Louis Philippe Part 16

The government of Louis Philippe pursued and punished with the greatest energy those engaged in the revolt. "The number of the prosecutions," writes Alison, "exceeded any thing previously witnessed, not merely in French, but in European history. The restrictions complained of during the Restoration were as nothing compared to it. From the accession of Louis Philippe to the 1st of October, a period of a little more than two years, there occurred in France 281 seizures of journals and 251 judgments upon them. No less than 81 journals had been condemned, of which 41 were in Paris alone.

The total number of months of imprisonment inflicted on editors of journals during this period was 1226, and the amount of fines levied 347,550 francs [$80,000]. This is perhaps the hottest warfare, without the aid of the censorship, ever yet waged, during so short a period, against the liberty of the press. The system of Louis Philippe was to bring incessant prosecutions against the parties responsible for journals, without caring much whether they were successful or not, hoping that he should wear them out by the trouble and expense of conducting their defenses."[AG]

[Footnote AG: History of Europe from the Fall of Napoleon to the Accession of Louis Napoleon, by Sir Archibald Alison, vol. iii., p.

82.]

Thus terminated the Republican attempt to overthrow the throne of Louis Philippe. And now let us turn to an attempt of the Legitimists to accomplish the same end. About eleven months after the enthronement of Louis Philippe, in March, 1831, the d.u.c.h.ess de Berri, having obtained the reluctant consent of Charles X., set out from Scotland for the south of France, to promote a rising of the Bourbon party there in favor of the Duke of Bordeaux--whom we shall hereafter call by his present t.i.tle, the Count de Chambord--and to march upon Paris. The Legitimist party was rich, and was supported generally by the clergy and by the peasantry. In the south of France and in La Vendee that party was very strong.

"The idea of crossing the sea at the head of faithful paladins; of landing after the perils and adventures of an unexpected voyage, in a country of knights-errant; of eluding, by a thousand disguises, the vigilance of the watchful enemies through whom she had to pa.s.s; of wandering, a devoted mother and banished queen, from hamlet to hamlet, and chateau to chateau; of testing humanity, high and low, on the romantic side, and, at the end of a victorious conspiracy, of rearing in France the standard of the monarchy--all this was too dazzling not to captivate a young and high-spirited woman, bold through very ignorance of the obstacles she had to surmount, heroic in the hour of danger through levity; able to endure all but ennui, and ready to lull any misgivings with the casuistry of a mother's love."[AH]

[Footnote AH: Louis Blanc.]

The ex-king, Charles X., who, having abdicated, had no power to nominate to the regency, still issued a decree, dated Edinburgh, March 8th, 1831, by which he authorized "a proclamation in favor of Henry V., in which it shall be announced that Madame, d.u.c.h.ess de Berri, is to be regent of the kingdom during the minority of her son."[AI]

[Footnote AI: By the laws of France the dauphin attained his majority at the age of thirteen.]

The d.u.c.h.ess, a.s.suming the t.i.tle of Countess of Segana, crossed over to Holland, and, ascending the Rhine and traversing the Tyrol, safely reached Genoa. The King of Sardinia, Charles Albert, received her kindly, and loaned her a million francs. But the French consul discovered her through her disguise, and by order of the French Court the Sardinian king felt constrained to request her to withdraw from his domains.

The Duke of Modena received her hospitably, and a.s.signed to her use the palace of Ma.s.sa, about three miles from the sea. Here, with confidential advisers, she matured her plans. Secret agents were sent to all the princ.i.p.al cities in France, to organize royalist committees and to prepare for a general uprising. The plan was for the insurrection to break out first in the west of France, to be immediately followed by all the southern provinces.

While affairs were in this posture, a very curious measure was adopted by the Government, which merits brief notice. The Chamber of Deputies, composed of the _bourgeoisie_, voted the abolition of the hereditary peerage. This was a const.i.tutional amendment, which needed to be ratified by the Chamber of Peers. But the Peers were not disposed thus to commit suicide. Louis Philippe had been placed upon the throne by the bourgeoisie. The n.o.bles were Bourbonists. He felt constrained to support the measures of his friends. He therefore created, by royal ordinance, thirty-six new peers to vote the abolition of the peerage, and thus the vote was carried.[AJ] A vote was also pa.s.sed banishing forever from the soil of France every member of the elder branch of the house of Bourbon. These measures, of course, exasperated the friends of the ancient regime, and rendered them more willing to enter into a conspiracy for the dethronement of the Citizen King.

