The Sun.
London, England, 1849-02-10 00:00:00

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LONDON, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1849.

Since the instalment of Loris NAPOLEON in the
Palace of the Elysee Nationale, Republican France
has witnessed a very considerable degree of consis-
tency, of ability, and of patriotic determination, in
the conduct of the Prince PRESIDENT. Never were
the difficulties of government more complicated, and
never have those difficulties been encountered with a
more calm or resolute air of self•possession. After
twelve months of anxiety and involvement, the popu-
lation of Paris and the departments are beginning to
resume their confidence in themselves and in the Ad-
ministration. Commerce—debilitated by a prolonged
and almost paralytic indolence—is reviving again to
the necessities of industry and enterprise. The
secret clubs which have hitherto fomented the wicked
passions of the community are subsiding at last into a
blessed impotence. The maniacs of democracy, or
rather of ultra-democracy, whose war cry
was Pillage et Viol ! whose blasphemous
watchword was Vice l'Enfer ! whose prototype was
the Iscariot, and whose model•hero was the Apostate,
have ultimately recognised the impracticability of
their undertakings. The more sincere and rational
majority have evinced a readiness to support any Go-
vernment which could afford them protection against
the stilletoes of those political assassins and shelter frorn
the attacks, sometimes open and sometimes concealed,
of those lawless and sanguinary depredators. During
the first interval which followed the revolution of
February, the Government of LAMARTINE presented
to the nation the safeguard of its unsullied honesty,
and of that august heroism which must for
ever consecrate to the admiration of posterity
the memory of the Poet-Statesman. During
the second interval the Government of CAVAIGNAC
inspired the Republic with a sense of security from
the irreproachable integrity of the Dictator, and from
the enormous military force placed altogether at his
disposal. During the third interval the Government
of BONAPARTE has overshadowed France with the
protective influence of that great name which the
nation still regards as its most glorious heritage—the
name of the CAESAR of Christendom, and of the CHAR-
LEMAGNE of Civilization.

however, in the
While we would commend, very
highest terms the administration of affairs by the
Prince Louis NAPOLEON, since the day when he was
solemnly proclaimed President of the French Repub-
lic, we would entirely exclude from any
participation in that eulogium the members
of his perverse and intolerant Cabinet. The
Prince PRESIDENT has confirmed his magnificent
popularity in spite of his Ministers. He has secured
to himself the respect and sympathy of the nation,
notwithstanding the odium which has, with full justice,
fallen upon the holders of the portfolios. He has
risen in public estimation, though he has clogged
himself with the dead weight of M. ODILON BAR-
ROT. But for the insolent deportment of the latter
towards the National Assembly, the recent feud be-
tween the Legislative Power and the Executive
Power would never—could never, by any possibi-
lity—have broken out.. The National Assembly, but
for the arrogant demeanour of the President of the
Council, would never have conceived itself called upon
to maintain the dignity of its character by the pro-
tracted extension of its existence. It would, vvithout
any unnatural effort, have peacefully decreed the
period of its own dissolution. In all human likeli-
hood it would have been no more before the expira-
tion of January. The insolence of the bearing of M.
ODILON BARROT—that last and feeblest emanation
from the Assembly—has nevertheless entirely altered
the attitude and complexion of affairs. When that
great Parliament—that Parliament which had pro-
claimed a Republic, that Parliament which had deli-
berated over the destinies of the country in the midst
of the agonies of a rebellion, that Parliament which
had extricated 3G millions of human beings from the
depths of a revolution and had built up from its very
foundations the gigantic, elaborate, and symmetrical
edifice of a Constitution--when that great Parliament,
we say, listened to the insolent voice of M. ODILON
BARROT telling it that its hour had arrived, it felt
itself instinctively forced into that posture of resis-
tance which his led to the recent collision between

the Assembly and the Government. For it was
surely not in character with the majestic and his-
torical career of this Parliament that it should retire
with the semblance of an ignominious expulsion
before the mandate of this obsequious Para-
site of Parties ! The Assembly recognised,
with that exquisite susceptibility which may
be termed the conscience of a Senate, the insult
offered to its dignity ; and, at the very moment when it
was preparing to withdraw from power and to resign
that power again, unsullied and undiminished, into
the hands of the electors, it recoiled from the move-
ment which, instead of appearing in the light of a
voluntary dissolution seemed, under existing circum-
stances, to partake of the disgrace of a compulsory
abdication. Hence it has been that the National
Assembly has defied the commands of the Cabinet,
and has thought to preserve its glory by prolonging
its existence.

