The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1865-03-24
abandons all them to save his own life
from danger, what language has power
to describe such deed?

poLEoN III. 1t was announced. several
years ago, that the Emperor Napoleon
III. was engaged upon life of julius
Caesar but we were not aware that it |
had been delivered to the printers-so
completely are we shut off from the rest |
Of the world-until it was so announced
in contemporary journal few mornings
since. The journal in question even
publishes the preface to the work, which
We regret We have not space to repub-
lish. 1t has been generally understood
that this work was designed to run
parallel between the character, exploits,
and times generally, of Julius Caesar and
the career. of the first Napoleon, and to
extend that parallel to the dynasty that
succeeded. The Cnsarean and the
Bonapartist maxims Of government are
shown to be the same; and, indeed, so
they arc, for they are the maxims of alb
solutism all the world over.
"In writing history" says the Impe-
rial historian, "what are the means to
ascertain the truth? The only way is to
follow the rules Of logic. Let us takeit
for granted at once that'great results are
always due to a great cause; never to a
small onc-in other words, an incident
Insignificant in appearance never leads
to great results without pre-existing
cause, which has allowed that small in
cident to achieve great result. A spark
does not create a great conAagration
unless it falls upon combustible mate
rials accumulated beforehand"
From such premises he infers that if
the Romans, for nearly thousand years,
always came forth from the severest
trials that any nation was ever subjected
to, superior to their adversarics, it was
because there was some general cause
which rendered them superior to their
enemies, and did not permit defeats and
partial causes to interrupt their sway
In the same way, if the Romans, after
having, under the influence of liberty,
ove,run and subdued nearly the
whole of the world then known,
have, since the time of Caesar, been prone
to slavery and serfdom in all their de-
grading forms, it is because there was q
general reason for it. cit is" says the
Emperor, because the wants and the
interests of society in labor required
other means to be satisfied" In Other
, words, the Roman people were no longe,
what they had been in bygone days.
The conquest of Greece, of the East
and Of Carthage, had let in flood o
, luxury and wealth which had utterly
corrupted the people. The civil wars o
q Scylla and Marius had given ample proc
, Of this before Julius Caesar came upor
! the stage. The people had begun t.
i think all about property, and no.
p thing about liberty; and it is me
i, lancholy truth, illustrated by thou
sand modern examples, that when tn
y love of money has once gained the as
= cendant, every evil that can flow from
Il total deprivation Of manners is but to
apt to follow. If Caesar had not take
. upon himselfto be master of Rome, some
BODY else would have done so-som
II one among the many military chiefs VIII
who were always hanging about tn
- Republic, full of ambition and talen
4 and always on the lookout for an oppo
St tunity to push their own fortunes. Sue
# thing as the dictatorship Of Cas:
-, could not have occurred in Rome tv
~ hundred years before, while the Repul
,s lie was engaged in its desperate strugg
10 with Carthage. That it could occur no
~ was owing to no fault of Caesar himse
He did not mould the fashion of Il
\. times. lie took advantage Of >circun
~ stances which he saw gathered to b
.. hand. That was all. Foolish Repub
% can writer's have raved against him b
~. cause he destroyed the liberties Of /
II country. Brutus drew his dagger
~ him upon that pretext. The fact is. the
~ were no liberties for him to destroy.
-. They had vanished long before his da
~ He merely entered and. took possessi
where he found the house vacant.