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LETTERS FROM PARIS. [From ode own Corres...
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Letters From Paris. [From Ode Own Corres...
LETTERS FROM PARIS . [ From ode own Correspondent . ] Letter XXVIII . Paris , Tuesday Evening , July 6 th , 1852 . The Legislative Corps have not dispersed without taking a signal revenge for all the humiliations they have-been .. compelled to undergo . The deputies , as they' returned to their constituents , shot a Parthian arrow at their haughty master . They secretly resolved to draw up a Report of the results of their session for the perusal of the electors . This Report it was impossible to print ; but , in manuscript , it lias been in active circulation in Paris , and every independent deputy undertook to distribute it throughout bis department . This Report is very severe in its
terms . It nakedly accuses Louis Bonaparte of opposing every obstacle to the execution of tbeir mandate : it criticises unsparingly the Administrative innovations , and does not even spare the Constitution itself . It proceeds to state , that tbe financial condition bad seemed grave enough to demand a serious scrutiny : that , unfortunately , the trifling economies consented to by the Commission on the Budget , and refused by tbe Council of State , bad not been realized : that to have raised a conflict with the Executive would have disturbed the commercial interests of the country ; in obedience to which they had preferred to accept the Government measures , even the railway concessions , of which they were far from understanding the nature or the extent ; but that , next year thoy promised to be far more severe in tbe execution of tbe trust
committed to them by their constituents . This Report ( eompte-reudu ) has created a great sensation in Paris , and , doubtless , in the departments . The Elysee was bitterly incensed . In order to soften the blow , tbe adherents of the President were anxious to "bring the deputies together at a farewell banquet . This banquet was a gloomy affair . No speeches ; and only one toast , proposed by the chairman , M . Billault , President of the Legislative— " To Louis Napoleon ;" a toast received in icy silence , broken only by a few claqueurs , to make the silence more emphatic !
Louis Bonaparte is _now regularly settled for the summer at St . Cloud . Debauchery and excesses of all kinds bave marvellously _changed the man : he is said to be quite out of health ; . and his doctors tell him decidedly , that if he will not change bis manner of living they will not answer for his life . He is also said to be worn down -with anxiety and work , dejected , and demoralized . He feels tbe falseness of his position and tho difficulty of escape . Meantime his jf ? dales are workimr for him .
1 _evsigny has despatched orders to all the prefects to resume more actively than ever the agitation for the Empire , abruptly broken oil' before the 10 th of May , on account of the threats of tbe Czar ; so that , for the last few days—since , in fact , the Legislative Corps has disappeared , and the Senate has been left alone to complete its session , petitions have showered upon the Senate , which , as you remember , according to our present Constitution , has tho sole power of modifying the form of government . Tin ; Decembrist army , composed of (>( . ) 00 _stipeiuhu'ie . s ut Paris , and 20 , 000 iu tbe provinces , has taken fhe held _afuin .
These bagmen of a new description are busy enough in obtaining orders for their now article- the I _' . niperor . Among all Ihe Prefects the most conspicuous for his imperialist / . cat is M . tie , liouville , ox-journalist , and Prefect ol * the Mnsses-AIpos —fhe department which maintained a resistance to the usurpation for fivenfyfour days after fhe 2 nd of December . I \ l . tie Bouville has undertaken to clVect , the _wholesale c . imvorshm of this department ; and in the very communes where the entire male _population took' arms to defend flit : cause of Ihe Republic , a \ l . tie _Houville now pretends to find petitioners for tho Kinpiro . 1 will It'll you the very simple process be employs for that , purpose . The mayor of every commune is made responsible for so many signatures , according to ( he population of Ihe _village . If he omit , fo find fhe ariven number , be is
threatened with _triuisporful ion to I . umhcssu . Such is the operation in every village , mid so Ihe signatures flow in . Thin recrudescence of imperialist agitation lias given rise to the report , that , tbe intimates of the Klysee are determined to make Louis _llonaparle take the last ¦ spring ; and the Kinpire is _agaan the order of I he day . As it , is . the President lives , and moves , and aels like a
sovereign . A decree is announced to appear shortly , reviving all the dignitaries of tbe firmer imperialist court such as Chamberlain , ( iraiul Chancellor , ( Jrand Kquorrv , _iVhislor of Ihe _Cereuitmie-- _! , o . e . All I hose functionaries are already named , ami Uie decree ol their appointment will appear hidopendenily of Mm Empire . A ridiculous conspiracy , of genuine police fabricaion , has been " discovered" this week . Society hurt
Letters From Paris. [From Ode Own Corres...
