READING HALL

THE DOORS OF WISDOM

A HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE : A.D. 1453-1900

CHAPTER LXIX.

LOUIS PHILIPPE AND EUROPE

LOUIS PHILIPPE opened the French Legislature August 3rd. The Chamber of Deputies drew up a Declaration in which the throne was announced to be vacant, through the abdication of the elder branch of the Bourbons, and the principles were announced on which the new reign was to be con­ducted. Many alterations and additions were made in the existing Charter; of which the following are the most important:—The Roman Catholic Religion was to be no longer the dominant one, but all confessions were put on an equal footing: the censorship was abolished, and unconditional freedom of the press established: the King was to have no power to suspend a law, nor to appoint Special Commissioners in order to supersede the usual tribunals: no foreigners were to be admitted into the French military service: every French­man of the age of twenty-five to be an elector, and at the age of thirty capable of being elected a Deputy: the Peers named by Charles X were abolished, and the sittings of that Chamber were to be public: the Chambers, as well as the King, to have the privilege of proposing laws: the King to be called “King of the French” and the three-coloured flag to be substituted for the white one (August 7th, 1830)

The Chamber of Deputies, under the presidency of Lafitte, chose the Duke of Orleans for King by 219 votes against 33; 39 members abstained from voting. When Lafitte and the Deputies proceeded to the Palais Royal to announce their decision Louis Philippe affected to complain that it was highly disagreeable to him to be withdrawn from domestic life, but, from love to his country, he would make the required sacrifice. Then, supported by Lafitte and Lafayette, he showed himselfin the balcony of his palace, and was received by the people with cries of Vive le Roi! In these proceedings the Chamber of Peers was not consulted. Chateaubriand was the only Peer who had the courage to maintain the rights of the Duke of Bordeaux; but he was supported by only nineteen of his colleagues.

The new King was enthroned, August 9th, at the Palais Bourbon, where the Deputies held their sittings. Casimir Périer having read the Declaration of August 7th, and Baron Pasquier the accession to it of the Peers, the Duke of Orleans took an oath to observe it, and ascended the throne as Louis Philippe, amid the acclamations of the Assembly. The new King applied himself to acquire popularity among the Parisians by displaying himself as a “Citizen King.” Anybody and everybody was admitted to his presence in pantaloons and boots; he appeared in the streets on foot, in a great coat and round hat, with the proverbial umbrella under his arm, and shook hands familiarly with the people. The church of St. Genevieve became once more the Pantheon, and Voltaire and Rousseau were again adored. Louis Philippe displayed his prudence by relinquishing to his children, on the day of his accession, all the estates of the House of Orleans, so that they became private property, and could not be forfeited with the Crown. France, as usual, acquiesced in the proceedings of the capital; though there were some slight disturbances at Nimes and in La Vendée.

The news of the French Revolution ran through Europe like an electric shock, firing all the elements of discontent in various countries. Belgium, unwillingly united to Holland by the policy of the Allies to encircle France with powerful States, first felt the explosion. Many were the elements of discord between those two countries. They spoke different languages, had different customs and manners, and opposite commercial interests. The Dutch were rigid Calvinists, the Belgians bigoted Catholics; and hence the two peoples felt for each other all the bitterness of religious hate. In this state of things a desire had sprung up in Belgium for a union with France, where, under the reign of Charles X, the Catholic Church again flourished. The Belgians also complained that they were saddled with part of the burden of the enormous national debt of Holland, that they contributed to the build­ing of Dutch ships, the maintenance of Dutch dykes, and other objects, from which they derived no benefit whatever. Their discontent was increased by the unpopular Government of King William I, who treated Belgium like a conquered country.

Already before the breaking out of the French Revolution symptoms of insurrection had appeared at Brussels, on occasion of the prosecution of De Potter, a political writer, towards the end of 1828. A serious riot had also occurred at the Catholic College of Louvain, in February, 1830. After the disturbances in France William I thought it prudent to make some concessions to the Belgians, but they failed to give satisfaction. On the night of August 25th the revolt broke out at Brussels. The opera of the Muette de Portici, which turns on the revolt of Masaniello, was represented that evening, the incidents of which were vociferously applauded. After the performance the mob broke into, plundered, and even burnt the houses of some of the more unpopular Ministers, the chief of whom was Van Maanen. Next day the old Brabant colours, red, orange, and black, were hoisted on the Town House. The troops were now called out, but having no orders, did not act with decision, and were driven back into their barracks. From this period the insurrection ran its natural course almost without opposition. A burgher-guard was formed, and succeeded in keeping down the mob, but not without some bloodshed. On the 28th of August forty of the principal inhabitants of Brussels assembled, and having chosen Baron Secus as their President, and the advocate Van de Weyer as Secretary, despatched a deputation to the Hague, to request the King to make the concessions which had been so long desired. But William I was not disposed to give way. He employed his eldest son to soothe the people with promises, whilst his brother, Prince Frederick, assembled at Vilvorde as many troops as possible. On the 31st the two Princes required the burgher-guard of Brussels to strike the national colours, and restore the custody of the city to the King’s troops. This demand increased the prevailing irritation. The example of the capital had spread into the provinces. At Verviers dreadful excesses were committed, and many labourers repaired to Brussels, to settle the question in the capital. On the night of September 1st barricades were thrown up in the streets to prevent the entrance of troops. The Prince of Orange now came to Brussels alone, stepped into the midst of the armed masses, and promised that a Commission should be immediately appointed, to consult with himself about the measures to be adopted. But this proceeding gave no satisfaction, and a proclamation issued by the Commission was publicly burnt. The Prince now proposed a legislative and administrative separation of Belgium from Holland; in short, merely a union under the same crown. This concession ap­peared to give universal satisfaction; it was even supported by the people of Amsterdam; but the King would decide nothing till the meeting of the States-General, which were to assemble at the Hague, September 13th. But when the States met nothing was done. The King even recalled Van Maauen, who had been dismissed, and the Belgians began to suspect that they had been deceived.

The revolt now assumed a more democratic and violent form. The impulse came from Liége. On September 15th the Liégeois rose, and after dispersing the burgher-guard, drove out the King’s troops. The boldest of these insurgents then proceeded to Brussels, where they led an attack on the Dutch troops. Ou September 20th they headed the people in disarming the National Guard; after which all the depots of arms were seized, the public buildings occupied, the public boards cashiered, and a Provisional Government was established, of which De Potter, who was then at Paris, was ap­pointed the head. On September 23rd Prince Frederick attacked Brussels with 6,000 or 7,000 men; but though he penetrated into the town and occupied the upper part of it, as the Rue Royale, the Park, etc., he found that he was not strong enough to maintain those positions, and on the night of the 26th he was compelled to retire.

In these and the following days the Dutch troops were driven from most of the towns of Belgium, while the Belgian soldiery declared for the national cause. Antwerp, Maestricht, Mechlin, Dendermonde, and the citadel of Ghent alone remained in the hands of the Dutch. Now, when it was too late, the States-General at the Hague sanctioned by a large ma­jority the legislative and administrative separation of Holland and Belgium, September 29th. But the victorious Belgians refused to listen to any terms. De Potter had arrived in Brussels, and assumed the direction of the Provisional Government, which on October 5th proclaimed the independence of Belgium, appointed a Commission to draw up a Constitution, convoked a National Congress at Brussels, and annulled whatever the Belgian Deputies had done in the States-General at the Hague without the knowledge of the Provisional Govern­ment. On the 9th the House of Orange-Nassau was declared to have forfeited, by its late proceedings, all its claims on Belgium; and the Prince of Orange, who had proclaimed himself the head of the separated Belgian administration, was pronounced to have no right to the Regency, unless he should be elected by the National Congress. In the elections for that assembly, however, the moderate party prevailed; even De Potter himself was not returned; and the Prince of Orange, encouraged by this circumstance, issued another proclamation, October 16th, in which, as if resolved to carry out the revolution in spite of his father, he recognized the independence of Belgium, and, as he expressed it, “placed himself at the head of the movement.” But the Provisional Government answered this appeal by recommending him to interfere no further in their affairs.

It was the wish of the Belgian liberals to be united to France. But such a union was displeasing to the European Powers; and Louis Philippe, whose own usurpation was hardly yet consolidated, ventured not to offend them by encouraging the Belgian revolution. He procured the recognition of some of the Powers by engaging neither to suffer a republic in Belgium nor to unite that country with France; a proposition which had been made to him by the Belgians through Gendebien. But at the same time he bade the Great Powers remark that they must abstain from undertaking anything against Belgian independence, or that he should not be able to restrain the public opinion of France. Russia was at first inclined to support King William; but all at length concurred in the views of Louis Philippe, and the principle of non-intervention was for the first time unanimously recognized. A conference of ministers, with regard to Belgian affairs, was opened at London, November 4th, composed of Talleyrand, Lord Aberdeen, Prince Esterhazy, Von Billow, and Count Mutusszewitsch.

