ErroneOHt Vteits of Ike Ediitittrgh Review. 



532 



•pure tto6po(!i»fi.^ T!ie aew law of elec- 

 tions was adiuitted by a small majority, 

 being the exact number of tiie minis- 

 ters who had seats in the chamber of 

 .deputies ; and after some alterations 

 and modifications, it was passed by a 

 •considerable majority. In consequence 

 of it, and of tlie direct interference of 

 tike government in the new elections, » 

 .great majority of royalists liave been re- 

 turned, and since that time the mask 

 has been wholly laid aside. 



In page 24, the reviewer states the 

 /ormer law of elections, and its evident 

 tendency to reduce the number of 

 royalist deputies. He also mentions 

 the ]X)wer behind the throne, the iin- 

 perium in imperio, which is now ojienly 

 avowed to exist under the direction of 

 the Connie d'Artois and the Duehessc 

 d'Augouleme. In pages 25 and 26 he 

 gives the new law of elections ; and adds 

 his opinion that notwithstanding its 

 apparent aristocratic tendency, it was 

 probiible that a majority of tiberaiM 

 would still be returned ; for he disco- 

 vers somehow or other, that "the re- 

 striction on eligibility has, in fact, a 

 hidden republican tendency ;" .so deeply 

 hidden, indeed, that nobody but the 

 reviewer can possibly find it out ; and 

 which the event lias wholly contra- 

 dicted. In page 27, he rings liis loud- 

 est alarum against the dangers of a 

 republican form of government : he 

 draws a picture of the benefits and 

 effects of the ancient republics, in all 

 of which, repre.ii»tativn was totally 

 unknown, and wliich, of course, Ciinnot 

 serve as a test of comparison for mo- 

 dern republics, in which ffint most 

 beneficiaL of all improvements in go- 

 Temment lias been introduced. At the 

 bottom of the page he says, "It ought 

 .always to be remembered that a perfect 

 equality of properly is the ncccssiiry 

 condition or consequence of a perfect 

 equality of political vights." He might 

 with as mucli truth have said tiiat a 

 perfect equality of stature is the neces- 

 sary consequence of a jierfect efjuality 

 ; of political rights! He continues, 

 j.i^? Wherever universal suffrage is (shall 

 '»»4ie) actually established, agrarian laws 

 .may be expected to follow, &c." For 

 lieaven's sake, let us keep clear of ra- 

 . dicalism ! But to be serious, let us, for 

 .-ttbe proof of the truth of this assertion, 

 ■»;ngain look to hated America. There, 

 in several of the stales, the qualification 

 to entitle a man to vote, is merely no- 

 minal ; that is to say, it consists. in the 

 jmyment of a tax so very small, that 



[JUly1. 



(he poorest man ean etisily afford topay 

 it. In Pennsylvania (his is the case.; 

 «o much so, that out of a free populatioif 

 consisting in the whole, of 800,()00,men, 

 •women, and children, the number of 

 voters at a late election was 108,000 ! 

 Here then, for upwards of forty years 

 past, has radicalism reigned supreme, 

 without one particlcof eithei* monarchy 

 or aristocracy ; and yet, strange to say, 

 Pennsylvania is one of the most pros- 

 perous of the Unitefl States; not the 

 smallest attempt has been ma<le to in- 

 troduce " equality of property,'''' nor 

 has there ever a word been said about 

 " agrarian laws !'''' 



In page 36, we are presented witb a 

 verj' just account of the municipal and 

 departmental administration in France, 

 in both of which branches, the appoint- 

 ment to every office, from that of thir 

 prefect, (the same as lord lieutenant in 

 England) dowii almost to that of a 

 parisli beadle, must emanate directly 

 from the government. The rejjair of 

 a road, or of a bridge across a brook of 

 a few yards wide, is too serious a con- 

 cern to be entrusted to any local autho- 

 rities. The petition for a forty ])ound 

 repair of a bridge, must travel from 

 the mayor of the commune, up to the 

 minister of the interior, by a gradation 

 of five or six steps; and from his Ex- 

 cellency if mnst travel dotcn again to 

 the mayor by the same gradation ! This 

 is one of the greatest defects of the 

 present Frencli government ; for thr 

 ministers, instead of having leisure to 

 attend to the important business of the 

 nation, — to the encouragement of edu- 

 cation, of agriculture, of commerce and 

 manufactures, — in short, to the general 

 welfare of the whole community, ait? 

 employed, like so many busy bodies in 

 arranging a heap of trifling details^ 

 whicli, after all, are either neglected 

 or imperfectly execute<l, because they 

 are taken out of the hands of those 

 who are naturally intereste<l in doing 

 them well, and confided to those whose 

 interest it is to make a job of them. 

 The grand maxim of governing the 

 people by lettinp^ them govern themselves 

 is totally unknown, or at best totally 

 unpractised in France. The '•'• Laissez 

 nous f aire,'''' the laconic answer given 

 by the merchants to Colbert, when he 

 asked them what he could do for them, 

 seems to be forgot ; and the govern- 

 ment instead of fulfilling the part of 

 an intelligent superintendant, is con- 

 tent to act the part of a petty gossiping 

 clerk. This, they inherited from Na- 

 poleon, 



