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LETTERS FROM PARIS. [From our own Corres...
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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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The Anti-Catholic "Proclamation." The Fo...
Whitehall , June 24 , 1852 . gIB I am directed by Mr . Secretary Walpole to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 18 th instant , referring to her Majesty ' s recent proclamation , and inquiring whether it was directed against a particular practice which has lately been adopted by certain Roman Catholics , ecclesiastical and lay , " as well as against the processions of which it distinctly makes mention . " In answer thereto I am . to inform you , that her _Majesty ' s proclamation is directed against all violations of the 26 th section of the statute 10 th Geo . TV ., e . 7 , and that if you feel any difficulty in the construction of that enactment , your proper course will be to consult your legal adviser . The Secretary of State would not be justified in pronouncing an opinion on the question submitted to him . ; for if any doubt exists on the point , the decision of it must rest with the courts of law , and not with the government . I am , sir , your obedient servant ,
( Signed ) Wm . J . H . _Jollifpe . Keva John H . Newman , Edgbaston , Birmingham . The Roman Catholic clergy of the deanery of Louohrea and the diocess of Clonfert , assembled in full conclave , have adopted a series of resolutions , in which they declare that they recognise in the Government no right to forbid to the Catholics of this empire the peaceful observance of the usages of their church , or the use in public as well as in private of their
distinctive robes by its bishops , priests , and religious ; that a law , in terms directed against the free exercise of the Catholic religion , has no binding force , and , like all other penal enactments against the church , must be disregarded . Tbey say , further , that it is now particularly incumbent upon the Catholic electors of their county to refuse their votes to candidates who come forward as general supporters of the Government of Lord Derby .
Ar00704
Letters From Paris. [From Our Own Corres...
LETTERS FROM PARIS . [ From our own Correspondent . ] Letter XXVII . Paris , Tuesday Evening , 29 th June , 1852 . The last sittings of the Legislative Corps have attracted immense interest . The old spirit of opposition is at length fully aw akened , and , in spite of Louis Bonaparte ' s Constitution , the Legislative Body , which was to have been a dumb show , has uttered words of deep import and solemn warning to France ; and has given a solemn protest , which will be re-echoed throughout the country . It was on the occasion of
the discussion of the budget . The Committee had officially published , through its reporters , MM . Gouin and Chasseloup - Loubat , the numberless hindrances thrown in its way by the Government . A conflict was inevitable—it took place . The first sitting was occupied in hearing the complaints of the deputies as to the position assigned to them , and the part they had been reduced to play . But it was M . de Montalembert , especially , who became the eloquent interpreter of these remonstrances . Bonaparte was present in one of the galleries , thinking thereby to intimidate the deputies . M . Montalembert had not intended to speak ,
but on seeing Bonaparte take his seat in the Ministerial tribune , and understanding his presence as a challenge to the Assembly , the Legitimist orator judged that he should best meet it by throwing down a gauntlet in return ; and his speech , however moderate in its forms of expression , was nothing less . Bonaparte saluted the first sentences of the speaker with loud laughter , but , by degrees , as the allusions , the ironies , the bitter froths , rained upou him thick and fust , his countenance darkened , and he suddenly withdrew into an adjoining room , where be dictated to M . Cusabianeu , his Minister of Stub ; , the following' letter to the Legislative Body :
"M . le President , —Several passages in the Report on the Budget have attracted the attention of the Prince President of the Republic . The Committee persist in their amendments , notwithstanding the advice of the , Council of State to the contrary . This is opposed to the 40 th Art . of the Constitution , ' and to the 51 st Art . of the Decree of tbe 22 nd of March last . By the terms of these Articles , the amendments proposed by the Legislative 15 ody are to be considered us null and void ( non avenues ) , should the Council of State decide against their adoption . To reproduce them is , conse quently , a breach of privilege . The only right , then ,
remaining with the Legislative Body , is that of rcjeet"ig the amendments entirely , should they consider the public service unaffected prejudicially by sueh a course _«» f proceeding . The Prince President of the Republic 'eels convinced that _fhe Legislative Hody , which has shown so much devotion fo the-interests of tho country , wi \[ not be drawn into a course which would lead to a vio lation of our constitutional puct ( noire pacta constitulionncl ) If , is essentiid to the strengthening _<> i our new institutions , particularly at their first trial , that the great bodies of fhe State should confine themselves scrupulously within the limits prescribed for them . "
I'his letter , coming fo fhe Assembly iu the midst of ' !•;¦! ad _. fing , and half-an-hour after ML _Montuloinberf ' _s _Npuech , threw the deputies into a stato of agitation
Letters From Paris. [From Our Own Corres...
