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[Illustration: _H.M. Louis Philippe, King of the French_
_1841_]
ENGLAND AND THE
ORLEANS MONARCHY
BY
MAJOR JOHN HALL
AUTHOR OF "THE BOURBON RESTORATION"
"The history of the day before yesterday is the
least known, it may be said, the most forgotten,
by the public of to-day."
GUIZOT, _Mémoires_, viii. p. 515
WITH A PORTRAIT
LONDON
SMITH, ELDER & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE
1912
_All rights reserved_
PRINTED BY
WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED
LONDON AND BECCLES
TO
S. H.
PREFACE
In this volume the story is told of the first _entente cordiale_ and
of the circumstances which led to its disruption. The questions which
occupied the attention of the French and the British governments at
that period have now passed into the domain of history. The resentment
evoked by the Egyptian crisis of 1840 and the controversies raised by
the Spanish marriages has died away. The attitude towards the Liberal
and national movements in Europe, adopted, on the one side, by Louis
Philippe and M. Guizot and, on the other, by Lord Palmerston, can, at
this distance of time, be reviewed dispassionately. In the light of
the knowledge of to-day, the difficulties which beset the "Citizen
King" may be estimated, and the injustice of many of the attacks made
upon the policy of Palmerston can be demonstrated.
Researches in the diplomatic correspondence of the period, both in
London and in Paris, have enabled me to place in print, for the first
time, many documents bearing upon the part played by Talleyrand in
the Belgian question and upon the secret policy of Louis Philippe
in the same affair. In these pages some new light has, I venture to
think, been thrown upon the situation in Spain during the regencies
of Christina and Espartero, and during the early years of the
rule of Isabella. In connection, also, with Palmerston's Eastern
policy, certain facts, hitherto unpublished, are now presented for
consideration.
During the eighteen years covered by this volume the Whigs were, for
the greater part of the time, in office. Amidst the Russells, the
Greys, the Spencers and the other powerful Whig families Palmerston
was an interloper. Nor was he ever a Whig. In external affairs he
remained always a _Canningite_. Some of the worst miscalculations of
Louis Philippe and his ministers were due to their inability to grasp
the fact that the foreign policy of the Whigs was in the hands of
the most "un-Whiggish" of statesmen. The period was one of political
unrest, the precursor of great wars and revolutions. France was
disenchanted and profoundly dissatisfied with her "Citizen King." In
Germany and Italy Metternich still maintained his system, but there
were symptoms that the end of his long rule was fast approaching. In
Spain the transition from autocracy to constitutionalism coincided
with a fiercely disputed succession to the throne. Turkey, in the
words of Nicholas, was "the sick man of Europe."
J. H.
_Sept., 1912._
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
LOUIS PHILIPPE
PAGES
The Revolution of July, 1880--Louis Philippe--Louis
Philippe and the military democratic party--First
communications with the Sovereigns 1-13
CHAPTER II
THE POWERS AND THE CITIZEN KING
Effect of the Revolution of July in England--Character and
system of Metternich--The _chiffon de Carlsbad_--Metternich's
policy towards the Germanic Confederation and
Prussia--Hostility of Tsar Nicholas to the new _régime_ in
France--Revolution at Brussels--Talleyrand in London--France
proclaims the principle of non-intervention--The Duchesse de
Dino and the Comte de Montrond--Great Britain proposes that
the Belgian question be submitted to a conference--Molé and
Talleyrand--Change of government in France and England 14-39
CHAPTER III
THE CREATION OF BELGIUM
The Whigs in office--Talleyrand insists upon the necessity
