Louis Philippe Part 15

France contained between thirty and forty million inhabitants. Two hundred and twenty-nine Deputies, with no delegated authority to do so, decided upon the form of government for these millions, and chose their sovereign.

When, several years after, the throne of Louis Philippe was overthrown, an appeal to universal suffrage re-established the Empire, and placed the crown upon the brow of Napoleon III. In this act the voice of the nation was heard. The vote was taken throughout the eighty-six departments of France, in Algiers, in the army, and in the navy. The result was as follows:

Affirmative votes 7,844,180 Negative 253,145 Irregular 63,326 --------- Total 8,160,651

The action of the Deputies in choosing Louis Philippe king greatly exasperated the Democrats. They endeavored to stir up insurrection in the streets; but the journals were against them, and they had neither leaders of any repute, organization, or money. A procession, four abreast, marched through the streets to the Palais Royal, to inform Louis Philippe of his election by their body to the throne of France. The newly elected king feelingly replied:

"I receive with deep emotion the declaration you present to me. I regard it as the expression of the national will; and it appears to me conformable to the political principles I have all my life professed. Full of remembrances which have always made me wish that I might never be called to a throne, and habituated to the peaceful life I led in my family, I can not conceal from you all the feelings that agitate my heart in this great conjuncture. But there is one which overbears all the rest--that is, the love of my country. I feel what it prescribes to me, and I will do it."

According to Alison, in the Chamber of Peers eighty-nine voted "the address to the Duke of Orleans to accept the throne, while ten voted against it." But there was great informality in all these hurried proceedings. "We will not," writes Lamartine, "enter into the details of these gradual approaches to the throne during the five days which preceded the election of one who had no t.i.tle, by a Parliament which had no mission, to a royalty which had no rights."[AA]

[Footnote AA: History of the Restoration, vol. iv., p. 489.]

In the same spirit Sir Archibald Alison writes: "Thus did a small minority, not exceeding a third of either Chamber, at the dictation of a clique in the antechambers of the Duke of Orleans, dispose of the crown to a stranger to the legitimate line, without either consulting the nation or knowing what form of government it desired."[AB] The two Chambers hurriedly prepared a const.i.tution, to which Louis Philippe gave his a.s.sent. The ceremony of inauguration--it could scarcely be called coronation--took place with much pomp, in the Chamber of Deputies, on the 9th of August, 1830.

[Footnote AB: Alison, vol. vi., p. 463.]

"Gentlemen, peers, and deputies," said the Duke of Orleans, "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 t.i.tle of King of the French, which it confers upon me." He then took the following oath:

"In the presence of G.o.d, I swear to observe faithfully the Const.i.tutional 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 every thing in no other view but that of the interest, the happiness, and the glory of the French people."

The hall resounded with shouts of "_Vive le Roi!_" The new-made sovereign, with a splendid cortege, retired, to take up his residence in the Tuileries as King of the French. The Revolution was consummated. The throne of Louis Philippe was erected.

CHAPTER X.

THE ADVENTURES OF THE d.u.c.h.eSS DE BERRI.

1831-1836

Death of General Lamarque.--The funeral.--Strength of the royal forces.--Movement of the procession.--Speech of General Uminski.--Advance of the cuira.s.siers.--The Provisional Government.--Marshal Soult in command.--The conflict.--The conflict at St. Meri.--The insurrection quelled.--Severity of the Government.--Numerous prosecutions.--The d.u.c.h.ess de Berri.--Statement of Louis Blanc.--The reception of the d.u.c.h.ess in Italy.--Abolition of the peerage.--Vigilance and severity of the Government.--A midnight adventure.--The embarkation.--The night storm.--The landing at Ma.r.s.eilles.--The insurrection.--Wild adventures.--"Little Peter."--Perilous wanderings.--Letter to the queen.--The letter returned.--Note from Louis Blanc.--The traitor Deutz.--Discovery and arrest.--Imprisonment at Blaye.--The terrible secret.--The marriage announcement.--Humiliations of the d.u.c.h.ess.--Comments of Louis Blanc.--The d.u.c.h.ess liberated.--Death of the Duke of Reichstadt.--Louis Napoleon.--Statement of Louis Blanc.--Death of Charles X.

