The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-27 00:00:00

THE ELECTIONS IN PRANCE

-----,----
The following is the luit tent of the article i . the
Constituteonnel, signed Pau in Limayrae, a sum-
' mary of wiper' has already appeared :
" When a Government has succeeded to a series of
other Governments whose adherents have been deprived
of their posts or of their influence, it is a natural conse-
quencewaitennhhovdeaioclshekeoseccfsrle
secret
nngth
odraoebst
great
noble
his
againstl 1
ipsriitself
sentiments,tirn.e cgtiropAQ individualprinciples
malcontents feel inclined to
sees everything.
and
dhd cobafrnohnaiods t
reasons,
soorr
im,
disappointments, publictahned alI
enhoo.f
deavour to deceive the electors by a display of fine doctrines
rythibinegrt.y islhae sonorousen.g,es word,.vota
within and without, who have learnt nothing by experi-
ence, and who imagine that all the past has been forgotten
—the men of 1815, of 1830. and of 1848
the enemies of
all liberty in the past as well as the enemie's of all order in
the present, cling without a blush to that grand word.
They clamour loud for liberty, as if France ever could be a.
slave. But let us puss over these outbursts of ridiculous
professions of faith. In what is actually taking place
there is a great fact upon which we congratulate the
Government; it 13 that henceforth all equivocation is at an
end. Hitherto, former parties had confired themselves to
attempting to undermine the ruling power by those under-
hand intrigues in which they excel, working their way
into the centre of the Administration, by means of their
former relations, they endeavoured by a thousand petty
arts to vitiate the principle of the Government in attack-
ing it in the detail of its management. The tendencies
of a popular and vigorous Government, full of sap and
energy, full of love for the masses which created it, full of
sympathy for the popular classes who were the first to hail
it, were often distorted by men of another stamp, who had
slipped into humorous posts under the false semblance of
devotion, corrupting what was good by instilling the poison
of bygone influences. In their ignorance of this under-
mining work, public opinion was often astcnished at acts
and occurrences opposed to the interests of the Government.
' How comes it,' has often been said in the provinces, ' that
Mr. So-and-So, a known enemy of the Government, has so
much influence upon the resolutions of the Administration ?
Behold functionaries appointed and dismissed by his in•
fluence— such a favour grantLd or declined at his bidding.'
It was enough to puzzle and mislead public opinion, Many
devoted friends of the Government became alarmed at these
intrigues. But others, on the contrary, approving and
justifying this state of things, from an interest of concilia-
tion, turned these petty eats of treason into a State doctrine.
Thanks to Providence and the mistakes of former factions,
all this will be put a stop to. Urged by their impatience,
and by a sort of frenzy, they unmask themselves before the
Government and the country. The enemies of universal
isnu ffe ag
ideas
e , theyeven
than attack it.
in
years,Under
h
y leadershipattempt t
no f
stormrn olderne
the
Government with their ancient weapons and worn-out ar-
mour. All these follies of old age will encounter the fate
all such follies meet with. Bat what a great service will
they not render to the Government in putting an end to the
system of equivocation, by unmasking false friends, by
showing up false devotion and false services I Placed face
to face with declared enemies, the task of the Government
will be free from all the obstacles which impeded its action,
and the genius of the Empire will be strengthened in pro-
portion to what the spirit of intrigue will have lost."