The Sun.
London, England, 1831-05-11 00:00:00

FRANCE.

" AGRAVE SUBJECT;" OR, THE STATE
OF PUBLIC OPINION.

To the EDITOR of the MORNING CHRONICLE.
PARIS, MAY 7, 1831.

SIR,—To-day we have a grand but an unpleasant
matter to discuss! I should be almost happy to
avoid it—but we have no party purposes to serve in
the Morning Chronicle, except it be the party which
loves truth and justice and principle. The Govern-
ment has been guilty of a great act of folly. It has
raised the question of whether those who made the
Revolution are satisfied with its fruits ;—and they
have received a decided negative !1 'I his act, on
the part of the Government, evinced temerity and
not bravery—and a harunt scar= indifference to
the state of public opinion. M. Casimir Perier has
acted like a man who was too confident in his own
strength—and too resolute on carrying through his
own. system. He has tailed—and that failure is an
event in the history of France !! you may be sure
of that.

Now let me explain the history of this affair, as
briefly as I can, but as fully as its importance de-
serves. Your readers will recollect that a law was
passed during the late Session of Parliament, which
directed the institution of a " Decoration," to be
conferred on and worn by those who should be indi-
cated by the Commission of " National Recom-
penses" as those citizens who most distinguished
themselves by their bravery and disinterestedness in
the Revolution of July. To the Government was
left the duty of deciding on the form and size and
fashion of the decoration ; but the thing itself was
decided upon by a law, and was passed, as all laws
are, by both Houses of Parliament, and then re-
ceived the Royal Assent. The decoration thus es-
tAlished was not a Royal, but a National Decora-
tion. It was not the King, but the Nation, which
thus expressed its gratitude and love. To wear
such a decoration was, therefore, indeed an honour,
since it was conferred in the name of thirty-three
millions of emancipated and regenerated freemen
This mode of establishing the decoration was wise
and noble. It was worthy of the Revolution, and
of those who made it.

Although the law had passed some months, no
progress was made in the affair. It remained a dead I
letter. Those who had risked their lives, their liber-
ties, and their properly, in the days of July, re-
mained unrewarded ; and the public became weary
of waiting, and disgusted with the delay. This was
natural, and the delay was culpable. At length M.
Cassimir Perier became Minister. He found the
law unfulfilled, and the intentions of the nation not
carried into effect. He resolved on paying imme-
diate attention to the subject, and prepared in a few
days the form of the decoration—arranged with the
Commission the colour of the riband, &c. Szc, and
then sketched out an Ordinance, which declared that
the decoration was " given by the King !" and which
required that all who received the decoration should
rake the oath of " Allegiance to Louis Philip, and
fidelity to the Charter !! !" To state that the deco-
ration was " given by the King" on that decoration
was false; and more than that, the falsehood altered
the character of the decoration, which was, in fact,
" given by the nation," and rendered a national
honour a mere regal act of favour and bounty.
Nothing could be more insulting to the decoration,
and more at variance with the spirit as well as lever
of the law; and nothing could be more revolting to
those who made the Revolution. For, let it never
be forgotten, that although the Revolution adopted
Louis Philip because Republican Institutions were
promised to be attached to, or rather form the base
on which the Throne was to be erected, yet that
the Revolution was never made for, nor in the in-
terest of Louis Philip, and no one ever dreamed of
him (except his own small party), until after the
Revolution was completed. A King was adopted
not as a King, but as the head of a Republican
Government—and not as a King hereditary, but as
a King elective ; and not as a King to reign over
France, but to be a third power in the State, which
should act in concert with those Republican Insti-
tutions which were most solemnly promised to the
Revolution of July ! To this act of folly, then, on
the psrt of M. Casimir Perier, in substituting the
words " Given by the King," for " Given by the
Nation," there are objections on the score of prin-
ciple, which no sophistry can get rid of, and which no
modern or ancient Royalists can explain away.
But there is another clause in this Ordinance at-
tached to the distribution and wearing of the decora-
tion, which is still far more objectionable, and even
infinitely more unwise and illegal ! It is the clause
which requires that those who wear the decoration
Shall take " an oath of allegiance to Louis Philip,
and of fidelity to the Charter." This condition M.
Casimir Perier thought was the masterpiece of good
generalship on his part ; and if ever he rubbed his
hands and looked pleased in his life, it was when
the King wrote " approuve" to this Royalist Ordi-
nance. M. Perier hoped by this measure to be fur-
nished with an argument which would avail him at
all tunes against the statement made in ten thousand
forms every day that he lives, by ten thousand
organs of public opinion ; and feeling that the Re-
volution is not complete, and that those who made
it arc not satisfied. He hoped to be able to say to
the Republicans of July,
"Why you have sworn
allegiance to Louis Philip—you have sworn fidelity
to this Charter which yet you profess to consider so
imperfect, and how can you now fly in the face of
this oath you have takeu before hod, and to the
King, and to France ?" The establishment of
this rule, that an oath must be taken, was there-
fore a conquest for the Centres, a conquest for the
Rentiers, a conquest for the rise in the funds, and a
conquest for this Ministry of the "juste milieu!"
When the ordinance appeared, there were at-
tached to it the names of 1,528 citizens belonging
to the department of the Seine, who had been ad-
judged by a Jury of their fellow-citizens as most
deserving of the gratitude of France, and therefore
entitled to wear the order of the "Cross of July 1"
Remember, then, that these 1,528 brave men have,
been decided on by a Jury, by the Houses °I
Parliament, by the King's Ministers, and by the
King himself. All these have declared—have eve"
signed their names and put their seals, even the
Royal Seal, to the fact, that they are the most de-
serving, meritorious, citizens who distinguished
thwailves in the days of the Revolution ; who

