The Sun.
London, England, 1848-12-14 00:00:00

kit

LONDON, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1848.

Although the ultimate calculation of votes cannot
be expected much before Christmas, it is already cer-
tain that Prince LOUIS NAPOLEON, the representative
of the imperial dynasty, has been elected President.
It is not only certain that he has been elected, but
that his election has been triumphant. The prestige
of a great name has enveloped him with an almost
superstitious popularity. lie has risen to the altitude
of power, sustained solely by the memory of that im-
mortal man whose glory has revived in the nine-
teenth century the marvels of the most wonderful
heroes of antiquity. Never, most assuredly, since the
histories of nations were first written, has a more
magnificent tribute of homage been offered to the manes
of any hero than that which is now emanating from the
soul of Republican France, and which is being laid
with reverent and loving hands upon the mausoleum
of the Emperor NAPOLEON. The melodious predic-
tion of the poet .BERANGER is already working out
its fulfilment—that graceful vaticination in which
the bard sang of the enlarging celebrity of the Con-
queror :

" On parlera de sa gloire
Sous le chaumebienlongtemps ;
L'humnle daps cinquante ans,
P
Ne connaitra
autre histoire !"
The truth of this impassioned prophecy is verified by
the suffrages cast into the
uthe Presidential
election ; and the enthusiastic s ofout the tomb of admiration of pos-
terity is resounding already
the anointed soldier —LL under
the midst of the temple cothe dome, in
religion to the GOD of armies?' Thesecrated bY
the people is at last being articulated agilarlena:ltee
t- he't
fabricators of the treaty of Vienna ; and the earnest-
ness mess with which the French citizens are labouring' to
invest the son of King Louis and Queen HoaTENst
with the dignity of their first magistrate must be
regarded as an expression of their horror at the deeds
which, in 1815, showed that the Sovereigns of
Europe were altogether devoid of magnanimity. It
has been eloquently said by CHATEALTBRIAND, that
had NAPOLEON combined with his own heroic quali-
ties some of the meek and civic virtues of WASHING-
TON, " he had named liberty the universal legatee
of his fame .r' The result of the great political
struggle fur the chair of Presidency would seem to
indicate either that the condition implied by the au-
thor of Atala, was not requisite, or that the EMPEROR
had really combined the patriotic sincerity of a WASH-
INGTON with the imperial pomps of a CuaRLEmaGxE.
Wnatever may be the decision of the future historian
upon this particular, it is manifest that the triumph
of Prince Louis NAPOLEON, through the medium of
universal suffrage, is, as we have already observed, a
magnificent homage to the memory of the EMPEROR.
As an augury of the aggregate number of votes de-
posited in the urns of ballot, the proportion of
the suffrages given to the several candidates by the
inhabitants of the capital and its banlieus, acquires a
peculiar importance. Before the intelligence from
the departments has been received, before accounts
have reached the Executive from Corsica or Algeria,
the decision of Paris must be accepted as A portent

of the ultimate resolution of the Republic. For this
reason, therefore, we have no inconsiderable satisfac-
tion in laying before the public the following esti-
mates of the results of the Presidential contest in the
twelve metropolitan arrondissements :-
L. N. Bonaparte. Cavaignac. Ledra Rollin. Raspail. Lamartine
1 arr. 16,998 6,015 1,168 719 238
2 12,538 7,708 1,968 1,051 300
3 6,106 5,921 1,415 825 277
4 4,605 3,571 1,257 1,181 175
5 10,619 5,614 2,755 1,395 310
6 10,622 7,509 3,155 1,405 397
7 7,097 5,109 1,920 1,023 178
8 12,755 5,318 2,841 1,344 189
9 8,526 4,296 1,035 850 137
10 22,326 11,216 1,597 870 399
11 8A47 5,840 1,532 888 293
12 10,934 4,616 1,656 1,344 243

