Note 182 — APPENDIX.
Reading edition
John Baptist Colbert, one of the most eminent men of the many who adorned and illustrated the reign of Lewis XIV. He was an able and honest financier, a great statesman, and an enlightened patron of letters and arts. The blots in his character were, his persecution of Fouquet, and his enmity to the virtuous Arnaud de Pomponne, to the disgrace of whom he largely contributed. He was made Comptroller-general of the Finances, in 1664; Secretary of State for the Marine, in 1669; and died in 1683.