son of Charles X. with
Caroline Mary, niece of the Duchess of Orleans, had produced some
reconciliation between the Bourbon and the Orleans branches of the
royal family. The king and his family this evening, for the first
time, in regal state visited the Palais Royal. As the duke was
receiving the congratulations of his guests upon the marvellous
splendor which the palace presented, thronged with courtiers
sparkling with jewels and decorated with all the costly and
glittering costumes of the old regime, one of the guests, M.
Salvandy, shrewdly observed to the duke,

"It is, indeed, quite a Neapolitan fete, your highness, for we dance
upon a volcano."

The duke with some emotion replied, "That there is a volcano here I
believe as firmly as you do. But I know that the fault is not mine. I
shall not have any occasion, hereafter, to reproach myself for not
having endeavored to open the eyes of the king. But what could be
expected when nothing is listened to? God only knows where all this
will end--I certainly do not foresee what is about to happen. I can
not tell where all those who are producing this state of things will
be in six months hence; but one thing I do know, which is, where I
shall be myself.

"Under all circumstances or changes which may occur, my family and
myself will remain in this palace. This is our throne. Whatever may
be the peril of so doing, I shall not move from the home of my
fathers. I shall never again consent to separate the fate and fortune
of myself and children from those of my country. This is my
unchangeable determination."

One of the saloons contained two very fine paintings of Montmiral and
Champ-Aubert, two towns in France in which Napoleon, heroically
struggling against dynastic Europe combined in arms against him,
signally defeated and drove back the Allies. The duke, being asked
why he allowed paintings commemorative of the victories of the Empire
to hang upon his walls, replied, "Because I like every thing French."

Soon after this the popular complaints against the crown became so
general, so bitter, and the excitement so great, that the king, by
the advice of the ministers who governed him, issued several
ordinances which were regarded by the people as so despotic, as so
subversive of all popular rights, as to call for resistance by
insurrection and the force of arms.

The first of these famous ordinances suspended the liberty of the
press, and prohibited the publication o