of establishing a good understanding with England--Palmerston's
distrust of the French Liberals--State of Europe--Revolution
at Warsaw--"The Frenchmen of the North"--Belgium declared
independent and neutral--Candidates for the Belgian
throne--Bresson and Ponsonby at Brussels--British government
will treat as a case for war the enthronement of a French
prince--Flahaut in London--Lawoëstine at Brussels--The
Duc de Nemours elected King of the Belgians--Critical
situation--Louis Philippe declines the throne for his
son--Proceedings of Bresson--Anger of Talleyrand--Casimir
Périer forms a government--War in Poland and insurrection
in the Papal States--The Austrians at Bologna--Leopold of
Saxe-Coburg--Dissatisfaction of the Belgians--Reluctance of
French government to see coercion applied to the Belgians--The
protocol of 18 articles accepted by Belgium, refused by
Holland--Leopold enthroned--Roussin at Lisbon--The Dutch invade
Belgium--French army enters Belgium--Palmerston's suspicions
of Talleyrand--Stockmar's suspicions of Palmerston--Excitement
in London--Talleyrand's warning--Why the French army
remained in Belgium--King Leopold's dilemma--The French
evacuate Belgium--Londonderry attacks Talleyrand in the
House of Lords--"_l'ordre règne à Varsovie_"--Palmerston's
despatch on the Polish question--The treaty of the 24
articles--The Fortress Convention--Talleyrand's advice--French
threaten King Leopold--Palmerston stands firm--Casimir
Périer gives way--Austrians re-occupy Bologna--The
French at Ancona--Palmerston exerts himself to avert a
rupture--Solution of the difficulty--Orloff's mission to the
Hague--Lamb furnishes Palmerston with a copy of Orloff's
secret instructions--Austria and Prussia ratify--Orloff in
London--Russia ratifies with certain reservations 40-117
CHAPTER IV
THE COERCION OF HOLLAND
The Reform Bill and the House of Lords--Death of Casimir
Périer--A Republican insurrection in Paris and a Royalist
rebellion in La Vendée--Death of the Duc de Reichstadt--The
Belgian treaty--Durham at St. Petersburg--Palmerston's
proposals to the Court of the Hague--Stockmar's advice to
Leopold--France and England resolved to coerce the King of
the Netherlands--The absolute Courts--London Conference
breaks up--Scene between Louis Philippe and M. Dupin--The
_Doctrinaires_--Broglie's conditions--The position in
England--The Tories--King William IV.--Granville's
warning--Attitude of the Northern Courts--The Convention
of October 22nd, 1832--Claim put forward by French
minister at Brussels--Siege of Antwerp--Sympathies of
the Tories with the Dutch--Proposal made to Prussia by
France and England--Capitulation of Antwerp--Convention
of May 21, 1833--Palmerston's skilful conduct of the
negotiations--Talleyrand 118-144
CHAPTER V
MEHEMET ALI
The Sultan Mahmud II.--The Greek insurrection--Sultan
invokes the aid of Mehemet Ali--Intervention of the Christian
Powers--Navarino--Russo-Turkish War--Mehemet Ali--Ibrahim
Pasha lays siege to Acre--Mahmud resolves to crush his
rebellious vassal--Defeat of Hussein Pasha--Stratford Canning
at Constantinople--Mahmud appeals to England for help--Battle
of Konieh--Muravieff at Constantinople--Russia offers help--The
policy of Russia towards Turkey--Ibrahim advancing--Sultan
accepts the aid of Russia--Mehemet Ali rejects the
Sultan's terms--Russian fleet in the Bosphorus--Roussin at
Constantinople--_Ultimatum_ of the Pasha--The Convention
of Kiutayeh--Anger of Nicholas--Why Mahmud surrendered
Adana--Ponsonby and Orloff at Constantinople--Treaty of
Unkiar-Skelessi--Great Britain and France protest--Meeting
of the two Emperors at Münchengrätz--Treaty of October 15,
1833--Secret treaty of September 18, 1833--Palmerston and
Broglie vainly endeavour to arouse the fears of Metternich
145-170
CHAPTER VI
TWO QUEENS AND TWO PRETENDERS
Dom Miguel usurps the throne of Portugal--Dom Pedro
prepares to reconquer his daughter's kingdom--Ferdinand VII.
