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Leader (1850-1860), 24th December 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 8, 1408 THE LEAD E R. [No. 457, Degembeii 2...

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      W Fkance. {From Our Own Correspondent^) ...

      silent shade of an enervating security ; * —Pages 260 , 261 , and 266 , where it is given to understand that France undergoes a humiliating tutorship , and is deprived of the reign of right , of light , and of liberty ; "As to the accusation of attacking universal suffrage , and the rig hts and authority which the Emperor holds from the Constitution ; " Whereas the accusation has not been sufficiently established ; " Whereas the misdemeanours imputed to the Count de Montalembert in the publication of the incriminated article in the number of the Correspondant of the 25 th October , 1858 , which has been offered for sale and circulated , have been improperly qualified by the first judges ; that improperly , the judgment appealed against , declared the Count de Montalembert principal author of the misdemeanours laid to his charge , as well as Douniol , editor of the Correspondant ;

      " That in matters of misdemeanours committed by means of the press , the publication whence is derived the injury , and without which there can be no case for proceedings , is considered as constituting the principal misdemeanour ; that particularly with respect to political journals that have deposited caution money and having responsible editors , the article of the law , 18 th July , 1828 , upon newspapers , declares the editors thereof especially responsible for all publications in journals they conduct and represent , while . reserving the faculty of proceeding against the authors when they have voluntarily co-operated to the publication by furnishing the me * as to effectuate ; " Whereas the Count de Montalembert admits having composed and given to Douniol for publication the article subject of the proceedings ;

      . " That thus he has knowingly given to Dounoil the means of committing the misdemeanour resulting from the said article , and has rendered himself guilty of the two misdemeanours above specified ; " That in consequence there is reason to apply to Count de Montalembert Art . 4 of the decree of August 11 , 1848 , Art . 3 of the law of July 25 , 1849 , Art . 60 of the Penal Code , and Art- 366 of the Code of Criminal Instruction , which has been read by the President ; " Whereas , one of the misdemeanours being set aside , there is reason to reduce the punishment pronounced against the Count de Montalembert ;

      " The court has placed and places the appeal aside , amends that which is appealed against , discharges the Count de Montalembert so far as regards attack against the principle of universal suffrage and the rights and authority which the Emperor hold * from the Constitution , reduces to three months the imprisonment pronounced against the Count de Montalembert , maintains the fine of SOOOfr . pronounced by the first judges , condemns the Count de Montalembert to the expenses of the first trial and appeal , and fixes the term of imprisonment for non-payment of the fine at one year . " DUMAS PERE . The Soulouque of French penny-a-liners , Alexandra Dumas p & re , has entered upon a new branch of literary manufacture which promises to be as dull , feeble , and unsubstantial , as wretched a fabric of rotten yarn and " devil ' s dust" as was ever sent forth by that , notorious firm . For some time past the author of Monte-Cristo has been travelling for the benefit of his health , and to pick up new ideas , or rather old lamps , that he may issue them as new . It ia also stated that this travelling has something to do with the preservation of that good digestion which is likely to be disturbed by the ridiculous importunities of unreasonable creditors . Previously , Alexandra Dumas jpere honoured Brussels

      with his presence , and endeavoured to pnss off as a political refugee , the victim of imperial tyranny . But the habit he contracted of taking a return ticket to Paris and back every Sunday destroyed any illusions that may at one time have existed as to his political importance , for Government accord no immunity to their enemies on Sundays , but . only to absconding debtors . Whether the capital of Belgium grew in the course of time to be peopled with the same class of individuals who had in Paris so annoyed the Marquis do la Pultasu , ia not stated , t wonder , by-the-by , when he had the pick and choice of titles , that he should have selected one which , by a trifling error in pronouncing , might seem to indicate his profession , Pailltisse . Bo ( hat , however , as it may , last Juno Alexandra Dumas turned his face northwards and started for Russia , as being the land which best

      accorded with hia liberal ideas and fraternal affection for all men . How the great man-novel was -received has not yet transpired , but extraordinary paragraphs have surged up in the papers among the " fails divers , " and ingenious inventions of monster truffles and eccentric Englishmen ; stating how the mi ghty Aloxandre had his crisp trossea wreathed with flowers by the most noble dames of all the Kuealas ; how the great dignitaries of the empire have divided among thorn tho honour of feeding , clothing , and . lodging him ; how ho travels with an armed escort , and lias commandment over all tho military stations \ and how he wears n ukaso suspended round hit ) neok , whereby tho Alexander of Holstein Gothop ordains respect and homage to bo rendered to the Alexander of la Pullsso . Tho result of this journey due north la a series of lottery tho flrnfc of which appeared In the JStialo of yesterday under tho head of

