The Sun.
London, England, 1848-12-16 00:00:00

ill- holing anit,

LONDON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1848.

Four millions of votes have already been counted
out of the urns, nominating the Prince Louis Naro•
Loom to the Presidency. Four millions—and only
two are required as the absolute majority ! Four
millions—and the suffrages from Corsica not yet enu-
merated ! Four—and the intelligence from Algeria
not yet received! There is something woederfuh
and most certainly also unprecedented, in this unani-
mity. Even the opponents of a Bonapartist Go-
vernment must be satisfied at the circumstance that
the imperial candidate being successful at all,
his success is one of a triumphant character. A
majority only just elevated above the prescribed
level would have tended beyond all question to the
involvement of the entire nation in a disastrous
struggle—a struggle born of jealousies and leading
to anarchy. Now, however, that the Go-
vernment of Prince Louis NAPOLEON is invested
with a popularity of this unexampled description,
there remains no pretext for hesitation, and the future
may at last be awaited with a considerable degree of
confidence. That the popularity of the illustrious
cause with which the name of the President-elect is
identified has not about it, the usual characteristic of
evanescence, is proved by two extraordinary circum-
stances—first, that the votes have emanated spontane-
ously from universal suffrage, end, secondly, that the
sincerity of those votes have been assured by the adop-
tion of the ballot. The Government of the Prince will
consequently be one of the most legitimate on the
surface of the globe; and its legitimacy will only
enhance its present enormous popularity.
To demonstrate the fallacy of the essertion made
by the reactionary party, to the effect that the elec-
tion of Prince LOUIS NAPOLEON is a death-blow to
Republicanism, and a guarantee of the ultimate
restoration of hereditary monarchy, We yesterday
explained the true character of what is called Bona-
partism, and showed by logical arguments, drawn
from the history of the EMPEROR, that the success of
his policy is identical with the real interests and
the permanent consolidation of the democratic
institutions of France. Since those remarks were
written additional securities have been obtained by
Republicanism in the midst of the electioneering ex-
citement which prevails throughout Paris and the
departments. For the fifth time M. ARMAND MAR-
BAST has been elected President of the National As-
sembly ; and thus a strong link will still connect the
new administration of Prince LOUIS NAPOLEON with
the heroic statesmen and administrators of February.
The popular representatives have, by this means,
therefore, negatived the assurance implied in the
witty exclamation of the Evenement—"The Na-
tional is dead, long live the Nation !" The
patriotic publicists of the National will still
continue to influence the measures adopted by
the Bonaparte Cabinet, notwithstanding that
the candidate of the National, General EUGENE
CAVAIGNAC, has received such a sore discomfiture-
Beyond which, the Provisional Council of Stater
consisting of thirty members, the principal portion of
whom are Republicans of the vielle—foremost among
them, the great LAMARTINE himself—will exercise
an important authority over the movements of the
rising Ministry. No ; the Constitution is not with-
out its self-elected Praetorians—the soldiers of the
Young Republic are " ready, aye ready for the
field." One amongst them, one of the bravest of the
brave men who formed the Provisional Govern-
ment and the Executive Commission—M. GARNIER
p
AGBS—has already pledged himself to sound the
tocsin of a new Revolution in the event of any at-
tempt at retrogression. The assurance has not been
forgotten. The walls of the palace of the National
Assembly have scarcely yet ceased vibrating with
those daring words
one shall venture to
proceed to the Tuileries, I willry
myself on that day
to the Hotel de Ville!" From ay%e,
appreciation of
these facts, from a sense of their im
a conviction of the dauntless bravery of nacuird from
press
as
LAMARTINE, as ARAGO, as GARNIER.
venerable DUPONT (de I'Eure), as Msaisswr,' a
na t.hh
e
rest of their colleagues—we await with calm
satisfaction the installation of the new Government.
The French Republic has little to fear from the coup-
cli skits of a party of white-livered intriguers like M.
TRIERS, or M. ODILON BARROT, or M. MOLE, or M.
EMILE DE GIRARDIN—Iike M. TRIERS, who disap-
peared in some cellar in one of the banlieus during
the fighting of the three days of June 1830, and
afterwards, during the contest of the three days of
February 1848—like M. ODILON BARROT, who
" made an appointment with the people on the boule-
vards and was too nervous to keep it"—like
M. Moms, who was dastardly enough to
occupy the post of the principal assassin
on the occasion of the murder of the immortal
nr,—or, last of all, like M. DE GIRARDIN, whose
hand is only famous for dealing blows in the dark,
for stabbing with a pen steeped in the poison of
calumny, and for tearing open with his sacrilegious
slanders the ghastly shrouds of the Republicans who
have been long since mouldering in their graves.
Against the counter-revolutionary conspiracy of these
men, the statesmen of February will only have to op-
pose their vigilance.
With a President elected by universal suffrage,
and a National Assembly elected by uni-
versal suffrage, the French Republic may
now look forward with confident anticipa-
tions. hitherto the different Governments which

