fra 
Hate of indigence. From Franee this Angular infatuation 
and fpirit of avarice among the people had rapidly ex¬ 
tended itfelf to London, Amfterdam,' and Rotterdam, 
where the fame fpirit of fpeculation prevailed. The Eng- 
lifh entered with ardour into-a delufive plan of the South 
Sea company, and experienced a fimilar difappointment. 
Thofe- fliares which had been eagerly fought after at the 
price of one thoufand pounds (lerling, w’ere in the courfe 
of the fame month fold for one hundred and fifty : and fo 
'extenfive had the infatuation fpread, that Europe trem¬ 
bled at the profpeft of a general bankruptcy. This bar¬ 
ren fpeculation acquired the name of the South Sea-Bubble, 
which the reader will find detailed at length under the ar¬ 
ticle Bubble, vol. iii. p. 467-470. 
In France, a court was elfablifited by order of the re¬ 
gent, to afford fome kind of relief to the innumerable fuf- 
ferers by Law ; and no lefs than five hundred eleven thou¬ 
fand and nine perfons, mod of them fathers of families, 
brought their whole fortunes in flimfy paper to this tri¬ 
bunal. The enormous demand was liquidated at a cer¬ 
tain fum, and government with laudable generofity, be¬ 
came refponfible for the future payment of it. 
* The king, in 1723, having attained the age fixed for 
his majority, the regency of courfe expired, and the duke 
of Orleans affumed the title of minifter. But his own life 
alfo drew near its end ; his conllitution was fliaken by ex- 
cefs, and his intemperate paflions haftened his death ; up¬ 
on which the reins of government, in 1725, were com¬ 
mitted to the hands of the.duke of Bourbon-Conde. A 
king young and inactive, a minifier without talents or am¬ 
bition, and a kingdom at peace, furnifli but ilender mate¬ 
rials for the pen of the hiflorian. Though the late duke of 
Orleans had engaged the hand of the king of France to the 
infanta of Spain, and that princefs had been received at 
Paris with the honours of the queen, the tender years of 
Louis allowed him not to confummate his marriage. As 
lie advanced to maturity, the courtiers difeovered in him 
a pointed averfion to the intended partner of his bed. 
The people, impatient of an union which might extin- 
giiifh their hopes of male ilfue, and expofe the kingdom 
by a difputed fucceffion to the calamities of civil war, 
loudly murmured againft the duke of Bourbon ; the mi¬ 
nifter reluflantly yielded to the general voice; he fent 
back the infanta; and the queen of Spain, violent and im¬ 
placable, would probably have refented the infult by 
open hoftilities, had not her turbulent difpofition already 
engaged her in a difpute with the empire. This was the 
only political event that characterized the fhort adminif- 
tration of the duke of Bourbon-Conde. The reins of go¬ 
vernment, in 1726, dropped from his hands into thofe of 
cardinal Fleury. At the age of feventy-three, that pre¬ 
late devoted the remains of« life which hitherto had chal¬ 
lenged the public efteem, to the ungrateful toils that at¬ 
tend minifterial power. The folicitations of ntarefchal 
Vtlleroi had prevailed on the late king to appoint Fleury, 
by a codicil in his will, preceptor to his infant grandfon ; 
and he difeharged the important truft with unimpeached 
fidelity and diligence. The gratitude of his pupil con¬ 
curred with the voice of the people, and cardinal F'leury, 
while he rejected the title of prime minifter, ruled the 
kingdom with abfolute authority. His firft care, after 
the infanta of Spain had been refufed, was to provide a 
fuitable confort for the young king; and the princefs 
Mary, daughter of Staniflaus king of Poland, was the 
lady chofen to -fiiare the bed of Louis ; their nuptials 
were celebrated, in 1729, with royal magnificence; the 
new queen, rather deftitute of perfonal charms, never per¬ 
haps infpired with love the bofom of her confort, who 
foon began to indulge his tafte for variety; but her meek- 
nefs, and ready acquiefcence to his will, extorted his 
efteem; and the birth of a dauphin, the* fruits of their 
union, eftablithed the peaceable fucceffion of the crown, 
and baniflied the fears of the people. 
