FOREIGN NEWS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 74, 5 June 1852, Page 2

FOREIGN NEWS.

FRANCE

In France, the newly elected President has entered upon his desperate career, with a vigour and rapidity of action -which show that his past years of imprisonment and exile were not endured in vain, or without schooling him to a terrible proficiency in military depotism. The Consultative Commission presented on the evening of the 31st of December the grand result of the votes, which was as follows ; —Voters, 8,116,7-73; Yes, 7,439,216; No. 677,557. On the presentation of the national votes by M. Baroche, the President made the following speech :—" France has comprehended that I departed from legality to return to the right. Upwards of seven million votes have absolved me. My object was to save France, and perhaps Europe, from years of trouble and anarchy. I understand all the grandeur of my mission, I do not deceive myself as to its difficulties, but with the counsel and support of all right.minded men, the devotedness of the army, and the protection which I shall to-morrow solemnly beseech Heaven to grant me, I hope to secure the destinies of France by founding institutions responding to the Democratic instincts of the nation, and to create a system which reconstitutes authority, without wounding- the feeling of equality, or closing any path of improvement, and to lay the foundation of an edifice capable of supporting a wise and beneficent liberty." Cries of " Vive Napoleon," and "Vive le President,'* followed the speech, which was frequently interrupted by expressions of applause. The members of the Consultative Commission presented their congratulations. The diplomatic corps was presented to the President by the Apostolic Nuncio. There was no speech. " The Archbishop of Paris in his address to the President, offered his congratulation and good wishes for the success of the high mission God had confided to the President. The President thanked the Archbishop in a short speech. OnTFan. Ist, the inauguration of the President took place in the church of Notre Dame. The Times correspondent thus describes the ceremony, "No one that witnessed the scene of to-day can ever forget it. From the firing of the cannon at the Invalides— seventy signals, ten for each million, at ten in the morning, to the triumphant passage of the President"from the Church of Notre _Dame to the Palace of the Tuileries, hemmed in the whole way between two forests of military, the multitude outside cheering and shouting ' Vive Napoleon,' the spectacle was vast, imposing, and magnificent. The President arrived at the great portal at noon; Gen. Magnan only sharing his carriage ; and it was noted that he had for the first time on a public occasion discarded the uniform of the National Guard, and adopted the purely military costume of a lieutenant-general in the army. The Archbishop of Paris met him at the porch and tendered to him the relic of the true cross, in its costly casket, of which the cathedral officials boast the custody. Louis Napoleon kissed the relic with acted reverence, and took his place in the procession to the altar. The seated spectators rose, and all, even the military, stood "uncovered during his passage Irom the grand ent/ance to the chair of state. As he walked up to his place, the orchestra performed the inarch and * Vivat in seteraum/ by Lesseur, a quaint and pompous strain. The band was like one instrument, so perfect was its precision, and so marked and decided its accent. The Te Deum, which Lesseur (the Emperor Napoleon's Maitre de Chapelle) composed for the battle of Austerlitz, and which was afterwards performed in celebration of the taking of Algiers, was the capital morceau, ami displayed tlie strength and number of the executants to the highest advantage. The coup d'ceil presented'on entering the cathedral of Notre Dame was somewhat deteriorated by the effect of a dense fog, which, throwing a veil of mist over all that passed outside, penetrated to the innermost recesses of the building, and mocked the dazzling brilliancy of uearly a thousand wax-lights, suspended in clusters from the roof. In the course of a short time, however, when the chant d'appel of the tambours, accompanied by the cries of 'Vive Napoleon,' which reverberated from without, and were reechoed through the lofty nave and aisles, announced the arrival of the President, tills hud partially died away, and a better opportunity was afforded of appreciating the splendour of the scene, which stretched in gorgeous hues and glittering disarray before the aston-

