The Sun.
London, England, 1848-02-23 00:00:00

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•NDON, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1848

be storm which has now been long brewing,
cLnfidently anticipated, has at length burst over

and the destinies of Louis PHILIPPA are
upon the vicissitudes of an insurrection.
)ur readers will find in the Parisian intelligence

xhich is subjoined a copious narrative of the extriordi-
uary events which have just transpired in the French
capital. They will find that yesterday, instead of
tyliog the occasion of a demonstration in favour of
titAtional reforms, was the commencement of a
• )le and organized revolt against the Government.
,:•y will find, that in consequence of a conversation
-een MM. D CMIATEL and ()DILLON BARROT in the

nber of Deputies; on Monday evening—a con-
Ation in which th© Leader of the Oppo•

n elicited from the Minister of the
rior an official declaration that the Ca-

t were prepared and resolved to prevent the
intdnded banquet of the 12th arrondissement by
military violence, if they could not accomplish that
of 't-q otherwise—our readers will find, we say, thatp
....msequence of this memorable conversation, the
I)?puties of the Opposition considered it to be most
consonant with their legislative characters, and most
in accordance with the sublime dictates of a great
moral agency, such as that of a nation struggling to
achieve its liberties without any overt violation of
the law—to issue a proclamation announcing their
intention not to attend the banquet already prepared
in the Champs ElysC2es. Beyond this it will be
seen that a multitude of ominous circum-
stances circumstances foreboding some sudden
and *Listoric catastrophe--occurred throughout Paris
<luring the night of Monday. Men remembered
that, acceding to the 291st article of the penal code,
established er.derfhe reign of the Emperor NAroLEoN,
confirmed by Louis XVIII., enforced by CuARLEs
X., and reiterated with increased penalties as recently
as 1834, the congregation of 20 persons for purposes
of uolitical discussion is prohibited, and hence some
imagined that these monster banquets in furtherance
of constitutional reform, might be in their character
eFscntially illegal. The Parisian Liberals bethought
themselves of this towards the nightfall which was to
Dr -,ode the proposed demonstration in the metro
they were compelled to acknowledge to
'Selves that tha FREEDOM or SPEECH had

to be conquered in the land where
uch blood had been shed, and so many re-
•,ins had ben organized, and so many political
:Is had been adopted, and so many demagogues and
- reigns had been-obeyed with the intention of
ti, ,T by securing to the people a perfect and perma-
at-w. emancipation. On Monday evening, in short,
the Parisians seemed to recognise for the first time
That the individual rights and aggregate liberties
)f the French citizens had as yet been only partially
,eoured ; that the existing charter was merely a one-
fitted apd insufficient palladium ; that the struggle of
1S:30 had mainly tended to the aggrandizement of a
-lynasty, and the evasion of the popular will; that the
coices of free (!) citizens were stifled under the penal-
;i'eci inflicted by the correctional police ; that
:he press itself was hampered by the judicial courts

subservient to the prevailing influence of the
Tuileries—that King Louis PHILIPPE had proved
himself, by a reign of seventeen years and a half's
duration, to be in no one particular worthy of the
title of " a Crowned WASHINGTON !"

While the more intelligent of the population of
Paris were agitated on Monday evening with these
considerations, their imaginations were distracted by
a variety of coincident occurrences. The proclama-
tion of the Government, recommending quietude for
the morrow, and threatening the employment of armed
force, in the event of any disturbances, only enhanced
this excitement, by displaying the intolerable
conservatism, and the repressive determination
which animated the Cabinet and constituted its most
conspicuous characteristics. In like manner, the
Proclamation addressed to the inhabitants of the
capital by DELESSERT, the Prefect of Police, developed
still more these latent sentiments of wrath which were
beginning to infuriate the hearts of the Parisians, for
while this second proclamation hinted at the over-
whelming power concentrated in the hands of the
Government for the suppression of any possible act of
insubordination on the part of the populace, it
haughtily referred the question at issue (the legality
of the Reform banquets) to the decision of the Su •
preme Court of Cassation. Such were the feel-
ings of animosity generating between the people
and the Cabinet during the evening and the
night of Monday—feelings which were in no degree
allayed by the different ordonnances and counter-
manifestoes placarded from hour to hour upon the
city walls; by the perusal of the evening journals in
the Boulevards by torchlight; and by the continual
passage of military waggons and artillery caissons,
escorted by cavalry, along the roads leading from
Vincennes to the Palais Bourbon and the Chateau of
the Tuilleries.

