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LAMARTINE, ALPHONSE MARIE LOUIS PEAT DE. 



library on board; and he furnished himself 

 with a number of elegant presents for the 

 chiefs he intended visiting. He travelled 

 through Asia Minor in princely style, and 

 passed through a number of striking adven- 

 tures, all of which are given in his book. Un- 

 fortunately, he lost his daughter, who died at 

 Beirut, -which sad event hastened his return to 

 France, where, during his absence, he had been 

 elected to a seat in the Chamber of Deputies. 

 In this new sphere he very soon distinguished 

 himself, taking a prominent part in the debates 

 in that body, his speeches being all character- 

 ized by the spirit they breathed of a love of 

 liberty, justice, and tolerance, as well as by the 

 eloquence that marked their style and delivery. 

 The subjects upon which he most frequently 

 and forcibly dwelt were such as the abolition 

 of capital punishment, the Eastern question, 

 defence of literary studies, projects of law rela- 

 tive to social assistance, etc. ; and in discuss- 

 ing them he aimed perpetually, as the great 

 end of his pleadings and efforts, at infusing the 

 spirit of Christianity into the legislation of his 

 country. Meanwhile he still vigorously pur- 

 sued his literary studies, and in 1835 published 

 the well-known account, already alluded to, 

 of his Eastern travels. About the year 1837 

 Lamartine began in the Chambers to form a 

 party, which was for several years known as 

 the Social party, the main object of which was 

 to promote the progress of the country by im- 

 proving, through the employment of moral 

 agencies and the wise development of its nat- 

 ural resources, the condition of the whole 

 body of the people of France. The seeds 

 sown by that small party have certainly borne 

 some good fruit. His influence in the Legisla- 

 ture being considerable, he was, in 1844, of- 

 fered a portfolio by Louis Philippe, but this he 

 declined, and gradually drew nearer and nearer 

 to the party opposed to the policy of M. Guizot, 

 until, at length, he became completely identi- 

 fied with the movements which led eventually 

 to the overthrow of the citizen king, a result 

 to which his famous work, the u History of the 

 Girondins," is believed to have materially con- 

 tributed. This great work, which at first ap- 

 peared as a serial in one of the Parisian jour- 

 nals, and was published in eight volumes, 8vo, 

 in 1847, does credit alike to the genius and re- 

 publicanism of its author. The part played by 

 Lamartine during the period that succeeded the 

 night of Louis Philippe furnishes one of the 

 most striking pages in the exciting history of 

 revolutionary France. Never, perhaps, has 

 eloquence so successfully vindicated the magi- 

 cal power attributed to it, as it did in the case 

 of Lamartine during the Paris troubles of 1848, 

 when he not only swayed the Senate by his 

 powerful oratory, but tamed and held under 

 control the fiery spirits of the mob. That was 

 the grandest moment of his life, when the in- 

 furiated mob which surrounded the H6tel de 

 Ville, recognizing in the poet-statesman its 

 master, yet unwilling to be controlled, clam- 



ored, with its ten thousand voices, for the 

 adoption of the red flag as the future standard 

 of revolutionized France. No man in France 

 knew better than the historian of the Girondins 

 the terrible significancy of that cry ; for the 

 red flag had been the symbol of the Reign of 

 Terror. Stepping forward, boldly but calmly, 

 upon the balcony of the H6tel de Ville, and 

 looking with the utmost self-possession upon 

 the ruffianly and brutal masses below, some of 

 whom were at that moment aiming their rifles 

 at him, he said, in a voice so distinct that 

 every one of the surging crowd understood 

 each word: "No! for myself, I will never 

 adopt it. The tri-colored flag has made the 

 circuit of the world with the republic and the 

 empire, with your liberties, and your glories ; 

 the red flag has only made the circuit of the 

 Champ de Mars, trailing in pools of human 

 gore. Vive la tri-color ! '" Touched by his 

 enthusiasm, and lifted by it, for the moment, 

 out of their brutality, the mob took up his cry, 

 and shouted, " Vive la tri-color ! " till they were 

 hoarse. He was in reality the founder of the 

 provisional government, which was the first 

 step toward the Republic which he desired 

 should succeed the fallen monarchy; but his 

 moderation and conservatism did not long con- 

 tent the restless masses, who desired anarchy 

 and the reenactment of the scenes of 1793. 

 Yet, for a time, he was the most popular man 

 in France. He accepted the post of Minister 

 of Foreign Affairs in the provisional govern- 

 ment, and by his brilliant and carefully-worded 

 manifesto to foreign powers contributed great- 

 ly to win their confidence in the new republic, 

 which their vivid recollection of the terrors of 

 1793 had led them to regard with hostility and 

 fear. Such was his popularity at this moment 

 that, although he had not expressed a wish to 

 be a candidate for the Constituent Assembly, 

 he was returned by eleven different depart- 

 ments, among them that of his birthplace. 

 Through all the trying scenes of those days, 

 however, he remained steadfast in his defence 

 of the cause of law and order, stoutly resisting 

 those excesses to which the people, in their tem- 

 porary madness, were only too inclined to run. 

 It was singular, nevertheless, that the cause of 

 his downfall should have been the suspicion 

 that he was conspiring, with Ledru Rollin, to 

 give the ascendency to the Red Republicans, 

 whose influence he had thus far been seeking 

 to thwart. He opposed and personally fought 

 against the insurgents of the June insurrection, 

 but his power over them was gone, and he re- 

 signed his own executive office and favored 

 the dictatorship of General Cavaignac. At the 

 election for President in the autumn of 1848, 

 he received only 19,900 votes, though ably 

 supported by Pelletan and La Gue>ronire. At 

 the election of 1849, not one of the eleven de- 

 partments, which a year before had so eagerly 

 voted for him, chose him to the Legislative 

 Assembly, and he only obtained a seat in the 

 Chamber in a subsequent partial election. 



