Washington sentinel. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1855, 1854-12-22

sideration. Another work, in which the claims
of liberty are also set forth, was issued imme-
diately after TWAS the History Of the Resto-
ration, Historic de la Restanration,) by M. de
I4amartine. M. de Lamartine, though an his
torian of a very inferior order, is always great
when he speaks of freedom and of those rights
which are the appanage of each separate man
and of men in the mass. Several pages Of his
work, especially those having reference to the
fall Of the Empire and to the establishment Of
Parliamentary liberties by the charter of 1914,
offered to the reader several illusions which
could not be misunderstood. A work of
Proudhon, revolutionary writer, La yeroln-
ton soeiale .justifee par le coup detat, the
social revolution justified by the coup detat
was like the most part Of the writings
Of that esprit delite more metaphysical than
political, and could not, in the form in which
ideas were set forth, be of any danger to
| Louis Napoleon The book was allowed to be
| published by the emperor himself. Finally, two
books were published in the island of Jersey,
| by most illustrious man, Victor Hugo. One
/
Napoleon the little. The second, Les chati-
npents, the chastisement. Unhappily for the
cause which they pretended to defend, these
two works were Of too violent and passionate
character not to make people think that they
aimed at personal revenge, rather than public
good. They had, besides, another disadyan-
tage, that of coming at a time when the i'm
preston made upon the mind Of the French
by the threats and infammatory language of
the imprudent republicans of 1851, were still
fresh in their recollection. The consequence
was that they were placed in the same class,
and the result they produced, directly op-
posed to the intended effect. If there is
thing to be deeply regretted, it is the
unwise policy Of the exies since the coup
detat. Their writings, their words, their acts,
have always borne the stamp of personal,
never of political character. They were
thoughts of revenge, not the claims of a justly
wronged people. How mistaken they were in
their effects, how much they have injured
themselves by their awkward attacks, is a thing
which future events will tell better than any
comment to that effect. Meanwhile, they have
lost the prestige attached to the martyrs of a
great cause-ofa sacred principle. From the
rank of defenders of right, they have stopped
to that of pugilists, from the sphere of protec
tors of nations they have fallen into the arena
of personal combatants. BY their interecine
squabble, the impractibility Of their theories,
and the bitterness of their rancors, they have
not only lost their power, but exposed the
cause Of the republic. Ruined in their expec-
tations, they have also ruined those Of their
friends. To-day, their ignorance has been so
much confirmed by their acts, that it is doubt
full whether they will be able to exercise any
longer an influence upon the destinies of
France and Europe.
If the faults and errors of the enemies Of
Louis Napoleon have contributed to render
easy for him the Withdrawing of the Liberties of
the French, what will we say Of the efforts of
his friends, and especially of the clergy of
France2 Ifthere is sad truth to confess, that
truth is the complete submission of the clergy
of France to all powers which have succeeded
one to the other, during the last sixty years,
since their protestation against the decree of
the convention which submitted them to civil
authorities. instruments of the government by
which they are paid, they seem to have forgot
ten, under its direction, the high moral power
with which they are invested, and under the
influence Of which they ought to have acted.
Also have we found the priests always in state
of dependency, acting in concert with the gov
ernment be it Monarchy or Republication,
and playing political part in all the revolu-
tionary connections which have taken place in
the world. They have embraced with eager
ness the cause of conservatism, as soon as
they had chance to do so, in preference to that
Of the Republic. In short, the clergy of France,
as whole, has, unhappily, lost its spirit its &C
ton, its influence, upon the people, and to-day
its members do not rise much higher in their
estimation than an oAice-holder. What a
difference between our time and the time when
the clergy was leading mankind towards lib
ertyl No institution in the world has, perhaps,
brighter pages than Catholicism, and none
certainty mas uOne more lOr the welfare Vi the
people. But the glory Of that institution seems
to be like the history Of the Romans, confined
to the records Of history. 1t is upon those re-
cords that the spirit Of Catholicism feeds whilst
on the other hand it is led and dragged along by
the State, behind which it stands and which it
supports, as a good ofice-holder must do Is
that the true position that so imposing and
powerful moral institution ought to occupy2
From what we have said, it is not difficult to
infer the position Of the clergy under Louis
Napoleon. 1t is what it has been under every
government-one Of subserviency and obedi-
ence. Interference to the right of religious free
dom, acknowledged by Louis Napoleon before
the body Of Protestant clergymen, his words on
that occasion were at once a farce and an out
rage to liberty. Let us explain ourselves.
Despotism in France has nothing to fear
from Professionalism. BY birth, custom, habits,
education, aud genius, the people of France