      "Varie ' te ' s , " a title very apropos to the matter , and wh'ch treats of the emancipation of Kiissian serfs . . " Dumas ' s last Epistle to the Parisians" is dated from Moscow , u 18 th August ( 1 st September ) , " to show how genuine is the communication , and how completely the Russianisiiig has been effected . Alexandra Dumas imagined the emancipation question the easiest tiling in the world to understand and solve , but two months * & tudy and experience of the amiabilities of the proprietors of the serfs convinced him that it was the most difficult . It involves the triple question of principles , prejudice , and interest , wherefore , he savs , "these ideologues , applicators , and utopists who Who the licators

      rush into the future . " " app are , I cannot imagine , but the the ideologues and utopists are , I suppose , the emancipationists . It nppears that there are also in Russia " realists who walk in the present—the press , which raises revolutions , seeing only the object to which they tend , and statesmen , who are alarmed at the road they have to take before arriving at the object . " However , " at the end of two months , after having chatted with the men who urged the Emperor to make the law , and with the slaves in whose favour it was promulgated , with the journalists who provoked it , and with the proprietors who are smitten by it , " the all-knowing Alexandra Dumas believes himself " capable to give

      exact information upon its ( the emancipation ' s ) effect at present , and its consequences in the future . " Iu two months the author of Heaven knows how many hundred volumes of romance lias been able to solve a problem which has been studiedforgenerations unsuccessfully . It is a-pity the letter-writer did not tell us how many minutes he took to acquire sufficient knowledge of the Russian language to be able to " chat with the serfs , " who 3 e education , I presume , has not been sufficiently developed to enable them to speak French . The first letter on the emancipation of Russian serfs is headed " Rome . —Its Increase bv Conquest . —The Slaves . ^— Who they were . —Whence

      they came . ' —The Agrarian Laws . —Their Spirit . —The Gracchi . —Catiline .-T-Caesar . " It ia justice to add that the substance of the . letter answers faithfully to the title , but what Alexandre Dumas's version of Roman history has to do with Russian serfs in the nineteenth century , my ignorance will not allow me to ascertain . True Roman history , as written by ; the great romancier , resembles nothing that has ever been written on Rome previously , from Titus Livius down to Sir George Coriiewall Lewis . Among the numerous discoveries made by this inventive genius , there is one that ought not to be passed over in silence , and that is , that the Gracchi , Catiline , and Caesar are the four great Socialists of antiquity .

      1408 The Lead E R. [No. 457, Degembeii 2...

      1408 THE LEAD E R . [ No . 457 , Degembeii 24 , 1858 .

      Miscellaneous. , The Court.—Her Majesty ...

      MISCELLANEOUS . The Court . —Her Majesty left Osborne on Monday and arrived at "Windsor on the same day . The Queen was accompanied by the Prince of Wales , the Prince Con- sort , and the royal children . The Duchess of Kent has been on a visit to the Castle . On Tuesday the Prince of Wales and his father were present at the perform- anqe of the Westminster play . Tiik Lord MAYon . —His Lordship has rccovored from his recent attack . On Tuesday he presided at the waTd- mote of his own ward , and also at that of Mr . Alderman Finnis . In the evening he entertained nt dinner the members of the Court of Common Council , the clergy , and several friends connected witli the ward . Jenkins in Paiiis . — The following paragraph appears in the Potiatitutiomiel :- * - " Yesterday afternoon , at the moment when a little sunlight had led numberless j ' strollers into the TuUerics , the Emperor and his High- It ness the Prince Imperial appeared in tho reserved garden . A large crowd gathered to see the young | Prince running after his august father in the walks of this little park , uttering joyous cries ovory time his Ma- jeaty allowed himself to bo overtaken . " Spuroko . v on Anctntkctvixk . —At a ton , mooting held lust week , this groat critic remarked in reference to Gothic designs for churches , tlmt lie could never ninku himself heard in thorn , and could easily see that tho Devil invented it .