[Footnote AJ: In the British House of Lords the Crown will often carry a measure by a similar action. By the Const.i.tution of the Empire in France, under Napoleon III., this was rendered impossible.]

At Ma.s.sa the d.u.c.h.ess had a.s.sembled several prominent men to aid her with their advice and co-operation. But, as was to have been expected, these men soon quarrelled among themselves. The brother of the d.u.c.h.ess de Berri was now King of Naples. But he did not dare to afford his sister an asylum, as the French Government threatened, in that case, immediately to send a fleet and an army from Toulon and bombard the city of Naples.

Proclamations and ordinances were prepared, to be widely distributed.

A provisional government, to be established in Paris, was organized, on paper, to consist of the Marquis de Pastoret, the Duke de Bellino, the Viscount Chateaubriand, and the Count de Kergarlaz.

In the mean time the officers of the Government were watching with the utmost vigilance every movement in the south of France, and punishing with terrible severity, by shooting, bayoneting, and hanging, and often without trial, those who were suspected of being implicated in the antic.i.p.ated Bourbon uprising. The d.u.c.h.ess was much deceived by the flattering reports she was receiving from her friends. Though they correctly described the intense dissatisfaction of the country with the government of Louis Philippe, they greatly exaggerated the numbers and the zeal of those whom they supposed to be ready to rally around the banner of the Bourbons.

The 24th of April, 1832, was fixed for the departure. The utmost secrecy was necessary, as the spies of Louis Philippe were all around. Arrangements had been made for a small steamer, the Carlo Alberto, in the darkness of the night to glide into the harbor, take on board the d.u.c.h.ess and her suite, and convey them to Ma.r.s.eilles. It was given out that the d.u.c.h.ess was about to visit Florence. At nightfall of the 24th a travelling carriage, with four post-horses, was drawn up before the ducal palace. The d.u.c.h.ess, with one gentleman and three ladies, entered, and in the darkness the carriage was rapidly driven a short distance from the gate of Ma.s.sa, when, upon some pretext, it stopped for a moment beneath the shadow of a high wall. While some directions were given, to engage the attention of the postilion, the d.u.c.h.ess, with Mademoiselle Lebeschu and M. de Brissac, glided out of the door unperceived, when the door was shut and the horses again set out upon the gallop for Florence.

The d.u.c.h.ess and her friends stealthily moved along under the shadow of the wall, until they reached a secluded spot upon the sea-sh.o.r.e where the steamer was expected. The major of a body of troops in that vicinity joined them, with a lantern, as a signal to guide the boat from the expected steamer to the sh.o.r.e. Here they remained, in breathless silence and in much anxiety, for an hour. Just as the clocks in the distant churches were tolling the hour of midnight, a feeble light was seen far away over the water. It was the Carlo Alberto, the steamer for which they were waiting. Rapidly it approached; a boat was sent ash.o.r.e. The Princess Marie Caroline, worn out with cares and anxieties, or--which is the more probable--possessed of that gay, untroubled spirit which no cares could agitate, was wrapped in her cloak and soundly asleep on the sand. Her companions did not awake her till the boat was about to touch the beach. It was three o'clock in the morning. The d.u.c.h.ess and her suite, composing a party of seven--Mademoiselle Lebeschu being her only lady attendant--were soon transferred from the sh.o.r.e to the deck of the Carlo Alberto.

All were conscious that the enterprise upon which they had embarked was perilous in the extreme. Its success would greatly depend upon what is called chance. The d.u.c.h.ess appeared calm and cheerful, as if determined not to doubt of a triumphant result, and manifestly resolved to wipe from the Bourbon name the charge of pusillanimity which it has so often incurred.