have succeeded each other since the overthrow of the
Monarchy of the bourgeoisie, have had to struggle
onwards through a haze of uncertainties. Those
uncertainties must soon be dissipated by the attitude
assumed by the first Cabinet of the first President•
And, as if to assure us that that attitude would be
indicative of vigour, the rumours that CAVAIGNAC is
to be made a Marshal of France and the Governor of
Algeria, that CHANGARNIER is to be nominated to the
command of the army of the Alps, and that
BITGEAIJD is to be placed at the head of
the National Guards of the metropolis, are
accompanied by whispers to the effect
that the Vice-Presidency of the Republic will be
entrusted either to M. DE LAMARTINE, or to M.
GARNIER PAGES, or to M. ARAGO. For our own
part we should learn more gladly that LAMARTINE
had received the portfolio of Foreign Affairs, that
GARNIER PAGES had been declared his colleague in
one of the other departments of the public service,
and that ARAGO had retired from the late political
episode in his existence to the more congenial retreats
of abstract science and natural philosophy. As yet,
however, the most contradictory conjectures can alone
arise from the numerous expectations resulting from
the sudden and almost unanimous election of a BONA..
reßaz to the Chief Magistracy of the Republic.

It has been said that there is "nothing new under
the sun." This assertion must, however, be taken
with some modification. Had the philosopher lived
in the 19th century, and witnessed the various
matters affording increased comfort or safety to man-
kind, he might have altered his opinion, and acknow-
ledge that although inventions were rare, the new ap-
plications of old principles were at least of daily occur-
rence. A remarkable illustration of this fact may be
found in the advertisement of the Metropolitan Coun-
ties and General Life Assurance Society, which appears
in another part of our impression this day. The
society, it appears, have decided on opening a new
species of life assurance, in which all persons may
participate on advantageous terms. The young and
the old, the healthy and the infirm, will alike be
guaranteed at a moderate premium from loss
of life arising from accidents while travelling
by railway. No delays will be interposed be-
fore the completion of the policy. It may be
effected on the day of application, and will remain
in force during the entire term of life without
renewal or further payment. A single payment
of 10s.Ewill secure to the family of even a daily
passenger by railway the sum of 1001.
in the event of the party assured being deprived
of life by any accident while so travelling.
Many persons who could not afford Lthe pre-
mium required for a general insurance
against every description of casualty, who
confidently rely on a continuance of health and
strength
_until their circumstances improved so
far as to enable them to make provision for those
dependent on them, would yet desire to guard, at a
cheap rate, against the disastrous consequences of
accidents:to which the nature of their daily avoca-
tions render them peculiarly liable. The large and
influential body of commercial travellers, of those who
spend a portion of every day upon the road, and
who seldom sleep a second night in the same town,
will find this novelty in life assurance peculiarly
applicable to their cases, and their minds may be
relieved of considerable anxiety by the certainty that
those dearer to them than life itself would be pro-
vided for, in the event of any untoward result.
Persons who have availed themselves of the facili-
ties afforded by the introduction of railways
to reside with their families in pure and
wholesome air, and who daily travel backwards and
forwards to their usual places of business, will doubt-
less hail with delight the introduction of a system so
simple and so beneficial. A. single payment of
101. would place the sum of 2,0001. at the disposal
of a person of this class, in the event of a fatal
accident by the rail.
The company have not as yet, we believe, deter-
mined upon insuring against the consequences of
accidents not resulting in the loss of life. We trust,
however, that such a cou.rse will speedily be adopted ;
it would indeed, if introduced, render it an imperative
duty on all railway passengers to take so obvious and
necessary a precaution. We doubt not that a body
who hsve shown themselves so fully alive to the pub-
lic wants, and who have exhibited so laudable an
anxiety to meet the wishes of the community, will be
prepared to enter into all necessary arrangements to
this extent also, and that they will, in return, be re-
warded with that general patronage to which their
spirit and enterprise so eminently entitle them.
It may be well to mention that railway accidents
are on the increase in a, ratio far beyond that which
the additional mileage opened to the public, or the
larger number of passengers carried on the various
railways, could account for. To whatever cause this
result may be attributable, whether to the increase
of speed, or the greater number of trains, the fact
itself is indisputable. Thus we find that
the numbers killed, or seriously injured by
causes beyond their own control, amounted, in 1843,
to only six persons. In 1847 the number had in-
creased to 106 ; while in the first six months of
the present year it amounted to 66. We thus find
that serious accidents during the present year have
increased in more than a tenfold ratio when compared
with the year 71843. And when it is borne in mind
that a person who travels twice daily, as is the con-
stant habit of many, appears in the list 730 times
within the year, it will be manifest how very mode-
rate is the rate at which the company have offered to
accept the risk, viz., 10s. per cent. in one payment
for the entire term of life.

