Page:A Biographical Dictionary of the Celebrated Women of Every Age and Country (1804).djvu/67

Rh. "God, my lord cardinal," said she, "does not pay me weekly; but he will pay me at last." After the birth of two sons, she enjoyed more consideration with the king; but at his death, in 1643, he left her merely the title of regent, giving all the authority to a council of his own choosing; but, his eyes were scarcely closed, when, discontented with this arrangement, she made the parliament annul the decree of the king. Yet nobody was less proper than herself, to sustain the weight of government. She was naturally indolent, and had not the least knowledge of business. She felt her own incapacity, and the need she had of a director; and cardinal Mazarin, one of those appointed by the late king, by his pliability and address, soon gained all her confidence. Never was France so agitated as during her regency. The court was always at war with the parliament and the people, on the most trifling causes, and almost always worsted.

In the early part of her administration, she was profuse in her favours, and not knowing their importance, granted even the most impertinent demands. The French language was said to be reduced to these few words. The Queen is so good! This is said to have laid a foundation for all the evils which followed. The revenues of the state were exhausted by her inconsiderate donations; and to obtain money, she retrenched a third of all pensions, which made her a great number of enemies. This resourse was found insufficient, and new taxes became necessary to be levied, on a nation already heavily burthened. The parliament opposed it, and the people sustained by them, became furious, and murmured at the great expences of the court in amusements, which were certainly more than indiscreet at such a time. It