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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/4289-h.zip b/4289-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bb0581b --- /dev/null +++ b/4289-h.zip diff --git a/4289-h/4289-h.htm b/4289-h/4289-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ed65d4b --- /dev/null +++ b/4289-h/4289-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9279 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of The Duchess of Berry and the Court of Charles X, +by Imbert De Saint-Amand +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.footnote {font-size: smaller ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.transnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.intro {font-size: medium ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Duchess of Berry and the Court of +Charles X, by Imbert De Saint-Amand + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Duchess of Berry and the Court of Charles X + +Author: Imbert De Saint-Amand + +Posting Date: July 23, 2009 [EBook #4289] +Release Date: July, 2003 +First Posted: December 30, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DUCHESS OF BERRY *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE DUCHESS OF BERRY AND <BR>THE COURT OF CHARLES X +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +IMBERT DE SAINT-AMAND +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">THE ACCESSION OF CHARLES X</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">THE ENTRY INTO PARIS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">THE TOMBS OF SAINT-DENIS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">THE FUNERAL OF LOUIS XVIII</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">THE KING</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">THE DAUPHIN AND DAUPHINESS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">MADAME</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">THE ORLEANS FAMILY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">THE PRINCE OF CONDE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">THE COURT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">THE DUKE OF DOUDEAUVILLE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">THE HOUSEHOLD OF THE DUCHESS OF BERRY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">THE PREPARATIONS FOR THE CORONATION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">THE CORONATION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">CLOSE OF THE SOJOURN AT RHEIMS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">THE RE-ENTRANCE INTO PARIS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">THE JUBILEE OF 1826</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">THE DUCHESS OF GONTAUT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">THE THREE GOVERNORS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">THE REVIEW OF THE NATIONAL GUARD</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">THE FIRST DISQUIETUDE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">THE MARTIGNAC MINISTRY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">THE JOURNEY IN THE WEST</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24">THE MARY STUART BALL</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap25">THE FINE ARTS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap26">THE THEATRE OF MADAME</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap27">DIEPPE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap28">THE PRINCE DE POLIGNAC</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap29">GENERAL DE BOURMONT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap30">THE JOURNEY IN THE SOUTH</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE DUCHESS OF BERRY AND<BR>THE COURT OF CHARLES X +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +I +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ACCESSION OF CHARLES X +</H3> + +<P> +Thursday, the 16th of September, 1824, at the moment when Louis XVIII. +was breathing his last in his chamber of the Chateau des Tuileries, the +courtiers were gathered in the Gallery of Diana. It was four o'clock in +the morning. The Duke and the Duchess of Angouleme, the Duchess of +Berry, the Duke and the Duchess of Orleans, the Bishop of Hermopolis, +and the physicians were in the chamber of the dying man. When the King +had given up the ghost, the Duke of Angouleme, who became Dauphin, +threw himself at the feet of his father, who became King, and kissed +his hand with respectful tenderness. The princes and princesses +followed this example, and he who bore thenceforward the title of +Charles X., sobbing, embraced them all. They knelt about the bed. The +De Profundis was recited. Then the new King sprinkled holy water on the +body of his brother and kissed the icy hand. An instant later M. de +Blacas, opening the door of the Gallery of Diana, called out: +"Gentlemen, the King!" And Charles X. appeared. +</P> + +<P> +Let us listen to the Duchess of Orleans. "At these words, in the +twinkling of an eye, all the crowd of courtiers deserted the Gallery to +surround and follow the new King. It was like a torrent. We were borne +along by it, and only at the door of the Hall of the Throne, my husband +bethought himself that we no longer had aught to do there. We returned +home, reflecting much on the feebleness of our poor humanity, and the +nothingness of the things of this world." +</P> + +<P> +Marshal Marmont, who was in the Gallery of Diana at the moment of the +King's death, was much struck by the two phrases pronounced at an +instant's interval by M. de Damas: "Gentlemen, the King is dead! The +King, gentlemen!" +</P> + +<P> +He wrote in his Memoirs: "It is difficult to describe the sensation +produced by this double announcement in so brief a time. The new +sovereign was surrounded by his officers, and everything except the +person of the King was in the accustomed order. Beautiful and great +thought, this uninterrupted life of the depository of the sovereign +power! By this fiction there is no break in this protecting force, so +necessary to the preservation of society." The Marshal adds: "The +government had been in fact for a year and more in the hands of +Monsieur. Thus the same order of things was to continue; nevertheless, +there was emotion perceptible on the faces of those present; one might +see hopes spring up and existences wither. Every one accompanied the +new King to his Pavilion of Marsan. He announced to his ministers that +he confirmed them in their functions. Then every one withdrew." +</P> + +<P> +While the Duchess of Berry was present at the death of Louis XVIII., +the Duke of Bordeaux and his sister, Mademoiselle, then, the one four, +the other five years of age, remained at the Chateau of Saint Cloud, +with the Governess of the Children of France, the Viscountess of +Gontaut-Biron. This lady passed the night of the 15th of September in +great anxiety. She listened on the balcony, awaiting and dreading the +news. +</P> + +<P> +At the moment that the day began to dawn, she heard afar the gallop of +a horse that drew near, passed the bridge, ascended the avenue, reached +the Chateau, and in response to the challenge of the guard, she +distinguished the words: "An urgent message for Madame the Governess." +It was a letter from the new King. Madame de Gontaut trembled as she +opened it. Charles X. announced to her, in sad words, that Louis XVIII. +was no more, and directed her to made ready for the arrival of the +royal family. "Lodge me where you and the governor shall see fit. We +shall probably pass three or four days at Saint Cloud. Communicate my +letter to the Marshal. I have not strength to write another word." +</P> + +<P> +"The day was beginning to break," we read in the unpublished Memoirs of +the Governess of the Children of France. "I went to the bed of +Monseigneur. He was awakened. He was not surprised, and said nothing, +and allowed himself to be dressed. Not so with Mademoiselle. I told her +gently of the misfortune that had come upon her family. I was agitated. +She questioned me, asking where was bon-papa. I told her that he was +still in Paris, but was coming to Saint Cloud; then I added: 'Your +bon-papa, Mademoiselle, is King, since the King is no more.' She +reflected, then, repeating the word: 'King! Oh! that indeed is the +worst of the story.' I was astonished, and wished her to explain her +idea; she simply repeated it. I thought then she had conceived the +notion of a king always rolled about in his chair." +</P> + +<P> +The same day the court arrived. It was no longer the light carriage +that used almost daily to bring Monsieur, to the great joy of his +grandchildren. It was the royal coach with eight horses, livery, +escort, and body-guard. The Duke of Bordeaux and his sister were on the +porch with their governess. On perceiving the coach, instead of +shouting with pleasure, as was their custom, they remained motionless +and abashed. Charles X. was pale and silent. In the vestibule he +paused: "What chamber have you prepared for me?" he said sadly to +Madame de Gontaut, glancing at the door of his own. The governess +replied: "The apartment of Monsieur is ready, and the chamber of the +King as well." The sovereign paused, then clasping his hands in +silence: "It must be!" he cried. "Let us ascend." +</P> + +<P> +They followed him. He passed through the apartments. On the threshold +of the royal chamber Madame de Gontaut brought to Charles X. the Duke +of Bordeaux and Mademoiselle and he embraced them. The poor children +were disconcerted by so much sadness. "As soon as I can," he said to +them, "I promise to come to see you." Then turning to the company: "I +would be alone." All withdrew in silence. The Dauphiness was weeping. +The Dauphin had disappeared. Everything was gloomy. No one spoke. Thus +passed the first day of the reign of Charles X. +</P> + +<P> +The next day the King received the felicitations of the Corps de +l'Etat. Many addresses were delivered. "All contained the expression of +the public love," said Marshal Marmont in his Memoirs, "and I believe +that they were sincere; but the love of the people is, of all loves, +the most fragile, the most apt to evaporate. The King responded in an +admirable manner, with appropriateness, intelligence, and warmth. His +responses, less correct, perhaps, than those of Louis XVIII., had +movement and spirit, and it is so precious to hear from those invested +with the sovereign powers things that come from the heart, that Charles +X. had a great success. I listened to him with care, and I sincerely +admired his facility in varying his language and modifying his +expressions according to the eminence of the authority from whom the +compliments came." +</P> + +<P> +The reception lasted several hours. When the coaches had rolled away +and when quiet was re-established in the Chateau of Saint Cloud, +Charles X., in the mourning costume of the Kings, the violet coat, went +to the apartment of the Duke of Bordeaux and his sister. The usher +cried: "The King!" The two children, frightened, and holding each other +by the hand, remained silent. Charles X. opened his arms and they threw +themselves into them. Then the sovereign seated himself in his +accustomed chair and held his grandchildren for some moments pressed to +his heart. The Duke of Bordeaux covered the hands and the face of his +grandfather with kisses. Mademoiselle regarded attentively the altered +features of the King and his mourning dress, novel to her. She asked +him why he wore such a coat. Charles X. did not reply, and sighed. Then +he questioned the governess as to the impression made on the children +by the death of Louis XVIII. Madame de Gontaut hesitated to answer, +recalling the strange phrase of Mademoiselle: "King! Oh! that indeed is +the worst of the story." But the little Princess, clinging to her +notion, began to repeat the unlucky phrase. Charles X., willing to give +it a favorable interpretation, assured Mademoiselle that he would see +her as often as in the past, and that nothing should separate him from +her. The two children, with the heedlessness of their age, took on +their usual gaiety, and ran to the window to watch the market-men, the +coal heavers, and the fishwomen, who had come to Saint Cloud to +congratulate the new King. +</P> + +<P> +The griefs of sovereigns in the period of their prosperity do not last +so long as those of private persons. Courtiers take too much pains to +lighten them. With Charles X. grief at the loss of his brother was +quickly followed by the enjoyment of reigning. Chateaubriand, who, when +he wished to, had the art of carrying flattery to lyric height, +published his pamphlet: Le roi est mart! Vive le roi! In it he said: +"Frenchmen, he who announced to you Louis le Desire, who made his voice +heard by you in the days of storm, and makes to you to-day of Charles +X. in circumstances very different. He is no longer obliged to tell you +what the King is who comes to you, what his misfortunes are, his +virtues, his rights to the throne and to your love; he is no longer +obliged to depict his person, to inform you how many members of his +family still exist. You know him, this Bourbon, the first to come, +after our disaster, worthy herald of old France, to cast himself, a +branch of lilies in his hand, between you and Europe. Your eyes rest +with love and pleasure on this Prince, who in the ripeness of years has +preserved the charm and elegance of his youth, and who now, adorned +with the diadem, still is but ONE FRENCHMAN THE MORE IN THE MIDST OF +YOU. You repeat with emotion so many happy mots dropped by this new +monarch, who from the loyalty of his heart draws the grace of happy +speech. What one of us would not confide to him his life, his fortune, +his honor? The man whom we should all wish as a friend, we have as +King. Ah! Let us try to make him forget the sacrifices of his life! May +the crown weigh lightly on the white head of this Christian Knight! +Pious as Saint Louis, affable, compassionate, and just as Louis XII., +courtly as Francis I., frank as Henry IV., may he be happy with all the +happiness he has missed in his long past! May the throne where so many +monarchs have encountered tempests, be for him a place of repose! +Devoted subjects, let us crowd to the feet of our well-loved sovereign, +let us recognize in him the model of honor, the living principle of our +laws, the soul of our monarchical society; let us bless a guardian +heredity, and may legitimacy without pangs give birth to a new King! +Let our soldiers cover with their flags the father of the Duke of +Angouleme. May watchful Europe, may the factions, if such there be +still, see in the accord of all Frenchmen, in the union of the people +and the army, the pledge of our strength and of the peace of the +world!" The author of the Genie du Christianisme thus closed his prose +dithyramb: "May God grant to Louis XVIII. the crown immortal of Saint +Louis! May God bless the mortal crown of Saint Louis on the head of +Charles X.!" +</P> + +<P> +In this chant in honor of the King and of royalty, M. de Chateaubriand +did not forget the Duke and Duchess of Angouleme, nor the Duchess of +Berry and the Duke of Bordeaux. "Let us salute," he said, "the Dauphin +and Dauphiness, names that bind the past to the future, calling up +touching and noble memories, indicating the own son and the successor +of the monarch, names under which we find the liberator of Spain and +the daughter of Louis XVI. The Child of Europe, the new Henry, thus +makes one step toward the throne of his ancestor, and his young mother +guides him to the throne that she might have ascended." +</P> + +<P> +Happy in the ease with which the change in the reign had taken place, +and seeing the unanimous manifestations of devotion and enthusiasm by +which the throne was surrounded, the Duchess of Berry regarded the +future with entire confidence. Inclined by nature to optimism, the +young and amiable Princess believed herself specially protected by +Providence, and would have considered as a sort of impiety anything +else than absolute faith in the duration of the monarchy and in respect +for the rights of her son. Had any one of the court expressed the +slightest doubt as to the future destiny of the CHILD OF MIRACLE, he +would have been looked upon as an alarmist or a coward. The royalists +were simple enough to believe that, thanks to this child, the era of +revolutions was forever closed. They said to themselves that French +royalty, like British royalty, would have its Whigs and its Tories, but +that it was forever rid of Republicans and Imperialists. At the +accession of Charles X. the word Republican, become a synonym of +Jacobin, awoke only memories of the guillotine and the "Terror." A +moderate republic seemed but a chimera; only that of Robespierre and +Marat was thought of. The eagle was no longer mentioned; and as to the +eaglet, he was a prisoner at Vienna. What chance of reigning had the +Duke of Reichstadt, that child of thirteen, condemned by all the Powers +of Europe? By what means could he mount the throne? Who would be regent +in his name? A Bonaparte? The forgetful Marie Louise? Such hypotheses +were relegated to the domain of pure fantasy. Apart from a few +fanatical old soldiers who persisted in saying that Napoleon was not +dead, no one, in 1824, believed in the resurrection of the Empire. As +for Orleanism, it was as yet a myth. The Duke of Orleans himself was +not an Orleanist. Of all the courtiers of Charles X., he was the most +eager, the most zealous, the most enthusiastic. In whatever direction +she turned her glance, the Duchess of Berry saw about her only reasons +for satisfaction and security. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +II +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ENTRY INTO PARIS +</H3> + +<P> +The Duchess of Berry took part in the solemn entry into Paris made by +Charles X., Monday, 27th September, 1824. She was in the same carriage +as the Dauphiness and the Duchess and Mademoiselle of Orleans. The King +left the Chateau of Saint Cloud at half-past eleven in the morning, +passed through the Bois de Boulogne, and mounted his horse at the +Barriere de l'Etoile. There he was saluted by a salvo of one hundred +and one guns, and the Count de Chambral, Prefect of the Seine, +surrounded by the members of the Municipal Council, presented to him +the keys of the city. Charles X. replied to the address of the Prefect: +"I deposit these keys with you, because I cannot place them in more +faithful hands. Guard them, gentlemen. It is with a profound feeling of +pain and joy that I enter within these walls, in the midst of my good +people,—of joy because I well know that I shall employ and consecrate +all my days to the very last, to assure and consolidate their +happiness." Accompanied by the princes and princesses of his family and +by a magnificent staff, the sovereign descended the Champs-Elysees to +the Avenue of Marigny, followed that avenue, and entered the Rue du +Faubourg Saint-Honore, before the Palace of the Elysee. At this moment, +the weather, which had been cold and sombre, brightened, and the rain, +which had been falling for a long time, ceased. The King heard two +child-voices crying joyously, "Bon-papa." It was the little Duke of +Bordeaux and his sister at a window of an entresol of the Elysee which +looked out upon the street. On perceiving his two grandchildren, +Charles X. could not resist the impulse to approach them. He left the +ranks of the cortege, to the despair of the grand-master of ceremonies. +The horse reared. A sergeant-de-ville seized him by the bit. Listen to +Madame de Gontaut: "I was frightened, and cried out. The King scolded +me for it afterward. I confessed my weakness; to fall at the first step +in Paris would have seemed an ill omen. The King subdued his fretful +horse, said a few tender words to the children, raised his hat +gracefully to the ladies surrounding us. A thousand voices shouted: +Vive le Roi! The grand-master was reassured, the horse was quieted, and +the King resumed his place. The carriage of the princes and princesses +passing at that moment, the little princes saw them—it was an added +joy." +</P> + +<P> +The cortege followed this route: the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, the +boulevards to the Rue Saint-Denis, the Rue Saint-Denis, the Place du +Chatelet, the Pont au Change, the Rue de la Bailer, the Marche-Neuf, +the Rue Neuve-Notre-Dame, the Parvis. At every moment the King reined +in his superb Arab horse to regard more at ease the delighted crowd. He +smiled and saluted with an air of kindness and a grace that produced +the best impression. Charles X. was an excellent horseman; he presented +the figure and air of a young man. The contrast naturally fixed in all +minds, between his vigorous attitude and that of his predecessor, an +infirm and feeble old man, added to the general satisfaction. The +houses were decorated with white flags spangled with fleurs-de-lis. +Triumphal arches were erected along the route of the sovereign. The +streets and boulevards were strewn with flowers. At the sight of the +monarch the happy people redoubled their acclamations. Benjamin +Constant shouted: "Vive le roi!"—"Ah, I have captured you at last," +smilingly remarked Charles X. +</P> + +<P> +Reaching the Parvis de Notre-Dame, the sovereign, before entering the +Cathedral, paused before the threshold of the Hotel-Dieu. Fifty nuns +presented themselves before him, "Sire," said the Prioress, "you pause +before the house so justly termed the Hotel-Dieu, which has always been +honored with the protection of our kings. We shall never forget, Sire, +that the sick have seen at their bedside the Prince who is today their +King. They know that at this moment your march is arrested by charity. +We shall tell them that the King is concerned for their ills, and it +will be a solace to them. Sire, we offer you our homage, our vows, and +the assurance that we shall always fulfil with zeal our duties to the +sick." Charles X. replied: "I know with what zeal you and these +gentlemen serve the poor. Continue, Mesdames, and you can count on my +benevolence and on my constant protection." +</P> + +<P> +The King was received at the Metropolitan Church by the Archbishop of +Paris at the head of his clergy. The Domine salvum, fac regem, was +intoned and repeated by the deputations of all the authorities and by +the crowd filling the nave, the side-aisles, and the tribunes of the +vast basilica. Then a numerous body of singers sang the Te Deum. On +leaving the church, the King remounted his horse and returned to the +Tuileries, along the quais, to the sound of salvos of artillery and the +acclamations of the crowd. The Duchess of Berry, who had followed the +King through all the ceremonies, entered the Chateau with him, and +immediately addressed to the Governess of the Children of France this +note: "From Saint Cloud to Notre-Dame, from Notre-Dame to the +Tuileries, the King has been accompanied by acclamations, signs of +approval and of love." +</P> + +<P> +Charles X., on Thursday, the 30th September, had to attend a review on +the Champ-de-Mars. The morning of this day, the readers of all the +journals found in them a decree abolishing the censorship and restoring +liberty of the press. The enthusiasm was immense. The Journal de Paris +wrote: "Today all is joy, confidence, hope. The enthusiasm excited by +the new reign would be far too ill at ease under a censorship. None can +be exercised over the public gratitude. It must be allowed full +expansion. Happy is the Council of His Majesty to greet the new King +with an act so worthy of him. It is the banquet of this joyous +accession; for to give liberty to the press is to give free course to +the benedictions merited by Charles X." +</P> + +<P> +The review was superb. After having heard Mass in the chapel of the +Chateau of the Tuileries, the King mounted his horse at half-past +eleven, and, accompanied by the Dauphin, the Duke of Orleans, and the +Duke of Bourbon, proceeded to the Champ-de-Mars. Two caleches followed; +the one was occupied by the Dauphiness, the Duchess of Berry, and the +Duke of Bordeaux in the uniform of a colonel of cuirassiers,—a +four-year old colonel,—the other by the Duchess of Orleans and +Mademoiselle of Orleans, her sister-in-law. The weather was mild and +clear. The twelve legions of the National Guard on foot, the mounted +National Guard, the military household of the King, and all the +regiments of the royal guard, which the sovereign was about to review, +made a magnificent appearance. An immense multitude covered the slopes +about the Champ-de-Mars. Charles X. harvested the effect of the liberal +measure that he had first adopted. A thunder of plaudits and cheers +greeted his arrival on the ground. At one moment, when he found +himself, so to speak, tangled in the midst of the crowd, several +lancers of his guard sought to break the circle formed about him by +pushing back the curious with the handles of their lances. "My friends, +no halberds!" the King called to them. This happy phrase, repeated from +group to group, carried the general satisfaction to a climax. A witness +of this military ceremony, the Count of Puymaigre, at that time Prefect +of the Oise, says in his curious Souvenirs:— +</P> + +<P> +"Charles X. appeared to have dissipated all the dangers that for ten +years had menaced his august predecessor. +</P> + +<P> +"On all sides there rose only acclamations of delight in favor of the +new King, who showed himself so popular, and whose gracious countenance +could express only benevolent intentions. I was present, mingling with +the crowd, at the first review by Charles X. on the Champ-de-Mars, and +the remarks were so frankly royalist, that any one would have been +roughly treated by the crowd had he shown other sentiments." +</P> + +<P> +The Duchess of Berry was full of joy. She quivered with pleasure. Very +popular in the army and among the people, as at court and in the city, +she was proud to show her fine child, who already wore the uniform, to +the officers and soldiers. She appeared to all eyes the symbol of +maternal love, and the mothers gazed upon her boy as if he had been +their own. As soon as the little Prince was seen, there was on every +face an expression of kindliness and sympathy. He was the Child of +Paris, the Child of France. Who could have foretold then that this +child, so loved, admired, applauded, would, innocent victim, less than +six years later, be condemned to perpetual exile, and by whom? +</P> + +<P> +Charles X. had won a triumph. Napoleon, at the time of his greatest +glories, at the apogee of his prodigious fortunes, had never had a +warmer greeting from the Parisian people. In the course of the review +the King spoke to all the colonels. On his return to the Tuileries he +went at a slow pace, paused often to receive petitions, handed them to +one of his suite, and responded in the most gracious manner to the +homage of which he was the object. An historian not to be accused of +partiality for the Restoration has written: "On entering the Tuileries, +Charles X. might well believe that the favor that greeted his reign +effaced the popularity of all the sovereigns who had gone before. Happy +in being King at last, moved by the acclamations that he met at every +step, the new monarch let his intoxicating joy expand in all his words. +His affability was remarked in his walks through Paris, and the grace +with which he received all petitioners who could approach him." +Everywhere that he appeared, at the Hotel-Dieu, at Sainte-Genvieve, at +the Madeleine, the crowd pressed around him and manifested the +sincerest enthusiasm. M. Villemain, in the opening discourse of his +lectures on eloquence at the Faculty of Letters, was wildly applauded +when he pronounced the following eulogium on the new sovereign: "A +monarch kindly and revered, he has the loyalty of the antique ways and +modern enlightenment. Religion is the seal of his word. He inherits +from Henry IV. those graces of the heart that are irresistible. He has +received from Louis XIV. an intelligent love of the arts, a nobility of +language, and that dignity that imposes respect while it seduces." All +the journals chanted his praises. Seeing that the Constitutionnel +itself, freed from censorship, rendered distinguished homage to +legitimacy, he came to believe that principle invincible. He was called +Charles the Loyal. At the Theatre-Francais, the line of Tartufe— +</P> + +<P> + "Nous vivons sous un prince ennemi de la fraude"—<BR> +</P> + +<P> +was greeted with a salvo of applause. The former adversaries of the +King reproached themselves with having misunderstood him. They +sincerely reproached themselves for their past criticisms, and adored +that which they had burned. M. de Vaulabelle himself wrote:— +</P> + +<P> +"Few sovereigns have taken possession of the throne in circumstances +more favorable than those surrounding the accession of Charles X." +</P> + +<P> +It seemed as if the great problem of the conciliation of order and +liberty had been definitely solved. The white flag, rejuvenated by the +Spanish war, had taken on all its former splendor. The best officers, +the best soldiers of the imperial guard, served the King in the royal +guard with a devotion proof against everything. Secret societies had +ceased their subterranean manoeuvres. No more disturbances, no more +plots. In the Chambers, the Opposition, reduced to an insignificant +minority, was discouraged or converted. The ambitious spirits of whom +it was composed turned their thoughts toward the rising sun. Peace had +happily fecundated the prodigious resources of the country. Finances, +commerce, agriculture, industry, the fine arts, everything was +prospering. The public revenues steadily increased. The ease with which +riches came inclined all minds toward optimism. The salons had resumed +the most exquisite traditions of courtesy and elegance. It was the +boast that every good side of the ancien regime had been preserved and +every bad one rejected. France was not only respected, she was a la +mode. All Europe regarded her with sympathetic admiration. No one in +1824 could have predicted 1880. The writers least favorable to the +Restoration had borne witness to the general calm, the prevalence of +good will, the perfect accord between the country and the crown. The +early days of the reign of Charles X. were, so to speak, the honeymoon +of the union of the King and France. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +III +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TOMBS OF SAINT-DENIS +</H3> + +<P> +The funeral solemnities of Louis XVIII. seemed to the people a mortuary +triumph of Royalty over the Revolution and the Empire. The profanations +of 1793 were expiated. Napoleon was left with the willow of Saint +Helena; the descendant of Saint Louis and of Louis XIV. had the +basilica of his ancestors as a place of sepulture, and the links of +time's chain were again joined. The obsequies of Louis XVIII. suggested +a multitude of reflections. It was the first time since the death of +Louis XV. in 1774, that such a ceremony had taken place. As was said by +the Moniteur:— +</P> + +<P> +"This solemnity, absolutely novel for the greater number of the present +generation, offered an aspect at once mournful and imposing. A monarch +so justly regretted, a king so truly Christian, coming to take his +place among the glorious remains of the martyrs of his race and the +bones of his ancestors,—profaned, scattered by the revolutionary +tempest, but which he had been able again to gather,—was a grave +subject of reflection, a spectacle touching in its purpose and majestic +in the pomp with which it was surrounded." +</P> + +<P> +Through what vicissitudes had passed these royal tombs, to which the +coffin of Louis XVIII. was borne! Read in the work of M. Georges +d'Heylli, Les Tombes royales de Saint-Denis, the story of these +profanations and restorations. +</P> + +<P> +The Moniteur of the 6th of February, 1793, published in its literary +miscellany, a so-called patriotic ode, by the poet Lebrun, containing +the following strophe:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Purgeons le sol des patriotes,<BR> + Par des rois encore infectes.<BR> + La terre de la liberte<BR> + Rejette les os des despotes.<BR> + De ces monstres divinises<BR> + Que tous lea cercueils soient brises!<BR> + Que leur memoirs soit fletrie!<BR> + Et qu'avec leurs manes errants<BR> + Sortent du sein de la patrie<BR> + Les cadavres de ses tyrants!"<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[Footnote: Let us purge the patriot soil—By kings still infected.—The +land of liberty—Rejects the bones of despots.—Of these monsters +deified—Let all the coffins be destroyed!—Let their memory +perish!—And with their wandering manes—Let issue from the bosom of +the fatherland—The bodies of its tyrants!] +</P> + +<P> +These verses were the prelude to the discussion, some months later, in +the National Convention, of the proposition to destroy the monuments of +the Kings at Saint-Denis, to burn their remains, and to send to the +bullet foundry the bronze and lead off their tombs and coffins. In the +session of July 31, 1793, Barrere, the "Anacreon of the guillotine," +read to the convention in the name of the Committee of Public Safety, a +report, which said:— +</P> + +<P> +"To celebrate the day of August 10, which overthrew the throne, the +pompous mausoleums must be destroyed upon its anniversary. Under the +Monarchy, the very tombs were taught to flatter kings. Royal pride and +luxury could not be moderated even on this theatre of death, and the +bearers of the sceptre who had brought such ills on France and on +humanity seemed even in the grave to vaunt a vanished splendor. The +strong hand of the Republic should pitilessly efface these haughty +epitaphs, and demolish these mausoleums which might recall the +frightful memory of kings." +</P> + +<P> +The project was voted by acclamation. The tombs were demolished between +the 6th and 8th of August, 1793, and the announcement was made for the +anniversary of the 10th of August, 1792, of "that grand, just, and +retributive destruction, required in order that the coffins should be +opened, and the remains of the tyrants be thrown into a ditch filled +with quick-time, where they may be forever destroyed. This operation +will shortly take place." +</P> + +<P> +This was done in the following October. For some days there was carried +on a profanation even more sacrilegious than the demolition of the +tombs. The coffins containing the remains of kings and queens, princes +and princesses, were violated. On Wednesday, the 16th of October, 1798, +at the very hour that Marie Antoinette mounted the scaffold,—she who +had so wept for her son, the first Dauphin, who died the 4th of June, +1789, at the beginning of the Revolution,—the disinterrers of kings +violated the grave of this child and threw his bones on the refuse +heap. Iconoclasts, jealous of death, disputed its prey, and they +profaned among others the sepulchres of Madame Henrietta of England, of +the Princess Palatine, of the Regent, and of Louis XV. +</P> + +<P> +In the midst of these devastations, some men, less insensate than the +others, sought at least to rescue from the hands of the destroyers what +might be preserved in the interest of art. Of this number was an +artist, Alexandre Lenoir, who had supervised the demolition of the +tombs of Saint-Denis. He could not keep from the foundry, by the terms +of the decree, the tombs of lead, copper, and bronze; but he saved the +others from complete destruction—those that may be seen to-day in the +church of Saint-Denis. He had them placed first in the cemetery of the +Valois, near the ditches filled with quicklime, where had been cast the +remains of the great ones of the earth, robbed of their sepulchres. +Later, a decree of the Minister of the Interior, Benezech, dated 19 +Germinal, An IV., authorizing the citizen Lenoir to have the tombs thus +saved from destruction taken to the Museum of French Monuments, of +which he was the conservator, and which had been installed at Paris, +Rue des Petits Augustins. From thence they were destined to be returned +to the Church of Saint-Denis, under the reign of Louis XVIII. +</P> + +<P> +At the height of his power, Napoleon dreamed of providing for himself +the same sepulture as that of the kings, his predecessors. He had +decided that he would be interred in the Church of Saint-Denis, and had +arranged for himself a cortege of emperors about the site that he had +chosen for the vault of his dynasty. He directed the construction of a +grand monument dedicated to Charlemagne, which was to rise in the +"imperialized" church. The great Carlovingian emperor was to have been +represented, erect, upon a column of marble, at the back of which +statues in stone of the emperors who succeeded him were to have been +placed. But at the time of Napoleon's fall, the monument had not been +finished. There had been completed only the statues, which have taken +their rank in the crypt. They represent Charlemagne, Louis le +Debonnaire, Charles le Chauve, Louis le Begue, Charles le Gros, and +even Louis d'Outremer, who, nevertheless, was only a king. +</P> + +<P> +Like the Pharaohs of whom Bossuet speaks, Napoleon was not to enjoy his +sepulture. To be interred with pomp at Saint-Denis, while Napoleon, at +Saint Helena, rested under a simple stone on which not even his name +was inscribed, was the last triumph for Louis XVIII.,—a triumph in +death. The re-entrance of Louis XVIII. had been not only the +restoration of the throne, but that of the tombs. The 21st of January, +1815, twenty-two years, to the very day, after the death of Louis XVI., +the remains of the unhappy King and those of his Queen, Marie +Antoinette, were transferred to the Church of Saint-Denis, where their +solemn obsequies were celebrated. Chateaubriand cried:— +</P> + +<P> +"What hand has reconstructed the roof of these vaults and prepared +these empty tombs? The hand of him who was seated on the throne of the +Bourbons. O Providence! He believed that he was preparing the +sepulchres of his race, and he was but building the tomb of Louis XVI. +Injustice reigns but for a moment; it is virtue only that can count its +ancestors and leave a posterity. See, at the same moment, the master of +the earth falls, Louis XVIII. regains the sceptre, Louis XVI. finds +again the sepulture of his fathers." +</P> + +<P> +At the beginning of the Second Restoration, the King determined, by a +decree of the 4th of April, 1816, that search should be made in the +cemetery of the Valois, about the Church of Saint-Denis, in order to +recover the remains of his ancestors that might have escaped the action +of the bed of quicklime, in which they had been buried under the +Terror. The same decree declared that the remains recovered should be +solemnly replaced in the Church of Saint-Denis. +</P> + +<P> +Excavations were made in January, 1817, in the cemetery of the Valois, +and the bones thus discovered were transferred to the necropolis of the +kings. +</P> + +<P> +"It was night," says Alexandre Lenoir, in his Histoire des Arts en +France par les Monuments. "The moon shone on the towers; the torches +borne by the attendants were reflected from the walls of the edifice. +What a spectacle! The remains of kings and queens, princes and +princesses, of the most ancient of monarchies, sought with pious care, +with sacred respect, in the ditches dug by impious arms in the evil +days. The bones of the Valois and the Bourbons found pele-mele outside +the walls of the church, and brought again, after a long exile, to +their ancient burial place." +</P> + +<P> +In a little vault on the left were deposited the coffins containing the +bones of earlier date than the Bourbons, and a marble tablet was placed +upon it, with the inscription: "Here rest the mortal remains of +eighteen kings, from Dagobert to Henry III.; ten queens, from Nantilde, +wife of Dagobert, to Marguerite de Valois, first wife of Henry IV.; +twenty-four dauphins, princes, and princesses, children and +grandchildren of France; eleven divers personages (Hugues-le-grand, +four abbes of Saint-Denis, three chamberlains, two constables, and +Sedille de Sainte-Croix, wife of the Counsellor Jean Pastourelle). Torn +from their violated sepulchres the 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 +October, 1793, and 18 January, 1794; restored to their tombs the 19 +January, 1817." +</P> + +<P> +On the right were placed the coffins enclosing the remains of the +princes and princesses of the house of Bourbon, the list of which is +given by a second marble plaque: "Here rest the mortal remains of seven +kings, from Charles V. to Louis XV.; seven queens, from Jeanne de +Bourbon, wife of Charles V., to Marie Leczinska, wife of Louis XV.; +dauphins and dauphinesses, princes and princesses, children and +grandchildren of France, to the number of forty-seven, from the second +son of Henry IV. to the Dauphin, eldest son of Louis XVI. Torn from +their violated sepulchres the 12, 14, 15, and 16 October, 1793; +restored to their tombs the 19 January, 1817." +</P> + +<P> +Besides these vaults, there is one that bears the title of the "Royal +Vault of the Bourbons," though but a small number of princes and +princesses of this family are there deposited. There is where Louis +XVIII. was to rest. In 1815, there had been placed in this vault the +coffins of Louis XVI. and of Marie Antoinette, recovered on the site of +the former cemetery of the Madeleine. On the coffin of the King was +carved: "Here is the body of the very high, very puissant, and very +excellent Prince, Louis, 16th of the name, by the grace of God King of +France and Navarre." A like inscription on the coffin of the Queen +recited her titles. +</P> + +<P> +In 1817, there had been put by the side of these two coffins those of +Madame Adelaide and of Madame Victorine, daughter of Louis XV., who +died at Trieste, one in 1799, the other in 1800, and whose remains had +just been brought from that city to Saint-Denis. There had also been +placed in the same vault a coffin containing the body of Louis VII.—a +king coming now for the first time, as Alexandre Lenoir remarks, to +take a place in the vault of these vanished princes, whose ranks are no +longer crowded, and which crime has been more prompt to scatter than +has Death been to fill them; also the coffin of Louise de Vaudemont, +wife of Henry III., the queen who was buried in the Church of the +Capucins, Place Vendome, and whose remains escaped profanation in 1793. +In this same vault were also two little coffins, those of a daughter +and a son of the Duke and Duchess of Berry, who died, one in 1817, the +other in 1818, immediately after birth, and the coffin of their father, +assassinated the 13th of February, 1820, on leaving the Opera. Such +were the companions in burial of Louis XVIII. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FUNERAL OF LOUIS XVIII +</H3> + +<P> +Louis XVIII. died the 16th of September, 1824, at the Chateau of the +Tuileries. His body remained there until the 23d of September, when, to +the sound of a salvo of one hundred and one guns, it was borne to the +Church of Saint-Denis. The coffin remained exposed in this basilica +within a chapelle ardente, to the 24th of October, the eve of the day +fixed for the obsequies, and during all this time the church was filled +with a crowd of the faithful, belonging to all classes of society, who +gathered from Paris and all the surrounding communes, to render a last +homage to the old King. Sunday, 24th of October, at two o'clock in the +afternoon, the body was transferred from the chapelle ardente to the +catafalque prepared to receive it. Then the vespers and the vigils of +the dead were sung, and the Grand Almoner, clad in his pontifical +robes, officiated. The next day, Monday, the 25th of October, the +services of burial took place. +</P> + +<P> +The Dauphin and Dauphiness left the Tuileries at 10:30 A.M., to be +present at the funeral ceremony. In conformity with etiquette, Charles +X. was not present. He remained at the Tuileries with the Duchess of +Berry, with whom he heard a requiem Mass in the chapel of the Chateau +at eleven o'clock. The Duchess was thus spared a painful spectacle. +With what emotion would she not have seen opened the crypt in which she +believed she would herself be laid, and which was the burial place of +her assassinated husband and of her two children, dead so soon after +their birth. +</P> + +<P> +The ceremony commences in the antique necropolis. The interior of the +church is hung all with black to the spring of the arches, where +fleurs-de-lis in gold are relieved against the funeral hangings. The +light of day, wholly shut out, is replaced by an immense quantity of +lamps, tapers, and candles, suspended from a multitude of candelabra +and chandeliers. At the back of the choir shines a great luminous +cross. The Dauphiness, the Duchess of Orleans, the princes and +princesses, her children, her sister-in-law, are led to the gallery of +the Dauphiness. The church is filled with the crowd of constituted +authorities. At the entrance to the nave is seen a deputation of men +and women from the markets, and others who, according to the Moniteur, +have won the favor of admission to this sad ceremony by the grief they +manifested at the time of the King's death. The Dauphin advances, his +mantle borne from the threshold of the church to the choir by the Duke +of Blacas, the Duke of Damas, and the Count Melchior de Polignac. The +Duke of Orleans comes next. Three of his officers bear his mantle. +</P> + +<P> +A salvo of artillery, responded to by a discharge of musketry, +announces the commencement of the ceremony. The Grand Almoner of France +says Mass. After the Gospel Mgr. de Frayssinous, Bishop of Hermopolis, +ascends the pulpit and pronounces the funeral oration of the King. At +the close of the discourse another salvo of artillery and another +discharge of musketry are heard. The musicians of the Chapel of the +King, under the direction of M. Plantade, render the Mass of Cherubim. +At the Sanctus, twelve pages of the King, guided by their governor, +come from the sacristy, whence they have taken their torches, salute +the altar, then the catafalque, place themselves kneeling on the first +steps of the sanctuary, and remain there until after the Communion. The +De Profundis and the Libera are sung. After the absolutions, twelve +bodyguards advance to the catafalque, which recalls by its form the +mausoleums raised to Francis I. and to Henry II. by the architects of +the sixteenth century. It occupies the centre of the nave. The cords of +the pall are borne by the Chancellor Dambray in the name of the Chamber +of Peers, by M. Ravez in the name of the Chamber of Deputies, by the +Count de Seze in the name of the magistracy, by Marshal Moncey, Duke of +Conegliano, in the name of the army. The twelve bodyguards raise the +coffin from the catafalque, and bear it into the royal tomb. Then the +King-at-Arms goes alone into the vault, lays aside his rod, his cap, +and his coat-of-arms, which he also casts in, retires a step, and +cries: "Heralds-at-Arms, perform your duties." +</P> + +<P> +The Heralds-at-Arms, marching in succession, cast their rods, caps, +coats-of-arms, into the tomb, then withdraw, except two, of whom one +descends into the vault to place the regalia on the coffin, and the +other is stationed on the first steps to receive the regalia and pass +them to the one who stands on the steps. +</P> + +<P> +The King-at-Arms begins announcing the regalia. He says: "Marshal, Duke +of Ragusa, major-general of the Royal Guard, bring the flag of the +Royal Guard." The marshal rises from his place, takes the flag from the +hands of the officer bearing it, advances, salutes first the Dauphin, +then the Duke of Orleans, approaches the vault, makes a profound bow, +and places the flag in the hands of the Herald-at-Arms, standing on the +steps. He passes it to the second, who places it on the coffin. The +marshal salutes the altar and the princes and resumes his place. +</P> + +<P> +The King-at-Arms continues the calls. "Monsieur the Duke of Mortemart, +captain-colonel of the regular foot-guards of the King, bring the +ensign of the company which you have in keeping." He summons in the +same manner the Duke of Luxembourg, the Duke of Mouchy, the Duke of +Gramont, the Duke d'Havre, who bring each the standard of the company +of the body-guards of which they are the four captains. The call of the +other regalia goes on in the following order:— +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur the Count of Peyrelongue, Equerry in Ordinary of His Majesty, +bring the spurs of the King. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur the Marquis of Fresne, Equerry in Ordinary of His Majesty, +bring the gauntlets of the King. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur the Chevalier de Riviere, Master of the Horse of His Majesty, +bring the coat-of-arms of the King. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur the Marquis of Vernon, charged with the functions of First +Equerry, bring the helmet of the King. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur the Duke of Polignac, charged with the functions of Grand +Equerry of France, bring the royal sword. (The royal sword is presented +before the vault only by the point, and is not carried down.) +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur the Prince de Talleyrand, Grand Chamberlain of France, bring +the banner." +</P> + +<P> +There is seen approaching, the banner in his hand, an old man, slight, +lame, clad in satin and covered with embroidery, in gold and jewelled +decorations. It is the unfrocked priest who said the Mass of the +Champ-de-Mars, for the Fete de la Federation; it is the diplomat who +directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the time of the murder of +the Duke d'Enghien; it is the courtier, who, before he was Grand +Chamberlain of Louis XVIII. and Charles X., was that of Napoleon. The +banner is presented before the vault only by one end. It is inclined +over the opening of the crypt, but is not cast in, salutes, for the +last time, the dead King, then rises as if to proclaim that the noble +banner of France dies not, and that the royalty sheltered beneath its +folds descends not into the tomb. +</P> + +<P> +The King-at-Arms again cries:— +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur the Duke d'Uzes, charged with the functions of Grand Master +of France, come and perform your duty." Then the maitres de l'hotel, +the chambellans de l'hotel, and the first maitre de l'hotel approach +the vault, break their batons, cast them in, and return to their places. +</P> + +<P> +The King-at-Arms summons the persons bearing the insignia of royalty. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur the Duke of Bressac, bring la main de justice. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur the Duke of Chevreuse, bring the sceptre. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur the Duke of la Tremoille, bring the crown." +</P> + +<P> +These three insignia are taken down into the vault, as were the flag +and the four standards. +</P> + +<P> +Then the Duke d'Uzes, putting the end of the baton of Grand Master of +France within the vault, cries out: "The King is dead!" +</P> + +<P> +The King-at-Arms withdraws three paces, and repeats in a low voice: +"The King is dead! the King is dead! the King is dead!" Then turning to +the assembly he says: "Pray for the repose of his soul!" +</P> + +<P> +At this moment the clergy and all the assistants throw themselves upon +their knees, pray, and rise again. The Duke d'Uzes withdraws his baton +from the vault, and brandishing it, calls out: "Long live the King!" +</P> + +<P> +The King-at-Arms repeats: "Long live the King! long live the King! long +live the King! Charles, tenth of the name, by the grace of God, King of +France and Navarre, very Christian, very august, very puissant, our +very honored lord and good master, to whom God grant long and happy +life! Cry ye all: Long live the King!" Then the trumpets, drums, fifes, +and instruments of the military bands break into a loud fanfare, and +their sound is mingled with the prolonged acclamations of the assembly, +whose cries "Long live the King! long live Charles X.!" contrast with +the silence of the tombs. +</P> + +<P> +"To this outburst of the public hopes," says the Moniteur, "succeeded +the return of pious and mournful duties; the tomb is closed over the +mortal remains of the monarch whose subjects, restored to happiness, +greeted him on his return from the land of exile with the name of Louis +le Desire, and who twice reconciled his people with Europe. This +imposing ceremony being ended, the princes were again escorted into the +Abbey to their apartments, by the Grand Master, the Master of +Ceremonies and his aides, preceded by the Master-at-Arms, and the +Heralds-at-Arms, who had resumed their caps, coats-of-arms, and rods. +Then the crowd slowly dispersed. We shall not try to express the +sentiments to which this imposing and mournful ceremony must give rise. +With the regrets and sorrow caused by the death of a prince so justly +wept, mingle the hopes inspired by a King already the master of all +hearts. This funeral ceremony when, immediately after the burial of a +monarch whom God had called to Himself, were heard cries of 'Long live +Charles X.,'—the new King greeted at the tomb of his august +predecessor,—this inauguration, amid the pomps of death, must have +left impressions not to be rendered, and beyond the power of +imagination to represent." +</P> + +<P> +Reader, if this recital has interested you, go visit the Church of +Saint-Denis. There is not, perhaps, in all the world, a spectacle more +impressive than the sight of the ancient necropolis of kings. Enter the +basilica, admirably restored under the Second Empire. By the mystic +light of the windows, faithful reproductions of those of former +centuries,—the funerals of so many kings, the profanations of 1793, +the restoration of the tombs,—all this invades your thought and +inspires you with a dim religious impression of devotion. These stones +have their language. Lapides clamabunt. They speak amid the sepulchral +silence. Listen to the echo of a far-away voice. There, under these +arches, centuries old, the 21st of August, 1670, Bossuet pronounced the +funeral oration of Madame Henriette of England. He said:— +</P> + +<P> +"With whatever haughty distinction men may flatter themselves, they all +have the same origin, and this origin insignificant. Their years follow +each other like waves; they flow unceasingly, and though the sound of +some is slightly greater and their course a trifle longer than those of +others, they are together confounded in an abyss where are known +neither princes nor kings nor the proud distinctions of men, as the +most boasted rivers mingle in the ocean, nameless and inglorious with +the least known streams." +</P> + +<P> +Is not the Church of Saint-Denis itself a funeral discourse in stone +more grandiose and eloquent than that of the reverend orator? Regard on +either side of the nave these superb mausoleums, these pompous tombs +that are but an empty show, and since their dead dwell not in them, +contemplate these columns that seem to wish to bear to heaven the +splendid testimony of our nothingness! There, at the right of the main +altar, descend the steps that lead to the crypt. There muse on all the +kings, the queens, the princes, and princesses, whose bones have been +replaced at hazard within these vaults, after their bodies had been, in +1793, cast into a common ditch in the cemetery of the Valois to be +consumed by quicklime. The great ones of the earth, dispossessed of +their sepulchres, could they not say, in the region of shades, in the +mournful words of the Sermonnaire:— +</P> + +<P> +"Death does not leave us body enough to require room, and it is only +the tombs that claim the sight; our body takes another name; even that +of corpse, since it implies something of the human form, remains to it +but a little time; it becomes a something nameless in any tongue, so +truly does everything die in it, even the funeral terms by which its +unhappy remains are designated. Thus the Power divine, justly angered +by our pride, reduces it to nothingness, and, to level all conditions +forever, makes common ashes of us all." +</P> + +<P> +The remains of so many sovereigns and princes are no longer even +corpses. The corpses have perished as ruins perish. You may no longer +see the coffins of the predecessors of Louis XVI. But those of the +Martyr-King, of the Queen Marie Antoinette, of the Duke of Berry, of +Louis XVIII., are there before you in the crypt. Pause. Here is the +royal vault of the Bourbons. Your glance can enter only a narrow grated +window, through which a little twilight filters. If a lamp were not +lighted at the back, the eye would distinguish nothing. By the doubtful +gleam of this sepulchral lamp, you succeed in making out in the gloom +the coffins placed on trestles of iron; to the left that of the Duke of +Berry, then the two little coffins of his children, dead at birth; then +in two rows those of Mesdames Adelaide and Victoire, daughters of Louis +XV., those of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, those of the two last +Princes of Conde, died in 1818 and in 1830, and on the right, at the +very extremity of the vault, that of the only sovereign who, for the +period of a century, died upon the throne, Louis XVIII. +</P> + +<P> +The royal vault of the Bourbons was diminished more than half to make +room for the imperial vault constructed under Napoleon III. The former +entrance, on the steps of which stand the Heralds-at-Arms at the +obsequies of the kings, has been suppressed. The coffin of Louis XVIII. +was not placed on the iron trestles, where it rests to-day, at the time +of his funeral. It was put at the threshold of the vault, where it was +to have been replaced by that of Charles X.; for by the ancient +tradition, when a king of France dies, as his successor takes his place +on the throne, so he, in death, displaces his predecessor. But Louis +XVIII. waited in vain for Charles X. in the royal vault of the +Bourbons; the last brother of Louis XVI. reposes in the chapel of the +Franciscans at Goritz. +</P> + +<P> +Charles X. is not alone in being deprived of his rights in his tomb; +the Duke and Duchess of Angouleme and the Count of Chambord were so, +and also Napoleon III. The second Emperor and Prince Imperial, his son, +sleep their sleep in England; for the Bonapartes, like the Bourbons, +have been exiled from Saint-Denis. By a decree of the 18th of November, +1858, the man who had re-established the Empire decided that the +imperial dynasty should have its sepulture in the ancient necropolis of +the kings. Napoleon III. no more, realized his dream than Napoleon I. +He had completed under his reign the magnificent vault destined for +himself and his race. But once more was accomplished the Sic vos non +vobis, and no imperial corpse has ever taken its place in the still +empty Napoleonic vault. The opening situated in the church, near the +centre of the nave, is at present closed by enormous flagstones framed +in copper bands; and as there is no inscription on these, many people +whose feet tread them in visiting the church do not suspect that they +have beneath them the stairway of six steps leading down to the vault +that was to be the burial place of emperors. "Oh, vanity! Oh, +nothingness! Oh, mortals ignorant of their destinies!" It is not enough +that contending dynasties dispute each other's crowns; their +covetousness and rivalry must extend to their tombs. Not enough that +sovereigns have been exiled from their country; they must be exiled +from their graves. Disappointments in life and in death. This is the +last word of divine anger, the last of the lessons of Providence. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +V +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE KING +</H3> + +<P> +Born at Versailles, the 9th of October, 1757, Charles X., King of +France and Navarre, was entering his sixty-eighth year at the time of +his accession to the throne. According to the portrait traced by +Lamartine, "he had kept beneath the first frosts of age the freshness, +the stature, the suppleness, and beauty of youth." His health was +excellent, and but for the color of his hair—almost white—he would +hardly have been given more than fifty years. As alert as his +predecessor was immobile, an untiring hunter, a bold rider, sitting his +horse with the grace of a young man, a kindly talker, an affable +sovereign, this survivor of the court of Versailles, this familiar of +the Petit-Trianon, this friend of Marie Antoinette, of the Princess of +Lamballe, of the Duchess of Polignac, of the Duke of Lauzun, of the +Prince de Ligne, preserved, despite his devotedness, a great social +prestige. He perpetuated the traditions of the elegance of the old +regime. Having lived much in the society of women, his politeness +toward them was exquisite. This former voluptuary preserved only the +good side of gallantry. +</P> + +<P> +The Count d'Haussonville writes in his book entitled Ma Jeunesse:— +</P> + +<P> +"I have often seen Charles X. on horseback reviewing troops or +following the chase; I have heard him, seated on his throne, and +surrounded with all the pomp of an official cortege, pronounce the +opening discourse of the session; I have many times been near him at +the little select fetes that the Duchess of Berry used to give, of a +morning, in the Pavilion de Marsan, to amuse the Children of France, as +they were then called, and to extend their acquaintance with the young +people of their own age. One day when I was visiting with my parents +some exposition of objects of art or flowers in one of the lower halls +of the Louvre, I saw him approach my mother—whom he had known in +England—with a familiarity at once respectful and charming. He plainly +wished to please those whom he addressed, and he had the gift of doing +so. In that kind of success he was rarely wanting, especially with +women. His physiognomy as well as his manner helped. It was open and +benevolent, always animated by an easy, perhaps a slightly commonplace +smile, that of a man conscious that he was irresistible, and that he +could, with a few amiable words, overcome all obstacles." +</P> + +<P> +The fiercest adversaries of Charles X. never denied the attraction +emanating from his whole personality, the chief secret of which was +kindliness. In his constant desire to charm every one that approached +him, he had a certain something like feminine coquetry. The Count of +Puymaigre, who, being the Prefect of the Oise, saw him often at the +Chateau of Compiegne, says:— +</P> + +<P> +"If the imposing tone of Louis XVIII. intimidated, it was not so with +Charles X.; there was rather danger of forgetting, pacing the room with +him, that one was talking with a king." +</P> + +<P> +Yet, whatever may be asserted, the new monarch never dreamed of +restoring the old regime. We do not believe that for a single instant +he had the insensate idea of putting things back to where they were +before 1789. His favorite minister, M. de Villele, was not one of the +great nobles, and the men who were to take the chief parts in the +consecration were of plebeian origin. The impartial historian of the +Restoration, M. de Viel-Castel, remarked it:— +</P> + +<P> +"Charles X. by this fact alone, that for three years he had actively +shared in affairs and saw the difficulty of them better, by the fact +that he was no longer exasperated by the heat of the struggle and by +impatience at the political nullity to which events had so long +condemned him, had laid aside a part of his former exaggeration. In the +lively satisfaction he felt in entering at last, at the age of +sixty-seven, upon the enjoyment of the supreme power by the perspective +of which his imagination had been so long haunted, he was disposed to +neglect nothing to capture public favor, and thus gain the chance to +realize the dreams of his life. His kindliness and natural courtesy +would have inspired these tactics, even if policy had not suggested +them." +</P> + +<P> +The dignity of the private life of the King added to the respect +inspired by his personality. His morals were absolutely irreproachable. +His wife, Marie Therese of Savoy, died the 2d of June, 1805; he never +remarried, and his conduct had been wholly edifying. The sacrifice he +made to God, in renouncing the love of women, after he lost his +well-beloved Countess of Polastron by death in 1803, was the more +meritorious, because, apart from the prestige of his birth and rank, he +remained attractive longer than men of his age. No such scandals as had +dishonored the court of nearly all his predecessors occurred in his, +and the most malevolent could not charge him with having a favorite. In +his home he was a man as respectable as he was attractive, a tender +father, a grandfather even more tender, an affectionate uncle, a +gentle, indulgent master for his servants. None of the divisions that +existed in the family of Louis XVIII. appeared in that of his +successor; perfect harmony reigned in the court of the Tuileries. +</P> + +<P> +Of a mind more superficial than profound, Charles X. did not lack +either in tact or in intelligence. He sincerely desired to do right, +and his errors were made in good faith, in obedience to the mandates of +his conscience. Lamartine, who had occasion to see him near at hand, +thus sums up his character:— +</P> + +<P> +"A man of heart, and impulsive, all his qualities were gifts of nature; +hardly any were the fruit acquired by labor and meditation. He had the +spirit of the French race, superficial, rapid, spontaneous, and happy +in the hazard of repartee, the smile kindly and communicative, the +glance open, the hand outstretched, the attitude cordial, an ardent +thirst for popularity, great confidence in his relations with others, a +constancy in friendship rare upon the throne, true modesty, a restless +seeking for good advice, a conscience severe for himself and indulgent +for others, a piety without pettiness, a noble repentance for the sole +weaknesses of his life, his youthful amours, a rational and sincere +love for his people, an honest and religious desire to make France +happy and to render his reign fruitful in the moral improvement and the +national grandeur of the country confided to him by Providence. All +these loyal dispositions were written on his physiognomy. A lively +frankness, majesty, kindness, honesty, candor, all revealed therein a +man born to love and to be loved. Depth and solidity alone were wanting +in this visage; looking at it, you were drawn to the man, you felt +doubts of the King." +</P> + +<P> +This remark, just enough at the end of Charles X.'s reign, was hardly +so at the outset. In 1824 people had no doubts of the man or of the +King. The French were content with Charles X., and Charles X. was +content with himself. +</P> + +<P> +The new King said to himself that his policy was the right one, +because, from the moment of his accession, all hatreds were appeased. +With the absolute calm enjoyed by France he compared the agitations, +plots, violence, the troubles and the fury of which it had been the +theatre under the Decazes ministry. From the day the Right had assumed +power, and Louis XVIII. had allowed his brother to engage in public +affairs, the victory of royalty had been complete and manifest. Charles +X. thought then that the results had sustained him; that foresight, +virtue, political sense, were on his side. Needless to say, every one +about him supported him in that idea, that he believed in all +conscience that he was in the right, obeying the voice of honor and +acting like a king and a Christian. Any other policy than his own would +have seemed to him foolish and cowardly. To hear his courtiers, one +would have said that the age of gold had returned in France; the +felicitations offered him took an idyllic tone. The Count of Chabrol, +Prefect of the Seine, said to him, January 1, 1825, at the grand +reception at the Tuileries:— +</P> + +<P> +"At your accession, Sire, a prestige of grace and power calmed, in the +depths of all hearts, the last murmur of the storm, and the peace that +we enjoy to-day is embellished by a charm that is yours alone." +</P> + +<P> +The same day the Drapeau Blanc said:— +</P> + +<P> +"Why is there an unusual crowd passing about the palace of the +cherished monarch and princes? It is watching with affection for a +glance or smile from Charles! These are the new-year gifts for the +people moved by love for the noble race of its kings. This glance, +expressing only goodness, this smile so full of grace, they long for +everywhere and always before their eyes. His classic and cherished +features are reproduced in every form; every public place has its bust, +every hut its image; they are the domestic gods of a worship that is +pure and without superstition, brought to our families by peace and +happiness." The aurora of Charles X.'s reign was like that of his +brother Louis XVI. The two brothers resembled travellers who, deceived +by the early morning sun and the limpid purity of the sky, set forth +full of joy and confidence, and are suddenly surprised by a frightful +tempest. The new James II. imagined that his royalty had brought his +trials to an end. It was, on the contrary, only a halt in the journey +of misfortune and exile. He believed the Revolution finished, and it +had but begun. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE DAUPHIN AND DAUPHINESS +</H3> + +<P> +At the accession of Charles X., the royal family, properly speaking, +consisted of six persons only,—the King, the Duke and Duchess of +Angouleme, the Duchess of Berry and her two children (the Duke of +Bordeaux and Mademoiselle). By the traditions of the monarchy, the Duke +of Angouleme, as son and heir of the King, took the title of Dauphin, +and his wife that of Dauphiness. The Duchess of Berry, who, under the +reign of Louis XVIII. was called Madame the Duchess of Berry, was by +right, henceforward, called simply Madame, a privilege that belonged to +the Duchess of Angouleme before she was Dauphiness. That is why the +Gymnase, the theatre under the special protection of the Duchess of +Berry, was called, after the new reign began, the Theatre de Madame. +</P> + +<P> +Born at Versailles the 5th of August, 1775, the Duke of Angouleme had +just entered on his fiftieth year. A tender and respectful son, an +irreproachable husband, a brave soldier, he was lacking in both +brilliant and solid qualities. His awkward air, his bashfulness, his +myopia, his manners rather bourgeois than princely, were against him. +He had nothing of the charm and grace of his father. But when one knew +him, it was easy to see that he had unquestioned virtues and real +worth. To Charles X. he was a most faithful subject and the best of +sons. In contrast with so many heirs apparent, who openly or secretly +combat the political ideas of their fathers, he was always the humble +and docile supporter of the throne. The Spanish expedition brought him +credit. In it he showed courage and zeal. The army esteemed him, and he +gave serious attention to military matters. A man of good sense and +good faith, he held himself aloof from all exaggerations. At the time +of the reaction of the White Terror, he had repudiated the fury of the +ultras, and distinguished himself by a praiseworthy moderation. He had +great piety, with out hypocrisy, bigotry, or fanaticism. The Count of +Puymaigre, in his curious Souvenirs, says:— +</P> + +<P> +"The Duke of Angouleme appeared to me to be always subordinated to the +will of the King, and he said to me one day very emphatically that his +position forbade any manifestation of personal sentiment, because it +was unbecoming in the heir apparent to sustain the opposition. Though +very religious, he did not share the exaggerated ideas of what was then +called the 'congregation,' and I recall that one day he asked me +brusquely: 'Are you a partisan of the missions?' As I hesitated to +reply, he insisted. 'No, my lord, in nowise; I think that one good cure +suffices for a commune, and that missionaries, by treating the public +mind with an unusual fervor, often bring trouble with them and at the +same time often lessen the consideration due to the resident priest.'" +</P> + +<P> +Married, on the 10th of June, 1799, to the daughter of Louis XVI. and +Marie Antoinette, the Duke of Angouleme had no children; but though the +sterilty of his wife was an affliction, he never complained of it. He +was not known to have either favorites or mistresses. The life of this +descendant of Louis XIV. and of Louis XV. was purity itself. There were +neither scandals nor intrigues about him. By nature irascible and +obstinate, he had modified this tendency of his character by reason and +still more by religion. Assiduous in his duties, without arrogance or +vanity, regarding his role as Prince as a mission given him by +Providence, which he wished to fulfil conscientiously, he had not the +slightest mental reservation in favor of restoring the old regime, and +showed, perhaps, more favor to the lieutenants of Napoleon than to the +officers of the army of Conde, his companions in arms. To sum up, he +was not an attractive prince, but he merited respect. The Count of +Puymaigre thus concludes the portrait traced by him:— +</P> + +<P> +"The manner, bearing, and gestures of the Duke of Angouleme cannot be +called gracious, especially in contrast with his father's manners; +doubtless it is not fair to ask that a prince, any more than another, +should be favored by nature, but it is much to be desired that he shall +have an air of superiority. The ruling taste of the Dauphin was for the +chase. He also read much and gave much time to the personnel of the +army. Retiring early, he arose every morning at five o'clock, and +lighted his own fire. Far from having anything to complain of in him, I +could only congratulate myself on his kindness." +</P> + +<P> +The Dauphiness, Marie-Theresa-Charlotte of France, Duchess of +Angouleme, born at Versailles the 19th of December, 1778, was +forty-five years old when her uncle and father-in-law, Charles X., +ascended the throne. She was surrounded by universal veneration. She +was regarded, and with reason, as a veritable saint, and by all parties +was declared to be sans peur et sans reproche. +</P> + +<P> +The Duchess of Angouleme, shunning the notoriety sought by other +princesses, preferred her oratory to the salons. Yet her devotion had +nothing mean or narrow in it. Despite the legendary catastrophes that +weighed upon her, she always appeared at fetes where her presence was +demanded. She laughed with good heart at the theatre, and there was +nothing morose or ascetic in her conversation. She never spoke of her +misfortunes. One day she was pitying a young girl who suffered from +chilblains. "I know what it is," she said; "I have had them." Then she +added, without other comment: "True, the winters were very severe at +that time." She did not wish to say that she had had these chilblains +while a prisoner in the Temple, when fuel was refused to her. +</P> + +<P> +But if the Princess never spoke of herself, she never ceased to think +of the martyrs for whom she wept. At the Tuileries, she occupied the +Pavillon de l'Horloge and the Pavillon de Flore, the first floor +apartments that had been her mother's. She used for her own a little +salon hung with white velvet sown with marguerite lilies. This tapestry +was the work of the unhappy Queen and of Madame Elisabeth. In the same +room was a stool on which Louis XVII. had languished and suffered. It +served as prie-dieu to the Orphan of the Temple. There was in this +stool a drawer where she had put away the remaining relics of her +parents: the black silk vest and white cravat worn by Louis XVI. the +day of his death; a lace bonnet of Marie Antoinette, the last work done +by the Queen in her prison of the Conciergerie, which Robespierre had +had taken from her on the pretext that the widow of the Christian King +might kill herself with her needle or with a lace-string; finally some +fragments of the fichu which the wind raised from the shoulders of +Madame Elisabeth when the angelic Princess was already on the scaffold. +The Dauphiness, who usually dined with the King, dined alone on the +21st of January and the 16th of October. She shut herself in the +chamber where she had collected these relics and passed the whole day +and evening there in prayer. +</P> + +<P> +The charity of the pious Princess was inexhaustible. Almost all her +revenue was expended in alms. She would not have receipts signed by +those to whom she distributed relief. "The duty of givers," she said, +"is to forget their gifts and the names of those who receive them; it +is for those who receive to remember." Nor did she ever ask the +political opinions of those she relieved. To be unfortunate, sufficed +to excite her interest. One day Sister Rosalie, charged by the Princess +with paying a pension to a man whose ill conduct she had discovered, +thought it her duty to notify the benefactress, and suspend the succor. +"My sister," replied the Dauphiness, "continue to pay this man his +pension. We must be charitable to the good that they may persevere, and +to the bad that they may become better." Sunday, when the Princess did +no work, she passed the evening in detaching the wax seals from letters +and envelopes. This wax, converted into sticks, produced one thousand +francs a year, which she sent to a poor family. She gave much, but only +to Frenchmen and Frenchwomen. She replied to every demand for aid for +foreigners that she was sorry not to comply with the request, but she +should feel that she was doing an injustice to give to others while +there was a single Frenchman in need. On each anniversary of mourning +she doubled her alms. +</P> + +<P> +The existence of the Dauphiness at the Tuileries passed with extreme +regularity. A very early riser, like her husband, she made her toilet +herself, having learned to help herself in her captivity in the Temple. +She used to breakfast at six o'clock, and at seven daily attended the +first Mass in the chapel of the Chateau. There was a second at nine +o'clock for the Dauphin, and a third at eleven for the King. From eight +to eleven she held audiences. She retired at ten o'clock, and only +prolonged the evening to eleven when, she visited the Duchess of Berry, +for whom she had a great affection, and whose children she saw two or +three times a day. A devoted companion of Charles X., she always went +with him to the various royal chateaux. The Count of Puy maigre says in +his Souvenirs:— +</P> + +<P> +"The Dauphiness having by her kindness accustomed me to speaking +freely, I used this privilege without embarrassment, but always +observing that measure which keeps a man of good society within just +limits, equally careful not to put himself ridiculously at ease and not +to be so abashed by exaggerated respect as to become insipid. I have +always thought that a princess no more than any other woman likes to be +bored. I talked much with her in the carriage, seeking to amuse the +Princess with a few anecdotes, and I did not fear to discuss serious +things with her, on which she expressed her self with real sagacity. +When she was accused of want of tact in the numerous receptions of +which one had to undergo the monotony, it was often the fault of her +immediate companions, who neglected to give her suitable information as +to the various persons received. How many times I have hinted to her to +speak to some devoted man, who regarded a word from the Princess as a +signal favor, to yield to requests, perhaps untimely, to visit some +establishment, to receive the humble petitions of a mayor, a cure, or a +municipal council. I will not deny that she had a sort of brusqueness, +partly due to an exceedingly high voice, and moments of ill humor, +transient no doubt, but which nevertheless left a painful impression on +those who were subjected to them. Madame the Dauphiness made no mistake +as to the state of France; she was not the dupe of the obsequiousness +of certain men of the court, and merit was certain to obtain her +support whether it had been manifested under the old or the new regime; +but she had not the influence she was supposed to have, and I doubt if +she tried to acquire it." +</P> + +<P> +One day the Princess was talking to the Prefect of the Oise about the +great noblemen who had possessions in the Department. +</P> + +<P> +"Have they any influence over the people?" she asked him. +</P> + +<P> +"No, Madame, and it is their own fault. M. de La Rochefoucauld is the +only one who is popular, but his influence is against you. As to the +others, greedy of the benefits of the court, they come to their estates +only to save money, to regulate their accounts with their managers, and +the people, receiving no mark of their interest, acknowledge no +obligation to them." +</P> + +<P> +"You are perfectly right," replied the Dauphiness, "that is not the way +with the English aristocracy." +</P> + +<P> +"She saw with pain," adds M. de Puymaigre, "the marriages for money +made by certain men of the court, but not when they allied themselves +with an honorable plebeian family; her indignation was justly shown +toward those who took their wives in families whose coveted riches came +from an impure source." +</P> + +<P> +The extraordinary catastrophes that had fallen on the daughter of Louis +XVI. and Marie Antoinette had been a great experience for her, and she +was not surprised at the recantations of the courtiers. The Hundred +Days had, perhaps, suggested even more reflections to her than her +captivity in the Temple or her early exile. She could not forget how, +in 1815, she had been abandoned by officers who, but the day before, +had offered her such protestations and such vows. In the midst of +present prosperity she had a sort of instinct of future adversity. +Something told her that she was not done with sorrow, and that the cup +of bitterness was not drained to the dregs. While every one about her +contemplated the future with serene confidence, she reflected on the +extreme mobility of the French character, and still distrusted +inconstant fortune. The morrow of the birth of the Duke of Bordeaux one +of her household said to her:— +</P> + +<P> +"Your Highness was very happy yesterday." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, very happy yesterday," responded the daughter of Louis XVI., "but +to-day I am reflecting on the destiny of this child." +</P> + +<P> +To any one inclined to be deceived by the illusions of the prestige +surrounding the accession of Charles X., it ought to have sufficed to +cast a glance on the austere countenance of the Orphan of the Temple, +to be recalled to the tragic reality of things. The King had for his +niece and daughter-in-law an affection blended with compassion and +respect. The pious and revered Princess gave to the court a character +of gravity and sanctity. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MADAME +</H3> + +<P> +The Duchess of Angouleme and the Duchess of Berry lived on the best of +terms, showing toward each other a lively sympathy. Yet there was +little analogy between their characters, and the two Princesses might +even be said to form a complete contrast, one representing the grave +side, the other the smiling side of the court. +</P> + +<P> +Born November 7, 1798, and a widow since February 14, 1820, Madame (as +the Duchess of Berry was called after the Duchess of Angouleme became +Dauphiness) was but twenty-five when her father-in-law, Charles X., +ascended the throne. She was certainly not pretty, but there was in her +something seductive and captivating. The vivacity of her manner, her +spontaneous conversation, her ardor, her animation, her youth, gave her +charm. Educated at the court of her grandfather, Ferdinand, King of +Naples, who carried bonhomie and familiarity to exaggeration, and lived +in the company of peasants and lazzaroni, she had a horror of +pretension and conceit. Her child-like physiognomy had a certain +playful and rebellious expression; slightly indecorous speech did not +displease her. This idol of the aristocracy was simple and jovial, +mingling in her conversation Gallic salt and Neapolitan gaiety. In +contrast with so many princesses who weary their companions and are +wearied by them, she amused herself and others. Entering a family +celebrated by its legendary catastrophes, she had lost nothing of the +playfulness which was the essence of her nature. The Tuileries, the +scene of such terrible dramas, did not inspire her as it did the +Duchess of Angouleme, with sad reflections. When she heard Mass in the +Chapel of the Chateau, she did not say to herself that here had +resounded the furies of the Convention. The grand apartments, the court +of the Carrousel, the garden, could not recall to her the terrible +scenes of the 20th of June and the 10th of August. When she entered the +Pavillon de Flore, she did not reflect that there had sat the Committee +of Public Safety. The Tuileries were, to her eyes, only the abode of +power and pleasure, an agreeable and beautiful dwelling that had +brought her only happiness, since there she had given birth to the +Child of Europe, the "Child of Miracle." +</P> + +<P> +The Duchess of Berry thought that a palace should be neither a barracks +nor a convent nor a prison, and that even for a princess there is no +happiness without liberty. She loved to go out without an escort, to +take walks, to visit the shops, to go to the little theatres, to make +country parties. She was like a bird in a gilded cage, which often +escapes and returns with pleasure only because it has escaped. She was +neither worn out nor blasee; everything interested her, everything made +her gay; she saw only the good side of things. In her all was +young—mind, character, imagination, heart. Thus she knew none of those +vague disquietudes, that causeless melancholy, that unreasoned sadness, +from which suffer so many queens and so many princesses on the steps of +a throne. +</P> + +<P> +Gracious and simple in her manners, modest in her bearing, more +inclined to laughter and smiles than to sobs and tears, satisfied with +her lot despite her widowhood, she felt happy in being a princess, in +being a mother, in being in France. Flattered by the homage addressed +to her on all sides, but without haughty pride in it, she protected art +and letters with out pedantry, rejuvenated the court, embellished the +city, spread animation wherever she was seen, and appeared to the +people like a seductive enchantress. Those who were at her receptions +found themselves not in the presence of a coldly and solemnly majestic +princess, but of an accomplished mistress of the house bent on making +her salon agreeable to her guests. There was in her nothing to abash, +and by her gracious aspect, her extreme affability, she knew how to put +those with whom she talked at their ease, while wholly preserving her +own rank. She was not only polite, she was engaging, always seeking to +say something flattering or kindly to those who had the honor to +approach her. If she visited a studio, she congratulated the artist; in +a shop she made many purchases and talked with the merchants with a +grace more charming to them, perhaps, than even her extreme liberality. +If she went to a theatre, she enjoyed herself like a child. The select +little fetes given by her always had a character of special originality +and gaiety. +</P> + +<P> +The Dauphiness had a higher rank at court than Madame, because she was +married to the heir of the throne. But as she took much less interest +in social matters, she did not shine with so much eclat. The Duchess of +Berry was the queen of elegance. In all questions of adornment, toilet, +furniture, she set the fashion. A commission as "tradesman of Madame" +was the dream of all the merchants. Sometimes, on New Year's Day, her +purchases at the chief shops were announced in the Moniteur. There were +hardly any chroniques in the journals under the Restoration. A simple +"item" sufficed for an account of the most dazzling fetes. If the +customs of the newspapers had been under the reign of Charles X. what +they are now, the Duchess of Berry would have filled all the "society +notes," and the objective point of every "reporter," to use an American +expression, would have been the Pavillon de Marsan, the "Little +Chateau," as it was then called. There indeed shone in all their +splendor the stars of French and foreign nobility, the women who +possessed all sorts of aristocracy—of birth, of fortune, of wit, and +of beauty. This little circle of luxury and elegance excited less +jealousy and less criticism than did the intimate society of Marie +Antoinette in the last part of the old regime, because in the Queen's +time, to frequent the Petit Trianon was the road to honors, while under +Charles X. the intimates of the Pavillon de Marsan did not make their +social pleasures the stepping-stone to fortune. +</P> + +<P> +The Duchess of Berry never meddled in politics. Doubtless her +sympathies, like those of the Dauphiness, were with the Right, but she +exercised no influence on the appointment of ministers and +functionaries. Charles X. never consulted her about public affairs; the +idea would never have occurred to the old King to ask counsel of so +young and inexperienced a woman. +</P> + +<P> +It is but justice to the Princess to say that while wholly inclined +toward the Right, she had none of the exaggeration of the extremists in +either her ideas or her attitude, and that, repudiating the arrogance +and prejudices of the past, she never, in any way, dreamed of the +resurrection of the old regime. She was liked by the army, being known +as a good rider and a courageous Princess. When she talked with +officers she had the habit of saying things that went straight to their +hearts. There was no difference in her politeness to the men of the old +nobility or to the parvenus of victory. The former servitors of +Napoleon were grateful for her friendliness to them, and perhaps they +would always have respected the white flag—the flag of Henry IV., had +it been borne by the gracious hand of his worthy descendant. To sum up, +she was what would be called to-day a very "modern" Princess; her role +might well have been to share the ideas and aspirations of the new +France. +</P> + +<P> +The Duchess of Berry led a very active life. When she came to France +she was in the habit of rising late. But her husband, who believed the +days to be shorter for princes than for other men, showed that he +disliked this, and after that the Princess would not remain in bed +after six o'clock, winter or summer. As soon as she was ready she +summoned her children, and for half an hour gave them her instructions. +On leaving them, she went to hear Mass, and then breakfasted. Next came +the walks, almost always with a useful object in view. Sometimes it was +a hospital to which Madame carried relief, some times an artist's +studio, a shop, an industrial establishment that she encouraged by her +purchases and her presence. On her return she busied herself with the +tenderest and most conscientious care in the education of the two +daughters whom her husband had left to her, and who have since become, +one the Baroness of Chorette, the other the Princess of Lucinge. +Audiences took up the remainder of the morning, sometimes lasting to +dinner time. When some one said to her one day that she must be very +tired of them, she replied: "During all that time I am told the truth, +and I find as much pleasure in hearing it as people of society do in +reading romances." +</P> + +<P> +Madame was very charitable. She devoted to the poor an ordinary and an +extraordinary budget. The tenth of her revenue was always applied to +the relief of the unfortunate, and was deposited by twelfths, each +month, with her First Almoner. This tithe was distributed with as much +method as sagacity. A valet de chambre, each evening, brought to the +Princess the day's petitions for relief. Madame classified them with +her own hand in alphabetical order, and registered and numbered them. +Whatever the hour, she never adjourned this task to the morrow. The +private secretary then went over these petitions and presented an +analysis of them to the Princess, who indicated on the margin what she +wished to give. This was the ordinary budget of the poor, the tenth of +Madame's revenue. But she had, besides, an extraordinary budget of +charity for the unfortunate who were the more to be respected because +they concealed themselves in obscurity and awaited instead of seeking +help. It often happened that the Princess borrowed in order to give +more. The total of her revenues amounted to 1,730,000 +francs,—1,500,000 francs from the Treasury, 100,000 francs in Naples +funds, coming from her dower, and 130,000 francs from her domain of +Rosny. Madame expended all in alms or in purchases intended to +encourage the arts and commerce. +</P> + +<P> +The Duchess of Angouleme and the Duchess of Berry each had in the +environs of Paris a pleasure house, which was their Petit Trianon, +where they could lead a simpler life, less subject to the laws of +etiquette than in the royal Chateaux. That of the Dauphiness was +Villeneuve-l'Etang; and that of Madame, Rosny. The first had been +bought of Marshal Soult by the Duchess of Angouleme in 1821. When she +rode from Paris, this was always her destination. When she lived at +Saint Cloud, she often set out on foot in the early morning alone, and +followed across the park a little path known as the "road of the +Dauphiness," to a little gate of the Chateau of Villeneuve-l'Etang, of +which she carried the key. +</P> + +<P> +Rosny is a chateau situated in the Department of Seine-et-Oise, seven +kilometres from Mantes, where Sully, the famous minister of Henry IV., +was born, and which had been bought in 1818 by the Duke of Berry. It +was the favorite resort of Madame. She went there often and passed a +great part of the summer. There she lived the life of a simple private +person, receiving herself those who came to offer homage or request +aid. The village of Rosny profited by the liberality of the Chateau, La +Quotidienne said in an article reproduced by the Moniteur:— +</P> + +<P> +"Since Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Berry has owned the estate of +Rosny, her sole occupation has been to secure the happiness of this +country. Every journey she makes is marked by some act of goodness. +Besides the Hospital of Saint-Charles, a monument of her beneficence +and piety, which is open to all the sick of the country, she sends out +relief to the homes of the needy every day. The houses that rise in the +village replace wretched huts, and give a more agreeable and cheerful +aspect to the place. The children of either sex, the object of her most +tender solicitude, are taught at her expense. At every journey Madame +honors them with a visit and encourages them with prizes which she +condescends to distribute herself." +</P> + +<P> +In his Souvenirs Intimes the Count de Mesnard, First Equerry of the +Duchess of Berry, writes:— +</P> + +<P> +"The King, Charles X., did not recognize in his daughter-in-law nearly +the solidity that she had. He believed her to be light-minded, and only +looked upon her as a great child, though he loved her much and her +gaiety pleased him beyond measure, being himself of a gay nature. You +may have heard that one day Madame rode in an omnibus. That is not +correct. But it is true that one day Her Royal Highness said to the +King:— +</P> + +<P> +"'Father, if you will wager ten thousand francs, I will ride in an +omnibus to-morrow.' +</P> + +<P> +"'It's the last thing I should do, my dear,' replied His Majesty. 'You +are quite crazy enough to do it.'" +</P> + +<P> +M. de Mesnard adds this reflection: "What the King regarded as folly +was only the appearance of it. There was in Madame a rich fund of +reason, justice, and humanity. Independently of all the acts of +beneficence daily done here, Madame employs still more considerable +sums in the support of young girls in the convents of Lucon and Mantes, +and in several other establishments. There are in the colleges a large +number of young people of families of modest fortune, whose expenses +she pays. The Hospital of Rosny alone costs Madame from twenty thousand +to twenty-five thousand francs a year. The exhaustless bounty of this +august Princess extends to all. There is no sort of aid that Her Royal +Highness does not take pleasure in according: subscriptions without +interest for her, for concerts that she will not hear, for benefit +performances that she will not see, everything gets a subscription from +her, and it all costs more than is convenient with the Princess's +revenue. Sometimes it happens that her funds are exhausted, and as her +benevolence never is, embarrassment follows." +</P> + +<P> +Apropos of this the Count de Mesnard relates a touching anecdote. One +winter exceedingly cold, the Duchess of Berry was about to give a fete +in the Pavillon de Marsan. During the day she had supervised the +preparations. Things were arranged perfectly, when all at once her face +saddened. She was asked respectfully what had displeased her. "What icy +weather!" she cried. "Poor people may be dying of cold and hunger +to-night while we are taking our delights. That spoils my pleasure." +Then she added emphatically: "Go call the Marquis de Sassenay" (her +Treasurer). +</P> + +<P> +The Marquis came promptly. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur," said the good Princess, "you must write instantly to the +twelve mayors of Paris, and in each letter put one thousand francs to +be expended in wood, and distributed this very night to the poor +families of each arrondissement. It is very little, but it may save +some unfortunates." +</P> + +<P> +The Treasurer responded: "Madame, I should be eager to obey the orders +of Her Royal Highness, but she has nothing, or almost nothing, in her +treasury." +</P> + +<P> +A feeling of discontent was strongly depicted on the face of Madame, +who was about to give expression to it, when M. de Mesnard hastened to +say that the funds of the First Equerry were in better state than those +of the Treasurer, and remitted to the latter the twelve thousand +francs, which were distributed to the poor that evening according to +the Princess's wishes. +</P> + +<P> +The Duchess of Berry had the double gift of pleasing and making herself +loved. All the persons of her household, all her servitors, from the +great nobles and great ladies to the domestics and the chamber-maids, +were deeply devoted to her. Poor or rich, she had attentions for all. +Listen to the Count de Mesnard:— +</P> + +<P> +"Madame is incessantly making presents to all who approach her. At New +Year's her apartments are a veritable bazaar furnished from all the +shops of Paris; her provision, made from every quarter, is universal, +from bon-bons to the most precious articles—everything is there. +Madame has thought of each specially; the people of her own service are +not forgotten any more than the ladies and officers of her household; +father, mother, children, every one, is included in the distribution. +The royal family naturally comes first; next, the numerous relatives of +the Palais Royal, of whom she is very fond; then her family at Naples, +which is also numerous; and finally all of us, masters and servants, we +all have our turn." +</P> + +<P> +No one, we think, has made a more exact portrait of the Duchess of +Berry than the Count Armand de Pontmartin, who is so familiar with the +Restoration. In his truthful and lively Souvenirs d'un vieux critique, +how well he presents "this flower of Ischia or of Castellamare, +transplanted to the banks of the Seine, under the gray sky of Paris, to +this Chateau des Tuileries, which the revolutions peopled with phantoms +before making it a spectre." +</P> + +<P> +How really she was "this good Duchess, so French and so Neapolitan at +once, half Vesuvius, half school-girl, whom nothing must prevent us +from honoring and loving." The chivalric and sentimental rhetoric of +the time, the elegies of the poets, the noble prose of Chateaubriand, +the tearful articles of the royalist journals, have condemned her to +appear forever solemn and sublime. It was sought to confine her youth +between a tomb and a cradle. But as M. de Pontmartin so finely remarks: +"At the end of two or three years her true nature appears beneath this +artificial drapery. Amusements recommence, distractions abound. The +Princess is no longer a heroine; she is a sprite. The beach of Dieppe +sings her praises better, a thousand times better, than the chorus of +courtiers. She loves pleasure, but she wishes every pleasure to be a +grace or a benefit. She creates a mine of gold under the sand of the +Norman coast; she pacifies political rancor and soothes the wounds of +the grumblers of the Grand Army. She makes popular the name of Bourbon, +which had suffered from so much ingratitude. The Petit-Chateau, as her +delightful household was called, renews the elegant manners, the +exquisite gallantries of the court of Anne of Austria, and offers to +the romancers the models of which Balzac, later, made so much too free +use. There I see our amiable Duchess in her true element, not on the +kind of Sinai on which the writers of the white flag have perched her, +prodigal in their imitations of Bossuet,—between Jeanne d'Arc and +Jeanne Hachette, between Valentine de Milan and the Widow of Malabar." +</P> + +<P> +To sum up, the Duchess of Berry was to the court of Charles X. what the +Duchess of Burgundy was to that of Louis XIV. Her lovely youth +brightened everything. Let us do her this justice: despite a character +in appearance frivolous, she carried to a kind of fanaticism the love +of France and passion for French glory. There was one thing that the +gracious widow took very seriously,—the rights of her son. She would +have risked a thousand deaths to defend that child, who represented in +her heart the cause of the fatherland. Where he was concerned there was +in the attitude of this frail young woman something firm and decided. +To a sagacious observer, the amazon was already manifest under the lady +of society. She was like those officers who shine equally at the ball +and on the field of battle. Recognizing in her more than one +imperfection, she cannot be denied either courage, or intelligence, or +heart. By her qualities as by her defects she was of the race of Henry +IV. But she was more frank and more grateful than the Bearnais. +Doubtless she did not have the genius, the prodigious ability, the fine +and profound political sense, of that great man; but her nature was +better, her generosity greater, her character more sympathetic. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ORLEANS FAMILY +</H3> + +<P> +At the accession of Charles X., Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, chief +of the younger branch of the Bourbons, born at Paris, October 6th, +1773, was not yet fifty-seven years old. He married November 25th, +1809, Marie-Amelie, Princess of the Two Sicilies, whose father, +Ferdinand I., reigned at Naples, and whose mother, the Queen +Marie-Caroline, sister of Marie Antoinette, died at Venice, September +7th, 1814. Marie-Amelie, born April 26th, 1782, was forty-two years old +when Charles X. ascended the throne. Of her marriage with the Duke of +Orleans there were born five sons and four daughters:— +</P> + +<P> +1. Ferdinand-Philippe-Louis-Charles-Henri-Roulin, Duke of Chartres, +born at Palermo, September 3d, 1810. (When his father became King, he +took the title of Duke of Orleans, and died from a fall from his +carriage going from the Tuileries to Neuilly on the Chemin de la +Revolte, July 13th, 1842.) +</P> + +<P> +2. Louise-Marie-Therese-Caroline-Elisabeth, Mademoiselle d'Orleans, +born at Palermo the 3d of April, 1812. (She married the King of the +Belgians, Leopold I., August 9th, 1832, and died October 11th, 1850.) +</P> + +<P> +3. Marie-Christine-Caroline-Adelaide-Francoise-Leopoldine, Mademoiselle +de Valois, born at Palermo, April 12th, 1813. (She was designated by +the name of the Princess Marie, distinguished herself in the arts, made +the famous statue of Jeanne d'Arc, married October 17th, 1837, the Duke +Frederic William of Wurtemberg, and died January 2d, 1839.) +</P> + +<P> +4. Louis-Charles-Philippe-Raphael, Duke of Nemours, born at Paris, +October 25th, 1814. +</P> + +<P> +5. Marie-Clementine-Caroline-Leopoldine, Mademoiselle de Beaujolais, +born at Neuilly June 3d, 1817. (She was designated by the name of the +Princess Clementine, and married, April 20th, 1843, the Prince August, +of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.) +</P> + +<P> +6. Francois-Ferdinand-Philippe-Louis-Marie, Prince de Joinville, born +at Neuilly, August 14th, 1818. +</P> + +<P> +7. Charles-Ferdinand-Louis-Philippe-Emmanuel, Duke of Penthievre, born +at Paris, January 1st, 1820. (He died July 25th, 1828.) +</P> + +<P> +8. Henri-Eugene-Philippe-Louis, Duke d'Aumale, born at Paris, January +16th, 1822. +</P> + +<P> +9. Antoine-Marie-Philippe-Louis, Duke of Montpensier, born at Neuilly, +July 5th, 1824. +</P> + +<P> +The Duke of Orleans had a sister who lived with him at the Palais +Royal, and was reputed to be his Egeria. She was +Louise-Marie-Adelaide-Eugenie, Mademoiselle d'Orleans, as she was +called under the Restoration. Born August 23d, 1777, she had been +educated by Madame de Genlis, with her brother, and was said to be +attached to the ideas of the Liberal party. (It was she who in 1830 +decided Louis-Philippe to accept the crown, took the name of Madame +Adelaide, and died, unmarried, some days before the revolution of the +24th of February, 1848.) +</P> + +<P> +Marie-Amelie, Duchess of Orleans, was the sister of the Prince Royal of +the Two Sicilies, Ferdinand, father of the Duchess of Berry, and the +niece was very fond of her aunt. The two Princesses were united by +other bonds than those of blood. During all her infancy the Duchess of +Berry had lived with her aunt at Palermo and Naples. Both were +descended in direct line from the great Empress, Maria Theresa. Both +had greatly loved the Queen Marie-Caroline, of whom one was the +granddaughter, the other the daughter. Both professed great admiration +for the Martyr-Queen, Marie Antoinette, of whom one was the +grand-niece, the other the niece. The devotion and family feeling of +the Duchess of Orleans won every one's sympathy for her, and the +Duchess of Berry had a respectful attachment for her. Their relations +were as constant as they were friendly. There existed between the +Palais Royal and the Pavilion de Marsan, dwellings so near each other, +a friendship and neighborliness that left nothing to be desired. +</P> + +<P> +The Duke of Bordeaux and his sister, Mademoiselle, were very fond of +their little Orleans cousins. There was a certain pleasure in thinking +that the Duke of Chartres might one day become the husband of +Mademoiselle. This young Prince, already very amiable and sympathetic, +was the favorite of the Duchess of Berry. She said to herself that he +would be the son-in-law of her dreams. Every time that she went to the +Palais Royal, where her visits were incessant, she was received with +transports of affection. Nowhere did she enjoy herself more. +Louis-Philippe treated her with deference and courtesy. She believed +sincerely in his friendship, and any one who had shown in her presence +the least doubt of the loyalty of her aunt's husband would not have +ventured to complete the phrase expressing it. The Duchess of Berry was +to preserve this confidence until the Revolution of 1830. +</P> + +<P> +Charles X. had a kindly feeling, founded on very real sympathy, for the +Duke of Orleans and all his family. During the Emigration, as under the +reign of Louis XVIII., he had always maintained very cordial relations +with the Duke, and had tried to efface the bad memories of Philippe +Egalite. Charles X. was as confiding as Louis XVIII. was distrustful. +Optimist, like all good natures, the new King would not believe evil. +He attributed to others his own good qualities. Louis XVIII. always had +suspicions as to the Duke of Orleans. "Since his return," he said, in +1821, "the Duke of Orleans is the chief of a party without seeming to +be. His name is a threatening flag, his palace a rallying-place. He +makes no stir, but I can see that he makes progress. This activity +without movement is disquieting. How can you undertake to check the +march of a man who makes no step?" Every time the Duke attempted to +bring up the question of exchanging his title of Most Serene Highness +for that of Royal Highness, the King stubbornly resisted. "The Duke of +Orleans is quite near enough to the throne already," he replied to all +solicitations. "I shall be careful to bring him no nearer." +</P> + +<P> +This refusal was very depressing to the Duke. One circumstance rendered +it still more annoying. As a king's daughter, his wife was a Royal +Highness. By this title she enjoyed honors denied to her husband. When +she was present at court with him she was first announced, both doors +of the salon being opened: "Her Royal Highness, Madame the Duchess of +Orleans." Then one door having been closed, the usher announced: "His +Most Serene Highness, Monseigneur the Duke of Orleans." This +distinction was very disagreeable to the Duke. Charles X. hastened to +abolish it. September 21st, 1824, he accorded the title of Royal +Highness to the Duke of Orleans, and three days later he conferred this +title, so much desired, on the children of the sister of the Duke. The +latter showed his great pleasure. Though he might favor liberalism and +give pledges to democracy, he remained a Prince to the marrow of his +bones. He loved not only money, but honors, and attached extreme +importance to questions of etiquette. The memories of his childhood and +his early youth bound him to the old regime and despite appearances to +the contrary, this Prince, so dear to the bourgeois and to the National +Guard, was always by his tastes and aspirations a man of Versailles. +</P> + +<P> +Charles X. would gladly have said to the Duke of Orleans, as Augustus +to Cinna, speaking of his benefits:— +</P> + +<P> +"Je t'en avais comble, je t'en veux accabler." +</P> + +<P> +He was not content with according him a title of honor; he gave him +something much more solid, by causing to be returned to him, with the +consent of the Chambers, the former domain and privileges of the House +of Orleans. This was not easy. It required not only the good-will of +the Chateau, but the vote of the Chambers, and the majority was hardly +favorable to the Duke of Orleans, of whom it cherished the same +suspicions as Louis XVIII. The Duchess of Berry pleaded warmly the +cause of her aunt's husband, and conspired with Charles X. against the +Right, the members of which in this case believed it a service to +royalty to disobey the King. The opposition to the project seemed +likely to be so strong, that the government was obliged to commit a +sort of moral violence upon the Chamber of Deputies. The King directed +his ministers to join in some way the question of the apanages of the +House of Orleans with the disposition of his own civil list. The King +thought that the sentiments of the Chamber for himself and his family +would make them adopt the whole en bloc. It was a device of his +kindliness, a sort of smuggling in the King's coach, as was said by M. +de Labourdonnaye. A large number of deputies demanded a division of the +question. The ministers had to make great efforts and mount the tribune +many times to defend the measure, which passed only by a very feeble +majority. The Duke of Orleans, now at the very height of his desires, +thanked Charles X. with effusion. +</P> + +<P> +Nor was this all; from the millions of indemnity to the emigres, the +Duke of Orleans drew 14,000,000 francs. The opposition chiefs of the +Left imitated the Prince and profited largely by the law that they had +opposed and condemned. The Duke of Choiseul obtained 1,100,000 francs, +the Duke of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt 1,400,000 francs, M. Gaetan de +La Rochefoucauld 1,429,000 francs, General Lafayette himself 1,450,000 +francs. +</P> + +<P> +The Orleanist party was already beginning to take form, perhaps without +the knowledge of its chief. In his pamphlets of 1824, Paul-Louis +Courier devoted himself to separating the older from the younger branch +of the House, declaring that he should like to be a resident of a +commune of Paris if the Duke of Orleans were its mayor, for from a +Prince the Duke had become a man during the Emigration, and had never +begged bread of a foreign hand. Louis-Philippe continued prudently the +role he had played at the end of the first Restoration and during the +Hundred Days. While professing an obsequious and enthusiastic respect +for Charles X., he secretly flattered the Bonapartists and the +Liberals. He sent his eldest son to the public school, as if to +insinuate that he remained faithful to the ideas of equality from which +his father had gained his surname. He made very welcome the coryphees +of the Opposition, such as General Foy and M. Laffitte, to the Palais +Royal, and received them in halls where the brush of Horace Vernet had +represented the great battles of the tricolor flag. When General Foy +died, in November, 1825, the Duke of Orleans put his name for ten +thousand francs to the subscription opened to provide a fund for the +children of the General. Some friendly representations were made from +the Chateau to the Palais Royal on this matter. It was answered that +the Duke of Orleans had subscribed not as Prince, but as a friend, and +in private called attention to the modesty of the gift compared with +others, with that of M. Casimir Perier, for example, which amounted to +fifty thousand francs. This excuse was satisfactory at the Tuileries. +</P> + +<P> +Is this saying that Louis-Philippe was already at this time thinking of +dethroning his benefactor, his relative, and his King? We think not. He +profited by the errors of Charles X.; but if Charles X. had not +committed them, the idea of usurpation would not have occurred to the +mind of the chief of the younger branch. Men are not so profoundly good +or so profoundly wicked. They let themselves be carried further than +they wish, and if the acts they are to commit some day were foretold +them, the prophecies would most often seem to them as impossible as +insulting. +</P> + +<P> +Madame de Gontaut, Governess of the Children of France, recounts an +incident that took place at the Louvre, December 22d, 1824, at the +opening of the session of the Chambers: "The crowd was prodigious. The +Dauphiness and the Duchess of Berry and Mademoiselle d'Orleans were +present in one of the bays. The Children of France were there. The +Duchess of Berry took the Duke of Bordeaux by her side. The Duchess of +Orleans called Mademoiselle, whom she loved tenderly, to her. The canon +announced the approach of the King. At the moment of his appearance the +hall resounded with acclamations. The platform for the royal family was +the one prepared for the late King; there had been left a slight +elevation in it, that the King did not see, and he stumbled on it. With +the movement his hat, held on his arm, fell; the Duke of Orleans caught +it. The Duchess of Orleans said to me:— +</P> + +<P> +"'The King was about to fall; my husband sustained him.' +</P> + +<P> +"I answered: 'No, Madame; Monseigneur has caught His Majesty's hat.' +</P> + +<P> +"The Dauphiness turned and looked at me. We did not speak of it until +six months after. Neither of us had forgotten it." +</P> + +<P> +A few years more and Charles X. was to drop, not his hat, but his crown. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PRINCE OF CONDE +</H3> + +<P> +At the time of the accession of Charles X., the family of Conde was +represented only by an old man of sixty-eight, Louis-Henri-Joseph de +Bourbon-Conde, born April 13th, 1756. At the death of his father in +1818, he had taken the title of Prince of Conde, while retaining that +of Duke of Bourbon, by which he had previously been designated. On the +10th of January, 1822, he lost his wife, Princess +Louise-Marie-Therese-Bathilde, sister of the Duke of Orleans, mother of +the unfortunate Duke d'Enghien, and he lost, on March 10th, 1824, his +sister, Mademoiselle de Conde, the nun whose convent of the Perpetual +Adoration was situated in the Temple near the site of the former tower +where Louis XVI. and his family had been confined. +</P> + +<P> +The Duke of Bourbon, in his youth, had had a famous duel with the Count +of Artois, the future Charles X. No resentment subsisted between the +two princes, who afterwards maintained the most cordial relations. +During the Emigration, the Duke of Bourbon served with valor in the +army of his father, the Prince of Conde. While the white flag floated +at the head of a regiment he was found fighting for the royal cause; +then, the struggle ended, he retired to England, where he had lived +near Louis XVIII., and always at his disposition. Returning to France +at the Restoration, he had since resided almost always at Chantilly or +at Saint-Leu, without his wife, from whom he had long been separated. +He was ranked as a reactionary, but busied himself little with +politics, and exerted no influence. +</P> + +<P> +The Count of Puymaigre, who, in his office as Prefect of the Oise, at +the commencement of the reign of Charles X., often went to Chantilly, +speaks of him in his Souvenirs:— +</P> + +<P> +"The name of my father, much beloved by the late Prince of Conde, more +than my title of Prefect, caused me to be received with welcome, and I +took advantage of it the more gladly, because I have never seen a house +where one was more at one's ease, and where there was more of that +comfortable life known before the Revolution as the chateau life. There +was little of the prince in him; he was more like an elderly bachelor +who liked to have about him joy, movement, pleasure, a wholly Epicurean +life. The society of Chantilly ordinarily consisted of the household of +the Prince; that is to say, old servitors of his father, some ladies +whose husbands held at this little court the places of equerries or +gentlemen of the chamber, some persons who were invited, or like +myself, had the right to come when they wished, and among this number I +frequently saw the Prince of Rohan, relative of the Duke of Bourbon, +disappointed since of the portion of the inheritance he hoped for; +finally, some Englishmen and their wives. The tone was quite free, +since the Prince set the example. And I recall that one day he +recommended me to be gallant with one of the English ladies, who, he +said, would like nothing better than to receive such attentions. That +seemed very likely to me, but she was not young enough to tempt me to +carry the adventure very far." +</P> + +<P> +The real chatelaine of this little court of Chantilly was a beautiful +Englishwoman, Sophie Dawes, married to a French officer, the Baron of +Feucheres. Born about 1795, in the Isle of Wight, Sophie Dawes was the +daughter of a fisherman. It is said that she was brought up by charity, +and played for some time at Covent Garden Theatre, London. But her +early life is unknown, and what is told of it is not trustworthy. In +1817, she was taken into the intimacy of the Duke of Bourbon, and +afterwards acquired an irresistible ascendancy over him. When she +became his inseparable companion, she explained her presence with him +by the story that she was his natural daughter, and the Duke avoided +confirming or denying this assertion. In 1818, he arranged a marriage +between his favorite and a very honorable officer, the Baron of +Feucheres, who believed, in good faith, that Sophie Dawes was really +the daughter of the Duke of Bourbon, and not his mistress. The marriage +was celebrated in England, but the pair returned to Chantilly. The +Baron of Feucheres figures in the royal Almanacs of 1821, 1822, 1823, +as lieutenant-colonel, gentleman in ordinary to the Duke of Bourbon, +Prince of Conde, but not in the Almanac of 1824. +</P> + +<P> +In a very interesting work, the Vie de Charles X. by the Abbe de +Vedrenne, the reader will find:— +</P> + +<P> +"By the marriage of Sophie Dawes, did the Duke of Bourbon wish to break +away from a guilty bond? It is generally believed. As to M. de +Feucheres, convinced that his wife was the daughter of the Prince, he +had no suspicion. It was Sophie Dawes herself who enlightened him, to +drive him away. The effect of the revelation was terrible. M. de +Feucheres, indignant, quitted his wife. There no longer remained about +the Prince any but the creatures of Madame de Feucheres. Every one did +her bidding at Chantilly, and the Prince most of all." +</P> + +<P> +The favorite sought to palliate her false situation in the eyes of +society by doing good with the Prince's money. The Count of Puymaigre +relates that she many times took him to the Hospital of Chantilly, +endowed by the munificence of the great Conde, the revenues of which +she wished to increase. He adds: "I urged her to this good work as much +as I could; for good, by whatever hand done, endures." +</P> + +<P> +One day the Duchess of Angouleme asked him if he went often to +Chantilly. +</P> + +<P> +"I go there," replied the Prefect, "to pay my court to the Duke of +Bourbon, whom I have the honor of having in my department." +</P> + +<P> +"That is very well," responded the Dauphiness, "but I hope that Madame +de Puymaigre does not go." +</P> + +<P> +The grand passion of the Duke of Bourbon was hunting. The Prefect of +the Oise says:— +</P> + +<P> +"It was particularly during the hunts of Saint-Hubert that Chantilly +was a charming abode. The start was made at seven o'clock in the +morning, and usually I was in the carriage of the Prince with the +everlasting Madame de Feucheres. The hunting-lodge was delightful and +in a most picturesque situation. There twenty or thirty persons met to +the sound of horns, in the midst of dogs, horses, and huntsmen. The +coursing train of the Prince was finer and more complete than that of +the King. A splendid breakfast was served at the place of rendezvous, +built and furnished in the Gothic style of the thirteenth century, and +there the chase began. Although I told the Prince that I was no hunter, +he often made me mount my horse and accompany him; but often having +enjoyed the really attractive spectacle of the stag, driven by a crowd +of dogs, which launched themselves after him across the waters of a +little lake, I hastened back to the Gothic pavilion where the ladies +and a few men remained." +</P> + +<P> +The Prince said one day to the Prefect:— +</P> + +<P> +"Decidedly, you do not love hunting." +</P> + +<P> +"But I might love it, my lord, if I had such an outfit." +</P> + +<P> +"That's because you don't know anything about it, my dear Puymaigre; +when I was in England, hunting all alone in the marshes with my dog +Belle, I enjoyed it much more than here." +</P> + +<P> +The Prefect thus concludes his description of life at Chantilly:— +</P> + +<P> +"Dinner was at six o'clock in the magnificent gallery where the +souvenirs of the great Conde were displayed in all their pomp, and the +eyes fell on fine pictures of the battles of Rocroy, Senef, Fribourg, +and Nordlingen, inspiring some regret for the life led by the heir of +so much glory. After dinner society comedy was played on a very pretty +stage, where the luxury of costumes was very great and the +mise-en-scene carefully attended to; and this did not make the actors +any better, although the little plays were tolerable. But Madame de +Feucheres wishing to play Alzire and to take the principal part, which +she doled out with sad monotony, without change of intonation from the +first line to the last, and with a strongly pronounced English accent, +it was utterly ridiculous, and Voltaire would have flown into a fine +passion had he seen one of his chefs-d'oeuvres mangled in that way. Who +could have told that this poor Prince, who, if he had neither the +virtues nor the dignity proper to his rank, was nevertheless a very +good fellow, would perish in 1830, in such a tragic manner?" +</P> + +<P> +Charles X. had a long standing affection for the Duke of Bourbon. On +September 21st, 1824, he conferred on him at the same time as on the +Duke of Orleans, the title of Royal Highness. The last of the Condes +was, besides, Grand Master of France. This court function was honorary +rather than real, and the Prince appeared at the Tuileries only on rare +occasions. Charles X. loved him as a friend of his childhood, a +companion of youth and exile, but he had a lively regret to see him +entangled in such relations with the Baroness of Feucheres. The advice +he gave him many times to induce him to break this liaison was without +result. Finally the King said: "Let us leave him alone; we only give +him pain." He never went to Chantilly, in order not to sanction by his +royal presence the kind of existence led there by his old relation; and +the Prince knowing the sentiments of his sovereign, gave him but few +invitations, which were always evaded under one pretext or another. +</P> + +<P> +People wondered at the time who would be the heirs of the immense +fortune of the Condes, whose race was on the point of extinction. The +Prince's mother was Charlotte-Elisabeth de Rohan-Soubise, and the +Rohans thought themselves the natural heirs. But such a combination +would not have met the views of Madame de Feucheres, who, not content +with having got from the Prince very considerable donations, counted on +figuring largely in his will. +</P> + +<P> +Nevertheless she was not without lively anxiety in that regard. The +Rohans had refused all compromise with her. If they were disinherited, +what would they say? Would they not attack the will on the ground of +undue influence? Such was the eventuality against which the prudent +Baroness intended to guard herself. In consequence she conceived the +bold project of sheltering her own wealth under the patronage of some +member of the royal family, in having him receive the fortune of the +old Prince under a will which at the same time should consecrate the +part to be received by her, and put it beyond all contest. She would +have wished the old Prince to choose his heir in the elder branch of +the House of Bourbon. But the Duchess of Berry, who was +disinterestedness itself, declined any arrangement of that nature. To +the insinuations made to her in favor of her son, she responded:— +</P> + +<P> +"Henri will be King. The King of France needs nothing." +</P> + +<P> +She did more. It is said that to the persons who bore these advances to +her, she suggested the idea of having the heritage of the Condes pass +to the family of the Duke of Orleans. But the thing was not easy. It is +true that the children of the Duke were, by their mother, Bathilde +d'Orleans, nephews of the wife of the Duke of Bourbon. But this Prince +had led a bad life with his wife, from whom he had separated +immediately after the birth of the Duke d'Enghien, and the souvenirs of +the Revolution separated him widely from a family whose political ideas +were not his. Yet the Duke and Duchess of Orleans were not discouraged. +They entered on negotiations a long time in advance with the Baroness +of Feucheres, who was in reality the arbiter of the situation. M. +Nettement relates that the first time that Marie-Amelie pronounced the +name of the Baroness in the presence of the Duchess of Angouleme, the +daughter of Louis XVI. said to her: "What! you have seen that woman!" +The Duchess of Orleans responded: "What would you have? I am a mother. +I have a numerous family; I must think before all of the interests of +my children." +</P> + +<P> +What is certain is that the Prince was induced to be the godfather of +the Duke d'Aumale, born the 6th of January, 1822, and that was a sort +of prelude to the will of 1830. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +X +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE COURT +</H3> + +<P> +Now let us throw a general glance over the court of the King, Charles +X., in 1825, the year of the consecration. +</P> + +<P> +The civil household of the King comprised six distinct services: those +of Grand Almoner of France, of the Grand Master of France, of the Grand +Chamberlain of France, of the Grand Equerry of France, of the Grand +Huntsman of France, and of the Grand Master of Ceremonies of France. +</P> + +<P> +The Grand Almoner was the Cardinal, Prince of Croy, Archbishop of +Rowen; the First Almoner, Mgr. Frayssinous, Bishop of Hermopolis; the +confessor of the King, the Abbe Jocard. Charles X., this monarch, +surrounded by great lords, knelt before a plebeian priest and demanded +absolution for his sins. There were, besides, in the service of the +Grand Almoner of France, eight almoners, eight chaplains, and eight +pupils of the chapel, serving in turns of four. +</P> + +<P> +The function of the Grand Master of France had as titulary the Duke of +Bourbon, Prince of Conde. But this Prince performed his duties only in +very rare and solemn circumstances. In fact, the service of the Grand +Master of France was directed by the First Steward, the Count of +Cosse-Brissac. There were besides four chamberlains of the House, the +Count de Rothe, the Marquis of Mondragon, the Count Mesnard de Chousy, +the Viscount Hocquart, and several stewards. +</P> + +<P> +The Grand Chamberlain of France was the Prince de Talleyrand. He +discharged his functions only on solemn occasions, such as the funeral +of Louis XVIII. and the consecration of Charles X. and the arrival of +the Duchess of Berry. In fact, the service of the Grand Chamberlain of +France was directed by one of the first gentlemen of the chamber. They +were four in number,—the Duke d'Aumont, the Duke of Duras, the Duke of +Blacas, the Duke Charles de Damas,—and performed their functions in +turn a year each. Every four years the King designated those who were +to serve during each of the following four years. Thus, the Royal +Almanac of 1825 has this notice:— +</P> + +<P> +First gentlemen of the chamber: 1825, the Duke d'Aumont; 1826, the Duke +of Duras; 1827, the Duke of Blacas; 1828, Count de Damas (afterwards +Duke). +</P> + +<P> +The first chamberlains, masters of the wardrobe, were five in number: +the Marquis de Boisgelin, the Count de Pradel, the Count Curial, the +Marquis d'Avaray, the Duke d'Avaray. There were besides thirty-two +gentlemen of the chamber, without counting those that were honorary. To +this same service belonged the readers, the first valets-de-chambre, +the ushers of the chamber, the musicians of the chamber, those of the +chapel and the service of the faculty. The entrees, a matter so +important in the ceremonies of courts, were also attached to this +service. +</P> + +<P> +By virtue of royal regulations of November 1st, December 31st, 1820, +and January 23d, 1821, the entrees at the Chateau of the Tuileries were +established as follows: They were divided in six classes: the grand +entrees, the first entrees of the Cabinet, the entrees of the Cabinet, +those of the Hall of the Throne, those of the first salon preceding the +Hall of the Throne, and last, those of the second salon. +</P> + +<P> +The grand entrees gave the privilege of entering at any time the +sleeping-room of the King. They belonged to the Grand Chamberlain, to +the first chamberlains—masters of the wardrobe. Next came the first +entrees of the Cabinet (this was the name of the hall which, during the +reign of Napoleon III., was designated as the Salon de Louis XIV., +because it contained a Gobelins tapestry representing the Ambassadors +of Spain received by the King). Persons who have the first entrees of +the Cabinet have the right to enter there at any time in order to have +themselves announced to the King, and there to await permission to +enter the main apartment. These first entrees of the Cabinet belong to +those who have to take the orders of the sovereign—to the grand +officers of his civil and military households, or, in their absence, to +the first officer of each service, to the major-general of the royal +guard on service, to the Grand Chancellor, to the minister-secretaries +of State, to the Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor, to the +captains of the King's bodyguard, to the Grand Quartermaster. +</P> + +<P> +Next come the entrees of the Cabinet (which must not be confused with +the first entrees of the Cabinet). These give to persons enjoying them +the right to enter that room usually a little before the hour fixed by +the King to hear Mass, and to remain there at will during the day, up +to the hour of the evening when the sovereign gives out the watchword. +They belong to the grand officers and to the first officers of the +civil and military households of the King, to the major-generals of the +royal guard and the lieutenant-general in service, to the cardinals, to +the Chancellor of France, to the minister-secretaries of State, to the +Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor, to the marshals of France, to +the Grand Referendary of the Chamber of Peers, to the President of the +Chamber of Deputies, and to all the officers of the King's household on +service. +</P> + +<P> +The persons and functionaries civil or military with a lower rank in +the hierarchy of the court have their entrees, some to the Hall of the +Throne, others to the first salon preceding the Hall of the Throne (the +Salon d'Apollon under Napoleon III.), and still others to the second +salon (communicating with the Hall of the Marshals, and called, under +Napoleon III., the Salon of the First Consul). +</P> + +<P> +The collective audience given to all having their entries was called +the public audience of the King. It took place when the King went to +hear Mass in his chapel, only on his return to re-enter his inner +apartment. Followed by all his grand officers and his first officers in +service, Charles X. passed to and paused in each of the rooms in his +outer apartment, in order to allow those having the right to be there +to pay their court to him. When he attended Mass in his inner +apartment, he gave a public audience only after that ceremony. He +paused in his Grand Cabinet, then in the Hall of the Throne, and +successively in the other rooms. +</P> + +<P> +When the King was ready to receive, the First Gentleman of the Chamber +gave notice to the grand officers and the first officers that they +might present themselves. Moreover, he placed before the King the list +of persons having entrees to his apartments or to whom he had accorded +them. On this list Charles X. indicated those he wished invited. +</P> + +<P> +There was no titular Grand Equerry of France. The First Equerry, +charged with the saddle-horses of the King, was the Duke of Polignac, +major-general. The two equerries-commandant were the Marquis of Vernon +and Count O'Hegerthy, major-general. There were, besides, four +equerries, masters of the horse, three each quarter, namely: for the +January quarter the Chevalier de Riviere, major-general; the Count +Defrance, lieutenant-general; the Baron Dujon, major-general;—for the +April quarter, the Colonel Viscount de Bongars; the Baron Vincent, +major-general; the Viscount Domon, lieutenant—general;—for the July +quarter, the Colonel Marquis de Martel, the Viscount Vansay, the Count +Frederic de Bongars;—for the October quarter, the Count de Fezensac, +major-general; the Colonel Marquis Oudinot, the Colonel Marquis de +Chabannes. The chief Equerries of the stable were the Viscount d'Abzac +and the Chevalier d'Abzac, both colonels. There were, besides, the +equerries in ordinary and the pupil-equerries. The pages belonged to +the service of the Grand Equerry of France. +</P> + +<P> +The Grand Huntsman was the Marshal Marquis of Lauriston, and the First +Huntsman, the Lieutenant-General Count de Girardin. There were also +huntsmen for the hunting-courses and huntsmen for the gunning-hunts of +the King. +</P> + +<P> +The Grand Master of Ceremonies was the Marquis of Dreux-Breze, and the +Master of Ceremonies the Marquis of Rochemore, major-general. There +were, besides, the aides, a king-at-arms and heralds-at-arms. +</P> + +<P> +All the civil household of the King worked with the greatest +regularity. Etiquette, carefully observed, though stripped of the +ancient minutiae, recalled the old usages of the French monarchy. All +that had been suppressed was what was puerile and weariness for the +courtiers and for the King himself. +</P> + +<P> +The military household of the King was a group of chosen troops. The +horse body-guards comprised five companies, each bearing the name of +its chief. The Duke d'Havre et de Croy, the Duke of Gramont, the Prince +of Poix, Duke de Mouchy, the Duke of Luxembourg, the Marquis de +Riviere. The chiefs of these companies, all five lieutenants-general, +were entitled captains of the guard. There was, besides, a company of +foot-guards in ordinary to the King, whose chief, the Duke of +Mortemart, major-general, had the title of captain-colonel, and whose +officers were some French, some Swiss. There was a Chief Quartermaster, +the Lieutenant-General Marquis de La Suze. +</P> + +<P> +The royal guard, composed of two divisions of infantry, two divisions +of cavalry, and a regiment of artillery, was under the command of four +marshals of France, Victor, Duke de Bellune; Macdonald, Duke de +Tarente; Oudinot, Duke de Reggio; Marmont, Duke de Raguse, all four of +whom had the title of major-general. +</P> + +<P> +The body-guards, the Swiss, the royal guard, were the admiration of all +connoisseurs. The Emperor Napoleon never had had troops better +disciplined, of better bearing, clad in finer uniforms, animated by a +better spirit. +</P> + +<P> +To the household of the King must be added those of the Dauphin, the +Dauphiness, and the Duchess of Berry. The Dauphin had as first +gentlemen, the Duke of Damas and the Duke of Guiche, both +lieutenants-general; for gentlemen, the Count d'Escars and the Baron of +Damas, lieutenants-general; the Count Melchior de Polignac, +major-general; the Viscount de Saint Priest, and the Count de +Bordesoulle, lieutenants-general; the Count d'Osmond, +lieutenant-colonel. For aides-de-camp, the Baron de Beurnonville and +the Count de Laroche-Fontenille, major-generals; the Viscount of +Champagny, the Count of Montcalm, and the Baron Lecouteulx de Canteleu, +colonels; the Viscount de Lahitte, and the Duke de Ventadour, +lieutenant-colonels; the Count de La Rochefoucauld, chief of battalion. +</P> + +<P> +The household of the Dauphiness was composed as follows: a First +Almoner, the Cardinal de La Fare, Archbishop of Sens, with two almoners +serving semiannually, and a chaplain; a lady-of-honor, the Duchess of +Damas-Cruz; a lady of the bed chamber, the Viscountess d'Agoult; seven +lady companions, the Countess of Bearn, the Marchioness of Biron, the +Marchioness of Sainte-Maure, the Viscountess of Vaudreuil, the Countess +of Goyon, the Marchioness de Rouge, the Countess of Villefranche; two +gentlemen-in-waiting, the Marquis of Vibraye and the Duke Mathieu de +Montmorency, major-general; a First Equerry, the Viscount d'Agoult, +lieutenant-general, and two equerries, the Chevalier de Beaune and M. +O'Hegerthy. +</P> + +<P> +We shall devote a special chapter to the household of the Duchess of +Berry. +</P> + +<P> +The Count Alexandre de Puymaigre has left in his Souvenirs an account +of the manner in which the court employed the two weeks passed at +Compiegne in the month of October of each year. At 8 A.M., the King +heard Mass, where attendance was very exact except when the King +omitted to come, when no one came. At nine o'clock they set out for the +hunt, almost always with guns. One hundred to one hundred and fifty +hussars or chasseurs of the guard in garrison at Compiegne beat the +field, marching in line of battle, with the King in the middle: he had +at his right the Dauphin, at his left a captain of the guards, or such +person of the court as he was pleased to designate. These were the +three who alone had the right to fire. +</P> + +<P> +Behind the sovereign, apart from some persons connected with the +service of the hunt, came a master of the horse, the first huntsman, +and some persons admitted to the hunt. The King, who used a flintlock +gun, was a very good marksman. About five or six in the evening he +returned to the Chateau. The people of the court were gathered on the +steps, awaiting him. He usually addressed some affable words to them, +and then went to dress in order to be in the salon at seven o'clock. +</P> + +<P> +The captain of the guards, the first gentleman, the first huntsman, the +ladies and gentlemen in waiting of the princesses, the masters of the +horse, the colonel of the guard, dined with the King. The dinner was +choice, without being too sumptuous, but the wines were not of the +first order. The company remained at the table an hour, and each talked +freely with his or her neighbor, except those by the side of the +Dauphin or a Princess. There was music during the repast, and the +public was admitted to circulate about the table. The royal family +liked the attendance of spectators to be considerable. Thus care was +taken to give out a number of cards, in order that the promenade about +the table during the second service should be continuous. Often the +princesses spoke to the women of their acquaintance and gave candy to +the children passing behind them. +</P> + +<P> +After the coffee, which was taken at table, Charles X. and his guests +traversed the Gallery of Mirrors, leading to the salon between two +lines of spectators eager to see the royal family. The King next played +billiards while a game of ecarte was started. The agents for the +preservation of the forests and the pages of the hunt remained by the +door, inside, without being permitted to advance into the salon, which +was occupied only by persons who had dined with the King. +</P> + +<P> +After having had his game of billiards and left his place for other +players, Charles X. took a hand at whist, while the ecarte went on +steadily until, toward ten o'clock, the King retired. He was followed +to his sleeping-room, where he gave the watchword to the captain of the +body-guards, and indicated the hour of the meet for the next day. +</P> + +<P> +"Sometimes we then returned to the salon," adds the Count of Puymaigre, +who, in virtue of his office as Prefect of the Oise, dined with the +King, as well as the Bishop of Beauvais and the general commanding the +sub-division. "M. de Cosse-Brisac, the first steward, had punch served, +and we continued the ecarte till midnight or one o'clock, when we could +play more liberally, the Dauphiness having limited the stakes to five +francs. The Duchess of Berry was less scrupulous. After the withdrawal +of the princes we were glad to be more at ease; the talk became gay and +even licentious, and I will say here that all the men of the court whom +I have seen near the King, far from being what could be called devout +or hypocritical, as was believed in the provinces, were anything but +that; that they no more concealed their indifference in religious +matters than they did their diversity of political opinions, royalist +doubtless, but of divers grades; that no one was more tolerant than the +King; finally, that if an occult power, the existence of which I do not +deny, but the force of which has been exaggerated, acted on the mind of +the King, it had not its seat in what was called the court." +</P> + +<P> +Charles X. was deeply religious, a fervent believer, sincerely +Christian, and this Prince who but for his great piety might perhaps +have given excuse for scandal, led a life without reproach. But as +indulgent for others as he was severe to himself, he forced no one to +imitate his virtues, and his palaces were in no way like convents. As +was said by the Duke Ambroise de Doudeauville, for three years the +minister of the King's household, "his religion, despite all the stupid +things said of it, was very frank, very real, and very well understood." +</P> + +<P> +Rarely has a sovereign given such a good example to those about him. No +mistresses, no favorites, no scandal, no ruinous expenditures, no +excess of luxury; a gentle piety, extreme affability, perfect courtesy, +a constant desire to render France happy and glorious. The appearance +of Charles X. was that of a fine old man, gracious, healthy, amiable, +and respected. Persons of plebeian origin at his court were treated by +him with as much politeness and attention as the chiefs of the ancient +houses of France. His manners were essentially aristocratic, but +without arrogance or pretension. Full of goodness toward his courtiers +and his servitors, he won the love of all who approached him. His +tastes were simple, and personally he required no luxury. Habituated +during the Emigration to go without many things, he never thought of +lavish expenditure, of building palaces or furnishing his residences +richly. "Never did a king so love his people," says the Duke Ambroise +de Doudeauville, "never did a king carry self-abnegation so far. I +urged him one day to allow his sleeping-room to be furnished. He +refused. I insisted, telling him that it was in a shocking condition of +neglect. +</P> + +<P> +"'If it is for me,' he replied with vivacity, 'no; if it is for the +sake of the manufactures, yes.' +</P> + +<P> +"It was the same in everything. He had no whims and never listened to a +proposition by which he alone was to profit. He joined to these +essential qualities, manners that were wholly French, and mots that +often recalled Henry IV. We were always saying to each other, my +colleagues and I, 'If a king were made to order for France, he would +not be different.' What a misfortune for France, which he loved so +much, that he was not known better and more appreciated. This portrait, +I protest, is in nowise flattering; if this poor Prince were still +reigning, I would not say so much of him, above all in his presence; +but he is persecuted and is an exile; I owe my country the truth, +nothing but the truth." +</P> + +<P> +Let us add to the honor of Charles X. that he made of his personal +fortune and his civil list the noblest and most liberal use. +</P> + +<P> +"On the throne," says the Viscount Sosthenes de La Rochefoucauld," he +was generous to excess. In his noble improvidence of the future, he +considered his civil list as a sort of loan, made by the nation for the +sake of its grandeur, to be returned in luxury, magnificence, and +benefits. A faithful depositary, he made it a duty to use it all, so +that, stripped of his property, he carried into exile hardly enough for +the support of his family and some old servitors." +</P> + +<P> +To sum up, all who figured at the court of Charles X. agree in +recognizing that he was not a superior man, but a prince, chivalrous +and sympathetic, honest and of good intentions, who committed grave +errors, but did not deserve his misfortunes. In his appearance, in his +physiognomy, in thought and language, there was a mingling of grace and +dignity of which even his adversaries felt the charm. If posterity is +severe for the sovereign, it will be indulgent for the man. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE DUKE OF DOUDEAUVILLE +</H3> + +<P> +At the time of the consecration of Charles X., the minister of the +King's household was the Duke Ambroise de Doudeauville, father of the +Viscount Sosthenes de La Rochefoucauld. A philanthropic nobleman, +devoted to the throne, the altar, the Charter, and to liberty, +respectful for the past but thoughtful for the future, joining +intelligent toleration to sincere piety, faithful servitor but no +courtier to the King, the Duke of Doudeauville enjoyed the esteem of +all and had at court a high standing, due even more to his character +than to his birth. The volume of Memoirs that he has left does honor to +his heart as well as to his mind. There is grace and gaiety, depth and +charm, wisdom and courage, in this short but substantial book, where +appears in full light one of the most distinct types of the ancient +French society. "My years of grandeur and splendor," this author wrote, +"have passed like a dream, and I have beheld the awakening with +pleasure. I know not what my destiny shall be. As to my conduct, I +believe that I can affirm that it will be always that of an honest man, +a good Frenchman, a servant of God, desiring a Christian close to an +honorable life, the crown of every human edifice." +</P> + +<P> +The details given by the Duke of Doudeauville as to his early years are +very characteristic. He was born in 1765. He was entrusted to the care +of a nurse living two leagues from Paris in a little village, the wife +of a post-rider. His parents, when they came to see him, found "their +eighteen-months-old progeny astride of one of the horses of his +foster-father." Like Henry IV., he was raised roughly, leading the life +of a real peasant, running the day long, in sabots, through the snow +and ice and mud. "My nurse, who was retained as maid," he says, "was a +good peasant, and thoroughly proletarian. Afterwards, transferred to +the capital, she there preserved with her simple cap her frank and +rustic manners, to the admiration of all who knew her, and esteemed her +loyal character and her plain ways. It is to her, and to her alone, +that I am indebted for receiving any religious instruction either in +infancy or youth. Everything about me was wholly foreign to those +ideas; my religion was none the less fervent for that. From my earliest +years, being born brave, I felt the vocation of the martyr the most +desirable means of being joined to our Father which is in Heaven, and I +have always thought that to end one's days for one's God, one's wife +and family, was a touching and enviable death." +</P> + +<P> +The Duke of Doudeauville was still a child, and a little child—in +point of age he was fourteen and a day, in size he was four feet seven +inches—when he was married. He espoused Mademoiselle de Montmirail, of +the family of Louvois, who brought him, with a beauty he did not then +prize, a considerable fortune, the rank of grandee of Spain, and, worth +more than all, rare and precious qualities. Nevertheless, the little +husband was very sad. When his approaching marriage was announced to +him, he cried out, "Then I can play no longer!" When, after the first +interview, he was asked how he liked his fiancee, whose fresh face, +oval and full, was charming, he responded: "She is really very +beautiful; she looks like me when I am eating plums." Listen to his +story of the nuptials. "Imagine my extreme embarrassment," he says, "my +stupid disappointment, with my excessive bashfulness amid the numerous +concourse of visitors and spectators attracted by our wedding. The +grandfather of Mademoiselle de Montmirail, being captain of the +Hundred-Swiss, a great part of this corps was there, and, as if to play +me a trick, all these Hundred-Swiss were six feet tall, sometimes more. +One would have said, seeing me by the side of them, the giants and the +dwarf of the fair. Every one gazed at the bride, who, although she was +only fifteen, was as tall as she was beautiful, and every one was +looking for the bridegroom, without suspecting that it was this child, +this schoolboy, who was to play the part." +</P> + +<P> +Is it not amusing, this picture of a marriage under the old regime? The +little groom was so disturbed when he went to the chapel and during the +ceremony, that, though his memory was excellent, he never could recall +what passed at that time. "I only remember," he says, "the sound of the +drums that were beating during our passage, and cheered me a little; it +was the one moment of the day that was to my taste. How long that day +seemed! You may imagine it was not from the motives common in like +cases, but because I drew all glances upon me, and all vied in laughing +at and joking me, pointing their fingers at me." +</P> + +<P> +The day ended with a grand repast that lasted two or three hours. A +crowd of strangers strolled around the table all the while. Although +the precaution had been taken to put an enormous cushion on the chair +of the husband, his chin hardly came above the table. Seated by the +side of his young wife, he did not dare look at her. For days +beforehand he had been wondering if he should always be afraid of her. +</P> + +<P> +"After this solemn banquet," he adds, "came the soiree, which did not +seem any more amusing; after the soiree the return to my parents' home +was no more diverting; nevertheless, it was made in the company of my +dear spouse, who henceforth was to dwell at my father's house. They +bundled me into a wretched cabriolet with my preceptor, and sent me to +finish my education at Versailles, and to learn to ride at the +riding-school of the pages." +</P> + +<P> +We must note that the marriage thus begun was afterwards a very happy +union, and that there was never a pair more virtuous and more attached +to each other than the Duke and Duchess of Doudeauville. +</P> + +<P> +In 1789, the Duke was major of the Second Regiment of Chasseurs. He +emigrated, though the Emigration was not at all to his liking. "This +measure," he said, "appeared to me in every way unreasonable, and yet, +to my great chagrin, I was forced to submit to it. The person of the +King was menaced, right-thinking people compromised, the tranquillity +and prosperity of France lost; they were arming abroad, it was said, to +provide a remedy for these evils. The nobles hastened hither. Distaffs +were sent to all who refused to rally on the banks of the Rhine. How, +at twenty-five, could one resist this tide of opinion?" When he +perceived, in the foreign powers, the design of profiting by the +discords in France instead of putting an end to them, he laid aside his +arms, and never resumed them during the eight years of the Emigration. +"This resolve," he said, "was consistent with my principles. Always a +good Frenchman, I desired only the good of my country, the happiness of +my fellow-countrymen; my whole life, I hope, has been a proof of this +view. All my actions have tended to this end." +</P> + +<P> +During his eight years of emigration, the Duke of Doudeauville was +constantly a prey to anxiety, grief, poverty, trials of every kind. +Thirteen of his relatives were put to death under the Terror. His wife +was imprisoned, and escaped the scaffold only through the 9th +Thermidor. He himself, having visited France clandestinely several +times, ran the greatest risks. In the midst of such sufferings his sole +support was the assistance of a devoted servant. "At the moment that I +write these lines," he says in his Memoirs, "I am about to lose my +domestic Raphael, the excellent man who, for fifty years, has given me +such proofs of fidelity, disinterestedness, and delicacy; I have +treated him as a friend; I shall grieve for him as for a brother." +</P> + +<P> +Misfortune had fortified the character of the Duke of Doudeauville. +Unlike other emigres, he had learned much and forgotten nothing. His +attitude under the Consulate and the Empire was that of a true +patriot.