be undertakes the defence of his uncle's policy in regard to that country and Europe in general; and, doubtless with a view to gain influence with men of patriotic sympathies, declares that, if the Emperor had proved conqueror, he would have made Poland, Italy, and Westphalia independent States, and established in France, instead of a dictatorship, a government based on freedom of thought and speech. Louis Napoleon also sent from the press a "Manuel sur l'Artillerie" (a" Manual on Artillery"), a work of high pretension, which was specially fitted to recommend its author to the army. On the army all his hopes centred; yet did he not neglect party leaders. He coquetted with Chateaubriand face to face. He had an interview with La Fayette, and found him sorry for the aid he had given to Louis Philippe in 1830, and in no way indisposed toward Napoleon's nephew. The stern Republican Carrel he tried to conciliate. Still it

was to the soldiery he mainly looked. Especially did he employ the opportunity afforded by his being in BadenBaden in 1836, in order to win over officers of higher and lower rank. The success he gained, the offers tendered him, the invitations he received, combined to prepare his mind and ripen his plans for the attempt he made at Strasburg on the 30th of October, 1836.

France was in a state of dissatisfaction and disturbance. In the provinces were insurrectionary movements; the streets of Paris were stained with blood; state trials augmented the popular discontent. Attacks on the king's life demonstrated the depth of Republican hatred toward the ruling power. Misled by these facts, Louis Napoleon thought the long-desired moment come. If he became master of Strasburg, he would, he fancied, soon, like Napoleon, become master of France.

A first attempt of a private nature failed. Returning to Arenenberg, he turned a deaf ear to his mother's prudential warnings, and began to plot with a view to a more decided enterprise. He wrote to beg an interview with the Lieutenant-General Voirol, an old soldier of the Emperor's who commanded on the Lower Rhine. The General communicated the fact to the Prefect of the department, who, in

answer, stated, that he had an agent at the Prince's side, and knew all. Another epistolary attempt was reported to the authorities in Paris. Failing with men and soldiers, Louis Napoleon listened to the seductive words of a public songstress, Madame Jordan, who had the more power over his acts because her advice was in accordance with his own erroneous prepossessions and ill-formed desires. The impulse was made more decided by a misunderstanding which broke out between France and Switzerland respecting revolutionary refugees; by changes in the French Ministry; and by dissatisfaction at the king's continued obtrusion of his own will.

At length, on the 23rd of October, 1836, the Prince sought an interview with his mother, of whom he took leave under the pretext of going for some days on a hunting party. Half suspecting another and a more hazardous enterprise, the Ex-Queen put on her son's finger, as a kind of talisman, the ring which had confirmed the nuptials of Josephine and Napoleon. Disappointed in not meeting in Freiburg with supporters of high condition, whom he expected there, he went to Strasburg, where, after interviews with other conspirators, and the preparation of addresses, to the inhabitants of the city, to the French people, and to the army, he made an attempt, dictated by prudence rather than by daring, to win and overcome the troops. The attempt failed, and Louis Napoleon was made prisoner. He was hurried to Paris. Thither he was followed by his everwatchful mother, who hoped to save his life. Judging it impolitic to put the Prince to death, Louis Philippe, with urgent dispatch, sent the captive, by a circuitous voyage, to North America; hoping that the delay would be serviceable, by enabling him to compose the agitation occasioned by the outbreak. The French Government endeavoured to prevail with Hortense to enjoin on her son an absence of ten years. She refused. In fact he returned the ensuing year, on learning that his mother was seriously ill. Arriving at Arenenberg, he found her on her death-bed. She died October 5, 1837.

Louis Napoleon's presence in Switzerland was offensive to Louis Philippe. The Swiss Government were requested

to expel him. They refused. Compliance was enforced by the approach to their borders of French troops, and the assistance rendered to the French Government by European diplomacy. The Prince repaired to England.

On the 24th of October, 1838, Louis Napoleon entered London, and took up his abode in Carlton House Terrace. There he prepared and published (1839) his work, "Des Idées Napoléoniennes " ("On Napoleon Ideas"). Its motto declares its aim. It was the words of the Emperor :- "The old system has come to an end, the new one is not yet founded." According to this leading notion, the writer undertakes to show, that all previous forms were merely steps to the final object, an empire combining order with freedom. That most desirable object could be obtained only under the auspices of the Napoleon family. The actual Government rested on no sustainable basis, for it had on its behalf neither legitimacy nor the popular voice. These

views, and others of a similar tendency, were put before the world in newspapers and divers publications. They found acceptance among the soldiery, as well as the peasants of several districts of France; and served, in unison with facts already related, to fasten the minds of its people on the Pretender, and to give consistency and strength to his party.

