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ism . ' flflA. August 1,1857/) THE IiBiD...
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EMPEROR'S EVIDENCE. The embarrassment of...
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TRIAL BY JAWRY. Tub case of Bacon illust...
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.
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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.
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Responsible Government. Among The ' Dist...
control over the public purse-strings ; and as they are giving the money without conditions , they are not extracting a clear account from our once responsible Ministers .
Ism . ' Flfla. August 1,1857/) The Iibid...
ism . ' flflA . August 1 , 1857 /) THE IiBiDE ^ 735
Emperor's Evidence. The Embarrassment Of...
EMPEROR'S EVIDENCE . The embarrassment of the French Government with reference to its plot seems tobe on the increase . In presence of the decided contradictions and the bold attitude of the refugees who enjoy the protection of the British law , it seems difficult for it to proceed to the extremity of a conviction and condemnation of its enemies ; yet no less is expected of it by those who retain the slightest credence in its good faith . There are thousands of candid and impartial , even confiding men , waiting for a verdict of guilty against M . Ledbtt Rolxin and his friends—based on the documentary evidence so pompously announced by the Moniteur—in order to be relieved from a suspicion that ' Emperor ' s Evidence' is a more inf & nious thing even than King ' s Evidence in the olden time—that an irritated and baffled usurper will descend to arts even worse than those of a common informer , Avho has no criminal in view , and is starving for want of a reward . The time , the circumstances , the tone of the announcement of the Paris Plot—though they somewhat staggered the vulgar crowd of newsmongers , and were eagerly seized upon by corrupt or ignorant press writers , in order to divert attention from the painful realities of the Indian Mutiny—suggested at once to od
calm observers the idea ot traud . JLUe - jeetion that there was something so stupidly obvious in the whole affair—that it was too like a calumny to be one—was evidently not valid , and shook no person at . all acquainted with the personnel of the French Government . They are almost all , from the highest to the lowest , men accustomed to live on expedients , to catch at a momentaiy advantage and despise a distant danger , to discount short bills at seventy per cent , and trust to wit to escape payment when the appointed day arrives . Not one amongst them feels the slightest security in his position , or cares to provide except for the exigencies of tomorrow . For the first time houses are now being built in Paris of thin brick walls , with stone facings towards the street . These are the investments of imperial speculators and peculators , who want high , rents for a few years , and do not choose to leave much for inevitable confiscation . There is nothing surprising , therefore , in the fact that , to divert popular attention even for a few days from the result of the Paris elections , the French Government has ventured to risk the present humiliating exposure . Peril aps it calculated on keeping up the deception for a week or two longer . The great error it has committed seems to be in supposing that MI . Ledru Roi / lin oould legally be tried in France for an offence alleged to have been committed in England . It is impossible to infringe French , laws where Frenoh laws have no sway , The Republican leader has met this difficulty by offering to bo tried by an English jury—by aslcing to be tried in order to be released from the perpetual annoyance of being accused of bloody schemes by individuals whose whole existence has been one of scheming and bloodshed . It ia remarkable that English public opinion has already pronounced a verdict ofaoquittal , that this verdict has been accepted in France , "and that we hear no more mention of M . XoflBuu Rolltn ' s name in the reports which the police supply to the correspondents' of . London papers . No other than the polioo , of course , can furnish the details given— -so that we are either in possession of their view ,
of the case , or are gulled by daily fabrications . For the present , we may assume that the gentlemen of the Rue de Jerusalem have dropped at least one important name out of the indictment which is to be read somewhere on the 6 th or 8 th . The scapegoat is to be M . Mazztni . Two worthy individuals- named Gbxlu : and Bajb-TOi » OTTi have suffered themselves to be arrested ; and , as one magnanimously confessed that he had been set to watch when the Emperor went out of the Tuileries—perhaps as correspondent of the Morning JPost , which likes to know at what hour great people ' take a drive '—why , the other , not to be behindhand , accused himself of being sent to assassinate the Emperor . His bare , unsupported word seems to be the only evidence that can be adduced ; for no particular stress can be laid on correspondence in cipher , translated probably by a process more expeditious than that described in Pqe ' s ' Grold Bug , ' and in which , " Look sharp after Pavia , " is guessed to mean , " Kill the Emperor !" Several daggers and a dozen pistols or so—all loaded— ( this is a terrific detail)—were found in the possession of one TiBAiiDi , who perhaps intended to convert himself into a battery , and to rake the ' Rond-Point' some day when his Imperial Majesty was returning from a salubrious drive . Imagine the effect , among the crinolines and the hacks hired by the hour , of this terrific fellow with a dozen brace of pistols or so—this Falstaffian progression is peculiarly appropriate on the present occasion—all stuck in his belt , taking nis tand ine
s uuaer xriutnpuai -n-ruu . wmuu records to the astonishment of British tars who lurch along those waters the French victory at Aboukir ; and peppering away indiscriminately ! The man takes grand proportionsswells into a Briarean Bashi-Bazouk with a revolver in each hand—and we begin to respect him , until suddenly we learn that he denies the whole transaction in a very mild way , and offers to show that he has been several years living in Paris , gaining an honest livelihood by labour , and that he has no connexion with any conspiracy whatever . But this , in another way , becomes a very serious matter for foreigners resident in Paris . Every one whom the poliee dislikes or suspects may at any moment be accused of a crime of this kind ; and we know how easy it is for a police tojind things when it has an interest in so doing . If our name ended in o or i , we should scarcely like to live within the line of circumvallation now . "We should be never sure of not waking up some morning and discovering that we were members of a conspiracy , in correspondence with M . Mazzini , and on the way to Mazas . Such a mistake in this country , after the first surprise had passed , might only be the source of a little wholesome excitement . But they manage these matters differently in France . "When once a man has been suspected or accused there , his life or his liberty is in , danger . The very proof of his innocence is taken as an outrage to Government . Every one knows the case of the man accused of treason-by tho Procureur Imperial , sentenced ( to a fortnight's imprisonment by tho court , according to law ; and , according to the good pleasure of the Emperor , to ' ten years' supplementary transportation . ' "We cannot bo surprised , therefore , that tho report of this conspiracy has created the greatest uneasiness and excitement among tho Parisians . Italians may , perhaps , have sonio hope of support from foreign public opinion . ^ Attention at any rate is attracted to" their cases . But for a resident Frenchman , clogged by tho police , there is no hope . Ho knows that his : ruin is determined on , and that ho must !
'submit . No on © in Paris , after the first day or two , seems to have been deceived by the paragraph in . the Moniteur . It meant ' vengeance for the Paris elections . ' ETothuig more—nothing less- The Government can do what it likes with , suspected people . It can choose "whom to suspect . As soon as a conviction of some sort or another can be obtained , the private arrests , the secret transportations , which constitute the orthodoxy of the Imperial system , will recommence . We shall again see families going about despairing , asking in whispers what has become of their chief , who is not to be found at the Morgue , and of whom the police gruffiy disclaim knowledge . When the first case of this kind occurred , M . de Gasparin , not quite understanding the position of things , interfered , asked questions , bestirred himself . No one interferes now . The bereaved family finds a circle of loneliness widening around it , or is consoled just as it prosecutes its inquiries , in whispers with which curses mingle . Who can wonder , such being the case , that Paris is gloomy—that vague murmurs of danger constantly besiege the ears of the exasperated Government ? The Algerian campaign has been brought to a successful termination , the harvest is splendid in prospect , France has no demands upon its energies abroad , yet its Three per Cents , are down to 66 ; and there is a threat of a monetary crisis . It seems certain that the educated and civilized classes are becoming more and more disgusted with the « i , 4 . ~ £ ~;~ . ~ * TVin Powa rm-c-rip > rs . indeed . ' w » . -. —¦ * - —
iJl . C 3 oci . iu / ccyf-y / tt / . jlixu . * - t *^ . *^ 7 , who turned out of late to honour their great Songster , were so clearly ripe for insurrection on the day of the funeral , that the most extraordinary precautions were considered necessary . The manner in which they eyed the troops who guarded every thoroughfare with loaded muskets , was so hostile in some cases , that officers had difficulty in restraining their men from provoking disputes . This is , perhaps , why the papers were instructed to say that the greatest cordiality was exhibited between the crowd and the soldiery . Another significant fact was the absence of the Imperial Guard . That petted corps has of late so excited the jealousy of the Line , that within this year numerous duels have taken place between private soldiers on either side . The Zouaves never lose an opportunity of insulting the Guard to . the streets . Hence these collisions . On the day of Bb-RAisraEit ' s funeral it was feared that some quarrel would take place that might lead to serious results . If tho Line attacked the Guard , the people would of course side with the Line . ' Vive la Ligne ! ' has been used as a cry before now . We must remember that the Republicans are two to one in Paris , perhaps three to one , of able-bodied men . All these facts are ominous . The Government is losing its head . It prefers revenge' to popularity . We know what such signs usually portend . But there ' s a luck for Emperors as for drunken men .
Trial By Jawry. Tub Case Of Bacon Illust...
TRIAL BY JAWRY . Tub case of Bacon illustrates tho danger of relying on circumstantial evidence , and a propensity natural to the human mind of demanding a retributive offering when a great wrong lias boon done . If the culprit cannob be ascertained , take tho next bad man' Take any man ' s horses . ' Two children were murdered , » nd ' society' demanded a retribution . Mrs . Bacon confessed , and ' society' prepared for a penitential scene ; then she accused her husband , and pifcyfor her exasperated the execration against him ; tuo sneaking scoundrel could scarcely bo shielded from Lynch law—that law BO reasonable m
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 1, 1857, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01081857/page/15/
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