knew thoroughly the king whose
birth he had seen. "He has in him the making of four kings and one
honest man," he used to say. Scarcely was the minister dead, when Louis
XIV. sent to summon his council: Chancellor Seguier, Superintendent
Fouquet, and Secretaries of State Le Tellier, de Lionne, Brienne,
Duplessis-Gueneguaud, and La Vrilliere. Then, addressing the chancellor,
"Sir," said he, "I have had you assembled together with my ministers and
my secretaries of state to tell you that until now I have been well
pleased to leave my affairs to be governed by the late cardinal; it is
time that I should govern them myself; you will aid me with your counsels
when I ask for them. Beyond the general business of the seal, in which
I do not intend to make any alteration, I beg and command you,
Mr. Chancellor, to put the seal of authority to nothing without my orders
and without having spoken to me thereof, unless a secretary of state
shall bring them to you on my behalf. . . . And for you, gentlemen,"
addressing the secretaries of state, "I warn you not to sign anything,
even a safety-warrant or passport, without my command, to report every
day to me personally, and to favor nobody in your monthly rolls. Mr.
Superintendent, I have explained to you my intentions; I beg that you
will employ the services of M. Colbert, whom the late cardinal
recommended to me."

The king's councillors were men of experience; and they, all recognized
the master's tone. From timidity or respect, Louis XIV. had tolerated
the yoke of Mazarin, not, however, without impatience and in expectation
of his own turn. [_Portraits de la Cour, Archives curieuses,_ t. viii.
p. 371.] "The cardinal," said he one day, "does just as he pleases, and
I put up with it because of the good service he has rendered me, but I
shall be master in my turn;" and he added, "the king my grandfather did
great things, and left some to do; if God gives me grace to live twenty
years longer, perhaps I may do as much or more." God was to grant Louis
XIV. more time and power than he asked for, but it was Henry IV.'s good
fortune to maintain his greatness at the sword's point, without ever
having leisure to become intoxicated with it. Absolute power is in its
nature so unwholesome and dangerous that the strongest mind cannot always
withstand it. It was Louis XIV.'s misfortune to be king for seventy-two
years, and to reign fifty-six as sovereign master.

"Many people made