But the most important event in the administration of Count Mole was the extension of the Algerian colony to the limits of the ancient Libya,—­so long the granary of imperial Rome, and which once could boast of twenty millions of people.  This occupation of African territory led to the war in which the celebrated Arab chieftain, Abd-el-Kader, was the hero.  He was both priest and warrior, enjoying the unlimited confidence of his countrymen; and by his cunning and knowledge of the country he succeeded in maintaining himself for several years against the French generals.  His stronghold was Constantine, which was taken by storm in October, 1837, by General Vallee.  Still, the Arab chieftain found means to defy his enemies; and it was not till 1841 that he was forced to flee and seek protection from the Emperor of Morocco.  The storming of Constantine was a notable military exploit, and gave great prestige to the government.

Louis Philippe was now firmly established on his throne, yet he had narrowly escaped assassination four or five times.  This taught him to be cautious, and to realize the fact that no monarch can be safe amid the plots of fanatics.  He no longer walked the streets of Paris with an umbrella under his arm, but enshrouded himself in the Tuileries with the usual guards of Continental kings.  His favorite residence was at St. Cloud, at that time one of the most beautiful of the royal palaces of Europe.

At this time the railway mania raged in France, as it did in England.  Foremost among those who undertook to manage the great corporations which had established district railways, was Arago the astronomer, who, although a zealous Republican, was ever listened to with respect in the Chamber of Deputies.  These railways indicated great material prosperity in the nation at large, and the golden age of speculators and capitalists set in,—­all averse to war, all worshippers of money, all for peace at any price.  Morning, noon, and night the offices of bankers and stock-jobbers were besieged by files of carriages and clamorous crowds, even by ladies of rank, to purchase shares in companies which were to make everybody’s fortune, and which at one time had risen fifteen hundred per cent, giving opportunities for boundless frauds.  Military glory for a time ceased to be a passion among the most excitable and warlike people of Europe, and gave way to the more absorbing passion for gain, and for the pleasures which money purchases.  Nor was it difficult, in this universal pursuit of sudden wealth, to govern a nation whose rulers had the appointment of one hundred and forty thousand civil officers and an army of four hundred thousand men.  Bribery and corruption kept pace with material prosperity.  Never before had officials been so generally and easily bribed.  Indeed, the government was built up on this miserable foundation.  With bribery, corruption, and sudden wealth, the most shameful immorality existed everywhere.  Out of every one thousand births, one third were illegitimate.  The theatres were disgraced by the most indecent plays.  Money and pleasure had become the gods of France, and Paris more than ever before was the centre of luxury and social vice.