The proceedings opened with the utmost solemnity, and were marked by a degree of moderation and equity which reflected honor on the august assembly, and contrasted strangely with the perpetual cry of "La mort, la mort ! la mort aux Ministres !" which burst from the agitated crowds that surrounded the palace. The defense of Ministers rested mainly on the necessity of their situation, as the Government had been brought to a dead lock by the majority of 221 in the Chamber of Deputies, and on the 14th article of the charter, which, for such extreme cases, had, it was contended, provided the appropriate remedy. All the accused behaved with firmness, and yet temperance of demeanor. The smile often appeared on Prince Polignac's lips which had so frequently been seen during the whole course of these stormy scenes. Being asked who drew up the report which preceded the issuing of the ordinances, M. de Chantelauze replied, "It was I; it was drawn up after the principles of the ordinances had been agreed on by the Cabinet; it was a manifesto intended to be published, demanded by the King, and approved by the Council." The courage of this answer, when a capital charge was hanging over the accused, and vociferous crowds on the outside demandCap. iii. 489, ed their death, excited a general 492; An. Hist. and involuntary feeling of rexiii. 431, 440. spect.1 1 Louis Blanc. ii. 397, 461; 7. Keeper of the Seals, M. Dupont de l'Eure, ten- 1 Ann. Hist. 345. October 29. To all appearance the triumph of the Republicans was now complete, for they 8. had succeeded in humbling the Formation of King, and driving the Doctrinaires M. Lafitte's and Conservatives of the Cabinet ministry. out of office, on a question in which they themselves were clearly in the wrongviz., in supporting a subordinate functionary, still holding office, in a public act of insubordi nation against the Government. But with that dexterity which the King possessed in so remarkable a degree, and of which, in the course of his reign, he gave so many proofs, he contrived to elude the blow, and escape total defeat, by making a new combination, and taking his Cabinet, not from the victorious Republicans, but from the burgher party, which had not yet been brought into discredit. The Duke de Broglie retired from the dignified post of President of the Council; M. Guizot from the scarcely less important position of Minister of Louis Philippe, greatly to his honor, had from the Interior: M. Lafitte was made President the very first exerted himself to of the Council and Minister of Finance; MarDissolution of the very utmost to save the lives shal Maison, Minister of Foreign Affairs; M. the Adminis- of the accused. More than this Montalivet, Minister of the Interior; M. Meriltration. could not, in the excited state of hou, Minister of Public Instruction; while M. the public mind, by possibility be hoped for. Dupont de l'Eure, Count Sébastiani, and MarHis conduct in this respect was the more praise- shal Gérard retained their offices respectively worthy, that it was attended with imminent of Ministers of Justice, the Marine, and War. hazard to his own crown, and even life; for These seven alone constituted the Cabinet, from such was the excitement in Paris on the subject which M. Dupin and M. Bignon were excluded. of the trial, that it was hard to say whether the The defeat of the Doctrinaires was complete, Sovereign or the prisoners stood in the greater for they were entirely extruded from the Govperil. As it was, the crisis proved fatal, not to ernment; and the step in favor of the demothe monarchy, but to the administration. The cratic party was considerable, for a banker, the immediate and ostensible occasion of its fall author of the Revolution of July, was Premier, was a split in the Cabinet, on the subject of dis- and the aristocratic party were almost entirely missing M. Odillon Barrot, the Prefect of the excluded from the Cabinet. A few November 17. Seine, from his office, on occasion of a proclama- days after, an ordinance appeared, tion he had issued, condemning the address of appointing Count Sébastiani Minister of Forthe Chamber of Deputies, which had appeared eign Affairs, Count Argout Minister of the Main the official part of the Moniteur, as "an in-rine, and Marshal Soult Minister at War, in room Nov. 9. opportune step, calculated to interrupt of Marshal Gérard. The triumph of the exthe ordinary course of justice." This treme democrats, however, was not complete, gave rise to a violent altercation in the Cab for the burgher party, of which Lafitte was the inet between the King and M. Dupont de l'Eure, head, still formed the majority of the Council; who was supported by M. de Lafayette and the and it turned out, ere long, that Marshal Soult, whole strength of the Republican party; the the new War Minister, was the most formidable former contending for the dismissal, the latter antagonist which the Republicans An. Hist. xiii resisting it. It was easy to see, from the warmth had ever encountered, and very 366,369: Louis with which the dispute was conducted on both different from Prince Polignac or Blanc, 11. 