In donning the costume of the unfortunate queen whose sorrows
could only be compared to those of Marie Antoinette, the Duchess
of Berry proved how free her mind was from all gloomy
presentiments, forgetting that the family of the Bourbons had
already had its Charles I., and not foreseeing that it was soon to
have its James II., the amiable Princess hardly suspected that in
the course of next year, she would be an exile in Scotland in the
castle of Mary Stuart.
XXV
THE FINE ARTS
From 1824 to the end of the Restoration, the department of the
Fine Arts, connected with the ministry of the King's household,
was confided to the Viscount Sosthenes de la Rochefoucauld, son of
the Duke de Doudeauville. He was then at the head of the museums,
the royal manufactures, the Conservatory and the five royal
theatres,--the Opera, the Francois, the Odeon, the Opera-Comique,
and the Italiens.
From the point of view of arts and letters the reign of Charles X.
was illustrious. The King encouraged, protected, pensioned the
greater number of the great writers and artists who honored
France. What is sometimes called in literature the generation of
1830 would be more exactly described as the generation of the
Restoration. This regime can claim the glory of Lamartine, as
poet. A body-guard of Louis XVIII., he was the singer of royalty.
He published, in 1820, the first volume of his Meditations
Poetiques, in 1823 the second, and in 1829 the Harmonies.
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