In our impression of the Bth instant we offered
some observations on the memorial that had been pre-
sented to the Lords Justices of Ireland from the rate-
payers of the Westport Union, and the reply of their
Lordships thereto. We regarded the facts elicited in
the course of that correspondence as affording the
most conclusive evidence of the extremity of the dis-
tress, and the poverty of the resources of the district,
and clearly establishing the absolute necessity of prompt
and energetic action on the part of the Government.
Unless something be done, and that speedily, all
classes will be involved in one common ruin. The
entire property of the union is not sufficient to feed
its poverty. It is easy to say that it is the duty of
the rate-payers to support their poor, but if the task
be beyond their power, if their utmost strength should
prove insufficient to sustain the burdens imposed
upon them, it would be but a short-sighted
and unwise policy to suffer them to perish
for want of some slight temporary assistance
and then to be compelled to expend far more in
saving the people from actual starvation than would
now suffice, if judiciously applied, to enable the pro-
prietors of the soil to encounter the :difficulties by
which they are surrounded, and eventually to escape
from their arduous position.
It is not, as we have already repeatedly stated, by
lavishing large sums in maintaining the popu-
lation in unproductive idleness it is not
by taking upon ourselves the task of feeding
a large body of persons without requiring any return
therefor, that this great desideratum can be attained.
The enormous sums that were advanced during the
year of famine effected little permanent benefit for
of the
the people. It is true that thousands were preserved
from lingering and painful deaths by the benevolence
British
hdently
nation, and GOD forbid that we should
reproach the
not as donors because their bounty was
and beneficially applied as it
might have been,
But having done so much,
having in the Westport Union
salone supplied rations
to no less than 26,000
Persons, shall
those to perish who
we desist from
all
their v
and
suffer
vast outlay which we then so
owe l exertions,
ies to the
ff
cheerfully took upon ourselves. We cannot anticipate
so lamentable a falling off. We will not do Bo foul
injustice to the English nation, or to the English
Government, as to suppose the possibility
of
such a result. Assistance will, undoubtedi
be rendered, but, guided by past experience, we will
shun the errors into which we have hitherto fallen,
and follow a wiser and more judicious course in our
future operations.
A letter which has just appeared from the Mar-
quis of SLIGO, in answer to the animadversions of a
morning Contemporary, affords a remarkable corro-
boration of the views which we then put forward, and
exhibits the conduct of the landed proprietors of
the union in a better point of view than
might be supposed from a Moll' perusal of the