136, sides, that a more vital interest than a mere the priests who had induced the 140 Cap. ii. question of criminal law was at stake, and that Revolution of July." the real point was, whether or not the lives of the state prisoners were to be saved. The 136, 141. tinue le Garde des Sceaux (Dupont), reparlons de ce qui me concerne. Puisque M. Odillon de Barrot se retire, je "Louis Philippe annonce que la retraite du Préfet réitère à votre Majesté la prière d'accepter ma demission.' de la Seine est decidée, et que M. de Lafayette y consent. 'Mais, vous m'avez dit ce matin tout le contraire.' 'Moi, 'M. de Lafayette, Sire!' dit alors M. Dupont de l'Eure, Sire! J'affirme cette fois que vous êtes dans l'erreur.' votre Majesté se trompe assurement.' Je l'ai entendu, 'Quoi, Monsieur! vous me donnez un démenti? Tout le Monsieur. Permettez-moi de croire à une erreur de votre monde saura que vous m'avez manque.' Sire!' répondit part M. de Lafayette m'a tenu un langage différent, et M. Dupont avec dignité, quand le roi aura dit oui, et M. je ne crois pas le Général capable de le contredire à ce Dupont, non, je ne sais auquel des deux la France croira.'" point.' Le visage du roi etait en feu. Au reste,' con--LOUIS BLANC, vol. ii. p. 152. The contest of parties began in the Cham- | terrupted for a moment by the sad effects of political dissension. The hall in which we are met has sometimes resounded with our debates, not unmingled with bitterness; but 1 Louis Blanc, of all recollections, that of ancient ii. 196, 197; friendship is alone retained in the An. Hist. xiii. castle of Vincennes."1 ciples of his 443, 445. 11. 9. ber the very first day that the new M. Lafitte's Ministers appeared in their places statement there. M. Lafitte on this occasion of the prin made the following statement of the ministry. principles on which his Ministry was Nov. 10. to be conducted: "A member of the former and present Administration, it falls to The general argument in favor of the acme to explain our intentions and proposed line cused was thus ably stated by M. of conduct, and the explanation shall be as Sauzet, who appeared for M. de Arguments of concise as possible. The whole Council were Chantelauze: "The royal dynasty M. Sauzet for unanimously of opinion that liberty could only was in danger at the time of the the accused. be accompanied with order, and that the in- ordinances, not in consequence of a general flexible execution of the laws, till they are conspiracy, which I will not impute to the changed by legislative authority, is indispens- French nation. It is not I who will accuse the able, under pain of anarchy. All are full of people of being treacherous to their King; but the hopes which the Revolution of 1789 has had not other and irretrievable causes of disbequeathed to the world. Every one knows cord arisen at that time in society? Who can that the Revolution of 1830 must be restrained doubt the dangers of the crown in presence of within certain bounds, that it is necessary to a new throne, when there were floating on all conciliate Europe by uniting to dignity a sides the standards of another house, and the measured moderation. Upon these points we colors of another epoch? The Revolution of were all agreed, because the Cabinet was com- July has furnished the best argument in favor posed only of men of sense and prudence. But of the ordinances, and of the necessity, in the a difference arose upon the way in which we eyes of Charles X., I will not say of what was were to carry out the Revolution of 1830. The actually done, but of some extraordinary measopinion was not general that it was destined ure to meet extraordinary dangers, to which soon to degenerate into anarchy; that it was the dynasty, in order to preserve its existence, necessary early to take measures