Dissolution Of The French...
The Times, 1824-01-19T00:00:00

-o'sQmegia7 u astfte:two parties: .wbich -divide- this forinVry-fdre?an^ tat the struggle began .betw.en hem ~dculd ot be oitherwiie terminated thin on tlihe -elds of Sipi~ii. The Ulltras strongly feIt, thit in order to give du- ratjion ioheir-sway, it- was necessary to surround: France wit4 Ae.spotic states. ;iid the Libetals ssw still better, that if the Giov,ernment could* succeed in overthrowvink the S'panish Co itiatitin, 'it.would emnploy the infiuence.ofvie- tory to act uponU the constittationx of France. On both aides it -was extpected that considerable changes wrould be pro- duced ini the laws of *this country immediately after the termination of the war, but- nobody looked for the diii- solution of the Chambers; anid this measure would stil! be, inexplicable, if we formled our opinion of the p ilicy of' th.e Ministers only on the grounds furnished by the 3ournals of the opposite parties, or on reasons supplied by the history of what passed in the last session of' the Chamber of Deputies. I t cannot be forgotten that the most v.iolent men of tbe ruliug party constantly pushed the Government to war, and that to their efluarts, supported by t4e ipfliuenoe of Russia, must be aseiibed the restoration of despotic power in Sp)ainl. The p~resent Mfinisiers, no doubt, directed their'views to the sam.e end, but they wfished to attain it by difFerent mneans; they were anxious to-obtain by corruption what men less prudent desired by force, Thus the. iinis- .try, which inl the Chsvmher of Deputies had at its dispo- sal a veryr considelabl,e miajority last session, could in the pret sent y ear rely upon a mnajority still more decisjvc, A ll the .members wh.o last year ranged themselves *;,nder. their banl- ners, would, still remain. faialf to them, because their in- fluence is incrdased byrecenlt eyents: the more violenltmen of the same party have nQ reproac~hes to maLe therm,.because they ha;ve sueceeded to their hearts! content, ant} 'obtained even mpre than thuey dared previously to expect; antn finally, a great number of the conlstitutional opposition must h1ave gone out this year, and would have been succeedied; it is Eoba7le, for the miost part by Ministerial Deputies. no osit, then, happen,that in such circumstances,and with the certainty of -being able to dispose of such an im- mense majority in the Chamber of Deputies,the Ministry de- mandand obtain the dissolution of thatCbamber? Howvdoes it happen, that while they consider the rcsults of theSpanish war as so gio$ous for themselves, they should yet wvish to exClude from the CharnSer t4e men whio urged.them to lun- dertake it; and while thtey can obtain the execution of all their projects, and the approbationl of all their measures 'from an eX~isting majority,wvhy should they desire a new one? If we beliere the oppo,sition journals, tbe Miinisters have dissolvedl the 'Chamber becatuse they prop)ose, by a new essetnbly, to inc'rease the power of the Catholic clergy, by [placinglIn tbei-'hands thte registers which establish thteevil state of persons,' to increase the power oftheancient noblesse, by, makcing the rest of-the nation pay the value of'the estates wvhich they lost by emigrating; 'and finally, tocreatea species rof aristocracy by altering the law of succession to property, aud giving ,greaterportion nfthe family estates to the eldest son. But even supposing that these wvere the views of the . inisters, the dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies was not in. the least necessary for their execution. The 'same majority which calledl for the overthrow of the Spanisb. c(nstitutioll, wvould approve more eagerly of the overthrow of that of France, since in their eyes-thc destruction of theformer was only a ste p towards that of the latter. The dissolution of the Chai,!ber of Deputties is not better explained by the ministerial journals. According to them, the Ministers wvish to make an appeal to public opinion; as if such an appeal could be effectual when all the powers of the State tend to the samne end, and admit the display of no kind of opposition! They wish thattheConstitution of France should approximate that of Enlgland; as if the men whohave restored,at so great an expense, the most despotic and violent rowver which has existed in Europefor manly ages, cared one sarthing about the Constitution of England!W They wish to imitate the iustitutions of England; as if the men who have [ abolished the trial by jury in the majority of p)olitical cas-s -whto have