The Express.
London, England, 1851-05-26 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, MONDAY

dent if they chose. The legitimist party, pew_
crful in the Assembly, but weak throughout
the country,ltaving published its programme, and
hoisted the flag of old abuses, he wished the majority
to make a proclamation to the people, and to restore
them their !sovereignty. With the exception of M.
Charamaule, all the members chosen on the com-
mittee belong to the majority. The above report of
the :discussiou in the bureaux will show
.you how
completely oneettled the opinions of the majority are
upon the principles of revision. M. de Broglie
plainly discards the notion of legality, when he con-
ceives the possibility of a constituent being chosen
before the winter. the article fixing the duration of
the Legislative Assembly at three years is peremp-
tory. Hence the notion of M. Baze for preventing
the reproduction of a motion for revision unless it
can be made in time to fulfil the formalities required
by the 111th article before May, 1e52, stems incon-
trovertible, if the legal course lie observed.
At the commencement of the Assembly's fitting an
immense mass of petitions was presence 1, as usual,
for the revision of the constitution and for the abolition
of the law of May.
The house then proceeded to the second delibera-
tion on the National Guard Bill. MM. Napoleon
Bonaparte and Pascal I)uprat proposed a preamble
declaring that the national guard is instituted to'
defend the constitution, the republic, and the rights
of the people. Both of these members supp wed with
1
energy their amendment, and strove to limy° that
the groundwork of the new bill was counter-revolu-1
tionary. M. do Biancey, the reporter. opi,osed the
amendment. Ile reminded the house how from the
earliest period of their popular institution, and so far
back as li9l, there had been a party that wished
to create in the national guard a counter-
poise against the army. Ile quoted a frag-
ment of a speech of Rubespierre to this effect,
which was vehemently applauded by the Left.
Then, turning to the applauders, he exclaimed,
'•Army against army, civil war organised, this
then is what you desire." A tremendous uproar fol-
lowed this apostrophe, in the midst of which M.
Valentin was called to order. The most violent in-
terpellations were exchanged between the two sides
of the Assembly, without the possibility of distin-
guishing a syllable in the midst of the inekseribable
hubbub.
Another tumult arose thus :—M. de Minicoy re-
minded the house that M. Pascal Duprat hail de-
manded the state of siege in Pill. M. Duprat
alleged, in justification of his proposal, that he had
done so at a =meta when eminent men of the Bight
begged the executive power to fly from Paris, and to
remove the seat of the Assembly to Buurges.
M. Denjoy exclaimed that the assertion of M.
Duprat was a calumny, and challenged him to name
the eminent persons to whom he ulluded. M. Duprat
culled on the President of the Assembly to protect
his independence and privileges, as a representative,
against such violent denunciations: and resisted the
calls of the Bight to name the parties.
M. de Larey affirmed that the demand of which
M. I )uprat spoke was niadc by one of his men party,
and not by a member of the Right. Thus would be
effaced from history the hoe which M. I Nona sought
to inscribe there. The Assembly then proceeded to
vote un the amendment, which was rejected by 416
votes against 224.
An amendment proposed 1y General Grammont
to enrol only volunteers was rejected.
A bill opening a credit of half a million of francs
to cover the total expenses of criminal justice during
IsZel was adopted; and the proposition of M. Deice-
sert for modifying the present legislation relative to
eavings banks was adopted on the first reading.
The Mole Club held a sitting last night in the Hue
de l'Universite, at which it passed a resolution in fa-
vour of total revision.

M. Chavoix, representative, has been condemned
by the tribunal of Perigueux to ply a line of
30,000 fr. to the family of M. Dupont, whom he
killed in a duel.

An improvement was visible to-day in the tone of
the funds. The Fives rose :Me., ;aid closed tnt. it, ;
the Threes closed at 36.20, with n rise of 13e.
This was attributed to the declaration of M. ll:troche
in favour of maintaining the Electoral Law of May.

