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Leader (1850-1860), 10th January 1852, Edition Town of 1, Page 27, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      the nation everywhere extinguished—as soon as they have got the people well gagged - , and have nothing more to fear for themselves , they will put M , Bonaparte out of the way to set Henry V . in hia place . M . Louis Bonaparte will have made the state bed at the Tuileries warm for Henry V . ; there is the whole moral of the great act of . the 2 nd , of December ! Pray record my predictions The game is no transparent that one must be a Bonaparte not to discern it . M . Thiers himself is awake to it . Well aware that it is the accession of Henry V . which is on the cards , he now preaches the fusion of the two branches ; he , the adversary of the fusion ! It is , that behind Bonaparte he sees Henry V . ; behind Henry V . the impotent ,

      he sees the Count of Paris . If he ; would only take the trouble to look behind _ the Count of Paris , he would flrere " 8 eeTHegreat figure of the Republic . But for the moment , we must speak no more of the Republic , ; dead and buried in the vote of December 20 . The last results published by the Consultative Commission , give 7 , 439 , 216 " Oui , " and 640 , 787 " Non . " You will remark that the Noes are 200 , 000 less in number than the total previously given by the Ministerial journals . The total of Yeas has been surcharged with 200 , 000 ; and the total of Noes diminished to the same extent . Here again we find a reminiscence of the Empire . As for frauds committed in the votes , facts are daily coming to light . In the departments notice was given to printers , that

      -whoever should permit a single Non bulletin to be printed at his establishment , would forfeit his licence . At Paris the Government took the precaution to publish in the Moniteur a notice , that it was never intended to interfere with the distribution of printed negative votes ; to prove the sincerity of this protest , any poor wretch , who took it into his head to distribute them , was walked off , then and there , to the Commissary of Police of the quarter , and thrown into prison , where many such malefactors remain still . Besides , it is impossible to give you an idea of the dense , benighted ignoranpe of the country population on the subject or all that relates to Napoleon . An immense quantity of men voted for the Great Captain himself . I give you two anecdotes in point . ¦ ~ ¦ ¦ -

      "A friend of mine happened to ask a peasant at Auxerre , in Burgundy , if he knew Napoleon , as he was going to vote for him ? . "JParbleu I do I know him ? " replied the peasant ; " e » Uce-gue Je Wont pat-ite avec lui & Moscouf—( Didn ' t I go with him to Moscow ?) In the canton of Iialinde , arrondissement of Beyerac , Dordogne , a peasant , presented himself to vote . " " Where is your bulletin ? " said the mayor to him . "I haven t got one ; but I beg you to be kind enough to make me one . " " How do you wish to vote ? " '' Eh , parbleu ! for the Emperor . " " But he is dead . " ? ' For his son , then . " " But he , too , is dead . " " Eh" bien ! Monsieur le Maire , il doit retter le Saint-Esprit : I vote for him . " Need I add that the mayor lost no more time in

      giving the benefit of the doubt to M . Louis Bonaparte . Meanwhile , the Funds are rising daily . They closed on the 31 st of December at 102 ; they have since reached 104 ; and on Monday , 107 . M . Fould is bulling " the market without mercy . His scheme is to push up the Three per Cents , to 75 , and then to operate the conversion of the Five per Cents , into Three per Cents , at 75—an operation which would represent Four per Cents . In this measure we no longer trace the restoration of the Empire , it is the restoration of the Restoration . It is the old plan of M . de Villele . While all this is going on , the moneymongers and jobbers are in a state of jubilee . If you listen to them , you will believe that France is to be paved with gold and silver , and to compete with California in treasures of wealth . The shrewd ones

      take advantage of the sudden rise in all Stocks , and as a consequence in the value of property , to realize . They know that every coin has a reverse side , and they distrust . In his schemes M . Fould is seconded by the great capitalists—notably b y M . de Rothschild , to whom he has just conceded , without control , without publicity , from hand to hand , as it were , the 1 ana and Lyons Bail way . This secret treaty was eigned by M . Bonaparte on Sunday last . Rothschild gives 200 , 000 , 000 of francs , one-half in ready money . A here is a report of a pot do vin of fabulous dimensions for the President , M . Fould , and M . deMorny . As to the line from Paris to Avignon , there has been , tor the for m of the thing , a public adjudication ; but J . know for a fact that , even before the 2 nd of December , it was for the Company Talabot , styled the . ^ ompan . y of t ^ ho Maltres des Forges , " that the adjuOioation had been reserved . -Franc © is now nothing but ft . dead carcase . Vultures are swooping down on her as on a prey . S .

