On this page
-
Text (3)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
Ms Ministers to punish Russia by an immediate rupture . Persigny , that apothecary who gives himself the airs of a swashbuckler and a fire-eater , loudly supported Bonaparte at first . " We must teach ( he exclaimed ) cet insolent de Nicolas manners , and my advice is at once to send the ambassador his passports . " When once matters were pitched at this diapason , the rest of the Council joined in chorus , and M . Drouin de 1 ' Huys received orders to communicate with M . de Kisseleff on
those terms . His explanations with the latter were very categorical ; he declared it was impossible for his Majesty the Emperor Napoleon III . to allow JVC . de Kisseleff to be accredited to him as long as the Emperor Nicholas declined to give his Majesty the title of " Brother . " M . de Kisseleff himself was really expecting to receive his passports , when , on the following day , the court carriages ( new style ) came to take him to the Tuileries . In the course of twenty-four hours Bonaparte had changed his tone and his language ; it was a very different thing to make war upon an unarmed population and upon the formidable power of Russia . This reflection made the hero of the 2 nd of
December turn pale , and he suddenly became all submission . On the 5 th instant Bonaparte sent the . " court carriages" to conduct in state the ambassacRr whom the very day before he had called an insolent . All Europe will laugh at this flunkey servility { platitude de valet ) The 3 foniteur pompously records the details of the audience given by Bonaparte to the Russian ambassador . The letters of credence from Prussia and Austria are now expected . * They are said to have arrived . Every day we have presentations of ministers of petty powers , duchies , and principalities . After New Years ' day , there was no further motive for the petty conspiracy of delay which the small powers had maliciously organized for the express purpose of leaving Bonaparte bereft of ambassadors at the usual complimentary reception on the first day of the New Year .
Yet Bonaparte thought , with reason , that he had done enough to deserve well of the Northern powers , especially of Russia . He had even given orders to the French ambassador at Berlin , to announce to the Prussian Government , that France would be henceforth closed to any Polish refugees who might come to seek an asylum within her territory . This fact deserves to be given in all its details . The authorities of Scheldborg ( Posen ) had recently expelled two Polish refugees , and had given them & passport ( feuille de
route ) for France . The French ambassador at the Court of Prussia declared to the Prussian Minister of Foreign Affairs , in the name of his Government , that , for the future , foreigners of that class would not be received into France . Consequently , the Prussian Minister of the Interior gave formal orders to deliver no more passports for France to Polish refugees . Bonaparte , you perceive , has constituted himself the gendarme of Europe in France . Up to this time , it is his solo title to glory .
But it is not only before the Foreign Powers that this glorious Emperor bows humbly down—there is no kind , or degree of ubjeot baseness to which lie does not submit at home to win the favours of the clergy . He has just made 11 fresh concession to them , in reconstituting the Council of Public Instruction . All the liberal supporters of the University have been carefully ousted , and replaced by bishops , priests , and luymon , devoted to the clerical purty . Even M . Michel Chevalier , the celebrated political economist , has fallen a sacrifice .+ Ho had been ho rash a . s to advocate ,
in the Council of State , the cuu . se of the University against the encroachments of the priestly party . Notwithstanding all the good graces he appeared to enjoy from Bonaparte , he has been dismissed . Hut this is not all . The Emperor , it is rumoured , secretly meditates a project which even Louis Philippe never dared to entertain . This consists in withdrawing the Ministry of Public , Instruction from the hands of a layman ( and a layman of the University ) , to hand it over to a . bishop . ;}; This would be a return to the best days of the ItcHfconition . For this purpose , the
Ministry of Public Worship will be divided into two sections : — 1 . That of Protestant , Jewish , and Mahometan churches , which will be committed to the Ministry of Justice . 2 . That of the Catholic worship , which will remain under the protection of the Ministry of Public Instruction . - , ¦ This separation is just now warmly solicited by certain members of the clergy to whom Bonaparte can refuse nothing . It is , therefore , very probable that these measures will soon be carried into execution .
