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    . ajone at the helm of affairs , reigning and go' nsr lite an absolute monarch * . He has got rid of V efI ass of Republicans by transportation and exile , he i ? reduced the press to silence : the « fourth estate of flT realm " as it was called by constitutionalists in the ^ of Louis Philippe , now only asks to be allowed to ^ Al " then is tranquil in the official world ; all is at oqce- all is prostrate , and cowering before the will 5 W all-po werful despot . But in the real world , on The contrary , it is quite otherwise . Bonaparte is powerless obstacles everywhere , hostility on all sides , imposition universal . He begins to be alarmed at this Slse position ; his only real power , his sole support is ¦ a the army ; and the army is profoundly agitateddisguste d with the menial office of protecting the inglorious despotism of a Nullity !

    ° Bes ides ( as I have before told you ) the army is « worked" assid uously by every party ; and scarcely a any now passes without some military plot being discovered , some acts of insubordination breaking out in different regiments . A degrading system of espionag e weighs upon the service , distributing all the honours , not to the most brave soldiers , but to the most dastardl y informers : what wonder then that every

    noble and g enerous heart revolts and gives utterance aloud to indignation and contempt ? Hence the apt readiness to listen to every extreme suggestion ; the officers who frequent the society of the bourgeoisie are all won over to the Legitimists or to the Orleanists ; as to the sub-officers , their grade debarring them across to the salons , they are thrown into constant and

    direct contact with the people , and become or remain republicans . The three conspiracies , Legitimist , Orleanist , and Rep ublican , cross one another in the army , and already possess t he vast majority in its ranks . It is only the force of discipline that now maintains all these contending elements within their duty . Louis Bonaparte feels this , and the impossibility of its longer safe ' continuance is the source of his gloomiest anxieties . On Saturday last he summoned the Minister of War , General St . " Arnaud , to a conference . You may remember that some months ago I informed you of a dispute that had arisen between these two men on the

    subject of cashiering a gre at number of officers , as the President desired , and General St . Arnaud refused . Bonaparte has now revived this measure . After exposing the situation of the army to his Minister , after reading the reports received from the police , he specified the conduct of several officers by name , and flatly insisted upon the immediate expulsion from the service of 1500 officers , Legitimists and Orleanists . St . Arnaud was still strongly opposed to such a , measure , and declared that so long as he was Minister , he would not

    lend his hand to such a flagrant violation of all the principles and regulations of military discipline . Bonaparte rejoined tluit he willed it thus , and that St . Arnaud had only to obey ; whereupon the latter growing warm , replied again— " Since you are bent on these wholesale expulsions from the army , why not cashier not only the 1500 Legitimist and Orleanist officers , but sill ' the Republicans besides ; your army will be purged enough at last ; you will have no officers at sill . " Since ' this interview the Minister is out of

    favour ; but the President has not yet ventured to curry out his determination . St . Arnaud , hy the way , left Paris about three weeks ago , for the wafers of Vichy in the Allier , where he intended to puss the whole summer , but a disagreeable adventure in the shape of a stoning reception compelled him to return with all speed to Paris . Jt appears that on tin * 4 th instant , the general , accompanied by the Sous-prefet of La Palis **! , with ii party of ladies and a

    retinue of servants , was riding along the road , when he met , a number of peasants walking arm in arm , abreast , towards him . As St . Arnaud sipproiiched . them , they recognised him , and refused to got out of his way . St . Arnaud Hew into a passion , and shook his whip in their faces . This exasperated the peasants to sucli a pitch that , they begun . shouting , . ' Let its stone him 1 lei us stone him I and , as good as their word , they proceeded to pick up stones , and fling them at , the General . One atone hit him on ( lie head and knocked oil" his hat . The

    General took bravely to flight af , si gallop . He was anxious at , first to c . oiiccsd from his wife tho wound he had received , but although it , was nearly dusk lie found it , impossible any longer to conceal the blood which Howed from ( , hc crown of his heal . With some difficulty water was procured to staunch the wound ; and , about half-past nine in the evening , the Minister with bis friends ami suite returned to Vichy . Surgical attendance , ujis imuirdiufcly called for ; but < Jenenil St . Araaud would not , stop an hour longer in the country , and set , oil" direct for Paris .

    • . . is not , only the army that , the enemies of the government are assiduously undermining : the working » ' 1 uhkos aru incessantly plied by tho republican party .

