believe that humanity was the chief motive which actuated him in his legislative enactments against duelling. He took advantage of an opportunity to deal a blow at the nobility, who, he well knew, would quarrel and challenge one another in spite of the strictest edicts. the model offered by the United States of Holland. The confusion of the temporal and the spiritual principles in matters of Government has ever been productive of the greatest mischief, and it seems clear that if the French Protestants had not yielded to the perfidious advice of Rohan and Lesdiguières, if they had been satisfied with the en It was not to be expected that the bishop of Luçon would meet with no opposition in the course of his admi-joyment of religious liberty, they would nistration. A conspiracy excited by the Duchess de Chevreuse and some other ladies (the fair sex have always been politicians in France) was organised in support of Gaston, Duke of Orleans. | They wanted that indolent Prince to wrest from Richelieu's iron hand a sceptre which no one else could safely wield; they had even gone so far as to arrange for him a matrimonial alliance with a foreign Princess. The minister loses not a minute; but he will first try what gentle means can do, and he presents with a marshal's baton D'Ornano, Gaston's governor. This act of kindness was mistaken for fear, and the conspirators became bolder than ever. Then a perfect razzia took place; every legal form was preserved by prosecutors who were entirely and unreservedly devoted to Richelieu. Chalais, the ringleader, is beheaded. Gaston, in the meanwhile, quietly gets out of the way, purchases his own safety by the most abject apologies, and whilst the executioner is busy with his friends, he marries Mademoiselle de Montpensier. D'Ornano dies poisoned (1626) within the walls of the Bastille. The terrible manner in which Richelieu treated the turbulent remains of feudalism produced for a short time the desired effect; and, free from every obstacle, he could now devote his whole attention to his favourite purpose, the destruction of the Protestants, as a political party, in France. The greatest mistake Henry IV. ever committed was the introduction in the edict of Nantes, of the clauses which preserved the status of the Huguenots as a political body. As they existed at the beginning of the reign of Louis XIII. they formed an imperium in imperio, and ambitious men knew well what use to make of this element of strife; not only did they possess their places of safety, their assemblies, and their military leaders, but the Duke de Rohan entertained the hope of organising in France a Calvinist republic on not, at all events, have supplied their adversaries with a pretext to begin the work of destruction which the ill-advised Louis XIV. carried out. An apology for beginning the war was not long wanting. The Duke of Buckingham, who had been foolish and impudent enough to boast openly of being the favoured lover of Anne of Austria, was informed that if he attempted to land in France, orders were issued for his immediate arrest. Highly irritated at this insult, he determined to be revenged, and at the Duke de Rohan's request, he sailed with a few thousand men to support the Protestant Rochellese in another civil war. Such an expedition might have been crowned with success if the English Government had persevered in countenancing the Huguenots; but Charles I. found sufficient work to occupy him at home, without interfering in foreign politics; and, despite the most obstinate resistance, the citizens of La Rochelle, abandoned to their own resources, were compelled (1628) to surrender. The war continued for a short time in the south of France; but at last the Duke de Rohan, one of the chief Protestant leaders, laid down his arms; his submission, which brought about that of the whole party, was purchased for a hundred thousand crowns. The taking of La Rochelle was one of the most important events in the history of Richelieu; it was a fatal blow not only to the political strength of the Huguenots, but also to the ambition of the nobles. One of those who had accompanied the Royal army had said, "We shall not be such fools as to take La Rochelle; and in expressing himself thus, he gave utterance to the feelings of the whole party; for they had in the capital of French Protestantism a powerful auxiliary with whom they combined when they wanted to annoy the Government by the threat of a civil war. La Rochelle surrendered, however; and the best proof that all this transaction was a political, not a religious one, is to be seen in the terms imposed by Richelieu. They were hard, no doubt; but they included neither the demolition of the Protestant churches, nor any infringement of the rights of religious worship. We may say, in short, that under the administration of Richelieu, and of his successor, Mazarin, the French Protestants were in a very favourable condition. so surprising as that the conspirators should have allowed themselves to be led astray by Gaston, Duke of Orleans -a man who, in the hour of danger, would not hesitate to betray his bosom friend, if his own safety could be purchased at such a price. And yet they fell into the snare. The King was dangerously ill at Lyons; they thought the opportunity too good to be lost; and indeed managed so well, that when the Court had returned to Paris, the cardinal's disgrace seemed inevitable. But he determined to make a final effort, and, securing an interview of a quarter of an hour with Louis XIII. at