and confederation of the defeated
Arab tribes, marked by all the fanaticism of Moslem warriors, made it
necessary for the French to follow up their successes with all the vigor
possible. In consequence, an army of forty thousand infantry and twelve
thousand cavalry and artillery drove the Arabs, in 1840, to their
remotest fastnesses. The ablest advocate for war measures was Thiers;
and so formidable were his eloquence and influence in the Chambers, that
he was again called to the head of affairs, and his second
administration took place.

The rivalry and jealousy between this great statesman and Guizot would
not permit the latter to take a subordinate position, but he was
mollified by the appointment of ambassador to London. The prime minister
had a great majority to back him, and such was his ascendency that he
had all things his own way for a time, in spite of the king, whose
position was wittily set forth in a famous expression of Thiers, _Le Roi
regne, et ne gouverne pas_. Still, in spite of the liberal and
progressive views of Thiers, very little was done toward the
amelioration of the sufferings of the people, for whom, personally, he
cared but little. True, a bill was introduced into the Chambers which
reduced the hours of labor in the manufactories from twelve to eight
hours, and from sixteen hours to twelve, while it forbade the employment
of children under eight years of age in the mills; but this beneficent
measure, though carried in the Chamber of Peers, was defeated in the
lower house, made up of capitalists and parsimonious money-worshippers.

What excited the most interest in the short administration of Thiers,
was the removal of the bones of Napoleon from St. Helena to the banks of
the Seine, which he loved so well, and their deposition under the dome
of the Invalides,--the proudest monument of Louis Quatorze. Louis
Philippe sent his son the Prince de Joinville to superintend this
removal,--an act of magnanimity hard to be reconciled with his usual
astuteness and selfishness. He probably thought that his throne was so
firmly established that he could afford to please the enemies of his
house, and perhaps would gain popularity. But such a measure doubtless
kept alive the memory of the deeds of the great conqueror, and renewed
sentiments in the nation which in less than ten years afterward
facilitated the usurpation of his nephew. In fact, the bones of
Napoleon were scarcely removed to their present rest