The London Congress recognized the Independence of Belgium, December 30th. This act, and the recognition of Louis Philippe, were the first blows struck at the principle of legitimacy asserted by the Holy Alliance, and maintained at all preceding conferences since the Congress of Vienna. In both these acts Great Britain took the lead. The Belgian National Congress, which had been opened at Brussels Nov­ember 10th, determined that it must proceed hand in hand with the Congress in London. But William I was not inclined to relinquish what he could hold; consequently the war went on, and while the Congresses were sitting several battles occurred in the neighbourhood of Maestricht and in the Duchy of Luxembourg. The London Congress assigned to Holland the limits which it had possessed in 1790, with the addition of Luxembourg, and it imposed upon Belgium part of the Dutch debt. With this arrangement King William declared himself satisfied; but the Brussels Congress protested against it, February 1st, 1831; and William, therefore, continued to retain possession of Antwerp.

The Belgian Congress voted a new Constitution February 7th, which was to consist of a king and two representative chambers. The choice of a sovereign occasioned some difficulty. Among the candidates named were the Prince of Orange, the Duke of Nemours, and the Duke of Leuchtenberg. The London Conference proposed Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, who was at length accepted by the Brussels Congress, June 4th, 1831. Leopold made his solemn entry into Brussels, July 21st, and took the oath to the new Con­stitution. But he was not to enjoy his new dignity without dispute. King William had silently collected a large army, with which the Prince of Orange suddenly entered Belgium while Leopold was absent on a tour in the provinces. The Belgian Provisional Government, confident that the great Powers would not suffer the armistice to be broken, had ne­glected the army, and the mob who had been victorious in the towns were no match for disciplined troops in the open field. The Prince of Orange proclaimed that he came not to conquer Belgium, but only to obtain more advantageous conditions. Advancing upon Liege, he defeated the Belgians under General Niellon at Turnhout, August 3rd, and on the 8th overthrew, near Hasselt, General Daine and the larger portion of the Belgian army. A Dutch division proceeded to Antwerp to reinforce General Chasse, repulsed the Belgians under General Tiecke, in whose camp Leopold was, and, breaking down the dykes, laid a large portion of Flanders under water. Duke Bernhardt of Saxe-Weimar, whom King William had appointed Governor of Luxembourg, now threw himself between Louvain and Brussels, thus cutting off Leopold from his capital, while the Prince of Orange was advancing against him with superior forces. The two rivals met at Tirlemont, August 11th. A great part of Leopold’s army was composed of men in blouses, who fled at the first onset. A few companies of the Brussels National Guard ventured to oppose the Dutch, but were too weak, and the whole army fled in disorder to Louvain. That place surrendered at the first summons of the Dutch, but Leopold escaped to Mechlin.

Meanwhile a French army of 50,000 men, under Marshal Gerard, who was accompanied by Louis Philippe’s two eldest sons, entered Belgium, to which step Talleyrand had obtained the consent of the English Ministry. An English fleet under Admiral Codrington also appeared in the Scheldt. Beliard and Adair, the French and English negociators, proceeded to the Dutch camp, when the Prince of Orange consented to an armistice, and the forces on all sides retired to their former positions, August 12th. The Dutch, by this demonstration, and through Russian influence, succeeded in obtaining more favourable conditions. It was decided that Belgium should cede part of Limburg, as well as Luxembourg, and take upon itself yearly 8,400,000 guilders of the Dutch debt. King William, however, would not consent to the new articles, in the hope that, when the Czar had put down the revolution in Poland, he should be assisted by Russia, as well as by the German Powers. But in this expectation he was disappointed, siege of In May, 1832, King Leopold proceeded to France, and in an Antwerp. interview with Louis Philippe at Compiegne, obtained the hand of his eldest daughter, Louisa. The marriage was celebrated in the following August, when Leopold assured the Belgians that his children should be educated in the Catholic faith. As the King of the Netherlands had not yet consented to the conditions proposed, an embargo was laid upon Dutch vessels in England, and a French army was set in motion to drive the Dutch from Antwerp. William I. declared that he would yield only to force, and an English fleet under Admiral Malcolm began to blockade the Dutch coast early in November, and about the middle of that month the French laid siege to Antwerp. Chasse made a brave defence, and did not surrender till the citadel was reduced to a heap of rubbish, December 23rd. Even then William refused to accept the capitulation, or to abandon the forts Lillo and Liefkenshoek. At length, on May 21st, 1833, a preliminary treaty was signed; but it was not till January 22nd, 1839, that Holland consented, by a definitive treaty, to accept the London Protocol!

The Russian autocrat, the main prop of legitimacy in Europe, found himself called upon to support his own authority at home. At the news of the outbreak in France Nicholas contemplated suppressing it by force, and the Russian officers talked familiarly of a promenade to Paris. But the irritation of the Tsar was somewhat soothed by the elevation of Louis Philippe to a constitutional throne, and his attention was soon after diverted from the affairs of France by a revolt among his Polish subjects. In 1829 Nicholas had received the crown of Poland at Warsaw. All had then appeared tranquil in that subject kingdom, but the elements of discontent lay festering under the surface. Society still consisted only of a proud and restless nobility and a peasantry of slaves; nor had the causes of Poland’s former misfortunes been removed by the Constitution given to it by the Emperor Alexander after the model of the French Charter. The misery of the Poles was increased by the harshness of the Grand Duke Constantine’s government, who ruled like a Tartar Prince, though he was suspected of being destitute of physical as well as moral courage. The Revolution, which, like the rest in Europe about this time, had its first impulse from the dethronement of Charles X in France, began by a conspiracy of some young Polish students and sub­alterns to seize Constantine at the Belvedere, a residence of the Prince’s in the vicinity of Warsaw; when it was expected that the Polish troops in that city, who numbered 10,000 men, would rise and drive out the Russian garrison of 7,000. The execution of this plan was prematurely hastened by a suspicion that it had been discovered, since the national troops had been withdrawn from Galicia and the Grand Duchy of Posen, and their place supplied by Austrians and Prussians. In the dusk of evening, on November 29th, 1830, twenty young men proceeded to the Belvedere, where they killed General Gendre and the Vicepresident Lubowicski; but Constantine escaped by concealing himself in a garret. Meanwhile the citizens of Warsaw had risen en masse, armed themselves at the arsenal, and seized many of the Russian officers in the theatre: the Polish soldiers had joined the people, and murdered General Stanislaus Potocki, and others of their officers who refused to renounce their allegiance. The defection of the Polish soldiery gave great strength to the movement, and the insurrection was now joined by many persons of distinction. After some deliberation it had been resolved to confine the revolt to the Russian provinces of Poland, or Lithuania, Volhynia and Podolia, in order to avoid the hostility of Austria and Prussia. General Chlopicki, who had distinguished himself in the wars of Napoleon, assumed the chief command, and eventually a sort of absolute dictatorship. He was supported, among others, by Prince Lubecki, Professor Lelewel, Count Ostrowski, and Prince Adam Czartoryski. The last, a descendant of the an­cient Princes of Lithuania, and related to the Russian Im­perial Family, had been a favourite of the Emperor Alexander and the Poles, in case of success, had marked him out for their future King. Constantine retired with the troops which remained faithful to him to a village within a mile or two of Warsaw. Here he permitted the Polish part of his force to join, if they wished, their brethren in Warsaw, and with only 6,000 Russians retreated towards Volhynia. He had referred to the Imperial Court a deputation which waited upon him with a statement of their claims and grievances; but Nicholas would hear of nothing but unconditional submission, and early in 1831, a large Russian army, commanded by Diebitsch, prepared to reduce the Poles to obedience. At the command of the Emperor, Chlopicki laid down his dictatorship in January; but the Poles headed by Czartoryski, pursued the insurrection more vigorously than ever. Prince Radzivill was now ap­pointed commander-in-chief of their forces in place of Chlopicki. Diebitsch, having issued a proclamation which left the Poles no choice between slavish submission or destruction, the Diet declared, January 25th, that Nicholas had forfeited the Polish crown; and they prepared to support their resolution by all the means in their power. The army was raised to between 50,000 and 60,000 men; but a great portion of them was armed only with scythes. Negotiations were entered into with foreign Powers; and in order to conciliate them, it was resolved, February 3rd, that Poland should be governed by a constitutional monarchy. But the Poles were disappointed in their hopes of foreign support. Austria and Prussia assured the Tsar that they would not countenance the rebellion, and that they would join their arms with his if it extended to their own Provinces. Austria, however, from dread of Russia, would willingly have seen an independent Polish Kingdom, and offered to sacrifice Galicia for that purpose, provided a King should be chosen from the House of Austria, and France and England should concur. Lord Palmerston, however, declined, and was followed by France. Louis Philippe only used the Polish insurrection to induce Nicholas to recognize his own accession and the independence of Belgium, while England and Austria afforded the Poles no substantial aid.

