@David T would President Harrison's survival in the US mean that we see a different lineup for president come the elections of 1844?
Frankie Goes to the Hofburg, or Napoléon II, Regent of Austria?
As I've said, https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...-full-term-as-president.535881/#post-23728596 Harrison showed some annoyance at Clay's attempt to make himself the real power in the new administration, so it is conceivable he would favor Webster in 1844. (Harrison had firmly ruled out a second term for himself.) But even if Harrison did try to stop Clay (which is by no means certain) it is doubtful he would succeed--Webster's Federalist background and aristocratic image gave him severe electabilty ptoblems.
As for the Democrats: Harrison would not inflame the Texas issue the way Tyler did, and it is supposedly the salience of the Texas issue which cost Van Buren the Democratic nomination in 1844. But Texas may just have been an excuse for some of Van Buren's enemies in the Democratic Party. For example, the soft-money, pro-banking faction of the party disliked him and rallied around Cass. And no doubt many Democrats remembered how unpopular his administration had been. In any event, Texas probably does not explain why a considerable number of his nominal supporters in the North defected on the two-thirds rule. https://books.google.com/books?id=2vu99nZ2h7cC&pg=PR10)
so it would be:
Republicans (or Federalists/Whigs)
Webster v Clay
Democrats
Van Buren versus Cass (who, IIRC, wasn't Cass also ambassador to France at this point?)
What Shall be Done in Behalf of the Men?
Soundtrack: Théodore Gouvy - Fantaisie Pastorale for Violin and Orchestra, F Major
*exterior* *Palais Bourbon* *we see Angoulême - followed by his suite, that includes the duc de Nemours and the comte de Saint-Leu - entering the palace via the entrance along the Seine [1]* *there is a crowd that's gathered to watch the king's arrival* *and they go wild as he raises his hat - trimmed with a black mourning band (for the duchesse of Cadix) - to them*
*cut to the interior of the chamber*
Angoulême: *speech from the throne* it is also our wish that the walls of Paris - so barely built and odious to the happiness and freedoms of all Frenchmen - be demolished in order to facilitate the reconstruction of the city that we love and cherish so dearly [2].
*cut to Henri, with his aunt and mother, visiting a "tent cities" that has sprung up on the royally owned Bois de Boulogne* *this "city" is one of many throughout Paris* *most on land committed by the Civil List to the crown [3]* *cut to the duchesses de Seville, Uzes and Nemours working "amiably" side by side to distribute toys, books, pots and items of clothing among the "homeless"*[4]* cut to Henri sitting between Madame Royal and the duchesse d'Orléans at a dinner table in a large hastily built dining hall in the Bois* *he gets served the same food as the other people who are being served in the hall [5]*
*cut to an image of the "tent cities" at dusk* *and we see a group of four children - two boys and two girls - clustered around a lamp post* *once the sun sinks, they start counting backwards from ten* *they're not even at seven when the lamp sputters on [6]* *they join hands and start dancing around the lamp-post, singing*
Children: Dormez, dormez, mon petit prince, n'ayez pas peur du loup-garou, n'écoutez pas le vent qui grince, les saintes français veillent sur vous. Monseigneur Henri, qui porte, un glaive dont l'ombre éblouit, se tient debout à votre porte avec son Majesté, Roi Louis [7]
*cut to Henri's old tutor, Joachim Barrande, rearranging his scientific specimens in the rooms at the Chateau de la Muette*
Henri: *sitting on table, eating an apple* do you think the coal at Montrelais is any good?
Barrande: I would have to examine a specimen of the coal, first, your Royal Highness to make a conclusion of the quality. To see how deep the seam goes-
Henri: well, if we've been working it since 1650, then it must be rather large.
Barrande: perhaps. Perhaps not. It could easily be that the mine is still producing because the supply still outpaces the requirements.
Henri: *looks at map of France next to him* so we have here... Near Douai. At Montrelais between Nantes and Angers, at Laval and Faymoreau. And then here in Dauphiné at La Mure.
Barrande: there are also here, in Provence and Cevennes, sir. But the ones at Cevennes are understaffed, underfunded, under-
Henri: *smiles* under everything.
Barrande: I was going to say underexplored, sir.
Henri: *picks up a trilobite specimen that Barrande has just arranged* and no doubt you are thinking about all these beasties just waiting for you to find them?
Barrande: it is not impossible that there are similar specimens down the coal mines of Cevennes or the Vendée that I have found in Bohemia.
Henri: just remember that you can't offer the same reward to the workers in France that you could in Bohemia. The coalition will be up in arms about it.
Barrande: coalition, sir?
Henri: it seems that after the miners at Rive-de-Gier went on strike in February 1840, a couple of the mining people got together to form a coaliton to protest the transference of the mining to Saint Étienne.
Barrande: I didn't know about that, sir.
Henri: *puts trilobite down* no. I imagine not many people do. But the short and sad part is that the mines at Rive-de-Gier had been worked out-
Barrande: hence the transfer.
Henri: and worse, because the owners of most of the mines in Rive-de-Gier sat in Paris, not Rive-de-Gier or even Lyons, I imagine that not many of them thought what would result of cutting a worker's wages from three francs to two francs ninety. Large part of them downed tools in protest, and it was encouraged by some of the more...radical aspects. They banded together and formed a club. It's why I've encouraged my uncle to pass a law - not unlike Herr Leitenberger's, that the employers are to set aside some form of insurance in the good years for when the seven lean years hit.
Barrande: if the coal seam is worked out, your Royal Highness, waiting seven years won't replenish it. It's not a tree that grows back.
Henri: I know it won't replenish it. But what else can I do, ban them from forming one of these coalitions? They'll scream autocracy and this nice collection that you've displayed here will be scattered to the winds and my head will be in the bottom of a basket.
Barrande: you could limit what these coalitions are or are not allowed to do. For instance, that they are not allowed to interfere with those who still want to work.
