The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-27 00:00:00

Julius Cmsar.

The Moniteur publishes the following preface of
the " History of Julius Cesar" written by the Em-
peror of the French, which will be published on the
Ist of March. It is as follows :

religion. If
truth ought not to be less sacred than
If the precepts of faith elevate our soul
above the interests of this world, the lessons of his-
tory,in their turn, inspire us with the love of the
beautiful and the just, with a hatred of everything
which is an obstacle to the advancement of the wel-
fare of mankind. Those lessons, to be profitable,
require certain conditions. It is necessary that facts
should be reproduced with rigorous exactitude, that
political and social changes should be philosophically
analysed, that the piquant attraction of the details
of the lives of public men should not distract atten-
tion from their political task or throw their providen-
tial mission into oblivion.
" The historian too often gives us the various
phases of history .as spontaneous events without
diving deeper into anterior facts for their origin and
natural deduction; in like manner as the artist who
in reproducing the accidents of nature devotes himself
simply to their picturesque effect without being able
in his picture to give their scientific demonstration.
The historian ought to be more than a painter ; he
ought, like the geologist, who explains the pheno-
mena of the globe, to dificlose the secret of the trans-
formation of our social world.

But in writing history, what are the means to
ascertain the truth? The only way is to follow the
rules of logic. Let us take it for granted at once that
great results are always due to a great cause, never
to a small one ; in other words, an incident insig-
nificant in appearance never leads to great results
without a pre-existing cause which has allowed that
small incident to achieve a great result. A spark
does not create a great conflagration unless it falls
upon combustible materials accumulated beforehand.
Montesquieu confirms this idea :
" It is not good fortune,' he says, ' which rules
the world There are general causes
either moral or physical, which act in every
monarchy, elevate it, uphold it, or ruin it. All in-
cidents are subjected to these causes, and if the
chance of a battle—that is to say, a special cause—
has ruined the State, there existed a general cause
which implied that that State was to perish in a
single battle ! in fact, the chief inducements absorb
all other special incidents' (1).
" If, during a period of nearly 1,000 years, the
Romans always issued forth triumphant from the
most severe trials and from the greatest dangers, it
is because there was a general cause which always
rendered them superior to their enemies, and which
did not suffer defeats and partial disasters to lead
to a fall of their sway. If the Romans, after giving
to the world the example of a people establishing
themselves firmly and growing great by liberty, have
seemed since C2asar to throw themselves blindly into
serfdom, it is because there existed a general reason
which fatally prevented the Republic from return-
ing to the pure form of its former institutions ; it is
because the wants and new interests of a society
in labour required other means to be satisfied. In
the same manner that logic proves to us in import-
ant events the reason why they are imperative, in
like manner we must recognise both in the long
duration of an institution the proof of its worth, and
in the incontestable influence of a man upon his age
the proof of his genius.
" The task consists, then, in endeavouring to dis-
cover the vital element which constitutedthe strength
of the institution, like the predominating idea which
madethe man act. Following this rule we shall avoid
the errors of those historians who collect facts
transmitted by preceding ages without arranging
them according to their philosophical importance :
glorifying what deserves censure and leaving in
the dark that which calls for light. It is not a
minute analysis of the Roman organisation which
will make us understand the duration of so great
an empire, but a deep investigation into the spirit of
its institutions ; it is not, moreover, a detailed nar-
rative of the lesser acts of a superior man which
will reveal to us the secret of his ascendancy, but a
careful examination of the elevated motives of his
conduct.

" When extraordinary facts demonstrate an emi-
nent genius, what can be more contrary to good
sense than to attribute to him all the passions and
sentiments of mediocrity ? What more erroneous
than not to recognise the pre-eminence of those pri-
vileged beings who appear from time to time in his-
tory as brilliant beacons, dissipating the darkness of
their epoch and throwing light upon the future ?
To deny such pre-eminence would, moreover, be an
insult to human nature, by believing it capable of
submitting for a length of time and voluntarily to a
domination not based upon real greatness or incon-
testable utility. Let us be logical, and we shall be
just.

league disguising itself with the mask of liberty.
Brutus by killing Caesar plunged Rome into the
horrors of civil war ; he did not prevent the reign
of Augustus, but he rendered possible those of Nero
and Caligula. Nor has the ostracism of Napoleon
by conspiring Europe prevented the resuscitation of
the Empire, and yet how distant are we from that
solution of great questions, from the appeased pas-
sions, from the legitimate satisfaction, given to
nations by the first Empire !
4, Thus, ever since 1815 has verified itself that
prophecy of the captive of St. Helena
What struggles, what bloodshed, what years
will yet be required that the good I wished to do
to mankind may be realised (1) ?'

