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 LIBRARY 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
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 PRESENTED BY 
 
 MRS. THOMAS A. DRISCOLL
 
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 LOUIS XVIII
 
 
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 LOUIS XVIII 
 
 By MARY F. SANDARS 
 
 Author of " Honore de Balzac" 
 "Lauzun: Courtier and Adventurer." 
 
 WITH SEVENTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 # 
 
 New York : 
 JAMES POTT AND COMPANY 

 
 PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
 
 PREFACE 
 
 MANY excellent histories of the Restoration, con- 
 taining full accounts of the reign of Louis 
 XVIII, have been written. M. Ernest Daudet gives 
 us the result of long researches in his exhaustive work 
 on the Emigration, which treats of Louis XVIII's 
 wanderings over Europe ; and in the numberless ac- 
 counts of the French Revolution we come across many- 
 references to the Comte de Provence, who is generally 
 treated in an unfriendly spirit. This sketch, however, 
 of Louis XVIII's life from cradle to grave is, I believe, 
 the first attempt in the French or English language to 
 link the different periods of his life together, and, 
 however faultily, to present the man as a whole. 
 
 Louis XVIII is personally an interesting figure ; 
 politically he is a man to whom the French nation 
 owe a deep debt of gratitude for introducing them 
 to the benefits of constitutional government, as well 
 as for the firm and dignified stand against the exigencies 
 of the Allies in 1815, by which he saved the country 
 from dismemberment. His merits as a ruler have, I 
 think, been partially obscured by the mistakes he 
 undoubtedly made when he returned to France as a 
 stranger after an exile of twenty-two years, and by the
 
 vi Preface 
 
 policy of the last few years of his reign, when he was 
 dying, but was counted responsible for measures which 
 were in reality the work of Charles X and his advisers. 
 If, however, we look at the period from 1 8 1 5 to the 
 end of 1 82 1, when Louis XVIII was really at the 
 helm of the State, and when, putting aside the pre- 
 judices of early training, he fitted himself to the 
 requirements of a new France, I think we shall admire 
 his sagacity and impartiality, and allow that he was a 
 wise and beneficent ruler. 
 
 In his private life we find much that is excellent. 
 Undoubtedly his love of magnificent ceremony occasion- 
 ally excited derision ; certainly his dependence on 
 sentimental friendships was a misfortune, not only 
 to himself but to the State, though much excuse for 
 it may be found in his isolated position in his family. 
 On the other hand, his kingly dignity, magnanimity, 
 and serenity under misfortune, his courage and gaiety, 
 and his power of seeing the comical side of his troubles, 
 are truly admirable ; and it seems strange that in an 
 age of many biographies this sketch should be the first 
 attempt at portraying so interesting a personality. 
 
 I must conclude by thanking the Baron de Barante 
 and Colonel Phipps, late R.A., for the very kind help 
 they have given me. 
 
 Mary F. Sandars.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Louis XVIII's character — His birth, childhood and education — The 
 Dauphin's marriage — The Comte de Provence's marriage — Death of 
 Louis XV PP- I-I7 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 The Comte de Provence as heir to the throne — Appearance, literary- 
 tastes — Supposed interview with Voltaire — Writings, political views, 
 forced inactivity — His tour in France — Relations with Marie An- 
 toinette — Accusations against him — Jealousies and resentments 
 — Birth of Madame Royale— Birth of the first Dauphin— Monsieur 
 no longer heir-apparent — Birth of the Due de Normandie pp. 18-40 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 Madame de Balbi — Her influence over Monsieur, its political effect 
 — Public affairs— The assembly of notables— Monsieur at the head 
 of a Bureau — Calonne's fal) — Monsieur at the Cour des Comptes — 
 His popularity, his speech to Necker — The States-General pp. 41-53 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Mirabeau — Monsieur's relations with him — The Memoir — Monsieur 
 on the King — The Marquis de Favras — The attack on Versailles, 
 Favras' doings — L' Affaire Favras — Mirabeau's agitation — Monsieur 
 at the H6tel-de-Ville — His defence of himself — Favras' execution — 
 Question of Monsieur's complicity and moral responsibility pp. 54-74 
 
 vii
 
 viii Contents 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 Preparations for flight — Deputation to Monsieur — King and Queen's 
 lengthy preparations — Last meeting of the Royal Family — Depar- 
 ture from Paris — Events on the journey — Arrival at Mons — Meeting 
 with Madame de Balbi — Madame's arrival — News of arrest of King 
 and Queen — Monsieur's affection for d'Avaray — He joins the Comte 
 d'Artois pp. 75-91 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 Arrival at Coblentz — Description of town — Schonbornlust — The 
 Elector — Monsieur's position — Coblentz the last stronghold of the 
 Ancien Regime — Life there — Calonne — Society — Madame de Balbi 
 Queen of Coblentz — Quarrels between her and d'Avaray — Political in- 
 trigues — Monsieur's levity — Marie Antoinette and the King — Their 
 distrust of the Princes — Their policy — Dissensions — Distress at Cob- 
 lentz — Changes in Europe — War ..... pp. 92-112 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 Campaign against France — The Duke of Brunswick — The Princes 
 with the Army — Terrible retreat — Arrival in Liege — Distress — Monsieur 
 goes to Hamm — Hears of Louis XVI's execution — His declaration — 
 — Tokens from imprisoned Royal Family — Intrigues and expeditions 
 — Monsieur at Verona — Rupture with Madame de Balbi — His letter 
 on the subject to Madame — Death of Louis XVII — Monsieur assumes 
 the title of King — An Englishman's opinion of him — He is forced to 
 leave Verona — Goes to Conde's camp — His attempted assassination — 
 Life at Blanckenburg ....... pp. 1 13-132 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 Liberation of Madame Royale — Letters between her and Louis 
 XVIII — His scheme to marry her to the Due d'Angouleme — Austrian 
 opposition — Madame Royale's firmness — Her chaiacter — That of 
 the Due d'Angouleme — Louis XVIII's alarm at his liberal views — 
 Louis XVIII obliged to leave Blanckenburg . . . pp. 133-149
 
 Contents ix 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 Trials of journey from Blanckenburg — Arrival at Mittau — Character of 
 the Czar— Life at Mittau— Louis XVIII's character— Public affairs 
 — King appeals to Bonaparte — The latter's reply— The Revolution 
 of the 1 8th Brumaire — The Queen's arrival — Disagreeables — Madame 
 Royale's arrival — Her marriage to the Due d'Angouleme — King's 
 reconciliation to the Due d'Orleans — Difficulties with the Comte 
 d'Artois — General Fersen's visit— Czar's brutality — The King and 
 the Duchesse d'Angouleme are driven from Russia . . pp. 150-168 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 Arrival at Memel — The King's philosophy — Arrival at Warsaw — 
 Life there — D'Avaray's bad health — First appearance of Blacas — 
 King's anxieties — The Due de Berry — Napoleon's proposition — Louis 
 XVIII's answer — Napoleon becomes Emperor — Louis XVIII goes to 
 Sweden — Not allowed to return to Warsaw — Second sojourn at Mittau 
 — Returns to Sweden — Goes to England — Difficulties — Gosfield — 
 Hartwell — Death of the Queen — D'Avaray at Madeira — His death 
 
 pp. 169-190 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 Napoleon at bay — Louis XVIII's liberal Proclamation — Treaty of 
 Fontainebleau — Affairs in France — Talleyrand — Louis XVIII sum- 
 moned to reign over France — Is kept in England by gout — Constitu- 
 tion drawn up by Provisional Government — Monsieur's hesitation 
 to acknowledge this — His entry into Paris — The mischief he does — 
 Louis XVIII leaves Hartwell — Reception in London — Crossing — 
 Amiens — Compiegne — Napoleon's Marshals — Interviews with Talley- 
 rand, the Comte d'Artois, Alexander I — The Corps Legislatif, the 
 Senate — Declaration of Saint-Ouen — Entry into Paris— Madame — 
 The Old Guard pp. 191-214 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 The King's Councils— The Ministry — The Charter — The Treaty of 
 Paris — Ceremony of the Reading of the Charter — Difficulties and 
 mistakes — The ultra-Royalists — The Jacobins— The Imperialists — 
 French society — The " Maison du Roi " — The Army — Discontent 
 and danger — Talleyrand at the Congress of Vienna — The King's 
 foreign policy pp. 215-239
 
 Contents 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 News of Napoleon's landing arrives in France — Preparations for 
 defence — The Due d'Orleans — The King's attitude — Ney's defection — 
 Blacas — Contradictory suggestions — Last efforts at rousing loyalty 
 — King's flight from Paris— The Due and Duchesse d'Angouleme — 
 King's journey : Abbeville, St.-Pol, Bethune, Lille — Failure of the 
 troops of the Maison du Roi — Disaffection of the Army — Lyons — 
 Ghent — Life there — The King's Ministers — The King's attitude — 
 Monsieur's attitude — Attitude of the Congress of Vienna — Advice to 
 the King from the Due d'Orleans, from Talleyrand, and from 
 Guizot .......... pp. 240-263 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 Quatre-Bras — Waterloo — Louis XVIII leaves Ghent — Arrival at 
 Mons — Parting from Blacas — Talleyrand — Proclamation of Cateau- 
 Cambresis — Summons Talleyrand to Cambrai — Proclamation of 
 Cambrai — Vitrolles, Talleyrand, Fouche — Fouche made Chief Minister 
 of Police — Louis XVIII's entry into Paris — His sentiments on 
 Constitutional Government — New Cabinet — Decazes — Hardships in- 
 flicted by Allies — Louis XVIII's courage — Ultra-Royalist Chamber — 
 The Terreur Blanche— Fouche's fall — Talleyrand's fall— The Due 
 de Richelieu becomes head of Cabinet — His character . pp. 264 -287 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 Question of dismemberment of France — King's patriotism — His 
 letter — -Terms eventually granted — Monsieur's intrigues — King's affec- 
 tion for Decazes — His letter to him — The Session of 1815 — Ney's 
 execution — Lavalette's escape— The ultra-Royalists — Dissolution of 
 the " Chambre Introuvable "■ — Marriage of the Due de Berry — Chateau- 
 briand's pamphlet — The Elections — Blacas' sudden appearance in 
 Paris — King's firmness — Painful family scenes — Vitrolles' Secret 
 Note — Conspiracy " du bord de l'eau " — Monsieur's disgrace — Congress 
 of Aix-la-Chapelle pp. 288-312 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 Divisions between Richelieu and Decazes — Louis XVIII's view of 
 the situation — Ultra-Royalist tactics — Question of retirement of 
 Decazes — Richelieu resigns — Formation of the Cabinet Dessoles- 
 Decazes — Difficulties — The King's sentiments — His family difficulties
 
 Contents xi 
 
 — His kindness to Madame Decazes — The " Loi Barthelemy " — 
 Triumph of the ultras — Creation of new peers — Cabinet harassed by 
 ultra-liberals — Gregoire's election — Decazes proposes alteration in 
 election laws — Assassination of the Due de Berry — Fury of the ultra- 
 Royalists against Decazes— The Royal Family implore the King to 
 dismiss him— Retirement of Decazes — Richelieu becomes head of the 
 Cabinet — The King's grief — Disappointment of the Due de 
 Castries .......... pp. 313-338 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 Ultra-Royalist intrigue to influence the King through Madame du 
 Cayla — La Rochefoucauld's share in it — The King's growing affec- 
 tion for Madame du Cayla — The Session of 1820 — Violent dissensions 
 — The birth of the Due de Bordeaux— Tumults in the Chamber — 
 Royalist triumph at the elections — Disturbances throughout Europe 
 — Duplicity of the Duchesse de Berry — Decazes visits Paris — King's 
 growing infirmities — His drowsiness and indifference — Napoleon's 
 death — Monsieur harries the Ministry — The extreme Right and ex- 
 treme Left unite to wreck the Cabinet — Richelieu's indignation with 
 Monsieur — His resignation and death — Madame du Cayla' s share 
 in forming new Cabinet — King's virtual abdication to Mon- 
 sieur pp. 339-359 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 The Villele Ministry — Infringements of the Charter — Spanish 
 expedition — Chateaubriand — La Rochefoucauld — Madame du Cayla — 
 Louis XVIII presents her with Chateau at Saint-Ouen — Entertain- 
 ment there — King's precarious condition — His determined courage — 
 Madame du Cayla persuades him to see a priest — Decazes' grief — 
 Death of Louis XVIII ....... pp. 360-374 
 
 INDEX pp. 375-384
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 LOUIS XVIII Photogravure Frontispiece 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 COMTE DE PROVENCE (AFTERWARDS LOUIS XVIIl) . . 1 8 
 
 COMTE DE MIRABEAU 54 
 
 MARQUIS DE FAVRAS 60 
 
 MADAME ELIZABETH 8o 
 
 LOUIS ANTOINE D'ARTOIS (DUC D'ANGOULEME) .... 96 
 
 MADAME ROY ALE (DUCHESSE D'ANGOULEME) . . . . 140 
 
 PAUL I 150 
 
 COMTESSE DE PROVENCE (QUEEN OF FRANCE) . . . 1 58 
 
 TALLEYRAND I94 
 
 ALEXANDER I 208 
 
 JOSEPH FOUCHE, DUC D'OTRANTE 258 
 
 DUC DE BERRY 272 
 
 COMTE DECAZES 294 
 
 DUC DE RICHELIEU 308 
 
 DEATH OF THE DUC DE BERRY 332 
 
 THE COMTE D'ARTOIS AS CHARLES X 358 
 
 xiii
 
 LOUIS XVIII 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Louis XVIII's character — His birth, childhood and education — The 
 Dauphin's marriage — The Comte de Provence's marriage — Death 
 of Louis XV. 
 
 LOUIS XVIII is a man to whom I think justice has 
 not generally been done, particularly during the 
 earlier part of his life. Monstrous calumny is strikingly 
 characteristic of the seething ante-revolutionary time, 
 calumny which, shouted with hysterical extravagance 
 when the Revolution was unloosed, led to its worst 
 excesses. Society was depraved ; but every one was 
 not smirched with the sooty blackness imagined by the 
 foul fancies of the populace, sated with unsavoury 
 stories of the Pompadour, the Dubarry, and the Parc- 
 aux-Cerfs. 
 
 After the expiration of a few months as popular 
 favourite, a position which only served to injure him 
 with the Court party, the future Louis XVIII — then 
 known as Monsieur, or as the Comte de Provence — 
 was lampooned and calumniated more violently than 
 any one, except perhaps the unfortunate Queen. The 
 reasons for the storm of hatred he aroused are obvious. 
 Though every one affected to consider him a mere 
 figurehead, in the later days of the Revolution he was 
 
 i
 
 2 Louis XVIII 
 
 the principal menace to democracy, it being really for 
 his cause, though not in his name, that the States of 
 Europe, who flouted, insulted, and humiliated him, 
 assembled their armies to attack infuriated and terrified 
 France. In Napoleon's days, Louis XVIII was com- 
 pletely forgotten by the majority of his countrymen, 
 and had become a homeless wanderer, liable at any 
 moment to be summarily ejected from an apparently 
 friendly State at a word from the all-powerful con- 
 queror, but he was still the representative of the old 
 order in France ; and the libels burst out again with the 
 utmost virulence when in the wake of foreign armies 
 he returned to his native land. France was tired of 
 battling ; but when for the heroic figure of Napoleon 
 was substituted an unwieldly old man with theatrical 
 manners, it was difficult for any one to furbish up 
 fitting enthusiasm. Even the Royalists, who during 
 his exile in Russia had christened him " the greatest 
 Jacobin in Europe," were not attached to him — he was 
 at best a compromise ; and compromises do not inspire 
 devotion. 
 
 Returning to France a stranger, after an exile of 
 twenty-three years, and finding himself among almost 
 unparalleled political difficulties, he began by making 
 mistakes owing to his ignorance of the general trend 
 of feeling and opinion. Indeed, he may possibly have 
 owed a debt of gratitude to Napoleon and the Hundred 
 Days incursion, which proved to him that he had com- 
 pletely misapprehended the spirit of the country over 
 which he had come to reign, and that the folly of the 
 Ultra- Royalists was landing him at the edge of a 
 precipice. 
 
 When once he had learnt his lesson, however, his 
 sagacity was unfailing, and his magnanimity, tact, and
 
 His Character 3 
 
 forbearance remarkable ; indeed, it is hardly too much 
 to say that France owes her present position as one of 
 the Great Powers, to his firmness and eloquence at the 
 time when her so-called allies gathered round eager to 
 dismember, and thus to cripple permanently, the 
 country which had caused them infinite trouble, 
 expense, and loss of life. Had Louis XVIII outlived 
 his brother and been followed by the nephew whom 
 he had instructed in state-craft, it is possible that the 
 Bourbons might never have lost the throne of France. 
 
 His biography is, I consider, a tragedy, although in 
 the end he attained his ambition and became King of 
 France. It is undoubtedly a tragedy to be born a 
 century too late, educated in articles of faith which 
 are an anachronism, hedged round by barriers which 
 suddenly break down and admit a thousand strange 
 sights, sounds, and ideas — an entirely new world — to 
 the bewildered senses. 
 
 It is a tragedy, too, for a man to be endowed with 
 strong family affection, with an intelligence which far 
 transcends his will power, and when old, and enfeebled 
 by a life of disappointment, humiliation, and long- 
 deferred hope, to be the only person among his 
 surroundings who has learnt anything from the march 
 of events, so that he is continually in mental opposition 
 to those who are dear to him, watches with ever- 
 weakening powers the baffling of the measures dictated 
 by his own sagacity, and foresees with bitter sorrow the 
 calamities which must fall on his House when he has 
 been removed by death from the direction of affairs. 
 
 Louis-Xavier Stanislas, Comte de Provence, the 
 future Louis XVIII, first saw the light at Versailles 
 on November 17, 1755.
 
 4 Louis XVIII 
 
 At the time of his birth it seemed extremely unlikely 
 that he would ever inherit the crown of France, for 
 his grandfather Louis XV was a comparatively young 
 man, his father the Dauphin, the King's only son, 
 was still living, and two little brothers, the Dukes 
 of Bourgoyne and of Berry, had come into the world 
 before him. 
 
 Nevertheless, the appearance of another prince in 
 the direct line to the throne was a matter of con- 
 siderable importance, and the ceremonies usual on 
 such an occasion were duly observed. The King 
 was at his daughter-in-law's bedside for over an 
 hour before the birth took place, and a page was 
 despatched to Paris to inform the Governor of the 
 Dauphine's impending accouchement. The Governor 
 at once hurried to Versailles, sending another page to 
 carry the news to the H6tel-de-Ville. There the 
 Council assembled and remained till they heard of 
 the birth, which they did in three ways — first by an 
 officer sent from the Governor, secondly by an officer 
 sent from the King, and lastly by the Master of 
 Ceremonies, whose duty it was to enter the birth in 
 the registers of the H6tel-de-Ville. Presents were 
 given by the town of Paris to the bearers of the happy 
 tidings, including a sum of money and a snuff-box to 
 the officer of the Guards, the former varying in amount 
 and the latter in value according to the importance of 
 the newly born infant. The birth of a princess was 
 disappointing — except perhaps to the good town of Paris, 
 which had to defray the expenses— as the messenger 
 then received nothing, unless the girl happened to be 
 the eldest of the family. 
 
 Meanwhile the Governor was shown the infant by 
 the " Gouvernante " in the large hall of Versailles,
 
 Ceremonies at his Birth 5 
 
 asked, as ceremonial enjoined, whose the child was that 
 had been born to Madame la Dauphine, and received 
 the prescribed answer, the Dauphin was officially in- 
 formed of the event, and a messenger went to his 
 apartments on the part of the King to register the 
 birth of the little Prince. Later in the day fireworks 
 were displayed in the Place d'Armes, and a Te Deum 
 was performed at the King's Mass. 
 
 The grand ceremonies were, however, deferred till 
 Sunday, when a Te Deum was performed at Notre- 
 Dame, a fire was lit in the Place de la Greve, and the 
 Governor marched through Paris surrounded by his 
 Guards and threw money to the people. Before the 
 statue of Henri IV on the Pont Neuf etiquette obliged 
 him to distribute gold pieces ; in fact these expeditions 
 generally cost him about a thousand crowns, and 
 M. de Gesvres cannot be blamed if he occasionally 
 discovered some pretext for evading the costly and 
 unpleasant duty. Afterwards fetes were held at the 
 H6tel-de-Ville and at the Governor's house, at which 
 every one was given cold meat and wine, while dancing 
 went on till late at night. The cost of the entertain- 
 ment at the Governor's house had been defrayed by the 
 Governor till fifteen or sixteen years before the birth of 
 the Comte de Provence, when M. de Maurepas repre- 
 sented to the King that it was not fair that these 
 expenses should be charged to M. le due de Gesvres, 
 and the King, deferring to his courtly adviser, decreed 
 that the town of Paris should provide all the refresh- 
 ments, and should send whatever was required to the 
 Governor's house. 
 
 The King's " good town of Paris " was a convenient 
 beast of burden, and no one at Versailles heeded 
 whether the burdens so lightheartedly imposed were
 
 6 Louis XVIII 
 
 crushing the life out of her, or stopped to ask them- 
 selves what would happen with the great mass of units 
 who — insignificant as they were — merely bourgoisie, 
 peasants, shopkeepers, made up the bulk of the 
 people in the great kingdom of France, when the 
 Revolution came. For, strange as it may appear, even 
 from the Court point of view, the Revolution was on 
 its way. The King, stricken with a deadly ennui which 
 had its birth in dissipation and in the long-borne 
 loneliness of the throne, heard the beating of its 
 wings, and was only too conscious of the darkness 
 which heralded its advent. " Things as they are will 
 last as long as I do," he said wearily. Meanwhile, 
 interminable wars, abuses of every sort in the Govern- 
 ment, pensions, sinecures, and shameless extravagance 
 at Court, had reduced the finances of the kingdom to 
 such a terrible condition that it seemed doubtful 
 whether Louis XV would not live to reign over a 
 bankrupt kingdom. Hence, continual disputes between 
 the King and local " parlements " who refused to 
 register the edicts imposing fresh taxation. Hence, 
 too, incidentally, rumours from time to time at Court 
 of famines and risings in the provinces, the gradual 
 change of the affection felt for Louis Le Bien Aime 
 to dislike, and later, when the Pompadour had given 
 way to the disreputable du Barry, to execration. 
 
 Nevertheless, in spite of impending bankruptcy, there 
 was still magnificence at Court, in spite of the gradual 
 mining of the old social system, of which the King was 
 centre, the same etiquette, the same forms, the same 
 outward worship of Royalty surrounded the throne. 
 It was only after the crash that the enlightened observer 
 could lay his hand on the fabric, and, shaking his head 
 wisely, remark that with this and that channel of decay
 
 His Childhood 7 
 
 eating into the structure, it was marvellous that the 
 catastrophe had not taken place sooner. 
 
 Early impressions are ineffaceable ; and in judging 
 the future outlook and conduct of the Comte de 
 Provence, we must realise the kind of world on which 
 he looked with the unquestioning eyes of childhood. 
 Etiquette was the only important thing in life, and the 
 family to which he belonged was a race of semi-deities 
 increasing in importance as they neared the throne, 
 where sat the supreme deity of all. Round about 
 them, to minister to their greatness, were the nobility ; 
 and of the great struggling world outside the child 
 knew nothing. 
 
 The first mention of the public appearance of M. de 
 Provence was on June 10, 1756, when at seven months 
 old he, with his two elder brothers, gave audience to 
 three newly made cardinals in succession ; each accom- 
 panied by his introducer, under-introducer, and the 
 Master of the Ceremonies. The Due de Luynes gives 
 an account of this event. After describing the drive 
 to Meudon, the dress of the cardinals — one of whom 
 was his brother — and the ceremonial observed before 
 they arrived at the door of the room occupied by M. le 
 due de Bourgoyne, he says : " Three armchairs were 
 in the further end of the room opposite the door ; 
 Monseigneur le due de Bourgoyne was in the middle, 
 Monseigneur le due de Berry to the right, and Mon- 
 seigneur le Comte de Provence to the left. Madame de 
 Marsan (the Gouvernante) went out of the room, bowed 
 to and kissed the Cardinal, and after a few polite words 
 re-entered the room in front of him, and made three 
 curtseys at the same time with him, standing to his 
 right. A folding chair was brought forward. Mon- 
 seigneur le due de Bourgoyne was standing and had his
 
 8 Louis XVIII 
 
 cap on his head, but it had been arranged that being 
 covered or uncovered was to signify nothing. The 
 Cardinal, standing up, addressed Monseigneur le due de 
 Bourgoyne, speaking to him alone. The speech was 
 very short. Monseigneur le due de Bourgoyne (who 
 was five years old) answered shortly and very well ; 
 then he sat down, and the Cardinal sat on the folding 
 chair opposite him. This ceremony only lasted a 
 minute ; the Cardinal retired with the three ordinary 
 reverences, and was again conducted to the door 
 by Madame de Marsan." 1 The incident is only 
 mentioned by the Due de Luynes because there was 
 some difficulty about the ceremonial of the presenta- 
 tion, and it was necessary to hunt up examples of the 
 procedure on similar occasions before the matter could 
 be satisfactorily settled ! Therefore we may suppose 
 that audiences were no uncommon occurrence in the 
 life of the little Comte de Provence, may safely divine, 
 too, that they were welcome to the Gouvernante, Madame 
 de Marsan, but were regarded by her charges as tire- 
 some interruptions to nursery routine. The whole 
 Royal Family were devoted to their " gouvernante," to 
 whose careful moral teaching they owed the unity and 
 affection which in quite early life were strikingly 
 characteristic of them. They called her their second 
 mother, and were deeply grateful for the care she had 
 lavished on them, the Comte de Provence's numerous 
 letters to her being always written to " my little dear 
 little friend." 2 
 
 Sometimes etiquette seemed likely to have sinister 
 consequences, for the Comte de Provence was a delicate 
 baby, and when his nurse proved unsatisfactory, and it 
 
 1 Memoires dti Due de Luynes, June 10, 1756. 
 
 7 See Ernest Daudet, Histoire de r£migration y vol. iii. p. 58.
 
 His Baptism 9 
 
 seemed likely that he would share the fate of most of 
 the royal infants of that time and never live to attain 
 man's estate, no suitable nurse could be found in Paris, 
 and considerable delay was caused while one was pro- 
 cured from Normandy. " The child of an ordinary 
 person would not find so many difficulties in procuring 
 a wet nurse," * our chronicler remarks sagely. 
 
 The baptism of the Comte de Provence took place 
 on October 18, t 76 1, when he was six years old. The 
 ceremony was performed by the Archbishop of 
 Narbonne, the godfathers being the King of Poland 
 and the Duke of Lorraine, the latter being represented 
 by the Prince of Conti, while Madame Victoire, one of 
 Louis XV's unmarried daughters, was godmother. He 
 was named Louis-Stanislas Xavier. His elder brother, 
 the future Louis XVI, was baptised the same day. 
 
 The Comte de Provence and his younger brother, 
 the Comte d' Artois — afterwards Charles X — were 
 inseparable companions during their childhood, and 
 though through the stress and strain to follow, when 
 life, or all that makes life worth living, was often at 
 stake, there were frequent dissensions between the two, 
 the future Louis XVIII — who was occasionally credited 
 with a want of feeling — seems always to have felt a 
 certain affection for the gay, debonair younger brother, 
 whose outward grace and brilliancy covered, unfortu- 
 nately, an obstinately prejudiced mind which adversity 
 could not teach. 
 
 Certainly the Comte d'Artois must have been a most 
 engaging boy, one of many examples of the fact that 
 childish precocity does not always fulfil its promise. 
 Gay and lively, his power of repartee, which he seems 
 usually to have exercised on his elder brother the Due 
 
 1 Luynes' Memoires, Feb. 5, 1756.
 
 io Louis XVIII 
 
 de Berry, made him the amusement of the Court, who 
 were never tired of laughing at his last childish joke, 
 and he even dared to take liberties with his formidable 
 and august grandfather. The Comte de Provence was 
 not so brilliant, though he began early to exercise that 
 diplomacy which was to characterise him during his 
 adult life. " M. le Comte de Provence," says the 
 Marquis de Valvons, " wishes to please, and succeeds 
 very well ; seeing me one day at his riding lesson, he 
 asked me whether I rode well. ' Pretty well for a 
 soldier,' I answered. 
 
 " ' Oh, I know that, and M. de Lavauguyon has told 
 me that you attack the enemy very well.' " x 
 
 The Royal Family was tolerably numerous during the 
 first few years of the Comte de Provence's life. At the 
 head of it was his grandfather, Louis XV, obsessed with 
 the worship of the Pompadour, who dismissed his minis- 
 ters, and sent incapable generals to command his armies 
 at her good pleasure. The Queen, Marie Leczinska, was 
 a nonentity, being so much occupied by card-playing, 
 the one amusement of her dreary life, that she had not 
 sufficient energy left even to perform a mother's part 
 to her six daughters. Of these daughters, the only 
 ones important to our purpose are Mesdames Adelaide, 
 Victoire, and Louise, who undoubtedly exercised much 
 influence over the Comte de Provence during his early 
 manhood. He was the special darling of his godmother, 
 Madame Victoire. The clever, energetic Madame 
 Adelaide, on the other hand, did her best to act a 
 mother's part to the poor little Due de Berry — after- 
 wards Louis XVI — whose brothers were greater 
 favourites than he in Court circles. " Whom can I 
 love here, when nobody loves me ? ' he asked sadly 
 1 Souvenirs de Louis XVIII, Lamothe-Langon.
 
 Deaths and Changes n 
 
 one day. He was a timid child, and his lively aunt 
 would do her best to encourage him. She would take 
 him into her room and say : " Come, my poor Berry, 
 you are here at full liberty, you have elbow room ; talk, 
 shout, make a great deal of noise, break, smash every- 
 thing. I give you 'carte blanche.''" 1 However, in 
 1 761, "poor Berry" became a person of considerable 
 importance, as the death of his elder brother left him 
 in the direct line to the throne. 
 
 In 1764, three years after the death of the young 
 Due de Bourgoyne, Madame de Pompadour ended her 
 brilliant, unhappy life, and France rejoiced at the dis- 
 appearance of the detested favourite. Death was active 
 at the Court about that time, for on December 20, 
 1765, the Comte de Provence and his brothers lost 
 their father, the Dauphin. A little later they were 
 completely orphaned, for in March 1766 their mother, 
 Marie Josephine de Saxe, followed her husband to his 
 grave. She was his second wife, married to him in 
 February 1747, and the first years of her wedded life 
 had been saddened by his indifference to her, and by 
 the knowledge that he had married her against his will, 
 and still mourned his first wife. However, in time he 
 became tenderly attached to Marie Josephine, and grief 
 at losing him apparently hastened her death. 
 
 " Poor France ! with a King of fifty-five and a 
 Dauphin of eleven ! " is Louis XV's reported ex- 
 clamation when he heard of the death of his only son ; 
 and several times, as though oppressed with gloomy 
 prognostications, he repeated the words " Poor France ! 
 poor France ! " 
 
 Marie Leczinska, Queen of France, breathed her 
 
 1 Todtere, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, et le Comte de Provence en 
 face de la Revolution ,
 
 i2 Louis XVIII 
 
 last on June 24, 1768, and only a month later a howl 
 of execration greeted the installation of the low-born 
 and disreputable Madame du Barry in the place of 
 Madame de Pompadour. 
 
 Meanwhile, the care of the three Princes had been 
 entrusted to the Due de la Vauguyon, who was ap- 
 parently not a very conscientious Governor. On the 
 day of his death, after Louis XVI had ascended the 
 throne, some one rushed in tears to tell Marie Antoinette 
 of Vauguyon's acts of piety and repentance, and related 
 that he had called all his people together to ask their 
 pardon. " For what ? ' replied the Queen sharply ; 
 " he has placed and pensioned off all his servants ; 
 it was of the King and his brothers that the holy man 
 you bewail should have asked pardon, for having paid 
 so little attention to the education of Princes on whom 
 the fate and happiness of twenty-five millions of men 
 depend. Luckily," added she, " although they are still 
 young, the King and his brothers have incessantly 
 laboured to repair the errors of their preceptor." * 
 
 Besides their Governor, the boys had tutors and 
 undertutors. The head tutor, M. Coetlosquet, formerly 
 Bishop of Limoges, was a sleepy, good-natured person, 
 much more occupied with his breviary and with 
 thoughts of future preferment, than with the duty of 
 educating the three boys entrusted to his care. In fact, 
 after the death of the Dauphin, who had insisted on a 
 certain amount of discipline and of religious teaching, 
 the Princes did exactly what they pleased. 
 
 This, in the case of the Comte d'Artois, meant that 
 he refused to work at all, and no encouragement was 
 given to the Comte de Provence, who was really 
 anxious to learn. Great advantages were to be reaped 
 
 1 Madame Campan's Memoires, 1823 trans., vol, i. p. 119.
 
 Marie Antoinette becomes Dauphine 13 
 
 from a Prince's ignorance ; no one wished him to know 
 and judge matters for himself. Therefore the Comte 
 de Provence, who was determined to educate himself, 
 lost at the age of fourteen or fifteen the popularity he 
 had enjoyed in his childhood, and was looked on with 
 general disfavour. He was ambitious, he laughed at 
 his elder brother ; his only reason for wishing to study 
 was his anxiety to fit himself for the throne. 
 
 When the Comte de Provence was fifteen years old, 
 an event took place which was to exercise an enormous 
 influence on his fortunes. In the endeavour to assure 
 the permanence of the alliance between France and 
 Austria concluded in Madame de Pompadour's time, 
 Louis XV's Minister Choiseul determined to bring 
 about a marriage between the Dauphin and an Austrian 
 Princess. As a result of his negotiations, Marie 
 Antoinette, Archduchess of Austria, was married to 
 Louis Auguste, the future Louis XVI, in the chapel of 
 Versailles on May 10, 1770. The fetes after the 
 wedding were magnificent, and in spite of the many 
 enemies already lurking around her, every one at Court 
 vied with each other in flattering and spoiling the 
 fifteen-year-old Dauphine. The only cloud dimming 
 the dazzling brightness of the young Princess's horizon, 
 was her intense repugnance to acknowledging Madame 
 du Barry's position as virtual Queen of the Court. 
 The low-born adventuress was forced on her by the 
 infatuated King on every possible occasion, and in spite 
 of Marie Therese's constant admonitions, the proud 
 young Princess found it almost impossible to be civil 
 to her. 
 
 Another unperceived cause of future danger was the 
 fact that the Comte de Provence, perhaps influenced by 
 his Governor, who as a creature of the Du Barry's was
 
 i 4 Louis XVIII 
 
 hostile to Choiseul, objected to an alliance with Austria, 
 the hereditary enemy of France, and though outwardly 
 cordial was not prepared to like his sister-in-law. 
 
 Madame du Barry, for her part, resented the con- 
 tempt with which she was treated by the Dauphine, 
 and when it was the turn of the Comte de Provence to 
 be provided with a wife, she determined that the future 
 Comtesse de Provence should, if possible, be closely 
 attached to her triumphant chariot. 
 
 The Comte de Provence was not consulted about his 
 own marriage. The bride chosen for him was Josephine 
 Louise of Savoy, who, if it had not been for Choiseul's 
 efforts to bring about the Austrian alliance, would most 
 probably have become Dauphine. 
 
 Many intrigues were on foot before the future 
 Comtesse de Provence arrived at the Court, and 
 Madame du Barry drew up with the utmost care a 
 list of the people who were to become members of the 
 Princess's household, and who were selected among the 
 partisans of the Royal Favourite. The chief lady of 
 the bedchamber was Madame de Valentinois, one of 
 Madame du Barry's first friends at Court, and the 
 Comte de Modene, sworn ally of the Due de Vauguyon, 
 became Monsieur's gentleman-in-waiting. The house- 
 hold was arranged on exactly the same footing as that 
 of the Dauphin and Marie Antoinette, and Madame du 
 Barry determined to bring forward the Comtesse de 
 Provence on all possible occasions, and to make her, 
 if possible, Marie Antoinette's successful rival in the 
 affections of the King, and therefore in the considera- 
 tion of the Court. 
 
 The marriage took place in May 1773, when the 
 Comte de Provence was eighteen years old, and the 
 bride two years his senior. The bridegroom said
 
 His Marriage 15 
 
 " yes " in so sonorous a voice that every one in church 
 was astonished. His brother was childless, and he was 
 in a hurry to be married. He performed his part 
 in the ceremony with the grace and dignity which had 
 already made him a prime favourite with the populace, 
 in contradistinction to the Comte d'Artois, who shone 
 in Court circles, but yawned at public ceremonies. In 
 spite of the disorder in the finances, and the fact that 
 Louis XV's quarrel with the Parlements had so offended 
 the Princes of the Blood that they refused to appear at 
 the wedding, the affair was celebrated with the utmost 
 magnificence, the fetes, illuminations, orchestras, masked 
 balls, and theatrical performances being almost as 
 sumptuous as those which had celebrated the marriage 
 of the heir to the French throne. Indeed, the fireworks 
 in the great park at Versailles were the most remark- 
 able that had ever been displayed in France. 
 
 Unfortunately, however, for the success of Madame 
 du Barry's intrigues, the Comtesse de Provence was so 
 utterly insignificant, that it was impossible to think of 
 her as a possible rival to the brilliant young Dauphine. 
 " A pair of tolerably fine eyes obtained for the Comtesse 
 de Provence upon her arrival at Versailles the only 
 praises which could reasonably be bestowed on her," 
 says Madame Campan. She was totally wanting in a 
 desire to please, and possessed no intellectual advantages 
 to compensate for her lack of physical attractions. She 
 was indeed so insignificant that Marie Antoinette, to 
 whom the Court gossips had of course whispered news 
 of the r61e marked out for her sister-in-law at Court, 
 and who was therefore prepared to dislike and to fear 
 her, soon felt no scruples in admitting her to her 
 intimacy ; and when later the circle was enlarged by 
 the Comtesse de Provence's sister becoming' Comtesse
 
 1 6 Louis XVIII 
 
 d'Artois, the three young Princesses were for a time 
 almost inseparable. Matters were not indeed as 
 harmonious as their smooth surface proclaimed, and 
 serious dissensions, leading eventually to far-reaching 
 consequences, would make their appearance before 
 long ; but it was impossible to put the Comtesse de 
 Provence into any prominent position, and it was 
 only as her husband's tool that she was eventually to 
 become the object of Marie Antoinette's bitter dislike. 
 
 Monsieur's disappointment must have been intense 
 when he found himself with a wife so different in 
 personality from his charming and popular sister-in- 
 law — a wife who seemed as little likely to provide 
 domestic delight as to help in forwarding political 
 ambitions. However, even at the age of eighteen he 
 was reasonable and self-controlled, and though he found 
 that the Comtesse could not enter into his intellectual 
 pursuits, he remembered that unity is strength, and that 
 his interests and hers were on many points identical. 
 Therefore he made a friend of his plain, dull little 
 wife, and as — in spite of his enemies' assertions to the 
 contrary — he was of an affectionate nature, he became 
 to a certain extent attached to her ; and for the first 
 few years of their married life they were an apparently 
 happy couple. The lively Dauphine made fun of their 
 supposed love for seclusion and for each other's society 
 when, after the Comte had professed a predilection for 
 winter and for his own fireside, she sent him a sketch 
 by Fragonard representing him and the Comtesse 
 sitting over the fire, in dressing-gowns and cotton caps, 
 with muffs on their knees. 
 
 Several rather barren honours had in the meantime 
 been granted to the Comte de Provence. In 1 77 1 he 
 was given the Colonelship of the Regiment of Provence,
 
 His Married Life 17 
 
 though he was not allowed to visit his regiment, and in 
 December 1773 he was installed in the Mastership of 
 Saint-Lazare, and of Notre-Dame de Montcarmel. It 
 had always been considered politic, while keeping those 
 near the throne carefully in leading strings, to grant 
 them from time to time harmless dignities. 
 
 On May 10, 1774, Louis XV breathed his last, and 
 was succeeded by his grandson Louis XVI. The new 
 King had no children, so the Comte de Provence, or 
 Monsieur, as was now his title, became heir-presumptive 
 to the throne of France.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 The Comte de Provence as heir to the throne — Appearance, literary 
 tastes— Supposed interview with Voltaire — -Writings, political 
 views, forced inactivity — His tour in France — Relations with Marie 
 Antoinette. Accusations against him — Jealousies and resentments 
 — Birth of Madame Royale — Birth of the first Dauphin — Monsieur 
 no longer heir-apparent — Birth of the Due de Normandie. 
 
 THE Comte de Provence now found himself in a 
 position of the first importance — a position, too, 
 which called for the utmost tact and diplomacy. The 
 heirs-apparent to the French throne had good cause 
 to curse the memory of the intriguing, irresponsible 
 Gaston d'Orleans, Louis XIII's only brother, who had 
 imbued the succeeding line of monarchs with a per- 
 manent distrust and terror of their possible machina- 
 tions. In consequence, they were tied hand and foot, 
 denied any position which involved power and influence, 
 and kept in the background with the utmost severity. 
 Monsieur was by nature timid and cautious, his 
 artificial and confined life had kept him strangely 
 ignorant on many practical subjects, but nevertheless 
 he possessed real diplomatic talent which needed only 
 time and opportunity for development, and it was 
 maddening to be kept in a state of inaction while some 
 one utterly incapable mismanaged matters at the helm. 
 
 In appearance Monsieur to a certain extent re- 
 sembled Louis XVI. Like him he inherited the 
 
 aquiline nose, round face with the heavy jowl, short 
 
 18
 
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 li>.uIIU.l.!! 
 
 i 
 
 MONSIEUR FEEEE DC HOI 
 
 Ne /<• /- flovembre 176S. 
 
 L)oux . priuloiK. sacc o( deljonmure 
 A la jMiiloHopmc il ioin( la voinlo,- 
 
 ll a les vertus <le son Irene, 
 I'lt.s'il ti'apas Io Scep(rc, il <i l«i ma 
 
 pllilif llllfll 
 
 From on engraving by Veriti. 
 
 THE COMTE DE PROVENCE. 
 
 (Afterwards Louis XVIII.) 
 
 p. 18]
 
 Personal Appearance 19 
 
 chin, and retreating forehead so often characteristic 
 of the Bourbons. In spite, however, of the inelegance 
 caused by premature stoutness, and the fact that even 
 as a comparatively young man his walk resembled a 
 waddle, he was distinctly good-looking, and — unlike 
 his elder brother — extremely dignified. His complexion 
 was white and clear, his hair fair, and his slightly open 
 and smiling mouth gave an air of affability to his 
 countenance. It was not a strong face, and a certain 
 weakness would show itself in his later life when action 
 was needed, though never when the passive courage 
 of endurance was required. Then his fortitude was 
 unfailing ; he was always cheerful, hopeful, and 
 buoyant. In this, as well as in his other qualities and 
 limitations, there was something feminine ; indeed, an 
 unfriendly observer remarked at this time that the 
 young Prince reminded him of an old woman. 
 
 Though rather fond of jests and stories of a 
 Rabelaisian flavour, the Comte de Provence was a 
 charming, witty conversationalist. His character was 
 not heavy, in spite of the fact that his serene blue 
 eyes sometimes assumed a slightly vacuous expression. 
 The serenity which was one of his most marked 
 characteristics, and never forsook him even in the 
 times of blackest misfortune, was slightly irritating 
 at this period of his life. It was considered a proof 
 of dissimulation ; and as it was combined with a 
 mocking spirit and a certain theatricality of manner 
 which never forsook him all his life, the effect of his 
 personality on the average courtier was disconcerting 
 and repellent. 
 
 Monsieur posed a good deal at this period of his 
 life ; indeed, it is difficult to see how any one with 
 his character and in his position — surrounded by
 
 2o Louis XVIII 
 
 malign criticism, bound with a thousand fetters, 
 doomed to inaction when he longed, not for big 
 schemes, possibly, but to work, to agitate, and to do 
 after his own fashion — could be natural. According 
 to Court opinion, he was cold, cynical, and heartless, 
 a mocker and intriguer, who calculated everything to 
 his own advantage. 
 
 His conduct was most disadvantageously compared 
 with that of his brother Artois, who worshipped many 
 women, gambled for enormous stakes, walked on a 
 tight rope before the Royal Family ; and with his 
 good looks and delightful manner was the beau ideal 
 of what a dashing young Prince of the Ancien Regime 
 should be. Events would teach him nothing, he 
 would be gay and irresponsible — a child to the end. 
 Surely one can hardly join in the chorus of those who 
 blamed Monsieur violently for his knowledge of his 
 own superiority to this feather-brained younger brother, 
 as well as to the poor King, of whom in the stress and 
 storm of Revolution, when immediate action was im- 
 perative, his Minister said sadly that he might have 
 been talking to him of the affairs of the Emperor of 
 China instead of his own, so impossible was it to pierce 
 his dull indifference. 1 
 
 The Comte de Provence, however, suffered from 
 one great disadvantage. Women disliked him. His 
 compliments had not the true ring of passion ; he was 
 a pedant, a mocker, a cynic. In that corrupt Court his 
 respectable life did not stand him in good stead ; it merely 
 proved his indifference and insensibility to women's 
 charms. He would u talk to you quite calmly of the 
 flames and fires of love, at eighteen years of age, as 
 he would have talked of the ice of the Antarctic Pole, 
 
 1 Correspondance entre Mirabeau et La Marck, vol. iii. p. 30.
 
 Visit to Voltaire 21 
 
 or of the frigidity of the Pole," 1 cries the writer of 
 Madame de Crequy's memoirs indignantly. In the 
 realm of thought he took the fashionable side. He 
 was a philosopher, and he admired Voltaire, who was 
 disliked by the King and Queen. An account, pro- 
 bably apocryphal, 2 is given of a secret visit paid by 
 him to the old philosopher when, before the Revolution, 
 the latter came to Paris. We are told that Voltaire 
 received his Royal guest — who was supposed to be 
 unknown to him — in a dressing-gown of blue brocade 
 covered with gold and silver flowers, his head covered 
 by a cotton cap, while over that he wore a velvet 
 and fur cap which had been presented to him by 
 Catherine II. His eyes were brilliant with the light 
 of malice and of genius, the thin pale lips of his tooth- 
 less mouth were broadened in a sardonic smile, his 
 aquiline nose approached his pointed and prominent 
 chin, and his hollow cheeks and wrinkled brown skin 
 gave him a corpse-like aspect. 
 
 To this strange old figure, the spirit hardly covered 
 with body, of a man so eager for truth and reality in 
 an artificial world, that in his detestation of shams he 
 had discarded with them mankind's most inspiring 
 ideals, enter 'Monsieur, plump, well-liking, well satis- 
 fied with himself, dignified, and slightly theatrical, the 
 type of that old world so soon to pass away. It was 
 the meeting of youth and age ; yet, by a strange anti- 
 thesis, age on this occasion represented what was new, 
 and youth what was old, decrepit, and decaying. 
 According to the story, the two had a long conversa- 
 tion, and in the course of it Monsieur asked Voltaire, 
 
 1 Souvenirs de la Marquise dc Crequy, vol. v. p. 37. 
 * Memoirs of Louis XVIII, Lamothe-Langon. These supposed 
 memoirs are not trustworthy.
 
 22 Louis XVIII 
 
 " You find Paris much changed during your absence ? ' 
 tc Yes," he replied, u its inhabitants begin to think, 
 and I hope that before long they will begin to act." 
 
 In a frivolous Court, Monsieur's love of literature 
 was imputed to him as a crime. A Prince of the Blood 
 should not resemble a schoolmaster ! He prided him- 
 self on knowing everything ; he studied, he translated 
 Horace, he wrote verses. Sometimes these were rather 
 pretty, as in the case of the couplet he sent to the 
 Queen with a fan of " exquisite taste and magnificence," 
 after he had had the misfortune to break hers, and 
 she had said laughingly that she must apply to the 
 empty Exchequer for a new one. 
 
 " Au milieu des chaleurs extremes, 
 Heureux d'occuper vos loisirs, 
 J'aurai soin pres de vous d'amener les zephirs, 
 Les amours y viendront d'eux-memes." 
 
 This couplet had an enormous success, and afterwards 
 the King always talked of applying to " my brother 
 the poet " whenever a speech or manifesto was in 
 process of composition. 
 
 Monsieur studied the intricacies of style, and could 
 write excellent parodies. He loved to puzzle and 
 mislead people, and besides the enigmas he composed 
 for sometimes unappreciative friends, he would occa- 
 sionally invent elaborate mystifications which he sent 
 to the Mercure de France. One of these gave the 
 account of an imaginary trial in which the Custom 
 House at Marseilles sued the Consul at Alexandria 
 for damages. The Consul had sent to France a case 
 of crocodiles' eggs. These had hatched on the way, 
 and when the case was opened the crocodiles jumped 
 out and tried to devour the officials. This joke was 
 highly successful, as to Monsieur's delight the Journal
 
 His Writings 23 
 
 des Savans was much interested in the matter, and 
 discoursed learnedly on it. 
 
 Another of Monsieur's imaginings has a certain 
 political significance. In 1 784 he published a pamphlet, 
 of which this is part of the title, " Historical Descrip- 
 tion of a Symbolical Monster, taken alive on the 
 borders of the lake Faqua." 
 
 This monster, which possessed the feet of an ostrich, 
 the horns of a buffalo, the tail of a monkey, and the 
 mane of a lion, devastated the fair land of France, till 
 it was caught and carried off to Spain. Monsieur 
 offered the picture of this monster " to the lovers of 
 truth and of their country, and to the enemies of 
 tyranny and oppression. The honest man may read 
 without fear, but whoever thinks he sees his portrait 
 in the monster whose description he has read, reads 
 it, tears it, throws it into the fire. No matter ; the 
 picture is made, or at least begun." 
 
 This was written at a later date than the time we 
 are considering, when the only step Monsieur had 
 taken in politics was decidedly reactionary. He was 
 a strong partisan of military authority, and he scoffed 
 at the Economists, and at Turgot ; and did his best 
 to oppose the measures brought forward by that great 
 reformer. Necker also fell under his disapproval, and 
 many of the most violent pamphlets against the 
 measures of reform attempted by these two Ministers, 
 were written either by Monsieur or at his dictation, 
 and were printed at the private printing-press in his 
 Palace. 
 
 Monsieur also opposed the re-establishment of the 
 old " Parlements," which, after continual battlings with 
 the Royal authority, had been abolished by Louis XV 
 in 1 77 1 ; and he begged Louis XVI not to disavow
 
 24 Louis XVIII 
 
 his grandfather's victory. On this occasion Turgot 
 took the same side as he, knowing that the " Parle- 
 ments " were often obstructions to measures which 
 were for the public weal as well as against it. Monsieur 
 no doubt did not look on the matter from this ex- 
 tended point of view, and only considered the recall 
 of the tiresome, turbulent " Parlements " as a sign of 
 Royal weakness. 
 
 On this occasion he sent a Memorial to Louis XVI, 
 in which he said : " The reintegrated Parlements will 
 act against the interests of the State, the people, and 
 the King, and while disobeying, will declare they do 
 not disobey. The population will come to their aid, 
 and the Royal authority will succumb one day, crushed 
 by the weight of their resistance." ! 
 
 Memorials and pamphlets were the only outlet for 
 Monsieur's energies, as Maurepas, Louis XVI's First 
 Minister, had taken good care that he should not have 
 a seat on the Council, so that he had no voice in the 
 direction of public affairs. Therefore, as he wrote to 
 his friend Gustavus III of Sweden : " I rage with all 
 my heart against the uselessness in which they leave 
 me, but try to be patient, and to live in hope." 2 
 
 Monsieur never forgave Maurepas, about whose 
 subserviency to his wife he makes fun in the satire 
 called " Dream of M. de Maurepas, or the Puppets 
 of the French Government." He says of Turgot in 
 the same pamphlet : " There was in France a stupid, 
 clumsy, heavy man, with more roughness than decision, 
 more obstinacy than firmness." Above all he hated 
 Choiseul, the instigator of that ill-fated Austrian 
 
 1 Biographie Universelle, vol. lxxii. p. 114. 
 
 8 Geffroy Gustave III et La Conr de France, vol. i. p. 294. Letter, 
 March 29, 1777.
 
 Monsieur in Opposition 25 
 
 marriage. In fact Monsieur was bitterly in opposition 
 at this period of his life, and detested all the King's 
 Ministers. It was intensely galling, with a conscious- 
 ness of his own unused capacity for government, to be 
 perforce ignorant of matters on which the men he 
 considered servants to his brother were well informed ; 
 and to save his pride before the courtiers, he would 
 often pretend knowledge where he was totally ignorant. 
 The situation must have been maddening to one of 
 his calibre ; and it was naturally hardly consoling when 
 the Comte d'Artois' incapacity for a seat on the Council 
 was cited to him as a reason for his own exclusion. 
 In vain Monsieur tried the most eloquent— though 
 perhaps specious — reasoning, and told the King that it 
 would be highly expedient for him to have on the 
 Council another self whose interests could not be 
 separated from his, and who would help to discover 
 any snares held out to him. 1 Perhaps if Louis had 
 trusted his brother, and, instead of making an enemy 
 of him, had allowed him a voice in the management 
 of affairs, in the troublous days to come, his and the 
 Queen's lives might have been spared. Brotherly 
 affection might in this case have proved wiser than 
 policy ; for there is no doubt that, considering the 
 respective abilities of Louis XVI and Monsieur, it was 
 prudent for the King's Ministers to keep the latter 
 from any participation in State affairs. 
 
 Therefore, except for his love of literature, he had 
 no outlet for his energies but in the round of constant 
 frivolities considered proper to a " Son of France." 
 He went to balls, wore a coat covered with diamonds 
 which had cost two millions of francs, 2 and acted 
 
 1 Memoires Secretes Petit de Buchaumont, vol. xxviii. p. 163. 
 1 Correspondance Secrete Lescure, vol. i. p. 56.
 
 26 Louis XVIII 
 
 occasionally in Marie Antoinette's theatricals, where — 
 unlike the other amateur actors — he always knew his 
 part. We hear of him also as playing for high stakes 
 at Marly on an occasion when the Queen won ten 
 thousand francs, and was enabled to pay her milliner, 
 the Comtesse de Provence won twenty-five thousand, 
 and it is recorded that Monsieur and the Comte 
 d'Artois won also ! Monsieur, however, soon realised 
 the folly of these proceedings ; and though gambling 
 went on among his household, he ceased to be noted 
 for high play, as were the Queen and the Comte 
 d'Artois.- 
 
 We hear also among Monsieur's occupations that 
 of designing a simple yet effective uniform to wear 
 during a tour he was to make in France. This tour 
 was an important matter, as Monsieur among other 
 places visited Orleans, Blois, Tours, Bordeaux, Mont- 
 pellier, and Nimes, laid himself out to be agreeable 
 wherever he went, and was received with the utmost 
 enthusiasm. Madame de la Marck, writing to Gus- 
 tavus III, speaks thus of this journey : " Monsieur 
 and the Comte d'Artois have just been travelling 
 in our provinces, as such people do travel, with an 
 enormous expense, and devastating everything on their 
 way. Monsieur has become as big as a barrel." 1 
 The French aristocracy were certainly outspoken in 
 their comments on Royalty. 
 
 Monsieur for his part much enjoyed the tour, and 
 the enthusiasm with which he was greeted. Above 
 all things he was anxious to be popular. 
 
 It was on this journey that the Prince first came 
 into contact with the venomous Montgaillard, who 
 would in the future betray his cause, and vilify him 
 
 1 Geffroy Gustavus III et La Cour de France, vol. i. p. 286:
 
 Monsieur on Tour 27 
 
 in a most untrustworthy volume of Recollections. 
 Monsieur, magnificent, bland, and dignified, in all the 
 array and pomp of eighteenth-century Royalty, visited 
 the College at Soreze, where Montgaillard was pre- 
 sented to him as the most promising pupil. The 
 Prince asked him to translate Horace's Ode beginning 
 "Eheu fugales Posthume," and the boy began with 
 the utmost fluency ; but burst into tears when he 
 reached the words " Linquenda tellus et domus et 
 placens uxor." (Earth and home and pleasant wife 
 must be left.) Monsieur, astonished, asked the reason 
 for his trouble, and Montgaillard murmured timidly 
 in a voice broken with sobs : " It is because I dare not 
 tell the Prince that he must some day die." Monsieur 
 smiled at his admirer's naive adoration, and asked the 
 boy whether he would like to become his page, to 
 which query Montgaillard gave a timid assent. 
 
 In the evening the Prince went to see the Natural 
 History Collection, accompanied by his page. Petrified 
 blocks of stone extracted from the Black Mountains 
 were on a table, and some of them were shaped like 
 hearts. " Oh," cried Monsieur, striking the stones, 
 " here are some very hard hearts ; I did not expect 
 to find any here." 
 
 " Monseigneur," answered Montgaillard, " they are 
 the only ones which are not softened by your presence." 
 
 " Why, it is my little page of the morning. He 
 is really charming. This pupil will do well," said 
 Monsieur, kissing the young courtier. 1 
 
 Monsieur was never considered lavish with his 
 money, which he generally spent in acquiring land in 
 different provinces of France, with the object, the 
 
 1 P. 9, Introduction to Souvenirs du Comte de Montgaillard, Clement 
 de Lacroix.
 
 28 Louis XVIII 
 
 malevolent whispered, of increasing his popularity and 
 importance. Gambling was a far more legitimate em- 
 ployment for the money pertaining to a Prince of the 
 Blood than prudent investments, which might indeed 
 be said to savour of bourgeois economy. 
 
 He was well housed at this period of his life. He 
 had acquired and enlarged Brunoy, a magnificent 
 country house near Choisy, where he entertained the 
 Royal Family most magnificently, and gave theatrical 
 performances of doubtful taste, for Monsieur, though 
 respectable in life, was far from straitlaced in his tastes, 
 and enjoyed Rabelaisian plays and anecdotes ; and on 
 January 8, 1779, the King presented him with the 
 Luxembourg Palace, which in the past had been the 
 habitation of the Grande Mademoiselle. The Luxem- 
 bourg is surrounded by large grounds, and towards 
 the end of Louis XIV's reign a second sumptuous 
 mansion, known as " le petit Luxembourg," had been 
 built in them. Here the Comte and Comtesse de 
 Provence took up their abode whenever they were 
 in town. 
 
 Their relations with the Queen varied, but were 
 generally unfriendly, in spite of the apparent amity 
 implied by constant companionship ; in fact Mon- 
 sieur's hostility to the unfortunate Marie Antoinette 
 was so marked, that he is sometimes supposed to have 
 helped to cause the calamities which were in the end 
 stepping-stones for his ambition. 
 
 The Comte de Provence was indeed in the un- 
 graceful position of profiting by the misfortunes of 
 the woman whom he disliked ; but even if he be cre- 
 dited in that ante-revolutionary time with the cold- 
 blooded wickedness which is assumed by this view — a 
 wickedness to which the rest of his life gives sufficient
 
 Relations with Marie Antoinette 29 
 
 denial — it is difficult to invest him with a prophetic 
 vision which discerned at the beginning of the Revolu- 
 tion the tragic end thereof. Ambitious he certainly 
 was, anxious at one time to become Regent, and to 
 govern instead of his incapable brother, indignant, 
 furious, that by the stupidity of that brother, and what 
 he considered the unpardonable frivolity and want of 
 dignity of the Queen, the fortunes of the whole family 
 were imperilled. For it must be remembered that the 
 deeply seated causes of the French Revolution, and 
 the magnitude it would in the future attain, were alike 
 unknown to him. 
 
 What is one of the reproaches brought against the 
 Comte de Provence in his early days as Emigre ? He 
 had no knowledge of the world, he fed himself on 
 ridiculous illusions. That is to say that, though dazed 
 by the catastrophe which had hurled him out of France, 
 it was impossible for him to realise the strength of the 
 Revolution, or to imagine that France could possibly 
 exist without the Bourbons ; and it was only the 
 wearying experience of continual disappointments, 
 which at last taught him the bitter lesson that the 
 creed professed by his family was out of date. 
 
 His almost childish inconsequence at that time, is 
 wholly inconsistent with the Machiavellian genius which 
 is supposed to have inspired him in the early days of 
 the Revolution. 
 
 He was without doubt intensely irritated with Marie 
 Antoinette, the proud Austrian woman who flouted 
 her sisters-in-law, and mocked at the etiquette which 
 was to him a religion ; and he joined in the cry 
 against her — considering her influence pernicious, 
 possibly suspecting her morals, certainly objecting to 
 her extravagance.
 
 30 Louis XVIII 
 
 It is difficult not to allow that he had some justifica- 
 tion for his point of view, however mistaken it may- 
 have been. For it must be remembered that in her 
 youth Marie Antoinette was not a wise woman ; had 
 not even the good sense to follow with docility the 
 counsels of her mother, and the warnings of her mother's 
 Ambassador. In the end Marie Therese turned away 
 in despair and said no more ; tired of giving advice 
 which was of no avail. 
 
 The young Queen meanwhile went gaily on her way, 
 amusing herself with dress, flirtations, and gambling 
 for high stakes — amusements which necessitated con- 
 stant calls on an empty Exchequer, and caused the 
 Comte de Provence to bestow on her the nickname 
 of " Madame Deficit." She chose as her companion 
 to places of entertainment the dissipated young Comte 
 d'Artois ; she allowed herself to be treated with a want 
 of ceremony in public which was in utter defiance 
 of what was then considered seemly for Royalty ; she 
 went out at night to places of amusement without the 
 King, and she returned from one of these evening 
 expeditions in a hackney carriage. Did it never occur 
 to her that, in a Court where an utter want of morality 
 was cloaked with a minute attention to outward pro- 
 priety, her reckless disregard of "les convenances" 
 would be construed as a desire for licence ? 
 
 Marie Antoinette's beauty, her charm, and her tragic 
 end — indeed, her tragic life ; for was it not a mis- 
 fortune for a woman of quickness and liveliness of 
 mind to be tied to such a man as Louis XVI ? — have 
 gained her a host of adorers, who have accorded her 
 the most whole-hearted admiration. Even the dull, 
 heavy Louis XVI has received a halo from the scaffold. 
 In the romance of their history the Comte de Provence
 
 Relations with Marie Antoinette 31 
 
 lurks in the background — an indefinite yet baleful 
 figure, with whose standpoint little sympathy is felt. 
 Therefore it seems fair — though it may be an un- 
 gracious task — to look at matters for a moment with 
 his eyes, and to realise that it may not have been 
 wholly ambition and malice which caused him to 
 consider Marie Antoinette a danger to the State. 
 High-minded and magnanimous silence as to his sister- 
 in-law's mistakes would no doubt have been more 
 admirable than the course he took, but in the inaction 
 to which he was condemned rankling trifles assumed an 
 undue importance. 
 
 A feeling of dislike between the two young families 
 had doubtless begun when, in Louis XV's time, the 
 Comte de Provence was brought forward by the 
 Du Barry faction as rival to his elder brother, and 
 was under the influence of his Governor, Vauguyon, 
 who detested the Austrian alliance. Mercy Argenteau, 
 Marie Antoinette's adviser and mentor, was then most 
 distrustful of the young Prince, whom he considered 
 " inclined to intrigue, self-interest, and extreme dis- 
 simulation." ' He therefore took much pains to put 
 Marie Antoinette on her guard against her brother-in- 
 law, particularly when the latter for a time appeared 
 inclined to leave the Du Barry faction, and showed 
 anxiety to ally himself with his sister-in-law. Then 
 every one's suspicions were aroused, and it was in vain 
 that Marie Antoinette protested that in her interviews 
 with the Comte de Provence the only matters discussed 
 were plans for forthcoming amusements. 
 
 " I am very glad," writes Marie Therese to Mercy, 
 " that she [Marie Antoinette] should live on good 
 
 1 Arneth, Marie Antoinette Correspotidance, Mercy Argenteau to 
 Marie Tli6rese, June 22, 1771.
 
 32 Louis XVIII 
 
 terms with her brother-in-law ; but I am not of opinion 
 that she should confide too much in him, nor become 
 too intimate with him. This Prince seems to me false, 
 and as he is better looking than the Dauphin, and 
 as courtly as the other is rough, the comparison my 
 daughter might make between the two would not 
 perhaps be to her husband's advantage." 
 
 Therefore, distrust of her brother-in-law was care- 
 fully inculcated on the young Princess, and when 
 Louis XVI came to the throne, this distrust was increased 
 by the discovery among Louis XV's papers of letters 
 from the Comte and Comtesse de Provence, which 
 proved that their private communications to the King 
 did not tally with the views they held in conversation 
 with the rest of the Royal Family. Both Louis XVI 
 and Marie Antoinette were indignant at this apparent 
 duplicity ; and when shortly afterwards the Royal Family 
 performed Tartuffe, and the Comte de Provence took 
 the title role, the King said : " That has been acted to 
 perfection ; the characters each played the part that was 
 natural to them." a 
 
 Louis XVI and Monsieur often disagreed, and we 
 hear, before the former came to the throne, of several 
 unseemly struggles taking place between the brothers. 
 On one occasion we read that " a very beautiful piece 
 of china stood on M. le Comte de Provence's mantel- 
 piece. When M. le Dauphin came into the room he 
 was in the habit of examining and fingering this piece 
 of china. This behaviour seemed to cause M. le 
 Comte de Provence uneasiness, and one day, while 
 Madame la Dauphine was laughing at him about his 
 nervousness, M. le Dauphin, who was holding the 
 
 1 Arneth, Marie Antoinette Correspondance, Mercy Argenteau to 
 Marie Therese, June 28, 1774.
 
 Quarrels and Jealousies 33 
 
 piece of china in question, let it fall, and it was broken 
 into fragments. M. le Comte de Provence, in his first 
 indignation, rushed at M. le Dauphin ; they took each 
 other by the collar and gave each other several fisti- 
 cuffs. Madame la Dauphine, much embarrassed by 
 this scene, had sufficient presence of mind to separate 
 the combatants, and herself received a scratch on the 
 hand. A complete reconciliation followed immediately 
 on the quarrel ; no one had witnessed it." 1 
 
 In the future the Comte de Provence would watch 
 with helpless indignation his brother's clumsy handling 
 of things more important, yet quite as fragile as china, 
 and would avenge himself by bitter words and satirical 
 pamphlets instead of honest fist-play. There were 
 excuses for him ; he was sorely tried by his forced in- 
 activity, while the vessel of the State foundered, and his 
 only available weapons were a sharp tongue and ready pen. 
 
 There is no doubt that Monsieur joined with his aunts 
 in abusing the Queen on every possible occasion, and 
 that the Court of the old Princesses, to which he was a 
 constant visitor, was a centre of criticism of the Queen. 
 Louis XV's daughters were horrified at their niece's 
 frivolity and want of dignity ; they were jealous, too, of 
 her growing power over her husband, who had at the 
 beginning of his married life seemed quite indifferent to 
 her. It was hard for Madame Adelaide, who had always 
 shown special fondness for her godson Louis XVI, and 
 who during the early years of his reign had exercised 
 much influence over him, to feel her power on the 
 wane before that of " l'Autrichienne," who in her 
 opinion thought of nothing but her own amusement, 
 and was ruining the State by her extravagance ; but the 
 
 1 Arneth, Marie Atitoinette Correspondance, Mercy Argenteau to 
 Marie Therese, June 15, 1772. 
 
 3
 
 34 Louis XVIII 
 
 elder lady completely destroyed her own ascendancy 
 over the King when, possibly as the spokesman of the 
 rest of the Royal Family, she submitted to him a list of 
 accusations against his wife, and begged that she might 
 be sent back to Austria. Even after the rebuff she 
 received on this occasion, she continued to vilify Marie 
 Antoinette, whom she might have spared, one would 
 think, from love and loyalty to her nephew. 
 
 On March 6, 1785, it was considered necessary to 
 abrogate the law which exempted the libraries of Mon- 
 sieur, of the Comte d'Artois, and of the Due d'Orleans 
 from Government inspection, as it was discovered that 
 many libels were printed there. This was no doubt a 
 wise though tardy measure, as the Revolutionaries must 
 have put unscrutinised printing-presses to good use ; 
 but because Monsieur had a pretty taste in satire it is 
 hardly fair to credit him — any more than the Comte 
 d'Artois — with cognisance of all that was illicitly 
 printed under his roof. 
 
 The private theatricals in which Marie Antoinette 
 took part caused many heartburnings among the Royal 
 Family ; and although the performances were strictly 
 private, and the only spectators were the Royal Family, 
 the Comte de Provence was greatly shocked at the 
 Queen taking part in them, and would not allow his 
 wife to do so. When asked by the Queen to act, 
 the Comtesse de Provence answered with dignity that 
 '* it would not be befitting to her rank." 
 
 " I act," said the Queen haughtily ; " I who am 
 Queen, and the daughter of an Empress." 
 
 " If I am not Queen," retorted the Comtesse, "I am 
 of the blood from which queens are made." ! 
 
 1 Todiere, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette et le Comte de Provence en 
 face de la Revolution, vol. i. p. 429.
 
 Quarrels and Jealousies 35 
 
 This dispute caused a coldness for some time between 
 the Queen and her sister-in-law, and Marie Antoinette 
 refused to come to a magnificent fete the Comtesse de 
 Provence was giving at Brunoy. 
 
 «« Well," said Madame du Barry to M. de Montes- 
 quieu, Monsieur's first equerry, " when does the fete 
 take place ? " 
 
 " It takes place the day after to-morrow ; but I must 
 tell you that we shall not see the Queen at it." 
 " Is that possible ? " 
 
 " They have worked so well on her mind, and 
 turned the head of the King so cleverly, that he will 
 not go, nor allow her Majesty to go without him." 
 
 " But there will be a horrible scandal ! All France 
 will know that there is discord in the Royal Family." 
 
 " No, Monsieur's wisdom has settled everything. 
 As soon as he knew of his brother's and sister-in-law's 
 refusal he went to the King, represented to him the 
 importance of drawing a veil over these domestic 
 quarrels, and said to him, ' Sire, since neither you 
 nor the Queen will honour the fete by your presence, 
 neither the Comtesse d'Artois nor Madame will appear 
 at it. Please arrange things so that they and the Queen 
 all three show themselves on that day in the same box 
 at the Opera. That will be the way of preventing 
 rumours injurious to every one.'" 1 
 
 Monsieur carried the work of hoodwinking the 
 public still further, and after inducing the King to 
 promise to come on the second day, he announced 
 that the theatrical performances at his fete were in- 
 tended for men alone ; indeed, they were of such a 
 nature that they caused a certain amount of scandal. 2 
 
 1 Memoires de Madame du Barry, vol. v. chap. iii. 
 
 1 Dubois-Corneau, Le Comte de Provence d Brunoy, p. 155.
 
 36 Louis XVIII 
 
 Later, Monsieur gave a magnificent fete at Brunoy 
 in proof of reconciliation with his sister-in-law. Every- 
 thing at the entertainment — which cost fifteen hundred 
 thousand louis — was designed to do homage to the 
 Queen. In the first copse she visited she found knights 
 in full armour asleep under the trees, supposed to be 
 doomed to lethargy by the absence of the beauties who 
 had incited their comrades of the olden time to valour. 
 At the appearance of the Queen they awoke, melodious 
 voices sang the cause of their disenchantment, and they 
 descended into a magnificently decorated arena to 
 signalise their skill and valour. In the splendid tourna- 
 ment which followed, the Queen's colours were always 
 triumphant, and the entertainment was continued with 
 a play, a ballet, and a ball, while there were also brilliant 
 fireworks and illuminations. " Finally, from a pro- 
 digiously high scaffold, placed on a rising ground, the 
 words l Vive Louis ! Vive Marie Antoinette ! ' were 
 shown in the air, in the midst of a very dark but calm 
 night." 1 The Queen evidently appreciated the flattery 
 implied in this entertainment, for it was remarked that 
 for a short time after it she was rather less cold to 
 Monsieur and Madame than it was her wont to be, in 
 spite of Monsieur's constant politeness. 
 
 We hear of other passages-at-arms between the 
 Queen and her brothers and sisters-in-law on the 
 respective antiquity of the Bourbon and Hapsburg 
 families ; and once, if our chronicler can be trusted, the 
 Comtesse de Provence made a thrust which may have 
 rankled. Marie Antoinette's younger brother, the 
 Archduke Maximilian, had paid a visit to Paris, and 
 had had a dispute on etiquette with the Princes of the 
 Blood, in which the Queen had supported him. 
 
 1 Trans. Campan Memoires, 1884, vol. i. p. 190.
 
 Quarrels and Jealousies 37 
 
 " Mesdames," she cried in angry sarcasm to her 
 sisters-in-law, " how proud we little Princesses should 
 feel at having obtained the honour of entering the 
 ancient House of France ! " 
 
 " Ah, Madame," answered the Comtesse de Provence, 
 " that House and ours have for so long been in alliance 
 that I feel as though we were only one ! " x 
 
 These disputes were on trifling subjects ; but there 
 is no doubt that they proceeded from a deep-seated 
 jealousy on both sides. Marie Antoinette, in fact, made 
 no secret of her dislike for her brothers-in-law. During 
 the illness of the Comte d'Artois, who was the constant 
 companion of her amusements, every one remarked 
 with surprise on her indifference to his welfare ; and 
 she told her mother's Ambassador that she took 
 no interest in him whatever, a reflection Mercy 
 Argenteau begged her to keep to herself. He goes 
 on, " and I urged the Queen most insistently that 
 she should not express herself with so much freedom 
 on her indifference for Monsieur. When this Prince 
 fell ill the Queen allowed herself to make some 
 remarks which showed that she would be very little 
 affected by whatever might happen to him. It is 
 true that the King, for his part, has not shown on 
 this occasion the slightest sign of affection for his 
 brothers." 2 
 
 The Queen's remarks were no doubt repeated with 
 spicy additions to her brother-in-law, and cannot have 
 increased his love for her. 
 
 In 1778 a bitter blow fell on Monsieur. It became 
 apparent that the Queen would soon become a mother : 
 
 1 Lamothe-Langon, Memoires de Louis XVIII. 
 
 1 Arneth, Marie Antoinette Correspondance, Mercy Argenteau to 
 Marie Therese, vol. ii. p. 467.
 
 38 Louis XVIII 
 
 that she was, as she cried triumphantly, " at last really 
 Queen of France ! " 
 
 Therefore Monsieur would in a short time be no 
 longer heir-apparent ; and the blow fell also on the 
 Comte d'Artois and his two sons, the Due d'Angouleme 
 and the Due de Berry, whose coming into the world 
 poor Marie Antoinette had attended with outward joy 
 and serenity, but with a sorrow in her heart of which 
 she unburdens herself in her letters to her mother. 
 
 Monsieur felt the change in his position most bitterly. 
 However, on October 5, 1778, he wrote very sensibly 
 to his friend Gustavus III : x 
 
 " You know," he says, " the change in my fortune. 
 It has produced no change in my heart, nor in your 
 heart, I am sure. I can tell you truthfully, in the 
 words of Zamore, ' Formerly at your feet I laid my 
 empire.' You were the friend of a man who might 
 some day be useful to you by his power. I have now 
 nothing more to offer you than a tender and faithful 
 heart, but I do it in friendship. You perhaps will 
 think from these words that I am in despair at this 
 reverse ; I can, however, assure you that it is not so. I 
 feel it — that I do not hide from you ; but reason, and 
 perhaps a little philosophy, and confidence in God, have 
 come to my help, have supported me, and made me 
 take my line with proper dignity. I became master of 
 my exterior very quickly, and I have always held the 
 same conduct as formerly, without showing a joy which 
 would have been considered hypocrisy — as it would 
 have been — for, speaking candidly, I feel none, as you 
 can well imagine ; nor a sadness, which would have 
 been attributed to weakness of soul. The inner 
 feelings have been more difficult to conquer. They 
 1 Geffroy, Gustavus III et La Cour de France.
 
 Birth of Madame Roy ale 39 
 
 still assert themselves sometimes ; but with the help 
 of the three aids I have mentioned to you I at least 
 control them, if I cannot altogether overcome them. 
 I saw very well that people tried to probe me at the 
 beginning of the Queen's pregnancy, and I have 
 avoided this with care. The only answer that has 
 been drawn from me is this. I was very much pressed 
 to explain myself on the subject by a lady whom I know 
 very well, and with whom I am much connected in 
 society, but am not on a footing of intimacy or con- 
 fidence. I said to her, ' Deus dedit, Deus abstulit, fiat 
 voluntas Domini ' (' God gave, God took away ; God's 
 will be done '), and since that time I have not been 
 further questioned. In truth, a year ago I should 
 certainly have said, like Charles XII, c Deus dedit, 
 diabolus non abstollet a me ' (' God gave, the devil 
 shall not take away '). 
 
 However, it was a girl, the future Madame 
 d'Angouleme, for whom the Comte de Provence was 
 to feel paternal affection, who came into the world 
 on December 19, 1778, and the Comte de Provence 
 wrote to Gustavus III : * " When my niece came into 
 the world, I allow I was very glad." He adds, however, 
 " My sister-in-law did things very well this time, but 
 it is to be feared that the matter may not go so satis- 
 factorily on some future occasion." 
 
 It was remarked, and the spiteful made malevolent 
 comments on the fact, that when the Comte de Provence 
 took the place of the King of Spain as godfather to the 
 infant Princess, and was asked to name her, he insisted 
 on the observance of the ritual which enjoined that the 
 names of the child's parents should first be given. 
 Monsieur was always a strict observer of etiquette, and 
 1 Geffroy, Gustave III et La Cour de France.
 
 4 o Louis XVIII 
 
 the utterly gratuitous supposition that he meant to 
 insinuate that the Princess was not his brother's child, 
 seems absurdly malicious. 
 
 On October 22, 1 78 1 , a further misfortune befell 
 Monsieur in the birth of the first Dauphin, who, saved 
 from the misery to come, was to fade away when 
 France was opening her new era with the States- 
 General. " Dear me, Papa," said the little Due 
 d'Angouleme, when he saw the baby for the first 
 time, " how little my cousin is ! " " Yes, child," 
 answered the Comte d'Artois caustically ; " but the 
 time will come when you will find him quite suffi- 
 ciently big ! " a 
 
 On March 27, 1785, the family was completed by 
 the birth of another boy, known during the lifetime of 
 his brother as the Due de Normandie, and in the 
 future as the captive King Louis XVII. 
 
 1 Memotres de Louis XVIII, trans. Lamothe-Langon, vol. ii. p. 234.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 Madame de Balbi — Her influence over Monsieur, its political effect 
 — Public affairs — The assembly of notables — Monsieur at the head 
 of a Bureau — Calonne's fall — Monsieur at the Cour des Comptes 
 — His popularity, his speech to Necker — The States-General. 
 
 MEANWHILE an important event had taken 
 place in the Comte de Provence's life — he had 
 for the first time fallen under a woman's influence. 
 
 Surrounded by enemies who watched every shade of 
 change in his countenance, and every tiny detail in his 
 life, interpreted them maliciously, and invented as 
 pleased their malicious fancy where it was impossible 
 to chronicle, his loneliness must have been great ; 
 especially as his only ally was a delicate, unpleasing 
 wife, two years older than himself, who suffered an 
 utter want of self-control which showed itself in many 
 peculiarities, and who at the best of times was no 
 companion for a witty, intelligent man of letters. Her 
 one idea of correct behaviour, was to observe the minutiae 
 of etiquette with a strictness which made Monsieur's 
 Court dull and constrained. He loved witty conversa- 
 tion, it was his great recreation — the one pastime of a 
 man who had been delicate, almost infirm, from his 
 childhood, and the greater part of whose life was spent 
 in drawing-rooms. 
 
 One day a charming child was brought to Court by 
 her father, M. de Caumont, who held the position of 
 first Gentleman of the Chamber to the Comte de 
 
 41
 
 42 Louis XVIII 
 
 Provence, while his wife was " Gouvernante " to the 
 children of the Comte d'Artois. 
 
 Owing to the position held by her parents, Anne 
 Jacobe de Caumon La Force, a member of an old and 
 illustrious family, was very early allowed to frequent 
 the Court, where from the first her presence was a great 
 addition to its gaiety. The poor dull Comtesse de 
 Provence was fascinated by her originality, vivacity, 
 and droll repartees. At first she was looked on merely 
 as a plaything by the Princess, but as she grew older, 
 and her bright laughing eyes, beautiful figure, 
 brilliancy, and merriment made her a conspicuous 
 personage, Madame became very anxious to attach 
 her permanently to her Court. There were difficulties 
 about doing this, as no vacancy was at that time to be 
 found among Madame's maids of honour. However, 
 Anne de Caumont had become absolutely necessary 
 to the Comtesse, who worked energetically for her 
 favourite ; and on M. de Caumont's death, when his 
 daughter was fifteen years old, a pension of 5,000 
 livres was obtained for her, and in 1779 sne was ma de 
 one of Madame's attendant ladies. 
 
 By this time she had become Madame de Balbi, 
 having on April 28, 1776, married the Comte de 
 Balbi, a Genoese of noble birth, Colonel of the regiment 
 of the Bourbon Infanterie. The marriage of the beauti- 
 ful and brilliant girl of eighteen to the good-looking 
 young soldier of twenty-four caused much excitement 
 at Court, and the King and Queen and all the members 
 of the Royal Family were present at the wedding. 
 
 On December 21, 1778, a son was born to the 
 young couple. Madame de Balbi was a woman whose 
 chronicles were destined to be eventful, for little more 
 than a year after this occurrence it was announced that
 
 Madame de Balbi 43 
 
 the Comte de Balbi had suddenly gone mad, and that 
 his wife was to be separated from him. Much scandal 
 was in circulation about the event — it must be remem- 
 bered, in justice to Madame de Balbi, that nothing 
 happened to any person of prominence in France at 
 that time which did not give rise to the vilest gossip — 
 and according to one story in circulation, M. de Balbi 
 was to be shut up as insane because he had discovered 
 that his wife was unfaithful to him. Part of this story 
 is undoubtedly false ; as from the evidence given by 
 the doctors who examined him, the Comte de Balbi 
 was certainly mad, and had suffered from hallucinations 
 for some time. The stories reflecting on Madame de 
 Balbi's honour were certainly not believed by the 
 Comte and Comtesse de Provence, with both of whom 
 she continued high in favour ; but comments reflecting 
 on her both now and later appear so persistently in the 
 Memoirs of the time, that, taking these in conjunction 
 with the dark blot on her later life, I think we may 
 assume without an undue want of charity that, if not 
 guilty on this occasion, she was at any rate a coquette, 
 of whom evil might easily be believed. 
 