—Without joining the Opposition, he wished no favor. The sole +function he accepted was that of councillor-general of the Department +of the Marne, where he could be useful to his fellow-citizens without +giving any one the right to accuse him of ambitious motives. Nothing +would have been easier for him than to be named to one of the high +posts in the court of Napoleon, whose defects he disapproved, but whose +great qualities he admired. "Bonaparte," he said in his Memoirs, "had +monarchical ideas and made much of the nobility, especially that which +he called historic. I must confess, whatever may be said, that the +latter under his reign was more esteemed, respected, feted, than it has +been since under Louis XVIII. or Charles X. The princes feared to +excite toward it and toward themselves the envy of the bourgeois +classes, who would have no supremacy but their own. Napoleon, on the +contrary, having frankly faced the difficulty, created a nobility of +his own. Those who belonged to it, or hoped to, found it quite +reasonable that they should be given as peers the descendants of the +first houses of France." The Duchess of Doudeauville was a sister of +the Countess of Montesquiou, who was governess of the King of Rome, and +whose husband had replaced the Prince de Talleyrand as Grand +Chamberlain of the Emperor. Very intimate with the Count and Countess, +the Duke of Doudeauville had some trouble in avoiding the favors of +Napoleon, who held him in high esteem. He found a way to decline them +without wounding the susceptibilities of the powerful sovereign. +</P> + +<P> +Under the Restoration, the Duke of Doudeauville distinguished himself +by an honest liberalism, loyal and intelligent, with nothing +revolutionary in it, and by an enlightened philanthropy that won him +the respect of all parties. When he was named as director of the +post-office in 1822, many people of his circle blamed him for taking a +place beneath him. "Congratulate me," he said, laughing, "that I have +not been offered that of postman; I should have taken it just the same +if I had thought I could be useful." And he added: "It was thought that +it would be a sinecure for me. Far from that, I gave myself up wholly +to my new employment, and I worked so hard at it, than in less than a +year my eyes, previously excellent, were almost ruined. I always +occupied fifteen or twenty places, each more gratuitous than the +others. To make the religion that I practise beloved and to serve my +neighbor, has always seemed to me the best way to serve God. So I +believe that I can say without fear of contradiction that I have never +done any one harm, and that I have always tried to do all the good +possible." +</P> + +<P> +In the month of August, 1824, the Duke of Doudeauville was named +minister of the King's household. In this post he showed administrative +qualities of a high order. In April, 1827, not wishing to share in a +measure that he regarded as both inappropriate and unpopular, the +disbanding of the Parisian National Guard, he gave in his resignation. +"I did not wish," he said, "to join the Opposition. The popularity +given me by my resignation would have assured me a prominent place, but +this role agreed neither with my character nor with my antecedents. I +resolved on absolute silence and complete obscurity; I even avoided +showing myself in Paris, where I knew that manifestations of +satisfaction and gratitude would be given to me." King Louis Philippe +said one day to Marshal Gerard: "Had they listened to the Duke of +Doudeauville, and not broken up the National Guard of Paris, the +revolution would not have taken place." +</P> + +<P> +The great lord, good citizen, and good Christian, who, at periods most +disturbed by changes of regime, had always been as firm in the +application of his principles as he was moderate in his actions and +gentle in his method, made himself as much respected under Louis +Philippe as under the Restoration. During the cholera, he set the +example of absolute devotion and was constantly in the hospitals. He +continued to sit in the Chamber of Peers until the close of the trial +of the Ministers, in the hope of saving the servitors of Charles X. But +when Louis Philippe quitted the Palais Royal to install himself at the +Tuileries, he resigned as Peer of France. He no longer wished to +reappear at the Chateau where he had seen Louis XVIII. and Charles X., +and in a letter to the Queen Marie-Amelie, who had a real veneration +for him, he wrote: "My presence at the Tuileries would be out of place, +and even the new hosts of that palace would be astonished at it." The +Duke of Doudeauville, who died at a great age, in 1841, devoted his +last years to good works, to charity, to the benevolent establishments +of which he was the president. One day at the Hotel de Ville, he drew +applause from an assembly far from religious, by the words we are about +to cite, because they discovered in them his whole mind and heart: "A +husband would like a wife reserved, economical, a good housekeeper, an +excellent mother for his family, charming, eager to please him—him +only, adorning herself with virtue, the one ornament that is never +ruinous, having great gentleness for him, great strength as against all +others; he would wish, in fine, a perfect wife. I should like to +believe that there are many such, especially among my listeners, but I +should think it a miracle if one of them united all these qualities +without having the principles of religion. A woman, pretty, witty, +agreeable, would like her husband to think she was so, that he should +be as amiable for her, or almost, as for those he saw for the first +time; that he should not keep his ill humor and his brusqueness for his +home and lavish his care and attention on society; that he should +forget sometimes that he is a master,—in some ways a despotic +master,—despite the liberalism of the century and the progress of +philosophy; that he should be willing to be a friend, even if he ceased +to be a lover; finally, that he should not seek from others what he +will more surely find at home. Let this tender wife invoke religion, +let her cause her husband to love it, let her win him to it; she will +get what she hopes for and thank me for the recipe." +</P> + +<P> +Our lady readers will thank us, we hope, for having spoken of a man who +gives them such good advice; and it is with pleasure that we have taken +the occasion to render homage to the memory of a great lord, who doubly +deserved the title, by the elevation of his ideas and the nobility of +his sentiments. Such men—alas! they are rare—would have saved the +Restoration if the Restoration could have been saved. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE HOUSEHOLD OF THE DUCHESS OF BERRY +</H3> + +<P> +We shall now, commencing with the ladies, throw a rapid glance over the +persons who, at the time of the consecration, formed the household of +the Duchess of Berry. The Princess had one lady of honor, one lady of +the bedchamber, and eleven lady companions, of whom three were +honorary. All were distinguished as much by their manners and +sentiments as by birth and education. +</P> + +<P> +The lady of honor was the Marechale Oudinot, Duchess of Reggio, a lady +of the highest rank, who joined a large heart to a firm mind. Attached, +through her family, to the religious and monarchical principles of the +old regime, by her marriage to the glories of the imperial epic, she +represented at the court the ideas of pacification and fusion that +inspired the policy of Louis XVIII. Born in 1791, of Antoine de Coucy, +captain in the regiment of Artois, and of Gabrielle de Mersuay, she was +but two years old when her father and mother were thrown into the +dungeons of the Terror. Carried in the arms of a faithful +serving-woman, she visited the two prisoners, who escaped death. She +married one of Napoleon's most illustrious companions in arms, the +"modern Bayard," as he was called, the Marshal Oudinot, Duke of Reggio, +who had received thirty-two wounds on the field of battle, and who, by +securing the passage of Beresina, deserved to be called the "saviour of +the army." He was wounded at the close of the Russian campaign. Then +his young wife crossed all Europe to go and care for him and saved him. +She was but twenty. She was only twenty-four when Louis XVIII. named +her lady of honor to the Duchess of Berry. Despite her extreme youth, +she filled her delicate functions with exquisite tact and precocious +wisdom, and from the first exercised a happy influence over the mind of +the Princess, who gladly listened to her counsels. Very active in work, +the lady of honor busied herself with untiring zeal with the details of +her charge. She was the directress, the secretary, the factotum, of the +Duchess of Berry. The Abbe Tripied, who pronounced her funeral eulogy +at Bar-le-Duc, May 21st, 1868, traced a very lifelike portrait of her. +Let us hear the ecclesiastic witness of the high virtues of this truly +superior woman. +</P> + +<P> +"She bore," he said, "with equal force and sagacity her titles of lady +of honor and Duchess of Reggio. Proud of her blason, where were crossed +the arms of the old and of the new nobility, and where she saw, as did +the King, a sign, as it were, of reconciliation and peace, she bore it +high and firm, and defended it in its new glories, against insulting +attacks. An ornament to the court, by her graces and her high +distinction, she displayed there, for the cause of the good, all the +resources of her mind and the riches of her heart. But none of the +seductions and agitations she met there disturbed the limpidity of her +pure soul. Malignity, itself at bay, was forced to recognize and avow +that in the Duchess of Reggio no other stain could be found than the +ink-stains she sometimes allowed her pen to make upon her finger. In +her greatness, this noble woman saw, before all, the side of duty." +</P> + +<P> +In 1832, when the Duchess of Berry was imprisoned in the citadel of +Blaye, her former lady of honor asked, without being able to obtain +that favor, the privilege of sharing her captivity. The Duchess of +Reggio to the last set an example of devotion and of all the virtues. +She was so gracious and affable that one day some one remarked: "When +the Duchess gives you advice, it seems as if she were asking a service +of you." When the noble lady died, April 18th, 1868, at Bar-le-Duc, +where her good works and her intelligent charity had made her beloved, +they wished to give her name to one of the streets of the city, and as +they already had the Rue Oudinot and the Place Reggio, one of the +streets was called the Rue de La Marechale. +</P> + +<P> +The lady of the bedchamber of the Duchess of Berry and her lady +companions all belonged to the old aristocracy. The Countess of +Noailles, lady of the bedchamber, a woman full of intelligence, and +very beautiful, a mother worthy of all praise, was the daughter of the +Duke de Talleyrand, the niece of the Prince de Talleyrand, the wife of +Count Just de Noailles, second son of the Prince of Poix. +</P> + +<P> +The Duchess of Berry had eight lady companions: the Countess of +Bouille, the Countess d'Hautefort, the Marchioness of Bethisy, the +Marchioness of Gourgues, the Countess of Casteja, the Countess of +Rosanbo, the Marchioness of Podenas; and three whose title was +honorary, the Marchioness of Lauriston, the Countess Charles de +Gontaut, and the Countess de La Rochejaquelein. +</P> + +<P> +The Countess of Bouille, who at the time of the coronation of Charles +X. was about forty years old, was a creole, very agreeable and much +respected. +</P> + +<P> +The Countess d'Hautefort, nee Maille-Latour-Landry, forty-one years +old, married to a colonel who belonged to the fourth company of the +bodyguards, was a woman of much intelligence, charmingly natural, and +an excellent musician. She shared in 1832 the captivity of the Duchess +of Berry. +</P> + +<P> +Very distinguished in manner and sentiment as in birth, the Marchioness +Charles de Bethisy, married to a lieutenant-general and peer of France; +the Countess of Gourgues, nee Montboissier, married to a master of +requests, a deputy; the Countess of Mefflay, a young and charming +woman, daughter of the Countess of Latour, whom the Duchess of Berry +had as governess in the Two Sicilies, and wife of the Count Meffray, +receiver-general of Gers; the Viscountess of Casteja, daughter of the +Marquis of Bombelles, major-general, ambassador of Louis XVI. at Lisbon +and Vienna, then priest, Canon of Breslau, Bishop of Amiens, First +Almoner of the Duchess of Berry (he died in 1822, and one of his sons, +Charles de Bombelles, married morganatically the Empress Marie-Louise, +in 1833); the Countess of Rosanbo, daughter of the Count of Mesnard; +the Marchioness of Podenas, wife of a lieutenant-colonel; the +Marchioness of Lauriston, wife of the marshal, formerly lady of the +palace to the Empress Josephine and the Empress Marie-Louise; the +Countess Charles de Gontaut, whose husband was chamberlain of the +Emperor, a very young and very pretty woman, remarkable for the +vivacity of her mind; the Countess de La Rochejaquelein, nee Duras, a +very pious and very charitable woman, whose husband was a +major-general. In fact, the circle around the Duchess of Berry was +perfection. The greatest ladies of France were by her side, and the +society of the Petit Chateau, as the Pavilion de Marsan was called, was +certainly fitted to give the tone to the principal salons of Paris. +</P> + +<P> +The Duchess of Berry had as chevalier d'honneur a great lord, very +learned, known for his unchangeable devotion to royalty, the Duke de +Sevis (born in 1755, died in 1830). The Duke, who emigrated and was +wounded at Quiberon, held himself apart during the Empire, and +published highly esteemed writings on finance, some Memoirs, and a +Recueil de Souvenirs et Portraits. He was a peer of France and member +of the French Academy. For adjunct to the chevalier d'honneur, the +Duchess had the Count Emmanuel de Brissac, one of the finest characters +of the court, married to a Montmorency. +</P> + +<P> +Her first equerry was the Count Charles de Mesnard, a Vendean gentleman +of proven devotion. The Count Charles de Mesnard was born at Lugon, in +1769, the same year as Napoleon, whose fellow-pupil he was at Brienne. +Belonging to one of those old houses of simple gentlemen who have the +antiquity of the greatest races, he was son of a major-general who +distinguished himself in the Seven Years War, and who at the close of +the old regime was gentleman of the chamber of the Count of Provence +(Louis XVIII.), and captain of the Guards of the Gate of this Prince. +He emigrated, and served in the ranks of the army of Conde, with his +older brother, the Count Edouard de Mesnard, married to Mademoiselle de +Caumont-Laforce, daughter of the former governess of the children of +the Count d'Artois (Charles X.), and sister of the Countess of Balbi. +The Count Edouard de Mesnard, having entered Paris secretly, was shot +there as emigre, October 27th, 1797, despite all the efforts of the +wife of General Bonaparte to save him. When he was going to his death, +his eyes met, on the boulevard, those of one of his friends, the +Marquis of Galard, who had returned with him secretly. The condemned +man had the presence of mind to seem not to recognize the passer-by, +and the latter was saved, as he himself related with emotion sixty +years afterward. +</P> + +<P> +At the commencement of the Empire, the Count Charles de Mesnard was +living at London, where he was reduced to gaining his living by copying +music, when the Emperor offered to restore his confiscated property if +he would come to France and unite with the new regime. The Count of +Mesnard preferred to remain in England near the Duke of Berry, who +showed great affection for him. The Restoration compensated the +faithful companion of exile. He was a peer of France and Charles X. +treated him as a friend. He had married, during the Emigration, an +English lady, Mrs. Sarah Mason, widow of General Blondell, by whom he +had a daughter, Aglae, who was named a lady companion to the Duchess of +Berry, at the time of her marriage, in 1825, with the Count Ludovic de +Rosanbo, and a son, Ferdinand, married in 1829, to Mademoiselle de +Bellissen. +</P> + +<P> +The Princess had for equerry-de-main, the Viscount d'Hanache; for +honorary equerry, the Baron of Fontanes; for equerry porte-manteau, M. +Gory. Her secretary of orders was the Marquis de Sassenay, who bore, +besides, the title of Administrator of the Finances and Treasurer of +Madame. He had under his orders a controller-general, M. Michals, who +was of such integrity and devotion that when, after the Revolution of +July, he presented himself at Holyrood to give in his accounts to the +Duchess of Berry, she made him a present of her portrait. +</P> + +<P> +There was not a private household in France where more order reigned +than in that of Madame. The chief of each service,—the Duchess of +Reggio, the Viscount Just de Noailles, the Count Emmanuel de Brissac, +and the Count of Mesnard, presented his or her budget and arranged the +expenditures in advance with the Princess. This budget being paid by +twelfths before the 15th of the following month, she required to have +submitted to her the receipts of the month past. This did not prevent +Madame from being exceedingly generous. One day she learned that a poor +woman had just brought three children into the world and knew not how +to pay for three nurses, three layettes, three cradles. Instantly she +wished to relieve her. But it was the end of the month; the money of +all the services had been spent. +</P> + +<P> +"Lend me something," she said to the controller-general of her +household; "you will trust me; no one will trust this unfortunate +woman." +</P> + +<P> +As M. Nettement remarked: "The Duchess of Berry held it as a principle +that princes should be like the sun which draws water from the streams +only to return it in dew and rain. She considered her civil list as the +property of all, administered by her. She was to be seen at all +expositions and in all the shops, buying whatever was offered that was +most remarkable. Sometimes she kept these purchases, sometimes she sent +them to her family at Naples, Vienna, Madrid, and her letters used +warmly to recommend in foreign cities whatever was useful or beautiful +in France. She was thus in every way the Providence of the arts, of +industry, and commerce." +</P> + +<P> +To sum up, the household of the Duchess of Berry worked to perfection, +and Madame, always affable and good, inspired a profound devotion in +all about her. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PREPARATIONS FOR THE CORONATION +</H3> + +<P> +The coronation of Louis XVI. took place the 11th of June, 1775, and +since that time there had been none. For Louis XVII. there was none but +that of sorrow. Louis XVIII. had desired it eagerly, but he was not +sufficiently strong or alert to bear the fatigue of a ceremony so long +and complicated, and his infirmities would have been too evident +beneath the vault of the ancient Cathedral of Rheims. An interval of +fifty years—from 1775 to 1825—separated the coronation of Louis XVI. +from that of his brother Charles X. How many things had passed in that +half-century, one of the most fruitful in vicissitudes and +catastrophes, one of the strangest and most troubled of which history +has preserved the memory! +</P> + +<P> +Chateaubriand, who, later, in his Memoires d'outretombe, so full of +sadness and bitterness, was to speak of the coronation in a tone of +scepticism verging on raillery, celebrated at the accession of Charles, +in almost epic language, the merits of this traditional solemnity +without which a "Very Christian King" was not yet completely King. In +his pamphlet, Le roi est mort! Vive le roi! he conjured the new monarch +to give to his crown this religious consecration. "Let us humbly +supplicate Charles X. to imitate his ancestors," said the author of the +Genie du Christianisme. "Thirty-two sovereigns of the third race have +received the royal unction, that is to say, all the sovereigns of that +race except Jean 1er, who died four days after his birth, Louis XVII., +and Louis XVIII., on whom royalty fell, on one in the Tower of the +Temple, on the other in a foreign land. The words of Adalberon, +Archbishop of Rheims, on the subject of the coronation of Hugh Capet, +are still true to-day. 'The coronation of the King of the French,' he +says, 'is a public interest and not a private affair, Publica, sunt +haec negotia, non privata.' May Charles X. deign to weigh these words, +applied to the author of his race; in weeping for a brother, may he +remember that he is King! The Chambers or the Deputies of the Chambers +whom he may summon to Rheims in his suite, the magistrates who shall +swell his cortege, the soldiers who shall surround his person, will +feel the faith of religion and royalty strengthened in them by this +imposing solemnity. Charles VII. created knights at his coronation; the +first Christian King of the French, at his received baptism with four +thousand of his companions in arms. In the same way Charles X. will at +his coronation create more than one knight of the cause of legitimacy, +and more than one Frenchman will there receive the baptism of fidelity." +</P> + +<P> +Charles X. had no hesitation. This crowned representative of the union +of the throne and the altar did not comprehend royalty without +coronation. Not to receive the holy unction would have been for him a +case of conscience, a sort of sacrilege. In opening the session of the +Chambers in the Hall of the Guards at the Louvre, December 22d, 1824, +he announced, amid general approval, the grand solemnity that was to +take place at Rheims in the course of the following year. "I wish," he +said, "the ceremony of my coronation to close the first session of my +reign. You will attend, gentlemen, this august ceremony. There, +prostrate at the foot of the same altar where Clovis received the holy +unction, and in the presence of Him who judges peoples and kings, I +shall renew the oath to maintain and to cause to be respected the +institutions established by my brother; I shall thank Divine Providence +for having deigned to use me to repair the last misfortunes of my +people, and I shall pray Him to continue to protect this beautiful +France that I am proud to govern." +</P> + +<P> +If Napoleon, amid sceptical soldiers, former conventionnels, and former +regicides, had easily secured the adoption of the idea of his +coronation at Notre-Dame, by so much the more easy was it for Charles +X. to obtain the adoption, by royalist France, of the project of his +coronation at Rheims. "The King saw in this act," said Lamartine, "a +real sacrament for the crown, the people a ceremony that carried its +imagination back to the pomps of the past, politicians a concession to +the court of Rome, claiming the investiture of kings, and a denial in +fact of the principle, not formulated but latent since 1789, of the +sovereignty of the people. But as a rule, there was no vehement +discussion of an act generally considered as belonging to the etiquette +of royalty, without importance for or against the institutions of the +country. It was the fete of the accession to the throne—a luxury of +the crown. The oaths to exterminate heretics, formerly taken by the +kings of France at their coronation, were modified in concert with the +court of Rome and the bishops. For these was substituted the oath to +govern according to the Charter. Thus it was in reality a new +consecration of liberty as well as of the crown." The French love pomp, +ceremonies, spectacles. The idea of a consecration was not displeasing +to them, and with rare exceptions, the Voltaireans themselves refrained +from criticising the ceremony that was in the course of preparation. It +soon became the subject of conversation on every side. +</P> + +<P> +Six millions voted by the two Chambers for the expenses of the +coronation, at the time that the civil list was regulated at the +beginning of the reign, permitted the repairs required by the Cathedral +of Rheims to be begun in January, 1825. The arches that had sunken, or +threatened to do so, were strengthened; the ancient sculptured +decorations were restored; the windows were completed; the fallen +statues were raised. It was claimed that even the holy ampulla had been +found, that miraculous oil, believed, according to the royal +superstitions of former ages, to have been brought from heaven by a +dove for the anointing of crowned heads. The Revolution thought that it +had destroyed this relic forever. The 6th of October, 1793, a +commissioner of the Convention, the representative of the people, Ruhl, +had, in fact, publicly broken it on the pedestal of the statue of Louis +XV. But it was related that faithful hands had succeeded in gathering +some fragments of the phial as well as some particles of the balm +contained in it. The 25th of January, 1819, the Abbe Seraine, who in +1793 was cure of Saint-Remi of Rheims, made the following declaration:— +</P> + +<P> +"The 17th of October, 1793, M. Hourelle, then municipal officer and +first warden of the parish of Saint-Remi, came to me and notified me, +from the representative of the people, Ruhl, of the order to remit the +reliquary containing the holy ampulla, to be broken. We resolved, M. +Hourelle and I, since we could do no better, to take from the holy +ampulla the greater part of the balm contained in it. We went to the +Church of Saint-Remi; I withdrew the reliquary from the tomb of the +saint, and bore it to the sacristy, where I opened it with the aid of +small iron pincers. I found placed in the stomach of a dove of gold and +gilded silver, covered with white enamel, having the beak and claws in +red, the wings spread, a little phial of glass of reddish color about +an inch and a half high corked with a piece of crimson damask. I +examined this phial attentively in the light, and I perceived a great +number of marks of a needle on the sides; then I took from a crimson +velvet bag, embroidered with fleurs-de-lis in gold, the needle used at +the time of the consecration of our kings, to extract the particles of +balm, dried and clinging to the glass. I detached as many as possible, +of which I took the larger part, and remitted the smaller to M. +Hourelle." +</P> + +<P> +The particles thus preserved were given into the hands of the +Archbishop of Rheims, who gathered them in a new reliquary. +</P> + +<P> +Sunday, the 22d of May, 1825, the day of the feast of the Pentecost, +the Archbishop of Rheims assembled in a chapel of that city the +metropolitan clergy, the principal authorities, and the persons who had +contributed to the preservation of the particles of the precious relic, +in order to proceed, in their presence, to the transfusion of those +particles into the holy chrism, to be enclosed in a new phial. A +circumtantial report of this ceremony was prepared in duplicate. +</P> + +<P> +"Thus," said the Moniteur, May 26, "there remains no doubt that the +holy oil that will flow on the forehead of Charles X. in the solemnity +of his consecration, is the same as that which, since Clovis, has +consecrated the French monarchs." +</P> + +<P> +The day of the consecration approached. The Mayor of Rheims, M. Ruinard +de Brimont, had not a moment's rest. At the consecration of Louis XV., +about four hundred lodgings had been marked with chalk. For that of +Charles X. there were sixteen hundred, and those who placed them at the +service of the administration asked no compensation. The 19th of May +was begun the placing of the exterior decorations on the wooden porch +erected in front of the door of the basilica. It harmonized so +completely with the plan of the edifice that "at thirty toises," it +seemed a part of the edifice. The centrings and the interior portieres +of this porch presented to the view a canopy sown with fleurs-de-lis in +the midst of which stood out the royal cipher and the crown of France, +modelled in antique fashion. These decorations were continued from the +portal along the beautiful gallery that led to the palace. The palace +itself, whose apartments had been adorned and furnished with royal +magnificence, was entered by a very elegant porch. The grand +feasting-hall, with its Gothic architecture, its colored glass, its +high chimney-piece covered with escutcheons and surmounted by a statue +of Saint-Remi, its portraits of all the kings of France, was +resplendent. Three tables were to be set in the royal +feasting-hall,—that of the King, that of the Dauphiness, and that of +the Duchess of Berry. A gallery enclosed in glass, where there was a +table of one hundred and thirty covers, had been built as by +enchantment. On leaving the feasting-hall, one entered the covered +gallery, which, by a gentle incline, led to the Cathedral. This gallery +was formed of twenty-four arcades of fifteen feet each, and joined at +right angles the porch erected before the portal. By this arrangement +the King could proceed on a level from his apartment to the Cathedral. +</P> + +<P> +In the middle of the nave was erected a magnificent jube, where the +throne of Charles X. was placed. The cornice of the Corinthian order +was supported by twenty columns. At the four corners there were gilded +angels. The summit was surmounted by a statue of Religion and an angel +bearing the royal crown. This jube, glittering with gold, was placed +about one hundred and fifty feet from the portal. There was a passage +under it to reach the choir, and the ascent to it was by a staircase of +thirty steps. As it was open, the King upon his throne could be seen +from all parts of the basilica. At the end of the choir, to the right +on entering, was the gallery of the Dauphiness and the Duchess of +Berry; to the left, opposite, was that of the princes and princesses of +the blood; lower, toward the jube, and also on the left, that of the +ambassadors and strangers of distinction; by the side of the jube, the +gallery of the first gentlemen of the chamber of the King. There were, +moreover, two rows of galleries on each side of the nave. The sanctuary +was beaming with gold. The pillars, surrounded with wainscoting, were +covered with rich Gothic ornaments. Above each of the galleries was a +portrait of a king of France seated on his throne; still higher, +portraits of bishops and statues of the cities of France in niches. At +the back, a platform had been constructed for the musicians of the +Chapel of the King. The choir and the sanctuary were to be lighted by +thirty-four grand chandeliers, besides the candelabra attached to each +pillar. +</P> + +<P> +Some days before the coronation, which excited the curiosity of all +Europe, the city of Rheims was filled with a crowd of tourists. The +streets and promenades of the city, usually so quiet, presented an +extraordinary animation. There had been constructed a bazaar, tents, +cafes, places for public games, and at the gates of the city there was +a camp of ten thousand men. To visit this camp was a favorite excursion +for the people and for strangers. The soldiers assembled each evening +before their tents and sang hymns to the sovereign and the glory of the +French arms. In the evening of the 22d of May, these military choruses +were closed by the serment francais, sung by all voices. At the words +"Let us swear to be faithful to Charles!" all heads were uncovered, and +the soldiers waving their helmets and shakos in the air, cried over and +again, "Long live the King!" +</P> + +<P> +On May 24th, the King left Paris with the Dauphin. Before going to +Rheims he stopped at the Chateau of Compiegne, where he remained until +the 27th, amid receptions and fetes and hunts. +</P> + +<P> +M. de Chateaubriand was already at Rheims. He wrote on May 26:— +</P> + +<P> +"The King arrives day after to-morrow. He will be crowned Sunday, the +29th. I shall see him place upon his head a crown that no one dreamed +of when I raised my voice in 1814. I write this page of my Memoirs in +the room where I am forgotten amid the noise. This morning I visited +Saint-Remi and the Cathedral decorated in colored paper. The only clear +idea that I can have of this last edifice is from the decorations of +the Jeanne d'Arc of Schiller, played at Berlin. The opera-scene +painters showed me on the banks of the Spree, what the opera-scene +painters on the banks of the Vesle hide from me. But I amused myself +with the old races, from Clovis with his Franks and his legion come +down from heaven, to Charles VII. with Jeanne d'Arc." +</P> + +<P> +The writer, who some weeks earlier had expressed himself in terms so +dithyrambic as to the consecration, now wrote as follows of this +religious and monarchical solemnity:— +</P> + +<P> +"Under what happy auspices did Louis XVI. ascend the throne! How +popular he was, succeeding to Louis XV.! And yet what did he become? +The present coronation will be the representation of a coronation. It +will not be one; we shall see the Marshal Moncey, an actor at that of +Napoleon, the Marshal who formerly celebrated the death of the tyrant +Louis XVI. in his army, brandish the royal sword at Rheims in his rank +as Count of Flanders or Duke of Aquitaine. To whom can this parade +really convey any illusion? I should have wished no pomp to-day; the +King on horseback, the church bare, adorned only with its ancient +arches and tombs; the two Chambers present, the oath of fidelity to the +Charter taken aloud on the Bible. This would have been the renewal of +the monarchy; they might have begun it over again with liberty and +religion. Unfortunately there was little love of liberty, even if they +had had at least a taste for glory." +</P> + +<P> +This is not all; the curious royalist, as if disabused as to Bourbon +glories, so extolled by him, glorifies, apropos of the coronation of +Charles X., the Napoleon whom in 1814 he called disdainfully +"Buonaparte," loading him with the most cutting insults:— +</P> + +<P> +"After all, did not the new coronation, when the Pope anointed a man as +great as the chief of the second race, by a change of heads alter the +effect of the ancient ceremony of our history? The people have been led +to think that a pious rite does not dedicate any one to the throne, or +else renders indifferent the choice of the brow to be touched by the +holy oil. The supernumeraries at Notre-Dame de Paris, playing also in +the Cathedral of Rheims, are no longer anything but the obligatory +personages of a stage that has become common. The advantage really is +with Napoleon, who furnishes his figurants to Charles X. The figure of +the Emperor thenceforth dominates all. It appears in the background of +events and ideas. The leaflets of the good time to which we have +attained shrivel at the glance of his eagles." +</P> + +<P> +Charles X. left Compiegne the 27th of May in the morning, and slept at +Fismes. The next day, the 28th, he had just quitted this town and was +descending a steep hill, when several batteries of the royal guard +fired a salute at his departure; the horses, frightened, took flight. +Thanks to the skill of the postilion, there was no accident to the +King; but a carriage of his suite, in which were the Duke of Aumont, +the Count de Cosse, the Duke of Damas, and the Count Curial, was +overturned and broken, and the last two wounded. At noon Charles X. +arrived at a league and a half from Rheims, at the village of Tinqueux, +where he was awaited by the Dukes of Orleans and Bourbon, the officers +of his civil and military household, the authorities of Rheims, the +legion of the mounted National Guard of Paris, etc. He entered the gold +carriage,—termed the coronation carriage,—where the Dauphin and the +Dukes of Orleans and Bourbon took their places beside him. The cortege +then took up its march. From Tinqueux to Rheims, the royal coach, +gleaming with gold, passed under a long arcade of triumphal arches +adorned with streamers and foliage. From the gates of the city to the +Cathedral, flowers strewed the sand that covered the ground. All the +houses were hung with carpets and garlands; at all the windows, from +all the balconies, from all the roofs, innumerable spectators shouted +their acclamations; the cortege advanced to the sound of all the bells +of the city, and to the noise of a salvo of artillery of one hundred +and one guns. The King was received under a dais at the door of the +metropolitan church, by the Archbishop of Rheims in his pontifical +robes, and accompanied by his suffragans, the Bishops of Soissons, +Beauvais, Chalons, and Amiens. The Archbishop presented the holy water +to the sovereign, who knelt, kissed the Gospels, then was escorted +processionally into the sanctuary. His prie-dieu was placed at fifteen +feet from the altar, on a platform, about which was a magnificent +canopy hung from the ceiling of the Cathedral. +</P> + +<P> +The Dauphiness had entered her gallery with the Duchess of Berry and +the princesses of the blood. The Archbishop celebrated the vespers, and +then the Cardinal de La Fare ascended the pulpit and delivered a sermon +in which he said:— +</P> + +<P> +"God of Clovis, if there is here below a spectacle capable of +interesting Thy infinite Majesty, would it not be that which in this +solemnity fixes universal attention and invites and unites all prayers? +These days of saintly privilege, in which the hero of Tolbiac, and +thirteen centuries after him, the sixty-fifth of his successors have +come to the same temple to receive the same consecration, can they be +confounded with the multitude of human events, to be buried and lost in +the endless annals? To what, O great God! if not to the persistence of +Thy immutable decrees, can we attribute, on this earth, always so +changing and mobile, the supernatural gift of this miraculous duration?" +</P> + +<P> +The Cardinal covered with praises not only the King, but the Dauphin, +the Dauphiness, the Duchess of Berry, the Duke of Bordeaux. He cried:— +</P> + +<P> +"Constantly happy as King, may Charles X. be constantly happy as father! +</P> + +<P> +"May his paternal glances always see about him, shining with a +brilliancy that nothing can change, this family so precious, the +ornament of his court, the charm of his life, the future of France! +</P> + +<P> +"This illustrious Dauphin, the terror of the genius of evil, the swift +avenger of the majesty of kings, conquering hero and peace-maker! +</P> + +<P> +"This magnanimous Princess, the living image of celestial charity, the +visible Providence of the unfortunate, the model of heroism as of +virtue! +</P> + +<P> +"This admirable mother of the Child of Miracle, who restored hope to +the dismayed nation, astonished it by her courage and captivates it by +her goodness! +</P> + +<P> +"This tender scion of the first branch of the lilies, the object, +before his birth, of so many desires, and now of so many hopes." +</P> + +<P> +The Prince of the Church, amid general emotion, thus closed his +discourse:— +</P> + +<P> +"May it be, O Lord! thy protecting will, that if the excess of ills has +surpassed our presentiments and our fear, the reality of good may, in +its turn, surpass our hopes and our desires. +</P> + +<P> +"Condescend that the lasting succor of Thy grace may guide in an +unbroken progress of prosperity and lead to happiness without +vicissitude or end, our King, Thy adorer, and his people, who, under +his laws, shall be more than ever religious and faithful." +</P> + +<P> +After the sermon, the Archbishop celebrated the Te Deum, to which +Charles X. listened standing. Then after having kissed the altar and a +reliquary in which was a piece of the true cross, the sovereign +returned to his apartments in the Archbishop's palace. +</P> + +<P> +Thus passed the eve of the consecration. The same day M. de +Chateaubriand wrote:— +</P> + +<P> +"Rheims, Saturday, the eve of the consecration. I saw the King enter. I +saw pass the gilded coaches of the monarch who, a little while ago, had +not a horse to mount; I saw rolling by, carriages full of courtiers who +had not known how to defend their master. This herd went to the church +to sing the Te Deum, and I went to visit a Roman ruin, and to walk +alone in an elm grove called the Bois d'Amour. I heard from afar the +jubilation of the bells; I contemplated the towers of the Cathedral, +secular witnesses of this ceremony always the same and yet so different +in history, time, ideas, morals, usages, and customs. The monarchy +perished, and for a long time the Cathedral was changed to a stable. +Does Charles X., when he sees it again to-day, recall that he saw Louis +XVI. receive anointment in the same place where he in his turn is to +receive it? Will he believe that a consecration shelters him from +misfortune? There is no longer a hand with virtue enough to cure the +king's evil, no ampulla with holy power sufficient to render kings +inviolable." +</P> + +<P> +Such was the disposition of the great writer, always content with +himself, discontented with others. The crowd of royalists, far from +showing themselves sceptical and morose, as he was, was about to attend +the ceremony of the morrow in a wholly different mood. It had long been +ready with its enthusiasm, and awaited with impatience mingled with +respect the dawn of the day about to rise. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE CORONATION +</H3> + +<P> +Sunday, the 29th of May, 1825, the city of Rheims presented, even +before sunrise, an extraordinary animation. From four o'clock in the +morning vehicles were circulating in the streets, and an hour after +people with tickets were directing their steps toward the Cathedral, +the men in uniform or court dress, the women in full dress. The sky was +clear and the weather cool. +</P> + +<P> +Let us listen to an eye-witness, the Count d'Haussonville, the future +member of the French Academy:— +</P> + +<P> +"Need I say that the competition had been ardent among women of the +highest rank to obtain access to the galleries of the Cathedral, which, +not having been reserved for the dignitaries, could receive a small +number of happy chosen ones? Such was the eagerness of this feminine +battalion to mount to the assault of the places whence they could see +and be seen, that at six o'clock in the morning when I presented myself +at the Gothic porch built of wood before the Cathedral, I found them +already there and under arms. They were in court dress, with trains, +all wearing, according to etiquette, uniform coiffures of lace passed +through the hair (what they called barbes), and which fell about their +necks and shoulders, conscientiously decolletes. For a cool May morning +it was rather a light costume; they were shivering with cold. In vain +they showed their tickets, and recited, in order to gain entrance, +their titles and their rank; the grenadier of the royal guard, charged +with maintaining order until the hour of the opening of the doors, +marched unmoved before these pretty beggars, among whom I remember to +have remarked the Countess of Choiseul, her sister, the Marchioness of +Crillon, the Countess of Bourbon-Bosset, etc. He had his orders from +his chief to let no one enter, and no one did." +</P> + +<P> +Finally the doors were opened. At a quarter after six all the galleries +were filled. The foreign sovereigns were represented by especial +ambassadors: the King of Spain by the Duke of Villa-Hermosa, the +Emperor of Austria by Prince Esterhazy, the King of England by the Duke +of Northumberland, the Emperor of Russia by the Prince Wolkonski, the +King of Prussia by General de Zastrow. These various personages were +objects of curiosity to the crowd, as was Sidi-Mahmoud, ambassador of +the Bey of Tunis. The rich toilets and dazzling jewels of the ladies of +the court were admired; all eyes were fixed on the gallery where were +the Dauphiness, the Duchess of Berry, and the Duchess and Mademoiselle +d'Orleans, all four resplendent with diamonds. The spectacle was +magnificent. An array of marvels attracted attention. Behind the altar +the sacred vessels in gold, of antique form, the crown in diamonds +surmounted by the famous stone, the "Regent," the other attributes of +royalty on a cushion of velvet embroidered with fleurs-de-lis; on the +front of the altar the royal mantle, open, not less than twenty-four +feet in length; on the altar of green-veined marble, superb candelabra +in gold; on the centre of the cross of the church, suspended from the +ceiling above the choir and the prie-dieu of the King, an immense +canopy of crimson velvet, sown with golden fleurs-de-lis; at the back +of the choir, toward the nave, about one hundred and fifty feet from +the portal, the gigantic jube with its staircase of thirty steps; upon +this the throne; all around a swarm of standards, those of the five +companies of the King's body-guard, and the flag of his foot-guards, +borne by the superior officers; on the two sides of the stairway, +ranged en Echelon, the flags and standards of the regiments of the +guard and of the line in camp under the walls of Rheims; a splendor of +light, banishing all regret for the sun, from candelabra at the +entrance of the choir, from chandeliers in the galleries, from +chandeliers full of candles suspended from the ceiling, from tapers on +the columns. +</P> + +<P> +The Cardinals de Clermont-Tonnerre and de La Fare, preceded by the +metropolitan chapter, came to seek the King in his apartment in the +palace. The Grand Preceptor knocked at the door of the royal chamber; +the Grand Chamberlain said in a loud voice:— +</P> + +<P> +"What do you seek?" The Cardinal de Clermont-Tonnerre responded:— +</P> + +<P> +"Charles X., whom God has given us for King." +</P> + +<P> +Then the ushers opened the doors of the chamber. The two cardinals +entered and saluted the sovereign, who rose from his chair, bowed, and +received the holy water. The Cardinal de Clermont-Tonnerre recited a +prayer. The cortege was formed, and in the following order traversed +the great covered gallery which had been built along the right side of +the Cathedral:— +</P> + +<P> +The metropolitan chapter; the King's foot-guards; the band; the +heralds-at-arms; the king-at-arms; the aides de ceremonies; the Grand +Master of Ceremonies, Marquis de Dreux-Breze; the four knights of the +Order of the Holy Spirit, who were to carry the offerings, viz. the +Duke de Vauguyon the wine in a golden vase, the Duke of Rochefoucauld +the pain d'argent, the Duke of Luxembourg the pain d'or, the Duke of +Gramont the ewers filled with silver medals; the King's pages on the +flanks; the Marshal Moncey, Duke of Conegliano, charged with the +functions of constable, holding in his hand his naked sword; the Duke +of Mortemart, captain-colonel of the foot-guards in ordinary to the +King; the Marshal Victor Duke of Bellune, major-general of the royal +guard; the Marshal Marquis de Lauriston, the Count de Cosse, and the +Duke de Polignac, named by the King to bear his train in the church; +then, with his two attendant cardinals, de Clermont-Tonnerre and de La +Fare, one at his right, the other at his left, the King. +</P> + +<P> +There was a movement of curiosity, attention, and respect. Charles X. +had entered the Cathedral. The moment his foot crossed the threshold, +Cardinal de La Fare pronounced a prayer:— +</P> + +<P> +"O God, who knowest that the human race cannot subsist by its own +virtue, grant Thy succor to Charles, Thy servant, whom Thou hast put at +the head of Thy people, that he may himself succor and protect those +subject to him." +</P> + +<P> +Here, then, is Charles X. in that basilica where fifty years before, +Sunday, June 11, 1775, he assisted at the coronation of his brother +Louis XVI. Then he was seventeen. Ah! what would have been his surprise +had it been foretold to him by what strange and horrible series of +gloomy and bloody dramas he should himself come to be crowned in this +Cathedral of Rheims! What a contrast between the religious pomps of +June 11, 1775, and the sacrilegious scaffolds of January 21 and October +16, 1793! What a difference between the royal mantle of the sovereign +and the humble costume of the captive of the Temple, between the +resplendent toilet of the Queen of France and Navarre and the patched +gown of the prisoner of the Conciergerie! What a road travelled between +the hosannas of the priests and the insults of the Furies of the +Guillotine! What reflections might one make who had been present at +both the ceremonies! How much must such an one have been moved were he +the King himself, the brother of Louis XVI., Charles X.! But the 29th +of May, 1825, all hearts inclined to confidence and joy. Peoples forget +quickly, and there were but few to call up sinister memories. The +sovereign appeared in his first costume, a camisole of white satin, +with a cap rich with diamonds, surmounted by black and white plumes. +Despite his sixty-seven years, Charles X. had a fine presence, a +slender form, a manner almost youthful. State costumes became him +perfectly. He wore them with the elegance of the men of the old court. +</P> + +<P> +Let us listen again to Count d'Haussonville:— +</P> + +<P> +"At the moment Charles X. crossed the nave, clad in a gown of white +satin, opened over a doublet of the same color and the same material, a +general thrill evoked a thousand little cries of ecstasy from my lady +neighbors. With that sensitiveness to grace innate with women, and +which never fails to delight them, how could they help applauding the +royal and supremely elegant fashion in which Charles X., despite his +age, wore this strange and slightly theatrical costume? No one was +better adapted than he, in default of more solid qualities, to give a +becoming air to the outward manifestations of a royalty that was at +once amiable and dignified." +</P> + +<P> +It is half-past seven in the morning. The ceremony begins. Escorted by +his two attendant cardinals, the King reaches the foot of the altar and +kneels. Mgr. de Latil, Archbishop of Rheims, standing and without his +mitre, pronounces this prayer:— +</P> + +<P> +"Almighty God, who rulest all above us, and who hast deigned to raise +to the throne Thy servant Charles, we implore Thee to preserve him from +all adversity, to strengthen him with the gift of the peace of the +Church, and to bring him by Thy grace to the joys of a peace eternal!" +</P> + +<P> +The King is now escorted by the two cardinals to the seat prepared for +him in the centre of the sanctuary, under the great dais, a little in +advance of the first of the steps that divide the sanctuary from the +choir. At his right are the Dauphin, the Duke of Orleans, and the Duke +of Bourbon, their ducal crowns on their heads. +</P> + +<P> +The Veni Creator having been sung, the Archbishop takes the book of the +Gospels, on which he places a piece of the true cross, and holds it +open before the monarch. Charles X., seated, his head covered, his hand +on the Gospels and the true cross, pronounces in a strong voice the +oath of coronation:— +</P> + +<P> +"In the presence of God, I promise to my people to maintain and honor +our holy religion, as belongs to the very Christian King and eldest son +of the Church; to render good justice to all my subjects; finally, to +govern according to the laws of the kingdom and the Constitutional +Charter, which I swear faithfully to observe, so help me God and His +holy Gospels." +</P> + +<P> +The King next takes two other oaths, the first as sovereign chief and +grand master of the Order of the Holy Spirit, the others as sovereign +chief and grand master of the military and royal Order of Saint Louis +and of the royal Order of the Legion of Honor. He swears to maintain +these orders and not to allow them to fail of their glorious +prerogatives. Then his gown is removed by the First Gentleman of the +Chamber, and he gives his cap to the First Chamberlain. He now bears +only the robe of red satin with gold lace on the seams. He is seated. +The Marquis of Dreux-Breze, Grand Master of Ceremonies, goes to the +altar and takes the shoes of violet velvet sown with golden +fleurs-de-lis, and Prince Talleyrand, Grand Chamberlain, puts them on +the feet of the King. +</P> + +<P> +Then the Archbishop blesses the sword of Charlemagne, placed on the +altar in its scabbard:— +</P> + +<P> +"Exaudi Domine," he says, "grant our prayers, and deign to bless with +Thy hand this sword with which Thy servant Charles is girt, that he may +use it to protect the churches, the widows, and the orphans, and all +Thy servants; and may this sword inspire dread and terror to whoever +shall dare to lay snares for our King. We ask it through our Lord Jesus +Christ." +</P> + +<P> +The Archbishop draws the sword from the sheath, and places it naked in +the hands of the King, who, having lowered it, offers it to God and +replaces it upon the altar. +</P> + +<P> +To the ceremony of the sword succeeds the preparation of the holy +chrism. The Archbishop has the reliquary opened containing the holy +ampulla, which is taken from a little chest of gold; he withdraws from +it, by means of a golden needle, a particle which he mingles with the +holy chrism on the patin. Meanwhile the choir chants:— +</P> + +<P> +"The holy Bishop Remi, having received from Heaven this precious balm, +sanctified the illustrious race of the French in the baptismal waters +and enriched them with the gift of the Holy Spirit." +</P> + +<P> +Then the two attendant cardinals undo the openings made in the garments +of the King for the anointings, and escort His Majesty to the altar. A +large carpet of velvet with fleurs-de-lis is stretched in front, and on +this are two cushions of velvet, one over the other. The King +prostrates himself, his face against the cushions. The Archbishop, +holding the golden patin of the chalice of Saint Remi, on which is the +sacred unction, takes some upon his thumb, and consecrates the King, +who is kneeling. +</P> + +<P> +The Archbishop then proceeds to the seven anointings: on the crown of +the head, on the breast, between the shoulders, on the right shoulder, +on the left shoulder, in the bend of the right arm, in the bend of the +left arm, making the sign of the cross at each, and repeating seven +times: ungo te in regem de oleo sanctificato, in nomine patris et filii +et spiritus sancti. Aided by the attendant cardinals, he then closes +the openings in the King's garments. +</P> + +<P> +The Grand Chamberlain advances, and puts upon His Majesty the tunic and +dalmatica of violet satin sown with fleurs-de-lis in gold, which the +Master of Ceremonies and an aide have taken from the altar. The Grand +Chamberlain places over these the royal mantle of violet velvet sown +with golden fleurs-de-lis, lined and bordered with ermine. Charles X., +clad in the royal robes, kneels. The Archbishop, seated, with the mitre +on his head, anoints the palms of his hands, saying: ungentur manus +istae de oleo sanctificato. The King then receives the gloves sprinkled +with holy water, the ring, the sceptre, the Main de Justice. +</P> + +<P> +The Dauphin, the Duke of Orleans, and the Duke of Bourbon advance. The +Archbishop, mitre on head, takes with both hands from the altar the +crown of Charlemagne and holds it above the King's head without +touching it. Immediately the three princes put out their hands to +support it. The Archbishop, holding it with the left hand only, with +the right makes the sign, of benediction: coronat te deus corona +gloriae atque justitiae. After which he places the crown on the head of +the King, saying: accipe coronam regni in nomine patris et filii et +spiritus sancti. +</P> + +<P> +Now that the King is crowned, he ascends the steps of the jube, and +seats himself upon the throne. The religious silence, maintained to +that moment, is broken by cries of "Long live the King!" which rise +from all parts of the Cathedral. The ladies in the galleries wave their +handkerchiefs. The enthusiasm reaches a paroxysm. Flourishes of +trumpets resound. The people enter the Cathedral amid acclamations. +Three salutes are fired by the infantry of the royal guard. The +artillery responds from the city ramparts. The bells ring. The +heralds-at-arms distribute the medals struck for the coronation. The +people rush to get them. The keepers release the birds, which fly here +and there beneath the vaulted roof, dazzled, terrified by the shining +chandeliers. The Te Deum is sung. High Mass begins. At the offertory +the King leaves the throne to go to the altar with the offerings. +Reaching the front of the altar, he hands his sceptre to Marshal Soult, +Duke of Dalmatia, the Main de Justice to Marshal Mortier, Duke of +Treviso. Then, after having presented in succession the +offerings,—viz. the wine in a vase of gold, the Pain d'Argent, the +Pain d'Or,—he resumes his sceptre and his Main de Justice and returns +to the throne. +</P> + +<P> +After the benediction, the Grand Almoner goes and takes the kiss of +peace from the Archbishop, and then goes and gives it to the King. The +Dauphin, the Duke of Orleans, and the Duke of Bourbon, laying aside +their ducal crowns, come and receive the kiss from the King. +</P> + +<P> +After the domine salvum fac regem Charles X. again descends from the +throne, and returns to the altar. There he removes his crown and +retires behind the altar to his confessional, where he remains three +minutes. During this time the holy table is prepared. The cloth is held +on one side by the Bishop of Hermopolis, First Almoner of the King, and +on the other by the Grand Almoner. Charles X. kneels on a cushion +before the holy table, which is supported by the Dauphin and the Duke +of Orleans. The King receives the communion in both kinds. The whole +assembly kneels. The great crown of Charlemagne is handed to Marshal +Jourdan, who bears it in front of the King. The Archbishop then places +the diamond crown on the King's head, who resumes his sceptre and his +Main de Justice, while the choir chants the exaudiat, and returns with +his cortege to the Archbishop's palace, passing through the church and +the covered gallery. It is half-past eleven in the morning. The +ceremony of consecration is finished. It has lasted four hours. +</P> + +<P> +Reaching his apartments, Charles X. passes the sceptre to Marshal +Soult, the Main de Justice to Marshal Mortier. The shirt and the gloves +touched by the holy unction must be burned. The great officers of the +crown then escort the monarch to the royal banquet in the great hall. +There he eats under a dais with the Dauphin, the Duke of Orleans, and +the Duke of Bourbon, with their ducal crowns, and he with the diamond +crown upon the head. +</P> + +<P> +The royal insignia have been placed upon the table which is served by +the great officers and the officers of the household. The marshals of +France stand before the sovereign ready to resume the insignia. Around +about are five other tables, where are placed the members of the +diplomatic corps, the peers of France, the deputies, the cardinals, +archbishops, and bishops. The royal banquet lasts half an hour to the +sound of military music. In the evening the city of Rheims is +everywhere illuminated. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CLOSE OF THE SOJOURN AT RHEIMS +</H3> + +<P> +After his coronation Charles X. remained at Rheims during the 30th and +31st of May. On the 30th the ceremony of the Order of the Holy Spirit +was celebrated in the Cathedral. The interior presented the same aspect +as the day before. At 1 P.M. the order passed in procession through the +covered gallery as follows: the usher, the herald, Marquis d'Aguessau, +Grand Master of Ceremonies of the order, having at his right the Count +Deseze, Commander Grand Treasurer, at his left Marquis de Villedeuil, +Commander Secretary, the Chancellor, two columns of Knights of the Holy +Spirit. In the right hand column, the Viscount of Chateaubriand, the +Duke of San-Carlos, the Prince of Castelcicala, the Viscount Laine, the +Marquis of Caraman, the Marquis Dessole, Marshal Marquis of Viomesnil, +the Duke d'Avaray, the Marshal Duke of Ragusa, the Marshal Duke of +Taranto, the Marshal Duke of Conegliano, the Duke of LEvis, the Duke of +Duras, the Duke d'Aumont, the Duke of Luxembourg, the Prince of +Hohenlohe, the Duke de La Vauguyon. In the left column, the Marquis of +Talaru, the Duke of Doudeauville, the Count of Villele, the Marshal +Marquis of Lauriston, the Count Charles de Damas, the Baron Pasquier, +the Duke of Blacas d'Aulps, the Marquis of Riviere, the Marshal Duke of +Reggio, the Duke of Dalberg, the Prince de Poix, the Duke de Gramont, +Prince Talleyrand, the Duke de La Rochefoucauld. Then came the Dauphin, +the Duke of Orleans, the Duke of Bourbon, the King. +</P> + +<P> +The vestments of the monarch, of a silver stuff, were covered by a +mantle of the order in black velvet, lined with green silk stitched +with gold. His headdress was also in black velvet, surmounted by an +aigrette of heron plumes. The knights of the order had their mantles +with the Holy Spirit in silver spangles on the shoulder; the grand +collar, the facings of their mantles, caught up in front, were of green +velvet sown with gold flames. They made their entry into the Cathedral +in two columns, which deployed on either side of the altar. The King, +who followed them, seated himself on a throne in the choir and they +arranged themselves in their stalls to the right and left. The +princesses occupied the same gallery as the day before. The clergy +chanted the vespers. Then the two columns formed in a double rank and +the ceremony commenced. There was a long series of obeisances. The King +made twenty himself, eleven before vespers, nine after. The reception +began with the ecclesiastical commanders and the laymen came afterwards. +</P> + +<P> +The solemnity was less imposing than that of the coronation. Count +d'Haussonville remarked it: "The military array of so many marshals and +generals clad in brilliant uniforms, the pomp of the ceremonies to the +slow and majestic sound of the organ filling the vast nave of the +church, had succeeded, the preceding day, in redeeming for the +spectators, and for me particularly, whatever was a little +superannuated in the minute observance of a ritual that had come down +from the Middle Ages. I felt myself, on the contrary, rather surprised +than edified by the character, partly religious, partly worldly, but +far more worldly than religious, that I witnessed on the morrow. Most +of these gentlemen were known to me. I had met nearly all of them in my +mother's or grandmother's salon. I had not been insensible to the fine +air given them by the cordon bleu (worn under the frock coat, usually, +or on great occasions over a coat covered with gold lace and shining +decorations), the traditional object of ambition for those most in +favor at court; but they seemed to me to present a constrained figure, +as I saw them soberly ranged in the stalls of the canons, clad in a +costume of no particular epoch, wrapped in long mantles of motley +color, and following, with a distracted air, the phases of a ceremony +to which they were so little accustomed that they were constantly +rising, sitting down, and kneeling at the wrong time." +</P> + +<P> +The receptions took place as follows: the herald-at-arms of the order +called in groups of four the new members from each column, and escorted +them to the middle of the sanctuary. There the four knights, abreast, +saluted together, first the altar, then the sovereign. Then they +advanced in line toward the throne, and after a second obeisance, +knelt, placed the right hand on the book of the Gospels spread out on +the knees of the monarch, and took the oath. The King decorated each +with his own hand. He passed over their coats, from right to left, the +cordon bleu with the cross of gold suspended from it, placed the collar +on the mantle, gave a book of hours and a decastich to each one, who +kissed his hand, rose, and returned to his place. +</P> + +<P> +By a curious coincidence, M. de Chateaubriand and M. de Villele, two +inveterate adversaries, were one in the column on the right, the other +in that on the left, and the herald-at-arms of the order called both at +once to the foot of the throne. Listen to the author of the Memoires +d'Outre—Tombe:— +</P> + +<P> +"I found myself kneeling at the feet of the King at the moment that M. +de Villdle was taking the oath. I exchanged a few words of politeness +with my companion in knighthood, apropos of a plume detached from my +hat. We quitted the knees of the King, and all was finished. The King, +having had some trouble in removing his gloves to take my hands in his, +had said to me, laughing, 'A gloved cat catches no mice.' It was +thought that he had spoken to me for a long time, and the rumor spread +of my nascent favor. It is likely that Charles X., thinking that the +Archbishop had told me of his favorable sentiments, expected a word of +thanks and that he was shocked at my silence." +</P> + +<P> +The ceremony of the reception of the knights once finished, the King +quitted his throne in the sanctuary, after having made the required +obeisances. The completory was next sung. Then all the members of the +order re-escorted the monarch to his apartments in the same order and +with the same ceremony that he had been escorted to the Cathedral. +</P> + +<P> +After the ceremony, Charles X. held a chapter of the order, in which he +named twenty-one cordons bleus: the Dukes d'Uzes, de Chevreuse, de +Boissac, de Mortemart, de Fitz-James, de Lorges, de Polignac, de +Maille, de Castries, de Narbonne, the Marshal Count Jordan, the Marshal +Duke of Dalmatia, the Marshal Duke of Treviso, the Marquis de la Suze, +the Marquis de Bre'ze', Marquis de Pastoret, Count de La Ferronays, +Viscount d'Agoult, Marquis d'Autichamp, Ravez, Count Juste de Noailles. +By an ordinance of the same day he named to be Dukes, the Count Charles +de Damas, Count d'Escars, and the Marquis de Riviere. +</P> + +<P> +The next day, May 31, the King after having heard Mass in his +apartments,—left the palace at ten o'clock with a brilliant cortege. +Preceded by the hussars of the guard, and by the pages, and followed by +a numerous staff, he was in the uniform of a general officer, on a +white horse, whose saddle of scarlet velvet was ornamented with +embroideries and fringe of gold. He had at his right the Dauphin on a +white horse, and the Duke of Bourbon on a bay horse; at his left the +Duke of Orleans, who wore the uniform of a colonel-general of hussars, +and rode an iron-gray horse. Following the cortege was an open +carriage; at the back the Dauphiness with the Duchess of Berry at her +left, and in front the Duchess of Orleans and Madame of Orleans, her +sister-in-law. The route lay through an immense crowd to the Hospital +of Saint Marcoul. When he arrived there, the King dismounted and +offered up a prayer in the chapel. Then he ascended to the halls, where +were assembled one hundred and twenty-one scrofulous patients. He +touched them, making a cross with his finger on the brow, while the +first physician held the head and the captain of the guard the hand. +The King said to each: "May God heal thee! The King touches thee!" Then +he thanked the sisters who had charge of the hospital for all the care +they gave to the solacing of suffering humanity. The pious sisters +knelt at the feet of the sovereign, and begged his benediction, +according to an ancient custom. The King gave it to them, and allowed +them to kiss his hand. The holy women wept with joy. +</P> + +<P> +Charles X., followed by his cortege, next proceeded to the abbey of +Saint Remi, which dates from the eleventh century, and performed his +devotions on the tomb of the saint whose shrine had been discovered. +Then he remounted and went to review the troops of the camp of Saint +Leonard, under the walls of the city, in a vast plain, along the river +Vesle, on the right of the road to Chalons. In the midst of this plain +rises a grassy hillock, above which was placed the portrait of the +King; below, on a background of soil, was this inscription in bluets +and marguerites,— +</P> + +<P> + "A moment in the camp—always in our hearts."<BR> +</P> + +<P> +Not far from there an altar had been erected under a tent before the +royal tent. All the road from Chalons, opposite the lines, was covered +with a shouting and cheering crowd. Charles X. was accompanied by the +princes and a brilliant staff. The carriage of the princesses followed +him. He distributed to the officers, sub-officers, and soldiers the +crosses of the Legion of Honor which he had accorded to them. The +review, which was magnificent, lasted from noon to 3 P.M. Before +returning to the palace, the sovereign visited the bazaar established +along the promenade of the lawn. He dismounted, and the princesses +descended from their carriage to traverse the shops. +</P> + +<P> +At five o'clock the cortege, which had set out at 10 A.M., returned to +the palace. On each of the four nights that Charles X. passed at +Rheims, the streets of the city were illuminated. It was clear weather, +and by the light of the illuminations, amid the crowd in the streets, +there were everywhere to be seen the generals, the officers of the +King's household, and the great personages of the court in grand +uniform. Charles X. set out from Rheims the morning of June 1, and the +city, after some days of dazzling pomp, resumed its accustomed calm. +Things had passed off well, and the monarch was fully satisfied. +</P> + +<P> +The poets had tuned their lyres. Barthelemy, himself, the future author +of the Nemesis, celebrated in enthusiastic verses the monarchical and +religious solemnity; Lamartine, future founder of the Second Republic, +published Le Chant du Sucre ou la Veille des Armes; Victor Hugo, the +future idol of the democracy, sang his dithyrambic songs. Yet, in this +concert of enthusiasm there were some discordant notes. Beranger +circulated his ironic song Le Sacre de Charles le Simple. +</P> + +<P> +As for Chateaubriand, the most illustrious of the royalist writers, he +was to close his chapter of the MSmoires d'outre-tombe as follows:— +</P> + +<P> +"So I have witnessed the last consecration of the successors of Clovis. +I had brought it about by the pages in which in my pamphlet, LE ROI EST +MART! VIVE LE ROI! I had described it and solicited it. Not that I had +the least faith in the ceremony, but as everything was wanting to +legitimacy, it had to be sustained by every means, whatever it might be +worth." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE RE-ENTRANCE INTO PARIS +</H3> + +<P> +Charles X. made a solemn re-entrance into Paris, June 6, 1825. +According to the Moniteur, Paris was divided between a lively desire +for the day to come and fear that the weather, constantly rainy, should +spoil the splendor of the royal pomp. At the barrier of La Villette +there had been erected amphitheatres and a triumphal arch. The streets +were hung with white flags and the arms of the sovereign, with the +inscription: "Long live Charles X.! Long live our well-beloved King!" +The Rue Saint Denis, the Rue du Roule, the Rue Saint Honore, presented +a picturesque spectacle. The merchants of these business streets had +converted the facades of their houses into an exposition of the rich +tissues of their shops, and the cortege was thus to traverse a sort of +bazaar. What a pity if the rain was going to spoil so many fine +preparations! By a good luck, on which every one congratulated himself, +the weather in the morning ceased its gloomy look, and a merchant of +the Rue Saint Denis inscribed on his balcony these two celebrated +lines,— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Nocte pluit tota, redeunt spectacula mane,<BR> + Divisum imperium cum Jove Caesar habet."<BR> +</P> + +<P> +At 1 P.M. a salvo of one hundred and one guns announced the arrival of +the monarch at the barrier of La Villette. The Prefect of the Seine +addressed him an allocution and presented him the keys of the city. The +King responded: "I feel a great satisfaction in re-entering these +walls. I always recall with lively emotion the reception given me +eleven years ago when I preceded the King, my brother. I return here, +having received the holy unction that has given me new strength. I +consecrate it all, and all that I have of life and all my resources, to +the happiness of France. It is my firm resolve, gentlemen, and I give +you the assurance of it." +</P> + +<P> +The cortege then took up its march. It was formed of a squadron of +gendarmerie, several squadrons of the lancers and cuirassiers of the +royal guard, the mounted National Guard of Paris, the staff of the +garrison and of the first military division, a numerous group of +general and superior officers. +</P> + +<P> +The Count d'Haussonville wrote on the subject:— +</P> + +<P> +"I was in the cortege, and as the staff of the National Guard followed +pretty close to the royal carriage, I had occasion to note how far +below what had been hoped was the reception at the gate of La Villette, +where a triumphal arch had been erected. Some groups, plainly soldiers, +after the discourse of the Prefect of Paris and the response of the +King, uttered some huzzas that found no echo. When we approached the +boulevards, the public warmed up a little. The windows were lined with +women, of whom the greater number waved their handkerchiefs in sign of +welcome. Around Notre-Dame, whither the cortege proceeded on its way to +the Tuileries, the crowd was enormous behind the line of soldiers +charged with restraining it. There was nothing offensive in their +remarks; neither was there any emotion or sympathy. The magnificence of +the equipages and the costumes, the beauty of the military uniforms, +particularly of the CORPS D'ELITE, such as the Hundred Swiss and the +body-guard, were the only things spoken of. The spectators sought to +guess and name to each other the prominent persons." +</P> + +<P> +During the passage the King received bouquets offered him by the market +men and women, as well as by a number of workmen's corporations +preceded by their banners. At the entrance of the Cathedral he was +congratulated by the Archbishop of Paris at the head of the clergy. A +te Deum was sung and the Marche du Sacre of Lesueur was played. Then +the King returned to his carriage and directed his course to the +Tuileries. +</P> + +<P> +As the cortege drew near to the Chateau, the welcome grew more and more +cordial. The balconies of many of the houses were draped. Women of the +court, in rich toilet, threw bouquets and flowers to the King. The +Count d'Haussonville says:— +</P> + +<P> +"The untiring good grace with which the King returned the salutations +of the crowd, and by gestures full of Bonhomie and affability, +responded to the cries of persons whom he recognized as he passed, +added every moment to his personal success. In fact, when, June 6, +1825, at evening, he descended from the magnificent coronation coach, +to mount the stairs of the palace of his fathers, Charles X. had reason +to be content with the day. I doubt whether among the witnesses of the +splendid fetes that had followed without interruption at Rheims and at +Paris, there were many who would not have been strongly surprised if +there had been announced to them by what a catastrophe, in five years +only, an end was to be put to the reign inaugurated under the happiest +auspices." +</P> + +<P> +The 8th of June, the city of Paris offered to the King a fete at which +there were eight thousand guests. The sovereign made his entry, having +the Dauphiness on his right, and on the left the Duchess of Berry, who +opened the ball. A cantata was sung with words by Alexandre Soumet, and +the music by Lesueur. +</P> + +<P> +The 10th of June, the King went to the Opera with the Dauphin, the +Dauphiness, and the Duchess of Berry. The back of the stage opened and +showed, in an immense perspective, the most illustrious kings of +France; at the farthest line were the statue of Henry IV., Paris, its +monuments, the Louvre. The 19th of June, Charles X. again accompanied +by the family went to the Theatre-Italien. Il Viaggio A Reims was +played. Le Moniteur, apropos of this work, said:— +</P> + +<P> +"It is an opera of a mould which, under the forms of the Opera Buffa, +presents some ideas not destitute of comedy, in which homage of love +and respect is at times expressed with an art that French taste cannot +disavow. The author, M. Bellochi, has conceived the praiseworthy idea +of introducing personages of all the nations of Europe, joining with +the French in their prayers for the happiness of our country and of the +august family that governs us. The composer is M. Rossini. The Morceaux +are worthy of the reputation of this celebrated master. Madame Pasta +displayed all the resources of her admirable talent. Bouquets of roses +and lilies were distributed to the ladies." +</P> + +<P> +There was an endless series of fetes, receptions, balls at court, at +the houses of the ministers of the foreign ambassador, theatrical +representations retracing the incidents of the coronation. The cities +of the provinces imitated the example of Paris. All this movement +stimulated business, and France appeared happy. But to an acute +observer it was plain that the pomps of the coronation and the fetes +that followed it pleased the people of the court more than the +bourgeoisie. The Count d'Haussonville says, apropos of the nobility at +that time:— +</P> + +<P> +"I had the feeling—educated as I was at college, and provided early +with a sort of precocious experience, the precious fruit of public +education—that the nobility was a world a little apart. I +instinctively perceived how much the preoccupations of the persons with +whom I was then passing my time were of a nature particular, special to +their class, not opposed—that would be saying too much certainly—but +a little foreign to the great currents that swayed the opinion of their +contemporaries. They had their way of loving the King and their country +which was not very comprehensible, nor even, perhaps, very acceptable, +to the mass of the people and the bourgeois classes, who were rather +inclined to remain cold or even sullen in the presence of certain +manifestations of an ultra-royalism, the outward signs of which were +not always at this time entirely circumspect." +</P> + +<P> +To one regarding the horizon attentively there were already some dark +spots on the bright azure of the heavens. The struggles of the rival +classes of French society existed in a latent state. The white flag had +not made the tricolor forgotten. Charles X., consecrated by an +archbishop, did not efface the memory of Napoleon crowned by a pope, +and beneath royalist France were pressing upward already Bonapartist +France and Revolutionary France. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE JUBILEE OF 1826 +</H3> + +<P> +The dominant quality of Charles X., his piety, was the one that was to +be most used against him. There was in this piety nothing morose, +hypocritical, fanatical, and not an idea of intolerance or persecution +mingled with it. Conviction and feeling united in the heart of the King +to inspire him with profound faith. In 1803, before the death-bed of a +beloved woman, he had sworn to renounce earthly for divine love, and +from that time he had kept his vow. The woman by whom this conversion +was made was the sister-in-law of the Duchess of Polignac, Louise +d'Esparbes, Viscountess of Polastron. The Duchess of Gontaut recounts +in her unpublished Memoirs the touching and pathetic scene of the +supreme adieu of this charming woman and of Charles X., then Count +d'Artois. It was in England during the Emigration. The Viscountess of +Polastron was dying with consumption, and the approach of the end +reawakened in her all the piety of her childhood. A holy priest, the +Abbe de Latil, demanded the departure of the Prince. "I implore +Monseigneur," he said, "to go into the country; you shall see the poor +penitent again; she herself desires it, having one word to say to you, +one favor to ask, but it cannot be until at the moment of death." +</P> + +<P> +The Prince, who, even at the time of his greatest errors, had never +ceased to love and honor religion, obeyed the command of the priest. He +awaited in cruel anguish the hour when he should be permitted to +return. It was authorized only when death was very near. The Duchess of +Gontaut says:— +</P> + +<P> +"The doors of the salon were opened. Monsieur dared not approach; I was +near the dying woman and held her hand; it was trembling. She perceived +Monsieur. He was about to rush toward her. 'Come no nearer,' said the +Abbe, in a firm voice. Monsieur did not venture to cross the threshold. +The agitation redoubled; the agony increased. She raised her hands to +heaven, and said:— +</P> + +<P> +"'One favor, Monseigneur, one favor—live for God, all for God.' +</P> + +<P> +"He fell upon his knees, and said: 'I swear it, God!' She said again, +'All for God!' Her head fell on my shoulder; this last word was her +last breath: she was no more. Monsieur raised his arms to heaven, +uttered a horrible cry: the door was closed." +</P> + +<P> +The Count d'Artois was then but forty-five, but from that day he never +gave occasion for the least scandal, and led an exemplary life. As +Louis XIV. had held in profound esteem the courageous prelates who +adjured him to break with his mistresses, Charles X. was attached to +the truly Christian priest who had converted him by the death-bed of +the Viscountess of Polastron. The Abbe de Latil, the obscure +ecclesiastic of the Emigration, became, under the Restoration, the +Archbishop of Rheims and Cardinal. It was not without profound emotion +that the very Christian King saw himself consecrated by the priest who +twenty-two years before had caused him to return to virtue. This memory +was imposed on the mind and heart of the monarch, and under the vault +of the ancient Cathedral, he certainly thought of Madame de Polastron, +as of a good angel, who, from the height of heaven, watched over him, +and who, by her prayers, had aided him to traverse so many trials, to +reach the religious triumph of the coronation. +</P> + +<P> +Charles X. was happy then. Profoundly sincere in his ardent desire to +make France happy, he believed himself at one with God and with his +people, and rejoiced in that supreme good, so often wanting to +sovereigns,—peace of heart. Could he be reproached for having taken +the ceremony of his coronation seriously? A king who does not believe +in his royalty is no more to be respected than a priest who does not +believe in his religion. Charles X. was convinced, as the Archbishop of +Rheims had said in his letter of 29th May, 1825, that kings exercise +over their subjects the power of God Himself, and that they have that +sacred majesty, upon which, in the fine expression of Bossuet, God, for +the good of things human, causes to shine a portion of the splendor of +divine majesty. +</P> + +<P> +This disposition of mind in Charles X. fortified his piety, so that, at +the time of the jubilee of 1826, he seized eagerly the opportunity to +affirm his religious faith, and to return thanks to the God of his +fathers, who at this epoch of his life was loading him with favors. +</P> + +<P> +The jubilee is a time of penitence and pardon, when the Pope accords +plenary indulgence to all Catholics who submit to certain practices and +assist at certain pious ceremonies. The grand jubilee was formerly +celebrated only once in a hundred years; afterwards it took place every +fifty, and then every twenty-five years. 1825 was the time of its first +celebration in the nineteenth century, and it drew to Rome that year +more than ten thousand pilgrims. The Pope had celebrated the close of +it the 24th of December, 1825, but yielding to the prayers of several +Catholic powers, he accorded to them, by special bulls, the privilege +of celebrating the same solemnity in 1826. +</P> + +<P> +The opening of the French jubilee took place February 15, 1826, at +Notre-Dame de Paris. The papal bull, borne on a rich cushion, was +remitted to the Archbishop for public reading. The nuncio chanted the +Veni Creator. Mass was said by the Cardinal, Prince of Croi, Archbishop +of Rouen, Grand Almoner of France. The relics of the apostles Saint +Peter and Saint Paul were borne around the Place du Parvis, in the +midst of a cortege, in which were present the marshals of France, the +generals, and the four princesses. The order of the Archbishop of Paris +prescribed four general processions. The first took place with great +pomp the 17th of March, 1826. The King and the royal family, the +princes and princesses of the blood, all the court, the marshals, a +multitude of high functionaries, peers of France, deputies, officers, +assisted at this ceremony in which appeared the Archbishop of Paris and +his grand vicars, the metropolitan chapter, the pupils of all the +seminaries in surplice, the priests of all the Paris churches with +their sacerdotal armaments. It was a veritable army of ecclesiastics +that traversed the capital. In the midst of the cortdge, the reliquary +containing the relics of Saint Peter and Saint Paul was the object of +the devotion of the faithful. Surrounded by the Dauphin, the Duke of +Orleans, the young Duke of Chartres, the great officers of the crown, +of the Hundred Swiss, and of the body-guard, Charles X., in a costume +half religious, half military, walked between a double hedge formed by +the royal guard and the troops of the line. The Place du +Parvis-Notre-Dame was hung with draperies in fleur-de-lis, and all the +streets to be traversed by the procession had been draped and sanded. +The first stop of the cortege was under the peristyle of the +Hotel-Dieu, where an altar had been erected; the second, at the Church +of the Sorbonne; the third, at that of Sainte Genevieve. The two other +processions had no less eclat, and their pauses being fixed in the +churches of the principal parishes, they passed through the busiest and +most populous quarters of Paris. +</P> + +<P> +The fourth and last procession, that of the 3d of May, was the most +important of all. It was to close by an expiatory ceremony in honor of +Louis XVI., by the laying and benediction of the corner-stone of the +monument voted by the Chamber of 1815, and which still awaited its +foundation. It is at the very place where the unfortunate sovereign had +been executed that the monument was to be constructed. The cortege left +Notre-Dame and directed its course first to the Church of +Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois. The Chamber of Peers, the Chamber of +Deputies, all the functionaries, all the authorities of the Department +of the Seine, followed the King and Dauphin, who advanced, accompanied +by the ministers, the marshals, the officers of their houses, cordons +bleus, cordons rouges. Never since the end of the old regime had such a +multitude of priests been seen defiling through the streets of Paris. +The pupils of all the seminaries, the almoners of all the colleges, the +priests of all the parishes and all the chapels, stretched out in an +endless double line, at the end of which appeared the Nuncio of the +Pope, Cardinals de Latil, de Croi, and de La Fare, the Archbishop of +Paris, and a crowd of prelates. After the station of +Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, there was a second at Saint-Roch, then a +third and last at the Assumption. When the special prayers of the close +of the jubilee had been said at this last parish, the immense cortege +resumed its march to the place where Louis XVI. had brought his head to +the sacrilegious scaffold. The day chosen for the expiatory solemnity +was the 3d of May, the anniversary of the return of Louis XVIII. to +Paris in 1814, and then a political idea was connected with the +religious ceremony. A vast pavilion surmounted by a cross hung with +draperies in violet velvet, and enclosing an altar, which was reached +on four sides by four stairways of ten steps each, occupied the very +place where, the 10th of January, 1793, the scaffold of the Martyr-King +had been erected, in the middle of the Place called successively the +Place Louis XV. and the Place de La Concorde, and which was thenceforth +to be called the Place Louis XVI. +</P> + +<P> +The account in the MONITEUR says:— +</P> + +<P> +"A first salvo of artillery announced the arrival of the procession. It +presented as imposing a tableau as could be contemplated. This old +French nation—the heir of its sixty kings at the head—marched, +preceded by the gifts made by Charlemagne to the Church of Paris, and +the religious trophies that Saint Louis brought from the holy places. +The priests ascend to the altar. Three times in succession they raise +to heaven the cry for pardon and pity. All the spectators fall upon +their knees. A profound, absolute silence reigns about the altar and +over all the Place; a common sorrow overwhelms the people; the King's +eyes are filled with tears." +</P> + +<P> +In this multitude the absence of the Dauphiness, the daughter of Louis +XVI., is remarked. The Orphan of the Temple had made it a law for +herself never to cross the place where her father had perished. She +went to the expiatory chapel of the Rue d'Anjou-Saint-Honore, to pass +in prayer the time of the ceremony. +</P> + +<P> +M. de Vaulabelle makes this curious comparison:— +</P> + +<P> +"Behind Charles X. there knelt his Grand Chamberlain, Prince +Talleyrand, covered with gleaming embroideries, orders, and cordons. It +was the ecclesiastical dignitary whom Paris had beheld celebrating the +Mass of the Federation on the Champ-de-Mars, the wedded prelate who, as +Minister of the Directory, had for some years observed as a national +festival the anniversary of this same execution, now the subject of so +many tears." +</P> + +<P> +Religious people rejoiced at the ceremony that was celebrated; but the +Voltairians and the enemies of royalty complained bitterly at the sight +of the quays, the streets, the squares of the capital furrowed by long +files of priests, chanting psalms and litanies, dragging devout in +their suite the King, the two Chambers, the judiciary, the +administration, and the army. Yet was it not just that Charles X. +should cause an expiatory ceremony to be celebrated at the place where +his unfortunate brother had been guillotined? Was not that for a pious +sovereign the accomplishment of a sacred duty? It matters not; there +were those who reproached him with this homage to the most memorable of +misfortunes. They would have forbidden to Charles X. the memory of +Louis XVI. Yet a king could hardly be asked to have the sentiments of a +conventionnel, of a regicide. In their systematic and bitter +opposition, the adversaries of the Restoration imputed to the royal +family as a crime its very virtues and its piety. +</P> + +<P> +Charles X. was not unaware of this half-expressed hostility. That +evening he wrote to M. Villele, President of the Council of Ministers:— +</P> + +<P> +"In general I have been content with the ceremony and the appearance of +the people; but I wish to know the whole truth, and I charge you to see +M. Delavau, and to know from him if the reality corresponds to +appearances, if there was any talk against the government and the +clergy. I wish to know all, and I trust to you to leave me in ignorance +of nothing." +</P> + +<P> +M. de Villele was not a flatterer. He responded discreetly, but without +concealing the truth:— +</P> + +<P> +"The aspect of the people," he wrote, "permitted the thoughts agitating +its spirit to be recognized. We were following the King at a slight +distance and could judge very well of it. It was easy to read in all +eyes that the people were hurt at seeing the King humbly following the +priests. There was in that not so much irreligion as jealousy and +animosity toward the role played by the clergy." +</P> + +<P> +It might have been asked, in these circumstances, whether the +criticisms of the opposition were just. If a ceremony was to be +observed, such, as the laying and blessing the corner-stone of an +expiatory monument, it must be religious. If it were religious, was not +the presence of the clergy in large numbers natural? +</P> + +<P> +At heart, there was something noble and touching in the thought of +Charles X., and the true royalists sincerely respected it. Prom the +monarchical point of view, a monument to Louis XVI. had much more +raison d'etre than the obelisk since erected in its place, which +represents nothing, and has, moreover, the inconvenience of obstructing +the fine perspective of the Champs Elysees and the Tuileries. But there +were two camps in France, and these processions, expiations, prayers, +which, according to the royalist journals, opened a new era of +sanctity, glory, and virtue, exasperated the Voltairians. The +opposition determined to make of the King's piety a weapon against +royalty. +</P> + +<P> +And yet, we repeat, this piety had nothing about it not worthy of +respect. As the Abbe Vedrenne remarks in his Vie de Charles X., this +Prince "had a perfect understanding of the duties and convenances of +his rank, never refused his presence at fetes where it was desirable, +never seemed to blame or fear what a sensible indulgence did not +condemn; he loved the charm of society, and increased it by his +kindliness, but he was not dazzled by it. He remained to the end the +most amiable prince in Europe, but he was also the severest. A +surprising thing in a convert, his religion was always full of true +charity for others. He excused those who neglected their Christian +duties, remembering his delay in practising his own, without ever +compromising his own beliefs. He sincerely respected the good faith of +those who did not share them. This faith, this piety—a legacy from +love—which he guarded so faithfully, was the consolation of his long +misfortunes and the principle of his unchanging serenity. It banished +even the idea of hatred from his heart. Never did any one forgive as he +did." +</P> + +<P> +It must not be forgotten that the pamphleteers and song-writers of the +Restoration, violent, unjust, and even cruel as they were toward +Charles X., never breathed an insinuation against the purity of his +morals. His life was not less exemplary than that of his son, the +Dauphin, or of his niece and daughter-in-law, the Orphan of the Temple. +Despite the great piety of the sovereign, the court was not melancholy +or morose. Charles X. had a foundation of benevolence and gaiety to his +character. He was not surprised to see committed about him the gentle +trespasses of love, of which he had been himself guilty in youth, and +he had become—the very ideal of wisdom—severe for himself, indulgent +for others. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE DUCHESS OP GONTAUT +</H3> + +<P> +The Governess of the Children of France was the Viscountess of Gontaut, +who, as a recompense for the manner in which she had accomplished her +task, was made Duchess by Charles X. in 1826. Here is the opening of +her unpublished Memoirs:— +</P> + +<P> +"January, 1853. To Madame the Countess and Monsieur the Count Georges +Esterhazy. My dear children, you have shown a desire to know the events +of my long life. Wishing to teach them to your children, I yield to +this amiable and tender purpose, promising myself, meanwhile, to resist +the too common charm of talking pitilessly about myself. I shall search +my memory for souvenirs of the revolutions I have often witnessed to +give interest to my tales. One writes but ill at eighty, but one may +claim indulgence from hearts to which one is devoted." +</P> + +<P> +The amiable and intelligent octogenarian had no need of indulgence. Her +Memoirs possess irresistible attraction, grace, exquisite naturalness, +and we are convinced that when they are published—as they must be +sooner or later—they will excite universal interest. +</P> + +<P> +Born at Paris in 1773, the Duchess of Gontaut was the daughter of Count +Montault-Navailles and of the Countess, NEE Coulommiers. All her +memories of childhood and early youth were connected with the old +court. She had seen Marie Antoinette in all her splendor, Versailles +when it was most dazzling, and she was, formed in the elegant manners +of that charm ing world whose social prestige was so great. At seven +she was held at the baptismal font by the Count of Provence (the future +Louis XVIII.) and by the wife of this Prince. +</P> + +<P> +"I had for this ceremony," she says, "a GRAND HABIT and a GRAND PANIER. +I was so proud of them that I caused much amusement at the Queen's, +whither my mother took me after the baptism. Being connected with the +Duchess of Polignac, she often took me to Versailles; there I saw +Madame Royale, younger than I, and the poor, little, handsome, +delightful Dauphin. The Queen, wishing to give them a little fete, +organized a children's spectacle, in which I was entrusted with a part. +The piece chosen was Iphigenie en Aulide. Mademoiselle de Sabran and +her brother, as well as a young Strogonoff, were, it is said, perfect +actors. Armand de Polignac had a little part. Tragedy was not my forte. +But in the second piece I achieved a little success, which the +Chevalier de Boufflers was kind enough to celebrate in a very bright +couplet, sung at the close. He gave me the name of the Little White +Mouse. After that the Queen called me her little white mouse, and +showed me a thousand kindnesses. After the play there was a children's +supper; the princes waited on, us and were much diverted by our +enjoyment; Louis XVI. stood behind my chair for a moment, and even gave +me a plate. The Queen sent me home in her sedan chair; footmen carried +great torches; the body-guard presented arms to us. So much honor +would, perhaps, have turned my head, but for my prudent mother who knew +how to calm it." +</P> + +<P> +The sorrows of exile followed rapidly on the first enchantments of +life. It was in England, during the Emigration, that the future +Governess of the Children of France married M. de Saint-Blanchard, +Viscount de Gontaut-Biron. She was then residing at Epsom, where she +lived on the proceeds of little pictures which she painted. She gave +birth to twin daughters October 9th, 1796. "I nursed them both," she +says, "our means not permitting us to have two nurses in one little +household, and I felt strong enough for this double task. Brought into +the world at seven and one-half months, their frail existence required +my care night and day." In 1797, Madame de Gontaut visited Paris under +a false name, and after this journey, on which she ran many risks, she +returned to England, where she was the companion in exile of the +princes. Monsieur, the Count d'Artois, the future Charles X., was then +pursued by his creditors. The Castle of Holyrood, privileged by law, +sheltered its occupants from all legal process. That is why the Prince +Regent offered its hospitality to the brother of Louis XVIII., seeking +in every way to soften the severity of the old palace. +</P> + +<P> +"But the saying is true," adds Madame de Gontaut, "that there are no +pleasant prisons. The Castle of Holyrood, as well as the park, was +spacious. The governor visited there, and also several Scotch families, +very agreeable socially. Monsieur could not 'leave the limits' except +on Sunday, when the law allows no arrest. He had a carriage that he +loaned to us, reserving it only for Sunday, when he was out from +morning to night. To these excellent Scotch people a visit from him was +an honor, a festival. Our little society comedies amused Monsieur as +much as us; I always had, unluckily, a part that I never knew; I could +never in my life learn anything by heart; I listened, filled my mind +with the subject, and went ahead, to the great amusement of the +audience and the despair of my fellow-players." After a while the suits +against the Prince came to an end, and he could quit Holyrood, his +debtor's prison. +</P> + +<P> +Madame de Gontaut made a very good figure at Louis XVIII.'s little +court at Hartwell. By her wit and her tact, she won the friendship of +all the royal family, and much sympathy in high English society. She +returned to France with Louis XVIII., and no lady of the court was +regarded with greater respect. At the time of the marriage of the Duke +of Berry, she became lady companion to the new Duchess, whom she went +to meet at Marseilles. +</P> + +<P> +The King, Monsieur, the Duke and Duchess of Berry, all showed equal +confidence in Madame de Gontaut, and her nomination as Governess of the +Children of France was received with general approval and sympathy. A +woman of mind and heart, she performed her task with as much zeal as +intelligence, and though strict with her two pupils, she made herself +beloved by them. She especially applied herself to guard them against +the snares of flattery. On this subject she relates a characteristic +anecdote. One day a family that had been recommended to her asked the +favor of seeing, if only for a moment, the Duke of Bordeaux and his +sister. The two children, vexed at having to leave their play, were not +communicative, and nevertheless received an avalanche of compliments. +The visitors were in ecstasy over their gentleness, their beauty. They +admired even their hair. These exaggerations embarrassed the children, +who were full of frankness and directness, and displeased Madame de +Gontaut. She quickly closed the interview. As the visitors were going +out, a half-open door allowed the little Prince and Princess to +overhear their observations. "It was not worth while to come so far to +see so little," said an old lady, in an irritated tone. "Oh, as to +that, no," said a big boy, "they hardly had two words of response for +all the compliments that papa and mamma strained themselves to give +them. You made me laugh, papa, when you said, 'What fine color, what +pretty hair!' She's as pale as an egg and cropped like a boy."—"That's +true," said the old lady, "she needs your medicines, doctor; and then +they are very small for their age."—"Did you see the governess?" +resumed the big boy. "She did not seem pleased when you complimented +her on the docility of her pupils, and I could see that they were +teasing each other." The Duke of Bordeaux and his sister, who heard all +this, were petrified. "They are very wicked!" they cried. "They are +simply flatterers," replied Madame de Gontaut. Little Mademoiselle +resumed: "After having praised us without end, and telling us a hundred +times that we were pretty,—for I heard it all perfectly,—to want to +give me medicine because I was so homely and ill-looking! Oh, this is +too much! I know now what flattery is,—to say just the contrary of the +truth. But it's a sin. I shall always remember it!" +</P> + +<P> +Madame de Gontaut succeeded beyond her hopes in the task confided to +her. Morally and physically the little Prince and Princess were +accomplished children. +</P> + +<P> +The moment was approaching when the Duke of Bordeaux, born September +20, 1820, was about to begin his seventh year. That was the period +fixed by the ancient code of the House of France for the young Prince +to pass from the hands of women to those of men, who were thereafter to +direct his education. On the 15th of October, 1826, the transfer was +made of the Duke of Bordeaux to his governor, the Duke de Riviere, at +the Chateau of Saint Cloud, in the Hall of the Throne, in the presence +of all the members of the family, the first officers of the crown, etc. +The child, brought by his governess before the King, was stripped of +his clothing and examined by the physicians, who attested his perfect +health. When he was clad again, the King called the new governor and +said to him: "Duke de Riviere, I give you a great proof of my esteem +and confidence in remitting to you the care of the child given us by +Providence—the Child of France also. You will bring to these important +functions, I am sure, a zeal and a prudence that will give you the +right to my gratitude, to that of the family, and to that of France." +</P> + +<P> +Charles X. then turned to Madame de Gontaut, whom he had just named +Duchess in witness of his gratitude and satisfaction. "Duchess of +Gontaut," he said, "I thank you for the care you have given to the +education of this dear child." Then, pointing to Mademoiselle, +"Continue and complete that of this child, who is just as dear to me, +and you will acquire new claims on my gratitude." The little Princess +then seized the hands of her governess with such effusion that the +latter could hardly restrain her tears. +</P> + +<P> +That evening the Duchess of Gontaut addressed to the Duke de Riviere a +letter in which she depicted the character of the child she had brought +up with such care:— +</P> + +<P> +"I have always followed the impulses of my heart," she wrote, "in +easily performing a task for which that was all that was needed. +Monseigneur and Mademoiselle believe me blindly, for I have never +deceived them, even in jest. A pleasantry that a child's mind cannot +understand embarrasses him, destroys his ease and confidence, +humiliates and even angers him, if he believes that he has been +deceived. Monseigneur has more need than most children of this +discretion. The directness and generosity of his character incline him +to take everything seriously. When he thinks he sees that any one is +being annoyed, the one oppressed straightway becomes the object of his +lively interest; he will take up his defence warmly and will not spare +his rebukes; he shows on these occasions an energy quite in contrast +with the natural timidity of his character. With such a child, I have +had to avoid even the shadow of injustice. He loves Mademoiselle, is +gentle, kind, attentive to her. I have always carefully shunned for +Their Royal Highnesses the little contests of childhood; however +unimportant they may seem at first, they end by embittering the +disposition." +</P> + +<P> +We commend to mothers and teachers the letter of the Duchess of +Gontaut. It is a veritable programme of education, conceived with high +intelligence and great practical sense. What more just than this +reflection: "The method of teaching by amusement is fashionable, and +appears to me to lead to a very superficial education. That is not what +I have sought. Let the teacher explain readily, but let him allow the +pupil to take some pains, for he must learn early the difficulties of +life and how to overcome them. A child prince, exposed to flattery, +runs the risk of thinking himself a prodigy. To obviate this +Monseigneur and Mademoiselle have often been subjected to little +competitions with children of their age. I have sought by this means to +give them the habit of witnessing success without envy, and to gain it +without vanity." And what a fine and noble thing is this. "I have tried +on all occasions to lead the mind of Monseigneur to the moral teaching +of religion; I have used it as a restraint; I have presented it as a +hope." +</P> + +<P> +The Duchess of Gontaut was proud of her pupil:— +</P> + +<P> +"It will require time," she says, in this same letter, "kindness, and +tenderness to gain the confidence of Monseigneur. His features show his +soul; he talks little of what he undergoes; he has much sensibility, +but a power over himself remarkable at his age; I have seen him suffer +without complaint. The efforts that he has made to overcome a timidity +that I have tried hard to conquer, have been noteworthy. I have been +able to make him understand the necessity, for a prince, of addressing +strangers in a noble, gracious, and intelligible fashion. I have always +sought to remove all means and all pretext for concealing his faults; +bashfulness leads imperceptibly to dissimulation and falsehood. I am +happy in affirming that Monseigneur is scrupulously truthful. I have +believed it requisite, by reason of the vivacity of his disposition, +and the high destiny awaiting him, to constrain him to reflect before +acting. The word JUSTICE has a real charm for him; I have never seen a +heart more loyal." +</P> + +<P> +The woman who wrote these lines so firm and honest, so sensible and +forcible, was no ordinary woman. In contrast with so many emigres who +had learned nothing and forgotten nothing, she had learned much and +retained it. The difficulties and bitternesses of exile were an +excellent school for her. She remained French always,—in ideas, +tastes, feelings. Sincerely royalist, but with no exaggeration, she +took account perfectly of the requirements of modern society. Very +devoted to her princes, she knew how to tell them the truth. She spoke +frankly to Charles X., whom she had known from an early day, and had +seen in such diverse situations. +</P> + +<P> +It is to be regretted that the King did not consult her oftener. She +would have saved him from many errors, notably from the fatal +ordinances which she disapproved. She was a woman not merely of heart, +but of head. Her Memoirs are the more interesting, that not the least +literary pretension mingles with their sincerity. They have a character +of intimacy that doubles their charm. This talk of a venerable +grandmother with her grandchildren is not only solid and instructive, +it is agreeable and gracious, tender and touching. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE THREE GOVERNORS +</H3> + +<P> +In the space of three years, from 1826 to 1828, Charles X. named three +governors for the Duke of Bordeaux. One, the Duke of Montmorency, never +entered on his duties. The others were the Duke de Riviere and the +Baron de Damas. The Duke of Montmorency was named in anticipation the +8th of January, 1826, although his task did not begin until the 29th of +September. Mathieu de Montmorency, first Viscount and then Duke, was +born in 1766. After having been through the war in America, he had +adopted the ideas of Lafayette, and had been distinguished by his +extreme liberalism. He took the oath of the Jeu de Paume, and was the +first to give up the privileges derived from his birth on the +celebrated night of the 4th of August. The 12th of July, 1791, he was +one of the deputation that attended the solemn transfer of the ashes of +Voltaire, and, August 27th, he sustained the proposition to decree the +honors of the Pantheon to Jean Jacques Rousseau. In his Petit Almanach +des Grands Hommes de la Revolution, Rivarol wrote, not without irony:— +</P> + +<P> +"The most youthful talent of the Assembly, he is still stammering his +patriotism, but he already manages to make it understood, and the +Republic sees in him all it wishes to see. It was necessary that +Montmorency should appear popular for the Revolution to be complete, +and a child alone could set this great example. The little Montmorency +therefore devoted himself to the esteem of the moment, and combated +aristocracy under the ferrule of the Abbe Sieyes." +</P> + +<P> +Mathieu de Montmorency did not adhere to his revolutionary ideas. After +the 10th of August, 1792, he withdrew to Switzerland, at Coppet, near +his friend Madame de Stael. Under the Empire he held himself apart. He +had become as conservative as he had been liberal, as religious as he +had been Voltairian. Under the Restoration, he was one of the most +convinced supporters of the throne and the altar. Minister of Foreign +Affairs in 1821, he showed himself a distinguished diplomat, and during +the session of 1822 made the Amende Honorable for what he called his +former errors. +</P> + +<P> +As he had always been sincere in his successive opinions, the Duke of +Montmorency deserved general esteem. His profound piety, his unchanging +gentleness, his exhaustless charity, made him a veritable saint. He was +the complete type of the Christian nobleman. His name, his character, +the very features of his countenance, were all in perfect harmony. The +adversaries of the Revolution could not refrain from honoring this good +man. On receiving the title of governor to the Duke of Bordeaux, he +felt rewarded for the devotion and virtue of his whole life. But he +regarded this grave employment as a heavy burden, "an immense and +formidable honor, the terror of his feebleness, and the perpetual +occupation of his conscience." This was the thought expressed in his +reception discourse at the French Academy. The Count Daru replied to +him. At the same session M. de Chateaubriand read a historic fragment. +It was the first time since leaving the ministry that the celebrated +writer had appeared in public, and he chose to do so to adorn the +triumph of him whose rival he had been. +</P> + +<P> +The Duke Mathieu de Montmorency died six months before he was to enter +upon his functions as governor to the Duke of Bordeaux. It was Good +Friday of the year 1826, at three o'clock in the afternoon. Before the +tomb in the Church of Saint Thomas Aquinas, his parish, the Duke was +praying like a saint, when suddenly he was seen to waver, and then to +fall. Those near him ran to him, raised him; he was dead. The news had +hardly spread when the church was filled with a crowd of poor people, +who wept hot tears over the loss of their benefactor. On the morrow the +Duchess of Broglie wrote to Madame REcamier, for whom the deceased had +had an almost mystic tenderness:— +</P> + +<P> +"Holy Saturday. Oh, my God! my God! dear friend, what an event! I think +of you with anguish. All the past comes up before me. I thought I could +see the grief of my poor mother, and I think of yours, my dear friend, +which must be terrible. But what a beautiful death! Thus he would have +chosen it—the place, the day, the hour! The hand of God, of that +saviour God, whose sacrifice he was celebrating, is here!" +</P> + +<P> +Father Macarthy said, in a sermon preached in the Chapel of the +Tuileries:— +</P> + +<P> +"Happy he, O God, who comes before Thy altar, on the day of Thy death, +at the very hour when Thou didst expire for the salvation of the world, +to breathe out his soul at Thy feet, and be laid in Thy tomb!" +</P> + +<P> +Lastly, the Duke de Laval-Montmorency wrote to Madame Recamier:— +</P> + +<P> +"I say it to you, my dear friend, I avow it without false modesty, I +never have had any merit or any honor in life, save from action in +common with my angelic friend. He alone is happy; he is so beyond +doubt; from heaven he sees our tears, our desolation, our homage; he +will be our protector on high as he was our friend, our support, upon +the earth." +</P> + +<P> +The death of the virtuous Duke caused Charles X. great grief. He said: +"There are in me two persons, the king and the man, and I know not +which is the most affected." +</P> + +<P> +M. de Chateaubriand desired—and the desire was quite natural—to +replace the Duke of Montmorency in the office of governor of the Duke +of Bordeaux, but the wish was not gratified. In his Life of Henry of +France, M. de PEne makes the following reflections on this point:— +</P> + +<P> +"Chateaubriand lacked neither the knowledge nor the virtue to be the +Fenelon of a new Duke of Burgundy. The eclat of his literary renown, +the political sense of which he had given proof in the Spanish war, the +popularity that surrounded him, were certainly arguments in his favor. +But looking at things coolly, it was clear that an irregular genius was +not suited for the part of Mentor, when he still had all the wayward +impulses of Telemaque." +</P> + +<P> +The choice of Charles X. fell on one of his oldest and most faithful +friends, the Lieutenant-General Duke Charles de Riviere. He was a +soldier of great valor, of gentle disposition, full of modesty and +kindness, believing devoutly and practising the Christian religion, a +descendant of those old knights who joined in one love, God, France, +and the King. +</P> + +<P> +Born the 17th of December, 1763, M. de Riviere had been the companion +and servitor of the princes in exile and misfortune, and they had +confided to him the most difficult and dangerous missions. He was +secretly in France in 1794, and was arrested and condemned to death as +implicated in the Cadoudal case. At his trial, he was shown, at a +distance, the portrait of the Count d'Artois, and asked if he +recognized it. He asked to see it nearer, and then having it in his +hands, he said, looking at the president: "Do you suppose that even +from afar I did not recognize it? But I wished to see it nearer once +more before I die." And the martyr of royalty religiously kissed the +image of his dear prince. +</P> + +<P> +Josephine intervened, and secured the commutation of the sentence, as +well as that of the Duke Armand de Polignac. Napoleon, who admired men +of force, caused to be offered to M. de Riviere his complete pardon, +and a regiment or a diplomatic post, at choice. The inflexible royalist +preferred to be sent to the fort of Joux, where Toussaint Louverture +had died, and remained a prisoner up to the time of the marriage of the +Empress Marie Louise. +</P> + +<P> +Under the Restoration, M. de Riviere, who was Marquis and was made Duke +only in 1825, became lieutenant-general, Peer of France, ambassador at +Constantinople, captain of the body-guards of Monsieur. At the time of +his accession, Charles X. did for his faithful servitor what had never +before been done; he created for him a fifth company of the King's +body-guards. "My dear Riviere," he said, "I have done my best for you, +but we shall both lose by it; you used to guard me all the time, now +you can guard me but three months in the year." The 30th of May, 1825, +the morrow of the coronation and the day of the reception of the +Knights of the Holy Spirit, Charles X. conferred the title of duke on +his devoted friend. "By the way, Riviere, I have made you a duke." It +recalled the words of Henry IV. to Sully in like circumstances. +</P> + +<P> +When he chose the Duke de Riviere as governor of the Duke of Bordeaux, +the King said to Madame de Gontaut: "In naming Riviere, I have +followed, I confess, the inclinations of my heart; I am under +obligations to him; he has incessantly exposed himself for our cause; +he has borne captivity, poverty; I love him, and I am used to him." +</P> + +<P> +The new governor, who was very modest, was frightened at the task +confided to him. +</P> + +<P> +"You congratulate me," he wrote to a friend; "console me, rather, pity +me. An employment so grave must be a heavy burden. I am easy about the +instruction my royal pupil will receive; the wise prelate named by the +King as his preceptor will be a powerful auxiliary for me. But my share +is still too great. It requires something more than fidelity for such a +place,—firmness without roughness, unlimited patience, address, +intelligence. I am frightened at the mission I have to fill. I begged +the King to release me. He insisted. I asked him to make it a command; +he replied: 'I will not command you, but you will give me great +pleasure.' I did not conceal from the King that I should have preferred +to remain captain of his guards; he answered: 'Well, you made that +place for yourself; make this for me.' How could one resist such +language from the lips of such a prince? There was but one choice to +make,—to do all that he wished." +</P> + +<P> +Charles X. named as sub-governors two distinguished military men, the +Colonel Marquis de Barbamcois and the Lieutenant-Colonel Count de +Maupas. He named as preceptor Mgr. Tharin, Bishop of Strasbourg, and as +sub-preceptor the Abbe Martin de Noirlieu and M. de Barande. The Bishop +of Strasbourg was a pious and learned priest, of great benevolence and +extreme affability. But his appointment exasperated the Opposition, +because he had formerly taken up the defence of the Order of the +Jesuits against the attacks of M. de Montlosier. All the liberal sheets +cried aloud. Le Journal des Debates, furious that its candidate to the +succession of the Duke de Montmorency, M. de Chateaubriand, had not +been named, wrote, regarding the appointment of Mgr. Tharin:— +</P> + +<P> +"Such imprudence amazes, such blindness is pitiable. It awakens +profound grief to see this chariot rush toward the abyss with no power +to restrain it." +</P> + +<P> +The Duke de Riviere gave himself up entirely to the task confided to +him. He never quitted the young prince. He slept in his room and +watched over him night and day. In the month of February, 1828, he fell +ill. The princes and princesses visited him frequently. The sovereign +himself, putting aside for this faithful friend the etiquette which +forbade him to visit any one out of his own family, went constantly to +see him and remained long with him. The Duke had no greater +consolation, after that of his religion, than the visit of his King. He +said to his family as the hour of the expected visit approached, "Do +not let me sleep," and if he felt himself getting drowsy, "For pity's +sake," he said, "awaken me if the King comes; it is the best remedy for +my pains." Charles X. could hardly restrain his tears; on leaving the +room he gave way to his grief. The little Duke of Bordeaux, also, was +much saddened. +</P> + +<P> +One day, when he was told that the sick man had passed a bad night, he +said to his sister: "Let's play plays that don't amuse us to-day." +</P> + +<P> +Another day, when it was reported that his governor was a little +better: "In that case," he cried, "general illumination," and he went +in broad day, and lighted all the candles in the salon. The Duke de +Riviere died the 21st of April, 1828; by order of the King, his son +lived from that time with the Duke of Bordeaux, and received lessons +from the preceptors of the young Prince. +</P> + +<P> +The Liberals wished the successor of the Duke to be one of their +choice. They maintained that the son of France belonged to the nation, +and that it had too much interest in his education to permit the +parents alone to dispose of it, as in ordinary families. The ministry +wished to be consulted. Charles X. replied that he took counsel with +his ministers in all that concerned the public administration, but that +he should maintain his liberty as father of a family in the choice of +masters for his grandson. +</P> + +<P> +The King named the Lieutenant-General Baron de Damas (born in 1785, +died in 1858). He was a brave soldier and a good Christian. M. de +Lamartine said that he had "integrity, obstinate industry, virtue +incorruptible by the air of couits, patriotic purpose, cool +impartiality, but no presence and no brilliancy," and that "his piety +was as loyal and disinterested as his heart." He had been Minister of +War, and of Foreign Affairs, and distinguished himself under the Duke +of Angouleme, during the Spanish Expedition. But under the Revolution +and the Empire, he had served in the Russian army, and this did not +render him popular. The Abbe Vedrenne, in his VIE DE Charles X., +wrote:— +</P> + +<P> +"To watch over the person of the son of France, not quitting him night +or day; to make sure that the rules of his education are followed in +the employment of his time, in the routine of his lessons; to let no +one save persons worthy of confidence come near him; to ward off all +dangers, and notify the King of the least indisposition,—such is the +duty of the governor. It requires more prudence than learning, more +probity than genius. M. de Damas was a royalist too tried, too fervent +a Christian, for his nomination not to provoke many murmurs. His place, +moreover, had been desired by so many people, that there was no lack of +those who were displeased and jealous. There was a general outcry over +his incapacity and ignorance. One would have thought that he was to +perform the task of a Bossuet and a Fenelon, while in reality he filled +the place of a Montausier or a Beauvilliers. Had he not their virtues, +and especially their devotion?" +</P> + +<P> +The Duchess of Gontaut thus relates the first interview of the young +Prince with his new governor: "Monseigneur was a little intimidated, +when the Baron, coming up near to him, made a profound bow, and said: +'Monseigneur, I commend myself to you.' To which Monseigneur, not +knowing what to say, said nothing, and as no one spake a word, the King +dismissed us. When the Duke of Bordeaux learned that M. de Damas had +six or seven boys nearly his age and only one girl, and that the girl +would not be any trouble, his gaiety returned." The little Prince got +used to his new governor, who had the most solid qualities, and who +performed his task with the same devotion and zeal as his predecessor. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE REVIEW OF THE NATIONAL GUARD +</H3> + +<P> +Charles X. was always much beloved by the court, but less so by the +city. In vain, in his promenades, he sought the salutations of the +crowd, and exerted himself by his affability to provoke acclamations; +the public remained cold, and the monarch returned to the Tuileries, +saddened by a change in his reception which he charged to the tactics +of the liberal party and the calumnies of the journals. The +anti-religious opposition went on increasing, and tried to persuade the +crowd that the King was aiming at nothing less than placing his kingdom +under the direction of the Jesuits. +</P> + +<P> +The person of the sovereign was still respected, but the men who had +his confidence were the object of the most violent criticisms. A +coalition of the Extremists and the Left fought savagely against the +Villele ministry, which was reproached particularly for its long +duration. +</P> + +<P> +From 1827, Orleansism, which Charles X. did not even suspect, existed +in a latent state, and sagacious observers could perceive the dangers +of the near future. A review of the National Guard of Paris was a +forerunner of them. +</P> + +<P> +Each year the 12th of April, the anniversary of the re-entrance of +Monsieur to Paris in 1814, the National Guard alone was on duty at the +Tuileries. This privilege was looked upon as the reward of the devotion +it had then shown to the Prince, whose sole armed force it was for +several weeks. In 1827, the 12th of April fell on Holy Thursday, a day +given over wholly by the sovereign to his religious duties. In +consequence, he decided that the day of exceptional service reserved to +the National Guard should be postponed to Monday, the 16th. The morning +of that day, detachments from all the legions, including the cavalry, +assembled in the court of the Chateau, and were received by Charles X. +He received a warm welcome, such as he had not been used to for a long +time, and the crowd joined its shouts to the huzzas of the Guard. +Charles X., filled with delight, said to the officers who joined him as +the troops filed by: "I regret that the entire National Guard is not +assembled for the review." Then the officers replied that their +comrades would be only too happy if the King would consent to review +the whole Guard. Marshal Oudinot, Duke of Reggio, who was the +commandant-in-chief, warmly supported this desire, and the sovereign +responded by promising for April 29 the review thus urged. +</P> + +<P> +Charles X. believed he had returned to the pleasant time of his +popularity. He wished to confirm it by withdrawing a law as to the +press, proposed in the Chambers, and vviuch, though called by the +ultras a "law of love and justice," encountered bitter opposition even +in the Chamber of Peers. The law was withdrawn April 17, the very day +that the Moniteur announced the promise given the day before for the +review of the 29th. On learning of the withdrawal of the unpopular law, +the liberals uttered cries of joy and triumph. Columns of working +printers traversed the streets with cries of "Long live the King! Long +live the Chamber of Peers! Long live the liberty of the press!" In the +evening Paris was illuminated. A victory over a foreign foe would not +have been celebrated with greater transports of enthusiasm. The +ministry was disquieted by these wild manifestations of delight, which, +in reality, were directed against it. It tried in vain to induce the +King to countermand the review of the 29th. M. de Chateaubriand wrote +to Charles X. a long letter to beg him to change his ministry. It +contained the following passage:— +</P> + +<P> +"Sire, it is false that there is, as is said, a republican faction at +present, but it is true that there are partisans of an illegitimate +monarchy; now these latter are too adroit not to profit by the +occasion, and mingle their voices on the 29th with that of France, to +impose on the nation. What will the King do? Will he surrender his +ministers to the popular demand? That would be to destroy the power of +the State. Will he keep his ministers? They will cause all the +unpopularity that pursues them to fall on the head of their august +master." Chateaubriand closed as follows:— +</P> + +<P> +"Sire, to dare to write you this letter, I must be strongly persuaded +of the necessity of reaching a decision. An imperative duty must urge +me. The ministers are my enemies. As a Christian I forgive them, as a +man I can never pardon them. In this position I should never have +addressed the King, if the safety of the monarchy were not involved." +</P> + +<P> +All this urging was futile. Charles X. did not change his ministry, and +the review took place on the Champ-de-Mars on the day appointed. +</P> + +<P> +It is Sunday, April 29th, 1827. The weather is magnificent. The +springtime sun gives to the capital a festive air. All the people are +out. The twelve legions and the mounted guards—more than twenty +thousand men—are under arms awaiting the King on the Champ-de-Mars. An +enormous crowd occupies the slope. At one o'clock precisely, Charles +X., mounted on a beautiful horse, which he manages like a skilled +horseman, leaves the Tuileries with a numerous escort, including the +Dauphin, the Duke of Orleans, the young Duke of Chartres, and a number +of generals. The princesses follow in an open caleche. Everything +appears to be going perfectly. The National Guards have pledged +themselves to satisfy the King by their conduct. A note has been read +in the ranks in these words: "Caution to the National Guards, to be +circulated to the very last file. The rumor is spread that the National +Guards intend to cry 'Down with the ministers! Down with the Jesuits!' +Only mischief-makers can wish to see the National Guard abandon its +noble character." +</P> + +<P> +A general movement of curiosity on the Champ-de-Mars is noticed. +Charles X. arrives. He has a serene brow, a smile upon his lips. It +hardly seems possible that before the end of the year he will be a +septuagenarian; he would be taken for a man of fifty, powdered. An +immense cry of "Long live the King," raised by the National Guards, is +repeated by the crowd. The monarch, radiant, salutes with glance and +hand. +</P> + +<P> +He passes along the front of the battalions. Here and there are heard +cries of "Hurrah for the Charter! Hurrah for liberty of the press!" But +they are drowned by those of "Long live the King!" Everything seems to +go as he wishes, and Charles X. feels that the review, which his timid +ministers regarded as dangerous, is an inspiration. So far it is for +him only a triumph. But suddenly, as he appears in front of the Seventh +Legion, he remarks the persistence with which a group of the Guards is +crying, "Hurrah for the Charter!" The monarch perceives a sentiment of +unfriendliness. A National Guardsman ventures to speak:— +</P> + +<P> +"Does Your Majesty think that cheers for the Charter are an +outrage?"—"Gentlemen," responds the King in a severe tone, "I came +here to receive homage, not a lesson." The royal pride of this response +had a good effect. The cries of "Long live the King!" are renewed with +energy. The face of Charles X. again becomes calm and serene. Seated in +his saddle before the Military School, the sovereign sees file by the +twelve legions, with unanimous cheers. The review closed, the King says +to Marshal Oudinot, commandant-in-chief of the National Guard: "It +might have passed off better; there were some mar-plots, but the mass +is good, and on the whole, I am satisfied." +</P> + +<P> +The Marshal asks, if, in the order of the day he may mention the +satisfaction of the King. "Yes," replied Charles X., "but I wish to +know the terms in which this sentiment is expressed." +</P> + +<P> +The sovereign returns on horseback to the Tuileries, while each legion +goes to its own quarter. When he arrives at the Pavilion de l'Horloge, +he is received by his two grandchildren. Mademoiselle throws herself +upon his neck: "Bon-papa, you are content, aren't you?"—"Yes, almost," +he answers. The Count de Bourbon-Busset, who is in the sovereign's +suite, says to the Duchess of Gontaut, his mother-in-law, that all has +passed off well. The Duchess of Angouleme, who has just alighted from +her carriage, as well as the Duchess of Berry, hears this phrase; she +cries: "You are not hard to please." The two princesses are as agitated +as the King is calm. At the moment of their return they have been +greeted with violent cries of "Down with the ministers! Down with the +Jesuits!" It is even said that there was a cry of "Down with the +Jesuitesses!" The clang of arms rendered these violent clamors more +sinister. The daughter of Louis XVI. and the widow of the Duke of Berry +believed themselves doubly insulted as women and as princesses. The +Duchess of Angouleme, with intrepid countenance, but deeply irritated, +trembled with indignation. It seemed to her that the Revolution was +being revived. The scenes of horror that her uncle Charles X. had not +beheld, but of which she had been the witness and the victim, arose +before her again,—the 5th and the 6th of October, 1789, the 20th of +June, and the 10th of August, 1792. +</P> + +<P> +While the Dauphiness gives herself up to the gloomiest reflections, the +Third Legion of the National Guard is passing under the windows of the +Minister of Finance in the Rue de Rivoli. The minister, M. de Villele, +has passed the day at the ministry, receiving from hour to hour news of +the review. The blinds of his windows are closed. At the moment when +the Third Legion files through the street, the band ceases to play, the +drums stop beating. Cries of fury break from the ranks: "Down with the +ministers! Down with the Jesuits! Down with Villele!" The guards +brandish their arms; the officers themselves make menacing gestures; +the tumult is at its height. M. de Villele, on the inside, follows from +window to window the march of the legion, and so traverses the salons +to the apartments occupied by his old mother and her family, whom he +wishes to reassure by his own calm. Opposite the ministry, a great +crowd fills the Terrasse des Feuillants, without taking part in the +manifestation. But the clamors of the National Guards increase. They +continue their march, enter the Rue Castiglione, reach the Place +Vendome, where the Ministry of Justice is situated, and recommence +their cries: "Down with the ministers! Down with the Jesuits! Down with +Peyronnet!" +</P> + +<P> +Invited to dine by Count Opponyi, ambassador of Austria, with all the +ministers, M. de Villele waits to the last moment before going to the +Embassy, still believing that he will be summoned by the King. As his +waiting is in vain, he goes to the house of Count Opponyi and takes +part in the dinner. At dessert, a messenger of Charles X. glides behind +his chair, and says to him in a low voice: "The King charges me to tell +you to come to him immediately." M. de Villele takes leave of the +ambassadress, and sets out for the Tuileries. He finds Charles X. +there, very calm, quite reassured, and having called him only to give +expression to his confidence and sympathy. The minister exerts himself +to make the sovereign see the situation in a very different light. He +represents the incident of the Minister of Finance as secondary, but +insists on the facts occurring at the Champ-de-Mars, notably the shouts +around the carriage of the princesses. "It is a fact," replies the +King. "I did hear them complain. Well, what do you advise me to do?" +The minister responds: "This very evening, before the bureaux are +closed, dissolve the National Guard of Paris; order the marshal on duty +near your person, to have the posts held by the National Guard occupied +at four o'clock in the morning by the troops of the line; to resort to +this measure of force and justice to forestall the consequences of the +most audacious attempt at revolution since the commencement of your +reign. To-morrow, there are to arrive at Paris fifteen thousand men to +replace the fifteen thousand of the actual garrison. It suffices to +retain these latter, and thirty thousand men will be enough to hold the +factions in check if they have the least intention of rising."—"Very +well," resumes Charles X.; "go and consult your colleagues, and return +after the soiree that I shall attend with the Duchess of Berry." +</P> + +<P> +This soiree is a concert given by the Duchess at the Tuileries. The +music is but little heard. The incidents of the review are the subject +of all conversation. The courtiers wonder whether, to please the King, +they should take a dark or a rose-colored view of things. The optimists +and pessimists exchange impressions. Charles X. seems to lean to the +former. "Apparently," he says, with his habitual bonhomie, "my bad ear +has done me a friendly service, and I am glad of it, for I protest I +heard no insults." Plainly it costs the sovereign pain to dismiss the +National Guard. It gave him so brilliant a welcome in 1814. He was its +generalissimo under the reign of Louis XVIII. He has liked to wear its +uniform, the blue coat with broad fringes of silver that becomes him so +well. But the ministers, except the Duke of Doudeauville and M. de +Chabrol, pronounce strongly in favor of disbandment. Their idea +prevails. After the concert Charles X. signs the decree, which appears +in the Moniteur on the morrow, and is enforced without resistance. "The +King can do anything!" cries the Duke de Riviere, with enthusiasm; and +May 6th M. de Villele addresses to the Prince de Polignac, then +ambassador at London, a letter in which he says: "The dissolution of +the National Guard has been a complete success; the bad have been +confounded by it, the good encouraged. Paris has never been more calm +than since this act of severity, justice, and vigor." The monarchy +thinks itself saved; it is lost. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FIRST DISQUIETUDE +</H3> + +<P> +There were still great illusions among those about Charles X., and the +Duchess of Berry had not for a single instant an idea that the rights +of her son could be compromised. They persuaded themselves that the +Opposition would remain dynastic and that the severest crises would end +only in a change of ministry. Nevertheless, even at the court, the more +thoughtful began to be anxious, and perceived many dark points on the +horizon. Certain royalists, enlightened by experience of the Emigration +and Exile, had a presentiment that the Restoration would be for them +only a halt in the long way of catastrophes and sorrow. They mourned +the optimist tranquillity in which some of the courtiers succeeded in +lulling the King. There were courageous and faithful servitors who, at +the risk of displeasing their master and losing his good graces, did +not recoil from the sad obligation of telling him the whole truth. From +the beginning of his reign, Charles X. heard useful warnings, and later +he blamed himself for not having listened better to them. This justice, +however, must be done him, that if he had not the wisdom to profit by +such counsels, he never was offended at the men of heart who dared to +give them to him. +</P> + +<P> +In this number was the Viscount Sosthenes de La Rochefoucauld, son of +the Duke of Doudeauville, son-in-law of Mathieu de Montmorency, charged +with the department of the fine arts, at the ministry of the King's +household. In publishing the reports addressed by him to Charles X. +from his accession to the Revolution of 1830, he writes:— +</P> + +<P> +"These are respectful and tender warnings of which too little account +was taken, and which might have saved the King and France. I put them +down here with the gloomy predictions contained in them, which have +been only too completely realized. They are not prophecies after the +event. We saw in advance the misfortunes of the King, the fall of the +monarchy, the ruin of legitimacy. Each page, then each line, and soon +every word of this part of my Memoirs will be a cry of alarm: 'God save +the King!' Alas! He has not saved him. One is always wrong if one +cannot get a hearing and make one's self believed. It is then, with no +pride in my previsions, but with bitter regret, that I could not get +them accepted, that I recall this long monologue addressed to Charles +X." +</P> + +<P> +From the beginning of the reign, as he foresaw that one day the Chamber +would sign the Address of the 221, and that M. Laffitte would be the +banker of the revolution of July, the Viscount wrote to the sovereign +in December, 1824:— +</P> + +<P> +"The King has two things to combat for the glory and strength of his +rule, the encroachments of the Chamber of Deputies, and the power of +money in Europe. Four bankers could to-day decide war, if such was +their pleasure. Sovereigns cannot seek too earnestly to free themselves +from the sceptre which is rising above their own. The triumph of +moneyed men will blight the character and the morals of France." +</P> + +<P> +M. de La Rochefoucauld added (report of January 31, 1825) this +prediction, which shows to what length his frankness went in his loyal +explanations with his King:— +</P> + +<P> +"We are between two rocks, equally dangerous: revolution with the Duke +of Orleans, and ultraism with the good Polignac. The by-word now is: +'These princes will end like the Stuarts.' Madame de—, who is +agitating against the laws now under discussion, has said: 'Yes, it's +the second throne of the Stuarts.' The Left compare the Archbishop of +Rheims to Father Peters, the restless and ambitious confessor of King +James. It is not easy for me to write thus to the King, and I have +assumed a hard task in promising myself to conceal nothing from him. +Sometimes my heart is oppressed and my hand stops; but I question my +conscience, which seems troubled, and the indispensable necessity of +telling all to the King, that he may judge in his wisdom, decides me to +go on." +</P> + +<P> +How many sagacious warnings given by the brave courtier, or, better, by +the faithful friend, during the year 1825, the year of the coronation: +"The good Madame de M— of the Sacred Heart was saying the other day: +'We had a King with no limbs, and with a head; now we have limbs and no +head.' It is unheard of, the trouble taken in certain circles to make +out that the King has no will. The future must give to all a complete +refutation; the future must teach them that the King knows how to +distinguish those that betray from those that serve him." (Report of +March 1, 1825). "Does the King wish to run the chances of a complete +overturning by throwing himself into the hands of the ultras? That +would be to fall again under the blows of the Revolution, which counts +on these to push the monarchy into the abyss always held open at its +side." +</P> + +<P> +From 1825, criticism of the King began. He was accused of giving +himself up too much to the pleasures of the chase. The time was +approaching when his enemies would say of him—a cruel play on words: +"He's good for nothing but to hunt," and would translate the four +letters over the doors of houses M. A. C. L. (Maison Assuree Contre +l'Incendie) by this phrase: Mes Amis, Chassons-le. +</P> + +<P> +The 17th of June, 1825, M. de La Rochefoucauld wrote:— +</P> + +<P> +"I must tell all to the King. I have prevented the giving of a play at +the Odeon called Robin des Bois (Robin Hood), because it is a nickname +criminally given by the people to him whom they accuse of hunting too +often, an accusation very unjust in the eyes of those who know that +never did a prince work more than he to whom allusion is made. When the +King takes this distraction so necessary to him, why hasten to make it +known to the public? All news comes from the Chateau, and the +Constitutionnel and the Quotidienne are always the best informed." +</P> + +<P> +He returned to the same subject October 6:— +</P> + +<P> +"I am in despair at seeing the journals recounting hunt after hunt. I +know the effect that produces. I wanted to get at the source of these +mischievous reports, and M— communicated to me confidentially that +these reports came to him from the court, and at such length that he +always cut them down three-fourths. In this case, it is for the King to +give orders." +</P> + +<P> +Let us put beside this report the following passage from the Memoirs of +the Duke of Doudeauville:— +</P> + +<P> +"I must justify Charles X. in this passion for the chase, so bitterly +laid up against him in that time when malice and bad faith seized on +everything that could injure him. Five whole days every week he +remained in his apartment, busy with affairs of state, working with the +ministers, examining by himself their different reports with a +sensitive heart, much soul, and more intellect than had been believed; +he had much reason and a very sound judgment. We were often astonished +at it in the Council, over which he presided, and which he prolonged +two, three, four, and five hours, without permitting himself the least +distraction or showing any sign of weariness. Often, in the most +difficult discussions, he would open up an opinion that no one had +conceived, and which, full of sagacity, smoothed every difficulty. +</P> + +<P> +"Twice a week, and often only once, when the weather permitted, he went +hunting, perhaps gunning, perhaps coursing. It will be conceded that it +was a necessary exercise after such assiduous toil and occupations so +sedentary. +</P> + +<P> +"I certify that this was the extent of the hunting of which calumny, to +ruin him, made a crime. Every time he went hunting, the Opposition +journals did not fail to announce it, which persuaded nearly all France +that he passed all his time in the distractions of this amusement." +</P> + +<P> +The tide of detraction of the sovereign steadily rose. The Viscount de +La Rochefoucauld perceived it clearly. He wrote to the King, 13th +October, 1825:— +</P> + +<P> +"The interior of France, as regards commerce, agriculture, industry, +wealth, offers a most striking spectacle. Let Charles X., as King and +father, rejoice in his work; but let him reflect that the lightest +sleep would be followed by a terrible awakening." +</P> + +<P> +The 12th of January, 1826, when his father-in-law, the Duke Mathieu de +Montmorency, had just been named governor to the Duke of Bordeaux, M. +de La Rochefoucauld again wrote to the King:— +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I thank the King for the nomination of M. de Montmorency? Six +months ago, it would have been useful. To-day, it is merely good. But +alas, how far is that interesting Prince from the crown! and what +shocks and revolutions he must traverse first. If ever—God watch over +France; the Orleans are making frightful progress." +</P> + +<P> +The signs of the coming storm accumulated in the most alarming manner. +Read this other report of the Viscount de La Rochefoucauld (August 8, +1826):— +</P> + +<P> +"Indifference to religion, hatred of the priests, were the symptoms of +the Revolution. God grant that the same things do not bring the same +results. The unfortunate priests no longer dare to go through the +streets; they are everywhere insulted. Three days since, a well-dressed +man, passing by the sentinel of the Luxembourg said to him, pointing to +a priest: 'Never mind; in a year you'll see no more of all these +wretches.' The poor Cure of Clichy was in real danger, surrounded by +two or three hundred madmen, who cried; 'Down with the black-hats!' +Every day there is a scene of the same sort." +</P> + +<P> +The popularity of Charles X., so great at the beginning of his reign, +was dwindling every day at Paris. M. de La Rochefoucauld did not fear +to declare it to him. +</P> + +<P> +"By what inconceivable fatality is it," he wrote, February 6, 1827, +"that the king amid all the care he takes to ensure the happiness of +his people, is losing from day to day in their love and affection? At +the play—and it is there, to use an expression of Napoleon, that the +pulse of public opinion is to be felt—the most seditious and hostile +allusions are eagerly caught up. Saturday last, verses, of which the +sense was that kings who have lost the love of their people encounter +only silence and coldness, were greeted with triple applause and +furiously encored." +</P> + +<P> +The report of May 12,1827, was like an alarm bell: +</P> + +<P> +"Circumstances are so grave that the calmest minds betray fear +regarding them; there are now but one opinion and one feeling,—doubt +and fear. It is said openly, as eight years since: This branch cannot +keep the crown; it is impossible; who will succeed it? How many things, +great Heavens, done in eight years; how many things forgotten!" +</P> + +<P> +Exposed to an outpouring of enmities and of incessant intrigues, taken +between two fires,—the extreme Right and the Left,—M. de Villele no +longer had the strength to govern. His ministry was about to come to an +end. Later, in retracing in his journal this phase of his career, he +wrote:— +</P> + +<P> +"All that took place was of a feebleness destructive of all government, +and disheartening for him who bears all the responsibility for it, with +the weight of affairs besides. But he was not, and did not pretend to +be, the Cardinal Richelieu. He had not his character, nor his ambition, +nor his superior gifts. He did not even envy them. Had he been quite +different in this regard, to repress and annul his king, to oppress the +daughter of Louis XVI. and the widow of the Duke of Berry, to exile +from France the new Gaston d'Orleans, and his numerous family, to bring +down the heads of the court pygmies,—more dangerous, perhaps, with +their influence over the King and his family and their vexatious +intrigues in the Court of Peers than the Montmorencys and the +Cinq-Mars,—this was a rele to which he never aspired and would not +have accepted." +</P> + +<P> +Charles X. sacrificed M. de Villele, who, however, had his sympathy, +and replaced him with a liberal minister, perhaps with a mental +reservation as to a ministry, before long, from the extreme Right. The +retiring minister wished to remain in the Chamber of Deputies, to +defend his acts. For their part, his successors, fearing his influence +in that body, wished his transfer to the Chamber of Peers, where, in +their judgment, he would be less dangerous. At the last Council of +Ministers attended by M. de Villele, the King passed to him a note in +pencil, announcing that he had called him to the peerage. The statesman +declined, in a note also in pencil. "You wish then to impose yourself +upon me as minister?" wrote the King once more. M. de Villele appeared +moved, and passed to the sovereign this response: "The King well knows +the contrary; but since he can write it, let him do with me what he +will." The next day the Martignac ministry entered on its duties, and +the Duchess of Angoule'me said to Charles X.: "It is true, then, that +you are letting Villele go? My father, you descend to-day the first +step of the throne." