hour of his death. His administration may be divided into two distinct epochs, which differ materially from each other. The first, extending from 1726 to 1733, was a period of national tranquillity; during which the minister's attention was prudently directed to the improvement of the finances, the encouragement of agriculture, and the extension of commerce. Amid these benevolent cares, year after year stole rapidly away without presenting to posterity any splendid exertions of genius or courage obtained by the misery of thousands.

'La cour, ce pays où le mouvement n'est jamais plus vif que pendant la jeunesse du monarque, fut gouvernée comme une famille aisée, modeste, paisible. Le précepteur de Louis XV. avait préparé de loin ce résultat, en gravant dans son cœur les principes d'une piété sévère, et d'une retenue qui tenait à la fois de la pudeur et de la timidité. Il savait diriger ses gouts, et ses affections, en écartant toujours des conseils qu'il avait à lui donner, l'air d'autorité, le ton de pédantisme. On ne vit plus à la cour de ces conversions qui s'étaient si subitement énoncées dans les dernières années de Louis XIV., et si honteusement démenties sous le régent. La licence fut écartée sans bruit, le scandale ne fut plus une mode.'—ii. 54.

The Cardinal, whose constitutional timidity was increased by age, proceeded, on all occasions, with the circumspection natural to a man who feels his way in the dark; yet his measures were conducted with so much sagacity, that he had hardly ever occasion to retrace his steps. Neither was his economy, though extended to the minutest objects, mean or sordid. He frequently silenced the rapacity of the courtiers, but never rejected the petitions of the indigent. Resources were always ready to provide for any public calamity, and he distributed them on such occasions with a liberality equally honourable to his heart and his understanding. Economy however is the only quality in which he rivalled Sully and Colbert, to whom he has been compared. Incapable of acting with vigour and decision, he frequently temporised when the utmost activity was required; and during the disputes which arose between the crown and the parliament, it is easy to trace the progressive decline of the royal authority, which the firmness of Richelieu had rendered so absolute, and the dignity of Lewis XIV. so imposing.

Hurried into a war by a concatenation of circumstances against which it was useless to struggle, Fleury felt happy to seize the first favourable opportunity of restoring tranquillity that he might devote his attention to his darling occupation, that of alleviating the burthens of the people: but while he was endeavouring to esta blish the public credit on a solid foundation, a change was silently operating in the habits of the king which tended to frustrate his designs, if not totally to overturn his authority. The disposition

of Lewis, though naturally prone to sensual indulgence, had hitherto been confined within decent bounds by the dread of offending his preceptor. Moderation and temperance, when they arise from the fear of reproof, and not from an unshaken belief in the truths of religion, are too weak to resist repeated temptations; particularly when it is the interest of profligacy and ambition to eradicate such troublesome scruples. In every country there are persons, even of elevated rank, to whom the vices of their sovereign are more beneficial than his virtues; and who therefore labour to extinguish every spark of probity and honour, the remains of a pious education. Such was the Duke of Richelieu, who is held up by Voltaire as a model for courtiers and heroes; and who, in return, extolled the apostle of libertinism and infidelity as the paragon of wisdom and virtue. Gifted by nature with every personal grace, endowed with a lively and brilliant imagination, and equally distinguished for courage and gallantry, this profligate nobleman, instead of dedicating his talents to the good of mankind, formed a system of seduction the most extensive and dangerous ever practised for the ruin of innocence; while his inordinate vanity rendered him indifferent to every conquest unless all Paris was made acquainted with his triumph. Cold, haughty, and unfeeling, he unfortunately could assume the warmth of generosity and the glow of affection, when he wished to degrade a too confident female, or supplant a credulous friend. These were qualities so precious in the estimation of Lewis, that Richelieu became the chosen companion of his most dissolute hours, the pander of his most disgraceful amours.

