from the lips of the
assembled thousands almost loud enough to pierce the ear of the king,
now palsied in death.

[Illustration: ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DEATH OF LOUIS XIV.]

There were few to mourn the departed monarch. As his remains were
hurried to the vaults of St. Denis, those vaults which he had so much
dreaded, the populace shouted execrations and pelted his coffin with
mud. Not the slightest regard was paid to his will. The Duke of
Orleans assumed the regency with absolute power. His reign was
execrable, followed by the still more infamous reign of Louis XV. Then
came the Revolution, as the sceptre of utterly despotic sway passed
into the hands of the feeble Louis XVI. The storm, which had been
gathering for ages, burst with fury which appalled the world. A more
tremendous event has not occurred in the history of our race. The
story has too often been told by those who were in sympathy with the
kings and the nobles. The time will come when the _people's_ side of
the story will be received, and the terrible drama will be better
understood.

THE END.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors, and to
ensure consistent spelling and punctuation in this etext; otherwise,
every effort has been made to remain true to the original book.

2. The chapter summaries in this text were originally published as
banners in the page headers, and have been moved to beginning of the
chapter for the reader's convenience.

3. Typesetting for italics was very inconsistent in this book; no
attempt has been made to regularize the use of italics.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Louis XIV., Makers of History Series, by
John S. C. Abbott

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LOUIS XIV. ***

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