th the unwieldiness and lack of royal
presence in Louis XVIII. His first act was a concession they little
expected, and one calculated to render him popular. He abridged
the powers of the censors of the Press. His minister at this time
was M. de Villele, a man of whom it has been said that he had a
genius for trifles; but M. de Villele having been defeated on some
measures that he brought before the Chamber of Deputies, Charles
X. was glad to remove him, and to appoint as his prime minister
his favorite, the Prince de Polignac. Charles Greville, who was
in Paris at the time of this appointment, writes: "Nothing can
exceed the violence of feeling that prevails. The king does nothing
but cry; Polignac is said to have the fatal obstinacy of a martyr,
the worst courage of the _ruat coelum_ sort."

[Illustration: _CHARLES X._]

Six months later Greville writes: "Nobody has an idea how things
will turn out, or what are Polignac's intentions or his resources."
He appeared calm and well satisfied, saying to those who claimed the
right to question him, that all would be well, though all France
and a clear majority in the Chambers were against him. "I am told,"
says Charles Greville, "that there is no revolutionary spirit abroad,
but a strong determination to provide for the stability of existing
institutions, and disgust at the obstinacy and the pretensions of
the king. It seems also that a desire to substitute the Orleans
for the reigning branch is becoming very general. It is said that
Polignac is wholly ignorant of France, and will not listen to the
opinions of those who could enlighten him. It is supposed that
Charles X. is determined to push matters to extremity; to try the
Chambers, and if his ministers are beaten, to dissolve the House
and to govern _par ordonnances du roi_." This prophecy, written
in March, 1830, foreshadowed exactly what happened in July of the
same year, when, as an outspoken English Tory told Henry Crabb
Robinson, in a reading-room at Florence: "The king of France has
sent the deputies about their business, has abolished the d----d
Constitution and the liberty of the Press, and proclaimed his own
power as absolute king."

"And what will the end be?" cried Robinson.

"It will end," said a Frenchman who was present, "in driving the
Bourbons out of France!"

During the last months of Charles X.'s reign France made an expedition
against the Dey of Algiers, which was the first step in the conquest