The Sun.
London, England, 1852-11-11 00:00:00

UN, LONDOI:4i, TIIURSDAY NO-VEMBEIt

classes, whose sufferings hill long beau dilated on
should not bq overlooked, and that their claims for
redress, if they could be substantiated--(Hear, hear
from the Opposition benches)—should meet with due

THE EMPIRE,

The following is the report of the commission
charged to examine the proposition relative to a
modification of the Constitution, conformably to
articles 31 and 32 :
" Messieurs les Senateurs,—France, attentive and
excited, now demands from you a great political act.
You are called upon to put an end to her anxieties and
to secure her future.
" But this act, however important, does not meet with
any of those great difficulties which obstruct the wis-
dom of legislators. You know the wishes expressed
by the Councils-General, the Councils of Arron-
dissement, and the addresses of the communes of
France,—wishes for stability in the Government of
Louis Napoleon, and for return to a political form
which has struck the world by the majesty of its power
and by the wisdom of its laws. You have heard
that immense petition of a whole people, following
in the footsteps of its liberator, and those enthu-
siastic cries, which may almost call a plebiscite by
anticipation, proceeding from the hearts of thousands of
agriculturists and workmen, manufacturers and trades-
men. Such manifestations make the teak of statesmen
an easy one. There are circumstances in which fatal
necessities prevent the firmest legislator from acting in
harmony with public opinion and with his own reason;
other circumstances there are amidst which ho wants
much reflection in order to solve question; on which
the country has not sufficiently decided. You, gentle.
men, are not exposed either to this constraint or to this
embarrassment. The national will urges you on and
supplicates you, and your vast experience tells you
that in yielding to her entreaties you will assist in re-
placing France in the paths which are suitable to her
interests, to her grandeur, and to the imperious neces-
sities of her situation. All this is, in fact, explained be
the events which are being enacted before you.
" After periods of great political agitation, it always
happens that nations throw themselves joyfully into the
arms of the strong man whom Providence sends to them.
It war the fatigue of civil wars which made a monarch
of the conqueror of Actium; it was the horror of revo-
lutionary excesses as much as the glory of Marengo
which raised the imperial throne. In the midst of the
recent dangers of the country, this strong man stood
forth on the 10th of December, 1848, and on the 2d of
December, 1801, and France confided to him her stand-
ard, which was then declining. If, on this memorable
Tourney, which was nothing but a series of triumphs, she
has declared her will to confide it to him for ever, it is
because by his courage and by his prudence the man has
shown himself equal to the task; it is because, when a
nation feels itself tormented by the agitations of a stormy
Government, a necessary reaction leads it towards him
who can best secure order, stability, and repose.
" Louis Napoleon, therefore, is in this wonderful situ-
ation,—that he alone holds in his hands these inentima-
ble gifts. He has, in the eyes of France, his immense
services, the magic of his popularity, the reminiscences
of his race, the imperishable remembrance of order, of
organization, and of heroism, which give a louder pul-
sation to the hearts of all Frenchmen. He revives in
the eyes of Europe the greatest name of modern days,
not only for the military triumphs with which his history
is so rich, but for chaining down the political and social
tempests, for endowing France with the conquests of
peace, and for strengthening and fertilizing the good
relations of States. Both at home and abroad it is to
him that is attached a vast future of pacific labour and
of civilization. That future must not be at the mercy
of the chance of events and to the surprise of factions.
" Hence France demands the monarchy of the Empe-
ror; that is to say, order in revolution, and rule in de-
mocracy. She wished it on the 10th of December, when
the artifices of an inimical constitution prevented the
people from expressing their opinion ; she desired it
again on December the 20th, when the moderation of a
noble character stifled the demand. But now the public
sentiment overflows like a torrent ; there are moments
when enthusiasm, toe, has the right of solving political
questions. For some time past visible signs announced
what must be the mission of Louis Napoleon, and the
provident season of statesmen put itself in accordance
eith the popular instinct in order to fix its charac-
ter. After the bitter sarcasm which put the heir to
crown at the head of the Republic, it was evident that
France still democratic by habit, never ceased to be
,
monarchical is her instincts, and that she wished for the
re establishment of the monarchy in the person of the
Pr nce who revealed himself to her us the conciliator of
two ages and of two minds, the line of union of the Go-
vernment and of the people, the monarchical symbol of
or isaniz-d democracy. ,
" At the end of the last century the preponderance or
the democratic element gave rise to a belief in speculative
or ardent minds that France ought to mark the new era
into which she had entered by a divorce between her
Government and the ssaonarchical form. The Republic
was borrowed from the recollections of antiquity. But in
France political limitations seldom succeed. Our country,
• I ideas and to certain traditional habits, by
it
which it preserves the originality on which
