The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-21 00:00:00

THE EMPEROR OF THE F.REACH.

Public opinion in England is too well acquainted
with the propensity of French Imperialism to
sudden transformations and theatrical surprises, to
make a financial collapse which was inevitable for
a political conversion which is impossible. The
Ethiopian has not yet changed his skin, and the
Empire is not yet Peace. Every form of govern-
ment, like every human institution, has qualities
which account for its being, and for whatever
chances of duration it possesses; but there is
always a leaning on one side or the other, and in
the absence of any resisting force, whichever way
the fabric leans it will sooner or later fall. The
leaning of French Imperialism is certainly not
on the side of peace, liberty, or economy. These
are the characteristics of a limited and re-
sponsible government, in which the civil element
prevails, and under which men say the
thing they will ; not of a government all the
forces of which ale practically centred in one
man's sovereign caprice, and which has six hundred
thousand bayonets to keep from rusting. It is amus-
ing and edifying enough to see an all but omnipotent
ruler making his people a partner in his difficalties,
and generously giving them full leave to pay his
debts. The reclaimed prodigal is not too nicely
judged; only in the present case it is the family
that has eaten the husks, while the prodigal has
been devouring any number of fatted calves. A new
loan is only a calf the more added to that consider-
able consumption of cattle. The commercial and
mercantile world, then, is willing to take the recent
penitential litanies in France for what they are
worth, and, as in charity bound, to hope all things
and believe all things, and to expect nothing but
a loan. Wha new spirit M. Fould's Menzoire,
and the return to office of a discarded Minister
" through a triumphal arch," may infuse into the
deliberations of the Senate and the debates of the
Corps Legislatif, is an interesting problem. It

may be that the friendly openness -of M. Fould
and the generous humility of his master may have
so disarmed the independent criticism of the
Chambers that even hostile voices will join the
chorus of gratitude for favours to come, and a
Budget in whioh " the Unforeseen" will form the
largest chapter will be voted with accla-
mation, if not with tears of trustful devotion.
The members of the Imperial Chambers are
men of feeling as well as men of figures, and as
cold lookers on we are disposed to tremble for the
rigour of their consciences in the face of such an
affecting appeal to the tenderness of their hearts.
It may be well to beware of exaggerating the in-
fluence of the financial situation, as disclosed by M.
Fould, upon the future course of the Empire. The
new Minister of Finance, beyond all question, is a
man of peace, of business, and of moderation, and
we are loth to apprehend that as soon as he has
completed the operation he is called in for his occu-
pation will be gone. But to frighten the patient
is not to cure a disease so deepseated as the finan-
cial disorder of the Empire ; and here we have a
patient who is probably not half so frightened as
he looks. The shameless spendthrift becomes the
unblushing insolvent, and the heir to large estates
will sell his very soul to any lawyer who will find
him in pocket money when he has made havoc of
all his " expectations." It is obvious that M. Fould
must make a solitude of the Imperial palaces and
purlieus before he can cut or cauterize away the
rank disease that.has preyed on the vitals of France
for the last ten years. Perhaps he will be content
to have facilitated by his Memorial and his mea-
sures an indispensable transaction, and adminis-
tered some passing relief to the public mind in a
difficult and dangerous season.
How, then, will the political situation of the Em-
pire at home and abroad be effected by this confes-
sion of sins followed by the customary form of ab-
solution P At home it may be imagined that the
prestige of the Government will suffer ; the silent
and invisible censorship of opinion will be-
come more and more vigilant and searching ;
public speech will wax bolder and bolder; and
the empire will cease to be considered even
by the timorous and selfish classes a necessary evil.
To argue thus is to know very little of our neigh-
bours in the mass, or of the Government which
sways by pandering to all follies and all passions,
or of the magnificent resources of the land, the in-
dustry, and the labour of France. The Emperor
must and will find means of suppressing Socialistic
theories by converting them into realities at the
cost of the State. H e roust and will find bread
and pay, and shows, for the population that subsists
on public works. He must go on pulling down and
building up streets, and piercing strategic roads
through the cities. He must be a second Provi-
dence, against whom neither the inclemency of the
seasons nor the visitation of nature, neither drought
nor dearth nor inundations can prevail. Imperialism
must live and move and have its being in a vast
army trained and taught to worship the hereditary
saintship of Napoleon, and to regard all Europe as
its camp of glory. To suppose a sincere reduction
of the French army under the Empire is to suppose
that it is net the one great object of the Emperor of
the French to keep his throne.
Without seeking to disparage, therefore, the good
intentions of M. Fould, it may be prudent to hold
our congratulations in reserve. But there is yet
another consideration which appears to impose re-
straint upon our hopes, and that is the foreign
policy of the Empire.
It is pleasant to anticipate a time when the

foreign policy of the Empire will not be of a nature
to excite the attentive anxiety of Europe. But
this unrest which swells the armaments and the
estimates of neighbouring Powers is not simply,
a Napoleonic tradition ; it is the essence of Napo-
leonism. The substance of M. Fould's memorial
was evidently known to his Imperial Master many
weeks since, and the calculations upon which it
based cannot but have been long familiar to that
mysterious mind. Yet there is reason to believe
that, after holding out all manner of half-hopes to
half a dozen nationalities, the arbiter of Europe,
having the fear of M. Fould before his eyes, had
Ratazzireflaerertivioend.
silently. premeditated another Villafranca disap-
ipnoreetdbaerfiosrees
a M.
serious inThPeareism e art
present Here
et
present is assuredly not rich enough to pay for its
own glory, and there is only one country in the
world that could repay on the spot the cost of a
victorious campaign ; and that is precisely the coun-
try which is the least favourable object of aggres-
sion. A financial crisisis no specific against war ;
and the might of evil dreams arising from domestic
difficulties is apt to drive crowned heads into the
field. Now, without actually rushing into war,
cannot some active employment be found for a rest-
less army P Occupation and moral influence are all
that the soldiers of a Liberator ask from their
brethren of the Latin race. If report speaks truly,
it is to some arrangement of this kind that M.
Ratazzi has lent an ear. France would thus com-
bine the advantages of peace and war, and Italy
would fill up the measure of her obligations by
serving as the wash-pot of the empire. We shall
see what the Italians have to say to this part of the
new Imperial programme.—Daily News.