    Strikes are being organized in all the most important towns . Three strikes have already taken place , at Rive de Gier , at Nantes , and at Rouen , not to speak of those at Paris . Last Thursday , the " navvies" struck work at Angouleme . A considerable body of men proceeded from the yards of St . Armand to those of Angouleme , with the intention of stopping the works throughout the whole length of railway , and of org anizing a general strike . The substitute of the Procureur de la Republique presented himself on the spot with two brigades of gendarmerie . At that moment the muster consisted of some 300 workmen , who cried out t hat they demanded to be paid at the rate of 25 centimes ( 2 £ d . ) an hour .

    The substitute endeavoured to address them : he was hooted and assailed by a shout of "To Angouleme . " The gendarmes then charged this unarmed mass , and arrested eight persons . The rest resisted and defended themselves as well as they could against t he armed force . One gendarme , a quarter-master , had two of his fingers hacked off . The next day a piquet of one hundred soldiers was sent to the spot . At St . Quentm , the working cabinet-makers have struck . To alarm them , the authorities arrested nine of their number , but the others persisted in their refusal to work . The carpenters of Mans and those of La Fleche have also

    struck . On Saturday evening after the day ' s work , they all gave up their tools , and have not since made their appearance in the workshops : their number is about a hundred . At St . Etienne , the working-plasterers have struck . At Paris , a grand strike of all the workmen employed in building , such as carpenters , masons , joiners , painters , and stone-cutters , is being organized . Two working stone-cutters , employed at the works on the Ecole des Arts et Metiers , have been arrested on the charge of having been heard to hold language tending to excite their fellow workmen to strike . Some few carters have also been arrested . All

    these strikes occurring simult aneously are not , as you may well believe , a mere accident . They are part of a great system of agitation determined upon in the high councils of the democracy . An Arab conspiracy has been discovered in Algeria . It was a most serious affair , having vast ramifications . The purpose was nothing less than a renewal of the Massacre of the Sicilian Vespers throug hout French Algeria . A providential chance revealed traces of the plot . At Bona , in a wagon stopped on the public road , was found powder , fire-arms , and a chest full of letters . The conductor of the wagon declared that these goods had been given into his charge by natives at a distanceand consigned to natives resident at

    , Bona . " The letters appointed the night of the lVth of June for a general massacre of the Christians . The signal was to be given by bonfires on the top of towers . Bona is garrisoned by 200 men only . They were to have been drawn out of the town by the natives setting ' fire to the crops , while others within the town executed the massacre . The same was to have happened in all other localities . Numerous arrests of natives have taken place at Bona .

    For some days past the Moniteur has become very insignificant ; it publishes nothing but Senatils-Con suUes , and the laws voted during the Legislative session . One of these Senatus-ConsuUes , not content with conferring upon Louis Bonaparte the right of sporting in the forests of Versailles , of Marly , St . Germain , Rambouillet , and Fontiiinebleau , extends the privilege to u number of other lakes and woods . The first care of our present Government is to assure the pleasures of his [ Ugliness t 1 i * : Sultan . The fact is , Louis Bonaparte treats France as his farm and property . The army is no longer the army of France— -it is the

    Is tlie army of Bonaparte ; the navy no longer navy of France it , is the navy of Bonaparte . Thus , in n report by the Minister of Marine ! , the Minister speaks of the services rendered to Alonsetg neur , smtl not a word about , services rendered to France . Bonaparte , to prove his gratitude for the « levoiedness of his adherents , lavishes titles , decorations , and medals . lie has recently made I ' ersigny , the small apothecary , aCount . IVrsigny is now best known in Paris us the Count , of Ham . As to the famous medal invented by Louis Bonaparte for common . soldier * , it has been given to three admirals only , all the rest , having previously announced their intention to refuse it . This is not ' the . first uHVont our poor Ca-sar has

    received ! Kven officers of gendarmerie have refused to execute his orders . By creating si Ministry of Police , and desiring the officers of gendarmerie to put themselves in communication with tho Inspectors of Police , he bitterly offended the Ncntiments of military honour which are so keenly susceptible in the French army . The officers of gendarmerie positively refuse any Contact with the police , and continue to fake their orders direct , from the Prcfets . The Government has been forced to yield the point , nnd n new circular huu made the amende to tho officer * of gendarmerie .