 No doubt this coquetry was particularly fascinating 
 when contrasted with the absolute ignorance of the art 
 of pleasing shown by the Comtesse de Provence, and 
 Monsieur soon became charmed with his wife's at- 
 tendant. Her intelligence was keen, she took much 
 interest in public affairs, treated every subject she 
 touched on with delightful vivacity and quickness, 
 understood the slightest hint, laughed gaily, and re- 
 lated stories to perfection. Perhaps she was a little 
 wanting in womanly softness, but the Comte de 
 Provence was, as we know, rather soft and feminine 
 himself, and would therefore not miss this quality.
 
 44 Louis XVIII 
 
 Her very impulsiveness, her fits of passion when her 
 will was crossed — and, forgetting her own interests, 
 she would abuse any one and every one in her anger — 
 were, as contrasted with his own nature, additional 
 attractions to a man who, even when witty, was a little 
 ponderous, and to whom it was easier to conceal his 
 thoughts than to express them with openness. 
 
 Madame de Balbi was soon the centre of the Luxem- 
 bourg Court; conversation with her became Monsieur's 
 chief delight and pastime, while Madame still showed 
 a fondness for her which excited the ridicule of the 
 malicious. She was installed in a luxurious apartment 
 in the Luxembourg Palace, where Madame was now 
 living, and was allowed to have her baby with her. 
 Her husband, whom she did not ever trouble to see 
 again, was settled with an establishment befitting his 
 rank and fortune at the Hospice in the little town of 
 Senlis, where he lived till his death in 1835. 
 
 The Vicomte de Reiset thus describes the fascinating 
 Madame de Balbi 1 : " Her portrait, which I owe to the 
 obliging amiability of her great-nephew the Due de la 
 Force, represents her in a lawn dress, with laughing 
 lips; mocking eyes, and a wilful air. Her expression is 
 brilliant with the fire of passion, and her whole physi- 
 ognomy is instinct with intelligence, ardour, and 
 strength of will. The delicacy of the slightly turned 
 up nose, the dimples which indent the round cheeks, 
 all seem to minister to the perfection of this fresh and 
 delightful face. With her slender fingers, she crosses 
 over her half-bare neck a fichu of white gauze which 
 does not wholly cover a small space of white shoulder, 
 a poppy-coloured ribbon only partially keeps back the 
 abundant masses of her bright brown hair. Looking 
 
 1 Comtesse de Balbi, p. 15.
 
 Madame de Balbi and Monsieur 45 
 
 at this portrait with its impress at once of coquetry and 
 want of constraint, it is easy to realise the power of a 
 woman in whom were united so many attractions and 
 so much intellect, who joined so much seductive grace 
 to such roguery and tenacity." 
 
 Madame de Balbi was not only a plaything and 
 amusement to the Comte de Provence, she was also 
 a counsellor and a companion, with whom all the affairs 
 of life, both public and private, were discussed. She 
 has been called an intriguer, and it is at least note- 
 worthy that from the time of his connection with her, 
 Monsieur's political attitude altered entirely. Though 
 proud and dignified, he had always coveted popularity 
 with the people, but hitherto he had been the enemy 
 of reform as practised by Turgot and Necker, had 
 opposed the return of the " Parlements " who were the 
 great bulwark against the Royal authority, and had 
 taken up the position known as reactionary. Hence- 
 forth, however, he would — though in a timid and 
 hesitating fashion and with many scruples — assume for 
 a time the popular side, would show by his moderation, 
 good sense, and undoubted political cleverness that had 
 he wielded the sceptre, France might have been saved 
 from her worst excesses ; and would only be shocked 
 and startled back to his former principles when the 
 Revolution, rolling in like a great flood, swept the 
 Bourbon family out of power, country, and, in several 
 cases, out of life altogether. 
 
 Meanwhile, during the thirteen years that Louis XVI 
 had been on the throne, the state of financial affairs 
 had been a despairing problem, for which each Con- 
 troller-General in turn had tried vainly to find a 
 solution. Calonne, the Comte d'Artois' favourite, had 
 come into office as Controller-General in 1783, and
 
 4 6 Louis XVIII 
 
 had hastened the catastrophe by boundless extravagance, 
 while he concealed the tragic condition of the Exchequer 
 by a financial policy composed of ceaseless expedients 
 and underhand transactions. 
 
 However, after three years of these lighthearted 
 methods, which seemed for a time to have brought back 
 a gleam of prosperity to France, it was evident that the 
 end was approaching, for no ready money could be 
 found even to pay the interest of the National Debt, 
 and the spectre of State bankruptcy drew alarmingly 
 near. 
 
 It was impossible to impose more taxes on the lower 
 classes, so Calonne, having exhausted his specious 
 resources, adopted the desperate course of summoning 
 an Assembly of Notables, consisting of nobles, bishops, 
 and magistrates — classes hitherto exempt from taxation 
 — who would, he trusted, with the audacious hopefulness 
 characteristic of his nature, vote for the abolition of 
 their own privileges, and thus at least stave ofF the day 
 of reckoning. 
 
 The Assemblage of Notables was opened by the 
 King on February 22, 1787, and on the next day 
 it was divided into seven bureaux, each presided over 
 by a Prince of the Blood. Monsieur was at the head 
 of the First Bureau, thus finding himself in a position 
 of political authority. He was determined to be con- 
 ciliatory and agreeable, as is proved by his opening 
 words : " Called by the will of the King to preside 
 over you, this favour, precious as it is, would neverthe- 
 less be incomplete if it did not please you. I wish 
 it had been possible for me to ask for your consent, 
 but as it is not, I shall try to deserve it by the impartial 
 manner in which I lead the deliberations." 
 
 It was soon apparent that the Assembly of Notables
 
 The Assembly of Notables 47 
 
 would not be a success from the Government point of 
 view. In vain did the King send to the bureaux — 
 as on a somewhat analogous occasion the celebrated 
 Mrs. Bond sent to the ducklings — forbidding them to 
 discuss the desirability of the proposed taxes, and 
 ordering that they should confine their deliberations 
 to the methods by which they were to be levied. The 
 Notables did not see the matter at all in the same light 
 as did the Government, and rebelled, attacking Calonne 
 violently, and insisting that he must give them an exact 
 and minute account of the state of the Exchequer, 
 before they would go a step further. The lower 
 classes, in their ignorance and hatred of the Govern- 
 ment, sided with the Notables in the struggle against 
 taxation, and appeared to approve of a policy which 
 left the poor to bear the whole burden of providing 
 the necessary money for the State. 
 
 Monsieur, in contradistinction to the Comte d'Artois, 
 sided with his bureau in everything, and insisted that 
 its proces-verbal should bear the words, " In the presence 
 and approved of by Monsieur." He took the popular 
 side with emphasis, and considered that, in the case of 
 the establishment of the proposed Provincial Assemblies, 
 the Tiers Etat should be as many in number as the 
 clergy and nobles united. His bureau was known by 
 the flattering name of " the Wise Man's Bureau," and 
 he gained a great reputation by his constant attendance 
 to business and his care for the interests and cause of 
 the people. The King became rather jealous of him, 
 and popular feeling is shown by the fact that a carica- 
 ture was in circulation called " La France Malade," 
 which represented France as dying, eight saucers of 
 blood having just been drawn from her by M. de 
 Calonne, the Queen waiting with a ninth saucer, and
 
 48 Louis XVIII 
 
 Monsieur, as the benevolent doctor, pushing her aside 
 while he applies a bandage to the wound. 
 
 The brilliant, mendacious Calonne was indeed in evil 
 case. Falsification of the accounts, specious arguments 
 to deceive the simple-minded King, lighthearted lies 
 which served for a time to keep up appearances, were 
 all of no avail. Monsieur, backed up by his bureau, 
 refused to be satisfied with the skilful speech — glossing 
 over the financial tragedy in progress — which Calonne 
 had made at the opening of the Assembly of Notables, 
 and insisted that an exact financial statement must be 
 laid before the Notables. The unfortunate Calonne 
 exclaimed that publicity meant ruin, and it was at last 
 decided that he should submit the accounts to a secret 
 Committee, assembled at the Luxembourg under Mon- 
 sieur's presidency. It was afterwards discovered that 
 even on this occasion Calonne had behaved with 
 duplicity, and had left some of the accounts behind ; 
 but though a full disclosure was not forthcoming, 
 it was evident that the position, with a deficit of 
 apparently 120,000,000 livres, was almost desperate. 
 The scene must have been curious ; for the Committee 
 meeting lasted for five hours, and during all that time, 
 surrounded by a throng of excited enemies, Calonne 
 defended himself with perfect coolness, and with a 
 courage worthy of a better cause. 
 
 Eventually the King ordered that there should be a 
 general meeting of all the Notables to hear Calonne's 
 defence of himself, but that no discussion should be 
 allowed, and that directly after the speech of the Con- 
 troller, the Notables should again divide into bureaux. 
 Calonne excited general indignation by pretending in 
 his speech that he and the Notables were completely in 
 accord as to principles, and only differed as to form.
 
 Calonne's Falsifications 49 
 
 " It is indecent and dishonest to deceive the King and 
 the Assemblage thus ! " l cried Monsieur wrathfully ; 
 and it was decided that Calonne's address should be 
 printed and sent to each of the bureaux, that they 
 might compare it with what had really taken place. 
 
 The fall of the Controller-General was inevitable ; 
 and when it was discovered that he had speculated on 
 the Bourse on his own account without informing the 
 King, it was considered necessary to exile him. 
 
 Theodore de Lameth, in his fragmentary Memoirs, 
 gives a curious account of an interview with Madame de 
 Balbi while the Notables were sitting. He says : 
 
 " I had hardly entered when Madame de Balbi asked 
 me, ' Well, M. de Lameth, what do you think of what 
 is going on ? ' 
 
 " ' Do you wish, Madame, to speak of the Notables, 
 who are without respect for the King or pity for the 
 people ? ' 
 
 " ' But what do you expect ? You know how they 
 speak of the King. When they want change in a 
 public house, they throw a crown on the table and 
 say, " Change me this drunkard." 
 
 Madame de Balbi went on to argue, with her usual 
 impetuosity, that the King was incapable of reigning 
 and would lose his crown, and asked Lameth who 
 would then be chosen as Regent. After much pressure 
 had been exercised to make him give his opinion, he at 
 last said that he considered that the Queen, as mother 
 to the future King, would be the most suitable person 
 to hold the Regency. This answer did not evidently 
 please the lady, and she showed her disapproval very 
 plainly ; while the Comte de la Chatre, who had up 
 to this point been silent, rose and said with decision : 
 1 Lescure, Correspondance Secrete, vol. ii. p. 122. 
 
 4
 
 50 Louis XVIII 
 
 " Certainly, if that happens, I shall undertake to take 
 the Austrian woman back to her own country with 
 fifty dragoons of my regiment." 
 
 "And I, La Chatre, know a man who might stop 
 you with a regiment of fifty soldiers," answered Lameth 
 hotly. 
 
 Such talk was little short of treasonable ; but in 
 spite of Madame de Balbi's power over Monsieur, and 
 her intimacy with him, we must, 1 think, hesitate 
 before we credit him with similar views to those held 
 by his followers. As we shall see later, it was his fate 
 to be continually surrounded by ardent partisans over 
 whom he exercised little influence, and whose zeal often 
 outstripped their discretion ; his fate, too, to be always 
 credited with a participation in their excesses, whereas 
 those who came personally into contact with him found, 
 instead of the fanatic they had expected, a sensible, 
 moderate man, very superior in mind and morals to 
 his excitable and short-sighted adherents. 
 
 The poor King was in a miserable state of un- 
 certainty about the choice of a new Controller-General, 
 for he detested Necker, for whom the country was 
 clamouring. " It will be necessary for my brother to 
 have no dinner for two days to make him decide," * 
 said Monsieur disrespectfully. In the end the Queen's 
 protege, Lomenie de Brienne, Archbishop of Toulouse, 
 was chosen in the place of Calonne, whom he had 
 denounced with the utmost energy, but in whose foot- 
 steps he was obliged to follow as far as any plan for 
 reforming the finances was concerned ; and on May 25, 
 1787, the sitting of the Notables came to an end. 
 They had done nothing as far as legislation was con- 
 cerned, except to clamour for the States-General, and 
 1 Lescure, Cmrespondance Secrete, vol. ii. p. 134.
 
 Political Disturbances 51 
 
 to show defiance of the Royal authority ; but Mon- 
 sieur must have contemplated the nine weeks of their 
 assembly with complacency. He had taken his own 
 line, had come forward to the front rank, and was 
 now the most popular member of the Royal Family 
 in France, if we except the revolutionary Duke of 
 Orleans. 
 
 Meanwhile, no money being forthcoming, the pro- 
 posed taxes were sent for registration to the " Parle- 
 ment '" of Paris, who promptly followed the example 
 of the Notables, refused to register, and demanded the 
 States-General as the only body who could decide on 
 fresh taxation. As a consequence, the Parlement was 
 exiled to Troyes, and Monsieur and the Comte d'Artois 
 were sent, one to the Cour des Comptes and the other 
 to the Cour des Aides, to demand the registration of 
 the Stamp Act, which was the special tax introduced 
 by the new Controller. Monsieur went reluctantly ; 
 but his journey there was a triumph, as crowds sur- 
 rounded his carriage, and the fishwomen threw their 
 arms round his neck and insisted on kissing him. In 
 the H6tel-de-Ville his position was not so pleasant, for 
 the Cour des Comptes, like the Notables, protested 
 against a forced registration, and showed indifference 
 when threatened with exile. However, as Monsieur 
 was considered the people's champion, he was credited 
 with acting unwillingly as an instrument of despotic 
 power. Therefore his intervention did not interfere 
 with his popularity, and he was accompanied back to 
 the Luxembourg by an enthusiastic and admiring crowd, 
 while the Comte d'Artois was greeted with murmurs, 
 and had to be protected by an armed force. 
 
 The unfortunate King now tried the effect of an 
 exercise of despotic power. He held a Royal Session,
 
 52 Louis XVIII 
 
 and ordered the new Jaws for taxation to be passed, 
 while, to punish the Parlements, he established Grand 
 Baillages for the trying of cases hitherto brought before 
 them, and a Plenary Court consisting of the Princes 
 and nobility, to register the taxes. At these measures, 
 which were not long in force, there arose a storm 
 throughout the country which could only be assuaged 
 by the recall of Necker, and by the promise of a 
 speedy assemblage of the States-General. Meanwhile, 
 Monsieur was basking in the light of public approval. 
 He went to the Opera, and was received with tremend- 
 ous enthusiasm ; ! and he was credited with having 
 thrown himself at the feet of the King, imploring 
 him not to overthrow the constitutional laws of the 
 country. On Necker's recall he was anxious to prove 
 that he was no longer hostile to the popular favourite, 
 and, meeting him at Versailles, he made the following 
 little speech : 
 
 " The wish of the nation recalls you here. I see 
 you with the greatest pleasure. In 178 1, without 
 ceasing to esteem you, I had some prejudices against 
 you ; but when a man has passed the age of thirty 
 his thoughts and judgments are very different from 
 what they were at twenty-five." 
 
 So Monsieur made his political recantation, and 
 played with the Revolution, thinking it a fire which 
 would die out if watered by a few soothing words 
 and a little judicious diplomacy. He was before long 
 to put his hand so far into the flame that he would 
 scorch himself, and, drawing back in sudden alarm, 
 would retire to the cold regions of philosophical reason- 
 ing and worship of the divine rights of kings. 
 
 After much disturbance throughout the country, 
 
 1 Lescure, Correspondance Secrete, vol. ii. p. 266.
 
 Opening of the States^General 53 
 
 risings in Paris, and violent pamphlets, the elections 
 for the States-General were at last accomplished, and 
 on Monday, May 4, 1789, the King — hopeful that 
 his troubles were at last ended — opened the Salle des 
 Menus at Versailles to the great assemblage. Both 
 his brothers were of course present ; but from this 
 time there is no mention of Monsieur being permitted 
 to take any prominent part in a political movement. 
 The King, as we know, had been jealous of the popu- 
 larity he had earned at the time of the sitting of the 
 Notables, and the Queen and her party hated and 
 mistrusted him. Therefore he was relegated as far as 
 possible to the background, and was kept in ignorance 
 of the opinions and plans of the Court. He was too 
 timid and also too scrupulous to lead a party, or to 
 devise a policy of his own ; but for a short time he 
 was, with many waverings, to be an instrument in the 
 hands of the strongest man in France.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Mirabeau — Monsieur's relations with him — The Memoir — Monsieur on 
 the King — The Marquis de Favras — The attack on Versailles, 
 Favras' doings — L' Affaire Favras — Mirabeau's agitation — Monsieur 
 at the H6tel-de-Ville — His defence of himself — Favras' execution 
 — Question of Monsieur's complicity and moral responsibility. 
 
 TARNISHED in reputation, persecuted by his own 
 kin, Gabriel Honore Riquetti de Mirabeau had 
 come to Paris to expiate by the work he tried to do 
 for France in the three years left to him, a life of 
 dissipations and rebellions, irradiated in spite of its 
 blackness by the fire of genius. After much opposition 
 he had managed to be elected one of the deputies for 
 the Tiers Etat, and from the first he realised the 
 significance of the great movement before him, and 
 determined if possible to save the Monarchy, or at 
 least the lives of Louis XVI and of Marie Antoinette. 
 He first tried to approach the Queen through his 
 friend the Comte de la Marck, but she refused to 
 listen to his advances. 
 
 The dissipated and disreputable Due d'Orleans seemed 
 inclined to make advances to the great tribune, and 
 asked to meet him at dinner. Mirabeau was flattered 
 by this attention ; but his quick intuition soon dis- 
 covered the despicable character of the man before him, 
 who inspired him, he said, with " neither liking nor 
 confidence." 1 On one occasion he exclaimed with 
 
 1 Correspondance enlre Mirabeau et La Marck, vol. i. p. 88. 
 
 54
 
 P- 54] 
 
 From an engraving by Peronard. 
 THE COMTE DE MIRABEAU.
 
 Attack on Versailles 55 
 
 passionate indignation, " They declare that I belong 
 to his party ; I would not have him for a valet ! " x 
 
 Events marched quickly; July 14th saw the destruc- 
 tion of the Bastille, by the end of August the National 
 Assembly had progressed as far in the making of the 
 Constitution as to be debating on the question whether 
 or no the King should have the power of veto over 
 the laws enacted by the Assembly, and on October 5th 
 the state of public feeling was shown by the Insur- 
 rection of Women, and Versailles was besieged by an 
 excited throng who, clamouring for bread, penetrated 
 even into the Royal apartments, and next day brought 
 back the King, Queen, and Dauphin in triumph to 
 the Tuileries. 
 
 There was no time to be lost. " What are those 
 people thinking about ? "' exclaimed Mirabeau in de- 
 spair to La Marck. "Do they not see the abyss 
 which is opening beneath their feet ? " Once, im- 
 pelled to a state of exasperation more violent than 
 usual, he cried, " All is lost ; the King and Queen 
 will perish, and you will see it ; the people will trample 
 on their corpses ; you do not realise the dangers of 
 their position, but it is necessary to make them under- 
 stand them." 2 
 
 How ? There was indeed the principal difficulty, 
 a difficulty which, alas ! was never overcome till it was 
 too late for action. Mirabeau determined to make at 
 any rate an attempt to point out to the King and 
 Queen the course they should pursue, to extricate 
 themselves from the perils surrounding them. He 
 embodied his views in a Memoir, which he brought 
 to his friend the Comte de la Marck, and begged 
 
 1 Coyrcspondance entre Mirabeau et La Marck, vol. i. p. 128. 
 s Ibid., vol. i. p. 112.
 
 5 6 Louis XVIII 
 
 him to convey it to the Royal Family. This 
 Memoir advised the King to leave Paris, and to re- 
 tire, not to the frontiers, which would excite alarm, 
 but to Normandy or Anjou, to summon the National 
 Assembly to follow him, and to issue reassuring pro- 
 clamations. Louis XVI was also counselled to renew 
 the constitutional basis of the Government lately 
 decreed, to maintain the abolition of the Parlements, 
 and to show that he was the father of his people, and 
 therefore the enemy of despotism, abuses, and extrava- 
 gance by announcing that luxury should be banished 
 from the Royal Establishment, and that the State 
 money should go exclusively to ameliorating the lot 
 of the people. 
 
 The Comte de la Marck was on intimate terms with 
 Marie Antoinette ; but it would have been impossible 
 to show the Memoir to her, as Mirabeau had just 
 attacked her most violently at the Assembly, for having 
 appeared at the dinner given by the Royal Gardes du 
 Corps to the Regiment de Flandre, which had to the 
 people's indignation been summoned to Versailles ; and 
 she had furthermore been persuaded by those who 
 surrounded her, that Mirabeau was the instigator of 
 the attack on Versailles on October 5th. Who could 
 be trusted to give the Memoir a serious and impartial 
 reading ? The Comte de la Marck thought of Mon- 
 sieur. " Without," he says, " having ever had in- 
 timate relations with Monsieur, Comte de Provence, 
 I knew that he was a sensible, well-informed, and 
 thoughtful man ; and I believed that it would be 
 possible to confide an affair of this kind to him. I 
 spoke to M. de la Chatre, his first gentleman of the 
 chamber, and begged him to ask the Prince for an 
 interview, which must be strictly secret, for Monsieur
 
 Mirabeau's Memoir 57 
 
 was as carefully watched at the Luxembourg as the 
 King at the Tuileries. It was granted to me, and 
 M. de la Chatre took me to the Prince between 
 midnight and one o'clock in the morning." 1 
 
 The Comte de la Marck opened the interview with 
 the most careful diplomacy. He represented the fact 
 that Mirabeau was a most dangerous enemy, and that 
 it would be wise for the Government to enlist him on 
 their side, said it was untrue that he had ever belonged 
 to the party of the Due d'Orleans, had instigated the 
 attack on the Tuileries, or prompted the violence with 
 which the King and Queen had been forced into Paris ; 
 and told Monsieur that, on the other hand, Mirabeau 
 considered it very important that the King and Queen 
 should leave this dangerous city, and was most anxious 
 to be employed as an instrument to save the Monarchy. 
 
 " Monsieur," says the Comte de la Marck, 2 
 lt listened to me attentively ; he approved of what I 
 had done ; he then took the manuscript which I had 
 in my hand, and read it before me, making comments 
 from time to time, either on passages which lacked 
 clearness, or on the measures proposed, which ap- 
 peared to him difficult of execution. Nevertheless, 
 he did not hesitate to tell me that he approved in 
 general of the plan proposed, but that he was con- 
 vinced beforehand that the King would not consent 
 to adopt it. 
 
 " I proposed then to Monsieur to obtain the help 
 of the Queen, who, once persuaded, would perhaps 
 obtain the concurrence of the King. ' You are mis- 
 taken,' he said, l if you think it in the Queen's power 
 to decide the King in so grave a matter.' I replied 
 
 1 Correspondance e?iire Mirabeau et La Marck, vol. i. p. 1 23. 
 1 Ibid., vol. i. p. 124.
 
 58 Louis XVIII 
 
 that it must be allowed that everything was lost if 
 neither the resolution of the King nor the influence 
 of the Queen could be counted on. l To show you,' 
 Monsieur went on, c what is sometimes the King's 
 humour when the Queen intervenes in an affair, I will 
 tell you what happened one day when the Archbishop 
 of Toulouse [M. de Brienne] was still First Minister. 
 He wished to remove the Baron de Breteuil from the 
 Ministry, as he hampered him ; he spoke about this 
 several times to the King, but always without success. 
 The more the Archbishop saw the King's resistance, 
 the more he thought it important to remove M. de 
 Breteuil ; so he returned continually to the charge. 
 At last, tired of the struggle, the King said to him, 
 " You wish for it ; well ! I consent ; you have only 
 to ask him to send in his resignation." Then, several 
 moments afterwards, he added with a sort of content- 
 ment, " After all, he is a man belonging completely to 
 the Queen's party." ' The weakness and indecision 
 of the King,' continued Monsieur, c are almost beyond 
 belief. To give you an idea of his character, imagine 
 oiled billiard balls which you try in vain to keep in 
 one position.' 
 
 " After a conversation of over two hours with 
 Monsieur, for whom personally I have nothing but 
 praise, I retired, full of sadness. I was certain that 
 it would be impossible to persuade the King to adopt 
 the energetic measures which alone could save him, 
 and that resolution and decision were lacking where 
 it was absolutely essential to find them." 
 
 However, in spite of the apparent hopelessness of 
 the attempt, Monsieur exerted his influence to bring 
 the King and Mirabeau together, and to use Mira- 
 beau's talents for the defence of the Monarchy. As
 
 Mirabeau's Policy 59 
 
 a result of his efforts, a treaty was drawn up, by which 
 Mirabeau promised to support the Monarchy instead 
 of attacking it. In return for his promised help a 
 subsidy of 6,000 francs was to be granted him, and 
 he was ultimately to become Ambassador at Constanti- 
 nople. This treaty, written by Monsieur in a small, 
 close handwriting, signed and approved by Louis XVI, 
 and also signed by Mirabeau, was found in the 
 Archives of the State Council after the Restoration, 
 and was handed over to Louis XVIII, who received 
 it with a smile, " as though it afforded him satisfaction 
 to look back at a crisis now long happily surmounted." 1 
 
 Mirabeau's policy was, however, completely nullified 
 by the King's ceaseless vacillations and occasionally 
 misplaced obstinacy, while, though the matter is 
 mysterious, a tacit understanding between Monsieur 
 and Mirabeau doubtless existed behind this treaty, 
 by which in certain given circumstances — such, 
 possibly, as some striking proof of the King's 
 incapacity — Monsieur was to be brought forward 
 as President of the Council, possibly as Regent. 
 Certainly Monsieur was particularly anxious to attach 
 Mirabeau to himself; and through the Due de Levis, 
 with whom he had been intimate since his childhood, 
 and whom he trusted implicitly, he offered him a 
 pension of 20,000 francs a month till his debts were 
 paid. Mirabeau accepted the money ; and instead 
 of using it to pay his debts expended it in hospitality, 
 so that his house might be the rallying point for men 
 who would be useful to his purpose. 
 
 Many were the " friendly chats," as he termed 
 them, which he had with Monsieur, and the report 
 was circulated that there were secret assemblies at 
 1 Memoires du Baron de Vitrolles, vol. ii. p. 218.
 
 6o Louis XVIII 
 
 the Luxembourg, " of which l'Abbe Maury and other 
 deputies of that stamp were the soul and the orators." l 
 General opinion wavered about Monsieur. He had lost 
 a part of his short-lived popularity, and it was sup- 
 posed that his partisanship of the Tiers Etat had been 
 violently shaken. Mirabeau, however, knew the truth 
 about him, and, while deploring what he considered 
 his want of courage, realised the difficulties of his 
 position. " At the Luxembourg they chafe and kill 
 themselves with wishing to come forward." 2 " At 
 the Luxembourg they are afraid of being afraid." 3 
 " The Queen treats Monsieur like a little chicken 
 which one likes to caress through the bars of a coop 
 but one is very anxious not to let out, and he allows 
 himself to be treated in this way." 4 Thus does 
 Mirabeau graphically describe Monsieur's situation. 
 
 Another person, indignant at the disgraceful failure 
 of authority shown on October 5th, and horrified at the 
 perils incurred by the Royal Family, was trying to work 
 in the same direction as did Mirabeau. Thomas de Mahy, 
 Marquis de Favras, First Lieutenant of Monsieur's 
 Swiss Guard, and member of his suite, was an ardent 
 Royalist. Born at Blois on March 26, 1745, he was of 
 noble birth but of small fortune. He had married a 
 daughter of the Prince of Anhalt, who only brought 
 him a yearly pension of 1,000 florins, which was ex- 
 torted by legal compulsion from her father. Favras 
 was a man of unblemished courage, and of great 
 ambition. His military career had been varied, as he 
 was a Mousquetaire at the age of eleven, had fought in 
 the Seven Years' War, and had been employed in 1787 
 
 1 Lescure, Correspondance Secrete, vol. ii. p. 408. 
 
 2 Correspondance entre Mirabeau et La Marck, vol. i. p. 434. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 436. * Ibid., p. 442.
 
 I 
 
 T.MAHY DE FAVRAS 
 
 o&iftirte? Ilur /f Aetmire. iOavecf, ate *iomvn£ 
 ou, on /« rondui/atd ecu poifiliC(, . 
 
 From a drawing by David. 
 
 THE MARQUIS DE FAVRAS. 
 
 p. 60]
 
 The Marquis de Favras 61 
 
 to raise a patriotic legion to help the Dutch against 
 Prussia, an expedition which was to bear unfortunate 
 fruit as far as he was concerned, for it was while 
 engaged on this business that he first met the recruiting 
 officer Turcaty, who was afterwards to ruin him. In 
 1789, he turned his hand to writing, and published two 
 highly Utopian pamphlets on the burning question of 
 finance. 
 
 Favras was in Paris on October 5th, 1789, when 
 Versailles was attacked, and followed while the disre- 
 putable rain-soaked column, led by Maillard brandish- 
 ing a bare sword, and gesturing to encourage the crowd 
 behind him, started on its disorderly way along the 
 long avenue leading towards Versailles. The King was 
 hunting, but Monsieur and Madame Elizabeth had 
 driven out from Paris to inform the Queen of the 
 impending incursion, 1 and according to Rivarol, 2 
 Monsieur was the one person who was absolutely com 
 posed and gave good advice, which was unfortunately 
 disregarded. 
 
 Favras galloped to Versailles, where he found every- 
 thing in confusion, no one seeming able to decide on 
 anything. He was furious at the universal inaction and 
 indecision. " It is shameful," 3 he cried, " to allow a 
 horde like this to advance without resistance to the 
 King's Palace," 4 and he implored the courtiers to come 
 out with sword in hand, to raise a few faithful soldiers, 
 and to beat back the mob. The courtiers objected that 
 the crowd was very numerous, and that horses would be 
 
 1 Jotirnalde Marie Therese de France, Duchesse d 'Angouleme, annote 
 par Louis XVIII. 
 
 2 Rivarol, Metnoires, Note to p. 310. 
 
 3 Marquis de Favras Alexis de Valon, Revue des Deux Mofides, 
 June 15, 185 1. 
 
 Rivarol, Memoires, Note to p. 310.
 
 62 Louis XVIII 
 
 necessary to disperse it. " Well then, I will get horses," 
 cried the Marquis, nothing daunted, and he asked for 
 admission to the Comte de Saint-Priest. There he was 
 kept waiting for some time in the anteroom. When 
 at last admitted, " Sir," he cried, " 1 beg you in my 
 own name, as well as in that of two hundred gentlemen 
 assembled at this moment in l'GEil-de-Bceuf, to allow 
 me the disposal of the King's horses for an hour. We 
 will then set to work, if you will allow it, to disperse 
 the horde which is approaching, and to take away its 
 cannon." The Minister replied coldly that he could 
 not dispose of the horses in the Royal stables without 
 permission. However, he consented to tell the King 
 of Favras' proposal ; but an hour later he returned to 
 say that it was necessary to wait for the present, as 
 Lafayette and several battalions of the National Guard 
 were accompanying the insurgents. " Wait ! ' cried 
 Favras in an agony ; " but it is disgraceful ; the Palace 
 will be invaded in two hours by these brigands ! ' 
 Saint-Priest answered nothing. 
 
 " In short, you will do nothing ? " cried Favras. 
 
 " No, sir," answered the Minister. " 1 
 
 It must be allowed in justice to Saint-Priest, whom 
 we shall meet again, that the inaction was not of his 
 making. He had proposed to despatch battalions to 
 guard the bridges of Sevres and of Saint-Cloud, and to 
 send the Queen and children to Rambouillet, while the 
 King was to advance at the head of his Guards, meet 
 the unruly throng, and order the Garde Nationale to 
 return to Paris. Marie Antoinette had prevented this 
 plan, as she had refused to be separated from the King. a 
 
 1 Marquis de Favras Alexis de Valon, Revue des Deux Mondes, 
 June 15, 1851. 
 
 2 Notice on Saint-Priest, by M. de Barante, p. cxvii.
 
 " V Affaire Favras " 63 
 
 Therefore Favras raged in inaction, while the Palace 
 was besieged, the Bodyguard killed, and the Royal 
 Family insulted. Next day his feelings were heated to 
 fever-point, as he formed one of the faithful bodyguard 
 surrounding the King, Queen, Monsieur, Madame 
 Elizabeth, and the two children, as they were conducted 
 captive to Paris, surrounded by exultant crowds. He 
 noticed a young officer of the National Guard who 
 wept as he accompanied the Royal prisoners on their 
 melancholy journey, and it occurred to him that it 
 might be possible to raise a faithful guard, and to convey 
 the King and Queen in safety out of the seditious 
 capital. Loyal, ambitious, and courageous, the idea 
 began at once to work in his excitable brain, and he 
 looked about for means wherewith to carry it into 
 execution. There is little doubt that he applied directly 
 or indirectly to his master the Comte de Provence for 
 assistance, and though Monsieur may have preferred 
 to know nothing definite about the affairs in which 
 the First Lieutenant of his Bodyguard busied himself, 
 Favras was at any rate empowered to raise in his name 
 a loan of two millions of livres from the bankers 
 Schaumel and Sartorius. The next important matter 
 was to find recruits for the bodyguard. While Favras 
 was debating on this point, he received an evening visit 
 from Turcaty, accompanied by a friend, M. Morel. 
 They had just come from a performance at the theatre 
 of Chenier's Charles IX, appeared extremely indignant 
 at the revolutionary sentiments expressed in the play, 
 and proposed to Favras that he should pay an organised 
 claque and hiss it off the stage. Here, thought the 
 unfortunate Marquis, were the very men he had been 
 seeking, and, carried away by excitement, " Eh, gentle- 
 men ! " he cried, " we need not talk about tragedies ;
 
 6 4 Louis XVIII 
 
 the idea is to assassinate the King ; that is what must be 
 prevented ! ' The two recruiting officers seemed much 
 surprised at these words, and asked Favras to explain 
 himself ; at the same time encouraging him to confide 
 in them. It is possible that they had in the first 
 instance visited Favras as police spies, for Lafayette, 
 the General of the Parisian Army, told the American 
 Minister Morris that he had suspected a plot for some 
 time, and he had evidently charged his aide-de-camp 
 Boinville, whose name appears constantly in the pro- 
 cedure of the Committee of Enquiry about the matter, 
 to keep Favras continually under observation. At any 
 rate, Turcaty and Morel acted from the first as 
 instigators, abettors, and informers. Marquier, the 
 young officer in the National Guard, was approached 
 by Favras, but prudently refused to have anything to 
 do with the matter. Morel, one of the informers, was 
 present at the interview, and saw Favras hand Marquier, 
 with the greatest mystery, a pamphlet called " Ouvrez 
 done les yeux." Page 51 of this pamphlet, which was 
 afterwards produced, and was one of the most serious 
 pieces of evidence against Favras, had been specially 
 marked by him ; and was written to incite the 
 National Guard to rise against the Revolutionary 
 Government, and to return to their duties to the 
 Monarchy. 
 
 On the night of December 24th, 1789, Favras and 
 his wife were arrested, and tremendous excitement was 
 caused throughout Paris by a printed pamphlet affixed 
 to the walls and buildings, which ran thus : " The 
 Marquis of Favras has been arrested with Madame his 
 wife, on the night of the 24th, because of a scheme to 
 raise 30,000 men to assassinate M. de la Fayette and 
 the Mayor, and then to cut off our supplies. Monsieur,
 
 Monsieur's Attitude 65 
 
 brother of the King, was at the head of it. Paris, the 
 25th. Signed Barauzz." 
 
 Of what took place at the Luxembourg when 
 Monsieur heard of Favras' arrest and of the accusations 
 brought against his own august person, we have various 
 and conflicting accounts. Lafayette, Mirabeau's enemy, 
 who either believed, or pretended to believe, that the 
 plan of the proposed plot included the assassination of 
 himself and Bailly, told Morris, the American Minister, 
 and a Mr. Short, who were dining with him on the 
 night of the 26th, that he had gone to the Luxem- 
 bourg to tell Monsieur of the arrest, and to return to 
 his keeping one of his own letters which was found on 
 Favras, and which seemed to implicate the Prince 
 in the affair. This letter, Lafayette told Monsieur, 
 was only known to himself and to Bailly, so that the 
 Prince would not be compromised ; at which assurance 
 he showed intense relief. 1 
 
 This version sounds unlikely, as Monsieur was always 
 cautious and diplomatic ; and however deeply he may 
 have been engaged in Favras' plot, it is difficult to 
 believe that he would have written a letter incriminating 
 himself, and would have entrusted it to the reckless 
 Marquis. 
 
 A second account, given by Lafayette in his Memoirs, 
 and one which bears the stamp of probability, is to the 
 effect that he sent his aide-de-camp Boinville to inform 
 Monsieur of the arrest, that Monsieur replied coolly 
 that for some time he had suspected an intrigue, and 
 named a house in the Faubourg St. Antoine in which 
 he considered it to have been carried on, and that after 
 Boinville had left him, Monsieur consulted his friends, 
 and determined to make a public denial of any partici- 
 
 1 Memorial of Governor Morris, December 27, 1789. 
 
 5
 
 66 Louis XVIII 
 
 pation in the plot. * This is not incompatible with 
 Mirabeau's account of the affair, in which, after 
 mentioning the inflated accounts of Favras' scheme 
 in popular circulation, he continues : " To tell you 
 how we worked, I and the grey man [so Mirabeau 
 had nicknamed the Due de Levis, Monsieur's trusted 
 friend and confidant] under my direction, would be 
 useless. You will guess it all from the result. Mon- 
 sieur sent for M. de la Fayette and said to him before 
 witnesses : ' Monsieur de la Fayette, this pamphlet is 
 in circulation in Paris. You have a great reputation 
 in Paris, Monsieur de la Fayette ; I have no doubt that 
 you will be active in destroying a calumny by which 
 the malicious say that you profit. 1 shall speak about 
 it this evening to the Commune of Paris. I hope that 
 you will be present.' " 2 
 
 Mirabeau was much agitated ; for, in view of his 
 plan of bringing Monsieur forward as President of the 
 Council, First Minister, and intermediary between the 
 Court and the Revolutionary party, nothing could have 
 been more untoward than this catastrophe. The immi- 
 nence of the danger had, however, electrified the Prince 
 into an energy and promptitude hitherto unknown to 
 him ; and he wrote to the Mayor Bailly, as follows : 
 " I beg of you, Sir, to ask Messieurs the members of 
 the Commune, for a special meeting this evening, as 
 I wish to communicate to them a matter in which I 
 am interested." 
 
 The Mayor and the Commune were much flattered 
 at the unwonted respect shown them by the First 
 Prince of the Blood, and Monsieur's entrance at six 
 
 1 Lafayette, Memoires, vol. ii. p. 392. 
 
 * Corresftondance entre Mirabeau et La Marck. Letter, Decem- 
 ber 26, 1789.
 
 Monsieur at the Hotel'de^ViHe 67 
 
 o'clock in the evening into the crowded H6tel-de-Ville 
 was the signal for loud applause. 1 A deputation of 
 twelve members received him at the door, and led him 
 to an armchair. 
 
 " Sirs, " he said, " I come among you to spurn an 
 audacious calumny. M. de Favras was arrested the 
 day before yesterday by your Committee of Enquiry, 
 and to-day it is insistently spread abroad that I am 
 closely allied with him. In my position as citizen of 
 the town of Paris, I think it my duty to inform you 
 myself of the only ways in which I know M. de 
 Favras. 
 
 " In 1772, he became a member of my Swiss Guard. 
 He left it in 1775, and I have not spoken to him since 
 that time. 
 
 "Deprived for several months of my income, anxious 
 about several large sums I have to pay in January, I 
 wished to be able to fulfil my engagements without 
 being an expense to the State Exchequer. It was 
 therefore represented to me that I should do well to 
 raise a loan. M. de la Chatre, about a fortnight ago, 
 mentioned M. de Favras to me as being able to do 
 this by means of two bankers, Messieurs Schaumel and 
 Sartorius. In consequence, I signed a bond for two 
 millions, the necessary sum to meet my engagements 
 for the beginning of the year and to pay the expenses 
 of my household. The affair was solely monetary. I 
 ordered my treasurer to see to it. I have not seen 
 M. de Favras, I have not written to him, and I have 
 had no communication with him ; what he has done 
 elsewhere is perfectly unknown to me." 
 
 Monsieur then quoted the pamphlet distributed 
 
 1 Histoire de la Revolution, par Deux Amis de la Liberie, vol. ix. 
 P- 139-
 
 68 Louis XVIII 
 
 throughout the capital, accusing him of being the 
 instigator of the plot, and went on : " Without doubt 
 you do not expect me to abase myself by denying so 
 cowardly a crime. But at a time when the most absurd 
 calumnies may easily cause the best citizens to be 
 confounded with the enemies of the Revolution, I 
 think it my duty for the King's, as well as for your 
 and my own sake, to enter into the details which you 
 have just learnt, that public opinion may not remain 
 for a moment in doubt about the matter. 
 
 li As to my personal opinions, I can speak of them 
 with confidence to my fellow citizens. Since the day 
 when, in the second Assembly of Notables, I declared 
 myself on the fundamental question about which 
 opinion was at that time divided, I have never ceased 
 to believe that a great revolution was in progress, and 
 that the King, by his views, his virtues, and his supreme 
 rank, ought to be the leader of it, as it would not be 
 advantageous to the nation without being equally so to 
 the Monarch ; to sum up, that Royal authority was the 
 rampart of national liberty, and national liberty the base 
 of Royal authority. 
 
 " Let any one quote one of my actions, one of my 
 speeches which has denied these principles, or shown 
 that in whatever circumstances I find myself placed, the 
 happiness of the King, and that of the people, have 
 ceased to be the supreme object of my thoughts and 
 wishes. As to that, I have the right to be believed 
 on my word. I have never altered my opinions or 
 principles, I shall never alter them." 
 
 Bailly having made a flattering answer, Monsieur 
 finished with the words : " The duty which I have 
 accomplished has been painful to a virtuous heart, but 
 I am rewarded by the feelings which the Assembly has
 
 Opinions of Monsieur's Conduct 69 
 
 just shown me, and my only words now shall be to ask 
 pardon for those who have done me wrong." He went 
 out with his hands raised as though in supplication. 
 Next day his address was despatched to the Assemblee 
 Constituante. 
 
 The Queen objected strongly to Monsieur's pro- 
 cedure in this matter, 1 as she disliked any action on his 
 part which brought him before the public eye, but her 
 feelings on the subject were lukewarm compared with 
 the indignation of the Comte d'Artois, the Prince de 
 Conde and the other Emigres, who had fled from 
 France after the taking of the Bastille. The Prince de 
 Conde wrote : " I think you will shudder with rage as 
 do the Comte d'Artois and I, when you read what I 
 send you. Is it possible that the blood of the Bourbons 
 can degrade itself to this point, and that it flows in the 
 veins of a man, if he is one, who allows himself a step 
 evidently dictated by fear and by meanness." 2 There 
 was no thought in the minds of the Emigres, it must 
 be remarked, of the question as to whether or no 
 Monsieur had perjured himself; the point of their 
 indignation lay in the fact that he had lowered himself 
 irreparably, by an action which recognised the new 
 Constitution. 
 
 Meanwhile, in Paris there was tremendous excitement 
 about " l'Affaire Favras," and it seemed to be the object 
 of both Royalists and Revolutionaries to hurry the 
 unfortunate man out of the world as quickly as possible. 
 The whole country was in a state of tumultuous agita- 
 tion, which was caused, the Revolutionaries considered, 
 or pretended to consider, by Royalist conspiracies ; and 
 when Favras was accused by the informers, Morel and 
 
 1 Lafayette, Memoires, vol. ii. p. 393. 
 
 1 Daudet's Emigration. Conde d Laronzicre, January 6, 1790.
 
 70 Louis XVIII 
 
 Turcaty, of intending to collect an army of 200,000 
 men, with the object of cutting off the provisions of 
 Paris and of murdering Necker, Bailly, and Lafayette, 
 a howl of indignation arose throughout the country, 
 and every one demanded the life of the traitor. At the 
 same time, it was cleverly insinuated by the Revolution- 
 ary demagogues, that the Royalist party were anxious 
 to hurry on the death of Favras, from their fear of 
 incriminating revelations on his part. 
 
 Favras was firm to the last. He repulsed with 
 horror the idea of the scheme of wholesale murder and 
 of civil war imputed to him, and refused, in spite of 
 strenuous efforts on the part of the Revolutionaries, to 
 incriminate either the King or Monsieur. 
 
 He did indeed write a defensive Memoir, which 
 never appeared, as in a letter written on February 1 8, 
 when he was imprisoned in the Chatelet, he com- 
 plains : " The printer is a cruel man ... he has been 
 bought by some one . . . two full sheets are still 
 unfinished." The same day he was condemned to 
 death, by hanging. He was conducted to the H6tel- 
 de-Ville on February 19, 1790, where, probably in 
 the hope of a reprieve, he occupied four hours in 
 writing out a lengthy and minute will. Long before 
 he had finished that and a letter to his wife, cries 
 of anger and impatience were heard from the popu- 
 lace outside. Apparently he was tempted to make 
 a full confession from the scaffold, but l'Abbe Le Due, 
 who accompanied him, exhorted him to silence ; " Your 
 fate is irrevocable," he said ; " submit then to what the 
 King cannot now prevent, and consider that you are 
 saving the whole Royal Family, and that your family 
 will receive the price of your heroic devotion." * 
 1 Memoircs du General Baron Thiebault, vol. i. p. 272.
 
 Favras* Execution 71 
 
 Insults were hurled at Favras while he was dying, 
 and it was with great difficulty that his corpse was 
 saved from the fury of the people. His death is 
 noteworthy as the first of the legalised assassinations 
 which were to slake the rage of the people at long 
 centuries of oppression, and to disgrace the annals of 
 the great Revolution. 
 
 The question, however, which is at present to our 
 purpose is that of Monsieur's complicity in Favras' 
 plot, and, allowing complicity, of his moral responsibility 
 for his death. Lafayette tells us that Talon, the civil 
 lieutenant who received Favras' confession, and who 
 long afterwards, according to common report, handed 
 over to Louis XVIII the papers dealing with the affair, 
 told the prisoner that it would be impossible to save 
 him, and exhorted him to die with his secret untold. 
 Lafayette says further that Favras died "a hero of 
 fidelity and of courage, while Monsieur, his august 
 accomplice, lacked both. The King and Queen had 
 nothing to do with the plot, or at any rate did not 
 know the central plan of it ; they had no confidence 
 in their brother; and the Queen with good reason 
 thought him her personal enemy." x Lafayette, 
 however, as has already been remarked, was, as the 
 Queen's ardent and chivalrous partisan, hostile to 
 Monsieur, whom he further considered Mirabeau's 
 trump card in the contest against himself; and there 
 is no doubt that to increase his own importance he 
 exaggerated the scope of the conspiracy. This seems 
 never to have involved murder, but only the compara- 
 tively innocent intention of raising a faithful bodyguard 
 for the King, which would convey him safely out of the 
 dangerous city of Paris. If Monsieur — or at any rate 
 1 Lafayette, Memoires, vol. ii. p. 391.
 
 72 Louis XVIII 
 
 Mirabeau — were privy to the plot, there was in all 
 probability, as we have already seen, a further develop- 
 ment to this scheme — a development which included 
 the transference of the chief power from the incapable 
 hands of Louis XVI to that of the Comte de Provence ; 
 but of this part of the enterprise Favras was doubtless 
 as absolutely ignorant as was Louis XVI. 
 
 Mirabeau, who possibly on this matter is not likely 
 to be more trustworthy than Lafayette, insists in his 
 letters to La Marck that Monsieur was calumniated ; 
 as no doubt he was as to the extent and character of 
 the plan, and the assassinations involved. 
 
 " He has the purity of a child," says Mirabeau, 
 " but he has also the weakness of one, and it is very 
 difficult to make him understand that if he would let 
 things take their course for twenty-four hours only, 
 he would be a second Due d'Orleans"; 1 by which 
 Mirabeau evidently means a popular leader. Mon- 
 sieur's slowness of comprehension on this occasion 
 may be noted to his credit. The only other testimony 
 to his absolute freedom from complicity in " l'Affaire 
 Favras " is that of his faithful and intimate friend the 
 high-minded d'Avaray, who wrote in the year 1799 : 
 " I answer for the fact that M. de Favras having been 
 for a short time in the Swiss Bodyguard of Monsieur 
 (now King), gave up his post in 1775, never knew 
 the Prince, and never had the slightest direct com- 
 munication with him." 2 
 
 Possibly d'Avaray, though on the most confidential 
 terms with his master, was not the recipient of all his 
 secrets, for it is difficult to explain satisfactorily why 
 if Monsieur, who was possessed of unbounded credit, 
 
 1 Correspondance entre Mirabeau et La Marck, vol. i p. 440. 
 
 2 See Daudet, V Emigration, vol ii p. 230.
 
 Was Monsieur Favras* Accomplice? 73 
 
 really required two millions of livres to carry on his 
 household expenses, he did not proceed to get the 
 money through the ordinary channels of his treasurers 
 and men of business, instead of employing an ad- 
 venturer like Favras as his agent. There seems little 
 doubt that even if he held no direct communica- 
 tion with Favras, and was careful not to be cognisant 
 of the details of his scheme, he knew him as a brave 
 man and an ardent Royalist, and was quite aware that 
 the two million livres were to be used in the defence 
 of the Monarchy. 
 
 So far, I think, we must allow Monsieur's complicity 
 in the plot, and, in view of this, it is impossible to read 
 his eloquent speech at the H6tel-de-Ville without 
 repugnance. In his defence it must, however, be 
 urged that it was impossible to save Favras, who 
 must, moreover, have known from the first that, 
 while the success of his scheme meant riches and 
 prominence, failure probably entailed the extreme 
 penalty of the law. On the other hand, incrimination 
 of the King's brother, possibly of the King himself, 
 would have involved infinite harm and danger to the 
 whole Royal Family, as Favras' confessor told him on 
 the scaffold. 
 
 We are informed, moreover, by Rivarol, 1 that in 
 going to the H6tel-de-Ville and speaking there as 
 he did, Monsieur was obeying the King's express 
 orders, and that it cost him much to conform to them ; 
 while from the tone of Mirabeau's letter on the subject, 
 it may be gathered that he and the Due de Levis found 
 great difficulty in persuading the Prince to a course 
 which was highly distasteful to him. 
 
 His action, therefore, which deceived no one com- 
 1 Memoires, Note to p. 310.
 
 74 Louis XVIII 
 
 pletely, and called down upon him a storm of repro- 
 bation from all parties, can hardly be judged as a stain 
 on his moral character, and must be considered rather 
 as a painful political necessity. It was almost impos- 
 sible to walk morally unscathed through that terrible 
 revolutionary time, and that Monsieur, under the 
 natural imperturbability and self-control which carried 
 him safely through the ordeal at the H6tel-de-Ville, 
 suffered intensely from the position in which he found 
 himself, is I think shown by his behaviour after Favras' 
 death. He " retired behind a veil " ; ! he would have 
 nothing more to do with politics. Mirabeau was furious. 
 "Monsieur is beneath everything," 2 he cried indig- 
 nantly. "Think that people had gone so far as to 
 give him such sums of money, that if your valet had 
 had the command of them he would have entered the 
 Council, if he had only wished it a little, and that this 
 Monsieur will probably not enter. ... It is deplor- 
 able." In another place Mirabeau says: "Monsieur 
 has surpassed himself in cowardice." 8 
 
 But Monsieur was not a fool nor a coward, as he 
 often had occasion to prove in the course of an event- 
 ful life ; and I think that he deserves honour for the 
 scruples which roused Mirabeau's bitter indignation. 
 
 1 Lescure, Correspondance Secrete, vol. ii. p. 469. 
 
 2 Correspondance entre Mirabeau et La Marck, vol. i. p. 460. 
 
 3 Ibid., vol. i. p. 464.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 Preparations for flight— Deputation to Monsieur — King and Queen's 
 lengthy preparations — Last meeting of the Royal Family — Depar- 
 ture from Paris — Events on the journey — Arrival at Mons— Meet- 
 ing with Madame de Balbi — Madame's arrival — News of arrest of 
 King and Queen— Monsieur's affection for d'Avaray — He joins the 
 Comte d'Artois. 
 
 IT was impossible to compound with the Revolution, 
 or to stay the impetuous torrent of its ever- 
 accelerating progress. The King's aunts went to Italy, 
 Conde and the Comte d'Artois soon followed their 
 example, and the whole Royal Family, who were now 
 under strict observation and virtually in a state of 
 imprisonment, felt that there was no safety possible for 
 them in France. Nevertheless, in spite of the danger, 
 Monsieur, with a constancy which does him honour, 
 refused to escape before the King and the rest of the 
 Royal Family, as he feared that his flight might prevent 
 theirs. 
 
 However, in November 1790, the reports of the 
 King and Queen's intended evasion were so per- 
 sistent that, knowing himself to be excluded from their 
 confidence, Monsieur went to the Tuileries and taxed 
 the Queen with the project. The Queen declared that 
 there was no truth in the rumour at present, but advised 
 her brother-in-law to be in readiness, and promised to 
 warn him in time. Easter was likely to be a dangerous 
 season, as on Easter Day mass would be performed 
 
 75
 
 76 Louis XVIII 
 
 in the presence of the Royal Family by priests who had 
 taken the oath by which they subscribed to the civil 
 constitution of the clergy, and thus had declared 
 themselves independent of the Pope, and therefore, to 
 all good Catholics, outside the pale of religion. In 
 consequence, as the Comte de Provence expressed the 
 matter, the only choice was " between apostasy and 
 martyrdom ; the former revolted me, and I will own 
 that I felt no great vocation for the latter." 1 
 
 Therefore, after having discussed the matter with 
 Madame de Balbi, it was decided that Monsieur, 
 Madame, Madame de Balbi, and a fourth person, 
 should escape on Good Friday in Madame de Balbi's 
 carriage. When Monsieur went to the Tuileries to 
 inform the King and Queen of his intention, he found 
 them so deeply engaged in preparations for their own 
 flight that they took no interest in his plans, and merely 
 begged him to draw up a Declaration to the nation 
 for them to leave behind. 
 
 There was considerable difficulty in fixing on some 
 one to occupy the fourth place in Monsieur's carriage, 
 and the first person invited by Madame de Balbi refused 
 the dangerous honour. Eventually d'Avaray, in the 
 future to be the King's faithful and devoted friend and 
 Madame de Balbi's bitter enemy, was invited by her to 
 be of the party. D'Avaray acceded to the proposal 
 with enthusiasm, but declared ; that it was of the ut- 
 most importance that Monsieur and Madame should be 
 separated, and should escape by different routes. As 
 Madame was not remarkable for self-control, it was 
 thought wise to keep her in absolute ignorance of the 
 project, and Monsieur discussed the details of her 
 
 1 Narrative of a Journey to Brussels and Coblentz in 179 1. By 
 Louis XVIII. Doisy Manuscrit inedit.
 
 Proposed Flight 77 
 
 flight with her reader, Madame Gourbillon, who was 
 to arrange everything for her. 
 
 The whole matter was dangerous and difficult of 
 accomplishment, for the King and Queen's preparations 
 were not managed very cleverly, and rumours as to 
 their intentions soon became bruited about. 
 
 The gaolers redoubled their precautions, and Mon- 
 sieur complains that Lafayette's aide-de-camp patrolled 
 the courtyard of the Luxembourg continually. At 
 length reports of the proposed evasion of the Royal 
 Family, and especially of Monsieur, in whom pathetically 
 enough the people still felt confidence, became so per- 
 sistent that on February 22nd, 1 79 1, an anxious crowd 
 surrounded the Luxembourg, and Monsieur was obliged 
 to appear on the balcony and to declare on his word of 
 honour that he had never intended to leave the country. 
 A deputation of thirty ladies was then despatched to 
 speak to him. He was in Madame's apartments, but 
 went downstairs to hear them. The spokeswoman said to 
 him, " Monsieur, they tell us you are preparing to go ; 
 we beg you to remain, and not to leave us." * Mon- 
 sieur answered, " Mesdames, my intention has always 
 been to stay ; you know how deeply the King is 
 attached to the Constitution. I am attached to the 
 King and to the Constitution. I would rather lose my 
 life than leave the King." Monsieur was obliged after 
 this to submit to the embarrassing ceremony of receiving 
 embraces from the ladies, and was afterwards conducted 
 to the Tuileries in triumph, his carriage being sur- 
 rounded by enthusiastic crowds. The Mayor had by 
 this time been summoned from the Council of the 
 Municipality, and harangued the people, exhorting 
 
 1 Bibliotheque de la Revolution, Municipality de Paris : Conseil 
 General de la Commune.
 
 78 Louis XVIII 
 
 them to disperse, which they did with no further 
 disturbance. 
 
 Monsieur's footnotes to Madame d'Angouleme's 
 account of this incident, written long afterwards, are 
 amusing. She remarks that the Comte de Provence 
 spoke to the people from the balcony ; he adds, " with 
 assurance and positively," 1 and to her bald chronicle of 
 the fact that her aunt and uncle arrived safely at the 
 Tuileries — a way of treating the incident which doubt- 
 less seemed to Monsieur to minimise the danger of the 
 adventure — he adds that they accomplished the journey, 
 " not without difficulty, surrounded by an immense 
 crowd carrying torches." Monsieur was evidently well 
 satisfied with his behaviour on this occasion, as he relates 
 that some one told the Queen that under the circum- 
 stances Monsieur would certainly give up his visit to 
 the Tuileries, and that the Queen drew herself up 
 proudly and said, " You will see ; he will come, and 
 will make the journey back also." 
 
 However, it was high time to depart, and Monsieur's 
 preparations, superintended by the active Madame 
 de Balbi, were carried on with much energy. On 
 June 2nd, however, the arrangements for Monsieur's 
 flight were entrusted to d'Avaray, as Madame de Balbi 
 left Paris for Brussels, being entrusted among other 
 important matters with a letter from Marie Antoinette 
 to the Belgian Minister there, a fact which absolved 
 the Queen from the necessity of having to use a 
 cypher, 2 which was a necessary precaution if the letter 
 went by post. 
 
 Monsieur was now longing to be gone ; but it was 
 
 1 Journal de Marie Therese de France, annote par Louis XVIII. 
 3 Arneth, Marie Antoinette, Joseph II et Leopold II. Letter, 
 June I, 1791.
 
 Preparations for Flight 79 
 
 necessary to wait while the lengthy preparations for the 
 flight of the King and Queen were in progress. Coming 
 out of Mass, however, on Pentecost Monday, the 
 Queen said confidentially to her brother-in-law : " The 
 King has given orders for us all to walk in the pro- 
 cession of Fete-Dieu at Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois. 
 Look as though you were very much annoyed at this." 1 
 
 Nothing more was said till Thursday, when the 
 Queen told Monsieur that their escape was settled 
 for the following Monday. There was no time to 
 lose, as, when once the King's absence was discovered, 
 it would be fatal to be left a hostage in the hands 
 of the infuriated people ; and Monsieur summoned 
 d'Avaray at six o'clock on Friday morning. " Must 
 we be ready to start ? " asked the latter as he entered. 
 u Yes," answered Monsieur ; " on Monday." 
 
 There was much to be considered, the first and most 
 difficult point being that of egress from the Luxem- 
 bourg, and about this d'Avaray was much puzzled and 
 agitated. Monsieur was able, however, to tell him of 
 a private room leading out of the Royal bedchamber, 
 and communicating with the great Luxembourg Palace, 
 where none of the National Guard were posted. By 
 this little-known way Monsieur often went privately to 
 hear Mass ; but his gaolers had never suspected its 
 existence. It was further settled that as owing to 
 Monsieur's peculiar walk, it would not be safe to 
 allow him to go even a few steps on foot outside 
 the Luxembourg, a hired carriage must be waiting 
 for him in the Palace court. The next difficulty 
 was to obtain a passport, and d'Avaray determined 
 
 1 This and the rest of the account of Monsieur's flight are taken from 
 Relation d'un Voyage d Bruxelles et a Coblentz, which is written by 
 himself
 
 8o Louis XVIII 
 
 to try to get one through Lord Robert Fitzgerald. 
 This attempt failed, as Lord Robert said he could 
 only provide passports for Englishmen, so d'Avaray 
 was obliged to resort to the task of altering an old 
 passport which the ever-thoughtful Madame de 
 Balbi had left behind, and which was made out for 
 Monsieur and Mademoiselle Foster, and dated the 
 " 23 avril." After much careful scratching, which 
 was a difficult process, as the paper was thin, the 
 "23 avril" was altered to the "13 juin," and the 
 passport was made out to Monsieur and Mademoiselle 
 Foster. Blots were then sprinkled copiously over the 
 back of the document to hide the marks where the 
 paper had been submitted to the manipulation of 
 the penknife ; but it was decided that, even with these 
 precautions, it would hardly be safe for the doctored 
 manuscript to be inspected by the Minister of Foreign 
 Affairs. Monsieur and d'Avaray therefore resolved to 
 pretend that, being Englishmen, they were not well 
 acquainted with the necessary formalities, and to trust 
 that the authorities would be satisfied with this excuse, 
 and would make no further enquiries. 
 
 The next question was that of the route, and it 
 was settled that as the northerly road by Douai and 
 Orchies was the safer, it had better be left to Madame, 
 and that Monsieur should take an easterly direction, and 
 should travel by Soissons, Laon, and Maubeuge, to 
 Mons. Monsieur was to be accompanied by his valet, 
 and d'Avaray by his English servant Sayer, who was 
 not, however, to be told the secret of the identity of 
 his master's travelling companion. 
 
 The few days before the start were full of 
 anxiety. Rumours were in the air of the proposed 
 escape of the Royal Family, wild stories were afloat,
 
 From an engraving by W. Greatbatch. 
 
 MADAME ELIZABETH, 
 p. 80]
 
 Farewells 8 1 
 
 telling of plots, evasions, foreign interference ; good 
 patriots were excited and alarmed ; and the only 
 possible defence was an unmoved countenance and a 
 plentiful supply of falsehoods. What else could be 
 done ? Life itself was at stake. 
 
 In the midst of the passions raging everywhere, it 
 is pleasant to read of Madame Elizabeth's demeanour 
 when Monsieur went on the last evening he would 
 spend in France for many years, to see her at the 
 Tuileries, and to tell her of his projected departure. 
 a I found her quiet, resigned to God's will, contented, 
 but without manifestations of joy — as calm, in a word, 
 as though she had known of the scheme for a year." 
 She kissed her brother tenderly, and said, " You are 
 religious; let me give you a relic, it cannot fail to 
 bring you happiness." She then discussed the situation 
 with the utmost calmness, and with a reasonableness 
 which excited Monsieur's intense admiration. His last 
 recollection of that saintly sister was to be a pleasing 
 one. 
 
 The Queen, to whom he paid his next visit, was 
 terribly agitated ; and when he went to kiss her, cried : 
 " Be careful not to make me break down ; people 
 must not see that I have been crying ! " 
 
 The King, Queen, Monsieur, Madame Elizabeth, 
 and Madame d'Angouleme had supper together, and 
 Monsieur at any rate was cheerful, as, with his usual 
 optimism, and with the curious want of realisation of 
 the gravity of the situation which he shows in his 
 account of the affair, he was sure that the whole party 
 would meet again in a few days in some place of 
 safety. The situation was more tragic for the unfor- 
 tunate King and Queen, who, besides being haunted 
 with apprehensions as to safety, were agitated with a 
 
 6
 
 82 Louis XVIII 
 
 thousand doubts and fears about the wisdom of the 
 step they were taking, by which it was possible that 
 they might dethrone themselves and deprive their son 
 of the crown. Madame Elizabeth's gentle faith and 
 confidence must have been of great comfort at this 
 terrifying juncture, when the fate of each member of 
 the family trembled in the balance, depending on what 
 the fortune of the next few hours would bring forth. 
 
 Monsieur left the Tuileries before eleven, hoping in 
 this way to escape the Due de Levis, who generally 
 accompanied him back to the Luxembourg in the even- 
 ing. Unfortunately, the Duke was already waiting ; 
 and Monsieur, who usually talked with him for some 
 time before he went to bed, could only ensure his 
 departure by saying that he had slept very badly the 
 night before, and beginning to undress. Monsieur once 
 in bed and his curtains drawn, the first valet went out to 
 undress himself, before occupying a bed in his master's 
 room. His nightly toilette was not a long business, so 
 as soon as the door had closed behind him, Monsieur 
 jumped out of his fourpost bed, drew the curtains 
 carefully round it again, lit a candle, and went into 
 the sitting-room which led to the little room com- 
 municating with the Grand Luxembourg. There the 
 faithful d'Avaray awaited him, after having been terribly 
 alarmed by his failure to turn the key in the lock, and 
 much relieved when he found that the difficulty was 
 caused by the fact that in his agitation he was trying 
 to force it in the wrong direction. On a chair were 
 the black curled wig, the large round hat decorated with 
 an enormous tricolour cockade, the blue coat buttoned 
 up the middle and adorned with red lapels and gold 
 buttons, the large white tie and the brown gloves, 
 which were to give Monsieur the appearance of an
 
 Flight 8 3 
 
 English gentleman. In his pocket was a burnt cork 
 with which to darken his eyebrows. But where were 
 his stick, and the second snuff-box he had intended 
 to take with him ? He had left them in his bedroom ; 
 and it was difficult for d'Avaray to persuade him not to 
 return for them. 
 
 Meanwhile, Madame, who was certainly treated with 
 scant ceremony, had been disturbed in bed by Madame 
 Gourbillon's announcement that the King and her 
 husband had given orders that she was to leave France 
 at once ! Apparently she was docile ; and when 
 d'Avaray, on the way down, went to see if she was 
 still in her apartments, she had gone, and the hired 
 carriage for her use was standing in the court of the 
 Luxembourg opposite to that destined for her husband. 
 
 The Prince was like a schoolboy on a holiday ; 
 and he and d'Avaray, in their joy of getting out of the 
 Palace without interference, sang in duet the chorus 
 of a popular topical song : " Ca va bien, ca prend bien, 
 ils ne se doutent de rien." Near the Pont-Neuf they 
 found their travelling carriage waiting for them ; and 
 drawing up in a small street, left the hired convey- 
 ance and walked to it, even for this short distance 
 d'Avaray considering it necessary to beg the Prince not 
 to waddle, as he feared that his peculiar walk would 
 betray him. The Prince, d'Avaray, and Sayer got 
 inside the carriage, Peronnet mounted one of the horses, 
 d'Avaray, assuming an English accent, told the coach- 
 man to drive to Bourget, and the journey began in 
 real earnest. At the Pont-Neuf they were passed by 
 a post-carriage, which to d'Avaray's dismay repassed 
 them at the Porte Saint-Martin, and thinking that this 
 must be another member of the Royal Family who was 
 going by the same route, and would therefore dispute
 
 8 4 Louis XVIII 
 
 the horses at the stopping-places and arouse suspicion, 
 he inveighed to himself fiercely about the folly of 
 Princes, who spoil the best-laid plans in the world by 
 refusing to confide in each other. Monsieur divined 
 his anguish ; but in the presence of Sayer could not 
 relieve his mind by telling him that the other carriage 
 would branch off at Bourget, and that it contained 
 Madame and Madame Gourbillon. 
 
 Everything on the journey was new and delightful 
 to Monsieur ; and he describes the smallest incidents, 
 such as chance conversations with wayfarers and inn- 
 keepers, with a minuteness which is astonishing, till we 
 remember that the narrator is an eighteenth-century 
 Prince, who had never before come in contact with the 
 world on equal terms. The question of food is of 
 great importance to him, and we are reminded of the 
 fact that all the Royal Family except Monsieur used to 
 come and dine with their aunts without notice, but that 
 the Princesses asked in his case to be told beforehand, 
 as he was so particular about his dinner that it was 
 necessary to prepare special dishes for him. A note of 
 true feeling such as, curiously enough, is not roused by 
 anxiety as to his own or his family's safety, sounds in 
 Monsieur's remark at Marche when he thinks he has 
 arrived at an hotel where he has heard the food is 
 excellent, and finds instead that he is at an old officer's 
 house. " This is a cruel damper to me, as I distrust 
 the meals of friends. I cast a melancholy look on 
 d'Avaray and found his face as long as my own." 
 
 It must be remembered, however, that Monsieur was 
 a wit, who prided himself on looking at everything from 
 a jocose point of view, and that this characteristic 
 helped him to preserve serenity in the midst of a 
 life of catastrophe and disappointment. There is no
 
 The Journey 85 
 
 doubt, however, that his flippant attitude rather 
 alienates our sympathy, and perhaps partly accounts 
 for the Prince's want of general popularity, in spite of 
 his many admirable qualities. The effect of this levity 
 is specially unpleasing when united to a sentimentality 
 which, though somewhat a fashion of the day, is also 
 strongly characteristic of the man, and which leads him 
 to refer constantly to d'Avaray — for whom, to his credit, 
 he felt undying gratitude and affection — as " my dear 
 d'Avaray," and to say that whatever fate Providence 
 had in store for him she could never take from him as 
 much as she had given in granting him " such a friend 
 as his dear d'Avaray," who was more to him than 
 himself. 
 
 As the journey was successful, it was not fruitful in 
 incident. The English accent assumed by Monsieur 
 and d'Avaray stood them in good stead everywhere ; 
 and Sayer, the English servant, assured them that 
 every one thought they were foreigners. Sometimes 
 the postilion who conducted them from one stopping- 
 place to another did his duty well, sometimes he did it 
 badly ; and it gave Monsieur infantile pleasure to think 
 that he could tell from the appearance of each whether 
 he would be a good guide or not. Also it enlivened 
 the way and was worthy of record, that when a postilion 
 was specially incompetent, Monsieur nicknamed him 
 the President of the Jacobin Club at the town to which 
 he was conducting them. 
 
 The only serious contretemps that befell the fugitives, 
 was the discovery at Soissons that a felloe of one of the 
 wheels was broken. At first the blacksmith said that 
 a new felloe must be made ; and this would have 
 necessitated a stoppage of two hours and a half. As 
 it was then half-past eight in the morning, and messen-
 
 86 Louis XVIII 
 
 gers were doubtless carrying the news of the Royal 
 flight in every direction, any delay was most dangerous ; 
 and Monsieur and d'Avaray found it difficult to dis- 
 semble their anxiety before the crowd of spectators 
 who had assembled to watch the proceedings. However, 
 a brilliant idea occurred to d'Avaray ; and he proposed 
 that the broken felloe should be enclosed in a rim 
 of iron, which would be a speedy means of mending 
 the wheel, even if only in temporary fashion. This the 
 blacksmith consented to do, though he doubted whether 
 the repair would last out the journey. 
 
 While he was engaged on his work Monsieur was 
 relieved of a great anxiety. On the way to Soissons he 
 had missed the relic given him by Madame Elizabeth, 
 and though affecting the philosophy then in vogue, he 
 was decidedly superstitious. " The loss tormented me 
 greatly," he says. However, being alone in the carriage 
 while d'Avaray went into the inn to write letters, he 
 happened to look into a portfolio his friend had left 
 behind him ; and there, to his surprise and joy, he 
 found the missing relic. Monsieur adds, with an 
 evident sense of supernatural interposition in the 
 matter, that d'Avaray assured him that he had no 
 recollection of having put the relic into his portfolio. 
 The little image must have acquired additional value 
 later on, when Monsieur realised that it was the last 
 gift of a much-loved sister, whom on earth he was 
 destined never to see again. 
 
 At one point in the tiring, jolting journey, d'Avaray 
 became strangely silent and depressed, and Monsieur 
 was puzzled at his sudden loss of spirits, till he dis- 
 covered that the fatigue, anxiety, and terrible shaking 
 d'Avaray was enduring had started some old mischief 
 in his lung, and that he was spitting blood. Repose
 
 Arrival at Mons 87 
 
 and quiet were necessary conditions for cure, but under 
 the circumstances they were absolutely unattainable. 
 However, fortunately the invalid became better as the 
 journey proceeded. A new sensation was provided by 
 the postilion's declaration that it was impossible to drive 
 that night as far as Mons, an opinion which Monsieur 
 only altered by a gift of three " guinees," reinforced by 
 a thrilling story of a sick sister left at Soissons, for 
 whom it was absolutely necessary to fetch a doctor 
 from Mons without delay. 
 
 At last they arrived at Mons, and were out of 
 French territory ; but before this Monsieur had 
 snatched the infamous tricoloured cockade out of his 
 hat, and, quoting verses in his usual fashion, had handed 
 it to his friend to be kept for ever, as Christopher 
 Columbus had wished to keep his chains. They were 
 now within measurable distance of safety and of a 
 night's rest ; and a polite discussion began as to who 
 should occupy the bed, in the probable case of there 
 being but one. 
 
 This argument occupied the time till they arrived at 
 the outskirts of Mons, and stopped at a miserable inn, 
 where Monsieur left the carriage for the first time for 
 twenty-four hours, and found his legs so stiff that he 
 could hardly stand. His first action was to kneel down 
 and thank God for his safety. Arriving in the town 
 itself, he without hesitation announced his name and 
 title, and said that he intended to go to the Hotel 
 Couronne-Imperiale. However, the troubles of the 
 fugitives were not even then over, for the landlord, 
 not apparently impressed by Monsieur's Royal titles, 
 declared that he had no available room for the travellers. 
 They were beginning to feel extremely depressed, 
 when a woman's voice, which Monsieur at once
 
 88 Louis XVIII 
 
 recognised as that of Madame de Balbi, was heard 
 asking eagerly from upstairs, " Is it you, Monsieur 
 d'Avaray?" At the welcome sound of these well- 
 known accents they left the carriage, and were soon 
 regaling themselves with a supper of cold chicken and 
 claret provided by the thoughtful lady. She insisted 
 on vacating her bed in favour of Monsieur, d'Avaray 
 was established in her maid's room, and for the " first 
 time for twenty months and a half," says the Prince — 
 and the remark shows the strain he had endured — 
 " I went to bed without dreading that I should be 
 awakened by some scene of horror." 
 
 Next morning Fersen, one of the Queen's most 
 devoted adherents, brought the news that the Royal 
 Family had arrived at Bondi, and Monsieur's heart 
 was full of joy, as he was certain that, once out of Paris, 
 they would be in safety. During the afternoon he 
 received visits from the Austrian officers and from some 
 French visitors who were in the town, and later in the 
 day he and d'Avaray travelled to Namur, where they 
 were astonished to hear nothing further of the move- 
 ments of the King and Queen, and as Monsieur felt 
 anxious, he despatched a messenger to the Commandant 
 of Luxembourg to ask for news. Next day, on their 
 way from the town of Marche, they were met by the 
 sad tidings of the arrest of the Royal Family at 
 Varennes, and, feeling too miserable to continue their 
 journey, they at once returned to the town. There 
 Monsieur heard the details of the sad affair ; and at 
 first wondered whether it were not his duty to return 
 to Paris. After a little reflection, however, he wisely 
 decided that he would do no good to his family by 
 sharing their fate, and would only risk his own life and 
 that of his faithful friend d'Avaray, who had sworn
 
 Safety 89 
 
 never to leave him. He had intended to go on to 
 Liege, but the country was disturbed, and the route 
 passed near the French frontier ; so he returned to 
 Namur, where he found Madame, who felt as much 
 indebted to Madame Gourbillon for her safe arrival as 
 did her husband to d'Avaray. 
 
 Monsieur now determined to go on to Brussels to 
 meet the Comte d'Artois, who arrived there shortly 
 after him, and by whom he was greeted with the 
 utmost affection. Monsieur speaks of his brother in 
 the highest terms. " Far," he says, " from being angry 
 after all the trouble he had taken, to see a colleague 
 arrive who might deprive him of part of the glory, 
 he was most anxious to tell me everything, to help me, 
 to bring me forward, to make me of consequence ; 
 in a word, it was not a brother I found in him, it was 
 a most tender son." The glory which the Comte 
 d'Artois obligingly shared with Monsieur may not 
 appear to the onlooker to have been of dazzling 
 effulgence ; but the fact remains that in spite of 
 occasional disagreements, the brothers were at this 
 time tenderly attached to each other, and that many 
 of the mistakes made by the Comte de Provence, may 
 be traced to the influence of the strong-willed and 
 prejudiced Comte d'Artois. 
 
 Monsieur stayed eight days at Brussels, and says 
 that they were the busiest he had ever passed. The 
 Emperor Leopold II was in Italy, but Monsieur at 
 once implored the Archduchess Marie Christine, 
 Leopold's and Marie Antoinette's sister, to send troops 
 into France to rescue the King and Queen. The 
 Archduchess was much agitated and troubled about her 
 sister's safety, but she hesitated to embark on war with- 
 out Leopold's permission, and by July 4th, when the
 
 90 Louis XVIII 
 
 Emperor returned from Padua, it was too late for rescue 
 — the French Royal Family was closely confined in Paris. 
 
 Monsieur was most anxious to be invested with the 
 powers of Regent, a proposition which had apparently 
 been mooted by Louis XVI before the flight to 
 Varennes, but which the King now refused to endorse, 
 insisting, moreover, on making use of the Baron de 
 Breteuil as confidential agent to the European Powers, 
 instead of confiding his secrets to his brothers. 
 
 Monsieur, however, was full of his own importance 
 at this time. " Placed suddenly," he remarks, "at the 
 head of one of the greatest machines which have ever 
 existed, it was not only necessary to make it work, 
 but also to learn what had already happened, as I had 
 known nothing in my prison, and must use the experi- 
 ence of the past in connection with the present." 
 
 For the chronicler living long afterwards and in 
 possession of all the facts, it is easy to object that had 
 the " machine " been allowed to remain inactive, many 
 lives would have been saved, and Monsieur's future 
 course would not have been heavily weighted by the 
 indignant cry of disappointed friends who clamoured 
 for rewards for having risked their lives and honour in 
 his service, and of furious patriots who never forgave 
 him for allying himself with the enemies of his country. 
 To Monsieur, however, his duty was clear, and he was 
 happy to find himself working for the first time in an 
 independent position ; was strong, too, in the intention 
 of returning to France in triumph at the end of a few 
 months, after having delivered his misguided country 
 from the horrors of anarchy, and restored to it the 
 blessings of the Bourbon Government. Legitimacy 
 was a religion to him, France and the Bourbons were 
 inseparable ; a short convulsion, an outbreak of rebel-
 
 Monsieur's Views 9 1 
 
 lious wickedness, and the nation would return penitent, 
 to be punished, purged, and then graciously pardoned 
 by a paternal King. If Monsieur were the instrument 
 to bring about this happy change, surely a seat in the 
 Council would at least be granted to him, and his 
 influence would outweigh that of the Austrian Queen 
 who thwarted his ambitions at every turn. 
 
 On July 3rd, Monsieur and the Comte d'Artois moved 
 to Liege ; on the 4th they went to Aix-la-Chapelle, 
 where they met Monsieur's old friend and correspondent 
 Gustavus III of Sweden, who raised their spirits by 
 assurances of his devotion to the Royal cause in France, 
 and declarations that he would put himself at the head 
 of a League to fight the Revolution. After two 
 days at Aix-la-Chapelle they moved on to Bonn, and 
 on the 7th they arrived at Coblentz, the first rallying 
 point of the Emigres, who were for the next few years 
 to be the perplexity, annoyance, sometimes, indeed, the 
 laughing-stock of Europe. 
 
 The inn at Liege was crowded, and Monsieur was 
 obliged to share a room with d'Avaray. He says : 
 " This circumstance caused me real pleasure, as it re- 
 minded me of a time not long ago when, travelling 
 nearly in the same country, we existed alone one for 
 the other on the face of the earth." 
 
 Monsieur never forgot his gratitude to d'Avaray, 
 who, ugly, delicate, and of only ordinary intelligence, 
 was to be his faithful, disinterested friend for many 
 years, was only to leave him when forced by failing 
 health to seek a warmer climate than England, and, dying 
 at Madeira, was to the end to be the recipient of the 
 confidences and affection of the master to whom he had 
 sacrificed his life, and whose triumphal return to France 
 he was never destined to see.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 Arrival at Coblentz— Description of town — Schonbornlust — The Elector 
 — Monsieur's position — Coblentz the last stronghold of the Ancien 
 Regime — Life there — Calonne— Society — Madame de Balbi — Queen 
 of Coblentz — Quarrels between her and d'Avaray — Political in- 
 trigues — Monsieur's levity — Marie Antoinette and the King — Their 
 distrust of the Princes — Their policy — Dissensions — Distress at 
 Coblentz — Changes in Europe — War. 
 
 ON July 7, 1 79 1, as we have already seen, the 
 Comte de Provence arrived at Coblentz, where 
 the Comte d'Artois was already established, and was 
 received with the utmost affection and delight by his 
 mother's brother, the Elector of Treves, who, after 
 showing his nephews honour by preparing a brilliant 
 reception for them in the town, welcomed them himself 
 outside it at the entrance of the Chateau of Schon- 
 bornlust, which he had placed at their disposal. 
 