Henri: as far as I'm concerned, these coalitions are all driven by radicals. They tell the workers about a place called *pauses to think* Sugarcandy Mountain that lies between the milk ocean and the wine river. Everybody's equal there. What a marvellous place, no? France has tried equality- twice- and both times it has done nothing but multiplying the amount of titles and decorations that we are to endure.
Barrande: People wish to be equal, and they wish to be free, the two cannot co-exist: they are sworn enemies and the victory of one means the death of the other. If we were all equal, your Royal Highness, then there would be no difference between you and the duc d'Orléans, or the duc de Reichstadt and Metternich.
Henri: which I feel like the duc d'Orléans and Metternich have both demonstrated amirably that following Periandric advice [8] you simply open yourself up for more problems because you've left a gap for the sea of events to rush into. Which brings us back to the matter of these coalitions. I am all for the workers being protected, but not when their protection comes from men who would see me à la lanterne [9]
Barrande: could your Royal Highness not attempt to get some of the managers on your side? You said most of them reside in Paris.
Henri: when I spoke to them at Meudon last month, most of them had never even visited their mines recently - most were well before the strike at Rive-de-Gier. Some, when I asked them, even replied by asking "which mine is that?" It's like going to a mother, telling her about one of her children and she replies "who?" *light dawns on his face*
Barrande: *says something*
Henri: think I've got it. If we can't outlaw the coalitions, we undercut them. We oblige the managers to oversee their mines in person. I don't say that them seeing how bad it is will automatically inspire them to be less profit driven, but it would certainly mean that they will know which mine I mean when I talk to them-
Barrande: and you think you can persuade these men to do that?
Henri: the prince de la Trémoïlle is supervising his personally at Laval. So is the duc d'Uzes down in Provence. Why should some men whose names will be forgotten in a generation be exempted if the premier duc in France and the heir to the throne of Jerusalem are doing so?
Barrande: because they have money and influence comparable to Trémoïlle and Uzes under your great-uncle [Louis XVI].
Henri: what's that saying? A fool and his money are soon parted? We cannot enforce it on pain of death for them to visit their businesses, but a fine should be sufficient. They rack up five- no, three fines- their business is removed from their care- since obviously they themselves are not interested- and placed into a regency- or whatever its called- until such time as they are either interested or the business is running at a loss.
Barrande: they won't like that, sir
Henri: which is precisely why they'll take the carrot and not the stick *practically bounces out of the room [10]
*fade to black*
[1] for all Louis Philippe's "egalitarianism", he refused to enter via the Seine entrance (which, based on the original layout of the palace, is actually the "back door") and instead always arrived in the cour d'honneur "in great state". Delacroix's frescoes inside (which Louis Philippe personally despised) show the route that the king would normally take to get to the chambers. Angoulême entering by the "back door" is to underline the differences between he and his predecessor, even if he personally would prefer to arrive the same way.
[2] this is theatre. No doubt, there's been some protest against the bars on rebuilding until a cohesive plan has been worked out, so Angoulême has decided to offer the sop of demolishing the half-built city walls to quiet them down
[3] the Bois de Boulogne, Bois de Vincennes, Jardin des Tuileries and Champs Élysées are all under the royal thumb thanks to that civil list, so what better way to show "how involved" the royals are with the traditional pillars of the commons and the poor, than by letting them shack up in your backyard?
[4] because Eugènie de Montijo and Mathilde Bonaparte working on the same team is just too good to pass up. But also, the inclusion of these three strands - Bonapartist (Mathilde), Legitimist (Eugènie) and Orléanist (Nemours, born Marie of Saxe-Altenburg) - by forcing them to work together is Henri's manner of illustrating to the public that "let bygones be bygones". That's not necessarily the case behind closed doors, but it's important for the public to see that.
[5] revival of the Versailles custom of the "grand déjeuner" at Versailles. Only here, instead of being watched by the courtiers tucking into some lavishly prepared meal, the poor and homeless are watching as their queen and future king eats the same fare as they do. This is Henri reinventing the "old" for the good of the crown by showing himself as a "man of the people".
[6] Paris only got electric street lighting in the 1870s, but the city had had gas lighting since the late 1830s. Angoulême/Henri insisting that the Bois de Boulogne/Vincennes have funding for adequate lighting can hardly be refused since it's for the protection and safety of the Parisians living in those tent cities.
[7] this is actually a lullaby (Berceuse du Petit Prince): sleep sleep, my little prince, don't be afraid of the werewolf, don't fear the creaking wind, the French saints are keeping watch over you. Monseigneur Henri (Saint Michael in the original) who carries a sword to scare away the shadows, stands at the door, with his Majesty King Louis (Saint Louis).
Another verse speaks of "Madame la Reine (Blanche de Castille in the original) spreads her white cloak over you, where glorious lilies swarm, so that you may be warm.
This targets the three needs Henri et al have provided for: shelter, food, safety (I wouldn't be surprised if he assigns a portion of the Garde Française "policing" duties). It's not that the children are being indoctrinated, but rather that it reflects on the sentiments they're picking up at home.
[8] Periander of Corinth asked once for advice to "rule well". His advisor took him through a wheat field and struck off all the tall ears of wheat. Periander interpreted it as meaning to cut off any rival who can stand against you. This extended to Periander's own son when he had finished humbling all the powerful noble families of the realm.
[9] in Revolutionary slang "the jig is up"/"to be killed"
[10] chalk whether this is legally possible or not up to Henri's wanting to get it done (think it was Louis XV who said "because I am king and I wish it"), but also, he's treating a business like a fiefdom, that can be removed if it can't be administered properly. It might not work exactly like that, as he'll find out when he reads up on it, but it's not the worst idea for undermining trade unions (coalitions) . It's also a bit naïve to think that "if only the king knew how bad it was" (although that might be what he's heard from the workers), but he's trying.