hazarded life, limb, and property in the cause of
liberty; who fought to their knees in blood again t
the hired soldiers of the fallen dynasty, and who
triumphed over the enemies of their country, and
established the cause of liberty on the ruins of
despotism. This fact is the most important of
all ! These 1,528 men are entitled to the
honour and gratitude of France ! The law has
decided that military honours shall be paid them ;
chat as they pass along the streets and appear in
public, all France shall honour and bow to them,
and that those who wear the national decoration of
the Legion of Honour shall not even take prece-
dence of these 1,528 citizens ! and let it be borne
in mind that the men have not been selected at
random I—that thousands who laid claim to the
honour have been refused !—that out of the tens of
thousands who fought in July, these 1,528 have
alone been deemed worthy, by their inimitable and
matchless valour and patriotism, of carrying on their
breasts th's national decoration—and, therefore, that
we are not to be cajoled, either by the Moniteur
or the Debats, into the belief that these men, so
honoured by all France, are all of a sudden " violent
demagogues"—" unprincipled Jacobins"—or " dan-
gerous and turbulent citizens !!" This is too late !
—such accusations as these will not now be believed.
The Commission of National Recompenses !—the
King's Government !—and the King himself! have
all united in selecting and approving the selection
of these brave and noble men, as those most en-
titled to
whole to thee of France.honour,spathy, love, and gratitude
of the

