The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-03 00:00:00

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Emperor has said nothing of the slightest import- ,
ance. It is always possible that he may fling a .
bomb-shell amongst the crowd, and ths fact that
for several years in succession he denies himself the
pleasure only leads people to calculate with con-
fidence that he will startle them etch next time.
Happily this yeay he has added anotirlr to the corn-
..
mon place conversations which the Court chroni-
clers have recorded since 1859. He has neither
warned nor threatened any oxe ; he has professed
no fears that peace will be btoken—a very impor-,
taut matter when the speaker has absolutely the'
power of realising those fears, and almost as abso-
lutely the power of preventing their realisation. On
the contrary, he trusts that concord may continue i'
reign, treats the presence of the Foreign Ministe
around him as a guarantee that it will, and fur the ,
promises that he will make every effort that his re.,
lations with foreign powers may be ever animated,
by respect for right and love of peace and justice,
Excellently spoken, and but that phrases like th•
allow such a latitude of interpretation that the Em-
peror would find no difficulty in reconciling his pro-
fessions of attachment to peace with a war again-,.
any one of his neighbours, we might make cert. i
,-of peace for at least another 12 months, and hol,'
that that 12 months' grace would secure anolheT
grace of as many years. FOr if the Emperor of tly
French is anxious to maintain the peace of Euros,,
it is almost impossible that it can be disturbed. The:
only question which threatens war is the Italian.
one. The Italians are eager for war with Austria;
they have a very unpleasant consciousness that
they do not make it now they will not be able to
make it for some years, and then at a great disad-
vantage. They find it impossible to continue th=
expenditure in which they have indulged in order ?,
prepare themselves for war, and they are most ma.'
willing to see all that expenditure, representing sue i
vast sacrifices in the past and for the future, mad._
completely useless by a disarmament. They want;
to fight now, while the army is still left to them.'
But they will not venture to fight against the wishes
of the Emperor of the French. Even if they clearly
understand that they will have no chance of French
assistance they will not venture to dash themselves
against the Quadrilateral. If they were to know
that the Emperor was determined to keep the peace
of Europe and would not allow them to check
the progress of industry, the development of
wealth and comfort, and the general extension
of commercial relations, merely to gratify their am-
bition to acquire fresh territory whilst that which
they have needs all their efforts to make something
of it, they would at once abandon all thoughts of
war, cut down their expenditure, and redeem their
credit. There is no other difficulty whiCh, so far
as present appearances enable us to speak, can lead
to war. Austria will not venture to break with
Prussia, how much soever she may dislike the
Prussian disposition, of the Duchies. The secondary
states will be quite as careful not to go beyond big
words, and not to afford Prussia a pretext for mak-
ing them Prussian too. The Emperor, therefore,
can keep the peace of Europe if he will. Will he ?
We venture to think so, although last year he made
the same professions of a desire for the maintenance
of peace, expressed the same hopes that it would be
maintained, had the same power to have prevented
its disturbance, and yet allowed a war to break
out which crushed a nation whose fidelity to France
in the days of her humiliation deserved a better re-
turn. On the Ist of January, 1864, the Emperor
expressed to the diplomatic body his conviction that
notwithstanding the difficulties which had been
brought about by certain events in different parts.,
of Europe they would be removed by the concilia-f
tory spirit by which the Sovereigns were animated;
and " that we shall be able to maintain peace.''
Peace was not maintained ; but nobody can doubt
that it would have been maintained if France had
seconded the efforts of England with any sincerity-
If the Emperor had accepted the proposal of the
, English Government, and agreed with England and
Sweden to protect Denmark against any violation of
the Treaty of London, the Germans would never
have crossed the Eider. Upon that point there can
not be the slightest doubt. Not even Herr Von Bis
4
marck or Prince Frederick Charles would have bee
mad enough to have challenged such an opposition ;
and as for Austria, the first hint of it would have
turned her into a violent advocate of the London
Treaty. But the Emperor had other purposes.
He thought war would answer his.object better than
peace ; and so, perhaps, it - has. Germany isthoroughly disunited, and England, which left hint
in the lurch the previous year, has sustained a most
signal defeat. Her prestige, her influence in Europe
is gone. Those two victories the Prussian heroeq
of Duppel and Sonderborg have won for France.
France did not sacrifice a man or a son. But this
year, if there is any fighting, it cannot profit Franca
in the least unless she takes her part in it, and there
is no probable fighting in which any part taken by
France would yield sufficient profit to make the
venture worth the, Emperor's while. He want:
peace for France because he wants the continuance;
of commercial prosperity, a more active progress in,
those great public works which will be the glory of
of his reign, even if they be the bane of future
Finance Ministers ; he wants peace because Ini'
wants, if not to reduce taxation, at least_ not to in",
crease it. For these reasons he is anxious not only
that France herself should enjoy peace, but Europl
too; because war in Europe would shake confidence,
in France and impede very much the executio'n 0'
the Imperial programme. Without, therefore,
attaching any great importance to commonplaces
about peace and justice, which really mean little
more than " your humble servant " at the end of 3
letter, we have a strong conviction that the Empire
is for this year peace ; that the Emperor is really
anxious in his own interest and that of France to
preserve peace to Europe for the present ; and be-
lieving that he has the power to give effect to his
wishes we promise ourselves that 1865, in thiS
quarter of the globe at least, will be a year of peace
and prosperity..