The fact is , this weakness of Bonaparte for the clergy belongs to one of the fatalities of his position . He has no point d ' appui , and he is seeking for one in every direction , and at any price . He is like a poor drowning wretch who catches at every reed and straw in desperation . Since the declared hostility of the Legitimists , and the comp lete failure of all the attempts at seduction , which have been brought to bear upon the chiefs of the Republican party , this disposition becomes daily more and more evident . The official journals seem all to have received the same mot d'ordre—they all preach the necessity of adhesion to the reigning
power . Perhaps the Constitutionnel merits the palm in this respect . Mistrustful , no doubt , of its own resources , that journal began yesterday by invoking the authority of M . Troplong ; while M . Troplong takes refuge in the authority of Machiavel . The Constitu-Honnal concludes , that there is no other course for wise Republicans , who are sincere asserters of the principle ef the ' sovereignty of the people / than to rally to the Government , which is the glorious exponent of that sovereignty . After having , in this wise , persuaded the Republicans , it turns to the Legitimists of the Gazette de France school : —" You are , " it says ,
" partisans of the National Sovereignty ; in that case , I am your man—' prenez votre ours '—take Bonaparte , the glorious product of ^ the National sovereignty . " Not even the Orleanists are spared the despairing appeal of the Constitutionnel — " You are Liberals , " it says to them ; " under that title you have fought for thirty-five years for the intervention of the people in their own affairs , Well then , now you have that grand thought realized . JThe Empire is nothing else but the people incarnate in the highest personification of our epoch , in that great man , called Bonaparte !"
This pertinacity of the official journals has been much remarked . It proves one thing at least , that the denizens of the Tuileries are beginning to be afraid of their isolation , and of the yawning' void around them . Indeed , this isolation is complete ; it has reached even the saloons of the Ministers , open to any number of snobs that may condescend to enter them ; and yet remaining half deserted . You have no idea of such a solitude . It seems as if there were a mute conspiracy of absence . No fetes , no balls , no soirees , no dinners . All the saloons of Paris are closed . You might fancy
that the plague had just passed away , and that ; Paris had become a vast Necropolis . The Government is reasonably scared at such u state of tilings . In vain does Bonaparte give orders to all those valets , disguised as marquises , to give halls , soirees , and dinners ; in vain lie gives them himself—the invitations are declined . It would be enough to make him shoot himself , if he were not reserved for higher destinies . Even the creatures he has enriched turn their hacks on him . He counted on that world of finance to which he has thrown millions in money and jobs , being ready to spend their money largely , and so to enable the other classes of society to reap some advantage from their sudden wealth . Nothing oft . he kind .
Bonaparte in reduced to his twenty-live millions ( ol francs ) and to the heavy salaries of his creatures , to keep trade moving . On this point , lie lias inherited ol the Emperor Napoleon the most stupid notions . I It ' fancies he is performing an act , of genius when , after extorting u million sterling from tho entire collective population of France , lie spends that sum for the exclusive profit of u lew tradesmen . When ho has paid heavily his wine-merchant , his cook , his tailor , his jockey , his eouehmuker , and his horse-dealer , lie fancies he has enriched all France . . Such are the traditions ol imperial economy . Faithful parrot , lie repeats them with imperturbable satisfaction , in spite of the progress of the age , and in defiance of the inarch of
infelligonce . ... , Meanwhile hoiiio recent nominations have aroused many jealousies among his intimates . It appears he had promised everybody all the vacant offices , and as it was impossible to satisfy each in his turn , all the ousted ones licensed him of ingratitude . Berliner , otherwise ' I'rintfe de Wagrani , was to huve been Master of the Hounds { grand iwnrur ) , he bad told all I ' tiris so , and I hud told you . When Bonaparte gave this place ,
with its 100 , 000 francs , to Marshal Magnan , Berthier wrote a very pungent letter to Bonaparte , in which he sent in his resignation a . s . senator . " I can no longer ( lie wrote ) remain faithful to a man who has never been faithful to his own engagements . " Several other l ? onapartists who were to have been senators , and who were not appointed , have been equally mortified . The sons of Lannes , among others , ( now the Montebello family , ) saw Larochejaquelin , a Legitimist , promoted
to the dignity of senator , and themselves excluded . M . de Niemverkerke , the director of the Fine Arts , in his capacity of amant of the Princess Muthilde , considered himself entitled of right to the 30 , 000 francs of a senator . Missing his name in the list , he betrayed the keenest disappointment . On the same day he had % terrible scene with Princess Mathilde , who promised to bring the Emperor to his senses ( " laver comme il faut la tete a ce crasseux TSmpereiir . '" )
There is no novelty stirring . The Momteur is a . dull and as vacant as the Tuileries . Two or three little insignificant decrees now and then just to " make act of" sovereignty , that is all it contains . The electoral colleges of eight arrondissements are convoked : they have to replace eight deputies whose civic virtue has found its reward in admission to the senate . These elections , I need not add , possess no
public interest at all . The Legitimist resignations are still going on , as well as the fall in the funds . In order to mislead public opinion , Bonaparte has been buying , at heavy prices , the Legitimist prints in the provinces , and after making them change their line of advocacy , his functionaries and agents spread the report that these journals are converted to the cause . This has been recently the case with the Gazette du Has Ijanguedoc .
