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ish and calculating atrocity, regarding which comment would be superfluous; and in the difficulties he starts to this moral" project, it will be observed that not even a thought is bestowed on the "oppressed nations :”—

"But (only) three things stood in the way to prevent the adoption of a vigorous policy,-the form of the new government, the personal character of the King, and the instincts and interests of the dominant class," in France.

with Napoleon! whilst the enemy was knocking at the gates of the capital.

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"The obstacles, therefore, to the adoption of a French, and a thoroughly revolutionary policy, did not exist in Europe, they existed in France. Nevertheless, even without stepping out of the narrow sphere to which a constitutional monarchy confined the revolution of July, the new dynasty might have carved out for itself an independent and original course in Europe, had it been happily inspired. Louis Philippe might have said to the powers, 'In the name of the French bourgeoisie, of which I am the rep"That a government may act powerfully resentative, I adhere to the territorial arrangewithout, its action must be unshackled within. ments stipulated by the treaties of 1815, and I It is granted only to firmly-seated aristocracies, repudiate every idea of conquest. I pledge like that of England, or to absolute kings, like myself, moreover, to set up a permanent barrier Louis XIV., or to vigorously constituted democ- against the torrent of revolution. But in order racies, like that of the Convention, to conceive that I may fulfil this twofold mission, it is esgreat enterprises, and follow them out to the sential that the principles by virtue of which I end. The representative monarchy, such as it am King, shall acquire force and authority in had come forth from the revolution, left two Europe. I cannot bridle democratic and conrival powers at the summit of society, whose quering France, without the help of constitumutual hostility left them without force, except tional Europe. My cause being identical with for their mutual destruction. Hence arose a that of the bourgeoisie, I cannot long count on tendency to oscillation incompatible with the its sympathies at home, unless I make its docspirit of consistency and systematic inflexibility, trines and its interests triumphant abroad. In essential to the accomplishment of vast designs. proclaiming that all governments were responBy limiting the royal power, by subjecting all sible to and for each other, the Holy Alliance the details of its existence to rigorous con- laid down a just principle, of which it only retrol, by giving it a turbulent assembly to sub-mains to make an application, conformable to mit to, to combat, or to corrupt, the constitutional form placed the head of the state in a difficult position; it forced him to sacrifice every-tained the upper hand in France; it may easily thing to the desire of preserving his crown. A prince who holds the sceptre in reserve for his son, cannot have a due degree of self-denial and daring: even though he be not selfish as a man, he will be as a father: such is the vice of hereditary governments. But how much more serious is this inconvenience, when the throne is, so to speak, cast into the midst of a perpetual tempest."

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The position of Louis Philippe, and the course he ought to have pursued, are thus described::

"So, then, Louis Philippe was by character, and by position, but the first bourgeois in his kingdom. Now, the bourgeoisie was in no way tempted by the lustre of heroic adventures. Composed in part of bankers, shop-keepers, manufacturers, stockholders and proprietors, men of peace and ready to conceive alarm, it was nervously alive to the fear of unforeseen contingencies. The greatness of France was for it another name for war; and in war it beheld only the interruption of commercial relations, the fall of this or that branch of trade, the loss of markets, failures and bankruptcies. No change had they known, these men, who in 1814, and again in 1815, had shouted, Down

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the course of events and ideas. The constitu-, tional principle exists in England; it has just ob

be introduced into Spain, Portugal, Italy and Belgium; it aspires to be perfected in Germany. Well, then, in the name of bourgeois France, which has placed the crown on my head, I offer my support to the bourgeoisie in all the countries of Europe, and I offer the alliance of France, and the peace of the world, as the price of the adoption of the constitutional principle."

So then France, which since 1789 had gone through all degrees, from the lowest depths of anarchy to the most absolute despotism; whose attempts at the establishment of her own liberties had been productive of scenes which cannot be called to remembrance without a shudder, and which had so terribly recoiled upon herself, was to be the sovereign arbitress of the destinies of Europe, whose countries she had devastated, and whose population she had wasted with fire and sword, at the uncontrolled will of the man who had put down her own attempts at freedom! The adoption of French principles was to be the price of the peace of the world! But even this would not suffice.

"This language certainly would not have

been the adequate expression of all the noble |
passions, or of all the legitimate interests of
France; but it was the only language that
could have been held becomingly and judici-
ously, in a monarchical and bourgeois point of
view. Had war broken out in this case, royalty
would have found support within and without;
it would have engaged in its favor the popu-
larity acquired by a show of energy; and far
from exposing itself to the assaults of the demo-
cratic spirit, it would have turned its own wea-
pons against it."

