Page images
PDF
EPUB

XXIV.

1830.

4].

of the crown

of the Duke of Orléans, drew to a close. The Republicans CHAP. made immense efforts for some days, after the display at the Hôtel de Ville on the 31st August, to get up a democratic agitation, and bands of young men, with whom Acceptance the police and military did not venture to interfere, par- by Louis Philippe. aded the streets, incessantly calling on the people to Aug. 7. assert their rights, and not suffer the crown to be disposed of by a clique at Lafitte's, without their knowledge or de silence,- Songez, M. de Chateaubriand, aux malheurs qui peuvent arriver. Il faut que tous les honnêtes gens s'entendent pour nous sauver de la République. A Rome, M. de Chateaubriand, vous pourriez rendre de si grands services, ou même ici, si vous ne voulez plus quitter la France.' 'Madame n'ignore pas mon dévouement au jeune roi, et à sa mère?' 'Ah! M. de Chateaubriand, ils vous ont si bien traité.' Votre Altesse Royale ne voudrait pas que je démentisse toute ma vie.' 'Monsieur de Chateaubriand, vous ne connaissez pas ma nièce. Elle est si légère-Pauvre Caroline! Je vais envoyer chercher M. le Duc d'Orléans, il vous persuadera mieux que moi.' La princesse donna des ordres, et Louis Philippe arriva au bout d'un demiquart d'heure. Il était mal vêtu, et avait l'air extrêmement fatigué. . . . 'Madame la Duchesse d'Orléans a dû vous dire combien nous sommes malheureux.' Et sur-le-champ il fit une idylle sur le bonheur dont il jouissait à la campagne, sur la vie tranquille et selon ses goûts qu'il passait au milieu de ses enfants. Je saisis le moment d'une pose entre deux strophes pour prendre à mon tour respectueusement la parole, et pour répéter à peu près ce que j'avais dit aux princesses. Ah!' s'écria-t-il, c'était-là mon désir! Combien je serais satisfait d'étre le tuteur et le soutien de cet enfant ! Je pense tout comme vous, M. de Chateaubriand; prendre le Duc de Bordeaux serait certainement ce qu'il y aurait de mieux à faire. Je crains seulement que les évènements ne soient plus forts que nous.' 'Plus forts que nous, Monseigneur ! N'êtes-vous pas estimé de tous les pouvoirs? Allons rejoindre Henri V. Appelez auprès de vous hors de Paris les Chambres et l'armée. Sur le seul bruit de votre départ, toute cette effervescence tombera, et l'on cherchera un abri sous votre pouvoir éclairé et protecteur.' Pendant que je parlais, j'observais Louis Philippe. Mon conseil le mettait mal à l'aise. Je lus écrit sur son front le désir d'étre roi. 'Monsieur de Chateaubriand,' me dit-il sans me regarder, 'la chose est plus difficile que vous ne le pensez; cela ne va pas comme cela. Vous ne savez pas dans quel péril nous sommes. Une bande furieuse peut se porter contre les Chambres aux derniers excès, et nous n'avons rien encore pour nous défendre. . . Croyez-le bien c'est moi qui retiens seul une foule menaçante. Si le parti royaliste n'est pas massacré, il ne doit sa vie qu'à mes efforts.' 'Monseigneur,' répondis-je, ‘j'ai vu des massacres; ceux qui ont passé à travers la Révolution sont aguerris. Les moustaches grises ne se laissent pas effrayer par les objets qui font peur aux conscrits.' dame la Duchesse d'Orléans désira me voir encore une fois. supplie madame,' dis-je, 'd'excuser la vivacité de mes paroles. Je suis péné. tré de ses bontés ; j'en garderai un profond et reconnaissant souvenir, mais elle ne voudrait pas me déshonorer. Plaignez-moi, madame, plaignez-moi!' Elle se leva, et, en s'en allant, elle me dit, ‘Je ne vous plains pas, Monsieur de Chateaubriand, je ne vous plains pas.""-CHATEAUBRIAND, Mémoires d'Outre Tombe, vol. ix. pp. 352, 362.

