The French Revolution of 1830, the events which produced it, and the scenes by which it was accompanied

Preface

In sending this Volume to its public account, the Editor relies on some indulgence being ex tended to him in consideration of the double disadvantage under which he has been placed, in his distance from London, and in the cir cumstance of the despatch that has been solicited of him. In the course of the narrative the Editor has purposely avoided pressing the names of his countrymen conspicuously forward, as participators in the noble struggle which he has undertaken to describe. The French people are conscious of the sympathy which has been felt in England, and still more by the English residents in France, for the glorious cause which was at issue in the VI

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. last week of July, 1830. They are proud of that sympathy, from the evidence it bears to the good ness of their cause, on the part of a people who have long been habituated to the forms of freedom. This feeling has produced, in all the French accounts of the Revolution, so many state ments of the assistance afforded by Englishmen, that even to transcribe them would be to claim for our countrymen a degree of merit to which they cannot be entitled. When uttered by a Frenchman, such statements are not unbecoming, although tinged with some degree of generous exaggeration ; but in an English work it has been thought necessary to reject unsparingly whatever could not bear the test of cool examination and inquiry. Among the English sufferers were Mr. Madden, resident at Passy, in the neighbourhood of Paris, who, after having been dangerously wounded in the head, was pursued by one of the lancers, and owed his life to one of his own workmen, who was fighting by his side, and brought down his adversary with a pistol shot. At Lawson's Hotel, in the Rue Saint Honore, a young Englishman, Mr. Foulkes, was shot in

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. VII the balcony which overlooks the street, by a party of gen-d'armes, on Tuesday afternoon, soon after the commencement of the contest. It has been said, that Mr. Foulkes had shared in the struggle, and had been actively engaged in throwing stones from the window. On inquiry, however, it ap pears that this was not the fact, but that stones had been thrown on the military from one of the adjoining houses, and that the party exposed on the balcony had been mistaken for the actual assailants. In this hotel there were several other casualties ; two of the waiters having been wounded, and a shot having passed through the hair of one of our fair countrywomen, while sit ting near the window of an apartment overlook ing the street. There are a number of English gentlemen of the medical profession established in Paris, many of whom distinguished themselves by their atten tions to the wounded, and more than one of them by assistance of a more hazardous nature.

Among those most prominent were Dr. Bradley, Mr. Shrimpton, of the Rue Vivienne, Mr. Donald son, and Mr. Roberts, of the London Dispensary, in the Place Vendome. Mr. Donaldson was one

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. of the party who attacked and carried the Swiss barracks in the Rue de Babylone. He was also one of the first to enter the Tuileries, and after wards formed part of the extraordinary expedition to Rambouillet. Mr. Smith, the English printer, had long been spoken of by the French in terms of respect and attachment, from his disinterested services at the period of the second restoration, and during the occupation of the capital by the Allies. As soon as the ordinances appeared, on the 26th of July, Mr. Smith shut up his printing-office, dismissed the greater part of his workmen, and en gaged, heart and hand, in the cause of liberty. In this he had the more merit, as the success of the Revolution was certainly to produce the abo lition of that monopoly which added so materi ally to the value of his licence as a printer.

Having supplied himself and his workmen with arms and ammunition, he assisted in person at the construction of the barricades, particularly those of the Porte Saint Denis, and the Porte Saint Martin. On the 27th and 28th, he acted independently as a sharp-shooter on the Boule vards ; but, on the 29th, he joined the main bodv

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. IX in the attack on the Louvre, and was afterwards one of the first who entered the Tuileries. Just before the capture of that palace, an attempt was made to dislodge a party of the Royal Guards, who had entrenched themselves in a house at the corner of the Rue Saint Nicaise, (which communicates between the Rue Rivoli, and the Rue Saint Honore,) from whence they had long been pouring a destructive fire upon the people. Mr. Smith had for some time assisted in returning this fire from the opposite corner of the street, but, finding that in this position he was fighting at great disadvantage, he rushed across it, followed by two of his workmen, and two friends ; and having burst into the house, as cended the staircase, entered the room, from the windows of which the Guards were firing, and, with a pistol in each hand, required the party to surrender.