 Schonbornlust was a vast building, and Monsieur, 
 who as we know appreciated a sumptuous lodging, 
 took possession of the whole of the right wing, 
 Madame and her suite, including the Comtesse de 
 Balbi, occupied the first floor of the left wing, and 
 the Comte d'Artois took up his abode on the second 
 floor. The cost of the Princes' establishment was 
 enormous, and much of it was defrayed by the generous 
 Elector. They had in their service twenty cooks ; 
 and although their uncle provided the necessaries, such 
 
 as bread, wine, and meat, the expenses of their table 
 
 92
 
 Arrival at Colbentz 93 
 
 alone amounted to over a thousand crowns a day ; and 
 the dishonesty and waste were so great, that after their 
 departure it was necessary for the unfortunate Elector 
 to spend sixty thousand francs in replacing .eight 
 hundred dozen missing napkins, and to buy a fresh 
 set of table silver, as a hundred articles had dis- 
 appeared. 
 
 The flight of the Royal Family, and the arrival at 
 Coblentz of the Comte de Provence, had given an 
 enormous impetus to the emigration from France ; and 
 the ugly little town with its one fine square, in which 
 was the Elector-Archbishop's magnificent residence, 
 its one imposing street, and elsewhere nothing but 
 narrow, dark alleys and uncomfortable houses, was in 
 continual confusion from the ever-increasing crowd 
 of fugitives who poured into it. From June 1 791 to 
 February 1792 three thousand French emigres arrived, 
 and in consequence lodging and provisions fetched 
 exorbitant prices, and servants were almost impossible 
 luxuries. Money — at least at first — poured into the 
 town, but the virtue of the inhabitants was not im- 
 proved by the influx of highborn idle French people 
 tainted with the immorality of the Ancien Regime, 
 who brought with them valets and maidservants with 
 as little principle as their masters and less elegant 
 reserve. Gaming and duelling became the fashion, 
 and nightly brawls were rife, to the distress of the 
 good Elector, who, being an ecclesiastic, and strongly 
 opposed to the irreligion of the Revolution, would 
 have preferred less laxity of morals in the party whose 
 watchword was — or should have been — religion and 
 their King. 
 
 Monsieur was not very popular with the Emigres, 
 who had not forgotten their indignation at his degrading
 
 94 Louis XVIII 
 
 condescension in stooping to justify himself before 
 the Municipality of Paris at the time of the Favras 
 plot, and who considered him " not pure " in his 
 politics, an opinion he quickly divined, and treated 
 in his usual jesting manner. It was certainly true 
 that, though the two brothers were apparently equally 
 concerned in the measures taken in their name, there 
 was a general impression, not unsupported by facts, 
 to the effect that Monsieur lagged behind the Comte 
 d'Artois in thoroughness, and might be suspected of 
 leanings to the popular side. The horrors which took 
 place in Paris, and the influence exercised over him 
 by the Comte d'Artois and the other Emigres with 
 whom his lot was thrown, soon divested him of 
 sympathies which, if developed, might possibly have 
 shortened his exile from France ; but in these early 
 days they existed, and secured for him the distrust of 
 the Emigres. 
 
 In addition to this cause of unpopularity, his enthu- 
 siastic friendship for d'Avaray subjected him to hostile 
 criticism, and his manner, which, except to his inti- 
 mates, was haughty, and his strict and formal observ- 
 ance of the minutiae of etiquette, caused him to be 
 disadvantageously compared with the Comte d'Artois, 
 who with an unbending and unteachable pride in 
 essentials, combined great personal charm. 
 
 Meanwhile Monsieur busied himself with the task 
 of turning Schonbornlust into a second Versailles, and 
 surrounded himself with all the pomp and trappings of 
 Royalty under the Ancien Regime. The Royal Mili- 
 tary Establishment, known as the " Maison du Roi," 
 which had been suppressed in 1787 by Louis XVI, 
 was re-established on a more elaborate scale than at 
 Versailles, and, in addition, each of the Princes had
 
 Life at Colbentz 95 
 
 his own military establishment, distinguished by the 
 different colours of its gay uniforms, which were deco- 
 rated tastefully and expensively with braiding, crested 
 buttons, and other elegancies. Recruiting for these 
 Guard regiments went on throughout the provinces 
 of France, and each fresh arrival in Coblentz was 
 expected to enrol himself in their ranks. A large 
 number of military appointments were created ; and 
 these were obtainable not by merit, but through the 
 influence of the influential ladies at the Coblentz 
 Court, reinforced by a liberal expenditure of money. 
 Places were practically sold to the highest bidders, 
 if they possessed the necessary aristocratic qualifica- 
 tions ; and were in consequence often acquired by 
 people who were so absolutely incompetent, that they 
 were obliged secretly to employ instructors to coach 
 them in at least the more elementary of their duties. 
 Fortunately, the only responsibility really incumbent 
 on those who occupied so-called important posts in 
 the Guard, was to wear their uniform gracefully, and 
 to pay highly for a military title. Naturally enough 
 discipline was lax ; and in consequence there were 
 continual disturbances, and an importation into Co- 
 blentz of the legal methods of the Ancien Regime, 
 even including " Lettres de Cachet," which at the 
 request of the Comte d'Artois, instigated by Calonne, 
 were issued freely by the Elector. As money grew 
 scarce, several needy gentlemen among the Emigres 
 took up the office of spies, as well as other questionable 
 means of providing for their necessities, crime became 
 prevalent, and during eight months two hundred 
 French gentlemen were confined in the Coblentz 
 equivalent of the Bastille. 1 
 
 1 Histoire Secrete de Coblence, p. 49.
 
 96 Louis XVIII 
 
 Meanwhile, at Schonbornlust the Princes pursued 
 the even tenor of their way — the time of every 
 action being arranged strictly according to the laws of 
 etiquette. At 10 o'clock in the morning the "grand 
 lever " took place, at 1 1 o'clock Mass was heard, the 
 time for dejeuner was 12, and dinner was served at 
 6 o'clock. A Council, presided over by the Comte 
 de Provence, took place every day, and each French 
 arrival at Coblentz was bound to present himself to 
 both the brothers in turn. The Comte de Provence 
 generally received his visitors with dignified hauteur, 
 his welcome being confined to a few words such as 
 "That is well," or, " I am very glad to see you again." 
 The Comte d'Artois was more affable, and therefore 
 more popular. 
 
 Besides these fixed events, there were anxious con- 
 sultations, interviews with secret agents, letters and 
 despatches to read, and — especially in the case of the 
 Comte de Provence — many to write ; in fact it was 
 a busy life, though fruitful in nothing useful. 
 
 The chief adviser of the Princes, the all-powerful 
 director of their policy, was Louis XVI's ex-Minister, 
 the frivolous and unscrupulous Calonne, whose ac- 
 quaintance we have already made, and to whose policy 
 Monsieur was a bitter opponent at the time of the 
 Assembly of the Notables. It may seem curious that 
 the Prince should have allowed himself to be led by 
 a man for whom he must have felt complete distrust. 
 We must remember, however, that Monsieur was not 
 a strong man, and that one of the most interesting 
 points in his personality, in contradistinction to that 
 of the Comte d'Artois, is its gradual growth and 
 development by adversity. 
 
 In 1 791, in spite of the thirty-six years he had
 
 Monsieur's Inexperience 97 
 
 lived, the Comte de Provence was a wholly unde- 
 veloped character, a baby in knowledge of the world, 
 an elegant dilettante, whose life had been spent in the 
 guarded precincts of the drawing-room. If we picture 
 the unfortunate man torn from his position like a snail 
 from its shell, and sent out into a world of which he 
 knew nothing, it is easy to see that his first and very 
 natural impulse would be to make his surroundings 
 resemble as much as possible the environment to which 
 he was used, and without which life seemed impossible. 
 The next would be to seek for advice from some one 
 who appeared to be better informed than himself; and 
 he would find this person in the Comte d'Artois, who 
 had always led a less carefully guarded life than he, 
 and was now in advance of him by a year's experience 
 of this new and perplexing situation. Besides, the 
 younger brother possessed a simplicity and directness 
 which would invest him with much power over a 
 subtle undecided man who had not yet found his 
 way among unaccustomed circumstances. The Comte 
 d'Artois invariably knew his own mind, and everything 
 was absolutely clear to him — an advantage he derived 
 partly from the fact that he always talked himself, and 
 never stopped to listen to any one whose sentiments 
 did not chime in with his own. 
 
 At the side of the Comte d'Artois was Calonne, who 
 has been called the evil genius of the Revolution : " a 
 man of the world " above all things ; brilliant, inven- 
 tive, full of expedients, as decided in his opinions about 
 everything as was the Comte d'Artois. Monsieur 
 had his own party ; Jaucourt headed it as did Calonne 
 that of the Comte d'Artois ; and between the partisans 
 of the two brothers arose constant jealousies and 
 dissensions, which do not, however, seem to have dis- 
 
 7
 
 98 Louis XVIII 
 
 turbed their affection for each other. The Artois party- 
 was decidedly in the ascendant, for every one realised 
 Calonne to be all-powerful ; and Monsieur was, as we 
 know, unpopular. Calonne at one time went so far as 
 to abuse him, as well as the Austrian Emperor, in a 
 magazine called Journal des Princes, freres du Roi, and 
 Monsieur on this occasion was very angry, and managed 
 to have a censor appointed, and the name of the journal 
 changed to Contre- Revolution. 
 
 Life at the Princes' little Court was gay and lively. 
 Madame Bertin, the great Parisian milliner, had accom- 
 panied her clients into exile ; and though there were 
 temporary discomforts, even hardships, to be endured 
 in the way of lodging, the utmost lightheartedness pre- 
 vailed, for the gay throng were sure that in the course 
 of a few months they would return to Paris, and would 
 laugh together over the adventures of their picnic 
 expedition to Coblentz. 
 
 There were many gaieties to attend, and expensive 
 and varied toilettes were necessary ; so that people spent 
 as much as they had done in Paris, and purses began to 
 empty. 
 
 On Thursdays and Sundays the Elector gave a grand 
 reception at his residence in the town, and all the 
 French in Coblentz were invited. Every one met at 
 seven in the evening in the great gallery, and the 
 Elector, accompanied by the two Princes, soon made 
 his appearance, and went the round of his guests. 
 Later, each of the three Royalties presided at a card- 
 table ; while sweet drinks were offered to every one, 
 and those who wished to pay their court placed them- 
 selves near the card tables, the men standing and the 
 women sitting. 
 
 On Tuesdays, the Princes gave a dinner at two
 
 Queens of the Emigration 99 
 
 o'clock, and held a reception afterwards, and on Satur- 
 days it was the turn of the Grand Chamberlain, who 
 had a beautiful house on the Moselle, and entertained 
 all the German society and many of the French. 
 
 Besides these elaborate entertainments, many pretty 
 women had salons where gaming was as high, love- 
 making as serious an occupation, and intrigues were as 
 prevalent as in the palmy days of Versailles. Pre- 
 eminent among the salons, were those of the ladies 
 termed the three Queens of the Emigration, the Princess 
 of Monaco, a magnificent blonde who had been for 
 years the faithful friend of the Prince of Conde, and 
 was eventually to become his wife, Madame de 
 Polastron, beloved by the Comte d'Artois, a gentle and 
 retiring woman, and, last but not least, the Comtesse 
 de Balbi, the only woman among the Emigres who 
 wielded the sceptre of political power. 
 
 The Comte de Provence might be overshadowed by 
 his brother and by Calonne ; but in the social world, 
 his favourite, though hated, feared, and vilified, reigned 
 supreme. Jaucourt was her devoted slave, and the 
 Russian Ambassador Romanzof, who had realised the 
 advantage of extreme friendliness with her, had become 
 the most important man in Coblentz. 1 Monsieur con- 
 sulted her on all political matters, and she delighted in 
 the feeling that she held the strings of many intrigues 
 in her delicate fingers, and was in truth the Queen of 
 the Emigration. 
 
 In the house near Schonbornlust, with which Mon- 
 sieur had presented her, she gave lively little suppers, at 
 which he was always present, and the conversation was 
 most sparkling. 
 
 The Comte de Neuilly, one of the gayest and most 
 
 1 Daudet, Histoire de C Emigration, vol. i. p 107.
 
 ioo Louis XVIII 
 
 fashionable of the young Emigres, and a great friend 
 of Madame de Balbi's son, says : " Every evening, 
 after the Comtesse de Balbi had performed her duties 
 to Madame, she returned home, and her guests began 
 to assemble. But first she changed her dress ; her 
 hair was arranged in front of a little table which was 
 brought from another room ; her dress and even her 
 chemise was put on in our presence ; it was the 
 received thing, and it seemed to us so natural that we 
 never even thought about it. I must say that, in spite 
 of pretty quick eyes, I never saw more than if she had 
 had ten screens round her. We were there, Pire, Balbi, 
 and I, young fellows of no importance, although we 
 wore uniform, and were already men ; but Monsieur 
 was also present, and he paid no more attention than we 
 did. Generally, he remained with his back turned, 
 seated in an armchair in front of the fireplace, his 
 hand resting on his crooked stick, the shadow of which 
 thrown in silhouette, made the profile of Louis XVI. 
 He had a habit of pushing the end of his stick into 
 his shoe. During Madame de Balbi's toilette, which 
 hardly lasted ten minutes, the conversation pursued its 
 course. It continued in the same gay familiar tone, 
 after the arrival of M. d'Avaray, of the Comte de 
 Verac, and of the very small number of guests who 
 were admitted to these evenings. We talked of 
 theatres, music, news from Paris, songs, nonsense, 
 gossip. Monsieur told anecdotes to perfection, and 
 knew how to gloss over what might sometimes be 
 broad in them. Games were played, rhymes were 
 made, sometimes there was reading aloud . . . occa- 
 sionally we had to make verses, and his Royal Highness 
 condescended to give us lessons in prosody." 1 
 1 Reiset, La Comtesse de Balbi, p. 228
 
 Madame de Balbi at Coblentz 101 
 
 Madame de Balbi's temper was as imperious and as 
 uncontrolled as ever ; she was jealous of anybody and 
 everybody whom she suspected of influencing Monsieur; 
 so she naturally became bitterly hostile to d'Avaray, 
 and did not scruple to make herself disagreeable to him. 
 One morning, when he was assisting at the a chemise 
 blanche," the same ceremony as the evening one already 
 described, she did her best to rouse his temper ; and at 
 last cried, speaking of a lady to whom he was deeply 
 attached : " Do not talk to me about Madame de. . . . 
 To speak candidly, she is an idiot ! ' D'Avaray 
 managed to keep his temper and to answer her calmly; 
 but when he tried to defend the absent lady, Madame 
 de Balbi became so furious that Monsieur and most of 
 those who were present thought it prudent to retire. 
 
 The next day, when d'Avaray presented himself 
 at her toilette, she burst into a torrent of abuse, to 
 which he answered that he was sure he had never 
 spoken to her without observing the rules of politeness 
 and respect, and that he could bring forward a witness 
 to prove this. " I should like very much to know 
 who it is who would dare to say you were in the 
 right ! " replied the Comtesse, and d'Avaray answered 
 promptly and triumphantly, " Monsieur does." 
 
 He adds : " A volcano, a whirlwind of flames, 
 tempest and thunder are not more violent or destruc- 
 tive. The tables, the chairs, the cap, — everything in 
 the room is scattered and dispersed. In vain the 
 frightened audience try to resist the torrent." 
 
 " Horses, horses ! I must leave at once ! ' cries 
 the furious favourite, tearing about like a mad woman : 
 " I will not bear such an affront ! " * 
 
 This, it may be remarked, is the possibly exaggerated 
 1 Reiset, La Comtesse de Balbi, p. 246.
 
 io2 Louis XVIII 
 
 testimony of an enemy, but the picture is curious, and 
 is worth citing. For Coblentz was the last citadel of a 
 dying world, the world where life for a Grand Seigneur 
 or a Grande Dame was inexpressibly delightful, yet, 
 where, while suavity in intercourse was a fine art, what 
 would seem to us familiar impertinence was quite per- 
 missible in a great lady. Much that was evil was 
 swept away by the Revolution, many dark places were 
 cleansed, many monstrous anomalies righted, yet, 
 because perhaps of its strangeness, there is haunting 
 fascination in that Ancien Regime, for which there was 
 now no resting place in a busy world yearning for 
 practical values, and not overburdened with reverence. 
 The Comte de Provence seems at first sight to be 
 one of the most polished pillars of conservatism ; 
 scented, artificial, and courtly, he moved in an atmo- 
 sphere of stately privilege ; yet even he, because of a 
 certain liberality of mind of which he could not divest 
 himself, was " a jacobin " in the eyes of the thorough- 
 going exponents of the Ancien Regime. In the future, 
 he would learn, though reluctantly, to fit himself to the 
 new world, and would become the wise and politic 
 Louis XVIII, while the " Emigre ' proper would never 
 gain anything from experience, but on his return to 
 what seemed to him a hopelessly vulgarised and trans- 
 mogrified France, would fight a despairing battle for 
 his unchangeable creed ; and though he could not 
 permanently stem the flood of the new ideas, would at 
 any rate succeed in hampering the Government and in 
 bringing it eventually to ruin. This was his unfortu- 
 nate side ; in the ascendant, brave, insouciant, and 
 dashing, surrounded by what he loved, we look on 
 him for the last time in the ugly German town of 
 Coblentz,
 
 Coblentz, and the Ancien Regime 103 
 
 Meanwhile, while detailing their amusements, we 
 must not forget the fact that the Princes were busily- 
 engaged in political intrigue, with the object of rousing 
 Europe to undertake an armed intervention in the 
 affairs of France. Headed by the Emigres, under the 
 leadership of the two Princes, the Comte de Provence 
 being invested with the title and powers of Regent, 
 and acting in the name of the captive King — an idea 
 which had first been suggested to him by Mirabeau — 
 France was to be besieged by an Allied Army of 
 European Powers, who were to rescue the Royal 
 Family, re-establish the Ancien Regime, punish the 
 Jacobites, and chastise yet more severely the " mo- 
 narchies " or moderates, to whom the thoroughgoing 
 Emigres bore even more deadly hatred than to the 
 Revolutionary party. 
 
 Vistas of power as respectively Regent and Lieu- 
 tenant-General of the kingdom floated before the eyes 
 of both the Princes ; but though they have been 
 bitterly blamed for the selfishness of their policy, there 
 is no doubt that they were sincere in their belief that 
 the course they proposed was the wise one. They 
 evidently considered it absolutely impossible that the 
 Revolutionary party would ever proceed to such ex- 
 tremities, that they would dare to threaten the lives 
 of the Royal Family. Unfortunately, too, they felt 
 a not altogether unreasonable contempt for Louis XVI, 
 whose troubles they considered to be greatly of his 
 own making ; and a certain distrust for Marie An- 
 toinette, whom they credited with complete devotion 
 to Austrian interests. They therefore refused to listen 
 to the representations of the unfortunate King and 
 Queen ; and persisted in believing that any orders 
 they might issue were given under coercion. Follow-
 
 io 4 Louis XVIII 
 
 ing this policy, and with apparently no conception of 
 the gravity of the crisis, or the perilous position of 
 the Royal Family, when Louis XVI wrote an official 
 letter in September 1 79 1 ordering his brothers to 
 return to Paris — an order which it must be allowed 
 he did not intend them to obey — their answer was 
 so violent that the Revolutionary party were furious, 
 and the unfortunate Queen wept, and cried that 
 the King's brothers would bring the Royal Family 
 to destruction. 
 
 Monsieur's levity at this time was certainly aston- 
 ishing, though of a piece with the tone of his account 
 of his escape from France. On December 6, 1791, 
 he received an important communication from Paris. 
 It ran as follows : 
 
 " Louis Joseph Stanislas Xavier, French Prince. The 
 Assemblee Nationale requires you in virtue of the 
 French Constitution, Act III, chapter 11, section iii, 
 article 1, to return into the kingdom within two 
 months from this day. Failing this, and at the expira- 
 tion of the said delay, you will lose your eventual 
 right to the Regency." 
 
 To this Monsieur replied : " Members of the 
 French Assembly calling itself National. Sane reason 
 requires you, in virtue of Act I, chapter 1, section i, 
 article 1 of the imprescriptible laws of common sense, 
 to return to your senses within two months from this 
 day. Failing this, and at the expiration of the said 
 delay, you will be supposed to have abdicated your 
 right to the quality of reasonable beings, and will be 
 looked on as violent madmen, fit for an asylum." 
 
 Thus Monsieur enjoyed his joke, apparently heedless 
 whether or no he would goad to dangerous fury the 
 men in whose hands the King and Queen were help-
 
 Monsieur Defies the Republic 105 
 
 less captives. That he had, however, no conception 
 of the gravity of the crisis, is proved by a letter he 
 wrote to Louis XVI towards the end of 1791. 
 " Brother," he says, " I have written to you ; but 
 the letter was sent by the post, and I could tell you 
 nothing. We two here form but one person ; our 
 feelings, principles, and ardour in serving you are 
 alike. If we are addressed by those people " [the Con- 
 stitutional party] " we shall not listen ; if by you, we 
 shall listen, but shall go straight on our way ; so if 
 they make you say anything to us, do not trouble 
 yourself about it. You may feel quite comfortable 
 about your safety ... we only exist to serve you ; 
 we work for that with ardour, and everything is going 
 well. Even our enemies have too much interest in 
 your preservation to commit a useless crime which 
 would complete their ruin." 1 
 
 What could be said in answer to such a letter ? 
 The only possible course for the captive family in 
 Paris was to ignore the doings of the Princes. " It 
 is at the end of this week," Marie Antoinette writes 
 on August 21, 1 79 1, " that the Charter " [the document 
 embodying the laws of the new Constitution which 
 the King was required to sign] " will be presented to 
 the King. . . . The moment is terrible ; but why are 
 we left in total ignorance of what is going on outside ? 
 It is at present necessary to follow a course which 
 will inspire confidence, and will at the same time 
 baffle and overthrow the monstrous affair " [the Revo- 
 lutionary Constitution] " which it is necessary to adopt. 
 For this reason it is necessary that the French, especi- 
 ally the King's brothers, shall remain in the back- 
 ground, and that the allied Powers shall act alone. 
 
 1 Ernest Daudet, Histoire de V Emigration, vol. i. p. 94.
 
 106 Louis XVIII 
 
 No prayer, no reasoning on our part can make the 
 Princes do this ; the Emperor must insist on it, that 
 is the only possible way, and it will do me in particular 
 much service. You yourself know the evil insinua- 
 tions and evil designs of the Emigres. Cowards ! 
 After having abandoned us, they wish to insist that 
 we alone shall endanger ourselves, and shall serve all 
 their interests. I do not accuse the King's brothers. 
 I believe their hearts and intentions to be pure ; but 
 they are surrounded and directed by ambitious people, 
 who will ruin them, after having ruined us first." ! 
 
 The King and Queen's policy throughout this time 
 seems to have been to deceive the Revolutionary party 
 by the King's pretended acceptance of the Constitution, 
 while the Emigres were kept in inaction in the back- 
 ground ; partly because the Queen feared that any 
 movement on their part would implicate her and the 
 King in the eyes of the Revolutionary party, and 
 partly because she felt an intense jealousy of them, 
 and a distrust of their intentions towards her, so that 
 she would almost have preferred remaining in the 
 hands of the Revolutionaries to putting herself in the 
 Emigres' power. 
 
 Marie Antoinette's plans for the action of the 
 foreign Powers, particularly of her brother the 
 Emperor of Austria, varied. When she felt hopeful 
 about internal affairs she only asked for a peaceful 
 Congress of the European Powers, but when matters 
 seemed desperate she at once begged for an advance 
 on France of the allied armies of Europe. This step 
 was apparently to be undertaken ostensibly against 
 the will of the Royal Family, who were only to 
 throw off the mask and proclaim a counter-Revolution 
 
 1 Arneth, Marie Antoinette's Letters to Joseph II and Leopold II,
 
 Marie Antoinette's Policy 107 
 
 when France, or at least the Revolutionary party, was 
 prostrate before the enemy. The Comte de Provence, 
 on the other hand, was, as we know, convinced that 
 it was necessary for the Emigres to be in the van of 
 the attacking army, so that the war might not assume 
 an aspect of foreign aggression, but that of a protest 
 of Royalism against anarchism. 
 
 The difficulties of the position, and the horrors of 
 the captivity of the Royal Family, were increased by 
 the fact that even in the Tuileries, and later on in the 
 Temple, counsels were divided ; for Madame Eliza- 
 beth took the side of her younger brothers, in whom 
 she felt absolute trust, and was therefore at variance 
 with the Queen, who complained that no plans could 
 be discussed in her sister-in-law's presence. It is not 
 necessary to enter here into the question of the wisdom 
 or unwisdom of the policy pursued by the King and 
 Queen ; but one thing is certain — that it was a policy 
 which, to ensure success, demanded the utmost secrecy, 
 caution, and diplomacy ; and it is impossible not 
 to see some wisdom in Monsieur's remonstrances 
 a little later, when the King, after promising to act 
 in conjunction with his brothers, had to their intense 
 indignation sent, unknown to them, a secret political 
 agent to St. Petersburg, in spite of the fact that the 
 Princes' envoy, who was understood to represent the 
 Royal cause in France, was already at the Czarina's 
 Court. At this juncture Monsieur wrote to Marie 
 Antoinette as follows : " What can be Monsieur de 
 Bombelles' mission ? I can only see two possible 
 objects ; that of sharpening the Czarina's zeal for the 
 good cause, or that of diminishing it. In the first 
 case, what will you answer to the Jacobins who will 
 reproach you with accepting the Constitution publicly,
 
 io8 Louis XVIII 
 
 yet working to overthrow it ? And if they bring 
 forward proofs of their assertion ? . . . Let us not 
 imagine such a thing ! It is too horrible." 
 
 The result was certainly destined to be horrible ; for 
 Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette eventually paid with 
 their lives for the Jacobins' discovery of their double 
 dealing and secret intrigues. Yet what were they to 
 do ? The situation was impossible. 
 
 Moreover, an insuperable obstacle to the policy of 
 which the Queen was the originator, was to be found 
 in the fact that it was not dependent upon herself but 
 on the foreign Powers ; and that they, being naturally 
 guided by their own interests, were not disposed to 
 suit their movements to her behests. Unfortunately, 
 no one was anxious to fight against France except the 
 Emigres ; and, according to the scheme proposed by 
 the King and Queen, it was absolutely necessary to 
 keep them in a condition of quiescence. To do this 
 seemed as impossible as to rouse the Powers to 
 action, for the Princes stirred Europe to continual 
 agitation by their impulsive doings. They wrote to 
 Catherine II of Russia begging for a million roubles, 
 so that they might enlist Swedes and Germans, as well 
 as fresh French regiments, in their little army. They 
 were, moreover, determined that one of the two brothers 
 should be present at the Conference which was to 
 take place at Pilnitz, between the King of Prussia and 
 Marie Antoinette's brother, the Emperor of Austria, 
 on the question of intervention in French affairs. 
 The Comte d'Artois, as thoroughly untainted with 
 Revolutionary uncleanness, was chosen as the delegate 
 of the Emigres ; and arrived incognito at Vienna, to 
 the disgust of the King and Emperor, who felt obliged, 
 however, to receive him with cordiality. Louis XVI
 
 The Pilnitz Conference 109 
 
 had just accepted the Constitution — by his own free 
 will, the Emperor affected to believe — and, in spite of 
 the strenuous efforts of the Comte d'Artois, the only 
 result of the Conference was an extremely vague 
 document to the effect that the King of Prussia and 
 the Emperor of Austria considered the situation of 
 Louis XVI " an object of common interest to all the 
 Sovereigns of Europe ; ' and that, if the other Powers 
 would join them, they were prepared to muster their 
 armies and to prepare for war, with the object of 
 re-establishing monarchical government in France. 
 
 The King and Emperor would promise nothing 
 more definite than this, in spite of the Comte d'Artois' 
 earnest solicitations ; but the manifesto was received 
 with the utmost fury in France, and the Revolutionaries 
 were urged by it to fresh excesses. 
 
 On the Comte d'Artois' arrival in Coblentz, where 
 Monsieur was waiting in the utmost anxiety to hear 
 the result of the Conference, the Princes consulted 
 together, and managed to intensify this effect in 
 Paris, by most unwisely issuing a proclamation, in which 
 they appeared to believe that the Pilnitz promulgation 
 meant an immediate declaration of war against France ; 
 while they also declared that the King had only signed 
 the Constitution under compulsion. In consequence 
 of this imprudent step, the Emperor informed the 
 Princes that if they disseminated manifestoes differing 
 from the Agreement of Pilnitz, he would be forced to 
 disavow them. 
 
 Towards the end of the year 1791, the Princes' 
 position at Coblentz became deplorable. Europe set 
 them at nought, the Great Powers refused to move at 
 their bidding, while Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette 
 tried to cajole them into quiet by pretending to trust
 
 no Louis XVIII 
 
 them, and putting them into direct communication 
 with Breteuil, the trusted agent of the Tuileries in 
 the outside world. However, to the Princes' intense 
 humiliation and indignation, they discovered that 
 Breteuil had orders from Louis XVI to keep many- 
 matters secret, and, on the other hand, expected them 
 to confide everything to him. The Princes retaliated 
 by refusing to obey the King, whom they affected to 
 consider as acting under coercion, and by treating his 
 envoys with contempt ; while, in defiance of him, they 
 despatched secret agents to all the foreign Courts, and 
 thus kept Europe in a ferment. The Revolutionary 
 Government were not, however, disposed to remain 
 long passive under this continual provocation. The 
 Assemblee Legislative had now taken the place of 
 the Assemblee Constituante, and orders were issued 
 from Paris to the Elector that the troops at Coblentz 
 must at once be dispersed — an order the Elector of 
 Treves, terrified at a possible invasion of his territory, 
 was obliged to pass on at once to his nephews. 
 
 Meanwhile, Emigres crowded out of France ; the 
 palmy days of prosperity were over ; distress at Cob- 
 lentz became acute ; and during the winter from 1 79 1 
 to 1792 the Princes were forced to watch helplessly the 
 ever-increasing sufferings of their followers. The realities 
 of life were pressing upon the Comte de Provence ; 
 and though his pluck, courage, and power of seeing 
 everything in a humorous light never failed him, he 
 began physically to show signs of the strain he was 
 enduring — a strain which would never relax, but would 
 press on him increasingly, till, in spite of his gay spirit 
 and serenity, he became prematurely old ; worn out by 
 hardship, trouble, and disappointment. 
 
 Many changes had taken place in Europe. On
 
 Distress at Coblentz m 
 
 March i, 1792, Marie Antoinette's brother, the 
 Emperor Leopold II, died and was succeeded by his 
 son, Francis II ; and a fortnight later Gustavus III 
 of Sweden, the principal ally of the French Monarchy 
 in Europe, was assassinated at a masked ball at Stock- 
 holm. The King of Sweden's death was a terrible 
 shock to the Princes — to Monsieur in particular, of 
 whom he was a personal friend. However, in April 
 the Emigres were encouraged by the important news 
 that revolutionary France had taken up an offensive 
 position, and that Dumouriez had published an ulti- 
 matum ordering the cessation of the mustering of 
 troops on the Austrain frontier ; while the King and 
 Queen, whose position was now almost desperate, 
 implored the help of their nephew, Francis II. 
 
 On April 5 war was formally declared between 
 France and the allied armies of Austria and Prussia ; 
 and the Elector begged his nephews to quit Treves 
 and to move to the other side of the Rhine. 
 
 This they refused to do, and the Elector did not 
 press the matter ; for he was certain, as they were, 
 that France would be beaten by the Allies, and that 
 the Princes would return to their country in triumph. 
 Their one endeavour now was to insist that the Emigre 
 army should enter France with the Allies — should, if 
 possible, form the vanguard of the invading force — and 
 that Monsieur should be endued with the title and powers 
 of Regent of the kingdom. Louis XVI still wished the 
 Emigres to keep themselves apart from the allied armies, 
 and to join in no military operations ; but the envoy 
 who proposed this to the Comte de Provence and the 
 Comte d'Artois was received with the utmost haughti- 
 ness, and the Princes were indignant at the proposition. 
 The Duke of Brunswick was to be Generalissimo of
 
 in Louis XVIII 
 
 the allied armies; and in the early summer of 1792, 
 Monsieur and the Comte d'Artois were most busily 
 employed in preparing to receive him with due honour 
 at Coblentz, and in making their own military prepara- 
 tions. These were difficult, as hardly a third of the 
 Emigre army were provided with arms, and the whole 
 force was ragged, hungry, and in the utmost destitu- 
 tion. Their courage was high, however, for they were 
 returning to their own country ; and even Monsieur 
 and the Comte d'Artois did not appear to feel dismay 
 at the idea that foreign troops were forcing for them 
 the entrance to France.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 Campaign against France — The Duke of Brunswick — The Princes with 
 the Army — Terrible retreat — Arrival in Liege — Distress — Monsieur 
 goes to Hamm — Hears of Louis XVI's execution — His declara- 
 tion — Tokens from imprisoned Royal Family — Intrigues and ex- 
 peditions — Monsieur at Verona — Rupture with Madame de Balbi 
 — His letter on the subject to Madame — Death of Louis XVII 
 — Monsieur assumes the title of King — An Englishman's opinion 
 of him — He is forced to leave Verona — Goes to Conde's camp 
 — His attempted assassination — Life at Blanckenburg. 
 
 THE beginning of the campaign was marked with 
 disappointment, for, owing to Breteuil's objec- 
 tions, Monsieur was not appointed Regent, in spite of 
 Louis XVI's consent and the apparent approval of the 
 Allies. However, the army of Conde and that of the 
 Princes were allowed to march with Brunswick's forces, 
 the Comte de Provence, the Comte d'Artois, and their 
 12,000 men being among the Prussian contingent. 
 
 Before starting, the Princes went to Aix-la-Chapelle 
 to assist at the crowning of Francis II, and then were 
 present at the gaieties attendant on the meeting between 
 him and the King of Prussia at Mayence. They were 
 in the highest spirits — spirits we cannot grudge them, 
 for they were enjoying the last gleam of prosperity 
 which was to visit them for many years. The Duke 
 of Brunswick, however, who was to act as Commander- 
 in-Chief to the allied armies, soon realised the utter 
 uselessness of the undisciplined, unarmed, unpaid, and 
 overservanted battalions of the Emigres, and began 
 
 "3 8
 
 ii 4 Louis XVIII 
 
 to feel distaste for the whole expedition ; though the 
 Princes assured him that, when they arrived in France, 
 the whole population would rise for the Royalists. 
 
 The campaign opened ; and Longwy and Verdun 
 were soon taken by the Allies. This was, however, 
 only a first step, and the Emigre army was in a 
 starving condition, while the invasion of France 
 excited hostile demonstrations among the inhabitants, 
 instead of the gratitude and enthusiasm which had 
 been confidently expected. The weather was terrible, 
 the roads were morasses of mud, and dysentery 
 broke out among the troops ; while the Emigres, 
 who had hoped to be in a prominent position in the 
 army, soon found that this was not the intention 
 of the Allies. One of their number says : " I re- 
 marked with sorrow that we seemed only destined 
 to play a very secondary part. The King of Prussia 
 dragged us after him, and we were almost abandoned ; 
 the Princes had no money, and were quite unable to 
 supply the wants of their army, or those of an 
 infinity of impoverished gentlemen whose zeal much 
 transcended their resources." x 
 
 Worse was to follow, for Brunswick was furious 
 with the Princes, who had, he said, deceived him as 
 to the state of feeling in France ; and after being 
 defeated at the battle of Valmy, in which he would not 
 allow the Emigres to take part, and entering into 
 sundry unsuccessful negotiations with Dumouriez, he 
 announced that the campaign was at an end, and 
 insisted on beating an immediate retreat. 
 
 The Princes were not admitted to Brunswick's con- 
 fidence or consulted about anything, being treated as 
 people of no importance ; but when the retreat began, 
 
 1 Manoires du Comte de Mo?iolles, p. 41.
 
 The Princes with the Army 1 1 5 
 
 their position was terrible. The campaign, on which 
 their fondest hopes had so long been centred, had 
 ended in utter disaster; they had failed to rescue the 
 King and Royal Family, and were now homeless and 
 penniless, exiles from their country, and dependent 
 for the means of life on the charity of foreigners. 
 
 To add to their sufferings, they were surrounded by 
 unfortunate people who — possibly rendered unjust by 
 despair — attributed their misfortunes to the heedless 
 conduct of the Princes at Coblentz, and who prayed 
 for assistance which the latter were not able to give. 
 At last, in shame and anguish they were obliged to 
 hide themselves from their miserable army, during 
 the horrors of that terrible disease- and famine-ridden 
 retreat through a hostile land. The Comte de Moriolles, 
 an intimate friend of d'Avaray, gives a graphic account 
 of their situation. He says : " I arrived on the second 
 day at Longuyon, a town of considerable size, where 
 was an immense blacksmith's forge ; in a large hall, 
 intended for coal, lay 600 corpses which had been 
 collected there, and a number of sick people who 
 would soon increase the number of the dead. I turned 
 away from this scene of desolation, and went into an 
 inn of which nothing now remained but four walls, where 
 at least the horses might be rested for a minute ; there I 
 learnt that our Princes and several people of their suite, 
 had spent the night in a house which was pointed out 
 to me, and to which I hastened. Doors and windows 
 were hermetically closed, which did not prevent me 
 from knocking for several minutes without getting an 
 answer ; but at last a shutter was partly opened, and 
 d'Avaray appeared at the window. 
 
 " ' Why, it is you !' he said. ' Come in quickly, by 
 the window, which I will open.' And as soon as I
 
 n6 Louis XVIII 
 
 had entered the room he shut it again, and said : ' We 
 are obliged to hide ourselves, and only go out in the 
 evening, to escape the laments and the prayers which we 
 cannot satisfy, and which tear our hearts. What mis- 
 fortunes ! and what treason ! What will become of 
 
 3 » " 1 
 
 usr 
 
 Hungry and barefooted, the unfortunate soldiers were 
 treated everywhere like outcast dogs, but eventually 
 Conde's army, which had not fought at all, was taken 
 into Austrian pay; as "otherwise they would infest the 
 highroads, the neighbouring States would refuse to 
 receive them, and Austria would be forced to exterminate 
 them." In Germany, Belgium, and Italy, the Revolu- 
 tionary armies were victorious. Monsieur took refuge 
 in Coblentz, but was obliged to fly before the conquering 
 French army ; while at Treves his carriages were seized 
 by his creditors. 
 
 In November, the unfortunate Princes arrived in 
 Liege with the debris of their army ; and while the 
 Comte d'Artois remained there, Monsieur, like his 
 brother in a penniless condition, went on to Namur, 
 where he waited for permission from the King of Prussia 
 to seek refuge in his dominions. In the middle of 
 December the Princes obtained leave from Frederick 
 William to reside at Hamm, in Westphalia ; and at 
 the same time they received from Catherine of Russia 
 a welcome present of 750,000 francs, part of which 
 went to supply the pressing needs of Conde's army. 
 
 Monsieur arrived at Hamm near the end of January, 
 and it was there that he waited anxiously for news of 
 the progress of the King's trial, and heard of his 
 death on the scaffold. On January 28, 1793, he 
 published a Declaration proclaiming the Dauphin King 
 1 Memoires dn Comte de Moriolles, p. 53.
 
 Monsieur's Declaration as Regent 1 1 7 
 
 of France, under the title of Louis XVII, and taking 
 to himself the position of Regent. The Declaration 
 was, as might naturally be expected, strongly and 
 indignantly anti-revolutionary, and Monsieur wrote at 
 the same time to the gentlemen of Auvergne : " As 
 for me, to avenge the blood of the King, my brother, 
 to release my family, to place my nephew on the 
 Throne, and to give back to my country its ancient 
 Constitution, or perish with you on the ruins of it, 
 such is my vow, such the one object of my ambition." 
 
 This was distinctly the language of non-compromise 
 — language which would be hardly more unwelcome to 
 the violent Revolutionaries than to the moderate party 
 who desired to preserve the Monarchy, but to introduce 
 a new Constitution somewhat on the model of the 
 English legislature ; and who, christened "Monarchiens," 
 by the ultra-Royalists, were even more disliked by them 
 than were the Jacobins. Nevertheless, though we may 
 wish that Monsieur had managed rather earlier to realise 
 that France would never return to that Ancient Regime 
 in which he had been educated, a politic liberalism 
 would surely be out of place when he was trembling with 
 indignation and sorrow at the murder of his brother. 
 The Declaration, however, was hardly noticed in France, 
 for of what importance were the words of a poor, 
 proscribed, penniless Prince, who might call himself 
 Regent if it so pleased him, but who had not the 
 slightest power to enforce his claims to the position, 
 or to compel the European Powers to recognise it ? 
 
 Catherine II, to whom the Comte d'Artois paid a 
 visit about this time, was the one person who seemed 
 really friendly to the Emigres, and even she was 
 disgusted with the Royalists who surrounded the 
 Prince.
 
 n8 Louis XVIII 
 
 " What can be done," she cried, " with such pre- 
 sumptuous, vain, frivolous people ? '" And she refused 
 to help, except with generous gifts of money, unless 
 England would join her, which England declined to 
 do. Therefore the Comte de Provence could do 
 nothing in his retreat at Hamm but write letters 
 couched in the most pathetic and flowery language 
 to the different European nations, issue manifestoes 
 in his supposed position as Regent, and despatch secret 
 agents in all directions, a business at which he showed 
 considerable cleverness, for his envoys — unlike those of 
 his brother — were seldom caught. 
 
 During the sojourn of the Princes at Hamm, one 
 melancholy satisfaction was accorded to them — a satis- 
 faction which proved that, in spite of dissensions among 
 the Royal Family, real affection existed among its 
 members, and that even Marie Antoinette considered 
 that the exasperating imprudences of her brothers-in-law 
 were mistakes of the head, and not of the heart. For one 
 day an emissary from Monsieur de Jarjayes, one of the 
 Queen's most faithful and heroic adherents, arrived at 
 Hamm, bringing with him a letter, and a most precious 
 packet containing Louis XVI's seal, his ring, and the 
 hair of all the prisoners in the Temple. It was the 
 Princesses' most earnest wish that these melancholy 
 and precious souvenirs should be given to the Princes, 
 and the Queen had charged Monsieur de Jarjayes with 
 the commission. 
 
 On May 14, 1 793, Jarjayes received the following 
 letter from Monsieur : 
 
 " You have procured for me the most precious 
 possession I have in the world, the only real consola- 
 tion I have felt since our troubles ; my one longing
 
 Souvenirs from the Temple 1 1 9 
 
 now is to be able to show the beings who are more 
 dear to me than life itself, of whom you have given 
 me news, how much I love them, how deeply their 
 letter and the other tokens of their friendship and 
 confidence have touched my heart with the tenderest 
 feelings. But I cannot hope for so much happiness, 
 and I am sure that if you knew of a way of doing this 
 you would point it out to me. I should have liked to 
 have seen you, to have expressed to you my gratitude, 
 to have talked with you about them, about the smallest 
 details, about the services you have rendered them. 
 But I can but approve of the reasons which keep you 
 in Piedmont. Continue to serve our unfortunate 
 young King as you have served the brother whom 
 I shall regret all my life. Tell Monsieur de Joly from 
 me how well satisfied I am with his conduct, and both 
 of you count for ever on me ! 
 
 "Louis Stanislas Xavier." 1 
 
 In the shadow of death dissensions had faded away ; 
 but the Princes could do nothing to save those dear to 
 them ; they could only wait in agonised suspense, for 
 Europe was deaf to their prayers for help. Reports 
 came to them from time to time of events which might 
 be favourable to their cause ; the French General 
 Dumouriez deserted to the Austrians, and excited 
 their ardent hopes that his defection might mean the 
 ending of the Revolution. But no. In spite of there 
 being one French General the less, the Revolution, 
 though soiled with horrors, never hesitated in its 
 triumphant march. The insurrections in Poitou, La 
 Vendee, Le Maine, and Brittany were a more legitimate 
 cause for rejoicing, and for the next few years a constant 
 
 1 Memoires du Baron de Goguelat, p. 80.
 
 i2o Louts XVIII 
 
 stream of agents bearing letters and manifestoes, would 
 go backwards and forwards between Brittany and where- 
 ever the Princes might be located. 
 
 The Vendean War kept the Comte d'Artois, in 
 particular, in a continual state of excitement, for the 
 heroic defenders of the Monarchy in France longed 
 for one of the Princes to lead them ; and the Comte 
 d'Artois, as Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom, was 
 always on the point of starting to take command of 
 the Royalist army, and was always prevented by some 
 absolutely insurmountable obstacle. Sometimes England 
 objected, and as England, though refusing to act openly, 
 provided the sinews of war, with the object of keeping 
 her formidable rival France in a disturbed condition, 
 the Comte d'Artois bowed to her will. " It would 
 always have been possible to get into a boat," said 
 Napoleon, when he heard that the Prince's project was 
 prevented by England's opposition ; but the Comte 
 d'Artois was not Napoleon. 
 
 Later on, assisted by England, Puisaye led an ill- 
 fated expedition to the assistance of the Vendeans, was 
 defeated by Hoche at Quiberon, and covered reams of 
 paper to Monsieur — who had then assumed the title 
 of King — defending himself from certain charges of 
 treachery which were brought against him, and abusing 
 other people, who replied by recriminations as to the 
 causes of the mistakes which had sacrificed the lives of 
 many brave men. 1 
 
 Returning to the fortunes of Monsieur at Hamm, 
 we find that towards the end of 1793, after vainly 
 trying to induce England or Spain to recognise his 
 title of Regent, he could not bear inaction any longer, 
 and determined to make his way to Toulon and Lyons, 
 
 1 Puisaye Papers (British Museum), vol. xxxiv. g 3.
 
 Expeditions and Tragedies 121 
 
 the former town having opened her port to the Spanish 
 and English, who had entered it in the name of 
 Louis XVII ; while Lyons was making a heroic defence 
 against the Republican armies, the news of whose 
 victory, however, reached Monsieur before he left 
 Hamm. He also received tidings of the execution 
 of Marie Antoinette, and it was with a heavy heart 
 that he started on his journey. 
 
 Monsieur was evidently anxious to keep up the 
 dignity of his position as Regent, for when he and 
 the Comte d'Artois separated, not to meet again for 
 seven years, he left directions that while his brother's 
 orders as to schemes already started must be obeyed as 
 though they were his own, fresh plans must only be 
 originated by him. 
 
 Monsieur travelled as the Comte de l'lsle, and at 
 Verona was greeted with the tragic news that another 
 of his hopes had vanished, as Toulon had submitted 
 to the Republic. There seemed now no abiding-place 
 on earth for him, for Spain continued to refuse his 
 urgent prayers for asylum, and he could not bear to 
 be far from the French frontier, so did not wish to ask 
 for one in Russia. 
 
 The Bourbon Family were in a melancholy and 
 divided condition at this time. Madame Elizabeth had 
 perished, Louis XVII and his sister Madame Therese, 
 afterwards Duchesse d'Angouleme, were imprisoned in 
 the Temple, the Comtesse de Provence and the Com- 
 tesse d'Artois had found an asylum at Turin with their 
 father the King of Sardinia, and the Comte d'Artois 
 was still at Hamm, apparently, as usual, making 
 preparations for his ever-deferred descent on Brittany. 
 
 In June 1794 the Regent settled at Verona, and 
 found himself in such discomfort and poverty that it
 
 122 Louis XVIII 
 
 was impossible to summon his wife to his side, so she 
 remained at Turin ; while, as though misfortune was 
 determined to do her worst, another terrible blow fell 
 on his devoted head. 
 
 In April 1792, when the King of Sardinia had 
 offered an asylum to the Comtesse of Provence, 
 Madame de Balbi had accompanied her from Coblentz 
 to Turin ; but the lively lady soon tired of Victor 
 Amedee's austere Court, and went to Luxembourg; 
 and from there, after the retreat of Brunswick's army, 
 she paid occasional visits to Monsieur at Namur. She 
 eventually settled at Brussels, whence she followed the 
 various tergiversations of the political situation with 
 the utmost interest, and kept up a lively correspond- 
 ence with Monsieur, whom she addressed in her letters 
 as cher frere. 
 
 Brussels was a gay place ; Madame de Balbi, as we 
 know, delighted in society, especially in that of the 
 opposite sex, and scandal soon began to couple her 
 name with that of the Comte Archambaud de Perigord, 
 the hero of many adventures as a lady-killer. The 
 matter soon became serious, for Madame de Balbi 
 was too prominent a lady for anything concerning her 
 to remain long secret ; and the story of the liaison 
 reached the ears of d'Avaray. He heard it with the 
 utmost emotion, for it was calculated to cover the 
 name of his beloved Master with ridicule ; but for a 
 time he did not dare to do more than to endeavour 
 to enlighten the Regent by hints, which of course were 
 not understood. However, when the Regent heard 
 from the faithless lady announcing her approaching 
 arrival at Verona, and passed her epistle on to his 
 friend, d'Avaray felt that he could keep the secret 
 no longer. The letter arrived when several of the
 
 Madame de Balbi's Doings 123 
 
 Regent's intimates were present, and d'Avaray, after 
 reading it with much agitation, went at once into his 
 private room, where Monsieur followed him ; and as 
 soon as they were alone, d'Avaray told him the whole 
 story. " Here then is a reward for twenty years of 
 affection ! ' he cried indignantly. " At a time when 
 everything crushes you, when even the least influential 
 of your enemies, the weakest of your allies, your 
 very party itself spends its time in lessening the 
 respect felt for you, a lost woman, the scandal of 
 Europe, insults your misfortunes, and is coming to 
 soil your retreat. No ! your servants will not bear 
 it. I do not know the line others may take ; but 
 listen to the oath I swear : if Madame de Balbi enters 
 the house, I leave it the next day. Your honour 
 comes first, your favour afterwards ! " 
 
 "While 1 was speaking my unfortunate Prince was 
 overwhelmed with grief, though roused from time to 
 time by the temerity of my words and the force 
 of my reasoning. When for a moment he uncovered 
 his face, I saw him redden and turn pale almost at 
 the same moment. I could not foretell what to 
 expect, when in a heartrending voice he said : 
 " * Ah ! my friend, do not overwhelm me ! ' 
 " c It would be betraying you to spare you.' 
 " ' In pity leave me ; the anguish I feel does not 
 allow me the power of putting two ideas together. 
 Go, we shall see each other again. ... I want to 
 be alone." 
 
 Later, the Regent told d'Avaray with tears in 
 his eyes of the decision he had taken. He said : 
 " This meeting is certainly impossible ; I realise it as 
 you do. Whatever happens, the charm and constant 
 habit of my life must be broken. I tihank you for
 
 i2 4 Louis XVIII 
 
 having spoken to me as a courageous and faithful 
 friend should." 1 
 
 So ended the love-story of Monsieur's life. He had 
 chosen badly ; and was not destined, like the Comte 
 d'Artois and the Prince de Conde, to have his troubles 
 softened by the joys of faithful and devoted, if illicit 
 love. He never saw Madame de Balbi again ; but 
 the following letter some time afterwards to the 
 Comtesse . de Provence, who had complained that 
 Madame de Balbi had not written to her when she 
 should have done so, shows how bitterly he felt the 
 defection of the woman he loved : — 
 
 "Verona, i6t/i August, 1795. 
 
 " What you tell me has given you trouble, obliges 
 me to inform you of something that happened some 
 time ago, but you are too well acquainted with the 
 laws of friendship not to consider that they imposed 
 silence upon me. Madame de Balbi owed you, no 
 doubt, a mark of respect on this occasion, but I am 
 no longer in a position to offer her advice. 
 
 " Friendship ought not to be alarmed at errors 
 caused by love, but when these errors cause so great 
 an exposure that honour is wounded, honour demands 
 that even friendship shall be sacrificed. 
 
 "This is the case I had to do with last autumn. 
 The terrible scandal of a f liaison ' with a man who was 
 unfortunately most immoral, and the still more scan- 
 dalous results of this connection, forced me to make 
 a most painful sacrifice to my honour, that of a friend- 
 ship which has made me happy for thirteen years. 
 You will easily understand that I am not anxious to 
 speak of it even to you. But the confidence you have 
 1 Reiset, La Comtesse de Balbi, p. 295.
 
 Death of Louis XVIII 125 
 
 made me requires from me what I make to you to-day. 
 If I had known earlier, that is to say before last 
 October, that Madame de Balbi had never written to 
 you since her departure from Turin, 1 would have 
 reproved her. Now, I have neither the wish nor the 
 right to advise her." ! 
 
 Before this letter was written, an important event 
 had taken place, though for many years it seemed 
 destined to make little difference to Monsieur's 
 fortunes. On June 8, 1795, L°m s XVII died in 
 the Temple, and on the 24th of the same month the 
 Regent proclaimed himself King of France under the 
 title of Louis XVIII, and at once issued a proclamation 
 to his subjects. It was couched in gentler terms than 
 the one written directly after Louis XVI's death, for 
 it promised reform of abuses, and pardon to every one 
 except the regicides ; but it breathed no word of 
 abolition of the Ancien Regime. 
 
 Lord Macartney, who was at this time at Verona, 
 and had many interviews with Louis XVIII, gives 
 an interesting account of the King's opinions. He 
 says : " With regard to the French Constitution, it is 
 regarded, particularly by the King, with the same 
 fondness as the Common Law was contemplated by 
 my Lord Coke, as the wisdom of ages, the perfection 
 of reason, etc., and as the only kind of government 
 suitable to the French nation. At the same time he 
 admits that many serious abuses had crept into it, 
 of which he is determined to purge it, if he should 
 be restored, for none of the abuses does he look upon 
 as making any integral part of the real Constitution 
 itself, which in his opinion is as little despotic as our 
 1 See Reiset's Madame de Balbi, p. 308.
 
 126 Louis XVIII 
 
 own." Later in his letter, Macartney says : " The 
 King is a man of good understanding, and of extensive 
 information. In all his discourses he professes the 
 utmost moderation and integrity, and those who have 
 had opportunities of knowing him best seem persuaded 
 of his sincerity. 
 
 " I cannot pretend to have sufficient experience of 
 him to judge myself of his real character. But I have 
 never observed in him any fluctuation of opinion with 
 regard to what has already past, or what he thinks 
 ought to be done. He speaks of the principal persons 
 concerned in the Revolution without any appearance 
 of rancour, and of the Revolution itself with a degree 
 of calmness and dispassion that one would hardly 
 expect." 1 
 
 Russia and Spain had acknowledged the Comte 
 de Provence's accession to the title of King of France. 
 He now possessed a Council; and had just summoned 
 Saint-Priest, Louis XVI's old Minister, to his side ; 
 otherwise there was no apparent difference between 
 the different grades of Comte de Provence, Regent, 
 and King without a kingdom. Possibly Macartney's 
 arguments may have had some effect on Louis XVIII's 
 mind, as we hear that in the Council the question 
 was agitated of compounding with the Constitution of 
 1 79 1, which had been signed by Louis XVI ; but that 
 the ultra-Royalists rejected the idea with loathing, and 
 as usual carried their point. Otherwise, matters were 
 much in the same condition as before, except that the 
 English expedition under Puisaye to La Vendue had 
 failed miserably, and the only bright spot on the 
 horizon was the fact that Louis XVI's daughter, the 
 
 1 Lord Macartney to Mr. Wickham, October 15, 1795, Wickham 
 Co?respondence t vol. i. p. 181.
 
 Monsieur calls himself King 127 
 
 only survivor of her unfortunate family, had been 
 released from the Temple and handed over to the 
 Austrians by the Directory, who had just replaced the 
 Convention as rulers of France. 
 
 Louis XVIII had long been impatient of his forced 
 sojourn at Verona, and had longed for an asylum in 
 Spain, which, however, had been continually refused by 
 the Spanish Government. Now, however, afraid that 
 his state of inaction would be contrasted disadvan- 
 tageous^ with his brother's activity — which, though 
 not very useful was at any rate showy — he was most 
 anxious to join Condi's army, not, as he explained, 
 as King, but as the Comte de l'lsle, a simple gentleman, 
 who had come to fight under the white flag. Austria 
 was, however, obdurate in her objection to this plan, 
 and her fear of France was well founded, for nearly all 
 the European Powers had recognised the Republic, 
 and her armies were everywhere triumphant. 
 
 It soon became absolutely necessary for Louis XVIII 
 to leave Verona, for on April 14, 1794, the Venetian 
 Republic, at the order of the Directory, who were 
 furious because the Russian Ambassador had been 
 accredited to Louis XVIII and not to the representative 
 of the French Republic, informed the King that they 
 could no longer allow him to remain in Verona. 
 Louis XV Ill's answer may be given in the words of 
 d'Avaray : 
 
 " My Master answered, * I will go ' ; but I require 
 two conditions — the first that I am given the golden 
 book in which the name of my family is inscribed, 
 so that I may cross it out with my own hand ; the 
 second that the armour which my ancestor Henri IV 
 gave in friendship to the Republic is returned to me." 
 
 These words were doubtless intended to touch the
 
 12 8 Louis XVIII 
 
 Venetian Republic to the quick, but unfortunately 
 Louis XVIII was always destined to find during his 
 wanderings, that when a country was threatened by 
 victorious France, fantastic ideas of honour weighed 
 lightly in the balance against patriotism and self- 
 preservation. Eventually he departed with a certain 
 lack of dignity, as, in order to hide his flight from his 
 creditors, and also from the representative of the French 
 Republic at Verona, he and d'Avaray left Verona 
 secretly and travelled by the St. Gothard Pass, while 
 Vauguyon, who resembled his Royal Master, played 
 his part for the occasion, and went by the usual 
 route. 
 
 Against the advice of the English agents, and with- 
 out consulting Austria, Louis XVIII had determined 
 to make his way to Conde's army ; and after eight days 
 of painful mule travelling he arrived at Riegel, the 
 Prince's headquarters, and next day harangued the 
 troops, telling them that his presence would help to 
 end the misfortunes of France by " showing the deluded 
 subjects still armed against us, the difference of their 
 fate under the tyrants who oppress them to that enjoyed 
 by children surrounding a good father." Louis XVIII 
 was, of course, the " good father " ; but in spite of the 
 fact that he rode among the regiments, visited their out- 
 posts along the Rhine, and even tried to persuade the 
 "deluded subjects" at the other side of the river to 
 join his cause, the Republican soldiers did not appear 
 inclined to recognise the force of his arguments. 
 Perhaps it occurred to them that the paternal relation 
 did not always involve payment of troops. However, 
 though nothing decisive happened, it was at least 
 satisfactory that they crowded to see him, and seemed 
 touched by what he said to them.
 
 With Conde's Army 129 
 
 It is sad to think that even among the Emigre army 
 Louis XVIII did not excite enthusiasm, being con- 
 sidered, as at Coblentz, " not pure " in his politics ; 
 while his warlike pretensions and persevering efforts 
 to assume a soldierly character, in conjunction with 
 his absolute unfitness for the martial calling, excited 
 ridicule in the gay, gallant, feather-brained gentlemen 
 of the Ancien Regime. 
 
 Others judged him more favourably, for several 
 Councils were held at Riegel, to which the King 
 invited the English envoys, Mr. Wickham and Colonel 
 Craufurd ; and they were struck by Louis XVIII's 
 superiority to the men who surrounded him, and 
 wished some capable person could be with him to 
 advise him. The subject discussed at one of the 
 Councils was the question of what should be said to 
 Austria, who had strongly objected to Louis XVIII's 
 presence with Conde's army ; and the Englishmen 
 feared that the answer contemplated by the King would 
 cause an open rupture between him and the Emperor 
 Francis. He (the King), says . Wickham, " was pre- 
 vented from yielding to our remonstrances by the 
 warmth and childish petulance of the Count d'Avaray, 
 who, with not half the talents, learning, or good sense 
 
 of the King, has the most absolute dominion over his 
 
 j >» 1 
 mind. 
 
 Eventually, the English envoys succeeded in carrying 
 
 their point ; but in spite of this, the Austrians 
 
 threatened to use force unless the Comte de l'lsle 
 
 would consent to leave Conde's army at once. The 
 
 unfortunate King's situation was therefore most forlorn ; 
 
 for no resting place seemed open to him, and he started 
 
 to wander aimlessly he knew not whither. By chance 
 
 1 Wickliam's Correspondence, vol. i. p. 364. 
 
 9
 
 i3o Louis XVIII 
 
 he came again into contact with the military operations ; 
 this time Conde, as well as the Austrian army, being 
 in full retreat before the Republican General Moreau. 
 Louis XVIII stayed with the army for a few days, and 
 then issued a farewell proclamation to the troops, as 
 there was little use in accompanying the Emigre army 
 in its forced march into Germany. 
 
 However, he lingered a few days at the little town 
 of Dillingen, where his troubles, as well as his hopes, 
 were almost ended for ever. Tired with the heat, 
 he was standing one evening with the Due de Fleury 
 and the Due de Guiche at the open window of his inn, 
 when some one fired at him from the street, and the 
 ball struck the top of his head and lodged in the wall 
 behind. At the cries of the two gentlemen, d'Avaray, 
 who had just left his master, returned to find him 
 covered with blood, and his two attendants in the 
 greatest anguish, fearing he was mortally wounded. 
 The King, however, treated the incident with the 
 utmost coolness. " If the shot had been aimed a little 
 lower," he said to those around him directly after the 
 accident, " the name of the King would have been 
 Charles X." He was laid up for some time from the 
 effects'jof his wound, and as soon as he recovered, he 
 left the army by night to avoid disturbance in the 
 camp ; but the Emigres, whose motto was " no com- 
 promise," and in whose impracticable minds political 
 and prudential considerations weighed for nothing, 
 were very angry at his departure, feeling ashamed that 
 he should yield to Austrian orders. 1 
 
 Brunswick was the only State which would now 
 receive the Comte de l'lsle, and at Blanckenburg in that 
 State he and his suite were lodged in three rooms at 
 1 Souvenirs du Comte de la Ferronays, p. 42.
 
 Blanckenburg 1 3 1 
 
 the house of a brewer's widow, and he received his 
 guests " in a spare blue coat, with waistcoat and 
 breeches of worn black, but with an affable air." J 
 
 In Blanckenburg for eighteen months Louis XVIII 
 lived in discomfort. He worked hard, writing con- 
 tinually to his agents in Paris, and setting on foot fresh 
 intrigues with the object of rousing Royalist feeling in 
 France. Sometimes he was served by faithful and 
 active adherents, but, on the other hand, he often 
 found himself exploited by worthless adventurers, who 
 deceived him by pretended advances on the part of 
 prominent Republicans ; Barras, Hoche, Moreau, and 
 later Napoleon himself, each exciting his hopes on 
 various occasions. 
 
 At Blanckenburg Saint-Priest visited the King, and 
 assumed what was virtually the position of First Minister. 
 There he heard of the death of Catherine II, the 
 faithful friend of the Emigres ; there he received 
 news of the arrest of the members of the Royalist 
 agency in Paris, and of the seizure of their papers, and 
 with the help of Saint-Priest reconstructed the agency. 
 There, too, after his hopes had been raised by the 
 greater moderation of feeling in France, and by the 
 fact that in 1797 two hundred Royalists were returned 
 in the elections for the legislature, a crushing blow 
 was dealt to him by the Coup d'Etat of Fructidor 1 8 
 — in non-Revolutionary parlance, September 4th, 1797 
 — when the Revolutionary Government rose against the 
 moderates, and exiled them for life to the unhealthy 
 swamps of Cayenne. 
 
 The Republic was again firmly established as the 
 Government of France, and to all eyes but those of 
 the patient, ever-buoyant exile at Blanckenburg, 
 1 Ernest Daudet, Histoire de I 'Emigration, vol. i. p. 376.
 
 132 Louis XVIII 
 
 matters seemed hopeless for the Bourbon Family. 
 However, Louis XVIII never despaired, for he 
 believed firmly in a destiny which must eventually 
 replace him on the throne of his fathers ; therefore, 
 whatever catastrophe might befall him, his fortitude 
 was unshaken, and his serenity undisturbed.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 Liberation of Madame Royale — Letters between her and Louis XVIII 
 — His scheme to marry her to the Due d'Angouleme — Austrian 
 opposition — Madame Royale's firmness — Her character — That of 
 the Due d'Angouleme — Louis XVIII's alarm at his liberal views — 
 Louis XVIII obliged to leave Blanckenburg. 
 
 AMONG the many projects which occupied 
 Louis XVIII's thoughts both at Verona and at 
 Blanckenburg, one seemed to him of supreme im- 
 portance, both from a political point of view, and also 
 because it would satisfy the dictates of natural affection 
 by uniting the Bourbon Family very closely together. 
 
 It was with the utmost joy that the King had heard 
 during his stay at Verona of the approaching liberation of 
 the seventeen-year-old Madame Royale, and he managed 
 at once to convey a letter for her to Madame de 
 Tourzel, who was allowed to visit her in the Temple. 
 
 c< I hazard this letter, my dear niece," he said, 
 " without knowing whether it will reach you ; but my 
 tenderness for you will not long allow me to be silent 
 in such a cruel time. Nothing can make up to you 
 for the terrible losses you have sustained ; but allow 
 me to try to soften the bitterness of them. Consider 
 me, I beg you, as your father, and be quite sure that I 
 love you, and shall love you as tenderly as though you 
 were my own daughter. If those who manage to 
 convey this letter to you can give you at the same 
 time the means of replying to it with safety, I shall be 
 
 133
 
 i34 Louis XVIII 
 
 enraptured to learn that your heart accepts the offers of 
 mine. But, in the name of God, no imprudence, and 
 remember that your safety is preferable to my satisfac- 
 tion. Good-bye, dear niece ; I love and embrace you 
 with all my heart." 1 
 
 In spite of the closeness with which she was watched, 
 Madame Royale managed to answer her uncle's letter. 
 
 " My dear Uncle," she wrote : 
 
 " No one 'can be more touched than I am by 
 the feelings you deign to show an unfortunate orphan, 
 in wishing to adopt her as your daughter. The first 
 moment of joy which I have tasted for three years, is 
 that in which you tell me of your kindly feelings. I 
 love you, as ever, very much, and hope some day to 
 express to you myself my gratitude and friendship for 
 you. I am very anxious about your health, and to know 
 what you have become during the three years during 
 which I have not had the happiness of seeing you. I 
 hope that you are well. I pray Heaven for that every 
 day, as well as to prolong your days, so that you may 
 be happy, which perhaps will not happen for a long 
 time. Good-bye. I beg you to feel certain that, what- 
 ever happens, till my last breath 1 shall love you. 
 
 "Marie Therese Charlotte." 2 
 
 This was a delightful letter to receive, but in spite of 
 his joy at his niece's freedom, the knowledge that it 
 had been granted at the request of the Emperor 
 Francis, and that Louis XVI's daughter was now in the 
 hands of her mother's relations, filled the King with 
 apprehensions. Austria and France had always been 
 
 1 Ernest Daudet, Histoire de I £migratio7i , vol. ii. p. 130. 
 * Ibid.
 
 Release of Madame Royale 135 
 
 enemies, one of the most telling epithets used against 
 the unfortunate Marie Antoinette being that of 
 " l'Autrichienne," because it identified her with the 
 country hated by the French with a deadly hatred ; while 
 to Louis XVIII the feeling of hostility was intensified 
 by the fact that the Austrians had always disliked and 
 feared the Emigres, and had belittled and circumvented 
 them at every turn. It would be a terrible catastrophe 
 if Madame Royale should, in anger at the cruel treat- 
 ment she had received, desert the country of her birth 
 and adopt her mother's native place as her own ; 
 besides, Louis XVIII suspected that there might be a 
 design in the Emperor's mind to marry her to his 
 second brother, the Archduke Charles. Possibly 
 Austrian ambition soared yet higher, and the Emperor 
 saw in a beatific vision the throne of France jointly 
 occupied by his brother and Louis XVI's daughter. 
 The fancy was maddening, and except for the power of 
 the pen, Louis XVIII was utterly helpless to combat 
 the schemes of his enemy. 
 
 One day, however, in a talk with d'Avaray, the idea 
 of a possible marriage between Madame Royale and 
 the Due d'Angouleme, eldest son of the Comte 
 d'Artois, was mooted. The notion took a firm hold of 
 Louis XVIII's mind. It seemed to him from all points 
 of view supremely desirable ; but the matter required 
 the utmost care and diplomacy, for the Princess was 
 now almost a stranger to her uncle, and in Austria she 
 would be completely exposed to the influence of her 
 mother's relations. 
 
 Therefore, on her departure from France, the King 
 sent Conde and d'Avaray to meet her at Bale, bearing 
 with them a most affectionate letter, in which he again 
 offered her his fatherly love, while enjoining her to
 
 136 Louis XVIII 
 
 remember the gratitude she owed to her cousin the 
 Emperor, who had managed to bring about her liberty. 
 At the same time he despatched a letter to Madame de 
 Tourzel, who was, he thought, to accompany Madame 
 Royale to Austria, and in this he showed his real feel- 
 ings. He said : 
 
 " It is very difficult for me to believe in the thorough 
 disinterestedness of the Austrian Court, and I cannot 
 help, under its apparent generosity, suspecting long- 
 sighted calculations, and an intention to make me some 
 day pay dearly for my niece's liberty. Besides, after 
 all she has suffered in France, it will not be difficult to 
 inspire her with an insurmountable dislike for a country 
 which is, and which I hope above all things will be, 
 always hers. It is only too probable that this is what 
 will happen to her in Vienna." 1 
 
 A few days later, after consulting again with 
 d'Avaray, he decided to confide even more thoroughly 
 in Madame de Tourzel, and added the following 
 paragraph to his letter : 
 
 " It is you on whom I depend to foil any projects the 
 Court of Vienna may entertain, by continually remind- 
 ing my niece that without forgetting the gratitude she 
 owes to the Emperor, she must always remember that 
 she is French, that she is of my blood, that she has no 
 other father but me, that she ought to share, like the 
 rest of my family, my fate, whether it be happy or 
 unhappy, and, above all things, that she must not con- 
 tract ties, or even make promises except by my wishes 
 and under my authority. I will tell you more ; I have 
 thought about her happiness, about that of all my 
 family, about mine, and I can find no surer means of 
 attaining these different ends, than by marrying her to 
 1 Ernest Daudet, Histoire de I Emigration, vol. ii. p. 135.
 
 Question of Madame Roy ale's Marriage 137 
 
 the Due d'Angouleme, my nephew. I know for certain 
 that the King and Queen, when they had no other 
 child but her, were anxious for this marriage. Cer- 
 tainly, when they had boys, my nephew ceased to be a 
 suitable ' parti ' for her, and they changed their mind. 
 But I am quite sure that if they were alive and had lost 
 their sons, they would return to their original intention. 
 So I am only following it." 
 
 Thus spoke the King with Royal dignity, and 
 asserted the authority he wielded as head of the family. 
 Unfortunately, however, these letters were useless, for 
 Madame de Tourzel was not allowed to accompany 
 Madame Royale to Vienna, a Madame de Soucy being 
 appointed in her place by the Directory, and the 
 Princess was in consequence never informed of her 
 Uncle's plans for her future. However, Louis XVIII 
 wrote also to the Emperor begging for the charge of 
 Madame Royale, and if his request were granted he 
 announced the intention of sending her to Rome, where 
 she would be confided to the care of her great-aunts, 
 Madame Adelaide and Madame Victoire. 
 
 This request was refused ; and Louis XVIII became 
 more and more anxious, and convinced that the 
 Austrian Court were nourishing some deeply laid plot 
 to their own advantage. The substitution — unknown 
 to him — of Madame de Soucy for Madame de Tourzel 
 had indirectly the effect of causing him fresh appre- 
 hensions ; for when the Princess, of course realising 
 nothing of the matrimonial designs for her which the 
 King had expressed in the letter addressed to Madame 
 de Tourzel, wrote to him on her journey declaring 
 her affection and submission to his behests, but 
 mentioning nothing about the matter which was the 
 dearest wish of his heart, he was both puzzled and
 
 138 Louis XVIII 
 
 alarmed. " I see quite well," he says in his answer 
 to this unsatisfactory communication, " that your 
 modesty, a praiseworthy quality, prevents your ex- 
 plaining yourself on a very interesting subject," and 
 he went on to beg the Princess to write something 
 which would show the Due d'Angouleme that she was 
 willing to accept him as her husband. 
 
 Madame Royale, not knowing of her Uncle's matri- 
 monial designs for her, must have been almost as 
 disconcerted by his letter as he had been by hers, and 
 the position of this girl of seventeen, lately liberated 
 from a prison in which she had heard nothing of the 
 outside world, to find herself considered a person of 
 the highest importance, and surrounded by intrigues, 
 was a strange and critical one. However, she at 
 last understood the King's wishes, and was equal 
 to the occasion. She took three days for con- 
 sideration, and then she wrote her Uncle a long 
 letter. 
 
 " Sire," she said, " I am about to arrive at Vienna, 
 where I shall await your Majesty's orders. But I 
 warn you that however much I may wish to hear from 
 you, I am afraid I shall not be able to write often 
 because I shall certainly be under close observation. 
 Already on my journey I have been prevented from 
 meeting French people, the Emperor wishing to see 
 me first, and fearing that I should learn his projects. 
 I have known them for a long time, and I declare 
 positively to my Uncle that I shall always remain 
 faithfully attached to him, as well as to my father's 
 and mother's wishes about my marriage, and that I 
 shall reject all the Emperor's propositions on behalf 
 of his brother. I will not submit to them. My 
 parents' wish is contrary to them, and I intend in
 
 Madame Royale's Views 139 
 
 everything to obey my Uncle's orders. I should like 
 very much to be with you at Verona ; but I will do 
 all I can to let you know what the Emperor may 
 say to me. 
 
 " Uncle, you have known me for a long time ; but 
 I hope that you will never doubt me. My position 
 is very difficult and delicate ; but I have confidence 
 in the God who has hitherto given me succour, and 
 brought me through so many perils. He will enable 
 me never to belie the illustrious blood which flows 
 in my veins. I should prefer unhappiness with my 
 relations while they are unhappy, to remaining at the 
 Court of a Prince who is hostile to my family and 
 country." l 
 
 This letter was naturally received with joy by the 
 King and d'Avaray, who were ashamed, as the King 
 said in his answer to his niece, of ever having doubted 
 her ; and the King at once set to work to obtain a 
 dispensation for the marriage of the cousins. In 
 writing about this to the Chevalier d'Azara at Rome, 
 Louis XVIII thus expresses his reasons for objecting 
 to the marriage of Madame Royale with the Archduke 
 Charles. 
 
 u In the first place, a little pride perhaps, which you 
 will, however, think well-founded, makes me consider 
 the Emperor's second brother, a Prince without a 
 kingdom, without the hope of having one, as his two 
 elder brothers have children, not a suitable match for 
 the only daughter of the late King, my brother. 
 
 " Secondly, I will not give my consent to a marriage 
 
 which would without doubt be considered in France 
 
 as a means and a first step to the dismemberment 
 
 of my kingdom, a thing to which my subjects, whether 
 
 1 Ernest Daudet, Histoire de I' Emigration, vol. ii. p. 148.
 
 140 Louis XVIII 
 
 loyal or disloyal, feel a repugnance as natural as 
 invincible. 
 
 " Thirdly, the long misfortunes undergone by my 
 niece, her courage, and virtues, have invested her with 
 an interest, and have dowered her with a love on the 
 part of the French, of which it is most essential for 
 me to take advantage, and to appropriate by marrying 
 her to my successor." 
 
 This is plain speaking ; and we see that whereas 
 affection for his niece and a desire to unite the family 
 were integers in Louis XVIII's scheme, the political 
 aspect of the situation was, as usual, always in the 
 forefront of his thoughts, and that every other motive 
 was subordinated to his desire to return to France as 
 King. 
 
 Many agitations were still to be gone through before 
 Madame Royale became the Duchesse d'Angouleme. 
 At first there seemed a disposition at Vienna to keep 
 her almost in the position of a political prisoner, and 
 to allow her to see none of her countrymen. The 
 King was so indignant at the idea of this, and ex- 
 pressed himself so strongly on the subject, that his 
 niece was obliged to write to try to calm him, for, 
 as the Emperor invariably refused to answer his letters, 
 she was the only channel of communication between 
 the two men. Her alarms at the way in which she 
 was likely to be treated in Vienna, alarms only too 
 natural when we remember what her life in the Temple 
 had been, had now subsided, and she seems to have 
 been very happy with her Austrian cousins. Masters 
 were provided to supplement her neglected education, 
 and she spent her time with the young Archduchesses. 
 " In the name of Heaven," she writes to her Uncle, 
 " I beg you to calm yourself, and to be quite per-
 
 Anxieties about Madame Roy ale 14 1 
 
 suaded that I am not a captive ; if I were I should 
 say so at once, and should not be happy for a moment ; 
 but it is not true." 
 
 Madame Royale wrote with the decision which 
 always characterised her, but Louis XVIII was still 
 anxious. His niece was, in his opinion, becoming 
 Austrianised, for she evidently believed in the Emperor, 
 whom he considered absolutely untrustworthy ; and was 
 contented and even happy among her mother's re- 
 lations. In truth, her present life must have seemed 
 like Paradise after the cruelty of her imprisonment. 
 " You have no idea of the hardships of our prison," 
 she writes to her Uncle ; " people who have not seen 
 them with their own eyes cannot imagine them. Even 
 I, who have suffered so much, find it almost difficult 
 to believe in them. My aunt and I did not know 
 of my mother's removal to the Conciergerie, and then 
 of her death. I was only told it in '95. My aunt 
 was seized away from me to be put to death. In vain 
 I asked why we were separated. They shut and locked 
 the door without answering me. My brother died 
 in the room under me, and they left me in ignorance 
 of it." 
 
 It would not have been surprising had Madame 
 Royale's brain been permanently injured by the solitary 
 confinement to which she had been subjected when 
 almost a child, but she came out from prison at the age 
 of seventeen strong, self-contained, and religious ; not 
 pretty, though with good features ; brusque in manner, 
 rough in voice, and absolutely without charm — a 
 woman whose bravery and resignation enabled her to 
 shine in adversity, but who in prosperity showed 
 herself totally wanting in the little graces which invest 
 Royalty with popularity. Besides, when she returned
 
 1 42 Louis XVIII 
 
 to France at the Restoration, she was still of the Ancien 
 Regime, and with her father-in-law, the Comte 
 d'Artois, made a formidable opposition to the King's 
 attempts at bringing forward a liberal policy. 
 
 That the awful sufferings she had gone through 
 had left an indelible impression on her nerves and 
 had given a strange twist to her character was only 
 to be expected, and Madame de Boigne, writing after 
 the Restoration of Louis XVIII to the throne of 
 France, gives a curious instance of the results of this 
 nervous shock. She says : 
 
 " The Comtesse de Chatenay was often taken by her 
 mother, the Comtesse de la Guiche, to see Madame 
 when both of them were children. Madame remembered 
 this, and treated her with kindly familiarity ; she 
 received her several times privately. One day she said 
 to her : ' Your father died young, did he not ? ' Yes, 
 Madame. * Where did he die ? ' Madame de Chatenay 
 hesitated a moment, and then answered, ' Alas ! 
 Madame, he perished on the scaffold during the 
 Terror.' Madame recoiled as though she had trodden 
 on an asp ; a moment later she dismissed Madame de 
 Chatenay. And from that day, not only did she cease 
 her former kindness, but she treated her worse than 
 any one else, and avoided speaking to her whenever she 
 could. I do not attempt to explain the feeling which 
 dictated this conduct, for I cannot imagine what it was. 
 I only tell the story faithfully." x 
 
 The great ladies of the Restoration evolved a 
 romantic heroine out of the ".Orphan of the Temple," 
 but when they discovered that in spite of her natural 
 dignity she lacked grace of manner, they made few 
 excuses for a Princess who at the most crucial time of 
 
 1 Memoires de la Comtesse de Boigne (trans.), vol. i. p. 316.
 
 Madame Royale's Character H3 
 
 her life, when other children of her rank were receiving 
 careful instruction to fit them for the duties awaiting 
 them, was left to the anguish and terror of complete 
 solitude. 
 
 Madame Royale's sufferings had not, at any rate, 
 broken her spirit, for on several occasions she showed 
 the greatest personal bravery. She grew very fond 
 of her Uncle, whose courage, though of a passive 
 nature, equalled her own ; but it is curious to see 
 that, even in these early days, she did not hesitate 
 to refuse obedience to his behests when he proposed 
 anything repugnant to her fearless, straightforward 
 nature. 
 
 The Abbe Edgeworth de Firmon, Louis XVTs 
 confessor, after lying for long in hiding, had managed 
 to escape from France ; and towards the end of the 
 year 1796 he appeared at Blanckenburg, where he was 
 received with much cordiality and delight by the King, 
 who listened with the utmost emotion to the account 
 of his brother's last days, and wrote at once to tell 
 his niece what he had heard from the Abbe. At the 
 same time, with his usual desire to turn everything to 
 political capital, he suggested that she should write a 
 grateful letter to her father's confessor, and date it 
 from the day on which she had gained her liberty. 
 The Princess, however, refused firmly to do this, in 
 spite of the fact that her Uncle wrote twice to her on 
 the subject. The letter, she objected, would be put 
 into the papers, and she disliked publicity. " Besides," 
 she continued — and we cannot help feeling that the 
 lesson she indirectly inculcated might occasionally have 
 been followed with advantage by her Uncle — " I will 
 not hide from you the fact that to antedate my letter 
 would cause me pain. That may be done by older
 
 i 4 4 Louis XVIII 
 
 people, and for business which requires it. But it is 
 natural to my age and to my character to be as 
 simple and exact as truth is." 
 
 Perhaps it was Austrian influence which about this 
 time made the Princess suddenly susceptible about her 
 dignity. She complained to the King that her future 
 father-in-law, the Comte d'Artois, had only written to 
 her once in eighteen months, while the Comtesse d'Artois 
 had never written. The great aunts at Naples kept up 
 a regular correspondence with her, as did the Queen 
 of France ; but she had received no communications of 
 any sort from the Due de Berry, her aunt the Queen 
 of Naples, or her Spanish cousins. Unfortunately, too, 
 a mishap to the post delayed a letter from the King 
 telling her that the Due d'Angouleme had broken his 
 ankle, so that she saw the news first in a newspaper, 
 and was naturally indignant that no one should con- 
 sider it worth while to inform her of her fiance's 
 accident. 
 