129,562 72,733 22,199 13,799 3,136
Hitherto we have (expressed a hope that France
would elect as her First President a vigorous Patriot
like CAVAIGNAC or an illustrious and unsullied
Genius like LAMAETINE. We still think for our own
part that the destinies of the Republic would have
been better accomplished by such a selection. The
nation has willed otherwise. The people have chosen
of their own accord the representative of the imperial
family of NAPOLEON. All opposition succumbs to
that solemn and supreme decree. We recognise in
the candidate selected by a great commu-
nity the incarnation of the sentiments of
the Sovereign multitude. Even the most violent
of the organs of one amongst the unsuccessful candi-
dates—the National—has bent the head in reverential
respect for the will of the million—a will, too, which
reveals itself for the first time through the channels
of the ballot and of universal suffrage. And when it
is known that out of 1,246,000 votes, 782,000 have
declared for Prince LOINS NAPOLEON, and only
268,000 for General CAVAIGNAC, it will be apparent
how unanimously the wishes of the population have
been expressed in favour of the former candidate.
What we would willingly see upon the installation
of BONAPARTH as President is this—the cordial accept-
ance of the Republicad institutions. Then, and then only
might France look for prosperity and happiness. Will
Prince Louis recognise the necessity of this ? Will
he abandon the notion of struggling for a spurious
renown by indulging his ambition, or will he secure
for himself the love of contemporaries and of poste-
rity, by giving ear only to the dictates of patriotism ?
Will he allow himself to dwindle into the mere pup-
pet of the reactionary party ;or will he, on the con-
trary,:throwing aside every petty jealousy; espouse the
cause of liberty, and rise to true glory on the
pinions of civism ? T here are knaves about
him, pouring into his brain the " leprous
distillment " of their evil principles will he
spurn them from him with a bold hand, and join
issue only with men whose hearts are large and in-
corruptible ? Will he listen to the Republicans of
the lendemain, or of the vielle Will he rally round
his Administration the statesmen of February—or
will he shrink into the mere footstool of M. ADOLPHE
TRIERS, that Iscariot of Revolutions ? Upon the
decision of these alternative 3 are dependent the life
of the President and the perpetuity of the Republic.

Considering that within a very brief period from
the present moment the enormous province of the Pun-
jaub will be incorporated with our other Asiatic pos-
sessions, it becomes a matter of some interest to re-
flect upon the advantages which must accrue to us
from the acquisition of such an extraordinary division
of the peninsula of Hindostan. By the day on which
the annexation shall have, been accomplished the
power of Great Britain among the oriental nations
will have extended from Cape Camorin to the Chain
of the Caucasus—from Ceylon to Cashmere.
Already, by the valour of our army, the do-
minion of the Great Company has stretched
westwards to Khyrpoor, and eastwards to Chitta-
gong ; it has reached in one quarter the confines of
Caubul, and in another has come within view of the
ridge of the Himalayas; by the conquest of Sinde it
has embraced both banks of the Indus, over a distance of
about four hundred miles up the river from its delta ;
it has numbered as its inhabitants no less than three
hundred thousand human beings, for whose benefit
these English conquerors have become the dispensers
of the blessings of civilization. By the occupation of
the Punjaub, the limits of the British Indian empire
will be extended not only for our commercial
advantage, but for the ultimate happiness of
avast multitnde of Orientals. To afford some con-
ception of the results which must ensue upon the
seizure of the Punjaub by the army of Lord GOUGH,
we cannot do better than refer to the rapid but
picturesque allusions recently made to the approaching
subjugation of that province by Sir CHARLES NA-
PIER, the conqueror and administrator of the adjacent
province of Sinde. Speaking of the geographical
aspect of.the Punjaub, Sir CHARLES NAPIER quaintly
compared it to a lady's fan—observing in a comical
parenthesis, " And a very pretty one
_too for the
Queen of ENGLAND !" The appearance of the
country might hare been defined more cor-
rectly, perhaps, by likening it to the back of
a laurel leaf—the five rivers forming the ribs of the
laurel leaf, and meeting at the extremity in a stalk
comparable to the Indus. However, a lady's fan let
it be called—the rivers forming the sticks of the
fan, and meeting together in the pivot—and a very
fair notion may be formed of the general)
position of the province. At Mittun-Kote these five
rivers—the Trimah, the Gharra, the Rivee, the
Chanab and the Hydaspes—gather together their
aggregated mass of water and roll onwards in one
grand stream (the Indus) to mingle with
the ocean towards the south. By the ac-
quisition of the Punjaub, therefore, no less than
2,000 additional miles of water carriage will be
opened;to British commerce;the rivers which afford this
water carriage flowing through tracks of land remark-
able for fertility. According to the expres-
sions employed by Sir CHARLES NAPIER when
addressing the local garrison at Limerick,
the first step towards the introduction
of the mercantile enterprise of England among the
northern nations of Hindostan, and consequently the
first step towards their ulterior civilization, was the
conquest of Sinde ; and now, continued the distin-
guished Captain,!the.second step will be the annexation
of the Purijaub.:Under the government of DAtmous—ix
will be completed what was commenced under the
government of ELLENEOROUGH ; and the genius of
Major EDWAEDES Will have tended to the completion
of an object Which was first attempted to be realised
by the genius of Sir CHARLES NAPIER. When this
much has been achieved, the Indus will no longer
present a formidable ,barrier to the caravans. So far
from doing this, it will tend materially to their facili-
tation, and then to express ourselves in the sanguine
language of the Ex-Governor of Sinde, the Indus
" will supply those caravans with steamers at Mittun-
Kote to take their loads in exchange for
British manufactures which will this be carried up
those great rivers, and there spread over all the
countries through which they run," and onwards
into the central portions of the Asiatic continent.
The seizure of the Punjaub is consequently one of
those important events which must affect in a very
surprising manner the commercial relations of Great
Britain, and not only the commercial relations of
Great Britain, but the future condition, both social
and political, of many millions of the Asiatics.

