forth from royal audience, during the six weeks between the close of the elections and the resignation of Villèle; and during the whole of the next two years they remained on the watch, while a weak and incompetent Ministry was kept in, only by consent of all parties, because no party could put in a set of men of its own. During this period, minds and affairs were ripening for the great struggle to come; and everybody, unless it were the royal family, was aware that, though little appeared to be done, the time was not lost.

The chief signs of the times were, first, the introduction of an impeachment of Villèle, which was allowed to stand over from the session of 1828 to the next, in order to prevent his return to office; a proceeding of which he and his master could not complain, as the delay was reasonably accounted for by their frustration of all attempts to obtain the evidence required. Next, the continually growing proof of the impoverished condition of the people engaged in labor and trade; and, again, the introduction of more Liberals into office and the Chamber,

a sure token

of change; and the more, because it was achieved by a coalition for a crisis between the Liberals and the Ultra-royalists.

Among those who were on the watch during all this time was Prince he by whom England was brought into relation with Polignac. this great French quarrel. Prince Jules de Polignac has been mentioned as the French ambassador in London, who was a party to the Treaty of London in regard to Greece. Prince Polignac was one of those men about whom neither the world at large, nor any one in it, knows how to be moderate, the accomplished, narrow-minded, strong-minded, conscientious oppressor, whom the oppressed hate with extremity of hatred, and whom his associates respect and regard as a man of sincerity, conscience, and loyalty. The people of France lived in incessant mistrust of him, and dread lest he should not remain in London. The King of England and the Duke of Wellington entertained a cordial admiration and a strong personal friendship for him; and his own sovereign was attached to him as to a faithful and able adherent and champion. At the beginning of 1829, the Count de Ferronay, the French Foreign Minister, the most respected and trusted of the weak Ministry then existing, was compelled by illness to retire from office; and immediately Prince Polignac appeared in Paris. It was reported that he had been secretly sent for; that, if he could be got into office, he was gradually to restore the Villèle policy; and with one intolerable aggravation, that he was to work out in France the pleasure of the Tory Ministry of England. The hated Wellington, who had brought back the Bourbons, and in this had helped to impose the tyranny under which the French nation groaned, was now about to impose a

friend and fellow-conspirator of his own upon France, and to rule the struggling nation with the rod of the Holy Alliance. If the French King and Ministry had hoped to bring in Prince Polignac, they found it would not do for this time. The ministers themselves threatened to resign, if the Prince came in as the nominee of the King. So Prince Polignac returned to London, after having made a speech of self-defence in the Chamber against the accusations of the newspapers. But he was not absent long. He was seen in Paris in July, a few days before the ominous close of the session of the Chambers; and, on the 8th of August, the publication of some royal ordinances made known to the world the formation of what will be for ever called the Polignac Ministry, though the Prince's office was at first only that of Foreign Minister. The transactions, from the time of his appointment to the stormy close of the year, were such as might well disturb the feeble and anxious mind of the King of England, sinking, as he was, daily deeper in disease, in his close retirement at Windsor. The caricatures of the day, whose authors were probably not aware how ill he was, represented him as going, under pretence of fishing, to weep at Virginia Water, which spread out, by means of that influx, to a lake of handsome size. He certainly never was more reasonable than in his apprehensions for Polignac and for France, his ideas of the welfare of France being what they were.

1

It is not now easy to decide what were the principles on which the Polignac Ministry intended, in the first instance, to Polignac govern. When, in September, the people, indignant Ministry. at the government practice of tampering with their Chamber, and thus procuring revenue by means of taxes decreed by creatures of government, formed associations for purposes of resistance to illegal taxation, the Polignac Ministry made bitter complaints of misconstruction and unfair prejudgment. "Judging by the newspapers," said the ministers, in the "Moniteur" of the 19th of September, "the government dreams only of coups d'état, and contemplates the overthrow of the charter.... Those who say such things know very well, that the ministers, unless they had lost all common sense, could not conceive the bare idea of violating the charter, and substituting a government by ordinances for that of the laws. Such men know also, that, if the ministers desired ever so much a method of government like this, the King would, on the first hint of such a system, thrust them out of power, out of that power which he has confided to them, in his name and under their responsibility, to govern according to the laws." The only question, with regard to these protestations, is whether they were weak or wicked. If Prince

1 Annuaire, 1829, p. 273.

Polignac really intended in September to govern only according to law, and to cherish the charter, the King and Prime Minister of England need not be ashamed of their friendship for him then; but they must have wholly cast him off from their respect and regard, when, in a few months, he had falsified all his professions. The French people believed nothing that he said. They expected from him exactly that which he did. The newspapers told their opinions and anticipations very plainly. While almost the whole journalist press of Paris reviled the Ministry from day to day, that of London praised it and exulted in it, with a fervor so strange and so unanimous, that it was no wonder that the friendship of the two administrations became a subject of suspicion to the sensitive and unhappy people of France, and that they gave the name of "the Wellington Ministry" to the Polignac Cabinet. One of the very few English journals which thought ill of the new French Ministry, from first to last, was the "Examiner;" and among its remarks at the time are these: “There seems to be this peculiarity about the new French Ministry, that those who know least of it approve it most. London journals, with a few exceptions, have been in raptures with it, while the French are hurling upon it a storm of the bitterest displeasure. . . . Why the Ministry should be found good in the eyes of the English Whigs and Radicals is more strange than that it should be overcharged with ill in the representations of the French liberaux. Our neighbors, indeed, style it a Tory Ministry; and, because the Duke of Wellington's original Tory Ministry has worked better than could have been expected for us, it is supposed that Tory ministers, all over the world, must have a similar operation. A Tory Ministry cured our state of bigotry, but it may happen to kill the liberality of France. We cannot, also, but give our neighbors credit for knowing more of their own affairs than we do; and the common sentiment of the intelligent on the other side of the water seems decidedly inimical to the new Administration.” 1

