Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1852-01-03
NATIONAL lNTELLIGENCER.
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
FROM OUR Paris CORRESPONDENT.

have no right to intsIncddle IN the politics Of the
country and do not attempt IN the slightest degree
to influence shem 1t is the duty of all foreigners
here to quit the country be still and obey. This
was my rule, always acted upon beforeinterneddlng
was SO dangerous as it is at present. | am not at
all inclined to volate it that its violatonw would
render me obnoxious to the very summary and un-
pleasant processes of martial law But if I,were a
FrencInnan, andf fad as such, some right to impress
impulse and direction upon the politics Of the
try, Ishould in spite Of all that is past, fand this
iR spite of allsthat is past comprises an immense
amount Of mcstaegtimate repugnance,) in spite Of
broken promises abused trusts, and violated oaths
in spite Of my love for and faith in, welIregulated
republican liberty, Of my horror of tyranny, of my
strong sdetestAton of the man who scruples at no
means to reach the eads of his criminal personal
ambition; in spite Of all this, would, were a
Frenchman, silently acquesce in accomplished Jacts
Perhaps should actively support the Government
of NJ Bonaparte. 'sEh, mon DieuP' said French
man to me, no later than yesterday, /" Certes, la
France le aroit de SC disposer deliemsnae: mas,
gaeooulezlDeps? Platotcecique pirc !" And 'worse"
France viii have-such is the despotc state of
parties here-unless she clings to Napoleon H NJ.
Bonaparte is Che was not, but he has wilfully made
himself SO, for the sole ends of his selfish ambtion)
the necessary man of the moment He has brought
France to the pont--and here is his crime-where
she has but one alternative She must choose the
Empire or the Red Republic Nothing else is pos
sible; one Of the two is inevitable Well, the
question having been forced into these narrow and
plain limits, proposed in these positive terms, which
it is impossible to shark, | say, American and Re-
publican though | am, give me despotlsm, the des-
potism of Russia, rather than the Red Republic of
France Order, order--with liberty, if it be pos
sible-bnt order. 1t is the prime condition Of So
ciety. Society may exist, if it cannot progress,
without liberty; but society cannot exist man HIM
self can hardly be, without established order. The
Red Republic would am persuaded, speedily ex-
hibit itself in France in the form of hghtfu anar
chy, Involving all the social elements in dreary
chaos, to which le and order could only be impart-
ed by the potent voice of another despot like the
first Napoleon / hold it to be good philosophy
good philanthropy, and good practical common sense
to accept to invoke at once the inevitable des-
potism, without waiting to pass throughthe terrible
phases of the Red Republic, and in order to save
from passing through them.
The great danger of the moment is that the new
dictator will be assassnated Such an event fort
night ago might have occurred without jeoparding
the peace of Erance- 1t would, perhaps, have pow
erfuily facilitated pacific and satisfactory denoue-
nent of the desperately tangled skein of French po-
ltcs But since the events of the last week, things
have greatly changed. The death of Louis Napoleon
opinion assume the proportions of veritable public
disaster European calamity Yet M. Bonaparte,
with an admirable contempt of danger, continues to
show himself in public But it is most perilous
temerity. Qa u rreane gdrde d In! There is
doubtless at this moment in Paris many a Brutus
who is seeking and only awaiting his opportunity.
The column Of the place Vendome, like Pompey $
statue in the old Roman republic, may be bespatter
ed with the blood Of this modern would-be Caesar.
am expecting every day to hear that the President
has been shot at He rides out on horseback, or
in an open carriage, almost every day. The mind
recoils with horror from the contemplation of the
probable horrors that would follow the DEATH whether
violent or natural, Of him who, having deposed the
other great authorities of the State, would leave
France literally without Government, prey to the
widest anarchy We would see the parties-no one
having better right than another-all rushing to
seize the first upon the Government frightful
Zee would ensue the duration and the issues of which
no one can certainly foresee but which, may be conf
IDENTIFY predicted, would prepare some of the bloodi-
est, most painful disastrous, and shocking pages of
human history. It is sad to think that one man,
for the qualification of his selfish ambition, should
have wilfuy brought France to that point where her
civilization, her very existence, hang upon the brit
tie thread of his own life
Day before yesterday, at o'clock, says the Con-
sttutoasc, the President Of the Republic, accom-
panied by the Minister of War, and by his aidsde-
camp went to visit at the military hospital of the
Gros Gallon such of the soldiers wounded in the late
nsurrecton had been transported there for treat
ment. These brave soldiers in spite of their suf-
ferinrs, responded with the most lively acclamations
to the words of consolation addressed to them by the
President One Of them, who had been very Sc
riously wounded, said this morning to the almoner
sAll ask for is to see Napoleon before | die. :
And he only recovered his strength 10 bless the
President, who, with his own hand, bestowed upon
the sufferer the cross of the Legion Of Honor One
Of his comrades, whose arm had just been taken off,
said to the President, with lively enthusiasm |
have yet another at your service. All of them up
on receiving the cross of honor pressed it to their
lips, their eyes filled with tears. Nothing could
be more affecting than the fcrvent expression Of gra
titude of those brave fellows who felt that the kind
ness of Louis Napoleon was equal to their own devo-
ton. The emotion Of the spectators of these scenes
was Of the most lively character and the tears which
were remarked in the eyes Of the President cvinced
how deeply he felt Ten crosses were distributed
The wounded thirty-seven in number, received each
ono hundred francs twenty dollars
We have this morning official statements Of the
number Of He'd and wounded in the army Of Paris
in the various engagements with the insurgents on