ese purposes, but in all of them she found
an able ally in Alberoni. Elizabeth did not forget that she owed her high
position to this man. They were, besides, congenial in disposition, and
she persuaded Philip to trust and consult him, and finally to appoint him
prime minister. Not satisfied with this reward to her favorite, she, after
a few years, induced the Pope to grant him a cardinal's hat and Philip to
make him a grandee of Spain. The gardener's son had, by ability and
shrewdness, reached the highest summit to which his ambition could aspire.

From the greatest height one may make the most rapid fall. The power of
Alberoni was destined quickly to reach its end. Yet it was less his own
fault than the ambition of the queen that led to the termination of his
career. As a prime minister he proved a marked success, giving Spain an
administration far superior to any she had enjoyed for many years.
Alberoni was a man of great ability, which he employed in zealous efforts
to improve the internal condition of the country, having the wisdom to
avail himself of the talents and knowledge of other able men in handling
those departments of government with which he was unfamiliar. He seemed
inclined to keep Spain at peace, at least until she had regained some of
her old power and energy; but the demands of the queen overcame his
reluctance, and in the end he entered upon the accomplishment of her
purposes with a daring and recklessness in full accordance with the
demands of her restless spirit of intrigue.

Louis XIV. died in 1715. Louis XV., his heir, was a sickly child, not yet
five years old. Philip would have been regent during his youth, and his
heir in case of his death, had he not renounced all claim to the French
throne. He was too weak and irresolute in himself to take any steps to
gain this position, but his wife spurred him on to ambitious designs, and
Alberoni entered eagerly into her projects, beginning a series of
intrigues in France with all who were opposed to the Duke of Orleans, the
existing regent.

These intrigues led to war. The duke concluded an alliance with England
and Germany, the former enemies of France. Philip, exasperated at seeing
himself thus thwarted, declared war against the German emperor, despite
all that Alberoni could do to prevent, and sent an expedition against
Sardinia, which captured that island. Sicily was also invaded. Alberoni
now entered into intrigues for the restoration of the bani