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No. 414, Febbuaby 27, 1858.1 THE XEADEB....
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THE HYDE PARK DEMONSTRATION. The defeat ...
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THE REFUGEE QUESTION. The following impo...
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THE 'PUBLIC SAFKTY' BILL IN FRANCE. This...
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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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No. 414, Febbuaby 27, 1858.1 The Xeadeb....
No . 414 , Febbuaby 27 , 1858 . 1 THE XEADEB . 197
The Hyde Park Demonstration. The Defeat ...
THE HYDE PARK DEMONSTRATION . The defeat of the Government on the night of Friday ¦ week induced those who had the management of the proposed Sunday meeting in . Hyde Park , condemnatory of the Conspiracy Bill , to issue placards during Satur . day , stating that the demonstration would not take place . The opportunity , however , was too tempting to the roughs' to be thus easily abandoned ; and accordingly the park on Sunday exhibited a large gathering of idle and disreputable fellows , who had come out of devotion to no other principle than the love of mischief . All respectable persons had to ' abide the pelting of a
pitiless storm ' of stones and dirt ; and a few foreigners were roughly used on the assumption that they were French spies . Persons in carriages were vigorously hooted , the mob choosing to regard them as supporters of Lord Palmerston ' s bill . Some anxiety was felt as to the house of the French Ambassador , which is situated at Albert-gate ; but it was well guarded with police , and it should be mentioned to the credit of the rabble that an orator who threatened to smash M . de Persigny's windows was himself pelted and compelled to be silent . After a time , the mob was dispersed by a small party of mounted policewho made some captures .
, Several ruffianly fellows were examined at the Marlborough-street police-court on Monda 3 ' , on charges of assault and pocket-picking , arising out of the previous day ' s demonstration . The police were a good deal injured by stones , and several of the passers-by had been roughly used . In the case of one of the scamps , who had maltreated a gentleman ( supposed to be a foreigner ) riding in a carriage with a lady , a remand was ordered in the hope that the gentleman would come forward . In other cases , various terms of imprisonment were ordered . The magistrate ( Mr . Beadon ) strongly denounced the callers of the meeting .
It is , indeed , to be hoped that there will be no more of these Sunday gatherings in the parks . Experience has shown that they end in nothing but a condensation in one spot of the scattered ruffianism of the metropolis , wanton assaults on inoffensive persons , and collisions with the police . They do not reflect any genuine feeling on the part of the public , but , on the contrary , put a weapon in the hands of those who are only too willing to denv popular rights .
The Refugee Question. The Following Impo...
THE REFUGEE QUESTION . The following important document was communicated on Monday night to both Houses of Parliament : — " Earl Cowley to the Earl of Clarendon . ( Received Feb . 21 . ) " Paris , Feb . 20 , 1858 . " My Lord , — Having learnt by telegraph that certain resolutions imputing blame to her Majesty ' s Government for not having made any reply to Count Walewski's despatch to Count Persigny dated the 20 th of January had been affirmed by a majority of the House of Commons , I think it a duty to your Lordship to place on record , that although I have not been charged to make any official communication to the French Government in answer to that despatch , I have been enabled by your Lordship ' s private instructions to place before the French Government the sentiments , views , and intentions of her Majesty ' s Government far more fully , and I cannot but believe more satisfactorily , than would have been the case had my language been clothed in a more official garb .
. . " When Count Walewski ' s despatch was written , the irritation against the supposed apathy of England in a matter so important to Franco as the preservation of the limperor ' s life was excessive . Rightly or wrongly , the idea prevailed that every conspiracy against his Majesty had been organized in England , and that the British laws gave security to tho conspirators . No counterassertions on the part of her Majesty ' Government would have had any effect at that moment , and any official notice on the part of your Lordship of Count Walowski ' s despatch would probably have involved tho two Governments in a controversial discussion more likely to have increased than to have calmed tho excitement which prevailed . If the object was to soothe , it was important to let time oxort its usual influence , und to reserve tho official answer to Count Walowaki ' s despatch until it was known whether Parliament would answer tho appeal which was to be made to it by her Majesty ' s Government .
takings . As your Lordship ' s true , but very inadequate , organ , I have faithfully represented your feelings and j-our principles , and could I call upon the Emperor or upon Count Walewski as witnesses , neither , I feel certain , could belie my words . " 1 know not what may be the' result of last night ' s vote ; but , at all events , I lose no time in stating , my conviction that to your Lordship ' s judicious and prudent conduct at a very critical moment it is owing that , without the shadow of the sacrifice of a single principle , our relations with this Government have not received a shock which might have been fatal to the friendship which yet happily prevails between the two nations . —I have & c , " Cowley . "
, The Palmerstonian advocacy of Louis Napoleon has taken a most extraordinary form this week . Mr . Edward Truelove , a bookseller in the Strand , near Temple Bar , has been apprehended and examined at Bow-street on a charge of publishing a pamphlet , by a Mr . \ V . E . Adams , entitled , Tyrannicide : Is it Justifiable ? and sold at a penny , lib advocates the doctrine of political assassination in extreme cases , and it was contended by Mr . Bodkin , who appeared for the Crown , that Louis Napoleon is pointed at . No names , however , are mentioned ; but Mr . Truelove was remanded on bail .
