The Express.
London, England, 1855-10-12 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY, OCTOBBI 12.

AT last the pregasney of the Empress of the
Fwca—which has for some time past been a State
secret known to and talked of by the whole world—
boa:ally entwined in the columns of the Moodier,.
Notwithstanding the confident assertion of the
courtly chronicler that the health of kw MAJEETT is
excellent, there is but too much reason to fear that
the touching passage which invites the payers of
the French nation in her behalf is more than a mere
wremocial form. All generous spirits who can raise
themselves above the piques and grudges of political
strife must, whatever their politics, sympathise with
the parents in expectation. By NAPOLEON lIL the
advent of the time when he is able to announce the
prospect of an heir to his throne has doubtless been
waited for ander the pressure of onetime sterna
and stormier than those of mere natural affection.
The crown he has placed upon his head has been
worn before him by at least one other of his race ;
bat the existence of heirs is as necessary to give a
promise of stability to a dynasty as the pre-mia-
ow, of ancestors. Till this moment he has been
haunted by anxieties suggested by his having no
direct lineal heir, and, in franknembe it spoken, no
near relation endowed with talents for governing.
He doubtless regards the event which he has an-
nounced in the Moniker as enabling him to
" take a bond of Fate." In this he may be too
sanguine. As the old proverb has it, " there
is many a slip 'twist the map and the lip." Even
though his marriage bed should be blessed by an
heir, this is no guarantee against the possibility
of a long minority. The son of NAPOLEON 111.,
though born in the purple chamber, will not be born
to a life of ease and unvarying prosperity.
The announcement in the Moniteur prompts irre-
sistibly the indulgence of conjecture as to the pro.
bible stability of the existing Government of France.
It is a question in which all Europe has a deep in-
terest. Every convulsion that agitates Paris shakes
the remotest corners of Europe. At the present
moment in particular, while a straggle is in
progress to repel the systematic aggressions
of Russian ambition, it has a deeper meaning than
usual The policy of NAPOLEON 111., in relation to
this straggle, is known, and generally relied upon.
Aoy madden change in the Government of France
would occasion, at the least, an anxious pause of un-
certainty. We are not, it is true, of those who think
that any change that lies within the range of proba-
bility could lead to an alteration in the relations of
France and England, or to any vacillation in the
foreign policy of France. The more kindly feeling
towards Englishmen which has come to pervade the
French people is not, as some flatterers would have
us believe, the work of the present ruler of France.
He has watched the growth of that amity with
an intelligent eye, and skilfully availed himself of
it to strengthen his Government, but he has
not created it. It is the result of increased social
communication and extended businese relations.
Should it be his fate to be driven from power, this feel-
ing will survive his deposition, as it preceded his occu-
pation of the throne. As for the sentiments with which
the French people regard the war, the silence imposed
upon every organ for the expression of public opinion
renders it more difficult to ascertain them. Our
deliberate conviction, however—based upon extensive
and dispassionate inquiry—ia that the French people,
though not so enthusiastically bent upon the war as
the English, are convinced of its justice and necessity,
and resolute to persist in it. Lastly, though we
should deprecate any revolutionary movement in
France under existing circumstances, we should have
no fears for the preservation of peace and order in
the event of one taking place. The eagerness with
which all parties in France sought to improvise some
kind of stable Government in February, 1848, affords
a sufficient guarantee on that score.

