602 
tiieery. but he had measured his own powers of mind ; and he 
—Y~—" already felt the first aspirations after that glory, which 
Cccunetan- was the ruling passion of his life. He had many 
eee io bis cireumstances in his favour, and which could not fall 
—— of impressing the minds of his subjects with loyalty, 
respect, admiration, and even esteem. He was Te. 
markably handsome in his , at the same time 
that there was about him a wonderful of majesty 
and dignity ; these, which of themselves might have 
only inspiréd awe, were softened and tem by affa- 
bility and politeness ; so that, if he was not the great- 
est king, he was at least, as Bolingbroke expresses it, 
«the best actor of majesty that ever filled a throne.” 
His dignity of mind, and loftiness of ambition, even in- 
duced him to render his pleasures more decent than 
ee have been, he been destitute of these 
qualities ; and his court, oes the example of the 
sovereign, was soon distinguished by its elegant gal- 
lantry. The French have always been characterised 
by their fondness for show, and their vanity: these he 
gratified in an uncommon degree, by the magnificence 
of his palaces, and the splendour of his public entertain- 
ments. Even his own want of literature was conceal- 
ed, or forgotten, in the patronage he extended to lite- 
rary men, not only in his own kingdom, but also over 
the rest of Europe. These qualities rendered Louis 
extremel lar with the great majority of his sub- 
; while, with the more discerning, his reign was 
tna with pleasure, as soon as the measures of Col- 
bert began to 
and Louis, by 
te towards the advantage of France, 
e confidence he placed in this minister, 
discovered that his objects extended beyond mere plea- 
sure or glory. Though the king in other respects had 
no reason to be grateful to Mazarine, who had uent- 
ly misled him, and had neglected his education, and the 
‘ormation of habits necessary for his high and arduous 
situation ; yet he had received one favour from him of 
tt moment, when he inspired him with confidence 
for Colbert, one of the greatest statesmen that France 
has produced. Fouquet, superintendant of finances, 
who dissipated the public money, was disgraced and 
imprisoned, after a sumptuous entertainment which he 
gave the king at his pleasure house, that is said to have 
cost him 18 millions of the then current money. | His 
successor Colbert, had only the title of comptroller gene- 
ral. Hesoon put the finances into excellent order ; 
raised enormous sums for the public service ; and crea- 
ted a navy, and supported a large standing army, with- 
out oppressing the people. . 
Trstances of _ L WO occasions soon presented themselves, on which 
his haughti. Louis had an opportunity of displaying his vanity, 
nessand haughtiness and ambition. A anaes ‘respecting pre- 
ambition. cedence, that ed between his ambassador and 
that of Spain, in ion, furnished the first occasion : 
The latter at a public entry insulted the former, because 
he would not yield the precedence ; upon which Louis 
threatened to commence hostilities, unless the superio- 
rity of his crown was acknowledged. ee 
and dispatched Count Fuentes to Paris, with the im- 
portant concession, that the ministers of Spain should 
no longer dispute the lency with those of France. 
His treatment of the Pope was still more arrogant. ‘The 
Duke of Acqui, ambassador of Louis XIV. behaved in’ 
such a haughty manner, as to be quite intolerable ; and 
his domestics followed the example of their master.’ 
Some of them having attacked the Corsican guard of 
re cbek oe ag tim allie p ie oy 
killed. On this the e left Rome. The French 
troops were put in motion towards Italy, and the Pope 
FRANCE. 
f 
fi 
i 
was obliged to send his into France, to ask History 
, and to allow a pillar to be erected in Rome 
itself, as a monument of his own humiliation, and 
the triumph of the French monarch. yt were rere 
experienced the lofty spirit of Louis: he ly re- 
aarti oy re mr ew Uregaan: marr a 
remonstrated, he e such vigorous preparations 
support his refusal, that the { 
&, 
to 
it it to desist. The King of England,” said he i 
to his ambassador D’Estrades, ‘may know the amount q 
of my foree ; but he cannot measure the elevation of : 
my mind. Every thing to me is contemptible in com- 
parison with glory.” 
Soon after his accession, he | Swemcre Dunkirk from 
the needy King of England. He immediately - 
ed 30,000 men to fortify it by land and sea; and dug a 
large bascn between the town and the citadel, 
of containing several men of war. He soon 
obtained, by menaces, the strong hold of Marsal from 
against Spain ; and 
Dutch against the Kii 
offered to abandon to 
department of the kingdom, his other favourite minis« 
ter, Louvois, directed his genius most successfully to 
the means of wy tetera arson at a distance by 
~~ To ‘these armies to vi , the Prince 
= i dé and Marshal Turenne were still in the vigour F 
e. nao 
Louis, however, during this interval of 1, did Louis's em 
not confine his attention und his. leboues okey tthe Beymen 
poems me, | Pee RUS Ba. - and peace, : 
success. He embellished the capital, and paved and light- 
ed it.in a magnificent manner; and, for the security of 
the citizens, established a police, which, from its vigi 
lance and systematic proceedings, soon became 
astonishment of Europe. In the provinces, high 
and useful works were: In 1664, the ca- 
nal of 
custom, by which a female of a first marriage was 
fred to male het of «Second mariage on this 
