One of the first objects of the king was to secure for his heir
a suitable marriage. A Russian princess was first thought of; but
the Czar would not hear of such a _mésalliance_. Then the hand of an
Austrian archduchess was sought, and the young lady showed herself
well pleased with the attentions of so handsome and accomplished a
suitor; but her family were as unfavorable to the match as was the
Czar of Russia. Finally, the Duke of Orleans had to content himself
with a German Protestant princess, Hélène of Mecklenburg-Schwerin,
a woman above all praise, who bore him two sons,--the Comte de
Paris, born in 1838, and the Duc de Chartres, born a year or two
later.

The eldest daughter of Louis Philippe, the Princess Louise, was
married, soon after her father's elevation to the throne, to King
Leopold of Belgium, widower of the English Princess Charlotte, and
uncle to Prince Albert and to Queen Victoria. The French princess
thus became, by her marriage, aunt to these high personages. They
were deeply attached to her. She named her eldest daughter Charlotte,
after the lamented first wife of her husband. The name was Italianized
into Carlotta,--the poor Carlotta whose reason and happiness were
destroyed by the misfortunes of her husband in Mexico.

The second son of Louis Philippe was the Duc de Nemours,--a _blond_,
stiff young officer who was never a favorite with the French, though
he distinguished himself in Algeria as a soldier. He too found it
hard to satisfy his father's ambition by a brilliant marriage,
though a throne was offered him, which he had to refuse. He then
aspired to the hand of Maria da Gloria, the queen of Portugal;
but he married eventually a pretty little German princess of the
Coburg race.