@The_Most_Happy @isabella @VVD0D95 @Jan Olbracht @Ramontxo @HortenseMancini @Anarch King of Dipsodes @Dragonboy @kaiidth @SavoyTruffle @Wendell @nathanael1234 @Fehérvári @Guatemalan Nat-Synd @Valena @maw @LordMartinax @EmmettMcFly55 @Vitruvius
*exterior* *Palais Bourbon* *we see Angoulême - followed by his suite, that includes the duc de Nemours and the comte de Saint-Leu - entering the palace via the entrance along the Seine [1]* *there is a crowd that's gathered to watch the king's arrival* *and they go wild as he raises his hat - trimmed with a black mourning band (for the duchesse of Cadix) - to them*
*cut to the interior of the chamber*
Angoulême: *speech from the throne* it is also our wish that the walls of Paris - so barely built and odious to the happiness and freedoms of all Frenchmen - be demolished in order to facilitate the reconstruction of the city that we love and cherish so dearly [2].
*cut to Henri, with his aunt and mother, visiting a "tent cities" that has sprung up on the royally owned Bois de Boulogne* *this "city" is one of many throughout Paris* *most on land committed by the Civil List to the crown [3]* *cut to the duchesses de Seville, Uzes and Nemours working "amiably" side by side to distribute toys, books, pots and items of clothing among the "homeless"*[4]* cut to Henri sitting between Madame Royal and the duchesse d'Orléans at a dinner table in a large hastily built dining hall in the Bois* *he gets served the same food as the other people who are being served in the hall [5]*
*cut to an image of the "tent cities" at dusk* *and we see a group of four children - two boys and two girls - clustered around a lamp post* *once the sun sinks, they start counting backwards from ten* *they're not even at seven when the lamp sputters on [6]* *they join hands and start dancing around the lamp-post, singing*
Children: Dormez, dormez, mon petit prince, n'ayez pas peur du loup-garou, n'écoutez pas le vent qui grince, les saintes français veillent sur vous. Monseigneur Henri, qui porte, un glaive dont l'ombre éblouit, se tient debout à votre porte avec son Majesté, Roi Louis [7]
*cut to Henri's old tutor, Joachim Barrande, rearranging his scientific specimens in the rooms at the Chateau de la Muette*
Henri: *sitting on table, eating an apple* do you think the coal at Montrelais is any good?
Barrande: I would have to examine a specimen of the coal, first, your Royal Highness to make a conclusion of the quality. To see how deep the seam goes-
Henri: well, if we've been working it since 1650, then it must be rather large.
Barrande: perhaps. Perhaps not. It could easily be that the mine is still producing because the supply still outpaces the requirements.
Henri: *looks at map of France next to him* so we have here... Near Douai. At Montrelais between Nantes and Angers, at Laval and Faymoreau. And then here in Dauphiné at La Mure.
Barrande: there are also here, in Provence and Cevennes, sir. But the ones at Cevennes are understaffed, underfunded, under-
Henri: *smiles* under everything.
Barrande: I was going to say underexplored, sir.
Henri: *picks up a trilobite specimen that Barrande has just arranged* and no doubt you are thinking about all these beasties just waiting for you to find them?
Barrande: it is not impossible that there are similar specimens down the coal mines of Cevennes or the Vendée that I have found in Bohemia.
Henri: just remember that you can't offer the same reward to the workers in France that you could in Bohemia. The coalition will be up in arms about it.
Barrande: coalition, sir?
Henri: it seems that after the miners at Rive-de-Gier went on strike in February 1840, a couple of the mining people got together to form a coaliton to protest the transference of the mining to Saint Étienne.
Barrande: I didn't know about that, sir.
Henri: *puts trilobite down* no. I imagine not many people do. But the short and sad part is that the mines at Rive-de-Gier had been worked out-
Barrande: hence the transfer.
Henri: and worse, because the owners of most of the mines in Rive-de-Gier sat in Paris, not Rive-de-Gier or even Lyons, I imagine that not many of them thought what would result of cutting a worker's wages from three francs to two francs ninety. Large part of them downed tools in protest, and it was encouraged by some of the more...radical aspects. They banded together and formed a club. It's why I've encouraged my uncle to pass a law - not unlike Herr Leitenberger's, that the employers are to set aside some form of insurance in the good years for when the seven lean years hit.
Barrande: if the coal seam is worked out, your Royal Highness, waiting seven years won't replenish it. It's not a tree that grows back.
Henri: I know it won't replenish it. But what else can I do, ban them from forming one of these coalitions? They'll scream autocracy and this nice collection that you've displayed here will be scattered to the winds and my head will be in the bottom of a basket.
Barrande: you could limit what these coalitions are or are not allowed to do. For instance, that they are not allowed to interfere with those who still want to work.
Henri: as far as I'm concerned, these coalitions are all driven by radicals. They tell the workers about a place called *pauses to think* Sugarcandy Mountain that lies between the milk ocean and the wine river. Everybody's equal there. What a marvellous place, no? France has tried equality- twice- and both times it has done nothing but multiplying the amount of titles and decorations that we are to endure.
Barrande: People wish to be equal, and they wish to be free, the two cannot co-exist: they are sworn enemies and the victory of one means the death of the other. If we were all equal, your Royal Highness, then there would be no difference between you and the duc d'Orléans, or the duc de Reichstadt and Metternich.
Henri: which I feel like the duc d'Orléans and Metternich have both demonstrated amirably that following Periandric advice [8] you simply open yourself up for more problems because you've left a gap for the sea of events to rush into. Which brings us back to the matter of these coalitions. I am all for the workers being protected, but not when their protection comes from men who would see me à la lanterne [9]
Barrande: could your Royal Highness not attempt to get some of the managers on your side? You said most of them reside in Paris.
