The Sun.
London, England, 1847-09-22 00:00:00

timing "='•

LONDI)N, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1847.

There is something peculiarly in accordance with
the monarchical, policy heretofore developed by Louis
PHILIPPE, in the publication of- the royal decree de-
claring his " most dear and beloved son" the Duc
D'AUMALE Governor-General of Algeria. That ap-
pointment is the consummation of the retrograde
course long since adventured upon by the French
SOVEREIGN. It is the extinguisher to the glorious
torch which was first lit in the Palais Royale by
CAMILLE DESMOULINS, when, standing upon a garden-
chair, he harangued the people, and drew his sword
from its scabbard in vindication of the national rights.
The nomination of a young Orleans Prince as a suc-
cessor of Mareothal BuGFAUD in the government of
the affairs of Algeria is a death-blow to all the
dearest hopes and aspirations of Frenchmen. The
ambition which had been nourished in the popular
*imagination by the results of the Great Revo-
lution has been suddenly blasted, and scat-
tered to the winds of Heaven. That ambition
'was the very life which had been breathed into
the nostrils of the people by the Genius of Liberty—
it awoke within them when MIRABEAU emerged from
a dishonourable dungeon, and by his one voice
swayed the destinies of the kingdom—when a venal
pamphleteer like BRISSOT acquired an authority over
the provinces—when a briefless advocate like ROBES-
TIERRE assumed the undisputed dictatorship—when
a profligate adventurer like BARRAS became supreme
ruler in the halls of the Tuileries. It was confirmed
in the hearts of the entire population by the achieve-
ments of NAPOLEON—when the lowliest of his subjects
recognised in the distribution of the imperial bounties
an assUrAnce that merit might conduct them from
obscurity to renown, from a hovel to a palace,
from impotence and poverty to splendour and puis-
sance. The population of the French empire during
the halcyon days of NAPOLEON saw men elevated
from the meanest to the most exalted positions, they
saw the brows of commoners encircled not merely by
ducal coronets, but even by the diadems of sove-
reignty. And if the EMPEROR awarded honours to
the different members of the Imperial Family, he la-
vished them with extraordinary munificence on those
possessed of no other influence than was afforded by
their own individual qualifications and achievements.
If be placed the Spanish crown on the head of his
brother JOSEPH, he gave the sceptre of Naples to
JOACHIM MURAT, the son of a tavern keeper. If,
before the seizure of the kingdom of Holland,
be bestowed the baton upon his brother Louts, as
Constable of France, he nominated JUNOT Governor
of Portugal, though JUNOT had to his personal know-
ledge risen from the ranks. If he robed his brother
Jraome in the ermine of Westphalia, he made men
hitherto unknown, such as NET, and LANNES, and Ou-
-Dm; and Somr, and Duaoc, and MASSENA, and
ALARMONT, and BERTHIER, and CAULAINCOURT, and
CAMBACERES, the dignitaries of his colossal dominions
Such were the incitements to distinction which had
been acquired by the denizens of France ever
since the dethronement of the race of CAPET,
ever since the Phrygian cap was placed upon
the anointed brow of Louts SEIZE, ever since
the tri-coloured banner flaunted over the ruins
Hof the Bastile. In 1814, that temptation to the
innate virtues and abilities of the community was
diminished and partially abstracted, by the effete
councillors of Louts DIY-HUIT, and it was that
encroachment upon the chief possession which bad
been first obtained in 1789, that prepared the road
for Le Pere Violet on his memorable return from
Elba. Subsequently Louis XVIII. and CHARLES-
X. attempted to deprive the people of those
chances of preferment which had been preserved
to them during the Directory, the Consulate,
and the Empire. Louts was saved from reaping the
consequences of his indiscretion by the indecision
pecujiar to gluttony, and by a death which ,had been
accelerated by the habits of a man pampered
into premature decrepitude. CHARLES formed a
new illustration of a venerable ' adage,—" he west
farther and fared worse." His unconstitutional
proceedings ended in his degradation and banishment.
LOUIS PHILLIPPE was then chosen by a free and
powerful nation to be the crowned conservator of a
"'
Liberal constitution. he son of E galttereceived the
k
diadem and sceptre of France througheen sketched
se e
the
d
medium of that LAFAYETTE who had been
with so much witty exactitude by the first of the Tri-
bunes of Paris in the double designation of Cram-
tvell-Grandison. Since then the elect of the people
has rolled France back in the groove of retrogression—
he has broken that compact which he swore at the
altar of the country—he has jeopardised the liberties
of the nation by his gradual and piecemeal encroach-
ments—he has rendered France (France the land
from which emanated the great European cru-
sade against feudality) an alien amongst the
Constitutional States, and the friend and ac-
eGmPlic4 of the upholders of Absolutism.
Such 'has ever been the eccentric destiny of
France 1 Such has been the perfidious conduct of
Lar,lS PHILIPPE Since the memorable three days
ce 18:30, the popular immunities and (we might even
call them) the popular prerogatives have been one by
,one assailed and destroyed. The appointment of the
D'AUMALE to the Government of Algeria may
NETV.451•1.. ed as the flagrant consuratnation of those
diLst'arVl; innovations.
o
Aka: t the youth and inexperience of the Orleans
Govern 6 -General will
• be opposed the vigour,
andr u
, and
the
the pr- ce, and the fame, and the genius,
&mast- iraculous resources of that renowned man
the territories
- _ tcuo lynow advancing victoriously rota