certain national prides
i the
although taxed with frivolity, is invincibly attached to
itself. The Republic could not acclimatize itself e
French soil. It perished by its own excesses, and
it
only went into those excesses because the instincts of
the nation were averse to the new form of government,
The Republic was but an interregnum, brilliant abroad
and terrible at home, between two monarchies.
" At that period glory raised to power one of those
men who found dynasties and who traverse ages.
Flouriihing• on that new stem France beheld a monarchy
suitable to modern times, and yielding to no other in itp,
grandeur and in its power. Was it not a great lesson to
' see a similar fortune reserved 50 years after for a second
trial of the Republican form ? Is it not a striking
example of the perseverance of the French mind in
• hines which are like the substance of her political life?
Is not the proof complete and decisive ?
" It will be the more so as the Imprial Monarchy has
all the advantages of the Republic without its dangers.
The other monarchical regimes (the illustrious services of
which we will not depreciate,) have been accused of having
placed the throne too far from the people, and the Re-
public, boasting of its popular origin, skilfully en-
trenched itself against them in the masses, who thought
they were forgotten and overlooked. But the Empire,
stronger than the Republic, on democratic grounds,
removes that objection. It was the Government which
the people most energetically supported, and most
deeply regretted. The people have again found it
in their memory to oppose it to the dreams of
idealogista and to the attempts of perturbators. On
the one hand, it is the only one which can boast of the
right recognized by the old monarchs.—` That it is to
t. e French nation that it belongs to choose its Bing;' on
the other, it is the only one which has not had quarrels
to settle with the people. When it disappeared in 1814,
of the nation against the Go-
of an unequal foreign war
es cr
as
ed m itb e r i ni z theirlli m
more
reaffections b
y th e far
violence
evitfrerwencamtsetenlnotthabtyTvishoelesnterthudge'ingvcl:ersca. But the people have never
anonymous and tumultuous Empire their emanation and their
Govern-
THE TEETH AND BREATH.— How cif ;en do we find
cbielest of its ornaments, and the br et ith made disa-
the human face divine disfigured by neglecting the of its proconsul. than by the victories which were the
ctmwphero.sei
nes
ki
teet ceased
which
and
French
scdi
re
hi
ecet
n_hti
chi:el:ay
ntyhvalour.
grceublo to companions by non-attention to the Teeth! Teat is why the Nspoleoniau monarchy absorbed the
Though perfect in their structure and 13 Imposition, to Republic once, and why it must absorb it a second time-
fl iotrtml
etdr ou
teethb l e ;
knewond ifh thoow ssoer,
soon
decayho are s t blestea l
steals
into ad
w theit h w
mouthe l
express delegation of power by the people. But
keep them in a pure and health Einlte requires some he Republic is virtually in the Venpire, by the contract-
r io likelion
cahoadr eecxtepi rof the institution, and by,
the communica-
making unsightly what otherwise are do' ughtful to ad- the Empire is superior to the Republic, because it is also
mire, and designating unhealthiness by f ere impurity of the monarchy. that is to say, the government of all eon_
the breath, they would spare no enema to chase away tided to the moderating action of one, with hereditary
these fatal blemishes. But although in test ladies are succession as a cuuditi", and stability as its con-
careful, and even particular in these delicate matters, sequences. Monarchy has the excellent quality of
yet few are sufficiently aware of the impe cativo necessity yielding admirably to the progress of civilisation; by
of avoiding all r•oxious or mineral substar •ces of an acrid turns feudal, absolutist, and mixed, always old, and
nature, and of which the greater part of t so cheap tooth- treopen sews a
modern, it has only to the era of
powders of the:
present day are composed . It is highly itswas democratic transformation which was i
naugerated
satisfactory to -point out Messrs. Rowlant l's Odonto, or b That is what F
y the Emperor. twice now wishes; it
Pearl Dentifrice, as a preparation free fro m all injurious is what is asked of you by a country fatigued with
elements, and' eminently calculated to embellish and utopian ideas, incredulous with respect to political ab-
preserve the d (soul structure, to impart i . grateful fra- stractions, and whose genius, a union of sound sense and
grance to the breath, and to embellish al id perpetuate • constituted that it has • • •
poesy, is so us faith in power,
the graces of the meuth.—Court Journal. unle-s that power is revealed is the form of a hero or a
MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR.—Monday mot ning, a few prince.
minutes past five o'clock, as two men were 1 !roceeding in a " Even if the love of Frenchmen for monarchy be only
cart along Fang William-street, in the Strr end, they dB- a prejudice, it must be respected ; a People can only be
covered the body of a man lying en the pavement, about half overned in' accordance with its ideas. But • •
way down the street. Whether the poor falloff v fell down in it must in
particular be respected, because it is in •
. d by th
e
a
a tit, or was knocked down by some person, .is at presentand the most 1 s
most essential necessities,sgitimate fate-
quite a myritreree rests of the country.
FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT.—On Sundt, y evening, i, France is a groat State, desirous of
an accident, resulting in the death of two highly re- presenting at
borne andabroadthe force which