 The King was much distressed at her reproaches, and 
 in spite of the enormous correspondence entailed by the 
 constant repairing of the meshes of the spider's web of 
 intrigue which reached every country in Europe, he 
 wrote continually and affectionately to her from his 
 uncomfortable lodging at Blanckenburg, and tried with 
 the utmost care and tact to make up by paternal 
 tenderness and love, for the shortcomings of the rest of 
 the Royal Family. He also asked the Marquis de 
 Bonnay, who happened to be at Vienna, to see her, and 
 to find out as far as possible what was her state of mind. 
 Bonnay evidently performed his task with the utmost 
 skill, as is shown by his letter detailing the result of 
 his interviews with the Princess, who seemed to have 
 accorded him full confidence.
 
 Tactful Management 145 
 
 Bonnay considered that Madame Royale must not be 
 hurried into marriage, because if pressed too far she 
 might disobey ; and disobedience with any one of her 
 character would mean that she would never return to 
 submission, while she would be backed up in her 
 rebellion by the Austrian Court. Therefore gentle 
 methods were the only means likely to be successful. 
 Madame Royale must feel herself loved; Monsieur, who 
 had been very negligent, must write often and affection- 
 ately ; and above all things the Princess must be told 
 little details about the Due d'Angouleme, especially such 
 as would particularly appeal to her peculiar character. 
 She was very devout; the Due d'Angouleme always 
 fulfilled his religious duties with punctuality, and had 
 himself asked, before he left Edinburgh, to perform his 
 devotions, and had performed them. Why had not 
 this fact been related to her ? It would have pleased 
 her. " You know, Monsieur le Comte " [Bonnay was 
 writing to d'Avaray, who was to pass on the letter to 
 the King] " how much can be done with women in 
 general — and why not with Princesses ? — by making 
 much of the men one wants them to love," and he 
 went on to urge that every possible effort should be 
 made in this direction with Madame Royale. 
 
 It seems well to glance for a moment at the character 
 of the man destined to become the husband of " the 
 Orphan of the Temple." Quiet and shy, cold in 
 temperament and distrustful of himself, his nervousness 
 and reserve cloaked many valuable qualities. It has been 
 said, and possibly correctly, that had Louis XVIII 
 outlived the Comte d'Artois and been followed on the 
 throne by the Due d'Angouleme, the Bourbons might 
 not have lost the crown of France. For the Due 
 d'Angouleme was decidedly liberal in his opinions, and 
 
 10
 
 i 4 6 Louis XVIII 
 
 followed in the footsteps of his Uncle, rather than 
 in those of the Comte d'Artois. 
 
 The young man had first joined the King per- 
 manently at Blanckenburg, after having spent part of 
 his youth with his father and mother at Turin ; and 
 then, having held a command in Conde's army, he 
 had also visited his father in Scotland, and had spent 
 some time travelling in England. His had not been 
 a happy childhood, for the neglected and peculiar 
 Comtesse d'Artois troubled little about her sons ; the 
 King of Sardinia considered his grandsons a trouble, 
 and was only too glad to get rid of them ; while the 
 Comte d'Artois was too much occupied with Madame 
 de Polastron, as well as with political scheming, to have 
 much tirhe to attend to his family. Louis XVIII 
 seems to have been the only person who took any 
 real interest in the young men, and he was tenderly 
 attached to both of them, and at times foolishly in- 
 dulgent to the weaknesses of the Due de Berry. The 
 latter was the soldier of the family, and, like his father, 
 a man of many love affairs, which were looked upon 
 with little indulgence when the hero of them, instead 
 of being brother to a powerful monarch, was a home- 
 less, penniless exile. 
 
 The Due d'Angouleme, on the other hand, was 
 morally irreproachable ; but the King reproached him 
 affectionately with his indolence in intellectual matters, 
 which was specially unfortunate because the future 
 Duchesse d'Angouleme was evidently possessed of 
 superior mental powers. Louis XVIII was also dis- 
 tressed to discover that his nephew approved of the 
 representative system in politics, so that his convic- 
 tions showed a dangerous affinity to those held by the 
 " Monarchiens," or Constitutional Royalists, who, as
 
 The Due cPAngouleme's Liberalism 147 
 
 we know, were even more dreaded by the thorough- 
 going exponents of the Ancien Regime than were the 
 Jacobins. 
 
 The King felt that it was urgently incumbent on 
 him to essay the task of converting his nephew to his 
 own admiration of the Constitution of the Ancien 
 Regime when purged of abuses, and he decided that 
 personal teaching would be necessary to show the 
 young man the error of his ways. In a letter to the 
 Comte d'Artois on the subject, he says : " I began by 
 trying to put him at ease, and in order to do this 1 
 hid the pain I felt, in finding myself reduced to con- 
 verting on so essential a point him who after us will 
 wear the crown of Henri IV." 
 
 The King then entered on his exposition, and 
 considered that he must certainly quickly succeed in 
 bringing his nephew over to his own convictions. It 
 was, therefore, disconcerting, as proving that the poison 
 of liberalism had bitten deep, that the Due d'Angou- 
 leme, after listening to his uncle's arguments, which 
 were no doubt expressed with much eloquence, still 
 kept to the opinion that when the King should in 
 the future ascend the throne, it would be his duty to 
 consult the people of France as to the Constitution 
 they might prefer. This was most disappointing ; 
 but, with his usual optimism, Louis XVIII refused 
 to despair of eventually compassing his nephew's 
 conversion, little thinking that, in order to preserve 
 his position as King of France, he would be obliged 
 himself to adopt a modified edition of the opinions he 
 now reprobated severely. He had already altered the 
 absolute views expressed in the manifesto he had 
 issued on assuming the title of King ; had contem- 
 plated negotiations, if occasion should arise, with the
 
 148 Louis XVIII 
 
 Revolutionary party ; and had even announced to his 
 agents in Paris that if he were to become King, his 
 brother's assassins, whom he had hitherto threatened 
 with condign punishment, should be allowed to leave 
 the country without confiscation of their property. 
 This was an extraordinary modification of his former 
 declarations. 
 
 The King had long been anxious to leave Blancken- 
 burg and to find some asylum where he could receive 
 Madame Royale, and where it would be possible for 
 the marriage between her and the Due d'Angouleme 
 to take place. He longed, he said, to have his chil- 
 dren with him ; and among the bitter disappointments 
 which he underwent when all his plans were ruined 
 by the unexpected consolidation of the Republic in 
 France, the one star of hope which shone on his 
 darkened horizon was the thought of this much-longed- 
 for marriage. In answer to his earnest prayers, the 
 Czar had offered him a home in Westphalia ; but 
 he considered that this was too near Holland for 
 safety. However, the victorious Republican armies 
 seemed to cover Europe, and while the King hesitated, 
 his hand was forced ; for the Directory commanded 
 the King of Prussia to banish the Comte de Pro- 
 vence, and the Emigres with him, from the Kingdom 
 of Brunswick. 
 
 The position in which Louis XVIII now found 
 himself was tragic. He had indeed wished to leave 
 Blanckenburg, but not till he had found another rest- 
 ing-place, and at first none seemed forthcoming. 
 With wise prevision he had, however, applied some 
 time before to Paul I of Russia for an asylum in his 
 kingdom ; for, as his hope that the much-harried Swiss 
 would rise successfully against the Republic seemed
 
 Banishment from Blanckenburg 149 
 
 doomed to disappointment, he felt less reluctance to 
 the idea of exile in far-away Russia. It was, there- 
 fore, with extreme relief that he heard from Saint- 
 Priest, his envoy at St. Petersburg, that the Czar 
 offered him a refuge in the Chateau of Mittau in 
 Courland.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 Trials of journey from Blanckenburg— Arrival at Mittau — Character of 
 the Czar — Life at Mittau — Louis XVIII's character — Public affairs 
 — King appeals to Bonaparte — The latter's reply — The Revolution 
 of the 1 8th Brumaire — The Queen's arrival — Disagreeables — 
 Madame Royale's arrival — Her marriage to the Due d'Angouleme 
 — King's reconciliation to the Due d'Orl£ans — Difficulties with the 
 Comte d'Artois — General Fersen's visit — Czar's brutality — The 
 King and the Duchesse d'Angouleme are driven from Russia. 
 
 IN spite of the relief the King experienced at the 
 prospect of a safe asylum in Russia, and the 
 pleasure it gave him to feel that here for the first 
 time he would be treated with Royal honours, it was 
 with a sad heart that he prepared to start in bitter 
 weather on his tedious and tiring journey across Europe. 
 Mittau would be exile indeed, and going there seemed 
 a fresh defeat to his cause, for every step of the way 
 carried him further from his beloved country ; and, once 
 surrounded by Russian snows, what tidings could make 
 their way to him ? 
 
 His only consolation was that Paul I, influenced by 
 Conde and Panin, and also by the faithful Saint-Priest, 
 seemed disposed to act with much munificence. Having 
 already established the Prince of Conde in a magnificent 
 palace in St. Petersburg and taken his small army into 
 his service, he was prepared to receive Louis XVIII 
 with Royal honours, and to grant him a pension of two 
 hundred thousand roubles. Therefore it would now 
 
 be possible for the Queen to join her husband, some of 
 
 150
 
 »tf<S..' 5V«~« 'X-'" 
 
 Fr. 
 
 ttg liy Anker Smith, A.R.A., from a picture 
 
 given bv the Empress of Russia to Sir Home Popham. 
 
 PAUL I., 
 
 p. 150] 
 
 CZAR OF RUSSIA.
 
 Journey to Mittau 151 
 
 his faithful followers might be summoned, to his side, 
 and if other difficulties could be surmounted, the goal 
 of his hopes might at last be in view, for he would now 
 be able to provide a suitable home for his niece. 
 
 Much must be gone through first, and the journey 
 was a terrible undertaking to one as stout, gouty, 
 and prematurely aged as was the unfortunate King. 
 " Nothing is more curious," says one who saw him 
 both at Riegel and at Mittau, " than the contrast 
 between that beautiful Royal head and the thickest, 
 most ungraceful body in the world." l 
 
 The King left Blanckenburg on February 10th, 1798, 
 made his first halt at Kustrin, a small town near Berlin, 
 and arrived at Mittau on March 13th. The intense cold 
 made the journey extremely painful ; the inns were for 
 the most part miserable hovels, and the roads often 
 almost impassable. Occasionally a wheel or a spring 
 would break, and once it was necessary for men to 
 carry the carriage ; while on another occasion, owing 
 to the flooding of the Niemen, it was impossible to 
 cross by the usual ford, the weight of the heavy, 
 lumbering coach sunk the boats in which it was placed, 
 and eventually the river was only crossed after a long 
 round and a delay of twenty-four hours. 
 
 When the King at last arrived at Mittau his con- 
 dition must have been pitiable, though his spirit was as 
 undaunted as ever. 
 
 He was to meet with many misfortunes and humilia- 
 tions in Russia, for he was putting himself into the 
 power of a despot so uncontrolled in his passions that 
 he was almost insane. " Variable, suspicious, whimsical, 
 violent, the Czar showed himself capable of the most 
 contrary excesses. His generosity was that of a despot, 
 1 Souvenirs du Comte de la Ferronays, p. 160.
 
 152 Louis XVIII 
 
 as his fits of passion were those of a madman. What- 
 ever he fancied, it was necessary the fancy should be 
 fulfilled at the very time when it crossed his mind," 1 
 says the Comte de la Ferronays. At present the King 
 was tasting his generosity ; in the future he would suffer 
 bitterly from his inconsiderate cruelty. 
 
 At first, the only request made by Louis XVIII 
 which was refused by the Czar, was that of allowing 
 him to pay a visit incognito to St. Petersburg. Other- 
 wise, when the King found on arriving that all the 
 Courland nobility had come out to receive him, and 
 saw the vast and sumptuous ducal Chateau of Mittau, 
 whose architecture somewhat resembled that of 
 Versailles, he must have felt that for the first time 
 during his wanderings he was lodged like a king. 
 
 Other impressions were not so agreeable. Orders 
 had been sent by the Czar to the Military Governor of 
 Mittau, that the French soldiers who had been detached 
 from Conde's army to act as guard to the King, were to 
 be lodged in barracks in the town, and were to submit 
 to Russian military discipline. The King protested at 
 this, wishing his soldiers to be solely under his orders, 
 but Paul I repeated the order, and matters were only 
 modified by the intervention of General Fersen. 2 
 
 Now began quite a new life for the King. The 
 inhabitants of Courland were intellectual and refined, 
 so that it was possible to find enjoyment in intercourse 
 with them, and he was surrounded by a small Court, 
 which was arranged by d'Avaray on the lines of the 
 most pompous and particular etiquette, with Almoners, 
 a First Minister, in the person of the Comte de Saint- 
 Priest, a Gentleman of the Chamber, a Master of 
 
 1 Ferronays' Souvenirs, p. 160. 
 
 * Brother to Marie Antoinette's favourite, Count Fersen.
 
 Life at Mittau 153 
 
 the Ceremonies, and numerous servants. Later, 
 the households of the Queen and of the Duchesse 
 d'Angouleme added to the expensive paraphernalia 
 considered necessary to keep up the dignity of Royalty, 
 with the result that the King was always in debt, and 
 that pressing requests for money occupied much of his 
 correspondence. 
 
 Every day after Mass the King gave audience. The 
 Governor of Courland presented the visitors to the 
 gentleman-in-waiting, who in his turn presented them 
 to the King. Louis XVIII was always affable, and 
 when etiquette was not infringed by the invitation, 
 would ask his guest to dinner, at which repast he 
 presided with his usual grace, and would talk with 
 animation on intellectual and literary subjects, dis- 
 playing great powers as a linguist, and a wonderful 
 fund of anecdote. 
 
 Advancing years, while completely crippling the 
 King's physical powers, which had never been robust, 
 had mellowed and widened his character. The conceit 
 and self-sufficiency which had alienated the courtiers 
 who approached the Comte de Provence at the French 
 Court, had quite disappeared, and those who were 
 introduced to Louis XVIII at Mittau were struck by 
 the benevolent and kindly bearing, as well as the Royal 
 dignity of the man who, prematurely aged by delicate 
 health, sorrow, and disappointment, was old at the age 
 of forty-five. The smile in his eyes, that beaming and 
 radiant expression with which he greeted his friends, is 
 mentioned as particularly attractive by several people 
 who came in contact with him now or later. 
 
 He was on most subjects astonishingly open-minded, 
 
 judged his enemies without harshness or acrimony, 
 
 and was indulgent, patient, and philosophical about
 
 154 Louis XVIII 
 
 the faults of others. Now, too, the jesting spirit 
 which seemed like irritating trifling in the fastidious, 
 luxurious Comte de Provence, stood him in good stead, 
 for in the midst of some catastrophe which seemed to 
 portend the complete downfall of his most cherished 
 hopes, he would invigorate himself with a laugh at any 
 incongruous incident which excited his sense of the 
 ridiculous. 
 
 Life at Mittau might have been pleasant but for the 
 bitter cold and the fact that it was exile — almost, in 
 fact, imprisonment — for it was impossible to leave the 
 Chateau even for a few days without the permission of 
 the Czar ; and this would certainly have been denied. 
 News from France could only be obtained through 
 Hamburg, and when it came it was ever more and 
 more depressing ; in fact, during the King's sojourn 
 at Mittau so untoward were events, that any hope of 
 a return to his native land seemed to have departed 
 for ever. 
 
 At first, indeed, matters seem reassuring, for in 1798 
 and 1799 the victorious armies of the Republic had so 
 upset the arrangements of Europe that, after many 
 hesitations, what is known as the Second Coalition was 
 formed, and Russia, England, Turkey, Naples, and 
 Piedmont prepared to range themselves in battle array 
 against France. They did, indeed, persist in refusing 
 to announce that their intention was to replace 
 Louis XVIII on the throne of his fathers, but the 
 latter was immovable in his opinion that in order 
 to secure the peace of Europe it was absolutely 
 necessary that a Bourbon should again reign over 
 France ; and felt certain that the Powers, if victorious, 
 would find that no other alternative would solve the 
 problem.
 
 His Diplomacy 1 5 5 
 
 Louis XVIII was meantime working with the 
 utmost energy to bring over French generals and 
 legislators to the Royalist side. He was sanguine 
 about a negotiation which some of his agents pre- 
 tended to be working with Barras ; the defection of the 
 Generals Dumouriez, Willot, and Pichegru had filled 
 him with hope, as well as given him much occupation 
 in the way of correspondence ; while at the end of 
 the year 1799 ne conceived the extraordinary idea of 
 starting negotiations with Napoleon, who was then in 
 Egypt. General Berthier was to be the intermediary 
 between the King and the successful General, and it 
 was hoped that Napoleon's wife Josephine, who was 
 supposed to have leanings towards the Royalist side, 
 would use her influence with her husband. The King 
 opened the affair by writing a letter to Bonaparte, 
 in which he began by expressing his admiration for the 
 General's military talents, and went on : " General, 
 you have only one choice to make ; you must play 
 the part of Ccesar or of Monk. I know that the 
 destiny of the first would not alarm you. But search 
 your own heart, and you will find that the brilliance of 
 his victories is dimmed by his usurpation, while the 
 reputation of the second is without stain, and can only 
 be dwarfed by the one which awaits you. Say one 
 word, and the same Royalists whom you perhaps are 
 going to fight will become your soldiers. Give back 
 to me the Army which has always been victorious under 
 your orders, and which, led by a chief like you, will in 
 the future fight only for the good of the kingdom. 
 I do not speak to you of your King's gratitude ; that 
 of all future generations will be assured to you. To 
 finish, if I were addressing any one but Bonaparte, 
 I should offer, I should specify rewards ; a great man
 
 156 Louis XVIII 
 
 must himself fix his fate and that of his friends ; say 
 what you want for yourself, for them, and the moment 
 of my Restoration will be that when your desires shall 
 be fulfilled." " 
 
 This letter is interesting, as showing the King's 
 idea of the arguments likely to appeal to Napoleon. 
 Eventually, however, a shorter one was substituted 
 for it, which was answered thus several months later. 
 
 " I have received, Sir, your letter. I thank you for 
 the polite things you say in it about me. It is of no 
 use for you to hope any longer for a return to France. 
 You would have to walk over a hundred thousand 
 corpses. Sacrifice your own interests to the repose and 
 happiness of France. History will remember you for 
 this. I am not without sympathy for the misfortunes 
 of your family. I shall contribute with pleasure to the 
 happiness and tranquillity of your retreat. 
 
 " Bonaparte." l 
 
 This insulting letter was dated 20th Fructidor of 
 the year VIII; in other parlance, August 7th, 1800. 
 Napoleon had, however, answered Louis XVIII's letter 
 in a practical manner some months earlier, when, on 
 November 9th and 10th, 1799, he had seized the 
 supreme power by what is known as the Revolution of 
 the 1 8th Brumaire, and thus had imposed on the King 
 fifteen more years of exile. The beating back of the 
 Allies, the drawing up of the Code Napoleon, and the 
 arrangement with the Pope known as the Concordat, 
 followed each other in quick succession ; and in the 
 excitement of fresh conquests France tolerated the 
 
 1 Daudet, Histoire de V Emigration, vol. ii. p. 371. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 436.
 
 Negotiations for Madame Royale's Marriage 157 
 
 military despotism to which she was subjected, while, 
 as far as the majority of his countrymen were con- 
 cerned, the " King of Mittau " was completely 
 forgotten. 
 
 Meanwhile, as soon as Louis XVIII arrived in 
 Russia, he started negotiations to bring about as 
 quickly as possible the marriage between Madame 
 Royale and the Due d'Angouleme. The Czar helped 
 him with a generous present of money, the Austrian 
 Court put no obstacles in the way of the departure of 
 the Princess, and on September 11th, 1798, the King 
 was able to write joyfully to the Queen, the Comte 
 and Comtesse d'Artois, his aunts in Rome, his sister 
 the Queen of Sardinia, the King and Queen of Spain, 
 the Prince of Conde, the Due de Berry, the Pope, and 
 his agents in Paris, to announce the joyful news that, 
 thanks to the friendship of the Czar and the goodwill 
 of the Emperor Francis, the obstacles which stood in 
 the way of Madame Royale becoming the Duchesse 
 d'Angouleme, were removed. 
 
 The date of the marriage was not yet fixed, and 
 it was necessary to postpone it for a time, as Madame 
 Royale objected to a journey to Russia in the middle 
 of winter, but the King found much occupation in 
 forming the household of the future Duchesse 
 d'Angouleme. On this subject he had many dis- 
 cussions with the Comte d'Artois, who was not in his 
 opinion sufficiently particular as to the moral character, 
 as well as the popularity in France, of the ladies with 
 whom he proposed to surround his daughter-in-law. 
 Other more painful discussions were in store for the 
 King, for the Queen, from whom he had long been 
 parted, was now to leave Budweiss, and to take up her 
 abode at Mittau. Though the Royal couple had
 
 158 Louis XVIII 
 
 always corresponded affectionately, a certain estrange- 
 ment had been caused between them by the King's 
 friendship with Madame de Balbi, and now that it was 
 at last possible for him to have his wife to live 
 with him, he must have looked forward with a certain 
 amount of misgiving to her arrival. 
 
 In the Queen's youth her attractions had not been 
 great, and now she was an ugly little woman, whose 
 ailments — partly real and partly imaginary — occupied 
 her thoughts almost exclusively, whose caprices, fancies, 
 and sudden impulses made her a difficult person to live 
 with, who wore extraordinary and very often dirty 
 costumes, and was more than suspected of an inclination 
 to intemperance. On one point the King was determined 
 to exercise his marital authority with decision. The 
 Queen was completely under the influence of Madame 
 de Gourbillon, who, according to the King, extorted 
 jewels and large sums of money from her, and wore 
 her clothes ; in fact, was on terms with her which were 
 not at all suitable in her Majesty's present position as 
 Queen. Therefore he was determined that Madame 
 de Gourbillon should not accompany her mistress to 
 Mittau ; and, after having had to insist on a reduction 
 of the sumptuous equipage which was to accompany 
 his spouse on her journey, he wrote : 
 
 " If my prayers and my friendship have no effect on 
 you, if you can decide to compromise me with the 
 Emperor of Russia, who, from your resistance, will 
 have a most strange idea of us both, Madame de 
 Gourbillon can come to Mittau. But I swear to you, 
 for my part, that she shall not set foot in the Chateau, 
 and that I will not answer for what the Emperor may 
 decide about her." x 
 
 1 Histoire de V Emigration, vol. ii. p. 360.
 
 p. 158] 
 
 From an engraving. 
 MARIE JOSEPHINE LOUISE DE SAVOIE, 
 
 (QUEEN OF FRANCE), COMTESSE DE PROVENCE.
 
 The Queen's Arrival 159 
 
 The Queen, however, was equally determined ; or 
 possibly was forced to obey Madame de Gourbillon's 
 behests. At any rate, she wrote to the Czar begging 
 that the King might be obliged to receive her companion, 
 which request the Czar did not answer, but sent on to 
 the King, who, on his side, obtained an order from his 
 Royal host that Madame de Gourbillon should not be 
 allowed to enter Mittau, but should be imprisoned in 
 some town on the frontier. 
 
 Therefore, when on the evening of June 2nd, 1799, 
 the procession of the Queen's carriages passed through 
 the town on its way to the Chateau, the carriage con- 
 taining Madame de Gourbillon was separated from the 
 rest and driven to the Governor's house, where the 
 Governor told her that she was to be conducted to 
 the frontier. Standing at the top of the steps leading 
 to the hall door, with an interested crowd about her, 
 she abused Louis XVIII in the most violent terms. 
 Meanwhile, the Queen had arrived at the Chateau, and 
 finding her companion was not with her, she threw 
 herself into a state of violent excitement and wept 
 bitterly, refusing to go to her apartment, and crying 
 that she would rather leave Mittau than be separated 
 from her faithful friend. Louis XVIII, horrified at 
 this distressing and unbecoming scene, was obliged to 
 assert his authority, and declare that he would not 
 allow her to leave Mittau ; and at last she consented 
 to go into her own rooms and take off her travelling 
 garments. 
 
 The Queen's arrival was certainly a most unpleasant 
 — even a scandalous — affair. However, the next day 
 all disagreements were forgotten in the long-desired 
 arrival of Madame Royale. Everything had been 
 prepared for her with the greatest care. The suite of
 
 160 Louis XVIII 
 
 rooms destined for her use faced south, and that her 
 future husband occupied looked north ; but hearing that 
 she did not like a south aspect, the King at once offered 
 to change the rooms, and declared that although the 
 southern set of rooms were prettier, and the Due 
 d'Angouleme also feared the heat, he was sure that the 
 latter would be most willing to make this small sacrifice 
 for Madame Royale's sake. 
 
 Madame Royale, however, with much good sense — 
 for a northern aspect in Russia does not sound at- 
 tractive — said she would much prefer the suite of 
 rooms already arranged for her, and the King's mind 
 was set at rest on this point. He was, however, 
 occupied with many plans for her pleasure and comfort. 
 He had left a collection of diamonds at Coblentz with 
 his uncle, the Elector of Treves, and he sent her the 
 receipt that she might be able to obtain them. He 
 was most anxious, too, to know about her tastes, and 
 had already provided materials for drawing, while, if 
 she cared for reading, he assured her that she would 
 find plenty of books at Mittau. On the other hand, 
 he was evidently rather relieved that she resembled him 
 in indifference for music, and remarked that a piano 
 would, under the circumstances, be a useless piece of 
 furniture. 
 
 The third of June, 1799, was probably the happiest 
 day the King had passed since he left France. 
 Refreshed with her night's rest, the Queen had allowed 
 herself to be coaxed into propriety of behaviour, and 
 was after all glad to be again with her husband, 
 especially on so important an occasion as the arrival 
 of Madame Royale. Accompanied by the Due 
 d'Angouleme, the King and Queen drove to the 
 outskirts of Mittau to meet their niece, who left her
 
 Madame Royale's Marriage 161 
 
 carriage as soon as she saw them. The King also 
 descended from his as quickly as his size and crippled 
 limbs would permit, and Madame Royale at once 
 threw herself at his feet. He embraced her most 
 affectionately, as did the Queen. Next came the turn 
 of the Due d'Angouleme, who was so shy and 
 embarrassed that, after having kissed his cousin's hand, 
 he could only manage to stammer a few unintelligible 
 words. 
 
 The King, on the other hand, was radiant with joy, 
 and when the party arrived at the Chateau of Mittau, 
 his voice could be heard calling out : 
 
 " Here she is ! Here she is ! " while every one 
 rushed out to gaze on " the Orphan of the Temple." 
 It was a moment of triumph, the realisation of a hope, 
 which at times — in spite of his courage and serenity — 
 must have seemed well-nigh unattainable. Something 
 of his contriving had at last succeeded. While all his 
 other carefully prepared schemes had fallen about his 
 ears like shaken card castles, the edifice of the Bourbon 
 marriage remained intact, a memorial to his diplomatic 
 tact and determination. 
 
 The marriage was celebrated in the Chapel of Mittau 
 on June ioth, 1799, and it was remarked that the bride 
 showed intense emotion when the names of her unfor- 
 tunate parents were read in the contract. 
 
 During the tragic year 1800, when misfortune after 
 misfortune accumulated on Louis XVIII's head, and 
 no nation in Europe seemed strong enough to cope 
 with the ever-victorious arms of the French First 
 Consul, when the Queen, in anger at her separation 
 from Madame de Gourbillon, refused for days to speak 
 to him or to d'Avaray, when even to his sanguine mind 
 the hope of returning to far-off France must have 
 
 1 1
 
 1 62 Louis XVIII 
 
 seemed chimerical, and when among many other more 
 pressing troubles, the recollection of the defection of the 
 woman who had pretended to love him must occasionally 
 have stabbed him, the presence of his " Angel of 
 Consolation," the brave girl whose courage had never 
 failed in trials which were even greater than his own, 
 may well seem to have been almost the only ray of 
 comfort vouchsafed him in a harsh, unfriendly world. 
 
 The reconciliation between the elder branch of the 
 Bourbon Family and the young Due d'Orleans, afterwards 
 Louis Philippe, who had been compromised by the 
 disloyalty of his infamous father, Philippe Egalite, 
 during the Revolution, but who now offered his 
 submission to Louis XVIII, was indeed cheering ; but, 
 on the other hand, the King was much worried at this 
 time by the refusal of the Comte d'Artois, who was 
 at present at Edinburgh, to acknowledge his authority 
 or to submit to his decrees. 
 
 As Comte de Provence and Comte d'Artois, the two 
 brothers had been more or less on the same footing ; 
 but now that the elder one had assumed the title of 
 King, he resented the fact that the Comte d'Artois was 
 inclined to take an independent line, and to treat his 
 orders with the same disregard that the two brothers 
 combined had shown to the injunctions of the 
 unfortunate Louis XVI. A like feeling existed 
 in both cases, for the Comte d'Artois was most 
 anxious to serve his brother's cause, but considered 
 that, Louis XVIII's abode being in far-off Russia, 
 it was often necessary to act without waiting to 
 hear from him. Besides, it must be allowed that 
 the Comte d'Artois loved to come to the front, 
 and to play his own hand in a lighthearted, incautious 
 fashion.
 
 The Czar's Summons 163 
 
 One domestic worry ceased before Louis XVIII 
 left Russia, for the Queen, whose feeble health could 
 not stand the inclement climate, and who had been 
 sent two or three times to health resorts, left Mittau 
 in 1 800 for a longer time than usual, her doctors 
 considering it advisable that she should not make 
 the journey to Russia between two seasons of her 
 cure. 
 
 As matters turned out, it was several years before 
 she returned to Mittau; for, on January 14, 1801, 
 General Fersen appeared at the Chateau with tears 
 in his eyes, and in the utmost agitation ; and told 
 d'Avaray that he was the bearer of a letter from the 
 Czar to the King, saying that he would continue 
 to pay his pension, but advised him to follow the 
 Queen to Germany. Fersen's emotion became more 
 and more evident as he continued his story, and 
 as he listened d'Avaray grew even more indignant, 
 so that they were both much excited when they went 
 to tell the King what had happened. 
 
 For some time Paul I had begun to tire of his 
 troublesome guests. He had conceived a great admira- 
 tion for Napoleon, and he was disgusted with the Allies, 
 partly because England refused to give up Malta to 
 the Knights of the Order of St. John, of whom he was 
 Grand Master, and partly because the Coalition was 
 unsuccessful against the ever-victorious First Consul 
 of France. Besides, a clever adventuress, who called 
 herself the Comtesse de Bonneuil, and who wished to 
 punish Louis XVIII for refusing to make use of her 
 proffered services, was intriguing to injure the Bourbon 
 cause in St. Petersburg ; and in league with La 
 Bonneuil was Madame de Gourbillon, the King's most 
 bitter enemy.
 
 164 Louis XVIII 
 
 Intrigues, enthusiasms, and political resentments had 
 done their work ; and the capricious despot had with- 
 drawn from the Coalition, refused to assist Dumouriez, 
 who had come over to St. Petersburg prepared to 
 fight for the Royalist cause, and suddenly, and with- 
 out any apparent reason, ordered Louis XVlII's 
 Ambassador, Caraman, to leave St. Petersburg. 
 
 Louis XVIII had written a humble letter to the 
 Czar, asking to be told how his Ambassador had 
 offended, and the answer to this was now brought by 
 Fersen. It was not written by Paul, but by his 
 Minister, Rostopchine, and it ran as follows : " The 
 Emperor orders me to answer, as he does not wish 
 himself to say disagreeable things to the King. His 
 Majesty ought not to intervene in favour of Monsieur 
 de Caraman, who is an intriguer, and has given the 
 Emperor just cause for displeasure. The Emperor 
 intends to be master in his own land. He is sorry to 
 remind the King that hospitality is a kindness, not 
 a duty." a 
 
 The King managed to control his indignation ; and 
 Fersen translated to him the second letter he had 
 brought, which must, he said, be answered within two 
 hours. It was written in German, and it ordered the 
 King to follow the Queen to Kiel without delay. 
 Unfortunately the Queen was not at Kiel, but was 
 established in merely temporary fashion at a health 
 resort ; and the unfortunate King cried in despair : 
 " There is not in the whole world a corner where 
 I can rest my head ! " 
 
 Left together, the King and d'Avaray consulted 
 about the best course to take ; and after an interview 
 with the Duchess d'Angouleme, in which she showed 
 
 1 Daudet, Histoire de V Emigration, vol. iii. p. 204.
 
 The Czar's Brutality 165 
 
 her usual courage, as well as her tenderness for her 
 Uncle, the King wrote to the Czar as follows : 
 
 " Sire, my brother and cousin. The infantry General 
 Baron de Fersen has performed the commission to me 
 entrusted to him by your Imperial Majesty. Your 
 Imperial Majesty has not been correctly informed as 
 concerns the Queen, my wife. Obliged again this year 
 to take the waters of Pyrmont, and unable to remain 
 in a place which is not habitable in the winter, her 
 health, besides, not allowing her to make such a 
 journey twice in so short a time, she has sought 
 and found with much trouble, a place where she can 
 wait for the season to take the waters, which cannot, 
 in any case, either for me or for her, be a settled place 
 of abode ; if it had been otherwise I would have 
 informed your Imperial Majesty of the fact. I will 
 make my preparations, and the passports sent by your 
 Imperial Majesty will find me ready to start, without 
 knowing where to repose my head ; which would not 
 matter so much for me, but the case is the same for 
 my niece." 
 
 The position of affairs was heartrending ; for the 
 last pension owing to the King had not been paid, 
 and till the arrival of some money he had raised by 
 loan at Riga, he was penniless. 
 
 The next communication from the Czar consisted 
 of the King's letter returned unopened, the necessary 
 passports, and orders to leave Mittau without delay. 
 When Fersen was obliged to be the bearer of this 
 brutal message, which might possibly be the King's 
 death-warrant — a journey through Russia in the 
 depths of winter being a terrible undertaking for an 
 invalid — he broke down altogether. The King for 
 a time preserved his equanimity, and then, as Fersen
 
 1 66 Louis XVIII 
 
 stood before him, he suddenly began to weep. Even 
 his serenity and courage deserted him, as he remem- 
 bered that this was the day before the anniversary of 
 his brother's death, and that he, a miserable homeless 
 wanderer, was being hunted with the utmost con- 
 tumely out of his only available refuge ; while in 
 France the Corsican usurper was firmly fixed in a 
 position of supremacy. 
 
 Fersen, with considerable courage considering that 
 Paul I had established a reign of terror throughout 
 the kingdom, took the responsibility of promising the 
 King that the departure from Mittau should be put 
 off for a day, that the Duchesse d'Angouleme might 
 not be disturbed on the anniversary of her father's 
 death ; and the King went at once to visit his niece, 
 whom he found kneeling before the Abbe Edgeworth. 
 She received her Uncle's melancholy news with the 
 utmost courage, and did her best to offer consolation, 
 saying she would always be happy if she could be 
 near him. 
 
 The next day, fear of the capricious despot who 
 governed Russia did not prevent a crowd of people 
 coming to the Chateau to express their sorrow at the 
 departure of the Bourbon Family. Nearly all the 
 nobility of Courland appeared to pay their respects to 
 the French King. But the visitors were not all great 
 and affluent, for the Duchesse d'Angouleme had always 
 been most kind to the poor ; and peasants — old men, 
 women, and children — thronged to the Castle, and, 
 pressing forward, tried to kiss the hands of the King 
 and Princess, and to show their sympathy for them. 
 
 Meanwhile many and anxious were the consultations 
 at Mittau ; for it was difficult to know in which 
 country there was hope of a resting-place. Sweden
 
 Departure from Mittau 167 
 
 and Norway were friendly, but it would be impossible 
 to travel there in the winter ; and equally impossible 
 to reach the territory of the King of the Two Sicilies, 
 as the countries it would have been necessary to 
 traverse to arrive in Italy were occupied by French 
 troops. The Viennese Court was unfriendly to the 
 Bourbons, and would be certain to refuse them an 
 asylum ; while England was undesirable, as Napoleon 
 had announced her to be France's most dangerous 
 enemy, and it would in consequence hurt French sus- 
 ceptibilities for the King to take refuge there. Spain, on 
 the other hand, was unavailable, because of its relations 
 with France. Therefore, the dominions of the King 
 of Prussia seemed the only place in which to find 
 a refuge, and Caraman, the King's late Ambassador 
 to St. Petersburg, was at once despatched to ask 
 Frederick William of Prussia for leave to reside at 
 Warsaw, while the King awaited the answer at Memel, 
 the first town beyond the Russian frontier. 
 
 On January 22nd, the King and the Duchesse 
 d'Angouleme, travelling under the names of the Comte 
 de l'lsle and the Comtesse de Meilleraye, started on their 
 painful and perilous journey. The King had recovered 
 his serenity and power of making the best of everything ; 
 the Duchesse d'Angouleme's high spirit and fortitude 
 did not desert her, and never had the Royal fugitives 
 found courage more requisite than now. It was 
 snowing and was bitterly cold, when the two carriages 
 containing d'Avaray, the Duchesse de Serent, the 
 Due de Fleury, Mademoiselle de Choisy, the Abbe 
 Edgeworth, and three servants, besides the King and 
 the Princess, started across the huge white plains sur- 
 rounding Mittau. The travellers drove all day, and 
 the first evening they were lodged by a hospitable
 
 1 68 Louis XVIII 
 
 gentleman of the country, but the two succeeding 
 nights their only refuge for the night was in a miserable 
 wayside inn. On the fourth day of the journey the 
 hardships and dangers were terrible, for a bitter wind 
 was blowing which raised the snow in whirlwinds, and 
 rendered the road impassable for the heavy carriages, 
 weighed down by their occupants. The only possible 
 means of making any headway was for all the travellers 
 to walk ; and the unfortunate King, supported by his 
 niece and an attendant, had to make his way through 
 the thick snow as best he could, impeded by his 
 crippled condition, and driven back by the driving 
 snow and bitter wind.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 Arrival at Memel— The King's philosophy — Arrival at Warsaw — Life 
 there— D'Avaray's bad health — First appearance of Blacas — 
 King's anxieties — The Due de Berry — Napoleon's proposition — 
 Louis XVIIl's answer — Napoleon becomes Emperor — Louis XVIII 
 goes to Sweden — Not allowed to return to Warsaw — Second sojourn 
 at Mittau — Returns to Sweden — Goes to England — Difficulties — 
 Gosfield — Hartwell — Death of the Queen — D'Avaray at Madeira — 
 His death. 
 
 THE King viewed his summary expulsion from 
 Russia with his usual philosophy, and wrote 
 letters from Memel, in which he praised his niece for 
 her courage and devotion to him, spoke gratefully 
 of the kindness shown to him by General Fersen, 
 the nobility of Courland, and the people generally, 
 and even had a word of gratitude for the tyrant who 
 had expelled him brutally from his kingdom. In a 
 letter to the Queen, to whom he is naturally more 
 confidential than to his other correspondents, he does 
 indeed speak of being " chased from Mittau like a 
 rogue," and complain of the barbarity and insolence 
 of the Governor, who, while pretending to conduct a 
 sale of the furniture, allowed it to be pillaged ; but 
 even after describing this and scenes of a like nature, 
 he adds, " These are great infamies. Here is the reverse 
 of them : delicate attentions, tender interest, succour 
 of all kinds in the form of horses, carriages, provisions, 
 money, — this is what we unfortunates have received 
 
 from the people of Courland ; and not from one, from 
 
 169
 
 i7o Louis XVIII 
 
 a few, but from all, from the man who dined con- 
 stantly with us as well as the grocer at the corner 
 of the street. Here details would only weaken the 
 effect, so set your imagination to work. Amuse your- 
 self by inventing what you can conceive as most 
 touching, as showing most ingenuity in kindness ; you 
 will still have understated the truth." 
 
 During this time Caraman worked hard at Berlin. 
 At first Frederick William would only give the King 
 permission to stay at Memel ; but later, hearing that 
 the all-powerful First Consul of France did not object 
 to the Bourbon Family finding an asylum in Prussia, 
 he yielded to the entreaties of Queen Louise, to whom 
 the Duchesse d'Angouleme had written on arriving at 
 Memel, and allowed the King, as Comte de l'lsle, to 
 remain temporarily at Warsaw, though he refused to 
 pay his expenses there. 
 
 The journey to Warsaw was not accomplished 
 without adventure, for at one point the ice in a half- 
 frozen ditch gave way under the weight of the carriage. 
 Once a horse was drowned crossing a ford and the 
 others had a narrow escape of sharing its fate, and 
 when the travellers reached Prague the Vistula had 
 risen so high that two days passed before they were 
 able to enter the town. " Nevertheless," says the 
 King with unconquerable cheerfulness, " the result of 
 all this is that my niece is well, and that I, who in 
 consequence of the upset remained two hours with 
 my feet in the snow or on the ice, with the rain falling 
 on me, and might in reason expect a cold or the gout 
 from the exposure, — I am insolent enough to be as 
 well as possible." 
 
 The King only considered Warsaw a temporary 
 residence, as he hoped eventually to be granted a
 
 His Three Years in Warsaw 17 I 
 
 refuge in the dominions of the King of the Two 
 Sicilies. The Polish nobility received him with en- 
 thusiasm, and. he spent the winter in the house of the 
 Princess Palatine of Cracow, moving in the summer out 
 of the city to the Palace of Lazienski, which belonged 
 to the King of Prussia. At Warsaw he lived simply, 
 appearing in the streets without Royal trappings and 
 almost without suite, and leading so quiet a life that 
 even Bonaparte's police, who were set to watch him, 
 could find nothing interesting to say about his doings. 
 Nevertheless, though outwardly indifferent, he was in 
 reality watching events with the utmost interest and 
 anxiety. 
 
 Soon after his arrival he heard of the murder of 
 Paul I and of the accession of Alexander, and began 
 to wonder what the attitude of the new Czar would 
 be towards him. " His role towards me will be 
 embarrassing," he remarked in a letter to the Comte 
 d'Artois ; and he went on to argue with his usual 
 sagacity that as Paul I, even while treating him with 
 the utmost harshness, had never refused to acknow- 
 ledge his title as King of France, it would be difficult 
 for his successor to do less, and that this recogni- 
 tion of the rightfulness of his claim to occupy the 
 throne of France would not be pleasing to the First 
 Consul. 
 
 In spite of his hopes, Louis XVIII ended by spend- 
 ing three melancholy years in Warsaw, years when he 
 was completely forgotten in France, while evil tidings 
 poured in upon him in all directions. 
 
 The King's first and most pressing — as well as 
 humiliating — anxiety was caused by his want of money. 
 The Czar's subsidy had ceased. Louis XVIII had been 
 obliged to contract a loan at Riga to pay the expenses
 
 172 Louis XVIII 
 
 of his journey from Russia, and at Warsaw he was 
 reduced to such straits that he was not even able to 
 succour his impoverished followers. However, the 
 Comte d'Artois came to his aid, and managed by loans 
 to raise a sum of £3,000, which he at once despatched 
 to relieve his brother's necessities. The British Govern- 
 ment sent Louis XVIII £5,000, and promised an 
 annual pension of £6,000, which, though not as much 
 as he required, was generous, for England already 
 supported the Comte d'Artois, the Due de Bourbon, 
 and the Orleans Princes, as well as the Due de Conde, 
 who since the disbandment of his little army had taken 
 refuge there. 
 
 Eventually Alexander decided to continue the 
 pension allowed the King by Paul I, and generously 
 repaid it from the time of the departure of the Bour- 
 bons from Mittau ; so, though the other nations refused 
 help, Louis XVIII was able to live without the wearing 
 and humiliating anxiety about money affairs which had 
 for a time assailed him. It is interesting to note, that 
 when application was made by Alexander to Napoleon 
 for pecuniary aid for the family he had supplanted, he 
 refused to grant it unless the Bourbons would all 
 consent to live together at some place distant from 
 France. The First Consul made no secret of the 
 fact that he hoped that this would lower them in the 
 eyes of Europe, and Alexander therefore did not 
 consider it expedient to enlighten the King as to his 
 benevolent intentions. 
 
 A grave anxiety to the King at this time was the 
 failing health of the unfortunate d'Avaray, whose con- 
 stitution, always delicate, had been undermined by 
 trouble, anxiety, and the rigour of the Russian climate. 
 He thought his condition hopeless, and the Abb6 Edge-
 
 Monetary Difficulties and Anxieties 173 
 
 worth, in whom he confided, says that he did not seem 
 to be alarmed at the idea of death, but that his one 
 preoccupation was the idea of the solitude in which he 
 would leave the master to whom he had consecrated 
 his life ; and that with courageous self-abnegation, he 
 was most anxious to find some one who would 
 eventually become a worthy successor to him. The 
 King was terribly anxious about his illness, and men- 
 tions him continually in his letters to the Comte 
 d'Artois, concern at the invalid condition of his 
 faithful friend and companion, his " other self," being 
 now added to his other troubles. However, for a time 
 the catastrophe of a final separation seemed likely to be 
 averted, for d'Avaray went to Italy, and came back in 
 better health, though he was now obliged to winter 
 there every year, and his departure left the King in a 
 condition of miserable loneliness. 
 
 On d'Avaray 's return from his second winter in 
 the South, he brought with him the man destined 
 to succeed him in the King's confidence, whose 
 position as Royal favourite would in the early days of 
 the French Restoration excite bitter anger throughout 
 France. The Comte de Blacas had already been pre- 
 sented to the King by d'Avaray at Verona, and was 
 now to become one of his most faithful servants. In 
 1 802 he was rather over thirty years of age, and, 
 unlike d'Avaray, was tall and good-looking. His 
 devotion to the King was great, and he appears, like 
 d'Avaray, to have been absolutely disinterested ; while, 
 unlike d'Avaray, he possessed considerable intellectual 
 capacity, though the coldness and arrogance of his 
 manners, even to those he should have conciliated, 
 were, in the future, to enlist the whole Court against 
 him. The King at once despatched him as envoy to
 
 i74 Louis XVIII 
 
 St. Petersburg, where he showed much cleverness, and 
 his services were extremely valuable. 
 
 From a political point of view, the matter which 
 occupied the King's mind most anxiously at this time 
 was the question of the Concordat, or agreement 
 signed between Pius VII and France, and of the 
 exhortation which the Pope addressed a little later to 
 the Bishops, enjoining those who had left the country 
 to resign their posts in favour of the Bishops appointed 
 to the new Sees. The King was naturally anxious 
 that the Bishops should resist this order ; and many 
 were the letters he wrote on the subject. In the 
 end he was, as usual, defeated ; as the greater number 
 of the Bishops obeyed the Pope's ordinance, so that, 
 by Napoleon's astute policy, France again became an 
 obedient daughter of the Holy See, and the help 
 which, in contradistinction to the irreligion of Revo- 
 lutionary France, the alliance between the Church and 
 the Bourbons gave to the cause of the Monarchy, 
 was as illusory as all the other supports on which 
 Louis XVIII's hopes depended. 
 
 Many things concurred to worry the King at this 
 time ; for while the Comte d'Artois enjoyed himself 
 in the society of Madame de Polastron, and left the 
 Comtesse d'Artois, who was tinier, and even uglier and 
 more extraordinary than her elder sister, to wander 
 about Europe, with no one apparently to care what 
 became of her except the King ; he had taken upon 
 himself the duties of father to his nephews, and the 
 Due de Berry caused him considerable anxiety. 
 
 Unlike his father and uncles, the Due de Berry was 
 essentially warlike, and had spent most of his time 
 with Conde's army, where he had distinguished himself 
 as a brave soldier. On the other hand, he was ex-
 
 The Due de Berry 175 
 
 tremely dissipated, was cursed with an utter want of 
 self-control, and his manners were often rude even to 
 boorishness. Short in stature, low in forehead, he 
 would have been ugly had it not been for the irresistible 
 smile which from time to time lit up his face, and 
 transformed its uncomeliness into something approach- 
 ing beauty. Having successfully married the Due 
 d'Angouleme, Louis XVTII was anxious to do as 
 much by his younger nephew, though the task of 
 finding a suitable alliance was difficult, as Bourbon 
 pride was unbending, and the Prince in his present 
 condition could not be considered a very eligible 
 parti. 
 
 However, to the King's delight, there had seemed to 
 be some chance of marrying the Due de Berry to one 
 of the two Neapolitan Princesses ; and for some time 
 negotiations for this alliance seemed to be progressing 
 satisfactorily. The matter dragged on slowly, and the 
 Due de Berry, who was miserably poor and always in 
 want of money, had been obliged to return to Conde's 
 army. Here his poverty was extremely galling to 
 him, and he was very jealous of the Due d'Enghien, 
 who, owing to the Russian subsidies, was comparatively 
 well off, and, according to the Due de Berry, was 
 unduly favoured by his grandfather, the Due de Conde, 
 and was always given the best opportunities for dis- 
 tinguishing himself. Soon, however, Conde's army 
 was disbanded, and at Warsaw the King heard that, 
 partly influenced by reports about the dissipated 
 character of the young Prince, the King and Queen 
 of Naples refused to sanction his marriage with their 
 daughter. 
 
 The Due de Berry was in a most unfortunate 
 position, for idleness at Holyrood with the Comte
 
 176 Louis XVIII 
 
 d'Artois seemed the only course open to him ; and 
 even before the matter of the marriage had been finally 
 settled, he wrote in utter misery to the Uncle who had 
 always acted a father's part towards him, to complain 
 that " he was not intended for happiness." 
 
 Louis XVIII always shows at his best when dealing 
 with his nephews, being tactful, patient, and both able 
 and willing to enter into their peculiar difficulties, and 
 not to expect from them the same high standard of 
 serenity and courage he exhibited himself. He now 
 tried to persuade the Comtesse d'Artois to make her 
 son an allowance, and reminded his nephew that at the 
 age of twenty-three he could hardly say that his fate 
 was irrevocably fixed, while he tried to inculcate 
 the philosophical reflection that it is impossible 
 to judge rightly of the happiness or unhappiness 
 of any life by its outward circumstances, for " fine 
 weather has its storms, bad weather has its sunshine, 
 the most happy men have troubles, the most miserable 
 enjoyments." 
 
 The King was soon in a position to put his philosophy 
 to practical account, for he was threatened with a danger 
 which upset even his equanimity. When he spoke 
 to the Due and Duchesse d'Angouleme with much 
 pleasure of the possible move from Warsaw to Naples 
 about which he had been for some time in negotiation, 
 they told him with the utmost grief that the Comte 
 d'Artois did not consider Italy a safe country, and that 
 if he were to take up his abode there, they had received 
 orders not to accompany him, but to go to Holyrood. 
 This news fell like a thunderbolt on the unfortunate 
 King, who looked on his nephew and niece as his own 
 children, and he wrote a pathetic letter to his brother, 
 imploring that they should not be separated from him.
 
 His Relations with Napoleon 177 
 
 He pointed out, though with circumlocution necessary 
 to the circumstances, that the presence and position of 
 Madame de Polastron at Holyrood made it hardly a 
 suitable home for the Duchesse d'Angouleme, and 
 proposed that, instead of the Due and Duchesse 
 d'Angouleme moving to Scotland, the Comte d'Artois 
 should come to Warsaw to see them. 
 
 " Finally, allow me a trivial comparison," he wrote. 
 " Have you ever seen without a feeling of pity a hen 
 who has brought up some ducklings ? The difference 
 is that the hen has no memory, and I have only too 
 much." 
 
 However, in the disturbed state of Europe, and the 
 ever-growing fear of the all-powerful ruler of France, 
 this danger was averted ; for it became as impossible 
 for Louis XVIII to move to Italy, as it was for the 
 Comte d'Artois to leave England. 
 
 In the beginning of the year 1803, m preparation 
 for assuming the title of Emperor, Bonaparte requested 
 Frederick William to obtain from Louis XVIII the 
 renunciation of his rights to the throne of France, and 
 in return for this concession the insatiable conqueror 
 promised the King what he termed a " brilliant destiny." 
 
 Louis XVIII's answer to Napoleon's proposition ran 
 as follows : 
 
 " I do not associate Bonaparte with some of those 
 who preceded him. I admire his courage, his military 
 talents. I am grateful to him for several acts of his 
 Administration ; for the good done to my people will 
 always be dear to me. But he deceives himself if he 
 thinks he will make me barter my rights. Far from 
 that, he would have established them himself by the 
 step he is now taking, if it had been possible for them 
 to be doubtful. 
 
 12
 
 178 Louis XVIII 
 
 " I do not know God's designs for my race and for 
 me, but I know the duties He has imposed on me by 
 the rank in which it has pleased Him that I should be 
 born. As a Christian, I shall perform these duties till 
 my last breath. As a son of Saint Louis, I shall know, 
 as he did, how to make myself respected, even in 
 irons. As a successor to Francis I st , I intend at least 
 to be able to say with him, ' We have lost everything, 
 except honour.' " 
 
 Below these words the Due d'Angouleme had 
 written : " With the permission of the King, my 
 Uncle, I adhere with my heart and soul to what is 
 contained in this Declaration." 
 
 The King of Prussia was much annoyed at the tone 
 of Louis XVIII's manifesto. He called it aggressive ; 
 and he begged the King to tone it down. His envoy 
 advised Louis XVIII not to irritate the First Consul, 
 and spoke of possible dangers. 
 
 " Dangers ! What dangers ? ' answered the King 
 proudly ; " that of being hunted from Prussia ? If 
 your Sovereign, Sir, finds himself obliged to de- 
 prive me of this refuge, I shall pity him, and I 
 shall go." 
 
 " It is not that which is to be feared," returned the 
 Prussian functionary ; " but Bonaparte may insist that 
 Prussia and Spain shall cease the help " 
 
 The King did not allow him to finish. " I do not 
 fear poverty," he said. " If it were necessary, I would 
 eat black bread with my children and servants. But 
 I shall never be reduced to that. I possess another 
 resource, of which I do not consider it right to make 
 use as long as I have powerful friends — that is, to 
 make my condition known in France, and to hold out 
 my hand, not to the Government of the usurper, but
 
 Napoleon becomes Emperor 179 
 
 to my faithful subjects ; and, believe me, I shall soon 
 be richer than I now am." 
 
 The whole Bourbon Family, including the Orleans 
 branch, sent in their adhesion to the King's Declara- 
 tion ; and a year later, on March 21, 1804, Europe 
 was roused to indignation by the news that, by 
 Napoleon's orders, Conde's grandson, the young Due 
 d'Enghien, had been shot after a mock trial, on the 
 accusation of having been implicated in a plot, set on 
 foot by General Pichegru and by Georges Cadoudal, 
 one of the Chouans, with the object of assassinating 
 Bonaparte. 
 
 On May 18, 1804, the great step was taken, and 
 Napoleon Bonaparte assumed the title of Emperor of 
 the French. Louis XVIII wrote a circular letter to 
 all the Courts of Europe protesting against this illegal 
 act, and was now doubly anxious, not only to see the 
 Comte d'Artois, from whom he had been parted 
 for over ten years, but also to arrange for a reunion 
 of the whole Bourbon Family, including the Orleans 
 Princes. It was difficult to decide on a place for this 
 meeting, which was to result in a solemn protestation 
 against Napoleon's usurpation of the throne of France. 
 Sweden seemed, on the whole, the most propitious 
 locality ; for that country had been uniformly friendly 
 to the Bourbons. 
 
 On application being made to Gustavus IV, he 
 proved himself quite willing to show hospitality to 
 the exiled family ; but many difficulties stood in the 
 way. England was adverse to the idea of the meet- 
 ing, and threatened that the Princes leaving there for 
 the Bourbon reunion would most probably not be 
 allowed to return. Alexander I also objected to the 
 scheme, and said that the granting of a refuge to
 
 i8o Louis XVIII 
 
 the Comte de l'lsle in his dominions, had been de- 
 pendent on his promise to live peaceably and quietly. 
 
 Louis XVIII was, however, quite determined to 
 confer with the brother from whom he had been 
 parted for so long ; and, defying the Czar, he left 
 Warsaw on July 30, 1804. This was later than he 
 had intended, but he had been delayed by an illness 
 which was supposed to be caused by poison. The 
 Queen and the Duchesse d'Angouleme were left behind 
 at Warsaw, and the King, accompanied by the Due 
 d'Angouleme, the faithful d'Avaray, and a small suite, 
 made his way to Blankenfeld, where he was obliged to 
 wait from August 25th till September 12th (1804) 
 for a boat to take him across to Sweden. 
 
 At Blankenfeld another trouble came upon him, 
 for d'Avaray's health was in so precarious a condition 
 that the King was obliged to insist that he should not 
 accompany the party. 
 
 At last it was possible to start ; and after a terrible 
 crossing, which took eleven days, the travellers arrived 
 in Sweden. Even then the King's anxieties were not 
 over, for the English Government, in their fear of 
 Napoleon, were agitating to prevent the Comte d'Artois 
 from coming to meet his brother ; while Frederick 
 William of Prussia felt obliged to assure the French 
 Government that he had had nothing to do with the 
 Comte de l'lsle's departure from Warsaw. 
 
 However, the death of the Comtesse de Polastron, 
 which had left the Comte d'Artois in the utmost despair, 
 had also had the effect of making him cling more 
 closely than before to his family ; and he managed by 
 energetic efforts to evade the attempts made to detain 
 him in England, and arrived at Calmar on October 7th. 
 The brothers had gone through a long series of mis-
 
 Consultations at Calmar 181 
 
 fortunes since they had last met ; in fact the marriage 
 of the Due d'Angouleme and his cousin seemed the 
 one bright spot in their history. They had much to 
 relate to each other ; but most of their discussions 
 circled around a protestation against Napoleon's action 
 in seizing the throne of France, which the King had 
 drawn up, and wished to despatch to all parts of 
 Europe. He had already sent one to the Powers 
 signed by himself alone ; but the one in contemplation 
 was to be submitted to the Princes for approval, and 
 was then to be signed by all. There was much 
 difficulty about this Declaration, as, after the French 
 Princes had at last been persuaded to sanction it, 
 Alexander I objected to its propagation ; and when 
 the little pamphlet at last appeared, it had no circulation 
 except in Germany. Louis XVIII's people, as usual, 
 refused to listen to him ! However, this almost un- 
 noticed Declaration is remarkable in Louis XVIII's 
 history as marking a complete change in his policy. 
 In it he deserted for the first time the tenets of the 
 Ancien Regime, and promised forgetfulness of past 
 political offences, preservation of the Imperial grades 
 and titles, and of the rights of property, and main- 
 tenance of the doctrine of liberty and equality. 
 
 Other anxious consultations at Calmar treated of 
 finding a new refuge for the King ; for during his 
 stay there, he received a letter from Prussia stating 
 that after the interview between the two brothers, it 
 would be incompatible with the neutrality which the 
 King of Prussia wished to observe, for the Comte 
 de l'lsle to remain any longer at Warsaw. Therefore, 
 a new retreat must be found, and the Comte d'Artois 
 was eager in advising England. Unfortunately, how- 
 ever, the British Ministers, in view of Napoleon's
 
 1 82 Louis XVIII 
 
 threatening attitude towards their country, were not 
 at all anxious to offer an asylum to Louis XVIII ; 
 and the attempts of the Due d'Orleans to influ- 
 ence the Regent in this direction were uniformly 
 unsuccessful. 
 
 Russia seemed the only likely place of refuge ; but 
 to Louis XVIII's intense disappointment, Alexander I 
 wished to establish his guest at Kiew, a miserable little 
 town near the Black Sea. Louis XVIII was in despair 
 at this decision : " If I am sent there," he wrote to 
 his brother, " every good Frenchman, I at the head 
 of them, will only have one prayer to make, which 
 will be to ask God to deliver my soul and body as 
 quickly as possible from their prison. . . . My friend, 
 if you can do no better, get them to leave me at 
 Mittau. It is to this that I am reduced." 
 
 At the beginning of the spring of 1805, tne King 
 received permission to go to Mittau, but under very 
 changed conditions from his last sojourn there. In 
 the year 1 800 he had been received as King, had 
 been surrounded by a Royal Guard, and greeted 
 everywhere with Royal honours ; now he was only 
 allowed to enter Russia on sufferance as Comte 
 de l'lsle — a condition he found intensely humiliating — 
 and when he arrived with the Queen, the Due and 
 Duchesse d'Angouleme, and his small party of faithful 
 adherents, he had hardly any means of receiving news 
 from the outside world, and was besides in a condition 
 of the most paralysing poverty. 
 
 Almost the only tidings which reached him from 
 
 ' the outside world, besides the death of the poor 
 
 Comtesse d'Artois, who was apparently missed by no 
 
 one, were accounts of Napoleon's brilliant victories, 
 
 and of his successive entries into Vienna and Berlin ;
 
 Second Stay at Mittau 183 
 
 while the one important break in this weary time 
 seems to have been a visit from the Czar at the 
 beginning of the year 1807. The King then begged 
 Alexander for the same recognition of his kingly rank 
 that had been accorded to him by Paul I, and for 
 permission to march with the armies of the Coalition. 
 Both these requests were refused ; and the Czar con- 
 sidered the King " the most empty and insignificant 
 man in Europe," and was certain that he would never 
 ascend the throne of France. He therefore troubled 
 no more about him, and the unfortunate Louis XVIII 
 continued to chafe in his lonely retreat. His joy 
 was all the greater when he received a letter from 
 Gustavus IV of Sweden, summoning him to a Con- 
 ference about assembling an army of Emigres, to assist 
 the King of Sweden in wresting his German pos- 
 sessions from Napoleon. 
 
 However, before Louis XVIII had time to start for 
 Sweden, which he hoped might be merely a temporary 
 stopping-place on the way to England, Napoleon won 
 the battle of Friedland ; and at Tilsit peace was 
 declared between France, Russia, and Austria. There- 
 fore Gustavus IV was left in desperate plight, and the 
 Czar, who had hitherto approved of Louis XVIII's 
 proposed journey, now felt it necessary to announce 
 to Napoleon's Charge d'affaires in St. Petersburg, that 
 he had had nothing to do with the Comte de l'lsle's 
 departure to Sweden. 
 
 Louis XVIII was unfortunate in his crossings. He 
 started from Libau in the Swedish frigate La Troja, 
 on September 3rd, 1 807 ; the tempest in the Baltic 
 was so violent that on the 15th the boat had not 
 arrived, and the captain declared that in the twenty- 
 five years during which he had navigated the Baltic,
 
 i8 4 Louis XVIII 
 
 he had never before been out in such a storm. The 
 Queen and the Duchesse d'Angouleme had fortunately 
 remained at Mittau ; but the sufferings of d'Avaray 
 and of the Due d'Angouleme, who were both bad 
 sailors, were intense. 
 
 When the travellers arrived in Sweden, their recep- 
 tion was discouraging ; for Gustavus was just recovering 
 from a severe illness, and was physically weak, and 
 discouraged by his defeats. Though determined to 
 treat the King with the greatest honour, he was most 
 anxious that his stay in Sweden should be short, as 
 he feared to bring upon himself the wrath of the 
 all-powerful Napoleon. He therefore did his best to 
 strengthen the King in his resolve to find a domicile 
 in England ; and it was settled that Louis XVIII 
 should write to George III announcing his impending 
 arrival on his shores, and should, without waiting for 
 an answer from his Majesty's Ministers, follow quickly 
 in the wake of his letter. 
 
 He started on this journey surrounded with as much 
 ceremonious homage as though he were really wearing 
 the crown of France ; but unfortunately his letter 
 arrived later than himself off Yarmouth, and his reception 
 there was not encouraging. From certain vague in- 
 dications, the English Government had expected that 
 sooner or later the French King would appear off 
 their shores, and had prepared the Palace of Holyrood 
 for his reception. Therefore, when Louis XVIII 
 prepared to land at Yarmouth, the Commander of 
 the Port would not permit this, but requested him 
 to disembark at Leith in Scotland. This the King 
 refused to do ; and thinking there must be some 
 misunderstanding, he remained off Yarmouth, waiting 
 for further news.
 
 Off the Shores of England 185 
 
 Meanwhile his letter had been received in London, 
 and had caused a great sensation ; for instead of 
 merely asking for a refuge, the King announced that 
 he had come "to discuss with George III measures 
 for going in person to deliver his subjects from 
 oppression, and for seizing his father's heritage from 
 the hands of the usurper, and restoring peace to 
 Europe." He went on to say that he hoped to be 
 a powerful ally to the King of England, that the 
 mask must be torn from Napoleon, and truth must 
 be heard. " Nevertheless," he continues, " your 
 Majesty alone will not make it audible ; sacred as is 
 your word, it requires a guarantor ; can you find a better 
 than the brother and heritor of Louis XVI crying : 
 ' Frenchmen, I attest to you that George Ill's inten- 
 tions are as disinterested as his personal character is 
 magnanimous ! ' The King then enlarged on the 
 fact that though in " the alliance between him and 
 George III the principal advantages would be on 
 his side, all Europe would profit by bringing to an end 
 the bloody calamities caused by the Corsican usurper." 
 
 As England was not at all inclined to come forward 
 to champion the Bourbon cause, this letter was 
 received with consternation, especially as it appeared 
 that a house had already been taken for Louis XVIII 
 in London. Therefore George III in his answer, 
 while deploring the fact that instead of merely seeking 
 a refuge in England, the French King had come there 
 with the intention of entering into political negotia- 
 tions, begged him at once to make his way to 
 Edinburgh, where he would find Holyrood prepared 
 for him. 
 
 To this Louis XVIII answered that he would prefer 
 a return to Mittau to being forced to seek refuge in
 
 1 86 Louis XVIII 
 
 Holyrood ; and two days passed in the interchange 
 of letters, and in heated discussions, which were at 
 last ended by the intervention of the Due d'Orleans, 
 who, after inducing Louis XVIII to promise that he 
 would not attempt to go to London, persuaded the 
 Prince of Wales to obtain permission from the Ministers 
 for him to land at Yarmouth. The Marquis of Buck- 
 ingham now came forward, and offered the King 
 hospitality at Gosfield, his house in Essex. The 
 Government became rather tardily doubtful whether 
 they were treating his French Majesty with the honour 
 due to him; and Canning wrote a diplomatic letter to 
 Bagot, telling him to meet Louis XVIII at Yarmouth ; 
 and if he did not arrive in time to do this, to invent 
 picturesque and flattering excuses for his tardiness. 
 Writing from Hounslow on November ist, 1807, 
 Canning says : " I have thought myself into a complete 
 conviction that we have not done altogether right in 
 respect to Louis XVIII. If we could have obliged 
 him to go to Edinburgh, well — but having once con- 
 sented to his landing, we ought not to let him land 
 like a Scrub, and leave him without protection or 
 attention." ! 
 
 However, Louis XVIII was quite pleased with the 
 reception accorded to him, as he was greeted on his 
 arrival on British shores by the Comte d'Artois, the 
 Due d'Angouleme, and the Prince de Conde, and 
 was surrounded at once by a crowd of people, who 
 looked at him with real interest, and said, " It is the 
 King of France, it is Louis XVIII, it is Louis XVI's 
 brother ! " He complained, however, of the want 
 of ordinary facilities for travelling, and said that 
 he could get no post-horses to convey him on the 
 
 1 Bagot, Canning and his Friends, vol. i. p. 250.
 
 Journey through England 187 
 
 route to Gosfield. He met with sundry admirers 
 on the way, and tried to talk English to them, and 
 he was so much struck by the beauty of the English 
 women that at Colchester, where they formed a circle 
 round him, he could not eat his lunch for looking 
 at them. One lady held a little boy of five or six 
 by the hand, and the child said, " Vive le Roi ! " "I 
 shook heartily hand with him," says the King ; and he 
 was much annoyed that he could not talk to the pretty 
 ladies. " What opinion," thought he, " will these 
 ladies have of French gallantry ? ' This idea gave 
 him courage, and he addressed a remark generally, 
 " If anyone of these ladies could understand French ?" 
 " Then," he says, " I was interrupted by a general 
 chorus, which pointed out one (very pretty, by the 
 by). She expressed herself in very good French, and 
 with the modest grace peculiar to English women." 1 
 
 The stop at Colchester was a great success, and, as 
 the King left, the crowd " cheered us with three 
 hurrahs ! " 
 
 Louis XVIIFs relations with the English Govern- 
 ment were not as happy as those he enjoyed with the 
 public. 
 
 In vain he tried to induce the King's Ministers to 
 allow him to take up his abode in London, or any- 
 where in its vicinity, or even to make a short sojourn 
 there. The refusal was stern ; and when, in defiance 
 of the rule which forbade him to approach London 
 within fifteen miles, he went, without asking per- 
 mission, to pay the Prince de Conde a visit at Wan- 
 stead House, the rebuke he received was humiliating, 
 and in it for the first time since his arrival in England, 
 he was referred to as the Comte de l'lsle. 
 
 1 Daudet, Hisloire de immigration, vol. iii p. 436.
 
 1 88 Louis XVIII 
 
 It was evident that if he wished to be accorded Royal 
 dignities in England he must live quietly at a distance 
 from the capital, and must not meddle with politics. 
 
 However, while in his life at Gosfield, and afterwards 
 at Hartwell, he was denied participation in the politics 
 of the great world, the petty scheming of the little 
 circle of Emigres in which he found himself, gave him 
 plenty of occupation and many worries. 
 
 Even if the Comte d'Artois welcomed Louis XVIII's 
 appearance on the scene, his followers certainly objected 
 strongly to the fact that their dignity was diminished, 
 by the chief authority being shifted from their master 
 to his brother. They vented their jealous indignation 
 chiefly on d'Avaray, who found his position most 
 miserable, being accused by the Due d'Angouleme 
 of arranging the journey to England for his own 
 ends, while the Comte d'Artois informed him that he 
 managed affairs badly, and he was the mark of the 
 Emigres' constant calumny. He now lived in a little 
 house in Chelsea, whence he still tried to be useful 
 to his Master, but he was nearly worn out by bad 
 health, worry, and the hardships he had endured, and 
 in 1810 the doctors ordered him to go to Madeira. 
 He obeyed their orders with the utmost reluctance, 
 hating to be parted from the King ; and his only con- 
 solation was the fact that he left him in the charge of 
 the Comte de Blacas. 
 
 Meanwhile, in 1809, Louis XVIII had moved to 
 Hartwell, in Buckinghamshire, where he lived in a 
 circumscribed circle, paying occasional visits to the 
 people in the neighbourhood, receiving all the news 
 he could from France, but otherwise, if we except the 
 etiquette always observed around him, leading the 
 life of an ordinary gentleman of literary tastes. Here
 
 The Queen's Death 189 
 
 Gustavus IV, who after a military revolution had 
 abdicated in favour of his uncle, came to pay the 
 King a three months' visit, and here on November 12th, 
 1 8 10, the exiled Queen of France breathed her last. 
 She had not been a pleasant companion to the King, 
 and at the last she seemed to realise this, for she called 
 him to her bedside to thank him in the most touching 
 terms for the attentions he had shown her, and to 
 beg him to forgive her for the pain she had caused 
 him, and to believe " that her heart had counted for 
 nothing in what she might have done to afflict him." 
 
 The King felt her loss very deeply. In a confidential 
 letter written to d'Avaray at Madeira, he says : " I 
 confess I did not realise I loved the Queen so much. I 
 felt one thing very much — that the days when her health 
 (how unjust it was of me to think her an imaginary 
 invalid)'acted on her temper, I was sad all day ; and 
 that, on the contrary, when she was better, and was 
 herself, then I was gay and in high spirits, but I did 
 not try to find the reason for either feeling." ' 
 
 Some months later, when spring had decked the 
 world with beauty, he writes again to d'Avaray : 
 " When I breathe this pure air I say to myself, It 
 would have done her so much good 1 J have at this 
 moment a white camellia under my eyes, which has 
 never been so beautiful as this year. I remember that 
 I bought it for her birthday on our arrival here. I 
 walk in the garden ; I see my rose-trees, which are 
 budding well. To whom shall I offer the roses ? " 
 Often he says to himself mechanically, " I must tell 
 her this " ; and then remembers that she is no longer 
 there to listen. 
 
 One of the King's letters to his friend gives a 
 
 1 Lettres d'Artwell, December 2, 1810.
 
 190 Louis XVIII 
 
 peaceful picture of him, of which it is pleasant to 
 think in the midst of the petty disagreements and 
 jealousies which made up the life of most of the 
 Emigres. 
 
 He says : " The lilacs have not done as well as I 
 had hoped — many have suffered ; but the laburnums 
 have been superb. The heliotrope now scent the whole 
 garden, there are a good number of roses, and the 
 fruit-trees — in the full wind, be it understood — are 
 so full of fruit that this morning I noticed a plum- 
 tree which was like a vine at its best period." ' 
 
 When the King wrote this letter, the friend to whom 
 it was addressed had left this world for ever. D'Avaray 
 had taken to his bed on Ascension Day, May 23rd, 1 81 1, 
 and knew that he was dying, his only regret being that 
 he should never again see his King. On the day of his 
 death he had the last letter he had received from the 
 King re-read to him. It expressed a hope of seeing 
 him soon again. "It is in the sky, my dear Master," 
 he wrote, " that this meeting will take place, if God has 
 pity on me." 
 
 When the news of d'Avaray's death arrived in 
 England the King had a bad attack of gout, and 
 his doctors considered that it would be dangerous to 
 inform him that he had lost the faithful companion of 
 his wanderings. When he was told of the catastrophe, 
 he was for some time quite inconsolable. Sorrow 
 after sorrow had been heaped on him during the long 
 odyssey on which we have accompanied him, but the 
 loss of the man who was " his other self" must have 
 been the bitterest affliction, the most irreparable 
 calamity of all. 
 
 1 Lettres d'Artwell, April 1, 181 1.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 Napoleon at bay— Louis XVIII's liberal Proclamation — Treaty of 
 Fontainebleau— Affairs in France — Talleyrand — Louis XVIII sum- 
 moned to reign over France— Is kept in England by gout — Con- 
 stitution drawn up by Provisional Government — Monsieur's hesita- 
 tion to acknowledge this — His entry into Paris — The mischief he 
 does — Louis XVIII leaves Hartwell — Reception in London — 
 Crossing— Amiens— Compiegne— Napoleon's Marshals— Interviews 
 with Talleyrand, the Comte d'Artois, Alexander I — The Corps 
 Legislatif, the Senate — Declaration of Saint-Ouen — Entry into 
 Paris — Madame — The Old Guard. 
 
 DURING the latter part of the five years Louis 
 XVIII spent at Hartwell, it might well have 
 seemed to ia casual observer, that his overmastering 
 desire for a return to his own country must have faded, 
 till it gave place to contentment in a peaceful, if not a 
 happy ending to his days. This idea, however, would 
 have been incorrect ; for though so physically worn 
 out and aged that, with tact and sagacity unimpaired, 
 he was unequal to taking any decided initiative, or to 
 coping with a sudden emergency, his longing to reign 
 over France had only grown stronger with years. 
 Moreover, the irony of fate had decreed that his ardent 
 wish should in the end be fulfilled, and that for the last 
 nine years of his life, with failing powers, and sur- 
 rounded by hostile criticism, he should be placed on a 
 pinnacle, and be called upon to battle with a task of 
 almost unparalleled difficulty. 
 
 While Louis XVIII was enjoying his garden, weep- 
 
 191
 
 1 92 Louis XVIII 
 
 ing over the memory of a wife whose death, while 
 causing him sincere sorrow, certainly rendered his 
 existence less troubled, and mourning the irreparable 
 loss of a friend whose place could never be filled, great 
 events were taking place in Europe. Napoleon was 
 now fighting against overwhelming odds, not for the 
 mastery of the world, but for the protection of France, 
 and for his own political existence. 
 
 The disastrous Russian campaign, culminating in the 
 awful retreat from Moscow, had aroused the horror of 
 Europe, and the English papers had published an 
 appeal from Louis XVIII to the Czar, on behalf of the 
 miserable French soldiers : " What difference does the 
 question of the flag they have marched under make to 
 me ? They are unfortunate ; I only see in them my 
 children. I recommend them to the goodness of his 
 Imperial Majesty. May he think of all they have 
 suffered ! May he deign to soften the hardship of 
 their misfortunes ! May they feel, in short, that their 
 conqueror is their Father's friend. His Imperial 
 Majesty cannot give me a more touching proof of his 
 feelings towards me ! " 
 
 In spite of his apparent absorption in trifles, and his 
 placidity — a placidity obligatory as long as he remained 
 in England — Louis XVIII was at this time most active 
 in the work of sending emissaries to the Allies, with 
 the object of persuading them to declare that it was for 
 the benefit of the Bourbon cause that they had taken up 
 arms against Napoleon. The King's efforts were, 
 however, in vain, for the Great Continental Powers 
 adhered to their usual policy, and refused to pledge 
 themselves to anything — if the French wanted the 
 Bourbons, they must recall them on their own initiative. 
 
 However, in February 1813, the King took an even
 
 Napoleon at Bay 193 
 
 more decided step in the right direction than he had 
 done in 1804, as he published a manifesto, in which he 
 declared that he only hoped to gain the throne of 
 France by the efforts of his faithful subjects, that he 
 promised to maintain the existing administrative and 
 judicial bodies, and to keep the present functionaries in 
 their employments, that he would endeavour to arbitrate 
 fairly about national properties, would abolish con- 
 scription, and would forget the errors which had taken 
 place in the past. In fact, he practically promised to 
 sanction all the work done by the Revolution. 
 
 Events now followed each other in quick succession. 
 On March 31st, 18 14, after unsuccessful negotiations 
 between Napoleon and the Powers at Chatillon-sur- 
 Seine, the allied armies made their entry into Paris, and 
 peace was declared between Europe and France. News 
 of this was brought to the London Stock Exchange, 
 where it caused great excitement and delight. Some one 
 at once wrote two lines in pencil to inform Louis XVIII 
 of the happy event, and, travelling by stage-coach, the 
 scrap of paper reached Hartwell at eight the same 
 evening. It was received with the utmost emotion, 
 and the King sat up till after midnight in the vain 
 hope of receiving confirmation of the glad tidings. 
 
 Next day, however, while he was at Mass, two 
 carriages decorated with white flags, filled with men 
 wearing white scarves, drove up the avenue to Hartwell. 
 These were the deputies from loyal Bordeaux, the 
 first place in France to offer allegiance to its lawful 
 Sovereign. The office was not interrupted, but news 
 of their arrival circulated through the Chapel, and 
 at her devotions the Duchesse d'Angouleme could 
 see through the window the postilions and horses 
 decked with the symbol of the Bourbon Monarchy ; 
 
 13
 
 i94 Louis XVIII 
 
 while for Louis XVIII the latter part of the service 
 may well have consisted in fervent thanks to God. 
 
 On April 2nd, the Senate established a Provisional 
 Government with Talleyrand at its head, and declared 
 that Napoleon Bonaparte, having repeatedly violated 
 the right and liberties of the people, and the laws of 
 the Constitution, had forfeited the throne of France ; 
 and on April nth the Treaty of Fontainebleau was 
 signed between Napoleon and the Allied Powers. By 
 this treaty Napoleon was allowed to retain the title of 
 Emperor, and was given the sovereignty of the island 
 of Elba, with a revenue of two millions of francs. 
 
 Before these events had taken place, the excitement 
 among the Emigres had found vent in action, and in 
 January 1814, Monsieur and his two sons had em- 
 barked, Monsieur for Holland, the Due d'Angouleme 
 for St. Jean-de-Luz, and the Due de Berry for Jersey. 
 
 Nothing can be more incorrect than the statement 
 that the Bourbons were restored to the throne by 
 foreign arms, though this supposed fact has often been 
 used as a weapon against them by their enemies. The 
 Powers did indeed in the end refuse to treat with 
 Napoleon, and insisted that he should be deposed, as 
 they considered his position as head of the French 
 nation a constant menace to the peace of Europe ; but 
 they had for the most part no particular wish to see the 
 Bourbons again invested with the crown of France. 
 Monsieur indeed was obliged for a month to wander 
 about Holland, nervously avoiding the armies of the 
 Allies, and not being allowed to enter France ; while 
 the position of the Due d'Angouleme was even more 
 galling. He had, in the name of Louis XVIII, taken 
 possession of Bordeaux and of the province surrounding 
 it, was exhibiting the white flag everywhere, and had
 
 From a mezzotint, after the picture by Scheffer. 
 
 TALLEYRAND. 
 P- i94 J
 
 The French Throne Vacant 195 
 
 posted notices in the town stating that the Bourbon 
 cause was supported by the Allies. For this he was 
 severely reprimanded by the Duke of Wellington, who 
 told the Prince that he would have nothing to do 
 with an undertaking in which the exact truth was not 
 observed ; while he followed this strong censure by the 
 announcement that if the Due d'Angouleme did not in 
 the course of twenty-four hours deny the statement, 
 he would be forced to make a public retractation of it 
 himself. 
 
 However, the real work of deciding the all-important 
 question was going on at Paris in Talleyrand's house in 
 the rue Saint-Florentin, where the Provisional Govern- 
 ment was established on the entresol ; Alexander 1 of 
 Russia, who took the lead among the assembled 
 Monarchs, occupied the first floor ; and on the second 
 his Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Comte de Nessel- 
 rode, was established with his secretary. The house 
 was like a beehive, incessantly crowded, incessantly in 
 a state of agitation ; work went on there continually, 
 eager people thronged the audience-chamber, and there 
 was never any quiet anywhere, or any difference be- 
 tween night and day. " It was a curious sight," says 
 one of the Provisional Government, 1 " to see Monsieur 
 de Talleyrand with his embarrassed walk trying to pass 
 from his bedroom to his library, to give audience to 
 some one he had promised to see, and who had been 
 waiting for hours. It was necessary to pass through 
 the drawing-room. He was stopped by one, seized by 
 another, his passage barred by a third, till, worn out, 
 he would return whence he had come, despairing of 
 getting to the unfortunate person who was waiting 
 
 in vain." 
 
 ' Comte Beugnot, Memoires, vol. ii. p. 101.
 
