he was subject to several weaknesses still more prejudicial, which, in the end, precipitated himself and his family from the throne. He was extremely fond of the chase, and rivalled any of his royal ancestors in the passion for

creature of impulse, and yielded al- that ever sat upon the throne of France, ternately, like a woman, to many different and seemingly_contradictory external influences. But that very circumstance gave, as it does to a graceful enchantress, an indescribable charm to his manner. He was princely courtesy personified. None could with-hunting; but with him it was not a stand the fascination of his manner; recreation to amuse his mind amidst his bitterest enemies yielded to its in- more serious cares, but, as with the fluence, or were drawn by its seductions Spanish and Neapolitan princes of the into at least a temporary acquiescence house of Bourbon, a serious occupation, in his designs. He was a warm and which absorbed both the time and the faithful friend; in early youth he had strength that should have been devoted been an ardent though volatile lover, to affairs of State. A still more danbut the misfortunes of middle life had gerous weakness was the blind submistrained him to more serious and manly sion, which increased with his advancduties. His heart was warm, his be-ing years, that he yielded to the Roman nevolence great, his charity unbound- Catholic priesthood. He had been in ed. He sincerely desired the good of former times passionately attached to a his people, and had the greatest wish very charming lady, Madame de Polfor their affection, which, by encour-lastron; and on her deathbed he had aging the love of popularity, led him vowed that he would never yield to a sometimes into many doubtful or fresh passion, but devote to the Most dangerous acts. High the fidelity which he had sworn to her in this world. He did so the resolution, however respectable in its principle, induced a change in his character more fatal than any female influence could by possibility have been; for it brought him under the direction, not of the changeful caprices of beauty, the very volatility of which often prevents their being attended with any serious danger, but of a firm and consistent priesthood, whose undying influence was unceasingly directed, wholly regardless of consequences, to the augmentation of the power and authority of their own body.

3. A pretty fable was told of the Regent Orleans at his birth, that all the fairies were invited to his christening, and each brought a gift of some mental quality to adorn his future life. One brought courage, one genius, a third the graces, and so on. To one old fairy, however, no invitation had been sent, and in anger she came, and in spite brought a gift which should annul all those the others had bestowed; and that was, that he should be unable to make any use of them. Following out this fable, a very powerful old fairy had been left out of the invitation at the christening of Charles X. His abilities were considerable; he had good natural parts, and great quickness in the apprehension of ideas in conversation, and an extraordinary turn for felicitous colloquy. Many of the sayings he made use of, in the most important crises of his life, became historical; repeated from one end of Europe to the other, they rivalled the most celebrated of Henry IV. in warmth of heart, and the most felicitous of Louis XIV. in terseness of expression. But, with all these valuable qualities, which, under other circumstances, might have rendered him one of the most popular monarchs

but

4. The first care of the new monarch on coming to the throne was to secure the order of succession in favour of his son. He was too well aware of the scarcely concealed pretensions of the Orleans family to the crown, not to be aware of the danger of a contest for it, and of the importance of taking every possible step which might secure its descent in the direct line of the elder branch of the house of Bourbon. saying of Louis XVIII. in regard to the Duke of Orleans, "He is near enough the throne already; I shall take care he does not approach it more nearly," was constantly present to his mind.

