On the coffin of the ex-king was inscribed,—­

“Here lieth the High, the Potent, and most Excellent Prince, Charles Tenth of that name; by the Grace of God King of France and of Navarre.  Died at Goritz, Nov. 6, 1836, aged 79 years and 28 days.”

All the courts of Europe put on mourning for him, that of France excepted.  The latter part of his life, with its reverses and humiliations, he considered an expiation, not for his political errors, but for the sins of his youth.

As he drew near his end, his yearnings after his lost country increased more and more.  He firmly believed that the day would come when his family would be restored to the throne of France, but he believed that it would not be by conspiracy or revolt, but by the direct interposition of God.  That time did almost come in 1871, after the Commune.

CHAPTER II.

LOUIS PHILIPPE AND HIS FAMILY.

Louis Philippe, after accepting the lieutenant-generalship of the kingdom, which would have made him regent under Henri V., found himself raised by the will of the people—­or rather, as some said, by the will of the bourgeoisie—­to the French throne.  He reigned, not by “right divine,” but as the chosen ruler of his countrymen,—­to mark which distinction he took the title of King of the French, instead of King of France, which had been borne by his predecessors.

It is hardly necessary for us to enter largely into French politics at this period.  The government was supposed to be a monarchy planted upon republican institutions.  The law recognized no hereditary aristocracy.  There was a chamber of peers, but the peers bore no titles, and were chosen only for life.  The dukes, marquises, and counts of the old regime retained their titles only by courtesy.

The ministers of Charles X. were arrested and tried.  The new king was very anxious to secure their personal safety, and did so at a considerable loss of his own popularity.  They were condemned to lose all property and all privileges, and were sent to the strong fortress of Ham.  After a few years they were released, and took refuge in England.

There were riots in Paris when it was known that the ministers and ill-advisers of the late king were not to be executed; one of the leaders in these disturbances was an Italian bravo named Fieschi,—­a man base, cruel, and bold, whom Louis Blanc calls a scelerat bel esprit.

The emeute which was formidable, was suppressed chiefly by a gallant action on the part of the king, who, while his health was unimpaired, was never wanting in bravery.  “The king of the French,” says Greville, “has put an end to the disturbances in Paris about the sentence of the ministers by an act of personal gallantry.  At night, when the streets were most crowded and agitated, he sallied from the Palais Royal on horseback, with his son, the Duc de Nemours, and his personal cortege, and paraded through Paris for two hours.  That did the business.  He was received with shouts of applause, and at once reduced everything to tranquillity.  He deserves his throne for this, and will probably keep it.”