Finding themselves thus attacked in front and rear, the Guards were compelled to deliver up their arms, but not until one of Mr. Smith's workmen had been killed by his side, and one of his friends, M. Leblanc, had been severely wounded. Fifty or sixty muskets were thus pro- X

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. cured, and were immediately handed over to such of the citizens as were still unprovided with arms, to assist in the final attack on the last strong-hold of the royalists. It is not intended here to attempt an enume ration of all the instances of British gallantry which occurred in the course of this memorable struggle. But the names of Mr. Workman, Mr. Mac-Cue, the English restaurateur, of the Palais Royal, Mr. Goldsmith, the dentist, Mr. Lindo, of the house of Orr and Goldsmith, and Mr. Cartwright, of the Quartier du Petit Carreau, are all mentioned with such applause in the French accounts of the Revolution, that it would be injustice to withhold their names. A full account will be found, in the course of this work, of the disorderly retreat of the Royalists, after their expulsion from the capital, on the 29th of July.

A party of the fugitives of the Royal Guard, instead of joining the column which retired by the barrier de PEtoile, had concealed themselves for some hours in the suburbs, and, about five o'clock in the afternoon, entered the house of Mr. Caton, clerk to Mr. Sloper, the English solicitor, who

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. XI resides in the Allee d'Antin, a small street connected with the Champs Elysees. They were upwards of thirty in number. In their flight from their pursuers, they came to ask for shelter and protection. Mr. Caton declared that he was ready to do all he could for men reduced to such an extremity ; but that, being an Englishman, he was placed in a situation of great difficulty, if not of personal danger. He added, that if they would deliver up their arms, and betake themselves to his cellar, as a place of temporary security, he would himself be the bearer of their capitulation ; and to prove his sincerity, would leave his wife and children behind him as hostages for their safety. To this proposal the fugitives readily agreed ; and their protector, having left the house to execute his mission, soon met a strong party of the victorious citizens, whom he instantly accosted, an nouncing himself as an Englishman and a friend to liberty, and stating that a party of the van quished were then his prisoners.

" Trusting to your generosity," he added, " I have promised them their lives, and have left my wife and children as hostages for their safety." On this

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. appeal the citizens readily agreed to corroborate the pledge which Mr. Caton had given ; and, on the prisoners surrendering themselves, provided them with coloured clothes in exchange for their uniforms, so as to make it safe for them to sepa rate, and return to Paris individually, or pro ceed, if they preferred it, to the provisional camp which had already been established at Vaugirard, for the reception of deserters from the royalist cause. It is satisfactory to the Editor to be able to give a statement, on the authority of the Minister of the Interior, of the total number of sufferers by the events in the French capital during the three great days of July last. In the nature of things the statement can only be an approximation to the truth, since the data it is founded upon have been obtained only by means of the applications made to participate in the fund of seven millions of francs, created by the law of the 30th of August last, for the purpose of providing a national re compense to the wounded, and to the ao-ed parents, the widows, and children of the dead. It appears that the number of the wounded who have not been so mutilated as to be

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. XIII rendered incapable of resuming their ordinary labour, amounts to three thousand five hundred and sixty -four. Those who have suffered ampu tation of a limb, or have been otherwise incapa citated from their usual employments, amount to three hundred and eleven. Three hundred old men have been found entitled to the benefit of the fund, from the loss of sons on whom they depended for support. The number of widows already admitted is also three hundred ; and of orphans, five hundred. The manner in which the three last numbers are stated is not so explicit as could be wished, but it suffices to show that the amount of the causualties has been greatly exaggerated in the statements which have been published ; since the probability is, that claims have been advanced, from one quarter or another, in the great majority of cases ; and although a sin gle citizen could leave but one widow, it is clear that one death might produce a claim, not from the widow merely, but from the parents and the children of the deceased.

