Quote by Lord (George Gordon) Byron
The Cardinal is at his wit's end -- it is true that he had not far to go.
Summary
This quote suggests that the Cardinal, who is commonly portrayed as intelligent and shrewd, has reached a point where he doesn't know what to do. However, the quote also implies that the Cardinal didn't have much mental capacity left to begin with, making his current state of confusion not very surprising. The phrase "not far to go" implies that the Cardinal didn't have a high level of intellect, and thus it's not unexpected for him to be at his limit.