To avoid the French cruisers the Carlo Alberto kept far out to sea, and did not reach Ma.r.s.eilles until midnight of the 28th. The party was to be landed near the light-house, where a rendezvous had been fixed for the small but determined band who were to meet her there.

The moment the steamer cast anchor the signal of two lanterns was raised, one at the foremast head and the other at the mizzen-mast head, which signal was instantly responded to from the sh.o.r.e. Dark clouds had gathered in the sky, and the moanings of a rising gale and the dashings of the surge added to the gloom of the hour. The gentlemen who were to accompany Marie Caroline to the sh.o.r.e were dressed in the disguise of fishermen. The sea had become so high that it was with difficulty and peril that the party could embark. At one time the boat was dashed so furiously against one of the paddle-boxes of the steamer that the destruction of all on board seemed inevitable. Through all these trying scenes the fragile, sylph-like d.u.c.h.ess manifested intrepidity which excited the wonder and admiration of every beholder. The little skiff which was to convey her to the beach soon disappeared in the darkness of that stormy sea.

The landing occurred without accident, and Marie Caroline scaled the rocks, along a path which tried the nerves even of the boldest smugglers, till she reached a temporary hut which had been reared to afford her shelter. The vigilance, however, of the Government police had not been entirely eluded. That very evening the authorities, in some way, received the rumor that the d.u.c.h.ess had landed, or was about to land, at Ma.r.s.eilles, to commence the uprising there.

Immediate and vigorous preparations were adopted to quell it. The force of every military post was doubled.

A band of about two thousand of her partisans was the next morning a.s.sembled at an appointed rendezvous in the city. They ran up the white banner of the Bourbons upon the spire of St. Laurient, and began shouting vociferously, "_Vive Henri Cinq!_"--hoping to excite a general insurrection, and that the whole populace of the city would join them. They did create intense agitation, and wonder, and bewilderment. Men, women, and children ran to and fro, and the alarm-bells were violently rung from the steeples. The d.u.c.h.ess was still in her hut, waiting for the favorable moment in which to make her appearance. When she saw the Bourbon flag unfurled from St.

Laurient, she was deluded by the hope that the success of the enterprise was secured.

But soon the regular troops appeared in solid battalions. The crowd fled before them. A few of the insurgents who attempted to make a stand were dispersed by a bayonet charge, their leaders captured, and the Bourbon flag disappeared! By one o'clock it was all over--the _emeute_ had utterly and hopelessly failed!

Her despairing friends urged her immediately to repair to the steamer, and to take refuge with the Bourbons of Spain. Heroically she replied, "I am in France now, and in France will I remain." We have not s.p.a.ce here to enter into the detail of her wonderful adventures, which she seemed to enjoy as if she were merely engaged in a school-girl frolic. Probably she felt a.s.sured that if she were taken prisoner, her royal blood, her relationship with the queen, as her niece, and the sympathy of most of the courts of Europe in what they deemed the righteousness of her cause, would save her from any very severe treatment.

"Disguised as a peasant-boy, and accompanied by no one but Marshal Bourmont, also in disguise, she set out on foot to walk across France, through fields and by-paths, a distance of four hundred miles, to the department of La Vendee, where the Bourbon party was in its greatest strength. The first night they lost their way in the woods. Utterly overcome by exhaustion, the d.u.c.h.ess sank down at the foot of a tree and fell asleep, while her faithful attendant stood sentinel at her side.

"There is nothing in the pages of romance more wild than the adventures of this frivolous yet heroic woman. She slept in sheds, encountered a thousand hair-breadth escapes, and, with great sagacity, eluded the numerous bands who were scouring the country in quest of her. At one time, in an emergency, she threw herself upon the protection of a Republican, boldly entering his house, and saying, 'I am the d.u.c.h.ess of Berri: will you give me shelter?' He did not betray her. After such a journey of fifty days, she reached, on the 17th of May, the chateau of Pla.s.sac, near Saintes, in La Vendee, where a general rising of her friends was appointed for the 24th.

Nearly all the Vendean chiefs were then awaiting the summons.

