The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1855-02-09

1S14V n
parte.
Evidently the two leading personagee Of
europe at this moment are Nicholas R1mAnofr
md Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. Arssnd these
'wo men all the wcbs Of European diplomacy
re wound. They are the oonjurors, the other
.ings and statesmen the puppets of the great
puppet show, in which that miserable
orokenkneed puppet tho Sultan is being bodied
up and down just now and . number Of other
in red and bae coats are being KNOCKED
about and choked off and chopped up on the
CriEea, all for the. entertainment and reerea-
tien Of the c0njuY ors aforesaid.
There are meyi Of pastoral habits and highly
he East is an English affair, and that England
is leading tie van; who fancy because Canso.
bert writes short business like letters and
makes NO fuss, while Lord Raglan's camp h.s
already been the birthplace Of several volumes,
hat the English are doing all the work, aud
The French nothing. This is q fallacy, though
probably not a popular one. Hitherto, the
English have Done but one thing in the Eas,
and that has been to die bravely. Their gene
ralship has been throughout inferior to that Of
the French. Their officers have shown theu-
selves rs a rule to be utterly ignorant of their
trade, and have done their best to aid cold, dis
ease, and hunger in killing of the men. Their
dreadful losses at Iukermann were wholly
caused by their own carelessness-a careless
ness 80 wanton as to be almost incredible.
Their Encouragement since then has been
more destructive than half q dozen battlss.
All this time the French have been quiet,
careful, business like. They have lost no men
from cold or disease. They have not been sur
prised in their tents. When they have fought
it has been according to rule, and system, AID
consequently though they have not had tie
same opportunities for the display Of bravery a
the English, they have accomplished muc,
more effectually the object for which they wer.
sent out. When the final tug of war comes
the presumption is very strong that the French
will do the work.
The armies are fair emblems of the nations.
In the scramble of European politics, Gre.t
Britain yields to the lead of France just q
Lord Raglan sends to Canrobert for guidance
help, and men. Napoleon directs; Victoria
follows. Drouyn de pHuys answers the Gear;
Lord John Russell adopts his views, and writes
accordingly. The one master mind Of Paris
conceives the turbulent masses in England
receive the idea as though it were their own,
and proceed forthwith to execute it. England
is tickled with the notion that the safety of
her East India possessions and above all her
honor require her to fight the Gear: France
knows that the battle Of Continental supre-
macy must be fought at one time or other, and
on her neighbor to help her fight it now.
A singular contrast these two men-Nicholas
and Napoleon! Over the cradle of the one
rung the shrieks Of his murdered father, stab
bed, as there is every reason to suppose by
another Of his sons. The other was born
within q few weeks after his father
and mother had separated, and before the pain
Of the act had passed away from the mind Of
the gentle Hortense. Nicholas was nothing
but a soldier for many years; a child at the
burning of Moscow, q boy at the capture Of
Paris. Louis Napoleon lived in obscurity till
the magic Of his name became formidable to
the Papal government, and then he was arrested
and exiled. But at manhood both began the
active career for which they were intnnaAd
Nicholas a. All ambitious Emperor, Louis Ma
poleon as n ambitious parvenu. The first
act Of the one was to crush . conspiracy at
st. Petersburg; Of the other, to head q conspi-
racy at Ferrara. Nicholas succeeded: Napo-
leon failed. A little later, we find them again
in the same position-Nicholas assailed by a
conspiracy in Poland, Napoleon leading a con.
spiracy against France, with precisely the
sam result. Again, . few years later, the
Cars whole soul is in the work Of crushing
out rebels within his dominions, as tri1m.
phantly as ever; and the exile's whole soul is
in the daring scheme of regaining his lost
France, as hopelessly as ever. Twenty long
years passed over before the tide Of fortune
seemed to change; but it did at last. For the
first time in his life Louis Napoleon succeeded
in his object, and became President of France.
Almost, we may say, for the first time in his
life, Nicholas failed In what he attempted he
could not become Protector Of Turkey.
This was the point where the two mems des-
TIMES seemed to converge; a long train Of
failures ending in success raising the one to
the point where q long train Of successes end
ing in failure haf. placed the other. Hence
forth, they were Inevitable foes. Nicholas Of.
fected to despise the parvenu. Napoleon despised
no one, he had learnt too much for that. he
tried to conciliate his powerful rival, but fall
ed. After this, the only possible solution Of
the problem was by war, and it is begun.
The Eastern war will decide whether Nicholas
or Napoleon is to be the master Of continental
Europe. Nicholas has the advantage Of a long
line of ancestry and hereditary prestige-al-
ways potent with half civilized nations pow
erful acmy-an immense population ready to
serve him-an inaccessible country. Napoleon
has on his side the advantage Of q highly in