The on the spiritual authority in temporal matters.* talk at this time was all ecclesiastical; papal bulls, declarations, episcopal addresses, were the order of the day. This was in the taste of Charles X., who was proud of the religious character and of the orthodoxy of his government. The Tartuffe of Molière was reproduced as a novelty, and people employed themselves in discovering the allusions which it contained. The government forbade the representation, as if it acknowledged that it was detected. The religious party were very active in maintaining external decency; they even penetrated into the theatres, and lengthened the scanty dresses of the dancers. The result of the French intervention in Spain had been to restore Ferdinand, but not to pacify the Peninsula. French influence was daily diminishing in Spain, and both the kingdoms of the Peninsula were full of disorder. The history of these events belongs to the general history of Europe. The session of 1827 was opened by the king on the 12th of December, whose speech explained the reasons for anticipating the usual time of the convocation of the Chambers: important measures had been prepared; first of all a Code Forestier and a Code Militaire; next, a new law on the press, the fresh abuses of which it was proposed to repress by more extensive and more efficient measures; a law on the organization of the jury; and on the slave trade, for the suppression of which the government proposed more severe penalties. The condition of France at the opening of the session of 1827 was alarming, not as to the material condition of the people, which was prosperous enough, but as to the state of opinion. Society was agitated by political and religious dissensions, which were aggravated by the attempt made in the last session to establish the droit d'ainesse, and the avowed tolerance of the Jesuits in places of public instruction. These measures had met with an unexpected opposition in the Chamber of Peers, which had become popular, while the Chamber of Deputies had sunk in credit. The uneasiness of men's minds was increased by the knowledge that a new law on the press was in preparation. The draft of this proposed law was presented to the Chamber of Deputies on the 29th of December, 1827. It immediately raised a violent opposition out of doors, for printers, publishers, authors, and writers, every man whose existence was connected with that of the press, saw that they were threatened with utter ruin. Before the discussion of the law on the press, there was a debate on the question of the post-office charges. The object of the measure proposed by the ministry was to improve the post-office department; but one article was looked on with suspicion, because it was supposed to be connected with the measure against the liberty of the press. This article (No. 8) proposed to increase the charge for the carriage of journals and periodical writings, and it was on this point that all the debate turned. A deputy proposed an amendment to this * Annuaire Historique, &c., pour 1826,' Appendix, p. 7. article, the purport of which was to except "collections, annals, mémoires, periodical bulletins, solely devoted to the arts, to industry, and to the sciences," which was carried with some slight alteration. This was a victory gained by the centre droit, which was becoming somewhat impatient of the tyranny of the right and of the religious party. A law was enacted for the suppression of the slave trade. The penalty imposed on all merchants, supercargoes, captains and officers, and some other classes of persons, for engaging in this trade was banishment, and a fine equal to the value of the ship and cargo. The suppression of the slave trade had been determined in the congress of crowned heads in 1815, and it was now the duty of the French legislature to insure the execution of this measure. It was said to be in a great measure due to the urgency of the British ministers; but though an important enactment, it attracted no great attention: more serious affairs occupied the public. The law on the press was the great event of the session, and it was closely connected with the designs or supposed designs of the Church party. The bishops in their pastoral letters (mandemens) in 1827 were continually crying out against the abuses of the press, and calling for more efficient checks; and the Chamber of Deputies, in its address in 1826, had expressed the same wish. The government from motives of prudence had hitherto done nothing, but at the close of the year 1827, the influence of the extreme party, or the increasing violence of the attacks on the ministry, or both causes combined, determined the government to exert all their power against an enemy which threatened their destruction. The proposition of the ministry even roused the opposition of the Académie Française, and M. de Lacretelle read before this body, in the sitting of the 4th of January, an energetic paper on the evils which would result to literature from the proposed law; and he moved that an humble petition be presented to the king, for the purpose of informing him of the fears and the wishes of the Académie, of which the king was the patron. Three members appointed by the Académie drew up the petition : they were Châteaubriand, Lacretelle, and Villemain. The perpetual secretary wrote to the first gentleman in waiting of the king, to