114. Destruction of the Ghoorka regiment in the Kohistan, 115. Arguments for a removal into the Bala-Hissar, 116. Fruitless attempt at negotiation, 117. Action on the 23d November, 118. Total defeat of the British, 122. Faithlessness of the Affghans, and increased misery of the troops, 123. Secret negotiation of Sir W. Macnaghten with Akbar Khan, 130. Passage of the Coord Cabul defile, 131. Ascent of the Coord Cabul plateau, and surrender of the ladies, HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAPTER XXXIV. FRANCE FROM THE CAPTURE OF CONSTANTINE IN OCTOBER 1837, TO THE TREATY REGULATING THE AFFAIRS OF THE EAST IN JULY 1841. XXXIV. 1837. joy in 1. ing of Con THE storming of Constantine and restoration of the CHAP. lustre of the national arms on the coast of Africa, diffused universal satisfaction in France, and powerfully contributed to strengthen the throne of Louis Philippe. In Universal proportion to the grief and mortification which had been France at experienced at the preceding reverse, was the joy at the the storm glorious and decisive manner in which it had been ex- stantine. piated. The Liberal party in Paris, indeed, had never been favourable to the occupation of Algeria, and had repeatedly, both in the Chambers and the press, urged its entire abandonment. But none could be insensible to the glory of the French arms; and the romantic incidents of the siege of Constantine, with its heartstirring assault, acted like the sound of a trumpet on the hearts of that warlike and imaginative people. 2. creation of The general election of 1837 had somewhat, though not materially, augmented the majority of Count Molé Fresh and the administration in the popular Chamber; they peers. had now a nominal majority of twelve or fifteen in the Deputies. But this majority, small as it was, was com VOL. VI. A XXXIV. 1837. CHAP. posed of so many and such divided sections of parties that it could hardly be relied on in any decisive crisis, and was likely entirely to fail on any question which strongly agitated the public mind. The Cabinet therefore felt the necessity of strengthening themselves in the Upper House by a fresh creation of peers, and they had recourse to another of those desperate acts which purchased present ease at the expense of the future respectability and influence of the Chamber of Peers. By an ordonnance of 3d October 1837, fifty-two additional peers were created, and took their seat on the benches of the Upper House. This was the fourth great creation which had taken place within a few years; and, combined with the limitation of the titles to life, and their exclusive appointment by the Crown, it deprived the peers of all respect or influence, either as a check on the Executive or a barrier against the people. The object of this new creation was to form a sort of juste milieu in the Chamber, which might counterbalance a possible coalition of the Legitimists, headed by M. de Montalembert and M. de Dreux-Brézé on the one side, and the Liberals under MM. Villemain and Cousin on the other. It is remarkable that a system which in this manner prove, utterly destructive of the mixed constitution and balan of power in France, had been so recently before earnest pressed upon the English Government by the popu 361-363; party, and that not only by political leaders in the v. 237-242. of conflict, but by sagacious philosophers in the solitud rural life.1* 1 Cap. ix. L. Blanc, ar eat e of ere so by As the parties in the Chamber of Deputies w M. Arago nearly balanced, the greatest efforts were made as a political sides in the elections, especially in those for the 3. leader. both city of Paris. With a view to organise an effective oposition against the Government, a central committee was formed the * See in particular Sydney Smith's Letters to Earl Grey, ur strongest terms, a creation of sixty or eighty peers to force ing, in the Reform Bill through the House of Lords, in May, June, and July 1832, in Lady Holland's very interesting Life of that eminent man. XXXIV. 1837. in Paris to watch over and promote the Liberal interest CHAP. in the elections; and so narrow was the division of parties, that an ample field was afforded for this, for out of 13,982 voters, 6303 were ranged on the side of Opposition. At the head of the committee in Paris was placed M. ARAGO, a man scarcely less eminent in political strife than in the peaceful walks of science. Indomitable energy and perseverance were his great characteristics, evinced at every period of life, as they are of almost all who do great things in the world. At the age of twenty, having been despatched by the Bureau des Longitudes at Paris to complete the measurement of an arc of the meridian in Spain, he passed six months on the inhospitable summit of one of the Castilian mountains. Sent by Napoleon as envoy into Spain at the commencement of the Peninsular War, he was thrown into the prison of Valencia, and subsequently of Rosas, where he declined. the opportunity of escape presented to him, rather than separate from his beloved scientific instruments. What distinguished him in an especial manner was the variety and extent of his acquirements. While renowned as a scientific man in every country of Europe, he brought to bear on his political adversaries a nerve, an eloquence, and an extent of information which created universal astonishment, and rendered him one of the most popular leaders of the Liberal party, to which he was strongly attached. Ardent in everything, he turned alternately, and with equal vigour, from the calm contemplation of nature to the stormy affairs of men, and, like Wallenstein, 1 L. Blanc, as figured by the poet, sought relief from the contests of v. 274, 275. the forum in the study of the celestial bodies.1 4. These eminent qualities in Arago, however, were not without a certain intermixture of alloy. He had more His failings. vehemence than perseverance, and often did injustice to his great powers by the variety of objects to which they were applied. He was so keen in every pursuit that he was often distracted by the multiplicity of those in which XXXIV. 1837. CHAP. he was engaged. More skilled in books than men-the child of thought, not of experience-he was little qualified to be the leader of a party, and often created jealousy by his neglect of the inferior agents, upon whom the fortune of every public man must in great part be built. His temper was violent, and often very irritable; and he was far from possessing that coolness in debate which so frequently gives practised speakers so great an advantage over men, in other respects their superiors, who have been trained only in the closet. Impetuous in all things, he often sacrificed his ultimate end for a momentary impulse; and was diverted from an important object by the vehemence v. 277, 278. with which he assailed an adversary, or the warmth with which he resented the injuries of a friend.1 1 L. Blanc, 5. MM. L. Blanc, Dupont de l'Eure, and Lafitte. With this illustrious philosopher and orator, however, were united others of more practical character, and who supplied what he wanted in the management of a political party. M. Louis BLANC, to whose genius and eloquence this History has been so often indebted, brought to the guidance of the democratic committee the energy of a powerful mind, the skill of an accomplished orator, and, what was of still more value to them, a devout belief in human perfectibility and the unbounded improve ment of the people, under the influence of Socialist prin ciples and the sway of the most ignorant, inflam mable, and destitute of the community. With him wa associated M. Dupont de l'Eure, who was equally si cere in his hatred of the bourgeoisie, now in possess of power, and in his belief of the disappearance of social evils before the rising sun of democracy. M、 fitte, also, was a member who, disappointed in the Isult of his dream of a "throne surrounded by repub M. lican institutions," and essentially injured in fortu Sf on all La ne by pure republicanism. From the character and talents Of these leaders it was evident that, though the social con test was for the time hushed, and the thirst for gain had come, in |