The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-21 00:00:00

Fli MICH FREEDOM.

(From the Times' Faris Correspondent.)

PARIS, MONDAY.

In half an hour after the English papers of
Thursday reached Paris the " black man" set out
on his morning round. "Who," you may ask,
"is the black man,' and what sort of a circuit
is his ?" The " black man" is the name popularly I
given to the functionary whose duty it is to go
round and give an unofficial warning to the news-
papers in the name of the "Director of the Press."
He is, in fact, for M. de Laguerroniere what Trois
Echelles was for Tristan l'Hermite ; he admo-
nishes journals on the error of their ways, and,
like his prototype, prepares, if necessary, the
marauders for suspension. He is dressed in
black—hence his name; wears an irreproachable
neckcloth ; is, as becomes an official, solemn in
manner and edifying in speech. Never was his
countenance more serious and his accents more
impressive than on Friday morning. With an air
and a tone of voice awfully imposing, he informed
the journals of the most enlightened capital of
Europe that, in the absence of M. de Persigny
(M. de Persigny was at that moment engaged in
constitutional exercise, and probably meditating
fresh circulars on the freedom of discussion), M.
de Laguerroniere '• invited" them not to give the
least hint to their readers that there was held
anywhere in London a feast called the Literary
Fund Dinner, at which the Duke d'Aumale pre-
sided, and after dinner made a speech in English
on English literature, and proposed toasts. As it
was evidently the opinion of M. de Laguerroniere
that the empire would be endangered if so as-
tounding an occurrence were made known, the
journals obeyed. And what alternative had
they but to obey ? One can fancy how
annoyed the Emperor must feel at this meddling
and unnecessary zeal of his functionaries. Assur-
edly the Imperial Government is the strongest and
most popular Government on the face of the earth.
Senators, Deputies, and Miniatclo, a qui mieux
mieux, proclaim the fact every day; and in a bro-
chure which, it is said, he is now engaged on, by
order, M. de Laguerroniere, as a .Repuldicain Con-
verti, proves it beyond all question. Such being
the case, it is impossible to imagine what possible
evil would result from allowing the French press
to inform its readers, if it were only among the
faits divers, that the Literary Fund had just held
its anniversary dinner, or that an exiled Prince—
who, by the way, appears to have employed his
exile in greatly improving his intellectual faculties
—spoke, as the temporary president of a literary
society, and with much graceful urbanity, as with
admirable knowledge of his subject, of Shakespeare
and Corneille, of Walter Scott and of Georges
Sand, as well as of the respective merits of English
and French literature, of the English and French
press, and of the English and French " Tribune."
Yet to permit such an article of news was, accord-
ing to M. Laguerroniere, a very serious matter
indeed. Of course, with the consummate tact,
with the acute perception of political necessity,
which so eminently distinguish the Parisian press,
it understood its duty, and was silent. It will
continue to be silent until M. de Persigny returns
from his constitutional exercise; and if M. de Per-
signy, in high spirits, and in his liberal vein, is of ,
opinion that, after all, there is no harm in allowing
the press to say that the Literary Fund Dinner
took place on -Wednesday, and that a Frenchman
presided, you may depend upon it the press will
speak. But if a journal were so ill-advised as to
say a word on the subject after the " invitation " of
M. de Laguerroniere, what would happen ? I
really don't know ; but, to give you a notion of
what perhaps might happen, permit me to mention
a little incident which took place a few days back,
and seems to be a case in point.

The Prefect of a certain department (the said
Prefect from an ultra-Democrat having become a
fanatical Absolutist) convoked the mayors of a
Canton, in its jurisdiction, to inform them, de maitre
a valet, that they were, in the forthcoming munici-
pal elections, to support M. —, who was, he said,
" the candidate of the Emperor." Mayor No. 1
answered " Yes ;" mayor N 0.2, " Yes ;" mayor No
3, " Yes,"—all in fact but the last, who had the au-
dacity to say "No !" The Prefect was struck dumb
with astonishment and indignation. When he
recovered the use of his speech he said:—" Sir,
you forget that you are dependent on the Go-
vernment."

