The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1855-02-06


posed the concentration Of an army of fifty
thousand men near Calais, and o feet Of war
steamers at thar place or Boulogne, simnlta-
neously with the march of the army to the
same point, and that, by night, with all posi-
BE secresy and despatch, this army should be
embarked and shipped 10 the coast Of England.
The feet was then to return for reinforce
ments, while the army, in a forced march, was
to move upon London, surprise it, capture it,
take possession Of the deposits of the Bank Of
England, make prisoners Of the royal family,
and issue a proclamation to the chartists and the
masses of the people in behalf Of a republic,
upon the French tripod OF /" Liberty, Equality,
ana Fraternity" Such was the projGt of inva.
sion of Changarnier, Of the spring of 40. But
the subterranean Revolutionary attempt Of
The reds and socialists of Paris of the following
June, snd the distrust of Changarnier by Louis
Napoleon, overthrow the scheme.
By Palmerston, however, Louis Napoleon
was comprehended as a principal in this plot.
Hence the sensation in England, and the fears
Of an impending invasion, which agitated the
whole island. This alarm was increased by
the election in 40 of Louis Napoleon as Presi-
dent of the French republic. His position was
precarious. He represented q great name and
a great cause, which suggested, as his first step
to stability in power, a fitting revenge for Eliza,
Waterloo, and st. Helena. The French army
was painting for it ; and upon what else could
Louis Napoleon rely than the consistency of the
army? The Introduction Of steam vessels of
war had also destroyed the security of
England in her sea-girt isolation. She had
become easily accessible to an army upon q
feet of steamers, at any hour Of the night,
against all the vigilance Of her naval forces on
guard. She felt this, and felt that a French
army of fifty thousand disciplined men once
landed upon her shores, she had NO regular
military force, and no reserves in her untutored
militia, competent to repel the enemy.
In addition to these facts, the government Of
England well knew that the contagion of the
French revolution of 1S4S had crossed the
channel, and that dangerous disaf. ctions among
the working classes had developed themselves
in widely extended revolutionary agitations.
Need we refer to the stampede, and the twenty
thousand special constables organized for the
protection Of London at the opening Of the
Crystal Palace? Thus our readers and the
London Times can appreciate the momentous
Importance Of those diplomatic papers brought
from Paris to Lord Palmerston by Chevalier
Wikoff in 1851.
But this is only one feature of his mission at
that time. Nor was his object with Palmsrston
to prepare him for a French invasion. Wikoff
was o peace maker. Hts purpose was to
bring about q friendly understanding be-
tween Louis Napoleon and Lord Palmerston
and a friendly alliance between the two coun-
tries. He had another object in view-a very
delicate, extra diplomatic object Of the highest
possible Importance. Napoleon Bonaparte, son
of Jerome, was at that time, as the chief of the
Mountain, in bad order with his cousin LOIS,
and there was no line of hereditary succession
established for the family. They were all de-
pendent, like other republican aspirants, upon
The chances of a Presidential election.
Young Napoleon, then, as a genuine repub-
liean, became solicitous for the particular SYM
pathy of the United States, and for an Ameri-
can matrimonial alliance, in imitation Of his
father. Wikofr had whispered him that Hon
Abbott Lawrence, the American Minister at
London, had a beautiful daughter, aud highly
accomplished; that her father had some pros.
poets of the American Presidency, and that,
better than all, he was a millionaire. Napoleon
said try-Wikoff was pleased to obey. The
sfrair was exactly in his line. The result was
that Napoleon Bonaparte, shortly after this,
crossed over to London, saw Miss Lawrence,
was pleased with her, and she with him, while
Wikoff was in ecstacies. This scheme, for q
time promised the ultimatim of al interna-
tional marriage of the utmost consequence to tue
relations between France and the United States;
but the coup d'ttat of Dec, Isl, gave q new and
imperial direction to the fortunes of the Bona.
parties, changing the republican Napoleon to 40
heir apparent Of the empire. And so, notwith-
standing the projected marriage between the
Prince and Miss Lawrence remained an open
question for some time after, it was ultimately
abandoned by common consent, in view, pro.
badly, Of a similar drawback to the imperial
dissolution of the match between Jerome and
Miss Patterson, of Baltimore.
The third object of this visit Of April, 1851,
of Wikoff to London, was that diplomatic affair
Of his " with the charming, wealthy, but
cruel Miss Gamble. His first object was to ac-
complish q peace and an alliance between
England and France; his second was an alli-
ance between Napoleon Bonaparte and Miss
Lawrence, and through this arrangement an
everlasting friendship between the French and
American republics. In the first he was sue
%cessful; in the second he might have been sue
cessful but for Miss Gamble and the coup d'ftat
Of Louis Napoleon; in the third, he was finally
brought to a dead halt by the coup d'ffat Of
Miss Gamble at Genoa.
There is yet o fourth item in this