XI.

A MANDATE

(July 5, 1726.)

TO BEG THE BENEDICTION OF HEAVEN, BY SOLEMN

PUBLIC PRAYERS, UPON THE RESOLUTION OF HIS MAJESTY TO GOVERN THE STATE BY HIMSELF.

GOD, my dearest brethren, who has always extended his mercy and protection to our monarchy, and who seems to have forgotten us in the time of our calamities and sufferings, only to load us with new favors, this day, gives new confidence to our hopes, and opens the prospect of a speedy relief from those evils into which, the wars of the last reign and the subsequent changes in the state, had plunged us, in spite of the active and vigilant administration of preceding ministers.

The King has just announced, that being established by God to rule this vast Empire, he intends to govern by himself. In effect, the care of the father of the family, is always more tender and more discerning than that of the most trusty and diligent servants: the patrimony which he administers, is his own, he governs his own house, his subjects are his own children. Thus the King, whose great purpose has been inspired from above, declares, that he proposes to himself nothing but the happiness of his people; that touched by their fidelity and attachment, he wishes to repay their devotion by giving himself entirely to his subjects, whose love he values more than their duty, and in whose hearts he is more anxious to reign, than over their properties or their persons. France, my dearest brethren, cannot fail to prosper, when her love of her sovereign, is to become the measure of her happiness; there is no more auspicious pledge of felicity than that which attaches it to our fidelity.

What immortal thanks do we not owe to Him, who holds in his hands the hearts as well as the sceptres of kings, and who has inspired our young monarch with the resolution of governing a great kingdom, at an age when other 2 H

VOL. II.

princes are scarce in a condition to govern themselves; when pleasures are their most important concerns, and when relieved from the burden of sovereignty, there is nothing great in their lives or about their person, but the august and sacred title which has given them to us for masters.

To conciliate the support and benediction of heaven to his government, the King commands us to beg your vows and prayers. And on what occasion were they ever more justly solicited? it is for ourselves we pray, when we pray for our rulers: in imploring for them the virtues, which constitute good kings, we are entreating blessings for ourselves: a just and pious reign is the greatest gift which the Almighty can bestow upon the world. Let us then beg, my dearest brethren, that he will send down upon our young sovereign from the highest heaven, that wisdom which presides in the eternal counsels: that he will give him a paternal and affectionate heart for his people; that clemency, which is always the stay of authority; that moderation, which by respecting the laws, exalts and dignifies the throne; which, confining itself within the limits of its own states, is more intent on relieving distress and

correcting abuses, than on extending their bounds; which leaves to neighbouring powers the dangerous honor of commencing hostilities; and tries to conquer, only to have the glory of terminating the horrors of war. Let us pray that the Lord may unite in his royal person all the great qualities of those holy and illustrious Kings, who have heretofore swayed the destinies of France; that his reign may rival the splendid dominion of his august Great-grand-father, whom he has proposed to himself as a model; that like him, he may see his children's children round his throne; and that, in fine, a reign which begins under such auspicious presages may be the reign of peace, of glory, of piety and of abundance.

For these reasons, &c.

XII.

A MANDATE

(Aug. 20, 1726.)

TO SING THE TE DEUM, IN THANKSGIVING FOR THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KING'S HEALTH.

Ir is not long, my brethren, since we requested your public prayers, to bring down the benedictions of heaven, upon the favourable beginnings of our young Monarch's reign. Alas! whilst our temples still resounded with anthems of thanksgiving and solemn supplications, the hand of the Lord was upon him, and our songs of joy were turned into wailings and alarms. He had just given himself entirely to us, and taken upon himself, at a tender age, the whole burden of royalty; and scarce did we begin to possess him, and to taste the first fruits of his love, when we were menaced with his loss.