same may be said of his History of the Consulate and of the Empire.  He was a great admirer of Napoleon, and did more than any other to perpetuate the Emperor’s fame.  His labors were prodigious; he rose at four in the morning, and wrote thirty or forty letters before breakfast.  He was equally remarkable as an administrator and as a statesman, examining all the details of government, and leaving nothing to chance.  No man in France knew the condition of the country so well as Thiers, from both a civil and a military point of view.  He was overbearing in the Chamber of Deputies, and hence was not popular with the members.  He was prime minister several times, but rarely for more than a few months at a time.  The king always got rid of him as soon as he could, and much preferred Guizot, the high-priest of the Doctrinaires, whose policy was like that of Lord Aberdeen in England,—­peace at any price.

Nothing memorable happened during this short administration of Thiers except the agitation produced by secret societies in Switzerland, composed of refugees from all nations, who kept Europe in constant alarm.  There were the “Young Italy” Society, and the societies of “Young Poland,” “Young Germany,” “Young France,” and “Young Switzerland.”  The cabinets of Europe took alarm, and Thiers brought matters to a crisis by causing the French minister at Berne to intimate to the Swiss government that unless these societies were suppressed all diplomatic intercourse would cease between France and Switzerland,—­which meant an armed intervention.  This question of the expulsion of political refugees drew Metternich and Thiers into close connection.  But a still more important question, as to intervention in Spanish matters, brought about a difference between the king and his minister, in consequence of which the latter resigned.

Count Mole now took the premiership, retaining it for two years.  He was a grave, laborious, and thoughtful man, but without the genius, eloquence, and versatility of Thiers.  Mole belonged to an ancient and noble family, and his splendid chateau was filled with historical monuments.  He had all the affability of manners which marked the man of high birth, without their frivolity.  One of the first acts of his administration was the liberation of political prisoners, among whom was the famous Prince Polignac, the prime minister of Charles X. The old king himself died, about the same time, an exile in a foreign land.  The year 1836 was also signalized by the foolish and unsuccessful attempt of Louis Napoleon, at Strasburg, to overthrow the government; but he was humanely and leniently dealt with, suffering no greater punishment than banishment to the United States for ten years.  In the following year occurred the marriage of the Duke of Orleans, heir to the throne, with a German princess of the Lutheran faith, followed by magnificent festivities.  Soon after took place the inauguration of the palace of Versailles as a museum of fine arts, which, as such, has remained to this day; nor did Louis Napoleon in the height of his power venture to use this ancient and magnificent residence of the kings of France for any other purpose.