marries Maria Christina--The Salic Law of Spain repealed--Birth
of Isabella--Stratford Canning at Madrid--Napier destroys the
Miguelite fleet--Great Britain recognizes Maria II. as Queen
of Portugal--Death of Ferdinand VII.--France and England
acknowledge the sovereignty of Isabella--Don Carlos and Dom
Miguel--Negotiations in London--Quadruple Treaty--Capitulation
of the two Pretenders--Don Carlos returns to Spain--Scope
of Quadruple Treaty enlarged--Palmerston's policy in the
Spanish question--Views and secret leanings of Louis
Philippe--Zumalacárregui--The Whigs dismissed--Wellington
at the Foreign Office--Eliot sent to Spain--Louis Philippe
refuses to take part in the negotiation--Palmerston again
at the Foreign Office--The Queen Regent appeals to France
for help--The Spanish legion--The Decree of Durango--Louis
Philippe refuses to protest--French intrigues at Lisbon--The
_Moderados_ and the _Progressistas_--Advice given to Christina
by Mr. Villiers--No vigilance maintained on the French
frontier--Mendizabal and the British minister--The secret
divulged--Threatening language of the Duc de Broglie--British
government declines Mendizabal's proposal--Palmerston's
counter-proposal--Plans of M. Thiers--Talleyrand and
England--Death of Zumalacárregui--Palmerston proposes that the
French should enter Spain--Mendizabal dismissed--Military
revolution in Spain--Scene at the Palace of La
Granja--Resignation of Thiers--The "No mention" incident--Why
Don Carlos retreated from before Madrid--Dissensions among
the Carlists fomented by Villiers--Palmerston's suspicions of
Louis Philippe--Muñagorri--Reasons which compelled Maroto to
bring the war to an end--Soult--The Convention of Bergara--Don
Carlos driven across the frontier--Cabrera and España--The
Municipal Bill--Espartero--Christina and Espartero--Abdication
of Christina 171-218
CHAPTER VII
SULTAN AND PASHA
Efforts to prevent a renewal of the struggle between
the Sultan and the Pasha--Strained relations between Great
Britain and Russia--Wellington and the Dardanelles--Ponsonby
at Constantinople--Durham at St. Petersburg--M. Thiers--M. de
Lesseps--Secret negotiations--General Chrzanowski--The Pasha's
monopolies--Ponsonby negotiates a commercial treaty--Indian
government occupies Aden--Importance of the victories of
Mehemet Ali over the Wahabites--The Pasha announces his
intention of declaring his independence--Russia and the
Court of Teheran--The Shah lays siege to Herat--Palmerston
protests--Disavowal of Simonitch and Witkewitch--The general
situation in the East--Mahmud resolves on war--Policy
of Lord Palmerston--French government obtains a credit
of 10 millions of francs--Harmony of French and British
relations--Self-restraint of Mehemet Ali--Ibrahim defeats
the Turks at Nezib--Death of Mahmud and suspension of
hostilities--The Turkish fleet treacherously surrendered to
Mehemet Ali--Strange conduct of the French admiral--France
seeks to isolate Russia--The _Collective Note of July 27,
1839_--Satisfaction of Palmerston and uneasiness of the
French government--Conversation between Bulwer and Louis
Philippe--Palmerston does not share in the general illusion
respecting the military strength of the Pasha--Brunnow's
mission to London--The Treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi--France
scouts the Russian proposal--The French party in the
English Cabinet--Return of Brunnow--Palmerston's letter to
Sébastiani--Guizot in London--Thiers, President of the Council
and Minister for Foreign Affairs--Guizot's despatches--Thiers
mediates in the sulphur dispute--Remains of the Emperor to be
removed to France--Proceedings of "Bear" Ellice--Metternich
alarmed--Palmerston accepts the Austrian proposal--Attitude of
M. Thiers--M. Coste and the French agents at Constantinople
and Cairo--Princess Lieven in London--Palmerston tenders his
resignation--Insurrection in Syria--The Quadrilateral Treaty of
July 15, 1840--Palmerston informs Guizot of the treaty 219-278
CHAPTER VIII
THE ISOLATION OF FRANCE
Language of M. Thiers and Louis Philippe on learning of
the conclusion of the treaty--Warlike declamations of the
French press--Attitude of different parties in England--Thiers'
instructions to Guizot--The conference at the Château
d'Eu--Louis Philippe seeks to alarm Queen Victoria--Louis
Napoleon at Boulogne--Guizot at Windsor Castle--Leopold's
proposals--Ibrahim suppresses the insurrection in
Syria--Palmerston's despatch of August 31--The Sultan's
_ultimatum_--Movements of the British fleet--Threatening
language of M. de Pontois--The French armaments--Warlike
language of Louis Philippe and M. Thiers--Mehemet Ali invokes
the protection of France--Interview at Auteuil between Thiers
and Bulwer--Intrigues against Palmerston in London--A Cabinet
crisis impending--Why Lord John Russell "disappointed"
Greville--Meeting of the Cabinet of October 1--Bombardment of
Beyrout--Warlike excitement in Paris--Henry Reeve--Lord John