Well, then, these men, when they read the Or-
dinance which declared that those who wore the
Order of Decoration must swear" allegiance to the
King, and fidelity to the Charter," expressed their
astonishment and disgust I They asked what the
law said on the subject ? and the answer was,
" The law is silent !" They asked what right had
the King to impose conditions which the law did
not impose ? and to this inquiry there was only the
reply that " the King was the fountain of honour
and reward," and had a right constitutionally of im-
posing such conditions ! But this hollow subterfuge
was met by the reply, that this was very true with
respect to honours and rewards emanating from the
King, but that it was not applicable to the present
reward, which was a decoration established by law
—a national honour, and not a regal ore. But this
feeling did not evaporate in either astonishment or
disgust, for a deputation from these brave and vir-
tuous citizens then waited on the Commission of
National Recompenses, as well as on the Govern-
ment, and explained, most respectfully but firmly,'
that those whom the nation had honoured refused
to take the oath, and would never take it—first, be-
cause it was illegally demanded ; and second, be-
cause it was in opposition to their principles and
opinions. This protest on the part of these brave
and virtuous citizens was disregarded. The illoni-
teur, the Debats, and even Le Temps were engaged
day by day to fight against the opposition of the
1,528 protestors—and they were called ugly names
—their principles held up to scorn and derision—
and those who made the revolution, and had been
selected as entitled to the gratitude and honour of
the whole nation, were denounced in the official arid
demi-official columns of these papers as the most un-
worthy and dangerous men !! For some days past
the matter has remained in this position ! M. Casi-
mir Per:er, who mistakes obstinacy for dignity—
and sounds kr sense—has refused to give way ! He
has said, that if they did not like to accept the
" croix de Juillei." on such conditions, they would
not have it at all ;—that it was their loss and their
dishonour—but that the Government would not
yield. In vain have the best friends of order and
liberty remonstrated and entreated. To give way
would " prove timidity and alarm," in his opinion;
and he has got hold of the idea, that the decisions
of a Government must resemble those of the Medes
and Persians. Poor man ! he forgets that this was
the ruin of the Royalist cause in 1830, and this led
to the overthrow of the Bourbon dynasty.
Baffled in all attempts to adjust this question, at
length the citizens, whose names appeared in the
Afimiteur as those entitled to the decoration, re-
solved on holding a meeting. An assembly was
yesterday convoked in the large salon of the Grande
Chaumiere, in the Passage du Saumon, of those
whose names had been so published; and out of
1128, at present in Paris, one thousand attended the
meeting! None were admitted but those entitled
to the decoration, and the citizens were arranged in
divisions according to the arrondissements to which
they belonged, to avoid confusion and prevent mis-
take. Four hundred are at present in the depart-
ments, and could not therefore attend, especially as
300 and upwards are at present soldiers or officers
in the army, and are therefore distributed all over
France. For the first time since the Revolution of
July, one thousand citizens of those who most dis-
tinguished themselves were assembled in the same
room, to discuss the question of whether they
should swear allegiance to Louis Philip, arid fidelity
to the new Chatter ! Nine months had passed away
since the memorable events had occurred in which
they all so greatly distinguished themselves ! Some
were without legs, others without arms, others were
still delicate, and suffering from wounds they had re-
ceived—and they now all met together to decide on
whetherandtheprogrammetojustifythemofJuly fulfilled
developed, swearing
alle-
giance and fidelity to the present order of things in
France ; arid, without one exception, all the thousand
decided in the negative!!!
Now, after this, we must not be told that there
are no Republicans in France ! After this, we must
not be told that those who are for marching with the
Revolution, and who are dissatisfied at the foreign
policy of the French Government, are not those who
made the Revolution in July ! After this, we must
not be told that the Revolution is accomplished, and
that France only desires order ! All this is false.
The meeting of yesterday has proved it ! It has
demonstrated it beyond the possibility of doubt
The ren tie: s may raise the Funds—the lovers of ease
arid quiet, and things as they are, may pat M. Ca-
simir on the back, and bid him take courage, though
they know that in July last they hid themselves in
cellars, or garrets, or water-closets, and would do the
same again in moments of commotion or danger ;
but we see that those who made the Revolution—
who must know why they made it—have unani-
r
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July 1"
one veteran was pre-
sent who assisted at the taking of the Bastille in
the first scenes of the first Revolution ! His name
was Decombis! " Citizens," said he, " I was
happy enough to be among the number of those who
assisted at the taking of the Bastille! I received
the decoration which was established to commemo-
rate this remarkable event, and I was never asked
to take any other oath than that of fidelity to the
people!" When he said this, the Salon rung with
applause, and for five, minutes no cry was heard but
" Bravo," and " we swear to be faithful to the
people !" The meeting was unanimous, quite una-
nimous—not even one solitary dissentient voice—
all, all resolved on wearing the riband in their coats,
which had been fixed upon as the riband of the new
order ; and M. Decombis was requested to distribute
among those present the riband which had been pur-
chased for the occasion.