      Untitled Article

      Sinoe the receipt of our Correspondent ' s letter the Jong-expected injunction , has been issued by the JjUniater of _ thG Interior to remove the last traces of JhoSnTi ^ 1011 * ^^^ * »»*«« . and especially frorn th 4 " lvT -, f * *** * Equality , Fraternity /' ntth « - PUbllcbUI Jdin § fl ' « w impossible to cavil at the injunction ; for these words , •« in themselves , " devko JW , mdwlM- de M ° r ^ Ba > 8 ' " touching flevico , had long boon , a cruel aerieion . in tho midst

      of a reaction that disavowed , and a military despotism that destroyed by violence , every hope of liberty , every promise of equality , and every inspirationof fraternity . As to restoring the old names of celebrated streets and places , we never concurred in the reasonableness or propriety of the change , and we do not regret , but rather applaud , the restoration . We never were able to pronounce the words Palais National but once , and then we were punished for the affectation by being driven down to the National Assembly ! It is the

      folly of French Revolutions to change names instead of things . A nation that understands its own dignity has no call to renounce or to disown it 3 past traditions , or to suppress its past history . We rejoice in being allowed to call the Palais Royal by its right name ; though we have never been suspected of Legitimist , Orleanist , or Imperialist sympathies . Let there be a neutral ground for us all ! Here is M . de Morny ' s letter to the Prefect of the Seine . Of co urse the same instructions will be applied , where they have not been anticipated , to the other departments .

      * ' Paris , January 6 . —Monsieur le Prefet , —The emblems most worthy of respect lose this character when they only recal evil days . Thus these three words , * Liberty , Equality , Fraternity , ' form by themselves a touching device ; but , as they have been only seen to appear at epochs of troubles and civil war , their coarse inscription upon our public buildings saddens and alarms the passers-by . I , therefore , beg you to efface them . It would be , at the same time , proper to restore to the monuments , places , streets , &c , their popular names , which

      have been preserved by familiar usage through all changes of regime . No historical remembrance , glorious for France , ought to be excluded . The Palais National is to be called anew the Palais Royal ; the Academie Nationale de Musique , the Grand Opera ; the Theatre de la Nation , Theatre Francais ; the Rue de la Concorde , Rue RoyaJe , &c . I beg you to make to me , in the same spirit , a report upon the analogous changes which you will think proper to propose tome . —A . de Mobny . "

      A decree appears for opening to the Ministry of the Interior a credit of 4 , 832 , 987 francs on the budgets of 1852 , 1853 , and 1854 , for the completion without delay of several lines of electric telegraph . The most important are as follows : —1 . Paris to Marseilles ; the telegraph now stops at Chalons . 2 . Paris to Bordeaux * and thence by Toulouse to Celle . 3 , Paris to Strasburg . On . Tuesday night the President entertained the delegates of the departments at the Grand Opera

      with a performance of the Prophete . The performance was strictly private , the whole house being engaged for a certain sum . The rest of the audience consisted of a few of the corps diplomatique , the household of the Elyse " e , the principal Bonapartist adherents , and a large selection of " Praetorians . " With such an audience , why need we say that the Saviour of Society was received with enthusiasm ? The Emperor ' s favourite airs , played before him on similar occasions , were played before the nephew—for the Empire is the order of the day .

      The forthcoming review of the army of Pans , the heroes of the massacres , is not unlikely to be the date of the proclamation' of the new empire , " by the grace of bayonets . " Napoleon the Great waited longer ; but he lived in times less rapid than our own . Perhaps he could better afford to wait .

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      CONTINENTAL NOTES . Mystery shrouds the political proceedings of all the great Continental states . Everywhere the press is gagged . The Parisian usurpation has added tenfold force to those governments already sufficiently despotic ; and whenever any news oozes out , it telLt tales of opptession and cruelty which make the heart sick . The general tendency of things is decidedl y towards military barbarism , destruction of the civil power , and compression of the people . You cannot place your finger on a spot of Continental ground which is not either enslaved or menaced with the loss of its liberties . You cannot name three states wherein comparative liberty of the press exists , or where institutions are secure . France and Austria menace

      the liberties , if not the independence , of Belgium , Switzerland , and Sardinia . Spain is ruled by an unscrupulous bureaucracy and equally unscrupulous generals . Every day brings intelligence of tho seizure or suspension of journals . We know not what atrocities are daily being perpetrated in Hungary . Prussia is under the heel of the monarchical factiojn . Italy is like a martyr in the Inquisition bound on tho rack , with the wheel ever whirling round . " Even Englishmen cannot walk with , personal safety in tho streets of the Italian cities .

      Meanwhile , tho actual nows is without colour and wholly superficial . The over changing Austrian Ministry ; the health of the Queen and " most sereno princeaa" of Spain ; the arrangement of disputed German tariffs ; tho activity of tho despotio sbmi at all points ; tho movements of troops ; and tho alleged joy of all tho absolutist faction at tho fall of Palmcrston . And in these rumours nothing definite * nothing completed , nothing certain . Secrecy is tho keystone of Government . Tho reign of publicity is suspended . . It is only when an Imperial ukase or edict cornea before

      the public that we obtain any certain information . As for instance , a decree has appeared signed by Francis Joseph arid Schwarzenberg , finally abolishing the Constitution pf the 4 th of March , which was virtually abolished twelve months ago ; One is reminded of Falstaff giving the finishing stroke to the dead body of Hotspur ; only the Viennese actors have the vice without the humour of the fat knight » and the constitution never was very vital . But amid all this incertitude of detail , there stand out prominently two facts which , we dare not overlook ; the ascendancy of the Roman Catholic party , and the immense display of military force .

