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560 THE LEADER. [Saturday,
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LETTERS FROM PARIS. (Extracts from Priva...
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* Wo havo assured our esteemed correspon...
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CONTINENTAL NOTES. Letters from the Cauc...
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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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la bouring under monom ania ; and the jury found him < milty with extenuating circumstances . He was sentenced to twenty years' hard labour . Being now fortysix years of age , it is probable that he will never reach the end of bis term .
560 The Leader. [Saturday,
560 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
Letters From Paris. (Extracts From Priva...
LETTERS FROM PARIS . ( Extracts from Private Correspondence . ") The only diplomatic news is the probable appointment of M . Thouvenel to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs . M . Thouvenel is a man of forty ; he began his diplomatic career at Brussels , in Louis Philippe ' s time ; he won the friendship of King Leopold , wrote in tlie Iicvue des deux Mondes , and rapidly established s . reputation . The Plouse of Orleans was very fond of him ; he was almost " of the family . " He is brother-in-law to M . Cuvillier Fleury , sometime tutor to the Due d'Aumale . The Revolution of' 48 found him in Greece , and left him there . It was by him that the little kingdom was saved in the Pacifico affair . He left Greece to become " director" in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , and it was M . Thouvenel who won a state-paper
reputation for M . Drouyn de Lhuys During the Vienna Conferences lie supported alone the whole burden of affairs , received the diplomatic corps , corresponded with our agents abroad , all " on her own hook" The absent Minister meanwhile corresponded directly with the Emperor , in cipher . On this M Thouvenel founded his resignation ; but the Emperor , who highly esteems him , is determined to make him Minister . Since , however , it is unprecedented that a simple " director" should become Minister without having passed through an ambassadorship , this routine , which has almost the force of law , will be observed , by nominating M . Thouvenel ambassador to Constantinople , whither he may possibly not go . I don ' t know what England will think of our new Foreign Minister being the old protector of the Greeks , the old ally of the Russians at Athens , the old adversary of Admiral Parker in the
Mediterranean . . A naval friend of mine , who returned last week from the Crimea , and who has been through the whole campaign since the Alma , assures me that after our first victory Sebastopol might have been easily taken in a day , and the forts in a very short time . The enemy was demoralised ; St . Arnaud ¦ wanted to push on , leaving to the navies to take care of the wounded and the dead ; but the English would not abandon their wounded . So the Russians had time to fortify . Since St . Arnaud ' s death there has been , properly speaking , no unity of command . Canrobert had under his orders generals of his own rank , of longer service than his : every man wanted Pelissier t
to carry on the siege for himself . won ' divide his authority with any one , not even with the Minister of War : he strikes like a deaf man , and hears nothing . Last week the Ministry of War sent him some " counsels .- " he replied , "I can qufte understand people in Paris being anxious to know tghat is going on at Sebastopol ; but at Sebastopol we care very little about what you are thinking at Paris . " You see you were not far from right in describing Pelissier as a mauvaise tete . He is in favour now , and he does what he likes : to-morrow he may be in disgrace , and everything he does will be disapproved . Our Government is un enfant terrible that breaks all its toys . .... The * Acudcmv will not be crushed because The Academy will not be crushed because
it will bend . You know the result of the protest . Our Academicians ¦ mil be content with that . The most resolute say that , " after all , there are precedents . " Thej' recal the proceedings of the first Empire , and , what is more serious , the members expelled , and their seats filled up under the Restoration . If you ask them why they don't resign , which would be the only serious protest , they reply that it would be repugnant to usage ; that a resigned Academician would bo a monstrosity in literature ; that you re-Bign a situation , but not a seat in the Academy . These rc ' volutionnaires de bonne compagnie are good for nothing but to mutter behind doors , and to whisper bons viols against the powers that be . Grassot of
You mentioned a mot of ' s a propos Sobastopol ; he ia the author of another about l'ianori . Graseot said that I'ianori had not fired at the Emperor , but at an uide-de-camp who owed him for a pair of boots . There is plenty of joking in Paris , but little else . No one likos the Government , no one takes any interest in the war ; but there ia too much luxury , too much pleasure , too much mere desire of enjoymont to allow the middle classes to contemplate tho possibility of a revolution without trembling . The working classes make no sign of life ; they are lulled as much us possible by work : when Hie hands are busy the head reposes . For the Ateliera Nutiormux of the Champ do Mara ia substituted tho completion of tho Louvre , and tho
