Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 20th November 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 21, all this, that Louis Napoleon was suppor...

Page 21
Page 21
21 of 32

On this page

  • Departments (1)
    • ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.
  • Text (4)
  • 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.

      ¦ W«A*I. November 20, 1858.] The Leaiee....

      ¦ W « A * i . November 20 , 1858 . ] THE LEAIEE . 1261

      Original Correspondence.

      ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE .

      All This, That Louis Napoleon Was Suppor...

      all this , that Louis Napoleon was supported as a pis tiller and as a precursor to the counter revolution , it is impossible to deny that his power was the creation of the people . The moral is , that the present suffering under despotism is a righteous punishment for the abandonment of principle for individual gain . It is a proof which ought to be burned into the hearts of parties here , that the end does not justify the means , and that to bring back the Gomte de Paris or the Due de Chambord ¦ it was not lawful to conspire to influence votes in order to the election of a Bonaparte to the Presidency , and that it was infamous beyond measure to participate in the traitorous destruction of the Republic in 1852 . To stab men in the dark was never ultimately successful as a party policy . It was cowardly and unnecessary then , for the press and speech were free , and the Republic might have been destroyed , if not supported by the nation , in the broad light of day , by an honourable , fair , and manly attack . Looking upon the situation dispassionately and impartially , it would seem that a great work of retribution is being wrought out . There is another fact which must be borne in mind , and that is , that the immense majority of Frenchmen have not the remotest idea of independence , nor the faintest conception of the rights and duties of freedom . The only liberty they understand is the faculty to prevent others from doing as they please . The few who do comprehend freedom and hunger after its enjoyment —among whom M . de Montalembert can scarcely claim to be counted unless he be greatly changed—are a fraction of a fraction . They are , unfortunately , an insignificant minority , so far as regards their numbers , and the evidence of facts will not allow of a doubt that , should the Emperor strike off the little remnant of independence , he will meet with the support rather than the > opposition of the majority , so long as lie seeks to promote J their material prosperity . Further , the dissemination of j false and ignoble ideas respecting equality ,, which make ' most men jealous of their neighbours , and particularly j envious of intellectual superiority , constitutes the great j force of his Government . His position is guarded by j a triple bulwark of envy , selfishness , aud ignorance— j " et ses triplex Circa pectus erat ;—" and were it possible for him to reduce all literature to the dead level of the writings of Cassagnac , Cesena , Veuillot , Boniface , Esparbe , Vitu , Schiller , Rapetti , and the i gnoble , venomous clique that , shameless , prostitute their pens ; to bind down in fetters every effort . of "the mind that did not tend tola ' s service ; and to enchain every tongue that did not wag in loathsome adulation of himself , measures , and race , —could he encompass these things , he would find no opposition among the masses , for their true political education has not yet commenced . SPECULATIONS ON THE FUTUKE . ; It may be thought that in what has been stated an exaggerated and melancholy picture is drawn of the condition of France , one which shuts out all hope of improvement ; but men who have been in power under the Republic and constitutional Governments take a much more gloomy view : they prefer to suffer present evils rather than venture upon the unknown . There is a general dread of the hereafter , a conviction that the population are not with them , but as likely , if a commotion were provoked , to welcome a still heavier despotism as they would the wild , sanguinary licence of a new Terror . A late secretary to tho Minister of the Interior said , in my hearing , long since , " The future i $ ' dark and uncertain : it shows no glimmerings of light by ' which wo may hope to reach a safe harbour . We have nothing to guide us , nothing to inspire us with hope for i ultimate salvation . The worst passions and lowest instincts j of pur nature are becoming more and more developed . A . change of Government might be the signal for the ; disintegration of French society and the destruction of j France as a nation . " I confess that I do not share in ; these desponding views , but believe that in the course i of time France may achieve as great a measure of hide- , pondenco as is enjoyed by any other nation , and ulti- i mately work out her own salvation . And it is only , fair to state that the moans by which this regeneration ] of the people may bo effected haa boon afforded under < tho present regime . For tho first time since Louis XIV ., ( An attempt is mado at decentralisation of tho admiuis- ] tration of internal affairs and to develop local self- j government . The attempt is certainly very small and i very feeble , but still it is a atop in tho right direction , < for until Frenchmen are competent to manage tho affairs ; of their own commune , or arrondissomont , or municipality , without constant reference to Paris , it if } absurd to sup- < pose thorn capublo of directing the business of the na- ) tlon . In this measure of decentralisation lies tho < foundation of French Uborties , and as men make rapid i progress in these days , it is quilo possible , provided t public attention bo not distracted by wars , that tho pre- ] Bent or next generation may witncBS tho achievement of < tho edifice ; and tho nation weaned from admiration of a strong Government to lovo and rovorenco for a good Government . , THE UI-TRAM 0 NTANB 8 , , How it may be asked , oan tho results of M . do Monta- < lombert ' s trial exorcise any effect upon tho future , if the < ¦