PARIS, St:NDAT EVEMINO._

On Friday night an important sitting was hest in
the Rue des Pyramides, to come to a definitive reso-
lution on the subject of revision. M. de Monttkm-
heft besought all those who listened to him not to
allow themselves to be diverted from their task by
any desertion or obstacle. 1k declared that the ob-
ject of this club ought to be to restore the country to
the possession of itself, and to emancipate the na-
tional sovereignty from the chains of the constitu-
tion. The motion fur revision (nut total revision)
couched in the simplest terms, was then signed by
all the members present, beginning with the chair-
man, the Duke de Broglie. It is expected that the
motion will be presented on the 2Mtb. The number
of signatures amounts at present to la°.
M. de Montalembert has been the soul of this new
move in the Club of the Rue des Pyranndes. No
sooner had that keen-minded statesmau seen the out-
flush of the legitimists, and their determination to
hoist the oriffamme, than he gave them up fur lost,
and saw that nothing was to be dune hand-in-hand
with such allies. "11 n'y ade legitime quo Ic pos-
sible," is the abiding maxim of the policy of the
leader of the church party. This decision of the
Rue des Pyrumides entirely alters the face of the
question of revision.
What meaning can now be attached to the asser-
tion that nine-tenth. of Frenchmen are in favour of
revising the constitution, and that the only let to
the fulfilment of their will is the letter of an im-
practicable law, maintained, with threat of insur-
rivtion, by the remaining tenth:' Them cannot be
a vaguer mis-statement of the ease than this, which
is the Bonapartist mode of representing the question.
It would be much truer to say nine-tenths of French-
men are in favour of maiutainittg the republic,
and regard the revision of the cotetitution, in the
vague and general acceptation of that term, as
a plot for getting rid of the republic. How,
then, it may be said, is there so large a majority
in the Assembly in favour of revision? I answer'
there is an alleged majority, which is perfectly illu-
sory. It was asserted with confidence a week ago
that the three clubs of the Right had come to an
understanding to present an identical motion for re-
vision. This statement, which you will see in the
first column of the ]Abide of last Sunday, has just
received the most signal contradiction from facts.
Two of the clubs, those of the Rue de Itivoli and the
Rue de Itniversite, hate pronounced for total revi-
sion, while the Rue des Pyramiths drops the word
"total," and declares aim* for revision. Now there
cannot be a wider distinction than is established by
this difference. The fusionists end legitimists have.
announced, with sufficient cleanness, that the question
which they mean to raise by total revision is "
touchy or the republic." Whit the men of the Rue
des Pyramidcs mean by revision is by no means so
outspoken, but n tolerable outline may be gathered
of their policy from the debate in tile bureaux upon
the motion of M. Morin, and from their dis-
cussion in the sitting of the club on Friday night.
The key to the new situation has been furnished by
the declaration of M. Baroche in the Chamber oh
Friday afternoon, that the law of May was the flag
of the ministry. This was the pledise exacted by the
Club of the Rue des Pyramides before they embhaced
a decided policy. It is now clear that they have
made a bargain with the Elysee. Every representu-
' tive who signs their motion for revisiou takes thereby
a pledge to support the prolongation of the Presi-
dent's powers, provided the President support the law
of May. But this is no more the revision desired by
nine-tenths of Frenchmen than it is the revision
agreed on by two-thirds of the Assembly. It is the
enrolment of an important fraction of the Orkanists
under the standard of Louis-Napoleon, in return
fur the maintenance of the law of May. Neither
the Orleanists of the regency uor the legitimists
can embrace a revision which has such objects in
view; still less can they embrace a revision which is
to be obtained by such means as those contemplated
by the government and its supporters of the Rue des
Pyramides. Nothing could prove more distinctly
that these means involve a coost-freest than the Lai-
, rage of Nlontalembert and de Broglie. These lead-
ing statesmen of the Rue des Pyramides declared
that the aim of their party was to restore to the
• wain the fie and full exercise of its sovereignty,
in other words to break the formal barrier of the
111th article of the constitution. This proposition
• for the revision has been as yet subscribed by only
r 110 out of the 300, which, in round numbers, coin-
• plSe that party. But supposing that it gains the
. signatures of the remaining half of the club, with
• such a programme the signers arc still in a minority