New-York tribune., 1870-11-12

how his COnidentlai hInlsicf h''u ohhho' ""ia"'
in n restaurant with M. Glais-Bzoin, and ex-
pressed himself on tho situation 4" in tho most
"alarming termsr The fortunate mortals who
were honored with invitations to COmpiegne
will he delighted to learn that their letters
were regularly opened and read by their gen
tlemnnly host. A bureau for the tampering
with private correspondence was regularly or
ganized in the palace. A system was devised
for the corruption of hall porters, and no man
or woman whom the police CHANGED to suspect
received anything through the mail until it
had been read and perhaps copied by the
agents of the Cabinet NOir. And how the
press was corrupted! The Main Jaunc Figaro,
the Dir DccenJre, the Paplc, the Pays, all
took the imperial wages, and kissed the boots
of the man who bought them. We learn just
how many francs month each of the venal
journalists was thought to bo worth, and we
have the names of some who offered them
selves for SALE but were not deemed worth
buying. An elaborate report from the Minister
of the Interior "On the Organization of the
! "Press in view of the Elections" (April, 1862,
mentions that the Government had absolute
command over $50 journals, and the bureau
had "rclations" With more than 20 En-
glish and German papers, "several OF them
of the first rank" There were worse things
done than bribery. To pass over the events
Of the coup d6tdt, when, according to report
of DE Maupas, 26,G42 persons were arrested or
"wanted," Of whom 1908 were sentenced to va
riOus punshments, We have such horrible stories
as the "Sandon affair" when the Warehouses were
turned into Bastiles for the imprisonment OF
| political offenders. NJ. Sandon, perfectly sane
| man, was arrested II times, and imprisoned In
q lunatic asylum nearly two years. This IL
"a grave affair."" writes Persigny to Cont III
one of the most shockingly suggestive letters
of the whole collection, (which it is OF tho
"utmost importance to hush up. Nj.
"Biaults conduct ia unheard of. The
"man who has been the victim is on the point
" of falling into tho hands Of the factI0uS" I'M.
Sandon had in fact written a petition IN
threatening tone.l awe may have n frightful
scandal 1t seems that with 10000 or 10000
"francs, which NJ. COnneau would see about,
"everything might be arranged. Besides this
"there has been n great wrong which 1t is
necessary to repair a thousand compliments.
"PGRsIGYY.n How characteristic of the whole
yianous regime is the calculating baseness
of this letter, with its apprCbensions OF expos
ure its after thought of justice to be done if
convenient, and its airy style of dsmissing the
"craye affair." "a a matter to be settled with
q few francs and few apologize smilesl
| But the published documents prove that
while His Majesty was worried with Pierre
Bonaparte and Marguerite BellanSer, M.
Sandon and Miss Howard, the debts of young
Murat and tho private letters of the guests i'll
his own house-whilc Gen. Failly was begging
him for sugar-plums (the accounts show that
the gallant warrior received from his sovereign
| 1.250 francs worth Of bOn-bons in five
months y, and Petri's spies were telling him
whom Persgny shook hands with-the real
dangers of France were fully brought nome
to him, and if no did not foresee the fate
which has overtaken the Empire, it was not
| for want Of warnings. Full Information of
| the preparations and the great military
strength of Prussia was brought to him again
and again. Now it came from his spies ut
! Berlin now from the agents who dogged the
| Prussan generals on the frontier now from
his military advisers now from officers whose
private correspondence was intercepted and
copied for the Cabinet NOir. Prussia will
abe in a position" wrote Gen. Ducroc
TO Troehu in 1866, "to bring 100000 men
I" and 200 guns into the field while we are con-
I" sidering how to organize the cadres of 100000
" men and 600 guns" Prussia and Italy, writes
NJ. Magnc, are enlarging their boundaries and
closing in on France, and it is said every
| where that France is not ready. am GER
| "tainn says Madame de POurtale5, after q visit
| to Berlin in 1868, " that nothing--no, nothing
can prevent war-and what war; We
| find no trace thus far Of any preparation to
| meet the danger-unless We count az such the
famous secret treaty for the extinction of Bel
| GUM, of which the original memorandum ap-
pears to have been dictated by the Emperor to
his Secretary, NJ. Cont. The truth is, France
was averse TO war. The nation is busy with
labor and trade, said NJ. Magne, and public
| opinion is almost unanimous for peace.
Abroad said NJ. Olivier when be was ne
| gOtating for the formation of the Cabinet
of the I'd of January, 81 believe that
/" war, far from resolving, would disorder and
compromise everything. If the business men
=" did not fear it the public mind would be much
"more calm. The time for checking Prussia IS
"past, ireyocably past The safety and great
mess of the Empire can now only be sought IN
respec. for the principle of natioDalites. The
Emperor has inaugurated it: II he opposes H.
"he uiH be conquered BY IT," Only few months
after NJ Olivier had been invited to Com
piegne land requested to come by night, with
his spectacles off and muller round his face
to avoid the prying eyes of impertinent jour
nalists), the Olivier Ministry declared the war
which was to disorder and compromise
everything and the Minister avowed that he
went into it with a light and joyful heart
Alas. for liberal consistency in imperial pal