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most part , considered the reasons advanced by the " authentic" party peremp tory enough to deserve considerfon This treaty , after all , is only the confirmation of rumours prevalent in Paris last May : and , what is more it bears a precise and formal date , the 20 th of that month . That date corresponds exactly with the esence ojp iae Czar at Berlin , and with the ill-success of the President ' s confidential envoy , M . Heeckeren , whose mission to the Emperor was to propose to him the re-settlement of the map of Europe . Moreover , the date is now distant enough to explain any possible indiscretion to which we may owe possession of the diplomatic secret . The form of the treaty , too , is accuit has undecided
rate and positive : nothing vague or in its terms : there is nothing of the ' " on dif about its dispositions : the text is strict and literal . Now , it is not so easy to invent these documents : it is easier to cite than to falsify them . The reasons advanced by the opposite party , indeed , are purely moral considerations derived from the circumstance that Louis Philippe ' was never the object of a similar treaty : that the three great Powers , having never dared to attack Louis Philippe , would scarcely venture to sign such a manifesto against Bonaparte . These reasons do not seem to "bear close examination ; for it must be remembered that Louis Philippe had not seized supreme power by m odious act of violence like the 2 nd of December ; he
had not imposed himself upon a whole unarmed population by terrorism ; he had not endeavoured to impose upon all Europe as to the origin , the validity , the nature of his authority . If Louis Philippe had been attacked , all France would have risen to defend herself ; Bonaparte , on the contrary , would not rally the nation even to the defence of the territory : the nation would let things take their course , as in 1814 . Such are the general conclusions to be . gathered from this discussion ; and the attitude of the Government of Bonaparte goes far to confirm the authenticity of the
treaty of May 20 . The Moniteur has preserved an obstinate silence on the subject ; the Patrie has attempted a species of denial to the Morning Chronicle , in order to divert public opinion ; this denial bore the customary form of government communications , but , as soon as it was generally remarked that the paragraph was not accompanied by the sacramental word " Communique , " the ruse was unmasked , and no one committed the mistake of attributing to Government a denial which proceeded from the manufactory of the editors of La Patrie .
However it may be , the rumours of the Empire have been more rife than ever these last days . The Elysde is quite decided to take the leap , and is preparing for all eventualities . Bonaparte is even resolved to go to war , if Europe attacks him , and he is secretl y taking measures to place himself in a condition to have the fortune of armies on his side . I mentioned to you , in a recent letter , the orders that had been given to provide ships of the line with auxiliary steam power , so that you might be invaded in twelve hours , without the least warning ;* but Louis Bonaparte is not content with having the power of crossing the Channel at any
moment . Singularly enough , two engineers , of whom one is a personal friend of my own , have just been sent into Belgium and Rhenish Prussia , on a reconnoitring mission , to ascertain whether trains filled with troops could roach the Rhino from Paris d ' un seul bond , without any obstacle . These gentlemen returned on Saturday last from their inquiries , with an answer in the affirmative . Uonapurte and his adherents are then , I say , perfectly resolved to have the Empire , and prepared to meet all its consequences . It is in this prevision that the jyrtfets have worked all the nominations of mayors and deputy mayors , and that the Government has
thrown its weig ht into the election of Councillorsgcneral in the Departments . One express condition has been imposed upon all the candidates of Government—to support with their votes every proposition demanding the Empire , and , moreover , to take the initiative of petitions to that end . No man bus been nonnnated mayor without a formal engagement to aid in the imperialist propaganda . Thus have the machinists made every preparation for un effective nrise en seine . In a few days , petitions will flood the Senate
House ; tho Somite will declare itself overwhelmed by the rising tide of public opinion , and will assort ; the unanimous desire of all France to woo the imperial crown on the brow of Louis Bonaparte , and that it is impossible any longer to roiuHo to satisfy tho public ardour . Cohnoquontly , tho Seimto will proclaim Louis Napoleon Bonaparte * ' Emperor of tho French ! " It may bo that the Northern Powers will declare war , you will nay . True ; but nt the first movement of troops in Germuny , Bonuparte , with Km 40 , 000 intin at lumd , of which number oho