Henri: when I spoke to them at Meudon last month, most of them had never even visited their mines recently - most were well before the strike at Rive-de-Gier. Some, when I asked them, even replied by asking "which mine is that?" It's like going to a mother, telling her about one of her children and she replies "who?" *light dawns on his face*
Barrande: *says something*
Henri: think I've got it. If we can't outlaw the coalitions, we undercut them. We oblige the managers to oversee their mines in person. I don't say that them seeing how bad it is will automatically inspire them to be less profit driven, but it would certainly mean that they will know which mine I mean when I talk to them-
Barrande: and you think you can persuade these men to do that?
Henri: the prince de la Trémoïlle is supervising his personally at Laval. So is the duc d'Uzes down in Provence. Why should some men whose names will be forgotten in a generation be exempted if the premier duc in France and the heir to the throne of Jerusalem are doing so?
Barrande: because they have money and influence comparable to Trémoïlle and Uzes under your great-uncle [Louis XVI].
Henri: what's that saying? A fool and his money are soon parted? We cannot enforce it on pain of death for them to visit their businesses, but a fine should be sufficient. They rack up five- no, three fines- their business is removed from their care- since obviously they themselves are not interested- and placed into a regency- or whatever its called- until such time as they are either interested or the business is running at a loss.
Barrande: they won't like that, sir
Henri: which is precisely why they'll take the carrot and not the stick *practically bounces out of the room [10]
*fade to black*
[1] for all Louis Philippe's "egalitarianism", he refused to enter via the Seine entrance (which, based on the original layout of the palace, is actually the "back door") and instead always arrived in the cour d'honneur "in great state". Delacroix's frescoes inside (which Louis Philippe personally despised) show the route that the king would normally take to get to the chambers. Angoulême entering by the "back door" is to underline the differences between he and his predecessor, even if he personally would prefer to arrive the same way.
[2] this is theatre. No doubt, there's been some protest against the bars on rebuilding until a cohesive plan has been worked out, so Angoulême has decided to offer the sop of demolishing the half-built city walls to quiet them down
[3] the Bois de Boulogne, Bois de Vincennes, Jardin des Tuileries and Champs Élysées are all under the royal thumb thanks to that civil list, so what better way to show "how involved" the royals are with the traditional pillars of the commons and the poor, than by letting them shack up in your backyard?
[4] because Eugènie de Montijo and Mathilde Bonaparte working on the same team is just too good to pass up. But also, the inclusion of these three strands - Bonapartist (Mathilde), Legitimist (Eugènie) and Orléanist (Nemours, born Marie of Saxe-Altenburg) - by forcing them to work together is Henri's manner of illustrating to the public that "let bygones be bygones". That's not necessarily the case behind closed doors, but it's important for the public to see that.
[5] revival of the Versailles custom of the "grand déjeuner" at Versailles. Only here, instead of being watched by the courtiers tucking into some lavishly prepared meal, the poor and homeless are watching as their queen and future king eats the same fare as they do. This is Henri reinventing the "old" for the good of the crown by showing himself as a "man of the people".
[6] Paris only got electric street lighting in the 1870s, but the city had had gas lighting since the late 1830s. Angoulême/Henri insisting that the Bois de Boulogne/Vincennes have funding for adequate lighting can hardly be refused since it's for the protection and safety of the Parisians living in those tent cities.
[7] this is actually a lullaby (Berceuse du Petit Prince): sleep sleep, my little prince, don't be afraid of the werewolf, don't fear the creaking wind, the French saints are keeping watch over you. Monseigneur Henri (Saint Michael in the original) who carries a sword to scare away the shadows, stands at the door, with his Majesty King Louis (Saint Louis).
Another verse speaks of "Madame la Reine (Blanche de Castille in the original) spreads her white cloak over you, where glorious lilies swarm, so that you may be warm.
This targets the three needs Henri et al have provided for: shelter, food, safety (I wouldn't be surprised if he assigns a portion of the Garde Française "policing" duties). It's not that the children are being indoctrinated, but rather that it reflects on the sentiments they're picking up at home.
[8] Periander of Corinth asked once for advice to "rule well". His advisor took him through a wheat field and struck off all the tall ears of wheat. Periander interpreted it as meaning to cut off any rival who can stand against you. This extended to Periander's own son when he had finished humbling all the powerful noble families of the realm.
[9] in Revolutionary slang "the jig is up"/"to be killed"
[10] chalk whether this is legally possible or not up to Henri's wanting to get it done (think it was Louis XV who said "because I am king and I wish it"), but also, he's treating a business like a fiefdom, that can be removed if it can't be administered properly. It might not work exactly like that, as he'll find out when he reads up on it, but it's not the worst idea for undermining trade unions (coalitions) . It's also a bit naïve to think that "if only the king knew how bad it was" (although that might be what he's heard from the workers), but he's trying.
@The_Most_Happy @isabella @VVD0D95 @Jan Olbracht @Ramontxo @HortenseMancini @Anarch King of Dipsodes @Dragonboy @kaiidth @SavoyTruffle @Wendell @nathanael1234 @Fehérvári @Guatemalan Nat-Synd @Valena @maw @LordMartinax @EmmettMcFly55 @Vitruvius
??? Are they both widowers? Or is Joseph implying that their morganatic marriages don't count.
Frankie hasn't finished reading the late Emperor's letter - he was interrupted by Ludwig, who was answered by Karl of Teschen and Joseph. Nor has a motion been made to vote on.
^this^
thanks for catching that, will fix
left the letter unfinished because I think everyone "knows" where this is going. In fact, it might have been something Franz has spoken on to the ones that matter while he was still alive
been fixed
I defer to those familiar with the regions in question, but is it possible that Henri encourages the planting of rice, indigo and tea in the "wetter"/"marshier" places in the Auvergne/Dombes? The proposal was originally made by several aristocrats in the dying years of Louis XV's reign/beginning of Louis XVI's (the duc de Luynes being one name that I remember reading), but it never took off. They also proposed establishing cotton farms in the Gironde/Navarre region, but were met with considerable opposition from the cotton farmers up near Nantes (didn't know there were cotton farms there).