Versailles, he frightened the monarch, and left the palace as powerful as ever. 66 Richelieu's policy was developed with such energy that success crowned all his endeavours. As to the means employed he was never very scrupulous; and his subordinates, with the exception of Father Joseph, Chavigny, and a few others, were undoubtedly the greatest ruffians of their time. What an interesting sight for any one who could have This coup d'état," says M. Michelet,* been admitted for a moment within the "is a perfect comedy; the cardinalwalls of that council chamber where the ists packed off in the morning, and cadet of the house of Richelieu, now a it was the turn of the Royalists to cardinal, a peer of the realm, and the make their exit at sunset." Marshal real king of France, was preparing from Marillac had to pay for the rest: seized his arm-chair by the fireside the unity in the middle of his army, he was tried of the state and the glory of Louis XIV. on the charge of collusion, before a To see the éminence rouge discussing court composed of his private enemies, with Father Joseph-the éminence grise and in the cardinal's very palace, at -a plan of attack against John de Ruel. Of course, under such circumWert, or the execution of some impru- stances, it was in vain to expect mercy; dent young nobleman, compromised in a the unfortunate warrior was beheaded. new freak of the Duke d'Orleans. Above In the meanwhile, what had become of the door of that chamber might have been Gaston? Banished with his mother to written, by way of a motto, the aphorism Brussels, he felt at last some shame at which Gabriel Naudé himself proposes: not taking any personal part in the Salus populi suprema lex esto. But let us struggle against his enemy. Besides, notice that Robespierre, Danton, and the Duke de Montmorency, governor of the Terrorists of '93 adopted no other Languedoc, had informed him that his maxim. There is a point where red-presence in the disaffected province republicans and red-cassocked despots would undoubtedly excite a general meet, and when both borrow their state- rebellion. Assisted by the Duke of craft from the atrocious recipes supplied Lorraine, whose daughter he had marby the " Apologie pour les coups d'état." ried, Gaston raised an army of brigands, The Protestants being now subdued as they have been justly termed. at home, Richelieu defeated the Catholics fortunately, in order to reach Lanabroad; penetrating into Italy, he se-guedoc, it was necessary that this select cured to the Duke de Nevers the pos- band should cross France from north to session of Mantua and of the Mont- south. Badly paid, badly fed, they took ferrate (1630), and destroyed for ever the to pillage by way of compensation, and Spanish influence in a peninsula where thus materially impaired the cause they they had enjoyed an absolute sway since had engaged to serve. A battle was the days of Charles V. fought (1632) at Castelnaudary; the King's troops were victorious, and Montmorency shared the fate of Marillac, whilst Gaston d'Orleans "swore by the faith of a gentleman that he would ever be my lord the cardinal's best friend." The events of the war had brought the Court to the south of France. Anne of Austria, Marie de Medici, all the ministers were there, accompanied by a suite of noblemen, who, not frightened at the fate of D'Ornano and Chalais, were again watching a favourable opportunity to effect the disgrace of Richelieu. These reiterated attempts are not Un The destruction of the house of Austria was the great object of Richelieu's Précis d'Histoire Moderne, foreign diplomacy. The thirty years' war, now raging in all its fury, had increased a hundredfold the Emperor's power. Tilly, Wallenstein, Bernard of Saxe-Weimar, Schiller's heroes, were discussing, sword in hand, on many battle-fields, the destinies of the House of Austria. Richelieu's genius and activity checked the talent of the great Imperialist generals, and opposed to them a warrior who, in his short career, abundantly proved that a clever system of tactics does not always ensure success. Gustavus Adolphus, the hero of Lutzen, fought at the same time the battles of Richelieu and those of the Protestant cause. After the death of the King of Sweden, the position of France became for awhile extremely difficult. The Imperialists assumed the offensive; they had entered France by Burgundy and by Picardy; if Bernard of Saxe-Weimar had not gained the two battles of Rheinfeld and Brisach it is impossible to conjecture what would have been the issue. In the year 1640, however, Richelieu adopted a more expeditious plan; he occupied the Spaniards at home by lending his support to the rebels of Catalonia and of Portugal; while, to retaliate, the Government of Madrid espoused the Duke of Orleans' cause, and prepared the catastrophe which was to impart such a tragic feature to the last moments of the great cardinal. M. Alfred de Vigny's admirable romance has thrown over the insignificant figure of Cinq-Mars a lustre which it certainly does not deserve, but the history of this mad-cap conspiracy, whilst it proves to us the cold and selfish character of Louis XIII, is an instructive lecture on the folly of those who trust to the smiles of kings and princes. Richelieu lived long enough to see the French standard hoisted on the walls of Perpignan, and when death at last summoned him away, in the year 1642, he left a successor, Giulio Mazarini, who was one day to complete with almost greater skill than his patron, the work begun by Armand Jean du