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BONAPARTE (NAPOLEON III.) (Oct. 28-30), which resulted in his arrest and detention at the citadel of Lorient till Nov. 21, when he was conveyed to Brazil, and thence in January, 1837, to New York, where he lived for some time in pecuniary embarrassment. He was at Arenenberg at the time of his mother's death, in October, 1837, after which he voluntarily left Switzerland in order to avoid involving that country in a contest with Louis Philippe, who had insisted on his being expel- led. He took up his residence in London, sur- rounded by partisans, most of whom reaped in the subsequent days of his prosperity the reward of their devotion to him in his adversity. He associated much with tho countess of Blessing- ton and Count d'Orsay, and with a number of the English nobility ; but pecuniary distress and his political designs affiliated him with less select members of society. His principal mis- tress was Mrs. Howard, who bore him several children, and for whom he afterward provided handsomely ; and while in London he was for the first time introduced by Count Bentivoglio, brother of the countess Walewska, to Eugenie, his future wife. He enlisted support in the press for his imperialistic theories, and published in 1839 the Idees ifapoleoniennes. His tenacity of purpose and impenetrable bearing, savoring rather of the Teutonic than of the Latin race, had impelled his mother to call him le doux en- tete, in allusion to his being at the same time placid and stubborn, and gave him special qualifications for the mission of a conspirator. He embarked in August, 1840, for the continent, with the purpose of regaining the French throne ; but this enterprise ended as absurdly as the attempt at Strasburg. With Montholon, a companion of Napoleon I. at St. Helena, and about 50 followers, he landed near Boulogne in the night of Aug. 6, displaying a tame eagle ; but he failed to rouse the enthusiasm of the troops, and was again arrested, and two months later sentenced by the chamber of peers, despite Berryer's eloquent defence, to perpetual im- prisonment. He was confined in the fortress of Ham, where Montholon and Dr. Cpnneau shared his captivity and assisted him in pre- paring various publications. Being selected by several Central American states as the president of a projected Nicaragua canal, an application for his release was made in 1846, to which the illness of the ex-king Louis gave addi- tional weight; but Louis Philippe declined to grant the request, and the prince made his escape from Ham (May 25) in the dress of a working man, with the assistance of Dr. Con- neau, and reached England. The French am- bassador in London, however, refused to pro- vide him with a passport, and he was prevented from attending his father's deathbed. He remained in London till the outbreak of the revolution of Feb. 24, 1848, when he hastily left for Paris, but at the request of the provi- sional government he went back to England. He repeatedly declined to accept nomina- tions to the constituent assembly, in order, as he alleged, not to embarrass the government ; but being elected by large majorities in Corsica and in three other departments, including that of the Seine, he finally accepted the latter elec- tion, which was ratified by the assembly (June 12), despite the decree of the executive commis- sion for his continued banishment. But on his declaring to the president of the assembly "that he would know how to fulfil the duties which the people might choose to impose on him," a popular excitement arose, and he returned to London, resigning his seat. After the san- guinary conflict of June, however, finding him- self again reflected by the departments of the Seine, Yonne, Charente-Infe>ieure, Moselle, and Corsica, he took his seat (Sept. 26) in the constituent assembly, which speedily revoked the decree of banishment. Yet he was dis- trusted, and an amendment was introduced (Oct. 9) with a view to exclude him from the presidency of the republic. On this occasion he made his first speech, his excessive tame- ness and composure creating an unfavorable impression, and Thiers called him a wooden head (tete de bois). To subsequent attacks he offered the same reserve and silence, declar- ing that he preferred to show his devotion to France by actual services rather than by rhetoric. He maintained the same attitude during the presidential election, listening to everybody without unbosoming himself to any- body, and seeking to conciliate all parties with- out identifying himself with any. On Dec. 10, 1848, he was elected president of the re- public for four years by 5,434,226 votes, ac- cording to the official announcement on the day of inauguration, Dec. 20, Cavaignac, his principal competitor, receiving only 1,448,107. Odilon Barrot became the head of the cabinet ; Drouyn de Lhuys, minister of foreign affairs ; Falloux, of public instruction ; Bixio, the only one who had not been a monarchist, of agri- culture and commerce, but retired within eight days ; and M. de Maleville, of the interior, who was speedily dismissed, mainly because he had failed to hand over instantly to Louis Napo- leon all the telegraphic despatches addressed to him. The sincere republicans soon fell out with the president, on his determining to close political clubs and adopting other reactionary measures. A French army under Oudinot was sent against the Roman republic, and after some combats entered Rome July 3, 1849. Al- though this project had been initiated by Ca- vaignac and approved by the assembly, the ultra republicans, under the lead of Ledru-Kollin, at- tempted to impeach the president on account of this intervention ; but his course was ap- proved by the majority. The attempt at insur- rection made on June 13 was promptly quelled ; but he exasperated the extreme left by pro- claiming martial law in Paris, forbidding po- litical meetings, and instituting legal proceed- ings against the representatives implicated in those disturbances ; while at the same time he incurred the displeasure of the conservatives by