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reS g—in presence of this Government , the murderer of the people , the assassin of the Republic , and the violator » t £ e laws , of this Government created by force , and zLhicb . must perish by force—of this Government raised crime , and which must be overthrown by right—the Frenchman worthy of the name of citizen knows not , will ot know if there be somewhere the semblance of a ballot , the comedy of universal suffrage , and the parody of an peat to the nation ; he does not ask himself if there be who voteor men who cause to vote—if there be
• men . , a "herd called the Senate , which deliberates , and another herd called the people , which obeys ; he does not ask himself if the Pope be about to consecrate at the high altar of Notre £ ) ame the man who—do not doubt it , for it is the inevitable future—will be chained to the pillory by the executioner . In presence of M . Bonaparte and his Government , the citizen worthy of the name only does one thing , Aud i * a . s only one thing to do—load his musket and await the hour . Vive la Republique !"
This last proclamation is signed ( and probably written ) by Victor Hugo . The publication of such formidable appeals to the people has had an electrical effect . The entire population of Paris was instantly astir . All Paris was a-foot , —working-men , tradesmen , lower cIpss , middle class , intent upon reading in the face of each the impression of all . A sort of agitation seized the great city . Yet it was nothing compared with the excitement that prevailed in official regions . Many consider themselves utterly ruined . Bonaparte was immediately sent for by electric telegraph . He was hunting at Fontainebleau , but on receipt of the despatch hastened back from Paris , leaving stag and hounds to finish their day .
As to the protest of Henri V ., although very moderate in tone , it has not the less an immense significance under existing circumstances . First , —it throws many blind and vacillating spirits , ever ready to embrace the first comer , into doubt , whether in the shape of Monarchy it were not better to return to the true Monarchy , the legitimate Monarchy which alone can be the guarantee of all rights , rather than to a Monarchy of chance , destitute alike of principle and consistency . Second , —this protest is followed by instructions emanating from the Comte de Chambord himself ) in which he invites all Legitimists , the noblesse , and the clergy , to abstain from voting , and to use all their influence to induce others to abstain
likewise . This , you see , becomes a serious matter . If the Legitimists , the Eepublicans , and the Orleanists universally and rigorously should abstain from voting , and if the ballot were regularly and fairly taken , Bonaparte could not get more than two million votes . Unfortunately , the absence of all control , and the facility of falsifying the result , will givo the matter quite another turn . Au reste , Bonaparte has just been taking measures to make the handling of the balloturns and the shaking of the votes more pat than ever ,
and to prevent the chance of a diminished majority . The electoral law which lie decreed last February appointed the scrutators of the ballot to be chosen from the two eldest and two youngest of the electors present . But now , violating bis own law , he has just sent orders to the Prefects to select and appoint the scrutators themselves . Assuredly , this is a very convenient system , and if ho don't get a handsome majority with such tools , why ! all wo can say is , that he plays with fortune !
The Hecrct distribution and placarding of this protest of the Comte do Chambord had occasioned a great number of domiciliary visits at Met / , Dijon , Nantes , 'ind in many other places . On the other band , the Prefects havo begun to issue their proclamations to the electors . A kind of vertigo seems to have seized upon these pitiable functionaries . To read the stylo of their addresses , one would nay that they had lost their semen . " After you Imvo given
your votes , " exclaims tho Prefect of Calvados , " you can suy , vour fathers did before you , — ' And avc , too , served in tllo grande at-mee . '" Another Prefect ( of " > e I Finite Vienne ) conjures his ad minis tres to vote properly , in order lhat he . may gain promotion . " Come ; , " <> vv , this wont do , " you will Hay , — - " thin is not to be Relieved . " To banish your doubts , I give you " the very textual extract from his proclamation : — " Don't allow . Vour department to be outdone in this solemn noclumall ( » ii , buf , givo to your chief luhninistrutor , to the man w " < 'H * m'H ( o obtain mimy things for you , the- honour "' '"' testing f , li ( . value of ( defaire valoir ) your patriotic
• 'ntlui . siuHiu . " The fawning bishops employ their authority after the same fashion . They have issued (! l > incopiU inundates to be read by their parochial (< lt "Xy in Mm churches . Tho Bishop of Kenncs Iihh par ticularl y distinguished himself in this kind of zeal , s Imvoyou to judge by the following extract from '" « inundate : — " We say to you , then : Vote , und '" nice those vote whoso confidence you poHsess , in favour ol the Neiiatfis-CoiiMulto whieli is about , to be submitted <<> the ruti ( ie : U , ion of France . Let . every mini put a Y *! , "i tho electoral urn ! He the counsellors of your ohedie nt flocks , stimulate their natural iiidilumiiice , and
direct their votes . Fear nothing . If needs be , invoke our authority to shelter yourselves , and to throw upon us all the responsibility of a measure which our conscience accepts sans peur et sans reproche . " In the meanwhile , the whole population manifests the greatest apathy about the election—the most utter indifference . At Paris , not a soul cares a jot about the rectification or verification of the electoral lists , nor about the delivery of electoral tickets . The authorities are alarmed , and the Prefect of the Seine has ordered voting tickets to be sent by post , or by special agents , to all the electors . A quasi-general abstention is anticipated at Paris and in all the great towns in France . The army no longer has the right of voting you know : that makes a difference of 500 , 000 votes , at least ; add to this Paris and the towns : at least one million votes .
