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CHAP.

XXXIV.

1839.

and M. Odillon Barrot were excluded: M. Thiers was Minister for Foreign Affairs. This arrangement was very near succeeding, and on 29th April the Carrousel was filled with a crowd expecting to see the new Ministers, for whom carriages were in waiting, make their entry to the Tuileries. But the hours passed, and no one appeared; and at length M. Dupin announced that the negotiation had broken off, from the parties, through mutual jealousy, being unable to agree on a president of the council, without whom neither would have a majority in the Cabinet. Upon this everything was thrown adrift, and the public anxiety redoubled. "At the time of the contest of Pitt and Fox," said the Revue des Deux Mondes, "England was some weeks without a ministry, and the crisis would have continued longer, had not George III., worn out with their difficulties, declared he would go to Charing Cross, and take for ministers the first seven gentlemen he met." Possibly Louis Philippe might have been reduced to a 1 L. Blanc, similar necessity, had not the crisis been terminated by an v. 466-468; Cap. x. 31unexpected event, which diffused general consternation, 34; Ann. and for a time stifled the jealousy of parties by the dread 106, 107. of another revolution.1

Hist. xxii.

des Famil

Unknown to the police, unsuspected by the Govern- 35. ment, a society had long existed in Paris, which was La Société of the more dangerous character that its proceedings les. Its or were conducted with secresy and caution. It began ganisation. in 1834, after the suppression of the insurrections of that year. It was entirely military in its organisation and plans, and proposed to overturn the Government, not by the press or influencing opinion, but by force, kept carefully concealed till the moment for action had arrived. The better to conceal its designs, it was styled La Société des Familles, and professed to be entirely occupied with projects of mutual succour and assistance. Like all the other secret societies of that period, it obeyed the orders of an unseen and unknown authority. The unit of the association consisted of six members, who

1839.

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CHAP. received the name of a "family;" six families, which XXXIV. obeyed one chief, formed a "section ;" and three sections formed a "quarter." The chiefs of the "quarters took their instructions from a "revolutionary agent," who was the instrument for conveying the orders of an unknown committee which directed the whole. The operations of this secret society had been so vigorous, that in the beginning of 1836 it contained twelve hundred men, for the most part of the most intrepid and dangerous character. It had collected several depôts of ammunition, and formed dangerous ramifications in two of the regiments stationed in Paris.1*

1 Hist. des

Sociétés
Secretes, ii.

19, 26; L.

Blanc, v.

410, 411.

In spite, however, of all the precautions taken to insure

*The oath taken by the entrants into this society was in these terms:"Au nom de la République, je jure haine éternelle à tous les Rois, à tous les Aristocrates, à tous les oppresseurs de l'humanité. Je jure dévouement absolu au Peuple, fraternité à tous les hommes, hors les aristocrates. Je jure de punir les traîtres. Je promets de donner ma vie, de monter sur l'échafaud, si ce sacrifice est nécessaire pour amener le règne de la souveraineté du peuple et de l'égalité. Que je sois puni de la mort des traîtres, que je sois percé de ce poignard, si je viole mon serment."-Histoire des Sociétés Secretes, ii. 56; and CAPEFIGUE, X. 48, note.

Those about to be initiated were subjected to the following interrogatories :Que penses-tu du Gouvernement actuel ?—Qu'il est traître au peuple de ce pays. Dans quel intérêt fonctionne-t-il?-Dans celui d'un petit nombre de privilégiés. Quels sont aujourd'hui les aristrocrates?-Ce sont les hommes d'argent, les banquiers, les fournisseurs, monopoleurs, gros propriétaires, agioteurs; en un mot, les exploiteurs qui s'engraissent aux dépens du peuple. Quel est le droit en vertu duquel ils gouvernent?-La force. Quel est le vice dominant dans la société ?—L'égöisme. Qu'est ce qui tient lieu d'honneur, de probité, de vertu?-L'argent. Quel est l'homme qui est estimé dans le monde ?-Le riche et le puissant. Quel est celui qui est méprisé, persecuté, et mis hors la loi ?-Le pauvre et le faible. Que penses-tu du droit d'octroi, des impôts sur le sel, et sur les boissons-Ce sont des impôts odieux, destinés à pressurer le peuple en épargnant les riches. Qu'est ce que le peuple?-Le peuple est l'ensemble des citoyens qui travaillent. Comment est-il traité par les lois-Il est traité en esclave. Quel est le sort du prolétaire sous le gouvernement des riches?-Le sort du prolétaire est semblable à celui du serf et du nègre; sa vie n'est qu'un long tissu de misères, de fatigues, et de souffrances. Quel est le principe qui doit servir de ban à une société régulière ?— L'égalité. Faut-il faire une révolution politique, ou une révolution sociale?—Il faut faire une révolution sociale. Nos tyrans ont proscrit la Presse et l'Association, c'est pourquoi notre devoir est de nous associer avec plus de persévérance que jamais, et de suppléer à la Presse par la propagande de vive voix, car les armes que les oppresseurs nous interdisent sont celles qu'ils redoutent le plus, et que nous devons surtout employer." - CAPEFIGUE, Dix Ans de Louis PHILIPPE, X. 53, 54.

H

XXXIV

. 1839.

