XXXIII. 1837. CHAP. their support. It was soon found, however, that such a combination offered no chance of success, and, on Count Molé's advice, the King sent for M. Guizot, and that accomplished statesman offered a list in which M. de Broglie was to be Prime Minister, M. Guizot Minister of Public Instruction, and M. Thiers of the Interior. This project, however, also failed, chiefly in consequence of the strong views which M. Thiers still entertained on the subject of Spanish intervention. Various other combinations were proposed, with no better success; indicating in the clearest manner that the object was not to supplant one party by another, or change one policy for another, but to form such a Ministry as might, by a skilful combination of the leaders of parties, secure a small majority for Government among their followers. At length, after nearly a month spent in vain endeavours, the Moniteur of 16th April announced the definitive arrangement, which was, that Count Molé resumed his place as President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs; M. de Barthé Minister of Justice, in room of M. Persil; M. de Montalivet Minister of the Interior, instead of M. de Gasparin; M. de Salvandy Minister of Public Instruction, in room of M. Guizot; 1 Moniteur, and M. Lacune Laplaque Minister of Finance, instead of 1837; Ann. M. Duchatel. By this arrangement, both the Gauche and Doctrinaires were excluded, and the Ministry was more completely conservative than any since the Revolution of 1830.1 April 16, Hist. xx. 163, 164; Cap. ix. 240, 245. 87. the Duke of More fortunate in foreign diplomacy than in internal Marriage of legislation, Count Molé had, before this period, arranged Orléans. what was deemed an advantageous marriage for the Duke of Orléans. The times were far distant when the hand of the heir-apparent of France was an object of ambition to all the crowned heads in Europe: it was deemed a fortunate move when the son of the Citizen King obtained the daughter of a third-rate German prince. The vision of a Prussian or Austrian princess- the daughter of the XXXIII. 1837. Archduke Charles, or the royal house of Brandenburg, CHAP. had melted into thin air; and the young Prince, with every amiable and attractive quality, underwent the penalty of his father's doubtful title to the throne. M. Bresson, however, the French minister at Berlin, at length succeeded in arranging a marriage between the Prince-Royal and the Princess Helen-Louisa Elizabeth, daughter of Frederick Louis, Grand-duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Born on the 24th January 1814, the princess was in her twenty-fourth year, and endowed with every quality which could fit her for the brilliant but eventful career for which she was destined. She had been bred up in the Lutheran faith; but this, which would have been an insurmountable objection to the old family, was little regarded in the tolerant ideas of more recent times. The Chamber of Deputies, with the economical feelings of the class from which they sprang, made considerable difficulties about the settlement on the prince, and the dowry and jointure of the princess; but at length this delicate matter was arranged, if not to the satisfaction, at least with the concurrence of all parties. The allowance to the prince was fixed at 2,000,000 francs (£80,000) a-year, with 1,000,000 (£40,000) for the marriage expenses, and the jointure of the princess at 300,000 francs (£12,000) a-year. A more serious opposition arose upon a proposal for a dowry to the Queen of the Belgians, which had never been definitively fixed; but at length it was settled at xx. 199, 205; Cap. 1,000,000 francs (£40,000)-less than many private ix. 250,252. gentlemen in England give their daughters.1 1 Ann. Hist. 88. marriage, and general amnesty. This marriage was fixed to take place in the end of May; and the prince signalised it in the most suitable Preparaway, by the magnificent donations which he made, and tions for the establishments which he set on foot, for the succour of the indigent and relief of the poor. The sums gifted in this way amounted to 370,000 francs (£15,000), and this was accompanied by a great promotion in the army, VOL. V. 2 T XXXIII. 1837. CHAP. and profuse distribution of honours and dignities by the Crown. A still more important act accompanied the marriage, which the King had long meditated, and which came with peculiar grace on this joyous occasion. This was a general amnesty for all persons in custody for political offences, which was published by royal ordonnance on May 8. This wise and humane act was accompanied by one commuting the punishment of death pronounced against Victor Boirier and François Meunier May 8. who had been convicted of an attempt on the King's life by firing into his carriage, though happily without effect, as he was going in state to the Legislative Body, on the first day of the session, accompanied by his two sons-into ten years' banishment. With truth did M. Barthé, the Keeper of the Seals, say in the report which preceded the ordonnance: "Sire, a great act of clemency has long been the wish of your heart; but, before yielding to the impulse, it was necessary that the vanquished parties should not be able to ascribe the oblivion of their faults to any other motive but your generosity. Now order is confirmed: your Government is