At the commencement of the session a deputy of the
Left, having affected to say in the tribune that the King had not
a single enemy, the Right permitted itself some exclamations of
doubt. One of its members, M. de Marinhac, cried: "As a good
prince I believe that His Majesty has no enemies, but as King, he
has many, and I know them," added he, looking at his opponents.
The entire Left was indignant, and caused the orator to be called
to order. M. Dupin thanked the president, and said in an agitated
voice: "It is a calumny, an insult, that we cannot endure. Nothing
wounds us more than to hear ourselves accused of being the enemies
of him whom we adore, cherish, bless."
The tactics of the Opposition were to flatter the King, but to
disarm him and to make him look on those who were really
revolutionists as ministerialists. M. de Martignac was a man of
good faith, but many who boasted of supporting him were not so,
and perhaps M. de Villele was right when he wrote to Charles X. in
June, 1828:--
"I could serve Your Majesty only with the light and the character
God has given me. It would have been, it would be, impossible for
me to believe that authority can be maintained by concessions and
by leaning on those who wish to overthrow it."
Meanwhile there were still some fine days for the old King. His
journey in the departments of the east, in 1828, was a continual
ovation that recalled to him the enthusiasm of the beginning of
his reign.
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