      Art at tiik Bimtibu Musrum . —Tho colossal lion has arrived at tho British Museum . It ia still in Us case in tho court-yard , and will so remain till tho glass box for the reception of this and other expected antiquities from tho East and Carthngo is completed , and the noble front of tho Musoum turned into tho likeness of a tinker ' s Btrect in Whitochapol , —Athenmwn . Cliuuoal Pnisi- 'KniuisNTs . —Sho sub-dounory of St . Paul's Cathedral , vacant by tho donth of tho Rov . J . Townahond Bennett , M . A ., has boon conferred upon tlm Rov . William Charles Fynoi * Wobbcr , M . A ., of Christ Church , Oxford , incumbent of St . Botolph , Aldcrsgato . —Tho Rov . J . II . Coward , M . A ., rector of St . Hanoi * , Paul ' s Wharf , and minor oiuion of St . I'miI ' m , has boon appointed chaplain to tho Vlnlnoru' Company .

      Moramtv * n Pa no . —Tho French Minister of tho Interior has taken a stop in hum bio imitation of Lord Campbell ' s IIolywell-Htreat Act . Sovonil volumes have lately boon publlnhod in Paris soinowhat more froot liau docent , and % , Dolanglo bus ordorod that thoy nro not to be exposed for Bale in tlio windows and stalls of tho booksellers , but are to bo sold , only with iu tho shops .

      This is the morality described by Voltaire tOhavTTX the heart and taken refuge on the lips The Rev . Thomas I ' oon ^ On Tuesday a snPo- i meeting of the Directors of the Poor of St Pan *™ held at the Vestry-hall , for the . purpose of coffin a proposal , recommending the vestry to rescind > resolution dismissing the Rev . " Thomas Puo-li frOm i ! - office of chaplain of tho worklioiise , ancf requestin ! them to reinstate him in his ehaplaincv . Mr V who had given notice , moved a ' resolution , to that effort " Mr . Pratt seconded the motion . Mr . Wyatt moved in amendment ' expressing regret that tlic Uoard could not accede to the motion made b y Mr . Young Ar Tomlinson seconded the amendment , which after A *' cussion , was carried . A . committee was ¦ ap pointed ' to draw up officially the whole case , and lav the same before the Vicar . '

      Me ' kciiant Taylors' Sciioor ,. —The winter exam ' nation of the-. scholars , on Tuesday , terminated by the Doctor's-day . At two o ' clock the master of the company accompanied by his wardens , the examiners , and the head master ( the Rev . Dr . Hessey ) , entered the schoolroom . Various speeches were delivered from Herodotus Lucretius , Cicero , and other-authors . A scene from the Acharnians was well put upon the stage by Messrs . Knapp , Irvine , and Thursiield ; and-the same youthful actors , with the addition of Messrs . Kitsou and Baker were no less effective in a scene from the . Ta mmy of the Shrew . The audience was very numerous . At the conclusion ' , of-. the . recitations Dr . llessey alluded in feeling terms to the loss which the school had sustained by the recent death of M . Delille . The school was dismissed until the 18 th of January .

