At last, after a few months, he made up his mind that it would be best to absent himself from Paris for a time, in the hopes that this might result in a pleasanter state of things on his return. It happened that the turn which events took in Algiers brought an opportunity for carrying out this desire. A dispute arose about the payment of seven million francs,--a debt incurred by France in the Egyptian expedition. Of this sum 4-1/2 millions had been paid, but the balance remained unsettled till certain counter-claims could be adjusted. "After a tedious delay, Hassein, the Dey of Algiers, the principal creditor, became impatient,"--I quote from Dr Brewer--"and demanded immediate payment. To this request no answer was vouchsafed; and the next time the French consul presented himself at court Hassein asked him why his master had not replied to his letter. The consul haughtily replied, 'The King of France holds no correspondence with the Dey of Algiers'; upon which the governor struck him across the face and fiercely abused the king. "An insult like this could not, of course, be overlooked; and it was at once decided by the French Government that a squadron should be sent to receive the consul on board, and revenge the insult." As soon as this news became known Manuel talked the matter over with his sister, Maria Malibran, and through her influence with the Commander-in-chief he was enabled to obtain an appointment in the commissariat of the army which was to accompany the expedition. Accordingly he embarked at Toulon on May 11, 1830, and took part in the severe conflicts which ended in less than two months with the bombardment of Algiers and its surrender to the French armament under Bourmont and Duperré, the deposition of the Dey, and the total overthrow of the barbarian government. After the fall of Algiers the young Spaniard returned to Paris to find the capital in a state of uproar. On July 26 the obnoxious ordinances were made known regarding the press and the reconstruction of the Chamber of Deputies, which had been dissolved in May. This at once let loose the furies of revolution, and hostilities were commenced with the raising of barricades on the very next day. Repeated conflicts took place between the army and the police, the latter ultimately aided by the National Guard. On the last day of the month Charles X. retired to Rambouillet, and the flight of the Ministry took place. On August 2 Charles abdicated, and five days later the Duke of Orleans accepted the crown as Louis Philippe I. These events were quickly followed by the publication of the Constitutional Charter of July and the retirement of the ex-King to England. The closing scene of the drama took place in the December of the year, when Polignac and the other Ministers, who had been members of the administration of 1829, were tried and sentenced to life-long imprisonment.