156: Louis 79. lution of the deputies at M. Lafitte's. Cap. 155; Louis 276. and M. he should pass over, and unite his arms to those | tatorship for himself. After he had come to of the people. "No!" replied he instantly; Lafitte's, a deputation from the Republicans "propose nothing which would dishonor me.' came to offer the military command of Paris to Arago next implored him to lay down the com- Lafayette and General Gérard. The second mand, and retire to St. Cloud, offering his sword answered in an evasive manner; the first acto the King for his personal defense, but with- cepted the proffered honor with puerile eagerdrawing from the contest occasioned by the ness. "Gentlemen," said he to the persons faults of his Ministers. "You know well," said assembled at Lafitte's, "I am pressed to take Marmont, "whether or not I approve those the command of Paris." "If we can not now fatal and odious measures: but I am a soldier; find M. Bailly, the virtuous mayor of 1789," I am in the post which has been intrusted to cried M. Bertin de Vaux, "let us at least conme. To abandon that post under fire of sedi- gratulate ourselves that we have found the tion, to desert my troops, to be wanting to my illustrious chief of the National Guard." Laprince, would be desertion, flight, ignominy. fayette accepted, and proceeded to 1 Lam. viii. My fate is frightful, but it is the arrêt of destiny, the Hôtel de Ville, the head-quar- 290, 291; and I must go through with it." Arago still ters of the insurgents, accompa- Hist. xiii. 154, ii. 47, 48; An. insisted, and the conference was still going on, nied by an immense concourse of when officers, covered with dust and blood, Republicans. For a day he had the Blanc, i. 273, came to request reinforcements for the outposts destinies of France in his hands.1 most warmly engaged. "I have none to send During the night the information they rethem," replied the general, in despair; "they ceived from all quarters of Paris as 80. must defend themselves." After a long and to the defeat of the Royalist forces, Interview melancholy conference, Arago withdrew, hav- and the report of Marshal Marmont with M. de ing in vain endeavored to induce as to the impossibility of his main- Semonville 1 Cap. ii. 44, 45; Lam. viii. Marmont to desert his duty, but taining his position at the Tuileries d'Argout. 280, 282; An. leaving him not the less convinced with the small force at his disposal, Hist. xii. 154, that further resistance was hope- opened the eyes of Ministers to their real situaBlane, i. 272. less, and that the last hour of the tion. Orders were dispatched with the utmost monarchy had struck.1 expedition to the regiments of the Guard staThe deputies assembled at the hôtel of M. tioned at Orleans, Rouen, Beauvais, and other Lafitte now no longer hesitated. places, to move instantly on Paris; but this Decisive reso- A deputation they had sent the resolution, which, adopted earlier, might have preceding day, to have a confer- altered the whole course of events, was now ence with Polignac and the Minis- too late: before the directions could even reach ters, had been refused admittance the troops, all was decided. The Ministers were at the Tuileries. It was determined to appear on the point of setting out for St. Cloud to lay no longer as mediators but as principals in the the state of matters before the King, and, if fight, to hoist the tricolor flag, put themselves necessary, tender their resignations, when a at the head of the movement, and close the deputation of four members of the House of door against all reconciliation, by declaring the Peers made their appearance at the gates of the King and his Ministers public enemies. This Tuileries, and in virtue of their privilege as decisive resolution was taken at six in the peers demanded an audience. They were M. morning of the 29th, at the hôtel of M. Lafitte. de Semonville, M. d'Argout, M. de Vitrolles, General Sebastiani alone protested against a and M. de Girardin, who had been at St. Cloud resolution which amounted to a dethronement with the King the evening before, and came of the sovereign. M. Guizot remained silent fortified with his last resolutions. They were and pensive; Lafayette was overjoyed at seeing admitted, accordingly, and painted in the stronthe wishes which he had formed during forty gest colors, and without either circumlocution years so nearly approaching their accomplish- or disguise, the frightful state of the metropoment. Orders were immediately