reply of the Lords Justices. The Noble Lord states
that " the rates paid in the union up to August,
1846, amounted to 3,1511. ls. Id., and that from
the failure in August, 1846, till the end of
last May, the sum paid was 5,5211. 6s. 5d.,
making in all 8,6711. 7s. 6d., and not 4,1151. as
mentioned in Mr. REDINGTON'S letter." If this be
so, and we cannot suppose that his Lordship
would state deliberately that which, if untrue, could
clearly and easily be contradicted, it is hardly fair to
speak of the average rate collected as being but 5d.,
or even 10d., in the pound. It would seem more
reasonable to inquire what has been paid since the
enactment of the new Poor-law for Ireland, which
imposed new burdens and new duties upon the land.
owners in that country. Very few Irishmen, we
regret to say, made provision for a season of
emergency, or accumulated savings to provide for

'uture contingencies. When the Irish Poor-law came

into operation it found the nation completely im-
poverished. It had passed through a season of the
deepest distress—it had undergone an ordeal of the
utmost severity. Many—we believe the great majo-
rity of the landed proprietors—had voluntarily re-
linquished a considerable portion of their.claims ; in-
deed, it would have been utterly impossible to have
collected the rents to which they were entitled. They

ad also incurred additional debts and embarrassments
for the support of their families and dependents.
The new law then found them in a peculiarly dis-
tressed position, and not prepared to meet new and
heavy demands. Since that time, according to Lord
Suao, the rate in the electoral division of Westport
" amounted last year to 7s. 6d. in the pound
on the old valuation, which would be at least
15s. in the pound on the present real
value ; and this year a rate is collecting of 3s. 4d.,
equivalent to a rate of at least 6s. Bd. in the pound
in ordinary times, as far as regards the difficulty of
payment." These rates have been struck, not as the
amount necessary to support the claimants for relief,
but as the utmost that by a possibility can be collected

from even the most solvent. It should be borne in
mind that annuitants and other incumbrancers
are not required to contribute any portion
whatsoever to the poor. rates. The whole
burden falls upon the landlord's surplus, ;and little, in-
deed, is left for his own support, or that of his family,
after providing therefor.
Under such circumstances, is it not apparent that
assistance must be rendered, and that if the union be
left to its own resources alone, myriads must perish
by famine ?

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris papers of yesterday.

The Journal des Debats, which was published yes-
terday morning, gives the following as the gross re-
sult of the examination of the voting papers, up to
Thursday night :
M. Louis Bonaparte ... 2,300,000
General Cavaignac ... 620,000
The examination was continued by the Committee
during the whole of the day (yesterday), and it was
understood that, at the hour at which the post left, it
had been ascertained that M. Louis BONAPARTE had
polled 4,000,000 votes, and General CAVAIGNAC
900,000. The following is the official return of all
the votes recorded in the Department of the
Seine, as proclaimed on Thursday at the Hotel de
Ville .

Louis Napoleon
Cavaignac
Ledrußollin

.. .. 198,484
.. .. 95,567
.. . . 26,648
.. .. . . 15,871
... ... 3,838
66
58
28
20
16

Raspail
Lamartine

Changarnier ..
Bugeaud ...
Bedeau ..,
Louis Blanc ..
Arago ..
Barbi.s ...

Larochejaquelin ... ... 3
Berryer ... ... .. 2
Dupont (de I'Eure) .. .. 3
The voters inscribed were 433,632 ; the number
who voted were 341,829.