Disappointment at the Orleans Administration strengthened the Bonapartist feeling. From their actual, men turned to an ideal, condition, which was the more attractive, because lighted up with reflections from the set Imperial sun. An attempt was made to satisfy this vague, but strong, craving. A Liberal Ministry was appointed, with Thiers at its head (March, 1840). An attempt was made to turn the popular feelings into another channel, by directing them against England, on the ground that, by her secret agency, France had been excluded from the "Quadruple Alliance." Still Napoleonism was unsatisfied and unquiet. A bolder measure was taken. The Prince de Joinville, the King's third son, who, in his bold, sailor-like character, stood well with the nation, was sent to Saint Helena, to bring back into France the Ashes of the Emperor, in order that they might repose on the banks of the Seine,

where he had expressed a wish to lie, "amongst the Freuch people, whom he loved so well."

The Bonapartist excitement, which, under these influences, had gained head, and which Louis Philippe endeavoured to turn to his own account, the Representative of the family held to be peculiarly his property, and resolved to make it directly promotive of his long-cherished plans. The attempt at Strasburg had failed; one at Boulogne might be successful, the rather as the public mind seemed now prepared, and direct encouragement had been given. Accordingly, in August, 1840, all things were ready. An eagle had been tamed to personate the Emperor's eagle, which was partly the cause, and peculiarly the symbol, of his brilliant triumphs. Arms were purchased; a steam-ship was fitted out. With from fifty to sixty companions, among whom was General Montholon, Napoleon's faithful companion, the Prince left the port of London, and, on the 6th of August, landed near Boulogne. Again all went wrong. The troops were loyal, the people cold; the eagle missed its perch. Received with shots instead of embraces, the insurgents were wounded, captured, and disarmed. In a proclamation, Louis Napoleon had declared that the Orleans dynasty reigned no longer; in fact he himself was a prisoner in Paris under its power. A trial issued. Availing himself of the opportunity, the accused Prince spoke in favour of the sovereignty of the people, as being secured by their revolutionary struggles; alluded to certain rights inherent in his family, as confided to them by the nation; and declared that, in imitation of the deceased Emperor, he had exclusively sought the good of France, the promotion of which was the aim of his life. He was found guilty. Destined to die by the legal representative of the Orleans family, he was, by the court, condemned to perpetual imprisonment. Forthwith he was confined in the castle of Ham, near Peronne, in the department of Somme.

Nevertheless, Louis Napoleon did not lose courage; his adherents, he knew, were active. Efforts were made to abrogate the law which condemned the family of Bonaparte to exile. The prisoner at Ham became a centre towards which eyes and hearts were

turned. The tedium of the Prince was further relieved by literary occupations. In May, 1844, he sent forth a pamphlet on the extinction of pauperism. The Ex-King of Holland took steps to procure his son's liberation. In August, 1845, feeling his end approach, he became specially urgent for that end with the French Government. On their part, they were unwilling that the aspirant should enjoy the increased popularity which he gained from his incarceration. They, therefore, made him repeated offers of freedom, on his pledging his word of honour never more to set foot on the soil of France. This promise, though earnestly required by his father, the Prince steadfastly refused. As, however, the Ex-King grew seriously worse, he resolved to attempt an escape. He was successful. On the 26th of May, 1846, he again entered London. His intention was to proceed home, in order to take his final leave of his dying parent. The pious intention was frustrated by diplomacy. Louis died without seeing his son, on the 25th of July, 1846.

It has been thought that Louis Napoleon's escape was effected with the connivance of the French Government. If so, the fact throws light on the liberation of others who were involved in his punishment, in consequence of sharing in the Boulogne plot. Such a friendly understanding would also explain the voluntary promise which the Bonaparte Prince now made not to engage in any farther enterprises against the reigning family. He kept his word.

The French Revolution, of February, 1848, swept the Orleans family out of France, and opened a new prospect to Prince Louis Napoleon. A slight reverberation of the social earthquake was felt in England. On the occasion, the heir of the Napoleon interests manifested his sympathies, by causing himself to be enrolled as a special constable, in order to assist in repressing displays of Chartist feelings in the metropolis.

