Scarcely had the king breathed his last, when the Duke of Orleans was urged to get the regency conferred upon him by the dukes and peers, simply making to Parliament an announcement of what had been done.

The Duke of Orleans was a better judge of the moral authority belonging to that important body; and it was to the Palace of Justice that he repaired on the morning of September 2, 1715.

The crowd there was immense; the young king alone was not there, in spite of his great-grandfather's express instructions.

The day was a decisive one; the legitimatized princes were present, "the Duke of Maine bursting with joy," says St.Simon; "a smiling, satisfied air overrippled that of audacity, of confidence, which nevertheless peeped through, and the politeness which seemed to struggle against it.

He bowed right and left, piercing every one with his looks.