Now, as far as his duties could be determined by the wish of the empress, in which her daughter fully acquiesced, he was elevated to the post of confidential adviser to a great queen, who, in his opinion, was inevitably destined to be the real ruler of the kingdom.

It was a strange position for so experienced a politician as the empress to desire for him, and for so prudent a statesman to accept.

Yet, anomalous as it was, and dangerous as it would usually be for a foreign embassador to interfere in the internal politics of the kingdom to which he is sent, his correspondence bears ample testimony to both his sagacity and his disinterestedness.

And it would have been well for both his royal pupil and her adopted country had his advice more frequently and more steadily guided the course of both.
On one point of primary importance his advice to the queen differed from that which he had been wont to give to the dauphiness.

While dauphiness, he had urged her to abstain from any interference in public affairs.