at the duke was more than once induced to exclaim of his
brother Charles: "That man in the end will ruin us."[544]

[Sidenote: Various estimates of the second Cardinal of Lorraine.]

The portraits of men who, for weal or woe, have exercised a powerful
influence upon their times, are frequently painted so differently by
their advocates and by their opponents, that for him who would obtain an
impartial view of their merits or defects it will prove a difficult task
to discover any means of removing the discrepancies in the
representations and attaining the truth. Fortunate must he esteem
himself if he chance to find some contemporary, less directly interested
in the events and persons described, to furnish him with the results of
unbiassed observation. In the conflict of the Protestant and Roman
Catholic writers of France respecting Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine, the
"relations" of the Venetian ambassadors, devoted adherents of the Holy
See, made to the doge and senate of their native state, and given under
the seal of secrecy, must be esteemed a rich historical legacy. The
cardinal's intellect, these envoys tell us, was wonderfully acute. He
understood the point at which those who conversed with him were aiming
when they had scarcely opened their mouth. His memory was more than
usually retentive. He was well educated, and learned not only in Greek,
Latin, and Italian, but in the sciences, and especially in theology. He
had a rare gift of talking. In the fulfilment of his promises he was
less famous. According to one ambassador, he had the reputation of
rarely speaking the truth. Another styles him little truthful, and of a
deceitful and avaricious disposition.[545] Both agree in representing
him as covetous "beyond the avarice natural to the French, even
employing dishonorable means to increase his wealth."[546] Both unite in
extolling his administrative abilities. In observance of the precepts
of the church he was exemplary. Yearly did he retire from court to spend
the season of Lent on some one of his numerous possessions. In life, "so
far as the outside is concerned," he observed the decorum appropriate to
his rank, thus presenting a striking contrast to the other cardinals and
prelates of the kingdom, who were "of a most licentious character." But
he was vindictive, slow in rewarding services, and so violent that it
was probable that no other event was so much desired in France as his
death.[547] The scandalous storie