LOUIS 



3509 



LOUIS 



bly England. Indeed, the latter years of Louis's 

 reign were as unfortunate as the early period 

 had been splendid. Colbert's reforms had been 

 temporary only, and the country was plunged 

 into debt, while the utter complaisance of the 

 people toward their king had been destroyed. 

 Louis's reign marks the height of French power 

 and influence; in art, in literature, in war and 

 in statesmanship, France stood supreme. After 

 Louis's death the downfall was rapid. 



Louis XV (1710-1774), the great-grandson of 

 Louis XIV. He came to th*e throne when but 

 five years of age. Philip, Duke of Orleans, a 

 man of ability but of licentious life, acted as 

 regent during his minority, and the court at 

 which the young king grew up ruined a char- 

 acter which seemed to have elements of worth. 

 His reign of almost sixty years was one of the 

 greatest factors in bringing about the French 

 Revolution. 



In 1723 Louis was declared of age, and in the 

 same year was married to Maria Leszczynska, 

 daughter of the dethroned king of Poland. The 

 Duke of Orleans died soon afterward, and after 

 a brief period, during which the Duke of Bour- 

 bon was prime minister, Cardinal Fleury, Louis's 

 tutor, was placed at the head of affairs. He did 

 France one service in improving the financial 

 condition, which had become most deplorable 

 during the years of the regency, but he was too 

 old to give France a commanding place in the 

 politics of Europe. 



When Fleury died in 1743 the king attempted 

 to follow out the policy of his great predecessor 

 and rule without a minister, but he lacked 

 Louis XIV's force and ability, and his reign 

 was a calamity to France. By the War of the 

 Polish Succession, undertaken to replace the ex- 

 iled king on the throne, France gained Lorraine, 

 but that was the last achievement of the reign. 

 The War of the Austrian Succession, in which 

 France was the ally of Prussia, gained nothing, 

 and the Seven Years' War, fought also in 

 America under the name of the French and 

 Indian War, upon which Louis entered as the 

 ally of Austria and the enemy of England, cost 

 France India and Canada. 



These unsuccessful 'wars laid heavy debts 

 upon the country, but the money spent for 

 them was not so begrudged by the people as 

 was that showered upon the king's mistresses. 

 These women were the real rulers of the king- 

 dom. For twenty years Madame de Pompa- 

 dour dictated policies and appointed ministers, 

 and she was succeeded by the equally famous 

 Madame Du Barry. For his failure to achieve 



any results in war, for the scandals of his life, 

 for all that he cost France, Louis XV, who at 

 the beginning of his reign had won the title of 

 "the well beloved," came to be detested. He 

 realized the condition into which he was plung- 

 ing the country, but in his cynical words, "After 

 us, the deluge!" expressed his. utter indifference 

 and his willingness that his successor should 

 pay the penalty. He was succeeded at his death 

 by his grandson, Louis XVI. 



Louis XVI (1754-1793), the grandson of Louis 

 XV, whom he followed in 1774. He had been 

 brought up at the court of his grandfather, but 

 had avoided its viciousness and remained all 

 his life a moral and religious man. His char- 

 acter, however, was far from kingly, for his one 

 great passion was for hunting, and he was little 

 interested in statesmanship or in public affairs. 



Four years before his accession he was mar- 

 ried to Marie Antoinette, daughter of Maria 

 Theresa. While at first he cared little for her, 



Loui.s XVIII 

 THE MOST FAMOUS OF THEIR LINE 



she came in time to exercise a dominating 

 influence over him, for Louis was weak, unable 

 to deal with conditions in a troubled time, 

 and the popularity which his good nature won 

 for him at first speedily died. 



The first question to be met was that of 

 finance, and for the first two years of Louis's 

 reign that was ably handled by Turgot. The 

 privileged classes, the nobles and the higher 

 clergy objected to Turgot's reforms as making 