Russell calls a Cabinet for October 10--Two despatches from
Thiers--A Cabinet crisis averted--French government reported
to have designs upon the Balearic Islands--Melbourne writes
to King Leopold--Louis Philippe and M. Thiers--Resignation
of M. Thiers--Thiers' proceedings reviewed--M. Guizot's
plans--Palmerston's communications with Guizot--Successful
progress of the operations in Syria--Proposals to Mehemet
Ali--Napier's convention and his disavowal--Mehemet Ali
submits--The _firman_ of February 13, 1841--M. Guizot manœuvres
to bring back France into the Concert of Europe--Nicholas'
proposal--Palmerston's reply--Policy of M. Guizot--Bourqueney
and Palmerston--The Convention of the Straits drafted and
initialed--Mehemet Ali refuses to accept the _firman_ of
heredity--Ponsonby's advice to the Porte--Procrastinations of
the Porte--Mehemet Ali accepts the amended _firman_--Convention
of the Straits signed--Unsatisfactory character of the
criticisms passed upon Palmerston 279-330
CHAPTER IX
THE CORDIAL UNDERSTANDING
Aberdeen and Palmerston contrasted--Why Guizot would
not conclude the right of search treaty with Palmerston--The
Chamber refuses to ratify the slave trade treaty of November
20, 1841--Conspiracies in Paris against Espartero--The
question of Isabella's marriage--Designs imputed to
Louis Philippe by Bulwer--Insurrections in Spain--The
Spanish government demands the expulsion of Christina
from France--The Salvandy affair--Pageot's mission--Count
Toreno and Lord Cowley--Louis Philippe connives at the
Spanish plots--Insurrection at Barcelona--Conduct of
M. de Lesseps--Military revolution in Spain--Fall of
Espartero--Aberdeen alarmed--Queen Victoria at the Château
d'Eu--"The cordial understanding"--The Duc de Bordeaux in
Belgrave Square--Admiral Dupetit-Thouars in the Pacific--France
proclaims a protectorate over Tahiti--Mr. Pritchard--Queen
Pomare deposed and Tahiti annexed--Dupetit-Thouars
disavowed--The Prince de Joinville's pamphlet--The Tsar
Nicholas in London--France quarrels with Morocco--Imprisonment
and expulsion of Mr. Pritchard--Excitement in London--Guizot
and Aberdeen--Bombardment of Tangier--Violence of the press
in both countries--The Comte de Jarnac--The Pritchard
affair settled--France concludes peace with the Emperor of
Morocco--Louis Philippe at Windsor Castle--Condition of
Spain--The descendants of Philip V.--Bulwer and Bresson at
Madrid--Montpensier to marry the Infanta--Queen Victoria's
second visit to Eu--The compact with Louis Philippe--State
of affairs at Madrid--The _Memorandum of February 27,
1846_--Christina and Narvaez--The Queen-Mother entrusts to
Bulwer her proposal to the Duke of Saxe-Coburg--Aberdeen
reprimands Bulwer and informs M. Guizot of the negotiation--The
Whigs once more in office 331-380
CHAPTER X
THE SPANISH MARRIAGES
Lord Palmerston in Paris--Louis Philippe and M.
Guizot disconcerted by Christina's proposal to the
Coburgs--Palmerston's despatch of July 19, 1846--Bresson's
letter to Guizot of July 12--Anger of Louis Philippe--Bulwer
implores Palmerston to promote the Coburg marriage--Palmerston
puts forward Don Enrique--Effect at Madrid of the despatch
of July 19--The double marriage announced--Correspondence
between the French Queen and Queen Victoria--Guizot's
letter to Lord John Russell--Louis Philippe's letter to his
daughter--Queen Victoria's reply--Palmerston's protest founded
upon the renunciations at Utrecht--Attitude of the Northern
Courts--Palmerston's despatches of October 31, 1846, and
January 8, 1847--Debates in the French Chamber and the British
Parliament--Christina's conduct reviewed--Louis Philippe's
Bourbon policy--Why Louis Philippe broke the compact of
Eu--Palmerston's Spanish policy from 1834 to 1846--Weakness of
Aberdeen 381-405
CHAPTER XI
PALMERSTON AND THE REVOLUTION OF '48
Annexation of Cracow--Political unrest in Europe--Charles
Albert and Pius IX.--Enthusiasm in Italy--Attitude of French
government--Revival of French and British rivalry--Guizot
sends a secret agent to Vienna--Metternich realizes
the danger in Italy--The Roman plot and occupation of
Ferrara--Palmerston's despatch of September 11, 1847--Minto's
mission--Prince Consort's _Memorandum_--The situation in
Switzerland--Sympathies of the absolute Courts with the
_Sonderbund_--Palmerston's attitude--Probable reason of
Morier's recall--Palmerston's despatch of October 29, 1847--The
French proposal--Palmerston's counter-proposal--Palmerston
master of the situation--Battle of Lucerne and dissolution of
the _Sonderbund_--Crafty designs imputed to Palmerston--Policy
of the Swiss Radicals--Stratford Canning at Berne--The absolute
Courts and France present the _identic note_--Haughty reply
of the Swiss Diet--Alarm of the absolute Courts--Coloredo
and Radowitz in Paris--Revolution in Paris, Berlin and
Vienna--Charles Albert in Lombardy--_Une revolution de
mépris_--Why the rupture of "the cordial understanding"
displeased the French middle-classes--Effect of M.