Plessis. In estimating the character of Richelieu's government, it must be admitted that the unity of France was worth purchasing at the expense of some measures of extraordinary severity; but it is equally true that Richelieu's great Cinq-Mars, ou, une Conspiration sous Louis XIII. 66 motive was the lust of power, and, whatever may have been the results of his administration, the only object he had set his heart upon was to reign without a rival. Another important fact for which the cardinal has also obtained great credit, is the destruction of the power so long wielded by the aristocracy; but the wars of La Fronde, under the regency of Anne of Austria, are a proof that the many-headed hydra had not been altogether destroyed. Besides, when we think of the thorough despotism which Richelieu inaugurated in its stead, we cannot understand the consistency of republican writers and socialist historians, who would exalt the cardinal almost as if he had been invested with a Divine commission. England it was, who precisely at the same time was entering under the auspices of the long Parliament on the real road to civil and political liberty. 66 It will scarcely be credited that Cardinal de Richelieu, amidst all the requirements of politics, found time to cultivate literature. History informs us that Bonaparte was prouder of belonging to the Institute than of wearing the epaulettes of General-in-chief; from the same cause Richelieu was jealous of Corneille's laurels. The success which the fine tragedy "Le Cid" obtained "frightened him as much," Fontenelle says, as if the Spanish army had been under the walls of Paris." He composed two plays, Mirame," a tragi-comedy, and "La Grande Pastorale," both very indifferent performances. Richelieu, nevertheless, was a true friend to intellectual culture; he founded the French Academy, enlarged the Sorbonne and the Royal Printing Office; built the College du Plessis, and established the botanical garden, known by the name of Jardin du Roi. The only writings of his, which will really be found valuable, are his Testament Politique," and his "Memoires." Allusion has already been made to his sermons, and to his controversial writings; a man who mistook 66 Terentianus Maurus," for the title of a play, and translated it "The Moor of Terence," could not be deeply read in classical antiquity. But such matters are trifles in the history of him who conquered the Valteline, the duchy of Savoy and La Rochelle, and whose genius prepared the peace of Westphalia, and the treaty of the Pyrenees. The bishop of Luçon was not the only remarkable man in the Richelieu family. One of his descendants earned an unenviable reputation as the greatest roué of the last century; whilst another, who died thirty years ago, played a conspicuous JOHN WESLEY. Such was the noble stock from which, on the father's side, the Founder of Methodism derived his descent; and it needs no subtle analysis to detect in his character the ancestral vein. A CERTAIN style of character may not unfrequently be traced in the same family for several generations, and through collateral branches. Of this the family of the Wesleys affords a remarkable illustration. Independence of senti- Samuel Wesley married Susannah, ment, invincible energy, rugged consci- daughter of Dr. Annesley, a minister of entiousness, and a moral hardihood that note among the Dissenters. Mrs. Wesset consequences at defiance in main- ley was a remarkable woman. Her taining the true and pursuing the right, intellect was vigorous, and had been are in this case the hereditary type. employed on subjects usually approBartholomew Wesley, the great-priated by the other sex. She had a grandfather of the Founders of Methodism, lost his living for conscience sake, on the passing of the Act of Uniformity. John, his son, a man of parts and scholarship, in particular an excellent Hebraist, also scrupled to conform, and was, therefore, forbidden to preach. Thinking, however, that he held a commission from God, which needed not the bishop's endorsement, he persisted in exercising his ministry, The zealous bigots of the time hunted him from place to place, till worn down by hardships and anxiety, he sank into a premature grave. Samuel Wesley, the next in the succession, disgusted at the extravagancies of a Dissenting academy, at an early age returned to the ranks of Episcopacy. The conformity of the son was, however, quite as conscientious, and almost as perilous, as the nonconformity of the father. For by his apostacy, as they deemed it, Samuel Wesley offended his connexions, and threw himself penniless on the world. And throughout life he retained enough of the hereditary spirit to mar his advancement, and detain him in poverty. He was a man of wit and erudition, and a voluminous author; but his caustic satire provoked the Dissenters, while his rugged independence precluded him from the rewards of partisanship. The poor livings of Epworth and Wroote, whose united incomes, eked out by frugality and management, barely delivered him from fears of a gaol, were the sole rewards of his talents and services. knowledge of Hebrew and the classical languages. In Theology she had read extensively, and thought earnestly, article by article verifying for herself the orthodox creed. She had mastered the controversial questions that then divided the Church. Like her husband, in very early life-before she was thirteen, it is said-she had weighed carefully the points in dispute between the Episcopalians and Dissenters, and from conscientious