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Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #28199.
The work is a nineteenth‑century historical biography that traces the extraordinary fortunes of Louis Philippe, the “King of the French,” from his aristocratic birth through the turbulence of the French Revolution, his exile across Europe and America, the restoration of his family’s estates, and finally his ascent to the throne and downfall in 1848. Abbott opens with a sweeping statement about the unrivaled vicissitudes of the duke’s life, then launches into a vivid catalogue of his wanderings, from the icy Lapland wilderness to Indian wigwams on the Ohio and Mississippi, from the elegant salons of Twickenham to the regal halls of the Tuileries. The introductory pages lay out a detailed contents list and a series of engraved illustrations, promising a tightly documented narrative that draws on contemporary documents to chart each dramatic turn.
Written in the formal, didactic prose of the late‑1800s, the biography combines exhaustive detail with a tone that is both reverent and narrative‑driven. Abbott’s style is scholarly yet accessible, employing long sentences and occasional moral commentary typical of Victorian historiography. Readers who enjoy richly textured accounts of European royalty, the political upheavals of the Napoleonic era, and the personal drama of a monarch who rose from exile to power will find this volume rewarding. It particularly appeals to those who appreciate a thorough, source‑based portrait of a pivotal yet often overlooked figure in French history.
The opening · free to read
Copyright, 1899, by Susan Abbott Mead.
PREFACE.
It would be difficult to find, in all the range of the past, a man whose career has been so full of wonderful and exciting vicissitude as that of Louis Philippe. His life covers the most eventful period in French history. The storms of 1789 consigned his father to the guillotine, his mother and brothers to imprisonment, and himself and sister to poverty and exile. There are few romances more replete with pensive interest than the wanderings of Louis Philippe to escape the bloodhounds of the Revolution far away amidst the ices of Northern Europe, to the huts of the Laplanders, and again through the almost unbroken wilds of North America, taking refuge in the wigwams of the Indians, and floating with his two brothers in a boat a distance of nearly two thousand miles through the solemn solitudes of the Ohio and the Mississippi from Pittsburg to the Gulf.
Again we see the duke, on the recovery of a large portion of his estates, enjoying the elegant retreat at Twickenham, feted by the nobility of England, and caressed by the aristocracy of Europe.
Again the kaleidoscope of changeful life is turned. The Empire falls. The Bourbons are restored. Louis Philippe returns to the palaces of his fathers. In rank, he takes his stand next to the throne. In wealth, he is the richest subject in Europe. At one moment he is caressed by Royalty, hoping to win his support, and again he is persecuted by Royalty, fearing his influence.
There is another change. The throne of the Bourbons is overthrown. Louis Philippe finds himself, as by magic, King of the French. He exchanges his ducal coronet for a royal crown. He enters the regal mansions of the Tuileries, Versailles, Saint Cloud, and Fontainebleau the acknowledged sovereign of thirty millions of people. All the proud dynasties of Europe recognize him as belonging to the family of kings. Eighteen years pass away, crowded with the splendor, cares, toils, and perils which seem ever to environ royalty. During this period the adventures of the Duchess de Berri to regain the throne for her son, the Count de Chambord, presents an episode of extraordinary interest.
There is another change. The tocsin of insurrection tolls its dismal knell in the towers of Paris. Through scenes surpassing fable, the king and his family escape to the hospitable shores of England. Here, in obscurity and exile, he reaches the end of life's journey, and passes away to the unknown of the spirit-land. Such is the wonderful story which we have endeavored to compress within the limits of these brief pages. Every event here narrated is sustained by documentary evidence beyond the possibility of a doubt.
JOHN S. C. ABBOTT.
Fair Haven, Conn.
CONTENTS.
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