Louis Philippe: Makers of History SeriesAbbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
History
Louis Philippe: Makers of History Series
Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
Louis Philippe, King of the French, 1773-1850
"Charles X. can never return to Paris; he has shed the blood
of the people. A Republic would expose us to horrible
divisions; it would involve us in hostilities with Europe.
The Duke of Orleans is a prince devoted to the cause of the
Revolution. The Duke of Orleans has never fought against us.
The Duke of Orleans was at Jemappes. The Duke of Orleans is a
citizen king. The Duke of Orleans has carried the tri-color
flag under the enemy's fire. The Duke of Orleans can alone
carry it again. We will have no other flag. The Duke of
Orleans does not declare himself. He waits for the expression
of our wishes. Let us proclaim those wishes and he will
accept the charter, as we have always understood and desired
it. It is from the French people he will hold the crown."
"This proclamation," says Louis Blanc, "was drawn up with great art.
It repeated the name of the Duke of Orleans again and again, in order
that this name, little known to the people, might nevertheless be
deeply imprinted on its memory. By talking of the tri-color flag and
Jemappes to a multitude who troubled themselves little about
political forms, it engaged, on behalf of the elect of the
bourgeoisie, that national feeling that had been exalted to so high a
pitch by the victories of the Republic and the Empire, Lastly, it
invoked the sovereignty of the people, the better to destroy it--an
old trick of courage-lacking ambition."
The above proclamation was placarded throughout Paris, and was
simultaneously published in the three leading journals, the
_Nationale_, the _Courier Francais_, and the _Commerce_, which were
severally edited by the distinguished journalists, Thiers, Mignet,
and Larequy. Another renowned editor, M. Carrel, was dispatched to
Rouen, to gain that important city to the Orleans cause.
In the mean time, the Legitimists, headed by Chateaubriand and
Talleyrand, were not idle. These men were not merely ambitious
partisans. It can not be doubted that they believed that the
interests of France would be best promoted by respecting the rights
of the Duke of Bordeaux, under the lieutenant-generalship of the Duke
of Orleans.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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