Whilst this meeting was taking place in one part
of the city, the Editor of Figaro, who is one of the
1,528, was arraigned at the Tribunal for a libel on
the Casimir Pericr Ministry ! When he appeared
in Court he was ornamented with the riband of the
Cross of July ! The Judge inquired of him,
With what riband he was adorned ?" a 'with
that of July," was the reply. This led to a discus-
sion. The Attorney-General required that those
who wore the riband should take the oath
no," was the answer," we will wear the order, but
the oath we will not take I" The Attorney. General
became irritated. Both the editor and his advocate
boldly asserted their resolution—a minute was made
of all that passed—and I may as well add, though
I shall have occasion to refer to it more distinctly

to-morrow, the editor of the Figaro was acquitted of
the charge of libel brought against him by the Ca-
simir Perier Administration ! The Attorney-
General declared, that those who wore the Cross of
July, without taking the oath, would be dealt with
according to law ! What nonsense is this! If the
affence be a political one no Jury will condeinn
them ; and if it be a mere matter of correctional
police, how curious a spectacle it will be to see one
thousand of the bravest and most virtuous citizens
prosecuted by the Government of Louis Philip, for
having worn a national decoration conferred on them
by thirty-three millions of freemen, because they
had not first taken a regal and a monarchical oatwh !
Should Casimir Perier risk undue prosecution, he
will become an object of ridicule.
Thus, France has established National Associa-
tions to defend the Revolution ; and, though they
arc opposed by a Perier Administration, they con-
tinue to exist and progress, in spite of destirutions
which that Administration dare not follow up; and
thus France has established a national decoration,
which those entitled to it will wear without comply-
ing with the illegal requisitions of a retrograde, or
at least stationary Cabinet !
If anything could convince M. Perier that lie does
not understand the revolution, these facts would do
so. If anything could make him believe that those
who made the revolution require that it should ad-
vance, these facts would do so. If he were not the
slave of his own prejudices and blind to the errors of
his own system, he would yield to the millions, and
not oppose a torrent by a feather. The party which
supports his system never did and never would risk
either4ife or property in defending it. He knows
that quite well—and yet he persists in a cruel in-
difference to the fate of Belgium—and a criminal
inattention to the miseries of Poland, and contents
himself by saying, " Be ye warm—be ye clothed,"
for " 1 am warm and I am clothed, but I have none
for you."

And now what will he do ? Will he retract the
ordinance, and make another more legal and na-
tional ? That would be wise, generous, manly, and
just ! But will he do so ? I fear not. Will he
appeal to the tribunals, and insist on the oath being
taken ? The tribunals will decide against him.
Will he allow the matter to remain unsettled, and a
nstional honour, established by law, to be thus con-
ferred and thus distributed ? Should he do this, all
France will condemn him ! No—no, let us hope
that he will feel that he did not understand, and that
he does not understand, the revolution isfJuly ; and
let us hope he will yield to public opinion.
One word before I conclude ! Do not suppose
from all this, that those who made the revolution
wish to dethrone Louis Philip ! No, no; they only
wish that he would march with the revolution !
and sooner or later he will find that he must do so ! !
Your obedient servant, 0. P. Q.

