XII. 1823. nounced such infamous expressions, seeing no rules of CHAP. procedure could condemn an assembly to the punishment of hearing a man whose maxims and speech recommended or justified regicide." M. Manuel attempted to justify himself; but he was again interrupted by the cries of the Royalists, and the president, hoping to gain time for the passions to cool, adjourned the sitting to the following day. But in this hope he was disappointed, as is generally the case when consideration succeeds after the feelings have been thoroughly roused. What is called reflection is then only listening to the re-echo of passion; one only voice is heard, one only key is touched, one only sentiment felt. A lover, who is contending with himself, rises from his sleepless couch confirmed, not shaken, in his prepossessions. During the night, a formal motion. for the expulsion of the supposed delinquent, for the remainder of the session, was prepared by M. de la Bourdonnaye, the acknowledged leader of the extreme Royalists; and although the justice or shame of the Chamber permitted M. Manuel to be heard in his defence, and the debate was more than once adjourned, to enable the numerous speakers, who inscribed their names on the tribune, to be heard on the question, the torrent was irresistible. The determination of the Royalists only increased with the effervescence of the public mind; and, amidst agitated crowds which surrounded the Assembly on all sides, and under the protection of squadrons of cavalry, the expulsion of M. Manuel, during the remain- March 4. der of the session, was voted, on the evening of 4th March, by a majority of fully two to one, the whole Centre coalescing with the Right. The agitation which 1823; Lam. prevailed rendered it impossible to take the vote other- 181. wise than by acclamation.1 The exclusion of a single member, during the remainder of a single session, was no very serious injury to a party, or blow levelled at the public liberties; but the passions on both sides were so strongly excited by this 1 Ann. Hist. Moniteur, vi. 90, 106; March 5, vii. 169, 1823. 60. scene at his 1 Hist. of Europe, c. 108. CHAP. imprudent abuse of power by the Royalist majority, that XII. the Liberals resolved to resist it to the very uttermost. It was determined to compel the majority to use force for Dramatic his expulsion; and the recollection of the risk which enexpulsion. sued to the throne from the dragging of M. d'Espréménil from the Parliament of Paris, at the commencement of the first Revolution, was of sinister augury as to the iii. §§ 107, effects of enforcing the present decree by similar means. The Government, however, was firm, and resolved, at all hazards, to carry the decree of the Chamber into execution. Every preparation was accordingly made to overawe, and, if necessary, to subdue resistance. The Liberal leaders, however, were determined to have a scene, and, instead of yielding obedience to the decree of the Chamber, M. Manuel appeared next morning in the Hall, and took his seat. When invited by the president to retire without disturbance, he replied, "I told you yesterday I would only yield to force; I come to make good my word," and resumed his seat. The president then desired the Assembly to evacuate the hall, and retire into their respective apartments, which was immediately done by the whole Right and Centre, but the entire Left remained in their places, grouped around Manuel. Presently the folding-doors opened, and the chief of the bar-officers, followed by a numerous staff of his colleagues, advanced, and read to Manuel the decree of the Chamber. "Your order is illegal,” replied he; "I will not obey it." The peace-officers then retired, and the anxiety in the galleries, and the crowd around the Chamber, arose to the highest point, for the "measured step of marching men" was heard in the lobby. Presently the folding-doors again opened, and a detachment of national guards and troops of the line, with fixed bayonets, slowly entered, and drew up in front of the refractory deputy. The civil officer then ordered the sergeant of the national guard, M. Morrier, to execute XII. 1823. the warrant; but, overcome by the violence of the crisis, CHAP. and the cries of the deputies around Manuel, he refused to obey. "Vive la Garde Nationale!" instantly burst in redoubled shouts from the opposition benches; "Honneur à la Garde Nationale !" was heard above all the din in the voice of Lafayette. But the difficulty had been foreseen and provided for by the Government. The national guard and troops of the line were instantly withdrawn, and thirty gendarmes, under M. de Foucault, an officer of tried fidelity and courage, were introduced, Lam. vii. who, after in vain inviting Manuel to retire, seized him Ann. Hist. by the collar, and dragged him out, amidst vehement Moniteur, gesticulations and cries from the Left, which were heard 1823. across the Seine.1 181, 182; vi. 107, 109; March 5, 61. enthusiasm war. These dramatic scenes, so well calculated to excite the feelings of a people so warm in temperament as the General French, might, under different circumstances, have over- excited by turned the monarchy, and induced in 1823 the Revolu- the Spanish tion of 1830. They were followed next day by a solemn protest, signed by sixty deputies who had adhered to M. Manuel in the struggle, among which the signatures of General Lafayette, General Foy, and M. Casimir Périer appeared conspicuous. But no other result took place. The public mind is incapable of