In 1829 M. da Lamartine returned to France. He was nominated by Charles X. to be his minister plenipotentiary in the newly-established kingdom of Greece; but before he could proceed on his mission the revolution of July 1830 occurred, and the Orleans dynasty came to the throne in the person of Louis-Philippe. The now government offered to continue M. de Lamartine iu his post of plenipotentiary in Greece, but he declined the offer. The revolution however, brought about as it had beeu by the folly of the restored Bourbons, produced a profound impression on his fervid spirit ; and the year 1830 begins a new era .in the life of 31. da Lamartine. With the exception of 'Jocelyn,' published in 1836, 'LA Chute d'un Anga, published in 1838, and a few minor songs and the like collected in 1839 under the title of 'Receueillements Poetiques; his poetical period ceases in 1830; his life having been since spent mainly in political activity and in prose composition. " I wish," he said, at this turning-point of his career, " to enter the ranks of the people—to think, speak, act, struggle with them ;" in other words, he was no longer a mere Bout boniet or Legiti mist—he was a man of generous aspirations and religious ideas, identi fying himself with the French people, and desirous of seeing how far theao aspirations and ideas could be carried out iu politics. One of his first efforts in his new vocation was a pamphlet against the punish ment of death, on which question he has always battled strongly. He attempted also to obtain a seat in the Chamber of Deputies under the government of Louis-Philippe, but failed. The leisure thus thrown upon his hands he determined to employ in a tour iu the east. Setting sail in May 1832, he spent sixteen mouths in travelling through the Oriental lands, suffering during this time a heavy calamity iu the death of a beloved daughter at Beyrout. lie had travelled over various parts of the Holy Land, and was at Jerusalem, when the news that he had been elected to the Chamber of Deputies by the Legitimiat constituency of Bergues drew him back to France. He ascended the tribune for the first time on the 4th of January 1834, and from that day his success as an orator was admitted. He figured among the political leaders of the day as a progressive conservative '—a man strangely blending a reverence for the antique with a kind of philo sophic democracy. He spoke frequently on social and philanthropic questions. In 1838 he became deputy for 31acon. At one time it appeared as if he might have held a portfolio as minister under Onizot; but gradually he let it be known that the "vulgar utility," as ho called it, of the government of Louis-Philippe was not to his mind; and iu the year 1845 he openly joined the liberal opposition. Meanwhile he was putting forth various remarkable writings in proeo (in addition to the above-named in verse), revealing his views of history and of passing affairs. Thus, in 1834, on the occasion of a republi cation in a collective form, in four volumes, of all hie poems written up to that time, he prefixed a prose dissertation, 'Des Deetinees de la Poesie ;' iu 1835 there appeared, as three additional volumes of his works, his famous 'Souvenirs, Impressions, Pensees, et Paysages, pen dant un Voyage en Orient,' of which work there are well-known English translations; and (not to mention numerous articles and tracts on passing questions, published either separately or iu journals) in 1840 was published a collection of papers entitled ' Vues, Diseoura, at Articles sur la question d'Orient.' But the great work of 3I. do Lamartino during the latter part of the reign of Louis-Philippe was his Histoire des Girondins,' portions of which had been published from time to time in journals, but which appeared complete in 8 vole. in 1847. This work (which has since passed through several editions, and of which English translations exist) is believed to have had a vast effect in disgusting the French with the rule of Louis-Philippe and his minister Guizot, and in preparing the outburst of the revolution of 1848.
When this revolution occurred 3I. de Lamartino was the man of the moment. During the agitation of the Reform banquets his courage animated the Liberals ; and in the actual turmoil of the February insurrection he exerted his eloquence in a most memorable manner, both in preventing any compromise between the revolution and the Orleans family, and also, on the other hand, in arresting the progress of the revolution itself to its extreme issues. At the risk of his life he withstood the demand of the insurgents and their leaders that the red flag should be substituted for the tricolour as the emblem of the new republic. Elected a member of the Provisional Government, he became Foreign Minister of the republic, and in this capacity he exerted himself also to avoid that universal war of revolutionary propagandism and interference with other countries which the more extreme revolutionists desired. He explained his views in a printed manifesto entitled 'Manifesto's ]'Europe : Circulaire du 3Iinistre des Arabes Etraugem aux Agents Diplomatiquos de Is Republique Inn:Kids' (184S). A farther account of his conduct and policy at this crisis was published in his 'Trois blois au Pouvoir,' In the same year, ISIS.
M. de Lamartine's popularity was short-lived. Although his mag nanimity, mud courage, and enthusiasm had made him the very foremost man during the days of February, his conduct subsequently did not satisfy the instinctive or expressed wishes of his countrymen ; and at the general elections of 1349 he was so little cared for that it was with difficulty he was returned to the Chamber—he for whom a few months before six constituencies had contended. Though nomi nated for the presidential office along with Louis-Napoleon and Cavagnae, he had but a scanty number of votes. During the rule of Louis-Napoleon, first as president and next as emperor M. de Lamar tiue, like the other statesmen of the revolution, has been all but laid *aide from public life. In his compulsory leisure however ho has been busier with his pen than almost say of his contemporaries. Of his works published since 184S, the most important. are the follow ing :—' Raphael, pages de Is vingtieum anode; a kind of poetical autobiography, 1849; 'Histoire de la Ravolution de 1848; 2 vole., 1849; 'Les Confidences,' also autobiographical, 1849, with a con tiusation in 1851 eutitled Nouvelles Confidences ; " Toussaint l'Ouverture,' a tragedy in five acts, 1850; Genevibve Memoires d'true Servante,' 1851 ; • ' Histeire de is Reetaumtion: the publication of which began in 1851; 'Histoire de la Turquie,' begun in 1854; and various works of detached memoirs and biographical sketches pate lished within the List few years under different titles. Some of these works (nearly all of which are translated into English) were printed originally, in part at least, in the columns of journals; and since 1843 M. de Larnartine has himself conducted one or two journals, more particularly the 'Cooseillcr du Peuple.' His later works, though brilliant and fervid, contain marks of literary haste, which is accounted for by the fact that many of them seem to be written for the sake of the earnings, which have become necessary to the author; some of them have also given offence by a tone of vanity and egotism passing all ordinary bounds. But all in all, 51. de Lmmartiuo will be remem bered as one of the most remarkable and high-minded Frenchmen of his generation. There are various editions of his collective works, but none so recent as to include all ; indeed were all included (miscel laneous pamphlets mud articles, as well as books) the number of volumes would be alarming.