avast territory and
erectable 'persons. took place at the Seaforth station ofive She •
35.000
000 of inhabitants g • la both
~,, .
the Liverpool, Crosby, and Southport Railway. Dlr.l• arie
Edward Hamnett, of Islington, Liverpool, principal •of . .
cultural and commercia . Notwithstanding the for
tility of her soil, she would be poor if
an seine cut firm in that town, was, with his niece, a kanu'actures
governess in a school at Seaforth, waiting for th e art rival wore not to add immense
personal to real es •
pleat, and if
of the 8 p.m. train from that station to Liverp col . It not .
the taste for polite enjosand d
meats mu crate luxury did
was rather stormy at the time, and on the arrival 0 f the give to labour an aliment, and one whice
atthe is always
new. But labour in order to arrive
train a great many passengers rushed to obtains .eats. result of its
ventures,' needs be supported by so
many advances
Mr. Hamnett, who, is upwards of 80 years of agee was
of funds, most
such a oraevering continuance of
also endeavouring to obtain a seat, and was getting into that all success wouldPescape it if it were interruptedeffefforts,
r tosr,
a carriage when the train began to move off, whet ihe troubled by the storms of a disquieting and aebyersive
let go the handle of the carriage door, and, with his policy. It requires stable institutions, for thew alone
niece, who had hoid of his arm at the time, was drag godcredit.
beget confidence,
and secure
under the carriages, and both were instantaneoi sal-, "All these conditions of an orderly and pros
porous
killed.
life the monarchy procures to France; any other form
THE SoCTETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE G OS- can only compromise them.
TEL IN FOhEIGN PARTs.—During the past year this soc iety " Monarchy is tho government ofgreat States,
sums in aid of the operations t of
has paid the, following which durable institutions are marvellously suitab
e—aa
the Church in the several colonial dioceses: -- Mad.r.9 -as, the most solid foundations are required for a vast edifice.
10,905/.; Calcutta, 9,9171.; Quebec and Montreal,. 5609,1,4
1•;
The Republic, on the contrary, is only the P
-Mena-
Newfoundland. 6,421/ ; Toronto, 5,338/. ;Nova,Srcotia,
3,3,0.1 . •
meat of small States. If we except the United Striae of
Fredericton , New Brunswick, 5,143/ ; Cape Town,
Coy' lo ie; America, which, by their geographical position, forte „n
Sydney, 2,8.32 .; Melbourne, 1,1971.;
v.Colombo,
La
no,
exception to all rules and which besides are only a e,de.
1,284/. ; Jamaica, 1,6841. ; Tasmania, Van iemen'_sea_,nd,
ration, Republic ' a has never been able to establish itself
I,leB/.; Guiana, 1,253/. ; Barbadoes, 1,1841. ; Nev6/Zain • in •
; Beß m- except small nations, which the embarrassments of
1,076/. ; Adelaide, 0871. ; Newcastle, Australia, 2, .
o that
bay, 596/ ; Victoria, China, 123/. ; Antigua, 525/. ; Born et ,
difficult and complicated- f ofgovernment are
217.; Ruspert's Land, 3191. In addition to these, the some • y coreected by a small extent of territory and a limited
has granted to Europe, 4741. ; the Seychelles, AO/ ; Egy; A, population.
5447.; making the total grants, including home opeettioi ts, ,
Ancient Rome, so far from contacdicting this rule,
78,500/. fully confirms it. The Republic was only in the city,
FORTUN-E-TELLINCL—A fellow,named Tett( mean, who
a7id for the city. Beyond it there ware only avaricious
has just been committed to the Rochdale Hous 'e of Core
roasters and oppressed subjects. If ever France can be
rection, a short time ago induced a woman, na. "led An° said to have had a leaning to a republican government
Howard, of F'acit, near Rochdale, to believe the t he pose
it was in the middle ages, when the republican spirit,
aessed certain, supernatural powers; and, amongst`
ether
extinguished from the time of the Cellars, hail again
marvellous revelations, he told her that she was fielder
awoke in a part of Europe ; when France was checkered
the power of some mysterious enchantment, from se h.;ch
wCtt, all but independent provinces, and when the feudal
he would deliver her Go too payment of ss. The tvotna el , principalities were in all parts menaced by the coin-
paid the 'money, and in consequence of a promise she flak i munal movement. But since that moment all the
made to give herself and children to be controlh al ,i,y ,
, interior action of France has removed her from the
him. she became very unhappy, supposing that she ha f-i- republican form. She, in particular, has separated from
by that promise rendered herself subject to an bah trna I it when she gave herself a united territory and thirty-five
power, from which she could not be released. Her i 'ears millions of inhabitants, living under the same laws, in
became 80 alarming as ultimately to dethrone rea son, , h same country, and united by an infinite chain of
and sh 3 has been conveyed by the local authuritie I to " e interests, which the same movement of circu-
the pendent ,
lunatics asylum.
;ea 7n causes to terminate in a sole centre. Such a people
DETEEMINND SUICIPE BY A GERMAN GOVERNEss, i„--„-', ,t to be shaken, as were the citiz-ins of a single City,
—Yesterday afternoon, information was forwarded to Thomas even' If called Athens or Rome. A country which lives
Wakley, Esq., the coroner, of a determined suicide of a Gar- . I 111OUr, and not by the labour of slaves and pre-
man governess, who resided at Miss Allison's seminary, No •Isy its • .
r L :he State cannot be occupied with speeches
21, Glouceeter-gardens, Hyde-park, by throwing herself trent; s, ants set ort .
with , • •
he third floor window. of the I 'oru $ Ulf the permanent agitation of cortitia,

