the terrible
sacrifice she was compelled to make. But the will of the king was
inexorable. Her melancholy marriage was solemnized with much splendor
in the great chapel at St. Germain. She then left, with undisguised
reluctance, for Madrid. The King of Spain, feeble in body, more feeble
in mind, moody and melancholy, was charmed by her youth and beauty.
Her mental endowments were such that she soon acquired entire
ascendency over him. He became pliant as wax in her hands.

The cabinet at Vienna were alarmed lest Maria Louisa should influence
her husband to unite with France against Germany. The Countess de
Soissons was sent as a secret agent to the Spanish court. Beautiful
and fascinating, she soon became exceedingly intimate with the queen.
One day Maria Louisa, oppressed by the heat, expressed regret at the
scarcity of milk in Madrid, saying how much she should enjoy a good
draught. The countess assured her that she knew where to obtain some
of excellent quality, and that, with her majesty's permission, she
would have it iced and present it with her own hands. The queen
received the cup with a smile, and drank it at once. In half an hour
she was taken ill. After a few hours of horrible agony, such as her
unhappy mother had previously endured from the same cause, she died.
In the confusion, the countess escaped from the capital. She was
pursued, but her arrangements for escape had been so skillfully made
that she could not be overtaken.

Maria Theresa, the neglected queen of France, had borne six children;
but of these, at this period, there was but one surviving son, the
dauphin. In his character there appeared a combination of most
singular anomalies and contradictions. Though exceedingly impulsive
and obstinate in obeying every freak of his fancy, he seemed incapable
of any affection, and alike incapable of any hostility, except that
which flashed up for the moment.

"The example of his guardians had inspired him with a few amiable
qualities, but his natural vices defied eradication. His
constitutional tendencies were all evil. His greatest pleasure
consisted in annoying those about him. Those who were most conversant
with his humor could never guess the temper of his mind. He laughed
the loudest and affected the greatest amiability when he was most
exasperated, and scowled defiance when he was perfectly unruffled. His
only talent was a keen sense of the ridiculous. Nothing escaped him
that could be tortured int