New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1853-06-04
FRANCE AND LIBERTY.

are satisfed"-TheSe and similar apothegms are th
staple talk Of certain class of persons and particularly
of politicians of certain age The philosophy OF suei
savings cleaned from various sources one Of them tn
Embassy at Paris as generally conducted, but chiefly
from travelled Americans who 60 over there 10 spsnC
their money at the Cafe de Paris at the Tros Freres
the Opera at Chantily, particularly in giving
large entertainmentsbals and dinner parties and fig
uring thus in the sOeaed first society. Now there car
be no objection TO any choosing his own company
If an American choose that Of the assassns of Rome Of
the yoators of oaths of the heroes Of December Of
allies of Church-andState, of the Representatives Of
the hereditary principle, and hence the enemies Of
American DemOcracy-why his views Of France must
be Liberal and we would add, it shame that any
such man should draw his income from home while help
ing TO sustain its enemies abroad.
Sybarite of this class prOnOunces the French unfit
for liberty But he knows little nothing Ofhe French
people politically, socially, morally He has no inter
course with the masses and generally for the best of
reasons-he does not speak their language sufficiently
we'll He presumes, nevertheless to call the French
workmen ignorant, inconsequsntal turbulen-unt for
liberty, in word.
Now let us look at the real state of the ease: Paris
il is understood, governs France. No matter fol the
right or wrong of the thing such the fact The
capital to control the country There be Revolution
in the streets of Paris i. is Revolution through the
eighty-si1 Departments. The thrtysir thousand May
or, send in their sdhesiOns the Projects consider the
interests of the country paramount, and hold Office
though the new Government has driver ont that which
appointed them to place; and the Church. even, does
homage to the Republic though to the moment Of the
Revolution the Unirers has been denouneing the de-
effectiveness of the democratic principle
The question then is simply reduced TO this-Are
q majority of the Pslisians democratic because if
they are then the French are fit fer liberty Now In
every instance when the workmen of Paris have bad
opportunity of acting they have shown themselves DEM
ocratic They took up for liberty in $780, and in
February, 1SlS In June 1S4s though they have been
so much abused for the part they then acted, they
fought, believing the men in power wished to betray
them They offered to retire from the National Ate
Tiers if the Government would guarantee them against
starvation for short period The true history of this
is exceedingly curious and instructive. But the Gov
eminent required unconditional submission which they
believed would be fatal to their cause So they fought
under the idea of democracy Whether right or wrong
We shall not stop to inquire but it was for the purpose
of being free; of securing to workngmen good wages
of better equalzng social conditions of increasing che
sum of national wealth If they were wrong in their
details that does prove them unfit for liberty They
stipulated for the basis of liberty-universa suffrage
free press and the fraternity of nations aboishng
war apd preparations for war If there be anything
complete in our ideas of liberty we should like
to know it. These Parsians increased the vote of
France from 100000 TO 100000 They gave the Prov
Dces equal power in the Legislature with themselves
In so far they decentraized France. IL is true they
left much ODE done. They placed the Projects in the
hands of the Minister of the Interior but they made
stride in giving the thrtysx thousand Mayors to
be elected by the communes They did not reduce the
army because they had first TO pacate that army by
touching rudely It's organization, and secondly, the
new attitude of France was such tina. no Government
would venture TO disband it suddenly
The result showed, however, that the people we're
betrayed In an Orgasm of liberal feeling under the
eoquenee Of Victor Hugo the Assembly agreed TO let
the BOnaPare family back TO France Surely this was
liberal, They fell, not through their opposition to
liberty, but through their admiration Of IT,
word, too, in defense Of the workmen of Paris as
a body. Itwoud be Difficult; 20 End more intelligent
set Of men. In matters Of taste they are arbters of
The worlds elegance. The supreme position they held
at the Worlds Exhibition is fresh in the recollection of
many Of us. That men who execute the works chat
adorn our drawingrooms, chambers libraries public
Paees-whose talent is alike evident whether in our
houses clothes, or tsbles-shoud be an ignorant, be-
sotted rabble-to be despsed by certain Americans
whom they could instruct equally in good taste and
good manners, is ntolerable Let Justice be rendered
them. Let it be borne m mind that an army neeessi.
tously machine, to the number Of one hundred
thousand men, u.s. except ia the episodes of reyolutisn-
airy triumph acting against these Parisans that the
cavalry alone Of that army could f Broadway from the
Battery up Union-squAre. That the wonder is how
they ever were able to hold out as they did in June,
lsle, sganst such force.
In eontradstinction TO the failure Of the French in
their Revolution Is cited But il should be
remembered that the British soldiers were not here
originally the spot They had to be brought in GALL
ing vessels some $500 miles. Il is a remarkable fact
too, that Of these soldiers only one thousand were cav
airy, during the whole eight years of the war so in
he business making cavalry surprises often the sue
,ess Of campaign depending them the English were
leyer equal 10 the Virginia troops Bat notwithstand
ng this, the war vas only concluded when we had de-
lived assistance from the French and after Washington
appears by the Sparks correspondence considered
hat the real spirit Of the Revolution had weuiyb de-
,arted.
If the French do not understand liberty-if they
cave Capitalization so pFepOndersng after each Reyo
utiOn, Il at fresh fight IN the streets Of Paris upses
heir hOIes-on the other hand IL may be said th,, IA
lonaly speaking did understand liberty beeause
he Revolution left the thirteen Colonies decomposed