sent to the lis-the entire population in insurrection, the Hotel de Ville to make arrangements for the troops of the line joined to the insurgents, and reception of provisional authorities, and to the the Royal Guard, the last resource of the moninsurgents to prepare for the offensive, and a archy, hemmed in on all sides, and all but made general attack on the position of the Tuileries prisoners in the ancient palace of its kings. on all sides. Meanwhile the Royalist outposts Prince Polignac answered, "The question at which surrounded it, sensible of their weak- issue is the authority of the King and his preness, drew back in all directions; and soon the rogative; in my opinion, the monarchy is lost uniforms of the Guard were to be seen only in the moment a concession is made." These reprethe close vicinity of the Louvre and the palace. sentations, however, which were too obviously Though the successor to the monarchy, or the supported by facts to permit their truth being form of government, was not yet divulged to seriously doubted, had such weight with the the people, they were not the less resolved on Ministers that they consented to take M. de by the leaders of the insurrection. Early in Semonvile and M. d'Argout with them to St. the morning, M. Audry de Puyraveau had been Cloud. Before setting out they called in Mardispatched to request General Lafayette to mont to hear his opinions as to the means of come to Lafitte's. In going there, Audry de defense which yet remained to them. "You Puyraveau met in the Rue d'Artois a number may tell the King," said the marshal, "that of people in a violent state of excitement, to come what may, and though the entire popuwhom M. Mignet exclaimed. "Be quiet, mylation of Paris should rise up against me, I can friends; this evening you will have the Duke hold this position for fifteen days without furof Orleans for your King." Lafayette, how-ther reinforcements. This position is impreg ever, had other views; he had visions of a die-nable." When the party arrived at St. Cloud at nine o'clock, the whole state of affairs was laid before the King; but, trusting to this representation of Marmont, he remained immovable. "Fire!" said M. de Semonville, on taking his leave, "if in an hour the ordonnances are not revoked, there is no longer either a King or a monarchy." "You will surely allow me two hours," replied the King, with polite irony. M. de Semonville upon this threw himself on his knees, and exclaimed, "The Dauphin, sire! think of the Dauphin!" But even this appeal to the sensibility and early recollections of the King failed, and the deputation withdrew without having effected any accommodation. Prince Polignac, in entering the royal cabinet, met M. de Semonville coming out. You have been demanding my head," said he, making, while smiling, the sign 1 Lam. viii. 294, 297; Cap. ii. 52, 55, C6; An. Hist. xiii. 158, 161. 81. the insurgents. 70; Ann. Hist. xiii. 495. seum, from the inner windows of which they opened a plunging fire upon the Swiss, who still remained in the Place of the Carrousel. Upon this, seeing themselves assailed both in front and flank, a sudden panic seized the troops there, and they fled in wild disorder under the arch of the palace into the garden of the Tuileries. By a strange coincidence they passed over the same spot where their predecessors had gloriously fallen on the 10th August, 1792. Marmont, regaining his resolution with the approach of danger, hastened to the rear, which was retiring before the insurgents, did every thing that courage and conduct could1 Lam. viii. suggest to arrest the disorder, and 298, 300; succeeded in restoring some degree of Cap. ii. 67, order, withdrawing the troops in tolerable array into the Champs Ely- 162, 165; of decapitation. "It matters not; Isées. He was the last man who left Lac. iv. 492, was determined the King should hear the garden of the Tuileries.1 my accuser.' This success proved decisive, as a similar adBut while these events were in progress at vantage had invariably done through 82. St. Cloud, matters were so precipi- all the phases of the former Revolu- Decisive ef The Louvre tated at Paris that an accommoda- tion. Since the bones and sinews of fects of this is carried by tion was no longer possible. One France had been broken by the Con- success. by one the whole barracks there, stituent Assembly, by the destruction of the stripped of their defenders, had fallen nobility, the church, and the incorporations, no