Guizot's _rapprochement_ with Austria--Palmerston and
Thiers--Palmerston's policy substantially the same as
Aberdeen's--Why "the cordial understanding" failed to justify
expectations 406-444
INDEX 445-452
ENGLAND AND THE ORLEANS MONARCHY
CHAPTER I
LOUIS PHILIPPE
The spontaneous rising of the French people to expel their King,
Charles X., who had ventured to infringe the Constitution, aroused the
enthusiasm of Liberals all over Europe. But the real character of the
movement which brought about the downfall of the elder branch of the
Bourbons was, at the time, very imperfectly understood. It was not a
determination to preserve at all costs the parliamentary system which
animated the combatants in the "glorious days of July." "Long live the
Charter" was the watchword of the peaceful _bourgeois_. "Down with the
Bourbons" was the war cry of the men of the barricades.
Outside the limited circle of the old Royalist families the restored
monarchy had never been popular. Yet it was unquestionably the best
and freest form of government which the country had ever enjoyed. The
reason of the unpopularity of the Bourbons lay in the circumstances
which had attended their return to France. By the large majority
of Frenchmen their restoration was deeply resented, as one of the
humiliating conditions imposed upon their country by the allied
sovereigns, after Waterloo.
In respect to her frontiers, France in 1815 had been replaced in
the position which she had occupied in 1789. Seeing the expenditure
of blood and treasure which her wars had entailed upon Europe,
these terms cannot be regarded as onerous. Nevertheless, it is not
surprising that the treaties of 1815 should have been extremely
distasteful to her. They were conceived in a spirit of suspicion and
were directed mainly towards securing Europe from a fresh outbreak of
her aggressiveness. Nor were the barriers, by which it was hoped to
confine her within her boundaries, the only cause of her irritation.
Her vanity and love of military glory had been dangerously stimulated
by the Republican and Imperial wars, and it was a bitter blow to find
that, in the final settlement, France, alone of all the great Powers,
was to acquire no increase of territory. Vexation at these conditions
was not confined to Republicans and Bonapartists. Hatred for the
treaties of 1815 was the one political sentiment which Liberals and
Royalists possessed in common.
In 1830, there was no Bonapartist party, but a strong Bonapartist
spirit existed throughout the country. Veneration for the memory
of "the man"[1] constituted the whole political philosophy of many
thousands of Frenchmen. It was to the Bonapartist element that the
Liberal party owed its chief strength and influence. Notwithstanding
that the Liberals had opposed the Emperor during the Hundred Days,
and had insisted upon his abdication after Waterloo, their alliance
with the Bonapartists was cemented in the early days of the second
Restoration. A common hatred of the Bourbons was the bond of union
between them. In the Masonic and _Carbonari_ lodges the bolder spirits
of the two parties plotted together against the monarchy. When the
reigning dynasty should have been overthrown, the conspirators
proposed to proclaim the sovereignty of the people and to declare
once more the tricolour the national flag. Then, and not till then,
could France regain her "natural frontiers."[2] It was the practice of
these military democrats invariably to assert that the Bourbons were
responsible for all the misfortunes of 1814 and 1815. They believed,
or professed to believe, that the loss of territory, which France had
sustained, was the price which the Bourbons had agreed to pay for
their restoration. So long as a Bourbon was upon the throne Waterloo
must go unavenged and France must submit to be deprived of her natural
boundaries. It was this spirit which had animated the combatants in
the Revolution of July. Men who understood and cared nothing for
constitutional questions took up arms, believing that a victory over
Charles' guards would be a first defeat inflicted upon the allied
sovereigns, and that a successful invasion of the Tuileries would be
followed by a great national war upon the Rhine.[3]
The enthronement of the Duc d'Orléans was the strange termination of a
revolution, carried out mainly by men who were animated by sentiments
such as these. Even on the evening of the third day's fighting, when
the Royal troops had been driven from Paris and when the people were
in possession of the Tuileries, the Duke's name was still unmentioned.
Most of the Liberal deputies were disposed to make their peace with
their lawful king, and to be satisfied with the withdrawal of the
unconstitutional ordinances and with the dismissal of the Prince de
Polignac and his colleagues in the government. The extreme party,
the old soldiers, the members of the former _Carbonari_ lodges, the
students of the _polytechnique_, the men who had borne the burden
of the struggle, were not prepared with an immediate solution of the
question. Beyond declaring that they would take up arms again, rather
than accept any concessions at the hands of Charles X. or the Dauphin,
they had no definite plan to bring forward. Louis Philippe was to owe
his crown to a skilfully worded placard, the work of Laffitte the
Liberal banker, and of Thiers, a clever young journalist, which on the
following morning, greeted the Parisians at every street corner. In
this proclamation the enthronement of the Duc d'Orléans was held up
as the one solution which would restore public order without further
bloodshed. A republic, it was declared, would entail both internal
strife and war abroad, whilst Charles X., the monarch who had shed
the blood of the people, must be adjudged unworthy to retain his
crown. The Duc d'Orléans, on the other hand, was a prince devoted to
the cause of the Revolution, who had never borne arms against his own
countrymen, but who, on the contrary, had worn the tricolour at Valmy
and at Jemappes. Let the people call for him and the Duke would come
forward, content to accept the Charter and his crown from their hands.