excites *deeper perhaps,
all-important
There is, perh Am
no topic of the present day that
the result of the
end. more universal interest than the
discussion
of. the national currency. On
place on the subject insiboonththat must inevitably take
parliament,
of the Legisla-
ture, upon the meeting of
prosperity of
and poverty.
will depend, in
a great degree, the future ha
the country, or its cornparatrires's and
shall main-
tainitherto
fromoccu-
orthh.er high
It will then be decided whether rnEinsiairiayni?.
third rate
the proud position which she
fall
pied among civilized nations,
estate, and degenerate into a second
power, a victim to the quackeries of those
foolishly and unnecessarily tampered with the wll
na-
tional credit, the very life-blood of the national
industry. It will then be known whether the glorious
doctrines of free-trade shall be fully and energetically
carried out in all their integrity, and our country
rendered the great emporium of the world, or
whether the due development of those doctrines shall
be impeded by the working of the antagonistic prin-
ciple of a fettered and contracted currency.

It cannot for a moment be supposed that the in-
quiries conducted with so much care and attention,
the valuable and conclusive body of evidence
collected, the reports emanating from distinct

Committees of the hereditary and the repre-
sentative branches of the Legislature—reports
wholly opposed to each other, in the more im-
portant principles enunciated, can be suffered to
fall to the ground without being productive of some
fruit, either for good or evil. Some decision must be
arrived at, and that speedily. Either the Act of
1844 will remain unaltered, and the present monetary
code be maintained in all its stringency, artificially
enhancing the value of money, and spreading
dismay and ruin throughout the entire nation, or
great and comprehensive reforms will be introduced,
and that great blessing will be bestowed upon the
country—a sufficient circulating medium, a currency
adequate to its wants and exigencies. It is for the
people to decide which of these results shall be
attained. The voice of public opinion is all-powerful,
and must prevail. No Government will dare to
oppose the wishes of the people, temperately but
firmly expressed. The views of the several consti-
tuencies clearly and unequivocally put forward must
influence their respective representatives, and the
doubters and waverers will speedily be brought
round to sound principles, when convinced that
their own individual interests, as well as the
interests of the community at large, are involved
in the issue, that they cannot hope to
retain the mystic characters (M.P.) attached to their
respective names unless their voices be raised in
support of the popular desires, and they array them-
selves in the ranks of the currency reformers.
There could be no doubt er difficulty as to the in-
tention and object of the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, and of the party into whose hands he has
flung himself, whose voluntary slave he has become,
in obtaining the Committees in both Houses
of Parliament to inquire into the cause
of the commercial distress. That object was
palpable to the most superficial observer
It was, as we proclaimed at the period, for the sole
purpose of shelving the question until a time when a
direct and positive refusal could be returned to the
general demand. In the speech of the Right Hon.
Baronet, in moving for the appointment of the Com-
mons' Committee, he expressed his perfect and entire
conviction as to the beneficial operation of the Bank
Charter Act, and his implicit and unquestioning faith
as to its efficacy. He at least did not require infer-
mation ; he showed the House and the
country that his mind was made up—
that there was but little prospect of conver-
sion, of new light being admitted into his soul.
The determined manner in which he resisted any
change in the composition of the Committee proposed
by him, the stubborn resistance which he nffered to
the admission of men who had devoted themselves to
the consideration of the question, who represented
the views of those who differed widely from the
bullionists, proved beyond the possibility of doubt
that he was determined to obtain, per fas aut *etas,
a report framed in accordance with his own opinions;
indeed, on a subsequent occasion, when challenged
with the partisan character of that Com-
mittee the prejudiced opinions entertained
by a majority of its members, he admitted the fact,
and declared that the Government would be wrong
in sanctioning the appointment of the Committee,
unless they had an absolute certainty as to the report
that would be made. No jury was ever more de-
cidedly packed in the days of official corruption, in
order to procure the acquittal of a wealthy and
powerful delinquent, than was the Committee on the
commercial distress, for the purpose of freeing the
Act of 1844 from the charges preferred against it, from
the impeachment of its own friends and supporters,
evidenced in its suspension by the well-known letter
of the 25th October, 1647, which suspension was ac-
knowledged by the most ardent and influential
advocates among the periodical press of the system of
bank restrictions to be tantamount to the unqualified
condemnation of the law, and indicative of its com.
plete and unconditional repeal.
No surprise was occasioned by the report of that
packed Committee, it was exactly that which had
been anticipated in every quarter. Regardless of the
testimony that was adduced as to the pernicious work-
ing of the law, the Committee reported, that " after a
careful review of all the evidence they were of opi-
nion that it was not expedient to make any alteration
in the Bank Act of 1844."