Meanwhile, his eye was kept on Paris. With the extreme opinions of the Provisional Government he had no sympathy. But in letters, and by his presence, he appealed to the nation and its rulers. The Government declared his presence dangerous. He went away. Claiming the right of a French citizen, he yet refused to stand

as a candidate for the National Assembly. He was chosen by large majorities in four departments. But the Executive was unfriendly. Powerful individuals and parties manifested hostility. Louis Napoleon wrote to the President of the Assembly, that, for the sake of peace, he would forego his claim. The public voice thereon demanded the Prince. On the 17th of September a new election took place: it was in favour of Louis Napoleon. On the 26th, he appeared in the National Assembly, and his presence called forth a sort of parliamentary insurrection. He was very simply clad, and in all his person appeared the stamp of dignity, mingled with gentleness. Notice was taken of his fine figure; his brown southern complexion, and that his hair was turning grey. His features were not thought very intellectual, or very like those of his uncle. He rose, and spoke to the following effect:-"Citizen Representatives! after the numerous calumnies of which I have been the object, I find it impossible to keep silence. I must utter aloud my sentiments on the first day that I have the honour to sit in the midst of you. After thirty years of proscription and exile, I am at last permitted to look on France and my fellowcitizens. The Republic has given me this happiness. May the Republic receive the assurance of my acknowledgments and devotedness. My noble fellow-citizens, who have honoured me with their suffrages, may reckon on my warmest endeavours to co-operate with them in the development of the Democratic institutions which the people have a right to demand. As yet have I only in reading and in thought been able to become acquainted with their labours. Now, my beloved colleagues, I can, in my own person, take part therein. My conduct among you will be that of a man who is firmly resolved to sacrifice himself in defence of order and the good of the Republic." At last came the election of a President of the Republic. The contest, in reality, lay between Cavaignac and Louis Bonaparte. On the 10th of December, 1848, 7,426,252 electors gave their votes. Of these, 5,534,520 were for the Prince, and only 1,448,302 for the General.

The office to which he was called was one of extreme difficulty.

His own powers, though respectable, were not shining. Underrated in the world generally, because unknown, and misunderstood in consequence of enterprises which, at least to the uninitiated observer, wore the appearance of rashness, if not folly, Louis Napoleon yet possessed Knowledge, experience, mental ability, together with some geniality and earnestness of character which were well fitted to make him useful and happy in private life, and might have raised him above the elevation of ordinary princes. These excellences are attested by his writings, as well as by his earlier career. That they descended into the depths of his inner being, so as to qualify or countervail the unfavourable influences of his domestic training, and make him a man of a pure, lofty, and self-denying morality, cannot be affirmed in face of the loose modes of life which he followed in the British metropolis; nor is there any risk in declaring, that, at the best, his personal qualities are not of the highest kind; and specially do they lack that attribute of power and command for which his uncle was distinguished, and which is imperatively needful in the difficult task he has undertaken.

By the traditions of his family, and his own personal convictions, Louis Napoleon is devoted to two things. These, as has already been seen, are Republican institutions and Imperial forms. Such a political programme is wisely formed. The former is a concession to the spirit of the age; the latter is an embodiment of the spirit of the French nation. But the realisation of these aims is specially arduous in the midst of the conflicting parties called into existence during the last century. A Republic, pleasing Republicans, displeases the Legitimists. An Empire satisfying the love of order, cherished by the Legitimists, dissatisfies them if presided over by a Bonaparte. For a long time the President seemed secured in his seat, however much he was hindered in his social plans, by the contrary efforts of rival parties, who, endeavouring assert each its own supremacy, did nothing but make his the more secure. During these collisions Louis Bonaparte seems steadily to have kept his eye on the long-contemplated Imperial throne. From an earnest affection for that, he made secret, but effectual, war against civil and mental freedom.

His own

sympathies made him hostile to Red Republicanism. But why persecute the press? Why constant coercion? They were intended to weaken the popular element so far as to allow the possibility, and, if it might be, create the reality, of an Imperial crown. Here the essential element of Napoleonism came fully into play; and here is the explanation of the diminution of the constituency. By such a course of repression the President expected to gain favour with the Legitimists, who, in the midst of their divisions and difficulties, might find a resource in such hereditary rights as he possessed and represented. But the pear was slow in ripening. Meanwhile, the election of a new President drew near. Breakers were ahead. The Prince de Joinville was put forth as a candidate. Hence the necessity of another course. The helm of the state was suddenly turned. Universal suffrage became Louis Napoleon's motto. And the consequence was seen in the unhappy conflict which prevailed between the two chief powers in the Government, the National Assembly, and the President of the Republic, and which has ended in confusion and bloodshed. On his part, Louis Napoleon may believe that, in seeking his own personal aggrandisement, he is seeking to do honour and give effect to those Imperial claims which, as with the Emperor himself, are at the centre of the system designated "the Napoleon ideas.' The shade of the Great Warrior elected the President; under that shade he may fade away. Ideas which had their origin in the greatest civil and military genius of modern times, are little likely to be effectually revived and perpetuated by an ordinary mind. The best augury there is for Louis Napoleon's success is found in the common-place character of the rulers of the world. But in the back-ground hovers the Titan forces of Red Republicanism. This is a foe which President Bonaparte is utterly unequal to meet. Besides, he has now evoked a deadly foe in that love of rational liberty which pervades all the best minds of Europe, and which he has outrageously dared to mortal combat.