These, however, were not the views of the successful parties to the revolution of 1830, nor of the government that arose from it, which for more than seventeen years preserved peace in Europe, although at times hardly pressed by a party clamorous for war.

No sooner had the King become seated on the throne, and the confusion incident to the short struggle ceased, than political clubs were organized in considerable numbers, among which the republicans were the most prominent. Insubordination and political prosecutions commenced with the reign. The Chamber of Peers was made a tribunal for the trial of political offenders, which gave to it an unfortunate degree of unpopularity; for hereditary descent having been abolished, the peers were looked upon as mere instruments of the crown; and the accused were thought, by their partisans, not so much brought to trial, as delivered over to their enemies for the purpose of punishment. The republicans soon began to increase in numbers and boldness, and their plans to be laid for an early outbreak. | By the month of December following the revolution, they had become formidable, although their leaders as yet wanted experience. They had contrived to effect for themselves a strong position in the National Guard, and fully aware that their strength would suffer from a dispersion, they confined themselves principally to the artillery of that body, distinct portions of which were said to be under their control. The disaffection of a part of that force was manifest at the trial of the ministers of Charles X., when the populace, indignant at the leniency of the sentence, seemed resolved on an émeute; but the firmness of a majority and the presence of the troops of the line, brought the disaffected to prudence, and the intended rising was thus prevented.

At a subsequent period they obtained a

footing among the regular soldiery, and their clubs, which at first had been unconnected, became in regular and constant communication; and from the head-quarters at Paris, delegates were sent to various provincial towns, particularly to Lyons, a place where the elements of revolt appear to exist in an eminent degree. On the 2d of January, 1832, Armand Carrel, in the National, pronounced openly for a republic, and a few days after Garnier Pages entered the Chamber of Deputies as an avowed advocate of those principles; and from this time, although considerable irresolution was manifest in their actions, perhaps the result of prudence, they were no longer without leaders of reputation.

We have thus attempted an account of the rise of the party which has lately assumed the direction of affairs in France, but our limits will not afford space to trace them through their numerous risings and the prosecutions which followed; nor can we pursue the policy of the other parties in the state up to the time of the late change; but must be content with stating that in the early period of his reign, Louis Philippe appeared to act on the principle of attempting to conciliate the various existing parties; which policy was changed for one more vigorous, and by which internal commotions were thought to have been put down by force. During these two periods the throne had the support of the party by whom it was established, but this apparent union vanished on the restoration of tranquillity, and the difference of views and opinions entertained by its various sections, led to its disorganization, and to parliamentary and wordy conflicts which increased in bitterness and exasperation until at last they brought about the recent revolution.

For a considerable period prior to February last, the opposition or liberal party had been engaged in a grand movement for the extension of the electoral franchise. Meetings had been held in various parts of the country, under the name of Reform banquets, and great demonstrations were made for the purpose of effecting the proposed change. The King and the government, however, were firm in their resistance, and they were supported by a majority in the Chambers. To overcome this resistance, and to awe the government into com

pliance with the popular will, a "Monster Banquet" was advertised to take place in Paris, by parties at whose head was M. Odillon Barrot. This the government decided not to permit, and at the same time gave public intimation of their intention to test its legality, by prosecuting the leaders. A correspondence ensued, which ended in a sort of agreement by which the banquet was to take place nominally, for the purpose of having the question settled by the legal tribunals. After this a programme was issued by which it appeared a procession was to be formed lined on each side by National Guards, ranged in military divisions, but without arms; upon which the government peremptorily forbid the banquet, and prepared to enforce their determination by military power. The greatest excitement was caused by these measures; scenes of disorder and tumult succeeded; Paris became in a state of revolt; the National Guard were indisposed to act against the people, and soon openly "fraternised" with the rioters, and the troops of the line refused to be brought into collision with the National Guard. Thus deserted by the power on which he had relied for support, Louis Philippe was placed at the mercy of the Parisians.