If we feel less assured of the permanence of the
existing Government of France than the great majo-
rity of Englishmen, it is not because we desire any im-
mediate change, but because we deem it prudent
always to look realities boldly in the face. We mut
not allow ourselves to be deceived by the ephemeral
snthosium of gala•days. It is our principle
that the French people alone ought to have
a voice in deciding how or by whom they are to be
governed. Acting upon this principle, though we
spoke our minds freely of the manner in
which the existing Government was founded,
we have respected the acquiescence of the
French people in Its continuance. Without
being adulators or partisans of the &nitwit,
we have not bees slow to do justice to those high and
amiable qualities of which he has shown himself pa-
ssaged. Bet we are still far from certain that his
dynasty has struck permanent root in France. The
work of the revolution of 1789 has not been partially
accomplished. In France there are no lager an
aristocracy, middle classes, and a lower class. butted
of the first mentioned, there is a class composed of ad-
ministrators and a few large speculative capitalists;
instead of the mooed there is one bourgeoleie ; instead
of the third, a proletariat singularly emancipated from
all belief in social inequalities. The opinions of men
have been as entirely revolutionised la France as
their social relations. By far the largest and most in-
fiuentialsect ion of public opinion is deeply imbued with
the various shades of those principles which are
vaguely called Socialist. No Government can be per-
manent in France that does not take note of these facts,
and adapt itpelf to the opinions and social relations of
the people; and that dose not at the same time possess
their love and coofidenoe. Now, though NAPOLEON
111. has evinced considerable sagacity in appealing
from Paris to the whole of France—u O'Conexu.
appealed from Dublin to the whole of Inland—and
in paying homage to some of the most cherished
principles of the French people; it may be doubted
whether he is perfectly master of the situsden.
He clings too fondly to many of the ferias and
institutions of the (ultimo regime. He seeks to duals
by extravagant expenditure and theatrical parade.
Again, though the violence of opposition to him has
much abated, it is far from certain that he has sucoseded
in making himself generally beloved. The Republicans,
the Legitimists, and eves the comparatively small
party of the Orleanists, adhere stubbornly to their
principles. The various party leaders have not yet
abeadoned all hope of sucomefully competing with'
hint fee the possession of power. A oossiderable
party, Wad, is disposed to accept him as a gnarenteel
tor national tranquillity ; but though this party num-1
ben is its reeks some of the ablest and most energetic
spirits in Fates, it is of bad augury that all the most
pun and high-principk d public men (political and lite-
rary) still stand aloof from it. The strength of Nero•

LEON 111. consists in the anxious desire st the groat
sus of the people to swaps ISM tke-lon'we4l vt
tumultuous revolutionary struggle& No 'poetesses'
movement is likely to be side to overthrow him;
but if tweaks were to arise from any non-political
cause, the number of supporters he could rely upon
is extremely uncertain. Even the army is split up
into tuitions ; even his own personal friends begin to,
complain that he takes counsel with no one.
Is endeavouring, therefor*, to forecast the future of
Frans, the question of the probable continuance of
social tranquillity becomes an essential element in our
calculations. And it cannot be denied that there are
symptoms visible at present calculated to excite un-
easiness. It appears to be certain that the harvest
is deficient, and that provisions will be dear through-
out the winter. The proletariat has been kept
quiet of late by constant employment and good wages.
But no inconsiderable amount of this employment
has bees derived from publics works. Ulna these
works immense sums have been expended, not only
by the Government, but by all the departments and
municipalities. And to meet this expenditure large
loans have been contracted. The public debt of
France (including that of the municipalities) is
large and increasing ; the expense of the Court, too,
is enormous; to a heavy war taxation is -added a
heavy domestic expenditure; and the proprietary
Blass is beginning to be impatient at being taxed to
keep the outruns quiet. There is, therefore, already
a considerable amount of discontent among the pro-
prietary classes; and dear food, and curtailed em-
ployment, may serve to stir up the proletariat also.
The financial policy of the Government has in-
creased the danger. With an Idea that it was
giving expansion to credit in Franco, it has
in fact bean stimulating the already exces-
sive tendency to speculatioes in agiaage. This
is the source of what is really dangerous in the exist-
log monetary crisis in France. There has been no
undue straining of ortdit among the manufacturers

and merehanti; the revenue has shown a wonderful
elasticity; but the interference of Government with
the operations of the Bourse, and the daring specula-
tions of the agioteurr, have brought about an un-
healthy condition of the money market, which
threatens to ripen to a crisis. The paralysis of indus-
trial operations that would thereon ensue, and the
consequent distress among all classes, would inevi-
tably lead to commotion, amid which the war of
political principles and personal ambitions would be
renewed, and the result of such a state of affairs it
is impossible to foresee.

In dwelling upon these possible contingencies, our
sole object is to call the attention of France, England,
and rational Liberals everywhere, to the critical posi-
tion of affairs in the great centre of continental civi-
lisation. We have no enmity to the existing Govern.
ment in France, and we have a sincere respect and
good-will for that great nation. We wish to see it
tree, tranquil, and happy, for we believe that upon its
prosperity depends the prospect of good govern-
ment and human happiness throughout the world.