The National Register.
London, England, 1815-08-20 00:00:00

STATE OF FRANCE.

As the press is now totally silenced in that country, we
can only derive reports of its real situation from the pea
of correspondents. Even then prejudice may interfere:
and 'misrepresentations ensue. When, however, ac-
counts of an unfavourable complexion proceed from per-
sons whose interest it is that things should go on well,
they may be read with confidence, as they must have heeit
written with sincerity. The following letter, of whirl:
we have seen the oril.rinal, possesses that title to attention.
" The abolition of' the Liberty of the Press, as far a;
the public prints arc concerned, was an unpleasant, bze
a Ilect;SSilly measurc... Had Napoleon adopted it at lis

53S

return, instead of granting unlimited licence to all
writers. far from Wing, forced to abdicate by the Chambers,
he would be still balancing the fate of the war. Ilk con-
duct in that respect only served to injure him and his
'successor. The Press fell almost exclusively into the
hands of the Jacobins, who revived the wildest republican
totions, and profiting by the security of the moment,
struck daily at the roots of supreme power. The jea-
ilotisies which they excited against a man, whose despotism
was too deeply remembered to allow much confidence to
be placed on his professions in behalf of liberty, de-
prived him of that cordial support which alone could
have enabled him to repel the. attacks of coalewed Eu-
rope, and prepared the public mind to approve his
forced abdication. Since the restoration of our legiti-
mate Sovereign, the same plan was actively pursued ; the
object only was changed, and the same results might
once more have occurred. It was, therefore, absolutely
necessary to remove a certain peril, e-eu at the risk of
inomentlry unpopularity.
" The exertions of the Police, althon/h carried on
wrath ~ncreased activity, have not yet removed the grounds
of conTlaint which had been slightly touched by the pa-'
pers Cries of hire l'Empereur ! continue to grire the
heart of his Majesty and the Royal Family, even under
the windows of the palace, and when the presenie of the
Monarch' ought to overawe the disaffected. What a dif-
ference between the spirit of the Royalists and Buona-
partists—and how little in favour of the former. During
Napoleon's last ephemeral reign, not a single cry of
five le Roi ! was heard. The ears of the despot were
only saluted with servile acclamations, for the friends of
the King trembled and were silent. The rightful Mo.
!larch is now on the throne ; his hands and those of his
friends are invested with power, and yet the audacity of
the Buonapartists is not subdued, and the acclamations
of the faithful are mixed with shouts of disloyalty, and
the Father of the People is unblushingly derided to his
face by his rebellious subjects. Neither are the efforts
of this audacious spirit confined to mere vociferations.
The Officers and Gentlemen of the King's Household are I
1
every where insulted and compelled to tight duels. During
the last week not less than thirty have been stabbed with
swords (recu des coups d'ept.e). This state of things is
attributed by some to Fouche, whom they charge with
secretly betraying the King, as he did Buonaparte. Others
say, and• perhaps with more justice, that it is greatly en-
couraged, if not occsioned, by the Prussians and Aus-
trians, who wish to make the popular spirit appear worse,
arid the situation of the Bourbons more precarious than
It is, in order to have an excuse for imposing harder times
upon France. Nay, it is even rumoured that these two
Powers would favour any attempt at a new counter-revo-
lution, in order to have a plea for the partition of that
unfortunate country."