 196 Louis XVIII 
 
 Talleyrand, Prince de Benevent, deputy of the States- 
 General, excommunicated priest, supporter and Minister 
 of Napoleon, and latterly his bitter enemy, was now the 
 arbiter of the destinies of France ; and it was in the 
 informal conversations he held with the Czar, that 
 the Restoration of the Bourbons was decided on. 
 During his exile, Louis XVIII was often blamed for 
 his illusions, but surely even he, would hardly have 
 looked to Talleyrand as a possible supporter of his 
 cause. However, the wildly improbable had come to 
 pass, as it often did in France in those strangely dis- 
 turbed times ; and Talleyrand was absolutely deter- 
 mined that the Bourbons should be restored, though 
 he was equally firm in his resolution that they must 
 govern constitutionally. Alexander was not enthusi- 
 astic about the Legitimist cause ; he did not, as we 
 know, admire Louis XVIII ; but there was no one to 
 substitute for him, for to place Napoleon's son on the 
 throne with his mother as Regent, would infallibly have 
 meant that Napoleon's influence would soon have be- 
 come paramount ; while to Alexander's timid proposi- 
 tion that Napoleon's General, Bernadotte, now Crown 
 Prince of Sweden, should take his master's place, Talley- 
 rand answered firmly that if France required a soldier, 
 it would be best for her to keep to Napoleon, the first 
 soldier in the world. 
 
 The Restoration of the Bourbons was therefore in 
 reality settled by the few Imperial functionaries who 
 formed the Provisional Government, with the wily and 
 unscrupulous Talleyrand at their head ; while the 
 chiefs of the Coalition gave an almost reluctant assent 
 to the necessity of the triumph of the Legitimist cause, 
 and the Royalists had little or nothing to do with the 
 matter.
 
 Monsieur Summoned to Paris 197 
 
 Therefore the irony of fate, which always pursued 
 Louis XVIII, had decreed that the many spider's webs 
 industriously spun by him during the long years of 
 exile should hinder instead of help his cause ; for 
 he would certainly have mounted the throne with a 
 freer hand had he never encouraged the Vendeans to 
 keep up a civil war in France, or sent numberless 
 agents to conduct complicated intrigues, with the 
 object — as expressed in the sentimental phraseology 
 then in vogue — of recalling his " erring children to 
 their Father's arms." 
 
 Royalist enthusiasm certainly existed in the country, 
 for a few of the Municipal Council began to clamour 
 for the Bourbons, and apparently also for a return 
 to the Ancien Regime. This Talleyrand was deter- 
 mined to avoid at all hazards ; and he decided that, 
 while the recall of Louis XVIII to the throne of his 
 fathers was now the only possible course, a Constitu- 
 tion must be drawn up ; and to this the King must 
 swear allegiance before taking possession of Royal 
 power. By this Constitution the King was granted 
 the Executive power, but was summoned to reign not 
 by hereditary right, but by the will of the people, 
 who " called by their free will to the throne Louis 
 Stanislas Xavier de France, brother to the last King, 
 and after him the other members of the House of 
 Bourbon in their old order." 
 
 Meanwhile, Monsieur had been summoned to Paris 
 by the Provisional Government ; and as Louis XVIII 
 was kept at Hartwell by an attack of gout, his brother 
 took the position of Lieutenant-General of the King- 
 dom, and on April 12th, 18 14, was received with the 
 utmost enthusiasm in Paris, where his charm of 
 manner won all hearts. There were many difficulties
 
 198 Louis XVIII 
 
 to be surmounted before his arrival in the capital, and 
 many awkward questions to be decided. For instance, 
 should he be obliged to appear in Paris with the tri- 
 coloured cockade instead of the white one which he 
 had distributed everywhere on his journey ; should 
 he receive his office of Lieutenant-General as a birth- 
 right, or should it be delegated to him by the Senate ; 
 above all, would he consent in his brother's name to 
 sign the Constitution drawn up by the Senate, which 
 certainly denied the doctrine of the Divine Right of 
 Kings ? 
 
 On the day of his entry he had not yet done this, 
 and though the people manifested the utmost joy as 
 he rode through the streets, on the " only happy day 
 that he had had for thirty years," the Senate held aloof 
 till he should sign the Constitutional Act presented 
 to him. To do this caused Monsieur the utmost 
 repugnance, and it was not till pressure had been put 
 upon him by the Czar as well as by Talleyrand, that 
 he consented to receive the Senate ; and then — instead 
 of swearing in his brother's name to accept the Con- 
 stitution — he annoyed Talleyrand by saying " that he 
 was not afraid of being disclaimed when he swore." 
 However, most people were amply satisfied by this 
 expression ; and Monsieur's charm of manner, his 
 happiness at returning to his country, his courtesy, 
 and kindly consideration to those with whom he came 
 into contact, aroused the utmost enthusiasm, and con- 
 trasted most favourably with the unceremonious 
 manners of the late Emperor. 
 
 The Comte d'Artois was radiantly happy, and even 
 the signature of the Constitutional Act only clouded 
 the horizon for him temporarily, as in his opinion it 
 would soon be replaced by the paternal government
 
 Monsieur in Paris 199 
 
 of the Ancien Regime. It was therefore occasionally 
 difficult to remember that in England was a gouty, 
 helpless invalid who would make his appearance 
 before long, and would relegate the Lieutenant- 
 General to a secondary position. Vitrolles, the 
 Prince's principal adviser, who had been sent by 
 the Provisional Government to hasten his arrival in 
 Paris, says, speaking of three days after his entry 
 there : 
 
 " In the middle of our conversation the Prince 
 interrupted himself suddenly with a look of astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 " ' And the King ? ' he said. 
 
 " * How, the King ? ' I answered. 
 
 <c * And the King ! ' he began again ; ' we have been 
 
 here for three days, and we have not written to 
 
 h« > >> 1 
 1m. 
 
 The existence of the King was certainly a disagree- 
 able fact ; but Monsieur tried to console himself by 
 remembering his brother's infirmities. 
 
 " The King has excellent brains," he said, " as clear 
 as at thirty years of age ; but he is helpless, or nearly 
 so. Well ! he will think for us, and we shall act for 
 him ! " 2 
 
 With Louis XVlII's distrust of the wisdom of his 
 brother's actions, it seemed unlikely that he would view 
 with complacency this programme, which would re- 
 legate him decidedly to the background ; and it must 
 be allowed that in view of his chances of reigning in 
 peace and security, his attack of gout was most in- 
 opportune. The brothers had, as we know, been fond 
 of each other in the past, but the quarrels between 
 
 1 Memoires du Baron de Vitrolles, vol. ii. p. 28. 
 a Beugnot, Memoires, vol. ii. p. 145.
 
 200 Louis XVIII 
 
 their followers in England, and the small rankling 
 reasons for jealousy which arise continually when a 
 number of people without sufficient occupation are 
 confined together in a small space, had impaired the 
 cordiality of their feelings for each other ; so that 
 the warmth of brotherly affection which had caused 
 the Comte d'Artois to spare himself no pains to pro- 
 vide for his brother's pecuniary necessities, and 
 Louis XVIII to feel intense gratitude for his efforts, 
 had cooled ; and the Comte d'Artois looked upon the 
 King with suspicion, as the exponent of the tempor- 
 ising policy which in his opinion had brought Louis 
 XVI to destruction. 
 
 Louis XVIII, on the other hand, felt no confidence 
 in his brother's wisdom ; and when, before leaving 
 England, he was congratulated by the Due de Duras 
 on seeing the crown firmly established in the House 
 of Bourbon, he answered : 
 
 <c Well established : that depends." 
 
 "Is it not, then, the King's intention to accept the 
 crown ? " 
 
 " I accept it," answered Louis XVIII, " and it will 
 remain in our hands if 1 survive my brother. But 
 if he survives me, I answer for nothing." 1 
 
 Monsieur was already beginning to do harm ; for 
 a masterly inactivity was impossible to him ; he must 
 always be at work. Therefore, instead of trying with 
 patriotic self-abnegation to strengthen the throne by 
 enrolling himself under the King's orders, and thus 
 helping to weld the discordant elements of party into 
 a workable whole, he surrounded himself with passionate 
 and prejudiced Royalists, and put himself at the head 
 of the party in the State which was to become a far 
 1 See Daudet's £.7nigration, vol. iii. p. 534.
 
 Mischief done by Monsieur 201 
 
 greater embarrassment to the King's Government than 
 were the most violent Revolutionaries. In fact, a 
 competent observer 1 traces the foundation of nearly 
 all the mistakes which brought about the success of 
 Napoleon's Hundred Days, to the time when Monsieur 
 held the reins of government. Perhaps this is saying 
 too much, but at any rate Louis XVIII had good 
 reason to execrate his inopportune attack of gout. 
 With Louis XVIII's arrival in Paris Monsieur became 
 comparatively innocuous, but even then he managed 
 to hamper the march of the Government by estab- 
 lishing a secret police of his own, which naturally 
 caused the greatest trouble to the authorised body ; 
 and when Comte Beugnot, the Director of the Govern- 
 mental Police, remonstrated with him on the subject, 
 he accused him of having Bonapartists as agents and 
 officials. 
 
 However, in these early days, people considered that 
 when once the King made his appearance, all wrong 
 would be righted ; and Louis XVIII's goodness and 
 extreme wisdom were the principal topics of the day. 
 When Comte Beugnot complained of Monsieur's 
 doings, and of the sort of men with whom he was 
 surrounded, to the Bailli de Crussol, who had known 
 the Prince from his youth, " Eh ! good heavens, it 
 is hardly necessary to tell me that," answered the 
 Bailli. " That weakness is not a novelty ; I fought it 
 forty-five years ago. Follow my advice, get the King 
 to come ; get him to come as soon as you can. He 
 is not the kind of man to allow the bread to be 
 eaten out of his hand ; not one of those people you 
 speak of will dare to appear twice before him. The 
 King will take possession of the Government ; and you 
 1 Pasquier's Memoires, p. 7.
 
 202 Louis XVIII 
 
 may feel quite comfortable, he will only leave his 
 brother what he cannot take from him." ! 
 
 This sounded hopeful ; but the Bailli reckoned with- 
 out Blacas, who, though bitterly hated by Monsieur, 
 was a Royalist of the old type. Already the usual fate 
 of a Royal favourite was preparing for him, and people 
 were asking each other, with a contempt which 
 hardly hid the distrustful alarm behind the question : 
 " Who is this Monsieur de Blacas ? " 
 
 The Due de Liancourt Rochefoucauld had been sent 
 by Talleyrand to the King at Hartwell, in the hope that 
 Louis XVIII's reception of him would show his intention 
 to forgive all the past offences. For the Duke had 
 sinned deeply ; first in siding with the Revolution, and 
 afterwards, when deprived of his office as " Grand 
 Maitre," by returning his " cordon bleu " to the King. 
 But the Duke was not received by his Royal Master, 
 but by " a certain Monsieur de Blacas, who guards all 
 avenues." Already the storm was brewing. 
 
 The news of Louis XVIII's formal recall to France 
 reached him by a messenger sent from the Regent, 
 who arrived at Hartwell at three o'clock in the 
 morning, and was conducted by Monsieur de Blacas, 
 lighted by a single candle, down a dark passage to 
 the King's bedroom. There Louis XVIII received 
 the tidings that the great longing of his life was at 
 last to be satisfied, with the quiet dignity which always 
 characterised him. 
 
 In England, the news was received with acclamations 
 of joy, for the recall of the Bourbons meant the 
 downfall of the hated Bonaparte ; and when Louis 
 XVIII went to London on his way back to his own 
 country, troops were sent out to Stanmore to act as his 
 1 Beugnot, Memoires, vol. ii. p. 166.
 
 Is Formally Recalled to France 203 
 
 escort, and crowds assembled to cheer him. His car- 
 riage, which also contained the Duchesse d'Angouleme, 
 the Prince de Conde, and the Due de Bourbon, was 
 drawn through the London streets by eight white 
 Hanoverian horses, and was surrounded by English 
 gentlemen on horseback wearing white cockades. 
 
 Thus was Louis XVIII conducted along the 
 Edgware Road, into Hyde Park by Cumberland Gate, 
 and out again by Hyde Park Corner to Albemarle 
 Street, where a house had been prepared for him and 
 a guard of honour was in waiting. In the evening, 
 the Regent gave a grand party at Carlton House in 
 his honour. All this must have been most intoxicating 
 to the man who for so many years had sued humbly 
 for a refuge, and had submitted perforce to rebuffs 
 and humiliations and in Louis XVII I's joy, and his 
 gratitude to the English people for having given him 
 an asylum, he made a great mistake. For, after he had 
 presented the Regent with the Order of St. Esprit, 
 and had received in return that of the Garter, he made 
 a speech, with the acclamations of the people ringing 
 in his ears ; and finished with the words : 
 
 " It is to the counsels of your Royal Highness, to 
 this glorious country, and to the confidence of its 
 inhabitants, that I shall always attribute, in addition 
 to Divine Providence, the re-establishment of our 
 House on the Throne of its Fathers." 
 
 These words were doubtless a natural expression of 
 the King's first transports of joy and gratitude ; but 
 they were most unfortunate, and lacked the tact usually 
 characteristic of Louis XVIII's public utterances. They 
 excluded all idea of the contract between him and the 
 French people insisted on by the Moderate party, to 
 whom he in reality owed his crown ; and the stress laid
 
 2o 4 Louis XVIII 
 
 on foreign intervention tended, not only to lower the 
 prestige of the Bourbon Family in the eyes of all 
 patriots, but also to hurt the feelings of the Royalists, 
 who were now rejoicing in the very natural idea that 
 their energetic efforts were the cause of the triumph 
 of the legitimate Monarchy. 
 
 The French King stayed for three days in London, 
 and then, accompanied by the Regent, he went to 
 Dover and embarked on the English yacht Royal 
 Sovereignty, which was escorted by the Duke of 
 Clarence's frigate, by eight vessels of the line, and by 
 a crowd of smaller boats decorated with flags ; while 
 from the cliffs, the guns of the Royal Artillery fired 
 salvoes. 
 
 In the words of a Royalist writer : 1 " Two hours 
 sufficed to transport to Calais the Prince summoned by 
 so many prayers. It was April 24th, 18 14, the weather 
 was splendid, and I have heard those present say that 
 a more noble sight had never been offered for their 
 admiration. The people covered the shore. The 
 British vessels had opened their ranks to let the pleasure 
 yacht approach which a glorious fortune wafted on 
 already peaceful waters. The whole garrison of Lille, 
 after a forced march, arrived at this happy moment, 
 led by the brave General Maison, and represented the 
 French Army in this touching reconciliation, where 
 hearts mingled without explanations being necessary. 
 Marechal Money, who was embraced by the King, 
 courtiers who came again to take the posts they or 
 their fathers had occupied, magistrates who brought 
 congratulations, women who burst into tears, the 
 confused cries of the multitude, made a charming 
 medley. 
 
 1 Memoires de Madame de Chastenay, vol. ii. p. 349.
 
 Return to France as King 205 
 
 " Then landed this King, whose age and infirmities 
 inspired respect, while his look, the sound of his voice, 
 his gentle words, were so many tokens of love. 
 Madame, in the simplicity of a most modest toilette, 
 the foreign fashion of which made it particularly 
 remarkable, was affable without realising it, merely by 
 her absolute naturalness. Undisguised virtue shone 
 in her. After the pompous spectacles full of prepared 
 effects, and arrogance, which were the fashion under 
 Bonaparte, people were surprised at a grandeur so 
 natural and unlaboured. But was there time for 
 thinking ? An open carriage waited on the shore, 
 fiery steeds champed their bits, the sailors themselves 
 dragged the King. The church, where the Te Deum 
 was less chanted than cried in chorus, would not hold 
 all who wished to enter it ; the town, the shore, all 
 had become a temple, and it was with no division 
 from heaven that Justice and Peace embraced each 
 other on earth." 
 
 So Louis XVIII saw his country again, after an 
 exile of twenty-three years. 
 
 The arrival at Amiens was no less successful than 
 that at Calais ; but at Compiegne, where the King 
 remained for several days, more anxious thoughts must 
 have intruded themselves, for he received a copy of 
 the Constitution drawn up by the Senate. In this the 
 doctrine of legitimacy was denied, so that the King, 
 strictly speaking, had no right to the title of Louis 
 XVIII, as Louis XVII had never reigned, and he 
 was merely summoned by the French people to follow 
 his brother, Louis XVI, on the throne. The King 
 received the document with his usual dignity ; but 
 said nothing which would bind his future action in 
 any way.
 
 2o6 Louis XVIII 
 
 At Compiegne, the King gave many audiences, 
 receiving political personages, functionaries, and other 
 notabilities who had flocked out of Paris to pay their 
 respects to him. Every one was charmed by his per- 
 sonality ; in spite of his excessive stoutness, he was 
 " every inch a King," and his fine features, the brilliant 
 eyes which could at times intimidate even the Monarch 
 of All the Russias, but were also capable of an expres- 
 sion of bonhomie and of extreme kindliness, won him 
 general admiration. His kingliness was remarkable, 
 and, with all his courtesy and gentleness, he could use 
 it as an insurmountable barrier between himself and 
 the world at large. His reserve kept others at a dis- 
 tance, for he possessed to perfection the power of never 
 revealing his thought or intention, and his wit, as well 
 as the literary character of his conversation, were some- 
 times alarming. 
 
 Therefore, as people began to know him well, they 
 found something repellent though fascinating about 
 him, as there is wherever an incalculable quantity exists 
 in character. His mind was, unlike his brother's, 
 impossible to fathom, and his bland serenity covered 
 him like a mask, so that those who approached him 
 found him difficult to influence, and were conscious of 
 a feeling of insecurity, for they were often unable to 
 guess from his manner how he regarded them. 
 
 His happy way of expressing himself, however, 
 covered a multitude of sins, particularly on an occasion 
 like this, when he knew instinctively the right thing to 
 say to each person who approached him. Even his 
 infirmities helped him. What could have been more 
 graceful than his behaviour to Napoleon's Marshals, 
 who had flocked to Compiegne to be the first to offer 
 congratulations ; a duty which they performed in
 
 His Demeanour as King 207 
 
 somewhat servile fashion. As they stood respectfully- 
 round him, he tried to rise, and two of the officers of 
 his household came forward as usual to assist him ; but 
 refusing their assistance, he seized the arms of the two 
 Marshals nearest, and said: 
 
 " It is on you, Messieurs, that 1 wish to support 
 myself ; come near and surround me. You have always 
 been good Frenchmen. I hope that France will no 
 longer have need of your swords, but if ever, which 
 God forbid, we were forced to draw them, gouty as I 
 am, I should march with you." 
 
 Talleyrand was not so fortunate, for to him 
 Louis XVIII's apparently charming remarks were 
 provided with a sting of which he must have been 
 conscious, though he pretended to ignore it. He had 
 in reality secured the crown for Louis XVIII; but, 
 probably because that fact revolted Bourbon pride, and 
 was, if possible, to be slurred over, he was kept waiting 
 for two or three hours when he came to seek for an 
 audience, and was only admitted at last by the interven- 
 tion of Monsieur de Blacas. The King, however, 
 received him with his usual charm of manner, and 
 began the conversation by these words : 
 
 " Monsieur le Prince de Benevent, I am charmed to 
 see you again. Many things have happened since we 
 last saw each other. You realise that we have been the 
 cleverest. If it had been you, you would say to me : 
 Let us sit down and talk ; as it is I, I say : Sit down, 
 and let us talk." * 
 
 In relating this conversation to his intimates, Talley- 
 rand affected to be absolutely charmed with the King's 
 politeness, and with the way he established equality 
 between himself and his visitor, while he appeared not 
 1 Beugnot, Memoires, vol. ii. p. 147.
 
 2o8 Louis XVIII 
 
 to notice the sly insinuation that after all it was the 
 King, not the Prince de Benevent, who was in the end 
 triumphant, and with gracious forgiveness accorded his 
 favours to his disloyal servant. He also, in telling 
 the story, omitted the fact that the King refused 
 altogether to discuss public affairs with him, or to 
 listen to his warnings on the folly of keeping the 
 Senate waiting for his signature. Louis XVIII did 
 not intend to put himself under the tutelage of 
 Monsieur de Talleyrand. 
 
 Another person who cannot have enjoyed his visit 
 to Compiegne was the Comte d'Artois. Much to the 
 disappointment of the Baron de Vitrolles, he had re- 
 fused to be accompanied by him, possibly preferring to 
 be alone with the King when he gave the account of 
 his stewardship. No one knows exactly what passed 
 during the interview, as, on his return from Compiegne, 
 he was extremely reserved about the matter even to 
 his confidant Vitrolles, and merely talked about the 
 King's good health. It is believed, however, that, in 
 addition to other criticisms of his brother's conduct of 
 public affairs, the King reproached him bitterly with 
 having assumed the responsibility of deciding that the 
 French garrisons should evacuate the places still held 
 by them in Germany and in Belgium, and that distress 
 at his own mistake and at the King's anger, caused the 
 serious illness from which the Comte d'Artois suffered 
 soon afterwards. 
 
 Another visitor who was scarcely treated with the 
 courtesy usually shown by Louis XVI 1 1, was Alexander I 
 of Russia, who came with the object of acting as 
 mediator between the King and Senate, and intended to 
 spend the night at Compiegne. However, he left in 
 disgust when, after being treated with the greatest
 
 From an engraving by_Henry Meyer, after a painting by Volkoff. 
 
 ALEXANDER I., 
 
 CZAR OF RUSSIA. 
 p. 208]
 
 First Interviews 209 
 
 formality by the King, he was conducted through 
 several magnificent suites of rooms, intended, he was 
 told, for Monsieur, the Due d'Angouleme, and the 
 Due de Berry, all of whom were absent ; and was 
 afterwards taken up staircases and along corridors, to 
 the very modest suite of rooms he was expected to 
 occupy. When the Russian Minister, Pozzo di Borgo, 
 who had accompanied the Czar, tried to find excuses, 
 and to soften his master's very natural resentment, 
 by pleading that the King's helplessness did not 
 allow him to supervise anything himself, Alexander 
 answered, with a touch of spite, that the Duchesse 
 d'Angouleme appeared sufficiently like a housekeeper 
 to have been able to attend to the allotment of the 
 rooms. 1 
 
 The etiquette observed at dinner was even more 
 galling to the Czar's sense of his own dignity, for the 
 King, having asked his guest to take in the Duchesse 
 d'Angouleme, passed on before them, sat in the only 
 armchair at dinner, and was served first. 
 
 There was to be no mistake about the fact that the 
 Bourbons took precedence of the upstart Russian 
 rulers, and possibly there lingered in Louis XVIII's 
 mind a recollection of how Alexander had refused him 
 the title of King, and had treated him as a common- 
 place person of no account ; but policy as well as 
 good feeling, might well have dictated a different 
 behaviour towards the generous defender of French 
 interests. 
 
 The Corps Legislatif sent to Compiegne a deputation 
 
 of twenty-five members ; but the Senate held aloof, 
 
 as they had done at the time of Monsieur's entry into 
 
 Paris, being reluctant to acknowledge the Bourbons 
 
 1 Boigne, Memoires, vol. i. p. 288. 
 
 14
 
 210 Louis XVIII 
 
 until after the signing of the contract between the King 
 and the Nation. 
 
 On May 2nd the King moved to Saint-Ouen, where 
 the Senate and the members of the Provisional Govern- 
 ment — being able to put off their visit no longer — 
 came to pay their respects to him. It was now abso- 
 lutely necessary for some declaration to be made at 
 once, as the public entry into Paris was announced for 
 the next day. Therefore the celebrated affirmation 
 known as the Declaration of Saint-Ouen, was drawn up 
 in a great hurry by Monsieur de Vitrolles, Monsieur de 
 Blacas, and Monsieur de Maisonfort. 
 
 In this the King stated that the Constitution 
 proposed by the Senate was on a good basis ; but that 
 many of the articles had been drawn up in too great a 
 hurry to form fundamental laws of the State. He 
 promised a liberal Constitution, and convoked the 
 Senate and the Corps Legislatif for June ioth, to 
 examine the agreement between himself and his 
 people, which was about to be drawn up by a chosen 
 Commission. He went on to say that he promised to 
 preserve the Representative Government, and that, as 
 in Napoleon's time, there would be two Chambers, or, 
 as we should term it, an Upper and a Lower House. 
 Taxes would not be imposed without the consent of 
 the Government, public and individual liberty were 
 assured, the liberty of the Press was promised — neces- 
 sary precautions, however, being taken for public 
 safety — liberty of religion was guaranteed, property 
 was to be sacred and inviolable, the sale of national 
 property was declared irrevocable, pensions, grades, and 
 military honours were to be conserved, as well as the 
 titles of the old and new nobility, and no one was 
 to be punished for his votes or opinions ; while the
 
 Declaration of Saint'Ouen 211 
 
 celebrated Legion of Honour was to be maintained as 
 in the late Emperor's time. 
 
 The Declaration appeared in the Moniteur on the 
 morning of the King's entry into Paris, and every 
 one, except Monsieur de Talleyrand, who considered 
 some of the expressions ambiguous, and was naturally 
 indignant that he had not been consulted about the 
 drawing up of the document, was delighted with it. 
 The famous Charter was indeed only a development 
 of this first Declaration, of which Louis XVIII was 
 always extremely proud, as he considered that it 
 marked an epoch in the history of France. 
 
 The feelings of the French people were now attuned 
 to greet the King's entry into Paris with proper 
 enthusiasm, though the glamour and exuberant emotion 
 with which Monsieur had been received had somewhat 
 diminished, and doubts as to future Bourbon policy, 
 as well as a prevision of future difficulties and divisions, 
 had already begun to be felt. Besides, it was easier to 
 feel ardent affection for Monsieur riding his charger, 
 childlike in his happiness, overcome by the force of 
 his joyous sensations, than for an infirm King, who 
 sat helpless in his carriage, and looked tired and 
 indifferent. 
 
 Louis XVIII was dressed in a plain blue coat with 
 large epaulettes, had a three-cornered hat on his head, 
 and wore the blue order and the badge of Saint Esprit. 
 He was certainly completely without power of express- 
 ing his emotions with spontaneity. He could compose 
 suitable speeches for any occasion which might arise ; 
 but the very self-control which was at times invaluable, 
 and which his enemies said was aided by coldness of 
 heart, hindered that naive expression of passionate 
 feeling which is magnetic in its power over others,
 
 2i2 Louis XVIII 
 
 and which, when backed up by other qualities, will 
 raise a man above his fellows, and enable him to 
 dominate the multitude. 
 
 On this occasion, however, the Duchesse d'Angou- 
 leme was the heroine of the day, and her Uncle wished 
 to show that he was aware of this, so pointed her out 
 continually to the people, as though to make her the 
 centre of enthusiasm ; but his action seemed affected 
 and theatrical, and on a par with his appearance with 
 her later at one of the windows of the Tuileries, when 
 he was seen putting a crown of flowers on her head. 1 
 However, the sight was greeted with enthusiasm by 
 the crowd beneath. 
 
 Madame's dress had caused much dismay when she 
 first landed in France, as French and English fashions 
 were then absolutely dissimilar ; and her close hat and 
 scanty frock looked extraordinary beside the flowing 
 feathers, puffs, and huge toques worn by the Parisian 
 ladies. It had been very difficult to persuade her to 
 alter her costume, even for this grand occasion ; but 
 a council of ladies had discussed the matter, and 
 had sent her to Saint-Ouen a feather toque of the 
 orthodox shape, a ruffle, and a robe embroidered in 
 silver. 
 
 The ceremony of a public entry was to Madame 
 a terrible ordeal, for recollections and associations of 
 horror pressed upon her. The populace, who now 
 decked their houses with white flags, wore the white 
 cockade, and assembled in crowds on the pavements 
 to cheer and cry " Vive le Roi ! " was the same that 
 had besieged Versailles, perpetrated the abominations 
 of August ioth, and had shouted insults to Marie 
 Antoinette on her way to the scaffold. Therefore the 
 1 Frenilly Memoires, p. 355.
 
 King's Entry into Paris 213 
 
 Princess sat beside her Uncle with red eyes, not seeing 
 the present for the thronging memories of the past, 
 and looking stiff and constrained in the fashionable 
 garments, to which she had somehow managed to 
 impart a foreign look. 
 
 When the procession reached Notre-Dame, and the 
 Royal party went into the church for the King to 
 receive the holy water and to hear the Te Deum, the 
 Princess sank in tears on her prie-dieu ; and on her 
 arrival at the Tuileries she nearly fainted, and was 
 unable to receive the ladies who had come to offer her 
 baskets of flowers. 
 
 There were others in the procession to whom this 
 day was a terrible ragedy — a commemoration of the 
 fact that their day was over for ever. Lining the street 
 from the Pont-Neuf to Notre-Dame were the Old 
 Imperial Guard, while a detachment of grenadiers from 
 the same body marched behind the King's carriage. 
 It had been intended in this manner to show the Guard 
 special honour ; but, to any close observer, its aspect 
 was ominous. 
 
 " It marched quickly," 1 says Madame de Boigne ; 
 " silent and gloomy, full of remembrances of the past. 
 It stopped, by a look, our outbursts of affection for 
 those who were arriving. The shouts of ' Long live 
 the King ! ' died on our lips as it rode by. Here and 
 there were heard shouts of £ Long live the Guard ! ' 
 ' Long live the Old Guard ! ' But it did not welcome 
 these, and appeared to accept them in derision. As it 
 passed by the silence became general, and soon nothing 
 could be heard but the monotonous tramp of the 
 quick-step striking our very hearts. The consterna- 
 tion increased, and the contagious sadness of these old 
 
 1 Memoires, vol. i. p. 292.
 
 2i 4 Louis XVIII 
 
 warriors gave to the whole ceremony the appearance 
 of the Emperor's funeral rather than that of the King's 
 accession." 
 
 Thus, with the mingled joy and suffering which 
 must attend any great national change, was the 
 Restoration of the Bourbon Family accomplished, and 
 Louis XVIII returned to the throne of his fathers.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 The King's Councils— The Ministry— The Charter— The Treaty of 
 Paris — Ceremony of the Reading of the Charter — Difficulties and 
 mistakes — The ultra-Royalists — The Jacobins — The Imperialists — 
 French society — The " Maison du Roi " — The Army — Discontent 
 and danger— Talleyrand at the Congress of Vienna — The King's 
 foreign policy. 
 
 THE Restoration accomplished, two most important 
 matters occupied general attention — the question 
 of the amount of territory which the Allies would allow 
 France to retain, and of the measure of liberty which 
 the King would accord to his subjects in the promised 
 Charter. 
 
 Meanwhile, Councils were held and presided over 
 by the King, or rather " listened to " by him. " Our 
 monarchical instincts," says Monsieur de Vitrolles, 
 " refused to qualify him as President. Louis XIV 
 listened to his Council, he did not preside over it ! " 1 
 At any rate, however, the knotty point between 
 " presiding ' and " listening " may be settled, the 
 King was always present at the Council, and sat at 
 the head of the table, the members, except the 
 Princes, being provided with the stools without backs 
 known as "pliants." The King won much approval 
 in his conduct of his first Council, as the glance 
 round the table, in which he included every one, 
 was kindly, yet full of dignity, and when he spoke 
 
 1 Vitrolles Memoires, vol. ii. p. 41. 
 215
 
 216 Louis XVIII 
 
 his words were well chosen and his voice full and 
 sonorous. 
 
 The Ministry was quickly formed. The post of 
 Chancellor of France, which conferred the presidency 
 of the Royal Council and the direction of the Depart- 
 ment of Justice, was re-established, and was given to 
 Monsieur Dambray, who before the Revolution had 
 made himself a great reputation as lawyer, but who 
 had since retired into private life, and had lost touch 
 with the new transmogrified France. To Talleyrand 
 was confided the post of Foreign Minister, an appoint- 
 ment which it was impossible to prevent, though it 
 was no doubt bestowed with reluctance ; while — as if to 
 counterpoise his influence — the Abbe de Montesquiou, 
 a man essentially of the Ancien Regime, but honest 
 and disinterested, " who had been unshakably faithful 
 to his cause, his class, his friends, his master," 1 was 
 persuaded, much against his will, to become Minister 
 of the Interior, and Blacas was called to the head of 
 the " Maison du Roi," and was the King's confidential 
 adviser on everything. Another appointment in this 
 short-lived Ministry was that of the witty, though 
 maladroit, Comte Beugnot to the Directorship of the 
 Police ; while Baron Louis, who possessed much ability 
 and public spirit and had served under Napoleon, 
 remained in charge of the finances. General Dupont, 
 also an Imperialist, still held the post of Minister 
 of War, and Baron Malouet, who had been a member 
 of the Assemblee Constituante, kept the charge of 
 the Navy. 
 
 Many dangers had been avoided in forming this 
 Ministry, and the King had carefully excluded Mon- 
 sieur's favourites from it ; but it was a strangely 
 
 1 Guizot Memoires, vol. i. p. 38.
 
 The Ministry 217 
 
 heterogeneous set of men, absolutely opposed to each 
 other in sentiments, views, and experiences, who were 
 set the task of forming a new and united France. 
 
 Monsieur, in spite of possessing no official position, 
 had a considerable voice in the Government. " The 
 King has received a list from M. le due de Feltre, and 
 has said that he will think, about it at leisure ; when- 
 ever the King thinks at leisure, Monsieur thinks with 
 him," 1 says one of the Ministers. 
 
 The Ministry was not like our modern English 
 views of similar institutions, for the members of it 
 were almost entirely independent of each other, and 
 each head of a department submitted his work 
 separately to the King. 
 
 Therefore, if a Minister promulgated a law which 
 was viewed with disfavour by the nation — when, for 
 instance, Comte Beugnot, as head of the police, passed 
 a measure stopping all business on Sundays and feast- 
 days — the other members of the Ministry disclaimed 
 responsibility for the unpopular edict. This want 
 of unity in the Ministry militated against its weight 
 with the country, and was a cause of much weakness 
 and vacillation in the Government. 
 
 It also invested each individual Minister with 
 enormous responsibility, for Louis XVIII was not 
 sufficiently strong, either mentally or physically, to 
 undertake the extraordinary amount of work which 
 Napoleon had taken upon his shoulders, and to have 
 the affairs of each department submitted to him. 
 Therefore, certain of the Ministers who had been accus- 
 tomed to work with the Emperor and to present him 
 with abstracts of the affairs in hand, found it difficult 
 
 1 Jaucourt to Talleyrand, Talleyrand ct Louis XVIII Correspondance. 
 Note to p. 412.
 
 2i8 Louis XVIII 
 
 to accommodate their arrangements to a ruler who did 
 not care to be troubled with detail. Comte Beugnot, 
 the Director of Police, who had watched with dismay 
 the impatience and boredom with which his Majesty 
 listened to his reports, tells us that he related his troubles 
 to his colleague, l'Abbe Louis, who laughed heartily. 
 " What," he said, " did you not notice from the first 
 day, from the first bit of business, that you were boring 
 the King to death ? Besides, what is the use of 
 making reports to him ? You might as well make 
 them to a saint in his niche. For my part I present 
 him the ordinances to sign, and he never refuses one. 
 Only, as it takes him a long time to sign his name, 
 while he works at that, 1 tell him a little about the 
 affair. I do not bore him ; it is he who bores 
 me, because he is so long in making his signa- 
 ture." l 
 
 It was at one of the Councils of his Ministers, that 
 the King made the gracious remark which has since 
 become an axiom. The Ministers had assembled as 
 usual in the anteroom, and had become so much 
 interested in their conversation that they did not 
 remember how time was going, and entered the 
 council-chamber rather late, to find the King already 
 waiting. The Chancellor, Monsieur Dambray, began 
 to make rather confused excuses, and finished them 
 with an eulogy of the King's punctuality. 
 
 " Messieurs," answered his Majesty, " including us 
 all in one of the caressing glances of which he alone 
 knew the secret," a punctuality is the politeness of 
 kings." 2 
 
 When the Charter had been promulgated, the 
 government was complicated, and the Ministry further 
 
 ' Beugnot Memoires, vol. ii. p. 160. 3 Ibid., p. 263.
 
 King's Temporising Policy 219 
 
 weakened, by the establishment of two Councils with 
 different functions — the " Conseil d'en Haut," which con- 
 sisted of the Princes, the Chancellor, and any Ministers 
 who might be summoned to it, and the " Conseil 
 d'Etat," which contained the heads of the departments. 
 
 In one thing the King showed wisdom ; it was in 
 vain that the ardent Royalists implored him to bring 
 forward some statement of his future policy. He 
 intended to wait on circumstances ; though it is 
 evident that behind this opportunism was the deter- 
 mination to feel his way cautiously towards obtaining 
 as much power as was practicable. He was most 
 careful, however, that the direction of his wishes 
 should not be apparent ; and even Monsieur's friend 
 Monsieur de Vitrolles, who found the King's person- 
 ality, unlike that of his brother, interestingly mysterious, 
 could not fathom the depths of his mind. The King's 
 limitations no doubt aided this judicious reticence ; it 
 was not possible for him to inspire, to lead, to be a 
 ruler of men ; his role was to temporise, to avoid 
 pitfalls, to prevent mistakes, to show his sagacity 
 rather in preventing mischief than in initiating a 
 policy of his own. 
 
 So much work lay ready to his hand at this time, 
 that he might well be excused for refusing to enter 
 into the region of speculative politics. The drawing 
 up of the promised Charter was now of the highest 
 importance, for the newspapers were full of contra- 
 dictory reports, suggestions, and rumours, and these 
 were rapidly raising public excitement to fever-pitch. 
 
 Therefore on May 1 8th, 18 14, the King, after dis- 
 cussing the matter with Montesquiou, with Beugnot, 
 and no doubt also with Blacas, named a Commission, 
 composed of members chosen by him out of the Senate
 
 220 Louis XVIII 
 
 and the Corps Legislatif, who, aided by the three 
 Ministers, Montesquiou, Beugnot, and Ferrand, and 
 presided over by the Chancellor, Dambray, were 
 entrusted with the task of drawing up the Charter 
 of the Constitution. This plan did not please every 
 one, as it did not altogether tally with the Declaration 
 of Saint-Ouen, which had appeared to promise that the 
 Charter should be submitted to the discussion and vote 
 of the Senate and the Corps Legislatif collectively. 
 Talleyrand, in particular, must have disapproved of 
 the scheme, for Louis XVIII, still afraid of his 
 preponderating influence, did not consult him about 
 the choice of the Commission, and ordered Beugnot 
 not to tell the Minister for Foreign Affairs anything 
 which passed at the deliberations. 
 
 These were many in number, and it only seems 
 necessary to give a summary of the principal pro- 
 visions of the Charter as finally modified, and accepted 
 by Louis XVIII. 
 
 The first articles dealt with the u Public Rights 
 of Frenchmen," which comprised equality before the 
 law, individual liberty, and liberty in religious matters, 
 while the Roman Catholic religion was declared to 
 be the State religion ; also liberty of the Press with 
 repression of abuses ; and inviolability of property, 
 even that known as national ; though the State arro- 
 gated to itself the power of taking over a property 
 if necessary in the public interest ; but in this case 
 suitable compensation must always be granted. Next 
 to the declaration of rights came the " King's forms 
 of Government." There were to be two Chambers — 
 the " Chambre des Pairs " (Chamber of Peers), which 
 took the place of Napoleon's Senate, and the " Chambre 
 des Deputes " (Chamber of Deputies), which was
 
 The Charter 221 
 
 really his Corps Legislatif under another name. The 
 members of the Chamber of Peers were nominated 
 by the King, either for life or with hereditary descent, 
 and their number was unlimited. Their deliberations 
 were to be secret. Royal Princes were to have a right 
 to attend these on receiving a permission from the 
 King, which was to be renewed each Session. 
 
 The members of the Chamber of Deputies were to 
 be elected by the electoral colleges for five years, and a 
 fifth of the Chamber was to be re-elected every year, so 
 that a General Election was never to take place. Each 
 deputy must be forty years of age, and must pay a 
 yearly direct taxation of 1,000 francs, while the electors 
 must be thirty years old or over, and must pay 300 
 francs in taxation yearly. 
 
 In theory the King was to propose all laws, though 
 the two Chambers acting together might beg him to 
 propose a law on a given subject ; but if he were 
 to refuse to sanction their request, the question must 
 be dropped till the end of the Session. 
 
 The question of conscription was difficult. Its 
 abolition had been one of the first Bourbon promises ; 
 yet without it there seemed no possibility of providing 
 a sufficient Army. Therefore, against the wishes of the 
 Due d'Angouleme, the mode of recruiting both for 
 the Army and the Navy was left to be decided at some 
 future date. 
 
 Article 14, which declared among the attributions of 
 Royalty, the right " of making regulations and ordi- 
 nances necessary for the execution of the laws and the 
 safety of the State," acquired a sad celebrity sixteen 
 years later, when, under its cover, Monsieur, then 
 Charles X, made himself practically Dictator, and lost 
 the throne in consequence.
 
 222 LOUIS XVIII 
 
 Meanwhile, Talleyrand had been engaged in con- 
 sultations with the four great Allied Powers, and these 
 resulted on May 30th in the signing of the Treaty of 
 Paris. By this treaty France, with small additions, 
 resumed her boundaries as in the year 1792, and 
 recovered nearly all the colonial possessions which had 
 been taken from her during the war. 
 
 It was also settled that all the Powers should send 
 plenipotentiaries to a Congress which was to be held at 
 Vienna in the autumn. 
 
 It was necessary to hurry through the later consulta- 
 tions on the Charter, as the Sovereigns, having signed 
 the Treaty of Paris, were determined to leave Paris at 
 once ; while the Emperor Alexander, discontented with 
 Louis XVIII's reluctance to form a close alliance 
 with him, and distrustful of Bourbon promises, was 
 quite resolved not to go before France had been granted 
 constitutional government. 
 
 Nevertheless, as it was thought politic that the iron 
 hand should be very thoroughly concealed by the glove, 
 it was settled that the Powers should evacuate Paris 
 before the Assembly at which the King was to inaugurate 
 constitutional government. Therefore, the foreign 
 armies marched out of Paris on June 2nd and 3rd, 
 and their posts were occupied by the Garde Nationale. 
 Only the Sovereigns remained, and were present when, 
 on June 4th, 1 8 1 4, the King, accompanied by the Princes 
 of his family and the chief dignitaries of Court and 
 State, went in state to the Palais-Bourbon, the former 
 meeting-place of the Corps Legislatif, where the 
 Chamber of Deputies was in the future to hold its 
 sittings. 
 
 It was a memorable occasion, and the presence of 
 the friendly Sovereigns, who sat with the Royal Family
 
 Inauguration of Constitutional Government 223 
 
 in a richly decorated gallery, made it unique ; while 
 the vast amphitheatre was thronged with the most dis- 
 tinguished and most elegant people in France. 
 
 A magnificent throne had been placed for the King 
 on the platform usually occupied by the President of 
 the Assembly, and from there he repeated, in a strong, 
 clear voice, the speech which he had himself drawn up, 
 and in which he touched with tact and discretion on 
 the most difficult point in the agreement, that of the 
 conquests which France had been forced to abandon. 
 
 " Sirs," he said, " when, for the first time, I 
 come within these precincts, surrounded by the great 
 bodies of the State, and the representatives of a 
 nation which never ceases to offer me the most touch- 
 ing tokens of her love, I congratulate myself in be- 
 coming the dispenser of the benefits which divine 
 Providence deigns to accord to my people. I have 
 concluded a peace with Russia, Austria, England, and 
 Prussia, in which all their Allies, that is to say, all 
 the Princes of Christendom, are included. War was 
 universal, so is reconciliation. The rank which France 
 has always held among the nations, has not been 
 transferred elsewhere, but has remained undividedly 
 hers. Whatever security the other States acquire 
 increases hers also, and in consequence adds to her 
 true power. What she does not retain of her con- 
 quests, must not be considered as deducted from her 
 real strength. The glory of the French armies has 
 received no injury ; the monuments of their valour 
 remain, and the chefs-d'oeuvres of art belong to us 
 henceforth by more durable and sacred rights than 
 those of victory. The channels of commerce, so long 
 closed, will be free. The markets of France will no 
 longer be open only to the productions of her own
 
 224 Louis XVIII 
 
 soil and of her own industry ; those which custom 
 has led her to want, or which are necessary to the 
 arts she exercises, will be supplied to her by the 
 possessions she recovers ; she will no longer be forced 
 either to do without them or only to obtain them 
 at ruinous prices. Our manufactures will again flourish, 
 our maritime towns will revive, and everything assures 
 us that permanent calm abroad, and durable happiness 
 at home, will be the happy results of the peace. A sad 
 recollection comes continually to trouble my joy. I 
 was born, I hoped to remain all my life the most 
 faithful subject of the best of Kings, and to-day I 
 occupy his place ! But at least he is not altogether 
 dead ; he lives again in this Will, which he intended 
 for the instruction of the august and unfortunate 
 child whom I was destined to succeed ! It is with 
 my eyes fixed on this immortal work, full of the 
 sentiments which dictated it, guided by the experience 
 and helped by the advice of some among you, that 
 I have drawn up the constitutional Charter which you 
 will hear read, and which is founded on the solid 
 base of the prosperity of the State. My Chancellor 
 will explain to you with more detail my paternal 
 intentions." 
 
 This speech was greeted with much applause, which 
 was certainly merited, but the next discourse was un- 
 fortunate, and was received with murmurs ; for the 
 Chancellor insisted on the fact that Royalty had lost 
 none of the authority it had possessed under the 
 Ancien Regime, and spoke of the Charter as an 
 "ordinance of reformation." Monsieur Ferrand, who 
 followed, and to whom the reading of the Charter 
 had been entrusted, read in a voice enfeebled by ill- 
 ness a preamble which had been composed by Monsieur
 
 Reading of the Charter 225 
 
 Beugnot, and in the press of business had not ap- 
 parently been submitted to the King ; and this was 
 also on the lines of connecting the past with the 
 present, and of clinging as far as possible to the 
 spirit of that Ancien Regime which most Frenchmen 
 wished to leave behind for ever. Doubtful silence 
 greeted this preamble, but the reading of the Charter 
 itself was acclaimed with enthusiasm, and every one 
 felt that at last a new era had dawned in France — 
 that of constitutional and representative government. 
 
 It was a brilliant beginning ; but terrible difficulties 
 beset the way. Some of these had their origin in the 
 facts of Louis XVIII's history. The ideal King of 
 France at the time of the Restoration should have 
 had no past. Free, and untrammelled by tradition, 
 bound to no party, his desires centred merely on the 
 art of soothing distracted and disunited France, and 
 of persuading the parties who hated, feared, and dis- 
 trusted each other, to work together, he might have ac- 
 complished much which was impossible to Louis XVIII, 
 whose scheming during the Emigration had not only 
 indebted him to many people, but had prejudiced 
 many against him. 
 
 Ineffaceable were the debts the King owed to the 
 Vendeans and Chouans, who had shed their blood for 
 his cause, and they intended to profit by his return. 
 Monsieur de Barante, writing on May 16, 1814, 
 says : "In Vendee, the peasants, I do not know why, 
 will not pay taxes, and imagine that the return of the 
 Bourbons exempts them from the general application 
 of the laws." ' It was partly to recompense some of the 
 Vendean and Chouan nobility, though also because, in 
 his intense love for ceremonial, he wished to revive the 
 1 Souvenirs du Baron de Barante, vol. ii. p. 64. 
 
 J 5
 
 226 Louis XVIII 
 
 magnificent etiquette of the Ancien Regime, that the 
 King established not only his " Maison Civile," with its 
 many hereditary posts, " Grand Master," " Grand 
 Almoner," and the like, but also his " Maison Militaire," 
 with its " Bodyguard," whose office it was to guard 
 the interior of the Royal residences, and to accompany 
 the King and Princes everywhere. The grades of 
 these officers did not answer to their rank in the 
 ordinary Army ; they were a privileged body, and were 
 chosen mostly from amongst poor country gentlemen. 
 From the first their appointment caused bitter in- 
 dignation in the regular Army, and there was a fight 
 in the streets when they went to guard the posts 
 hitherto held by the Garde Nationale. However, it 
 would have seemed the basest ingratitude and heart- 
 lessness, for the King to show no recognition of the 
 services of the gallant men who had received in- 
 structions and encouragement from him in fighting 
 for his cause. He was hampered and embarrassed by 
 his past. 
 
 On the other hand, even if he had shown masterly 
 inactivity and dignified resignation during his exile, 
 he would nevertheless have been compromised by his 
 lineage, and all those who had fought for the Bourbon 
 cause would still have considered that he owed them 
 a debt of gratitude. 
 
 As it was, the King and each of the Ministers 
 were deluged with petitions from ambitious Royalists, 
 who had little or no reason on which to base their 
 claim except the fact that they were Royalists, and as 
 such entitled to Royal bounty. At one of the sittings 
 of the Council, the Head of the Admiralty brought 
 a letter for consideration which he had received from 
 a Royalist who had been a naval cadet in 1789, but
 
 Ultra'Royalist Exigencies 227 
 
 had left the Service because of the Revolution, an 
 action which, he remarked, could not be imputed to 
 him as a crime, and he calculated — not allowing, he 
 pointed out, for extraordinary promotion — that, had 
 he remained in the Navy, he would by now be Rear- 
 Admiral, and therefore claimed that rank from his 
 Majesty. 
 
 The King appeared to be annoyed by this demand ; 
 and, encouraged by the Royal attitude, those Ministers 
 who did not rejoice in pasts of unsullied Royalist 
 purity showed an inclination to unkind jesting — not 
 to say bitterness — on the subject of ultra-Royalist 
 pretensions. 
 
 " But what can I answer ? " asked the much worried 
 Head of the Admiralty. 
 
 " It seems to me, Sir," answered Vitrolles, who tells 
 the story, " that you may perfectly allow all this 
 gentleman's logic, and even the consequences he has 
 deduced from it, while adding that he has only for- 
 gotten one essential fact — that he was killed at the 
 battle of Trafalgar ! " 1 
 
 Even the King became amused at the extraordinary 
 petitions preferred by some of the Emigres, but it 
 was only after the lesson taught him by Napoleon's 
 successful return to France, that he realised the great 
 danger their unreasonable ambitions and prejudices 
 were to the Monarchy. When Napoleon announced 
 at the beginning of the Hundred Days, that he was 
 in reality wresting the kingdom from the Due 
 d'Orleans he spoke the truth, for the Government 
 of the first Restoration was so weak, and showed such 
 ignorance of the condition and feelings of the country, 
 that it could not possibly have lasted ; and it was 
 
 1 Memoires du Baron de Vitrolles, vol. ii. p. 224.
 
 228 Louis XVIII 
 
 fortunate for the Bourbon cause that the violent in- 
 terruption to its wavering course came from a quarter 
 where it could not be tolerated by the Great Powers ; 
 for if France had in disgust turned to the Due 
 d'Orleans, Europe would in all probability have ab- 
 stained from interference. 
 
 Yet, by the irony of fate, Louis XVIII was not 
 loved by the party for whom he seemed to be on the 
 point of ruining himself. He was still not " pure in 
 his politics," still the " greatest Jacobin in Europe," 
 and the Emigres were profoundly dissatisfied with his 
 policy. At the Restoration " nothing was changed, 
 renovated, made, or unmade. France was taken as 
 it was, ready-made by Napoleon," says Frenilly, true 
 type of the ultra-Royalist. A little lower on the 
 same page he remarks bitterly, " It is according the 
 King full justice to say that he did not himself wish 
 to change anything that had been done by the Re- 
 volution, and that we did him wrong when for a long 
 time we persisted in the idea that he thought with 
 us, though his actions were in opposition to us." 1 
 Therefore Louis XVIII — after a twenty-three years' 
 exile from his country, be it remembered — managed 
 to please no one. 
 
 Certainly it would have been impossible for any one 
 to govern the nation successfully, and to satisfy the 
 ultra-Royalists. For one thing they were hardly 
 Royalists at all, if Royalism means personal devotion 
 to the Sovereign. Most of the Emigres who had 
 fought in Conde's army or worked for a living in 
 the different capitals of Europe, had long ago returned 
 to France, and a new generation had grown up, who 
 kept the Royalist feasts and commemoration services 
 
 1 Souvenirs du Baron de Frenilly, p. 355.
 
 The Irony of Fate 229 
 
 devoutly, and had heard of the " Orphan of the 
 Temple," but who had before the Restoration the 
 vaguest ideas about Louis XVI] I and the Comte 
 d'Artois, and of their relationship to the Due d'An- 
 gouleme and the Due de Berry. Therefore a feeling 
 was absent which might have rallied them to the help 
 of the throne in its difficult struggle. It must be 
 allowed, however, that the sentiment would have indeed 
 been strong, which could have caused them to regard 
 with complacency a Government which did not at once 
 dispossess the aggressors who had seized their property. 
 The ultra-Royalists who had returned to France 
 before the Restoration, had formed that stronghold of 
 aristocratic tradition and Court sentiment known as 
 the Faubourg Saint-Germain, which is in reality more 
 an institution than a place ; for, as Balzac says, " the 
 whole of the faubourg is not in the faubourg. Persons 
 born far from its influence feel it, and affiliate them- 
 selves with its spirit, while others, born in its purple, 
 are by nature banished from it." l There they had 
 lived apart, sighing for the Restoration of the 
 Monarchy. It took place ; and except for the re- 
 establishment of the " Maison du Roi," nothing seemed 
 to be altered. It was indeed a terrible disappointment 
 to discover that they had not conquered with the King ; 
 that while he had come again into his rights they 
 were still excluded from theirs ; and they did not see 
 that, in the words of Balzac, " institutions reach 
 climacteric years, when terms no longer have their 
 past meaning, when ideas clothe themselves in new 
 garments, when the conditions of political life change 
 without any essential change in their being." 2 There- 
 fore, after battling for a time against the inevitable, 
 1 Duchesse de Langeais. ' Ibid,
 
 230 Louis XVIII 
 
 and nearly upsetting the throne in their struggle, they 
 retired from the strife, soiled their delicate fingers no 
 longer with political affairs, and, refusing to do their 
 work in the nation, became of no account. 
 
 It is untrue, however, to say that it was at the 
 time of the Restoration that the French nobility, of 
 course with brilliant exceptions, cut themselves off 
 from national life. Louis XIV had done that for 
 them when he made it their duty to encircle him in 
 the great artificial system of Versailles, to which the 
 Faubourg Saint-Germain was the natural sequence. But 
 power, authority, and place had now passed from a 
 caste to nourish the life of a great nation, from which 
 it was divided by so wide a gulf, that a high-born 
 foreigner was more in sympathy with an ultra- 
 Royalist of the upper class, than was a bourgeois. 
 
 The hostility felt by the ultra-Royalists to their 
 native country, which refused to recognise the privi- 
 leges to which they considered themselves entitled, 
 but for which they refused to pay the price of service, 
 made it most dangerous for the King to show any 
 favouritism towards them ; and the situation was 
 rendered intensely difficult by the fact that the Comte 
 d'Artois — whom the King as he grew older found it 
 increasingly difficult to withstand — tried to bring them 
 into prominence on all occasions. 
 
 The other extreme parties in the State were prepared 
 to be conciliatory. Jacobinism, which had been stirred 
 by terror and indignation at the idea of possible reprisals 
 on the part of the Bourbon Government, to a condition 
 in which it would have been quite capable of repeating 
 on a small scale the atrocities of the Terror, had now 
 quieted down, and hid its head, ashamed of the horror 
 felt for its late excesses — a horror which at the time
 
 Different Parties 231 
 
 of the Restoration, when the great upheaval of the 
 Revolution was too close for a correct perspective 
 to be obtained, blotted out all conception of the 
 benefits it had conferred on the nation. 
 
 Imperialism, at any rate Imperialism in high places, 
 was almost servilely anxious to conciliate the new 
 Government ; it even welcomed it. " My dear, it 
 is only now that I feel I am really a Countess ! " 
 wrote a lady whose husband had been ennobled by 
 Napoleon. 
 
 However, difficulties soon arose between the new 
 nobility and the old, and members of the latter often 
 prided themselves on the hauteur with which they 
 treated Napoleon's upstart nobility. Monsieur de 
 Poix said to the Prince of Neufchatel, addressing 
 him as Berthier, " Yet as the result of the Revo- 
 lution, here you are, as great a person as myself ! " l 
 while an old duke, after talking for a long time to 
 the Marechal Ney, remarked in a tone of caressing 
 compassion, " What a pity that you have not, like 
 one of us, what can never be given." 2 
 
 The caustic Madame de Boigne expresses very well 
 the feelings of the great ladies of the Ancien Regime 
 when she says, " We showed great affability to the 
 ladies of the Empire. They were hurt at our ad- 
 vances in a place where they were accustomed to reign 
 exclusively, and they considered us impertinent. As 
 soon as they felt themselves no more alone they con- 
 sidered themselves paramount, an excusable impression. 
 We meant very well ; we were too well satisfied not 
 to feel sincerely kind. But there is a certain ease, 
 a certain freedom in the manner of women of good 
 
 1 Memoircs de Madame de Chastcnay, vol. ii. p. 424. 
 
 2 Viel Castel Restauration, vol. ii. p. 95.
 
 232 Louis XVIII 
 
 society which gives them the appearance of being at 
 home everywhere, and of doing the honours wherever 
 they may be. Women of the other class are often 
 shocked at this, consequently the pettinesses and the 
 little jealousies of the bourgeoises were stirred be- 
 neath the jewels which adorned their breasts." 1 
 
 The ladies of the Empire may have been unduly 
 sensitive, but they certainly must have had a good 
 deal to bear ; and these disagreeables were increased 
 by an unfortunate regulation which was intended to 
 conciliate the great nobles of the Empire, but which 
 raised a violent storm among the ladies of the Ancien 
 Regime. The King, advised by the Due de Duras, 
 decreed that at Royal receptions the duchesses were 
 to be elevated into a separate caste, and were to pass 
 on at once to the brilliantly lit throne-room, leaving 
 the other ladies in the semi-obscurity of the Salon 
 de la Paix. " The faces of the former Court ladies 
 were worth seeing each time that one of the fortunate 
 women of the new regime crossed the Salon de la 
 Paix, as it were, over their bodies," 2 says Madame de 
 Boigne. 
 
 In the throne-room, the King went the round of 
 the duchesses, and afterwards stood or sat, as his 
 health allowed, in front of the chimney-piece, while 
 the other ladies passed on in single file, and each 
 made him a deep curtsey. To one out of about 
 every ten he said two or three sentences, closing the 
 interview with a slight inclination of the head, to 
 which the lady addressed replied by another deep 
 curtsey. 
 
 Madame, to whom the stream of ladies next made 
 their way, said more to each person, and, but for her 
 1 Memoires de Madame de Boigne, vol. i. p. 284. * Ibid.
 
 Royal Receptions 233 
 
 brusque manner, the roughness of her voice, and her 
 lack of tact and grace, she might have become a 
 favourite. The Due d'Angouleme, whose common 
 exterior militated much against his popularity, received 
 every one with embarrassed fussiness, and the Due 
 de Berry greeted his guests with the utmost cordiality 
 and good-humour, though with a total absence of 
 dignity. 
 
 The Comte d'Artois and his younger son occupied 
 the part of the Tuileries known as the Pavilion 
 Marsan, a name which, owing to Monsieur's policy, 
 had already become synonymous with reaction, and 
 with ultra-Royalist manoeuvring. Monsieur was as 
 perfectly fitted to shine at Court functions as he had 
 been in his youth, and received even the Imperialist 
 ladies with charming grace. However, his mistakes 
 outside the Court and in the sight of the country at 
 large were flagrant. For instance, he caused general 
 indignation and alarm among the moderate constitu- 
 tionals, who now formed the bulk of the nation, 
 by refusing when travelling to be served at Mass 
 by orthodox priests of irreproachable character, if they 
 had formerly taken the oath to the civil constitution of 
 the clergy. 
 
 His violent policy redounded most injuriously upon 
 Louis XVIII, whose infirmities did not allow him to 
 become known by the people generally ; and the fear 
 of priesthood and superstition which had been started 
 by Beugnot's injudicious ordinance on the keeping of 
 Sunday, was increased by the many memorial services 
 with processions of the clergy which had been held 
 for different members of the Royal Family, and for 
 those who had died for the Bourbon cause, and was 
 exploited by some of Napoleon's agents, who increased
 
 234 Louis XVIII 
 
 the general alarm by travelling through the provinces 
 in the garb of Trappist monks. 1 
 
 Apparently none of the symptoms of disorder 
 throughout the country disturbed Louis XVIII's com- 
 posure. " As for me, it would be possible for me 
 not to enjoy a moment of repose," he writes on 
 December 4, 18 14, "and yet my sleep is as peaceful 
 as it was in my youth. The reason of this is simple ; 
 I have always believed that once the first moments of 
 the Restoration were over, the mixture of so many 
 heterogeneous elements would produce fermentation. 
 I know that it exists, but I do not disturb myself 
 about it." 2 
 
 This was philosophy indeed ; for any impartial ob- 
 server would have found much cause for alarm in the 
 general disaffection, and especially in the discontented 
 and mutinous condition of the Army. According to 
 the Duke of Wellington, the King was driven from 
 the throne because he never had the real command 
 over it, and therefore "even if the trivial faults or 
 even follies of his civil administration had not been 
 committed, I believe the same results would have been 
 produced." 
 
 The establishment of the military " Maison du Roi," 
 in which each soldier was an officer, the infesting of 
 every regiment with Emigres, the existence of " privi- 
 leged bodies," where honours were showered on young 
 men who had just left school, while " well-tried and 
 excellent officers, bent with the weight of years, and 
 covered with honourable scars, vegetated on half pay, 
 unknown and almost despised by the new-comers"; 3 
 
 1 Chastenay Memotres, vol. ii. p. 469. 
 
 3 Correspondance inedite de Louis XVIII et de Talleyrand. 
 
 3 Souvenirs du Marechal Macdonald, p. 325.
 
 The "Maison du Roi" 235 
 
 these and other foolish measures were causing intense 
 indignation among the tried troops who had fought 
 for Napoleon. 
 
 While doing all he could to attach the Marshals to 
 the Bourbon cause, Louis XVIII had not sufficiently 
 realised the fact that the soldier had now become a 
 person of independent opinions, who could no longer 
 be depended on to obey the commands of his superior 
 officer with unquestioning docility. Napoleon's policy 
 had been that of raising the private to a position of 
 prominence, and of winning his affection ; and in his 
 famous Imperial Guard, while the officers were often 
 changed, and were never people who would be likely 
 to be strong enough to be dangerous, the soldiers 
 were caressed and flattered ; and worshipped " le Petit 
 Caporal," who was their comrade as well as their 
 Emperor. The profuse distribution of the Legion of 
 Honour during the tours made by the Princes, was 
 a grievous mistake ; for it caused the most bitter 
 indignation among men whose most precious pos- 
 session it was, and who had gained it by some noble 
 action in which they had risked their lives. 
 
 There was fury in military circles, when the Due 
 de Berry gave it to the husband of some one with 
 whom he had danced at Lille, merely because she 
 asked for it. Rightly or wrongly it was supposed that 
 the Bourbon Princes wished to degrade the decoration 
 instituted by Napoleon, as well as the holders of it. 
 
 Besides these blunders and stupidities, however, 
 dissatisfaction in the Army was caused by much which 
 it was completely out of the King's power to rectify. 
 France was no longer a purely military State ; the days 
 of conquest were over, and the Army had therefore 
 ceased to be a career which offered a perspective of
 
 236 Louis XVIII 
 
 extraordinary promotions, honours, and wealth. In 
 Napoleon's time a sanguinary engagement was wel- 
 comed as offering brilliant prospects to the survivors. 
 " They did not kill any captains ; the lieutenants were 
 not pleased," 1 said a young officer with perfect serious- 
 ness when giving an account of a battle. 
 
 Therefore, numberless castles in the air faded to 
 nothing at the announcement of a permanent peace ; 
 and hundreds of discontented, and sometimes almost 
 starving men, cursed the Bourbon Government, and 
 longed for Napoleon. The official letters of the Head 
 of the Police are full of disquieting reports about the 
 military discontent, reports, however, which seem to 
 have received scant attention from the Government, 
 who no doubt felt unequal to the terribly difficult 
 problem of dealing with the Army. 
 
 At Strasburg, a caricature of Napoleon was shown 
 in a shop with an account of his crimes — this was an 
 imprudence which was often committed. An officer 
 rushed in and cut it up with his sword ; and when 
 next day Le Retour des Lys was played at the 
 theatre, there were military disturbances. At Saint- 
 Etienne, the King's bust was removed to be surrounded 
 with the arms of France, and great joy was expressed 
 at the hope of Napoleon's return ; and the officers of 
 a garrison sent from Paris to Dole poured imprecations 
 on a portrait of the King. Such were the warnings 
 from all parts of the country. Everywhere were 
 " outbursts of vague and impotent discontent, the 
 language of boredom and of bad temper." 2 
 
 Unfortunately these outbursts were not long to 
 remain impotent expressions of feeling, for the master 
 
 1 Memoires de Madame de Chastenay, vol. ii. p. 391. 
 
 2 Rapports die Cotnte Angles, p. 46.
 
 Military Disturbances 237 
 
 hand would soon apply a torch to the combustible 
 matter, which was, however, almost ready to ignite 
 by itself. The Duke of Wellington, now English 
 Ambassador in France, wrote to his Government that 
 each night he expected a catastrophe ; and the most 
 alarming reports were in circulation. One of these 
 was to the effect that on the way to a performance 
 at the Odeon, the King and all the Princes were to 
 be carried off by some of the generals. The Marechal 
 Marmont, with two other generals and Monsieur 
 Beugnot, went to warn Louis XVIII of this, and to beg 
 him not to leave the Palace. " The King, however, 
 with the calmness which gave such a beautiful character 
 to his noble physiognomy, told them that nothing 
 should prevent him from appearing at the theatre as 
 had been announced ; that he had for too long been 
 ready to sacrifice his life to be made anxious, and that 
 he confided to their devotion and prudence the pre- 
 cautions which the news would require." 1 
 
 Nothing happened ; and the King listened to the 
 performance with every appearance of interest, though 
 he occasionally directed a glance of smiling intelligence 
 towards his niece, who at first looked troubled, but 
 began later to gain confidence from her Uncle's 
 equanimity. 
 
 Louis XVIII had not been a year on the throne, and 
 already his enemies were busily at work. Scurrilous 
 pamphlets, one of which connected his name with that 
 of Robespierre, and accused him of instigating the 
 worst excesses of the Revolution, even of contriving 
 the executions of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and 
 Madame Elizabeth, were in secret circulation. 
 
 Fouche, the Due d'Otrante, had quicky seen which 
 
 1 Chastenay Memoires, p. 422.
 
 238 Louis XVIII 
 
 way the wind was blowing ; and though he was trying 
 as usual to keep on friendly terms with all the con- 
 tending parties, he was preparing if necessary to leave 
 the sinking ship, and was plotting for the downfall 
 of the Bourbons. 
 
 On one thing only could the King rightly con- 
 gratulate himself: his foreign policy was thoroughly 
 successful. On his first arrival at Vienna for the Con- 
 gress of the European nations, Talleyrand had found 
 great difficulties in his way, as the four Great Powers — 
 England, Russia, Austria, and Prussia — wished to 
 designate themselves the Allies, and to discuss, with- 
 out consulting France, the question of the nationality 
 of the various territories which had been taken from 
 her at the Treaty of Paris. 
 
 There is no doubt that Talleyrand's diplomacy at 
 Vienna showed the utmost skill ; but probably suffi- 
 cient credit has not been given to Louis XVI 1 1 for 
 the firmness with which he supported his Minister 
 in his policy, and for the determination with which he 
 insisted that France must not submit to humiliation. 
 Though he was a man of peace, who knew nothing of 
 military matters, he was quite prepared to fight with 
 the object of keeping up the national prestige ; indeed, 
 in spite of his apparent equanimity about the internal 
 condition of France, he may possibly have felt that 
 war would be the only condition which would weld 
 the discordant elements into unity. 
 
 In a letter written to Talleyrand on October 21st, 
 1 8 1 4, after remarking that the Allies wish to avenge 
 themselves on France for what they have suffered from 
 Napoleon, that he will never permit this, and will 
 adopt the plan suggested by Talleyrand, of a Declaration 
 to the effect that the Congress must include France,
 
 His Foreign Policy 239 
 
 he continues : " But this is not all ; we must show 
 that there is something behind ; and for this it seems 
 to me necessary to make preparations to put the Army 
 on a more considerable footing than it is on now." ! 
 Elsewhere he states : " I am determined above every- 
 thing to keep the honour of France intact. ... I wish 
 also (and this is no less necessary) to have my personal 
 character respected. . . . My life, my crown, are 
 nothing to me beside such great interests. 2 
 
 The King was firm, too, in his protection of Saxony 
 and of the Bourbons in Italy, as well as in his objection 
 to a Russian alliance, an objection which may have 
 been partly caused by the personal aversion he un- 
 doubtedly felt for the Emperor Alexander. 
 
 Eventually Talleyrand not only insisted on including 
 France in the Congress, but as her representative 
 became the preponderating member of it ; and in 
 defiance of French national feeling, which always 
 inclined to friendship with Russia, a secret alliance 
 was formed between France, Austria, and England. 
 Therefore, during the first days of the Restoration, after 
 France had been completely beaten in the Napoleonic 
 Wars, and when her home Government was weak and 
 without proper consistency, her reputation and influ- 
 ence in the Councils of Europe were as great as they 
 had been in her most palmy days. Much of this 
 ascendancy was no doubt owing to M. de Talleyrand's 
 skill, but no one can, I think, read Louis XVIIl's 
 letters to his Minister, without being struck by the 
 fact that his sagacity and firmness counted for a good 
 deal in the diplomatic triumphs of France at the 
 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 1 CotTespondance de Talleyrand et de Louis XVIII, p. 71. 
 
 1 Ibid., p. 83.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 News of Napoleon's landing arrives in France — Preparations for de- 
 fence — The Due d'Orleans — The King's attitude— Ney's defection — 
 Blacas — Contradictory suggestions — Last efforts at rousing loyalty 
 — King's flight from Paris — The Due and Duchesse d'Angouleme — 
 King's journey : Abbeville, St. -Pol, Bethune, Lille — Failure of the 
 troops of the Maison du Roi — Disaffection of the Army — Lyons — 
 Ghent — Life there— The King's Ministers — the King's attitude — 
 Monsieur's attitude — Attitude of the Congress of Vienna — Advice to 
 the King from the Due d'Orleans, from Talleyrand, and from Guizot. 
 
 ON March 5th, 181 5, while the Baron de Vitrolles 
 was interviewing General Beurnonville in his 
 private room, he was told that Monsieur Chappe, the 
 Director of the Telegraph Department of the Post 
 Office, wished to speak to him at once. Chappe was 
 admitted ; and entered hot, out of breath, and evi- 
 dently in a great state of excitement, with a sealed 
 telegram in his hand. The General retired out of 
 hearing, and, in the words of Vitrolles : * 
 
 " I looked for you in your bureau at the Tuileries," 
 said Chappe to me in a low voice ; " and, not finding 
 you there, I wanted to give this telegram at once to 
 the King, but I was sent to you." 
 
 " Of course," I answered. " Is not that always 
 done ? " 
 
 " Certainly, certainly ! But this is of such pressing 
 importance." 
 
 " But what news does it contain ? " 
 
 1 Memoires du Baron de Vitrolles, vol. ii. p. 283. 
 
 240
 
 News of Napoleon's Landing 241 
 
 He remembered suddenly that he ought not to 
 know, and that only the transcriber should be let 
 into the secret. 
 
 " I do not know," he said ; " but the transcriber 
 told me that it was most important." 
 
 Vitrolles wondered whether some accident had 
 happened to the Due and Duchesse d'Angouleme 
 in their journey to Bordeaux ; and as the news 
 contained in the telegram was not likely to be agree- 
 able, he decided that he would hand it unopened to 
 the King. 
 
 " I went at once," says Vitrolles. " Going in to the 
 King I told him that Chappe's excitement, and the 
 importance he seemed to attach to this telegram, had 
 made me think that I had better leave the King to 
 open it. The gout, at this time, had crippled his 
 hands rather badly ; he tore apart the seal awkwardly, 
 and taking hold as best he could of the telegram in 
 its envelope, he held it out for me to draw the envelope 
 away from it. I turned slowly to throw the paper into 
 the fireplace behind me ; then, standing again behind 
 the table and opposite the King, I waited during the 
 time that it took him to read the two or three lines 
 which composed it. He remained with his eyes fixed 
 on the paper much longer than was necessary for 
 reading it ; then he threw it on the table. 
 
 " You do not know what it contains ? " he said. 
 
 " No, Sire, I do not know." 
 
 " It is to say," he answered in a voice which had not 
 altered, u that Bonaparte has landed on the coast of 
 Provence." 
 
 Thus arrived the great news of Napoleon's desperate 
 attempt to reseat himself on the throne of France. It 
 was necessary that measures for defence should be 
 
 16
 
 242 Louis XVIII 
 
 taken at once, and it was therefore settled that Mon- 
 sieur should start the next day for Lyons, where, 
 seconded by Marechal Macdonald and accompanied by 
 the Due d'Orleans, he should march towards the 
 enemy ; meanwhile the Due d'Angouleme was to 
 assemble troops in Languedoc, and the Due de Berry 
 would take command of the garrisons of Lorraine and 
 of Alsace, so that Monsieur would be supported both 
 on the right and on the left. 
 
 Whether or no the King knew of the plot formed 
 by Fouche, by which, after having been asked to sub- 
 scribe to certain conditions which it was thought he 
 must certainly refuse, he and his family were to be 
 turned out of Paris and the Due d'Orleans made King 
 in his stead, he was sagacious enough to realise that 
 the Orleans danger was almost more serious to the 
 elder branch of the Bourbon Family, than was Napoleon's 
 attempt to reinstate himself as Master of France. He 
 was, therefore, determined to keep his cousin under 
 supervision, and in at least apparent unity with his 
 own cause ; and he sent Blacas to him at eleven o'clock 
 that night. The Due d'Orleans was in the drawing- 
 room, but came out to the antechamber to speak to 
 the King's messenger, who said mysteriously and in a 
 low voice : 
 
 " The King wishes to see Monseigneur at once." 
 
 " I will put on my uniform and go to the King," 
 answered the Duke. 
 
 " No," said Blacas, " that is not necessary. The 
 King wants to see you just as you are ; and if you 
 will allow it, I am to have the honour of taking you 
 in my carriage." 
 
 " What ! ' cried the Duke, " a frock coat at the 
 Tuileries ! That will indeed cause gossip in Paris."
 
 The Due d'Orleans 243 
 
 " That does not matter," answered Blacas. 1 
 
 The emergency was indeed serious which would 
 cause Louis XVIII to permit so grave a breach of 
 etiquette. The King received the Duke with his 
 usual calmness, and made little of the danger ; but 
 the future Louis Philippe felt a strong dislike to 
 acting under the leadership of the incapable Monsieur. 
 
 " I think," he objected, " that I should be more 
 useful to your Majesty if 1 were to occupy myself 
 in raising a body of troops between Paris and Lyons, 
 in case of an emergency." 
 
 " Not at all," answered the King, interrupting him 
 rather drily. " You will be much more useful with 
 my brother, who will give you a division, or a body 
 of troops to command — at any rate, something ; what- 
 ever he likes." 
 
 "And your Majesty is not nervous at being left 
 alone at Paris ? For, in your present state, not able 
 to move from this armchair, it seems to me that it 
 would be very desirable for you to have one of the 
 Princes near you, and I should be very happy if you 
 would deign to allow me the post." 
 
 " I am very much obliged to you," said the King ; 
 " but I do not require anybody, and it will be better 
 for you to go to Lyons. I do not say that you will 
 start to-day ; but get ready, and come again to see 
 me to-morrow morning." 2 
 
 However, next day the Duke learnt, to his intense 
 relief, that he was not to go alone with Monsieur, but 
 that Marechal Macdonald was to accompany them ; 
 though he was indignant at hearing that he was not to 
 be allowed a Marshal in attendance on him, as were 
 
 1 Journal de Louis Philippe (1815), p. 3. 
 * Ibid., p. 8.
 
 244 Louis XVIII 
 
 all the other Princes ; in fact, that he was, as he 
 expressed the matter sarcastically, to go merely as 
 Monsieur's aide-de-camp. 
 
 " Oh, surely not," said Blacas. " Monsieur will 
 employ Monseigneur in a suitable manner." 
 
 " But how do you expect him to employ me, my 
 dear Count, when there are no troops ? " l cried the 
 Duke impatiently. 
 
 The Moniteur of March 7, which announced the 
 departure of Monsieur and of his unwilling kinsman, 
 convoked the Chambers at once ; while a Royal Order 
 declared " Napoleon Bonaparte to be a traitor and a 
 rebel," and threatened those who attached themselves 
 to his standard, or did not oppose his progress, with 
 condign punishment as privy to his rebellion. 
 
 Two days later the King from his balcony saw the 
 garrison and the National Guard of Paris pass in review 
 before him. He was apparently calm and confident. 
 "I have at once taken the measures which I judge 
 best adapted to make him [Napoleon] repent, and I 
 count with confidence on their success," 2 he wrote 
 to Talleyrand on March 7th. Possibly this equanimity 
 was in part assumed ; as, while Napoleon marched 
 triumphantly through the country and regiment after 
 regiment deserted to him, the newspapers — among 
 them the King's official organ, the Moniteur — 
 invented stories of the irritation felt against him by 
 the populace, and of the ill-success of his enterprise. 
 " The Brigand of the Island of Elba," " The Corsican 
 Ogre," "The Cowardly Assassin of the Due d'Enghien," 
 such were some of the epithets used to describe the 
 man on whom a short time earlier the press had 
 
 1 Journal de Louis Philippe, p. 15. 
 
 2 Correspondance inedite de Talleyrand et de Louis XVIII, p. 316.
 
 Ney's Defection 245 
 
 showered the most fulsome praise; while the Muni- 
 cipal Council of Paris declared itself ready " to perish 
 at the foot of the throne to defend its King, at the feet 
 of Louis le Desire to defend its Father." 
 
 The moderate Constitutional party, which formed 
 the bulk of the nation, were in truth much dismayed 
 by Napoleon's incursion ; for though discontented with 
 the Bourbon Government, which one of them termed 
 a " fatherly anarchy," they had no desire to return to 
 the military despotism of Napoleon. 
 
 However, Napoleon's strength was irresistible, and 
 Monsieur and the Due d'Orleans were obliged by 
 the defection of their troops to leave Lyons in a 
 hurry, when the town was at once occupied by the 
 invader, who issued from there decrees annulling 
 all that had been done since Louis XVI II had come 
 to the throne. In vain did the King publish proclama- 
 tion after proclamation to the nation and to the Army, 
 at first couched in grandiose terms, at last almost 
 imploring. 
 
 Soon tidings arrived of a terrible misfortune. The 
 Marechal Ney, who had gone into Franche-Comte 
 to meet Napoleon, promising the King that he would 
 bring him back in an iron cage, deserted to his former 
 master. News of his defection was brought to the King 
 at six o'clock in the morning, by Monsieur de Bour- 
 mont, who had great difficulty in penetrating to Louis 
 XVIII at this early hour. On hearing it, the King, who, 
 as we know, very seldom showed any emotion, seemed 
 confounded, and for the time lost courage. It was 
 only five days earlier that he had seen Ney almost 
 kneeling before him, while he swore allegiance to the 
 Bourbon cause, and protested his zeal in the most 
 moving terms. The King begged Bourmont to be
 
 246 Louis XVIII 
 
 most careful to keep the news of Ney's treachery a 
 secret as long as possible. 1 
 
 This was a most necessary precaution, for Paris 
 was distracted and in the utmost confusion, while 
 the most contrary, and often the most extraordinary 
 plans, were proposed, discussed, and dismissed. Sus- 
 picions of the wildest nature were in circulation ; 
 nothing seemed impossible in this strangely disturbed 
 time ; and the Marechal Soult, Minister for War, and 
 Dandre, Head of the Police, were both accused of 
 treachery. Strange to relate, Monsieur and the ultra- 
 Royalists had fixed their hopes on the regicide and 
 traitorous Fouche, Due d'Otrante ; and they approached 
 him with a view to obtaining his opinion, and possibly 
 his support. He is said to have answered : " Save the 
 King, and I will save the Monarchy." It was already 
 apparent that Louis XVIII would be forced to leave 
 Paris, and many and tumultuous were the Councils 
 which were held in Blacas' room at the Tuileries. He, 
 tall, cold, and impassible, was generally the intermediary 
 between the King — who was still laid up with gout, 
 which always began with an attack of fever — and the 
 outside world ; and was detested by every one. One of 
 his enemies writes of his " great reserve, which showed 
 itself in insupportable arrogance, his tall figure, long 
 in the body and short in the legs, the regular, cold, 
 dried-up features of his pallid face, which was never 
 unwrinkled, his head totally bald and covered by too 
 fair a wig." 2 
 
 He seems to have been honest and upright, though 
 not very able ; and he was sincerely attached to the 
 King, and anxious to follow in the course marked out 
 
 1 Souvenirs dn Baron de Barante, vol. ii. p. 107. 
 
 2 Memoires du Baron de Vitrolles, vol. ii. p. 203.
 
 Blacas 247 
 
 for him by his friend d'Avaray, but he found himself 
 in an impossible, even a ridiculous position. The post 
 of Royal favourite had been almost out of date in 
 Louis XIV's time, and a constitutional monarch 
 with such an appendage was an impossibility. How- 
 ever, for the present Blacas struggled with the task 
 imposed upon him, while his unfortunate manner em- 
 bittered relations between him and the outside world, 
 even more than was necessitated by the anomaly of his 
 post as Louis XVIII' s unofficial confidential adviser on 
 every subject. 
 
