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CONTINENTAL NOTES. Tin. Liberal Ministry...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Letters From Paris. [From Our Own Couukh...
mains alone at the helm , of affairs , reigning and governing like an absolute monarch . He has got rid of a mass of Republicans by transportation and exile , he has reduced the press to silence : the " fourth estate of the realm- " as it was called by constitutionalists in the i ' me of Louis Philippe , now only asks to be allowed to die in peace . Air then is tranquil in the official world ; all is at
-peace ; all is prostrate , and cowering before the will of the all-powerful despot . But in the real world , on the contrary , it is quite otherwise . Bonaparte is powerless : obstacles everywhere , hostility on all sides , opposition universal . He begins to be alarmed at this false position ; his only real power , his sole support is in the army ; and the army is profoundly _agitateddisgusted with the menial office of ' protecting the _inglorious despotism of a Nullity !
Besides ( as I have before told you ) the army is _« worked" assiduously by every party ; and scarcely a day now passes without some military plot being discovered , some acts of insubordination breaking out in different regiments . A degrading system of espionage weig hs upon the service , distributing all the honours , not to the most brave soldiers , but to the most dastardly informers : what wonder then that every noble and generous heart revolts and gives utterance aloud to indignation and contempt ? Hence the apt readiness to listen to every extreme suggestion ; the officers who frequent the society of the bourgeoisie me
all won over to the Legitimists or to the Orleanists ; as to the sub-officers , their grade debarring them access to the salons , they are thrown into constant and direct contact with the people , and become or remain republicans . The three conspiracies , Legitimist , Orleanist , and Republican , cross one another in the army , and already possess the vast majority in its ranks . It is only the force of discipline that now maintains all these contending elements within their duty . Louis Bonaparte feels this , and the impossibility of its longer safe ' continuance is the source of his gloomiest anxieties . On Saturday last he summoned the Minister of War
General St . Arnaud , to a conference . You may remember that some months ago I informed you of a dispute that had arisen between these two men on the subject of cashiering a great number of officers , as the President desired , and General St . Arnaud refused . Bonaparte has now revived this measure . After exposing the situation of the army to his Minister , after reading the reports received from the police , he specified the conduct of several officers by name , and flatly insisted upon the immediate expulsion from the service of 1500 officers , Legitimists and Orleanists . St . Arnaud was still strongly opposed to such a measure , and
declared that so long as he was Minister , he would not lend his hand to such a flagrant violation of all the principles and regulations of military discipline . Bonaparte rejoined that he willed it thus , and that St . Arnaud had only to obey ; whereupon the latter growing warm , replied again— " Since you are bent on these wholesale expulsions from the army , why not cashier not only the 1500 Legitimist and Orleanist officers , hut all the Republicans besides ; your army will be purged enough at last ; you will have no officers at all . " Since this interview the Minister is out of favour ; but the President has not yet ventured to carry out his determination .
St . Arnaud , by the way , left Paris about three weeks i _< g <) , for tbe waters of Vichy in the Allier , where ho intended to pass tho whole summer , but a disagreeable adventure in the shape of a stoning reception compelled him to return with all speed to Paris . It appears that on the 4 th instant , tho _general , accompanied by the Sous-prefet of _LaJ'alisse , with a party of ladies and a _retuuio of servants , was riding along the road , when ho met a number of peasants walking arm in arm , abreast , towards him . As St . Arnaud approached them , they recognised him , and refused to get out of his way . St . Arnaud flow into a passion , and shook his whip in their faces . This exasperated the peasants to such a pitch that they began shouting , Let -us stone him ! let us
stone , him , ! and , us good as their word , they proceeded f <> pick up stones , and fling thorn at the General . One stone hit him < m tho _hesul and knocked off his hut , The General took bravely to flight sit a gallop . He was anxious at first to conceal from his wife tbe wound he had received , but _although it was nearly dusk lie found 't i _mpossible any longer to conceal tiie blood which "owed fn " » the crown of his head . With some difficulty wafer was procured to staunch the wound ; and , about hidf-puHt _„; _,-,, ; _i „ ., „ _- , r _i /| U 4 Minister with his _h-ioud _* , _i sui {( , , t , . < _i t , o Vichy . Surgical _attendiijic . o was immediately called for ' ; hut General St Arnaud would not stop an hour longer in tho country , _» nd set off direct , for Paris .
'bit it is not only the army that the enemies of the _f ; ' _= v . ninient are assiduously undermining : the working ' IiWHOH aro incessantl y plied by the republican party .
