THE ordinances of July 1830 did not surprise M. Casimir Perier. But what would be the conduct of France with respect to them? That was the question with him-and he was resolved not to be the leader of the Opposition. Was resistance legitimate? Did not the 14th article of the Charta of 1830 fully enable the King to resort to the measures he had enacted? And, were not the intentions of the coalition such as to compel Charles X. to avail himself of the special powers conferred by that article? Why did Charles X. make the ordinances in question? To gratify an inordinate love of power and domination? His worst enemies do not accuse him of that. To carry into effect a long premeditated attack on the Charta of 1814, and on the constitutional liberties thereby conferred? There is no evidence to establish such a presumption. To gratify the Ultra Romanists and the Court? Charles X. was not the dupe of that party, though, to avoid the infidelity and irreligion of the popular leaders, he preferred the Roman Catholic ascendency. Did he make the ordinances in question with the intention of establishing permanently a new form of Government in France? This is not probable; and, indeed, to the end of his days, the monarch declared that he was friendly to the constitutional form established by the Charta. Why, then, did he make the ordinances of July? It was because he was satisfied that the Chamber of Deputies and the Press had formed a coalition to overthrow the principle of a constitutional government-viz., that of three powers in the state, intending to usurp for the representative power in the Government the rights which belonged to the Chamber of Peers, as well as those which belonged to the Crown. It was because the monarch believed that France sincerely desired a constitutional monarchy, and not a sham republic - because he believed that France was attached to her princes; and because he thought that by taking this decision to stand against the encroachments of the representative, or

the hereditary and royal powers of the state, he should succeed in restoring that equilibrium which even Casimir Perier could not but feel had been deranged. M. Casimir Perier resolved, when the ordinances appeared, on remaining a spectator. He could not believe that a Government, making such ordinances, and committing such measures, was unprepared to defend them; and he had too great a horror of civil war to encourage, even by a look, any other than what he termed a legal resistance. The ordinances appeared on Monday. He remained at home the whole day, and took no part at the meetings of political clubs, or even private assemblies. On the evening of the second day, Tuesday, some young men waited upon him at his house and asked him to give them a signal, a drapeau, a word, a sign. "What would you do?" he replied; "do you think, then, that the Government, when it made such ordinances as these, did not propose, first of all, the forces to defend them? And have we the thunderbolts of Heaven at our command to strike them? No; those who made the ordinances have, doubtless, large forces to defend them; our resistance can only be a legal, before the Chambers, the Tribunals, and at the Electoral Colleges." Thus, from the testimony of Casimir Perier himself, it is evident that if the Prince de Polignac and his coadjutors had taken those steps which it was expected they would have done, to defend the ordinances they counselled the King to make, the ordinances would not have been overthrown by an unarmed populace, and an arrangement would have been made which would have secured to the Crown its hereditary and legal rights, and to the Chambers their just but defined privileges. But the Ministry that counselled the ordinances did not dare to tell the King that it was probable they would be resisted by brute force. Thus all military precautions were omittedthe command of the city and the troops was left in inefficient hands-a few "proletaires" and "gamins" swelled their ranks-and a mere emeute of

journeymen printers became a revolution !

As soon as the ordinances appeared, Lafitte and his party sent to all the environs of Paris, twenty leagues round, agents charged to ascertain the number and names of the regiments marching to the capital, or within its reach. These reports were transmitted, by various means, to the headquarters of the Rue Lafitte-then the Rue d'Artois! These reports were favourable to the Revolution. They communicated the astounding fact that no troops of any importance were to be found that the Government had left itself to the mercy and sympathy of the most democratical populace in the world-and that the precautions taken by the Government were not more than those which would have been taken in the event of some serious strike among workmen, or of some mobs on account of a scarcity of work, or a rise in the price of bread.

From that moment, i. e. from Tuesday evening, when these reports arrived from many and sure agents, the Revolution party resolved on attempting a physical resistance. Up to that moment it was purely moral. But M. Casimir Perier was no party to a physical resistance. On the contrary, he waited on the Ministers on Wednes day, endeavoured to prevail on the Cabinet to counsel the King to withdraw the ordinances, and resorted to every wise and honourable measure to prevent, if possible, the effusion of blood. Wednesday was a day of doubt to all parties. The Deputies at Paris vainly met, and vainly protested. In the evening, some faithful servants of the Royal Family waited on Casimir Perier, and endeavoured to prevail on him to raise his voice to quell the tumult. He consented to do so, on one condition, viz. that the ordinances were withdrawn. The next day his wishes were complied with, and he was appointed Prime Minister. But the mob had defeated the troops-the paving stones had triumphed over the cannon, and the race of Hugues Capet was dethroned by the fatal word of the chief of the Revolution, Lafayette, who replied to Count D'Argout, " It is too late."