THE YOUNG DUKE.—Of this new novel,
which has alre,nly run a triumphant course, a contempo-
rary journal thus speaks :—" This sparkling production as •
sumes an unusual degree of interest in our eyes; not only
on account of the originality, brilliancy, and acuteness
manifested throughout the work, but because we regard it
as nearly the last of its class. The ' Young Duke'
affords in fact a mirror of that Epicurean era of blended
refinement, sensuality, and fashion, of which we are
tempted to consider ' Don Juan' as the standard epic,
and ' Vivian Grey' as the standard novel."
Extract of a letter dated Lima, January 8 :
Affairs are going on prosperously in Lima. The city is
decidedly improving, and fast augmenting in population.
The administration is the best that has existed in that
country. Vice-President LA FUENTES is every day ac-
quiring increased and deserved popularity. He is able,
active, discerning, and decisive. The 'Ministers PEnE-
MONTE and PANno are honest., and highly talented. Pre-
sident GAMARRA had gone from Cusco to the Desagua-
dero, in order to have an interview, on the 15th of De-
cember, with SANTA Crum (President of Bolivia), for
the purpose of adjusting some diferences which had arisen
between the two Republics. It was confidently expect d
that the tranquillity under which both countries were
silently recovering from the effects of war, would be
preset ved.

THE MORTIMER MURDER.-On Thursday
last, THOMAS MILES was committed to Winchester gaol
for the murder of CHARLOTTE BILLISIORE, at Mortimer,
on the l3th of November last. The shocking details were
given in this paper at the time. Oar readers will recol-
lect the mutilated state in which the body was found.
MILES is a sort of half idiot, and was always suspected, but
no evidence could be procured against him. The wretch
has since confessed that lie met the poor child in the event
inn, on her return from school, and a sudden though-
cltne into his mind to murder her—that he seized her by
the throat and strangled her ; he fell on her body and
broke her leg ; wh.li life was extinct he cut one leg off,
and afterwards cut the body to pieces. —Reading Mercury.

A most melancholy event happened at Bot-
tesford, near Belvoir Castle, in the afternoon of Saturd,iy
week. It appears that the floor of the privy at the Bull
Inn at that place, composed of wood, and which was over
the vault, three or four yards in depth, bad for a long
time been in an insecure state, and at the time above men-
tioned four children from nine to twelve years of age went
into the place, and were dancing upon the floor, when it
gave way, and the whole of them went down with it, and
were all suffocated in the soil before any help could be
obtained. One of the children was the daughter of Mr.
DAVID Hoe, the landlord; one the daughter of Mr. GEE.
sox, grocer; one that of Mr. Jostx SurroN, felltnonger ;
and the other that of Mr. DAWN, Breather-hills, near
Barrowby, who the day previous had come to her aunt's
at Bottesford, to receive her education. An inquest was
held on Monday, at the Red Lion, before Mr. CLARICE,
Coroner. Verdict—" Accidental Death."

Under the conviction that no country in Eu-
rope is as little known as many parts in the interior of
Spain, Sir ARTHUR, BROOKE, was determined in his re-
cent tour (of which an account is just published) to ex-
plore the wild Sierras, no less than the towns and villages
of the peninsula ; particularly as regards those spots which
the genius of CERVANTES and that of La SAGE have
consecrated to fame as the scenes of some of the adven-
tures in Don Quixote and Gil Bias. The other portions of
the Baronet's volumes are occupied by descriptions of the
mountains and towns in Barbary, and of the state of so-
ciety in the latter.

