The Political Testament of Cardinal Richelieu: The Significant Chapters and Supporting Selections

X. Conclusion (Complete)

CHAPTER X CONCLUSION m In order to terminate this work happily it only remains for me to point out to Your Majesty that kings, being obliged to do many more things as sovereigns than they would have to do as private individuals, can never deviate even a little from their duty without committing more faults of omission than an ordinary person would be gUIlty of by commission. It is the same with those to whom sovereigns delegate a part of the powers of their governments, since this honor commits them to the same obligations as those possessed by their sovereigns. Both, when looked at as private individuals, are subject to the same faults as other men. But when one considers the public, for whose well-being they are responsible, their obligations are more numerous, for they cannot without sin fail to do any of the many things their offices charge them with. Thus it is that one who is both good and virtuous as a private individual can be a bad magistrate or I2S CONCLUSION sovereign because of the little regard he has for the fulfilling of the duties of his office. In a word, if princes do not do everything within their power to keep in order the various classes in their states, if they are careless in the choice of members of their councils, if they ignore good advice, if they do not have a particular care to so conduct themselves as to appear the living embodiment of the law, if they are neglectful in establishing the reign of God, as well as of reason and justice, if they fail to protect the innocent, reward notable public services and punish the disobedience and crimes which endanger the disciplined order and security of states, if they do not apply themselves to their utmost in trying to foresee and prevent possible evils and divert by careful negotiations the storms which the wind often can carry farther than one would think, if favoritism prevents them from choosing carefully those whom they honor with the highest offices and principal dignities of the kingdom, if they do not firmly hold the reins of government with a view to giving the state the strength it ought to have, if on all occasions they do not give preference to the public interest over all private ones, though they otherwise be good, they find themselves much more culpable than those who transgress the laws and commandments of God either by commission or omission, it being certain, of course, that acts of commission and omission are really equally culpable. I must also remind Your Majesty that if princes and CONCLUSION those who are employed under them in the highest offices in the realm have great advantages over private individuals , they possess such privileges only at a price, since not only are they exposed to the faults of omission I have indicated, but there are still others of commission, to which they are specially subject. If they use their power to commit acts of injustice or violence which they could not do as private persons, they have committed a sin of high office stemming from their authority, for which the King of Kings on Judgment Day will demand a special accounting. These two kinds of faults, peculiar to princes and magistrates, should well give them pause for reflection. They are considerably more serious than all those to which private individuals are heir because as universal causes rulers visit upon all those under their governance the effects of their misdeed<;. Many in fact could save themselves as private individuals who damn themselves in their capacity as public persons. One of the greatest of our neighboring monarchs, recognizing this truth, cried on his deathbed that he feared less the sins of Philip 34 than he did those of the king. His thought was truly pious, but itwould have been more useful to his subjects and to himself if he had realized the importance of this at the height of his grandeur' and public career rather than when he could no longer apply it to his rule, although it might still be useful for his salvation. I theref.ore beseech Your Majesty to think, 84 Philip II of Spain (1527""98), CONCLUSION from this very moment, about what occurred to that great prince only at the hour of his death. As for myself, in the hope of convincing you of both its feasibility and its rightness, I promise that no day of my life shall pass without my making every effort to have the lesson involved prevail in my thoughts as I undertake the direction of the affairs of this realm which it has been your pleasure to entrust to me. ...