of precaution was forced to have recourse. Let us figure to against it; to evince distrust and hostility to- our minds what would have occurred if such a ward it. But, excepting upon this one point, revolution as we have witnessed had broken there was no difference of opinion among the out, prepared, not by conspiracy, but by the members of the late Cabinet." This declara- ancient and ineradicable bent of the public tion was perfectly sincere, and very near the mind. We constantly confound the cause and truth; but it excited very little attention, as the occasion. Three days have sufficed, inbeing couched only in vague generalities, deed, to make the Revolution, but fifteen years which meant nothing. One only point of real had been employed in preparing it; and if I practical importance occupied every mind, and do not deceive myself by confining the Revodivided society with the utmost acrimony. The lution within trifling limits, it is not destined Legitimists and Doctrinaires were animated to have a long futurity. It was a revolution 1 Moniteur, with the generous desire to save which is due only to hazard, and which has Nov. 11, 1830; the lives of the ex-ministers; the only succeeded by a fortunate accident in Louis Blanc, Democrats and Republicans thirst-breaking up the throne of our ancient kings; ii. 141, 142. ed after their blood.' a revolution which probably would not have taken place the day before, and assuredly would not have been successful the day after." The progress of the trial ere long brought 10. them into violent collision, under Progress of circumstances so alarming as to the trial of the threaten the destruction of the inex-ministers. fant monarchy. The public, violently excited, suffering under most serious real evils, and incessantly stimulated by a licentious press, demanded in a voice of thunder a holocaust of victims to appease its indignation. The trial lasted long, and the public excitement seemed to increase with every day that it continued. The accused were defended with talent and energy; and some noble minds came forward, in the moment of peril, to defend their former political opponents at the hazard of their own lives. Among the rest was M. de Martignac, whose ministry had been supplanted by that of Prince Polignac, but who now appear ed as counsel for M. de Peyronnet, his old school and college companion."At school," said he, "at college, we have followed the same cause. Well, after having passed the ordeal of human grandeur, we find ourselves again here; I, as of old, lending to an accused party the aid of my voice; he, a captive accused, obliged to defend his life and good name, alike menaced. That long brotherhood, which had continued undisturbed through so many events, was in 2 Ann. Hist. xiii. 451, 452. 12. accused. These, however, were political considerations, calculated perhaps to go far in justifying the memory of the ac- Condemnacused in the eyes of posterity, for tion and punhaving introduced the ordinances ishment of the as a measure of state necessity; but they afforded no vindication of them, in a legal point of view, from the crime of a deliberate infraction of the constitution, of which they were accused. Their condemnation, therefore, was a matter of necessity; and it is highly to the credit of the Government that they had the courage to propose, and of the Peers that they had the firmness to adopt, punishments short of death. So much had their number been reduced by the exclusion, at the Revolution, of all those who had been elevated to the peerage during the reign of Charles X., that only 156 peers appeared to vote on the guilt and punishment of the accused. They were all found guilty by a majority of 132 to 24. This was expected, and was, in fact, unavoidable; but the material point, upon which public expectation was so violently excited, was, what punishment should be inflicted on them? The whole weight of Government had been thrown, and happily with success, to the side of mercy. M. de Polignac was sentenced, by a majority of Dec. 21. 128, to transportation for life; M. de Peyronnet, by 87 to 68, to perpetual imprisonment; M. de Chantelauze, by 138 to 14, to perpetual imprisonment; and M. de Guernon Ranville to the same punishment, by 140 to 16. Considering how violently the people were excited on the subject, and the efforts which had been made to rouse them, these sentences must be regarded as an act of mercy; and it must always be considered as an honor to the government of Louis Philippe that it first Dec. 22, gave the example, on a memorable 1830, Ann. occasion, of the abolition of the punishment of death for purely political 1 Moniteur, Hist. xiii. 455, 456. 