The prospect of concluding the revolution in this fashion was eagerly
adopted by the Liberal deputies and by the middle classes generally.
But the more turbulent members of the so-called Hotel de Ville
party indignantly repudiated the notion of allowing their glorious
achievements to culminate in the enthronement of "another Bourbon."
The allusions in Laffitte's and Thiers' placard to the tricolour, to
Valmy, and to the crown as the free gift of the people, left them
cold. Nor were they to be mollified by a second proclamation, in which
it was boldly asserted that the Duc d'Orléans was a Valois, not
a Bourbon.[4] No sooner was the Duke put forward as a candidate for
the throne, than the demagogues began to exhort the people to call
upon La Fayette to assume the presidency of the republic. The old man
was, as he had been forty years before, in command of the national
guards, and was once more the hero of the mob. He was, however, little
disposed to undertake the responsibility which his ultra-democratic
friends wished him to assume. Under these circumstances, Rémusat and
other of his colleagues in the Chamber, assisted, it is said, by Mr.
Rives, the American minister, had little difficulty in persuading him
that, were he to play the leading part in founding a Liberal monarchy,
it would be accounted, throughout the Old and the New World, the most
honourable act of his declining years. Accordingly, on the following
day, July 31, 1830, he agreed to receive the Duc d'Orléans, the
Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom, at the Hotel de Ville. Upon his
arrival he led him to the window and, placing the tricolour in his
hands, embraced him warmly before the dense crowd upon the Place de
Grève. When this ceremony had been completed the elect of the people
rode back in triumph to the Palais Royal, exchanging enthusiastic
handgrips with citizens along the road. For the moment, even the most
truculent democrats were willing to accept La Fayette's assurance that
in an Orleans monarchy they had found "the best of republics." Ten
days later, on August 9, 1830, the Duke having sworn fidelity to the
Charter was formally invested with sovereign power in the Chamber of
Deputies, under the title of Louis Philippe, _King of the French_.
At the time of the Revolution of July Louis Philippe was in his
fifty-third year. He was the son of _Egalité_, and had been educated
according to the Liberal views of his father and of Madame de Genlis.
Although in 1794 he had deserted from the national armies along
with Dumouriez, his commander-in-chief, he could assert truthfully
that, throughout the long years of his subsequent exile, he had never
turned his arms against his own country. During his wanderings in
America and upon the continent, he had mixed with men of all sorts
and all conditions. In Switzerland, indeed, he is said to have earned
a livelihood by teaching in a school. In 1814 the idea of conferring
the crown upon him, rather than upon Louis XVIII., had found favour in
some quarters. But although, from this time forward, there had always
existed some kind of a party, to which the name of Orleanist might
have been applied, the Duke himself would appear to have been innocent
of any participation in the proceedings of his adherents.
After Waterloo the plan of substituting him for Louis XVIII. had
an increased number of supporters. Louis, who had never liked him,
began from this moment to treat him with great suspicion. Both in
England, where he continued to reside in a kind of disgrace till 1817,
and at the Palais Royal, after his return to France, he was beset
constantly by the spies of the police.[5] Charles X. had no share in
his brother's dislike and distrust of the Duc d'Orléans, and one of
his first acts, after his accession, was to raise him to the rank of
a Royal Highness. But, notwithstanding that, from the beginning of
the new reign, more cordial relations were established between the
Tuileries and the Palais Royal, there was never any real intimacy
between the King and his sagacious relative. Charles was a man of
limited intelligence and a bigot in religion. Politically he had not
changed since the time when, as the Comte d'Artois, he had emigrated
to Coblentz, and had called upon the Powers to assist him with men
and with money to re-establish the old _régime_ in France. The Duc
d'Orléans, on the other hand, was a well-informed man of the world, a
Liberal, who was neither a friend nor an enemy of the clergy.
