the kingdom with intense anxiety, lest the ancient sympathies of the royalists, especially of La Vendée, should be roused in their favour, and thereby enkindle the horrors of another civil war. All fears on this head, however, were groundless. Disaffection had spread throughout the provinces; and the inhabitants of Montebourg, a considerable village near the coast, alone exhibited demonstrations of loyalty towards the fugitives. They reached Cherbourg unmolested, but apparently unlamented, unpitied, and unregretted. On the 16th of August they embarked from thence for England.*

While the fugitive royal family were thus journeying into exile, the deputies, consulting the national wish, called Louis Philippe, of Orleans, to the throne, insuring the succession to his descendants, in the male line, for ever. The peers acquiesced in this measure; and on the 9th of August the duke repaired to the Palais Bourbon, where he was met by the two chambers. He took his seat on a bench placed beneath the vacant throne, and, after the declaration of the two chambers had been read, he thus spoke :-"I swear faithfully to observe the constitutional charter, with the modifications expressed in the declaration to govern by and according to the laws--to cause strict justice to be done to every man according to his right-and in all things to act solely for the interests, happiness, and glory of the French nation." Having after this subscribed the written

*Charles and his family resided for a brief period at Lulworth Castle. Afterwards they took up their abode at Holyrood House, at Edinburgh, and from thence they went to reside at Gratz, in Silesia.

oath, the duke then ascended the throne, and from that time was acknowledged king of the French, by the title of Louis Philippe 1.

Thus was the house of Bourbon again subverted. The unenlightened policy of Charles x., and his pertinacious adhesion to superstition and arbitrary power, were the causes of that subversion. Forgetting the wants of the times, he sought to rule by those narrow principles inculcated in the middle ages, and so was driven from his throne. His whole reign, indeed, seems to have been a struggle to establish the throne of France upon its ancient basis. In his court, the Jesuits were paramount, and the affiliated members of "the congregation" were found in every department of the state. The self-called Catholic church arrogantly enjoying the distinction of the state religion, its clergy were impatient to regain all lost prerogatives. But this was a hopeless case. The sentiments of the school of philosophers still pervaded the universal breast, and Protestantism was also silently working its way by an under-current, so that the Papists, at this period, were in the minority, though basking in the sunshine of royal favour. Nothing daunted, however, the party of the priests struggled manfully against the advocates of liberty, hoping yet to overcome. But, in doing so, the royal influence was frequently committed. Charles identified his interests with the popish religion, and hostility to the charter, whence, one impolitic measure led to another, and the revolution of 1830 was induced. The fall of the Romish religion seems to have given Charles equal uneasiness with the loss of his crown. History records that his feelings received a deep

wound upon learning that it was no longer recognised as the religion of the state. This was cut

ting off all hope of his ever again ascending the throne of France; since it was a feature in the newly-modelled charter to which he could never subscribe. His wish was, in common with those by whom he was surrounded, to enslave the public mind with the superstitious rites and ceremonies of the Romish church :

But liberty, and triumphs on the main,
And laurell'd armies, not to be withstood-
What serve they? if, on transitory good
Intent, and sedulous of abject gain,
The state (ah, surely, not preserved in vain!)
Forbear to shape new channels, which the flood
Of sacred truth may enter- till it brood

O'er the wide realm, as o'er the Egyptian plain
The all-sustaining Nile.

WORDSWORth.

Had Charles x. been wise, he would have established his throne in righteousness. The Roman Catholic religion was, therefore, a rock on which he foundered. Attempting to impose it in all its original impurity on the public mind, and acting upon the narrow principles emanating from that evil source, he cut short the career of his illustrious dynasty.

CHAPTER VI.

COLLATERAL BRANCH OF ORLEANS.

A.D. 1830-1844.

LOUIS PHILIPPE.

ONE of the first acts of Louis Philippe's authority, was to confer the rank of lieutenant on every youth belonging to the Polytechnic school, who had distinguished himself in the late insurrection, and who wished to enter the army. The rest were promised a provision in the civil offices of government, and crosses of the legion of honour were to be distributed to both classes. This strongly marked the line of conduct Louis Philippe intended to pursue in the consolidation of his government, and the appointment of prince Talleyrand, whose name, for seven years, had not appeared either among the liberals or the loyalists, as ambassador to the court of London, gave additional illustration to his intended policy. Although Talleyrand could accommodate himself to every turn of fortune, and every change of scene, the interests of his country were ever the undeviating aim and end of all his actions. His appointment, therefore, clearly indicated, that Louis Philippe intended to act according to the spirit of the charter, for the good of his country; at the same time having an eye to his permanent establishment on the throne of France.

It has been seen that when the commissioners visited Charles x., at Rambouillet, in order to urge his departure from France, they informed prince Polignac and the ministers, that they would be tried for their lives. On receiving this startling intelligence, they immediately quitted Rambouillet, and took different routes, in order to avoid discovery. Polignac, however, was arrested at Granville, in the habit of a footman, and Peyronnet, Chantelauze, and Guernon de Ranville, were apprehended at Tours.

At the time these four ministers were arrested, a law was under discussion which tended to exempt political offences from the punishment of death. Hearing of their arrest, therefore, the king is said to have exclaimed, "How unfortunate am I! Must the commencement of my reign be stained with blood?" Had he listened to the voice of the people, it would, for on every hand his ears were greeted with the cry of, "Death to Polignac." So furious was this cry for blood, indeed, that government were compelled to postpone their discussion of the humane law mentioned, until a more favourable opportunity. Still the cry of the populace was unheeded, and the final sentence pronounced against Polignac was, imprisonment for life, with deprivation of his titles, ranks, and orders; and a declaration that he was civilly dead, and in every respect in the same situation as if he had been transported. The other three ministers were likewise condemned to imprisonment for life, and deprived of their titles, ranks, and orders; but they were not visited with the penalties of civil death. The prisoners were tried in the Luxembourg, and from thence they