Louis Philippe had scarcely taken his seat upon the throne ere he found himself involved in apparently inextricable embarra.s.sments.

Legitimists and Republicans were alike hostile to his reign. That he might conciliate the surrounding dynasties, and save himself from such a coalition of crowned heads as crushed Napoleon I., he felt constrained to avow political principles and adopt measures which exasperated the Republicans, and yet did not reconcile the Legitimists to what they deemed his usurpation. Notwithstanding the most rigid censorship of the press France has ever known, the Government was a.s.sailed in various ways, continuously and mercilessly, with rancor which could scarcely be surpa.s.sed.

On the 1st of June, 1832, General Lamarque died--one of the most distinguished generals of the Empire. He had gained great popularity by his eloquent speeches in the tribune in favor of the rights of the people. Napoleon, at St. Helena, spoke of him in the highest terms of commendation. His death occurred just at the moment when Paris was on the eve of an insurrection, and it was immediately resolved to take advantage of the immense gathering which would be a.s.sembled at his funeral to raise the banner of revolt. A meeting of all the opposition had just been held at the house of the banker, M.

Lafitte, who had been so influential an agent in crowning the Duke of Orleans. A committee had been appointed, consisting of Lafayette, Odillon Barrot, M. Manguin, and others of similar influence and rank, to draw up an address to the nation. All the leaders of the popular committees were very busy in preparation for the outbreak, and arms were secretly distributed and officers appointed, that they might act with efficiency should they be brought into collision with the royal troops.

The funeral took place on the 5th of June. It was one of the most imposing spectacles Paris had ever witnessed--a.s.sembling, apparently, the whole population of the metropolis, with thousands from the provinces. A magnificent car, decorated with tri-color flags, bore the remains. The procession moved from the house of the deceased through the Rue St. Honore to the Church of the Madeleine, and thence, by way of the teeming Boulevards, to the Place of the Bastile, where several funeral orations were p.r.o.nounced, and where the body was received, to be taken to its place of burial in the south of France. All the Republican and Democratic clubs turned out in full strength. The Chamber of Deputies was present. Banners, inscribed with exciting popular devices, floated in the air.

The police of Paris was maintained by two thousand munic.i.p.al guards.

In antic.i.p.ation of an outbreak, the Government had summoned into the squares of the city an additional force of twenty-two thousand troops, consisting of eighteen thousand infantry, four thousand cavalry, and eighty pieces of cannon. And, as an additional precaution, there was a reserve of thirty thousand troops stationed in the vicinity of Paris who could in an hour be brought into the streets. Apparently here was ample force to crush any uprising of the populace.

But, on the other hand, the populace could easily rally an enthusiastic ma.s.s of one hundred thousand men. Large numbers of these were accustomed, in their clubs, to act in concert. Their leaders were appointed--each one having his special duty a.s.signed to him. Not a few of these were veteran soldiers, who had served their term in the army, and there were military men of distinction to lead them. The forces, therefore, which might be brought into collision were not very unequal.

The immense procession commenced its movement at ten o'clock in the morning. The whole city was in excitement. All hearts were oppressed with the conviction that tumultuous scenes might be witnessed before the sun should go down. When the head of the procession reached the Place Vendome, it was turned from its contemplated course, so as to pa.s.s up through the Place and the Rue de la Paix to the Boulevards, thus marching beneath the shadow of the magnificent column of Austerlitz, which has given the Place Vendome world-wide renown.

Cries of _Vive la Republique_ began now to be heard. A hundred and fifty pupils of the celebrated military school, the Polytechnic, joined the procession, shouting "_Vive la Liberte!_" These shouts were soon followed by the still more ominous cry, "_A bas Louis Philippe!_" "_Vive Lafayette!_" The storm of popular excitement was rapidly rising.

