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• U5 ° Cjf g **«***? CSaTORdat
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THE BONAPARTIST REVOLUTION IN PARIS. "Th...
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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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P^Bhh M. Bonaparte Had Broken Down! Au T...
Among the vicissitudes of the law courts , which have been rather abundant this week , is the disclosure of the betting enormities in the case of Regina versus Alleyne . Young captains and clergymen mingle with fancy ; men , -exchange characters with them , and play 0 & t $ ***> sackrtfgf booty to the . amount of several tJiousiififls sterling : and the Times accepts the scandal a » A picture of "life" in "fast" society . i" Enough « t » stance was wasted among the young Men and thef * eompamons to have provided for many ; * poor togmty , or to have set many an honest man up iA business .
• U5 ° Cjf G **«***? Csatordat
• ° Cjf g **«***? CSaTORdat
The Bonapartist Revolution In Paris. "Th...
THE BONAPARTIST REVOLUTION IN PARIS . "The atmosphere is charged with Revolution , " said a representative , a few days since , as he passed through the restless and agitated groups in the Salle des Conferences . . . Knots of men absorbed in anxious consultation , now in hoarse whispers , now breaking into angry murmurs , now with hurried and eager gesticulations , as seemed to be
contempt , suspicion , or rage uppermost ; standing apart in corners , or undulating to and fro ; dispersing into fresh groups ; darting at every fresh comer with a fire of questions ; drinking in all kinds of desperate and alarming rumours , according as the wishes or the fears of the reporters and the listeners prevailed ; such was the physiognomy of the Salle des Conferences of the French Nations ! Assembly towards the close of the laat
lirppfC In the streets , profound indifference to the political agitations ; the boulevards thronged with loungers in pursuit of the " pomps and vanities "; Paris , in a word , in its happiest , gayest mood of elegant vivacity and buoyant activity of art and pleasure . Such at least was the superficial aspect of a city and of a People to whom every " situation" seems normal , but dulneBS and tranquillity . In the faubourgs , no unusual excitement ; the workshops busy , and all
hands employed . But in the high places of power and law , mischief is brewing ; violence , intrigue , distrust , irresolution in the very citadels of order and legality ; the factions plotting and counterplotting ; arming and disarming ; conspiring , and denouncing conspiracies ; each lying in wait to take the other by surprise . Prom the first day of meeting after the recess , the Executive and the Legislative became irreconcileable
. The President ' s Message , proposing the abrogation of the law of limited suffrage , and hinting vaguely , but not obscurely , at a personal appeal to the national will , in favour of an unconstitutional prolongation of his term of office , was held by the majority to be a declaration of war . We have recorded week by week the phases of the growing discontent , and the increasing exasperation , and our readers will have foreseen an inevitable struggle . By every form of insult and provocation that could sting a reckless ambition to madness , the Parliamentary chiefs hastened the crisis of which a crane of
adventurers who had neither character nor fortune to lose , but rather all the prizes Ijjfpower to gain in the chances of a conflict , would not be slow to take advantage . The audacity of professional brigandage -was not wanting at the Elysee . Neither menace nor warning was spared to the distracted and decrepit Parliament : the military force ostentatiously paraded and sedulously debauched by inflammatory apcJfals and artful promises : the President would lea & fhem ( " the elite of the nation" ) to the conquest ofifcperial favours ; his Minister of War , a rash and * # eaay instrument of unscrupulous ambition , »/ ^ Yrou 8 n <* e " iser of constitutional notion / vroathstore
ap * ana ^ , down from the walls of tfie Barracks tlrt >¦ i + ' \ te decrees of the Assembly as ho much waste paper , and laughed to scorn the right of '** direct requisition / ' of troops for the protection of a set of useless palaverers : the Bonapartist organs in the Press announced a quick solution of nil obstructive forces , without ambiguity and without reticence : the pen of the crapulous quuck doctor was exchanged for the stylus of the Gascon lire-eater—then came the speech in the cirous denouncing alike Royalisra and Democracy : stigmatizing the Legislative Power , and proclaiming a fixed resolve to fulfil the mission ( of Imperialism ) " oven across a space where there was no road marked out " : altogether a Homeric harangue before the combat . The Assembly , meantime , vacillating and
vindictive at a moment when vigour and docieion were most urgent ; ever willing to wound , and ever afraid to strike , inviting the assaults it denounced ; flinching from its own acts , endeavouring to burke at the last moment the bill on the responsibility of the Executive , and onoo more , when it was too late , to patch up on alliance of hypocrisy and hate ; suffering itself t (» be outstripped in every popular advance , and throwing away the glory and the thanks of an ammeftty—or at least of a commutation of punishment to the , prisoners of Lyons ; a fatal and wilful blindness—a suicidal incapacity for all but sound , fury , and obstruction ; and then , at the laat , a dishonest and corrupt falsification of an uncertain ballot;—• uch was the latest aspect of the National Assembly
