270 



FRANCE. (HISTORY.) 



July 27, was the signal of the revolution. July 26, 

 tin- bank refused to discount bills, and all the manu- 

 facturers discharged their workmen, which, of course, 

 increased the <!M -ontcnt. The revolution, however, 

 began by an attack of well dressed people upon the 

 gi-H'larmcs. It is a striking feature of the recent 

 revolutions or political insurrections in France, Italy, 

 (iiTiniiny, and Spain, that they have emanated from, 

 and been principally executed by, the well informed 

 middle class, not by the rabble, under the pressure of 

 some physical necessity. Some persons were killed 

 at the Palais Royal. Prince Polignac received the 

 congratulations of his party at his palace, on his 

 complete victory over the insurgents. Marshal Mar- 

 inont, duke of Ragusa, had received the command 

 of the king's troops . 



Wednesday, July 28, all Paris was in arms early 

 in the morning. The national guard appeared in 

 their old uniform; the tricolored flag was displayed 

 on several buildings. The battle began in the place 

 de Greve ; the Hotel de Ville became the point of 

 attack ; it was repeatedly taken and retaken, but 

 finally remained in the hands of the people. The 

 Swiss guards were attacked at the Louvre ; the royal 

 lancers fought on the Pont-Neuf. Evening came on. 

 The loss ofboth parties had been considerable. In 

 the night of July 27, the streets and boulevards were 

 barricaded, the pavements were torn up, to serve as 

 missiles, and arms of every description were seized, 

 wherever they could be found ; the women attended 

 the wounded. The Hotel de Ville had remained in 

 the hands of the citizens on the evening of the 28th. 

 The Tuileries and Louvre were now to be Yaken. 

 Many of the troops had been disarmed ; some were 

 unwilling to fire on their countrymen ; some openly 

 went over to the citizens. 



On the 29th, general Lafayette was appointed 

 commander-in-chief of the national guards by the 

 liberal deputies (a considerable number of whom 

 had assembled in Paris), and was received with 

 enthusiasm by the Parisians. These deputies also pro- 

 tested against the dissolution of the chamber, and 

 declared themselves to be still the lawful represen- 

 tatives of the nation. The scholars of the polytechnic 

 school had joined the people on the morning of the 

 29th, and in some cases, taken the command. A 

 youth of twenty years of age, belonging to this school, 

 led the attack on the Louvre, from which the Swiss 

 retreated to the Tuileries. This palace was also 

 taken, by the people, with one of these youths at their 

 head. The Luxembourg had already fallen into their 

 hands. The young men of this school rendered the 

 greatest service during the day in the cause of the 

 nation, and displayed an astonishing coolness and 

 courage. They afterwards declined the medals 

 granted to them, and also the rank of lieutenant, 

 offered to each, in case he entered the army. At 

 one o'clock, Paris had obtained the victory. From 

 5000 to 8000 persons were killed and wounded. 

 The number of troops engaged was 17,200. The 

 people fought heroically throughout. 



Amidst the fire of musketry, several deputies, viz., 

 general Gerard, count Lobau, M. Lafitte, M. Casimir- 

 Perrier, and Mauguin, went to Marshall Marmont. 

 Lafitte entreated him to stop the carnage, and declared 

 him personally responsible for it. Marmont said he 

 felt with them, but, as a soldier, he must obey his 

 orders. He offered to ask prince Polignac whether 

 he would treat, but, after a quarter of an hour, 

 returned with a decided refusal. " We have then a 

 civil war," replied Lafitte, and the deputies retired. 



July 31, the deputies published a proclamation, 

 declaring that they had invited the duke of Orleans 

 to become lieutenant-general of the kingdom. At 

 noon of the same day, Louis Philippe d'Orleans 



issued a proclamation, jrclaringtlmt he had hastened 

 to Paris, wearing the " glorious colours" of France, 

 to accept the invitation of the assembled deputies to 

 become lieutenant-general of the kingdom. A pro- 

 clamation of tlie same date appointed provisional com- 

 missaries, for the different departments of government 

 as follows : for the department of justice, M. Dnpont- 

 de I'.Eure ; of finance, baron Louis ; of war, general 

 G erard ; of the marine, De Rigny ; of foreign affairs, 

 M. Bignon ; of public instruction, M. Guizot; of the 

 interior and public works, M. Casimir-Perrier; signed 

 Lobau A. de Puyraveau and Mauguin de Scholien. 

 The king, with his family, had fled to St Cloud. 



History lias but few events to show that can be 

 compared with this struggle in Paris. The Parisians 

 left their habitations to fight, without organization, 

 we might almost say without arms, against some of 

 the best troops in the world ; and for what ? Were 

 they a rabble driven by hunger, or a rebellious no- 

 bility endeavouring to wrest new privileges from the 

 monarch? No ; they were men who would not suf- 

 fer themselves to be stripped of their civil rights, but 

 firmly and manfully defended them to death. It was 

 in this respect a moral revolution, like that of the 

 Americans, fighting for principles. The Marseilles 

 Hymn, the song ot the revolution, which once had 

 fanned in so many Frenchmen the fire of liberty, did 

 wonders during the revolution of 1830. It brought 

 back to the minds of the people a world of old asso- 

 ciations. M. Rouget de Lisle received, in conse- 

 quence, a pension of 1500 francs from the private 

 purse of the duke of Orleans, (See Ca Ira, and 

 Marseilles Hymn ) In the departments, events took 

 place similar to those in Paris, and the people were 

 every where victorious. 



The king and his household fled on July 31, from 

 St Cloud to Rambouillet, a small place six leagues 

 W. S. W. of Versailles. Three commissioners, 

 Messrs De Schonen, marshal Maison, and O'Dillon 

 Barrett were sent to treat with him. They informed 

 the authorities at Paris, under date of August 3, that 

 the king wished to leave France by way of Cher- 

 bourg ; to restore the crown jewels, which he had 

 taken from Paris, &c. These concessions were pro- 

 duced by the advance of the national guard toward 

 Rambouillet. On the morning of August 2, the ab- 

 dication of Charles X. and the dauphin, Louis An- 

 toine, was placed in the hands of the lieutenant-gen- 

 eral. The abdication, however, was made in favour 

 of the duke of Bourdeaux. A letter of the king, of 

 August 2, appointed the duke of Orleans lieutenant- 

 general of the kingdom, and ordered him to proclaim 

 the duke of Bourdeaux (born on the 29th August, 

 1820), king, under the title of Henry V. 



August 3, (the day originally fixed for the opening 

 of the session), the chambers met. The lieutenant- 

 general addressed the peers and deputies, and an- 

 nounced the abdication of Charles. Casimir-Perrier 

 was chosen president of the chamber, which had 

 acted, during the late memorable events, under tiie 

 vice-president Lafitte. 



August 6. The chamber of deputies declared the 

 throne of France vacant, de jure and de facto, and 

 discussed those changes of the charter, which we. 

 have already given in the former part of this article. 

 On the 7th, the proposed changes were adopted, 

 and it was voted to invite the duke of Orleans 

 to become king of the French on condition of his 

 accepting these changes ; the vote stood 219 in 

 favour, thirty-three against. The whole number 

 of deputies is 430 ; so that 219 is not only an im- 

 mense majority of those present, but a majority of 

 the whole chamber. On the 8th, the chamber went 

 in a body to the duke of Orleans, and offered him 

 the crown, which he accepted ; and, on August 9, 