Diebitsch, who had collected an army of 114,000 men, with 336 guns, at Bialystok and Grodno, crossed the Polish frontier February 5th. We cannot enter into the details of the insurrectionary war. The campaign was marked by several desperate battles fought with varying success; but at length the Poles, though aided by insurrections in Podolia, the Ukraine, and Lithuania, were compelled to yield, after an heroic defence, to superior numbers and discipline. The cholera had ravaged the armies of both sides. Diebitsch died of it June 10th, and a few weeks afterwards the Grand Duke Constantine, at Witebsk. Warsaw surrendered September 8th, to Paskiewitsch, who had succeeded Diebitsch in the command, and on the 28th of the same month, the Russian General Rudiger entered Cracow. On the approach of the Russians, the mob at Warsaw, like that at Paris on the advance of the Duke of Brunswick, forced their way into the Palace and compelled a change of government, then broke into the state prisons and committed an indiscriminate massacre. The Polish divisions in the provinces were speedily dispersed, and before the end of autumn the insurrection was entirely quelled. Paskiewitsch, who was made Prince and Governor of Warsaw, re-established the Russian regimen. An amnesty was indeed granted November 1st, but with so many exceptions that hardly anybody was safe. Paskiewitsch directed his efforts to abolish the nationality of Poland, and to reduce it as much as possible to a Russian Province. The University of Warsaw was suppressed, the archives, libraries, scientific collections, etc., were removed to St. Petersburg, the Polish uniform and colours were abolished, and the Polish soldiery incorporated in Russian regiments. Prince Radzivill and other leading Poles were relegated to the interior of the Empire, and it is computed that in 1832, 80,000 Poles were sent into Siberia. Polish children were snatched from their parents and carried into what are called the military colonies of Russia; the Roman Catholic Church was persecuted agreeably to the Tsar’s Graeco-Russian system; and on February 26th, 1832, Poland was declared a Russian Province.

Even the inert mass of the German Confederation was stirred by the French Revolution of 1830. The most characteristic trait of German history at this period is that the so-called constitutions moulded on the French Charter, which had been bestowed on some of the minor States, were established by Russian influence. But Russia had set her face against a Prussian Constitution. The establishment of a Zollverein, or customs union, between Bavaria and Wurtemberg, subsequently adopted by other German States, seemed a step towards German unity.¹ But the partial revolutions which occurred in Germany in 1830, were more calculated to confirm the ancient state of things than to lead to such a consummation. In Saxony, the old King, Frederick Augustus, had died in May, 1827, and had been succeeded by his brother Anthony. No line of Princes was more bigoted to the old order of things than the House of Wettin; and the circumstance that while the royal family professed the Roman Catholic religion, their subjects were Protestants, augmented the danger of collision. In June, 1830, a few days before the breaking out of the French Revolution, the citizens of Dresden and the University of Leipsic had wished to celebrate the Jubilee of the Augsburg Confession; but the demonstration was sup­pressed in order not to give offence to the Court. This proceeding occasioned disturbances which had not been quelled when the news of the French Revolution arrived in Saxony. Serious riots ensued both in Leipsic and Dresden, in which latter capital the Council House and police buildings were burnt. In order to allay the storm King Anthony found himself compelled to adopt his son, Frederick Augustus, who was very popular, as co-regent, to dismiss his Minister, Einsiedel, and to make some improvements in the Constitution. Insur­rections also broke out in Brunswick, where the tyrannical Duke Charles was deposed in favour of his brother William; and in electoral Hesse, where William II. abdicated in favour of his son, Frederick William. Disturbances likewise occurred in Hesse Darmstadt, Baden, and other minor States, as well as in Switzerland, where reforms were effected in several cantons. Prussia and Austria proper were little affected by the French Revolution of 1830. But it gave an impulse to the awakening nationality of the Hungarians. When in November, 1830, the Emperor Francis caused his son Ferdinand to be crowned King of Hungary, the Diet made much larger de­mands than it had ever done before: namely, that the Magyar tongue should in future be the official one instead of Latin ; that Magyars only should be appointed to commands in Hun­garian regiments, etc. The two Tables, that is, the upper and lower Houses of the Diet, or the Magnates and the States, now introduced the use of the Magyar language in their debates. In consequence of these proceedings the Diet was not again assembled till 1832, when Louis Kossuth first appeared as the ablegat, or proxy of an absent noble.

SPAIN

After the overthrow of Charles X, Mina, Valdez, and hundreds of Spanish liberals who had sought refuge in France, made an irruption into Spain. Louis Philippe at first supported them. He assured Lafayette, who took a great interest in their success, of his favourable views towards them, and even gave him money in support of their cause. But, as in the case of Belgium and Poland, his interest in their success only extended so far as it might affect his own political interests, and he treacherously abandoned them to their fate as soon as Ferdinand VII acknowledged his dynasty. The Minister Mole had warned the Spanish emigrants of their danger. They were already on the frontier when Louis Philippe sent orders to disarm them. They preferred, however, to enter Spain, but were speedily defeated at every point by superior forces. It was with the greatest difficulty that Mina, after wandering several days in the mountains, succeeded in escaping back to France. Italy was not at this time disturbed, though insurrections, which we shall relate further on, broke out in the following year.

Pope Pius VII had, in 1823, been suc­ceeded by the Cardinal della Genga, an old man of seventy-four, who, as Leo XII, ruled severely and kept down the Carbonari. On his death, in 1829, Cardinal Castiglione was elected to the vacant chair as Pope Pius VIII.

The reign of Louis Philippe, the “ Citizen King,” was without any fixed principles, and only a continued system of trimming, both in foreign and domestic policy. His first Ministry, chosen from among the party which had triumphed in the “great week,” consisted of Dupont de l’Eure, Lafitte, Gerard, Mole, Guizot, Broglie, Louis, Sebastiani, Casimir Périer, and Dupin. Bignon, Napoleon’s celebrated secretary, had also a place in it, but without a portfolio. Four of Charles X’s Ministers, Polignac, Peyronnet, Guernon de Ranville, and Chantelauze, had been arrested, and the popu­lace clamoured loudly for their death. They were to be arraigned before the peers at the Luxembourg, December 15th, and the people threatened to enforce their execution. To avert disturbances, the King, under pretence of making preparations against foreign Powers, coloured by a false rumour that Russia and Prussia were to invade France, appointed Marshal Soult Minister-at-War, and directed him to organize a large force. The unpopularity, however, of acting against the people was left in the first instance to the National Guard under Lafayette, who appeared on the side of order, defended the Luxembourg against the attacks of the mob, and captured some 400 of their more turbulent leaders. Lafayette having thus rendered himself unpopular, Louis Philippe found himself strong enough, with the support of Soult, to dismiss him from the command of the National Guard, and at the same time to disband the artillery, who had shown a disposition to fraternize with the mob. Dupont de l’Eure, fearing some similar trick, resigned, and was succeeded as head of the Ministry by Lafitte. The ex-Ministers of Charles X were condemned to perpetual imprisonment, with loss of rank and civil rights.

Louis Philippe’s domestic policy was necessarily in some degree reactionary, because the principles on which he had accepted the throne were untenable. Lafitte was dismissed in March, 1831, and Casimir Périer then became Prime Minister, who immediately caused several noted Republicans to be arrested. In his foreign policy, Louis Philippe en­deavoured to acquire a little popularity without risking a breach with the great Powers. Thus in July, 1831, he des­patched a naval expedition against Dom Miguel, in order to influence the elections then pending by the éclat of an easy victory. But as at the same time Poland was left unaided in the midst of her troubles, this manoeuvre deceived nobody. The new Government was at once exposed to the intrigues and insurrections of the Carlists and of the Republicans. Serious riots occurred at Lyons, Grenoble, and other places in the south of France. Republican demonstrations having been made at Paris on the occasion of General Lamarque’s funeral, June 1st, 1832, when barricades were erected and several persons killed, Paris was declared in a state of siege, by the advice, it is said, of M. Thiers. The Polytechnic School was now dissolved, and all suspected persons arrested, in­cluding the leaders of the legitimists, Chateaubriand, Fitz-james, and Hyde de Neuville; but these last were speedily liberated. The Duchess of Berri, after attempting an insur­rection in Provence in the spring of the year, passed through France to La Vendée, and endeavoured to raise the people in favour of her son the Duke of Bordeaux, or Henry V. Some conflicts ensued between the insurgents and the royal troops; but the contest soon appeared hopeless, and the Duchess retired to Nantes. Here she was betrayed by one Deutz, a German Jew. A daughter was born at Blaye, May 10th, 1833, when she affirmed that Count Luchesi Palli was the husband to whom she had been secretly united. This declaration deprived her of any dangerous influence, and Louis Philippe liberated her, June 8th, when she proceeded to Palermo. In the previous September Charles X and his family had quitted Holyrood to take up his residence at Prague. This change was attributed to various motives. Some said that Charles was pursued by creditors, others that Metternich wished to have the Duke of Bordeaux as a pledge against the French usurper. Another claimant of the French throne, the Duke de Reichstadt, had been removed by death July 22nd, 1832.

