The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-01 00:00:00

SOCIETY AND ITS SALVAGE.

(From The Leader, a new weekly paper.)
"To save society," that is the great profession of
public men in France. " Society ' is a something to
be saved ; and they are exemplifying the heroic act.
Society, if we are to understand them, is benefiting
by their exertions, though you would not suppose it.
They are engaged, most of them, except the extreme
popular party, in devising laws to prevent communi-
cation between the electors and any persons what•
ever in any capacity; to prevent the people from
meeting in clubs, lest the people, meeting itself,
should be tempted into some sort of conduct suicidal,
or conduct at all events inconvenient if not dangerous
to the said politicians. Laws also to prevent the people
from reading the newspapers they like, by imposing
such high caution.money that papers can only be
established by the rich, of course in the interest of
the rich, addressed to the rich, and inculcating the
doctrines of the rich. M. Moll.; puts this very
clearly ; the daily press, he says, is a tribune or
speaking-place like the National Assembly, set up
in every man's house ; and as the writers of the
press, to obtain their own profit, flatter men's
opinions and passions' by such constant action they
destroy the free will of men. That is to say,
" to save society," M. Molt must protect it against
the action of free discussion, and will only allow it
to have the mild diluted discussion prescribed by
himself and friends. M. Thiera would save society
by " putting down detestable publications against
society ;" and he thinks the recipe will succeed for-
sooth, because " the Laws of September saved the
Monarchy of July." M. Parieu, Minister of Pub.
lic Instruction, would prevent universal suffrage
from being led astray by anti-Social (that is Socialist)
doctrines.

These are specimens of the way in which the pub-
lic men of France are " saving society." They re-
mind you of those who, to save a drowning man; keep
down his body by hustling over it in their emulous
and exasperated humanity.
But what is this society to be saved? "Good so-
ciety" appears just now in no peculiar want of salva•
tion. Good society is rather flourishing at present
in Paris ; having its parties and its If •unions : the
distressed community cannot, therefore, be good
society.

It can hardly be society in the widest sense of the
word, because in that; sense the society with which
Frenchmen deal is another term for the whole or-
ganized nation of France in its domestic capacity ;
and that does not appear to be materially altered of
late, nor likely to be materially influenced by the vo-
lunteer efforts of political quacks intent on combina-
tions for getting themselves into office.
Here we have the clue to the enigma. A. society
that cannot go alone without these vexatious police
interventions at every turn, to keep it from commu-
nicating with itself, lest it should seduce itself into
courses destructive to itself, cannot be very well
worth saving. Indeed, it could not last a week.
Society existing by the vigilance of the policeman
would go out in a few days ; the policemen would be
sure to nod. The password of the day, then, is a
sort of thieves' cant ; and when the combined traders
of French politics talk of saving society, the thing
they mean is the society of beaureaucratic persons
and their connexions. It is to save society of this
nature that the French people is led to the ballot-box
by the policeman, is deprived of its newspaper, is
driven from its club, and is forced to stay at home
when prefects and generals choose to proclaim martial
law. The society to be saved by these expedients
must be a very bad society indeed. A truly chival-
rous enterprise would be one to save France from
that society.