consideration from the Housl.
The question having been put from the Chair,
Mr. C. P. VILLIERS rose, and said ho hoped the
hour would allow him to make a few remarks upon the
address. He thought it was desirable that upon all
occasions they should, if possible, respond with una-
nimity to a speech or a message from the Throne ; that
was the feeling which had guided previous parliaments,
and as the speech or message was generally the pro-
duction of the Ministers, there could be no amendment

moved to the answer unless the speech or message from
the Throne contained something that was wrong, or
some omission. Now, there was very little that he had
find fault with in the present speech ; certainly he did
not complain of its opening, for he was satisfied that
both the House and the country would sympathise with
the spirit that it breathed. (Cheers.) With regard to
the other part of the speech, however, the Rouse would
remember the circumstances under which the Govern-

['lent camo into office. (Hear, hear.) It would b© re-

. _
collected that when the present Government came
into office, the First Minister acknowledged him-
self to be in a minority in the House of Commons,
and declared himself favourable to the principle of
protection. (Cheers.) The Minister, however, de-
__

dared his determination not to obstruct the progress la'

public business by proceeding to an immediate disso
lotion, but that he would appeal to the country at the
end of the Session, and cal! Parliament together in the
autumn to decide upon the question of Free Trade-
(fisar.) That was a brief outline of the history of the past,
and now, having ascertained what was the opinion of the
country, and being satisfied that it was opposed to a
return to our former commercial policy he called upon
the Government to give the House and the country a
pledge that they would make no arrangement, either di-
rect or indirect, to reverse that policy. (Cheers.) He
must be permitted to remind the House, that the Oppo-
sition had given the Government a fair trial
The Government was not pressed upon the
question of Free - trade last Session; but on tte
contrary, all opposition to them was withdrawn
npon the understanding that the opinion of the Crown
should be first taken upon the subject. (Cheers.) He
therefore, rose now not to move an amendment to the
Address, but to ascertain whether the Minister of the
Crown had abandoned his opinion upon the question.
(Hear, hear.) Neither the Speech, nor the observations
of the mover and seconder of the Address gay
the House any information upon that point©
Hear, hear.) The Speech from the throne was
vague while the observations mover
and seconder of the address was equally unsatis-
factory. (Cheers.) He denied that Free-trade had in-
flicted injury upon any class of Her Majesty's subjects;
and the opposition were determined it should remain
undisturbed. (Hear, hear.) The Opposition wanted to
know what the opinions of the Government
were upon the subject, and ho begged leave to
give notice ithat this motion would be submitted
before the House broke up for the holidays
The Opposition was determined to take the resolution of
the House upon the question, and as early as possible a
foal decision would be forced both from the Govern-
ment and the Parliament, as to whether Free-trade
should be continued or not. (Cheers.) At the close of
the Honourable Member's speech there was a long
pause. At length there were cries of " Booker.
Booker, and question, question," but no one answering
to this appeal.
The Speaker was on the point of putting the guns-
don, when
Mr. HUME rose and said he was ashamed of the
Government. (Hear, hear.) An earnest appeal had
been made to the Government upon a most important
and vital question, and yet they had not the man linem
to respond to it. (Cheers.) Ministers appeared to b() un-
worthy of the position they held for more than 9 MU iths
Ministers had been considering the question of Free
Trade, and yet they could riot make up their minds upon
it, or the coinage, tb declare that they bad changed their
opinions. (Cheers) The country would be disap-
pointed at this result, and he for one was disgusted. with
it. (Cheers.) What, were there not a man in the Go-
vernment honest or courageous enough to tell Par-
liament what they wanted or what they intended to
do ? He trusted for sake of the country
that there was, but no matter whether there
was or not, he was satisfied of this, that Parliamer A would
not separate till it had extorted from Ministers a o lear;and
now possessed. (Cheers.) The country was pr osperous
unmistakeable declaration of the principles wni r.:11 they
No class was complaining, or at least had any
just cause of complaint against Fro e Trade,
and whatever concealment Government might t practice,
of this they might be satisfied, that neither tt .e country
nor the Home of Commons would ever san cam a re
turn to Protection. (Cheers.)
Mr WALPOLE said he did not rise, lv) or did any
other member of the Government rise, at tip a concluiion
of the speech of the Hon. Member Jr Wolver-
hampton, because they were anxious to see if
there was any amendment to be m ade to the
address. (Hear, hoar.) He agreed that the ? House had
assembled at the present period to settle the question o-
our commercial policy, and before the Hot tee separated
for the holidays, its opinion would be jail en upon that
point, (Cheers).
[LEFT SPEAKING