Well , in spite of all these and further deductions , Louis Bonaparte is quite capable of asserting a total of 8 , 760 , 000 votes . For my own part , I reckon on tliis imposing total as if I bad manufactured it myself . This week , there has been one of those grand movements on the Bourse , of which I have , in former letters , described the organization on a large scale , to the profit of Bonaparte and of MM . Fould and Rothschild . For some time past , a mass of outsiders , attracted to tlie
Bourse by the artificial rise , operated by the great adepts in the funds of the State and of the Bank , bad taken to speculate furiously . In one second , the fluctuations in railway stock would be ten , twenty , thirty , and even fifty francs . The movement was so violent , that fortunes were made in a single bout on Change , ( en une seule Bourse . ) The stock-brokers , interested in encouraging this speculation , obeying , too , the orders they had received from high quarters , were always easy enough about the settling .
An inordinate rage for gambling and speculation of all kinds ensued . Merchants , manufacturers , shopkeepers , artisans , operatives , men of fortune , left their business or their pleasure to dabble in the Bourse . The rise being continuous , everybody played a sure card . Shares had risen 350 francs in four months ; in fact they had almost doubled . Unfortunately , the speculators reckoned without their host : in other words , without MM . Bonaparte and Co . On Thursday , November 11 , down came an order from this now notorious Finn to the stockholders to demand of every speculator 150 francs deposit on each share . A panic
ensued . A fall of 105 francs a share was the work of a few minutes . En revanche , fourteen millions ( of francs ) is said to be profit realized by the gentlemen who rule us , in this infamous haul { coup de filet ) . Now they will let the funds mount up again till the end of the month , to coax the appetites of { pour rafriander ) the speculators , and so once more to take advantage of the high quotations . As for the inferiors ( douhlures ) of theElysee , not being admitted to these high speculations of their masters , they are allowed to manipulate the secondary jobs . These supernumeraries take ifc out of the nnny contracts . They are preparing a great change in tho bead-dross of the army . The schako is to be entirely
abandoned for the casque . This will be an expense of some ten millions ( of francs ) to the country , and a profit of from four to five millions ( of francs ) to these " saviours " of ours . After that one may surely cry Vive VEmperenr 1 All the while condemnations and transportations go on bravely . At Jtouen , some working-men who hud spoken ill of the President wero lately condemned to two years imprisonment . When they heard their sentence they shouted ' Vive hi ' Republique JJemocratique ! The judges recalled them , and sentenced them to two years additional . Seven more citizens in tho south wero transported on the iOth instant to Algeria . On tho . same ( lay eleven others wero . shipped for Cayenne . S .
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( HONKUAL PIKItCK IOLKCTKI ) PHKSIDKNT . Am we have all along foretold that Franklin I'ierec would bo elected president of theTrnimathintie , republic , it , is Home satisfaction to find that the intelligence brought by the Kuropa , on Tuesday , confirms our predictions . The JCuropn left New York on the Urd . It nmy be regarded as beyond doubt , that the Democrats have carried the day , and that General I'iereu is elected president , and William \\ . King , vicepresident of the United States . True , wo have not the retuniH of any one State yet ofliciully complete , but enough in known to decide the fate of tho election .
Gonic Foil Til K I ) kmoch . ath .--Staf . ool Maine , H electoral votes ; New Hampshire , f >; I ' onnsylvania , 'J 7 ; Virg inin , lf >; South Carolina , 7 ; Georgia , 10 ; . Morion , , 't ; Indiana , l . 'J ; Illinois , II ; I own , 4- ; WiHCoiisin , ft ; Michigan , ( 5 ; Missouri , 5 ); Alabama , !'; Misnissippi , 7 ; Arkansas , 4 ; Texas , 4 . Total , 117 votes . I should here remark that wo have no telegraphies from Texas ; buf , that State bus ever been ho overwhelmingly democratic . 1 , 1 ml ; there need be no hesitation in putting down her four votes iih certain for I'ierce and King .
Gone fok the Whigs . —Vermont , 5 votes ; Rhode Island , 4 ; Connecticut , 6 ; Delaware , 3 ; Maryland , 8 ; North Carolina , 10 j Kentucky , 12 ; Tennessee , 12 ; total , 60 . Doubtful ( or rather States not yet sufficiently heard from in all parts to enable us to regard their votes as certainties ) . —Massachusetts , 13 votes ; New York , 35 ; New Jersey , 7 ; Ohio , 23 ; Louisiana , 6 ; California , 4 ; total , 88 . There is no doubt , in fact , that Franklin Pierce has been elected by an unparalleled majority .