The official report from which these numbers are taken is dated the 9th of October, when the whole of the claims, arising from the death of relations, amounted to

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. eleven hundred ; but no means are afforded for reducing this number to its correct amount, in consequence of a plurality of claims having arisen from the death of the same individual. The widows of the killed are to receive from the national fund an annuity of five hundred francs ; fathers and mothers, above sixty years of age, an annuity of three hundred francs, with reversion to the survivor ; orphans under seven years of age, an annuity of two hundred and fifty francs. Between the ages of seven and eighteen, the lattei»are to be educated at the public expense, in special establishments created for that purpose, where they are to receive instruction suited to their sex, and calculated to insure them their means of livelihood. As to the wounded, those who have suffered the loss of a limb, or any equivalent casualty, are to have the option of being admitted into the Hoteldes Invalides, or of receiving the annuity paid to the out-pen sioners of that institution ; and those who have not been permanently disabled, are to receive a present payment, as an indemnity, to be fixed in each particular case by the committee appointed by the Chamber of Deputies. Of the

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. XV seven millions of francs voted by the Chamber, four millions six hundred thousand have been applied to the purchase of annuities, and the remainder to the payment of these immediate indemnities. Rue Neuve St. Augustin, No. 59. 26th October, 1830. CONTENTS.

Chapter I

Remarks on the position and conduct of the Bourbon family in France ; Insincere promises given at the Restoration ; Reinvasion of France, after the Battle of Waterloo ; Anecdote, explanatory of the feeling with regard to the Bourbons, among the Allies in 1814, and the French people in 1815; Summary of the course pursued by Louis XVIII. ; Recognition of the Charter, the result of prudence, rather than inclination ; Assassination of the Duke de Berri, and accession of M. de Villele to the Ministry ; Influence of the counter-revolutionary Party ; Its increase through the failure of the Insurrection in Spain ; Commencement of the reign of Charles X. ; The National Guard disbanded; Machinations against the Liberty of the Press ; Creation of new Peerages, for political purposes ; Its effect counteracted by the new Elections to the Chamber of Deputies ; Accession of the Martignac Ministry ; Its popularity and overthrow ; The Polignac Administration ; Cabals and quarrels ; Assembly and Dissolution of the Chambers ; Individual changes in the Ministry, with the object of furthering the arbitrary measures in contemplation . . . . . . .1

Chapter II

Containing at full length the Report of the Ministry, and the Royal Ordinances of the 25th July, 1830 . . .22 b CONTENTS. XVIII

Chapter III

Effects produced among the Parisians by the announcement of the obnoxious ordinances in the Moniteur; Conduct variously held by the proprietors of the constitutional journals ; Reasons assigned for the first hesitation of the influential classes; Prohibitory measures adopted by the police ; Protest of the Parisian journalists ; Suspension of commercial confidence ; Confluence of people at the Palais Royal ; Eccentricities of the Marquis de Chabannes; Conduct of the gen-d'armerie; Tumultuous assembly in the Champs Elysees, and singular escape of the Prince de Polignac 40

Chapter IV

Condition of affairs in regard to the new Election of Deputies ; Meeting of Members at the house of M. Casimir Perier, with the Protest issued by them; Crowd attracted by the occasion; First scene of bloodshed ; Destruction by the Police of the printing-presses belonging to the National and the Times ; Anecdote; Legal proceedings between the printers and the proprietors of certain Journals; Affair of Lapelouze and Chatelain versus Laguionie ; Command of the Troops assigned to the Duke of Ragusa ; Preparations for resistance on the part of the people, 56

Chapter V

Positions occupied by the troops of the line ; Punishment inflicted on certain police agents ; Disinclination of the troops of the line to act against the people, and causes for this feeling ; Conciliatory messages on both sides ; Assignment to the Royal Guard of the station in front of the Palais Royal; Offensive operations commenced by them, conjointly with the Lancers ; Anecdotes ; The guard-house near the Exchange fired by the people ; Active arrangements for defence made by the populace during the night; Unpaving and barricading of the streets ; The Marseillois Hymn, and its exciting effects . . . . ..71

Chapter VI

Formidable appearance of Paris onthe morning of the 28th of July ; Organization of the National Guard, on behalf of the popular CONTENTS. XIX cause; Destruction of various tributes to Royalty ; Mean con duct of many retainers of the Court; General extension of the conflict; Proceedings in the Faubourg St. Antoine; Charge made by the Cuirassiers of the Guard, and followed by the ex pulsion of the troops from the Rue St. Antoine ; Desperate con test in the Boulevard du Temple ; An illustrative Letter . 86

