New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-03-18
CHARLES THE CORRUPT.
4 DARK CHAPTER IN ENGLISH HISTORY

tho Covernuaent from his place III the house Oh
Commons: question which the Government Ionnu
If convenient to ignore. what MI LaDo"chere
-,;shod "a know was. why the Duke of Richmond
6gur,d as a great pensioner OF the state. Inc
answsr 20 tins inquiry is indeed spread broadly
upop the pages of the history of England, but "A
these DAYS of democratic progress the Government
us Ina intyepid to the verge of recklessness which
xyould dare to- avow the truth. That truth is,
however very plainly disclosed by book which
NJ Fmneroa. q Frenchman, recently compiled
from the Government archives Of bis own country,
and the calling historical facts OF which volume
Mrs &. NJ Crawford has put in English, evidently
with no GOOD will to the house of II chmond. The
story of Louis DO Keroualle (or Querouail!e as 1t
has usually been spelt by English wrtersl Is
familiar The Restoration had remarkably Keen
CORPS of reporters. and they have left little to sur
mise in dealing with tie innermost secrets OF the
most Corrupt and shameless Government by wh'ch
England was ever dishonored. Pepys and Evelyn,
Clarendon and Gramont with Saint Simon ana a
herd of memoir writers in France. have told the
whole story very much as events DC CURED
1t has however, been left for modern students OF
history to change what was moral into legal GER
tainty IN many respects: to rumnage the archives
of LouIs the Fou rteenth and bring to light docn-
mentary proofs of the vcnality of the English
King Court and Parliament; TO produce the receipts
Of Charles the Second, formally drawn IN placK
and white, for the pension and other gfatutles he
received Fl III, Versailles. Also 1t has been Lett for
the modern historian to lay bare in detail the
whole of the communications between the french
Ambassadors ai the Court of ST. James WIN LOUIS
Oh the one hand and with the Duchess OF Ports
month. who governed Charles, on the other NJ.
Fornerou has been enabled 10 presen5 picture
which no doub: is full of interest and entertain
but vyi can hardly
.eived unmovel by any in whose veins English
blood flows The pages Of history offer no more
scandalons spectacle than that IF tins English
monarch Systematically betraying his country,
partly to CRAFTY his gro,s personal usts,
partly at the InstigatiOn of n foreign hIiot
for whose ACKNOWLEDGEMENT he unhesitatingIy
dishonorcd the highest r9nk of his own nobility
and for whose pleasure he unconscionably plum
dered his own subjects.
It's curious that NJ ForncTon is so impressed by
the corruption Of Charlass court as to put forward
the theory that the decentralization OF the french
Kings surroundings wa, really the consequence Of
freouent suites in English RIGHTEOUSNESS. c1n-
viewed TO Versailles through the Ambassadors OF
course this is ridiculous on its face. TIE French
conrt was thoroughly corrIpt before Louise de
Eeroualle went to ST. Jamess. SAINT Simon is
sufficient authority mon that point There never
was more immoral ruler than LoGis himself lie
was utterly without principle pcridous. Use,
above no ba,oness; and NJ. Fosnerons own docu-
mcnts show this conc'usiyoly. Loul5 Sc himself
deliberately to soducs Charles and pon1ed out
trcasure in profuSion to gain his end. When
Cour!in hesitated at sOme of the iGnObe methods
proposed and intlmated that he DID net like dong
sucb dirty Nork Louvois was ordered to tell him
that the King woud consider no work dirty which
enabled hun 10 nentralze England and corqner
". 10 ho nj
were too vile for the French King to employ. OF
course this es not pa late the conduc; of Charles
and the crowd OF venal In ishmen no FASTENED TO
follow his example IN selling Themselves to Louls's
agents Nothing can excuse their behavior, ana 1t
Is an example of tine mperfec'ion OF human justice
that Charles the First should have left ms mead on
the scanro.d COZ less thaa tithe of the treasohs
against his people committed by his son. VINO ever
taeless died in his bed. after selling his country for
wears under the most aggravated and outrageous
cTcumsanc s.
Louise De Kerouqle was always heartily hated
10y the English and for cause. She W $ cold
biooded. greedy. disrcputabe wanton, the deliber
NE tool OF LOIis and went to England Tor the eX-
oress purpose of inveglng Charles into hc'son
which might en- able her to influence and, perhaD'
control HIM against the interests OF his own KING
dom and 10 the advantage OF France She succeed
I'd fully in her infamous plans SIZE was made
IN English Duchess. To please Charles s1e was
subsequently made French Duchess She was
loaded with gifts and honors. Charles sQnaHdered
upon her hundreds Of thousands Of pounds, yet
she was always begging. Her rapaclty had
no limits, nor had her imDudeuce. For fiji
teen years-from 1870 to 1G55-she literally
governed Charles 1t cannot be SAID that she
governed In and. because durng that period poor
England was almost without government. Inc
prevailing sentiment AZ court was that express ed
by a particularly frank men1er OF the Irish Parlia-
ment at the time of the Union who " thanked God
that he had a country to SELL When the King
himself was passover Of France 1t perhaps
not to no expected that his subjects would he Tar
bebiad him in venality, nor were they, Bucking-
ham and Arlington rivals in all else, were at one
in their desire 10 obtain rs much "a possible from
the French treasury. French gold was every
where IL on the ono hand il bought the proroga-
ton of Parliament. on the other it sim Hated
Parliamentary opposition to the Crown. and Kept
M that state of discord which was the best guar
aniee against such an understanding between
Government and people az might have thwartei
the foreign policy OF Louis
The lis. OF names OF English members o. Parlia-
gnelt, court mobiles. judges and other prominent
men, reported by the French Ambassadors as open
10 corrupt influences. shows that some even OF
those who have passed into history as pure
patriots were nO above accepting fore gu subsidies
The case of Agornon Sidney IL perhaps not IN
point Certainly he received five hundred euineas
from Frcncc But then he was republican, ana
it is quite comprehensive that he should have held
all means legitimate which enabled
him 10 carry on his war upon the
monarchy son Of Hampton, however was
In the pay Of Louis. and many another English
man who held his head high and posed rs patriot
Us TO the women of the court. they were mostly OF
kind from whom nothing better than venality
could have been expected, ard in fact scarcely one
of them failed TO profit by the profusion OF LOUIS
Among the burdens fastened upon the English peo-
PIE at that time and maintained to the present
DAY the pension paid tho Duke OF Richmond Is