er of
Ravaillac had struck him while still immersed in the frivolities which
tarnished his heroic exploits.[20]

In truth, without detracting from the many great and good qualities of the
hero of the Bourbon family, it may safely be affirmed that his fame in
subsequent times has been to the full as great as he deserved. Many
circumstances have contributed to this happy partiality of subsequent
times. His reign was filled with great and glorious actions; and that
endeared him to the heroic and the brave. His court was the abode of
gallantry--his life devotion to beauty; and that won for him the applause
of the fair. He did wonders, and designed still greater, for the internal
improvement of his dominions and the increase of his people's happiness;
and that secured for him the approbation of the philanthropic and
thoughtful. He gained for the Protestants religious freedom and immunity
from persecution; and that secured their eternal gratitude. He restored
to the Church of Rome the religious supremacy which had been so fiercely
disputed, and in so many other countries had been lost; and that shut the
mouths of the Catholics. He stilled the fury of civil, and pacified the
fierceness of religious discord; and that justly won for him the gratitude
of all. His reign formed a bright contrast to the frightful civil wars and
universal bloodshed which had preceded it. Like Napoleon, he closed the
gulf of revolution; and the admiration of subsequent times was the worthy
meed of the inestimable service thus rendered to humanity. They have not
diminished, perhaps exaggerated, the tribute. He was the first of a race
of sovereigns who for two centuries sat in the direct line on the throne
of France, and the collateral descendants of whom still hold it. Family
partiality, courtly panegyric, thus came to be largely mingled with the
just tribute of a nation's gratitude. The writers of other countries,
particularly England and Germany, joined in the chorus of applause to the
prince who had secured to the Protestant faith its just rights in so
important a kingdom as France. The vices or weakness of subsequent
sovereigns--the feeble rule of Louis XIII.; the tyrannical conduct, the
splendid talents of Louis XIV.; the corruptions of the Regent Orleans; the
disgraceful sensuality of Louis XV.; the benevolent heart, but passive
resignation of Louis XVI.--rose up successively in striking contrast to
his heroic deeds, vigorous government, and equit