difficult to describe . Had the Assembly been a few months older ; had the members known each other better , and relied more upon one another , there would certainly have been an explosion . On the morrow , indeed , the Assembly did avenge itself , after its own fashion . It authorised the printing of M . Montalembert ' s speech , and of that of M . de Kerdrel . This resolution brought _Xiouis Bonaparte ' s wrath to a climax . He immediately had a note inserted in the Moniteur , prohibiting the papers from publishing in
their columns these two speeches . The papers , observing to the letter the order thus given , did not give the speeches in their columns , but printed them in the form of a pamphlet , and sent them as a premium to their subscribers . The Legitimists , too , had 500 , 000 copies of the speeches struck off , and before night Paris was flooded with them . The Government finding itself overwhelmed , had recourse to its usual measures —it seized all the copies at the Post-office , and the police were ordered to forbid the sale .
This put our citizens on their metal , and every man offered to become hawker . Merchants and dealers who were transmitting parcels and packages to the provinces , took a malicious pleasure in forwarding bales of copies , and so throughout France these forbidden words now circulate gratis . All Thursday last the Elysee was in debate about dissolving the Assembly , but the majority held out against violent measures . The same day , the Legislative administered another affront to the President , by rejecting the dotations he had accorded to certain senators . Bonaparte was compelled to devour this affront in silence , and to consent to expunge these largesses from the Grand IAvre of the Public Debt , to figure as an annual charge in a separate estimate .
In spite of all previsions , a systematic opposition is now formed in the Legislature . It is composed of about sixty members , led by M . de Montalembert . They voted as one man for all the amendments proposed by the Commission . The Legitimists form the majority of this opposition , but what is more remarkable is , that it includes some fifteen or sixteen Bonapartists , . deserters from the cause of the Elysee . The remainder is made up of Orleanists . There are but two or three Republicans in the number .
Among the checks Bonaparte has lately received , must be reckoned the rejection of the Dotation to the Legion of Honour . The President had appointed by decree , a Council of the Legion of Honour , to which was attached a secretary , at 6000 francs ( 240 _£ . ) per annum . A deputy having observed that this council was to sit only four times a year , and consequently that the secretary was to be paid at the rate of 60 _£ . a sitting , a shout of laughter escaped from every bench in the Chamber , which , by instantly rejecting the estimate , compelled Louis Bonaparte to annul the appointment of the Council .
The creation of a Ministry of Police was also attacked most keenly . Among other facts cited to prove the antipathy of public opinion to such an institution , tbe two following are worthy of attention . The Inspector-General of Police , at Lyons , found every door and every salon closed to him , even the prefet's , and he was obliged to return to Paris to conceal his mishap . Tho Inspector at Lille was desirous , on a recent occasion ,
to figure among the public authorities , at the I recession of the Holy Sacrament , but not a single public functionary was found willing to walk by his side . In front was the General of Division , with the General of Brigade commanding ; the President of the Court of Appeal fell back some steps , as if he recoiled in secret horror from contact with the Inspector-General of Police , who found himself alone , when all the rest walked two and two .
Another incident enlivened the discussion ol the Budget . M . de Montalembert congratulated the Assembly on not having been an accomplice in the decrees of Louis Bonaparte , pronouncing tho spoliation of the Orleans family : " I take pleasure in authenticating ( he said ) the fact , that the question of the decrees of tho 22 nd of January , has not been submitted to us , in any form , direct or indirect , in the Budget of lB-7 i « t ; that in the Budget not a single receipt appears resulting from the proceeds of those decrees which have stripped the House of Orleans of properties they have possessed for centuries . I am surprised , but I am not the less rejoiced at this . I dare not hope that the Government ( Jo _pounoir ) is about to return to better inspirations , I confine myself to an authentic averment , that our sanction has not been demanded . It is well that tho
country should know that not one of her deputies has been culled upon to consecrate a measure which Franco _htiH unanimously disapproved . For my own part , I avail myself of this present occasion , to pronounce my solemn protest , iu the triple interest of proixirty seriously alarmed , of justice violated , and of the touching misfortune of august ; victims , against a fault committed without excuse , without pretext , without provocation
Letters From Paris. [From Our Own Corres...
