The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-25 00:00:00

Sketch of Louis XVIII.

M. Poujoulet, who has written a variety of
works, travels, memoirs, history, and some of them
of much merit, is going to publish a " History of
France" from 1814 to the present day, in four
volumes, two of which will probably appear to-
morro A, or the day after. The following sketch of
Louis XVIII. may not be without interest at a time
when Parliamentary Government is held in such
light estimation in France:—

" Historians hostile to the House of Bourbon have
not spared Louis XVIII., and they have assigned
to him as his sole merit the pride of being King of
France. But they will not efface what is not to
be effaced. To the reign of Louis XVIII. at-
taches an importance and a lustre peculiar to
itself, so as to make it impossible to confound
it with any theory or to prevent it from growing
great in the memory of man. This prince was the
man of his time and of the circumstances reserved
for his destiny. An Emperor who was always ou
horseback had fatigued the world. France, from
her immense desire for peace, was not displeased at
having a King quietly seated in his arm chair, but
whose fathers had known what battles were. The
nation was vexed and wearied out by a restless and
terrible will; and a Sovereign whom his infirmities
unfitted him for a life of activity was, as it were,
naturally sent to establish among us a constitutional
system of government. Amid the disasters which
an ambition that had grown to insanity brought
upon us we wanted a King, the most ancient of
Kings, who could speak from the height on which
the grandeur of twelve centuries placed him ; a
King whose misfortunes invested with interest ;
whose soul was thoroughly French ; whose mode-
ration inclined him to political compromises ;
andwhose clear perception enabled him at his mature
age to judge of men and things. Such a King was
found in Louis XVIII. Never was any prince's
position more difficult than his ; he had so many
knots of policy to unlcose that he left each for its
own hour and acted with hesitation. Called to bear
the sceptre at a late period of life, he had neverthe-
less, during his long experience, acquired a consider-
able knowledge of mankind. His will was persistent
even when he appeared to yield. Nothing troubled
him: his soul was firm and his intellect keen ; but
why should we not admit that he was crafty? Poli-
tics are so intricate that a little subtlety is pardonable
in a constitutional Sovereign. Sly but not malignant,
he satisfied orrevenged himself with quotations from
Horace. Ever master of himself, he was ever cour-
teous ; and politeness presupposes a certain kind-
ness of disposition and a command of oneself. Had
Louis XVIII. been hasty or passionate he could not
have performed the task which Providence marked
out for him. The 18th century had left its marks
in his thoughts, but if at times the man was frivo-
lous the King was never so. Restorations and com-
promises go together. The inflexible, the absolute,
are rocks on which destruction is easy. Louis
XVIII. was no niggard of concessions, and the his-
torian may reproach him with venturing a little too
far in this way. But, though it be true that he
greatly desired to content his enemies of the mor-
row, it cannot be denied that his condescension
was never wrung by necessity, and never the
result of misplaced confidence. During the ten
years of his reign he practised in all sincerity the
representative regime, and it is to the constitutional
predominance of this or that political system that
should be assigned the successive changes in the
conduct of Louis XVIII.'s Government. He deli-
vered us promptly from the foreign armies which, it
was pretended, he needed to prop up his throne.
He paid our ransom and debts which were none of
his incurring; he gave us liberty, re-established our
credit, led us once more to glory, and imparted to
our country an immense movement of confidence.
Conspiracy was ever busy during his reign, and, in
spite of the assaults on his crown, if he only con-
sulted his heart, not a drop of blood would have
been shed. Napoleon had exhibited the terror
of the sword ; Louis XVIII. displayed the power
of the sceptre, and that power was for us liberal
and conservative. After so many terrible shocks,
after the excesses of brute force, people had lost all
notion of the majesty of right. They saw it appear
in its calmer grandeur. Louis XVIII. showed it
living and invincible. The axe might cut it down,
but intimidation would not make it bend. That
majesty of right in which nations breathe, and
which was like the majesty of our nation itself, will
endure as a sort of glorious vision in the history of
our convulsions, our usurpations, and our social
devastations. On the 24th of October, 1824, were
celebrated, in presence of a vast concourse of peo-
ple, and pursuant to the ceremonial of the ancient
monarchy, the obsequies of the King. The coffin
reposed for a month in the Church of St. Denis,
was lowered by 12 of the Body Guard into those
vaults from which the remains of his ancestors had
been torn 30 years before. The Grand Master of
the Royal Household reversed his staff, and cried,
The King is dead !' and the King at Arms having
answered, 'Long live the King !' the cry was repeated
by all present to the sound of trumpets and drums,
and, amid military music, Louis XVIII. went to
his sleep where his fathers had slept ; and Charles
X., whose accession was proclaimed by the cannon
outside the church, was fated not to attend the
rendezvous to which his brother summoned him.
The vaults of St. Denis await in vain his Royal re-
mains, as the palaces also await in vain the return
of their ancient inmates."

MADAME VALENTIN.—This complicated case,
which bids fair to rival even the renowned one of
" Jarndice v. Jarndice," appears to be cropping up at every
step in some new phase or another, but the most recent and
certainly the most novelproceeding has just been accom-
plished by the indefatigable solicitor for Madame Valentin.
It will be rememberd that upon the examination of
Madame Valentin on the charge of perjury at Guildhall,
of which that lady was subsequently convicted and im-
mediately afterwards pardoned by her Majesty, that a
warrant was applied for and granted against a person
named Coulane, who, it was alleged, had committed per-
jury on previous proceedings against Lafo urcade. Coulane
however, not deeming it prudent to stand his trial on
such a charge, quitted the country and entered the army
of France, and his evidence being now material for the
prosecution against Hall and others for conspiracy, dm,
Mr. Leverson applied to the Foreign Office for an assurance
that the Attorney-General should be instructed to quash
all proceedings against Coulane upon his appearing at the
trial and turning Queen's evidence. A communication
was at once addressed through Lord Clarendon to our
chargi de'affaires at Paris, requesting him to endeavour to
obtain the consent of the French Government to the ap-
pearance of Coulane at the forthcoming trial. The re-
quest was complied with by the French Minister of War
upon the faith of his lordship's assurance that Coulane is
not to be subjected to any criminal proceedings or deten-
tion in this country, and a semi-official intimation has also
been convoyed to Coulane, that if he shall give his evidence
in a truthful and straightforward manner her Majesty will
bo advised to grant him a free pardon in respect of the
matter charged on the warrant now out against him.

FORTUNATE DISCOVERY.—A specimen of virgin
gold has been discovered in a tin stream in Cornwall. It
measures nearly 3 inches in length, and 21 inches in dia-
meter and weighs rather more than two ounces.

........
The directors of the Ebbw Vale Company have
made a call of 15 per share, payable on the 4th day
of January next, at the Bank of England or any of
its branches.

The operations in the Foreign and Colonial Pro-
duce Markets have not been very extensive, and
prices in some instances have slightly given way.
The reduction of the Bank rate of discount yester-
day, however, caused some animation. Sugar has
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been in moderate request at steady quotations,
while rice, fruit, spices, and tallow have remained
at steady values. •