The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-06-02 00:00:00

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE PEOPLE

Wiio shall dare to say that the Emperor of the
French is not the friend of the people and' the
imperial representative and vindicator of their
sovereign will ? Has he not scorned every
consideration of personal prudence, and dared
every danger to the peace of the world,
on the strength of the principle that the
people, and the people alone, are the true
arbitrators of the destinies of nations and their
rulers ? Has he not himself invariably submitted
unreservedly to their verdict, and shall he be sup-
posed unjust in maintaining the application of
the same dogma to neighbouring states. If
Kings and Princes who have inherited their
crowns from a long line of ancEstors, choose
to offend their subjects, is it a matter of Louis
NAPOLEON'S Shall he be charged with rebel-
lion because he insists upon the rights of an
offended peoplo to place themselves under the
sway of a more liberal sceptre—such, for instance,
as his own ? How can he help it ? It comes not
by his will, but by that of the people' It may
be a distasteful doctrine to tyrants and oppressors
of nationalities, but is it not most natural and
just to the mind of so disinterested a power as
that which now governs the French nation ? The
principle thus laid down may be a terror to
wicked rulers, but it can only be a praise to those
who do well by the masses. For instance, we all
know how grossly ill-used the Irish have been
under the House of Brunswick ; and how much
more free and happy, they have sometimes thought,
they might be under a Roman Catholic Sovereign
—not to say Louis NAPOLEON' If a majority of
the people of Ireland choose to declare, through
the medium. of the ballot box, that they are
resolved to make such a change of rulers, is not
Queen VICTORIA botind to submit to their ver-
dict, and is not Louis NAPOLEON, as the original
assertor of this great truth, equally bound to see
that verdict implicitly carried into effect ? In like
manner, in any and every country in Europe,
may not_ the allegiance of the people become

necessarily transferred to that model empire
which now dazzles Europe by its freedom and
power There seems only one difficulty in the
way of such a dream of empire being thus
realised. It may not be the will of the people
of England either to become an outlying province
of the French empire, or to allow the universal
application of a principle so subversive of the
balance of power in Europe.
Is free and enlightened England, then, to

become the avowed enemy of liberty and a dictator
to the nations ? Has she been superseded by
France as the great stronghold of Constitutional
freedom ? Is she to come down from the elevated
position she has occupied in Europe for many
centuries; and to throw away the torch of liberty
she has held up, often single-handed, so long
through dark and troublous ages ? Are the rights
of the people no longer dear to her? Has pro-
gress and civilisation at last reversed their course,
and begun to flow towards the rising, and not the
setting sun ? Or shall we still believe that the
sacred cause of freedom and the progressive
_enfranchisement of the.intelligent people find
their natural home in England? Is the sovereignty
of the people, under the: inspiration of Louis
NAPOLEON and his Government, a reality or only
a cunningly-devised imposture, which is meant
only to deceive those who are the true advocates
of liberty, and to answer the purposes of those
who heartily hate it above all things—an insult
and affront to true freedom, and a crying outrage
on the liberal sentiment of Europe ?

The last, popular vote, as taken under the
direction of the Empevor of France, we under-
take to prove was no better than a broad and
bare-faced lie—a mere farce upon freedom, and,
as such, demanding the fullest exposure at the
hands of all who love truth and desire to promote
the best interests of the people, not only of this
but of every other 'country 'in turOpe: It is
necessary to proclaim in every man's ear that
LOVIS NAPOLEON, while professing to reign by
the will of the people, is in reality one of the
most thorough-paced despots the world ever saw.
He secretly hates the name of liberty, and daily
practises the worst, because the most cunning,
absolutism. He has broken the most solemn
oaths, disregarded binding treaties, patronised
revolution, and sealed the exile of princes, under
the cloak of liberty for the subject, but in `fact for
no other end than to minister to his own ambi-
tious schemes, embracing the ultimate subjugation
of Europe to his despotic sway. We have seen
how he ran turn even universal suffrage and the
ballot-box into weapons of tyranny and oppres-
sion. ,

How was a vote secured in Nice and Savoy in
favour of France 2 The sympathies of the popu-
lations of Nice and Savoy had been already
repeatedly manifested against annexation, when
France demanded an all but unanimous vote in its
favdur. Howthen was such an apparently impossi-
.ble task acoemplished ? In the first place, it was
thought something might be gained by changing
the appointed day of the vote, so as to prevent
any efficient organisation among the refractory
inhabitants of these provinces, and to this intent
it was taken a week before the day originally
fixed. If the asse-tion, that the people sv!re
opposed to-France, is called in question, e would_
all
refer to the fact that they not only returned
their deputies to the Sardinian Parliament upon

the distinct understanding that they were to pro-

test against any proposal for annexation, but

upon the first occasion of French troops arriving
in Nice from Italy, they were received by the

people with marked disapprobation ; and we
know, upon the authority of the most impartial
eye-witnesses, that an actual collision occurred, in
which French bayonets were turned against the
townspeople. The Provisional Governor, however,

acting under orders from head-quarters, proceeded
by proclamation toinform his people that the whole
matter had been settled by the King and the Em-
peror. " Therefore," reads the proclamation " the
magnanimous Emperor NAPOLEON 111., and the
loyal VICTOR EMMANUEL, hare desired the this
treaty of cession should be strengthened (fortifie)

by the popular adhesion." Again, "all opposition
will find an insurmountable obstacle. ' *

There is no longer any use in public demonstra-
tions." And again, a gentle but significant allu-
sion is made to the " firm but powerful will of the
Emperor,"—thus scarcely concealing menaces
which could not. fail to be understood by the
citizens. The author of this proclamation, a
lawyer by profession, was selected as a fit-

ting and unscrupulous instrument to perform a
duty which the regular governor had declined
to do at the cost of sacrificing his post.
Another prominent agent in forcing the vote
of the people, was the very same gentleman
who, only a few weeks before, had got up an
address of thanks to those members 6f the House
of Commons who had strenuously opposed the
annexation. Another proclamation- from these
accommodating agents describes annexation as
affording a glorious prospect for Nice, while at
the same time, with singular inconsistency, it is
alluded to as a sacrifice made for the sake of Italy.
Upon the whole, the strength of these proclama-
tions lay in an appeal to the pockets of the
people, and something like an entire abnegation
of patriotism. The Bishop also issued a proclama-
tion making it a case of conscience for any person
to vote against French annexation. Public dis-
cussions and canvassing, except on the side of the
government, were strictly prohibited. All the
civil and ecclesiastical authorities, as well as all
the employes and chefs d'ad»zinistration were
plainly informed that their interest was required,
and hopes of Imperial recompense were openly pro-
mised. £120,000 was spent in bribes, and on the
days of voting the country voters were maintained
at the cost of the government. Drinking booths
kept free and open doors, and one inebriated
voter deposited a bread order instead of his voting
ticket in the ballot-box. In addition to all this
the Sardinian troops were withdrawn, and their
places supplied by French soldiers ; while two
French war-steamers occupied berths in the
harbour of Villafranca. Innumerable other proofs
could be adduced of the pressure brought to bear
on the population—but our space forbids.
Although the voting was professedly secret, it
was not so; for it was ordered "that the presi-
dent should receive the bulletin, and that the
secretary should register the vote, while the,
president placed the voting ticket in the urn."
What wonder that the vote should be . nearly
unanimous, although enly a few weeks previously
tens of thousands of persons had signed a memorial
against French annexation.
Thus to make use of popular institutions as a
mask behind which to hide a system of oppression
and tyranny is only calculated to bring those
institutions into contempt, and to cast immortal
ridicule upon the French idea of the "sovereignty
of the people."