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    1174 ^^e &*«*«*. [SaTORDAV

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    THE BONAPARTIST INVOLUTION. "K0C1KTY IS ...

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    ¦' ¦'? Profound And Universal Disgust Is...

    an unheard of freedom of developement , and what is it now ? Dependent for its vitality on outlying stations , and prisoner in its own capital to the troops of France . Will the London Union reflect that no healthy freedom of developement for the Church is possible , unaccompanied by the freedom of humanity . The antipodes of St . Martin ' s-hall are they who assembled at Crosby-hall—small descendants of the great Puritans of another ' 48 . Will these

    estimable persons reflect also , that in practice " voluntary" education too often ends in being involuntary ignorance . Stern Protestants stand up for their " denominations , " as earnestly as the Church of the London Union stands up for ' * her own children " ; rendering national education impossible and national ignorance still very possible and actual . Why will not each meet on the common ground of secular instruction , and each separate again for the purpose of religious education ?

    Expansive substances seem warring on the human race just now , or the human race is getting too confident of its mastery over dangerous agencies . Last week , gunpowder was the manslayer ; this week , steam , gas , and fire-damp are the fatal agents . A boiler at Footscray explodes , nobody knows why—but why does nobody know ? At Liverpool , a young man enters a room with a light , sees a blue flame for a moment , and instantly the

    house is shaken to pieces by an explosion . At the village of Woodthorpe , two miles or so from Sheffield , there is a coal-pit . One of the avenues of the pit was known to be " surcharged with inflammable gas "; nevertheless , with an exposed light , a youth went down the avenue : result , youth himself " burned to ashes , " and two others killed . Cause , pit ventilated by one shaft instead of two . This manslaughter is set down as a " colliery accident , " of course !

    But more striking explosions of a moral kind are those in Ireland—the disclosure of the connexion between the Lord-Lieutenant and a Dublin newspaper ; the resuscitation of Orangeism ; and the resurrection of Ribandism . The story of Lord Clarendon ' s subsidizing a journal is old , but the fact is confirmed by the trial in the Court of Queen ' s Bench . Lord Clarendon ' s share in the matter is indicative of laxity and a certain " green " 1

    reliance on newspaper puffingfor the maintenance of " law and order , " rather than for any baser purpose . The trait does not indicate much capacity for vigorous government . Orangeisrn is taking the mild form of a benefit organization . Kilmndism displays itself as fiercely as ever in midday murder : Mr . Thomas Douglas Bateson is assaulted in the highway , and beaten to death ; not a aoul iuUirfunng to rescue hiin , or to capture the murderers—Kibandinen summoned to the work

    from a distance ; . Districts are " proclaimed " under the Coercion Act as disturbed ; and the Northern , \\ fug speaks of Ribandism as extensive . k > o commences the winter in Ireland !

    1174 ^^E &*«*«*. [Satordav

    1174 ^^ e &*«*«* . [ SaTORDAV

    The Bonapartist Involution. "K0c1kty Is ...

    THE BONAPARTIST INVOLUTION . " K 0 C 1 KTY IS SAV 1 U ) . " " Paris is perfectly tranquil , " was the laconic announcement of the telegraph on Saturday morning , liut how - was I ' aria brought into a state of tranquillity ? The answer is nhort and terrible—by the massacre of 2700 persons , hundreds of whom were shot in cold blood in the Chump tie Mars , on Friday night . 'The litful proceedings of Wednesday were succeeded by a bloody conflict on the following day . . Determined to Htrike terror into all his opponents , M . Bonaparte a tillered the hot-headed youth of Paris

    to raise wonie barricades , in order that he might have a pretext for the use of his cannon and bayonets . Ami <» n Thursday about mid-day , in wopublie a place as the Porte JSt . J ) enin , a large barricade waa raised , defended on the Hanks and in the rear by similar Htructuren . Very few men were engaged in the work , and a vast concourse looked on . Not a soldier waa in sight , not a policeman visible . Suddenly , up came a vast body of troops nweeping the streetH , supported by cavalry and artillery , under the command of ( Jenerul Cain-let . How long they were

    engaged in Htorming thin barricade it in nnptmisiblo to Hay , lor the accounts are derived from the French Police , and are therefore untrustworthy ; but we have the grim fact before us that the barricade was taken , and those of its defenders who were not who ! , or bayoneted in tho assault , carried nway and iniiHsuered in cold blood iu the Chump de Mart * . Similar tragedies were acted on other points : in the . lloulovurd Poi . ssoinere , at the Porte St . Martin , in the Rue Rainhutcuu , and the Houleviirtl Bonne Nouvcllc . There was hot rcHiHtanoe ; there were great lioneu ut tho JMvhGo that the reul men of tho

