The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-30 00:00:00

The Disgrace of Prince Napoleon,

The Inde'pendance Beige writes in the following
terms of this event. After giving the substance of
the Emperor's letter to the Prince, it says :
" It is a disavowal as complete in spirit and as
clear and precise in form as could be desired by the
most ardent adversaries of the ideas of the Vice-
President of the Privy Council, those who, in the
Government, the Senate, and the Press, have been
excited by his words as though by an ultra-dema-
gogical and revolutionary manifesto. The Chief of
the State takes the opportunity of recalling the
severe discipline established by Napoleon I. in his
family in order to prevent divergence of will and
action, and of declaring that henceforth he himself
does not intend to deviate from the rule of conduct
adopted in this respect by the founder of his dynasty.
It is easy to understand the impression that must
have been made on the Prince by the terms of the
Imperial missive the warning it terminates with, and
the official publicity given to it. He at once replied
in a letter of a few lines, announcing, in the simplest
and most laconic terms, his resignation as President
of the Privy Council and as President of the Com-
mission of the Universal Exhibition of 1867. This
incident is the event of the day, and we need not
say it has caused an immense sensation in Paris.
No trace of this should, however, be looked for in
the French journals, which prudently abstain from
all reflections upon such a delicate matter. Without
wishing to occupy ourselves more than they do with
certain aspects of this fresh misunderstanding be-
tween the Emperor and his cousin, we cannot refrain
from expressing, from a general point of view, our
regret that a political programme which limits itself
to praise the liberty of the press and the right of
public meeting should be repudiated by the Sove-
reign of France, and regarded by him as serving
only the enemies of his Government. On Saturday,
at the sitting of the Corps Legislatif, where, natu-
rally enough, the incident which has just taken place
in the highest regions of power was the one subject
thought of, several deputies among those who are
always ready to parade their zeal talked of making
a demonstration, either collectively or individually,
to the Empress, in order to show their approval of
the condemnation of Prince Napoleon. But the
majority thought it would be a most misplaced in-
terference, and no proposal was made."
The Nord takes a very different view of the
matter. It says :—" After the almost universally
unfavourable emotion produced both in France and
abroad by the speech at Ajaccio, the Emperor Na-
poleon's letter is sure beforehand to be everywhere
welcomed with the utmost satisfaction."
The Paris papers are very chary of their comments.
The Union says that " the letter of the chief of the
state appears to be one of the most important signs
of the present political situation." The Avenir
National says :

" We might vainly seek, even in the history of
the first empire, such an admonition addressed to a
personage of such elevated rank in the state as Prince
Napoleon. Never has a master spoken in louder
tones or more authoritatively made a subject return
to the path of duty and hierarchical subordination.
Nevertheless it must be admitted that though the
letter is severe it is just, and in strict conformity
with the logic of the imperial regime. In that
regime there is only one will and one action,' that
of the Emperor ; by the side of that will every other
will is inadmissible ; by the side of that action all
other action is unconstitutional. Prince Napoleon
forgot when he spoke the Napoleonic tradition:
That tradition the Ethperor knows, understands,
and practises better than the Prince ; he recalls it to
him, he leads him back to it, and intimates to him
that henceforth he will not deviate from it. Before
the letter of the Emperor, Prince Napoleon placed
between his clearly defined duty and his very vague
aspirations had a strange bearing, an inexplicable
language, a false position. The letter of the Em-
peror simplifies everything ; the moral position of
Prince Napoleon is changed ; his attitude and his
language will also change. By signifying that there
are in his family and government but one will and
one action the Emperor traces out for all their rule
of conduct, and as first prince of the empire, Prince
Napoleon has to give to all the example of submis-
sion. In this he certainly will not fail."

(From the Paris Correspondent of the Times.)

