FROM REVOLUTION OF JULY TO DEATH OF THE KING. 167 



taken the deepest interest in her welfare. This union of an 

 amiable and highly gifted princess with a noble and dis- 

 tinguished prince has been the innocent cause of arousing 

 deeply-rooted prejudices and long-forgotten enmities which have 

 found expression in a passionate remonstrance from the courts 

 of northern Europe. The arrangements are at length com- 

 pleted ; both the princess and her mother have displayed great 

 force of character and moral excellence, and, once established 

 in her new home, the bride will soon be led to forget the tumult 

 clue mainly to envy and stupidity. For the real happiness of 

 the princess, who stands before my mind as one of the most 

 charming visions I ever beheld, I feel there is no cause for 

 anxiety. She is entering a family circle where she will be 

 welcomed with true affection. She is already assured of her 

 reception and of the impression she is certain to produce. As 

 to physical danger, such a thing is out of the question espe- 

 cially for the wife of the Duke of Orleans. 



' This alarm is got up merely to conceal other causes of dis- 

 content. The bride comes to France at a time when the 

 ministry just come into power, though wanting in character, 

 possesses at least the advantage of being free from that system 

 of intimidation which, however justly administered, is from 

 its dogmatism and absolutism violently opposed to the national 

 character of the French. It is possible to be supported for 

 many years by a majority in the Chambers without having the 

 sympathy of the country, because from the restricted number 

 of voters (even as compared with England before the passing 

 of the Keform Bill) the Chambers represent but a small section 

 of the people, and that of the higher classes. The constant 

 endeavour to increase the machinery of government by laws 

 of a restrictive and punitive character has spread among the 

 lower classes the notion that the ministers will if necessary 

 make use of force. This impression has been fostered by the 

 impetuous conduct of Casimir Perrier, who is far too highly 

 estimated, and who very imprudently attempted upon one 

 occasion to employ intimidation. The practices of a military 

 despotism tend daily to increase this imprudence ; and the 

 importance attached by a feeling of national honour to the 

 possession of Algiers a wretched colony, yielding only corn and 