 Many and contradictory were the suggestions which 
 besieged his ears as to the proper course for the King 
 to follow, in the now almost certain case that Napoleon 
 would enter Paris. Vitrolles wished Louis XVIII to 
 retire to La Rochelle, where he would be surrounded 
 by the faithful Royalists of Bretagne and of La 
 Vendee ; while Montesquiou objected that the King 
 would thus identify himself completely with the 
 ultra-Royalist party, and institute himself King of 
 La Vendee instead of King of France. The Marechal 
 de Marmont, on the other hand, considered that Louis 
 XVIII should not leave Paris, but should fortify the 
 Tuileries and remain there ; while Blacas' contribu- 
 tion to the various views expressed by different 
 members of the Council, was to the effect that the 
 King should wait quietly for the arrival of the Emperor, 
 and that when he heard that his enemy was within a 
 few miles from Paris, he should drive out to meet him 
 in an open carriage, accompanied by Blacas, his First 
 Gentleman of the Chamber, and his Captain of the 
 Guards, and surrounded by the members of the 
 Chamber of Deputies on horseback. It was evidently 
 expected by Blacas that Napoleon would be so much
 
 248 Louis XVIII 
 
 impressed by this imposing spectacle that he would 
 return abashed and confounded to the island of Elba ! 
 
 An intelligent passivity appears to have been 
 Louis XVI II 's role at this time ; he listened to every 
 one, and generally gave but little sign of approval or of 
 disapproval as the different projects were submitted to 
 him. " This impassibility seemed to him one of the 
 principal attributes of Royalty," l says Vitrolles. How- 
 ever this may have been, it was a most useful asset 
 politically, and stood the King in better stead than the 
 utmost activity would have done, unless directed by 
 the brain of a genius. It is amusing to read how the 
 lively, intriguing Vitrolles, whom the King appears to 
 have liked, and to whom he certainly owed a debt of 
 gratitude, was foiled when he advised courses which 
 would certainly have brought about a civil war in 
 France. This was done, not by open opposition, but 
 by a prudence which did not reveal anything better 
 left unsaid ; and by which the King, while never 
 apparently opposing any measure proposed, and thus 
 becoming cognisant of all, only answered Vitrolles' 
 pressing instances for help in some measure to which 
 he himself seemed favourable, " with a smile and a 
 caressing look." To quote from Vitrolles : " ' You will 
 arrange it beautifully,' he said to me." Whereas, as 
 he no doubt knew very well, and as Vitrolles felt 
 indignantly, one word from him to his Minister 
 would have arranged the matter once for all. 
 
 In deference to the popular clamour, the King 
 accepted Soult's resignation as Minister for War, and 
 put the Due de Feltre in his place, though he told 
 Soult that he felt perfectly confident of his loyalty, 
 and knew that his sword would never be drawn 
 
 1 Metnoires dn Baron de Vitrolles^ vol. iii. p. 161.
 
 Napoleon Approaches Paris 249 
 
 except in the Royal cause — a prophecy which was 
 unfortunately incorrect. 
 
 Meanwhile, Napoleon was drawing ever closer to 
 Paris, and it was noticed that the King began to 
 show signs of anxiety and trouble, that his eyes were 
 sometimes red, and he looked as though the blood had 
 gone to his head. This agitation only lasted a few days, 
 and he then recovered his serenity, and seemed resolved 
 to bear with equanimity whatever fate might have in 
 store for him. 
 
 Matters, indeed, seemed almost desperate, and, in 
 a last attempt to rouse the nation's loyalty, a Royal 
 seance was held, to which both Chambers were sum- 
 moned, as well as the Staffs of the 1st Military 
 Division and of the National Guard. Brandy had 
 been distributed among the troops lining the streets 
 from the Tuileries to the Palais-Bourbon, but they 
 allowed the King to pass in almost total silence. 
 
 He was wearing for the first time the medal of the 
 Legion of Honour, and pointed this out to the Due 
 d'Orleans, who accompanied him. 
 
 " Do you see this, Sir ? " he asked. 
 
 " Yes, Sire," answered the Due d'Orleans : " I see it 
 with pleasure. It is true that I should have liked to 
 see it sooner ; but, at any rate, Sire, c mieux vaut tard 
 que jamais.' " 1 
 
 In the Palais de Bourbon the King spoke with his 
 usual eloquence, saying that he had come to tighten the 
 bonds existing between him and his people, whom he 
 had reconciled with the rest of Europe, and for whose 
 happiness he had worked in the past, and still continued 
 to work. " Could I at sixty years of age finish my 
 career better than in dying for my people ? " he said ; 
 
 1 Journal tie Louis Philippe (1815), p. 127.
 
 2 so Louis XVIII 
 
 " I do not fear anything for myself, but I fear for 
 France. The man who comes to light among us the 
 torch of civil war brings also the scourge of foreign 
 war ; he comes indeed to destroy the Constitutional 
 Charter which I have given you, my finest title in the 
 eyes of posterity ; that Charter which is cherished by 
 all Frenchmen, and which I here swear to maintain." 
 
 The King's oration was received with much applause, 
 and every one promised to be faithful to him till death, 
 while in the midst of the tumult Monsieur came 
 forward to swear allegiance to the King, and to the 
 Constitutional Charter, and the two brothers embraced 
 amidst general emotion. 
 
 However, it was evident that the end was very near, 
 and many anxious discussions were held as to the way 
 in which the King's escape should be most safely 
 managed. The King laughed heartily when, on the 
 idea being mooted that he should go in a chaise a 
 porteur to a hackney coach, and thence to his travelling 
 carriage, which was to wait in some distant part of 
 Paris, or even outside it, the Due de Berry objected : 
 " But where will you find a chaise a porteur big 
 enough, and two men strong enough, to carry the 
 King ? " l 
 
 As the Emperor approached Paris, the army at 
 Fontainebleau began to desert ; and it was apparent 
 that unless the King wished to become a prisoner, he 
 must at once fly. Therefore, on the night of March 
 19th, 1 815, Louis XVIII walked painfully out of the 
 Tuileries, supported by Blacas and by the Due de 
 Duras. He had been most anxious to remain in 
 Paris, but had at last yielded to reiterated advice ; 
 that of the Due d'Orleans taking the form of telling 
 1 Souvenirs du Marechal Macdonald, p. 365.
 
 His Flight from Paris 251 
 
 him that a bon-mot was in circulation, to the effect that 
 if, as reported, the King's intentions were to remain 
 in his armchair when Napoleon entered Paris, " the 
 victim would be greater than the executioner." l 
 Such was the popular reputation of the murderer of 
 the Due d'Enghien. 
 
 As the King went out of the Tuileries, he whis- 
 pered to Jaucourt, who was acting as Foreign Minister 
 during Talleyrand's absence at Vienna, " Inform my 
 Ministers that I am going to Lille, and that I wish 
 them to assemble there. Tell the Ambassadors that I 
 shall be charmed to see them at Lille ; but that it is 
 quite allowable for them to go to their respective 
 Courts, should they prefer to do so." 2 
 
 In making the North of France his destination, the 
 King was following Talleyrand's advice from Vienna, 
 where the Congress was still sitting ; while Lille was 
 especially recommended by Marechal Macdonald, as a 
 town whose loyalty was likely to remain unshaken. 
 The start from the Tuileries was made at midnight, in 
 pouring rain, and Blacas was in so great a hurry, that 
 to Talleyrand's horror he left behind him some impor- 
 tant and compromising papers. Blacas did not on this 
 emergency cover himself with glory, as he failed to 
 make arrangements for providing the King with money 
 on the journey, so that, as Jaucourt remarked indig- 
 nantly, the fugitives were " without a penny," and he 
 added that he could fill ten pages on the subject of 
 Morsieur de Blacas' follies ! 
 
 The King had not departed sooner than was abso- 
 lutely necessary, for on the evening of the 20th Napoleon 
 entered Paris and took possession of the Tuileries, 
 
 1 Journal de Louis Philippe (1815), p. 114. 
 
 3 Currespondance incdite de Talleyrand et de Louis XVIII, p. 360.
 
 25 2 Louis XVIII 
 
 which had been vacated by the King less than twenty- 
 four hours earlier. Since his landing near Cannes 
 on March ist, it had taken Napoleon just under three 
 weeks to make his way to the capital of the country ; 
 and he had fought no battles, and encountered no 
 serious opposition on the way. Even in Bordeaux — 
 only a year ago so loyal to the Bourbons — the army 
 had deserted to the enemy ; and Madame, who had 
 bravely interviewed the soldiers in their barracks, and 
 had earned from Napoleon the commendation of being 
 " the only man of her family," renounced her vain 
 attempt to rally the troops to the Bourbon cause, and 
 retired discomfited and disappointed to England. 
 
 The Due d'Angouleme was, however, doing his best 
 to show that Napoleon's contempt of his family was 
 unmerited ; for he was fighting bravely in the centre of 
 France, in the hope of gaining possession of Lyons. 
 Eventually he too was obliged to retreat ; and, to the 
 intense anxiety of the Royalists, was taken prisoner by 
 Napoleon, who, however, sent him to the port of Cette, 
 whence he embarked for Spain. 
 
 Meanwhile, the King arrived at Abbeville, where 
 nothing had been arranged for his reception, but where 
 he had determined to wait for Monsieur and for his 
 Household Troops. This privileged body, however, 
 being mainly ornamental and not adapted for emergen- 
 cies, was in much confusion ; and Marechal Macdonald 
 met them on their way, some leading their horses, some 
 in carts, and some carrying their portmanteaux — 
 looking, in fact, like " a rout after defeat." * He there- 
 fore advised the King not to wait for them ; especially 
 as telegraphic communication with Paris had not been 
 interrupted, and Napoleon might arrive there at any 
 
 1 Souvenirs du Marechal Macdonald, p. 369.
 
 His Journey through France 253 
 
 moment, and would be at once informed of the King's 
 movements. But Louis XVIII, who was as calm as 
 though he had been in the Tuileries, insisted that he 
 must have his dinner before leaving Abbeville. 
 
 At Saint-Pol, and at Bethune, the King was greeted 
 with the utmost enthusiasm ; at the latter place, where 
 he arrived at five in the morning, the toilettes of 
 the people, who thronged to see him, were in a most 
 unfinished condition, and the " sous-prefet " appeared 
 at the carriage door " with one leg half bare, feet in 
 slippers, his coat under his arm, waistcoat and shirt 
 unbuttoned, and hat on his head ! He was not able to 
 take it off" because his hands were occupied with his 
 sword, and with his cravat, which he was vainly trying 
 to tie round his neck." l 
 
 At Lille, where the King arrived at about twelve 
 o'clock on March 22nd, and which he intended to make 
 the seat of his Government, the inhabitants received 
 him with acclamations ; but the troops lining the 
 streets were gloomily silent, and kept their eyes fixed 
 on the ground as though they did not see the King's 
 carriage. 2 The King was much struck by their aspect, 
 and remarked on it when he arrived at the house of the 
 Mayor, which had been prepared for his use. In the 
 evening, a Council was held, at which the Due 
 d'Orleans, who had arrived at Lille the day before, the 
 King, Blacas, and the Marshals Macdonald, Berthier, 
 and Mortier, were present. A letter was read from 
 Monsieur, in which he said that the famous Household 
 Troops, or "Maison du Roi," which it must be remem- 
 bered had been formed to be the great bulwark of 
 Royalty in times of revolution, were in such confusion 
 
 1 Souvenirs du Marechal Macdonald, p. 372. 
 1 Journal de Louis Philippe (181 5), p. 214.
 
 254 Louis XVIII 
 
 that he had resolved to disband them ; and that he 
 and his sons would at once embark at Treport, or at 
 Dieppe, and would join the King in England or on 
 the Continent. 
 
 This letter had crossed one from the King to 
 Monsieur, ordering his brother to bring the troops 
 of the " Maison du Roi " to join him at Lille, and 
 the discussion turned on the question of Monsieur's 
 most likely course. At the same time news arrived 
 from Paris of Napoleon's imminent arrival, and it 
 was the general opinion of the Council that in view 
 of the evidently disloyal condition of the troops, it 
 would not be safe for the King to remain in Lille ; 
 but to the suggestion, strongly urged by the Due 
 d'Orleans, that the King should leave secretly that 
 night, the Marshal Macdonald objected that it would 
 not be dignified for him to fly from a place where 
 he had announced his intention of setting up his 
 Government. Blacas went at eleven o'clock that night 
 to put this view of the matter before the King, and 
 found him in his shirt shaving. Blacas submitted the 
 Marshal's suggestion to him, and he put down the 
 razor, and said, with a perhaps excusable oath ; " Why 
 do they change their opinion every moment, and 
 prevent me from either starting or going to bed ? " 
 
 The poor King was extremely uncomfortable at this 
 time, for his portmanteau, containing six shirts, a 
 dressing-gown, and some slippers of which he was 
 particularly fond, had been stolen on the way from 
 Paris, and he had now no change of linen. " They 
 have taken my shirts, and before then I had not very 
 many," he complained to Marshal Macdonald. Then 
 he added sadly, " I regret even more the loss of my 
 slippers ; you will know one day, my dear Marechal,
 
 He Arrives at Ghent 255 
 
 what it is to lose slippers which have taken the form 
 of one's feet." 1 
 
 The old Prince de Conde had just arrived, and 
 made a slight diversion by asking whether, as next day 
 was the Thursday in Holy Week, the King intended 
 to observe the Ceremony of the Washing of Feet, a 
 question at which even the King could hardly help 
 laughing. 
 
 Early next morning news came of the organisation 
 of Napoleon's Government, and the King decided that 
 instead of moving to Dunkirk as had been proposed, 
 because it could easily be fortified, and it would be 
 possible in case of necessity to cross from there to 
 England, it would be wisest to go into Belgium ; where 
 the Prince of Orange had already offered the Due 
 d'Orleans the assistance of the Allied Army for the 
 Bourbon cause. 
 
 The King left Lyons at about three in the afternoon, 
 and on his way to the frontier town of Menin, he was 
 much touched by seeing the inhabitants of the villages 
 through which he passed, kneel in the mud imploring 
 him not to desert them. He often spoke with pleasure 
 afterwards of this proof of their affection for him. 
 
 The Due d'Orleans was left in Lyons, and the King 
 parted from the Marechal Macdonald at the frontier ; 
 but when he arrived at Ghent he found Monsieur and the 
 Due de Berry waiting to receive him. On March 30th 
 he entered the town, dressed in a sky-blue coat, and 
 sitting in a state carriage drawn by six horses, and 
 drove to the Hotel d'Hane de Steenhuyse, which had 
 been placed at his disposal. 
 
 The mansion is in the middle of the town, and 
 contains several fine works of art. The suite in it 
 
 1 Souvenirs du Marechal Macdonald, p. 376.
 
 256 Louis XVIII 
 
 occupied by the King consisted of five rooms : two 
 drawing-rooms — one of them with a magnificent floor 
 of Italian marquetry — a dining-room, bedroom, and 
 audience-chamber. The rest of the Royal Family took 
 up their abode in different houses in the town. The 
 Comte d'Artois paid a thousand francs a day for his 
 own accommodation and that of his suite at the Hotel 
 des Pays-Bas ; and the Duchesse d'Angouleme, who 
 came several times to Ghent during Louis XVIII's 
 stay there, occupied a house near the King in the 
 rue des Champs. Before long all the King's Ministers 
 had made their way to Ghent — the Due de Feltre, 
 Minister of War, Monsieur de Jaucourt, Foreign 
 Minister during Talleyrand's absence, the Grand 
 Chancellor Dambray, l'Abbe Louis, and Monsieur 
 Beugnot. The Abb6 de Montesquiou was in London, 
 and Louis XVIII sent for Monsieur de Chateaubriand 
 to occupy his place temporarily as Minister of the 
 Interior. The eminent writer must have been rather 
 an alarming colleague, as he evidently considered it 
 necessary to be prepared for all possible contingencies, 
 and appeared at the Councils with a huge Damascus 
 sabre hanging from his side on a long red cord. 1 To 
 the King's satisfaction all the foreign Powers sent their 
 Ambassadors to Ghent, thus refusing to recognise 
 Napoleon's usurpation of the government. Pozzo di 
 Borgo, who represented Russia, wrote : " My arrival 
 here has been an angel's apparition, though I do not 
 pretend to be one." 2 
 
 The King got up every morning at six o'clock, and 
 went at once to his study. After working there, he 
 
 1 Memoires du Chancelier Pasgm'er, vol. iii. p. 327. 
 
 2 Correspondance de Pozzo di Borgo et de Nesselrode. Letter 5, 
 April 17, 181 5.
 
 Life at Ghent 257 
 
 heard Mass, and dejeuner followed at ten o'clock, while 
 in the afternoon he drove in a carriage drawn by six 
 horses round the ramparts of the town, whence there 
 were fine views of the surrounding country. He 
 followed this recreation by a Council of his Ministers, 
 who lodged in different houses in the town, dined 
 at three francs a head, and none of them, except 
 the Due de Feltre, kept a carriage. Their chief dissi- 
 pation seems to have been an occasional expedition 
 to a particular inn in the country, where they feasted 
 on an enormous dish of the delicate white fish for 
 which Ghent was noted. 
 
 Sometimes they were invited to dine with the King, 
 when he did the honours " with the politeness of the 
 Old Court, and with the personal grace which dis- 
 tinguished him." 1 At each course he offered his 
 visitors some of the dish before him, taking the oppor- 
 tunity of looking round the table with a kindly glance 
 and a few gracious words to each. He carved the joint 
 with rare dexterity, and " as though in his youth he 
 had practised himself in the art of executing the smallest 
 details with elegance." 
 
 He was in truth on all occasions a King. " His 
 misfortunes never wrung from him the smallest con- 
 cession. His pride grew with his abasement ; his 
 diadem was his name. He seemed to say, ' Kill me, 
 you will not kill the centuries inscribed on my 
 forehead.' " 2 
 
 Nevertheless, in spite of his consciousness of his 
 own dignity, his apparent serenity, and his sense of the 
 humour of the situation, there must have been times 
 when a feeling of amazement overcame him, and he 
 
 1 Memoires die Comte Beugnot, vol. ii. p. 288. 
 
 a Chateaubriand, Memoires d'Oulre-Tombe, vol. iii.p. 458. 
 
 l 7
 
 25 8 Louis XVIII 
 
 was almost overwhelmed with the flood of new light 
 which poured in from all sides. For he was at an 
 almost unique juncture in the annals of Royalty, being 
 set aside for a while, and given breathing-space, while 
 the barrier which guarded him from the tongues of 
 the multitude was removed, and from his own country, 
 as well as from Europe at large, arrived criticism, 
 admonitions, blame, and advice. When he first came 
 to the throne he had known little or nothing of his 
 country ; and this is not surprising, as it was difficult 
 to learn much of the real trend of opinion in Imperial 
 France, crushed into apparent uniformity by the iron 
 rule of Napoleon ; and even when, under the weak 
 Government of the Restoration, clamorous voices 
 occasionally made themselves heard, the King had taken 
 credit to himself for the philosophy which accounted 
 without undue alarm for their discordance. 
 
 Now, however, the unlooked-for catastrophe had ar- 
 rived ; and after a time of doubt and bewilderment the 
 King began to learn his lesson. Other members of the 
 Royal Family were not so wise as he. Monsieur and 
 his followers were firm in their belief that the trouble 
 had been caused by the weakness of the Government. 
 " Well, my dear Beugnot," said his Royal Highness 
 to the Minister of Marine, " here we are, out again ; 
 and whose fault is it ? Can you this time blame my 
 principles, which were not followed, or my friends, who 
 were carefully kept at a distance. Come, be candid, 
 and say what you really think." 1 
 
 Monsieur's party, the " Pavilion Marsan," as they 
 were called, from the part of the Tuileries occupied 
 by the Prince, were strongly represented at Ghent ; 
 and they considered that Louis XVIII was preparing 
 
 1 Memoires du Comte Beugnot, vol. ii. p. 27 1 .
 
 From a lithograph by Delpeche. 
 
 JOSEPH FOUCHE, DUC D'OTRAXTE. 
 
 p. 258]
 
 Contending Views at Ghent 259 
 
 to follow in the footsteps of the unfortunate Louis XVI, 
 and would lose his crown by making unwise con- 
 cessions. This Monsieur was determined, for his 
 children's sake as well as his own, to prevent at all 
 hazards ; and as he and the other members of the 
 Royal Family were intensely jealous of Blacas, and 
 very probably quite sincerely considered his advice 
 pernicious, they besieged the King with prayers for 
 his removal from his position as Master of the 
 " Maison du Roi," and if possible his exile from 
 France. 
 
 It is curious to see that while the ultra-Royalists 
 wished to destroy a man whose tenets were practically 
 their own, their hopes still centred on the regicide 
 Fouche, who was now chief of Napoleon's Govern- 
 ment, but who had already realised that it was 
 not likely to be durable, and despatched Monsieur 
 Gaillard to Ghent to negotiate with Monsieur for 
 the return of the Bourbons. Fouche's tactics were 
 as usual devious, for at the same time his agents had 
 gone to Basle to discuss with the Austrian Minister, 
 Prince Metternich, the possibility of putting Napoleon's 
 son in his father's place, and he had sent an envoy to 
 Vienna to propose the possibility of making the Due 
 d'Orleans King of France. 
 
 Everything in France was in confusion ; and even 
 from Vienna, where the Congress was still sitting, came 
 disquieting news. The Great Powers had heard with 
 dismay of Napoleon's landing on the shores of France, 
 and had at once drawn up a treaty by which each was 
 obliged to provide an army of 1 50,000 men, and to fight 
 till Napoleon Bonaparte and his adherents should be 
 definitely beaten. This was a terrible necessity, and the 
 assembled Sovereigns very naturally blamed Louis XVIII
 
 26o Louis XVIII 
 
 for the weakness and mistakes of his Government, 
 which had in their opinion compelled them to resort 
 to it, so that there was already talk at the Congress 
 of the possibility of substituting the Due d'Orleans for 
 his cousin as King of France. Talleyrand has been 
 accused of being secretly the instigator of this idea, 
 and the Due d'Orleans, who had now retired to 
 England, and had refused to obey the King's order 
 to come to Ghent, was certainly most flattering in 
 his expressions to Louis XVIII's Minister of Foreign 
 Affairs, telling Talleyrand that " there was no opinion 
 which he valued more than his, and no one whose 
 counsel he desired more earnestly, or to whom he 
 would be more disposed to defer." 1 The Due 
 d'Orleans was also careful to send Talleyrand the 
 advisory letters he had written to Louis XVIII, and 
 to make him the confidant of his grievances against 
 that Monarch, who had excluded the First Prince 
 of the Blood from his Council, and wished to treat 
 him as " a part of a procession, or as a hanging for 
 a wall ! " 
 
 The Due d'Orleans was a danger even more threaten- 
 ing than that of Napoleon's invasion, as well as infinitely 
 more galling to the King's pride ; and it must have 
 been a terrible blow to him when Talleyrand wrote 
 to tell him of an interview between Lord Clancarty 
 and the Czar, at which the latter, who had no special 
 cause for loving the Bourbons, mooted the possibility 
 of the Due d'Orleans being invested with the crown 
 of France ; but the English Minister fortunately refused 
 to entertain the proposition. 
 
 In the same letter, Talleyrand gave the King advice 
 and even instructions from the Powers on his political 
 
 1 Journal de Louis Philippe, 1 8 1 5. Letter to Talleyrand, April 23.
 
 The Orleans Danger 261 
 
 conduct. " It is considered very necessary that your 
 Majesty should set to work to rally all the parties 
 round himself, by assuring to them all without distinc- 
 tion the advantages of constitutional government. The 
 Powers consider that a Declaration from your Majesty 
 in this spirit, would be a powerful auxiliary to the 
 forces they intend to bring into the field. Several 
 of them wish also that your Majesty, throwing on 
 your Ministers the responsibility of any faults which 
 may have been committed, should form a new Ministry 
 as though you were in France, which should be com- 
 posed so that each party might find in it the 
 guarantees they may require. I have been asked to 
 write about this to your Majesty." * Further advice, 
 of which the Czar seems to have been the mouth- 
 piece, treated of the danger of allowing Monsieur 
 and his sons a voice in the Government, and of the 
 necessity of getting rid of Monsieur de Blacas, who 
 is spoken of as " the person who is most in your 
 Majesty's confidence." 
 
 As a result of this letter, the King, who had good 
 cause for distrusting Talleyrand, ordered him to come 
 at once to Ghent ; an order which he refused to obey. 
 
 The tone of the letters the King received from the 
 Due d'Orleans, who showed as great a reluctance as 
 did Talleyrand to associate himself with the Royal 
 policy by going to Ghent, which he evidently looked 
 upon as a second Coblentz infested by Emigres, must 
 have been even more trying to bear. 
 
 For the Due d'Orleans set himself up as mentor 
 to his cousin, and gave him much advice, which was 
 no doubt excellent, discoursing on the dangers of 
 
 1 Talleyrand Correspondence. Letter to Louis XV I II, April 23, 
 1815.
 
 262 Louis XVIII 
 
 being surrounded by Emigres, or of entering France 
 with the Allied Armies, as had been done in 1792 ; 
 and begging him to conciliate the Army, instead of 
 employing a separate body such as the " Maison du 
 Roi ' for the defence of the Monarchy ; while he per- 
 sisted in remaining at Twickenham, so that the King 
 was deprived of the support of his presence at Ghent. 
 
 Compared with the counsel lavished on Louis XVIII 
 by his young cousin, Guizot's recommendations must 
 have been palatable. He was sent to Ghent as an envoy 
 from the moderate Royalists, who were grouped around 
 Royer-Collard, and were determined to express to the 
 King their views of the political situation, and to 
 inculcate on him the necessity of persevering in con- 
 stitutional rule, and of accepting frankly the new 
 conditions of French society. Guizot was in addition 
 specially charged to beg the King to send away 
 Blacas, and to associate Talleyrand with his Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Ghent was not, after all, a second Coblentz, and 
 when Guizot arrived there, he found that many of 
 the Ministers, Jaucourt, Louis, and Beugnot among the 
 number, were quite of the same mind as he, and were 
 most anxious for government according to the Charter. 
 The King granted him an audience, and he says : 
 " Two things are deeply imprinted on my mind, the 
 helplessness, and the dignity of the King ; there was 
 in the attitude and look of this immovable old man, 
 who seemed as though nailed to his armchair, a lofty 
 serenity, and in the midst of his weakness, a tranquil 
 confidence in the power of his name and of his rights, 
 with which I was struck and touched." x 
 
 Guizot spoke plainly to the King about the weakness 
 1 Guizot, MemoireSy vol. i. p. 85.
 
 Advice Lavished on Him 263 
 
 and inconsistency of the Government, which would, he 
 said, prevent its durability ; and the King, to whom 
 this must have been a very old story, answered nothing. 
 But when Guizot attacked Blacas, he said : " I will 
 keep to everything I have promised in the Charter, 
 but names have nothing to do with it ; what can the 
 friends I have in my palace matter to France, as long as 
 no unsuitable measures are passed there ? Speak to me 
 of more serious causes for alarm." Then Guizot 
 referred to the disquietude of the Protestants in the 
 South of France, who had been subjected to violence by 
 the ultra-Royalists, and the King said : " That is very 
 bad ; I will do what may be necessary to prevent it " ; 
 adding, however, with a certain pertinence, " but I 
 cannot prevent everything ; I cannot be at the same 
 time a constitutional and an absolute King." 
 
 Louis XVIII seemed to Guizot to be intelligent and 
 impartial, to take a just but superficial view of things ; 
 but, though subtle in his dealings with people and 
 careful of appearances, to be little interested in or 
 instructed about what was below the surface of things, 
 and " almost equally incapable of the mistakes which 
 ruin, as of the successes which found the future of a 
 Royal race."
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 Quatre-Bras — Waterloo— Louis XVIII leaves Ghent — Arrival at Mons 
 — Parting from Blacas — Talleyrand — Proclamation of Cateau- 
 Cambresis — Summons Talleyrand to Cambrai — Proclamation of 
 Cambrai — Vitrolles, Talleyrand, Fouche — Fouch6 made Chief 
 Minister of Police — Louis XVIII's entry into Paris — King's senti- 
 ments on Constitutional Government — New Cabinet — Decazes — 
 Hardships inflicted by Allies — Louis XVIII's courage — Ultra- 
 Royalist Chamber — The Terreur Blanche — Fouche's fall — Talley- 
 rand's fall — The Due de Richelieu becomes head of Cabinet — 
 His character. 
 
 TOWARDS the middle of June, matters at Ghent 
 became unpleasantly exciting. On the 15th, the 
 King received news that Napoleon had crossed the 
 frontier with his army on his way to meet the English, 
 Prussian, and Belgian troops, and a day or two later 
 a general panic was caused in the town by the news 
 of his victory over the Allies at Quatre-Bras. Many 
 of the French fugitives left Ghent in alarm, but the 
 King, though surrounded by people who implored him 
 to fly, was perfectly calm. " Messieurs," he said, 
 il I have heard nothing officially ; if the misfortune had 
 been as great as you say it is, I should have been 
 warned. I shall not move from here unless I am 
 forced to do so by the most imminent necessity ; let 
 those who are frightened go." x 
 
 However, in the middle of the day on June 1 8th, 
 Chateaubriand made his way out of Ghent by the 
 
 1 Memoires du Comte de Rochechouart, p. 393. 
 
 264
 
 The Battle of Waterloo 265 
 
 Brussels gate to take a solitary stroll. He had the 
 Commentaries of Caesar with him, and was deep in his 
 book, when he was disturbed by a dull sound which 
 seemed like distant thunder. He stopped for a 
 moment to listen, but heard nothing. " I continued 
 my way," he says, " and had not taken thirty steps 
 before the rolling sound began again, sometimes in 
 short reverberations, sometimes long and at unequal 
 intervals ; and occasionally nothing could be distin- 
 guished but a quiver in the air, which was communi- 
 cated to the earth of these immense plains, so far off 
 was it. These detonations, not being as vast, as un- 
 dulating, nor as consecutive as those of thunder, made 
 me think of a battle. I was near a poplar, planted at 
 the corner of a field of hops, and I leant against the 
 trunk of the tree with my face turned towards Brussels. 
 A south wind had risen, and wafted to me distinctly 
 the sound of artillery. This great battle, yet nameless, 
 the echoes of which I heard at the foot of a poplar, and 
 of which a village clock had just sounded the knell, 
 was the battle of Waterloo." a 
 
 In the evening a fresh panic was caused at Ghent, by 
 the news arriving from Brussels that crowds of wounded 
 were coming into the town. Louis XVIII was much 
 agitated ; anxiety and excitement seemed to have given 
 him strength and power of movement, and he paced to 
 and fro, going from time to time to the window to 
 listen for the expected courier. 2 What had happened ? 
 Was he doomed to become once more an exile and 
 wanderer ? 
 
 Late that night the news of Wellington's great 
 victory reached him, and he slept in peace ; while next 
 
 1 Memoires d'Outrc-Totnbe, p. 497. 
 8 See Houssaye, 1815, p. 132.
 
 266 Louis XVIII 
 
 day came a letter from Pozzo di Borgo, the Russian 
 Minister, advising the King to move at once to Paris, 
 if he wished to make certain of the crown of France. 
 This advice the King determined to follow in preference 
 to that of Talleyrand, who, possibly with ulterior 
 motives, counselled him not to approach the capital till 
 he was certain of a favourable reception, but to establish 
 himself at Lyons, where he would be surrounded by a 
 friendly population. 
 
 Louis XVIII arrived at Mons, his first halting place, 
 in melancholy mood, for he had at last made up his 
 mind to dismiss Blacas, thus yielding, not only to the 
 earnest desire of the French nation and of the Royal 
 Family, but to the repeated instances of the Czar, 
 Nesselrode, Talleyrand, Pozzo di Borgo, Metternich, 
 and Wellington. Mons was to be the scene of the 
 parting, of which the favourite saw the necessity as 
 strongly as did his master, though he seemed naively 
 surprised at Talleyrand's mistaken dislike for him, and 
 said that he had always considered the Prince de 
 Benevent to be indispensable to his Master, and that 
 he could have worked very well with him. Though 
 Blacas appears never to have entirely filled the place 
 vacated by d'Avaray, the separation from him caused 
 Louis XVIII the utmost grief, and, feeling that he 
 owed much to his friend, he was most anxious to 
 show his gratitude. Therefore, besides making him a 
 rich man for life, he sent him as Ambassador to 
 Naples, whence he went to Rome to negotiate with the 
 Pope about the new Concordat, which Louis XVIII 
 hoped to substitute for Napoleon's Concordat of 1801. 
 Blacas went straight from his parting interview with 
 the King to the Due de Feltre, and told him with the 
 utmost emotion that, wishing above all things for the
 
 Parting with Blacas 267 
 
 happiness of his Master and of his country, and 
 fearing that even if he did not appear at the King's 
 Councils his presence might be hurtful to his Majesty, 
 he was retiring abroad, and would remain there till 
 justice was done to him by public opinion. " Ready 
 to sacrifice his life for the King, he did not hesitate 
 even to sacrifice his honour for him." x 
 
 When Beugnot spoke to Blacas of the isolation of 
 the King, and of his unhappiness when his friend 
 should have left him, Blacas answered : 
 
 M Ah, my poor Beugnot, you do not understand 
 what the friendship of a King is ; I am sure that in 
 a month from now he will be consoled." 
 
 Monsieur Beugnot laughed heartily when telling 
 the story. " He made a mistake," he said ; " he 
 made a mistake of twenty-seven days ! At the end 
 of three days there was no remembrance left of the 
 man who had enjoyed such great favour." 2 
 
 Monsieur Beugnot appears by this assertion to have 
 considered himself endowed with powers of an omni- 
 scient nature, for Louis XVIII was not a man who 
 wore his heart upon his sleeve. However, even if 
 the King did not find the separation from Blacas so 
 terrible as the parting from d'Avaray had been, in the 
 first freshness of his grief he was hardly likely to view 
 Talleyrand with an indulgent eye, for he considered 
 that he, working through the Duke of Wellington, 
 had been the principal instigator of Blacas' down- 
 fall. He also suspected Talleyrand of intriguing at 
 Vienna in the interests of the Due d'Orleans, and his 
 Foreign Minister had further increased his indignation 
 by refusing to obey his summons to come to him at 
 
 1 Rochechouart Memoires, p. 394. 
 
 * Memoires du Baron de Vitrolles, vol. iii. p. 101.
 
 268 Louis XVIII 
 
 Ghent, justifying his disobedience to the Royal com- 
 mands by a pretence of bad health, and the necessity 
 for a course of Carlsbad waters. " Talleyrand boasts," 
 Louis XVIII said bitterly, " of having put the crown 
 for the second time upon my head, and now threatens 
 to return to Germany." 1 
 
 Talleyrand, for his part, fresh from Vienna, where 
 he had seemed the most important person in Europe, 
 burst into violent anger when he spoke of Louis XVIII's 
 ingratitude and folly. He arrived at Mons the evening 
 before the King's departure, and while holding a 
 reception, at which he spoke most openly of his 
 grievances and of the mistakes of the Bourbon Govern- 
 ment, he refused to pay his respects to the King, and 
 when pressed to do so by his friends, said with 
 superb arrogance, " I am never in a hurry ; to-morrow 
 will be time enough." 2 He believed himself to 
 be indispensable, and apparently considered that Louis 
 XVIII would wait at Mons till he should choose 
 to go to see him. He was therefore absolutely in- 
 credulous when he heard that the King would, in 
 defiance of his advice, continue his journey to Paris 
 early next morning. " He will not dare ! " 3 he said 
 contemptuously. 
 
 However, Louis XVIII was never deficient in moral 
 courage, and at three in the morning Talleyrand was 
 awoken by the news that the King was starting. 
 According to the account given by Chateaubriand, 4 
 " he could not believe his ears." " Cheated ! betrayed ! ' 
 he cried. They get him up, and there he is for the 
 first time in his life, in the street at three o'clock in the 
 
 1 Chateaubriand, Memoires d'Outre-Tombe, vol. iv. p. II. 
 
 2 Ibid., vol. iv. p. io. 
 
 3 Ibid., vol. iv. p. 12. 
 
 4 Ibid.
 
 Interview with Talleyrand 269 
 
 morning, leaning on Monsieur de Rice. He arrives 
 in front of the King's house ; the leaders drawing the 
 carriage already have their bodies half through the 
 gateway. Some one signs to the postilion to stop. 
 The King asks what is the matter ; they call to 
 him, " Sire, it is Monsieur de Talleyrand." " He is 
 asleep ! " said Louis XVIII. " Here he is, Sire." " 1 
 will go in," answers the King. The horses turn 
 back, the carriage door is opened, the King gets down 
 and goes with difficulty into his private room, followed 
 by the limping Minister. There Monsieur de Talley- 
 rand begins an angry explanation. His Majesty listens 
 to it, and answers, " Prince de Benevent, you are 
 leaving us ? The waters will do you good. You 
 will let us hear from you." The King leaves the 
 Prince in a state of amazement, is conducted to his 
 carriage, and starts. 
 
 In his disgust at Talleyrand's duplicity and want 
 of respect for his authority, Louis XVIII seems at 
 this time to have contemplated a Cabinet composed, 
 at any rate partially, of the Ministry of the first 
 Restoration ; and for this combination the Prince de 
 Benevent would certainly not have been suitable. 
 Therefore Talleyrand, who had used the pretext of 
 his desire to go to Carlsbad as a threat of resignation, 
 was taken at his word, and was left by the King in 
 so furious a condition that he was quite incoherent. 
 
 At Cateau-Cambresis, the King's next stopping- 
 place and the headquarters of the Duke of Wellington, 
 Louis XVIII published a proclamation which did not 
 show his usual tact and sagacity, for in it he spoke 
 of the " inconceivable defection " of his subjects, and 
 said he was returning " to reward the good, and to 
 put into execution the laws already existing against
 
 270 Louis XVIII 
 
 the guilty " ; while he did not breathe a word of 
 clemency, nor express any doubt as to the complete 
 wisdom of his previous modes of government. 
 
 However, when the King had recovered his equa- 
 nimity, better counsels prevailed ; and he realised that 
 as Talleyrand's separation from him had caused a 
 split in his Council, and in consequence the more 
 important of his former Ministers were not accom- 
 panying him on his journey towards Paris, but had 
 remained at Mons with the Minister of Foreign 
 Affairs, it would not be safe to allow pique to prevail 
 over policy. Therefore, on the advice of Wellington, 
 supported by Pozzo di Borgo, the Russian Minister, 
 who, in addition to a real affection for the Bourbons, 
 possessed a thorough knowledge of the situation, he 
 sent to beg Talleyrand to come to him for a conference 
 on the situation. Talleyrand hesitated, being still on 
 his dignity, but was soothed by a letter from the Duke 
 of Wellington saying that it was he who had insisted 
 on the King going at once to Paris, and that if 
 Talleyrand had known all the features of the situa- 
 tion, he would have understood the necessity for this 
 policy. 
 
 Talleyrand therefore consented to meet the King 
 at Cambrai, and Louis XVIII received him, as well 
 as the other constitutional Ministers, with much affa- 
 bility, and made no mention of what had happened 
 at Mons. A Council was to be held the next day, 
 and in the evening Talleyrand collected all the Ministers 
 at his house, and insisted to them that it was necessary 
 for the King to issue a proclamation acknowledging 
 the faults of his late Government, and appointing a 
 provisory Commission till a Ministry should be formed. 
 He asked Beugnot to draw up the proclamation, which
 
 Proclamation of Cambrai 271 
 
 was very different in character from the one which had 
 preceded it. 
 
 In it the King was made to say that he placed 
 himself for the second time between his people and 
 the Allied Armies, and that the difficulties in his way 
 when he came first to the throne being numerous, in 
 all probability his Government had made some almost 
 unavoidable mistakes. The finish of the proclamation 
 was to the effect that, except in the case of the 
 instigators of the horrible treason which had cost the 
 lives of so many of his subjects, the King promised 
 a general amnesty. 
 
 As framed at first by Beugnot, there was another 
 clause, in which the King asked pardon of his subjects 
 for the mistakes into which he had been led by family 
 affection, and promised amendment in the future. 
 When Beugnot read the proclamation to the Council, 
 which consisted, besides the King and Royal Family, 
 of Talleyrand, Dambray, Feltre, Jaucourt, and Beur- 
 nonville, Louis XVIII, who had listened with a certain 
 amount of emotion, asked to hear it again. After the 
 second reading, Monsieur spoke with much indignation 
 of this clause. He said that such expressions degraded 
 Royalty. 
 
 Talleyrand answered, " Monsieur will pardon me 
 if I differ from him. I find these expressions neces- 
 sary, and well placed. The King has made mistakes ; 
 he has been misled by his affections. There is nothing 
 too much said in that." 
 
 " Is it I," returned Monsieur, " whom you intend 
 to designate in an indirect manner ? " 
 
 " Yes, since Monsieur has started the discussion 
 on these lines ; Monsieur has done a great deal of 
 harm."
 
 272 Louis XVIII 
 
 " The Prince de Talleyrand forgets himself! " 
 
 " I fear so ; but I am carried away by the truth." 
 
 Monsieur le due de Berry, in the tone of one who 
 
 forcibly keeps down his anger : " It is only because of 
 
 the presence of the King that I allow any one to treat 
 
 my Father like this before me, and I should like to 
 
 know " 
 
 At these words, said in a tone even louder than the 
 rest, the King made a sign to the Due de Berry, and 
 said : " Enough, nephew ; it is for me alone to judge 
 what is said in my presence and at my Council. 
 Gentlemen, I cannot approve of the terms of the 
 proclamation, nor of the discussion of which it has 
 been the subject. The writer will correct his work, 
 so as not to lose sight of the dignified propriety which 
 it is necessary to observe when I am made to speak." 1 
 
 Meanwhile, the active Vitrolles, who had been im- 
 prisoned by Napoleon's orders, but released after 
 Waterloo by Fouche, was working energetically for the 
 restoration of Louis XVIII to the throne, and with 
 this object in view, was having daily interviews with 
 Fouche. Eventually, the latter promised to propose 
 to the two Chambers the return of the Bourbons, 
 if Marechal Davoust, who was Minister of War 
 and in command of the Army, would announce that 
 Paris could not possibly be defended against the Allies ; 
 and the Allies, for their part, would promise to suspend 
 hostilities if Louis XVIII were restored to the throne. 
 
 After many complicated negotiations, during which 
 Talleyrand and Wellington visited Fouche as emissaries 
 from Louis XVIII, and Fouche deceived every one 
 in turn, the capitulation of Paris and the second 
 Restoration of Louis XVIII were decided on. But 
 1 Memoires du Comte Beugnot, vol. ii. p. 314.
 
 T7 ^V^^V^\iiSU^&^T^ , t^VJ^^VVV^yWJi.\V^W - iV^ 
 
 From an engraving by Berthonier, after a drawing by Augustiii. 
 
 CHARLES FERDINAND, DUC DE BERRY. 
 
 p. 272]
 
 Fouche as Minister 273 
 
 the price had to be paid. The regicide Fouche must 
 be rewarded, though when some one suggested that 
 he should be made a Peer, the King showed his 
 feelings plainly. " I prefer," he said, " appointing a 
 Minister whom I can dismiss, to creating a peer, who 
 is irremovable." 1 
 
 Strangely enough, not only Wellington and Talley- 
 rand, but the members of the ultra- Royalist party with 
 Monsieur at their head, insisted that there was no 
 safety without Fouche in the Ministry, and Louis XVIII 
 was forced to yield to the general clamour. Beugnot, 
 who was acting as the King's Secretary of State during 
 the journey from Ghent to Paris, gives the following 
 account of the King's emotion when he affixed his 
 signature to the document conferring on the regicide 
 the appointment of Head of the Police. 
 
 " Monsieur de Talleyrand asked me if I had that 
 day any signatures to get from the King, and on my 
 saying yes, he asked me to add to them an order re- 
 constructing the Ministry of Police, and putting 
 Monsieur the Due d'Otrante at the head of it. I did 
 what I was told to do, and presented myself to the 
 King with my portfolio, keeping till the last the 
 order about which there was so much excitement. 
 The King's face had lost nothing of its usual calm, 
 and seemed rather to express content than sorrow. He 
 wrote without difficulty, and in the usual way, the first 
 signatures I asked from him, and took this opportunity 
 of laughing at my impatience to re-enter Paris, as if, 
 he said, I could not be separated even for a few days 
 from the Opera and its concomitants. I reassured 
 the King as to the ardour he supposed me to feel for 
 the Opera, and even for its concomitants, and at the 
 
 1 Memoires du Comte de Vitrolles, vol. iii. p. 115. 
 
 18
 
 274 Louis XVIII 
 
 same time I presented to him for signature the order 
 for the nomination of the Due d'Otrante. The King 
 glanced at it, and let it fall on the desk ; his pen 
 dropped from his fingers, his eyes became gloomy, and 
 he sunk suddenly down in his seat as though crushed 
 by deadly thoughts. A melancholy silence had suddenly 
 interrupted a conversation which had till that moment 
 been easy and agreeable. The silence lasted several 
 minutes, then the King said to me, with a deep sigh : 
 
 " { So it must be done ! Come, then ! . . . ' 
 
 " He took up the pen, stopped again before be- 
 ginning to write, and said : 
 
 " l Ah, my poor brother ! if you can see me, you will 
 forgive me ! ' 
 
 " At last he signed ; but at the moment when he was 
 doing it, trembling and with difficulty, great tears fell 
 from his eyes and made the paper wet. I took up the 
 order, I bowed, and left the room. Even if respect 
 had not dictated this to me, I should not have been 
 able to utter a word, nor have known what to say 
 during such a heartrending scene." * 
 
 Fouche's presentation to Louis XVIII took place at 
 Saint-Denis, the day before the King's entry into Paris. 
 Chateaubriand sat in a corner of the antechamber wait- 
 ing for admittance to the King. He says : 
 
 " Suddenly a door opens ; vice enters leaning 
 silently on the arm of crime : Monsieur de Talleyrand 
 walking supported by Monsieur Fouche ; the infernal 
 vision passes slowly in front of me, enters the King's 
 private room, and disappears." 2 
 
 In the presence of the King, even Fouche lost his 
 assurance ; but the painful interview was short. 
 
 1 Memoires du Comte Beugnot, vol. ii. p. 331. 
 ■ Memoires d Outre-Tombe, vol. iv. p. 25.
 
 The Second Restoration 275 
 
 " I am aware, Sir," said Louis XVIII, " of the 
 services you have done me ; the Duke of Wellington 
 has informed me about them. I intend you to 
 become Minister of Police ; I hope that in that post 
 you will do me further service." He then asked 
 Fouche a few questions about the state of Paris, 
 which the latter answered shortly, and the audience 
 was over. 
 
 At nine o'clock on July 8th, 1815, the tricoloured 
 flag disappeared, and the white flag was hoisted on the 
 Tuileries ; and at half-past three the firing of cannon 
 announced the King's arrival. Fouche had wished him 
 not to pass through the crowded Faubourg Saint-Denis 
 for fear of hostile demonstrations, but Louis XVIII 
 refused to listen to him. The King was in a closed 
 carriage, with the Comte d'Artois and the Due de 
 Berry on each side of him. He looked sad and stern, 
 and it was indeed a melancholy return to his capital. 
 For the Allied Armies were in possession of Paris, and, 
 exasperated by French fickleness, were not in the 
 same indulgent mood as in the preceding year, the 
 Prussians in particular showing an inclination to punish 
 and humiliate France for the trouble she had caused 
 them. Indeed, the Duke of Wellington was obliged 
 to remonstrate with the Prussian General, Blucher, who 
 had fixed cannon in all the most public places, and had 
 tried to force an indemnity of a hundred millions of 
 francs from the municipality of Paris. Louis XVIII 
 was much distressed at the position of affairs : " They 
 have bivouacked in the Court of the Tuileries, and 
 cannon are pointed at the Pont- Royal ! Against whom 
 are they fighting ? I will never believe that the 
 Sovereigns have authorised anything like this." . . . 
 And after these words Beugnot, who tells the story,
 
 276 Louis XVIII 
 
 says that the King put his elbows on his bureau and 
 hid his face in his hands." ! 
 
 The King, counselled by Pozzo di Borgo, by 
 Wellington, and indeed by the representatives of all 
 the Great Powers, who, moreover, being in possession 
 of the country, had power to enforce their representa- 
 tions, had now determined to put aside all prejudices 
 resulting from early training, and to govern as a consti- 
 tutional monarch. This resolution cost him much, and 
 he explains his views on the matter with his usual witty 
 good sense, in a confidential letter, in which he refers 
 to an article written to prove that the Monarchy had 
 benefited from the Revolution. " I had a very good 
 leg ; it has been broken, and they have set it for me 
 somehow. But at least I can walk, and I prefer limping 
 to submitting to an operation which would probably 
 result in making me bedridden. I think I am right. 
 But that any one should support the view that it is an 
 advantage for me to have had my leg broken, and to 
 prove that, should insult, should calumniate my 
 ancestors . . . that afflicts me." 
 
 In spite, however, of the small modicum of en- 
 thusiasm the King could muster for the new political 
 ideas, he was absolutely loyal in his determination to 
 keep to them ; and even Beugnot, who dislikes and 
 belittles him, cannot withold his admiration for his 
 conduct in this respect. 
 
 Speaking of a clause in the Charter to which the 
 King adhered strictly, and which forbad for all time 
 the confiscation of property, whatever the offence 
 might be, Beugnot expresses himself as follows : 
 " On the King's return from Ghent, when he found 
 himself master of men who had not only betrayed, but 
 
 1 Memoires du Comte Beugnot^ vol. ii. p. 349.
 
 His Good Sense and Moderation 277 
 
 outraged him, when from all sides cries of vengeance 
 sounded in his ears, and he was told continually that 
 during the ' Hundred Days ' the enemies of his 
 dynasty had not been so generous ; when the majority 
 of the Chamber of 1 8 1 5 had expressed their impatience 
 at this article of the Charter, had exhausted their 
 efforts to find ways to elude it, and had shown very 
 plainly how they would have greeted its withdrawal, 
 Louis XVIII remained a King, and superior to all 
 these short-sighted and revengeful views." x 
 
 The new Cabinet was for the most part composed of 
 men of moderate views. Besides Talleyrand, the Presi- 
 dent of the Council, who kept the post of Foreign 
 Minister, and Fouche, who became Minister of 
 Police, it included the Baron Louis as Minister of 
 Finance, and the General Gouvion Saint-Cyr as War 
 Minister. Under Fouche, holding the modest post of 
 Prefect of Police, was a man whose name had been 
 hitherto quite unknown, but who was destined to rise 
 quickly to a position of the utmost prominence in 
 France, whose policy was to have a most decisive 
 influence on her history for the next few years, and 
 who was to distance Blacas, and even d'Avaray, in the 
 King's affections. 
 
 It had been decided by the representatives of the 
 Foreign Powers, as well as by Talleyrand, 2 that, as no 
 trust could be put in Fouche, it would be well to estab- 
 lish direct communication between his subordinate and 
 Louis XVIII ; and thus was laid the foundation of the 
 fortunes of the future Due Decazes. He was from the 
 first looked upon with suspicion by the ultra-Royalists ; 
 and Vitrolles, who scented danger from afar, and was at 
 
 1 Mcmoircs du Comte Beugnot, vol. ii. p. 330. 
 
 3 Correspondancc Pozzo di Borgo and Nesselrode, vol. ii. p. 232.
 
 278 Louis XVIII 
 
 this time all-powerful, took the precaution of telling him 
 that he must always apply to him and not to the King, 
 whenever he wanted to arrange anything unknown to 
 Fouche. This intrigue, however, failed ; as Talleyrand, 
 who had no desire to increase Vitrolles' importance, 
 while he evidently wished for his own ends to bring 
 Decazes into contact with the King, ordered him not to 
 obey Vitrolles, but to apply directly to Louis XVIII 
 whenever this seemed expedient. 
 
 Decazes' first interview with the King was on the 
 subject of a reported attempt at assassinating the Czar, 
 which Talleyrand had employed him to investigate. 
 The supposed poisoned water only contained saltpetre, 
 which was used by the servants to wash window panes, 
 and when Decazes explained this, the King said that he 
 was glad to have as Prefect of Police a man who was so 
 acute and intelligent, and that he wished him to return 
 the next day with further details. The King also ex- 
 pressed astonishment when the young Prefect repeated 
 Vitrolles' words to him, and said that he had no con- 
 fidence in Fouche, and trusted to Decazes to stop his 
 intrigues. Evidently Louis XVIII was favourably im- 
 pressed by the pleasant manners, tact, and intelligence 
 of the handsome young man. On the other hand, 
 Decazes had made a bitter enemy in Vitrolles, who had 
 himself wished to occupy the place of favourite vacated 
 by Blacas, and who met the Prefect of Police as he was 
 leaving the King's Cabinet, and could not have looked 
 more astonished had he seen Medusa's head. " The 
 bows we exchanged silently were the last between us," 
 says Decazes significantly, and Vitrolles took care 
 to inform Fouche that his subordinate was engaged 
 without his knowledge in affairs which brought 
 him into contact with the King ; so that another
 
 A New Favourite 279 
 
 apparently most dangerous adversary was secured to 
 Decazes. 
 
 However, all obstacles were destined to fall before 
 Decazes ; for the King's objection to personal inter- 
 course with Fouche made many interviews necessary 
 between him and the young Prefect of Police, whose 
 favour continued to grow. Louis XVIII, with his 
 notorious desire for a close friend who would amuse 
 him, think and feel with him, and receive his con- 
 fidences, was now in a miserably isolated condition ; 
 for his policy was strongly reprobated by nearly all 
 his family, and he was opposed tooth and nail by 
 Monsieur, whose determination was only equalled by 
 the lack of sequence and of reason in his ideas. 
 
 Many were Louis XVIII's troubles ; for he had 
 returned to a wretched country — rent by dissensions, 
 threatened with dismemberment by the nations lying 
 nearest to her frontier, and pillaged by the foreign 
 troops, who laid siege to any towns which dared to 
 refuse submission to them. Even France's best friend, 
 the Czar, angry at the alliance concluded without his 
 knowledge between France, Austria, and England at 
 the Congress of Vienna, annoyed at Louis XVIII's 
 want of enthusiasm about a proposed marriage be- 
 tween a Russian Grand Duchess and the Due de Berry, 
 and indignant with the Revolutionary party and with 
 the Bonapartists for their late insurrection, did not 
 feel his former warm attachment for French interests. 
 National pride was terribly outraged by the demand 
 of the Allies for the restitution of the Art treasures 
 which had been seized by Napoleon in the countries 
 he had vanquished, bitter complaints were caused 
 by the fact that the foreign troops were lodged 
 in Paris at the expense of the inhabitants, and
 
 28o Louis XVIII 
 
 the 8,000,000 francs, to which the indemnity was 
 reduced by Wellington's intervention with Bliicher, 
 seemed a large sum to the Parisians. In all the 
 other towns the same severe policy was carried out by 
 the Allies, and a cry of rage and humiliation rose 
 from France at her almost desperate position. 
 
 One of the Prussian General's threats roused the 
 King's spirit to the uttermost ; and he showed that, 
 though helpless and infirm, he was yet courageous 
 and patriotic. In spite of Wellington's remonstrances, 
 Bliicher announced his intention of blowing up the 
 bridge of Jena, the name of which evoked unpleasant 
 recollections of defeat in Prussian ears. It was in vain 
 that Louis XVIII at once rechristened the bridge the 
 Pont des Invalides. The work of destruction was 
 already begun when Decazes hurried to the King : 
 " At my narration his face became lit up with the fire 
 of anger. In a tone of calm and firm determination 
 he ordered his carriage, and said to me : ' Monsieur le 
 Prefet, let the Sovereigns know that in a few moments 
 I shall be on the bridge they wish to destroy, and 
 that it will be blown up with me on it, if this odious 
 violation of the right of peoples and of treaties be not 
 stopped in time.' " 1 
 
 Decazes hurried at once to the Hotel Wagram, and 
 told the Emperor of Austria of the King's heroic 
 resolution. Francis II sent an aide-de-camp to the Czar 
 and to the King of Prussia ; and before Louis XVIII 
 arrived at the bridge, the work of destruction had 
 ceased, and the workmen had disappeared ; while the 
 
 1 This passage is taken from Decazes' notes, quoted by Ernest 
 Daudet in Louts XVIII et le Due Decazes. Talleyrand quotas, in his 
 Memoires, words from the King to the same effect ; and Beugnot's 
 story, that he invented the King's heroic resolution for him, is proved 
 to be untrue.
 
 The Bridge of Jena 281 
 
 King returned to the Tuileries " amid the acclamations 
 of an immense crowd, electrified by his heroism." 
 
 After reading this it is strange to realise that, in 
 some quarters, Louis XVIII was never pardoned for 
 the sufferings inflicted by his Allies (as the complain- 
 ants sarcastically termed the invaders), and was even 
 credited with feeling perverse satisfaction in the de- 
 spoiling of France. 
 
 However, the country generally, in terror even 
 for her national existence, and considering that her 
 present miserable and crippled condition had been 
 caused by infamous traitors, suddenly became ardently, 
 unmeasuredly, and intolerantly reactionary. The 
 Chamber of Deputies of 1 8 1 5 was almost entirely 
 ultra-Royalist, and the few men of other persuasions 
 who had found entrance to its benches sat there ill 
 at ease, feeling themselves suspected, if not of treason- 
 able designs, at least of unsound and dangerous views. 
 In many parts of France risings took place against the 
 Bonapartists, the Revolutionaries, and the Protestants ; 
 and the town of Nimes was in a state of terror, for 
 bands of assassins marched through the streets, enter- 
 ing the houses of people who were suspected of Bona- 
 partism, and pillaging and murdering. Marseilles was 
 not behindhand in violence ; in fact, throughout the 
 South what is known as the u Terreur Blanche " was 
 in progress — and little redress was possible, . for the 
 mass of the Deputies sided with the : rioters. A 
 Monsieur d'Argenson dared to speak timidly in the 
 Chamber one day of the reported massacre of Protes- 
 tants in the South ; but a violent tumult at once arose 
 to contradict him. " I have not stated facts," he said, 
 as though daunted by the disturbance his words had 
 caused ; u I have not established allegations ; I said
 
 282 Louis XVIII 
 
 that I had heard uncertain and contradictory rumours. 
 ... It is the very vagueness of these rumours which 
 renders a report from the Ministry on the state of the 
 country necessary." * However, Monsieur d'Argenson 
 was not allowed to proceed, and was called to order 
 for having mentioned, even in a tentative manner, facts 
 which were known by every one, but which the ultras 
 were determined to conceal. 
 
 The Duke of Wellington, and the Russian envoy 
 Pozzo di Borgo, who represented Powers which were 
 friendly to France, and wished, if she would cease to 
 menace the peace of Europe, to restore her to her 
 former position, watched with disgust and indigna- 
 tion the follies of the extreme party, which, if 
 allowed to take their course, were certain to bring 
 about another Revolution, another intervention of 
 the Great Powers, and possibly, as a last resource, the 
 dismemberment or permanent crippling of a country 
 which would not learn to govern herself, and was the 
 source of constant trouble to Europe. The Russian 
 Minister, Nesselrode, did not mince his words when he 
 wrote to Pozzo di Borgo, that devoted, if interested, 
 adherent of the Bourbon cause : " I picture to myself 
 your tribulations, my dear Pozzo, in the midst of 
 those madmen during their ridiculous debates in the 
 two Chambers." And in another place he says : " As 
 you are performing miracles, impart a little common 
 sense to Monsieur and to his sons." 2 
 
 In this last remark justice was not done to the 
 Due d'Angouleme, who was, like Louis XVIII, broad- 
 minded and moderate in his politics, but was too 
 timid and full of respect for his father, and too much 
 
 1 Guizot Memoires, vol. i. p. 107. 
 
 2 Correspondance de Nesselrode et dc Pozzo di Borgo, vol. i. p. 236.
 
 Ultra-Royalist Reaction 283 
 
 in subjection to his strong-minded wife, to dissent 
 from them decidedly, though they had in reality no 
 influence over him. " When Madame began one of 
 her ultra-Royalist harangues, he used to cut her short," 
 says Madame de Boigne ; " ' My dear Princess ' " — it 
 was thus that he addressed her — " ' we will not talk of 
 it ; we can neither agree nor persuade one another.' " 1 
 
 Therefore, there was one exception to the persistent 
 opposition Louis XVIII received from his family; 
 though the timid agreement of the commonplace Due 
 d'Angouleme was not much support against Monsieur's 
 energetic, if inconsistent tactics, and Madame's deter- 
 mined attitude. 
 
 One good thing, at any rate, was done by the 
 ultras of 1 81 5 — they accomplished the downfall of 
 Fouche. He could not stand against their deter- 
 mined onslaught. In vain, to show his Royalist zeal, 
 had he drawn up a list of over a hundred persons, 
 who were either to be brought to judgment or to be 
 exiled, for their participation in the treason of the 
 Hundred Days. The list was not nearly long enough 
 to satisfy the ultras ; and even when cut down by 
 Fouche's horrified colleagues — Decazes taking an 
 active part in the matter — it excited intense indigna- 
 tion against him among the moderates, as well as alarm 
 among the Revolutionaries throughout the country. 
 Such a proceeding on the part of the man who had 
 been Napoleon's principal Minister during the Hun- 
 dred Days, was not only abominable but ridiculous. 
 It was reported that Carnot, his comrade and subordi- 
 nate during the short-lived Imperial interregnum, 
 finding himself exiled to a part of France which 
 was to be indicated by the Head of the Police, asked : 
 
 1 Trans. Madame de Boigne's Mcmoires, vol. ii. p. 209.
 
 284 Louis XVIII 
 
 "Where do you wish me to go, traitor?" and was 
 answered, "Where you wish, idiot." 
 
 A peaceful, permanent Government seemed im- 
 possible, and a sense of insecurity rested on every one, 
 while Fouche, the. stormy petrel of intrigue, treachery, 
 and revolution, was in power ; and a sigh of relief was 
 uttered when, after he had read a report in which, 
 apparently to keep well with the Revolutionary party, 
 he gave an exaggerated account of the terrible condition 
 of France, the new Deputies insisted on his retire- 
 ment, and he was made Ambassador at Dresden. 
 Louis XVIII was delighted to be quit of him. " God 
 be praised ! " he exclaimed, referring to his niece, " the 
 poor Duchess will no longer be in danger of meeting 
 that odious figure." 1 
 
 Talleyrand soon followed, though he was determined 
 to keep in power if possible, and endeavoured to curry 
 favour with the Royalists by insisting that it was he 
 who had dismissed Fouche\ " But when will the King 
 send the other away ?" asked the deputies. "What 
 other ? " " Eh ! Monsieur de Talleyrand." 2 
 
 The King did not trust his First Minister, and 
 disliked him personally, though he was fond of jesting 
 with him, and had earned from Talleyrand, who was 
 not always winner in the contests of wit which passed 
 between him and Louis XVIII, the sobriquet of the 
 Roi Nichard, or the Roi des Niches (the joking King, 
 King of Jokes). Possibly Talleyrand was not aware 
 of his Majesty's aversion for him, as Louis XVIII had 
 inherited from his ancestors the useful art in despotic 
 statecraft of being specially charming to any Minister 
 with whom he was displeased. However, Talleyrand 
 
 1 Pasqmer Mc'moi'res, vol. Hi. p. 393. 
 * Vitrolles Memoires, vol. ii. p. 221.
 
 Fall of Fouche and Talleyrand 285 
 
 now gave the King the wished-for opportunity for 
 showing that he could dispense with his services, 
 for finding his position under the onslaught of two 
 Chambers of ultra-Royalist Deputies well-nigh intoler- 
 able, he threatened to resign, unless the King would 
 promise to support his Ministry through thick and 
 thin. 
 
 His tone was peremptory — which was always mis- 
 taken policy when addressing Louis XVIII — and the 
 King considered that personal intervention would not 
 be constitutional, and would be fatal to his dignity. 
 He looked up at the ceiling for a moment, and then 
 said very gently : 
 
 " Well, then, I will do what they do in England. 
 I will get some one to form another Ministry." l 
 
 So for the second time he defied the powerful 
 Minister. The King showed the same calmness all 
 through the affair, which caused the utmost excitement 
 in France. He was told that some members of the 
 Cabinet, not knowing what had happened, had come 
 to see him. 
 
 " But it is done," answered the King to Vitrolles, 
 who tells the story. 
 
 " I did not understand," says Vitrolles ; and I began 
 to explain the motives and object of the Ministry, who 
 were determined to retire unless the King would give 
 them special support. 
 
 " But 1 tell you that it is done," the King began 
 again. 
 
 " Your Majesty has perhaps not heard that three 
 of his Ministers are waiting. ..." 
 
 " I repeat to you, for the third time, that it is done." 
 
 And, answering my look of astonishment, the King 
 
 1 Vitrolles Memoires, vol. iii. p. 228.
 
 286 Louis XVIII 
 
 continued, " Monsieur de Talleyrand asked me the 
 question himself, and I told him I should form another 
 Ministry." 
 
 " What, Sire ! is it decided ? " 
 
 " Absolutely decided," he answered, with the most 
 perfect tranquillity. 1 
 
 The King at once applied to the Due de Richelieu, 
 and begged him to take the leadership of the new 
 Cabinet. The Duke had already refused to form one 
 of the last Ministry by following Blacas as head of 
 the Maison du Roi, and it was with the utmost 
 difficulty that he was now persuaded by the King to 
 come forward ; his repugnance only being at last over- 
 come by the Czar's promise to him that if he were 
 at the head of affairs, France should be defended as 
 far as possible from the depredating intentions of 
 certain of the Great Powers. 
 
 Although the Due de Richelieu was of aristocratic 
 birth and was an Emigre, having entered the service 
 of Russia when driven out of his own country by the 
 Revolution, and having had the government of the 
 Crimea and of the countries adjoining it confided to 
 him, he was welcomed by the moderate party as a 
 known adversary to the exaggerated pretensions of 
 the ultra-Royalists ; while his generous disinterested- 
 ness, his modesty, and devotion to duty, had won him 
 general respect. The King could not have made a 
 better choice of a leader for the Government. 
 
 Decazes was substituted for Fouche as Minister of 
 Police, while Richelieu took the post of Minister 
 of Foreign Affairs in the place of Talleyrand. 
 Mistakes were naturally inevitable in the forming of 
 a Cabinet by two men who, like the King and 
 
 1 Vitrolles Memoires, vol. iii. p. 226.
 
 The Due de Richelieu 287 
 
 Richelieu, had been for many years exiled from their 
 country ; and there was a certain substratum of truth 
 in Talleyrand's sarcastic comment that Richelieu was 
 " l'homme de France qui connait le mieux la Crimee " ; 
 but on the whole the new Ministers were remarkable 
 for their clear-sighted views and moderate opinions, in 
 contradistinction to the foolishly extremist policy of 
 the Deputies with whom they were destined to work.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 Question of dismemberment of France — King's patriotism — His letter 
 — Terms eventually granted — Monsieur's intrigues — King's affec- 
 tion for Decazes — His letter to him — The Session of 1815 — Ney's 
 execution — Lavalette's escape — The ultra-Royalists — Dissolution 
 of the " Chambre Introuvable" — Marriage of the Due de Berry — 
 Chateaubriand s pamphlet — The Elections — Blacas' sudden appear- 
 ance in Paris — King's firmness— Painful family scenes — Vitrolles' 
 Secret Note — Conspiracy " du bord de l'eau " — Monsieur's disgrace 
 — Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle. 
 
 THE crisis was terrible ; for both at Berlin and at 
 Vienna the advisability of a dismemberment of 
 France was discussed in diplomatic circles, and even 
 the English Cabinet considered that it might be ex- 
 pedient to deprive her of Louis XIV's conquests ; 
 while the Netherlands, and the smaller States of 
 Germany and Sardinia, were eager to seize any booty 
 which might increase their strength and importance. 
 
 France has surely never quite realised the debt of 
 gratitude she owes to Louis XVIII, for the firmness 
 and patriotism with which he confronted this terrible 
 imbroglio, when weakness and vacillation would have 
 involved his country in ruin. The dismissal of Talley- 
 rand had been a wise measure, for Russia was the 
 only Power friendly to France ; and the Czar, who had 
 formerly felt the greatest admiration for the French 
 Foreign Minister, had been bitterly hostile to him 
 since he had discovered the secret, and — in his opinion 
 
 — treacherous, treaty formed by him with Austria and 
 
 288
 
 The King's Courageous Patriotism 289 
 
 England ; so that the presence of Talleyrand in the 
 Cabinet had become a great hindrance to the wel- 
 fare of the country. It is indeed probable that the 
 Czar, who, as we have seen, had promised to work 
 energetically for France's interests with the Allies if 
 the Due de Richelieu would consent to become 
 Minister for Foreign Affairs, may through Pozzo di 
 Borgo have made the removal of Talleyrand a con- 
 dition of his according help to France in her present 
 desperate condition. At any rate, when, before Talley- 
 rand's fall, Louis XVIII at the Russian Ambassador's 
 suggestion penned the following letter, the Russian 
 Monarch was without doubt aware that his enemy's 
 continuance in power would not be of long duration. 
 
 "Paris, 11/23 September 181 5. 
 
 " Monsieur my Brother, — 
 
 " It is in the bitterness of my heart that I 
 have recourse to your Imperial Majesty, to express to 
 you openly the pain caused me by the perusal of the 
 propositions made to my Ministry by the four united 
 Cabinets. What affected me profoundly and makes me 
 despair for unhappy France, is the crushing idea that 
 your Majesty, on whom I founded my hopes, appears 
 to have authorised the communication which has been 
 addressed officially to me. 
 
 " You have increased my trouble even more, Sire, 
 by expressing verbally in the interview I had yesterday 
 with your Majesty, opinions differing little from the 
 terms of the protocol, those terms which place me 
 in an even more cruel situation because I had not 
 expected them from my Allies. 
 
 " A sentiment of justice, fortified by the whole 
 strength of my gratitude, had, in truth, convinced me 
 
 19
 
 2 9 o Louis XVIII 
 
 of the necessity of submitting to great sacrifices. I 
 felt the necessity of giving up the surplus territory 
 which had devolved on France by the Treaty of Paris ; 
 I realised the importance of consenting to the tem- 
 porary occupation of several strong places, in order to 
 preserve the new Constitutional Government from the 
 baleful influence of blind passions ; I could not dis- 
 regard the duty of indemnifying the Powers, who had 
 armed for the saving of my country, for the expenses 
 of war. 
 
 " But could I ever have believed that instead of these 
 conditions, which were already sufficiently onerous, 
 others would be proposed to me which would join ruin 
 to dishonour ? No, Sire, I cannot yet persuade myself 
 that your decision can be irrevocable. The confidence 
 inspired in me by your great and generous soul, makes 
 me still refuse to believe the sad truth. 
 
 " But if it be otherwise ; if I have the misfortune to 
 deceive myself; if France cannot hope for the re- 
 vocation of an edict the object of which is her degrada- 
 tion ; if your Majesty remains inflexible, and you 
 refuse to use with your august Allies the influence 
 conferred on you by virtue, friendship, and glory 
 shared in common ; then I hesitate no longer to 
 declare to you, Sire, that I shall refuse to be the 
 instrument of the ruin of my people, and that I will 
 leave the throne, rather than condescend to tarnish its 
 ancient splendour by an unexampled abasement. 
 
 " Your Majesty will realise without doubt from the 
 frankness of this avowal that it is founded on an 
 immovable resolution, on the greatness of my trouble, 
 as well as on the constancy of the feeling with which I 
 am, etc. ... 
 
 1 Correspondence of Pozzo di Borgo and Nesselrode, vol. i. p. 209.
 
 Letter to the Czar 291 
 
 It was owing to this letter that the Allies abandoned 
 their first rigorous demands, which, if carried out, 
 would, as Pozzo di Borgo remarks, have effaced France 
 altogether from the political map of Europe. 1 
 Eventually, thanks to the joint endeavours of the 
 Czar and of Richelieu, the conditions accorded to her 
 were, though terribly heavy, not absolutely ruinous. 
 They comprised sundry sacrifices of territory, the 
 payment of an indemnity of seven hundred millions of 
 francs, and the maintenance for five years of an army 
 of occupation consisting of 1 50,000 men, under the 
 command of the Duke of Wellington. During these 
 five years France was to be in a state of tutelage, 
 it being arranged that the representatives of the four 
 Great Powers should meet secretly every week to dis- 
 cuss her internal organisation, and that, acting in uni- 
 son, they should control and advise her Government, 
 being ready to employ force if necessary, or to delay 
 their evacuation of France should she fail to avoid 
 the dangers of ultra-Royalism on one side, or of 
 Imperialism or Jacobinism on the other. 
 
 The position of affairs was hard and humiliating, and 
 some excuse may be found for the fury of the ultra- 
 Royalists against Napoleon and his supporters, who 
 had brought their country to the verge of ruin. 
 Louis XVIIFs anguish was great ; he burst into tears 
 as he implored the Due de Richelieu, who loathed 
 putting his signature as Minister for Foreign Affairs to 
 a treaty he considered dishonouring, not to desert him 
 at this terrible juncture. 
 
 Nevertheless, Louis XVII I's courage did not al- 
 together desert him. u King of any other country," 
 he said proudly, " I should have lost hope ; but the 
 
 1 Correspondence of Pozzo di Borgo and Nesselrode, vol. ii. p. 206.
 
 292 Louis XVIII 
 
 King of France never despairs when he has to deal 
 with Frenchmen ; let them all unite, and our mis- 
 fortunes will soon be over." 1 
 
 This recommendation was admirable ; but no one 
 seemed in the least inclined to follow it, the country 
 being rent by bitter dissensions, and each party im- 
 plicating all other parties but itself in the mistakes 
 which had brought the nation to the verge of ruin. 
 
 The King's worst foes were those of his household. 
 Monsieur was absolutely impracticable. " Make him 
 understand once for all that the Powers are not there 
 to support his follies, and to permit him to mount the 
 throne with such a senseless system of reaction," 2 
 wrote the Russian Minister Nesselrode to Pozzo di 
 Borgo. This was again good advice, but impossible to 
 carry into execution, for Monsieur could not or would 
 not see the real position of affairs, and withstood and 
 hampered his brother's Government on all occasions. 
 He wished to form a Ministry of pure Royalists ; 
 " And if these gentlemen had full power," remarked 
 the King, " I should myself be eventually purified 
 
 >» 3 
 
 away. 
 
 Monsieur was also most anxious to increase the 
 influence of the priests, and if possible to reinstate the 
 Emigres in the possession of their estates, while in- 
 demnifying the present occupiers. It was in vain that 
 the King, Pozzo di Borgo, and Wellington interviewed 
 him at different times, and tried to inculcate wisdom ; 
 he had forgotten nothing and had learnt nothing from 
 the march of events ; he was determined to make 
 France return to the reign of the Ancien Regime. 
 
 1 See Crousaz-Cretet, Life of Richelieu, p. 179. 
 
 2 Correspondence of Pozzo di Borgo and of Nesselrode, vol. i 
 
 P- 313. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 272.
 
 Political and Family Dissensions 293 
 
 During a conversation with him, the Duke of Welling- 
 ton, who was astonished at this infatuation, said : " In 
 this case you take me for an idiot, for it is my business 
 to study France, and your Royal Highness evidently 
 supposes that I do not realise her feelings or her 
 condition." Monsieur answered cheerfully : " You 
 foreigners do not understand men ; I am better in- 
 formed, and my party is certainly the strongest " ; and 
 it was in vain that the Duke of Wellington, at the end 
 of his resources in the way of argument, remarked that 
 he had supposed himself to be speaking to the successor 
 to the throne, and not to the chief of a faction or 
 a party. 1 
 
 Louis XVIIl's position was isolated and beset with 
 thorns. From all sides warnings reached him about 
 the dangers into which Monsieur was hurrying the 
 country, yet the unfortunate King was powerless to 
 prevent the continual intrigues with which his brother 
 surrounded himself, while he knew that if ultra-Royalism 
 and its concomitant disturbances were to gain ground, 
 there was fear that the Allies would interfere, and that 
 the foreign invasion which irritated the country almost 
 past bearing, would be continued past the specified 
 time. Therefore he opposed Monsieur firmly, in spite 
 of the sorrowful looks, the remonstrances, and the 
 Cassandra-like prophecies of his family, who considered 
 that he was conducting them to ruin. His frequent 
 attacks of gout, accompanied by fever, gave much cause 
 for alarm to the friends of France, in view of Monsieur's 
 complete incapacity for reigning over the country ; and 
 the weakness of his health, combined with his loneliness, 
 and the continual petty persecution to which he was 
 subjected, must surely have caused him eventually to 
 1 Pozzo di Borgo Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 125.
 
 294 Louis XVIII 
 
 bow to Monsieur's determined will, had he not most 
 fortunately begun to feel a warm attachment for his 
 young Minister of Police. 
 
 This attachment grew apace, and Decazes soon be- 
 came the King's " dear son," to whom he confided all 
 his troubles, and with whom he interchanged thoughts 
 and feelings, and discussed questions of policy. There 
 was a certain sentimentality about this friendship ; in 
 his letters the King was " ton Louis," the Comte 
 d'Artois was styled Decazes' " uncle," and the Due 
 d'Angouleme was indicated by the abbreviation Sp., 
 which stood for Spesima. 
 
 The King's affection for his young favourite was 
 truly fatherly, as it caused him to be most unsel- 
 fishly anxious for his happiness. The young Minister 
 of Police had been left a widower after a few months 
 of married life, and Louis XVIII arranged with his 
 sister Madame Princeteau, whom he called " the good 
 angel," a grand alliance for his benefit ; and brought 
 about a marriage between him and Mademoiselle 
 Saint-Aulaire, who at sixteen years of age was one of 
 the greatest matches in France. The King was not, 
 however, blindly subservient to Decazes, often pur- 
 suing his own policy in opposition to that of his 
 favourite. 
 
 Naturally, however, Decazes wielded a strong in- 
 fluence over him, and this increased as time went on, 
 though it showed itself less decidedly in initiating 
 any particular policy, than in supporting the King in 
 the painful work of carrying on the policy dictated 
 by his own sagacity. Naturally also the Royal Family 
 hated the new favourite even more bitterly than they 
 had detested Blacas, whose political views had at least 
 been identical with their own. Some of the King's
 
 From an engraving by P. Toschi, after a painting by F. Gfrari. 
 
 THE COMTE DECAZES. 
 p. 294]
 
 His Affection for Decazes 295 
 
 confidential letters to Decazes give an amusing account 
 of the position of affairs. In one of them he says : 
 
 March 7, 1819. 
 
 " I feel well, my dear son, but my morning has not 
 been cheerful. In the first place, Sp.'s half [the 
 Duchesse d'Angouleme] was looking even sadder than 
 yesterday, and all the other faces were the same. Your 
 Uncle [Monsieur] looked as he did yesterday. He 
 has not announced that he intends to pay me a visit ; 
 I suppose he is reserving himself for to-morrow, 
 between the time when every one leaves, and when 
 I have to receive the ladies. Angles has just gone out, 
 blacker than his hat, announcing misfortunes on all 
 sides, particularly the terrible elections at Grenoble, 
 but allowing that all the harm has come from Barthe- 
 16my's proposition. I told him that with strength and 
 determination there would be nothing to fear. But 
 this has taken me away from my morning ; I come 
 back to it. I have seen him [the Due de Berry, whose 
 impulsive and irresponsible sayings and doings often 
 caused him to be in disgrace with the King]. I was cold. 
 Nevertheless I spoke to him, but as I do to everybody. 
 I asked him for a pinch of snuff, but only one, while I 
 generally ask for several ; and yet God knows that his 
 snuff never was as good as to-day. I do not know 
 whether he was piqued by my coldness, or whether his 
 conscience pricked him (his character makes one or the 
 other supposition equally probable), but he did not, 
 as he does always, come near me, and when I dismissed 
 the company, he hurried out, as he never does. I will 
 not hide from you the fact that it cost me sorrow to 
 act in this way, and that when I was alone I found 
 my eyes wet ; but one must rise superior to these
 
 296 Louis XVIII 
 
 weaknesses, and I think that now the thing is once 
 marked, it will be necessary for him to approach me 
 before we kill the fatted calf, or shake the dust off 
 our feet, according to the line he takes. To express 
 myself more clearly, I think that to-morrow he will 
 ask for an explanation, and that this must not be 
 put off." * 
 
 The letter continues in the same confidential strain, 
 treating of the minutest details of the King's intercourse 
 with each person he meets, and of his views and feelings 
 on every subject which comes up ; so that it can easily 
 be seen that though Decazes was — unlike Blacas — 
 tactful, conciliatory, discreet, and possessed the gift of 
 managing men, it was impossible, from the peculiar 
 exigencies of his position, for him to avoid arousing the 
 most bitter hatred among the King's relations. 
 
 The full force of this hostility was only, however, to 
 show itself later ; in 1815, the burning question of the 
 day was centred in the great struggle between Richelieu, 
 Decazes, and the rest of the Ministry of moderates, 
 supported not only by the King, but by the representa- 
 tives of the great European Powers ; and a reactionary 
 and strongly ultra-Royalist Chamber of Deputies. 
 
 Of the four measures discussed during the Session 
 of 1 815, the most important treated of proposed excep- 
 tions to the law of general amnesty for political offences. 
 These exceptions the King and the Ministry were 
 anxious to make as few as possible, while the ultra- 
 Royalists clamoured for blood. " The Hundred Days 
 are costing us more than eighteen hundred millions," 
 said one of their number, " and what have we got for 
 
 1 See Pieces Historiques, Ernest Daudet : " Louis XVIII et le Due 
 Decazes," p. 451.
 
 The Question of Amnesty 297 
 
 all that ? The heads of two men, and those only with 
 much trouble." 1 The two heads sacrificed were those 
 of Marechal Ney and Monsieur Labedoyere. 
 
