The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-19 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PDBLIO JOURNALS.

TIMES.—The Circular of the Marquis de Lavalette
is a document of twofold import. It is intended as
a Manifesto to the French people no less than as
an address to the nations of Europe and their Go-
vernments. To the subjects of his vast Empire
Napoleon 111. felt that some explanations were due
—some vindication of, or apology for, the conduct
pursued by him before and after the short but mo-
mentous war of which we have just seen the close.
It was necessary for the Emperor to allay an ex-
citement of public opinion to which, it could not be
denied, his own words at Auxerre and his letter to
M. Drouyn de Lhuys had contributed to give rise.
It was necessary to meet the outcry raised by the
Opposition on arguments—it would be vain to gain-
say it—drawn from tolerably explicit declarations
on the part of the Imperial Cabinet itself. It was
necessary to unsay much of what had been said, or,
rather, to ignore and seem to forget it ; to gain all
the credit of a peaceful policy when it was inex-
pedient " to rush suddenly into the risks of a great
war ;" to show surprise and even displeasure at the
"reaction of the past upon the future," by which
the natural allies of France were looked upon as her
enemies; and to rejoice at the agrandisement of
Eastern and Southern neighbours, although the de-
mands for " compensation" or " rectification" had
been met with a respectful but decided refusal. All
this was the main task of the Imperial statesman,
and great, it must be avowed, are the tact and
ability with which he has acquitted himself of it.
The perusal of the Note of September renders any
reference to the utterance of June a rather ardu-
ous effort of memory ; to establish identity between
the same Monarch and Cabinet of the two different
epochs requires no little ingenuity; nor, for our
part, would it answer any useful purpose. That
part of the Circular is addressed to the French
people—a people by no means remarkable for any
tenacity of recollection, and greatly to be swayed
by speciousness of argument and subtlety of doc-
trine. To us on this side of the Channel, and to
other nations beyond the Alps and the Rhine, the
Emperor had no account to give. There was not one
of us that took part with the French Opposition ;
not one that blamed him for not " violating his
promised and proclaimed neutrality ;" not one, ex-
cept, perhaps, Austria and the minor German
Princes, that wished him to quarrel with Prussian
or Italian aggrandisement. On the contrary, most
of us were delighted with- the issue of the war ; we
rejoiced as much as he did at the rise of two great
nations destined to run with France in the race of
common progress, and placed beyond all possible
necessity of ever crossing her path. To us the Em-
peror owed no explanation, and he gives none ; but
there are some large views, both retrospective and
prospective, on the subject of general European
policy, by which the Emperor, or his State Secre-
tary, places himself far above the passing crisis which
suggested the present Circular, and on these points
this Note possesses in our eyes an interest superior
to that of any paper hitherto published by the Im-
perial Foreign-office. The biographer of Julius
Caesar condescends to read us a lecture on history.
The expounder of " Napoleonian Ideas" assures us
that his present policy is only the sequel of " his
ancient convictions and the traditions of his race.
Napoleon 1.," he urges, " foresaw the changes which
are now taking place upon the European continent.