Those among the popular representatives, however,
who looked beyond the dust and the din of the con-
tentions of to-day, perceived that this abrupt and (all
things considered) very natural step on the part of
the National Assembly, was dictated by an erroneous
sentiment. " Either," said M. DE LAMARTINE, more
than a fortnight ago, " Either you rnuA destroy the
Ministry or you must retire : if you would act
bravely you would do the former ; if you would serve
the country you would do the latter." Then it was that
in the name of Patriotism, he called upon his brother-
representatives to withdraw. The Hero of February
has since spoken more in detail upon the important
question of the dissolution. In the sitting of Tues-
day, M. DE LAMARTINE, impelled from his silence by
the unexpected and startling personalities of M. SAR•
RAM, ascended the tribune, and hurled back upon his
assailant one of those dazzling orations which are
charged with the electric bolts of poetry and elo-
quence. He disclaimed the accusation that in Fe-
bruary he had taken up the Republic in his herds
and, casting it into space, exclaimed Va, et
tonibe ou to pourra! He disclaimed this
accusation on the score that it was he who
had appealed to Universal Suffrage, and had resigned
the Republic, unstained by a single crime, into the
arms of the National Assembly. He explained the
meaning of his celebrated ejaculation, Alea jacta est!
He declared that he could never repent that
ejaculation so long as France had to throw
the die while the fate of the throw was in the
hand of GOD ! He concluded his oration by apos-
trophising the Assembly in the name of its glory, of
its dignity, and of its reputation, calling upon it by
the memory of its great days, by the remembrance
of that 4th of May on which it had first assembled,
by the recollection of that 15th of May on which it
had survived the assaults of an armed conspiracy,
and by the memorable solicitude of that 23d
of June, when it had conquered the barri-
cades at the head of the people—to FALL.
The last word articulated by the Orator has not yet
ceased to reverberate in the heart of the Assembly—
Tombons ! That simple but emphatic recommenda-
tion will have its fruit, and that fruit will be the dis-
solution. The National Assembly will retire in-
vested with the souvenirs of its renown, bequeathing
its opprobium as a fitting legacy to M. ODILON
BARROT and his colleagues, and leaving the destinies
of the country in the consciences of the people and in
the patriotism of the Prince•PREsIDENT.

We readily gave insertion to the letter of the Hon.
EDMUND Phirrs, in answer to that of Mr. RIGBY
WAsoN, which appeared in The Sun of Thursday
last. We should have commented thereon hi the
same publication in which it appeared, but that we
deemed it fitting that Mr. Wasoir should have the
opportunity of defending his own propositions in the
first instance, which we felt convinced he was fully
prepared to do without a moment's unnecessary delay.
We have not been disappointed in that expectation.
Mr. WasoN's answer appears in another part of this
day's impression ; and we confidently refer thereto
as a complete and satisfactory vindication of the
views and principles contained in " The Budget
for the Million." It is scarcely necessary to add
a single word to the unanswerable arguments
contained therein. There may be some apparent
hardship in saddling those of the "commercial, profes-
sional, and labouring classes," who, " during the 24
(34 ?) years that have elapsed since the war, have
applied their hard earnings in the purchase of pro-
perty," with a proportion of the debt charged on the
entire nation. There might be some weight in the
argument, if the -:point at issue merely depended be-
tween those in the enjoyment of property held by
themselves or their ancestors (from whom they de-
rived it) at the time when the debt was con-
tracted, and others who subsequently acquired
property. It must, however, be placed on a
much wider basis. The question practically
lies between the persons now in the possession
of accumulated and realised property of every descrip-
tion, and the far more numerous class who earn their
daily bread by the sweat of their brows, and who
have received no inheritance whatsoever but the
birthright of every freeborn man—the liberty of toil-
ing
for their own support—and who, under the present
system, are compelled to devote a considerable portion
of their time and labour to provide for liabilities in•
curred long before they were born, and from which
they obtained no benefit whatever. It is between
these parties that the relative equities are to be de-
cided. That is the true point, and there can be no
departure therefrom ; no riding off on collateral issues,
to divert the public attention from the real merits of
the case.

