haracteristic thrift had
endeavored to procure satisfactory allowances. And the leading statesmen
of the country, whom his Majesty had disgusted, were suspected of
entertaining any but feelings of loyalty towards his house and person.

It was against the above-named pretenders that Louis Philippe (now
nearly a hundred years old), a prince amongst sovereigns, was called
upon to defend his crown.

The city of Paris was guarded, as we all know, by a hundred and
twenty-four forts, of a thousand guns each--provisioned for a
considerable time, and all so constructed as to fire, if need were,
upon the palace of the Tuileries. Thus, should the mob attack it, as in
August 1792, and July 1830, the building could be razed to the ground in
an hour; thus, too, the capital was quite secure from foreign invasion.
Another defence against the foreigners was the state of the roads. Since
the English companies had retired, half a mile only of railroad had been
completed in France, and thus any army accustomed, as those of Europe
now are, to move at sixty miles an hour, would have been ennuye'd to
death before they could have marched from the Rhenish, the Maritime, the
Alpine, or the Pyrenean frontier upon the capital of France. The French
people, however, were indignant at this defect of communication in their
territory, and said, without the least show of reason, that they would
have preferred that the five hundred and seventy-five thousand billions
of francs which had been expended upon the fortifications should have
been laid out in a more peaceful manner. However, behind his forts, the
King lay secure.

As it is our aim to depict in as vivid a manner as possible the strange
events of the period, the actions, the passions of individuals and
parties engaged, we cannot better describe them than by referring to
contemporary documents, of which there is no lack. It is amusing at the
present day to read in the pages of the Moniteur and the Journal des
Debats the accounts of the strange scenes which took place.

The year 1884 had opened very tranquilly. The Court of the Tuileries had
been extremely gay. The three-and-twenty youngest Princes of England,
sons of her Majesty Victoria, had enlivened the balls by their presence;
the Emperor of Russia and family had paid their accustomed visit; and
the King of the Belgians had, as usual, made his visit to his royal
father-in-law, under pretence of duty and pleasure, but really to demand
paymen