Before Tuesday dawned over Paris it was not
difficult to conjecture the result of all these inau-
spicieus preparations. An insurrection was inevi-
table. The Government and the people con-
fronted each other face to face—the sword
drawn—the match lighted—anti the bayonet
fixed. To the memory of a thousand wrongs
was added the gall of their recent recrimination.
Revolt boiled up amidst the population of Paris like
a necessity, for there were at once the opportunity,
the means, and the incitements. Accordingly, be-
fore yesterday was far advanced the capital of France
was in a state of violent insurrection. The old
practices, which proved so successful in 1830, were
again resorted to ; omnibuses were overturned ;
public and private conveyances were stopped; barri-
cades were erected in all directions ; the ware-
houses of the gunsmiths and armourers were pil-
laged. Assaults were made upon the Chambers
by a mob of thirty thousand Parisians, and repulsed
by successive charges of cavalry and by the resolute
demeanour of the military forces concentrated there
for the protection of the Government. Unsuccessful
in this quarter, the insurgents had attacked, but with
similar ill-success, the residence of the Minister of
Foreign Affairs; and above the din of these extraor-
dinary movements the cry of the multitude is said
to have resounded like an omen of death—" A Las
GuzzoT! La tete de GT:viol'!" Simultaneously
with these proceedings ODILLON I3AanoT, in fulfil-
ment of his promise, laid before the Chamber of
Deputies an impeachment of the Cabinet, signed by
himself and a considerable number of his col-
leagues.

From what we have already observed, and from
the particulars detailed in our foreign correspondence,
it; will be seen that the distutbances which have just
commeNced in the metropolis of France are of no
trivial or ephemeral character. The insurrection of
1848 promises to be, indeed, more formidable than
any one of its predecessors ; for it is not, as hereto-
fore, confined principally to the working population
and middle classes, but numbers among its principal
sympathisers, an influential portion of the Legisla-
ture. Whatever may be the immediate consequence
of the recent events among the Parisians, the doom of
GuizoT is sealed and the throne of Louis PulLarri3
shaken, if not entirely subverted.

Recently there was a somewhat idle, because an
over-fastidious discussion in the House of Peers, upon
the relative merits of the different titles of honour
applied to PIUS IX. in his political and sacerdotal
capacity. " Sovereign of the Roman States" gained
the preference over " Sovereign Pontiff," although
the Scotch historians rejected the former, and al-
though the latter
.was repudiated alone by some of
the more punctilious members of the English epis-
copacy. A similar difference of opinion, a difference
of opinion equally idle, because equally fastidious, was
manifested last evening in the House of Commons. The
word which constituted the bone of contention between
the Ministry and the Parliament was an adjective.
The honourable representatives of the people could
not, for the life of them, swallow the expression—
" Secret Committee," an expression which, it will be
remembered, was employed by Lord Joßia RUSSELL,
when explaining his budget, and applied especially
to the examination of the army, navy, and ordnance
estimates. "Select Committee" is substituted for the
obnoxious epithet, and the Members of the Legisla-
ture are at once contented—although, be it observed,
the powers which were proposed to be entrusted to
this Secret Committee are fully reserved to the
Select Committee—those powers being the publica-
tion or reservation of its evidence, at discretion. So
that the squabble has literally been a squabble
about words, and not a debate upon principles. The
rights of the dictionary have been maintained, rather
than the rights of the constitution.
While we cannot but regard with indifference the
zeal of those whose feelings as patriots appear to
have been most outraged by the employment of this
very unfortunate adjective, we are satisfied that the
Chancellor of the Exchequer has acted with due dis-
cretion by conceding to the very English tastes of
Parliament, and erasing a dissyllable which savours
more of the eleventh than of the nineteenth century,
and seems more adapted to the lips of a Vene-
tian than to those of an Englishman. There
is, unquestionably, something excessively revolting
to the imagination of a citizen of the United
Kingdom in the bare proposal of any such an
apparently underhand and suspicious junta as a
" Secret Committee." Were such language tole..
rated, and such propositions winked at, we doubt
not but that my Lord of WINCHILSEA. would
sigh " 0 for the days of Friar BUNGAT!" and
that THOMAS SLINGSBY DUNCOMBH might
pine for " One Hour of the Star Chamber !" Hap-
pily, however, for the tranquillity of the minds of
England, the very idea of such a tribunal is scouted.
We are not to have " Secret Committees" empowered
to reserve or publish their evidence, as seems to
them advisable ; but we are to have " Select
Committees," who are empowered to do exactly the
same ! Where is the difference ? In the adjective ;
exclusively and solely in the adjective as an adjective.
So that we have another proof of the fallacy of one
at least out of the many thousand ideas originated
by SIIAKSPERE. A name is something, and a rose
would decidedly not smell as sweet by any other—
Parliament has just proclaimed as much.
Distasteful as any suppression of legislative in-
quiries,like those connected with our military:and mari-
time estimates, may at first sight appear, we are con-
vinced that some such discretionary power as is here
ensured to the Committee is absolutely essential for
the furtherance of the national interests. What
should we say, for example, of the sagacity of that
Generalissimo who should allow a perfect know-
ledge of the organization of his troops to reach his
adversary, and should himself proclaim to the world
the plans he may have adopted for the campaign ?
The case is strictly analogous ; for, although the
Government does not conceive itself to be
justified in extending the national expenditure
by an augmentation of the national defences,
it is rational to suppose that such investigations must
take place before the Select Committee upon the mi-
litary and naval estimates as may be the prelude to
extensive improvements in that direction. The Mi-
nistry has this project unquestionably in contemplation
from the very circumstance of their choosing the un-
lucky epithet which has excited so much opposition.
What possible object could the Cabinet have in pro-
posing this " Secret Committee," except the further-
ance of such inquiries as it would be most judicious
to coneeal from our neighbours ? It is, therefore,
matter of congratulation to us that in the horror ex-
cited by a single epithet, because its sound is strictly