THE DUKE Or WELLINGTON'S FUICE BAL. - This
day, her Majesty proceeded, with Prin C, 3 Albert and
the royal children, at four o'clock, to vie v r the lying in
state of the body of his Grace the late Di tl ie of Welling-
ton. Her Majesty was accompanied by the principal
officers of her household, and was receiv,ac 1 by the chief
officials of the Hospital, the Yeomen oiF the Guard, a
detachment of the Life Guards, and also • of the Duke's
Regiment.

-----
with the terbulent cares of shifting politics. This fever,
to which democratic republics give the name of political
life, cannot with impunity be communicated to a nation
whose splendour particularly consists in the pacific tie •
velopmeat of its wealth, and in the regular an :ntelligent
activity of its private interests.
" Our fathers learned these truths in the rude school
of public and private misfortune. They compose all the
interior policy of the commencement of this century.*
Why should incorrigible innovators have in these latter
times inflicted the too palpable demonstration of them
upon us? We have seen altars raised to instabiliiy and
to periodical convulsions, the two plagues of the social
body; we have seen laws made to reduce to solemn pre-
septa the febrile and terrible crisis which may ruin a
people; we have seen the vessel of the State launched
on an unknown sea, without a fixed point to guide itself
by, without an anchor to cast out; and no one can say
what would have become of the future of France if Pro-
vidence, watching over her, had not raised up the man
of the intrepid heart, who extended his hand to her.
France, with full knowledge of what she is doing,
intends to return to her natural state. She longs again
to find her real position and her equilibrium. The
French nation, in its admirable common sense, is not so
infatuated with its superior qualities as to be blinded to
its weak points. It knows itself variable in its iceres-
clone, prompt to be worked on, and easy to bo led astray ;
and, because it distrusts the rapidity of a first movement,
it seeks a fixed point in its institutions, and desires to
be retained on a stable and solid basis. The French de-
mocracy has sometimes been compared to that of Athens.
We have no objection to the comparison, as far as po-
liteness and elegance of mind are concerned, but we, in
all other respects, utterly disclaim the similitude. 'the
Greek democracies were nothing but a perpetual flux
anti reflex, never accepting the corrective of their levity.
They were, besides, idle and grasping, living
on the civic oboli and distributions of food. On
the other hand, the French democracy, of a more mas-
culine and more haughty character, does not look to the
State for the care of its wellbeing; it depends on its own
efforts for support, and most joyfully submits to the
eternal law of God—daily labour. Its speculations em-
braced the whole world; it cultivates the earth with its
free hands; it furrows the mighty deep with its vessels;
it multiplies its industrial creations, engenders capital,
and makes the future tributary to its able and immense
combinations. When a nation thus founds it enterprises
on credit and durability, when sometimes not less than
half a century is necessary to it to reap the benefit of
its operations, it is not the institutions of a day that can
give it any hope of their success. Such a nation would
bo mad, if it did not desire to make the moving sphere
of its interests tarn round the motionless axis of a
monarchy.
" it is true that in Franco equality is an object of ab-
solute worship, and a monarchy has, as its very first
condition, the privileged existence of those grand and
rare individualities which God raises above their fellows
to form dynasties, and which aro less human beings than
the personification of a people and the concentrated ra-
diation of a civilization. But equality, such as we con-
ceive it in France, admits without jealousy those pro-
vidential grandeurs rendered legitimate by State reasons
—below which it finds its level. At Rome and Athens
equality consisted in rendering each citizen ad-
missible to tho supreme authority ; and it is,
therefore, that men considered all equality at an
end when Augustus had converted the Republic
into a Monarchy. In France wo considered it
as saved and confirmed for ever under the reign of the
Emperor. The reason is that in this country of equality
there is nothing that is less supported than the govern-
ment of one's equals, because equality is there fully
satisfied in holding everything in its grasp—places,
credit, wealth, and renown—and in having a wide
and open road before it, which leads to everything ex-
cept
that extreme point of power, that inaccessible
summit, which care for the public tranquillity has placed
high above all private aspirations. By these means
the democracy wonderfully agrees with the monarchy,
and that union is the more solid since common sense
unites with the habits of the people in cementing it.
But, should cavilling minds, believing themselves
more wise than the whole country, bring forward, as an
objection to the desire expressed for the hereditary ern-
pire, the inconveniences which minorities and bad
princes may, at certain intervals, produce in mon-
archical States, we would reply that all human
institutions contain within themselves certain de-
fects anti weaknesses. The moue-rely has not the
privilege of perfection; it has simply for France, the
ane adac ni
b e: ne
theirt
assemblies
Ist
sams
ert
medo
leaibnenestdl
believing
vohhifani ctgwh
elementest ahoklavnt ee sst
they
o:noyef
wpdsieotfiraeetisuiiinlimt-
toyyt
merit of an incontesiible superiority over the system of
of struggles
s ialsoommme ohav
perpetual election, which only offers an eternal series
only for the purpose of immediately leaving another
pending.
proving on the monarchical system, placed in sovereign
andbli'e‘
which dynasties represent. But have not such assem-
their history exhibit melancholy instances of venality or
tyranny? Has not their baseness given them insolent
and seditious guardians? And in the point of view of
moral responsibility, which is one of the great cheeks on
the conscience, there is not the slightest comnarison be-
tween a man and an assembly. In assemblies, the re-
