London, Saturday, August ...
The Times, 1824-08-21T00:00:00

The career of the Censorship has begun in Franec, and with prompt and edifying vigour. The Consti- lutionnel and the Jouirnal des Delhats of 'Monday anid Tuesday present their readers with a dieary blanik, in the spaces which appear to havc been destined by their editors for political discussion ; and, just throwing a single glance upon such a scene of intellectual havoc-such a symbol of political annihilation-we would ask its au- thors, whether at this, the outset of their absolute sove- reignty, iropressionis more profound and formidable arc not likely to be producetI upon thc minds of Frenchmcn by the gutted vehicles and leaders of opinion, than by the boldest invectives that could be utteredl, wvhere the hcart hadl room to vent itself in wor(ds, and( passion to gesticulate unmolested ? This death-like stillness, personateti thus mournfully by the accustomcd organs of natiunial or plarty eloquencu, is the true nurse of intense andl dangerouis ex- citement. The inost powerful springs that move mankind( are set in action by it: curiosity, suspicion, apprehension grief, shame, anil ungovernable disappointmelnt, follow in its train ; an(l will slowly, perhaps, but hievitably, warnl the artisans of the work, that they have been but spinning the thread of their own evil destiny. The letters of our Paris correspondents are conceivecl in langaage too vehemcnt for us to insert it. If their sensa- tions be no more than transcripts from the general spirit of the country, it is not difficult to foresee that the reign of the Censorship will come to an ulltiTnely end. The Magistracy and the Bar of France are among the foremost, it is affirmed, in lamenting andaconidemining this overthrow of all security for justice, and the extinction of the hrst great element by which law, or order,or public tranquillity can be sapported. Tlzhe feeling of inostincti appears to be,that it wars because the tribunials woul(I not prostitute tlhemnselves to thc Miniistry, by destroying the two papers, the Quotidiente and the Aris- tarque, which the Court had undertaken to huint down, that the censorship has been re-established. In the aneanwhile, it is supposed that on the 2sth of August, tbe flte-day of Louts XVIII., the Courts of Law throughout the kingdom wvill, in tlheir annual ad- dresses, make loud complaints of the rneasure, and that a formal protest against it will be signed by the body of Advocates. MI. FtAxcHET, Director of the Police, is placed at the head of the Commission of the Censorship; and a A.DELIEGF, a well-knowni person, is its Secretary- appointrments which do nIot seemn to have mitigated in any degree the general feeling of dissatisfaction. The other censors are not, wve believe, yet specified. It results, however, that the Government of France ha6s made itself answerable for every paragraph, however false, absurd, or offensive, which shall reach foreign Powers, through the medium of any French pub!ication. Anid for what is all this obloquy incurre(d ? Why are the swhole French nation to be provoked by this general inflic- tion ? lWhy are foreign Governments challenged to watch jor gascsm which. it may fail to operate ? Because, as we really kelieve,one party of Courtiers have displaced another from the 'Tuilerics, and the victors have come to the wise resolve,that the mnurmurings of the vanquished shall not be heard by thirty millions of people, who regard both fac- tions with about eglual scorn. Since writing the above, the Etoile dated Thursday, and the other Paris journals of WVednesday, have arrived. Thougb the operation of the censorship on the nature of their contents is palpable enough, all political discussion being excluded, the Journal des Debats and the Consti- 4tio1znel have ceased to make it vissible to the eye by leav. ing blanks. The editors of the latter paper observe, that -not being allowed to say what they would, they must be con- tent to say what they can,and confess that the system of mak- ing blanks cannot be continued. It is indeed probable that a series of blanks would be regarded as libellous, andI subject dhejournals to the penalties of tihat atrocious enactment of the BoURBON code, by which a periodical paper may be contlemned on the vague charge of a seditious spirit and tedency. ,Xhe Quotidienne has one blank, or rather a noir, for a VO bslack spot marks the place which the expunged mat- ter had ocuPpidI. The poor Quotidienne seems to have been Badly CbeM Wd iln its typographical arrangements by t,he cwnsorial regulations. A new tragedy was perform- ed on Tuesday, andl an account of it is given in the other papers; bitt the theatrical report of the Quotidienne could not be got ready in time for the inspection of the Censor, who insisted upon seeing it at seven o'clock in the evening, and is therefore omitted in the publication of Wednesday. In this state of things, it will not be expected that we can ex- tract much intelligence from the Paris papers, which were dull enough before the Censorship was in force. The only thing noticeable is a eupplementary ordinance, establislling six Censors in Paris, to be appointed by the Minister of the Inte-rior. In the Departments the C(ensors are to be appointed by the Prefects. It appears that all literary journals, and even those appropriated to advertisements, corme under the jurisdiction of the Cersors. The following is the state of the-funds:- FRENcOI FUNDS.-PAaTs, Aug. 18.-Fiveper Cents. opened at loof. 80c.; losed at lOOf. 70c.; Neapolitan Rentes, 87 ; Spanish ditto, 19; ditto Loanj 54j. Exchange on London, one month, 25. 1l.; threce months, 2s.-Cours Authcntique. LONDON. SATURDAY, AUGUST21, 1824.