The mediator, under the guidance of M. Mounier, and after unheard-of retrenchments, fixed the sum destined for the payment of the debts of France to individuals at 16 millions and 40,000 francs. People are too apt to forget in the present times the extreme difficulties encountered by the public credit of the restoration, during the period of our misfortunes. The Duc de Richelieu very soon came to the conclusion, that a system of well-conducted loans offered the only possible means of fulfilling the obligations imposed by the treaty. During the sway of Napoleon, the credit of the government had been utterly null; confidence had been destroyed by too many violations of the public faith, and too many arbitrary actions, for the Revolution and the Empire were merely the abuse of power; and the events of 1814 and 1815 having compelled the government to increase the public debt to 126 millions, would it be possible to obtain an additional loan? No French house had presented itself possessed of sufficient capital to act upon so vast a scale; their fear of the risk was too great. But the Duke considered there would be an advantage in foreign loans, in raising a competition among all the capitals of Europe, and effecting our deliverance by a mere change of location. The necessary pecuniary resources were found in the opulent firm of Hope and Baring; and, to prepare the departure of the foreign troops, the minister succeeded in obtaining that the sovereigns who signed the treaty of 1815 should assemble at Aix-la-Chapelle, to determine whether the occupation should terminate at the end of three years, or whether it should be prolonged to five, according to the alternative left by the treaty. This proposal having been accepted, the congress assembled on the 20th of September 1818. All the obstacles had been already overcome by the pacific views of Russia, which had acted favourably upon the scruples entertained by Prussia and England; and on the 2d of October the evacuation of the French provinces was decided upon, and the last traces of the invasion disappeared; besides which the Duc de Richelieu obtained a reduction of part of the indemnity still unpaid. Who does not recollect the proud and natural delight of the French minister on his return? France was no longer a country in the occupation of Europe, but a government admitted into the first rank among nations, with its greatness, its liberty, and its independence. Sufficient justice is seldom rendered to statesmen who restore to a country its dignity and consideration: vulgar history only extols those that destroy.