The

There was a certain awkwardness in | who had been the King's confessor declaring a prince long past the prime during the time he was in exile, and of life Dauphin for the first time—an earnestly recommended to him by Maappellation usually bestowed, like that | dame de Pollastron, and who possessed of the Prince of Wales, on the heir- the greatest influence over his mind; apparent to the throne at his birth- the Pope's legate, Lambruschini, a and it might be construed into an open subtle and dangerous ecclesiastical dideclaration of war against the Orleans plomatist; and M. Quelen, Archbishop family. But in the insecure state of of Paris, a man of probity and worth, the Crown, it was important during the but full of ambition, and ardently delifetime of the reigning monarch to de-voted to the interests of his order. To clare his successor, and the advantages these, who formed, as it were, the seof such a step appeared to overbalance cret cabinet that directed the King, the dangers with which it was attended. and of which he took counsel in all The Duke and Duchess d'Angoulême, cases, was added the whole chiefs of accordingly, were declared Dauphin the ultra- Royalist and ultra-Catholic and Dauphiness of France; but at the party, who, like a more numerous privy same time, to conciliate the rival fa- council, were summoned on important mily, the title of "Your Royal High- emergencies. The most important of ness was bestowed on the Duke and these were the Duke de Rivière and Duchess of Orleans, and a regiment in Prince Polignac, who had both given the Guards bestowed on their eldest proofs of their ardent devotion to the son, the Duke of Chartres. To these throne; M. de Vaublanc, long an inmarks of favour he added the substan-timate counsellor of the new monarch, tial benefit of a gift in fee under the feudal title of appanage of the immense domains of the house of Orleans, which, reft from it in 1791 by the Revolution which it had supported, had been bestowed on the family in liferent by Louis XVIII. It was now restored by the Crown against which it had conspired. In his anxiety to secure the grandeur of the house of Orleans, he caused this magnificent grant, which rendered them the richest family in Europe, to be confirmed by the Chambers by the same act which settled the provision on the Crown. He judged of others by the generosity of his own heart: he thought he could stifle rivalry by kindness; he only kindled ambition by gratification. 5. No change was made by the new Sovereign in the Ministers of State, who indeed were as favourable to the royal cause as any that he could well have selected. But from the very outset of his reign there was a Camarilla, or secret court, composed entirely of ecclesiasties, who had more real influence than any of the ostensible ministers, and to whose ascendancy in the royal councils the misfortunes in which his reign terminated are mainly to be ascribed. The most important of these were, the Cardinal Latil, Archbishop of Rheims,

and whose advanced years had not diminished either his ambition or spirit of intrigue; and M. de Vitrolles, who had taken so important a part in the first Restoration. The last possessed qualities which at once made it probable that he would gain the lead in such a secret council, and power_eminently dangerous in its direction. Bold but yet courteous, ambitious but insinuating, knowing much of individual men, but little of the course of events, without the responsibility of ostensible office, but with the influence of secret direction, he was the very man to recommend dangerous measures, of which others, in the event of failure, would bear the responsibility, and he, in the event of success, would reap the fruits. Such was the secret council by which Charles from the first was almost entirely directed, and the history of his reign is little more than the annals of the consequences of their administration.

6. The King made his public entry into Paris on the 27th September. The day was cloudy, and the rain fell in torrents as he moved through the streets, surrounded by a brilliant cortège; but nothing could damp the ardour of the people. Mounted on an

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lishing the restrictions on the press. It need not be said with what transports this resolution was received by the journalists, who had been severely galled by the restrictions, and were proportionally enchanted at their removal. Even the papers heretofore most strongly opposed to the Bourbons were profuse in their expressions of gratitude and their professions of loyalty. "A new reign," said the Courrier Français, the most violent of the Liberal journals, "has commenc

Arab steed of mottled silver colour, | which he managed with perfect skill, the monarch traversed the whole distance between St Cloud and the palace, bowing to the people in acknowledgment of their salutations with that inimitable grace which proclaimed him at once, like the Prince-Regent in England, the first gentleman in his dominions. His answers on his way to and when he arrived at the palace were not less felicitous than his manner. When asked if he did not feel fatigued, he replied, "No; joy never feels weari-ed: the King wishes the general good, ness." "No halberts between my people and me," cried he to some of his attendants, who were repelling the crowd which pressed in too rudely upon his passage an expression which recalled his famous saying on April 12, 1814, 'There is but one Frenchman the more." Never had a monarch been received with such universal joy by his subjects. "He is charming as hope," said one of the numerous ladies who were enchanted by his manner. Some of his courtiers had suggested the propriety of taking some precautions against the ball of an assassin in the course of his entry. "Why so?" said he: "they cannot hate me without knowing me; and when they know me, I am sure they will not hate me." Everything in his manner and expres-monstrations of affection. sions towards those by whom his family had been opposed, seemed to breathe the words, "I have forgotten." Marshal Grouchy, who had made the Duke d'Angoulême prisoner in 1815, was restored to favour. To General Excelmans he said, "I have forgotten the past, but I feel assured I may rely upon you for the future."

