ther. In
the bitterness of French political discussions no whisper of
calumny has ever been heard against the queen. And one who
could pass through this ordeal has nothing more to dread from
human investigation. A kinder, more anxious mother is nowhere
to be found. She is a sincere believer in the Christian
religion, and devout in the performance of its duties. Her
charity is known throughout the country, and appeals for the
distressed are never made to her in vain. In the performance
of her regal duties, while her bearing is what the nature of
her position requires, there is a kind of affability which
seems continually seeking to put all around her as much at
their ease as possible."[L]

[Footnote L: France in 1840. By an American--[General Cass].]

CHAPTER V.

THE RESTORATION.

1814-1817

The Sicilian Court.--Retirement of the duke.--The Restoration.--The
return to Paris.--Arrival in Paris.--Reception by the
Bourbons.--Testimony of an American.--Pride of the Bourbons.--Madame
de Genlis.--Triumphal advance of Napoleon.--Flight of Louis
XVIII.--Signal triumph of Napoleon.--Retirement of the
Bourbons.--Efforts of the Duke of Orleans.--Dejection of the Duke
of Orleans.--Calumnies of the journals.--Return of the Bourbons to
Paris.--The duke's possessions restored.--The duke returns to the
Palais Royal.--Humanity of the Duke of Orleans.--The duke persecuted
by the court.--Execution of Marshal Ney.--Again an exile.--Testimony
of Madame de Genlis.--The princes in the national lyceums.--Democratic
tendencies of the duke.

The court of Ferdinand IV., one of the most worthless and corrupt of
the old feudal dynasties, was maintained in Sicily by the army, the
navy, and the purse of England. His Sicilian majesty received from
the British Government an annual subsidy of four hundred thousand
pounds sterling ($2,000,000), to support the dignity of his throne,
and to pay for the troops which Sicily furnished England for her
interminable warfare against the French Empire. The Duke of Orleans
severely condemned the errors and follies continually developed by
the reigning dynasty, and yet he found himself utterly powerless to
remedy them. The queen was the ruling power at the court, and her
prejudiced and impassioned nature was impervious to any appeals of
reason. She knew very well that England did not loan her protection
and lavish her gold upon the Sicilian Court from