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1774] To Sir Horace Mann 39

Parliament restored, or to be restored. As little as I care
about the revolutions of the great planets, I am mightily
pleased with this convulsion. I lite old constitutions re-
covering themselves; and I abhorred the Chancellor, a con-
summate villain, who would have served Alexander VI and
Csesar Borgia too, and wished no better than to have restored
St. Ignatius and St. Nero. This young King is exceedingly
in my good graces; and may gain my whole heart whenever
he pleases, If he will but release Madame du Barri, for,
though the tool of a vile faction, I would not be angry with «
a street-walker; nor make no difference between Thais and
Ir6de"gonde; between Con Phillips⁸ and the Czarina.

By the way, one hears no more of my friend Pugatscheff;
yet perhaps he contributed to this peace. It is now part of
my plan that the Bang of Trance should dethrone that woman,
and their Majesties of Prussia and Sweden, and restore
Corsica—not to the Genoese, but to themselves. You may
think all this a great deal, but it is not a quarter so difficult
as conquering oneself, and relinquishing despotism. It is
a greater victory to make happy than miserable; but then
what glorious rewards I Think, how contemptible the end
of Louis the Well-beloved, how bright the dawn of Louis XVI!
Can any power taste so sweet as this single word on the
statue of Henri Quatre, Hesurrezit? And then, what a
blessed retirement the Chancellor's! How he must enjoy
himself, when the loss of power is sweetened with the
curses of a whole nation, who have not cursed him in vain 1
My whole heart makes a bonfire on this occasion. What
a century, which sees the Jesuits annihilated, and absolute
power relinquished! I begin to believe in the millennium,
when the just shall reign on earth. I scorn to say a "word
more, or profane such a subject with heathen topics. Adieu!

³ Teresia Constantia PMUips (d. personage, who pubHslied an Apology
1765), a notorious and disreputable fof he* conduct in 1748,



	1774] To Sir Horace Mann 39 Parliament restored, or to be restored. As little as I care about the revolutions of the great planets, I am mightily pleased with this convulsion. I lite old constitutions re- covering themselves; and I abhorred the Chancellor, a con- summate villain, who would have served Alexander VI and Csesar Borgia too, and wished no better than to have restored St. Ignatius and St. Nero. This young King is exceedingly in my good graces; and may gain my whole heart whenever he pleases, If he will but release Madame du Barri, for, though the tool of a vile faction, I would not be angry with « a street-walker; nor make no difference between Thais and Ir6de"gonde; between Con Phillips⁸ and the Czarina. By the way, one hears no more of my friend Pugatscheff; yet perhaps he contributed to this peace. It is now part of my plan that the Bang of Trance should dethrone that woman, and their Majesties of Prussia and Sweden, and restore Corsica—not to the Genoese, but to themselves. You may think all this a great deal, but it is not a quarter so difficult as conquering oneself, and relinquishing despotism. It is a greater victory to make happy than miserable; but then what glorious rewards I Think, how contemptible the end of Louis the Well-beloved, how bright the dawn of Louis XVI! Can any power taste so sweet as this single word on the statue of Henri Quatre, Hesurrezit? And then, what a blessed retirement the Chancellor's! How he must enjoy himself, when the loss of power is sweetened with the curses of a whole nation, who have not cursed him in vain 1 My whole heart makes a bonfire on this occasion. What a century, which sees the Jesuits annihilated, and absolute power relinquished! I begin to believe in the millennium, when the just shall reign on earth. I scorn to say a "word more, or profane such a subject with heathen topics. Adieu! ³ Teresia Constantia PMUips (d. personage, who pubHslied an Apology 1765), a notorious and disreputable fof he* conduct in 1748,