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE MARTIGNAC MINISTRY +</H3> + +<P> +Mde. Martignac, who succeeded M. de Villele in the Ministry of the +Interior, was a man of merit, honest, liberal, and sincerely devoted to +the King. Born in 1776, at Bordeaux, he was at first an advocate at the +bar of that city, and at the same time made himself known by some witty +vaudevilles. On the return of the Bourbons, he entered the magistracy, +became procureur-general at Limoges, was elected a deputy in 1821, and +distinguished himself in the tribune. He was Minister of the Interior +from January, 1828, to August, 1829, and his name was given to the +ministry of which he was a member. He had for colleagues enlightened +and moderate men, such as Count Auguste de La Ferronnays, M. Roy, Count +Portalis. He tried to reconcile the different parties, and to preserve +the throne from the double danger of reaction and revolution. Taken +between two fires, the extreme Right and the extreme Left, he was +destined to fail in his generous effort. +</P> + +<P> +The royalist sentiment was becoming constantly more feeble. The 24th of +January, 1828, some days after the formation of the Martignac ministry, +the Viscount Sosthenes de La Rochefoucauld wrote, in a report to the +King:— +</P> + +<P> +"In going to Saint-Denis, the 21st of January (the anniversary of the +death of Louis XVI.), and seeing the lightness with which the court +itself conducted itself there, it was impossible for me not to make +many reflections on the futility of an age in which no memory is +sacred. And by what right can the people be asked to have a better +memory when such an example is given to them? No cortege, no coaches +draped, none of the pomp that strikes the imagination and the eye. Some +isolated carriages, passing rapidly over the route, as if every one +longed to be more promptly rid of whatever is grave and mournful in +this day of cruel memory." +</P> + +<P> +The ultras were thinking much less of the real interests of the +monarchy than of their own spites and their personal ambitions. +</P> + +<P> +These pretended supports of the throne were digging the abyss in which +the throne was to be swallowed up. Charles X., blinded, was already +thinking of calling the Prince de Polignac to power, and regarded the +Martignac ministry as a provisional expedient. To the despair of the +members of this ministry, he maintained relations with M. de Villele, +whose fall he regretted. After the opening of the session, he wrote to +his former minister, February 6, 1828:— +</P> + +<P> +"What do you think of my discourse? I did my best; but as it was a +success with some persons of doubtful opinions, I am afraid that it is +not worth much. Everything appears to me so confused, that I know not +what to count upon. The eulogies of the Debats and the Constitutionnel +make me fear I have said stupid things. Yet I hope not, and I shall +continue to arrest with firmness what may lead to dangerous +concessions." +</P> + +<P> +On the other hand, if there were among the liberals some sincere and +well-intentioned men, who meant to remain faithful alike to the throne +and the Charter, there were others who already masked treachery under +the appearance of devotion to the King. Those who two years later were +to boast of having labored during the entire restoration for the ruin +of the elder branch,—actors in the comedy of fifteen years, as they +called themselves,—gave themselves out, in 1828, as partisans and +enthusiastic admirers of Charles X. At the commencement of the session +a deputy of the Left, having affected to say in the tribune that the +King had not a single enemy, the Right permitted itself some +exclamations of doubt. One of its members, M. de Marinhac, cried: "As a +good prince I believe that His Majesty has no enemies, but as King, he +has many, and I know them," added he, looking at his opponents. The +entire Left was indignant, and caused the orator to be called to order. +M. Dupin thanked the president, and said in an agitated voice: "It is a +calumny, an insult, that we cannot endure. Nothing wounds us more than +to hear ourselves accused of being the enemies of him whom we adore, +cherish, bless." +</P> + +<P> +The tactics of the Opposition were to flatter the King, but to disarm +him and to make him look on those who were really revolutionists as +ministerialists. M. de Martignac was a man of good faith, but many who +boasted of supporting him were not so, and perhaps M. de Villele was +right when he wrote to Charles X. in June, 1828:— +</P> + +<P> +"I could serve Your Majesty only with the light and the character God +has given me. It would have been, it would be, impossible for me to +believe that authority can be maintained by concessions and by leaning +on those who wish to overthrow it." +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile there were still some fine days for the old King. His journey +in the departments of the east, in 1828, was a continual ovation that +recalled to him the enthusiasm of the beginning of his reign. Setting +out from Saint Cloud the 31st of August, he arrived at Metz the 3d of +September. All the houses of this great military city were hung with +the white flag adorned with fleurs-de-lis. After having visited some of +the fortifications, Charles X., following the ramparts, came to an +elegant pavilion erected on the site of the ancient citadel. Long +covered seats were arranged for the ladies of the city; a prodigious +number of spectators occupied the ramparts. In the presence of the +sovereign a regiment made a simulated attack on a "demi-lune" and a +bastion. +</P> + +<P> +On September 6, Saverne arranged a very picturesque reception for the +King. All the cantons and all the communes sent thither, together with +their mayors and their richest farmers, their prettiest village girls +in Alsatian costume. Five hundred peasants, clad in red vest and long +black coat, the head covered with a great hat turned up on one side, a +white ribbon tied about the left arm, were on horseback at the place of +meeting. The young girls, bearing flags and garlands, were brought in +wagons, each containing a dozen or sixteen. In other wagons were the +musicians. The pretty Alsaciennes presented the monarch with a basket +of flowers; then he breakfasted with the authorities, and, at a signal, +fires were lighted at the same time on the plain and on the surrounding +mountains. +</P> + +<P> +The 7th of September, Charles X. entered Strasbourg in triumph. At a +league from the city, on a height from which it was to be seen, and +whence the wooded hills of the Black Forest were visible, he was +awaited by a crowd of young girls in Alsatian costume, in three hundred +wagons, with four or six horses to each. There were also twelve hundred +horsemen, divided into squadrons, the mayors with their scarfs at their +head and carrying the fleur-de-lis standards. The royal cortege passed, +under arbors of verdure and flowers, amid this long file of vehicles +and horsemen, who escorted it to the walls of Strasbourg. Delighted +with the enthusiasm of which he was the object, the sovereign proceeded +to the Cathedral, where a te deum was sung. In the evening the spire of +this marvellous church was illuminated: it was like a pyramid of stars. +</P> + +<P> +The King of Wurtemberg, the Grand Duke of Baden, and his three brothers +came to greet the King of France in the capital of Alsace. He showed +them at the arsenal sixteen hundred pieces of ordnance on their +carriages, and arms sufficient for a hundred thousand men. +</P> + +<P> +"Sire, and gentlemen," he said with a smile, in which kingly pride +mingled with perfect urbanity, "I have nothing to conceal from you. +This is something I can show to my friends as to my enemies." +</P> + +<P> +Yes, France was great then, and no one could have predicted for Alsace +the fate reserved for her forty-two years later. The army was the +admiration of Europe. The navy had just recaptured at Navarino the +prestige and power of the time of Louis XVI. Charles X. said to Mr. +Hyde de Neuville:— +</P> + +<P> +"France, when a noble design is involved, takes counsel only with +herself. Thus whether England wishes or not, we shall free Greece. +Continue the armaments with the same activity. I shall not pause in the +path of humanity and honor." +</P> + +<P> +And at the moment when the very Christian King was greeted by the +German Princes in the Alsatian capital, his victorious troops were +completing in the Morea the enfranchisement of Greece. +</P> + +<P> +Charles X. returned by Colmar, Luneville, Nancy, and Champagne. At +Troyes he found himself surrounded by all the liberal deputies, and he +decorated Casimir PErier. Everywhere he had an enthusiastic welcome. On +his return to Saint Cloud he was warmly congratulated by all his court. +Nevertheless, as the Duchess of Gontaut said to him:— +</P> + +<P> +"Sire, you must be happy."—"What do cheers signify?" he answered, not +without sadness. "These demonstrations, all superficial, should not +dazzle—a friendly gesture of the hand, a prince's, a king's, +expression of satisfaction will obtain them." +</P> + +<P> +Despite this philosophic reflection, Charles X. was triumphant. If his +ministers wished to credit their liberal policy with the ovations he +had received in the east, he called their attention to the fact that he +had been not less well received the year before under the Villele +ministry at the time of his visit to the camp of Saint Omer. In the +enthusiasm manifested by the people, he saw an homage to the +monarchical principle, not to the policy of one or another ministry. +</P> + +<P> +"You hear these people. Do they shout hurrah for the Charter? No, they +cry long live the King!" Still confident of the future, he wished to +persuade himself that the obstacles piled up before his dynasty were +but clouds that a favorable wind would scatter soon. "Ah, Monsieur de +Martignac," he cried, with deep joy, "what a nation! what should we not +do for it!" +</P> + +<P> +At the moment that Charles X. traversed the provinces of the east in +triumph, the Duchess of Berry was making in the west a journey not less +brilliant than that of the sovereign. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE JOURNEY IN THE WEST +</H3> + +<P> +Never was a princely journey more triumphal than that of the Duchess of +Berry in the provinces of the west in 1828. Madame, who left Paris June +16, returned there October 1, and there was not a day in these three +months that she was not the object of enthusiastic ovations. In a book +of nearly six hundred pages, Viscount Walsh has described, with the +fidelity of a Dangeau, this journey in which the mother of the Duke of +Bordeaux was treated like a queen of a fairy tale. +</P> + +<P> +The 16th of June, the Princess slept at Rambouillet, where two years +later such cruel trials were to come to her. The 18th, she visited +Chambord, where she was received by Count Adrien de Calonne, the author +of the project of the subscription, thanks to which this historic +chateau became the property of the Duke of Bordeaux. +</P> + +<P> +In the face of the wind, which was blowing with force, Madame ascended +to the highest point of the chateau, the platform of the lantern called +Fleur-de-Lis at the end of the famous double balustered staircase. From +there her glance wandered over the vast extent of the park, with a +circumference of eight leagues, and enclosing, besides six or seven +thousand acres of woodland, twenty-three farms, whose buildings, +cultivated fields, and scattered flocks, animated the view in all +directions. On descending, she said: "I should like to mark my name +here; I shall love to see it again when I come to visit the Duke of +Bordeaux." And with a stiletto she cut these words: "18th June—Marie +Caroline." Some young girls presented her with lambs white as snow, +decorated with green and white ribbons, and with a tame roe, on whose +collar was engraved: "Homage of the people of Chambord." The same day +she paid visits at their chateaux to Marshal Victor, Duke of Bellune, +and to the Duke d'Avaray. In the evening she returned to Blois. Madame +left there the 19th of June, after examining the Salle des Etats, the +room in which the Duke of Guise was assassinated, and the tower where +Catharine de' Medici used to consult the astrologers. The 20th, she +attended at Saumur a brilliant tournament given in her honor by the +Cavalry School. The 21st, she entered Angers amid shouts and cheers. +The 22d, she visited the chateau of Count Walsh de Serrant. Her +carriage passed under vaults of verdure adorned with flowers and +banners. +</P> + +<P> +The Princess arrived the same day at Saint Florent, which, in 1793, had +given the signal for the war of the Vendee, and where the Vendean army +had effected the famous passage of the Loire, comparable to that of the +Berezina. There the aged witnesses of the struggles described by +Napoleon as "a war of giants," had assembled near the tomb of Bonchamp +to await the Duchess of Berry. All the neighboring heights were +bristling with white flags. From afar they were seen fluttering on the +church-towers, on the chateaux, over cottages, on isolated trees. They +were to be seen even above the graves in the cemeteries. A son had +said: "My father died for the white flag; let us plant it on his grave; +the dead should rejoice, for Madame comes to honor their fidelity." The +example was followed, and the tombs bore the rallying sign of those who +rested there. When on the borders of the Loire, the Princess paused a +moment, struck with the majesty of the scene. The cannon mingled their +noble voices with the acclamations of fifteen thousand Vendedans. The +stream was covered with a swarm of boats, dressed with flags. A +magnificent sun lighted up this fete. +</P> + +<P> +It was ten o'clock when Madame arrived at Milleraye, opposite Saint +Florent. It was there that General de Bonchamp, one of the heroes of +the Vendee, had given up his soul to God. The cottage where the +soldiers had laid him to die was shown. His widow awaited the Duchess +of Berry. What contrast between the festivity of Saint Florent and the +consternation of the days of grief and misfortune, when, in October, +1793, its people fled to the right bank of the Loire, leaving their +houses a prey to the flames! The cries of distress and despair which +sounded along the banks of the stream in that fatal year, were now +replaced by shouts of joy. Madame embarked amid cheers. Her boat was +escorted by a great number of others, six of which contained Vendeans +bearing flags torn by bullets in the battles of Fontenay and of Torfou, +of Laval, and of Dol. Grouped on the hill-slopes of Saint Florent, more +than fifteen thousand spectators followed with their gaze the flotilla, +in the midst of which they saw the Duchess of Berry, standing, visibly +agitated. She landed upon the plateau of Saint Florent, and ascended on +foot the hill that led to it. When she reached the summit, she found +herself in the midst of a camp of five thousand Vendean soldiers who +had taken part in the war of 1793 or in the arming of 1815. There it +was that Cathelineau, as in the time of the crusades, cried: "It is +God's will. Let us march!"—"Oh, what a people!" said the Princess. +"What fine and honest faces! What an accent in their cries of 'Long +live the King!' Yes, plainly they love us." She proceeded to the church +of Saint Florent, where, kneeling beneath a canopy, she heard Mass. She +regarded with attention the tomb of Bonchamp, and said, as she beheld +his statue: "He looks as if he were still commanding." +</P> + +<P> +On leaving the church, she went to see the place where Bonchamp is +buried, and, under a tent, partook of a repast offered her by the +Countess d'Autichamp. She had recounted to her in detail the celebrated +passage of the Loire, the disastrous period when all the city of Saint +Florent was burned by order of the Convention, and the only house left +standing was the one occupied by the republican General LEchelle as his +headquarters. +</P> + +<P> +At three o'clock in the afternoon, Madame embarked anew on the +steamboat awaiting her at the point of Varades, and proceeded in this +way to Nantes. The inhabitants from the two banks of the stream greeted +her upon her passage. The red aprons and white caps of the women +contrasted, in the landscape, with the sombre, costume of the men. That +she might be better recognized by the crowd, the Princess, clad in a +simple robe of brown silk, with a long chain of gold at the neck, +separated herself from her suite, mounted to the highest point on the +boat, and greeted with voice and gesture all these faithful people. The +men waved banners and standards. The women raised their little children +in their arms and said: "Look at her well; it's the mother of the Duke +of Bordeaux." +</P> + +<P> +The people seemed to walk upon the water to get a nearer view of +Madame. Not a rock pushing out into the stream that was not occupied. +Where the Loire was too wide for the features of the Princess to be +seen from the shore, the dwellers on the banks had, so to speak, +brought them together, by forming in the middle of the stream streets +of boats, with their flags and their triumphal arches. At a league from +Saint Florent a rock juts into the water of the Loire. Here was an aged +Vendean, all alone, his white hair fluttering in the wind. Erect upon +the rock, he was holding a white flag, and at his feet was a dog. It +was, according to the Moniteur, a symbol of faithful Vendee. +</P> + +<P> +The same day, June 22, at seven in the evening, the Princess reached +Nantes. She passed on foot from the Port Maillard to the Prefecture, +and had difficulty in getting through the innumerable multitude. The +next day she was at Savenay, where, on leaving the church, she paused +to contemplate the monument raised to the memory of the victims of the +battle of the 23d of September, 1793. The 24th, she went to Saint Anne +d'Auray, a pilgrimage venerated throughout all Brittany, and visited +the Champ des Martyrs, the little plain where thirty-three years +before, the EMIGRES taken at Quiberon had been shot, despite their +capitulation. When Madame appeared on the consecrated field, the crowd +cheered her, then became still, and amid solemn silence, sang the de +Profundis. +</P> + +<P> +The 25th, the Princess was at Lorient, and there laid the corner-stone +of the monument erected to Bisson, the lieutenant of the navy who, in +the Greek expedition, October, 1827, being charged with the command of +a brig taken from the Turks by Admiral de Rigny's fleet, blew up the +vessel, with the crew, rather than surrender. After visiting Rennes, +she returned to Nantes, the 28th of June. A triumphal arch had been +constructed on the Place des Changes, with this inscription: "Lilies +for our Bourbons. Laurels for Henry. Roses for Louise." The flower and +fruit girls had written on their arch of verdure: "Our flowers, our +fruits, our hearts, are Madame's." The 29th, the Duchess attended a +magnificent ball given by the city. The next day she visited the +Trappist Convent at Melleray. It was difficult to persuade her to go +away. "Where shall I find more happiness than here?" she said. +"Elsewhere there are pleasures and distractions, but none here. Since I +make them happy, I would remain; and I am very well pleased." +</P> + +<P> +The 30th, at evening, Madame arrived at Tremiciniere, at the house of +the Countess de Charette, the sister-in-law of the famous Vendean +chief. July 1, she entered Bocage. From there no more wide roads, no +more cities of easy approach; bad ways, long distances without relays, +obstacles of all sorts. Clad in a green riding-habit, with a gray felt +hat and a gauze veil, Madame galloped between Madame de la +Rochejaquelein and Madame de Charette. At her arrival at Saint Hilaire, +the Marquis de Foresta, Prefect of La Vendec, said to her: "Madame does +not like phrases; La Vendee does not make them; it has but one +sentiment and one cry to express it: Long live the King! Long live +Madame! Forever live the Bourbons!" +</P> + +<P> +The peasants never wearied of admiring her intrepidity. When her horse, +excited by the cries and the beating of the drums, pranced and reared, +they were heard to say: "Oh! the brave little woman; she is not +frightened." A villager exclaimed: "I have never regretted my old +father so much as today; one day like this would have repaid him for +all the hardships he suffered." +</P> + +<P> +Madame passed the night at the Chateau of Lagrange, the property of the +Marquis de Goulaine. On entering her chamber she found by her bed a +night-lamp, with this motto: "Rest tranquilly; La Vendee is watching." +</P> + +<P> +On the 3d of July, she visited the Champ des Mattes, where in 1815 the +Marquis Louis de La Rochejaquelein was killed at the head of the +Vendeans in insurrection against Napoleon. The same day she was at +Bourbon-Vendee. The 5th of July, at the crossing of the Quatre Chemins, +in sight of the roads from Nantes, from Bourbon, from Saumur, and from +La Rochelle, she laid the first stone of a monument to perpetuate the +memory of the Vendean victories. She returned afterward to the Chateau +de Mesnard, the property of her first equerry, the one who traced so +well the itinerary of her journey. All the inhabitants of the bourg of +Mesnard had taken part in the great Vendean war, and, their cure at +their head, marched as far as Granville. The mother of the first +equerry, then a widow, and whose two sons were in the army of Conde, +had followed her former peasants, with her daughter, and died at +Lagrande at the time of the disastrous retreat. Madame de la +Rochejaquelein, in her Memoirs, speaks of the sad state in which she +saw her. In memory of so much devotion, Madame wished to open a bal +champetre with a veteran of the bourg of Mesnard. +</P> + +<P> +That night the Princess slept at the Chateau of Landebaudiere, +belonging to Count Auguste de La Rochejaquelein. Everywhere the +villagers came to the gates of the chateaux to enlist in their joys as +formerly they had enlisted in their combats,—Lescure, La +Rochejaquelein, d'Elbee, Charette. The 6th, Madame visited the field of +the battle of Torfou. A former officer of the army of La Vendee, noting +that she wore a green riding-habit, said to her: "We were always +attached to our uniform, but we cherish it more than ever to-day, when +we see that we wear the colors of Madame."—"Gentlemen," replied the +Princess, "I have adopted your uniform." She breakfasted in the open +air, amid the Vendeans under arms. +</P> + +<P> +Madame continued her journey on horseback. Nothing could stop her, +neither oppressive heat nor rain-storms. When she was spoken to of her +fatigues, "It is only fair," she responded, "that I should give myself +a little trouble to make the acquaintance of those who have shed their +blood for us." Most of the time she took her repast in the open air. +The peasants strolled around the table and fired salutes with their old +muskets; for in Vendee there is no fete without powder. Then to the +sound of the biniou and of the veze they moved in joyous dances in +which the daughter of kings did not disdain to take part. On entering +every village she was greeted by the cures of the parish and the +neighboring parishes. Nearly all were old soldiers whose hands had +borne the sword before carrying the cross. +</P> + +<P> +Near the boundaries of the department of La Loire-Inferieure Madame +alighted. "Here is a farm," she said; "let us knock and ask for some +milk." The doors were not closed. On entering the room of the +farm-wife,—who was absent,—the Princess found only a very little +infant asleep and swaddled in a cradle. Then she seated herself on a +stool, and after the fashion of the country, set herself to rocking, +with her foot, the babe of the poor peasant-woman. The 6th of July, at +nine in the evening, she reached Beaupreau. The city, built in the form +of an amphitheatre, was illuminated; an immense bonfire had been +lighted. The next day Madame laid the corner-stone of a monument in +honor of d'Elbee, and saluted at Pinen-Mauges, the statue of +Cathelineau. The 8th of July, she was at the Chateau of Maulevrier, +whose owner, M. de Colbert, had erected a monument to the memory of +Stofflet, the heroic huntsman. The same day, at Saint Aubin, she laid +the first stone of another monument raised to the four heroes of La +Vendee,—Dornissan, Lescure, Henry and Louis de La Rochejaquelein. +</P> + +<P> +The 10th of July, the Princess was at Lucon, the 11th at La Rochelle, +the 12th at Rochefort, the 13th at Blaye, the 14th at Bordeaux. The +"faithful city," as the capital of the Gironde was then named, +distinguished itself by its enthusiasm. A little girl of eight years, +Mademoiselle du Hamel, surrounded by her young companions, daughters of +members of the municipal government read a welcome to the mother of the +Duke of Bordeaux as follows:— +</P> + +<P> +"Madame, while our fathers have the honor to offer you their hearts and +their arms, permit us, children, to offer to you the flowers and the +prayers of innocence. In choosing me as their interpreter, my young +companions have doubtless wished to recall to you an angel who is dear +to you; but if alone of them all I have the fortune to count the same +number of years as Mademoiselle, we all rival each other in cherishing +you, we all repeat with an enthusiasm rendered purer and more simple by +our age, Long live the King! Long live Madame!" +</P> + +<P> +In the evening the "Mother of the Little Duke," as the Bordelais called +the Princess, went to the chief theatre, where she was received with +frenzied applause. The statue of the Duke of Bordeaux, supported by +soldiers under a canopy of flags, and crowned with laurels, was brought +to the front of the stage, while a cortege formed by a detachment of +troops of the line, and by all the company of the theatre, filed by, +military music resounded. Then a cantata was sung. +</P> + +<P> +On the morrow, at a grand ball offered to her by the city, Madame was +seated upon a platform that was surmounted by a fine portrait of her +son. Eight hundred women, crowned with white plumes, flowers, and +diamonds, cheered her. The 18th, she slept at Pau, the native place of +Henry IV. The mountaineers, descending from their heights, banner in +hand, with their Basque costumes, came to meet her. The next day she +visited the castle where was born the Bearnais, whose cradle, formed of +a great tortoise-shell, she saw: it was shaded by draperies and white +plumes. The following day she visited the environs. To descend into the +valley of Ossun, she donned the felt hat and the red sash worn by the +peasants of Bearn. As she was looking at the spring of Nays, a +mountaineer offered her some water in a rustic dish, and said naively: +"Are you pleased with the BEarnais, Madame?"—"Am I not pleased!" +replied the Princess, eagerly. "See, I wear the hat and sash of the +country!" +</P> + +<P> +The 24th, she was at the Ile des Faisans, famous in the souvenirs of +Louis XIV.; the 25th, at Bayonne, where she assisted at a military +fete. In all her excursions, Madame carried her pencils with her, and +almost every day sketched some picturesque site. Eight Bearnais, with +an amaranth belt and hats of white and green, served her as a guard of +honor. She passed all the month of August and a part of the month of +September in the Pyrenees. The mountaineers never wearied of admiring +the hardihood, the gaiety, the spirit, shown by her in making the most +difficult ascensions. The 9th of September, she quitted Bagneres-de +Luchon to return to Paris, passing through Toulouse, Montauban, Cahors, +Limoges, and Orleans. It was one long series of ovations. The 1st of +October, Madame returned to the Tuileries. She had been accompanied all +through her journey by the Marechale Duchess of Reggio, lady of honor; +by the Marchioness of Podenas, lady companion; and by Count de Mesnard, +first equerry. +</P> + +<P> +The Duchess of Berry returned enchanted. Could she suspect the +reception that awaited her, four years later, in the places where she +had just been the object of veritable worship? When she was received at +Nantes as a triumphant sovereign, could she believe that the time was +approaching when, in that same city, she would have hardly a stone on +which to lay her head and where she would seek a futile refuge in the +chimney-piece—mysterious hiding-place—of the house of the Demoiselles +Duguigny? At Blaye could she imagine that the citadel, hung with white +flags, whose cannon were fired in her honor, would so soon become her +prison? Poor Princess! She had taken seriously the protestations of +devotion and fidelity addressed to her everywhere. They asked her to +promise that if ever the rights of her son were denied, she would +defend them on the soil of La Vendee, and she had said to herself: "I +swear it." The journey of 1828 held the germ of the expedition of 1832. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXIV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE MARY STUART BALL +</H3> + +<P> +No society in Europe was more agreeable and brilliant than that of the +Duchess of Berry. The fetes given by the Princess in the salons of the +Pavilion de Marsan at the Tuileries were marked by exceptional elegance +and good taste; the Petit Chateau, as her vivacious social staff was +called at that time, had an extraordinary brightness and animation. At +the carnival of 1829 Madame organized a costume ball, which, for its +brilliancy, was the talk of the court and the city. All the costumes +were those of one period,—that at which the dowager queen of Scotland, +Marie of Lorraine, widow of James V., came to France to visit her +daughter, Mary Stuart, wife of the King, Francis II. It was decided +that Mary Stuart should be represented by the Duchess of Berry, and the +King, Francis II., by the oldest of the sons of the Duke of Orleans, +the Duke of Chartres, who was then eighteen and one-half years old, and +who was, the next year, to take the title of Duke of Orleans, on the +accession of his father to the throne. The apartments of the Children +of France in the Pavilion de Marsan were chosen for the ball, and the +date was fixed at Monday, March 2, 1829. +</P> + +<P> +The King, the Dauphin and Dauphiness, the Duke and Duchess of Orleans, +appeared at the fete, but not in costume. Charles X. came after the +hour of giving out the general orders. The Dauphin, the Dauphiness, and +the Duke of Orleans arrived at 8 P.M. The entry of the four queens, +Mary Stuart, Marie of Lorraine, Catharine de' Medici, Jeanne d'Albret, +was announced by the band of the bodyguards which preceded them. The +cortege was magnificent, the costumes of the princes and their ladies +resplendent. To increase its richness, the Dauphiness had lent not only +her own jewels, but a part of those of the crown. The invited guests +not taking part in the cortege occupied places already assigned them. +They wore a uniform costume of silver gauze and white satin. This +coolness of tone produced a charming effect when at the arrival of the +cortege all rose. In the ball-room a platform had been prepared with a +throne for Mary Stuart. The Duchess of Berry, as the famous queen, wore +with great grace a dazzling toilet—crown of diamonds, high collar, +blue velvet robe with wide sleeves, front of white satin bordered with +ermine. The Duke of Chartres, a handsome boy and brilliant cavalier, as +King Francis II., wore a cap with white plumes, and a dark blue velvet +doublet with ornaments of gold. His brother, the Duke of Nemours, +fourteen years old, was in the character of a page to the King, with a +white satin doublet, and recalled in his features the youth of Henry +IV. The Duchess of Berry, playing to perfection her role of queen, +advanced to the throne. The Duke of Chartres gave her his hand to +ascend the steps. Then she made a sign to be seated; but the young +Prince remained standing. Placing himself behind the throne, and +removing his cap with white plumes, he bowed low and said: "Madame, I +know my place." The Duchess of Gontaut spoke to the Duchess of Orleans, +and asked her if she had remarked the tact of her son the Prince. "I +remarked it," replied the Princess, "and I approve of it." +</P> + +<P> +The ball commenced. There was present a great Scotch lord, the Marquis +of Huntley, who belonged to a very illustrious Jacobite house. In his +youth he had been what was then called a beau danseur, and had had the +honor of opening a fancy dress ball at the Chateau of Versailles with +the Queen Marie Antoinette. Charles X. remembered it and wished that +the Marquis, then nearly eighty, should open the ball with little +Mademoiselle, who was but nine. Still a beau danseur, the old +Englishman had not forgotten the pirouettes of Versailles; all the +court admired, and the young princes were greatly amused. +</P> + +<P> +The ball was a marvellous success. It was a revival of the beautiful +fetes of the Renaissance. The sixteenth century, so elegant, so +picturesque, lived anew. A painter, who was then but twenty-nine, and +who had already a great vogue, M. Eugene Lamy, perpetuated its memory +in a series of twenty-six watercolors, which have been lithographed, +and form a curious album. (A copy of this album is in the National +Library, in the Cabinet of Engravings.) It contains, besides, four +water-colors, representing one, the ascent of the stairway of the +Pavilion de Marsan by the guests; another, Mary Stuart seated on the +throne; a third, one of the dances of the ball; a fourth, the entrance +of the Dowager Queen of Scotland twenty-two reproductions of the +principal personages at the fete. At the left are the arms of the +historic personages represented, and at the right those of the +representative. Then above the portrait of the Duchess of Berry there +are at the left the arms of Scotland and France, and at the right those +of France and the Two Sicilies, and above the portrait of the Duke of +Chartres at the left the arms of France, at the right the ducal blazon +of Orleans. +</P> + +<P> +Here are the names of the twenty-two persons who figure in the album of +M. Eugene Lamy, with the personages represented:— +</P> + +<P> +1. The Duchess of Berry (Mary Stuart). +</P> + +<P> +2. The Duke of Chartres (Francis II.). +</P> + +<P> +3. The Duke de Nemours (a king's page). +</P> + +<P> +4. Lady Stuart de Rothsay (Marie de Lorraine). Daughter of Lord +Hardwicke, she was the wife of Lord Stuart de Rothsay, ambassador of +England at Paris. +</P> + +<P> +5. The Marquis of Douglas, since Duke of Hamilton (the Duke de +Chatellerault), a finished type of the great Scotch lord; he married in +1843 the Princess Mary of Baden, and under the reign of Napoleon III. +added to his titles of Hamilton and of Brandon in Scotland and England, +the title of Duke de Chatellerault, in France, which had formerly +belonged to the Hamilton family. +</P> + +<P> +6. The Marchioness of Podenas, NEE Nadaillac (Catharine de' Medici). +Lady companion of the Duchess of Berry, she was one of the brightest +women of the court. +</P> + +<P> +7. The Count de Pastoret, married to a de Neufermeil (Duke of Ferrara). +</P> + +<P> +8. The Marquis de Vogue (the Vidame de Chartres). Married to a +Mademoiselle de Machault d'Arnouville; his son was the diplomat who was +ambassador under the presidency of Thiers and of Marshal Macmahon. +</P> + +<P> +9. Count Ludovic de Rosanbo (Duke de Guise). He was one of the +handsomest men of his time. He had married the daughter of the Count de +Mesnard, lady companion to the Duchess of Berry. +</P> + +<P> +10. The Countess de La Rochejaquelein, daughter of the Duke de Duras (a +lady of honor to the Queen). She was honorary lady companion to the +Duchess of Berry. +</P> + +<P> +11. Miss Louise Stuart (a page to the Queen-Mother of Scotland). +</P> + +<P> +12. Miss Pole Carew (Mary Seaton, maid of honor to the same queen). +</P> + +<P> +13. The Count de Mailly (Rene de Mailly, officer of the guard to Mary +Stuart). The Count was the son of the Marshal de Mailly, defender of +the Tuileries on August 10, who paid for his devotion on the scaffold +of the Revolution. Aide-de-camp of the Duke of Bordeaux, and +lieutenant-colonel; he was a brilliant officer who had received +glorious wounds in the Russian campaign. He was married to a +Mademoiselle de Lonlay de Villepail. +</P> + +<P> +14. The Countess d'Orglandes, NEE Montblin, one of the prettiest women +of the court (Louise de Clermont-Tonnerre, Countess of Crussol). +</P> + +<P> +15. The Duchess de Caylus, NEE La Grange, a great beauty, remarried +afterwards to the Count de Rochemure (Diane de Poitiers). +</P> + +<P> +16. Mademoiselle de Bearn, a charming young girl, married afterwards to +the Duke of Vallombrosa, and dying so young and so regretted (a maid of +honor to Mary Stuart). +</P> + +<P> +17. Count de Mesnard, peer of France, field marshal, first equerry of +the Duchess of Berry, aide-de-camp of the Duke of Bordeaux (Admiral de +Coligny). +</P> + +<P> +18. Marquis de Louvois, peer of France, married to Mademoiselle de +Monaco (Count Gondi de Ritz). +</P> + +<P> +19. The Duke of Richelieu, nephew of the President of the Council of +Ministers of Louis XVIII. (Jacques d'Albon, Marshal of Saint Andre). +</P> + +<P> +20. The Baron de Charette (Francois de Lorraine). He had married a +daughter of the Duke of Berry and of Miss Brown. His son was the +general of the Papal Zouaves. +</P> + +<P> +21. Countess de Pastoret, NEE Neufermeil (the Duchess of Montpensier). +</P> + +<P> +22. The Countess Auguste de Juigne, NEE Durfort de Civrac (Jeanne +d'Albret). +</P> + +<P> +Among the pages were the Duke de Maille, who carried the banner of +France, and Count Maxence de Damas. +</P> + +<P> +Eugene Lamy, at the age of eighty-seven, exhibited in 1887 a charming +water-color, of which the subject was "A Ball under Henry III." He has +the same talent, the same brightness, the same freshness of coloring as +when, fifty-eight years before, he painted the water colors of the Mary +Stuart ball. The Duke de Nemours, one of the last survivors of the +guests of this ball, could recount its splendors. Even in the time of +the old regime no more elegant ball was ever seen. If such a fete had +been given in our time, the detailed accounts of it would fill the +papers; but under the Restoration the press was very sober in the +matter of "society news," and the dazzling ball of 1829 was hardly +mentioned. On the morrow, the Journal des Debats said:— +</P> + +<P> +"PARIS, 2d of March. +</P> + +<P> +"The ball given at the Pavilion Marsan, in the apartments of the +Children of France, was honored by the presence of the King, M. the +Dauphin and Madame the Dauphiness. Mgr. the Duke of Orleans and his +family arrived at eight o'clock. +</P> + +<P> +"Tomorrow there will be a play at the Court Theatre; the actors of the +opera will play La Muette de Portici." +</P> + +<P> +Beside the persons who figure in the album of M. Eugene Lamy many +others were to be noted. Let us mention the Countess Hemi de Biron, the +Marchionness Oudinot, the Countess de Noailles, who represented +Margaret of Savoy, Claude Duchess of Lorraine, the Princess de Conde, +the Princess of Ferrara; the Count A. de Damas, as Lanoue Bras-de-Fer; +Monsieur de San Giacomo, as Francois de' Medici; the Countess de +Montault, as Countess de Coligny; the Marchioness de Montcalm, as the +Duchess de Bouillon; the flower of the English aristocracy,—Lady +Aldborough, Lady Rendlesham, Lady Cambermere, Lady Vernon, Lord +Ramlagh, Captain Drummond, Lord Forwich, Lord Abayne, Miss Caulfuld, +Miss Thelusson, Miss Baring, Miss Acton, and, lastly, the Counts de +Cosse de Biron, and de Brissac, representing the three marshals of +France whose names they bore. +</P> + +<P> +In donning the costume of the unfortunate queen whose sorrows could +only be compared to those of Marie Antoinette, the Duchess of Berry +proved how free her mind was from all gloomy presentiments, forgetting +that the family of the Bourbons had already had its Charles I., and not +foreseeing that it was soon to have its James II., the amiable Princess +hardly suspected that in the course of next year, she would be an exile +in Scotland in the castle of Mary Stuart. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap25"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FINE ARTS +</H3> + +<P> +From 1824 to the end of the Restoration, the department of the Fine +Arts, connected with the ministry of the King's household, was confided +to the Viscount Sosthenes de la Rochefoucauld, son of the Duke de +Doudeauville. He was then at the head of the museums, the royal +manufactures, the Conservatory and the five royal theatres,—the Opera, +the Francois, the Odeon, the Opera-Comique, and the Italiens. +</P> + +<P> +From the point of view of arts and letters the reign of Charles X. was +illustrious. The King encouraged, protected, pensioned the greater +number of the great writers and artists who honored France. What is +sometimes called in literature the generation of 1830 would be more +exactly described as the generation of the Restoration. This regime can +claim the glory of Lamartine, as poet. A body-guard of Louis XVIII., he +was the singer of royalty. He published, in 1820, the first volume of +his Meditations Poetiques, in 1823 the second, and in 1829 the +Harmonies. His literary success opened to him the doors of diplomacy. +He was successively attache of the Legation at Florence, Secretary of +Embassy at Naples and at London, Charge d'Affaires in Tuscany. When the +Revolution of 1830 broke out, he had just been named Minister +Plenipotentiary to Greece. +</P> + +<P> +Victor Hugo published his Odes et Ballades from 1822 to 1828. "La +Vendee," "Les Vierges de Verdun," "Quiberon," "Louis XVII," "Le +Retablissement de la Statue de Henri IV.," "La Mort du due de Berry," +"La Naissance du duc de Bordeaux," "Les Funerailles de Louis XVIII.," +"Le Sacre de Charles X.," are true royalist songs. Alexandre Dumas, +FILS, in receiving M. Leconte de Lisle at the French Academy, recalled +"the light of that little lamp, seen burning every night in the mansard +of the Rue Dragon, at the window of the boy poet, poor, solitary, +indefatigable, enamoured of the ideal, hungry for glory, of that little +lamp, the silent and friendly confidant of his first works and his +first hopes so miraculously realized." Who knows? without the support +of the government of the Restoration the light of that little lamp +might less easily have developed into the resplendent star that the +author of La Dame aux Camelias indicated in the firmament. +</P> + +<P> +The author of Meditations Poetiques and the author of the Odes et +Ballades were sincere in the expression of their political and +religious enthusiasm. These two lyric apostles of the throne and the +altar, these two bards of the coronation, obeyed the double inspiration +of their imagination and their conscience. Party spirit should not be +too severe for a regime that suggested such admirable verses to the two +greatest French poets of the nineteenth century—to Lamartine and to +Victor Hugo. +</P> + +<P> +Let us recall also that in Victor Hugo it was not only the royalist +poet that Charles X. protected, it was also the chief of the romantic +school; for the government, despite all the efforts of the classicists, +caused Hernani to be represented at the Francais, a subsidized theatre. +When the Academy pressed its complaint to the very throne to prevent +the acceptance of the play, the King replied wittily that he claimed no +right in the matter beyond his place in the parterre. The first +representation of Hernani took place the 25th of February, 1830, and +the author, decorated, pensioned, encouraged by Charles X., did not +lose the royal favor, when, on the 9th of March following, he wrote in +the preface of his work: "Romanticism, so often ill-defined, is +nothing, taking it all in all—and this is its true definition, if only +its militant side be regarded—but liberalism in literature. The +principle of literary liberty, already understood by the thinking and +reading world, is not less completely adopted by that immense crowd, +eager for the pure emotions of art, that throngs the theatres of Paris +every night. That lofty and puissant voice of the people, which is like +that of God, writes that poetry henceforth shall have the same matter +as politics! Toleration and liberty!" +</P> + +<P> +The first representation of a work that was a great step forward for +the romantic school, Henri III et sa Cour, by Alexandre Dumas, had +already taken place at the Francais, February 11, 1829. The 30th of +March, 1830, the Odeon gave Christine de Suede, by the same author. +</P> + +<P> +In 1829, Alfred de Vigny had represented at the Francais his +translation in verse of Othello. It was from 1824 to 1826 that the poet +published his principal poems. It was in 1826 that his romance of +Cinq-Mars appeared. Victor Hugo published Les Orientates in 1829; +Alfred de Musset, Les Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie in 1830. It may be +said then that before the Revolution of 1830, romanticism had reached +its complete expansion. +</P> + +<P> +Note, also, that the government of Charles X. always respected the +independence of writers and artists, and never asked for eulogies in +exchange for the pensions and encouragement it accorded them with +generous delicacy. It named Michelet Maitre de Conferences at the Ecole +Normale in 1826. It pensioned Casimir Delavigne, so well known for his +liberal opinions, and Augustin Thierry, a writer of the Opposition, +when that great historian, having lost his eyesight, was without +resources. It ordered of Horace Vernet the portraits of the King, the +Duke of Berry, and the Duke of Angouleme, as well as a picture +representing a "Review by Charles X. at the Champ-de-Mars," and named +the painter of the battles of the Revolution and the Empire director of +the School of Rome. +</P> + +<P> +From the point of view of painting as well as of letters, the +Eestoration was a grand epoch. Official encouragement was not wanting +to the painters. Gros and Gerard received the title of Baron. There may +be seen to-day in one of the new halls of the French School at the +Louvre, the pretty picture by Heim, which represents Charles X. +distributing the prizes for the Exposition of 1824, where Le Vaeu de +Louis XIII. by Ingres had figured, and where the talent of Paul +Delaroche had been disclosed. In the Salon Carre of the Louvre, the +King, in the uniform of general-in-chief of the National Guards, blue +coat with plaits of silver, with the cordon of the Saint Esprit, and in +high boots, himself hands the cross of the Legion of Honor to the +decorated artists, among whom is seen Heim, the author of the picture. +</P> + +<P> +Ingres, chief of the Classic School, and Delacroix, chief of the +Romantic School, shone at the same time. In 1827, the first submitted +to general admiration l'Apotheose d'Homere and Le Martyre de Saint +Symphorien. The same year Delacroix, who had already given in 1824 Le +Massacre de Scio, in 1826 La Mort du Doge Mariano Faliero, exhibited LE +Christ au Jardin des Oliviers, acquired for the Church of Saint Paul; +Justinien,—for the Council of State; and La Mort de Sardanapale. +</P> + +<P> +When the Musee Charles X. (the Egyptian Museum) was opened at the +Louvre, the government ordered the frescoes and ceilings from Gros, +Gerard, Ingres, Schnetz, Abel de Pujol. M. Jules Mareschal says:— +</P> + +<P> +"The right-royal munificence of Charles X. was not marked by +niggardliness in the appreciation of works of art any more than in the +appreciation of the works of science and letters. But, as is known, it +is not by interest alone that the heart of the artist is gained and his +zeal stimulated. They are far more sensitive to the esteem shown them, +to the respect with which their art is surrounded, and to the taste +manifested in the judgment of their productions. Now, who more than +Louis XVIII. and Charles X. possessed the secret of awakening lively +sympathy in the world of artists and men of letters? Who better than +their worthy counsellor seconded them in the impulses of generous +courtesy so common with them? Thus from this noble and gracious manner +of treating men devoted to art and letters, which marked the royal +administration of the Fine Arts under the Restoration, sprang an +emulation and a good will which on all sides gave an impetus to genius, +and brought forth the new talents." +</P> + +<P> +In theatrical matters, the Viscount Sosthenes de La Rochefoucauld +exercised a salutary influence. He loved artists, and wishing to raise +their situation, moral and social, he deplored the excommunication that +had been laid on the players. +</P> + +<P> +Speaking of the stage, he wrote in a report addressed to Charles X., +June 20,1825: "I perceive that I have forgotten the most essential +side,—the moral, I will even say the religious side. What glory it +would be for a king to raise this considerable class of society from +the abject situation in which it is compelled to live! Sacrificed to +our pleasures, it has been condemned to eternal death, and a king +believes his conscience quiet! For a long time I have cherished this +thought; we must begin by elevating these people, as regards their art, +by reforming, little by little, the swarming abuses that awaken horror, +and end by treating with Rome in order to obtain some just concessions +that would have important results." +</P> + +<P> +In another report to the King, dated October 21, 1826, M. de La +Rochefoucauld wrote, apropos of the obsequies of Talma:— +</P> + +<P> +"A profound regret for me is the manner of the great tragedian's death. +Sire, would it not be worthy of the reign, the breast, the conscience +of Charles X., to draw this class of artists from the cruel position in +which they are left by that excommunication that weighs upon them +without distinction? Whether they conduct themselves well or ill, the +Church repels them; this reprobation holds them perforce in the sphere +of evil and disorder, since they have no interest in rising above it. +Honor them, and they will honor themselves. It is time to undertake the +reform of what I call a pernicious prejudice. The clergy itself is not +far from agreeing on these ideas." +</P> + +<P> +In his relations with authors, artists, directors of theatres, the +Viscount was courtesy itself. We read in one of his reports (June 17, +1825):— +</P> + +<P> +"Rossini is the first composer of Europe; I have succeeded in +attracting him to the service of France; he had before been tempted in +vain. Jealous of his success, people have cried out that he was an +idler, that he would do nothing. I secured him by the methods and in +the interest of the King; I can do with him as I will, as with all the +artists, though they are most difficult people. They must be taken +through the heart. Rossini has just composed a really ravishing piece; +and, touched by the manner in which he is treated, he wishes to present +it to the King in token of his gratitude, and wishes to receive +nothing. He is right, but the King cannot accept gratis so fine a +present; I propose that the King grant him the cross of the Legion of +Honor and announce it himself to him to-morrow—which would be an act +full of grace. All favors must come always from the King." +</P> + +<P> +Great tenacity was needed in the government of Charles X. to get the +Chefs-d'Oeuvre of Rossini represented at the Opera. A little school of +petty and backward ideas rushed, under pretext of patriotism, but +really from jealousy, systematically to drive from the stage everything +not French. For this coterie Rossini and Meyerbeer were suspects, +intruders, who must be repulsed at any cost. The government had the +good sense to take no account of this ridiculous opposition, which +refused to recognize that art should be cosmopolitan. Before seeing his +name on the bills of our first lyric stage, Rossini required no less +than nine years of patience. All Europe applauded him, but at Paris he +had to face the fire of pamphleteers rendered furious by his fame. The +government finally forced the Opera to mount Le Siege de Corinthe. Its +success was so striking that the evening of the first representation +(October 9, 1826), the public made almost a riot for half an hour, +because Rossini, called loudly by an enthusiastic crowd, refused to +appear upon the stage. +</P> + +<P> +The maestro gave at the Opera Moise, March 26, 1826; Le Comte Ory, +August 20, 1828; Guillaume Tell, August 20, 1829. (At this time the +first representations of the most important works took place in +midsummer.) The evening of the first night of Guillaume Tell, the +orchestra went, after the opera, to give a serenade under the windows +of the composer, who occupied the house on the Boulevard Montmartre, +through which the Passage Jouffroy has since been cut. The 10th of +February, 1868, on the occasion of the hundredth representation of the +same work, there was a repetition of the serenade of 1829. The master +then lived in the Rue Chaussee d'Antin, No. 2. Under his windows the +orchestra and chorus of the opera commenced the concert about half an +hour after midnight, by the light of torches, and Faure sang the solos. +</P> + +<P> +The government which secured the representation of Guillaume Tell was +not afraid of the words "independence" and "liberty." A year and a half +before, the 20th of February, 1828, there had been given at the Opera +the chef-d'oeuvre of Auber, La Muette de Portici, and the Duchess of +Berry, a Neapolitan princess, had applauded the Naples Revolution put +into music. +</P> + +<P> +The government of Charles X. protected Meyerbeer as well as Rossini. +Robert le Diable was only played under the reign of Louis Philippe, but +the work had already been received under the Restoration. +</P> + +<P> +During the reign of Charles X. the fine royal theatres reached the +height of their splendor: the Francais and the Odeon were installed in +their present quarters; the Opera in the hall of the Rue La Peletier, +excellent as to acoustics and proportions; the Italiens in the Salle +Favart (where they remained from 1825 to 1838); the Opera Comique in +the Salle Feydeau, until the month of April, 1829, when it inaugurated +the Salle Ventadour. Talma, Mademoiselle Duchesnoir, Mademoiselle Mars, +triumphed at the Francais; Mademoiselle Georges, at the Odeon; Nourrit, +Levasseur, Madame Damoreau, Taglioni, at the Opera; Sontag, Pasta, +Malibran, and Rubini at the Italiens. +</P> + +<P> +The Viscount de la Rochefoucauld wished in every way to raise the moral +level of the theatre. He forbade subscribers, even the most +influential, the entree behind the scenes of the Opera, because these +persons had not always preserved there the desirable decorum. Thence +arose rancor and spite, against which he had to contend during his +entire administration. He wrote to the King, July 29, 1828:— +</P> + +<P> +"A cabal is formed to deprive me of the direction of the theatres; and +by whom and for what? It is a struggle, Sire, between good and evil. It +is sought to maintain, at any cost, the abuses I have dared to reform. +They throw a thousand unjust obstacles in my way. Gamblers are mixed up +in it too; they wish to join this ignoble industry and the theatres. It +is a monstrous infamy. The opera must be reached at all hazards, the +coulisses must be entered; these are the abuses that must be revived. +How can it be done? By removing the theatres from troublesome authority +... Sire, Your Majesty shall decide, and must defend me with a firm +will in the interest, I venture to declare, of order; you must defend +yourself also in the interest of morals and of art, and of a great +influence of which it is sought to deprive you." +</P> + +<P> +M. de La Rochefoucauld had the last word, and remained at the head of +the direction of the Fine Arts until the close of the Restoration. To +the credit of his administration there must still be added the creation +of the school of religious music, directed by Choron, and the +foundation of the concerts of the conservatory with Habeneck, and a +little against the wishes of Cherubini. The chefs-d'oeuvre of German +music were brought out as well as those of Italian music. The Viscount +performed his task con amore, as they say on the other side of the +Alps. He wrote to Charles X. January 12, 1830:— +</P> + +<P> +"How many reflections must have come to the King on regarding the +picture of the Coronation! I divined the thought that he did not +complete, and my eyes filled with tears. Oh, how much I feel and +imagine all the ennui given to the King by these barren and unfortunate +politics! I detest them more even than the King detests them. +Ungrateful offspring of the times, they fly away, rarely leaving even a +memory. How much I prefer the arts!" +</P> + +<P> +This was also the feeling of the Duchess of Berry, who, during all the +Restoration, fled from surly politics to live in the region, radiant +and sacred, of art and charity. The taste of this Italian lady for +painting and music was a veritable passion. She was forever to be found +in the museums, the expositions, the theatres. She caught the melodies +by heart and was always interested in new works. An expert, a +dilletante, was no better judge of pictures and operas; the great +artists who shone in the reign of Charles X. received from the amiable +Princess the most precious encouragements. Nor did she forget to +encourage the efforts of beginners. "Who, then," she said, "would buy +the works of these poor young people, if I did not?" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap26"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXVI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE THEATRE OF MADAME +</H3> + +<P> +One of the most agreeable theatres of Paris, the Gymnase, owed its +prosperity, not to say its existence, to the high protection of Madame +the Duchess of Berry. Our old men recall its vogue, at the time when +they used to applaud Ferville, Gontier, Numa, Leontine Fay, Jenny +Verspre, and when they used to gaze at the greatest ladies of the +court, the most fashionable beauties; and they remember that on its +facade, from the month of September, 1824, to the Revolution of 1830, +there was this inscription in letters of gold: "Theatre de Madame." +Placed under the patronage of the Princess, this fortunate theatre was +a meeting-place of the most elegant society of Paris. It had the same +audiences as the Opera and the Italiens, and they enjoyed themselves as +much in the entr'actes as during the acts. The spectacle was in the +hall as well as on the stage. +</P> + +<P> +The origin of the Gymnase goes back to 1820. According to the privilege +accorded to the new stage under the Decazes ministry, it was to be only +a gymnase composed of the young pupils of the Conservatoire, and other +dramatic and lyric schools, and was authorized only to present +fragments from the various repertories. But from the beginning it +transgressed the limits set for it. Not content with simple pupils, it +engaged actors already well known. In place of borrowing debris of the +repertories of other theatres, it created one of its own. At first the +authorities shut their eyes. But when M. de Corbiere became Minister of +the Interior, he tried to enforce the regulations and to compel the new +theatre to confine itself to the limits of its privilege. The Gymnase +asked for time, was very meek, prayed, supplicated. It would have +succumbed, however, but for the intervention of the Duchess of Berry. +Scribe composed for the apartments of the Tuileries a vaudeville, +called La Rosiere, in which he invoked the Princess as protectress, as +a beneficent fairy. She turned aside the fulminations of M. de +Corbiere. The minister was obstinate; he wished the last word; but the +Princess finally carried the day. The day after he had addressed to the +director of the Gymnase a warning letter, he was amazed to hear the +Duchess of Berry say: "I hope, Monsieur, that you will not torment the +Gymnase any longer, for, henceforth, it will bear my name." +</P> + +<P> +The minister yielded. The Gymnase was saved. It kept its company, its +repertory; it gained the right to give new pieces. From the first days +of September, 1824, it took the name of Madame the Duchess of Berry. +After the death of Louis XVIII., the 16th of that month, the Duchess of +Angouleme having replaced her title of Madame by that of Dauphiness, +and the Duchess of Berry taking the former, the Gymnase was called the +Theatre de Madame. +</P> + +<P> +The programme of the Gymnase was constantly being renewed. Scribe, +whose verve was inexhaustible, wrote for this theatre alone nearly one +hundred and fifty pieces. It is true that he had +collaborators,—Germain Delavigne, Dupin, Melesville, Brazier, Varner, +Carmouche, Bayard, etc. It was to them that he wrote, in the dedication +of the edition of his works:— +</P> + +<P> +"To my collaborators: My dear friends, I have often been reproached for +the number of my collaborators; for myself, who am happy to count among +them only friends, I regret, on the contrary, that I have not more of +them. I am often asked why I have not worked alone. To this I will +reply that I have probably neither the wit nor the talent for that; but +if I had had them I should still have preferred our literary fraternity +and alliance. The few works I have produced alone have been to me a +labor; those I have produced with you have been a pleasure." +</P> + +<P> +Eugene Scribe was born December 25, 1791, at Paris, Rue Saint-Denis, +near the Marche des Innocents. His father, whom he lost early, kept a +silk store, at the sign of the Chat Noir, where he had made a +considerable fortune. Eugene commenced his career as a dramatic writer +in 1811. From that time to his death (February 20, 1861), he composed +alone, or with associates, and had represented on the various stages of +Paris, more than four hundred plays. M. Vitel said, at the reception of +M. Octave Feuillet, at the French Academy, March 26, 1863:— +</P> + +<P> +"There was in Scribe a powerful and truly superior faculty, that +assured to him and explained to me his supremacy in the theatre of his +day. It was a gift of dramatic invention that perhaps no one before him +has possessed; the gift of discovering at every step, almost apropos of +nothing, theatrical combinations of a novel and striking effect; and of +discovering them, not in the germ only, or barely sketched, but in +relief, in action, and already on the stage. In the time needed by his +confreres to prepare a plot, he would finish four, and he never secured +this prodigious fecundity at the expense of originality. It is in no +commonplace mould that his creations are cast. There is not one of his +works that has not at least its grain of novelty." +</P> + +<P> +On his part, M. Octave Feuillet, a master in things theatrical, said in +his reception discourse:— +</P> + +<P> +"One of the most difficult arts in the domain of literary invention, is +that of charming the imagination without unsettling it, of touching the +heart without troubling it, of amusing men without corrupting them; +this was the supreme art of Scribe." +</P> + +<P> +They are very pretty, very alert, very French, these plays of the +Theatre de Madame. They have aged less than many pretentious works that +have aimed at immortality. There is hardly one of them without its +ingenious idea, something truly scenic. We often see amateurs seeking +pieces to play in the salons; let them draw from this repertory; they +will have but an embarrassment of choice among plays always amusing and +always in good form. +</P> + +<P> +Scribe said, in his reception discourse at the French Academy (January +28, 1836):— +</P> + +<P> +"It happens, by a curious fatality, that the stage and society are +almost always in direct contradiction. Take the period of the Regency. +If comedy were the constant expression of society, the comedy of that +time must have offered us strong license or joyous Saturnalia. Nothing +of the sort; it is cold, correct, pretentious, but decent. In the +Revolution, during its most horrible periods, when tragedy, as was +said, ran the streets, what were the theatres offering you? Scenes of +humanity, of beneficence, of sentimentality; in January, 1793, during +the trial of Louis XVI., La Belle Fermiere, a rural and sentimental +play; under the Empire, the reign of glory and conquest, the drama was +neither warlike nor exultant; under the Restoration, a pacific +government, the stage was invaded by lancers, warriors, and military +costumes; Thalia wore epaulettes. The theatre is rarely the expression +of society; it is often the opposite." +</P> + +<P> +Scribe was an exception to the rule thus laid down by him. The Theatre +de Madame is an exact painting of the manners, the ideas, the language +of the Parisian bourgeoisie in the reign of Charles X. Villemain was +right in saying to Scribe, on receiving him at the Academy:— +</P> + +<P> +"The secret of your success with the theatre lies in having happily +seized the spirit of your century and in making the sort of comedies to +which it is best adapted and which most resemble it." +</P> + +<P> +The world that the amiable and ingenious author excels in representing, +is that of finance and the middle classes; it is the society of the +Chaussee d'Antin, rather than that of the Faubourg Saint Germain. His +Gymnase repertory is of the Left Centre, the juste milieu, nearer the +National Guard than the royal guard. The protege of Madame the Duchess +of Berry never flattered the ultras. There is not in his plays a single +line that is a concession to their arrogance or their rancor; not a +single phrase, not one word, that shows the least trace of the +prejudices of the old regime; not one idea that could offend the most +susceptible liberal. It is animated by the spirit of conciliation and +pacification. We insist on this point because we see in it a proof that +a Princess who took under her protection a kind of literature so +essentially modern and bourgeois, never thought of reviving a past +destroyed forever. +</P> + +<P> +The 28th of June, 1828, when the struggles of the liberals and the +ultras were so heated, Eugene Scribe, in connection with M. de +Rougemont, wrote for the Gymnase a piece entitled Avant, Pendant, +Apres, historical sketches in three parts. Avant was a critique of the +view of the old regime; Pendant, a critique of those of the Revolution; +Apres an appeal for harmony under the Charter and liberty. This piece +seems to us very curious, as a true programme, a faithful reflection of +the ideas of the haute bourgeoisie of Paris a little before 1830. +</P> + +<P> +The principal personage is a great liberal noble, the General Count de +Surgy, who has served gloriously in the armies of the Republic and of +the Empire, and at the close is named as deputy to represent an +intelligent and wise royalism. By the side of the General is a certain +Viscount, who has lived in a savage island since the wreck of La +Perouse, and who, more royalist than the King, finds himself among +strangers and is utterly dumfounded on beholding the new France. Let us +cite some fragments of this piece in which there is more acuteness, +more observation, more truth, than in many of the studies called +psychologic or historic:— +</P> + +<P> +"THE GENERAL. Ah, do not confuse Liberty with the excesses committed in +her name. Liberty, as we understand her, is the friend of order and +duty; she protects all rights. She wishes laws, institutions, not +scaffolds. +</P> + +<P> +THE MARQUIS. Alas! of what service to you are your courage and your +wise opinions? You are denounced, reduced as I am, to hiding, after +shedding your blood for them. +</P> + +<P> +THE GENERAL. Not for them but for France. The honor of our country took +refuge in the armies, and I followed it there. I have done a little +good; I have hindered much evil, and if the choice were still mine, I +should follow the same route. +</P> + +<P> +A VOICE (in the street). A great conspiracy discovered by the Committee +of Public Safety. +</P> + +<P> +THE GENERAL. Still new victims. +</P> + +<P> +THE MARQUIS. They who did not respect the virtues of Malesherbes, the +talents of Lavoisier, the youth of Barnave, will they recoil from one +crime more? +</P> + +<P> +THE GENERAL. Decent people will get weary of having courage only to +die. France will reawaken, stronger and more united, for misfortune +draws to each other all ranks, all parties; and already you see that +we, formerly so divided, are understanding each other better at last, +and love each other more than ever. +</P> + +<P> +THE MARQUIS (throwing himself into the General's arms). Ah, you speak +truly." +</P> + +<P> +This scene passes in the midst of the Terror. The conclusion, the moral +of the piece, is as follows:— +</P> + +<P> +"THE GENERAL. My friends, my fellow-citizens, we who, after so many +storms have finally reached port, and who, under the shelter of the +throne and the laws, taste that wise and moderate liberty which has +been the object of our desires for forty years; let us guard it well, +it has cost us dear. Always united, let us no longer think of the evil +done, let us see only the good that is, let us put away sad memories, +and let us all say, in the new France, 'Union and forgiveness.'" +</P> + +<P> +Among the spectators more than one could recognize himself in the +personages of the piece. But the allusions were so nicely made that no +one could be offended. Liberals and ultras could, on the contrary, +profit by the excellent counsels given them in the little play of the +Theatre de Madame. +</P> + +<P> +Let us add, moreover, that Scribe never wished to be anything but a man +of letters. There could be applied to him the words said by him of his +confrere, friend, and nephew, Bayard:— +</P> + +<P> +"A stranger to all parties, he speculated on no revolution; he +flattered no one in power, not even those he loved. He solicited no +honors, no places, no pension. He asked nothing of any one but himself. +He owed to his talent and his labor his honor and his independence." +</P> + +<P> +The device chosen by Scribe is a pen, above which is the motto: Inde +fortuna et libertas. The Duchess of Berry knew how to understand and +appreciate this man of wit and good sense. For his part, Scribe avowed +for the Princess a sentiment of gratitude that he never falsified. When +the days of ill fortune came for her, he journeyed to bear his homage +to her upon a foreign soil. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap27"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXVII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DIEPPE +</H3> + +<P> +Dieppe has not forgotten the benefits received from the Duchess of +Berry. It was this amiable Princess that made fashionable the pretty +Normandy city and made it the most elegant bathing resort of Europe. +She made five visits there, of several weeks each, in 1824, 1825, 1826, +1827, and 1829. +</P> + +<P> +The Duchess came for the first time to Dieppe some time before the +death of Louis XVIII. She arrived the 29th of July, and left the 23d of +August. She conceived immediately a passion for the picturesque town, +as famous for its fine beach as for its smiling environs. The +enthusiasm manifested for her by the inhabitants touched her. She said +to the mayor: "Henri IV. was right when he called the Dieppois his good +friends. I shall imitate my ancestor in his love for them." +</P> + +<P> +The next year—the year of the coronation—Madame returned to her +favorite city. She arrived there the 2d of August, 1825. More than +twenty thousand persons were awaiting her at the boundary of the +district, and her entry was triumphal. The 6th of August, the actors of +the Gymnase, come from Paris, gave a theatrical representation in her +honor. +</P> + +<P> +Madame made many excursions by sea. There was on her boat a tent of +crimson silk, above which floated the white flag. The little flotilla +of the royal navy had manoeuvres in her honor, and saluted her with +salvos of artillery. The 10th of September, the Princess made an +excursion to Bacqueville, where there awaited her a numerous cortege of +Cauchois women, all on horseback, in the costume of the country. The +12th, she breakfasted in the ship Le Rodeur, and a recently constructed +merchant vessel was launched in her presence. She departed the 14th, +promising to return the following year. +</P> + +<P> +Accordingly, Madame left Paris for Dieppe the 7th of August, 1826. The +morrow of her arrival, she assisted at the inauguration of a new +playhouse that had been built within six months. The mayor presented +the Princess with some keys, artistically worked—the keys to her loge +and to her salon. The prologue of the opening piece, entitled La Poste +Royale, was filled with delicate allusions and compliments. The 17th of +August, there was a performance offered by Madame to the sailors and +soldiers of the garrison. From his place in the parterre a subordinate +of the 64th regiment of the line sang, in honor of the Princess, some +couplets expressing the sentiments of his comrades. +</P> + +<P> +The 19th, there was a visit to the ruins of the Chateau of Arques, +immortalized by the victory of Henry IV. An agreeable surprise for +Madame was a comedy for the occasion improvised by the actors of the +Vaudeville. When the Princess presents herself before the Chateau, a +little peasant girl at first refuses her admittance. She has received +orders, she says, from her father and mother to open to no one, no +matter whom. But the air Vive Henri IV. is heard, and straightway both +doors are opened wide to the Princess. An old concierge and his wife +sing piquant verses about their first refusal to open to her. From here +Madame is guided by the little peasant girl to the entrance of an +ancient garden, where she perceives the whole troupe in the costume of +gardeners and garden girls. She is offered bouquets and escorted to a +dairy at the extremity of the ruins. The band of the guard plays for +her her favorite air, Charmante Gabrielle. A young milk-maid—the +pretty actress Jenny Colon—offers her a cup of milk and sings couplets +that please her greatly. Then comes the husband of the dairy-maid and +recounts to the grand-daughter of Henry IV. the victory won by her +ancestor over the Duke of Mayenne. A little later, Madame is conducted +to the foot of an ancient tower, whence there is a view of immense +extent. Here she is arrested by the songs of an ancient minstrel, whose +voice is accompanied by mysterious music hidden in the hollows of the +ruins. +</P> + +<P> +Going from surprise to surprise, the Princess trav erses a long arch of +verdure where she reads on escutcheons the dates dear to her heart. At +the end of this long avenue, she again finds the entire troupe of the +Vaudeville, who re-escort her to the gates of Chateau, singing a +general chorus of farewell, amid cries of "Long live the King! Long +live Madame!" the effect of which is doubled by repeated salutes of +artillery. +</P> + +<P> +Some days later, the 7th of September, the Duchess of Berry learned, +during the day, that a frightful tempest threatened to engulf a great +number of fishing-boats which were coming toward port. Instantly she +countermanded a ball that she was to give that evening. She proceeded +in all haste to the point whence aid could be given to these +unfortunates. Clinging to a little post on the jetty, which the waves +covered from all sides, she directed and encouraged the rescue. The +Dieppe correspondence of the Moniteur said:— +</P> + +<P> +"What has been seen at Dieppe alone, is a young Princess, braving all +the dangers of a wild sea, re maining on the end of the jetty to direct +the succor of the fishing-boats that were seeking refuge in the harbor. +She seemed placed there by the Deity as a protecting angel, and the +sailors who saw her took courage again." +</P> + +<P> +She withdrew from the dangerous place, which she called her post, only +when all the barks had entered port. One man only had perished. Before +even changing her clothing the Princess sent relief to his widow. +</P> + +<P> +By her kindness, her charity, her grace, Madame won all hearts. Her +protection revived at Dieppe the commerce in ivory and laces. She gave +two brevets, one in her own name, the other in that of Mademoiselle, to +the best two manufacturers in the city, and made considerable +purchases. She founded at her expense, under the direction of the +Sisters of Providence, a manufactory of laces where a large number of +young girls obtained at the same time the means of living and the +benefits of a Christian education. Between the Princess and her good +city of Dieppe there was a constant exchange of delicate attentions and +proofs of sympathy. When she was spoken to of preparations for +departure, "Already?" she said sadly. She left the 19th of September, +1826, and returned the following year. +</P> + +<P> +The 6th of August, 1827, Madame made an entry to Dieppe by the hamlet +of Janval. A great crowd went to visit her, and greeted her with +enthusiastic cheers. The 13th of August, the city offered her a great +ball, at which more than twelve hundred persons attended. On the 16th, +the portrait of the Princess was unveiled at the Hotel de Ville. At the +moment that the veil was raised, the band of the fifth regiment of the +royal guard played the air of Vive Henri IV. amid long applause. The +mayor of Dieppe, M. Cavalier, pronounced a discourse in which he +expressed the gratitude of the inhabitants, and promised that the +cherished image should be surrounded, age after age, by the veneration +of a city whose history was one of constant devotion to its Kings. In +the evening Madame gave a soiree at which the hereditary Princess of +Hesse-Darmstadt was present. Rossini was at the piano and sang with his +wife and with Balfe; Nadermann played the harp. +</P> + +<P> +The Duchess of Berry made numerous excursions by sea, even in the worst +weather. One day, at least, she was in some danger. The sailors admired +her good spirits and her courage. "Oh," they said, "she is indeed a +worthy descendant of Henry IV." +</P> + +<P> +The 4th of September, 1827, Mademoiselle, with her governess, the +Duchess of Gontaut, came to join her mother at Dieppe. The little +Princess was to be eight years old the 21st of the month. A formal +reception was given her. Her arrival was announced by the noise of +cannon and the sound of bells. The Baron de Viel-Castel, sub-prefect of +the city, made a complimentary address to her. She responded in the +most gracious manner, "I know how much you love my mother, and I loved +you in advance." +</P> + +<P> +Madame, who had gone to meet her daughter at Osmonville, three leagues +from Dieppe, took her in her carriage. The horses proceeded at a walk, +and the people never wearied of admiring the gentle little Princess. On +the morrow, Madame received the homage of the functionaries. The mayor +said to her: "Your Royal Highness is in a country filled with your +ancestors, in a city honored by Henry IV. with special benevolence, +which Louis XIV. rewarded for its fidelity by calling it 'his good +city,' which your august aunt, Madame the Dauphiness, deigned to choose +for her return to France, and which received her, triumphant and +adored." +</P> + +<P> +An elegant breakfast service in ivory, with her arms, was presented to +Mademoiselle by a group of very young people. She next received a +deputation of the fisherwomen of Du Polet, the faubourg of Dieppe. They +came in their picturesque costumes,—a skirt falling a little below the +knee, men's buckled shoes, a striped apron of white and red, an +enormous head-dress, with broad tabs, and great ear-rings. They sang +couplets expressing a lively attachment to the family of the Bourbons. +In their enthusiasm they asked and obtained leave to kiss the little +Princess. +</P> + +<P> +On the 6th of September, there was a fete at the ruins of the Castle of +Arques. From seven in the morning the crowd gathered on the hillside of +Saint Etienne, at the edge of the coast between Martin-Eglise and the +village of Arques. It is a magnificent site, which, towering above the +valley, is surrounded on all sides by grim hill-slopes, while in the +distance is the sea, along the edge of which extends the city of +Dieppe, like a majestic dike. A mimic battle took place in the presence +of Madame and her daughter, on the ground where Henry IV. had delivered +the famous battle of September 21, 1589. Numerous strokes on the flags +of different colors indicated the lines of the Bearnais, and +circumscribed the enceinte occupied by his troops. An obelisk had been +placed at the highest point of this sort of entrenched camp; in the +centre was a post tent, under which a rich breakfast had been prepared +for the two princesses. During the repast, both put their names to a +subscription to erect a monument commemorating the victory of their +ancestor. +</P> + +<P> +The 14th of September, the city offered a ball to Madame and +Mademoiselle. The little Princess danced two quadrilles. The 15th, she +offered lunch to a great number of children of her own age, and +afterward went with them to the theatre. The 18th, at the close of the +play, some scenes were represented before Madame, mingled with verses, +expressing the regret of the city at the near departure of Madame. The +next day, the Princess and her daughter left Dieppe, between double +lines of troops and National Guards. +</P> + +<P> +The journey of the Duchess of Berry in the West, in 1828, prevented her +from going that year to Dieppe. She came in 1829, but it was for the +last time. She arrived the 6th of August, with her daughter. The next +day she danced at a subscription ball given by the city and by the +visitors to the baths; the 8th she received a visit from the +Dauphiness, who passed three days with her. +</P> + +<P> +For every fete there was a corresponding good work. The Princess said: +"I wish that while I am enjoying myself the poor may also have their +share." The 18th of August, she visited the bazaar opened for the +benefit of the indigent. Mademoiselle had conceived the idea of writing +her name on little objects of painted wood, which were bid for at their +weight in gold. The 24th, Madame gave a concert, at which the Sontag +sisters were heard and some stanzas of the Viscount of Castel-bajac +were recited. The 25th, the city offered a ball to Mademoiselle, at +which the grace of the little Princess, her tact, and her precocious +amiability, excited surprise. The 9th of September, the inauguration of +the monument commemorative of the victory of Henry IV. took place in +the presence of Madame and her daughter. It was a column indicating the +point where the army of Mayenne debouched to surround the King's +troops, when, the fog rising, the artillery of the castle could be +brought into play, and threw into disorder the ranks of the Leaguers. +The inauguration interested the Duchess much. The troops of the line +and the National Guard had established bivouacs where the princesses +read with joy such inscriptions as these: "The young Henry will find +again the arquebusiers of Henry IV.—The flag of the 12th will always +rally to the white plume!—Two Henrys—one love, one devotion." +</P> + +<P> +A table of forty covers had been arranged under a pavilion draped with +flags. After the repast Madame and Mademoiselle danced several +quadrilles on the grass. The fete was charming. An expression of joy +was depicted on every face. +</P> + +<P> +At the time of her various sojourns at Dieppe, the Duchess of Berry +went to visit the Orleans family at the Chateau d'Eu, She manifested +toward her aunt, Marie-Amelie, the liveliest affection, and had no +courtier more amiable and assiduous than the young Duke of Chartres, +whom, it is said, she wished to have as husband for Mademoiselle. The +9th of September, she had been at the baptismal font, with the Duke of +Angouleme, the Duke of Montpensier, the latest son of the Duke of +Orleans. She was very fond of her god-son, and nothing was more +agreeable to her than a reunion at the Chateau d'Eu, where Mademoiselle +was always happy, playing with her young cousins. +</P> + +<P> +The Duchess of Berry and her daughter returned to Saint Cloud the 16th +of September, 1829. On leaving, Mademoiselle said to the Dieppois: "My +friends, I will come back next year, and I will bring you my brother." +Neither she nor her mother was to return. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap28"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXVIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PRINCE DE POLIGNAC +</H3> + +<P> +At the very moment that the Duchess of Berry, happy and smiling, was +tranquilly taking the sea-baths at Dieppe, an event occurred at Paris +that was the signal for catastrophes. The 9th of August, 1829, the +Moniteur published the decree constituting the cabinet, in which were +included the Prince de Polignac as Minister of Foreign Affairs; Count +de La Bourdonnaye as Minister of the Interior; and as Minister of War, +the General Count de Bourmont. The next day the Debats said:— +</P> + +<P> +"So here is once more broken the bond of love and confidence that was +uniting the people to the Monarch. Here once again are the court with +its old rancors, the Emigration with its prejudices, the priesthood +with its hatred of liberty, coming to throw themselves between France +and her King. What she has conquered by forty years of travail and +misfortune is taken from her; what she repels with all the force of her +will, all the energy of her deepest desires, is violently imposed upon +her. Ill-fated France! Ill-fated King!" +</P> + +<P> +The 15th of August the Debats reached a paroxysm of fury:— +</P> + +<P> +"If from all the battle-fields of Europe where our Grand Army has left +its members, if from Belgium, where it left the last fragments of its +body, and from the place where Marshal Ney fell shot, there arise cries +of anger that resound in our hearts, if the column of the Grand Army +seems to tremble through all its bronze battalions, whose is the fault? +No, no; nothing is lacking in this ministry of the counter-Revolution. +Waterloo is represented. ... M. de Polignac represents in it the ideas +of the first Emigration, the ideas of Coblenz; M. de La Bourdonnaye the +faction of 1815 with its murderous friendships, its law of +proscription, and its clientele of southern massacres. Coblenz, +Waterloo, 1815, these are the three personages of the ministry. Turn it +how you will, every side dismays. Every side angers. It has no aspect +that is not sinister, no face that is not menacing. Take our hatreds of +thirty years ago, our sorrows and our fears of fifteen years ago, all +are there, all have joined to insult and irritate France. Squeeze, +wring this ministry, it drips only humiliations, misfortunes, dangers." +</P> + +<P> +The Abbe Vedrenne, historian of Charles X., wrote:— +</P> + +<P> +"How is the language of the writers of the Debats, who called +themselves royalists, to be understood? Was not Charles X. at Coblenz? +Did not Chateaubriand emigrate with the King and the princes? Did he +not follow Louis XVIII. to Ghent? Was he not in his council at the very +hour of the battle of Waterloo? They might as well have stigmatized the +white flag and demanded the proscription of the King's dynasty. But +such was their blindness that they feared nothing for it. 'The throne +runs no risk,' said Chateaubriand, 'let us tremble for liberty only.' +Yet the nomination of the Polignac ministry was an error. It appeared +to be a provocation, a sort of defiance. Charles X. doubtless only +wished to defend himself, but in choosing such ministers at such an +hour, he appeared to be willing to attack." +</P> + +<P> +From the debut of the new cabinet, the Opposition, to use a recent +expression, showed itself irreconcilable. It raised a long cry of +anger, and declared war to the death on Prince Polignac. +</P> + +<P> +"It is in vain," said the Debats, "that the ministers demand of Time to +efface with a sweep of his wing their days, their actions, their +thoughts, of yesterday; these live for them, as for us. The shadow of +their past goes before them and traces their route. They cannot turn +aside; they must march; they must advance.—But I wish to turn +back.—You cannot.—But I shall support liberty, the Charter, the +Opposition.—You cannot. March, then, march, under the spur of +necessity, to the abyss of Coups d'Etat! March! Your life has judged +and condemned you. Your destiny is accomplished." +</P> + +<P> +The man who excited hatreds so violent was Jules de Polignac. He was +born at Versailles, May 14, 1780. As the German historian, Gervinus, +has said: "His past weighed upon him like a lash of political +interdict. He was the son of the Duchess of Polignac, who had been the +object of so many calumnies, and who had never been pardoned for the +intimate friendship with which she was honored by the unfortunate +queen, Marie Antoinette, a friendship that had evoked against her, +first all the jealousies of the envious courtiers, and then all the +aversion of the people. It was believed that a like favoritism could be +recognized in the relations of the son of the Duchess with Charles X. +To this unpopularity, inherited from his mother, was joined another +that was directed against the person of the emigre." +</P> + +<P> +After having been one of the courtiers of the little court at Coblenz, +he had taken service for some time in Russia, and then passed into +England, where he had been one of the most intimate confidants, and one +of the most active agents of the Count d'Artois. Sent secretly into +France, with his elder brother, the Duke Armand de Polignac, he was, +like the latter, compromised in the Cadoudal conspiracy. Their trial is +remarkable for the noble strife of devotion, in which each of the +brothers pleaded the cause of the other at the expense of his own. +Armand was condemned to death. His wife threw herself at the feet of +the First Consul, who, thanks to the intercession of Josephine, +commuted the penalty of death to perpetual confinement. Jules was +condemned to prison, and shared the captivity of his brother. Confined +at first in the castle of Ham, then in the Temple, then at Vincennes, +they obtained, at the time of the marriage of Napoleon with Marie +Louise, their transfer to a hospital. There they knew the General +Mallet, but the part they were suspected of taking in his conspiracy +was never proven. When the allied armies entered France, they succeeded +in escaping, and rejoined the Count d'Artois at Vesoul. They penetrated +to Paris some days before the capitulation, and displayed the white +flag there the 3d of March, 1814. +</P> + +<P> +Peer of France, field-marshal, ambassador, the Prince Jules de Polignac +was one of the favorites of the Restoration. On the proposition of M. +de Chateaubriand, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, he had him named, +in 1823, ambassador to London, where he had shown a genuine talent for +diplomacy. The example of England made him think that in France the +liberties of the constitutional regime could be combined with the +directing influence of an aristocracy. That was his error and the cause +of his fall. Some weeks before his accession to the ministry, he had +solemnly affirmed in the Chamber of Peers, that he considered the +Charter as a solemn pact, on which rested the monarchical institutions +of France, and as the heavenly sign of a serene future. But the +liberals did not believe his word, and accused him of striving to +re-establish the old regime. +</P> + +<P> +Even at court the accession of the Prince de Polignac did not fail to +cause apprehension. Charles X., having announced to the Duchess of +Gontaut that he was going to appoint him minister, added: "This news +must give you pleasure; you know him well, I believe." The Duchess +replied: "He has been absent a long time. I only knew him when very +young." The King resumed: "Do not speak of it; it is my secret as yet." +Madame de Gontaut could not keep from smiling, for she held several +letters from London in her hand, among others one from the +sister-in-law of the Duke of Wellington, announcing the news. Charles +X. wished to see the letters. "He is good, loyal," they said, "loving +the King as one loves a friend, but feeble, and with bad surroundings. +It is doubted whether he can ever rise to the height of the post in +which the King wishes to place him." +</P> + +<P> +Charles X., wounded by the indiscretion of the Prince, and also by that +of the Duke of Wellington, who divulged what he himself was keeping +secret, returned the letter to Madame de Gontaut, and remarked:— +</P> + +<P> +"It is very thoughtless in Jules to have spoken of it so soon, and in +the Duke to have published it." The Duchess of Gontaut, who was used to +frank talk with the King, said: "In the circumstances existing, I long +for, I confess it frankly, and at the risk of displeasing Your Majesty, +yes, I long for the Martignac ministry." +</P> + +<P> +Then, adds the Duchess in her unpublished Memoirs, the King, more +impatient than ever, turned his back on me, and took his way to his +apartment. I had had the courage to tell him my thought and the truth. +I did not repent it. When we saw each other again the same day he did +not speak to me again of it. +</P> + +<P> +One of those most devoted to the elder branch, the Duke Ambroise de la +Rochefoucauld-Doudeauville, also says in his Memoirs:— +</P> + +<P> +"The King sincerely wished for the Charter, whatever may be said, but +he wished for the monarchy; he, therefore, decided to change ministers +who had made promises that seemed to him fatal, and to replace them by +others whose principles suited him better. He was not happy in this +choice, it must be agreed. He took as Minister of Foreign Affairs and +President of the Council the Prince de Polignac. For a long time public +opinion had foreseen this choice, and dreaded it. At the commencement +of the Restoration M. de Polignac for more than a year had refused to +recognize the Charter and to swear fidelity to it, which made him +regarded as the pronounced enemy of our institutions. Was this +antipathy real? I do not think so. He had for a long time lived in +England, as ambassador, and was thoroughly imbued with principles at +once very constitutional and very aristocratic, after the English +fashion. His devotion was great, as well as his personal merit, but his +resources as a statesman were not so much so; he took his desire to do +well for the capacity to do well, and he mistook." +</P> + +<P> +When he assumed the direction of affairs the Prince de Polignac was +wholly surprised at the systematic and obstinate opposition that he +encountered. As M. Guizot said, "he was sincerely astonished that he +was not willingly accepted as a minister devoted to the constitutional +regime. But the public, without troubling itself to know if he were +sincere or not, persisted in seeing in him the champion of the old +regime and the standard-bearer of the counter-Revolution." +</P> + +<P> +Although he had passed a part of his life in England, first as emigre, +then as ambassador, and had married as his first wife an English lady, +Miss Campbell, and as his second another, the daughter of Lord +Radcliffe, the Prince de Polignac was French at heart. +</P> + +<P> +No Minister of Foreign Affairs in France had in higher degree the +sentiment of the national dignity. Yet this is the way the Debats +expressed itself, the 16th of August, 1829, about a man who, the next +year, at the time of the glorious Algiers Expedition, was to hold +toward England language so proud and firm:— +</P> + +<P> +"The manifesto of M. de Polignac comes to us from England. That is very +simple. We have a minister who scarcely knows how to speak anything but +English. It takes time to relearn one's native tongue when one has +forgotten it for many years. It appears even that one never regains the +accent in all its freedom and purity. In fact, the English have not +given us M. de Polignac; they have sold him to us. That people +understand commerce so well." +</P> + +<P> +Despite all the violent criticisms, all the implacable hatreds by which +he was incessantly assailed, the Prince de Polignac was a noble +character, and no one should forget the justness of soul with which, +from the commencement to the end of his career, he supported misfortune +and captivity. The Viscount Sosthenes de La Rochefoucauld, afterwards +the Duke of Doudeauville, says, in his Memoirs:— +</P> + +<P> +"The purest honor, the loftiest disinterestedness, the sincerest +devotion, are not everything, there is needed a capacity for affairs, a +knowledge of men, which experience alone procures and which even the +strongest will cannot give. M. de Polignac had all the qualities of the +most devoted subject, but his talent did not rise to the height of his +position. If it had been necessary only to suffer and to march to +death, no one, surely, could have equalled him; but more was requisite, +and he remained beneath the level of the circumstances he thought he +was overcoming; the fall of the throne was the consequence. How he +developed, though, and grew great when in duress, and who should +flatter himself that he could bear up with a firmness more unshaken +against the severest trials? If M. de Polignac is not a type of the +statesman, he will at least remain the complete model of the virtues of +the Christian and the private citizen." +</P> + +<P> +The Prince de Polignac was mistaken, but he acted in good faith. No one +can dispute his faults, but none can suspect the purity of his +intentions. Unfortunately his royalism had in it something of mysticism +and ecstasy that made of this gallant man a sort of illumine. He +sincerely believed that he had received from God the mission to save +the throne and the altar, and foreseeing neither difficulties nor +obstacles, regarding all uncertainty and all fear as unworthy of a +gentleman and a Christian, he had in himself and in his ideas, that +blind, imperturbable confidence that is the characteristic of fanatics. +In a period less troubled, this great noble would perhaps have been a +remarkable minister of foreign affairs, but in the stormy time when he +took the helm in hand, he had neither sufficient prudence nor +sufficient experience to resist the tempest and save the ship from the +wreck in which the dynasty was to go down. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap29"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXIX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +GENERAL DE BOURMONT +</H3> + +<P> +The new Secretary of War awoke no less lively anger than the Prince de +Polignac. He was a general of great merit, bold to temerity, brave to +heroism, and a tactician of the first order. But his career had felt +the vicissitudes of politics, and like so many of his +contemporaries,—more, perhaps, than any of them,—he had played the +most contradictory parts. Equally intrepid in the army of Conde, in the +Vendean army, and in the Grand Army of Napoleon, he had won as much +distinction under the white flag as under the tricolor. The Emperor, +who was an expert in military talent, having recognized in him a +superior military man, had rewarded his services brilliantly. But it is +difficult to escape from the memories of one's childhood and first +youth. +</P> + +<P> +General Count de Bourmont, born September 2, 1773, at the Chateau of +Bourmont (Maine-et-Loire), amid the "Chouans," had shared their +religious and monarchical passions. Officer of the French Guards at +sixteen, and dismissed by the Revolution, he followed his father at the +beginning of the Emigration, lost him at Turin, then went to join the +Count d'Artois at Coblenz. He took part in the campaign of 1792, until +the disbandment of the Prince's army, served as a simple cavalryman in +the army of Conde, then threw himself into La Vendee in the month of +October, 1794. He was second in command of the troops of Scepeaux. The +Vendean insurrection of 1799 recognized him as one of its chiefs. +Victor at Louverne, he seized Mans the 15th of October, and was the +last to lay down his arms. +</P> + +<P> +Bourmont had a passion for the life of the camp. When the royal troops +had laid down their arms, he was ready to fight in the ranks of the +imperial troops rather than not to fight at all. He distinguished +himself in the Russian campaign, contributed to the victory of Lutzen, +made a heroic defence at Nugent during the campaign in France, and was +named general of division by the Emperor. +</P> + +<P> +During the Hundred Days, General de Bourmont, guilty as was Marshal +Ney, abandoned the cause of Napoleon as the Marshal had that of Louis +XVIII. But there were attenuating circumstances for their conduct. One +could not resist the prestige of the Emperor, nor the other that of the +King. What aggravated the situation of General de Bourmont was that, +after having sought a command from Napoleon, as Marshal Ney had from +Louis XVIII., he deserted three days before the battle of Waterloo. The +royalist, the soldier of the army of Conde, the "Chouan" had suddenly +reappeared under the General of the Empire. His King had summoned him, +and impelled by a false sentiment of conscience, he had responded to +the appeal of his King. But he was wrongly suspected of having +delivered to the English and Prussians the plans of Napoleon. +</P> + +<P> +One may read in the Memoirs of the Duke Ambroise de Doudeauville:— +</P> + +<P> +"The Count de Bourmont was appointed Minister of War. He had to meet +grave prejudices. It was claimed that, having accepted service under +Bonaparte in the Hundred Days, he had deserted a few hours before the +battle of Waterloo, taking with him a great part of the troops, and +carrying to the enemy the plans and projects of the campaign. I owe it +to the truth to say that this story is greatly exaggerated. I have it +from Marshal Gerard himself—and his testimony cannot be +suspected—that some days before this battle M. de Bourmont had written +him that, summoned by Louis XVIII., he believed it his duty to go to +him, but promised to guard the most religious silence. He kept his +word, went alone, carried away no plan, and faithfully kept the secret." +</P> + +<P> +The Duke adds:— +</P> + +<P> +"I knew, from Charles X. himself, that he was very greatly surprised at +the accusation of desertion brought against M. de Bourmont when he +appointed him minister. He had not the least idea that that reproach +could be addressed to him, for he knew that the General had but obeyed +the orders of Louis XVIII., his legitimate sovereign." +</P> + +<P> +Does not this phrase show the illusions of which Charles X. was the +victim? He never even suspected that his choice was a challenge to the +old soldiers of the Empire. Yet the violence of the liberal press +certainly extended the range of insult. "As for the other," said the +Journal des Debats disdainfully, "on what field of battle did he win +his epaulets? There are services by which one may profit, which may +even be liberally paid for, but which no people ever dreamed of +honoring." And, as if the allusion was not sufficiently transparent, "I +see," added the same writer, "but one kind of discussion in which the +minister can engage with credit—that of the military code, and the +chapter relating to desertion to the enemy. There are among our new +ministers those who understand the question to perfection." As for the +Figaro, it confined itself to quoting this line from a proclamation of +the General during the Hundred Days: "The cause of the Bourbons is +forever lost! April, 1815.—BOURMONT." +</P> + +<P> +Despite the virulent attacks of the journals, General de Bourmont, who +had distinguished himself on so many battle-fields, had authority with +the troops, and the Expedition of Algiers the next year was to show him +to be a military man of the first order. If Charles X. committed an +error in naming him as minister, he committed a greater one in sending +him away from Paris before the "ordinances," for no one was more +capable of securing the success of a coup d'etat. M. de Chateaubriand +remarks:— +</P> + +<P> +"If the General had been in Paris at the time of the catastrophe, the +vacant portfolio of war would not have fallen into the hands of M. de +Polignac. Before striking the blow, had he consented to it, M. de +Bourmont would beyond doubt have massed at Paris the entire royal +guard; he would have provided money and supplies so that the soldiers +would have lacked for nothing." +</P> + +<P> +We are inclined to think, however, that when he took the portfolio of +war General de Bourmont was not dreaming of a coup d'etat, and that the +Prince de Polignac had as yet no thought of it. This minister, who was +so decried, showed at the outset such an inoffensive disposition that +the Opposition was surprised and disturbed by it. +</P> + +<P> +"The minister," said the Debats, "boasts of his moderation, because in +the ten days of his existence, he has not put France to fire and sword, +because the prisons are not gorged, because we still walk the streets +in freedom. From all this, nevertheless, flows a striking lesson. There +are men who were going to make an end of the spirit of the century. +Well, they do nothing!" +</P> + +<P> +The journals of the Right lamented this inaction. +</P> + +<P> +"If the ministerial revolution," said the Quotidienne, "reduces itself +to this, we shall retire to some profound solitude where the sound of +the falling monarchy cannot reach us." +</P> + +<P> +Then, more royalist than the King, M. de Lamennais wrote on the subject +of the new ministers: "It is stupidity to which fear counsels silence." +M. Guizot says in his Memoires pour servir a l'histoire de mon temps:— +</P> + +<P> +"This ministry, formed to overcome the Revolution and save the +monarchy, remained inert and sterile. The Opposition insultingly +charged it with impotence; it called it the hectoring ministry, the +dullest of ministries, and, for answer, it prepared the expedition of +Algiers and prorogued the Chambers, protesting always its fidelity to +the Charter, promising itself to get out of its embarrassments by a +majority and a conquest." +</P> + +<P> +The Duchess of Berry had seen without apprehension, and perhaps even +with pleasure, the nomination of the new ministers. Tranquillity +reigned in France. There was no symptom of agitation, no sign of +disquiet in the circle surrounding the Princess, and after an agreeable +stay of some weeks at Dieppe, she proceeded to the south, where her +journey was a triumph. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap30"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE JOURNEY IN THE SOUTH +</H3> + +<P> +The journey of the Duchess of Berry in the south of France, in 1829, +was scarcely less triumphant than that she had made in the Vendee the +year before. The object of the Princess was to meet her family of the +Two Sicilies, which was traversing the kingdom on the way from Italy to +Spain, to escort to Madrid the young Marie-Christine, who was about to +espouse King Ferdinand VII.—his fourth wife. +</P> + +<P> +Born October 13, 1784, King since March 19, 1808, Ferdinand VII. had +married, first, Marie Antoinette, Princess of the Two Sicilies; second, +Isabelle-Marie Francoise, Princess of Portugal; third, +Marie-Josephe-Amelie, Princess of Saxony. He had chosen for his fourth +wife, Marie-Christine, Princess of the Two Sicilies, born April 27, +1806. Sister of the father of the Duchess of Berry, Marie-Christine was +the daughter of Francois I., King of the Two Sicilies, and his second +wife, the Infanta of Spain, Marie-Isabelle, born October 13, 1784, and +sister of Ferdinand II. The King of the Two Sicilies was escorting his +daughter, Marie-Christine, to the King of Spain, where she was to marry +at Madrid the 11th of December, 1829. Ferdinand VII. had a brother, the +Infante Francois de Paule, born March 10, 1784, who had espoused a +princess of the Two Sicilies, Louise-Caroline-Marie Isabelle, born +October 24, 1804, sister of the Duchess of Berry. From this marriage +was born the Infante Don Francisco of d'Assisi, husband of Queen +Isabelle. The Infante and Infanta Francois de Paule traversed the south +of France, to meet the Bourbons of Naples. We may add that the Duchess +of Orleans, sister of King Francois I., aunt of Marie-Christine and of +the Duchess of Berry, went with her husband to the eastern frontier of +France to meet her relatives. +</P> + +<P> +The Duchess of Berry, authorized by Charles X. to go to the south to +meet her father, her step-mother, and her sisters, left Saint Cloud, +October 10, 1829. The 17th, she was at Lyons, whither she promised to +return. At Valence, she found her step-brother and her sister, the +Infante and Infanta Francois de Paule, and returned with them to Lyons, +where, October 20, she was greeted by a great crowd, eager to look upon +her face. At the Grand Theatre Their Highnesses assisted at a +performance, in which the actor Bernard-Leon, Jr., played the part of +Poudret in Le Coiffeur et le Perruquier. +</P> + +<P> +Their Highnesses quitted Lyons, October 23, visited the +Grande-Chartreuse the 24th, and were at Grenoble the 25th, where they +met the Bourbons of Naples, who arrived in that city the 31st, coming +from Chambery. The Duchess of Berry, the Infante and Infanta Francois +de Paule, the Duke and Duchess of Orleans, received them at their entry +into France. Everywhere, from the frontier to Grenoble, the Sicilian +Majesties were met by the authorities, the mayors, the clergy. +Triumphal arches were erected by various communes. The one constructed +by the Marquis de Marcieu, in the wood of the avenue of his Chateau of +Trouvet, was especially remarked. This arch formed three porticoes, +surmounted by the arms of France, Naples, and Spain. Above were these +words, "Love to all the Bourbons." The grand avenue of the chateau was +draped from one end to the other. Every tree bore a white flag. +Garlands of verdure, mingled with these flags, formed an arbor that +stretched as far as the eye could see. Thirty young girls, clad in +white, crowned with flowers, and holding little flags in their hands, +were ranged in two lines near the arch. They offered to the King of +Naples, to the Queen and the princesses, bouquets and baskets of +fruits. When the cortege arrived before Grenoble, the mayor said: +"Sire, the descendants of Louis XIV. have imprescriptible rights to our +respect, to our love. We can never forget their origin nor the +indissoluble bonds that bind them to our native land, and still less +the virtues and goodness that distinguish this illustrious dynasty." He +added: "Sire, the city of Grenoble deems itself happy in being the +first city of France to present to Your Majesties the homage of our +respects, and to thank you for the noble present you have made to our +land in the person of your illustrious daughter, Madame, Duchess of +Berry. May the future Queen of Spain long embellish the throne on which +she is about to take her seat, and reign over the hearts of her new +subjects as her heroic sister reigns over ours. Long live the King! +Forever live the Bourbons!" +</P> + +<P> +The Duchess of Berry accompanied her relatives to the Pyrenees. The +journey was a long series of ovations. Marie-Christine, who was about +to ascend the throne of Spain, never ceased to admire the riches and +beauty of France. "Ah, my sister," said the Duchess of Berry to her, +"do not contemplate it too much. You would not be able to quit it!" +During the entire passage—at Valence, Avignon, Montpellier, Nimes—the +people rivalled the authorities in making the welcome as brilliant as +possible. Perpignan was reached the 10th of Novemher. The King and +Queen of Naples, the Duchess of Berry, and the future Queen of Spain, +journeyed together in an uncovered caleche. Madame accompanied her +relatives to the frontier at Perthus, where she bade them adieu, the +13th of November. The French troops from the foot of Bellegarde flanked +the right of the road. At the first salute fired from the fort, an +immense crowd of French and Spanish, who occupied the heights, greeted +with harmonious shouts the appearance of the royal carriage. On an arch +of triumph, erected on the Spanish side of the frontier, floated the +flags of the three peoples placed under the sceptre of the Bourbons. +That of France was in the middle and seemed to protect those of Spain +and Naples on either side. Thus was indicated the mother branch of the +three reigning families. The adieux were made with effusion. The +Duchess of Berry fell at the feet of her father, who hastened to raise +her and embrace her tenderly. The two sisters threw themselves into +each other's arms. Then they parted. +</P> + +<P> +While the Bourbons of Naples were entering on the soil of Spain, the +Duchess of Berry returned to Perpignan. She left there the 14th, and +the ovations were renewed along the route. The 16th, she passed through +Montpellier, where she admired the promenade of the Peyrou, whence are +perceived the sea, the Pyrenees, and the Alps, and saw the foundations +prepared for an equestrian statue of Louis XIV. The 17th, at Tarascon, +she breakfasted with the Marquis de Gras-Preville, and was present at +the games instituted by good King Rene,—tambourine dances and the +races of the Tarasque. The 18th, at Arles, she visited the Cloister of +Saint Trophime, and the Roman circus. About eighteen thousand persons +were crowded on the ancient benches. The galleries resounded with +military music which, borne from echo to echo, spread beneath all the +arches. In the evening the entire city was illuminated. From a balcony, +the Princess assisted at a pegoulade, a sort of torchlight promenade of +five or six hundred young people, who bore pieces of tarred rope +lighted at one end. She desired to see again these bizarre and +picturesque effects of light, this joyous procession, this clamorous +animation, and she had the enthusiastic cortege file a second time +under her windows. The 21st, she visited the Roman theatre at Orange, +one of the most curious ruins of the world. The 23d, she passed again +through Lyons. The 28th, she was at the Tuileries for dinner. +</P> + +<P> +The Duchess of Berry returned enchanted with her journey. Never had the +throne of the Bourbons seemed to her more solid, never were the +advantages of the family pact revealed in a more brilliant manner. The +Moniteur wrote: "The Princess Marie-Christine has heard her name +mingling in the air with that of her whose son is one day to be King of +France. Happy the new Queen, if her presence shall deliver Spain from +the factions that still divide it, and if, finding beyond the mountains +the same order, devotion, prosperity, as in our provinces, she can cry, +'There are no longer any Pyrenees.'" +</P> + +<P> +The Duchess of Berry had not found the inclinations of the south less +royalist than that of La Vendee. Everywhere protestations were made to +her, verging on lyrism, on idolatry; the idea of suspecting such +demonstrations never crossed her mind. She persuaded herself that +France loved her as much as she loved France. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Duchess of Berry and the Court of +Charles X, by Imbert De Saint-Amand + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DUCHESS OF BERRY *** + +***** This file should be named 4289-h.htm or 4289-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/8/4289/ + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Duchess of Berry and the Court of Charles X + +Author: Imbert De Saint-Amand + +Posting Date: July 23, 2009 [EBook #4289] +Release Date: July, 2003 +First Posted: December 30, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DUCHESS OF BERRY *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + + +THE DUCHESS OF BERRY AND THE COURT OF CHARLES X + + +BY + +IMBERT DE SAINT-AMAND + + + + +CONTENTS + + I. THE ACCESSION OF CHARLES X + II. THE ENTRY INTO PARIS + III. THE TOMBS OF SAINT-DENIS + IV. THE FUNERAL OF LOUIS XVIII + V. THE KING + VI. THE DAUPHIN AND DAUPHINESS + VII. MADAME + VIII. THE ORLEANS FAMILY + IX. THE PRINCE OF CONDE + X. THE COURT + XI. THE DUKE OF DOUDEAUVILLE + XII. THE HOUSEHOLD OF THE DUCHESS OF BERRY + XIII. THE PREPARATIONS FOR THE CORONATION + XIV. THE CORONATION + XV. CLOSE OF THE SOJOURN AT RHEIMS + XVI. THE RE-ENTRANCE INTO PARIS + XVII. THE JUBILEE OF 1826 + XVIII. THE DUCHESS OF GONTAUT + XIX. THE THREE GOVERNORS + XX. THE REVIEW OF THE NATIONAL GUARD + XXI. THE FIRST DISQUIETUDE + XXII. THE MARTIGNAC MINISTRY + XXIII. THE JOURNEY IN THE WEST + XXIV. THE MARY STUART BALL + XXV. THE FINE ARTS + XXVI. THE THEATRE OF MADAME + XXVII. DIEPPE + XXVIII. THE PRINCE DE POLIGNAC + XXIX. GENERAL DE BOURMONT + XXX. THE JOURNEY IN THE SOUTH + + + + + +THE DUCHESS OF BERRY AND THE COURT OF CHARLES X + + + + +I + +THE ACCESSION OF CHARLES X + + +Thursday, the 16th of September, 1824, at the moment when Louis XVIII. +was breathing his last in his chamber of the Chateau des Tuileries, the +courtiers were gathered in the Gallery of Diana. It was four o'clock in +the morning. The Duke and the Duchess of Angouleme, the Duchess of +Berry, the Duke and the Duchess of Orleans, the Bishop of Hermopolis, +and the physicians were in the chamber of the dying man. When the King +had given up the ghost, the Duke of Angouleme, who became Dauphin, +threw himself at the feet of his father, who became King, and kissed +his hand with respectful tenderness. The princes and princesses +followed this example, and he who bore thenceforward the title of +Charles X., sobbing, embraced them all. They knelt about the bed. The +De Profundis was recited. Then the new King sprinkled holy water on the +body of his brother and kissed the icy hand. An instant later M. de +Blacas, opening the door of the Gallery of Diana, called out: +"Gentlemen, the King!" And Charles X. appeared. + +Let us listen to the Duchess of Orleans. "At these words, in the +twinkling of an eye, all the crowd of courtiers deserted the Gallery to +surround and follow the new King. It was like a torrent. We were borne +along by it, and only at the door of the Hall of the Throne, my husband +bethought himself that we no longer had aught to do there. We returned +home, reflecting much on the feebleness of our poor humanity, and the +nothingness of the things of this world." + +Marshal Marmont, who was in the Gallery of Diana at the moment of the +King's death, was much struck by the two phrases pronounced at an +instant's interval by M. de Damas: "Gentlemen, the King is dead! The +King, gentlemen!" + +He wrote in his Memoirs: "It is difficult to describe the sensation +produced by this double announcement in so brief a time. The new +sovereign was surrounded by his officers, and everything except the +person of the King was in the accustomed order. Beautiful and great +thought, this uninterrupted life of the depository of the sovereign +power! By this fiction there is no break in this protecting force, so +necessary to the preservation of society." The Marshal adds: "The +government had been in fact for a year and more in the hands of +Monsieur. Thus the same order of things was to continue; nevertheless, +there was emotion perceptible on the faces of those present; one might +see hopes spring up and existences wither. Every one accompanied the +new King to his Pavilion of Marsan. He announced to his ministers that +he confirmed them in their functions. Then every one withdrew." + +While the Duchess of Berry was present at the death of Louis XVIII., +the Duke of Bordeaux and his sister, Mademoiselle, then, the one four, +the other five years of age, remained at the Chateau of Saint Cloud, +with the Governess of the Children of France, the Viscountess of +Gontaut-Biron. This lady passed the night of the 15th of September in +great anxiety. She listened on the balcony, awaiting and dreading the +news. + +At the moment that the day began to dawn, she heard afar the gallop of +a horse that drew near, passed the bridge, ascended the avenue, reached +the Chateau, and in response to the challenge of the guard, she +distinguished the words: "An urgent message for Madame the Governess." +It was a letter from the new King. Madame de Gontaut trembled as she +opened it. Charles X. announced to her, in sad words, that Louis XVIII. +was no more, and directed her to made ready for the arrival of the +royal family. "Lodge me where you and the governor shall see fit. We +shall probably pass three or four days at Saint Cloud. Communicate my +letter to the Marshal. I have not strength to write another word." + +"The day was beginning to break," we read in the unpublished Memoirs of +the Governess of the Children of France. "I went to the bed of +Monseigneur. He was awakened. He was not surprised, and said nothing, +and allowed himself to be dressed. Not so with Mademoiselle. I told her +gently of the misfortune that had come upon her family. I was agitated. +She questioned me, asking where was bon-papa. I told her that he was +still in Paris, but was coming to Saint Cloud; then I added: 'Your +bon-papa, Mademoiselle, is King, since the King is no more.' She +reflected, then, repeating the word: 'King! Oh! that indeed is the +worst of the story.' I was astonished, and wished her to explain her +idea; she simply repeated it. I thought then she had conceived the +notion of a king always rolled about in his chair." + +The same day the court arrived. It was no longer the light carriage +that used almost daily to bring Monsieur, to the great joy of his +grandchildren. It was the royal coach with eight horses, livery, +escort, and body-guard. The Duke of Bordeaux and his sister were on the +porch with their governess. On perceiving the coach, instead of +shouting with pleasure, as was their custom, they remained motionless +and abashed. Charles X. was pale and silent. In the vestibule he +paused: "What chamber have you prepared for me?" he said sadly to +Madame de Gontaut, glancing at the door of his own. The governess +replied: "The apartment of Monsieur is ready, and the chamber of the +King as well." The sovereign paused, then clasping his hands in +silence: "It must be!" he cried. "Let us ascend." + +They followed him. He passed through the apartments. On the threshold +of the royal chamber Madame de Gontaut brought to Charles X. the Duke +of Bordeaux and Mademoiselle and he embraced them. The poor children +were disconcerted by so much sadness. "As soon as I can," he said to +them, "I promise to come to see you." Then turning to the company: "I +would be alone." All withdrew in silence. The Dauphiness was weeping. +The Dauphin had disappeared. Everything was gloomy. No one spoke. Thus +passed the first day of the reign of Charles X. + +The next day the King received the felicitations of the Corps de +l'Etat. Many addresses were delivered. "All contained the expression of +the public love," said Marshal Marmont in his Memoirs, "and I believe +that they were sincere; but the love of the people is, of all loves, +the most fragile, the most apt to evaporate. The King responded in an +admirable manner, with appropriateness, intelligence, and warmth. His +responses, less correct, perhaps, than those of Louis XVIII., had +movement and spirit, and it is so precious to hear from those invested +with the sovereign powers things that come from the heart, that Charles +X. had a great success. I listened to him with care, and I sincerely +admired his facility in varying his language and modifying his +expressions according to the eminence of the authority from whom the +compliments came." + +The reception lasted several hours. When the coaches had rolled away +and when quiet was re-established in the Chateau of Saint Cloud, +Charles X., in the mourning costume of the Kings, the violet coat, went +to the apartment of the Duke of Bordeaux and his sister. The usher +cried: "The King!" The two children, frightened, and holding each other +by the hand, remained silent. Charles X. opened his arms and they threw +themselves into them. Then the sovereign seated himself in his +accustomed chair and held his grandchildren for some moments pressed to +his heart. The Duke of Bordeaux covered the hands and the face of his +grandfather with kisses. Mademoiselle regarded attentively the altered +features of the King and his mourning dress, novel to her. She asked +him why he wore such a coat. Charles X. did not reply, and sighed. Then +he questioned the governess as to the impression made on the children +by the death of Louis XVIII. Madame de Gontaut hesitated to answer, +recalling the strange phrase of Mademoiselle: "King! Oh! that indeed is +the worst of the story." But the little Princess, clinging to her +notion, began to repeat the unlucky phrase. Charles X., willing to give +it a favorable interpretation, assured Mademoiselle that he would see +her as often as in the past, and that nothing should separate him from +her. The two children, with the heedlessness of their age, took on +their usual gaiety, and ran to the window to watch the market-men, the +coal heavers, and the fishwomen, who had come to Saint Cloud to +congratulate the new King. + +The griefs of sovereigns in the period of their prosperity do not last +so long as those of private persons. Courtiers take too much pains to +lighten them. With Charles X. grief at the loss of his brother was +quickly followed by the enjoyment of reigning. Chateaubriand, who, when +he wished to, had the art of carrying flattery to lyric height, +published his pamphlet: Le roi est mart! Vive le roi! In it he said: +"Frenchmen, he who announced to you Louis le Desire, who made his voice +heard by you in the days of storm, and makes to you to-day of Charles +X. in circumstances very different. He is no longer obliged to tell you +what the King is who comes to you, what his misfortunes are, his +virtues, his rights to the throne and to your love; he is no longer +obliged to depict his person, to inform you how many members of his +family still exist. You know him, this Bourbon, the first to come, +after our disaster, worthy herald of old France, to cast himself, a +branch of lilies in his hand, between you and Europe. Your eyes rest +with love and pleasure on this Prince, who in the ripeness of years has +preserved the charm and elegance of his youth, and who now, adorned +with the diadem, still is but ONE FRENCHMAN THE MORE IN THE MIDST OF +YOU. You repeat with emotion so many happy mots dropped by this new +monarch, who from the loyalty of his heart draws the grace of happy +speech. What one of us would not confide to him his life, his fortune, +his honor? The man whom we should all wish as a friend, we have as +King. Ah! Let us try to make him forget the sacrifices of his life! May +the crown weigh lightly on the white head of this Christian Knight! +Pious as Saint Louis, affable, compassionate, and just as Louis XII., +courtly as Francis I., frank as Henry IV., may he be happy with all the +happiness he has missed in his long past! May the throne where so many +monarchs have encountered tempests, be for him a place of repose! +Devoted subjects, let us crowd to the feet of our well-loved sovereign, +let us recognize in him the model of honor, the living principle of our +laws, the soul of our monarchical society; let us bless a guardian +heredity, and may legitimacy without pangs give birth to a new King! +Let our soldiers cover with their flags the father of the Duke of +Angouleme. May watchful Europe, may the factions, if such there be +still, see in the accord of all Frenchmen, in the union of the people +and the army, the pledge of our strength and of the peace of the +world!" The author of the Genie du Christianisme thus closed his prose +dithyramb: "May God grant to Louis XVIII. the crown immortal of Saint +Louis! May God bless the mortal crown of Saint Louis on the head of +Charles X.!" + +In this chant in honor of the King and of royalty, M. de Chateaubriand +did not forget the Duke and Duchess of Angouleme, nor the Duchess of +Berry and the Duke of Bordeaux. "Let us salute," he said, "the Dauphin +and Dauphiness, names that bind the past to the future, calling up +touching and noble memories, indicating the own son and the successor +of the monarch, names under which we find the liberator of Spain and +the daughter of Louis XVI. The Child of Europe, the new Henry, thus +makes one step toward the throne of his ancestor, and his young mother +guides him to the throne that she might have ascended." + +Happy in the ease with which the change in the reign had taken place, +and seeing the unanimous manifestations of devotion and enthusiasm by +which the throne was surrounded, the Duchess of Berry regarded the +future with entire confidence. Inclined by nature to optimism, the +young and amiable Princess believed herself specially protected by +Providence, and would have considered as a sort of impiety anything +else than absolute faith in the duration of the monarchy and in respect +for the rights of her son. Had any one of the court expressed the +slightest doubt as to the future destiny of the CHILD OF MIRACLE, he +would have been looked upon as an alarmist or a coward. The royalists +were simple enough to believe that, thanks to this child, the era of +revolutions was forever closed. They said to themselves that French +royalty, like British royalty, would have its Whigs and its Tories, but +that it was forever rid of Republicans and Imperialists. At the +accession of Charles X. the word Republican, become a synonym of +Jacobin, awoke only memories of the guillotine and the "Terror." A +moderate republic seemed but a chimera; only that of Robespierre and +Marat was thought of. The eagle was no longer mentioned; and as to the +eaglet, he was a prisoner at Vienna. What chance of reigning had the +Duke of Reichstadt, that child of thirteen, condemned by all the Powers +of Europe? By what means could he mount the throne? Who would be regent +in his name? A Bonaparte? The forgetful Marie Louise? Such hypotheses +were relegated to the domain of pure fantasy. Apart from a few +fanatical old soldiers who persisted in saying that Napoleon was not +dead, no one, in 1824, believed in the resurrection of the Empire. As +for Orleanism, it was as yet a myth. The Duke of Orleans himself was +not an Orleanist. Of all the courtiers of Charles X., he was the most +eager, the most zealous, the most enthusiastic. In whatever direction +she turned her glance, the Duchess of Berry saw about her only reasons +for satisfaction and security. + + + + +II + +THE ENTRY INTO PARIS + + +The Duchess of Berry took part in the solemn entry into Paris made by +Charles X., Monday, 27th September, 1824. She was in the same carriage +as the Dauphiness and the Duchess and Mademoiselle of Orleans. The King +left the Chateau of Saint Cloud at half-past eleven in the morning, +passed through the Bois de Boulogne, and mounted his horse at the +Barriere de l'Etoile. There he was saluted by a salvo of one hundred +and one guns, and the Count de Chambral, Prefect of the Seine, +surrounded by the members of the Municipal Council, presented to him +the keys of the city. Charles X. replied to the address of the Prefect: +"I deposit these keys with you, because I cannot place them in more +faithful hands. Guard them, gentlemen. It is with a profound feeling of +pain and joy that I enter within these walls, in the midst of my good +people,--of joy because I well know that I shall employ and consecrate +all my days to the very last, to assure and consolidate their +happiness." Accompanied by the princes and princesses of his family and +by a magnificent staff, the sovereign descended the Champs-Elysees to +the Avenue of Marigny, followed that avenue, and entered the Rue du +Faubourg Saint-Honore, before the Palace of the Elysee. At this moment, +the weather, which had been cold and sombre, brightened, and the rain, +which had been falling for a long time, ceased. The King heard two +child-voices crying joyously, "Bon-papa." It was the little Duke of +Bordeaux and his sister at a window of an entresol of the Elysee which +looked out upon the street. On perceiving his two grandchildren, +Charles X. could not resist the impulse to approach them. He left the +ranks of the cortege, to the despair of the grand-master of ceremonies. +The horse reared. A sergeant-de-ville seized him by the bit. Listen to +Madame de Gontaut: "I was frightened, and cried out. The King scolded +me for it afterward. I confessed my weakness; to fall at the first step +in Paris would have seemed an ill omen. The King subdued his fretful +horse, said a few tender words to the children, raised his hat +gracefully to the ladies surrounding us. A thousand voices shouted: +Vive le Roi! The grand-master was reassured, the horse was quieted, and +the King resumed his place. The carriage of the princes and princesses +passing at that moment, the little princes saw them--it was an added +joy." + +The cortege followed this route: the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, the +boulevards to the Rue Saint-Denis, the Rue Saint-Denis, the Place du +Chatelet, the Pont au Change, the Rue de la Bailer, the Marche-Neuf, +the Rue Neuve-Notre-Dame, the Parvis. At every moment the King reined +in his superb Arab horse to regard more at ease the delighted crowd. He +smiled and saluted with an air of kindness and a grace that produced +the best impression. Charles X. was an excellent horseman; he presented +the figure and air of a young man. The contrast naturally fixed in all +minds, between his vigorous attitude and that of his predecessor, an +infirm and feeble old man, added to the general satisfaction. The +houses were decorated with white flags spangled with fleurs-de-lis. +Triumphal arches were erected along the route of the sovereign. The +streets and boulevards were strewn with flowers. At the sight of the +monarch the happy people redoubled their acclamations. Benjamin +Constant shouted: "Vive le roi!"--"Ah, I have captured you at last," +smilingly remarked Charles X. + +Reaching the Parvis de Notre-Dame, the sovereign, before entering the +Cathedral, paused before the threshold of the Hotel-Dieu. Fifty nuns +presented themselves before him, "Sire," said the Prioress, "you pause +before the house so justly termed the Hotel-Dieu, which has always been +honored with the protection of our kings. We shall never forget, Sire, +that the sick have seen at their bedside the Prince who is today their +King. They know that at this moment your march is arrested by charity. +We shall tell them that the King is concerned for their ills, and it +will be a solace to them. Sire, we offer you our homage, our vows, and +the assurance that we shall always fulfil with zeal our duties to the +sick." Charles X. replied: "I know with what zeal you and these +gentlemen serve the poor. Continue, Mesdames, and you can count on my +benevolence and on my constant protection." + +The King was received at the Metropolitan Church by the Archbishop of +Paris at the head of his clergy. The Domine salvum, fac regem, was +intoned and repeated by the deputations of all the authorities and by +the crowd filling the nave, the side-aisles, and the tribunes of the +vast basilica. Then a numerous body of singers sang the Te Deum. On +leaving the church, the King remounted his horse and returned to the +Tuileries, along the quais, to the sound of salvos of artillery and the +acclamations of the crowd. The Duchess of Berry, who had followed the +King through all the ceremonies, entered the Chateau with him, and +immediately addressed to the Governess of the Children of France this +note: "From Saint Cloud to Notre-Dame, from Notre-Dame to the +Tuileries, the King has been accompanied by acclamations, signs of +approval and of love." + +Charles X., on Thursday, the 30th September, had to attend a review on +the Champ-de-Mars. The morning of this day, the readers of all the +journals found in them a decree abolishing the censorship and restoring +liberty of the press. The enthusiasm was immense. The Journal de Paris +wrote: "Today all is joy, confidence, hope. The enthusiasm excited by +the new reign would be far too ill at ease under a censorship. None can +be exercised over the public gratitude. It must be allowed full +expansion. Happy is the Council of His Majesty to greet the new King +with an act so worthy of him. It is the banquet of this joyous +accession; for to give liberty to the press is to give free course to +the benedictions merited by Charles X." + +The review was superb. After having heard Mass in the chapel of the +Chateau of the Tuileries, the King mounted his horse at half-past +eleven, and, accompanied by the Dauphin, the Duke of Orleans, and the +Duke of Bourbon, proceeded to the Champ-de-Mars. Two caleches followed; +the one was occupied by the Dauphiness, the Duchess of Berry, and the +Duke of Bordeaux in the uniform of a colonel of cuirassiers,--a +four-year old colonel,--the other by the Duchess of Orleans and +Mademoiselle of Orleans, her sister-in-law. The weather was mild and +clear. The twelve legions of the National Guard on foot, the mounted +National Guard, the military household of the King, and all the +regiments of the royal guard, which the sovereign was about to review, +made a magnificent appearance. An immense multitude covered the slopes +about the Champ-de-Mars. Charles X. harvested the effect of the liberal +measure that he had first adopted. A thunder of plaudits and cheers +greeted his arrival on the ground. At one moment, when he found +himself, so to speak, tangled in the midst of the crowd, several +lancers of his guard sought to break the circle formed about him by +pushing back the curious with the handles of their lances. "My friends, +no halberds!" the King called to them. This happy phrase, repeated from +group to group, carried the general satisfaction to a climax. A witness +of this military ceremony, the Count of Puymaigre, at that time Prefect +of the Oise, says in his curious Souvenirs:-- + +"Charles X. appeared to have dissipated all the dangers that for ten +years had menaced his august predecessor. + +"On all sides there rose only acclamations of delight in favor of the +new King, who showed himself so popular, and whose gracious countenance +could express only benevolent intentions. I was present, mingling with +the crowd, at the first review by Charles X. on the Champ-de-Mars, and +the remarks were so frankly royalist, that any one would have been +roughly treated by the crowd had he shown other sentiments." + +The Duchess of Berry was full of joy. She quivered with pleasure. Very +popular in the army and among the people, as at court and in the city, +she was proud to show her fine child, who already wore the uniform, to +the officers and soldiers. She appeared to all eyes the symbol of +maternal love, and the mothers gazed upon her boy as if he had been +their own. As soon as the little Prince was seen, there was on every +face an expression of kindliness and sympathy. He was the Child of +Paris, the Child of France. Who could have foretold then that this +child, so loved, admired, applauded, would, innocent victim, less than +six years later, be condemned to perpetual exile, and by whom? + +Charles X. had won a triumph. Napoleon, at the time of his greatest +glories, at the apogee of his prodigious fortunes, had never had a +warmer greeting from the Parisian people. In the course of the review +the King spoke to all the colonels. On his return to the Tuileries he +went at a slow pace, paused often to receive petitions, handed them to +one of his suite, and responded in the most gracious manner to the +homage of which he was the object. An historian not to be accused of +partiality for the Restoration has written: "On entering the Tuileries, +Charles X. might well believe that the favor that greeted his reign +effaced the popularity of all the sovereigns who had gone before. Happy +in being King at last, moved by the acclamations that he met at every +step, the new monarch let his intoxicating joy expand in all his words. +His affability was remarked in his walks through Paris, and the grace +with which he received all petitioners who could approach him." +Everywhere that he appeared, at the Hotel-Dieu, at Sainte-Genvieve, at +the Madeleine, the crowd pressed around him and manifested the +sincerest enthusiasm. M. Villemain, in the opening discourse of his +lectures on eloquence at the Faculty of Letters, was wildly applauded +when he pronounced the following eulogium on the new sovereign: "A +monarch kindly and revered, he has the loyalty of the antique ways and +modern enlightenment. Religion is the seal of his word. He inherits +from Henry IV. those graces of the heart that are irresistible. He has +received from Louis XIV. an intelligent love of the arts, a nobility of +language, and that dignity that imposes respect while it seduces." All +the journals chanted his praises. Seeing that the Constitutionnel +itself, freed from censorship, rendered distinguished homage to +legitimacy, he came to believe that principle invincible. He was called +Charles the Loyal. At the Theatre-Francais, the line of Tartufe-- + + "Nous vivons sous un prince ennemi de la fraude"-- + +was greeted with a salvo of applause. The former adversaries of the +King reproached themselves with having misunderstood him. They +sincerely reproached themselves for their past criticisms, and adored +that which they had burned. M. de Vaulabelle himself wrote:-- + +"Few sovereigns have taken possession of the throne in circumstances +more favorable than those surrounding the accession of Charles X." + +It seemed as if the great problem of the conciliation of order and +liberty had been definitely solved. The white flag, rejuvenated by the +Spanish war, had taken on all its former splendor. The best officers, +the best soldiers of the imperial guard, served the King in the royal +guard with a devotion proof against everything. Secret societies had +ceased their subterranean manoeuvres. No more disturbances, no more +plots. In the Chambers, the Opposition, reduced to an insignificant +minority, was discouraged or converted. The ambitious spirits of whom +it was composed turned their thoughts toward the rising sun. Peace had +happily fecundated the prodigious resources of the country. Finances, +commerce, agriculture, industry, the fine arts, everything was +prospering. The public revenues steadily increased. The ease with which +riches came inclined all minds toward optimism. The salons had resumed +the most exquisite traditions of courtesy and elegance. It was the +boast that every good side of the ancien regime had been preserved and +every bad one rejected. France was not only respected, she was a la +mode. All Europe regarded her with sympathetic admiration. No one in +1824 could have predicted 1880. The writers least favorable to the +Restoration had borne witness to the general calm, the prevalence of +good will, the perfect accord between the country and the crown. The +early days of the reign of Charles X. were, so to speak, the honeymoon +of the union of the King and France. + + + + +III + +THE TOMBS OF SAINT-DENIS + + +The funeral solemnities of Louis XVIII. seemed to the people a mortuary +triumph of Royalty over the Revolution and the Empire. The profanations +of 1793 were expiated. Napoleon was left with the willow of Saint +Helena; the descendant of Saint Louis and of Louis XIV. had the +basilica of his ancestors as a place of sepulture, and the links of +time's chain were again joined. The obsequies of Louis XVIII. suggested +a multitude of reflections. It was the first time since the death of +Louis XV. in 1774, that such a ceremony had taken place. As was said by +the Moniteur:-- + +"This solemnity, absolutely novel for the greater number of the present +generation, offered an aspect at once mournful and imposing. A monarch +so justly regretted, a king so truly Christian, coming to take his +place among the glorious remains of the martyrs of his race and the +bones of his ancestors,--profaned, scattered by the revolutionary +tempest, but which he had been able again to gather,--was a grave +subject of reflection, a spectacle touching in its purpose and majestic +in the pomp with which it was surrounded." + +Through what vicissitudes had passed these royal tombs, to which the +coffin of Louis XVIII. was borne! Read in the work of M. Georges +d'Heylli, Les Tombes royales de Saint-Denis, the story of these +profanations and restorations. + +The Moniteur of the 6th of February, 1793, published in its literary +miscellany, a so-called patriotic ode, by the poet Lebrun, containing +the following strophe:-- + + "Purgeons le sol des patriotes, + Par des rois encore infectes. + La terre de la liberte + Rejette les os des despotes. + De ces monstres divinises + Que tous lea cercueils soient brises! + Que leur memoirs soit fletrie! + Et qu'avec leurs manes errants + Sortent du sein de la patrie + Les cadavres de ses tyrants!" + +[Footnote: Let us purge the patriot soil--By kings still infected.--The +land of liberty--Rejects the bones of despots.--Of these monsters +deified--Let all the coffins be destroyed!--Let their memory +perish!--And with their wandering manes--Let issue from the bosom of +the fatherland--The bodies of its tyrants!] + +These verses were the prelude to the discussion, some months later, in +the National Convention, of the proposition to destroy the monuments of +the Kings at Saint-Denis, to burn their remains, and to send to the +bullet foundry the bronze and lead off their tombs and coffins. In the +session of July 31, 1793, Barrere, the "Anacreon of the guillotine," +read to the convention in the name of the Committee of Public Safety, a +report, which said:-- + +"To celebrate the day of August 10, which overthrew the throne, the +pompous mausoleums must be destroyed upon its anniversary. Under the +Monarchy, the very tombs were taught to flatter kings. Royal pride and +luxury could not be moderated even on this theatre of death, and the +bearers of the sceptre who had brought such ills on France and on +humanity seemed even in the grave to vaunt a vanished splendor. The +strong hand of the Republic should pitilessly efface these haughty +epitaphs, and demolish these mausoleums which might recall the +frightful memory of kings." + +The project was voted by acclamation. The tombs were demolished between +the 6th and 8th of August, 1793, and the announcement was made for the +anniversary of the 10th of August, 1792, of "that grand, just, and +retributive destruction, required in order that the coffins should be +opened, and the remains of the tyrants be thrown into a ditch filled +with quick-time, where they may be forever destroyed. This operation +will shortly take place." + +This was done in the following October. For some days there was carried +on a profanation even more sacrilegious than the demolition of the +tombs. The coffins containing the remains of kings and queens, princes +and princesses, were violated. On Wednesday, the 16th of October, 1798, +at the very hour that Marie Antoinette mounted the scaffold,--she who +had so wept for her son, the first Dauphin, who died the 4th of June, +1789, at the beginning of the Revolution,--the disinterrers of kings +violated the grave of this child and threw his bones on the refuse +heap. Iconoclasts, jealous of death, disputed its prey, and they +profaned among others the sepulchres of Madame Henrietta of England, of +the Princess Palatine, of the Regent, and of Louis XV. + +In the midst of these devastations, some men, less insensate than the +others, sought at least to rescue from the hands of the destroyers what +might be preserved in the interest of art. Of this number was an +artist, Alexandre Lenoir, who had supervised the demolition of the +tombs of Saint-Denis. He could not keep from the foundry, by the terms +of the decree, the tombs of lead, copper, and bronze; but he saved the +others from complete destruction--those that may be seen to-day in the +church of Saint-Denis. He had them placed first in the cemetery of the +Valois, near the ditches filled with quicklime, where had been cast the +remains of the great ones of the earth, robbed of their sepulchres. +Later, a decree of the Minister of the Interior, Benezech, dated 19 +Germinal, An IV., authorizing the citizen Lenoir to have the tombs thus +saved from destruction taken to the Museum of French Monuments, of +which he was the conservator, and which had been installed at Paris, +Rue des Petits Augustins. From thence they were destined to be returned +to the Church of Saint-Denis, under the reign of Louis XVIII. + +At the height of his power, Napoleon dreamed of providing for himself +the same sepulture as that of the kings, his predecessors. He had +decided that he would be interred in the Church of Saint-Denis, and had +arranged for himself a cortege of emperors about the site that he had +chosen for the vault of his dynasty. He directed the construction of a +grand monument dedicated to Charlemagne, which was to rise in the +"imperialized" church. The great Carlovingian emperor was to have been +represented, erect, upon a column of marble, at the back of which +statues in stone of the emperors who succeeded him were to have been +placed. But at the time of Napoleon's fall, the monument had not been +finished. There had been completed only the statues, which have taken +their rank in the crypt. They represent Charlemagne, Louis le +Debonnaire, Charles le Chauve, Louis le Begue, Charles le Gros, and +even Louis d'Outremer, who, nevertheless, was only a king. + +Like the Pharaohs of whom Bossuet speaks, Napoleon was not to enjoy his +sepulture. To be interred with pomp at Saint-Denis, while Napoleon, at +Saint Helena, rested under a simple stone on which not even his name +was inscribed, was the last triumph for Louis XVIII.,--a triumph in +death. The re-entrance of Louis XVIII. had been not only the +restoration of the throne, but that of the tombs. The 21st of January, +1815, twenty-two years, to the very day, after the death of Louis XVI., +the remains of the unhappy King and those of his Queen, Marie +Antoinette, were transferred to the Church of Saint-Denis, where their +solemn obsequies were celebrated. Chateaubriand cried:-- + +"What hand has reconstructed the roof of these vaults and prepared +these empty tombs? The hand of him who was seated on the throne of the +Bourbons. O Providence! He believed that he was preparing the +sepulchres of his race, and he was but building the tomb of Louis XVI. +Injustice reigns but for a moment; it is virtue only that can count its +ancestors and leave a posterity. See, at the same moment, the master of +the earth falls, Louis XVIII. regains the sceptre, Louis XVI. finds +again the sepulture of his fathers." + +At the beginning of the Second Restoration, the King determined, by a +decree of the 4th of April, 1816, that search should be made in the +cemetery of the Valois, about the Church of Saint-Denis, in order to +recover the remains of his ancestors that might have escaped the action +of the bed of quicklime, in which they had been buried under the +Terror. The same decree declared that the remains recovered should be +solemnly replaced in the Church of Saint-Denis. + +Excavations were made in January, 1817, in the cemetery of the Valois, +and the bones thus discovered were transferred to the necropolis of the +kings. + +"It was night," says Alexandre Lenoir, in his Histoire des Arts en +France par les Monuments. "The moon shone on the towers; the torches +borne by the attendants were reflected from the walls of the edifice. +What a spectacle! The remains of kings and queens, princes and +princesses, of the most ancient of monarchies, sought with pious care, +with sacred respect, in the ditches dug by impious arms in the evil +days. The bones of the Valois and the Bourbons found pele-mele outside +the walls of the church, and brought again, after a long exile, to +their ancient burial place." + +In a little vault on the left were deposited the coffins containing the +bones of earlier date than the Bourbons, and a marble tablet was placed +upon it, with the inscription: "Here rest the mortal remains of +eighteen kings, from Dagobert to Henry III.; ten queens, from Nantilde, +wife of Dagobert, to Marguerite de Valois, first wife of Henry IV.; +twenty-four dauphins, princes, and princesses, children and +grandchildren of France; eleven divers personages (Hugues-le-grand, +four abbes of Saint-Denis, three chamberlains, two constables, and +Sedille de Sainte-Croix, wife of the Counsellor Jean Pastourelle). Torn +from their violated sepulchres the 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 +October, 1793, and 18 January, 1794; restored to their tombs the 19 +January, 1817." + +On the right were placed the coffins enclosing the remains of the +princes and princesses of the house of Bourbon, the list of which is +given by a second marble plaque: "Here rest the mortal remains of seven +kings, from Charles V. to Louis XV.; seven queens, from Jeanne de +Bourbon, wife of Charles V., to Marie Leczinska, wife of Louis XV.; +dauphins and dauphinesses, princes and princesses, children and +grandchildren of France, to the number of forty-seven, from the second +son of Henry IV. to the Dauphin, eldest son of Louis XVI. Torn from +their violated sepulchres the 12, 14, 15, and 16 October, 1793; +restored to their tombs the 19 January, 1817." + +Besides these vaults, there is one that bears the title of the "Royal +Vault of the Bourbons," though but a small number of princes and +princesses of this family are there deposited. There is where Louis +XVIII. was to rest. In 1815, there had been placed in this vault the +coffins of Louis XVI. and of Marie Antoinette, recovered on the site of +the former cemetery of the Madeleine. On the coffin of the King was +carved: "Here is the body of the very high, very puissant, and very +excellent Prince, Louis, 16th of the name, by the grace of God King of +France and Navarre." A like inscription on the coffin of the Queen +recited her titles. + +In 1817, there had been put by the side of these two coffins those of +Madame Adelaide and of Madame Victorine, daughter of Louis XV., who +died at Trieste, one in 1799, the other in 1800, and whose remains had +just been brought from that city to Saint-Denis. There had also been +placed in the same vault a coffin containing the body of Louis VII.