Page:Coubertin - France since 1814, 1900.djvu/51

 upright judgment that was never carried away, never lost sight of the line he wished to follow. And those skilled specialists, the Minister of War, the Maréchal Gouvion St. Cyr—who gave his name to the famous military law of 1817, that wise and virile measure which reorganised the army, established the principle of regular promotion, and prepared the way for victories in Spain and later in Algiers—he and the Ministers of Marine, the Marquis de Clermont-Tonnerre and Councillor Portal (author of the celebrated Ordinance of 1819), and last, the great Ministers of Finance, Baron Louis, Roy, Corvetto, Villèle, of whose administrations it has been said that the budgets of France had never been better organised and better conceived. Villèle was also at the head of the Government. If he did not bring to those high functions the spirit of Richelieu or Decazes, he at least showed considerable ability, and his exercise of power was sufficiently moderate to expose him to the violent attack of those ardent Royalists who had themselves advanced him to power. These leaders were backed by an honest and enlightened staff, well