speaking un-English, the ulterior views of the Govern-
!mint in reference to the condition of our forces, both on
land and sea, have not been thwarted. The principal
problem which will have to be solved by this Select
Committee is one, at the extremities of which are the
Duke of WELLINGTON and Mr. COBDEN. Let the
Committee occupy the juste milieu, and there will be
no longer any cause for panic at the mere mention of
an invasion.

The Swiss Diet has adjourned. It will meet again
when the Committee for tho Revision of the Pact
shall have terminated its labours. The Committee
has already commenced its sittings.
The Austrian Government having learnt that
enrolments of great numbers of men have been made
in Switzerland for the troops of several of the Italian
States, has addressed, says the Union 3lonarchique, a
strong note to the Diet, declaring that a continuation
of these enrolments will become a casus belli.

The following proclamation was issued, on the
12th, by the Count SPAUR, the Governor of
Milan :

His Majesty the Emperor having deigned to declare
expressly that he is resolved not to tolerate any popular
demonstration, even for a non-political object ; having
besides, by his sovereign rescript, under date the 9th of'
January last, imposed on all the authorities the duty of
proceeding officially, according to the powers of them,
to prevent any perturbation of the public tranquillity ;
his Majesty desiring, finally, that no extraordinary re-
joicing be permitted, and that all unusual popular
rejoicings be rigorously forbidden, principally during
the night, the Government believes it right to bring
these sovereign declarations to the knowledge of the
public, in the firm confidence that all the inhabitants of
Lombardy will fully conform thereto ; for in the
contrary case those who, ill-advised, shall dare to
disobey these sovereign orders, shall be punished ac•
cording to the laws in vigour.
"COUNT DE SPAUH, Governor.
" Milan, Feb. 12."

The Gazette of Milan, of the 14th, published the
following proclamation in re ference to the disturb-
ances in Pavia :

" In consequence of the disturbances which took placs
at Pavia on the 9th and 10th of this month, when
student, two peasants, and an officer were wounded, the
latter having been attacked on the evening of the 10th,
when returning home, the Archduke Viceroy, having
left to the prudent discernment of the provincial dele-
gate to anticipate, in concert with the authorities of the
University of that town, the vacation generally so,
corded to tho students for the carnival, the delegate has
judged fit to suspend at present the lectures at the Uni-
versity, and to send home to their families the young
students, in adopting, in concert with the military au-
thorities, measures necessary to prevent public tran-
quillity from being trobled."
The Patria of Florence, of the 13th, states the
the Reformed Franciscan brothers of Placentia had
celebrated a solemn mass and chanted a Te Deum,
to celebrate the fortunate events which had taken
pltce at Naples. The church was crowded. After
the mass the organist played for a long time, and
when he had finished, the people, dividing themselves
into two choruses, repeated the Te Dem. At the
passage, "Te ergo quresumus tuis famulis subveni
quos pretioso sanguine redemisti," every one fell on
their knees ; at the ►° Salvum fac populum tuum,
Domine, et benedic htereditati tutu," the voices were
astounding.
The Courrier of Leghorn states that some of the
individuals arrested on the nights of the 30th and 31st
of January have been set at liberty, and that M. GEo.
Thom° RAP?, who had been imprisoned at Porto
Ferrajo, has also been released.

