New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-10-04
TIE EMPEROR OF TIE FRENCH.

TIL IufLAULA Of lhE II " ~
Louis Napoleon's journey 70 the South
Of France seems-af.cr all deductions are
made for official Iying-to be attended BY
a greater degree # popular enthusiasm
than either Of hi former tours since lie
las hal the grdndc nation 10 his pocket.
People have settled down into the convic
ton tina. he is likely 80 remain the estab-
li.hed ruler Of the land, The permanent
source Of place, patronage, and glory, and
they make haste 70 adulate him accord
ipgly. Even in the provinces where demo
critic an socialist ideos were thought to
have the deepest root. the shout Of p,re
rEmpereur greets his approach with al
most unanimous vociferation. LIS hardly
too much 20 say that The entire nation
bends It's neck as a foo stool for him 70
mount the throne. while tine number Ut
those who look on in manly and honorable
scorn al such seryility j. so small as scarcely
10 forns al exception. and even their ranks
are thiEned by the descriion Of occasional
traitor. Thus there i nothing in France
10 delay the assumption of tie high-souud-
ing title Of Emperor If the French by
the gambler, rouc. and adventurer. who
i've year ago could hardly command credit
for his dinner and whom the mass. even
Of Frcnclmtn, Justly regarded with no
other emotion than contempt.
Among all the instances Of great luck
and great crimes which vary the course of
history, it would be difficult to find par
allel for the sudden elevation of this man
to suOh q position. The former Napoleon
msy have outraged as boldly all sentiments
of right and duty, but he at least was able
to fling around his cts the halo Of daz.
cling exploits and Of genius. But if we
look for the antecedents of his copyist,
We meet " it'll nothing but low dissipation
and bair. Drained adventure. A reckless
gamestor he has been from the beginning;
a man of certain talent, Of good facul-
ty of silence and Of patience. with kind
Of courage, but without single quality of
head or heart to relieve the blackness of
his crimes, with nothing to give dignity to
his history or his character, but the fact
of the success he has achieved.
II is usual to attribute to that success
much higher value as a -pecimen Of STRAIT
ecy, and as s. ilfuly laid and we'll man
aged plot. than it deserves. and to attribute
to Bonsparte accordingly, the possession
of intellectual powers and resources oil
which he has otherwise given no evidence.
In our view the great, aud indeed the only
merit of the coup d'etat, lie, that it was
KEEP, secret till the moment for its execu-
tion. All the rest was matter of course.
A party Of desperate men, without princl
pie and without conscience, had control Of
the administration and the army OF France.
The time was approaching when the law
required them TO resign this advantage and
to retire not only into in.igniicance but in
to pecuniary embarrassment, exchanging
the pleasures of power and the means of
luxury and debauchery, which had become
a second nature, Tor obscurity and pos
sibly even for the scant diet and
limited amuscments of a debtors pris-
on. II was only natural that such
set of scoundrels should undertake
the coup d'stat, AMI with the army and
the Office holders at their command, and
great body Of influential citizens disposed
to support anything that promised to put
down Socialism and end agitation, III was
only natural that they should succeed. All
that was necessary was TO keep the
scheme secret till the right moment, and
then TO strike promptly and mercilessly.
Nor does the credit of the plot or Of its
triumph belong to Napoleon alone. Indeed,
there Is good reason for believing that on
the afternoon Of the I'd December, when
he returned from his ride on the Boule
wards, among the people of Paris, he
thought the scheme had failed, and In t1e
desperation Of the moment was only re.
strained from flight by the generals around
him, who were as deeply involved a, he,
and endowed with more frmness and per
slstance. And while 1t is clear that the
new Emperor is not the fool he was once
taken for by the world, it is equally clear
that he ha- never proved himself pos ,essed
Of the qualities which might enable him to
establish his dynasty and give permanence
to bis power or advantage to his nation.
How long he will continue to hold that