The Memoirs of François René Vicomte de Chateaubriand sometime Ambassador to England, Volume 4 (of 6): Mémoires d'outre-tombe volume 4Chateaubriand, François-René, vicomte de
History
The Memoirs of François René Vicomte de Chateaubriand sometime Ambassador to England, Volume 4 (of 6): Mémoires d'outre-tombe volume 4
Chateaubriand, François-René, vicomte de
Chateaubriand, François-René, vicomte de, 1768-1848
It was thought that he had spoken to me at length, and the rumour
was spread of my return to favour. It is probable that Charles X.,
thinking that the Archbishop had told me of his good-will towards me,
expected a word of thanks from me and was offended at my silence.
Thus have I assisted at the last coronation of the successors of
Clovis; I had occasioned it by the pages in which I had asked for the
coronation and depicted it in my pamphlet, _Le Roi est mort: vive
le roi!_ Not that I had the least faith in the ceremony; but, as
everything was lacking to the Legitimacy, it was necessary, to sustain
it, to make use of everything, for better or for worse. I recalled
Adalbéron's[260] definition: "The coronation of a King of France is, a
public interest, not a private matter;" I quoted the admirable prayer
set apart for the coronation:
"O God, who by Thy virtues counselled Thy peoples, give to this Thy
servant the spirit of Thy wisdom! Let to all men born be in these
days equity and justice: to friends succour, to enemies hinderance,
to the afflicted consolation, to the lofty correction, to the rich
instruction, to the needy pity, to pilgrims hospitality, to poor
subjects peace and safety in the mother-land! Let him learn to command
himself, moderately to govern each one according to his state, so that,
O Lord, he may give to all the people an example of life pleasing to
Thee!"
Before reproducing in my pamphlet, _Le Roi est mort: vive le roi!_ this
prayer preserved by Du Tillet[261], I had exclaimed:
"Let us humbly beseech Charles X. to imitate his ancestors:
thirty-two sovereigns of the Third Dynasty have received the
royal unction."
All my duties being fulfilled, I left Rheims, and was able to say, like
Joan of Arc:
"My mission is ended."
[Footnote 156: This book was written in 1839 and revised in December
1846.--T.]
[Footnote 157: Joseph Planta (1787-1847) was secretary to Lord
Londonderry for many years. From 1827 to 1830, he was one of the joint
secretaries of the Treasury and, in 1834, was made a Privy Councillor.
He sat as M. P. for Hastings, almost without interruption, from 1827 to
1844.--T.]
[Footnote 158: Amelia Anne Marchioness of Londonderry (1772-1829),
_née_ Hobart, daughter and co-heiress of John Hobart, second Earl
of Buckinghamshire, and married to the Marquess of Londonderry in
1794.--T.]
[Footnote 159: The Vicomte Mathieu de Montmorency, Minister of Foreign
Affairs.--B.]
[Footnote 160: Édouard Duc de Fitz-James (1776-1838), descended from
James II. through the Duke of Berwick. He was created a peer of
France in 1814, and sent in his resignation when the bill was passed
suppressing the heredity of the peerage (28th December 1831). From 1835
till his death, he sat in the Chamber of Deputies, as a member of the
Right, and distinguished himself by the eloquence of his speeches.--B.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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