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The reception lasted several hours. When the coaches had rolled
away and when quiet was re-established in the Chateau of Saint
Cloud, Charles X., in the mourning costume of the Kings, the
violet coat, went to the apartment of the Duke of Bordeaux and his
sister. The usher cried: "The King!" The two children, frightened,
and holding each other by the hand, remained silent. Charles X.
opened his arms and they threw themselves into them. Then the
sovereign seated himself in his accustomed chair and held his
grandchildren for some moments pressed to his heart. The Duke of
Bordeaux covered the hands and the face of his grandfather with
kisses. Mademoiselle regarded attentively the altered features of
the King and his mourning dress, novel to her. She asked him why
he wore such a coat. Charles X. did not reply, and sighed. Then he
questioned the governess as to the impression made on the children
by the death of Louis XVIII. Madame de Gontaut hesitated to
answer, recalling the strange phrase of Mademoiselle: "King! Oh!
that indeed is the worst of the story." But the little Princess,
clinging to her notion, began to repeat the unlucky phrase.
Charles X., willing to give it a favorable interpretation, assured
Mademoiselle that he would see her as often as in the past, and
that nothing should separate him from her. The two children, with
the heedlessness of their age, took on their usual gaiety, and ran
to the window to watch the market-men, the coal heavers, and the
fishwomen, who had come to Saint Cloud to congratulate the new
King.
The griefs of sovereigns in the period of their prosperity do not
last so long as those of private persons. Courtiers take too much
pains to lighten them. With Charles X. grief at the loss of his
brother was quickly followed by the enjoyment of reigning.
Chateaubriand, who, when he wished to, had the art of carrying
flattery to lyric height, published his pamphlet: Le roi est mart!
Vive le roi! In it he said: "Frenchmen, he who announced to you
Louis le Desire, who made his voice heard by you in the days of
storm, and makes to you to-day of Charles X. in circumstances very
different. He is no longer obliged to tell you what the King is
who comes to you, what his misfortunes are, his virtues, his
rights to the throne and to your love; he is no longer obliged to
depict his person, to inform you how many members of his family
still exist. You know him, this Bourbon, the first to come, after
our disaster, worthy herald of old France, to cast himself, a
branch of lilies in his hand, between you and Europe. Your eyes
rest with love and pleasure on this Prince, who in the ripeness of
years has preserved the charm and elegance of his youth, and who
now, adorned with the diadem, still is but ONE FRENCHMAN THE MORE
IN THE MIDST OF YOU. You repeat with emotion so many happy mots
dropped by this new monarch, who from the loyalty of his heart
draws the grace of happy speech. What one of us would not confide
to him his life, his fortune, his honor? The man whom we should
all wish as a friend, we have as King. Ah! Let us try to make him
forget the sacrifices of his life! May the crown weigh lightly on
the white head of this Christian Knight! Pious as Saint Louis,
affable, compassionate, and just as Louis XII., courtly as Francis
I., frank as Henry IV., may he be happy with all the happiness he
has missed in his long past! May the throne where so many monarchs
have encountered tempests, be for him a place of repose! Devoted
subjects, let us crowd to the feet of our well-loved sovereign,
let us recognize in him the model of honor, the living principle
of our laws, the soul of our monarchical society; let us bless a
guardian heredity, and may legitimacy without pangs give birth to
a new King! Let our soldiers cover with their flags the father of
the Duke of Angouleme. May watchful Europe, may the factions, if
such there be still, see in the accord of all Frenchmen, in the
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