The Sun.
London, England, 1852-10-20 00:00:00

LOUTS IVAPOLE,ON'S EIVTRY INTO PARIS,

(From the Post.)
We did not mistake. Our anticipation of Moncley
morning was yesterday duly fulfilled, and the French
people have been soundly rated for being so unrea-
sonable as to attempt any interference with their own
affairs. The wrath on this occasion had been ex-
pressed in " King Cambese's vein," with a ludicrous
affectation of dignity, which seems to have been in-
tended to defeat itself. History is ransacked to prove
that external splendour has usually accompanied and
concealed a corresponding deficiency of internal vigour.
We are reminded of the simplicity of Augustus Cesar
and of the gorgeous habiliments of Masanniello ; and
somewhat inopportunely, we are told in the same pa-
ragraph of the " barbaric splendours of Oriental
monarchy," of the " military solemnities of the
Roman commonwealth," and of the ceremonious fes-
tivities of the middle ages. how these things tend
to establish the proposition set forth, or how the pro-
position itself, were it rendered as clear as that two
and two make four, would be applicable to the entry
of Louis Napoleon into Paris, or to the restoration of
Monarchical Government to France, are matters which
are left to the imagination of the ingenious or specu-
lative reader. It will be seen that what is thus
pompously alleged on the authority of history may
be granted or denied without advancing one or other
side of the argument by a single hair's-breadth.
In the meantime, it is admitted by our discon-
tented contemporary himself that the devotion of the
people to the new Emperor is " spontaneous and unre-
luctant." But then, because it is thus " spontaneous
and unreluctant," he, with his usual logical inaccuracy,
calls it "servitude," the wish being to promote dis-
content where the interests of the human race emi-
nently require peace and good will. The sayings of
Ledru Rollin—the purposes of Louis Blanc—the
orations of Lamartine—the barricades of February
and of June, are all brought up, with a view of irri-
tating the most irritable nation in the world ; and of
inspiring the English multitude with supererogatory
contempt for their neighbours. In this malignant
and mischievous attempt to stir up a discord which
has long slumbered, no baseness is deemed too
degrading to be employed in the unhallowed service.
The assertion of such direct and simple falsehoods as
that " the workmen of the Faubourgs were described,
but a few months ago, as untameable barbarians, to
be hewn down, in street warfare," though calculated
to produce laughter in Paris, where the truth is
known, may yet, by dint of daily iteration, obtain
some degree of credit on this side of the Channel, and
further, in some degree, the profoundly wicked intent
proposed. We doubt not, indeed, that there are
people, and those well-intentioned and orderly citi-
zens, who have actually read themselves into what
they feel to be an assured belief of all the fabled
massacres of the 4th of December—of the indiscrimi-
nate firing of the troops upon men, women, and child-
ren, and of their special partiality for destroying the
two latter classes of their defenceless fellow-creatures.
The minds of such men, once perverted, it is not easy
to bring back to a reasonable view of the question.
And this brings us to a new phase of our contem-
porary's madness, wherein he throws off the heroic,
and assumes the more modest, though by no means
less dangerous, character of Mrs. Candour. " But,"
says he, " the new Emperor, as we suppose he will
soon be styled, may, unquestionably, inaugurate his
reign, if he be so advised, by acts of clemency, con-
fidence, and justice, which would obliterate from the
facile memories of his subjects the traces of those
flagrant acts which accompanied his rise. He may
proclaim a general amnesty to the victims of those
political parties which he professes to have extin-
guished and united—he may set an example to Eu-
rope which would be the soundest pledge of peace, by
effecting a large and immediate reduction of the
army, and he may gradually restore, at least, some
shadow of their former freedom to the people he
aspires to govern. If we have been foremost to de-
nounce a series of acts which were disgraced by all
the excesses of arbitrary power, and which cannot
but excite the gravest apprehensions for the future, we
shall not be less ready to acknowledge any change in
the policy of the French Government which bears the
stamp of magnaminity and sincerity. It is obvious
that the maintenance of the existing Government
within the bounds of moderation and of peace (if those
limits can be observed by a Power so constituted)
promises more tranquility to Europe than the occur-
rence of any fresh revolution leading to incalculable
consequences." There is the admission, almost in our
own words, of all that we have been contending for.
The new Emperor "may" do all the good things which
are here mentioned as possible. He "may" proceed to
improve the condition of his people by all the ame-
liorations of peace. He " may' do acts of magnani-
mity which shall render his name immortal. He
"may" convert the energy of the soldier into the in-
dustry of the husbandman, or into the laborious skill
of the mechanic. He " may" thus clothe barren
places with verdure, and cover the seas with the pro-
ducts of commerce instead of the thunders of war.
"may" do all this and more, and his Empire (not
may, but) must, if confined within the limits of
moderation and peace, promise (and perform, too)
more for the tranquility of Europe than the occur-
rence of any " fresh revolution," leading, as such
d' fresh revolution" must, to incalculable conse-
quences. Well, if he " may" do so much good, and
if such must be the character of his Government, as
contrasted with any such change as could alone suc-
ceed it, why are all these difficulties attempted to be
thrown daily in his way i—why so much elaborate
toil expended in endeavours—vain, indeed, as they
happily prove to be, but still busily followed up—to
poison the minds of the people of this country, and to
excite them to hatred and contempt for a neighbour-
ing Power capable of doing so much for the tranqui-
lity of the world?
True, indeed, this admission is accompanied by
words of very fair promise. "We were the first to
blame ".—" we shall not, on that account, be the last
to praise." These phrases sound very candid, and
one would almost think they indicated a certain love
of truth after all. But who is to undo all the mis-
chief which has already been effected ? Our con-
temporary prates about reducing the army, as a proof
of sincerity. First, will be, in his small way, set the
example ? At this moment Europe is still sensible
of the shock of 1848. We ourselves remember the
10th of April. Besides, there are at all times a thou-
sand possibilities out of which war may arise, and
our contemporary may rest assured that he is no
friend to European peace who would now advise either
France or England to throw down their defensive
armour.
Yet again we ask, will our contemporary follow his
own advice, and prove his own sincerity, by retracting
all that he has written and published against the
French Government, in so far as he can find such
writing and such publication to be utterly and en-
tirely without foundation ? When he shall have
done this, we shall have some confidence in his good
intentions, but not till then.