One rumour , however , is abroad which deserves to be noticed . Bonaparte is absolutely bent upon glory . He is burning for a campaign ; but it wont be a Russian campaign—it is to be the campaign of Sahara ! A considerable expedition is preparing in Africa . In the spring Bonaparte ( says rumour ) is to put himself at the head of the troops , and to command the expedition in person ; We shall have the pleasure of singing " MalbrooTc s ' en va fen querre . " A more lively feeling
against him prevails in the working population of 1 nns just now . In memory of Boulogne and Strasbourg , he is never known among them now Ly any other name than Bou-stra-pa , a name composed of the first syllables of the three words , Boulogne , Strasbourg , and Paris . A poor fellow appeared only a few days since before the correctional police for having called the Emperor Boustrapa . Another working man has been thrown into prison for having cut with a knife a piece of money bearing the effigy of Bonaparte . S .
Untitled Article
* They lmvo since boen presented . — --hi ) . . Leader . ¦\ Wo may ndd , that tho numo of M . do Monhdemhcrt no longer appours in tho list . Mo that evon men " devoted U ) tho clerical party" uro inadininNiblo , unless ( hey are equally devoted to Absolutism , spiritual and temporal . Tho ohuhhioii of Bucii a name in a negative fact , I'm- inoro significant of tho progress of retrogression in Franco than n . host of decrees . With regard to M . Michel ( , 'liovalicr , bo long as he remains u Hcnator , and ( an wo believe ) , a personal acquaintance of tho Emperor Honaparte , wo may concede some credit to tho existing French sywUim of government ( to givo oven Napoleon III . his duo ) lor at least commercial tendencies in tho direction of Free Trado , and this will , perhaps , * atono for much in the eyes of oortain of our " pomublo" 1 / iboruls ut honi ( v--Ki ) . Jjeader . ,,., , t Wo recommend Uicho " management cIiihhoh" to tho ¦ ympathtitio digestion of Archdoacon Duiuhoii . — Ed , Leader .
Untitled Article
CONTINENTAL NOTES . Trrfi Prussian and Austrian ambassadors presented their credentials to the Emperor on Tuesday last , and the ()! toman ambassador on Wednesday . Most , of the petty states of Germany have ; presented their letters of credence . The Spanish Minister has notified to the Kinperor the delivery of tho Duchess of Montpensior of a daughter . A largo quantity of the new coinage ol' the Empire has been thrown into " circulation at the banks and changes . While the tasteful execution of the various coins is generally much admired , it . is objected that their intrinsic value is far below that of the corresponding pieces of any coinago since the former Napoleon ' s in I HON . A duel has taken place between M . de Nieuwcrkerke and Colonel F . dgar Ney . As t . hese gentlemen are both intimates of tluS Emperor , the former being Director of the Fine Arts and attached to l ! ie Princess Mathilde , the hitter an aide-de-camp of the Emperor , the all ' air has created Home . sensation . The Moiiiteitr has published a decree giving the title of Iniperial to all the military schools and other establishments of the artillery and engineers . A projected match between the Einpcrovand a Princess of the house of 1 lohennollcrn is reported to have been broken oil" by the Iving of Prussia . No person under snrnritl < t ) i-cr is to be allowed ( o reside in any of the localities where there are imperial residences . The correspondent of the I tail i / Attics writes ,- " Yon will remember ( hat . shortly before the Kmperor ' s election the nionU ' -ur took everybody by surprise I n conspicuously publishing three red republican proclamations , w / iicli till then the police bad used every elfort to repress . One of these wan signed by ( amongst others ) Victor Hugo .
Another wan understood to be the composition <>( ' i-edru Uollin . Hut I ho third , signed "the revolutionary committee , " which openly recommended a general massacre of all the ' adherents of ' I lie preMcnt government , was indignantly disavowed by all shades of republicans in Paris . Tito authorship of this Nimguiuury document has now been discovered , and it is Natisfaelory U | know that be is a person of no consideration , and one , who there in reason to believe , has no followers . lie in a M . Neigneuret , un in - Hiirgent of . I line , 1 HIH , v \ ho then look reluge in Jersey , where lie ban ever wince resided . The proclamation was a
constant subject of con versa ! ion among the Jersey refugees , who suspected il . to be a fabrication of the police , and oxprcHHcd Hie utmost anxiety to trace out its source , in order to relieve i \ ni republican party from the suspicion of harbouring designs which they desired energetically to repudiate . In the couroo of theue conversations , Heigneuret at
Untitled Article
^ January 15 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . 51
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 15, 1853, page 51, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1969/page/3/
-