viii.] POWER OF THE CROWN. 151 his son Joseph, who was ah'eady King of the Romans. Under him the war had gone on vigorously ; but he died in 171 1, and his brother Charles, a competitor for the crown of Spain, was chosen Empei'or. This greatly changed the position of affairs : for if Charles were to add Spain to the Empire and the hereditary states of Austria, it might be as dangerous as to allow a French prince to reign in Spain. England and the United Provinces thus lost their chief interest in supporting the Austrian candidate, and at the same time political changes in England drove the Duke of Marlborough and those who supported him from power. All sides were now much more inclined for peace than before ; for France peace was a matter of sheer necessity, the country was quite ground down and the population sensibly lessened by the long wars and the heavy taxation. 22. The Peace of Utrecht, 17 13. — Home troubles had come at the same time to crush the old king. His only son the Dauphin died in 171 1. The new Dauphin, the Duke of Burgundy, had been the pupil of the most excel- lent priest in France, Fenelo/i, Archbishop of Cambray in the Netherlands, which by the conquests of Lewis had become French territory. Fendlon had fallen into dis- grace, as it was given out, on account of his theological views, but really for having dared to put forth worthy notions of a king's duty towards his people, as seen in his classical roinance of Telemachzis. But the new heir was carried off in the early spring of 1712, with his young wife and eldest child, leaving the king alone with a sickly great-grandson of three years old. After him, as the king of Spain had renounced his succession, the next heir was Philip, Duke of Orleans. He was half suspected of having poisoned the father, mother, and child ; the yells of the mob followed him, but in truth he was kind-hearted and easy-going, and would never have done such an act for the sake of a position full of care and trouble. Peace was more than ever needful. Philip V. remained king of Spain, but the Low Countries and the Netherlands were ceded to the Emperor Charles VI., as head of the house of Austria. The Two Sicilies were divided ; the Emperor had Naples, while the island was given to Victor Amadeus of Savoy. The principality of Orange was now added to France, so that that kingdom now had all the land between the Rhone and the Alps, except the small territory kept by the pope. These were the main provisions of the treaty