(From the Morning Herald.)
The reception given to Louis Napoleon by the city
of Paris has proved worthy of the man and the oc-
casion. Paris put forth all her decorative splendour
in her own characteristic way, at once gorgeous and
tasteful, while the Prince, even in the midst of enthu-
siastic exhibitions, pursued the even tenor of his own
course, making his advances to the throne slowly and
methodically, betraying no impulsive weakness or
hurry, rejecting the temptations to make coups de
theatre, and in every respect marking his own well-
balanced mind and quiet resolute will. We believe
that the confidence of the more thoughtful and re-
flecting classes has been less gained by the magic of
a name than by the result of an experience which has
taught them to rely on the word of the Chief of the
State, and on the established firmness of a disposition
which is not to be swayed by other dictates than those
of will and reason. When the Prince President pro-
claimed that the Empire should be synonymous with
peace, he is believed to have meant what he said. That
which the nation wants and desires is developed in-
dustry at home and peace abroad, peace being its prime
necessary condition. As we gather from concurrent
accounts of the triumphal entry of Saturday the words
" Peace and Industry," in different forms of expression,
graced arches of triumph and floating banners and
steamers. If the declaration that L'Empire c'est la
pair had not struck deeply into some great immediate
necessity, it could not have been taken up with sign.s
of approbation so general, and a satisfaction so mani-
fest. It becomes the policy of the Prince, in wh?se
hand is the government of France, to cultivate prin-
ciples to which he has given vigour, by.putting them
forth in the broad day-light of public opinion, stampe
with the seal of his own acceptance and high approba-
tion.
Two significant circumstances connected with th. e
immediate arrival of the Prince President at the rail-
way station in Paris are particularly deserving of
note—a throne had been prepared, to which, although
surrounded, and as it were supported by the clergy,
Senate, Council of State. Legislative Body, with de-
putations from various other corporations, so that all
ranks and classes of the State were there represented,
he yet refused to be conducted. This was not from
affectation, like that of the first Caesar, who thrice put
away the kingly crown, for immediately afterwards
--and this is the second of the circumstances to which
we are alluding—he said, in his reply to the ad-
dress of the municipal authorities, "If France wills
the Empire it is because she thinks that this farm of
government best guarantees her grandeur and her
futurity. Neither did the rumour of the Senate
having suddenly met and drawn up the necessary
Consulte, by way of An agreeable surprise, turn out
to have any better foundation than the desire, per-
haps, to invest a surely coming event
with the hap-
piest inventions of circumstances. Thus we discover,
through unmistakeable indications, that the throne
about to be established must have its foundation
struck deep into a general consent so clearly and for-