The Sun.
London, England, 1852-01-14 00:00:00

ITALY.

The Sardinian Chamber of Deputies concluded the
debate on the treaty of commerce with Austria on
the 10th. M. REVEL, formerly of the Cabinet, was
the principal orator, and spoke with great weight of
argument in favour of the treaty, which was adopted
by 90 votes against 38.

LATEST FROM PARIS.

THE NEW CONSTITUTION,
(From the Morning Post)
The following is the exact text of the Proclama-
tion of the President of the Republic to the French
people, explaining the spirit, the principles, and the
chief points of the Constitut.:n :
PRO CL ATION
OF LOUIS NAPOLEON, PRESIDENT OF
THE REPUBLIC,
TO THE FRENCH PEOPLE,
PROMULGATING THE CONSTITUTION OF
DECEMBER 2, 1851.

FRENCHMEN !
In my Proclamation of the 2d of December,
when I loyally explained to you what, according to
my ideas, were the vital conditions of Government
(pouvoir) in France, I had not the pretension, so
common in these days, of substituting a personal
theory for the experience of centuries. On the con-
trary, 1 sought in the past, the examples that might
best be followed, what men had given them, and
what benefits had resulted.
I have thought it reasonable (logique) to prefer the
precepts of genius to the specious doctrines of men
of abstract ideas. I have taken as models the political
institutions which already, at the commencement of
this century, under analogous circumstances have
strengthened tottering society and raised France to a
lofty degree of prosperity and grandeur.
I have taken as models those institutions, which,
instead of vanishing at the first breath of popula
agitation, were only overturned by the might of all
Europe coalesced against us.
In one word, I said to myself, since France makes
progress during the last fifty years, in virtue alone of
the administrative, military, judicial, religious, and
financial organisation of the Consulate and the Em-
pire, why should not we also adopt the political insti-
tutions of that epoch ?
Created by the same thought, they must bear the
same character of nationality and practical utility.
In effect, as I recalled to mind in my proclamation,
it is essential to aver that our present state of society
is nought else than France regenerate by the revolu-
tion of eighty-nine, and organised by the Emperor.
Nothing remains of the old regime but great souvenirs
and great benefits, all that was organised under it was
destroyed by the revolution, and all that since the re-
volution has been organised, and that still exists, has
been the work of Napoleon.
We no longer possess provinces, or states, or Par-
liaments, or intendants, or farmers-general, or various
customs, or feudal rights, or privileged classes, holding
exclusive possession:of civil and military employments,
or different religious jurisdictions.
To all these things so incompatible with its spirit,
the revolution applied a thorough reform; but it
founded nothing definitive. The First Consul, alone,
re-established unity, hierarchy, and the true princi-
ples of government. They are still in ♦igour.
Thus, the administration of France entrusted to
Prefects, Sub-Prefects, and Mayors, who substitute
Unity in the place of Directing Commissions (the
decision of affairs, on the contrary, being confided
to Councils—from that of the Commune to that of
the Department). Thus, the Magistracy, rendered
firm by the immovability of the Judges, and by the
hierarchy of the tribunals—justice rendered more
easy by the clear definition of attributions from those
of the Justice of the Peace, up to those of the Court
of Cessation—all this still is still standing.
In the same manner, our admirable financial sys-
tem, the Bank of France, the establishment of the
Budget, the Court of Accounts, the organisation of
the police, and our military statutes, date from the
above-mentioned epoch.
For the last fifty years it is the Cycle Napoleon
that has adjusted the reciprocal interests of citizens ;
it is still the concordat that regulates the relations of
the State with the,Claurch.
Lastly, the greater portion of the measures which
concern the progress of industry, of commerce, of
literature, of science, and of the arts, from the sta-
tutes of the Theatre Fraecais to those of the Institute
of France, from the institution of Prud'hommes to
the creation of the Legion of Honour, have been fixed
by the decrees of that time.
It may then be affirmed that the frame of our social
edifice is the work of the Emperor—which has stood
firm—resisting his fall and the shocks of three re-
volutions.
Wherefore, since they have the same origin,
should not his political institutions have the same
chance of duration ?
My own conviction has been formed for a long
time ; and, therefore, it was that I submitted to your
judgment the principal bases of a Constitution bor-
rowed from that of the year VIII. Approved of by
you, they are to become the foundation of our foil-
ical Constitution.

Let us now examine its spirit.
In our country—for the last eight hundred years
Monarchical—the central power, has always existed
by increasing—Royalty destroyed the great vassals—
the Revolutions themselves caused to disappear the
obstacles which opposed the rapid and uniform exer-
cise of authority. In this country of centralisation,
public opinion has invariably referred everything,
good and evil, to the Chief of the Government ; so
that, to write at the head of a charter that the Chief
is irresponsible, is to lie (mentis-) to public feeling.
It is to endeavour to establish a fiction which has
three times disappeared at the sound of revolution.
The present Constitution, on the contrary, pro-
claims that the chief whom you have elected is re-
sponsible to you. That he has the right of appeal
to your sovereign judgment, in order that in grave
(solennelles) circumstances you may always be able
to continue your confidence in him or to withdraw it.
Being responsible, his actions must be free and
without hindrance. Hence arises the obligation or
his having Ministers who may be the honoured and
powerful auxiliaries of his thought, but who no longer
form a responsible council, composed of jointly re-
sponsible members (nzembres solidaires), a daily
obstacle to the special influence of the chief of the
State, a Council, the expression of a policy emanating
from the Chambers, and for that very reason, exposed
to frequent changes which render impossible a con-
tinuous policy (esprit de suite) or the application of a
regular system.
Nevertheless, in proportion to the loftiness of posi-
tion in which a man is placed, and in proportion to
his independence and to the confidence that the people
place in him, is his need of enlightened and conscien-
tious council. Hence the creation of a Council of
State, for the future the real (veritable) Council of
the Government, the first wheelwork of our new
organisation—a reunion, a practical man elaborating
projects of law in special committees, then discussing
them with closed doors, and without oratorical oaten-
tations, in general assembly, next presenting them to
the acceptation of the legislative body.
Thus the Government (pouvoir) is free in its
movements, and enlightened in its progress.
Now, what will be the control exercised over the
Assemblies ?
A Chamber, which bears the title of " The Le-
gislative Body," votes the laws and the taxes. It
is elected by universal ;suffrage without the ballot
(sans scrutin de lisle). ;The people, choosing each
candidate singly, can the_more easily appreciate his
merit.

The Chamber is composed of about two hundred
and sixty members—a first guarantee of the calmness
of its deliberations, for too often it has been seen, that
iu Assemblies the mobility and ardour of passions
increase in proportion to the number of members.
The account of the deliberations which is to in-
form the nation of its affairs is no longer, as for-
merly, abandoned to the party spirit of each journal.