into the hands of the insurgents; the Hôtel de power has existed in France capable of withVille, where General Dubourg had assumed a standing any party in possession of the capital, fleeting dictatorship, had become their head- its treasury, post-office, and telegraph. They quarters, where General Lafayette was estab- were all soon entirely in the hands of the insurlished; the whole left bank of the Seine oppo-gents. The only posts of importance still ocsite the Tuileries was in their hands; and dense cupied by the royal troops-the Invalides and masses of them, headed by the scholars of the barracks of Babylone, where the Swiss were Polytechnic School, had come close to the artil- located-were evacuated, the latter after a lery of the Guard in the Rue St. Honoré, oppo- severe conflict, in which great numbers of the site the Louvre. Already a sort of parley had gallant defenders perished, and the troops in taken place between them; and the officer in them rejoined their comrades in the Champs command, fearful of taking so strong a step on Elysées. One melancholy event alone darkened his own responsibility, had sent to Marmont to the universal triumph, and cast a tragic yet say his pieces were charged with grape, and heroic air over the fall of the monarchy. A asking if he might fire? He was forbidden to hundred Swiss, placed in a house at the junedo so, and immediately the guns fell into the tion of the Rue de Richelieu and the Rue St. hands of the insurgents. At the same time, the Honoré, who, in the confusion of the retreat, regiment of the Seine, stationed in the Place had been forgotten, defended themselves to the Vendome, opened its ranks to let them into the last, and perished, like their predecessors on garden of the Tuileries. Informed of this shame- the 10th of August, to the last man. Several ful treachery, Marmont ordered M. de Salis, Swiss, betrayed by their uniform, were purwho commanded the two battalions of the Swiss sued and massacred by the people; but with Guard in the Carrousel, to send one of them to these exceptions, which happily were not nuoccupy the important position of the Place Ven- merous, the insurgents made a noble use of their dôme, which barred the great entrance by the victory. They broke, indeed, into the TuilRue de la Paix from the boulevards, which eries, the Louvre, and the palace of the Archwere crowded with insurgents. M. de Salis, bishop of Paris, traversed their stately galleries desirous to relieve the battalions which had and splendid balls, and evinced their hatred of combated since daybreak in the colonnade of royalty by firing at several of the pictures, the Louvre, with the insurgents in and around piercing them with their bayonets, and tearing the church of St. Germains l'Auxerrois opposite, in pieces the gorgeous furniture and decorations gave orders for them to retire, with a view to of the princesses' apartments. The archbishop's their being sent to the Place Vendôme, and an- palace was sacked, and the cellars of the Tuiother in the Carrousel to take their place. Dur-leries emptied of their contents. But, with these ing the transposition the fire from the colon- exceptions, they abstained from acts of pillage; nade ceased for a few minutes, and the insur-they disdained to sully the victory of the people gents opposite, thinking it was a permanent re- by the exhibition of vulgar vices; and the mu treat, rushed with the utmost vehemence across nicipal authorities at the Hótel de Ville took the Place St. Germains l'Auxerrois, and stormed the most vigorous measures to arrest 2 An. Hist. the building. In an instant the windows were the disorder, and preserve the pub- xii. 164, broken through, the gates forced open, the stairs lic monuments from injury. Mean- 167, Lam. mounted, the inner court of the Louvre carried; while the Royal Guard, sad and deand the bravest of the insurgents, forcing their jected, pursued their way under the . 69, 71; way through the interior doors and communi- triumphal arch at the barrier of Neu- Lac. iv. cations, penetrated into the gallery of the Mu-illy, erected to commemorate the glo- 495, 497. 