information, on the very evening after this discussion, a long list of great measures, carried by those whose strenuous devotion had identified the names with the acts; but even assuming the case to be so, what could possibly have been in worse taste than to base a principle upon the exceptional conduct of one great man in England, and upon whom history has yet to pronounce its verdict.

His lordship only remarks at this place:-"M. Guizot listens always unwillingly, if in fact he listens at all, to any thing tending to prove he has made a mistake."

"February 17. The reform banquet is to take place next Sunday. Twenty thousand national guards are to accompany the banquetteers, unarmed, but in uniform. I thought the king well last night, but low. He seemed at one time inclined to talk to me about the banquet, but I avoided it. I could not say I thought he was right; and it was no business of mine to say he was wrong.' We feel perfectly assured that his lordship was correct in this appreciation of his position, but it will certainly astonish those unaccustomed to the reserve of diplomacy to read how guardedly the ambassador maintained himself within the frontiers of his special functions; and even though he saw the preparations for a fire, contenting himself with the know ledge that he was only "a lodger."

On the 22nd of the same month he records :-"Some who remember 1830 say, it is very like the first day of that period."

"February 23, 6 P.M. So it is said the Guizot ministry is gone at last. If this were accomplished by any other means, I cannot say that there would be the slightest mixture in the feelings with which I regard the event. There was always a distrust of the king's sincerity. There is no longer any believe in his sagacity, since he has been so blind to the signs of public opinion." In these words we read how completely the monarch had uncovered his own position by substituting himself and his own will to the act of a ministry. Had the question confined itself to the change of a set of advisers, the cry of "Down with Guizot" had never involved the safety of the crown; but in total forgetfulness of what should constitute the very essence of par

liamentary government, the king had usurped an amount of dictation which left the minister powerless; but, at the same time, it was to cost the sovereign the heavy price of removing all the safeguard of his personal irresponsibility. To this accountability the nation now summoned him; and it was a day of victory for which he was lamentably unprepared. Let us proceed with the narrative:

"The announcement of the dissolution

of the Guizot cabinet was received with enthusiasm. The funds at once rose half per cent.; many of the barricades raised them; a considerable portion of were destroyed by the people who had Paris was spontaneously illuminated. Mobs proceeded to the houses of M. Thiers and M. Odillon Barrett, and others, cheering under the windows, as might occur in London before the residence of any popular leaders upon a

similar occasion.

Up to this moment, all appeared calculated to inspire hopes that, the real cause of the discontent being removed, the town would again to-day resume its tranquillity; when an unexpected incident a casualty, as it would almost seem-completely changed the face of affairs, and produced events, the effects of which it is impossible not to foresee will long be A mob of felt throughout Europe. about a hundred and fifty, many of them armed, followed by a curious crowd, had been proceeding in different should be illuminated. They had sucdirections, requiring that the houses ceeded in this at the Ministère de la Justice, as I am told, and intended to require the same at the Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, from which, however, M. Guizot is said to have already removed himself. Upon the arrival of the crowd before the hotel, a single shot— by whom fired will, perhaps, never be tion of the garden wall_broke the leg of ascertained, but coming from the directhe horse on which the major commanding the detachment of the 14th regiment of the line was mounted. immediately, without the slighest notice, gave an order to fire a volley into the crowd, which had been collected before

He

the hotel. It is stated that no less than

fifty-two people, many of them women An English gentleman, Mr. Henry and children, were killed or wounded. Fitzroy, who was walking quietly along on the other side of the Boulevards, told me that some fell on each side of him. The crowd immediately dispersed into the different quarters of Paris, from which they had been collected, shouting

Vengeance!' and 'Treachery!' The barricades were reconstructed, new ones were formed in various parts of Paris, and when morning came, it found the whole population in the greatest state of exasperation. Many of the middle classes, who had hitherto remained quiet, became indignant at this, which, at first sight, was supposed to have been a massacre ordered by superior authority. Some attributed it to M. Guizot, who, however, I have reason to believe, had nothing whatever to do with it, and was not even there. Others, unfortunately, openly ascribed what they termed treachery to the king. From the very beginning of this disastrous affair, the misfortune has been that as offence was

taken at the king's speech, and as it was generally believed that the words were his own, the disposition has been to attribute every unpopular act to his Majesty personally; and this incident occurring in the interval, after the dismissal of his ministers, increased the exasperation against the king, and rendered any arrangement difficult."

