The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-31 00:00:00

EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY.'
MIDNIGHT Of December 31, 1870, closes another
year and another decade. The year has been ev, n'-
ful almost beyond precedent, and it has consummated.
a most eventful decade.- .In _these ten years Europe
has seen three wnrq, three revolutions, eight Sove-
reigns driven fr'on; theirjhrones, an empire shaken
to its foundations, and an Empire wholly over-
thrown. New Year's Day 1871 will dawn upon a very
different Europe from that which saw the
light of New Year's Day 1861. That day
saw the EMPEROR of the FRENCH firmly esta-
blished on his throne ; to-day he is a prisoner in an
enemy's land. That day saw the CROWN PRINCE
become King of PRUSSIA, through the death of hisl
brother ; to-day he is Emperor of GERMANY. That•
day saw the King
_of SARDINIA still battering the
walls of Ga4ta, ; to7day he is King of a 'United Italy.
Since the seventh &Cade of the century opened the.
King of NAPLES, the: king of GREECE, the Queen of,
SPAIN, the 'King of ttiNovEn, the Duke of NASSAU,
the Elector of.CasSEL, the Emperor of FRANCE, and
dast, and mosa astounding of- all, the Pope of ROME),
have been discrowned..t. Nor is this havoc among
Kings a full pleasure (:)fi ttie change which has come
over Europe. The `new North German Confedera-.
•
tion has gone the of the old Germanic
Confederation, and has given place to the still older
German Empire. Austria, has been driven'out of
Germany and out of Italy, The Spanish Monarchy,
has given place to aßepublic, and that to a Monarchy.
The French Empire has given place to a Govern-
ment, which also calls itseS,a Republic, but is
a Dictatorship:, Dennitrl67-lias been 'robbed of well-
nigh half its provinces. The Danubian Principalities
have become ill united and 'An almost independent
State. Serfdom has been aholislaed in Russia, and
the proudest nobles in the world have just yielded
up with enthusiasm the last of their privileges, and.,,
rendered themselves liable to serve with, and even.
under the men whom they used to knout. In England,
happily, there have been no great catastrophes, no
great world spectacles. We have had our revolu-
tions—revolutions in ChurCh and State, but they
have been peaceful, they have not cost a drop
of blood. We have disestablished a Church ;we
have enlarged the pale of the constitution ; but
neither change has destroyed a single life. Far
otherwise has it been in another continent. In South
America there have been alniost perpetual wars; in
North America there has been one of the most
gigantic struggles that the world has ever seen. It
seems quite an old event now; yet, ten years ago,
Fort Sumter had not fired the first gun whime echo
was to resound from the Gulf of Mexico to the
river St. Lawrence.
Of all the ten years since the last day of 1860, the
year now closing has been the most eventful for
Europe. Eighteen hundred and seventy opened with
the fairest promise. NAPOLEON, convinced at last
that the old system of personal government was un-
tenable, had summoned to his aid some of the ablest
members of the Liberal party, and intrusted them
with the duty of framing the Ministry. On January
Ist the EMPEROR, receiving the Corps Legislatif,
said he was like a traveller who relieved himself of a
portion of his burden in order to arrive more quickly
at his destination. That was prosperity securely
guaranteed and liberty definitely established. On
the 3rd the names of the new Ministera were
announced. On the 10th the -Ministry met
the Chambers, and OLLIVIER, in the Corps
Legislatif, asked, amid great cheering, for
the confidence of that body in his endea-
vours to secure the realization of progress without
violence and liberty without revolution. It was just
at this moment, when the EMPEROR hoped he had
reconciled the Parisians to himself, 'Alit a lament-
able disa,so; oc.. ctir:eu: -A young journalist, SALMON
by name, bUi'styling himself VICTOR NOIR, called
upon Prince PIERRE BONAPARTE, the EMPEROR'S
cousin, in order to reply to a challenge which the
Prince had sent to RocHEFonT for having attacked
the BONAPARTES in his paper the Mar seillaise.
High words ensued; the Prince shot SALMON
dead, and fired at his companion, DE
FONVIELLE. When the EMPEROR heard the
news he turned deadly pale. It was a terrible
misfortune for him. The utmost agitation prevailed.
The funeral of the murdered man was attended by
over 100,000 persons, who took this way of ex-
pressing their antagonism to the Imperial family.
Prince PIERRE was tried, but escaped serious punish-
ment. Paris during February was in a most dis-
turbed state. On the 7th barricadas_were thrown
up, and a conflict ensued, which was attended by
some loss of life. The rioting was renewed in the
following month, and the Ministry, in consequence
of its refusal to dissolve the Chambers, was rapidly
becoming as unpopular as the EMPEROR when
on the 22nd of that month NAPOLEON addressed a
letter to OLLIVIER declaring his wish to divide the
legislative power between the two Chambers, and to
restore to the nation that portion of constituent
power it bad delegated to him. In order to'carry out
the necessary constitutional changes (which the
Senate alone had power to make) the Premier was
directed to prepare a senates consultunz. This an-
nouncement was received with the most lively satis-
faction, and the EMPEROR might then have used with
far better reason the memorable words he uttered on a
subsequent and disastrous occasion, tout peut se retablir.
The decree summoning the nation to the Plebiscite was
issued on April 23rd, and the day of voting was fixed
for May Bth. In the interval the police discovered
a plot to assassinate the EMPEROR. A sensational
account of the whole conspiracy was drawn up and
posted throughout the rural districts. The
result of the plebiscite was that a very large
majority voted Oui, about 7,250,000, against
1,500,000 Nons. ,But Paris,. Lyons, Marseilles, de-
clared fiercely and overwhelmingly against the
Empire. The majority, hoWever, obtained was so
large that the Liberal Opposition was greatly discon-
certed. The more. moderate men, like PICARD, and
even GAMBETTA, then pointed out the necessity of
separating themselves from the Reds.. It was while
they were discussing the best means of forming a
Constitutional Opposition that the storm suddenly
burst upon them which has been raging through
France ever since, and has reduced that country to

ruin.

On Monday June 27,. Lord CLAnENDoN died un- I
expectedly, after a very short illness. On Monday
July 4, it was announced that he would be succeeded
by Earl GRANVILLE. The next day the new Minis-
ter for Foreign Affairs was assured by the permanent
under secretary, one of the most experienced diplo-
matistsin Europe, that in all his remembrance he
had never known so great a lull in Foreign
politics. That same afternoon as Lord GRANVILLE
was sitting in the House of Lords, he received a tele-
gram from Mr. LAYARD, our Minister at Madrid,
announcing that the Spanish Provisional Govern-
ment had determined to offer the Crown of Spain to
Prince LEOPOLD OF HOHENZOLLERN. The decision
had been arrived at on the previous Sunday, and on
the same day it was made known to the French
Minister of Foreign 4flitir3, the Duke de GRAMONT.
The next morning M. OLLIVIER and the Duke had a
long interview with the EMPEROR, and it was re-
solved to send for the Prussian Ambassador. Ile
was told that if this offer to Prince LEOPOLD were
accepted, there would he a " catastrophe ;" and
when Baron WERTHER, nervous and excited,
asked" that the word might be defin,d,
OmaviEtt r, hli d : "In the name of .tiie