Chapter VII

Successful mode of annoyance practised against the gen-d'armerie; Desperate struggle near the Porte St. Denis ; Heroism of Captain Thierri ; Fine trait of coolness and humanity ; Royal Ordinance, declaring the capital in a state of siege; The Duke of Ragusa takes the command of the soldiery, heads a charge in person, and is driven back into the Place des Victoires; Honourable instances of moderation in the people ; Order issued by the Prefect of Police ; The veteran hero and the Lancers ; Want of provisions among the royal troops ; their growing disinclination to the service imposed on them ; Resignation of Count La Tour du Pin, captain of the Royal Guard .... 103 '

Chapter VIII

Occurrences on the left bank of the Seine; Popular organization, directed by the pupils of the Polytechnic School; Generous promptitude of the students of law and medicine ; Places of general rendezvous; Attack on the Swiss barracks in the Rue de Babylone ; Letter descriptive of that movement, and its successful issue . . . . . . .117

Chapter IX

Popular attack on the Island of La Cite ; Destruction of the Archiepiscopal Palace ; Sanguinary engagements in the Place de Greve ; Obstinate contests for the occupation of the Hotel de Ville; Final expulsion of the royalist forces from that position ; Various traits of courage ; Conduct of the Duke of Ragusa; Behaviour of the troops of the Line, contrasted with that of the Royal Guard ; Conciliation of the former to the national cause ; Enthusiastic spirit among the members of the Bar . . . CONTENTS. XX

Chapter X

Proceedings in the vicinity of the Palais Royal ; Amount and distribution of Marshal Marmont's force ; Various Attacks on the People ; Increase of the National Guard; Difficulties of the Royalists, and consequent restriction of their field of operations ; Advantages enjoyed by the popular side, contrasted with the destitution of the soldiery, as to provisions, treatment of the wounded, &c. ; Movements of General St. Chamans ; Order of the Day from Marshal Marmont; Particulars respecting the state of the King and Court at St. Cloud I41

CHAPTER XL

Measures connected with the Provisional Government ; Proclamation signed in the name of the Deputies of France ; Letters on that subject ; Unsuccessful Deputation to the Duke of Ragusa : Announcement from the Provisional Government ; Detail of the Conferences of M Bayeux, the advocate-general, with the Ministry and the Duke of Ragusa 156

Chapter XII

Reflections on the preceding events ; Renewed efforts of the Parisians; Marmont concentrates his force on the 29th of July, and issues a Proclamation without effect; General Gerard assumes the command of the popular forces ; Attack on the Louvre, and dislodgement of the Swiss troops from thence ; Hesitation manifested among the Royal Guard; Various anecdotes connected with the struggle at the Louvre ■ . . . . 170

Chapter XIII

Increased defection of the regular troops ; Success of the final popular attack on the Tuileries, conducted by General Gerard • Causes that facilitated this result ; Dislodgment of two regiments of the Royalists from the garden of the Tuileries ; Generosity shown towards the Royal Guard ; Release of the persons confined in the cellars of the Tuileries; Detail of their previous sufferings • Cessation of hostilities ; General appearance of things at this period; Sentiments and conduct of the people . . CONTENTS. XXI

Chapter XIV

Progress in the re-organization of the National Guard, and the arrangement of the Provisional Government ; Lafayette's Proclamation and Order of the Day ; Manifesto from the Municipal Commission ; account of the individuals who signed it; State of the Royal Family at St. Cloud ; Confused behaviour of Polignac; Tardy and useless endeavour at conciliation ; Reflections on the posture of affairs ; Treatment of Marmont by the Duke D'Angouleme 196

Chapter XV

Hasty rally of the Royal forces, previously to their evacuation of Paris ; Their departure ; Occupation of the Tuileries by a party of the National Guard; Attempts at plunder successfully resisted ; Discoveries in the Royal Apartments ; Various anecdotes ; Traits of female heroism ; incidents connected with the retreat of the troops through the Champs Elysees 210

Chapter XVI

Proclamation made by the Provisional Government, after the popular triumph ; Submission of the Royalist troops, in consequence ; Instances of humane interposition on the part of individuals, on behalf of the military ; Fine example of self-sacrifice shown by a woman ; Characteristic sayings, produced by the circumstances of the Revolution ; an illustraton of the feeling among the Soldiery; The bombarded house ; The interment of the dead, with the scenes attendant on that office . . 223

