746 F R A 
reded. Be careful that your conduft does not force me 
to take fome other ftep ; and I pray God to keep you in 
his holy protection.” 
The duke of Choifeul was fucceeded in 1771, by the 
duke d’Aiguillon, as minifter for foreign affairs. That 
minifter, by the friendfhip of madam du Barre, and the 
difhonourable interpofition of the royal authority, had 
eluded the hand of jttftice ; and it was the ftrong expref- 
fion of the duke of Briffiic, “ that lie had indeed faved 
his head, but that his neck had been twilled.” He was 
now preferred to an office of the higheft importance ; and 
the king, by conftant marks of favour, feemed defirous 
on every occafion of triumphing over the feelings of his 
people. Yet the infenfibility of Louis was not entirely 
proof againfl one in dance of oppolition : the princes of 
the blood had firongly protefted againfl the late innova¬ 
tions ; and their firmnefs had drawn upon them the king’s 
indignation ; they were forbid to appear in the royal prc- 
fence, and ultimately banifhed from court ; but thefe il- 
lufirious perfons ill brooked their exile from fcenes of 
gaiety and magnificence ; with the life of the count of 
Clermont their fortitude expired ; they languifhed to 
return to the circle of royal pleafures ; and the king, who 
beheld the fplendour of his court diminiflied during their 
abfence, accepted, with pleafure, their overtures of ac¬ 
commodation. 
The courts of Vienna and Madrid faw with regret the 
duke d’Aiguillon pofTefTed of a pod to which their wiflies 
were anxious to recal the duke of Choifeul : and the 
new fecretary, though not deflitute of capacity, yet dif¬ 
fered the partition of Poland to be completed againfl the 
evident interefl of France. Louis himfelf was fo ftruck 
at the firft intelligence of the event, that he could not 
help exclaiming, “ Alas ! if Choifeul had been with me, 
it would not have happened.” But this tranlient emo¬ 
tion was foon loft in the arms of the countefs du Barre ; 
and the revolution of Stockholm, accomplifhed under 
the aufpices of France, which overthrew the power of 
the ariftocracy, and eftablifhed the authority of the fove- 
reign, reftored the reputation of the duke d’Aiguillon. 
Thus tranfiently delivered from the toils of government, 
and devoted to voluptuoufnefs, the hours of Louis feem¬ 
ed to glide in conftant enjoyment; the chancellor de 
Maupeou took care of all money ediCs; and the inven¬ 
tive fpirit of finance, by opprefling the people, liberally 
(applied the profufton of the court. The holy deference 
of the king for the fee of Rome was foothed by ceding 
to pope Ganganelli, Avignon, and the county of Venaiffin, 
which had been re-claimed in the adminiftration of the 
duke of Choifeul. The marquis of Monteynard was, by 
the intrigues of the duke d’Aiguillon, difmifled from the 
war department; and the latter nobleman, by the par¬ 
tiality of the fovereign, was inverted with the fpoils of the 
difgraced minifter. 
But in tlie midft of fatiety, the mind of Louis became 
imprefled with a fettled melancholy. He was fenfible of 
the daily diminution of his corporeal powers; even the 
charms of the countefs du Barre could no longer excite 
defire ; and, though that lady ftill retained her influence, 
new objefts were requifite to roufe the paffions of the 
king. To provide thefe was the incelfant care of the 
countefs ; and her aliiduity in this office, proved at once 
fatal to her own grandeur, and to the life of her enllaved 
fovereign. A new beauty who was introduced into the 
bed of Louis, communicated to the defpoiler of her inno¬ 
cence the fatal virus of infeCion. 'The lymptoms of the 
fmall pox appeared on the king, and by the advice of his 
phylicians he was haftily removed from Trianon to Ver¬ 
sailles. The danger hourly increafed ; and Louis, ap- 
prifed of the nature of his malady, found, with the ap¬ 
proach of death, the fenfe of religion return; he defired 
that the countefs du Barre might be removed ; he receiv¬ 
ed the facrament; and declared his intention to exert 
himfelf ever after for the maintenance of religion, and the 
happiuefs of his people. But it was not permuted him 
N C E. 
to evince the fincerity of thefe declarations ; in eighfr 
days after the firft attack, the monarch clofed a reign of 
fifty-nine, and a life of fixty-four years, on the 10th of 
May, 1774. 