" If I have been dependent on the Government,"
replied the mayor, " I depend no longer on it ; here
is my scarf."

" The matter shall not end here," rejoined the
Prefect, shocked at so mach ingratitude. " Your
father-in-law is a juge de paix—he shall not be long
so, and pays for both of you."

"Do as you please, but I am not a man to put up
with such words, and if such is the position you
want to put mayors in, for my part I give it up."
At these words the whole of the mayors who had
said " Yes " applauded their colleague, cried
" Bravo !" and declared to the bewildered Prefect
that his candidate might go—to Jericho.
Now, there is reason to suspect that if but one of
the journals to which M. de Laguerronicre sent his
warning ventured to pronounce the fatal "No," in-
stead of the obsequious " Yes," all the others would
have done the same. The public would have ap-
plauded ; the Government would have made no
objection; and the law on the press of 1852, bad
enough as it is, would have been in a worse condi-
tion than if it had been discussed for eight consecu-
tive days in the Senate and the Legislative Corps.
I am sorry to be obliged to add that M. de Per-
signy's constitutional walk has not been so advan-
tageous as people hoped. It is more than probable
that he really concocted a fresh circular in his
liberal manner ; but the Literary Fund dinner and
the Literary speech of the Duke d'Aumale seem to
have produced the same effect on his ideas that the
thunderstorm did on Caleb Balderstone's cookery
in Ravenswood Castle—turned them sour, other-
wise it is difficult to account for the following
" Circular to the Prefects," which appeared in yes-
terday's Moniteur

" PARIS, May 13.
" Sir,—The legal proceedings against a recent
pamphlet have raised a question to which I think
it right to direct your attention. We ask ourselves
if persons banished or exiled from the territory, and,
consequently placed outside the common right, and
by their very position beyond all judicial action,
sheltering themselves behind a printer or a book-
seller.

pamphlet i
"In the
e,:ipie.stion there was so
marked an attack against our
amstitutions, so mani-
fest an excitement to hatred
rndcontempt of the
Government, that the praiseworthy
publication
zeal of the ma-
gistracy to prosecute the seditious
, and, once
was
required by the very nature of things .
seized, justice should follow its course
" But you know, sir, the inconvenience of
suchprosecutions. On the one hand the writer,
publication of many thousands of copies, may haYva
every facility in disseminating insult and calumo:
on persons and things, while, on the other, he is
protected, he and his, by the legal seizure, against
all reply and all recrimination ; and it is thus that
an representative of the policy of 1840 has been
able
to address with impunity to the conqueror of
Solferino, this question, ' What have you done with
France l,
•' Be this as it may, it is to be presumed that
pretensions so clearly
forward ; that the exam le thus given will be fol-
lowed, and that the 0
ss is
egmaiennt which has rescued
France from an aby
persona to be exposed
to the insults of those very
ho let her fall
moment. of the same
That, into, it. lam informed that writings
kir.d are preparing at this m
more
careful, the instigators or the authors of
these' little
.
manoeuvres flatter themselves with escapinglT the
person of the printers the rigours of justice
tar tifices of composition and publication, ho in
the
us to penetrate with impunity, through. pin
th
h g
e
fuisures f . 0 the law, to the very heart of our institu-
tions.

" But the Government cannot tolerate the
r enewal of such scandals. In so far as I am
concerned, the more I force myself to remain faith-
ful to the liberal ideas of the 24th of November,
by promoting the freedom of discussion, the more
I am bound to defend the State itself against the
outbreaks of its enemies. I invite you, then, to
watch carefully every attempt at publishing
writings in the name of persona banished or exiled
from the territory. Whatever be the nature of
tlhese publications, under whatever form they are
produced—books, newspapers, pamphlets—you are
to proceed at once to An Administrative seizure of

them, refer to me immediately, and await my
instructions.—Receive, &c.,
"F. DE PERSIGNY, Minister of the Interior."

THE HUNGARIAN CHAMBER OF

DEPUTIES.