of any kind . " This protest excited great agitation in Paris , as soon as it was known . Thousands of manuscript copies were circulated . M . de Montalembert ' s courage was the topic of universal congratulation . As if to echo these noble words , the Court of Cassation cancelled the judgment of the Court of Appeal , which had condemned M . Bocher to one month ' s imprisonment , for having distributed the Memoire of the Orleans family , against the decrees . ' Yoa may remember that M . Bocher had previously been acquitted by the Tribunal Correctionel , but that the Government having appealed from the former judgment to the Court of Appeal , the latter was intimidated into pronouncing a condemnation . So this matter will be carried before a fourth tribunal .
The Legislative Corps held a sitting on Sunday last , to dispose of the number of measures submitted to them , and for which only Monday remained . They voted in hot haste the provisional law for the organization of the departmental and communal administration , as well as the law enabling the police to forbid the sojourn of reputed dangerous characters at Paris and Lyons . On Monday the Session was closed . Bonaparte sent a message for the occasion by the hands of an aide-de-camp . *
The spirit of opposition is universal . A recent vote of the Municipal Council of Toulouse is an example in proof . The mayor of that town had proposed to invite the President , on his forthcoming tour in the South . The proposition was succeeded by a very warm discussion , in public sitting of the council . One half the council rejected the motion , and refused to vote funds for the reception of the President , or for fetes to be given in his honour . The casting vote of the mayor having carried the motion , a violent altercation ensued , and a scuffle in the open street . The town was almost in a state of insurrection . The Municipal
Councd was immediately dissolved by the Government . I have already mentioned that a mass of pamphlets , of every description , some manuscript , others in print , are in circulation . As recently as the day before yesterday , a political squib was in course of clandestine distribution on the Boulevard , entitled Cartouche et Mandrin : the names of two notorious thieves . The coup of December 2 , is compared to that of Mandrin , who , with a band of 600 men , at Grenoble , arrested , under cover of the night , all the authorities of the town , laid hands on all the public coffers , and laid a
contribution on the inhabitants . The distributors of these pamphlets have one and all eluded detection . Conspiracies are forming in all directions . I have two to point out this week . One is a plot among the subofficers of the army of Paris to excite their men to revolt , and to upset Louis Bonaparte . A scoundrel betrayed the plot to his colonel , and the sub-officers of one of the conspiring regiments were arrested . Whatever the police may say , the other conspiring regiments are not known to the Government , which is reduced to suspect everybody .
the second plot is Legitimist- Forty persons of this party have been arrested at Besancon , as well as three officers of a regiment of artillery , quartered in that town , accused of being their accomplices . The plot consisted in an attempt to excite tho regiment to revolt . Louis Bonaparte is not yet out of the wood . As he cannot fall at once , except through the army , you may expect the army to be perseveringly " worked "
by all parties , But it is the Legitimists who at this moment are especially active . They are making unheard of efforts . Powerfully organized , cemented in a vast unity , tbey march to their purpose with an admirable ensemble . They propose to go in a bod y to Frohsdorf , to salute their presumptive king . A note in the Moniteur is seriously spoken of , forbidding persons who visit the Conite de Chumbord to return to France .
Resignations continue in good style . Louis Bonaparte goes on us if nothing happened : ( 'hanging tho embroideries of Senators , of Councillors of State , and of judges . Moreover , while Franco is impoverished , while she labours under a total deficit of 137 millions uf francs , he is buying chateaux . I have already informed you that , he had purchased two estates in Poland , at the price of 1 , 800-000 francs ; just now ho has been buying ( on the strength , I suppose , of his
economies ) another estate near Paris—the ( bateau dc Marnes , foi nierly the property of the Duehosso d'Angouleme . True , for the last three months the . expenditure has exceeded the receipts by fifty millions ( of francs ) a month ; and af this rate there will 1 x 5 ti deficit of () 0 t ) millions ( of francs ) at the end of the year . But ,, after all , it is only right that the " chief of the gang should pay his cracksmen , _"f to adopt the words of the Cartouche el Mandrin .
* The message is given in full in our Continental Notes . —Fn . of Leader . ... _f Fr . " 11 fuut bicn quo le chef do bando paio _eoa _forbans . "
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 3, 1852, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_03071852/page/7/
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