--a +king coming now for the first time, as Alexandre Lenoir remarks, to +take a place in the vault of these vanished princes, whose ranks are no +longer crowded, and which crime has been more prompt to scatter than +has Death been to fill them; also the coffin of Louise de Vaudemont, +wife of Henry III., the queen who was buried in the Church of the +Capucins, Place Vendome, and whose remains escaped profanation in 1793. +In this same vault were also two little coffins, those of a daughter +and a son of the Duke and Duchess of Berry, who died, one in 1817, the +other in 1818, immediately after birth, and the coffin of their father, +assassinated the 13th of February, 1820, on leaving the Opera. Such +were the companions in burial of Louis XVIII. + + + + +IV + +THE FUNERAL OF LOUIS XVIII + + +Louis XVIII. died the 16th of September, 1824, at the Chateau of the +Tuileries. His body remained there until the 23d of September, when, to +the sound of a salvo of one hundred and one guns, it was borne to the +Church of Saint-Denis. The coffin remained exposed in this basilica +within a chapelle ardente, to the 24th of October, the eve of the day +fixed for the obsequies, and during all this time the church was filled +with a crowd of the faithful, belonging to all classes of society, who +gathered from Paris and all the surrounding communes, to render a last +homage to the old King. Sunday, 24th of October, at two o'clock in the +afternoon, the body was transferred from the chapelle ardente to the +catafalque prepared to receive it. Then the vespers and the vigils of +the dead were sung, and the Grand Almoner, clad in his pontifical +robes, officiated. The next day, Monday, the 25th of October, the +services of burial took place. + +The Dauphin and Dauphiness left the Tuileries at 10:30 A.M., to be +present at the funeral ceremony. In conformity with etiquette, Charles +X. was not present. He remained at the Tuileries with the Duchess of +Berry, with whom he heard a requiem Mass in the chapel of the Chateau +at eleven o'clock. The Duchess was thus spared a painful spectacle. +With what emotion would she not have seen opened the crypt in which she +believed she would herself be laid, and which was the burial place of +her assassinated husband and of her two children, dead so soon after +their birth. + +The ceremony commences in the antique necropolis. The interior of the +church is hung all with black to the spring of the arches, where +fleurs-de-lis in gold are relieved against the funeral hangings. The +light of day, wholly shut out, is replaced by an immense quantity of +lamps, tapers, and candles, suspended from a multitude of candelabra +and chandeliers. At the back of the choir shines a great luminous +cross. The Dauphiness, the Duchess of Orleans, the princes and +princesses, her children, her sister-in-law, are led to the gallery of +the Dauphiness. The church is filled with the crowd of constituted +authorities. At the entrance to the nave is seen a deputation of men +and women from the markets, and others who, according to the Moniteur, +have won the favor of admission to this sad ceremony by the grief they +manifested at the time of the King's death. The Dauphin advances, his +mantle borne from the threshold of the church to the choir by the Duke +of Blacas, the Duke of Damas, and the Count Melchior de Polignac. The +Duke of Orleans comes next. Three of his officers bear his mantle. + +A salvo of artillery, responded to by a discharge of musketry, +announces the commencement of the ceremony. The Grand Almoner of France +says Mass. After the Gospel Mgr. de Frayssinous, Bishop of Hermopolis, +ascends the pulpit and pronounces the funeral oration of the King. At +the close of the discourse another salvo of artillery and another +discharge of musketry are heard. The musicians of the Chapel of the +King, under the direction of M. Plantade, render the Mass of Cherubim. +At the Sanctus, twelve pages of the King, guided by their governor, +come from the sacristy, whence they have taken their torches, salute +the altar, then the catafalque, place themselves kneeling on the first +steps of the sanctuary, and remain there until after the Communion. The +De Profundis and the Libera are sung. After the absolutions, twelve +bodyguards advance to the catafalque, which recalls by its form the +mausoleums raised to Francis I. and to Henry II. by the architects of +the sixteenth century. It occupies the centre of the nave. The cords of +the pall are borne by the Chancellor Dambray in the name of the Chamber +of Peers, by M. Ravez in the name of the Chamber of Deputies, by the +Count de Seze in the name of the magistracy, by Marshal Moncey, Duke of +Conegliano, in the name of the army. The twelve bodyguards raise the +coffin from the catafalque, and bear it into the royal tomb. Then the +King-at-Arms goes alone into the vault, lays aside his rod, his cap, +and his coat-of-arms, which he also casts in, retires a step, and +cries: "Heralds-at-Arms, perform your duties." + +The Heralds-at-Arms, marching in succession, cast their rods, caps, +coats-of-arms, into the tomb, then withdraw, except two, of whom one +descends into the vault to place the regalia on the coffin, and the +other is stationed on the first steps to receive the regalia and pass +them to the one who stands on the steps. + +The King-at-Arms begins announcing the regalia. He says: "Marshal, Duke +of Ragusa, major-general of the Royal Guard, bring the flag of the +Royal Guard." The marshal rises from his place, takes the flag from the +hands of the officer bearing it, advances, salutes first the Dauphin, +then the Duke of Orleans, approaches the vault, makes a profound bow, +and places the flag in the hands of the Herald-at-Arms, standing on the +steps. He passes it to the second, who places it on the coffin. The +marshal salutes the altar and the princes and resumes his place. + +The King-at-Arms continues the calls. "Monsieur the Duke of Mortemart, +captain-colonel of the regular foot-guards of the King, bring the +ensign of the company which you have in keeping." He summons in the +same manner the Duke of Luxembourg, the Duke of Mouchy, the Duke of +Gramont, the Duke d'Havre, who bring each the standard of the company +of the body-guards of which they are the four captains. The call of the +other regalia goes on in the following order:-- + +"Monsieur the Count of Peyrelongue, Equerry in Ordinary of His Majesty, +bring the spurs of the King. + +"Monsieur the Marquis of Fresne, Equerry in Ordinary of His Majesty, +bring the gauntlets of the King. + +"Monsieur the Chevalier de Riviere, Master of the Horse of His Majesty, +bring the coat-of-arms of the King. + +"Monsieur the Marquis of Vernon, charged with the functions of First +Equerry, bring the helmet of the King. + +"Monsieur the Duke of Polignac, charged with the functions of Grand +Equerry of France, bring the royal sword. (The royal sword is presented +before the vault only by the point, and is not carried down.) + +"Monsieur the Prince de Talleyrand, Grand Chamberlain of France, bring +the banner." + +There is seen approaching, the banner in his hand, an old man, slight, +lame, clad in satin and covered with embroidery, in gold and jewelled +decorations. It is the unfrocked priest who said the Mass of the +Champ-de-Mars, for the Fete de la Federation; it is the diplomat who +directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the time of the murder of +the Duke d'Enghien; it is the courtier, who, before he was Grand +Chamberlain of Louis XVIII. and Charles X., was that of Napoleon. The +banner is presented before the vault only by one end. It is inclined +over the opening of the crypt, but is not cast in, salutes, for the +last time, the dead King, then rises as if to proclaim that the noble +banner of France dies not, and that the royalty sheltered beneath its +folds descends not into the tomb. + +The King-at-Arms again cries:-- + +"Monsieur the Duke d'Uzes, charged with the functions of Grand Master +of France, come and perform your duty." Then the maitres de l'hotel, +the chambellans de l'hotel, and the first maitre de l'hotel approach +the vault, break their batons, cast them in, and return to their places. + +The King-at-Arms summons the persons bearing the insignia of royalty. + +"Monsieur the Duke of Bressac, bring la main de justice. + +"Monsieur the Duke of Chevreuse, bring the sceptre. + +"Monsieur the Duke of la Tremoille, bring the crown." + +These three insignia are taken down into the vault, as were the flag +and the four standards. + +Then the Duke d'Uzes, putting the end of the baton of Grand Master of +France within the vault, cries out: "The King is dead!" + +The King-at-Arms withdraws three paces, and repeats in a low voice: +"The King is dead! the King is dead! the King is dead!" Then turning to +the assembly he says: "Pray for the repose of his soul!" + +At this moment the clergy and all the assistants throw themselves upon +their knees, pray, and rise again. The Duke d'Uzes withdraws his baton +from the vault, and brandishing it, calls out: "Long live the King!" + +The King-at-Arms repeats: "Long live the King! long live the King! long +live the King! Charles, tenth of the name, by the grace of God, King of +France and Navarre, very Christian, very august, very puissant, our +very honored lord and good master, to whom God grant long and happy +life! Cry ye all: Long live the King!" Then the trumpets, drums, fifes, +and instruments of the military bands break into a loud fanfare, and +their sound is mingled with the prolonged acclamations of the assembly, +whose cries "Long live the King! long live Charles X.!" contrast with +the silence of the tombs. + +"To this outburst of the public hopes," says the Moniteur, "succeeded +the return of pious and mournful duties; the tomb is closed over the +mortal remains of the monarch whose subjects, restored to happiness, +greeted him on his return from the land of exile with the name of Louis +le Desire, and who twice reconciled his people with Europe. This +imposing ceremony being ended, the princes were again escorted into the +Abbey to their apartments, by the Grand Master, the Master of +Ceremonies and his aides, preceded by the Master-at-Arms, and the +Heralds-at-Arms, who had resumed their caps, coats-of-arms, and rods. +Then the crowd slowly dispersed. We shall not try to express the +sentiments to which this imposing and mournful ceremony must give rise. +With the regrets and sorrow caused by the death of a prince so justly +wept, mingle the hopes inspired by a King already the master of all +hearts. This funeral ceremony when, immediately after the burial of a +monarch whom God had called to Himself, were heard cries of 'Long live +Charles X.,'--the new King greeted at the tomb of his august +predecessor,--this inauguration, amid the pomps of death, must have +left impressions not to be rendered, and beyond the power of +imagination to represent." + +Reader, if this recital has interested you, go visit the Church of +Saint-Denis. There is not, perhaps, in all the world, a spectacle more +impressive than the sight of the ancient necropolis of kings. Enter the +basilica, admirably restored under the Second Empire. By the mystic +light of the windows, faithful reproductions of those of former +centuries,--the funerals of so many kings, the profanations of 1793, +the restoration of the tombs,--all this invades your thought and +inspires you with a dim religious impression of devotion. These stones +have their language. Lapides clamabunt. They speak amid the sepulchral +silence. Listen to the echo of a far-away voice. There, under these +arches, centuries old, the 21st of August, 1670, Bossuet pronounced the +funeral oration of Madame Henriette of England. He said:-- + +"With whatever haughty distinction men may flatter themselves, they all +have the same origin, and this origin insignificant. Their years follow +each other like waves; they flow unceasingly, and though the sound of +some is slightly greater and their course a trifle longer than those of +others, they are together confounded in an abyss where are known +neither princes nor kings nor the proud distinctions of men, as the +most boasted rivers mingle in the ocean, nameless and inglorious with +the least known streams." + +Is not the Church of Saint-Denis itself a funeral discourse in stone +more grandiose and eloquent than that of the reverend orator? Regard on +either side of the nave these superb mausoleums, these pompous tombs +that are but an empty show, and since their dead dwell not in them, +contemplate these columns that seem to wish to bear to heaven the +splendid testimony of our nothingness! There, at the right of the main +altar, descend the steps that lead to the crypt. There muse on all the +kings, the queens, the princes, and princesses, whose bones have been +replaced at hazard within these vaults, after their bodies had been, in +1793, cast into a common ditch in the cemetery of the Valois to be +consumed by quicklime. The great ones of the earth, dispossessed of +their sepulchres, could they not say, in the region of shades, in the +mournful words of the Sermonnaire:-- + +"Death does not leave us body enough to require room, and it is only +the tombs that claim the sight; our body takes another name; even that +of corpse, since it implies something of the human form, remains to it +but a little time; it becomes a something nameless in any tongue, so +truly does everything die in it, even the funeral terms by which its +unhappy remains are designated. Thus the Power divine, justly angered +by our pride, reduces it to nothingness, and, to level all conditions +forever, makes common ashes of us all." + +The remains of so many sovereigns and princes are no longer even +corpses. The corpses have perished as ruins perish. You may no longer +see the coffins of the predecessors of Louis XVI. But those of the +Martyr-King, of the Queen Marie Antoinette, of the Duke of Berry, of +Louis XVIII., are there before you in the crypt. Pause. Here is the +royal vault of the Bourbons. Your glance can enter only a narrow grated +window, through which a little twilight filters. If a lamp were not +lighted at the back, the eye would distinguish nothing. By the doubtful +gleam of this sepulchral lamp, you succeed in making out in the gloom +the coffins placed on trestles of iron; to the left that of the Duke of +Berry, then the two little coffins of his children, dead at birth; then +in two rows those of Mesdames Adelaide and Victoire, daughters of Louis +XV., those of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, those of the two last +Princes of Conde, died in 1818 and in 1830, and on the right, at the +very extremity of the vault, that of the only sovereign who, for the +period of a century, died upon the throne, Louis XVIII. + +The royal vault of the Bourbons was diminished more than half to make +room for the imperial vault constructed under Napoleon III. The former +entrance, on the steps of which stand the Heralds-at-Arms at the +obsequies of the kings, has been suppressed. The coffin of Louis XVIII. +was not placed on the iron trestles, where it rests to-day, at the time +of his funeral. It was put at the threshold of the vault, where it was +to have been replaced by that of Charles X.; for by the ancient +tradition, when a king of France dies, as his successor takes his place +on the throne, so he, in death, displaces his predecessor. But Louis +XVIII. waited in vain for Charles X. in the royal vault of the +Bourbons; the last brother of Louis XVI. reposes in the chapel of the +Franciscans at Goritz. + +Charles X. is not alone in being deprived of his rights in his tomb; +the Duke and Duchess of Angouleme and the Count of Chambord were so, +and also Napoleon III. The second Emperor and Prince Imperial, his son, +sleep their sleep in England; for the Bonapartes, like the Bourbons, +have been exiled from Saint-Denis. By a decree of the 18th of November, +1858, the man who had re-established the Empire decided that the +imperial dynasty should have its sepulture in the ancient necropolis of +the kings. Napoleon III. no more, realized his dream than Napoleon I. +He had completed under his reign the magnificent vault destined for +himself and his race. But once more was accomplished the Sic vos non +vobis, and no imperial corpse has ever taken its place in the still +empty Napoleonic vault. The opening situated in the church, near the +centre of the nave, is at present closed by enormous flagstones framed +in copper bands; and as there is no inscription on these, many people +whose feet tread them in visiting the church do not suspect that they +have beneath them the stairway of six steps leading down to the vault +that was to be the burial place of emperors. "Oh, vanity! Oh, +nothingness! Oh, mortals ignorant of their destinies!" It is not enough +that contending dynasties dispute each other's crowns; their +covetousness and rivalry must extend to their tombs. Not enough that +sovereigns have been exiled from their country; they must be exiled +from their graves. Disappointments in life and in death. This is the +last word of divine anger, the last of the lessons of Providence. + + + + +V + +THE KING + + +Born at Versailles, the 9th of October, 1757, Charles X., King of +France and Navarre, was entering his sixty-eighth year at the time of +his accession to the throne. According to the portrait traced by +Lamartine, "he had kept beneath the first frosts of age the freshness, +the stature, the suppleness, and beauty of youth." His health was +excellent, and but for the color of his hair--almost white--he would +hardly have been given more than fifty years. As alert as his +predecessor was immobile, an untiring hunter, a bold rider, sitting his +horse with the grace of a young man, a kindly talker, an affable +sovereign, this survivor of the court of Versailles, this familiar of +the Petit-Trianon, this friend of Marie Antoinette, of the Princess of +Lamballe, of the Duchess of Polignac, of the Duke of Lauzun, of the +Prince de Ligne, preserved, despite his devotedness, a great social +prestige. He perpetuated the traditions of the elegance of the old +regime. Having lived much in the society of women, his politeness +toward them was exquisite. This former voluptuary preserved only the +good side of gallantry. + +The Count d'Haussonville writes in his book entitled Ma Jeunesse:-- + +"I have often seen Charles X. on horseback reviewing troops or +following the chase; I have heard him, seated on his throne, and +surrounded with all the pomp of an official cortege, pronounce the +opening discourse of the session; I have many times been near him at +the little select fetes that the Duchess of Berry used to give, of a +morning, in the Pavilion de Marsan, to amuse the Children of France, as +they were then called, and to extend their acquaintance with the young +people of their own age. One day when I was visiting with my parents +some exposition of objects of art or flowers in one of the lower halls +of the Louvre, I saw him approach my mother--whom he had known in +England--with a familiarity at once respectful and charming. He plainly +wished to please those whom he addressed, and he had the gift of doing +so. In that kind of success he was rarely wanting, especially with +women. His physiognomy as well as his manner helped. It was open and +benevolent, always animated by an easy, perhaps a slightly commonplace +smile, that of a man conscious that he was irresistible, and that he +could, with a few amiable words, overcome all obstacles." + +The fiercest adversaries of Charles X. never denied the attraction +emanating from his whole personality, the chief secret of which was +kindliness. In his constant desire to charm every one that approached +him, he had a certain something like feminine coquetry. The Count of +Puymaigre, who, being the Prefect of the Oise, saw him often at the +Chateau of Compiegne, says:-- + +"If the imposing tone of Louis XVIII. intimidated, it was not so with +Charles X.; there was rather danger of forgetting, pacing the room with +him, that one was talking with a king." + +Yet, whatever may be asserted, the new monarch never dreamed of +restoring the old regime. We do not believe that for a single instant +he had the insensate idea of putting things back to where they were +before 1789. His favorite minister, M. de Villele, was not one of the +great nobles, and the men who were to take the chief parts in the +consecration were of plebeian origin. The impartial historian of the +Restoration, M. de Viel-Castel, remarked it:-- + +"Charles X. by this fact alone, that for three years he had actively +shared in affairs and saw the difficulty of them better, by the fact +that he was no longer exasperated by the heat of the struggle and by +impatience at the political nullity to which events had so long +condemned him, had laid aside a part of his former exaggeration. In the +lively satisfaction he felt in entering at last, at the age of +sixty-seven, upon the enjoyment of the supreme power by the perspective +of which his imagination had been so long haunted, he was disposed to +neglect nothing to capture public favor, and thus gain the chance to +realize the dreams of his life. His kindliness and natural courtesy +would have inspired these tactics, even if policy had not suggested +them." + +The dignity of the private life of the King added to the respect +inspired by his personality. His morals were absolutely irreproachable. +His wife, Marie Therese of Savoy, died the 2d of June, 1805; he never +remarried, and his conduct had been wholly edifying. The sacrifice he +made to God, in renouncing the love of women, after he lost his +well-beloved Countess of Polastron by death in 1803, was the more +meritorious, because, apart from the prestige of his birth and rank, he +remained attractive longer than men of his age. No such scandals as had +dishonored the court of nearly all his predecessors occurred in his, +and the most malevolent could not charge him with having a favorite. In +his home he was a man as respectable as he was attractive, a tender +father, a grandfather even more tender, an affectionate uncle, a +gentle, indulgent master for his servants. None of the divisions that +existed in the family of Louis XVIII. appeared in that of his +successor; perfect harmony reigned in the court of the Tuileries. + +Of a mind more superficial than profound, Charles X. did not lack +either in tact or in intelligence. He sincerely desired to do right, +and his errors were made in good faith, in obedience to the mandates of +his conscience. Lamartine, who had occasion to see him near at hand, +thus sums up his character:-- + +"A man of heart, and impulsive, all his qualities were gifts of nature; +hardly any were the fruit acquired by labor and meditation. He had the +spirit of the French race, superficial, rapid, spontaneous, and happy +in the hazard of repartee, the smile kindly and communicative, the +glance open, the hand outstretched, the attitude cordial, an ardent +thirst for popularity, great confidence in his relations with others, a +constancy in friendship rare upon the throne, true modesty, a restless +seeking for good advice, a conscience severe for himself and indulgent +for others, a piety without pettiness, a noble repentance for the sole +weaknesses of his life, his youthful amours, a rational and sincere +love for his people, an honest and religious desire to make France +happy and to render his reign fruitful in the moral improvement and the +national grandeur of the country confided to him by Providence. All +these loyal dispositions were written on his physiognomy. A lively +frankness, majesty, kindness, honesty, candor, all revealed therein a +man born to love and to be loved. Depth and solidity alone were wanting +in this visage; looking at it, you were drawn to the man, you felt +doubts of the King." + +This remark, just enough at the end of Charles X.'s reign, was hardly +so at the outset. In 1824 people had no doubts of the man or of the +King. The French were content with Charles X., and Charles X. was +content with himself. + +The new King said to himself that his policy was the right one, +because, from the moment of his accession, all hatreds were appeased. +With the absolute calm enjoyed by France he compared the agitations, +plots, violence, the troubles and the fury of which it had been the +theatre under the Decazes ministry. From the day the Right had assumed +power, and Louis XVIII. had allowed his brother to engage in public +affairs, the victory of royalty had been complete and manifest. Charles +X. thought then that the results had sustained him; that foresight, +virtue, political sense, were on his side. Needless to say, every one +about him supported him in that idea, that he believed in all +conscience that he was in the right, obeying the voice of honor and +acting like a king and a Christian. Any other policy than his own would +have seemed to him foolish and cowardly. To hear his courtiers, one +would have said that the age of gold had returned in France; the +felicitations offered him took an idyllic tone. The Count of Chabrol, +Prefect of the Seine, said to him, January 1, 1825, at the grand +reception at the Tuileries:-- + +"At your accession, Sire, a prestige of grace and power calmed, in the +depths of all hearts, the last murmur of the storm, and the peace that +we enjoy to-day is embellished by a charm that is yours alone." + +The same day the Drapeau Blanc said:-- + +"Why is there an unusual crowd passing about the palace of the +cherished monarch and princes? It is watching with affection for a +glance or smile from Charles! These are the new-year gifts for the +people moved by love for the noble race of its kings. This glance, +expressing only goodness, this smile so full of grace, they long for +everywhere and always before their eyes. His classic and cherished +features are reproduced in every form; every public place has its bust, +every hut its image; they are the domestic gods of a worship that is +pure and without superstition, brought to our families by peace and +happiness." The aurora of Charles X.'s reign was like that of his +brother Louis XVI. The two brothers resembled travellers who, deceived +by the early morning sun and the limpid purity of the sky, set forth +full of joy and confidence, and are suddenly surprised by a frightful +tempest. The new James II. imagined that his royalty had brought his +trials to an end. It was, on the contrary, only a halt in the journey +of misfortune and exile. He believed the Revolution finished, and it +had but begun. + + + + +VI + +THE DAUPHIN AND DAUPHINESS + + +At the accession of Charles X., the royal family, properly speaking, +consisted of six persons only,--the King, the Duke and Duchess of +Angouleme, the Duchess of Berry and her two children (the Duke of +Bordeaux and Mademoiselle). By the traditions of the monarchy, the Duke +of Angouleme, as son and heir of the King, took the title of Dauphin, +and his wife that of Dauphiness. The Duchess of Berry, who, under the +reign of Louis XVIII. was called Madame the Duchess of Berry, was by +right, henceforward, called simply Madame, a privilege that belonged to +the Duchess of Angouleme before she was Dauphiness. That is why the +Gymnase, the theatre under the special protection of the Duchess of +Berry, was called, after the new reign began, the Theatre de Madame. + +Born at Versailles the 5th of August, 1775, the Duke of Angouleme had +just entered on his fiftieth year. A tender and respectful son, an +irreproachable husband, a brave soldier, he was lacking in both +brilliant and solid qualities. His awkward air, his bashfulness, his +myopia, his manners rather bourgeois than princely, were against him. +He had nothing of the charm and grace of his father. But when one knew +him, it was easy to see that he had unquestioned virtues and real +worth. To Charles X. he was a most faithful subject and the best of +sons. In contrast with so many heirs apparent, who openly or secretly +combat the political ideas of their fathers, he was always the humble +and docile supporter of the throne. The Spanish expedition brought him +credit. In it he showed courage and zeal. The army esteemed him, and he +gave serious attention to military matters. A man of good sense and +good faith, he held himself aloof from all exaggerations. At the time +of the reaction of the White Terror, he had repudiated the fury of the +ultras, and distinguished himself by a praiseworthy moderation. He had +great piety, with out hypocrisy, bigotry, or fanaticism. The Count of +Puymaigre, in his curious Souvenirs, says:-- + +"The Duke of Angouleme appeared to me to be always subordinated to the +will of the King, and he said to me one day very emphatically that his +position forbade any manifestation of personal sentiment, because it +was unbecoming in the heir apparent to sustain the opposition. Though +very religious, he did not share the exaggerated ideas of what was then +called the 'congregation,' and I recall that one day he asked me +brusquely: 'Are you a partisan of the missions?' As I hesitated to +reply, he insisted. 'No, my lord, in nowise; I think that one good cure +suffices for a commune, and that missionaries, by treating the public +mind with an unusual fervor, often bring trouble with them and at the +same time often lessen the consideration due to the resident priest.'" + +Married, on the 10th of June, 1799, to the daughter of Louis XVI. and +Marie Antoinette, the Duke of Angouleme had no children; but though the +sterilty of his wife was an affliction, he never complained of it. He +was not known to have either favorites or mistresses. The life of this +descendant of Louis XIV. and of Louis XV. was purity itself. There were +neither scandals nor intrigues about him. By nature irascible and +obstinate, he had modified this tendency of his character by reason and +still more by religion. Assiduous in his duties, without arrogance or +vanity, regarding his role as Prince as a mission given him by +Providence, which he wished to fulfil conscientiously, he had not the +slightest mental reservation in favor of restoring the old regime, and +showed, perhaps, more favor to the lieutenants of Napoleon than to the +officers of the army of Conde, his companions in arms. To sum up, he +was not an attractive prince, but he merited respect. The Count of +Puymaigre thus concludes the portrait traced by him:-- + +"The manner, bearing, and gestures of the Duke of Angouleme cannot be +called gracious, especially in contrast with his father's manners; +doubtless it is not fair to ask that a prince, any more than another, +should be favored by nature, but it is much to be desired that he shall +have an air of superiority. The ruling taste of the Dauphin was for the +chase. He also read much and gave much time to the personnel of the +army. Retiring early, he arose every morning at five o'clock, and +lighted his own fire. Far from having anything to complain of in him, I +could only congratulate myself on his kindness." + +The Dauphiness, Marie-Theresa-Charlotte of France, Duchess of +Angouleme, born at Versailles the 19th of December, 1778, was +forty-five years old when her uncle and father-in-law, Charles X., +ascended the throne. She was surrounded by universal veneration. She +was regarded, and with reason, as a veritable saint, and by all parties +was declared to be sans peur et sans reproche. + +The Duchess of Angouleme, shunning the notoriety sought by other +princesses, preferred her oratory to the salons. Yet her devotion had +nothing mean or narrow in it. Despite the legendary catastrophes that +weighed upon her, she always appeared at fetes where her presence was +demanded. She laughed with good heart at the theatre, and there was +nothing morose or ascetic in her conversation. She never spoke of her +misfortunes. One day she was pitying a young girl who suffered from +chilblains. "I know what it is," she said; "I have had them." Then she +added, without other comment: "True, the winters were very severe at +that time." She did not wish to say that she had had these chilblains +while a prisoner in the Temple, when fuel was refused to her. + +But if the Princess never spoke of herself, she never ceased to think +of the martyrs for whom she wept. At the Tuileries, she occupied the +Pavillon de l'Horloge and the Pavillon de Flore, the first floor +apartments that had been her mother's. She used for her own a little +salon hung with white velvet sown with marguerite lilies. This tapestry +was the work of the unhappy Queen and of Madame Elisabeth. In the same +room was a stool on which Louis XVII. had languished and suffered. It +served as prie-dieu to the Orphan of the Temple. There was in this +stool a drawer where she had put away the remaining relics of her +parents: the black silk vest and white cravat worn by Louis XVI. the +day of his death; a lace bonnet of Marie Antoinette, the last work done +by the Queen in her prison of the Conciergerie, which Robespierre had +had taken from her on the pretext that the widow of the Christian King +might kill herself with her needle or with a lace-string; finally some +fragments of the fichu which the wind raised from the shoulders of +Madame Elisabeth when the angelic Princess was already on the scaffold. +The Dauphiness, who usually dined with the King, dined alone on the +21st of January and the 16th of October. She shut herself in the +chamber where she had collected these relics and passed the whole day +and evening there in prayer. + +The charity of the pious Princess was inexhaustible. Almost all her +revenue was expended in alms. She would not have receipts signed by +those to whom she distributed relief. "The duty of givers," she said, +"is to forget their gifts and the names of those who receive them; it +is for those who receive to remember." Nor did she ever ask the +political opinions of those she relieved. To be unfortunate, sufficed +to excite her interest. One day Sister Rosalie, charged by the Princess +with paying a pension to a man whose ill conduct she had discovered, +thought it her duty to notify the benefactress, and suspend the succor. +"My sister," replied the Dauphiness, "continue to pay this man his +pension. We must be charitable to the good that they may persevere, and +to the bad that they may become better." Sunday, when the Princess did +no work, she passed the evening in detaching the wax seals from letters +and envelopes. This wax, converted into sticks, produced one thousand +francs a year, which she sent to a poor family. She gave much, but only +to Frenchmen and Frenchwomen. She replied to every demand for aid for +foreigners that she was sorry not to comply with the request, but she +should feel that she was doing an injustice to give to others while +there was a single Frenchman in need. On each anniversary of mourning +she doubled her alms. + +The existence of the Dauphiness at the Tuileries passed with extreme +regularity. A very early riser, like her husband, she made her toilet +herself, having learned to help herself in her captivity in the Temple. +She used to breakfast at six o'clock, and at seven daily attended the +first Mass in the chapel of the Chateau. There was a second at nine +o'clock for the Dauphin, and a third at eleven for the King. From eight +to eleven she held audiences. She retired at ten o'clock, and only +prolonged the evening to eleven when, she visited the Duchess of Berry, +for whom she had a great affection, and whose children she saw two or +three times a day. A devoted companion of Charles X., she always went +with him to the various royal chateaux. The Count of Puy maigre says in +his Souvenirs:-- + +"The Dauphiness having by her kindness accustomed me to speaking +freely, I used this privilege without embarrassment, but always +observing that measure which keeps a man of good society within just +limits, equally careful not to put himself ridiculously at ease and not +to be so abashed by exaggerated respect as to become insipid. I have +always thought that a princess no more than any other woman likes to be +bored. I talked much with her in the carriage, seeking to amuse the +Princess with a few anecdotes, and I did not fear to discuss serious +things with her, on which she expressed her self with real sagacity. +When she was accused of want of tact in the numerous receptions of +which one had to undergo the monotony, it was often the fault of her +immediate companions, who neglected to give her suitable information as +to the various persons received. How many times I have hinted to her to +speak to some devoted man, who regarded a word from the Princess as a +signal favor, to yield to requests, perhaps untimely, to visit some +establishment, to receive the humble petitions of a mayor, a cure, or a +municipal council. I will not deny that she had a sort of brusqueness, +partly due to an exceedingly high voice, and moments of ill humor, +transient no doubt, but which nevertheless left a painful impression on +those who were subjected to them. Madame the Dauphiness made no mistake +as to the state of France; she was not the dupe of the obsequiousness +of certain men of the court, and merit was certain to obtain her +support whether it had been manifested under the old or the new regime; +but she had not the influence she was supposed to have, and I doubt if +she tried to acquire it." + +One day the Princess was talking to the Prefect of the Oise about the +great noblemen who had possessions in the Department. + +"Have they any influence over the people?" she asked him. + +"No, Madame, and it is their own fault. M. de La Rochefoucauld is the +only one who is popular, but his influence is against you. As to the +others, greedy of the benefits of the court, they come to their estates +only to save money, to regulate their accounts with their managers, and +the people, receiving no mark of their interest, acknowledge no +obligation to them." + +"You are perfectly right," replied the Dauphiness, "that is not the way +with the English aristocracy." + +"She saw with pain," adds M. de Puymaigre, "the marriages for money +made by certain men of the court, but not when they allied themselves +with an honorable plebeian family; her indignation was justly shown +toward those who took their wives in families whose coveted riches came +from an impure source." + +The extraordinary catastrophes that had fallen on the daughter of Louis +XVI. and Marie Antoinette had been a great experience for her, and she +was not surprised at the recantations of the courtiers. The Hundred +Days had, perhaps, suggested even more reflections to her than her +captivity in the Temple or her early exile. She could not forget how, +in 1815, she had been abandoned by officers who, but the day before, +had offered her such protestations and such vows. In the midst of +present prosperity she had a sort of instinct of future adversity. +Something told her that she was not done with sorrow, and that the cup +of bitterness was not drained to the dregs. While every one about her +contemplated the future with serene confidence, she reflected on the +extreme mobility of the French character, and still distrusted +inconstant fortune. The morrow of the birth of the Duke of Bordeaux one +of her household said to her:-- + +"Your Highness was very happy yesterday." + +"Yes, very happy yesterday," responded the daughter of Louis XVI., "but +to-day I am reflecting on the destiny of this child." + +To any one inclined to be deceived by the illusions of the prestige +surrounding the accession of Charles X., it ought to have sufficed to +cast a glance on the austere countenance of the Orphan of the Temple, +to be recalled to the tragic reality of things. The King had for his +niece and daughter-in-law an affection blended with compassion and +respect. The pious and revered Princess gave to the court a character +of gravity and sanctity. + + + + +VII + +MADAME + + +The Duchess of Angouleme and the Duchess of Berry lived on the best of +terms, showing toward each other a lively sympathy. Yet there was +little analogy between their characters, and the two Princesses might +even be said to form a complete contrast, one representing the grave +side, the other the smiling side of the court. + +Born November 7, 1798, and a widow since February 14, 1820, Madame (as +the Duchess of Berry was called after the Duchess of Angouleme became +Dauphiness) was but twenty-five when her father-in-law, Charles X., +ascended the throne. She was certainly not pretty, but there was in her +something seductive and captivating. The vivacity of her manner, her +spontaneous conversation, her ardor, her animation, her youth, gave her +charm. Educated at the court of her grandfather, Ferdinand, King of +Naples, who carried bonhomie and familiarity to exaggeration, and lived +in the company of peasants and lazzaroni, she had a horror of +pretension and conceit. Her child-like physiognomy had a certain +playful and rebellious expression; slightly indecorous speech did not +displease her. This idol of the aristocracy was simple and jovial, +mingling in her conversation Gallic salt and Neapolitan gaiety. In +contrast with so many princesses who weary their companions and are +wearied by them, she amused herself and others. Entering a family +celebrated by its legendary catastrophes, she had lost nothing of the +playfulness which was the essence of her nature. The Tuileries, the +scene of such terrible dramas, did not inspire her as it did the +Duchess of Angouleme, with sad reflections. When she heard Mass in the +Chapel of the Chateau, she did not say to herself that here had +resounded the furies of the Convention. The grand apartments, the court +of the Carrousel, the garden, could not recall to her the terrible +scenes of the 20th of June and the 10th of August. When she entered the +Pavillon de Flore, she did not reflect that there had sat the Committee +of Public Safety. The Tuileries were, to her eyes, only the abode of +power and pleasure, an agreeable and beautiful dwelling that had +brought her only happiness, since there she had given birth to the +Child of Europe, the "Child of Miracle." + +The Duchess of Berry thought that a palace should be neither a barracks +nor a convent nor a prison, and that even for a princess there is no +happiness without liberty. She loved to go out without an escort, to +take walks, to visit the shops, to go to the little theatres, to make +country parties. She was like a bird in a gilded cage, which often +escapes and returns with pleasure only because it has escaped. She was +neither worn out nor blasee; everything interested her, everything made +her gay; she saw only the good side of things. In her all was +young--mind, character, imagination, heart. Thus she knew none of those +vague disquietudes, that causeless melancholy, that unreasoned sadness, +from which suffer so many queens and so many princesses on the steps of +a throne. + +Gracious and simple in her manners, modest in her bearing, more +inclined to laughter and smiles than to sobs and tears, satisfied with +her lot despite her widowhood, she felt happy in being a princess, in +being a mother, in being in France. Flattered by the homage addressed +to her on all sides, but without haughty pride in it, she protected art +and letters with out pedantry, rejuvenated the court, embellished the +city, spread animation wherever she was seen, and appeared to the +people like a seductive enchantress. Those who were at her receptions +found themselves not in the presence of a coldly and solemnly majestic +princess, but of an accomplished mistress of the house bent on making +her salon agreeable to her guests. There was in her nothing to abash, +and by her gracious aspect, her extreme affability, she knew how to put +those with whom she talked at their ease, while wholly preserving her +own rank. She was not only polite, she was engaging, always seeking to +say something flattering or kindly to those who had the honor to +approach her. If she visited a studio, she congratulated the artist; in +a shop she made many purchases and talked with the merchants with a +grace more charming to them, perhaps, than even her extreme liberality. +If she went to a theatre, she enjoyed herself like a child. The select +little fetes given by her always had a character of special originality +and gaiety. + +The Dauphiness had a higher rank at court than Madame, because she was +married to the heir of the throne. But as she took much less interest +in social matters, she did not shine with so much eclat. The Duchess of +Berry was the queen of elegance. In all questions of adornment, toilet, +furniture, she set the fashion. A commission as "tradesman of Madame" +was the dream of all the merchants. Sometimes, on New Year's Day, her +purchases at the chief shops were announced in the Moniteur. There were +hardly any chroniques in the journals under the Restoration. A simple +"item" sufficed for an account of the most dazzling fetes. If the +customs of the newspapers had been under the reign of Charles X. what +they are now, the Duchess of Berry would have filled all the "society +notes," and the objective point of every "reporter," to use an American +expression, would have been the Pavillon de Marsan, the "Little +Chateau," as it was then called. There indeed shone in all their +splendor the stars of French and foreign nobility, the women who +possessed all sorts of aristocracy--of birth, of fortune, of wit, and +of beauty. This little circle of luxury and elegance excited less +jealousy and less criticism than did the intimate society of Marie +Antoinette in the last part of the old regime, because in the Queen's +time, to frequent the Petit Trianon was the road to honors, while under +Charles X. the intimates of the Pavillon de Marsan did not make their +social pleasures the stepping-stone to fortune. + +The Duchess of Berry never meddled in politics. Doubtless her +sympathies, like those of the Dauphiness, were with the Right, but she +exercised no influence on the appointment of ministers and +functionaries. Charles X. never consulted her about public affairs; the +idea would never have occurred to the old King to ask counsel of so +young and inexperienced a woman. + +It is but justice to the Princess to say that while wholly inclined +toward the Right, she had none of the exaggeration of the extremists in +either her ideas or her attitude, and that, repudiating the arrogance +and prejudices of the past, she never, in any way, dreamed of the +resurrection of the old regime. She was liked by the army, being known +as a good rider and a courageous Princess. When she talked with +officers she had the habit of saying things that went straight to their +hearts. There was no difference in her politeness to the men of the old +nobility or to the parvenus of victory. The former servitors of +Napoleon were grateful for her friendliness to them, and perhaps they +would always have respected the white flag--the flag of Henry IV., had +it been borne by the gracious hand of his worthy descendant. To sum up, +she was what would be called to-day a very "modern" Princess; her role +might well have been to share the ideas and aspirations of the new +France. + +The Duchess of Berry led a very active life. When she came to France +she was in the habit of rising late. But her husband, who believed the +days to be shorter for princes than for other men, showed that he +disliked this, and after that the Princess would not remain in bed +after six o'clock, winter or summer. As soon as she was ready she +summoned her children, and for half an hour gave them her instructions. +On leaving them, she went to hear Mass, and then breakfasted. Next came +the walks, almost always with a useful object in view. Sometimes it was +a hospital to which Madame carried relief, some times an artist's +studio, a shop, an industrial establishment that she encouraged by her +purchases and her presence. On her return she busied herself with the +tenderest and most conscientious care in the education of the two +daughters whom her husband had left to her, and who have since become, +one the Baroness of Chorette, the other the Princess of Lucinge. +Audiences took up the remainder of the morning, sometimes lasting to +dinner time. When some one said to her one day that she must be very +tired of them, she replied: "During all that time I am told the truth, +and I find as much pleasure in hearing it as people of society do in +reading romances." + +Madame was very charitable. She devoted to the poor an ordinary and an +extraordinary budget. The tenth of her revenue was always applied to +the relief of the unfortunate, and was deposited by twelfths, each +month, with her First Almoner. This tithe was distributed with as much +method as sagacity. A valet de chambre, each evening, brought to the +Princess the day's petitions for relief. Madame classified them with +her own hand in alphabetical order, and registered and numbered them. +Whatever the hour, she never adjourned this task to the morrow. The +private secretary then went over these petitions and presented an +analysis of them to the Princess, who indicated on the margin what she +wished to give. This was the ordinary budget of the poor, the tenth of +Madame's revenue. But she had, besides, an extraordinary budget of +charity for the unfortunate who were the more to be respected because +they concealed themselves in obscurity and awaited instead of seeking +help. It often happened that the Princess borrowed in order to give +more. The total of her revenues amounted to 1,730,000 +francs,--1,500,000 francs from the Treasury, 100,000 francs in Naples +funds, coming from her dower, and 130,000 francs from her domain of +Rosny. Madame expended all in alms or in purchases intended to +encourage the arts and commerce. + +The Duchess of Angouleme and the Duchess of Berry each had in the +environs of Paris a pleasure house, which was their Petit Trianon, +where they could lead a simpler life, less subject to the laws of +etiquette than in the royal Chateaux. That of the Dauphiness was +Villeneuve-l'Etang; and that of Madame, Rosny. The first had been +bought of Marshal Soult by the Duchess of Angouleme in 1821. When she +rode from Paris, this was always her destination. When she lived at +Saint Cloud, she often set out on foot in the early morning alone, and +followed across the park a little path known as the "road of the +Dauphiness," to a little gate of the Chateau of Villeneuve-l'Etang, of +which she carried the key. + +Rosny is a chateau situated in the Department of Seine-et-Oise, seven +kilometres from Mantes, where Sully, the famous minister of Henry IV., +was born, and which had been bought in 1818 by the Duke of Berry. It +was the favorite resort of Madame. She went there often and passed a +great part of the summer. There she lived the life of a simple private +person, receiving herself those who came to offer homage or request +aid. The village of Rosny profited by the liberality of the Chateau, La +Quotidienne said in an article reproduced by the Moniteur:-- + +"Since Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Berry has owned the estate of +Rosny, her sole occupation has been to secure the happiness of this +country. Every journey she makes is marked by some act of goodness. +Besides the Hospital of Saint-Charles, a monument of her beneficence +and piety, which is open to all the sick of the country, she sends out +relief to the homes of the needy every day. The houses that rise in the +village replace wretched huts, and give a more agreeable and cheerful +aspect to the place. The children of either sex, the object of her most +tender solicitude, are taught at her expense. At every journey Madame +honors them with a visit and encourages them with prizes which she +condescends to distribute herself." + +In his Souvenirs Intimes the Count de Mesnard, First Equerry of the +Duchess of Berry, writes:-- + +"The King, Charles X., did not recognize in his daughter-in-law nearly +the solidity that she had. He believed her to be light-minded, and only +looked upon her as a great child, though he loved her much and her +gaiety pleased him beyond measure, being himself of a gay nature. You +may have heard that one day Madame rode in an omnibus. That is not +correct. But it is true that one day Her Royal Highness said to the +King:-- + +"'Father, if you will wager ten thousand francs, I will ride in an +omnibus to-morrow.' + +"'It's the last thing I should do, my dear,' replied His Majesty. 'You +are quite crazy enough to do it.'" + +M. de Mesnard adds this reflection: "What the King regarded as folly +was only the appearance of it. There was in Madame a rich fund of +reason, justice, and humanity. Independently of all the acts of +beneficence daily done here, Madame employs still more considerable +sums in the support of young girls in the convents of Lucon and Mantes, +and in several other establishments. There are in the colleges a large +number of young people of families of modest fortune, whose expenses +she pays. The Hospital of Rosny alone costs Madame from twenty thousand +to twenty-five thousand francs a year. The exhaustless bounty of this +august Princess extends to all. There is no sort of aid that Her Royal +Highness does not take pleasure in according: subscriptions without +interest for her, for concerts that she will not hear, for benefit +performances that she will not see, everything gets a subscription from +her, and it all costs more than is convenient with the Princess's +revenue. Sometimes it happens that her funds are exhausted, and as her +benevolence never is, embarrassment follows." + +Apropos of this the Count de Mesnard relates a touching anecdote. One +winter exceedingly cold, the Duchess of Berry was about to give a fete +in the Pavillon de Marsan. During the day she had supervised the +preparations. Things were arranged perfectly, when all at once her face +saddened. She was asked respectfully what had displeased her. "What icy +weather!" she cried. "Poor people may be dying of cold and hunger +to-night while we are taking our delights. That spoils my pleasure." +Then she added emphatically: "Go call the Marquis de Sassenay" (her +Treasurer). + +The Marquis came promptly. + +"Monsieur," said the good Princess, "you must write instantly to the +twelve mayors of Paris, and in each letter put one thousand francs to +be expended in wood, and distributed this very night to the poor +families of each arrondissement. It is very little, but it may save +some unfortunates." + +The Treasurer responded: "Madame, I should be eager to obey the orders +of Her Royal Highness, but she has nothing, or almost nothing, in her +treasury." + +A feeling of discontent was strongly depicted on the face of Madame, +who was about to give expression to it, when M. de Mesnard hastened to +say that the funds of the First Equerry were in better state than those +of the Treasurer, and remitted to the latter the twelve thousand +francs, which were distributed to the poor that evening according to +the Princess's wishes. + +The Duchess of Berry had the double gift of pleasing and making herself +loved. All the persons of her household, all her servitors, from the +great nobles and great ladies to the domestics and the chamber-maids, +were deeply devoted to her. Poor or rich, she had attentions for all. +Listen to the Count de Mesnard:-- + +"Madame is incessantly making presents to all who approach her. At New +Year's her apartments are a veritable bazaar furnished from all the +shops of Paris; her provision, made from every quarter, is universal, +from bon-bons to the most precious articles--everything is there. +Madame has thought of each specially; the people of her own service are +not forgotten any more than the ladies and officers of her household; +father, mother, children, every one, is included in the distribution. +The royal family naturally comes first; next, the numerous relatives of +the Palais Royal, of whom she is very fond; then her family at Naples, +which is also numerous; and finally all of us, masters and servants, we +all have our turn." + +No one, we think, has made a more exact portrait of the Duchess of +Berry than the Count Armand de Pontmartin, who is so familiar with the +Restoration. In his truthful and lively Souvenirs d'un vieux critique, +how well he presents "this flower of Ischia or of Castellamare, +transplanted to the banks of the Seine, under the gray sky of Paris, to +this Chateau des Tuileries, which the revolutions peopled with phantoms +before making it a spectre." + +How really she was "this good Duchess, so French and so Neapolitan at +once, half Vesuvius, half school-girl, whom nothing must prevent us +from honoring and loving." The chivalric and sentimental rhetoric of +the time, the elegies of the poets, the noble prose of Chateaubriand, +the tearful articles of the royalist journals, have condemned her to +appear forever solemn and sublime. It was sought to confine her youth +between a tomb and a cradle. But as M. de Pontmartin so finely remarks: +"At the end of two or three years her true nature appears beneath this +artificial drapery. Amusements recommence, distractions abound. The +Princess is no longer a heroine; she is a sprite. The beach of Dieppe +sings her praises better, a thousand times better, than the chorus of +courtiers. She loves pleasure, but she wishes every pleasure to be a +grace or a benefit. She creates a mine of gold under the sand of the +Norman coast; she pacifies political rancor and soothes the wounds of +the grumblers of the Grand Army. She makes popular the name of Bourbon, +which had suffered from so much ingratitude. The Petit-Chateau, as her +delightful household was called, renews the elegant manners, the +exquisite gallantries of the court of Anne of Austria, and offers to +the romancers the models of which Balzac, later, made so much too free +use. There I see our amiable Duchess in her true element, not on the +kind of Sinai on which the writers of the white flag have perched her, +prodigal in their imitations of Bossuet,--between Jeanne d'Arc and +Jeanne Hachette, between Valentine de Milan and the Widow of Malabar." + +To sum up, the Duchess of Berry was to the court of Charles X. what the +Duchess of Burgundy was to that of Louis XIV. Her lovely youth +brightened everything. Let us do her this justice: despite a character +in appearance frivolous, she carried to a kind of fanaticism the love +of France and passion for French glory. There was one thing that the +gracious widow took very seriously,--the rights of her son. She would +have risked a thousand deaths to defend that child, who represented in +her heart the cause of the fatherland. Where he was concerned there was +in the attitude of this frail young woman something firm and decided. +To a sagacious observer, the amazon was already manifest under the lady +of society. She was like those officers who shine equally at the ball +and on the field of battle. Recognizing in her more than one +imperfection, she cannot be denied either courage, or intelligence, or +heart. By her qualities as by her defects she was of the race of Henry +IV. But she was more frank and more grateful than the Bearnais. +Doubtless she did not have the genius, the prodigious ability, the fine +and profound political sense, of that great man; but her nature was +better, her generosity greater, her character more sympathetic. + + + + +VIII + +THE ORLEANS FAMILY + + +At the accession of Charles X., Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, chief +of the younger branch of the Bourbons, born at Paris, October 6th, +1773, was not yet fifty-seven years old. He married November 25th, +1809, Marie-Amelie, Princess of the Two Sicilies, whose father, +Ferdinand I., reigned at Naples, and whose mother, the Queen +Marie-Caroline, sister of Marie Antoinette, died at Venice, September +7th, 1814. Marie-Amelie, born April 26th, 1782, was forty-two years old +when Charles X. ascended the throne. Of her marriage with the Duke of +Orleans there were born five sons and four daughters:-- + +1. Ferdinand-Philippe-Louis-Charles-Henri-Roulin, Duke of Chartres, +born at Palermo, September 3d, 1810. (When his father became King, he +took the title of Duke of Orleans, and died from a fall from his +carriage going from the Tuileries to Neuilly on the Chemin de la +Revolte, July 13th, 1842.) + +2. Louise-Marie-Therese-Caroline-Elisabeth, Mademoiselle d'Orleans, +born at Palermo the 3d of April, 1812. (She married the King of the +Belgians, Leopold I., August 9th, 1832, and died October 11th, 1850.) + +3. Marie-Christine-Caroline-Adelaide-Francoise-Leopoldine, Mademoiselle +de Valois, born at Palermo, April 12th, 1813. (She was designated by +the name of the Princess Marie, distinguished herself in the arts, made +the famous statue of Jeanne d'Arc, married October 17th, 1837, the Duke +Frederic William of Wurtemberg, and died January 2d, 1839.) + +4. Louis-Charles-Philippe-Raphael, Duke of Nemours, born at Paris, +October 25th, 1814. + +5. Marie-Clementine-Caroline-Leopoldine, Mademoiselle de Beaujolais, +born at Neuilly June 3d, 1817. (She was designated by the name of the +Princess Clementine, and married, April 20th, 1843, the Prince August, +of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.) + +6. Francois-Ferdinand-Philippe-Louis-Marie, Prince de Joinville, born +at Neuilly, August 14th, 1818. + +7. Charles-Ferdinand-Louis-Philippe-Emmanuel, Duke of Penthievre, born +at Paris, January 1st, 1820. (He died July 25th, 1828.) + +8. Henri-Eugene-Philippe-Louis, Duke d'Aumale, born at Paris, January +16th, 1822. + +9. Antoine-Marie-Philippe-Louis, Duke of Montpensier, born at Neuilly, +July 5th, 1824. + +The Duke of Orleans had a sister who lived with him at the Palais +Royal, and was reputed to be his Egeria. She was +Louise-Marie-Adelaide-Eugenie, Mademoiselle d'Orleans, as she was +called under the Restoration. Born August 23d, 1777, she had been +educated by Madame de Genlis, with her brother, and was said to be +attached to the ideas of the Liberal party. (It was she who in 1830 +decided Louis-Philippe to accept the crown, took the name of Madame +Adelaide, and died, unmarried, some days before the revolution of the +24th of February, 1848.) + +Marie-Amelie, Duchess of Orleans, was the sister of the Prince Royal of +the Two Sicilies, Ferdinand, father of the Duchess of Berry, and the +niece was very fond of her aunt. The two Princesses were united by +other bonds than those of blood. During all her infancy the Duchess of +Berry had lived with her aunt at Palermo and Naples. Both were +descended in direct line from the great Empress, Maria Theresa. Both +had greatly loved the Queen Marie-Caroline, of whom one was the +granddaughter, the other the daughter. Both professed great admiration +for the Martyr-Queen, Marie Antoinette, of whom one was the +grand-niece, the other the niece. The devotion and family feeling of +the Duchess of Orleans won every one's sympathy for her, and the +Duchess of Berry had a respectful attachment for her. Their relations +were as constant as they were friendly. There existed between the +Palais Royal and the Pavilion de Marsan, dwellings so near each other, +a friendship and neighborliness that left nothing to be desired. + +The Duke of Bordeaux and his sister, Mademoiselle, were very fond of +their little Orleans cousins. There was a certain pleasure in thinking +that the Duke of Chartres might one day become the husband of +Mademoiselle. This young Prince, already very amiable and sympathetic, +was the favorite of the Duchess of Berry. She said to herself that he +would be the son-in-law of her dreams. Every time that she went to the +Palais Royal, where her visits were incessant, she was received with +transports of affection. Nowhere did she enjoy herself more. +Louis-Philippe treated her with deference and courtesy. She believed +sincerely in his friendship, and any one who had shown in her presence +the least doubt of the loyalty of her aunt's husband would not have +ventured to complete the phrase expressing it. The Duchess of Berry was +to preserve this confidence until the Revolution of 1830. + +Charles X. had a kindly feeling, founded on very real sympathy, for the +Duke of Orleans and all his family. During the Emigration, as under the +reign of Louis XVIII., he had always maintained very cordial relations +with the Duke, and had tried to efface the bad memories of Philippe +Egalite. Charles X. was as confiding as Louis XVIII. was distrustful. +Optimist, like all good natures, the new King would not believe evil. +He attributed to others his own good qualities. Louis XVIII. always had +suspicions as to the Duke of Orleans. "Since his return," he said, in +1821, "the Duke of Orleans is the chief of a party without seeming to +be. His name is a threatening flag, his palace a rallying-place. He +makes no stir, but I can see that he makes progress. This activity +without movement is disquieting. How can you undertake to check the +march of a man who makes no step?" Every time the Duke attempted to +bring up the question of exchanging his title of Most Serene Highness +for that of Royal Highness, the King stubbornly resisted. "The Duke of +Orleans is quite near enough to the throne already," he replied to all +solicitations. "I shall be careful to bring him no nearer." + +This refusal was very depressing to the Duke. One circumstance rendered +it still more annoying. As a king's daughter, his wife was a Royal +Highness. By this title she enjoyed honors denied to her husband. When +she was present at court with him she was first announced, both doors +of the salon being opened: "Her Royal Highness, Madame the Duchess of +Orleans." Then one door having been closed, the usher announced: "His +Most Serene Highness, Monseigneur the Duke of Orleans." This +distinction was very disagreeable to the Duke. Charles X. hastened to +abolish it. September 21st, 1824, he accorded the title of Royal +Highness to the Duke of Orleans, and three days later he conferred this +title, so much desired, on the children of the sister of the Duke. The +latter showed his great pleasure. Though he might favor liberalism and +give pledges to democracy, he remained a Prince to the marrow of his +bones. He loved not only money, but honors, and attached extreme +importance to questions of etiquette. The memories of his childhood and +his early youth bound him to the old regime and despite appearances to +the contrary, this Prince, so dear to the bourgeois and to the National +Guard, was always by his tastes and aspirations a man of Versailles. + +Charles X. would gladly have said to the Duke of Orleans, as Augustus +to Cinna, speaking of his benefits:-- + +"Je t'en avais comble, je t'en veux accabler." + +He was not content with according him a title of honor; he gave him +something much more solid, by causing to be returned to him, with the +consent of the Chambers, the former domain and privileges of the House +of Orleans. This was not easy. It required not only the good-will of +the Chateau, but the vote of the Chambers, and the majority was hardly +favorable to the Duke of Orleans, of whom it cherished the same +suspicions as Louis XVIII. The Duchess of Berry pleaded warmly the +cause of her aunt's husband, and conspired with Charles X. against the +Right, the members of which in this case believed it a service to +royalty to disobey the King. The opposition to the project seemed +likely to be so strong, that the government was obliged to commit a +sort of moral violence upon the Chamber of Deputies. The King directed +his ministers to join in some way the question of the apanages of the +House of Orleans with the disposition of his own civil list. The King +thought that the sentiments of the Chamber for himself and his family +would make them adopt the whole en bloc. It was a device of his +kindliness, a sort of smuggling in the King's coach, as was said by M. +de Labourdonnaye. A large number of deputies demanded a division of the +question. The ministers had to make great efforts and mount the tribune +many times to defend the measure, which passed only by a very feeble +majority. The Duke of Orleans, now at the very height of his desires, +thanked Charles X. with effusion. + +Nor was this all; from the millions of indemnity to the emigres, the +Duke of Orleans drew 14,000,000 francs. The opposition chiefs of the +Left imitated the Prince and profited largely by the law that they had +opposed and condemned. The Duke of Choiseul obtained 1,100,000 francs, +the Duke of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt 1,400,000 francs, M. Gaetan de +La Rochefoucauld 1,429,000 francs, General Lafayette himself 1,450,000 +francs. + +The Orleanist party was already beginning to take form, perhaps without +the knowledge of its chief. In his pamphlets of 1824, Paul-Louis +Courier devoted himself to separating the older from the younger branch +of the House, declaring that he should like to be a resident of a +commune of Paris if the Duke of Orleans were its mayor, for from a +Prince the Duke had become a man during the Emigration, and had never +begged bread of a foreign hand. Louis-Philippe continued prudently the +role he had played at the end of the first Restoration and during the +Hundred Days. While professing an obsequious and enthusiastic respect +for Charles X., he secretly flattered the Bonapartists and the +Liberals. He sent his eldest son to the public school, as if to +insinuate that he remained faithful to the ideas of equality from which +his father had gained his surname. He made very welcome the coryphees +of the Opposition, such as General Foy and M. Laffitte, to the Palais +Royal, and received them in halls where the brush of Horace Vernet had +represented the great battles of the tricolor flag. When General Foy +died, in November, 1825, the Duke of Orleans put his name for ten +thousand francs to the subscription opened to provide a fund for the +children of the General. Some friendly representations were made from +the Chateau to the Palais Royal on this matter. It was answered that +the Duke of Orleans had subscribed not as Prince, but as a friend, and +in private called attention to the modesty of the gift compared with +others, with that of M. Casimir Perier, for example, which amounted to +fifty thousand francs. This excuse was satisfactory at the Tuileries. + +Is this saying that Louis-Philippe was already at this time thinking of +dethroning his benefactor, his relative, and his King? We think not. He +profited by the errors of Charles X.; but if Charles X. had not +committed them, the idea of usurpation would not have occurred to the +mind of the chief of the younger branch. Men are not so profoundly good +or so profoundly wicked. They let themselves be carried further than +they wish, and if the acts they are to commit some day were foretold +them, the prophecies would most often seem to them as impossible as +insulting. + +Madame de Gontaut, Governess of the Children of France, recounts an +incident that took place at the Louvre, December 22d, 1824, at the +opening of the session of the Chambers: "The crowd was prodigious. The +Dauphiness and the Duchess of Berry and Mademoiselle d'Orleans were +present in one of the bays. The Children of France were there. The +Duchess of Berry took the Duke of Bordeaux by her side. The Duchess of +Orleans called Mademoiselle, whom she loved tenderly, to her. The canon +announced the approach of the King. At the moment of his appearance the +hall resounded with acclamations. The platform for the royal family was +the one prepared for the late King; there had been left a slight +elevation in it, that the King did not see, and he stumbled on it. With +the movement his hat, held on his arm, fell; the Duke of Orleans caught +it. The Duchess of Orleans said to me:-- + +"'The King was about to fall; my husband sustained him.' + +"I answered: 'No, Madame; Monseigneur has caught His Majesty's hat.' + +"The Dauphiness turned and looked at me. We did not speak of it until +six months after. Neither of us had forgotten it." + +A few years more and Charles X. was to drop, not his hat, but his crown. + + + + +IX + +THE PRINCE OF CONDE + + +At the time of the accession of Charles X., the family of Conde was +represented only by an old man of sixty-eight, Louis-Henri-Joseph de +Bourbon-Conde, born April 13th, 1756. At the death of his father in +1818, he had taken the title of Prince of Conde, while retaining that +of Duke of Bourbon, by which he had previously been designated. On the +10th of January, 1822, he lost his wife, Princess +Louise-Marie-Therese-Bathilde, sister of the Duke of Orleans, mother of +the unfortunate Duke d'Enghien, and he lost, on March 10th, 1824, his +sister, Mademoiselle de Conde, the nun whose convent of the Perpetual +Adoration was situated in the Temple near the site of the former tower +where Louis XVI. and his family had been confined. + +The Duke of Bourbon, in his youth, had had a famous duel with the Count +of Artois, the future Charles X. No resentment subsisted between the +two princes, who afterwards maintained the most cordial relations. +During the Emigration, the Duke of Bourbon served with valor in the +army of his father, the Prince of Conde. While the white flag floated +at the head of a regiment he was found fighting for the royal cause; +then, the struggle ended, he retired to England, where he had lived +near Louis XVIII., and always at his disposition. Returning to France +at the Restoration, he had since resided almost always at Chantilly or +at Saint-Leu, without his wife, from whom he had long been separated. +He was ranked as a reactionary, but busied himself little with +politics, and exerted no influence. + +The Count of Puymaigre, who, in his office as Prefect of the Oise, at +the commencement of the reign of Charles X., often went to Chantilly, +speaks of him in his Souvenirs:-- + +"The name of my father, much beloved by the late Prince of Conde, more +than my title of Prefect, caused me to be received with welcome, and I +took advantage of it the more gladly, because I have never seen a house +where one was more at one's ease, and where there was more of that +comfortable life known before the Revolution as the chateau life. There +was little of the prince in him; he was more like an elderly bachelor +who liked to have about him joy, movement, pleasure, a wholly Epicurean +life. The society of Chantilly ordinarily consisted of the household of +the Prince; that is to say, old servitors of his father, some ladies +whose husbands held at this little court the places of equerries or +gentlemen of the chamber, some persons who were invited, or like +myself, had the right to come when they wished, and among this number I +frequently saw the Prince of Rohan, relative of the Duke of Bourbon, +disappointed since of the portion of the inheritance he hoped for; +finally, some Englishmen and their wives. The tone was quite free, +since the Prince set the example. And I recall that one day he +recommended me to be gallant with one of the English ladies, who, he +said, would like nothing better than to receive such attentions. That +seemed very likely to me, but she was not young enough to tempt me to +carry the adventure very far." + +The real chatelaine of this little court of Chantilly was a beautiful +Englishwoman, Sophie Dawes, married to a French officer, the Baron of +Feucheres. Born about 1795, in the Isle of Wight, Sophie Dawes was the +daughter of a fisherman. It is said that she was brought up by charity, +and played for some time at Covent Garden Theatre, London. But her +early life is unknown, and what is told of it is not trustworthy. In +1817, she was taken into the intimacy of the Duke of Bourbon, and +afterwards acquired an irresistible ascendancy over him. When she +became his inseparable companion, she explained her presence with him +by the story that she was his natural daughter, and the Duke avoided +confirming or denying this assertion. In 1818, he arranged a marriage +between his favorite and a very honorable officer, the Baron of +Feucheres, who believed, in good faith, that Sophie Dawes was really +the daughter of the Duke of Bourbon, and not his mistress. The marriage +was celebrated in England, but the pair returned to Chantilly. The +Baron of Feucheres figures in the royal Almanacs of 1821, 1822, 1823, +as lieutenant-colonel, gentleman in ordinary to the Duke of Bourbon, +Prince of Conde, but not in the Almanac of 1824. + +In a very interesting work, the Vie de Charles X. by the Abbe de +Vedrenne, the reader will find:-- + +"By the marriage of Sophie Dawes, did the Duke of Bourbon wish to break +away from a guilty bond? It is generally believed. As to M. de +Feucheres, convinced that his wife was the daughter of the Prince, he +had no suspicion. It was Sophie Dawes herself who enlightened him, to +drive him away. The effect of the revelation was terrible. M. de +Feucheres, indignant, quitted his wife. There no longer remained about +the Prince any but the creatures of Madame de Feucheres. Every one did +her bidding at Chantilly, and the Prince most of all." + +The favorite sought to palliate her false situation in the eyes of +society by doing good with the Prince's money. The Count of Puymaigre +relates that she many times took him to the Hospital of Chantilly, +endowed by the munificence of the great Conde, the revenues of which +she wished to increase. He adds: "I urged her to this good work as much +as I could; for good, by whatever hand done, endures." + +One day the Duchess of Angouleme asked him if he went often to +Chantilly. + +"I go there," replied the Prefect, "to pay my court to the Duke of +Bourbon, whom I have the honor of having in my department." + +"That is very well," responded the Dauphiness, "but I hope that Madame +de Puymaigre does not go." + +The grand passion of the Duke of Bourbon was hunting. The Prefect of +the Oise says:-- + +"It was particularly during the hunts of Saint-Hubert that Chantilly +was a charming abode. The start was made at seven o'clock in the +morning, and usually I was in the carriage of the Prince with the +everlasting Madame de Feucheres. The hunting-lodge was delightful and +in a most picturesque situation. There twenty or thirty persons met to +the sound of horns, in the midst of dogs, horses, and huntsmen. The +coursing train of the Prince was finer and more complete than that of +the King. A splendid breakfast was served at the place of rendezvous, +built and furnished in the Gothic style of the thirteenth century, and +there the chase began. Although I told the Prince that I was no hunter, +he often made me mount my horse and accompany him; but often having +enjoyed the really attractive spectacle of the stag, driven by a crowd +of dogs, which launched themselves after him across the waters of a +little lake, I hastened back to the Gothic pavilion where the ladies +and a few men remained." + +The Prince said one day to the Prefect:-- + +"Decidedly, you do not love hunting." + +"But I might love it, my lord, if I had such an outfit." + +"That's because you don't know anything about it, my dear Puymaigre; +when I was in England, hunting all alone in the marshes with my dog +Belle, I enjoyed it much more than here." + +The Prefect thus concludes his description of life at Chantilly:-- + +"Dinner was at six o'clock in the magnificent gallery where the +souvenirs of the great Conde were displayed in all their pomp, and the +eyes fell on fine pictures of the battles of Rocroy, Senef, Fribourg, +and Nordlingen, inspiring some regret for the life led by the heir of +so much glory. After dinner society comedy was played on a very pretty +stage, where the luxury of costumes was very great and the +mise-en-scene carefully attended to; and this did not make the actors +any better, although the little plays were tolerable. But Madame de +Feucheres wishing to play Alzire and to take the principal part, which +she doled out with sad monotony, without change of intonation from the +first line to the last, and with a strongly pronounced English accent, +it was utterly ridiculous, and Voltaire would have flown into a fine +passion had he seen one of his chefs-d'oeuvres mangled in that way. Who +could have told that this poor Prince, who, if he had neither the +virtues nor the dignity proper to his rank, was nevertheless a very +good fellow, would perish in 1830, in such a tragic manner?" + +Charles X. had a long standing affection for the Duke of Bourbon. On +September 21st, 1824, he conferred on him at the same time as on the +Duke of Orleans, the title of Royal Highness. The last of the Condes +was, besides, Grand Master of France. This court function was honorary +rather than real, and the Prince appeared at the Tuileries only on rare +occasions. Charles X. loved him as a friend of his childhood, a +companion of youth and exile, but he had a lively regret to see him +entangled in such relations with the Baroness of Feucheres. The advice +he gave him many times to induce him to break this liaison was without +result. Finally the King said: "Let us leave him alone; we only give +him pain." He never went to Chantilly, in order not to sanction by his +royal presence the kind of existence led there by his old relation; and +the Prince knowing the sentiments of his sovereign, gave him but few +invitations, which were always evaded under one pretext or another. + +People wondered at the time who would be the heirs of the immense +fortune of the Condes, whose race was on the point of extinction. The +Prince's mother was Charlotte-Elisabeth de Rohan-Soubise, and the +Rohans thought themselves the natural heirs. But such a combination +would not have met the views of Madame de Feucheres, who, not content +with having got from the Prince very considerable donations, counted on +figuring largely in his will. + +Nevertheless she was not without lively anxiety in that regard. The +Rohans had refused all compromise with her. If they were disinherited, +what would they say? Would they not attack the will on the ground of +undue influence? Such was the eventuality against which the prudent +Baroness intended to guard herself. In consequence she conceived the +bold project of sheltering her own wealth under the patronage of some +member of the royal family, in having him receive the fortune of the +old Prince under a will which at the same time should consecrate the +part to be received by her, and put it beyond all contest. She would +have wished the old Prince to choose his heir in the elder branch of +the House of Bourbon. But the Duchess of Berry, who was +disinterestedness itself, declined any arrangement of that nature. To +the insinuations made to her in favor of her son, she responded:-- + +"Henri will be King. The King of France needs nothing." + +She did more. It is said that to the persons who bore these advances to +her, she suggested the idea of having the heritage of the Condes pass +to the family of the Duke of Orleans. But the thing was not easy. It is +true that the children of the Duke were, by their mother, Bathilde +d'Orleans, nephews of the wife of the Duke of Bourbon. But this Prince +had led a bad life with his wife, from whom he had separated +immediately after the birth of the Duke d'Enghien, and the souvenirs of +the Revolution separated him widely from a family whose political ideas +were not his. Yet the Duke and Duchess of Orleans were not discouraged. +They entered on negotiations a long time in advance with the Baroness +of Feucheres, who was in reality the arbiter of the situation. M. +Nettement relates that the first time that Marie-Amelie pronounced the +name of the Baroness in the presence of the Duchess of Angouleme, the +daughter of Louis XVI. said to her: "What! you have seen that woman!" +The Duchess of Orleans responded: "What would you have? I am a mother. +I have a numerous family; I must think before all of the interests of +my children." + +What is certain is that the Prince was induced to be the godfather of +the Duke d'Aumale, born the 6th of January, 1822, and that was a sort +of prelude to the will of 1830. + + + + +X + +THE COURT + + +Now let us throw a general glance over the court of the King, Charles +X., in 1825, the year of the consecration. + +The civil household of the King comprised six distinct services: those +of Grand Almoner of France, of the Grand Master of France, of the Grand +Chamberlain of France, of the Grand Equerry of France, of the Grand +Huntsman of France, and of the Grand Master of Ceremonies of France. + +The Grand Almoner was the Cardinal, Prince of Croy, Archbishop of +Rowen; the First Almoner, Mgr. Frayssinous, Bishop of Hermopolis; the +confessor of the King, the Abbe Jocard. Charles X., this monarch, +surrounded by great lords, knelt before a plebeian priest and demanded +absolution for his sins. There were, besides, in the service of the +Grand Almoner of France, eight almoners, eight chaplains, and eight +pupils of the chapel, serving in turns of four. + +The function of the Grand Master of France had as titulary the Duke of +Bourbon, Prince of Conde. But this Prince performed his duties only in +very rare and solemn circumstances. In fact, the service of the Grand +Master of France was directed by the First Steward, the Count of +Cosse-Brissac. There were besides four chamberlains of the House, the +Count de Rothe, the Marquis of Mondragon, the Count Mesnard de Chousy, +the Viscount Hocquart, and several stewards. + +The Grand Chamberlain of France was the Prince de Talleyrand. He +discharged his functions only on solemn occasions, such as the funeral +of Louis XVIII. and the consecration of Charles X. and the arrival of +the Duchess of Berry. In fact, the service of the Grand Chamberlain of +France was directed by one of the first gentlemen of the chamber. They +were four in number,--the Duke d'Aumont, the Duke of Duras, the Duke of +Blacas, the Duke Charles de Damas,--and performed their functions in +turn a year each. Every four years the King designated those who were +to serve during each of the following four years. Thus, the Royal +Almanac of 1825 has this notice:-- + +First gentlemen of the chamber: 1825, the Duke d'Aumont; 1826, the Duke +of Duras; 1827, the Duke of Blacas; 1828, Count de Damas (afterwards +Duke). + +The first chamberlains, masters of the wardrobe, were five in number: +the Marquis de Boisgelin, the Count de Pradel, the Count Curial, the +Marquis d'Avaray, the Duke d'Avaray. There were besides thirty-two +gentlemen of the chamber, without counting those that were honorary. To +this same service belonged the readers, the first valets-de-chambre, +the ushers of the chamber, the musicians of the chamber, those of the +chapel and the service of the faculty. The entrees, a matter so +important in the ceremonies of courts, were also attached to this +service. + +By virtue of royal regulations of November 1st, December 31st, 1820, +and January 23d, 1821, the entrees at the Chateau of the Tuileries were +established as follows: They were divided in six classes: the grand +entrees, the first entrees of the Cabinet, the entrees of the Cabinet, +those of the Hall of the Throne, those of the first salon preceding the +Hall of the Throne, and last, those of the second salon. + +The grand entrees gave the privilege of entering at any time the +sleeping-room of the King. They belonged to the Grand Chamberlain, to +the first chamberlains--masters of the wardrobe. Next came the first +entrees of the Cabinet (this was the name of the hall which, during the +reign of Napoleon III., was designated as the Salon de Louis XIV., +because it contained a Gobelins tapestry representing the Ambassadors +of Spain received by the King). Persons who have the first entrees of +the Cabinet have the right to enter there at any time in order to have +themselves announced to the King, and there to await permission to +enter the main apartment. These first entrees of the Cabinet belong to +those who have to take the orders of the sovereign--to the grand +officers of his civil and military households, or, in their absence, to +the first officer of each service, to the major-general of the royal +guard on service, to the Grand Chancellor, to the minister-secretaries +of State, to the Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor, to the +captains of the King's bodyguard, to the Grand Quartermaster. + +Next come the entrees of the Cabinet (which must not be confused with +the first entrees of the Cabinet). These give to persons enjoying them +the right to enter that room usually a little before the hour fixed by +the King to hear Mass, and to remain there at will during the day, up +to the hour of the evening when the sovereign gives out the watchword. +They belong to the grand officers and to the first officers of the +civil and military households of the King, to the major-generals of the +royal guard and the lieutenant-general in service, to the cardinals, to +the Chancellor of France, to the minister-secretaries of State, to the +Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor, to the marshals of France, to +the Grand Referendary of the Chamber of Peers, to the President of the +Chamber of Deputies, and to all the officers of the King's household on +service. + +The persons and functionaries civil or military with a lower rank in +the hierarchy of the court have their entrees, some to the Hall of the +Throne, others to the first salon preceding the Hall of the Throne (the +Salon d'Apollon under Napoleon III.), and still others to the second +salon (communicating with the Hall of the Marshals, and called, under +Napoleon III., the Salon of the First Consul). + +The collective audience given to all having their entries was called +the public audience of the King. It took place when the King went to +hear Mass in his chapel, only on his return to re-enter his inner +apartment. Followed by all his grand officers and his first officers in +service, Charles X. passed to and paused in each of the rooms in his +outer apartment, in order to allow those having the right to be there +to pay their court to him. When he attended Mass in his inner +apartment, he gave a public audience only after that ceremony. He +paused in his Grand Cabinet, then in the Hall of the Throne, and +successively in the other rooms. + +When the King was ready to receive, the First Gentleman of the Chamber +gave notice to the grand officers and the first officers that they +might present themselves. Moreover, he placed before the King the list +of persons having entrees to his apartments or to whom he had accorded +them. On this list Charles X. indicated those he wished invited. + +There was no titular Grand Equerry of France. The First Equerry, +charged with the saddle-horses of the King, was the Duke of Polignac, +major-general. The two equerries-commandant were the Marquis of Vernon +and Count O'Hegerthy, major-general. There were, besides, four +equerries, masters of the horse, three each quarter, namely: for the +January quarter the Chevalier de Riviere, major-general; the Count +Defrance, lieutenant-general; the Baron Dujon, major-general;--for the +April quarter, the Colonel Viscount de Bongars; the Baron Vincent, +major-general; the Viscount Domon, lieutenant--general;--for the July +quarter, the Colonel Marquis de Martel, the Viscount Vansay, the Count +Frederic de Bongars;--for the October quarter, the Count de Fezensac, +major-general; the Colonel Marquis Oudinot, the Colonel Marquis de +Chabannes. The chief Equerries of the stable were the Viscount d'Abzac +and the Chevalier d'Abzac, both colonels. There were, besides, the +equerries in ordinary and the pupil-equerries. The pages belonged to +the service of the Grand Equerry of France. + +The Grand Huntsman was the Marshal Marquis of Lauriston, and the First +Huntsman, the Lieutenant-General Count de Girardin. There were also +huntsmen for the hunting-courses and huntsmen for the gunning-hunts of +the King. + +The Grand Master of Ceremonies was the Marquis of Dreux-Breze, and the +Master of Ceremonies the Marquis of Rochemore, major-general. There +were, besides, the aides, a king-at-arms and heralds-at-arms. + +All the civil household of the King worked with the greatest +regularity. Etiquette, carefully observed, though stripped of the +ancient minutiae, recalled the old usages of the French monarchy. All +that had been suppressed was what was puerile and weariness for the +courtiers and for the King himself. + +The military household of the King was a group of chosen troops. The +horse body-guards comprised five companies, each bearing the name of +its chief. The Duke d'Havre et de Croy, the Duke of Gramont, the Prince +of Poix, Duke de Mouchy, the Duke of Luxembourg, the Marquis de +Riviere. The chiefs of these companies, all five lieutenants-general, +were entitled captains of the guard. There was, besides, a company of +foot-guards in ordinary to the King, whose chief, the Duke of +Mortemart, major-general, had the title of captain-colonel, and whose +officers were some French, some Swiss. There was a Chief Quartermaster, +the Lieutenant-General Marquis de La Suze. + +The royal guard, composed of two divisions of infantry, two divisions +of cavalry, and a regiment of artillery, was under the command of four +marshals of France, Victor, Duke de Bellune; Macdonald, Duke de +Tarente; Oudinot, Duke de Reggio; Marmont, Duke de Raguse, all four of +whom had the title of major-general. + +The body-guards, the Swiss, the royal guard, were the admiration of all +connoisseurs. The Emperor Napoleon never had had troops better +disciplined, of better bearing, clad in finer uniforms, animated by a +better spirit. + +To the household of the King must be added those of the Dauphin, the +Dauphiness, and the Duchess of Berry. The Dauphin had as first +gentlemen, the Duke of Damas and the Duke of Guiche, both +lieutenants-general; for gentlemen, the Count d'Escars and the Baron of +Damas, lieutenants-general; the Count Melchior de Polignac, +major-general; the Viscount de Saint Priest, and the Count de +Bordesoulle, lieutenants-general; the Count d'Osmond, +lieutenant-colonel. For aides-de-camp, the Baron de Beurnonville and +the Count de Laroche-Fontenille, major-generals; the Viscount of +Champagny, the Count of Montcalm, and the Baron Lecouteulx de Canteleu, +colonels; the Viscount de Lahitte, and the Duke de Ventadour, +lieutenant-colonels; the Count de La Rochefoucauld, chief of battalion. + +The household of the Dauphiness was composed as follows: a First +Almoner, the Cardinal de La Fare, Archbishop of Sens, with two almoners +serving semiannually, and a chaplain; a lady-of-honor, the Duchess of +Damas-Cruz; a lady of the bed chamber, the Viscountess d'Agoult; seven +lady companions, the Countess of Bearn, the Marchioness of Biron, the +Marchioness of Sainte-Maure, the Viscountess of Vaudreuil, the Countess +of Goyon, the Marchioness de Rouge, the Countess of Villefranche; two +gentlemen-in-waiting, the Marquis of Vibraye and the Duke Mathieu de +Montmorency, major-general; a First Equerry, the Viscount d'Agoult, +lieutenant-general, and two equerries, the Chevalier de Beaune and M. +O'Hegerthy. + +We shall devote a special chapter to the household of the Duchess of +Berry. + +The Count Alexandre de Puymaigre has left in his Souvenirs an account +of the manner in which the court employed the two weeks passed at +Compiegne in the month of October of each year. At 8 A.M., the King +heard Mass, where attendance was very exact except when the King +omitted to come, when no one came. At nine o'clock they set out for the +hunt, almost always with guns. One hundred to one hundred and fifty +hussars or chasseurs of the guard in garrison at Compiegne beat the +field, marching in line of battle, with the King in the middle: he had +at his right the Dauphin, at his left a captain of the guards, or such +person of the court as he was pleased to designate. These were the +three who alone had the right to fire. + +Behind the sovereign, apart from some persons connected with the +service of the hunt, came a master of the horse, the first huntsman, +and some persons admitted to the hunt. The King, who used a flintlock +gun, was a very good marksman. About five or six in the evening he +returned to the Chateau. The people of the court were gathered on the +steps, awaiting him. He usually addressed some affable words to them, +and then went to dress in order to be in the salon at seven o'clock. + +The captain of the guards, the first gentleman, the first huntsman, the +ladies and gentlemen in waiting of the princesses, the masters of the +horse, the colonel of the guard, dined with the King. The dinner was +choice, without being too sumptuous, but the wines were not of the +first order. The company remained at the table an hour, and each talked +freely with his or her neighbor, except those by the side of the +Dauphin or a Princess. There was music during the repast, and the +public was admitted to circulate about the table. The royal family +liked the attendance of spectators to be considerable. Thus care was +taken to give out a number of cards, in order that the promenade about +the table during the second service should be continuous. Often the +princesses spoke to the women of their acquaintance and gave candy to +the children passing behind them. + +After the coffee, which was taken at table, Charles X. and his guests +traversed the Gallery of Mirrors, leading to the salon between two +lines of spectators eager to see the royal family. The King next played +billiards while a game of ecarte was started. The agents for the +preservation of the forests and the pages of the hunt remained by the +door, inside, without being permitted to advance into the salon, which +was occupied only by persons who had dined with the King. + +After having had his game of billiards and left his place for other +players, Charles X. took a hand at whist, while the ecarte went on +steadily until, toward ten o'clock, the King retired. He was followed +to his sleeping-room, where he gave the watchword to the captain of the +body-guards, and indicated the hour of the meet for the next day. + +"Sometimes we then returned to the salon," adds the Count of Puymaigre, +who, in virtue of his office as Prefect of the Oise, dined with the +King, as well as the Bishop of Beauvais and the general commanding the +sub-division. "M. de Cosse-Brisac, the first steward, had punch served, +and we continued the ecarte till midnight or one o'clock, when we could +play more liberally, the Dauphiness having limited the stakes to five +francs. The Duchess of Berry was less scrupulous. After the withdrawal +of the princes we were glad to be more at ease; the talk became gay and +even licentious, and I will say here that all the men of the court whom +I have seen near the King, far from being what could be called devout +or hypocritical, as was believed in the provinces, were anything but +that; that they no more concealed their indifference in religious +matters than they did their diversity of political opinions, royalist +doubtless, but of divers grades; that no one was more tolerant than the +King; finally, that if an occult power, the existence of which I do not +deny, but the force of which has been exaggerated, acted on the mind of +the King, it had not its seat in what was called the court." + +Charles X. was deeply religious, a fervent believer, sincerely +Christian, and this Prince who but for his great piety might perhaps +have given excuse for scandal, led a life without reproach. But as +indulgent for others as he was severe to himself, he forced no one to +imitate his virtues, and his palaces were in no way like convents. As +was said by the Duke Ambroise de Doudeauville, for three years the +minister of the King's household, "his religion, despite all the stupid +things said of it, was very frank, very real, and very well understood." + +Rarely has a sovereign given such a good example to those about him. No +mistresses, no favorites, no scandal, no ruinous expenditures, no +excess of luxury; a gentle piety, extreme affability, perfect courtesy, +a constant desire to render France happy and glorious. The appearance +of Charles X. was that of a fine old man, gracious, healthy, amiable, +and respected. Persons of plebeian origin at his court were treated by +him with as much politeness and attention as the chiefs of the ancient +houses of France. His manners were essentially aristocratic, but +without arrogance or pretension. Full of goodness toward his courtiers +and his servitors, he won the love of all who approached him. His +tastes were simple, and personally he required no luxury. Habituated +during the Emigration to go without many things, he never thought of +lavish expenditure, of building palaces or furnishing his residences +richly. "Never did a king so love his people," says the Duke Ambroise +de Doudeauville, "never did a king carry self-abnegation so far. I +urged him one day to allow his sleeping-room to be furnished. He +refused. I insisted, telling him that it was in a shocking condition of +neglect. + +"'If it is for me,' he replied with vivacity, 'no; if it is for the +sake of the manufactures, yes.' + +"It was the same in everything. He had no whims and never listened to a +proposition by which he alone was to profit. He joined to these +essential qualities, manners that were wholly French, and mots that +often recalled Henry IV. We were always saying to each other, my +colleagues and I, 'If a king were made to order for France, he would +not be different.' What a misfortune for France, which he loved so +much, that he was not known better and more appreciated. This portrait, +I protest, is in nowise flattering; if this poor Prince were still +reigning, I would not say so much of him, above all in his presence; +but he is persecuted and is an exile; I owe my country the truth, +nothing but the truth." + +Let us add to the honor of Charles X. that he made of his personal +fortune and his civil list the noblest and most liberal use. + +"On the throne," says the Viscount Sosthenes de La Rochefoucauld," he +was generous to excess. In his noble improvidence of the future, he +considered his civil list as a sort of loan, made by the nation for the +sake of its grandeur, to be returned in luxury, magnificence, and +benefits. A faithful depositary, he made it a duty to use it all, so +that, stripped of his property, he carried into exile hardly enough for +the support of his family and some old servitors." + +To sum up, all who figured at the court of Charles X. agree in +recognizing that he was not a superior man, but a prince, chivalrous +and sympathetic, honest and of good intentions, who committed grave +errors, but did not deserve his misfortunes. In his appearance, in his +physiognomy, in thought and language, there was a mingling of grace and +dignity of which even his adversaries felt the charm. If posterity is +severe for the sovereign, it will be indulgent for the man. + + + + +XI + +THE DUKE OF DOUDEAUVILLE + + +At the time of the consecration of Charles X., the minister of the +King's household was the Duke Ambroise de Doudeauville, father of the +Viscount Sosthenes de La Rochefoucauld. A philanthropic nobleman, +devoted to the throne, the altar, the Charter, and to liberty, +respectful for the past but thoughtful for the future, joining +intelligent toleration to sincere piety, faithful servitor but no +courtier to the King, the Duke of Doudeauville enjoyed the esteem of +all and had at court a high standing, due even more to his character +than to his birth. The volume of Memoirs that he has left does honor to +his heart as well as to his mind. There is grace and gaiety, depth and +charm, wisdom and courage, in this short but substantial book, where +appears in full light one of the most distinct types of the ancient +French society. "My years of grandeur and splendor," this author wrote, +"have passed like a dream, and I have beheld the awakening with +pleasure. I know not what my destiny shall be. As to my conduct, I +believe that I can affirm that it will be always that of an honest man, +a good Frenchman, a servant of God, desiring a Christian close to an +honorable life, the crown of every human edifice." + +The details given by the Duke of Doudeauville as to his early years are +very characteristic. He was born in 1765. He was entrusted to the care +of a nurse living two leagues from Paris in a little village, the wife +of a post-rider. His parents, when they came to see him, found "their +eighteen-months-old progeny astride of one of the horses of his +foster-father." Like Henry IV., he was raised roughly, leading the life +of a real peasant, running the day long, in sabots, through the snow +and ice and mud. "My nurse, who was retained as maid," he says, "was a +good peasant, and thoroughly proletarian. Afterwards, transferred to +the capital, she there preserved with her simple cap her frank and +rustic manners, to the admiration of all who knew her, and esteemed her +loyal character and her plain ways. It is to her, and to her alone, +that I am indebted for receiving any religious instruction either in +infancy or youth. Everything about me was wholly foreign to those +ideas; my religion was none the less fervent for that. From my earliest +years, being born brave, I felt the vocation of the martyr the most +desirable means of being joined to our Father which is in Heaven, and I +have always thought that to end one's days for one's God, one's wife +and family, was a touching and enviable death." + +The Duke of Doudeauville was still a child, and a little child--in +point of age he was fourteen and a day, in size he was four feet seven +inches--when he was married. He espoused Mademoiselle de Montmirail, of +the family of Louvois, who brought him, with a beauty he did not then +prize, a considerable fortune, the rank of grandee of Spain, and, worth +more than all, rare and precious qualities. Nevertheless, the little +husband was very sad. When his approaching marriage was announced to +him, he cried out, "Then I can play no longer!" When, after the first +interview, he was asked how he liked his fiancee, whose fresh face, +oval and full, was charming, he responded: "She is really very +beautiful; she looks like me when I am eating plums." Listen to his +story of the nuptials. "Imagine my extreme embarrassment," he says, "my +stupid disappointment, with my excessive bashfulness amid the numerous +concourse of visitors and spectators attracted by our wedding. The +grandfather of Mademoiselle de Montmirail, being captain of the +Hundred-Swiss, a great part of this corps was there, and, as if to play +me a trick, all these Hundred-Swiss were six feet tall, sometimes more. +One would have said, seeing me by the side of them, the giants and the +dwarf of the fair. Every one gazed at the bride, who, although she was +only fifteen, was as tall as she was beautiful, and every one was +looking for the bridegroom, without suspecting that it was this child, +this schoolboy, who was to play the part." + +Is it not amusing, this picture of a marriage under the old regime? The +little groom was so disturbed when he went to the chapel and during the +ceremony, that, though his memory was excellent, he never could recall +what passed at that time. "I only remember," he says, "the sound of the +drums that were beating during our passage, and cheered me a little; it +was the one moment of the day that was to my taste. How long that day +seemed! You may imagine it was not from the motives common in like +cases, but because I drew all glances upon me, and all vied in laughing +at and joking me, pointing their fingers at me." + +The day ended with a grand repast that lasted two or three hours. A +crowd of strangers strolled around the table all the while. Although +the precaution had been taken to put an enormous cushion on the chair +of the husband, his chin hardly came above the table. Seated by the +side of his young wife, he did not dare look at her. For days +beforehand he had been wondering if he should always be afraid of her. + +"After this solemn banquet," he adds, "came the soiree, which did not +seem any more amusing; after the soiree the return to my parents' home +was no more diverting; nevertheless, it was made in the company of my +dear spouse, who henceforth was to dwell at my father's house. They +bundled me into a wretched cabriolet with my preceptor, and sent me to +finish my education at Versailles, and to learn to ride at the +riding-school of the pages." + +We must note that the marriage thus begun was afterwards a very happy +union, and that there was never a pair more virtuous and more attached +to each other than the Duke and Duchess of Doudeauville. + +In 1789, the Duke was major of the Second Regiment of Chasseurs. He +emigrated, though the Emigration was not at all to his liking. "This +measure," he said, "appeared to me in every way unreasonable, and yet, +to my great chagrin, I was forced to submit to it. The person of the +King was menaced, right-thinking people compromised, the tranquillity +and prosperity of France lost; they were arming abroad, it was said, to +provide a remedy for these evils. The nobles hastened hither. Distaffs +were sent to all who refused to rally on the banks of the Rhine. How, +at twenty-five, could one resist this tide of opinion?" When he +perceived, in the foreign powers, the design of profiting by the +discords in France instead of putting an end to them, he laid aside his +arms, and never resumed them during the eight years of the Emigration. +"This resolve," he said, "was consistent with my principles. Always a +good Frenchman, I desired only the good of my country, the happiness of +my fellow-countrymen; my whole life, I hope, has been a proof of this +view. All my actions have tended to this end." + +During his eight years of emigration, the Duke of Doudeauville was +constantly a prey to anxiety, grief, poverty, trials of every kind. +Thirteen of his relatives were put to death under the Terror. His wife +was imprisoned, and escaped the scaffold only through the 9th +Thermidor. He himself, having visited France clandestinely several +times, ran the greatest risks. In the midst of such sufferings his sole +support was the assistance of a devoted servant. "At the moment that I +write these lines," he says in his Memoirs, "I am about to lose my +domestic Raphael, the excellent man who, for fifty years, has given me +such proofs of fidelity, disinterestedness, and delicacy; I have +treated him as a friend; I shall grieve for him as for a brother." + +Misfortune had fortified the character of the Duke of Doudeauville. +Unlike other emigres, he had learned much and forgotten nothing. His +attitude under the Consulate and the Empire was that of a true +patriot.--Without joining the Opposition, he wished no favor. The sole +function he accepted was that of councillor-general of the Department +of the Marne, where he could be useful to his fellow-citizens without +giving any one the right to accuse him of ambitious motives. Nothing +would have been easier for him than to be named to one of the high +posts in the court of Napoleon, whose defects he disapproved, but whose +great qualities he admired. "Bonaparte," he said in his Memoirs, "had +monarchical ideas and made much of the nobility, especially that which +he called historic. I must confess, whatever may be said, that the +latter under his reign was more esteemed, respected, feted, than it has +been since under Louis XVIII. or Charles X. The princes feared to +excite toward it and toward themselves the envy of the bourgeois +classes, who would have no supremacy but their own. Napoleon, on the +contrary, having frankly faced the difficulty, created a nobility of +his own. Those who belonged to it, or hoped to, found it quite +reasonable that they should be given as peers the descendants of the +first houses of France." The Duchess of Doudeauville was a sister of +the Countess of Montesquiou, who was governess of the King of Rome, and +whose husband had replaced the Prince de Talleyrand as Grand +Chamberlain of the Emperor. Very intimate with the Count and Countess, +the Duke of Doudeauville had some trouble in avoiding the favors of +Napoleon, who held him in high esteem. He found a way to decline them +without wounding the susceptibilities of the powerful sovereign. + +Under the Restoration, the Duke of Doudeauville distinguished himself +by an honest liberalism, loyal and intelligent, with nothing +revolutionary in it, and by an enlightened philanthropy that won him +the respect of all parties. When he was named as director of the +post-office in 1822, many people of his circle blamed him for taking a +place beneath him. "Congratulate me," he said, laughing, "that I have +not been offered that of postman; I should have taken it just the same +if I had thought I could be useful." And he added: "It was thought that +it would be a sinecure for me. Far from that, I gave myself up wholly +to my new employment, and I worked so hard at it, than in less than a +year my eyes, previously excellent, were almost ruined. I always +occupied fifteen or twenty places, each more gratuitous than the +others. To make the religion that I practise beloved and to serve my +neighbor, has always seemed to me the best way to serve God. So I +believe that I can say without fear of contradiction that I have never +done any one harm, and that I have always tried to do all the good +possible." + +In the month of August, 1824, the Duke of Doudeauville was named +minister of the King's household. In this post he showed administrative +qualities of a high order. In April, 1827, not wishing to share in a +measure that he regarded as both inappropriate and unpopular, the +disbanding of the Parisian National Guard, he gave in his resignation. +"I did not wish," he said, "to join the Opposition. The popularity +given me by my resignation would have assured me a prominent place, but +this role agreed neither with my character nor with my antecedents. I +resolved on absolute silence and complete obscurity; I even avoided +showing myself in Paris, where I knew that manifestations of +satisfaction and gratitude would be given to me." King Louis Philippe +said one day to Marshal Gerard: "Had they listened to the Duke of +Doudeauville, and not broken up the National Guard of Paris, the +revolution would not have taken place." + +The great lord, good citizen, and good Christian, who, at periods most +disturbed by changes of regime, had always been as firm in the +application of his principles as he was moderate in his actions and +gentle in his method, made himself as much respected under Louis +Philippe as under the Restoration. During the cholera, he set the +example of absolute devotion and was constantly in the hospitals. He +continued to sit in the Chamber of Peers until the close of the trial +of the Ministers, in the hope of saving the servitors of Charles X. But +when Louis Philippe quitted the Palais Royal to install himself at the +Tuileries, he resigned as Peer of France. He no longer wished to +reappear at the Chateau where he had seen Louis XVIII. and Charles X., +and in a letter to the Queen Marie-Amelie, who had a real veneration +for him, he wrote: "My presence at the Tuileries would be out of place, +and even the new hosts of that palace would be astonished at it." The +Duke of Doudeauville, who died at a great age, in 1841, devoted his +last years to good works, to charity, to the benevolent establishments +of which he was the president. One day at the Hotel de Ville, he drew +applause from an assembly far from religious, by the words we are about +to cite, because they discovered in them his whole mind and heart: "A +husband would like a wife reserved, economical, a good housekeeper, an +excellent mother for his family, charming, eager to please him--him +only, adorning herself with virtue, the one ornament that is never +ruinous, having great gentleness for him, great strength as against all +others; he would wish, in fine, a perfect wife. I should like to +believe that there are many such, especially among my listeners, but I +should think it a miracle if one of them united all these qualities +without having the principles of religion. A woman, pretty, witty, +agreeable, would like her husband to think she was so, that he should +be as amiable for her, or almost, as for those he saw for the first +time; that he should not keep his ill humor and his brusqueness for his +home and lavish his care and attention on society; that he should +forget sometimes that he is a master,--in some ways a despotic +master,--despite the liberalism of the century and the progress of +philosophy; that he should be willing to be a friend, even if he ceased +to be a lover; finally, that he should not seek from others what he +will more surely find at home. Let this tender wife invoke religion, +let her cause her husband to love it, let her win him to it; she will +get what she hopes for and thank me for the recipe." + +Our lady readers will thank us, we hope, for having spoken of a man who +gives them such good advice; and it is with pleasure that we have taken +the occasion to render homage to the memory of a great lord, who doubly +deserved the title, by the elevation of his ideas and the nobility of +his sentiments. Such men--alas! they are rare--would have saved the +Restoration if the Restoration could have been saved. + + + + +XII + +THE HOUSEHOLD OF THE DUCHESS OF BERRY + + +We shall now, commencing with the ladies, throw a rapid glance over the +persons who, at the time of the consecration, formed the household of +the Duchess of Berry. The Princess had one lady of honor, one lady of +the bedchamber, and eleven lady companions, of whom three were +honorary. All were distinguished as much by their manners and +sentiments as by birth and education. + +The lady of honor was the Marechale Oudinot, Duchess of Reggio, a lady +of the highest rank, who joined a large heart to a firm mind. Attached, +through her family, to the religious and monarchical principles of the +old regime, by her marriage to the glories of the imperial epic, she +represented at the court the ideas of pacification and fusion that +inspired the policy of Louis XVIII. Born in 1791, of Antoine de Coucy, +captain in the regiment of Artois, and of Gabrielle de Mersuay, she was +but two years old when her father and mother were thrown into the +dungeons of the Terror. Carried in the arms of a faithful +serving-woman, she visited the two prisoners, who escaped death. She +married one of Napoleon's most illustrious companions in arms, the +"modern Bayard," as he was called, the Marshal Oudinot, Duke of Reggio, +who had received thirty-two wounds on the field of battle, and who, by +securing the passage of Beresina, deserved to be called the "saviour of +the army." He was wounded at the close of the Russian campaign. Then +his young wife crossed all Europe to go and care for him and saved him. +She was but twenty. She was only twenty-four when Louis XVIII. named +her lady of honor to the Duchess of Berry. Despite her extreme youth, +she filled her delicate functions with exquisite tact and precocious +wisdom, and from the first exercised a happy influence over the mind of +the Princess, who gladly listened to her counsels. Very active in work, +the lady of honor busied herself with untiring zeal with the details of +her charge. She was the directress, the secretary, the factotum, of the +Duchess of Berry. The Abbe Tripied, who pronounced her funeral eulogy +at Bar-le-Duc, May 21st, 1868, traced a very lifelike portrait of her. +Let us hear the ecclesiastic witness of the high virtues of this truly +superior woman. + +"She bore," he said, "with equal force and sagacity her titles of lady +of honor and Duchess of Reggio. Proud of her blason, where were crossed +the arms of the old and of the new nobility, and where she saw, as did +the King, a sign, as it were, of reconciliation and peace, she bore it +high and firm, and defended it in its new glories, against insulting +attacks. An ornament to the court, by her graces and her high +distinction, she displayed there, for the cause of the good, all the +resources of her mind and the riches of her heart. But none of the +seductions and agitations she met there disturbed the limpidity of her +pure soul. Malignity, itself at bay, was forced to recognize and avow +that in the Duchess of Reggio no other stain could be found than the +ink-stains she sometimes allowed her pen to make upon her finger. In +her greatness, this noble woman saw, before all, the side of duty." + +In 1832, when the Duchess of Berry was imprisoned in the citadel of +Blaye, her former lady of honor asked, without being able to obtain +that favor, the privilege of sharing her captivity. The Duchess of +Reggio to the last set an example of devotion and of all the virtues. +She was so gracious and affable that one day some one remarked: "When +the Duchess gives you advice, it seems as if she were asking a service +of you." When the noble lady died, April 18th, 1868, at Bar-le-Duc, +where her good works and her intelligent charity had made her beloved, +they wished to give her name to one of the streets of the city, and as +they already had the Rue Oudinot and the Place Reggio, one of the +streets was called the Rue de La Marechale. + +The lady of the bedchamber of the Duchess of Berry and her lady +companions all belonged to the old aristocracy. The Countess of +Noailles, lady of the bedchamber, a woman full of intelligence, and +very beautiful, a mother worthy of all praise, was the daughter of the +Duke de Talleyrand, the niece of the Prince de Talleyrand, the wife of +Count Just de Noailles, second son of the Prince of Poix. + +The Duchess of Berry had eight lady companions: the Countess of +Bouille, the Countess d'Hautefort, the Marchioness of Bethisy, the +Marchioness of Gourgues, the Countess of Casteja, the Countess of +Rosanbo, the Marchioness of Podenas; and three whose title was +honorary, the Marchioness of Lauriston, the Countess Charles de +Gontaut, and the Countess de La Rochejaquelein. + +The Countess of Bouille, who at the time of the coronation of Charles +X. was about forty years old, was a creole, very agreeable and much +respected. + +The Countess d'Hautefort, nee Maille-Latour-Landry, forty-one years +old, married to a colonel who belonged to the fourth company of the +bodyguards, was a woman of much intelligence, charmingly natural, and +an excellent musician. She shared in 1832 the captivity of the Duchess +of Berry. + +Very distinguished in manner and sentiment as in birth, the Marchioness +Charles de Bethisy, married to a lieutenant-general and peer of France; +the Countess of Gourgues, nee Montboissier, married to a master of +requests, a deputy; the Countess of Mefflay, a young and charming +woman, daughter of the Countess of Latour, whom the Duchess of Berry +had as governess in the Two Sicilies, and wife of the Count Meffray, +receiver-general of Gers; the Viscountess of Casteja, daughter of the +Marquis of Bombelles, major-general, ambassador of Louis XVI. at Lisbon +and Vienna, then priest, Canon of Breslau, Bishop of Amiens, First +Almoner of the Duchess of Berry (he died in 1822, and one of his sons, +Charles de Bombelles, married morganatically the Empress Marie-Louise, +in 1833); the Countess of Rosanbo, daughter of the Count of Mesnard; +the Marchioness of Podenas, wife of a lieutenant-colonel; the +Marchioness of Lauriston, wife of the marshal, formerly lady of the +palace to the Empress Josephine and the Empress Marie-Louise; the +Countess Charles de Gontaut, whose husband was chamberlain of the +Emperor, a very young and very pretty woman, remarkable for the +vivacity of her mind; the Countess de La Rochejaquelein, nee Duras, a +very pious and very charitable woman, whose husband was a +major-general. In fact, the circle around the Duchess of Berry was +perfection. The greatest ladies of France were by her side, and the +society of the Petit Chateau, as the Pavilion de Marsan was called, was +certainly fitted to give the tone to the principal salons of Paris. + +The Duchess of Berry had as chevalier d'honneur a great lord, very +learned, known for his unchangeable devotion to royalty, the Duke de +Sevis (born in 1755, died in 1830). The Duke, who emigrated and was +wounded at Quiberon, held himself apart during the Empire, and +published highly esteemed writings on finance, some Memoirs, and a +Recueil de Souvenirs et Portraits. He was a peer of France and member +of the French Academy. For adjunct to the chevalier d'honneur, the +Duchess had the Count Emmanuel de Brissac, one of the finest characters +of the court, married to a Montmorency. + +Her first equerry was the Count Charles de Mesnard, a Vendean gentleman +of proven devotion. The Count Charles de Mesnard was born at Lugon, in +1769, the same year as Napoleon, whose fellow-pupil he was at Brienne. +Belonging to one of those old houses of simple gentlemen who have the +antiquity of the greatest races, he was son of a major-general who +distinguished himself in the Seven Years War, and who at the close of +the old regime was gentleman of the chamber of the Count of Provence +(Louis XVIII.), and captain of the Guards of the Gate of this Prince. +He emigrated, and served in the ranks of the army of Conde, with his +older brother, the Count Edouard de Mesnard, married to Mademoiselle de +Caumont-Laforce, daughter of the former governess of the children of +the Count d'Artois (Charles X.), and sister of the Countess of Balbi. +The Count Edouard de Mesnard, having entered Paris secretly, was shot +there as emigre, October 27th, 1797, despite all the efforts of the +wife of General Bonaparte to save him. When he was going to his death, +his eyes met, on the boulevard, those of one of his friends, the +Marquis of Galard, who had returned with him secretly. The condemned +man had the presence of mind to seem not to recognize the passer-by, +and the latter was saved, as he himself related with emotion sixty +years afterward. + +At the commencement of the Empire, the Count Charles de Mesnard was +living at London, where he was reduced to gaining his living by copying +music, when the Emperor offered to restore his confiscated property if +he would come to France and unite with the new regime. The Count of +Mesnard preferred to remain in England near the Duke of Berry, who +showed great affection for him. The Restoration compensated the +faithful companion of exile. He was a peer of France and Charles X. +treated him as a friend. He had married, during the Emigration, an +English lady, Mrs. Sarah Mason, widow of General Blondell, by whom he +had a daughter, Aglae, who was named a lady companion to the Duchess of +Berry, at the time of her marriage, in 1825, with the Count Ludovic de +Rosanbo, and a son, Ferdinand, married in 1829, to Mademoiselle de +Bellissen. + +The Princess had for equerry-de-main, the Viscount d'Hanache; for +honorary equerry, the Baron of Fontanes; for equerry porte-manteau, M. +Gory. Her secretary of orders was the Marquis de Sassenay, who bore, +besides, the title of Administrator of the Finances and Treasurer of +Madame. He had under his orders a controller-general, M. Michals, who +was of such integrity and devotion that when, after the Revolution of +July, he presented himself at Holyrood to give in his accounts to the +Duchess of Berry, she made him a present of her portrait. + +There was not a private household in France where more order reigned +than in that of Madame. The chief of each service,--the Duchess of +Reggio, the Viscount Just de Noailles, the Count Emmanuel de Brissac, +and the Count of Mesnard, presented his or her budget and arranged the +expenditures in advance with the Princess. This budget being paid by +twelfths before the 15th of the following month, she required to have +submitted to her the receipts of the month past. This did not prevent +Madame from being exceedingly generous. One day she learned that a poor +woman had just brought three children into the world and knew not how +to pay for three nurses, three layettes, three cradles. Instantly she +wished to relieve her. But it was the end of the month; the money of +all the services had been spent. + +"Lend me something," she said to the controller-general of her +household; "you will trust me; no one will trust this unfortunate +woman." + +As M. Nettement remarked: "The Duchess of Berry held it as a principle +that princes should be like the sun which draws water from the streams +only to return it in dew and rain. She considered her civil list as the +property of all, administered by her. She was to be seen at all +expositions and in all the shops, buying whatever was offered that was +most remarkable. Sometimes she kept these purchases, sometimes she sent +them to her family at Naples, Vienna, Madrid, and her letters used +warmly to recommend in foreign cities whatever was useful or beautiful +in France. She was thus in every way the Providence of the arts, of +industry, and commerce." + +To sum up, the household of the Duchess of Berry worked to perfection, +and Madame, always affable and good, inspired a profound devotion in +all about her. + + + + +XIII + +THE PREPARATIONS FOR THE CORONATION + + +The coronation of Louis XVI. took place the 11th of June, 1775, and +since that time there had been none. For Louis XVII. there was none but +that of sorrow. Louis XVIII. had desired it eagerly, but he was not +sufficiently strong or alert to bear the fatigue of a ceremony so long +and complicated, and his infirmities would have been too evident +beneath the vault of the ancient Cathedral of Rheims. An interval of +fifty years--from 1775 to 1825--separated the coronation of Louis XVI. +from that of his brother Charles X. How many things had passed in that +half-century, one of the most fruitful in vicissitudes and +catastrophes, one of the strangest and most troubled of which history +has preserved the memory! + +Chateaubriand, who, later, in his Memoires d'outretombe, so full of +sadness and bitterness, was to speak of the coronation in a tone of +scepticism verging on raillery, celebrated at the accession of Charles, +in almost epic language, the merits of this traditional solemnity +without which a "Very Christian King" was not yet completely King. In +his pamphlet, Le roi est mort! Vive le roi! he conjured the new monarch +to give to his crown this religious consecration. "Let us humbly +supplicate Charles X. to imitate his ancestors," said the author of the +Genie du Christianisme. "Thirty-two sovereigns of the third race have +received the royal unction, that is to say, all the sovereigns of that +race except Jean 1er, who died four days after his birth, Louis XVII., +and Louis XVIII., on whom royalty fell, on one in the Tower of the +Temple, on the other in a foreign land. The words of Adalberon, +Archbishop of Rheims, on the subject of the coronation of Hugh Capet, +are still true to-day. 'The coronation of the King of the French,' he +says, 'is a public interest and not a private affair, Publica, sunt +haec negotia, non privata.' May Charles X. deign to weigh these words, +applied to the author of his race; in weeping for a brother, may he +remember that he is King! The Chambers or the Deputies of the Chambers +whom he may summon to Rheims in his suite, the magistrates who shall +swell his cortege, the soldiers who shall surround his person, will +feel the faith of religion and royalty strengthened in them by this +imposing solemnity. Charles VII. created knights at his coronation; the +first Christian King of the French, at his received baptism with four +thousand of his companions in arms. In the same way Charles X. will at +his coronation create more than one knight of the cause of legitimacy, +and more than one Frenchman will there receive the baptism of fidelity." + +Charles X. had no hesitation. This crowned representative of the union +of the throne and the altar did not comprehend royalty without +coronation. Not to receive the holy unction would have been for him a +case of conscience, a sort of sacrilege. In opening the session of the +Chambers in the Hall of the Guards at the Louvre, December 22d, 1824, +he announced, amid general approval, the grand solemnity that was to +take place at Rheims in the course of the following year. "I wish," he +said, "the ceremony of my coronation to close the first session of my +reign. You will attend, gentlemen, this august ceremony. There, +prostrate at the foot of the same altar where Clovis received the holy +unction, and in the presence of Him who judges peoples and kings, I +shall renew the oath to maintain and to cause to be respected the +institutions established by my brother; I shall thank Divine Providence +for having deigned to use me to repair the last misfortunes of my +people, and I shall pray Him to continue to protect this beautiful +France that I am proud to govern." + +If Napoleon, amid sceptical soldiers, former conventionnels, and former +regicides, had easily secured the adoption of the idea of his +coronation at Notre-Dame, by so much the more easy was it for Charles +X. to obtain the adoption, by royalist France, of the project of his +coronation at Rheims. "The King saw in this act," said Lamartine, "a +real sacrament for the crown, the people a ceremony that carried its +imagination back to the pomps of the past, politicians a concession to +the court of Rome, claiming the investiture of kings, and a denial in +fact of the principle, not formulated but latent since 1789, of the +sovereignty of the people. But as a rule, there was no vehement +discussion of an act generally considered as belonging to the etiquette +of royalty, without importance for or against the institutions of the +country. It was the fete of the accession to the throne--a luxury of +the crown. The oaths to exterminate heretics, formerly taken by the +kings of France at their coronation, were modified in concert with the +court of Rome and the bishops. For these was substituted the oath to +govern according to the Charter. Thus it was in reality a new +consecration of liberty as well as of the crown." The French love pomp, +ceremonies, spectacles. The idea of a consecration was not displeasing +to them, and with rare exceptions, the Voltaireans themselves refrained +from criticising the ceremony that was in the course of preparation. It +soon became the subject of conversation on every side. + +Six millions voted by the two Chambers for the expenses of the +coronation, at the time that the civil list was regulated at the +beginning of the reign, permitted the repairs required by the Cathedral +of Rheims to be begun in January, 1825. The arches that had sunken, or +threatened to do so, were strengthened; the ancient sculptured +decorations were restored; the windows were completed; the fallen +statues were raised. It was claimed that even the holy ampulla had been +found, that miraculous oil, believed, according to the royal +superstitions of former ages, to have been brought from heaven by a +dove for the anointing of crowned heads. The Revolution thought that it +had destroyed this relic forever. The 6th of October, 1793, a +commissioner of the Convention, the representative of the people, Ruhl, +had, in fact, publicly broken it on the pedestal of the statue of Louis +XV. But it was related that faithful hands had succeeded in gathering +some fragments of the phial as well as some particles of the balm +contained in it. The 25th of January, 1819, the Abbe Seraine, who in +1793 was cure of Saint-Remi of Rheims, made the following declaration:-- + +"The 17th of October, 1793, M. Hourelle, then municipal officer and +first warden of the parish of Saint-Remi, came to me and notified me, +from the representative of the people, Ruhl, of the order to remit the +reliquary containing the holy ampulla, to be broken. We resolved, M. +Hourelle and I, since we could do no better, to take from the holy +ampulla the greater part of the balm contained in it. We went to the +Church of Saint-Remi; I withdrew the reliquary from the tomb of the +saint, and bore it to the sacristy, where I opened it with the aid of +small iron pincers. I found placed in the stomach of a dove of gold and +gilded silver, covered with white enamel, having the beak and claws in +red, the wings spread, a little phial of glass of reddish color about +an inch and a half high corked with a piece of crimson damask. I +examined this phial attentively in the light, and I perceived a great +number of marks of a needle on the sides; then I took from a crimson +velvet bag, embroidered with fleurs-de-lis in gold, the needle used at +the time of the consecration of our kings, to extract the particles of +balm, dried and clinging to the glass. I detached as many as possible, +of which I took the larger part, and remitted the smaller to M. +Hourelle." + +The particles thus preserved were given into the hands of the +Archbishop of Rheims, who gathered them in a new reliquary. + +Sunday, the 22d of May, 1825, the day of the feast of the Pentecost, +the Archbishop of Rheims assembled in a chapel of that city the +metropolitan clergy, the principal authorities, and the persons who had +contributed to the preservation of the particles of the precious relic, +in order to proceed, in their presence, to the transfusion of those +particles into the holy chrism, to be enclosed in a new phial. A +circumtantial report of this ceremony was prepared in duplicate. + +"Thus," said the Moniteur, May 26, "there remains no doubt that the +holy oil that will flow on the forehead of Charles X. in the solemnity +of his consecration, is the same as that which, since Clovis, has +consecrated the French monarchs." + +The day of the consecration approached. The Mayor of Rheims, M. Ruinard +de Brimont, had not a moment's rest. At the consecration of Louis XV., +about four hundred lodgings had been marked with chalk. For that of +Charles X. there were sixteen hundred, and those who placed them at the +service of the administration asked no compensation. The 19th of May +was begun the placing of the exterior decorations on the wooden porch +erected in front of the door of the basilica. It harmonized so +completely with the plan of the edifice that "at thirty toises," it +seemed a part of the edifice. The centrings and the interior portieres +of this porch presented to the view a canopy sown with fleurs-de-lis in +the midst of which stood out the royal cipher and the crown of France, +modelled in antique fashion. These decorations were continued from the +portal along the beautiful gallery that led to the palace. The palace +itself, whose apartments had been adorned and furnished with royal +magnificence, was entered by a very elegant porch. The grand +feasting-hall, with its Gothic architecture, its colored glass, its +high chimney-piece covered with escutcheons and surmounted by a statue +of Saint-Remi, its portraits of all the kings of France, was +resplendent. Three tables were to be set in the royal +feasting-hall,--that of the King, that of the Dauphiness, and that of +the Duchess of Berry. A gallery enclosed in glass, where there was a +table of one hundred and thirty covers, had been built as by +enchantment. On leaving the feasting-hall, one entered the covered +gallery, which, by a gentle incline, led to the Cathedral. This gallery +was formed of twenty-four arcades of fifteen feet each, and joined at +right angles the porch erected before the portal. By this arrangement +the King could proceed on a level from his apartment to the Cathedral. + +In the middle of the nave was erected a magnificent jube, where the +throne of Charles X. was placed. The cornice of the Corinthian order +was supported by twenty columns. At the four corners there were gilded +angels. The summit was surmounted by a statue of Religion and an angel +bearing the royal crown. This jube, glittering with gold, was placed +about one hundred and fifty feet from the portal. There was a passage +under it to reach the choir, and the ascent to it was by a staircase of +thirty steps. As it was open, the King upon his throne could be seen +from all parts of the basilica. At the end of the choir, to the right +on entering, was the gallery of the Dauphiness and the Duchess of +Berry; to the left, opposite, was that of the princes and princesses of +the blood; lower, toward the jube, and also on the left, that of the +ambassadors and strangers of distinction; by the side of the jube, the +gallery of the first gentlemen of the chamber of the King. There were, +moreover, two rows of galleries on each side of the nave. The sanctuary +was beaming with gold. The pillars, surrounded with wainscoting, were +covered with rich Gothic ornaments. Above each of the galleries was a +portrait of a king of France seated on his throne; still higher, +portraits of bishops and statues of the cities of France in niches. At +the back, a platform had been constructed for the musicians of the +Chapel of the King. The choir and the sanctuary were to be lighted by +thirty-four grand chandeliers, besides the candelabra attached to each +pillar. + +Some days before the coronation, which excited the curiosity of all +Europe, the city of Rheims was filled with a crowd of tourists. The +streets and promenades of the city, usually so quiet, presented an +extraordinary animation. There had been constructed a bazaar, tents, +cafes, places for public games, and at the gates of the city there was +a camp of ten thousand men. To visit this camp was a favorite excursion +for the people and for strangers. The soldiers assembled each evening +before their tents and sang hymns to the sovereign and the glory of the +French arms. In the evening of the 22d of May, these military choruses +were closed by the serment francais, sung by all voices. At the words +"Let us swear to be faithful to Charles!" all heads were uncovered, and +the soldiers waving their helmets and shakos in the air, cried over and +again, "Long live the King!" + +On May 24th, the King left Paris with the Dauphin. Before going to +Rheims he stopped at the Chateau of Compiegne, where he remained until +the 27th, amid receptions and fetes and hunts. + +M. de Chateaubriand was already at Rheims. He wrote on May 26:-- + +"The King arrives day after to-morrow. He will be crowned Sunday, the +29th. I shall see him place upon his head a crown that no one dreamed +of when I raised my voice in 1814. I write this page of my Memoirs in +the room where I am forgotten amid the noise. This morning I visited +Saint-Remi and the Cathedral decorated in colored paper. The only clear +idea that I can have of this last edifice is from the decorations of +the Jeanne d'Arc of Schiller, played at Berlin. The opera-scene +painters showed me on the banks of the Spree, what the opera-scene +painters on the banks of the Vesle hide from me. But I amused myself +with the old races, from Clovis with his Franks and his legion come +down from heaven, to Charles VII. with Jeanne d'Arc." + +The writer, who some weeks earlier had expressed himself in terms so +dithyrambic as to the consecration, now wrote as follows of this +religious and monarchical solemnity:-- + +"Under what happy auspices did Louis XVI. ascend the throne! How +popular he was, succeeding to Louis XV.! And yet what did he become? +The present coronation will be the representation of a coronation. It +will not be one; we shall see the Marshal Moncey, an actor at that of +Napoleon, the Marshal who formerly celebrated the death of the tyrant +Louis XVI. in his army, brandish the royal sword at Rheims in his rank +as Count of Flanders or Duke of Aquitaine. To whom can this parade +really convey any illusion? I should have wished no pomp to-day; the +King on horseback, the church bare, adorned only with its ancient +arches and tombs; the two Chambers present, the oath of fidelity to the +Charter taken aloud on the Bible. This would have been the renewal of +the monarchy; they might have begun it over again with liberty and +religion. Unfortunately there was little love of liberty, even if they +had had at least a taste for glory." + +This is not all; the curious royalist, as if disabused as to Bourbon +glories, so extolled by him, glorifies, apropos of the coronation of +Charles X., the Napoleon whom in 1814 he called disdainfully +"Buonaparte," loading him with the most cutting insults:-- + +"After all, did not the new coronation, when the Pope anointed a man as +great as the chief of the second race, by a change of heads alter the +effect of the ancient ceremony of our history? The people have been led +to think that a pious rite does not dedicate any one to the throne, or +else renders indifferent the choice of the brow to be touched by the +holy oil. The supernumeraries at Notre-Dame de Paris, playing also in +the Cathedral of Rheims, are no longer anything but the obligatory +personages of a stage that has become common. The advantage really is +with Napoleon, who furnishes his figurants to Charles X. The figure of +the Emperor thenceforth dominates all. It appears in the background of +events and ideas. The leaflets of the good time to which we have +attained shrivel at the glance of his eagles." + +Charles X. left Compiegne the 27th of May in the morning, and slept at +Fismes. The next day, the 28th, he had just quitted this town and was +descending a steep hill, when several batteries of the royal guard +fired a salute at his departure; the horses, frightened, took flight. +Thanks to the skill of the postilion, there was no accident to the +King; but a carriage of his suite, in which were the Duke of Aumont, +the Count de Cosse, the Duke of Damas, and the Count Curial, was +overturned and broken, and the last two wounded. At noon Charles X. +arrived at a league and a half from Rheims, at the village of Tinqueux, +where he was awaited by the Dukes of Orleans and Bourbon, the officers +of his civil and military household, the authorities of Rheims, the +legion of the mounted National Guard of Paris, etc. He entered the gold +carriage,--termed the coronation carriage,--where the Dauphin and the +Dukes of Orleans and Bourbon took their places beside him. The cortege +then took up its march. From Tinqueux to Rheims, the royal coach, +gleaming with gold, passed under a long arcade of triumphal arches +adorned with streamers and foliage. From the gates of the city to the +Cathedral, flowers strewed the sand that covered the ground. All the +houses were hung with carpets and garlands; at all the windows, from +all the balconies, from all the roofs, innumerable spectators shouted +their acclamations; the cortege advanced to the sound of all the bells +of the city, and to the noise of a salvo of artillery of one hundred +and one guns. The King was received under a dais at the door of the +metropolitan church, by the Archbishop of Rheims in his pontifical +robes, and accompanied by his suffragans, the Bishops of Soissons, +Beauvais, Chalons, and Amiens. The Archbishop presented the holy water +to the sovereign, who knelt, kissed the Gospels, then was escorted +processionally into the sanctuary. His prie-dieu was placed at fifteen +feet from the altar, on a platform, about which was a magnificent +canopy hung from the ceiling of the Cathedral. + +The Dauphiness had entered her gallery with the Duchess of Berry and +the princesses of the blood. The Archbishop celebrated the vespers, and +then the Cardinal de La Fare ascended the pulpit and delivered a sermon +in which he said:-- + +"God of Clovis, if there is here below a spectacle capable of +interesting Thy infinite Majesty, would it not be that which in this +solemnity fixes universal attention and invites and unites all prayers? +These days of saintly privilege, in which the hero of Tolbiac, and +thirteen centuries after him, the sixty-fifth of his successors have +come to the same temple to receive the same consecration, can they be +confounded with the multitude of human events, to be buried and lost in +the endless annals? To what, O great God! if not to the persistence of +Thy immutable decrees, can we attribute, on this earth, always so +changing and mobile, the supernatural gift of this miraculous duration?" + +The Cardinal covered with praises not only the King, but the Dauphin, +the Dauphiness, the Duchess of Berry, the Duke of Bordeaux. He cried:-- + +"Constantly happy as King, may Charles X. be constantly happy as father! + +"May his paternal glances always see about him, shining with a +brilliancy that nothing can change, this family so precious, the +ornament of his court, the charm of his life, the future of France! + +"This illustrious Dauphin, the terror of the genius of evil, the swift +avenger of the majesty of kings, conquering hero and peace-maker! + +"This magnanimous Princess, the living image of celestial charity, the +visible Providence of the unfortunate, the model of heroism as of +virtue! + +"This admirable mother of the Child of Miracle, who restored hope to +the dismayed nation, astonished it by her courage and captivates it by +her goodness! + +"This tender scion of the first branch of the lilies, the object, +before his birth, of so many desires, and now of so many hopes." + +The Prince of the Church, amid general emotion, thus closed his +discourse:-- + +"May it be, O Lord! thy protecting will, that if the excess of ills has +surpassed our presentiments and our fear, the reality of good may, in +its turn, surpass our hopes and our desires. + +"Condescend that the lasting succor of Thy grace may guide in an +unbroken progress of prosperity and lead to happiness without +vicissitude or end, our King, Thy adorer, and his people, who, under +his laws, shall be more than ever religious and faithful." + +After the sermon, the Archbishop celebrated the Te Deum, to which +Charles X. listened standing. Then after having kissed the altar and a +reliquary in which was a piece of the true cross, the sovereign +returned to his apartments in the Archbishop's palace. + +Thus passed the eve of the consecration. The same day M. de +Chateaubriand wrote:-- + +"Rheims, Saturday, the eve of the consecration. I saw the King enter. I +saw pass the gilded coaches of the monarch who, a little while ago, had +not a horse to mount; I saw rolling by, carriages full of courtiers who +had not known how to defend their master. This herd went to the church +to sing the Te Deum, and I went to visit a Roman ruin, and to walk +alone in an elm grove called the Bois d'Amour. I heard from afar the +jubilation of the bells; I contemplated the towers of the Cathedral, +secular witnesses of this ceremony always the same and yet so different +in history, time, ideas, morals, usages, and customs. The monarchy +perished, and for a long time the Cathedral was changed to a stable. +Does Charles X., when he sees it again to-day, recall that he saw Louis +XVI. receive anointment in the same place where he in his turn is to +receive it? Will he believe that a consecration shelters him from +misfortune? There is no longer a hand with virtue enough to cure the +king's evil, no ampulla with holy power sufficient to render kings +inviolable." + +Such was the disposition of the great writer, always content with +himself, discontented with others. The crowd of royalists, far from +showing themselves sceptical and morose, as he was, was about to attend +the ceremony of the morrow in a wholly different mood. It had long been +ready with its enthusiasm, and awaited with impatience mingled with +respect the dawn of the day about to rise. + + + + +XIV + +THE CORONATION + + +Sunday, the 29th of May, 1825, the city of Rheims presented, even +before sunrise, an extraordinary animation. From four o'clock in the +morning vehicles were circulating in the streets, and an hour after +people with tickets were directing their steps toward the Cathedral, +the men in uniform or court dress, the women in full dress. The sky was +clear and the weather cool. + +Let us listen to an eye-witness, the Count d'Haussonville, the future +member of the French Academy:-- + +"Need I say that the competition had been ardent among women of the +highest rank to obtain access to the galleries of the Cathedral, which, +not having been reserved for the dignitaries, could receive a small +number of happy chosen ones? Such was the eagerness of this feminine +battalion to mount to the assault of the places whence they could see +and be seen, that at six o'clock in the morning when I presented myself +at the Gothic porch built of wood before the Cathedral, I found them +already there and under arms. They were in court dress, with trains, +all wearing, according to etiquette, uniform coiffures of lace passed +through the hair (what they called barbes), and which fell about their +necks and shoulders, conscientiously decolletes. For a cool May morning +it was rather a light costume; they were shivering with cold. In vain +they showed their tickets, and recited, in order to gain entrance, +their titles and their rank; the grenadier of the royal guard, charged +with maintaining order until the hour of the opening of the doors, +marched unmoved before these pretty beggars, among whom I remember to +have remarked the Countess of Choiseul, her sister, the Marchioness of +Crillon, the Countess of Bourbon-Bosset, etc. He had his orders from +his chief to let no one enter, and no one did." + +Finally the doors were opened. At a quarter after six all the galleries +were filled. The foreign sovereigns were represented by especial +ambassadors: the King of Spain by the Duke of Villa-Hermosa, the +Emperor of Austria by Prince Esterhazy, the King of England by the Duke +of Northumberland, the Emperor of Russia by the Prince Wolkonski, the +King of Prussia by General de Zastrow. These various personages were +objects of curiosity to the crowd, as was Sidi-Mahmoud, ambassador of +the Bey of Tunis. The rich toilets and dazzling jewels of the ladies of +the court were admired; all eyes were fixed on the gallery where were +the Dauphiness, the Duchess of Berry, and the Duchess and Mademoiselle +d'Orleans, all four resplendent with diamonds. The spectacle was +magnificent. An array of marvels attracted attention. Behind the altar +the sacred vessels in gold, of antique form, the crown in diamonds +surmounted by the famous stone, the "Regent," the other attributes of +royalty on a cushion of velvet embroidered with fleurs-de-lis; on the +front of the altar the royal mantle, open, not less than twenty-four +feet in length; on the altar of green-veined marble, superb candelabra +in gold; on the centre of the cross of the church, suspended from the +ceiling above the choir and the prie-dieu of the King, an immense +canopy of crimson velvet, sown with golden fleurs-de-lis; at the back +of the choir, toward the nave, about one hundred and fifty feet from +the portal, the gigantic jube with its staircase of thirty steps; upon +this the throne; all around a swarm of standards, those of the five +companies of the King's body-guard, and the flag of his foot-guards, +borne by the superior officers; on the two sides of the stairway, +ranged en Echelon, the flags and standards of the regiments of the +guard and of the line in camp under the walls of Rheims; a splendor of +light, banishing all regret for the sun, from candelabra at the +entrance of the choir, from chandeliers in the galleries, from +chandeliers full of candles suspended from the ceiling, from tapers on +the columns. + +The Cardinals de Clermont-Tonnerre and de La Fare, preceded by the +metropolitan chapter, came to seek the King in his apartment in the +palace. The Grand Preceptor knocked at the door of the royal chamber; +the Grand Chamberlain said in a loud voice:-- + +"What do you seek?" The Cardinal de Clermont-Tonnerre responded:-- + +"Charles X., whom God has given us for King." + +Then the ushers opened the doors of the chamber. The two cardinals +entered and saluted the sovereign, who rose from his chair, bowed, and +received the holy water. The Cardinal de Clermont-Tonnerre recited a +prayer. The cortege was formed, and in the following order traversed +the great covered gallery which had been built along the right side of +the Cathedral:-- + +The metropolitan chapter; the King's foot-guards; the band; the +heralds-at-arms; the king-at-arms; the aides de ceremonies; the Grand +Master of Ceremonies, Marquis de Dreux-Breze; the four knights of the +Order of the Holy Spirit, who were to carry the offerings, viz. the +Duke de Vauguyon the wine in a golden vase, the Duke of Rochefoucauld +the pain d'argent, the Duke of Luxembourg the pain d'or, the Duke of +Gramont the ewers filled with silver medals; the King's pages on the +flanks; the Marshal Moncey, Duke of Conegliano, charged with the +functions of constable, holding in his hand his naked sword; the Duke +of Mortemart, captain-colonel of the foot-guards in ordinary to the +King; the Marshal Victor Duke of Bellune, major-general of the royal +guard; the Marshal Marquis de Lauriston, the Count de Cosse, and the +Duke de Polignac, named by the King to bear his train in the church; +then, with his two attendant cardinals, de Clermont-Tonnerre and de La +Fare, one at his right, the other at his left, the King. + +There was a movement of curiosity, attention, and respect. Charles X. +had entered the Cathedral. The moment his foot crossed the threshold, +Cardinal de La Fare pronounced a prayer:-- + +"O God, who knowest that the human race cannot subsist by its own +virtue, grant Thy succor to Charles, Thy servant, whom Thou hast put at +the head of Thy people, that he may himself succor and protect those +subject to him." + +Here, then, is Charles X. in that basilica where fifty years before, +Sunday, June 11, 1775, he assisted at the coronation of his brother +Louis XVI. Then he was seventeen. Ah! what would have been his surprise +had it been foretold to him by what strange and horrible series of +gloomy and bloody dramas he should himself come to be crowned in this +Cathedral of Rheims! What a contrast between the religious pomps of +June 11, 1775, and the sacrilegious scaffolds of January 21 and October +16, 1793! What a difference between the royal mantle of the sovereign +and the humble costume of the captive of the Temple, between the +resplendent toilet of the Queen of France and Navarre and the patched +gown of the prisoner of the Conciergerie! What a road travelled between +the hosannas of the priests and the insults of the Furies of the +Guillotine! What reflections might one make who had been present at +both the ceremonies! How much must such an one have been moved were he +the King himself, the brother of Louis XVI., Charles X.! But the 29th +of May, 1825, all hearts inclined to confidence and joy. Peoples forget +quickly, and there were but few to call up sinister memories. The +sovereign appeared in his first costume, a camisole of white satin, +with a cap rich with diamonds, surmounted by black and white plumes. +Despite his sixty-seven years, Charles X. had a fine presence, a +slender form, a manner almost youthful. State costumes became him +perfectly. He wore them with the elegance of the men of the old court. + +Let us listen again to Count d'Haussonville:-- + +"At the moment Charles X. crossed the nave, clad in a gown of white +satin, opened over a doublet of the same color and the same material, a +general thrill evoked a thousand little cries of ecstasy from my lady +neighbors. With that sensitiveness to grace innate with women, and +which never fails to delight them, how could they help applauding the +royal and supremely elegant fashion in which Charles X., despite his +age, wore this strange and slightly theatrical costume? No one was +better adapted than he, in default of more solid qualities, to give a +becoming air to the outward manifestations of a royalty that was at +once amiable and dignified." + +It is half-past seven in the morning. The ceremony begins. Escorted by +his two attendant cardinals, the King reaches the foot of the altar and +kneels. Mgr. de Latil, Archbishop of Rheims, standing and without his +mitre, pronounces this prayer:-- + +"Almighty God, who rulest all above us, and who hast deigned to raise +to the throne Thy servant Charles, we implore Thee to preserve him from +all adversity, to strengthen him with the gift of the peace of the +Church, and to bring him by Thy grace to the joys of a peace eternal!" + +The King is now escorted by the two cardinals to the seat prepared for +him in the centre of