Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1852-12-04


sedious guardians And in the point OF view of moral
responsibility, which is Of the great checks the
conscencs there Is not the slightest comparison between
o man and an assembly. In assemblies, the RESPONSE
by Of the body eaces that of the individuals and
collective responsibility is very nearly iusory,i it
to pass that that responsibility which sometimes
sutes the force and Independence of assemblies is also
the cause OF their In Princes the contrary
the responsibility is undivided and inevitable and presses
with all its weight on the side of duty. In fine, when
evil creeps into sovereign political body it continues
there as precedent increases tradition, and the
thing itself can only be kept up by keeping up the evil
On the contrary if evil gides to the throne it
alarm only by temporary and intermittent pers which
are, besides, extenuated by the institutions and the
notifications which are easily effected in the
of man than In that of assembly. The feeble Louis
XIII followed by the grand Louis XIV; and besides
Louis Kill is in the eyes Of posterty covered by his
Minister, Rchelieu.
The general considerations appear to to prove suf
cienty that the national sentiment which addresses it.
self to you, gentlemen sage medators between the
People and the Prince, is neither frivolous caprice
feeting nfatuaton Behind the fascination of great
name, and above the gratitude which is felt for the acts
Of noble and patriotic courage there grand thoughts
powerful interests and admirable intutive perception
Of the public wants France gentlemen desires have
the life OF great nation and not that precarous and
sickly existence which wastes away the social body.
During the last four years. whilst subjected to perous
experiments she has known how correct by her good
the evils Of deporable situation But it is neces-
sary that such situation should be brought close
Up to the present time she had been able to nd in the
midst of the tempests which assaed her. only transory
CLEANS OF safety on which future prosperity could
possibly be based At present she is about enter the
port to found by of the fortunate pilot whom she
greets with JOY the edfce Of her prosperity the solid
ground of monarchy.
Let us now look to the details Of the draft Of the
senatus-consultum.
Louis Napoleon will take the name of Napoleon III.
1t is that which reechoed in the acclamatons Of
the people it is the name which was inscribed the
trumphal arches and trophies We do not specially
lect 1t we merely accept it from natural and sponta
election 1t has besides that profound good
which is always to be met with in the wonderful instincts
Of the people 1t is homage to Napoleon L. whom the
people fOrges and it is pious remembrance for
his youthful son, who constitutionaly proclaimed
Emperor of the French and whose reign short was
has been eced by the obscure existence of the exile
1t solves for the future the question of succession and
signifies that the Empire viii be hereditary after Louis
Napoleon it has been for himself In ne it connects
the political phase to which owe safety with the
glorious which also the safety of past times.
And yet, by the side of the traditional element con-
temporary events preserve their proper value and their
peculiar Specification. III Louis Napoleon is called at
present to the work Of his uncle it is not merely
because he is the heir of the Emperor but because he
deserves to be it is account of his deyotedness
France and of that spontaneous and personal action
which has rescued the country from the horrors of
chy 1t is not sufficient for him to be the heir of the
Emperor he must be again elected for the third time,
by the people, Thus the succession and the election will
be in accord to double his force the modern fact render
ing the old one young vigorous by the puissance of
reiterated consent and second contract. .
The senatus-consultum next invests Louis Napoleon
with the right to adopt heir in default of direct
cessor Adoption, which is common right in private
families, cannot be exception in dynastic families
for when natural heir exists is principle in public
law that the choice of the monarch belongs to the people
But that rule is that Of ordinary times and cannot suit
in absolute order Of things which again
new course after long interruption, and in
the midst of the most extraordinary circumstances
Louis Napoleon the depostary of the confidence of the
people, charged by it to draw up Constitution can,
infinitely stronger grounds receive the mandate to pro-
vide for certain eventuates, and to prevent certain
crises in which that Constitution might perish The
strokes of nature have been often terrible in reigning
families and have set naugh the of wisdom
The French people will not imagine that it makes too
great sacrifice of its rights in abandoning itself
to the prudence of the Prince whom it has made the
arber of its destnies This provision, BESIDES is bor
rowed from the Imperial Constitution The Empire which
revves ought to be less powerful in its than
was the Empire ut its commencement And, in order to
remain within the letter and the spirit Of that precedent
the senatus consuum proposes you not to admit Of
such adoption except for the male descendants natural
and legitimate, Of the brothers Of Napoleon The right
of unlimited adoption would be in manifest contradiction
with the popular wish for the the
pire, which is the gudngstar of deliberations. In
fact the Empire is nseparable from the of Bona
part and cannot be conceived without member of that
family with which the form Of the monarchy spu-
lated in France Every thing ought to remain consistent
IN the work which considering
But above that combination solely Of political char
acter, France places hope which than any thing
constitutes her faith in the future and that is that
distant period wife will take her place the throne
which is about be raised and will give to the Emperor
scons worthy Of his great and of this great country
That debt imposed the Prince the day when the
cries Of Vve Empereur hailed him his PASSAGE and
he win accept virtually but necessarily the day when the
will be placed his head For, since the Empire
is established with view the future it ought to carry
with it all the legitimate consequences which preserve that
future from uncertainty and shocks. . s4
In default of the direct line and of the adaptive ne
the Of succession in the collateral line must be pro-
vded for. On that point propose to you clause by
which the people should confer Louis Napoleon the
right of regulating by organic decree that order Of
succession in the Bonaparte family By that
senatusconsultum win remain perfectly in accord
with the popular WISH which in its unlimited confidence
has placed in Louis Napoeons hands the desnies Of the
country; it viii likewise be more in conformity with the
political changes which France has entered into since I'd
December The greatest political genius Of Italy, in the
10th century accustomed TO say that in those
and solemn in which the question is to found
State the will of single man was indispensable. ~
That is what the nation comprehended admirably when
RENTED to Louis Napoleon the task Of drawing up the
Constitution which governs At present that capt.
tai modification is taking place in Of the very founda
tons of that Constitution appears natural and logical
to again confer Louis Napoleon portion of the
stiuent power in order that in the special point which
most intimately the interests Of the dynasty of
which the nation declares him the head, he may fix
such provisions appear TO him best appropriated
public interest and the interest of the monarch For his
family well for the country, Louis Napoleon the
man Of exceptional sitoaton and fear must be
erained Of adding to his power in order that with the
assent of ALL he may settle il by the authority Of a sin
gle person. We therefore propose to you after
ference with the organs of the Government, which has
led to unanimity of opinions article thus worded
Art 4. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte regulates, by