The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-12-01
NAPOLEON'S NEW POLICY.

From the LOndOn Spectator.
The most consistent explanation offered of
the Emperor's conduct is one which can be
justified only by recalling the events of the
corp detat 1t is argued that the Emperor
did then slaughter innocent people, that
such slaughter consolidated his throne, and
that he may, therefore, be prepared to allow,
or even to provoke, insurrection, to be re-
pressed by similar slaughter in order once
more to inspire terror amid which he may
relay the foundation of his power. That
theory, we confess, does not satisfy us. 1t is
very difficult, of course, to say what outrage
should be deemed impossible to the moral
nature of man who did send thousands of
political adversaries to the living death Of
Cayenne, and who, when securely seated, still
kept them there for years; but we still be-
leve this plot to be too cynical for
the Emperor, to be as foreign to
his disposition as it would, we think,
be offensive to his Judgment. That the
Emperor, if driven to choose between sup
preston and abdcation, would suppress
would, in plain words, destroy any needful
number of lives rather than give up his place,
we do not for moment doubt; but that he
should court an opportunity of destroying
them is almost incredible, if only because he
is no longer prepared to encounter the physi-
cal toll Of the dictatorship which would fol-
low, and is no longer actuated by ambition
for himself alone. He now wants to seat his
son, and q successful repetition of the I'd of
December would do nothing towards seating
HIM, would leave the child rather more ex-
posed to the risk of revolt in the event of
his fathers death than he is now Parisians
are tickle in their way but it is seventeen
years since the great massacre occurred, and
is it forgiven by Paris yet? or is the tradition
of it among new generation the first of the
many impulses which are now driving them
in heavy waves against the throne? More
over, the very few facts known all point the
other way-to desire to crush lnsur-
rection by terror, not by blood; to
| let the Reds see, as on 2Gth October,
that the Emperor is as ready as if they were
an invading army. The Emperors attitude
on that day, the completeness of his prepara-
tions, and the clearness of his purpose tc
treat insurgents as if they were invaders,
daunted men whose weakness is certainly moi
their care for their own lives. Moreover, the
Emperor is, in many things, the most ''con
| crete of thinkers, is eXquisitely alive to the
sort of effect which an armed struggle in hi
capital would produce on the credit of France
throughout Europe and the world on his OWL
prestige, and on the fortunes of the classes
| he has so sedulously assisted to enrich. Apar
from the wickedness of the project, apar
from the frightful magnitude of the stakes
which, in such policy, would be at hazard
we cannot believe that this is the intention o
man over sixty, intent mainly on preparin
a throne for an only son. The motive mus
be a different one from this, and we inclin
with many doubts to believe it to be one of
far less recondite and more ordinary kind.
The Emperor is at this moment engaged i
a bargain-or call it haggle-with his sub
jects, and wants to show them that he is bar
gaining on equal terms, that he is not to b
compelled to accept an inadequate price, tina
his position is still so real and strong tina
even majority elected by universal suffrag
must regard him as power to be conciliatec
! He wants, in vulgar parlance, to raise n
| market The difficulty Of the Third party
| including, for the moment, in that word a
> moderates-it is not how to rule France, br
: how to curb Paris and the Emperor, in h
new policy, shows himself visibly doing thi
l work for them. He has let the steed curve
l in order to show how well he sits, and we al
not ''irreconcilable" enough to deny, and "
= question if any propertied Frenchman denie
9 that there is something of grandeur in h
I attitude. He is holding in the fiercest
steeds without apparently laying his han
a upon the curb If the Moderates cannot rel
D in Paris--and the split in the Left and Il
y expected victory of the Impatients seems
show that they cannot-they must find a
: ally who can, and must pay him his prlc