half at least is quartered in towns provided with railway communication , can invade Belgium and Rhenish-Prussia , and be on the Rhine in twenty-four hours . By striking this bold and decisive blow , by such a coup d ' eclat , he would be sure to rally to his side at once an immense popularity . From that moment all France would be with him and for him . From that day his cause would become the national cause . Even myself , whom you will not suspect of " partiality to him , I could not escape the general contagion of the rest of my fellow-citizens . Look well to your England , I say , and don't allow yourselves to be surprised , as we were on the 2 nd December , 18511
As I have just told you , the departmental and municipal elections have taken place . The immense majority of the population abstained from voting . In a great number of communes not one quarter of the electors inscribed voted : out of ten million electors , 7 , 500 , 000 have abstained from voting- ^ -only 2 , 500 , 000 took part in the elections . Nevertheless , in a great number of towns the candidates of Bonaparte were rejected , or only reached the bottom of the poll . Mayors nominated beforehand by Government were not even voted to the office of municipal councillors : so that for the first time in France we shall see this singular anomaly—mayors not even
belonging to the municipal councils of which they are supposed to be the chief members , according to principle . But why talk of principles ? There is but one now—the will of the ruler . These frequent checks have sorely vexed the Government . A certain number of PreTets have fallen into disgrace—among others is mentioned M . Leon Berger , ( son of the Prefet de la Seine , ) who is to be deprived of his Prefecture de I'Indre , in which department all the candidates of Government have been rejected . Yet these poor Prefets have surely strained every nerve to succeed . Intrigues and threats , official warnings , hints , every kind of pressure has been exercised .
As I am anxious to enlighten you on the prodigality of Governmental precautions , I will cite a few facts . In the Charente certain Republicans having ventured to accept the candidateship—among others MM . Babaud LaribiereandLavallee , ex-representatives of the people—the Angouleme journal was ordered to insert the following article : — " In certain cantons , the enemies of our institutions have dared to propose to the electors the candidateship of men of extreme political opinions , who have refused the oath of fidelity to the Elect of the nation . Such conduct is an act of hostility against the Government , and an insult to the dignity of the
electoral body , which it is the duty of the administration to repress . The good spirit of the population of the Charente will doubtless avenge these scandalous manoeuvres ; but it belongs to the mayors to arrest with promptitude and energy any such propaganda carried on in the communes . " Another journal , that of La Jffeurthe , has received the following warning : — " Considering that the Journal de la Meurthe , in its impression of the 29 th inst ., put * forward as a candidate for the functions of councillor a citizen who resigned these very functions rather than take the oath of fidelity required by the Constitution—an act which
implies a denial of the rights of aGovernment established by the national sovereignty , a second warning is given to the Journal de la Meurthe , Sec . &c . " The Mayor of Rozol , ( Rhone ) had taken the liberty to present to tho electors a candidate without having consulted the Government : ho has been deprived of his office by the Pr 6 fet of the department . Another fact : in a circular to the mayors of his department , the PreTet of tho Oironde says— " To publish any other candidates than those adopted by tho Government is to commit an act , not merely of insubordination , but of hostility ; for , an in every election the question necessarily lies between tho Government and the opposition , those who are not yor
tho former uro naturally considered against . Not content with energetically combatting every cundidutcship rejected by the administration , you are not to hesittito openly to repudiate any name started in competition . We aro nofc so completely secure from tho evil days that men of order should with impunity disband , still less divide . " Tins PreTot , you see , is not ho well assured us somo persons are of tho solidity of tho present Government , ninco ho foresees the possibility of a return to evil days . Well : all theso efforts , oil these criticisms , nil those threats , have had but one resultto prove tho real isolation of tho Government in the midst of tho nation , which has this time disdained to tako pnrt in tho electoral movement .