Here, again, do we see how the king stands personally distinctly for ward as the responsible actor, the sole individual whose wishes and intentions stand opposed to the sympathies of the nation. The king abdicates; an attempt to proclaim a regency by the Duchess of Orleans in favour of the Count de Paris is at first coldly received, then abandoned; and at last a Provisional Government formed; and the last extract from the noble lord's journal says "One cannot believe that a great nation like this can permanently submit to the dictation of a few low demagogues. Louis Philippe's reign, however, has so completely demoralized public feeling, there is now nothing to look to." When the mob carried away the throne from the Tuilleries to-day, they said they did so because he had stolen it. Nor was the unhappy man spared insult in these last sad moments. As he stepped into the carriage that was to convey him from the Tuilleries, a strong Legitimist, whose name I will not mention, closed the door, and bowed. The king thanked him, and the other replied-Pas du tout, il y a dixsept ans que j'attends ce jour." To utter the insolence at such a moment was rank cowardice, and no more.

""

Lord Normanby very clearly shows that the regency of the Duchess of Orleans was lost by the vacillation and worse than vacillation, of Lamar

there a

tine. He had given a distinct and formal pledge to support that measure in the chamber; but when the trying moment arrived, and when, from the very character of the man, a touching allusion to her who stood "princess, a widow, and a mother," might have been expected from him. He sat with his head buried in his hands; and, on being urged to speak, only replied, "Je ne parlerai pas tant que cette femme y restera." 'My informant saw there was nothing to be expected from him."

་་

Let us, however, do him the justice to acknowledge, that in the eventful days which immediately followed, he rendered inestimable services to France and to the world. There was a period in which the very turn of a straw might have revived all the terrible scenes of the great revolution. It was a chance musket-shot, fired by an unknown hand, that decided the fortune of a dynasty, and now one voice that should cry out, "La guillotine," might have been the signal for death to thousands. The boldness of declaring abolition of death punishment for political offences was a noble and a splendid triumph, and to accord the full praise to the act, we must recall the moment in which it was dared. We cannot, nor is there need that we should, follow the narrative of those tremendous events-that moving panorama of bloodshed and conflict, dashed with its terrible atrocities, or relieved by touches of noble and generous heroism. The story is too recent for any of us to have forgotten every detail that marked it. By the testimony of M. Dupont de l'Eure, who had assisted at the scenes of the "Convention," they had overcome greater dangers in the first sixty hours than had marked its whole duration."

It will be in the recollection of most of our readers that the Repeal party in Ireland, and others whose views extended beyond that measure, eagerly seized upon the events occuring in Paris, to proffer their sympathies with the cause of revolution, and to induce, if they might, the members of the Provisional Government to utter something which might be construed as a pledge to assist Ireland to achieve independence. There cannot be a doubt, that the very gravest perils might have arisen to us at home, had any (the least)

encouragement been given to this movement; and Lord Normanby exerted himself actively to impress upon Lamartine the importance of dealing boldly and decisively with the deputation. It was, above all, essential that the reply to the address should be delivered by Lamartine, and not by Ledru Rollin, whose sympathies with Irish disaffection were well known. We were not of those who concurred with the Marquis of Normanby in his Irish administration, more than once have we expressed our dissent from the principles of that rule; but we have no hesitation in declaring, that had it not been for the guarantees the character of his administration afforded, it is more than likely he never would have succeeded in influencing Lamartine to adopt the wise course he took.

"M. Lamartine," says he, "used some civil expressions as to being more willing, from recollections of the past, to take my opinion about Ireland than theirs." Upon this occasion, therefore, Lord Normanby's services were highly valuable, and he certainly exerted them with equal zeal and ability. An expression of vague or uncertain meaning, a phrase which might have borne a double, or even doubtful interpretation, would readily have been caught up to imply sympathy with Irish wrongs; but Lord Normanby never ceased to insist, that every word should be well weighed, and that not a particle of hope should be thrown out, that France meant to adopt or to aid the cause of Irish insurrection.

"M. Lamartine mentioned to me, this day, that he had settled to receive the Irish deputation on Monday next. He had already seen Mr. Smith O'Brien, and told him distinctly that he and his friends must not expect the slightest support, or encouragement of any kind, from the French government." He again repeated to me the substance of the answer he meant to make to them-"That the French Government was on terms of perfect amity with England; that it desired to continue so; and, therefore, to deserve it, that the general rule not to interfere in any way with the internal concern of other countries, was here peculiarly applicable. That if France abstained from meddling with international affairs, with which

she had no business, still more would she decline to do so between any two parties in one country, and would refuse to pronounce any opinion upon these disputes." If the words actually spoken afterwards did not completely tally with these, there was that amount of discouragement to these disloyal men, that showed "Lamartine had kept his promise with me.'

