should think more interesting and more beautiful;
but such was the fashion in the eighteenth century.
He established institutions of learning and of benefi-
cence; he had his little academy at Nancy, in imita-
tion of the great academy at Paris; he gave liberally
to the poor, founded a hospital for infirm soldiers,
endowed a public library, supported twelve Jesuit
missionaries, and gave portions to eight daughters of
needy noblemen, on which to marry. He established
another charity which was his own invention, and
intended to preserve his subjects from the voracity of
lawyers; five counselors, men of learning and integ-
rity, were paid a fixed salary, in return for which
they were bound to give gratuitous advice to all who
applied for it.

The little court at Luneville became a favorite
resort for men of letters, who found in Stanislaus a
hospitable entertainer and an agreeable companion.
Montesquieu visited it, and Hénault and Helvetius;
Voltaire made long stays there, and Mme. de Chatelet
there met with the Marquis of St. Lambert and
her death. When the kindly old king unfortunately
set his robe de chambre on fire, and died from his
injuries, his loss was sincerely mourned by his sub-
jects, and this cannot be said of many sovereigns,
who were more powerful and more wise. ¹

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