Year: 1873

: The Abdicatien of Louis Philippe


The proclamation of the republic al


the hotel de Vile was the natural re-


suit of the insurrection, and once more


the Tuileries was the scene of terror and


confusion. But Louis Philippe could


not keep aloof from the theater of &C.


ton this time; his role as savior of So


clety was about to be taken by another,


whose benefactor, however, he had not


been, and to him was to be meted out


the portion which he had measured to


Charles x. According to the account


given by Admiral Hernoux, the widest


confusion reigned at the Tuileries.


Once more the royal cabinet was in


vaded by an unlimited crowd, as in the


early days of Palais Royal popularity.


"Abdicate! abdicate ! You have not


instant to lose " cried the improvised


councillors and they were indignant


that Louis Philippe did not sign the


document they pressed upon him


quickly enough. This was the third


abdication which had been signed in


France since Napoleon set his sigma


ture to the famous parchment on the
| historic little table at Fontainebleau 4;


the first, that of the dauphin in favor


of his nephew; the second, that of


Charles X. in favor of his grandson !;


but the third was unconditional. cat
last we have it" cried an unknown per-


son, who stood behind the king when


his relutant hand had traced the words.


"Who are you, sir ?" asked the queen,


who was in the room, seated in digni-
| fed attitude. MADAME, I am a pro-
vincial magistrate" "You have it, and
you will repent it." said Marie Amelie :;
and by-stander records that her tone
and look were worthy of the grand
daughter of Maria Theresa. Marie
Amelie was quite resigned she only
| stipulated that should not be parted
from her husband. They went arm in
arm down the steps of the Clock Paw
ion and crossed the garden, thinking to
find their carriages at the bridge. But
the insurgent mob had been enjoying
the pastime of burning them on the
place du Carrousel, where little later
they burned the throne of the once
popular monarch after they had drunk
his wine. The due de Nemous sent two
hackney-coaches to the spot, and the
unfortunate pair, with their two COM
panions, drove to ST. Cloud, where the
next savior of society was in his turn to
bid an unconscious adieu to his power
twenty-five years later. The royal
family had no money, and Gen1 Dumas
had to go to Versailles to get them some,
also to hire two travelling carriages, in
which they Immediately started for
Dreux.


On the 25th June, Louis Philippe
learned the particulars of the violent
scene in the chamber of deputies,
which had succeeded his departure, and
the defnitive proclamation of the re-
public. Nothing remained for the pro-
scribed king but to secure his safety as
soon as possible by flight. Marie
Amelie's last act was to visit the beloved
dead, in the vault of the chapel. As
she fingered by the tomb of her Char
tres, she said, with a deep sigh, ellis
death has been our ruin. I felt, when
he was taken from US, that it was the
misfortune of France, as we'll as our
own" The fugitive took the road to
Honfuer, without any of the obser-
vances which, until the last, had at
tended Charles the Tenth At Grace,
the queen consented to let the king
embark alone, and remained, with her
maid, Mdlle Muser, three long dread
full days without news of him or her
children. What days of agony they
must have been to the wife, mother,
queen! No link was now wanting in
the chain which bound her fate to the
traditions of her family The crown
that had fallen from her head had ever
sat uneasily upon it ; she did not grieve
for it, except as woman always grieves
over the thwarted ambitions, the ruined
hopes, of those she loves, even when |
her taste and her conscience are not in
accord with them. She knew that her
husband was mortally stricken in this
unblessed strife. How thickly the |
ghost must have mustered while she sat |
listening and waiting tor some one to
tell her what had become of her lost |
sons widow and little children what |
the princes, away in Africa, would do ; |
whether the countre-coup of the revo- |
luton would spread to them; whether
the king had got safely off. "I never
felt more strongly than now" she said,
" the suffering which the July days in
1880 cost me. I have been retracing
what [ endured in those days, as asking
myself if in truth I am more unhappy
now than I was then" There is the
cry of a sore conscience, and of heart
yearning toward the relief which was
hidden in her great fall in those words.
some one came into her room.
It was the king, who had found it i'm
possible to embark, and had returned
to her. They looked at each othsr in
black dismay. What a contrast to that
interview at Naples, in which Louis
Philippe told her, having come into her
room as suddenly, of the restoration!
But rescue was coming to them from an
quarter. The captain of an
English-steam-packet, and a British
consul who had been informed by a
faithful servant of the kings presence,
offered to secure the safety of the royal
couple. The story of the kings voyage
has a well-known comic side, but no
one has ever laughed at Marie Amelie.
Temple Bar.