bourgeois class. At moments of crisis, even if the people had no part in the Government, its attitude sufficiently revealed its sentiments. It was not difficult to determine its state of mind in 1814 and 1815. In 1824 this is not quite so easy. Nobody appealed to it ; not one of the Liberals ever dreamt of considering its needs, and public affairs apparently did not concern it. All the same, the people had its own opinion ; only the Parliament and the Press prevented it from making that opinion clear. But the credit of France was restored ; agriculture and industry prospered ; the first Exhibition of the products of industry at Paris had met with the greatest success ; a General Council of Commerce, a free School of Arts and Crafts had been established ; by his courageous initiative, Louis XVIII. had arrested a pernicious reaction in 1816. True, that reaction had reappeared in 1820, but far less violently, and since then the King had been able to continue the good work begun. All this was reassuring and significant ; the country was enjoying a delightful time of peace and stability; only the language used every day in the Tribune and the journals went far to destroy the good effects of this