      Sir FrrzKOY Kelly a > m > tiik Tektotallers . —The Attorney-General presided oil Friday at a temperance meeting in Ipswich . Sir Fitzroy said it was ¦ with great satisfaction that , he appeared , to gire his countenance and support to a . movement which was making great and successful progress . among many classes of the people . Ilia friend , the Jate Mr . Duron Aldersci ) , had declared hid conviction , after -. many years' experience at the bar and on the bench , that four-n'fths of the crimes committed in Kngland might be traced to intemperance ; and lie ( Sir F . Kelly ) was sure that if this degrading vice could be removed from societv , a state of things

      , i would follow in which an amount of innocence , virtue , and general happiness would prevail , such as no man would be sanguine enough to forctel . Impressed with this belief , he had felt it a sacred duty , amidst many other occupations which left him little time to attend uch meetings , however important their subjects maybe , to lend the temperance movement what little aid he could . Waknino to Hl-mokisi-s . —The Paris correspondent of the Tt'let / raph savs : —"' A ' few months ago a book was published iterc under tho title of Us Trappturs , by M . Gustavo Aimard . A weekly juurnal , publishing a short time ago some caricatures , gave amongst them the

      re-| < 1 j i i ¦ ' . i I 1 t presentation of a person . in an exaggerated and absurd costume , and under it was appended the remark , Halloa , my friend ! why you are dressed like the Attrappeursbf ( hi-stiivo Ahnard . ' To show the utter innocence , not to sav silliuoss of this pun , it is siifticient to say that an aUra / meur \* a person who di-ligliLs in practical jokes — in ' selling * people , as the modern & lang phrase liasit . The word ha . l boon chosen , ni . |> an .-ntly , Bimply frum iu resemblance to truppvitr ; nothing more . M . Awwra , however , saw in the caricature an insult directed ftgain ? . himself ; and , accoi-lingly , ho wrote to tho proprietor U the journal which hud published it , stating Hint , unto

      t i I g £ > t / . J < an apology were oflfcred , a duel must result ! Hie proprietor , instead of risking hi * life again" so WW ™* an antagonist , gave the donircd « p « l «»« y or-re rnctntw > n . His letter was written something U thhi-cflect : Moil-Biour . -lsive you the u ] . olo-y you desire , ami I an sorry that a caricature , utterly harmlc ^ m ^ J ; which I thought of a kind to please- you , r » the 1 m otherwise , by showing that your work was bfjon « g / renerully kn ^ vn , should have cui ^ d > ou »"" J "j KestoflHircd , Mon . ieur , that 1 will not «> l >»| l f «« fence , for I do mo , t aolon . nly . i-, ur « yuw » ' ' ^ ,, !

      c J again , by any clmnc . or « n . er any ' ¦^ f ^ Xt 3 'our name appear in my journal . A s noum j & f . Aimuid wa »» ul ! HlUnl with 111 i •* U'lter . . Russia ' s lMioamcss in AHrA .-Bu .-w "J » l finiblK-d her march . Wl . utcvor i » iy bo hu a \ muu towards Kuropo , who known lh . it sho canno o . l % ft ^ o . ^ that Hido without coming in contact wiiu » " » Germany . She ha . accordingly ^'""^ 'l , J' v cli and diroutod hur steps towinxls A .-. iu . 1 hw * ° ^\\ , „„ ., two ooiitiirietf ag ,, ncarcely figured nt nil up n "' g , of Ada , hue bTiico then coi . quoro . l . I" - """ - " " * Jf ^ vastor in extent than ( Jliliiu—two-Hur . l « , « t «« *'' . sovon mllliona and a half of nqunro milfd ol ui » J-

      » ml within tho lant sixty yoaw »!•¦; l »«» »'"*?' S » so fur tDwnrdH Imlin , thai li « r fni't '"' » V V 1 ' inlfl b Son is at thlii ' inoinonl nut » o dUtnnt from tho 1 uign na from , Sf , retoi'Mlniivj . . ]„ tho T . ik Sick Man . —A tfo . nl enm-ntiiro « l'l ^ l J " jOi , t Chavimri . Urliannia , wltl . l . olmeto . n liowl ii U ij ^ ia linml , and I ' wun-o , r < ' |» rosenl .. « l hy a h « < J lino , nro HLralnliitf ovory iutvu to not ui h ¦» ' , |( dorotiB door whioh ha » fallen down , nn « " V . V , "'« lU . u i , inscribed tho Wo « l « , " SubHrno l '" ' ^ J , . ° " llle Bitting on tho ground iu nu attUiulo ol hdylfl *

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 24, 1858, page 8, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_24121858/page/8/