ask for an audience to present the humble petition of the Académie. The king's answer was that he would not grant the audience. But this was not all. The ministry punished some of those who were parties to the petition. Villemain still held the humble place of maître des requêtes to the Conseil d'Etat, and Peyronnet deprived him of it. Lacretelle had the office of dramatic censor: Corbière took it from him. Michaud who had been a most faithful adherent of the Comte d'Artois during all the storms of the Revolution, was rewarded by the poor-paid place of a reader to the king, and the king now informed the public, through the 'Moniteur,' that M. Michaud was no longer a reader. Royalty had been constantly *Annuaire Historique, &c., pour 1827,' Appendix, p. 2. It was already rumoured that the report of the committee, which had been prepared by Portalis, would be unfavourable to the law on the press, when the ministry brought to the Chamber on the 17th of April, a royal ordonnance to the effect that the measure was withdrawn. There could not have been more rejoicing, if a great victory had been gained by the armies of France, so unexpected, so joyful was the news. A great number of persons, whose interests were at stake, were relieved of their anxiety, and others rejoiced in the triumph over the enemies of constitutional liberty. There were illuminations and fireworks in some of the principal streets, unaccompanied by any serious disorders; and these rejoicings were repeated in all the great cities in France. increasing its enemies on all sides; it now added to instructed their grand referendary to ascertain all the them the moderate men of the Royalist party, those facts and to present a report on them. The report was who still maintained some independence, and were presented on the 2nd of April. It appeared that the distinguished for their attainments. commissioner of police only obeyed the orders of the The original measure of the ministers on the press préfet of police, which were to look to the execution was the destruction of it.* The author of an article of the rules as to interment as in other cases, after in defence of it, which appeared in the Moniteur,' having communicated with the members of the family. called it "a law of justice and of love." Château- It appeared that the commandant of the soldiers also briand called it "a Vandal law." Casimir Périer said, behaved with great moderation, and forbade his men to they might just as well propose an article to this effect: use their bayonets. The result of this affair was a "printing is suppressed in France for the benefit of renewal of the orders of police, which forbade the Belgium." No measure since the establishment of a carrying of a body on men's shoulders. representative government in France was debated so long or with so much animation. The proposed law, after receiving numerous modifications, was carried in the Chamber of Deputies by a majority of 233 to 134. Though this would have been a considerable majority in any other deliberative assembly, it was the sign of a decreasing majority in the French Chamber. To estimate the character of the ministers who proposed this law, and that of the Chamber which voted for it, as it was amended, the original measure should be compared with the law as it was passed.† Though the law had been modified by the Deputies, and greatly altered in the most vexatious articles, before it was presented to the Chamber of Peers, it was still stigmatized as an attack on the public liberties. The committee of the peers appointed to examine and report on The king, wishing to show his satisfaction with the the law contained a majority in favour of the liberty National Guard of Paris for their services on the 12th of the press; and the choice of such a committee of April, the anniversary of his entry into Paris, showed that the ministry might expect a formidable annour.ced that he would review the guard on Sunday, opposition. While the committee of the peers was the 29th of April, in the Champ-de-Mars. On the engaged in examining this law, an event happened 29th, the legions assembled, under a brilliant sun, in which added to the fury of political discord. The duc the Champ-de-Mars, in excellent order, and the king, de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, one of the most dis-on his arrival with the royal family, was received with tinguished peers of the opposition, died on the 27th of shouts of "Vive le Roi." Some of the men looked on March. His long life had been occupied by charity the review as a favourable opportunity for manifesting and benevolent acts. On the day of the funeral a their opinions, in the hope that a change in the ministry number of young men, who had been educated in the might be the result. From some of the ranks there school of arts et métiers at Châlons, wishing to honour were cries of "Down with the ministers; down with the memory of their benefactor, carried the coffin from the Jesuits." The king, addressing a man who had the duke's hotel to the church. When the coffin was made himself very conspicuous by these cries, said, brought out of the church, they were making prepara-"I am come here to receive homage, and not a lesson." tions to carry it in the same way to the barrière, from The affair went off quietly, and the king, on returning whence the body was to be conveyed to Liancourt, to