any future uprising of the friends of popular
liberty.

The other party consisted of the old aristocracy of France, the
Legitimists, supported by the sympathies of all the courts of Europe,
who were supposed to be not only willing but eager to unite their
armies to maintain the principles of the old _regime_ in France, and
thus to prevent the establishment there of those principles of
popular liberty which would endanger all their thrones.

The difference between these two parties was irreconcilable. As Louis
Philippe was situated, he was compelled to choose between the two. He
chose the latter. This involved him in unrelenting and unintermitted
war with the former. Alison says: "Concession to the Republican party
and a general change in external policy, so earnestly pressed upon
him by the Liberals, would lead at once to a general war;" that is,
the surrounding dynasties would not permit free institutions to be
established in France.

Louis Philippe was a man of great decision of character, as his
friends would say. His enemies called that trait stubbornness. In a
letter purporting to have been written on the 9th of November, 1847,
by his son, the Prince de Joinville, to the Duke de Nemours, the
writer says to his brother:

"I write one word to you, for I am disquieted at the events
which I see on all sides thickening around us. Indeed, I
begin to be seriously alarmed. The king is inflexible. He
will listen to no advice. His own will must prevail over
every thing. There are no longer any ministers. Their
responsibility is null. Every thing rests with the king. He
has arrived at an age when observations are no longer
listened to. He is accustomed to govern, and he loves to
show that he does so."

The king is reported to have said, at the close of a cabinet meeting,
in reply to some who urged concessions to the Liberal party, "Every
one appears to be for reform. Some demand it, others promise it. For
my part, I will never be a party to such weakness. Reform is another
word for war. When the opposition succeed to power, I shall take my
departure."

This was the declaration of the king that the surrounding dynasties
would not permit popular rights in France. An ancient law of the old
_regime_ did not allow the people to assemble to discuss affairs of
state. Louis Philippe revived the law, and enforced it vigorously. To
evade this prohibition, large dinner-parties, or b