Page:Coubertin - France since 1814, 1900.djvu/79



" X. must take care of this child's crown," said Louis XVIII. on his death-bed, as he laid his hand on the head of the little Duc de Bordeaux. The foreboding implied in this warning was not felt by the old King alone ; it was partly shared by public opinion, not only in France, but abroad. To judge by the case of the Comte d'Artois, it seemed impossible that Charles X. could keep his crown, even if he succeeded in governing for a little while ; but, as it happened, the prophets of evil were wrong. They were not mistaken in the King ; his very ordinary character was supplemented by a very ordinary intellect. They were mistaken in the nation. They had forgotten the happy results of the preceding reign. It is not always the sower who reaps ; Charles X. was to reap what Louis XVIII.