If is not generally known that the people do not vote directly for the president . They vote for certain individuals in each State , called " presidential electors "and these electors are of the same number in each State as said State sends to Congress—that is , her representatives in the House and Senate of the United States . These electors are named in State conventions by each party , and every citizen therefore votes the ticket or list of his party . The " electors " of all the States amount to 295 in number , and form what is
called an " electoral college . " They do not , however , all meet together , but the presidential electors" of each State assemble at the capitol of said State , in obedience to their Governor ' s proclamation , and there formally cast the vote of the State for Scott or Pierce , as the case may be . They then send sealed duplicates to Washington , by members of their own body , and these are deposited in the United States department , and are officially opened and formally promulgated before the assembled members of both houses of Congress ,
In the event of neither of the candidates receiving a majority of the electoral votes—which may be the case when there are three or more candidates—the matter devolves upon the House of Representatives , the members of which then proceed to elect a President out of the nominees before the people . Here is a list of the " presidential electors , " per number , for each State : — Maine , 8 votes ; New Hampshire , 5 ; Vermont , 5 ;
Massachusetts , 13 ; Uhode Island , 4 ; Connecticut , 6 ; New York , 35 ; Now Jersey , 7 ; Pennsylvania , 27 : Delaware , 3 ; Maryland , 8 ; Virginia , 15 ; North Carolina , 10 ; South Carolina , 7 ; Georgia , 10 ; Florida , 3 ; Ohio , 23 ; Indiana , 13 ; Illinois , 11 ; Iowa , 4 ; Wisconsin , 5 ; Michigan , 6 ; Kentucky , 12 ; Misvsouri , 9 ; Alabama , 9 ; Louisiana , 6 ; Tennessee , 12 ; Mississippi , 7 ; Arkansas , 4 ; . Texas , 4 ; California , 4 . Whole . number of votes , 295 ; necessary to a choice , 148 . Slaves States , including Delaware , 15 ; electoral vote , 119 . Free State 3 , 10 ; electoral vote , i 76 .
The correspondent of the Times gives three reasons for rejoicing in the success of Franklin Pierce : — " I rejoice most heartily in the result . 1 . The issue of protection or free-trade was brought directly before- tho American people , and even those States that are deeply interested in this question have given tho most overwhelming Democratic majorities . This will be encouraging news to the friends of free-trade in Great Britain and all over the world . The course marked out by tho great Sir Robert Peel as the truo policy for enlightened commercial nations our country has now entered upon . Sho will tako no step backward , and whatever modifications are made in our tariff of 1840 will hereafter bo made on tho . side of free-trade .
" 2 . 1 rejoice in tho result , because tho nation hns pronounced against military candidates . This is a great civic triumph—it is tho triumph of enlightened opinion , and it may be rrgnrded as a final oik * , because the experiment wn . s fried on the most popular military chieftain this country has had since the revolution , and all the elements of success were centred in General Scott , as i ' ar as they ever can centre in . a'Whig military candidate . " ; i . I rejoice in the result , because a most emphatic and withering rebuke lins been administered to tho . spirit of fanaticism . It was bv the political iuurtrlcry of the
Froe-Hoil politicians ( , 1 ml ; Webster and Killmoro were , given up for a man who hud no claims to the oflico except thoso which grew out of military achievements . I have endeavoured in my letters to untold the reasons why I look with no much apprehension upon the possible ascendancy of tho Freesoil party . . It seemed to me Mint , no man in his senses either could conceive or believe that American slavery was likely to be overthrown by the exertions of these men , while only two yeurs ago there was tho most serious alarm among nil . Americiins who loved their country that tho result of the Kree . soil agitation would be the dismemberment of the ItepuHic ,
'' It . ih very evident , this morning that all the [ fnion Whigs rejoiiM ) also in the defeat of << cneral Scott , and I am enabled To say , on testimony which I deem perfectly reliable , that Mr . Webster , on his dying bed , sent , a message to Mr , Choato , Ins personal friend , and the most distinguished lawyer in New Knglnnd , begging- him ' not to mar his future pr < mjieets l > y taking one single step in tho support of Scott , ; and tell him , ' said I lie grunt slal . OHUiun , ' us my dying message , that after the 2 nd day of November the Whig pnrt . y , as a mtUitnal party , will exist only in history . ' "
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November 20 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 1107
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TIIK KAI- 'lIt W'Ml . Tine Proponlis , whieli arrived on Monday from tho (' ape , brings iicwh up to the i ) fh of October . Tho niosli striking piece of intelligence is that ( icnerul (' utheai't , by a . series of well-planned operations , linn driven IMacomo from the Wulerkloof . When these wero completed , suys the oflieiul account ,, "the Hfivoral columns moved iijion the fastneHsm thuy were to clour
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 20, 1852, page 1107, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1961/page/7/
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