and though Maurepas had never been supposed to be either able or honest,
and might well have been regarded as superannuated, since he had begun his
official life under Louis XIV.

With the change in the position of Marie Antoinette, Mercy's position had
also been changed, and likewise his view of the line of conduct which it
was desirable for her to adopt. Hitherto he had been the counselor of a
princess who, without wary walking, was liable every moment to be
overwhelmed by the intrigues with which she was surrounded; and his chief
object had been to enable his royal pupil to escape the snares and dangers
which encompassed her. Now, as far as his duties could be determined by
the wish of the empress, in which her daughter fully acquiesced, he was
elevated to the post of confidential adviser to a great queen, who, in his
opinion, was inevitably destined to be the real ruler of the kingdom. It
was a strange position for so experienced a politician as the empress to
desire for him, and for so prudent a statesman to accept. Yet, anomalous
as it was, and dangerous as it would usually be for a foreign embassador
to interfere in the internal politics of the kingdom to which he is sent,
his correspondence bears ample testimony to both his sagacity and his
disinterestedness. And it would have been well for both his royal pupil
and her adopted country had his advice more frequently and more steadily
guided the course of both.

On one point of primary importance his advice to the queen differed from
that which he had been wont to give to the dauphiness. While dauphiness,
he had urged her to abstain from any interference in public affairs. He
now, on the contrary, desired to see her take an active part in them,
explaining to the empress that the reason which actuated him was the
character of the new king, who, as he regarded him, was never likely to
exert the authority which belonged to him with independence or steadiness,