The tactics of the Opposition were to flatter the King, but to disarm him and to make him look on those who were really revolutionists as ministerialists.  M. de Martignac was a man of good faith, but many who boasted of supporting him were not so, and perhaps M. de Villele was right when he wrote to Charles X. in June, 1828:—­

“I could serve Your Majesty only with the light and the character God has given me.  It would have been, it would be, impossible for me to believe that authority can be maintained by concessions and by leaning on those who wish to overthrow it.”

Meanwhile there were still some fine days for the old King.  His journey in the departments of the east, in 1828, was a continual ovation that recalled to him the enthusiasm of the beginning of his reign.  Setting out from Saint Cloud the 3lst of August, he arrived at Metz the 3d of September.  All the houses of this great military city were hung with the white flag adorned with fleurs-de-lis.  After having visited some of the fortifications, Charles X., following the ramparts, came to an elegant pavilion erected on the site of the ancient citadel.  Long covered seats were arranged for the ladies of the city; a prodigious number of spectators occupied the ramparts.  In the presence of the sovereign a regiment made a simulated attack on a “demi-lune” and a bastion.

On September 6, Saverne arranged a very picturesque reception for the King.  All the cantons and all the communes sent thither, together with their mayors and their richest farmers, their prettiest village girls in Alsatian costume.  Five hundred peasants, clad in red vest and long black coat, the head covered with a great hat turned up on one side, a white ribbon tied about the left arm, were on horseback at the place of meeting.  The young girls, bearing flags and garlands, were brought in wagons, each containing a dozen or sixteen.  In other wagons were the musicians.  The pretty Alsaciennes presented the monarch with a basket of flowers; then he breakfasted with the authorities, and, at a signal, fires were lighted at the same time on the plain and on the surrounding mountains.

The 7th of September, Charles X. entered Strasbourg in triumph.  At a league from the city, on a height from which it was to be seen, and whence the wooded hills of the Black Forest were visible, he was awaited by a crowd of young girls in Alsatian costume, in three hundred wagons, with four or six horses to each.  There were also twelve hundred horsemen, divided into squadrons, the mayors with their scarfs at their head and carrying the fleur-de-lis standards.  The royal cortege passed, under arbors of verdure and flowers, amid this long file of vehicles and horsemen, who escorted it to the walls of Strasbourg.  Delighted with the enthusiasm of which he was the object, the sovereign proceeded to the Cathedral, where a te deum was sung.  In the evening the spire of this marvellous church was illuminated:  it was like a pyramid of stars.