370 THE FRENCH AND THE KING OF THE FRENCH. 



his power, the circumstances, causes, censure, and disgust. It strikes, 

 not only as the insolence of a parvcnue, but the ingratitude of a dema- 

 gogue, that has juggled himself into authority, and converted the rods of 

 a tribune into the iron sceptre of a despot. 



Unfortunately, the king of the French is not in a position to judge 

 of this flux and reflux of public opinion. His presence in the streets 

 has never excited enthusiasm for or against him. The election being 

 confined to those proprietors that pay 15/. pound a year taxes, is no 

 barometer either. And, although the tone of the public journals might 

 warn him, as the serving government cannot preserve one on its side, 

 except it be of their own creation, yet, from a late expression of 

 Louis Philippe, we learn, that he no longer reads the opposition 

 journals. No wonder then, if the empty tribe about him assist the 

 natural sagacity of his understanding, and succeed in persuading him to 

 reigri, not by virtue, and in the spirit of a popularly elected sovereign, 

 but in that of a </?/*m-legitimate one. 



In fact, the news, whilst I write is, that he has refused to cede a jot 

 to the somewhat liberal exigencies of Dupin, and that he is about to 

 throw the government into the hands, not merely of the doctrinaires, but 

 of those old unprincipled triumvirs, such as Bertin de Vaux, and 

 Talleyrand, men who have professed all principles, from absolutism to 

 radicalism, and who really have but one, their immediate interest and 

 hold of place. 



P. S. There has been a curious and amusing scene yesterday at the 

 Chamber of Deputies. Several members visited the new hall of assem- 

 bly, and were examining the decorations, when they were struck with a 

 gigantic statue of Public Order, placed by the side of the president's 

 chair. What emblem, think you, this said goddess carried in her hand ? 

 An olive branch, say you. No such thing, but a bit, a bridle-bit, large 

 as life and gilt, with curb and appendages. " Pour le cout cest trop 

 fort." " This is too bad," cried the spectators, even though they were 

 of the juste milieu. Monsieur D'Argout endeavoured to defend his 

 emblems ; but despite his taste, he was obliged to order the bit to be 

 erased. So much for the esprit of the ministre des Iravaux publics. 



