Old and New Paris: Its History, Its People, and Its Places, v. 1Edwards, H. Sutherland (Henry Sutherland)
History
Old and New Paris: Its History, Its People, and Its Places, v. 1
Edwards, H. Sutherland (Henry Sutherland)
Paris (France) -- Description and travel; Paris (France) -- History
Fieschi's experiment with his infernal machine created a sensation
all over Europe; and the papers for some time afterwards were full of
particulars, more or less authentic, of the diabolical attempt upon
King Louis Philippe's life. The Revolutionists, whose action against
Charles X. had led to the establishment, not of a Republic, but of a
Monarchy--hateful to them in whatever form--had evidently sworn that
he should die. It was ascertained by M. Thiers, the First Minister,
that on the occasion of a journey which the King intended to make from
Neuilly to Paris certain conspirators had arranged to throw a lighted
projectile into the royal carriage; and His Majesty, therefore, was
requested to let the royal carriage proceed on its way, at the appointed
time, without him, and occupied simply by his aides-de-camp, no previous
announcement being made as to the absence of the King. Louis Philippe
having protested against this suggestion as unfair to the aides-de-camp:
"Sire," replied M. Thiers, "it is their duty to expose themselves for
the safety of your person, and they surely will not complain when they
find the Minister of the Interior by their side in the threatened
carriage." The King, however, rejected this proposition, declaring
that he had resolved on the journey, and, hazardous as it might be,
would undertake it. His resolution having been combated in vain by
M. Thiers, the preparations for departure were ordered. Just as the
King was about to get into the carriage, the Queen and the princesses
suddenly presented themselves in an agony of terror and of tears. "It is
impossible," says M. Louis Blanc, "to say whether a skilful indiscretion
on the part of the Minister had initiated them into the secret of what
had taken place, or whether they had received no other intimation than
that supplied by the instincts of the heart." However this may have
been, the Queen, finding that Louis Philippe would not abandon his
intention, insisted on accompanying him, and it was quite impossible
to prevent her from doing so. M. Thiers then begged the honour of a
seat in the threatened carriage, and the journey was risked. The attack
apprehended was not, however, on this occasion to be made; and it was
as long afterwards as the 28th of July, 1835, on the occasion when
Louis Philippe drove through Paris in memory of the "Three Days" of
July, 1830, that Fieschi put his murderous project into execution. "On
the 28th of July," says M. Louis Blanc, "the sun rose upon the city,
already perplexed with fears and doubts. The drum which summoned the
National Guards early in the morning beat for some time in vain: a heavy
apathy, in which there mingled a sort of morbid distrust, weighed upon
everyone. At ten o'clock, however, the legions of the Garde Nationale
stretched in an immense line along the boulevards, facing 40,000 of the
regular troops, horse and foot. The Boulevard du Temple having been
pointed out by rumour as the scene of the contemplated crime, the police
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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