New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-09-01
AFTER THE EMPEROR, TIE DEL UGE


niently forgotten when they fail, have long since
fixed this year, 1869, as the last of the reign
of the Emperor Napoleon the Third. by Inn
eiful combinations of figures, by ingenious
array of momentous dates, by fantastic analo-
gies of various kinds, they have arrived ut the
conviction that this year is the Emperor Ma
poleon's journeys end, his butt and very sea-
mark of his utmost sail. Is this sort of pre-
dction about to be realized for oncef Napo-
leon is i'll, attacked again by cruel internal
disease, which some of the newspapers appar-
emily think it proper and graceful to describe
under the name of rheumatism; and although
the official journals insist that there is nothing
serious in 1t, yet there is an alarm abroad
which cannot be denied and will not be OIL
layed. Indeed, the alarm is but natural. The
Emperor is over sixty years of age, and he
has lived life which would prematurely ex-
haust the nervous system of men far more
robust than ever he was All his years
through he has lived under the stress and
pressure of severe mental and bodily excite
ment. lie belongs to a race not remarkable
for longevity, and he has always taxed his re-
sources of health ,and strength with IMPROVE
dent and needless eXactiOn. Nothing Is less
likely than that such a man could live to a
great old age and it is surely therefore not
surprising that any illness which is serious
enough to withdraw him even for day or two
from public affairs should set all Europe i'll ex-
pectatiOn, excitement, and alarm.
For what is to follow. suppose the Emperor
were now to def y boy Sovereign and Re
gent mother make a trying and dangerous
experiment of it, even when the sanction and
majesty of long descent and divine right and the
political talents of an Anne of Austria combine
to favor the attempt. In this present instance
no one even pretends that Louis Napoleon has
succeeded in throwing halo of legitimacy and
superstitious loyalty around his dynasty; and
the world knows nothing-what is more to the
point, France knows nOthing-of any gift In
the art of government possessed by The Empress
Eugene. Report certainly speaks of her rs
a woman of talents which might have found
better use than in the designing of new bon
nets AID the creation of original pctticoats.
But a small share Of intellect goes far with an
Empress when the Empress is not called upon
to govern and the only great political schemes
with which common report directly associates
the name of Eugene are the renewal OF the
military proteCtorate in Rome and the disastrous
Mexican expedition. 1.-The Empress and the
Generals, "2people used to say, would manage
to pull through somehow in the event of
Louis Napoleon's sudden removal. But some
of the best and most devoted of the Generals
are gone since the time when this was a fa-
miliar saying; and the course of events for
some years has tended TO dcpreciate the
Generals" and the military system and the
4. Al. a. r.
France. The Empress and the Generals might
have represented a powerful and commanding
influence Immediately after Solferino but the
disastrous Mexican business and the ill-timed
and incoherent attempts to get up war for
the purpose of damaging the prestige of Prussia
have done much to rub the gilt off the whole
system which the Marshals and the War De-
partment represent. The boy prince is but
little known in France, even to the army. The
other day he reviewed the troops at Chalons
gracefully and was received with enthusiasm,
and people say it is a pity his father did not
take pains to make him better known and more
OF favorite. But in any case young boys do
not govern Empires or dominate over critical
situations and 10 matter how beloved the
Child of France might be- he would need
great party or great mind to sustain him
through his minority and one can see neither
through the confusion and mists of the present
crisis. The Empire has not created, so far as
human intelligence can discern, one single
great ruling intellect to succeed the Emperor
and carry on his work.
There is, indeed, one man who might have
had a splendid chance and great career
awaiting him, and for whom the present hour
might have been full of supreme Importance.
We speak, of course, of Prince Napoleon, the
inheritor Of the magnificent Bonaparte face
which looks across history from the canvas of
David. No one doubts the intellect, the kn0wl-
edge, and the ambition of Prince Napoleon;
but sort of fatality seems to have hung over
him, reducing to nothing, or little better than
nothing, all the possibilities of his intellect, his
eloquence, his energy, and his position. lie
has not succeeded in impressng any political
party with a belief III his sincerity, or ut any rate
in his steadfastness. Even the Democrats and
the Revolutionsts, with whom he was long on
hand-and- glove terms, and who once had their
headquarters in his Palais Royal, seem to have
no faith in him and to care little for him. At
the present moment, in view of an impending
crisis, he might have counted for almost every
thing; as the case stands, it is not too much
to say that he counts for almost nothing.
The late elections showed cOnclusively that
the Orleans party is gone. We all knew that
the Legitimists were dead as a political
influence; we did not know that the condition
of the Orcanists might be described in SINH
lar cpitaph. This then renders the situation