of him to the lady in
waiting; so that there is no more probability of her forgetting the very
individual government, and the very individual husband which she thinks
herself born to, than of her forgiving the authors of her losing
either."

The empress was cordially cooeperating with her daughter. The emperor was
in a state of utter distraction. His affairs were fast going to ruin; he
was harassed by counter intreaties; he knew not which way to turn, or
what to do. Insupportable gloom oppressed his spirit. Pale and haggard,
he wandered through the rooms of his palace, the image of woe. At night
he tossed sleepless upon his bed, moaning in anguish which he then did
not attempt to conceal, and giving free utterance to all the mental
tortures which were goading him to madness. The queen became seriously
alarmed lest his reason should break down beneath such a weight of woe.
It was clear that neither reason nor life could long withstand such a
struggle.

Thus in despair, the emperor made proposals for a secret and separate
accommodation with France. Louis XV. promptly listened, and offered
terms, appallingly definite, and cruel enough to extort the last drop of
blood from the emperor's sinking heart. "Give me," said the French king,
"the duchy of Lorraine, and I will withdraw my armies, and leave Austria
to make the best terms she can with Spain."

How could the emperor wrest from his prospective son-in-law his
magnificent ancestral inheritance? The duke could not hold his realms
for an hour against the armies of France, should the emperor consent to
their surrender; and conscious of the desperation to which the emperor
was driven, and of his helplessness, he was himself plunged into the
deepest dismay and anguish. He held an interview with the British
minister to see if it were not possible that England might interpose her
aid in his behalf. In frantic grief he lost his self control, and,
throwing himself into a chair, pressed his brow convulsively, and
exclaimed, "Great God! will not England help me? Has not his majesty
with his own lips, over and over again, promised to stand by me?"

The French armies were advancing; shot and shell were falling upon
village and city; fortress after fortress was surrendering. "Give me
Lorraine," repeated Louis XV., persistently, "or I will take all
Austria." There was no alternative but for the emperor to drink to the
dregs the bitter cup which his own hand had mingled. He surrender