The Sun.
London, England, 1840-01-31 00:00:00

THE EXILED BOURBONS.

The following is the picture of the unfortunate family
drawn by Mr. Turnbull in his late excellent work on
Austria. The introductory remarks are from the
Atlienamm, founded on statements made in the book :
At a desolate chateau, a few miles from Prague, he
paid a visit of respect to the exiled Bourbons, and found
that imbecile and fallen family enacting the dreary farce
of royalty in a kingdom bounded by a garden wall, with-
out servants, without carriages, with scarce a comfort in
their prostrate fortunes but the basane hope of restora-
tion to the throne of France. There was the old King
—now only " a king in jest" —clothed in a long brown
great coat, stooping much, but still animated and even
gay, enjoying the pleasures of the chase in the Bohe-
mian parks, and speaking with an air of lofty " commi-
seration, not of anger," of the people who were once his
subjects. There was the young Duke, " a fine stout
healthy youth,with theßourbon features strongly marked,
and a clear ruddy complexion." There was the Duchess
d'Angouleme, little changed, and alone of the once
regal circle cherishing no sanguine anticipations of the
future. The Duchess de Berri was absent at a distant
residence assigned her by the Austrian Government.
The part of Prime Minister was played by the Duc de
Blacas, and that of Master of the Horse by the Count
O'Hagerty—a Master of the Horse without a stud ! So
much is necessary to introduce the following passage, in
which the reader will find one of the curiosities of politics :

" Yet was this little Court said to be divided into
parties, and distracted with animosities and factions. It
is a subject which, had it come to my knowledge from
personal observations made during my intercourse with
the parties concerned, I should not have felt myself at
liberty to enlarge ; but there can be no breach of confi-
dence in stating facts which were notorious both in Ger-
many and in France, and which were communicated to me
from various indifferent quarters. It will excite a smile of
pity in the reader to learn that now, when the sovereign
rule of France had passed away to another dynasty,
the question, most fiercely agitated by the adherents
of the exiled Princes, was which among them was
the legitimate king. Previous to the departure from
St. Cloud, the old sovereign, in the hope of averting
the necessity to emigrate, had, conjointly with the Duke
d'Angouleme, signed an act of abdication in favour of
the Duke de Bourdeaux ; in whose name, under the
title of Henry V., certain proclamations were accord-
ingly issued. After the whole family had quitted France,
Charles was persuaded by his religious advisers to con-
sider this act, extorted by circumstances, as null and
void ; and although it is believed that he had not the
slightest personal wish to return to the throne, yet a
feeling was enforced upon him that he could not law-
fully divest himself of the sovereignty, or transfer to
another the duties which he owed to his people. The
question raised upon this point, however apparently ridi-
culous, was not devoid of political importance. The
legitimate party, the adherents of the exiled family,
were still strong and numerous in France ; and of these
the large majority would have openly acted (with what
success it is vain now to inquire, for the restoration of
Henry V., but they felt that any such attempt in favour
of Charles, must, from the great unpopularity of his
last measures, be wholly unavailing. These, therefore,
with the Duchess de Berri at their head, entreated from
Charles a frank repetition of his Act of Abdication ;
but with this request Charles, on alleged religious
grounds, peremptorily and ever after constantly refused
to comply. Hence the efforts of the legitimists were
divided, and in a great measure paralysed. Among a
large proportion :of them, the doctrine of allegiance
to Divine right prevented their acknowledgment of
Henry, while Charles maintained his pretensions ; and
yet ail felt alike that any attempt in favour of Charles
hinisiilf would be a vain and fruitless effort. The Car-
lists and the Henriquists became two distinct and op-
posing parties ; and their divisions may probably have
been aggravated by the personal unkindness existing
between the Duchess d'Angouleme and the Duchess
de Berri, who were considered the respective leaders of
each."