It is but justice to the minority, who elicited a
body of evidence from competent, experienced, and
trustworthy witnesses, that must have convinced any
impartial and unprejudiced tribunal, to state that this
monstrous result was not attained without a firm and
determined resistance. Every paragraph formed
a subject of contention, and none were
adopted without a division. The report itself
was only carried by a majority of two, namely, of Sir
ROBERT PEW. and of Sir CHARLES WOOD—the
Parliamentary sponsors of the accused culprit. Will
their votes be sufficient to appease and tranquillise
the public mind, to convince the mercantile interests
that the act was free from all blame, and that it did
not at least aggravate the sufferings of the commer-
cial body, if it was not the chief cause and origin of
the general panic,? We believe not. Something
more will undoubtedly be required to satisfy the
nation, and render it contented with the present code.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

ELECTION OF PRESIDENT.

There is no longer any doubt as to the success of
Louis NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. He has been elected
by an immense majority, and on Monday will be pro-
claimed President of the French Republic.
The following are the returns for Paris :—•-•
NIRST ARRONDISSEMENT.
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte ... 16,989
General Cavaignae
... 6,015
Ledru Rollin ... 1,168
Raspail ••• ••• ••• ••• 719
Lamartine ••• ••• ••• 238
SECOND ARRONDISSEMENT.
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte ... 12,538
General Cavaignao 7,708
Ledru Rollin ... ... 1,968

Raspail ...
Lamartine ...

... 1,155
••• ... 365

General Changarnier ... ... 11
Marshal Bugeaud ... ... 5
Prince de Joinville ... ... 2
Louis Blanc ... ... ..• 2
Dupont (de l'Eure) ... .. 2
Considerant ... ... .. 1
Proudhon ... ... ... 1
Vidocq ... ... ... ... 1
THIRD ARRONDISSEMENT.
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte ... 6,106
General Cavaignac ... ... 5,921
Ledru Rollin ... ... ~ . 1,415
Raspail ... ... ... ... 825
Lamartine... ... ... ... 277
FOURTH ARRONDISSEMENT.
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte ... 4,605
General Cavaignac 3,571
Ledru Rollin ... .. ... 1,257
Raspail ... ... ... ... 1,185
Lawartine... ... ... ... 175
Dupont (de l'Eure) ... .. 1
General Changarnier ... ... 1
Larochejacquenn ... ... ... 1
Proudhon ... ... ... ... 1
FIFTH ♦RRONDISSEMENT.
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte ... 9,423
General Cavaignac ... ... 5,595
Ledru Rollin ~. ... ... 2,434
Raspail ... ... ... ... 1,368
Lamartine... ... „. ... 276
SIXTH ♦RRONDISSEMENT.
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte ... 10,621
General Cavaignac ... 7,509
Ledru Rollin ... ... ... 3,455
Raspail „., ... ... ... 1,405

Larn-artine

SEVENTH ARRONDISSEMENT.
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte ... 7,097
5 109
General Cavaignac 1111. 1111.
Ledru Rollin ... ..• ••• 1,926
Raspail ... ... ... ... 1,023
Lamartine ••• ••• ••• 177
Marshal Bugeaud ••• ••• 2
Proudhon ... ••• ••• 1
Beranger ••• •• ••• 1
Arugo ... ... . ••• 1
EIGHTH ARRONDISSEMENT.
Lonis Napoleon Bonaparte ... 12,758
General Cavaignao 5,518
Ledru Rollin
.. ~, .., 2,841
.
Raspail ... •, •
„, 1,344
Lamar tine . ... ••• ••• 189
Lost votes... ... ... ••• 33
NINTH ARRONDISSEMENT.
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte ..• 8,534
General Cavaignae ••• ••• 4,300
Ledru Rollin •••
••• ... 1,057
RaspailLuaeronearrat General
nee
a..v• a i g n
a.c.. • ...
71237
... ... ...
TENTH ARRONDISSEMENT.
Napoleonitaslal Bonaparte 22,326
Changarnacieir „, ... 11,247
Ledru Rollin
1 597
•••
•••
•••
'B4O
••• ••• ••• Lamartine...
399
uelin... •••
...
24
Bugeaud . •••
. •••
•••
Laroche] . ••
••• ••• 6
999 9119 3

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