Regarding Dombes: I know at this time there was a bill in the French parliament to close down and drain the fish farms from a railway perspective. But as early as 1900, the bill was already being reversed and several of the dams and fisheries re-established/rebuilt (I suspect it was due to the fact that the railways might not have brought in as much money as promised/expected).
Lastly, according to the maps there seems to be a very large coal basin in current Haut-Savoie (mining starting in 1750), should Henri encourage mining there? From what I can make out it seems very stop-start-stop start (1750, shut down at the Revolution, begun again during the reign of Carlo Alberto, shut down again, begin again, shut down again, all the way to reopening in 1940 but being closed in 1950.
@Comte de Dordogne
Regarding Dombes: I know at this time there was a bill in the French parliament to close down and drain the fish farms from a railway perspective. But as early as 1900, the bill was already being reversed and several of the dams and fisheries re-established/rebuilt (I suspect it was due to the fact that the railways might not have brought in as much money as promised/expected).
Lastly, according to the maps there seems to be a very large coal basin in current Haut-Savoie (mining starting in 1750), should Henri encourage mining there? From what I can make out it seems very stop-start-stop start (1750, shut down at the Revolution, begun again during the reign of Carlo Alberto, shut down again, begin again, shut down again, all the way to reopening in 1940 but being closed in 1950.
@Comte de Dordogne
Hibernia's Sons Your Voices Raise [1]
Soundtrack: Franz Xaver Mozart [2] - Piano Quartet in G Minor
*exterior* *Paris* *we see that the whole city is decked in mourning* *we see a coffin escorted by torchlight down the streets* *the crowds who we can see in the flickering light are watching the procession - in full ancien regime panoply - with a degree of detachment* *as though they cannot quite decide if they are happy or sad about it*
*exterior* *London* *we see the famed Oxford-Cambridge row on the Thames* *we see Prince Albert and Prince William of Weimar decked out in opposing team colours [3] as the boat set out up the Thames* *at the end of it, Prince Albert, accompanied by the little prince of Wales, presents the trophy - which looks like it's bigger than his son - to the Oxford team for winning by two-third lengths [4]*
*exterior* *Ealing* *we see a clutch of coaches arriving at the (clearly) new school buildings* *we see Queen Victoria and Prince Albert emerging from one, accompanied by the 3yo Prince of Wales and the 2yo Princess Royal* *from others are the novellist Frederick Marryat accompanied by Charles Dickens; the publisher, Charles Knight; the deacon, John Henry Newman and his brother, Francis; the Assyrologist, Henri Rawlinson; a young Doctor Thomas Huxley and Eliza Spencer, Lady Grey [5]* *from another coach emerges the Russian Emperor Nicholas*
*interior* *a school hall* *one of the boys - around eight or nine - is reading a poem that was written in honour of the visit*
Boy: blow the trumpets, bang the brasses / if you wish in the world to advance / your merits you're bound to enhance / you must stir it and stump it / and blow your own trumpet / or trust me, you haven't got a chance *winks at the audience*
*cut to Emperor Nicholas planting a tree to commemorate his visit*
*cut to Queen Victoria sitting next Emperor Nicholas at a luncheon in the school's refectory*
Nicholas: the school truly is a marvel, your Majesty.
Victoria: the credit is all due to Albert, your Majesty. Had it not been for the hard work and the untiring efforts of the gentlemen you see here, as well as the unflinching encouragement for this project from his Royal Highness and the enthusiasm of the Royal Society, I imagine that poor Ealing should've withered on the vine.
Nicholas: your government does not support such a cause?
Victoria: most of the Lords come out of Harrow and Eton, sir, which means they are automatically opposed to any school which would threaten the paramountcy which those schools hold. The commons support it for that reason, but I'm afraid that the inspiration for the curriculum can be traced to the duke of Reichstadt's school in Venice and the petits-écoles the comte of Chambord have established in Brittany and Navarre, have caused much of their support to be...moral...rather than anything else.
Nicholas: I'm afraid I cannot say I favour either gentleman's ideas for educating the masses- such a plan would be unfeasible in Russia for the most part- even the trade schools that Monseigneur Henri has set up in Paris and Lyons I fear will cause more heartbreak than happiness in the future.
Albert: does your Majesty not agree that with such opportunities though, events such as have transpired in Silesia would never have taken place?
Nicholas: and what has happened in Silesia, your Royal Highness *said in a tone like it is a personal affront [6]* a few unhappy weavers have decided to slit their own throats and destroy their own income to demand a constitution? The flame for liberty has been doused without the need for a single soldier.
Victoria: still, your Majesty must agree that it could be disastrous were such a contagion to spread from Silesia to the rest of Europe.
Nicholas: as far as I am concerned, madam, this is the whirlwind that Reichstadt has sowed that Prussia is forced to reap. Just like in 1830, there are many Poles (and no doubt Hungarians, Bohemians, Germans, Croats and Italians too) who perhaps see him as some sort of liberator- In fact, I'm told that many of the weavers were agitating because they wound up returned to Prussia at the treaty of Olmütz rather than being allowed to remain with Austria. Reichstadt will grant them no more a constitution than the king of Prussia or the new king of France would, but the people believe that he will. Which is how even intelligent people, like my sister-in-law, are singing his praises as liberal and benign. In truth he is no more liberal than his father was: a masquerader who takes up the colours of liberty when it suits him.
Victoria: *pointedly* so if I understand you correctly, your Majesty, you are saying that he and the Countess von Pettau deserved the treatment they received at the hands of Prince Metternich's men.
Albert: *puts hand on her arm* Victoria.