He planted the germs of new nationalities in the
Peninsula by creating the kingdom of Italy ; in
Germany by causing the disappearance of 253 inde-
pendent States." We must be allowed to express
our opinion that the present French Emperor is a
far more discreet and disinterested politician than
the founder of his dynasty ever was. The kingdom
of Italy that the First Napoleon created was some-
thing very different from the present monarchy of
Victor Emmanuel. Napoleon I. gave the name of
" Italian kingdom" to Milan, Venice, and Bologna,
but even that fraction of the Peninsula he placed
under the rule of his stepson, while Turin, Florence,
Lucca, Rome, and Naples obeyed the sway of his
several relatives, and the whole Peninsula was
only a vast appendage of the French Empire ;
while if in Germany the great conqueror me-
diatized 253 minor Princes, he at the same time fol-
lowed up the old policy of Louis X. IV. by dealing a
deathblow to the empire, and setting up that score
or so of petty Kings and Grand Dukes who bartered
the independence of their fatherland for the paltry
diadems with which a foreign despot tempted their
ambition. The system of the First Napoleon, be it
said with the good leave of his illustrious nephew,
was in perfect opposition to that which the spirit of
our age is visibly developing. lt aimed at making
France a sun, with all the nations of the Continent
revolving around it as planets and satellites. Per-
haps extreme veneration for the great man's ideas
at first inclined the present Emperor to follow in
his footsteps, and it is to that feeling that we are in-
debted for the Peace of Zurich, for the projected
protectorate of France over the Latin races, and
the scheme for claiming the Mediterranean as a
French lake. But the Third Napoleon, we repeat,
is a far more practical, less absolute and inflexible
man than the First. He recognises the " irresistible
power which impels peoples to unite themselves in
great masses," and he consents, not to a sham king-
dom of Italy or a counterfeit Confederation of the
Rhine, but to a genuine united Italy and a united
Germany on a footing of equality with France, and
claiming " freedom of alliances." It is on this in-
dependence of action, not on the subserviency of
small States to a Central Empire, that France now
relies for the fulfilment of the destinies of the
world ; for the Emperor favours us with a lesson of
statistics and geography no less than of history, and
reckons that at the head of 40 millions in France,
37 in Germany, 35 in Austria, 26 in Italy, and 18
in Spain, he may at any time be equal to the 100
millions which the monster empire in the East and
the monster republic in the west may within a cen-
tury muster up on either side to the detriment of
the liberties of Europe. That mere hint at the vast
growing power of Russia and America, and their
possible co-operation in the forthcoming crisis of the
Ottoman empire, constitutes the most serious
point in the Emperor's Circular, although it greatly
qualifies his sanguine expectations about " the
appearance of the European horizon cleared of all
menacing eventualities." Should Europe, as it is
by no means improbable, he called upon to dispose
of that Eastern question which once more looms so
ominously before her in the distance, we shall, no
doubt, have good reason to congratulate ourselves
that " the nations of Central Europe should not re-
main parcelled out into so many different States,
without strength and without public spirit." What
the Emperor here unfolds is sound, generous, as
well as provident policy; it is in this mere glimpse
of the possibility of a federation of the Western and
Central European States in any emergency arising
from Eastern complications that lies the real import-
ance of this singular diplomatic document. Were
the hour of need at any time to come, the Emperor
might find out that it was hardly fair, if, as we are
unwilling to. believe, it had been intentional to leave
England altogether out of the future European con-
cert by him so cleverly planned. England, in all
probability, the Emperor thought, he was always
sure to have with him. The present Circular only
takes into consideration the modifications intro-
duced into the balance of power on the continent.
Between England and France there is nothing
changed. There are hardly any questions in the
West of Europe, and absolutely none in the East,
in which these two countries would not, in any con-
tingency, be called upon to act with as perfect an
accord as they did at the time of the Crimean war.
Far from feeling hurt, we are not even surprised at
the omission of England's name in M. de Lava-
lette's Note. There is nothing in its contents that
could naturally suggest the mention of this country.
Nothing has occurred for many years to cause any
estrangement between Great Britain and the Sove-
reign who, if he has- been consistent in anything,
has been decidedly so in his earnest desire to be at
peace and amity with the nation in the midst of
which he lived so long, and with whose character
he became so intimately acquainted. Neither, on
the other hand, do we feel inclined to put any
sinister construction upon what the Emperor says
about the " irresistible power which impels peoples
to unite themselves in great masses by causing
the disappearance of minor States," or about " an-
nexations dictated by an absolute necessity of unit-
ing to the country populations having the same
customs, the same national spirit as ourselves." The
Emperor has in repeated instances given the best
assurance of his good will towards the King of the
Belgians, and of his friendship and gratitude to the
Swiss Republic. He, we feel sure, harbours no evil
thoughts against the independence of those inoffen-
sive no less than defenceless neighbours. To impute
such designs to him is almost as wicked as it would
be on his part to entertain them.
