Charles VI. 1711. Constantiâ et fortitudine.
Charles VII. 1742.
Francis I. 1745. Pro Deo et imperio.
Joseph II. 1765. Virtute et exemplo.
Leopold II. 1790. Opes regum, corda subditorum.
Francis II. 1792. Lege et fide.
I have added, by way of rendering the catalogue more complete, the name of the particular family of German princes, for which each emperor was selected. A glance at these names furnishes a remarkable illustration of an observation of Sismondi:
"That the great evil of an elective monarchy, is the continual struggle on the part of the rulers to make it hereditary."
It is scarcely necessary to remind your readers, that the integrity of Charlemagne's empire was preserved until the deposition of Charles the Fat; that France and Germany did not become separate until after that event; and that Conrad was, therefore, the first of the German sovereigns, as he was certainly the first elected by the confederate princes.
Joshua G. Fitch.