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
All over the kingdom insurrections were constantly bursting out, and
there were bloody conflicts in Lyons, Marseilles, and other places.
And now the demand became irresistible for the transfer of the
remains of Napoleon to Paris. Such a scene of national homage as this
great occasion manifested the world never witnessed before. In 1840,
the eyes of the world were fixed upon this grand funereal pageant.
The honored remains were transferred from the lonely grave at St.
Helena, placed beneath the dome of the Invalides, and over those
remains a nation's gratitude has reared a monument which attracts the
admiration of the world.
[Illustration: ST. HELENA.]
But these reluctant yieldings to popular sentiment did not add to the
popularity of Louis Philippe. He was shot at so frequently that he
received the sobriquet of the _Target King_! A volume might be filled
with the recital of the foul attempts to assassinate him. His days
must have passed in constant wretchedness. He was assailed in low
blackguardism in the journals: he was assailed with envenomed
eloquence, by such men as Lamartine, at the banquets; and his path
was dogged, with dagger and pistol, by such brutal wretches as
Fieschi, Boirier Meunier, Alibaud, and many others.
Louis Philippe, in the relations of private life, was one of the best
of men. His character had been formed in the school of misfortune. He
was not a man of generous affections; the fearful discipline through
which he had passed rendered this almost impossible. He was greedy of
money, and exceedingly desirous of aggrandizing his family by such
matrimonial alliances as would strengthen his dynasty.
On the 13th of July, 1842, the king experienced one of the heaviest
calamities of his life--a calamity quite irreparable. His eldest son,
who, upon the enthronement of his father, had taken the title of the
Duke of Orleans, was a very noble young man, quite popular with the
people and in the army. He was believed to be far more liberal in his
views than his father. He was driving in his carriage from Paris to
Neuilly; the horses took fright, and the driver lost his control over
them. The duke endeavored to leap from the carriage; his head struck
the ground, and his brain was so injured that he breathed but a few
hours, in insensibility, and died. Thus sadly the direct heir to the
throne was cut off. The succession reverted to his son, the Count of
Paris--an infant child, then in the arms of its nurse.
This young man--who subsequently married his cousin, a daughter of
the Duke of Montpensier, and who has been residing much of the time
at Twickenham, in England--is, at the present writing, the Orleans
candidate for the throne of France. He is deemed a worthy man--has
two children, but never has been placed in circumstances to develop
any marked traits of character. As the Count of Chambord has no
children, upon his death the Count of Paris becomes the _legitimate_
candidate for the throne.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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