CHAP. 1830. 57. death and de Bourbon. An incident occurred at this time which powerfully tended to depopularise the Government, and increase the sinister rumours which already began to circulate concernSuspicious ing its head. For many years past the old Duke of testament Bourbon, who united in his person the honours of the two of the Duke most noble families in France, had lived in retirement at St Leu, the mansion-house on one of his vast estates. Profoundly afflicted by the misfortunes of his family, the last and most deserving of which had been murdered by Napoleon at Vincennes, he lived alone, "between," as has been finely said, "the ancient tomb of his ancestors in the vaults of St Denis, and the recent grave of his son in the fosse of Vincennes." The only companion of his solitude was the Baroness de Feuchères, an artful and unprincipled courtesan, who had acquired the ascendancy over him which youth and beauty so easily do over the feeble decrepitude of age, and who, to much of the talent which sometimes distinguishes, united all the cupidity which in general disgraces women, in whatever rank, of her profession. Nothing was more natural than that the childless old man of seventy should choose an heir out of the illustrious house of Orléans, with which he was closely connected, and thereby prevent that division of his estates among his heirs-atlaw, if he died intestate, which would otherwise have taken place. If he had done so in the ordinary way, and died a natural death, though it might have awakened some envy, it could have excited no surprise. But a mournful tragedy rendered the matter the subject of deep interest, painfully aggravated by the mystery with which it was and still continues enveloped. The Duke of Bourbon, on the morning of the 27th August, was found dead in his bedroom, strangled by a silk handkerchief suspended from 1 Ann. Hist, a nail in his chamber. The Baroness de Feuchères was xiii. 265 the only person above the rank of a domestic in the 22; Louis house at the time, and her bedroom communicated by an interior passage with that of the prince when the catastrophe occurred.1 Aug. 27. Cap. iii. 17, Blanc, ii. 57, 61. The conduct of the Duke had been strange for some CHAP. XXIV. reports abroad by of the Duke's pro the Duke time, and a letter is said to have been written shortly 1830. before his death, indicating a feeling of approaching 58. death.* On the other hand, the appearance of the body Injurious when discovered, and in particular the extreme tightness spread with which the handkerchief was tied round his neck, the bequest were such as to militate strongly against the idea of suicide. Madame de Feuchères strongly supported the perty to latter opinion, and advanced all she could in its support. d'Aumale. Opinions, as usual in such cases, were much divided, and the public mind was strongly excited by so deplorable a termination of a long and illustrious line, when an entirely new current was given to the affair, and it assumed a political aspect, by the announcement that the whole movable property of the deceased, amounting to 4,000,000 francs (£160,000), was left to the Baroness de Feuchères, and his immense landed estates to the Duke d'Aumale, fourth son of Louis Philippe. There was no evidence, direct or indirect, to connect the new sovereign with the magnificent bequest; but people recollected the maxim of Macchiavelli" If you would discover the author of a crime, see who is to profit by it ;" and the suspicions afloat on the subject were much increased by the magnificent reception which Madame de Feuchères soon after publicly received at the Tuileries. The people, ever credulous of the marvellous, and thirsting for the horrible, put Blanc, ii. all these things together; and the report spread by the 67,71; Cap. Republicans soon received general credit, that the prince Ann. Hist. had been assassinated, and that those who shared the 267. succession were the parties implicated in it.1 A more serious subject of disquietude for the cabinet 'St Leu et ses dépendances appartiennent à votre roi, Louis Philippe. Ne pillez, ni ne brûlez le château ni le village. Ne faites de mal ni à mes amis, ni à mes gens. On vous a égaré sur mon compte, je n'ai qu'à mourir en souhaitant bonheur et prosperité au peuple Français et à ma patrie. Adieu pour toujours." Sign. L. H. J. DE BOURBON, Prince de Condé.-" P.S. Je demande à être enterré à Vincennes auprès de mon infortuné fils."-CAPEFIGUE, vol. iii. p. 23; L. BLANC, vol. ii. p. 65. 1 Louis ii. 23, 26; xiii. 266, XXIV. 1830. 59. M. de La CHAP. of Louis Philippe arose from the attitude and proceedings of Lafayette. He had been declared Commander-inchief of the National Guards of France, as a reward for Attitude of his acquiescence in the advancement of Louis Philippe to fayette, and the throne; but it was soon doubtful whether his posiits dangers. tion in that capacity would not soon overshadow that of the monarch on the throne. Night and day he was beset with deputations from the National Guards of Paris and the neighbouring provinces, most of them of a highly democratic and even republican character, with whom he entered into familiar conversations eminently threatening to the new-born dynasty. "We must," said he, “let the government go on, appreciate it, and judge it. The people, in the last resort, always remain sovereign, and nothing is more easy than to undo what we have done." To counteract this dangerous influence, the King had a grand review of the National Guard of Paris, sixty thousand strong, to whom he presented their colours. In a letter to General Lafayette as their commander, couched in the most flattering terms, he declared that the legions he had witnessed were superior to the forty-eight battalions raised in 1792, and which had so powerfully contributed to the deliverance of France at Valmy. But notwithstanding these cordial appearances in public, it was already apAug. 