    barricades would turn put ; but St . Antoine would not move ; St . Marceau -was quiet ; Montmartre was provokingly calm ; the old fighting grounds were undisputed , and the disappointed praetorians marched up and down with horse and foot and met no foe . The phrase used by a workman lias become famous , " th . ere was nothing to fight about . " Np one can complain of the slaughter at the barrioades . If men take arms , they must run all risks , and the last men to regret would be the victims themselves . But there were other slaughters , not at barricades , perpetrated by the troops . They were of this kind . In the Rue Poissoniere , a

    small body of persons were walking along the trottoir , when up marched a regiment of infantry . The commanding officer perceived in the crowd a man whom he declared had been defending a barricade . Instantly the supposed " insurgent" was arrested . His companions cried Vive la Ripublique ! and without a moment ' s warning the soldiers fired on the people , killing upwards of thirty on the spot . Detachments scoured the streets , capturing isolated , weakly built , weakly defended barricades , and replying to every shot from the houses by

    tremendous discharges of musketry , and sometimes of cannon . Imagine the consternation of respectable Paris when it learned that the Maison d'Oree , the Cafe de Paris , the Cafe Tortoni , and a large tailoring establishment , together with several other houses , had been smashed in with musketry and cannon balls . Cuirassiers rode in among the crowds on the pavement , and lancers used their weapons without ceremony . The slaughter was immense , both of the resisting and unresisting . In the evening the Minister of War issued the following audacious proclamation to the army .

    ' ' Soldiers !—You have to-day accomplished a great act of your military life . You have preserved the country from anarchy and pillage , and saved the Republic . You have shown yourselves what you will always be—brave , devoted , and indefatigable . France admires you , and thanks you . The President of the Republic will never forget your devotedness . Victory could not be doubtful ; the true people , all honest men , are with you . In all the garrisons of France your companions in arms are proud of you , and will , when called on , follow your example . " A . de Saint-Arnaud . " To the civilians came a proclamation signed De Maupas .

    " The emeute is suppressed . Our enemies are henceforth powerless to raise barricades . Nevertheless , the excitement to revolt continues . Ardent demagogues mix with the groups to excite to agitation and circulate false news . The Montagnard ex-representatives turn to account the last remnants of their old prestige to lead the people witli them . Furnished lodging-houses , cafe ' s , and suspected houses become the receptacle of conspirators and insurgents . Arms , ammunition , and

    incendiary writings are concealed there . All the causes of agitation must be suppressed by practising on a large scale a system of search and arrests . It is the means of restoring to the capital that peace and tranquillity which a handful of factious men have sought to take from it . You have all done your duty with so much devotedness and courage that 1 doubt not but that , in order to fulfil this new and important mtHsion , you will display all the vigilance and energy which are culled for by circumstances . Dii Maiii'As . "

    But it was on this night also that M . Bonaparte received the following letter , to which he returned a cold and evasive reply .

    " Mr DEAit Nei'hkw , —French blood is flowing ; stop it ; by serious appeal to the people . Your sentiments are badly understood . The second proclamation , in which you talk of plebiscite , is badly received by the people , who do not consider it the reestablishment of the right of suffrage . Liberty is without guarantee if an Assembly does not suit the constitution of the itepublic . The army has the upper hand . It is the moment to complete the material victory by a moral victory ; and what the Government cannot do when it is beaten it ought

    frequently to do when it is victorious . After having beaten the ancient , parties , restore the people ; proclaim that universal suffrage , sincere , unshucklcd , acting in accordance with the greatest liberty , will nominate the President and a Constituent Assembly , to biivc und restore the Republic . It is in the name of the memory of my brother , and partaking his horror of civil war , that I write to you . JJelieve in my old experience ; think that France , J'Jurope , and posterity will well judge you . " Your affectionate uncle , Jkuomh I 5 onata ltri :. "

    The next morning the fighting was renewed ; but the only barricade of importance which wn . s defended was in the Hue Jiocheeliouart , and tluit wa . s taken without much difficulty . All day long , however , tht ; cavalry careered through the HtreetH , and occupied tho strong positions * . What took place in the way of tthooting down the people we know not . . Hut there iniiHt have been great butchery somewhere , or upwmdH of ' 2000 could not have been nlain . Saturday pawned off , ub far us Paris was concerned , " tranquilly" ; but it was the tranquillity of death . The afreets were full of HpectatorH .