" Too many historians find it more easy to lower
men of genius than to raise themselves by a generous
inspiration to their level by penetrating their vast de-
signs. Thus, as regards Caesar, instead of showing
us Rome torn by civil wars, corrupted by wealth,
treading its ancient institutions under foot,
threatened by powerful nations, the Gauls, the Ger-
mans, and the Parthians—incapable of maintaining
itself without a stronger central power, more stable
and more just ; instead, I say, of drawing that
faithful picture, Caesar is represented to us, from his
very youth, meditating already upon supreme power.
If he resists Sylla, if he disagrees with Cicero, if he
enters into alliance with Pompey, it is all the result
of that farsighted cunning which has divined every-
thing to enslave everything ; if he dashes into Gaul,
it is to acquire wealth by pillage (2), or soldiers de-

voted to his cause ; if he crosses the sea to carry

his eagles into an unknown country, the conquest of
which will strengthen that of the Gauls (3), it was
but to seek for pearls supposed to exist in the seas of
Great Britain (4). If, after having vanquished the
formidable enemies of Italy beyond the Alps, he me-
ditates upon an expedition against the Parthians to
avenge thedefeat of Crassus, it is, say certain histo-
rians, because activity suited his nature—that he en-
joyed better health when in the field (5); if he accepts
with gratitude a laurel crownfromthe Senate and bears
it proudly, it is to hide his bald head ; if, finally, he
is assassinated by the men whom he has over-
whelmed with his bounty, it is because he wished to
make himself King ; as if he was not, for his con-
temporaries as well as posterity, much greater than
any King. Since Suetonius and Plutarch, such are
the miserable interpretations which have been given
to the noblest acts. But by what sign are we to
recognise the greatness of a man ? In the sway of
his ideas, when his principles and his system triumph
despite his death or his defeat. Is it not, in fact,
the prerogative of genius to outlive destruction, and
to extend its empire over future generations ?
Caesar disappeared, and his influence predominates
still more than during his lifetime ; Cicero, his ad-
versary, is obliged to exclaim, All the acts of
Caesar, his writings, his words, his promises, his
thoughts, are more powerful after his death than if
lie were still alive' (6). During centuries it has
sufficed to tell the world that such was the will of
Caesar for the world to obey.
ob`;eTethat which precedes sufficiently indicates the
I have proposed to myself in writing this his-
tory, s That
iauhatobject is to prove that when Providence
Napoleon, it Such men
t o as Caesar, Charlemagne, and
trace out to nations the path they
ought to follow, to
their genius, and "tampa a new era with the seal of
accomplish in a few years the
ie
work of many centureesthe nations who
comprehend and follow them Happy Woe to those who
misunderstand and resist therni 'They act like the
Jews ; they crucify their Messiah are blind
and guilty—blind, for they see not thTheypntence of
their efforts to suspend the final triuemiln
guilty, for they only retard its progress 111 of good ;
its prompt and fertile application. by im-ed!
v
"In fact, neither the assassination of Caesarnor
the imprisonment of St. Helena could destroy be_
yond revival two popular causes overthrown by a

(1) Montesquieu, Grandeur et De cadence des Romains,
xviii.

4g NAPOLEON.
" Palace of the Tuileries, March 20, 1862."

(1) In fact, what disturbances, civil wars, and revolu-
tions have occurred in Europe since 1815 ! In France, in
Spain, Italy, Poland, Belgium, Hungary, Greece, and Ger-
many.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

(2) Suetonius, arsar, IDA

(3) "Caesar resolved to cross over to Britain, the people
of which in every war.had supported the Gauls."—Cesar.
Guerre des Gaules, iv., xx.
(4) Suetonius, Caesar,
(5) Appian, Civil Wars, i., ex., 326, Schweighseuser's

edition.
(6) Cicero, Epistolz ad Atticum, xiv., (v.)

THE SUN LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 27, 1865.

panies, and a bill had been laid before Parliament for that
purpose. The total amount of calls made upon the ordinary
shares of the company had been £303,200.

LEEDS, BRADFORD, AND HALIFAX JUNCTION.
The half-yearly meeting was held on Friday at Brad-
ford ; Mr. William Brown in the chair.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report (an
abstract of which has appeared in The Sun), said that the
result of the working of the Great Northern system, for the
ast 12 months, gave a dividend of £7 2s 6d. per cent. to the
proprietary of that company, as well as to the proprietary
of this company. They received a dividend of 3 per cent. for
the half-year ended June last, and they now received the
balance of £4 2s. 6d. per cent. :Although the dividend was
a good one, yet it hardly reached the anticipations which he
and others had formed at the beginning of the past half-
year.

The) report was adopted, and the dividend recommended
was declared. Toe retiring directors and auditors were
re-elected, and the meeting separated.

SOMERSET AND DORSET.

The report states that the anticipations expressed of a
large increase of traffic had been fully realised. The revenue
account showed a balance of £7,462, after providing for
working expenses. The balances for the corresponding
periods of 1863 and 1862 were £3,221 and £2,610 respec-
tively. The number of passengers conveyed during the half
year was 206,910; of goods, 64,670 tons; and of live stock,
25,196. There had been a large increase in the trade at
Highbridge during the past six months, the imports and ex-
ports having amounted to 35,717 tons, as against 16,509
tons for the corresponding half-year of 1863, or an increase
of over 100 per cent. Arrangements were now pending for
establishing steam communication between Poole and Cher-
bourg, by means of which it was hoped that a considerable
traffic between South Wales, Bristol, and the North-Western
district of England on the one hand and the west and south
of France on the other might be secured in connection with
the Somerset and Dorset line. The capital account showed
a total expenditure of £1,071,082, leaving a balance against
capital of £18,465. The revenue account showed the re-
ceipts for the last half-year had been £23,938 and the ex-
penditure £16,476, leaving a balance of £7,462.