Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/331

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GUIZOT 317 of the Roman Empire," Vies des poete* incais du siecle de Louis XIV., &c. In [812 he was appointed assistant professor of lodern history in the Sorbonne. In the same year he married Mile. Pauline de Meulan, whose relations with the royalist party opened him a political career, on which he entered the fall of Napoleon. He was appointed iretary general of the department of the in- rior in 1814, of justice in 1815, master of re- lests in 1816, and councillor of state in 1817. [e upheld the principles of the constitutional irty by his political essay Du gouvernement >presentatif et de Vetat actuel de la France 1816), and thus became the mouthpiece of lose who at a later period were known under name of doctrinaires. Under the semi- jral Decazes ministry he was director gen- of the communal and departmental ad- inistration, which post he resigned in Febru- y, 1820, on the fall of that cabinet. He now iblished his political pamphlet, Du gouverne- de la France depuis la restauration et du stere actuel ; and the following year, Des fens de gouvernement et d 1 opposition dans it actuel de la France (1821). His strictures the government were followed by his re- )val from the council of state, and ultimately was ordered to discontinue his lectures in le Sorbonne, which he had published previ- sly under the title of Histoire du gouver- lent representatif (1821-'2). He then de- )ted his time to literary pursuits, producing succession a remarkable introduction to a wised French translation of the works of f espeare ; Essais sur Vhistoire de France ieme au dixi&me siecle (1823), an ap- idix to Mably's Observations ; biographical vetches and historical notes to the Collection memoires relatifs a la revolution d^An- (26 vols., 1823 et seq. translated from English by various writers, and to the Election des memoires relatifs a Vhistoire de % from its origin to the 13th century (31 3., 1823 et seq.} ; the first two volumes of Histoire de la revolution d" 1 Angleterre, to accession of Charles II. (1827-'8); and jveral essays and papers in periodicals. In inuary, 1828, he established the Revue Fran- eaise, which was published every two months, nearly on the plan of the English quarterlies. In 1827 he lost his wife, and in the following year he married her niece, Mile. Elisa Dillon, who lived only till 1833. In 1828 the Marti- gnac ministry restored to him his chair at the Sorbonne and his seat in the council of state ; and his eloquent lectures, which were deliv- ered in conjunction with those of Cousin and Villemain, raised him to the highest popular- ity. They were published under the titles Histoire generale de la civilisation en Europe depuis la chute de I 1 empire romain jusqu'd la revolution francaise (1828), and Histoire generale de la civilisation en France depuis la chute de Vempire romain (1830). He en- tered the chamber of deputies in January, 1830, taking his place among the opposition, bore a part in the parliamentary proceedings which brought about the revolution of July, and was minister of the interior in the first cabinet of Louis Philippe. He resumed his seat in the chamber of deputies on Nov. 3, op- posed the Lafitte cabinet, and supported that headed by Casimir Perier. After the death of the latter he entered the coalition ministry formed Oct. 11, 1832, under the presidency of Marshal Soult, in which he was minister of public instruction. After the dissolution .of that ministry, Feb. 22, 1836, Guizot remained in comparative retirement for a few months. He resumed his post in the Mole cabinet, but soon quarrelled with his colleagues, resigned office, and joined the opposition. After the fall of Mole he was appointed ambassador to Great Britain, Feb. 9, 1840, being the first Protestant ambassador sent to that country by France since the time of Sully. He was re- called in October to succeed M. Thiers in the ministry of foreign affairs, in the last cabinet of Louis Philippe's reign. For more than seven years, in concert with the king, he upheld the system of peace at any price abroad, and of opposition to democratic reform at home, which eventually resulted in the overthrow of the Orleans dynasty. He succeeded in restoring the French government to a participation in the settlement of the eastern question, but the subordinate position in which England and Russia held France, and which the latter ap- parently did not resent, aroused a discontent that was not allayed by victories won in Algeria. Meanwhile the agitation for electoral reform was beginning in Paris, and propagating itself over the country. Guizot, who in 1847 had suc- ceeded Soult as head of the ministry, evinced his contempt for what he considered a trifling matter, and reluctantly consented to resign his office, Feb. 23, 1848, when the revolution had actually commenced. He fled to England, where he published, in January, 1849, a pamphlet entitled De la democratic en France. He returned after an absence of about a year, and was defeated in Calvados as a candidate for the chamber of deputies. In 1861 he de- clared himself in favor of the maintenance of the temporal power of the pope, which gave rise to much discussion both in France and in England. In 1870 he supported the ministry of Ollivier, and declared himself in favor of an affirmative vote on the plebiscite. Guizot is a member of three departments of the French institute, having been elected to the academy of moral and political sciences in 1832, to that of inscriptions and belles-lettres in 1833, and to the French academy in 1836. In 1872 he received from the academy the biennial prize of 20,000 francs. In the same year he resigned his membership in the Protestant synod. In March, 1874, he objected to Oilivier's pane- gyric of Napoleon III. in the academy ; and subsequently hearing that the latter had paid his son's debts, he insisted upon refunding the