DAILY NEWS.—Whatever difference of opinion
may exist on other points, it will be generally ad-
mitted that the Circular which bears the name of
the Marquis de Lavalette is one of the ablest State
papers with which the French Foreign-office has of
late years enriched diplomatic literature. We have
evidently in this document the most mature thoughts
of the Emperor of the French. The occasion was
too serious to admit of any delegation of responsi-
bility. In form the Circular is an explanation, of
French policy to the representatives of the Empire
abroad. In reality the Imperial writer throughout
addresses the French people, to reconcile them to
results which are in no sense the result of French
policy, but which, on the contrary, are distinctly
opposed to expectations not long since expresse,l by
M. Drouyn de l'Huys, the Emperor's late Minister
for Foreign Affairs. The Circular is a review of the
state of Europe as modified by the recent war, in-
troductory to the conclusion of the French Govern-
ment that there is nothing in the changes which have

taken place to require France to take up arms. When
1 the conclusion itself is so satisfactory we
are dis-
pensed from the necessity of examining minutely the
considerations from which it is drawn. Neverthe-
less, it is but fair to acknowledge that many of those
considerations are of a very exalted kind, and far
more wise, just, and liberal than much that we
have had to read during the last two months in the
French journals unfriendly to the Emperor. The
doctrine that the greatness of France does net re;
quire that her neighbours should be enfeebled, anu
that the real balance of power will be attained when
„
the wishes of the nations of Europe are satisfied, 1s
..
infinitely nobler than any political utterances r
have. had from M. Forcade, or expect from In. '
liners. The Circular represents the foreign 13°,11
of the Empire at its loftiest height. It might
easy to show historically that the generous compla-
cency which pervades it has not always been the
.actuating sentiment of the Imperial Governmentklr
its dealings with its neighbours ; nor, on the other
hand, is it necessary to ascribe to its declarationeh;
scope which there is no reason to suppose was in the
intentions of the author. If the Emperor were long'
ing forward into the future, and laying down of
ciples to guide a Regent during the minority of w
son, he could hardly bequeath a more valuable legal
than the pacific principles of foreign policy exPresa
in this Circular. In fact, however, it is a strictly.
occasional address, skilfully adapted to the feebegs,
and requirements of the hour. As such, it is nun",
stood and welcomed in Europe. It has been re-
marked in this country that no mention is made °f
~
England in this Circular, and we expect every ua'a
to receive from our correspondent at Wiesbaden tit
comments of his German friends on the omission' al
may be pointed out, however, that the Imperial
writer is professedly discussing the territorial ar..
,
rangements of the Continent as they form erg
affected France, and as they have been altered 1r
the recent Prussian victories. We had no partial' 0
interest in the maintenance of the Duchy of 1%135°1
and the Electorate of Hesse, or those other interl
arrangements of Germany which the Emperor fob,
so irksome, and which he is glad to see reformed 4
the aggrandisement of Prussia. We did not belong ~
that great coalition which it seems is only just broke'
up, but which we had thought was effectually 61.,e;
stroyed at least ten years ago; and so we escape exult
cism. If, however, any are disposed to insist ~tba,
England ought to have been referred to in this Abe
cular, perhaps they may find satisfaction in 0%,
remark, which can only be intended for UR, that . e
the Baltic, as in the Mediterranean, are growl%
up navies of the second rank, which are favourable
to the freedom of the seas." The freedom 0f 'in
seas is eminently a British interest. How far it w
be promoted by the Prussian Baltic fleet, which wag
ao
yesterday put out of commission or by the Italia
fleet, which is in a case to require reconstruction,
remains to be seen. The most serious obstaclee.:
bl the freedom of the seas are the foolish ideas
ah e
boured by jealous politicians who have not been
oia
`to comprehend that every State requires freedt
of commercial exchange for the development °ll,io
interests. The Emperor of the French has sue al,
himself personally superior to this prejudi▪ ce, hio
though he has not been able to give full effect te„,e,
enlightened convictions in the legislation of Bra'4A,e
note .on
It is satisfactory from this point of view to
conclusion of a treaty of commerce and navlgarifi.
securing to British vessels in Prussia the same P ro
leges as are enjoyed by Prussian vessels in the Peal,
e
of this country. If there is any State whi▪
ch dis
French Circular is calculated at first glance 0,0
quiet, it is perhaps Belgium. The Emperorobse,
that the secondary States of Europe are disaPPiearto
ing before the tendency of the peoples to %cif
themselves in great masses in order to place ti.o,
common interests under more efficacious gual:an' tip.
This is a mere remark, nothing more, and it is .eavea
factoryto observe that the reasons which are assignot
for the recent absorption of smaller States d.° are
apply in this case. Both France and Prussia' ian
too powerful to require the destruction of Begtoo
nationality for their own aggrandisement, an.'„ io•
just to make the Belgian people feel that theirs
terests are not sufficiently protected by their
institutions and the public law of Europe.

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