Fresh insurrections occurred at Lyons in the spring of 1834, which were not suppressed without considerable bloodshed. They were instigated by certain secret political societies, several of the leaders of which were brought to trial in May, 1835, and condemned to imprisonment or transportation. On the 28th of July this year, on the celebration of the fifth anniversary of the July revolution, a diabolical attempt was made on the King’s life by a wretch named Fieschi, who from the window of a small house on the Boulevard du Temple, discharged at Louis Philippe, while passing, what was called an “infernal machine,” consisting of about a hundred gun-barrels fixed on a frame, and fired simultaneously by means of a train of gunpowder. Fortunately the King escaped unhurt, but great many of his suite were either killed or wounded. Fieschi was arrested and guillotined. This attempt occasioned what were called the “Laws of September,” to expedite the pro­ceedings of the tribunals in cases of rebellion, and to curb the liberty of the press. M. Thiers, now Minister of the Interior, took a principal share in these proceedings, and scrupled not, in spite of the liberal doctrines which he so loudly professed when in opposition, to resort when in office to the most abso­lute and tyrannical measures. M. Guizot, who was his colleague in the Soult Ministry, was distinguished from his rival by a more honourable and consistent conduct. In the follow­ing February M. Thiers became President of the Council and Secretary for Foreign Affairs. But in consequence of his views on the Spanish question his Ministry was dissolved after an existence of about half a year; when Count Mole became President, and M. Guizot was appointed Minister of Public Instruction. In June, 1836, another abortive attempt was made on the King’s life by a workman named Alibaud. In the same year Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, the future Emperor of the French, undertook his extraordinary and rash conspiracy at Strassburg; but before relating his attempt we will briefly advert to the affairs of Italy, where this Prince had already made himself conspicuous by his participation in revolutionary movements.

ITALY

Symptoms of revolt first showed themselves in the Italian States after the death of Pope Pius VIII in 1831, and during the conclave which elected Cardinal Capillari to the vacant chair, with the title of Gregory XVI, Francis, Duke of Modena, detested for his absolutism and intolerance, who is thought to have entertained the ambitious project of making himself King of Central Italy, was driven out by his subjects, and a Provisional Government established (February, 1831). Singularly enough, this revolt was led by Menotti, the head of the Modenese police, and a favourite of the Duke. Bologna next felt the shock, where the Papal Prolegate was in like manner expelled, and a Provisional Government erected. In the same month the Archduchess Maria Louisa, widow of Napoleon, was driven from her Duchy of Parma. Similar scenes occurred at Ferrara, Ancona, and Perugia. Louis Napoleon and Charles Louis Napoleon, the sons of Louis Bonaparte King of Holland, were at this time residing at Florence, whence they corresponded with Menotti, the leader of the Modenese revolution. When the insurrection broke out in the Papal States the two brothers joined the insurgents at Spoleto.

The Advocate Vicini opened at Bologna, February 26th, what was called an Italian National Congress, with the avowed purpose of establishing the unity of Italy; and General Zucchi, who had served under Napoleon, but who had subsequently entered the Austrian service, endeavoured to organize a revolutionary army. But the Austrians put down these attempts with unwonted promptitude. An Austrian army under General Frimont entered the disturbed districts early in March, when the insurgents fled in all directions. After some feeble attempts at resistance, Zucchi was defeated, captured, and thrown into an Austrian dungeon, and the Austrians entered Bologna March 21st. Spoleto capitulated on the 30th, and the insurrection was at an end. The elder of the two sons of Louis Bonaparte died at Forli, during the riots, March 17th. The younger, Charles Louis Napoleon, escaped disguised as a servant in the retinue of his mother, Hortense, whose anxiety for the safety of her sons had brought her to Spoleto.

The Italians relied without any solid grounds on the aid of France. Louis Philippe had no idea of entering into a war with Austria for Italian liberty, though public opinion in France compelled him to some demonstrations on that side. Hence he exhorted the Pope to moderation, and on July 5th Gregory XVI published an edict promising some reforms in the administration. These, however, did not satisfy the Italian people. They were encouraged by the opinion that the Austrians, who, with the exception of the citadel of Ferrara, had evacuated all the places they had entered, feared the intervention of the French, and the insurrection was resumed. At a meeting held at Bologna it was determined to convoke in that town another National Congress on January 5th, 1832. The Pope assembled his troops at Rimini and Ferrara. The National Guard of Bologna, under General Patuzzi, marched against them, but were defeated after a short combat at Cesena, January 20th. The Papal army, composed in a great part of bandits, had committed such disorders and cruelties, that Cardinal Albani, the Pope’s representative, was ashamed to lead them against Bologna; and the Austrians were therefore called in once more. But so great was the clamour of the French liberals at this invasion, that Louis Philippe was compelled to make a demonstration by taking possession of Ancona. The act, however, was almost immediately disavowed, and on May 2nd the Papal troops were admitted into that place.

Neither Naples nor Sardinia was disturbed by these occurrences. The old King, Ferdinand IV of Naples, who after his restoration had assumed the title of “Ferdinand I, King of the Two Sicilies,” had died January 4th, 1825, and was succeeded by his son, Francis I. The latter Sovereign died in November, 1830. His son and successor, Ferdinand II, had rendered himself popular by introducing some reforms into the administration, and by liberating political prisoners. In Sardinia, Charles Albert, Prince of Carignano, bad succeeded to the crown on the death of Charles Felix in April, 1831. The situation of this Prince between Austria, which he feared, and the liberals, whom he had betrayed, was somewhat critical; but on the whole he inclined to the liberal side, where his interests seemed to lie.

After his flight from Italy, Prince Napoleon had for the most part lived with his mother, Queen Hortense, at her chateau of Arenenberg in the Thurgau. While residing in Switzerland he employed himself in studying the science of artillery in the school of Thun, under the tuition of Dufours. At this period his character seemed to be earnest and thoughtful, though he was not averse to the pleasures of youth. He aspired to a literary reputation, and composed at this time “Political Dreams,” “Remarks on the Political and Military Condition of Switzerland,” and a “Handbook of the Science of Artillery.” The unpopularity which Louis Philippe had incurred suggested to him an attempt on the Crown of France. Hence his abortive conspiracy of Strassburg in 1836; the best excuse for which is, that he merely wished to attract the notice of the world, and to exhibit himself as a leader to those who desired the downfall of Louis Philippe. After some preparations at Strassburg, through Colonel Vaudray and others, he caused himself, on the morning of October 30th, to be proclaimed Emperor, when he was joined by a small portion of the troops. The greater part, however, remained faithful to the King; and the Prince and his fellow conspirators were arrested and conducted to Paris. Louis Philippe was surprised and embarrassed by this strange event; but he im­mediately dismissed the Prince, thinking that the ridicule which attached to so rash and inconsiderate an enterprise sufficed to render him harmless. Prince Napoleon now proceeded to America; but alarmed at the illness of his mother, returned to Switzerland the following year by way of England. His Strassburg accomplices were acquitted at the assizes in January, 1837, an event which strengthened the opposition by manifesting the disposition of the people. After the death of Queen Hortense, October 5th, Louis Philippe called upon the Swiss to expel the Prince from their terri­tories, who, however, demurred to comply, as Napoleon had been made an honorary citizen of the Thurgau. But he voluntarily relinquished a privilege which might tell against his claims to the French Crown, declared that he was, and would remain, a Frenchman, and in the autumn of 1838 he took up his residence in London.

The discovery of Louis Philippe’s insatiable avarice increased his unpopularity. To his inheritance, the richest in France, he had added all the possessions of Charles X and Condé; he had entered into partnership with the Rothschilds, and not content with all his wealth, he solicited marriage portions for his children, and even tried to augment them by false representations. Thus on the marriage of the Duke of Nemours to the Princess Victoria of Coburg, early in 1837, Louis Philippe destined for him a million francs besides the domain of Rambouillet; but the Chamber demurred, and it turned out on inquiry that Rambouillet had been valued much too low. Marriage settlements were also procured for the Duke of Orleans, who espoused a Mecklenburg Princess, May 30th, and for the Queen of the Belgians. Towards the end of 1837 the reign of Louis Philippe obtained a little military glory by the conquest of Constantine, taken by storm by General Damremont October 13th. In the winter a naval expedition was despatched to Hayti, which compelled the negro government of that island to pay a compensation of sixty million francs to the expelled planters.

