CHAPTER XXIII.

Account of the individuals forming the new French Administration, with a sketch of their respective lives-The Duke de Broglie-M. Dupont de l'Eure-M. Guizot-Count Gerard-Baron Louis- Count Molé-General Count Sebastiani-Messrs. Lafitte, Casimir Perier, Dupin, aîné, Benjamin Constant, and Bignon.

AFTER the episode in the history of the late revolution, which has formed the subject of the two last chapters, it is necessary to return to the point from which we set out; but, before proceeding to the last scene of the drama, it may be well to take some further notice than has yet been done, of the men who have been called to administer the affairs of the State at a period of so much difficulty and importance. If there seem any anachronism in introducing the notice in this place, it is in some degree removed by the fact that the same ministry who were appointed by the Provisional Government, and were recognized by the Lieutenant-General

of the kingdom, have remained in office after the accession of the Duke of Orleans to the throne.

The Duke de Broglie, president of the council, and secretary of state in the department of Public Instruction and of Worship, was born in 1785. He is the son of the Prince de Ravel, and consequently the grandson of the Marshal of that name. His early studies were begun at the central school of Paris, and he was only nine years of age when his father ascended the scaffold. When yet a youth, he applied himself with ardour to literary pursuits, and wrote habitually for the public journals, in a style which was characterized by a degree of firmness and vigour which arrested the public attention. When Napoleon, who sought to sustain his power by means of all who recommended themselves through birth, fortune, or talents, called a number of young men to the council of state in the capacity of auditors, he cast his eyes on the Duke de Broglie, and attached him to the section of the Interior.

After fulfilling a variety of administrative functions up to the period of the restoration, in the countries occupied by the armies of France, he amassed a fund of information which he now applies to the great social theory of government, not without being stigmatized by the opponents of his ministry, as being a doc

trinaire in principle-a term which is nearly synonymous with that of theorist in its most unfavourable acceptation; and, as applied politically, is placed in opposition to those tastes and habits which point to practical, rather than to radical reform.

In the month of June, 1814, the Duke de Broglie was raised to the peerage; but being then only in his twenty-ninth year, he was disqualified from taking part in the deliberations of the Chamber. His first public appearance was on the occasion of the trial of the unfortunate Marshal Ney-an opportunity which he seized, with all the enthusiasm of his character, to struggle, with the courage of conviction, in favour of the accused. Soon afterwards, he boldly attacked the numerous exceptions of the celebrated act of amnesty-those exceptions by which it was in fact converted into an act of proscription.

About this period he obtained in marriage the hand of the daughter of Madame de Staël, and granddaughter of Necker, the finance minister of Louis XVI. This union was contracted in Italy, the ceremony having been performed first by a Catholic priest, and afterwards by a Protestant clergyman-a circumstance which affords some evidence of moderate and tolerant principles in matters of religion. The elevation of the Duke de Broglie to the office of premier has been regarded with public

satisfaction, much less from his hereditary titles and his illustrious descent-advantages which are not now regarded in France at more than their just value,-than from the rank which he has created for himself by his personal merit, and from the extent of his acquirements, which peculiarly fit him for the special department to which he has been appointed, including, as it does, the superintendence of the University, and the general system of education in France.

M. Dupont de l'Eure, the keeper of the seals, is decidedly the most popular member of the new administration. Born at Nieubourg, in 1767, Jacques Charles Dupont was admitted as an advocate by the parliament of Normandy, in 1789. He soon embraced the cause of the people as distinguished from that of the privileged classes, and asserted their rights with an intrepidity and perseverance which fully proved the sincerity of his attachment to the interests of public liberty. Throughout a life of activity and usefulness, he has never failed to conciliate the respect and esteem of his fellow-citizens. Appointed in succession to the mayoralty of his commune, to the administration of the district of Louviers, to the office of substitute for the commissioner of the executive directory, to that of counsellor in the appellant tribunal of Rouen, and finally, to the presidency of the criminal tribunal of Evereux; he has proved himself, in every department

through which he has passed, a devoted citizen, and a just and faithful functionary. When called to the presidency of the imperial court of Rouen, the qualities which so eminently distinguish the character of M. Dupont-his sound judgment, and his severe integrity-were not less conspicuous than they had ever been throughout his public career. But M. Pasquier, who had himself been prefect of police under the government of Napoleon, thought it necessary, at the restoration, to remove M. Dupont from the presidency, without the smallest pension, after twenty-seven years of administrative, judicial, and legislative services.

Since the year 1817, the esteem of his fellowcitizens has secured him a seat in the Chamber of Deputies. It was during his first session that he so energetically supported the principle which, under his auspices, as ministerial head of the judicial departments, is now about to be carried into effect that the intervention of a jury should be indispensable in the trial of all political offences, and particularly of those of the press. Faithful to his own duties as a representative of the people, Joseph M. Dupont never ceased to oppose, with all his energy and influence, the arbitrary acts of a ministry whose object, too evidently, was to destroy the institutions of the country, and to pave the way for the introduction of absolute power. He could never witness the unconstitutional measures which were so