vexations of his youth, he quelled all resistance, forbad every kind of
opposition,--that of the aristocracy which manifested itself in revolt,--
that of the parliaments displayed by remonstrance,--that of the
protestants, whose form was a liberty of conscience which the church
deemed heretical, and royalty factious. Louis XIV. subdued the nobles by
summoning them to his court, where favours and pleasures were the
compensation for their dependence. Parliament, till then the instrument of
the crown, attempted to become its counterbalance, and the prince
haughtily imposed upon it a silence and submission of sixty years'
duration. At length, the revocation of the edict of Nantes completed this
work of despotism. An arbitrary government not only will not endure
resistance, but it demands that its subjects shall approve and imitate it.
After having subjected the actions of men, it persecutes conscience;
needing to be ever in motion, it seeks victims when they do not fall in
its way. The immense power of Louis XIV. was exercised, internally,
against the heretics; externally, against all Europe. Oppression found
ambitious men to counsel it, dragoons to serve, and success to encourage
it; the wounds of France were hidden by laurels, her groans were drowned
in songs of victory. But at last the men of genius died, the victories
ceased, industry emigrated, money disappeared; and the fact became
evident, that the very successes of despotism exhaust its resources, and
consume its future ere that future has arrived.

The death of Louis XIV. was the signal for a reaction; there was a sudden
transition from intolerance to incredulity, from the spirit of obedience
to that of discussion. Under the regency, the third estate acquired in
importance, by their increasing wealth and intelligence, all that the
nobility lost in consideration, and the clergy in influence. Under Louis
XV., the court prosecuted ruinous wars attended with little glory, and
engaged in a silent struggle with opinion, in an open one with the