It cannot be denied that the Emperor's letter to
Prince Napoleon, severe as it may be, on the
Ajaccio speech has given general satisfaction. It
had been for some time whispered, and more than
whispered, that a considerable divergence existed
between certain great dignitaries of the Crown,
and that ideas of independence were sometimes
hazarded incompatible with the existing system
and the conditions on which the said dignitaries
are admitted to the confidence of the Sovereign.
The speech of Prince Napoleon and M. de Per-
signy's self-imposed mission to Rome, with his letter
to the President of the Senate, are given as evi-
dence of the fact. When the Emperor employs
the words " anarchy," in reference to those diffe-
rences, he merely echoes what Senators and Depu-
ties have been freely saying for weeks past. The
public has observed with surprise, and not without
uneasiness, this unusual movement in the upper re-
gions of a Government whose symbol has been that
which the Emperor himself is now compelled to pro-
claim—unity of action and unity of thought. That
high official personages should hold views of their
own, or contemplate solutions of pending questions

of importance, much less give public expression to
them, is inconceivable. The Emperor has been hardly
a month absent, and here we have members of the
Privy Council—really the highest dignitaries of the
State—fancying they are independent! The letter
of his Majesty will doubtless bring the refractory to
a proper sense of their situation, and intimidate any
who may have been tempted to imitate them. They
are once again reminded that this independence is
visionary, and that it is incompatible with a regime
which, as the Emperor says, " admits but of one
thought and one action"—that of the Head of the
State, who alone is responsible for the acts of his
Government, and consequently for the words of
every one exercising functions under him ; and that
he will not tolerate the exposition of any " political
programme" whatever which is not in complete
harmony with his absolute will.
As I hinted yesterday, there was but one course
open to Prince Napoleon after the severe rebuke
publicly administered by his august cousin. He
has done what, in fact, most people expected he
would do—resigned his post as Vice-President of
the Privy Council. He has done more, for he has
also thrown up his Presidency of the Commission of
the Universal Exhibition for 1847.

To the offices which the Prince has resigned no
salary is attached, but he would probably have dpne
the same in respect of his senatorial duties, which
are not gratuitously performed, were it not for the
conviction that a man once a senator is always a
senator, and that he could not divest himself of
them on such grounds any more than of his rank of
Prince of the Blood, which is also magnificently
endowed. A feeling of patriotism, which must be
stronger than any irritation proceeding from
wounded self-love, would also prevent him from
throwing up his commission as General of Division
on full pay ; and the army would not willingly be
deprived of his services.
Nothing can be more laconic than his answer to
the Emperor :--
"Sire,—ln consequence of your Majesty's letter of the
23d of May, and its publication in the Moniteur of this
morning, I give in my resignation as Vice-President of the
Privy Council and President of the Commission of the
Universal Exhibition of 1867.

" Be pleased, Sire, to accept the homage of the profound
and respectful attachment with which I am, your Majesty's
very devoted cousin. "NAPOLEON (JEROME).
" Palais Royal, May 27." _ _ _

. _
The public has been struck, not by the fact of
the Prince's resignation, but by the manner in
which it is. conveyed. The word "subject" does not
occur in the concluding part of it, and the letter,.
which in ordinary courtesy should reach its
destination before its publication in the news-
paper, may be first seen by his Majesty in the
columns of La Presse. This departure from the
rules usually observed even in private intercourse
will not produce a better feeling between the Im-
perial cousins. Rumour says that the Prince con-
templates another visit to the United States, or to
some other distant country, and will remain away
long enough for this cloud to blow over. But, whether
he goes or stays, he must now, at least, be con-
vinced that Napoleon 111. will no more than the
subject of his late panegyric allow members of his
family or his Government to entertain views on
public affairs which do not completely coincide with
his own.

I have just heard that the Empress Regent has
declined accepting the Prince's resignation as Vice-
President of the Privy
,Council, on the ground that
she has no authority to do so, and that the Emperor
only can decide. Her Majesty had also entreated
his Imperial Highness not to publish the Ajaccio
speech as a' pamphlet. He replied that the Govern-
ment might prosecute him if they thought proper,
bat that publish it he would. Accordingly it has been
published.