2 viii. 301, 304; Cap. 83. Marmont's first interView with Charles X. port it will triumph over this fresh revolution- ries of their predecessors in the Grand Army; | Crown does not abandon itself, with such supand the regiments of the line, which had joined the insurgents, withdrew to their barracks, amidst external applause and secret shame. Meanwhile Marmont, having stationed his troops in the Bois de Boulogne, where all pursuit and hostilities ceased, galloped across the wood to St. Cloud, to lay the account of his disasters beat St. Cloud. fore the King. "Sire!" said he on July 29. arriving, "it is my painful duty to announce to your majesty, that I have not been able to maintain your authority in Paris. The Swiss, to whom I intrusted the defense of the Louvre, seized with a sudden panic, have abandoned that important post; carried away myself by the torrent of fugitives, I was unable to rally the troops till they arrived at the arch of the Etoile; and I have ordered them to continue their retreat to St. Cloud. A ball, directed at me, has killed the horse of my aidde-camp by my side. I regret it did not pass through my head; death would be nothing to me compared to the sad spectacle which I have witnessed." The King, without addressing a word of reproach to the marshal, raised his eyes to heaven; he recognized the fortune of his race. Then he desired Marmont to take his orders from the Duke d'Angoulême, whom he had appointed generalissimo of his armies. He then directed the Ministers to be called in; and 1 Cap. ii. 70, before they could enter, intelligence 71; Lam. viii. arrived of the final evacuation of 305, 306; Lac. Paris, and retreat of the troops toiv. 503, 504. ward St. Cloud.' 84. The final interview of the King with his Ministers was not of long duration. Delibera- Events had crowded on one another tion in the with such rapidity that there was Council. scarcely any room for doubt or hesitation. The metropolis had been lost, the government changed, the monarchy overthrown, in a single day. Waterloo itself had not been more decisive. The monarch opened the conference by detailing the disastrous news communicated by Marmont, and the concessions pressed upon him by M. de Semonville and M. d'Argout, which were such a capitulation as amounted to a practical abdication of the crown. Struck with consternation, the majority of the Council thought nothing remained but to yield to a force which they had not the means of resisting. M. Guernon de Ranville, though he had counseled an accommodation the evening before, when the victory was still undecided, now, like a true soldier, strongly supported the opposite side. "The throne is overturned, we are told," said he; "the evil is great; but I believe it is exaggerated. I can not believe that the monarchy is to fall without a combat. We must recollect that the deplorable fighting in the streets, which we have witnessed during the last two days, though it has unfortunately caused much blood to flow, does not constitute the energetic resist ance which we are entitled to expect from the best troops in Europe. Happen what may, Paris is not France; the masses may be for a moment deluded by the promises of Liberalism, but they do not desire revolution. The Chambers desire it still less; the majority of the army is still faithful; the Guard, shaken a moment, will soon resume its fitting attitude; if the VOL. II.-M Hist. xiii. misses his These courageous sentiments were strongly supported by the Duke d'Angou- 85. lême. "I regret," said he, "that The King the majority of the Council does submits, disnot go into these ideas. If we are Ministers, reduced to the terrible necessity of and sends for prolonging the strife, we shall find M. de Montenumerous auxiliaries in the fidelity mart. of the provinces; but even if we are abandoned by all-if this sun is to be the last which shines on the monarchy, let us at least dignify our fall by perishing with arms in our hands." Had the King gone into these sentiments he might have preserved the throne, for the insurgents in Paris were powerless out of its streets, and twenty thousand of the Royal Guard, who might speedily have been assembled, would have enabled the Royalists to keep the field till the remainder of the army and the provinces had declared themselves. But, like Louis XVI., he had the resignation of a martyr, not the spirit of a hero. He had the moral courage requisite to undertake bold designs, but not the physical energy necessary for their execution. He discerned, as he thought, the stroke of fate, and prepared to submit with patience to its infliction. Turning to the majority of the Council, who recommended submission, he said, "Do what you think best, my cause is conquered." Upon this the final resolution was taken, and the King signed an ordonnance, revoking the former ordonnances, dismissing the Ministers, and appointing M. de Montemart President of the Council, M. Casimir Perier to the Interior, and General Gérard Minister at War. It was an attempt at capitulation for the monarchy. The Duke d'Angoulême, silent, but quivering with indignation, paced round the table where the signing of the ordonnance was 2 Lam. viii. going on. The Ministers for the last 311, 312 time left the council chamber, with Cap. ii. 70, tears in their eyes and despair in 71 Lac. iv. their hearts.2 504, 505. 