The Sun.
London, England, 1848-05-17 00:00:00

:;1,4 trimina .7itit

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 1848.

Monday, May the 15th, has proved a day of dis-
grace and of grandeur to the Revolution. he
or
the
came from the Clubbists, the Communists
Socialists, the Terrorists, the ultra-Democrats,
by whatever name you may designate the lawless
conspirators against the Republic. The grandeur:-
natoea from the vast majority of the Parisians, fromr
the Garde National, and from the Garde Nationale
Mobile. Under the pretext of evincing a practical
sympathy with the Poles and the Italians, a formid-
o.ble procession of the more turbulent dregs of a con-
t,titutionally turbulent populace marched upon the
National Assembly during the forenoon of the day
before yesterday. They escalladed the walls ; they
burst through the entrances ; they inundated
the ball of the Palace with their numbers—
occupying the- benches, sliding down the pillars
from the galleries, crowding round the tribune, strik-
ing the representatives of the people, driving the
President from the chair, and the six Secretaries
from the table, waving swords in the air, planting
the red banner over the principal bureau, crowning
its pike-staff with the. Phrygian cap, and filling the
whole palace with the uproar of a tumultuous and
triumphant rabble. Well may the Presse exclaim,
she sanctuary of the nation is violated! Le sanc-
tdilire de /a nation est enfin violl." Well may the
Journal des Debuts ejaculate " 0 Liberty ! veil thy
head!
•C unhappy country ! hide thy tears and thy
desolation I 0 liberte voile la the ' 0 pauvre patrie
cache ten lame, et to desolation!" Within a fort-
night after the convocation of the National As-
eembly, in the heart of a capital which has
repeatedly testified its devotion to
Government and the representatives
the
in e
the cause of the
,bosoumoesf
protective army, 200,000 strong, the 900 Deputies
halve
ve been insulted, bearded, struck, dispersedp by a
r4bble minority. It is the latest and the most extra-
ordinary incident in this age of
wonders; it .an
incident unparalleled even in the marvellous annals of
Paris ; and it is a more stupendous violation of the
ass:,' ity of the Legislature than has ever beforeas
beenbeen
witnessed, because the National Assembly has
ilra,,vn literally from the bowels of the nation, it is
tb, tale symbol of French sovereignty being the
PLO-
duet of the principle of universal suffrage. In violating
thei sanctuary of the Republic, the Clubbists have
therefore placed themselves utterly and for ever hors
de la loi ; they must be subjected to a terrible and
rigorous expiation—otherwise the shame of what has
recently occurred in the courtyard of the National
Assembly cannot be obliterated.
Disgraceful, bowel., as the proceedings of the

, afternoon of the day before yesterday were, their
odium was surpassed by the grandeur of the demon-
stration which followed towards evening—a demon-
stration in favour of order, of peace, and of allegiance
to the national representation. If General COUR-
TAIS has merited execration and death by abusing his
office as Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard,
and has proved himself to be a monstrous traitor to
his country by depriving the Assembly of their con-
stituted guardians, and by himself participating in
the treasonous acts of the rebels—Colonel CLEMENT
THOMAS, who has since been appointed as his suc-
cessor by the acclamation of the Deputies, has re-
deemed the honourable reputation of his rank by his
many testimonies of devotion. If, again, Louis
BLANC had the audacity to lord it as the head dema-
gogue of the insurgents, allowing himself to be car-
ried in triumph round the hall, and to utter the pane-
gyric of anarchy from the tribune of the National
Parliament—the President BUCHEZ evinced through-
out the uproar the calmness of security, and the con-
stancy of devotion. If Hunsa had the unconscion-
able insolence to arrogate to himself the power of
the whole country by announcing that the National
Assembly was dissolved—MaaaasT has since evinced
his unalterable adhesion to the Moderates by deny-
ing that announcement in a counter-proclamation.
Tne sudden " turning of the tables " on Mon lay
evening was one among the principal miracles
of democracy. Immediately that the treason
of COUNTAIS was perceived, the rappel was
beaten throughout the capital, by order of the
Executive Commission, and forth with Paris rose
at the summons en masse. Thousands and tens of
thousands of the National Guard and the Garde
Mobile, pressed forward from every direction, con-
centrated upon the palace, drove the rabble of Com-
munists from the hall in which they had enjoyed the
intoxication of a momentary victory, and surrounded
the precincts of the structure with an impregnable
barrier, the living barrier of the praetorian guard of
the Republic. Following out as far as possible the
sequence of events on the memorable 24th of February,
many of the Ultras had previously adjourned to
the Hotel de -Ville, where they had proclaimed a
Provisional Government, consisting of the most dan-
gerous characters in the metropolis. Thither in
consequence a detachment of the National Guard
maraudersit toisoka incotonsocluastitoodny
tosevreerflael
proceeded, and, after dispersing the remnant of the
tahte ring-
leaders.nearly
fifty reflect
y of these madmen—Including ALBERT, BARDES,
HUBER, RASPAIL, COURTAIs, and SOBRIEU—
are now safely confined in the dungeons of
Vincennes, and it is profoundly to be hoped that
their gigantic crimes will be speedily and adequately
expiated. No animosity whatever could have been
insinuated into the thoughts of the national repre-
sentatives by the miserable poltroonery of M. LOUIS
BLANC, who, pale and agitated, with his clothes torn
1 to ribbons and discoloured with dust, protested his
innocence of all share in the conspiracy, when the
conspirators wer3 effectually routed by the interposi-
tion of the brave-hearted Parisians.
In the midst of all these tumultuous occurrences
one man maintained his popularity undiminished—it
was then indeed that his popularity reached its peri-
helium. That man was M. DE LAMARTINE. When
the rabble had been expelled from the palace of the
National Assembly by the Civic Guard, LAMARTINE
re-entered the hall, and, according to the account of
an eye-witness, he was surrounded in an instant,
raised in the arms of the throng, and carried to the
tribune amidst acclamations, while some even of
the soldiery kissed his hands with an effusion
of admiration. Subsequently, when he traversed the
streets of Paris on horseback he received a spon-
taneous ovation from the populace. Here is a frag-
ment from the description of his passage through the
streets on horseback, as written in the French
journals :—M. DE LAMARTINE, his arms extended,
and giving his hand to a thousand hands, saluted the
people with tears brimming in his eyes, and expressed
his gratitude to this multitude of devoted citizens.—
M. DE LAMAILTINE, les bras tends-es et donnant la main
a des milliers de mains, saluait, les larnies aux yeux, et
addrecsait des rernercie' ments a cede multitude de citayens
declines." Let not this most illustrious of the
Moderates misapprehend, however, the meaning of
this enthusiasm ; let him feel that he is loved by the
people because he is looked upon by them as the in-
carnation of Moderate Republicanism, and that the
glory of his genius, the splendour of his oratory, the
probity of his character, and the prestige of his
virtuous life, will be incapable of perpetuating that
enthusiasm, and of preserving that popularity, unless
he crushes the ultra faction with a hand of iron, and
repudiates at once and for ever the bare idea of
a compromise.