There is no principle better understood than that
every purchaser of property must take it subject to
every defect, and to every charge, legal or equitable,
to which it may be subject. Caveat emptor is a
well-known maxim, which has never been contro-
verted or denied. The party about to invest his
money must institute the closest inquiries in every
particular, every point and circumstance of the case
must be fully investigated, every possible claim that
may arise must be taken into consideration. If he
disregards anything so obvious as the existence of an
enormous public debt, he alone is responsible for
the omission. He cannot hope that perfectly innocent
parties should be prejudiced by his negligence, or by
his confidence in the permanency of an unjust and
erroneous system,

Instances are of every day occurrence in which
the above principle is acted on and enforced. Mr.
WisoN has adduced three clear and forcible illustra-
tions. Previously to the passing of the Reform Bill
many persons had invested their capital in the pur-
chase of rotten boroughs—in acquiring a supposed
right to the franchises of their fellow-subjects. Were
the rest of the nation to remain for ever unrepre-
sented because a few exhibited such fatuity
as to hope that the anomaly could be
perpetuated—that a seat in the Legislature
could be openly disposed of, with as little disguise or
concealment as an article of furniture, a house, or
garden ? Most assuredly not. The boroughs were
disfranchised with the full approbation of every honest
and right-minded man, and little sympathy was
expressed or entertained for the boroughmongers.
Slavery was abolished. The glorious principle was
affirmed that, throughout the British dominions, man
should have no property in his fellow-man—that
human beings should not be sold or disposed of like
beasts of burden—that every social tie should
not be severed, and those sundered whom GOD had
joined together, at the mere will of an earthly master,
a fallible mortal like themselves. Were the innocent
victims of the atrocious system to be retained in per-
petual bondage, because hadmanypueorshoanllowsed ro
epxppeenrdteyd,
their savings in the purchase of
will
Thatand
pleasure
toenmt,hefull of a
in
the hope thatcontinuance
ipofwothue
l existingdstil
still remain
hands,to theirto be
sufferingapplied atthe
intheirtheir
nfellow-creaturesere
hope was also most signally and most justly disap-
pointed.
Again, properties were purchased in the expecta-
tion that the food of the people would be permanently
taxed—that prices would be artificially enhanced for
the benefit of a privileged class. The monopoly had
existed for many years. The principle of what was
termed protection to British industry (!)—meaning
thereby the right to tax the many for the exclusive
advantage of a small:minority—was over and over again
affirmed in the Legislature. Large majorities in both
Houses of Parliament supported the monopoly. The
voice of public opinion, however, prevailed. A spirit
of inquiry had gone abroad ; a few zealous and in-
defatigable, men unceasingly exposed the injustice and

impolicy of the system. Their constitutional agita-
tion was successful, and the iniquitous Corn-laws
were abolished and consigned to the tomb, amid the
hearty execrations of all except those who were in-
terested in their maintenance.

If a still more recent illustration be desired,
we might point to the recent enactments
for the relief of the poor in Ireland. For-
merly the poverty of the country was not con-
sidered a charge upon its property. Millions had
been invested by those who supposed that they
would be permitted to retain the entire produce of
the lands for ,their own exclusive benefit—that the
pauper inhabitants might starve without their being
called upon to apply any portion of their
superfluities to the relief of the pressing
necessities of the sufferers. They have, however, been
deeply and bitterly disappointed. The paramount
claims, the superior equity, of the sick and needy
were taken into account, and enactments were framed,
in which their alleged rights as purchasers for valu-
able consideration were wholly disregarded.
So it ought to be, and so it will be, when the
natural rights of our industrious population are
taken into account, when the commercial, professional,
and labouring classes, who are toiling at the present
moment, require that they shall be freed from demands
which cannot fur a moment be sustained, either
legally or equitably—which cannot be justified
under any cede ever promulgated. The greater por-
tion of their hard earnings must be applied to the
necessary support of their families, before any part
thereof can be suffered to accumulate, or set aside to
be invested in the purchase of property at a future
period. They are but too happy if they can lay by a
small sum to guard against the contingencies of ill-
health or want of employment, when their exertions
can no longer be made available.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris papers of yesterday.
The National Assembly has signed its own death-
warrant, by adopting on Thursday the proposition of
M. LANJUINAIS by a majority of 187, the numbers
being—

For the adoption .... .... 494
Against it..........