the sanctuary, under the great dais, a little in +advance of the first of the steps that divide the sanctuary from the +choir. At his right are the Dauphin, the Duke of Orleans, and the Duke +of Bourbon, their ducal crowns on their heads. + +The Veni Creator having been sung, the Archbishop takes the book of the +Gospels, on which he places a piece of the true cross, and holds it +open before the monarch. Charles X., seated, his head covered, his hand +on the Gospels and the true cross, pronounces in a strong voice the +oath of coronation:-- + +"In the presence of God, I promise to my people to maintain and honor +our holy religion, as belongs to the very Christian King and eldest son +of the Church; to render good justice to all my subjects; finally, to +govern according to the laws of the kingdom and the Constitutional +Charter, which I swear faithfully to observe, so help me God and His +holy Gospels." + +The King next takes two other oaths, the first as sovereign chief and +grand master of the Order of the Holy Spirit, the others as sovereign +chief and grand master of the military and royal Order of Saint Louis +and of the royal Order of the Legion of Honor. He swears to maintain +these orders and not to allow them to fail of their glorious +prerogatives. Then his gown is removed by the First Gentleman of the +Chamber, and he gives his cap to the First Chamberlain. He now bears +only the robe of red satin with gold lace on the seams. He is seated. +The Marquis of Dreux-Breze, Grand Master of Ceremonies, goes to the +altar and takes the shoes of violet velvet sown with golden +fleurs-de-lis, and Prince Talleyrand, Grand Chamberlain, puts them on +the feet of the King. + +Then the Archbishop blesses the sword of Charlemagne, placed on the +altar in its scabbard:-- + +"Exaudi Domine," he says, "grant our prayers, and deign to bless with +Thy hand this sword with which Thy servant Charles is girt, that he may +use it to protect the churches, the widows, and the orphans, and all +Thy servants; and may this sword inspire dread and terror to whoever +shall dare to lay snares for our King. We ask it through our Lord Jesus +Christ." + +The Archbishop draws the sword from the sheath, and places it naked in +the hands of the King, who, having lowered it, offers it to God and +replaces it upon the altar. + +To the ceremony of the sword succeeds the preparation of the holy +chrism. The Archbishop has the reliquary opened containing the holy +ampulla, which is taken from a little chest of gold; he withdraws from +it, by means of a golden needle, a particle which he mingles with the +holy chrism on the patin. Meanwhile the choir chants:-- + +"The holy Bishop Remi, having received from Heaven this precious balm, +sanctified the illustrious race of the French in the baptismal waters +and enriched them with the gift of the Holy Spirit." + +Then the two attendant cardinals undo the openings made in the garments +of the King for the anointings, and escort His Majesty to the altar. A +large carpet of velvet with fleurs-de-lis is stretched in front, and on +this are two cushions of velvet, one over the other. The King +prostrates himself, his face against the cushions. The Archbishop, +holding the golden patin of the chalice of Saint Remi, on which is the +sacred unction, takes some upon his thumb, and consecrates the King, +who is kneeling. + +The Archbishop then proceeds to the seven anointings: on the crown of +the head, on the breast, between the shoulders, on the right shoulder, +on the left shoulder, in the bend of the right arm, in the bend of the +left arm, making the sign of the cross at each, and repeating seven +times: ungo te in regem de oleo sanctificato, in nomine patris et filii +et spiritus sancti. Aided by the attendant cardinals, he then closes +the openings in the King's garments. + +The Grand Chamberlain advances, and puts upon His Majesty the tunic and +dalmatica of violet satin sown with fleurs-de-lis in gold, which the +Master of Ceremonies and an aide have taken from the altar. The Grand +Chamberlain places over these the royal mantle of violet velvet sown +with golden fleurs-de-lis, lined and bordered with ermine. Charles X., +clad in the royal robes, kneels. The Archbishop, seated, with the mitre +on his head, anoints the palms of his hands, saying: ungentur manus +istae de oleo sanctificato. The King then receives the gloves sprinkled +with holy water, the ring, the sceptre, the Main de Justice. + +The Dauphin, the Duke of Orleans, and the Duke of Bourbon advance. The +Archbishop, mitre on head, takes with both hands from the altar the +crown of Charlemagne and holds it above the King's head without +touching it. Immediately the three princes put out their hands to +support it. The Archbishop, holding it with the left hand only, with +the right makes the sign, of benediction: coronat te deus corona +gloriae atque justitiae. After which he places the crown on the head of +the King, saying: accipe coronam regni in nomine patris et filii et +spiritus sancti. + +Now that the King is crowned, he ascends the steps of the jube, and +seats himself upon the throne. The religious silence, maintained to +that moment, is broken by cries of "Long live the King!" which rise +from all parts of the Cathedral. The ladies in the galleries wave their +handkerchiefs. The enthusiasm reaches a paroxysm. Flourishes of +trumpets resound. The people enter the Cathedral amid acclamations. +Three salutes are fired by the infantry of the royal guard. The +artillery responds from the city ramparts. The bells ring. The +heralds-at-arms distribute the medals struck for the coronation. The +people rush to get them. The keepers release the birds, which fly here +and there beneath the vaulted roof, dazzled, terrified by the shining +chandeliers. The Te Deum is sung. High Mass begins. At the offertory +the King leaves the throne to go to the altar with the offerings. +Reaching the front of the altar, he hands his sceptre to Marshal Soult, +Duke of Dalmatia, the Main de Justice to Marshal Mortier, Duke of +Treviso. Then, after having presented in succession the +offerings,--viz. the wine in a vase of gold, the Pain d'Argent, the +Pain d'Or,--he resumes his sceptre and his Main de Justice and returns +to the throne. + +After the benediction, the Grand Almoner goes and takes the kiss of +peace from the Archbishop, and then goes and gives it to the King. The +Dauphin, the Duke of Orleans, and the Duke of Bourbon, laying aside +their ducal crowns, come and receive the kiss from the King. + +After the domine salvum fac regem Charles X. again descends from the +throne, and returns to the altar. There he removes his crown and +retires behind the altar to his confessional, where he remains three +minutes. During this time the holy table is prepared. The cloth is held +on one side by the Bishop of Hermopolis, First Almoner of the King, and +on the other by the Grand Almoner. Charles X. kneels on a cushion +before the holy table, which is supported by the Dauphin and the Duke +of Orleans. The King receives the communion in both kinds. The whole +assembly kneels. The great crown of Charlemagne is handed to Marshal +Jourdan, who bears it in front of the King. The Archbishop then places +the diamond crown on the King's head, who resumes his sceptre and his +Main de Justice, while the choir chants the exaudiat, and returns with +his cortege to the Archbishop's palace, passing through the church and +the covered gallery. It is half-past eleven in the morning. The +ceremony of consecration is finished. It has lasted four hours. + +Reaching his apartments, Charles X. passes the sceptre to Marshal +Soult, the Main de Justice to Marshal Mortier. The shirt and the gloves +touched by the holy unction must be burned. The great officers of the +crown then escort the monarch to the royal banquet in the great hall. +There he eats under a dais with the Dauphin, the Duke of Orleans, and +the Duke of Bourbon, with their ducal crowns, and he with the diamond +crown upon the head. + +The royal insignia have been placed upon the table which is served by +the great officers and the officers of the household. The marshals of +France stand before the sovereign ready to resume the insignia. Around +about are five other tables, where are placed the members of the +diplomatic corps, the peers of France, the deputies, the cardinals, +archbishops, and bishops. The royal banquet lasts half an hour to the +sound of military music. In the evening the city of Rheims is +everywhere illuminated. + + + + +XV + +CLOSE OF THE SOJOURN AT RHEIMS + + +After his coronation Charles X. remained at Rheims during the 30th and +31st of May. On the 30th the ceremony of the Order of the Holy Spirit +was celebrated in the Cathedral. The interior presented the same aspect +as the day before. At 1 P.M. the order passed in procession through the +covered gallery as follows: the usher, the herald, Marquis d'Aguessau, +Grand Master of Ceremonies of the order, having at his right the Count +Deseze, Commander Grand Treasurer, at his left Marquis de Villedeuil, +Commander Secretary, the Chancellor, two columns of Knights of the Holy +Spirit. In the right hand column, the Viscount of Chateaubriand, the +Duke of San-Carlos, the Prince of Castelcicala, the Viscount Laine, the +Marquis of Caraman, the Marquis Dessole, Marshal Marquis of Viomesnil, +the Duke d'Avaray, the Marshal Duke of Ragusa, the Marshal Duke of +Taranto, the Marshal Duke of Conegliano, the Duke of LEvis, the Duke of +Duras, the Duke d'Aumont, the Duke of Luxembourg, the Prince of +Hohenlohe, the Duke de La Vauguyon. In the left column, the Marquis of +Talaru, the Duke of Doudeauville, the Count of Villele, the Marshal +Marquis of Lauriston, the Count Charles de Damas, the Baron Pasquier, +the Duke of Blacas d'Aulps, the Marquis of Riviere, the Marshal Duke of +Reggio, the Duke of Dalberg, the Prince de Poix, the Duke de Gramont, +Prince Talleyrand, the Duke de La Rochefoucauld. Then came the Dauphin, +the Duke of Orleans, the Duke of Bourbon, the King. + +The vestments of the monarch, of a silver stuff, were covered by a +mantle of the order in black velvet, lined with green silk stitched +with gold. His headdress was also in black velvet, surmounted by an +aigrette of heron plumes. The knights of the order had their mantles +with the Holy Spirit in silver spangles on the shoulder; the grand +collar, the facings of their mantles, caught up in front, were of green +velvet sown with gold flames. They made their entry into the Cathedral +in two columns, which deployed on either side of the altar. The King, +who followed them, seated himself on a throne in the choir and they +arranged themselves in their stalls to the right and left. The +princesses occupied the same gallery as the day before. The clergy +chanted the vespers. Then the two columns formed in a double rank and +the ceremony commenced. There was a long series of obeisances. The King +made twenty himself, eleven before vespers, nine after. The reception +began with the ecclesiastical commanders and the laymen came afterwards. + +The solemnity was less imposing than that of the coronation. Count +d'Haussonville remarked it: "The military array of so many marshals and +generals clad in brilliant uniforms, the pomp of the ceremonies to the +slow and majestic sound of the organ filling the vast nave of the +church, had succeeded, the preceding day, in redeeming for the +spectators, and for me particularly, whatever was a little +superannuated in the minute observance of a ritual that had come down +from the Middle Ages. I felt myself, on the contrary, rather surprised +than edified by the character, partly religious, partly worldly, but +far more worldly than religious, that I witnessed on the morrow. Most +of these gentlemen were known to me. I had met nearly all of them in my +mother's or grandmother's salon. I had not been insensible to the fine +air given them by the cordon bleu (worn under the frock coat, usually, +or on great occasions over a coat covered with gold lace and shining +decorations), the traditional object of ambition for those most in +favor at court; but they seemed to me to present a constrained figure, +as I saw them soberly ranged in the stalls of the canons, clad in a +costume of no particular epoch, wrapped in long mantles of motley +color, and following, with a distracted air, the phases of a ceremony +to which they were so little accustomed that they were constantly +rising, sitting down, and kneeling at the wrong time." + +The receptions took place as follows: the herald-at-arms of the order +called in groups of four the new members from each column, and escorted +them to the middle of the sanctuary. There the four knights, abreast, +saluted together, first the altar, then the sovereign. Then they +advanced in line toward the throne, and after a second obeisance, +knelt, placed the right hand on the book of the Gospels spread out on +the knees of the monarch, and took the oath. The King decorated each +with his own hand. He passed over their coats, from right to left, the +cordon bleu with the cross of gold suspended from it, placed the collar +on the mantle, gave a book of hours and a decastich to each one, who +kissed his hand, rose, and returned to his place. + +By a curious coincidence, M. de Chateaubriand and M. de Villele, two +inveterate adversaries, were one in the column on the right, the other +in that on the left, and the herald-at-arms of the order called both at +once to the foot of the throne. Listen to the author of the Memoires +d'Outre--Tombe:-- + +"I found myself kneeling at the feet of the King at the moment that M. +de Villdle was taking the oath. I exchanged a few words of politeness +with my companion in knighthood, apropos of a plume detached from my +hat. We quitted the knees of the King, and all was finished. The King, +having had some trouble in removing his gloves to take my hands in his, +had said to me, laughing, 'A gloved cat catches no mice.' It was +thought that he had spoken to me for a long time, and the rumor spread +of my nascent favor. It is likely that Charles X., thinking that the +Archbishop had told me of his favorable sentiments, expected a word of +thanks and that he was shocked at my silence." + +The ceremony of the reception of the knights once finished, the King +quitted his throne in the sanctuary, after having made the required +obeisances. The completory was next sung. Then all the members of the +order re-escorted the monarch to his apartments in the same order and +with the same ceremony that he had been escorted to the Cathedral. + +After the ceremony, Charles X. held a chapter of the order, in which he +named twenty-one cordons bleus: the Dukes d'Uzes, de Chevreuse, de +Boissac, de Mortemart, de Fitz-James, de Lorges, de Polignac, de +Maille, de Castries, de Narbonne, the Marshal Count Jordan, the Marshal +Duke of Dalmatia, the Marshal Duke of Treviso, the Marquis de la Suze, +the Marquis de Bre'ze', Marquis de Pastoret, Count de La Ferronays, +Viscount d'Agoult, Marquis d'Autichamp, Ravez, Count Juste de Noailles. +By an ordinance of the same day he named to be Dukes, the Count Charles +de Damas, Count d'Escars, and the Marquis de Riviere. + +The next day, May 31, the King after having heard Mass in his +apartments,--left the palace at ten o'clock with a brilliant cortege. +Preceded by the hussars of the guard, and by the pages, and followed by +a numerous staff, he was in the uniform of a general officer, on a +white horse, whose saddle of scarlet velvet was ornamented with +embroideries and fringe of gold. He had at his right the Dauphin on a +white horse, and the Duke of Bourbon on a bay horse; at his left the +Duke of Orleans, who wore the uniform of a colonel-general of hussars, +and rode an iron-gray horse. Following the cortege was an open +carriage; at the back the Dauphiness with the Duchess of Berry at her +left, and in front the Duchess of Orleans and Madame of Orleans, her +sister-in-law. The route lay through an immense crowd to the Hospital +of Saint Marcoul. When he arrived there, the King dismounted and +offered up a prayer in the chapel. Then he ascended to the halls, where +were assembled one hundred and twenty-one scrofulous patients. He +touched them, making a cross with his finger on the brow, while the +first physician held the head and the captain of the guard the hand. +The King said to each: "May God heal thee! The King touches thee!" Then +he thanked the sisters who had charge of the hospital for all the care +they gave to the solacing of suffering humanity. The pious sisters +knelt at the feet of the sovereign, and begged his benediction, +according to an ancient custom. The King gave it to them, and allowed +them to kiss his hand. The holy women wept with joy. + +Charles X., followed by his cortege, next proceeded to the abbey of +Saint Remi, which dates from the eleventh century, and performed his +devotions on the tomb of the saint whose shrine had been discovered. +Then he remounted and went to review the troops of the camp of Saint +Leonard, under the walls of the city, in a vast plain, along the river +Vesle, on the right of the road to Chalons. In the midst of this plain +rises a grassy hillock, above which was placed the portrait of the +King; below, on a background of soil, was this inscription in bluets +and marguerites,-- + + "A moment in the camp--always in our hearts." + +Not far from there an altar had been erected under a tent before the +royal tent. All the road from Chalons, opposite the lines, was covered +with a shouting and cheering crowd. Charles X. was accompanied by the +princes and a brilliant staff. The carriage of the princesses followed +him. He distributed to the officers, sub-officers, and soldiers the +crosses of the Legion of Honor which he had accorded to them. The +review, which was magnificent, lasted from noon to 3 P.M. Before +returning to the palace, the sovereign visited the bazaar established +along the promenade of the lawn. He dismounted, and the princesses +descended from their carriage to traverse the shops. + +At five o'clock the cortege, which had set out at 10 A.M., returned to +the palace. On each of the four nights that Charles X. passed at +Rheims, the streets of the city were illuminated. It was clear weather, +and by the light of the illuminations, amid the crowd in the streets, +there were everywhere to be seen the generals, the officers of the +King's household, and the great personages of the court in grand +uniform. Charles X. set out from Rheims the morning of June 1, and the +city, after some days of dazzling pomp, resumed its accustomed calm. +Things had passed off well, and the monarch was fully satisfied. + +The poets had tuned their lyres. Barthelemy, himself, the future author +of the Nemesis, celebrated in enthusiastic verses the monarchical and +religious solemnity; Lamartine, future founder of the Second Republic, +published Le Chant du Sucre ou la Veille des Armes; Victor Hugo, the +future idol of the democracy, sang his dithyrambic songs. Yet, in this +concert of enthusiasm there were some discordant notes. Beranger +circulated his ironic song Le Sacre de Charles le Simple. + +As for Chateaubriand, the most illustrious of the royalist writers, he +was to close his chapter of the MSmoires d'outre-tombe as follows:-- + +"So I have witnessed the last consecration of the successors of Clovis. +I had brought it about by the pages in which in my pamphlet, LE ROI EST +MART! VIVE LE ROI! I had described it and solicited it. Not that I had +the least faith in the ceremony, but as everything was wanting to +legitimacy, it had to be sustained by every means, whatever it might be +worth." + + + + +XVI + +THE RE-ENTRANCE INTO PARIS + + +Charles X. made a solemn re-entrance into Paris, June 6, 1825. +According to the Moniteur, Paris was divided between a lively desire +for the day to come and fear that the weather, constantly rainy, should +spoil the splendor of the royal pomp. At the barrier of La Villette +there had been erected amphitheatres and a triumphal arch. The streets +were hung with white flags and the arms of the sovereign, with the +inscription: "Long live Charles X.! Long live our well-beloved King!" +The Rue Saint Denis, the Rue du Roule, the Rue Saint Honore, presented +a picturesque spectacle. The merchants of these business streets had +converted the facades of their houses into an exposition of the rich +tissues of their shops, and the cortege was thus to traverse a sort of +bazaar. What a pity if the rain was going to spoil so many fine +preparations! By a good luck, on which every one congratulated himself, +the weather in the morning ceased its gloomy look, and a merchant of +the Rue Saint Denis inscribed on his balcony these two celebrated +lines,-- + + "Nocte pluit tota, redeunt spectacula mane, + Divisum imperium cum Jove Caesar habet." + +At 1 P.M. a salvo of one hundred and one guns announced the arrival of +the monarch at the barrier of La Villette. The Prefect of the Seine +addressed him an allocution and presented him the keys of the city. The +King responded: "I feel a great satisfaction in re-entering these +walls. I always recall with lively emotion the reception given me +eleven years ago when I preceded the King, my brother. I return here, +having received the holy unction that has given me new strength. I +consecrate it all, and all that I have of life and all my resources, to +the happiness of France. It is my firm resolve, gentlemen, and I give +you the assurance of it." + +The cortege then took up its march. It was formed of a squadron of +gendarmerie, several squadrons of the lancers and cuirassiers of the +royal guard, the mounted National Guard of Paris, the staff of the +garrison and of the first military division, a numerous group of +general and superior officers. + +The Count d'Haussonville wrote on the subject:-- + +"I was in the cortege, and as the staff of the National Guard followed +pretty close to the royal carriage, I had occasion to note how far +below what had been hoped was the reception at the gate of La Villette, +where a triumphal arch had been erected. Some groups, plainly soldiers, +after the discourse of the Prefect of Paris and the response of the +King, uttered some huzzas that found no echo. When we approached the +boulevards, the public warmed up a little. The windows were lined with +women, of whom the greater number waved their handkerchiefs in sign of +welcome. Around Notre-Dame, whither the cortege proceeded on its way to +the Tuileries, the crowd was enormous behind the line of soldiers +charged with restraining it. There was nothing offensive in their +remarks; neither was there any emotion or sympathy. The magnificence of +the equipages and the costumes, the beauty of the military uniforms, +particularly of the CORPS D'ELITE, such as the Hundred Swiss and the +body-guard, were the only things spoken of. The spectators sought to +guess and name to each other the prominent persons." + +During the passage the King received bouquets offered him by the market +men and women, as well as by a number of workmen's corporations +preceded by their banners. At the entrance of the Cathedral he was +congratulated by the Archbishop of Paris at the head of the clergy. A +te Deum was sung and the Marche du Sacre of Lesueur was played. Then +the King returned to his carriage and directed his course to the +Tuileries. + +As the cortege drew near to the Chateau, the welcome grew more and more +cordial. The balconies of many of the houses were draped. Women of the +court, in rich toilet, threw bouquets and flowers to the King. The +Count d'Haussonville says:-- + +"The untiring good grace with which the King returned the salutations +of the crowd, and by gestures full of Bonhomie and affability, +responded to the cries of persons whom he recognized as he passed, +added every moment to his personal success. In fact, when, June 6, +1825, at evening, he descended from the magnificent coronation coach, +to mount the stairs of the palace of his fathers, Charles X. had reason +to be content with the day. I doubt whether among the witnesses of the +splendid fetes that had followed without interruption at Rheims and at +Paris, there were many who would not have been strongly surprised if +there had been announced to them by what a catastrophe, in five years +only, an end was to be put to the reign inaugurated under the happiest +auspices." + +The 8th of June, the city of Paris offered to the King a fete at which +there were eight thousand guests. The sovereign made his entry, having +the Dauphiness on his right, and on the left the Duchess of Berry, who +opened the ball. A cantata was sung with words by Alexandre Soumet, and +the music by Lesueur. + +The 10th of June, the King went to the Opera with the Dauphin, the +Dauphiness, and the Duchess of Berry. The back of the stage opened and +showed, in an immense perspective, the most illustrious kings of +France; at the farthest line were the statue of Henry IV., Paris, its +monuments, the Louvre. The 19th of June, Charles X. again accompanied +by the family went to the Theatre-Italien. Il Viaggio A Reims was +played. Le Moniteur, apropos of this work, said:-- + +"It is an opera of a mould which, under the forms of the Opera Buffa, +presents some ideas not destitute of comedy, in which homage of love +and respect is at times expressed with an art that French taste cannot +disavow. The author, M. Bellochi, has conceived the praiseworthy idea +of introducing personages of all the nations of Europe, joining with +the French in their prayers for the happiness of our country and of the +august family that governs us. The composer is M. Rossini. The Morceaux +are worthy of the reputation of this celebrated master. Madame Pasta +displayed all the resources of her admirable talent. Bouquets of roses +and lilies were distributed to the ladies." + +There was an endless series of fetes, receptions, balls at court, at +the houses of the ministers of the foreign ambassador, theatrical +representations retracing the incidents of the coronation. The cities +of the provinces imitated the example of Paris. All this movement +stimulated business, and France appeared happy. But to an acute +observer it was plain that the pomps of the coronation and the fetes +that followed it pleased the people of the court more than the +bourgeoisie. The Count d'Haussonville says, apropos of the nobility at +that time:-- + +"I had the feeling--educated as I was at college, and provided early +with a sort of precocious experience, the precious fruit of public +education--that the nobility was a world a little apart. I +instinctively perceived how much the preoccupations of the persons with +whom I was then passing my time were of a nature particular, special to +their class, not opposed--that would be saying too much certainly--but +a little foreign to the great currents that swayed the opinion of their +contemporaries. They had their way of loving the King and their country +which was not very comprehensible, nor even, perhaps, very acceptable, +to the mass of the people and the bourgeois classes, who were rather +inclined to remain cold or even sullen in the presence of certain +manifestations of an ultra-royalism, the outward signs of which were +not always at this time entirely circumspect." + +To one regarding the horizon attentively there were already some dark +spots on the bright azure of the heavens. The struggles of the rival +classes of French society existed in a latent state. The white flag had +not made the tricolor forgotten. Charles X., consecrated by an +archbishop, did not efface the memory of Napoleon crowned by a pope, +and beneath royalist France were pressing upward already Bonapartist +France and Revolutionary France. + + + + +XVII + +THE JUBILEE OF 1826 + + +The dominant quality of Charles X., his piety, was the one that was to +be most used against him. There was in this piety nothing morose, +hypocritical, fanatical, and not an idea of intolerance or persecution +mingled with it. Conviction and feeling united in the heart of the King +to inspire him with profound faith. In 1803, before the death-bed of a +beloved woman, he had sworn to renounce earthly for divine love, and +from that time he had kept his vow. The woman by whom this conversion +was made was the sister-in-law of the Duchess of Polignac, Louise +d'Esparbes, Viscountess of Polastron. The Duchess of Gontaut recounts +in her unpublished Memoirs the touching and pathetic scene of the +supreme adieu of this charming woman and of Charles X., then Count +d'Artois. It was in England during the Emigration. The Viscountess of +Polastron was dying with consumption, and the approach of the end +reawakened in her all the piety of her childhood. A holy priest, the +Abbe de Latil, demanded the departure of the Prince. "I implore +Monseigneur," he said, "to go into the country; you shall see the poor +penitent again; she herself desires it, having one word to say to you, +one favor to ask, but it cannot be until at the moment of death." + +The Prince, who, even at the time of his greatest errors, had never +ceased to love and honor religion, obeyed the command of the priest. He +awaited in cruel anguish the hour when he should be permitted to +return. It was authorized only when death was very near. The Duchess of +Gontaut says:-- + +"The doors of the salon were opened. Monsieur dared not approach; I was +near the dying woman and held her hand; it was trembling. She perceived +Monsieur. He was about to rush toward her. 'Come no nearer,' said the +Abbe, in a firm voice. Monsieur did not venture to cross the threshold. +The agitation redoubled; the agony increased. She raised her hands to +heaven, and said:-- + +"'One favor, Monseigneur, one favor--live for God, all for God.' + +"He fell upon his knees, and said: 'I swear it, God!' She said again, +'All for God!' Her head fell on my shoulder; this last word was her +last breath: she was no more. Monsieur raised his arms to heaven, +uttered a horrible cry: the door was closed." + +The Count d'Artois was then but forty-five, but from that day he never +gave occasion for the least scandal, and led an exemplary life. As +Louis XIV. had held in profound esteem the courageous prelates who +adjured him to break with his mistresses, Charles X. was attached to +the truly Christian priest who had converted him by the death-bed of +the Viscountess of Polastron. The Abbe de Latil, the obscure +ecclesiastic of the Emigration, became, under the Restoration, the +Archbishop of Rheims and Cardinal. It was not without profound emotion +that the very Christian King saw himself consecrated by the priest who +twenty-two years before had caused him to return to virtue. This memory +was imposed on the mind and heart of the monarch, and under the vault +of the ancient Cathedral, he certainly thought of Madame de Polastron, +as of a good angel, who, from the height of heaven, watched over him, +and who, by her prayers, had aided him to traverse so many trials, to +reach the religious triumph of the coronation. + +Charles X. was happy then. Profoundly sincere in his ardent desire to +make France happy, he believed himself at one with God and with his +people, and rejoiced in that supreme good, so often wanting to +sovereigns,--peace of heart. Could he be reproached for having taken +the ceremony of his coronation seriously? A king who does not believe +in his royalty is no more to be respected than a priest who does not +believe in his religion. Charles X. was convinced, as the Archbishop of +Rheims had said in his letter of 29th May, 1825, that kings exercise +over their subjects the power of God Himself, and that they have that +sacred majesty, upon which, in the fine expression of Bossuet, God, for +the good of things human, causes to shine a portion of the splendor of +divine majesty. + +This disposition of mind in Charles X. fortified his piety, so that, at +the time of the jubilee of 1826, he seized eagerly the opportunity to +affirm his religious faith, and to return thanks to the God of his +fathers, who at this epoch of his life was loading him with favors. + +The jubilee is a time of penitence and pardon, when the Pope accords +plenary indulgence to all Catholics who submit to certain practices and +assist at certain pious ceremonies. The grand jubilee was formerly +celebrated only once in a hundred years; afterwards it took place every +fifty, and then every twenty-five years. 1825 was the time of its first +celebration in the nineteenth century, and it drew to Rome that year +more than ten thousand pilgrims. The Pope had celebrated the close of +it the 24th of December, 1825, but yielding to the prayers of several +Catholic powers, he accorded to them, by special bulls, the privilege +of celebrating the same solemnity in 1826. + +The opening of the French jubilee took place February 15, 1826, at +Notre-Dame de Paris. The papal bull, borne on a rich cushion, was +remitted to the Archbishop for public reading. The nuncio chanted the +Veni Creator. Mass was said by the Cardinal, Prince of Croi, Archbishop +of Rouen, Grand Almoner of France. The relics of the apostles Saint +Peter and Saint Paul were borne around the Place du Parvis, in the +midst of a cortege, in which were present the marshals of France, the +generals, and the four princesses. The order of the Archbishop of Paris +prescribed four general processions. The first took place with great +pomp the 17th of March, 1826. The King and the royal family, the +princes and princesses of the blood, all the court, the marshals, a +multitude of high functionaries, peers of France, deputies, officers, +assisted at this ceremony in which appeared the Archbishop of Paris and +his grand vicars, the metropolitan chapter, the pupils of all the +seminaries in surplice, the priests of all the Paris churches with +their sacerdotal armaments. It was a veritable army of ecclesiastics +that traversed the capital. In the midst of the cortdge, the reliquary +containing the relics of Saint Peter and Saint Paul was the object of +the devotion of the faithful. Surrounded by the Dauphin, the Duke of +Orleans, the young Duke of Chartres, the great officers of the crown, +of the Hundred Swiss, and of the body-guard, Charles X., in a costume +half religious, half military, walked between a double hedge formed by +the royal guard and the troops of the line. The Place du +Parvis-Notre-Dame was hung with draperies in fleur-de-lis, and all the +streets to be traversed by the procession had been draped and sanded. +The first stop of the cortege was under the peristyle of the +Hotel-Dieu, where an altar had been erected; the second, at the Church +of the Sorbonne; the third, at that of Sainte Genevieve. The two other +processions had no less eclat, and their pauses being fixed in the +churches of the principal parishes, they passed through the busiest and +most populous quarters of Paris. + +The fourth and last procession, that of the 3d of May, was the most +important of all. It was to close by an expiatory ceremony in honor of +Louis XVI., by the laying and benediction of the corner-stone of the +monument voted by the Chamber of 1815, and which still awaited its +foundation. It is at the very place where the unfortunate sovereign had +been executed that the monument was to be constructed. The cortege left +Notre-Dame and directed its course first to the Church of +Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois. The Chamber of Peers, the Chamber of +Deputies, all the functionaries, all the authorities of the Department +of the Seine, followed the King and Dauphin, who advanced, accompanied +by the ministers, the marshals, the officers of their houses, cordons +bleus, cordons rouges. Never since the end of the old regime had such a +multitude of priests been seen defiling through the streets of Paris. +The pupils of all the seminaries, the almoners of all the colleges, the +priests of all the parishes and all the chapels, stretched out in an +endless double line, at the end of which appeared the Nuncio of the +Pope, Cardinals de Latil, de Croi, and de La Fare, the Archbishop of +Paris, and a crowd of prelates. After the station of +Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, there was a second at Saint-Roch, then a +third and last at the Assumption. When the special prayers of the close +of the jubilee had been said at this last parish, the immense cortege +resumed its march to the place where Louis XVI. had brought his head to +the sacrilegious scaffold. The day chosen for the expiatory solemnity +was the 3d of May, the anniversary of the return of Louis XVIII. to +Paris in 1814, and then a political idea was connected with the +religious ceremony. A vast pavilion surmounted by a cross hung with +draperies in violet velvet, and enclosing an altar, which was reached +on four sides by four stairways of ten steps each, occupied the very +place where, the 10th of January, 1793, the scaffold of the Martyr-King +had been erected, in the middle of the Place called successively the +Place Louis XV. and the Place de La Concorde, and which was thenceforth +to be called the Place Louis XVI. + +The account in the MONITEUR says:-- + +"A first salvo of artillery announced the arrival of the procession. It +presented as imposing a tableau as could be contemplated. This old +French nation--the heir of its sixty kings at the head--marched, +preceded by the gifts made by Charlemagne to the Church of Paris, and +the religious trophies that Saint Louis brought from the holy places. +The priests ascend to the altar. Three times in succession they raise +to heaven the cry for pardon and pity. All the spectators fall upon +their knees. A profound, absolute silence reigns about the altar and +over all the Place; a common sorrow overwhelms the people; the King's +eyes are filled with tears." + +In this multitude the absence of the Dauphiness, the daughter of Louis +XVI., is remarked. The Orphan of the Temple had made it a law for +herself never to cross the place where her father had perished. She +went to the expiatory chapel of the Rue d'Anjou-Saint-Honore, to pass +in prayer the time of the ceremony. + +M. de Vaulabelle makes this curious comparison:-- + +"Behind Charles X. there knelt his Grand Chamberlain, Prince +Talleyrand, covered with gleaming embroideries, orders, and cordons. It +was the ecclesiastical dignitary whom Paris had beheld celebrating the +Mass of the Federation on the Champ-de-Mars, the wedded prelate who, as +Minister of the Directory, had for some years observed as a national +festival the anniversary of this same execution, now the subject of so +many tears." + +Religious people rejoiced at the ceremony that was celebrated; but the +Voltairians and the enemies of royalty complained bitterly at the sight +of the quays, the streets, the squares of the capital furrowed by long +files of priests, chanting psalms and litanies, dragging devout in +their suite the King, the two Chambers, the judiciary, the +administration, and the army. Yet was it not just that Charles X. +should cause an expiatory ceremony to be celebrated at the place where +his unfortunate brother had been guillotined? Was not that for a pious +sovereign the accomplishment of a sacred duty? It matters not; there +were those who reproached him with this homage to the most memorable of +misfortunes. They would have forbidden to Charles X. the memory of +Louis XVI. Yet a king could hardly be asked to have the sentiments of a +conventionnel, of a regicide. In their systematic and bitter +opposition, the adversaries of the Restoration imputed to the royal +family as a crime its very virtues and its piety. + +Charles X. was not unaware of this half-expressed hostility. That +evening he wrote to M. Villele, President of the Council of Ministers:-- + +"In general I have been content with the ceremony and the appearance of +the people; but I wish to know the whole truth, and I charge you to see +M. Delavau, and to know from him if the reality corresponds to +appearances, if there was any talk against the government and the +clergy. I wish to know all, and I trust to you to leave me in ignorance +of nothing." + +M. de Villele was not a flatterer. He responded discreetly, but without +concealing the truth:-- + +"The aspect of the people," he wrote, "permitted the thoughts agitating +its spirit to be recognized. We were following the King at a slight +distance and could judge very well of it. It was easy to read in all +eyes that the people were hurt at seeing the King humbly following the +priests. There was in that not so much irreligion as jealousy and +animosity toward the role played by the clergy." + +It might have been asked, in these circumstances, whether the +criticisms of the opposition were just. If a ceremony was to be +observed, such, as the laying and blessing the corner-stone of an +expiatory monument, it must be religious. If it were religious, was not +the presence of the clergy in large numbers natural? + +At heart, there was something noble and touching in the thought of +Charles X., and the true royalists sincerely respected it. Prom the +monarchical point of view, a monument to Louis XVI. had much more +raison d'etre than the obelisk since erected in its place, which +represents nothing, and has, moreover, the inconvenience of obstructing +the fine perspective of the Champs Elysees and the Tuileries. But there +were two camps in France, and these processions, expiations, prayers, +which, according to the royalist journals, opened a new era of +sanctity, glory, and virtue, exasperated the Voltairians. The +opposition determined to make of the King's piety a weapon against +royalty. + +And yet, we repeat, this piety had nothing about it not worthy of +respect. As the Abbe Vedrenne remarks in his Vie de Charles X., this +Prince "had a perfect understanding of the duties and convenances of +his rank, never refused his presence at fetes where it was desirable, +never seemed to blame or fear what a sensible indulgence did not +condemn; he loved the charm of society, and increased it by his +kindliness, but he was not dazzled by it. He remained to the end the +most amiable prince in Europe, but he was also the severest. A +surprising thing in a convert, his religion was always full of true +charity for others. He excused those who neglected their Christian +duties, remembering his delay in practising his own, without ever +compromising his own beliefs. He sincerely respected the good faith of +those who did not share them. This faith, this piety--a legacy from +love--which he guarded so faithfully, was the consolation of his long +misfortunes and the principle of his unchanging serenity. It banished +even the idea of hatred from his heart. Never did any one forgive as he +did." + +It must not be forgotten that the pamphleteers and song-writers of the +Restoration, violent, unjust, and even cruel as they were toward +Charles X., never breathed an insinuation against the purity of his +morals. His life was not less exemplary than that of his son, the +Dauphin, or of his niece and daughter-in-law, the Orphan of the Temple. +Despite the great piety of the sovereign, the court was not melancholy +or morose. Charles X. had a foundation of benevolence and gaiety to his +character. He was not surprised to see committed about him the gentle +trespasses of love, of which he had been himself guilty in youth, and +he had become--the very ideal of wisdom--severe for himself, indulgent +for others. + + + + +XVIII + +THE DUCHESS OP GONTAUT + + +The Governess of the Children of France was the Viscountess of Gontaut, +who, as a recompense for the manner in which she had accomplished her +task, was made Duchess by Charles X. in 1826. Here is the opening of +her unpublished Memoirs:-- + +"January, 1853. To Madame the Countess and Monsieur the Count Georges +Esterhazy. My dear children, you have shown a desire to know the events +of my long life. Wishing to teach them to your children, I yield to +this amiable and tender purpose, promising myself, meanwhile, to resist +the too common charm of talking pitilessly about myself. I shall search +my memory for souvenirs of the revolutions I have often witnessed to +give interest to my tales. One writes but ill at eighty, but one may +claim indulgence from hearts to which one is devoted." + +The amiable and intelligent octogenarian had no need of indulgence. Her +Memoirs possess irresistible attraction, grace, exquisite naturalness, +and we are convinced that when they are published--as they must be +sooner or later--they will excite universal interest. + +Born at Paris in 1773, the Duchess of Gontaut was the daughter of Count +Montault-Navailles and of the Countess, NEE Coulommiers. All her +memories of childhood and early youth were connected with the old +court. She had seen Marie Antoinette in all her splendor, Versailles +when it was most dazzling, and she was, formed in the elegant manners +of that charm ing world whose social prestige was so great. At seven +she was held at the baptismal font by the Count of Provence (the future +Louis XVIII.) and by the wife of this Prince. + +"I had for this ceremony," she says, "a GRAND HABIT and a GRAND PANIER. +I was so proud of them that I caused much amusement at the Queen's, +whither my mother took me after the baptism. Being connected with the +Duchess of Polignac, she often took me to Versailles; there I saw +Madame Royale, younger than I, and the poor, little, handsome, +delightful Dauphin. The Queen, wishing to give them a little fete, +organized a children's spectacle, in which I was entrusted with a part. +The piece chosen was Iphigenie en Aulide. Mademoiselle de Sabran and +her brother, as well as a young Strogonoff, were, it is said, perfect +actors. Armand de Polignac had a little part. Tragedy was not my forte. +But in the second piece I achieved a little success, which the +Chevalier de Boufflers was kind enough to celebrate in a very bright +couplet, sung at the close. He gave me the name of the Little White +Mouse. After that the Queen called me her little white mouse, and +showed me a thousand kindnesses. After the play there was a children's +supper; the princes waited on, us and were much diverted by our +enjoyment; Louis XVI. stood behind my chair for a moment, and even gave +me a plate. The Queen sent me home in her sedan chair; footmen carried +great torches; the body-guard presented arms to us. So much honor +would, perhaps, have turned my head, but for my prudent mother who knew +how to calm it." + +The sorrows of exile followed rapidly on the first enchantments of +life. It was in England, during the Emigration, that the future +Governess of the Children of France married M. de Saint-Blanchard, +Viscount de Gontaut-Biron. She was then residing at Epsom, where she +lived on the proceeds of little pictures which she painted. She gave +birth to twin daughters October 9th, 1796. "I nursed them both," she +says, "our means not permitting us to have two nurses in one little +household, and I felt strong enough for this double task. Brought into +the world at seven and one-half months, their frail existence required +my care night and day." In 1797, Madame de Gontaut visited Paris under +a false name, and after this journey, on which she ran many risks, she +returned to England, where she was the companion in exile of the +princes. Monsieur, the Count d'Artois, the future Charles X., was then +pursued by his creditors. The Castle of Holyrood, privileged by law, +sheltered its occupants from all legal process. That is why the Prince +Regent offered its hospitality to the brother of Louis XVIII., seeking +in every way to soften the severity of the old palace. + +"But the saying is true," adds Madame de Gontaut, "that there are no +pleasant prisons. The Castle of Holyrood, as well as the park, was +spacious. The governor visited there, and also several Scotch families, +very agreeable socially. Monsieur could not 'leave the limits' except +on Sunday, when the law allows no arrest. He had a carriage that he +loaned to us, reserving it only for Sunday, when he was out from +morning to night. To these excellent Scotch people a visit from him was +an honor, a festival. Our little society comedies amused Monsieur as +much as us; I always had, unluckily, a part that I never knew; I could +never in my life learn anything by heart; I listened, filled my mind +with the subject, and went ahead, to the great amusement of the +audience and the despair of my fellow-players." After a while the suits +against the Prince came to an end, and he could quit Holyrood, his +debtor's prison. + +Madame de Gontaut made a very good figure at Louis XVIII.'s little +court at Hartwell. By her wit and her tact, she won the friendship of +all the royal family, and much sympathy in high English society. She +returned to France with Louis XVIII., and no lady of the court was +regarded with greater respect. At the time of the marriage of the Duke +of Berry, she became lady companion to the new Duchess, whom she went +to meet at Marseilles. + +The King, Monsieur, the Duke and Duchess of Berry, all showed equal +confidence in Madame de Gontaut, and her nomination as Governess of the +Children of France was received with general approval and sympathy. A +woman of mind and heart, she performed her task with as much zeal as +intelligence, and though strict with her two pupils, she made herself +beloved by them. She especially applied herself to guard them against +the snares of flattery. On this subject she relates a characteristic +anecdote. One day a family that had been recommended to her asked the +favor of seeing, if only for a moment, the Duke of Bordeaux and his +sister. The two children, vexed at having to leave their play, were not +communicative, and nevertheless received an avalanche of compliments. +The visitors were in ecstasy over their gentleness, their beauty. They +admired even their hair. These exaggerations embarrassed the children, +who were full of frankness and directness, and displeased Madame de +Gontaut. She quickly closed the interview. As the visitors were going +out, a half-open door allowed the little Prince and Princess to +overhear their observations. "It was not worth while to come so far to +see so little," said an old lady, in an irritated tone. "Oh, as to +that, no," said a big boy, "they hardly had two words of response for +all the compliments that papa and mamma strained themselves to give +them. You made me laugh, papa, when you said, 'What fine color, what +pretty hair!' She's as pale as an egg and cropped like a boy."--"That's +true," said the old lady, "she needs your medicines, doctor; and then +they are very small for their age."--"Did you see the governess?" +resumed the big boy. "She did not seem pleased when you complimented +her on the docility of her pupils, and I could see that they were +teasing each other." The Duke of Bordeaux and his sister, who heard all +this, were petrified. "They are very wicked!" they cried. "They are +simply flatterers," replied Madame de Gontaut. Little Mademoiselle +resumed: "After having praised us without end, and telling us a hundred +times that we were pretty,--for I heard it all perfectly,--to want to +give me medicine because I was so homely and ill-looking! Oh, this is +too much! I know now what flattery is,--to say just the contrary of the +truth. But it's a sin. I shall always remember it!" + +Madame de Gontaut succeeded beyond her hopes in the task confided to +her. Morally and physically the little Prince and Princess were +accomplished children. + +The moment was approaching when the Duke of Bordeaux, born September +20, 1820, was about to begin his seventh year. That was the period +fixed by the ancient code of the House of France for the young Prince +to pass from the hands of women to those of men, who were thereafter to +direct his education. On the 15th of October, 1826, the transfer was +made of the Duke of Bordeaux to his governor, the Duke de Riviere, at +the Chateau of Saint Cloud, in the Hall of the Throne, in the presence +of all the members of the family, the first officers of the crown, etc. +The child, brought by his governess before the King, was stripped of +his clothing and examined by the physicians, who attested his perfect +health. When he was clad again, the King called the new governor and +said to him: "Duke de Riviere, I give you a great proof of my esteem +and confidence in remitting to you the care of the child given us by +Providence--the Child of France also. You will bring to these important +functions, I am sure, a zeal and a prudence that will give you the +right to my gratitude, to that of the family, and to that of France." + +Charles X. then turned to Madame de Gontaut, whom he had just named +Duchess in witness of his gratitude and satisfaction. "Duchess of +Gontaut," he said, "I thank you for the care you have given to the +education of this dear child." Then, pointing to Mademoiselle, +"Continue and complete that of this child, who is just as dear to me, +and you will acquire new claims on my gratitude." The little Princess +then seized the hands of her governess with such effusion that the +latter could hardly restrain her tears. + +That evening the Duchess of Gontaut addressed to the Duke de Riviere a +letter in which she depicted the character of the child she had brought +up with such care:-- + +"I have always followed the impulses of my heart," she wrote, "in +easily performing a task for which that was all that was needed. +Monseigneur and Mademoiselle believe me blindly, for I have never +deceived them, even in jest. A pleasantry that a child's mind cannot +understand embarrasses him, destroys his ease and confidence, +humiliates and even angers him, if he believes that he has been +deceived. Monseigneur has more need than most children of this +discretion. The directness and generosity of his character incline him +to take everything seriously. When he thinks he sees that any one is +being annoyed, the one oppressed straightway becomes the object of his +lively interest; he will take up his defence warmly and will not spare +his rebukes; he shows on these occasions an energy quite in contrast +with the natural timidity of his character. With such a child, I have +had to avoid even the shadow of injustice. He loves Mademoiselle, is +gentle, kind, attentive to her. I have always carefully shunned for +Their Royal Highnesses the little contests of childhood; however +unimportant they may seem at first, they end by embittering the +disposition." + +We commend to mothers and teachers the letter of the Duchess of +Gontaut. It is a veritable programme of education, conceived with high +intelligence and great practical sense. What more just than this +reflection: "The method of teaching by amusement is fashionable, and +appears to me to lead to a very superficial education. That is not what +I have sought. Let the teacher explain readily, but let him allow the +pupil to take some pains, for he must learn early the difficulties of +life and how to overcome them. A child prince, exposed to flattery, +runs the risk of thinking himself a prodigy. To obviate this +Monseigneur and Mademoiselle have often been subjected to little +competitions with children of their age. I have sought by this means to +give them the habit of witnessing success without envy, and to gain it +without vanity." And what a fine and noble thing is this. "I have tried +on all occasions to lead the mind of Monseigneur to the moral teaching +of religion; I have used it as a restraint; I have presented it as a +hope." + +The Duchess of Gontaut was proud of her pupil:-- + +"It will require time," she says, in this same letter, "kindness, and +tenderness to gain the confidence of Monseigneur. His features show his +soul; he talks little of what he undergoes; he has much sensibility, +but a power over himself remarkable at his age; I have seen him suffer +without complaint. The efforts that he has made to overcome a timidity +that I have tried hard to conquer, have been noteworthy. I have been +able to make him understand the necessity, for a prince, of addressing +strangers in a noble, gracious, and intelligible fashion. I have always +sought to remove all means and all pretext for concealing his faults; +bashfulness leads imperceptibly to dissimulation and falsehood. I am +happy in affirming that Monseigneur is scrupulously truthful. I have +believed it requisite, by reason of the vivacity of his disposition, +and the high destiny awaiting him, to constrain him to reflect before +acting. The word JUSTICE has a real charm for him; I have never seen a +heart more loyal." + +The woman who wrote these lines so firm and honest, so sensible and +forcible, was no ordinary woman. In contrast with so many emigres who +had learned nothing and forgotten nothing, she had learned much and +retained it. The difficulties and bitternesses of exile were an +excellent school for her. She remained French always,--in ideas, +tastes, feelings. Sincerely royalist, but with no exaggeration, she +took account perfectly of the requirements of modern society. Very +devoted to her princes, she knew how to tell them the truth. She spoke +frankly to Charles X., whom she had known from an early day, and had +seen in such diverse situations. + +It is to be regretted that the King did not consult her oftener. She +would have saved him from many errors, notably from the fatal +ordinances which she disapproved. She was a woman not merely of heart, +but of head. Her Memoirs are the more interesting, that not the least +literary pretension mingles with their sincerity. They have a character +of intimacy that doubles their charm. This talk of a venerable +grandmother with her grandchildren is not only solid and instructive, +it is agreeable and gracious, tender and touching. + + + + +XIX + +THE THREE GOVERNORS + + +In the space of three years, from 1826 to 1828, Charles X. named three +governors for the Duke of Bordeaux. One, the Duke of Montmorency, never +entered on his duties. The others were the Duke de Riviere and the +Baron de Damas. The Duke of Montmorency was named in anticipation the +8th of January, 1826, although his task did not begin until the 29th of +September. Mathieu de Montmorency, first Viscount and then Duke, was +born in 1766. After having been through the war in America, he had +adopted the ideas of Lafayette, and had been distinguished by his +extreme liberalism. He took the oath of the Jeu de Paume, and was the +first to give up the privileges derived from his birth on the +celebrated night of the 4th of August. The 12th of July, 1791, he was +one of the deputation that attended the solemn transfer of the ashes of +Voltaire, and, August 27th, he sustained the proposition to decree the +honors of the Pantheon to Jean Jacques Rousseau. In his Petit Almanach +des Grands Hommes de la Revolution, Rivarol wrote, not without irony:-- + +"The most youthful talent of the Assembly, he is still stammering his +patriotism, but he already manages to make it understood, and the +Republic sees in him all it wishes to see. It was necessary that +Montmorency should appear popular for the Revolution to be complete, +and a child alone could set this great example. The little Montmorency +therefore devoted himself to the esteem of the moment, and combated +aristocracy under the ferrule of the Abbe Sieyes." + +Mathieu de Montmorency did not adhere to his revolutionary ideas. After +the 10th of August, 1792, he withdrew to Switzerland, at Coppet, near +his friend Madame de Stael. Under the Empire he held himself apart. He +had become as conservative as he had been liberal, as religious as he +had been Voltairian. Under the Restoration, he was one of the most +convinced supporters of the throne and the altar. Minister of Foreign +Affairs in 1821, he showed himself a distinguished diplomat, and during +the session of 1822 made the Amende Honorable for what he called his +former errors. + +As he had always been sincere in his successive opinions, the Duke of +Montmorency deserved general esteem. His profound piety, his unchanging +gentleness, his exhaustless charity, made him a veritable saint. He was +the complete type of the Christian nobleman. His name, his character, +the very features of his countenance, were all in perfect harmony. The +adversaries of the Revolution could not refrain from honoring this good +man. On receiving the title of governor to the Duke of Bordeaux, he +felt rewarded for the devotion and virtue of his whole life. But he +regarded this grave employment as a heavy burden, "an immense and +formidable honor, the terror of his feebleness, and the perpetual +occupation of his conscience." This was the thought expressed in his +reception discourse at the French Academy. The Count Daru replied to +him. At the same session M. de Chateaubriand read a historic fragment. +It was the first time since leaving the ministry that the celebrated +writer had appeared in public, and he chose to do so to adorn the +triumph of him whose rival he had been. + +The Duke Mathieu de Montmorency died six months before he was to enter +upon his functions as governor to the Duke of Bordeaux. It was Good +Friday of the year 1826, at three o'clock in the afternoon. Before the +tomb in the Church of Saint Thomas Aquinas, his parish, the Duke was +praying like a saint, when suddenly he was seen to waver, and then to +fall. Those near him ran to him, raised him; he was dead. The news had +hardly spread when the church was filled with a crowd of poor people, +who wept hot tears over the loss of their benefactor. On the morrow the +Duchess of Broglie wrote to Madame REcamier, for whom the deceased had +had an almost mystic tenderness:-- + +"Holy Saturday. Oh, my God! my God! dear friend, what an event! I think +of you with anguish. All the past comes up before me. I thought I could +see the grief of my poor mother, and I think of yours, my dear friend, +which must be terrible. But what a beautiful death! Thus he would have +chosen it--the place, the day, the hour! The hand of God, of that +saviour God, whose sacrifice he was celebrating, is here!" + +Father Macarthy said, in a sermon preached in the Chapel of the +Tuileries:-- + +"Happy he, O God, who comes before Thy altar, on the day of Thy death, +at the very hour when Thou didst expire for the salvation of the world, +to breathe out his soul at Thy feet, and be laid in Thy tomb!" + +Lastly, the Duke de Laval-Montmorency wrote to Madame Recamier:-- + +"I say it to you, my dear friend, I avow it without false modesty, I +never have had any merit or any honor in life, save from action in +common with my angelic friend. He alone is happy; he is so beyond +doubt; from heaven he sees our tears, our desolation, our homage; he +will be our protector on high as he was our friend, our support, upon +the earth." + +The death of the virtuous Duke caused Charles X. great grief. He said: +"There are in me two persons, the king and the man, and I know not +which is the most affected." + +M. de Chateaubriand desired--and the desire was quite natural--to +replace the Duke of Montmorency in the office of governor of the Duke +of Bordeaux, but the wish was not gratified. In his Life of Henry of +France, M. de PEne makes the following reflections on this point:-- + +"Chateaubriand lacked neither the knowledge nor the virtue to be the +Fenelon of a new Duke of Burgundy. The eclat of his literary renown, +the political sense of which he had given proof in the Spanish war, the +popularity that surrounded him, were certainly arguments in his favor. +But looking at things coolly, it was clear that an irregular genius was +not suited for the part of Mentor, when he still had all the wayward +impulses of Telemaque." + +The choice of Charles X. fell on one of his oldest and most faithful +friends, the Lieutenant-General Duke Charles de Riviere. He was a +soldier of great valor, of gentle disposition, full of modesty and +kindness, believing devoutly and practising the Christian religion, a +descendant of those old knights who joined in one love, God, France, +and the King. + +Born the 17th of December, 1763, M. de Riviere had been the companion +and servitor of the princes in exile and misfortune, and they had +confided to him the most difficult and dangerous missions. He was +secretly in France in 1794, and was arrested and condemned to death as +implicated in the Cadoudal case. At his trial, he was shown, at a +distance, the portrait of the Count d'Artois, and asked if he +recognized it. He asked to see it nearer, and then having it in his +hands, he said, looking at the president: "Do you suppose that even +from afar I did not recognize it? But I wished to see it nearer once +more before I die." And the martyr of royalty religiously kissed the +image of his dear prince. + +Josephine intervened, and secured the commutation of the sentence, as +well as that of the Duke Armand de Polignac. Napoleon, who admired men +of force, caused to be offered to M. de Riviere his complete pardon, +and a regiment or a diplomatic post, at choice. The inflexible royalist +preferred to be sent to the fort of Joux, where Toussaint Louverture +had died, and remained a prisoner up to the time of the marriage of the +Empress Marie Louise. + +Under the Restoration, M. de Riviere, who was Marquis and was made Duke +only in 1825, became lieutenant-general, Peer of France, ambassador at +Constantinople, captain of the body-guards of Monsieur. At the time of +his accession, Charles X. did for his faithful servitor what had never +before been done; he created for him a fifth company of the King's +body-guards. "My dear Riviere," he said, "I have done my best for you, +but we shall both lose by it; you used to guard me all the time, now +you can guard me but three months in the year." The 30th of May, 1825, +the morrow of the coronation and the day of the reception of the +Knights of the Holy Spirit, Charles X. conferred the title of duke on +his devoted friend. "By the way, Riviere, I have made you a duke." It +recalled the words of Henry IV. to Sully in like circumstances. + +When he chose the Duke de Riviere as governor of the Duke of Bordeaux, +the King said to Madame de Gontaut: "In naming Riviere, I have +followed, I confess, the inclinations of my heart; I am under +obligations to him; he has incessantly exposed himself for our cause; +he has borne captivity, poverty; I love him, and I am used to him." + +The new governor, who was very modest, was frightened at the task +confided to him. + +"You congratulate me," he wrote to a friend; "console me, rather, pity +me. An employment so grave must be a heavy burden. I am easy about the +instruction my royal pupil will receive; the wise prelate named by the +King as his preceptor will be a powerful auxiliary for me. But my share +is still too great. It requires something more than fidelity for such a +place,--firmness without roughness, unlimited patience, address, +intelligence. I am frightened at the mission I have to fill. I begged +the King to release me. He insisted. I asked him to make it a command; +he replied: 'I will not command you, but you will give me great +pleasure.' I did not conceal from the King that I should have preferred +to remain captain of his guards; he answered: 'Well, you made that +place for yourself; make this for me.' How could one resist such +language from the lips of such a prince? There was but one choice to +make,--to do all that he wished." + +Charles X. named as sub-governors two distinguished military men, the +Colonel Marquis de Barbamcois and the Lieutenant-Colonel Count de +Maupas. He named as preceptor Mgr. Tharin, Bishop of Strasbourg, and as +sub-preceptor the Abbe Martin de Noirlieu and M. de Barande. The Bishop +of Strasbourg was a pious and learned priest, of great benevolence and +extreme affability. But his appointment exasperated the Opposition, +because he had formerly taken up the defence of the Order of the +Jesuits against the attacks of M. de Montlosier. All the liberal sheets +cried aloud. Le Journal des Debates, furious that its candidate to the +succession of the Duke de Montmorency, M. de Chateaubriand, had not +been named, wrote, regarding the appointment of Mgr. Tharin:-- + +"Such imprudence amazes, such blindness is pitiable. It awakens +profound grief to see this chariot rush toward the abyss with no power +to restrain it." + +The Duke de Riviere gave himself up entirely to the task confided to +him. He never quitted the young prince. He slept in his room and +watched over him night and day. In the month of February, 1828, he fell +ill. The princes and princesses visited him frequently. The sovereign +himself, putting aside for this faithful friend the etiquette which +forbade him to visit any one out of his own family, went constantly to +see him and remained long with him. The Duke had no greater +consolation, after that of his religion, than the visit of his King. He +said to his family as the hour of the expected visit approached, "Do +not let me sleep," and if he felt himself getting drowsy, "For pity's +sake," he said, "awaken me if the King comes; it is the best remedy for +my pains." Charles X. could hardly restrain his tears; on leaving the +room he gave way to his grief. The little Duke of Bordeaux, also, was +much saddened. + +One day, when he was told that the sick man had passed a bad night, he +said to his sister: "Let's play plays that don't amuse us to-day." + +Another day, when it was reported that his governor was a little +better: "In that case," he cried, "general illumination," and he went +in broad day, and lighted all the candles in the salon. The Duke de +Riviere died the 21st of April, 1828; by order of the King, his son +lived from that time with the Duke of Bordeaux, and received lessons +from the preceptors of the young Prince. + +The Liberals wished the successor of the Duke to be one of their +choice. They maintained that the son of France belonged to the nation, +and that it had too much interest in his education to permit the +parents alone to dispose of it, as in ordinary families. The ministry +wished to be consulted. Charles X. replied that he took counsel with +his ministers in all that concerned the public administration, but that +he should maintain his liberty as father of a family in the choice of +masters for his grandson. + +The King named the Lieutenant-General Baron de Damas (born in 1785, +died in 1858). He was a brave soldier and a good Christian. M. de +Lamartine said that he had "integrity, obstinate industry, virtue +incorruptible by the air of couits, patriotic purpose, cool +impartiality, but no presence and no brilliancy," and that "his piety +was as loyal and disinterested as his heart." He had been Minister of +War, and of Foreign Affairs, and distinguished himself under the Duke +of Angouleme, during the Spanish Expedition. But under the Revolution +and the Empire, he had served in the Russian army, and this did not +render him popular. The Abbe Vedrenne, in his VIE DE Charles X., +wrote:-- + +"To watch over the person of the son of France, not quitting him night +or day; to make sure that the rules of his education are followed in +the employment of his time, in the routine of his lessons; to let no +one save persons worthy of confidence come near him; to ward off all +dangers, and notify the King of the least indisposition,--such is the +duty of the governor. It requires more prudence than learning, more +probity than genius. M. de Damas was a royalist too tried, too fervent +a Christian, for his nomination not to provoke many murmurs. His place, +moreover, had been desired by so many people, that there was no lack of +those who were displeased and jealous. There was a general outcry over +his incapacity and ignorance. One would have thought that he was to +perform the task of a Bossuet and a Fenelon, while in reality he filled +the place of a Montausier or a Beauvilliers. Had he not their virtues, +and especially their devotion?" + +The Duchess of Gontaut thus relates the first interview of the young +Prince with his new governor: "Monseigneur was a little intimidated, +when the Baron, coming up near to him, made a profound bow, and said: +'Monseigneur, I commend myself to you.' To which Monseigneur, not +knowing what to say, said nothing, and as no one spake a word, the King +dismissed us. When the Duke of Bordeaux learned that M. de Damas had +six or seven boys nearly his age and only one girl, and that the girl +would not be any trouble, his gaiety returned." The little Prince got +used to his new governor, who had the most solid qualities, and who +performed his task with the same devotion and zeal as his predecessor. + + + + +XX + +THE REVIEW OF THE NATIONAL GUARD + + +Charles X. was always much beloved by the court, but less so by the +city. In vain, in his promenades, he sought the salutations of the +crowd, and exerted himself by his affability to provoke acclamations; +the public remained cold, and the monarch returned to the Tuileries, +saddened by a change in his reception which he charged to the tactics +of the liberal party and the calumnies of the journals. The +anti-religious opposition went on increasing, and tried to persuade the +crowd that the King was aiming at nothing less than placing his kingdom +under the direction of the Jesuits. + +The person of the sovereign was still respected, but the men who had +his confidence were the object of the most violent criticisms. A +coalition of the Extremists and the Left fought savagely against the +Villele ministry, which was reproached particularly for its long +duration. + +From 1827, Orleansism, which Charles X. did not even suspect, existed +in a latent state, and sagacious observers could perceive the dangers +of the near future. A review of the National Guard of Paris was a +forerunner of them. + +Each year the 12th of April, the anniversary of the re-entrance of +Monsieur to Paris in 1814, the National Guard alone was on duty at the +Tuileries. This privilege was looked upon as the reward of the devotion +it had then shown to the Prince, whose sole armed force it was for +several weeks. In 1827, the 12th of April fell on Holy Thursday, a day +given over wholly by the sovereign to his religious duties. In +consequence, he decided that the day of exceptional service reserved to +the National Guard should be postponed to Monday, the 16th. The morning +of that day, detachments from all the legions, including the cavalry, +assembled in the court of the Chateau, and were received by Charles X. +He received a warm welcome, such as he had not been used to for a long +time, and the crowd joined its shouts to the huzzas of the Guard. +Charles X., filled with delight, said to the officers who joined him as +the troops filed by: "I regret that the entire National Guard is not +assembled for the review." Then the officers replied that their +comrades would be only too happy if the King would consent to review +the whole Guard. Marshal Oudinot, Duke of Reggio, who was the +commandant-in-chief, warmly supported this desire, and the sovereign +responded by promising for April 29 the review thus urged. + +Charles X. believed he had returned to the pleasant time of his +popularity. He wished to confirm it by withdrawing a law as to the +press, proposed in the Chambers, and vviuch, though called by the +ultras a "law of love and justice," encountered bitter opposition even +in the Chamber of Peers. The law was withdrawn April 17, the very day +that the Moniteur announced the promise given the day before for the +review of the 29th. On learning of the withdrawal of the unpopular law, +the liberals uttered cries of joy and triumph. Columns of working +printers traversed the streets with cries of "Long live the King! Long +live the Chamber of Peers! Long live the liberty of the press!" In the +evening Paris was illuminated. A victory over a foreign foe would not +have been celebrated with greater transports of enthusiasm. The +ministry was disquieted by these wild manifestations of delight, which, +in reality, were directed against it. It tried in vain to induce the +King to countermand the review of the 29th. M. de Chateaubriand wrote +to Charles X. a long letter to beg him to change his ministry. It +contained the following passage:-- + +"Sire, it is false that there is, as is said, a republican faction at +present, but it is true that there are partisans of an illegitimate +monarchy; now these latter are too adroit not to profit by the +occasion, and mingle their voices on the 29th with that of France, to +impose on the nation. What will the King do? Will he surrender his +ministers to the popular demand? That would be to destroy the power of +the State. Will he keep his ministers? They will cause all the +unpopularity that pursues them to fall on the head of their august +master." Chateaubriand closed as follows:-- + +"Sire, to dare to write you this letter, I must be strongly persuaded +of the necessity of reaching a decision. An imperative duty must urge +me. The ministers are my enemies. As a Christian I forgive them, as a +man I can never pardon them. In this position I should never have +addressed the King, if the safety of the monarchy were not involved." + +All this urging was futile. Charles X. did not change his ministry, and +the review took place on the Champ-de-Mars on the day appointed. + +It is Sunday, April 29th, 1827. The weather is magnificent. The +springtime sun gives to the capital a festive air. All the people are +out. The twelve legions and the mounted guards--more than twenty +thousand men--are under arms awaiting the King on the Champ-de-Mars. An +enormous crowd occupies the slope. At one o'clock precisely, Charles +X., mounted on a beautiful horse, which he manages like a skilled +horseman, leaves the Tuileries with a numerous escort, including the +Dauphin, the Duke of Orleans, the young Duke of Chartres, and a number +of generals. The princesses follow in an open caleche. Everything +appears to be going perfectly. The National Guards have pledged +themselves to satisfy the King by their conduct. A note has been read +in the ranks in these words: "Caution to the National Guards, to be +circulated to the very last file. The rumor is spread that the National +Guards intend to cry 'Down with the ministers! Down with the Jesuits!' +Only mischief-makers can wish to see the National Guard abandon its +noble character." + +A general movement of curiosity on the Champ-de-Mars is noticed. +Charles X. arrives. He has a serene brow, a smile upon his lips. It +hardly seems possible that before the end of the year he will be a +septuagenarian; he would be taken for a man of fifty, powdered. An +immense cry of "Long live the King," raised by the National Guards, is +repeated by the crowd. The monarch, radiant, salutes with glance and +hand. + +He passes along the front of the battalions. Here and there are heard +cries of "Hurrah for the Charter! Hurrah for liberty of the press!" But +they are drowned by those of "Long live the King!" Everything seems to +go as he wishes, and Charles X. feels that the review, which his timid +ministers regarded as dangerous, is an inspiration. So far it is for +him only a triumph. But suddenly, as he appears in front of the Seventh +Legion, he remarks the persistence with which a group of the Guards is +crying, "Hurrah for the Charter!" The monarch perceives a sentiment of +unfriendliness. A National Guardsman ventures to speak:-- + +"Does Your Majesty think that cheers for the Charter are an +outrage?"--"Gentlemen," responds the King in a severe tone, "I came +here to receive homage, not a lesson." The royal pride of this response +had a good effect. The cries of "Long live the King!" are renewed with +energy. The face of Charles X. again becomes calm and serene. Seated in +his saddle before the Military School, the sovereign sees file by the +twelve legions, with unanimous cheers. The review closed, the King says +to Marshal Oudinot, commandant-in-chief of the National Guard: "It +might have passed off better; there were some mar-plots, but the mass +is good, and on the whole, I am satisfied." + +The Marshal asks, if, in the order of the day he may mention the +satisfaction of the King. "Yes," replied Charles X., "but I wish to +know the terms in which this sentiment is expressed." + +The sovereign returns on horseback to the Tuileries, while each legion +goes to its own quarter. When he arrives at the Pavilion de l'Horloge, +he is received by his two grandchildren. Mademoiselle throws herself +upon his neck: "Bon-papa, you are content, aren't you?"--"Yes, almost," +he answers. The Count de Bourbon-Busset, who is in the sovereign's +suite, says to the Duchess of Gontaut, his mother-in-law, that all has +passed off well. The Duchess of Angouleme, who has just alighted from +her carriage, as well as the Duchess of Berry, hears this phrase; she +cries: "You are not hard to please." The two princesses are as agitated +as the King is calm. At the moment of their return they have been +greeted with violent cries of "Down with the ministers! Down with the +Jesuits!" It is even said that there was a cry of "Down with the +Jesuitesses!" The clang of arms rendered these violent clamors more +sinister. The daughter of Louis XVI. and the widow of the Duke of Berry +believed themselves doubly insulted as women and as princesses. The +Duchess of Angouleme, with intrepid countenance, but deeply irritated, +trembled with indignation. It seemed to her that the Revolution was +being revived. The scenes of horror that her uncle Charles X. had not +beheld, but of which she had been the witness and the victim, arose +before her again,--the 5th and the 6th of October, 1789, the 20th of +June, and the 10th of August, 1792. + +While the Dauphiness gives herself up to the gloomiest reflections, the +Third Legion of the National Guard is passing under the windows of the +Minister of Finance in the Rue de Rivoli. The minister, M. de Villele, +has passed the day at the ministry, receiving from hour to hour news of +the review. The blinds of his windows are closed. At the moment when +the Third Legion files through the street, the band ceases to play, the +drums stop beating. Cries of fury break from the ranks: "Down with the +ministers! Down with the Jesuits! Down with Villele!" The guards +brandish their arms; the officers themselves make menacing gestures; +the tumult is at its height. M. de Villele, on the inside, follows from +window to window the march of the legion, and so traverses the salons +to the apartments occupied by his old mother and her family, whom he +wishes to reassure by his own calm. Opposite the ministry, a great +crowd fills the Terrasse des Feuillants, without taking part in the +manifestation. But the clamors of the National Guards increase. They +continue their march, enter the Rue Castiglione, reach the Place +Vendome, where the Ministry of Justice is situated, and recommence +their cries: "Down with the ministers! Down with the Jesuits! Down with +Peyronnet!" + +Invited to dine by Count Opponyi, ambassador of Austria, with all the +ministers, M. de Villele waits to the last moment before going to the +Embassy, still believing that he will be summoned by the King. As his +waiting is in vain, he goes to the house of Count Opponyi and takes +part in the dinner. At dessert, a messenger of Charles X. glides behind +his chair, and says to him in a low voice: "The King charges me to tell +you to come to him immediately." M. de Villele takes leave of the +ambassadress, and sets out for the Tuileries. He finds Charles X. +there, very calm, quite reassured, and having called him only to give +expression to his confidence and sympathy. The minister exerts himself +to make the sovereign see the situation in a very different light. He +represents the incident of the Minister of Finance as secondary, but +insists on the facts occurring at the Champ-de-Mars, notably the shouts +around the carriage of the princesses. "It is a fact," replies the +King. "I did hear them complain. Well, what do you advise me to do?" +The minister responds: "This very evening, before the bureaux are +closed, dissolve the National Guard of Paris; order the marshal on duty +near your person, to have the posts held by the National Guard occupied +at four o'clock in the morning by the troops of the line; to resort to +this measure of force and justice to forestall the consequences of the +most audacious attempt at revolution since the commencement of your +reign. To-morrow, there are to arrive at Paris fifteen thousand men to +replace the fifteen thousand of the actual garrison. It suffices to +retain these latter, and thirty thousand men will be enough to hold the +factions in check if they have the least intention of rising."--"Very +well," resumes Charles X.; "go and consult your colleagues, and return +after the soiree that I shall attend with the Duchess of Berry." + +This soiree is a concert given by the Duchess at the Tuileries. The +music is but little heard. The incidents of the review are the subject +of all conversation. The courtiers wonder whether, to please the King, +they should take a dark or a rose-colored view of things. The optimists +and pessimists exchange impressions. Charles X. seems to lean to the +former. "Apparently," he says, with his habitual bonhomie, "my bad ear +has done me a friendly service, and I am glad of it, for I protest I +heard no insults." Plainly it costs the sovereign pain to dismiss the +National Guard. It gave him so brilliant a welcome in 1814. He was its +generalissimo under the reign of Louis XVIII. He has liked to wear its +uniform, the blue coat with broad fringes of silver that becomes him so +well. But the ministers, except the Duke of Doudeauville and M. de +Chabrol, pronounce strongly in favor of disbandment. Their idea +prevails. After the concert Charles X. signs the decree, which appears +in the Moniteur on the morrow, and is enforced without resistance. "The +King can do anything!" cries the Duke de Riviere, with enthusiasm; and +May 6th M. de Villele addresses to the Prince de Polignac, then +ambassador at London, a letter in which he says: "The dissolution of +the National Guard has been a complete success; the bad have been +confounded by it, the good encouraged. Paris has never been more calm +than since this act of severity, justice, and vigor." The monarchy +thinks itself saved; it is lost. + + + + +XXI + +THE FIRST DISQUIETUDE + + +There were still great illusions among those about Charles X., and the +Duchess of Berry had not for a single instant an idea that the rights +of her son could be compromised. They persuaded themselves that the +Opposition would remain dynastic and that the severest crises would end +only in a change of ministry. Nevertheless, even at the court, the more +thoughtful began to be anxious, and perceived many dark points on the +horizon. Certain royalists, enlightened by experience of the Emigration +and Exile, had a presentiment that the Restoration would be for them +only a halt in the long way of catastrophes and sorrow. They mourned +the optimist tranquillity in which some of the courtiers succeeded in +lulling the King. There were courageous and faithful servitors who, at +the risk of displeasing their master and losing his good graces, did +not recoil from the sad obligation of telling him the whole truth. From +the beginning of his reign, Charles X. heard useful warnings, and later +he blamed himself for not having listened better to them. This justice, +however, must be done him, that if he had not the wisdom to profit by +such counsels, he never was offended at the men of heart who dared to +give them to him. + +In this number was the Viscount Sosthenes de La Rochefoucauld, son of +the Duke of Doudeauville, son-in-law of Mathieu de Montmorency, charged +with the department of the fine arts, at the ministry of the King's +household. In publishing the reports addressed by him to Charles X. +from his accession to the Revolution of 1830, he writes:-- + +"These are respectful and tender warnings of which too little account +was taken, and which might have saved the King and France. I put them +down here with the gloomy predictions contained in them, which have +been only too completely realized. They are not prophecies after the +event. We saw in advance the misfortunes of the King, the fall of the +monarchy, the ruin of legitimacy. Each page, then each line, and soon +every word of this part of my Memoirs will be a cry of alarm: 'God save +the King!' Alas! He has not saved him. One is always wrong if one +cannot get a hearing and make one's self believed. It is then, with no +pride in my previsions, but with bitter regret, that I could not get +them accepted, that I recall this long monologue addressed to Charles +X." + +From the beginning of the reign, as he foresaw that one day the Chamber +would sign the Address of the 221, and that M. Laffitte would be the +banker of the revolution of July, the Viscount wrote to the sovereign +in December, 1824:-- + +"The King has two things to combat for the glory and strength of his +rule, the encroachments of the Chamber of Deputies, and the power of +money in Europe. Four bankers could to-day decide war, if such was +their pleasure. Sovereigns cannot seek too earnestly to free themselves +from the sceptre which is rising above their own. The triumph of +moneyed men will blight the character and the morals of France." + +M. de La Rochefoucauld added (report of January 31, 1825) this +prediction, which shows to what length his frankness went in his loyal +explanations with his King:-- + +"We are between two rocks, equally dangerous: revolution with the Duke +of Orleans, and ultraism with the good Polignac. The by-word now is: +'These princes will end like the Stuarts.' Madame de--, who is +agitating against the laws now under discussion, has said: 'Yes, it's +the second throne of the Stuarts.' The Left compare the Archbishop of +Rheims to Father Peters, the restless and ambitious confessor of King +James. It is not easy for me to write thus to the King, and I have +assumed a hard task in promising myself to conceal nothing from him. +Sometimes my heart is oppressed and my hand stops; but I question my +conscience, which seems troubled, and the indispensable necessity of +telling all to the King, that he may judge in his wisdom, decides me to +go on." + +How many sagacious warnings given by the brave courtier, or, better, by +the faithful friend, during the year 1825, the year of the coronation: +"The good Madame de M-- of the Sacred Heart was saying the other day: +'We had a King with no limbs, and with a head; now we have limbs and no +head.' It is unheard of, the trouble taken in certain circles to make +out that the King has no will. The future must give to all a complete +refutation; the future must teach them that the King knows how to +distinguish those that betray from those that serve him." (Report of +March 1, 1825). "Does the King wish to run the chances of a complete +overturning by throwing himself into the hands of the ultras? That +would be to fall again under the blows of the Revolution, which counts +on these to push the monarchy into the abyss always held open at its +side." + +From 1825, criticism of the King began. He was accused of giving +himself up too much to the pleasures of the chase. The time was +approaching when his enemies would say of him--a cruel play on words: +"He's good for nothing but to hunt," and would translate the four +letters over the doors of houses M. A. C. L. (Maison Assuree Contre +l'Incendie) by this phrase: Mes Amis, Chassons-le. + +The 17th of June, 1825, M. de La Rochefoucauld wrote:-- + +"I must tell all to the King. I have prevented the giving of a play at +the Odeon called Robin des Bois (Robin Hood), because it is a nickname +criminally given by the people to him whom they accuse of hunting too +often, an accusation very unjust in the eyes of those who know that +never did a prince work more than he to whom allusion is made. When the +King takes this distraction so necessary to him, why hasten to make it +known to the public? All news comes from the Chateau, and the +Constitutionnel and the Quotidienne are always the best informed." + +He returned to the same subject October 6:-- + +"I am in despair at seeing the journals recounting hunt after hunt. I +know the effect that produces. I wanted to get at the source of these +mischievous reports, and M-- communicated to me confidentially that +these reports came to him from the court, and at such length that he +always cut them down three-fourths. In this case, it is for the King to +give orders." + +Let us put beside this report the following passage from the Memoirs of +the Duke of Doudeauville:-- + +"I must justify Charles X. in this passion for the chase, so bitterly +laid up against him in that time when malice and bad faith seized on +everything that could injure him. Five whole days every week he +remained in his apartment, busy with affairs of state, working with the +ministers, examining by himself their different reports with a +sensitive heart, much soul, and more intellect than had been believed; +he had much reason and a very sound judgment. We were often astonished +at it in the Council, over which he presided, and which he prolonged +two, three, four, and five hours, without permitting himself the least +distraction or showing any sign of weariness. Often, in the most +difficult discussions, he would open up an opinion that no one had +conceived, and which, full of sagacity, smoothed every difficulty. + +"Twice a week, and often only once, when the weather permitted, he went +hunting, perhaps gunning, perhaps coursing. It will be conceded that it +was a necessary exercise after such assiduous toil and occupations so +sedentary. + +"I certify that this was the extent of the hunting of which calumny, to +ruin him, made a crime. Every time he went hunting, the Opposition +journals did not fail to announce it, which persuaded nearly all France +that he passed all his time in the distractions of this amusement." + +The tide of detraction of the sovereign steadily rose. The Viscount de +La Rochefoucauld perceived it clearly. He wrote to the King, 13th +October, 1825:-- + +"The interior of France, as regards commerce, agriculture, industry, +wealth, offers a most striking spectacle. Let Charles X., as King and +father, rejoice in his work; but let him reflect that the lightest +sleep would be followed by a terrible awakening." + +The 12th of January, 1826, when his father-in-law, the Duke Mathieu de +Montmorency, had just been named governor to the Duke of Bordeaux, M. +de La Rochefoucauld again wrote to the King:-- + +"Shall I thank the King for the nomination of M. de Montmorency? Six +months ago, it would have been useful. To-day, it is merely good. But +alas, how far is that interesting Prince from the crown! and what +shocks and revolutions he must traverse first. If ever--God watch over +France; the Orleans are making frightful progress." + +The signs of the coming storm accumulated in the most alarming manner. +Read this other report of the Viscount de La Rochefoucauld (August 8, +1826):-- + +"Indifference to religion, hatred of the priests, were the symptoms of +the Revolution. God grant that the same things do not bring the same +results. The unfortunate priests no longer dare to go through the +streets; they are everywhere insulted. Three days since, a well-dressed +man, passing by the sentinel of the Luxembourg said to him, pointing to +a priest: 'Never mind; in a year you'll see no more of all these +wretches.' The poor Cure of Clichy was in real danger, surrounded by +two or three hundred madmen, who cried; 'Down with the black-hats!' +Every day there is a scene of the same sort." + +The popularity of Charles X., so great at the beginning of his reign, +was dwindling every day at Paris. M. de La Rochefoucauld did not fear +to declare it to him. + +"By what inconceivable fatality is it," he wrote, February 6, 1827, +"that the king amid all the care he takes to ensure the happiness of +his people, is losing from day to day in their love and affection? At +the play--and it is there, to use an expression of Napoleon, that the +pulse of public opinion is to be felt--the most seditious and hostile +allusions are eagerly caught up. Saturday last, verses, of which the +sense was that kings who have lost the love of their people encounter +only silence and coldness, were greeted with triple applause and +furiously encored." + +The report of May 12,1827, was like an alarm bell: + +"Circumstances are so grave that the calmest minds betray fear +regarding them; there are now but one opinion and one feeling,--doubt +and fear. It is said openly, as eight years since: This branch cannot +keep the crown; it is impossible; who will succeed it? How many things, +great Heavens, done in eight years; how many things forgotten!" + +Exposed to an outpouring of enmities and of incessant intrigues, taken +between two fires,--the extreme Right and the Left,--M. de Villele no +longer had the strength to govern. His ministry was about to come to an +end. Later, in retracing in his journal this phase of his career, he +wrote:-- + +"All that took place was of a feebleness destructive of all government, +and disheartening for him who bears all the responsibility for it, with +the weight of affairs besides. But he was not, and did not pretend to +be, the Cardinal Richelieu. He had not his character, nor his ambition, +nor his superior gifts. He did not even envy them. Had he been quite +different in this regard, to repress and annul his king, to oppress the +daughter of Louis XVI. and the widow of the Duke of Berry, to exile +from France the new Gaston d'Orleans, and his numerous family, to bring +down the heads of the court pygmies,--more dangerous, perhaps, with +their influence over the King and his family and their vexatious +intrigues in the Court of Peers than the Montmorencys and the +Cinq-Mars,--this was a rele to which he never aspired and would not +have accepted." + +Charles X. sacrificed M. de Villele, who, however, had his sympathy, +and replaced him with a liberal minister, perhaps with a mental +reservation as to a ministry, before long, from the extreme Right. The +retiring minister wished to remain in the Chamber of Deputies, to +defend his acts. For their part, his successors, fearing his influence +in that body, wished his transfer to the Chamber of Peers, where, in +their judgment, he would be less dangerous. At the last Council of +Ministers attended by M. de Villele, the King passed to him a note in +pencil, announcing that he had called him to the peerage. The statesman +declined, in a note also in pencil. "You wish then to impose yourself +upon me as minister?" wrote the King once more. M. de Villele appeared +moved, and passed to the sovereign this response: "The King well knows +the contrary; but since he can write it, let him do with me what he +will." The next day the Martignac ministry entered on its duties, and +the Duchess of Angoule'me said to Charles X.: "It is true, then, that +you are letting Villele go? My father, you descend to-day the first +step of the throne." + + + + +XXII + +THE MARTIGNAC MINISTRY + + +Mde. Martignac, who succeeded M. de Villele in the Ministry of the +Interior, was a man of merit, honest, liberal, and sincerely devoted to +the King. Born in 1776, at Bordeaux, he was at first an advocate at the +bar of that city, and at the same time made himself known by some witty +vaudevilles. On the return of the Bourbons, he entered the magistracy, +became procureur-general at Limoges, was elected a deputy in 1821, and +distinguished himself in the tribune. He was Minister of the Interior +from January, 1828, to August, 1829, and his name was given to the +ministry of which he was a member. He had for colleagues enlightened +and moderate men, such as Count Auguste de La Ferronnays, M. Roy, Count +Portalis. He tried to reconcile the different parties, and to preserve +the throne from the double danger of reaction and revolution. Taken +between two fires, the extreme Right and the extreme Left, he was +destined to fail in his generous effort. + +The royalist sentiment was becoming constantly more feeble. The 24th of +January, 1828, some days after the formation of the Martignac ministry, +the Viscount Sosthenes de La Rochefoucauld wrote, in a report to the +King:-- + +"In going to Saint-Denis, the 21st of January (the anniversary of the +death of Louis XVI.), and seeing the lightness with which the court +itself conducted itself there, it was impossible for me not to make +many reflections on the futility of an age in which no memory is +sacred. And by what right can the people be asked to have a better +memory when such an example is given to them? No cortege, no coaches +draped, none of the pomp that strikes the imagination and the eye. Some +isolated carriages, passing rapidly over the route, as if every one +longed to be more promptly rid of whatever is grave and mournful in +this day of cruel memory." + +The ultras were thinking much less of the real interests of the +monarchy than of their own spites and their personal ambitions. + +These pretended supports of the throne were digging the abyss in which +the throne was to be swallowed up. Charles X., blinded, was already +thinking of calling the Prince de Polignac to power, and regarded the +Martignac ministry as a provisional expedient. To the despair of the +members of this ministry, he maintained relations with M. de Villele, +whose fall he regretted. After the opening of the session, he wrote to +his former minister, February 6, 1828:-- + +"What do you think of my discourse? I did my best; but as it was a +success with some persons of doubtful opinions, I am afraid that it is +not worth much. Everything appears to me so confused, that I know not +what to count upon. The eulogies of the Debats and the Constitutionnel +make me fear I have said stupid things. Yet I hope not, and I shall +continue to arrest with firmness what may lead to dangerous +concessions." + +On the other hand, if there were among the liberals some sincere and +well-intentioned men, who meant to remain faithful alike to the throne +and the Charter, there were others who already masked treachery under +the appearance of devotion to the King. Those who two years later were +to boast of having labored during the entire restoration for the ruin +of the elder branch,--actors in the comedy of fifteen years, as they +called themselves,--gave themselves out, in 1828, as partisans and +enthusiastic admirers of Charles X. At the commencement of the session +a deputy of the Left, having affected to say in the tribune that the +King had not a single enemy, the Right permitted itself some +exclamations of doubt. One of its members, M. de Marinhac, cried: "As a +good prince I believe that His Majesty has no enemies, but as King, he +has many, and I know them," added he, looking at his opponents. The +entire Left was indignant, and caused the orator to be called to order. +M. Dupin thanked the president, and said in an agitated voice: "It is a +calumny, an insult, that we cannot endure. Nothing wounds us more than +to hear ourselves accused of being the enemies of him whom we adore, +cherish, bless." + +The tactics of the Opposition were to flatter the King, but to disarm +him and to make him look on those who were really revolutionists as +ministerialists. M. de Martignac was a man of good faith, but many who +boasted of supporting him were not so, and perhaps M. de Villele was +right when he wrote to Charles X. in June, 1828:-- + +"I could serve Your Majesty only with the light and the character God +has given me. It would have been, it would be, impossible for me to +believe that authority can be maintained by concessions and by leaning +on those who wish to overthrow it." + +Meanwhile there were still some fine days for the old King. His journey +in the departments of the east, in 1828, was a continual ovation that +recalled to him the enthusiasm of the beginning of his reign. Setting +out from Saint Cloud the 31st of August, he arrived at Metz the 3d of +September. All the houses of this great military city were hung with +the white flag adorned with fleurs-de-lis. After having visited some of +the fortifications, Charles X., following the ramparts, came to an +elegant pavilion erected on the site of the ancient citadel. Long +covered seats were arranged for the ladies of the city; a prodigious +number of spectators occupied the ramparts. In the presence of the +sovereign a regiment made a simulated attack on a "demi-lune" and a +bastion. + +On September 6, Saverne arranged a very picturesque reception for the +King. All the cantons and all the communes sent thither, together with +their mayors and their richest farmers, their prettiest village girls +in Alsatian costume. Five hundred peasants, clad in red vest and long +black coat, the head covered with a great hat turned up on one side, a +white ribbon tied about the left arm, were on horseback at the place of +meeting. The young girls, bearing flags and garlands, were brought in +wagons, each containing a dozen or sixteen. In other wagons were the +musicians. The pretty Alsaciennes presented the monarch with a basket +of flowers; then he breakfasted with the authorities, and, at a signal, +fires were lighted at the same time on the plain and on the surrounding +mountains. + +The 7th of September, Charles X. entered Strasbourg in triumph. At a +league from the city, on a height from which it was to be seen, and +whence the wooded hills of the Black Forest were visible, he was +awaited by a crowd of young girls in Alsatian costume, in three hundred +wagons, with four or six horses to each. There were also twelve hundred +horsemen, divided into squadrons, the mayors with their scarfs at their +head and carrying the fleur-de-lis standards. The royal cortege passed, +under arbors of verdure and flowers, amid this long file of vehicles +and horsemen, who escorted it to the walls of Strasbourg. Delighted +with the enthusiasm of which he was the object, the sovereign proceeded +to the Cathedral, where a te deum was sung. In the evening the spire of +this marvellous church was illuminated: it was like a pyramid of stars. + +The King of Wurtemberg, the Grand Duke of Baden, and his three brothers +came to greet the King of France in the capital of Alsace. He showed +them at the arsenal sixteen hundred pieces of ordnance on their +carriages, and arms sufficient for a hundred thousand men. + +"Sire, and gentlemen," he said with a smile, in which kingly pride +mingled with perfect urbanity, "I have nothing to conceal from you. +This is something I can show to my friends as to my enemies." + +Yes, France was great then, and no one could have predicted for Alsace +the fate reserved for her forty-two years later. The army was the +admiration of Europe. The navy had just recaptured at Navarino the +prestige and power of the time of Louis XVI. Charles X. said to Mr. +Hyde de Neuville:-- + +"France, when a noble design is involved, takes counsel only with +herself. Thus whether England wishes or not, we shall free Greece. +Continue the armaments with the same activity. I shall not pause in the +path of humanity and honor." + +And at the moment when the very Christian King was greeted by the +German Princes in the Alsatian capital, his victorious troops were +completing in the Morea the enfranchisement of Greece. + +Charles X. returned by Colmar, Luneville, Nancy, and Champagne. At +Troyes he found himself surrounded by all the liberal deputies, and he +decorated Casimir PErier. Everywhere he had an enthusiastic welcome. On +his return to Saint Cloud he was warmly congratulated by all his court. +Nevertheless, as the Duchess of Gontaut said to him:-- + +"Sire, you must be happy."--"What do cheers signify?" he answered, not +without sadness. "These demonstrations, all superficial, should not +dazzle--a friendly gesture of the hand, a prince's, a king's, +expression of satisfaction will obtain them." + +Despite this philosophic reflection, Charles X. was triumphant. If his +ministers wished to credit their liberal policy with the ovations he +had received in the east, he called their attention to the fact that he +had been not less well received the year before under the Villele +ministry at the time of his visit to the camp of Saint Omer. In the +enthusiasm manifested by the people, he saw an homage to the +monarchical principle, not to the policy of one or another ministry. + +"You hear these people. Do they shout hurrah for the Charter? No, they +cry long live the King!" Still confident of the future, he wished to +persuade himself that the obstacles piled up before his dynasty were +but clouds that a favorable wind would scatter soon. "Ah, Monsieur de +Martignac," he cried, with deep joy, "what a nation! what should we not +do for it!" + +At the moment that Charles X. traversed the provinces of the east in +triumph, the Duchess of Berry was making in the west a journey not less +brilliant than that of the sovereign. + + + + +XXIII + +THE JOURNEY IN THE WEST + + +Never was a princely journey more triumphal than that of the Duchess of +Berry in the provinces of the west in 1828. Madame, who left Paris June +16, returned there October 1, and there was not a day in these three +months that she was not the object of enthusiastic ovations. In a book +of nearly six hundred pages, Viscount Walsh has described, with the +fidelity of a Dangeau, this journey in which the mother of the Duke of +Bordeaux was treated like a queen of a fairy tale. + +The 16th of June, the Princess slept at Rambouillet, where two years +later such cruel trials were to come to her. The 18th, she visited +Chambord, where she was received by Count Adrien de Calonne, the author +of the project of the subscription, thanks to which this historic +chateau became the property of the Duke of Bordeaux. + +In the face of the wind, which was blowing with force, Madame ascended +to the highest point of the chateau, the platform of the lantern called +Fleur-de-Lis at the end of the famous double balustered staircase. From +there her glance wandered over the vast extent of the park, with a +circumference of eight leagues, and enclosing, besides six or seven +thousand acres of woodland, twenty-three farms, whose buildings, +cultivated fields, and scattered flocks, animated the view in all +directions. On descending, she said: "I should like to mark my name +here; I shall love to see it again when I come to visit the Duke of +Bordeaux." And with a stiletto she cut these words: "18th June--Marie +Caroline." Some young girls presented her with lambs white as snow, +decorated with green and white ribbons, and with a tame roe, on whose +collar was engraved: "Homage of the people of Chambord." The same day +she paid visits at their chateaux to Marshal Victor, Duke of Bellune, +and to the Duke d'Avaray. In the evening she returned to Blois. Madame +left there the 19th of June, after examining the Salle des Etats, the +room in which the Duke of Guise was assassinated, and the tower where +Catharine de' Medici used to consult the astrologers. The 20th, she +attended at Saumur a brilliant tournament given in her honor by the +Cavalry School. The 21st, she entered Angers amid shouts and cheers. +The 22d, she visited the chateau of Count Walsh de Serrant. Her +carriage passed under vaults of verdure adorned with flowers and +banners. + +The Princess arrived the same day at Saint Florent, which, in 1793, had +given the signal for the war of the Vendee, and where the Vendean army +had effected the famous passage of the Loire, comparable to that of the +Berezina. There the aged witnesses of the struggles described by +Napoleon as "a war of giants," had assembled near the tomb of Bonchamp +to await the Duchess of Berry. All the neighboring heights were +bristling with white flags. From afar they were seen fluttering on the +church-towers, on the chateaux, over cottages, on isolated trees. They +were to be seen even above the graves in the cemeteries. A son had +said: "My father died for the white flag; let us plant it on his grave; +the dead should rejoice, for Madame comes to honor their fidelity." The +example was followed, and the tombs bore the rallying sign of those who +rested there. When on the borders of the Loire, the Princess paused a +moment, struck with the majesty of the scene. The cannon mingled their +noble voices with the acclamations of fifteen thousand Vendedans. The +stream was covered with a swarm of boats, dressed with flags. A +magnificent sun lighted up this fete. + +It was ten o'clock when Madame arrived at Milleraye, opposite Saint +Florent. It was there that General de Bonchamp, one of the heroes of +the Vendee, had given up his soul to God. The cottage where the +soldiers had laid him to die was shown. His widow awaited the Duchess +of Berry. What contrast between the festivity of Saint Florent and the +consternation of the days of grief and misfortune, when, in October, +1793, its people fled to the right bank of the Loire, leaving their +houses a prey to the flames! The cries of distress and despair which +sounded along the banks of the stream in that fatal year, were now +replaced by shouts of joy. Madame embarked amid cheers. Her boat was +escorted by a great number of others, six of which contained Vendeans +bearing flags torn by bullets in the battles of Fontenay and of Torfou, +of Laval, and of Dol. Grouped on the hill-slopes of Saint Florent, more +than fifteen thousand spectators followed with their gaze the flotilla, +in the midst of which they saw the Duchess of Berry, standing, visibly +agitated. She landed upon the plateau of Saint Florent, and ascended on +foot the hill that led to it. When she reached the summit, she found +herself in the midst of a camp of five thousand Vendean soldiers who +had taken part in the war of 1793 or in the arming of 1815. There it +was that Cathelineau, as in the time of the crusades, cried: "It is +God's will. Let us march!"--"Oh, what a people!" said the Princess. +"What fine and honest faces! What an accent in their cries of 'Long +live the King!' Yes, plainly they love us." She proceeded to the church +of Saint Florent, where, kneeling beneath a canopy, she heard Mass. She +regarded with attention the tomb of Bonchamp, and said, as she beheld +his statue: "He looks as if he were still commanding." + +On leaving the church, she went to see the place where Bonchamp is +buried, and, under a tent, partook of a repast offered her by the +Countess d'Autichamp. She had recounted to her in detail the celebrated +passage of the Loire, the disastrous period when all the city of Saint +Florent was burned by order of the Convention, and the only house left +standing was the one occupied by the republican General LEchelle as his +headquarters. + +At three o'clock in the afternoon, Madame embarked anew on the +steamboat awaiting her at the point of Varades, and proceeded in this +way to Nantes. The inhabitants from the two banks of the stream greeted +her upon her passage. The red aprons and white caps of the women +contrasted, in the landscape, with the sombre, costume of the men. That +she might be better recognized by the crowd, the Princess, clad in a +simple robe of brown silk, with a long chain of gold at the neck, +separated herself from her suite, mounted to the highest point on the +boat, and greeted with voice and gesture all these faithful people. The +men waved banners and standards. The women raised their little children +in their arms and said: "Look at her well; it's the mother of the Duke +of Bordeaux." + +The people seemed to walk upon the water to get a nearer view of +Madame. Not a rock pushing out into the stream that was not occupied. +Where the Loire was too wide for the features of the Princess to be +seen from the shore, the dwellers on the banks had, so to speak, +brought them together, by forming in the middle of the stream streets +of boats, with their flags and their triumphal arches. At a league from +Saint Florent a rock juts into the water of the Loire. Here was an aged +Vendean, all alone, his white hair fluttering in the wind. Erect upon +the rock, he was holding a white flag, and at his feet was a dog. It +was, according to the Moniteur, a symbol of faithful Vendee. + +The same day, June 22, at seven in the evening, the Princess reached +Nantes. She passed on foot from the Port Maillard to the Prefecture, +and had difficulty in getting through the innumerable multitude. The +next day she was at Savenay, where, on leaving the church, she paused +to contemplate the monument raised to the memory of the victims of the +battle of the 23d of September, 1793. The 24th, she went to Saint Anne +d'Auray, a pilgrimage venerated throughout all Brittany, and visited +the Champ des Martyrs, the little plain where thirty-three years +before, the EMIGRES taken at Quiberon had been shot, despite their +capitulation. When Madame appeared on the consecrated field, the crowd +cheered her, then became still, and amid solemn silence, sang the de +Profundis. + +The 25th, the Princess was at Lorient, and there laid the corner-stone +of the monument erected to Bisson, the lieutenant of the navy who, in +the Greek expedition, October, 1827, being charged with the command of +a brig taken from the Turks by Admiral de Rigny's fleet, blew up the +vessel, with the crew, rather than surrender. After visiting Rennes, +she returned to Nantes, the 28th of June. A triumphal arch had been +constructed on the Place des Changes, with this inscription: "Lilies +for our Bourbons. Laurels for Henry. Roses for Louise." The flower and +fruit girls had written on their arch of verdure: "Our flowers, our +fruits, our hearts, are Madame's." The 29th, the Duchess attended a +magnificent ball given by the city. The next day she visited the +Trappist Convent at Melleray. It was difficult to persuade her to go +away. "Where shall I find more happiness than here?" she said. +"Elsewhere there are pleasures and distractions, but none here. Since I +make them happy, I would remain; and I am very well pleased." + +The 30th, at evening, Madame arrived at Tremiciniere, at the house of +the Countess de Charette, the sister-in-law of the famous Vendean +chief. July 1, she entered Bocage. From there no more wide roads, no +more cities of easy approach; bad ways, long distances without relays, +obstacles of all sorts. Clad in a green riding-habit, with a gray felt +hat and a gauze veil, Madame galloped between Madame de la +Rochejaquelein and Madame de Charette. At her arrival at Saint Hilaire, +the Marquis de Foresta, Prefect of La Vendec, said to her: "Madame does +not like phrases; La Vendee does not make them; it has but one +sentiment and one cry to express it: Long live the King! Long live +Madame! Forever live the Bourbons!" + +The peasants never wearied of admiring her intrepidity. When her horse, +excited by the cries and the beating of the drums, pranced and reared, +they were heard to say: "Oh! the brave little woman; she is not +frightened." A villager exclaimed: "I have never regretted my old +father so much as today; one day like this would have repaid him for +all the hardships he suffered." + +Madame passed the night at the Chateau of Lagrange, the property of the +Marquis de Goulaine. On entering her chamber she found by her bed a +night-lamp, with this motto: "Rest tranquilly; La Vendee is watching." + +On the 3d of July, she visited the Champ des Mattes, where in 1815 the +Marquis Louis de La Rochejaquelein was killed at the head of the +Vendeans in insurrection against Napoleon. The same day she was at +Bourbon-Vendee. The 5th of July, at the crossing of the Quatre Chemins, +in sight of the roads from Nantes, from Bourbon, from Saumur, and from +La Rochelle, she laid the first stone of a monument to perpetuate the +memory of the Vendean victories. She returned afterward to the Chateau +de Mesnard, the property of her first equerry, the one who traced so +well the itinerary of her journey. All the inhabitants of the bourg of +Mesnard had taken part in the great Vendean war, and, their cure at +their head, marched as far as Granville. The mother of the first +equerry, then a widow, and whose two sons were in the army of Conde, +had followed her former peasants, with her daughter, and died at +Lagrande at the time of the disastrous retreat. Madame de la +Rochejaquelein, in her Memoirs, speaks of the sad state in which she +saw her. In memory of so much devotion, Madame wished to open a bal +champetre with a veteran of the bourg of Mesnard. + +That night the Princess slept at the Chateau of Landebaudiere, +belonging to Count Auguste de La Rochejaquelein. Everywhere the +villagers came to the gates of the chateaux to enlist in their joys as +formerly they had enlisted in their combats,--Lescure, La +Rochejaquelein, d'Elbee, Charette. The 6th, Madame visited the field of +the battle of Torfou. A former officer of the army of La Vendee, noting +that she wore a green riding-habit, said to her: "We were always +attached to our uniform, but we cherish it more than ever to-day, when +we see that we wear the colors of Madame."--"Gentlemen," replied the +Princess, "I have adopted your uniform." She breakfasted in the open +air, amid the Vendeans under arms. + +Madame continued her journey on horseback. Nothing could stop her, +neither oppressive heat nor rain-storms. When she was spoken to of her +fatigues, "It is only fair," she responded, "that I should give myself +a little trouble to make the acquaintance of those who have shed their +blood for us." Most of the time she took her repast in the open air. +The peasants strolled around the table and fired salutes with their old +muskets; for in Vendee there is no fete without powder. Then to the +sound of the biniou and of the veze they moved in joyous dances in +which the daughter of kings did not disdain to take part. On entering +every village she was greeted by the cures of the parish and the +neighboring parishes. Nearly all were old soldiers whose hands had +borne the sword before carrying the cross. + +Near the boundaries of the department of La Loire-Inferieure Madame +alighted. "Here is a farm," she said; "let us knock and ask for some +milk." The doors were not closed. On entering the room of the +farm-wife,--who was absent,--the Princess found only a very little +infant asleep and swaddled in a cradle. Then she seated herself on a +stool, and after the fashion of the country, set herself to rocking, +with her foot, the babe of the poor peasant-woman. The 6th of July, at +nine in the evening, she reached Beaupreau. The city, built in the form +of an amphitheatre, was illuminated; an immense bonfire had been +lighted. The next day Madame laid the corner-stone of a monument in +honor of d'Elbee, and saluted at Pinen-Mauges, the statue of +Cathelineau. The 8th of July, she was at the Chateau of Maulevrier, +whose owner, M. de Colbert, had erected a monument to the memory of +Stofflet, the heroic huntsman. The same day, at Saint Aubin, she laid +the first stone of another monument raised to the four heroes of La +Vendee,--Dornissan, Lescure, Henry and Louis de La Rochejaquelein. + +The 10th of July, the Princess was at Lucon, the 11th at La Rochelle, +the 12th at Rochefort, the 13th at Blaye, the 14th at Bordeaux. The +"faithful city," as the capital of the Gironde was then named, +distinguished itself by its enthusiasm. A little girl of eight years, +Mademoiselle du Hamel, surrounded by her young companions, daughters of +members of the municipal government read a welcome to the mother of the +Duke of Bordeaux as follows:-- + +"Madame, while our fathers have the honor to offer you their hearts and +their arms, permit us, children, to offer to you the flowers and the +prayers of innocence. In choosing me as their interpreter, my young +companions have doubtless wished to recall to you an angel who is dear +to you; but if alone of them all I have the fortune to count the same +number of years as Mademoiselle, we all rival each other in cherishing +you, we all repeat with an enthusiasm rendered purer and more simple by +our age, Long live the King! Long live Madame!" + +In the evening the "Mother of the Little Duke," as the Bordelais called +the Princess, went to the chief theatre, where she was received with +frenzied applause. The statue of the Duke of Bordeaux, supported by +soldiers under a canopy of flags, and crowned with laurels, was brought +to the front of the stage, while a cortege formed by a detachment of +troops of the line, and by all the company of the theatre, filed by, +military music resounded. Then a cantata was sung. + +On the morrow, at a grand ball offered to her by the city, Madame was +seated upon a platform that was surmounted by a fine portrait of her +son. Eight hundred women, crowned with white plumes, flowers, and +diamonds, cheered her. The 18th, she slept at Pau, the native place of +Henry IV. The mountaineers, descending from their heights, banner in +hand, with their Basque costumes, came to meet her. The next day she +visited the castle where was born the Bearnais, whose cradle, formed of +a great tortoise-shell, she saw: it was shaded by draperies and white +plumes. The following day she visited the environs. To descend into the +valley of Ossun, she donned the felt hat and the red sash worn by the +peasants of Bearn. As she was looking at the spring of Nays, a +mountaineer offered her some water in a rustic dish, and said naively: +"Are you pleased with the BEarnais, Madame?"--"Am I not pleased!" +replied the Princess, eagerly. "See, I wear the hat and sash of the +country!" + +The 24th, she was at the Ile des Faisans, famous in the souvenirs of +Louis XIV.; the 25th, at Bayonne, where she assisted at a military +fete. In all her excursions, Madame carried her pencils with her, and +almost every day sketched some picturesque site. Eight Bearnais, with +an amaranth belt and hats of white and green, served her as a guard of +honor. She passed all the month of August and a part of the month of +September in the Pyrenees. The mountaineers never wearied of admiring +the hardihood, the gaiety, the spirit, shown by her in making the most +difficult ascensions. The 9th of September, she quitted Bagneres-de +Luchon to return to Paris, passing through Toulouse, Montauban, Cahors, +Limoges, and Orleans. It was one long series of ovations. The 1st of +October, Madame returned to the Tuileries. She had been accompanied all +through her journey by the Marechale Duchess of Reggio, lady of honor; +by the Marchioness of Podenas, lady companion; and by Count de Mesnard, +first equerry. + +The Duchess of Berry returned enchanted. Could she suspect the +reception that awaited her, four years later, in the places where she +had just been the object of veritable worship? When she was received at +Nantes as a triumphant sovereign, could she believe that the time was +approaching when, in that same city, she would have hardly a stone on +which to lay her head and where she would seek a futile refuge in the +chimney-piece--mysterious hiding-place--of the house of the Demoiselles +Duguigny? At Blaye could she imagine that the citadel, hung with white +flags, whose cannon were fired in her honor, would so soon become her +prison? Poor Princess! She had taken seriously the protestations of +devotion and fidelity addressed to her everywhere. They asked her to +promise that if ever the rights of her son were denied, she would +defend them on the soil of La Vendee, and she had said to herself: "I +swear it." The journey of 1828 held the germ of the expedition of 1832. + + + + +XXIV + +THE MARY STUART BALL + + +No society in Europe was more agreeable and brilliant than that of the +Duchess of Berry. The fetes given by the Princess in the salons of the +Pavilion de Marsan at the Tuileries were marked by exceptional elegance +and good taste; the Petit Chateau, as her vivacious social staff was +called at that time, had an extraordinary brightness and animation. At +the carnival of 1829 Madame organized a costume ball, which, for its +brilliancy, was the talk of the court and the city. All the costumes +were those of one period,--that at which the dowager queen of Scotland, +Marie of Lorraine, widow of James V., came to France to visit her +daughter, Mary Stuart, wife of the King, Francis II. It was decided +that Mary Stuart should be represented by the Duchess of Berry, and the +King, Francis II., by the oldest of the sons of the Duke of Orleans, +the Duke of Chartres, who was then eighteen and one-half years old, and +who was, the next year, to take the title of Duke of Orleans, on the +accession of his father to the throne. The apartments of the Children +of France in the Pavilion de Marsan were chosen for the ball, and the +date was fixed at Monday, March 2, 1829. + +The King, the Dauphin and Dauphiness, the Duke and Duchess of Orleans, +appeared at the fete, but not in costume. Charles X. came after the +hour of giving out the general orders. The Dauphin, the Dauphiness, and +the Duke of Orleans arrived at 8 P.M. The entry of the four queens, +Mary Stuart, Marie of Lorraine, Catharine de' Medici, Jeanne d'Albret, +was announced by the band of the bodyguards which preceded them. The +cortege was magnificent, the costumes of the princes and their ladies +resplendent. To increase its richness, the Dauphiness had lent not only +her own jewels, but a part of those of the crown. The invited guests +not taking part in the cortege occupied places already assigned them. +They wore a uniform costume of silver gauze and white satin. This +coolness of tone produced a charming effect when at the arrival of the +cortege all rose. In the ball-room a platform had been prepared with a +throne for Mary Stuart. The Duchess of Berry, as the famous queen, wore +with great grace a dazzling toilet--crown of diamonds, high collar, +blue velvet robe with wide sleeves, front of white satin bordered with +ermine. The Duke of Chartres, a handsome boy and brilliant cavalier, as +King Francis II., wore a cap with white plumes, and a dark blue velvet +doublet with ornaments of gold. His brother, the Duke of Nemours, +fourteen years old, was in the character of a page to the King, with a +white satin doublet, and recalled in his features the youth of Henry +IV. The Duchess of Berry, playing to perfection her role of queen, +advanced to the throne. The Duke of Chartres gave her his hand to +ascend the steps. Then she made a sign to be seated; but the young +Prince remained standing. Placing himself behind the throne, and +removing his cap with white plumes, he bowed low and said: "Madame, I +know my place." The Duchess of Gontaut spoke to the Duchess of Orleans, +and asked her if she had remarked the tact of her son the Prince. "I +remarked it," replied the Princess, "and I approve of it." + +The ball commenced. There was present a great Scotch lord, the Marquis +of Huntley, who belonged to a very illustrious Jacobite house. In his +youth he had been what was then called a beau danseur, and had had the +honor of opening a fancy dress ball at the Chateau of Versailles with +the Queen Marie Antoinette. Charles X. remembered it and wished that +the Marquis, then nearly eighty, should open the ball with little +Mademoiselle, who was but nine. Still a beau danseur, the old +Englishman had not forgotten the pirouettes of Versailles; all the +court admired, and the young princes were greatly amused. + +The ball was a marvellous success. It was a revival of the beautiful +fetes of the Renaissance. The sixteenth century, so elegant, so +picturesque, lived anew. A painter, who was then but twenty-nine, and +who had already a great vogue, M. Eugene Lamy, perpetuated its memory +in a series of twenty-six watercolors, which have been lithographed, +and form a curious album. (A copy of this album is in the National +Library, in the Cabinet of Engravings.) It contains, besides, four +water-colors, representing one, the ascent of the stairway of the +Pavilion de Marsan by the guests; another, Mary Stuart seated on the +throne; a third, one of the dances of the ball; a fourth, the entrance +of the Dowager Queen of Scotland twenty-two reproductions of the +principal personages at the fete. At the left are the arms of the +historic personages represented, and at the right those of the +representative. Then above the portrait of the Duchess of Berry there +are at the left the arms of Scotland and France, and at the right those +of France and the Two Sicilies, and above the portrait of the Duke of +Chartres at the left the arms of France, at the right the ducal blazon +of Orleans. + +Here are the names of the twenty-two persons who figure in the album of +M. Eugene Lamy, with the personages represented:-- + +1. The Duchess of Berry (Mary Stuart). + +2. The Duke of Chartres (Francis II.). + +3. The Duke de Nemours (a king's page). + +4. Lady Stuart de Rothsay (Marie de Lorraine). Daughter of Lord +Hardwicke, she was the wife of Lord Stuart de Rothsay, ambassador of +England at Paris. + +5. The Marquis of Douglas, since Duke of Hamilton (the Duke de +Chatellerault), a finished type of the great Scotch lord; he married in +1843 the Princess Mary of Baden, and under the reign of Napoleon III. +added to his titles of Hamilton and of Brandon in Scotland and England, +the title of Duke de Chatellerault, in France, which had formerly +belonged to the Hamilton family. + +6. The Marchioness of Podenas, NEE Nadaillac (Catharine de' Medici). +Lady companion of the Duchess of Berry, she was one of the brightest +women of the court. + +7. The Count de Pastoret, married to a de Neufermeil (Duke of Ferrara). + +8. The Marquis de Vogue (the Vidame de Chartres). Married to a +Mademoiselle de Machault d'Arnouville; his son was the diplomat who was +ambassador under the presidency of Thiers and of Marshal Macmahon. + +9. Count Ludovic de Rosanbo (Duke de Guise). He was one of the +handsomest men of his time. He had married the daughter of the Count de +Mesnard, lady companion to the Duchess of Berry. + +10. The Countess de La Rochejaquelein, daughter of the Duke de Duras (a +lady of honor to the Queen). She was honorary lady companion to the +Duchess of Berry. + +11. Miss Louise Stuart (a page to the Queen-Mother of Scotland). + +12. Miss Pole Carew (Mary Seaton, maid of honor to the same queen). + +13. The Count de Mailly (Rene de Mailly, officer of the guard to Mary +Stuart). The Count was the son of the Marshal de Mailly, defender of +the Tuileries on August 10, who paid for his devotion on the scaffold +of the Revolution. Aide-de-camp of the Duke of Bordeaux, and +lieutenant-colonel; he was a brilliant officer who had received +glorious wounds in the Russian campaign. He was married to a +Mademoiselle de Lonlay de Villepail. + +14. The Countess d'Orglandes, NEE Montblin, one of the prettiest women +of the court (Louise de Clermont-Tonnerre, Countess of Crussol). + +15. The Duchess de Caylus, NEE La Grange, a great beauty, remarried +afterwards to the Count de Rochemure (Diane de Poitiers). + +16. Mademoiselle de Bearn, a charming young girl, married afterwards to +the Duke of Vallombrosa, and dying so young and so regretted (a maid of +honor to Mary Stuart). + +17. Count de Mesnard, peer of France, field marshal, first equerry of +the Duchess of Berry, aide-de-camp of the Duke of Bordeaux (Admiral de +Coligny). + +18. Marquis de Louvois, peer of France, married to Mademoiselle de +Monaco (Count Gondi de Ritz). + +19. The Duke of Richelieu, nephew of the President of the Council of +Ministers of Louis XVIII. (Jacques d'Albon, Marshal of Saint Andre). + +20. The Baron de Charette (Francois de Lorraine). He had married a +daughter of the Duke of Berry and of Miss Brown. His son was the +general of the Papal Zouaves. + +21. Countess de Pastoret, NEE Neufermeil (the Duchess of Montpensier). + +22. The Countess Auguste de Juigne, NEE Durfort de Civrac (Jeanne +d'Albret). + +Among the pages were the Duke de Maille, who carried the banner of +France, and Count Maxence de Damas. + +Eugene Lamy, at the age of eighty-seven, exhibited in 1887 a charming +water-color, of which the subject was "A Ball under Henry III." He has +the same talent, the same brightness, the same freshness of coloring as +when, fifty-eight years before, he painted the water colors of the Mary +Stuart ball. The Duke de Nemours, one of the last survivors of the +guests of this ball, could recount its splendors. Even in the time of +the old regime no more elegant ball was ever seen. If such a fete had +been given in our time, the detailed accounts of it would fill the +papers; but under the Restoration the press was very sober in the +matter of "society news," and the dazzling ball of 1829 was hardly +mentioned. On the morrow, the Journal des Debats said:-- + +"PARIS, 2d of March. + +"The ball given at the Pavilion Marsan, in the apartments of the +Children of France, was honored by the presence of the King, M. the +Dauphin and Madame the Dauphiness. Mgr. the Duke of Orleans and his +family arrived at eight o'clock. + +"Tomorrow there will be a play at the Court Theatre; the actors of the +opera will play La Muette de Portici." + +Beside the persons who figure in the album of M. Eugene Lamy many +others were to be noted. Let us mention the Countess Hemi de Biron, the +Marchionness Oudinot, the Countess de Noailles, who represented +Margaret of Savoy, Claude Duchess of Lorraine, the Princess de Conde, +the Princess of Ferrara; the Count A. de Damas, as Lanoue Bras-de-Fer; +Monsieur de San Giacomo, as Francois de' Medici; the Countess de +Montault, as Countess de Coligny; the Marchioness de Montcalm, as the +Duchess de Bouillon; the flower of the English aristocracy,--Lady +Aldborough, Lady Rendlesham, Lady Cambermere, Lady Vernon, Lord +Ramlagh, Captain Drummond, Lord Forwich, Lord Abayne, Miss Caulfuld, +Miss Thelusson, Miss Baring, Miss Acton, and, lastly, the Counts de +Cosse de Biron, and de Brissac, representing the three marshals of +France whose names they bore. + +In donning the costume of the unfortunate queen whose sorrows could +only be compared to those of Marie Antoinette, the Duchess of Berry +proved how free her mind was from all gloomy presentiments, forgetting +that the family of the Bourbons had already had its Charles I., and not +foreseeing that it was soon to have its James II., the amiable Princess +hardly suspected that in the course of next year, she would be an exile +in Scotland in the castle of Mary Stuart. + + + + +XXV + +THE FINE ARTS + + +From 1824 to the end of the Restoration, the department of the Fine +Arts, connected with the ministry of the King's household, was confided +to the Viscount Sosthenes de la Rochefoucauld, son of the Duke de +Doudeauville. He was then at the head of the museums, the royal +manufactures, the Conservatory and the five royal theatres,--the Opera, +the Francois, the Odeon, the Opera-Comique, and the Italiens. + +From the point of view of arts and letters the reign of Charles X. was +illustrious. The King encouraged, protected, pensioned the greater +number of the great writers and artists who honored France. What is +sometimes called in literature the generation of 1830 would be more +exactly described as the generation of the Restoration. This regime can +claim the glory of Lamartine, as poet. A body-guard of Louis XVIII., he +was the singer of royalty. He published, in 1820, the first volume of +his Meditations Poetiques, in 1823 the second, and in 1829 the +Harmonies. His literary success opened to him the doors of diplomacy. +He was successively attache of the Legation at Florence, Secretary of +Embassy at Naples and at London, Charge d'Affaires in Tuscany. When the +Revolution of 1830 broke out, he had just been named Minister +Plenipotentiary to Greece. + +Victor Hugo published his Odes et Ballades from 1822 to 1828. "La +Vendee," "Les Vierges de Verdun," "Quiberon," "Louis XVII," "Le +Retablissement de la Statue de Henri IV.," "La Mort du due de Berry," +"La Naissance du duc de Bordeaux," "Les Funerailles de Louis XVIII.," +"Le Sacre de Charles X.," are true royalist songs. Alexandre Dumas, +FILS, in receiving M. Leconte de Lisle at the French Academy, recalled +"the light of that little lamp, seen burning every night in the mansard +of the Rue Dragon, at the window of the boy poet, poor, solitary, +indefatigable, enamoured of the ideal, hungry for glory, of that little +lamp, the silent and friendly confidant of his first works and his +first hopes so miraculously realized." Who knows? without the support +of the government of the Restoration the light of that little lamp +might less easily have developed into the resplendent star that the +author of La Dame aux Camelias indicated in the firmament. + +The author of Meditations Poetiques and the author of the Odes et +Ballades were sincere in the expression of their political and +religious enthusiasm. These two lyric apostles of the throne and the +altar, these two bards of the coronation, obeyed the double inspiration +of their imagination and their conscience. Party spirit should not be +too severe for a regime that suggested such admirable verses to the two +greatest French poets of the nineteenth century--to Lamartine and to +Victor Hugo. + +Let us recall also that in Victor Hugo it was not only the royalist +poet that Charles X. protected, it was also the chief of the romantic +school; for the government, despite all the efforts of the classicists, +caused Hernani to be represented at the Francais, a subsidized theatre. +When the Academy pressed its complaint to the very throne to prevent +the acceptance of the play, the King replied wittily that he claimed no +right in the matter beyond his place in the parterre. The first +representation of Hernani took place the 25th of February, 1830, and +the author, decorated, pensioned, encouraged by Charles X., did not +lose the royal favor, when, on the 9th of March following, he wrote in +the preface of his work: "Romanticism, so often ill-defined, is +nothing, taking it all in all--and this is its true definition, if only +its militant side be regarded--but liberalism in literature. The +principle of literary liberty, already understood by the thinking and +reading world, is not less completely adopted by that immense crowd, +eager for the pure emotions of art, that throngs the theatres of Paris +every night. That lofty and puissant voice of the people, which is like +that of God, writes that poetry henceforth shall have the same matter +as politics! Toleration and liberty!" + +The first representation of a work that was a great step forward for +the romantic school, Henri III et sa Cour, by Alexandre Dumas, had +already taken place at the Francais, February 11, 1829. The 30th of +March, 1830, the Odeon gave Christine de Suede, by the same author. + +In 1829, Alfred de Vigny had represented at the Francais his +translation in verse of Othello. It was from 1824 to 1826 that the poet +published his principal poems. It was in 1826 that his romance of +Cinq-Mars appeared. Victor Hugo published Les Orientates in 1829; +Alfred de Musset, Les Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie in 1830. It may be +said then that before the Revolution of 1830, romanticism had reached +its complete expansion. + +Note, also, that the government of Charles X. always respected the +independence of writers and artists, and never asked for eulogies in +exchange for the pensions and encouragement it accorded them with +generous delicacy. It named Michelet Maitre de Conferences at the Ecole +Normale in 1826. It pensioned Casimir Delavigne, so well known for his +liberal opinions, and Augustin Thierry, a writer of the Opposition, +when that great historian, having lost his eyesight, was without +resources. It ordered of Horace Vernet the portraits of the King, the +Duke of Berry, and the Duke of Angouleme, as well as a picture +representing a "Review by Charles X. at the Champ-de-Mars," and named +the painter of the battles of the Revolution and the Empire director of +the School of Rome. + +From the point of view of painting as well as of letters, the +Eestoration was a grand epoch. Official encouragement was not wanting +to the painters. Gros and Gerard received the title of Baron. There may +be seen to-day in one of the new halls of the French School at the +Louvre, the pretty picture by Heim, which represents Charles X. +distributing the prizes for the Exposition of 1824, where Le Vaeu de +Louis XIII. by Ingres had figured, and where the talent of Paul +Delaroche had been disclosed. In the Salon Carre of the Louvre, the +King, in the uniform of general-in-chief of the National Guards, blue +coat with plaits of silver, with the cordon of the Saint Esprit, and in +high boots, himself hands the cross of the Legion of Honor to the +decorated artists, among whom is seen Heim, the author of the picture. + +Ingres, chief of the Classic School, and Delacroix, chief of the +Romantic School, shone at the same time. In 1827, the first submitted +to general admiration l'Apotheose d'Homere and Le Martyre de Saint +Symphorien. The same year Delacroix, who had already given in 1824 Le +Massacre de Scio, in 1826 La Mort du Doge Mariano Faliero, exhibited LE +Christ au Jardin des Oliviers, acquired for the Church of Saint Paul; +Justinien,--for the Council of State; and La Mort de Sardanapale. + +When the Musee Charles X. (the Egyptian Museum) was opened at the +Louvre, the government ordered the frescoes and ceilings from Gros, +Gerard, Ingres, Schnetz, Abel de Pujol. M. Jules Mareschal says:-- + +"The right-royal munificence of Charles X. was not marked by +niggardliness in the appreciation of works of art any more than in the +appreciation of the works of science and letters. But, as is known, it +is not by interest alone that the heart of the artist is gained and his +zeal stimulated. They are far more sensitive to the esteem shown them, +to the respect with which their art is surrounded, and to the taste +manifested in the judgment of their productions. Now, who more than +Louis XVIII. and Charles X. possessed the secret of awakening lively +sympathy in the world of artists and men of letters? Who better than +their worthy counsellor seconded them in the impulses of generous +courtesy so common with them? Thus from this noble and gracious manner +of treating men devoted to art and letters, which marked the royal +administration of the Fine Arts under the Restoration, sprang an +emulation and a good will which on all sides gave an impetus to genius, +and brought forth the new talents." + +In theatrical matters, the Viscount Sosthenes de La Rochefoucauld +exercised a salutary influence. He loved artists, and wishing to raise +their situation, moral and social, he deplored the excommunication that +had been laid on the players. + +Speaking of the stage, he wrote in a report addressed to Charles X., +June 20,1825: "I perceive that I have forgotten the most essential +side,--the moral, I will even say the religious side. What glory it +would be for a king to raise this considerable class of society from +the abject situation in which it is compelled to live! Sacrificed to +our pleasures, it has been condemned to eternal death, and a king +believes his conscience quiet! For a long time I have cherished this +thought; we must begin by elevating these people, as regards their art, +by reforming, little by little, the swarming abuses that awaken horror, +and end by treating with Rome in order to obtain some just concessions +that would have important results." + +In another report to the King, dated October 21, 1826, M. de La +Rochefoucauld wrote, apropos of the obsequies of Talma:-- + +"A profound regret for me is the manner of the great tragedian's death. +Sire, would it not be worthy of the reign, the breast, the conscience +of Charles X., to draw this class of artists from the cruel position in +which they are left by that excommunication that weighs upon them +without distinction? Whether they conduct themselves well or ill, the +Church repels them; this reprobation holds them perforce in the sphere +of evil and disorder, since they have no interest in rising above it. +Honor them, and they will honor themselves. It is time to undertake the +reform of what I call a pernicious prejudice. The clergy itself is not +far from agreeing on these ideas." + +In his relations with authors, artists, directors of theatres, the +Viscount was courtesy itself. We read in one of his reports (June 17, +1825):-- + +"Rossini is the first composer of Europe; I have succeeded in +attracting him to the service of France; he had before been tempted in +vain. Jealous of his success, people have cried out that he was an +idler, that he would do nothing. I secured him by the methods and in +the interest of the King; I can do with him as I will, as with all the +artists, though they are most difficult people. They must be taken +through the heart. Rossini has just composed a really ravishing piece; +and, touched by the manner in which he is treated, he wishes to present +it to the King in token of his gratitude, and wishes to receive +nothing. He is right, but the King cannot accept gratis so fine a +present; I propose that the King grant him the cross of the Legion of +Honor and announce it himself to him to-morrow--which would be an act +full of grace. All favors must come always from the King." + +Great tenacity was needed in the government of Charles X. to get the +Chefs-d'Oeuvre of Rossini represented at the Opera. A little school of +petty and backward ideas rushed, under pretext of patriotism, but +really from jealousy, systematically to drive from the stage everything +not French. For this coterie Rossini and Meyerbeer were suspects, +intruders, who must be repulsed at any cost. The government had the +good sense to take no account of this ridiculous opposition, which +refused to recognize that art should be cosmopolitan. Before seeing his +name on the bills of our first lyric stage, Rossini required no less +than nine years of patience. All Europe applauded him, but at Paris he +had to face the fire of pamphleteers rendered furious by his fame. The +government finally forced the Opera to mount Le Siege de Corinthe. Its +success was so striking that the evening of the first representation +(October 9, 1826), the public made almost a riot for half an hour, +because Rossini, called loudly by an enthusiastic crowd, refused to +appear upon the stage. + +The maestro gave at the Opera Moise, March 26, 1826; Le Comte Ory, +August 20, 1828; Guillaume Tell, August 20, 1829. (At this time the +first representations of the most important works took place in +midsummer.) The evening of the first night of Guillaume Tell, the +orchestra went, after the opera, to give a serenade under the windows +of the composer, who occupied the house on the Boulevard Montmartre, +through which the Passage Jouffroy has since been cut. The 10th of +February, 1868, on the occasion of the hundredth representation of the +same work, there was a repetition of the serenade of 1829. The master +then lived in the Rue Chaussee d'Antin, No. 2. Under his windows the +orchestra and chorus of the opera commenced the concert about half an +hour after midnight, by the light of torches, and Faure sang the solos. + +The government which secured the representation of Guillaume Tell was +not afraid of the words "independence" and "liberty." A year and a half +before, the 20th of February, 1828, there had been given at the Opera +the chef-d'oeuvre of Auber, La Muette de Portici, and the Duchess of +Berry, a Neapolitan princess, had applauded the Naples Revolution put +into music. + +The government of Charles X. protected Meyerbeer as well as Rossini. +Robert le Diable was only played under the reign of Louis Philippe, but +the work had already been received under the Restoration. + +During the reign of Charles X. the fine royal theatres reached the +height of their splendor: the Francais and the Odeon were installed in +their present quarters; the Opera in the hall of the Rue La Peletier, +excellent as to acoustics and proportions; the Italiens in the Salle +Favart (where they remained from 1825 to 1838); the Opera Comique in +the Salle Feydeau, until the month of April, 1829, when it inaugurated +the Salle Ventadour. Talma, Mademoiselle Duchesnoir, Mademoiselle Mars, +triumphed at the Francais; Mademoiselle Georges, at the Odeon; Nourrit, +Levasseur, Madame Damoreau, Taglioni, at the Opera; Sontag, Pasta, +Malibran, and Rubini at the Italiens. + +The Viscount de la Rochefoucauld wished in every way to raise the moral +level of the theatre. He forbade subscribers, even the most +influential, the entree behind the scenes of the Opera, because these +persons had not always preserved there the desirable decorum. Thence +arose rancor and spite, against which he had to contend during his +entire administration. He wrote to the King, July 29, 1828:-- + +"A cabal is formed to deprive me of the direction of the theatres; and +by whom and for what? It is a struggle, Sire, between good and evil. It +is sought to maintain, at any cost, the abuses I have dared to reform. +They throw a thousand unjust obstacles in my way. Gamblers are mixed up +in it too; they wish to join this ignoble industry and the theatres. It +is a monstrous infamy. The opera must be reached at all hazards, the +coulisses must be entered; these are the abuses that must be revived. +How can it be done? By removing the theatres from troublesome authority +... Sire, Your Majesty shall decide, and must defend me with a firm +will in the interest, I venture to declare, of order; you must defend +yourself also in the interest of morals and of art, and of a great +influence of which it is sought to deprive you." + +M. de La Rochefoucauld had the last word, and remained at the head of +the direction of the Fine Arts until the close of the Restoration. To +the credit of his administration there must still be added the creation +of the school of religious music, directed by Choron, and the +foundation of the concerts of the conservatory with Habeneck, and a +little against the wishes of Cherubini. The chefs-d'oeuvre of German +music were brought out as well as those of Italian music. The Viscount +performed his task con amore, as they say on the other side of the +Alps. He wrote to Charles X. January 12, 1830:-- + +"How many reflections must have come to the King on regarding the +picture of the Coronation! I divined the thought that he did not +complete, and my eyes filled with tears. Oh, how much I feel and +imagine all the ennui given to the King by these barren and unfortunate +politics! I detest them more even than the King detests them. +Ungrateful offspring of the times, they fly away, rarely leaving even a +memory. How much I prefer the arts!" + +This was also the feeling of the Duchess of Berry, who, during all the +Restoration, fled from surly politics to live in the region, radiant +and sacred, of art and charity. The taste of this Italian lady for +painting and music was a veritable passion. She was forever to be found +in the museums, the expositions, the theatres. She caught the melodies +by heart and was always interested in new works. An expert, a +dilletante, was no better judge of pictures and operas; the great +artists who shone in the reign of Charles X. received from the amiable +Princess the most precious encouragements. Nor did she forget to +encourage the efforts of beginners. "Who, then," she said, "would buy +the works of these poor young people, if I did not?" + + + + +XXVI + +THE THEATRE OF MADAME + + +One of the most agreeable theatres of Paris, the Gymnase, owed its +prosperity, not to say its existence, to the high protection of Madame +the Duchess of Berry. Our old men recall its vogue, at the time when +they used to applaud