When, on Thursday the 29th July, 1830, Casimir Perier perceived that the army had joined the mob, and that the populace was triumphant, he rush

ed to the public place, he no longer remained at home; "We must save the remains of the monarchy at least," he exclaimed; and by his energy and influence he prevented the continuance of a civil war. He counselled some faithful, but abandoned battalions, no longer to resist, since that resistance would be useless. He spoke of a king, and a monarchy, when no one else dared to mention the words; and when the populace and the revolutionary leaders wished to confer unlimited power on the municipal commission, he refused to accept the offer which was made, and distinctly stated that all he should do would be purely of a municipal character, reserving to the electors and the Chambers the right of establishing a general Government. The last platoon of the royal guards had not left Paris before his mind was filled with apprehension at the then appalling state of the country. It was without a Government-all was anarchy; and but one thought then filled his mind-it was to re-establish order. This thought never abandoned him to the last moment of his life. He had not made the Revolution, and they had not sufficiently trusted him. This want of mutual confidence had been a great evil.

Such men as Guizot and Perier might have adorned any Government, and their devotion would have been as sincere as their counsels would have been beneficial.

Casimir Perier was one of the first to recognise the right and the fact of a new royalty. Admitted immediately into the counsels of the Lieutenantgeneral, and then of the King, he took one of the most active parts in the decisive acts of that epoch. President of the Elective Chamber, he presented to Louis Philippe the Constitutional Charta, which he swore to before God and his country. But he felt that this was but the mere commencement of his duties. It was necessary to secure the repeal of the old dynasty. It was necessary to obtain at least the non-resistance of France to the Revolution. It was necessary to re-establish and maintain material order, the authority of the laws, the action of an Administration, and to show to Europe something like the form of a Government. Something yet more difficult was necessary, for it was essential to govern this Revolution. The work was new in France, and it appeared

impossible; but Casimir Perier brought to it all the power of a vigorous and manly mind, and all the energies of a deep and settled, as well as energetic conviction.

The Revolution of 1830 was regarded by Europe not only with suspicion, but with hate. This was just and natural. One Revolution had scarcely been closed, and France had hardly begun to enjoy the benefits of a constitutional and mixed Government, when a new abyss opened, and new horrors presented themselves to the view. The chiefs of that Revolution were well known. Their manoeuvres had long attracted the attention of the Northern Powers. The Governments of Europe were not wholly taken by surprise, except as to the moment of the convulsion, and they were prepared at once to decide that the watchword should be "RESISTANCE." This word "resistance" was that of Casimir Perier. He resolved rather to die a victim to order than to live the slave of anarchy. He determined rather to perish on the revolutionary block than be linked to the revolutionary car. He knew France-her first revolution-her public men-her partiesher causes of complaint-her prejudices-her aversions. He knew that France was wholly unfitted for republican or popular government, and he had suffered too much himself in his own proud and independent spirit from the despotism of the empire, to desire to see re-established the Imperial regime. He was not, therefore, at all surprised that the first movement of foreign powers should be to distrust the Revolution, distrust all who had been concerned in the Opposition, either in or out of the Chambers, under the Restoration. Yet he knew, as far as he was personally concerned, that he had never desired the overthrow of the dynasty of the Bourbons, and had never conspired with the Orleanist party, from 1820 downwards, to place that Prince upon the throne. He had been a member of the Opposition, it was true, but he had never belonged to a cabal. Casimir Perier, in his early interviews with the Lieutenant-General, always directed the conversation to the necessity of paying more attention to the opinions of Europe, and less to those of the populace. He was, above all, desirous that the Revolution of 1830 should

be unstained with the blood of innocent and unoffending victims. No one had deplored more sincerely than he had done the assassination of Louis XVI. and the butchery of Marie Antoinette, and he had a horror of revolutionary scaffolds. He regarded the Revolution of 1830 as a great necessity, which could only be justified by the moderation of its character, by the abstinence of its agents from all sorts of extravagances-by the wis dom of its measures, and the temperance of its demands; and by, in fact, showing, by its conduct and conversation, that it did not desire to annul treaties, to break through engagements, to disturb neighbours, to plot against thrones, to unsettle the minds of other people and the institutions of other nations, but that its unique object was to establish in France a constitutional monarchy, with a prince on the throne, chosen because he was a Bourbon, and because he was a man of firm character, energetic mind, and resolute habits, having a large family of sons to succeed him, and thus to establish a new and a permanent dynasty.

