The war in Algeria was also continued with great vigor by the government of Guizot.  It required sixty thousand troops to carry on the war, bring the Arabs to terms, and capture their cunning and heroic chieftain Abd-el-Kader, which was done at last, after a vast expenditure of money and men.  Among the commanders who conducted this African war were Marshals Valee, Changarnier, Cavaignac, Canrobert, Bugeaud, St. Arnaud, and Generals Lamoriciere, Bosquet, Pelissier.  Of these Changarnier was the most distinguished, although, from political reasons, he took no part in the Crimean War.  The result of the long contest, in which were developed the talents of the generals who afterward gained under Napoleon III. so much distinction, was the possession of a country twelve hundred miles in length and three hundred in breadth, many parts of which are exceedingly fertile, and capable of sustaining a large population.  As a colony, however, Algeria has not been a profitable investment.  It took eighteen years to subdue it, at a cost of one billion francs, and the annual expense of maintaining it exceeds one hundred million francs.  The condition of colonists there has generally been miserable; and while the imports in 1845 were one hundred million francs, the exports were only about ten millions.  The great importance of the colony is as a school for war; it has no great material or political value.  The English never had over fifty thousand European troops, aside from the native auxiliary army, to hold India in subjection, with a population of nearly three hundred millions, whereas it takes nearly one hundred thousand men to hold possession of a country of less than two million natives.  This fact, however, suggests the immeasurable superiority of the Arabs over the inhabitants of India from a military point of view.

The accidental death, in 1842, of the Due d’Orleans, heir to the throne, was attended with important political consequences.  He was a favorite of the nation, and was both gifted and virtuous.  His death left a frail infant, the Comte de Paris, as heir to the throne, and led to great disputes in the Chambers as to whom the regency should be intrusted in case of the death of the king.  Indeed, this sad calamity, as it was felt by the nation, did much to shake the throne of Louis Philippe.

The most important event during the ministry of Guizot, in view of its consequences on the fortunes of Louis Philippe, was the Spanish marriages.  The Salic law prohibited the succession of females to the throne of France, but the old laws of Spain permitted females as well as males to reign.  In consequence, it was always a matter of dynastic ambition for the monarchs of Europe to marry their sons to those Spanish princesses who possibly might become sovereign of Spain.  But as such marriages might result in the consolidation of powerful States, and thus disturb the balance of power, they were generally opposed by other countries, especially England.  Indeed, the long and bloody