nearly. altogether-abolished the freedom of' the press-who will not tolerate in France any kind of poZitical astociation or meeting-whlo do not admit the existence of any species of municipal institution-wvho suppress the schools, of' mutual instruction wherever they are establish- ed, and who g;ive up to the Jesuits the existing and coming generation, could have any community of feel- ings or of views with wvhit is d6uie in. England ! The Minister of Ancient Chivari y (M. de- Chateubriand) throws out a kind of challenge to the Opposition.'To prove that the nation does not side with them, he appeals, he says, to public opinion, and consents to stake his ministe- rial existence to convince his 'adversaries that he is in the tight. Such language is entircly suited to the character of the man, and would doubtless be admired by all the reinainino- knig*hts of St. John of Jerusalem; but it must excite a smile of pity or indignation in all those whEo, being dupes of no hypocrisy, have learnt by experience that the most magnificent professions, and the expression of the most generous sentiments, may serye as a cloak for the most sor- (idinterests. T'o comnprehend aeccurately thte reasons which have in- duced the Ministers to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies, it is necessary to form just ideas of some inStitutionls pecu- liar to France, of the effects.wvbich the l!ate events in Spain have produced on the pablic mnind, and of the character of the chief Ministers. - Since the establishment of the imperial Government, there exists in France nO corporation, no magistracv hor- ever insignificant, wrhich is not dependent on the Ministry. It follows ifrom this, that in the elections it is the Govern- mentwhich distributes the capacity of elector to those wthomit thinks propertoinvest wihit. If itrefuses this right to men n twhom the conditions of the law confer it, these men can only appeal to its agents.If it gives it to men who are not ettitled to it, as has often happened, no per- son has the right of remonstrance. It is tiue that the Chambereof Deputies pronounces subsequently on each of the eleetions, but it hs evident that in the case of a ge- neral election this power cannot be considered as a ouarantee, if the Ministry packs a chamber according to its wishes. The same thing does not happens when the Chamber is re- newedrlyv fifths. Then there always remain four-fifths of the Deputies to pronounce on the validity of the elections of the fifth last nominated; and it ahvays happens that among these four-fifths there remain a number of De- puties who have been elected under the infoluence of pre- viousMinistries. Such isof the firstiof reasons which have determined the Ministers to substitute a general for a partial election. The second motive for recurring to a general election in the present case, and for abolishing for ever partial elec- tions by substituting in their place a quinquennial or sep- tennial general election, is the existing state of the public mind oas France. The successes which the HolyAlliance has obtained in Germany, in It-dy, in Piedmont, and in Spain, havegreatly damped the courage of the friends of liberty. Many electors who would have continued to struggle asranst the iMinistry, had any hope of success been left, wifl take no interest in the elections, or will vote for the ministerial candidate; in ordler to shelter themselves from the perstiXr-] tion of the Government; because they are well convinced that the Administration nss , a thousand means of ha- rassing- them, while they have no means of de- fence. But this discouragement will not last for ever, It will disappear with the recollection of the causes vwhich produced it; and the contest between the friends and enemies of liberty, when resumed, wiill not be less ardent than heretofore. The Ministers, then, give a whenf al thenr foreigh intaking advantage of a moment weateegy is destroyed, to bring about a complete re- newal of the ~hhamber of Deputies, and t prolong its du- ration, This is the sues and substance of the courage and chitvalrous spiritof fo de Chateaubriantd- But in creating a long Parliament, and composing it of men perfectly docile to authority, what are the views of' the Ministry? The samw as th6se of almost all the Ministers who have existed in F'rance for nine years pastonamely, to retain the possession of power, and the advantages re sulting from it, unter any condition whatever. It would be a great error to cuppose''that the Ministers have formed for themselres a plan of political