Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB
[graphic][ocr errors][merged small]

KING MO B.

BY MRS. ROMER.

WITH A PORTRAIT OF M. DE LAMARTINE.

"Tu l'as voulu, Georges Dandin!”

MOLIERE.

WE leave the application of the above epigraph to be made by our readers.

If there were not something pitiful in the self-complacent moralizings of the "prophets of the past," something stupid and ungenerous in the exclamation of "I always foresaw how things would turn out!" which so often hails the announcement of a misfortune after it has happened, we might be tempted to indulge in a series of sapient reflections upon the blindness and obstinacy that have brought about the astounding events of the last few days, and annihilated the dynasty of July. But we forbear. Misfortune has so sacred a character in our eyes, that even when precipitated by wilfulness and error, we shrink from reflecting upon its cause, we can only think of its effects. In the present instance, we picture to ourselves the unhappy exile driven forth with contumely, in his old age, to die in a foreign land; and we forget the faults of the king in the sorrows of the man. In the days of his prosperity, we were no admirer of le Roi Citoyen, in the hour of his adversity we are fain to remember only the better part of Louis Philippe d'Orleans; and we are not ashamed to own that we have shed a tear over his fall.

But it is not of the ex-King that we have sat down to discourse, but of his successor. "Le Roi est mort-Vive le Roi!" or, in other words, "the dynasty of July is defunct; Long live King Mob!" For once we will be a courtier, and speak and think only of the new sovereign. It is a curious thing-but far more curious than pleasant to watch the operations of anarchy from one's drawing-room window; and our residence upon the Boulevards of Paris has enabled us to witness some of the most exciting episodes of the recent revolution. The newspapers have already given to the public an outline of the principal occurrences of the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th of February; but some minor details are involved in the great whole, which, albeit beneath the notice of leading-article-mongers, may become palatable when presented under a less pretending form, and gather interest from being related by an eye-witness.

Everybody is acquainted with the events that preceded the catastrophe, but not even the most clear-sighted appear to have anticipated to its actual extent the overwhelming result; for although the pertinacious determination of the late government not to retract the withering censure passed upon the reform banquets in the speech from the throne (comprised in the expressions "passions aveugles et ennemies," and followed by a prohibition of the banquet which had been announced to take place on the 22nd of February) had awakened considerable uneasiness in the public mind, it was confidently believed that nothing beyond an échauffourée ending in the overthrow of the Guizot ministry would ensue. But the ministry was determined not to fall without a struggle, and therefore an imposing military force of seventyfive thousand men had been assembled in and about Paris, and was

VOL. XXIII.

BB

deemed more than sufficient for the maintenance of order. "There may perhaps be a few broken windows, and then Guizot will go out, and Molé will come in," was the general rejoinder to every anxious enquiry; and in this comfortable belief Tuesday the 22nd was ushered in.

But those opposition leaders who had raised the popular passions found that they had evoked spirits which they might be powerless to lay; and shrinking from the responsibility of what might ensue if they persevered in their determination, the banquet was abandoned by them in the eleventh hour.

The concession came too late.

Already the note of preparation had sounded. The Boulevards and principal thoroughfares were thronged with workmen in blouses, and ragged gamins prowling about with countenances full of direful meaning; and some crowds of them who had gathered in the Place de la Madeleine and round the Chamber of Deputies, crying "Vive la Reforme!" were dispersed by the Municipal Guards and parties of military. Some cart-loads of firewood were pillaged, and the depredators made a rush down the Boulevards, brandishing the purloined faggots, and throwing them at the windows. They were followed by a detachment of the line, the commanding officer in a loud voice enjoining the inhabitants on either side of the way to close their casements, and in a short time all the shops were shut. The rappel beat to arms for the National Guard; but that being a voluntary service, the summons was disregarded-a convincing proof that they did not sympathize with the cause they were called upon to uphold. This circumstance partly opened the King's eyes to the thorough unpopularity of the course he was pursuing, but did not induce him to desist. Possibly he felt himself too far engaged to retreat with honour, and that desperate conviction caused him to lose his wonted judgment for a moment; for, upon its being observed to him that the National Guard were deaf to the call to arms, it is asserted that he petulantly exclaimed, "Eh, bien! nous nous en passerons !"