The first of the State prosecutions, that on Mr.
WILLIAM SMITH O'BRIEN, was tried on Monday,
and at half-past six o'clock the jury retired to con-
sider their verdict. The conclusion at which they
may have arrived (if any) is not yet known in this
country, but it is supposed, from statements made in
open court by members ol the jury previously to
their being locked up for the night, that there was
no prospect whatever of their agreeing either in the
conviction or acquittal of the traverser. In the pre-
sent instance there are no complicated or uncertain
facts to be decided ; there is no contradictory evidence
to be duly weighed and balanced. The testimony
was conclusive in respect to the delivery by the de-
fendant of the language imputed to him; indeed, the
proof was merely formal, for the talented and able
counsel who conducted the defence at once admitted the

accuracy of the report, and candidly stated " that his
instructions were neither to retract or disavow that
prosecuted speech." Under these circumstances,
every single person in the community is as compe-
tent as if he were actually upon the jury to pro-

nounce a correct decision on the character and ten-
dency of the sentiments put forward upon the occa-
sion in question—to determine whether they come
within the scope of fair and legitimate discussion, or
whether they were calculated to excite sedition and
rebellion, to induce disaffection, and perhaps to plunge
the country into all the horrors of civil conflict
and internecine war. Can there be any question as
to what were the intentions of the defendant ?
What was the effect he desired to produce, not only
on his auditory, but on the entire population of the
country, when his speech was wafted on the wings of
the press through every locality—or rather, we
should say, what was such language calcu-
lated to produce upon the too excitable tempe-
rament of Irishmen ? Was it to induce the
people to endeavour to obtain a change in the laws of
theb country by legal and constitutional means only,
by reason and argument, by the election of represen-
tatives pledged to advocate particular doctrines, and
touse
byevey rLegislature;legitimate
sto
it procure
stimulatet heir
adoption the
and influence the minds of the people to attain their
object by physical force, by an armed resistance to
the authorities, or by illegal and insurrectionary
movements? This would appear to us to have been
the only question in the case on which the jury were
to pronounce ; and we can hardly conceive how any
unprejudiced or dispassionate person could hesitate
as to the answer to be given to the interrogatory.
If there should be any failure of justice her Ma-
jesty's
Government or the law-officers of the Crown
will not be responsible therefor ; they may fearlessly
appeal to every reasonable man on either side of St.
George's Channel for his " verdict" on the admitted
be censured because some
facts; and they cannot
few individuals have permitted their political predi-
lections to render them oblivious of the solemn obli-
gation they incurred, of the oath they had sworn, to
pronounce a true verdict according to the evidence.
Since the foregoing observations were written we
have learned that the jury in Mr. O'BarEN s case
were discharged, without returning any verdict, at the
sitting of the Court yesterday morning, and that a
similar result was also probable in Mr. MUG HER s
case, which was then proceeded with, as two gentle-
men were stated to have dissented from the opinion
of their fellows. IVe may now presume that, for the
present at least, those gentlemen have escaped the
consequences of their deliberate violation of the lay;
of the land. We shall see whether their associate,
Mr. MITCHEL, will be equally fortunate in obtaining
some sympathising confederates upon his jury. 'We
trust, at all events, that the parties may be warned by
their very narrow escape—that they may recollect that
a new and more stringent law is now in force, and that
if they transgress its salutary provisions a temporary
incarceration will not be the only result, but that
they may be banished from their friends, their

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