The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-20 00:00:00

LOUIS NAPOLEON SKETCHED BY

CAT'OETR.

(From the Quay terly Review.)
Of the character and policy of Louis Napoleon he was
accustomed to speak ,with much freedom. No one had
better opportunities than Cavour of sounding their depths.
He was the only living man who had ventured to grapple
with him face to face, and who had used him for his pur-
pose. The estimate he had formed of his capacity was not
a high on, but he fully admitted his fertility of resource,
his physical and moral courage, and his knowledge of the
people he governs. "He has no definite policy," he re-
marked to an English friend. "He has a number of poli-
tical ideas floating in his mind, none of them ma-
tured. They would seem to be convictions founded
upon instinct. He will not steadily pursue any single idea
if a serious obstacle presents itself, but will give way, and
tike up another, This is the mot do l'enigme' to his
policy. It is by steadily keeping this in view that I have
succeeded in thwarting his designs, or in inducing him to
adopt a measure. The only principle—if principle it cant
be called—which connects together these various ideas, is.
the establishment of his dynasty and the conviction that
the best way to secure it is by feeding the national
vanity of the French people. He found France,
after the fall of the Orleanist and Republican Govern-
ments, holding bnt a second place amongst the great,
Powers; he has raised her to the very first. Look at his
wars, look at his foreign policy ; he has never gone one step
beyond what was absolutely necessary to attain this one
object. The principle ostentatiously put forward in the first,
instance has been forgotten or discarded as soon as his im-
mediate end has been accomplished. It was so in the war
with Russia ; it has been so in the war with Austria. In
the Crimea he was satisfied with the success of his army in.
the capture of Sebastopol, which took from the English
troops the glory they had earned by their devotion and
courage, and to which they would have added had the war
continued. In the struggle with Austria he was astounded
by the greatness of the victories of Magenta and Solferino..
The military glory of France had been satiated, and he
thought no _more of the liberty of Italy, of that free and
unitel nation which he was to have called into existence•
from the Alps to the Adriatic.
"It is this uncertain policy, guided by dynastic and sell--
fish considerations, which makes him so dangerous to your
and which renders it necessary that you should ever be on
your guard. Not that he is hostile to England, or that he
has any definite design against her. On the conatrnary, he
has much affection for your country.. He
is
a man
ge-
nerous impulses, and has strong feingo him.gr At the
to-
wards those who have served and befriended
t tenth Italiane
kindness freedom
earliest recollections bound o greatlyu nd up attachedwith her .to
II e Italy.is to bottom of his heart
ahree
day
a o'
hatred and
Hinehhisasdneositreforfgoor
hospitality shown to him when an exile in England. He
ef ar bon
Austria.a ro
admires your institutions and the character of the English
people. But all this is as nothing when compared with the
maintenance of his dynasty, the establishment of which ho
looks upon almost in the light of a i eligious obligation. if
the moment came when he thought a sacrifice necessary
to sustain it, however great that sacrifice might be, how-
ever painful or repugnant to his feelings, he would make
it.

" No one has had better opportunities of knowing him
than I have. He has talked to me with the greatest open-
ness of his future plans. But he has invariably assured me
at the same time that his first object was to maintain peace
and good understanding with England. I believe," he
solemnly added, "that from policy as well as from affection
such are his views ; and that only in a moment of the ut-
most emergency, when he was convinced that his influence
in France depended upon it, would he depart from them.
But that moment may come, and you would be madmen if
, you were not prepared for it."
motives
it to no distinct policy, but rather to a varietrpoulf it,„ ho
As regards the Peace of Villafranca, Cavour. fattributed
" There is no profound secret or mystery b
had added suf-
considered design. Two splendid victorises
said, "it was rather an impulse than the
The horrible
ficiently to the glory of the French arbo•ttle had made a
~..n.. ho hod witnessed vu the field
fltoinuch disgust at the
deep impreasion upon him. e
llho we ere sacrificing the hon-
quarrels amongst his generals, result of any well-
nwl jalousies. Then there
our of their country to
His exertions and the
• deed he did everything..
p• His health was
himself ;in • were amezia=•
fatigue he went through
__
1i had had enough of campaign-
beginning to give way. e amdous to get back to Paris,
were the heat, the clut, anlxidscthea labour, for he did not spare
ing and its hardships, andwasttid
poweilu
ate Emperor as his uncle
legitim . ... . , .
dealing in person f ‘fmposing, without consulting
had done before him, o eace, and of earning at the
any conditions of p a
To add to. all this rwhiethcao
.n.ot resist the temptation of
any one, the
his generosity and moderation, the gra-
titude,same time, y
eventual support, of a still'
enemy. These various motives and
though vanquishedther led him to abandon the great cause
in which he had embarked, and to forget the proclamations,
the promises, and the hopes of the day before."
and pbe-Ihahpsis
Cavour was convinced that the difficulties of an attack
upon the Quadrilateral had been exaggerated He believed
that the fortresses would have soon fallen. The result of
subsequent inquiries made by the Austrian
an Government
itself into the state of Mantua and Verona fully confirmed
his opinion. After the fatal day
seized the Austrian army. The
It of the battle was first
gained over.
a panic had
without the necessary guns
!mown in Verona by a vast
of which the troops had been o
followers blocking up thel • into the city. The
gates leading
greatest disorder prevailed forts, which were
even in the •
and ammunition, and in some
At the same
.
number of soldiers and camp
time the inhabitants of the city were ready to rise. It is
believed that Louis Napoleon was not unacquainted with
these facts, and that hepurged them upon the Emperor of
Austria at Villafranca to obtain his acceptance of the con-
-1 ditions of peace.
___.---

SIIIPWRECK AND Loss of Two LIYES.—The
brigantine Nymph, of iheenock, Captain Clark, from Loch-
carron to Newcastle, was driven ashore at the entrance to
Loch Inshart, on, the morning of the 10th inst., during a
heavy gale from. the north-west. On the vessel striking,
the crew, whieb. consisted of two men and the captain, took
to the boat, which almost immediately capsized. The cap-
tain fortanately again got hold of her keel, to which he
clung for about two hours, until rescued by some people
from the shore who observed him. He was then in an
almost insensible state, but has now recovered under the
kind treatment he received from those who were the means
of saving his life ; but his two unfortunate companions were
drowned. Their bodies have been recovered, arid respectably
interred under the direction of Mr. George Low)
Lloyd'N, who has taken charge of the wreck", agent for