conductwvhich they are de- termined to follow,or to resigutheirofflces. Among the mem- bers who compose the Ministry, there is not one who stands upon principle,or who seems to know whatpolitical principle means. M. de Chateaubriand, the most eminent among them, on account of Ihis literary tiilent, has never perceived any thing in politics or in religion; except subjects for'de- clariialion, on which a clever man might exercise his ta-. lents. He has alternately paraphrased Le Contrat Social and the Bible; and he discovered the destinie'sof the world in the cradle of the King of -Rome, before lie saw them in the -cradle of the Duke of Bordeaux. M. de Villelle has only signalized 'himself by the address,with which he flat- ters the passions of the party to which le is attached, with- but, howeyer, toe ftr compromising himself witl the op- posite. sde. - t'e has sometimes evinced an appearance of talent, because- he er4ployed the principles of liberty to combat the Ministers, whom he wis ed to displace; but as soon as- he had succeeded them, and he proceeded to op. pose' the trinciples he had held when a Deputy, his repu- tation miehed. M. Peyronnet,the Keeper ofthe Seals; was, oni the i alof -the Bouribonsin France,-thermost obscure advocate in D30rdeauw,, le wgsben dlistin?uish bythe tDuhtc d'Angouleme for the excessive zeal which he 'ma- nifested in favour of legitimacy and the ARoman Caihol'c Church. In 1820 the in luence of theDuchess made him be chosen for conducting the prosecation of a pretended. mili- tary.cons,piracy, which was carried on before the Chainber of Peers. The zeal with which he entered into this busi. ness, and the insulting laniguage which he addras;ed to the mcnibers of the Opposition, proCured bis appointment to the office of Ainister of Justice; It is alnmitted-that-in the drcumstences whvich then existed, no per-on could havebeen found better fitted to give to the judicial authority that movement which was most convenitent for the party; but no legal knowledge or talent of aun kind has ever been *ttributed to him, even by the men in whose service be is .engaged. Such is the most importantpart of the Ministry. Le reste ne vaut pas l'honneur d'ette normn&"l ; A Ministry thus constituted, and without any ambition beyond that of itso*wn preservation, must necessqLy.dread every appearanceof talentor energy. These ?4inisters find it n ecessary fto,t aside the most distingtishud members of their oi r as well as the men of talents among their adversaris Wbat the want is a supply of mer.who have just ambition enougi for a subalternuplace, but not enough to high offiee-.en whose talents enable them to panegy- rize the ministerial measures, but wvlo ha're not honesty gnough to point out their errors., The dissolution of the Chamber waas the sole means of secuing such a result. The Chamber has accoraingly been dissolved ; and to secure the,advantages exNpected from the dissolutiQn, it isno longer to be recvved annually by fifths, bui wfill be re-elected complctely at-the end of seven years. This explains how a part of the Deputies who sit on the righit side have been caleil to the 'Chamber of Peers-how some others. have been dismissed from the presidency of ibe Electoral Colieges-how the Ministems ha,ve instituted judicial prosecutions against some of the mnost distinguish- ed Deputies of the left side,-and how, zt the same time, they have expressed their disapprobation at the pastoral letter' of an Archbishop gf their own party. Their object is to alarm all men wvho possess any energy, and surround themselves with that inert masswhich looku, only to its own existence,.and who are ready to approve of every thing. It must riot, however, be supposed, tbat the il-humourma- nifested against the Archbishop is as sincere as the prose- cution against some of the 13eputies of the left side. This ill-humour is notbing but a trick played off to deceive the et ctors whom the letter of the Archbishop might have alarmed. The public has been so often cheated in tbis wvay, that it is not astonishing the sare scheme should be resort. ed to. In France, displeasure shown in public by the I Monarch towards his friends is almost always the presage of future favours. From M. Ferrand to M. Chateaubriand, scarcely a dignity has been given, in which he who obtain- ed it has not had to learn, that in ortler to secure the road to fortune, it was sometirnes necessary to sustain in public the dis'approbation of his illustrious master. -.Q F. I SHi.L?'eNCH CEii.B. - ,* i i - . - ,- -~ P, , ,ARI$S jA.. - -. ' -;. -~