New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-08-31

10 of soroe not more revolutionary spirits OF the
Extreme Left that he would take their advice lno
fact is that the need of an amnesty was gettlng 20
strongly felt-by Government 1t isfortunato AZ. 'DO
present Napoleon that the First finally picKeu I'm
his assortment of birthdays one no laser thal Wv
of August Had he officially decreed himseh " Lev"
been as on his marriage with Josephine he deciareu
no ,,as horn on the 18th Of January. 1863, 1t would
have been of as little use The pressure couiu hot
have been safely postponed till next January IL
would have been better still had 1t come carrier
Tn a time of nrofound peace and boosted Gomestlc
tranor;llitv under firmly established ana beloved
monarch political prisoners lin large suantlty) are
ALWAYS undesirable Government stock. Our lmperlai
Roadboder held no less than j5 in his Paris houses
alone I'M TO last Sunday morning. Other victims au
nscaped over the frontiers These, still brooding
ploonily in exile so long after the dawn of the new
Liberal Empire" heralded by Mercury Rouher' 81
lonA,, E6ntraI icted his noisy announcements anu
hroa deepeping clouds of dstrust as 10 Tue SIN
cerity of his masters promises For the PUBIC 'lI'
was more than mere defect of artistic mousse
leepinc: for the Emperor and his best supporters IL
was q grave political disadvantage, , ii0i 20
ms gcne ~ no So un+imants" But there was
peculiar need so pressing that II there nau noo
been birthday ready maze az naiu' o that famons
farce acted in Paris last June when certain ueh-
beers of the Government party trled 10 WIZ
prologue of eyoqtio9aTy IaSgE n {er noce,s and
its anonymous Orleans RePuDllcan authors' nnno
never been able TO believe that the performance vac
ORIGINALLY gotten up lat special request by the Po
iice tbo1p6 the argument priOri and even pos
feri5ri in support of the frequent accusation has
amentably strong points; what Is certain Is wa.
the occasion was used fo- discovering ana eXplOtns
q consn iracy against the Government Which, ~ Is
now super-evident, never existed. IL was Mnoii
hopes were still held out OF proving ths consp"i}
L. OI
that Napoleon wrote the famous letter 10 nachau.
The official plot TO prove 1t had already lost I any
chance of when he wrote his MESSAGE VI july
H. Among the persons arrested IN theI 10
and sent to prison the charge OF Delng engageu III
the conspiracy, were several hDeral po
eral mention of their situation is maze III oul %
correspondence of July %. Let me new treat WIN
something more of particularly Oh an ILLUSTRATIVE
case of one of them. g.. %, ,...J,.,, -
who had already made himself obnoxious to prosecu-
ton and, of course, fine and jail Tor propoSlnHt33
honor the memory of Baudin' killed c0hstiIuto.;ai
representative of the people in 1871. Mr.. Quehtn
was seized and taken to criminal cell III hIazas
prison on the 18th of June. For the larger part Oh
the following two months he was allowed no coRhu-
nication with counsel friends, or members OF his
family Toward the close OF that PERIOD his DrOther
succeeded IN obtaining permission TO see MN PIC
GEEK IL was not till the 18th OF August that ne
underwent his first aud that privatel examination
before the uJuge instruction. The only Otner pre-
liminaTy approaches to a legal trlai were thaV ne
was twice taken from his crlmlnals cell ana con-
frOnted with as many gangs OF witnesses, VINO uhal-
imously, in both instances, answered 10 the Only
ouesti0n asked on either OCCASION that they ana not
recognize him. At the end of more than two months
of this treatment this gent ana his IeLo"-Sul
ferers turned out OF jan as iegaS as rey the
world who think that Mr.. Quentin should DC CRATE
ful and who expand i'll yicariOus gratitude TO the
Emperor for his gracious pardon OF crimes never f
committed for his generously vouchsated OBLIVION OF
other folks sutierngs. Amnesty on the very lace Oh
it, is extra legal proclaimed by Government of Is
years standing in the midst OF peace, II Is pocla
pf ifS administration:
the due Office of legally defined justice,
The case of MessTs. Quentin and consorts is not es-
sentialy different from that of of other cases
that spot the pages of this NapOleOns history len
wears ago they might have been kept III Their cell
months longer, or dispatched TO cayenne months
sooner OF been let out, scared ana quiet 10 resume
their silent place in a scared and quiet community:
Now the case taken up and sharply commented
on by all the French press say all IoT even 1v ee
forced by the spirit of the time to mildly deprecate
apologize, or, what more eiiectually lTrtated the
public sense defend the official maitreatment OF the
prisoners. 1t was plain that the conspiracy never
existed except in the suspicious and p0tSof the Gov
eminent inventors. These last were at bay. Grave
protest searching critique, stern and )estlng com
ment were fast eliminating in dangerous lndlgna-
ton The fOrcedy silent prisoners had come to be
swift witnesses against their jailOTs, who dare not
| come ont as their prosecutors His Majesty, if he
will let say So and his Government were IN di-
oners should be got rid of without trial. Hence the
advantage of the First NapOleOn's finally liking
his choice of birthdays no later than August l5
e
favorable to its subscribing author 30 lar as TINS
impression is sentimental it will pass-s already
passing. Everybody recognizes IT as a sensby poll
tic measure, but thinking man sees IN 1T an eX-
ceptionally wise measures and Napoleon merely
secures the negative merit OF not throwing away ono
of his good last chances Its inherent defects are
not left out of sight by French Observers but their
views of il in this regard may have occasion to re-
cur to in future letters.
To the outward and visible sense this Centenary
Paris quite resembed other. simple anniversaries.
There were Examinations and fireworks. and always
admirable good behavior OF the multitudhous'
gazing thrODg; also, the same absenct--ever aston
shing TO the AnglOSaXOn visitor from the other side
of the Channel and yet more TO the Angular SaXon
descendant from across the Atlantlc-Of horSeplay.
loud swearing drunkenness. inability 70 let any
else enjoy ones self, difficulties" rows ana &C
cidents TO the ever Older-gTOwng master of the
f6te the celebration brought Saddenlng variations
His notion, held to TIL within month or so. of
making this Centenary exceedingly Brilliant IN
honor of his ancestor and III profit to himself lie was
obliged TO relinqush for various reasonsone of which
was the old vexed historical question TO whether
the 18th of August was the birthday of the First
Napoleon or 1863 the year of his nativity We have
lis most distinct personal testimony that IT was and
that il was not When his father entered him at the
military school of Brienne, he certified that he was
born at Ajacco 18th August 1869. When Gen. Bona
parte married widow Josephine Beauharnais he
was born at COrte, January z, lltS and accidents
have happened TO the original parish records
of Ajaccio and COrte which would have settled
the question. When Emperor the First BonaParte
decreed himself to have been born on the fete day
Of the Holy Virgins Assumption-the best prepared
1ctc gay Oh INC i'IEiO"o
with characteristic generosity and severe impartial
ity TO everybody but himself he went out OF his way
when getting MP his historical show of himself at
st. Helena, to blame the dead poor Josephine"
for having falsfed her certificate of age at that mar
riage ceremony March s, 1896. 1t looks if bride
and bridegroom each played trick the other that
deceived neither-he using his elder brother
JOseph's record, and she deceased younger
sisters, to lessen the disparity of their ages.
1t was further saddeniBg to the Master of the
Feast that his faithful servant, Marshal Mel, died
the day before. He was not very great man, but
an able and technically valuable one, and more sin
ceTely faithful than the mere political ministers.
Mel was associated from 1919 TO S9from the siege