proclamations-the one from the provisional government, announcing the deliverance of Paris to the people—the other from General Gérard, offering an amnesty to the army. At this moment the Duc de Mortemart arrived from St. Cloud, with the Ordonnances that he should have had the preceding evening. A slowness fatal to the old monarchy still attended him.* M. de Sussy, whom he charged with these ordonnances, was not at the Chamber so soon as he was expected. The Deputies, when he reached it, had already invited the present King to Paris; -M. Thiers, who said "Les plus prompts aujourd'hui seront les plus habiles," had already been to Neuilly, and succeeded in obtaining from Mademoiselle Adélaide the promise that she, at all events, (the Duc d'Orléans was not to be found,) would appear, if necessary, on her brother's behalf. When M. de Sussy arrived, then, the die was cast; and the Chamber refused to acknowledge the sovereign on whose behalf he appeared. Lafayette and

* Monsieur de Mortemart, fatigued by his walk, (he had come a roundabout way from St. Cloud,) disappointed in finding M. Lafitte at his own house-unable, owing to the barricades, to proceed otherwise than on foot-was prevailed upon to charge M. de Sussy with the Ordonnances repealing those of the 25th, and M. de Sussy proceeded with them to the Chamber.

the provisional government treated his mission with still greater disrespect; and such was the feeling at the Hôtel de Ville, that M. de Puyraveau, who read the papers that M. de Sussy presented, said in answer, "That the French were determined not to have another royal master, and that a republic was better than the government called a constitutional one."

Agitated by different rumours-hearing of embassies from St. Cloud, meetings at M. Lafitte's and at the Chamber, conferences at the Hôtel de Ville-the people, always suspicious, began to murmur to mutter together in small groups-to speak of treason, of vengeance. An event was only wanting to awaken into a more terrible force those popular elements of trouble which it was so necessarary to lull speedily to repose. Celerity was every thing, inaction

*

* It was attempted to quiet them by a proclamation ; and a proclamation now appeared, in which the Parisians were called demi-gods and heroes; "Vive la France, vive le peuple de Paris, vive la liberté !" said the provisional government, and the people were less dissatisfied than before. In this proclamation Charles X. was, for the first time, declared to have lost his throne; and M. Périer refused to sign it, because it contained, as he conceived, an act of authority beyond the power with which the provisional or municipal government were endowed.

was the utmost danger; not a moment was to be lost; the Chamber sent a deputation to Neuilly with the offer of the 'Lieutenance Générale.' It was at night, at the gate of his park,* by the pale and flickering light of a torch, that the Duc d'Orléans read the communication so important to his family and to France. He saw the crisis-he saw that the time, long perchance looked forward to, was arrived; he lost not an instant: he set off immediately, and on foot, to Paris. Nor were his partisans idle. On all the walls you might have read :-" Charles ne se croit pas vaincu." "Le Duc de Chartres marche au secours de Paris avec son régiment." "La république nous brouillerait avec l'Europe." "Le Duc d'Orléans était à Jemmapes. "Le Duc d'Orléans est un roi citoyen," &c.

:

Such was the state of things at Paris: agitation with the people; indecision with the republicans; neither courage, energy, nor good fortune with the royalists and amidst all surrounding doubts, difficulties, and fears, to the empty throne the faction Orléans wound itself ably and rapidly along. The advice of Marshal Marmont to the King at St. Cloud was, "Take your troops to the Loire; they will there be beyond the

* He had returned to Neuilly.

6

reach of disaffection: summon the chambers and the corps diplomatique' to your place of residence: take these measures immediately; your throne is yet secure!" The King hesitated -the troops deserted. The few moments that should have been spent in adopting some energetic line of conduct, were wasted in a violent dispute between the Dauphin and the Duc de Raguse. There was no hope where there was no union, no conduct, no courage.

We are arrived at the 31st.

The succeeding events of the revolution are rapid in their succession. At twelve o'clock, the Duc d'Orléans, with some affected coyness, accepts the Lieutenance Générale.' The chamber assembled at one, receives his Royal Highness's answer, and publishes a declaration of its proceedings. Almost immediately after this,

* The Duc de Raguse published an order of the day to the troops, which, by inadvertence, he had not shown to the Duc d'Angoulême. This order, moreover, was contrary to the Dauphin's opinions. He was furious, rushed upon the Duc de Raguse, and even wounded himself in wresting his sword from the Marshal's side. Charles X. succeeded in procuring mutual apologies; but such a quarrel, at such a moment, inspired mistrust among all parties, and filled up the fatality of the unfortunate King's fortunes.

+ "La France est libre: le pouvoir absolu levait son

the new Lieutenant-General, on horseback, with no guards, escorted by the Deputies, visited the Hôtel de Ville. The crowds who lined his

Un

drapeau : l'héroïque population de Paris l'a abattu. Paris attaqué a fait triompher par les armes la cause sacrée qui venait de triompher en vain dans les élections. pouvoir usurpateur de nos droits, perturbateur de notre repos, menaçait à-la-fois la liberté et l'ordre: nous rentrons en possession de l'ordre et de la liberté. Plus de crainte pour les droits acquis, plus de barrière entre nous et les droits qui nous manquent encore.

"Un gouvernement qui, sans délai, nous garantisse ces biens, est aujourd'hui le premier besoin de la patrie. Français, ceux de vos Députés qui se trouvent dejà à Paris se sont réunis, et, en attendant l'intervention régulière des Chambres, ils ont invité un Français qui n'a jamais combattu que pour la France, M. le Duc d'Orléans, à exercer les fonctions de Lieutenant-Général du royaume. C'est à leurs yeux le plus sûr moyen d'accomplir promptement par la paix le succès de la plus légitime défense.

"Le Duc d'Orléans est devoué à la cause nationale et constitutionnelle. Il en a toujours défendu les intérêts et professé les principes. Il respectera nos droits, car il tiendra de nous les siens. Nous nous assurons par les lois toutes les garanties nécessaires pour rendre la liberté forte et durable :

"Le rétablissement de la garde nationale, avec l'intervention des gardes nationaux dans le choix des officiers : "L'intervention des citoyens dans la formation des administrations départementales et municipales: