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Leader (1850-1860), 23rd April 1853, Edition 1 of 1, Page 391, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      they are addressed are thus marked out for the attention of the Government , which proceeds to arrest them <© n no other ground than that they are suspected What strengthens this impression of mine is , that I ¦ met , yesterday , a working man , ( a weaver , ) of the Faubourg du Temple , who was for eight days under arrest m : der the pretence that he was keeping up a correspondence with the refugees . " Now / ' ( he said , ) "I

      never sent a letter abroad in my life . Two letters from London were shown me , containing circulars , but as I didn't know who could possibly have sent them to we , the juge d ? instruction , after interrogating me on five days successively , ordered my release . " It seems to me this is a sufficient explanation of the multiplied arrests of the last fortnight . The gentlemen of the police open letters at the post , and arrest the persons to whom they are sent . That is the whole affair . *

      You must have read in the English journals that the French . Government shamelessly asserted the right to violate the secrecy of letters . This right Bonaparte has caused to be sot out at length in the recital ( dis-¦ positif ) of the judgment on the matter of the " Foreign Correspondence . " In my last letter I cited the words of M . Dufaure , in which he inveighed with so much vehemence against the infamy of that violation . In reply to that philippic Bonaparte has had the following recital ( dispositif ) inserted in the judgment , which was delayed to the next day for that express purpose .

      " Considering ( says the judgment ) that if , according to the terms of the existing legislature and specially of Art . 87 of the Penal Code , it is forbidden to the functionaries and agents of the Government and of the Post-office to suppress or to open letters entrusted to the said Post-office , this interdict cannot apply to the Prefect of Police proceeding by virtue of powers which are committed to him by Art . 10 of the Code of Criminal Instruction .

      " Considering that the law in entrusting the duty of detecting offences , of collecting the proofs , and handing over the authors of such offences to be tried by the tribunals charged with their punishment , has not limited the means which it intended to place at their disposal to attain that end ; that , in fact , the right of perquisition at the Post is committed to the prosecutors of judicial enquiries by numerous legal dispositions , and that it is common law in such cases that the seizure in question must have been for the express object of pursuing the traces of an offence , consequently for the puspose of obtaining useful and important evidence ; for these considerations ( the court ) declares ( the letters seized and opened ) to constitute evidence in the case . "

      This is what we call speaking out . In this matter , at any rate , Bonaparte is no longer a hypocritical despot ; he does not affect a show of respect for justice when respect is inconvenient : he walks with his head erect and visage unmasked , and hurls his effrontery in the face of civilization . " I will read letters seized at tlie post : I have read them up to this time of my own will : henceforth I will read them by virtue of a judicial decision . " ^

      With regard to the affair of the correspondents , the Court acquitted them of the charge of belonging to secret Hocieties , which rendered them liable to bo transported to Cayenne , and only condemned thorn to fine and imprisonment . Oao of the particular charges imputed to MM . Alfred do Cootlogon , De la Pierre , and Rend dc llovigo , was , " that in September , 1852 , they had committed an offence against the ( then )

      Prince President of the Republic , by speaking of him , in an uudible voice , at the Cafe Tortoni , under the appellation of Hadingnet "—the name given to Bonaparte by the working classes three years ninee . It appears that this lmmo has ascended from the popular ranks to the higher classes of society . The prisoners have appealed to tho higher Court , on the advice of M . Dufaure , who is doairous of pleading before it the question of the opening of letters .

      'lho popular lnughiiig-Mtock as ho is , Bonaparte is not tho less awake to his own little affairs . 1 have been told that he contemplates applying to tho Senate for a supplement of ten millions of francs ( 400 , 000 / . ) to bin civil list , under tho head of household expenses . The proposition was expected lust Wednesday in tho Senate , indeed , 1 beliovo there was a crowd of visitors tluit day . anxious to certify tho story with thoir own oars . Up to this moment , however , nothing of tho sort has been mooted in Unit august assembly .

      Wo hear nothing more now about our Coronation . Now that the Popo wont or can't coino to Paris , the Emperor cures nothing about being' consecrated with holy oil . It i » now tho latest fashion nt tho

      Tuileries to laugh at the Pope , the sacred college , the pretensions of the clergy , and the whole ecclesiastical business—the grapes are so very sour . They cannot find sneers enough , and sarcasms upon that Court of Rome which was so lately the object of an unparalleled adulation . In fact the refusal of the P 6 pe has offended Bonaparte beyond measure . He cannot make his aping of Napoleon complete—hence all his chagrin and bitterness . Though he haslostall hope of getting thePope he has just made a final effort . He has sent direct to the Pope a special and private courier . Like a drowning man lie catches at every straw .

      Meanwhile , if Bonaparte cannot be crowned and anointed as Emperor , he is determined at all events to be buried like an Emperor . Badinguet is thinking of his funeral already ! He is determined to be interred at St . Denis among the ancient kings , in the vault which the Emperor Napoleon liad constructed for himself . Consequently , the ceremony of the inauguration of the tomb of Napoleon at the Invalides , which was to have been celebrated on the 5 th of May , will not take place . The Moniteur makes a peremptory statement to this effect ; and orders have already "been given to prepare a new

      translation of the ashes of Napoleon to St . Denis for the 15 th of next August . Bonaparte is jealous of Louis Philippe and of Joinville ; so he is resolved to have a second representation of the solemnity of the 15 th of December , 1840 . This is quite decided , notwithstanding the opposition of the whole Council of Ministers to such a folly . Bonaparte cut the discussion short by these words : " You seem surprised at a Bonaparte being buried at St . Denis ; yet one Bonaparte must be laid there some day , even if the Emperor Napoleon

      remains at the Invalides ; why then not begin with the translation of the Imperial family at once ? " Eeally this presumption exceeds all bounds ! Badii-guet positively expects to die quietly in his bed at the Tuileries , and to pass from that palace to St . Denis in regal state . Louis XVI . died on the scaffold , Napoleon the Emperor was driven out of France , Louis XVIII . was expelled , Charles X . was crushed by the July barricades , and Louis Philippe by those of February . History is put out of court altogether by this fanatic !

      The Corps Legislatif has been occupied this week with the examination of a projet de loi ( Bill ) on Trial by Jury . The Commission appointed to report on the measure did not accept the project of the Government , but changed its essential conditions . The Government wanted the juries to be selected by the Prefects ; the Commission proposed their nomination by election ; and introduced another amendment , excepting condemnations for offences against the press laws from the causes of ineligibility to serve on a jury . The three amendments were adopted by the Commission

      unanimously . Consequently , the Bill , with its amendments , has been sent to the Council of State . It is said that the Council of State will reject tho amendment . The Corps Legislatif will for the first time use the faculty it possesses , and reject in its turn the Bill . But I can't believe that these men , who have eo much at heart the amusements of Bonaparte ( qni tiennent tant afaire danser Bonaparte ' ) , will push independence so far . I am rather disposed to think that they will withdraw their amendments , and vote the Law with all submission .

      Political obsequies are decidedly proscribed . Jlio Prefect of tho Herault has just launched an edict on tho subject , in which wo find Una passage : " Whenever in any commune of this department thcro shall occur tho death of a person who has incurred prosecution for political offences , or who has notoriously belonged to secret societies ; or in short known to have professed opinions hostile to the Government which the Tuition freely gave itself on December 22 , 1851 , and November 20 , 1852 , tho mayor is to warn the family of tho deceased that it may only invite to this

      funeral ceremony his relatives and private friends . lie must also apprise the cantonal commissary , so that tho latter may be present on tho spot on the day of tho funeral . The cantonal commissary , assisted by tho mayor , will interdict any mooting near the house of tho deceased , or any procession to the grave , or any concourse within or about the precincts of tho cemetery of persons unconnected with tlio family of the deceased , and will allow no elocution or diseour . se . Ho . will , if need be , repress any contravention to these regulations with tho public force . "

      Bonaparte , moreover , ban fuiken a measure of extrenio importance—nothing more nor less than to interdict the higher cIiihsoI" instruction to poor children , nntl to those of limited means . The number of lettered persons in France is too considerable . It is this class which is the focus of all revolutions , m \ y » the Government . To destroy tho evil at its root Jionapnrtu bos just rendered a decree- mitring considerably tho expenso of teaching

      in the royal colleges , as well as the expenso of day school tuition ( I'externat ) . Bonaparte has just received happy news . Eight hundred of the political prisoners transported to Cayenne have died of yellow fever . It is probable that that penitentiary establishment will have , to bo abandoned . , Several officers of the marines ( infanterie de marine ) have been cashiered for having spoken with contempt of Badinguet . Their names are , MM . Despaux , captain ; Deflers , sub-lieutenant ; and De la Guepiere , lieutenant . The two former are Republicans . The army is at this moment submitted to an intolerable regime . The Government receives the most disastrous accounts of the dangerous effervescence arising among officers and soldiers .

