de La Bourdonnaye the
faction of 1815 with its murderous friendships, its law of
proscription, and its clientele of southern massacres. Coblenz,
Waterloo, 1815, these are the three personages of the ministry.
Turn it how you will, every side dismays. Every side angers. It
has no aspect that is not sinister, no face that is not menacing.
Take our hatreds of thirty years ago, our sorrows and our fears of
fifteen years ago, all are there, all have joined to insult and
irritate France. Squeeze, wring this ministry, it drips only
humiliations, misfortunes, dangers."
The Abbe Vedrenne, historian of Charles X., wrote:--
"How is the language of the writers of the Debats, who called
themselves royalists, to be understood? Was not Charles X. at
Coblenz? Did not Chateaubriand emigrate with the King and the
princes? Did he not follow Louis XVIII. to Ghent? Was he not in
his council at the very hour of the battle of Waterloo? They might
as well have stigmatized the white flag and demanded the
proscription of the King's dynasty. But such was their blindness
that they feared nothing for it. 'The throne runs no risk,' said
Chateaubriand, 'let us tremble for liberty only.' Yet the
nomination of the Polignac ministry was an error. It appeared to
be a provocation, a sort of defiance. Charles X. doubtless only
wished to defend himself, but in choosing such ministers at such
an hour, he appeared to be willing to attack.
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