FRANCE.

Otago Witness, Issue 97, 26 March 1853, Page 4

FRANCE.

The " Moniteur" publishes the proceedings of the Senate of the 4th, 6th, and 7th November. The Senatus Consultum adopted by the Senate consists of eight articles : — " Art. 1. The imperial dignity is re-establish-ed. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte is Emperor, under the name of Napoleon 111. " Art. 2. The imperial dignity is hereditary in the direct and legitimate descendants of Louis Napoleon, from male to male by order of primogeniture, to the perpetual exclusion of females and their descendants.

" Art. 3. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, if he has no male child, may adopt the legitimate chilchen and descendants in the male line of the brothers of the Emperor Napoleon I. The forms of adoption are regulated by a Senatus Consultum. If, after this adoption, male children should be born to Louis Napoleon, his adoptive children cannot be called on to succeed him until after his legitimate descendants. " Art. 4. Louis Napoleon regulates by an organic decree addressed to the Senate, and deposited in its archives, the order of succession to the throne in the Bonaparte family, in case he should leave no direct, legitimate, or adoptive heir.

" Art. 5. In default of a legitimate or adoptive heir of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, and of the successors in a collateral line, which shall derive their right in the above-mentioned organic decree, a Senatus Consultum, proposed to the Senate by the ministers formed into a council of government, united to the Presidents of the Senate, of the Legislative Body, and of the Council of State, and submitted to the acceptance of the people, names the Emperor, and regulates in his family the hereditary order from male to male, to the perpetual exclusion of females and their descendants. Until the moment when the election of the new Emperor is consummated, the affairs of State are governed by the ministers in office, who shall form themselves into a council of government, and deliberate by a majority of votes. " Art. 6. The members of the family of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte called eventually to the succession, and their descendants of both sexes, form part of the imperial family. A Senatus Consultum regulates their position. They cannot marry without the authorisation of the Emperor. Their marriage without such authorisation entails privation of all hereditary right, as well for him who contracts it as for his descendants.

" Art. 7. The Constitution of the 15th of January 1852 is maintained in all provisions ■which are not contrary to the present Senatus Consultum there cannot be any modifications made in it except in the forms, and by the means therein prescribed. " Art. 8. The following proposition shall be presented to the acceptance of the Frenclv-peo-ple, in the forms determined by the decrees of the 2nd and 4th December 1851 : — 'The people wish for the re-establishment of the imperial dignity in the person of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, with hereditary right in his direct descendants, either legitimate or adoptive, and gives him the right to regulate the order of succession to the throne in the Bonaparte family, as provided for by the Senatus Consultum of— November 1852.' "

M. Mesnard, first "Vice-President of the Senate, presented the above Senatus Consultum to the Prince President, who made the following reply : — • " Messieurs les Senateurs, — I thank the Senate for the readiness with which it has responded to the wishes of the country, in deliberating on the re-establishment of the Empire, and in drawing up the Senatus Consultum which is to be submitted to the acceptance of the people. When, 48 years since, in this same palace, in this same room, and under any analagous circumstances, the Senate came to offer the crown to the chief of my family, the Emperor replied by these memorable words — ' My spirit will no longer be with my posterity from the day when it shall cease to merit the love and the confidence of the great nation.' What now most affects my heart is the thought that the spirit of the Emperor is with me, that his ideas guide me, that his shade protects me, since by a solemn proceeding you come in the name of the French people to prove to me that I have merited the confidence of the country. It is not necessary for me to tell you that my constant pre-occupation will he to labour with you to promote the grandeur and prosperity of France."

Not the least remarkable feature of the Senatus Consultum is the power it gives to the President over every member of his family, and the absence of all mention of Prince Jerome Bonaparte by name, or of his son. It is stated on good authority that not merely four or five of the 10 commissioners who made the proposition to the Senate on the 4th, but the whole 10 were decidedly adverse to having the name of the Prince Jerome, or his son, mentioned, either in the Senatus Consulte or the Plebiscite.

Enemies. — Have you enemies ? Go straight on, and mind them not. If they block your path, walk around them, and do your duty regardless of their spite. A man who has no enemies is seldom good for anything — he is 3nade of that kind of material which is so easily worked that every one has a hand in it. A sterling character, one who thinks for himself, and speaks what he thinks, is always sure to have enemies. They are as necessary to him as fresh air, they keep him alive and active. A celebrated character, who was surrounded by enemies, used to remaik: — "They are .sparks which, if you do not blow, will go out themselves." Let this be your feeling while endeavouring to live down the scandal of those that are bitter against you. If you stop to dispute, you do as they desire, and open the way for more abuse. Let the poor fellows talk — there will be a re-action, if you perform your duty, and hundreds who were once alienated from you will flock to you and acknowledge their error.