Chapter XVII

Proclamation addressed to the troops in the name of Lafayette ; Historical sketch of the Life of General Lafayette . 238

Chapter XIX

Decree of the Provisional Government ; Invitation to the Duke of Orleans to become Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom; Proclamation in the Moniteur, notifying his acceptance thereof; CONTENTS. Explanatory details ; Proclamation by those of the Deputies who had met in Paris ; Reception of the Duke of Orleans at the Hotel de Ville ; Singular speech on that occasion by Ge neral Dubourg; Account of the conduct and merits of that indi vidual; Proclamations for the resumption of the national banner, for the discipline of the National Guard, and for the collec tion of the local tax on provisions ; General Lafayette's ad dress, to announce the opening of the Chamber of Deputies 283

Chapter XX

Proceedings at St. Cloud ; Alarm prevalent there ; Disordered flight of the royal party from thence to Versailles ; Arrival of the royalist troops, and occupation of the town ; the Dauphin compelled to join the King at Versailles ; Attachment shown to the latter by the pupils of the college of St. Cyr ; Arrival of the King and his party at Rambouillet, where they are joined by the Dauphiness ; the Dauphin's proclamation to the troops ; Useless act of abdication by the King and the Dauphin, in favour of the Duke of Bordeaux; Various regulations adopted by the Provisional Government . . . . . .301

Chapter XXI

Announcement of the removal of the crown jewels ; Unsuccessful return of the Commissioners sent in consequence to Rambouillet; They are despatched again with an armed force, and accomplish their object ; the King and his party compelled to set out on the road to Maintenon ; Incidental particulars ; attachment manifested towards the King in his misfortunes by the gardes-du-corps; the King's escort lessened by the dismissal of the remaining troops of the Royal Guard ; Entry of the Royal party into Dreux, and dismissal of the artillery; The route continued to Melleraut; Anecdotes of the Royal' fugitives ; Their straitened resources relieved by the Provisional Government; Inconveniences attendant on the gardes-du-corps 315

Chapter XXII

Uncertainty among the attendants of Charles X. as to the course of events in Paris ; Intelligence brought to them at Argentan of the election of the Duke of Orleans; Progress of the royal retinue; Mysterious conveyance of the Princess de Polignac and her chil- CONTENTS. XXIII dren ; Details connected with the arrest of the Prince de Polig lac; Hazard incurred by Marmont at Conde; Reasons tor the slow rate of travelling of the royal fugitives; Arrival of the cavalcade at Vire ; Order of procession, and enumeration of the suite ; Characteristic proneness to desertion among the courtiers ; En try into the town of Saint Lo, contrasted with a former occa sion ; Progress of the cortege through Carentan and Valognes; Farewell reception of the gardes-du-corps by Charles X. ; Change of costume adopted by some of the fugitive family ; Arrival of tl.e party at Cherbourg, and embarkation for England ; Disbanding of the gardes-du-corps ..... 330

Chapter XXIII

Account of the individuals forming the new French Administration, with a sketch of their respective lives; the Duke de Broglie; M. Dupont de l'Eure : M. Guizot; Count Gerard; Baron Louis ; Count Mole ; General Count Sebastiani ; Messrs. Lafitte, Casimir Perier, Dupin, aine, Benjamin Constant, and Bignon 356

Chapter XXIV

Convocation of the Legislative Body ; Account of the ceremony observed on the occasion : Cordial reception of the Duke of Orleans ; his speech to the assembled Peers and Deputies ; Letter from the Commissioners sent to Rambouillet; Separate meetings of the two Chambers; Proceedings and speeches of the members ; The declaration of rights presented to the Duke of Orleans by the deputies ; Enthusiasm manifested on the occasion . . • . . .388

Chapter XXV

Small share taken by the Chamber of Peers in the affairs of the Revolution ; Their deliberations as to the resolutions passed by the Deputies; Chateaubriand's splendid speech on that occasion; Assent to the declaration of the Deputies, and deputation in consequence from the Peers to the Duke of Orleans ; Arrival of the Duke de Chartres in Paris ; Character of the Duke of Orleans, as described by Paul Louis Courrier CONTENTS. XXIV

Chapter XXVI

The Duke of Orleans, as King elect of the French, takes the oath of Fidelity to the new Constitution ; Particulars of the solemnity ; Speech of the new King ; Concluding remarks, and Copy of the new Constitutional Charter 424 ILLUSTRATIONS. Portrait of Louis Philip I. Plan of the Scene of Action Portrait of General Lafayette To face the Title-page. page 1 1830.

