, 1865-01-31
From the Spectator, December II.
PARTISAN POLITICS.

WOulu pei lIdj'S SCuANOIJ LIN SNAS'N'N
in France implies ennui, and ennm in
France produces change, and change in
France involves the general disturbance
of the peace of the world, that peace
which we are all preserving so diligently
at the price Of keeping some 8 per cent.
of the adult males Of Europe out of taxes
levied from the remainder. The quietude,
too, is enforced by means which make
observers more doubtful of the future of
the Empire than they have ever been
before. 1t seems TO them that the in
creasing years Of the Emperor and his
long habit Of power and success are de-
teriorating his mind, inducing him to do
the easiest instead of the wiSest things,
TO release his own subordlnateS from
control instead Of liberatlng the nation.
Incident after incident has occurred with
in the past month tending to exasperate
the general sense of decomposition, the feel
ing that the "Empire' implies a system
which requires daily compensation in
riches, or glory, or pleasure. The two
leading tendencies Of the Imperial regime,
towards autocracy and towards socialism,
have both been manifested this month
with more than usual cle&rness, aud the
one has not, as it so often does, compen-
stated for the other. The little letter
sent by the Emperor TO NJ. de Persigny
to rebuke him for wishing for a modica-
tion in the Press laws excessively irrita-
ted the thoughtful section of French poll
ticianS. 1t was not that the act was I'M
acceptable in itself; writing France is
rather pleased to see NJ. de Persigny
snubbed, and Paris is not sorry that the
snub should have been provoked by the
gentleman who now signs himself Emile
tie Girardin. But the incident proved
that the Emperor himself had dislike of
freedom of speech, that he had no more
intention of freeing the Press than the
most compromised of his followers, that
the faint desire for freedom which once
modified his autocracy was slowly dying
out. Then came the trial of the Thir-
teen, which was accepted, we think, evil
IDENTIFY as a direct blow leveIled by the
Government at its own raiS0n d6tre. A
ruler who Processes to reign as the Elect
Of the People, TO guide the consciences
of electors as well as the course of policy,
should when the guiding has all been
done leave opponents free 10 mlsguide if
they have the power. Instead of so do
ing the Government actually made the
formation Of an electoral committee a
penal offence, and announced through its
agents that the lenity of preceding Co.
vernments in such matters had produced
their fall. ave do not intend to fall"
In other words, despotic supervision over
elections is to continue, and the crown
ing of the edifce in this direction to be
indefinitely postponed. Such ap assu-
rance destroys the intellectual charm of
the Empire,-the idea that it is only a
solidlfying process, a furnace out of
which the clay will emerge perfect in
form, brilliant in colour, eternal durabi-
lily. The clay is never 10 be considered
sufficiently burnt, and people who are
waiting for pipkins feel all that irritation
which a small modicum Of hope would
assuage. They are getting hopeless, and
the despair Of Frenchmen is not an emo
ton which any Government Of France
eau do we'll to encounter. The trial Of
the Thirteen was hardly over when the