but he has need to be taught how it is to be attained. In restoring liberty to the journals, his wisdom has torn asunder that cloud of deception with which his Ministers would willingly envelop him; what more assuring pledge can the nation desire? what more efficacious guarantee can it obtain for the future?" A review of the National Guard, held the next day, and at which the King rode through the ranks on horseback, afforded an opportunity for giving vent to their sentiments in a way of all others the most reassuring from the voice of the armed force of the capital. Never, not even in the palmy days of Napoleon and the Empire, had the monarch been received with louder and more unanimous de

8. In proportion as this great concession to public freedom was calcu lated to insure the present popularity of the monarch, did it augment his future dangers, if the measures of his government did not in all respects keep pace with the ambition of the journals and the expectations of the people. Like many other similar measures, it purchased present tranquillity at the expense of future disturbance. But this peril, sufficiently great at all times, and under all circumstances, was augmented in a most serious degree in the case of Charles from the ultra-Romish principles by which he was actuated, and the influence of the

7. The first act of Charles was one eminently calculated to realise the expectations excited by these felicitous expressions, and to tinge the opening of his reign with the brightest colours. On the very evening before his entry into Paris, he proposed, in a council of his ministers, to abolish the censorship of the press. The Ministers ac"Ne jugeant pas nécessaire de maintenir quiesced in the proposal, though not plus longtemps la mesure qui a été prise without secret misgivings as to the dans des circonstances différentes contre les result; and next morning a decree ap- du 15 Août dernier cessera d'avoir son effet." abus de la Liberté des Journaux, l'ordonnance peared in the Moniteur, formally abo--Moniteur, 28 Sept. 1824.

secret conclave of Jesuits and priests to promotion. So numerous, however,

were the observances, so austere the practices, so rigid the fasts prescribed for the devotees, that many thought the favour of the court was dearly purchased at such a price. Great efforts were made to spread religious fervour among the soldiers: the Minister at War, M. de Clermont-Tonnerre, nephew of the Archbishop of Toulouse, one of the most enthusiastic of the prelates, and who shared all his uncle's zeal, was indefatigable in his endeavours to electrify the troops, a task of difficulty and obloquy in a scoffing and irreli

by which the determinations of the monarch were ruled. The principles of this party were in direct opposition to those of the Revolution, for they tended to extinguish the freedom of thought, and re-establish that sacerdotal despotism which, even more than the oppression of the Crown, it had been the object of that convulsion to remove. Yet so little were the chiefs of this religious party aware of this, that they were zealous in wishing the restoration of the freedom of the press, and were the chief instigators of the measure. They recollected how pow-gious generation, but which, from the erfully the pen of M. de Chateaubriand religious feelings of several of the and the columns of the Conservateur regiments raised in rural districts, had aided their cause in the days of M. Decazes and the Duke de Richelieu, and anticipated a corresponding support, now that it was freed from its fetters; forgetting, or never having learned, that Romanism, in the days of its misfortune, will sometimes ally itself with Liberalism, but never fails to become its bitterest enemy in those of its power.

9. Refore the new reign had continued many weeks, appearances began to indicate what was deemed an undue preponderance of the Partiprêtre in the palace, and to create uneasiness as to its coming ascendancy in the Cabinet. On all sides there was a talk of establishing new colleges for the Jesuits, and some were actually set on foot, with a munificence which showed that their funds came from no ordinary sources. Montrouge, their chief religious seminary, became the centre to which they drew the youth of the highest distinction about the court. Wise in their generation, they passed by the middle-aged and confirmed in opinion, and bent their whole efforts to influence the thoughts and win the affections of the young. A perpetual file of splendid equipages was to be seen at the doors of their seminary, indicating the elevated connections of their pupils. The court itself assumed an entirely new aspect: masses, vespers, fasts, processions, sermons, prayers, became the order of the day; an air of extraordinary sanctity the best avenue

sometimes met with surprising success. A regular system of catechising was established in many regiments; the Royalist journals were filled with accounts, ostentatiously paraded, of military communions among soldiers by hundreds at a time. Incessant processions, in which the priests were to be seen arrayed in unheard-of luxury of ecclesiastical splendour, were to be seen in the streets of the capital and the chief provincial towns. The people looked on sometimes with reverence, sometimes with indifference, often with contempt. In all this the Jesuits and leaders of the congregation, as this party was called, mistook the signs of the times, and injured rather than advanced the progress of real devotion. They were right in supposing that it was by the influence of religious feeling that it was alone possible to combat the progress of revolutionary ideas; but they were wrong in imagining that it was on the throne that the fountain from which they were to spread was to be opened. It was not from the temple of Jerusalem, but the fishermen of Galilee, that the faith sprang which changed the face of the world.