Ferville, Gontier, Numa, Leontine Fay, Jenny +Verspre, and when they used to gaze at the greatest ladies of the +court, the most fashionable beauties; and they remember that on its +facade, from the month of September, 1824, to the Revolution of 1830, +there was this inscription in letters of gold: "Theatre de Madame." +Placed under the patronage of the Princess, this fortunate theatre was +a meeting-place of the most elegant society of Paris. It had the same +audiences as the Opera and the Italiens, and they enjoyed themselves as +much in the entr'actes as during the acts. The spectacle was in the +hall as well as on the stage. + +The origin of the Gymnase goes back to 1820. According to the privilege +accorded to the new stage under the Decazes ministry, it was to be only +a gymnase composed of the young pupils of the Conservatoire, and other +dramatic and lyric schools, and was authorized only to present +fragments from the various repertories. But from the beginning it +transgressed the limits set for it. Not content with simple pupils, it +engaged actors already well known. In place of borrowing debris of the +repertories of other theatres, it created one of its own. At first the +authorities shut their eyes. But when M. de Corbiere became Minister of +the Interior, he tried to enforce the regulations and to compel the new +theatre to confine itself to the limits of its privilege. The Gymnase +asked for time, was very meek, prayed, supplicated. It would have +succumbed, however, but for the intervention of the Duchess of Berry. +Scribe composed for the apartments of the Tuileries a vaudeville, +called La Rosiere, in which he invoked the Princess as protectress, as +a beneficent fairy. She turned aside the fulminations of M. de +Corbiere. The minister was obstinate; he wished the last word; but the +Princess finally carried the day. The day after he had addressed to the +director of the Gymnase a warning letter, he was amazed to hear the +Duchess of Berry say: "I hope, Monsieur, that you will not torment the +Gymnase any longer, for, henceforth, it will bear my name." + +The minister yielded. The Gymnase was saved. It kept its company, its +repertory; it gained the right to give new pieces. From the first days +of September, 1824, it took the name of Madame the Duchess of Berry. +After the death of Louis XVIII., the 16th of that month, the Duchess of +Angouleme having replaced her title of Madame by that of Dauphiness, +and the Duchess of Berry taking the former, the Gymnase was called the +Theatre de Madame. + +The programme of the Gymnase was constantly being renewed. Scribe, +whose verve was inexhaustible, wrote for this theatre alone nearly one +hundred and fifty pieces. It is true that he had +collaborators,--Germain Delavigne, Dupin, Melesville, Brazier, Varner, +Carmouche, Bayard, etc. It was to them that he wrote, in the dedication +of the edition of his works:-- + +"To my collaborators: My dear friends, I have often been reproached for +the number of my collaborators; for myself, who am happy to count among +them only friends, I regret, on the contrary, that I have not more of +them. I am often asked why I have not worked alone. To this I will +reply that I have probably neither the wit nor the talent for that; but +if I had had them I should still have preferred our literary fraternity +and alliance. The few works I have produced alone have been to me a +labor; those I have produced with you have been a pleasure." + +Eugene Scribe was born December 25, 1791, at Paris, Rue Saint-Denis, +near the Marche des Innocents. His father, whom he lost early, kept a +silk store, at the sign of the Chat Noir, where he had made a +considerable fortune. Eugene commenced his career as a dramatic writer +in 1811. From that time to his death (February 20, 1861), he composed +alone, or with associates, and had represented on the various stages of +Paris, more than four hundred plays. M. Vitel said, at the reception of +M. Octave Feuillet, at the French Academy, March 26, 1863:-- + +"There was in Scribe a powerful and truly superior faculty, that +assured to him and explained to me his supremacy in the theatre of his +day. It was a gift of dramatic invention that perhaps no one before him +has possessed; the gift of discovering at every step, almost apropos of +nothing, theatrical combinations of a novel and striking effect; and of +discovering them, not in the germ only, or barely sketched, but in +relief, in action, and already on the stage. In the time needed by his +confreres to prepare a plot, he would finish four, and he never secured +this prodigious fecundity at the expense of originality. It is in no +commonplace mould that his creations are cast. There is not one of his +works that has not at least its grain of novelty." + +On his part, M. Octave Feuillet, a master in things theatrical, said in +his reception discourse:-- + +"One of the most difficult arts in the domain of literary invention, is +that of charming the imagination without unsettling it, of touching the +heart without troubling it, of amusing men without corrupting them; +this was the supreme art of Scribe." + +They are very pretty, very alert, very French, these plays of the +Theatre de Madame. They have aged less than many pretentious works that +have aimed at immortality. There is hardly one of them without its +ingenious idea, something truly scenic. We often see amateurs seeking +pieces to play in the salons; let them draw from this repertory; they +will have but an embarrassment of choice among plays always amusing and +always in good form. + +Scribe said, in his reception discourse at the French Academy (January +28, 1836):-- + +"It happens, by a curious fatality, that the stage and society are +almost always in direct contradiction. Take the period of the Regency. +If comedy were the constant expression of society, the comedy of that +time must have offered us strong license or joyous Saturnalia. Nothing +of the sort; it is cold, correct, pretentious, but decent. In the +Revolution, during its most horrible periods, when tragedy, as was +said, ran the streets, what were the theatres offering you? Scenes of +humanity, of beneficence, of sentimentality; in January, 1793, during +the trial of Louis XVI., La Belle Fermiere, a rural and sentimental +play; under the Empire, the reign of glory and conquest, the drama was +neither warlike nor exultant; under the Restoration, a pacific +government, the stage was invaded by lancers, warriors, and military +costumes; Thalia wore epaulettes. The theatre is rarely the expression +of society; it is often the opposite." + +Scribe was an exception to the rule thus laid down by him. The Theatre +de Madame is an exact painting of the manners, the ideas, the language +of the Parisian bourgeoisie in the reign of Charles X. Villemain was +right in saying to Scribe, on receiving him at the Academy:-- + +"The secret of your success with the theatre lies in having happily +seized the spirit of your century and in making the sort of comedies to +which it is best adapted and which most resemble it." + +The world that the amiable and ingenious author excels in representing, +is that of finance and the middle classes; it is the society of the +Chaussee d'Antin, rather than that of the Faubourg Saint Germain. His +Gymnase repertory is of the Left Centre, the juste milieu, nearer the +National Guard than the royal guard. The protege of Madame the Duchess +of Berry never flattered the ultras. There is not in his plays a single +line that is a concession to their arrogance or their rancor; not a +single phrase, not one word, that shows the least trace of the +prejudices of the old regime; not one idea that could offend the most +susceptible liberal. It is animated by the spirit of conciliation and +pacification. We insist on this point because we see in it a proof that +a Princess who took under her protection a kind of literature so +essentially modern and bourgeois, never thought of reviving a past +destroyed forever. + +The 28th of June, 1828, when the struggles of the liberals and the +ultras were so heated, Eugene Scribe, in connection with M. de +Rougemont, wrote for the Gymnase a piece entitled Avant, Pendant, +Apres, historical sketches in three parts. Avant was a critique of the +view of the old regime; Pendant, a critique of those of the Revolution; +Apres an appeal for harmony under the Charter and liberty. This piece +seems to us very curious, as a true programme, a faithful reflection of +the ideas of the haute bourgeoisie of Paris a little before 1830. + +The principal personage is a great liberal noble, the General Count de +Surgy, who has served gloriously in the armies of the Republic and of +the Empire, and at the close is named as deputy to represent an +intelligent and wise royalism. By the side of the General is a certain +Viscount, who has lived in a savage island since the wreck of La +Perouse, and who, more royalist than the King, finds himself among +strangers and is utterly dumfounded on beholding the new France. Let us +cite some fragments of this piece in which there is more acuteness, +more observation, more truth, than in many of the studies called +psychologic or historic:-- + +"THE GENERAL. Ah, do not confuse Liberty with the excesses committed in +her name. Liberty, as we understand her, is the friend of order and +duty; she protects all rights. She wishes laws, institutions, not +scaffolds. + +THE MARQUIS. Alas! of what service to you are your courage and your +wise opinions? You are denounced, reduced as I am, to hiding, after +shedding your blood for them. + +THE GENERAL. Not for them but for France. The honor of our country took +refuge in the armies, and I followed it there. I have done a little +good; I have hindered much evil, and if the choice were still mine, I +should follow the same route. + +A VOICE (in the street). A great conspiracy discovered by the Committee +of Public Safety. + +THE GENERAL. Still new victims. + +THE MARQUIS. They who did not respect the virtues of Malesherbes, the +talents of Lavoisier, the youth of Barnave, will they recoil from one +crime more? + +THE GENERAL. Decent people will get weary of having courage only to +die. France will reawaken, stronger and more united, for misfortune +draws to each other all ranks, all parties; and already you see that +we, formerly so divided, are understanding each other better at last, +and love each other more than ever. + +THE MARQUIS (throwing himself into the General's arms). Ah, you speak +truly." + +This scene passes in the midst of the Terror. The conclusion, the moral +of the piece, is as follows:-- + +"THE GENERAL. My friends, my fellow-citizens, we who, after so many +storms have finally reached port, and who, under the shelter of the +throne and the laws, taste that wise and moderate liberty which has +been the object of our desires for forty years; let us guard it well, +it has cost us dear. Always united, let us no longer think of the evil +done, let us see only the good that is, let us put away sad memories, +and let us all say, in the new France, 'Union and forgiveness.'" + +Among the spectators more than one could recognize himself in the +personages of the piece. But the allusions were so nicely made that no +one could be offended. Liberals and ultras could, on the contrary, +profit by the excellent counsels given them in the little play of the +Theatre de Madame. + +Let us add, moreover, that Scribe never wished to be anything but a man +of letters. There could be applied to him the words said by him of his +confrere, friend, and nephew, Bayard:-- + +"A stranger to all parties, he speculated on no revolution; he +flattered no one in power, not even those he loved. He solicited no +honors, no places, no pension. He asked nothing of any one but himself. +He owed to his talent and his labor his honor and his independence." + +The device chosen by Scribe is a pen, above which is the motto: Inde +fortuna et libertas. The Duchess of Berry knew how to understand and +appreciate this man of wit and good sense. For his part, Scribe avowed +for the Princess a sentiment of gratitude that he never falsified. When +the days of ill fortune came for her, he journeyed to bear his homage +to her upon a foreign soil. + + + + +XXVII + +DIEPPE + + +Dieppe has not forgotten the benefits received from the Duchess of +Berry. It was this amiable Princess that made fashionable the pretty +Normandy city and made it the most elegant bathing resort of Europe. +She made five visits there, of several weeks each, in 1824, 1825, 1826, +1827, and 1829. + +The Duchess came for the first time to Dieppe some time before the +death of Louis XVIII. She arrived the 29th of July, and left the 23d of +August. She conceived immediately a passion for the picturesque town, +as famous for its fine beach as for its smiling environs. The +enthusiasm manifested for her by the inhabitants touched her. She said +to the mayor: "Henri IV. was right when he called the Dieppois his good +friends. I shall imitate my ancestor in his love for them." + +The next year--the year of the coronation--Madame returned to her +favorite city. She arrived there the 2d of August, 1825. More than +twenty thousand persons were awaiting her at the boundary of the +district, and her entry was triumphal. The 6th of August, the actors of +the Gymnase, come from Paris, gave a theatrical representation in her +honor. + +Madame made many excursions by sea. There was on her boat a tent of +crimson silk, above which floated the white flag. The little flotilla +of the royal navy had manoeuvres in her honor, and saluted her with +salvos of artillery. The 10th of September, the Princess made an +excursion to Bacqueville, where there awaited her a numerous cortege of +Cauchois women, all on horseback, in the costume of the country. The +12th, she breakfasted in the ship Le Rodeur, and a recently constructed +merchant vessel was launched in her presence. She departed the 14th, +promising to return the following year. + +Accordingly, Madame left Paris for Dieppe the 7th of August, 1826. The +morrow of her arrival, she assisted at the inauguration of a new +playhouse that had been built within six months. The mayor presented +the Princess with some keys, artistically worked--the keys to her loge +and to her salon. The prologue of the opening piece, entitled La Poste +Royale, was filled with delicate allusions and compliments. The 17th of +August, there was a performance offered by Madame to the sailors and +soldiers of the garrison. From his place in the parterre a subordinate +of the 64th regiment of the line sang, in honor of the Princess, some +couplets expressing the sentiments of his comrades. + +The 19th, there was a visit to the ruins of the Chateau of Arques, +immortalized by the victory of Henry IV. An agreeable surprise for +Madame was a comedy for the occasion improvised by the actors of the +Vaudeville. When the Princess presents herself before the Chateau, a +little peasant girl at first refuses her admittance. She has received +orders, she says, from her father and mother to open to no one, no +matter whom. But the air Vive Henri IV. is heard, and straightway both +doors are opened wide to the Princess. An old concierge and his wife +sing piquant verses about their first refusal to open to her. From here +Madame is guided by the little peasant girl to the entrance of an +ancient garden, where she perceives the whole troupe in the costume of +gardeners and garden girls. She is offered bouquets and escorted to a +dairy at the extremity of the ruins. The band of the guard plays for +her her favorite air, Charmante Gabrielle. A young milk-maid--the +pretty actress Jenny Colon--offers her a cup of milk and sings couplets +that please her greatly. Then comes the husband of the dairy-maid and +recounts to the grand-daughter of Henry IV. the victory won by her +ancestor over the Duke of Mayenne. A little later, Madame is conducted +to the foot of an ancient tower, whence there is a view of immense +extent. Here she is arrested by the songs of an ancient minstrel, whose +voice is accompanied by mysterious music hidden in the hollows of the +ruins. + +Going from surprise to surprise, the Princess trav erses a long arch of +verdure where she reads on escutcheons the dates dear to her heart. At +the end of this long avenue, she again finds the entire troupe of the +Vaudeville, who re-escort her to the gates of Chateau, singing a +general chorus of farewell, amid cries of "Long live the King! Long +live Madame!" the effect of which is doubled by repeated salutes of +artillery. + +Some days later, the 7th of September, the Duchess of Berry learned, +during the day, that a frightful tempest threatened to engulf a great +number of fishing-boats which were coming toward port. Instantly she +countermanded a ball that she was to give that evening. She proceeded +in all haste to the point whence aid could be given to these +unfortunates. Clinging to a little post on the jetty, which the waves +covered from all sides, she directed and encouraged the rescue. The +Dieppe correspondence of the Moniteur said:-- + +"What has been seen at Dieppe alone, is a young Princess, braving all +the dangers of a wild sea, re maining on the end of the jetty to direct +the succor of the fishing-boats that were seeking refuge in the harbor. +She seemed placed there by the Deity as a protecting angel, and the +sailors who saw her took courage again." + +She withdrew from the dangerous place, which she called her post, only +when all the barks had entered port. One man only had perished. Before +even changing her clothing the Princess sent relief to his widow. + +By her kindness, her charity, her grace, Madame won all hearts. Her +protection revived at Dieppe the commerce in ivory and laces. She gave +two brevets, one in her own name, the other in that of Mademoiselle, to +the best two manufacturers in the city, and made considerable +purchases. She founded at her expense, under the direction of the +Sisters of Providence, a manufactory of laces where a large number of +young girls obtained at the same time the means of living and the +benefits of a Christian education. Between the Princess and her good +city of Dieppe there was a constant exchange of delicate attentions and +proofs of sympathy. When she was spoken to of preparations for +departure, "Already?" she said sadly. She left the 19th of September, +1826, and returned the following year. + +The 6th of August, 1827, Madame made an entry to Dieppe by the hamlet +of Janval. A great crowd went to visit her, and greeted her with +enthusiastic cheers. The 13th of August, the city offered her a great +ball, at which more than twelve hundred persons attended. On the 16th, +the portrait of the Princess was unveiled at the Hotel de Ville. At the +moment that the veil was raised, the band of the fifth regiment of the +royal guard played the air of Vive Henri IV. amid long applause. The +mayor of Dieppe, M. Cavalier, pronounced a discourse in which he +expressed the gratitude of the inhabitants, and promised that the +cherished image should be surrounded, age after age, by the veneration +of a city whose history was one of constant devotion to its Kings. In +the evening Madame gave a soiree at which the hereditary Princess of +Hesse-Darmstadt was present. Rossini was at the piano and sang with his +wife and with Balfe; Nadermann played the harp. + +The Duchess of Berry made numerous excursions by sea, even in the worst +weather. One day, at least, she was in some danger. The sailors admired +her good spirits and her courage. "Oh," they said, "she is indeed a +worthy descendant of Henry IV." + +The 4th of September, 1827, Mademoiselle, with her governess, the +Duchess of Gontaut, came to join her mother at Dieppe. The little +Princess was to be eight years old the 21st of the month. A formal +reception was given her. Her arrival was announced by the noise of +cannon and the sound of bells. The Baron de Viel-Castel, sub-prefect of +the city, made a complimentary address to her. She responded in the +most gracious manner, "I know how much you love my mother, and I loved +you in advance." + +Madame, who had gone to meet her daughter at Osmonville, three leagues +from Dieppe, took her in her carriage. The horses proceeded at a walk, +and the people never wearied of admiring the gentle little Princess. On +the morrow, Madame received the homage of the functionaries. The mayor +said to her: "Your Royal Highness is in a country filled with your +ancestors, in a city honored by Henry IV. with special benevolence, +which Louis XIV. rewarded for its fidelity by calling it 'his good +city,' which your august aunt, Madame the Dauphiness, deigned to choose +for her return to France, and which received her, triumphant and +adored." + +An elegant breakfast service in ivory, with her arms, was presented to +Mademoiselle by a group of very young people. She next received a +deputation of the fisherwomen of Du Polet, the faubourg of Dieppe. They +came in their picturesque costumes,--a skirt falling a little below the +knee, men's buckled shoes, a striped apron of white and red, an +enormous head-dress, with broad tabs, and great ear-rings. They sang +couplets expressing a lively attachment to the family of the Bourbons. +In their enthusiasm they asked and obtained leave to kiss the little +Princess. + +On the 6th of September, there was a fete at the ruins of the Castle of +Arques. From seven in the morning the crowd gathered on the hillside of +Saint Etienne, at the edge of the coast between Martin-Eglise and the +village of Arques. It is a magnificent site, which, towering above the +valley, is surrounded on all sides by grim hill-slopes, while in the +distance is the sea, along the edge of which extends the city of +Dieppe, like a majestic dike. A mimic battle took place in the presence +of Madame and her daughter, on the ground where Henry IV. had delivered +the famous battle of September 21, 1589. Numerous strokes on the flags +of different colors indicated the lines of the Bearnais, and +circumscribed the enceinte occupied by his troops. An obelisk had been +placed at the highest point of this sort of entrenched camp; in the +centre was a post tent, under which a rich breakfast had been prepared +for the two princesses. During the repast, both put their names to a +subscription to erect a monument commemorating the victory of their +ancestor. + +The 14th of September, the city offered a ball to Madame and +Mademoiselle. The little Princess danced two quadrilles. The 15th, she +offered lunch to a great number of children of her own age, and +afterward went with them to the theatre. The 18th, at the close of the +play, some scenes were represented before Madame, mingled with verses, +expressing the regret of the city at the near departure of Madame. The +next day, the Princess and her daughter left Dieppe, between double +lines of troops and National Guards. + +The journey of the Duchess of Berry in the West, in 1828, prevented her +from going that year to Dieppe. She came in 1829, but it was for the +last time. She arrived the 6th of August, with her daughter. The next +day she danced at a subscription ball given by the city and by the +visitors to the baths; the 8th she received a visit from the +Dauphiness, who passed three days with her. + +For every fete there was a corresponding good work. The Princess said: +"I wish that while I am enjoying myself the poor may also have their +share." The 18th of August, she visited the bazaar opened for the +benefit of the indigent. Mademoiselle had conceived the idea of writing +her name on little objects of painted wood, which were bid for at their +weight in gold. The 24th, Madame gave a concert, at which the Sontag +sisters were heard and some stanzas of the Viscount of Castel-bajac +were recited. The 25th, the city offered a ball to Mademoiselle, at +which the grace of the little Princess, her tact, and her precocious +amiability, excited surprise. The 9th of September, the inauguration of +the monument commemorative of the victory of Henry IV. took place in +the presence of Madame and her daughter. It was a column indicating the +point where the army of Mayenne debouched to surround the King's +troops, when, the fog rising, the artillery of the castle could be +brought into play, and threw into disorder the ranks of the Leaguers. +The inauguration interested the Duchess much. The troops of the line +and the National Guard had established bivouacs where the princesses +read with joy such inscriptions as these: "The young Henry will find +again the arquebusiers of Henry IV.--The flag of the 12th will always +rally to the white plume!--Two Henrys--one love, one devotion." + +A table of forty covers had been arranged under a pavilion draped with +flags. After the repast Madame and Mademoiselle danced several +quadrilles on the grass. The fete was charming. An expression of joy +was depicted on every face. + +At the time of her various sojourns at Dieppe, the Duchess of Berry +went to visit the Orleans family at the Chateau d'Eu, She manifested +toward her aunt, Marie-Amelie, the liveliest affection, and had no +courtier more amiable and assiduous than the young Duke of Chartres, +whom, it is said, she wished to have as husband for Mademoiselle. The +9th of September, she had been at the baptismal font, with the Duke of +Angouleme, the Duke of Montpensier, the latest son of the Duke of +Orleans. She was very fond of her god-son, and nothing was more +agreeable to her than a reunion at the Chateau d'Eu, where Mademoiselle +was always happy, playing with her young cousins. + +The Duchess of Berry and her daughter returned to Saint Cloud the 16th +of September, 1829. On leaving, Mademoiselle said to the Dieppois: "My +friends, I will come back next year, and I will bring you my brother." +Neither she nor her mother was to return. + + + + +XXVIII + +THE PRINCE DE POLIGNAC + + +At the very moment that the Duchess of Berry, happy and smiling, was +tranquilly taking the sea-baths at Dieppe, an event occurred at Paris +that was the signal for catastrophes. The 9th of August, 1829, the +Moniteur published the decree constituting the cabinet, in which were +included the Prince de Polignac as Minister of Foreign Affairs; Count +de La Bourdonnaye as Minister of the Interior; and as Minister of War, +the General Count de Bourmont. The next day the Debats said:-- + +"So here is once more broken the bond of love and confidence that was +uniting the people to the Monarch. Here once again are the court with +its old rancors, the Emigration with its prejudices, the priesthood +with its hatred of liberty, coming to throw themselves between France +and her King. What she has conquered by forty years of travail and +misfortune is taken from her; what she repels with all the force of her +will, all the energy of her deepest desires, is violently imposed upon +her. Ill-fated France! Ill-fated King!" + +The 15th of August the Debats reached a paroxysm of fury:-- + +"If from all the battle-fields of Europe where our Grand Army has left +its members, if from Belgium, where it left the last fragments of its +body, and from the place where Marshal Ney fell shot, there arise cries +of anger that resound in our hearts, if the column of the Grand Army +seems to tremble through all its bronze battalions, whose is the fault? +No, no; nothing is lacking in this ministry of the counter-Revolution. +Waterloo is represented. ... M. de Polignac represents in it the ideas +of the first Emigration, the ideas of Coblenz; M. de La Bourdonnaye the +faction of 1815 with its murderous friendships, its law of +proscription, and its clientele of southern massacres. Coblenz, +Waterloo, 1815, these are the three personages of the ministry. Turn it +how you will, every side dismays. Every side angers. It has no aspect +that is not sinister, no face that is not menacing. Take our hatreds of +thirty years ago, our sorrows and our fears of fifteen years ago, all +are there, all have joined to insult and irritate France. Squeeze, +wring this ministry, it drips only humiliations, misfortunes, dangers." + +The Abbe Vedrenne, historian of Charles X., wrote:-- + +"How is the language of the writers of the Debats, who called +themselves royalists, to be understood? Was not Charles X. at Coblenz? +Did not Chateaubriand emigrate with the King and the princes? Did he +not follow Louis XVIII. to Ghent? Was he not in his council at the very +hour of the battle of Waterloo? They might as well have stigmatized the +white flag and demanded the proscription of the King's dynasty. But +such was their blindness that they feared nothing for it. 'The throne +runs no risk,' said Chateaubriand, 'let us tremble for liberty only.' +Yet the nomination of the Polignac ministry was an error. It appeared +to be a provocation, a sort of defiance. Charles X. doubtless only +wished to defend himself, but in choosing such ministers at such an +hour, he appeared to be willing to attack." + +From the debut of the new cabinet, the Opposition, to use a recent +expression, showed itself irreconcilable. It raised a long cry of +anger, and declared war to the death on Prince Polignac. + +"It is in vain," said the Debats, "that the ministers demand of Time to +efface with a sweep of his wing their days, their actions, their +thoughts, of yesterday; these live for them, as for us. The shadow of +their past goes before them and traces their route. They cannot turn +aside; they must march; they must advance.--But I wish to turn +back.--You cannot.--But I shall support liberty, the Charter, the +Opposition.--You cannot. March, then, march, under the spur of +necessity, to the abyss of Coups d'Etat! March! Your life has judged +and condemned you. Your destiny is accomplished." + +The man who excited hatreds so violent was Jules de Polignac. He was +born at Versailles, May 14, 1780. As the German historian, Gervinus, +has said: "His past weighed upon him like a lash of political +interdict. He was the son of the Duchess of Polignac, who had been the +object of so many calumnies, and who had never been pardoned for the +intimate friendship with which she was honored by the unfortunate +queen, Marie Antoinette, a friendship that had evoked against her, +first all the jealousies of the envious courtiers, and then all the +aversion of the people. It was believed that a like favoritism could be +recognized in the relations of the son of the Duchess with Charles X. +To this unpopularity, inherited from his mother, was joined another +that was directed against the person of the emigre." + +After having been one of the courtiers of the little court at Coblenz, +he had taken service for some time in Russia, and then passed into +England, where he had been one of the most intimate confidants, and one +of the most active agents of the Count d'Artois. Sent secretly into +France, with his elder brother, the Duke Armand de Polignac, he was, +like the latter, compromised in the Cadoudal conspiracy. Their trial is +remarkable for the noble strife of devotion, in which each of the +brothers pleaded the cause of the other at the expense of his own. +Armand was condemned to death. His wife threw herself at the feet of +the First Consul, who, thanks to the intercession of Josephine, +commuted the penalty of death to perpetual confinement. Jules was +condemned to prison, and shared the captivity of his brother. Confined +at first in the castle of Ham, then in the Temple, then at Vincennes, +they obtained, at the time of the marriage of Napoleon with Marie +Louise, their transfer to a hospital. There they knew the General +Mallet, but the part they were suspected of taking in his conspiracy +was never proven. When the allied armies entered France, they succeeded +in escaping, and rejoined the Count d'Artois at Vesoul. They penetrated +to Paris some days before the capitulation, and displayed the white +flag there the 3d of March, 1814. + +Peer of France, field-marshal, ambassador, the Prince Jules de Polignac +was one of the favorites of the Restoration. On the proposition of M. +de Chateaubriand, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, he had him named, +in 1823, ambassador to London, where he had shown a genuine talent for +diplomacy. The example of England made him think that in France the +liberties of the constitutional regime could be combined with the +directing influence of an aristocracy. That was his error and the cause +of his fall. Some weeks before his accession to the ministry, he had +solemnly affirmed in the Chamber of Peers, that he considered the +Charter as a solemn pact, on which rested the monarchical institutions +of France, and as the heavenly sign of a serene future. But the +liberals did not believe his word, and accused him of striving to +re-establish the old regime. + +Even at court the accession of the Prince de Polignac did not fail to +cause apprehension. Charles X., having announced to the Duchess of +Gontaut that he was going to appoint him minister, added: "This news +must give you pleasure; you know him well, I believe." The Duchess +replied: "He has been absent a long time. I only knew him when very +young." The King resumed: "Do not speak of it; it is my secret as yet." +Madame de Gontaut could not keep from smiling, for she held several +letters from London in her hand, among others one from the +sister-in-law of the Duke of Wellington, announcing the news. Charles +X. wished to see the letters. "He is good, loyal," they said, "loving +the King as one loves a friend, but feeble, and with bad surroundings. +It is doubted whether he can ever rise to the height of the post in +which the King wishes to place him." + +Charles X., wounded by the indiscretion of the Prince, and also by that +of the Duke of Wellington, who divulged what he himself was keeping +secret, returned the letter to Madame de Gontaut, and remarked:-- + +"It is very thoughtless in Jules to have spoken of it so soon, and in +the Duke to have published it." The Duchess of Gontaut, who was used to +frank talk with the King, said: "In the circumstances existing, I long +for, I confess it frankly, and at the risk of displeasing Your Majesty, +yes, I long for the Martignac ministry." + +Then, adds the Duchess in her unpublished Memoirs, the King, more +impatient than ever, turned his back on me, and took his way to his +apartment. I had had the courage to tell him my thought and the truth. +I did not repent it. When we saw each other again the same day he did +not speak to me again of it. + +One of those most devoted to the elder branch, the Duke Ambroise de la +Rochefoucauld-Doudeauville, also says in his Memoirs:-- + +"The King sincerely wished for the Charter, whatever may be said, but +he wished for the monarchy; he, therefore, decided to change ministers +who had made promises that seemed to him fatal, and to replace them by +others whose principles suited him better. He was not happy in this +choice, it must be agreed. He took as Minister of Foreign Affairs and +President of the Council the Prince de Polignac. For a long time public +opinion had foreseen this choice, and dreaded it. At the commencement +of the Restoration M. de Polignac for more than a year had refused to +recognize the Charter and to swear fidelity to it, which made him +regarded as the pronounced enemy of our institutions. Was this +antipathy real? I do not think so. He had for a long time lived in +England, as ambassador, and was thoroughly imbued with principles at +once very constitutional and very aristocratic, after the English +fashion. His devotion was great, as well as his personal merit, but his +resources as a statesman were not so much so; he took his desire to do +well for the capacity to do well, and he mistook." + +When he assumed the direction of affairs the Prince de Polignac was +wholly surprised at the systematic and obstinate opposition that he +encountered. As M. Guizot said, "he was sincerely astonished that he +was not willingly accepted as a minister devoted to the constitutional +regime. But the public, without troubling itself to know if he were +sincere or not, persisted in seeing in him the champion of the old +regime and the standard-bearer of the counter-Revolution." + +Although he had passed a part of his life in England, first as emigre, +then as ambassador, and had married as his first wife an English lady, +Miss Campbell, and as his second another, the daughter of Lord +Radcliffe, the Prince de Polignac was French at heart. + +No Minister of Foreign Affairs in France had in higher degree the +sentiment of the national dignity. Yet this is the way the Debats +expressed itself, the 16th of August, 1829, about a man who, the next +year, at the time of the glorious Algiers Expedition, was to hold +toward England language so proud and firm:-- + +"The manifesto of M. de Polignac comes to us from England. That is very +simple. We have a minister who scarcely knows how to speak anything but +English. It takes time to relearn one's native tongue when one has +forgotten it for many years. It appears even that one never regains the +accent in all its freedom and purity. In fact, the English have not +given us M. de Polignac; they have sold him to us. That people +understand commerce so well." + +Despite all the violent criticisms, all the implacable hatreds by which +he was incessantly assailed, the Prince de Polignac was a noble +character, and no one should forget the justness of soul with which, +from the commencement to the end of his career, he supported misfortune +and captivity. The Viscount Sosthenes de La Rochefoucauld, afterwards +the Duke of Doudeauville, says, in his Memoirs:-- + +"The purest honor, the loftiest disinterestedness, the sincerest +devotion, are not everything, there is needed a capacity for affairs, a +knowledge of men, which experience alone procures and which even the +strongest will cannot give. M. de Polignac had all the qualities of the +most devoted subject, but his talent did not rise to the height of his +position. If it had been necessary only to suffer and to march to +death, no one, surely, could have equalled him; but more was requisite, +and he remained beneath the level of the circumstances he thought he +was overcoming; the fall of the throne was the consequence. How he +developed, though, and grew great when in duress, and who should +flatter himself that he could bear up with a firmness more unshaken +against the severest trials? If M. de Polignac is not a type of the +statesman, he will at least remain the complete model of the virtues of +the Christian and the private citizen." + +The Prince de Polignac was mistaken, but he acted in good faith. No one +can dispute his faults, but none can suspect the purity of his +intentions. Unfortunately his royalism had in it something of mysticism +and ecstasy that made of this gallant man a sort of illumine. He +sincerely believed that he had received from God the mission to save +the throne and the altar, and foreseeing neither difficulties nor +obstacles, regarding all uncertainty and all fear as unworthy of a +gentleman and a Christian, he had in himself and in his ideas, that +blind, imperturbable confidence that is the characteristic of fanatics. +In a period less troubled, this great noble would perhaps have been a +remarkable minister of foreign affairs, but in the stormy time when he +took the helm in hand, he had neither sufficient prudence nor +sufficient experience to resist the tempest and save the ship from the +wreck in which the dynasty was to go down. + + + + +XXIX + +GENERAL DE BOURMONT + + +The new Secretary of War awoke no less lively anger than the Prince de +Polignac. He was a general of great merit, bold to temerity, brave to +heroism, and a tactician of the first order. But his career had felt +the vicissitudes of politics, and like so many of his +contemporaries,--more, perhaps, than any of them,--he had played the +most contradictory parts. Equally intrepid in the army of Conde, in the +Vendean army, and in the Grand Army of Napoleon, he had won as much +distinction under the white flag as under the tricolor. The Emperor, +who was an expert in military talent, having recognized in him a +superior military man, had rewarded his services brilliantly. But it is +difficult to escape from the memories of one's childhood and first +youth. + +General Count de Bourmont, born September 2, 1773, at the Chateau of +Bourmont (Maine-et-Loire), amid the "Chouans," had shared their +religious and monarchical passions. Officer of the French Guards at +sixteen, and dismissed by the Revolution, he followed his father at the +beginning of the Emigration, lost him at Turin, then went to join the +Count d'Artois at Coblenz. He took part in the campaign of 1792, until +the disbandment of the Prince's army, served as a simple cavalryman in +the army of Conde, then threw himself into La Vendee in the month of +October, 1794. He was second in command of the troops of Scepeaux. The +Vendean insurrection of 1799 recognized him as one of its chiefs. +Victor at Louverne, he seized Mans the 15th of October, and was the +last to lay down his arms. + +Bourmont had a passion for the life of the camp. When the royal troops +had laid down their arms, he was ready to fight in the ranks of the +imperial troops rather than not to fight at all. He distinguished +himself in the Russian campaign, contributed to the victory of Lutzen, +made a heroic defence at Nugent during the campaign in France, and was +named general of division by the Emperor. + +During the Hundred Days, General de Bourmont, guilty as was Marshal +Ney, abandoned the cause of Napoleon as the Marshal had that of Louis +XVIII. But there were attenuating circumstances for their conduct. One +could not resist the prestige of the Emperor, nor the other that of the +King. What aggravated the situation of General de Bourmont was that, +after having sought a command from Napoleon, as Marshal Ney had from +Louis XVIII., he deserted three days before the battle of Waterloo. The +royalist, the soldier of the army of Conde, the "Chouan" had suddenly +reappeared under the General of the Empire. His King had summoned him, +and impelled by a false sentiment of conscience, he had responded to +the appeal of his King. But he was wrongly suspected of having +delivered to the English and Prussians the plans of Napoleon. + +One may read in the Memoirs of the Duke Ambroise de Doudeauville:-- + +"The Count de Bourmont was appointed Minister of War. He had to meet +grave prejudices. It was claimed that, having accepted service under +Bonaparte in the Hundred Days, he had deserted a few hours before the +battle of Waterloo, taking with him a great part of the troops, and +carrying to the enemy the plans and projects of the campaign. I owe it +to the truth to say that this story is greatly exaggerated. I have it +from Marshal Gerard himself--and his testimony cannot be +suspected--that some days before this battle M. de Bourmont had written +him that, summoned by Louis XVIII., he believed it his duty to go to +him, but promised to guard the most religious silence. He kept his +word, went alone, carried away no plan, and faithfully kept the secret." + +The Duke adds:-- + +"I knew, from Charles X. himself, that he was very greatly surprised at +the accusation of desertion brought against M. de Bourmont when he +appointed him minister. He had not the least idea that that reproach +could be addressed to him, for he knew that the General had but obeyed +the orders of Louis XVIII., his legitimate sovereign." + +Does not this phrase show the illusions of which Charles X. was the +victim? He never even suspected that his choice was a challenge to the +old soldiers of the Empire. Yet the violence of the liberal press +certainly extended the range of insult. "As for the other," said the +Journal des Debats disdainfully, "on what field of battle did he win +his epaulets? There are services by which one may profit, which may +even be liberally paid for, but which no people ever dreamed of +honoring." And, as if the allusion was not sufficiently transparent, "I +see," added the same writer, "but one kind of discussion in which the +minister can engage with credit--that of the military code, and the +chapter relating to desertion to the enemy. There are among our new +ministers those who understand the question to perfection." As for the +Figaro, it confined itself to quoting this line from a proclamation of +the General during the Hundred Days: "The cause of the Bourbons is +forever lost! April, 1815.--BOURMONT." + +Despite the virulent attacks of the journals, General de Bourmont, who +had distinguished himself on so many battle-fields, had authority with +the troops, and the Expedition of Algiers the next year was to show him +to be a military man of the first order. If Charles X. committed an +error in naming him as minister, he committed a greater one in sending +him away from Paris before the "ordinances," for no one was more +capable of securing the success of a coup d'etat. M. de Chateaubriand +remarks:-- + +"If the General had been in Paris at the time of the catastrophe, the +vacant portfolio of war would not have fallen into the hands of M. de +Polignac. Before striking the blow, had he consented to it, M. de +Bourmont would beyond doubt have massed at Paris the entire royal +guard; he would have provided money and supplies so that the soldiers +would have lacked for nothing." + +We are inclined to think, however, that when he took the portfolio of +war General de Bourmont was not dreaming of a coup d'etat, and that the +Prince de Polignac had as yet no thought of it. This minister, who was +so decried, showed at the outset such an inoffensive disposition that +the Opposition was surprised and disturbed by it. + +"The minister," said the Debats, "boasts of his moderation, because in +the ten days of his existence, he has not put France to fire and sword, +because the prisons are not gorged, because we still walk the streets +in freedom. From all this, nevertheless, flows a striking lesson. There +are men who were going to make an end of the spirit of the century. +Well, they do nothing!" + +The journals of the Right lamented this inaction. + +"If the ministerial revolution," said the Quotidienne, "reduces itself +to this, we shall retire to some profound solitude where the sound of +the falling monarchy cannot reach us." + +Then, more royalist than the King, M. de Lamennais wrote on the subject +of the new ministers: "It is stupidity to which fear counsels silence." +M. Guizot says in his Memoires pour servir a l'histoire de mon temps:-- + +"This ministry, formed to overcome the Revolution and save the +monarchy, remained inert and sterile. The Opposition insultingly +charged it with impotence; it called it the hectoring ministry, the +dullest of ministries, and, for answer, it prepared the expedition of +Algiers and prorogued the Chambers, protesting always its fidelity to +the Charter, promising itself to get out of its embarrassments by a +majority and a conquest." + +The Duchess of Berry had seen without apprehension, and perhaps even +with pleasure, the nomination of the new ministers. Tranquillity +reigned in France. There was no symptom of agitation, no sign of +disquiet in the circle surrounding the Princess, and after an agreeable +stay of some weeks at Dieppe, she proceeded to the south, where her +journey was a triumph. + + + + +XXX + +THE JOURNEY IN THE SOUTH + + +The journey of the Duchess of Berry in the south of France, in 1829, +was scarcely less triumphant than that she had made in the Vendee the +year before. The object of the Princess was to meet her family of the +Two Sicilies, which was traversing the kingdom on the way from Italy to +Spain, to escort to Madrid the young Marie-Christine, who was about to +espouse King Ferdinand VII.--his fourth wife. + +Born October 13, 1784, King since March 19, 1808, Ferdinand VII. had +married, first, Marie Antoinette, Princess of the Two Sicilies; second, +Isabelle-Marie Francoise, Princess of Portugal; third, +Marie-Josephe-Amelie, Princess of Saxony. He had chosen for his fourth +wife, Marie-Christine, Princess of the Two Sicilies, born April 27, +1806. Sister of the father of the Duchess of Berry, Marie-Christine was +the daughter of Francois I., King of the Two Sicilies, and his second +wife, the Infanta of Spain, Marie-Isabelle, born October 13, 1784, and +sister of Ferdinand II. The King of the Two Sicilies was escorting his +daughter, Marie-Christine, to the King of Spain, where she was to marry +at Madrid the 11th of December, 1829. Ferdinand VII. had a brother, the +Infante Francois de Paule, born March 10, 1784, who had espoused a +princess of the Two Sicilies, Louise-Caroline-Marie Isabelle, born +October 24, 1804, sister of the Duchess of Berry. From this marriage +was born the Infante Don Francisco of d'Assisi, husband of Queen +Isabelle. The Infante and Infanta Francois de Paule traversed the south +of France, to meet the Bourbons of Naples. We may add that the Duchess +of Orleans, sister of King Francois I., aunt of Marie-Christine and of +the Duchess of Berry, went with her husband to the eastern frontier of +France to meet her relatives. + +The Duchess of Berry, authorized by Charles X. to go to the south to +meet her father, her step-mother, and her sisters, left Saint Cloud, +October 10, 1829. The 17th, she was at Lyons, whither she promised to +return. At Valence, she found her step-brother and her sister, the +Infante and Infanta Francois de Paule, and returned with them to Lyons, +where, October 20, she was greeted by a great crowd, eager to look upon +her face. At the Grand Theatre Their Highnesses assisted at a +performance, in which the actor Bernard-Leon, Jr., played the part of +Poudret in Le Coiffeur et le Perruquier. + +Their Highnesses quitted Lyons, October 23, visited the +Grande-Chartreuse the 24th, and were at Grenoble the 25th, where they +met the Bourbons of Naples, who arrived in that city the 31st, coming +from Chambery. The Duchess of Berry, the Infante and Infanta Francois +de Paule, the Duke and Duchess of Orleans, received them at their entry +into France. Everywhere, from the frontier to Grenoble, the Sicilian +Majesties were met by the authorities, the mayors, the clergy. +Triumphal arches were erected by various communes. The one constructed +by the Marquis de Marcieu, in the wood of the avenue of his Chateau of +Trouvet, was especially remarked. This arch formed three porticoes, +surmounted by the arms of France, Naples, and Spain. Above were these +words, "Love to all the Bourbons." The grand avenue of the chateau was +draped from one end to the other. Every tree bore a white flag. +Garlands of verdure, mingled with these flags, formed an arbor that +stretched as far as the eye could see. Thirty young girls, clad in +white, crowned with flowers, and holding little flags in their hands, +were ranged in two lines near the arch. They offered to the King of +Naples, to the Queen and the princesses, bouquets and baskets of +fruits. When the cortege arrived before Grenoble, the mayor said: +"Sire, the descendants of Louis XIV. have imprescriptible rights to our +respect, to our love. We can never forget their origin nor the +indissoluble bonds that bind them to our native land, and still less +the virtues and goodness that distinguish this illustrious dynasty." He +added: "Sire, the city of Grenoble deems itself happy in being the +first city of France to present to Your Majesties the homage of our +respects, and to thank you for the noble present you have made to our +land in the person of your illustrious daughter, Madame, Duchess of +Berry. May the future Queen of Spain long embellish the throne on which +she is about to take her seat, and reign over the hearts of her new +subjects as her heroic sister reigns over ours. Long live the King! +Forever live the Bourbons!" + +The Duchess of Berry accompanied her relatives to the Pyrenees. The +journey was a long series of ovations. Marie-Christine, who was about +to ascend the throne of Spain, never ceased to admire the riches and +beauty of France. "Ah, my sister," said the Duchess of Berry to her, +"do not contemplate it too much. You would not be able to quit it!" +During the entire passage--at Valence, Avignon, Montpellier, Nimes--the +people rivalled the authorities in making the welcome as brilliant as +possible. Perpignan was reached the 10th of Novemher. The King and +Queen of Naples, the Duchess of Berry, and the future Queen of Spain, +journeyed together in an uncovered caleche. Madame accompanied her +relatives to the frontier at Perthus, where she bade them adieu, the +13th of November. The French troops from the foot of Bellegarde flanked +the right of the road. At the first salute fired from the fort, an +immense crowd of French and Spanish, who occupied the heights, greeted +with harmonious shouts the appearance of the royal carriage. On an arch +of triumph, erected on the Spanish side of the frontier, floated the +flags of the three peoples placed under the sceptre of the Bourbons. +That of France was in the middle and seemed to protect those of Spain +and Naples on either side. Thus was indicated the mother branch of the +three reigning families. The adieux were made with effusion. The +Duchess of Berry fell at the feet of her father, who hastened to raise +her and embrace her tenderly. The two sisters threw themselves into +each other's arms. Then they parted. + +While the Bourbons of Naples were entering on the soil of Spain, the +Duchess of Berry returned to Perpignan. She left there the 14th, and +the ovations were renewed along the route. The 16th, she passed through +Montpellier, where she admired the promenade of the Peyrou, whence are +perceived the sea, the Pyrenees, and the Alps, and saw the foundations +prepared for an equestrian statue of Louis XIV. The 17th, at Tarascon, +she breakfasted with the Marquis de Gras-Preville, and was present at +the games instituted by good King Rene,--tambourine dances and the +races of the Tarasque. The 18th, at Arles, she visited the Cloister of +Saint Trophime, and the Roman circus. About eighteen thousand persons +were crowded on the ancient benches. The galleries resounded with +military music which, borne from echo to echo, spread beneath all the +arches. In the evening the entire city was illuminated. From a balcony, +the Princess assisted at a pegoulade, a sort of torchlight promenade of +five or six hundred young people, who bore pieces of tarred rope +lighted at one end. She desired to see again these bizarre and +picturesque effects of light, this joyous procession, this clamorous +animation, and she had the enthusiastic cortege file a second time +under her windows. The 21st, she visited the Roman theatre at Orange, +one of the most curious ruins of the world. The 23d, she passed again +through Lyons. The 28th, she was at the Tuileries for dinner. + +The Duchess of Berry returned enchanted with her journey. Never had the +throne of the Bourbons seemed to her more solid, never were the +advantages of the family pact revealed in a more brilliant manner. The +Moniteur wrote: "The Princess Marie-Christine has heard her name +mingling in the air with that of her whose son is one day to be King of +France. Happy the new Queen, if her presence shall deliver Spain from +the factions that still divide it, and if, finding beyond the mountains +the same order, devotion, prosperity, as in our provinces, she can cry, +'There are no longer any Pyrenees.'" + +The Duchess of Berry had not found the inclinations of the south less +royalist than that of La Vendee. Everywhere protestations were made to +her, verging on lyrism, on idolatry; the idea of suspecting such +demonstrations never crossed her mind. She persuaded herself that +France loved her as much as she loved France. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Duchess of Berry and the Court of +Charles X, by Imbert De Saint-Amand + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DUCHESS OF BERRY *** + +***** This file should be named 4289.txt or 4289.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/8/4289/ + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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THE RE-ENTRANCE INTO PARIS + XVII. THE JUBILEE OF 1826 + XVIII. THE DUCHESS OF GONTAUT + XIX. THE THREE GOVERNORS + XX. THE REVIEW OF THE NATIONAL GUARD + XXI. THE FIRST DISQUIETUDE + XXII. THE MARTIGNAC MINISTRY + XXIII. THE JOURNEY IN THE WEST + XXIV. THE MARY STUART BALL + XXV. THE FINE ARTS + XXVI. THE THEATRE OF MADAME + XXVII. DIEPPE +XXVIII. THE PRINCE DE POLIGNAC + XXIX. GENERAL DE BOURMONT + XXX. THE JOURNEY IN THE SOUTH + + + + + +THE DUCHESS OF BERRY AND THE COURT OF CHARLES X + + + + + +I + +THE ACCESSION OF CHARLES X + + +Thursday, the 16th of September, 1824, at the moment when Louis +XVIII. was breathing his last in his chamber of the Chateau des +Tuileries, the courtiers were gathered in the Gallery of Diana. It +was four o'clock in the morning. The Duke and the Duchess of +Angouleme, the Duchess of Berry, the Duke and the Duchess of +Orleans, the Bishop of Hermopolis, and the physicians were in the +chamber of the dying man. When the King had given up the ghost, +the Duke of Angouleme, who became Dauphin, threw himself at the +feet of his father, who became King, and kissed his hand with +respectful tenderness. The princes and princesses followed this +example, and he who bore thenceforward the title of Charles X., +sobbing, embraced them all. They knelt about the bed. The De +Profundis was recited. Then the new King sprinkled holy water on +the body of his brother and kissed the icy hand. An instant later +M. de Blacas, opening the door of the Gallery of Diana, called +out: "Gentlemen, the King!" And Charles X. appeared. + +Let us listen to the Duchess of Orleans. "At these words, in the +twinkling of an eye, all the crowd of courtiers deserted the +Gallery to surround and follow the new King. It was like a +torrent. We were borne along by it, and only at the door of the +Hall of the Throne, my husband bethought himself that we no longer +had aught to do there. We returned home, reflecting much on the +feebleness of our poor humanity, and the nothingness of the things +of this world." + +Marshal Marmont, who was in the Gallery of Diana at the moment of +the King's death, was much struck by the two phrases pronounced at +an instant's interval by M. de Damas: "Gentlemen, the King is +dead! The King, gentlemen!" + +He wrote in his Memoirs: "It is difficult to describe the +sensation produced by this double announcement in so brief a time. +The new sovereign was surrounded by his officers, and everything +except the person of the King was in the accustomed order. +Beautiful and great thought, this uninterrupted life of the +depository of the sovereign power! By this fiction there is no +break in this protecting force, so necessary to the preservation +of society." The Marshal adds: "The government had been in fact +for a year and more in the hands of Monsieur. Thus the same order +of things was to continue; nevertheless, there was emotion +perceptible on the faces of those present; one might see hopes +spring up and existences wither. Every one accompanied the new +King to his Pavilion of Marsan. He announced to his ministers that +he confirmed them in their functions. Then every one withdrew." + +While the Duchess of Berry was present at the death of Louis +XVIII., the Duke of Bordeaux and his sister, Mademoiselle, then, +the one four, the other five years of age, remained at the Chateau +of Saint Cloud, with the Governess of the Children of France, the +Viscountess of Gontaut-Biron. This lady passed the night of the +15th of September in great anxiety. She listened on the balcony, +awaiting and dreading the news. + +At the moment that the day began to dawn, she heard afar the +gallop of a horse that drew near, passed the bridge, ascended the +avenue, reached the Chateau, and in response to the challenge of +the guard, she distinguished the words: "An urgent message for +Madame the Governess." It was a letter from the new King. Madame +de Gontaut trembled as she opened it. Charles X. announced to her, +in sad words, that Louis XVIII. was no more, and directed her to +made ready for the arrival of the royal family. "Lodge me where +you and the governor shall see fit. We shall probably pass three +or four days at Saint Cloud. Communicate my letter to the Marshal. +I have not strength to write another word." + +"The day was beginning to break," we read in the unpublished +Memoirs of the Governess of the Children of France. "I went to the +bed of Monseigneur. He was awakened. He was not surprised, and +said nothing, and allowed himself to be dressed. Not so with +Mademoiselle. I told her gently of the misfortune that had come +upon her family. I was agitated. She questioned me, asking where +was bon-papa. I told her that he was still in Paris, but was +coming to Saint Cloud; then I added: 'Your bon-papa, Mademoiselle, +is King, since the King is no more.' She reflected, then, +repeating the word: 'King! Oh! that indeed is the worst of the +story.' I was astonished, and wished her to explain her idea; she +simply repeated it. I thought then she had conceived the notion of +a king always rolled about in his chair." + +The same day the court arrived. It was no longer the light +carriage that used almost daily to bring Monsieur, to the great +joy of his grandchildren. It was the royal coach with eight +horses, livery, escort, and body-guard. The Duke of Bordeaux and +his sister were on the porch with their governess. On perceiving +the coach, instead of shouting with pleasure, as was their custom, +they remained motionless and abashed. Charles X. was pale and +silent. In the vestibule he paused: "What chamber have you +prepared for me?" he said sadly to Madame de Gontaut, glancing at +the door of his own. The governess replied: "The apartment of +Monsieur is ready, and the chamber of the King as well." The +sovereign paused, then clasping his hands in silence: "It must +be!" he cried. "Let us ascend." + +They followed him. He passed through the apartments. On the +threshold of the royal chamber Madame de Gontaut brought to +Charles X. the Duke of Bordeaux and Mademoiselle and he embraced +them. The poor children were disconcerted by so much sadness. "As +soon as I can," he said to them, "I promise to come to see you." +Then turning to the company: "I would be alone." All withdrew in +silence. The Dauphiness was weeping. The Dauphin had disappeared. +Everything was gloomy. No one spoke. Thus passed the first day of +the reign of Charles X. + +The next day the King received the felicitations of the Corps de +l'Etat. Many addresses were delivered. "All contained the +expression of the public love," said Marshal Marmont in his +Memoirs, "and I believe that they were sincere; but the love of +the people is, of all loves, the most fragile, the most apt to +evaporate. The King responded in an admirable manner, with +appropriateness, intelligence, and warmth. His responses, less +correct, perhaps, than those of Louis XVIII., had movement and +spirit, and it is so precious to hear from those invested with the +sovereign powers things that come from the heart, that Charles X. +had a great success. I listened to him with care, and I sincerely +admired his facility in varying his language and modifying his +expressions according to the eminence of the authority from whom +the compliments came." + +The reception lasted several hours. When the coaches had rolled +away and when quiet was re-established in the Chateau of Saint +Cloud, Charles X., in the mourning costume of the Kings, the +violet coat, went to the apartment of the Duke of Bordeaux and his +sister. The usher cried: "The King!" The two children, frightened, +and holding each other by the hand, remained silent. Charles X. +opened his arms and they threw themselves into them. Then the +sovereign seated himself in his accustomed chair and held his +grandchildren for some moments pressed to his heart. The Duke of +Bordeaux covered the hands and the face of his grandfather with +kisses. Mademoiselle regarded attentively the altered features of +the King and his mourning dress, novel to her. She asked him why +he wore such a coat. Charles X. did not reply, and sighed. Then he +questioned the governess as to the impression made on the children +by the death of Louis XVIII. Madame de Gontaut hesitated to +answer, recalling the strange phrase of Mademoiselle: "King! Oh! +that indeed is the worst of the story." But the little Princess, +clinging to her notion, began to repeat the unlucky phrase. +Charles X., willing to give it a favorable interpretation, assured +Mademoiselle that he would see her as often as in the past, and +that nothing should separate him from her. The two children, with +the heedlessness of their age, took on their usual gaiety, and ran +to the window to watch the market-men, the coal heavers, and the +fishwomen, who had come to Saint Cloud to congratulate the new +King. + +The griefs of sovereigns in the period of their prosperity do not +last so long as those of private persons. Courtiers take too much +pains to lighten them. With Charles X. grief at the loss of his +brother was quickly followed by the enjoyment of reigning. +Chateaubriand, who, when he wished to, had the art of carrying +flattery to lyric height, published his pamphlet: Le roi est mart! +Vive le roi! In it he said: "Frenchmen, he who announced to you +Louis le Desire, who made his voice heard by you in the days of +storm, and makes to you to-day of Charles X. in circumstances very +different. He is no longer obliged to tell you what the King is +who comes to you, what his misfortunes are, his virtues, his +rights to the throne and to your love; he is no longer obliged to +depict his person, to inform you how many members of his family +still exist. You know him, this Bourbon, the first to come, after +our disaster, worthy herald of old France, to cast himself, a +branch of lilies in his hand, between you and Europe. Your eyes +rest with love and pleasure on this Prince, who in the ripeness of +years has preserved the charm and elegance of his youth, and who +now, adorned with the diadem, still is but ONE FRENCHMAN THE MORE +IN THE MIDST OF YOU. You repeat with emotion so many happy mots +dropped by this new monarch, who from the loyalty of his heart +draws the grace of happy speech. What one of us would not confide +to him his life, his fortune, his honor? The man whom we should +all wish as a friend, we have as King. Ah! Let us try to make him +forget the sacrifices of his life! May the crown weigh lightly on +the white head of this Christian Knight! Pious as Saint Louis, +affable, compassionate, and just as Louis XII., courtly as Francis +I., frank as Henry IV., may he be happy with all the happiness he +has missed in his long past! May the throne where so many monarchs +have encountered tempests, be for him a place of repose! Devoted +subjects, let us crowd to the feet of our well-loved sovereign, +let us recognize in him the model of honor, the living principle +of our laws, the soul of our monarchical society; let us bless a +guardian heredity, and may legitimacy without pangs give birth to +a new King! Let our soldiers cover with their flags the father of +the Duke of Angouleme. May watchful Europe, may the factions, if +such there be still, see in the accord of all Frenchmen, in the +union of the people and the army, the pledge of our strength and +of the peace of the world!" The author of the Genie du +Christianisme thus closed his prose dithyramb: "May God grant to +Louis XVIII. the crown immortal of Saint Louis! May God bless the +mortal crown of Saint Louis on the head of Charles X.!" + +In this chant in honor of the King and of royalty, M. de +Chateaubriand did not forget the Duke and Duchess of Angouleme, +nor the Duchess of Berry and the Duke of Bordeaux. "Let us +salute," he said, "the Dauphin and Dauphiness, names that bind the +past to the future, calling up touching and noble memories, +indicating the own son and the successor of the monarch, names +under which we find the liberator of Spain and the daughter of +Louis XVI. The Child of Europe, the new Henry, thus makes one step +toward the throne of his ancestor, and his young mother guides him +to the throne that she might have ascended." + +Happy in the ease with which the change in the reign had taken +place, and seeing the unanimous manifestations of devotion and +enthusiasm by which the throne was surrounded, the Duchess of +Berry regarded the future with entire confidence. Inclined by +nature to optimism, the young and amiable Princess believed +herself specially protected by Providence, and would have +considered as a sort of impiety anything else than absolute faith +in the duration of the monarchy and in respect for the rights of +her son. Had any one of the court expressed the slightest doubt as +to the future destiny of the CHILD OF MIRACLE, he would have been +looked upon as an alarmist or a coward. The royalists were simple +enough to believe that, thanks to this child, the era of +revolutions was forever closed. They said to themselves that +French royalty, like British royalty, would have its Whigs and its +Tories, but that it was forever rid of Republicans and +Imperialists. At the accession of Charles X. the word Republican, +become a synonym of Jacobin, awoke only memories of the guillotine +and the "Terror." A moderate republic seemed but a chimera; only +that of Robespierre and Marat was thought of. The eagle was no +longer mentioned; and as to the eaglet, he was a prisoner at +Vienna. What chance of reigning had the Duke of Reichstadt, that +child of thirteen, condemned by all the Powers of Europe? By what +means could he mount the throne? Who would be regent in his name? +A Bonaparte? The forgetful Marie Louise? Such hypotheses were +relegated to the domain of pure fantasy. Apart from a few +fanatical old soldiers who persisted in saying that Napoleon was +not dead, no one, in 1824, believed in the resurrection of the +Empire. As for Orleanism, it was as yet a myth. The Duke of +Orleans himself was not an Orleanist. Of all the courtiers of +Charles X., he was the most eager, the most zealous, the most +enthusiastic. In whatever direction she turned her glance, the +Duchess of Berry saw about her only reasons for satisfaction and +security. + + + + + +II + +THE ENTRY INTO PARIS + + +The Duchess of Berry took part in the solemn entry into Paris made +by Charles X., Monday, 27th September, 1824. She was in the same +carriage as the Dauphiness and the Duchess and Mademoiselle of +Orleans. The King left the Chateau of Saint Cloud at half-past +eleven in the morning, passed through the Bois de Boulogne, and +mounted his horse at the Barriere de l'Etoile. There he was +saluted by a salvo of one hundred and one guns, and the Count de +Chambral, Prefect of the Seine, surrounded by the members of the +Municipal Council, presented to him the keys of the city. Charles +X. replied to the address of the Prefect: "I deposit these keys +with you, because I cannot place them in more faithful hands. +Guard them, gentlemen. It is with a profound feeling of pain and +joy that I enter within these walls, in the midst of my good +people,--of joy because I well know that I shall employ and +consecrate all my days to the very last, to assure and consolidate +their happiness." Accompanied by the princes and princesses of his +family and by a magnificent staff, the sovereign descended the +Champs-Elysees to the Avenue of Marigny, followed that avenue, +and entered the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, before the Palace +of the Elysee. At this moment, the weather, which had been cold +and sombre, brightened, and the rain, which had been falling for a +long time, ceased. The King heard two child-voices crying +joyously, "Bon-papa." It was the little Duke of Bordeaux and his +sister at a window of an entresol of the Elysee which looked out +upon the street. On perceiving his two grandchildren, Charles X. +could not resist the impulse to approach them. He left the ranks +of the cortege, to the despair of the grand-master of ceremonies. +The horse reared. A sergeant-de-ville seized him by the bit. +Listen to Madame de Gontaut: "I was frightened, and cried out. The +King scolded me for it afterward. I confessed my weakness; to fall +at the first step in Paris would have seemed an ill omen. The King +subdued his fretful horse, said a few tender words to the +children, raised his hat gracefully to the ladies surrounding us. +A thousand voices shouted: Vive le Roi! The grand-master was +reassured, the horse was quieted, and the King resumed his place. +The carriage of the princes and princesses passing at that moment, +the little princes saw them--it was an added joy." + +The cortege followed this route: the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, +the boulevards to the Rue Saint-Denis, the Rue Saint-Denis, the +Place du Chatelet, the Pont au Change, the Rue de la Bailer, +the Marche-Neuf, the Rue Neuve-Notre-Dame, the Parvis. At every +moment the King reined in his superb Arab horse to regard more at +ease the delighted crowd. He smiled and saluted with an air of +kindness and a grace that produced the best impression. Charles X. +was an excellent horseman; he presented the figure and air of a +young man. The contrast naturally fixed in all minds, between his +vigorous attitude and that of his predecessor, an infirm and +feeble old man, added to the general satisfaction. The houses were +decorated with white flags spangled with fleurs-de-lis. Triumphal +arches were erected along the route of the sovereign. The streets +and boulevards were strewn with flowers. At the sight of the +monarch the happy people redoubled their acclamations. Benjamin +Constant shouted: "Vive le roi!"--"Ah, I have captured you at +last," smilingly remarked Charles X. + +Reaching the Parvis de Notre-Dame, the sovereign, before entering +the Cathedral, paused before the threshold of the Hotel-Dieu. +Fifty nuns presented themselves before him, "Sire," said the +Prioress, "you pause before the house so justly termed the Hotel- +Dieu, which has always been honored with the protection of our +kings. We shall never forget, Sire, that the sick have seen at +their bedside the Prince who is today their King. They know that +at this moment your march is arrested by charity. We shall tell +them that the King is concerned for their ills, and it will be a +solace to them. Sire, we offer you our homage, our vows, and the +assurance that we shall always fulfil with zeal our duties to the +sick." Charles X. replied: "I know with what zeal you and these +gentlemen serve the poor. Continue, Mesdames, and you can count on +my benevolence and on my constant protection." + +The King was received at the Metropolitan Church by the Archbishop +of Paris at the head of his clergy. The Domine salvum, fac regem, +was intoned and repeated by the deputations of all the authorities +and by the crowd filling the nave, the side-aisles, and the +tribunes of the vast basilica. Then a numerous body of singers +sang the Te Deum. On leaving the church, the King remounted his +horse and returned to the Tuileries, along the quais, to the sound +of salvos of artillery and the acclamations of the crowd. The +Duchess of Berry, who had followed the King through all the +ceremonies, entered the Chateau with him, and immediately +addressed to the Governess of the Children of France this note: +"From Saint Cloud to Notre-Dame, from Notre-Dame to the Tuileries, +the King has been accompanied by acclamations, signs of approval +and of love." + +Charles X., on Thursday, the 30th September, had to attend a +review on the Champ-de-Mars. The morning of this day, the readers +of all the journals found in them a decree abolishing the +censorship and restoring liberty of the press. The enthusiasm was +immense. The Journal de Paris wrote: "Today all is joy, +confidence, hope. The enthusiasm excited by the new reign would be +far too ill at ease under a censorship. None can be exercised over +the public gratitude. It must be allowed full expansion. Happy is +the Council of His Majesty to greet the new King with an act so +worthy of him. It is the banquet of this joyous accession; for to +give liberty to the press is to give free course to the +benedictions merited by Charles X." + +The review was superb. After having heard Mass in the chapel of +the Chateau of the Tuileries, the King mounted his horse at half- +past eleven, and, accompanied by the Dauphin, the Duke of Orleans, +and the Duke of Bourbon, proceeded to the Champ-de-Mars. Two +caleches followed; the one was occupied by the Dauphiness, the +Duchess of Berry, and the Duke of Bordeaux in the uniform of a +colonel of cuirassiers,--a four-year old colonel,--the other by +the Duchess of Orleans and Mademoiselle of Orleans, her sister-in- +law. The weather was mild and clear. The twelve legions of the +National Guard on foot, the mounted National Guard, the military +household of the King, and all the regiments of the royal guard, +which the sovereign was about to review, made a magnificent +appearance. An immense multitude covered the slopes about the +Champ-de-Mars. Charles X. harvested the effect of the liberal +measure that he had first adopted. A thunder of plaudits and +cheers greeted his arrival on the ground. At one moment, when he +found himself, so to speak, tangled in the midst of the crowd, +several lancers of his guard sought to break the circle formed +about him by pushing back the curious with the handles of their +lances. "My friends, no halberds!" the King called to them. This +happy phrase, repeated from group to group, carried the general +satisfaction to a climax. A witness of this military ceremony, the +Count of Puymaigre, at that time Prefect of the Oise, says in his +curious Souvenirs:-- + +"Charles X. appeared to have dissipated all the dangers that for +ten years had menaced his august predecessor. + +"On all sides there rose only acclamations of delight in favor of +the new King, who showed himself so popular, and whose gracious +countenance could express only benevolent intentions. I was +present, mingling with the crowd, at the first review by Charles +X. on the Champ-de-Mars, and the remarks were so frankly royalist, +that any one would have been roughly treated by the crowd had he +shown other sentiments." + +The Duchess of Berry was full of joy. She quivered with pleasure. +Very popular in the army and among the people, as at court and in +the city, she was proud to show her fine child, who already wore +the uniform, to the officers and soldiers. She appeared to all +eyes the symbol of maternal love, and the mothers gazed upon her +boy as if he had been their own. As soon as the little Prince was +seen, there was on every face an expression of kindliness and +sympathy. He was the Child of Paris, the Child of France. Who +could have foretold then that this child, so loved, admired, +applauded, would, innocent victim, less than six years later, be +condemned to perpetual exile, and by whom? + +Charles X. had won a triumph. Napoleon, at the time of his +greatest glories, at the apogee of his prodigious fortunes, had +never had a warmer greeting from the Parisian people. In the +course of the review the King spoke to all the colonels. On his +return to the Tuileries he went at a slow pace, paused often to +receive petitions, handed them to one of his suite, and responded +in the most gracious manner to the homage of which he was the +object. An historian not to be accused of partiality for the +Restoration has written: "On entering the Tuileries, Charles X. +might well believe that the favor that greeted his reign effaced +the popularity of all the sovereigns who had gone before. Happy in +being King at last, moved by the acclamations that he met at every +step, the new monarch let his intoxicating joy expand in all his +words. His affability was remarked in his walks through Paris, and +the grace with which he received all petitioners who could +approach him." Everywhere that he appeared, at the Hotel-Dieu, at +Sainte-Genvieve, at the Madeleine, the crowd pressed around him +and manifested the sincerest enthusiasm. M. Villemain, in the +opening discourse of his lectures on eloquence at the Faculty of +Letters, was wildly applauded when he pronounced the following +eulogium on the new sovereign: "A monarch kindly and revered, he +has the loyalty of the antique ways and modern enlightenment. +Religion is the seal of his word. He inherits from Henry IV. those +graces of the heart that are irresistible. He has received from +Louis XIV. an intelligent love of the arts, a nobility of +language, and that dignity that imposes respect while it seduces." +All the journals chanted his praises. Seeing that the +Constitutionnel itself, freed from censorship, rendered +distinguished homage to legitimacy, he came to believe that +principle invincible. He was called Charles the Loyal. At the +Theatre-Francais, the line of Tartufe-- + + "Nous vivons sous un prince ennemi de la fraude"-- + +was greeted with a salvo of applause. The former adversaries of +the King reproached themselves with having misunderstood him. They +sincerely reproached themselves for their past criticisms, and +adored that which they had burned. M. de Vaulabelle himself +wrote:-- + +"Few sovereigns have taken possession of the throne in +circumstances more favorable than those surrounding the accession +of Charles X." + +It seemed as if the great problem of the conciliation of order and +liberty had been definitely solved. The white flag, rejuvenated by +the Spanish war, had taken on all its former splendor. The best +officers, the best soldiers of the imperial guard, served the King +in the royal guard with a devotion proof against everything. +Secret societies had ceased their subterranean manoeuvres. No more +disturbances, no more plots. In the Chambers, the Opposition, +reduced to an insignificant minority, was discouraged or +converted. The ambitious spirits of whom it was composed turned +their thoughts toward the rising sun. Peace had happily fecundated +the prodigious resources of the country. Finances, commerce, +agriculture, industry, the fine arts, everything was prospering. +The public revenues steadily increased. The ease with which riches +came inclined all minds toward optimism. The salons had resumed +the most exquisite traditions of courtesy and elegance. It was the +boast that every good side of the ancien regime had been preserved +and every bad one rejected. France was not only respected, she was +a la mode. All Europe regarded her with sympathetic admiration. No +one in 1824 could have predicted 1880. The writers least favorable +to the Restoration had borne witness to the general calm, the +prevalence of good will, the perfect accord between the country +and the crown. The early days of the reign of Charles X. were, so +to speak, the honeymoon of the union of the King and France. + + + + + +III + +THE TOMBS OF SAINT-DENIS + + +The funeral solemnities of Louis XVIII. seemed to the people a +mortuary triumph of Royalty over the Revolution and the Empire. +The profanations of 1793 were expiated. Napoleon was left with the +willow of Saint Helena; the descendant of Saint Louis and of Louis +XIV. had the basilica of his ancestors as a place of sepulture, +and the links of time's chain were again joined. The obsequies of +Louis XVIII. suggested a multitude of reflections. It was the +first time since the death of Louis XV. in 1774, that such a +ceremony had taken place. As was said by the Moniteur:-- + +"This solemnity, absolutely novel for the greater number of the +present generation, offered an aspect at once mournful and +imposing. A monarch so justly regretted, a king so truly +Christian, coming to take his place among the glorious remains of +the martyrs of his race and the bones of his ancestors,--profaned, +scattered by the revolutionary tempest, but which he had been able +again to gather,--was a grave subject of reflection, a spectacle +touching in its purpose and majestic in the pomp with which it was +surrounded." + +Through what vicissitudes had passed these royal tombs, to which +the coffin of Louis XVIII. was borne! Read in the work of M. +Georges d'Heylli, Les Tombes royales de Saint-Denis, the story of +these profanations and restorations. + +The Moniteur of the 6th of February, 1793, published in its +literary miscellany, a so-called patriotic ode, by the poet +Lebrun, containing the following strophe:-- + + "Purgeons le sol des patriotes, + Par des rois encore infectes. + La terre de la liberte + Rejette les os des despotes. + De ces monstres divinises + Que tous lea cercueils soient brises! + Que leur memoirs soit fletrie! + Et qu'avec leurs manes errants + Sortent du sein de la patrie + Les cadavres de ses tyrants!" + +[Footnote: Let us purge the patriot soil--By kings still +infected.--The land of liberty--Rejects the bones of despots.--Of +these monsters deified--Let all the coffins be destroyed!--Let +their memory perish!--And with their wandering manes--Let issue +from the bosom of the fatherland--The bodies of its tyrants!] + +These verses were the prelude to the discussion, some months +later, in the National Convention, of the proposition to destroy +the monuments of the Kings at Saint-Denis, to burn their remains, +and to send to the bullet foundry the bronze and lead off their +tombs and coffins. In the session of July 31, 1793, Barrere, the +"Anacreon of the guillotine," read to the convention in the name +of the Committee of Public Safety, a report, which said:-- + +"To celebrate the day of August 10, which overthrew the throne, +the pompous mausoleums must be destroyed upon its anniversary. +Under the Monarchy, the very tombs were taught to flatter kings. +Royal pride and luxury could not be moderated even on this theatre +of death, and the bearers of the sceptre who had brought such ills +on France and on humanity seemed even in the grave to vaunt a +vanished splendor. The strong hand of the Republic should +pitilessly efface these haughty epitaphs, and demolish these +mausoleums which might recall the frightful memory of kings." + +The project was voted by acclamation. The tombs were demolished +between the 6th and 8th of August, 1793, and the announcement was +made for the anniversary of the 10th of August, 1792, of "that +grand, just, and retributive destruction, required in order that +the coffins should be opened, and the remains of the tyrants be +thrown into a ditch filled with quick-time, where they may be +forever destroyed. This operation will shortly take place." + +This was done in the following October. For some days there was +carried on a profanation even more sacrilegious than the +demolition of the tombs. The coffins containing the remains of +kings and queens, princes and princesses, were violated. On +Wednesday, the 16th of October, 1798, at the very hour that Marie +Antoinette mounted the scaffold,--she who had so wept for her son, +the first Dauphin, who died the 4th of June, 1789, at the +beginning of the Revolution,--the disinterrers of kings violated +the grave of this child and threw his bones on the refuse heap. +Iconoclasts, jealous of death, disputed its prey, and they +profaned among others the sepulchres of Madame Henrietta of +England, of the Princess Palatine, of the Regent, and of Louis XV. + +In the midst of these devastations, some men, less insensate than +the others, sought at least to rescue from the hands of the +destroyers what might be preserved in the interest of art. Of this +number was an artist, Alexandre Lenoir, who had supervised the +demolition of the tombs of Saint-Denis. He could not keep from the +foundry, by the terms of the decree, the tombs of lead, copper, +and bronze; but he saved the others from complete destruction-- +those that may be seen to-day in the church of Saint-Denis. He had +them placed first in the cemetery of the Valois, near the ditches +filled with quicklime, where had been cast the remains of the +great ones of the earth, robbed of their sepulchres. Later, a +decree of the Minister of the Interior, Benezech, dated 19 +Germinal, An IV., authorizing the citizen Lenoir to have the tombs +thus saved from destruction taken to the Museum of French +Monuments, of which he was the conservator, and which had been +installed at Paris, Rue des Petits Augustins. From thence they +were destined to be returned to the Church of Saint-Denis, under +the reign of Louis XVIII. + +At the height of his power, Napoleon dreamed of providing for +himself the same sepulture as that of the kings, his predecessors. +He had decided that he would be interred in the Church of Saint- +Denis, and had arranged for himself a cortege of emperors about +the site that he had chosen for the vault of his dynasty. He +directed the construction of a grand monument dedicated to +Charlemagne, which was to rise in the "imperialized" church. The +great Carlovingian emperor was to have been represented, erect, +upon a column of marble, at the back of which statues in stone of +the emperors who succeeded him were to have been placed. But at +the time of Napoleon's fall, the monument had not been finished. +There had been completed only the statues, which have taken their +rank in the crypt. They represent Charlemagne, Louis le +Debonnaire, Charles le Chauve, Louis le Begue, Charles le Gros, +and even Louis d'Outremer, who, nevertheless, was only a king. + +Like the Pharaohs of whom Bossuet speaks, Napoleon was not to +enjoy his sepulture. To be interred with pomp at Saint-Denis, +while Napoleon, at Saint Helena, rested under a simple stone on +which not even his name was inscribed, was the last triumph for +Louis XVIII.,--a triumph in death. The re-entrance of Louis XVIII. +had been not only the restoration of the throne, but that of the +tombs. The 21st of January, 1815, twenty-two years, to the very +day, after the death of Louis XVI., the remains of the unhappy +King and those of his Queen, Marie Antoinette, were transferred to +the Church of Saint-Denis, where their solemn obsequies were +celebrated. Chateaubriand cried:-- + +"What hand has reconstructed the roof of these vaults and prepared +these empty tombs? The hand of him who was seated on the throne of +the Bourbons. O Providence! He believed that he was preparing the +sepulchres of his race, and he was but building the tomb of Louis +XVI. Injustice reigns but for a moment; it is virtue only that can +count its ancestors and leave a posterity. See, at the same +moment, the master of the earth falls, Louis XVIII. regains the +sceptre, Louis XVI. finds again the sepulture of his fathers." + +At the beginning of the Second Restoration, the King determined, +by a decree of the 4th of April, 1816, that search should be made +in the cemetery of the Valois, about the Church of Saint-Denis, in +order to recover the remains of his ancestors that might have +escaped the action of the bed of quicklime, in which they had been +buried under the Terror. The same decree declared that the remains +recovered should be solemnly replaced in the Church of Saint- +Denis. + +Excavations were made in January, 1817, in the cemetery of the +Valois, and the bones thus discovered were transferred to the +necropolis of the kings. + +"It was night," says Alexandre Lenoir, in his Histoire des Arts en +France par les Monuments. "The moon shone on the towers; the +torches borne by the attendants were reflected from the walls of +the edifice. What a spectacle! The remains of kings and queens, +princes and princesses, of the most ancient of monarchies, sought +with pious care, with sacred respect, in the ditches dug by +impious arms in the evil days. The bones of the Valois and the +Bourbons found pele-mele outside the walls of the church, and +brought again, after a long exile, to their ancient burial place." + +In a little vault on the left were deposited the coffins +containing the bones of earlier date than the Bourbons, and a +marble tablet was placed upon it, with the inscription: "Here rest +the mortal remains of eighteen kings, from Dagobert to Henry III.; +ten queens, from Nantilde, wife of Dagobert, to Marguerite de +Valois, first wife of Henry IV.; twenty-four dauphins, princes, +and princesses, children and grandchildren of France; eleven +divers personages (Hugues-le-grand, four abbes of Saint-Denis, +three chamberlains, two constables, and Sedille de Sainte-Croix, +wife of the Counsellor Jean Pastourelle). Torn from their violated +sepulchres the 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 October, 1793, and +18 January, 1794; restored to their tombs the 19 January, 1817." + +On the right were placed the coffins enclosing the remains of the +princes and princesses of the house of Bourbon, the list of which +is given by a second marble plaque: "Here rest the mortal remains +of seven kings, from Charles V. to Louis XV.; seven queens, from +Jeanne de Bourbon, wife of Charles V., to Marie Leczinska, wife of +Louis XV.; dauphins and dauphinesses, princes and princesses, +children and grandchildren of France, to the number of forty- +seven, from the second son of Henry IV. to the Dauphin, eldest son +of Louis XVI. Torn from their violated sepulchres the 12, 14, 15, +and 16 October, 1793; restored to their tombs the 19 January, +1817." + +Besides these vaults, there is one that bears the title of the +"Royal Vault of the Bourbons," though but a small number of +princes and princesses of this family are there deposited. There +is where Louis XVIII. was to rest. In 1815, there had been placed +in this vault the coffins of Louis XVI. and of Marie Antoinette, +recovered on the site of the former cemetery of the Madeleine. On +the coffin of the King was carved: "Here is the body of the very +high, very puissant, and very excellent Prince, Louis, 16th of the +name, by the grace of God King of France and Navarre." A like +inscription on the coffin of the Queen recited her titles. + +In 1817, there had been put by the side of these two coffins those +of Madame Adelaide and of Madame Victorine, daughter of Louis XV., +who died at Trieste, one in 1799, the other in 1800, and whose +remains had just been brought from that city to Saint-Denis. +There had also been placed in the same vault a coffin containing +the body of Louis VII.--a king coming now for the first time, as +Alexandre Lenoir remarks, to take a place in the vault of these +vanished princes, whose ranks are no longer crowded, and which +crime has been more prompt to scatter than has Death been to fill +them; also the coffin of Louise de Vaudemont, wife of Henry III., +the queen who was buried in the Church of the Capucins, Place +Vendome, and whose remains escaped profanation in 1793. In this +same vault were also two little coffins, those of a daughter and a +son of the Duke and Duchess of Berry, who died, one in 1817, the +other in 1818, immediately after birth, and the coffin of their +father, assassinated the 13th of February, 1820, on leaving the +Opera. Such were the companions in burial of Louis XVIII. + + + + + +IV + +THE FUNERAL OF LOUIS XVIII + + +Louis XVIII. died the 16th of September, 1824, at the Chateau of +the Tuileries. His body remained there until the 23d of September, +when, to the sound of a salvo of one hundred and one guns, it was +borne to the Church of Saint-Denis. The coffin remained exposed in +this basilica within a chapelle ardente, to the 24th of October, +the eve of the day fixed for the obsequies, and during all this +time the church was filled with a crowd of the faithful, belonging +to all classes of society, who gathered from Paris and all the +surrounding communes, to render a last homage to the old King. +Sunday, 24th of October, at two o'clock in the afternoon, the body +was transferred from the chapelle ardente to the catafalque +prepared to receive it. Then the vespers and the vigils of the +dead were sung, and the Grand Almoner, clad in his pontifical +robes, officiated. The next day, Monday, the 25th of October, the +services of burial took place. + +The Dauphin and Dauphiness left the Tuileries at 10:30 A.M., to be +present at the funeral ceremony. In conformity with etiquette, +Charles X. was not present. He remained at the Tuileries with the +Duchess of Berry, with whom he heard a requiem Mass in the chapel +of the Chateau at eleven o'clock. The Duchess was thus spared a +painful spectacle. With what emotion would she not have seen +opened the crypt in which she believed she would herself be laid, +and which was the burial place of her assassinated husband and of +her two children, dead so soon after their birth. + +The ceremony commences in the antique necropolis. The interior of +the church is hung all with black to the spring of the arches, +where fleurs-de-lis in gold are relieved against the funeral +hangings. The light of day, wholly shut out, is replaced by an +immense quantity of lamps, tapers, and candles, suspended from a +multitude of candelabra and chandeliers. At the back of the choir +shines a great luminous cross. The Dauphiness, the Duchess of +Orleans, the princes and princesses, her children, her sister-in- +law, are led to the gallery of the Dauphiness. The church is +filled with the crowd of constituted authorities. At the entrance +to the nave is seen a deputation of men and women from the +markets, and others who, according to the Moniteur, have won the +favor of admission to this sad ceremony by the grief they +manifested at the time of the King's death. The Dauphin advances, +his mantle borne from the threshold of the church to the choir by +the Duke of Blacas, the Duke of Damas, and the Count Melchior de +Polignac. The Duke of Orleans comes next. Three of his officers +bear his mantle. + +A salvo of artillery, responded to by a discharge of musketry, +announces the commencement of the ceremony. The Grand Almoner of +France says Mass. After the Gospel Mgr. de Frayssinous, Bishop of +Hermopolis, ascends the pulpit and pronounces the funeral oration +of the King. At the close of the discourse another salvo of +artillery and another discharge of musketry are heard. The +musicians of the Chapel of the King, under the direction of M. +Plantade, render the Mass of Cherubim. At the Sanctus, twelve +pages of the King, guided by their governor, come from the +sacristy, whence they have taken their torches, salute the altar, +then the catafalque, place themselves kneeling on the first steps +of the sanctuary, and remain there until after the Communion. The +De Profundis and the Libera are sung. After the absolutions, +twelve bodyguards advance to the catafalque, which recalls by its +form the mausoleums raised to Francis I. and to Henry II. by the +architects of the sixteenth century. It occupies the centre of the +nave. The cords of the pall are borne by the Chancellor Dambray in +the name of the Chamber of Peers, by M. Ravez in the name of the +Chamber of Deputies, by the Count de Seze in the name of the +magistracy, by Marshal Moncey, Duke of Conegliano, in the name of +the army. The twelve bodyguards raise the coffin from the +catafalque, and bear it into the royal tomb. Then the King-at-Arms +goes alone into the vault, lays aside his rod, his cap, and his +coat-of-arms, which he also casts in, retires a step, and cries: +"Heralds-at-Arms, perform your duties." + +The Heralds-at-Arms, marching in succession, cast their rods, +caps, coats-of-arms, into the tomb, then withdraw, except two, of +whom one descends into the vault to place the regalia on the +coffin, and the other is stationed on the first steps to receive +the regalia and pass them to the one who stands on the steps. + +The King-at-Arms begins announcing the regalia. He says: "Marshal, +Duke of Ragusa, major-general of the Royal Guard, bring the flag +of the Royal Guard." The marshal rises from his place, takes the +flag from the hands of the officer bearing it, advances, salutes +first the Dauphin, then the Duke of Orleans, approaches the vault, +makes a profound bow, and places the flag in the hands of the +Herald-at-Arms, standing on the steps. He passes it to the +second, who places it on the coffin. The marshal salutes the altar +and the princes and resumes his place. + +The King-at-Arms continues the calls. "Monsieur the Duke of +Mortemart, captain-colonel of the regular foot-guards of the King, +bring the ensign of the company which you have in keeping." He +summons in the same manner the Duke of Luxembourg, the Duke of +Mouchy, the Duke of Gramont, the Duke d'Havre, who bring each the +standard of the company of the body-guards of which they are the +four captains. The call of the other regalia goes on in the +following order:-- + +"Monsieur the Count of Peyrelongue, Equerry in Ordinary of His +Majesty, bring the spurs of the King. + +"Monsieur the Marquis of Fresne, Equerry in Ordinary of His +Majesty, bring the gauntlets of the King. + +"Monsieur the Chevalier de Riviere, Master of the Horse of His +Majesty, bring the coat-of-arms of the King. + +"Monsieur the Marquis of Vernon, charged with the functions of +First Equerry, bring the helmet of the King. + +"Monsieur the Duke of Polignac, charged with the functions of +Grand Equerry of France, bring the royal sword. (The royal sword +is presented before the vault only by the point, and is not +carried down.) + +"Monsieur the Prince de Talleyrand, Grand Chamberlain of France, +bring the banner." + +There is seen approaching, the banner in his hand, an old man, +slight, lame, clad in satin and covered with embroidery, in gold +and jewelled decorations. It is the unfrocked priest who said the +Mass of the Champ-de-Mars, for the Fete de la Federation; it is +the diplomat who directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the +time of the murder of the Duke d'Enghien; it is the courtier, who, +before he was Grand Chamberlain of Louis XVIII. and Charles X., +was that of Napoleon. The banner is presented before the vault +only by one end. It is inclined over the opening of the crypt, but +is not cast in, salutes, for the last time, the dead King, then +rises as if to proclaim that the noble banner of France dies not, +and that the royalty sheltered beneath its folds descends not into +the tomb. + +The King-at-Arms again cries:-- + +"Monsieur the Duke d'Uzes, charged with the functions of Grand +Master of France, come and perform your duty." Then the maitres de +l'hotel, the chambellans de l'hotel, and the first maitre de +l'hotel approach the vault, break their batons, cast them in, and +return to their places. + +The King-at-Arms summons the persons bearing the insignia of +royalty. + +"Monsieur the Duke of Bressac, bring la main de justice. + +"Monsieur the Duke of Chevreuse, bring the sceptre. + +"Monsieur the Duke of la Tremoille, bring the crown." + +These three insignia are taken down into the vault, as were the +flag and the four standards. + +Then the Duke d'Uzes, putting the end of the baton of Grand Master +of France within the vault, cries out: "The King is dead!" + +The King-at-Arms withdraws three paces, and repeats in a low +voice: "The King is dead! the King is dead! the King is dead!" +Then turning to the assembly he says: "Pray for the repose of his +soul!" + +At this moment the clergy and all the assistants throw themselves +upon their knees, pray, and rise again. The Duke d'Uzes withdraws +his baton from the vault, and brandishing it, calls out: "Long +live the King!" + +The King-at-Arms repeats: "Long live the King! long live the King! +long live the King! Charles, tenth of the name, by the grace of +God, King of France and Navarre, very Christian, very august, very +puissant, our very honored lord and good master, to whom God grant +long and happy life! Cry ye all: Long live the King!" Then the +trumpets, drums, fifes, and instruments of the military bands +break into a loud fanfare, and their sound is mingled with the +prolonged acclamations of the assembly, whose cries "Long live the +King! long live Charles X.!" contrast with the silence of the +tombs. + +"To this outburst of the public hopes," says the Moniteur, +"succeeded the return of pious and mournful duties; the tomb is +closed over the mortal remains of the monarch whose subjects, +restored to happiness, greeted him on his return from the land of +exile with the name of Louis le Desire, and who twice reconciled +his people with Europe. This imposing ceremony being ended, the +princes were again escorted into the Abbey to their apartments, by +the Grand Master, the Master of Ceremonies and his aides, preceded +by the Master-at-Arms, and the Heralds-at-Arms, who had resumed +their caps, coats-of-arms, and rods. Then the crowd slowly +dispersed. We shall not try to express the sentiments to which +this imposing and mournful ceremony must give rise. With the +regrets and sorrow caused by the death of a prince so justly wept, +mingle the hopes inspired by a King already the master of all +hearts. This funeral ceremony when, immediately after the burial +of a monarch whom God had called to Himself, were heard cries of +'Long live Charles X.,'--the new King greeted at the tomb of his +august predecessor,--this inauguration, amid the pomps of death, +must have left impressions not to be rendered, and beyond the +power of imagination to represent." + +Reader, if this recital has interested you, go visit the Church of +Saint-Denis. There is not, perhaps, in all the world, a spectacle +more impressive than the sight of the ancient necropolis of kings. +Enter the basilica, admirably restored under the Second Empire. By +the mystic light of the windows, faithful reproductions of those +of former centuries,--the funerals of so many kings, the +profanations of 1793, the restoration of the tombs,--all this +invades your thought and inspires you with a dim religious +impression of devotion. These stones have their language. Lapides +clamabunt. They speak amid the sepulchral silence. Listen to the +echo of a far-away voice. There, under these arches, centuries +old, the 21st of August, 1670, Bossuet pronounced the funeral +oration of Madame Henriette of England. He said:-- + +"With whatever haughty distinction men may flatter themselves, +they all have the same origin, and this origin insignificant. +Their years follow each other like waves; they flow unceasingly, +and though the sound of some is slightly greater and their course +a trifle longer than those of others, they are together confounded +in an abyss where are known neither princes nor kings nor the +proud distinctions of men, as the most boasted rivers mingle in +the ocean, nameless and inglorious with the least known streams." + +Is not the Church of Saint-Denis itself a funeral discourse in +stone more grandiose and eloquent than that of the reverend +orator? Regard on either side of the nave these superb mausoleums, +these pompous tombs that are but an empty show, and since their +dead dwell not in them, contemplate these columns that seem to +wish to bear to heaven the splendid testimony of our nothingness! +There, at the right of the main altar, descend the steps that lead +to the crypt. There muse on all the kings, the queens, the +princes, and princesses, whose bones have been replaced at hazard +within these vaults, after their bodies had been, in 1793, cast +into a common ditch in the cemetery of the Valois to be consumed +by quicklime. The great ones of the earth, dispossessed of their +sepulchres, could they not say, in the region of shades, in the +mournful words of the Sermonnaire:-- + +"Death does not leave us body enough to require room, and it is +only the tombs that claim the sight; our body takes another name; +even that of corpse, since it implies something of the human form, +remains to it but a little time; it becomes a something nameless +in any tongue, so truly does everything die in it, even the +funeral terms by which its unhappy remains are designated. Thus +the Power divine, justly angered by our pride, reduces it to +nothingness, and, to level all conditions forever, makes common +ashes of us all." + +The remains of so many sovereigns and princes are no longer even +corpses. The corpses have perished as ruins perish. You may no +longer see the coffins of the predecessors of Louis XVI. But those +of the Martyr-King, of the Queen Marie Antoinette, of the Duke of +Berry, of Louis XVIII., are there before you in the crypt. Pause. +Here is the royal vault of the Bourbons. Your glance can enter +only a narrow grated window, through which a little twilight +filters. If a lamp were not lighted at the back, the eye would +distinguish nothing. By the doubtful gleam of this sepulchral +lamp, you succeed in making out in the gloom the coffins placed on +trestles of iron; to the left that of the Duke of Berry, then the +two little coffins of his children, dead at birth; then in two +rows those of Mesdames Adelaide and Victoire, daughters of Louis +XV., those of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, those of the two +last Princes of Conde, died in 1818 and in 1830, and on the right, +at the very extremity of the vault, that of the only sovereign +who, for the period of a century, died upon the throne, Louis +XVIII. + +The royal vault of the Bourbons was diminished more than half to +make room for the imperial vault constructed under Napoleon III. +The former entrance, on the steps of which stand the Heralds-at- +Arms at the obsequies of the kings, has been suppressed. The +coffin of Louis XVIII. was not placed on the iron trestles, where +it rests to-day, at the time of his funeral. It was put at the +threshold of the vault, where it was to have been replaced by that +of Charles X.; for by the ancient tradition, when a king of France +dies, as his successor takes his place on the throne, so he, in +death, displaces his predecessor. But Louis XVIII. waited in vain +for Charles X. in the royal vault of the Bourbons; the last +brother of Louis XVI. reposes in the chapel of the Franciscans at +Goritz. + +Charles X. is not alone in being deprived of his rights in his +tomb; the Duke and Duchess of Angouleme and the Count of Chambord +were so, and also Napoleon III. The second Emperor and Prince +Imperial, his son, sleep their sleep in England; for the +Bonapartes, like the Bourbons, have been exiled from Saint-Denis. +By a decree of the 18th of November, 1858, the man who had re- +established the Empire decided that the imperial dynasty should +have its sepulture in the ancient necropolis of the kings. +Napoleon III. no more, realized his dream than Napoleon I. He had +completed under his reign the magnificent vault destined for +himself and his race. But once more was accomplished the Sic vos +non vobis, and no imperial corpse has ever taken its place in the +still empty Napoleonic vault. The opening situated in the church, +near the centre of the nave, is at present closed by enormous +flagstones framed in copper bands; and as there is no inscription +on these, many people whose feet tread them in visiting the church +do not suspect that they have beneath them the stairway of six +steps leading down to the vault that was to be the burial place of +emperors. "Oh, vanity! Oh, nothingness! Oh, mortals ignorant of +their destinies!" It is not enough that contending dynasties +dispute each other's crowns; their covetousness and rivalry must +extend to their tombs. Not enough that sovereigns have been exiled +from their country; they must be exiled from their graves. +Disappointments in life and in death. This is the last word of +divine anger, the last of the lessons of Providence. + + + + + +V + +THE KING + + +Born at Versailles, the 9th of October, 1757, Charles X., King of +France and Navarre, was entering his sixty-eighth year at the time +of his accession to the throne. According to the portrait traced +by Lamartine, "he had kept beneath the first frosts of age the +freshness, the stature, the suppleness, and beauty of youth." His +health was excellent, and but for the color of his hair--almost +white--he would hardly have been given more than fifty years. As +alert as his predecessor was immobile, an untiring hunter, a bold +rider, sitting his horse with the grace of a young man, a kindly +talker, an affable sovereign, this survivor of the court of +Versailles, this familiar of the Petit-Trianon, this friend of +Marie Antoinette, of the Princess of Lamballe, of the Duchess of +Polignac, of the Duke of Lauzun, of the Prince de Ligne, +preserved, despite his devotedness, a great social prestige. He +perpetuated the traditions of the elegance of the old regime. +Having lived much in the society of women, his politeness toward +them was exquisite. This former voluptuary preserved only the good +side of gallantry. + +The Count d'Haussonville writes in his book entitled Ma Jeunesse:-- + +"I have often seen Charles X. on horseback reviewing troops or +following the chase; I have heard him, seated on his throne, and +surrounded with all the pomp of an official cortege, pronounce the +opening discourse of the session; I have many times been near him +at the little select fetes that the Duchess of Berry used to give, +of a morning, in the Pavilion de Marsan, to amuse the Children of +France, as they were then called, and to extend their acquaintance +with the young people of their own age. One day when I was +visiting with my parents some exposition of objects of art or +flowers in one of the lower halls of the Louvre, I saw him +approach my mother--whom he had known in England--with a +familiarity at once respectful and charming. He plainly wished to +please those whom he addressed, and he had the gift of doing so. +In that kind of success he was rarely wanting, especially with +women. His physiognomy as well as his manner helped. It was open +and benevolent, always animated by an easy, perhaps a slightly +commonplace smile, that of a man conscious that he was +irresistible, and that he could, with a few amiable words, +overcome all obstacles." + +The fiercest adversaries of Charles X. never denied the attraction +emanating from his whole personality, the chief secret of which +was kindliness. In his constant desire to charm every one that +approached him, he had a certain something like feminine coquetry. +The Count of Puymaigre, who, being the Prefect of the Oise, saw +him often at the Chateau of Compiegne, says:-- + +"If the imposing tone of Louis XVIII. intimidated, it was not so +with Charles X.; there was rather danger of forgetting, pacing the +room with him, that one was talking with a king." + +Yet, whatever may be asserted, the new monarch never dreamed of +restoring the old regime. We do not believe that for a single +instant he had the insensate idea of putting things back to where +they were before 1789. His favorite minister, M. de Villele, was +not one of the great nobles, and the men who were to take the +chief parts in the consecration were of plebeian origin. The +impartial historian of the Restoration, M. de Viel-Castel, +remarked it:-- + +"Charles X. by this fact alone, that for three years he had +actively shared in affairs and saw the difficulty of them better, +by the fact that he was no longer exasperated by the heat of the +struggle and by impatience at the political nullity to which +events had so long condemned him, had laid aside a part of his +former exaggeration. In the lively satisfaction he felt in +entering at last, at the age of sixty-seven, upon the enjoyment of +the supreme power by the perspective of which his imagination had +been so long haunted, he was disposed to neglect nothing to +capture public favor, and thus gain the chance to realize the +dreams of his life. His kindliness and natural courtesy would have +inspired these tactics, even if policy had not suggested them." + +The dignity of the private life of the King added to the respect +inspired by his personality. His morals were absolutely +irreproachable. His wife, Marie Therese of Savoy, died the 2d of +June, 1805; he never remarried, and his conduct had been wholly +edifying. The sacrifice he made to God, in renouncing the love of +women, after he lost his well-beloved Countess of Polastron by +death in 1803, was the more meritorious, because, apart from the +prestige of his birth and rank, he remained attractive longer than +men of his age. No such scandals as had dishonored the court of +nearly all his predecessors occurred in his, and the most +malevolent could not charge him with having a favorite. In his +home he was a man as respectable as he was attractive, a tender +father, a grandfather even more tender, an affectionate uncle, a +gentle, indulgent master for his servants. None of the divisions +that existed in the family of Louis XVIII. appeared in that of his +successor; perfect harmony reigned in the court of the Tuileries. + +Of a mind more superficial than profound, Charles X. did not lack +either in tact or in intelligence. He sincerely desired to do +right, and his errors were made in good faith, in obedience to the +mandates of his conscience. Lamartine, who had occasion to see him +near at hand, thus sums up his character:-- + +"A man of heart, and impulsive, all his qualities were gifts of +nature; hardly any were the fruit acquired by labor and +meditation. He had the spirit of the French race, superficial, +rapid, spontaneous, and happy in the hazard of repartee, the smile +kindly and communicative, the glance open, the hand outstretched, +the attitude cordial, an ardent thirst for popularity, great +confidence in his relations with others, a constancy in friendship +rare upon the throne, true modesty, a restless seeking for good +advice, a conscience severe for himself and indulgent for others, +a piety without pettiness, a noble repentance for the sole +weaknesses of his life, his youthful amours, a rational and +sincere love for his people, an honest and religious desire to +make France happy and to render his reign fruitful in the moral +improvement and the national grandeur of the country confided to +him by Providence. All these loyal dispositions were written on +his physiognomy. A lively frankness, majesty, kindness, honesty, +candor, all revealed therein a man born to love and to be loved. +Depth and solidity alone were wanting in this visage; looking at +it, you were drawn to the man, you felt doubts of the King." + +This remark, just enough at the end of Charles X.'s reign, was +hardly so at the outset. In 1824 people had no doubts of the man +or of the King. The French were content with Charles X., and +Charles X. was content with himself. + +The new King said to himself that his policy was the right one, +because, from the moment of his accession, all hatreds were +appeased. With the absolute calm enjoyed by France he compared the +agitations, plots, violence, the troubles and the fury of which it +had been the theatre under the Decazes ministry. From the day the +Right had assumed power, and Louis XVIII. had allowed his brother +to engage in public affairs, the victory of royalty had been +complete and manifest. Charles X. thought then that the results +had sustained him; that foresight, virtue, political sense, were +on his side. Needless to say, every one about him supported him in +that idea, that he believed in all conscience that he was in the +right, obeying the voice of honor and acting like a king and a +Christian. Any other policy than his own would have seemed to him +foolish and cowardly. To hear his courtiers, one would have said +that the age of gold had returned in France; the felicitations +offered him took an idyllic tone. The Count of Chabrol, Prefect of +the Seine, said to him, January 1, 1825, at the grand reception at +the Tuileries:-- + +"At your accession, Sire, a prestige of grace and power calmed, in +the depths of all hearts, the last murmur of the storm, and the +peace that we enjoy to-day is embellished by a charm that is yours +alone." + +The same day the Drapeau Blanc said:-- + +"Why is there an unusual crowd passing about the palace of the +cherished monarch and princes? It is watching with affection for a +glance or smile from Charles! These are the new-year gifts for the +people moved by love for the noble race of its kings. This glance, +expressing only goodness, this smile so full of grace, they long +for everywhere and always before their eyes. His classic and +cherished features are reproduced in every form; every public +place has its bust, every hut its image; they are the domestic +gods of a worship that is pure and without superstition, brought +to our families by peace and happiness." The aurora of Charles +X.'s reign was like that of his brother Louis XVI. The two +brothers resembled travellers who, deceived by the early morning +sun and the limpid purity of the sky, set forth full of joy and +confidence, and are suddenly surprised by a frightful tempest. The +new James II. imagined that his royalty had brought his trials to +an end. It was, on the contrary, only a halt in the journey of +misfortune and exile. He believed the Revolution finished, and it +had but begun. + + + + + +VI + +THE DAUPHIN AND DAUPHINESS + + +At the accession of Charles X., the royal family, properly +speaking, consisted of six persons only,--the King, the Duke and +Duchess of Angouleme, the Duchess of Berry and her two children +(the Duke of Bordeaux and Mademoiselle). By the traditions of the +monarchy, the Duke of Angouleme, as son and heir of the King, took +the title of Dauphin, and his wife that of Dauphiness. The Duchess +of Berry, who, under the reign of Louis XVIII. was called Madame +the Duchess of Berry, was by right, henceforward, called simply +Madame, a privilege that belonged to the Duchess of Angouleme +before she was Dauphiness. That is why the Gymnase, the theatre +under the special protection of the Duchess of Berry, was called, +after the new reign began, the Theatre de Madame. + +Born at Versailles the 5th of August, 1775, the Duke of Angouleme +had just entered on his fiftieth year. A tender and respectful +son, an irreproachable husband, a brave soldier, he was lacking in +both brilliant and solid qualities. His awkward air, his +bashfulness, his myopia, his manners rather bourgeois than +princely, were against him. He had nothing of the charm and grace +of his father. But when one knew him, it was easy to see that he +had unquestioned virtues and real worth. To Charles X. he was a +most faithful subject and the best of sons. In contrast with so +many heirs apparent, who openly or secretly combat the political +ideas of their fathers, he was always the humble and docile +supporter of the throne. The Spanish expedition brought him +credit. In it he showed courage and zeal. The army esteemed him, +and he gave serious attention to military matters. A man of good +sense and good faith, he held himself aloof from all +exaggerations. At the time of the reaction of the White Terror, he +had repudiated the fury of the ultras, and distinguished himself +by a praiseworthy moderation. He had great piety, with out +hypocrisy, bigotry, or fanaticism. The Count of Puymaigre, in his +curious Souvenirs, says:-- + +"The Duke of Angouleme appeared to me to be always subordinated to +the will of the King, and he said to me one day very emphatically +that his position forbade any manifestation of personal sentiment, +because it was unbecoming in the heir apparent to sustain the +opposition. Though very religious, he did not share the +exaggerated ideas of what was then called the 'congregation,' and +I recall that one day he asked me brusquely: 'Are you a partisan +of the missions?' As I hesitated to reply, he insisted. 'No, my +lord, in nowise; I think that one good cure suffices for a +commune, and that missionaries, by treating the public mind with +an unusual fervor, often bring trouble with them and at the same +time often lessen the consideration due to the resident priest.'" + +Married, on the 10th of June, 1799, to the daughter of Louis XVI. +and Marie Antoinette, the Duke of Angouleme had no children; but +though the sterilty of his wife was an affliction, he never +complained of it. He was not known to have either favorites or +mistresses. The life of this descendant of Louis XIV. and of Louis +XV. was purity itself. There were neither scandals nor intrigues +about him. By nature irascible and obstinate, he had modified this +tendency of his character by reason and still more by religion. +Assiduous in his duties, without arrogance or vanity, regarding +his role as Prince as a mission given him by Providence, which he +wished to fulfil conscientiously, he had not the slightest mental +reservation in favor of restoring the old regime, and showed, +perhaps, more favor to the lieutenants of Napoleon than to the +officers of the army of Conde, his companions in arms. To sum up, +he was not an attractive prince, but he merited respect. The Count +of Puymaigre thus concludes the portrait traced by him:-- + +"The manner, bearing, and gestures of the Duke of Angouleme cannot +be called gracious, especially in contrast with his father's +manners; doubtless it is not fair to ask that a prince, any more +than another, should be favored by nature, but it is much to be +desired that he shall have an air of superiority. The ruling taste +of the Dauphin was for the chase. He also read much and gave much +time to the personnel of the army. Retiring early, he arose every +morning at five o'clock, and lighted his own fire. Far from having +anything to complain of in him, I could only congratulate myself +on his kindness." + +The Dauphiness, Marie-Theresa-Charlotte of France, Duchess of +Angouleme, born at Versailles the 19th of December, 1778, was +forty-five years old when her uncle and father-in-law, Charles X., +ascended the throne. She was surrounded by universal veneration. +She was regarded, and with reason, as a veritable saint, and by +all parties was declared to be sans peur et sans reproche. + +The Duchess of Angouleme, shunning the notoriety sought by other +princesses, preferred her oratory to the salons. Yet her devotion +had nothing mean or narrow in it. Despite the legendary +catastrophes that weighed upon her, she always appeared at fetes +where her presence was demanded. She laughed with good heart at +the theatre, and there was nothing morose or ascetic in her +conversation. She never spoke of her misfortunes. One day she was +pitying a young girl who suffered from chilblains. "I know what it +is," she said; "I have had them." Then she added, without other +comment: "True, the winters were very severe at that time." She +did not wish to say that she had had these chilblains while a +prisoner in the Temple, when fuel was refused to her. + +But if the Princess never spoke of herself, she never ceased to +think of the martyrs for whom she wept. At the Tuileries, she +occupied the Pavillon de l'Horloge and the Pavillon de Flore, the +first floor apartments that had been her mother's. She used for +her own a little salon hung with white velvet sown with marguerite +lilies. This tapestry was the work of the unhappy Queen and of +Madame Elisabeth. In the same room was a stool on which Louis +XVII. had languished and suffered. It served as prie-dieu to the +Orphan of the Temple. There was in this stool a drawer where she +had put away the remaining relics of her parents: the black silk +vest and white cravat worn by Louis XVI. the day of his death; a +lace bonnet of Marie Antoinette, the last work done by the Queen +in her prison of the Conciergerie, which Robespierre had had taken +from her on the pretext that the widow of the Christian King might +kill herself with her needle or with a lace-string; finally some +fragments of the fichu which the wind raised from the shoulders of +Madame Elisabeth when the angelic Princess was already on the +scaffold. The Dauphiness, who usually dined with the King, dined +alone on the 21st of January and the 16th of October. She shut +herself in the chamber where she had collected these relics and +passed the whole day and evening there in prayer. + +The charity of the pious Princess was inexhaustible. Almost all +her revenue was expended in alms. She would not have receipts +signed by those to whom she distributed relief. "The duty of +givers," she said, "is to forget their gifts and the names of +those who receive them; it is for those who receive to remember." +Nor did she ever ask the political opinions of those she relieved. +To be unfortunate, sufficed to excite her interest. One day Sister +Rosalie, charged by the Princess with paying a pension to a man +whose ill conduct she had discovered, thought it her duty to +notify the benefactress, and suspend the succor. "My sister," +replied the Dauphiness, "continue to pay this man his pension. We +must be charitable to the good that they may persevere, and to the +bad that they may become better." Sunday, when the Princess did no +work, she passed the evening in detaching the wax seals from +letters and envelopes. This wax, converted into sticks, produced +one thousand francs a year, which she sent to a poor family. She +gave much, but only to Frenchmen and Frenchwomen. She replied to +every demand for aid for foreigners that she was sorry not to +comply with the request, but she should feel that she was doing an +injustice to give to others while there was a single Frenchman in +need. On each anniversary of mourning she doubled her alms. + +The existence of the Dauphiness at the Tuileries passed with +extreme regularity. A very early riser, like her husband, she made +her toilet herself, having learned to help herself in her +captivity in the Temple. She used to breakfast at six o'clock, and +at seven daily attended the first Mass in the chapel of the +Chateau. There was a second at nine o'clock for the Dauphin, and a +third at eleven for the King. From eight to eleven she held +audiences. She retired at ten o'clock, and only prolonged the +evening to eleven when, she visited the Duchess of Berry, for whom +she had a great affection, and whose children she saw two or three +times a day. A devoted companion of Charles X., she always went +with him to the various royal chateaux. The Count of Puy maigre +says in his Souvenirs:-- + +"The Dauphiness having by her kindness accustomed me to speaking +freely, I used this privilege without embarrassment, but always +observing that measure which keeps a man of good society within +just limits, equally careful not to put himself ridiculously at +ease and not to be so abashed by exaggerated respect as to become +insipid. I have always thought that a princess no more than any +other woman likes to be bored. I talked much with her in the +carriage, seeking to amuse the Princess with a few anecdotes, and +I did not fear to discuss serious things with her, on which she +expressed her self with real sagacity. When she was accused of +want of tact in the numerous receptions of which one had to +undergo the monotony, it was often the fault of her immediate +companions, who neglected to give her suitable information as to +the various persons received. How many times I have hinted to her +to speak to some devoted man, who regarded a word from the +Princess as a signal favor, to yield to requests, perhaps +untimely, to visit some establishment, to receive the humble +petitions of a mayor, a cure, or a municipal council. I will not +deny that she had a sort of brusqueness, partly due to an +exceedingly high voice, and moments of ill humor, transient no +doubt, but which nevertheless left a painful impression on those +who were subjected to them. Madame the Dauphiness made no mistake +as to the state of France; she was not the dupe of the +obsequiousness of certain men of the court, and merit was certain +to obtain her support whether it had been manifested under the old +or the new regime; but she had not the influence she was supposed +to have, and I doubt if she tried to acquire it." + +One day the Princess was talking to the Prefect of the Oise about +the great noblemen who had possessions in the Department. + +"Have they any influence over the people?" she asked him. + +"No, Madame, and it is their own fault. M. de La Rochefoucauld is +the only one who is popular, but his influence is against you. As +to the others, greedy of the benefits of the court, they come to +their estates only to save money, to regulate their accounts with +their managers, and the people, receiving no mark of their +interest, acknowledge no obligation to them." + +"You are perfectly right," replied the Dauphiness, "that is not +the way with the English aristocracy." + +"She saw with pain," adds M. de Puymaigre, "the marriages for +money made by certain men of the court, but not when they allied +themselves with an honorable plebeian family; her indignation was +justly shown toward those who took their wives in families whose +coveted riches came from an impure source." + +The extraordinary catastrophes that had fallen on the daughter of +Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette had been a great experience for +her, and she was not surprised at the recantations of the +courtiers. The Hundred Days had, perhaps, suggested even more +reflections to her than her captivity in the Temple or her early +exile. She could not forget how, in 1815, she had been abandoned +by officers who, but the day before, had offered her such +protestations and such vows. In the midst of present prosperity +she had a sort of instinct of future adversity. Something told her +that she was not done with sorrow, and that the cup of bitterness +was not drained to the dregs. While every one about her +contemplated the future with serene confidence, she reflected on +the extreme mobility of the French character, and still distrusted +inconstant fortune. The morrow of the birth of the Duke of +Bordeaux one of her household said to her:-- + +"Your Highness was very happy yesterday." + +"Yes, very happy yesterday," responded the daughter of Louis XVI., +"but to-day I am reflecting on the destiny of this child." + +To any one inclined to be deceived by the illusions of the +prestige surrounding the accession of Charles X., it ought to have +sufficed to cast a glance on the austere countenance of the Orphan +of the Temple, to be recalled to the tragic reality of things. The +King had for his niece and daughter-in-law an affection blended +with compassion and respect. The pious and revered Princess gave +to the court a character of gravity and sanctity. + + + + + +VII + +MADAME + + +The Duchess of Angouleme and the Duchess of Berry lived on the +best of terms, showing toward each other a lively sympathy. Yet +there was little analogy between their characters, and the two +Princesses might even be said to form a complete contrast, one +representing the grave side, the other the smiling side of the +court. + +Born November 7, 1798, and a widow since February 14, 1820, Madame +(as the Duchess of Berry was called after the Duchess of Angouleme +became Dauphiness) was but twenty-five when her father-in-law, +Charles X., ascended the throne. She was certainly not pretty, but +there was in her something seductive and captivating. The vivacity +of her manner, her spontaneous conversation, her ardor, her +animation, her youth, gave her charm. Educated at the court of her +grandfather, Ferdinand, King of Naples, who carried bonhomie and +familiarity to exaggeration, and lived in the company of peasants +and lazzaroni, she had a horror of pretension and conceit. Her +child-like physiognomy had a certain playful and rebellious +expression; slightly indecorous speech did not displease her. This +idol of the aristocracy was simple and jovial, mingling in her +conversation Gallic salt and Neapolitan gaiety. In contrast with +so many princesses who weary their companions and are wearied by +them, she amused herself and others. Entering a family celebrated +by its legendary catastrophes, she had lost nothing of the +playfulness which was the essence of her nature. The Tuileries, +the scene of such terrible dramas, did not inspire her as it did +the Duchess of Angouleme, with sad reflections. When she heard +Mass in the Chapel of the Chateau, she did not say to herself that +here had resounded the furies of the Convention. The grand +apartments, the court of the Carrousel, the garden, could not +recall to her the terrible scenes of the 20th of June and the 10th +of August. When she entered the Pavillon de Flore, she did not +reflect that there had sat the Committee of Public Safety. The +Tuileries were, to her eyes, only the abode of power and pleasure, +an agreeable and beautiful dwelling that had brought her only +happiness, since there she had given birth to the Child of Europe, +the "Child of Miracle." + +The Duchess of Berry thought that a palace should be neither a +barracks nor a convent nor a prison, and that even for a princess +there is no happiness without liberty. She loved to go out without +an escort, to take walks, to visit the shops, to go to the little +theatres, to make country parties. She was like a bird in a gilded +cage, which often escapes and returns with pleasure only because +it has escaped. She was neither worn out nor blasee; everything +interested her, everything made her gay; she saw only the good +side of things. In her all was young--mind, character, +imagination, heart. Thus she knew none of those vague +disquietudes, that causeless melancholy, that unreasoned sadness, +from which suffer so many queens and so many princesses on the +steps of a throne. + +Gracious and simple in her manners, modest in her bearing, more +inclined to laughter and smiles than to sobs and tears, satisfied +with her lot despite her widowhood, she felt happy in being a +princess, in being a mother, in being in France. Flattered by the +homage addressed to her on all sides, but without haughty pride in +it, she protected art and letters with out pedantry, rejuvenated +the court, embellished the city, spread animation wherever she was +seen, and appeared to the people like a seductive enchantress. +Those who were at her receptions found themselves not in the +presence of a coldly and solemnly majestic princess, but of an +accomplished mistress of the house bent on making her salon +agreeable to her guests. There was in her nothing to abash, and by +her gracious aspect, her extreme affability, she knew how to put +those with whom she talked at their ease, while wholly preserving +her own rank. She was not only polite, she was engaging, always +seeking to say something flattering or kindly to those who had the +honor to approach her. If she visited a studio, she congratulated +the artist; in a shop she made many purchases and talked with the +merchants with a grace more charming to them, perhaps, than even +her extreme liberality. If she went to a theatre, she enjoyed +herself like a child. The select little fetes given by her always +had a character of special originality and gaiety. + +The Dauphiness had a higher rank at court than Madame, because she +was married to the heir of the throne. But as she took much less +interest in social matters, she did not shine with so much eclat. +The Duchess of Berry was the queen of elegance. In all questions +of adornment, toilet, furniture, she set the fashion. A commission +as "tradesman of Madame" was the dream of all the merchants. +Sometimes, on New Year's Day, her purchases at the chief shops +were announced in the Moniteur. There were hardly any chroniques +in the journals under the Restoration. A simple "item" sufficed +for an account of the most dazzling fetes. If the customs of the +newspapers had been under the reign of Charles X. what they are +now, the Duchess of Berry would have filled all the "society +notes," and the objective point of every "reporter," to use an +American expression, would have been the Pavillon de Marsan, the +"Little Chateau," as it was then called. There indeed shone in all +their splendor the stars of French and foreign nobility, the women +who possessed all sorts of aristocracy--of birth, of fortune, of +wit, and of beauty. This little circle of luxury and elegance +excited less jealousy and less criticism than did the intimate +society of Marie Antoinette in the last part of the old regime, +because in the Queen's time, to frequent the Petit Trianon was the +road to honors, while under Charles X. the intimates of the +Pavillon de Marsan did not make their social pleasures the +stepping-stone to fortune. + +The Duchess of Berry never meddled in politics. Doubtless her +sympathies, like those of the Dauphiness, were with the Right, but +she exercised no influence on the appointment of ministers and +functionaries. Charles X. never consulted her about public +affairs; the idea would never have occurred to the old King to ask +counsel of so young and inexperienced a woman. + +It is but justice to the Princess to say that while wholly +inclined toward the Right, she had none of the exaggeration of the +extremists in either her ideas or her attitude, and that, +repudiating the arrogance and prejudices of the past, she never, +in any way, dreamed of the resurrection of the old regime. She was +liked by the army, being known as a good rider and a courageous +Princess. When she talked with officers she had the habit of +saying things that went straight to their hearts. There was no +difference in her politeness to the men of the old nobility or to +the parvenus of victory. The former servitors of Napoleon were +grateful for her friendliness to them, and perhaps they would +always have respected the white flag--the flag of Henry IV., had +it been borne by the gracious hand of his worthy descendant. To +sum up, she was what would be called to-day a very "modern" +Princess; her role might well have been to share the ideas and +aspirations of the new France. + +The Duchess of Berry led a very active life. When she came to +France she was in the habit of rising late. But her husband, who +believed the days to be shorter for princes than for other men, +showed that he disliked this, and after that the Princess would +not remain in bed after six o'clock, winter or summer. As soon as +she was ready she summoned her children, and for half an hour gave +them her instructions. On leaving them, she went to hear Mass, and +then breakfasted. Next came the walks, almost always with a useful +object in view. Sometimes it was a hospital to which Madame +carried relief, some times an artist's studio, a shop, an +industrial establishment that she encouraged by her purchases and +her presence. On her return she busied herself with the tenderest +and most conscientious care in the education of the two daughters +whom her husband had left to her, and who have since become, one +the Baroness of Chorette, the other the Princess of Lucinge. +Audiences took up the remainder of the morning, sometimes lasting +to dinner time. When some one said to her one day that she must be +very tired of them, she replied: "During all that time I am told +the truth, and I find as much pleasure in hearing it as people of +society do in reading romances." + +Madame was very charitable. She devoted to the poor an ordinary +and an extraordinary budget. The tenth of her revenue was always +applied to the relief of the unfortunate, and was deposited by +twelfths, each month, with her First Almoner. This tithe was +distributed with as much method as sagacity. A valet de chambre, +each evening, brought to the Princess the day's petitions for +relief. Madame classified them with her own hand in alphabetical +order, and registered and numbered them. Whatever the hour, she +never adjourned this task to the morrow. The private secretary +then went over these petitions and presented an analysis of them +to the Princess, who indicated on the margin what she wished to +give. This was the ordinary budget of the poor, the tenth of +Madame's revenue. But she had, besides, an extraordinary budget of +charity for the unfortunate who were the more to be respected +because they concealed themselves in obscurity and awaited instead +of seeking help. It often happened that the Princess borrowed in +order to give more. The total of her revenues amounted to +1,730,000 francs,--1,500,000 francs from the Treasury, 100,000 +francs in Naples funds, coming from her dower, and 130,000 francs +from her domain of Rosny. Madame expended all in alms or in +purchases intended to encourage the arts and commerce. + +The Duchess of Angouleme and the Duchess of Berry each had in the +environs of Paris a pleasure house, which was their Petit Trianon, +where they could lead a simpler life, less subject to the laws of +etiquette than in the royal Chateaux. That of the Dauphiness was +Villeneuve-l'Etang; and that of Madame, Rosny. The first had been +bought of Marshal Soult by the Duchess of Angouleme in 1821. When +she rode from Paris, this was always her destination. When she +lived at Saint Cloud, she often set out on foot in the early +morning alone, and followed across the park a little path known as +the "road of the Dauphiness," to a little gate of the Chateau of +Villeneuve-l'Etang, of which she carried the key. + +Rosny is a chateau situated in the Department of Seine-et-Oise, +seven kilometres from Mantes, where Sully, the famous minister of +Henry IV., was born, and which had been bought in 1818 by the Duke +of Berry. It was the favorite resort of Madame. She went there +often and passed a great part of the summer. There she lived the +life of a simple private person, receiving herself those who came +to offer homage or request aid. The village of Rosny profited by +the liberality of the Chateau, La Quotidienne said in an article +reproduced by the Moniteur:-- + +"Since Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Berry has owned the +estate of Rosny, her sole occupation has been to secure the +happiness of this country. Every journey she makes is marked by +some act of goodness. Besides the Hospital of Saint-Charles, a +monument of her beneficence and piety, which is open to all the +sick of the country, she sends out relief to the homes of the +needy every day. The houses that rise in the village replace +wretched huts, and give a more agreeable and cheerful aspect to +the place. The children of either sex, the object of her most +tender solicitude, are taught at her expense. At every journey +Madame honors them with a visit and encourages them with prizes +which she condescends to distribute herself." + +In his Souvenirs Intimes the Count de Mesnard, First Equerry of +the Duchess of Berry, writes:-- + +"The King, Charles X., did not recognize in his daughter-in-law +nearly the solidity that she had. He believed her to be light- +minded, and only looked upon her as a great child, though he loved +her much and her gaiety pleased him beyond measure, being himself +of a gay nature. You may have heard that one day Madame rode in an +omnibus. That is not correct. But it is true that one day Her +Royal Highness said to the King:-- + +"'Father, if you will wager ten thousand francs, I will ride in an +omnibus to-morrow.' + +"'It's the last thing I should do, my dear,' replied His Majesty. +'You are quite crazy enough to do it.'" + +M. de Mesnard adds this reflection: "What the King regarded as +folly was only the appearance of it. There was in Madame a rich +fund of reason, justice, and humanity. Independently of all the +acts of beneficence daily done here, Madame employs still more +considerable sums in the support of young girls in the convents of +Lucon and Mantes, and in several other establishments. There are +in the colleges a large number of young people of families of +modest fortune, whose expenses she pays. The Hospital of Rosny +alone costs Madame from twenty thousand to twenty-five thousand +francs a year. The exhaustless bounty of this august Princess +extends to all. There is no sort of aid that Her Royal Highness +does not take pleasure in according: subscriptions without +interest for her, for concerts that she will not hear, for benefit +performances that she will not see, everything gets a subscription +from her, and it all costs more than is convenient with the +Princess's revenue. Sometimes it happens that her funds are +exhausted, and as her benevolence never is, embarrassment +follows." + +Apropos of this the Count de Mesnard relates a touching anecdote. +One winter exceedingly cold, the Duchess of Berry was about to +give a fete in the Pavillon de Marsan. During the day she had +supervised the preparations. Things were arranged perfectly, when +all at once her face saddened. She was asked respectfully what had +displeased her. "What icy weather!" she cried. "Poor people may be +dying of cold and hunger to-night while we are taking our +delights. That spoils my pleasure." Then she added emphatically: +"Go call the Marquis de Sassenay" (her Treasurer). + +The Marquis came promptly. + +"Monsieur," said the good Princess, "you must write instantly to +the twelve mayors of Paris, and in each letter put one thousand +francs to be expended in wood, and distributed this very night to +the poor families of each arrondissement. It is very little, but +it may save some unfortunates." + +The Treasurer responded: "Madame, I should be eager to obey the +orders of Her Royal Highness, but she has nothing, or almost +nothing, in her treasury." + +A feeling of discontent was strongly depicted on the face of +Madame, who was about to give expression to it, when M. de Mesnard +hastened to say that the funds of the First Equerry were in better +state than those of the Treasurer, and remitted to the latter the +twelve thousand francs, which were distributed to the poor that +evening according to the Princess's wishes. + +The Duchess of Berry had the double gift of pleasing and making +herself loved. All the persons of her household, all her +servitors, from the great nobles and great ladies to the domestics +and the chamber-maids, were deeply devoted to her. Poor or rich, +she had attentions for all. Listen to the Count de Mesnard:-- + +"Madame is incessantly making presents to all who approach her. At +New Year's her apartments are a veritable bazaar furnished from +all the shops of Paris; her provision, made from every quarter, is +universal, from bon-bons to the most precious articles-- +everything is there. Madame has thought of each specially; the +people of her own service are not forgotten any more than the +ladies and officers of her household; father, mother, children, +every one, is included in the distribution. The royal family +naturally comes first; next, the numerous relatives of the Palais +Royal, of whom she is very fond; then her family at Naples, which +is also numerous; and finally all of us, masters and servants, we +all have our turn." + +No one, we think, has made a more exact portrait of the Duchess of +Berry than the Count Armand de Pontmartin, who is so familiar with +the Restoration. In his truthful and lively Souvenirs d'un vieux +critique, how well he presents "this flower of Ischia or of +Castellamare, transplanted to the banks of the Seine, under the +gray sky of Paris, to this Chateau des Tuileries, which the +revolutions peopled with phantoms before making it a spectre." + +How really she was "this good Duchess, so French and so Neapolitan +at once, half Vesuvius, half school-girl, whom nothing must +prevent us from honoring and loving." The chivalric and +sentimental rhetoric of the time, the elegies of the poets, the +noble prose of Chateaubriand, the tearful articles of the royalist +journals, have condemned her to appear forever solemn and sublime. +It was sought to confine her youth between a tomb and a cradle. +But as M. de Pontmartin so finely remarks: "At the end of two or +three years her true nature appears beneath this artificial +drapery. Amusements recommence, distractions abound. The Princess +is no longer a heroine; she is a sprite. The beach of Dieppe sings +her praises better, a thousand times better, than the chorus of +courtiers. She loves pleasure, but she wishes every pleasure to be +a grace or a benefit. She creates a mine of gold under the sand of +the Norman coast; she pacifies political rancor and soothes the +wounds of the grumblers of the Grand Army. She makes popular the +name of Bourbon, which had suffered from so much ingratitude. The +Petit-Chateau, as her delightful household was called, renews the +elegant manners, the exquisite gallantries of the court of Anne of +Austria, and offers to the romancers the models of which Balzac, +later, made so much too free use. There I see our amiable Duchess +in her true element, not on the kind of Sinai on which the writers +of the white flag have perched her, prodigal in their imitations +of Bossuet,--between Jeanne d'Arc and Jeanne Hachette, between +Valentine de Milan and the Widow of Malabar." + +To sum up, the Duchess of Berry was to the court of Charles X. +what the Duchess of Burgundy was to that of Louis XIV. Her lovely +youth brightened everything. Let us do her this justice: despite a +character in appearance frivolous, she carried to a kind of +fanaticism the love of France and passion for French glory. There +was one thing that the gracious widow took very seriously,--the +rights of her son. She would have risked a thousand deaths to +defend that child, who represented in her heart the cause of the +fatherland. Where he was concerned there was in the attitude of +this frail young woman something firm and decided. To a sagacious +observer, the amazon was already manifest under the lady of +society. She was like those officers who shine equally at the ball +and on the field of battle. Recognizing in her more than one +imperfection, she cannot be denied either courage, or +intelligence, or heart. By her qualities as by her defects she was +of the race of Henry IV. But she was more frank and more grateful +than the Bearnais. Doubtless she did not have the genius, the +prodigious ability, the fine and profound political sense, of that +great man; but her nature was better, her generosity greater, her +character more sympathetic. + + + + + +VIII + +THE ORLEANS FAMILY + + +At the accession of Charles X., Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, +chief of the younger branch of the Bourbons, born at Paris, +October 6th, 1773, was not yet fifty-seven years old. He married +November 25th, 1809, Marie-Amelie, Princess of the Two Sicilies, +whose father, Ferdinand I., reigned at Naples, and whose mother, +the Queen Marie-Caroline, sister of Marie Antoinette, died at +Venice, September 7th, 1814. Marie-Amelie, born April 26th, 1782, +was forty-two years old when Charles X. ascended the throne. Of +her marriage with the Duke of Orleans there were born five sons +and four daughters:-- + +1. Ferdinand-Philippe-Louis-Charles-Henri-Roulin, Duke of +Chartres, born at Palermo, September 3d, 1810. (When his father +became King, he took the title of Duke of Orleans, and died from a +fall from his carriage going from the Tuileries to Neuilly on the +Chemin de la Revolte, July 13th, 1842.) + +2. Louise-Marie-Therese-Caroline-Elisabeth, Mademoiselle +d'Orleans, born at Palermo the 3d of April, 1812. (She married the +King of the Belgians, Leopold I., August 9th, 1832, and died +October 11th, 1850.) + +3. Marie-Christine-Caroline-Adelaide-Francoise-Leopoldine, +Mademoiselle de Valois, born at Palermo, April 12th, 1813. (She +was designated by the name of the Princess Marie, distinguished +herself in the arts, made the famous statue of Jeanne d'Arc, +married October 17th, 1837, the Duke Frederic William of +Wurtemberg, and died January 2d, 1839.) + +4. Louis-Charles-Philippe-Raphael, Duke of Nemours, born at Paris, +October 25th, 1814. + +5. Marie-Clementine-Caroline-Leopoldine, Mademoiselle de +Beaujolais, born at Neuilly June 3d, 1817. (She was designated by +the name of the Princess Clementine, and married, April 20th, +1843, the Prince