      The Post publishes a letter from a gentleman , himself a British subject , enjoying an European reputation , and in every way worthy of confidence . It contains the following story , which we leave without comment . ¦ . " Florence , December 3 . 0 , " 185 . 1 . —The openly avowed principle of rendering the Continent uninhabitable by Englishmen has received a new development in an incident that has just occured here . Yesterday morning , a young Englishman , named Maysher , who had only been a short time in Florence , after standing to listen to the band of an Austrian regiment , was quietly proceeding along one . of the narrow streets -which issue from the

      Piazza del Duo mo . He had not gone far , when he perceived a banocino advancing towards him wi . ^ h all the Speed at which these country cars are usually driven . To avoid the danger , he jumped suddenly back , and in doing so , came in contact with a young Austrian officer , who was at the same moment coming up at the head of his guard . A smart blow from the flit of a sabre on the back was the mild rebuke for this purel y accidental collision . The Englishman , very naturally indignant , demanded in his imperfect Italian the meaning of the outrage . Afew angry words were interchanged on either side , when another officer , who accompanied the party , stepped forward and cut the young Englishman down , laying his head open by a sabre wound of fully a finger ' s length . This done , the party proceeded on its way , and our countryman , whose blood covered a considerable space in the street , was conveyed

      to the City Hospital . Bad as it is , it is , however , worse as part of an avowed and openly declared system—the orders given to the Austrian- soldiery here being 'to use the sword or the bayonet on every and the slightest provocation '; and as by ' provocation ' is understood whatever may ruffle the temper , or inconvenience the views , of _ these serai-civilized bravoes , you can form some notion of the extent of liberty enjoyed by the inhabitants of Tuscany , and participated in by any foreigner at present residing in this state . When I tell you that a soldier received forty lashes here a few days since for not running his bayonet through a peasant who had jostled him in the street , you will be able to guess in the great probability of any redress being afforded in this atrocious . In fact , the officer is far more likely to receive a ' valour medal , ' or a cross , than to be subjected to the ordeal of a court-martial . "

      The writer adds , that all the English in Florence are in dismay at the fall of Lord Palmerston . The Austrian Lloyd tells us that Mr . Fonblanque , the British consul at Belgrade , in opposition to the usual custom , did not alight from his carriage to pay Xl visit of ceremony to the liuasian ambassador on the occasion of the birthday of the Czar , but merely sent up his card ,. The liussian representative sent back the card by his servant , with a message that on this occasion , being the anniversary of the Emperor , he would receive none but personal visits . Mr . Fonblanque , highly incensed , tore up the curd , and sent a note to the Russian representative demanding satisfaction .

      A well-known secret agent ( one Klind worth ) of Louis Napoleon was at Vienna on the 4 th ; like certain birds , the individual in question , appears ever and anon , to solicit , to forewarn , or to take counsel . He was in Vienna ten days before the coup d ' etat . The news of Lord Palmorston ' s retirement , eays the Danish correspondent of the Chronicle , cannot but be satisfactory to the general Danish public ; for he has played fast and loose with , the Danish question till he has disgusted every political party here . Lord Granville has undertaken a moat difficult task . Mny he restore its prestige to the English name , untl teach our polioy to respect the faith of treaties !

      Untitled Article

      BURNING OF THE AMAZON AT SEA . The Amazon was a very fine new vessel , one of tho West India Mail Stoam Packet Company ' s squadron .. She had sailed from Southampton on the afternoon . of Friday last , the 2 nd of January . By midnight on Saturday she had got woll cjonr of tho Scilly Ittluuds , and had made about 110 miles in n W . S . VV " . course from this point . At twenty minutes before ouo on Sunday morning , the alarm of iiro wua given . In a low minutes the Humes hud burst up the foro and main hatchways , and hud spread like wildfire along

      the decks , There waa , a heavy Boa on ut the time , and the wind is described as ' blowing half a gale " from the south-west . Tho alarm bell was hiBtantly rung , and tho crew and passengers—« uu meiny of them as were not suffocated by tho smoke in their bertharushed upon deck . Captuin Symona immediately ran up on deck in his shirt and trousers . Tho attempt , of courae , was at first to extinguish tho flames . Tho progress of tho dentructivo clement was , however , so rapid as to set all human struggles at defiance Tho engine-room was untenable , and . thq

      Untitled Article

      Jaw . 10 , 1852 . ] &tft frtttiftt . 27

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 10, 1852, page 27, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1917/page/3/