There can be no doubt that Europe viewed with dismay the Revolution of 1830, and it is as true that nearly all the Governments resolved not only to resist Propagandism in their own states, but likewise to attack and destroy that spirit and party in France. The almost simultaneous movements in Belgium, Poland, Germany, and on the Spanish frontiers, demonstrated to the northern and southern Governments of Europe that, whatever might be the intentions of such men as Louis Philippe, and his servants Casimir Perier, M. Guizot, Baron Louis, and the Duke de Broglio, those who may be said to have made the Revolution of 1830, to have prepared it and conducted it, were also en mesure to carry the fire and the sword into all neighbouring states. They were resolved, coûte qu'il coûte, on maintaining the Revolution the work of their hands, and it was for Europe to decide whether, to avoid and avert the tremendous evils of a general conflagration, it would consent to the independent existence of the new French dynasty. It was clear to Casimir Perier that Europe would consent to no such thing, unless France should first prove by her conduct that she had no desire

to disturb the Governments of surrounding states. Europe had not disturbed France, but France had disturbed Europe. Europe had no guarantees to offer to France, but she required them from her. Europe was disposed to listen to proposals-not to make them. Casimir Perier felt this. He therefore proclaimed the necessity for declaring, that France, in making her Revolution, had no intention to violate existing arrangements, or to break existing treaties. How dangerous, however, was such a declaration to the throne of Louis Philippe ! for her Barricades had hardly been removed the populace was still in arms, and "Vive la Pologne !" was the cry from the Manche to the Pyrenees.

The real revolutionary party in France desired sincerely and truly an European war. This they did not conceal. They only wished for a pretext for the re-enactment of 1793. But there was another party scarcely less dangerous, though somewhat less wicked. It was a party which, in order to defend the Revolution of 1830 from foreign attack, maintained that it was indispensable to carry the war into the enemy's country." This party required that Mina and Valdez should be encouraged to get up a civil war in the Basque Provinces, in order to divert the attention of Spain from France. That the cause of the Poles should be defended, in order to occupy the attention of Russia and Prussia. And that the Italians should be aided in their attempts to free themselves from Austrian Governments, and that the Governments of the Duke of Modena, the Duchess of Parma, and of the Papal States, should be overthrown. This was called by Lamarque, Constant, Lafayette, Lafitte, and the whole of the revolutionary party," The system of self-defence;" and Casimir Perier was invited to adopt it. But the invitation was not listened to, and Casimer Perier replied, "La paix est possible, et le moyen de la maintenir est que la France soit calme et son gouvernement regulier, si la guerre doit susciter l'anarchie, à plus forte raison l'anarchie enfanterait la guerre. Que la France reprime les soupçons, les ressentimens ; les alarmes d'un patriotisme ombrageux; la paix depend de sa sagesse, et la politique qui la pacifie au-dedans, est aussi la seule qui la garantisse au dehors. Defensive et conservative, tels doivent être les

caractères de la Revolution en France, comme en Europe."

This policy was the only one which was suitable to the Monarchy of the 7th August. The very first day it was the secret policy of the Duke of Orleans. But what obstacles were there not to vanquish! What prejudices to overcome, or even to gratify! And still more, what illusions to dissipate! Those who made the Revolution of 1830 were perpetually exclaiming, "The Revolution of 1830 will make the circuit of the world!" and the frontiers of France were already, in imagination, transported to the Rhine and the Alps-to Savoy and the Rhenish Provinces ! The crown of Belgium was to be placed on the head of the Duke de Nemours, and the throne of Greece to be offered to the Duke d'Aumerle, the Prince de Joinville, or even to the baby boy, the Duke de Montpensier. The treaties of 1814 were to be torn to pieces as waste paper-a new division of Europe was to be made by France-and we heard every morning, from the National, the Tribune, and even from the Courier Français, "les rois s'en vont."A policy so directly opposed as was that of Louis Philippe and of Casimir Perier to these views and these wishes could not then be put into practice without a counter-revolution, and could not be proclaimed without the most imminent danger. Many repelled such a policy without understanding it, and many more desired its success, without daring to hope for it. Though it was the only reasonable and the only truly French policy, yet it was not the moment to proclaim it. Doubtless, the inmost thoughts of all reasonable men were in its favour, but, at any rate, it did not appear on the surface of public opinion. The smoke of the Barricades still covered the country, and the rumours and noise of a passing opinion appeared to the ignorant to be as the echo of the cannon of the Hotel de Ville.

