Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/655

 THE RESTORATION.] FRANCE 619 5-24. i iy kmce. mge- itof ties. ef- reac- ists. of pcaca to France. The &quot; Holy Alliance,&quot; of the emperors of Russia and Austria and the king of Prussia, that league of monarchs against the liberties of Europe, compelled France to pay a huge indemnity, to surrender her Rhine fortresses of Philippeville, Sarrelouis, Marienburg, Landau, and Huuingen ; the frontier of Franco was to be garrisoned for five years by a foreign army commanded by a foreign general, and paid by France ; this period was cut short in 1818 at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle. Louis XVII [., who was no mere reactionary, allowed little blood to be shed ; Labddoyere, who had led the army in its rally round Napoleon in 1814, and Marshal Ney were the only victims. Murat, taken in an attempt to recover his throne of Naples, was shot by the Italians. As the chamber of deputies seemed determined to push the reaction to its utmost limits, Louis XVIII. dissolved it, and, declaring that ho would rule constitutionally in accord ance with the charter, rallied round himself all the moder ate party, headed by the Duke Decazes. Power came now into the hands of the middle classes, and in 1818 the burgher party ruled. It was supported by the newly-risen Doctrinaires, men who wrote for the press, and began the modern career of French journalism. The chief of these were De Barante, Guizot, and Villemain ; on one side of them were the extremer royalists, headed by the count of Artois ; on the other side stood the new party of the Independents, from whom sprang the men of the &quot; three days of July.&quot; Between these Decazes kept up the new &quot; systeme de bascule,&quot; the balance-system, as it was called, allowing now this side and now that to taste the sweets of power, and to make some pretence to party-government. In 1820, however, the murder of the duke of Berri, second son of the count of Artois, gave the ultra-royalists an excuse for freeing themselves from a man who kept them somewhat in order. Using the excitement caused by the assassination, they compelled the king to dismiss his favourite minister, and seized the reins of power. They at once modified the constitution in such a way as to secure their majority in the chambers, and prepared to carry matters with a high hand. Just at this time the extravagant conduct of the reac tionary Bourbon princes of Spain and Italy had aroused in surrection and armed resistance everywhere. The people of Spain and Naples declared against arbitrary government, and were at once attacked by those &quot; champions of order,&quot; the sovereigns of the Holy Alliance. At their bidding Louis XVIII. also declared war against Spain ; the French Government, being now entirely guided by the count of Artois, was thoroughly in harmony with all that was repressive and reactionary in Europe. In the spring of 1823 the French army, commanded by the duke of Angou- leme, the eldest son of the count of Artois, crossed the Bidassoa and entered Spain. No serious resistance was met with except at Cadiz, and the triumph of the French arms was mercilessly used to crush the Spanish liberties. Ferdinand VII. of Spain returned to Madrid, and ruled henceforth as most absolute, most Catholic sovereign. The duke of Angouleme was thought by his success and personal bravery to have aroused in the French army an enthusiasm for its old Bourbon masters; reaction ruled supreme in France ; the Jesuits were conspicuous in their delight; and the system of influences, corruption, and manoeuvres, so long the disgrace of French elections, sprang at once into full bloom. In September 1824 Louis XVIII. died, with his last breath urging the count of Artois to rule prudently and in accordance with the charter. He was one of the best of the Bourbons, a man of ability and learning, fond of litera ture and science, moderate and loyal in opinion and act, a far better man than those who surrounded his old age, and drove him into reactionary courses which he could not 1824-30. approve. His successor, the count of Artois, was a very Charles X. different man. He had been the chief cause of the misfor tunes of the monarchy in the Revolution, and had both the fine manners and the faults of the old regime. Ha was the fourth son of the dauphin, and brother of Louis XVI. and Louis XVIII., and now became king under the title of Charles X. It was speedily seen that now the ultra- royalists would have none to check them ; the new monarch was bigoted, stupid, ignorant ; from the scandals, of his early life to the devotion of his later days there had been but a step ; the sublime is not so near the ridiculous as superstition is to immorality. Ho was regarded as a mere tool of the Jesuits, and his reign was but a struggle against the more liberal instincts of his country. Now, if ever, it was seen that the old Bourbons &quot;could never learn and never forget.&quot; In 1827, the national guard, which had shown itself too free in its cries, was disbanded ; a new chamber of deputies was, in spite of all efforts, strongly opposed to the policy of the king s Government ; a more moderate cabinet followed. In this year England, France, and Russia joined to put war a stop to the quarrel between Turks and Greeks, and their with combined fleet under Sir Edward Codrington won the battle Tul kc y- of Navarino, and ruined the maritime power of Turkey (20th October 1827). Early in 1828 the French occupied the Morea, and ere long the independence of Greece was accepted by the Ottoman Porte, and a new national life began in Europe. In 1829, finding the new ministry too moderate for The re- him, Charles X. dismissed it, and gave the seals to Prince action- Polignac. This meant war to the knife against all constitu- tional liberties in France, and was the return to power of all that Frenchmen most feared and disliked. The chani- x. bers, supported by popular feeling, stood firm, and carried an address to the throne, which declared that the new ministry did not enjoy their confidence. Thereupon the chambers were dissolved, and the fresh elections which followed were a decisive struggle between liberty and despotism. The success of the expedition to Algiers, in which France vindicated her honour by the capture of the robber-city and the complete defeat of the dey, while she acquired for herself her most flourishing and important colony, brought no relief to the Government in its contest against the people. The new chamber was stronger against the ministry than the late chamber had been. Then Charles X. suddenly attempted the usual coup d etat, and assumed a kind of provisional dictatorship, which produced at once the five famous ordinances of St Cloud (25th July 1830). These were (1) the suspension of the liberty of The or- the press ; (2) tho dissolution of the new chamber of de- finances puties ; (3) a new system of election, so as to secure abso- , lute power to the king ; (4) the convocation of a new cham ber ; (5) some ultra-royalist appointments to the council of state. At this time a young journalist from Marseilles, M.Thicra Thiers, was editor of the National ; under his fearless Begins leadership the &quot; fourth estate &quot; made its first collective ] &quot;* }i}[c revolt against illegal power, and signed a vigorous pro- lifo- test against the ordinances. It is tho beginning of that wholesome influence of the press on modern politics of which the history has yet to be written, because its limits have not yet been reached. Men waited breathlessly to see what steps would follow such an insurrection of opinion against power. On the 27th of July it was announced that Marshal Marmont, although he disapproved of the measures agreed on, and did not sympathize with the five ordinances, had been charged with the defence of the capital. Then insurrection broke out at once, and the &quot; Revolution of the three days of July &quot; began. On the 27th the barricades raised by the citizens were forced and the streets cleared ;
 * of