Neronian works in the Bois de Boulogne . But when all these works are finished , or when money runs short , what will be done then ? Literature and publishers are doing indifferently well . The Academy , living on its laurels , has just given a prize of 3000 francs to an able treatise on the works of Livy . The author is a young man of twenty-seven , a resigned professor , M . Taine , a man of large and liberal intelligence . The Socidte'des Gens de Lettres has divided into four prizes a sum of 10000 francs offered by an " Anon . "
, This "Anon . " is M . Louis Ve ' ron , who pays his welcome to the Society in this form . It is to be feared , however , that the eminent apothecary ' s 10 , 000 francs will scarcely provide bread for all the men of letters who are starving ! The artists have remarked that the Emperor , after having opened in person the Industrial Exposition , had not honoured , with his presence the opening of the Exposition of Fine Arts : it was opened like a shop , without any ceremony . inundation
We are overwhelmed by an of police . M . Laurens , a painter , went lately to Jersey to visit Victor Hugo . Since his return the police have been incessantly inquiring about him among his acquaintances . By-the-by , ha % -e you heard the following anecdote ? A lady of the Faubourg St . Germain , well known for her anti-Bonapartist opinions , was about to give a ball . The Commissaire de Police of the district presented himself at her house , and asked her permission to send to the ball three Messieurs well dressed , who would pass muster very well among her guests , who would
even dance if necessary , and play a rubber without cheating . The lady was aghast at the proposal , and exclaimed with some vehemence that she would rather put off her ball sine die than to be exposed to such an intrusion . The police commissaire endeavoured to appease her ^ " I should be sorry , indeed , Madame , to be the cause of such a disappointment . Would you allow me to glance over your list of invitations ?"— " Certainly , I am not in the habit of receiving people who will not bear inspection . " The commissaire read tlie list , and returned it , smiling . " Now , madarae , 1 will not press my request to be allowed to send three of my employes ; you have
invited six ! { From another Letter . * ) Your article on our Opposition was excellent in principle , but it seemed to me to be deficient in practical application . Beware of Socialist chimeras—that is the pith of your counsels , n ' est-cc pas ? Perhaps you were thinking a little of your troublesome Chartists at home when you gave us that excellent advice . But that is not the whole question with us . The republican party—I mean the temperate , enlightened , statesmanlike leaders of the party—know perfectly well that they will have to resist the exaggerations of impossible reformers . But at the same time they foresee other immense difficulties ( which I have discussed in previous letters ) . We shall have to encounter royalists of every colour , and financial embarrassments of which it
is difficult to form an idea . Consider the ignorant mass of the population , astonished to find themselves poor after having allowed their affairs to be conducted by a spendthrift and a gambler , will accuse not him , but the Government , whatever it may be , which will have to demand extraordinary sacrifices . Consider the working classes , accustomed to the application of the droit au travail by dint of loans continually renewed , but in a sudden crisis impossible , to a man they will join the Socialists , who will promise to continue , in some form or other , that system of disguised spoliation . If you have any formula to help us with , pray hasten to state it . * But a mere Beware of the Socialists will not carry us far . We shall have to contend with misery , with hunger , with bankruptcy ^ with the ruin of all credit , and with all the ordinary consequences of such a complication
( From another Letter . ) I have only been once to the Exposition To my shame be it spoken , I have never seen any pictures of Millais , except those now in Paris . In truth , however , I have scarcely been in London since he began to exhibit . I am adverse to tlie Pre-Kaphaelite doctrine ; but I am told that JVlilluis is no longer a fanatical adherent to it . It has been wonderfully beneficial to him . I never saw more solid , obstinate , and effective painting ( once tho peculiar dorme ' e admitted ) , awl I suppose his example will have a wonderful cfleot in putting an end to tlie
slurring conventional hypocrisies of art i nav not heard many valuable opinions on the English school expressed here . There are two conflictine tendencies in the public ; one towards admiration without bounds , another towards contempt . The public seems waiting for the mot d ' ordre . Among the few casual observations I have caught flying are these : " There are great qualities in the English school , but it does not know how to paint ! " and " The handiwork is excellent , but the English can 1 !
think ! . . . . . The cry is , " The Exposition is a failure . " The Opposition attribute this to the Prince ; Bonapartists to the Company : about the fact all agree . I passed through on my way to the Beaux Arts , on the 4 th ( second franc day ) . At three there were not ' more than three hundred people in the building ; most of them seemed to have something to do with the stalls . I suppose you have noticed that the shares have fallen'thirty francs within a month .
