When the Revolution of 1848 broke out, the nobility and the clergy were left alone to labour for the triumph of Henri V.For a long time they had regarded the accession of the Orleanists as a ridiculous experiment, which sooner or later would bring back the Bourbons; although their hopes were singularly shaken, they nevertheless continued the struggle, scandalised by the defection of their former allies, whom they strove to win back to their cause.

The Saint-Marc quarter, assisted by all the parish priests, set to work.

Among the middle classes, and especially among the people, the enthusiasm was very great on the morrow of the events of February; these apprentice republicans were in haste to display their revolutionary fervour.

As regards the gentry of the new town, however, the conflagration, bright though it was, lasted no longer than a fire of straw.

The small houseowners and retired tradespeople who had had their good days, or had made snug little fortunes under the monarchy, were soon seized with panic; the Republic, with its constant shocks and convulsions, made them tremble for their money and their life of selfishness.
Consequently, when the Clerical reaction of 1849 declared itself, nearly all the middle classes passed over to the Conservative party.