sponsibility of the body effaces that of the individual;
and, as a collective responsibility is very nearly illusory,
it comes to pass that that irresponsibility, which some-
times constitutes the force and independence of assem-
blies, is also the cause of their excesses. In a Prince,
on the contrary, the responsibility is undivided and in-
evitable, and presses with all its weight on the side of
duty. In fine, when evil ore, ps into a sovereign political
body, it continues there tie a precedent, increases as a
tradition, and the thing itself can only bo kept up by
keeping up the evil. On the contrary, if evil glhies to
the throne, it causes alarm only by temporary and in-
termittent perils, which are, besides, extenuated by the
institutions and modifications which are more easily ef-
fected in the case of a man than in that of an assembly.
The feeble Louis XIII. was followed by the grand Louis
XIV.; and, besides, Louis XIII, is, in the ej es of pos-
terity, covered by his Minister, Richelieu.
" These general considerations appear to us to prove
sufficiently that the national sentiment which addresses
itself to yon, gentlemen, as to sage mediators between
the people and the Prince, is neither a frivolous caprice
nor a fleeting infatuation. Behind the fascination of a
great name, and above the gratitude which is felt for the
acts of a noble and patriotic courage, there are grand
thoughts, powerful interests, and an admirable intuitive
perception of the public necessities. France, gentlemen,
desires to have the life of a great nation, and not that
precarious and sickly existence which consumes the
social body. During the last four years, while subjected
to perilous experiments, she has known how to correct
by her good sense the evils of a deplorable situation.
But it is necessary that such a situation should be
brought to a close. Up to the present time she has, in
the midst of the tempests which assailed her, found only
safety,s on which no future pros-
perity ed. At present she is about
t o r
cuter ni
oy
yd
to found, by means of the fortu-
nate
pilot whom she greets with joy, the edifice of her
prosperity on the solid ground of a monarchy.
" Let us now look to the details of the draught of the
Senatus-Cunsultunt.
" Louis Napoleon will take the name of Napoleon
111..' It is that name which re-echoed in the ucclaina-
tious of the people ; it is the name which was inscribed
on the triumphal arches and trophies. We do not
specially select it; wo merely accept it from a natural
and spontaneous election. It has, besides, that profound
good sense which is always to be met with in the won-
derful instincts of the people. It is a homage to Na-
poleon 1., whom the people never forget; and it is a pious
remembrance of his youthful son, who was constitu-
tionally proclaimed Emperor of the French, and whose
reign, though short, has not been effaced by tho obscure
existence of the exile. It solves for the future the
question of succession, and signifies that the Empire will
be hereditary after Louis Napoleon, as it has been for
himself. In fine, it connects the political phase to which
we owe our safety with the glorious name which was
also the safety of past times.
" And yet, by the side of the traditional element, con-
temporary events preserve their proper value and their
peculiar signification. If Louis Napoleon is called on at
present to resume the work of his uncle, it is not merely
because be is the heir of the Emperor, but because he
deserves to be so ; it is on account of his devotion to
France, and of that spontaneous and personal action
which has rescued the country from the horrors of
anarchy. It is not sufficient for him to be the heir of
tho Emperor ; he must be again elected, for the third
time by the people. Thus the succession and the elec-
tion will combine to double his force, the modern fact
rendering the old one young and vigorous by the power
of a reiterated consent and a second contract.
" The Senates Consultant next invests Louis Napoleon
with the right to adopt a heir in default of a direct suc-
cessor. Adoption, which is a common right in private
families, cannot be an exception in dynastic families ;
for, when no natural heir exists, it is a principle in
public law that the choice of the monarch belongs to the
people. But that rule is that of ordinary times, and can
not suit in an absolute manner an order of things which
again resumes a new course after a long interruption, and
in the midst of the most extraordinary circumstances.
" Louis Napoleon, the depositary of the confidence of
the people, charged by it to draw up a constitution, can
on infinitely stronger grounds receive the mandate to
provide for certain eventualities, and to prevent certain
crisis in which that constitution might perish. The
strokes of nature have been often terrible in reigning
families, and have set at nought the counsels of the wise.
The French people will not imagine that it makes too
great a sacrifice of its rights, in abandoning itself once
more to the prudence of the Prince whom it has made
the arbiter of its destinies. This provision, besides, is
borrowed from the Imperial Constitution. The Empire
which revives ought not to be less powerful in its means
*hen was the Empire at its commencement; and in order
to remain within the letter and the spirit of that prece-
dent, the Senates Consultant proposes to you not to ad-
mit
of such adoption, except for the male descendants, j
natural and legitimate, of the brothers of Napoleon I.
The right of unlimited adoption would be in manifest
contradiction with the popular wish for the re-establish-
ment of the Empire, which is the guiding-star of oar
deliberations. In fact, the Empire is inseparable from
combination,srlepliy ac ofe a
on
n political
thet h
onethe name of Bonaparte, and cannot be conceived without
6, member of that family with which the new form of
ttio monarchy was stipulated France. Everything
oight to remain consistent in the work which we are
considering.
cha-
racter, France places a hope which more than anything
constitutes her faith in the future, namely, that at no
r
distant
which is now rising, and will give to the Emperor
scions
worthy of his great name and of this great
' B
But
t period above
' a that
wif,e will take
he solely
country.

