When at last the ice was broken by Frederick, and there is talk of an offensive alliance between France and Prussia, it is true that d'Argenson recoils; but he is careful to make the reason clear: for he dreads the effect of a war of ambition on the prosperity of the French provinces (Ibid., III. pp. 305, 310). Yet no sooner does the war resume the aspect of a triumphal march than all his old enthusiasm for the dismemberment of the Hapsburg dominion revives (Ibid., III. pp. 342, 344, 409, &c.).
For the whole episode see passages indicated in Appendix C.
D'Argenson's real quarrel with Fleury was (1) that he had subscribed to the Pragmatic Sanction at all; (2) not that he had repudiated it, but that he had neglected to provide himself with a decent excuse for doing so (Ibid., III. pp. 296, 328, &c.).
[267] See pp. 74, 75.
[268] Voltaire, "Correspondance," May 2, 1739, and March 30, 1740 (Garnier, XXXV.).
[269] In speaking of St. Pierre, Journal (Rathery), I. p. 102.
[270] See letter to Fagel, Secretary to the States-General, from Paris, February 25, 1743 ("Lettres et négociations de M. de Van Hoey," pp. 204-10. London, 1745).
[271] Journal (Rathery), III. pp. 105-9.
[272] Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, MS. 6113, fol. 186.
[273] Zevort, p. 131.