FRANCE. (HISTORY.) 



263 



was to remain in force only till the close of the ses- 

 sion of 1820, had a great effect on the journals ; for, 

 as the censorship was exercised with rigour against 

 the liberal papers, these were deprived of much of 

 their influence on the approaching elections. The 

 new law of election, June 29, 1820, was earned, after 

 the most violent opposition on the part of the doctri- 

 naires and the liberals, in both chambers. (See 

 Elections.) The first consequence of this new law of 

 election was, that in 1820, of 220 new deputies, only 

 about thirty were liberals ; in 1821, two-thirds of the 

 eighty-seven new deputies joined the right side ; the 

 remaining third belonged partly to the centre, partly 

 to the left side. Many officers of government, by 

 their writings, and in their places as deputies, opposed 

 the new system ; so that with every new ministry 

 there were numerous dismissions, and many names 

 were even erased from the army-rolls for political 

 opinions. August 19, 1820, a number of officers and 

 subalterns were arrested for an attempt to excite the 

 troops in Paris and other places to revolt ; the pre- 

 tended author, captain Nantil, had fled. This was a 

 case of treason, to be tried by the chamber of peers, 

 as the supreme tribunal for such crimes ; and on this 

 occasion it was maintained, that this chamber has the 

 power to decide, whether a case comes under its cog- 

 nizance or not. In the present case, the chamber, 

 considered the accusation proved, and condemned 

 three absent persons to death, and six to fine and im- 

 prisonment : the rest were acquitted. The exagger- 

 ated fears of the government were shown in the case 

 of the conspiration de I'Est, all the persons accused 

 being acquitted. On the opening of the session of 

 1820 (from Dec. 19, 1820, to July 31, 1821), Laine', 

 De Villele, and Corbiere were appointed (Dec. 21), 

 ministers-secretaries of state, with a vote in the 

 council of ministers, but without any department in 

 the administration. The ministry hoped to command 

 the right side by means of these speakers, but the 

 ultras were soon found to be opposed to the minis- 

 ters. Count Donnadieu, Delalot, and count Vau- 

 bianc headed this opposition. Both parties seemed 

 to unite with equal zeal for the overthrow of the mi- 

 nistry. The left side principally attacked the influ- 

 ence of government in the electoral colleges ; but the 

 right side continually maintained the majority ; and 

 the chamber, in the address to the king, expressed a 

 wish to see a reformation of morals produced by a 

 religious and monarchical system of education. 

 They asserted, that a continual conspiracy existed in 

 France; of which they reproached the opposition 

 with being the cause an accusation which gave rise 

 to the most violent debates, and bitter recriminations; 

 whereas the liberals (as Benj. Constant once ex- 

 pressed it, at the close of his celebrated speech on the 

 election law) really desired " Ics Bourbons, rien que 

 les Bourbons avec la charte, toute la charte sous les 

 Bourbons." 



The most important debates were on foreign rela- 

 tions, and freedom of speech in the chamber. On 

 the latter subject, Royer-Collard developed the views 

 of the opposition in the most convincing manner. 

 But Deserre, the keeper of the seals, succeeded in 

 carrying certain restrictions on the conduct of the 

 members, intended to check the violence of parties 

 in the chamber. Several laws, relating to domestic 

 affairs, and the settling of the budget in particular, 

 gave occasion to profound discussions of great politi- 

 cal principles. The censorship was continued after 

 March 31, 1820. The ministry, however, withdrew 

 its projet of a law regulating the organization of the 

 municipal and departmental administration (which 

 had been repeatedly demanded by the left side and 

 the centre), because it was opposed by all parties. 

 Shortly before the close of the session of 1820 (July 



31, 1821), the ministry was divided, partly on general 

 views, and partly on the question as to the share 

 which the ministers who held no portfolio should take 

 in the administration. Villele and Corbiere, there- 

 fore, gave in their resignation, the consequence of 

 which was the alienation of the right sid e from the 

 ministry. The ministers were, notwithstanding, so 

 confident of their stability, that they liastened the 

 opening of the session of 1821, for the purpose 

 of fixing the budget of 1822, before the close 

 of the year, as it was then usual to grant the supplies 

 for six months of the ensuing year in advance, with- 

 out examining the estimates. At the same time, the 

 ministers aimed at maintaining their influence with 

 the majority in the chambers, by pursuing a moderate 

 system ; and the censorship, therefore, was directed 

 with more severity against the journals of the anti- 

 constitutionalists. 



But the new system increased the number of the 

 ultra royalists, while it diminished the strength of the 

 left side and the centre. The session of 1821 was 

 opened on the 5th of November. The members of 

 the right side united themselves more closely, in 

 order to obtain a majority. They were the speakers 

 and the reporters of the committees of the chamber. 

 Both sides were equally discontented, although for 

 different reasons, with the policy of government in 

 respect to Naples and Piedmont, as displayed in the 

 congress at Laybach. The address of the deputies 

 to the king (November 26), which touched on this 

 point, gave offence, and, instead of being presented, 

 as usual, by a great deputation, only the president 

 and the two secretaries of the house were a.dmitted ; 

 and it was censured by the king in his reply. The 

 keeper of the seals, Deserre, proposed two bills, one 

 for continuing the censorship till the close of the ses- 

 sion of 1826, and the other imposing additional 

 restrictions on the liberty of the press. They were 

 received by both sides of the chamber with a decided 

 opposition. The ministry, unable to resist the com- 

 bined attack of both parties, and not daring to dis- 

 solve the chambers, gave in their resignations, Dec. 

 17, 1821. The sixth ministry was now formed, con- 

 sisting of Peyronnet, minister of justice, the viscount 

 de Montmoreney, of foreign affairs, the duke of Bel- 

 luno (Victor), of war, Corbiere, of the interior, the 

 marquis de Clermont-Tonnere, of the marine, and 

 Villele, of finance. Ultra royalism was now triumph- 

 ant; the right side seemed satisfied, and the left 

 formed but a feeble opposition. The new ministry 

 immediately withdrew the proposition for a continua- 

 tion of the censorship, which, therefore, expired, Feb. 

 5, 1822. But the trial of all offences of the press 

 was taken from the jury, principally through the 

 influence of the lawyers of the right centre. As it 

 was now too late to discuss the budget of 1822, a 

 provisional supply for three months was granted. Thp 

 change in the ministry had no bad effect upon the 

 public credit ; but the dissatisfaction of the democra- 

 tic party was displayed in the provinces. In 1821, a 

 conspiracy in favour of the young Napoleon was 

 discovered, and, in 1822, several projects of revolt 

 in different garrisons, two of which, conducted by 

 general Berton and colonel Carron, actually broke out, 

 but failed. The missionaries also caused some 

 troubles in Paris ; and several seditious acts of the 

 students were punished by the suppression of the 

 medical facility (restored, with a new organization, 

 in March, 1823) in Paris, and the prohibition of all 

 lectures on modern history, natural law, and intellec- 

 tual philosophy. At the same time some of the 

 departments were disturbed by numerous fires. 

 These events provoked the fanatics, (as the ultra- 

 royalists were called) to the most violent attacks upon 

 the liberals, who boldly maintained, that the results 



