VIII.] POWER OF THE CROWN. [55 he died in 1740, the succession, according to the Pragmatic Sanction, belonged to his eldest daughter, Maria Theresa^ who was married to F7-ancis, first Duke of Lorraine and then Grand Duke of Tuscany. But claimants appeared on all sides for the hereditary states. France took the part of Charles Albert, Elector 0/ Bavaria, as the descend- ant of a daughter of Ferdinand I., and sent two armies to his aid under Noailles and Belleisle, while England was the ally of Maria Theresa. The Elector of Bavaria was brought to Prague by Marshal Belleisle and crowned King of Bohemia. In 1742 he was elected Emperor as Charles VII. But Maria Theresa's high spirit had won her the hearts and swords of the Austrians and Hungarians. Fleury died just as all Europe was becoming involved in the war, at ninety years old, in 1743, and there was no one to prevent the wicked court from working their will in corrupt- ing the king. From this time the king gradually sank into utter and gross profligacy, and allowed his mis- tresses to rule in matters of state and warfare. Lewis XIV. believed in glory — vain-glory though it was ; Lewis XV. believed only in pleasure, and that of a rude gross sort, fitted to reach his slow weak senses, so that while all the cumbrous ceremonial of the court was carried on in public, his diversions were such as the meanest and most vulgar alone could have endured, and his familiar speech the coarsest slang. 28. The Campaigns of Lewis XV., 1743. — Marshal Belleisle, who had been left unsupported at Prague, was besieged there by the Austrians, and surrendered. Noailles was defeated in 1744 at Dettingen by George II. of Eng- land ; and Lewis was persuaded by one of his mistresses, Madame de Chateaurotix, to put himself at the head of his army. At Metz however he fell ill of a fever, and was in great danger ; while the people, who had been long trained in passionate attachment to the king, were almost frenzied with anxiety, and kissed the very boots of the courier who brought tidings that he was recovering. During his danger he was attended by the Bishop of Soissons, a son of Ber- wick, an honest priest, who was the only person who uni- formly warned him of his sins, and therefore was always kept at a distance from court. Madame de Chateauroux died that same year, but the brilliant and clever Mada»ie de Pompadour took her place, and held sway over the whole court. She wanted the king to be distinguished, and he continued the war at the beginning of the year 1745.