      PRANCE . [ From our own Correspondent . ) Paris , Thursday , 6 £ *••**• DE MOJJTAL . EMBEKT TRIAL . The prosecution of M . de Montalembert for his equitable criticism of English institutions , and-for his manly expressions of disgust-at the horrors perpetrated by Nena Sahib and the Hindoo rebels , is , as might be expected , the theme of universal speculation . The trial is looked forward to with an amount of interest which it must be difficult in England to understand and impossible to realise . It is felt to be the great and , perhaps , final struggle between freedom and despotism , which will determine the fate of Frenchmen for years to come , and maybe for generations yet unborn . Should free thought be vanquished in the person of M . de Montalembert , a long and dreary night will drive into inaction the active intellect of an ingenious nation , which has hitherto been foremost in the march of civilisation , and we may look for the emigration of all that is honest and intelligent in France—an emigration as great as that which followed upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes , and which , as much as anything else , raised up an insurmountable barrier to the accomplishment of the policy of Louis XIVY If , on the other hand , Liberty should rise up in her terrible and irresistible majesty , if the trials of the last few years should have purified and strengthened the hearts of the people so as to have rendered them worthy of her service , we may witness the destruction of many false gods that were set up chiefly under the Consulate and first Empire , and whose worship has depraved , debased , and emasculated a whole nation . For the tyranny which grinds down the hearts of men here , which breaks their spirits , perverts their belief , and tramples out their intellectual life * . ' proceeds less from the acts of whosoever may chance to sit upon the throne than from the entire system of government . The change of dynasty brings no increase to freedom . The measure of personal and political liberty -was greater under the Bourbons than under the Oileanists , and , a fortiori , than under the Bonapartes . Nothing like the repressive laws which are now concurred in without murmuring were dreamed of before 1830 . Then there was a show , even if it went ho further , of deference to justice . and to public opinion , but now that—slight homage to right as it was—has been swept away , and brutish might recognised as the sole arbitrator and supreme law of society . To comprehend how great is the difference between the monarchical government of the Bourbons and the democratic imperialism of the Bonapartes , the render has only to recal to mind what General Foy and General Lain arque were allowed to say , without let or hinderance , and contrast it with what M . de Montalembert is to be prosecuted for for having written . Let him go one step further , and compare the garrison of Paris then and now . Not more than 7000 men of all arms occupied the capital in 1830 , while the army of Paris iu the present day numbers at least 40 , 000 , exclusive of the political police and spies , regular and irregular , which it is totally impossible to estimate . Under the chief of the . Orleans branch there was less freedom than when his ' dear cousin wore the crown . There was also infinitely j more corruption ; and no Government so well as his ' merited to be stigmatised as an organised hypocrisy . But now we have arrived from bad to worse , and any one who will take the pains to trace the backward pro- i gress of Government hero since the noble principles of , the Revolution were drowned in the red stream which , flowed from the guillotine , set up during the Terror , will : preserve a regular and sequential order in the successive relapses from freedom to despotism . THE EMriSROU AND LIBERTV . In examining tho condition of France and speculating , upon her future , y / o should rise above mere personal considerations , and strive to reason in a broad and pliilo- | sophieal spirit . Were tho dynasty to ho changed to . , morrow there would probably be less liberty than at . present , small as it is , and I think Englishmen greatly err when they imagine tho present Government and its chief not to have the sanction and support of the immense majority of the people . We ought not to forget that under a aoi-disant republic was Prince Louis Na . poleon elected President . It would be absurd and opposed to all fact to maintain that he had any other means of obtaining votes than by the magic of his name . Whatever ho is , ho is by the free and unfettered choice of the people . Nor must it bo forgotten that M . do Montalembert was among tho first to rally to him as tho " man of order and , after tho coup d'Mat , to give his sanction and approval to ' that illegal , unconstitutional , and traitorous act , in the columns of tho Univera . I fully admit that the candi- dateship of Prince Louis Napoleon was advocated by all those Legitimists , Orleanlsts , Socialists , and Ultramontones , who hatod constitutional liberty as it bid fair to bfi dovolopeaundor tho Republic But while admitting 3

