and his son are dethroned, or have abdicated, as you have
heard. But the throne is not thereby vacant. After them a child is
called to the succession; and who will venture to condemn his
innocence? I know that in removing that child it is said you
establish the sovereignty of the people. Vain illusion! which proves
that in the march of intellect our old democrats have not made
greater advances than the partisans of royalty. It were easy to show
that men may be as free and freer under a Monarchy than a Republic.
After all I have said, done, and written for the Bourbons, I should
be the basest of the human race if I denied them when, for the third
and last time, they are directing their steps towards exile."[Z]

[Footnote Z: _Moniteur_, August 3, 1830.]

On the morning of the next day, the 9th, the Chamber of Deputies met
at the Palais Bourbon. It was a very exciting scene, and strong
opposition was manifested against proclaiming the Duke of Orleans
king. After an angry debate the motion was carried, that,

"Considering that the king, Charles X., his royal highness
Louis Antoine, dauphin, and all the members of the elder
branch of the royal family, are at this moment quitting
French territory, the throne is declared to be vacant, _de
facto_ and _de jure_, and that it is indispensably needful to
provide for the same."

The friends of the duke felt that their only hope consisted in
driving the question to an immediate decision. The Chamber of
Deputies had no legal authority to elect a king. M. Fleury demanded
that the electoral colleges should be invoked to elect a new
assembly, with special powers delegated to the Deputies to elect a
king. The demand was not listened to. M. de Corcelles urged that the
question should be submitted to the people, that the voice of
universal suffrage might decide what should be the form of government
for France, and who should be the sovereign. This proposition was
rejected. The venerable Labbey de Pompieres then demanded that the
voters should inscribe their names and their votes in a register.
This they had not courage to do; for, in case of the return of the
Bourbons, they would lose their heads.

"Thus," writes Louis Blanc, "the crown of France was voted as a
simple matter of by-law regulation."

After some amendments of the charter, the vote was taken. It was a
tumultuous scene, and there is some little discrepancy in the number
of votes given as the resu