This line of policy, adopted in the first Council of Ministers of the new King, often prevailed. It inspired wise measures and excellent speeches, but in the state of uncertainty in which it was placed, it was often obliged to make concessions, as it frequently had to submit to sad disappointments. The exigencies of foreign powers became necessarily greater in proportion as the revolutionary party appeared to

gain ground, and the Ministry of the 7th of August, 1836, was overthrown! Whilst member of that Cabinet, M. Perier made known, on various and important occasions, his firm and unchanging convictions; but he preserved a great degree of reserve on ordinary matters-satisfied in his own mind, that the time had not come when it would be either prudent or practicable to proclaim, insist on, and enforce a Conservative policy. His retreat from office exalted the apprehensions of Europe and the alarms of wise and moderate men. He was surrounded, consulted, looked up to his wisdom insured him respect-his popularity with the middling classes caused him to be consulted. "Il n'est pas temps; c'est trop tôt; sachez attendre"-he repeated day after day to those who urged him to come forward, and to make a stand against the hurly-burly, confusion, agitation, and next to anarchy which prevailed. The Ministry of the 2d November, 1830, with M. Lafitte at its head, was formed, and M. Casimir Perier became once more the President of the Chamber of Deputies. Soon after the Revolution, he had ceded these functions to M. Lafitte. He now returned to them-and the Chamber was as much in need of his resolution as was the Cabinet itself.

The Lafitte Ministry was feebleness personified It wished, or professed it wished, for the Monarchy and for peace, but it knew not how to enforce the conditions of peace or of the Monarchy. How could it! For M. Lafitte, the revolutionist banker and conspirator, to have proclaimed himself a Conservative would have been too preposterous; so he took to tricking, but it did not succeed. When does it? All the wisdom and prudence of Louis Philippe and of the Duke de Broglie were necessary to avoid a rupture with Europe for every day some new occasion was offered for an open war. France was ignorant of her peril. She imagined that because she did not really desire war, therefore that the Propagandism of her parties, and the conspiracies of her revolutionary leaders, were but of little import ance. She forgot that example is dangerous, more dangerous than precept; and she did not perceive that public opinion was all at sea-that the state vessel was without a pilotthat there was mutiny on board-and That the Chambers did not dare to say

to the Revolution, Hitherto thou hast proceeded, but thou shalt proceed no further. Still, some discussions of an important character had brought the two opposing systems before the country, and yet the Ministry hesitated what course to take. Casimir Perier presided over these debates with an inflexible severity. His face was pale and sad. He saw the cloud in the horizon. He knew that the storm would be terrible-but he resolved, when the proper moment came, that he would face it.

The evil increased. He witnessed its progress, yet he still decided that, though it was time to expose, the moment had not arrived to combat it. During four long months he watched, night and day, the progress of the evil, and his mind was perpetually occupied with the question. He saw that France had still her illusions--that still they were too near the noise of the Revolution to hear the small still voice of peace and of order-and in the long conversations he had with a small number of friends, he always led the discussion to this question, and spoke with the auxious tone of a man who deliberated on the salvation of his country, and on the glory of her name. To those who pressed him to act to make a stand, and not to suffer the Revolutionary party to proceed further, he always replied, "Il est trop tôt, le temps n'est pas venu.' Often did he refuse to his political friends at the Chamber of Deputies, when president, the permission to speak on insignificant subjects, lest, through such debates, the great and decisive question should be prematurely, and, therefore, injuriously discussed at the public tribunal. Emeute after emeute took place, but the Lafitte Ministry had disposed of the fate of the ex-Ministers of Charles X., and this terrible affair was heard and decided. At length the moment approached when it became indispensable to know whether France was to be governed by Paris mobs in the streets, composed of anarchists, thieves, and "proletaires," or whether there were to be a regular throne, regular laws, a regular government, a regular army, and the institutions at last promised by the Revolution and Charta of 1830. The subject could admit of no longer delay, and the emeute of the 13th of February, 1831, decided the question.

The Emeute of 13th February, 1831,