The finest portion of his life begins from this period. The great object he had proposed to himself was the deliverance of invaded France, overwhelmed by foreign powers; and, at the same time, the situation of the country gave cause for the most serious uneasiness. It was now necessary to levy an army to act as a weight in the European balance of power, and also to fulfil the hard conditions imposed by the treaty of 1815; while, to remove the fears entertained by the different cabinets, the Duke gave them to understand that the divisions arising in the chambers were merely the natural result of the representative system. One ought to remember the miserable years of 1816 and 1817; the dearness of grain, the scarcity, and the revolts in various provinces, the occupations of the strong posts in France by 150,000 bayonets, and a military contribution of 15 millions a month. In the midst of all these disasters the Duke suggested the diminution of the foreign army, thus commencing a negotiation which led to much greater results; and, on the 11th of February, 1817, he came to announce to the chambers that 30,000 men were about to repass the frontier, and that the expense of the army of occupation would be diminished by 30 millions of francs. This relief was owing to the reparative system he had pursued, and to the efforts of France, so fruitful in resources. We, perhaps, hardly meet, in the whole course of history, with two years more difficult to get over than from 1815 to 1817. An armed invasion, famine, vehemence of parties, factions up in arms; and withal, extreme constraint in the administration, both as a whole and in detail, and a country whose ancient frontiers must be by all means preserved. The army of occupation having been diminished, it became indispensable to have recourse to forced levies, to secure the safety and the dignity of the country; and a law for that purpose was proposed and accepted at the opening of the session of 1817, as a complete military system: the essentials of this law are still in force.