86. It belongs to a succeeding volume to recount the important events which at this period took place in Paris, and which Ineffectual prepared the ascent of the Duke of attempt to Orleans, so well known afterward Ministry as LOUIS PHILIPPE, to the throne. A under M. few pages will suffice to narrate in de Montethis the melancholy story of the elder mart. make a on the basis of property and religion, that he 1 Ann. Hist. xiii. 174, 176; 77, 81; Lac. tion. 88. M. de Montemart made a last effort to open negotiations with the revolutionary authorities at the Hôtel de Ville. Last attempt Alone, in a peasant's dress, with his at a negotiacoat over his arm, as if overcome July 31. with the heat, he set out on foot from St. Cloud, passed with difficulty the outposts of the two armies, and succeeded in getting into Paris through a breach made in the wall that surrounds it. But he soon saw there that his mission was fruitless. The tricolor flag floated on the summit of every steeple, every tower, every public edifice; the arms of the King, the ensigns of royalty, were nearly all effaced; no one ventured to mention the name of the Bourbons but as an object of horror and derision; death awaited any man rash enough to propose their restoration. Worn out with fatigue, covered with dust and sweat, M. de Montemart yet feared that he would be recognized, and refused admittance at the Hôtel de Ville, and he gave the revocation of the ordonnances to his friend M. Collin de Sussy, who consequently carried them to that centre of the insurrection. They were received 2 Lam. viii. only with contempt and derision; 330, 332; and M. de Montemart returned to St. Cap. ii. 96, Cloud, convinced by the evidence of 104; Ann. his own senses that the cause of roy- 180, 184. alty was lost.2 branch of the Bourbons, till they left as exiles | secured the Charter on an indestructible fountheir native land. Every hour brought intel- | dation."* It was in the spirit of the Charter, ligence of fresh defections, of the immense agi-and to secure it in future times, by founding it tation in Paris, the insurrection of Versailles and the other towns in the vicinity, of the treachery of new regiments of the line. The Guard alone remained faithful, a glorious example of fidelity and honor amidst the general defection of their companions in arms. M. de Montemart was a nobleman of ancient family, vast possessions, and honorable character, trained to arms, and as brave as steel; but he wanted the political skill and moral resolution to conduct the affairs of the monarchy in the desperate circumstances in which it was now placed. But this was immaterial; had he possessed the talents of Sully, the energy of Henry IV., and the firmness of Cardinal Richelieu, the result would have been the same. The fiat of the Almighty had gone out against the monarchy; nothing remained but to survive the shipwreck. M. de Montemart accepted the perilous mission with the utmost reluctance, and only in obedience to the earnest request and positive mandate of the sovereign. But his mission entirely failed of success. In vain were new ordonnances of a liberal character prepared in haste by the new Minister and sent to the Hôtel de Ville, to negotiate with the Provisional Government there established, of which Lafayette was President. "It is too late," said M. de Schonen, a dependant and intimate friend of Lafayette; "the throne of Charles X. has melted away in blood." In vain the command of the National Guard was offered to Marshal Maison. General Lafayette had already accepted it, and the whole force was by this time arrayed against the monarchy. In vain M. Lafitte, M. Bertin de Vaux, and M. Guizot, and some others, who had become fearful of the rapid progress of the revolution, strove to obtain a hearing for the envoys of the King, and suggested the possibility of still coming to an accommodation. Their voices were drowned by vehement cries from all parts of the hall. "IL EST TROP TARD!