A letter from Vienna, dated May 17, says :—M-
Deak has made known to the Austrian Government
the opinions entertained by the Moderate party in
Hungary, and the speech which Count Ladislaus
Teleki purposed makiag gives it an equally clear
insight into the views of the more advanced
Liberals. In substance Teleki's speech* is as
follows
" The yoke imposed by Austria on Hungary was
so exceedingly heavy that in 1848 the latter at-
tempted to shake it off. Austria besought Russia
to aid her, and the assistance required was given
by the late Emperor of Russia. After the capitu-
lation of Georgey at Vilagos many Hungarian
patriots were put to death, and many more either
banished or cast into prison. The constitution was
abrogated, and the diploma published on the 20th
of October, 1860, does not restore to Hungary many
of her most important rights. The natural conse-
quence of 13 years' misgovernment was, that
Austria had not a single friend or ally when the
war broke out in Italy. Her large and expen-
sive army was defeated, and she lost one of her
richest provinces. After the war her position
was truly desperate; her treasury was empty,
she had a deficit of 120,000,000 florins, no
credit abroad; her stocks had fallen very low,
the paper currency was fearfully deteriorated,
and her Government was unpopular in all
parts of the empire. Austria made the disco-
very that she could not exist without money,
credit, or friends, so she resolved to make some
concessions to public opinion. The diploma of the
20th of October and the Fundamental Laws of the
26th of February were promulgated, and the Hun-
garian Diet is told that it must send deputies to
the Reichsrath. Must Hungary obey the behests
of the Austrian Government ? She its in a much
more advantageous position now than she was in
1848. In that year Hungary fought in the name
of and for a privileged class,' but at presevt all the
inhabitants of the kingdom are equal in tlio -To
tho low, Th. Qtato ur affairs in Austria and Hun-
gary is also much better known to the foreign world
than it was a few years ago. ' Hungary is neces-
sary to the well-being of Europe because she is a
bulwark against Panslavism. She is necessary to
the well-being of several European States, because
she prevents Austria entering into the German
Confederation with the whole of her territories.
The balance of power would be disturbed in Europe
if Germany had 70,000,000 instead of 40,000,000 of
inhabitants.'f) The friends of liberty in Germany
ought to sympathise with the Hungarians,' as the
freedom and independence of Hungary are their
best guarantees.' During the reigns of Ferdinand
11. and Ferdinand 111. (during the 30 years' war)
Hungarian troops were employed against the Ger-
mans, but, strange to say, the traditional fidelity
of Hungary to Austria is nowhere so much extolled
as it is in Germany. If there is to be a reconcilia-
tion between Austria and Hungary it must be on
the following bases:—The complete restoration of
the lawful constitutional independence of Hungary,
and the unconditional recognition of the validity of
the laws of 1848. The foreign policy of Austria
must also undergo a change, and be brought into
accordance with ours. Monopolies and protecting
duties must be done away with, and a system of free
trade introduced in their stead. We must be' de-
mocratic' in the best sense of the word. All classes
and religious confessions must have equal rights,
and all the nationalities must be allowed to enjoy
their prescriptive privileges. The Hebrews in
Hungary must be fully emancipated, and the
non-Magyar inhabitants of the kingdom placed on
a perfectly equal footing with ourselves.'
Some passages in Count Teleki's speech are not
strictly logical, and it strikes me that the unfortu-
nate man found it difficult to give expression to his
ideas. M. Koloman Tisza, who is likely to suc-
ceed Count Teleki as the leader of the Hungarian
Ultras, yesterday replied at length to M. Deak.
He objected to an Address, and moved that Deak's
propositions should be amended and forwarded to
the Emperor Francis Joseph in the form of a " reso-
lution." (The motion was but coolly received.) M.
L. Szalay, a renowned historian, and several other
men of note, spoke in favour of the Address, but
they all viewed the Hungarian question from the
same point of view as
,M. Deak. The semi-official
Donau Zeitung and the liortschritt—which is in
direct connexion with the Minister Count Szechen
ottcrempt to diepee ro ovuaa Ut 1./ooWsa oazoovottomoy daub
there are few professional politicians in this city
who do not firmly believe that the Hungarian states-