That debt was imposed on the Prince on the day w
the cries of " Vive l'Empereur ! " hailed him on his
pee:age; and he will accept it virtually, but necessarily,
the day when the crown graces his head. For, since the
Empire is established with a view to the future, it ought
to carry with it all the legitimato cons( quences which
preserve that future from uncertainty and convulsions.
" In default of the direct line and of the adoptive line,
the case of succession in the collateral line must be pro-
vided for. On that point we propose to you a clause by
which the people should confer oa Louis Napoleon
the right of regulating by an organic decree that orders
of succession in the Bonaparte family. By that
means our Senatus Consultum will remain more per-
fectly in accordance with the popular wish, which in it
unlimited confidence has placed in Louis Napoleon's
hands the destinies of the country; it will like-
wise be more in conformity with the political changes
which Franco has entered into since the 2d of Decem-
ber. The greatest political genius of Italy, in the 16th
century, was accustomed to say that in those rare and
solemn moments in which the question is to found anew
State the will of a single man was indispensible.* That
is what the nation comprehended so admirably when it
intrusted to Louis Napoleon the task of drawing up the
constitution which governs us. At present, that a capi-
tal modification is taking place in one of the very foun-
dations of that constitution, it appears natural and
logical to again confer on Louis Napoleon a portion of
the constituent power, in order that, in the special point
which concerns most intimately the interests of the
dynasty of which the nation declares him the head, he
may enact such provisions as appear to him most suit-
able to the public interest, and to the interest of the
monarch. For his family, as well as for the country,
Louis Napoleon is the man of an exceptional situation,
and no fear must he entertained of adding to his power,
in order that, with the assent of all. his may settle it by
the authority of a single person. We therefore propose
to you, after a conference with the organs of the Go-
vernment, which has led to unanimity of opinion, an
article thus worded :—`Art. 4. Louis Napoleon Bona-
parte regulates, by an organic decree addressed to the
Senate and deposited in the archives, the order to the
succession to the throne in the Bonaparte family, in case
he should not leave any direct or adopted heir.'
" It is not necessary for us to say to you, that in this
system the formula to be submitted to the French people
ought to contain an express mention of that delegation.
It will be necessary, according to the constitution, that
the French people be called on to declare whether it
desires or not to invest Louis Napoleon with the power
which we conceive ought to be conferred on him.
" After having thus spoken of the succession to the
imperial crown, the Senatus Consultum carries its atten•
tion to the condition of the family of the Emperor. It
eivides it into two parts:-Ist, the Imperial family, pro-
perly so called, composed of the persons who may by
possibility be called to the throne, and of their &seen-
deers of both sexes; and, 2d, of the other members of
the Bonaparte family.
" The situation of the Princes and Princesses of the
Imperial family is to be regulated by Senatus Consulta,
and they cannot marry without the Emperor's consent.
Art. 6 pronounces for any infraction of this regulation
of public interest the penalty of losing all right to the
succession, with the proviso, however, that in case of
the dissolution of the marriage by the death of the wife,
without issue, the right is at once recovered.
" As to the other members of Bonaparte family, who
compose the civil family, it is to the Emperor, and not
any longer to Senates Consulta, that it appertains to fix
by statutes their titles and situation. It is useless to
insist on this distinction, as it is explained by the
difference which exists between the civil family and
that uniting in itself the double character of civil and
political family.
"We have also to request your special attention to
the final paragraph of article 6, which confers on the
Emperor full and entire authority over alt the members
of his family. These special powers are called for by
the gravest considerations, and belong to the right
generally claimed by reigning families. Princes are
placed in so lofty a position by public right and national
interest that they are, in many respects, beyond the pale
of the common law. The greater their privileges are,
the more their duties are immense towards the country.
Montesquieu has said, ' It is not for the reigning family
that the order of secession is established, but because
it is the interest of the State that there should be a
reigning family.' They belong, therefore, to the State by
