Page:Coubertin - France since 1814, 1900.djvu/47

This page needs to be proofread.

CHAPTER II

A RETROSPECT OF EIGHT YEARS — 1824.

Louis XVlll. died on the 16th of September, 1824, and his brother, " Monsieur, " the Comte d'Artois, reigned in his stead as Charles X. Louis had reigned ten years. The Hundred Days, and the violent reactions they caused, had terribly increased for him the difficulties inseparable from all restorations. We have seen how he bravely dissolved the celebrated " Introuvable " Chamber, whose fantastic proceedings had disturbed the country. What happened after that in those eight important years on which hung the future of the Monarchy ? What support did the King receive from his princes, his ministers, and his Parliament ? From 1815 to 1820 the tendency had been towards an increasing Liberalism. First Richelieu, then General Dessoles, and the Comte (afterwards Duc)