( From another Letter . ) I have heard that the recent attack by General Pelissier was in defiance of a formal order to undertake nothing against the place—an order emanating from an-august personage , but that Pelissier replied that the order arrived too late , that the attack was commanded , and that he could not be responsible for a second edition of the Kertch expedition disappointment , at the risk of losing the confidence of the whole army It seems certain that in the recent engagements the lives of the troops have been lavished . At the Tuileries the loss caused consternation ; hence the order to desist . Such is the rumour I have heard . Perhaps it is but a rumour , circulated with the design of throwing the whole responsibility of the sacrifice of life upon the hero of the Dahra
We have a grand picture by M . Winterhalter , painter of all the dynasties , at the Exposition ( representing the Empress and eight ladies of her suite sitting on the grass ) , which would make a fine signboard fora marchand de modes . This Decameron , however , is so richly framed , that on Sunday last it was completely mobbed . The good people fancied it represented the Favourites of the Emperor . Such was the universal suspicion in the Faubourg St . Antoine . I hear on good authority that the so-called Pianori was a man of family . When the Procureur-General came to question him for the last time , the prisoner answered him in good , and even elegant French .
* Wo Havo Assured Our Esteemed Correspon...
* Wo havo assured our esteemed correspondent Mint wo purposely abatuined from even appearing to dictate u programme . Wo ronjpe < : tfully enforced curtain general principled , essential to tho vitality of a nation , but wo never pretended to emulate M . do Girurdin , and to bo rondy with a aeries of J )& reta de I'Avenir . Tho excessive indulgence in formulae -wo humbly conceive to be one of the most serious demon ta of tho disoaHO which has reduced Franco to her present fovoriah atony . —Ed . LlCAPlCH .
Continental Notes. Letters From The Cauc...
CONTINENTAL NOTES . Letters from the Caucasus complain of the high prices of articles of consumption , which have risen enormously since the conveyance of them by sea has been terminated . A small wheaten loaf , which used to cost no more than three copecks , cannot be had now under ten copecks . The Spanish Cortes have decided , by ninety-live votes to sixty , to take into consideration a proposition declaring that municipal elections shall henceforth take place by universal suffrage . The Madrid Gazette of June 8 publishes a circular suspending the execution of the decree relative to the National Guard .
A Prussian circular , dated May 23 , has been forwarded to the diplomatic agents of Prussia throughout Germany . This despatch , which is signed by Baron Manteuffel , is an answer to the two Austrian circulars of the 17 th ultimo , of which we gave an analysis last week , and which had reference to the Russian intimation of the Czar's intention to abide by the first two Points , on the understanding that Germany shall remain neutral . Prussia states her agreement with Austria that the Russian despatch did not call fur any discussion in the
Diet ; but she altogether dissents from tho assertion of the Vienna Cabinet , that Russia is only striving after tho disunion of Germany . While not denying Austria ' s claim to merit in acquiring tho Russian concessions with regard to these two Points , Baron Manteullol thinks " it would be matter of easy proof to bhow that Prussia s incessant exertions at St . Petersburg have also at least shared in bringing about" tho result in question . Ho ia inclined to doubt that the Cabinet of tit . Petersburg tieaired to assure itself in advance of the determination ot
tlie German courts , since no responsive declaration was asked for by Russia . The l ' rusaiun Cabinet , in short , claims for all tho powers concerned a fair and impartial interpretation of their acts and motives . Hut Jfaron Mantouflel " will not ntop to inquire if tho dogn'c of ( at least intended ) Kccrocy and reserve with which Austria ahrouda her negotiations from tho Western Powersfrom us still more than from other Gorman Governments —exactly eorrenponda to tho degree of confidence that she claims from us . " Prussia , out of " consideration for Austria , and tho " diflicult petition" in which who 18 placed , dooa not wish to " drive" that power into further communications . " Wo filial ) , a « 1 hardly need repeal , whilst examining into tho wtato of tho case , strive , by wish , by feeling-, and by resolution , to prove tii « Prussia , both aa a European and an a German ' ' t ) Wfll '> * wont to look upon horsolf as Austria ' s ally . Hut wo claim for ourselves and for Germany tho inoontefltauic
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 16, 1855, page 8, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_16061855/page/8/
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