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 of Aix-la-Chapelle (1817). His uprightness, his honesty, impressed even his adversaries; his disinterested devotion knew no bounds. Decazes never reached the moral eminence of Richelieu, but was distinguished by his prolific energy and almost prophetic insight. He formulated his programme in the fine phrase: "Royaliser la France, et nationaliser la royauté!" That was the supreme necessity of the moment, and it could not be summed up more clearly and concisely. To be sure, in the application of his liberal policy, Decazes was occasionally guilty of somewhat arbitrary proceedings which recalled the former Prefect of Police. Again, the extreme favour in which he was held by Louis did not tend to make him very popular with his contemporaries. A favourite is always distrusted. His correspondence with the King, now being published, exonerates him from many reproaches, while it throws upon the figure of the old king a still more flattering light.

Then De Serre, that great orator, always at the post of danger in spite of the illness that was sapping his forces, his eloquence magnificently victorious over party spirit. Pasquier, too, with his splendid sense, the sane and