Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-12-19

l DeQitIOn to Mexico Wllcn nave appeared
/ IN the Revue Contemporaries, from the
| pen Of M. de Keraty, Is now published in
/ a separate volume entitled L EieUdtiOH
| a Ia Chute dc PElIlpersbg' IHIrjHlitjd1l.
/ These papers were read with interest
when they first appeared. and IN their
1 present form. will not command less at
Iention from being UsheTed into the
world by preface from NJ. Provost Par
/ adOl.
/ The three great events Of recent times,
/ the unity Of Germany, the unity Of Italy
and the Mexican expedition, NJ. Provost
/ PAradol attributes 10 the same cause
| personal government particularly
I Tbe last mentioned. Far the idea of a
| constitutional sovereign cOmmuning
! with responsible ministers is substituted
I that OF a sovereign musiBg over his
designs in the silence OF his closet, or
I giving himself up to his solitary reve-
ries, then issuing his orders 10 ministers
I isolated IN their obedience and depend
ent on him only; and lastly, sub
mittiug % The Judgment Of the
representatives of the nation enterprises
contemplated or TrevOcably entered
upon, which only serve as matter tor
/ grateful thanks or patriotic regrets"
/ The opinions OF NJ. Theirs on German
unity and Italian unity were set forth in
/ his speeohes in the legislative body last
session, and it is evident that they are
shared by NJ. Provost ParadUl. No
responsible Cabinet, he aifirms, whether
republican or monarChical, could ever
have conceived, prepared and rendered
inevitable the war Of 1859, such as NJ
| Cavour described in his correspondence.
/ No responsible Cabinet would have ia
vored the designs Of M. Bismarck in the
| hope OF deriving advantage from them,
or would have refused the proposals of
England to prevent the dismem beTmeDU
Of the Danish monarchy. Bat u no
instance is the effect Of personal govern
ment more patent than in the attempt
to found a throne in Mexico and seat an
Austrian Prince upon it. Italian unity
and Prussian supremacy have not yet
produced all their consequences, whereas
! the Mexican enterprise is definitely
closed, aud therefore may be better
| Judged. There is another difference be-
tween them. The Italian enterprise
found in France a good number Of parti-
sans, and, complicated rs il Is with the
religions question, { divides public opin-
ion but, at any rate, il is not disavOWed
by the whole nation.
The supremacy of Prussia in Germany
is considered with less indulgence, and
the faults so visible and sOa freely com
mitted which have given birth it are
generally condemned, though it must, at
the same time, be admitted that a GER
tain number of Fuenchmsn, imbued
with the doctrines about the natiOnali-
ties and the necessary formation Of great
States at the expense of small ones, ae-
cept Prussian greatness aud German
unity.
But the Mexican expedition has absO-
lutely nothing to recommend it, and Of
those three events IL is the one which
most exposes and condemns the system
of personal government. Setting aside
other causes for embarking ia that enter /
prise, the capital error was the false judg-
nent passed Oy the French Government
as 10 the issue OF tAs civil war in the
United States of America. Had that
war not broken out, or had the Emperor
toreseen the triumph of the Northern
States, the notion of setting up a throne
10 Mexico would never have entered his
bead. The apparent revolution of the
United States was at the bottom OF the |
Mexican enterprise, and this error is ex-
planned by the disposition of people 10
hope for what they desire. The destruc
ton Of a republican government by sui
eide seemed TO the French Government |
to be an excellent augury as well as a
good example to those who represent a |
dictatorship as the necessary accOmpani- /
ment and browning of democracy.
The motives Of England for wishing
the ruin OF America were not Of more
exalted kind ~
England, yielding to the very natural /
joy Of witnessing the destruction, by her
own hand, Of 3 rival already become for !
midable, and protected at its birth by
the flag of France, also hoped what she |
desired aud shared The opinion Of the |
Govern nIeft as tdltbe issue Of the civil /
war. But7While this error, ezeusabIe on
both sides, only led the English Govern I
ment to await, with maIevOlent neutral /
ity toward the North, the result of
events, the same error opened for the |
French Government the mysterious gate
through which dreams pass, and the /
dreamy imagination which decides on /
our destinies hsd full career.
While England was pursuing this eau
tious policy the French Government 1
boldly entered upon its enterprise, which /
promised The regeneration OF the Latin |
race, ths erest tloh Of an eqiIili briurn --Of a
barrier opposed to the encroachment of |
the Anglo Saxon race, mines and pre-
ciOus metals, etc. But for whom was |
this crown Intended On whose head |
was It to be placed? NJ Provost Para
dol says:
On the brow OK another dreamer. /
whom ambition, disappointed up to that |
msment, ana an exaggerated idea of his
own power, disposed for adventures.
Born upon the steps Of the throne, enam- |
ortd Of mOnarchical grandeur, greedy of |
popularity, placed by destiny at an equal /
distance from the position Of head of an 1
empire and that of leader of q revolution, |
with taste for both, and sgitating be- |
tween both, kept thus in a sort Of impo. |
tence, embarrassed in more ways than /
one, and persuaded that fortune had ia |
store for him some magnificent surprise, |
the Archduke Maxmiliau faDcied he |
perceived his destiny, and obeyed it by .
accepting the fatal git.
TRNNESsFE, TTRms