“It was, on the part of the Cabinet, one of those acts the merit of which is only perceived afterward, and in which the Government bears the weight of the evil at the moment when it is trying most sincerely and courageously to repress it.  There were several deplorable incidents—­the shocking murder of the Duchess of Praslin, some scandalous trials and violent deaths following hard one upon another, and aggravating the momentary depression and the excited state of the popular imagination.  The air seemed infected with moral disorder and unlooked-for misfortunes, coming to join in party attacks and the false accusations which the Cabinet were subjected to.  It was one of those unhealthy hurricanes often met in the lives of governments.”  It was certainly culpable on the part of the opposition to try to take advantage of this disturbed state of men’s minds to gain the end they were pursuing.  Seven times was parliamentary reform, and three times was electoral reform, refused by the Chambers, from February 20, 1841, to April 8, 1847; the question being then displaced, it changed its ground.  The opposition made an appeal to popular passion; and parliamentary discussions were succeeded by the banquets.

From the close of the session of 1847 to the opening of that of 1848 they kept France in a state of constant fever—­an artificial and deceptive fever in this sense, that it was not the natural and spontaneous result of the actual wishes and wants of the country; but true and serious in this sense, that the political parties who took the initiative in it found among some of the middle classes and the lower orders a prompt and keen adhesion to their proposals.  The first banquet took place in Paris at the Chateau-Rouge Hotel on July 9, 1847.  Garnier-Pages has himself told how the Royalist opposition and the Republican opposition concluded their alliance for that purpose.  On leaving the house of Odilon Barrot, the Radical members of the meeting walked together for some time.  On reaching that part of the Boulevard opposite the Foreign Office, at the moment they were about to separate, Pagnerre said:  “Well, really, I did not expect for our proposals so speedy and complete success.  Do those gentlemen see what that may lead to?  For my part, I confess I do not see it clearly; but it is not for us Radicals to be alarmed about it.”

“You see that tree,” replied Garnier-Pages; “engrave on its bark a mark in memory of this day, for what we have just decided upon is a revolution.”  Garnier-Pages did not foresee that the Republic of 1848, as well as the monarchy of 1830, should in its turn speedily perish in that revolution, so long big with so many storms.