The New York herald., 1851-11-22

tsrest which he coneeives 10 be connected with it.
30 that, on the one hand, he Is opposed BY the
great nsorty Of the party Of order, who refuse to
surrender wnet they regard as the barrier Of the
commonwealth, emily to Increase the chances of re-
election for candidate who is still legally ineg
BILE; and, on the other hand he is as yet unsupported
by the democratic party. which regards this pro-
posal as no genuine concession to its own prin-
cipes, but as an attempt to prolong the existence
OF power altogether hostile to the revolutionary
cause, without having any solid claims to perpe-
tuity. The announcement of this change IN the
Presidents policy, accompanied ~ it was by the
abrupt dismissal OF competent and respectable
administration, produced, we believe, less effect
than he anticipated in his favor among the
republican party, and far more injurious effect
than he had anticipated among their opponents
the party Of order, or, to speak more plainly, of
monarchy. In the provinces and In the Assem-
bly, this effect has been deep and disastrous 1t has
powerfully shaken the confidence Of the country;
and however skilfully the language of the message
may be adapted to allsy this apprehension and d.
minish this unfa vorable impression, it cannot alter
the facts Of the case. The ministry has fallen.
1t is succeeded by men utterly wanting in public
confidence, for they unknown in the capacity of
statesmen, and are probably no less deficient in
the ability required 10 conduct the French nation
through passage and crisis Of unequaled diff
Guilty. The executive power is thus reduced to the
person of Louis Napoleon, surrounded by danger
GUS and unpopular knot of advisers while his
ostensibe ministers are notoriously inadequate to
tne performance OF buCD TASK as tneY nave under
taken and in this predicament the President enters
upon q session which must be decisive as to his
own future career and may involve the dearest in
terests Of the nation.
In spite Of the strong language in which the mes.
sage speaks OF the existence OF vast revolutionary
conspiracy preparing all its resources for general
outbreak in 1882 and In spite Of the assurances
given by the President Of his determination to re-
sist ard attack those elements of dstur bance and
evil, 1t was at once clear, from the aspect and
duct of parties at this first meeting Of the Assem-
bly,, that he repeal of the electoral law and the
restoration Of unlimited universal suffrage overpow-
ers every other consderati The government
found no support but from the benches of the ex-
treme left, and the first vote Of the house on the
question Of taking the ministe rial measure into i'm
mediate consideration was decidedly adverse to the
executive psTer. M. Berryer's proposition for
committee the state of the nation was evidently
received with favor by the majority, though op-
posed be nj Giraud on behalf Of the government;
but the further consideration of this measure was
deferred till the following day.
We shall have occasion to re vert more fully to
the arguments employed by Louis Napoleon in ia.
vor of return to unli mited suffrage when that
question is debated in the Assembly; but We re.
ways expected that it would be his duty to propose
a repeal of the law which he himself sanctioned.
The Importance OF such law regulating the suf-
frage, lies altogether in les application TO the great
electoral acts of the naton namely, the choice of
President and the choice of an Assembly. Ex-
cept to supply few casual vacan cies, which can, of
course, produce no important effect on the balance
Of parties the law has necessarily been imperative,
and will remain until the period Of ths general
election returns Tina, period comedies with the
Presidents sGpii alton Of Office, 80 that when Louis
Napoleon declares that he always intended to de-
nand the abrogation OF this law, IL amounts to a
declaration that he never intended 1t to be put in
force at ALL and that it was mere concession to the
panic Of last spring, as he describes it, ga poll
tical act, not electoral law" If such we're his
private reflections, they certainly not shared
by the large majority which voted for the bill, or
by the ministers who have since carried on his
government, amongst whom the reporter of the bill
occupied a prominent place.
Whatever may be the advantages anticipated
from the repeal Of such q measure, and although
some inconvenience and inconsistencies might per-
haps thus be obviated, two difficulties remain,
which are, in fact, created and aggravated to the
highest degree by the present attitude of the exc
cutive government The first is, that the introduc-
ton Of such proposal, by such ministry, and for
such purposes, renders the dissension between the
President and the majority Of the Assembly, inf
nitely violent and dec than il has been yet;
the second is, that while Louis Napoleon proposes
to restore The unlimited suffrage, he by no means
testes any increase of Difference for the Assembly
which that suffrage has called, and will agar cali,
into existence On the contrary, be has found
means to separate himself from both its parties,
and, according to the principle on which be is act
ing, the Assembly 10 to be ar med with all the autho
rity of universa suffrage, but is to exercise no
positive control the acts of the executive pow
er. The Assembly has, indeec, on several former
occasions placed itself altogether in the wrong, by
ridiculous spprehensions, and by shameful coal-
tions against the ministerial sdhsrents Of the Pre-
sidert But the more serious the aspect of affairs
has grown, and the more nearly the decisive mo
d ent approaches that will terminate the existencs
Of both the powers Of State, the more temperate
nod firm its conduct has seemed to become We |
sincerely hope that at this trying moment it will
persevete In the same moderate course; for at the
irst act Dictated by passion or by violence, its
,ause is lost. The government Of a grea. nation |
,arr OF be carried on by perpetual contest. Some
conditions Of agreement must yet be found, or both
he parties in this conflict will only achieve their
mutual destruction fer no attempt to place the /
constitution ard the government Of France on q
,ure foundation can be successful or lasting, which
ioes not combine the political strength and inteli
sence Of the nation, with the man designated either
~ the sufrages Of the people, or by the hereditary
tights OF the monarchy. The latter contingency
8 still 20 improbable, or 80 remote, that we have
pet to learn that any other mbnaton presents at
he present time, as good chance for the ante
Of order, the reelection Of the President
provided it be ccomplished by legal means, and
lrovided he retain regain the confde1ce Of some
lass Of statesmen in the country.