The Washington herald., 1909-02-28

Thanks TO this warning, the police and (
the troops Of the King OF Naples were
fully prepared for the arrival Of the
Baadier8 brothers and CT their revolu i
tionary adferents. captured them on (
landing. and promptly pat them to-death {
To-day the members Of the brctaers
BaRdiera Is throughout the length and +
breadth ef the peninsula as martyrs
30 the cause OF Italian unity. Il Is
worthy Of nete that cid Prince Clem-
ent MetteTnich. then chancellor Of the I
Austrian empire. complained in writing e
having received no intimstion in advance I
from tie English government about this +
BandieTa raid THE t0ne of his com
plants, as contained in his published
correspondence. Is of q nature 10 confirm
the belief that while the Easlish an
thorities had neglected 10 Gpprize him cf
the Bandiera cogp. on the ground that il
concerned purely the Neapolitan govern
ment they nevertheless kept him fully
posted en- everything relating 70 TIE
North Italian and Hungarian plottingr
! against Austrian rule; al any rate on
everything tney happened 70 learr
through the examination OF Magyar and
Irredenta correspondence passing through
the English mails.
In France. as recently as four years
ago. the then Prime Minister RoUvier
openly declared in the senate that the
Cabinet NOR. which had been particu-
larly active during the administration OF
his predecessor. Edgar Conabes. no longer
existed. He thus publicly and officially
admitted that there had been such a thing
as a Cabinet Noir during the premier
snip OF Combes- he was good enough 20
add that letters are no longer opened
by the Judge Construction That was
a sNperhuous remark: for as a general
rule letters are not opened by magistrates,
but. as 7 have intimated above. 10y
particularly experienced and highly train
ed corps OF experts in tnat particular
business.
The Cabinet NOR has always thriven
In France. under nouarchicaI as well as
under republican governments. Il may
be said to have come intO existence in the
reign OF L0lIis XI. who in 1864 established
the first postal service. but who decreed
that all letters were subject 10 the super
vision OF the grand master Of the po-
Ice. in order that he might assure him
self that there was nothing contained
therein contrary 10 the commands Of the
sovereign.
Cardinal Richelieu caused this edict TO
be repealed: but under the pretenSe Of
emaucipating the mails from the control
Of the police inaugurated FAR more ef-
/ fective but secret black cabinet bureau.
he used 70 take a delight in thus max
/ ing himself the master Of the contents
of letters passing through the mails, un-
/ I'll he came across a missive addressed
/ by Anne Of Austria 20 one Of her rela-
( tives IN Vienna. ia which she made such
/ cruel fun OF the prelate' foibles that Il
resulted In the first Of those fits OF apo
; plexy 10 which he eventually suecumbed-
Louis XV maintained a staff Of no less
+ than two score officials. whose duty Il
WAS each night 10 open at the general
I post-of1ce in Paris letters attracting
+ their attention, and 70 tTanscribe as rap
/ idly as possible all the scandal, the gos-
( sip. the revelations, and the interesting
personalities which they contained This
was compiled into a sort OF society jour
nal, which was brought 70 him every
morning in bed, and its contents would
form the subject Of his conversation with
. his cOnhdants and courtiers while the
petite levee was in progress he
/ cared nothing for political secrets But
he was perfectly delighted in being thus
able 10 originate gossip and TO launch
/ scandal. and may be regarded as the
father and founder Of society Journal
+ ism
/ Louis XVIII was equally devoted 20
the Black Cabinet. and was never so hap
. py as when through its means he could
/ get on 10 the track Of some scandal af-
I fecJing the honor Of the Bonapartes.
/ There are official records TO show that he
{ spent no less thSn $4,000 during his
/ brief reign for providing his Cabinet Noir
with duplicate seals. with which to re-
/ close letters that had been opened and
thanks 10 the memoirs and "reminiscences
! Of some Of the government officials whom
! he employed in this work, one is able 20
( appreciate the fact that scarcely any
thing was allowed to go through the
( French mail IN sthose days without its
+ being brought to his knowledge.
The Cabinet Noir was in fun activity
+ throughout the reign Of Napoleon III,
and that the overthrow Of the empire in
no way arrested its operations is shown
I By the following amusing little incident.
which occurred about ten or fifteen years
! ago, and was ventilated at the time in
! the Chamber Of Deputies. One Of the
members Of that body having left home
without his purse borrowed 100 francs
! home that night he mailed a brief note
/ Of thanks along with 1eo-franc note, TO
/ his friend That IS 70 say. he fancied
/ that he had inClOSed the money But on
/ the following afternoon when gathering
/ together his papers before leaving for
/ the chamber, he found the 100-franc note
/ in question, which had in some way
: slipped out Of sight among the documents
with which the table was filtered
/ As soon as ever ne reached the Palais
( Bourbon he hastened toward his friend
/ and rendered him the 100-franc note.
! apOlOgizing for his remissness in falling
! 70 inclOSe II in the letter But I have
received it" was the response. Here is
your letter. and the 10O-franc note IN
closed IS still in my pocket The bank
] note, however, was Of quite q different Sc
ries 10 those in the possession of the
sender OF the letter, and an exceedingly
careful scrutiny Of the envelope finally
brought to light the fact that It had been
i opened in transit
Further investigation developed the fact
I that the missive had been opened ana read
/ in the Cabinet Noir Of the general post
I Office and that the Inspector evidently
under the impression that he himself had
/ dropped the 1tsl-franc bill mentioned as
/ inciosed therein. and tAat its disap-
/ pearance en- route would result in legis-
! lative charges Of tampering with the
mails, had inserted Of his own accord
/ l00-franc note, charging It to the secret
service fund The ridicule and laughter
I excited by the affair prevented any Sc
rious action being taken; and for nearly a
+ year afteTwaTd the post-ofice was bur
dened with fake letters, purporting to
I contain money. in the hope Of extorting
! thereby 30 and 100 franc notes from tie
! Cabinet NOR.
It may be OF interest to add a few
words as TO the manner in which letters