Towards the end of 1838 the leaders of three of the four parties into which the Chamber was divided, namely, Thiers, Guizot, and Odillon Barrot, the respective heads of the centre gauche, the centre droit, and the côté gauche, having formed a coalition, the Mole Ministry was overthrown early in the following year by an adverse address moved and carried by M. Thiers. Louis Philippe now wished Marshal Soult to conduct the Government; but as M. Thiers, whose services the Marshal considered indispensable, appeared to set too much value on them, the arrangements went off, and the Duke of Montebello, son of Marshal Lannes, became Prime Minister. But his hold of power was short. The Republicans of the secret society called la société des familles, led by Blanqui and Barbés, succeeded, May 12th, in seizing the Hotel de Ville, throwing up barricades, etc. They were soon put down; but their attempt induced Soult, ever ready to throw his sword into the scale of danger, to accept the office of Prime Minister. Early in 1840, however, the Government was again overthrown by Thiers on the question of the marriage-settlement of the Duke of Nemours, and Louis Philippe found himself compelled to place that intriguer at the head of the Ministry. M. Guizot was now appointed Ambassador at the Court of St. James’s. But the Eastern question, which nearly involved France and England in a war, soon proved fatal to the Ministry of Thiers.

The East­ern Ques­tion.

Mehemet Ali, not content with the Isle of Candia in reward of his services to the Sultan in Greece, had thrown a covetous eye on Syria. The Porte seemed in no condition to defend that Province, and in the autumn of 1831, Mehemet, under pretence of punishing the Pasha of St. Jean d’Acre for some affronts, despatched thither his son Ibrahim, with an army. Acre did not fall till May 27th, 1832. But Ibrahim had betrayed his real design by occupying a great part of the country. After the capture of Acre he proceeded to take Damascus and Tripoli; and having defeated Hussein Pasha, July 7th, whom the Sultan had despatched against him with a large army, he entered Aleppo and Antioch. The Grand Vizier, Redschid Pasha, who attempted to oppose his progress, was defeated and captured at Konieh, December 21st.

The Sultan Mahmoud II, trembling for Constantinople itself, implored the aid of Russia, as well as of England and France. Nicholas having despatched a fleet to Constantinople, the French also sent one, but only to watch that of Russia. Ibrahim continuing to advance, and Mehemet Ali having refused French mediation, the Sultan had no alternative but to throw himself upon the protection of Russia. In April, 1833, Nicholas sent 5,000 men to Scutari, while another Russian army of 30,000 crossed the Pruth. But an English fleet having appeared and joined the French, the Russians withdrew, and Mehemet submitted to mediation, by which Syria was assigned to him, to be held as a fief of the Porte. Mahmoud, indignant at being thus treated by the Western Powers, threw himself into the arms of Russia, and by the Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi, July 8th, 1833, agreed not to suffer any but Russian ships to pass the Dardanelles. But on the protest of England and France, the treaty was subsequently modified in favour of those countries in January, 1834.

The Porte, encouraged by England and Russia, attempted in 1839 to recover Syria; but Ibrahim totally defeated the Turkish army at Nisib on the Euphrates, June 24th. Sultan Mahmoud, who had experienced little but misfortune during his reign, died a few days after (June 28th), leaving his empire to his son, Abdul Medjid, then only seventeen years of age, yet already enervated by premature enjoyment. The French now wished the Osmanli sceptre to be transferred to Mehemet Ali, as better qualified than Abdul for the difficult, task of maintaining the integrity of the Turkish Empir ; but this proposition was opposed by England as well as Russia. So strong was the opinion of the approaching fall of the House of Osman, that the Capudan Pasha, Achmet Fewzi, carried the Turkish fleet to Alexandria, and placed it at the disposal of Mehemet. The English Ministry now proposed to France to prevent any further extension of Mehemet’s power, and to aid the Porte, though not in such a manner as to forward the views of Russia. The French, however, took up the cause of Mehemet, and were for establishing him in the independent possession both of Egypt and Syria. Some warm diplomatic correspondence ensued; till at length England per­suaded Russia, Austria, and Prussia to join her in the Treaty of London, July 15th, 1840, by which both Syria and Candia were to be restored to the Porte. A small English and Austrian army was landed in Syria, and being joined by some Turks and Druses, defeated the hitherto victorious army of Ibrahim at Kaleb Medina, October 10th. Acre, bombarded by the English fleet under Admiral Stopford and Admiral Napier, surrendered November 4th, and Mehemet, seeing the impossibility of successful resistance, agreed to the provisions of the London Treaty, November 27th, and re­stored Candia and Syria, as well as the Turkish fleet, to the Porte. The young Sultan was after this mostly guided by the counsels of England, ably conducted by Sir Stratford Canning, afterwards Lord Redcliffe, her Ambassador at Con­stantinople.

This affair created great indignation in France, and rendered the Thiers Ministry highly unpopular. A rupture with Eng­land seemed for some time imminent; but Louis Philippe, as usual, only employed the conjuncture to promote his domestic interests, and under the alarm of a European war, carried the project for the fortification of Paris by a girdle of forts; de­signed rather to keep down the populace within than to repel an enemy from without. Prince Napoleon had also seized the occasion to make another attempt on the Crown. Landing at Boulogne, August 4th, with a few followers, of whom Count Montholon was the most distinguished, he pro­claimed himself Emperor of the French, and named M. Thiers as his Minister. Being repulsed by the troops, he was nearly drowned in his attempt to escape by the upsetting of a boat, but was saved and captured. M. Berryer undertook his defence before the Chamber of Peers; but he was condemned, and sentenced to imprisonment at Ham; where he passed six years, for the most part spent in study and writing.

Another attempt on the King’s life by an assassin named Darmès, October 17th, is said to have occasioned the dismissal of M. Thiers on the 29th. That minister had become so un­popular, and the state of French affairs was so discouraging, that a change of ministry was absolutely necessary. Marshal Soult now again became the nominal prime minister, but M. Guizot, to whom was intrusted the portfolio for foreign affairs, exercised supreme influence in the cabinet. The transfer of the remains of Napoleon I. from St. Helena to Paris by the consent of England, served to heal the temporary breach of the entente cordiale between England and France. The body arrived at Paris December 15th, 1840, and was entombed with great solemnity at the Invalides. But so vivid a resuscitation of Napoleon’s memory was not perhaps the discreetest act on the part of Louis Philippe.

M. Humann, the minister of finance, having in 1841 caused a new census of the people to be taken, in order to include persons who had hitherto escaped taxation, disturbances broke out in several parts of France, and even in Paris; but the rioters were reduced to order, and M. Guizot proceeded against them with severity. The death of Louis Philippe’s eldest son, the Duke of Orleans, killed by a fall from his carriage, June 13th, 1842, was a severe blow to the new dynasty. The Duke indeed left two sons, Louis Philippe, Count of Paris, and Robert, Duke of Chartres; but the eldest was only in his fourth year, and thus the prospect was opened of a long mi­nority. The main spring of Louis Philippe’s policy was the maintenance of peace, and especially the preservation of the entente cordiale with England; a policy, however, which he sometimes pushed to a length which irritated the national feelings of the French, and rendered him unpopular. An in­stance of this sort occurred in the affair of Mr. Pritchard, an English missionary at Tahiti. Mr. Pritchard having been im­properly arrested in 1843 by the French captain D’Aubigny, the English Government made peremptory demands for satis­faction, which were granted by the Cabinet of the Tuileries. In so doing they only obeyed the dictates of justice and good sense; but they offended the national vanity of the French and rendered M. Guizot’s administration unpopular. In pur­suance of the same policy, Louis Philippe in the following year paid a visit to Queen Victoria in England, when he was invested with the Order of the Garter. By these means the reign of Louis Philippe was passed in profound peace with re­gard to Europe; though the military ardour of the French was at the same time gratified by battles and conquests in Africa. The French succeeded in establishing themselves at Algiers, where, under the auspices of General Bugeaud, a dreadful system of razzias was inaugurated, and every sort of cruelty perpetrated on both sides. As Abd-el-Kader, the celebrated leader of the Arabs, supported himself against the French by the aid of the Maroquins, an expedition was under­taken against the Emperor of Morocco, who by the overthrow of his army at the battle of the Isly, August 14th, 1844, was compelled to sue for peace. For this exploit Bugeaud was re­warded with the marshal’s baton. About the same time the Prince de Joinville with the French fleet attacked the town of Mogador, and compelled it to surrender.

The cunning of Louis Philippe sometimes outran his caution. In spite of all his care, the affair of the Spanish marriages in 1846 nearly led to a rupture with Great Britain. But before we relate that transaction it will be necessary to take a brief retrospect of Spanish history.

Spanish Pragmatic Sanction. Death of Ferdinand VII, 1833.