It is certain that Odillon Barrot, who was the head and front of the reform movement, had not the remotest idea of overturning the throne; indeed, he did not belong to the Republican party. His desires, and those of the men who acted with him, were limited to the downfall of the existing ministry, and the formation of one which would pass a large measure of Parliamentary Reform. So soon as the pressure had compelled the King to dismiss the Guizot ministry, and charge MM. Thiers and Odillon Barrot with the formation of a cabinet, they rode through the streets of Paris, entreating the populace to disperse, and lay down their arms, as the reason for the outbreak was at an end; but they had now another enemy to encounter, and for whom they were evidently unprepared. The Republicans, who, as we have seen, from their small beginning in 1830, had been gradually extending their numbers and effecting their organization, had long been waiting for a favorable opportunity to seize upon the government. They had joined in the émeute, as

VOL. II. NO. I. NEW SERIES.

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they would have done in any other outbreak against the existing order of affairs; and, seeing the King and his advisers completely powerless before the popular demonstration, they threw themselves with energy and boldness into the movement, and their superior audacity and decision soon insured them the victory. King, finding his authority had passed away, submitted to abdicate; and his resignation in favor of the next heir to the throne, was borne by Odillon Barrot to the Chamber of Deputies. But the power and influence of that body was likewise at an end: an armed mob of citizens and National Guards, headed by Lamartine, Garnier Pagès, and other leaders of the Republicans, drove the Deputies from the chamber, and, assuming to act for the people, declared the dismissal of Louis Philippe and his race. This tumultuous assemblage, possessing no authority except such as was derived from their own will, denounced the proposed regency, as being without legal sanction or warrant, and then forthwith themselves nominated a Provisional Government.

The persons who composed the government thus provisionally established, entertained at first a moderate and just view of the powers which they had assumed. On the day following their installation, they issued a decree, stating:-"The Provisional Government desires a Republic, pending the ratification of the French people, who are to be immediately consulted. Neither the people of Paris, nor the Provisional Government, desire to substitute their opinion for the opinions of the citizens at large, upon the definite form of government which the national sovereignty shall proclaim." Of course, after this it would be naturally supposed, that until some expression of the will of France had become known, the duties of the Provisional Government, and its action, would be restricted to such temporary measures as were necessary for the safety and welfare of the nation; and that all changes of a permanent nature, either in its foreign. relations or domestic concerns, and more particularly the form of government to be adopted, would be left to the decision of the citizens at large, through their elected representatives. But such was not the policy of those who held the reins of power,

It was soon determined that, by an act of boldness, the country should be committed, for revolutions are not of every day occurrence, and success is oftener attained by temerity than moderation; consequently, on the same day it was decreed, "Royalty is abolished. The Republic is proclaimed!" On the succeeding day, to reconcile what by some might be deemed an inconsistency between the two, a third decree appeared from the same source, by which "The sovereign people" are made to "Declare, that the government having betrayed its trust, is de facto and de jure dissolved! Consequently, the people resume the full exercise of their sovereignty," &c.; and on the day following, a fourth decree made known, that "Royalty, under whatever form it assumes, is abolished. No more legitimacy-no more Bonapartism-no regency. The Republic is proclaimed! The people are united!" If, after this, any doubt could be entertained that those who had thus seized upon the government had determined the form it should permanently assume, and that the representatives of the people were to be restricted to a confirmation of the edict of the Provisional Government; such doubt is dispelled on reading the somewhat theatrical programme of the ceremonies, by which the installation of that body was to be celebrated, as laid down by the Provisional Government, who, "considering that the principle of equality implies a uniformity of costume for citizens appointed to perform the same functions, decrees:-The representatives of the people shall wear a black coat, a white waistcoat with lappels, black colored pantaloons, and a tri-colored silk scarf, ornamented with gold fringe. They shall attach to the button-hole on the left side of their coats, a red ribbon, on which shall be embroidered the fasces of the Republic:" and after directing the mode of proceeding to be adopted at the first meeting, so soon as the officers of the Assembly should have been appointed, it decreed, that "The President" (of the Assembly) "will then rise and say, 'Representatives of the people, in the name of the Republic, one and indivisible, the National Assembly is definitively constituted. Vive la République !"

Thus the representatives of the nation

found a form of government ready made to their hands. M. Lamartine stated to them, that "the government had not proclaimed the Republic, it had merely ratified the choice of that form of government by the people." But this statement is utterly inconsistent with the fact; for, as we have seen, the decree declaring the establishment of a Republic, was promulgated on the first day of the existence of the Provisional Government, and when no expression of the people's will had been made. The tumultuous assembly which filled the Chamber of Deputies was not so much an expression of the national will, as the late demonstration under Barbès and Blanqui, against the National Assembly, as the latter had greatly the advantage in point of numbers, and their intention was so well known that the public were not taken by surprise.

