"I know that this course of things has been the fatal result of men's passions; and that, in spite of those passions and the evils they have inflicted on nations, European civilization has continued to increase and prosper, and may increase and prosper still more. It is to the honor of the Christian world, that evil does not stifle good. I know that the progress of civilization and public reason will not abolish human passions, and that, under their impulse, the spirit of conquest, of armed propagandism, and of system, will ever maintain, in the foreign policy of states, their place and portion. But, at the same time, I hold for certain that these various incentives are no longer in harmony with the existing state of manners, ideas, interests, and social instincts; and that it is quite possible to-day to combat and restrain materially their empire. The extent and activity of industry and commerce; the necessity of consulting the general good; the habit of frequent, easy, prompt, and regular intercourse between peoples; the invincible bias for free association, inquiry, discussion, and publicity,—these characteristic features of great modern society already exercise, and will continue to exercise more and more, against the warlike or diplomatic fancies of foreign policy, a preponderating influence. People smile, not without reason, at the language and puerile confidence of the Friends of Peace, and of the Peace Societies. All the leading tendencies, all the most elevated hopes of humanity, have their dreams, and their idle, gaping advocates, as they have also their days of decline and defeat; but they no less pursue their course; and through all the chimeras of some, the doubts and mockeries of others, society becomes transformed, and policy, foreign and domestic, is compelled to transform itself with society. We have witnessed the most dazzling exploits of the spirit of conquest, the most impassioned efforts of the spirit of armed propagandism; we have seen territories and states molded and re-molded, unmade, re-made, and unmade again, at the pleasure of combinations more or less specious. What survives of all these violent and arbitrary works? They have fallen, like plants without roots, or edifices without foundation. And now, when analogous enterprises are attempted, scarcely have they made a few steps in advance when they pause and hesitate, as if embarrassed by, and doubtful of, themselves; so little are they in accord with the real wants, the profound instincts, of existing society, and with the persevering, though frequently disputed, tendencies of modern civilization…. I repeat, our history since 1789, our endless succession of shocks, revolutions, and wars, have left us in a state of leverish agitation which renders peace insipid, and teaches us to find a blind gratification in the unexpected strokes of a hazardous policy. We are a prey to two opposing currents,—one deep and regular, which carries towards the definite goal of our social state; the other superficial and disturbed, which throws us here and there in search of new adventures and unknown lands. Thus we float and alternate between these two opposing directions,—called towards the one by our sound sense and moral conviction, and enticed towards the other by our habits of routine and freaks of imagination." (Memoirs of a Minister of State, from the year 1840 pp. 7-9, 10.)
THE KING'S AVARICE.—The imputation of avarice to Louis Philippe was one source of his increasing unpopularity. On his accession he had handed over to his children the estates of the house of Orleans, in order that, as private property, they might not be forfeited with the loss of the crown. He was not content with increasing his wealth by adding to it all the possessions of Charles X. and of the Duke of Bourbon, but it was discovered that he was engaged in business ventures. In providing for ample marriage settlements for his children, he resorted to devices which gave offense to the Chamber of Deputies and to the public. Yet writers like Martin, who are strongly averse to his method of rule, clear him of blame in these particulars, if he is to be judged by what is usual in a monarchical system.
THE SPANISH MARRIAGES.—An event of consequence in relation to the fall of Louis Philippe from power was the affair of the Spanish marriages, which took place under the ministry of Guizot. The Duke de Montpensier, the youngest son of the king, was married to the sister of Isabella II. of Spain. The design, it was believed, was, in the anticipated childlessness of the queen, to secure for his heirs the Spanish crown.
Ferdinand VII. of Spain was an absolutist; but the extreme monarchical party there wished for a king of more energy, and desired to raise to the throne his brother Don Carlos. In 1830 Ferdinand, being then childless, was induced by his wife, the daughter of Ferdinand IV. of Naples, to abrogate the Salic law excluding females from the succession. Her daughter Isabella was born a few months later. After the death of the king (1833), the Carlists resisted the exclusion of their favorite from the throne. Don Carlos was proclaimed in the Basque provinces, and a civil war arose. The queen, Maria Christina, as regent, was supported by the moderados (moderates) and the liberals, and was allowed to recruit for her army in England and France. The leading constitutionalist general, Espartero, was successful; and Don Carlos fled into France (1839). The queen regent allied herself with the conservative wing of the progressive party (the moderados); but insurrections at Barcelona and Madrid, in the interest of the radical wing, obliged her to make Espartero, the head of the movement, prime minister (1840). His administration greatly promoted the prosperity of the country. But the conservatives and absolutists were against him; and, as the result of a counter-insurrection, Gen. Narvaez, the leader of the conservatives, became chief of the cabinet (1844); but he was dismissed two years later. The constitution was divested of some of its liberal features. The queen, Isabella II., had been declared of age by the Cortes, and placed on the throne (Nov. 10, 1843). Christina, her dissolute mother, returned from France, whither she had fled. In the hope of securing the Spanish throne to the Orleans family, Louis Philippe arranged with Christina to effect a marriage between Isabella and a weakling in body and mind, Francis de Assis; and, at the same time, a marriage of his son, the Duke de Montpensier, with her sister Maria Louisa (Oct. 10, 1846). An Orleans prince would not have acquired the crown, even if Louis Philippe had remained on the French throne, since a daughter was born to Isabella in 1851.