    There are even among the Prefets themselves instances of opposition . M . Morizot , Prefet of L'llle , et Villaine , having had the a udacity to tell some hard truths to the Master of France , . was instantly deprived of his office . M . Morizot was resolved that the reasons of his disgrace should not remain a secret ; he addressed to his subordinate functionaries a circular , in which he said , " that there is a duty not without its danger —it is that of wounding susceptibilities . in high places ; but that being persuaded that the truth should be told , both about men and things , especially in critical times , he had not hesitated to tell it , without dissimulation , without exaggeration , but also without any regard to his own personal advantage . " Every word a blow for Bonaparte !

    The Moniteur has just promulgated the organic departmental , and municipal luw ; consequently , the elections of mayors and municipal counsellors will take place immediately , in every town and village of France . A certain interest attaches to their elections . It is to know whether the Leg itimists will , or will not , obey the mandate of the Comte do Chambord . If they obey , they naturally abdicate all personal influence , by withdrawing from the elections . If they refuse to obey , it will be a . blow to the discipline of the party . They are said to be divided in opinion on the subject . All the noblesse of B rittany and of Normandy , habituated , as they are , to govern their communes , are , I am informed , disposed to resistance . They have despatched

    numerous missives to Frohsdorf , excusing themselves for having taken the oath , on the ground that they considered it sound policy not to withdraw from the councils general , in which they might render far greater service to the cause than by isolation . The Comte de Chambord has not replied , but he has instructed his advisers to say , that he referred all his adherents to his preceding instructions , and relied on their prudence and sagacity . A great number of Leg itimists have gone to Frohsdorf , and many more are expected to follow . It is almost another emigration ; Bonaparte having threatened , through the Government organs , to refuse them permission to recross the frontier into France , their departure may be considered a defiance on the part of the French noblesse .

    The Orleanists on their side continue their intrigues . Their organization is very strong , and a conspiracy is bruited to be on the eve of breaking out . We shall see in good time . In the meanwhile , Bonaparte seizes the Orleans properties . He has laid hands upon the Chateau de Bizy , near Verrion ; he has sold the furniture of the Chuteau d'Eu , and very serious intentions are entertained of taking possession of the domains of Arc , and of Chateau Villain , belonging to tlie Prince do Joinville .

    Resignations arc going on still . Among the more recent may bo noted that of a post-captain , M . Laurencin , an Orleanist . Republicans , real or suspected , are continually arrested in the departments . A brave champion of the democracy , Citizen Marcscot , has just been condemned by the court-martial sitting at Lyons , as found guilty of having taken part in the conspiracy of Gent . Mareseot obstinately refused to allow himself to be defended , saying , that as his political friends

    had refused all defence , be would have no advocate . After his sentence , when the J ' resident of the Court told him he had two hours given him to appeal for a revision of the . sentence , Mareseot replied— " I 'ire la Jlcpvblique ! that in the only revision . 1 desire . " Tho transportation of Republicans to Cayenne is accomplished . Three transports have conveyed 17 ^ democrats , with i )() 0 convicts , to that inhospitable , shore . They are to be distributed among different colonists . In other words , they lire to work as white slaves for

    private ! owners . The press is . still persecuted . GttVufnanis Messenger has received a first warning , for having published articles without , signatures affixed . Tho correspondent of the Cologne ( laze . Ue has been harassed by si domiciliary visit ,, and the search and seizure of all his papers . Now that the journals are utterly insignificant , all the life of polemics is absorbed info pamphlets and brochures . On *! is advertised to appear to-morrow , by ii distinguished Orlesmist ,, M . Albert , tie Broglio , son of the celebrated minister , and grandson of Madame < le Siael . This brochure , entitled " l < es h ' omains sous / 'h '/ n // irc" ( The . llowitn-s muter the I'Jin / i / re ) , is an unmistakosible allusion to the existing state <>• " affairs . It is said to b ¦ written with great ner ve and pungency The Government are very apprehensive of i's HIects and , as you may imagine , the public await if , with a proportionate eagerness . »•• CONTINENTAL NOTKS . Til !•] Liberal Ministry in h e lium liavo r « migmi * l . Doubts are expressed whether this event in to bo considered uh a triumph of i . lio clerical party , to svliose ultramontane tendencKiH f , li <» mwnt Ministry bad opposed a constant rosiwtanct ) : or ( which would bo fur more worious ) tho con-

    Untitled Article

    Jcw 17 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 675

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 17, 1852, page 675, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1943/page/7/