13. are safely conveyed to Vincennes, and thence to Ham. offenses.1 14. the capital. dictatorship which, as Commander-in-chief of Dec. 23, 1830. But though the lives of the accused were spared by the court, it was by no The accused means equally clear they would be respected by the people; and the utmost danger awaited them in the course of the passage from the palace of the Luxembourg to the castle of Vincennes. The mob which surrounded the court amounted to above fifty thousand persons, and exhibited the most savage and unrelenting disposition. Had they once tasted of blood, the whole horrors of the first Revolution might have been renewed. Happily, in this crisis, the admirable dispositions of the military and police authorities prevented such a catastrophe. Twenty-four thousand troops of the line and national guards, with cannons loaded and matches lighted, were formed in dense array around the building when the sentence was determined on; and without its being promulgated, the prisoners were hurried away, the moment it was signed by the president of the court, to the carriages which were to convey them to Vincennes, which immediately set off at a rapid pace. M. Montalivet, the Minister of the Interior, rode on the right of the carriage But this very circumstance of the immense which conveyed Prince Polignac-the post of importance of the service rendered honor as the post of danger. So quickly was by the National Guard on this occa- Demands of the whole got over that they were safely lodged sion opened the eyes of the Govern- Lafayette. at Vincennes, under the charge of the firm Gen- ment to the extreme danger of their position eral Daumenil, before the mob around the Lux-in regard to that formidable body. M. de Laembourg were well aware of their conviction.* The sentences were then read to them in their separate apartments, which they heard with constancy; and some days afterward they were quietly removed to Ham, the place of their final destination. Some disturbances took place in Paris, which was violently agitated on that 2 Moniteur, and the following day; but they Dec. 24, 1830, were suppressed by the firm countenance of the troops of the line and national guards, who were publicly thanked by Louis Philippe for their conduct on the occasion. The violent excitement consequent on the trial of the ex-ministers led Government to appreciate the necessity of doing something decisive to terminate the anarchy which prevailed in the capital, and put a period to the military Louis Blanc, ii. 223; Ann.' Hist. xiii. 456, 459; Cap. iv. 163. 15. fayette, taking advantage of his influence, and of the almost unbounded sway which these circumstances gave him, made certain demands on the Government which were tantamount to a revolution. These were-1st. The immediate dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies, the majority of which was not in harmony with the ideas of the Republicans, with whom he was surrounded; 2d. The placing of the electoral franchise on a new footing, which should admit all the persons paying direct taxes to the suf frage; 3d. The reconstruction of the peerage on a different basis, for life only, and elective, like the American Senate. Thus the dictator, the head of the National, which might now be called the Prætorian Guard, demanded what in France, where there were 4,000,000 persons paying direct taxes, was equivalent to universal suffrage, and the abolition of the peerage, whether hereditary or for life, and the substi tution of an elective senate in its room. This dream of a "monarchy surrounded with repubwas certainly the realization of his favorite lican institutions." Whether they could coexist in the same community was a very different question, upon which the Government required to come to an immediate decision. The sway of Lafayette, as at the head of the armed force of the capital, appeared in foreign countries completely to overshadow the throne, and the utmost alarm was manifest1 Cap. iv. 170, ed regarding it, not in the jourBlane, ii. 228, nals of St. Petersburg and Vienna, 229: An. Hist. but in the Whig papers of Lonxiii. 