ished sight. The pillars of the great nave, adorned with purple-coloured banners, sprinkled with stars of gold—the velvet'draperies and enormous garlands of foliage and flowers which covered and fell from the galleries—the richly decorated flags, carrying the arms and names of the chief cities of the empire—the columns of the sanctuary, covered from base to capital with silk brocade of crimson and gold—the altar inthe choir, with its rich and gaudy ornaments the benches for the authorities and the constituted bodies, and the galleries on either side, crowded with people en grande tenue—the orchestra of live hundred executants, vocal and and instrumental, disposed in the galleries at the extremity of the choir—and the principal feature of all, the lofty dais, with hangings of crimson and gold, doubled with white," surmounting the estrade, which faced the altar, and supporting the siege d'honneur whereon sat Louis Napoleon with his prie-Dieu, the Archbishop of Paris (who officiated in the service), and the attendant Bishops to his left, —these' and other objects too numerous to specify, all glittering in the light of the countless wax candles, which pained the eye to look upon, gave to the ancient cathedral, one of the architectural glories of Paris and the world, a. strange and fantastic aspect, which made it difficult to believe oneself in a place of worship. The service concluded with the ' Domine salvam fac ltempublicam—salvum fac JVapoleonein —et exaudi nos in die qua invocaverimus.' Outside the cathedral, the sight was, in its way, quite as imposing as that which I have endeavoured to describe in the interior. The whole surface of the Place dv Parvis was covered with military who left just space enough for the carriages to pass from the great door, from which the President, and all those who had seats in the nave, made their exit, and proceeded towards the quays. As soon as the carriages had left, there was a general rush of the people to enter the cathedral; which they were allowed to do by the troops, as during the service, none were permitted to enter without tickets from the bureau of the Interior. The civility of the troops and their officers was remarkable, and their general deportment denoted an unusual state of Exhilaration." From Notre Dame Louis Napoleon went direct tothe Palace of the Tuileries, which is to be his future residence. Here, after the receptions of the constituted bodies, the President inaugurated his new residence by a banquet of 400 covers, at which were present the ministers, the diplomatic corps, the members of the Consultative Commission, the prefects of the Seine and of police, the new Municipal Council of Paris, General Lsevvestine, and the National Guard ; and last, not least, General Magnan, and the leading officers of the army of Paris. The number 400 is borrowed .from the number of his uncle's guests at the same royal residence when installed as First Consul. _ After this grand day of events, where every circumstance is ordered, with a consummate knowledge of the tremendous game he is playing, so as best to pacify or mislead a blind populace and conceal his unripe designs, this spurious Ceesar sets himself to work to bind the French people down by the neck with an amazing ferocity. Decrees, the most astonishing in their injustice, succeed each other like flashes of lightning. Within a few days, the Moniteur contained three lists of proscriptions, rivalling in iniquity the most terrible and vindictive decrees of any era. of political commotion. Without trial of any sort, and on the plea of general safety, one decree of Louis Napoleon banishes from the French territory, from Algiers and the colonies, 66 ex-representatives, including the most obscure and the most illustrious of the Montagnard party; and the decree closes with the terrible menace, that if any one of them should re-enter France or its colonies, he may be transported—that is, sent to a penal and pestilential settlement. A second decree banishes IS of the most celebrated statesmen and generals of the day, including General de Lamoricierc, General Changarnier, General Le Flo, General Cedeau, M. Thiers, iYI. de llemusat, M. de Lasteyrie, M. Emile de Girardin, M. E. Quinet; and they are prohibited from entering France or Algeria, except by virtue of a special authorisation of the President of the Republic. A still more daringviolation of all rights is the transportation to Cayenne of Jive other representatives. But this is not all. Five hundred and seventy live priI soners, arrested on charges of being concerned |in the resistance to the coup d'elal, have been

