The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-12 00:00:00

THE EMPEROR'S BLUNDER.

No ruler with a reputation for astuteness has ever
done so little to deserve it as the Emperor Napoleon.
The Italian war was undertaken for the purpose
of humiliating Austria, and at the same time fixing
French ascendancy in Italy. It resulted in the creation
of a powerful Italian Kingdom which is a perpetual
menace to France, for Victor Emanuel, far from being a
creature of the Tuileries, is more than half inclined to be
an open enemy. Napoleon has earned the lasting hatred
of Italians by supporting the Pope in Rome, and the
displeasnre of the Pope and the clergy by consenting to
the obliteration of the States of the Church. He made
Italy formidable, and now finds that he has not a friend
in the whole peninsula,. But this is not the worst.
Having weakened Austria, he gave Prussia the coveted
opportunity to strike a blow, and to his dismay saw the
face of Germany suddenly changed, and a tremendous and
threatening power rising at his very door. He had not
been astute enough to perceive that his most dangerous
rival was not Vienna, but Berlin ; he had not compre-
hended the character of Prussian statesmen, or divined
the strength of the Prussian arms, or seen that while
Austria was made up of hostile and incongruous elements,
the rival German State must inevitably rise to power by
the aggregation of kindred populations. The pet scheme
of France was to get possession of the Prussian pro-
vinces on the left bank of the Rhine ; yet in his blind-
ness. Napoleon smoothed the way for Prussia to
make herself the greatest power in Europe. The war of
1866 spewed him his blunder, but he saw at the same time
that Prussia was too strong then to be attacked. Mean-
while he had turned his attention towards America. He
threw away the friendship of the United States by marked
favours to the Southern Confederacy, and when our
hands were full he occupied Mexico, and with much
rhetoric about the unity of the Latin races established an
empire as illegitimate as his own. This was the greatest
of all his blunders. Turned out of the country by order
of Mr. Secretary Seward, he saw his Latin empire tumble
to pieces, and the unfortunate prince whom he had placed
on the throne shot like a traitor. The Mexican adventure
was not only a disaster, but a disgrace. Hardly recovered
from this, fresh humiliation awaited him in Europe.
Having failed to make Austria the instrument of defeat-
ing Bismarck, he proposed at Berlin a secret treaty
even more infamous than the coup d'etat—a treaty
by which he declared himself in effect the com-
mon enemy of Europe. He offered to consent
to the Confederation of the German States on
condition that Prussia would permit him to as-
sassinate Belgium and dismember Holland, the
infamy of this proposal being heightened by
the fact that by a solemn treaty he was under an obliga-
tion to guarantee Belgian independence. Prussia treated
the proposal with disdain; virtually gave him notice that
she did not value his assent to the confederation, and
would not ask for it. The confederation was to be ac-
complished whether he liked it or not. Whether the pre-
sent war is also to be a French blunder it would be use-
less to predict. if it turn out anything else, it will differ
essentially from the Emperor's previous achievements. He
certainly has made some mistakes in the mode of begin-
ning it. By the exposure of the secrect treaty Bismarck
has turned upon his adversary the hatred and fear of all
the European Powers. By the violence and injustice of
the declaration of war Napoleon has sacrificed the moral
support of all enlightened men, while his insolence towards
Spain has deeply offended the Spanish people, notwith-
standing the dubious attitude of Spanish statesmen. And
of one thing we may be assured; whatever the issue of the
contest, the union of North and South Germany, which
France so earnestly desires to prevent, is already practi-
cally accomplished by Napoleon's own act.—New York
Tribune.