483, 484. don.1 171 Louis command of the Cabinet. This decisive step was immediately followed by some changes in the Cabinet. M. 17. Dupont de l'Eure resigned his situ- Changes in tion as Minister of Justice; it was gladly accepted, and he was succeeded by M. Merilhou, then Minister of Public Instruction, a man of ability and of moderation, though a decided Liberal. M. Merilhou was succeeded in the port-folio of Public Instruction by M. Barthe, a man of eloquence and power, and, like him, distinguished as a Liberal under the Government of the Restoration. M. Treilhard, the Prefect of Police, also resigned, and was succeeded by M. Baudé, one of the most active chiefs on occasion of the Revolution of July, and a man of vigor and courage. M. Odillon Barrot also tendered his resignation as Prefect of the Department of the Seine; but he was prevailed on to withdraw, and continue the discharge of his functions, on condition of their being considered judicial or administrative only, and altogether detached from politics. M. Taschereau, his sous-prefect, was also retained. "Odillon Barrot," said Louis Phi- 1 Louis Blanc, lippe, "will be no longer to be fear- ii. 234, 235; ed when he has no longer M. de La- Cap. iv. 191, fayette above him, and none under 196; An. Hist. him but M. de Taschereau.”1 xiii. 505, 508. 18. The conduct of the French government on 16. this crisis was marked by the vigor Dismissal of and decision which, in civil dissenM. de Lafay- sions, when supported by strength, ette from the is the sure precursor of success. Althe National ready the exorbitant power assumed Guard. by M. de Lafayette had excited a Dec. 24. general jealousy even among his own adherents, who, although quite willing to use him for a tool, were by no means inclined to have him for a master. The press, both Republican and Legitimist, daily declaimed against him; and the epithet of "Le Polignac populaire," applied to him by M. Capefigue in the Conservateur, like other felicitous sobriquets which wound those of whom we are jealous, was received with general applause. Encour- The Government was considerably strengthaged by this support, Ministers, on the 24th De- ened by these changes, both from cember, amidst the most fulsome expressions of the greater unity given to the Cab- Favorable acgratitude and adulation for the "hero of the inet, and the increased considera- counts from two worlds," quietly deprived him of his com- tion it acquired in the public esti- Algiers. mand of the National Guards, cloaking the dis- mation and in the eyes of foreign powers. It missal under the pretext of appointing him derived additional support from the news that "Honorary Commander of the Guard." "Since arrived in the latter months of the year from the 30th July," said M. Charles Dupin on the Algeria. Marshal Bourmont, upon receiving part of the Government, "General Lafayette on the 11th Angust the intelligence of the dehas been the living law of the National Guard; thronement of Charles X., published an address he has acquired unbounded glory by the man- announcing it to the army, and at the same ner in which he has exercised that august mis- time resigning the command to General Clausel, sion; but the friend, the companion, the emu- who had been appointed his successor. He lator of Washington, knows that a man can not soon after embarked for France, “carrying with remain a living law all his life, if the written him," as he himself said, "nothing of the hunlaw is not to become extinct. That illustrious dred millions which the conquest of Algiers had friend of liberty, if he were within these walls, brought to France, and bringing but the emwould be the first to say, 'My wish is that the balmed heart of his son." General Clausel relaw should live, and that I should again be solved to signalize the advent of the Republican come what I am, the citizen of the t、o worlds.' party to power at Paris, by forming a chain of The decree dismissing Lafayette with these high- fortified posts through the Algerine territory sounding flowers of panegyric was passed by in order to protect the colonists, who were prethe Chambers without a division; and the Gen-senting themselves in considerable numbers for * Moniteur, eral had the patriotism or the good the acquisition and cultivation of land. The Dec. 22, 1830; sense to submit to it without re-expedition set out in the middle of Nov. 25 An. Hist. xiii. sistance, after declining the title of November, and after defeating several iv. 177, 179; "honorary" commander offered to bodies of Arabs which presented themLouis Blanc, him, with the most flattering ex- selves, succeeded in reducing the two towns of ii. 228, 229. pressions of regard, by the King.