After losing his first Sicilian wife, Ferdinand VII. had married in 1816 his niece, Maria Isabel Francesca, second daugh­ter of the King of Portugal, while his brother Don Carlos married the third daughter. Maria died in a year or two, and in 1819 Ferdinand married a niece of the King of Saxony, who also died in 1829. By none of these three wives had he any issue. At the age of forty-six, and debilitated in constitution, he married for his fourth wife Maria Christina, daughter of Ferdinand IV of Naples, and sister of the Duchess of Berri, and of Maria Carlotta, married to the Spanish King’s youngest brother, Francisco. Three months after this marriage the new Queen appearing to be pregnant, Ferdinand published a Pragmatic Sanction abolishing the Salic law, March 29th, 1830. Ferdinand’s brothers, Carlos and Francisco, as well as Charles X of France and Francis I of the Two Sicilies, brother of the Spanish Queen, protested against this act, which threat­ened their collateral claims to the throne of Spain. But Fer­dinand persisted, and on the 10th of October, 1830, his Queen was delivered of a daughter, Isabella, who was recognized as Princess of the Asturias, or heiress apparent of the throne. Ferdinand having being seized with a severe illness in the autumn of 1832, Don Carlos either extorted from him a revo­cation of the Pragmatic Sanction, or caused one to be forged. But Maria Christina, who had borne another daughter in the preceding January, declared herself Regent for her daughter Isabella during the King’s illness, and sought popularity by some liberal measures. She granted an amnesty to the insur­gents who had risen after the French Revolution of July; she re-established the universities, which had been dissolved after the Restoration; and, by the advice of Martinez de la Rosa, she announced a speedy reassembly of the Cortes. Ferdinand unexpectedly recovered, and resumed the reins of government in January, 1833, when he confirmed all that the Queen had done; and Don Carlos, after protesting, withdrew to Don Miguel in Portugal. In pursuance of the more liberal policy inaugurated by Christina, Ferdinand again appointed Zea Bermudez to the ministry, and agreeably to the Queen’s pro­mise, reopened the Cortes, July 29th, when that assembly did homage to his daughter Isabella as their future sovereign. Ferdinand VII did not long survive this event. He was again attacked by his disorder, and expired in dreadful torments, Sept. 29th, 1833.

Isabella II was now proclaimed Queen, and her mother Christina assumed the Regency. The Pragmatic Sanction was recognized by Louis Philippe and by the English Govern­ment; but the Northern Powers, as well as the Pope, refused to acknowledge it. Spain itself was divided in opinion and torn by factions. The Liberals and moderate party supported the Queen, and were hence called Christinos, while the Serviles declared for Don Carlos, and obtained the name of Carlists. The Christinos, though not at one among themselves, prevailed. In 1834, Zea Bermudez was compelled to resign in favour of the still more liberal Martinez de la Rosa. On the 10th of April the new minister proclaimed the Estatuto Real, a constitution modelled by the advice of Louis Philippe. But it was not sufficiently liberal to please the extreme party; warm disputes arose between the Moderados and Progresistas, and Martinez de la Rosa, to whose embarrass­ments was added that of civil war, was unable to maintain himself.

The Carlists had raised an insurrection in Biscay in 1833. Their strength lay chiefly in the Basque provinces, which had been injured by the system of centralization adopted by Ferdinand after the French model. The insurrection also spread to other provinces, but not to any great extent. The priest Merino in Old Castile, and Locho in La Mancha, raised some guerilla bands. The Basque army, which had gradually increased to 25,000 men, found an excellent leader in Zumalacarragui. Generals Sarsfeld, Valdez, and two or three more in vain attempted to subdue it. Don Carlos, who had been driven from Portugal and taken refuge in England, returned secretly through France, and appearing in Zumalacarragui’s camp, June 9th, 1834, was received with acclamation. But he was totally unfit for the enterprise he had undertaken. He surrounded himself with the stiffest etiquette, and he con­tinued to maintain the Apostolic Junta, a former member of which, Father Cirilo, was his most intimate confidant. Spain, like other parts of Europe, was this year visited by the cholera, when a hundred monks, suspected of having poisoned the fountains, were murdered in Madrid alone, and many others in various towns. This popular prejudice was manifested in other countries with the same results.

In 1835 Mina undertook the command of the Christinos, but, like his predecessors, was worsted by Zumalacarragui after a sanguinary campaign of five months. Valdez, who resumed the attempt with 20,000 men, had no better success. These unfortunate campaigns exhausted the troops and money of the Spanish Government, and compelled the Regent to apply to the Western Powers for aid. Louis Philippe pursued in the affairs of Spain his usual double and self-interested policy. He had formed the design of marrying his sons to Christina’s daughters, and he courted the friendship of the Spanish Regent and pressed upon her his advice, yet without taking so decided a part in her affairs as might excite the hostility of the Nor­thern Powers. In like manner he went hand in hand with England in opposing Carlism, but so as not to give too much strength to the Progresistas. It was not till the summer of 1835, after the unlooked-for resistance of the Basques, that Louis Philippe prepared to give Christina any active assist­ance, agreeably to the Quadruple Alliance formed in the pre­ceding year. But as that alliance had reference primarily to the affairs of Portugal, we must here briefly resume the history of that country.

PORTUGAL

After the banishment of Dom Miguel, before recorded, Portugal remained tranquil till the death of the weak but well-meaning King John VI, March 10th, 1826. As Don Pedro, his eldest son, now Emperor of Brazil, was precluded by the constitution of that country from assuming the crown of Portugal, he transferred it to his youthful daughter, Donna Maria da Gloria, while Dom Miguel, John’s second son, asserted his claim as the only legitimate male heir. The question of the succession, therefore, was somewhat analogous to that which subsequently arose in Spain, turning on the claims of a direct female and collateral male heir. Both pretenders to the crown were absent, and public opinion in Portugal was very much divided. The Liberals, led by Count Villaflor, and composed for the most part of the educated and commercial classes and a portion of the army, were for Donna Maria, while the Serviles, as they were called, with the Marquis de Chaves at their head, comprising the clergy, the peasantry, and the remainder of the troops, espoused the cause of Dom Miguel. The adverse parties had already come to blows, when the arrival of 6,000 English soldiers in the Tagus in December, despatched by Canning, decided the question in favour of Donna Maria. The Serviles now submitted, Queen Maria was acknowledged, and Donna Isabella, the young Queen’s aunt, was placed at the head of the Regency. The Cortes being assembled, January 2nd, 1828, accepted the charter of a consti­tution drawn up by Don Pedro on liberal principles.

These proceedings were highly displeasing to the Northern Powers, who, as the assertors of legitimacy and of the princi­ples of the Holy Alliance, espoused the cause of Dom Miguel. Under these circumstances a compromise was adopted. Dom Miguel, as before suggested by Don Pedro, was betrothed to his niece, and it was arranged that he should undertake the Regency in her name. He accordingly returned to Lisbon, after paying a visit to England on his way, and took the oath to the Constitution, February 26th. But on the 13th of March, immediately after the departure of the English army, he dis­solved the Chambers and annulled Don Pedro’s Constitution; and as the clergy and the great mass of the people were in favour of the ancient absolutism, an attempt at insurrection in support of the Charter proved abortive.

Encouraged by this success, Miguel proceeded to further violence. On the 17th of June, declaring the succession established by his brother to be invalid, he seized the throne for himself, as legitimate King, ( 1828 ), and his usurpation was sanc­tioned by acclamation by the assembled Cortes on the 26th. Miguel now displayed all his real character. The leading Liberals who had not succeeded in escaping were thrown into prison; some of them were executed, the rest were treated with the greatest cruelty. The young tyrant sometimes as­saulted his sister the Regent to the danger of her life; and he displayed his levity and caprice by making a çi-devant barber, one of his favourites, Duke of Queluz. He succeeded, however, in maintaining himself upon the throne, and two conspiracies in 1829 were suppressed and punished by bloody and illegal executions. Don Pedro despatched a fleet to Terceira, and made some unsuccessful attempts in favour of his daughter. Donna Maria had retired to Brazil, where, in 1830, she was betrothed to the young Prince Augustus von Leuchtenberg, whose sister Don Pedro had married. In 1831, Don Pedro being compelled by a revolution to relinquish the throne of Brazil to his youthful son, Don Pedro II., took charge of his daughter’s affairs in person, and sailed for Terceira with a well-appointed army and fleet. He landed at Oporto, July 8th, 1832, and was received with enthusiasm; but Miguel kept him shut up a whole year in that town. Napier, however, the commander of Pedro’s fleet, having almost annihilated that of Miguel in a battle off Cape St. Vincent, July 5th, 1833, it became possible to ship an army at Oporto for Lisbon. Miguel’s forces having been defeated in a battle, he was compelled to fly, and Pedro entered Lisbon July 28th. Two months after, Donna Maria arrived from London, and assumed the Crown September 23rd. Marshal Bourmont, driven from France by the Revolution, having obtained the command of the Miguelite forces, made an attempt upon Lisbon, which was defeated October 10th; but Miguel still maintained himself in the provinces.

