that " henceforth the Bourbon Government was incontestable, and that revolution was no longer possible. "
At the opening of the next Session (January 1829) the Speech from the Throne proved to be a masterpiece of discretion and propriety. From the list of three candidates, presented to him by the deputies, the King again nominated as their president Royer-Collard, the doctrinaire who was the incarnation of fidelity to the Charter. Finally, the Ministry proposed the law so long demanded, which was to organise the Communal and Departmental Councils. Under the Empire these Councils were only composed of members nominated by the Government, and this belated form of legislation was still flourishing. By Martignac's programme the Councils were to be elective, only reserving to the King the nomination of the mayors. No more honest and decisive measure had yet been passed in the course of democratic progress. At first the Liberals applauded the benevolent action of the Government ; but, inconceivable as it may seem, this feeling was not of long duration. In the Chamber of 1829 parties were more split up than they had ever been before ; they had no
