Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/353

 BETWEEN THE CZAR AND THE SULTAN. 311 them. But it was not this, nor the like of this, chap. that was done. XIV - Prince Louis Bonaparte and Morny, with the advice and consent of Maupas, issued a retro- operative decree, by which all these hundreds of thousands of Frenchmen were made liable to be instantly seized, and transported either to the penal settlements in Africa, or to the torrid swamps of Cayenne.* The decree was as comprehensive as a law would be in England if it enacted that every man who had ever attended a political meeting might be now suddenly transported ; but it was a hundred times less merciful ; for, in general, to be banished to Cayenne was to be put to a slow, cruel, horrible death. Morny and Maupas pressed and pressed the execution of this 9th. It is also in the ' Annuaire,' pp. 75, 76. The transporta- tion was to be to a penal colony in Algeria or Cayenne, and was to be for a period of five years at the least, and ten years at the most (Articles 1 and 2). The order for transportation was to be an act of administration. In other words, everybody whom the police authorities chose to designate as having belonged to a secret society was made liable to be transported without trial. This decree was superscribed Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. I observe that, within forty-eight hours from the time when they thus got France down — viz., on the 10th of December — the brethren of the Elys6e began their ' concessions ' to railways and other companies. Thenceforth, as might be expected, ' concessions ' went on at a merry rate. See whole lists of them in the Appendices to the 'Annuaire.' Those who know how vast have been the sums expended by our public companies in obtaining ' Private Acts of Parliament,' may form some idea of the importance of the patronage in this direction which the brethren got into their hands. — Note to ilk Edition, 1803.
 * Decree of 8th December, inserted in the ' Moniteur ' of the