There was loud complaint in England against the king and Guizot, for the alleged violation of a promise in this affair. Their defense was that Lord Palmerston, who succeeded Aberdeen, took a very different position from that of this minister, which had been the condition of the engagement. It was from Palmerston's action previously in the affair of Egypt, that the French were embittered, the English alliance was weakened, and the policy of Guizot, who was sincerely desirous to maintain this friendly relation, was discredited at home.
FALL OF LOUIS PHILIPPE.—The scarcity of provisions in 1846 and 1847 provoked much discontent in France. "Bread riots" broke out in various places. The liberal party, composed of diverse elements, organized committees as one of their instruments of agitation in behalf of political reform. The democratic and socialistic journals published inflammatory discussions and appeals. The complaint of corruption among officials grew louder. Communism had numerous votaries; and M. Louis Blanc was an apostle of socialism,—the theory that the government should furnish work and maintenance to all of its subjects. Great reform banquets were held, where the spirit was inimical to Guizot,—who would yield nothing to the popular clamor,—and hostile to the reactionary policy of the Orleans monarchy. The spark that kindled the flames of revolution was the prohibition by Guizot of a great reform banquet appointed to be held on the 22d of February, 1848, in the Champs Elysées, in which a hundred thousand persons were expected to participate. On that day barricades were thrown up in the streets, and there were some conflicts with the municipal guard. These disturbances continued on the next day. The king, who did not lack physical courage, evinced no firmness or boldness in this crisis, dismissed Guizot as a peace-offering, and called upon Count Molé to form a cabinet. Molé declined; the riotous disturbances increased; and Thiers, on the promise of the king to consent to the reforms demanded, undertook, when it was too late, to take office, and try to pacify the people. Soldiers began to fraternize with the mob. The king showed no spirit, but abdicated in favor of his grandson, the Count of Paris. The Duchess of Orleans presented her two sons, the count and his brother, before the Chamber of Deputies. But the motion for a provisional government prevailed (Feb. 24). It consisted of Dupont de l'Eure, Lamartine the poet, Arago, Ledru-Rollin, and six associates. It established itself in the Hotel de Ville. This act, and the firmness and eloquence of Lamartine, prevented the establishment of an ultra-republican, socialistic Directory. The middle classes, alarmed on account of the displays of mob violence, rallied to the support of Lamartine and the party of order. Louis Philippe and his family were allowed to escape to England. There Guizot temporarily took up his abode. After a year, this "last of the Huguenots" returned to France, where he died in 1874.
CONTEST WITH SOCIALISTS.—A concession was made to the socialists in the establishment of government workshops, which turned out to be not workshops at all, but mere excavations. A mob of the Red Republicans was checked (April 16) by the National Guards. The National Assembly voted for a republic. Another mob of socialists and communists was suppressed (May 15). But the great contest came (June 23-26) when the government dismissed a part of those given employment on public works. The battle was severe; but the government troops under the command of a patriotic general, Cavaignac, who was made dictator during the struggle, subdued the insurgents. He was now appointed president of the council, or chief of the executive commission.
THE REPUBLIC: LOUIS NAPOLEON.—Fear of communism and of mob violence gave a new impetus to the conservative tendency. A republican constitution, however, with a president holding for a term of four years, was adopted. Louis Napoleon was elected a member of the assembly. He was chosen president of the republic, mainly by the votes of the peasantry and common soldiers, and with the help of Thiers and others who thought him incapable, and desired to bring about a restoration of the Orleans rule.
Thiers was a personal enemy of Cavaignac. "Thiers" says Martin, "did not feel the same repulsion for the consulate and the empire as does the present generation: he took Louis Napoleon for an inexperienced and somewhat narrow-minded man, whom he could easily restrain and direct, not guessing the determined obstinacy and prejudice hidden beneath his heavy and commonplace exterior." (Popular History of France [from 1789], iii. 200.)