The cabinet were agreed upon the necessity of opposing a barrier to democratic opinions and principles; nevertheless, serious dissensions arose when the electoral system came to be debated; and the Duke, much annoyed by the difference of opinion that existed in the council between himself, M. Decaze, and Marshal Gouvion St. Cyr, returned to his former wish of retiring from office. His example was followed by the rest of the ministers, who gave in their resignation in a simultaneous manner that was very remarkable. It is a melancholy truth, that the statesman who had so powerfully contributed to deliver the territory from foreign occupation, was compelled to retire before the petty intrigues suggested by narrow policy and the Chamber of Deputies. The Duke's opinion of the electoral system was different from that entertained by the partizans of the old liberal school, and he resigned his portfolio to General Dessole.
In spite of all the great affairs in which M. de Richelieu had been engaged, he was in a condition of honourable poverty, and the king conferred upon the retired minister the appointment of Grand Huntsman, in the same manner as he had conferred the title of Grand Chamberlain upon M. de Talleyrand, after his services in 1815. The chambers, however, were conscious that a recompense was due from the country to the able negotiator of Aix-la-Chapelle, and M. de Lally made a proposal that the king should be requested to confer a national reward upon the Duc de Richelieu. The same suggestion was made in the upper chamber, at the very moment when a letter from the Duke declared to the president of the deputies, that he should be proud of receiving a mark of the king's favour, given with the concurrence of the chambers; but that as it was proposed to award him a _national_ recompense at the expense of the nation, he could not consent to see any thing added for his sake to the burdens under which the country was already groaning. Every body was well aware that the Duke possessed no fortune, and that his sole income was derived from his office of grand huntsman; a good deal of littleness, however, was exhibited in the Chamber of Deputies when it was proposed to assign a _majorat_ of 50,000 francs to the heir of the name of Richelieu, as a recompense to the minister who had obtained the liberation of the territory. Are public bodies only capable of great actions when a profit arises from them to the passions by which they are actuated? The proposed _majorat_ was afterwards changed into an annuity; and, out of respect to the king's wishes, the Duke did not refuse this acknowledgement of his services, but he devoted the entire income derived from it to the foundation of a religious charity in the city of Bourdeaux. Such was the personal generosity of this great man, who was desirous of retiring entirely to private life.