sent to Havre, In order to be transported to Cayenne ; and hundreds more, it is expected, will shortly follow. A decree was published ordering that all coins in gold, silver, or bronze should henceforth bear on the face the effigy of the President of the Republic, with the words " Louis Napoleon Bonaparte," and on thereverse the words " llepublique Frnncaise" in the middle of a border of oak and laurel leaves, •together with the value of the piece and the year of its fabrication. On the outer edge the 5 franc and 20 franc pieces are to have themotto " Dieu protege la France." The FrpJ^i Eagle was re-established on the banner of%e army, and on the cross of the Legion of Honour. The Monileur publishes a circular from the-Minister of the Interior to the prefects di- - recting the erasure of the words " Liberte, Egalile, Fraternite" from the public edifices as also the restoration of the ancient and historical names of streets and public places, changed during the revolutionary period. The' Palais National will resume its former name of Palais lloyal ; the Hue de la Concorde that of Rue_ Royale ; the Acadeinie National de "Musique that of the Grand Opera; the Theatre de la Nation that of Theatre Francnis, &c. Numerous promotions were being made in the army.- France was to be cut up into military divisions. There is but too much reason to believe that those rumours which imputed to the President designs of foreign aggrandizement are not altogether unfounded. In the preamble of the decree designating the new military division, it is said, with regard to the limits of the 6th division, whose head-quarters are at Strasbourg, 'The'6th division is that of Strasbourg, destined by its form and position not to change so long as the frontiers themselves do not change' The words in italics are noted by every one as pregnant with meaning, and may be like the cloud about the size of a man's hand which overspreads the heavens with tempests. In connection with this subject, the following remark is reported to hare recently dropped from Louis Napoleon : —' The Emperor has bequeathed to me a debt to France, the province of the Rhine. I will discharge it.' It is needless to say how little reliance is to be placed upon the most paciiic assurances of a man who went on up to the last hour before the coup d'etat protesting his respect for the law, and his religious regard for his oath. It is clear that, whatever representations may be made to Prussia and Russia of Louis Napoleon's desire to cultivate peaceful relations Avith all the world, those powers will not fail to arm, and put their armaments upon a war footing. It is possible that Austria, on whom the Russian alliance has weighed s"b heavily, may be attracted by promises from France to shift the burthen of her support from the shoulders of the Czar to those of Louis Napoleon, particularly as the view of the cabinet of Vienna is to weaken Prussia, and prevent her effectually from aspiring to the first place in the German confederation. France is at present the chief obstacle to Austria in Italy ; and, by favouring or even countenancing her designs, upon the legations and Piedmont, might purchase her agreement to the separation of the Rhine province from Prussia. Prussia, iilso, has views upon Baden and Switzerland, which might make her not unwilling to exchange an unruly democratic dependency, alienated from her in feeling, and continually tending to incorporation with France, provided that she were allowed to indemnify herself by encroachments elsewhere. It is said that the Northern Courts have intimated to the French President their intention of causing that article of the treaty of Vienna, according to which no member ot the family of Napoleon can occupy the throne of France, to be strictly observed. The National Guard of Paris was about to be dissolved, and would be replaced ...j by a voluntary guard, which would be called the " Guard of the President of the Republic." The new constitution was to be proclaimed'oetween January 15th and 20th : it was said that it would contain the following provisions: —^ j The Senate to be composed of 150 members, chosen among Frenchmen possessing an income of 90,000 francs per annum, or, in default of this qualification, having rendered distinguished services to the State. The latter were to receive a salary of 25,000 francs per annum. The attributions of the Senate were to be as nearly as possible those of the senate of the empire ; its debates not to be open to the public. The legislative body was to be composed of 250 members only ; each electoral arrondissement was to choose three members, among

whom the executive would select one as legislator. Hence there would Tie 750 candidates elected, of whom 250 would be appointed. Nothing- is yet decided as to the degree of publicity to he given to the debates of the legislative body. The Morning Chronicle states "that the Government suffers it to be known that it expects a pamphlet, in favour of the coup d'etat, from the p e n of M. Guizot. The announcement has created unbounded astonishment; but though we fully recognize the abruptness of the _ J^|&,st exhibited by the inventor of the juste mili&n .-and the historian of representative institutions transformed into the panegyrist of a military absolutism, we'cannot profess ourselves - either surprised or scandalised. The critic cannot be very perspicacious who has not discerned, in all the recent publications of this eminent man, a progressively increasing distrust of all the instruments of freedom, and a growing tenderness to the claims of mere naked authority, extending even to those forms of it which verge closely on spiritual despotism. Practical experience in the Senate and the bureau has, in fact, had the effect upon M. Guizot of forcing him to retrace almost the whole of the course over which he travelled in the closet-studies of his youth. Intellectually convinced, at starting, of the value and truth of the liberal principle, the active practice of government has landed him, in his old age, close to the farthest bourne of Conservatism. The example of such a conversion would be equally dangerous and depressing, if it were not completely neutralized l>y the history of the only one of M. Guizot's contemporaries who can be placed on the same level of statesmanship. Sir Robert Peel, exposed through life to precisely the same influences with Guizot, began his intellectual career at the point at "which the French statesman lias ended, and ended it with the same political creed with "which the latter began. It is well there should be so efficacious an antidote for a poison which is likely to be dangerous and subtle in proportion to the refinement of the intellect which it attacks."