 The Marechal, who had promised the King to bring 
 Napoleon back in an iron cage and then had deserted 
 to him, was without doubt, strictly speaking, a traitor, 
 and it is difficult to see how his execution, which was 
 demanded by the Allies, could have been prevented. 
 Nevertheless, his death was a great misfortune to the 
 Bourbon cause, and the King was no doubt right when, 
 on hearing the news of his capture, he said, " Wretched 
 man ! In letting himself be caught, he is going to 
 do us more harm than he did when he went over to 
 Bonaparte on March 13th!" 2 
 
 As the regicide Fouche not only escaped punishment, 
 but was rewarded by a seat in the Ministry, it seemed 
 a strange anomaly that the man who was known by 
 Napoleon as the " brave des braves," should lose his 
 life for the impulse by which he yielded to the over- 
 mastering power exercised by Napoleon over those who 
 had served under him. The King realised that it was 
 weakness, and not deliberate treachery, which had 
 caused Ney's defection, and would have liked to save 
 him ; but did not dare to do this, fearing that the 
 ultra-Royalists might, in their fury, wreck the Ministry ; 
 and that if they were to succeed in seizing the reins of 
 government, the Allies would, in fear of their ex- 
 travagances, refuse to rid France of the presence of the 
 foreign armies. " Ney went out of my room faithful 
 to me ; he intended to be faithful to the end," he said, 
 " but circumstances were too strong for him." 3 
 
 1 Trans, de Boigne Memoir es, vol. ii. p. 179. 
 
 2 Daudet, Louis XVIII et le Due Deeazes, p. 74. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 75.
 
 2 9 8 Louis XVIII 
 
 It must be remembered, however, that in the eyes of 
 the ultra-Royalists, the Hundred Days had not been 
 the irresistible rush of a discontented and disappointed 
 Army towards an adored leader, but the result of a care- 
 fully prepared conspiracy, ramifications of which spread 
 over the country, and were deeply rooted. They were 
 hysterical with terror and indignation, and they craved 
 for exemplary punishment on their enemies. The 
 drawing-rooms of the Faubourg Saint-Germain were 
 specially pitiless ; and women in particular vied with 
 each other in the sanguinary violence of their language. 
 It was impossible to save the Marechal, and an 
 attempt to induce the Duke of Wellington to interfere 
 on his behalf was unavailing. When the Clerk of the 
 Court read his sentence to him, and began to enumerate 
 all his titles : " Leave them out," said the Marechal, 
 "say simply Michel Ney, soon to become a little dust." 
 He was executed on December 7th, 1815. 
 
 Still the ultra-Royalist thirst for blood was unslaked. 
 The Comte de Lavalette, who had been Postmaster- 
 General to Napoleon, and had resumed his functions 
 during the Hundred Days, was on trial for his life, 
 and Richelieu and Decazes did all they could to induce 
 the King to interpose on his behalf. Before his arrest, 
 Decazes had tried to warn him to leave the country ; 
 but, sharing with Ney, Labedoyere, and with others of 
 that day, a foolhardiness which possibly had its origin in 
 a sense of the fleeting and uncertain condition of the 
 Government, he had refused to avail himself of the 
 opportunity for escape held out to him. Now he was 
 condemned to die ; and though the King had been 
 persuaded to grant Madame de Lavalette an interview, 
 he could hold out to her no hope of saving her 
 husband's life. The ultra-Royalists were so strong
 
 Executions and Fury 299 
 
 that it was necessary to appease them by the sacrifice 
 of some victims, but the King was determined to make 
 them as few as possible. " Find some way so that the 
 Chamber of Deputies shall not embarrass us about it, 
 and I will grant his pardon," l he said. Decazes then 
 proposed that the Duchesse d'Angouleme should be 
 persuaded to intercede for the prisoner, hoping that her 
 mediation might silence the clamours of the ultras. 
 When approached by the Duke de Richelieu on the 
 subject, she showed evident emotion, and promised to 
 ask the King after lunch on the same day for Lavalette's 
 pardon. However, during the interval, the ultra- 
 Royalists persuaded her not to interfere, and she said 
 nothing. When the Due de Richelieu came to the 
 King the next day, he found him waiting anxiously, 
 and his first words were : 
 
 " Well, my niece never spoke ; you must have mis- 
 understood her." 
 
 " No, Sire ; I had her absolute promise." 
 
 " Go and see her then, and try to induce her to act. 
 I will wait till she is ready to come." 2 
 
 But the Princess never appeared, and even tore her- 
 self roughly from the grasp of the unfortunate Madame 
 de Lavalette, who waited to see her on her way from 
 Mass. The ultra-Royalists now felt certain of their 
 prey, and a howl of execration greeted the news that 
 Lavalette, assisted by his heroic wife, had escaped from 
 prison. 
 
 " Little wretch ! ' cried one of the ladies of the 
 Faubourg Saint-Germain when she heard that Mademoi- 
 selle de Lavalette had helped to save her father. 
 
 " You will see that they will say that it is we who 
 
 1 Souve?iirs du Baron dc Barante, vol. ii. p. 232. 
 3 Trans, de Boigne Me'tnoires, vol. ii. p. 109.
 
 300 Louis XVIII 
 
 have done it," * was the King's comment when he 
 heard the news ; and, as usual, he was right. 
 
 "My sisters, who see a great many Deputies," writes 
 Richelieu to Decazes, " tell me that they are enchanted 
 with what has happened, as it has given them, they say, 
 a good opportunity of falling on the Ministry, especially 
 on you and the Keeper of the Seals." 2 Speaking of 
 the measure of general amnesty which the Ministry had 
 brought forward directly after Ney's execution, the 
 Due de Richelieu continues : 
 
 " They announce that the law on amnesty will only 
 pass when amended as they choose, and that the law of 
 elections will be crossed out altogether. We shall be 
 crossed out, too, shortly, and can congratulate or con- 
 dole together about it as you prefer. But my fate will 
 be the same as yours." 
 
 The situation was curious, for the so-called ultra- 
 Royalists were hardly Royalists at all, but were a 
 compact body fighting against King, Ministry, and 
 the great moderate mass of the nation, with the 
 object of getting the power into their own hands. 
 Ostensibly they wished to return to the old order of 
 things, but often the methods they employed were 
 revolutionary ; and sometimes they were by some 
 strange anomaly apparently the defenders of freedom, 
 while the Ministry, its real supporters, appeared to 
 circumscribe it. 
 
 Meanwhile, the distracted country was harassed by the 
 harshness of foreign troops, and the " White Terror " was 
 still in progress in the provinces, where risings among 
 the Bonapartists and supposed Revolutionaries were 
 exaggerated, and then punished with exemplary severity 
 
 1 Daudet, Louis XVIII et le Due Decazes, p. 102. 
 s Ibid.
 
 Finish of the "Chambre Introuvable " 3 or 
 
 by the agency of the ultra-Royalists. One victory was 
 won by the moderates : they passed the law of general 
 amnesty ; but, on the other hand, the ultra-Royalists 
 brought into force a measure ordering the restitution 
 of any ecclesiastical property which was not already 
 sold, thus returning to the spirit of the Ancien Regime, 
 and inflicting a crushing defeat on the Ministry, who 
 had wished to relieve the necessities of the clergy by 
 paying them a yearly pension. The ultras celebrated 
 their victory by insulting the President of the Chamber, 
 Monsieur Laine, and disputing his authority on a point 
 of order, so that he felt obliged to retire from his 
 position. 
 
 On April 29th, 1 8i 6, the turbulent Session came to 
 an end ; and the opening of the next Session was fixed 
 for October 1. However, the representatives of the 
 Great Powers were becoming uneasy at the extrava- 
 gances by which the ultra-Royalists kept the country 
 in a turmoil ; and secretly the possibility of a dis- 
 solution of the unruly Chamber began to be mooted 
 abroad. The Czar wrote most decidedly advising it ; 
 the Duke of Wellington despatched a letter to the 
 King in which he said that the scenes which passed 
 in the Chamber of Deputies were known to all the 
 world, and that the King's Ministers, though pos- 
 sessing his entire confidence, were completely without 
 influence there. In writing this the Duke knew the 
 King to be fully aware of these facts, but wished to 
 strengthen his hands. The idea of infuriating his 
 family was most painful to Louis XVIII, and when 
 told by Decazes that he must assert his Royal authority 
 towards his brother, he said rather piteously : 
 
 " You talk about it quite at your ease ; you think 
 it easy to act as King with your brother, when as
 
 3Q2 Louis XVIII 
 
 children you have slept in the same bed." l Decazes 
 was exerting all his influence to bring about a dis- 
 solution ; and at first it was necessary not only to 
 persuade the King, but also to induce the reluctant 
 Richelieu and Laine to recognise that it was impossible 
 for the Government of the country to be carried on 
 successfully, while the Ministry were continually 
 harassed by the attacks of the ultra-Royalists. 
 
 Before making up his mind, the King considered 
 the matter carefully from all points of view, and wrote 
 letters to Decazes discoursing lengthily of the ad- 
 vantages and disadvantages of the different courses 
 practicable. In his opinion there were three ; the 
 first being to reduce the number of Deputies — which 
 had been increased at the second Restoration — to what 
 was prescribed by the Charter ; the second, to dissolve 
 the Chamber before the time for its reunion ; and the 
 third, to meet the battle, and to treat the Chamber 
 with severity or not according to its own behaviour. 
 To the third course the King was evidently most 
 inclined, but Decazes was firm ; for in his opinion 
 no stability, public confidence, relief from foreign 
 armies, or prestige in Europe were possible with the 
 present Chamber in power. The Ministers were 
 by this time ranged on his side ; and at the 
 Council held on August 20th, 18 16, they added 
 their persuasions to his. The matter was kept abso- 
 lutely secret till September 5th, when the King signed 
 the order known as " The Ordinance of the 5th of 
 September," which dissolved the Chamber, and reduced 
 the Deputies to the number prescribed by the Charter. 
 
 Monsieur knew nothing of what was pending ; and 
 was only informed of the catastrophe when the Due 
 1 Daudet, Louis XVI J I et le Due Decazes, p. 121.
 
 Dissolution 3°3 
 
 de Richelieu went at eleven o'clock at night, after 
 the King had signed the document, to tell him what 
 had been done. Horrified at the news, he wished at 
 once to remonstrate with the King ; but the latter, 
 with a cowardice for which we can hardly blame him, 
 had gone to bed, and had given orders that he was 
 not to be disturbed. Therefore Monsieur did not 
 see his brother till the next day, when, accompanied 
 by the Duchesse d'Angouleme, he paid him a visit. 
 Nothing was said on the burning subject ; but the 
 intense sadness of the visitors must have been de- 
 pressing. However, both the Due d'Angouleme and 
 the Due de Berry wrote to the King expressing their 
 satisfaction at his action, so Louis XVIII received some 
 support from his family, though it was not of much 
 avail against the opposition of Monsieur and of 
 Madame. 
 
 The Due de Berry had at last become a married 
 man. To the Czar's intense disappointment, the 
 negotiations to give him a Russian Grand Duchess as 
 wife had fallen through ; but at Fontainebleau, on 
 June 17th, 1 8 16, his nuptials were celebrated with 
 Caroline, daughter of the King of Naples. 
 
 The newly made Duchesse de Berry was very tiny, 
 and though not pretty, had a beautiful complexion and 
 lovely hair. She was so ignorant that when she arrived 
 in France she could hardly read. The King paid 
 little attention to her, the Due de Berry was kind 
 to her, but treated her like a child, and showed no 
 intention of abandoning the dissipated life he was 
 leading, while the Duchesse d'Angouleme, who tried 
 to control and advise her, and whose manners were, 
 as we know, far from conciliatory, soon earned the 
 violent dislike of the headstrong young Princess.
 
 3o 4 Louis XVIII 
 
 The news of the dissolution of the Chamber was 
 received with relief by the majority of the nation, 
 but by the ultra-Royalists with a fury to which 
 Chateaubriand gave expression in his pamphlet De 
 la Monarchie selon la Charte, the major part of 
 which had been composed before the ordinance of 
 September 5 th ; but to which he now added a postscript 
 accusing the King of being forced into his action 
 against his will, and of really desiring the return of 
 ultra-Royalist Deputies at the next election. This 
 view of his conduct naturally excited the King's in- 
 dignation, and Chateaubriand was warned that the 
 pamphlet must not be published, but refused to listen 
 to the recommendation. Therefore, as before sending 
 it to the printer he had not performed the necessary 
 formalities, Decazes ordered it to be seized. This 
 action was unwise, as the King saw clearly. 
 
 " Do you flatter yourself," he wrote to Decazes, 
 " that you have completely stopped the publication 
 of Chateaubriand's work ? That is an illusion. 1 
 will show you the impossibility of doing it. Any 
 author, who is not obliged like Collet to depend on 
 a successful sonnet for his dinner, always begins by 
 putting aside a certain number of copies intended for 
 important people, such as friends and protectors ; 
 after that the work is put on sale. That would happen 
 on this occasion, and has happened, I have no doubt, 
 and for this reason I think that if you had consulted 
 me before ordering the seizure I should have dis- 
 suaded you from it. 
 
 "It is not that it was not a legal measure, for the 
 Testament itself, thus published, would have been 
 liable to seizure. I shall say that to whoever speaks 
 to me about it, were it even the Due de Berry or
 
 Chateaubriand's Pamphlet 305 
 
 Laine. But, to you alone, I should have said yester- 
 day evening if I had had time, and I say to-day, that 
 people generally will not look at the matter in this 
 light, that they will consider the printer's mistake 
 merely a pretext, and that I fear the poison contained 
 in the book will spread all the more, because of the 
 favour which a varnish of persecution gives to men 
 and to things. 1 might have spared myself the trouble 
 of saying all this, since what is done is done, but 
 friendship would reproach me for not thinking aloud. 
 Let us hope that the remedy will cure the disease." 1 
 
 The Due de Berry, impulsive and undependable 
 as ever, had now completely veered round to the 
 ultra-Royalist side, and exclaimed, speaking of Chateau- 
 briand's production : 
 
 " That book ought to be written in letters of gold." 
 
 Considering the fact that the King was very 
 thoroughly acquainted with his nephew's character, his 
 sensitiveness about the utterances of that most way- 
 ward Prince is rather astonishing. Writing to Decazes 
 anent the redoubtable pamphlet, he says : 
 
 " I was far from foreseeing the harm it would do 
 to me personally. * This book ought to be written 
 in letters of gold.' Oh, since I have known this, it 
 is written in my heart in letters of blood. I cannot 
 cease to love the mistaken fellow who said these cruel 
 words. But I am afraid of losing my self-control 
 with the person who has separated him so completely 
 from me." 2 
 
 The election for the Chamber of Deputies caused 
 much excitement throughout the country ; and Mon- 
 sieur's agents worked incessantly to return ultra- 
 Royalists, who, to alarm him, had started the report 
 
 1 Daudet, Louis XVIII et le Due Decazes, p. 161. 2 Ibid. 
 
 20
 
 3o6 Louis XVIII 
 
 that he was not to be allowed to succeed his brother 
 on the throne. Eventually the Ministerial party ob- 
 tained a majority of forty to fifty in the Chamber of 
 Deputies, and Richelieu's fear that the Revolutionaries 
 would be in the ascendant was not fulfilled ; while, 
 partly as the result of their satisfaction at the 
 disappearance of the " Chambre Introuvable," the 
 Allies were induced by him to diminish the army of 
 occupation by one-fifth. 
 
 All this was most satisfactory, but there were signs 
 that the comparatively peaceful state of affairs would 
 not be of long duration. Many enemies were rising 
 round Decazes, and conspicuous among them was 
 Talleyrand, the man of no feeling, to whom those 
 around him were only pawns to be used in the 
 complicated game he played for his own advancement. 
 For his own purposes he had brought Decazes forward, 
 but now that the latter and the Ministry of which he 
 was a member were waxing overpowerful, the fallen 
 Minister joined with the ultra-Royalists in trying to 
 pit against him the old favourite, whom hardly two 
 years earlier they had hounded from the kingdom. 
 
 Much is mysterious about the matter, but on 
 April 15th, 1 8 17, Blacas left Rome, and, travelling 
 under the name of his valet, arrived on the 22nd 
 at an hotel in Paris. He at once wrote to the King 
 to say that, being unable to stifle the yearnings of 
 his heart, he had come to Paris merely to see his 
 Majesty again, and to hear his voice. 
 
 The King, who was displeased at this infringement of 
 ambassadorial etiquette, gave the dry verbal answer: 
 " I only receive ambassadors when introduced by the 
 Minister for Foreign Affairs." Blacas was therefore 
 obliged to call upon the Due de Richelieu, who asked
 
 Blacas' Return 307 
 
 if he had been summoned by the King, and on receiving 
 a negative answer suspected an intrigue. However, he 
 consented to conduct Blacas to his Majesty, and entered 
 the King's room with him, saying : " Sire, I present to 
 your Majesty a traveller in a frock coat." 
 
 " Ah ! it is Blacas ! " cried the King, whose face had 
 at once brightened. 
 
 " Blacas had thrown himself at his feet, kissing his 
 haiids ; tears were in his eyes, and he showed by 
 his words and gestures the most lively emotion." 1 
 
 Madame de Boigne tells us 2 that Richelieu and 
 Blacas followed the King in to lunch, and says : 
 
 " Surprise and embarrassment were general at the 
 appearance of Monsieur de Blacas, who was thought 
 to be at Rome. Eyes were turned upon the King's 
 face to discover in what way the Ambassador should 
 be received, but the King's expression was impassive. 
 The presence of Monsieur de Richelieu was an embar- 
 rassment to those who would have liked to show the 
 hopes which they possibly felt. 
 
 " Every one, according to custom, had assembled, 
 when Madame arrived, preceded by a little bitch which 
 Monsieur de Blacas had formerly given her. The 
 animal jumped up to its former master and fawned 
 upon him. 
 
 " ' Poor Thisbe ! ' said the King. c I am pleased to 
 see that she remembers you so well.' 
 
 " The Due d'Havre leaned over to his neighbour 
 and said in his ear : ' We must follow Thisbe's example 
 without hesitation.' 
 
 " Monsieur de Blacas was then surrounded with the 
 most affectionate demonstrations. Madame showed no 
 
 1 Daudet, Louis XVIII et le Due Deeazes, p. 182. 
 
 2 Trans, de Boigne Memoires % p. 207.
 
 3o8 Louis XVIII 
 
 greater surprise than the King, but received Monsieur 
 de Blacas with great kindness. Doubtless she was not 
 unaware of the intrigue which was in progress. The 
 Due d'Angouleme lunched somewhat later than the 
 King, and when the Princess left her Uncle's apartments 
 she used to come in at the end of the Duke's meal 
 and eat one or two grapes every day. To-day she 
 announced the arrival of Monsieur de Blacas. 
 
 " ' So much the worse,' replied the Due d'Angouleme 
 drily. She made no answer." 
 
 As usual, the different members of the Royal Family 
 did not see matters in the same light ; but at first the 
 intriguers were full of delighted hope as to the success 
 of their scheme. Blacas was reinstated in his old apart- 
 ments at the Tuileries, used the Court carriages, could 
 go to see the King whenever he pleased, and came 
 out from long audiences smiling triumphantly. The 
 foreign Ministers disapproved strongly of the state of 
 affairs, seeing in Blacas' ascendancy an augury of the 
 reversal of the policy under which France was becoming 
 settled and prosperous ; but Talleyrand, Chateaubriand, 
 Vitrolles, and all the ultra-Royalists rejoiced extremely. 
 
 It was decided by Richelieu and Decazes that Blacas 
 must leave Paris speedily, and Richelieu undertook to 
 approach the King about the matter. The King assured 
 his Minister that he had never authorised Blacas' 
 departure from Rome, and Richelieu could easily gather 
 that, though Louis XVIII still felt warm affection for 
 his former favourite and was most anxious not to 
 hurt his feelings, he found his presence embarrassing, 
 and would be relieved at his departure. It was also 
 evident that he was determined to uphold his Ministers 
 with the utmost loyalty, and the disappointed Blacas 
 was forced to return to his post in Rome, where he
 
 From an engraving by F. Lignon, after a painting by Sir Thomas Laurence. 
 
 THE DUC DE RICHELIEU. 
 p. ;,oS]
 
 Blacas Leaves Paris 309 
 
 was engaged in negotiations with the Pope about a 
 new Concordat. 
 
 The King also supported his Ministry in the reforms 
 which the Marechal Gouvion Saint-Cyr, the new 
 Minister for War, was trying to introduce into the 
 Army, where he wished to bring in a modified form 
 of conscription, to do away with the favouritism of 
 promotion by Royal Order, and to make it the result 
 of seniority. The first of these measures was absolutely 
 necessary if France was to be provided with an 
 adequate Army, and the second equally necessary it 
 that Army was to represent the country as a whole ; but 
 both were disputed violently by the ultra-Royalists, 
 and Monsieur wrote to the King pointing out the 
 danger of these measures as infringing on the rights 
 of the Crown, and also attacking the policy of the 
 Ministry, which would, he said, lead the King and 
 country to destruction. The King was very angry 
 at this criticism, which he would not allow Monsieur 
 to publish, as the latter had intended to do. In his 
 letter back, Louis XVIII said: 
 
 " The system I have adopted, and which my Ministers 
 follow with perseverance, is founded on the maxim that 
 it is impossible to reign over two peoples, and all the 
 efforts of my Government tend to arrange that these 
 two peoples, who exist only too decidedly, shall end 
 by becoming one." * 
 
 The King added that he was in complete accord 
 with his Ministers on everything, and that his firmness 
 would triumph over Monsieur's opposition. 
 
 " But," he continues, " I cannot imagine without 
 shuddering the moment when I shall close my eyes. 
 You will then find yourself between two parties, one of 
 1 Crousaz-Cret6t, Life of the Due de Richelieu, p. 270.
 
 310 Louis XVIII 
 
 which already considers itself oppressed by me, while 
 the other will fear the same thing from you. Conclusion, 
 — a civil war, and a future of divisions, troubles, and 
 calamities." 
 
 Relations were terribly strained at this time between 
 the King and his family, and Madame de Boigne tells 
 us of a painful scene after the Due de Berry had can- 
 vassed at his evening parties for supporters against the 
 Government. " The King was informed of the fact, 
 sent for him, and rated him soundly. The Due de 
 Berry complained to his sister-in-law. They discussed 
 their grievances in common, and lashed themselves 
 to fury in the process ; at length, in the evening after 
 dinner, Monsieur proceeded to expound their views 
 in no measured terms. The King replied with vigour. 
 Madame and the Due de Berry intervened, and the 
 quarrel rose to such a pitch that Monsieur declared 
 he would leave the Court with his children. The King 
 replied that there were fortresses for rebellious Princes. 
 Monsieur answered that the Charter did not provide for 
 State prisons — the unfortunate Charter being constantly 
 invoked by those who hated it most bitterly — and on 
 these friendly terms they parted. 
 
 The Due d'Angouleme had been the only member of 
 the family to keep silence. His respect for his father 
 balanced his respect for the King, so that he would not 
 have felt justified in pronouncing in favour of either 
 party. When once their anger had subsided, all 
 regretted the violence of their language. The poor 
 King wept when he told his Ministers of the scene 
 in the evening. He had, however, been so shaken 
 that he was unable to digest his dinner. An attack 
 of gout in the stomach supervened, his breathing failed 
 almost entirely in the night, and he was ill for several
 
 Painful Family Scenes 3 11 
 
 days afterwards. His family seized the opportunity 
 for a display of affection, in which he pretended to 
 believe in order to gain a little peace, but for which 
 he really cared very little. The public were as well 
 aware as the King of the opposition which the Princes 
 had offered, and the jest of the moment was to call the 
 black balls in the ballot-box " Monsieur's prunes." ! 
 
 Monsieur was at this time particularly active. It 
 had been settled that in September 1818 the Great 
 Powers should hold a Congress at Aix-la-Chapelle, 
 to discuss, among other things, the possibility of the 
 foreign troops at once evacuating France, instead of 
 waiting till the five years mentioned in the Convention 
 should have elapsed. With Monsieur's knowledge, his 
 friend Vitrolles took the extraordinary and unpatriotic 
 course of writing a secret Note to the Powers, begging 
 them not to leave France while the King was governed 
 by a Revolutionary Ministry. Instead of this Note 
 being shown to the Great Powers — when, if they had 
 given credit to it, they might have delayed their evacua- 
 tion of the country — it was made public in France, and 
 the intriguing Vitrolles lost his position as Minister 
 of State. About the same time the conspiracy known 
 as " Du bord de l'Eau ' ' was discovered, by which the 
 Ministers were to be kidnapped, and the King apparently 
 forcibly provided with a purely Royalist Cabinet. To 
 this conspiracy it was suspected that Monsieur was 
 privy, and his influence was felt to be so pernicious, 
 that the post of Colonel-General of the National Guard, 
 which he had held since 1 8 14, was summarily suppressed. 
 Monsieur was furious at his disgrace ; but the King 
 was determined. 
 
 The King and his Ministers were now reaping the 
 
 1 Trans, de Boigne Me'moircs, vol. ii. p. 199.
 
 3 i2 Louis XVIII 
 
 first-fruits of their prudent and moderate policy. 
 Richelieu's great ambition was that the Great Powers 
 should decide to receive France again on terms of 
 equality. The Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle was opened 
 on September 30th, 181 8, and to the intense joy of 
 every patriot, it was determined that by November 30th 
 the foreign troops should have evacuated France ; 
 while, after the Czar had visited Paris and had had an 
 interview with Louis XVIII, France was again admitted 
 into the Concert of European Powers. 
 
 Louis XVIII and Richelieu had certainly deserved 
 well of their country. 
 
 " I have lived long enough," said the King, " since 
 I have seen France free, and the French flag flying 
 over every French town ! "
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 Divisions between Richelieu and Decazes — Louis XVIII's view of the 
 situation — Ultra-Royalist tactics — Question of retirement of Decazes 
 — Richelieu resigns — Formation of the Cabinet Dessoles-Decazes 
 — Difficulties — The King's sentiments — His family difficulties 
 — His kindness to Madame Decazes — The " Loi Barthelemy" — 
 Triumph of the ultras — Creation of new peers — Cabinet harassed 
 by ultra-liberals — Gregoire's election — Decazes proposes alteration 
 in election laws— Assassination of the Due de Berry — Fury of the 
 ultra-Royalists against Decazes — The Royal Family implore the 
 King to dismiss him — Retirement of Decazes — Richelieu becomes 
 head of the Cabinet — The King's grief — Disappointment of the 
 Due de Castries. 
 
 TOWARDS the end of the year 1 8 1 8, when the 
 Due de Richelieu returned triumphantly from 
 the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle, his Ministry appeared 
 at a cursory glance to be strongly established and 
 prosperous. To any one who understood the inner 
 workings of the Cabinet, however, the outlook was 
 less favourable, for Richelieu and Decazes, the two 
 principal members of it, were every month becoming 
 more divided in aims and in policy. Richelieu had 
 returned from the Congress imbued with dread of a 
 renewal of revolution in France, a dread intensified by 
 the fact that a certain number of Jacobin and Bona- 
 partist Deputies had been returned at the elections 
 which had taken place during his stay at Aix-la-Chapelle. 
 He was therefore most anxious to conciliate Monsieur 
 and his party, and urged the necessity of this on 
 
 313
 
 3i4 Louis XVIII 
 
 Decazes ; though he allowed that the latter would be 
 more than a man, if he were not influenced in his 
 feelings by the outrages rained on him by certain 
 madmen among the ultras. Decazes, on the other 
 hand, exasperated by the violent hatred shown him by 
 the ultra-Royalists, was inclining decidedly to the 
 liberals, and especially towards the party known as the 
 " doctrinaires," or, in ridicule, as the " petit ministere," 
 because of its supposed power in the Cabinet. This 
 party, which contained in its ranks distinguished men 
 such as Guizot and Barante, was considered by the 
 ultra-Royalists to be most dangerous in its proclivities. 
 
 " To support the Restoration by contending against 
 the reaction, was at first its whole policy," * says 
 Guizot. 
 
 Naturally optimistic, and with full confidence in his 
 own gift of managing men, as well as in his power over 
 the King, Decazes seems to have underestimated the 
 strength of his enemies ; while Richelieu, on the other 
 hand, being devoid of ambition, and hating the political 
 task forced on him by his patriotism and sense of duty, 
 was apt to look on the gloomy side of things, and 
 was easily prone to despair. It was in vain that 
 Decazes tried to minimise the significance of the seats 
 won by the Jacobins and the Bonapartists ; he refused 
 to be comforted. 
 
 c£ My future appears to me in the blackest colours," 
 he writes to Decazes, " for if everything goes badly 
 it will be impossible to leave, and to remain would be 
 a hundred times worse than death to me." 2 
 
 Louis XVIII viewed the situation from a more cheer- 
 ful, and possibly a more common-sense, standpoint than 
 
 1 Memoires, p. 115. 
 
 2 Daudet, Louts XVIII et le Due Decazes, p. 283.
 
 Ministerial Dissensions 3*5 
 
 did his First Minister. In the curious account he has 
 written of the crisis in the Cabinet, 1 he says : 
 
 " Some of the elections displeased me, such as those 
 of La Sarthe, La Vendee, and Finistere ; but these are 
 annoyances incidental to a Constitution like ours, and the 
 greater number were good." The King also remarks 
 that there was nothing specially threatening about the 
 Session which was about to open, for order and con- 
 fidence had been restored, France was respected abroad, 
 and although lively debates would no doubt take place 
 in the Chamber, he considered that the Government 
 would keep a considerable majority. From a letter the 
 King wrote to Decazes, we learn that he did not agree 
 with Richelieu's views on the possibility of reforming 
 Monsieur. 
 
 11 1 have undoubtedly a good opinion of your power 
 of pleasing and of persuading, my dear son, but I do 
 not share Richelieu's opinion of the facility you will 
 have in converting your Uncle, and I consider that 
 Sp.'s example proves nothing " ; and the King summed 
 up the matter bitterly by saying that his nephew was 
 not afflicted, like his brother, by the terrible and in- 
 corrigible malady of the " desire to reign." 2 
 
 Meanwhile, Decazes had other anxieties besides those 
 caused by the constant opposition of the ultra-Royalists. 
 He objected to his position of Minister of Police, 
 considering it slightly beneath his dignity, besides being 
 an anachronism under a constitutional monarchy, and 
 his friends wished to substitute him for Lain6 as 
 Minister of the Interior. This was, however, impossible, 
 as Laine declared that if deprived of his post he would 
 retire into private life altogether ; and Richelieu had 
 
 1 Given in Book xxxv. of Lamartine's Histoire de la Restauration. 
 3 Daudet, Louis XVIII et Ic Due Decazes, p, 279.
 
 316 Louis XVIII 
 
 always announced that he would not remain in the 
 Cabinet without him. Decazes was also anxious about 
 the dangers of democracy ; for a sentence in the King's 
 Speech which caused a great sensation when he opened 
 the Chambers on December ioth, 1818, came from his 
 pen. It ran as follows : 
 
 " I count on your help to repulse the pernicious 
 principles which, under the mask of liberty, attack 
 social order, and lead by anarchy to absolute power ; 
 while their unfortunate success has cost the world much 
 blood and many tears." 
 
 In spite of these sentiments, Louis XVIII was much 
 disturbed by the discovery that Richelieu had, unknown 
 to him, been negotiating with the ultra-Royalist con- 
 tingent, and had even discussed with them an alteration 
 of the law of elections, by which the whole of the 
 Chamber, instead of a fifth part, should be renewed 
 every five years ; while a law limiting the liberty of the 
 press was to be passed at the same time. 
 
 According to the Duchesse Decazes, Richelieu had 
 been persuaded to take this line, and had been 
 influenced against Decazes by Mole, the Minister of 
 Marine. 
 
 The King was deeply injured at this want of con- 
 fidence on the part of his President of the Council : 
 
 " Never," he says, " will posterity believe that a 
 Minister, whoever he may be, could conceive, and even 
 put into execution, a plan the effect of which would be 
 to change the whole course of the government, without 
 saying a single word about it to the King. It will be 
 even less believed when it is known that the Minister 
 was the Due de Richelieu, the most loyal man who has 
 ever existed, and the King, that Louis XVIII, who 
 has been accused of weakness, but not of indiscretion,
 
 A Crisis 3 X 7 
 
 so that it might have been considered easy, while 
 keeping the plan secret, to try to make him change his 
 opinion." 
 
 In his confidential letters to Decazes, the King 
 characterises Mole most severely : 
 
 " This serpent," he says, " will have conceived 
 some fresh treason of which we shall feel the effects." l 
 
 Remembering, however, the debt of gratitude France 
 owed Richelieu for the concessions he had wrung 
 from the Allies at Aix-la-Chapelle, Louis XVIII was 
 determined not to break with him ; and he therefore 
 pretended to be unaware of his dallyings with the 
 reactionary party, and looked on with apparent 
 equanimity while his brother's party gained victory 
 after victory. Ultra-Royalists were chosen for the 
 Bureau of the Chamber of Peers, ultra-Royalists 
 formed the Commission for the Address, an ultra- 
 Royalist was made President of the Chamber of 
 Deputies, and Richelieu would not see Decazes, and 
 did not answer his letters. However, the tide soon 
 turned, for while the ultra-Royalists were rejoicing in 
 the expectation of coming triumph, the Chamber of 
 Deputies declared its views by choosing moderates 
 and liberals for its Secretaries, among them being 
 the Comte de Saint-Aulaire, father-in-law to Decazes. 
 
 This action hurried the catastrophe, as Richelieu 
 on this occasion spoke bitterly of Decazes to the 
 King, and accused him of influencing these elections. 
 The King was suffering from one of his frequent 
 attacks of gout, brought about very probably by 
 anxiety and worry. In his account of these events he 
 says : 
 
 " May I here be permitted to speak of the state 
 1 Daudet, Louis XVIII et le Due Decazes, p. 292.
 
 3i8 Louis XVIII 
 
 of my health, not in order to be pitied, but as an 
 excuse for mistakes I may have made in these diffi- 
 cult circumstances ? On the 1 2th I felt an attack 
 of gout ; during three days it was so slight that I 
 thought it would be nothing, but on the evening of the 
 15th the pains became very severe, and on the 1 6th 
 an attack began which I will describe in a few words ; 
 great suffering, little sleep, no appetite, fever, and 
 prostration of physical and mental strength. This 
 was my condition for over eight days." 
 
 It was during this illness that the King received 
 the resignations of Richelieu, Mole, and Laine, fol- 
 lowed the next day by those of Decazes and Pasquier. 
 His trouble can easily be imagined. 
 
 " My dear son, your Father is very unhappy," he 
 wrote to Decazes, " but he only feels the more deeply 
 how much he loves you." 
 
 On receiving the resignations of his Ministers, the 
 King at once wrote to Richelieu, begging him to 
 decide nothing definitely before seeing him. 
 
 Richelieu found his Royal Master in a state of 
 extreme agitation and sorrow, convinced that, in 
 case of his withdrawal, the only possible course was 
 the hated one of calling upon Talleyrand to form 
 a Ministry. Touched by his trouble, Richelieu wrote 
 after this interview to offer to remain at the head 
 of affairs if Decazes were excluded from the Ministry, 
 and were sent at once as Ambassador to Naples or to 
 St. Petersburg. Richelieu said in his letter that he 
 " loved and esteemed " Decazes, but that as long 
 as the latter remained in France, the liberal party 
 would consider him the aim of their hopes, while it 
 would be impossible for the ultra-Royalists, whose 
 imprudences had, he allowed, caused untold harm, to
 
 Resignation of the Cabinet 3 X 9 
 
 join the Ministry while the man whom they hated 
 was a member of it, and that, therefore, in spite of 
 himself, Decazes would become an obstacle to the 
 Government. 
 
 This letter was a terrible shock to the King. 
 
 " Be reconciled with the ultras ! " he cried : 
 " What a disgrace ! And perhaps a useless disgrace ! ' 
 
 However, patriotism and the fear of being forced to 
 have recourse to Talleyrand prevailed over pride and 
 personal affection, and the King told Decazes of 
 Richelieu's ultimatum in a letter which he finished 
 with the words : 
 
 " But I wish I were dead, O my son ! " 
 
 Decazes was horrified at the idea of making a long 
 journey with his delicate and ailing wife, and he begged 
 that this cruel condition might at least be removed, and 
 that he might be allowed to remain in France if he 
 promised to retire into the country. Richelieu was at 
 first inexorable ; but, a little later, better thoughts 
 prevailed, and he limited his conditions to a few 
 months' sojourn in the country. 
 
 Now fresh difficulties supervened, for the different 
 members of the Ministry objected strongly to any 
 change in the elections laws ; while several of them 
 refused to remain in the Cabinet unless Decazes were a 
 member of it. Richelieu, therefore, for a second time 
 sent in his resignation, and proposed to the King to 
 have recourse to Decazes for forming a fresh Ministry. 
 
 The King assented without enthusiasm, for he saw 
 plainly that in the present state of affairs, a retirement 
 for a time from the political arena would really be to 
 the interest of Decazes. In the end, the Cabinet 
 Dessoles-Decazes was formed, General Dessoles be- 
 coming President of the Council and Foreign Minister,
 
 320 Louis XVIII 
 
 while Decazes at last held the coveted post of Minister 
 of the Interior, the Marechal Gouvion Saint-Cyr kept 
 that of Minister of War, and the Baron Louis took his 
 old post of Minister of Finance. 
 
 In spite of their late contentions, Richelieu and 
 Decazes felt a warm affection for each other, and know- 
 ing that Richelieu had lost all his property during the 
 Revolution, and was leaving office a poor man, Decazes 
 tried to obtain for him a permanent income from the 
 Treasury. This the country certainly owed him for 
 the ability he had shown at Aix-la-Chapelle, when he 
 had shortened the occupation of the country by foreign 
 troops, and had thus saved France an enormous sum of 
 money. The ultra-Royalists, however, were so furious 
 at this proposal, and made so many offensive remarks 
 about it that, having accepted the grant out of respect 
 to the King, Richelieu gave it to the Bordeaux hospitals. 
 Decazes then managed to have the sinecure post of 
 Grand Mastership of the Hounds conferred on his 
 friend, and Richelieu wrote to him on this occasion : 
 
 " A thousand thanks for the rapid effects of your 
 friendship. I am extremely glad and grateful." He 
 finishes his letter with the words : " Receive here, with 
 all my thanks, the assurance of my constant and tender 
 friendship, and that of my very sincere wishes for your 
 success. Write to me sometimes about yourself." ! 
 
 Decazes now seemed to be at the height of his 
 ambition, but the virulent hatred of his enemies in- 
 creased with his success. Madame de Boigne tells a 
 story which shows the almost incredible insolence of 
 the ultras. She had just returned from England, and 
 was talking with some friends at a party given by 
 Madame de Duras, when she saw Decazes' sister, 
 
 1 Daudet, Louis XVIII et le Due Decazes, p. 311.
 
 Society on Politics 3 21 
 
 Madame Princeteau, and went up to speak to her. 
 Her friends at once left her, and when she rejoined 
 them, they said : 
 
 " We admire your courage in speaking to Madame 
 Princeteau in the presence of the Israelites." 
 
 " Oh, it is only the courage of ignorance ; if she had 
 been here a week she would not dare." . 
 
 " But how can I be so rude as to pass her without a 
 word ? I am dining with her brother to-morrow." 
 
 " That does not matter ; people go to the Minister's 
 house, but do not speak either to Madame Princeteau 
 or even to Monsieur Decazes when they meet them 
 elsewhere." l 
 
 Decazes was in a changed position in this new 
 Cabinet, as he, with Portal and eventually the Marechal 
 Gouvion Saint-Cyr, formed the moderate section of it ; 
 while Dessoles, de Serre, and the Baron Louis inclined 
 more decidedly to the left or liberal party. 
 
 Decazes still tried to carry out faithfully Louis XVIII's 
 words : 
 
 " Let us walk between the right and the left, holding 
 out our hands to them both, and saying that whoever is 
 not against us is with us." 2 
 
 The King was rather uneasy at the tendencies of the 
 new Cabinet, but he objected to following Decazes' 
 proposed plan of appointing Pasquier, a man of 
 moderate opinions, as seventh Minister, with the 
 object of ensuring a majority of moderates ; and pre- 
 ferred to depend on the Royal prerogative. In a 
 curious passage, he gives his opinion on the position of 
 Royalty in a constitutional Government : 
 
 " My will should be everything. The responsible 
 
 1 Trans, de Boigne Me'moires, vol. ii. p. 182. 
 
 * Daudet, Louis XVIII et le Due Decazes, p. 314. 
 
 21
 
 322 Louis XVIII 
 
 Ministers say to the King, ' This is our opinion. 
 The King answers : ' This is my will.' If the 
 Ministers, after having reflected, think they will not 
 risk too much in following his will, they follow it. 
 If it be otherwise, they declare they cannot. Then, if 
 the King cannot do without his Ministers, he gives 
 in. In the contrary case, he takes others." 1 
 
 Louis XVIII preserved a dignified and courteous 
 demeanour to all his Ministers ; but, though he was 
 most anxious to give the Cabinet every chance of suc- 
 cess, and to support it with complete loyalty, so that 
 no shadow of responsibility for its failure, if it were to 
 fail, should fall on him, it often wounded his suscepti- 
 bilities as a monarch, and he considered its fall a 
 foregone conclusion. We only know this from his 
 letters to Decazes, his other self, to whom he did not 
 scruple to reveal his secret mind. From these we learn 
 that he disliked the doctrinaires, said that Camille 
 Jordan's boasting made him feel ill, and was much 
 irritated at some of Gouvion Saint-Cyr's military 
 arrangements, as trenching on his prerogative, though 
 he saw the sad necessity for the scheme of army reform 
 as a whole. He pointed out, however, that the Due 
 d'Angouleme was most indignant with the Minister 
 of War, and that if he, who had generally held aloof 
 from the opposition shown to the Ministry by the 
 Royal Family, were to join the ranks of the malcontents, 
 it would be a terrible misfortune. Decazes must insist 
 that the Marechal shall change certain measures. 
 
 " If not, I shall have to tell him. I shall certainly 
 do it politely. But I do not promise that the tone of 
 my voice will not show my real feelings a little." 2 
 
 1 Daudet, Louis XVIII et le Due Decazes, p. 217. 
 3 Ibid., p. 321.
 
 His Relations to the Cabinet 323 
 
 The King was also very susceptible about the 
 honour of his ancestors, and, unless prevented by 
 Decazes, would certainly have put his veto on the 
 nomination of Monsieur Lemontey to the Academie 
 Francaise, because in one of his books he had spoken 
 of Louis XIV in an unbecoming manner. The long 
 letter Louis XVIII wrote to Decazes on the subject, 
 is a striking proof of his erudition and remark- 
 able memory, for he is able to state with clearness 
 the r61es played severally by the Sorbonne and the 
 Parliament in the matter of the introduction of inocula- 
 tion for smallpox, and seems to be equally well versed 
 in minute details about the biography of l'Abbe 
 Morellet. He was still undergoing harassing scenes 
 with the rest of the Royal Family. 
 
 The Duchesse d'Angouleme was most anxious to 
 obtain his permission to go to Bordeaux, and he writes 
 to Decazes : 
 
 " Your poor Father goes through much trouble, my 
 dear boy. Yesterday the Due d'Angouleme asked me 
 to give a definite answer about the journey to Bordeaux. 
 I answered negatively, because of the circumstances and 
 the expense. This morning his wife spoke to me about 
 it. I gave the same answer. She did not hide from 
 me the fact that this caused her much trouble. Then 
 I said to her : 
 
 " 1 1 was perfectly contented with your husband's 
 behaviour during his journey. Can you promise me 
 that yours will be the same as his ? ' 
 
 " A very expressive silence was at first her only 
 answer. Then she added : 
 
 " 1 1 hope that the King will never have cause to 
 complain of my conduct, or of any want of affection 
 for him.'
 
 324 Louis XVIII 
 
 " ' Oh,' I said, l I am quite sure of your friendship 
 for me, — as sure as of my own for you. But I consider 
 that this journey will do more harm than good. Be- 
 sides, the reasons I have already given hold good.' 
 
 cc The interview, which had lasted three minutes in all, 
 for it was just before luncheon, then came to an end. 
 I consider that 1 did not answer badly. But the tears 
 that I saw flowing are a weight on my heart." l 
 
 Spending his life, except when carried behind four 
 galloping horses for his daily drive through the 
 streets of Paris, in an armchair behind the writing- 
 table of white wood he had brought from Hartwell ; 
 on bad terms with his family, helpless, and in almost 
 continual pain, the King's outlook was not cheerful. 
 Nevertheless, it was still possible for him to jest, even 
 on the subject of his infirmities. So he tells Decazes : 
 
 " My walk to-day from my dressing-room was ex- 
 tremely weakly, so that I gave up my intention of receiving 
 the Ambassadors standing, not wishing ' to show the 
 nations Mithridates destroyed,' so I told every one this. 
 But when I had lunched I felt rather more strength. 
 I made a little trial, and this succeeded, which en- 
 couraged me. After Mass, I had myself rolled to the 
 door of the throne-room. There I got up and walked 
 to my armchair, where I waited for the gentlemen ; and 
 when they had finished their salutes, which I did not 
 wish to receive standing, as that would have been too 
 tiring, I got on to my legs again, and made the tour of 
 Europe ; then I bowed, and went to get again into my 
 chair, where it was waiting for me. 
 
 " I do more than this every day. But the essential 
 thing is not to appear too ridiculous, and I flatter 
 myself that I was not that. To-morrow, unless the 
 1 Daudet, Louis XVIII et le Due Decazes, p. 325.
 
 His Relations to his Family 325 
 
 unforeseen occurs, I shall go to the Council on foot. 
 His Excellence the Minister of the Interior [Decazes] 
 will perhaps feel angry that I did not receive him and 
 his colleagues in the same way. But my son will 
 remember that except those to whom no man is a 
 hero, no one has seen me standing more often than 
 he has." 1 
 
 The King was most anxious to act as sponsor to 
 Decazes' infant, but this would not be etiquette unless 
 the Duchesse d'Angouleme would consent to be god- 
 mother ; and he approached the Due d'Angouleme 
 cautiously on the subject. His niece, he knew, would 
 not refuse if he were to ask her ; but he wished to 
 be sure that she would be pleasant, and would not, 
 as he expressed the matter to Decazes, be as stiff as 
 a poker at the christening. The Due d'Angouleme, 
 who was evidently rather in awe of his wife, asked 
 for a few days to find out her sentiments ; and re- 
 turned with the unsatisfactory news that the Duchesse 
 d'Angouleme had only said " that she was always 
 under the King's orders." Therefore, discouraged 
 by this ungenial attitude, Louis XVIII gave up the 
 idea of sponsorship to his friend's child. 
 
 He was always most kind to Madame Decazes, 
 sent her a little bouquet every day, took a fatherly 
 interest in her health, and invited her to the Tuileries 
 from time to time. She says : 
 
 " The first time, I was taken by my husband. 
 Afterwards I went alone. The King was always most 
 kind. But his kindness did not diminish my em- 
 barrassment. Entering his study I made a deep 
 curtsey. The footman who had opened the door 
 followed me, and turned the armchair, in which the 
 
 1 Daudet, Louis XVIII et le Due Decazes, p. 326.
 
 326 Louis XVIII 
 
 King was sitting in front of his little white-wood 
 table. He placed an armchair for me near to this 
 table and to the King's armchair. Then, after having 
 made a second curtsey, I came near, and His Majesty 
 kissed me. Next began the questions ; the King 
 called Monsieur Decazes his son, and me his daughter. 
 He asked me whether I was pleased with his son." 
 
 Madame Decazes gives another interesting picture 
 of Louis XVIII : 
 
 " When I saw the King for the first time he could 
 still walk, but badly and leaning on a stick, though 
 this did not detract from his dignity. When on 
 Monday evening he went into the throne-room, and 
 stopped on the threshold to bow to us, he did it with 
 a nobility, a dignity which made one forget his in- 
 firmities. His face must have been handsome. It 
 had become too heavy and too red. But in his very 
 penetrating gaze was much keenness and even irony, 
 which did not prevent his gaze from being kindly." ! 
 
 Another side to the King's character is shown us 
 by an incident which took place about this time. The 
 Due de Berry, a man who had not married till he 
 was nearly forty, as the King exclaimed indignantly, 
 went to a ball given by a ballet dancer with whom 
 he had been intimate before his marriage, and the 
 King expressed his anger " with violence." Calm, 
 suave, self-controlled as he generally was, there were 
 times when he gave way to terrible anger, so that 
 every one trembled before him ; and as he says himself 
 when speaking of one of these rare fits of passion, 
 11 They must have heard my voice on the Place 
 Carrousel ! " 
 
 The ultra-Royalists soon declared war on the new 
 1 Daudet, Louis XVIII et le Due Decazes, p. 341.
 
 The "loi Barthelemy" 3 2 7 
 
 Cabinet by bringing forward a law known from the 
 name of the mover as the " loi Barthelemy," designed 
 to modify the organisation of the Electoral Colleges 
 by which the Deputies were chosen. This motion 
 caused the utmost indignation throughout France, 
 as, though the electoral laws were far from perfect, 
 they were looked upon by the majority of the country 
 as a pledge of liberal rights, and any modification 
 of their provisions proposed by the ultra-Royalists, 
 was regarded, and indeed on this occasion rightly, as 
 an attempt to infringe on the Constitution. M0I6 
 was again intriguing, to the King's intense indignation. 
 
 " Mole's rascality fills me with horror," he writes 
 to Decazes. The ultras were full of joy, especially 
 when the Budget, as well as the Ministerial law on 
 finance framed by the able financier Baron Louis, were 
 not passed by the Chambers. A strong majority of 
 ultras were to be found in the " Chamber of Peers " ; 
 but in rejecting the proposed taxation this Chamber 
 was certainly exceeding its powers. There was the 
 utmost excitement throughout the country at these 
 manoeuvres, and Louis XVIII spoke with no uncertain 
 voice in the Council Chamber : 
 
 " I will crush the majority. This has not to do 
 with you, gentlemen ; it has to do with me. I shall 
 not abandon you, any more than you will abandon 
 me. It is necessary either to crush this fictitious 
 majority, or to crush the real majority which the 
 country sent me in return to my appeal of September 
 5th. My choice cannot be doubtful." 
 
 This was true ; for the Chamber of Deputies, 
 the members of which were chosen by the country, 
 Ministry, and King, was being defied by the 
 Chamber of Peers ; and each peer had been elected
 
 328 Louis XVIII 
 
 by Louis XVIII himself. To one of his temper the 
 position was unbearable, and when the Ministers, for 
 once forgetting their dissensions and uniting against 
 a common danger, begged the King to break the 
 power of the ultras in the Upper Chamber by ap- 
 pointing sixty new peers of moderate or liberal politics, 
 he assented to this step. Some of this " batch of 
 peers," as they were called in derision, were chosen 
 among men who had been deprived of the peerage 
 conferred on them at the time of the First Restoration, 
 because they had allowed themselves to be reinvested 
 with it by Napoleon during the Hundred Days, others 
 were Marshals and Generals of the Empire, or liberal 
 statesmen. This creation raised a fury of indignation 
 among the ultra-Royalists. Monsieur said to the 
 Due d'Angouleme : 
 
 " This is the beginning of the burial of our family," 
 and the Duchesse d'Angouleme wept in the presence 
 of her husband, a weakness she seldom permitted 
 herself. 
 
 The King was a little alarmed at his own audacity ; 
 especially when he found that the representatives of 
 the foreign Powers, influenced by the wave of re- 
 action now sweeping over Europe, considered the 
 creation of these new peers a dangerous measure. 
 
 The ultra-liberals were the next people to trouble 
 the much-harassed Cabinet, for they sent up a petition 
 to the King begging him to pardon all the regicides 
 who had been banished from the country ; and when 
 de Serre, one of the Ministers, imprudently announced 
 that the regicides would never be restored to their 
 country, he made enemies of the " Left," or liberals, 
 and thus isolated the unfortunate Ministry completely. 
 Meanwhile the division in the Cabinet became ever
 
 Division in the Cabinet 329 
 
 wider, for Dessoles, Gouvion Saint-Cyr, and the Baron 
 Louis inclined more and more to the Left. This 
 disposition to break up into small parties certainly- 
 rendered constitutional government difficult, and the 
 King thought with envy of the doings of the British 
 Parliament. " It is not thus," he writes, " that things 
 happen in England. In 1783, the famous Coalition 
 was formed between Lord North and Mr. Fox ; it was 
 a case of fire and water. Well ! they took up the 
 same system, and were united even after leaving the 
 Ministry. In 1806, at the death of Pitt, follows the 
 Ministry of All the Talents ; the same result. Lord 
 Granville and Lord Grey are to-day as united as they 
 were then. When the King changes his Ministry, he 
 does not tell two people, but one, to form another." 1 
 
 Worse was to follow ; for one of the deputies 
 chosen in the yearly election of the fifth of the 
 Chamber was l'Abbe Gregoire, who was credited 
 with having voted for Louis XVTs death, and who 
 had announced in the Convention that " Kings were 
 morally what monsters were physically." Gregoire 
 was not allowed to take his seat in the Chamber ; 
 but his election was hailed with delight not only 
 by the Revolutionaries but also by the ultra-Royalists, 
 who were as willing now as they had been during 
 their exile to join with the liberals against the 
 moderates ; their one object being to wreck the 
 Ministry and to ruin Decazes. Gregoire's election 
 was certainly a warning to the Government, and the 
 Comte d'Artois had more right on his side than 
 usual when, the exigencies of the situation causing 
 him to break the obstinate silence on politics by which 
 
 1 Louis XVIII to Decazes. Daudet, Louis XVIII et le Due Decazes, 
 P- 374-
 
 33° Louis XVIII 
 
 he had for long shown his intense disapproval of all 
 the King's doings, he said solemnly : 
 
 " Brother, you see where you are being led." 
 
 " Yes, brother," answered the King ; " I will see 
 to it. 
 
 This remark was taken to mean that the King in- 
 tended to change his policy. But though troubled 
 and worried he was impenitent ; and, as he expressed 
 the matter with much truth in a letter to Decazes 
 on Gregoire's election, " It is Messieurs the ultras 
 whom we may thank for this." l 
 
 Decazes, too, realised that something must at once 
 be done to stem the Revolutionary tide, and instead 
 of resigning, which, though his wisest course, was 
 doubtless opposed by the King, he determined to take 
 down the colours so long nailed to his mast, and himself 
 to bring forward an alteration in the law of elections, 
 which should substitute a complete change in the 
 Chamber of Deputies every seven years, for a partial 
 renewal each year. This law was to form part of a 
 great scheme of constitutional reform ; and for the 
 carrying out of this he required the assistance of 
 the Royalists, which he could not obtain without 
 Richelieu's help. However, Richelieu refused to have 
 anything to do with politics, and Dessoles, Gouvion 
 Saint-Cyr, and the Baron Louis retired, saying that they 
 would have no hand in any alteration of the election 
 laws. A new Cabinet was formed, in which Decazes 
 still kept his post as Minister of the Interior, and also 
 became President of the Council. 
 
 The astute old King had misgivings about the 
 situation, and certainly Decazes had put himself in 
 an awkward position, in his attempt to conciliate the 
 1 Daudet, Louis XVIII et le Due Decazes, p. 366.
 
 A Catastrophe 331 
 
 ultra-Royalists by a proposed change in the election 
 laws. Louis XVIII writes to him on the subject of 
 his new dignities : 
 
 " The King has read the Moniteur. Your good 
 Father signed the ordinance trembling. You know 
 the esteem of one, the tenderness of the other, the 
 confidence of both." l 
 
 The situation was terribly difficult ; and, to add to 
 its complications, the foreign Ambassadors announced 
 that they considered any alteration in the law of the 
 elections an attack on the Charter, and the ultras 
 refused to be propitiated or to help the Ministry, and 
 pursued Decazes with malicious hatred. They even 
 accused his policy of causing the Revolution which 
 had just broken out in Spain ; while the liberals were 
 alienated by his proposed law to alter the elections, 
 and by his evident desire to become reconciled to 
 the ultras. 
 
 Before, however, the date of the momentous dis- 
 cussion on the election laws had been fixed, a terrible 
 catastrophe took place — a catastrophe which ruined 
 Decazes, and completely and permanently changed the 
 political situation. 
 
 On February 13th, 1820, near the end of the 
 Carnival, when all Paris was in a state of gaiety, a gala 
 performance took place at the Opera ; and at this the Due 
 and Duchesse de Berry were present. The Duchesse, 
 who was not very well, wished to retire early, and left 
 before the end of the ballet. The Due de Berry con- 
 ducted her to the carriage. As he was returning to 
 the Opera House, a man pushed his way between a 
 soldier and one of the attendants, seized the Prince by 
 the shoulder, thrust a poignard up to the hilt in his 
 1 Daudet, Louis XVIII et le Due Decazes, p. 376.
 
 332 Louis XVIII 
 
 right breast, and fled, leaving the weapon in the 
 wound. At first the Due de Berry did not realise 
 what had happened, but in a minute he staggered and 
 cried : 
 
 " I am assassinated ! 1 have the poignard ! " 
 
 The Duchesse de Berry rushed out of the carriage 
 and threw herself on her husband. He was carried to 
 the drawing-room attached to the Royal box, whence the 
 sounds of the music of the Opera could be heard ; and 
 when it was discovered that he was so badly wounded 
 that it would be impossible to move him to the Elysee 
 Palace, he was taken to the large hall in the Opera 
 House. Meanwhile the assassin had been caught. 
 His name was Louvel ; he was a saddler's assistant ; 
 and, when questioned, he stated that he wished to 
 deliver his country from the yoke of the Bourbons, 
 all of whom he intended to assassinate in turn. At 
 his trial it was proved that he had no accomplices, and 
 no evidence could be found of any widespread plot ; 
 the murder was evidently the isolated act of a madman. 
 
 Monsieur, Madame, and the Due d'Angoulemearrived 
 at the Opera House with all possible speed, also the 
 Due d'Orleans, in whose eyes Chateaubriand, possibly 
 regarding him through spectacles darkened with ultra 
 prejudices, discerned " a badly disguised jubilant ex- 
 pression " ; and the hall was, in addition, thronged 
 with Ministers, grand dignitaries, and eminent per- 
 sonages of the Court. The Due de Berry was not 
 to be allowed a peaceful death. 
 
 Decazes was thunderstruck by the news, of which 
 he at once perceived the real import. 
 
 " We are all assassinated ! " * he cried. He was sent 
 by Monsieur to inform the King of the catastrophe, 
 1 Memoires cT Outre-Tombe } vol. iv. p. 155.
 
 From an engraving by Blanchard, after a drawing by Desenne. 
 
 THE DEATH OF THE DUC DE BERRY
 
 Due de Berry's Assassination 333 
 
 but was enjoined to try to prevent him from coming, 
 as his presence would mean an introduction of " the 
 constraint of etiquette " ; which the poor father was 
 anxious to avoid. When Decazes arrived at the 
 Tuileries, he found the King, who had already heard 
 the news, in bed, very much agitated, and in a state 
 of high fever. Nevertheless, it was with the utmost 
 difficulty that Decazes persuaded him to remain where 
 he was, promising that he should certainly be at 
 once informed if the Due de Berry's state were to 
 become desperate. A little later, Decazes was sent by 
 Monsieur to inform the King that the end was very 
 near. 
 
 The scene when Louis XVIII arrived was heart- 
 rending. The Duchesse de Berry, who was almost 
 beside herself with grief, threw herself at his feet, and 
 implored him to allow her to return with her baby 
 daughter to Sicily. Indeed, during this tragic night 
 she expressed her despair with so much violence, that 
 her husband implored her to take care of herself for 
 the sake of the child she was bearing ; and thus 
 revealed the fact that there was still hope of a con- 
 tinuance of the direct Bourbon line. The Due de 
 Berry appeared to revive slightly at the entrance of 
 the King, and implored him to pardon " the man," as 
 he termed his assassin. But the King would promise 
 nothing : 
 
 " You will live," he said ; " and we will talk again 
 about it. The thing is important ; it requires much 
 deliberation." l 
 
 The King's grief was extreme. Great tears rolled 
 down his cheeks. Nevertheless, he did not, even at 
 this iuncture, forget the exigencies of etiquette ; and 
 1 Viel Castel, Histoire de la Rcstauration, vol. viii. p. 28.
 
 334 Louis XVIII 
 
 when one of the doctors told him that all was over, 
 and asked whether his Majesty would show the Prince 
 " the last respects," Louis XVIII corrected him. " The 
 last attentions," he said, using the prescribed formula ; 
 and he went to the bedside and closed his dead nephew's 
 eyes. 1 
 
 The King was accompanied by Decazes back to the 
 Tuileries. No one knows what Louis XVIII said in 
 the first transports of his grief to the man he loved as 
 a son ; but later, he spoke with his usual clear-sighted- 
 ness of the tactics of the ultras. 
 
 " They will take advantage of my sorrow," he said. 
 " It is not your system they will attack, my dear son, 
 it is mine. They are not angry only with you, but 
 with me " ; and when Decazes suggested his own 
 resignation as the only means of calming matters, the 
 King cried : 
 
 " I order you to remain in the Ministry ! They 
 shall not separate us ! " 2 
 
 The King announced, however, that the measures 
 taken against the Revolutionaries must be " draconian " ; 
 and at a Council held by Decazes at 8 o'clock in the 
 morning — two hours after the death of the Due de 
 Berry — it was decided, partly no doubt in the hope 
 of disarming ultra-Royalist fury, that the Chambers 
 should be asked to pass a temporary enactment sus- 
 pending personal liberty, and another subjecting the 
 press to severe supervision. Later in the day the 
 Chamber of Deputies met, and an ultra, Clausel de 
 Coussergues, caused a sensation by proposing to bring 
 an act of accusation against " Monsieur Decazes, 
 Minister of the Interior, as accomplice to the murder of 
 
 1 Souvenirs du Baron de Barante, vol. ii. p. 398. 
 3 Daudet, Louis XVIII et le Due Decazes ; p. 407.
 
 Ultra-Royalist Violence 335 
 
 Monseigneur the Due de Berry." 1 Cries of " order " 
 rose from most of the benches, and when the orator 
 returned to his seat he was received with coldness even 
 by his friends ; but many outside the Chamber agreed 
 with him. 
 
 Monsieur de Barante says, in a letter to a friend : 
 " Nothing will give you any idea of the state of 
 excitement and ferocity reached by the ultras outside 
 the Chambers ; they talk of nothing but massacres, 
 assassinations, and vengeance ; for a time it seemed 
 likely that civil war might begin in the streets of Paris. 
 Their war-cry is that Decazes was the Due de Berry's 
 assassin, and from this nonsense they obtain the alarming 
 effect they wish for. They excite themselves by this 
 announcement, they believe it after having said it ; 
 it is the one cry of the women, it is a reality for the 
 soldiers of the Bodyguard." 2 
 
 Decazes' life seems really to have been in danger ; 
 but the King was still firm, though terribly agitated. 
 At the Royal Council held the next day, he said : 
 
 " The Royalists deal me the most deadly blow ; they 
 know that Monsieur Decazes' system is also mine, and 
 they accuse him of having assassinated my nephew. It 
 is not the first time they have calumniated me. I intend 
 to save the country without the ultras if possible." 
 
 However, a deadly combination was forming against 
 Decazes, headed by Vitrolles, who was intensely jealous 
 of him, and advised Monsieur to proceed to extreme 
 measures, and to leave the Tuileries unless the in- 
 solent favourite were turned out. He evidently 
 incited Monsieur also to the performance of the next 
 scene in the drama. 
 
 1 Viel Castel, Histoire de la Restauration, vol. viii. p. 285. 
 
 2 Souvenirs du Baron de Barante, vol. ii. p. 415.
 
 336 Louis XVIII 
 
 When Decazes went to see the King one day after 
 dinner, he found him terribly agitated ; " his face of a 
 red purple, his eyes bloodshot ! " 
 
 " Oh, my God ! " he cried ; " what is the matter 
 with the King ? " l 
 
 Louis XVIII, still trembling with anger, told him 
 that a moment earlier, his brother and his niece had 
 knelt before him, crying that they would not rise till 
 he had promised to dismiss Decazes. The Comte 
 d'Artois had indeed spoken with kindness of the 
 Minister of the Interior, and had said that he would 
 be the first to recall him after three months had 
 elapsed ; but the Duchesse d'Angouleme had made 
 use of the ominous words — " Sire, we ask it to prevent 
 there being another victim " ; 2 and when the King, 
 misunderstanding her words, thought she was alluding 
 to himself, she explained that she was not afraid for 
 him, but for some one dear to him. 
 
 During this scene the Due d'Angouleme stood with 
 his eyes cast down, and refused to heed the imploring 
 glances the King directed towards him, in the hope of 
 inducing him to come to the rescue. This hurt the 
 King terribly, as the Due d'Angouleme was the one 
 member of his family on whom he depended for 
 sympathetic understanding, so far had he travelled 
 from the days when the " angel of consolation " was all 
 in all to him. In a letter to Decazes he says, " Caesar 
 was happier than I ; he only once said tu quoque. 
 Shakespeare knew well the human heart. Here is the 
 curse of King Lear on his daughter : ' That she may 
 feel how sharper than a serpent's tooth it is, To have 
 a thankless child.' I do not pronounce this male- 
 
 1 Daudet, Louis XVIII et le Due Decazes, p. 424. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 425.
 
 Extraordinary Scene 337 
 
 diction ; God preserve me from it ; but I feel how 
 cruel it is." 1 
 
 However, the King was slightly consoled, when the 
 Due d'Angouleme came of his own accord, to explain 
 that he had not been let into the secret of the proposed 
 onslaught, and disapproved of it ; but that his respect 
 for his father had kept him silent. 
 
 When Louis XVIII related to Decazes what had 
 passed at this extraordinary scene, he still declared that 
 he would not give in, for that would mean submission 
 to his brother, and virtually abdication. However, 
 it was now impossible for Decazes to remain at the 
 head of affairs, as even the King began to see. 
 
 Therefore, the Comte d'Artois, at Decazes' sug- 
 gestion, managed, by promising Richelieu his whole- 
 hearted support, to overcome his intense objection to 
 re-entering political life, an objection partly caused by 
 his knowledge of the King's precarious health, and 
 of the perpetual intrigues and opposition of the heir- 
 apparent. " Your policy shall be mine," Monsieur 
 said to Richelieu ; " I will be your head lieutenant." 2 
 
 Decazes was to go to England as Ambassador. He 
 received a note from the King, as he was getting 
 into the carriage to start on his journey. It con- 
 tained the words, " Good-bye, my dear son ; I bless 
 you a thousand times from the depths of a broken 
 heart ! " 
 
 Louis XVIII was always sentimental, and the courtiers 
 laughed because the passwords at the Tuileries that 
 day were " Elie," Decazes' christian name, and 
 " Chartres," the place where he would spend the first 
 night. It is always easy to scoff; but the King's 
 
 1 Daudet, Louis XVIII et le Due Decazes, p. 433. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 435. 
 
 22
 
 33* Louis XVIII 
 
 misery was very real. " All is over for me," l he said 
 to the Spanish Ambassador. 
 
 Decazes had now been made a Duke, and this fact 
 led incidentally to a sad disappointment for the Due de 
 Castries, who has not otherwise a place in this history. 
 " On the day before Decazes' departure the Due de 
 Castries received a fine portrait of the King at nine 
 o'clock in the evening. At ten o'clock, the magnificent 
 work of Daniel upon India, most beautifully illustrated, 
 was brought to his house. Both these presents were 
 brought by footmen from the King. Unaccustomed 
 to receive such favours, the Due returned most effusive 
 thanks, saying he would come himself to express to his 
 Majesty in person his gratitude for this kindness. At 
 midnight a messenger came to his room in a great 
 bustle " from the King." This time he brought a 
 beautiful case, containing the gold medals which had 
 been struck since the Revolution, with ducal crowns in 
 relief upon every face. The Due de Castries rubbed 
 his eyes, and could not understand the reason for these 
 marks of distinction. After long reflection, he went 
 to sleep again, to dream upon the matter. At three 
 o'clock he was again aroused, but this time a footman 
 came with an infinity of excuses to request the return 
 of the presents. The King's messengers had been 
 misled by the title " Due," which Monsieur Decazes 
 had only received the previous evening, and had brought 
 Monsieur de Castries the objects which his Majesty had 
 intended for the favourite. The Due de Castries 
 remained the poorer by the louis which he had dis 
 tributed to the bearers of these transitory splendours. 
 
 1 Viel Castel, Histoire de la Restauration, vol. viii. p. 332. 
 
 2 Trans. Memoirs of the Comtesse de Boigne, voi. iii. p. 29. 
 
 " 2
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 Ultra-Royalist intrigue to influence the King through Madame du 
 Cayla — La Rochefoucauld's share in it — The King's growing affec- 
 tion for Madame du Cayla — The Session of 1820 — Violent 
 dissensions — The birth of the Due de Bordeaux — Tumults in 
 the Chamber — Royalist triumph at the elections — Disturbances 
 throughout Europe — Duplicity of the Duchesse de Berry — Decazes 
 visits Paris — King's growing infirmities — His drowsiness and 
 indifference — Napoleon's death — Monsieur harries the Ministry — 
 The extreme Right and extreme Left unite to wreck the Cabinet — 
 Richelieu's indignation with Monsieur — His resignation and death 
 — Madame du Cayla's share in forming new Cabinet — King's 
 virtual abdication to Monsieur. 
 
 IT is now time to speak of an extraordinary intrigue 
 which was beginning to weave itself round the 
 old monarch, and which had the effect of virtually 
 causing him to abdicate in favour of Monsieur ; so that, 
 as an acute and well-informed observer remarks, 1 after 
 December 1821 it was Charles X, not Louis XVIII, 
 who in reality held the reins of government. In 
 February 1820, when the Due de Richelieu became 
 President of the Council, the plot had only lately 
 begun to run its underground course, and the existence 
 of a new favourite, introduced by ultra-Royalist agency 
 to the King, was kept a profound secret. 
 
 This favourite was a woman named Madame du 
 Cayla ; the daughter of Talon, who had been Head 
 of the Police before the Revolution. It was there- 
 fore said that she first ingratiated herself with 
 
 1 Pasquier, Memoires, vol. vi. p. II. 
 339
 
 34Q Louis XVIII 
 
 Louis XVIII by giving into his possession papers 
 which might have incriminated him in " 1' Affaire 
 Favras." There is, however, no proof of this ; and 
 the ostensible reason for her first interview with 
 Louis XVIII, which took place in 1819, was to beg 
 for Royal protection for her children, who had been 
 deprived, by their grandfather's will, of the property 
 which should rightfully have come to them. Madame 
 du Cayla was a charming woman, who had a merry laugh 
 and much natural gaiety ; besides being clever, tactful, 
 and discreet. She was, indeed, so discreet, so attentive 
 to her mother-in-law, with whom she lived, and who 
 adored her, so careful also to surround herself with a 
 circle of highly respectable elderly people, that in spite 
 of 4:he fact that she was separated from the Comte 
 du Cayla, and that her past had not been altogether 
 immaculate, she was looked upon in society as a young 
 woman of devout habits, and almost prudish virtue. 
 
 Madame du Cayla was first introduced to Louis XVIII 
 by her mother-in-law, who had been lady-in-waiting 
 to the Comtesse de Provence ; and the King received 
 the fair suppliant with the utmost kindness, and ex- 
 pressed a wish to see her again. It was after this first 
 interview, that "a sort of instinctive prevision, of interior 
 light on the subject of her future destiny," came to 
 Madame du Cayla's devoted friend Sosthene de la Roche- 
 foucauld. He was an ultra of the deepest dye, and he 
 and Madame du Cayla had known each other for a 
 long time, and had exchanged letters breathing the 
 most ardent affection ; though the gentleman is careful 
 to assure us that the feeling on both sides was purely 
 platonic. In La Rochefoucauld's opinion, as in that of 
 the ultras generally, Louis XVIII was being deceived 
 and alienated from his family by Decazes, who was
 
 Madame du Cayla 34 J 
 
 hurrying France to ruin and revolution ; and, as 
 La Rochefoucauld puts it : " It seemed to me that 
 Madame du Cayla was the only person who could 
 succeed in dissipating the illusions with which 
 Louis XVIII was surrounded ; and which it was 
 necessary to destroy for his honour, his happiness, 
 and for that of his family and of France." 1 
 
 La Rochefoucauld was a man of considerable energy, 
 and according to his own account was absolutely 
 patriotic and altruistic, though, judging from sub- 
 sequent events, and from the letters he so obligingly 
 and naively publishes, we cannot avoid a suspicion 
 that a thought may occasionally have crossed his 
 mind, to the effect that the position of dearest friend 
 to the King's dearest friend might not be without 
 advantages. We are almost ashamed, however, at even 
 hinting this, so lofty are Sosthene de la Rochefoucauld's 
 sentiments, and so beautiful was the prayer with which 
 he despatched Madame du Cayla on her noble mission, 
 which, from his account, she undertook with considerable 
 reluctance. 
 
 To persuade Madame du Cayla to act the part of 
 Esther to Ahasuerus or of Madame de Maintenon 
 to Louis XIV, was the easiest part of the business. 
 She had also to be equipped for her role; and this 
 implied considerable labour, as the King, though in 
 a most precarious state of health and subject to fits 
 of exhaustion and drowsiness, was still well informed 
 and witty ; and the task of amusing, and then thoroughly 
 enthralling him, required considerable knowledge, as 
 well as charm and talent. 
 
 Madame du Cayla had learnt from her mother-in- 
 law many details about events that had passed in 
 
 1 La Rochefoucauld Memoires, vol. vi. p. 247.
 
 342 Louis XVIII 
 
 Louis XVIII's youth, and these would, it was hoped, 
 amuse the old King; while before the next interview for 
 which La Rochefoucauld insisted that she should apply, 
 he had applied to Madame de Balbi for further informa- 
 tion ; so that Madame du Cayla departed to her second 
 visit well primed. " The anxiety with which I awaited 
 the result of this interview can well be imagined," 
 says La Rochefoucauld. " Every detail was precious ! 
 It was important to know each word that had passed." 
 
 On her return, Madame du Cayla's report was satis- 
 factory. " Madame," the King had said to her, " 1 had 
 a tender affection for your mother-in-law. 1 I knew how 
 to appreciate her, and I became acquainted with you 
 through her ; her recommendation will be sacred to 
 me. Shortly before her death she described your 
 situation and misfortunes to me, and she has inspired 
 me with so real an interest in you, that you may with- 
 out fear claim the proofs of it whenever you may find 
 them useful." 2 
 
 This speech was most satisfactory, and the only 
 puzzling thing to Madame du Cayla was a remark 
 which the King made, when she spoke pathetically 
 of her cruel husband's threat to tear her children from 
 her ; and, thinking of Decazes, he said, " And they 
 wish to take my child away from me, too, Madame! " 3 
 He little thought that the amiable and charming lady 
 before him, who, he remarks, " never spoke ill of any 
 one," was Decazes' most bitter opponent. 
 
 The Vicomte de la Rochefoucauld now felt en- 
 couraged to put forth all his powers in the great work 
 of saving France; and he became so indefatigable, that 
 
 1 The elder Madame du Cayla had died shortly before this. 
 1 Memoires de La Rochefoucauld, vol vi. p. 248. 
 3 Vitrolles Memoires, vol. iii, p. 496.
 
 The Vicomte de la Rochefoucauld 343 
 
 we are not surprised at the constant references to 
 fatigue which appear in his letters. Between coaching 
 Madame du Cayla in her duties, listening to her 
 reports of what was said during her interviews with 
 the King, talking to clever people to gain information 
 which might be passed on to Louis XVIII as though 
 from her, and appearing to join in all frivolous amuse- 
 ments, so that no one might suspect what was really 
 his great preoccupation, poor Sosthene de la Roche- 
 foucauld led a busy and a harassed life. However, 
 his efforts were crowned with success, for Madame 
 du Cayla's occasional visits to Louis XVIII became 
 gradually more frequent, and were at last fixed as 
 weekly ; and Louis XVIII might never be disturbed 
 on Wednesday afternoons, which were devoted to 
 her agreeable society. 
 
 Letters, too, were exchanged daily ; letters which 
 the King imagined to be confidential ; but which were 
 on Madame du Cayla's side the work of La Roche- 
 foucauld; and a hard task he found the labour of 
 composition. " It required an enormous amount of 
 attention, memory, research, and work," he says 
 plaintively, " to discuss in this correspondence litera- 
 ture, history, politics, morals, and even religion, with 
 the best informed and most witty man in his 
 kingdom." ! 
 
 Sometimes, too, difficulties arose between La Roche- 
 foucauld and Madame du Cayla, for once firmly 
 established with the King, she unfortunately showed 
 a reprehensible desire for independence, and was 
 ungratefully and foolishly inclined to go her own 
 way, without consulting the faithful friend to whom 
 as he reproachfully reminded her, she owed everything. 
 1 La Rochefoucauld Memoires, vol. vi. p. 252,
 
 344 Louis XVIII 
 
 The influence Madame du Cayla assumed over the 
 King was of gradual growth. As long as Decazes 
 remained in power, she was in all probability only a 
 casual visitor, and one whose influence did not much 
 alarm him. The King was most anxious that his two 
 friends should meet, as he considered that the Minister 
 of the Interior might be useful to Madame du Cayla 
 in a lawsuit she was about to bring against her husband, 
 but she refused to have any dealings with iniquity. 
 Louis XVIII is reported to have said, " Can you 
 refuse to receive one whom the King, so full of 
 tenderness and of goodness to you, honours with his 
 affection ? Give in at least on a single point, and 
 meet him in my presence." But Madame du Cayla 
 was firm. Her work was to be the great one of saving 
 the State from the machinations of Decazes, and she 
 refused to become acquainted with him. 
 
 The secret was most cleverly kept, and after Decazes' 
 fall, when Richelieu had become First Minister, he only 
 discovered Madame du Cayla's existence by chance ; 
 and when it was suggested that he should use her as a 
 political instrument, he refused, with his usual high- 
 mindedness, to sully his fingers by dealings with an 
 intriguer. The scope of Madame du Cayla's work, 
 which was certainly executed with great ability, was 
 detailed for her most minutely in La Rochefoucauld's 
 letters. She was to destroy, if possible, the King's 
 affectionate remembrance of Decazes, to reconcile 
 Louis XVIII with Monsieur and the rest of the 
 Royal Family, and to place him in the hands of 
 the ultra-Royalists. If she could prevent the King 
 from corresponding with Decazes she was to do so ; 
 but if this could not be compassed, she was to 
 try to see the fallen Minister's letters. " You
 
 Madame du Cay la's Mission 345 
 
 will confess to the King that you are very curious to 
 see the letters Monsieur Decazes writes to him, if 
 he does still write to him," are La Rochefoucauld's 
 directions. 1 
 
 It must be allowed to Monsieur's credit, that he 
 does not appear to have been at first privy to the 
 plot woven round his helpless and invalided brother, 
 though when he did know a certain aspect of it, which 
 was no doubt presented to him in a picturesquely 
 disposed light, he did not apparently scruple to reap 
 the advantages of it. " The King is behaving per- 
 fectly to him, and the poor Prince is enchanted," 
 says La Rochefoucauld ; and, " Another proof that 
 Monsieur appreciates what we are doing is that he said 
 to me, ' The King is delightful to-day, because the 
 influence near him is perfect ; if it were not so, I 
 know well what would happen.' " 3 
 
 It is time now to turn to the political situation, on 
 which the intrigue we have been considering exercised 
 a strong influence. The Session of 1 820, when Richelieu 
 assumed the reins of government, was so stormy that 
 it almost resembled civil war. Richelieu had come 
 into power determined before all things to combat 
 every revolutionary tendency, and with this object 
 in view, after bringing forward amidst much excite- 
 ment and opposition, an enactment modifying the 
 much-vexed law of elections, and then depriving the 
 doctrinaires, Camille Jordan, Royer-Collard, Guizot, 
 and Barante, of their positions in the Council of 
 State, he obtained after many parleyings the consent 
 of Villele and Corbiere, members of the ultra party, 
 to form part of the Ministry. 
 
 1 Memoires, vol. viii. p. 128. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 106. 3 Ibid., p. 309.
 
 346 Louis XVIII 
 
 Villele, though belonging nominally to the extreme 
 party and much coerced by them, was of a calm dis- 
 position, could be depended upon to take a reasonable 
 view of the different subjects under discussion, and was 
 in the future to rule France, nominally as Louis XVIII's 
 First Minister, but in reality as the politician who 
 represented Monsieur's views. Corbiere was more 
 violent and difficult to work with ; but though Richelieu, 
 as First Minister, and Pasquier, as Foreign Minister, 
 received these gentlemen most loyally, and did their 
 best to initiate them thoroughly into the former work 
 of the Cabinet, the new recruits would never allow 
 themselves to be amalgamated with it, but kept to 
 their position as heads of a party ; and showed plainly 
 that they were only birds of passage among their 
 present surroundings, and were waiting for the not 
 distant time when the ultras would come into full 
 power. 
 
 Revolutions were in the air. Spain and Naples were 
 rising against their legitimate sovereigns, insurrections 
 took place in Paris, it was necessary to call out the 
 military, and secret societies were rife. Most serious 
 symptom of all, on August 19th, 1820, a military con- 
 spiracy took place, to which Lafayette was privy. 
 It was discovered in time, but it aroused a sense of 
 insecurity throughout the nation. The situation in 
 France was most difficult, and the exaggerations and 
 unreasonable doings of the ultras, who saw republican 
 conspiracies and uprisings where they did not exist, 
 would certainly not steer the bark safely through the 
 stormy waters ; for that, moderation and prudence were 
 necessary. 
 
 Fortunately, Louis XVIII, with the impartiality and 
 cool-headedness characteristic of him, accorded the
 
 Birth of the Due de Bordeaux 347 
 
 new Ministry a loyal and whole-hearted support, 
 which it certainly required, as it was violently attacked 
 by the extremists of both parties ; and its policy of 
 keeping nominally to the Centre but sending out feelers 
 to the Right, while sternly repressing the Left, seemed 
 likely to be no more successful than Decazes' plan 
 of moderation, with excursions to the Left. 
 