      Four hundred police agents have been sent to watch and to report upon the public spirit in the departments . Intelligence has reached us from Constantinople by the Lougsor steamer , to the 6 th inst ., and by Vienna , to the 11 th . Prince Menschikoff has unmasked his batteries , and has summoned the Turkish Cabinet to conclude with Russia a treaty of alliance , offensive and defensive , and has threatened to start immediately if the Porte delay its decision . A great agitation prevailed at Constantinople in consequence . All the troops were concentrated upon the capital ( a good military precaution ) . Besides , a certain number of war steamers were stationed at intervals ( echelonnes ) along the coasts ,

      and principally directed upon the points of debarcation previously reconnoitred by the Russian officers . The French fleet is still in the Bay of Salamis . The British ambassador reached his post on the 4 th , and on the 7 th had an audience of the Sultan . The French ambassador , M . de la Cour , arrived on the morning of the 6 th inst . Russia has excited , by means of her secret emissaries , an emeute at Broussa . The Mussulmens , fanaticised by these agents , have revolted , and massacred fifteen Christians . This is an adroit move on the part of Russia . It obviously embarrasses the soidisant Christian Powers , and , among the rest , Christian England . * S .

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      * So fur as Franco in concerned , porhaps . But may nol our Home ( Mlieobo in a position to givo further " ox pinna tionsP" , . lio . f Jtoally Louis Napoleon thrown hifl admiror , Lord Palmoreton , into tho ehado in tho matter of frankness . Ei > .

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      CONTINENTAL NOTES . A becree in the 3 toniteur places three millions of francs ( 120 , 000 L ) at the disposal of the Minister of the Interior , by way of a subvention to proprietors who will build improved loclging-liouses for tho working-classes . The French Government is getting alarmed at tho rapid rise in tho rents , from which the working-classes arc suffering , as related by our Paris correspondent some weeks since . Another decree in the Moniteur is a great boon to French sculptors , and is intended to promote private encouragement of art . It admits white marbles from Greece and Italy at a considerable reduction of duty . A painful sensation , says the correspondent of the Daily News , has been produced at Agon by the appearance of an advertisement for the sale of tho house belonging to M . Baze , tho ex-representative and questor of the National Assembly . M . Bazo was the loader of tho bar at Agon , whoro ho was much respected . He is still in exile , having declined to mako tho humiliating * declaration without which nonfl of the victims of December 2 can return to

      France . The war of allusions is kept up with remarkable pertinacity and address by tho chief independent journals . In La Pressc , which is already under a first " warn ing * , " M . A . Peyriit , one of tho ablest and soundest of French journalists , in tho course of a series of admirable articles , under tho title of Mr . Oobdcn'n rec-ont pamphlet , " 1703-185 : 1 , " dissects in slushing stylo tho historical j'retensions of f-ho first Ernpiro ; unmasks tho delusions thrown around it by contemporary French writers , and by exhibiting it in its true colours , deals a series of tolling blows at tho existing parody of tho greater epoch . Tho Military Council of 'Revision , presided by General Kissert , hnH rejected tho appeal of Colonel do Sereey , against tho sentence- of live years' imprisonment passed on him by tho court-martial .

      The appeal of 1 ' errichiird , tho man who , after boing unjustly accused of tho murder of the Archbinhop of Paris , was sentenced to transportation ok an insurgent of . June , has also boon rejected . Colonel do Sereey , it may bo remembered , was distinguished by his Bonaparlism , an intimate of tho Tuileries , and oven on tho point of being married to a meml > or of tho Uonaparto family . Tho accusation against Perriehard was , it is believed , trumped up by private enemies and creditors . He bud become very prosperous in business , and wan leading * ^ a quiet life . ' This chargo wan u convenient method of disposing of him .

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      General Koncali has failed to reconstruct his Cabinet . General Lormuuli has formed a new Ministry , of which tho programme is announced to bo " moderately constitutional . " it would Hooin that public opinion I mm so far prevailed as to arrest the unconstitutional designs of tho liravo Murillo and lioneali CabinotH . General T / ersundi applied to M . Martinez do la Jlosa , well known for bis steady attachment to tho Connlitutioii ,

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      April 23 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER , 391 - ^ ~

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      * We beg to relievo our correspondent of any foarfl on our account . Eng lish Protestant Christianw are not concerned about Latin or dlroek Christians and our . Parliamentary Christians havo enough , on their hands to keep tho Jowo out of tho Houho of Commons , —F ^ i ) .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), April 23, 1853, page 391, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1983/page/7/