Bonaparte , to indulge his ungor , him struck another blow at bin opponents . A certain number of Councillors of ' State of tho Section des Contenlieux , had . voted for the Orleans family , in tho affair of the confiscation : M . Maillard , President of tho Section ; M . Cornudefc , reporter ; and M . Rovorchon , uccond reporter , were of this number . Tho two latter have boon dismissed : it
is the first instance of the dismissal of Councillors of State for fifty years . As to M . Maillard , the President has deprived him of his post as President , and named in bis place one of his own creatures , M . Boudet . He has also modified his Ministry in the way I had led you to expect . Persigny , however , is not yet Minister of State ; his place is provisionally held by M . Fould , ex-Minister of Finance . The first act of M . Fould was
to countersign the . decree dismissing the Councillors of State who voted against the confiscation . You will remember that it was this same M . Fould who left the Ministry in company with M . de Morny , so as not to seem to sanction those decrees by his presence . By now countersigning the act that strikes the Councillors of State who had the courage to protest against these decrees , M . Fould becomes an accomplice in the decrees he had repudiated .
MM . Turgot and Casabianca , the two Ministers going out with M . Lefebre-Durufle , are very mortified at their dismissal without notice . They are off to the provinces , unwilling to take their seats in the Senate ; and they speak of their master in hard terms . I have omitted to tell you that all men of rank and position remaining in France have refused to form part of the Municipal Councils : among others , I may name M . Odillon Barrot , who thanks the electors of the department de l'Aisne , in a letter which no journal in France has been able to publish . A striking passage in his letter is as follows : — "Now that on the ruins of the
constitutional and parliamentary Government of my country is founded , not as a temporary dictatorship , but as a permanent Government , the most absolute power that exists in the world ; that France , traversing the fatal circle in which she has revolved for the last sixty years , has once more passed from an excess of liberty to a ruling power the most concentrated and most devoid of serious control ; sinca the deceptive forms of universal suffrage in the absence of any discussion , any possible meeting , any preliminary concert among the electors , leave to the nominees of the
Administration a certainty of success , and seem to have been preserved only to mask under a false cloak of free institutions the sad and humiliating realities of despotism , what support to such a Government can you ask of me—what good can I do ? " The Independence Beige , which published this letter , was seized on the frontier , and the letter has only circulated in France in manuscript . It is indeed a very strong letter , and expresses in energetic language the true sentiments of the country . And so it is that France has abstained from voting .
The hostility , the disaffection , is general . Only the clergy are content : not that they approve of the existing regime , but that they take advantage of the fears of Bonaparte , and make him pay dear for their support by great concessions . A new order of monks has beeu re-established this week under the name of the Freres du Saint Esprit—they are a religious order for the education of youth . Ever since tho Revolution of ' 89 , it baa been the dream of the clergy in France to get tho education of the young in their hands : they pursue this dream with an inflexible perseverance . This week , however , they have failed to gain a signal advantage By dint of intrigues , they had extorted from Bonaparte a promise not to tolerate any but Catholics at the IZcole Normale . Tho Protestants and Jews were to bo no lonjrer admitted : tho
candidates belonging to these two persuasions who presented themselves lately were rejected on the pretext of moral incapacity . This fact made u great sonsation in Paris ; and Bonaparte is compelled to revoke his decision , and to declare in the Moniteur that Protestants and Jews are still admitted to the JEcole Normala . A now limitation is to be imposed upon tho press and the publishing trade . There have been a great number of cheap illustrated works published those lost four years at twenty centimes { Ad . ) a number . The Government has just interdicted their nalo . Hawkers arc only allowed to sell works stamped by the Government . Tho works of Voltaire , Rousseau , &c , will thus be interdicted , at pleasure , by authority . This concession has been extorted by tho priests .
A great juridical crime has recently been committed . Two of tho insurgents of Clamecy , sentenced to death by the council of war of tho Niovre , have been guillotined in tho night , clandestinely , unexpectedly . Tho Moniteur informs the country of the fact . Thin first stroke of the political axo will rewound tar nml wide : it will be the signal for many other executions . It is now feared that tho eleven condemned prisoners of He ' darrieuk will have to mount the scaffold . Nothing now remains of tho Revolution of February—not even tho abolition of the puninhnu ; nt of death for political offences , which tlio republicans had buttoned to offiico from the French laws . Victor Hugo Iiuh boon driven out of Bel gium by
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August 7 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 745
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,. _ . " W \> betf to Hay—nofc bo fast I Tliero aro certain other "i ! . i l 0 ( r ™ BUcn u 8 screw steamers can overcome ! - — -ft * , of Leader , , ,
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 7, 1852, page 745, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1946/page/5/
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