been once more saved , and boobies are once more reassured . The police have " made a descent" upon a house behind the Jardin des Planies , where they found some gas-pipe ends , about a foot long each , crammed with bullets , and covered over with canvas . The two men in whose room these pipe-ends were found were arrested , of course ; but the police , not content with this capture , seized every person in the house , even women and children ! As in all the houses in Paris , these people were utter strangers to each other . In this case there were two women and one little girl ; and so the number of fourteen conspirators , pompously
announced by the Patrie _, is made up ; and the gaspipe ends , covered with canvas , are the murderous machines with which " the democrats of Paris , in league with their brothers iu London / ' were to effect a revolution . This pretended conspiracy , which tbe Parisians immediately christened " The Flue Conspiracy , " and which the Government wanted to puff to gigantic proportions by arresting all sorts of people , lias made a complete fiasco . The Conslitulionnel , in citing the article of the Tairic , declared the facts to be " inexact . " As to tbe Moniteur , it was silent for two days , and then finding that the conspiracy was a failure ,
came out with the announcement that the reports in the newspapers were certainly exaggerated . Public opinion , habituated to these police expedients , regarded the affair with perfect indifference , only inquiring what the special object of tbis latest fabrication might be ; and wags pretended that , bad it not been for this " gaspipe conspiracy , " Louis Bonaparte etait fame ; others considered it as an excuse for proclaiming the Empire . But 1 will give you the simple explanation of the affair iu a few words . About a fortnight ago , a man , named Viguier , ex-lieutenant of marine artillery , expelled his regiment for embezzlement—a man of utterly damaged reputation , and attached to tbe police , _jiresented himself to the refugees in London , begging admission into their society . One of the refugees having recognised
the man , immediately denounced him to the society , and his non-admission was pronounced . The police , very anxious to make Viguier pass for a democrat persecuted by the Government , got up this famous conspiracy ; and it was in the rooms of two of this Vigrder ' s friends that the gas-pipes were found . A perquisition made at Viguier ' s house led to the same results . The object was to accredit Viguier to the proscribed democrats at London ; this is the true and simple explanation of the alleged conspiracy . The conspiracy , however , of tbe sub-officers of the army , is another and very different business . Every regiment is sounded with amazing zeal by every party . The Orleanists and Legitimists " work" the officers , the democrats sound the sub-officers . The former hawk
about the letters of Changarnier and Lamoriciere , the latter that bold one of Colonel Charms , which has produced more ravages than any other . Iti many of the regiments secret societies ace formed . One of them was lately discovered in the army of Paris . The subofficer _., were transferred to tbe prison of L'Abhayc . Another secret society has been discovered among the sub-officers at St . Omer . The Government , anxious to distract public , attention , Iras denied tho facts : but the following significant announcement sufficiently disposes of the official denials . This is what I find iu the JAhertc , a journal published at Lille : — " For the last , few days , soldiers in chains , coming , we are informed , from St . Omer , have passed through our
streets , escorted by gendarmes to the Citadel ol Lille . " Algeria , occupied by regiments accused of democratic opinions , or hy regiments ofllcercd by democrats , in " worked" with etpial ardour by the republican party . A terrible , menace , is suspended over the . head of llonaparfe , that of seeing flic army hurst in his hand . The danger is imminent ; he knows if : it , is this thought which pierces through the allocution he lately addressed fo the officers of the live regiments newly added fo \\\ c garrison of Paris . " In every elevated position , like that in which I find myself placed , care outbids content : but , in the midst , of incessant anxieties and labours , there are true compensations : tho first , is that of duly accomplished , " Ac .
I bis address is significant enough ol the present disposition of Ihe speaker ' s mind . In truth , he is very far from having reason to be tranquil . The army is not fo be relied upon : and now the people of Paris are alive again . I have in a , former letter mentioned , that the police hail solemnly inaugurated busts of the President , in tbe principal' markets . „ The tradesmen had been compelled , by threats , I . o subscribe to tho expense . A few who resisted the injunction hud their licences w ifbilrawn from them . Their fate intimidated fhe real . Now ( be reaction is complete ; in a grout number of the murUetx Die hunts have boon smashed . That in fhe . Marchc , _au . v _Hnitres , _ll . uti Monforgueil , among others , was fust covered with ordure , und then guillotined . If has not yet been replaced by the police .
Letters From Paris. [From Ode Own Corres...
