"At three o’clock in the afternoon, the magistrates, assembled in the
Town Hall, summoned the inhabitants with the ringing of bells. The
Mayor appeared on the balcony of the large hall and proclaimed the
allegiance of the town to the restored Bourbons. The spectators
received this speech with oft-repeated cries of ’Long live the King!’
’Long live Louis XVIII!’ and all put on the white cockade.
"The news soon came that Louis XVIII had landed at Calais and that he
would pass through Estrées. A guard of honour was formed and a
triumphal arch was erected at the Saint-Ferréol gate. It bore this
inscription: ’_Regibus usque suis urbs Stratavilla fidelis_.’
"The clergy from every parish approached to compliment the King, and the
Mayor presented the keys of the town on a silver dish adorned with
fleurs-de-lis. The King replied, ’Monsieur le maire, I take the
flowers, and give you back the keys.’ Then the sailors and footmen
unharnessed the horses from the carriage, and drew him themselves into
the town. The excitement of the crowd was impossible to describe; every
house was decorated with blue and white draperies and green garlands,
mottoes and white flags, covered with fleurs-de-lis.
"The King was present at a _Te Deum_ sung in Saint-Ferréol, and
repaired, still drawn by sailors, to the Abbey of Saint-Pierre, where he
was to lodge the night."
The evening drew slowly in; the quaint, thick lettering of the old book
was becoming indistinct, but Aurelle wanted to finish the melancholy
history of these inconstant people. Skipping the triumphal entry of
Charles X, he came to the July insurrection.
"On the 29th of July, 1830, there were no newspapers; but letters and a
few travellers arriving from Paris announced that the tricolour flag had
been hoisted on the towers of Notre-Dame. A few days later they learnt
that the fighting had stopped, and that the heroic population of the
capital remained in possession of all their outposts.
"Louis-Philippe, accompanied by the Dukes of Orleans and Nemours, soon
after passed Estrées on his way to Lille. He was received under a
triumphal arch by the Mayor and Corporation. Every house was hung with
draperies in the three colours. An immense crowd filled the air with
their acclamations. The King arrived at the square of Saint-Ferréol,
where the National Guard and several companies of _douaniers_ awaited
him.
"The various corps of the urban guards in their best clothes; the
strangeness of the rural guards, with a large number of Napoleon’s old
soldiers in their ranks with their original uniforms; the intrepid
seamen of Cayeux carrying in triumph their fishing prizes, ten old
tricolour banners; the sailors, with their carbines, bandoliers and
cutlasses in their hands, all made the gayest of spectacles, and the
picturesque fête delighted the King and the officers of his staff."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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