Field-Marshal General RADETSKT has been re-
placed, as Commander-in-Chief in Lombardy, by
General Scuaanousici.

The Austrian Ob.yerrer, which is the semi-official
organ of the Austrian Government, publishes a long
article on the affairs of Italy, in which it declares
that the wishes of Lombardy for administrative re-
forms will be discussed, and perhaps be granted ; but
that as to the idea of separating that kingdom from
the empire, or of causing a change of dynasty, the
Austrian Government will be inexorable in prevent-
ing it. " Let the Italians," it adds, " not forget
the example of the more warlike Poles in the
struggle against the Russian empire, and let them
tremble !"

Madrid papers of the 16th have arrived.
A royal decree in the Gazette sanctions the Bill
for authorising the Government to levy and employ
the taxes to the end of June, 18-18.

The Herald() contains the following :—" Several
journals have announced that her Royal Highness
the Infanta Duchess DE MONTPEXiIER is enceinte.
From our own private letters, it appears that this
fact is indubitable. Her Royal Highness has been
enceinte for four months." One of the journals says
that the fact of the Duchess being enceinte is to be
officially communicated to the QUEEN by the new
French Ambassador, in his first audience.
On the 15th Mr. BULWER gave a grand dinner,
which was attended by all the Ministers.
MADRID BOURSE, FEB. 16.—Threes, 291; Fives,
17 9-16; Exchange on London, 47 90.

EXPRESS FROM PARIS.

CONFLICT BETWEEN the PEOPLE
AND THE TROOPS.

IMPEACHMENT of the MINISTERS

The intelligence contained in the Paris papers of
yesterday is of the gravest importance. At the
eleventh hour the Ministry determined to prevent
the Reform banquet being held. They announced
their intention on Monday afternoon in the Chamber.
Thereupon the Committee of Opposition Deputies held
a meeting, at which it was resolved that the banquet
should not be held, and that an address should be pub-
lished requesting the people to submit to the orders
of the Ministry, and to avoid all collision with the
officers of the police. Yesterday morning Paris was
placarded with proclamations, prohibiting all meet-
ings of the people, and 80,000 troops under arms
took possession of the various military points of the
capital. otwithstanding the proclamations of the
Ministry, and the addresses of the Opposition, the
people began to assemble on the Place Madeleine
shortly after 11 o'clock, and in the course of two hours
their numbers had increased to 30,000. They pro-
ceeded to the Chamber of Deputies, and attempted to
escalade the rails and walls. They were, however,
repulsed by the troops. The shops of several gun-
smiths had been pillaged, barricades formed in the
streets by paving stones and carriages, and all public
conveyances had been stopped. At five o'clock an
attack was made en the hotel of the Minister for
Foreign Affairs amidst loud shouts of " A bas
GUIZOT ! La tete de GUIZOT I" The hotel was filled
with troops, The rising is general, and various con-
flicts have taken place with the troops, in which the
latter have lost several in killed and wounded.

Such is a general resume of the important intelli-
gence, which we now proceed to give rather more in
detail.

It had been generally understood until Monday
that the Ministry would make no further opposition
to the holding of the banquet, than merely stationing
a single commissary of police at the door, who should
prohibit the entrance of the guests for the purpose of
enabling all parties, on that prohibition being disre•
garded, to go before a court of law, and have the
question as to the legality or illegality of those ques-
tions at once set at rest.

In the early part of the sitting of the Chamber of
Deputies on Monday, it was rumoured that the
Ministers had determined to prohibit the ban-
quet altogether. Hereupon M. ODILLON BARROT
and several of the Opposition Deputies retired
for a short time to one of the committee-rooms,
and after a short consultation re-entered the Chamber,
when M. ODILLos BARIIOT rose, and after alluding
to the denial by the Government, in the course of the
debate on the Address, of the right of citizens to as-
semble, N,itLout tuinu ; or without arms, to discuss
their political rights, he said that the intention of the
Opposition Deputies i❑ attending the banquet was to
assert the existence of the right, and allow the Go-
vernment an opportunity of settling the question
before the tribunals. He added that he was con-
vinced that if the Government had allowed the mani-
festation to proceed the public peace would not have
been disturbed, and the public mind would have bees
more tranquil.
_ _

M. DucuATEL replied at considerable length. He
said the intention of the Government till that morn-
ing was to have allowed the banquet to proceed, and
merely to have protested against it, in order to let the
question be tried before the ordinary tribunals; but
the manifesto issued that morning by the Banquet

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