On the other hand , the rigorous measures continued on so vast a scale , keep up extreme irritation in the departments ; and this irritation is so keen , that many of the President ' s intimates have urged him to abandon his intended tour in the South . But he persists in his determination . He has a secret in the purpose of this tour . His plan is to go by Bordeaux to Toulouse , and thence to Marseilles , where lie will embark for Algeria , to take the command of an expedition in person . He takes to heart his two defeats of Boulogne and Strasburg ; he yearns to rehabilitate , by some brilliant action in the eyes of the army , that military reputation of his which the army now laugh to scorn . It is for this that he contemplates the expedition I have described _.
Pending the grand tour to the South , the Government is preparing a fete of dazzling magnificence , to gratify the well-known taste of the Parisian population for " fire and smoke , " and all the " pomp and circumstance of war . " The affair is to take place on the 15 th of August , Saint Napoleon ' s day . The spectacle will consist of the crossing of Mount St . Bernard by the French army , performed by 15 , 000 men under arms . The heights of Chaillot are destined to be the theatre of this exploit , and Trocadero is to be transformed into a Mount St . Bernard for the occasion . In the morning we shall have a pantomimic military display of the
troops crossing tbe mountains , with sham combats . At night Napoleon on horseback will be visible by tho aid of thousands of coloured lamps . During the performance there will be a grand snow storm falling on St . Bernard aud the troops , concluding with an immense display of fireworks , in the midst of which will appear a gigantic eagle , surmounting the figure of Napoleon . This fete will cost twenty-five millions ; but Bonaparte will not grudge the money if he can but succeed in dazzling the people ; for he feels its hostility and its affection must be bought at any cost . Why should he stick at " a trifle ? " ¦ Does he not himself ,
his family , and his courtiers , swim m gold ! Old Jerome , and the Princess Mathilde , his daughter , are most lavish in their expenditure . Lucien Murat has just bought the estate of Buzenval . Six months ago these people were over head and ears in debt , and now they are purchasing immense estates ! When will this host of vultures , which have fastened upon our unhappy country as on a prey , take their flight ? These champions of the right of property continue their depredations upon their neighbours . Tbe final seal is about being put to the sequestration of the Duke d'Aumale ' s property . The produce of the sale is to be given to
the sons of the aneiens emigres of the army of Conde . To accomplish this act of spoliation the last will of the Prince of Conde will bo cancelled by a decree , and on the same authority the first will be made valid . As for the family of Orleans , it has just escaped by a legal fiction from the consequences of Bonapartc _^ s decree , compelling them to sell all their property in France within the year . A friendly sale has been effected with the Prince de Monaco , who is under pecuniary obligations to them ; so Bonaparte is again defeated . You see the weazles did not all die with Louis Philippe : — " Messrs . Quirk , Gammon , and Snap" still sit at tho council-table , of the . House of Orleans .
The " refusals" are coming in as thick as ever . The professors of the university are above all distinguishing themselves by their firm and dignified attitude . Bonaparte in his suspicious jealousy has required tho oath to lie taken by si crowd of people who were never called upon before . For in . _-. tance , all the wearers of medals , including cabmen , water-carriers , . street-porters , have hcon _obliged to take tho onth , ur bo deprived of them . Many persons bave been under the necessity of repeatedly performing the , ceremony . One case is mentioned , that , of a legitimist , who went through tho process as deputy , departmental councillor , mayor , and us trustee for a public charity . Tho hero of this quadrup le , binding of oaths is reported fo have said , " Tbey made nie , swear four oaths , if will be hard indeed if 1
am unable to keep one of them . The Press is still the buff of the rigours of Government . The Corsairc , a legitimist organ , has been tho first to suffer under the application of _Ihinaparto ' s law for the suspension of newspapers . The arbitrary " warnings" of ( he prefects had lost , their virtue . Tbe Corsairc is suspended for two months . This paper wa . lined on the ISfb of May , for " contempt of the Government . " On the strength of this verdict , the
Ministers of Police suspended the paper altogether on the _Jlrd of July forty-six days alter the line hail been levied . The Fspcrlnicc of Mimics , another legitimist paper , bus received it first " warning . " Its crime consists in having presumed to furnish an explanation of the Com to do Ciinmbord _' s letter , forbidding the _JniUifiil , from taking the oath . Tho prefect spiced the warning with the plea that the paper was guilty of opposition to the will of eig ht , millions of men . We hear every day ol' fresh arrests . Last Saturday
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 10, 1852, page 10, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10071852/page/10/
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