The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-08 00:00:00

_
government which is not in harmony with
ings because it is wisely administered. It ik I oomph
machi-
meriting the engineer at the expense of hik
fresh in.
nery. However, events that must still be
the public recollection do not bear out the a upposi.
tion ; and, looking under the surface of the . revolt
tions out of which the Empire arose, we are in nlin( ,d
to think that it rests on a more solid fonana ti on
than the popularity and prestige which. attach to
the name of its illuesious chief. There can be no
doubt that Napoleon 111. did for France more t
hail
any other man would have been permitted to do;
but the grand secret of his success—that, at I east,
which has given to it all the appearance of per-
manency—consisted in the thorough appr eci titian
of the wants and wishes of the nation w.hi, 2h he
exhibited and acted upon. The Government of the
Restoration, as it was in no sense the choir :e of the
French people, can hardly claim to be consi de red in
the discussion the Due de Pereigny'e ep ee 2h has
raised. But the Government of July, and .tl le Re-
public which was roughly constructed up on its
ruins, both professed to proceed from the v till of the
people, and did to some extent represent th e opinion
of the country as far as they collected i .t. They'
were made by Paris, and France accepted k the bill,
which ita chief city drew upon it. But tb .e Empir
was at once placed upon a broader basi a.. Nap, ).
leon consulted the whole nation, and tla::•ougho at
his reign he has, before all else, steadfalst ly mai se
tained the principle that was consecrated in 'a is
election. There is nol a peasant in the remote et
corner of the land that does not ft 3el he his a eta ks
in the Government, and this fee ling is strong est
precisely where it is likely to be most ,endurit )g.
The Emperor has not treated France .as if he
only had a life interest in its er, tate, but has en
identified himself with the people filet the perso. Dal
influence he oxercies is bound up in their mit ids
with the system under which they IrAve enjoy ed
prosperity, seen their power newly developed, tend
expierenced the manifold advantages of a firm and
strong Government. Of all men the Due de I 'ere
3igny would probably be the last to al )pear eve) e to
deny to the Emperor, whom he has set ved well and
faithfully in adversity as in prosperity, the h igh
distinction of being personally honoured and re'
spected by the French people; but in interpret
the constitution of the Empire he could not b.nlP
perceiving that it should and did repose
up Dn
something that would outlive the wisdom and pt ,re•
deuce of its present administrator . The questi
was, as ho understood it, whether France had a;
length obtained rest, whether the co untry poesese rd
a system of government which coul d be presery en
with advantage; and, reviewing the) past and ) re'
garding the present, he came to a conclusion 10
which there is every reason to believe a vest major LI
of his countrymen participate. They do look tit 45
the Emperor as the founder of a sys,:e m which I 300
given them liberty, which has relies" _d them fr orn
apprehensions of anarchy, and which has revea Jed
to them the real sources of their strength and h AP'
piness. The sentiment may be right or it may b°
wrong in theory, but its value is practit :ally dem ,1)0'
strated. France is not forgetting horse, If in dre
of imperial magnificence, nor were the French ever
less disposed to neglect their own in erects than
they now are. On the contrary they appear to
take an exceedingly businesslike measur eof their
position, and, as is the way with peopl wh o are
doing well, turn a deaf ear to the sun ens o,
change. They see on every side signs of progress,
political and social, and if they think, as it -AB plain
they do, that the road to which they have been eon'
ducted, and on which they are steadily ee ivancieg)
leads to what nations should desire to s
welfare at home and honour abroad-.....T re cannot
suppose that a people so animated, and so acting
up to their sense of duty can go far wron g.
At.