It is clear that during the whole period of the Restoration the Duc
d'Orléans was at pains to impress upon the public how greatly he
differed in all matters, both great and small, from his cousins of
the elder branch. When the return of Bonaparte from Elba compelled
the Royal family to fly once more from France, he had not joined
Louis XVIII. at Ghent, but had gone to England and had resided,
throughout the Hundred Days, in complete retirement at Twickenham.
Moreover, before quitting Lille he had addressed a farewell letter to
the general officers serving under him, bidding them act, after his
departure, in whatever manner might appear to them the most calculated
to promote the highest interests of their country--an injunction
which aroused as much indignation among the "pure Royalists" as it
elicited commendation from the majority of Frenchmen. As they grew up,
his sons, the young princes, were educated like ordinary citizens at
the _Lycée_, and at the Palais Royal a simplicity was observed which
contrasted strongly with the ceremony maintained, on all occasions,
at the Court and in the apartments of the Dauphin. Nor could it fail
to attract remark that men whose fidelity to the reigning dynasty was
doubtful and prominent members of the Opposition were his habitual
guests.
But, although there may be some circumstances of a suspicious nature
in Louis Philippe's conduct under the Restoration, it is improbable
that he ever seriously harboured any thoughts of usurping the crown.
His general behaviour is capable of a different explanation. He had
tasted the bitterness of poverty, and appears to have been haunted
constantly by the dread that his children might, some day, be reduced
to the straits under which he had suffered in the early years of
his exile. He was too clear-sighted a man not to perceive that the
restored monarchy had no place in the affections of the people, and
that the first serious mistake on Charles' part would be the signal
for his overthrow. It became, therefore, his policy to dissociate
himself, as far as possible, from the Court in the hope that, should
the Bourbons be expelled, he might escape from the necessity of
sharing in their misfortunes. It is scarcely doubtful that the true
motives of his somewhat equivocal attitude, at this period, should be
ascribed to a keen desire to be allowed to remain in possession of his
great estates, whatever political changes might take place, rather
than to any deep-laid schemes of personal aggrandizement.[6]
At the time of the promulgation of the famous ordinances of July the
Duke was with his family at Neuilly. For the past four months he had
viewed Charles' obstinate determination to retain his ministers,
in defiance of the Chamber, with alarm. Nevertheless, the King's
_coup d'état_ seems to have taken him completely by surprise. His
chief endeavour, from the moment that it became apparent that the
execution of the ordinances would lead to serious trouble, was to
avoid committing himself with either party. Between Monday, July 26,
the day on which the decrees were published in the _Moniteur_, and
Friday, July 30, when the success of the revolution was assured,
he would not appear to have had any communication with either the
Court at Saint-Cloud or the Liberal deputies in Paris. Indeed, on
Wednesday, July 28, when the fighting in the streets assumed a very
serious character, he secretly withdrew from Neuilly and went into
hiding at Le Raincy, another of his residences near Paris. Thiers, in
consequence, when he visited Neuilly on Friday morning, was unable to
see him, and it was only at last, after repeated messages had been
sent him by Laffitte and other supporters, that he ventured to emerge
from his retreat and to return secretly, and in the dead of night,
to the Palais Royal. It is said that in arriving at this decision he
was greatly influenced by his sister, henceforward to be generally
known as Madame Adelaïde, to whose opinion in political matters he
was accustomed to attach greater weight than to that of his wife, the
sweet-natured and dignified Marie Amélie.
After a few hours in Paris any doubts and hesitations with which he
may have been beset vanished completely. The old King was in full
flight from Saint Cloud, his guards even were demoralized and were
deserting him. From country towns came the news that the tricolour had
been hoisted, amidst the greatest enthusiasm, and that the revolution
was spreading rapidly. When, on that Saturday afternoon, the Duc
d'Orléans mounted his horse to meet La Fayette at the Hotel de Ville,
he was fully determined to seize the crown, which his unfortunate
kinsman had let fall into the gutter.
Legitimist historians and others, professing to write in a more
impartial spirit, have commented most adversely upon his conduct in
this, the supreme crisis of his eventful life. It must, however, be
admitted by everybody who studies the question with an open mind
that France was irrevocably resolved to expel the Bourbons. It has,
nevertheless, been contended that, had the Duc d'Orléans consented to
undertake the regency, no serious objections would have been made to
the enthronement of the Duc de Bordeaux,[7] in whose favour Charles
and the Dauphin had abdicated on August 2. Unfortunately, however,
it was notorious that this young prince was the pupil of the Jesuits,
and the prejudice against him, on that account, was unquestionably
very strong. Without doubt, had the plan been given a trial, it must
have speedily ended in disaster. In addition to the many and great
difficulties with which Louis Philippe was confronted, during the
whole course of his reign, he must, as Regent, have been perpetually
exposed to the suspicion of acting under the inspiration of the young
King's family, and that suspicion would quickly have proved fatal.