The following is the return from the department o
the Indre and Loire, as officially announced by the
Committee of the National Assembly :
Louis Napoleon ...
Cayaignae
Ledru Rollin ...
Raspail
Lamartine
Blank or doubtful votes 536
The overwhelming majority by which Louis NA-
POLEON has been returned has surprised and annoyed
many of his supporters even snore than it has sur-
prised and vexed his opponents. The President who
has been returned by such an immense majority must
be accepted as the choice of the nation, and can there-
fore afford to be independent. Hence the Leg itima-
tists who calculated upon the necessity under which
Louis NAPOLEON would be to obtain their
support, and who had determined to make
him the "planche Napolionienne" over which
the Comte DE CHAMBORD was to walk to the throne
of France are grievously disappointed, and al-
ready seek to undo their handiwork, and to
depreciate the effects, which cannot but ensue, from
the vastness of the majority, which they themselves
contributed to swell. " The name of Louis NA-
POLEON is but as the urn in which the suffrages are
recorded," falters the Union. Had the name,
however, been any other than it is--had it been
CHAMBORD, for instance, or JOINVILLE, the proba-
bility is that General CAVAIGNAC would at this
moment have been President of the French Republic.
This overwhelming majority is the homage which
France pays to the memory of the great
man who was the incarnation of her first
revolution, and France has chosen Louis NAPOLEON
as the incarnation of her second revolution. May he
remember the words addressed to him by CHATEAU-.
BRIAND at Arenberg; in the presence of Queen Hon-
TENSE—" Remember, Prince, that you possess the
greatest name in the modern world—lt will always
be a rallying point for France, and the surest guaran
tee for the progress of free institutions in Europe."
The new Ministry is nearly formed. M. HIPPO-
LYTE PAESI', as we announced yesterday is to be the
Finance Minister. He accepted the portfolio of the
Finances only on condition that M. ACHILLE FOULD
should be appointed Minister of Commerce. M. DE
TRACY will also be a member of the Cabinet.
General OEDINOT, it is said, has made some diffi-
culties about accepting the War Ministry ; General
PRBVAL is now spoken of as his substitute. Marshal
BUGEAUD has accepted the command of the army of
the Alps, M. REBILLOT is to be the Prefect of Police,
M. JEROME BONAPARTE Governor of the Invalides,
and General PETIT Chancellor of the Legion of
Honour. These appointments have all taken place
by the advice of M. TRIERS, M. MOLE, and Marshal
BUGEAUD, who appear to'have got the ear of the Prince.
The old Bonapartists complain that they have been
neglected in these arrangements, and that BUGEAUD and
TRIERS and Mous are merely preparing for an Or-
leans restoration. It is somewhat remarkable that

... 64,566
... 9,136
1,684
... 239

these three should have been long since proposed, as
the Council of Regency for the Comte DE Penis. If
it be for their interest to be true to Louis Nero-
LEON, they will faithfully serve him so long as it shall
continue to be their interest so to do, but they will
betray him, or any other person or party who trusts
in them, the instant they fancy any thing is to be
gained by such betrayal.
It is said that the Vice-President will be either
M. DE LAMARTINE, M. F. ARAGO, or M. GARmEa
PAGES.

Marshal BUGEAUD took his seat in the Assembly
on Thursday. The following was the result of the
Ballot on that day for President of the Assembly :
Voters • •• ••• • •• ••• 599
Absolute majority ... ... 300
M. A. Marrast ... .. ••• 361
M. Lacrosse ... .. 129
General Bedeau .•• ••• 48
M. de Remusat ... .. 3 1
M. Lamartine ... ... ... 2
It is considered probable that there w ill be a
general election in the month of March.
Yesterday was the anniversary of the funeral of
NAPOLEON at the Invalides. The usual funeral ser-
vice took place on the occasion, but the members
lof the Bonaparte family have announced that in
order to prevent all pretext for inopportune manifes-
tations, the whole of them will absent themselves.
114 I°ll°Wing appears ill the, Journal des Debars ;--.

" We have been requested to announce that M. Lou.
Napoleon Bonaparte, as likewise all the members of the
Bona?arte family, have determined, in order to deprive
those who would excite turbulent manifestations of
every pretext, that none of them will proceed on Friday
to:the Hotel of the Invalides to commemorate the anni-
versary of the removal of the mortal remains of the
Emperor."
It seas rumoured on the Bourse yesterday after-
noon that M. ACEIILLE FOULD had refused the
Ministry of Commerce.