man has spoken the truth, and nothing but the truth.
Originally there was only a personal union between
Austria and Hungary, but the Imperial Govern-
ment continually encroached on the rights and pri-
vileges of the Hungarians, and at last managed to
establish the semblance of a real one. For reasons
of state it is extremely desirable that Austrik and
Hungary should be intimately connected, but I
deny that the Austrian Cabinet has a "right" to
attempt to reduce Hungary to the level of a common
Austrian province. After M. Deak had delivered
his speech, on Monday last, the members of the
Chamber rose, and many of them left their places in
order to congratulate him. Several of his political
opponents shook hands with him, and the first to
do so was M. von Nyari, the Radical deputy-lieu-
tenant of the county of Pesth. After Deak had re-
turned to the hotel in which he lives the Cardinal
Primate of Hungary paid him a visit. In general
his Eminence make use of a very unpretending
equipage, but when he went to call on
Hungary's best patriot he was in a carriage
with six horses, and had his primatial hussars
as outriders. The Austrians consider Deak's
speech an Hungarian ultimatum, and there is no
reason to doubt that it is so. The seat which Teleki
occupied in the Chamber of Deputies is covered
with black cloth, and no one will be allowed to
make use of it during the present session. There
was a disturbance at Szegedin on the 13th instant,
which was caused by an officer who took a drunken
fellow into custody for shouting "Long live Kos-
suth, long live Garibaldi !" The officer wanted to
deliver the man into the hands of the military
authorities, but the people insisted on his being
taken to the Hungarian police-office. A company
of Jagers chanced to be passing while the dispute
was going on, and they speedily put an end to it
by advancing into the midst of the crowd with
bayonets levelled. One man was slightly wounded,
and the intoxicated brawler was eventually lodged
in the military prison. The four hussars whom
the bargemen attempted to liberate at Raab de-
serted because they believed Kossuth and Garibaldi
were already in Hungary.
On the 15th inst. Dr. Giskra and his friends in
the Austrian Chamber of Deputies moved/. " That
the house do resolve to make the following altera-
tion in paragraphs 9, 12, and 13 of the fundamental
laws for the representation of the empire. In para-
graph 9 to insert the following words :--‘ The
Reichsrath to be convoked by the Emperor once a
year, and in case it should be dissolved to form a
new one within three months.' In paragraph 12,
All bills to be brought before the Reichsrath as
Government propositions. The Reichsrath to have
the right to make propositions to the Government.'
To add the following words to paragraph 13:--
` The laws to be carried out by the Emperor
means of responsible Ministers and their employes.
Every order to carry out a law to be signed by a
reap
sittins,ite
Minister. When the Reichsrath is not
g
Cabinet to be allowed to take provi-
sional measures,
and their
fo
Reichsrath
t ot
the
ee
reasons bound t owhy make s
ukenho wnine tao
the next Reicla.
sures were taken
Etafor
rt ehseui
rl t s.
acts Tbhye
means Ministers
f
to be made responsible
a special law."' Bishop Litwinowicz (Galicia)
moved "That each member of the Chamber
of Deputies shall receive 1011, per diem, while the
Reichsrath is assembled, and la, per mile for his
journey from his home to Vienna, and vice verBa."
The Ruthene peasant Zachorojko, who Was returned
to the Galician Diet by the inhabitants of Beak, has
had 48 blows inflicted on him by his constituents
for not attending the Reichsrath and obtaining the
grant of certain woods and commons to which they
lay claim. The provincial legislator told his fellow-
peasants that he had not been elected by the Pro-
vincial Diet, and consequently had no right to sit
in th©
Reieharath but it would appear that his ex-
planations were co' usidered unsatisfactory,

for he

* Count Telek-ps speech,
or two before his d
q.eath, has now appeared in the _Magyar
which was sent to press a day
Orsza
t As Austria keeps Italian, Galician, and Hungarian
troops in the Federal fortresses, do not' her non-German
provinces de facto belong to the German Confederation ?
pohNo motion can be made in the house unless it is cup-
ed by 20 members.

was forced to lie down with his face to the ground,
and while in that position a hazel stick was 48
times vigoronsly applied to the lower part of his back.
On the 16th instant the Croatian Diet protested
against the publivation of the Imperial patent of
the 26th February in the kingdoms of Croatia and
Slavonia.