the Tuileries on horseback, received the same marks when a commissioner of police appeared and ordered the coffin to be placed on the funeral-car. The young men persisted in their intention to carry the body, and resisted the armed force which was on the spot to enforce the orders of the police. In the confusion that ensued, and in the midst of a deputation of peers, many distinguished persons, and the family of the deceased, the coffin, which was forcibly taken from the young men, fell on the ground and was half broken. This ordonnance, drawn up without any preamble, and scandalous affair was made known to all France countersigned by the minister of the interior, whose through the journals, and the Chamber of Peers duty it was to give it effect, was sent during the night to the commander-in-chief of the National Guard, and of respect which had accompanied him to the Champde-Mars. Some of the legions on their way home repeated the offensive cries under the windows of the minister of finance, and of the keeper of the seals, which these two ministers considered as a menace, or even a sign of insurrection. A council of the ministers was called, which sat to a late hour of the night, and it was resolved to disband the National Guard. The * Projet de loi'' Annuaire Historique, &c., pour 1827,' at six o'clock the next morning all the posts of the National Guard were occupied by troops of the line, p. 70, with the amendments of the commission. † Annuaire Historique, &c., pour 1827,' Appendix, p. 4. and at the same time appeared in the Moniteur' the ordonnance for the suppression of the guard, in place (August 24th). In the cemetery of Père Lachaise of an expected article which was to give an account of discourses were pronounced over the grave of Manuel the happy termination of the review. The ministers by Laffitte, Lafayette, Béranger, and others, in which were not unanimous on this question: only Villèle, regret for the untimely death of this distinguished Damas, Corbière, Peyronnet, and Clermont Tonnerre orator was mingled with indignation at the violence were absolutely in favour of it. The duc de Dondeau- which had terminated his career as a legislator. ville, minister of the royal household, resigned his place. The dissolution of the National Guard of Paris was one of the measures which contributed most directly, as some suppose, to the overthrow of the Bourbons, for it caused great dissatisfaction, and deprived royalty of one of the bonds which held the people to it. The session closed with the budget, which was discussed with more animation and more violence than in the preceding sessions; for men's passions were roused by the attempts to fetter the press, and the dissolution of the National Guard. The estimates were founded on the state of the finances in the month of January, but after that time there had been an alarming diminution in the receipts of the public revenue. Confidence was shaken, and the effect of this is always perceived in the public income. It was known or supposed that the censorship would be revived after the close of the session; and this increased the hostility of the opposition. Finally the. budget of 1828 was fixed for the expenditure at 929,104,161 francs, and the receipts were estimated at 931,302,698. An ordonnance of the king of the 22nd of June, terminated the session of 1827. Two days after the close of the session, the censorship was established by an ordonnance, which contained no preamble, and was countersigned by the three ministers who were the principal objects of the attacks of the opposition, Villèle, Corbière, and Peyronnet. As soon as the ordonnance was published, a society was formed with Châteaubriand for president, for the purpose of defending and protecting the liberty of the press. The society published pamphlets, which were spread all over France, and tended to increase the unpopularity of the ministry. On the 3rd of September, the king left St. Cloud to visit the camp of St. Omer, and some of the departments of the North, the centre of so much of the industry of France. He was received with great demonstrations of respect and affection. The curés of the communes, clothed in their sacerdotal vests, and accompanied by their clergy, waited on the steps of the churches in front of which the king passed, and saluted him with shouts and the ringing of bells. Triumphal arches, and all the usual signs of rejoicing, such as had marked the progress of Napoléon, now attended the king of the French, who returned to Paris in the full belief of his popularity, and in the conviction that the newspapers were the sole cause of all the noisy opposition. Under such an opinion, he could have no apprehension as to the consequence of an appeal to the country, which Villèle was already preparing. He had resolved on dissolving the Chamber, a measure which was not the consequence of any hasty resolution, but of long and anxious deliberation. As to the Chamber of Peers, he could only deal with them by a new creation. By a dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies, he expected to get more moderate men returned, and he would then be able to remodel his cabinet, and get rid of those men who were most odious to public opinion. On the 5th of November appeared in the Moniteur' the ordonnance which dissolved the Chamber of Deputies, and convoked the electorial colleges for the 17th and 24th of November: the opening of the session was fixed for the 5th of February, 1828. On the same day appeared an ordonnance which made seventy-six new peers, the greater part of whom were taken from the ministerial majority of the late Chamber of Deputies. Many of them were men of large landed property. At the head of the list were five archbishops.