—misled , depopufirizecf , faeriftoefl by the impotence of a factious majority t 4 t & ef most inglorious of despotisms . , Humours of aft intended Socialist insurrection on Sunday ( the d * # of the election of a representative ) , M Paris , w «* e fodWriously . circulated by tha Government , ift order to afford an opportunity for the ? cOttdentratidgof a large force in the capital ; for never ttfct . the S « fialist party more palm within , the As-: sjdttbly and without Ministerialcirculttfr had warned fit * Prefect * of Departments to tfcke measures of precaution against the outbreak of a general
insurrection . The War department had surrounded tne railway stations with troops , and had given orders for the conveyance of regiments from all points . These pretended insurrections had been so often announced , for the purpose of similar demonstrations , with the complicity of the Royalist factions , that they had ceased to alarm ; but on this occasion the farsighted alone discerned that beneath the pretended , lurked a real , insurrection , —an insurrection of power—the long-threatened Coup d'dtat . The forced resignation by General Perrot of his command of the civic force , and the appointment of M . Tieyra ( a man made infamous by acts of brutal violence , and by the wanton destruction of property in the affair of the 13 th of
June , ' 49 ) , as the chief of his staff , and the substitution of Q-eneral Laewestine , a devoted familiar of the Elysee , in the place of a man esteemed by all parties for his long services and his moderation and integrity of character , Was in itself a revolution of authority of the gravest nature . Yet at the same moment M . Guizot was endeavouring to reconcile the two powers , on the ground of an adjournment of aggressive laws and of a proposed revision of the constitution , with some incipient success ; but the hour of reconciliation was past . M . de la Moskowa presents seventy-five Bonapartist petitions , and is received with jeers . He ays , *• It is no laughing matter , however . " M . de Tin guy , from the opposite benches , sounds his alarum : —
" If the National Assembly should be obstructed in the exercise of its mandate by a revolutionary event , the members of the Councils General will meet immediately and on pain of dismissal , at the capitals of their Departments , in order to form with the civil and military authorities , which are required under the same penalty o lend their concurrence , a council of public safety , the duty of which shall be to organize and maintain legal resistance until the restoration of the Parliamentary power . "
The election of the candidate of the Electoral Union , discountenanced by the Executive and by the Opposition , proceeds in the midst of an ominous tranquillity . M . Devinck ( the candidate ) obtains about 4500 votes above the lowest number required to render the election valid . A protest against the law of the 31 st of May , and so in favour of the President ' s initiative in proposing its repeal . Another fatal blow to the dignity and popularity of the Assembly—represented by the majority .
On Monday last , Paris was calm , lively , and indifferent ; but in the Salle des Conferences of the Assembly disquiet , indignation , ill-concealed alarm and suspicion of the Executive seem to blanch every cheek , and to make every lip quiver with a presentiment of the gathering storm . Where is the pretended republican outbreak ? Wherefore these circulars to the prefects , organizing a panic throughout the country , paralyzing industry , and disturbing commercial operations at this critical season of the year ? Is this the way to promote tranquillity ? Yet he told the people not to fear disturbances this winter , but to trust to his fulfilment of the mission , & c , " in a path not traced out / " But it is traced out—by the
Constitution ? * ' Here is a letter I" have received from an elector asking the meaning of it ull : he says his town is occupied as in a siege ; the National Guards disarmed ; and yet never were matters more calm . " A crowd of representatives speaking all at once , not without gesticulations , reading letters from the Department * , written by indignant and timid commercial bourgeois , asking the meaning of it all I " Interpellations from the Tribune . " " Ah bas ! nothing comes of it ! " « ' But the obstinate silence of the Elyseo on revision , and reelection , and prorogation : the doubtful threats in the Circus ! " Doubt , indecision , rage , at onco ludicrous and painful , on every face .
Passports for Belgium ! The new emigration has begun . It was whispered that M . Mol 6 had privately obtained this obliging leave of absence . M . Mole , the \ Prsmier emigrS forsooth I Have you seen the now pamphlet . Revision of tho Constitution f a rampant diatribe against representative institutions ; a glorification of Ctesarism ; said to be from the pen of a high functionary— - " M . Itomieu , par example !" Interpellations , Interpellations ; To such a depth of
weakness and of fear this poor Assembly has fallen . On thia Monday , too , M . Leo de Labordo has to muke inquiries ubout a certain proposition of his on the ree ' stablishmcnt of "the legitimate and traditional monarchy . " What has M . Dupin , that ancient admirer of the right divine , done with this wholesome proposition ? M . de Laroohe | acquolin flies to the ¦ uooour of his brother cavalier . He , too , had laid a similar proposition on the table ; no hud M . Bouhier
and how jreari ^ » S * S «* S ? rt L ** only propose an ' Appeal to the P » W ^ lic' t baiftermg between t & fCnourable I * 2 P ^ Some draws ! of jihe propositfcn as likelv £ ;«• the * ithfaus * No ! &/* y . M . l £$ * H ^ JJ |* o ^ Into my mouth ; I said it did not affiS ? put *<»< £ MbiUty of < ra * President would w «^_ ^ espon .