On the 21st of May, the d.u.c.h.ess--still in the costume of a young peasant, presenting the aspect of a remarkably graceful and beautiful boy, and taking the name of 'Little Peter'--repaired on horseback to an appointed rendezvous at Meslier."[AK]

[Footnote AK: Abbott's Life of Napoleon III., p. 87.]

Here her disappointment was bitter. The Government troops were on the alert, fully prepared for any conflict. Her own friends were despairing. There was no enthusiasm manifested to enter upon an enterprise where defeat and death seemed inevitable. Pa.s.sionately she entreated her friends not to abandon her, delineating the great risks she had run. It was all in vain. No general uprising could be secured. There were a few despairing conflicts, but the feeble bands of the insurgents rapidly melted away before the concentration of the Government troops.

Still, the d.u.c.h.ess herself escaped capture. Accompanied by a single guide, and apparently insensible to hardship or peril, she wandered through the woods, often sleeping in the open air, and occasionally carried upon the shoulders of her attendant through the marshes.

"On one occasion," writes Alison, "when the pursuit was hottest, she found shelter in a ditch covered with bushes, while the soldiers in pursuit of her searched in vain, and probed with their bayonets every thicket in the wood with which it was environed. The variety, the fatigue, the dangers of her life, had inexpressible charms for a person of her ardent and romantic disposition. She often said, 'Don't speak to me of suffering. I was never so happy at Naples or Paris as now.'"[AL]

[Footnote AL: Alison.]

She took great pleasure in a variety of disguises. Sometimes, in the picturesque costume of a peasant-girl, with coa.r.s.e wooden shoes on her little feet, she would enter a town filled with Royalist troops, and converse gayly with the gendarmes who guarded the gates. The coasts of France were so watched by Governmental vessels as to render her escape by water almost impossible. She consequently decided to seek a retreat in Nantes, a city in which she had so few adherents that no one would suspect her taking refuge there.

In the disguise of a peasant-girl, with one female companion, she entered the city, and was concealed by a few friends who perilled their lives in so doing. For several months she eluded all the efforts of the Government to find her. In the mean time, the partisans of the d.u.c.h.ess were pursued and punished with the most terrible severity. No mercy was shown them. The d.u.c.h.ess, from her retreat, kept up a lively correspondence with her friends, still hoping that fortune might turn in her favor. Pleading in behalf of these men, she wrote as follows to her aunt, the queen:

"Whatever consequences may result for me, from the position in which I have placed myself while fulfilling my duties as a mother, I will never speak to you, madame, of my own interests. But brave men have become involved in danger for my son's sake, and I can not forbear from attempting whatever may be done with honor, in order to save them.

"I therefore entreat my aunt, whose goodness of heart and religious sentiment are known to me, to exert all her credit in their behalf. The bearer of this letter will furnish details respecting their situation. He will state that the judges given them are men against whom they have fought.

"Notwithstanding the actual difference in our positions, a volcano is under your feet, madame, as you know. I knew your alarm--your very natural alarm--at a period when I was in safety, and I was not insensible to it. G.o.d alone knows what He destines for us, and perhaps you will one day thank me for having had confidence in your goodness, and for having given you an opportunity of exerting it in behalf of my unfortunate friends. Rely on my grat.i.tude. I wish you happiness, madame, for I think too highly of you to believe it possible that you can be happy in your present situation.

MARIE CAROLINE."

This letter was conveyed to the queen at St. Cloud. She probably read it; but it was immediately returned to the bearer, who was in waiting, with the declaration that the queen could not receive it.

Five months had now elapsed since the d.u.c.h.ess entered Nantes. It is by some supposed that Louis Philippe did not wish to have her arrested. He would be fearfully embarra.s.sed to know what to do with her. It would hardly do to restore her to liberty while her partisans were cruelly punished with death. It was not easy to decide upon the tribunal which would sit in judgment upon her. The peerage would have recoiled with horror from pa.s.sing judgment upon a princess, who endeavored to gain the throne for a child, who was ent.i.tled to that throne by the avowed principles of legitimacy.