** Melideah and Medeah, with a considerable adjacent territory, under the French dominion.2 486,489; Cap. "Le grand pouvoir," said Lafayette, "dont j'étais investi, donnait quelque ombrage. Vous en aviez bien entendu parler, Messieurs. Cet ombrage s'était surtout étendu dans les cercles diplomatiques. Aujourd'hui, ce pouvoir est brisé, je n'ai plus que l'honneur d'étre entre des collégues. Cette démission, reçue par le roi avec les témoignages de sa bonté ordinaire pour moi, je ne l'aurais pas donnée avant la crise que nous venons de traverser. Aujourd'hui, ma conscience de l'ordre publique est pleine ment satisfaite. J'avoue qu'il n'en est pas de même de ma conscience de liberté. Nous connaissons tous ce Programme de l'Hôtel de Ville, un trône populaire, entouré d'institutions républicaines. Il a éte accepté, mais nous ne l'entendons pas tous de même. Il ne l'a pas toujours été par les conseils du roi, comme par moi, qui suis plus impatient que d'autres de le voir réalisé. Et quelle qu'ait toujours été mon indépendance personnelle dans toutes and 26. 2 Ann. Hist. xiii. 510, 511. These were considerable advantages; but they yielded in importance to the 19. vast armaments which the new Gov- Great addiernment was compelled to make, and tional expenditure the great addition to the public ex- for the penses with which they were at- army and francs in the revenue, which, as has been altended. The deficit of 86,000,000 its forces. ready mentioned, appeared soon after the Revoles situations, je me sens dans ma situation actuelle plus à l'aise pour discuter mon opinion avec vous."-Ann. Hist., vol. xiv. p. 490. lution, rapidly and alarmingly increased. Many then vacant, its disposal was nominally in the causes contributed to bring it about. The funds hands of the Estates of Flanders; but it was had fallen fully 20 per cent. between July, 1830, evident that the European powers would all and January, 1831,* and the public misery and feel the deepest interest in the question instagnation of commerce had become such in the volved in it, for its territory, interposed belatter months of the year that the suffering tween France and Germany, bristling with produced by the invasions of 1814 and 1815 strong and newly-erected fortresses, and adhad been less in comparison. It was absolute- joining the recent acquisitions of Prussia on ly indispensable to increase largely the govern- the Rhine, was too important not to be of the ment expenditure in order to counterbalance utmost moment in the future balance of power this woeful stagnation, and the clothing, arm- in Europe, and its possession might have a deing, and equipping of 600,000 national guards, cisive effect on the first general war which which were called out over all France, had this might arise. England had been drawn into effect in a considerable degree. The hostile the first revolutionary war by the advance of attitude of foreign powers, especially Prussia Dumourier to Antwerp, and the opening of and Austria, since the revolution in Belgium, the mouth of the Scheldt, contrary Hist. of also rendered necessary a great increase of the to existing treaties,' and its independ- Europe, c. regular army. That force, in the time of the ence might be not less seriously men- ix. 121. fall of Charles X., had consisted of 131,000 aced by the incorporation of Flanders with infantry and 34,595 cavalry, of whom 12,000 France, in conformity with the loudly expressed were Swiss, who were all disbanded and sent wish of the revolutionists in both 2 Cap. iv. 244, home after the Revolution of July. Their countries, or the bestowing of the 245; Ann. place was supplied, however, by 148,000 new crown of Belgium on a son of the Hist. xiv. 378, French conscripts, which raised the infantry to King of the French.2 243,000 men, and the cavalry to 45,000, making a total of 288,000 men-a large force, doubt less, but by no means disproportioned to what France was entitled to have on 1 Rapport du Marechal Gé- foot, considering the strength of the nation and the doubtful ground on which it stood in its relations to foreign powers.1 rard, 1 Feb. 1831; Ann. Hist. xiii. 521. 