* It was an odd mixture of persons. M. Rongé, one of the leaders of the congregation, and Marshal Soult, a man of war and of the empire, appeared together in this motley list. On the same day (the 5th of November) also appeared an ordonnance which declared that the ordonnance of the 24th of June preceding, for the establishment of the censorship, should cease to have any effect. None of these ordonnances were preceded by any preamble or expla nation of motives; but the official journal, the Moniteur,' of the 7th of November, explained what these motives were, or at least as much as the ministry thought proper to publish. The journals having recovered their liberty for a season, broke out with redoubled fury against the oppression under which they had groaned for four months. They reviewed all the acts The affairs of Greece had long occupied the British cabinet, and the French government had been in communication with it on this subject. The result was, the treaty of the 6th of July, 1827, between France, Russia, and England, by which the three powers agreed, that if the Sultan did not accept their terms, they would compel him. This was the meaning, expressed in diplomatic language. This treaty laid the foundation of the independence of Greece and of the new kingdom of Greece, and was the last important act of Mr. Canning, who died, after a short illness, on the 8th of August. The liberal party in France lamented his death, and numerous writers pronounced the eulogium of Mr. Canning, the friend of civil and religious liberty; wherein there was probably less real respect for the English minister, than a design to express, even in this form, hostility to Villèle and his colleagues. The funeral of the ex-deputy Manuel, who died at the house of his friend Laffitte, furnished * On the new batch of Peers, see Capefigue. Hist. de la occasion of a demonstration against the government Restauration, &c.,' iv., c. 23. of the ministry, their proposed measures, the dissolution | mental colleges that Paris was in a state of revolt, and of the National Guard, and every public event which could furnish matter for their unrelenting hostility. The dissolution of the Chambers, and the new elections, supplied abundant materials for the expression of their deadly hatred to the ministerialists, and the hopes and fears of France in this critical period. The ministers had made every preparation to ensure their success in the elections, and the préfets, who had received full powers to act, showed by their zeal their devotion to the power that exists. During the elections arrived the news of the naval battle of Navarino (20th of October, 1827) in which the combined French, Russian, and English fleet defeated the Turco-Egyptian fleet, an event which decided the independence of Greece. The ministers availed themselves of this news in the elections, but it did them little good. The two oppositions, liberal and royalist, combined by mutual concessions, simply out of hatred to Villèle; and the names of Labourdonnaye and B. Constant, of Lafayette and of Ferdinand de Berthier, appeared on the same lists. The elections of the arrondissemens were made over all the country with great unanimity of opinion, and the ministerial candidates were generally rejected. All the hopes of the cabinet now rested on the departmental elections, where it was hoped that the element of larger property would turn out to be conservative. The news of the result of the elections caused great rejoicings at Paris; some houses were illuminated, and bodies of men went about the strects making noisy demonstrations, and throwing stones at the windows which were not illuminated. In the Rue St. Denis windows were broken, and peaceable people were insulted and frightened. It was some time before any means were taken to check this disturbance, and when a detachment of gendarmerie appeared, they were received with a shower of stones. A stronger force was brought, and the rioters were dispersed. But they soon rallied and constructed barricades, and it was only after repeated attacks and discharges of musketry that the barricades could be carried. A sinister omen appeared on this occasion there was some hesitation on the part of the troops of the line. These scenes occurred for several days, and there was so much order and regularity, that it appeared as if the rioters were acting under some general direction. It was however merely the people of a large capital trying their strength, preparing for a more serious conflict that was soon to take place. The telegraph conveyed the intelligence to the depart that the throne was threatened. The returns from * As to these disturbances, see 'Annuaire Historique, &c., it seemed almost impossible for his successor to mainpour 1827,' p. 260. tain himself or to secure the throne. CHAPTER XCVII. MARTIGNAC. THE ministry, which takes its name from Martignac, | French troops; and that the blockade of Algiers, which commenced its career with a Chamber elected under had been commenced, would cease as soon as the Dey the influence of hatred and fear of those who held had given proper satisfaction to France.