The adjourned examination of M . Simon Bernard , the Frenchman charged with being one of the conspirators in the plot for assassinating the Emperor , took place at Bow-street on Tuesday . The court was filled with auditors , and a large number of persons remained outside . Several French witnesses were examined to prove that M . Bernard transmitted to Mr . Thomas Alison' ( who appears to be Felice Orsini ) , and ' a German named Pierey , ' certain pistols and explosive materials , through the agency of M . Outrequin . The oil-cloth which was wrapped round the parcel , when it was sent to M . Outrequin to be called for , was the same as that which enclosed the parcel despatched to France by M . Bernard , via the South-Eastern Railway . Testimony to this effect having been received , Mr . Bodkin applied for another remand of a week . Mr . Sleigh ( who appeared for the accused ) said he would not oppose the application . He continued : —
" Mr . Bodkin had on the last occasion exclaimed , * Why , my friend can ' t be serious to ask bail for a man who says he will shoot the first Frenchman who molests him . ' But it was a matter which had lately gained currency that there were in this country persons who had come for the purpose of attempting to attack or kidnap individuals of whose defenceless position they might take advantage , and the prisoner had only said that if such persons should pounce upon him he should defend himself as he was entitled to do . As for the correspondence with Outrequin , it related only to experiments in the dyeing of silks and manufacture of gas from tar , defendant being a chemist . Why was defendant to be treated with less kindness than our own countrymen ? Was it because he was a foreigner ?
Were we afraid of any foreign Power ? " ( Here the learned counsel , whose manner had been gradually growing warmer till it became passionate , was interrupted by a sudden , loud , and vehement clapping of hands in the court , of which no notice was taken by the magistrate or officers . ) " He could not believe that an independent magistrate would allow any feelings to operate but a sense of his dut }\ The question was not whether the man was guilty , but whether , if admitted to bail , ho would appear . That was the tost . He was prepared with good substantial bail to any reasonable , or oven unreasonable amount . He trusted the magistrate would deal with this case as with any other misdemeanour , though in fact and in truth it was a political prosecution . "
Mr . Bodkin said he was sure tho magistrate would not require him , to answer a speech which was not ntended to operate on his worship ' s mind , " but to have its effect in other places where sympathy with murder is taught und felt . " Mr . Jardine ( tho magistrate ) observed that it was far from his wish to keep the accused in custody simply because lie is a foreigner ; but it was impossible to accept bail . Since the previous examination , Mr . Sleigh had applied to a Judge in chambers to authorize the reception of bail ; but the Judge had declined to interfere with the discretion of the magistrate . During tho examination , and when the prisoner WHS being removed in tlio van , some rough fellows who had assembled in the Btrcot were rather noisy and turbulent .
" But it ought not to bo ignored that , while taking this prudent course , your Lordship lost no opportunity of informing tho French Government , confidentially , of tho true bearings of the question which had boon ruisod . Your Lordship ' s language lias been , from tho beginning of this unfortunate affair , ulear and straightforward . I Jiavjo _ nQW _ yaui : L Qrdjd » il & Jsl ^
while vindicating , in language- worthy of your Lordehlp ' a name , tho right of asylum which Groat Britain lias over afforded to strangers of all ranks and nations , and while declaring , in tcrma aa explicit aa they arc dotormined , tho impossibility of Infringing on that great principle of our constitution , you show how utterly inauffioiont must any enactment bo to prevent men of desperate minds from entering upon desperate under-
The 'Public Safkty' Bill In France. This...
