FRANCE was happy to hear that the king had sworn to
coöperate loyally with the new order, and in the prevailing
optimism Louis reaped a full harvest of popularity. He was
free to move about Paris, and everywhere he went the sover-
eign people greeted him with extreme warmth. The good
citizens had forgotten their past grievances against their good
king and hoped that he too had interred the past. It had all
been a family quarrel; now all the brothers and parents could
live in harmony. At the Théêtre Italien Louis shared honors
with the bright actors of The Two Hunters and the Milk-
maid and received as much applause as the Thespians who
gave The Jealous Lover. Popularity could go no further. "At
the moment," Madame Elizabeth confided to a friend, "the
king is the object of public worship. But how long will it
last?"

A revolution, however, could not be liquidated by a consti-
tution, and as the promised golden age did not come quickly,
the mood of the nation underwent a change. Many causes
combined to dispel the current of optimism. Economic con-
ditions continued to be bad. The country was still suffering
from two years of disorder and uncertainty. Since business
was handicapped by political instability, the unemployed
could not be absorbed. The assignats, the government's paper
money (which bore the face of the king), began to drop ca-

-245-