Those who raised Louis Philippe to the throne are described as "Men who had received their warrant from themselves alone, installed themselves at the Hotel de Ville, as representatives of the Provisional Government; and, in that capacity, they parodied the majesty of command, signed orders, distributed employments, and conferred dignities." These had, indeed, some show of authority, for they had been elected. members of the Chamber of Deputies: with how much more force, then, do these remarks apply to those who by the assistance of a few armed followers, selected from a population in a state of anarchy and confusion, without even the form or shadow of election, had elevated themselves to the supreme command. The fact is, that after the outbreak had extended to a revolution, and for some days following, there was no real expression of public opinion, even in Paris; the armed insurgents were urged not to quit their weapons-to maintain their revolutionary attitude; the fear of reaction was constantly held out to stimulate their activity, and new military forces were organized, exclusively from the lower classes, to hold in check the National Guard, and the middle and the higher classes, whose approval of the Republic was doubted. By these means opposition was effectually prevented, and the discontented awed into silence. The influence of the National Guard, which then amounted to over forty thousand,

was soon destroyed by adding to its ranks double that number of men, who were out of employ, and depended on the government for daily support; while upwards of a hundred thousand workmen employed, or rather supported in idleness, in the ateliers nationaux, were at the service of the men in power.

We think a sufficient proof of the upper, the middle and the trading classes in France not being then in favor of a Republic, may be deduced from the declaration which was assiduously put forth, that the revolution of 1830 was the work of the bourgeoisie, who alone were benefited by it, whilst the recent change being brought about by the people, to them belonged the fruits of victory. The immediate appointment of M. Louis Blanc, and M. Albert, ostentatiously styled 'ouvrier,' as the heads of a board for the organization of labor, together with the significant hints about the unequal distribution of property, and the direct attacks made against it, point to the same intention. The distinction between the bourgeosie and the people has ever since been industriously kept alive, and to M. Blanc we are indebted for a definition of these two classes:-"By bourgeoisie, I mean the whole body of citizens, who, possessing implements of labor or capital, work with means of their own, and are not dependent on others except to a certain extent. The people is the whole body of citizens, who, not possessing capital, depend completely on others, and that in what regards the prime necessaries of life.”

Nevertheless it is our firm conviction, that the great majority of the French nation acquiesced in the Republic, and have no desire for a further change; but the circumstances attending its establishment are of very material importance, in attempting to form a just opinion as to its stability and continuance. To have attempted, at that juncture, to form any other government, would have led to the most disastrous scenes of civil war, rapine and bloodshed; and the greatest credit is due to the Provisional Government for the wonderful manner in which internal order has been preserved, while at the same time amicable relations were established and peace preserved with foreign nations, at a period when those results appeared impossible. Nor must we forget the peo

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ple, who, with arms in their hands, and without any control, exhibited a respect for private property, that will ever be a just source of pride to every Frenchman, and which, under the circumstances, is without parallel in history. But notwithstanding the ability of its rulers, and the just sentiments of the people, the success of the Republic depends entirely upon the principles upon which it is to be embodied and conducted. By these alone will its stability or its downfall be insured; and it is with regret we perceive its existence at present threatened by two immense evils.

The revolution is equally social and political; indeed, with regard to its internal affairs, the reconstruction of society appears to have been the end, and the political change the means by which it was to be brought about. Capital (that is, property) and labor were set up as being naturally antagonistic and enemies of each other. The term bourgeois, signifying the possessor of property, large or small in amount, was used as a term of reproach. Louis Blanc, an ultra radical and destructive of the most dangerous character, was charged by the government with the task of arranging the relations of laborer and employer. While trade was in a state of utter and hopeless stagnation, wages were raised by decree, and multitudes were taken into public pay, nominally as workmen, and were supported without labor, or performed just so much work as they chose, upon objects almost useless or entirely unprofitable. This was undoubtedly unavoidable, at the moment, but among the working classes, whose expectations of immediate benefit have been raised to an extravagant height by "social reformers," it will create an invidious and false idea of the relative remuneration to be obtained from employment being dependent on the government alone, or obtainable from private individuals.

An employé, to whom a company of laborers from the national workshops had been sent, for the purpose of cutting wood in one of the forests of the State, reports: "In twenty days their wages amounted to 10,000 francs. I was curious to ascertain exactly the value of the work. It was 302 francs." And a manufacturer, who was so fortunate as to procure a large order for

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