Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

3 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

- *j (From the Times.)

(From the John Bull.)

(From the Weekly Chronicle.)

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

(From the Weekly Chronicle.) THE FORTIFICATION OF PARIS. The more we see of the world, the more we are convinced that there are things in it, respecting which it is impossible to reason by their analogy with other things; and persons, respecting whose conduct we are the more certain to come to a false conclusion when we attempt to judge of what they will do, under given circumstances, by what we should do ourselves. We should not merely doubt, but despair of, Lord Melbourne's sanity, if we were to see the Chancellor of the Exchequer, come down to the House of Com- mons with a proposal to fortify London, and a demand of five millions sterling for the purpose of rendering the Tower impregnable, and erecting Batteries at Highgate, and on Primrose hill! Yet this is precisely what Mons. Thiers has done with the almost unani- mous assent, and approbation, of the Parisian Press, and an Ordonnance has actually been published in the Moniteur, announcing the immediate commence- ment of the works, upon which 100 millions of Francs are to be spent, and 50,000 men immediately employed. The acquiescence of all parties in this arrangement seems doubly strange, when we recollect that three years ago, the same proposition was started by the Go- vernment, and abandoned after a struggle which near- ly cost Louis Philippe his throne. The design was then connected, by the whole Liberal Press, with a desire, on the part of the King to overawe Paris, and to have the means always at hand of suppressing po- litical movements by transforming the Capital into a vast fortified camp. But such impressions, however reasonable, are not lasting, in France, where all men seem disposed at all times to believe that all other men are envious of their greatness, and ready to renew against them the coalition of 1793. Touch but this string, and dreams of Foreign conquest inflame the minds o(' the Parisian Badauds. The battles of the Revolution are fought over again, and Liberty itself would be sacrificed now, as it was then, to the thirst for military fame. The merit, or folly, of the measure now contem- plated, depenc! upon >ae circumstances of the time. There is about as much reason to suppose that Paris is menaced, in the year of our Lord 1840, by a com- bination of the great European Powers, as there is to believe that London will be destroyed, this Autumn, by a Russian Fleet, which as Mr. Attwood once an- nounced, was preparing at Cronstadt to enter the Thames, and batter down the very Houses of Parlia- ment, without respect for the Speaker's mace, or wig. Yet Lord Melbourne, as we began by saying, would exchange Windsor for Hanwell if he were to talk of walling in Westminster, and fortifying Marylebone. The inhabitants of Portland-place would not sleep the more calmly because assured by the Government that they should be placed. beyond the power of Russian projectiles; and we doubt whether there be a single soul amongst them, of any sex, or age, that would be induced by such an appeal to their Patriotism, to fur- nish, without grumbling his, or her, quota towards the general defence, We cannot but fear, therefore, that the readiness with which the French people have given up allltheir previous apprehensions upon this subject, and consented, in the 19th century, to rein- troduce, at a vast expence, measures of supposed securi- ty, which the growing good sense of other nations has led them to abandon, must be regarded as an indica- tion of feelings on their part,'( perhaps not yet amount- ing to designs,) highly unfavorable to the peace of the world. Be this as it may, it is the.boast of the French Mi- nister that Paris, which is the heart of France, will speedily be placed in a position, that will enable it to defy for three months an army of 300,000men. That Napoleon should have entertained such a project is intelligible enough. His views were all military, and he knew the perils, that his gigantic ambition provoked. We can conceive a similar project finding favour with the Orleans Dynasty, had its title to the Crown been disputed in 1830, by Europe in Arms. But, after ten years of peaceful possession, to talk of this gigantic scheme as a measure of public safety rendered ne- cessary by the geographical position of France, and the determination of all Europe to array itself against her," is to us passing strange. The plan, however,