Note 9 — Chapter III · THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ABSOLUTE MONARCHY

[“St. Louis,” says Guizot,m “was above all a conscientious man, a man who before acting weighed the question to himself of the moral good or evil, the question as to whether what he was about to do was good or evil in itself, independently of all utility, of all consequences. Such men are rarely seen and still more rarely remain upon the throne. Truly speaking, there are hardly more than two examples in history, one in antiquity, the other in modern times: Marcus Aurelius and St. Louis. These are, perhaps, the only two princes who, on every occasion, have formed the first rule of their conduct from their moral creeds—Marcus Aurelius, a stoic, St. Louis, a Christian.”]