Majority --187

Several attempts were made to reserve various
organic laws for discussion, but the reactionary agents
of the English Tory aristocracy (for it has been in
England, and in conjunction with the English Tory
aristocracy, that these reactionary intrigues have been
carried on), obeying the orders received from
London, insisted upon the rejection of all such pro-
positions, and accordingly the reservation of the
organic law on military organization was rejected by
a majority of 419 to 362, although the motion for
reservation was supported by General LAMORICIERE.
The reservation of the Pcor-law Bill was rejected by
a majority of 444 to 309, and that of the Law on
Primary Instruction by 458 to 307. The proposal to
reserve the:organic law on the press was likewise re-
jected, and before it separated the National Assembly
read the organic Electoral Law a first time. The
conspirators of the 29th of January have thus suc-
ceeded in forcing the Republican Assembly to commit
suicide. The reactionary journals are all in ecstacies
at this unexampled triumph of the system of " enor-
mous lying," which in every country in Europe con-
stitutes the stock-in-trade of the reactionary party,
and calculates theTnumber of days :that must elapse
before the Legislative Assembly, elected under the
joint influence of terror, corruption, and cajolery,
can assemble in order to cashier the PRESIDENT, as
he was elected to cashier the National Assembly.
The Constitutionnel calculates the number of days
that must elapse at 80, and fixes the 7th of
May as the day for the meeting of the Le-
gislative Assembly. That meeting will be
the signal for the present Ministers and flatterers of
Lours NAPOLEON to turn upon him and kick aside
the planche Napolionienne. Actaeon-like he will be
hunted by his own hounds, and if in his extremity he
should turn to the honest Republicans of the veille
for assistance we trust it will be afforded him, for
from this time the salvation of the Republic depends
upon LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE continuing Pre-
sident. With regard to the conduct of the Assem-
bly itself we concur in the following opinion ex-
pressed by the National:—
•' Our readers will comprehend the painful feeling we
experienced at the sight of the Assembly, hitherto so
firmly united by its Republican convictions, at present
divided by the intrigues of reactionary parties, and thus
repudiating in succession every portion of the duty en-
trusted to it."

The Patrie, the official journal of the Government,
has the following on the subject of the reservation of
the Budget.
" An explanation was given to-day, in the lobbies of
the National Assembly, of the first paragraph of Art. 3
of the proposition on the dissolution, voted yesterday
by 445 to 373. The following are the terms of this
article:—

" The order of the day of the Assembly shall be re-
gulated in such manner that, independently of the elec-
toral law, the law of the Council of State, the law of the
responsibility of the President of the Republic and of
the Ministers, and the budget of 1849, shall be voted be-
fore Ahe dissolution.'

" The words and the budget of 1849,' added to the
article as drawn up by M. Lanjuinais, by way of amend-
ment, proposed by MM. Dezeimeris and Pascal Dupre,
differ essentially from the amendment of M. Sauteyra,
which was withdrawn. An amendment, according to the
ideas of M. Senard, was rejected. It was erroneously
considered that this vote was a check to the majority. It
cannot in anywise alter the essential provision of the law
which is thus conceived:—
" The elections for the Legislative Assembly shall
take place on the first Sunday that shall follow the final
closing of the electoral lists in all the departments.'
" The above quoted provision, voted yesterday, does
not render the voting of the budget obligatory upon the
Assembly ; it only prescribes that the order of the day
may be so regulated that it may be voted before the
separation. As M. Gouin, President of the Committee
of Finance, remarked, this faculty is according to right.
Its insertion in the decree on the dissolution of the
Assembly cannot in any manner alter the date fixed by
Art. 2."

The Constitutionnel announces that the French
Government has acceded to the proposal to join a
congress of Catholic Powers, to be held at Gaeta, to
afford the POPE their aid to enable him to exercise his
spiritual authority freely, and in a manner worthy of
the Catholic population of the world.
Numerous addresses from different legions of Na-
tional Guards are daily presented to Colonel FORM-
TIER, expressive of sympathywith him, and protesting
against the arbitrary and illegal conduct of General
CHANGARNIER.

The National, in allusion to the pitiful prevarica-
tions of which M. LEON FAUCHER was guilty in re-
lation to the lithographed bulletins, says that the
same bulletins which were sent under official covers
to the Prefects were also sent as " correspondence "
to the Legitmatist and Orleanist provincial journals,
and, adds the National, " as the tendencies of the
present Ministers of the Republic are entirely in fa-
vour of monarchy, it was useless to multiply the
'Bureaux de correspondance: "
The following are the principal items in the weekly
return of the Bank of France :

Specie in Paris ... —.F.158,847,615
Ditto in the branches ... ... 127,305,360
Bills remaining due in Paris ... ... 53,648,357
Ditto in branches 95,837,523
Over-due bills 115,394
Protested bills in Paris ... ... 9,327,282
Ditto in provinces ... ... 4,766,836
Bank notes in circulation ... 407,738,400
Notes in branches ... 13,896,100
To the credit of the Treasury ... 31,406,463
The Gazette de France announces that it was seized
yesterday at the Post-office, for an article on the
speech of M. DE LAMARTLNE.
A Committee of the National Assembly yesterday
determined that the authorisation demanded for the
prosecution of M. PROUDHON should be granted.
Marshal BuGEAur, has arrived at Lyons.
Senor SALAMANCA has been arrested at Bayonne.