them had ceased to believe in. In any case, in order to obtain a ministry capable of carrying out this retrograde programme, it was first of all necessary to clear the ground. To this end Chateaubriand and the ultras joined the extreme Left. This extraordinary alliance was maintained in the most risky circumstances. Thus eighty votes of the Right contributed to the election of Grégoire the regicide. To be sure, the assassination of the Duc de Berri caused a great deal of very sincere emotion, the more so as nobody anticipated the posthumous birth of his son. But the Right took the most sinister advantage of this sad event. It made no attempt to disguise its all-absorbing design to overthrow Decazes ; and when it had succeeded, and Decazes was replaced by Richelieu (this time determined to rely upon the Right), it was by no means satisfied. Neither was it pleased when Richelieu granted a new electoral law giving a preponderating influence to the great proprietors. It wanted to overthrow Richelieu, and in order to do this, it again joined the extreme Left, when it gave its vote to the reply to the speech from the throne. This address, which was most injurious to the
