Page:Coubertin - France since 1814, 1900.djvu/49

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A RETROSPECT OF EIGHT YEARS
33

for the Monarchy, seeing that his eldest son, the Duc d'Angouleme, had no children, and that he himself had only a daughter by his marriage with the Princess of the Two Sicilies. But seven months after his tragic death the Duchesse de Berri was delivered of that son of his who was to have been Henry V., and never was anything but the Comte de Chambord. His unexpected birth moved the country to a genuine outburst of Royalism, and seemed of the happiest augury for the future.

The King found in his ministers the support which he missed in his family. Circumstances in this respect favourable to his crown had gathered round him a whole constellation of remarkable men, distinguished by various titles. These men deserve well at the hands of posterity.

First, there were the born statesmen, such as Kichelieu and Decazes. The European eminence assured to Richelieu, both by his own nobility of character and his friendship with the Emperor of Russia, was of immense benefit to France. The anticipated evacuation of territory, and the re-admittance of France into the concert of European Powers were the twofold aim which he attained at the Congress