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When Louis XVIII returned to his throne in July 1815, he was rapidly confronted with tragic events and serious social unrest. And these troubles were to go on for several years.The assassination of Marshal Brune, the executions of Marshal Ney, of La Bédoyère, of the Faucher brothers, of Didier, and of the adjudant général Ramel in Toulouse, the summary judgements in the Provostal courts (the cours prévôtales), and the divers provincial insurrections only served to poison the situation and act as a catalyst for Bonapartist plots up to 1821. The assassination of the Duc de Berry (14 February, 1820) made the situation worse, allowing the far Right to lobby the king into sacking Decazes and restoring the Duc de Richelieu. Furthermore, certain heavy-handed laws were passed - namely, one dated 20 March, 1820, forcing newspapers to submit to authorisation before publication and censure (replacing the Serre laws of June 1819), another dated 28 March, 1820, suspending liberty of the individual for persons suspected of conspiracy, and another dated 12 June giving the highest tax payers (for the most part major nobles and large property owners) a double vote - none of which did anything to ease tensions. Elections in November brought the Ultras into power. The Left was completely crushed. The White Terror was to continue against Bonapartists, especially in the south of France, for several years to come.It was in this context that Louis XVIII sent Marshal Victor, in April 1821, on an inspection mission of the departments which since 1816 had been the most agitated, namely the Saône-et-Loire, the Ain, the Rhône et l’Isère. The document published here with commentary is the report which the marshal sent to the king in the spring of 1821.