The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-09-03

any price" was its motto, and it acted
mp to that motto. When M. Theirs had
brought his country TO the verge of war with
most of Europe on the Eastern question, Louis
Philippe got rid of him, and M. Guizot was
placed at the head of affairs till 1848, when
monarch and monarchy and minister were in
vOlved in the ruin effected by the revolution
of February. A French republic was esta-
blshed, which had a sickly existence of
almost four years, when it was overthrown
by its own President, who made himself Napo-
leon Ill. The bitterest enemy of the Emperor
must admit that he has done much for
France. He made her a great nation once
more, and secured for her the leadership
of Europe. His part in the Russian war
was a great one; and at the Congress of
Paris Q856) his moral supremacy was ad-
mitted. His part in the Italian war
also was great, and led to the overthrow of
Austria, and to the ruin of the plan she had
formed of making Italy one of her depen-
dencies. He increased the territory of France;
and the material warfare of his subjects has
been much promoted by his action. Never
were the French so ''well off, as they are
under his rule. Had he not entered into the
Mexican business, under the mistaken notion
that the secession war had ruined this coun-
try, his power could not have been shaken;
but that was fatal to his honor, and it may
prove equally fatal to his power. He behaved
in the meanest manner when he abandoned
the Archduke Maximilian, to whom he had
pledged his full support and on the impe-
rial head should the archducal blood be.
Russia was the first of powers in 1884. She,
though half an Asiatic power at the least,
lOrded it over Europe at that time, and Car
Nicholas was then much stronger than was
Napoleon III in 1S65-for he was strong in all
the strength of legitimacy as well as with all
the strength of cannon, whereas the French
man is not legitimate sovereign, but an ad-
VentuTer, who may be made to disappear at
any moment He set himsel against revolu-
tiOn everywhere, and behaved with the great
est insolence towards everybody. He took the
lead in destroying the independence of Cracow,
he crushed the Hungarians when they were
about to crush the House of Austria and he
sought to make the Sultan surrender the men
who had eaten of his bread and salt, and thus
do violence to sentiments that were ancient as
long ago as when Abraham lived in his tent
on the Plains of Mamre. So that when he
made violent attack on the Sultan in 1853,
under religious pretenses, all thoughtful men
were glad to see him boldly met by Turkey,
by France, by England, and by Sardinia
and also they were glad to see his armies
beaten, Sebastopol laid in ruins, and his fleet
sunk beneath the waters of Euxine. The lead
Russia had held for forty years after the fall of
Napoleon was at an end, and Nicholas died
of modification. Since then Russia has be-
haved better, though none can speak well of
her arbitrary conduct towards the Poles, who
have made efforts to regain their nationality,
but in vain. Russia defed French interven-
tion in their behalf, and put down Napoleon
III as summarily as England had refused his
proposition for the meeting of General Con-
gress. But the Car has emancipated the
serfs, a proceeding the Importance of which
will be better comprehended by men of the
future than by contemporaries. Tout est
Opttque," says a clever Frenchman, meaning
that we do not, because we cannot, under
stand the value of what we witness. Russia is
now devoted to material improvement, and is
extending her power in Central Asia. Italy,
once ''the lone mother of dead empires,' has
risen from her dust in this generation. The
little sub-Alpine kingdom of Sardinia has be-
come the great kingdom of Italy, which in
cludes even Sicily; and we have seen King
and Grand Dukes and Dukes, not a few, de-
throned there, while most of the Pope's tenn
poral possessions have been taken from him,
and he is in danger of being stripped of the
little that is left him. Nothing but French
protection has kept him in Rome since he re-
turned to that city. This extraordinary change
the world owes to Cavour, Garibaldi, Victor
Emanuel II, and Napoleon Ill. Cavour was
the first of statesmen, and his death was
the saddest of the generation; and Carl
baldi's life and achievements belong to the
so real. Germany has astonished the
world. In '34 she was as drowsy as Barba-
rossa in his cave. In '4S she behaved her
self frantically. In sc she vaulted to the first
place in Europe. This was the consequence of
the exertions of Count Bismark, chief Minister
of Prussia. The story is too recent to require
more than the merest allusion. The North
German Confederation has been created, and it
is but the first step in movement that will
lead to the creation of new German Empire,
at the head of which will be the Prussian
royal family, the House of Hohenzollern.
Austria had been SO weakened by the struggle
of lS4S-9, and by the war of 1859, that
Prussia defeated her, though she was backed
by large part of Germany; and by the
same means Prussia took the first place from
France, which that country so resents that she
seems to be bent on getting up Prussian
war, as she has united with Austria to put
stop to Prussian progress. Austria, after
expressing Hungary for years, has "made up"
with her, and empire and kingdom have been
reconciled, and embrace so affectionately that
you are led to believe they mean to hate
each other for ever. Belgium, which began
Its national existence but short time before
the opening of this generation, has made I'M
mense material progress, and would be content
were she not in constant fear of being 'gobbled
III" by either Prussia or France Holland, which
has had similar career, is similarly situated.
Spain was involved in the horrors Of bitter
civil war in 1884, which lasted many years,
and she seemed worn out; but her means are
great, and no country rises more rapidly from
a low point, let her have but a fair oppOr-
tunlty; and soon she was not only well stu
N I Il I l.sw