-plus de transLam. viii. actions, plus de Bourbons!" broke 320, 326; An. forth on all sides; and M. de Vitrolles and M. d'Argout, who had Cap. ii. 77, come on the mission, returned to St. 81 Lac. iv. Cloud with the conviction that the 506, 509. cause of the monarchy was lost.1 Convinced that it was no longer possible to resist, Charles, on the return of the Completion of envoys, signed an unqualified rethe Revolution vocation of the ordonnances, and at Paris. ordered Prince Polignac, whose July 30. presence at the court was a continual object of jealousy to the revolutionists, to retire from St. Cloud. He had already, in secret, made up his mind that a resignation of the crown had become unavoidable, and he sought time only to be able to fall with dignity and decorum. He abhorred the idea of civil war; he could resign his crown or his life for his people, and what he conceived to be his duty, but he could not be instrumental in shedding their blood. Prince Polignac entirely shared these dispositions. When parting from M. de Montemart at St. Cloud, he pressed his hand, and said, "What a misfortune that my sword has broken in my hand! I would have Hist. xiii. 170, 173; 87. Hist. xiii. lieutenancy. The return of the Duke of Orleans to Paris, which took place on the following 89. day, and the lead which he imme- The Duke of diately acquired among the revolu- Orleans retionists, induced Charles X. to make fuses the a last effort to raise the Crown from the dust. Every thing promised suc- the kingcess to such an attempt. The Duke dom.. had been overwhelmed with acts of July 31. kindness from the royal family; he had him general of * In the estimation of Prince Polignac, the contest in which he had engaged the monarchy was a holy war for the support of religion. In his secret meditations he said, "Avec quelle douleur l'examen de certains dispositions de la Charte, nous a-t-il démontré que la foi de nos peres, que la religion Chrétienne, s'y trouve blessée dans des points sensibles et importants! Tous les cultes également autorisés et protegés peuvent offrir, dans l'état du Roi très-Chrétien, le spectacle d'outrages continuels dirigés contre l'autel du vrai Dieu." With truth does Lamartine observe on this passage, "Là est tout le secret du règne de Charles X. et des ordonnances." It was the ambitious of the whole.-See LAMARTINE, Histoire de la Restauraintolerant spirit of the Romish faith was the moving spring tion, viii, 329, note. self owed the final restoration of his immense and a proclamation to that effect was issued by possessions to Charles X., and he always pro- him. This step, which was in a manner a fessed the most unbounded gratitude surrender of the royal cause, excited the most Ante, for the gift. Every thing conspired violent indignation in the breast of the Duke xii. 4. to recommend to him an alliance with d'Angoulême, who, so far from thinking of the royal family. Their common descent from submitting, was forming plans for the defense Louis XIII.; the cause of the throne, to which, of the strong position of St. Cloud, where he failing Henry V., he was the next heir; the proposed to rally the whole Royal Guard, call noble feeling of disinterested loyalty; the self- upon the troops from the camps of St. Omer and ish principle of individual interest-all tended Nancy, and with their united force, eight-andto recommend it. Charles X. offered him the thirty thousand strong, march again upon Paris, lieutenancy-general of the kingdom, in order to and restore the royal authority in the capital. guard the Crown during his minority for the Such was the indignation of the prince at what Duke de Bordeaux, in whose favor the King he conceived to be the treachery of the marshal and the Duke d'Angoulême offered to renounce that he openly called him a traitor, and in atit. Had he accepted the mission, his descend- tempting to snatch from him his sword, woundants would in all probability have sat upon the ed himself in the hand. Marmont was immethrone of France, for the Duke de Bordeaux diately put under arrest; but the King, trained to this day has no heirs, and the Orleans family to endure suffering, and more master of his pashas ever since been the first in the order of suc- sions, soon after ordered him to be set at libercession. The simple course of honor and of ty, and restored his sword to him. This violent duty would have secured for himself, in the scene, however, and the near approach of the first instance, the substantial power and