* As to the power, and with little support from the king, who told internal affairs of France, the king said, "Wishing to his new ministers, the first time he saw them, that he strengthen more and more in my states the charter had parted from Villèle with regret, and that the min- which was granted by my brother, and which I have ister's system was his own. Five well-marked differ- sworn to maintain, I shall be vigilant in seeing that ences of opinion, it is said, divided the Chamber of all prudent and well-matured measures are taken, to Deputies. The gauche, though strengthened, did not put our legislation in harmony with it: certain high contain above seventy-five members; and among the questions of public administration have been pointed new members was De Pradt, the first priest who was out to my solicitude: convinced that the real strength elected to the Chamber of Deputies; a man who had of thrones is, next to the Divine protection, in the a passion for writing pamphlets and filling volumes. observance of the laws, I have given instructions that The ministry did not represent exactly any of the dif- these questions be thoroughly examined, and that their ferent opinions which divided the Chamber. The object discussion bring out the truth in all its brilliancy,— of this ministry in its formation was to take its stand the first necessity of princes and of peoples." It is on the right centre, and to combine all the various hardly possible to express in English the vague and fractions of the royalists. Accordingly, an attempt unmeaning phraseology of this speech,-a vagueness was made to secure the assistance of several members to which the French language readily adapts itself. who had influence, and, among others, a proposal was The contemporary annalist says, "It would be difficult made to Châteaubriand: he was to have the admini- for us to render the profound impression which these stration of the fine arts and public instruction. After words produced on the Assembly: this noble and expressing his satisfaction with the offer, he wrote to sincere language fully responded to the wishes and the say, that, after due reflection, he could not accept the hopes of France."+ It would require more than place. The ministry of public instruction was at last ordinary sagacity to discover what the words of the given to M. Vatismenil. Something was done to speech promised. A minister who could put such satisfy public opinion, by the appointing of a special expressions in the king's mouth, could have no very commission, for the purpose of securing, in all the clear conception of what he intended to do. ecclesiastical schools of the kingdom, the execution of the laws. This commission contained men of all shades of opinion, and the appointment of it calmed in some degree the excitement against the Jesuits. The department of the fine arts was offered to Villemain, then attached to the centre gauche, who declined it, having no confidence in the ministry, and wishing to enter upon office in company with his friends. It was given to Siméon, who had no qualification for the office. The ministry also tried to soothe and please men of literature and science. Pensions were restored to some of these men, who had been deprived of them by the late ministry; and there was formed in the department of the interior a committee, whose duty was to receive and consider all applications relating to pensions to men of literature and science, and relating to subscriptions and assistance of every description to be given to the sciences, literature, and the fine arts. The committee was composed of distinguished personages taken from the four Academies which composed the Institut, Cuvier, Fourrier, Andrieux, Michaud, Abel Remusat, Gérard, and Fontaine. The session was opened on the 5th of February. The king's speech announced the pacification of Greece, and the speedy evacuation of Spain by the The verification of the titles of the deputies was a question of more than usual interest. A great number of petitions, presented to the two chambers, charged the late ministry and many of their agents with abuse of power, fraud and violence, in the late elections; and the charge was true. The choice of candidates for the presidency was, as usual, the first test of the relative strength of the different parties. The first balloting gave Labourdonnaye, the organ of the côté droit, 178 votes, and Casimir Périer, of the côté gauche, 156 votes. The three other names, which represented the intermediate opinions, fell short of the number of votes given to Labourdonnaye, and exceeded those of Casimir Périer. As none had an absolute majority, another balloting was necessary. The first result showed that neither of the extremes could command a majority, neither the right nor the left. The result of the second voting, which gave an absolute majority to Delalot, to Hyde de Neuville, Royer-Collard, and Gauthier, showed what a combination could do. Labourdonnaye's 178 votes were reduced to 154. The king chose Royer * The origin of this quarrel with the Dey, which ended in France acquiring a large territory on the north coast of Africa, is briefly stated in the Annuaire Historique, &c., 1827,' p. 271. pour + Annuaire Historique, &c., pour 1828,' p. 14. P P |