 The ceremony of the opening of the Chamber took 
 place this year in the Louvre, as the King's infirmities 
 and increasing weakness made it impossible for him 
 to be carried to the Chamber of Deputies. " This 
 Monarch, crushed by years and infirmities, while his 
 heart and intelligence were intact, was a touching sight, 
 as he came, before quitting life, to beg from his subjects 
 a little calm and repose after the cruel trials he had 
 experienced." l 
 
 A great joy, however, came to Louis XVIII at this 
 time; for on September 29th, 1820, the Duchesse de 
 Berry brought into the world a little boy, who was 
 given the title of the Due de Bordeaux. All the 
 Royal Family hurried to the Duchesse's bedside, 
 Louis XVIII being the last to arrive. Ancient customs 
 were strictly observed ; and after kissing his niece, 
 and presenting her with a diamond ornament in the 
 form of a flower, the baby was brought to him, and, 
 imitating what had been done at the birth of Henry 
 of Navarre, he rubbed the infant's lips with a pod of 
 garlic, and poured a few drops of Jurangon wine 
 down its throat. The Ministers were admitted to 
 the anteroom to see the newly born infant, and 
 Pasquier says : " It is difficult to imagine all the 
 touching emotion that can be produced by a moment 
 of happiness, after many troubles and sorrowful ordeals, 
 
 1 Memoires du Cliancelicr Pasquier, vol. v. p. 68.
 
 348 Louis XVIII 
 
 on a face generally cold, sad, and even severe ; unless 
 one has seen Madame d'Angouleme holding the Royal 
 child on her knees, showing it to every one, and 
 seeming to say, ' You see this ? The cup of adver- 
 sity is at last finished ; after this striking favour we 
 have the right to count on Divine justice.' " l 
 
 France, with but few exceptions, rejoiced with the 
 young widow ; but the delight of the ultra-Royalists 
 was almost delirious in its expression, their newspapers 
 calling the baby " the child of miracle," and one of 
 them blasphemously likening the Duchesse de Berry 
 to the Virgin Mary. 
 
 However, a few clear-sighted supporters of the 
 Monarchy in France, who considered that its only 
 chance of permanency was to be found in the ex- 
 tinction of the elder Bourbon branch and the passing 
 of the crown to the Orleans family, looked on the 
 baby's arrival as ominous. Madame de Boigne was 
 walking with Pozzo di Borgo in the Tuileries 
 gardens, when they heard in the distance the sound 
 of the Te Deum, which was being sung to celebrate 
 the birth. " Listen ! There is the death-knell of 
 a dynasty ! " 2 said Pozzo. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Assembly in the Chambers battled 
 about the law establishing the censure, and the law 
 temporarily abrogating personal liberty. There were 
 terrible tumults ; extreme orators on either side made 
 violent speeches, which were in reality addressed to 
 the country at large ; and the Ministry tried most 
 unsuccessfully to avoid bringing forward measures 
 which would arouse acrimonious debate. In the 
 voting for the renewal of a fifth number of the De- 
 
 1 Memoires du Chancelier Pasquier, vol. iv. p. 464. 
 3 Souvenirs du Baron de Barante, vol. ii. p. 467.
 
 A Wave of Revolution 349 
 
 puties, which had been the measure at last decided on, 
 the Royalists were largely in the ascendant ; and even 
 returned some of the members of the Chambre In- 
 trouvable of 1815. A moderate Royalist majority 
 would indeed have been satisfactory to the Ministry ; 
 but this triumph was alarming, as it made the exi- 
 gencies of the ultras more extravagant than ever. 
 Louis XVIII expressed the matter neatly when he 
 said to his Ministers, " So we are in the situation 
 of the unfortunate rider who had not sufficient elasticity 
 to mount his horse. He prayed St. George with so 
 much fervour that St. George gave him more than 
 was necessary, so that he jumped over the other 
 side." » 
 
 A wave of revolution was sweeping over Europe, 
 combated on the part of most of the crowned heads, 
 led by Austria under the leadership of Metternich, 
 by a return to absolute methods of government. At 
 Troppau a Congress of Great Powers met on Nov- 
 ember 1st, 1820, with the object of debating on the 
 revolutions which were disturbing Naples and Spain ; 
 and the three most absolute Powers, Russia — so had 
 Alexander I fallen away from his early views — Austria, 
 and Prussia, summoned the King of Naples to meet 
 them at Laybach to discuss the situation. France and 
 England at first held aloof from these proceedings ; 
 but eventually Louis XVIII wrote to the King of 
 Naples advising him to be present at the Congress 
 of the Powers. Before this Congress had begun, 
 European affairs were further complicated by the 
 rising of Greece against Turkey. 
 
 In France, the reports of conspiracies continued, and 
 petards and crackers — generally discovered to be harm- 
 1 See Crousaz-Cretet's Life of the Due de Richelieu, p. 383.
 
 35° Louis XVIII 
 
 less — were found in different places. The ultra- 
 Royalists were, of course, terribly excited at each new 
 discovery ; but the King was not much alarmed at 
 these incidents, and even suspected ultra-Royalist plots. 
 When in consequence of one of these excitements the 
 Duchesse de Berry sent to ask after him, he returned 
 a joking message which showed his suspicions : " Tell 
 my niece that I did not throw the bomb myself," 
 he said. 
 
 Matters, however, seemed serious when petards 
 were discovered in the Treasury, and when the Duchesse 
 de Berry brought Monsieur a paper which she had, she 
 said, found on her toilette table, announcing a formidable 
 plot against the Royal Family ; and for three days the 
 most searching inquisition took place to discover the 
 instigators of the conspiracy. It must therefore have 
 been a most painful position for the King, when, at 
 an extraordinary meeting of the Council convoked 
 by him, he was obliged to announce that, fearing dis- 
 covery, the Duchesse de Berry had told her confessor 
 that the threatening letter had been written at her 
 dictation ; though she announced that it only anti- 
 cipated the undoubted intentions of the assassins. 
 The Council listened with downcast eyes to this dis- 
 closure, and the King spoke in a low voice, and 
 finished with the words : " Gentlemen, I will ask you 
 to spare the reputation of my niece as far as possible, 
 although she deserves no consideration." 1 
 
 In order to hush up the matter as far as was practi- 
 cable, inquiries were continued for a short time ; and 
 when they dropped, Monsieur's headquarters, the 
 Pavilion Marsan, were loud in their complaints of 
 the culpable negligence of the police, and declared 
 
 1 De Boigne Memoires, vol. iii. p. 32.
 
 Duchesse de Brery's Plot 351 
 
 that the Duchesse de Berry was surrounded by 
 assassins. 
 
 They were even more disturbed by the news that, 
 owing to his wife's illness, Decazes was leaving London, 
 and was for a time coming to Paris. 
 
 There was, however, no real fear that he would 
 regain his influence over the King, for Madame du 
 Cayla had accomplished her task cleverly ; and even 
 if no counter-influence had been at work, Louis XVIII 
 was always loyal to his Cabinet, and, as he had shown 
 in the case of Blacas, would allow no interference in 
 politics except that of an authorised Minister. He 
 wrote now to Decazes telling him that the ultra-liberals 
 were as dangerous to him as the ultra-Royalists, and 
 expressing his opinion that a week in Paris would give 
 Madame Decazes sufficient rest, before she continued 
 her journey to the South. When Villele and Corbiere 
 came to express to him their fears about Decazes' 
 visit, he announced that once a man was out of the 
 Government he would not be allowed with impunity 
 to hazard a word to him about it, and that if Decazes 
 were to attempt this, " he would send him away at 
 once, and never see him again in his life." l 
 
 Louis XVIII kept his word ; and, Decazes being 
 unexpectedly detained in Paris by his wife's dangerous 
 illness, he refused to see him after his first visit, 
 till he should come to say good-bye. He tried to 
 soften the blow by writing his friend an affectionate 
 letter, in which he said : " You know only too well 
 how, in a Government like ours, it is impossible to 
 reckon without the majority. The present Ministry 
 have it by the joining of the Centre and the Right ; 
 but the injustice of this Right towards you has not 
 
 1 Villele Memoires, vol. ii. p. 438.
 
 352 Louis XVIII 
 
 diminished, and I am sadly certain that if your stay 
 here were to be prolonged, the majority would plunge 
 us into chaos ! " l 
 
 Credit must be accorded to the King for his firm- 
 ness on this occasion, as, in spite of Madame du 
 Cayla's ascendancy, he still cast wistful glances towards 
 " his son ' Decazes, as we shall see later. His in- 
 firmities were, however, becoming aggravated, so that 
 he was more and more dependent on those around 
 him, and increasingly anxious for peace and quiet. 
 
 Pasquier, the Foreign Minister, speaking of the 
 proposed European Congress on Eastern Affairs, says : 
 " People may be astonished that in anything having 
 to do with so critical a matter we have not spoken 
 of the personal feelings of the King of France, nor 
 of the part taken by him in so important a delibera- 
 tion, and one in which his long experience and the 
 general intelligence of his mind would naturally give 
 him so much authority ; but it must be allowed that 
 the King, to whose infirmities much was added by 
 the weight of years, had begun to fall into the state 
 of apathy which characterised the three last years of 
 his life, and put him at the mercy of the people 
 who perseveringly applied themselves to the task of 
 dominating him. From the day when Monsieur 
 Decazes had been taken from him by proceedings 
 which had wounded his heart, his self-esteem, and 
 his regard for his Royal dignity, he had only occupied 
 himself with business so that it should not be said 
 that he had given it up. He often remarked that 
 a King who abdicated always ends by repenting it ; 
 that he should be spared great shocks, and the 
 necessity for taking any great resolution, was all 
 1 See Crousaz-CnStet's Life of the Due de Richelieu, p. 426.
 
 Death of Napoleon 353 
 
 the King asked from those to whom authority was 
 entrusted. 
 
 As to the contradictions which it was not always pos- 
 sible to spare him, as long as they did not clash with a 
 small number of fixed ideas which habit had rendered 
 dear to him, he was willing not to appear to notice 
 them." l 
 
 Louis XVIII was destined, at any rate, to outlive his 
 great rival, for news reached the King about this time, 
 that the Emperor Napoleon had died at Saint-Helena 
 on May 5th, 1 821. This intelligence, which would have 
 caused a revolution ten years earlier, now made little 
 sensation in France ; but some of Napoleon's old 
 soldiers felt his death keenly. Louis XVIII knew how 
 to be generous, and he sent for Rapp, the General on 
 duty at Saint-Cloud, who had retired in the deepest 
 grief when the news reached him, and said, " Rapp, I 
 know that you are profoundly afflicted by the news I 
 have received. This sorrow does honour to your heart ; 
 I feel only the more affection and esteem for you." 
 "Sire," answered Rapp, "I owe everything to Napoleon ; 
 even the esteem and goodness of your Majesty and of 
 your august family." 2 
 
 Meanwhile, Monsieur had completely forgotten his 
 promise to support the Ministry, and was privy to 
 every plot designed to harry and hamper it. Matters 
 were now approaching a crisis, for Villele and Corbiere 
 were extremely discontented with their position in the 
 Cabinet, and Corbiere excited Richelieu's indignation by 
 wishing to get rid of officials who were doing their 
 duty satisfactorily, in order to substitute ultras for 
 them. " Something must be done for the Royalists," 3 
 
 1 Pasquier Memoir es, vol. v. p. 344. 
 * Ibid., p. 358. 3 Ibid., p. 240. 
 
 23
 
 354 Louis XVIII 
 
 he said. The two ultras had in fact separated them- 
 selves entirely from the Cabinet, and were acting 
 entirely as emissaries from the Royalists. In the end 
 Villele asked to be made Minister of the Interior, and 
 when Richelieu expressed his surprise at this request, 
 said in a low voice : " I am ashamed to confess it to 
 you, but I must have places to give." ! The venality 
 of the ultras was indeed unblushing, and eventually, to 
 Richelieu's relief, Villele and Corbiere left the Cabinet. 
 
 The ultra-Royalists now concentrated their forces 
 on making a grand attack on the Cabinet, and after the 
 Ministers had had several interviews with Monsieur, 
 during which he showed extreme disgust and impatience 
 because they would not at once do something to help 
 the "poor Emigres," the Right joined with the extreme 
 Left to wreck the Cabinet. 
 
 In order to accomplish this, they managed to be 
 elected members of the Commission appointed to pre- 
 pare the Address to the King at the opening of the 
 Chambers, and inserted in it two passages strongly 
 condemnatory of the Ministerial policy. In one of 
 these they politely hoped that the " precious peace 
 enjoyed by the country had not been obtained by 
 sacrifices incompatible with the honour of the nation 
 and the dignity of your Crown " ; and, in the other, 
 they made a covert attack on the patriotic and high- 
 minded Richelieu, and embodying Talleyrand's sneering 
 insinuation that he took his orders from Russia, said, 
 referring to the grain imported from Odessa, that they 
 regretted the agricultural distress, and the insufficiency 
 and tardiness of the precautions against the introduction 
 of corn from abroad. 
 
 The King was indignant at these reflections on his 
 
 1 Viel Castel, Histoire de la Restanration, vol. x. p. 237.
 
 Attack on the Ministry 355 
 
 Ministry, considering them an attack on the Royal 
 prerogative ; and at first he declared that he would not 
 receive the Address. Later, it was decided that he 
 should receive it but not read it to the President, as 
 was customary, and should return a severe answer. 
 
 On September 29th, 1821, the Council assembled in 
 his presence to discuss the terms of the answer, and 
 Louis XVIII, who at first seemed to be dozing, 
 suddenly woke up, and insisted on adopting the most 
 decided line of disapproval proposed. When the 
 President and the two Secretaries came to receive 
 the answer to the Address, the King's manner was 
 severe, his voice firm, and his tone dignified. He 
 stated that the agricultural distress could not be pre- 
 vented, as all Europe was suffering from it, and 
 went on to say : " In exile and persecution I have 
 supported my rights, the honour of my name, and that 
 of my country. On the throne, surrounded by my 
 people, I feel indignant even at the thought that I 
 could ever sacrifice the honour of the nation and the 
 dignity of my crown. I hope that most of those who 
 have voted for this Address have not weighed all the 
 expressions in it. If they had had time to realise 
 them, they would not have allowed a supposition 
 which as King, I will not characterise, and which as 
 father, I should wish to forget." 
 
 So spoke Louis XVIII, with a last flicker of the old 
 spirit, so soon to be extinguished by weakness and by 
 unworthy intrigue ; and the ultra-Royalists were con- 
 sternated at the failure of their attempt to discredit 
 the Government. Villele, who had all along disap- 
 proved strongly of the Address, characterised it as 
 " monstrous," and the Ministry took courage. How- 
 ever, the breathing-space was short, for the Opposition
 
 356 Louis XVIII 
 
 not only defeated the Government over a law on the 
 censure of the press, but started fierce personal attacks 
 against the President of the Council. Richelieu, who 
 had hated re-entering political life, was now most anxious 
 to remain at the head of affairs till the country should 
 be pacified ; and he appealed to Monsieur, who had 
 induced him to became President of the Council by 
 promising to be his first lieutenant, and who had since 
 then instigated every movement against him, related 
 to him the unworthy manoeuvres against the Govern- 
 ment put in motion by the ultra-Royalists, and implored 
 him to put a stop to them. At first Monsieur evaded 
 the question in his usual lighthearted manner, by 
 saying that he had no power, and had nothing to do 
 with public affairs. 
 
 When, however, Richelieu pressed him sternly, 
 reminding him that he had formerly given his word 
 to support the Ministry if Richelieu would head it, 
 and when he finished with the words, " Monseigneur, 
 it is the word of a Prince given to a gentleman which 
 I claim ! " Monsieur was at last cornered. " Ah, my 
 dear Duke, you take things too literally," he said ; 
 " and then the circumstances were so difficult ! " * 
 Richelieu did not answer in words, but he looked the 
 Prince straight in the face ; and then, turning his back 
 on him, he left the room, shutting the door behind 
 him with a violence which surprised the gentlemen-in- 
 waiting outside. 
 
 Richelieu went straight to his friend Pasquier, who 
 tells the story, and who says that, horrified at his pallor 
 and agitation, he asked what had happened : " * I am 
 overwhelmed,' said the Duke, * by what I have heard, 
 and I am choking with indignation and can hardly look 
 1 Memoir es du Chancelier Pasquier, vol. v. p. 409.
 
 Richelieu and Monsieur 357 
 
 at you, so ashamed am I of the man whose words 1 am 
 going to repeat to you.' Then he told me what I 
 have just written." 
 
 Monsieur had won ; for the only possible course 
 open to Richelieu was to offer the King his resigna- 
 tion and that of the Cabinet. 
 
 When the King first heard of the possible fall of the 
 Ministry he was terribly agitated : " Good heavens ! ' 
 he said, putting his head between his hands, " What 
 will become of me ? What do they wish ? What 
 conditions will they impose on me ? " 1 
 
 However, by the time Richelieu went to him, 
 Madame du Cayla had been at work, and Louis XVIII 
 received the resignation of the Cabinet with a prompti- 
 tude which deeply wounded the Duke. " You cannot 
 take any other course," the King said, " without lower- 
 ing yourself; the abandonment of even one of your 
 colleagues would be a weakness unworthy of you." 2 
 
 Meanwhile, Madame du Cayla and Sosthene de la 
 Rochefoucauld were still fully occupied, for the down- 
 fall of the Richelieu Cabinet was not of much avail, 
 unless an ultra-Royalist Government could be estab- 
 lished in its place. Villele, with whom the two had 
 had many dealings, must undertake the leadership of 
 the Ministry ; and, in his anxiety to have the matter 
 settled, La Rochefoucauld paid him four visits in a 
 day ; while Madame du Cayla urged continually on 
 the King the necessity of associating Monsieur with 
 the Government. Even in his weak and failing state, 
 the King made a faint struggle against this, for it went 
 terribly against the grain to abdicate to his brother. 
 The second letter Madame du Cayla received from 
 
 1 Trans, de Boignc Memoires, vol. iii. p. 55. 
 * Pasquier Memoires, vol. v. p. 410.
 
 3S* Louis XVIII 
 
 him on the fateful morning of Richelieu's resignation, 
 showed that the situation was dangerous, for he 
 was still reluctant to have recourse to Monsieur and 
 the ultra-Royalists; and, according to La Rochefou- 
 cauld's triumphant retrospective summary to Madame 
 du Cayla, it was only at the fifth letter which passed 
 during the morning, that " the King, carried away by 
 your eloquence, gave in to your reasoning, and promised 
 you to send for Monsieur and to receive from him 
 the Ministry that you, Madame, had just obtained for 
 France." * 
 
 Louis XVIII, however, though hopelessly enthralled 
 and vanquished, was not yet blind ; and hearing from 
 Richelieu of certain intrigues in which Monsieur was 
 engaged, he said with a sigh : " What can you expect ? 
 He conspired against Louis XVI, he conspired against 
 me, he will conspire against himself! " 2 
 
 Possibly the King realised what was likely to be the 
 end of Monsieur's gambols ; for one day he amused 
 himself with writing an account of the character of the 
 Due d'Orleans, and in it are found the remarkable 
 words : " He does not move, and yet I see that he 
 travels ! " 3 
 
 Richelieu was asked to draw up a list of the men he 
 thought suitable for the Cabinet and to submit it to 
 Monsieur, but the latter strongly objected to two or 
 three of the proposed Ministry, notably to Blacas, 
 whom he had always detested. The names were 
 altered as he chose, and Villele and Corbiere were put 
 in charge of the Ministry. 
 
 When once the matter was settled, however, 
 
 1 La Rochefoucauld Memoir es, vol. vii. p. 41. 
 
 2 Viel Castel, Histoire de la Restauration, vol. x. p. 391. 
 
 3 Ibid., vol. xii. p. 469.
 
 From an engraving by F. Gamier, after a picture by F. Gerard. 
 
 COMTE D'ARTOIS. 
 
 (Afterwards Charles X.) 
 p. 358]
 
 His Virtual Abdication 359 
 
 Louis XVIII was anxious to be quit of his old 
 Ministry and to be left in peace, and he sent three 
 times during the evening to demand the formal resig- 
 nation of the Cabinet, the news of which he had 
 promised to Madame du Cayla before bedtime. 
 
 We hear no more of Richelieu in political life, for, 
 worn out by the agitations and labours he had under- 
 gone, he died only five months later, on May 17th, 
 1822, at the age of fifty-five. 
 
 Till Madame du Cayla had thoroughly accomplished 
 her work of poisoning the King's mind against the 
 fallen Ministry, Louis XVIII invariably received 
 Richelieu with much cordiality, but the rest of the 
 Royal Family always treated him with coldness, some- 
 times with studied rudeness ; and though the Duke 
 affected to smile at their behaviour, it was a smile of 
 sadness, for he was deeply hurt at the ingratitude 
 shown him, and righteously indignant at being ousted 
 by intrigue. 
 
 Thus, in December of the year 1 82 1, did Louis XVIII 
 virtually abdicate to his brother ; and Charles X in- 
 augurated the policy compounded of weakness and 
 harshness, which was to exile the Bourbons permanently 
 from France.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 The Villele Ministry — Infringements of the Charter — Spanish expedition 
 — Chateaubriand — La Rochefoucauld — Madame du Cayla — Louis 
 XVIII presents her with Chateau at Saint-Ouen — Entertainment 
 there — King's precarious condition — His determined courage — 
 Madame du Cayla persuades him to see a priest — Decazes' grief — 
 Death of Louis XVIII. 
 
 CHATEAUBRIAND tells us somewhere— though 
 he evidently wishes us to contradict him mentally 
 as far as one man is concerned — that in passing from 
 Napoleon's heroic era to the times of the Restoration, 
 when he and his compeers came to the front, we seem 
 to be transported from an age of giants to that of 
 pigmies. This is not, I think, the impression of the 
 ordinary reader, to whom there is a sense of relief 
 in leaving despotism — though dominated by the extra- 
 ordinary figure of Napoleon — for constitutional govern- 
 ment, even if it be occasionally weak and erring ; while 
 a tremendous clearing of the moral atmosphere takes 
 place when, in exchange for Talleyrand, the man with- 
 out feeling, and Fouche, the man without a conscience, 
 we are confronted with Richelieu, whose most bitter 
 enemies were forced to admire his patriotism and 
 highmindedness, and with Decazes, who, though am- 
 bitious, was large-minded enough, as we have seen, 
 to work for the benefit of his friend, even when the 
 latter had considered it necessary to try to oust him 
 
 from political life. 
 
 360
 
 Villi's Ministry 3 6 * 
 
 These men were working for their country. But 
 with Richelieu's fall, and the accession to power of 
 Villele, Corbiere, and Chateaubriand ; with the substitu- 
 tion, too, of Monsieur, with his ineradicable notion 
 that to rule was to assume leadership of a party, and 
 to assure at all costs that party's predominance, for 
 the calm, sagacious Louis XVIII, eminently fitted, not 
 only by his clearsightedness and freedom from pre- 
 judice, but by a certain lack of initiative, to be guided 
 by his Ministers, and thus to take the position of 
 constitutional monarch, the atmosphere changes, and 
 intrigue takes the place of politics. 
 
 Villele was indeed an able man, and, as his political 
 opponent Guizot allows, a though he arrived at the 
 Government as a party man, and remained a party man 
 in the Government, he tried to make the spirit of 
 government prevail over the spirit of party among his 
 followers." * However, the ultra-Royalists were too 
 strong for him ; besides, his hands were not clean, 
 for he was to a certain extent in league with Madame 
 du Cayla and La Rochefoucauld, who considered that 
 he was beholden to them for his position as head of the 
 Ministry. There is something repellent, too, about 
 Villele's habit of belittling his colleagues ; and his 
 subserviency to his party gives the impression that 
 he would stoop to anything for the sake of remaining 
 in power. 
 
 However, as this is a biography of Louis XVIII and 
 not the history of the Restoration, it will only be 
 necessary to glance very briefly at political events 
 before returning to the room where the King, now 
 in a dying condition, still struggled heroically to per- 
 form his official duties, and showed from time to time 
 
 1 Guizot Memoires, vol. i. p. 233.
 
 362 Louis XVIII 
 
 that though his will was subjugated by his brother, 
 and he was enthralled and partially blinded by the 
 intrigues surrounding him, his brain was still clear, 
 and that he would, if left to himself, have been capable, 
 when his health permitted, of judging affairs with his 
 usual sagacity and moderation. 
 
 The Villele Ministry inaugurated its reign by several 
 infringements of the Charter. At La Rochefoucauld's 
 suggestion, a law was passed by which no newspaper 
 could be started without authorisation from the 
 Government, a measure which made the Press a tool 
 of the State. The censorship was abolished, but any 
 misdemeanours committed by the Press were to be 
 judged, not by a jury, but by the Royal Courts. The 
 education of youth was put altogether into the hands 
 of the clergy, and Monsieur Frayssinous, Bishop of 
 Hermopolis, was made Grand Master of the University. 
 
 Many were the risings throughout the country, and 
 summary were the proceedings taken against them. 
 In one fortnight nine men were executed for political 
 offences, and three others only a month later, while 
 numberless lawsuits were brought against newspapers 
 with liberal tendencies. 
 
 In Spain, Louis XVIII's kinsman, Ferdinand VII, 
 seemed completely in the power of the Revolutionaries ; 
 and the Congress of Verona, which opened near the end 
 of the year 1822, and at which Montmorency and 
 Chateaubriand, as well as La Ferronays and Caraman, 
 were the French plenipotentiaries, met to discuss the 
 question of European interference in Spanish, as well 
 as in Grecian affairs. 
 
 Louis XVIII had wished Villele to represent 
 France at the Congress. He disliked Chateaubriand, 
 and he clung to Villele as the most moderate and
 
 Spanish Affairs 3&3 
 
 calm-minded of the men around him. " Villele," 
 he implored, when he feared that his Minister 
 would resign, " do not leave me to these brigands ; 
 stay with me ; 1 will support you." 1 
 
 His health continued to decline, but sometimes he 
 showed a flicker of energy, and then it was seen that 
 his intelligence was still intact. 
 
 Many were the controversies on Spanish affairs ; 
 and at a Council which had met to discuss whether 
 or no the French Legation should remove from Madrid, 
 in the case of a refusal on the part of the Spanish 
 Revolutionaries to fulfil the demands the Great Powers 
 had formulated at Verona, the King, after summing up 
 the matter with a " clearness, sobriety of expression, 
 and elegance which were remarkable under the circum- 
 stances," 2 took the part of Villele against Montmorency, 
 and said that, owing to the proximity of Spain, it 
 would not be safe to withdraw the French Ambassador 
 from Madrid, till a large French army was crossing the 
 frontier to succour his nephew Ferdinand VII. 
 
 Chateaubriand was now Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
 a post he had undertaken with pretended reluctance ; 
 and when it was decided that war should be declared 
 against Spain, this was done mainly, he considered, 
 at his instigation ; it was " his war," he announced, 
 and he thought that the French Bourbons owed him a 
 deep debt of gratitude for bringing about a military 
 enterprise which assured their popularity, and, in his 
 opinion, consolidated their position on the throne. 
 
 On March 14th, 1823, the Due d'Angouleme started 
 to take command of the expedition, and returned 
 triumphantly to Paris on December 2nd, at the head 
 
 1 Viel Castel, Histoire de la Restauration, vol. xii. p. 16. 
 
 2 See Viel Castel, loc. tit., vol. xiii. p. 368.
 
 364 Louis XVIII 
 
 of a great part of his army. At Versailles he was met 
 by Monsieur and Madame, the Duchesse de Berry was 
 waiting to receive him at Saint-Cloud, and when he 
 arrived at the entrance to the Tuileries, he dismounted 
 to receive an embrace from Louis XVI II, accompanied 
 by the words : " My son, I am pleased with you." 
 Then the King was carried to the balcony, and 30,060 
 of the troops who had returned from Madrid passed in 
 procession before him and the Royal Family ; while 
 in the evening Paris was brilliantly illuminated, and 
 there were general rejoicings. 
 
 Great was the universal enthusiasm, brilliant the 
 triumph of the ultra-Royalists who had brought about 
 this happy state of affairs, and no one heeded the fact 
 that the whole of Spain had been given over to the 
 reprisals of a merciless despot. 
 
 Chateaubriand's triumph, however, was of short 
 duration. His relations with Villele had never been 
 very amicable, and to the latter's indignation, after 
 appearing to agree with him about a project brought 
 forward by the Ministry for indemnifying the Emigres 
 by conversion of the Government stock, Chateaubriand 
 had refused to support the measure in the Chamber. 
 The King, instigated by Madame du Cayla, took 
 Villele's part with keenness, and in his increasing weak- 
 ness showed an irritability which was usually foreign to 
 his nature. He had always disliked Chateaubriand ; 
 and now his feelings were continually worked on by 
 Madame du Cayla, who coveted the Ministry of Foreign 
 Affairs for La Rochefoucauld's father, the Due de 
 Doudeauville. Villele was sent for by the King one 
 morning, and found him much agitated. " Villele," 
 he said, " Chateaubriand has deceived us like a 
 scoundrel. I will not see him at my reception after
 
 Chateaubriand's Disgrace 36$ 
 
 Mass. Write out the order for his dismissal. Let 
 them hunt for him everywhere, and give it to him 
 in time. I refuse to see him." l 
 
 Chateaubriand was a dangerous enemy, and Villele 
 would in the future suffer from the imprudence of 
 rousing his bitter hostility. Intrigues for place had, 
 however, taken the place of patriotism, and there was 
 now no guiding hand at the helm, for Louis XVIII 
 only craved to be left in peace. 
 
 Sometimes, however, in spite of his desire for quiet, 
 he found himself involved in storms, for Villele showed 
 distinct reluctance to fulfil La Rochefoucauld's behests, 
 and to give him a place in the Ministry, where he 
 would provide the country with " an arm of iron which 
 no obstacle would stop, no difficulty would baffle, 
 which would know how to arrange everything [here 
 I must disclaim responsibility for mixed metaphors], 
 to unite everything, to rally everything, and to make 
 everything successful." 2 
 
 Then La Rochefoucauld became angry, and re- 
 minded Villele of the oaths he declared that the latter 
 had sworn when he begged for his assistance. He also 
 urged Madame du Cayla to the combat ; and not only 
 interviewed her on the subject, but wrote to her con- 
 tinually. " It is painful to me," he says, "to be in 
 a position where I cannot prove my capacities ; and 
 if only I were to become Minister of the Interior, I 
 would organise everything dealing with my department 
 so that I should deserve no reproaches." Madame du 
 Cayla found the position of affairs most difficult, for 
 La Rochefoucauld possessed extreme pertinacity, and 
 incited her to do her best by saying that he " depended 
 
 1 See Viel Castel, Hisioire de la Restauration, vol. xiii. p. 372. 
 
 2 La Rochefoucauld Me'moires, vol. viii. p. 277.
 
 366 Louis XVIII 
 
 completely on her, and that it was only that thought 
 which gave him strength and kept up his courage." 1 
 
 Madame du Cayala being beset herself, beset the 
 unfortunate King ; and, between her assaults and the 
 decided resistance of Villele, Lous XVIII was on one oc- 
 casion so much agitated that his health suffered severely, 
 and for several days he was in a state of depression 
 and exhaustion which alarmed those who surrounded 
 him. He did indeed end by signing a paper nominat- 
 ing La Rochefoucauld to the Ministry ; but, in a last 
 attempt to defend himself, he insisted that the docu- 
 ment should be taken to his brother, and Monsieur, 
 who was now all-powerful, for once showed wisdom ; 
 and testified his disapproval so strongly, that it was 
 impossible to proceed with the matter. 
 
 However, Villele himself felt that, under the circum- 
 stances, it was necessary to do something for La 
 Rochefoucauld ; and eventually that gentleman's father, 
 the Due de Doudeauville, was made Minister of the 
 Maison du Roi ; and a separate department in this 
 Ministry — that of the Beaux-Arts — was created for the 
 son, who, as a special favour, was allowed to work 
 directly with the King. 
 
 La Rochefoucauld's letter to Madame du Cayla, after 
 his first visit to the Tuileries in his new capacity, is 
 worthy of citation. " In the Castle," he says, " I 
 passed like any one else (except, perhaps, that they 
 were more polite to me than to other people, and 
 that, seeing me, a violent kick woke all the guards, 
 and I received a magnificent bow from the superior 
 officers). I then enter the Hall of Diana. They rise. 
 Further on a footman runs up : c Will Monseigneur 
 allow me to carry his portfolio ? Your Excellency is 
 
 1 La Rochefoticauld Memoires, vol. viii. p. 277.
 
 The Chateau of Saint-Ouen 367 
 
 a few minutes early.' Then the ordinary gentlemen 
 flock round ; they enter the King's room ; a most 
 respectful salute invites me to follow ; in the expres- 
 sion of several devoted servants I read that the King 
 is pleased. I am happy to see this excellent Prince." 1 
 
 The dealings of fate are inscrutable ; Richelieu and 
 Decazes had retired from political life, disappointed 
 and broken-hearted, while the gift of perfect happiness 
 was vouchsafed to Sosthene de la Rochefoucauld. 
 
 Madame du Cayla was not left empty-handed. 
 According to La Rochefoucauld, she had refused very 
 valuable gifts which had been offered to her by 
 Louis XVIII, such as a portfolio adorned with splendid 
 diamonds, and a most magnificent ornament composed 
 of the same precious stones. In view of the situation, 
 and of the characters of those engaged in the drama, 
 it may not be uncharitable to point out that these 
 valuables were proffered to the lady during the early 
 days of her friendship with Louis XVIII, when a 
 position not very firmly established, necessitated strict 
 adherence to the r61e of disinterested affection for the 
 King. " Sire," she said, when thanking him for his 
 munificent offers, " I am the only person in your 
 kingdom who can accept nothing from your Majesty." 2 
 
 The sentiment was gracefully expressed, besides 
 being high-minded ; and Louis XVIII was reduced to 
 the declaration that nothing should prevent him from 
 providing most generously for his friend after his 
 death. The lady's resolution, however, to receive 
 nothing during the King's lifetime, gave way at the 
 offer of a magnificent residence at Saint-Ouen, to be 
 built on the site of the small house in which the King 
 
 1 La Rochefoucauld Memoires, vol. viii. p. 399. 
 * Ibid., vol. vii. p. 66.
 
 368 Louis XVIII 
 
 had in 1814 signed the so-called Declaration of Saint- 
 Ouen. As La Rochefoucauld puts it : " It was neces- 
 sary to find something besides politics in which to 
 occupy him [the King], and it seemed to me, I allow, 
 impossible to persist in your refusal of Saint-Ouen. 
 I therefore advised you to accept a gift which became 
 afterwards more of a burden than a benefit ; besides, 
 the King looked on the matter as something personal, 
 and attached enormous importance to it. Giving it to 
 you, he said, ' My child, think that Saint-Denis * is not 
 far from Saint-Ouen ; you will pray there for me.' 
 
 Madame du Cayla inaugurated her reign at Saint- 
 Ouen with an entertainment, at which, after a play had 
 been performed, she emerged from a recess crowned 
 with a civic crown, and was proclaimed the heroine 
 of the Charter. She had hoped that Monsieur would 
 appear at her party ; but he had hesitated, and at the 
 last Madame persuaded him not to come. However, 
 the whole diplomatic body were there, and bishops, 
 as well as other distinguished ecclesiastics, graced the 
 affair with their presence. 
 
 Half an hour before the entertainment, the King 
 had paid Madame du Cayla a visit, and Madame de 
 Boigne, who had gone to the party, which only a few 
 very particular people refused to attend, tells us that 
 the freshly made marks of his heavy coach-wheels 
 could be seen in the well-gravelled drives, and that he 
 had evidently driven round to inspect all the arrange- 
 ments. She says : " The magnificence of the house 
 had not been exaggerated. It was most convenient, 
 and was constructed at the greatest expense. Every 
 detail showed minute care. The gutter-spouts were 
 of polished marble, and the banisters of the attic stair- 
 
 1 The burial place of the French Royal Family.
 
 Entertainment at Saint-Ouen 369 
 
 case of mahogany. Nothing had been overlooked, and 
 it was obvious that artists and workmen had been 
 employed regardless of expense. The cleverest painters 
 had been commissioned to decorate the walls. But all 
 this luxury was in good taste and harmonious, and 
 produced the effect of noble simplicity. In the library 
 was an immense portrait of Louis XVIII, seated at a 
 table and signing the Declaration of Saint-Ouen. Still 
 more curious was the sight of the papal nuncio, Mon- 
 seigneur Macchi, and Monsieur Lieutard, seated at the 
 table and relieving one another in the task of praising 
 the Christian virtues of their charming hostess. It 
 should be said that this Monsieur Lieutard was the 
 strict tutor of the religious youth of the period, and 
 that none of his disciples would have ventured into a 
 theatre, with the exception of that which Madame du 
 Cayla was about to open to us." * 
 
 The King had not, however, forgotten Decazes, 
 whom every one round him conspired to blacken ; and 
 occasionally he still yearned for "his son." Looking 
 one day at La Rochefoucauld with a piercing gaze, 
 though he strove to make his voice indifferent, he said : 
 " Vicomte de la Rochefoucauld, you know Monsieur 
 Decazes. I have loved him like a most tender son ; 
 I have still the most profound affection for him ; I 
 wish to know your opinion of him." 
 
 The poor old King continued to fix penetrating 
 eyes on La Rochefoucauld, and listened in silence 
 while that gentleman turned this opportunity to the 
 best advantage for cleverly belittling and traducing 
 the common enemy. At the end Louis XVIII is 
 reported to have said : " You judge him perfectly ; 
 he is deluded. I pity him. I am unhappy about it, 
 
 1 Trans, de Boigne Me'moires, vol. iii. p. 95. 
 
 24
 
 37 'o Louis XVIII 
 
 and I do not love him the less." The King then 
 insisted on Decazes' good qualities, and La Roche- 
 foucauld did not trouble to dispute them much, as 
 he felt he had said enough for his purpose." 1 
 
 The King was now almost blind, and signed without 
 well realising its purport everything that was presented 
 to him. Till a few days before his death he still took 
 his daily drive, and the pity of the spectators was 
 excited by seeing the bowed, shrunken figure hurried 
 through the streets behind four galloping horses. So 
 inanimate was he, that some people declared it was 
 not the King, but a figure dressed to resemble him, 
 which was paraded through the streets ; others ex- 
 claimed indignantly at the cruelty of the Ministers 
 in condemning a dying man to this suffering, in order 
 to deceive every one as to the real state of his health. 
 
 These reports were of course untrue. " It is allow- 
 able for a King to die, but never to be ill," the King 
 had said ; and " the amount of determination, courage, 
 and firm resolution he applied to the keeping of this 
 maxim no one could believe without having witnessed 
 it himself," 2 remarks Villele, who, as First Minister, 
 had constant access to him. 
 
 He was perfectly aware of his desperate condition, 
 and when the Council, fearing possible disturbances 
 at the beginning of the new reign, proposed to put 
 all the newspapers under censorship, he agreed promptly, 
 and said to Villele, " When you leave me, go at 
 once to tell my brother what I have done." 3 Never- 
 theless, on the festival of Saint-Louis, in spite of the 
 fatigue and suffering it must have cost him, he insisted 
 
 1 La Rochefoucauld Memoires, vol. vii. p. 95. 
 
 2 Villele Memoires, vol. v. p. 1 10. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. hi.
 
 His Failing Health 371 
 
 on receiving the congratulations of all the principal 
 bodies of the State, replied to the harangue addressed 
 to him by the Prefect with as much neatness and 
 ease of elocution as though he had been in perfect 
 health, and insisted on presiding afterwards at the 
 Council. 
 
 Madame de Boigne was one of the King's fete-day 
 visitors, and she says : " I had not seen him since the 
 month of May, and I was much shocked by the great 
 change in his appearance. He was seated in the same 
 armchair, and was in his usual costume — a uniform 
 brilliant with gold lace and studded with orders. The 
 gaiters of black velvet round his legs were twice as 
 large as before, and his once noble head was so 
 diminished in size that it looked quite small. It 
 dropped upon his chest so low that his shoulders rose 
 above it ; only with an effort could he raise his face, 
 and then he showed features so changed and lifeless 
 that there could be no doubt of his condition. He 
 spoke a few kind words. to me when I made my 
 bow." » 
 
 During the last few days of August, it was evident 
 that the King had not long to live, and Villele gives 
 the following account of his condition : 
 
 " The King could no longer go out. He was con- 
 fined to his sitting-room, where he still gave audiences. 
 He had no longer sufficient strength to support his 
 head, which, being unprotected, fell on the wood of 
 his bureau. His attendants had in vain offered him 
 the comfort of a pillow ; he had refused it curtly. 
 However, seeing his forehead bruised and his face 
 bleeding, I ventured to beg him to allow me to have 
 one brought, being obliged to speak to him about 
 
 1 De Boigne Memoires, vol. iii. p. 107.
 
 37* Louis XVIII 
 
 an important matter for which it was necessary that 
 he would be good enough to give me his orders, which 
 it would be difficult for me to catch, unless his head 
 were raised higher. He made a sign of consent, and 
 allowed a pillow to be placed under his forehead, so 
 that by bending it was easy for me to hear him. He 
 answered me with the same clearness of mind and sure- 
 ness of memory that he had possessed when in perfect 
 health. In truth, the matter had to do with Mon- 
 sieur the due d'Orleans, against whom he was as 
 much prejudiced as though he had been able to foresee 
 the fate to which that Prince would one day submit 
 the elder branch. Monsieur the due d'Orl£ans asked 
 for the l Cordon bleu ' for his son, who would the 
 next day be fourteen years old ; he made his request 
 because the Princes of the Blood had been decorated 
 with it at this age, and cited the example of the 
 Due d'Enghien in particular. The King said at once 
 to me in the most positive tone : { You will tell Mon- 
 sieur the due d'Orleans that he is mistaken — that 
 what he asks for is only due at fifteen years of age, 
 and that I will never do more for him than what is 
 due. The example he cites condemns his pretensions. 
 The Due d'Enghien was born the — (he told me the 
 day of the month and of the week) ; he only received 
 the Cordon bleu the — (the same information), exactly 
 fifteen years after his birth. Monsieur the due de 
 
 Chartres will only receive it from me to-morrow 
 
 ' " i 
 year. 
 
 As the King's health failed, the Royal Family became 
 
 most anxious that his confessor should be summoned, 
 
 but no one dared to suggest the taking of this step, 
 
 for though the King had a confessor, who lived in 
 
 1 Villele Memoires, vol. v. p. 112.
 
 The Dying King 373 
 
 a small back room at the Tuileries, he was terribly- 
 afraid of priestly domination. The preceding year 
 he had asked Dr. Portal, his chief physician, what 
 was likely to be the manner of his death, and, Portal 
 answering evasively, the King had said : 
 
 " Do not treat me as a fool, Portal. I know very 
 well that I have not long to live, and I know that I 
 shall suffer much at the last, perhaps more than at 
 this moment. What I wish to know is whether the 
 final crisis will take place in unconsciousness, or whether 
 I shall be obliged to spend several days in agony." 
 
 " Why, Sire, as far as can be seen, your Majesty's 
 illness will be slow and gradual, and may last many 
 years." 
 
 " Slow and gradual," said the King with some 
 temper ; " that is not what I want to know. There 
 is no prospect that I shall be found dead in my chair ? ' 
 
 " I do not think there is any likelihood of that." 
 
 " Then it will be impossible to keep out my brother 
 and his priests," growled the King between his 
 teeth, after a moment's silence. And he turned the 
 conversation. 1 
 
 The ever energetic La Rochefoucauld, however, 
 decided that something must be done to prove that 
 the King had died in the true flock, and after con- 
 sulting with Monsieur, he took advantage of his 
 opportunities of entrance to the King to implore him 
 once more to see Madame du Cayla, to whom he had 
 wished a last farewell. At first the King objected, saying 
 that he feared his altered appearance would shock her ; 
 but eventually she was summoned ; and after a long 
 interview, Louis XVIII made a last sacrifice of his will, 
 and consented to receive his confessor. 
 
 1 De Boigne Memoires, vol. iii. p. no.
 
 374 Louis XVIII 
 
 Meanwhile, one person at least was from afar watching 
 Louis XVIIFs agony with anguish. On September 1 5th, 
 which was the day before the King's death, Decazes wrote 
 to his friend Barante : " You know my feelings, you 
 will guess my trouble ; it will last all my life. My 
 heart is broken, and my poor being is hardly less. 
 Without doubt no one in the world weeps for him 
 or will weep for him more, or will weep as much. . . . 
 I am going to try to go to the Tuileries. I do not 
 hope to see the King. What would I not give to see 
 him once again, to kiss his hand for the last time ; I 
 would joyfully buy his blessing with ten years of my 
 life. My debt was too great for me to think I had 
 paid it towards the benefactor who deigned to give me 
 the title of son and of friend, and my whole life will 
 not suffice for it, but it shall all be employed in it." 1 
 
 Monsieur knelt at the foot of the bed, and all the 
 other members of the Royal Family were present, when 
 at four o'clock in the morning of September 16th, 1 824, 
 Louis XVIII's sufferings at last came to an end. 
 
 The Duchesse d'Angouleme's face was swollen with 
 weeping. The dissensions of later growth were for- 
 gotten, and she thought only of the fact that the 
 dying man had acted as a father to her during the 
 days of wandering and exile. She was preparing to 
 follow Monsieur out of the room, when she suddenly 
 remembered that the Due d'Angouleme, as son of 
 a reigning monarch, must now take precedence of 
 her, and she drew back, and in a voice nearly choked 
 with sobs said, " Passez, Monsieur le Dauphin." 
 
 Louis XVIII was buried at Saint-Denis on Septem- 
 ber 23rd, 1824, with great pomp and all the customary 
 ceremonies. 
 
 1 Souvenirs dii Baron de Baratitc, vol. iii. p. 219.
 
 INDEX 
 
 Abbeville, 252, 253 
 
 Adelaide, Madame, 10, 33, 137 
 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, 91, 113 
 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, Congress of, 
 311, 312, 313, 317, 320 
 
 Alexander I, 170, 172, 182, 
 183, 195, 196, 208, 209, 222, 
 260, 279, 280, 286, 289, 291, 
 301 
 
 Alsace, 242 
 
 Amiens, 205 
 
 Angles, 295 
 
 Angouleme, Due d\ 38, 137, 
 138, 144, 145, 146, 148, 160, 
 161, 176, 177, 180, 182, 184, 
 186, 194, 195, 221, 222, 229, 
 233, 242, 252, 271, 282, 283, 
 310, 315, 322, 323, 325, 328, 
 
 332, 336, 337. 363. 364. 374 
 Angouleme, Duchesse d', 38, 
 39, 62, 63, 78, 81, 126, 133, 
 
 134. ^S- I3 8 . J 39, I4°» I 4 I > 
 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 148, 
 
 153. 157. I 59. l6 °. 161, 162, 
 164, 166, 167, 170, 176, 177, 
 182, 184, 193, 203, 212, 213, 
 232, 252, 256, 283, 295, 299, 
 303. 307. 3!<>. 323. 325. 328, 
 332, 336. 34 8 , 364. 368, 374 
 
 Anhalt, Prince of, 60 
 
 Anjou, 56 
 
 Argenson, M. d\ 281, 282 
 
 Artois, Comte d', 9, 12, 15, 20, 
 25, 26, 30, 34, 37, 38, 40, 45, 
 
 47. 69. 75. 89, 92, 96, 97- 98. 
 99, 108, 109, no, in, 112, 
 113, 116, 117, 118, 120, 121, 
 124, 135, 142, 144, 145, 146, 
 157, 162, 172, 173, 174, 175, 
 
 176, 177, 180, 181, 188, 197, 
 198, 199, 200, 20I, 208, 211, 
 221, 222, 242, 243, 244, 245, 
 250. 255, 256, 258, 259, 27I, 
 272, 273, 275, 279, 292, 293, 
 295- 302, 303, 305, 309, 3IO, 
 
 3"> 313. 329. 33°. 336. 337. 
 339, 353. 354. 356. 357. 35 8 . 
 359, 366, 370, 373, 374 
 Artois, Comtesse d\ 16, 35, 121, 
 144, 146, 157, 174, 176, 182 
 Assemblee Constituante, no 
 Assemblee Legislative, no 
 Avaray, d', 72, 76, 82, 83, 84, 
 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 91, 100, 
 101, 115, 122, 123, 128, 129, 
 J 30. 135, 139. I 5 2 > 161, 163, 
 164, 172, 173, 180, 184, 189, 
 190, 247, 267, 277 
 Azara, Chevalier d', 139 
 
 Bagot, 186 
 
 Bailli de Crussol, 201, 202 
 
 Bailly, 65, 66, 68, 70 
 
 Balbi, Comte de, 42, 43 
 
 Balbi, Madame de, 41, 42, 43, 
 44, 45, 49, 50, 76, 78, 80, 88, 
 92, 99, 100, 101, 122, 123, 
 124, 125, 158, 342 
 
 Balzac, 229 
 
 Barante, M. de, 225, 314, 335, 
 
 345, 374 
 Barras, 131, 155 
 
 Barry, du, 6, 12, 13, 14, 15, 31, 
 
 35 
 
 Bastille, 55 
 
 Benevent, Prince de. See Tal- 
 leyrand 
 
 Bernadotte, 196 
 
 375
 
 376 
 
 Index 
 
 Berry, Due de. See Louis XVI 
 Berry, Due de, 38, 144, 146, 157, 
 
 174. x 75. !94> 209. 229, 233, 
 242, 250, 255, 271, 272, 275, 
 279. 295, 303, 304, 305, 310, 
 326, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335 
 Berry, Duchesse de, 303, 331, 
 
 332, 333. 347. 348, 364 
 
 Berthier, General, 155, 231, 253 
 
 Bertin, Madame, 98 
 
 Bethune, 253 
 
 Beugnot, Comte, 201, 216, 217, 
 218, 219, 237, 256, 267, 270, 
 271, 273, 275. 277 
 
 Beurnonville, General, 240, 271 
 
 Blacas, Comte de, 173, 188, 
 202, 210, 216, 219, 242, 243, 
 244, 246, 247, 250, 251, 253, 
 254, 259, 262, 263, 266, 267, 
 277, 278, 286, 294, 296, 306, 
 307, 308, 351 
 
 Blanckenburg, 130, 131, 133, 
 143, 146, 148 
 
 Blankenfeld, 180 
 
 Blois, 26, 60 
 
 Bliicher, General, 275, 280 
 
 Boigne, Mme de, 142, 213, 231, 
 
 232, 283, 307, 310, 320, 348, 
 368 
 
 Boinville, 65 
 
 Bonaparte. See Napoleon 
 Bondi, 88 
 Bonn, 91 
 
 Bonnay, Marquis de, 144, 145 
 Bonneuil, Comtesse de, 163 
 Bordeaux, 26, 193, 194, 252 
 Bordeaux, Due de, 347, 348 
 Bourbon, Due de, 172, 203 
 Bourbons, 3, 19, 36, 45, 90, 
 132, 133. 167, 172, 192, 193, 
 194, 200, 202, 204, 209, 225, 
 
 233. 235, 236, 252, 260, 332, 
 
 333> 34 8 > 359. 3^3 
 Bourget, 83 
 
 Bourgoyne, Due de, 4, 7, 8, 11 
 
 Bourmont, 245 
 
 Breteuil, Baron de, 58, 90, no, 
 
 113 
 
 Brienne, Archbishop of Tou- 
 louse, 58 
 
 Brunoy, 28, 35, 36 
 
 Brunswick, Duke of, in, 113, 
 
 114, 122 
 Brunswick, kingdom of, 148 
 Brussels, 89, 122, 265 
 Buckingham, Marquis of, 186 
 Budweiss, 157 
 
 Calais, 205 
 
 Calmar, 180, 181 
 
 Calonne, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 
 
 96, 97- 98, 99 
 Cambrai, 270 
 Campan, Madame, 15 
 Cannes, 252 
 Canning, 186 
 Caraman, 164, 170, 362 
 Carlsbad, 269 
 Carlton House, 203 
 Carnot, 283 
 Carrousel, Place, 326 
 Castries, Due de, 338 
 Cateau-Cambresis, 269 
 Catherine II, 21, 108, 116, 117 
 Caumont, M. de, 41, 42 
 Cayenne, 131 
 Cayla, Madame du, 339, 340, 
 
 341, 342, 343, 344, 352, 357, 
 
 358, 359. 361. 364. 365. 366, 
 
 367, 368, 369, 373 
 Cette, 252 
 Chappe, 240, 241 
 Charles, Archduke, 135, 139 
 Charter, the, 211, 218, 219, 331 
 Chateaubriand, 256, 264, 268, 
 
 274. 304. 305. 308. 332, 360, 
 
 361, 362, 363, 364, 365 
 Chatelet, 70 
 
 Chatenay, Madame de, 142 
 Chatillon-sur-Seine, 193 
 Chatre, Comte de la, 49, 50, 
 
 56, 67 
 Chenier, 63 
 Choiseul, 13, 14, 24 
 Choisy, 28, 167 
 Chouans, 225 
 Clancarty, Lord, 260 
 Coblentz, 91, 98, 99, 102, 109, 
 
 no, 112, 116, 129, 261, 262 
 Code Napoleon, 156 
 Coetlosquet, 12 
 Coke, Lord, 125
 
 Index 
 
 377 
 
 Colchester, 187 
 
 Compiegne, 205, 206 
 
 Conde, Prince de, 69, 75, 116, 
 
 124, 127, 128, 129, 130, 135, 
 
 152, 157, 174, 175, 187, 203, 
 
 228, 255 
 Conti, Prince of, 9 
 Corbiere, 345, 346, 351, 353, 
 
 36i 
 Council, 215 
 Cour des Aides, 51 
 Cour des Comptes, 51 
 Courland, 149, 152, 166, 169 
 Coussergues, Clausel de, 334 
 Crequy, Madame de, 21 
 
 Dambray, 216, 218, 220, 256, 
 271 
 
 Dandre, 246 
 
 Dauphin, son of Louis XV, 4, 
 5-12 
 
 Dauphin. See Louis XVI 
 
 Dauphin, eldest son of Louis 
 XVI, 40 
 
 Dauphin, second son of Louis 
 XVI. See Louis XVII 
 
 Dauphine, Marie Josephine de 
 Saxe, daughter-in-law of 
 Louis XV, 4, 5, 11 
 
 Dauphine. See Marie An- 
 toinette 
 
 Davoust, Marechal, 272 
 
 Decazes, Comte and Due de, 
 277, 278, 280, 283, 286, 294, 
 295, 296, 299, 300, 301, 302, 
 
 304. 305. 3°6- 3 o8 > 3*3. 3J4- 
 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 
 
 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 327, 
 329. 330. 331. 332, 333. 334- 
 335. 336, 337- 33§> 340, 342, 
 344. 345- 347- 35 1 - 352, 360, 
 369. 370. 374 
 Decazes, Madame, 294, 316,325, 
 
 326, 351 
 Declaration, 117 
 
 Deputies, Chamber of, 220, 221, 
 281, 299, 300, 301, 302, 306, 
 
 327. 334. 335- 34 s 
 Dessoles, 319, 321, 329, 330 
 Dieppe, 254 
 
 Dillingen, 130 
 
 Doctrinaires, 314 
 
 Dole, 236 
 
 Doudeauville, Due de, 364, 366 
 
 Dubarry, 1 
 
 Dumouriez, 114, 119, 155, 164 
 
 Dunkirk, 255 
 
 Dupont, 216 
 
 Duras, Due de, 232, 250 
 
 Duras, Madame de, 320 
 
 Economists, 23 
 
 Edgeworth, de Firmon, l'Abbe, 
 
 143, 166, 167, 172 
 Elba, 194 
 Elizabeth, Madame, 61, 63, 81, 
 
 86, 107, 237 
 Emigres, 91, 93, 106, 107, 108, 
 
 no, 114, 117, 130, 135, 183, 
 
 188, 227, 228, 234, 262, 286, 
 
 354. 364 
 Enghien, Due d', 175, 251, 372 
 
 Favras, Thomas de Mahy, 
 Marquis de, 60, 61, 62, 63, 
 64, 65, 66, 67, 69, 70, 71, 72, 
 
 73. 74 
 Feltre, Due de, 217, 248, 256, 
 
 257, 266, 271 
 Ferrand, 220, 224 
 Ferronays, Comte de la, 152, 
 
 362 
 Fersen, General, 152, 163, 164, 
 
 165, 166, 169 
 Finistere, 315 
 
 Fitzgerald, Lord Robert, 80 
 Fleury, Due de, 130, 167 
 Fontainebleau, 194, 303 
 Fouche, 237, 242, 246, 259, 272, 
 
 273, 274, 275, 277, 278, 283. 
 
 284, 286, 297, 360 
 Fox, 329 
 Fragonard, 16 
 Franche-Comte, 245 
 Francis II, in, 113, 134, 137, 
 
 138, 139, 140, 141, 157, 280 
 Frayssinous, Bishop of Her- 
 
 mopolis, 362 
 Frederick William, King of 
 
 Prussia, 108, 109, 113, 114, 
 
 170, 177, 180, 181 
 Frenilly, 228
 
 378 
 
 Index 
 
 Gaillard, 259 
 
 George III, 184, 185 
 
 George IV. See Regent 
 
 Gesvres, Due de, 5 
 
 Ghent, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 
 
 260, 261, 262, 264, 273 
 Gosneld, 187 
 Gourbillon, Madame de, 77, 89, 
 
 I5 8 . x 59, 161, 163 
 Grande Mademoiselle, 28 
 Granvelle, Lord, 329 
 Gregoire, 329, 330 
 Grey, Lord, 329 
 Guiche, Due de, 130, 142 
 Guizot, 262, 263, 314, 345, 361 
 Gustavus III, 24, 38, 39, 91, 
 
 in 
 Gustavus IV, 183, 189 
 
 Hamburg, 154 
 
 Hamm, 116, 118, 120, 121 
 
 Hane, Hotel de Steenhuyse, 255 
 
 Hapsburg, 36 
 
 Hartwell, 188, 191, 193, 197, 
 
 202, 324 
 Havre, Due d', 307 
 Hoche, 131 
 
 Holyrood, 175, 177, 184, 185 
 H6tel-de-Ville, 4, 51, 70, 73, 74 
 
 Imperial Guard, Old, 213 
 Isle, Comte de 1'. See Louis 
 XVIII 
 
 Jacobin, 2, 117, 147, 230, 313, 
 
 314 
 Jarjayes, 118 
 
 Jaucourt, 97, 99, 251, 256, 262, 
 
 271 
 
 Jena, Bridge of, 280 
 
 Joly, 119 
 
 Jordan, Camille, 345 
 
 Josephine, wife of Napoleon, 
 
 155 
 
 Josephine Louise of Savoy. 
 
 See Madame 
 Journal des Savants, 22 
 
 Kiel, 164 
 Kiew, 182 
 Kustrin, 151 
 
 Labedoyere, 297, 298 
 Lafayette, 64, 65, 70, 71, 77, 
 
 34 6 
 La Force, Anne Jacobe de 
 
 Caumon. See Balbi, Madame 
 
 de 
 La Force, Due de, 44 
 Laine, 301, 302, 315 
 Lameth, Theodore de, 49 
 Languedoc, 242 
 Laon, 80 
 Lavalette, 298 
 Lavalette, Madame de, 298 
 Lavalette, Mile de, 299 
 Lavauguyon, 10 
 Laybach, Congress of, 349 
 Le Due, l'Abbe, 70 
 Leith, 184 
 Le Maine, 119 
 Lemontey, 323 
 Leopold II, 89, 108, 109, in 
 Levis, Due de, 59, 66, 73, 82 
 Liancourt Rochefoucauld, Due 
 
 de, 202 
 Liege, 91, 116 
 Lieutard, M., 369 
 Lille, 204, 235, 251, 253 
 LTsle, Comte de. See Louis 
 
 XVIII 
 Lomenie de Brienne, 50 
 Longuyon, 115 
 Longwy, 114 
 Lorraine, Duke of, 9 
 Lorraine, province of, 242 
 Louis XIV, 28, 288, 323, 341 
 Louis XV, 4, 6, 11, 15, 17, 23, 
 
 3L 32. 33 
 Louis XVI, 4, 7, 10, 11, 13, 17, 
 18, 20, 23, 24, 25, 30, 32, 33, 
 
 34. 35. 36, 37. 42, 45. 4 8 . 49. 
 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 
 58, 59. 63, 70, 71, 75, 81, 88, 
 89, 90, 91, 104, 105, 106, 107, 
 108, 109, no, in, 115, 116, 
 117, 125, 126, 134, 135, 137, 
 185, 186, 200, 205, 237, 329 
 
 Louis XVII, 40, 55, 63, 116, 
 117, 125, 205 
 
 Louis XVIII, 1 ; calumnies, 2 ; 
 character, birth, 8 ; first 
 public appearance, 9 ; bap-
 
 Index 
 
 379 
 
 tism, ii ; orphaned, 14; 
 marriage, 17 ; becomes heir- 
 presumptive, 18 ; appear- 
 ance, 20 ; character, 21 ; 
 visit to Voltaire, 22 ; 
 writings, 23 ; political views, 
 26 ; tour, 28 ; abodes, 32 ; 
 letters to Louis XV, quarrel 
 with Louis XVI, abuse of 
 Marie Antoinette, 33 ; print- 
 ing-press inspected, 34 ; fete, 
 35, 36 ; letter to Gustavus 
 III, at baptism of Madame 
 Royale, 39 ; falls in love, 41 ; 
 at head of bureau, 46 ; takes 
 popular side, 47 ; disrespect 
 to King, 50 ; sent to Cour 
 des Comptes, 51 ; praises 
 Necker, 52 ; interview with 
 La Marck, 57 ; treaty and 
 intimacy with Necker, 59 ; 
 dealings with Favras, 63 ; 
 accounts of his demeanour, 
 65 ; speech in H6tel-de-Ville, 
 67 ; his complicity with 
 Favras, 71, 72, 73 ; retires 
 from politics, 74 ; thinks of 
 flight, 75 ; deputation visits 
 him, 77 ; preparations for 
 flight, 79, 80 ; farewells, 81 ; 
 escape, 82 ; the journey, 84, 
 85, 86 ; arrival at Mons, 87 ; 
 goes to Brussels, 89 ; full 
 of business, 90 ; goes to 
 Liege, Aix-la-Chapelle, Cob- 
 lentz, 91 ; lodging there, 92 ; 
 unpopularity, 93, 94, 98 ; 
 his military house, 94 ; his 
 undeveloped character, 97 ; 
 appearance at fetes, 98 ; at 
 Madame de Balbi's, 100 ; 
 takes d'Avaray's part, 101 ; 
 not an Emigre proper, 102 ; 
 political views, 103, 104, 107 ; 
 joke, 104 ; deplorable posi- 
 tion, 109, no ; refuses to 
 leave Treves, in ; military 
 preparations, 112 ; present 
 at Emperor's Coronation, 
 113 ; with the Army, 114, 
 115 ; Coblentz, Liege, and 
 
 Hamm, 116; takes title of 
 Regent and issues Anti-re- 
 volutionary Declaration, 117; 
 receives tokens from Temple, 
 118 ; letter on Jarjayes, 
 118, 119 ; goes to Verona, 
 121 ; is told of Madame 
 de Balbi's treachery, 123 ; 
 letter to Madame about it, 
 
 124 ; assumes title of King, 
 
 125 ; has to leave Verona, 
 
 127 ; visits Conde's army, 
 
 128 ; driven from there, 129 ; 
 attempted assassination at 
 Dillingen, 130 ; Blancken- 
 burg, 131 ; hopefulness, 132 ; 
 writes to Madame Royale, 
 133 ; idea of marrying her to 
 Due d'Angouleme, 135 ; let- 
 ters and anxiety about this, 
 136, 137, 139, 140, 141, 143, 
 144 ; political talk with Due 
 d'Angouleme, 146, 147 ; is 
 forced to leave Blancken- 
 burg, 148, 149 ; journey to 
 Mittau, 150, 151 ; life there, 
 152, 153, 154 ; character, 153 ; 
 political schemes, and letter 
 to Bonaparte, 155 ; hears of 
 possibility of Madame Roy- 
 ale's marriage, 157 ; objects to 
 Madame de Gourbillon, 158 ; 
 Queen's arrival, 159; anxiety 
 about Madame Royale, 160 ; 
 her arrival, 161 ; is re- 
 conciled to Due d'Orleans, 
 troubles with Comte d'Artois, 
 162 ; is turned out of Mittau, 
 163, 164, 165, 166, 167 ; 
 painful journey, 167, 168 ; 
 letters about it, 169, 170 ; 
 goes to Warsaw, 170 ; life 
 there, 171 ; monetary diffi- 
 culties, 172 ; sends Blacas 
 to St. Petersburg, 173 ; an- 
 xieties with Due de Berry, 
 letter to him, 174, 175, 176 ; 
 threatened with separation 
 from Due and Duchesse 
 d'Angouleme, 176, 177 ; 
 Bonaparte wishes him to
 
 3 8o 
 
 Index 
 
 resign rights, his Declaration, 
 177, 178 ; circular letter on 
 Bonaparte becoming Em- 
 peror, 179 ; goes to Sweden, 
 180 ; liberal Declaration, 
 181 ; returns to Mittau, 180 ; 
 second visit to Sweden, 183 ; 
 off shores of England, 184 ; 
 letter to George III, 185 ; dis- 
 cussions, 186 ; landing and 
 journey to Gosfield, 186, 187 ; 
 Hartwell, 188 ; Queen's 
 death, 189 ; d'Avaray's 
 death, 190 ; liberal mani- 
 festo, 193 ; Bordeaux Depu- 
 ties, 193 ; gout keeps the King 
 at Hartwell, 197 ; no confi- 
 dence in Artois, 200 ; news of 
 formal recall, 202 ; journey 
 through London, 203 ; cross- 
 ing, 204 ; Amiens and Com- 
 piegne, 205 ; interviews Tal- 
 leyrand, 207 ; Comte d'Ar- 
 tois, 208 ; Czar and Corps 
 Legislatif, 209 ; Declaration 
 of Saint-Ouen, 210, 211 ; 
 entry into Paris, 211, 212, 
 213, 214 ; Councils, 215 ; 
 works with Ministers, 217 ; 
 politeness, 218 ; names Com- 
 mission for Charter, 219 ; 
 reads Charter, 223 ; annoyed 
 by Ultra requests, 227 ; audi- 
 ences, 232 ; composure at 
 military disturbances, 234 ; 
 bravery at Plot, 237 ; foreign 
 policy, 238, 239 ; hears of 
 Napoleon's landing, 241 ; in- 
 terview with Due d'Orleans, 
 243 ; reviews troops, 244 ; 
 hears of Ney's defection, 
 245 ; passivity, 248 ; trouble, 
 249 ; Royal seance, 249, 
 250 ; flight, 250 ; arrival at 
 Abbeville, 252, Saint-Pol, 
 Bethune, Lille, 253 ; im- 
 patience, 254 ; Menin and 
 Ghent, 255 ; life there, 256, 
 257 ; learning a lesson, 258 ; 
 letters from Talleyrand and 
 Due d'Orleans, 261 ; inter- 
 
 view with Guizot, 262, 263 ; 
 calmness, 264 ; agitation at 
 news of Waterloo, 265; ar- 
 rival at Mons, parting with 
 Blacas, 266, 267 ; interview 
 with Talleyrand, 268, 269 ; 
 Declaration of Cateau- 
 Cambresis, 269 ; Proclama- 
 tion of Cambrai, 270, 271, 
 272 ; emotion at Fouche's 
 appointment, 273, 274 ; 
 second entry into Paris, 275 ; 
 distress at Allies, 275 ; will 
 govern constitutionally, 276 ; 
 first interview with Decazes, 
 278 ; troubles, 279 ; Bridge 
 of Jena, 280 ; dismisses 
 Fouche, 284 ; dismisses Tal- 
 leyrand, 285 ; chooses Due 
 de Richelieu, 286 ; firmness 
 of foreign policy, 288 ; letter 
 to Czar, 289 ; anguish at 
 treaty, 291 ; isolation in 
 family, 293, 310; attachment 
 for Decazes, 294, letter to 
 him, 295 ; excuses Ney, 297 ; 
 wishes to save Lavalette, 
 299 ; afraid of Monsieur, 
 
 301 ; dissolves the Chamber, 
 
 302 ; indignation at Cha- 
 teaubriand's pamphlet, 304 ; 
 grief at Due de Berry's 
 attitude, 305 ; receives 
 Blacas, 306, 307 ; embar- 
 rassed by him, 308 ; indigna- 
 tion with Monsieur, 309 ; 
 Monsieur deprived of 
 Colonelship, 311 ; joy at 
 freedom of France, 313 ; 
 views of situation, 314, 315 ; 
 injured with Richelieu, 316 ; 
 indignation with Mole, 317 ; 
 trouble at crisis, 318, 319 ; 
 does not like new Cabinet, 
 321, 322 ; on his ancestors, 
 323 ; interview with Ma- 
 dame, 324 ; wishes to be 
 sponsor to Decazes's baby, 
 325 ; kindness to Madame 
 Decazes, 325, 326 ; anger 
 with Ultras, 327 ; King on
 
 Index 
 
 381 
 
 England, 329 ; his misgiv- 
 ings, 330 ; news of Due de 
 Berry'sdeath: scene at death- 
 bed,' 333, 334; draconian 
 measures, 334 ; King at 
 Council, 335 ; exciting scene, 
 336 ; determination, 337 ; 
 visit from Madame du Cay la, 
 340 ; second interview, 342 ; 
 growing affection for Madame 
 du Cayla, 343, 344 ; is re- 
 conciled to Monsieur, 345 ; at 
 birth of Duke of Bordeaux, 
 347 ; King on Royalist 
 majority, 349 ; confesses 
 Duchesse de Berry's dupli- 
 city, 350 ; refuses to see 
 Decazes, 351, 352 ; generosity 
 on Napoleon's death, 353 ; 
 indignation with Ultras, 355 ; 
 receives Richelieu's resigna- 
 tion, King on Monsieur and 
 Due d'Orleans, 358 ; his 
 indifference, 359 ; King's 
 good sense, 363 ; his dislike 
 for Chateaubriand, 364, 365 ; 
 
 5 failing health, 366 ; presents 
 Saint-Ouen to Madame du 
 Cayla, 367 ; King at Saint- 
 Ouen, 368 ; he remembers 
 
 - Decazes, 369 ; failing health, 
 370, 371 ; his fortitude, 372 ; 
 will receive confessor, 373 ; 
 . his death, 374 
 
 Louis, Baron, 216, 218, 256, 
 262, 277, 321, 327, 329, 330 
 
 Louise, Madame, 10 
 
 Louise, Queen of Prussia, 170 
 
 Louvel, 332 
 
 Luxembourg Palace, 28, 44, 
 48, 51, 60, 77, 79, 82, 83 
 
 Luxembourg town, 88, 122 
 
 Luynes, Due de, 7, 8 
 
 Lyons, 120, 121, 242, 243, 245, 
 
 255 
 
 Macartney, Lord, 125, 126 
 Macchi, Monseigneur, 369 
 Macdonald, Marechal, 242, 243, 
 
 251, 252, 253, 254, 255 
 Madame, wife of Louis XVIII, 
 
 14, 15, 16, 28, 34, 35, 36, 37, 
 42, 43, 76, 77, 92, 121, 122, 
 144, 150, 153, 157, 158, 159, 
 160, 161, 164, 165, 189, 190, 
 
 34° 
 Madame Royale. See Angou- 
 
 leme, Duchesse d' 
 Madeira, 91, 189 
 Maillard, 61 
 Maison, General, 204 
 Maison Civile, King's, 226, 286, 
 
 366 
 Maison Militaire, King's, 226, 
 
 234, 253, 254, 259, 262 
 Maisonfort, 210 
 Malouet, 216 
 Marck, Comte de la, 54, 55, 
 
 5 6 > 57> 7 2 
 Marck, Madame de la, 26 
 
 Marie Antoinette, 12, 14, 15, 
 
 16, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 
 
 33- 34. 35. 36, 37. 38, 39. 
 42, 49, 50, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 
 58, 62, 63, 69, 71, 75, 78, 79, 
 81, 88, 89, 103, 104, 105, 106, 
 107, 108, 109, in, 118, 121, 
 137, 212, 237 
 
 Marie Christine, Archduchess, 
 89 
 
 Marie Leczinska, Queen of 
 France, 10, 11 
 
 Marie Therese, 13, 30, 31 
 
 Marly, 26 
 
 Marmont, Marechal, 237, 247 
 
 Marquier, 64 
 
 Marsan, Madame de, 7, 8 
 
 Marsan, Pavilion, 233, 258, 350 
 
 Marseilles, 281 
 
 Maubeuge, 80 
 
 Maurepas, 5, 24 
 
 Maximilian, Archduke, 36 
 
 Mayence, 113 
 
 Meilleraye, Comtesse de. See 
 Angouleme, Duchesse d' 
 
 Memel, 167, 169, 170 
 
 Mercy Argenteau, 31, 37 
 
 Metternich, Prince, 259, 266 
 
 Mirabeau, Gabriel Honore 
 Riquetti de, 54, 55, 56, 57, 
 58, 59, 60, 65, 66, 71, 72, 74 
 
 Mittau, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153,
 
 3 82 
 
 Index 
 
 154, 157, 160, 161, 163, 165, 
 166, 167, 182, 184, 185 
 
 Modene, Comte de, 14 
 
 Mole, 317, 327 
 
 Monaco, Princesse de, 99 
 
 Monarchiens, 117, 146 
 
 Money, Marechal, 204 
 
 Mons, 80, 87, 268, 269, 270 
 
 Monsieur. See Louis XVIII 
 
 Montcarmel, 17 
 
 Montesquiou, Abbe de, 216, 
 219, 220, 256 
 
 Montgaillard, 27 
 
 Montmorency, 362 
 
 Montpellier, 26 
 
 Moreau, 131 
 
 Morel, 63, 64, 69 
 
 Moriolles, Comte de, 115 
 
 Morris, 64 
 
 Mortier, General, 253 
 
 Moscow, 192 
 
 Namur, 88, 122 
 
 Naples, King of, 175, 349 
 
 Naples, Queen of, 144 
 
 Napoleon, 2, 120, 131, 155, 163, 
 172, 177, 182, 183, 184, 185, 
 192, 193, 202, 206, 210, 216, 
 227, 231, 233, 236, 237, 238, 
 241, 244, 245, 252, 253, 254, 
 255. 258, 259, 266, 279, 283, 
 291, 297, 353, 360 
 
 Narbonne, Archbishop of, 9 
 
 Navarre, Henry of, 347 
 
 Necker, 23, 45, 50, 52, 70 
 
 Nesselrode, 195, 266, 282, 292 
 
 Neuilly, Comte de, 99 
 
 Ney, Marechal, 231, 245, 297, 
 298, 300 
 
 Niemen, 151 
 
 Nimes, 26, 281 
 
 Normandie, Due de. See 
 Louis XVII 
 
 Normandy, 56 
 
 North, Lord, 329 
 
 Notables, Assembly of, 46, 47, 
 48, 49, 50, 51, 53, 68, 96 
 
 Notre-Dame, 5, 213 
 
 Odessa, 354 
 (Eil-de-Boeuf, 1', 62 
 
 Orange, Prince of, 255 
 
 Orchies, 80 
 
 Orleans, 26 
 
 Orleans, Gaston d\ 18 
 
 Orleans, Louis Philippe, Due d\ 
 162, 182, 186, 227, 228, 242, 
 243, 244, 245, 249, 250, 253, 
 254, 255, 260, 261, 267, 332, 
 
 372 
 Orleans, Philippe Egalite, Due 
 
 d\ 34- 54. 57. 72, 162 
 Otrante, Due d\ See Fouche 
 
 Panin, 150 
 
 Parc-aux-Cerfs, 1 
 
 Paris, Treaty of, 222, 238, 290 
 
 Parlement of Paris, 51 
 
 Pasquier, 321, 346, 347, 352, 
 
 356 
 
 Paul I, 148, 151, 163, 164, 165, 
 171, 172 
 
 Peers, Chamber of, 220, 221 
 
 Perigord, Comte Archambaud 
 de, 122 
 
 Peronnet, 83 
 
 Pichegru, 155 
 
 Pilnitz Conference and Pro- 
 mulgation, 108, 109 
 
 Pitt, 329 
 
 Pius VII, 174 
 
 Place d'Armes, 5 
 
 Poitou, 119 
 
 Poix, M. de, 231 
 
 Poland, King of, 9 
 
 Polastron, Madame de, 99, 146, 
 174, 180 
 
 Pompadour, 1, 6, 11, 12, 13 
 
 Pont-Neuf, 83, 213 
 
 Pont-Royale, 275 
 
 Portal, Dr., 373 
 
 Porte Saint-Martin, 83 
 
 Pozzo di Borgo, 209, 256, 266, 
 270, 276, 282, 289, 291, 292, 
 
 348 
 Prince of Wales. See Regent 
 Princeteau, Madame, 294, 321 
 Provence, Comte de. See 
 
 Louis XVIII 
 Provence, Comtesse de. See 
 
 Madame 
 Puisaye, 120, 126
 
 Index 
 
 383 
 
 Quatre-Bras, 264 
 
 Queen. See Marie Antoinette 
 
 Queen Josephine Louise of 
 
 Savoy. See Madame 
 Quiberon, 120 
 
 Rambouillet, 62 
 
 Rapp, 353 
 
 Regent, 186, 203 
 
 Reiset, Vicomte de, 44 
 
 Richelieu, Ducde, 286, 289, 291, 
 
 299, 300, 302, 306, 307, 308, 
 
 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317, 
 
 3 l8 > 319, 320, 330, 337, 339, 
 
 345. 34°. 353. 354» 35 8 , 359 
 Riegel, 128, 129, 151 
 
 Rivarol, 61, 73 
 
 Rochefoucauld, Comte de la, 
 340, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 
 35 8 > 361. 362, 364, 365, 366, 
 367. 368, 369, 370, 373 
 
 Robespierre, 237 
 
 Rostopchine, 164 
 
 Royer-Collard, 262, 345 
 
 Saint-Aulaire, Comte de, 317 
 Saint-Aulaire,Mlle. See Madame 
 
 Decazes 
 Saint-Cloud, 62 
 Saint-Cyr, Marechal Gouvion, 
 
 2 77> 309. 321. 322, 329, 330 
 Saint-Denis, Faubourg, 275, 
 
 374 , 
 Saint-Etienne, 236 
 Saint-George, 349 
 Saint-Germain, Faubourg, 229, 
 
 230, 299 
 Saint-Gothard, 128 
 Saint-Helena, 353 
 Saint-Lazare, 17 
 Saint-Ouen, Declaration of, 
 
 210, 2li, 367, 368, 369 
 Saint-Pol, 253 
 Saint-Priest, 62, 126, 131, 150, 
 
 152 
 Sardinia, King of, 122, 146 
 Sardinia, Queen of, 157 
 Sarthe, La, 315 
 Sartorius, 63, 67 
 Sayer, 80, 83 
 Schaumel, 63, 67 
 
 Schonbornlust, Chateau of, 92, 
 
 96. 99 
 Serent, Duchesse de, 167 
 Serre, 321 
 Sevres, 62 
 Soissons, 80, 87 
 Soreze, 27 
 
 Soucy, Madame de, 137 
 Soult, Marechal, 246, 248 
 States General, 50, 51, 52, 53 
 Strasburg, 236 
 
 Talleyrand, 195, 196, 197, 198, 
 202, 207, 208, 211, 216, 220, 
 222, 238, 239, 244, 251, 256 
 260, 261, 262, 266, 267, 268, 
 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 
 277, 278, 284, 285, 286, 287, 
 288, 289, 306, 308, 318, 354, 
 360 
 
 Talon, 71, 339 
 
 Tartu fie, 32 
 
 Temple, 107, 118, 127 
 
 Tiers-Etat, 47 
 
 Tilsit, Peace of, 183 
 
 Toulon, 120 
 
 Tours, 26 
 
 Tourzel, Madame de, 133, 136, 
 
 J 37 
 Trafalgar, battle of, 227 
 
 Treport, 254 
 
 Treves, Elector of, 92, 93, 98, 
 
 no, III 
 Troppau, Congress of, 349 
 Troyes, 51 
 Tuileries, 55, 57, 75, 78, 81, 
 
 275, 281, 308, 334, 335, 
 
 337 
 Turcaty, 61, 63, 64, 70 
 
 Turgot, 23, 24, 45 
 
 Ultra-Royalists, 2, 117, 229, 
 230, 263, 277, 292, 297, 298, 
 299, 300, 301, 302, 304, 308, 
 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 
 326, 328, 330, 334, 335, 350, 
 
 35 1 . 353. 354- 355. 35 8 
 
 Valentinois, Madame de, 14 
 Valmy, battle of, 114 
 Valvons, Marquis de, 10
 
 384 
 
 Index 
 
 Varennes, 88, 90 
 Vauguyon, 12, 14, 31, 128 
 Vendee, Vendeans, 119, 120, 
 
 126, 225, 315 
 Verac, Comte de, 100 
 Verdun, 114 
 Verona, 121, 122, 127, 128, 139, 
 
 !73 
 
 Verona, Congress of, 362 
 
 Victoire, Madame, 10, 137 
 Vienna, 136, 137, 138, 144, 
 
 268 
 Vienna, Congress of, 222, 238, 
 
 239, 259, 268 
 Villele, 345, 346, 354, 355, 357, 
 
 35 8 > 3 6l » 362, 363, 364, 365, 
 
 366, 370, 371 
 Vitrolles, 199, 208, 210, 215, 
 
 219, 227, 240, 241, 248, 272, 
 277, 278, 285, 308, 311, 335 
 Voltaire, 21 
 
 Wagram Hotel, 280 
 
 Wales, Prince of. See Regent 
 
 Wanstead House, 187 
 
 Warsaw, 170, 171, 181 
 
 Waterloo, battle of, 265 
 
 Wellington, Duke of, 195, 234, 
 265, 266, 267, 269, 270, 273, 
 275, 276, 280, 282, 292, 293, 
 298, 301 
 
 Westphalia, 148 
 
 Wickham, Mr., 129 
 
 Willot, 155 
 
 Yarmouth, 184, 186 
 
 Printed by Hazell, Watson <S= Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury.
 
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