A disturbance took place during the election
at Wigan ; but it was fomented by the lowest ruffians, an I
was soon quelled by the exertions of the authorities and
constables. Several persons were much injured. The
Manchester Chronicle, in allusion to these lawless pro-
ceedines, says—" It is generally believed by the respectable
inhabitants of Wigan that this disturbance is the effect of
the advice offered by Mr. Huse; on a recent visit to Man-
chester, when he recommended that the people of Wigan
should give to the electors a constitutional squeeze,' if
they refused to vote for the popular candidate."
WRIT DE LUN'ATICO
Monday, Messrs.Wii ITMA RSII. JACOB, and VVINsTost, Com-
missioners of Lunacy, and a most respectable jury, assem-
bled at the establishment of Dr. WARBURTON, Whitmore-
house, West Hackney, to inquire into the lunacy of Miss
SOPHIA ELLISON a lady of fortune,who has been confined in
that establishment since March, 179 H, a period of upwards
of 32 years. Dr. WA anunros stated, that in March,
1798, Mies ausosr, the subject of the present inquiry,
was placed in his establishment, by her father, then living,
and who continued to visit her rip to the time of his
death, which took place in a few years after. She was,
at the period of her being placed there, about 32 years of
age ; and then, as well as up to the present time, laboured
under a delusion of mind amounting to lunacy. She fancied
that several men of distinction were in love with her. Ile
had never perceived a lucid interval in her manners. Mr.
DUNSTAIN, a surgeon, had attended Miss ELLISON since
1802. On that morning he visited her in company with
Mr. IlErirrar,n, the superintendent of the establishment,
and while in conversation, she called Mr. BENFIELD her
husband, and said he was the Duke of CLARENCE.. Lucy
GILLAIID had attended Miss ELLISON for the last ten
months, and considered her decidedly insane. She was
in the habit of writing a number of letters to a Co!onel
BATES, to whom she fancied she was married, and several
tnembers of the Royal family, and generally signed her
name " Baroness TRUELOVE." Miss ELLISON was here
introduced to the Jury-room ; she appeared not more than
f
her real age, 64, and seemed to be in the enjoyment of
the most robust health, and conducted herself with the
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EXETER MA.
Beef (score)-- —.9s. Od. 9s. 6d,
E7tutton 5 0 6
Veal and a amb--0 6 0 8
Perk 4 0 (1
Geese (each) 0 6 0
Ducks (c0up1e)......2 0 3 0
Fowls 6 2 6

.KETS.-31ay 6.
Wheat (bushel) —9s. Od. 10s. 7d.
Barley 4 6 4 8
Oats °ll 3 9
Beans 6 6 0
Butter (lb) 1 1 3
Eggs (15) 0 1 0
Potatoes (peck) —0 0 0 6

BIRTHS.
On the Bth inst. at Bromley
of a son.
___
House, the Lady Sarah Murray,

On the 9th inst. in Baker-street, the lady of T. Wilson, FAO
of a son.
On the Bth inst. at Cheltenham, the wife of Captain Macau, of
the 16th Lancers, of a sou.
On the Bth inst. the wife of J. B. Kelly, Esq., of the Inner
Temple, of a son

MARRIED.
On the oth inst. at St. John's, Hoxton, Mr. J. D. Rock, of
Islington, to Mary, eldest daughter of Mr. Frederick Roope, of
Hoxton.
On the ith inst. at Wa'worth, Mr. F. Hopkins, of Ilishopsgate-.
street-within, to Mary, eldest (laughter of Mr. R. Gresham, 01
Charlotte-row.
On the 10th inst. at Islington, J. G. Pifrard, Esq., of Tyndale-
place. to Jemiina, youngest daughter of the late W. Sabine, Esq.
of Islington.
On the 10th inst. at St. James's Church, G K Van HeythUY-
st he 24th i'Ze
daughter'l rfn Lient .
Flt hel
t Hon. Col. Ln op
aun• eyr'sßseedrfvoircde:
stpciailillah,c
Russel'-square.
etl
On the 10th inst. at Islington, .1. Colling, Esq., of Upper Bed-
ford-place, to Elizabeth, only daughter of the late A. Weston,
Esq., of renchtirch-street.

DIED.
On the 9th inst. Thomas Flashman, F,,q. of Ely-place, Hol-
born, aged tug.
On the 10th inst. in Angel place, Skinner-street, Bishopsgate,
Ann, relict of the late S. Nash, Esq.
On the 10th inst. Jane Priscilla, wife of Mr. U. Price, 01
KinOgn the 9th inst. a Snowhill,
t Chelsea, 57.
the wife of Mr. Wrentmore,
Charles-street, St. JLlnes's-square, aged 46.

PRINTFD AKD Pt:BLAMED BY MURDO YOUNG, AT rtl
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