The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-05-11
The NapoleOnic Dynasty.

from the HerdLd.
There is no doubt of the fact that, at the
present moment, the position of the Emperor
Napoleon is more critical and precarious than
it has been at any period since the foundation
of the empire; and that from without and
within influences seem to be concentrating
towards him which he may find too powerful
to ward off, and which may result in his
removal from the throne. When, in his
famous Bordeaux speech, the Emperor de-
clared that "the empire was peace" the sove-
reigns of Europe frightened at the revolution
which in AS had swept like a tornado over
the Continent, were willing to compromise
their antipathy for the parUenu who had seized
the Teins Of power, for the prospect of quiet
which the empire and the Emperor pro
missed. 1t is not to be supposed that the
Hapsburgs, or the Romanofs, or the Hohen-
zollerns, or even the sciOns OF the House of
Hanover, with their inborn ideas of legitimacy
and ''divine right" were willing to accept the
admittance into their anointed family OF
man who acknowledged his position as quite
as much the result of ''the national
will' as of the "grace of God, excepting as
a choice between two evils. On the one side
presented itself the propect of anarchy and
revolution riding roughshod over tottering
thrones and among flying monarchs; on the
other the promise of peace" and the great
influence OF France to preserve it. The newly
made Emperor would, they hoped, be satisfied
with the limits of French territory as they then
existed, and abandon, if he had previously en-
tertained, any ambitious projects of aggran-
dizement, and would generally, aware Of the
tckleness of the French people, seek, as he
had promised, to turn their minds from the
pursuit OF arms to the conQuests made by
peaceful labor, and to join with the other
Powers IN maintaining and preserving the
tranquility of Europe.
But what was the fact Two mighty wars
soon followed the inauguration of the ''peace-
! iul' empire, in both of which France, although
not attacked or directly interested, took part.
The ambitious designs of the exile in America,
| and Switzerland, and England, the projects
conceived and nursed by the prisoner in his
lonely cell at Ham, had only been postponed,
not abandoned. The doctrines of 'nationali-
ties" and natural boundares'-as danger
GUS TO the other European powers in some
cases, as they might be satisfactory in others
were lnaugurated, and France, pushing her
boundaries southwark to the crest of the Alps.
has exhibited also disposition to advance
them eastward to the borders of the Rhine
The treaties which bound old Europe the En-
peror Napoleon has declared broken by the
IOrce OF events, and unworthy of respect, and
Europe, IN return, convinced that there is no
romance TO be placed upon the Emperor's
} promises, is disappointed at the result of the
empire, which, instead of ensuring stability,
mas Kept the Continent in a continual state OF
alarm and fear of war. Europe is satisfied
tRa1 so long as Napoleon occupies the throne
OF France there viii be no security for peace
and Europe is ready, if not fully prepared, tC
coalesce against him. as it did against his
uncle.
In France, as well as out of it, Napoleon has
S lost much of his reputation. He came into
, power with the prestige of a great name
: Prompt in action and reticent in speech, he
: acquired a reputation for judgment and ability
t amounting almost to faith in his infallibility
The lucky star which, after guiding the uncl,
i to victory, had set behind the rocky sleeps a
h ST. Helena, had, it was believed, risen agar
i to light the nephew to a brilliant future, o
d which France should share the glory. Lavisl
o promises of much needed reforms were made
and France, delighted with universal suffrag
,t the empires gift-accepted the empire witt
10 JOY But France has been disappointed.
< has discovered that the Emperor is after al
1t but mortal and liable, like other men, t
es errors Of judgment, and costly ones at that