Nicholas: what happened to the duke and countess, and their children, your Majesty *looks at the prince of Wales and Princess Royal running around with Lady Grey's son, George [7]* was undeserved, and showed Metternich to be as false a knave as any Jacobin ever was. It was a brutality that I am of the opinion that the duke was far too merciful to the man. Had it been Russia where such a measure was enacted, I should've ensured that he was relieved of his tongue and sent to Siberia. But that is not to say that I do not feel the need for Russia to be...watchful of the duke's ambitions. He has made no secret of his distaste for Russia in the past, and I would be foolish to believe that he is an ally simply because he has done nothing to Russia. He is a friend to the sultan and the Poles, which is already two ways in which he has given Russia cause for concern-
Victoria: your Majesty sided with him in support of that same sultan against the pasha of Egypt.
Nicholas: because I have no reason to wish to see the Ottoman Empire ruled from Cairo instead of Constantinople, Majesty. And I am most grateful that we could come to an accord over matters in the East, that Russia and England alone should be responsible of maintaining the status quo.
Albert: you hold the sins of the now late duc d'Orléans against keeping France out of the region, Majesty?
Nicholas: I feel that Paris has concerns closer to home, in Algiers to concern themselves with, and the comte de Chambord has made no secret of his opposition to the traditional Franco-Ottoman alliance. One can only imagine that while he will not support the Turks, he will not repeat the duc's mistake in Egypt. But I have no desire to find out if he wishes to emulate his Bonaparte tutor's father or Saint Louis in Egypt. After all, neither would be...useful to England's interests.
Victoria: that is true, although there is the possibility that he may do neither.
Nicholas: I envy your naïeveté, your Majesty. Yours, the duke of Kendal's, the comte de Chambord...even the duke of Reichstadt's...in that you believe that the world can be maintained in such a manner. But men are greedy and selfish. Once the French army is finished in Algiers, do you believe for one instant they will stop there? *pauses* or what of their ambitions in Africa, with the new Fort Henri [8]?
Victoria: *pointedly* one could say the same for your Majesty's ambitions in Asia...in attempting to secure a toehold in either the Persian Gulf or on the Indian Ocean. My ministers speculate that your Majesty wishes to be able to pose a threat to our possessions in India.
Nicholas: and your Majesty?
Victoria: I'd like to think that they are wrong.
Nicholas: In which case I applaud your Majesty's sense and deplore the lack of it in your advisors.
Victoria: you give yourself too much credit, your Majesty, I said I should like to think that they are wrong, not that they are.
*cut to the HMY Victoria and Albert steaming into the harbour of Dublin [9]* *we see the queen's carriage driving from the harbour to Dublin Castle with she, Albert and their three children - the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal and the newborn Princess Louisa[10] - inside* *the crowds don't seem to know how to respond - on the one hand, this is the first visit by a sovereign since William III and James II, so they're excited; on the other, they're perhaps a bit unsure of why they're here* *but the excitement seems to have won out for the most part, even if the crowds are not "massive" they are certainly loud in their approval*
*fade to black*
[1] title from this piece:
[2] yes, he's Wolfgang Amadeus' son but could never escape being compared to his dad in Vienna, so he went to Russia and became music teacher to one of the empresses (ICR if it was Elizaveta Alexeïevna or Alexandra Feodorovna), dying in 1844
[3] neither Albert nor Wilhelm have been to either Oxford or Cambridge (Albert likely took his classes at the University of Vienna instead of Bonn as OTL; Wilhelm didn't have a college education OTL, but if he was sent to university, it was likely either the University of Heidelberg (like his dad) or Leiden (given his dad's strong ties to Holland)), but I could see them being "patrons" of the race (in 1843 and 1844 there was no race). And since the universities of Leiden and Vienna's colours are also blue/blue and white, I could see which team they patronize being based on that (Cambridge is light blue, Oxford is dark blue)
[4] most of the house of Lords/government is probably breathing a sigh of relief at Albert doing something apolitical. And like Florence Nightingale wrote of him "he seemed to think that the whole world could be managed by prizes and exhibitions". Him taking his son (3yo) is probably a bit much, but much like Frankie used to drag Franzi and his grandfather all over - "like a dancing bear" - this is to underline his son's "Englishness"
[5] all of these men - except Dickens - are alumni of the Great Ealing School. Huxley is likely still an "unknown" ship's assistant surgeon at this point, but his father was the teacher of mathematics at Great Ealing, so he likely "just showed up". Why is Nicholas there? This is during his visit to London and I could see him "tagging along"
[6] The Coburgs were seen as greedy upstarts by most of the established families of Europe, and the Romanovs had a particular disdain for them (Nicholas because he'd be old enough to remember Albert-Victoria's aunt, Anna Feodorovna, and the "trouble" she caused)
[7] OTL George Grey died at age of five months and his parents' marriage broke down completely thereafter. Not saying his dad was a good man, but he certainly was a diligent servant in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand
[8] OTL Fort d'Aumale on the Gabon estuary
[9] OTL Victoria could never be persuaded to visit Ireland. Chalk her popping over up to a fear that Ireland will become her own Silesia, and having seen what's happened in France, she's a bit worried about Daniel O'Connell's "repeal year".
[10] Louisa Augusta Amelia - named for Albert's mother, he and Victoria's grandmother, the duchess of Coburg, and Amalie von Schintling is chosen for the third name instead of the planned "Albertine" after she lost her child.
