The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-06 00:00:00

figure in the speeches of his talking Ministers than
it does in his own, the most bewildered, ineffectual
harangue he has yet delivered.
HERALD.—We are not paying an idle compliment
to France or her Emperor when we assert that
Europe will breathe more freely now that the
oracle has spoken. Like all oracular utterances,
the Imperial Speech is couched in somewhat
ambiguous terms, and there are plenty of sanguine
spirits who will find in it grounds for their wildest
enthusiasm or their deepest dejection. But taken
as a whole, as an Imperial manifesto delivered at
an hour of more than ordinary complications, it
may be regarded as pacific and satisfactory. It may
disappoint some of the prophets who, diving deep
into the Imperial confidence, pointed out yesterday
as the day from which France would date a wonder-
ous era of constitutional development. It will not
fulfil all the hopes of the Czartoryskis and their
friends. It will, perhaps, for a time, scare thosecon-
tinental powers which have an "oppressed nationa-
lity" to please, or a disputed frontier to rectify, or,
as the Emperor of the French phrases it, " secret
projects which shun the light of day." But for
all that there is a good substratum of satisfactory
promise in it, all the more valuable perhaps that
it is not paraded with an undue flourish of
trumpets. Napoleon 111. has plainly declared
that it is not the duty of France to go to war
on behalf of the Polish insurgents, and France
and Europe are spared a great calamity. Before
the Congess meets we trust at least one great ques-
tion will be eliminated from the topics for universal
discussion by the pacification of Poland. Upon mat-
ters of policy proper to France the Emperor speaks
hopefully and wisely. The great country" over
which he rules has a right to look forward to the
time when she will take her place amongst the great
commercial and colonising nations. We should be
the last to wish to diminish her influence in the
New World, or to exclude her flag from distant
seas. The speech points plainly to the acceptance
of the Mexican throne by the Austrian Archduke,
and alludes modestly to the great results achieved
in Cochin China and Mexico by the valour of
French soldiers. In the re-establishment of settled
government in Mexico, and the opening up of her
vast resources to the world, in the development of
the internal wealth of France, and the fostering of
her commerce, let us hope the Emperor will find,
however, a profit sufficient to compensate him for
any disappointment he may have to put up with in
his project of an European Congress.
ADVERTISER.—The most important and the most
exciting topic to which Louis Napoleon referred is
that of Poland. Here, again, our darkness is not
enlightened in the slightest degree as to what Im-
perialism means to do with respect to the Polish
insurrection. The only thing worthy of note in
what he said on the subject is, that while Russia
calls the Poles rebels, and certainly acts towards
them with a vengeance as such, he speaks of them
as the " inheritors of rights written in history and
in treaties." He does not blame either Austria or
England for not going to war with Russia on be-
half of Poland, but simply contents himself
by saying that the question being a Euro-
pean one, France is not called on to go
alone to war on behalf of Poland. All that he
proposes to do is to call a Congress of European
Powers to settle the Polish question. This he must
snow is a mere subterfuge,—an ingenious device
for shelving the question. Russia would never
consent to any Congress for such a purpose; and
no one knows this better than the occupant of the
Tuileries. We repeat, therefore, that the proposal
of a Congress for such a purpose, is the veriest
mockery. If, indeed, all the parties constituting
such a Congress were to pledge themselves to carry
out by a resort to physical force, the conclusions to
which such a Congress would come, in the event of
Russia refusing to acquiesce in them,—there might
be at least the semblance of something in the pro-
posal ; but Louis Napoleon knows from experience
as well as from open and explicit avowals, that
neither Austria nor this country will go to war for
Poland. The proposal, therefore, is no better than
a delusive and discreditable expedient, having
covertly for its object to play into the hands of
Russia, and destroy the cause of Poland. The speech
altogether is a dull and pointless document. It reads
more like a funeral oration over the death of the
Empire, than an address instinct with gratification
in the retrospect of the past, and buoyancy for the
future. There is not one brilliant conception, nor a
single felicitous expression in it. It is so unlike
anything which ever before, on similar occasions,
proceeded from the Imperial pen, that we have some
difficulty in regarding it as really an emanation from
the Napoleonic mind. It will produce a profound
and universal feeling of dissatisfaction in France;
and will, if we are not greatly mistaken, give a
heavier blow and greater discouragement to Im-
perialism than anything that has occurred since the
notable 2d of December, 1852.