288 CHARLES (FRANCE) remorse, and breathed his last when only 24 years of age, ainid dreadful corporal and spirit- ual sufferings. CHARLES X., the seventh and last king of the family of Bourbon, born at Versailles, Oct. 9, 1757, died at Gorz, in Austria, Nov. 6, 1836. He was the fourth son of the dauphin, son of Louis XV., and received at his birth the names of Charles Philip, and the title of count of Artois. After being very indifferently educated under the superintendence of the duke de la Vauguy- on, he married, Nov. 16, 1773, Maria Theresa of Savoy, a younger sister of the countess of Provence, by whom he had two sons, the dukes of Angouleme and Berry. Being of a very profligate disposition, he neglected his wife, both for ladies at the court and common cour- tesans. Among the latter was Mile. Duth6, who enjoyed an unenviable celebrity. His scandalous conduct was, however, somewhat restricted by the influence of the dauphiness Marie Antoinette, and his love for Mme. de Po- lastron. On one occasion he rashly insulted his cousin, the duchess of Bourbon, at the opera ball ; and his duel with the duke which grew out of this circumstance seriously impaired the favor which his affable and courteous manners had gained for him. He tried to make amends by distinguishing himself at the siege of Gibral- tar, but in vain ; his levity and inconsistency had destroyed the last vestige of his popularity. When the revolution broke out he became one of its most uncompromising enemies. But in- stead of supporting his unhappy brother, Louis XVI., he fled from Paris to Brussels, then to Turin, where he engaged in intrigues, the con- sequence of which was to increase the danger to which his brother was exposed. On May 20, 1791, he had an interview with the emperor Leopold at Mantua, and a few months later was present at the conference of Pilnitz, the only result of which was to give a new impe- tus to the revolutionary spirit in France. While he was going about begging assistance for the royalist cause, the king was arraigned before the convention, sentenced to death, and executed. The exiled prince, who now assumed the title of Monsieur, repaired to Russia, where Catharine II. presented him with a magnificently orna- mented sword bearing this inscription : " Don- nee par Dieu pour le Roi." But this was a use- less weapon in such weak hands. The ill-di- rected efforts of the Bourbons and their allies having proved fruitless on the Rhine, it was thought proper to give encouragement and assistance to the Vendeans or Chouans. Mon- sieur was consequently sent, in August, 1795, with English ships, to effect a landing on the coast of Brittany. Although supported by a large number of emigrants and some 2,500 Eng- lish troops, the brave Charette, who was in wait- ing for him, having gathered nearly 20,000 Ven- deans, and engaged his word that 60,000 more would rise in arms on the arrival of a Bourbon, the prince did not dare to land, and his cow- ardice was the signal of the ultimate defeat of the monarchical party in western France. He afterward lived in obscurity, residing mainly in England, till the fall of Napoleon, when he re- paired to Paris, and on April 12, 1814, was wel- comed there by the provisional government, headed by Talleyrand. A part of the Parisian population hailed his return, while his affability of manners and kind words conciliated the good will of many. The most popular saying reported of him at the time was: "Friends, nothing is changed in France; there is only one Frenchman more." Notwithstanding this favorable beginning, 11 months had hardly elapsed when Monsieur was again compelled to- leave France, after having vainly tried to se- cure the city of Lyons against the approach of Napoleon. The defeat of the emperor at Waterloo brought him back again to France in the train of the allied armies. During the first years of the restoration he kept aloof from public affairs ; but he was the head of the ultra- royalist party, which so seriously interfered with the policy of Louis XVIII. That party at last prevailed, after the assassination of the duke de Berry (1820), by the accession of the Villele cabinet, and the influence of Monsieur became prominent. He succeeded Louis X VIII. r Sept. 16, 1824, under very favorable auspices, his brother not having been a favorite with the nation. At first he adopted some popular measures; but soon his government appeared to be ruled solely with a view to the re&stab- lishment of the old regime. A bill to indem- nify the emigrants for their losses during the revolution was introduced ; this bill, by which the nation was to assume a thousand millions of new debts, in behalf of those who had actu- ally borne arms against it, was adopted in March, 1825. This was a great triumph for the reactionary party. Soon another bill was passed, decreeing the most severe penalty against what was called sacrilege. In the le- gislative session of 1826 an attempt was made to alter the law of inheritance, so as to reestab- lish the right of primogeniture ; this, however, failed. Another bill, to regulate or rather to destroy the freedom of the press, called loi de justice et d'amour, was not more successful. The public discontent was further increased by the favor shown by the government to the
- Jesuits, who had reestablished themselves in
France under the new appellation of peres de lafoi. At last the popular sentiment broke out during a review of the national guards, held April 29, 1827, by the king himself; he- was received by the cries of " Down with the I ministers," " Down with Villele." Greatly pro-
- voked by these manifestations, his haughty an-
swer was that he " came to receive homage, not lessons." On the same night a decree of dissolution was issued against the national guards. A few weeks later the chamber of deputies was also dissolved, while the royalist party was reenforced in the chamber of peers by the addition of 76 new members. At the same time the freedom of the press was entire-