[ocr errors]

Ma

'Je

1

XXIV.

1830.

CHAP. consent. The club at Lointier's even went so far as to prepare and placard a proclamation, in which they refused to recognise the Lieutenancy-General of the Duke of Orléans, and insisted that the provisional government, with Lafayette at its head, should remain in possession of power at the Hôtel de Ville till the sense of the nation had been taken upon the form of government to which it was inclined. But it was all in vain. Leaders, organisation, money, were all awanting on their side, as much as they were in affluence in the ante-chambers of Louis Philippe; and these in the long run, and after the first burst of popular enthusiasm is over, are all-powerful in civil as well as in all other conflicts. From the 1st to Moniteur, the 6th August, the Chambers were occupied with the Hist. xiii. preparation of the constitution; and on the 9th, a deputa245; Louis tion from the two Chambers waited on the Duke of Blanc, i. Orléans with the constitution which had been agreed upon, and made him a formal offer of the throne, which he at once accepted.1

Aug. 10.

1830; Ann.

429, 431;

Sarrans, i.

34, 35.

42.

the occasion
of his ac-
cepting the
constitu-
tion.
Aug. 9.

The ceremony of accepting the constitution took place Speeches on with great pomp in the Chamber of Deputies. "Gentlemen, Peers and Deputies," said the Duke, after the reading of the constitution had terminated, "I have read with great attention the declaration of the Chamber of Deputies and the adhesion of the Peers, and I have weighed and meditated upon all its expressions. I accept, without restriction or reserve, the clauses and engagements which that declaration contains, and the title of KING OF THE FRENCH which it confers upon me, and I am ready to swear to observe them." He then took the oath, which was in these terms: "In the presence of God, I swear to observe faithfully the constitutional charter, with the modifications contained in the declaration; to govern only by the laws, and according to the laws; to render fair and equal justice to every one, according to his right, and to act in everything in no other view but that of the interest, the happiness, and the glory

XXIV.

1830.

of the French people." He then ascended the throne CHAP. amidst cries of "Vive le Roi! Vive Philippe VII.!" but he finally took the title of LOUIS PHILIPPE, and the cortège returned in the same pomp with the new King to the Palais Royal. Thus was the Revolution of 1830 consummated, and thus did a small minority, not exceeding a third of either Chamber, at the dictation of a clique in the ante-chambers of the Duke of Orléans, dispose of the crown to a stranger to the legitimate line, without either consulting the nation, or knowing what form of government it desired! In revolutions, as in all other matters, the many are in reality governed by the few, on one side 1830; Ann. or another; and victory remains with those few who can 246, 248; most skilfully arrange the passions and efforts of the many 360. in support of their separate interests.1

1 Moniteur,

Hist. xiii.

Cap. ii. 355,

43.

the consti

the Revolu

Considering the extreme violence with which, by a well-concerted urban tumult, the throne of the elder Changes in branch of the house of Bourbon had been overturned, tution of the changes made in the constitution were by no means tion. so considerable as might have been expected, and they went far to vindicate Louis Philippe's assertion, that his acceptance of the crown was a conservative act in the interest of order in every European state. The leading articles of the charter of Louis XVIII. were agreed to, with the exception of the famous 14th clause, conferring a dictatorial power in certain extreme cases on the King, which had been founded on by Charles X. as the authority for the ordinances of Polignac, and the coup d'état which accompanied them. The age of electors was fixed at twenty-five, that of deputies at thirty-one. The creations of peers made during the reign of Charles X. were all declared null; but the important question of the hereditary character of the peerage was reserved for future discussion. The duration of the Chamber of Deputies was fixed at five years, and the annual removal and renewal of a fifth abolished. No change was, in the mean time, made in the money qualification of voters,

XXIV.

