nd of the wealth that
commerce brings. The government that followed, likewise absolute, of
set purpose and at the demand of England, gave up all pretence of
maintaining an effective navy. The reason for this was that the new
king was a minor; and the regent, being bitterly at enmity with the
king of Spain, to injure him and preserve his own power, entered into
alliance with England. He aided her to establish Austria, the
hereditary enemy of France, in Naples and Sicily to the detriment of
Spain, and in union with her destroyed the Spanish navy and
dock-yards. Here again is found a personal ruler disregarding the sea
interests of France, ruining a natural ally, and directly aiding, as
Louis XIV. indirectly and unintentionally aided, the growth of a
mistress of the seas. This transient phase of policy passed away with
the death of the regent in 1726; but from that time until 1760 the
government of France continued to disregard her maritime interests. It
is said, indeed, that owing to some wise modifications of her fiscal
regulations, mainly in the direction of free trade (and due to Law, a
minister of Scotch birth), commerce with the East and West Indies
wonderfully increased, and that the islands of Guadeloupe and
Martinique became very rich and thriving; but both commerce and
colonies lay at the mercy of England when war came, for the navy fell
into decay. In 1756, when things were no longer at their worst, France
had but forty-five ships-of-the-line, England nearly one hundred and
thirty; and when the forty-five were to be armed and equipped, there
was found to be neither material nor rigging nor supplies; not even
enough artillery. Nor was this all.

"Lack of system in the government," says a French writer,
"brought about indifference, and opened the door to disorder and
lack of discipline. Never had unjust promotions been so
frequent; so also never had more universal discontent been seen.
Money and intrigue took the place of all else, and brought in
their train commands and power. Nobles and upstarts, with
influence at the capital and self-sufficiency in the seaports,
thought themselves dispensed with merit. Waste of the revenues
of the State and of the dock-yards knew no bounds. Honor and
modesty were turned into ridicule. As if the evils were not thus
great enough, the ministry took pains to efface the heroic
traditions of the past which had escaped the general wreck