Chapter I

Remarks on the position and conduct of the Bourbon family in France — Insincere promises given at the Restoration — Reinvasion of France, after the Battle of Waterloo — Anecdote, explanatory of the feeling with regard to the Bourbons, among the Allies in 1814, and the French people in 1815 — Summary of the course pursued by Louis XVIII — Recognition of the Charter, the result of prudence, rather than inclination — Assassination of the Duke de Berri, and accession of M. de Villele to the Ministry — Influence of the counter-revolutionary Party — Its increase, through the failure of the Insurrection in Spain — Commencement of the reign of Charles X. — The National Guard disbanded — Machinations against the Liberty of the Press — Creation of new Peerages, for political purposes — Its effect counteracted by the new Elections to the Chamber of Deputies — Accession of the Martignac Ministry — Its popularity and overthrow — The Polignac Administration — Cabals and quarrels — Assembly and Dissolution of the Chambers — Individual changes in the Ministry, with the object of furthering the arbitrary measures in contemplation.

Of Charles X. and his family* it may be said, with as much truth as of any of their prede cessors of the house of Bourbon, that in prosperity as in adversity, they learn nothing, and they forget nothing. A quarter of a century of b PARIS TN 1830. exile and misfortune proved to them a useless and "unprofitable lesson. Replaced on the throne of their ancestors, by a train of extraordinary events which no human foresight could antici pate, they brought back with them all the pre judices of the ancien regime, and as little know ledge of their own interests, or those of the country they were called to govern, as they possessed at the period of their first emigration. Driven for the third time into exile by a revolution which has no parallel in history, it cannot be said, that they have fallen into the abyss, prepared for them by the faction into whose hands they had thrown themselves, without due warning of their danger.

But, in place of listening to the voice of public opinion, as declared by its organs of the press, or as more solemnly com municated through the legitimate medium of the representative chamber, the king, as if to verify the words of the poet, " Quem Dens vult perdere prius dementat,'' set his seal to those illegal ordinances, which suspended the liberty of the press, dissolved a legislative body, which had never assembled, and formally disfranchised three-fourths of the electors. Independently of the principle which, in a con stitutional monarchy, exempts the sovereign from all personal responsibility for the acts of his go vernment, the fallen monarch must, in anv sense, 1830. 3 be rather regarded as the instrument than the author of the crime committed in his name. The princes of this unfortunate family have some claim to our commiseration, even when they have not entitled themselves to our respect or es teem.

We are bound to remember the prejudices under which they have been educated. The objects, from their cradle, of every species of homage and adulation, they grow up, live and die in the deepest ignorance of their own situation, and of all that is passing around them. They are taught to believe that they are the special ob jects of the divine protection ; that their origin and their race are superior to those of other men. They constantly hear of their rights, which are unblushingly exaggerated by a train of flatterers and parasites ; but no one ever ven tures to speak to them of their duties. Sur rounded by priests and Jesuits, who have pro verbially neither family nor country, their first lesson is to place implicit confidence in their clerical advisers, and their last consists in " The right divine of kings to govern wrong."

The military despotism of Napoleon, and the apprehension lest his downfall might be succeeded by a state of anarchy and confusion, paved the way, even more, perhaps, than the arms of the allies, for the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty. On the re-appearance of the restored B PARTS IN 1830. princes on the territory of France, their first promises were the abolition of the law of con scription, by which the people had been an nually decimated — and of that oppressive and inquisitorial system of taxation which, under the imperial government, had pressed so heavily on the industry of the people. But as soon as they found themselves firmly seated on the throne, their early promises were forgotten, the con scription and the droits reunis were re-established, or changed but in name ; and the plebeian soldier, who might formerly, by risking his life, enjoy the prospect of the highest military honours, was now condemned to perpetual obscurity ; rank was now exclusively reserved for the mem bers of titled families ; the military household of the king was exclusively composed of young noblesse ; the regiments were deprived of their historic names ; and the army, which was re signed rather than devoted, soon lost all its moral power and influence.