We have not space to enter upon the narrative of that network of intrigue, falsehood, incapacity, and dishonesty, which marked the days of the Provisional Government-days unsignalized by a single trait that could give hope to the cause of order, or the prosperity of France. Corruption, venality, and distrust on every hand, soon disposed the country to lament the past, and to see that in avenging the faults of one government, they had precipitated themselves into the far deeper and greater evils of the worst of all rules-the “ DESPOTISM OF CHANCE."

"I have watched," says Lord Normanby, "the conduct of those who are now in power for the last few months; and I do not believe they possess any one redeeming quality; nor if they remain can I foresee any other check or limit to the mischief they are doing, except their official incapacity or portending weakness."

The best of these men was unquestionably Lamartine, and yet let the following portrait faithfully painted, as we believe it to be-show how moderately did the man respond to the emergency. "M. Lamartine is fond of strong figures, and not long ago compared himself with a para tonnerre; but his real affinity with the elements might be more accurately described as of quite an opposite character. Never before did a more obtrusive, brilliant "feu-follet" dazzle and delude the regular course of a grave debate."

How heartily do we concur in this appreciation of a mere phrasemonger! and how thoroughly sympathise with the exclamation of one of the mob, who, utterly wearied out by his high-sounding platitudes, exclaimed, "Assez, assez de Lyre comme ça ! The interruption was infinitely better than the speech it so summarily brought to a conclusion.

Of Louis Napoleon, Lord Normanby's mention is naturally brief and guarded; and we find the very signi

ficant allusion to his appearance in the chamber. The question had been, as to the exclusion, as candidates for the Presidency, of all individuals whose families had ever reigned in France. He mounted the tribune, to say a few words, becoming in themselves, yet, perhaps, too modest for his position. He found no indulgence in the assembly. M. Anthony Thouret, whose own style hardly qualified him for a critic, somewhat brutally exclaimed, After what we have seen, the amendment of exclusion is unnecessary."

66

We are reminded by the incidents of one far inferior in importance, it is true, but not less pointed in its application. When O'Connell, replying to the epithet of "dangerous" used towards him by D'Israeli, exclaimed, "The honourable gentleman is quite safe; nobody will ever call him a dangerous man!"

Lord Normanby's comment on the "incident" is remarkable. Whatever defects the refined taste of Citizen Thouret might find in the expressions, Louis Napoleon certainly showed the possession of some qualities which may be of more general application; I mean the self-possession and sang froid with which he bore the ungenerous usage; he neither appeared "irritated nor disconcerted."

licacy and moderation. While frankly criticizing many of the acts of those whose intimacy and even confidence he enjoyed, his remarks are ever characterized by a generous consideration of all the difficulties of the situation they were placed in, while he also makes every allowance, not only for res dura, but the novitas regni; nor is there throughout the work one expression unbecoming the high station he himself enjoyed.

Equally modest is he as to the services he rendered to the cause of European peace and tranquillity, though a very cursory glance at the pages of his journal will show how inseparably was the thought present with him that the natural impulses of a republic would inevitably tend to a propagandism. Indeed, unaccredited, as for six months he was at Paris-an ambassador only by tradition, since there was not, until August, any regular government to which he could be said to be accredited-it was still mainly by the influence of his wise counsels, the hopeful assurances he gave, too, of English sympathy, if the destinies of the country should be properly directed, and the equal certainty that any plans of invasion would call down upon France the united force of Europe;by these was he mainly instrumental in deciding the rulers of the period to adopt that pacific policy, any deviation from which would have plunged the whole civilized world into war. So far, therefore, has he done the state good service; and, fresh as we rise from reading the terrible events of those days, we cannot but record our gratitude to him who stayed the course of the pestilence, and arrested the most dire of all the consequences of a "Year of Revolution."

It is not often that the spectacle is presented to us of the public waiting for a book. What we are accustomed to see is a book waiting for the public. Celebrity usually comes to an author through his work. This work is celebrated because of its

*

author. A discoverer had escaped the common lot of African enterprise, and appeared in London with a new territory in his portfolio. The world of London, and of the British empire, was content to stand on tip-toe some six months or so, until the successful