armed with the salutary laws which have saved France, and would save it anew should fresh attempts be made. The national guard and the army have just testified their loyalty by their acclamations. The entire nation will join in testi1 Ordon- fying their gratitude for a step which confirms your nauce, May throne by founding it in clemency. Such an act cannot Moniteur, but be regarded as a magnificent testimony to the power of Cap. ix. 255, 256; Ann. the laws. Your Majesty, after having combated more 266, 267. and punished less than any other sovereign, will now have pardoned all."1 8, 1837; Hist. xx. The princess was received in France with the universal burst of joy which had saluted Marie-Antoinette sixty years before like her, she seemed to tread on air from the time she crossed the Rhine till she arrived in Paris. Her reception there was magnificent in the highest degree, and was assimilated in the minutest points of cere 1837. 89. the Prince, trophe. monial to those observed on that memorable occasion. CHAP. XXXIII. Unhappily the identity went still farther; and a calamity of mournful presage concluded the festivities on the last as on the first occasion. On the 14th June, the Champ Marriage of de Mars was filled with an immense crowd, to wit- and subseness a superb military fête which was held there, and quent cataswhich excited the utmost enthusiasm. The spectacle May 28. was over, and the crowd, which had been scattered over the Champ de Mars, was returning to Paris, when the June 14. pressure at the wicket of the Ecole Militaire became so great that numbers of persons were thrown down, and trodden under foot, or suffocated. Four-and-twenty persons perished on this occasion: a catastrophe deplorable Hist. of amidst a scene of public rejoicing, but doubly so from c. ix. $42; the analogy which immediately struck every mind to similar disaster which overshadowed the festivities at ix. 258,259. the marriage of Marie-Antoinette.1 1 Europe, Ann. Hist. the xx. 274, 275; Cap. tion of the Versailles Amidst the rejoicings consequent on this marriage was 90. completed a design which the King had long had in pre- Inauguraparation, and which consisted in converting the stately palace of pile of Versailles into a museum of the fine arts, espe- as a palace cially devoted to the illustration of the military and civil of the arts. glories of France. The project was nobly conceived, and carried out in the grandest manner. The first storey was devoted exclusively to the illustration of the reign of Louis XIV., the founder of the palace in it were assembled the portraits of the victorious paladins, statesmen, and poets of that brilliant epoch, executed by the artist whose genius has done so much to perpetuate its lustre. The era of the Revolution next succeeded in it were represented the principal events of that heartstirring period, with portraits of Kleber, Carnot, Lafayette, and the other eminent men who signalised its course. The glories of the Empire, the victories of Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena, and Wagram, were next represented, with portraits and statues of the Marshals of France, the statesmen and warriors who illustrated that immortal 1837. CHAP. epoch. Nor were the Revolution of 1830, the siege of XXXIII. Antwerp, and the recent victories in Africa, forgotten; they stood in bright prominence beside the king, princes, statesmen, and warriors of the present time. The idea was a magnificent one, and it was magnificently executed; combining thus, in one splendid structure, the recollections of the past with the glories of the present, history with philosophy, war with peace, art with science, the chef-d'œuvres of Lebrun with those of Le Gros and Horace Vernet, and presenting to the mind a vast accumulation of the whole efforts of genius, during many generations, in every department of human exertion. The museum thus grandly conceived has survived the throne of its author, and it now remains one of the most interesting of the many interesting objects which attract the youth of the whole civilised world to the French capital. To a bourgeois legislature, intent on economy, it was no small recommendation that this sumptuous collection had been made by the King without any grant from the Chambers, and by mere sav ings on the civil list.1 1 Cap. ix. 266, 269; Ann, Hist. xx. 270, 274; L. Blanc, v. 246, 248. 91. tical socie ties. While these splendid spectacles were dazzling the PariFresh poli- sians, more passionately fond than any people of Europe of exhibitions of this description, the ground was still stirred beneath their feet by political societies, and the vigilance of Government was unceasingly exerted in discovering and counteracting conspiracies for its own overthrow. The political societies, struck at by the laws of September 1835, had for the most part been dissolved, but they had been re-formed under different names, and ceaseless efforts were made to enlist large numbers of the working classes in their ranks. Unfortunately, the condition of the manufacturers of France at this period was miserable in the extreme, and formed a lamentable contrast to the splendour exhibited in the higher classes of society. The consequences of the monetary crisis which commenced in England during this year, the causes and effects of which will be explained in the next chapter, had |