Louis XIV. had shown wonderful tenacity of purpose during this disastrous war, and sometimes a nobler and more national spirit than during the years of his triumphs. But the condition of France was terrible. She was burdened with debt; the reforms of Colbert were ruined; and opposition to the king's régime began to make itself felt. Peace brought some relief to France, but the last years of the king's life were gloomy in the extreme. His numerous descendants seemed at one time to place the succession beyond all difficulty. But his eldest son, the dauphin, died in April 1711; his eldest grandson the duke of Burgundy in February 1712; and his great-grandson the duke of Brittany in March 1712. The heir to the throne was now the duke of Burgundy's son, the duke of Anjou, afterwards Louis XV. The king died on the 1st of September 1715, after the longest recorded reign in European history. The judgment of posterity has not repeated the flattering verdict of his contemporaries; but he remains the model of a great king in all that concerns the externals of kingship. The reign of Louis XIV. is particularly rich in memoirs describing the life of the court. The chief are Madame de Motteville's memoirs for the period of the Fronde, and the letters cf Madame de Sévigné and the memoirs of Saint-Simon for the later period. The king's ideas are best seen in the _Mémoires de Louis XIV. pour l'instruction du dauphin_ (edited by Dreyss, 2 vols.). His private life is revealed in the letters of Madame de Maintenon and in those of Madame, Duchesse d'Orléans. Of the ordinary historians of France Michelet is fullest on the private life of the king. Mention may also be made of Voltaire, _Siècle de Louis XIV._; P. Clément, _Histoire de la vie et de l'administration de Colbert_; Sainte-Beuve, _Causeries de lundi_. Full bibliographies of the reign will be found in G. Monod's _Bibliographie de l'histoire de France_; vol. v. ("The Age of Louis XIV.") of the _Cambridge Modern History_; and vol. vi. ("Louis XIV.") of the _Histoire générale_ of Lavisse and Rambaud. (A. J. G.*)