10. The extreme religious party, however, were very powerful, both in the Chamber of Deputies and the administration; and it is not surprising that, seeing their strength at once in the legislature and the court, they were sanguine in their hopes of being.

The Abbé de Pradt also gave the aid of his ready pen and envenomed wit to the same side; while in the daily press PAUL COURIER was already giving tokens of those great abilities on the Liberal side which afterwards rendered his name so celebrated; and Hoffman, the most powerful writer in the Journal des Debats, proved that the weapon of Pascal could pass into the hands of those who were not so sincerely attached to the cause of religion.

able to reconstruct society on an en- | from the vigilant eyes of the press, for tirely new basis. They could boast of its leaders were both able and clearone hundred and thirty members of sighted. At the head of the party who, the Chamber of Deputies who were from the very first, detected and deentirely in their interest-so great was nounced the movements of the Jesuits, the change which the alterations in was the Count de Montlouis, a veteran the Electoral Law, in 1821, had made of the Right in the Constituent Assemin the composition of the represent- bly, but who anticipated nothing but ative part of the legislature. In the evil from the zealous efforts of the Peers they were less powerful, the ultra - religious party in the present numbers on whom they could there time. The Viscount de Chateaubriand rely being not more than thirty; but also, though an ardent and devoted this was not of much importance, as Royalist, united his efforts to those the court was known to be with them, who opposed the ultramontane party; and it was not likely that, except on he was too sagacious not to see that a very anxious crisis, the Peers would the age was not one in which the press thwart the wishes of the Government. could be fettered or thought confined The highest offices in the palace were in bonds. filled by their adherents; M. de Latil disposed of the whole patronage there; and MM. de Montmorency, de Blacas, and de Rivière, who held the situations of importance around the prince, were in their interest. M. Frayssinons, the Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs, was a zealous and powerful supporter, by whom all the instructions and ceremonies at Montrouge were directed; and they had succeeded in getting a creature of their own either into every important office under Government, or into the confidence of the persons who actually held it. M. de Renneville, a young man of remarkable abilities, was intrusted with the surveillance of M. de Villèle, the President of the Council; M. Tronchet, with that of the Minister of the Interior; M. Delavan, of the Minister of Police; M. Doudeauville, of the King's Household; M. de Dumas, of Foreign Affairs; M. de Vaulchier, of the Postoffice. By the unseen but ceaseless agency of these zealous and able par-c'est de continuer avec zèle ce que mon vertueux tisans, who were all in the interest of the Jesuits, it was hoped that the object of their leaders would be attained without the public becoming aware of what was going forward, or the jealousy of the press or the tribune being awakened, as the ostensible holders of the great offices of state had undergone no alteration since the demise of the late King.

11. It was no easy matter, however, to conceal this secret agency altogether

12. The good sense and delicate tact of the King prevented the opposite parties coming into collision before. the Chambers met; and the answers he made to the various constituted authorities and bodies which presented him with addresses on his accession to the throne, breathed the most liberal and conciliatory spirit.* The uncom

him on his accession, the King replied, “Mon *To the Papal Nuncio, who congratulated cœur est trop déchiré pour que je puisse vous exprimer mes sentimens. Je n'ai qu'une ambition, et j'espère que Dieu me l'accordera, frère a si bien fait; mon règne ne sera que la continuation du sien, tant pour le bonheur de la France que pour la paix et l'union de swered, "Les sciences et les lettres ont perdu l'Europe." To the French Academy he anun protecteur, qui les a cultivées dès sa plus tendre jeunesse; je l'imiterai, non pas avec le même talent, mais avec le même zèle, et je suis persuadé que l'Académie me secondera." To the Minister of Public and Ecclesiastical Instruction he said, "J'ai besoin de grands secours que le clergé joigne ses prières aux miennes; l'instruction publique est la chose

la plus importante, non-seulement pour nous,

mais pour nos successeurs. Je compte sur