Letters From Paris. [From Our Own Couukh...
Strikes are being organized in all the most important towns . Three strikes have already taken place , at Rive de Gier , at Nantes , and at Rouen , not to speak of those at Paris . Last Thursday , the " navvies" struck work at Angouleme . A considerable body of men proceeded from the yards of St . Armand to those of Angouleme , with the intention of stopping the works throughout the whole length of railway , and of organizing a general strike . The substitute of the Procureur de la Republique presented himself on the spot with two brigades of gendarmerie . At that moment the muster consisted of some 300 workmen , who cried out that they demanded an
to be paid at the rate of 25 centimes ( 2 _^ d . ) hour . The substitute endeavoured to address them : he was hooted and assailed by a shout of " To Angouleme . " The gendarmes then charged this unarmed mass , and arrested eight persons . The rest resisted and defended themselves as well as they could against the armed force . One gendarme , a quarter-master , had two of his fiugers hacked off . The next day a piquet of one hundred soldiers was sent to the spot . At St . Quentin , the working cabinet-makers have struck . To alarm them , the authorities arrested nine of their number , but the others persisted in their refusal to work . The
carpenters of Mans and those of La Pleche bave also struck . On Saturday evening after the day ' s work , they all gave up their tools , and have not since made their appearanee in the workshops : their number is about a hundred . At St . Etienne , the working-plasterers have struck . At Paris , a grand strike of all the workmen employed in building , such as carpenters , masons , joiners , painters , and stone-cutters , is being organized . Two working stone-cutters , employed at the works on the Ecole des Arts et Metiers , have been arrested on the charge of having been heard to hold language tending to exeite their fellow workmen to strike . Some few carters have also been arrested . All
these strikes occurring simultaneously are not , as you may well believe , a mere accident . They are part of a great system of agitation determined upon in the high councils of the democracy . An . Arab conspiracy has been discovered in Algeria . It was a most serious affair , having vast ramifications . The purpose was notlnng less than a renewal of the Massacre of the Sicilian Vespers throughout French Algeria . A providential chance revealed traces of the plot . At Bona , in a wagon stopped on the public road , was found powder , fire-arms , and a chest full of
letters . The conductor of the wagon declared that these goods had been given into his charge by natives at a distance , and consigned to natives resident at Bona . The letters appointed the night of the 17 th of June for a general massacre of the Christians . The signal was to be given by bonfires on the top of towers . Bona is garrisoned by 200 men only . They were to have been drawn out of the town by the natives setting fire to the crops , while others within the town executed the massacre . The same was to have happened in all other localities . Numerous arrests of natives have
taken place at Bona . For some days ? past the Moniteur has become very insignificant ; it publishes nothing but _Senatiis-Considtes , and the laws voted during the Legislative session . One of these Senalds-Consultes , not content with conferring upon Louis Bonaparte the right of sporting in the forests of Versailles , of Marly , St . Germain , Rambouillet , and Fontuineblcsiu , extends the privilege to a number of other lakes and woods . Tho first care of our present Government is to assure the pleasures of his Highness the Sultan . The fact is ,
Louis Bonaparte treats France as his farm and property . The army is no longer the army of France— -it is the army of Bonaparte ; the navy is no longer the navy of France— it is the navy of Ilonaparte . Thus , in a report by the Minister oi * Marine , the Minister speaks of the services rendered to Monscigneur , sind not si word about services rendered to France . Uonaparte , to prove his gratitude for the _devofedness of his adherents , lavishes titles , decorations , and niedids . He has recently made l _' _ersigny , the small apothecary , si Count . Fersigny is now best known in Paris as the Count of Ham . As to the famous medal
invented by Louis Bonaparte for common soldiers , it has been given to three admirals only , nil tho rest having previously announced their intention to _rofnxo it . This is not the first affront our poor _Cassnr has received ! Even officers of gendarmerie have refused to execute . Ins orders . Hy creating a Ministry of Police , and desiring the officers of gendarmerie to put themselves in communication with tho Inspectors of Police , he bitterly offended the . sentiments of military honour which are so keenly susceptible in the French army . The officers of gendarmerie positively refuse any contact with the police , sind continue fo take their orders direct from the _I'refetS . Tht ) Government has boon forced to yield the point , and a new circular has made the amende to the officers of _gendiu'ineric .
Letters From Paris. [From Our Own Couukh...
