2 OCTOBER 1847, Page 1

The honorary promotion of Marshal Soult to be " Marshal-

General of France "—a revived title of the old Monarchy, long in abeyance—savours of that same retrogressive inclining to the ancient regime which has marked the years of King Louis Philippe's failing popularity. The fact itself is a trifle ; butit helps to indicate the more important fact, that King Louis Philippe has lost all faith, if ever he had any, in the spirit of his own election to

• the throne. The acts of his latter years declare, more distinctly than words could do it, that he at least sees no difference between himself and any king of the old dynasty—that the Revolution of July was a "humbug." He may speak for himself. But the admission . amounts to confessing either that he cheated the People when he accepted a crown tendered in another spirit; or

that, corrupted by the opportunities and temptations of power, swayed perhaps by the vice of age, the King has fallen away from the faith which he then had: at all events, he has aban- doned the trust then committed to him, the consolidation of a constitution, and has devoted himself instead to the consoli- dation of a family dynasty. And, urged probably by a wish to aid in procuring for his country the best results which seemed practicable under the circumstances, M. Guizot has suffered him- self to be the tool by which France has been betrayed into a posi- tion so little intelligent and so dangerous. How the future Guizot will moralize on the practical mistakes of the philosophic historian ! how improve this illustration of the revived Marshal- Generalship !