The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-01-30
From the London Times, Jan. 10.
The Ministerial Crisis in France--Th
Position Of the President

The irregular but inevitable intervention of
military power, by means not provided for in the
terms of the constitutional compact is the inner
ent disease Of the republican form Of government
The duties and exploits Of war abroad and at
home, or the defence of society against the strug-
Cling elements OF revolution, invest the successful
military cheftain 90 the day with paramount
command His political influence grows with
his military authority, and as he stands in re-
lation Of positive obedience to the sovereign, but
wields, in fact, n share Of sovereignty, it rests in
small degree with his own forbearance or am
biuon to preserve or to crush the institutions which
set limits to his power. In republican Rome, the
wise jealousy Of the senate prohibited a general
in command of troops from approaching, even il,
his own person, within an extended radius Of the
city; and though the conflicting powers and insti-
tutions Of the Roman people condemned them to
life Of incessant perturbation and muturl vio-
ience, their liberties were preserved until the sue
cessfu generals Of the commonwealth occupied
and overshadowed the seat of power. Such re-
Elections might pass for the nerest truisms Of his
tory, If they were not repeated under our own
eyes with that degree of novelty and excitement
which appertains to contemporary persons and
events. The French nation seems destined to
leaye no experiment unrepeated, and to demon
strute at It's own cost every proposition which had
obtained even in antiquity the stamp Of expert
enee and the rssent Of mankind.
General ChAngarnier fills in France this great
military position. inconsistent alike with the DOS
tive constitutional rights both Of the President
and Of the assembly. He belongs neither to the
one nor to the other; but he is the impersonation
of independent military force, following line OF
policy which is not necessarily that Of the execu-
tive or Of the legislative authorities. What that
line Of policy is, one has pretended to divine 49,
Ii General Changarnier has no other quality of
General Monk, he shares at least his impenetrable
secrecy II can only be affirmed that it does not
suit the purpose of the commandment of Paris to
place himself unreservedly at the disposal of eth
er party; and that he neither intends to promote
the personal ambition Of the Bonapartes, nor to
pledge himself to perpetunte the incoherent pre-
negatives OF popular assembly. He stands,
therefore, obnoxious to the hostility of the former
and the distrust Of the latter; but, to borrow a
metaphor from the chess board, he has selected
snd prepared his position with 40 much address
chat he il covered by other pieces on the board
and caA~ot be swept off it without leaving tn,
President Ia check by his opponents.
Louis NspotAeu has. therefore, taken advan
tsgs of this crisis. and perhaps augmented its orr
ginai importance. for tina purpose Of removing, a
all hazards. ths formidable antagonist. The ex
traordinary military powers committed TO Gener
al Changnrnier, at the time when Paris was hour
ly threatened by an insurrsction, haye no Longer
any object. Such powers are nanifestly incon
"stent with the ordinary ex ecutivs duties Of the
government, and they are more 20 than ever. since
they have been openly thrown into the balance Of
political "ppositon. On the srictest constitution
al principles. military authority ought to cease
from the moment when j, gives Just umbrage to a
regular branch Of the civil power. we ent,rc,v
concur, therefore. in the opinion that Louis Ma
poieon could no longer tolerate military authori
~ which refused to acknowledge ITSELF nmennbIe
To his government, and which evidently ssn;red
10 extend it's patronage the State, for objects
which have not been clearly dsclosed, bu, which
aasy I've suspected. Possibly the presidsnt had
still stronger motives for his decision than those
which are known to the public; bu, at any rate,
the fact tina, the capital Of France and consequent.
iy his own person and the whole body of the ma.
trona assembly, were physically in the power Of
a general on whose obedience and Difference he
cosId only rely up to certain point, seems to us
10 constitute sufficient ground for the determine.
fgan at all hazards to end such state Of things
While n lasts, there is, in fact, no security FOR
either Of the rival powers Of the republic, and if
pauerg were driven TO extremity, it is eviden,