738 



THIERS, LOUIS A. 



1822, a place in the editorial force of Le Con- 

 stitutionnel, which was then the principal organ 

 of the Liberal party. In this journal he ad- 

 vocated liberal principles with skill and ener- 

 gy, and soon came to be regarded as a spokes- 

 man of the party. His paper, De la Monarchie 

 Fran$aise, published about this time, added to 

 his reputation. He wrote many papers on litera- 

 ture and art, and published a collection under 

 the title of " Salon de 1822." He made an ex- 

 cursion to the south of France and among the 

 Pyrenees, and published a book of travels, " Les 

 Pyrenees, ou le Midi de la France, pendant 

 les Mois de Novembre et de Decemlre 1822." 

 In 1823 he was associated with Jouffroy, Du- 

 bois, De Remusat, and Mignet, in the prepara- 

 tion of a political and literary miscellany called 

 the " Tablettes Historiques." His " History 

 of the French Eevolution " was received in all 

 quarters with enthusiasm. The first two vol- 

 umes were written by M. Thiers in conjunc- 

 tion with Felix Bodin. In clearness of style 

 and dramatic interest they lacked nothing, 

 but they betrayed technical inexperience. 

 Perceiving this, he betook himself to especial 

 studies in the arts of finance and war. Thiers 

 now projected a general history, for the mak- 

 ing of which lie intended to prepare himself 

 by travel. For this purpose he engaged pas- 

 sage in the expedition of Laplace. The ap- 

 pointment of the Polignac ministry caused a 

 change in his plans. In conjunction with the 

 bookseller Santlet and Armand Carrel he 

 founded the National as an opposition journal. 

 Thiers, Mignet, and Carrel, were to be editors, 

 each to be chief for one year in his turn. It 

 was Thiers's turn to be chief first, and the first 

 number appeared under his supervision on 

 January 1, 1830. It attacked the Government 

 sharply and vigorously, and soon commanded 

 attention and engaged sympathy. It was in 

 this journal that Thiers "propounded the fa- 

 mous constitutional maxim which became a 

 motto of the Liberal party: " Le JRoi regne et 

 ne gouverne pas." The National advocated 

 the candidacy of the Duke of Orleans. It was 

 prosecuted, and paid its fine out of the pro- 

 ceeds of the accession of subscriptions which 

 resulted after the action against it. It now 

 became more defiant. Upon the promulgation 

 of the ordinances of July 26, 1830, the editors 

 of the Liberal journals met at the office of the 

 National and adopted a protest which Thiers 

 drew up. The next day the National was pro- 

 hibited from appearing. Thiers refused to 

 yield except to force. His arrest was ordered, 

 and he retired to Montmorency. The July 

 revolution opened his way to public life. On 

 the 31st of July he reappeared from his retire- 

 ment, and joined Sebastiani, Girard, and La- 

 fitte, in persuading the Duke of Orleans, to 

 accept the office of lieutenant-general of the 

 kingdom. Under the new regime he was 

 made, in August, Counsellor of State and Gen- 

 eral Secretary in the Finance Department, and 

 in November, 1830, Assistant Secretary of 



State under Lafitte. He was also returned as 

 a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 

 Aix. His first efforts as a parliamentary 

 speaker were unsuccessful. He perceived his 

 faults, and took measures to overcome them, 

 and soon gained reputation as an orator of 

 great precision and power, versatility and vi- 

 vacity. He advocated the most energetic 

 measures, and talked of crossing the Rhine 

 and the Alps, to save Belgium and deliver 

 Italy. 



During the ministry of Casimir Perier, M. 

 Thiers was opposed to his former friends. In 

 the Chambers he counselled peace and resig- 

 nation to the treaties of 1815, opposed the 

 union of Belgium with France, for fear of a 

 general war; sustained several domestic meas- 

 ures which were unpopular and regarded as 

 illiberal; advocated making the peerage he- 

 reditary; and counselled vigor against there-, 

 publicans and the legitimists. On the death 

 of Casimir Perier, he was made Minister of 

 the Interior in the new Cabinet of October 

 11, 1832. A disagreement with his associates 

 led him, in December of the same year, to ex- 

 change the Department of the Interior for 

 that of Public Works. In this office M. Thiers 

 furthered the erection of many fine buildings 

 and public constructions. Some of them were 

 in honor of the Napoleonic dynasty, as the 

 statue of Napoleon OP the top of the Vend6me 

 column, and the Arc de Triomplie d^toile. 

 He also advanced the works for the fortifica- 

 tion of Paris, which had been suspended. 

 While he thus made himself useful and even 

 necessary to the court, he also maintained 

 friendly relations with the Liberal party. He 

 resumed the ministry of the interior in the un- 

 wieldy Cabinet of April 4, 1834. The upris- 

 ings at Paris and Lyons took place, and he ex- 

 hibited a firmness and energy with reference to 

 them that estranged his old republican friends 

 from him. The Cabinet fell to pieces in 1830. 

 Thiers entered the new Cabinet as Minister of 

 Foreign Affairs. In domestic policy he was 

 governed by the views of King Louis Philippe ; 

 in foreign affairs, particularly with reference 

 to Spain, he sought to follow a pronounced 

 liberal policy. He was baffled by the royal 

 opposition, and retired from official life, im- 

 proving the leisure thus gained to make a tour 

 in Italy. From 1838 he opposed the ministry 

 of Count Mol6, and contributed to its fall in 

 March, 1839. The King, however, would not 

 give him office, except upon conditions to which 

 he would not agree. But, upon the fall of the 

 Soult ministry in 1840, the King called him in 

 as Minister President on the first of March. 

 The Eastern question was up at this time, in 

 the shape of a complication between the Sub- 

 lime Porte and Egypt. It had not been skil- 

 fully managed by M. Thiers's predecessors. 

 England had sided with Russia, and a treaty- 

 was concluded between the great powers on 

 the 15th of July, 1840, without the adhesion 

 of France. This was a moral defeat, the brunt 



