vrii,] POWER OF THE CROWN. 133 Lyons to Paris. For six weeks longer he ruled with the same might and skill as ever, guiding the course of the armies, and fixing the government not only as it was to be after his own death, but after that of the king, whose health, never strong, was fast failing. The Duke of Orleans was not only declared incapable of being regent, but was deprived of his province of Auvergne and of his troops, so as never to be able to attempt further mischief As his own successor Richelieu seems to have recom- mended Julius Mazzarini, a sharp-witted Italian priest, whom he had trained to understand his policy, namely the exaltation of the crown of France, at all costs. That policy Richelieu had carried out with unflinching stern- ness, and with ability which has seldom been rivalled. He had trodden down all human rights, whether of single persons, of bodies of men, or nations ; but he viewed all this as the simple duty of the prime-minister of France. When the last sacraments were brought to him, he said, "Behold my Judge, before whom I shall soon appear; I pray Him to condemn me if I ever meant aught save the welfare of religion and the state." In this confidence he died on the 4th of December, 1642. He had greatly promoted trade, husbandry, and learning, and he is looked on as a kind of second founder of the great theological college of the Sorbonne. His use of Church patronage was often conscientious, and he encouraged the attempts that were being made to raise the tone of the clergy. The French Academy, which has had so great an influence on taste and literature, was founded by him. But all the benefits of his administration were outweighed by the evils of the overgrown power which he had gained for the crown, and the destruction of almost every check on the royal will. The nobility, deprived of all employments that could train them in wholesome public spirit, had no career open to them but that of soldiers or courtiers, and received pensions from the treasury, which was filled solely from the earnings of the burghers and peasants. 6. Accession of Lewis XIV., 1643. — Mazarin carried on the government after Richelieu's death, while Lewis XIII. was wasting away, until he died on the 14th of May, 1643. He was perhaps the weakest and most helpless man who ever had a brilliant and successful reign. He was succeeded by his eldest son, a child of five years old, who was afterwards famous as Lewis the Fou7-teenth. His mother, Anne of Austria, the last of the queens regent of