36.

changed

Société des

entire secresy, the police got a clue to this association; CHAP. several of its chiefs were arrested, and an attempt at open insurrection failed. The society in consequence was dissolved, and its members reunited in a new one Which is under the name of the Société des Saisons, which pro- into the fessed to be entirely occupied with fruits and flowers, Saisons. and the varied productions of the earth in all seasons. In that society, which, like the former, was entirely of a military character, it was determined, on the motion of M. Martin Bernard, to have frequent reviews of the forces of the society, sometimes in one place, sometimes in another, always in the dark, and with the utmost secresy, without any one knowing, till an hour before the orders were given, where they were to meet.

It was re

solved also that there should be no depôts of ammunition, which only excited suspicion, and were liable to detection ; but that when the moment for action had arrived, it should be distributed in small quantities by trusty agents to the members in their march to their different rallyingpoints. Manufactories of cartridges, however, were going on, and one was discovered in 1838 by the police; but so skilfully was the design managed, that they got no clue to the chiefs or centre of the conspiracy. In April 1839 the society had one thousand armed men on its rolls, and twelve thousand cartridges distributed in small magazines, and it was directed by Armand Barbès, an enthusiastic chivalrous young man; Martin Bernard, a resolute determined soldier; Blanqui, an ardent conspirator, and several other persons of lesser note but similar character. Such was the spirit with which they were 1 L. Blanc, animated, that the cry was unanimous among the con- v. 411, 412; spirators for immediate action, and not a doubt remained Sociétés Seamong them that decisive success would attend their first 41. insurrection.1

The insurrection began on the 12th of May, the conspirators calculating, not without reason, that during the interregnum of the Ministry the resistance of Govern

Hist. des

crets, ii. 36

XXXIV.

1839.

37.

Insurrec

12, which is

CHAP. ment could not be so formidable as might otherwise be apprehended. The insurrectionists assembled first in the Rue l'Abbé, where a gunsmith's shop was broken open, and the corps were speedily armed. Followed by a band tion of May of devoted followers, Barbès moved, amidst cries of "Vive suppressed. la République" and the chorus of the " Marseillaise," to the Palais de Justice, where he summoned the officer in command to surrender, and upon his refusal he was shot dead. The post was then carried; but the alarm being now given, the prefecture of police was put in a posture of defence, and troops began to arrive from all sides. By a sudden rush, however, the conspirators succeeded in making themselves masters of the Hôtel de Ville, where Barbès with a loud and firm voice read his proclamation. At the same time a bold attack made them masters of the Place St Jean, and the united corps proceeded to the Mairie of the 7th Arrondissement. But the troops and National Guard now crowded in on all sides; the alarm was spread through the whole town, the générale beat in all the streets; the conspirators, feeling their enterprise hopeless, gradually slipped off, and at length they were reduced to three hundred, who retreated into the narrow streets in the neighbourhood of the Rue Transnonain and the Cloître de St Méri. In the midst of their bloodstained pavements the "Marseillaise" was heard chanted in mournful strains, and the utmost efforts were made to 1 Ann. Hist. strengthen the position. Three barriers were erected in xxii. 225, the Rue Trinitat; but the conspirators in raising them. teur, May only dug their own graves. They were speedily surrounded on all sides, and forced to surrender. The chiefs were nearly all wounded; Barbès was taken with his hands black with powder, and his figure covered with blood from a wound in his head.1

226; Moni

13 and 14, 1839; L. Blanc, v. 415-417; Cap. x. 35.

37.

The immediate effect of this audacious enterprise was to terminate the ministerial crisis. Matters had become too serious to admit of any further delay; the jealousies of chiefs, the ambition of parties, yielded to the stern reality

XXXIV.

1839.

Ministry of

Soult.

of danger. The bourgeoisie, terrified for their property, CHAP. and disquieted by these repeated and alarming breaches of the public peace, rallied, as they had so often done be- 38. fore, around the throne. The King felt the necessity of a Second firm and intrepid ministry, with an undaunted soldier at Marshal its head, and he was not long of forming it. On the very May 12, day on which the insurrection broke out, and before the 1839. firing had ceased in the streets, an ordonnance was signed, appointing Marshal Soult President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. Duchatel Minister of the Interior, and M. Villemain Minister of Public Instruction.* Neither M. Guizot nor M. Thiers were in the Ministry, which, doubtless, diminished its strength; but the jealousy of these two rival chiefs had become such that the one could not be admitted without alienating the adherents of the other, and both, aspiring to the lead, would accept no inferior situation. The Cabinet was formed by May 13, a combination of the Centre with the Doctrinaires and a x. 38, 39. small fraction of the Centre Gauche.1

1 Moniteur,

1839; Cap.

39.

of M. Ville

M. VILLEMAIN, who was now for the first time brought forward in the important situation of Minister of Public Character Instruction, was a man who had risen to eminence chiefly main. from the brilliant works with which he had adorned the literature of France. A peer of France, and attached both by family and connections to aristocratic society, he yet depended mainly on popular support, and was passionately desirous of retaining the suffrages of the reading multitude. He had all the sensitiveness to criticism and love of praise which is so often the accompaniment of genius, especially of a poetic or romantic kind. this turn of mind, however, rendered his literary works charming, and eminently qualified him to produce the

While

* Président du Conseil et Secrétaire des Affaires Etrangères, Maréchal Soult; Garde des Sceaux et Ministre de la Justice et des Cultes, M. Teste; Guerre, General Schneider; Marine et Colonies, l'Amiral Duperré; Intérieur, M. Duchatel; Commerce, M. Cunin-Gridaine; Travaux Publics, M. Dufaure; Instruction Publique, M. Villemain ; Finances, M. Passy.—Moniteur, May 13, 1839.

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