Misfortune had ever an irresistible claim to the pity and patronage of the queen. Hence she had particularly distinguished five sisters of the family of Nesle, who inherited little besides an illustrious name. Madame de Mailly, the eldest, was more admired for an affectionate and unassuming temper, than for the lustre of personal attractions. The countenance of her second sister, la Marquise de Vintimille, was irradiated by intelligence and sensibility. The Duchess of Lauraguais united the majestic form of Juno to the youthful graces of Hebe. The charms of the three elder were however totally eclipsed by those of their younger sisters, the Marchionesses of Flavacourt and Tournelle, who were universally adored as the brightest constellations which illuminated the court of Versailles.

Three of these ladies successively became the declared mistresses of Lewis; and Madame de Lauraguais, though she never publicly enjoyed that ignominious distinction, was supposed to have shared his affections. Sincerely attached to her royal lover, Madame de Mailly consented with joy to the mysterious silence imposed by the king at the commencement of their connection,

from the apprehension of shocking his preceptor; and which so far produced the desired effect, that it furnished the cardinal with an excuse for shutting his eyes, and even left the queen the melancholy consolation of doubting her husband's infidelity.

While his subjects were groaning under the pressure of war, Lewis trembled at the idea of insulting their feelings by proclaiming an adulterous commerce; but no sooner had Fleury excited a momentary enthusiasm by repealing some unpopular taxes, than he threw aside the mask of decorum. Thinking silence inconsistent with his station and character, the cardinal ventured to expostulate, but soon discovered, that if he wished to retain the direction of affairs, it must be by sacrificing probity to ambition. He probably considered too, with courtly casuistry, that no mistress could be liable to fewer objections, than one who professed herself an enemy to all uneecessary expense, and who never interfered in the management of public business. The cardinal's conscience was however soon exposed to a severer trial. Mademoiselle de Nesle, in the solitude of a convent, had formed a plan for supplanting her sister, and Lewis now proved to the world, by his profligate disregard for public opinion, that he was no longer the dupe of a superannuated priest, whom Richelieu had taught him to despise. Something was yet wanting to complete the crime of double adultery, and the new mistress was therefore married to the Marquis de Vintimille, nephew to the archbishop of Paris!

The accession of Frederick the Great to the throne of Prussia was the prelude to a general war, in which Fleury was again compelled to engage. Under the guidance of a man of vigorous mind, the issue of the contest might have been different; but the cardinal's indecision, his natural frugality, and perhaps a feeling of resentment which he was unable to conquer, occasioned, delays in the execution of measures which required the utmost dispatch. The disasters which arose from this mistaken policy were of the most serious kind. On n'entendait plus parler que de retraite. Les généraux Français semblaient avoir horreur des combats.'-ii. 258. Cent mille soldats avaient péri, et le fer n'en avait pas détruit plus de vingt mille. Les généraux et les ministres avaient rivalisé de fautes. Toutes les épargnes du trésor avaint disparu. Il fallait créer des armées nouvelles, équipper des Bottes. Les Anglais, maîtres de la mer, menaçaient nos colonies, et celles de l'Espagne, et faisaient la loi dans la Méditerranée 267. Such was the degradation of France when Fleury terminated his earthly career, after having exhibited to the world the melancholy spectacle of decrepitude enslaved by ambition.

The disposal of places, and the direction of public affairs were now placed in the hands of the Duchess of Chateauroux, who en

deavoured to animate the courage of the troops by carrying her lover to the army. There are two circumstances attending this journey which merit attention, because one strongly marks the volatile character of the French, and the other demonstrates their servility. When the favourite announced her intention of attending the king, three princesses of the blood solicited the honour of accompanying her. The fatigues of travelling at the hottest season of the year, added to intemperance, brought on a fever, which threatened the life of Lewis, and procured for him the appellation of bien-aimé. Never was title more shamefully prostituted!- Qu'ai je donc fait pour être aimé ainsi?' was a very natural inquiry for Lewis to make when he heard that his subjects were plunged into the deepest distress, and appeared to consider his loss as the severest of national calamities.