im- revolutionary forces, which were now close to portance of royalty; for his children, the in- St. Cloud, induced the monarch to withdraw heritance of the crown of France. But he re- himself to Trianon, where he assembled a counfused the offer; he yielded to the whisperingscil of his former Ministers, as M. de Montemart of ambition; he swerved from the cause of duty under the attractions of a diadem, and he was elevated to greatness only to be punished by losing it. He lost the crown for his rightful sovereign, but he lost its reversion also for his descendants; he died discrowned in a foreign land, and his children, now exiles, and destitute, having lost their property, their honors, their inheritance, remain a lasting monument, Lam. viii. not of the mutability of fortune, 356, 358; but of the immutability of the laws Chateaub. of justice in the Divine administraix. 314, 315. 90. tion. 2* The failure of the attempt to enlist the Duke of Orleans among the supporters of the royal cause, and the increasing pressure of the revolutionary forces, induced Marmont to enter into a sort of capitulation for the royal troops, in virtue of which hostilities were immediately to cease between them, Violent scene between the Duke d'Angoulême and Marmont. In making these observations, the Author is well aware of the many extenuating circumstances which may be pleaded in favor of the Duke of Orleans' defection from the throne; and it will appear in the next volume, when his accession comes to be narrated, that full weight is given to them. But he can admit no paltering with honor and duty; treason is not the less treason though it may be less condemned because it succeeds. If the maxim be true,"Noblesse oblige," under what obligation did he lie, who, the second in descent of the noblest family in Europe, was at the same time the first subject in France, and the largest recipient of the royal munificence? The readiness with which the French in every age have rallied round the standard of success, renders it probable that, even in the first instance, a cordial union of the Royal and Orleans branches of the house of Bourbon would have secured the throne for both. But even had it been otherwise, what would have been the result in the end of an adherence to the path of honor and duty? Suppose that the torrent of republicanism had been so violent, that in the first instance it was irresistible, and that the Duke of Orleans joined the royal cause only to share its fall, what would have suceeeded? A republic so oppressive, so absurd, so ruinous, that it would have run the course of madness, extravagance, and detestation, as quickly as it did when erected on the ruins of the Orleans dynasty in 1818. And when the inevitable hour of its fall came, in what a different situation would the united Royalist and Orleans parties, the cause of the white flag, then sans peur et sans reproche, have been from what it now is disunited, at variance, discredited, supplanted by the Imperial party, the common enemy of both! had not yet returned from Paris, and had not 1 Lam. viii. 186, 187. Charles arrived at Rambouillet fully determined to abdicate for himself in favor 91. of his grandson; he preferred any Abdication of thing to the horrors and chances of Charles X. a civil war. He recognized in his August 1. reverses the chastising hand of Providence, and he determined to submit in silence and resignation to the infliction of its punishment. The Duke d'Angoulême was strongly of an opposite opinion, and preferred the chances of a conflict, but, submissive in all things to the will of his father, he waived his opposition. On the following morning, accordingly, the king assembled his family around him, and announced his intention of abdicating in favor of his grandson, the Duke de Bordeaux, as his son, the Duke d'Angoulême, shared his sentiments, and renounced his right of succession to the throne. He intimated this resolution in a letter to the "RAMBOUILLET, 2 Aout, 1830. "Je suis trop profondément peine de maux qui affligent ou qui pourraient menacer mes peuples pour n'avoir pas cherché un moyen de les prévenir. J'ai donc pris la résolution d'abdiquer la couronne en faveur de mon petitfils; le Dauphin, qui partage mes sentimens, renonce aussi à ses droits en faveur de son neveu. Vous aurez donc, en votre qualité de Lieutenant-Général du Royaume, à faire proclamer l'avènement de Henri V. à la couronne. Vous prendrez d'ailleurs toutes les mesures qui vous concernent |