There were, therefore, but two alternatives, either a republic or
an Orleans monarchy. Seeing the dispositions of the continental
sovereigns and the condition of France in 1830, the proclamation of
a republic, if it had not entailed war, must certainly have produced
anarchy and brought untold misery upon the people. On the other hand,
the statutory monarchy, at the time when it was set up, had the
support of the best elements of the nation, and Louis Philippe, by
accepting the crown, can justly claim to have preserved France from
the imminent danger of civil and foreign war.
Louis Philippe was a man of more than usual courage. In his early life
he had displayed it at a critical moment upon the battlefield. In his
middle age, in his famous progress to the Hotel de Ville, he had never
hesitated to ride, without a military escort, through an armed and
hostile mob. No king has probably been the object of attacks upon his
life of so determined a character as Louis Philippe. The ever-present
danger of assassination is said to have broken down the nerves of
some of the boldest of men. But, throughout his reign, the "citizen
king" always confronted this particular peril, to which he was so
constantly exposed, with a serene and lofty courage. In the face of
political difficulties, however, he was as timid as he was brave when
it was a question of meeting physical danger. His attitude towards the
Jacobinical spirit, which the "glorious days of July" had so greatly
stimulated, is characteristic of his weakness in this respect. It is
not improbable that in his heart he was secretly convinced of the
ultimate triumph of revolutionary principles. Be that as it may, he
appears to have shrunk from attacking Jacobinism openly and boldly.
He seems to have looked upon it as a most dangerous monster which it
was advisable to coax and to humour, in the hope that, by careful
handling, it might be temporarily subjugated.[8]
In the days which intervened between La Fayette's acceptation of
him and his actual enthronement, he lost no opportunity of putting
his theory into practice. Youthful Republicans were admitted into
his presence, and he submitted to be questioned about his political
principles.[9] It is probable that in some of these discussions he was
induced to promise far more than he afterwards found it convenient,
or even possible, to perform. On many occasions afterwards he was,
in consequence, reminded of a more or less mythical _Hotel de Ville
Programme_, with the conditions of which he was accused of having
broken faith. But of all the difficulties by which he was confronted
in these early days, the demand for a vigorous foreign policy was
by far the most serious to deal with. The convinced democrats, who
had been so bitterly opposed to his enthronement, were now the most
vehement in insisting upon the adoption of a spirited course of
action abroad. Without doubt, these men represented only a small
minority of the nation, but, when they talked of military glory and
of "natural frontiers," they appealed to sentiments which a "king
of the barricades" could not afford to disregard. It was a matter
of indifference to the demagogues of the party that the flower of
the army was in Algeria, that many of the regiments at home were
demoralized by their recent collision with the people, and that France
had neither allies nor financial credit. The war for which they
clamoured was to be conducted upon strictly revolutionary principles.
"Peace with the nations, war with the kings," the old cry was to be
raised once more under cover of which, in former days, France had
acquired her coveted boundaries.
Apart from the question as to whether the conditions of France and of
Europe, in 1830, were such as to render it probable that a repetition
of the methods of 1793 would be attended with success, the fact that
the first shot fired on the frontiers would be the signal for the
opening of the floodgates of revolutionary propagandism, made it of
vital moment to Louis Philippe to avert the outbreak of hostilities.
In a war, having for its loudly proclaimed object the destruction
of kings, what hope could he have that his throne, resting upon new
and untried foundations, would escape the general ruin? But although
he was resolved to use every effort to maintain the peace, it was
thoroughly in accordance with his habitual practice to cajole and
flatter the faction which desired war. Accordingly, in his replies
to the numerous patriotic addresses which were presented to him,
he would dilate in fulsome language upon the heroic conduct of the
citizens in the recent street fighting. All his speeches and his
public utterances teemed with references to Valmy and Jemappes. When
the band struck up the _Marseillaise_, he would beat time with his
finger, "casting ecstatic glances at the tricolor like one who has
found a long-lost mistress."[10] Yet, whilst he was thus appealing to
the revolutionary recollections and flattering the military vanity of
the people, all his thoughts were bent upon obtaining his recognition
by the great European Courts. No sooner, therefore, was he enthroned,
than he sent off emissaries, upon whose discretion he could depend,
bearing letters to his brother monarchs announcing his accession. But
in these communications, intended only for the eyes of the sovereigns
and their confidential advisers, he was careful to speak of the
"glorious revolution" as a lamentable catastrophe which he sincerely
deplored.[11]