# The New International Encyclopædia/Louis Philippe

Edition of 1905. See also Louis Philippe I on Wikipedia; and the disclaimer.
​ LOUIS PHILIPPE, fē̇′lē̇p′ (1773-1850). King of the French from 1830 to 1848. He was the eldest son of Philippe, Duke of Orleans, and was born in Paris, October 6, 1773. He received at his birth the title of Duke of Valois, and afterwards that of Duke of Chartres. His education was intrusted to the care of the celebrated Mme. de Genlis. On the outbreak of the Revolution he entered the National Guard, and became a member of the Club of Friends of the Constitution, afterwards that of the Jacobins. His father renounced his titles in 1792, and assumed the surname of Egalité, and Louis Philippe followed his example. In the same year, as lieutenant-general, Louis Philippe took part in the battle of Valmy. He distinguished himself at Jemappes (November 6, 1792); but his situation became very dangerous after the battle of Neerwinden (March 18, 1793), in which he suffered defeat with Dumouriez. He was included in the order for arrest issued against Dumouriez, and in April, 1793, escaped with him into Austrian territory. He sought in Switzerland a place of security for his sister, Adelaide, wandered about among the mountains for four months, and accepted a situation as teacher of geography and mathematics in a school at Reichenau, near Chur, assuming the name of Chabaud-Latour. After the execution of his father, November, 1793, he traveled for some time in the north of Europe, was in the United States from 1796 to 1800, and then took up his residence at Twickenham, near London, with his two younger brothers, one of whom died in 1807 and the other in 1808. In 1809 he married Marie Amélie, daughter of Ferdinand I. of the Two Sicilies. In 1808 and again in 1810 he made abortive attempts to play a part in the Spanish War against Napoleon. On the fall of Napoleon he hastened to Paris, where he was received with distrust by Louis XVIII. After the second Restoration he recovered his great estates, which the Imperial Government had sequestrated. Disliked by the Court, he was very popular with the inhabitants of Paris. He kept aloof, however, from political intrigues. When the bloody days of the July Revolution had ended with the overthrow of the government of Charles X., the Chamber of Deputies, at the instance of the banker Laffitte, appointed him Lieutenant-General and Regent of the Kingdom (July 30, 1830). A week later the two Chambers offered him the royal crown, which he formally accepted on August 9, 1830, taking the oath to the reformed Constitution. He defended his conduct toward the elder Bourbons by protesting that he acted for the welfare of France. Louis Philippe sought to strengthen his throne by gaining the support of the Bourgeoisie, or middle classes, and repressed all the extreme parties by what became known as the juste-milieu policy. The brief ministry of Laffitte (1830-31) was succeeded by that of Casimir-Périer (1831-32), on whose death Marshal Soult formed a coalition Ministry, with Thiers and Guizot as the leading spirits. Among the events which marked the early years of the reign of Louis Philippe were the abolition of the hereditary peerage (1831); the armed intervention in behalf of Belgium; the insurrections of workingmen in Lyons, Paris, and elsewhere; the attempt of the Duchess of Berry to excite a revolution in behalf of her son, the Duke of Bordeaux (1832); and the appearance of Abd-el-Kader as the leader in the struggle against the French in Algeria. In 1836, and again in 1840, Louis Napoleon made abortive attempts to excite military insurrections in his favor. After various Ministerial changes the Soult-Guizot Cabinet was installed in 1840, Guizot, who held the portfolio of Foreign Affairs, being its virtual head. In 1841 the work of converting Paris into what was expected to be an impregnable fortress was begun. In 1842 the Duke of Orleans, the heir to the crown, met with an accidental death—a loss which was deeply deplored by the nation. The foreign policy of Louis Philippe, which was in general that of peace, aroused great dissatisfaction among the people, who after 1840 were swept away by a revival of Napoleonic sentiment, stimulated by the removal of the great Emperor's bones from Saint Helena and their interment at the Invalides. The conquest of Algeria, accomplished during this reign, could not counterbalance the weakness of the French diplomacy in the East, where France refused to join the Powers in their repression of Mehemet Ali in 1840. The extreme democrats hated the King, and frequent attempts were made on his life, the most notable of which was that of Fieschi in 1835. The country prospered under Louis Philippe's Government; but the scandals which were brought to light in the administration, the shameless corruption in the electoral system, and the selfish course pursued by the King, alienated the affections of the people. (See France.) A demand for reform in the electoral system became loud and general, and was unwisely opposed by the King and the Guizot (q.v.) Ministry; while the conduct of the former in the matter of the marriages of the Queen of Spain and her sister, manifesting a disregard of every consideration but the interests of his own family, excited a strong feeling of indignation throughout Europe. The French nation became much excited; ‘reform banquets’ began to be held; the Government attempted to prevent them by force; insurrectionary disturbances ensued in the streets of Paris on February 22, 1848; and on the following day the ‘Citizen King’ saw with alarm that the National Guard could not be expected to support him. The retirement of Guizot failed to pacify the people. On February 24th the King abdicated in favor of his grandson, the Count of Paris; but the Chamber of Deputies refused to acknowledge the boy as King. Louis Philippe, deserted by his courtiers, fled to the coast of Normandy with his Queen, concealed himself for some days, and at length found opportunity of escaping in a British steamboat to Newhaven, under the name of ‘Mr. Smith.’ The brief remainder of his life was spent in England. He died at Claremont, August 26, 1850. He was a man of ability and accomplishments; but, with all his democratic ideals, he never brought his Government into hearty sympathy with the people. Consult: Hillebrand, Geschichte Frankreichs (Gotha, 1877-79), excellent, monarchical, begins 1830, interrupted by the author's death (1848); Thureau-Dangin, Histoire de la monarchie de juillet (Paris, 1887-92), very ​monarchical in tone; Montalivet, Le roi Louis-Philippe (ib., 1851). See July Revolution.