1830.

CHAP. which remained at 300 francs, or £12 of direct taxes; so little were even the victorious revolutionists aware of the vital importance of any regulation on that subject. They contented themselves with declarations on the responsibility of ministers; the trial of charges for alleged crimes of the press by juries; the re-election of deputies who had accepted office; the annual vote of the expenses of the army; the establishment of a National Guard; the pay of officers by sea or land; the municipal and departmental institutions; the public education and the 1 Moniteur, liberty of instruction. These were all-important objects Aug. 4 and in the formation of the details of a free constitution; Ann. Hist. but even taken together, they yielded in importance to 227; Louis the vital point of the qualification of electors, a change in which, two years afterwards, changed the destinies of the British people.1

5, 1830;

1830, 224,

Blanc, i.

433, 435,

44.

ters who

were ap

pointed.

A few peers of the Royalist party, who preferred poverty Peers who to dishonour, gave in the resignation of their seats in the resigned, and minis- House of Peers. Their disinterestedness in doing so will not be duly appreciated, unless it is recollected that many of them, like Chateaubriand, had no other means of existence but the pension allotted to peers, which was 10,000 francs, or £400 a-year. The names were the Duke de Montmorency, the Vicomte Dambray, the Marquis Latour-Maubourg, Latour-Dupin, the Dukes d'Avray and de Croï, the Vicomte de Chateaubriand, the Marquis de Pérignon, the Duke de Damas-Caux, Auguste de Talleyrand, and the Marquis de Saint-Romans. History may well preserve their names; her pages will not be overcharged with similar lists of disinterested fidelity. Some honourable Royalists, as the Duke de Noailles, M. de Mortemart, and M. de Martignac, took the oaths without reservation, as the only means, in existing circumstances, of saving the country; a few, as M. de Fitzjames, with the addition of a few unmeaning words of qualification. On the other hand, there was not awanting a phalanx of rising talent, partly aristo

XXIV.

1830.

cratic, partly plebeian, which clustered round the throne CHAP. of Louis Philippe. It was chiefly found among the editors or contributors to newspapers, who had been so instrumental in contributing to his elevation. By an ordinance of 11th August, M. Dupont de l'Eure was Aug. 11. made Keeper of the Seals and Minister of Justice; Count Gérard, Secretary at War; Count Molé, Secretary for Foreign Affairs; Count Sébastiani for the Marine; the Duke de Broglie for Public Instruction, and President of the Council (Premier); Baron Louis, Secretary for the Finances; M. Guizot, Secretary for the Interior; M. Lafitte, M. Casimir Périer, M. Dupin aîné, and Baron Bignon, were ministers without any fixed appointments. This list was a great change upon the aristocratic cabinet of Charles X., but still it was not nearly so popular as the democratic retainers of the Duke of Orléans desired; and thence the commencement of a feeling of jealousy fraught with numberless difficulties to the government of Louis Philippe, and which in the end proved fatal to his 12, 1830. throne.1

1

Cap. ii.

405, 406,

418; Mo

niteur, Aug.

45.

distress in

But while everything at Paris, so far as the Government was concerned, was proceeding smoothly, distress, Grievous the invariable attendant on social convulsions, was spread- Paris. ing rapidly among the people; and the working classes were taught by bitter experience the eternal truth, that whoever gains by revolutions, they, in the first instance at least, are sure to lose. Before the songs of triumph. were silent, or the discharges of musketry had ceased in the streets, a frightful amount of distress had spread among the people. In vain the Government placarded a proclamation through the capital: "Brave workmen ! return to your workshops." They did so; but they found no work there. As a natural consequence of successful revolution, capital disappeared, and capitalists, the most timid of created beings, concealed instead of bringing forth their wealth. The consequences were disastrous in the extreme. "All the connections of industry," says the

VOL. IV.

2 G

« PreviousContinue »