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 resting-place before Louis Napoleon embarked upon his rash expedition at Boulogne, was taken prisoner, and immured in the fortress of Ham, where he spent six years in strict seclusion, conversing only with books, until he contrived to escape to England.

The Eastern question again, under Thiers’ administration, became the great topic of conversation and public interest, and his military policy came near embroiling France in war.  So great was the public alarm that the army was raised to four hundred thousand men, and measures were taken to adopt a great system of fortifications around Paris.  It was far, however, from the wishes and policy of the king to be dragged into war by an ambitious and restless minister.  He accordingly summoned Guizot from London to meet him privately at the Chateau d’Eu, in Normandy, where the statesman fully expounded his conservative and pacific policy.  The result of this interview was the withdrawal of the French forces in the Levant and the dismissal of Thiers, who had brought the nation to the edge of war.  His place was taken by Guizot, who henceforth, with brief intervals, was the ruling spirit in the councils of the king.