ceptane * of my proposition more tw £ r v rthe a ° - at the Banquet of Dijon" ( when M ^ ft ^ "to n * denounced the bad will of the Assembiv ^ na Pa « e at a " personal" Government ) y ' ^ hinted " I am not here ( says M . Dupuuwith all * * . at his command ) to Jut the SCchy ^ 1 ^ % President of a Republican Assemblv * L ^ e . all . the CoNSM-nmotf , is the law of law ? . ? ' . »• ** upon the Constitution so long as it exi ^ , ° ut &»> ge is the shortest road to anarchy . " XL Mevised » saluted with general cheers . Words Me The order of the day is carried bv nn majorityonlfour voices in favour
; y of Z . S * nse . Even M . Berryer , theAvocat du Bo , Sthe S " m of the Elysee , smuggles himself into a c ^ ne ° ^ - visibly interrupts his friend . Ah ! M ] W d m " would serve two masters ; and von MM at \ you and de Larochejacquelin / propose ^ AnnLf ^ People ! Really a capital solution ;^ ffill ? w and the only one ; if you should have it Tont ? * * you expect ; Appeal to the People ! thm So on Monday , December 1 , 1861 w / t > - i . Divine ; its pall borne by three devoted £ L ? lgh t , the family ! But the Appeal to ' thXp ^ ° a game others can play too . m
On Monday night there was a grand recanti ™ »? the Elysee . Never was M . Louis BonaiaS & ar ^ told ) more gay , more light hearted , more seTff possessed . Perhaps there was even more of ease an / abandon in his manner than usual . It was more 5 ke the air of a m anl whose heart grows lighter with , his purse , and who feels all the world before him where to choose . The saloons of the Elysee were crowded The Minister at War is the last to take his leave at two a . m . The other Ministers were present as usual . All Paris is gone to bed quietly , without dreamW of i
revolution . The Cercle deTUnion , theMaison Dorfo are alive with lamps and petit soupers , and sparkling with wit , and beauty , and frolic . The new partition of MM . Limnander and St . Georges , at the Op 6 ra Comique , is critically discussed , and the delicious melodies of the score are humming" about you . Others are planning mischief for the approaching Bals d'OpSra . At the Jockey Club , whist parties , at high stakes , are taking- no note of the hour .
Among the players is M . de Morny an intimate of M . Louis Napoleon , an habitui of the Jockey Club , a nightly player . He cannot be thinking of coups d'etat . All the rest of Paris , the bourgeoisie , the English quartier , the Faubourgs , the prisons , are asleep : happily forgetful of President and Assemblies , ot revolution and reaotion , M « de Morny is playing whist at the Jockey Club . All the guests have left the Elysee . The President has retired into his cabinet , and is writing " an affectionate letter to M . de Thorigny , and also to the
Ministers , declaring that his mind is made up—that he cannot allow himself to be sacrificed . by hia enemies , who are conspiring at that moment ; but that , as he is unwilling to compromise them' in any way by implicating them in his acts , he thinks it better they should resign . " . , Between two and four , a . m . a whole army is suddenly in motion . Before certain . houBea , notably at a , Faubourg St . Honore , soldiers are grounding arms ; and an officer demands admittance at this untimely hour for a visit to Changarnier , who attempts to harangue the soldiers , but they drown his voice with the beat of drums . At the same moment in other streets similar visits are taking place . On the morning of Tuesday , the 2 nd of December , the anniversary of the battle of Atiflterlitz , tho peaceable citizens of Paris awoke to find the ptrc"J occupied by troops , and to read the P * ° o \ . atlo ™ T the walls , announcing a mUitory revolutionjbo * menced if pot accomplished , and « a more » we *«« extinction / ' say . the Times , " of j ^^ J ^ Zs rity , and a more utter contempt for the "preg ™ h of a great people , than has U » ^ " ^ Seion dissolution of the Long Parliament , m **' "F" gt of the Council of 600 from tho Orangery oi o C e long-threat ened coup < r ** h- ¦* ** £ S £ It ho . been prepared de ^ rlT ^ lamationB have two and four a . m . could ifose PJ ^ J *' Minister * been written , printed , and P « g ^ iSSed > d aU p -rr ^ ^^ ST ^ troti ^ ation wo are invited to read . — ^ ^ ^ ^ people . -ritesfti ^
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 6, 1851, page 2, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_06121851/page/2/
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