The

The protestations of the Ministry were scarcely issued before their authors began to show what they were worth. They renewed their war against the press. M. Bertin, responsible editor of the "Journal des Débats," was prosecuted for the following words, which appeared in his paper on the accession of the new Ministry: "The bond of affection and confidence which united the monarch with the people is broken. Unhappy France! unhappy King!" On these words a charge was founded of offence against the King's person and authority, on the ground that any impeachment of the King's judgment in choosing his ministers was an attack on his authority; and any decla

1 England's Seven Administrations, i. p. 227.

ration, that there was no longer love between the King and his people, or between the people and their King, was an offence against his person. The courts of Paris were above trifling like this. After a deliberation of three hours as to the form of the judgment, the conclusion was, that M. Bertin was acquitted; because, "however improper might be the expressions of the article complained of, and however contrary to the moderation which should be preserved in discussing the acts of the government, they did not constitute actionable offences against the royal person or dignity."1 Silence within the Court had been enjoined: but the acclamations with which the judgment was received were deafening; and they were caught up by the crowds outside, who soon, by their shouts, let all Paris know the result of the trial.

the

Meantime, the Cabinet was not strong in itself. Hitherto, the King or the Dauphin had presided at Council: but both became weary of the dissensions and weakness which they were compelled to witness; and Prince Polignac was made President of the Council. Upon this, the best, in their opinion, most Ultra-royalist of the ministers, Labourdonnaye,- withdrew. And now the consequences of a bad season had to be met, in addition to other difficulties. Wet and cold weather had materially injured all the crops in the country; the manufacturers' stocks were large, and a multitude of people, therefore, unemployed, when the winter set in early, and with great severity. What would Polignac, whose head was full of old feudal ideas, do for the modern farming and manufacturing France? What would he do- and this was the most anxious question to himself with the Chambers? The Chamber of Deputies was hostile; but to resort to a new general election could only make matters worse. It is believed, that even now, on the eve of meeting the Chambers, he was undecided as to whether he would satisfy himself by merely putting down journalism,-not seeing that journalism was now an expression of the national will, whether he would supersede the electoral laws by royal ordinances, in order to obtain a Chamber which would work to his liking. Whatever might be in his mind, the fact of the case was, that the monarchy and the national liberties were now brought face to face for their decisive conflict, and that Prince Polignac was not aware of it.

or

Early in January, 1830, the King issued a notice to the Chambers to meet on the 2d of March. From this Summons to it was supposed that the representative part of the the ChamState was safe for the present. But there was evidently no improvement in the temper of the royal and governing

1 Annuaire, 1829, p. 281.

bers.

Day.

1

clique. When the President of the Court which had acquitted M. Bertin went, according to custom, to offer to the King and New-Year's royal family the usual wishes for the new year, he met with a reception which showed, that, in France as in England, the first gentleman in the empire could lose his goodmanners in personal pique. The upright judge, M. Seguier,who had asserted the function of his court in the memorable words, "The Court gives judgments, and not services," - offered his congratulations to the King, with an expression of satisfaction in the privilege of a yearly audience to tender these wishes. The stern reply of the King was, "that he desired the magistrates of the Court never to forget the important duties they had to fulfil, and to render themselves worthy of the marks of confidence they had received from their King." As for the royal ladies, the only word they had to give in reply to similar congratulations was, " Pass on ;" and all the courtiers behaved to the judges exactly after the manner of the royal family. Childish as this appears in the reading, it was of vast importance at the time, as showing that the government could not tolerate the independent administration of justice, the most fatal of all symptoms.

Throughout February the newspapers contained articles which hinted, or said plainly, that men were now driven to revive the old question, what France had gained by the return of the Bourbons, and whether she could prosper better under some other dynasty. Of course, the prosecutions of the journals were unremitting, and the sentences were often severe: but the more fines were imposed, the larger were the subscriptions to pay them; and the more men went to prison, the more volunteers appeared to carry on their work outside.

speech.

On the 2d of March, the King, surrounded by the royal famiKing's ly, met the Chambers. There was more than ordinary pomp and gravity observable in the proceedings. It was remarked, and afterwards told, in every home in France, that, when the King set his foot on the step of the throne, he dropped his hat, which was picked up by the Duke of Orleans, and presented by him, kneeling on one knee. The speech was listened to with breathless eagerness; and, up to the last paragraph, it gave nothing but satisfaction. It told of peace abroad, of a good state of the finances, of fidelity to the charter; but the last paragraph ruined every thing. In it the King called upon the Peers to aid him in governing the country well; expressed his trust in them to repudiate wicked insinuations; and declared that if obstacles to his government should arise which he could not, and did not choose to foresee, he should find strength to

1 Annuaire, 1830, p. 2.