In this state of things the Northern Powers, the patrons of legitimacy even in such representatives of the principle as Carlos and Miguel, having assumed at a Congress at Munchengrütz a hostile, or at all events adverse, attitude to the policy of France and England, the latter Powers concluded with the Queens of Spain and Portugal the Quadruple Alliance before mentioned, April 22nd, 1834. Miguel, alarmed by this step, agreed by the Treaty of Evoramonte to quit the Peninsula, May 26th, and he subsequently fixed his residence at Rome. On the 24th of the following September, Don Pedro died. The marriage of Queen Maria with the Prince of Leuchtenberg was celebrated in January, 1835; but in the following March the youthful bridegroom was carried off by a cold, and Queen Maria, on the proposal of England, shortly after accepted the hand of Prince Ferdinand of Coburg.

SPAIN

The Spanish Queen did not derive much benefit from the Quadruple Alliance. By a treaty of June 28th, 1835, Louis Philippe, indeed, allowed the Christinos the aid of the so-called Foreign Legion, composed of all the scum of Paris; which had been sent to Algiers, and served as food for powder in the fights with the Arabs and Kabyles. A Legion of much the same kind, under General Evans, was also organized in England. But before these troops could arrive the position of Christina had become very critical. Although the Carlists had lost their great general Zumalacarragui, killed at the siege of Bilbao, June 25th, yet his place was ably filled by the brave and youthful Cabrera. The Spanish Government, besides having to contend with the Carlists, was also menaced by the factions and discontent of its own supporters. The Regent, indeed, in her heart detested the Progresistas, and it was only with reluctance that she was driven, through the success of the Carlists, to court their aid. That party established in 1835 a Junta at Barcelona, and demanded that the Consti­tution of 1812 should be restored; nor could Mina, whom the Queen had appointed Governor of that place, succeed in restoring obedience to the Government. The example spread: Juntas were erected at Saragossa, Valencia, Seville, Malaga, Cadiz, and other places; till at last the revolt broke out in the capital itself. The Regent was compelled to proclaim the Constitution of 1812, at her castle at La Granja, August 13th, 1836, and to place Calatrava, a Liberal, at the head of the Ministry.

On that very day General Lebeau, at the head of the French Foreign Legion, had at length entered Spain, and published a manifesto, proclaiming that he had been sent by the King of the French to support the Queen. But no sooner did Louis Philippe hear of the proclamation at La Granja than he publicly disavowed his general in the Moniteur. He well knew that a government founded on the Spanish Constitution of 1812, instead of following his counsels, would make common cause with the Republican party in France. Agreeably, how­ever, to the Quadruple Alliance, he suffered his Legion to remain in Spain, where it continued to fight in the Christina cause till it was almost exhausted. Meanwhile Don Carlos not only prospered in the North, but also gained adherents in Andalusia and the South. In the spring of 1837 he even felt himself strong enough to make an attempt on Madrid, and gained a victory at Villa de las Navarras; but on the appearance of Espartero, who had relinquished the siege of Bilbao he lost heart and retired, and from this time his cause declined. Among the fanatical decrees which he issued in Biscay, was one directing that all Englishmen should be put to death, because they prevented him from receiving assist­ance by sea!

The Cortes, on the model of 1812, were opened by Christina June 18th, 1837, when she took an oath to the Constitution. She nevertheless favoured a reactionary policy, and was sup­ported in it by the victorious Espartero, who belonged to the Moderados. That party was also favoured by Louis Philippe, who wished to suppress the insurrection in Spain, and to form a matrimonial connection for his sons with the Spanish family; while England opposed this policy by supporting the Progresistas. In the autumn of 1838, Narvaez having failed in an attempt to overthrow Espartero, was compelled to fly to England. Maroto, who soon afterwards obtained the command of the Basque army, seeing the incapacity of Don Carlos, resolved to abandon the cause of legitimacy, and concluded a treaty with Espartero at Vergara, August 31st, 1839, by which the Basque Provinces agreed to acknowledge Queen Isabella II on condition of recovering their Fueros, or ancient customs. Carlos now fled over the Pyrenees; when Louis Philippe caused him to be apprehended and kept him in honourable custody at Bourges. General O’Donnel dispersed the remains of the Carlists in the summer of 1840.

Espartero was rewarded for his success with the title of “Duke of Victory.” Christina tried to persuade him to annul the Basque Fueros; but he would not consent, and he was supported in his policy by an insurrection at Barcelona. Christina now fled to Valencia, and placed herself under the protection of O’Donnel; but in her absence the people of Madrid rose and proclaimed a Provisional Government, an example which was followed by most of the principal towns of Spain; and the Regent found herself compelled to appoint Espartero Prime Minister. Espartero made a sort of trium­phal entry into Madrid September 16th, and in the following October, Christina laid down the Regency in his favour and quitted Spain. This step was not taken entirely on political grounds. A secret marriage with Munoz, a private in the guards, by whom she had several children, as well as an accusation of embezzling the public money, had rendered her contemptible. She proceeded to Rome, and thence to France, where she took up her abode till, as the instrument of Louis Philippe, she might find an opportunity again to interfere in the affairs of Spain.

The Regency of Espartero, who was a moderate Progresista, attracted the envy and opposition of the other generals. Hence what were called the Pronunciamentos. Wherever the people were dissatisfied with the proceedings of the Government or the person of the Regent, they pronounced against them and threatened to throw Spain into eternal confusion. To this, however, an end was put by the Cortes confirming Espartero in the Regency, May 8th, 1841; though Arguelles was named guardian of Isabella. Espartero maintained himself in the Regency, in spite of much opposition and many insurrections, till July, 1843, when being defeated by Narvaez in Valencia, he was compelled to fly to England. The policy of Spain at this period turned much on the marriage of the young Queen, The Moderados wanted to marry her, or at all events her sister, to a French Prince; the moderate Progresistas approved the English proposal of a German Prince; while the ultras of the latter party wished her to espouse her cousin, the son of Louisa Charlotte. That Princess had formed a project to keep her sister Maria Christina for ever out of Spain, and to seize upon the Government. But her plans were cut short by a sudden death, January 29th, 1844.

The young Queen Isabella II was declared of age by the Cortes, November 10th, 1843, when she took the oath to the Constitution. Narvaez, who now enjoyed the supreme mili­tary power, being a Moderado, and consequently favouring the views of France and Christina, the Queen-mother ven­tured, after her sister’s death, to return to Madrid. She obtained the guidance of her daughter, but intent only on the gratification of her base inclinations, suffered Narvaez to rule. She created Muñoz Duke of Rianzarez and a grandee of Spain, and employed herself in accumulating large sums for her numerous children by him. Meanwhile Narvaez pursued a reactionary policy by curtailing the power of the Cortes, re­storing the prerogatives of the Crown, recalling the exiled bishops, and otherwise promoting the interests of the Church. In 1845, in company with Christina and her two daughters, he made a tour in the provinces; when they were met at Pamplona by Louis Philippe’s sons, the Dukes of Nemours and Aumale, with a view to forward the projected marriages. Narvaez was now created Duke of Valencia. But he was suddenly dismissed, April 4th, 1846, for having, it is sus­pected, favoured the suit of Francis, Count of Trapani, son of the King of Naples, for the hand of Isabella. Isturitz, who had before held the reins of power, now became Prime Minister.

Other suitors to the young Queen were her cousins, Don Henry, second son of the Infant Francis de Paula; and Charles Louis, Count of Montemolin, son of Don Carlos, who had made over to his son all his claims to the Spanish throne. An insurrection was even attempted in favour of Don Henry; but its leader, Colonel Solis, was shot, and Don Henry ban­ished from Spain. A marriage with the Count of Monte­molin would have united all the claims to the Spanish throne ; but both France and England opposed it. Louis Philippe, with the acquiescence of Christina, had selected for Isabella’s husband, Francis de Assis, the eldest son of Francis de Paula, a young man weak in mind and body; while he destined his own son, the Duke of Montpensier, for Isabella’s younger and healthier sister, Maria Louisa. Louis Philippe had promised Queen Victoria, when on a visit to him at the Chateau d’Eu in Normandy, in 1845, that the marriage of his son with the Infanta should not take place till Isabella had given birth to an heir to the throne. The young Queen had manifested her aversion for Francis de Assis, and Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg had proceeded to Madrid in the spring of 1846 to sue for her hand. But by the machinations of Louis Philippe and Christina, Isabella’s scruples to accept her cousin were overcome, and the King of the French, sacrificing without remorse the domestic happiness of the young Queen, gained a transient and not very honourable triumph by the fait accompli of a simultaneous marriage of Isabella with Francis de Assis, and of Montpensier with her sister, Maria Louisa, October 10th, 1846. Louis Philippe’s deep-laid plot was, however, ultimately frustrated by unforeseen circumstances. The expulsion of the Orleans dynasty from France at once severed the family connection between the two crowns; and even had Louis Philippe remained in possession of the French throne, the hopes of the Duke of Montpensier would still have been frustrated by Queen Isabella giving birth to a daughter in 1851. By Serrano’s advice Isabella emancipated herself from her mother’s guidance, and favoured the party of the Progresistas, while Christina proceeded again to Paris to seek the advice of Louis Philippe. Isabella banished all the ancient Spanish etiquette, and the Court became a scene of scandalous dissipation.