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*exterior* *Paris* *we see that the whole city is decked in mourning* *we see a coffin escorted by torchlight down the streets* *the crowds who we can see in the flickering light are watching the procession - in full ancien regime panoply - with a degree of detachment* *as though they cannot quite decide if they are happy or sad about it*
*exterior* *London* *we see the famed Oxford-Cambridge row on the Thames* *we see Prince Albert and Prince William of Weimar decked out in opposing team colours [3] as the boat set out up the Thames* *at the end of it, Prince Albert, accompanied by the little prince of Wales, presents the trophy - which looks like it's bigger than his son - to the Oxford team for winning by two-third lengths [4]*
*exterior* *Ealing* *we see a clutch of coaches arriving at the (clearly) new school buildings* *we see Queen Victoria and Prince Albert emerging from one, accompanied by the 3yo Prince of Wales and the 2yo Princess Royal* *from others are the novellist Frederick Marryat accompanied by Charles Dickens; the publisher, Charles Knight; the deacon, John Henry Newman and his brother, Francis; the Assyrologist, Henri Rawlinson; a young Doctor Thomas Huxley and Eliza Spencer, Lady Grey [5]* *from another coach emerges the Russian Emperor Nicholas*
*interior* *a school hall* *one of the boys - around eight or nine - is reading a poem that was written in honour of the visit*
Boy: blow the trumpets, bang the brasses / if you wish in the world to advance / your merits you're bound to enhance / you must stir it and stump it / and blow your own trumpet / or trust me, you haven't got a chance *winks at the audience*
*cut to Emperor Nicholas planting a tree to commemorate his visit*
*cut to Queen Victoria sitting next Emperor Nicholas at a luncheon in the school's refectory*
Nicholas: the school truly is a marvel, your Majesty.
Victoria: the credit is all due to Albert, your Majesty. Had it not been for the hard work and the untiring efforts of the gentlemen you see here, as well as the unflinching encouragement for this project from his Royal Highness and the enthusiasm of the Royal Society, I imagine that poor Ealing should've withered on the vine.
Nicholas: your government does not support such a cause?
Victoria: most of the Lords come out of Harrow and Eton, sir, which means they are automatically opposed to any school which would threaten the paramountcy which those schools hold. The commons support it for that reason, but I'm afraid that the inspiration for the curriculum can be traced to the duke of Reichstadt's school in Venice and the petits-écoles the comte of Chambord have established in Brittany and Navarre, have caused much of their support to be...moral...rather than anything else.
Nicholas: I'm afraid I cannot say I favour either gentleman's ideas for educating the masses- such a plan would be unfeasible in Russia for the most part- even the trade schools that Monseigneur Henri has set up in Paris and Lyons I fear will cause more heartbreak than happiness in the future.
Albert: does your Majesty not agree that with such opportunities though, events such as have transpired in Silesia would never have taken place?
Nicholas: and what has happened in Silesia, your Royal Highness *said in a tone like it is a personal affront [6]* a few unhappy weavers have decided to slit their own throats and destroy their own income to demand a constitution? The flame for liberty has been doused without the need for a single soldier.
Victoria: still, your Majesty must agree that it could be disastrous were such a contagion to spread from Silesia to the rest of Europe.
Nicholas: as far as I am concerned, madam, this is the whirlwind that Reichstadt has sowed that Prussia is forced to reap. Just like in 1830, there are many Poles (and no doubt Hungarians, Bohemians, Germans, Croats and Italians too) who perhaps see him as some sort of liberator- In fact, I'm told that many of the weavers were agitating because they wound up returned to Prussia at the treaty of Olmütz rather than being allowed to remain with Austria. Reichstadt will grant them no more a constitution than the king of Prussia or the new king of France would, but the people believe that he will. Which is how even intelligent people, like my sister-in-law, are singing his praises as liberal and benign. In truth he is no more liberal than his father was: a masquerader who takes up the colours of liberty when it suits him.
Victoria: *pointedly* so if I understand you correctly, your Majesty, you are saying that he and the Countess von Pettau deserved the treatment they received at the hands of Prince Metternich's men.
Albert: *puts hand on her arm* Victoria.
Nicholas: what happened to the duke and countess, and their children, your Majesty *looks at the prince of Wales and Princess Royal running around with Lady Grey's son, George [7]* was undeserved, and showed Metternich to be as false a knave as any Jacobin ever was. It was a brutality that I am of the opinion that the duke was far too merciful to the man. Had it been Russia where such a measure was enacted, I should've ensured that he was relieved of his tongue and sent to Siberia. But that is not to say that I do not feel the need for Russia to be...watchful of the duke's ambitions. He has made no secret of his distaste for Russia in the past, and I would be foolish to believe that he is an ally simply because he has done nothing to Russia. He is a friend to the sultan and the Poles, which is already two ways in which he has given Russia cause for concern-
Victoria: your Majesty sided with him in support of that same sultan against the pasha of Egypt.
Nicholas: because I have no reason to wish to see the Ottoman Empire ruled from Cairo instead of Constantinople, Majesty. And I am most grateful that we could come to an accord over matters in the East, that Russia and England alone should be responsible of maintaining the status quo.
Albert: you hold the sins of the now late duc d'Orléans against keeping France out of the region, Majesty?
Nicholas: I feel that Paris has concerns closer to home, in Algiers to concern themselves with, and the comte de Chambord has made no secret of his opposition to the traditional Franco-Ottoman alliance. One can only imagine that while he will not support the Turks, he will not repeat the duc's mistake in Egypt. But I have no desire to find out if he wishes to emulate his Bonaparte tutor's father or Saint Louis in Egypt. After all, neither would be...useful to England's interests.
Victoria: that is true, although there is the possibility that he may do neither.
Nicholas: I envy your naïeveté, your Majesty. Yours, the duke of Kendal's, the comte de Chambord...even the duke of Reichstadt's...in that you believe that the world can be maintained in such a manner. But men are greedy and selfish. Once the French army is finished in Algiers, do you believe for one instant they will stop there? *pauses* or what of their ambitions in Africa, with the new Fort Henri [8]?
Victoria: *pointedly* one could say the same for your Majesty's ambitions in Asia...in attempting to secure a toehold in either the Persian Gulf or on the Indian Ocean. My ministers speculate that your Majesty wishes to be able to pose a threat to our possessions in India.
Nicholas: and your Majesty?
Victoria: I'd like to think that they are wrong.
