any mark of royal favour; but the public mind was speedily disabused of this idea, by the appearance of two separate ordinances, bearing the same date with that which nominated their successors, appointing Villèle and Peyronnet, Damas, Clermont, Tonnerre and Corbière, ministers of state, and members of his majesty's privy council, and raising to the peerage, with additional pensions, the three who had chiefly excited the public indignation, viz. Villèle, Corbière, and Peyronnet.

The Martignac ministry having assumed the reins of government, under the auspices of a constitutional majority in the representative Chamber, appeared to have adopted the resolution of carrying into effect the principles of the charter, and pursuing a course in conformity with public opinion. In fulfilment of the promises which had been admitted into the speech from the throne, at the opening of the session of the legislature, a law was enacted, which emancipated the press from the trammels to which it had previously been subjected, particularly from that regulation which made a preliminary sanction indispensable. To this important amelioration a series of improvements were added, with reference to the law of elections.

On the retirement of M. de la Ferronnez from a situation which he found to be no longer tenable, a variety of changes took place among the

heads of departments, and an attempt was made to restore M. de Villèle, the representative of the Congregation, to his former office of president of the council. The proposal immediately produced the tender of his resignation from every member of the cabinet who attached any importance to public opinion: and a subsequent attempt to bring forward the Prince de Polignac and place him at the head of affairs, was promptly attended by a similar result.

The monarch, meanwhile, never suffered the affairs of state, or the changes in his ministry, to interfere with his ordinary pursuits. His first duty in the morning was to hear, or, as some have gravely asserted, to say mass in his private chapel. After an early breakfast, he would go out and kill some hundred head of game, which were driven within range of the royal sportsman's Manton, by an army of gardes de chasse. His ordinary dinner-hour was six, and at eight the Duchess de Berri came to him to make one of his party at whist, which lasted till ten, when he went to say his prayers and to sleep, preparatorily to the renewal of the same routine on the

morrow.

Thus had matters proceeded in the ordinary train, without any external demonstration of what was passing in that cabal of absolutism by whose inspirations the king was at all times ready to be swayed. The dismissal of the Martignac minis

C

try had, however, been resolved on by this secret council, long before the design had been entrusted to the royal ear. On the 7th of August, 1829, M. Martignac and his colleagues were received by his majesty with every mark of gracious consideration; they left the royal presence well satisfied with their reception; but on the following day they were no longer the ministers of the

crown.

The Moniteur of the 8th of August contained the appointment of Polignac and Labourdonnaye, Courvoisier and de Rigny, de Montbel, de Chabrol, and de Bourmont, as the members of the new cabinet. Admiral de Rigny, however, refused to act with such colleagues, lest he should tarnish the laurels he had gained at Navarin, or make himself the accomplice of what was well known to be the result of a court intrigue. He was replaced by M. d'Haussez, who although perhaps better fitted by his previous administrative functions to conduct the official details in the bureau of minister of marine, could neither bring to the new ministry the popularity they so much needed, nor the knowledge of maritime affairs possessed by M. de Rigny. The admiral's resignation was speedily followed by that of Viscount de Chateaubriand of his embassy at the papal see, and of M. de Belleyme of the most valuable in the gift of the crown, the important office of prefect of police.

But, although the substitution of M. Mangin for M. de Belleyme was far from being agreeable to the inhabitants of Paris, it was not regarded as so open an insult to the good sense and the honour of the nation, as the elevation of General Bourmont, the deserter of Waterloo, to the head of the war department.

A quarrel at length ensued between Labourdonnaye and Polignac, the leaders of the two parties into which the cabinet was known to be divided. Originally the administration had been professedly formed on the principle of perfect equality among the heads of the departments of which it was composed. The Prince de Polignac, however, soon evinced a disposition to assume the rank and authority of premier. To this arrangement the Count de Labourdonnaye refused to submit; a dispute arose on some insignificant topic; the prince was asked by his colleague, if he was afraid of the revolutionary party? "Neither of them, nor of you," was the answer. The appointment of M. de Polignac as president of the council appeared in next morning's Moniteur, and M. de Labourdonnaye retired from the ministry.

In the meantime, the Chambers had assembled; and the deputies having voted an address, which was far from being palatable either to the monarch or his ministers, that Chamber was

forthwith prorogued, and soon afterwards dissolved.

It was still found, that the cabinet was not sufficiently self-accordant in its views. It contained a majority, consisting of de Montbel and Courvoisier, de Chabrol and d'Haussez, who were known to be moderate in principle, and who were almost disposed to be reasonable in action. It was necessary to get rid of such of them as entertained some scruples as to the measures in contemplation--to the effect, at least, of giving a decided preponderance to those who were prepared to go all lengths with their chief. On the resignation of M. de Labourdonnaye, M. de Montbel exchanged the portfolio of public instruction, for that of the home department, and made way for the elevation of an obscure individual, M. Guernon Ranville, to the superintendence of the university, which includes the whole system of education in France. The changes which arose on the retirement of Courvoisier and de Chabrol were more considerable and more important. M. de Montbel, with his usual complaisance, passed from the home department to the treasury, to make way for the Count de Peyronnet, who became minister of the interior. M. de Chantelauze-a kind of second edition of M. de Ranville-was appointed keeper of the seals; and, to give greater weight to the