FRANCE. (HISTORY.) 



273 



office of minister of the interior, baron Louis suc- 

 ceeding Lafitte in the department of finance, and 

 admiral Rigny, d'Argout in that of the marine. Se- 

 bastiani and Soult retained respectively the foreign 

 and war departments, and Montalivet exchanged 

 that of the interior for that of public instruction. 

 The new ministry was much more firm and energetic 

 than the former one, and declared the principles on 

 which it was determined to govern, to be, to put 

 down all irregular power at home, and to refrain from 

 all armed intervention abroad. 



One of the first measures of the new ministry was 

 the introduction of a bill, in the nature of a riot act, 

 for the prevention of those crowds and commotions 

 which continually disturbed Paris. It enacted that 

 all persons forming an assemblage in any public 

 place should be bound to disperse when required to 

 do so by the prefect of police ; and that, after the 

 summons had been repeated three times in vain, force 

 might be used. This law served to strengthen the 

 hands of government ; and it was rigorously exe- 

 cuted in April, when the public peace was disturbed 

 by some riotous assemblages of the populace, which 

 seemed to have no definite object or assignable 

 cause. 



A new electoral law had been already brought 

 before the chambers by the former ministry. By 

 the old law, the qualifications of an elector were, 

 that he should pay 300 francs of direct taxes, and be, 

 at least, thirty years of age: these qualifications 

 excluded the great body of Frenchmen from the, elec- 

 tive franchise, which, in fact, belonged to a small 

 body of not more than 80,000 men out of a popula- 

 tion of 32,000,000. Theprojet of the ministers was 

 to double the number of electors in each college, 

 taking the whole number from those who paid the 

 highest tax in each department. After considerable 

 discussion, the chamber of deputies, however, fixed 

 the qualifications of electors at 200 francs of direct 

 taxes, and twenty-five years of age, with a provision 

 that when the number of electors was smaller than 

 one in one hundred and fifty inhabitants, the next 

 highest taxed should be included in the electoral 

 list to make up the proportionate number. This 

 change carried the number of electors to about 

 215,000. The departmental colleges, composed of 

 the fourth part of the electors who paid the highest 

 taxes, and who had a double vote, were also abol- 

 ished, and the qualification for being elected was 

 reduced from the payment of 1000 to 500 francs of 

 direct taxes. 



Notwithstanding the popularity of the king, dis- 

 contents and political divisions continued in full 

 force throughout his dominions. It was no longer 

 doubtful, however, that the government, with M. 

 Casimir-Perrier at their head, felt increased strength. 

 Accordingly, M. Anthony Thowret, editor of the 

 Revolution newspaper, was prosecuted, and sentenced 

 by the court of assizes to three months' imprisonment 

 and a fine of 5000 francs, for an article published by 

 him, calculated to bring the king's government into 

 hatred and contempt ; and, on an attempt being 

 made to consecrate the column in the place Vendome 

 as an altar to the name of Napoleon, on which occa- 

 sion the public strewed the rails, the column itself, 

 and the area between, with dedicated books, prints, 

 writings, votive garlands, crowns, wreaths, &c., the 

 prefect of police, with the national guards, repaired 

 speedily to the spot, turned out the worshippers, and 

 actually swept the whole of the offerings from before 

 the popular idol, without resistance. 



About the same period, a medal was decreed to 

 be struck for the decoration of those who principally 

 distinguished themselves during the " days of July." 

 1'his decree, however, was not carried into execution 



without jealousy and contention. The ministry 

 designated the ornament as donne par le rot (given 

 by the king), and required an oath to Louis Phillippe 

 and the charter. The individuals for whose honour 

 the decoration was designed, objected to the recep- 

 tion of that from the king which they had earned 

 from the nation ; and the consequence is stated to 

 have been that, out of 1528 persons to whom the 

 medal was designed, upwards of 1000 refused to 

 accept it on the terms proposed. 



In the midst of this anarchy, the king of the 

 French, with that prudential foresight and concilia- 

 tory disposition which have characterized most of 

 his movements, determined on a tour through the 

 provinces of his dominions, one of his objects having 

 doubtless been to attach to his person, by so popular 

 a course, a large portion of his subjects, who might 

 otherwise have been disposed to join the disaffected. 

 During this progress, his majesty was received 

 everywhere with great enthusiasm. At St Germain, 

 Poissy, Nantes, Dieppe and other places, he re- 

 viewed different bodies of the national guards, amid 

 the acclamations of the populace, who, from St 

 Cloud to the limits of the department of the Seine 

 and Oise, formed a line on each side of the high 

 road, with banners, tri-coloured flags and branches 

 of trees. Yet, notwithstanding these loyal demon- 

 strations, France still contained all the elements of 

 political excitement ; and to cope with the agitation 

 arising from the conflicting elements, was no easy 

 task to a newly established government ; but, by the 

 active co-operation of the national guard, the efforts 

 of the authorities had hitherto been successful in 

 repressing the numerous tumults with which they 

 had been compelled to contend. 



In the early part of June, France declared war 

 against Portugal, with the following claims : " Liberty 

 to Bonhomme, with 20,000 francs of indemnity, and 

 the dismissal of his judges ; the recall of Claude 

 Souvinet from banishment ; an indemnity of 6000 

 francs to each of the Gambergs and Vallons detained 

 at Oporto, and 10,000 francs to Dubois ; adherence 

 to the French form of arrest ; prohibition of the in- 

 sertion of articles in the journals against France or 

 its government, and of political discourses against 

 the French by ecclesiastics ; and, lastly, an apology 

 to the French consul, for offensive expressions inju- 

 rious to his character." This expedition, however, 

 for which considerable preparation was made, ended 

 in the capture of eight Portuguese ships of war, 

 which caused a speedy adjustment of the differences 

 which had been complained of. 



On the 14th and 15th of June, a commotion of 

 rather a serious character arose in Paris, which 

 was not subdued without the interference of the mili- 

 tary. Its origin was absolutely insignificant, hav- 

 ing arisen from the unfeeling attack of a watchmaker 

 on a young ballad-singer, who was chanting " Napo- 

 leon in the Hundred Days." This assault on the 

 minstrel was instantly resented by the mob by a 

 fierce attack on the premises of the watchmaker, and 

 by a cry of " Down with the Carlists." Trifling as 

 was the cause of offence, the tumult prevailed to 

 such an extent, that several corps of municipal and 

 national guards were served with ball-cartridge, and 

 remained under arms all night, in the apprehension 

 that the rioting would be renewed in the evening, 

 which, however, happily, was not the case. At 

 Beauclaire, also, 'in the south of France, there was 

 some serious rioting about the same period. The 

 people there, on the day of the fete raised the tree of 

 liberty ; and, the mayor having called out the troops 

 to pull down the tree and disperse the multitude, the 

 soldiers joined the patriots ; and a body of Carlists, 

 who came from the country to pull down the tree, 