31, parent that the seeds of irremediable jealousy were al1830; Cap. ready sown between the King and the Commander-in-chief Ann. Hist. of the National Guard, and that, if the former was to maintain his throne, the latter must be dismissed from his command.1 1 Moniteur, iii. 31, 32; xiii. 271, 272. 60. Disturbances in Paris. Already also appearances had assumed a threatening aspect at Paris. Thousands of workmen, thrown out of employment, and who had already experienced in all their bitterness the effects of revolution, crowded the Prefecture of Police, the hotels of the Ministers, and the Palais Royal, demanding bread or work, in terms so menacing as scarcely to admit of a refusal. So threatening did they become that it became necessary to get M. de XXIV. 1830. Lafayette, as commander of the National Guard, to issue CHAP. proclamations urging them to disperse, and promising employment. Great uneasiness also was experienced from the arrest of M. de Polignac, the ex-minister of Charles X., at Grandville, M. de Peyronnet, M. de Chantelauze, and M. de Guernon Ranville, at Tours, who were brought to Vincennes under a powerful escort of national 1Ann. Hist. guards, and, by the excitement which their presence occa- 270; Monisioned, seriously increased the embarrassments of the Gov- 5, 1830. ernment.1 1 xiii. 269, teur, Sept. lative mea sures of the new Gov The legislative measures of the new Government evinced 61. the cautious spirit with which it was animated, and the First legisdesire felt to render the Revolution productive of as few organic changes as was consistent with the excited temper erament. of the people. Two of the most obnoxious laws of the Restoration—that of 12th January 1816, defining, with numerous exceptions, the general amnesty which had been proclaimed for the events of the Hundred Days, and that of 1825, annexing the punishment of death for the crime of sacrilege, or theft in churches-were repealed. The strength of parties under the new Government was evinced by the division for the choice of a President of the Chamber of Deputies, on the resignation of M. Casimir Périer. M. Lafitte obtained 245 votes out of 256-a majority so great as to prove that the Revolution had produced its * Ann. Hist. usual effect of extinguishing independence of thought, and 295. that the debates of the legislature had become mere form.2 xiii. 277, on the Elec A more important subject of discussion arose soon after 62. in the Chamber of Deputies, regarding the adoption of the Discussion electoral system proposed by the Government, which was toral Law. the same as that agreed to in the modification of the constitution before the crown was offered to Louis Philippe. The project of Government was carried by a majority of 234 out of 246 votes, which sufficiently indicated how strongly the Chamber was disposed to support the throne.3 Ann. Hist. But the tone of the debate, and the language used by 305. several orators, pointed to a change at no distant period xiii. 299, XXIV. CHAP. in the Electoral Law, and may be regarded as the precursor of the important alterations in the composition of the Chamber in the succeeding year. 1830. 63. But more pressing interests soon came to occupy the First finan- new Government. The state of the finances was the sures of the most pressing; for the Revolution had enormously augvernment. mented the demands on the Government, while it had cial mea new Go proportionally diminished its receipts. The expedition to Algiers, too, however glorious, had been attended with a very heavy expense, which was by no means entirely provided for by the previous votes. To meet the deficit, Ministers asked and obtained a supplementary vote of credit for 67,490,000 francs (£2,560,000). The receipts of the year were estimated at 979,787,000 francs (£39,200,000), and its expenditure 1,050,116,000 francs, or £42,100,000, which rendered the vote of credit necessary. But events were now approaching which threatened to embroil the new government of France with the European powers, and, by rendering a great increase of 1 Ann. Hist. the army necessary, involved it in a series of financial 314; Moni- embarrassments which rendered a great increase of taxation necessary, and from the effects of which it never recovered. 1 xiii. 313, teur, Sept 23, 1830. 64. against the societies. Sept 25. The popular societies soon became formidable; and it Proceedings was evident that the great contest of Ministers would popular be with their own supporters rather than the Royalists, whom they had overthrown. On the 21st September a great procession took place in the Place de Grève, to commemorate the execution of Borier and three other young men, who had suffered death there some years ago, for their accession to the conspiracy of Rochelle. So great was the alarm felt on this occasion, that all the shops were shut in the districts through which the procession passed, and a large body of national guards were under arms to preserve the public peace. It passed over without any disturbance; and by a singular and striking coincidence, a petition for the abolition of the punishment of death was |