ee oie 
ment, 
A. D. 1723,.of Bourbon, who was soon su 
shin aor the Dake of Ones ean the regerey, 
. FRANCE. 
son eaten into a peace, 
acceding to 
the quadruple alliance, and 
i i. joa at the thrones 
FE and Spain, the Duke of Orleans projected a 
ameemencene ; his own doughionhepa petedioge 
Prince of Asturias, and the I of Spain to the King 
of France. oa 
to fly 
for murder, and afterwards became an 
adventurer, was the author of it ; and the tness of 
the idea recommended it to the Duke of Or His 
mounmee sa penal e national debt, by the intro- 
with the Mississippi 
to his of credit, wasin a short time 
it. In 1719, the notes which he fabricated, exceed- 
in nominal amount fourscore times the real value of 
coin of the kingdom. At first, only the 
of the state had been paid is paper; but 
in 
in conjunction with the. bankers, exhausted 
eg me a i 
The consequence of this was, 
to con 
all at once. 
ards of 
to 
frit 
i 
: 
wanted 
sunk 
. 
it 
fixed for 
by the Duke 
pplanted by Cardinal 
Fleury, who had been preceptor to Louis XV. and was 
now 73 years old. The character of the Cardinal was 
differen t from that of statesmen in general. He 
tion of blessing which a sovereign 
could bestow on his subjects. This ing therefore 
he was extremely anxious, es w adminis- 
tration, to e; and, as Sir Walpole, the mi- 
nister of Britain at this period, was equally pa- 
cific, the 2 Aone a kal ary roe plntgs 
e death 
i nearly 20 years. At len 
of the of Poland, in 1733, rekindled the flames of 
war, and was induced to embark in it, in 
of Stanislaus, the father-in-law of Louis, (for the 
A. D, 1733, Infanta of Spain had been sent back, before the mar- 
riage projected by the Duke of Orleans was completed. 
France, on this occasion, united with Spain Pd Sa 
dinia, and hostilities commenced on the side of Ger- 
of Berwick 
613 
this, Villars died, and his successor, the Marshal de Coig- History: 
ny, defeated the Imperialists, under the walls of Parma. 
The Emperor, discouraged by these losses, proposed 
e; and Cardinal Fleury, sincere and constant in 
is wish for it, acceded tothe proposal. By the treaty, 
Stanislaus was to renounce his pretensions to Poland, 
in consideration of the cession of Lorraine to him du- 
ring his life; and Louis agreed to restore all his con- 
quests in Germany, and to guarantee the pragmatic 
sanction, or domestic law, by which the succession to 
the hereditary dominions of the house of Austria were 
“secured to the heirs female of Charles VI. in case he 
should die without issue. Soon after this peace, Charles 
VI. died ; and the disputed succession to his heredi 
dominions, notwithstanding the pragmatic sanction, 
kindled anew the flames of war in Europe. 
dominions belonged to Maria Theresa, the late empe- 
ror’s eldest daughter, who was married to Francis 
- Lorraine, Grand Dok of a, . Almost all the 
wers had anteed the matic sanc- 
tidal mae thaless A oink the iod eae in which 
it was necessary to support it, many of them took up 
arms to set it aside. e claimants to the dominions 
of the house of Austria, were the Elector of Bavaria, 
the King of Poland, the King of Spain, and the King 
of France ; but the last did not appear as a competitor, 
being afraid of awakening the jealousy of all Europe. 
These claimants were, however, astonished, when the 
King of Prussia also appeared among them ; and while 
they were inactive, actually invaded Silesia. Cardinal 
Fleury, notwithstanding this violent invasion of the 
pragmatic sanction, was still desirous of peace ; but he 
was unable to withstand the ardour for war in the 
‘French councils ; and this ardour was increased by the 
idea, that the period was at length arrived, so long de- 
sired by France, for breaking the power of the house 
of Austria, and exalting that of Bourbon on its ruins. 
A with the Elector of Bavaria was accordingly 
concluded, by which the King of France engaged to 
assist him with his whole force, on condition that, if 
he succeeded in his projects, he would renounce the 
barrier treaty, and not attempt to recover any parts of 
the empire, which France might have conquered; a 
treaty was also concluded with the King of Prussia at 
the same time, the object of which was the total dis- 
memberment of the possessions of the house of Austria. 
The Elector of Bavaria was appointed lieutenant ge« 
neral of the French armies, with the Marshals Belleisle 
and Broglio to act under him, Louis XV. at the same 
time, issued a hostile declaration against the King of 
Great Britain, in his character of Elector of Hanover. 
The Elector of Bavaria was very rapid in his pro~ 
gress. Having entered Upper Austria, hetook possession 
of Lintz, and sent his detachments to the neighbour- 
hood of Vienna itself. In this extremity, Maria The- 
resa roused the Hungarians in her behalf; their nobi- 
lity were instantly in arms ; and the Elector of Bava. 
ria, threatened by the forces which Maria Theresa had’ 
collected, and finding the season of the year adverse to 
farther proceedings, gave up the plan of investing 
Vienna, and marched into Bohemia, where, being join- 
ed by 20,000 Saxons, he laid siege to Prague. After 
the reduction of this place, he was, on the 4th Janua 
1742; elected Em 
Here, however, his good fortune terminated : the Prus- 
sians and Saxons having been unsuccessful, were obli- 
ged to retreat, and the Austrians seized this opportuni- 
ty of attempting to unite their whole force against the 
By virtue War of the ; 
of this sanction, the succession to the whole Austrian Pragmatic 
r, under the name of Charles VII. A. D. 1742. 