August, of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.) + +6. Francois-Ferdinand-Philippe-Louis-Marie, Prince de Joinville, +born at Neuilly, August 14th, 1818. + +7. Charles-Ferdinand-Louis-Philippe-Emmanuel, Duke of Penthievre, +born at Paris, January 1st, 1820. (He died July 25th, 1828.) + +8. Henri-Eugene-Philippe-Louis, Duke d'Aumale, born at Paris, +January 16th, 1822. + +9. Antoine-Marie-Philippe-Louis, Duke of Montpensier, born at +Neuilly, July 5th, 1824. + +The Duke of Orleans had a sister who lived with him at the Palais +Royal, and was reputed to be his Egeria. She was Louise-Marie- +Adelaide-Eugenie, Mademoiselle d'Orleans, as she was called under +the Restoration. Born August 23d, 1777, she had been educated by +Madame de Genlis, with her brother, and was said to be attached to +the ideas of the Liberal party. (It was she who in 1830 decided +Louis-Philippe to accept the crown, took the name of Madame +Adelaide, and died, unmarried, some days before the revolution of +the 24th of February, 1848.) + +Marie-Amelie, Duchess of Orleans, was the sister of the Prince +Royal of the Two Sicilies, Ferdinand, father of the Duchess of +Berry, and the niece was very fond of her aunt. The two Princesses +were united by other bonds than those of blood. During all her +infancy the Duchess of Berry had lived with her aunt at Palermo +and Naples. Both were descended in direct line from the great +Empress, Maria Theresa. Both had greatly loved the Queen Marie- +Caroline, of whom one was the granddaughter, the other the +daughter. Both professed great admiration for the Martyr-Queen, +Marie Antoinette, of whom one was the grand-niece, the other the +niece. The devotion and family feeling of the Duchess of Orleans +won every one's sympathy for her, and the Duchess of Berry had a +respectful attachment for her. Their relations were as constant as +they were friendly. There existed between the Palais Royal and the +Pavilion de Marsan, dwellings so near each other, a friendship and +neighborliness that left nothing to be desired. + +The Duke of Bordeaux and his sister, Mademoiselle, were very fond +of their little Orleans cousins. There was a certain pleasure in +thinking that the Duke of Chartres might one day become the +husband of Mademoiselle. This young Prince, already very amiable +and sympathetic, was the favorite of the Duchess of Berry. She +said to herself that he would be the son-in-law of her dreams. +Every time that she went to the Palais Royal, where her visits +were incessant, she was received with transports of affection. +Nowhere did she enjoy herself more. Louis-Philippe treated her +with deference and courtesy. She believed sincerely in his +friendship, and any one who had shown in her presence the least +doubt of the loyalty of her aunt's husband would not have ventured +to complete the phrase expressing it. The Duchess of Berry was to +preserve this confidence until the Revolution of 1830. + +Charles X. had a kindly feeling, founded on very real sympathy, +for the Duke of Orleans and all his family. During the Emigration, +as under the reign of Louis XVIII., he had always maintained very +cordial relations with the Duke, and had tried to efface the bad +memories of Philippe Egalite. Charles X. was as confiding as Louis +XVIII. was distrustful. Optimist, like all good natures, the new +King would not believe evil. He attributed to others his own good +qualities. Louis XVIII. always had suspicions as to the Duke of +Orleans. "Since his return," he said, in 1821, "the Duke of +Orleans is the chief of a party without seeming to be. His name is +a threatening flag, his palace a rallying-place. He makes no stir, +but I can see that he makes progress. This activity without +movement is disquieting. How can you undertake to check the march +of a man who makes no step?" Every time the Duke attempted to +bring up the question of exchanging his title of Most Serene +Highness for that of Royal Highness, the King stubbornly resisted. +"The Duke of Orleans is quite near enough to the throne already," +he replied to all solicitations. "I shall be careful to bring him +no nearer." + +This refusal was very depressing to the Duke. One circumstance +rendered it still more annoying. As a king's daughter, his wife +was a Royal Highness. By this title she enjoyed honors denied to +her husband. When she was present at court with him she was first +announced, both doors of the salon being opened: "Her Royal +Highness, Madame the Duchess of Orleans." Then one door having +been closed, the usher announced: "His Most Serene Highness, +Monseigneur the Duke of Orleans." This distinction was very +disagreeable to the Duke. Charles X. hastened to abolish it. +September 21st, 1824, he accorded the title of Royal Highness to +the Duke of Orleans, and three days later he conferred this title, +so much desired, on the children of the sister of the Duke. The +latter showed his great pleasure. Though he might favor liberalism +and give pledges to democracy, he remained a Prince to the marrow +of his bones. He loved not only money, but honors, and attached +extreme importance to questions of etiquette. The memories of his +childhood and his early youth bound him to the old regime and +despite appearances to the contrary, this Prince, so dear to the +bourgeois and to the National Guard, was always by his tastes and +aspirations a man of Versailles. + +Charles X. would gladly have said to the Duke of Orleans, as +Augustus to Cinna, speaking of his benefits:-- + +"Je t'en avais comble, je t'en veux accabler." + +He was not content with according him a title of honor; he gave +him something much more solid, by causing to be returned to him, +with the consent of the Chambers, the former domain and privileges +of the House of Orleans. This was not easy. It required not only +the good-will of the Chateau, but the vote of the Chambers, and +the majority was hardly favorable to the Duke of Orleans, of whom +it cherished the same suspicions as Louis XVIII. The Duchess of +Berry pleaded warmly the cause of her aunt's husband, and +conspired with Charles X. against the Right, the members of which +in this case believed it a service to royalty to disobey the King. +The opposition to the project seemed likely to be so strong, that +the government was obliged to commit a sort of moral violence upon +the Chamber of Deputies. The King directed his ministers to join +in some way the question of the apanages of the House of Orleans +with the disposition of his own civil list. The King thought that +the sentiments of the Chamber for himself and his family would +make them adopt the whole en bloc. It was a device of his +kindliness, a sort of smuggling in the King's coach, as was said +by M. de Labourdonnaye. A large number of deputies demanded a +division of the question. The ministers had to make great efforts +and mount the tribune many times to defend the measure, which +passed only by a very feeble majority. The Duke of Orleans, now at +the very height of his desires, thanked Charles X. with effusion. + +Nor was this all; from the millions of indemnity to the emigres, +the Duke of Orleans drew 14,000,000 francs. The opposition chiefs +of the Left imitated the Prince and profited largely by the law +that they had opposed and condemned. The Duke of Choiseul obtained +1,100,000 francs, the Duke of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt 1,400,000 +francs, M. Gaetan de La Rochefoucauld 1,429,000 francs, General +Lafayette himself 1,450,000 francs. + +The Orleanist party was already beginning to take form, perhaps +without the knowledge of its chief. In his pamphlets of 1824, +Paul-Louis Courier devoted himself to separating the older from +the younger branch of the House, declaring that he should like to +be a resident of a commune of Paris if the Duke of Orleans were +its mayor, for from a Prince the Duke had become a man during the +Emigration, and had never begged bread of a foreign hand. Louis- +Philippe continued prudently the role he had played at the end of +the first Restoration and during the Hundred Days. While +professing an obsequious and enthusiastic respect for Charles X., +he secretly flattered the Bonapartists and the Liberals. He sent +his eldest son to the public school, as if to insinuate that he +remained faithful to the ideas of equality from which his father +had gained his surname. He made very welcome the coryphees of the +Opposition, such as General Foy and M. Laffitte, to the Palais +Royal, and received them in halls where the brush of Horace Vernet +had represented the great battles of the tricolor flag. When +General Foy died, in November, 1825, the Duke of Orleans put his +name for ten thousand francs to the subscription opened to provide +a fund for the children of the General. Some friendly +representations were made from the Chateau to the Palais Royal on +this matter. It was answered that the Duke of Orleans had +subscribed not as Prince, but as a friend, and in private called +attention to the modesty of the gift compared with others, with +that of M. Casimir Perier, for example, which amounted to fifty +thousand francs. This excuse was satisfactory at the Tuileries. + +Is this saying that Louis-Philippe was already at this time +thinking of dethroning his benefactor, his relative, and his King? +We think not. He profited by the errors of Charles X.; but if +Charles X. had not committed them, the idea of usurpation would +not have occurred to the mind of the chief of the younger branch. +Men are not so profoundly good or so profoundly wicked. They let +themselves be carried further than they wish, and if the acts they +are to commit some day were foretold them, the prophecies would +most often seem to them as impossible as insulting. + +Madame de Gontaut, Governess of the Children of France, recounts +an incident that took place at the Louvre, December 22d, 1824, at +the opening of the session of the Chambers: "The crowd was +prodigious. The Dauphiness and the Duchess of Berry and +Mademoiselle d'Orleans were present in one of the bays. The +Children of France were there. The Duchess of Berry took the Duke +of Bordeaux by her side. The Duchess of Orleans called +Mademoiselle, whom she loved tenderly, to her. The canon announced +the approach of the King. At the moment of his appearance the hall +resounded with acclamations. The platform for the royal family was +the one prepared for the late King; there had been left a slight +elevation in it, that the King did not see, and he stumbled on it. +With the movement his hat, held on his arm, fell; the Duke of +Orleans caught it. The Duchess of Orleans said to me:-- + +"'The King was about to fall; my husband sustained him.' + +"I answered: 'No, Madame; Monseigneur has caught His Majesty's +hat.' + +"The Dauphiness turned and looked at me. We did not speak of it +until six months after. Neither of us had forgotten it." + +A few years more and Charles X. was to drop, not his hat, but his +crown. + + + + + +IX + +THE PRINCE OF CONDE + + +At the time of the accession of Charles X., the family of Conde +was represented only by an old man of sixty-eight, Louis-Henri- +Joseph de Bourbon-Conde, born April 13th, 1756. At the death of +his father in 1818, he had taken the title of Prince of Conde, +while retaining that of Duke of Bourbon, by which he had +previously been designated. On the 10th of January, 1822, he lost +his wife, Princess Louise-Marie-Therese-Bathilde, sister of the +Duke of Orleans, mother of the unfortunate Duke d'Enghien, and he +lost, on March 10th, 1824, his sister, Mademoiselle de Conde, the +nun whose convent of the Perpetual Adoration was situated in the +Temple near the site of the former tower where Louis XVI. and his +family had been confined. + +The Duke of Bourbon, in his youth, had had a famous duel with the +Count of Artois, the future Charles X. No resentment subsisted +between the two princes, who afterwards maintained the most +cordial relations. During the Emigration, the Duke of Bourbon +served with valor in the army of his father, the Prince of Conde. +While the white flag floated at the head of a regiment he was +found fighting for the royal cause; then, the struggle ended, he +retired to England, where he had lived near Louis XVIII., and +always at his disposition. Returning to France at the Restoration, +he had since resided almost always at Chantilly or at Saint-Leu, +without his wife, from whom he had long been separated. He was +ranked as a reactionary, but busied himself little with politics, +and exerted no influence. + +The Count of Puymaigre, who, in his office as Prefect of the Oise, +at the commencement of the reign of Charles X., often went to +Chantilly, speaks of him in his Souvenirs:-- + +"The name of my father, much beloved by the late Prince of Conde, +more than my title of Prefect, caused me to be received with +welcome, and I took advantage of it the more gladly, because I +have never seen a house where one was more at one's ease, and +where there was more of that comfortable life known before the +Revolution as the chateau life. There was little of the prince in +him; he was more like an elderly bachelor who liked to have about +him joy, movement, pleasure, a wholly Epicurean life. The society +of Chantilly ordinarily consisted of the household of the Prince; +that is to say, old servitors of his father, some ladies whose +husbands held at this little court the places of equerries or +gentlemen of the chamber, some persons who were invited, or like +myself, had the right to come when they wished, and among this +number I frequently saw the Prince of Rohan, relative of the Duke +of Bourbon, disappointed since of the portion of the inheritance +he hoped for; finally, some Englishmen and their wives. The tone +was quite free, since the Prince set the example. And I recall +that one day he recommended me to be gallant with one of the +English ladies, who, he said, would like nothing better than to +receive such attentions. That seemed very likely to me, but she +was not young enough to tempt me to carry the adventure very far." + +The real chatelaine of this little court of Chantilly was a +beautiful Englishwoman, Sophie Dawes, married to a French officer, +the Baron of Feucheres. Born about 1795, in the Isle of Wight, +Sophie Dawes was the daughter of a fisherman. It is said that she +was brought up by charity, and played for some time at Covent +Garden Theatre, London. But her early life is unknown, and what is +told of it is not trustworthy. In 1817, she was taken into the +intimacy of the Duke of Bourbon, and afterwards acquired an +irresistible ascendancy over him. When she became his inseparable +companion, she explained her presence with him by the story that +she was his natural daughter, and the Duke avoided confirming or +denying this assertion. In 1818, he arranged a marriage between +his favorite and a very honorable officer, the Baron of Feucheres, +who believed, in good faith, that Sophie Dawes was really the +daughter of the Duke of Bourbon, and not his mistress. The +marriage was celebrated in England, but the pair returned to +Chantilly. The Baron of Feucheres figures in the royal Almanacs of +1821, 1822, 1823, as lieutenant-colonel, gentleman in ordinary to +the Duke of Bourbon, Prince of Conde, but not in the Almanac of +1824. + +In a very interesting work, the Vie de Charles X. by the Abbe de +Vedrenne, the reader will find:-- + +"By the marriage of Sophie Dawes, did the Duke of Bourbon wish to +break away from a guilty bond? It is generally believed. As to M. +de Feucheres, convinced that his wife was the daughter of the +Prince, he had no suspicion. It was Sophie Dawes herself who +enlightened him, to drive him away. The effect of the revelation +was terrible. M. de Feucheres, indignant, quitted his wife. There +no longer remained about the Prince any but the creatures of +Madame de Feucheres. Every one did her bidding at Chantilly, and +the Prince most of all." + +The favorite sought to palliate her false situation in the eyes of +society by doing good with the Prince's money. The Count of +Puymaigre relates that she many times took him to the Hospital of +Chantilly, endowed by the munificence of the great Conde, the +revenues of which she wished to increase. He adds: "I urged her to +this good work as much as I could; for good, by whatever hand +done, endures." + +One day the Duchess of Angouleme asked him if he went often to +Chantilly. + +"I go there," replied the Prefect, "to pay my court to the Duke of +Bourbon, whom I have the honor of having in my department." + +"That is very well," responded the Dauphiness, "but I hope that +Madame de Puymaigre does not go." + +The grand passion of the Duke of Bourbon was hunting. The Prefect +of the Oise says:-- + +"It was particularly during the hunts of Saint-Hubert that +Chantilly was a charming abode. The start was made at seven +o'clock in the morning, and usually I was in the carriage of the +Prince with the everlasting Madame de Feucheres. The hunting- +lodge was delightful and in a most picturesque situation. There +twenty or thirty persons met to the sound of horns, in the midst +of dogs, horses, and huntsmen. The coursing train of the Prince +was finer and more complete than that of the King. A splendid +breakfast was served at the place of rendezvous, built and +furnished in the Gothic style of the thirteenth century, and there +the chase began. Although I told the Prince that I was no hunter, +he often made me mount my horse and accompany him; but often +having enjoyed the really attractive spectacle of the stag, driven +by a crowd of dogs, which launched themselves after him across the +waters of a little lake, I hastened back to the Gothic pavilion +where the ladies and a few men remained." + +The Prince said one day to the Prefect:-- + +"Decidedly, you do not love hunting." + +"But I might love it, my lord, if I had such an outfit." + +"That's because you don't know anything about it, my dear +Puymaigre; when I was in England, hunting all alone in the marshes +with my dog Belle, I enjoyed it much more than here." + +The Prefect thus concludes his description of life at Chantilly:-- + +"Dinner was at six o'clock in the magnificent gallery where the +souvenirs of the great Conde were displayed in all their pomp, and +the eyes fell on fine pictures of the battles of Rocroy, Senef, +Fribourg, and Nordlingen, inspiring some regret for the life led +by the heir of so much glory. After dinner society comedy was +played on a very pretty stage, where the luxury of costumes was +very great and the mise-en-scene carefully attended to; and this +did not make the actors any better, although the little plays were +tolerable. But Madame de Feucheres wishing to play Alzire and to +take the principal part, which she doled out with sad monotony, +without change of intonation from the first line to the last, and +with a strongly pronounced English accent, it was utterly +ridiculous, and Voltaire would have flown into a fine passion had +he seen one of his chefs-d'oeuvres mangled in that way. Who could +have told that this poor Prince, who, if he had neither the +virtues nor the dignity proper to his rank, was nevertheless a +very good fellow, would perish in 1830, in such a tragic manner?" + +Charles X. had a long standing affection for the Duke of Bourbon. +On September 21st, 1824, he conferred on him at the same time as +on the Duke of Orleans, the title of Royal Highness. The last of +the Condes was, besides, Grand Master of France. This court +function was honorary rather than real, and the Prince appeared at +the Tuileries only on rare occasions. Charles X. loved him as a +friend of his childhood, a companion of youth and exile, but he +had a lively regret to see him entangled in such relations with +the Baroness of Feucheres. The advice he gave him many times to +induce him to break this liaison was without result. Finally the +King said: "Let us leave him alone; we only give him pain." He +never went to Chantilly, in order not to sanction by his royal +presence the kind of existence led there by his old relation; and +the Prince knowing the sentiments of his sovereign, gave him but +few invitations, which were always evaded under one pretext or +another. + +People wondered at the time who would be the heirs of the immense +fortune of the Condes, whose race was on the point of extinction. +The Prince's mother was Charlotte-Elisabeth de Rohan-Soubise, and +the Rohans thought themselves the natural heirs. But such a +combination would not have met the views of Madame de Feucheres, +who, not content with having got from the Prince very considerable +donations, counted on figuring largely in his will. + +Nevertheless she was not without lively anxiety in that regard. +The Rohans had refused all compromise with her. If they were +disinherited, what would they say? Would they not attack the will +on the ground of undue influence? Such was the eventuality against +which the prudent Baroness intended to guard herself. In +consequence she conceived the bold project of sheltering her own +wealth under the patronage of some member of the royal family, in +having him receive the fortune of the old Prince under a will +which at the same time should consecrate the part to be received +by her, and put it beyond all contest. She would have wished the +old Prince to choose his heir in the elder branch of the House of +Bourbon. But the Duchess of Berry, who was disinterestedness +itself, declined any arrangement of that nature. To the +insinuations made to her in favor of her son, she responded:-- + +"Henri will be King. The King of France needs nothing." + +She did more. It is said that to the persons who bore these +advances to her, she suggested the idea of having the heritage of +the Condes pass to the family of the Duke of Orleans. But the +thing was not easy. It is true that the children of the Duke were, +by their mother, Bathilde d'Orleans, nephews of the wife of the +Duke of Bourbon. But this Prince had led a bad life with his wife, +from whom he had separated immediately after the birth of the Duke +d'Enghien, and the souvenirs of the Revolution separated him +widely from a family whose political ideas were not his. Yet the +Duke and Duchess of Orleans were not discouraged. They entered on +negotiations a long time in advance with the Baroness of +Feucheres, who was in reality the arbiter of the situation. M. +Nettement relates that the first time that Marie-Amelie +pronounced the name of the Baroness in the presence of the Duchess +of Angouleme, the daughter of Louis XVI. said to her: "What! you +have seen that woman!" The Duchess of Orleans responded: "What +would you have? I am a mother. I have a numerous family; I must +think before all of the interests of my children." + +What is certain is that the Prince was induced to be the godfather +of the Duke d'Aumale, born the 6th of January, 1822, and that was +a sort of prelude to the will of 1830. + + + + + +X + +THE COURT + + +Now let us throw a general glance over the court of the King, +Charles X., in 1825, the year of the consecration. + +The civil household of the King comprised six distinct services: +those of Grand Almoner of France, of the Grand Master of France, +of the Grand Chamberlain of France, of the Grand Equerry of +France, of the Grand Huntsman of France, and of the Grand Master +of Ceremonies of France. + +The Grand Almoner was the Cardinal, Prince of Croy, Archbishop of +Rowen; the First Almoner, Mgr. Frayssinous, Bishop of Hermopolis; +the confessor of the King, the Abbe Jocard. Charles X., this +monarch, surrounded by great lords, knelt before a plebeian priest +and demanded absolution for his sins. There were, besides, in the +service of the Grand Almoner of France, eight almoners, eight +chaplains, and eight pupils of the chapel, serving in turns of +four. + +The function of the Grand Master of France had as titulary the +Duke of Bourbon, Prince of Conde. But this Prince performed his +duties only in very rare and solemn circumstances. In fact, the +service of the Grand Master of France was directed by the First +Steward, the Count of Cosse-Brissac. There were besides four +chamberlains of the House, the Count de Rothe, the Marquis of +Mondragon, the Count Mesnard de Chousy, the Viscount Hocquart, and +several stewards. + +The Grand Chamberlain of France was the Prince de Talleyrand. He +discharged his functions only on solemn occasions, such as the +funeral of Louis XVIII. and the consecration of Charles X. and the +arrival of the Duchess of Berry. In fact, the service of the Grand +Chamberlain of France was directed by one of the first gentlemen +of the chamber. They were four in number,--the Duke d'Aumont, the +Duke of Duras, the Duke of Blacas, the Duke Charles de Damas,--and +performed their functions in turn a year each. Every four years +the King designated those who were to serve during each of the +following four years. Thus, the Royal Almanac of 1825 has this +notice:-- + +First gentlemen of the chamber: 1825, the Duke d'Aumont; 1826, the +Duke of Duras; 1827, the Duke of Blacas; 1828, Count de Damas +(afterwards Duke). + +The first chamberlains, masters of the wardrobe, were five in +number: the Marquis de Boisgelin, the Count de Pradel, the Count +Curial, the Marquis d'Avaray, the Duke d'Avaray. There were +besides thirty-two gentlemen of the chamber, without counting +those that were honorary. To this same service belonged the +readers, the first valets-de-chambre, the ushers of the chamber, +the musicians of the chamber, those of the chapel and the service +of the faculty. The entrees, a matter so important in the +ceremonies of courts, were also attached to this service. + +By virtue of royal regulations of November 1st, December 31st, +1820, and January 23d, 1821, the entrees at the Chateau of the +Tuileries were established as follows: They were divided in six +classes: the grand entrees, the first entrees of the Cabinet, the +entrees of the Cabinet, those of the Hall of the Throne, those of +the first salon preceding the Hall of the Throne, and last, those +of the second salon. + +The grand entrees gave the privilege of entering at any time the +sleeping-room of the King. They belonged to the Grand Chamberlain, +to the first chamberlains--masters of the wardrobe. Next came the +first entrees of the Cabinet (this was the name of the hall which, +during the reign of Napoleon III., was designated as the Salon de +Louis XIV., because it contained a Gobelins tapestry representing +the Ambassadors of Spain received by the King). Persons who have +the first entrees of the Cabinet have the right to enter there at +any time in order to have themselves announced to the King, and +there to await permission to enter the main apartment. These first +entrees of the Cabinet belong to those who have to take the orders +of the sovereign--to the grand officers of his civil and military +households, or, in their absence, to the first officer of each +service, to the major-general of the royal guard on service, to +the Grand Chancellor, to the minister-secretaries of State, to +the Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor, to the captains of +the King's bodyguard, to the Grand Quartermaster. + +Next come the entrees of the Cabinet (which must not be confused +with the first entrees of the Cabinet). These give to persons +enjoying them the right to enter that room usually a little before +the hour fixed by the King to hear Mass, and to remain there at +will during the day, up to the hour of the evening when the +sovereign gives out the watchword. They belong to the grand +officers and to the first officers of the civil and military +households of the King, to the major-generals of the royal guard +and the lieutenant-general in service, to the cardinals, to the +Chancellor of France, to the minister-secretaries of State, to the +Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor, to the marshals of +France, to the Grand Referendary of the Chamber of Peers, to the +President of the Chamber of Deputies, and to all the officers of +the King's household on service. + +The persons and functionaries civil or military with a lower rank +in the hierarchy of the court have their entrees, some to the Hall +of the Throne, others to the first salon preceding the Hall of the +Throne (the Salon d'Apollon under Napoleon III.), and still others +to the second salon (communicating with the Hall of the Marshals, +and called, under Napoleon III., the Salon of the First Consul). + +The collective audience given to all having their entries was +called the public audience of the King. It took place when the +King went to hear Mass in his chapel, only on his return to re- +enter his inner apartment. Followed by all his grand officers and +his first officers in service, Charles X. passed to and paused in +each of the rooms in his outer apartment, in order to allow those +having the right to be there to pay their court to him. When he +attended Mass in his inner apartment, he gave a public audience +only after that ceremony. He paused in his Grand Cabinet, then in +the Hall of the Throne, and successively in the other rooms. + +When the King was ready to receive, the First Gentleman of the +Chamber gave notice to the grand officers and the first officers +that they might present themselves. Moreover, he placed before the +King the list of persons having entrees to his apartments or to +whom he had accorded them. On this list Charles X. indicated those +he wished invited. + +There was no titular Grand Equerry of France. The First Equerry, +charged with the saddle-horses of the King, was the Duke of +Polignac, major-general. The two equerries-commandant were the +Marquis of Vernon and Count O'Hegerthy, major-general. There +were, besides, four equerries, masters of the horse, three each +quarter, namely: for the January quarter the Chevalier de Riviere, +major-general; the Count Defrance, lieutenant-general; the Baron +Dujon, major-general;--for the April quarter, the Colonel Viscount +de Bongars; the Baron Vincent, major-general; the Viscount Domon, +lieutenant--general;--for the July quarter, the Colonel Marquis +de Martel, the Viscount Vansay, the Count Frederic de Bongars;-- +for the October quarter, the Count de Fezensac, major-general; the +Colonel Marquis Oudinot, the Colonel Marquis de Chabannes. The +chief Equerries of the stable were the Viscount d'Abzac and the +Chevalier d'Abzac, both colonels. There were, besides, the +equerries in ordinary and the pupil-equerries. The pages belonged +to the service of the Grand Equerry of France. + +The Grand Huntsman was the Marshal Marquis of Lauriston, and the +First Huntsman, the Lieutenant-General Count de Girardin. There +were also huntsmen for the hunting-courses and huntsmen for the +gunning-hunts of the King. + +The Grand Master of Ceremonies was the Marquis of Dreux-Breze, and +the Master of Ceremonies the Marquis of Rochemore, major-general. +There were, besides, the aides, a king-at-arms and heralds-at- +arms. + +All the civil household of the King worked with the greatest +regularity. Etiquette, carefully observed, though stripped of the +ancient minutiae, recalled the old usages of the French monarchy. +All that had been suppressed was what was puerile and weariness +for the courtiers and for the King himself. + +The military household of the King was a group of chosen troops. +The horse body-guards comprised five companies, each bearing the +name of its chief. The Duke d'Havre et de Croy, the Duke of +Gramont, the Prince of Poix, Duke de Mouchy, the Duke of +Luxembourg, the Marquis de Riviere. The chiefs of these companies, +all five lieutenants-general, were entitled captains of the guard. +There was, besides, a company of foot-guards in ordinary to the +King, whose chief, the Duke of Mortemart, major-general, had the +title of captain-colonel, and whose officers were some French, +some Swiss. There was a Chief Quartermaster, the Lieutenant- +General Marquis de La Suze. + +The royal guard, composed of two divisions of infantry, two +divisions of cavalry, and a regiment of artillery, was under the +command of four marshals of France, Victor, Duke de Bellune; +Macdonald, Duke de Tarente; Oudinot, Duke de Reggio; Marmont, Duke +de Raguse, all four of whom had the title of major-general. + +The body-guards, the Swiss, the royal guard, were the admiration +of all connoisseurs. The Emperor Napoleon never had had troops +better disciplined, of better bearing, clad in finer uniforms, +animated by a better spirit. + +To the household of the King must be added those of the Dauphin, +the Dauphiness, and the Duchess of Berry. The Dauphin had as first +gentlemen, the Duke of Damas and the Duke of Guiche, both +lieutenants-general; for gentlemen, the Count d'Escars and the +Baron of Damas, lieutenants-general; the Count Melchior de +Polignac, major-general; the Viscount de Saint Priest, and the +Count de Bordesoulle, lieutenants-general; the Count d'Osmond, +lieutenant-colonel. For aides-de-camp, the Baron de Beurnonville +and the Count de Laroche-Fontenille, major-generals; the Viscount +of Champagny, the Count of Montcalm, and the Baron Lecouteulx de +Canteleu, colonels; the Viscount de Lahitte, and the Duke de +Ventadour, lieutenant-colonels; the Count de La Rochefoucauld, +chief of battalion. + +The household of the Dauphiness was composed as follows: a First +Almoner, the Cardinal de La Fare, Archbishop of Sens, with two +almoners serving semiannually, and a chaplain; a lady-of-honor, +the Duchess of Damas-Cruz; a lady of the bed chamber, the +Viscountess d'Agoult; seven lady companions, the Countess of +Bearn, the Marchioness of Biron, the Marchioness of Sainte-Maure, +the Viscountess of Vaudreuil, the Countess of Goyon, the +Marchioness de Rouge, the Countess of Villefranche; two gentlemen- +in-waiting, the Marquis of Vibraye and the Duke Mathieu de +Montmorency, major-general; a First Equerry, the Viscount +d'Agoult, lieutenant-general, and two equerries, the Chevalier de +Beaune and M. O'Hegerthy. + +We shall devote a special chapter to the household of the Duchess +of Berry. + +The Count Alexandre de Puymaigre has left in his Souvenirs an +account of the manner in which the court employed the two weeks +passed at Compiegne in the month of October of each year. At 8 +A.M., the King heard Mass, where attendance was very exact except +when the King omitted to come, when no one came. At nine o'clock +they set out for the hunt, almost always with guns. One hundred to +one hundred and fifty hussars or chasseurs of the guard in +garrison at Compiegne beat the field, marching in line of battle, +with the King in the middle: he had at his right the Dauphin, at +his left a captain of the guards, or such person of the court as +he was pleased to designate. These were the three who alone had +the right to fire. + +Behind the sovereign, apart from some persons connected with the +service of the hunt, came a master of the horse, the first +huntsman, and some persons admitted to the hunt. The King, who +used a flintlock gun, was a very good marksman. About five or six +in the evening he returned to the Chateau. The people of the court +were gathered on the steps, awaiting him. He usually addressed +some affable words to them, and then went to dress in order to be +in the salon at seven o'clock. + +The captain of the guards, the first gentleman, the first +huntsman, the ladies and gentlemen in waiting of the princesses, +the masters of the horse, the colonel of the guard, dined with the +King. The dinner was choice, without being too sumptuous, but the +wines were not of the first order. The company remained at the +table an hour, and each talked freely with his or her neighbor, +except those by the side of the Dauphin or a Princess. There was +music during the repast, and the public was admitted to circulate +about the table. The royal family liked the attendance of +spectators to be considerable. Thus care was taken to give out a +number of cards, in order that the promenade about the table +during the second service should be continuous. Often the +princesses spoke to the women of their acquaintance and gave candy +to the children passing behind them. + +After the coffee, which was taken at table, Charles X. and his +guests traversed the Gallery of Mirrors, leading to the salon +between two lines of spectators eager to see the royal family. The +King next played billiards while a game of ecarte was started. The +agents for the preservation of the forests and the pages of the +hunt remained by the door, inside, without being permitted to +advance into the salon, which was occupied only by persons who had +dined with the King. + +After having had his game of billiards and left his place for +other players, Charles X. took a hand at whist, while the ecarte +went on steadily until, toward ten o'clock, the King retired. He +was followed to his sleeping-room, where he gave the watchword to +the captain of the body-guards, and indicated the hour of the meet +for the next day. + +"Sometimes we then returned to the salon," adds the Count of +Puymaigre, who, in virtue of his office as Prefect of the Oise, +dined with the King, as well as the Bishop of Beauvais and the +general commanding the sub-division. "M. de Cosse-Brisac, the +first steward, had punch served, and we continued the ecarte till +midnight or one o'clock, when we could play more liberally, the +Dauphiness having limited the stakes to five francs. The Duchess +of Berry was less scrupulous. After the withdrawal of the princes +we were glad to be more at ease; the talk became gay and even +licentious, and I will say here that all the men of the court whom +I have seen near the King, far from being what could be called +devout or hypocritical, as was believed in the provinces, were +anything but that; that they no more concealed their indifference +in religious matters than they did their diversity of political +opinions, royalist doubtless, but of divers grades; that no one +was more tolerant than the King; finally, that if an occult power, +the existence of which I do not deny, but the force of which has +been exaggerated, acted on the mind of the King, it had not its +seat in what was called the court." + +Charles X. was deeply religious, a fervent believer, sincerely +Christian, and this Prince who but for his great piety might +perhaps have given excuse for scandal, led a life without +reproach. But as indulgent for others as he was severe to himself, +he forced no one to imitate his virtues, and his palaces were in +no way like convents. As was said by the Duke Ambroise de +Doudeauville, for three years the minister of the King's +household, "his religion, despite all the stupid things said of +it, was very frank, very real, and very well understood." + +Rarely has a sovereign given such a good example to those about +him. No mistresses, no favorites, no scandal, no ruinous +expenditures, no excess of luxury; a gentle piety, extreme +affability, perfect courtesy, a constant desire to render France +happy and glorious. The appearance of Charles X. was that of a +fine old man, gracious, healthy, amiable, and respected. Persons +of plebeian origin at his court were treated by him with as much +politeness and attention as the chiefs of the ancient houses of +France. His manners were essentially aristocratic, but without +arrogance or pretension. Full of goodness toward his courtiers and +his servitors, he won the love of all who approached him. His +tastes were simple, and personally he required no luxury. +Habituated during the Emigration to go without many things, he +never thought of lavish expenditure, of building palaces or +furnishing his residences richly. "Never did a king so love his +people," says the Duke Ambroise de Doudeauville, "never did a king +carry self-abnegation so far. I urged him one day to allow his +sleeping-room to be furnished. He refused. I insisted, telling him +that it was in a shocking condition of neglect. + +"'If it is for me,' he replied with vivacity, 'no; if it is for +the sake of the manufactures, yes.' + +"It was the same in everything. He had no whims and never listened +to a proposition by which he alone was to profit. He joined to +these essential qualities, manners that were wholly French, and +mots that often recalled Henry IV. We were always saying to each +other, my colleagues and I, 'If a king were made to order for +France, he would not be different.' What a misfortune for France, +which he loved so much, that he was not known better and more +appreciated. This portrait, I protest, is in nowise flattering; if +this poor Prince were still reigning, I would not say so much of +him, above all in his presence; but he is persecuted and is an +exile; I owe my country the truth, nothing but the truth." + +Let us add to the honor of Charles X. that he made of his personal +fortune and his civil list the noblest and most liberal use. + +"On the throne," says the Viscount Sosthenes de La Rochefoucauld," +he was generous to excess. In his noble improvidence of the +future, he considered his civil list as a sort of loan, made by +the nation for the sake of its grandeur, to be returned in luxury, +magnificence, and benefits. A faithful depositary, he made it a +duty to use it all, so that, stripped of his property, he carried +into exile hardly enough for the support of his family and some +old servitors." + +To sum up, all who figured at the court of Charles X. agree in +recognizing that he was not a superior man, but a prince, +chivalrous and sympathetic, honest and of good intentions, who +committed grave errors, but did not deserve his misfortunes. In +his appearance, in his physiognomy, in thought and language, there +was a mingling of grace and dignity of which even his adversaries +felt the charm. If posterity is severe for the sovereign, it will +be indulgent for the man. + + + + + +XI + +THE DUKE OF DOUDEAUVILLE + + +At the time of the consecration of Charles X., the minister of the +King's household was the Duke Ambroise de Doudeauville, father of +the Viscount Sosthenes de La Rochefoucauld. A philanthropic +nobleman, devoted to the throne, the altar, the Charter, and to +liberty, respectful for the past but thoughtful for the future, +joining intelligent toleration to sincere piety, faithful servitor +but no courtier to the King, the Duke of Doudeauville enjoyed the +esteem of all and had at court a high standing, due even more to +his character than to his birth. The volume of Memoirs that he has +left does honor to his heart as well as to his mind. There is +grace and gaiety, depth and charm, wisdom and courage, in this +short but substantial book, where appears in full light one of the +most distinct types of the ancient French society. "My years of +grandeur and splendor," this author wrote, "have passed like a +dream, and I have beheld the awakening with pleasure. I know not +what my destiny shall be. As to my conduct, I believe that I can +affirm that it will be always that of an honest man, a good +Frenchman, a servant of God, desiring a Christian close to an +honorable life, the crown of every human edifice." + +The details given by the Duke of Doudeauville as to his early +years are very characteristic. He was born in 1765. He was +entrusted to the care of a nurse living two leagues from Paris in +a little village, the wife of a post-rider. His parents, when they +came to see him, found "their eighteen-months-old progeny astride +of one of the horses of his foster-father." Like Henry IV., he was +raised roughly, leading the life of a real peasant, running the +day long, in sabots, through the snow and ice and mud. "My nurse, +who was retained as maid," he says, "was a good peasant, and +thoroughly proletarian. Afterwards, transferred to the capital, +she there preserved with her simple cap her frank and rustic +manners, to the admiration of all who knew her, and esteemed her +loyal character and her plain ways. It is to her, and to her +alone, that I am indebted for receiving any religious instruction +either in infancy or youth. Everything about me was wholly foreign +to those ideas; my religion was none the less fervent for that. +From my earliest years, being born brave, I felt the vocation of +the martyr the most desirable means of being joined to our Father +which is in Heaven, and I have always thought that to end one's +days for one's God, one's wife and family, was a touching and +enviable death." + +The Duke of Doudeauville was still a child, and a little child--in +point of age he was fourteen and a day, in size he was four feet +seven inches--when he was married. He espoused Mademoiselle de +Montmirail, of the family of Louvois, who brought him, with a +beauty he did not then prize, a considerable fortune, the rank of +grandee of Spain, and, worth more than all, rare and precious +qualities. Nevertheless, the little husband was very sad. When his +approaching marriage was announced to him, he cried out, "Then I +can play no longer!" When, after the first interview, he was asked +how he liked his fiancee, whose fresh face, oval and full, was +charming, he responded: "She is really very beautiful; she looks +like me when I am eating plums." Listen to his story of the +nuptials. "Imagine my extreme embarrassment," he says, "my stupid +disappointment, with my excessive bashfulness amid the numerous +concourse of visitors and spectators attracted by our wedding. The +grandfather of Mademoiselle de Montmirail, being captain of the +Hundred-Swiss, a great part of this corps was there, and, as if to +play me a trick, all these Hundred-Swiss were six feet tall, +sometimes more. One would have said, seeing me by the side of +them, the giants and the dwarf of the fair. Every one gazed at the +bride, who, although she was only fifteen, was as tall as she was +beautiful, and every one was looking for the bridegroom, without +suspecting that it was this child, this schoolboy, who was to play +the part." + +Is it not amusing, this picture of a marriage under the old +regime? The little groom was so disturbed when he went to the +chapel and during the ceremony, that, though his memory was +excellent, he never could recall what passed at that time. "I only +remember," he says, "the sound of the drums that were beating +during our passage, and cheered me a little; it was the one moment +of the day that was to my taste. How long that day seemed! You may +imagine it was not from the motives common in like cases, but +because I drew all glances upon me, and all vied in laughing at +and joking me, pointing their fingers at me." + +The day ended with a grand repast that lasted two or three hours. +A crowd of strangers strolled around the table all the while. +Although the precaution had been taken to put an enormous cushion +on the chair of the husband, his chin hardly came above the table. +Seated by the side of his young wife, he did not dare look at her. +For days beforehand he had been wondering if he should always be +afraid of her. + +"After this solemn banquet," he adds, "came the soiree, which did +not seem any more amusing; after the soiree the return to my +parents' home was no more diverting; nevertheless, it was made in +the company of my dear spouse, who henceforth was to dwell at my +father's house. They bundled me into a wretched cabriolet with my +preceptor, and sent me to finish my education at Versailles, and +to learn to ride at the riding-school of the pages." + +We must note that the marriage thus begun was afterwards a very +happy union, and that there was never a pair more virtuous and +more attached to each other than the Duke and Duchess of +Doudeauville. + +In 1789, the Duke was major of the Second Regiment of Chasseurs. +He emigrated, though the Emigration was not at all to his liking. +"This measure," he said, "appeared to me in every way +unreasonable, and yet, to my great chagrin, I was forced to submit +to it. The person of the King was menaced, right-thinking people +compromised, the tranquillity and prosperity of France lost; they +were arming abroad, it was said, to provide a remedy for these +evils. The nobles hastened hither. Distaffs were sent to all who +refused to rally on the banks of the Rhine. How, at twenty-five, +could one resist this tide of opinion?" When he perceived, in the +foreign powers, the design of profiting by the discords in France +instead of putting an end to them, he laid aside his arms, and +never resumed them during the eight years of the Emigration. "This +resolve," he said, "was consistent with my principles. Always a +good Frenchman, I desired only the good of my country, the +happiness of my fellow-countrymen; my whole life, I hope, has been +a proof of this view. All my actions have tended to this end." + +During his eight years of emigration, the Duke of Doudeauville was +constantly a prey to anxiety, grief, poverty, trials of every +kind. Thirteen of his relatives were put to death under the +Terror. His wife was imprisoned, and escaped the scaffold only +through the 9th Thermidor. He himself, having visited France +clandestinely several times, ran the greatest risks. In the midst +of such sufferings his sole support was the assistance of a +devoted servant. "At the moment that I write these lines," he says +in his Memoirs, "I am about to lose my domestic Raphael, the +excellent man who, for fifty years, has given me such proofs of +fidelity, disinterestedness, and delicacy; I have treated him as a +friend; I shall grieve for him as for a brother." + +Misfortune had fortified the character of the Duke of +Doudeauville. Unlike other emigres, he had learned much and +forgotten nothing. His attitude under the Consulate and the Empire +was that of a true patriot.--Without joining the Opposition, he +wished no favor. The sole function he accepted was that of +councillor-general of the Department of the Marne, where he could +be useful to his fellow-citizens without giving any one the right +to accuse him of ambitious motives. Nothing would have been easier +for him than to be named to one of the high posts in the court of +Napoleon, whose defects he disapproved, but whose great qualities +he admired. "Bonaparte," he said in his Memoirs, "had monarchical +ideas and made much of the nobility, especially that which he +called historic. I must confess, whatever may be said, that the +latter under his reign was more esteemed, respected, feted, than +it has been since under Louis XVIII. or Charles X. The princes +feared to excite toward it and toward themselves the envy of the +bourgeois classes, who would have no supremacy but their own. +Napoleon, on the contrary, having frankly faced the difficulty, +created a nobility of his own. Those who belonged to it, or hoped +to, found it quite reasonable that they should be given as peers +the descendants of the first houses of France." The Duchess of +Doudeauville was a sister of the Countess of Montesquiou, who was +governess of the King of Rome, and whose husband had replaced the +Prince de Talleyrand as Grand Chamberlain of the Emperor. Very +intimate with the Count and Countess, the Duke of Doudeauville had +some trouble in avoiding the favors of Napoleon, who held him in +high esteem. He found a way to decline them without wounding the +susceptibilities of the powerful sovereign. + +Under the Restoration, the Duke of Doudeauville distinguished +himself by an honest liberalism, loyal and intelligent, with +nothing revolutionary in it, and by an enlightened philanthropy +that won him the respect of all parties. When he was named as +director of the post-office in 1822, many people of his circle +blamed him for taking a place beneath him. "Congratulate me," he +said, laughing, "that I have not been offered that of postman; I +should have taken it just the same if I had thought I could be +useful." And he added: "It was thought that it would be a sinecure +for me. Far from that, I gave myself up wholly to my new +employment, and I worked so hard at it, than in less than a year +my eyes, previously excellent, were almost ruined. I always +occupied fifteen or twenty places, each more gratuitous than the +others. To make the religion that I practise beloved and to serve +my neighbor, has always seemed to me the best way to serve God. So +I believe that I can say without fear of contradiction that I have +never done any one harm, and that I have always tried to do all +the good possible." + +In the month of August, 1824, the Duke of Doudeauville was named +minister of the King's household. In this post he showed +administrative qualities of a high order. In April, 1827, not +wishing to share in a measure that he regarded as both +inappropriate and unpopular, the disbanding of the Parisian +National Guard, he gave in his resignation. "I did not wish," he +said, "to join the Opposition. The popularity given me by my +resignation would have assured me a prominent place, but this role +agreed neither with my character nor with my antecedents. I +resolved on absolute silence and complete obscurity; I even +avoided showing myself in Paris, where I knew that manifestations +of satisfaction and gratitude would be given to me." King Louis +Philippe said one day to Marshal Gerard: "Had they listened to the +Duke of Doudeauville, and not broken up the National Guard of +Paris, the revolution would not have taken place." + +The great lord, good citizen, and good Christian, who, at periods +most disturbed by changes of regime, had always been as firm in +the application of his principles as he was moderate in his +actions and gentle in his method, made himself as much respected +under Louis Philippe as under the Restoration. During the cholera, +he set the example of absolute devotion and was constantly in the +hospitals. He continued to sit in the Chamber of Peers until the +close of the trial of the Ministers, in the hope of saving the +servitors of Charles X. But when Louis Philippe quitted the Palais +Royal to install himself at the Tuileries, he resigned as Peer of +France. He no longer wished to reappear at the Chateau where he +had seen Louis XVIII. and Charles X., and in a letter to the Queen +Marie-Amelie, who had a real veneration for him, he wrote: "My +presence at the Tuileries would be out of place, and even the new +hosts of that palace would be astonished at it." The Duke of +Doudeauville, who died at a great age, in 1841, devoted his last +years to good works, to charity, to the benevolent establishments +of which he was the president. One day at the Hotel de Ville, he +drew applause from an assembly far from religious, by the words we +are about to cite, because they discovered in them his whole mind +and heart: "A husband would like a wife reserved, economical, a +good housekeeper, an excellent mother for his family, charming, +eager to please him--him only, adorning herself with virtue, the +one ornament that is never ruinous, having great gentleness for +him, great strength as against all others; he would wish, in fine, +a perfect wife. I should like to believe that there are many such, +especially among my listeners, but I should think it a miracle if +one of them united all these qualities without having the +principles of religion. A woman, pretty, witty, agreeable, would +like her husband to think she was so, that he should be as amiable +for her, or almost, as for those he saw for the first time; that +he should not keep his ill humor and his brusqueness for his home +and lavish his care and attention on society; that he should +forget sometimes that he is a master,--in some ways a despotic +master,--despite the liberalism of the century and the progress of +philosophy; that he should be willing to be a friend, even if he +ceased to be a lover; finally, that he should not seek from others +what he will more surely find at home. Let this tender wife invoke +religion, let her cause her husband to love it, let her win him to +it; she will get what she hopes for and thank me for the recipe." + +Our lady readers will thank us, we hope, for having spoken of a +man who gives them such good advice; and it is with pleasure that +we have taken the occasion to render homage to the memory of a +great lord, who doubly deserved the title, by the elevation of his +ideas and the nobility of his sentiments. Such men--alas! they are +rare--would have saved the Restoration if the Restoration could +have been saved. + + + + + +XII + +THE HOUSEHOLD OF THE DUCHESS OF BERRY + + +We shall now, commencing with the ladies, throw a rapid glance +over the persons who, at the time of the consecration, formed the +household of the Duchess of Berry. The Princess had one lady of +honor, one lady of the bedchamber, and eleven lady companions, of +whom three were honorary. All were distinguished as much by their +manners and sentiments as by birth and education. + +The lady of honor was the Marechale Oudinot, Duchess of Reggio, a +lady of the highest rank, who joined a large heart to a firm mind. +Attached, through her family, to the religious and monarchical +principles of the old regime, by her marriage to the glories of +the imperial epic, she represented at the court the ideas of +pacification and fusion that inspired the policy of Louis XVIII. +Born in 1791, of Antoine de Coucy, captain in the regiment of +Artois, and of Gabrielle de Mersuay, she was but two years old +when her father and mother were thrown into the dungeons of the +Terror. Carried in the arms of a faithful serving-woman, she +visited the two prisoners, who escaped death. She married one of +Napoleon's most illustrious companions in arms, the "modern +Bayard," as he was called, the Marshal Oudinot, Duke of Reggio, +who had received thirty-two wounds on the field of battle, and +who, by securing the passage of Beresina, deserved to be called +the "saviour of the army." He was wounded at the close of the +Russian campaign. Then his young wife crossed all Europe to go and +care for him and saved him. She was but twenty. She was only +twenty-four when Louis XVIII. named her lady of honor to the +Duchess of Berry. Despite her extreme youth, she filled her +delicate functions with exquisite tact and precocious wisdom, and +from the first exercised a happy influence over the mind of the +Princess, who gladly listened to her counsels. Very active in +work, the lady of honor busied herself with untiring zeal with the +details of her charge. She was the directress, the secretary, the +factotum, of the Duchess of Berry. The Abbe Tripied, who +pronounced her funeral eulogy at Bar-le-Duc, May 21st, 1868, +traced a very lifelike portrait of her. Let us hear the +ecclesiastic witness of the high virtues of this truly superior +woman. + +"She bore," he said, "with equal force and sagacity her titles of +lady of honor and Duchess of Reggio. Proud of her blason, where +were crossed the arms of the old and of the new nobility, and +where she saw, as did the King, a sign, as it were, of +reconciliation and peace, she bore it high and firm, and defended +it in its new glories, against insulting attacks. An ornament to +the court, by her graces and her high distinction, she displayed +there, for the cause of the good, all the resources of her mind +and the riches of her heart. But none of the seductions and +agitations she met there disturbed the limpidity of her pure soul. +Malignity, itself at bay, was forced to recognize and avow that in +the Duchess of Reggio no other stain could be found than the ink- +stains she sometimes allowed her pen to make upon her finger. In +her greatness, this noble woman saw, before all, the side of +duty." + +In 1832, when the Duchess of Berry was imprisoned in the citadel +of Blaye, her former lady of honor asked, without being able to +obtain that favor, the privilege of sharing her captivity. The +Duchess of Reggio to the last set an example of devotion and of +all the virtues. She was so gracious and affable that one day some +one remarked: "When the Duchess gives you advice, it seems as if +she were asking a service of you." When the noble lady died, April +18th, 1868, at Bar-le-Duc, where her good works and her +intelligent charity had made her beloved, they wished to give her +name to one of the streets of the city, and as they already had +the Rue Oudinot and the Place Reggio, one of the streets was +called the Rue de La Marechale. + +The lady of the bedchamber of the Duchess of Berry and her lady +companions all belonged to the old aristocracy. The Countess of +Noailles, lady of the bedchamber, a woman full of intelligence, +and very beautiful, a mother worthy of all praise, was the +daughter of the Duke de Talleyrand, the niece of the Prince de +Talleyrand, the wife of Count Just de Noailles, second son of the +Prince of Poix. + +The Duchess of Berry had eight lady companions: the Countess of +Bouille, the Countess d'Hautefort, the Marchioness of Bethisy, the +Marchioness of Gourgues, the Countess of Casteja, the Countess of +Rosanbo, the Marchioness of Podenas; and three whose title was +honorary, the Marchioness of Lauriston, the Countess Charles de +Gontaut, and the Countess de La Rochejaquelein. + +The Countess of Bouille, who at the time of the coronation of +Charles X. was about forty years old, was a creole, very agreeable +and much respected. + +The Countess d'Hautefort, nee Maille-Latour-Landry, forty-one +years old, married to a colonel who belonged to the fourth company +of the bodyguards, was a woman of much intelligence, charmingly +natural, and an excellent musician. She shared in 1832 the +captivity of the Duchess of Berry. + +Very distinguished in manner and sentiment as in birth, the +Marchioness Charles de Bethisy, married to a lieutenant-general +and peer of France; the Countess of Gourgues, nee Montboissier, +married to a master of requests, a deputy; the Countess of +Mefflay, a young and charming woman, daughter of the Countess of +Latour, whom the Duchess of Berry had as governess in the Two +Sicilies, and wife of the Count Meffray, receiver-general of Gers; +the Viscountess of Casteja, daughter of the Marquis of Bombelles, +major-general, ambassador of Louis XVI. at Lisbon and Vienna, then +priest, Canon of Breslau, Bishop of Amiens, First Almoner of the +Duchess of Berry (he died in 1822, and one of his sons, Charles de +Bombelles, married morganatically the Empress Marie-Louise, in +1833); the Countess of Rosanbo, daughter of the Count of Mesnard; +the Marchioness of Podenas, wife of a lieutenant-colonel; the +Marchioness of Lauriston, wife of the marshal, formerly lady of +the palace to the Empress Josephine and the Empress Marie-Louise; +the Countess Charles de Gontaut, whose husband was chamberlain of +the Emperor, a very young and very pretty woman, remarkable for +the vivacity of her mind; the Countess de La Rochejaquelein, nee +Duras, a very pious and very charitable woman, whose husband was a +major-general. In fact, the circle around the Duchess of Berry was +perfection. The greatest ladies of France were by her side, and +the society of the Petit Chateau, as the Pavilion de Marsan was +called, was certainly fitted to give the tone to the principal +salons of Paris. + +The Duchess of Berry had as chevalier d'honneur a great lord, very +learned, known for his unchangeable devotion to royalty, the Duke +de Sevis (born in 1755, died in 1830). The Duke, who emigrated and +was wounded at Quiberon, held himself apart during the Empire, and +published highly esteemed writings on finance, some Memoirs, and a +Recueil de Souvenirs et Portraits. He was a peer of France and +member of the French Academy. For adjunct to the chevalier +d'honneur, the Duchess had the Count Emmanuel de Brissac, one of +the finest characters of the court, married to a Montmorency. + +Her first equerry was the Count Charles de Mesnard, a Vendean +gentleman of proven devotion. The Count Charles de Mesnard was +born at Lugon, in 1769, the same year as Napoleon, whose fellow- +pupil he was at Brienne. Belonging to one of those old houses of +simple gentlemen who have the antiquity of the greatest races, he +was son of a major-general who distinguished himself in the Seven +Years War, and who at the close of the old regime was gentleman of +the chamber of the Count of Provence (Louis XVIII.), and captain +of the Guards of the Gate of this Prince. He emigrated, and served +in the ranks of the army of Conde, with his older brother, the +Count Edouard de Mesnard, married to Mademoiselle de Caumont- +Laforce, daughter of the former governess of the children of the +Count d'Artois (Charles X.), and sister of the Countess of Balbi. +The Count Edouard de Mesnard, having entered Paris secretly, was +shot there as emigre, October 27th, 1797, despite all the efforts +of the wife of General Bonaparte to save him. When he was going to +his death, his eyes met, on the boulevard, those of one of his +friends, the Marquis of Galard, who had returned with him +secretly. The condemned man had the presence of mind to seem not +to recognize the passer-by, and the latter was saved, as he +himself related with emotion sixty years afterward. + +At the commencement of the Empire, the Count Charles de Mesnard +was living at London, where he was reduced to gaining his living +by copying music, when the Emperor offered to restore his +confiscated property if he would come to France and unite with the +new regime. The Count of Mesnard preferred to remain in England +near the Duke of Berry, who showed great affection for him. The +Restoration compensated the faithful companion of exile. He was a +peer of France and Charles X. treated him as a friend. He had +married, during the Emigration, an English lady, Mrs. Sarah Mason, +widow of General Blondell, by whom he had a daughter, Aglae, who +was named a lady companion to the Duchess of Berry, at the time of +her marriage, in 1825, with the Count Ludovic de Rosanbo, and a +son, Ferdinand, married in 1829, to Mademoiselle de Bellissen. + +The Princess had for equerry-de-main, the Viscount d'Hanache; for +honorary equerry, the Baron of Fontanes; for equerry porte- +manteau, M. Gory. Her secretary of orders was the Marquis de +Sassenay, who bore, besides, the title of Administrator of the +Finances and Treasurer of Madame. He had under his orders a +controller-general, M. Michals, who was of such integrity and +devotion that when, after the Revolution of July, he presented +himself at Holyrood to give in his accounts to the Duchess of +Berry, she made him a present of her portrait. + +There was not a private household in France where more order +reigned than in that of Madame. The chief of each service,--the +Duchess of Reggio, the Viscount Just de Noailles, the Count +Emmanuel de Brissac, and the Count of Mesnard, presented his or +her budget and arranged the expenditures in advance with the +Princess. This budget being paid by twelfths before the 15th of +the following month, she required to have submitted to her the +receipts of the month past. This did not prevent Madame from being +exceedingly generous. One day she learned that a poor woman had +just brought three children into the world and knew not how to pay +for three nurses, three layettes, three cradles. Instantly she +wished to relieve her. But it was the end of the month; the money +of all the services had been spent. + +"Lend me something," she said to the controller-general of her +household; "you will trust me; no one will trust this unfortunate +woman." + +As M. Nettement remarked: "The Duchess of Berry held it as a +principle that princes should be like the sun which draws water +from the streams only to return it in dew and rain. She considered +her civil list as the property of all, administered by her. She +was to be seen at all expositions and in all the shops, buying +whatever was offered that was most remarkable. Sometimes she kept +these purchases, sometimes she sent them to her family at Naples, +Vienna, Madrid, and her letters used warmly to recommend in +foreign cities whatever was useful or beautiful in France. She was +thus in every way the Providence of the arts, of industry, and +commerce." + +To sum up, the household of the Duchess of Berry worked to +perfection, and Madame, always affable and good, inspired a +profound devotion in all about her. + + + + + +XIII + +THE PREPARATIONS FOR THE CORONATION + + +The coronation of Louis XVI. took place the 11th of June, 1775, +and since that time there had been none. For Louis XVII. there was +none but that of sorrow. Louis XVIII. had desired it eagerly, but +he was not sufficiently strong or alert to bear the fatigue of a +ceremony so long and complicated, and his infirmities would have +been too evident beneath the vault of the ancient Cathedral of +Rheims. An interval of fifty years--from 1775 to 1825--separated +the coronation of Louis XVI. from that of his brother Charles X. +How many things had passed in that half-century, one of the most +fruitful in vicissitudes and catastrophes, one of the strangest +and most troubled of which history has preserved the memory! + +Chateaubriand, who, later, in his Memoires d'outretombe, so full +of sadness and bitterness, was to speak of the coronation in a +tone of scepticism verging on raillery, celebrated at the +accession of Charles, in almost epic language, the merits of this +traditional solemnity without which a "Very Christian King" was +not yet completely King. In his pamphlet, Le roi est mort! Vive le +roi! he conjured the new monarch to give to his crown this +religious consecration. "Let us humbly supplicate Charles X. to +imitate his ancestors," said the author of the Genie du +Christianisme. "Thirty-two sovereigns of the third race have +received the royal unction, that is to say, all the sovereigns of +that race except Jean 1er, who died four days after his birth, +Louis XVII., and Louis XVIII., on whom royalty fell, on one in the +Tower of the Temple, on the other in a foreign land. The words of +Adalberon, Archbishop of Rheims, on the subject of the coronation +of Hugh Capet, are still true to-day. 'The coronation of the King +of the French,' he says, 'is a public interest and not a private +affair, Publica, sunt haec negotia, non privata.' May Charles X. +deign to weigh these words, applied to the author of his race; in +weeping for a brother, may he remember that he is King! The +Chambers or the Deputies of the Chambers whom he may summon to +Rheims in his suite, the magistrates who shall swell his cortege, +the soldiers who shall surround his person, will feel the faith of +religion and royalty strengthened in them by this imposing +solemnity. Charles VII. created knights at his coronation; the +first Christian King of the French, at his received baptism with +four thousand of his companions in arms. In the same way Charles +X. will at his coronation create more than one knight of the cause +of legitimacy, and more than one Frenchman will there receive the +baptism of fidelity." + +Charles X. had no hesitation. This crowned representative of the +union of the throne and the altar did not comprehend royalty +without coronation. Not to receive the holy unction would have +been for him a case of conscience, a sort of sacrilege. In opening +the session of the Chambers in the Hall of the Guards at the +Louvre, December 22d, 1824, he announced, amid general approval, +the grand solemnity that was to take place at Rheims in the course +of the following year. "I wish," he said, "the ceremony of my +coronation to close the first session of my reign. You will +attend, gentlemen, this august ceremony. There, prostrate at the +foot of the same altar where Clovis received the holy unction, and +in the presence of Him who judges peoples and kings, I shall renew +the oath to maintain and to cause to be respected the institutions +established by my brother; I shall thank Divine Providence for +having deigned to use me to repair the last misfortunes of my +people, and I shall pray Him to continue to protect this beautiful +France that I am proud to govern." + +If Napoleon, amid sceptical soldiers, former conventionnels, and +former regicides, had easily secured the adoption of the idea of +his coronation at Notre-Dame, by so much the more easy was it for +Charles X. to obtain the adoption, by royalist France, of the +project of his coronation at Rheims. "The King saw in this act," +said Lamartine, "a real sacrament for the crown, the people a +ceremony that carried its imagination back to the pomps of the +past, politicians a concession to the court of Rome, claiming the +investiture of kings, and a denial in fact of the principle, not +formulated but latent since 1789, of the sovereignty of the +people. But as a rule, there was no vehement discussion of an act +generally considered as belonging to the etiquette of royalty, +without importance for or against the institutions of the country. +It was the fete of the accession to the throne--a luxury of the +crown. The oaths to exterminate heretics, formerly taken by the +kings of France at their coronation, were modified in concert with +the court of Rome and the bishops. For these was substituted the +oath to govern according to the Charter. Thus it was in reality a +new consecration of liberty as well as of the crown." The French +love pomp, ceremonies, spectacles. The idea of a consecration was +not displeasing to them, and with rare exceptions, the Voltaireans +themselves refrained from criticising the ceremony that was in the +course of preparation. It soon became the subject of conversation +on every side. + +Six millions voted by the two Chambers for the expenses of the +coronation, at the time that the civil list was regulated at the +beginning of the reign, permitted the repairs required by the +Cathedral of Rheims to be begun in January, 1825. The arches that +had sunken, or threatened to do so, were strengthened; the ancient +sculptured decorations were restored; the windows were completed; +the fallen statues were raised. It was claimed that even the holy +ampulla had been found, that miraculous oil, believed, according +to the royal superstitions of former ages, to have been brought +from heaven by a dove for the anointing of crowned heads. The +Revolution thought that it had destroyed this relic forever. The +6th of October, 1793, a commissioner of the Convention, the +representative of the people, Ruhl, had, in fact, publicly broken +it on the pedestal of the statue of Louis XV. But it was related +that faithful hands had succeeded in gathering some fragments of +the phial as well as some particles of the balm contained in it. +The 25th of January, 1819, the Abbe Seraine, who in 1793 was cure +of Saint-Remi of Rheims, made the following declaration:-- + +"The 17th of October, 1793, M. Hourelle, then municipal officer +and first warden of the parish of Saint-Remi, came to me and +notified me, from the representative of the people, Ruhl, of the +order to remit the reliquary containing the holy ampulla, to be +broken. We resolved, M. Hourelle and I, since we could do no +better, to take from the holy ampulla the greater part of the balm +contained in it. We went to the Church of Saint-Remi; I withdrew +the reliquary from the tomb of the saint, and bore it to the +sacristy, where I opened it with the aid of small iron pincers. I +found placed in the stomach of a dove of gold and gilded silver, +covered with white enamel, having the beak and claws in red, the +wings spread, a little phial of glass of reddish color about an +inch and a half high corked with a piece of crimson damask. I +examined this phial attentively in the light, and I perceived a +great number of marks of a needle on the sides; then I took from a +crimson velvet bag, embroidered with fleurs-de-lis in gold, the +needle used at the time of the consecration of our kings, to +extract the particles of balm, dried and clinging to the glass. I +detached as many as possible, of which I took the larger part, and +remitted the smaller to M. Hourelle." + +The particles thus preserved were given into the hands of the +Archbishop of Rheims, who gathered them in a new reliquary. + +Sunday, the 22d of May, 1825, the day of the feast of the +Pentecost, the Archbishop of Rheims assembled in a chapel of that +city the metropolitan clergy, the principal authorities, and the +persons who had contributed to the preservation of the particles +of the precious relic, in order to proceed, in their presence, to +the transfusion of those particles into the holy chrism, to be +enclosed in a new phial. A circumtantial report of this ceremony +was prepared in duplicate. + +"Thus," said the Moniteur, May 26, "there remains no doubt that +the holy oil that will flow on the forehead of Charles X. in the +solemnity of his consecration, is the same as that which, since +Clovis, has consecrated the French monarchs." + +The day of the consecration approached. The Mayor of Rheims, M. +Ruinard de Brimont, had not a moment's rest. At the consecration +of Louis XV., about four hundred lodgings had been marked with +chalk. For that of Charles X. there were sixteen hundred, and +those who placed them at the service of the administration asked +no compensation. The 19th of May was begun the placing of the +exterior decorations on the wooden porch erected in front of the +door of the basilica. It harmonized so completely with the plan of +the edifice that "at thirty toises," it seemed a part of the +edifice. The centrings and the interior portieres of this porch +presented to the view a canopy sown with fleurs-de-lis in the +midst of which stood out the royal cipher and the crown of France, +modelled in antique fashion. These decorations were continued from +the portal along the beautiful gallery that led to the palace. The +palace itself, whose apartments had been adorned and furnished +with royal magnificence, was entered by a very elegant porch. The +grand feasting-hall, with its Gothic architecture, its colored +glass, its high chimney-piece covered with escutcheons and +surmounted by a statue of Saint-Remi, its portraits of all the +kings of France, was resplendent. Three tables were to be set in +the royal feasting-hall,--that of the King, that of the +Dauphiness, and that of the Duchess of Berry. A gallery enclosed +in glass, where there was a table of one hundred and thirty +covers, had been built as by enchantment. On leaving the feasting- +hall, one entered the covered gallery, which, by a gentle incline, +led to the Cathedral. This gallery was formed of twenty-four +arcades of fifteen feet each, and joined at right angles the porch +erected before the portal. By this arrangement the King could +proceed on a level from his apartment to the Cathedral. + +In the middle of the nave was erected a magnificent jube, where +the throne of Charles X. was placed. The cornice of the Corinthian +order was supported by twenty columns. At the four corners there +were gilded angels. The summit was surmounted by a statue of +Religion and an angel bearing the royal crown. This jube, +glittering with gold, was placed about one hundred and fifty feet +from the portal. There was a passage under it to reach the choir, +and the ascent to it was by a staircase of thirty steps. As it was +open, the King upon his throne could be seen from all parts of the +basilica. At the end of the choir, to the right on entering, was +the gallery of the Dauphiness and the Duchess of Berry; to the +left, opposite, was that of the princes and princesses of the +blood; lower, toward the jube, and also on the left, that of the +ambassadors and strangers of distinction; by the side of the jube, +the gallery of the first gentlemen of the chamber of the King. +There were, moreover, two rows of galleries on each side of the +nave. The sanctuary was beaming with gold. The pillars, surrounded +with wainscoting, were covered with rich Gothic ornaments. Above +each of the galleries was a portrait of a king of France seated on +his throne; still higher, portraits of bishops and statues of the +cities of France in niches. At the back, a platform had been +constructed for the musicians of the Chapel of the King. The choir +and the sanctuary were to be lighted by thirty-four grand +chandeliers, besides the candelabra attached to each pillar. + +Some days before the coronation, which excited the curiosity of +all Europe, the city of Rheims was filled with a crowd of +tourists. The streets and promenades of the city, usually so +quiet, presented an extraordinary animation. There had been +constructed a bazaar, tents, cafes, places for public games, and +at the gates of the city there was a camp of ten thousand men. To +visit this camp was a favorite excursion for the people and for +strangers. The soldiers assembled each evening before their tents +and sang hymns to the sovereign and the glory of the French arms. +In the evening of the 22d of May, these military choruses were +closed by the serment francais, sung by all voices. At the words +"Let us swear to be faithful to Charles!" all heads were +uncovered, and the soldiers waving their helmets and shakos in the +air, cried over and again, "Long live the King!" + +On May 24th, the King left Paris with the Dauphin. Before going to +Rheims he stopped at the Chateau of Compiegne, where he remained +until the 27th, amid receptions and fetes and hunts. + +M. de Chateaubriand was already at Rheims. He wrote on May 26:-- + +"The King arrives day after to-morrow. He will be crowned Sunday, +the 29th. I shall see him place upon his head a crown that no one +dreamed of when I raised my voice in 1814. I write this page of my +Memoirs in the room where I am forgotten amid the noise. This +morning I visited Saint-Remi and the Cathedral decorated in +colored paper. The only clear idea that I can have of this last +edifice is from the decorations of the Jeanne d'Arc of Schiller, +played at Berlin. The opera-scene painters showed me on the banks +of the Spree, what the opera-scene painters on the banks of the +Vesle hide from me. But I amused myself with the old races, from +Clovis with his Franks and his legion come down from heaven, to +Charles VII. with Jeanne d'Arc." + +The writer, who some weeks earlier had expressed himself in terms +so dithyrambic as to the consecration, now wrote as follows of +this religious and monarchical solemnity:-- + +"Under what happy auspices did Louis XVI. ascend the throne! How +popular he was, succeeding to Louis XV.! And yet what did he +become? The present coronation will be the representation of a +coronation. It will not be one; we shall see the Marshal Moncey, +an actor at that of Napoleon, the Marshal who formerly celebrated +the death of the tyrant Louis XVI. in his army, brandish the royal +sword at Rheims in his rank as Count of Flanders or Duke of +Aquitaine. To whom can this parade really convey any illusion? I +should have wished no pomp to-day; the King on horseback, the +church bare, adorned only with its ancient arches and tombs; the +two Chambers present, the oath of fidelity to the Charter taken +aloud on the Bible. This would have been the renewal of the +monarchy; they might have begun it over again with liberty and +religion. Unfortunately there was little love of liberty, even if +they had had at least a taste for glory." + +This is not all; the curious royalist, as if disabused as to +Bourbon glories, so extolled by him, glorifies, apropos of the +coronation of Charles X., the Napoleon whom in 1814 he called +disdainfully "Buonaparte," loading him with the most cutting +insults:-- + +"After all, did not the new coronation, when the Pope anointed a +man as great as the chief of the second race, by a change of heads +alter the effect of the ancient ceremony of our history? The +people have been led to think that a pious rite does not dedicate +any one to the throne, or else renders indifferent the choice of +the brow to be touched by the holy oil. The supernumeraries at +Notre-Dame de Paris, playing also in the Cathedral of Rheims, are +no longer anything but the obligatory personages of a stage that +has become common. The advantage really is with Napoleon, who +furnishes his figurants to Charles X. The figure of the Emperor +thenceforth dominates all. It appears in the background of events +and ideas. The leaflets of the good time to which we have attained +shrivel at the glance of his eagles." + +Charles X. left Compiegne the 27th of May in the morning, and +slept at Fismes. The next day, the 28th, he had just quitted this +town and was descending a steep hill, when several batteries of +the royal guard fired a salute at his departure; the horses, +frightened, took flight. Thanks to the skill of the postilion, +there was no accident to the King; but a carriage of his suite, in +which were the Duke of Aumont, the Count de Cosse, the Duke of +Damas, and the Count Curial, was overturned and broken, and the +last two wounded. At noon Charles X. arrived at a league and a +half from Rheims, at the village of Tinqueux, where he was awaited +by the Dukes of Orleans and Bourbon, the officers of his civil and +military household, the authorities of Rheims, the legion of the +mounted National Guard of Paris, etc. He entered the gold +carriage,--termed the coronation carriage,--where the Dauphin and +the Dukes of Orleans and Bourbon took their places beside him. The +cortege then took up its march. From Tinqueux to Rheims, the royal +coach, gleaming with gold, passed under a long arcade of triumphal +arches adorned with streamers and foliage. From the gates of the +city to the Cathedral, flowers strewed the sand that covered the +ground. All the houses were hung with carpets and garlands; at all +the windows, from all the balconies, from all the roofs, +innumerable spectators shouted their acclamations; the cortege +advanced to the sound of all the bells of the city, and to the +noise of a salvo of artillery of one hundred and one guns. The +King was received under a dais at the door of the metropolitan +church, by the Archbishop of Rheims in his pontifical robes, and +accompanied by his suffragans, the Bishops of Soissons, Beauvais, +Chalons, and Amiens. The Archbishop presented the holy water to +the sovereign, who knelt, kissed the Gospels, then was escorted +processionally into the sanctuary. His prie-dieu was placed at +fifteen feet from the altar, on a platform, about which was a +magnificent canopy hung from the ceiling of the Cathedral. + +The Dauphiness had entered her gallery with the Duchess of Berry +and the princesses of the blood. The Archbishop celebrated the +vespers, and then the Cardinal de La Fare ascended the pulpit and +delivered a sermon in which he said:-- + +"God of Clovis, if there is here below a spectacle capable of +interesting Thy infinite Majesty, would it not be that which in +this solemnity fixes universal attention and invites and unites +all prayers? These days of saintly privilege, in which the hero of +Tolbiac, and thirteen centuries after him, the sixty-fifth of his +successors have come to the same temple to receive the same +consecration, can they be confounded with the multitude of human +events, to be buried and lost in the endless annals? To what, O +great God! if not to the persistence of Thy immutable decrees, can +we attribute, on this earth, always so changing and mobile, the +supernatural gift of this miraculous duration?" + +The Cardinal covered with praises not only the King, but the +Dauphin, the Dauphiness, the Duchess of Berry, the Duke of +Bordeaux. He cried:-- + +"Constantly happy as King, may Charles X. be constantly happy as +father! + +"May his paternal glances always see about him, shining with a +brilliancy that nothing can change, this family so precious, the +ornament of his court, the charm of his life, the future of +France! + +"This illustrious Dauphin, the terror of the genius of evil, the +swift avenger of the majesty of kings, conquering hero and peace- +maker! + +"This magnanimous Princess, the living image of celestial charity, +the visible Providence of the unfortunate, the model of heroism as +of virtue! + +"This admirable mother of the Child of Miracle, who restored hope +to the dismayed nation, astonished it by her courage and +captivates it by her goodness! + +"This tender scion of the first branch of the lilies, the object, +before his birth, of so many desires, and now of so many hopes." + +The Prince of the Church, amid general emotion, thus closed his +discourse:-- + +"May it be, O Lord! thy protecting will, that if the excess of +ills has surpassed our presentiments and our fear, the reality of +good may, in its turn, surpass our hopes and our desires. + +"Condescend that the lasting succor of Thy grace may guide in an +unbroken progress of prosperity and lead to happiness without +vicissitude or end, our King, Thy adorer, and his people, who, +under his laws, shall be more than ever religious and faithful." + +After the sermon, the Archbishop celebrated the Te Deum, to which +Charles X. listened standing. Then after having kissed the altar +and a reliquary in which was a piece of the true cross, the +sovereign returned to his apartments in the Archbishop's palace. + +Thus passed the eve of the consecration. The same day M. de +Chateaubriand wrote:-- + +"Rheims, Saturday, the eve of the consecration. I saw the King +enter. I saw pass the gilded coaches of the monarch who, a little +while ago, had not a horse to mount; I saw rolling by, carriages +full of courtiers who had not known how to defend their master. +This herd went to the church to sing the Te Deum, and I went to +visit a Roman ruin, and to walk alone in an elm grove called the +Bois d'Amour. I heard from afar the jubilation of the bells; I +contemplated the towers of the Cathedral, secular witnesses of +this ceremony always the same and yet so different in history, +time, ideas, morals, usages, and customs. The monarchy perished, +and for a long time the Cathedral was changed to a stable. Does +Charles X., when he sees it again to-day, recall that he saw Louis +XVI. receive anointment in the same place where he in his turn is +to receive it? Will he believe that a consecration shelters him +from misfortune? There is no longer a hand with virtue enough to +cure the king's evil, no ampulla with holy power sufficient to +render kings inviolable." + +Such was the disposition of the great writer, always content with +himself, discontented with others. The crowd of royalists, far +from showing themselves sceptical and morose, as he was, was about +to attend the ceremony of the morrow in a wholly different mood. +It had long been ready with its enthusiasm, and awaited with +impatience mingled with respect the dawn of the day about to rise. + + + + + +XIV + +THE CORONATION + + +Sunday, the 29th of May, 1825, the city of Rheims presented, even +before sunrise, an extraordinary animation. From four o'clock in +the morning vehicles were circulating in the streets, and an hour +after people with tickets were directing their steps toward the +Cathedral, the men in uniform or court dress, the women in full +dress. The sky was clear and the weather cool. + +Let us listen to an eye-witness, the Count d'Haussonville, the +future member of the French Academy:-- + +"Need I say that the competition had been ardent among women of +the highest rank to obtain access to the galleries of the +Cathedral, which, not having been reserved for the dignitaries, +could receive a small number of happy chosen ones? Such was the +eagerness of this feminine battalion to mount to the assault of +the places whence they could see and be seen, that at six o'clock +in the morning when I presented myself at the Gothic porch built +of wood before the Cathedral, I found them already there and under +arms. They were in court dress, with trains, all wearing, +according to etiquette, uniform coiffures of lace passed through +the hair (what they called barbes), and which fell about their +necks and shoulders, conscientiously decolletes. For a cool May +morning it was rather a light costume; they were shivering with +cold. In vain they showed their tickets, and recited, in order to +gain entrance, their titles and their rank; the grenadier of the +royal guard, charged with maintaining order until the hour of the +opening of the doors, marched unmoved before these pretty beggars, +among whom I remember to have remarked the Countess of Choiseul, +her sister, the Marchioness of Crillon, the Countess of Bourbon- +Bosset, etc. He had his orders from his chief to let no one enter, +and no one did." + +Finally the doors were opened. At a quarter after six all the +galleries were filled. The foreign sovereigns were represented by +especial ambassadors: the King of Spain by the Duke of Villa- +Hermosa, the Emperor of Austria by Prince Esterhazy, the King of +England by the Duke of Northumberland, the Emperor of Russia by +the Prince Wolkonski, the King of Prussia by General de Zastrow. +These various personages were objects of curiosity to the crowd, +as was Sidi-Mahmoud, ambassador of the Bey of Tunis. The rich +toilets and dazzling jewels of the ladies of the court were +admired; all eyes were fixed on the gallery where were the +Dauphiness, the Duchess of Berry, and the Duchess and Mademoiselle +d'Orleans, all four resplendent with diamonds. The spectacle was +magnificent. An array of marvels attracted attention. Behind the +altar the sacred vessels in gold, of antique form, the crown in +diamonds surmounted by the famous stone, the "Regent," the other +attributes of royalty on a cushion of velvet embroidered with +fleurs-de-lis; on the front of the altar the royal mantle, open, +not less than twenty-four feet in length; on the altar of green- +veined marble, superb candelabra in gold; on the centre of the +cross of the church, suspended from the ceiling above the choir +and the prie-dieu of the King, an immense canopy of crimson +velvet, sown with golden fleurs-de-lis; at the back of the choir, +toward the nave, about one hundred and fifty feet from the portal, +the gigantic jube with its staircase of thirty steps; upon this +the throne; all around a swarm of standards, those of the five +companies of the King's body-guard, and the flag of his foot- +guards, borne by the superior officers; on the two sides of the +stairway, ranged en Echelon, the flags and standards of the +regiments of the guard and of the line in camp under the walls of +Rheims; a splendor of light, banishing all regret for the sun, +from candelabra at the entrance of the choir, from chandeliers in +the galleries, from chandeliers full of candles suspended from the +ceiling, from tapers on the columns. + +The Cardinals de Clermont-Tonnerre and de La Fare, preceded by the +metropolitan chapter, came to seek the King in his apartment in +the palace. The Grand Preceptor knocked at the door of the royal +chamber; the Grand Chamberlain said in a loud voice:-- + +"What do you seek?" The Cardinal de Clermont-Tonnerre responded:-- + +"Charles X., whom God has given us for King." + +Then the ushers opened the doors of the chamber. The two cardinals +entered and saluted the sovereign, who rose from his chair, bowed, +and received the holy water. The Cardinal de Clermont-Tonnerre +recited a prayer. The cortege was formed, and in the following +order traversed the great covered gallery which had been built +along the right side of the Cathedral:-- + +The metropolitan chapter; the King's foot-guards; the band; the +heralds-at-arms; the king-at-arms; the aides de ceremonies; the +Grand Master of Ceremonies, Marquis de Dreux-Breze; the four +knights of the Order of the Holy Spirit, who were to carry the +offerings, viz. the Duke de Vauguyon the wine in a golden vase, +the Duke of Rochefoucauld the pain d'argent, the Duke of +Luxembourg the pain d'or, the Duke of Gramont the ewers filled +with silver medals; the King's pages on the flanks; the Marshal +Moncey, Duke of Conegliano, charged with the functions of +constable, holding in his hand his naked sword; the Duke of +Mortemart, captain-colonel of the foot-guards in ordinary to the +King; the Marshal Victor Duke of Bellune, major-general of the +royal guard; the Marshal Marquis de Lauriston, the Count de Cosse, +and the Duke de Polignac, named by the King to bear his train in +the church; then, with his two attendant cardinals, de Clermont- +Tonnerre and de La Fare, one at his right, the other at his left, +the King. + +There was a movement of curiosity, attention, and respect. Charles +X. had entered the Cathedral. The moment his foot crossed the +threshold, Cardinal de La Fare pronounced a prayer:-- + +"O God, who knowest that the human race cannot subsist by its own +virtue, grant Thy succor to Charles, Thy servant, whom Thou hast +put at the head of Thy people, that he may himself succor and +protect those subject to him." + +Here, then, is Charles X. in that basilica where fifty years +before, Sunday, June 11, 1775, he assisted at the coronation of +his brother Louis XVI. Then he was seventeen. Ah! what would have +been his surprise had it been foretold to him by what strange and +horrible series of gloomy and bloody dramas he should himself come +to be crowned in this Cathedral of Rheims! What a contrast between +the religious pomps of June 11, 1775, and the sacrilegious +scaffolds of January 21 and October 16, 1793! What a difference +between the royal mantle of the sovereign and the humble costume +of the captive of the Temple, between the resplendent toilet of +the Queen of France and Navarre and the patched gown of the +prisoner of the Conciergerie! What a road travelled between the +hosannas of the priests and the insults of the Furies of the +Guillotine! What reflections might one make who had been present +at both the ceremonies! How much must such an one have been moved +were he the King himself, the brother of Louis XVI., Charles X.! +But the 29th of May, 1825, all hearts inclined to confidence and +joy. Peoples forget quickly, and there were but few to call up +sinister memories. The sovereign appeared in his first costume, a +camisole of white satin, with a cap rich with diamonds, surmounted +by black and white plumes. Despite his sixty-seven years, Charles +X. had a fine presence, a slender form, a manner almost youthful. +State costumes became him perfectly. He wore them with the +elegance of the men of the old court. + +Let us listen again to Count d'Haussonville:-- + +"At the moment Charles X. crossed the nave, clad in a gown of +white satin, opened over a doublet of the same color and the same +material, a general thrill evoked a thousand little cries of +ecstasy from my lady neighbors. With that sensitiveness to grace +innate with women, and which never fails to delight them, how +could they help applauding the royal and supremely elegant fashion +in which Charles X., despite his age, wore this strange and +slightly theatrical costume? No one was better adapted than he, in +default of more solid qualities, to give a becoming air to the +outward manifestations of a royalty that was at once amiable and +dignified." + +It is half-past seven in the morning. The ceremony begins. +Escorted by his two attendant cardinals, the King reaches the foot +of the altar and kneels. Mgr. de Latil, Archbishop of Rheims, +standing and without his mitre, pronounces this prayer:-- + +"Almighty God, who rulest all above us, and who hast deigned to +raise to the throne Thy servant Charles, we implore Thee to +preserve him from all adversity, to strengthen him with the gift +of the peace of the Church, and to bring him by Thy grace to the +joys of a peace eternal!" + +The King is now escorted by the two cardinals to the seat prepared +for him in the centre of the sanctuary, under the great dais, a +little in advance of the first of the steps that divide the +sanctuary from the choir. At his right are the Dauphin, the Duke +of Orleans, and the Duke of Bourbon, their ducal crowns on their +heads. + +The Veni Creator having been sung, the Archbishop takes the book +of the Gospels, on which he places a piece of the true cross, and +holds it open before the monarch. Charles X., seated, his head +covered, his hand on the Gospels and the true cross, pronounces in +a strong voice the oath of coronation:-- + +"In the presence of God, I promise to my people to maintain and +honor our holy religion, as belongs to the very Christian King and +eldest son of the Church; to render good justice to all my +subjects; finally, to govern according to the laws of the kingdom +and the Constitutional Charter, which I swear faithfully to +observe, so help me God and His holy Gospels." + +The King next takes two other oaths, the first as sovereign chief +and grand master of the Order of the Holy Spirit, the others as +sovereign chief and grand master of the military and royal Order +of Saint Louis and of the royal Order of the Legion of Honor. He +swears to maintain these orders and not to allow them to fail of +their glorious prerogatives. Then his gown is removed by the First +Gentleman of the Chamber, and he gives his cap to the First +Chamberlain. He now bears only the robe of red satin with gold +lace on the seams. He is seated. The Marquis of Dreux-Breze, Grand +Master of Ceremonies, goes to the altar and takes the shoes of +violet velvet sown with golden fleurs-de-lis, and Prince +Talleyrand, Grand Chamberlain, puts them on the feet of the King. + +Then the Archbishop blesses the sword of Charlemagne, placed on +the altar in its scabbard:-- + +"Exaudi Domine," he says, "grant our prayers, and deign to bless +with Thy hand this sword with which Thy servant Charles is girt, +that he may use it to protect the churches, the widows, and the +orphans, and all Thy servants; and may this sword inspire dread +and terror to whoever shall dare to lay snares for our King. We +ask it through our Lord Jesus Christ." + +The Archbishop draws the sword from the sheath, and places it +naked in the hands of the King, who, having lowered it, offers it +to God and replaces it upon the altar. + +To the ceremony of the sword succeeds the preparation of the holy +chrism. The Archbishop has the reliquary opened containing the +holy ampulla, which is taken from a little chest of gold; he +withdraws from it, by means of a golden needle, a particle which +he mingles with the holy chrism on the patin. Meanwhile the choir +chants:-- + +"The holy Bishop Remi, having received from Heaven this precious +balm, sanctified the illustrious race of the French in the +baptismal waters and enriched them with the gift of the Holy +Spirit." + +Then the two attendant cardinals undo the openings made in the +garments of the King for the anointings, and escort His Majesty to +the altar. A large carpet of velvet with fleurs-de-lis is +stretched in front, and on this are two cushions of velvet, one +over the other. The King prostrates himself, his face against the +cushions. The Archbishop, holding the golden patin of the chalice +of Saint Remi, on which is the sacred unction, takes some upon his +thumb, and consecrates the King, who is kneeling. + +The Archbishop then proceeds to the seven anointings: on the crown +of the head, on the breast, between the shoulders, on the right +shoulder, on the left shoulder, in the bend of the right arm, in +the bend of the left arm, making the sign of the cross at each, +and repeating seven times: ungo te in regem de oleo sanctificato, +in nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti. Aided by the +attendant cardinals, he then closes the openings in the King's +garments. + +The Grand Chamberlain advances, and puts upon His Majesty the +tunic and dalmatica of violet satin sown with fleurs-de-lis in +gold, which the Master of Ceremonies and an aide have taken from +the altar. The Grand Chamberlain places over these the royal +mantle of violet velvet sown with golden fleurs-de-lis, lined and +bordered with ermine. Charles X., clad in the royal robes, kneels. +The Archbishop, seated, with the mitre on his head, anoints the +palms of his hands, saying: ungentur manus istae de oleo +sanctificato. The King then receives the gloves sprinkled with +holy water, the ring, the sceptre, the Main de Justice. + +The Dauphin, the Duke of Orleans, and the Duke of Bourbon advance. +The Archbishop, mitre on head, takes with both hands from the +altar the crown of Charlemagne and holds it above the King's head +without touching it. Immediately the three princes put out their +hands to support it. The Archbishop, holding it with the left hand +only, with the right makes the sign, of benediction: coronat te +deus corona gloriae atque justitiae. After which he places the +crown on the head of the King, saying: accipe coronam regni in +nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti. + +Now that the King is crowned, he ascends the steps of the jube, +and seats himself upon the throne. The religious silence, +maintained to that moment, is broken by cries of "Long live the +King!" which rise from all parts of the Cathedral. The ladies in +the galleries wave their handkerchiefs. The enthusiasm reaches a +paroxysm. Flourishes of trumpets resound. The people enter the +Cathedral amid acclamations. Three salutes are fired by the +infantry of the royal guard. The artillery responds from the city +ramparts. The bells ring. The heralds-at-arms distribute the +medals struck for the coronation. The people rush to get them. The +keepers release the birds, which fly here and there beneath the +vaulted roof, dazzled, terrified by the shining chandeliers. The +Te Deum is sung. High Mass begins. At the offertory the King +leaves the throne to go to the altar with the offerings. Reaching +the front of the altar, he hands his sceptre to Marshal Soult, +Duke of Dalmatia, the Main de Justice to Marshal Mortier, Duke of +Treviso. Then, after having presented in succession the +offerings,--viz. the wine in a vase of gold, the Pain d'Argent, +the Pain d'Or,--he resumes his sceptre and his Main de Justice and +returns to the throne. + +After the benediction, the Grand Almoner goes and takes the kiss +of peace from the Archbishop, and then goes and gives it to the +King. The Dauphin, the Duke of Orleans, and the Duke of Bourbon, +laying aside their ducal crowns, come and receive the kiss from +the King. + +After the domine salvum fac regem Charles X. again descends from +the throne, and returns to the altar. There he removes his crown +and retires behind the altar to his confessional, where he remains +three minutes. During this time the holy table is prepared. The +cloth is held on one side by the Bishop of Hermopolis, First +Almoner of the King, and on the other by the Grand Almoner. +Charles X. kneels on a cushion before the holy table, which is +supported by the Dauphin and the Duke of Orleans. The King +receives the communion in both kinds. The whole assembly kneels. +The great crown of Charlemagne is handed to Marshal Jourdan, who +bears it in front of the King. The Archbishop then places the +diamond crown on the King's head, who resumes his sceptre and his +Main de Justice, while the choir chants the exaudiat, and returns +with his cortege to the Archbishop's palace, passing through the +church and the covered gallery. It is half-past eleven in the +morning. The ceremony of consecration is finished. It has lasted +four hours. + +Reaching his apartments, Charles X. passes the sceptre to Marshal +Soult, the Main de Justice to Marshal Mortier. The shirt and the +gloves touched by the holy unction must be burned. The great +officers of the crown then escort the monarch to the royal banquet +in the great hall. There he eats under a dais with the Dauphin, +the Duke of Orleans, and the Duke of Bourbon, with their ducal +crowns, and he with the diamond crown upon the head. + +The royal insignia have been placed upon the table which is served +by the great officers and the officers of the household. The +marshals of France stand before the sovereign ready to resume the +insignia. Around about are five other tables, where are placed the +members of the diplomatic corps, the peers of France, the +deputies, the cardinals, archbishops, and bishops. The royal +banquet lasts half an hour to the sound of military music. In the +evening the city of Rheims is everywhere illuminated. + + + + + +XV + +CLOSE OF THE SOJOURN AT RHEIMS + + +After his coronation Charles X. remained at Rheims during the 30th +and 3lst of May. On the 30th the ceremony of the Order of the Holy +Spirit was celebrated in the Cathedral. The interior presented the +same aspect as the day before. At 1 P.M. the order passed in +procession through the covered gallery as follows: the usher, the +herald, Marquis d'Aguessau, Grand Master of Ceremonies of the +order, having at his right the Count Deseze, Commander Grand +Treasurer, at his left Marquis de Villedeuil, Commander Secretary, +the Chancellor, two columns of Knights of the Holy Spirit. In the +right hand column, the Viscount of Chateaubriand, the Duke of San- +Carlos, the Prince of Castelcicala, the Viscount Laine, the +Marquis of Caraman, the Marquis Dessole, Marshal Marquis of +Viomesnil, the Duke d'Avaray, the Marshal Duke of Ragusa, the +Marshal Duke of Taranto, the Marshal Duke of Conegliano, the Duke +of LEvis, the Duke of Duras, the Duke d'Aumont, the Duke of +Luxembourg, the Prince of Hohenlohe, the Duke de La Vauguyon. In +the left column, the Marquis of Talaru, the Duke of Doudeauville, +the Count of Villele, the Marshal Marquis of Lauriston, the Count +Charles de Damas, the Baron Pasquier, the Duke of Blacas d'Aulps, +the Marquis of Riviere, the Marshal Duke of Reggio, the Duke of +Dalberg, the Prince de Poix, the Duke de Gramont, Prince +Talleyrand, the Duke de La Rochefoucauld. Then came the Dauphin, +the Duke of Orleans, the Duke of Bourbon, the King. + +The vestments of the monarch, of a silver stuff, were covered by a +mantle of the order in black velvet, lined with green silk +stitched with gold. His headdress was also in black velvet, +surmounted by an aigrette of heron plumes. The knights of the +order had their mantles with the Holy Spirit in silver spangles on +the shoulder; the grand collar, the facings of their mantles, +caught up in front, were of green velvet sown with gold flames. +They made their entry into the Cathedral in two columns, which +deployed on either side of the altar. The King, who followed them, +seated himself on a throne in the choir and they arranged +themselves in their stalls to the right and left. The princesses +occupied the same gallery as the day before. The clergy chanted +the vespers. Then the two columns formed in a double rank and the +ceremony commenced. There was a long series of obeisances. The +King made twenty himself, eleven before vespers, nine after. The +reception began with the ecclesiastical commanders and the laymen +came afterwards. + +The solemnity was less imposing than that of the coronation. Count +d'Haussonville remarked it: "The military array of so many +marshals and generals clad in brilliant uniforms, the pomp of the +ceremonies to the slow and majestic sound of the organ filling the +vast nave of the church, had succeeded, the preceding day, in +redeeming for the spectators, and for me particularly, whatever +was a little superannuated in the minute observance of a ritual +that had come down from the Middle Ages. I felt myself, on the +contrary, rather surprised than edified by the character, partly +religious, partly worldly, but far more worldly than religious, +that I witnessed on the morrow. Most of these gentlemen were known +to me. I had met nearly all of them in my mother's or +grandmother's salon. I had not been insensible to the fine air +given them by the cordon bleu (worn under the frock coat, usually, +or on great occasions over a coat covered with gold lace and +shining decorations), the traditional object of ambition for those +most in favor at court; but they seemed to me to present a +constrained figure, as I saw them soberly ranged in the stalls of +the canons, clad in a costume of no particular epoch, wrapped in +long mantles of motley color, and following, with a distracted +air, the phases of a ceremony to which they were so little +accustomed that they were constantly rising, sitting down, and +kneeling at the wrong time." + +The receptions took place as follows: the herald-at-arms of the +order called in groups of four the new members from each column, +and escorted them to the middle of the sanctuary. There the four +knights, abreast, saluted together, first the altar, then the +sovereign. Then they advanced in line toward the throne, and after +a second obeisance, knelt, placed the right hand on the book of +the Gospels spread out on the knees of the monarch, and took the +oath. The King decorated each with his own hand. He passed over +their coats, from right to left, the cordon bleu with the cross of +gold suspended from it, placed the collar on the mantle, gave a +book of hours and a decastich to each one, who kissed his hand, +rose, and returned to his place. + +By a curious coincidence, M. de Chateaubriand and M. de Villele, +two inveterate adversaries, were one in the column on the right, +the other in that on the left, and the herald-at-arms of the order +called both at once to the foot of the throne. Listen to the +author of the Memoires d'Outre--Tombe:-- + +"I found myself kneeling at the feet of the King at the moment +that M. de Villdle was taking the oath. I exchanged a few words of +politeness with my companion in knighthood, apropos of a plume +detached from my hat. We quitted the knees of the King, and all +was finished. The King, having had some trouble in removing his +gloves to take my hands in his, had said to me, laughing, 'A +gloved cat catches no mice.' It was thought that he had spoken to +me for a long time, and the rumor spread of my nascent favor. It +is likely that Charles X., thinking that the Archbishop had told +me of his favorable sentiments, expected a word of thanks and that +he was shocked at my silence." + +The ceremony of the reception of the knights once finished, the +King quitted his throne in the sanctuary, after having made the +required obeisances. The completory was next sung. Then all the +members of the order re-escorted the monarch to his apartments in +the same order and with the same ceremony that he had been +escorted to the Cathedral. + +After the ceremony, Charles X. held a chapter of the order, in +which he named twenty-one cordons bleus: the Dukes d'Uzes, de +Chevreuse, de Boissac, de Mortemart, de Fitz-James, de Lorges, de +Polignac, de Maille, de Castries, de Narbonne, the Marshal Count +Jordan, the Marshal Duke of Dalmatia, the Marshal Duke of Treviso, +the Marquis de la Suze, the Marquis de Bre'ze', Marquis de +Pastoret, Count de La Ferronays, Viscount d'Agoult, Marquis +d'Autichamp, Ravez, Count Juste de Noailles. By an ordinance of +the same day he named to be Dukes, the Count Charles de Damas, +Count d'Escars, and the Marquis de Riviere. + +The next day, May 31, the King after having heard Mass in his +apartments,--left the palace at ten o'clock with a brilliant +cortege. Preceded by the hussars of the guard, and by the pages, +and followed by a numerous staff, he was in the uniform of a +general officer, on a white horse, whose saddle of scarlet velvet +was ornamented with embroideries and fringe of gold. He had at his +right the Dauphin on a white horse, and the Duke of Bourbon on a +bay horse; at his left the Duke of Orleans, who wore the uniform +of a colonel-general of hussars, and rode an iron-gray horse. +Following the cortege was an open carriage; at the back the +Dauphiness with the Duchess of Berry at her left, and in front the +Duchess of Orleans and Madame of Orleans, her sister-in-law. The +route lay through an immense crowd to the Hospital of Saint +Marcoul. When he arrived there, the King dismounted and offered up +a prayer in the chapel. Then he ascended to the halls, where were +assembled one hundred and twenty-one scrofulous patients. He +touched them, making a cross with his finger on the brow, while +the first physician held the head and the captain of the guard the +hand. The King said to each: "May God heal thee! The King touches +thee!" Then he thanked the sisters who had charge of the hospital +for all the care they gave to the solacing of suffering humanity. +The pious sisters knelt at the feet of the sovereign, and begged +his benediction, according to an ancient custom. The King gave it +to them, and allowed them to kiss his hand. The holy women wept +with joy. + +Charles X., followed by his cortege, next proceeded to the abbey +of Saint Remi, which dates from the eleventh century, and +performed his devotions on the tomb of the saint whose shrine had +been discovered. Then he remounted and went to review the troops +of the camp of Saint Leonard, under the walls of the city, in a +vast plain, along the river Vesle, on the right of the road to +Chalons. In the midst of this plain rises a grassy hillock, above +which was placed the portrait of the King; below, on a background +of soil, was this inscription in bluets and marguerites,-- + + "A moment in the camp--always in our hearts." + +Not far from there an altar had been erected under a tent before +the royal tent. All the road from Chalons, opposite the lines, was +covered with a shouting and cheering crowd. Charles X. was +accompanied by the princes and a brilliant staff. The carriage of +the princesses followed him. He distributed to the officers, sub- +officers, and soldiers the crosses of the Legion of Honor which he +had accorded to them. The review, which was magnificent, lasted +from noon to 3 P.M. Before returning to the palace, the sovereign +visited the bazaar established along the promenade of the lawn. He +dismounted, and the princesses descended from their carriage to +traverse the shops. + +At five o'clock the cortege, which had set out at 10 A.M., +returned to the palace. On each of the four nights that Charles X. +passed at Rheims, the streets of the city were illuminated. It was +clear weather, and by the light of the illuminations, amid the +crowd in the streets, there were everywhere to be seen the +generals, the officers of the King's household, and the great +personages of the court in grand uniform. Charles X. set out from +Rheims the morning of June 1, and the city, after some days of +dazzling pomp, resumed its accustomed calm. Things had passed off +well, and the monarch was fully satisfied. + +The poets had tuned their lyres. Barthelemy, himself, the future +author of the Nemesis, celebrated in enthusiastic verses the +monarchical and religious solemnity; Lamartine, future founder of +the Second Republic, published Le Chant du Sucre ou la Veille des +Armes; Victor Hugo, the future idol of the democracy, sang his +dithyrambic songs. Yet, in this concert of enthusiasm there were +some discordant notes. Beranger circulated his ironic song Le +Sacre de Charles le Simple. + +As for Chateaubriand, the most illustrious of the royalist +writers, he was to close his chapter of the MSmoires d'outre-tombe +as follows:-- + +"So I have witnessed the last consecration of the successors of +Clovis. I had brought it about by the pages in which in my +pamphlet, LE ROI EST MART! VIVE LE ROI! I had described it and +solicited it. Not that I had the least faith in the ceremony, but +as everything was wanting to legitimacy, it had to be sustained by +every means, whatever it might be worth." + + + + + +XVI + +THE RE-ENTRANCE INTO PARIS + + +Charles X. made a solemn re-entrance into Paris, June 6, 1825. +According to the Moniteur, Paris was divided between a lively +desire for the day to come and fear that the weather, constantly +rainy, should spoil the splendor of the royal pomp. At the barrier +of La Villette there had been erected amphitheatres and a +triumphal arch. The streets were hung with white flags and the +arms of the sovereign, with the inscription: "Long live Charles +X.! Long live our well-beloved King!" The Rue Saint Denis, the Rue +du Roule, the Rue Saint Honore, presented a picturesque spectacle. +The merchants of these business streets had converted the facades +of their houses into an exposition of the rich tissues of their +shops, and the cortege was thus to traverse a sort of bazaar. What +a pity if the rain was going to spoil so many fine preparations! +By a good luck, on which every one congratulated himself, the +weather in the morning ceased its gloomy look, and a merchant of +the Rue Saint Denis inscribed on his balcony these two celebrated +lines,-- + + "Nocte pluit tota, redeunt spectacula mane, + Divisum imperium cum Jove Caesar habet." + +At 1 P.M. a salvo of one hundred and one guns announced the +arrival of the monarch at the barrier of La Villette. The Prefect +of the Seine addressed him an allocution and presented him the +keys of the city. The King responded: "I feel a great satisfaction +in re-entering these walls. I always recall with lively emotion +the reception given me eleven years ago when I preceded the King, +my brother. I return here, having received the holy unction that +has given me new strength. I consecrate it all, and all that I +have of life and all my resources, to the happiness of France. It +is my firm resolve, gentlemen, and I give you the assurance of +it." + +The cortege then took up its march. It was formed of a squadron of +gendarmerie, several squadrons of the lancers and cuirassiers of +the royal guard, the mounted National Guard of Paris, the staff of +the garrison and of the first military division, a numerous group +of general and superior officers. + +The Count d'Haussonville wrote on the subject:-- + +"I was in the cortege, and as the staff of the National Guard +followed pretty close to the royal carriage, I had occasion to +note how far below what had been hoped was the reception at the +gate of La Villette, where a triumphal arch had been erected. Some +groups, plainly soldiers, after the discourse of the Prefect of +Paris and the response of the King, uttered some huzzas that found +no echo. When we approached the boulevards, the public warmed up a +little. The windows were lined with women, of whom the greater +number waved their handkerchiefs in sign of welcome. Around Notre- +Dame, whither the cortege proceeded on its way to the Tuileries, +the crowd was enormous behind the line of soldiers charged with +restraining it. There was nothing offensive in their remarks; +neither was there any emotion or sympathy. The magnificence of the +equipages and the costumes, the beauty of the military uniforms, +particularly of the CORPS D'ELITE, such as the Hundred Swiss and +the body-guard, were the only things spoken of. The spectators +sought to guess and name to each other the prominent persons." + +During the passage the King received bouquets offered him by the +market men and women, as well as by a number of workmen's +corporations preceded by their banners. At the entrance of the +Cathedral he was congratulated by the Archbishop of Paris at the +head of the clergy. A te Deum was sung and the Marche du Sacre of +Lesueur was played. Then the King returned to his carriage and +directed his course to the Tuileries. + +As the cortege drew near to the Chateau, the welcome grew more and +more cordial. The balconies of many of the houses were draped. +Women of the court, in rich toilet, threw bouquets and flowers to +the King. The Count d'Haussonville says:-- + +"The untiring good grace with which the King returned the +salutations of the crowd, and by gestures full of Bonhomie and +affability, responded to the cries of persons whom he recognized +as he passed, added every moment to his personal success. In fact, +when, June 6, 1825, at evening, he descended from the magnificent +coronation coach, to mount the stairs of the palace of his +fathers, Charles X. had reason to be content with the day. I doubt +whether among the witnesses of the splendid fetes that had +followed without interruption at Rheims and at Paris, there were +many who would not have been strongly surprised if there had been +announced to them by what a catastrophe, in five years only, an +end was to be put to the reign inaugurated under the happiest +auspices." + +The 8th of June, the city of Paris offered to the King a fete at +which there were eight thousand guests. The sovereign made his +entry, having the Dauphiness on his right, and on the left the +Duchess of Berry, who opened the ball. A cantata was sung with +words by Alexandre Soumet, and the music by Lesueur. + +The 10th of June, the King went to the Opera with the Dauphin, the +Dauphiness, and the Duchess of Berry. The back of the stage opened +and showed, in an immense perspective, the most illustrious kings +of France; at the farthest line were the statue of Henry IV., +Paris, its monuments, the Louvre. The 19th of June, Charles X. +again accompanied by the family went to the Theatre-Italien. Il +Viaggio A Reims was played. Le Moniteur, apropos of this work, +said:-- + +"It is an opera of a mould which, under the forms of the Opera +Buffa, presents some ideas not destitute of comedy, in which +homage of love and respect is at times expressed with an art that +French taste cannot disavow. The author, M. Bellochi, has +conceived the praiseworthy idea of introducing personages of all +the nations of Europe, joining with the French in their prayers +for the happiness of our country and of the august family that +governs us. The composer is M. Rossini. The Morceaux are worthy of +the reputation of this celebrated master. Madame Pasta displayed +all the resources of her admirable talent. Bouquets of roses and +lilies were distributed to the ladies." + +There was an endless series of fetes, receptions, balls at court, +at the houses of the ministers of the foreign ambassador, +theatrical representations retracing the incidents of the +coronation. The cities of the provinces imitated the example of +Paris. All this movement stimulated business, and France appeared +happy. But to an acute observer it was plain that the pomps of the +coronation and the fetes that followed it pleased the people of +the court more than the bourgeoisie. The Count d'Haussonville +says, apropos of the nobility at that time:-- + +"I had the feeling--educated as I was at college, and provided +early with a sort of precocious experience, the precious fruit of +public education--that the nobility was a world a little apart. I +instinctively perceived how much the preoccupations of the persons +with whom I was then passing my time were of a nature particular, +special to their class, not opposed--that would be saying too much +certainly--but a little foreign to the great currents that swayed +the opinion of their contemporaries. They had their way of loving +the King and their country which was not very comprehensible, nor +even, perhaps, very acceptable, to the mass of the people and the +bourgeois classes, who were rather inclined to remain cold or even +sullen in the presence of certain manifestations of an ultra- +royalism, the outward signs of which were not always at this time +entirely circumspect." + +To one regarding the horizon attentively there were already some +dark spots on the bright azure of the heavens. The struggles of +the rival classes of French society existed in a latent state. The +white flag had not made the tricolor forgotten. Charles X., +consecrated by an archbishop, did not efface the memory of +Napoleon crowned by a pope, and beneath royalist France were +pressing upward already Bonapartist France and Revolutionary +France. + + + + + +XVII + +THE JUBILEE OF 1826 + + +The dominant quality of Charles X., his piety, was the one that +was to be most used against him. There was in this piety nothing +morose, hypocritical, fanatical, and not an idea of intolerance or +persecution mingled with it. Conviction and feeling united in the +heart of the King to inspire him with profound faith. In 1803, +before the death-bed of a beloved woman, he had sworn to renounce +earthly for divine love, and from that time he had kept his vow. +The woman by whom this conversion was made was the sister-in-law +of the Duchess of Polignac, Louise d'Esparbes, Viscountess of +Polastron. The Duchess of Gontaut recounts in her unpublished +Memoirs the touching and pathetic scene of the supreme adieu of +this charming woman and of Charles X., then Count d'Artois. It was +in England during the Emigration. The Viscountess of Polastron was +dying with consumption, and the approach of the end reawakened in +her all the piety of her childhood. A holy priest, the Abbe de +Latil, demanded the departure of the Prince. "I implore +Monseigneur," he said, "to go into the country; you shall see the +poor penitent again; she herself desires it, having one word to +say to you, one favor to ask, but it cannot be until at the moment +of death." + +The Prince, who, even at the time of his greatest errors, had +never ceased to love and honor religion, obeyed the command of the +priest. He awaited in cruel anguish the hour when he should be +permitted to return. It was authorized only when death was very +near. The Duchess of Gontaut says:-- + +"The doors of the salon were opened. Monsieur dared not approach; +I was near the dying woman and held her hand; it was trembling. +She perceived Monsieur. He was about to rush toward her. 'Come no +nearer,' said the Abbe, in a firm voice. Monsieur did not venture +to cross the threshold. The agitation redoubled; the agony +increased. She raised her hands to heaven, and said:-- + +"'One favor, Monseigneur, one favor--live for God, all for God.' + +"He fell upon his knees, and said: 'I swear it, God!' She said +again, 'All for God!' Her head fell on my shoulder; this last word +was her last breath: she was no more. Monsieur raised his arms to +heaven, uttered a horrible cry: the door was closed." + +The Count d'Artois was then but forty-five, but from that day he +never gave occasion for the least scandal, and led an exemplary +life. As Louis XIV. had held in profound esteem the courageous +prelates who adjured him to break with his mistresses, Charles X. +was attached to the truly Christian priest who had converted him +by the death-bed of the Viscountess of Polastron. The Abbe de +Latil, the obscure ecclesiastic of the Emigration, became, under +the Restoration, the Archbishop of Rheims and Cardinal. It was not +without profound emotion that the very Christian King saw himself +consecrated by the priest who twenty-two years before had caused +him to return to virtue. This memory was imposed on the mind and +heart of the monarch, and under the vault of the ancient +Cathedral, he certainly thought of Madame de Polastron, as of a +good angel, who, from the height of heaven, watched over him, and +who, by her prayers, had aided him to traverse so many trials, to +reach the religious triumph of the coronation. + +Charles X. was happy then. Profoundly sincere in his ardent desire +to make France happy, he believed himself at one with God and with +his people, and rejoiced in that supreme good, so often wanting to +sovereigns,--peace of heart. Could he be reproached for having +taken the ceremony of his coronation seriously? A king who does +not believe in his royalty is no more to be respected than a +priest who does not believe in his religion. Charles X. was +convinced, as the Archbishop of Rheims had said in his letter of +29th May, 1825, that kings exercise over their subjects the power +of God Himself, and that they have that sacred majesty, upon +which, in the fine expression of Bossuet, God, for the good of +things human, causes to shine a portion of the splendor of divine +majesty. + +This disposition of mind in Charles X. fortified his piety, so +that, at the time of the jubilee of 1826, he seized eagerly the +opportunity to affirm his religious faith, and to return thanks to +the God of his fathers, who at this epoch of his life was loading +him with favors. + +The jubilee is a time of penitence and pardon, when the Pope +accords plenary indulgence to all Catholics who submit to certain +practices and assist at certain pious ceremonies. The grand +jubilee was formerly celebrated only once in a hundred years; +afterwards it took place every fifty, and then every twenty-five +years. 1825 was the time of its first celebration in the +nineteenth century, and it drew to Rome that year more than ten +thousand pilgrims. The Pope had celebrated the close of it the +24th of December, 1825, but yielding to the prayers of several +Catholic powers, he accorded to them, by special bulls, the +privilege of celebrating the same solemnity in 1826. + +The opening of the French jubilee took place February 15, 1826, at +Notre-Dame de Paris. The papal bull, borne on a rich cushion, was +remitted to the Archbishop for public reading. The nuncio chanted +the Veni Creator. Mass was said by the Cardinal, Prince of Croi, +Archbishop of Rouen, Grand Almoner of France. The relics of the +apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul were borne around the Place du +Parvis, in the midst of a cortege, in which were present the +marshals of France, the generals, and the four princesses. The +order of the Archbishop of Paris prescribed four general +processions. The first took place with great pomp the 17th of +March, 1826. The King and the royal family, the princes and +princesses of the blood, all the court, the marshals, a multitude +of high functionaries, peers of France, deputies, officers, +assisted at this ceremony in which appeared the Archbishop of +Paris and his grand vicars, the metropolitan chapter, the pupils +of all the seminaries in surplice, the priests of all the Paris +churches with their sacerdotal armaments. It was a veritable army +of ecclesiastics that traversed the capital. In the midst of the +cortdge, the reliquary containing the relics of Saint Peter and +Saint Paul was the object of the devotion of the faithful. +Surrounded by the Dauphin, the Duke of Orleans, the young Duke of +Chartres, the great officers of the crown, of the Hundred Swiss, +and of the body-guard, Charles X., in a costume half religious, +half military, walked between a double hedge formed by the royal +guard and the troops of the line. The Place du Parvis-Notre-Dame +was hung with draperies in fleur-de-lis, and all the streets to be +traversed by the procession had been draped and sanded. The first +stop of the cortege was under the peristyle of the Hotel-Dieu, +where an altar had been erected; the second, at the Church of the +Sorbonne; the third, at that of Sainte Genevieve. The two other +processions had no less eclat, and their pauses being fixed in the +churches of the principal parishes, they passed through the +busiest and most populous quarters of Paris. + +The fourth and last procession, that of the 3d of May, was the +most important of all. It was to close by an expiatory ceremony in +honor of Louis XVI., by the laying and benediction of the corner- +stone of the monument voted by the Chamber of 1815, and which +still awaited its foundation. It is at the very place where the +unfortunate sovereign had been executed that the monument was to +be constructed. The cortege left Notre-Dame and directed its +course first to the Church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois. The +Chamber of Peers, the Chamber of Deputies, all the functionaries, +all the authorities of the Department of the Seine, followed the +King and Dauphin, who advanced, accompanied by the ministers, the +marshals, the officers of their houses, cordons bleus, cordons +rouges. Never since the end of the old regime had such a multitude +of priests been seen defiling through the streets of Paris. The +pupils of all the seminaries, the almoners of all the colleges, +the priests of all the parishes and all the chapels, stretched out +in an endless double line, at the end of which appeared the Nuncio +of the Pope, Cardinals de Latil, de Croi, and de La Fare, the +Archbishop of Paris, and a crowd of prelates. After the station of +Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, there was a second at Saint-Roch, then +a third and last at the Assumption. When the special prayers of +the close of the jubilee had been said at this last parish, the +immense cortege resumed its march to the place where Louis XVI. +had brought his head to the sacrilegious scaffold. The day chosen +for the expiatory solemnity was the 3d of May, the anniversary of +the return of Louis XVIII. to Paris in 1814, and then a political +idea was connected with the religious ceremony. A vast pavilion +surmounted by a cross hung with draperies in violet velvet, and +enclosing an altar, which was reached on four sides by four +stairways of ten steps each, occupied the very place where, the +10th of January, 1793, the scaffold of the Martyr-King had been +erected, in the middle of the Place called successively the Place +Louis XV. and the Place de La Concorde, and which was thenceforth +to be called the Place Louis XVI. + +The account in the MONITEUR says:-- + +"A first salvo of artillery announced the arrival of the +procession. It presented as imposing a tableau as could be +contemplated. This old French nation--the heir of its sixty kings +at the head--marched, preceded by the gifts made by Charlemagne to +the Church of Paris, and the religious trophies that Saint Louis +brought from the holy places. The priests ascend to the altar. +Three times in succession they raise to heaven the cry for pardon +and pity. All the spectators fall upon their knees. A profound, +absolute silence reigns about the altar and over all the Place; a +common sorrow overwhelms the people; the King's eyes are filled +with tears." + +In this multitude the absence of the Dauphiness, the daughter of +Louis XVI., is remarked. The Orphan of the Temple had made it a +law for herself never to cross the place where her father had +perished. She went to the expiatory chapel of the Rue d'Anjou- +Saint-Honore, to pass in prayer the time of the ceremony. + +M. de Vaulabelle makes this curious comparison:-- + +"Behind Charles X. there knelt his Grand Chamberlain, Prince +Talleyrand, covered with gleaming embroideries, orders, and +cordons. It was the ecclesiastical dignitary whom Paris had beheld +celebrating the Mass of the Federation on the Champ-de-Mars, the +wedded prelate who, as Minister of the Directory, had for some +years observed as a national festival the anniversary of this same +execution, now the subject of so many tears." + +Religious people rejoiced at the ceremony that was celebrated; but +the Voltairians and the enemies of royalty complained bitterly at +the sight of the quays, the streets, the squares of the capital +furrowed by long files of priests, chanting psalms and litanies, +dragging devout in their suite the King, the two Chambers, the +judiciary, the administration, and the army. Yet was it not just +that Charles X. should cause an expiatory ceremony to be +celebrated at the place where his unfortunate brother had been +guillotined? Was not that for a pious sovereign the accomplishment +of a sacred duty? It matters not; there were those who reproached +him with this homage to the most memorable of misfortunes. They +would have forbidden to Charles X. the memory of Louis XVI. Yet a +king could hardly be asked to have the sentiments of a +conventionnel, of a regicide. In their systematic and bitter +opposition, the adversaries of the Restoration imputed to the +royal family as a crime its very virtues and its piety. + +Charles X. was not unaware of this half-expressed hostility. That +evening he wrote to M. Villele, President of the Council of +Ministers:-- + +"In general I have been content with the ceremony and the +appearance of the people; but I wish to know the whole truth, and +I charge you to see M. Delavau, and to know from him if the +reality corresponds to appearances, if there was any talk against +the government and the clergy. I wish to know all, and I trust to +you to leave me in ignorance of nothing." + +M. de Villele was not a flatterer. He responded discreetly, but +without concealing the truth:-- + +"The aspect of the people," he wrote, "permitted the thoughts +agitating its spirit to be recognized. We were following the King +at a slight distance and could judge very well of it. It was easy +to read in all eyes that the people were hurt at seeing the King +humbly following the priests. There was in that not so much +irreligion as jealousy and animosity toward the role played by the +clergy." + +It might have been asked, in these circumstances, whether the +criticisms of the opposition were just. If a ceremony was to be +observed, such, as the laying and blessing the corner-stone of an +expiatory monument, it must be religious. If it were religious, +was not the presence of the clergy in large numbers natural? + +At heart, there was something noble and touching in the thought of +Charles X., and the true royalists sincerely respected it. Prom +the monarchical point of view, a monument to Louis XVI. had much +more raison d'etre than the obelisk since erected in its place, +which represents nothing, and has, moreover, the inconvenience of +obstructing the fine perspective of the Champs Elysees and the +Tuileries. But there were two camps in France, and these +processions, expiations, prayers, which, according to the royalist +journals, opened a new era of sanctity, glory, and virtue, +exasperated the Voltairians. The opposition determined to make of +the King's piety a weapon against royalty. + +And yet, we repeat, this piety had nothing about it not worthy of +respect. As the Abbe Vedrenne remarks in his Vie de Charles X., +this Prince "had a perfect understanding of the duties and +convenances of his rank, never refused his presence at fetes where +it was desirable, never seemed to blame or fear what a sensible +indulgence did not condemn; he loved the charm of society, and +increased it by his kindliness, but he was not dazzled by it. He +remained to the end the most amiable prince in Europe, but he was +also the severest. A surprising thing in a convert, his religion +was always full of true charity for others. He excused those who +neglected their Christian duties, remembering his delay in +practising his own, without ever compromising his own beliefs. He +sincerely respected the good faith of those who did not share +them. This faith, this piety--a legacy from love--which he guarded +so faithfully, was the consolation of his long misfortunes and the +principle of his unchanging serenity. It banished even the idea of +hatred from his heart. Never did any one forgive as he did." + +It must not be forgotten that the pamphleteers and song-writers of +the Restoration, violent, unjust, and even cruel as they were +toward Charles X., never breathed an insinuation against the +purity of his morals. His life was not less exemplary than that of +his son, the Dauphin, or of his niece and daughter-in-law, the +Orphan of the Temple. Despite the great piety of the sovereign, +the court was not melancholy or morose. Charles X. had a +foundation of benevolence and gaiety to his character. He was not +surprised to see committed about him the gentle trespasses of +love, of which he had been himself guilty in youth, and he had +become--the very ideal of wisdom--severe for himself, indulgent +for others. + + + + + +XVIII + +THE DUCHESS OP GONTAUT + + +The Governess of the Children of France was the Viscountess of +Gontaut, who, as a recompense for the manner in which she had +accomplished her task, was made Duchess by Charles X. in 1826. +Here is the opening of her unpublished Memoirs:-- + +"January, 1853. To Madame the Countess and Monsieur the Count +Georges Esterhazy. My dear children, you have shown a desire to +know the events of my long life. Wishing to teach them to your +children, I yield to this amiable and tender purpose, promising +myself, meanwhile, to resist the too common charm of talking +pitilessly about myself. I shall search my memory for souvenirs of +the revolutions I have often witnessed to give interest to my +tales. One writes but ill at eighty, but one may claim indulgence +from hearts to which one is devoted." + +The amiable and intelligent octogenarian had no need of +indulgence. Her Memoirs possess irresistible attraction, grace, +exquisite naturalness, and we are convinced that when they are +published--as they must be sooner or later--they will excite +universal interest. + +Born at Paris in 1773, the Duchess of Gontaut was the daughter of +Count Montault-Navailles and of the Countess, NEE Coulommiers. All +her memories of childhood and early youth were connected with the +old court. She had seen Marie Antoinette in all her splendor, +Versailles when it was most dazzling, and she was, formed in the +elegant manners of that charm ing world whose social prestige was +so great. At seven she was held at the baptismal font by the Count +of Provence (the future Louis XVIII.) and by the wife of this +Prince. + +"I had for this ceremony," she says, "a GRAND HABIT and a GRAND +PANIER. I was so proud of them that I caused much amusement at the +Queen's, whither my mother took me after the baptism. Being +connected with the Duchess of Polignac, she often took me to +Versailles; there I saw Madame Royale, younger than I, and the +poor, little, handsome, delightful Dauphin. The Queen, wishing to +give them a little fete, organized a children's spectacle, in +which I was entrusted with a part. The piece chosen was Iphigenie +en Aulide. Mademoiselle de Sabran and her brother, as well as a +young Strogonoff, were, it is said, perfect actors. Armand de +Polignac had a little part. Tragedy was not my forte. But in the +second piece I achieved a little success, which the Chevalier de +Boufflers was kind enough to celebrate in a very bright couplet, +sung at the close. He gave me the name of the Little White Mouse. +After that the Queen called me her little white mouse, and showed +me a thousand kindnesses. After the play there was a children's +supper; the princes waited on, us and were much diverted by our +enjoyment; Louis XVI. stood behind my chair for a moment, and even +gave me a plate. The Queen sent me home in her sedan chair; +footmen carried great torches; the body-guard presented arms to +us. So much honor would, perhaps, have turned my head, but for my +prudent mother who knew how to calm it." + +The sorrows of exile followed rapidly on the first enchantments of +life. It was in England, during the Emigration, that the future +Governess of the Children of France married M. de Saint-Blanchard, +Viscount de Gontaut-Biron. She was then residing at Epsom, where +she lived on the proceeds of little pictures which she painted. +She gave birth to twin daughters October 9th, 1796. "I nursed them +both," she says, "our means not permitting us to have two nurses +in one little household, and I felt strong enough for this double +task. Brought into the world at seven and one-half months, their +frail existence required my care night and day." In 1797, Madame +de Gontaut visited Paris under a false name, and after this +journey, on which she ran many risks, she returned to England, +where she was the companion in exile of the princes. Monsieur, the +Count d'Artois, the future Charles X., was then pursued by his +creditors. The Castle of Holyrood, privileged by law, sheltered +its occupants from all legal process. That is why the Prince +Regent offered its hospitality to the brother of Louis XVIII., +seeking in every way to soften the severity of the old palace. + +"But the saying is true," adds Madame de Gontaut, "that there are +no pleasant prisons. The Castle of Holyrood, as well as the park, +was spacious. The governor visited there, and also several Scotch +families, very agreeable socially. Monsieur could not 'leave the +limits' except on Sunday, when the law allows no arrest. He had a +carriage that he loaned to us, reserving it only for Sunday, when +he was out from morning to night. To these excellent Scotch people +a visit from him was an honor, a festival. Our little society +comedies amused Monsieur as much as us; I always had, unluckily, a +part that I never knew; I could never in my life learn anything by +heart; I listened, filled my mind with the subject, and went +ahead, to the great amusement of the audience and the despair of +my fellow-players." After a while the suits against the Prince +came to an end, and he could quit Holyrood, his debtor's prison. + +Madame de Gontaut made a very good figure at Louis XVIII.'s little +court at Hartwell. By her wit and her tact, she won the friendship +of all the royal family, and much sympathy in high English +society. She returned to France with Louis XVIIL, and no lady of +the court was regarded with greater respect. At the time of the +marriage of the Duke of Berry, she became lady companion to the +new Duchess, whom she went to meet at Marseilles. + +The King, Monsieur, the Duke and Duchess of Berry, all showed +equal confidence in Madame de Gontaut, and her nomination as +Governess of the Children of France was received with general +approval and sympathy. A woman of mind and heart, she performed +her task with as much zeal as intelligence, and though strict with +her two pupils, she made herself beloved by them. She especially +applied herself to guard them against the snares of flattery. On +this subject she relates a characteristic anecdote. One day a +family that had been recommended to her asked the favor of seeing, +if only for a moment, the Duke of Bordeaux and his sister. The two +children, vexed at having to leave their play, were not +communicative, and nevertheless received an avalanche of +compliments. The visitors were in ecstasy over their gentleness, +their beauty. They admired even their hair. These exaggerations +embarrassed the children, who were full of frankness and +directness, and displeased Madame de Gontaut. She quickly closed +the interview. As the visitors were going out, a half-open door +allowed the little Prince and Princess to overhear their +observations. "It was not worth while to come so far to see so +little," said an old lady, in an irritated tone. "Oh, as to that, +no," said a big boy, "they hardly had two words of response for +all the compliments that papa and mamma strained themselves to +give them. You made me laugh, papa, when you said, 'What fine +color, what pretty hair!' She's as pale as an egg and cropped like +a boy."--" That's true," said the old lady," she needs your +medicines, doctor; and then they are very small for their age."-- +"Did you see the governess?" resumed the big boy. "She did not +seem pleased when you complimented her on the docility of her +pupils, and I could see that they were teasing each other." The +Duke of Bordeaux and his sister, who heard all this, were +petrified. "They are very wicked!" they cried. "They are simply +flatterers," replied Madame de Gontaut. Little Mademoiselle +resumed: "After having praised us without end, and telling us a +hundred times that we were pretty,--for I heard it all perfectly, +--to want to give me medicine because I was so homely and ill- +looking! Oh, this is too much! I know now what flattery is,--to +say just the contrary of the truth. But it's a sin. I shall always +remember it!" + +Madame de Gontaut succeeded beyond her hopes in the task confided +to her. Morally and physically the little Prince and Princess were +accomplished children. + +The moment was approaching when the Duke of Bordeaux, born +September 20, 1820, was about to begin his seventh year. That was +the period fixed by the ancient code of the House of France for +the young Prince to pass from the hands of women to those of men, +who were thereafter to direct his education. On the 15th of +October, 1826, the transfer was made of the Duke of Bordeaux to +his governor, the Duke de Riviere, at the Chateau of Saint Cloud, +in the Hall of the Throne, in the presence of all the members of +the family, the first officers of the crown, etc. The child, +brought by his governess before the King, was stripped of his +clothing and examined by the physicians, who attested his perfect +health. When he was clad again, the King called the new governor +and said to him: "Duke de Riviere, I give you a great proof of my +esteem and confidence in remitting to you the care of the child +given us by Providence--the Child of France also. You will bring +to these important functions, I am sure, a zeal and a prudence +that will give you the right to my gratitude, to that of the +family, and to that of France." + +Charles X. then turned to Madame de Gontaut, whom he had just +named Duchess in witness of his gratitude and satisfaction. +"Duchess of Gontaut," he said, "I thank you for the care you have +given to the education of this dear child." Then, pointing to +Mademoiselle, "Continue and complete that of this child, who is +just as dear to me, and you will acquire new claims on my +gratitude." The little Princess then seized the hands of her +governess with such effusion that the latter could hardly restrain +her tears. + +That evening the Duchess of Gontaut addressed to the Duke de +Riviere a letter in which she depicted the character of the child +she had brought up with such care:-- + +"I have always followed the impulses of my heart," she wrote, "in +easily performing a task for which that was all that was needed. +Monseigneur and Mademoiselle believe me blindly, for I have never +deceived them, even in jest. A pleasantry that a child's mind +cannot understand embarrasses him, destroys his ease and +confidence, humiliates and even angers him, if he believes that he +has been deceived. Monseigneur has more need than most children of +this discretion. The directness and generosity of his character +incline him to take everything seriously. When he thinks he sees +that any one is being annoyed, the one oppressed straightway +becomes the object of his lively interest; he will take up his +defence warmly and will not spare his rebukes; he shows on these +occasions an energy quite in contrast with the natural timidity of +his character. With such a child, I have had to avoid even the +shadow of injustice. He loves Mademoiselle, is gentle, kind, +attentive to her. I have always carefully shunned for Their Royal +Highnesses the little contests of childhood; however unimportant +they may seem at first, they end by embittering the disposition." + +We commend to mothers and teachers the letter of the Duchess of +Gontaut. It is a veritable programme of education, conceived with +high intelligence and great practical sense. What more just than +this reflection: "The method of teaching by amusement is +fashionable, and appears to me to lead to a very superficial +education. That is not what I have sought. Let the teacher explain +readily, but let him allow the pupil to take some pains, for he +must learn early the difficulties of life and how to overcome +them. A child prince, exposed to flattery, runs the risk of +thinking himself a prodigy. To obviate this Monseigneur and +Mademoiselle have often been subjected to little competitions with +children of their age. I have sought by this means to give them +the habit of witnessing success without envy, and to gain it +without vanity." And what a fine and noble thing is this. "I have +tried on all occasions to lead the mind of Monseigneur to the +moral teaching of religion; I have used it as a restraint; I have +presented it as a hope." + +The Duchess of Gontaut was proud of her pupil:-- + +"It will require time," she says, in this same letter, "kindness, +and tenderness to gain the confidence of Monseigneur. His features +show his soul; he talks little of what he undergoes; he has much +sensibility, but a power over himself remarkable at his age; I +have seen him suffer without complaint. The efforts that he has +made to overcome a timidity that I have tried hard to conquer, +have been noteworthy. I have been able to make him understand the +necessity, for a prince, of addressing strangers in a noble, +gracious, and intelligible fashion. I have always sought to remove +all means and all pretext for concealing his faults; bashfulness +leads imperceptibly to dissimulation and falsehood. I am happy in +affirming that Monseigneur is scrupulously truthful. I have +believed it requisite, by reason of the vivacity of his +disposition, and the high destiny awaiting him, to constrain him +to reflect before acting. The word JUSTICE has a real charm for +him; I have never seen a heart more loyal." + +The woman who wrote these lines so firm and honest, so sensible +and forcible, was no ordinary woman. In contrast with so many +emigres who had learned nothing and forgotten nothing, she had +learned much and retained it. The difficulties and bitternesses of +exile were an excellent school for her. She remained French +always,--in ideas, tastes, feelings. Sincerely royalist, but with +no exaggeration, she took account perfectly of the requirements of +modern society. Very devoted to her princes, she knew how to tell +them the truth. She spoke frankly to Charles X., whom she had +known from an early day, and had seen in such diverse situations. + +It is to be regretted that the King did not consult her oftener. +She would have saved him from many errors, notably from the fatal +ordinances which she disapproved. She was a woman not merely of +heart, but of head. Her Memoirs are the more interesting, that not +the least literary pretension mingles with their sincerity. They +have a character of intimacy that doubles their charm. This talk +of a venerable grandmother with her grandchildren is not only +solid and instructive, it is agreeable and gracious, tender and +touching. + + + + + +XIX + +THE THREE GOVERNORS + + +In the space of three years, from 1826 to 1828, Charles X. named +three governors for the Duke of Bordeaux. One, the Duke of +Montmorency, never entered on his duties. The others were the Duke +de Riviere and the Baron de Damas. The Duke of Montmorency was +named in anticipation the 8th of January, 1826, although his task +did not begin until the 29th of September. Mathieu de Montmorency, +first Viscount and then Duke, was born in 1766. After having been +through the war in America, he had adopted the ideas of Lafayette, +and had been distinguished by his extreme liberalism. He took the +oath of the Jeu de Paume, and was the first to give up the +privileges derived from his birth on the celebrated night of the +4th of August. The 12th of July, 1791, he was one of the +deputation that attended the solemn transfer of the ashes of +Voltaire, and, August 27th, he sustained the proposition to decree +the honors of the Pantheon to Jean Jacques Rousseau. In his Petit +Almanach des Grands Hommes de la Revolution, Rivarol wrote, not +without irony:-- + +"The most youthful talent of the Assembly, he is still stammering +his patriotism, but he already manages to make it understood, and +the Republic sees in him all it wishes to see. It was necessary +that Montmorency should appear popular for the Revolution to be +complete, and a child alone could set this great example. The +little Montmorency therefore devoted himself to the esteem of the +moment, and combated aristocracy under the ferrule of the Abbe +Sieyes." + +Mathieu de Montmorency did not adhere to his revolutionary ideas. +After the 10th of August, 1792, he withdrew to Switzerland, at +Coppet, near his friend Madame de Stael. Under the Empire he held +himself apart. He had become as conservative as he had been +liberal, as religious as he had been Voltairian. Under the +Restoration, he was one of the most convinced supporters of the +throne and the altar. Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1821, he +showed himself a distinguished diplomat, and during the session of +1822 made the Amende Honorable for what he called his former +errors. + +As he had always been sincere in his successive opinions, the Duke +of Montmorency deserved general esteem. His profound piety, his +unchanging gentleness, his exhaustless charity, made him a +veritable saint. He was the complete type of the Christian +nobleman. His name, his character, the very features of his +countenance, were all in perfect harmony. The adversaries of the +Revolution could not refrain from honoring this good man. On +receiving the title of governor to the Duke of Bordeaux, he felt +rewarded for the devotion and virtue of his whole life. But he +regarded this grave employment as a heavy burden, "an immense and +formidable honor, the terror of his feebleness, and the perpetual +occupation of his conscience." This was the thought expressed in +his reception discourse at the French Academy. The Count Daru +replied to him. At the same session M. de Chateaubriand read a +historic fragment. It was the first time since leaving the +ministry that the celebrated writer had appeared in public, and he +chose to do so to adorn the triumph of him whose rival he had +been. + +The Duke Mathieu de Montmorency died six months before he was to +enter upon his functions as governor to the Duke of Bordeaux. It +was Good Friday of the year 1826, at three o'clock in the +afternoon. Before the tomb in the Church of Saint Thomas Aquinas, +his parish, the Duke was praying like a saint, when suddenly he +was seen to waver, and then to fall. Those near him ran to him, +raised him; he was dead. The news had hardly spread when the +church was filled with a crowd of poor people, who wept hot tears +over the loss of their benefactor. On the morrow the Duchess of +Broglie wrote to Madame REcamier, for whom the deceased had had an +almost mystic tenderness:-- + +"Holy Saturday. Oh, my God! my God! dear friend, what an event! I +think of you with anguish. All the past comes up before me. I +thought I could see the grief of my poor mother, and I think of +yours, my dear friend, which must be terrible. But what a +beautiful death! Thus he would have chosen it--the place, the day, +the hour! The hand of God, of that saviour God, whose sacrifice he +was celebrating, is here!" + +Father Macarthy said, in a sermon preached in the Chapel of the +Tuileries:-- + +"Happy he, O God, who comes before Thy altar, on the day of Thy +death, at the very hour when Thou didst expire for the salvation +of the world, to breathe out his soul at Thy feet, and be laid in +Thy tomb!" + +Lastly, the Duke de Laval-Montmorency wrote to Madame Recamier:-- + +"I say it to you, my dear friend, I avow it without false modesty, +I never have had any merit or any honor in life, save from action +in common with my angelic friend. He alone is happy; he is so +beyond doubt; from heaven he sees our tears, our desolation, our +homage; he will be our protector on high as he was our friend, our +support, upon the earth." + +The death of the virtuous Duke caused Charles X. great grief. He +said: "There are in me two persons, the king and the man, and I +know not which is the most affected." + +M. de Chateaubriand desired--and the desire was quite natural--to +replace the Duke of Montmorency in the office of governor of the +Duke of Bordeaux, but the wish was not gratified. In his Life of +Henry of France, M. de PEne makes the following reflections on +this point:-- + +"Chateaubriand lacked neither the knowledge nor the virtue to be +the Fenelon of a new Duke of Burgundy. The eclat of his literary +renown, the political sense of which he had given proof in the +Spanish war, the popularity that surrounded him, were certainly +arguments in his favor. But looking at things coolly, it was clear +that an irregular genius was not suited for the part of Mentor, +when he still had all the wayward impulses of Telemaque." + +The choice of Charles X. fell on one of his oldest and most +faithful friends, the Lieutenant-General Duke Charles de Riviere. +He was a soldier of great valor, of gentle disposition, full of +modesty and kindness, believing devoutly and practising the +Christian religion, a descendant of those old knights who joined +in one love, God, France, and the King. + +Born the 17th of December, 1763, M. de Riviere had been the +companion and servitor of the princes in exile and misfortune, and +they had confided to him the most difficult and dangerous +missions. He was secretly in France in 1794, and was arrested and +condemned to death as implicated in the Cadoudal case. At his +trial, he was shown, at a distance, the portrait of the Count +d'Artois, and asked if he recognized it. He asked to see it +nearer, and then having it in his hands, he said, looking at the +president: "Do you suppose that even from afar I did not recognize +it? But I wished to see it nearer once more before I die." And the +martyr of royalty religiously kissed the image of his dear prince. + +Josephine intervened, and secured the commutation of the sentence, +as well as that of the Duke Armand de Polignac. Napoleon, who +admired men of force, caused to be offered to M. de Riviere his +complete pardon, and a regiment or a diplomatic post, at choice. +The inflexible royalist preferred to be sent to the fort of Joux, +where Toussaint Louverture had died, and remained a prisoner up to +the time of the marriage of the Empress Marie Louise. + +Under the Restoration, M. de Riviere, who was Marquis and was made +Duke only in 1825, became lieutenant-general, Peer of France, +ambassador at Constantinople, captain of the body-guards of +Monsieur. At the time of his accession, Charles X. did for his +faithful servitor what had never before been done; he created for +him a fifth company of the King's body-guards. "My dear Riviere," +he said, "I have done my best for you, but we shall both lose by +it; you used to guard me all the time, now you can guard me but +three months in the year." The 30th of May, 1825, the morrow of +the coronation and the day of the reception of the Knights of the +Holy Spirit, Charles X. conferred the title of duke on his devoted +friend. "By the way, Riviere, I have made you a duke." It recalled +the words of Henry IV. to Sully in like circumstances. + +When he chose the Duke de Riviere as governor of the Duke of +Bordeaux, the King said to Madame de Gontaut: "In naming Riviere, +I have followed, I confess, the inclinations of my heart; I am +under obligations to him; he has incessantly exposed himself for +our cause; he has borne captivity, poverty; I love him, and I am +used to him." + +The new governor, who was very modest, was frightened at the task +confided to him. + +"You congratulate me," he wrote to a friend; "console me, rather, +pity me. An employment so grave must be a heavy burden. I am easy +about the instruction my royal pupil will receive; the wise +prelate named by the King as his preceptor will be a powerful +auxiliary for me. But my share is still too great. It requires +something more than fidelity for such a place,--firmness without +roughness, unlimited patience, address, intelligence. I am +frightened at the mission I have to fill. I begged the King to +release me. He insisted. I asked him to make it a command; he +replied: 'I will not command you, but you will give me great +pleasure.' I did not conceal from the King that I should have +preferred to remain captain of his guards; he answered: 'Well, you +made that place for yourself; make this for me.' How could one +resist such language from the lips of such a prince? There was but +one choice to make,--to do all that he wished." + +Charles X. named as sub-governors two distinguished military men, +the Colonel Marquis de Barbamcois and the Lieutenant-Colonel Count +de Maupas. He named as preceptor Mgr. Tharin, Bishop of +Strasbourg, and as sub-preceptor the Abbe Martin de Noirlieu and +M. de Barande. The Bishop of Strasbourg was a pious and learned +priest, of great benevolence and extreme affability. But his +appointment exasperated the Opposition, because he had formerly +taken up the defence of the Order of the Jesuits against the +attacks of M. de Montlosier. All the liberal sheets cried aloud. +Le Journal des Debates, furious that its candidate to the +succession of the Duke de Montmorency, M. de Chateaubriand, had +not been named, wrote, regarding the appointment of Mgr. Tharin:-- + +" Such imprudence amazes, such blindness is pitiable. It awakens +profound grief to see this chariot rush toward the abyss with no +power to restrain it." + +The Duke de Riviere gave himself up entirely to the task confided +to him. He never quitted the young prince. He slept in his room +and watched over him night and day. In the month of February, +1828, he fell ill. The princes and princesses visited him +frequently. The sovereign himself, putting aside for this faithful +friend the etiquette which forbade him to visit any one out of his +own family, went constantly to see him and remained long with him. +The Duke had no greater consolation, after that of his religion, +than the visit of his King. He said to his family as the hour of +the expected visit approached, "Do not let me sleep," and if he +felt himself getting drowsy, "For pity's sake," he said, "awaken +me if the King comes; it is the best remedy for my pains." Charles +X. could hardly restrain his tears; on leaving the room he gave +way to his grief. The little Duke of Bordeaux, also, was much +saddened. + +One day, when he was told that the sick man had passed a bad +night, he said to his sister: "Let's play plays that don't amuse +us to-day." + +Another day, when it was reported that his governor was a little +better: "In that case," he cried, "general illumination," and he +went in broad day, and lighted all the candles in the salon. The +Duke de Riviere died the 21st of April, 1828; by order of the +King, his son lived from that time with the Duke of Bordeaux, and +received lessons from the preceptors of the young Prince. + +The Liberals wished the successor of the Duke to be one of their +choice. They maintained that the son of France belonged to the +nation, and that it had too much interest in his education to +permit the parents alone to dispose of it, as in ordinary +families. The ministry wished to be consulted. Charles X. replied +that he took counsel with his ministers in all that concerned the +public administration, but that he should maintain his liberty as +father of a family in the choice of masters for his grandson. + +The King named the Lieutenant-General Baron de Damas (born in +1785, died in 1858). He was a brave soldier and a good Christian. +M. de Lamartine said that he had "integrity, obstinate industry, +virtue incorruptible by the air of couits, patriotic purpose, cool +impartiality, but no presence and no brilliancy," and that "his +piety was as loyal and disinterested as his heart." He had been +Minister of War, and of Foreign Affairs, and distinguished himself +under the Duke of Angouleme, during the Spanish Expedition. But +under the Revolution and the Empire, he had served in the Russian +army, and this did not render him popular. The Abbe Vedrenne, in +his VIE DE Charles X., wrote:-- + +"To watch over the person of the son of France, not quitting him +night or day; to make sure that the rules of his education are +followed in the employment of his time, in the routine of his +lessons; to let no one save persons worthy of confidence come near +him; to ward off all dangers, and notify the King of the least +indisposition,--such is the duty of the governor. It requires more +prudence than learning, more probity than genius. M. de Damas was +a royalist too tried, too fervent a Christian, for his nomination +not to provoke many murmurs. His place, moreover, had been desired +by so many people, that there was no lack of those who were +displeased and jealous. There was a general outcry over his +incapacity and ignorance. One would have thought that he was to +perform the task of a Bossuet and a Fenelon, while in reality he +filled the place of a Montausier or a Beauvilliers. Had he not +their virtues, and especially their devotion?" + +The Duchess of Gontaut thus relates the first interview of the +young Prince with his new governor: "Monseigneur was a little +intimidated, when the Baron, coming up near to him, made a +profound bow, and said: 'Monseigneur, I commend myself to you.' To +which Monseigneur, not knowing what to say, said nothing, and as +no one spake a word, the King dismissed us. When the Duke of +Bordeaux learned that M. de Damas had six or seven boys nearly his +age and only one girl, and that the girl would not be any trouble, +his gaiety returned." The little Prince got used to his new +governor, who had the most solid qualities, and who performed his +task with the same devotion and zeal as his predecessor. + + + + + +XX + +THE REVIEW OF THE NATIONAL GUARD + + +Charles X. was always much beloved by the court, but less so by +the city. In vain, in his promenades, he sought the salutations of +the crowd, and exerted himself by his affability to provoke +acclamations; the public remained cold, and the monarch returned +to the Tuileries, saddened by a change in his reception which he +charged to the tactics of the liberal party and the calumnies of +the journals. The anti-religious opposition went on increasing, +and tried to persuade the crowd that the King was aiming at +nothing less than placing his kingdom under the direction of the +Jesuits. + +The person of the sovereign was still respected, but the men who +had his confidence were the object of the most violent criticisms. +A coalition of the Extremists and the Left fought savagely against +the Villele ministry, which was reproached particularly for its +long duration. + +From 1827, Orleansism, which Charles X. did not even suspect, +existed in a latent state, and sagacious observers could perceive +the dangers of the near future. A review of the National Guard of +Paris was a forerunner of them. + +Each year the 12th of April, the anniversary of the re-entrance of +Monsieur to Paris in 1814, the National Guard alone was on duty at +the Tuileries. This privilege was looked upon as the reward of the +devotion it had then shown to the Prince, whose sole armed force +it was for several weeks. In 1827, the 12th of April fell on Holy +Thursday, a day given over wholly by the sovereign to his +religious duties. In consequence, he decided that the day of +exceptional service reserved to the National Guard should be +postponed to Monday, the 16th. The morning of that day, +detachments from all the legions, including the cavalry, assembled +in the court of the Chateau, and were received by Charles X. He +received a warm welcome, such as he had not been used to for a +long time, and the crowd joined its shouts to the huzzas of the +Guard. Charles X., filled with delight, said to the officers who +joined him as the troops filed by: "I regret that the entire +National Guard is not assembled for the review." Then the officers +replied that their comrades would be only too happy if the King +would consent to review the whole Guard. Marshal Oudinot, Duke of +Reggio, who was the commandant-in-chief, warmly supported this +desire, and the sovereign responded by promising for April 29 the +review thus urged. + +Charles X. believed he had returned to the pleasant time of his +popularity. He wished to confirm it by withdrawing a law as to the +press, proposed in the Chambers, and vviuch, though called by the +ultras a "law of love and justice," encountered bitter opposition +even in the Chamber of Peers. The law was withdrawn April 17, the +very day that the Moniteur announced the promise given the day +before for the review of the 29th. On learning of the withdrawal +of the unpopular law, the liberals uttered cries of joy and +triumph. Columns of working printers traversed the streets with +cries of "Long live the King! Long live the Chamber of Peers! Long +live the liberty of the press!" In the evening Paris was +illuminated. A victory over a foreign foe would not have been +celebrated with greater transports of enthusiasm. The ministry was +disquieted by these wild manifestations of delight, which, in +reality, were directed against it. It tried in vain to induce the +King to countermand the review of the 29th. M. de Chateaubriand +wrote to Charles X. a long letter to beg him to change his +ministry. It contained the following passage:-- + +"Sire, it is false that there is, as is said, a republican faction +at present, but it is true that there are partisans of an +illegitimate monarchy; now these latter are too adroit not to +profit by the occasion, and mingle their voices on the 29th with +that of France, to impose on the nation. What will the King do? +Will he surrender his ministers to the popular demand? That would +be to destroy the power of the State. Will he keep his ministers? +They will cause all the unpopularity that pursues them to fall on +the head of their august master." Chateaubriand closed as +follows:-- + +"Sire, to dare to write you this letter, I must be strongly +persuaded of the necessity of reaching a decision. An imperative +duty must urge me. The ministers are my enemies. As a Christian I +forgive them, as a man I can never pardon them. In this position I +should never have addressed the King, if the safety of the +monarchy were not involved." + +All this urging was futile. Charles X. did not change his +ministry, and the review took place on the Champ-de-Mars on the +day appointed. + +It is Sunday, April 29th, 1827. The weather is magnificent. The +springtime sun gives to the capital a festive air. All the people +are out. The twelve legions and the mounted guards--more than +twenty thousand men--are under arms awaiting the King on the +Champ-de-Mars. An enormous crowd occupies the slope. At one +o'clock precisely, Charles X., mounted on a beautiful horse, which +he manages like a skilled horseman, leaves the Tuileries with a +numerous escort, including the Dauphin, the Duke of Orleans, the +young Duke of Chartres, and a number of generals. The princesses +follow in an open caleche. Everything appears to be going +perfectly. The National Guards have pledged themselves to satisfy +the King by their conduct. A note has been read in the ranks in +these words: "Caution to the National Guards, to be circulated to +the very last file. The rumor is spread that the National Guards +intend to cry 'Down with the ministers! Down with the Jesuits!' +Only mischief-makers can wish to see the National Guard abandon +its noble character." + +A general movement of curiosity on the Champ-de-Mars is noticed. +Charles X. arrives. He has a serene brow, a smile upon his lips. +It hardly seems possible that before the end of the year he will +be a septuagenarian; he would be taken for a man of fifty, +powdered. An immense cry of "Long live the King," raised by the +National Guards, is repeated by the crowd. The monarch, radiant, +salutes with glance and hand. + +He passes along the front of the battalions. Here and there are +heard cries of "Hurrah for the Charter! Hurrah for liberty of the +press!" But they are drowned by those of "Long live the King!" +Everything seems to go as he wishes, and Charles X. feels that the +review, which his timid ministers regarded as dangerous, is an +inspiration. So far it is for him only a triumph. But suddenly, as +he appears in front of the Seventh Legion, he remarks the +persistence with which a group of the Guards is crying, "Hurrah +for the Charter!" The monarch perceives a sentiment of +unfriendliness. A National Guardsman ventures to speak:-- + +"Does Your Majesty think that cheers for the Charter are an +outrage?"--"Gentlemen," responds the King in a severe tone, "I +came here to receive homage, not a lesson." The royal pride of +this response had a good effect. The cries of "Long live the +King!" are renewed with energy. The face of Charles X. again +becomes calm and serene. Seated in his saddle before the Military +School, the sovereign sees file by the twelve legions, with +unanimous cheers. The review closed, the King says to Marshal +Oudinot, commandant-in-chief of the National Guard:" It might have +passed off better; there were some mar-plots, but the mass is +good, and on the whole, I am satisfied." + +The Marshal asks, if, in the order of the day he may mention the +satisfaction of the King. "Yes," replied Charles X., "but I wish +to know the terms in which this sentiment is expressed." + +The sovereign returns on horseback to the Tuileries, while each +legion goes to its own quarter. When he arrives at the Pavilion de +l'Horloge, he is received by his two grandchildren. Mademoiselle +throws herself upon his neck: "Bon-papa, you are content, aren't +you?"--"Yes, almost," he answers. The Count de Bourbon-Busset, who +is in the sovereign's suite, says to the Duchess of Gontaut, his +mother-in-law, that all has passed off well. The Duchess of +Angouleme, who has just alighted from her carriage, as well as the +Duchess of Berry, hears this phrase; she cries: "You are not hard +to please." The two princesses are as agitated as the King is +calm. At the moment of their return they have been greeted with +violent cries of "Down with the ministers! Down with the Jesuits!" +It is even said that there was a cry of "Down with the +Jesuitesses!" The clang of arms rendered these violent clamors +more sinister. The daughter of Louis XVI. and the widow of the +Duke of Berry believed themselves doubly insulted as women and as +princesses. The Duchess of Angouleme, with intrepid countenance, +but deeply irritated, trembled with indignation. It seemed to her +that the Revolution was being revived. The scenes of horror that +her uncle Charles X. had not beheld, but of which she had been the +witness and the victim, arose before her again,--the 5th and the +6th of October, 1789, the 20th of June, and the 10th of August, +1792. + +While the Dauphiness gives herself up to the gloomiest +reflections, the Third Legion of the National Guard is passing +under the windows of the Minister of Finance in the Rue de Rivoli. +The minister, M. de Villele, has passed the day at the ministry, +receiving from hour to hour news of the review. The blinds of his +windows are closed. At the moment when the Third Legion files +through the street, the band ceases to play, the drums stop +beating. Cries of fury break from the ranks: "Down with the +ministers! Down with the Jesuits! Down with Villele!" The guards +brandish their arms; the officers themselves make menacing +gestures; the tumult is at its height. M. de Villele, on the +inside, follows from window to window the march of the legion, and +so traverses the salons to the apartments occupied by his old +mother and her family, whom he wishes to reassure by his own calm. +Opposite the ministry, a great crowd fills the Terrasse des +Feuillants, without taking part in the manifestation. But the +clamors of the National Guards increase. They continue their +march, enter the Rue Castiglione, reach the Place Vendome, where +the Ministry of Justice is situated, and recommence their cries: +"Down with the ministers! Down with the Jesuits! Down with +Peyronnet!" + +Invited to dine by Count Opponyi, ambassador of Austria, with all +the ministers, M. de Villele waits to the last moment before going +to the Embassy, still believing that he will be summoned by the +King. As his waiting is in vain, he goes to the house of Count +Opponyi and takes part in the dinner. At dessert, a messenger of +Charles X. glides behind his chair, and says to him in a low +voice: "The King charges me to tell you to come to him +immediately." M. de Villele takes leave of the ambassadress, and +sets out for the Tuileries. He finds Charles X. there, very calm, +quite reassured, and having called him only to give expression to +his confidence and sympathy. The minister exerts himself to make +the sovereign see the situation in a very different light. He +represents the incident of the Minister of Finance as secondary, +but insists on the facts occurring at the Champ-de-Mars, notably +the shouts around the carriage of the princesses. "It is a fact," +replies the King. "I did hear them complain. Well, what do you +advise me to do?" The minister responds: "This very evening, +before the bureaux are closed, dissolve the National Guard of +Paris; order the marshal on duty near your person, to have the +posts held by the National Guard occupied at four o'clock in the +morning by the troops of the line; to resort to this measure of +force and justice to forestall the consequences of the most +audacious attempt at revolution since the commencement of your +reign. To-morrow, there are to arrive at Paris fifteen thousand +men to replace the fifteen thousand of the actual garrison. It +suffices to retain these latter, and thirty thousand men will be +enough to hold the factions in check if they have the least +intention of rising."--"Very well," resumes Charles X.; "go and +consult your colleagues, and return after the soiree that I shall +attend with the Duchess of Berry." + +This soiree is a concert given by the Duchess at the Tuileries. +The music is but little heard. The incidents of the review are the +subject of all conversation. The courtiers wonder whether, to +please the King, they should take a dark or a rose-colored view of +things. The optimists and pessimists exchange impressions. Charles +X. seems to lean to the former. "Apparently," he says, with his +habitual bonhomie, "my bad ear has done me a friendly service, and +I am glad of it, for I protest I heard no insults." Plainly it +costs the sovereign pain to dismiss the National Guard. It gave +him so brilliant a welcome in 1814. He was its generalissimo under +the reign of Louis XVIII. He has liked to wear its uniform, the +blue coat with broad fringes of silver that becomes him so well. +But the ministers, except the Duke of Doudeauville and M. de +Chabrol, pronounce strongly in favor of disbandment. Their idea +prevails. After the concert Charles X. signs the decree, which +appears in the Moniteur on the morrow, and is enforced without +resistance. "The King can do anything!" cries the Duke de Riviere, +with enthusiasm; and May 6th M. de Villele addresses to the Prince +de Polignac, then ambassador at London, a letter in which he says: +"The dissolution of the National Guard has been a complete +success; the bad have been confounded by it, the good encouraged. +Paris has never been more calm than since this act of severity, +justice, and vigor." The monarchy thinks itself saved; it is lost. + + + + + +XXI + +THE FIRST DISQUIETUDE + + +There were still great illusions among those about Charles X., and +the Duchess of Berry had not for a single instant an idea that the +rights of her son could be compromised. They persuaded themselves +that the Opposition would remain dynastic and that the severest +crises would end only in a change of ministry. Nevertheless, even +at the court, the more thoughtful began to be anxious, and +perceived many dark points on the horizon. Certain royalists, +enlightened by experience of the Emigration and Exile, had a +presentiment that the Restoration would be for them only a halt in +the long way of catastrophes and sorrow. They mourned the optimist +tranquillity in which some of the courtiers succeeded in lulling +the King. There were courageous and faithful servitors who, at the +risk of displeasing their master and losing his good graces, did +not recoil from the sad obligation of telling him the whole truth. +From the beginning of his reign, Charles X. heard useful warnings, +and later he blamed himself for not having listened better to +them. This justice, however, must be done him, that if he had not +the wisdom to profit by such counsels, he never was offended at +the men of heart who dared to give them to him. + +In this number was the Viscount Sosthenes de La Rochefoucauld, son +of the Duke of Doudeauville, son-in-law of Mathieu de Montmorency, +charged with the department of the fine arts, at the ministry of +the King's household. In publishing the reports addressed by him +to Charles X. from his accession to the Revolution of 1830, he +writes:-- + +"These are respectful and tender warnings of which too little +account was taken, and which might have saved the King and France. +I put them down here with the gloomy predictions contained in +them, which have been only too completely realized. They are not +prophecies after the event. We saw in advance the misfortunes of +the King, the fall of the monarchy, the ruin of legitimacy. Each +page, then each line, and soon every word of this part of my +Memoirs will be a cry of alarm: 'God save the King!' Alas! He has +not saved him. One is always wrong if one cannot get a hearing and +make one's self believed. It is then, with no pride in my +previsions, but with bitter regret, that I could not get them +accepted, that I recall this long monologue addressed to Charles +X." + +From the beginning of the reign, as he foresaw that one day the +Chamber would sign the Address of the 221, and that M. Laffitte +would be the banker of the revolution of July, the Viscount wrote +to the sovereign in December, 1824:-- + +"The King has two things to combat for the glory and strength of +his rule, the encroachments of the Chamber of Deputies, and the +power of money in Europe. Four bankers could to-day decide war, if +such was their pleasure. Sovereigns cannot seek too earnestly to +free themselves from the sceptre which is rising above their own. +The triumph of moneyed men will blight the character and the +morals of France." + +M. de La Rochefoucauld added (report of January 31, 1825) this +prediction, which shows to what length his frankness went in his +loyal explanations with his King:-- + +"We are between two rocks, equally dangerous: revolution with the +Duke of Orleans, and ultraism with the good Polignac. The by-word +now is: 'These princes will end like the Stuarts.' Madame de--, +who is agitating against the laws now under discussion, has said: +'Yes, it's the second throne of the Stuarts.' The Left compare the +Archbishop of Rheims to Father Peters, the restless and ambitious +confessor of King James. It is not easy for me to write thus to +the King, and I have assumed a hard task in promising myself to +conceal nothing from him. Sometimes my heart is oppressed and my +hand stops; but I question my conscience, which seems troubled, +and the indispensable necessity of telling all to the King, that +he may judge in his wisdom, decides me to go on." + +How many sagacious warnings given by the brave courtier, or, +better, by the faithful friend, during the year 1825, the year of +the coronation: "The good Madame de M-- of the Sacred Heart was +saying the other day: 'We had a King with no limbs, and with a +head; now we have limbs and no head.' It is unheard of, the +trouble taken in certain circles to make out that the King has no +will. The future must give to all a complete refutation; the +future must teach them that the King knows how to distinguish +those that betray from those that serve him." (Report of March 1, +1825). "Does the King wish to run the chances of a complete +overturning by throwing himself into the hands of the ultras? That +would be to fall again under the blows of the Revolution, which +counts on these to push the monarchy into the abyss always held +open at its side." + +From 1825, criticism of the King began. He was accused of giving +himself up too much to the pleasures of the chase. The time was +approaching when his enemies would say of him--a cruel play on +words: "He's good for nothing but to hunt," and would translate +the four letters over the doors of houses M. A. C. L. (Maison +Assuree Contre l'Incendie) by this phrase: Mes Amis, Chassons-le. + +The 17th of June, 1825, M. de La Rochefoucauld wrote:-- + +"I must tell all to the King. I have prevented the giving of a +play at the Odeon called Robin des Bois (Robin Hood), because it +is a nickname criminally given by the people to him whom they +accuse of hunting too often, an accusation very unjust in the eyes +of those who know that never did a prince work more than he to +whom allusion is made. When the King takes this distraction so +necessary to him, why hasten to make it known to the public? All +news comes from the Chateau, and the Constitutionnel and the +Quotidienne are always the best informed." + +He returned to the same subject October 6:-- + +"I am in despair at seeing the journals recounting hunt after +hunt. I know the effect that produces. I wanted to get at the +source of these mischievous reports, and M-- communicated to me +confidentially that these reports came to him from the court, and +at such length that he always cut them down three-fourths. In this +case, it is for the King to give orders." + +Let us put beside this report the following passage from the +Memoirs of the Duke of Doudeauville:-- + +"I must justify Charles X. in this passion for the chase, so +bitterly laid up against him in that time when malice and bad +faith seized on everything that could injure him. Five whole days +every week he remained in his apartment, busy with affairs of +state, working with the ministers, examining by himself their +different reports with a sensitive heart, much soul, and more +intellect than had been believed; he had much reason and a very +sound judgment. We were often astonished at it in the Council, +over which he presided, and which he prolonged two, three, four, +and five hours, without permitting himself the least distraction +or showing any sign of weariness. Often, in the most difficult +discussions, he would open up an opinion that no one had +conceived, and which, full of sagacity, smoothed every difficulty. + +"Twice a week, and often only once, when the weather permitted, he +went hunting, perhaps gunning, perhaps coursing. It will be +conceded that it was a necessary exercise after such assiduous +toil and occupations so sedentary. + +"I certify that this was the extent of the hunting of which +calumny, to ruin him, made a crime. Every time he went hunting, +the Opposition journals did not fail to announce it, which +persuaded nearly all France that he passed all his time in the +distractions of this amusement." + +The tide of detraction of the sovereign steadily rose. The +Viscount de La Rochefoucauld perceived it clearly. He wrote to the +King, 13th October, 1825:-- + +"The interior of France, as regards commerce, agriculture, +industry, wealth, offers a most striking spectacle. Let Charles +X., as King and father, rejoice in his work; but let him reflect +that the lightest sleep would be followed by a terrible +awakening." + +The 12th of January, 1826, when his father-in-law, the Duke +Mathieu de Montmorency, had just been named governor to the Duke +of Bordeaux, M. de La Rochefoucauld again wrote to the King:-- + +"Shall I thank the King for the nomination of M. de Montmorency? +Six months ago, it would have been useful. To-day, it is merely +good. But alas, how far is that interesting Prince from the crown! +and what shocks and revolutions he must traverse first. If ever-- +God watch over France; the Orleans are making frightful progress." + +The signs of the coming storm accumulated in the most alarming +manner. Read this other report of the Viscount de La Rochefoucauld +(August 8, 1826):-- + +"Indifference to religion, hatred of the priests, were the +symptoms of the Revolution. God grant that the same things do not +bring the same results. The unfortunate priests no longer dare to +go through the streets; they are everywhere insulted. Three days +since, a well-dressed man, passing by the sentinel of the +Luxembourg said to him, pointing to a priest: 'Never mind; in a +year you'll see no more of all these wretches.' The poor Cure of +Clichy was in real danger, surrounded by two or three hundred +madmen, who cried; 'Down with the black-hats!' Every day there is +a scene of the same sort." + +The popularity of Charles X., so great at the beginning of his +reign, was dwindling every day at Paris. M. de La Rochefoucauld +did not fear to declare it to him. + +"By what inconceivable fatality is it," he wrote, February 6, +1827, "that the king amid all the care he takes to ensure the +happiness of his people, is losing from day to day in their love +and affection? At the play--and it is there, to use an expression +of Napoleon, that the pulse of public opinion is to be felt--the +most seditious and hostile allusions are eagerly caught up. +Saturday last, verses, of which the sense was that kings who have +lost the love of their people encounter only silence and coldness, +were greeted with triple applause and furiously encored." + +The report of May 12,1827, was like an alarm bell: + +"Circumstances are so grave that the calmest minds betray fear +regarding them; there are now but one opinion and one feeling,-- +doubt and fear. It is said openly, as eight years since: This +branch cannot keep the crown; it is impossible; who will succeed +it? How many things, great Heavens, done in eight years; how many +things forgotten!" + +Exposed to an outpouring of enmities and of incessant intrigues, +taken between two fires,--the extreme Right and the Left,--M. de +Villele no longer had the strength to govern. His ministry was +about to come to an end. Later, in retracing in his journal this +phase of his career, he wrote:-- + +"All that took place was of a feebleness destructive of all +government, and disheartening for him who bears all the +responsibility for it, with the weight of affairs besides. But he +was not, and did not pretend to be, the Cardinal Richelieu. He had +not his character, nor his ambition, nor his superior gifts. He +did not even envy them. Had he been quite different in this +regard, to repress and annul his king, to oppress the daughter of +Louis XVI. and the widow of the Duke of Berry, to exile from +France the new Gaston d'Orleans, and his numerous family, to bring +down the heads of the court pygmies,--more dangerous, perhaps, +with their influence over the King and his family and their +vexatious intrigues in the Court of Peers than the Montmorencys +and the Cinq-Mars,--this was a rele to which he never aspired and +would not have accepted." + +Charles X. sacrificed M. de Villele, who, however, had his +sympathy, and replaced him with a liberal minister, perhaps with a +mental reservation as to a ministry, before long, from the extreme +Right. The retiring minister wished to remain in the Chamber of +Deputies, to defend his acts. For their part, his successors, +fearing his influence in that body, wished his transfer to the +Chamber of Peers, where, in their judgment, he would be less +dangerous. At the last Council of Ministers attended by M. de +Villele, the King passed to him a note in pencil, announcing that +he had called him to the peerage. The statesman declined, in a +note also in pencil. "You wish then to impose yourself upon me as +minister?" wrote the King once more. M. de Villele appeared moved, +and passed to the sovereign this response: "The King well knows +the contrary; but since he can write it, let him do with me what +he will." The next day the Martignac ministry entered on its +duties, and the Duchess of Angoule'me said to Charles X.: "It is +true, then, that you are letting Villele go? My father, you +descend to-day the first step of the throne." + + + + + +XXII + +THE MARTIGNAC MINISTRY + + +Mde. Martignac, who succeeded M. de Villele in the Ministry of the +Interior, was a man of merit, honest, liberal, and sincerely +devoted to the King. Born in 1776, at Bordeaux, he was at first an +advocate at the bar of that city, and at the same time made +himself known by some witty vaudevilles. On the return of the +Bourbons, he entered the magistracy, became procureur-general at +Limoges, was elected a deputy in 1821, and distinguished himself +in the tribune. He was Minister of the Interior from January, +1828, to August, 1829, and his name was given to the ministry of +which he was a member. He had for colleagues enlightened and +moderate men, such as Count Auguste de La Ferronnays, M. Roy, +Count Portalis. He tried to reconcile the different parties, and +to preserve the throne from the double danger of reaction and +revolution. Taken between two fires, the extreme Right and the +extreme Left, he was destined to fail in his generous effort. + +The royalist sentiment was becoming constantly more feeble. The +24th of January, 1828, some days after the formation of the +Martignac ministry, the Viscount Sosthenes de La Rochefoucauld +wrote, in a report to the King:-- + +"In going to Saint-Denis, the 2lst of January (the anniversary of +the death of Louis XVI.), and seeing the lightness with which the +court itself conducted itself there, it was impossible for me not +to make many reflections on the futility of an age in which no +memory is sacred. And by what right can the people be asked to +have a better memory when such an example is given to them? No +cortege, no coaches draped, none of the pomp that strikes the +imagination and the eye. Some isolated carriages, passing rapidly +over the route, as if every one longed to be more promptly rid of +whatever is grave and mournful in this day of cruel memory." + +The ultras were thinking much less of the real interests of the +monarchy than of their own spites and their personal ambitions. + +These pretended supports of the throne were digging the abyss in +which the throne was to be swallowed up. Charles X., blinded, was +already thinking of calling the Prince de Polignac to power, and +regarded the Martignac ministry as a provisional expedient. To the +despair of the members of this ministry, he maintained relations +with M. de Villele, whose fall he regretted. After the opening of +the session, he wrote to his former minister, February 6, 1828:-- + +"What do you think of my discourse? I did my best; but as it was a +success with some persons of doubtful opinions, I am afraid that +it is not worth much. Everything appears to me so confused, that I +know not what to count upon. The eulogies of the Debats and the +Constitutionnel make me fear I have said stupid things. Yet I hope +not, and I shall continue to arrest with firmness what may lead to +dangerous concessions." + +On the other hand, if there were among the liberals some sincere +and well-intentioned men, who meant to remain faithful alike to +the throne and the Charter, there were others who already masked +treachery under the appearance of devotion to the King. Those who +two years later were to boast of having labored during the entire +restoration for the ruin of the elder branch,--actors in the +comedy of fifteen years, as they called themselves,--gave +themselves out, in 1828, as partisans and enthusiastic admirers of +Charles X. At the commencement of the session a deputy of the +Left, having affected to say in the tribune that the King had not +a single enemy, the Right permitted itself some exclamations of +doubt. One of its members, M. de Marinhac, cried: "As a good +prince I believe that His Majesty has no enemies, but as King, he +has many, and I know them," added he, looking at his opponents. +The entire Left was indignant, and caused the orator to be called +to order. M. Dupin thanked the president, and said in an agitated +voice: "It is a calumny, an insult, that we cannot endure. Nothing +wounds us more than to hear ourselves accused of being the enemies +of him whom we adore, cherish, bless." + +The tactics of the Opposition were to flatter the King, but to +disarm him and to make him look on those who were really +revolutionists as ministerialists. M. de Martignac was a man of +good faith, but many who boasted of supporting him were not so, +and perhaps M. de Villele was right when he wrote to Charles X. in +June, 1828:-- + +"I could serve Your Majesty only with the light and the character +God has given me. It would have been, it would be, impossible for +me to believe that authority can be maintained by concessions and +by leaning on those who wish to overthrow it." + +Meanwhile there were still some fine days for the old King. His +journey in the departments of the east, in 1828, was a continual +ovation that recalled to him the enthusiasm of the beginning of +his reign. Setting out from Saint Cloud the 3lst of August, he +arrived at Metz the 3d of September. All the houses of this great +military city were hung with the white flag adorned with fleurs- +de-lis. After having visited some of the fortifications, Charles +X., following the ramparts, came to an elegant pavilion erected on +the site of the ancient citadel. Long covered seats were arranged +for the ladies of the city; a prodigious number of spectators +occupied the ramparts. In the presence of the sovereign a regiment +made a simulated attack on a "demi-lune" and a bastion. + +On September 6, Saverne arranged a very picturesque reception for +the King. All the cantons and all the communes sent thither, +together with their mayors and their richest farmers, their +prettiest village girls in Alsatian costume. Five hundred +peasants, clad in red vest and long black coat, the head covered +with a great hat turned up on one side, a white ribbon tied about +the left arm, were on horseback at the place of meeting. The young +girls, bearing flags and garlands, were brought in wagons, each +containing a dozen or sixteen. In other wagons were the musicians. +The pretty Alsaciennes presented the monarch with a basket of +flowers; then he breakfasted with the authorities, and, at a +signal, fires were lighted at the same time on the plain and on +the surrounding mountains. + +The 7th of September, Charles X. entered Strasbourg in triumph. At +a league from the city, on a height from which it was to be seen, +and whence the wooded hills of the Black Forest were visible, he +was awaited by a crowd of young girls in Alsatian costume, in +three hundred wagons, with four or six horses to each. There were +also twelve hundred horsemen, divided into squadrons, the mayors +with their scarfs at their head and carrying the fleur-de-lis +standards. The royal cortege passed, under arbors of verdure and +flowers, amid this long file of vehicles and horsemen, who +escorted it to the walls of Strasbourg. Delighted with the +enthusiasm of which he was the object, the sovereign proceeded to +the Cathedral, where a te deum was sung. In the evening the spire +of this marvellous church was illuminated: it was like a pyramid +of stars. + +The King of Wurtemberg, the Grand Duke of Baden, and his three +brothers came to greet the King of France in the capital of +Alsace. He showed them at the arsenal sixteen hundred pieces of +ordnance on their carriages, and arms sufficient for a hundred +thousand men. + +"Sire, and gentlemen," he said with a smile, in which kingly pride +mingled with perfect urbanity, "I have nothing to conceal from +you. This is something I can show to my friends as to my enemies." + +Yes, France was great then, and no one could have predicted for +Alsace the fate reserved for her forty-two years later. The army +was the admiration of Europe. The navy had just recaptured at +Navarino the prestige and power of the time of Louis XVI. Charles +X. said to Mr. Hyde de Neuville:-- + +"France, when a noble design is involved, takes counsel only with +herself. Thus whether England wishes or not, we shall free Greece. +Continue the armaments with the same activity. I shall not pause +in the path of humanity and honor." + +And at the moment when the very Christian King was greeted by the +German Princes in the Alsatian capital, his victorious troops were +completing in the Morea the enfranchisement of Greece. + +Charles X. returned by Colmar, Luneville, Nancy, and Champagne. At +Troyes he found himself surrounded by all the liberal deputies, +and he decorated Casimir PErier. Everywhere he had an enthusiastic +welcome. On his return to Saint Cloud he was warmly congratulated +by all his court. Nevertheless, as the Duchess of Gontaut said to +him:-- + +"Sire, you must be happy."--"What do cheers signify?" he answered, +not without sadness. "These demonstrations, all superficial, +should not dazzle--a friendly gesture of the hand, a prince's, a +king's, expression of satisfaction will obtain them." + +Despite this philosophic reflection, Charles X. was triumphant. If +his ministers wished to credit their liberal policy with the +ovations he had received in the east, he called their attention to +the fact that he had been not less well received the year before +under the Villele ministry at the time of his visit to the camp of +Saint Omer. In the enthusiasm manifested by the people, he saw an +homage to the monarchical principle, not to the policy of one or +another ministry. + +"You hear these people. Do they shout hurrah for the Charter? No, +they cry long live the King!" Still confident of the future, he +wished to persuade himself that the obstacles piled up before his +dynasty were but clouds that a favorable wind would scatter soon. +"Ah, Monsieur de Martignac," he cried, with deep joy, "what a +nation! what should we not do for it!" + +At the moment that Charles X. traversed the provinces of the east +in triumph, the Duchess of Berry was making in the west a journey +not less brilliant than that of the sovereign. + + + + + +XXIII + +THE JOURNEY IN THE WEST + + +Never was a princely journey more triumphal than that of the +Duchess of Berry in the provinces of the west in 1828. Madame, who +left Paris June 16, returned there October 1, and there was not a +day in these three months that she was not the object of +enthusiastic ovations. In a book of nearly six hundred pages, +Viscount Walsh has described, with the fidelity of a Dangeau, this +journey in which the mother of the Duke of Bordeaux was treated +like a queen of a fairy tale. + +The 16th of June, the Princess slept at Rambouillet, where two +years later such cruel trials were to come to her. The 18th, she +visited Chambord, where she was received by Count Adrien de +Calonne, the author of the project of the subscription, thanks to +which this historic chateau became the property of the Duke of +Bordeaux. + +In the face of the wind, which was blowing with force, Madame +ascended to the highest point of the chateau, the platform of the +lantern called Fleur-de-Lis at the end of the famous double +balustered staircase. From there her glance wandered over the vast +extent of the park, with a circumference of eight leagues, and +enclosing, besides six or seven thousand acres of woodland, +twenty-three farms, whose buildings, cultivated fields, and +scattered flocks, animated the view in all directions. On +descending, she said: "I should like to mark my name here; I shall +love to see it again when I come to visit the Duke of Bordeaux." +And with a stiletto she cut these words: "18th June--Marie +Caroline." Some young girls presented her with lambs white as +snow, decorated with green and white ribbons, and with a tame roe, +on whose collar was engraved: "Homage of the people of Chambord." +The same day she paid visits at their chateaux to Marshal Victor, +Duke of Bellune, and to the Duke d'Avaray. In the evening she +returned to Blois. Madame left there the 19th of June, after +examining the Salle des Etats, the room in which the Duke of Guise +was assassinated, and the tower where Catharine de' Medici used to +consult the astrologers. The 20th, she attended at Saumur a +brilliant tournament given in her honor by the Cavalry School. The +2lst, she entered Angers amid shouts and cheers. The 22d, she +visited the chateau of Count Walsh de Serrant. Her carriage passed +under vaults of verdure adorned with flowers and banners. + +The Princess arrived the same day at Saint Florent, which, in +1793, had given the signal for the war of the Vendee, and where +the Vendean army had effected the famous passage of the Loire, +comparable to that of the Berezina. There the aged witnesses of +the struggles described by Napoleon as "a war of giants," had +assembled near the tomb of Bonchamp to await the Duchess of Berry. +All the neighboring heights were bristling with white flags. From +afar they were seen fluttering on the church-towers, on the +chateaux, over cottages, on isolated trees. They were to be seen +even above the graves in the cemeteries. A son had said: "My +father died for the white flag; let us plant it on his grave; the +dead should rejoice, for Madame comes to honor their fidelity." +The example was followed, and the tombs bore the rallying sign of +those who rested there. When on the borders of the Loire, the +Princess paused a moment, struck with the majesty of the scene. +The cannon mingled their noble voices with the acclamations of +fifteen thousand Vendedans. The stream was covered with a swarm of +boats, dressed with flags. A magnificent sun lighted up this fete. + +It was ten o'clock when Madame arrived at Milleraye, opposite +Saint Florent. It was there that General de Bonchamp, one of the +heroes of the Vendee, had given up his soul to God. The cottage +where the soldiers had laid him to die was shown. His widow +awaited the Duchess of Berry. What contrast between the festivity +of Saint Florent and the consternation of the days of grief and +misfortune, when, in October, 1793, its people fled to the right +bank of the Loire, leaving their houses a prey to the flames! The +cries of distress and despair which sounded along the banks of the +stream in that fatal year, were now replaced by shouts of joy. +Madame embarked amid cheers. Her boat was escorted by a great +number of others, six of which contained Vendeans bearing flags +torn by bullets in the battles of Fontenay and of Torfou, of +Laval, and of Dol. Grouped on the hill-slopes of Saint Florent, +more than fifteen thousand spectators followed with their gaze the +flotilla, in the midst of which they saw the Duchess of Berry, +standing, visibly agitated. She landed upon the plateau of Saint +Florent, and ascended on foot the hill that led to it. When she +reached the summit, she found herself in the midst of a camp of +five thousand Vendean soldiers who had taken part in the war of +1793 or in the arming of 1815. There it was that Cathelineau, as +in the time of the crusades, cried: "It is God's will. Let us +march!"--"Oh, what a people!" said the Princess. "What fine and +honest faces! What an accent in their cries of 'Long live the +King!' Yes, plainly they love us." She proceeded to the church of +Saint Florent, where, kneeling beneath a canopy, she heard Mass. +She regarded with attention the tomb of Bonchamp, and said, as she +beheld his statue: "He looks as if he were still commanding." + +On leaving the church, she went to see the place where Bonchamp is +buried, and, under a tent, partook of a repast offered her by the +Countess d'Autichamp. She had recounted to her in detail the +celebrated passage of the Loire, the disastrous period when all +the city of Saint Florent was burned by order of the Convention, +and the only house left standing was the one occupied by the +republican General LEchelle as his headquarters. + +At three o'clock in the afternoon, Madame embarked anew on the +steamboat awaiting her at the point of Varades, and proceeded in +this way to Nantes. The inhabitants from the two banks of the +stream greeted her upon her passage. The red aprons and white caps +of the women contrasted, in the landscape, with the sombre, +costume of the men. That she might be better recognized by the +crowd, the Princess, clad in a simple robe of brown silk, with a +long chain of gold at the neck, separated herself from her suite, +mounted to the highest point on the boat, and greeted with voice +and gesture all these faithful people. The men waved banners and +standards. The women raised their little children in their arms +and said: "Look at her well; it's the mother of the Duke of +Bordeaux." + +The people seemed to walk upon the water to get a nearer view of +Madame. Not a rock pushing out into the stream that was not +occupied. Where the Loire was too wide for the features of the +Princess to be seen from the shore, the dwellers on the banks had, +so to speak, brought them together, by forming in the middle of +the stream streets of boats, with their flags and their triumphal +arches. At a league from Saint Florent a rock juts into the water +of the Loire. Here was an aged Vendean, all alone, his white hair +fluttering in the wind. Erect upon the rock, he was holding a +white flag, and at his feet was a dog. It was, according to the +Moniteur, a symbol of faithful Vendee. + +The same day, June 22, at seven in the evening, the Princess +reached Nantes. She passed on foot from the Port Maillard to the +Prefecture, and had difficulty in getting through the innumerable +multitude. The next day she was at Savenay, where, on leaving the +church, she paused to contemplate the monument raised to the +memory of the victims of the battle of the 23d of September, 1793. +The 24th, she went to Saint Anne d'Auray, a pilgrimage venerated +throughout all Brittany, and visited the Champ des Martyrs, the +little plain where thirty-three years before, the EMIGRES taken at +Quiberon had been shot, despite their capitulation. When Madame +appeared on the consecrated field, the crowd cheered her, then +became still, and amid solemn silence, sang the de Profundis. + +The 25th, the Princess was at Lorient, and there laid the corner- +stone of the monument erected to Bisson, the lieutenant of the +navy who, in the Greek expedition, October, 1827, being charged +with the command of a brig taken from the Turks by Admiral de +Rigny's fleet, blew up the vessel, with the crew, rather than +surrender. After visiting Rennes, she returned to Nantes, the 28th +of June. A triumphal arch had been constructed on the Place des +Changes, with this inscription: "Lilies for our Bourbons. Laurels +for Henry. Roses for Louise." The flower and fruit girls had +written on their arch of verdure: "Our flowers, our fruits, our +hearts, are Madame's." The 29th, the Duchess attended a +magnificent ball given by the city. The next day she visited the +Trappist Convent at Melleray. It was difficult to persuade her to +go away. "Where shall I find more happiness than here?" she said. +"Elsewhere there are pleasures and distractions, but none here. +Since I make them happy, I would remain; and I am very well +pleased." + +The 30th, at evening, Madame arrived at Tremiciniere, at the house +of the Countess de Charette, the sister-in-law of the famous +Vendean chief. July 1, she entered Bocage. From there no more wide +roads, no more cities of easy approach; bad ways, long distances +without relays, obstacles of all sorts. Clad in a green riding- +habit, with a gray felt hat and a gauze veil, Madame galloped +between Madame de la Rochejaquelein and Madame de Charette. At her +arrival at Saint Hilaire, the Marquis de Foresta, Prefect of La +Vendec, said to her: "Madame does not like phrases; La Vendee does +not make them; it has but one sentiment and one cry to express it: +Long live the King! Long live Madame! Forever live the Bourbons!" + +The peasants never wearied of admiring her intrepidity. When her +horse, excited by the cries and the beating of the drums, pranced +and reared, they were heard to say: "Oh! the brave little woman; +she is not frightened." A villager exclaimed: "I have never +regretted my old father so much as today; one day like this would +have repaid him for all the hardships he suffered." + +Madame passed the night at the Chateau of Lagrange, the property +of the Marquis de Goulaine. On entering her chamber she found by +her bed a night-lamp, with this motto: "Rest tranquilly; La Vendee +is watching." + +On the 3d of July, she visited the Champ des Mattes, where in 1815 +the Marquis Louis de La Rochejaquelein was killed at the head of +the Vendeans in insurrection against Napoleon. The same day she +was at Bourbon-Vendee. The 5th of July, at the crossing of the +Quatre Chemins, in sight of the roads from Nantes, from Bourbon, +from Saumur, and from La Rochelle, she laid the first stone of a +monument to perpetuate the memory of the Vendean victories. She +returned afterward to the Chateau de Mesnard, the property of her +first equerry, the one who traced so well the itinerary of her +journey. All the inhabitants of the bourg of Mesnard had taken +part in the great Vendean war, and, their cure at their head, +marched as far as Granville. The mother of the first equerry, then +a widow, and whose two sons were in the army of Conde, had +followed her former peasants, with her daughter, and died at +Lagrande at the time of the disastrous retreat. Madame de la +Rochejaquelein, in her Memoirs, speaks of the sad state in which +she saw her. In memory of so much devotion, Madame wished to open +a bal champetre with a veteran of the bourg of Mesnard. + +That night the Princess slept at the Chateau of Landebaudiere, +belonging to Count Auguste de La Rochejaquelein. Everywhere the +villagers came to the gates of the chateaux to enlist in their +joys as formerly they had enlisted in their combats,--Lescure, La +Rochejaquelein, d'Elbee, Charette. The 6th, Madame visited the +field of the battle of Torfou. A former officer of the army of La +Vendee, noting that she wore a green riding-habit, said to her: +"We were always attached to our uniform, but we cherish it more +than ever to-day, when we see that we wear the colors of Madame." +--"Gentlemen," replied the Princess, "I have adopted your uniform." +She breakfasted in the open air, amid the Vendeans under arms. + +Madame continued her journey on horseback. Nothing could stop her, +neither oppressive heat nor rain-storms. When she was spoken to of +her fatigues, "It is only fair," she responded, "that I should +give myself a little trouble to make the acquaintance of those who +have shed their blood for us." Most of the time she took her +repast in the open air. The peasants strolled around the table and +fired salutes with their old muskets; for in Vendee there is no +fete without powder. Then to the sound of the biniou and of the +veze they moved in joyous dances in which the daughter of kings +did not disdain to take part. On entering every village she was +greeted by the cures of the parish and the neighboring parishes. +Nearly all were old soldiers whose hands had borne the sword +before carrying the cross. + +Near the boundaries of the department of La Loire-Inferieure +Madame alighted. "Here is a farm," she said; "let us knock and ask +for some milk." The doors were not closed. On entering the room of +the farm-wife,--who was absent,--the Princess found only a very +little infant asleep and swaddled in a cradle. Then she seated +herself on a stool, and after the fashion of the country, set +herself to rocking, with her foot, the babe of the poor peasant- +woman. The 6th of July, at nine in the evening, she reached +Beaupreau. The city, built in the form of an amphitheatre, was +illuminated; an immense bonfire had been lighted. The next day +Madame laid the corner-stone of a monument in honor of d'Elbee, +and saluted at Pinen-Mauges, the statue of Cathelineau. The 8th of +July, she was at the Chateau of Maulevrier, whose owner, M. de +Colbert, had erected a monument to the memory of Stofflet, the +heroic huntsman. The same day, at Saint Aubin, she laid the first +stone of another monument raised to the four heroes of La Vendee, +--Dornissan, Lescure, Henry and Louis de La Rochejaquelein. + +The 10th of July, the Princess was at Lucon, the 11th at La +Rochelle, the 12th at Rochefort, the 13th at Blaye, the 14th at +Bordeaux. The "faithful city," as the capital of the Gironde was +then named, distinguished itself by its enthusiasm. A little girl +of eight years, Mademoiselle du Hamel, surrounded by her young +companions, daughters of members of the municipal government read +a welcome to the mother of the Duke of Bordeaux as follows:-- + +"Madame, while our fathers have the honor to offer you their +hearts and their arms, permit us, children, to offer to you the +flowers and the prayers of innocence. In choosing me as their +interpreter, my young companions have doubtless wished to recall +to you an angel who is dear to you; but if alone of them all I +have the fortune to count the same number of years as +Mademoiselle, we all rival each other in cherishing you, we all +repeat with an enthusiasm rendered purer and more simple by our +age, Long live the King! Long live Madame!" + +In the evening the "Mother of the Little Duke," as the Bordelais +called the Princess, went to the chief theatre, where she was +received with frenzied applause. The statue of the Duke of +Bordeaux, supported by soldiers under a canopy of flags, and +crowned with laurels, was brought to the front of the stage, while +a cortege formed by a detachment of troops of the line, and by all +the company of the theatre, filed by, military music resounded. +Then a cantata was sung. + +On the morrow, at a grand ball offered to her by the city, Madame +was seated upon a platform that was surmounted by a fine portrait +of her son. Eight hundred women, crowned with white plumes, +flowers, and diamonds, cheered her. The 18th, she slept at Pau, +the native place of Henry IV. The mountaineers, descending from +their heights, banner in hand, with their Basque costumes, came to +meet her. The next day she visited the castle where was born the +Bearnais, whose cradle, formed of a great tortoise-shell, she saw: +it was shaded by draperies and white plumes. The following day she +visited the environs. To descend into the valley of Ossun, she +donned the felt hat and the red sash worn by the peasants of +Bearn. As she was looking at the spring of Nays, a mountaineer +offered her some water in a rustic dish, and said naively: "Are +you pleased with the BEarnais, Madame?"--"Am I not pleased!" +replied the Princess, eagerly. "See, I wear the hat and sash of +the country!" + +The 24th, she was at the Ile des Faisans, famous in the souvenirs +of Louis XIV.; the 25th, at Bayonne, where she assisted at a +military fete. In all her excursions, Madame carried her pencils +with her, and almost every day sketched some picturesque site. +Eight Bearnais, with an amaranth belt and hats of white and green, +served her as a guard of honor. She passed all the month of August +and a part of the month of September in the Pyrenees. The +mountaineers never wearied of admiring the hardihood, the gaiety, +the spirit, shown by her in making the most difficult ascensions. +The 9th of September, she quitted Bagneres-de Luchon to return to +Paris, passing through Toulouse, Montauban, Cahors, Limoges, and +Orleans. It was one long series of ovations. The 1st of October, +Madame returned to the Tuileries. She had been accompanied all +through her journey by the Marechale Duchess of Reggio, lady of +honor; by the Marchioness of Podenas, lady companion; and by Count +de Mesnard, first equerry. + +The Duchess of Berry returned enchanted. Could she suspect the +reception that awaited her, four years later, in the places where +she had just been the object of veritable worship? When she was +received at Nantes as a triumphant sovereign, could she believe +that the time was approaching when, in that same city, she would +have hardly a stone on which to lay her head and where she would +seek a futile refuge in the chimney-piece--mysterious hiding- +place--of the house of the Demoiselles Duguigny? At Blaye could +she imagine that the citadel, hung with white flags, whose cannon +were fired in her honor, would so soon become her prison? Poor +Princess! She had taken seriously the protestations of devotion +and fidelity addressed to her everywhere. They asked her to +promise that if ever the rights of her son were denied, she would +defend them on the soil of La Vendee, and she had said to herself: +"I swear it." The journey of 1828 held the germ of the expedition +of 1832. + + + + + +XXIV + +THE MARY STUART BALL + + +No society in Europe was more agreeable and brilliant than that of +the Duchess of Berry. The fetes given by the Princess in the +salons of the Pavilion de Marsan at the Tuileries were marked by +exceptional elegance and good taste; the Petit Chateau, as her +vivacious social staff was called at that time, had an +extraordinary brightness and animation. At the carnival of 1829 +Madame organized a costume ball, which, for its brilliancy, was +the talk of the court and the city. All the costumes were those of +one period,--that at which the dowager queen of Scotland, Marie of +Lorraine, widow of James V., came to France to visit her daughter, +Mary Stuart, wife of the King, Francis II. It was decided that +Mary Stuart should be represented by the Duchess of Berry, and the +King, Francis II., by the oldest of the sons of the Duke of +Orleans, the Duke of Chartres, who was then eighteen and one-half +years old, and who was, the next year, to take the title of Duke +of Orleans, on the accession of his father to the throne. The +apartments of the Children of France in the Pavilion de Marsan +were chosen for the ball, and the date was fixed at Monday, March +2, 1829. + +The King, the Dauphin and Dauphiness, the Duke and Duchess of +Orleans, appeared at the fete, but not in costume. Charles X. came +after the hour of giving out the general orders. The Dauphin, the +Dauphiness, and the Duke of Orleans arrived at 8 P.M. The entry of +the four queens, Mary Stuart, Marie of Lorraine, Catharine de' +Medici, Jeanne d'Albret, was announced by the band of the +bodyguards which preceded them. The cortege was magnificent, the +costumes of the princes and their ladies resplendent. To increase +its richness, the Dauphiness had lent not only her own jewels, but +a part of those of the crown. The invited guests not taking part +in the cortege occupied places already assigned them. They wore a +uniform costume of silver gauze and white satin. This coolness of +tone produced a charming effect when at the arrival of the cortege +all rose. In the ball-room a platform had been prepared with a +throne for Mary Stuart. The Duchess of Berry, as the famous queen, +wore with great grace a dazzling toilet--crown of diamonds, high +collar, blue velvet robe with wide sleeves, front of white satin +bordered with ermine. The Duke of Chartres, a handsome boy and +brilliant cavalier, as King Francis II., wore a cap with white +plumes, and a dark blue velvet doublet with ornaments of gold. His +brother, the Duke of Nemours, fourteen years old, was in the +character of a page to the King, with a white satin doublet, and +recalled in his features the youth of Henry IV. The Duchess of +Berry, playing to perfection her role of queen, advanced to the +throne. The Duke of Chartres gave her his hand to ascend the +steps. Then she made a sign to be seated; but the young Prince +remained standing. Placing himself behind the throne, and removing +his cap with white plumes, he bowed low and said: "Madame, I know +my place." The Duchess of Gontaut spoke to the Duchess of Orleans, +and asked her if she had remarked the tact of her son the Prince. +"I remarked it," replied the Princess, "and I approve of it." + +The ball commenced. There was present a great Scotch lord, the +Marquis of Huntley, who belonged to a very illustrious Jacobite +house. In his youth he had been what was then called a beau +danseur, and had had the honor of opening a fancy dress ball at +the Chateau of Versailles with the Queen Marie Antoinette. Charles +X. remembered it and wished that the Marquis, then nearly eighty, +should open the ball with little Mademoiselle, who was but nine. +Still a beau danseur, the old Englishman had not forgotten the +pirouettes of Versailles; all the court admired, and the young +princes were greatly amused. + +The ball was a marvellous success. It was a revival of the +beautiful fetes of the Renaissance. The sixteenth century, so +elegant, so picturesque, lived anew. A painter, who was then but +twenty-nine, and who had already a great vogue, M. Eugene Lamy, +perpetuated its memory in a series of twenty-six watercolors, +which have been lithographed, and form a curious album. (A copy of +this album is in the National Library, in the Cabinet of +Engravings.) It contains, besides, four water-colors, representing +one, the ascent of the stairway of the Pavilion de Marsan by the +guests; another, Mary Stuart seated on the throne; a third, one of +the dances of the ball; a fourth, the entrance of the Dowager +Queen of Scotland twenty-two reproductions of the principal +personages at the fete. At the left are the arms of the historic +personages represented, and at the right those of the +representative. Then above the portrait of the Duchess of Berry +there are at the left the arms of Scotland and France, and at the +right those of France and the Two Sicilies, and above the portrait +of the Duke of Chartres at the left the arms of France, at the +right the ducal blazon of Orleans. + +Here are the names of the twenty-two persons who figure in the +album of M. Eugene Lamy, with the personages represented:-- + +1. The Duchess of Berry (Mary Stuart). + +2. The Duke of Chartres (Francis II.). + +3. The Duke de Nemours (a king's page). + +4. Lady Stuart de Rothsay (Marie de Lorraine). Daughter of Lord +Hardwicke, she was the wife of Lord Stuart de Rothsay, ambassador +of England at Paris. + +5. The Marquis of Douglas, since Duke of Hamilton (the Duke de +Chatellerault), a finished type of the great Scotch lord; he +married in 1843 the Princess Mary of Baden, and under the reign of +Napoleon III. added to his titles of Hamilton and of Brandon in +Scotland and England, the title of Duke de Chatellerault, in +France, which had formerly belonged to the Hamilton family. + +6. The Marchioness of Podenas, NEE Nadaillac (Catharine de' +Medici). Lady companion of the Duchess of Berry, she was one of +the brightest women of the court. + +7. The Count de Pastoret, married to a de Neufermeil (Duke of +Ferrara). + +8. The Marquis de Vogue (the Vidame de Chartres). Married to a +Mademoiselle de Machault d'Arnouville; his son was the diplomat +who was ambassador under the presidency of Thiers and of Marshal +Macmahon. + +9. Count Ludovic de Rosanbo (Duke de Guise). He was one of the +handsomest men of his time. He had married the daughter of the +Count de Mesnard, lady companion to the Duchess of Berry. + +10. The Countess de La Rochejaquelein, daughter of the Duke de +Duras (a lady of honor to the Queen). She was honorary lady +companion to the Duchess of Berry. + +11. Miss Louise Stuart (a page to the Queen-Mother of Scotland). + +12. Miss Pole Carew (Mary Seaton, maid of honor to the same +queen). + +13. The Count de Mailly (Rene de Mailly, officer of the guard to +Mary Stuart). The Count was the son of the Marshal de Mailly, +defender of the Tuileries on August 10, who paid for his devotion +on the scaffold of the Revolution. Aide-de-camp of the Duke of +Bordeaux, and lieutenant-colonel; he was a brilliant officer who +had received glorious wounds in the Russian campaign. He was +married to a Mademoiselle de Lonlay de Villepail. + +14. The Countess d'Orglandes, NEE Montblin, one of the prettiest +women of the court (Louise de Clermont-Tonnerre, Countess of +Crussol). + +15. The Duchess de Caylus, NEE La Grange, a great beauty, +remarried afterwards to the Count de Rochemure (Diane de +Poitiers). + +16. Mademoiselle de Bearn, a charming young girl, married +afterwards to the Duke of Vallombrosa, and dying so young and so +regretted (a maid of honor to Mary Stuart). + +17. Count de Mesnard, peer of France, field marshal, first equerry +of the Duchess of Berry, aide-de-camp of the Duke of Bordeaux +(Admiral de Coligny). + +18. Marquis de Louvois, peer of France, married to Mademoiselle de +Monaco (Count Gondi de Ritz). + +19. The Duke of Richelieu, nephew of the President of the Council +of Ministers of Louis XVIII. (Jacques d'Albon, Marshal of Saint +Andre). + +20. The Baron de Charette (Francois de Lorraine). He had married a +daughter of the Duke of Berry and of Miss Brown. His son was the +general of the Papal Zouaves. + +21. Countess de Pastoret, NEE Neufermeil (the Duchess of +Montpensier). + +22. The Countess Auguste de Juigne, NEE Durfort de +Civrac (Jeanne d'Albret). + +Among the pages were the Duke de Maille, who carried the banner of +France, and Count Maxence de Damas. + +Eugene Lamy, at the age of eighty-seven, exhibited in 1887 a +charming water-color, of which the subject was "A Ball under Henry +III." He has the same talent, the same brightness, the same +freshness of coloring as when, fifty-eight years before, he +painted the water colors of the Mary Stuart ball. The Duke de +Nemours, one of the last survivors of the guests of this ball, +could recount its splendors. Even in the time of the old regime no +more elegant ball was ever seen. If such a fete had been given in +our time, the detailed accounts of it would fill the papers; but +under the Restoration the press was very sober in the matter of +"society news," and the dazzling ball of 1829 was hardly +mentioned. On the morrow, the Journal des Debats said:-- + +"PARIS, 2d of March. + +"The ball given at the Pavilion Marsan, in the apartments of the +Children of France, was honored by the presence of the King, M. +the Dauphin and Madame the Dauphiness. Mgr. the Duke of Orleans +and his family arrived at eight o'clock. + +"Tomorrow there will be a play at the Court Theatre; the actors of +the opera will play La Muette de Portici." + +Beside the persons who figure in the album of M. Eugene Lamy many +others were to be noted. Let us mention the Countess Hemi de +Biron, the Marchionness Oudinot, the Countess de Noailles, who +represented Margaret of Savoy, Claude Duchess of Lorraine, the +Princess de Conde, the Princess of Ferrara; the Count A. de Damas, +as Lanoue Bras-de-Fer; Monsieur de San Giacomo, as Francois de' +Medici; the Countess de Montault, as Countess de Coligny; the +Marchioness de Montcalm, as the Duchess de Bouillon; the flower of +the English aristocracy,--Lady Aldborough, Lady Rendlesham, Lady +Cambermere, Lady Vernon, Lord Ramlagh, Captain Drummond, Lord +Forwich, Lord Abayne, Miss Caulfuld, Miss Thelusson, Miss Baring, +Miss Acton, and, lastly, the Counts de Cosse de Biron, and de +Brissac, representing the three marshals of France whose names +they bore. + +In donning the costume of the unfortunate queen whose sorrows +could only be compared to those of Marie Antoinette, the Duchess +of Berry proved how free her mind was from all gloomy +presentiments, forgetting that the family of the Bourbons had +already had its Charles I., and not foreseeing that it was soon to +have its James II., the amiable Princess hardly suspected that in +the course of next year, she would be an exile in Scotland in the +castle of Mary Stuart. + + + + + +XXV + +THE FINE ARTS + + +From 1824 to the end of the Restoration, the department of the +Fine Arts, connected with the ministry of the King's household, +was confided to the Viscount Sosthenes de la Rochefoucauld, son of +the Duke de Doudeauville. He was then at the head of the museums, +the royal manufactures, the Conservatory and the five royal +theatres,--the Opera, the Francois, the Odeon, the Opera-Comique, +and the Italiens. + +From the point of view of arts and letters the reign of Charles X. +was illustrious. The King encouraged, protected, pensioned the +greater number of the great writers and artists who honored +France. What is sometimes called in literature the generation of +1830 would be more exactly described as the generation of the +Restoration. This regime can claim the glory of Lamartine, as +poet. A body-guard of Louis XVIII., he was the singer of royalty. +He published, in 1820, the first volume of his Meditations +Poetiques, in 1823 the second, and in 1829 the Harmonies. His +literary success opened to him the doors of diplomacy. He was +successively attache of the Legation at Florence, Secretary of +Embassy at Naples and at London, Charge d'Affaires in Tuscany. +When the Revolution of 1830 broke out, he had just been named +Minister Plenipotentiary to Greece. + +Victor Hugo published his Odes et Ballades from 1822 to 1828. "La +Vendee," "Les Vierges de Verdun," "Quiberon," "Louis XVII," "Le +Retablissement de la Statue de Henri IV.," "La Mort du due de +Berry," "La Naissance du duc de Bordeaux," "Les Funerailles de +Louis XVIII.," "Le Sacre de Charles X.," are true royalist songs. +Alexandre Dumas, FILS, in receiving M. Leconte de Lisle at the +French Academy, recalled "the light of that little lamp, seen +burning every night in the mansard of the Rue Dragon, at the +window of the boy poet, poor, solitary, indefatigable, enamoured +of the ideal, hungry for glory, of that little lamp, the silent +and friendly confidant of his first works and his first hopes so +miraculously realized." Who knows? without the support of the +government of the Restoration the light of that little lamp might +less easily have developed into the resplendent star that the +author of La Dame aux Camelias indicated in the firmament. + +The author of Meditations Poetiques and the author of the Odes et +Ballades were sincere in the expression of their political and +religious enthusiasm. These two lyric apostles of the throne and +the altar, these two bards of the coronation, obeyed the double +inspiration of their imagination and their conscience. Party +spirit should not be too severe for a regime that suggested such +admirable verses to the two greatest French poets of the +nineteenth century--to Lamartine and to Victor Hugo. + +Let us recall also that in Victor Hugo it was not only the +royalist poet that Charles X. protected, it was also the chief of +the romantic school; for the government, despite all the efforts +of the classicists, caused Hernani to be represented at the +Francais, a subsidized theatre. When the Academy pressed its +complaint to the very throne to prevent the acceptance of the +play, the King replied wittily that he claimed no right in the +matter beyond his place in the parterre. The first representation +of Hernani took place the 25th of February, 1830, and the author, +decorated, pensioned, encouraged by Charles X., did not lose the +royal favor, when, on the 9th of March following, he wrote in the +preface of his work: "Romanticism, so often ill-defined, is +nothing, taking it all in all--and this is its true definition, if +only its militant side be regarded--but liberalism in literature. +The principle of literary liberty, already understood by the +thinking and reading world, is not less completely adopted by that +immense crowd, eager for the pure emotions of art, that throngs +the theatres of Paris every night. That lofty and puissant voice +of the people, which is like that of God, writes that poetry +henceforth shall have the same matter as politics! Toleration and +liberty!" + +The first representation of a work that was a great step forward +for the romantic school, Henri III et sa Cour, by Alexandre +Dumas, had already taken place at the Francais, February 11, 1829. +The 30th of March, 1830, the Odeon gave Christine de Suede, by the +same author. + +In 1829, Alfred de Vigny had represented at the Francais his +translation in verse of Othello. It was from 1824 to 1826 that the +poet published his principal poems. It was in 1826 that his +romance of Cinq-Mars appeared. Victor Hugo published Les +Orientates in 1829; Alfred de Musset, Les Contes d'Espagne et +d'Italie in 1830. It may be said then that before the Revolution +of 1830, romanticism had reached its complete expansion. + +Note, also, that the government of Charles X. always respected the +independence of writers and artists, and never asked for eulogies +in exchange for the pensions and encouragement it accorded them +with generous delicacy. It named Michelet Maitre de Conferences at +the Ecole Normale in 1826. It pensioned Casimir Delavigne, so well +known for his liberal opinions, and Augustin Thierry, a writer of +the Opposition, when that great historian, having lost his +eyesight, was without resources. It ordered of Horace Vernet the +portraits of the King, the Duke of Berry, and the Duke of +Angouleme, as well as a picture representing a "Review by Charles +X. at the Champ-de-Mars," and named the painter of the battles of +the Revolution and the Empire director of the School of Rome. + +From the point of view of painting as well as of letters, the +Eestoration was a grand epoch. Official encouragement was not +wanting to the painters. Gros and Gerard received the title of +Baron. There may be seen to-day in one of the new halls of the +French School at the Louvre, the pretty picture by Heim, which +represents Charles X. distributing the prizes for the Exposition +of 1824, where Le Vaeu de Louis XIII. by Ingres had figured, and +where the talent of Paul Delaroche had been disclosed. In the +Salon Carre of the Louvre, the King, in the uniform of general-in- +chief of the National Guards, blue coat with plaits of silver, +with the cordon of the Saint Esprit, and in high boots, himself +hands the cross of the Legion of Honor to the decorated artists, +among whom is seen Heim, the author of the picture. + +Ingres, chief of the Classic School, and Delacroix, chief of the +Romantic School, shone at the same time. In 1827, the first +submitted to general admiration l'Apotheose d'Homere and Le +Martyre de Saint Symphorien. The same year Delacroix, who had +already given in 1824 Le Massacre de Scio, in 1826 La Mort du Doge +Mariano Faliero, exhibited LE Christ au Jardin des Oliviers, +acquired for the Church of Saint Paul; Justinien,--for the Council +of State; and La Mort de Sardanapale. + +When the Musee Charles X. (the Egyptian Museum) was opened at the +Louvre, the government ordered the frescoes and ceilings from +Gros, Gerard, Ingres, Schnetz, Abel de Pujol. M. Jules Mareschal +says:-- + +"The right-royal munificence of Charles X. was not marked by +niggardliness in the appreciation of works of art any more than in +the appreciation of the works of science and letters. But, as is +known, it is not by interest alone that the heart of the artist is +gained and his zeal stimulated. They are far more sensitive to the +esteem shown them, to the respect with which their art is +surrounded, and to the taste manifested in the judgment of their +productions. Now, who more than Louis XVIII. and Charles X. +possessed the secret of awakening lively sympathy in the world of +artists and men of letters? Who better than their worthy +counsellor seconded them in the impulses of generous courtesy so +common with them? Thus from this noble and gracious manner of +treating men devoted to art and letters, which marked the royal +administration of the Fine Arts under the Restoration, sprang an +emulation and a good will which on all sides gave an impetus to +genius, and brought forth the new talents." + +In theatrical matters, the Viscount Sosthenes de La Rochefoucauld +exercised a salutary influence. He loved artists, and wishing to +raise their situation, moral and social, he deplored the +excommunication that had been laid on the players. + +Speaking of the stage, he wrote in a report addressed to Charles +X., June 20,1825: "I perceive that I have forgotten the most +essential side,--the moral, I will even say the religious side. +What glory it would be for a king to raise this considerable class +of society from the abject situation in which it is compelled to +live! Sacrificed to our pleasures, it has been condemned to +eternal death, and a king believes his conscience quiet! For a +long time I have cherished this thought; we must begin by +elevating these people, as regards their art, by reforming, little +by little, the swarming abuses that awaken horror, and end by +treating with Rome in order to obtain some just concessions that +would have important results." + +In another report to the King, dated October 21, 1826, M. de La +Rochefoucauld wrote, apropos of the obsequies of Talma:-- + +"A profound regret for me is the manner of the great tragedian's +death. Sire, would it not be worthy of the reign, the breast, the +conscience of Charles X., to draw this class of artists from the +cruel position in which they are left by that excommunication that +weighs upon them without distinction? Whether they conduct +themselves well or ill, the Church repels them; this reprobation +holds them perforce in the sphere of evil and disorder, since they +have no interest in rising above it. Honor them, and they will +honor themselves. It is time to undertake the reform of what I +call a pernicious prejudice. The clergy itself is not far from +agreeing on these ideas." + +In his relations with authors, artists, directors of theatres, the +Viscount was courtesy itself. We read in one of his reports (June +17, 1825):-- + +"Rossini is the first composer of Europe; I have succeeded in +attracting him to the service of France; he had before been +tempted in vain. Jealous of his success, people have cried out +that he was an idler, that he would do nothing. I secured him by +the methods and in the interest of the King; I can do with him as +I will, as with all the artists, though they are most difficult +people. They must be taken through the heart. Rossini has just +composed a really ravishing piece; and, touched by the manner in +which he is treated, he wishes to present it to the King in token +of his gratitude, and wishes to receive nothing. He is right, but +the King cannot accept gratis so fine a present; I propose that +the King grant him the cross of the Legion of Honor and announce +it himself to him to-morrow--which would be an act full of grace. +All favors must come always from the King." + +Great tenacity was needed in the government of Charles X. to get +the Chefs-d'Oeuvre of Rossini represented at the Opera. A little +school of petty and backward ideas rushed, under pretext of +patriotism, but really from jealousy, systematically to drive from +the stage everything not French. For this coterie Rossini and +Meyerbeer were suspects, intruders, who must be repulsed at any +cost. The government had the good sense to take no account of this +ridiculous opposition, which refused to recognize that art should +be cosmopolitan. Before seeing his name on the bills of our first +lyric stage, Rossini required no less than nine years of patience. +All Europe applauded him, but at Paris he had to face the fire of +pamphleteers rendered furious by his fame. The government finally +forced the Opera to mount Le Siege de Corinthe. Its success was so +striking that the evening of the first representation (October 9, +1826), the public made almost a riot for half an hour, because +Rossini, called loudly by an enthusiastic crowd, refused to appear +upon the stage. + +The maestro gave at the Opera Moise, March 26, 1826; Le Comte Ory, +August 20, 1828; Guillaume Tell, August 20, 1829. (At this time +the first representations of the most important works took place +in midsummer.) The evening of the first night of Guillaume Tell, +the orchestra went, after the opera, to give a serenade under the +windows of the composer, who occupied the house on the Boulevard +Montmartre, through which the Passage Jouffroy has since been cut. +The 10th of February, 1868, on the occasion of the hundredth +representation of the same work, there was a repetition of the +serenade of 1829. The master then lived in the Rue Chaussee +d'Antin, No. 2. Under his windows the orchestra and chorus of the +opera commenced the concert about half an hour after midnight, by +the light of torches, and Faure sang the solos. + +The government which secured the representation of Guillaume Tell +was not afraid of the words "independence" and "liberty." A year +and a half before, the 20th of February, 1828, there had been +given at the Opera the chef-d'oeuvre of Auber, La Muette de +Portici, and the Duchess of Berry, a Neapolitan princess, had +applauded the Naples Revolution put into music. + +The government of Charles X. protected Meyerbeer as well as +Rossini. Robert le Diable was only played under the reign of Louis +Philippe, but the work had already been received under the +Restoration. + +During the reign of Charles X. the fine royal theatres reached the +height of their splendor: the Francais and the Odeon were +installed in their present quarters; the Opera in the hall of the +Rue La Peletier, excellent as to acoustics and proportions; the +Italiens in the Salle Favart (where they remained from 1825 to +1838); the Opera Comique in the Salle Feydeau, until the month of +April, 1829, when it inaugurated the Salle Ventadour. Talma, +Mademoiselle Duchesnoir, Mademoiselle Mars, triumphed at the +Francais; Mademoiselle Georges, at the Odeon; Nourrit, Levasseur, +Madame Damoreau, Taglioni, at the Opera; Sontag, Pasta, Malibran, +and Rubini at the Italiens. + +The Viscount de la Rochefoucauld wished in every way to raise the +moral level of the theatre. He forbade subscribers, even the most +influential, the entree behind the scenes of the Opera, because +these persons had not always preserved there the desirable +decorum. Thence arose rancor and spite, against which he had to +contend during his entire administration. He wrote to the King, +July 29, 1828:-- + +"A cabal is formed to deprive me of the direction of the theatres; +and by whom and for what? It is a struggle, Sire, between good and +evil. It is sought to maintain, at any cost, the abuses I have +dared to reform. They throw a thousand unjust obstacles in my way. +Gamblers are mixed up in it too; they wish to join this ignoble +industry and the theatres. It is a monstrous infamy. The opera +must be reached at all hazards, the coulisses must be entered; +these are the abuses that must be revived. How can it be done? By +removing the theatres from troublesome authority ... Sire, Your +Majesty shall decide, and must defend me with a firm will in the +interest, I venture to declare, of order; you must defend yourself +also in the interest of morals and of art, and of a great +influence of which it is sought to deprive you." + +M. de La Rochefoucauld had the last word, and remained at the head +of the direction of the Fine Arts until the close of the +Restoration. To the credit of his administration there must still +be added the creation of the school of religious music, directed +by Choron, and the foundation of the concerts of the conservatory +with Habeneck, and a little against the wishes of Cherubini. The +chefs-d'oeuvre of German music were brought out as well as those +of Italian music. The Viscount performed his task con amore, as +they say on the other side of the Alps. He wrote to Charles X. +January 12, 1830:-- + +"How many reflections must have come to the King on regarding the +picture of the Coronation! I divined the thought that he did not +complete, and my eyes filled with tears. Oh, how much I feel and +imagine all the ennui given to the King by these barren and +unfortunate politics! I detest them more even than the King +detests them. Ungrateful offspring of the times, they fly away, +rarely leaving even a memory. How much I prefer the arts!" + +This was also the feeling of the Duchess of Berry, who, during all +the Restoration, fled from surly politics to live in the region, +radiant and sacred, of art and charity. The taste of this Italian +lady for painting and music was a veritable passion. She was +forever to be found in the museums, the expositions, the theatres. +She caught the melodies by heart and was always interested in new +works. An expert, a dilletante, was no better judge of pictures +and operas; the great artists who shone in the reign of Charles X. +received from the amiable Princess the most precious +encouragements. Nor did she forget to encourage the efforts of +beginners. "Who, then," she said, "would buy the works of these +poor young people, if I did not?" + + + + + +XXVI + +THE THEATRE OF MADAME + + +One of the most agreeable theatres of Paris, the Gymnase, owed its +prosperity, not to say its existence, to the high protection of +Madame the Duchess of Berry. Our old men recall its vogue, at the +time when they used to applaud Ferville, Gontier, Numa, Leontine +Fay, Jenny Verspre, and when they used to gaze at the greatest +ladies of the court, the most fashionable beauties; and they +remember that on its facade, from the month of September, 1824, to +the Revolution of 1830, there was this inscription in letters of +gold: "Theatre de Madame." Placed under the patronage of the +Princess, this fortunate theatre was a meeting-place of the most +elegant society of Paris. It had the same audiences as the Opera +and the Italiens, and they enjoyed themselves as much in the +entr'actes as during the acts. The spectacle was in the hall as +well as on the stage. + +The origin of the Gymnase goes back to 1820. According to the +privilege accorded to the new stage under the Decazes ministry, it +was to be only a gymnase composed of the young pupils of the +Conservatoire, and other dramatic and lyric schools, and was +authorized only to present fragments from the various repertories. +But from the beginning it transgressed the limits set for it. Not +content with simple pupils, it engaged actors already well known. +In place of borrowing debris of the repertories of other theatres, +it created one of its own. At first the authorities shut their +eyes. But when M. de Corbiere became Minister of the Interior, he +tried to enforce the regulations and to compel the new theatre to +confine itself to the limits of its privilege. The Gymnase asked +for time, was very meek, prayed, supplicated. It would have +succumbed, however, but for the intervention of the Duchess of +Berry. Scribe composed for the apartments of the Tuileries a +vaudeville, called La Rosiere, in which he invoked the Princess as +protectress, as a beneficent fairy. She turned aside the +fulminations of M. de Corbiere. The minister was obstinate; he +wished the last word; but the Princess finally carried the day. +The day after he had addressed to the director of the Gymnase a +warning letter, he was amazed to hear the Duchess of Berry say: "I +hope, Monsieur, that you will not torment the Gymnase any longer, +for, henceforth, it will bear my name." + +The minister yielded. The Gymnase was saved. It kept its company, +its repertory; it gained the right to give new pieces. From the +first days of September, 1824, it took the name of Madame the +Duchess of Berry. After the death of Louis XVIII., the 16th of +that month, the Duchess of Angouleme having replaced her title of +Madame by that of Dauphiness, and the Duchess of Berry taking the +former, the Gymnase was called the Theatre de Madame. + +The programme of the Gymnase was constantly being renewed. Scribe, +whose verve was inexhaustible, wrote for this theatre alone nearly +one hundred and fifty pieces. It is true that he had +collaborators,--Germain Delavigne, Dupin, Melesville, Brazier, +Varner, Carmouche, Bayard, etc. It was to them that he wrote, in +the dedication of the edition of his works:-- + +"To my collaborators: My dear friends, I have often been +reproached for the number of my collaborators; for myself, who am +happy to count among them only friends, I regret, on the contrary, +that I have not more of them. I am often asked why I have not +worked alone. To this I will reply that I have probably neither +the wit nor the talent for that; but if I had had them I should +still have preferred our literary fraternity and alliance. The few +works I have produced alone have been to me a labor; those I have +produced with you have been a pleasure." + +Eugene Scribe was born December 25, 1791, at Paris, Rue Saint- +Denis, near the Marche des Innocents. His father, whom he lost +early, kept a silk store, at the sign of the Chat Noir, where he +had made a considerable fortune. Eugene commenced his career as a +dramatic writer in 1811. From that time to his death (February 20, +1861), he composed alone, or with associates, and had represented +on the various stages of Paris, more than four hundred plays. M. +Vitel said, at the reception of M. Octave Feuillet, at the French +Academy, March 26, 1863:-- + +"There was in Scribe a powerful and truly superior faculty, that +assured to him and explained to me his supremacy in the theatre of +his day. It was a gift of dramatic invention that perhaps no one +before him has possessed; the gift of discovering at every step, +almost apropos of nothing, theatrical combinations of a novel and +striking effect; and of discovering them, not in the germ only, or +barely sketched, but in relief, in action, and already on the +stage. In the time needed by his confreres to prepare a plot, he +would finish four, and he never secured this prodigious fecundity +at the expense of originality. It is in no commonplace mould that +his creations are cast. There is not one of his works that has not +at least its grain of novelty." + +On his part, M. Octave Feuillet, a master in things theatrical, +said in his reception discourse:-- + +"One of the most difficult arts in the domain of literary +invention, is that of charming the imagination without unsettling +it, of touching the heart without troubling it, of amusing men +without corrupting them; this was the supreme art of Scribe." + +They are very pretty, very alert, very French, these plays of the +Theatre de Madame. They have aged less than many pretentious works +that have aimed at immortality. There is hardly one of them +without its ingenious idea, something truly scenic. We often see +amateurs seeking pieces to play in the salons; let them draw from +this repertory; they will have but an embarrassment of choice +among plays always amusing and always in good form. + +Scribe said, in his reception discourse at the French Academy +(January 28, 1836):-- + +"It happens, by a curious fatality, that the stage and society are +almost always in direct contradiction. Take the period of the +Regency. If comedy were the constant expression of society, the +comedy of that time must have offered us strong license or joyous +Saturnalia. Nothing of the sort; it is cold, correct, pretentious, +but decent. In the Revolution, during its most horrible periods, +when tragedy, as was said, ran the streets, what were the theatres +offering you? Scenes of humanity, of beneficence, of +sentimentality; in January, 1793, during the trial of Louis XVI., +La Belle Fermiere, a rural and sentimental play; under the Empire, +the reign of glory and conquest, the drama was neither warlike nor +exultant; under the Restoration, a pacific government, the stage +was invaded by lancers, warriors, and military costumes; Thalia +wore epaulettes. The theatre is rarely the expression of society; +it is often the opposite." + +Scribe was an exception to the rule thus laid down by him. The +Theatre de Madame is an exact painting of the manners, the ideas, +the language of the Parisian bourgeoisie in the reign of Charles +X. Villemain was right in saying to Scribe, on receiving him at +the Academy:-- + +"The secret of your success with the theatre lies in having +happily seized the spirit of your century and in making the sort +of comedies to which it is best adapted and which most resemble +it." + +The world that the amiable and ingenious author excels in +representing, is that of finance and the middle classes; it is the +society of the Chaussee d'Antin, rather than that of the Faubourg +Saint Germain. His Gymnase repertory is of the Left Centre, the +juste milieu, nearer the National Guard than the royal guard. The +protege of Madame the Duchess of Berry never flattered the ultras. +There is not in his plays a single line that is a concession to +their arrogance or their rancor; not a single phrase, not one +word, that shows the least trace of the prejudices of the old +regime; not one idea that could offend the most susceptible +liberal. It is animated by the spirit of conciliation and +pacification. We insist on this point because we see in it a proof +that a Princess who took under her protection a kind of literature +so essentially modern and bourgeois, never thought of reviving a +past destroyed forever. + +The 28th of June, 1828, when the struggles of the liberals and the +ultras were so heated, Eugene Scribe, in connection with M. de +Rougemont, wrote for the Gymnase a piece entitled Avant, Pendant, +Apres, historical sketches in three parts. Avant was a critique of +the view of the old regime; Pendant, a critique of those of the +Revolution; Apres an appeal for harmony under the Charter and +liberty. This piece seems to us very curious, as a true programme, +a faithful reflection of the ideas of the haute bourgeoisie of +Paris a little before 1830. + +The principal personage is a great liberal noble, the General +Count de Surgy, who has served gloriously in the armies of the +Republic and of the Empire, and at the close is named as deputy to +represent an intelligent and wise royalism. By the side of the +General is a certain Viscount, who has lived in a savage island +since the wreck of La Perouse, and who, more royalist than the +King, finds himself among strangers and is utterly dumfounded on +beholding the new France. Let us cite some fragments of this piece +in which there is more acuteness, more observation, more truth, +than in many of the studies called psychologic or historic:-- + +"THE GENERAL. Ah, do not confuse Liberty with the excesses +committed in her name. Liberty, as we understand her, is the +friend of order and duty; she protects all rights. She wishes +laws, institutions, not scaffolds. + +THE MARQUIS. Alas! of what service to you are your courage and +your wise opinions? You are denounced, reduced as I am, to hiding, +after shedding your blood for them. + +THE GENERAL. Not for them but for France. The honor of our country +took refuge in the armies, and I followed it there. I have done a +little good; I have hindered much evil, and if the choice were +still mine, I should follow the same route. + +A VOICE (in the street). A great conspiracy discovered by the +Committee of Public Safety. + +THE GENERAL. Still new victims. + +THE MARQUIS. They who did not respect the virtues of Malesherbes, +the talents of Lavoisier, the youth of Barnave, will they recoil +from one crime more? + +THE GENERAL. Decent people will get weary of having courage only +to die. France will reawaken, stronger and more united, for +misfortune draws to each other all ranks, all parties; and already +you see that we, formerly so divided, are understanding each other +better at last, and love each other more than ever. + +THE MARQUIS (throwing himself into the General's arms). Ah, you +speak truly." + +This scene passes in the midst of the Terror. The conclusion, the +moral of the piece, is as follows:-- + +"THE GENERAL. My friends, my fellow-citizens, we who, after so +many storms have finally reached port, and who, under the shelter +of the throne and the laws, taste that wise and moderate liberty +which has been the object of our desires for forty years; let us +guard it well, it has cost us dear. Always united, let us no +longer think of the evil done, let us see only the good that is, +let us put away sad memories, and let us all say, in the new +France, 'Union and forgiveness.'" + +Among the spectators more than one could recognize himself in the +personages of the piece. But the allusions were so nicely made +that no one could be offended. Liberals and ultras could, on the +contrary, profit by the excellent counsels given them in the +little play of the Theatre de Madame. + +Let us add, moreover, that Scribe never wished to be anything but +a man of letters. There could be applied to him the words said by +him of his confrere, friend, and nephew, Bayard:-- + +"A stranger to all parties, he speculated on no revolution; he +flattered no one in power, not even those he loved. He solicited +no honors, no places, no pension. He asked nothing of any one but +himself. He owed to his talent and his labor his honor and his +independence." + +The device chosen by Scribe is a pen, above which is the motto: +Inde fortuna et libertas. The Duchess of Berry knew how to +understand and appreciate this man of wit and good sense. For his +part, Scribe avowed for the Princess a sentiment of gratitude that +he never falsified. When the days of ill fortune came for her, he +journeyed to bear his homage to her upon a foreign soil. + + + + + +XXVII + +DIEPPE + + +Dieppe has not forgotten the benefits received from the Duchess of +Berry. It was this amiable Princess that made fashionable the +pretty Normandy city and made it the most elegant bathing resort +of Europe. She made five visits there, of several weeks each, in +1824, 1825, 1826, 1827, and 1829. + +The Duchess came for the first time to Dieppe some time before the +death of Louis XVIII. She arrived the 29th of July, and left the +23d of August. She conceived immediately a passion for the +picturesque town, as famous for its fine beach as for its smiling +environs. The enthusiasm manifested for her by the inhabitants +touched her. She said to the mayor: "Henri IV. was right when he +called the Dieppois his good friends. I shall imitate my ancestor +in his love for them." + +The next year--the year of the coronation--Madame returned to her +favorite city. She arrived there the 2d of August, 1825. More than +twenty thousand persons were awaiting her at the boundary of the +district, and her entry was triumphal. The 6th of August, the +actors of the Gymnase, come from Paris, gave a theatrical +representation in her honor. + +Madame made many excursions by sea. There was on her boat a tent +of crimson silk, above which floated the white flag. The little +flotilla of the royal navy had manoeuvres in her honor, and +saluted her with salvos of artillery. The 10th of September, the +Princess made an excursion to Bacqueville, where there awaited her +a numerous cortege of Cauchois women, all on horseback, in the +costume of the country. The 12th, she breakfasted in the ship Le +Rodeur, and a recently constructed merchant vessel was launched in +her presence. She departed the 14th, promising to return the +following year. + +Accordingly, Madame left Paris for Dieppe the 7th of August, 1826. +The morrow of her arrival, she assisted at the inauguration of a +new playhouse that had been built within six months. The mayor +presented the Princess with some keys, artistically worked--the +keys to her loge and to her salon. The prologue of the opening +piece, entitled La Poste Royale, was filled with delicate +allusions and compliments. The 17th of August, there was a +performance offered by Madame to the sailors and soldiers of the +garrison. From his place in the parterre a subordinate of the 64th +regiment of the line sang, in honor of the Princess, some couplets +expressing the sentiments of his comrades. + +The 19th, there was a visit to the ruins of the Chateau of Arques, +immortalized by the victory of Henry IV. An agreeable surprise for +Madame was a comedy for the occasion improvised by the actors of +the Vaudeville. When the Princess presents herself before the +Chateau, a little peasant girl at first refuses her admittance. +She has received orders, she says, from her father and mother to +open to no one, no matter whom. But the air Vive Henri IV. is +heard, and straightway both doors are opened wide to the Princess. +An old concierge and his wife sing piquant verses about their +first refusal to open to her. From here Madame is guided by the +little peasant girl to the entrance of an ancient garden, where +she perceives the whole troupe in the costume of gardeners and +garden girls. She is offered bouquets and escorted to a dairy at +the extremity of the ruins. The band of the guard plays for her +her favorite air, Charmante Gabrielle. A young milk-maid--the +pretty actress Jenny Colon--offers her a cup of milk and sings +couplets that please her greatly. Then comes the husband of the +dairy-maid and recounts to the grand-daughter of Henry IV. the +victory won by her ancestor over the Duke of Mayenne. A little +later, Madame is conducted to the foot of an ancient tower, whence +there is a view of immense extent. Here she is arrested by the +songs of an ancient minstrel, whose voice is accompanied by +mysterious music hidden in the hollows of the ruins. + +Going from surprise to surprise, the Princess trav erses a long +arch of verdure where she reads on escutcheons the dates dear to +her heart. At the end of this long avenue, she again finds the +entire troupe of the Vaudeville, who re-escort her to the gates of +Chateau, singing a general chorus of farewell, amid cries of "Long +live the King! Long live Madame!" the effect of which is doubled +by repeated salutes of artillery. + +Some days later, the 7th of September, the Duchess of Berry +learned, during the day, that a frightful tempest threatened to +engulf a great number of fishing-boats which were coming toward +port. Instantly she countermanded a ball that she was to give that +evening. She proceeded in all haste to the point whence aid could +be given to these unfortunates. Clinging to a little post on the +jetty, which the waves covered from all sides, she directed and +encouraged the rescue. The Dieppe correspondence of the Moniteur +said:-- + +"What has been seen at Dieppe alone, is a young Princess, braving +all the dangers of a wild sea, re maining on the end of the jetty +to direct the succor of the fishing-boats that were seeking refuge +in the harbor. She seemed placed there by the Deity as a +protecting angel, and the sailors who saw her took courage again." + +She withdrew from the dangerous place, which she called her post, +only when all the barks had entered port. One man only had +perished. Before even changing her clothing the Princess sent +relief to his widow. + +By her kindness, her charity, her grace, Madame won all hearts. +Her protection revived at Dieppe the commerce in ivory and laces. +She gave two brevets, one in her own name, the other in that of +Mademoiselle, to the best two manufacturers in the city, and made +considerable purchases. She founded at her expense, under the +direction of the Sisters of Providence, a manufactory of laces +where a large number of young girls obtained at the same time the +means of living and the benefits of a Christian education. Between +the Princess and her good city of Dieppe there was a constant +exchange of delicate attentions and proofs of sympathy. When she +was spoken to of preparations for departure, "Already?" she said +sadly. She left the 19th of September, 1826, and returned the +following year. + +The 6th of August, 1827, Madame made an entry to Dieppe by the +hamlet of Janval. A great crowd went to visit her, and greeted her +with enthusiastic cheers. The 13th of August, the city offered her +a great ball, at which more than twelve hundred persons attended. +On the 16th, the portrait of the Princess was unveiled at the +Hotel de Ville. At the moment that the veil was raised, the band +of the fifth regiment of the royal guard played the air of Vive +Henri IV. amid long applause. The mayor of Dieppe, M. Cavalier, +pronounced a discourse in which he expressed the gratitude of the +inhabitants, and promised that the cherished image should be +surrounded, age after age, by the veneration of a city whose +history was one of constant devotion to its Kings. In the evening +Madame gave a soiree at which the hereditary Princess of Hesse- +Darmstadt was present. Rossini was at the piano and sang with his +wife and with Balfe; Nadermann played the harp. + +The Duchess of Berry made numerous excursions by sea, even in the +worst weather. One day, at least, she was in some danger. The +sailors admired her good spirits and her courage. "Oh," they said, +"she is indeed a worthy descendant of Henry IV." + +The 4th of September, 1827, Mademoiselle, with her governess, the +Duchess of Gontaut, came to join her mother at Dieppe. The little +Princess was to be eight years old the 2lst of the month. A formal +reception was given her. Her arrival was announced by the noise of +cannon and the sound of bells. The Baron de Viel-Castel, sub- +prefect of the city, made a complimentary address to her. She +responded in the most gracious manner, "I know how much you love +my mother, and I loved you in advance." + +Madame, who had gone to meet her daughter at Osmonville, three +leagues from Dieppe, took her in her carriage. The horses +proceeded at a walk, and the people never wearied of admiring the +gentle little Princess. On the morrow, Madame received the homage +of the functionaries. The mayor said to her: "Your Royal Highness +is in a country filled with your ancestors, in a city honored by +Henry IV. with special benevolence, which Louis XIV. rewarded for +its fidelity by calling it 'his good city,' which your august +aunt, Madame the Dauphiness, deigned to choose for her return to +France, and which received her, triumphant and adored." + +An elegant breakfast service in ivory, with her arms, was +presented to Mademoiselle by a group of very young people. She +next received a deputation of the fisherwomen of Du Polet, the +faubourg of Dieppe. They came in their picturesque costumes,--a +skirt falling a little below the knee, men's buckled shoes, a +striped apron of white and red, an enormous head-dress, with broad +tabs, and great ear-rings. They sang couplets expressing a lively +attachment to the family of the Bourbons. In their enthusiasm they +asked and obtained leave to kiss the little Princess. + +On the 6th of September, there was a fete at the ruins of the +Castle of Arques. From seven in the morning the crowd gathered on +the hillside of Saint Etienne, at the edge of the coast between +Martin-Eglise and the village of Arques. It is a magnificent site, +which, towering above the valley, is surrounded on all sides by +grim hill-slopes, while in the distance is the sea, along the edge +of which extends the city of Dieppe, like a majestic dike. A mimic +battle took place in the presence of Madame and her daughter, on +the ground where Henry IV. had delivered the famous battle of +September 21, 1589. Numerous strokes on the flags of different +colors indicated the lines of the Bearnais, and circumscribed the +enceinte occupied by his troops. An obelisk had been placed at the +highest point of this sort of entrenched camp; in the centre was a +post tent, under which a rich breakfast had been prepared for the +two princesses. During the repast, both put their names to a +subscription to erect a monument commemorating the victory of +their ancestor. + +The 14th of September, the city offered a ball to Madame and +Mademoiselle. The little Princess danced two quadrilles. The 15th, +she offered lunch to a great number of children of her own age, +and afterward went with them to the theatre. The 18th, at the +close of the play, some scenes were represented before Madame, +mingled with verses, expressing the regret of the city at the near +departure of Madame. The next day, the Princess and her daughter +left Dieppe, between double lines of troops and National Guards. + +The journey of the Duchess of Berry in the West, in 1828, +prevented her from going that year to Dieppe. She came in 1829, +but it was for the last time. She arrived the 6th of August, with +her daughter. The next day she danced at a subscription ball given +by the city and by the visitors to the baths; the 8th she received +a visit from the Dauphiness, who passed three days with her. + +For every fete there was a corresponding good work. The Princess +said: "I wish that while I am enjoying myself the poor may also +have their share." The 18th of August, she visited the bazaar +opened for the benefit of the indigent. Mademoiselle had conceived +the idea of writing her name on little objects of painted wood, +which were bid for at their weight in gold. The 24th, Madame gave +a concert, at which the Sontag sisters were heard and some stanzas +of the Viscount of Castel-bajac were recited. The 25th, the city +offered a ball to Mademoiselle, at which the grace of the little +Princess, her tact, and her precocious amiability, excited +surprise. The 9th of September, the inauguration of the monument +commemorative of the victory of Henry IV. took place in the +presence of Madame and her daughter. It was a column indicating +the point where the army of Mayenne debouched to surround the +King's troops, when, the fog rising, the artillery of the castle +could be brought into play, and threw into disorder the ranks of +the Leaguers. The inauguration interested the Duchess much. The +troops of the line and the National Guard had established bivouacs +where the princesses read with joy such inscriptions as these: +"The young Henry will find again the arquebusiers of Henry IV.-- +The flag of the 12th will always rally to the white plume!--Two +Henrys--one love, one devotion." + +A table of forty covers had been arranged under a pavilion draped +with flags. After the repast Madame and Mademoiselle danced +several quadrilles on the grass. The fete was charming. An +expression of joy was depicted on every face. + +At the time of her various sojourns at Dieppe, the Duchess of +Berry went to visit the Orleans family at the Chateau d'Eu, She +manifested toward her aunt, Marie-Amelie, the liveliest affection, +and had no courtier more amiable and assiduous than the young Duke +of Chartres, whom, it is said, she wished to have as husband for +Mademoiselle. The 9th of September, she had been at the baptismal +font, with the Duke of Angouleme, the Duke of Montpensier, the +latest son of the Duke of Orleans. She was very fond of her god- +son, and nothing was more agreeable to her than a reunion at the +Chateau d'Eu, where Mademoiselle was always happy, playing with +her young cousins. + +The Duchess of Berry and her daughter returned to Saint Cloud the +16th of September, 1829. On leaving, Mademoiselle said to the +Dieppois: "My friends, I will come back next year, and I will +bring you my brother." Neither she nor her mother was to return. + + + + + +XXVIII + +THE PRINCE DE POLIGNAC + + +At the very moment that the Duchess of Berry, happy and smiling, +was tranquilly taking the sea-baths at Dieppe, an event occurred +at Paris that was the signal for catastrophes. The 9th of August, +1829, the Moniteur published the decree constituting the cabinet, +in which were included the Prince de Polignac as Minister of +Foreign Affairs; Count de La Bourdonnaye as Minister of the +Interior; and as Minister of War, the General Count de Bourmont. +The next day the Debats said:-- + +"So here is once more broken the bond of love and confidence that +was uniting the people to the Monarch. Here once again are the +court with its old rancors, the Emigration with its prejudices, +the priesthood with its hatred of liberty, coming to throw +themselves between France and her King. What she has conquered by +forty years of travail and misfortune is taken from her; what she +repels with all the force of her will, all the energy of her +deepest desires, is violently imposed upon her. Ill-fated France! +Ill-fated King!" + +The 15th of August the Debats reached a paroxysm of fury:-- + +"If from all the battle-fields of Europe where our Grand Army has +left its members, if from Belgium, where it left the last +fragments of its body, and from the place where Marshal Ney fell +shot, there arise cries of anger that resound in our hearts, if +the column of the Grand Army seems to tremble through all its +bronze battalions, whose is the fault? No, no; nothing is lacking +in this ministry of the counter-Revolution. Waterloo is +represented. ... M. de Polignac represents in it the ideas of the +first Emigration, the ideas of Coblenz; M. de La Bourdonnaye the +faction of 1815 with its murderous friendships, its law of +proscription, and its clientele of southern massacres. Coblenz, +Waterloo, 1815, these are the three personages of the ministry. +Turn it how you will, every side dismays. Every side angers. It +has no aspect that is not sinister, no face that is not menacing. +Take our hatreds of thirty years ago, our sorrows and our fears of +fifteen years ago, all are there, all have joined to insult and +irritate France. Squeeze, wring this ministry, it drips only +humiliations, misfortunes, dangers." + +The Abbe Vedrenne, historian of Charles X., wrote:-- + +"How is the language of the writers of the Debats, who called +themselves royalists, to be understood? Was not Charles X. at +Coblenz? Did not Chateaubriand emigrate with the King and the +princes? Did he not follow Louis XVIII. to Ghent? Was he not in +his council at the very hour of the battle of Waterloo? They might +as well have stigmatized the white flag and demanded the +proscription of the King's dynasty. But such was their blindness +that they feared nothing for it. 'The throne runs no risk,' said +Chateaubriand, 'let us tremble for liberty only.' Yet the +nomination of the Polignac ministry was an error. It appeared to +be a provocation, a sort of defiance. Charles X. doubtless only +wished to defend himself, but in choosing such ministers at such +an hour, he appeared to be willing to attack." + +From the debut of the new cabinet, the Opposition, to use a recent +expression, showed itself irreconcilable. It raised a long cry of +anger, and declared war to the death on Prince Polignac. + +"It is in vain," said the Debats, "that the ministers demand of +Time to efface with a sweep of his wing their days, their actions, +their thoughts, of yesterday; these live for them, as for us. The +shadow of their past goes before them and traces their route. They +cannot turn aside; they must march; they must advance.--But I wish +to turn back.--You cannot.--But I shall support liberty, the +Charter, the Opposition.--You cannot. March, then, march, under +the spur of necessity, to the abyss of Coups d'Etat! March! Your +life has judged and condemned you. Your destiny is accomplished." + +The man who excited hatreds so violent was Jules de Polignac. He +was born at Versailles, May 14, 1780. As the German historian, +Gervinus, has said: "His past weighed upon him like a lash of +political interdict. He was the son of the Duchess of Polignac, +who had been the object of so many calumnies, and who had never +been pardoned for the intimate friendship with which she was +honored by the unfortunate queen, Marie Antoinette, a friendship +that had evoked against her, first all the jealousies of the +envious courtiers, and then all the aversion of the people. It was +believed that a like favoritism could be recognized in the +relations of the son of the Duchess with Charles X. To this +unpopularity, inherited from his mother, was joined another that +was directed against the person of the emigre." + +After having been one of the courtiers of the little court at +Coblenz, he had taken service for some time in Russia, and then +passed into England, where he had been one of the most intimate +confidants, and one of the most active agents of the Count +d'Artois. Sent secretly into France, with his elder brother, the +Duke Armand de Polignac, he was, like the latter, compromised in +the Cadoudal conspiracy. Their trial is remarkable for the noble +strife of devotion, in which each of the brothers pleaded the +cause of the other at the expense of his own. Armand was condemned +to death. His wife threw herself at the feet of the First Consul, +who, thanks to the intercession of Josephine, commuted the penalty +of death to perpetual confinement. Jules was condemned to prison, +and shared the captivity of his brother. Confined at first in the +castle of Ham, then in the Temple, then at Vincennes, they +obtained, at the time of the marriage of Napoleon with Marie +Louise, their transfer to a hospital. There they knew the General +Mallet, but the part they were suspected of taking in his +conspiracy was never proven. When the allied armies entered +France, they succeeded in escaping, and rejoined the Count +d'Artois at Vesoul. They penetrated to Paris some days before the +capitulation, and displayed the white flag there the 3d of March, +1814. + +Peer of France, field-marshal, ambassador, the Prince Jules de +Polignac was one of the favorites of the Restoration. On the +proposition of M. de Chateaubriand, then Minister of Foreign +Affairs, he had him named, in 1823, ambassador to London, where he +had shown a genuine talent for diplomacy. The example of England +made him think that in France the liberties of the constitutional +regime could be combined with the directing influence of an +aristocracy. That was his error and the cause of his fall. Some +weeks before his accession to the ministry, he had solemnly +affirmed in the Chamber of Peers, that he considered the Charter +as a solemn pact, on which rested the monarchical institutions of +France, and as the heavenly sign of a serene future. But the +liberals did not believe his word, and accused him of striving to +re-establish the old regime. + +Even at court the accession of the Prince de Polignac did not fail +to cause apprehension. Charles X., having announced to the Duchess +of Gontaut that he was going to appoint him minister, added: "This +news must give you pleasure; you know him well, I believe." The +Duchess replied: "He has been absent a long time. I only knew him +when very young." The King resumed: "Do not speak of it; it is my +secret as yet." Madame de Gontaut could not keep from smiling, for +she held several letters from London in her hand, among others one +from the sister-in-law of the Duke of Wellington, announcing the +news. Charles X. wished to see the letters. "He is good, loyal," +they said, "loving the King as one loves a friend, but feeble, and +with bad surroundings. It is doubted whether he can ever rise to +the height of the post in which the King wishes to place him." + +Charles X., wounded by the indiscretion of the Prince, and also by +that of the Duke of Wellington, who divulged what he himself was +keeping secret, returned the letter to Madame de Gontaut, and +remarked:-- + +"It is very thoughtless in Jules to have spoken of it so soon, and +in the Duke to have published it." The Duchess of Gontaut, who was +used to frank talk with the King, said: "In the circumstances +existing, I long for, I confess it frankly, and at the risk of +displeasing Your Majesty, yes, I long for the Martignac ministry." + +Then, adds the Duchess in her unpublished Memoirs, the King, more +impatient than ever, turned his back on me, and took his way to +his apartment. I had had the courage to tell him my thought and +the truth. I did not repent it. When we saw each other again the +same day he did not speak to me again of it. + +One of those most devoted to the elder branch, the Duke Ambroise +de la Rochefoucauld-Doudeauville, also says in his Memoirs:-- + +"The King sincerely wished for the Charter, whatever may be said, +but he wished for the monarchy; he, therefore, decided to change +ministers who had made promises that seemed to him fatal, and to +replace them by others whose principles suited him better. He was +not happy in this choice, it must be agreed. He took as Minister +of Foreign Affairs and President of the Council the Prince de +Polignac. For a long time public opinion had foreseen this choice, +and dreaded it. At the commencement of the Restoration M. de +Polignac for more than a year had refused to recognize the Charter +and to swear fidelity to it, which made him regarded as the +pronounced enemy of our institutions. Was this antipathy real? I +do not think so. He had for a long time lived in England, as +ambassador, and was thoroughly imbued with principles at once very +constitutional and very aristocratic, after the English fashion. +His devotion was great, as well as his personal merit, but his +resources as a statesman were not so much so; he took his desire +to do well for the capacity to do well, and he mistook." + +When he assumed the direction of affairs the Prince de Polignac +was wholly surprised at the systematic and obstinate opposition +that he encountered. As M. Guizot said, "he was sincerely +astonished that he was not willingly accepted as a minister +devoted to the constitutional regime. But the public, without +troubling itself to know if he were sincere or not, persisted in +seeing in him the champion of the old regime and the standard- +bearer of the counter-Revolution." + +Although he had passed a part of his life in England, first as +emigre, then as ambassador, and had married as his first wife an +English lady, Miss Campbell, and as his second another, the +daughter of Lord Radcliffe, the Prince de Polignac was French at +heart. + +No Minister of Foreign Affairs in France had in higher degree the +sentiment of the national dignity. Yet this is the way the Debats +expressed itself, the 16th of August, 1829, about a man who, the +next year, at the time of the glorious Algiers Expedition, was to +hold toward England language so proud and firm:-- + +"The manifesto of M. de Polignac comes to us from England. That is +very simple. We have a minister who scarcely knows how to speak +anything but English. It takes time to relearn one's native tongue +when one has forgotten it for many years. It appears even that one +never regains the accent in all its freedom and purity. In fact, +the English have not given us M. de Polignac; they have sold him +to us. That people understand commerce so well." + +Despite all the violent criticisms, all the implacable hatreds by +which he was incessantly assailed, the Prince de Polignac was a +noble character, and no one should forget the justness of soul +with which, from the commencement to the end of his career, he +supported misfortune and captivity. The Viscount Sosthenes de La +Rochefoucauld, afterwards the Duke of Doudeauville, says, in his +Memoirs:-- + +"The purest honor, the loftiest disinterestedness, the sincerest +devotion, are not everything, there is needed a capacity for +affairs, a knowledge of men, which experience alone procures and +which even the strongest will cannot give. M. de Polignac had all +the qualities of the most devoted subject, but his talent did not +rise to the height of his position. If it had been necessary only +to suffer and to march to death, no one, surely, could have +equalled him; but more was requisite, and he remained beneath the +level of the circumstances he thought he was overcoming; the fall +of the throne was the consequence. How he developed, though, and +grew great when in duress, and who should flatter himself that he +could bear up with a firmness more unshaken against the severest +trials? If M. de Polignac is not a type of the statesman, he will +at least remain the complete model of the virtues of the Christian +and the private citizen." + +The Prince de Polignac was mistaken, but he acted in good faith. +No one can dispute his faults, but none can suspect the purity of +his intentions. Unfortunately his royalism had in it something of +mysticism and ecstasy that made of this gallant man a sort of +illumine. He sincerely believed that he had received from God the +mission to save the throne and the altar, and foreseeing neither +difficulties nor obstacles, regarding all uncertainty and all fear +as unworthy of a gentleman and a Christian, he had in himself and +in his ideas, that blind, imperturbable confidence that is the +characteristic of fanatics. In a period less troubled, this great +noble would perhaps have been a remarkable minister of foreign +affairs, but in the stormy time when he took the helm in hand, he +had neither sufficient prudence nor sufficient experience to +resist the tempest and save the ship from the wreck in which the +dynasty was to go down. + + + + + +XXIX + +GENERAL DE BOURMONT + + +The new Secretary of War awoke no less lively anger than the +Prince de Polignac. He was a general of great merit, bold to +temerity, brave to heroism, and a tactician of the first order. +But his career had felt the vicissitudes of politics, and like so +many of his contemporaries,--more, perhaps, than any of them,--he +had played the most contradictory parts. Equally intrepid in the +army of Conde, in the Vendean army, and in the Grand Army of +Napoleon, he had won as much distinction under the white flag as +under the tricolor. The Emperor, who was an expert in military +talent, having recognized in him a superior military man, had +rewarded his services brilliantly. But it is difficult to escape +from the memories of one's childhood and first youth. + +General Count de Bourmont, born September 2, 1773, at the Chateau +of Bourmont (Maine-et-Loire), amid the "Chouans," had shared their +religious and monarchical passions. Officer of the French Guards +at sixteen, and dismissed by the Revolution, he followed his +father at the beginning of the Emigration, lost him at Turin, then +went to join the Count d'Artois at Coblenz. He took part in the +campaign of 1792, until the disbandment of the Prince's army, +served as a simple cavalryman in the army of Conde, then threw +himself into La Vendee in the month of October, 1794. He was +second in command of the troops of Scepeaux. The Vendean +insurrection of 1799 recognized him as one of its chiefs. Victor +at Louverne, he seized Mans the 15th of October, and was the last +to lay down his arms. + +Bourmont had a passion for the life of the camp. When the royal +troops had laid down their arms, he was ready to fight in the +ranks of the imperial troops rather than not to fight at all. He +distinguished himself in the Russian campaign, contributed to the +victory of Lutzen, made a heroic defence at Nugent during the +campaign in France, and was named general of division by the +Emperor. + +During the Hundred Days, General de Bourmont, guilty as was +Marshal Ney, abandoned the cause of Napoleon as the Marshal had +that of Louis XVIII. But there were attenuating circumstances for +their conduct. One could not resist the prestige of the Emperor, +nor the other that of the King. What aggravated the situation of +General de Bourmont was that, after having sought a command from +Napoleon, as Marshal Ney had from Louis XVIII., he deserted three +days before the battle of Waterloo. The royalist, the soldier of +the army of Conde, the "Chouan" had suddenly reappeared under the +General of the Empire. His King had summoned him, and impelled by +a false sentiment of conscience, he had responded to the appeal of +his King. But he was wrongly suspected of having delivered to the +English and Prussians the plans of Napoleon. + +One may read in the Memoirs of the Duke Ambroise de Doudeauville:-- + +"The Count de Bourmont was appointed Minister of War. He had to +meet grave prejudices. It was claimed that, having accepted +service under Bonaparte in the Hundred Days, he had deserted a few +hours before the battle of Waterloo, taking with him a great part +of the troops, and carrying to the enemy the plans and projects of +the campaign. I owe it to the truth to say that this story is +greatly exaggerated. I have it from Marshal Gerard himself--and +his testimony cannot be suspected--that some days before this +battle M. de Bourmont had written him that, summoned by Louis +XVIII., he believed it his duty to go to him, but promised to +guard the most religious silence. He kept his word, went alone, +carried away no plan, and faithfully kept the secret." + +The Duke adds:-- + +"I knew, from Charles X. himself, that he was very greatly +surprised at the accusation of desertion brought against M. de +Bourmont when he appointed him minister. He had not the least idea +that that reproach could be addressed to him, for he knew that the +General had but obeyed the orders of Louis XVIII., his legitimate +sovereign." + +Does not this phrase show the illusions of which Charles X. was +the victim? He never even suspected that his choice was a +challenge to the old soldiers of the Empire. Yet the violence of +the liberal press certainly extended the range of insult. "As for +the other," said the Journal des Debats disdainfully, "on what +field of battle did he win his epaulets? There are services by +which one may profit, which may even be liberally paid for, but +which no people ever dreamed of honoring." And, as if the allusion +was not sufficiently transparent, "I see," added the same writer, +"but one kind of discussion in which the minister can engage with +credit--that of the military code, and the chapter relating to +desertion to the enemy. There are among our new ministers those +who understand the question to perfection." As for the Figaro, it +confined itself to quoting this line from a proclamation of the +General during the Hundred Days: "The cause of the Bourbons is +forever lost! April, 1815.--BOURMONT." + +Despite the virulent attacks of the journals, General de Bourmont, +who had distinguished himself on so many battle-fields, had +authority with the troops, and the Expedition of Algiers the next +year was to show him to be a military man of the first order. If +Charles X. committed an error in naming him as minister, he +committed a greater one in sending him away from Paris before the +"ordinances," for no one was more capable of securing the success +of a coup d'etat. M. de Chateaubriand remarks:-- + +"If the General had been in Paris at the time of the catastrophe, +the vacant portfolio of war would not have fallen into the hands +of M. de Polignac. Before striking the blow, had he consented to +it, M. de Bourmont would beyond doubt have massed at Paris the +entire royal guard; he would have provided money and supplies so +that the soldiers would have lacked for nothing." + +We are inclined to think, however, that when he took the portfolio +of war General de Bourmont was not dreaming of a coup d'etat, and +that the Prince de Polignac had as yet no thought of it. This +minister, who was so decried, showed at the outset such an +inoffensive disposition that the Opposition was surprised and +disturbed by it. + +"The minister," said the Debats, "boasts of his moderation, +because in the ten days of his existence, he has not put France to +fire and sword, because the prisons are not gorged, because we +still walk the streets in freedom. From all this, nevertheless, +flows a striking lesson. There are men who were going to make an +end of the spirit of the century. Well, they do nothing!" + +The journals of the Right lamented this inaction. + +"If the ministerial revolution," said the Quotidienne, "reduces +itself to this, we shall retire to some profound solitude where +the sound of the falling monarchy cannot reach us." + +Then, more royalist than the King, M. de Lamennais wrote on the +subject of the new ministers: "It is stupidity to which fear +counsels silence." M. Guizot says in his Memoires pour servir a +l'histoire de mon temps:-- + +"This ministry, formed to overcome the Revolution and save the +monarchy, remained inert and sterile. The Opposition insultingly +charged it with impotence; it called it the hectoring ministry, +the dullest of ministries, and, for answer, it prepared the +expedition of Algiers and prorogued the Chambers, protesting +always its fidelity to the Charter, promising itself to get out of +its embarrassments by a majority and a conquest." + +The Duchess of Berry had seen without apprehension, and perhaps +even with pleasure, the nomination of the new ministers. +Tranquillity reigned in France. There was no symptom of agitation, +no sign of disquiet in the circle surrounding the Princess, and +after an agreeable stay of some weeks at Dieppe, she proceeded to +the south, where her journey was a triumph. + + + + + +XXX + +THE JOURNEY IN THE SOUTH + + +The journey of the Duchess of Berry in the south of France, in +1829, was scarcely less triumphant than that she had made in the +Vendee the year before. The object of the Princess was to meet her +family of the Two Sicilies, which was traversing the kingdom on +the way from Italy to Spain, to escort to Madrid the young Marie- +Christine, who was about to espouse King Ferdinand VII.--his +fourth wife. + +Born October 13, 1784, King since March 19, 1808, Ferdinand VII. +had married, first, Marie Antoinette, Princess of the Two +Sicilies; second, Isabelle-Marie Francoise, Princess of Portugal; +third, Marie-Josephe-Amelie, Princess of Saxony. He had chosen for +his fourth wife, Marie-Christine, Princess of the Two Sicilies, +born April 27, 1806. Sister of the father of the Duchess of Berry, +Marie-Christine was the daughter of Francois I., King of the Two +Sicilies, and his second wife, the Infanta of Spain, Marie- +Isabelle, born October 13, 1784, and sister of Ferdinand II. The +King of the Two Sicilies was escorting his daughter, Marie- +Christine, to the King of Spain, where she was to marry at Madrid +the 11th of December, 1829. Ferdinand VII. had a brother, the +Infante Francois de Paule, born March 10, 1784, who had espoused a +princess of the Two Sicilies, Louise-Caroline-Marie Isabelle, born +October 24, 1804, sister of the Duchess of Berry. From this +marriage was born the Infante Don Francisco of d'Assisi, husband +of Queen Isabelle. The Infante and Infanta Francois de Paule +traversed the south of France, to meet the Bourbons of Naples. We +may add that the Duchess of Orleans, sister of King Francois I., +aunt of Marie-Christine and of the Duchess of Berry, went with her +husband to the eastern frontier of France to meet her relatives. + +The Duchess of Berry, authorized by Charles X. to go to the south +to meet her father, her step-mother, and her sisters, left Saint +Cloud, October 10, 1829. The 17th, she was at Lyons, whither she +promised to return. At Valence, she found her step-brother and her +sister, the Infante and Infanta Francois de Paule, and returned +with them to Lyons, where, October 20, she was greeted by a great +crowd, eager to look upon her face. At the Grand Theatre Their +Highnesses assisted at a performance, in which the actor Bernard- +Leon, Jr., played the part of Poudret in Le Coiffeur et le +Perruquier. + +Their Highnesses quitted Lyons, October 23, visited the Grande- +Chartreuse the 24th, and were at Grenoble the 25th, where they met +the Bourbons of Naples, who arrived in that city the 31st, coming +from Chambery. The Duchess of Berry, the Infante and Infanta +Francois de Paule, the Duke and Duchess of Orleans, received them +at their entry into France. Everywhere, from the frontier to +Grenoble, the Sicilian Majesties were met by the authorities, the +mayors, the clergy. Triumphal arches were erected by various +communes. The one constructed by the Marquis de Marcieu, in the +wood of the avenue of his Chateau of Trouvet, was especially +remarked. This arch formed three porticoes, surmounted by the arms +of France, Naples, and Spain. Above were these words, "Love to all +the Bourbons." The grand avenue of the chateau was draped from one +end to the other. Every tree bore a white flag. Garlands of +verdure, mingled with these flags, formed an arbor that stretched +as far as the eye could see. Thirty young girls, clad in white, +crowned with flowers, and holding little flags in their hands, +were ranged in two lines near the arch. They offered to the King +of Naples, to the Queen and the princesses, bouquets and baskets +of fruits. When the cortege arrived before Grenoble, the mayor +said: "Sire, the descendants of Louis XIV. have imprescriptible +rights to our respect, to our love. We can never forget their +origin nor the indissoluble bonds that bind them to our native +land, and still less the virtues and goodness that distinguish +this illustrious dynasty." He added: "Sire, the city of Grenoble +deems itself happy in being the first city of France to present to +Your Majesties the homage of our respects, and to thank you for +the noble present you have made to our land in the person of your +illustrious daughter, Madame, Duchess of Berry. May the future +Queen of Spain long embellish the throne on which she is about to +take her seat, and reign over the hearts of her new subjects as +her heroic sister reigns over ours. Long live the King! Forever +live the Bourbons!" + +The Duchess of Berry accompanied her relatives to the Pyrenees. +The journey was a long series of ovations. Marie-Christine, who +was about to ascend the throne of Spain, never ceased to admire +the riches and beauty of France. "Ah, my sister," said the Duchess +of Berry to her, "do not contemplate it too much. You would not be +able to quit it!" During the entire passage--at Valence, Avignon, +Montpellier, Nimes--the people rivalled the authorities in making +the welcome as brilliant as possible. Perpignan was reached the +10th of Novemher. The King and Queen of Naples, the Duchess of +Berry, and the future Queen of Spain, journeyed together in an +uncovered caleche. Madame accompanied her relatives to the +frontier at Perthus, where she bade them adieu, the 13th of +November. The French troops from the foot of Bellegarde flanked +the right of the road. At the first salute fired from the fort, an +immense crowd of French and Spanish, who occupied the heights, +greeted with harmonious shouts the appearance of the royal +carriage. On an arch of triumph, erected on the Spanish side of +the frontier, floated the flags of the three peoples placed under +the sceptre of the Bourbons. That of France was in the middle and +seemed to protect those of Spain and Naples on either side. Thus +was indicated the mother branch of the three reigning families. +The adieux were made with effusion. The Duchess of Berry fell at +the feet of her father, who hastened to raise her and embrace her +tenderly. The two sisters threw themselves into each other's arms. +Then they parted. + +While the Bourbons of Naples were entering on the soil of Spain, +the Duchess of Berry returned to Perpignan. She left there the +14th, and the ovations were renewed along the route. The 16th, she +passed through Montpellier, where she admired the promenade of the +Peyrou, whence are perceived the sea, the Pyrenees, and the Alps, +and saw the foundations prepared for an equestrian statue of Louis +XIV. The 17th, at Tarascon, she breakfasted with the Marquis de +Gras-Preville, and was present at the games instituted by good +King Rene,--tambourine dances and the races of the Tarasque. The +18th, at Arles, she visited the Cloister of Saint Trophime, and +the Roman circus. About eighteen thousand persons were crowded on +the ancient benches. The galleries resounded with military music +which, borne from echo to echo, spread beneath all the arches. In +the evening the entire city was illuminated. From a balcony, the +Princess assisted at a pegoulade, a sort of torchlight promenade +of five or six hundred young people, who bore pieces of tarred +rope lighted at one end. She desired to see again these bizarre +and picturesque effects of light, this joyous procession, this +clamorous animation, and she had the enthusiastic cortege file a +second time under her windows. The 21st, she visited the Roman +theatre at Orange, one of the most curious ruins of the world. The +23d, she passed again through Lyons. The 28th, she was at the +Tuileries for dinner. + +The Duchess of Berry returned enchanted with her journey. Never +had the throne of the Bourbons seemed to her more solid, never +were the advantages of the family pact revealed in a more +brilliant manner. The Moniteur wrote: "The Princess Marie- +Christine has heard her name mingling in the air with that of her +whose son is one day to be King of France. Happy the new Queen, if +her presence shall deliver Spain from the factions that still +divide it, and if, finding beyond the mountains the same order, +devotion, prosperity, as in our provinces, she can cry, 'There are +no longer any Pyrenees.'" + +The Duchess of Berry had not found the inclinations of the south +less royalist than that of La Vendee. Everywhere protestations +were made to her, verging on lyrism, on idolatry; the idea of +suspecting such demonstrations never crossed her mind. She +persuaded herself that France loved her as much as she loved +France. + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Duchess Of Berry/Charles X +by Imbert de St-Amand + diff --git a/old/dberr10.zip b/old/dberr10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..68e077e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/dberr10.zip |