OLLIVIEE.
845
Ollivier from his former political associates of the Left. The liberal promises contained in the famous Imperial letter of Jan. 19 induced him to side with the Government, and it was fully expected that he would be received into the ministry in the combinations which were successively announced and contra- dicted. Just before the general elections of 1869 the rumours on this point assiuned fresh consist- ency, and M. Ollivier seized this opportunity to direct public atten- tion to the origin and history of his relations with the Empneror by pub- lishing a pamphlet entitled " Le 19 Janvier.'* He was returned by an enormous majority for the first circonscription of the Var, but was defeated in the third circonscrip- tion of the Seine, for which he was also a candidate. On Bee. 27, M. Ollivier, who had been for some time the centre of the movements for uniting the fractions of the late majority with the new Liberal Tiers Parti, received from the Em- peror a letter inviting him to form a ministry which should enjoy the confidence of the Legislative body, and which could carry out the Senatus-Consultum in letter and spirit. This onerous task he under- took, and the names of the new ministers were published in the Journal Officiel on Jan. 3, 1870. M. Ollivier himself took the portfolio of Justice, the other ministers being Count Daru (Foreign Affairs), M. Chevandier de Valdrdme (Inte- rior), M. Buffet (Finance), General Lebieuf (War), Admiral Eigault de GenouiUy (Marine), M. S^gris rPublic Instruction), M. Talhouet (Public Works), M. Louuet (Com- merce), Marshal Vaillant (Imperial Household), and M. Bichard (Fine Arts). Among the first-fruits of the new administration was the granting of an amnesty in favour of M. Ledru-Eollin, the convocation of the High Court of Justice at Tours to try Prince Pierre Bona- parte, the maintenance of order
without effusion of blood during the popular excitement caused by the assassination of Victor Noir, the prosecution of Henry Boche- fort, and the dismissal of M. Hauss- mann. Several administrative re- forms were also introduced, and it was thought by many that an era of constitutional liberty had com- menced for France. These hopes were soon rudely dispelled. The declaration of war against Ger- many, and its disastrous results, led to the overthrow of the Ollivier Government on Aug. 9, 1870, when General Count de Palikao was charged with the formation of a war ministry. M. Ollivier, wjho, it should be mentioned, had been elected a member of the French Academy in April, 1870, deemed it prudent after the fall of the empire to retire to Biella, in Piedmont, where he resided for a considerable time with his wife and child, devot- ing his time to literary pursidts. He returned to his house at Passy at the close of the year 1872, and his reception at the French Academy took place Feb. 25, 1874. M. tmiie Ollivier has published numerous juridical works, which have ap- I)eared in the Revue de Droit Pra- tique, which he founded in 1856, in conjunction with MM. Mourlon, Demangeat, and Ballot. He is the author, with M. Mourlon, of " Com- mentaire sur les Saisies Immobi- li^res et Ordres," 1859; and of Commissaire de la Loi du 25 Mars, 1864, sur les Coalitions," 1864; " TJne Visite h la Chapelle des Me- dicis : Dialogue entre Michel Ange et, Eaphagl,'^ 1872; "L'Eglise et TEtat au Concile du Vatican," 2 vols., 1879; "M. Thiers k I'Acad^- mie et dans THistoire," 1880 ; and other works. He is an accom- plished musician, and besides play- ing the violin, has written several concertos for that instrument. M. Ollivier's first wife, who died at Saint Tropez, in 1862, was a daughter of Liszt, the famous pianist and composer ; he married^
