The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-11-18
The Situation in France.

enough 10 say Guab Iucy Will uoo PS"N0i"i
means s'unless an attempt is made to silence
sthem by force" However brave their
words, and however great their apparent
moderation, these deputies know perfectly
well that none but peaceful modes OF action
are within their power, and that the Man OF
Destiny has borne and forborne so long,
that the eighty thousand men who garrison
Paris will hardly be marched out to silence
by force eve, twenty-eight proclalmers Oh
equal rights and freedom.
The policy OF ageis not the policy ofyouth'
Napoleon reflects, and doubts because he
reflects. The hesitation with which ne is
charged may well be due, more to an anx-
ous pondering of the difficulties OF the STU
alton than to paralysis of the energy and
nerve which inspired him eighteen years
ago. For months past the Emperor has
allowed the tongue and the pen full swing.
The restrictions on the press and the right
of meeting in public have become dead
letter, and as was expected, both Journalists
and mob orators make up for their long ST.
lence by revolving display OF coarsenesS
and indecency. Gleeful paragraphists wrote
with brutal joy Of the 'mortal sickness" Oh
the Emperor; they insulted the bones OF his
mother and assailed the honor OF his wife.
And yet Napoleon has not, as he might have
done, crushed out the revilers; nor has ne
dispersed with the bayonet the meetings OF
curb and gutter. Rochefort, himself, is not
allowed the honors of martyrdom, but is
permitted to return to the capital and be-
come candidate for the Corps LegislatJf:
In this way the Emperor has shown the peo-
pie at large that popular leaders know not the
distinction between liberty and license, and
that the men who are dangerous when threat
ened with Cayenne or the guillotine, are
harmless as sucking doves when the official
hand is not raised against them. The pinch
OF powder confined in the crevice OF the
rock may shatter the mass to the base;
touched off in free air, it may scatter the
surface dust, but its breaking power is
nothing.
1t was not to be expected that the most
violent members Of the opposition, when
freed from all restraint, would contine them
selves to words. They did attempt to fire
the Partisan heart and make the Faubourgs
ripe for revolution. When the 26th October
dawned Paris was filled with veteran SOL
Dr1Urc uuc ucCroIve uIUmenC CanIe, Cne CIanK OF
the cavalry, the tramp OF the infantry, the
rumble Of the artillery were heard by all
Paris-by ST. Antoine as well as by St. Ger
maine. The Emperor showed his strength,
and the opposition demonstration was con-
fined to an harangue in the Place vendoMe
by half crazy citizen. The 6ourgeoiSie,
the renters holders Of fgovernment bonds
and stocks-all who had something to lose
by anarchy and riot, felt that they had
ruler who, whatever his faults, could give
security to their homes and save their prop
erty from destruction.
We do not look for new and bloody Rev.
olution. The holders Of the public funds, num-
bered by millions, all the property-holders
in the towns, and the landowners in the
country dread, whether they be Napoleon
ist, Orleanist or Republican, violent change
of dynasty. The opposition is not strong
enough to defeat the government in the
Chambers, yet it can do much to embarrass
the Ministers, and can, if it will, secure the
adoption OF indispensable reforms. Nor is
the Emperor disposed to be stubborn. 1t is
announced that he will select as Minister "a
'man who can command the support Of
''majority Of the Corps" This man will be
hard to find; but Napoleon may deem it
safer to throw some responsibility upon the
Chambers, so as to secure in advance an
excuse for such action as may be necessary |
in case of new rupture.
The danger Of the situation lies in the fact
that the prestige of the Emperor is on the
wane. Mexico and Sadowa are not forgot
ten; nor the boyhood of the Prince Impe- |
rial; nor the ultramontanism OF the EN-
press. With the French, as with the rest of
the world, to be successful is to be great. |
They care little for the potentate whose |
sceptre is distaff; nor have they any feel
ing save contempt for the royal victim Of
misfortune. They require that France shall |
be prosperous at home and honored and |
feared abroad, and may now begin to doubt
whether Napoleon can give them the fullness
OF their hearts desire.