When the funeral-car had reached its point of destination, near the bridge of Austerlitz, where the remains were to be transferred to those who would carry them to their distant place of burial, several brief funeral orations were p.r.o.nounced, adroitly calculated still more intensely to arouse popular feeling. A Polish refugee, General Uminski, in an impa.s.sioned harangue, said:

"Lamarque, you were the worthy representative of the people. You were ours. You belonged to the human race. All people who love freedom will shed tears at your tomb. In raising your n.o.ble voice for Poland, you served the cause of all nations as well as France. You served the cause of liberty--that of the interests dearest to humanity. You defended it against the Holy Alliance, which grew up on the tomb of Poland, and which will never cease to threaten the liberties of the world till the crime which cemented it shall have been effaced by the resurrection of its unfortunate victim."[AC]

[Footnote AC: Louis Blanc, iii., 296.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BARRICADE.]

The agitation was now indescribable. General Lafayette was urged to repair to the Hotel de Ville and organize a provisional government.

The crowd unharnessed his horses and began, with shouts, to draw him in his carriage through the streets. Suddenly the cry was raised, "The Dragoons!" A mounted squadron of cuira.s.siers, with glittering swords and coats of mail, in a dense ma.s.s which filled the streets, came clattering down at the full charge upon the mult.i.tude, cutting right and left. Blood flowed in torrents, and the wounded and the dead were strewn over the pavements. The battle was begun. Fiercely it raged. Barricades were instantly constructed, which arrested the progress of the troops. As by magic, fire-arms appeared in the hands of the populace. Notwithstanding the general tumult and consternation, order emerged from the chaos. Every house became a citadel for the insurgents, and two armies were found confronting each other.

The king and his council, in session at the Tuileries, were greatly alarmed. At three o'clock the tidings were brought that one-third of the metropolis, protected by barricades, was in the possession of the insurgents, and that the aspect of affairs was threatening in the extreme. Orders were transmitted for all the royal troops within thirty miles of Paris to hasten to the capital. The night pa.s.sed in tumult and terror. Armed bands were surging through the streets. The solemn boom of the tocsin floated mournfully through the air. The shoutings of the populace, and the frequent explosions of artillery and musketry, added to the general dismay and gloom. There was no sleep in Paris that night. Fifty thousand troops of the line and fifty thousand of the National Guard were marching to their appointed places of rendezvous in preparation for the deadly strife which the morrow would certainly usher in. The populace were no less busy, organizing in military bands, collecting arms, throwing up barricades, and seizing important posts. Both parties were alike aware that the Government could place but little reliance upon the National Guard, as many of them were known to be in sympathy with the people.

A provisional government had in reality, as it were, organized itself. While Louis Philippe and his ministers were in session at the Tuileries, Lafayette, M. Lafitte, and other distinguished men, who but a few months before had placed Louis Philippe upon the throne, were in secret a.s.sembly at the mansion of M. Lafitte, issuing orders for the overthrow of that throne. Their orders were received by the leaders of the populace, and thus there was unity and efficiency of action.[AD]

[Footnote AD: Alison, vol. vii., p. 77.]

During the night there were several b.l.o.o.d.y conflicts, in which the populace were generally successful. With their head-quarters at the Porte St. Martin, and pushing out their intrenchments on both sides of the river, before the dawn a large part of the city was under their control. The Government forces were mainly concentrated at the Tuileries, the Louvre, and the Hotel de Ville.

Marshal Soult was in command of the royal troops. Wherever his sympathies might be in the peculiar emergency which had risen, he felt bound to be true to his oath and his colors. By ten o'clock in the morning he had eighty thousand men under his command, including six thousand cavalry, with one hundred and twenty pieces of artillery. Strong as this force was, it was none too strong for the occasion. There was great consternation at the Tuileries. To prevent the soldiers of the National Guard from pa.s.sing over to the people, they were intermingled with the troops of the line.

The conflict which ensued was one of the most terrible ever recorded in the history of insurrections. Thirty thousand compact royal troops, cavalry, infantry, and artillery, slowly marched along the Boulevards, battering down the barricades, and sweeping the streets with musketry and grape-shot. Another band of thirty thousand traversed, in an equally sanguinary march, the streets which bordered the banks of the Seine. They were to meet at the bridge of Austerlitz.