The peace of France, in 1732, was broken by a confe¬ 
deracy of the czar of Ruffia with the emperor of Germany, 
in order to place a new king on the throne of Poland. Stanif- 
lau.swas clofely befieged in Dantzic; but heefcaped from 
the tottering walls of that city in difguife, and, after a 
variety of dangers and perils, reached the dominions of 
his fon-in-law in fafety. An attempt had been made by 
Louis to fuccour Dantzic ; and fifteen hundred French, 
detached for that purpole, were overwhelmed by an hoft 
of Ruffians. But in 1734, France ferioufly prepared to 
revenge the outrage that had difpoliefted Staniflaus of Po¬ 
land. Charles Emanuel, then king of Sardinia, concurred 
in the views of the courts of Madrid and Verfailles ; thefe 
confederates poured their troops into Italy, and fwept all 
before them ; while France aflerted her fuperiority on 
the banks of the Rhine, and reduced Khiel, Trierbach, 
and Philipfburg. The emperor bent before the (form, and, 
in 1736, received fuch conditions of peace as the victorious 
arms of France impofed. Don Carlos, fecond fon to the 
king of Spain, was acknowledged king of Naples and 
Sicily, both of which were difmembered from the houfe 
of Auftria; the king of Sardinia obtained, in the duchy of 
Milan, the Novarefe, the Tortonefe, and the fiefs of 
Langes; to Francis duke of Lorrain was aftigned the in¬ 
heritance of the houfe of Medicis ; and the duchies of 
Lorrain and Bar were ceded to the crown of France. 
Staniflaus, on whofe account the war had been com¬ 
menced, refigned in the treaty his pretenfions to the king¬ 
dom of Poland, but was permitted to retain the title of 
king. The liberality of Louis rendered that dignity more 
refpedtable, by beftowing on his father-in-law the duchies 
of Bar and Lorrain ; but after tlie death of Staniflaus 
thefe territories efeheated to the crown, and we're united 
to the dominions of France. 
Cardinal Fleury now purfued in France that pacific 
fyftem to which he was always ftrongly attached. In- 
ftead of exciting the neighbouring potentates to arm againft 
each other, he incelfantly laboured to extinguifti their jea- 
loufies, and reconcile their hoftile difpolitions. But this 
peaceful ftate of affairs was but of fhort duration; for in 
1740, the emperor Charles VI. the laft prince of the houfe 
of Auftria, expired in the fifty-fifth year of his age ; and 
his death awakened the claims of the different princes of 
Europe. Maria Therefa, the emperor’s eldeft daughter, 
married to Francis of Lorrain grand duke of Tuf'cany, 
claimed by right of blood, and by the guarantee of the 
different powers of Europe, the whole of the Auftrian 
fucceffion. This comprifed the kingdoms of Hungary 
and Bohemia, the province of Silefia, Auftrian Swabia, 
Upper and Lower Auftria, Stiria, Carinthia, Carniola, 
the four foreft towns, Burgaw, Brifgaw, the Low 
Countries, F'riuli, Tirol, the duchy of Milan, and the 
duchies of Parma and Placentia. That princefs, though 
flie was permitted to take polfeffion of this vaft inheri¬ 
tance, was not without competitors. Charles Albert, 
elector of Bavaria, from the will of F'erdinand 1 . brother 
to the emperor Charles VI. alferted his right to Bohemia ; 
the king of Sardinia refumed his claim on Milan ; the 
kings of Spain and Poland urged their pretenfions to the 
whole fucceffion ; nor was Louis XV. deftitute of a fimilar 
claim, being defeended in a diredt line from the eldeft 
male branch of the houfe of Auftria; but he wiflied not 
to awaken the jealoufy of Europe, and entertained hopes 
of aggrandizing himfelf, and of difmembering the Auf¬ 
trian dominions, by fupporting the pretenfions of ano¬ 
ther : when, to the aftonifhment of Europe, F'rederic 
king of PrulTia laid claim to four duchies in Silefia ; he 
hefitated not a moment entering that country, defeated 
the Auftrfans near Molwitz, and occupied the whole of 
the duchy. 
The vidtery of Molwitz was the fignal for war ; cardi¬ 
nal Fleury indeed was ftill inclined to the padific fyf¬ 
tem ; but he was overwhelmed by the enferprifing fpirit 
of the marefchal and chevalier de Belieille. Thefe heroic 
brothers reprefented to Louis, that the period was now 
arrived of finally breaking the power of the houfe of 
Auftria, and exalting that of Bourbon on its ruins; and 
shat 