20. of Belgium, and its final The circumstance beyond all others which rendered this great armament on Competition the part of France necessary, was for the crown the jealousies which had arisen on all sides in regard to the candidates separation for the crown of Belgium, now from Holland. vacant by the results of the revolution in Flanders, and its definitive separation from Holland. Two candidates, and two only, presented themselves, in the first instance, for the crown-the Duke de Leuchtenberg, son of Prince Eugène Beauharnais, the far-famed Viceroy of Italy under Napoleon, and the Duke de Nemours, second son of Louis Philippe. The separation of Belgium from Holland had been finally determined on by a congress of the embassadors of France, England, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, on the 20th December, 1830, on reasons which, under existing circumstances, appeared too well founded. The throne being * Five per cents, 2d January, 1830. 109 84 93 62 "En formant par les traités de Vienne en 1815, l'union de la Belgique avec la Hollande, les puissances signataires de ces traites, et dont les plénipotentiaires sont assembles dans ce moment, avaient eu pour but, de fonder un juste équilibre en Europe, et d'assurer le maintien de la paix générale. Les évènemens des quatre derniers mois ont malheureusement démontré que cet amalgame parfait et complet, que les puissances voulaient opérer entre ces deux pays, n'avait pas obtenu ce qu'il serait désormais impossible d'effectuer; qu'ainsi l'objet même de l'union de la Belgique avec la Hollande se trouvait détruit, et que des lors il devienait indispensable de recourir à d'autres arrangemens pour accomplir les intentions, à l'exécution desquelles cette union devait servir de moyen. Unie à la Hollande, et faisant partie intégrale du royaume des Pays Bas, la Belgique avait à remplir sa part des devoirs Europeens de ce royaume, et des obligations que les traités lui avaient fait contracter envers les autres puissances. La rupture avec la Hollande ne saurait la libérer de cette part de ses devoirs et de ses obligations. La conférence s'occupera conséquemment de discuter et de concerter les 380. to Duke de Feb. 3, Jan. 11. Notwithstanding the obvious force of these considerations, which threatened 21. to involve Europe in a general Crown of Belwar, if either the incorporation of gium offered Belgium with France were openly Nemours. attempted, or if it was indirectly brought under French influence by its crown being bestowed on a son of the King of the French, such was the weight of the French party, and the desire of the leading party in the revolution for a connection with that country, that the Estates made a formal tender of the crown to the Duke de Nemours. Louis Philippe 1831. was much embarrassed by this election, however agreeable, under other circumstances, it might have been to his ambition. He had already formally announced to the Estates of Belgium "that he would never, in any event, recognize the Duke de Leuchtenberg or the Duke de Nemours as King of Belgium, or give the former, if elected, any of his daughters in marriage;" and now he was tempted by a direct offer of the crown to his son.* His own throne, however, was not sufficiently established to permit him to take a step which would probably give umbrage to all the European powers, and would certainly dissolve the good understanding between France and England. He had the good sense, accordingly, to refuse the tempting offer, in terms courteous, indeed, but sufficiently firm to show that his mind was made up; and the crown 3 Cap. iv. 255, of Belgium continued to be vacant, 257; Ann. the object of diplomatie intrigue Hist. xiv. 394, and revolutionary ambition.3 396. nouveaux arrangerens les plus propres a combiner l'indépendance future de la Belgique avec les stipulations des traites, avec les intérêts et la sécurite des autres puissances, et avec la conservation de l'équilibre Européen." -Protocole, 20 Décembre, 1830. Ann. Hist. xiii. 244, 245. "Le roi ne consentira pas à la réunion de la Belgique à la France; il n'acceptera pas la couronne pour M. le Duc de Nemours, alors même qu'elle lui serait offerte par le Congrès. Le gouvernement verrait, dans le choix du Duc de Leuchtenberg, une combinaison de nature à troubler la tranquillité de la France. Nous n'avons pas le projet de porter la plus légère atteinte à la liberté des Belges dans l'élection de leur souverain, mais nous usons aussi de notre droit en déclarant de la manière la plus formelle que nous ne reconnaitrons pas le Duc de Leuchtenberg."-Dépêche de Sébastiani, 11th January, 1831. Ann. Hist., vol. xiv. p. 385, 386. |