ALS in French, signed “Lafayette,” one page, 7.25 x 8.75, January 20, 1830. Letter to General Guglielmo Pepe. In full (translated): “Here I am, back in Paris with my family; we shall await the second of March here, except for several brief trips which I will make on my own to La Grange, and at the time of the 2nd of March the struggle between the Chamber and the Ministry will begin. I have reason to believe that the vote will not be favorable for them; we are assured that they will not give in. It is difficult to foresee what a Chamber made up of several shades of opinion will be able to do against a government more stubborn than skillful. Friends of liberty will try to profit from the circumstances, and if the profit is of a certain importance, the two peninsulas will not lost by it.
The life of Galleri has been saved, but he has not yet returned to French soil. The Royal Family of Naples is still expected in Paris in the spring. I shall try to see what can be done to interest them in your country and in the exiles. That would be easy with a liberal minister; today I would not hope for any satisfaction from them. One ought to be able to find some help at least from the Duke of Orleans and through his intercession. I am carefully keeping the copy of your earlier letter.
Receive, my dear General, the assurances of friendship which I send you with all my heart.” Intersecting folds and subtle foxing, otherwise fine condition.
During the chaotic years of Charles X’s reign as King of France, a string of Prime Ministers were appointed and dismissed, quickly heightening tension in the already unstable government. When newly appointed Prime Minister Jules de Polignac quickly lost his parliamentary majority, he refused to recall the Chambers until March 2, 1830—the date that Lafayette looks forward to in this letter—determined to hold on to his power. When the date arrived, a bill was introduced and quickly passed requiring the backing of Chambers for the appointment of new ministers. Charles quickly disregarded the decision, suspended Chambers once again, and called for another general election. When the elections finally took place with results displeasing to the government, he and his ministers suspended the constitution, censored the press, dissolved the newly elected chamber, and called for new elections in September, sparking the July Revolution that would result in Charles’s overthrow. A remarkable letter from a crucial and frenzied time in French history. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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