strutter ties than other citizens, and on account of their
very greatness must be retained in a sort of perpetual
wardship, under the guardianship of the Emperor, the
defender of their dignity, the appreciator of their actions
and who stands in the place of father and guardian, in
order to preserve this patrimony intact to the nation.
"If these reasons do not apply in all their extent to
the members of the private family, there are others of
not less importance, which are drawn from the conjoint
responsibility imposed by a name which is the property
of the nation, as much as of the persons who have the
honour of bearing it.
"Besides, several of those persona have the privilege
of being the only ones in the State that the Emperor
can place by adoption in the rank of persons who may
succeed to the crown. But there is no public privilege
which ought not to be paid for by duties specially
created to justify its necessity, and to co-operate in the
object of its establishment.
" There is another point which it is sufficient for us to
remind you of—the maintenance of the Salic Law in the
Imperial dynasty. In France, the Salic Law is, so to
speak, incorporated with the monarchy, and although
its origin goes back to the remotest periods, it has so
completely penetrated into our way of thinking, and is
altogether so much in accord will the rules of French
policy, that it is inseparable from all transformations in
the monarchical principle.
"Finally, gentlemen, the Senates Consultant provides
for the ease in which the throne should be vacant. It
ever the nation should be so unfortunate as to experi-
ence this affliction' (to use the language of the coiebrated
edict of July 1717) it would be for the nation to
repair it. Art. 5 formally recognizes this fun dements!
essential, and inalienable right. At the same time, it
provides for the means of preparing a choice worthy of
the French people, by its prudence and maturity. In
consequence, an organic Senatus•Consultum , proposed to
th© Senate by the Ministers formed into a Council of
Government, with the addition of the President of the
Senate, the President of the Legislative body, and the
President of the Council of State, shall 'tin submitted to
the free acceptance of the people, and w;,1.1 give to France
a new Emperor.
"Such, gentlemen, are the princips-1 provisions of the
Senatus Consultum now submitted to you for considera-
tion, and which will prepare the au gust contract of the
nation with its chief. Should you adopt it, you will
order, by a concluding article, in 'virtue of the constitu-
tion, that the people be consultrtd concerning the re-
establishment of the Imperial dignity in the person
of Louis Napoleon the combinations of whose suc-
cession we have just explained to you. But, gentlemen,
we may affirm, while bending at present before a public
will which only asks for an occasion to burst forth
afresh, that the Empire is accomplished; and that Empire,
the dawn of which has lighted up the path of Louis
Napoleon in the departments of the south, rises over
Freese) surrounded by the most suspicious auguries.
Everywhere hope revives in men's minds ; everywhere
capital, restrained by the uncertainty of the future,
rushes with ardour into the channels of business ; and
everywhere the national sap circulates tend vivifies to
produce the most abundant fruits.
" This reign, gentlemen, will not far) cradled in the
midst of arms nod in the camp of insurgents Prretorlan
guards. It is the work of the naiicraal feeling, most
spontaneously expressed ; it has Been produced in
oar commercial towns, in our p oats, in the most
peaceful centres of agriculture and manufactures,
and in the midst of the joy of an tdrectionate people; it
will cons( qeently be the Empire of ?eace—that is to say,
the Revolution of 1789 without its, revolutionary ideas,
religion without intolerance, e, luality without the
follies of equality, love for the people without Socialist
charlatanism, and national honour without the calamities
of war. Ah ! if the great shade of the Emperor should
cast a glance at this France which he loved so much, it
would thrill with joy at beholding the gloomy predictions
of St. Helena, at one momore, being so near realised,
totally disproved. No, Europe: is not to be delivered up
to disorder and anarchy ! No, France will not lose the
grandeur of her institutions; and the ideas of Napoleon,
directed towards peace by r generous-minded Prince,
will be the safeguard of civilisation."

" * Debbesi pigliare questo per una regola generale, she non
mai, o di redo, occorre clealcuni republics, o regno, eta, da
principio, ordinato bene, se non l ordinato uno."—(Ma-
chiavelli, Remarks on Titus Livius,' 1,9.)

* the speeches delivered in the Tribuna on the return
to bloaarchy in 1804.
Tficitta.—Omnes, eStlta equalitate, jll5Sa principis P -
pectare."—.o Annals," 1., 'l.