The Expulsion of the French Princes.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2192, 27 July 1886, Page 3

The Expulsion of the French Princes.

Tho follow ing letter has appeared in two of the Paris dailies :— " Pati\s, June G, 1880. " Messiems les Depute-*., " You are asked to exile tnc ami lny children. Tli.it ceitainly cannot be because lam a Pietender. Submissive to the laws of my country, even when they are imperfect, Ilu\e never ceased to prescribe to my friends, and to observe myself, a faithful respect for constitutional order. I was a Deputy when the Republic was threatened by Royalist movements, and took my place among its defenders. I have neither s»aid nor clone anything which was not inspired by the most disinterested patriotism. The only ground tor the proscription proposed to you is, then, that I am the head of the Napoleon family. But was this not the case when a demand was made for my children, in order that they might be submitted to military service in the ranks, in compliance with the general law ? Was it not the case when, long after the death of the son of Napoleon 111., my manifesto having given you offence, I was arrested and subjected to a judicial examination, like the least princely of citizens? How has that quality of head of the Napoleon family, which till now has not placed me outside the ordinary law, become suddenly seditious ? " An Orleans Prince marries his daughter ; he invites his friends to celebrate | the domestic event. This fact could not be charged as a crime, even from the standpoint of State considerations. I had no connection with it ; and the Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed his | congratulations with regard to it at Lisbon. Yet it is this which has suddenly transformed me into a Pretender, although I was not one the day before. Truly those who invent such monstrosities forget that public opinion understands them, that Europe observes them, and that history will judge them. lam acquainted with the hard bitterness of exiles. Nevertheless, I snould with joy condemn myself to it, if I could by my personal sufferings contribute to the raising up again of my country and the union of her children. "But the perils of the Republic do not spring from the fact that a few Princes still breathe their native air. They find their cause in the detects of its Constitution, and the errors of conduct of those who work it for their own purposes. Your Constitution was established by Royalists, for a King whose acccsssion was believed to be at hand. Instead of substituting for it a real Republican Constitution as soon as you had the power, you have upheld it, shaping it at the same time so as to become an instrument of Jacobin oppression. What severe remarks has your conduct merited? For 15 years you have been declaiming much, overturning Ministries, distributing places in piofusion, and incessantly weeding out. Many among you have shown themselves insatiable in acquinng wealth. By what social improvements have you justified your rule? You have i neither bi-en able to respect the Concordat nor to abolish it, to continue fiee traders nor to become protectionists, to reform taxation nor to defer. d it, to soften international unfriendliness nor to procure an alli.mce. You have scattered our gold and our blood on distant shores. Yon ha\e shaken the existing order, and you have not been able to" establish a uew order — which is claimed and expected bv the demociacy, and due to it. On eveiy Mdc is hc.ud the clamour of suffering; in(.elects, ot threitened ichyions, or of philosophical beliefs. " Will the exile of the Piinces improve your Constitution or make your conduct wiser? No, it will simply incie.ise your embarrassments by the iniquity which you will have committed. It is in our power sometimes to stop events at the commencement. It is not in our posver when they have been set in motion to stop their consequences. It is not possible to remain a half-and-half proscuber. Proscription calls for and necessitates proscription. You make the announcement that you are about to deal a blow at the Princes; forthwith a de. mand is made to you for their property. Next you will be asked to banish their partizans. After having proscribed those w hom you consider the enemies of the Republic you will act with rigour against its lukewarm friends or its opponents By an unavoidable declivity you will reach the Loi dcs Suspects, the reign of terror, and the civil war. '• One hope sustains me. The people is there, the great and good people of ! France, whose heart and good sense cannot long be misled It will not fail soon to recognise its true friends. Formerly it followed you ; now it endures you. Soon, if you do not amend, it will dismiss you, and the right will be avenged. " Napolkon."