That evening there was an ominous absence of the usual sounds of Parisian life in the streets, but the distant murmur of the coming storm made itself heard. The indefatigable rappel smote upon the ear, now approaching, now receding; scarcely any carriages were in circulation, and in lieu of the rolling wheels, the tramp of heavy footsteps was every where heard pacing in cadence to the chœur des Girondins, "Mourir pour la Patrie," chanted in chorus by the stentorian voices of the people. In the course of the night some barricades were made in the neighbourhood of the Halle, and some partial struggles with the Municipal Guard took place.

But on Wednesday morning affairs wore a more serious aspect. The assembled crowds were more dense, their bearing more determined, their movements more threatening. The display of military force was considerably increased; the Place Louis Quinze and the Carousel were filled with troops, and patrols constantly passed through the streets, the mob flying before them only to congregate again in some other quarter. The National Guard at last turned out in considerable numbers, evidently under an apprehension that the tranquillity of the city was seriously compromised, but not with a view to repress the popular feeling, with which it was apparent they fully sympathized. Every patrol of the National Guard was followed by an excited mass of peo

ple, crying "Vive la Garde Nationale! Vive la Reformie! A bas Guizot!" and although, generally speaking, they up to this period passively allowed this demonstration, in some instances a responding cry would echo from their ranks. In short, it was evident that the National Guard, although disposed to control disorder, would not control the impulse that was likely to produce it.

It was in this conjuncture that, towards the middle of the day, the twelve colonels of the twelve legions of the National Guard proceeded to the Tuileries, and obtained an audience of the King, to state the fruitlessness of their efforts to lead their men to act against the populace, for that, however they might repress outrage for the moment, every instant led to fraternizing with the people. Their representation decided Louis Philippe upon yielding, and he then authorized Monsieur Guizot to state to the Chamber of Deputies then sitting that Comte Molé had been summoned by his majesty to form a new ministry. Thus a fresh instance was added to the many afforded by history of the supreme power possessed by such a body as the National Guard. It is an imperium in imperio, and whether that body be styled Prætorian Guard, Janissaries, Mamlukes, or National Guard, it resolves itself into the same thing,‚—a deliberative body with bayonets in their hands, before which all other powers of the state vanish.

The announcement of the change of ministry flew like wildfire through the city, and appeared to produce unbounded satisfaction. As the officers who were commissioned to disseminate the glad tidings to the insurgents rode along the Boulevards, they were at each moment stopped by eager groups of questioners, who received the intelligence they imparted with clapping of hands, and shouts of "Vive le Roi!" The enemies of the government were propitiated by the downfal of their political opponent, although they admitted that the substitution of Molé for Guizot was not likely to lead to any material change of policy. But the blow was struck, and humiliation inflicted upon the government and the dynasty by their being compelled to descend from their hitherto haughty and unbending position, and yield to the exigency of the moment: and that was in itself sufficient to exhilarate the malcontents.

And now everything wore a brighter aspect. The people who had during the course of the morning broken into the armourers' shops, and armed themselves with every description of weapon, exchanged their threatening gestures for smiles, and their furious vociferations for the sweet sounds of the Girondin chorus. At nightfall, they formed into an immense procession, and paraded the Boulevards, still armed, preceded by lighted torches; and for the last time the loyal cry of " Vive le Roi!" was heard in Paris, mingled, however, with shouts of "Vive la Reforme!" and "A bas Guizot!" Every house was illuminated, and thus a popular commotion was speedily converted into a popular rejoicing, and "all went merry as a marriage bell," when a circumstance, which has generally been attributed to accident, led to the terrible explosion that toppled down the throne of July, and crushed it into annihilation beneath the barricades upon which it had been raised seventeen years ago.

The procession just alluded to directed their steps to the Hôtel des Affaires Etrangères, charitably bent upon compelling Monsieur Guizot to illuminate in honour of his own overthrow. They found a strong military post in the court-yard of the Hôtel, and a platoon of the line

« AnteriorContinuar »