The death of Madame de Chateauroux made way for the elevation of a butcher's daughter, who governed France and its monarch for several years with despotic authority. Till then the disgraceful distinction of favourite had been reserved for illustrious birth, but no sooner had the vain and beautiful Poisson married Lenormand D'Etioles, a rich financier, than she formed a scheme for the subjugation of Lewis. Though precluded by her situation from appearing at court, she never omitted an opportunity of throwing herself in the way of the amorous monarch, whose attention was attracted by the brilliancy of her equipage, the elegance of her dress, but still more by her personal charms.

The reign of Madame de Pompadour commenced under auspices more flattering to national vanity than France had experienced for many years. Under the command of two illustrious foreigners, Marshal Saxe and Count Lowendahl, the army had in some degree recovered its reputation, long sullied by the timidity of Fleury, and the presumptuous vanity of Bellisle. Amid rejoicings and festivals the people forgot that the burthens they endured were not likely to be diminished by the prodigality of the court; and giving way to that propensity for pleasure, which ne misfortunes can damp, no indulgences cloy, they beheld their sovereign's vices with a lenient eye, because, though they exhausted the strength of the country, they gave life and animation to the capital. But the triumphs of France seemed exclusively attached to the operations of Saxe and Lowendahl. After Italy had been lost by the incapacity of Maillebois, the Austrians ravaged Provence and Dauphiné, and reduced Lewis to the necessity of suing for peace upon terms which betrayed his exhausted resources. It would have been inconsistent with the prudence of the English ministers to treat till the navy of France was so completely crippled as to be no longer an obstacle to our commercial prosperity. Peace, however, was finally concluded at Aix-la

Chapelle, in 1748; by the articles of which it clearly appeared that France was rapidly declining from that elevated station to which she had been raised by the genius of Richelieu, and the victories of Turenne and Condé.

The third volume opens with a review of literature and philosophy; but as the subject is only partially discussed, we shall postpone our observations for the present. So entirely was Lewis secluded from the eyes of his subjects, that they might have forgotten his existence had they not been frequently reminded of it by fiscal exactions, or the infamous publicity of his amours. In the hands of a vain and volatile woman, the government gradually lost all energy at home, all consideration abroad. No less inconstant in her tastes than in her affections, Madame de Pompadour eagerly listened to every project which had the charm of novelty to recommend it, declaring herself the patroness of every speculator who aspired to celebrity by the chimeras of a brilliant imagination. Hence the whole tribe of needy adventurers became her zealous partizans, and obtained a share in the plunder of the state which was at her disposal.

It is about this time that we first find any allusion to those ruinous instruments of prodigality called acquits du comptant, a species of order payable to the bearer, and signed by the king, without specifying the service to which they were appropriated. With an indolent monarch, and an extravagant mistress, it is easy to conceive to what a dangerous extent this abuse must have been carried; and it is difficult to imagine how any resources could have long resisted so destructive a system. Amid these humiliating scenes of profligacy and corruption, it is consoling to discover the slightest symptom of honour or honesty. Lenormand D'Etioles, too proud to accept the wages of infamy, persisted in rejecting all the titles and employments with which Lewis would have consoled him for the loss of his wife; and this upright financier died at a very advanced age without augmenting his fortune or degrading his character.

In proportion as the favourite was courted and flattered, the queen and her children were neglected. The dauphin, though endowed with many brilliant qualities, lost all vivacity and inclination for business when he discovered that his virtues served only to awaken suspicion and hatred in the breast of a dissolute parent.

Il témoignait un mépris froid à Madame de Pompadour, qui le peignait au roi comme un prince ambitieux, qui se faisait un parti dans l'état, en s'appuyant des Jesuites, et du clergé ; qui achetait par des aumônes abondantes la faveur du multitude; qui se vouait avec une extrême ardeur aux études de l'homme d'état, dans un impatient désir d'exercer le pouvoir; enfin qui mettait de l'ostentation dans la régularité de ses mœurs pour condammer la conduite de son père.'-iii. 161. .