THE ' PUBLIC SAFKTY' BILL IN FRANCE . This bill relative to Moamiros of Public Safety , arising out of tho attempted asflaimlncUiou on tho 11 th of January , was ~^ bTil Tt"tM " tir"tlro ~^ Fi'onolr- "rjegi 8 latlvo ~ Body > ^ on-Thursday and Friday wcok , when a discussion took nlaco presenting several points of interest to English roadortr . Tho ilrst speech -was that of M . Emilo OUivior , one of tho Republican deputies for Paris , who spoke- in a most remarkable and noblo strain oft daring . Ills remarks have boon rfcportod In full by tho English papers , but of course not by tho French , lie Bald : —
- " The bill violates all the principles which civilizec nations are agreed to consider as of the essence of sounc legislation . 1 . It violates the principle of the separation of powers . The judicial should always be separated from the executive power , for otherwise , says Montesquieu , ' the judge might be strong enough to become an oppressor . ' This bill surrenders the fortunes and liberties of citizens to three agents of the executive powei ( Art . 10 ) . 2 . Before this tribunal of a totally new kind , those forms which even the most expeditious court oi law cannot dispense with altogether disappear . There will be no examination , no confrontation with witnesses , no defence , no discussion , no publicity . The Minister of the Interior will be at once accuser , defender , and judge . 3 . Every penal law should clearly define the offence which it punishes . A law which does not do this is no law . Instead of being a safeguard ii
becomes a menace and a convenient instrument of oppression . In every country the people always prefer t severe law which is precise , to a mild law that is uncertain . Nothing terrifies them so much as the dread o what is ' unknown . ' There is not a single phrase ii this bill which is not vague and susceptible of the mosl monstrous interpretations . It punishes those who ' publicly excite' ' in any manner whatever ; ' those whe practise manoeuvres or keep up intelligence abroad ; and it sentences to banishment those against whom there ar < ' grave facts . ' 4 . It is a first principle that a man cannot be prosecuted a second time for an offence whicl he has expiated . Non bis in idem , say the criminal lawyers . The bill violates this principle , by subjecting to banishment and transportation those who , having
been condemned in 1848 , 1849 , and 18 . 51 , have already undergone their sentence . 5 . It does more—it affectfl them retroactively . It will be attempted to deny this ; the men of 1848 , 1849 , and 1851 , it will be said , will only come within the purview of the law if ' grave and new facts' shall be found against them . You will not allow yourselves to be deceived by this quibble ? What is meant by ' grave facts' ? Does the phrase mean the commission of any known offence ? No , for then you would not speak of ' grave facts , ' but you would use the word crime or misdemeanour . Your ' grave fact' is something or other altogether uncertain , which you may fancy to be such according to times and circumstances . . . . If , as you affirm , there exist numerous secret societies widely disseminated , and which weave around
you an invisible net , prosecute them . Against them you have already Draconian laws . If it be true that there are throughout the country wretches who meditate the ruin of society , punish them severely . ; you are fully armed , either by the ordinary code , or by your special enactments . But no ; what you really want is to have additional powers against those who do not conspire , but who are displeasing to you , against those -whom j-ou can reproach with no offence , and whom nevertheless you hold to be criminals in expectancy . It is against " the ' expectants ' that you wish to strike . The word is a new one , and advantageously stands in the place of the old word suspects . Now these expectants , many of them at least , live by their labour , and to banish them is to sentence them to misery and
death . But further , you reserve to yourself the right to transport to Lambessa , or to our pestilential colony of Cayenne , any of the men of 1848 , 1849 , and 1851 , who , having been banished , may in a moment of despair set foot on their native soil without authorization . And not those men alone . He who may use a false passport , who may have said a violent word to any functionary , who may have forgotten in some corner of his house a bullet or a musket , who may not have instantly quitted a group of people assembled in the street , and which lie had joined from curiosity ; tho man in whose dwelling an enemy may have concealed a little fulminating powder ; he who in a letter , or perhaps in conversation , may have manifested discontent , expressed a blame , desired a progress , said a few manly words to cheer a friend in despair for tho future , or may have called too soon for that liberty which is still promised us ; any one , in short , who may have voted badly l
( Interruption , and cries ofLet him go on / ' ) , displeased a commissary of police , incurred tho hatred of a debtor or a discharged servant , or ono of those professional informers who never fail to appear on the scene when laws of this kind are passed—any and all of those will bo liable to tho operation of tho proposed measure . That I undertake to prove stop by stop when wo como to discuss tho articles separately . Yes , there is not ono of you whom I am now addressing , your children or your frionds , who may not ono day Hnd themselves caught in tho moshos of this law . Truo policy—a policy really groat—must over keep itself subordinate to morality . A potty polioy only sots morals at nought . And yet , ovon according to tho rules of this potty policy , your law is a bad one . What ! You have governed tho country for nine years ; you arc at peace witli all Hu-TOpos--y « ii 4 iav . « -ttavunvor « u « . aiidJliigIy ^ kqiu !| aS < tH ( 2 ^ mi intelligent policeand an enormous budget , xou
, havo Intersected the capital with strategical roads , and at suitablo distances you have oroctod citadels w thin tho wallri . No llbortv oxlsts . Tho most formidable liberty of all , that of tho press , is now nothing more than tho right to say whatever may not dtsploaso tho Minister of tho Interior ; and yet you now como to ask
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 27, 1858, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_27021858/page/5/
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