"
From the beginning of the reign, as he foresaw that one day the
Chamber would sign the Address of the 221, and that M. Laffitte
would be the banker of the revolution of July, the Viscount wrote
to the sovereign in December, 1824:--
"The King has two things to combat for the glory and strength of
his rule, the encroachments of the Chamber of Deputies, and the
power of money in Europe. Four bankers could to-day decide war, if
such was their pleasure. Sovereigns cannot seek too earnestly to
free themselves from the sceptre which is rising above their own.
The triumph of moneyed men will blight the character and the
morals of France."
M. de La Rochefoucauld added (report of January 31, 1825) this
prediction, which shows to what length his frankness went in his
loyal explanations with his King:--
"We are between two rocks, equally dangerous: revolution with the
Duke of Orleans, and ultraism with the good Polignac. The by-word
now is: 'These princes will end like the Stuarts.' Madame de--,
who is agitating against the laws now under discussion, has said:
'Yes, it's the second throne of the Stuarts.' The Left compare the
Archbishop of Rheims to Father Peters, the restless and ambitious
confessor of King James. It is not easy for me to write thus to
the King, and I have assumed a hard task in promising myself to
conceal nothing from him. Sometimes my heart is oppressed and my
hand stops; but I question my conscience, which seems troubled,
and the indispensable necessity of telling all to the King, that
he may judge in his wisdom, decides me to go on.
Pages:
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216