BLACKWOOD’S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. NO. CCCXC. APRIL, 1848. VOL. LXIII. CONTENTS. FALL OF THE THRONE OF THE BARRICADES, 393 A GERMAN DITTY, 419 TWO SONNETS, 420 MY ROUTE INTO CANADA, 425 THE CONQUEST OF NAPLES, 436 TRAVELLING IN TAFFYLAND, 455 LIFE AND TIMES OF LORD HARDWICKE, 463 HOW WE GOT POSSESSION OF THE TUILLERIES, 484 THE CAXTONS: A FAMILY PICTURE. Part I., 513 EDINBURGH: WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, 45, GEORGE STREET; AND 37, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. _To whom all Communications (post paid) must be addressed._ SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH. BLACKWOOD’S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. NO. CCCXC. APRIL, 1848. VOL. LXIII. FALL OF THE THRONE OF THE BARRICADES. “Deus patiens quia Æternus.”—ST AUGUSTIN. Eighteen years ago, when the throne of Charles X. was overturned amidst the universal exultation of the liberal party in this country, we ventured, amidst the general transports, to arraign the policy and condemn the morality of the change. We pleaded strongly, in several articles,[1] that that great event foreboded nothing but a long series of calamities to France and to Europe; that liberty had been rendered impossible in a country which, casting aside all the bonds of religion and loyalty, had left no other foundation for government but force; and that the external peace of the Continent would be put in imminent peril by an ardent military population, heated by the successful issue of one great revolt, placed in the midst of monarchies in which the feudal institutions and chivalrous feelings were still in ascendency. We doubted the stability of a government founded on the success of one well-organised urban insurrection: we distrusted the fidelity of men who had begun their career by treachery and treason. Nominally the aggressor, we concluded that Charles X. was really on the defensive; he attempted a _coup d’état_, because government in any other way had become impossible. We were told in reply, that these were antiquated and exploded ideas; that the revolution was necessary to save the liberties of France from destruction; that a new era had opened upon mankind with the fire of the Barricades; that loyalty was no longer required when the interest of mankind to be well governed was generally felt; and that a throne surrounded by republican institutions was the best form of government, and the only one in which the monarchical principle could