The Life and Letters of John Gibson Lockhart
Chapter 21: 1842-50
John Gibson Lockhart to Charlotte Lockhart Hope, 6 January 1849
“Sussex Place, Saturday, January 6, 1849.
“My dear Charlotte,—Christie’s business forced him back, and I had not
courage to stay alone in Paris, though I am little else here, God knows. We
arrived yesterday afternoon in time for me to send off two Punches; but not for writing, and
to-day I am so cold and colded that I can’t write more than a line. All
well, however, and my health much improved by ten days
of open air and exercise, very much; the cold I suffer from is a nothing. I
feel greatly better.
“I have little to say as to Paris. It is quite a
camp; 90,000 men in arms there; infantry in every part of the town; no five
minutes without a drum beating and a detachment passing, and all the villages
round swarming with cavalry. The forts all equipped with
artillery. The Tuilleries, Place du Carrousel, &c., covered with cannon;
two regiments at the Elysée—partly tented in the gardens, and
dragoons posted in all the streets near that scene of empire; constant
patrolling there.
“I did not meet with one
person, French or English, German or Russian—and we talked with many ![]()
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of various sorts and sizes—who did not abuse the
Republic, laugh at Louis Napoleon
Bonaparte, and predict a speedy change of some kind. If the
Assembly persist in sitting many more weeks, Changarnier will probably disperse them à la 18 Brumaire, but somehow they will be sent to the
right-about. Whether Louis Napoleon Bonaparte will not be
quite done out of all popularity by that time is doubtful, at least; but I
think no one conceives it possible that he will be in France, unless as a
prisoner, in January 1850. Still, if Changarnier be
willing to keep him as a show, and content himself with the real sway, he may
have a chance, and retain his palace and pomp, and get drunk (as all say he
does) there, just as he did here. Thiers, it is believed, works hard for Madame d’Orleans and Comte de
Paris, and I should not be surprised if that party had already
coalesced with Henry V.; but, indeed, I
should not be surprised at anything, save a continuance of even such order as
there now is.
“I was at one sitting of the Assembly—the
famous one of the Salt Duty, too, which was luck—but I think I mentioned
this before.
“I have had nothing from Walter! This is very sad indeed. Be sure I shall never break
your injunctions. My best regards to Hope
and William.—Ever yours,
Henri comte de Chambord (1820-1883)
Son of Charles Ferdinand, duc de Berry (1778-1820) and pretender to the French
throne.
Jonathan Henry Christie (1793-1876)
Educated at Marischal College, Baliol College, Oxford, and Lincoln's Inn; after slaying
John Scott in the famous duel at Chalk Farm he was acquitted of murder and afterwards
practiced law as a conveyancer in London. He was the lifelong friend of John Gibson
Lockhart and an acquaintance of John Keats.
James Robert Hope-Scott (1812-1873)
The son of General Hon. Sir Alexander Hope; in 1847 he married Charlotte Harriet Jane
Lockhart, daughter of the editor of the
Quarterly Review. He was a
barrister and Queen's Counsel.
John Gibson Lockhart (1794-1854)
Editor of the
Quarterly Review (1825-1853); son-in-law of Walter
Scott and author of the
Life of Scott 5 vols (1838).
Walter Scott Lockhart (1826-1853)
The younger son of John Gibson Lockhart and his wife Sophia; a military officer, he
inherited Abbotsford in 1847.
William Lockhart (1787-1856)
Of Germiston and Milton-Lockhart, the elder, half-brother of John Gibson Lockhart; he was
Conservative MP for Lanarkshire (1841-56).
Emperor Louis Napoleon (1808-1873)
Son of Louis Bonaparte, king of Holland; he was emperor of France (1852-70).
Adolphe Thiers (1797-1877)
French statesman, journalist, and historian; he was minister of the interior under Louis
Philippe (1832-34).