A renegade Jew, by the name of Deutz, at length betrayed her. By the most villainous treachery he obtained an interview with the d.u.c.h.ess, and then informed the police of the place of her retreat. It was the 6th of November. In the following words Louis Blanc describes the preparations made for her arrest:

"The first communication between M. Thiers and Deutz took place under the following circ.u.mstances: M. Thiers one day received a letter wherein a stranger begged him to repair in the evening to the Champs Elysees, promising to make him a communication of the very highest importance. At the appointed hour he proceeded to the Champs Elysees, with a brace of pistols ready in his coat-pockets. At the spot indicated in the letter he perceived a man standing, who seemed agitated with fear and doubt. He approached and accosted this man. It was Deutz. A conference was opened, which ended in a base crime. The next night, by an arrangement of the police, Deutz was introduced into the office of the Minister of the Interior. 'You can make a good thing of this,' said M. Thiers. The Jew shook with agitation at the idea; his limbs trembled under him, and his countenance changed. The price of the treachery was settled without difficulty."

No sooner had Deutz withdrawn than bayonets glittered in every direction, and commissioners of police rushed into the house, with pistols in their hands. The d.u.c.h.ess had barely time to take refuge, with three companions, in a small recess behind the fire-place, which was adroitly concealed by an iron plate back of the chimney. The police commenced a minute search, calling masons in to aid them. The walls were sounded with hammers, articles of furniture moved and broken open. Night came while the search continued. The s.p.a.ce in which they were confined was very narrow, with but one small aperture for the admission of air. They barely escaped suffocation by applying their mouths in turn to this hole, but three inches in diameter.

The gendarmes, fully satisfied that the d.u.c.h.ess must be concealed somewhere in the house, took possession of the room and lighted a fire in the chimney, which converted their hiding-place into a hot oven. The heat soon became insupportable. The iron plate had become red-hot. One of the prisoners kicked it down, and said, "We are coming out; take away the fire." The fire was instantly brushed away, and the d.u.c.h.ess and her companions, after having endured sixteen hours of almost insupportable torture, came forth in great exhaustion, and yet the d.u.c.h.ess almost gayly said, referring to the ancient martyr roasted upon a gridiron,

"Gentlemen, you have made war upon me _a la St. Laurent_. I have nothing to reproach myself with. I have only discharged the duty of a mother to gain the inheritance of her son."[AM]

[Footnote AM: Memoires de la d.u.c.h.esse de Berri, pp. 87-90.]

The captive was treated with the respect due to her rank. After a brief confinement at Nantes, she was transferred to the citadel of Blaye, one of the most gloomy of prisons, on the left bank of the Gironde. All the effects of this princess of royal birth, who had entered France as regent, were tied up in a pocket-handkerchief.

Measures were apparently adopted to keep her in close captivity, without trial, for a long time. The fortress was thoroughly manned with nine hundred men, and put in a state of defense, as if antic.i.p.ating a siege. Three gun-boats were stationed in the river.

The small building within the walls of the citadel, which was a.s.signed to the d.u.c.h.ess, was surrounded with a double row of palisades ten or twelve feet high. The windows were covered with strong iron bars, and even the apertures of the chimneys were closed with an iron grating. Even the gay spirit of the princess was subdued by the glooms in which she was enveloped.

Still, from many eminent men of her own party she received gratifying proofs of fidelity. Chateaubriand issued an eloquent pamphlet which won the applause of the Legitimists throughout Europe. In this he had the boldness to exclaim, "Madame, your son is my king." In a letter of condolence to the princess, in which he offered his professional services in her defense, he said:

"MADAME,--You will deem it inconsiderate, obtrusive, that at such a moment as this I entreat you to grant me a favor, but it is the high ambition of my life. I would earnestly solicit to be numbered among your defenders. I have no personal t.i.tle to the great favor I solicit of your new grandeur, but I venture to implore it in memory of a prince of whom you deigned to name me historian, and in the name of my family's blood. It was my brother's glorious destiny to die with his ill.u.s.trious grandfather, M. de Malesherbes, the defender of Louis XVI., the same day, the same hour, for the same cause, and upon the same scaffold. CHATEAUBRIAND."