Evening star., 1870-02-01

Louis Napoleon On the l2th of Ian.
usry.
Has Louis Napoleon been playing the part of
the sick lion to draw the revolutionis:s into his
cave to be demolished? But yesterday he was,
according TO general report, on his death-bed,
wreck physically and mentally; and his sceptre
seemed within tasy reach Of any firm hand dis
posed to graspit-
To-day We see him towering supreme over the
tumultuous revolutionary masses, holding the
reiens Of empire with all the vigor and more
than the astuteness Of the Great Napoleon. We
noubt II In the whole career of this remarkable
man ne mas shown more sagacity and alertness
thAn In the matter Of the suppression of the
fevolationary mob of 100 900 men on the day of
the Victor-Soir funeral
Everything had conspired apparently to aid the
leaders of the revolution in their purpose. Thev
had in the murder of Noir powerful proyoca-
five to infiame the people, and make the Gov
eminent, and especially the Bonaparte family,
unpopular; and the funeral occasion afforded a
pretext for bringing together the entire revou-
tonary force in mass of truly formidable pro-
Portions The revolutionists were largely armed.
and it Is stated that there were not less than ff-
teen thousand revolvers in the line. a veapon
In It's capacity and deadliness far beyond
anything ever before in the hands OF the
mob OF Paris. But Napoleon's preparations
10 meet the emergency had been early and
sure It seems that he entered upon the
preparations for vigorous defence, in less
than an hour after the news of Noir's murder
cached Paris. Pietre, Napoleon's trusted
chief Of Police, prepared an ambuscade for the
revolutionists, and had the attempt been made
to form . funeral procession to traverse the
streets Of Paris with the coffin of Noir, there
would undoubtedly have been q fearful massa-
ere of the people. The rain, which began
to fall about noon, served to put a dam
per upon the enthusiasm of the reyolu-
tiOnists; but the Emperor did not put his
trust in that. All day long he was on the move
In his carriage from one point to another.
The arrangement of troops was admirable
Twenty thousand men in the different barracks
in the city remained under arms all day; the
operators we're at the teiegraphic machines
which are in all the buildings, and the cavalry
was kept ostentatiously promenading. The Sc
cret police, Of which there are several hundred
always employed on such occasions went and
came necessarily from Neuilly, and it is said
that fully two-thirds of the people around the
grave Of Noir were police disguised i'm plain
clothes, but amply prepared against any riot.
Roehefort was the object of the greatest watch
fulness- Orders were issued for his instant
n-AcSe A hC 8ttCluptCu W DrluS Iuner8l
procession into Paris, and in case there
was any attempt made to rescue him, or
to riot on his account, he was to be court
martialed and shot within twenty-four hours.
Towards i've O'Clock the procession Of 100 900
people began TO come down the Champs Elysee,
returning from the funeral, making a truly
formidable and threatening appearance. But
there seemed to be nothing on the Government
side to oppose them. No cavalry appear ed i'm
front or rear, and the motley crowd marched
on, singing Mourir la patrie." All at once,
We are told, as the head of the procession ap-
preached the Palace Of Industry, loud, So
norous drum-beat breke on the air Ran,
ran, ran- The workmen pricked up their ears,
the sidewalks, which had two minutes before
been vacant, were swarming with policemen,
each with hand on his sword-hilt. Behind the
palace the measured tread of soldiery was heard,
and up into line gradually came at least 5000 of
the chasseurs, small, 1.-the and "crying to ge.
into fight" Itwould have been fight and not
merely a massacre, for the workmen and
civilians would have been so wild, had they
been fired upon, that they could have done
wonders without weapons But no one had
anticipated seeing soldiers rise, as it were, out
Of the ground, in this astonishing manner and
the ayant garde Of the workmen began to break
Whereupon an estafette scampered of to tell
the Emperor that there was nothing more to
fear. judge Of the peace advanced, read in
rattling tones the sommatIon to retire, and the
second drum-beat came in loud and vivid. Then
mp marched regiment away at the rear, and,
as at the third, the word 50 fire! :" is generally
given in that decisive country Of imperialism,
the procession decided to go no further that
day. Had the people persisted in its attempt to
have demonstration inside Paris, the Empe-
Tor would have taken the opportunity to sweep
all his enemies to destruction.
Since the ignomi nious failure of the "revolu-
tion" the leaders are quarreling among them
selves with intense bitterness. Rochefort, who
II seems, tainted two or three times on the
line of march, is denounced rs a coward, and NJ
Flourens, one of the writer's on his journal, the
Aarseiildise, has refused to cooperate further
with Rochefort, because at the decisive moment
he hesitated to act. Rochefort in reply says that
they had to meet 10000 soldiers, and call the
cannon imaginable" that the revolutionists
would have been obliged to besiege Paris to gain
the strategical points on which a struggle could
be engaged, andthat the intentions Of the day,
had been imprudently rumored at their previous
meetings, 50 that the enemy was fully advised
OF their purposes.
Altogether it is quite evident that the revolu-
tonary leaders in France sadly lack the
brains If not the nerve to CO pc with Napoleon.