The houses of Paris are of stone, five or six stories high. Each house became a citadel filled with insurgents, which kept up a deadly fire upon the advancing columns. The slaughter on both sides was dreadful; on either side was equal courage and desperation. A very b.l.o.o.d.y struggle took place at the Cloister of St. Meri, which strong position the insurgents held with the utmost determination.

"The tocsin," writes Sir Archibald Alison, "incessantly sounded from the Church of St. Meri to call the Republicans to the decisive point; and they were not wanting to the appeal. Young men, children of twelve years of age, old men tottering on the verge of the grave, flocked to the scene of danger and stood side by side with the manly combatants. Never had there been, in the long annals of revolutionary conflicts, such universal enthusiasm and determined resolution on the part of the Republicans."

Before the terrific fire from the windows and from behind the barricade the whole column of royal troops at first recoiled and fled back in confusion. But heavy artillery was brought forward; a breach was battered through the barricade; sh.e.l.ls were thrown beyond to scatter the defenders, while an incessant storm of bullets penetrated every window at which an a.s.sailant appeared. The royal troops rushed through the breach. Quarter was neither given nor asked. On both sides the ferocity of demons was exhibited. This closed the conflict.

The insurrection was crushed. The royal troops admitted a loss in killed and wounded of 417. The loss of the insurgents can never be known, as both the dead and the wounded were generally conveyed away and secreted by their friends.

On the morning of the 6th, the leaders of the Liberal party were sanguine of success. But the unexpected display of governmental force rendered the revolt hopeless. The leaders, who had been acting in entire secrecy, dispersed, and Alison says that they quietly slipped over to the other side, and sought only to mitigate the victor's wrath. A deputation was appointed by some of the citizens to call upon the king, _congratulate him upon his victory_, and implore him to temper justice with mercy.

The king angrily replied, "Who is responsible for the blood which has been shed? The miserable wretches who took advantage of the funeral of General Lamarque to attack the Government by open force. The cannons you have heard have demolished the barricades of St. Meri.

The revolt is terminated. I do not know why you should suppose that violent measures are to be adopted; but, rely upon it, they are loudly called for. I know that the press is constantly endeavoring to destroy me; but it is by the aid of falsehood. I ask you, is there any person of whom you have ever heard, against whom a greater torrent of calumny has been poured forth than against myself?"[AE]

[Footnote AE: Les Dix Ans de Louis Philippe, vol. iii., p. 318.]

The next morning a decree was issued ordering all the printing-presses opposed to the Government to be broken to pieces, and subst.i.tuting courts-martial instead of the ordinary tribunals to try all cases connected with the insurrection. The Government regarded the movement as a combined attempt of the Republicans and the Legitimists. Hence Garnier Pages, the Democrat, and Viscount Chateaubriand, the Bourbonist, found themselves arrested as accomplices in the same rebellion.

Three days after, on the 10th of June, Chateaubriand wrote from his prison to M. Bertin, editor of _Le Journal des Debats_, that he had refused to take the oath of allegiance to Louis Philippe, first because his government was not founded upon legitimate succession, and second, that it was not founded on popular sovereignty.

A few weeks after this, upon his release, Chateaubriand visited the young prince, Louis Napoleon, who, in studious retirement, was residing with his mother, Queen Hortense, in their beautiful retreat at Arnemberg, on the Lake of Constance. The prince had just published a work ent.i.tled "Political Reveries," in which he took the ground that the _voice of the people_ is the legitimate foundation of all government; that the people, in the exercise of universal suffrage, should decide upon their form of government and choose their rulers.

Chateaubriand read this treatise with much interest, suggested the subst.i.tution of the word _nation_ for that of _people_, and became personally the warm friend of the young prince, though still adhering to the doctrine of legitimacy and to his allegiance to the Bourbons.[AF]

[Footnote AF: Oeuvres de Napoleon III., t. i., p. 393.]