There are even among the Pr _^ fets themselves in _« stances of opposition . M . Morizot , Prefet of _L'Ule , et Villaine , having had the audacity to tell some hard truths to the Master of France , was instantly deprived of his office . M . Morizot was resolved that the reasons of his disgrace should not remain a secret ; he addressed to his subordinate functionaries a circular , in which he said , " that there is a duty not without its danger—it is that of wounding susceptibilities in high places ; but that being persuaded that the truth should be told , both about men and things , especially in critical times , he had not hesitated to tell it , without dissimulation , without exaggeration , but also without any regard to his own personal advantage . " Every word a blow for Bonaparte !
The Moniteur has just promulgated the organic departmental , and municipal law ; consequently , the elections of mayors and municipal counsellors will take place immediately , in every town and village of France . A certain interest attaches to their elections . It is to know whether the Legitimists will , or will not , obey the mandate of the Comte de Chambord . If they obey , they naturally abdicate all personal i-fluence , by withdrawing from the elections . If they refuse to obey , it will be a blow to tbe discipline of the party . They are said to be divided in opinion on the subject . All the noblesse of Brittany aud of Normandy , habituated , as they are , to govern their communes , are , I am informed , disposed to resistance . They have despatched
numerous missives to Frohsdorf , excusing themselves for having taken the oath , on the ground that they considered it sound policy not to withdraw from the councils general , in which they might render far greater service to the cause than by isolation . The Comte de Chambord has not replied , but he has instructed his advisers to say , that he referred all his adherents to his preceding instructions , and relied on their prudence and sagacity . A great number of Legitimists have gone to Frohsdorf , and many more are expected to follow . It is almost another emigration ; Bonaparte having threatened , through the Government organs , to refuse them permission to recross the frontier into France , their departure may be considered a defiance on the part of the French noblesse .
The Orleanists on their side continue their intrigues . Their organization is very strong , and a conspiracy is bruited to be on the eve of breaking out . We shall see in good time . In the meanwhile , Bonaparte seizes the Orleans properties . He has laid hands upon the Chateau de Bizy , near Verrion ; he has sold the furniture of the Chateau d'Eu , and very serious intentions are entertained of taking possession of the domains of Arc , and of Chateau Villain , belonging to the Prince de Joinville .
Resignations are going on still . Among the more recent may be noted that of a post-captain , M . Laurencin , an Orleanist . Republicans , real or suspected , are continually arrested in the departments . A brave champion of the democracy , Citizen Marescot , has just been condemned by the court-martial sitting at Lyons , as found guilty of having taken part in the conspiracy of Gent . Marescot obstinately refused to sdlow himself to be defended , saying , that as his political friends had refused all defence , he would have no advocate .
After his sentence , when tho President of the Court told him he had two hours given him to appeal for a revision of the sentence , Marescot replied— " Five la Pcpubliquc ! that in the only revision I desire . " Tho transportation of Republicans to Cayenne is accomplished . Three transports havo conveyed 173 democrats , with 900 convicts , to that inhospitable shore . They arc to be distributed among different colonists . In other words , they tire to work as _ivhite slaves for private owners .
Tho press is still persecuted . Qalignani ' s Messenger has received a first warning , for having published articles without signatures affixed . The _eorresjiondent of the Cologne ( Jazelte has been harassed by a domiciliary visit , and the search and seizure of all his _psipcrs . Now that tbe journals aro utterly insignificant , all the life of polemics is absorbed into pamphlets and brochures . One is advertised to appear to-morrow , by
a distinguished Orleanist , M . Albert de Broglie , son of the celebrated minister , and grandson of Madame de Stael . This brochure , entitled " Lcs lloniains sous I'Empire" ( The , Rowans under ( fi e . L ' mpire ) , is an _unmistakeuhlt ) all urn ou fo the , existing state of affairs . It is said to be written with great _vertw and pungency The Government are very apprehensive of its _efloets and , as you may imagine , "the public await it with u proportionate eagerness . S .
Ar00704
Continental Notes. Tin. Liberal Ministry...
CONTINENTAL NOTES . Tin . Liberal Ministry in _Jfe _^ liuiu bave resigned . Doubts aro ox pressed whether this event ia to bo considered as a triumph of tho clerical party , to whoso ultramontano tendencies tho recent Minwtry had opposed a constant _rosistauco ; or ( whioh would bo far more eorious ) tho cou-
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 17, 1852, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_17071852/page/7/
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