being violently excited by two passions at the same time; if the national feelings have been roused, the social ones are little felt. It was a perception of this truth which caused the Empress Catherine to say, at the commencement of the French Revolution, that the only way to combat its passions was to go to war.2 The din, great as it was, caused by the Hist. of dragging M. Manuel out of the Chamber of Deputies, 1789-1815, was lost in the louder sound of marching men pressing c. xiii. § on to the Pyrenees. The civic strife was heard of no more after it had terminated; nothing was thought of but the approaching conflict on the fields of Spain. Incessant was the march of troops towards Bayonne and Europe, XII. 1823. March 15. CHAP. Perpignan, the two points from which the invasion was to be made. The roads were covered by columns of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, moving forward towards the Spanish frontier, in the finest order, and in the highest spirits; and the warlike enthusiasm of the French, 1 Lam. vii. always strong, was roused to the very highest pitch, by Ann. Hist. the prospect of vindicating the tarnished honour of their vi. 108,112; arms on the fields of Castile, and re-entering Madrid as March 16, conquerors. The Duke of Angoulême set out from Paris, to take the command of the army, on the 15th March; and as war was no longer doubtful, the anxiety on both sides arose to the very highest pitch.1 Moniteur, 1823; Cap. vii. 120, 126, 145, 146. 62. Prepara tions of the sow disaffec army. On their side, the Liberals, both in France and Spain, were not idle. Their chief reliance was on the Liberals to presumed or hoped-for disaffection of the French army; tion in the for they were well aware that if they remained united, the forces of Spain, debased by misgovernment, and torn by civil war, would be unable to oppose any effectual resistance to their incursion. The most active measures, however, were taken to sow the seeds of disaffection in the French army. Several secret meetings of the Liberal chiefs in Paris took place, in order to concert the most effectual means of carrying this design into execution; and it was at first determined to send M. Benjamin Constant to Madrid to superintend the preparations on the revolutionary side, it being with reason supposed that his great reputation and acknowledged abilities would have much influence with the revolutionists in Spain, and be not without its effect on the feelings of the French soldiery. But this design, like many others formed by persons who are more liberal of their breath than their fortunes, failed from want of funds. Benjamin Constant, whose habits of expense were great, and his income from literary effort considerable, refused to undertake the mission unless not only his expenses were provided for, but an indemnity secured to him, in the event of failure, for the loss of his fortune and XII. 1823. the means of repairing it, which his position in Paris CHAP. afforded. This, however, the Liberals, though many of them were bankers or merchants, possessed of great wealth, declined to undertake; the Duke of Orleans was equally inexorable; and the consequence was, that Constant refused to go, and the plan, so far as he was concerned, broke down. All that was done was to send a few hundred political fanatics and refugees, who were to be under the command of Colonel Fabvier, and who, though of no importance as a military reinforcement, might, it was hoped, when clothed in the uniform of the Old Guard, and grouped round the tricolor standard, shake the fidelity of the French soldiers on the banks of the Bidassoa. Their first step was to issue a proclamation in the name of Napoleon II. to the French soldiers, Chateaucalling on them to desert their colours, and join the revo- grès de Vélutionary host, a proceeding which amply demonstrated, 254; Cap. if it had been required, the necessity of the French inter- 148. vention.1* 1 Lam. vii. 195, 197; briand, Con rone, i. 252, vii. 147, Mr Canning and the people at While hostilities were thus evidently and rapidly 63. approaching on the Continent, and the dogs of war were Feelings of held only in the leash, ready to be let loose at a moment's warning, to desolate the world, England, indignant and English agitated, but still inactive, remained an anxious spectator this crisis. of the strife. Never were the feelings of the nation more strongly roused, and never would a war have been entered into by the Government with more cordial and enthu * "Vainqueurs de Fleurus, de léna, d'Austerlitz, de Wagram, vous laisserezvous aller à leurs insinuations perfides? Scellerez-vous de votre sang, l'infamie dont on veut vous couvrir, et la servitude de l'Europe entière? Obéirez-vous à la voix des tyrans, pour combattre contre vos droits, au lieu de les défendre ; et ne viendrez-vous dans nos rangs que pour y apporter la destruction et la mort, lorsqu'ils vous sont ouverts pour la liberté sainte qui vous appelle du haut de l'enseigne tricolore qui flotte sur les monts Pyrénées, et dont elle brûle d'ombrager encore une fois vos nobles fronts couverts de tant d'honorables cicatrices? Braves de toute arme de l'armée française, qui conservez encore dans votre sein l'étincelle du feu sacré ! c'est à vous que nous faisons un généreux appel; embrassez avec nous la cause majestueuse du peuple, contre celle d'une poignée d'oppresseurs; la Patrie, l'honneur, votre propre intérêt le commandent; venez, vous trouverez dans nos rangs tout ce qui conVOL. II. 2 U |