Nicholas: In which case I applaud your Majesty's sense and deplore the lack of it in your advisors.
Victoria: you give yourself too much credit, your Majesty, I said I should like to think that they are wrong, not that they are.
*cut to the HMY Victoria and Albert steaming into the harbour of Dublin [9]* *we see the queen's carriage driving from the harbour to Dublin Castle with she, Albert and their three children - the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal and the newborn Princess Louisa[10] - inside* *the crowds don't seem to know how to respond - on the one hand, this is the first visit by a sovereign since William III and James II, so they're excited; on the other, they're perhaps a bit unsure of why they're here* *but the excitement seems to have won out for the most part, even if the crowds are not "massive" they are certainly loud in their approval*
*fade to black*
[1] title from this piece:
[3] neither Albert nor Wilhelm have been to either Oxford or Cambridge (Albert likely took his classes at the University of Vienna instead of Bonn as OTL; Wilhelm didn't have a college education OTL, but if he was sent to university, it was likely either the University of Heidelberg (like his dad) or Leiden (given his dad's strong ties to Holland)), but I could see them being "patrons" of the race (in 1843 and 1844 there was no race). And since the universities of Leiden and Vienna's colours are also blue/blue and white, I could see which team they patronize being based on that (Cambridge is light blue, Oxford is dark blue)
[4] most of the house of Lords/government is probably breathing a sigh of relief at Albert doing something apolitical. And like Florence Nightingale wrote of him "he seemed to think that the whole world could be managed by prizes and exhibitions". Him taking his son (3yo) is probably a bit much, but much like Frankie used to drag Franzi and his grandfather all over - "like a dancing bear" - this is to underline his son's "Englishness"
[5] all of these men - except Dickens - are alumni of the Great Ealing School. Huxley is likely still an "unknown" ship's assistant surgeon at this point, but his father was the teacher of mathematics at Great Ealing, so he likely "just showed up". Why is Nicholas there? This is during his visit to London and I could see him "tagging along"
[6] The Coburgs were seen as greedy upstarts by most of the established families of Europe, and the Romanovs had a particular disdain for them (Nicholas because he'd be old enough to remember Albert-Victoria's aunt, Anna Feodorovna, and the "trouble" she caused)
[7] OTL George Grey died at age of five months and his parents' marriage broke down completely thereafter. Not saying his dad was a good man, but he certainly was a diligent servant in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand
[8] OTL Fort d'Aumale on the Gabon estuary
[9] OTL Victoria could never be persuaded to visit Ireland. Chalk her popping over up to a fear that Ireland will become her own Silesia, and having seen what's happened in France, she's a bit worried about Daniel O'Connell's "repeal year".
[10] Louisa Augusta Amelia - named for Albert's mother, he and Victoria's grandmother, the duchess of Coburg, and Amalie von Schintling is chosen for the third name instead of the planned "Albertine" after she lost her child.
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Great Game's already been going since the late 1820s/early 1830s IIRC. Nikolai's visit to London in June 1844 was to try to broker some sort of "agreement" with Britain. OTL it was between him and Victoria's ministers, here, being a little bit "smarter" (if not necessarily wiser), she handles the meeting herself (not that ASB, she did it with Louis Philippe the previous year and later in 1844), not sure why she didn't do it with Nicky OTL. Chalk it up to the fact that the crown was given some shares in the EIC when the monarchy's finances were reorganized, so she has a personal stake in the matter
It has been a long time since I was invoked.
I'm in the middle of a review period, but I'll try to respond to you on my humble level sometime.
pretty sure his wife will say the same thing if he went backwards as quickly as Angoulême did OTL (which is what I based it off of). Having seen such a thing first-hand, I can only think that Marie Amélie was agreeing to Henri's invitations to appear with him in public just to "get away". And Angoulême can't "be discreet" and recommend Orléans "retire to the country" without jaws flapping about how he's "gonna root out any dissent". Besides, keeping him in Paris avoids any accusation of "foul play".
Although, Angoulême is probably chafing at the delay for his coronation, since for him to hold it instead of declaring court mourning for his cousin looks as tacky as dancing at your new wedding the day after your former spouse's funeral
visiting Ireland?
perhaps even a burial at St-Denis? Albeit not as "king of the French" but as a mere duc d'Orléans (after all, until the chapelle at Dreux was built, the Orléans were interred at St-Denis weren't they?)
@Brita and others knowledgeable: as late as the worker's strike in Rive-de-Gier in 1840, political pamphlets were still being written in the local dialect (Franco-Provençal). Is it weird to think that Henri, having actually visited these places (and stayed more than a night there) becomes an unlikely champion of the local lingo. Not like making Breton or Provençal the national language or even the language of politics, but that he's a big supporter of encouraging the "maintenance" of the language (for instance, the Jewish dialects of Provence and Lorraine-Alsace died out with native speakers near the end of the century/World War I - even though Pedro II of Brasil composed some poetry in the former).
French would still be the language of governance and politics, it's not that these languages are to be elevated to a sort of duality with it, but rather that the local children are taught this in schools?
French would still be the language of governance and politics, it's not that these languages are to be elevated to a sort of duality with it, but rather that the local children are taught this in schools?
on a slightly related note to the above, is it ASB to think that Bonaparte philologist/linguist, Louis Lucien Bonaparte - who's OTL work focused on both the Basque and Celtic languages - is in a position in the Spanish monarchy related to languages (either as a "translator"/"interpreter" of Basque/Catalan in Madrid, or perhaps even Basque tutor to Queen Isabel II)? @Drex @Ramontxo @Kurt_Steiner
Ramontxo
Donor
I doubt he would know enough Basque for that, but he would surely be the perfect candidate to be entrusted to work with the four Foral Diputations to form this TL Euskaltzaindia* (literally Basque language protectors). It would be also quite logical to entrust him to get a teacher of the language to the Queen.