“ He showed courage on the field of battle, both in Italy and Spain, during the War of the Spanish Succession, and was flattered by his courtiers with the title of El Animoso, or the spirited. But he had no taste for military adventure. If he had a strong passion, it was to provide for his succession to the throne of France, if his nephew, Louis XV., should die, and he indulged in many intrigues against the house of Orleans, whose right to the succession was supposed to be secured by Philip's solemn renunciation of all claim to the French throne, when he became king of Spain. ”