Such was the fate of Louis XV. who fell a victim to 
fenfual appetites, for the gratification of which he had 
facrificed his own fame, and the heft interefts of his fub- 
jecls. The appellation of Well-beloved , which had been 
conferred on him in the moment of danger by a lively and 
entlnifiaftic people, was effaced by thirty years of lafci- 
vious excefs, profulion, and rapacity ; his example had 
loofened the bands of morality, hid prodigality had ex- 
haufted the credit and refources of his country, and his 
wanton pride had trampled upon the remnant of the con- 
ftitution. His affedions feemed to have been confined 
within the narrow limits of his perfonal pleafures and 
fecurity; the marchionefs of Pompadour, who fo long 
enjoyed his confidence and ftiared his embraces, expired 
without a figh of regret from the monarch, who, during 
her life, had obeyed and adored her ; and the death of his 
fon, the dauphin, was received without any mark of ten¬ 
der emotion by the royal infenfible. 
Louis XVI. fucceeded his grandfather at the age of 
twenty ; and he had no fooner afeended the throne, than 
he diligently applied himfelf to extinguifli the difeon- 
tents and alleviate the calamities of the people. He im¬ 
mediately determined to remove thofe perfons from office 
whofe opprefiive conduC had rendered them offenfive to 
the nation : he recalled the count of Maurepas, who had 
formerly occupied the marine department, and who had 
beerf banifhed from the court for three-and-twenty years. 
The duke d’Aiguillon was removed from the office of 
prime minifter; and the chanceiior de Maupeou, who 
had (hared with him the hatred of France, was alfo dirt. 
miffed ; and the feals were delivered to monfieur Miro- 
mefnil, prefident of the parliament of Rouen; the count of 
Vergennes, who had filled with reputation the poll of am- 
baflador to the courts of Conftantinople and Stockholm, 
was called to prefide over the foreign department; and 
the count de Muy was made fecretary of war. 
Among the firft cares of the new adminiftration, was that 
of regulating the late conqueft of Corfica, which ftill 
ftruggled to throw off the yoke, and refume her native in¬ 
dependence. To juftify the feverities which were prac- 
tifed againfl thofe brave iflanders, the court of Verfailles 
had circulated the rumour of a dark and bloody confpi- 
racy : but, as no detail of this plot was ever given, the 
reality of it has been queftioned ; and it is more than pro¬ 
bable that the revolt of the Corficans originated in the 
oppreffion of their governors. Whatever was the fource 
of it, the effects were fatal to that diftreffed people ; fome 
transient fuccelfes in the firft defultory hoflilities, were 
foon effaced by a l’eries of fanguinary chaftifements. The 
new miniflers were delirous of difplaying their vigour and 
activity ; frefh reinforcements were poured into the ifland ; 
and the inmoft recedes of that mountainous country were 
penetrated by the victors: thofe who had appeared mod 
forward in oppofing the government of France, atoned 
for their imprudence by the lofs of their lives ; and their 
followers were tranlported to the Weft India iflands, and 
condemned to perpetual flkvery. Under this grievous 
oppreffion, the Coriican chief Paoli, folicited the protec¬ 
tion of Great-Britain ; but the vexatious difputes which 
laid the foundation of the American war at that time en- 
groffed the utmoft exertions of the Englifh monarch, and 
precluded the poflibility of any interpofition in behalf of 
Corfica. 
Though Louis beheld with fecret fatisfaCion the in- 
creafing animofity which exifted between America and 
Great Britain, yet the tranquillity of France was at the 
fame time far from being eftabliffied ; and the example, 
he fhould have conlidered, might eventually become fatal 
to his own empire. The wounds which had been infliCed 
by the rapacity and profufton of the late monarch re¬ 
quired great ability to heal $ and the elevation of mon- 
1 fieur 
