ourbon of Bourbon traditions.
When he became a man he travelled extensively in Europe. In 1841
he broke his leg by falling from his horse, and was slightly lame
for the rest of his life. In 1846 he married Marie Therese Beatrix
of Modena, who was even more strictly Bourbon than himself. He and
his wife retired to Froehsdorf, a beautiful country seat not very
far from Vienna. There they were constantly visited by travelling
Frenchmen of all parties, and on no one did the prince fail to
make a favorable impression. He was good, upright, cultivated,
kindly, but inflexibly wedded to the traditions of his family. He
loved France with his whole soul, and was glad of anything that
brought her good and glory. But France was _his_,--his by divine
right; and this right France must acknowledge. After that, there
was not anything he would not do for her.

[Illustration: _COMPTE DE CHAMBORD._]

But France was not willing to efface all her history from 1792 to
1871, with the exception of the episode of the Restoration, when
school histories were circulated mentioning Marengo, Austerlitz,
etc., as victories gained under the king's lieutenant-general, M.
de Bonaparte.

During the Empire, under Napoleon III., the Comte de Chambord had
remained nearly passive at Froehsdorf. His life was passed in meditation,
devotion, the cultivation of literary tastes, and a keen interest in
all the events that were passing in his native country. During the
Franco-Prussian war he sent words of encouragement to his suffering
countrymen, and nobly refrained from embarrassing the affairs of
France by any personal intrigues; but when the war and the Commune
were over, and his chances of the throne grew bright, he issued a
proclamation which has been called "an act of political suicide."

On May 8, three weeks before the downfall of the Commune, he put
forth his first manifesto. Here is what an English paper said of it
a few days before his next--the suicidal--proclamation appeared:--

"The Comte de Chambord does not, of course, surrender his own theory
of his own place on earth, but he does offer some grave pledges
intended to diminish suspicion as to the deduction he draws from
his claim to be king by right divine. He renounces formally and
distinctly any intention of exercising absolute power, and pledges
himself, as he says, 'to submit all acts of his government to the
careful control of representatives freely elected.' He declares
that if restore