FRANCE

While Louis Philippe was thus engaged in the affairs of Spain, his own fall was preparing in France. The discontent which extensively prevailed in that kingdom was increased by the scarcity in the years 1846 and 1847. Disturbances broke out in several places, and the Liberal party began to agitate an electoral reform. The Central Electoral Committee at Paris declared itself en permanence, and incited the Provincial Committees to petition the Government. At a grand reform banquet, held at Chateau Rouge near Paris, July 9th, 1847, at which 1,200 persons were present, the King’s health was omitted, but the toast of “the sovereignty of the people” was drunk with acclamation. A similar banquet took place at Le Mans, August 10th, under the presidency of Ledru Rollin, and was followed by many others in various places. The reactionary policy of Guizot, and his determination to maintain the English alliance, were highly unpopular; while the corruption of some members of the Administration and of the Chambers had rendered the Government in general contemptible. The French Republicans were encouraged by the triumph of the Radicals in Switzerland, and by the pro­gress of Mazzini’s doctrines in Italy. The leaders of the first French Revolution had been content with claiming liberty, equality, and fraternity; the ideas of the soi-disant philo­sophical and revolutionary Radicals had now advanced con­siderably further. Communism, an offshoot of St. Simonism, had spread very extensively among the lower classes of the French, while Louis Blanc had brought forward a gigantic scheme of Utopian Socialism by which the State was to form one large happy family, providing work and maintenance for all its members. The elements of disturbance and revolution were insidiously stirred by Thiers, with the design of supplanting Guizot, and again seizing the reins of govern­ment.

The King, on opening the Chambers, December 27th, 1847, indiscreetly alluded in offensive terms to the reform banquet, and intimated his conviction that no reform was needed. In consequence of this speech very sharp debates took place on the Address, which lasted till the middle of February. The Electoral Committee of Paris, in conjunction with a committee of the Opposition Deputies, and of the officers of the National Guard, determined to have a colossal reform banquet in the Champs Elysees on the 22nd February, 1848, when it was expected that 100,000 spectators would be present. But it was forbidden by Guizot, who threatened to prevent it, if necessary, by military force. Odillon Barrot and most of the Deputies now abandoned any further opposition, though Lamartine and a few followers continued to declaim against the arbitrariness of the Government. The fete did not take place, as Marshal Bugeaud, who had between 50,000 and 60,000 men in Paris and its neighbourhood, was prepared to suppress it, while the guns of the forts were directed upon Paris. But symptoms of revolt began to manifest themselves among the Parisian populace; barricades were thrown up, and some conflicts took place with the Municipal Guard. The riots were renewed on the 23rd, and the National Guard, which was called out for the protection of the city, manifested a hostile disposition towards the Government by shouts of Vive la Reforme! A bas Guizot! The King was weak enough to yield to this demonstration, by dismissing Guizot, and sending for Count Mole to form a new Administration. The tumult con­tinued in the ensuing night, but without any very marked character, till a Lyonese named Lagrange, a determined Re­publican and influential leader amongst the secret societies, gave matters a decided turn by conducting a large band, carrying a red flag, to the hotel of Guizot, where a battalion of infantry had been drawn up for his protection. A shot, fired, it is said, by Lagrange himself, having killed their com­manding officer, the troops answered by a volley, which pros­trated many dead and wounded on the pavement.

While these scenes were passing out of doors, all was indecision in the Palace. Count Mole declined to accept the Ministry, and recourse was then had to Thiers. But matters had gone rather further than that statesman had contemplated, and he required that Odillon Barrot should be joined with him. Thiers now required the King to consent to the reforms demanded, to summon a new Chamber, elected on the prin­ciples of them, to forbid the troops to use any further violence towards the people, and to dismiss Marshal Bugeaud; in short, to disarm and countermand his enormous military preparations. Louis Philippe had completely lost his head. He agreed to all the demands of Thiers, who immediately issued a procla­mation stating that reform was granted, that all motive for further opposition was removed, and that the soldiery had orders not to fire. But the proclamation came too late ; and, as the signature had been omitted, it only excited the sus­picions of the people, as intended to disarm them. Bugeaud was dismissed on the morning of February 24th, having pre­viously signed an order forbidding the troops to fire. Many of the soldiers now began to fraternize with the people; fresh barricades were erected, and the attack drew hourly nearer and nearer to the Tuileries. The Palais Royal was stormed, and its costly furniture destroyed ; while the troops, agreeably to their orders, looked quietly on; the Municipal Guards were massacred without assistance. The Duke of Nemours, who had been appointed Regent in case of his father’s abdication, rejected Bugeaud’s pressing instances to resort to force. Louis Philippe would not listen to his Consort’s exhortations to put himself at the head of the troops. As the storm approached the Tuileries, indeed, he mounted his horse and rode towards the troops; but he uttered not a word. The soldiery also re­mained dumb; but some of the National Guards cried Vive la Reforme! A bas les ministers! The King turned back, and all was lost. It was a repetition of Louis XVI’s review of August 10th.

At length Louis Philippe, at the instance of the Duke de Abdication Montpensier, signed an Act of Abdication in favour of the Count de Paris, his grandson, and then hurried to St. Cloud. General Lamoricière took the Act of Abdication, and exhibited it to the people; but Lagrange tore the sheet from his hand, exclaiming, “It is not enough—the whole Dynasty must go!”. As Lamoricière turned to depart, his horse was shot and he himself wounded. His soldiers lifted him up and fired. This incident aided the Republican cause. The Royal family were in consternation, and at a loss how to act. Thiers had vanished nobody knew whither, and left them to take care of themselves. The Duke de Nemours, as Regent, conducted the Duchess of Orleans, with her two young sons, to the Chamber of Deputies; but the mob broke in and prevented the proclamation of the Regency. In the midst of the tumult, Marie, an advocate, mounted the tribune, and proposed a Provisional Government. The motion was received with shouts of applause. Dunoyer, at the head of another band, carrying a flag captured at the Tuileries, now forced his way into the Chamber, and exclaimed: “This flag proclaims our victory; outside are 100,000 combat­ants, who will have neither King nor Regency.” It was but too plain that all was lost, and the Royal family made their escape from Paris.

A Provisional Government was now appointed, consisting of Dupont de l’Eure, Lamartine the poet, Arago the astronomer, Marie, Garnier Pages, Ledru Rollin, and Cremieux. These names were received with acclamation by the members, and by the armed mob which filled the precincts of the Chamber. On the motion of Lamartine, the new Government resolved to fix itself at the Hotel de Ville, in order to prevent the estab­lishment there of a Republican Socialist Directory. Louis Blanc, Marrast, Bastide, Floçon, and other leaders of the Re­publicans and Socialists, had indeed already taken possession of that building, and would no doubt have opposed the Pro­visional Government, had not the latter deemed it expedient to coalesce with them. It is to the firmness of Lamartine that must be attributed the preservation of any degree of order among these discordant elements. He allowed the Republic to be proclaimed only on condition of its future approval by the people, to whose newly-elected representatives was to be intrusted the settlement of the Constitution. Lamartine also caused a guard of young people to be formed for the protection of the Government, and thus eliminated one of the most dangerous elements of the revolt.

Matters, however, still wore a threatening aspect. The mob had broken into the Tuileries, demolished all the furniture, and taken up their abode in the palace. Lamartine resisted with admirable courage all attempts at intimidation, and calmed the minds of the people by his exhortations. The middle classes, alarmed at the prospect of a Red Republic, assembled, the National Guard appeared on the Place de Greve, and the mob with their red flag began gradually to disperse.

Louis Philippe, who was not pursued, fled towards the sea­coast, and after a concealment of nine days procured a passage for England in the name of William Smith. He was accompanied by the Queen and a few attendants, while the Duke de Montpensier, with the other ladies, except the Duchess of Orleans, who proceeded to Germany, took a different route to the coast, in order to lessen the risk of detection. Louis Philippe landed in England March 3rd, and took up his residence at Claremont, the property of his son-in-law, the King of the Belgians.