had ruled over France during forty or fifty years, that great movement of the human mind, which no government could have arrested, which bad government only rendered more violent, would, we are inclined to think, have been conducted, by peaceable means, to a happy termination.
Disease and sorrow removed from the world that wisdom and virtue of which it was not worthy. During two generations France was ruled by men who, with all the vices of Louis the Fourteenth, had none of the art by which that magnificent prince passed off his vices for virtues. The people had now to see tyranny naked. That foul Duessa was stripped of her gorgeous ornaments. She had always been hideous; but a strange enchantment had made her seem fair and glorious in the eyes of her willing slaves. The spell was now broken; the deformity was made manifest; and the lovers, lately so happy and so proud, turned away loathing and horror-struck.