d. But there was no rejoicing among
the people. They listened, some silently, some sullenly, some
murmuringly, to the chiming bells and the booming cannon. The elements
of discontent and wrath were slowly beginning to collect for bursting
forth one hundred years later, in that most sublime of moral tempests,
the French Revolution.

The grand avenue to Versailles day after day was crowded with gorgeous
equipages. At night it blazed with illuminations. The highest
ingenuity was taxed to devise new scenes of splendor and amusement,
which followed each other in rapid succession. Three days after the
marriage, the king gave a special assembly which was to eclipse all
the rest. All the ladies were directed to appear in dresses of black
velvet, that the precious gems, which were almost literally to cover
those dresses, might sparkle more brilliantly. The great gallery of
Versailles was illuminated by four thousand wax-lights. The young
bride wore upon her apron alone jewels estimated at a sum equal to
fifty thousand dollars.

On the 1st of November, 1700, Charles II., the half crazed King of
Spain, died, leaving no heir. The pope, Innocent XII., bribed by Louis
XIV., sent a nuncio to the dying king, enjoining upon him to transmit
his crown to the children of the Dauphin of France, as the legitimate
heirs to the monarchy. As the Duke of Burgoyne was the direct heir to
the throne of France, the second son of the dauphin, the Duke of
Anjou, still a mere boy, was proclaimed King of Spain, with the title
of Philip V.

On the 14th of the month the Spanish embassador was summoned to an
audience with Louis XIV. at Versailles. The king presented his
grandson to the minister, saying, "This, sir, is the Duke of Anjou,
whom you may salute as your king."

A large crowd of courtiers was soon assembled. The Spanish minister
threw himself upon his knees before the boy with expressions of
profound homage. There was a scene of great excitement. The king,
embracing with his left arm the neck of the young prince, pointed to
him with his right hand, and said to those present,

"Gentlemen, this is the King of Spain. His birth calls him to the
crown.[X] The late king has recognized his right by his will. All the
nation desires his succession, and has entreated it at my hands. It is
the will of Heaven, to which I conform with satisfaction."

[Footnote X: The claim of the young prince was founded upon the fact
that his grandmother, Maria There