      HHIBMHMHHIBail ^ i ^ aBlilHHaMaBMHnMaHHHHH ^^^ lMMMVpaaiM ^ MM * deliverance of France from , her enslavement is to be by degrees , and to be produced by an invigorating change in the habits of thought of tho people themselves ? or how can the battle between freedom and tyranny be decided on that occasion , when despotism is almost sure to obtain a verdict , being confessedly popular , and supported by the masses ? I confess I do not look for any immediate effect from the trial . I do not suppose that the judges will have sufficient honesty and courage to pronounce an acquittal . But if they were to do so , then indeed the results would be immediate and all-potent . Limits would be placed to imperial caprice , the majesty of the law would be vindicated , and a loftier power asserted than that which is wielded by a " providentiallysent dynasty . " It is just possible that thi 3 may be done , but I think it very improbable . One result is , however , I think , inevitable . Men who by their social position , education , and intelligence , are competent to take part in the direction of public affairs , will not waste their time and energies in Paris plotting more or less the overthrow of a Government which they refuse to temper by their co-operation , but will direct all their efforts to the development of public spir it , independence , and national life , among the inhabitants of the provinces , so that when the next change occurs it may proceed , riot from , but towards Paris , and be less a revolution than an improvement , a change not of form , but of the spirit of government . It would be wrong to see in the approaching trial nothing more than a struggle between the representative of absolutism and the admirer of freedom . It is not temporal tyranny alone which is striving for universal mastery , for that it has well-nigh attained , but religious intolerance and fanaticism , which , under the cover of imperialism , seek to attain to supreme dominion . M . de Montalembert was at one time the protege of the Ultramontanes . He was their most eloquent writer and orator , but having seen the mercenary and ungenerous spirit of the party , its unsparing use of low invective and infamous calumny , he withdrew from the ranks without ceasing to be a sincere and conscientious member of his Church . Some portion of English spirit * which he doubtless inherited from his mother , rose against the insolent pretensions of the clique . He couldnot brook association with such dirty , nasty tools as Veuillot and Goquille , much less their assumption of infallible authority over the clergy and laity of his creed . He did not believe in the sincerity of one who made religious discussions a trade , and whose de"but in literature was more scandalous and profligate than anything which ever issued from Holy well street . Now , the prime movers in the prosecution of M . de Montalembert are not the partisans of the Empire nor the persona followers of the Emperor * The Count de Persigny is notoriously opposed to it , and so also , it is said , is Prince Napoleon . It may be that they look upon it as impolitic and dangerous , probably as the commencement of that end which must be so disastrous to them and to their prospects . But the Ultramontanes , who have recently obtained great sway at Court , are determined to punish what they term desertion , and to destroy in M . de Montalembert the chief advocate of the liberties of the Galli can Church .

      | ¦ | | Germany. (From Our Own Correspon...

      | ¦ | | GERMANY . ( From our own Correspondent . ') November 17 . The confidence in the present Ministry of Prussia may be said to be universal in Germany ; the elections , too , bave turned out satisfactorily to the Liberals , and Prussia ' s , and through Prussia , Germany's , future looms up in rosy hues . Those Liberals , however , who are revelling in this bright prospect may be called the Free-Press and No-Police Liberals , those who would be satisled with Prussia as she is , with liberty to write and speak freely . But there is another class of Liberals whom ivo may term the Free-Labour and Free-Trade advocates , who are not by any means dazzled by the confidence which is evinced in and out of Prussia at the prospect which is opened out to them by the late change in the Ministry ; they are not satisfied with a slight change in : he police system , but would be glad to see tho change uctend to the field of political economy , not only in Prussia , but in all Germany , of which Prussia is ambitious to become the loader . As I observed in my last , the retention of Mr . von dor Hoydt in the Ministry has considerably damped the expectations of the Free-Trade Liberals . This party—if the term party can be applied to a number of persons who think alike , but do not , : annot , act in combination , which comprises , I think I may say , the entire commercial body of tho Germanic Confederation— ' -thia party regard tho prosonco of Mr . tron dor Heydt in tho Ministry as a groat obstaclei to jound legislation in the fiotel of political oconomy . rue Free-Trade and Free-Labour Llbomls think , if they 20 UI 4 succeed in striking off tho fetters upon labour ana trade , thoy would get rid at tho snmo time of 0 good t > art of tho bureaucracy . Mr . von dor Heydt has been , luring his administration , tho chief hlnderanco to the jndeavours of the Liberals , although ho Is a scion of the jQinmoroial and manufacturing class , and has frequently Jone battle for industrial progress against tho leudal

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 20, 1858, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20111858/page/21/