Meanwhile, the Emperor's nephew has, in the late most reckless blows of despotism, been trying to play his uncle's part, in order that he may speedily recover his uncle's imperial sceptre. A

greater crime than that which, in so doing, he has committed, was never perpetrated in any country or in any age. Slaughter and universal suffrage!—a silenced press!-wholesale incarceration!-massacred thousands in the metropolis! — one-third of the departments under military law!-Jesuitism triumphant!-a down-trodden nation! Such are the means, and such the immediate results, of the assertion on the part of this ambitious tyrant, of his long-cherished Napoleon projects. In the back-ground of these infamous proceedings, is a more powerful mind and a more iron will than the Dictator's. But the wicked spirit, however potent, will not be able to prevail. Speedily may it perish!

JEAN PAUL RICHTER.

PART I.

UNTIL Mr. Carlyle introduced Richter to the readers of the Edinburgh and Foreign Reviews, somewhat more than twenty years ago, his name was but little, if at all, known in England. It required forty years for his reputation, eminent enough among the Germans, to travel over to us here. This is not uncommonly the fate of foreign excellence; though, in Richter's case, there were sufficient reasons why his genius should be a long time in gaining a fitting recognition out of his own country. An original and extraordinary humorist, a man, too, of many whims and eccentricities, and of the boldest temper in speculation, his writings are not to be appreciated, nor even 80 much as comprehended, without a good deal of close and faithful study. Of late years, however, a knowledge of his character and performances has been rapidly extending. Some of his works have been translated into English; his name is often mentioned, and his witty sayings quoted, in our current literature; and, on the whole, he is now, perhaps, sufficiently well known, to render some representation of his life and labours acceptable to the readers of this present Biographical Magazine."

Without further parley, therefore, let all, who care to learn it, be informed, that Jean Paul Friedrich Richter was born at Wunsiedel, an outlying village in Baireuth, in the kingdom of Bavaria, on the 21st of March, 1763. In certain

autobiographical lectures, wherein he has grotesquely, but pleasantly, delineated his early life and circumstances, he describes himself as being born "at the earliest and freshest time of day; namely, at half-past one in the morning;" and records it as an "epigrammatic fact," that he and the spring came into the world together. This last circumstance," he adds, "that the Professor and the spring were born together, I have mentioned in conversation at least a hundred times; but I fire it off here, as a salute of honour, for the hundredth and first time, that, by printing it, I may place it out of my power to offer again as a bon-mot, what, through the press, has gone the round of the whole world."

The

At

Richters, it seems, for the two preceding generations, had been schoolmasters, distinguished chiefly for their poverty and piety. Jean Paul's grandfather was "rector of the gymnasium in Neustadt on the Culm," holding with his rectorate the united offices of organist and chanter in the church, by all of which he realised the not very munificent income of £15 a year. At this hunger-fountain," says his descendant, common enough for Baireuth school-people, the man stood thirty-five years long, and drew cheerfully." the end of that period, namely, in the year of Jean Paul's birth, probably (as the latter fancies) "through especial connection with the higher powers," he was promoted to a more important station to wit, a permanent and quiet resting-place in the churchyard at Neustadt. His son, Jean Paul's father, was at this time Tertius, or under schoolmaster, and organist, at Wunsiedel; and shortly afterwards became a clergyman in the hamlet of Joditz, from whence he was subsequently removed to a better post at Schwarzenbach on the Saale. He, too, was a man of devout habit and disposition, being also a bold and zealous preacher, and locally eminent for "some meritorious compositions in church music." While he was as yet a needy Tertius, he gained access to the household of a wealthy clothier, of the town of Hof, and, by his talents and social qualities, captivated one of the old man's daughters; winning, in the end, not only the affections of the damsel, but likewise the good-will and admiration of the parents, so that he was at length