conviction had deserted the ranks of the latter. So early a judgment may be deemed immature, but at all events it evidences precocious intellect, and a strong, decisive character. To mental qualities of such high order Mrs Wesley united a moral character of the finest mould. She possessed masculine energy; her conscientiousness was unbending, and her piety intelligent and devout. She submitted to a year's separation from her husband rather than say Amen against her conscience to his prayers for King William. She officiated for Mr. Wesley in her own house during his absence at convocation. Such was the high opinion her sons entertained both of her mental and moral qualities, that while at college winning the highest distinctions, and subsequently while doing a great work in the eyes of the nation, they consulted their mother's judgment with a deference equally honourable to themselves and to her." Mrs. Wesley took wholly on herself the early training of her numerous family. Her domestic management bore the impress of her character. Some of the details were eccentric, perhaps, not judicious. But such details are comparatively of small account. It is the tone and spirit of household rule that tells for good or evil in the character of the child. It matters little what is the etiquette of manners,-what the byelaws of the nursery,-whether the child begins the alphabet at two years old or five. But it does matter, and that immensely, whether rules are a dead letter or inexorable law; whether unqualified submission be exacted, or mutiny and disobedience tolerated; whether or no the whole influence of the administration bear against the bad and in favour of the good, fostering all that is generous, and amiable, and devout, and checking and denouncing the opposite. Judged by such tests, the household economy of Mrs. Wesley was worthy of all praise. It was pervaded throughout by her own energetic spirit. It threw around her children a pure and bracing atmosphere. She encouraged them to think for themselves, and fearlessly to express their sentiments. She trained them to habits of punctuality, promptitude, and method. She exacted of them courtesy to inferiors, and unqualified deference to herself. She cultivated in them a quick moral sensitiveness, and a hardy moral courage. She taught them to hate and despise a lie. Above all, she sought to lead forth the homage and trust of their young hearts to "the great and blessed God," and to inspire them with a sovereign regard to His will as the law of life. And they saw in her all that she expected of them; her own example was at once the clearest exhibition and the strongest enforcement of her require ments. Undoubtedly the highest praise of any administration, national or domestic, is that it has been successful. Such praise, then, is due to Mrs. Wesley's. Her children did, for the most part, realise her ideal of character. They retained through life the impress of her early moulding. They turned out men and women of robust intellect, manly energy, conscientiousness, and piety Of some the career was unfortunate; but none brought sorrow on her gray hairs by mental imbecility or moral turpitude. Samuel, the eldest son, was a scholar and a poet, possessed of caustic wit and vigorous sense; and, had he inherited less of the ancestral spirit, had his Muse known how to shift her sails so as to catch the varying gusts of political favour, he might have risen to emolument and fame. What John became it will be the object of these pages to show. Charles, the youngest son, was the faithful coadjutor of his brother during the most laborious and perilous part of his career. He was, moreover, the Psalmist of Methodism. His hymns are cherished in the hearts of thousands; and, though occasionally more vigorous than graceful, and here and there betrayed by fervid feeling into extravagance, they rank high as a whole among uninspired effusions of the same class. The daughters were all possessed of superior intelligence, displaying, in particular, traces of the poetical vein which ran through the family. Two of them were unfortunate in marriage; and their lives of patient suffering were graced by a brave yet gentle piety, which, under benigner influences, would have borne the fairest fruit. JOHN WESLEY was the second son of this remarkable family, and was born at Epworth on the 17th of June, 1703. His early years were spent under his mother's admirable training. An almost miraculous escape from fire, which he had in his sixth year, drew towards him her especial attention. She records in her diary her obligation "to be more particularly careful of the soul of a child, which God had so mercifully provided for." Under her culture those sterling elements of character which he had doubtless inherited, by God's blessing on the virtue of his parents, were disciplined and matured. The innately bad was checked, the innately good was fostered. The raw material, comprising much of beauty and power and goodness, was wrought up by wise and delicate hands. The almost invincible power of early habit was superadded to the generous impulses of nature. His conscience-originally sensitive-came to exact and receive a prompt and courageous obedience; his natural force of character was developed into habits of promptitude, decision, and perseverance, which became a species of necessity to him; while he acquired a reverence for God and a conviction of the obligations of religion, which were, without doubt, of immense influence in deciding the bent of his after career, |