    Jhe Moniteur published the following decree of the President of the Republic , on the 7 th , restoring tht ! ancient church ol JSto . Genevieve to the Roman (! utholic worship , conformably to the intention of its founder : — << In tho namo of tho French People , the President

    JnstrucSf " ' ° ^ °° ^^^^ rp ^ ^ Having considered the law of the 4 th ~ l 0 th of April , 1806 Ha 7 in S Con 8 idered the decree of the 20 th of Febuary , ' An ^ lisor ^^ ° rd 0 nnan ^ of the 26 th of " Decrees : — tJ ^^ ss ess , saa ^ i t s «¦ " Measures shall be taken at a later nerinri t n r ^ jsr *** exercise of the ci Ris fa refnk J " " The Ordonnance of *« ^ of August , 1830 ,

    " Art . 3 .-The Minister of Public Instruction and of Religious worship and the Minister of Public Works are charged , each as far as concerns him , with the executi o n ° J 77 f- P 5 / - deCiee ' Which sha 11 be inserted in the Bulletin des lots . l wie « v , - t . v " * LotrIS N ^ oleon Bonaparte . " Pans , December 6 . 1 The Minister of Public Instruction and Worship , " H . FORTOUL . " Does the uninitiated reader recognize the sting of this affectedly formal decree ? The church of Ste . Genevieve is—we beg pardon , was—the Pantheon where the ashes of the heroes of France , whose laurels were not won with the sword , were deposed by a greateful country . The Pantheon , wherein the dust of Voltaire and Rousseau and Mirabeau reposes is henceforth sacred to the Pope and the Inquisition . '

    On the same day the Constitutionnel , -with , an effrontery only equalled by its master , wrote , " This is the first time for more than fifty years that the country understands its true interests . " The next day appeared that document , surpassing the brutal gasconnades of the Constitutionnel in impudence , and containing the immense phrase we have used as the sub-title to this narrative . " Frenchmen , —Disturbances have disappeared . What ever be the decision of the people , society is saved . " The first part of my task is accomplished . " The appeal to the nation to terminate the struggles of parties occasioned , I knew , no serious risk to public tranquillity . " Why should the people rise against me ?

    " If I have not your confidence , if your ideas are changed , there is no necessity to shed precious blood ; you have only to deposit in the urn a contrary vote . " I always respect the decision of the nation ; but , till the nation has spoken , I shall not hesitate at any sacrifice to baffle the attempts of the factious . " The task , besides , is now become easy . On one hand , it has been seen how mad it was to contend against an army united and disciplined , animated by honour and patriotism ; on the other , the tranquil attitude of the people of Paris , the reprobation with which they stigmatized the insurrection , show for whom the capital pronounced .

    " In the populous quarters where formerly the insurrection recruited itself so quickly among the workmen easy of seduction , anarchy now encountered only the greatest repugnance for its detestable excitements . " Thanks for such a change is due to the intelligent and patriotic population of Paris . Let them be convinced more and more that my only ambition is to secure the repose and prosperity of France . Let the people of Paris continue to aid the authorities , and the country will soon be able to perform in calmness the solemn act which is to inaugurate a new era for the Republic . " The proper comment on the above is to be found in the Moniteur of the same day : — " The departments of the Herault and the Gard in < t state of sicc / e . The Fifth Legion of the National Guard

    of Paris ia dissolved and disarmed . ' TIIK DEPARTMENTS . Nearly all France is by this timo in n state of siege . On no many points has resistance been made with more or less determination that quite sulHeient pretext has been given to the ruling military faction to iiKHumu all the powers of the utiite . Numbers of departments have been lumped together , and extraordinary eomuuHHioners set over them , with almost unlimited powers—men like M . Curlier , in whose farce oi

    hnntlH will be the control of the coming an election . Isolated and separate riots quelled by gendarmerie and National Guards have occurred ail over France , but no serious movement except peihaps in the South . It in impossible , however , arrive at the truth . Immense- agitation prevails , nna the fact in that one-fourth of France haHbeeu placed ni a Btnte of Hiege . How far we can accept the folio wn g art correct we know not . It is from the dotiutin journal the Pays , edited by Jm Uuerromere , w «« wrote the flattering portrait of M . Bonuparte . i nsHaHih

    " Jacquerie hm raised its flag . Ba « d « « , > travtiBf the country , march on towi . H , invade !> " * ' . houncH , pillage , burn , kill , leaving everywhere on u < _ paHHuge abominable criim-H , which bruiR » " \ , < m days of barbarism . It in not fimuticiHin such a « too < revcalH itself i , i party » trifo—it ih cannibaI . h h K beyond the supposition of tho most hardy .. riag . nati > n To meet such a » tuto of things the organ of M . < l « Lamartine proposes— f «• Let thi . aocial war bo oombatted by a fedora . on « f the whole country-Kepub l . cunH , ^^"'"' f ^ , ^ we proprietors , capitalist , tradcBinen , fnrmera , woi Kwci ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 13, 1851, page 2, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_13121851/page/2/