Before his return to Paris, Louis XVIII had issued a proclamation from Cambray, granting a free pardon to all who had taken part in the Revolution, with the exception of its chief authors, and constituted a liberal administration under Talleyrand; which, however, was speedily over-thrown by the court party, headed by the king's brother, the Comte d' Artois. An act was then passed by the ultra-royalist majority in the chambers, excluding from the amnesty, and condemning to perpetual banishment, all who had taken part in the murder of Louis XVI.
Ney was arraigned before the chamber of peers, found guilty of high treason and shot. Louis XVIII having been persuaded to dissolve the chambers, some projects of law, of a more liberal character, respecting elections, liberty of the press and person, etc., were carried through the new chambers by the Duc de Richelieu, who also obtained at the congress of Aix la Chapelle, 1818, the withdrawal of the army of occupation, and a remission of some portion of the debt still due from France to the allies. In return for these concessions Louis XVIII joined the holy alliance.
The ultra-royalists now exerted themselves to obliterate every trace of the Revolution, and reëstablish the privileged classes in all their former splendor; a plan which they pursued with great zeal and success under Charles X. But the indignation of the people was at length excited by the pertinacity with which they endeavored to increase the influence of the priesthood, and by their granting an indemnification to the extent of 1,000,000,000 of francs to the emigrants, whose estates had been confiscated by the revolutionary government.
The ministry persuaded the king to sign the fatal Ordonnances of 25th of July, by which the liberty of the press was suspended, the recently elected chamber dissolved, the number of deputies diminished, and the mode of election altered. This open violation of the constitution produced the Revolution of July, 1830.
Some of the royal troops having joined the revolutionists, and the remainder been driven out of the city after three days' hard fighting (27th—29th of July), Charles X abdicated at Rambouillet on the 2d of August, in favor of his grandson, the Duc de Bordeaux. Several unsuccessful attempts had already been made to proclaim a republic: and on the 30th of July the peers and deputies who happened to be resident at Paris, had met and nominated as regent the Duke of Orleans (descendant of a brother of Louis XIV), by whose representations Charles was induced to quit the kingdom, and seek an asylum in Scotland. On the 7th of August, the Duke of Orleans was proclaimed hereditary "King of the French," by the chambers, and on the 9th swore fidelity to the charter of 1830, in which the sovereignty of the people was fully recognized. The national guard was reëstablished and placed under the command of Lafayette.
The first care of Louis Philippe was to obtain the recognition of his title by foreign powers; an object which was effected without much difficulty, as he founded his claim on his legitimate right to the throne (the elder branch of the Bourbons having abdicated) rather than the choice of the people. But this disavowal of the principle on which he had been chosen king of the French, however satisfactory to foreign cabinets, was exceedingly distasteful to the people, and the cause of serious disturbances. His ministers, who were repeatedly changed, were engaged in a perpetual contest
