Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-09-06

which she has been precipitated by bac
generalship and defective organization
| II is not likely that the first use they vii
make OF victory will be to restore abso
lutte control to the power which, has i'm
posed on them this tremendous effort
Probably they have not sufficient unity
of political sentiment to lead them tc
set up government of their own They
will rather wait to see what is done in
Paris, and then throw the weight of their
adhesion on whichever side gives the best
promise Of restoring peace and order.
But the want of any uniform convic-
ton as to what shall succeed the Empire
need not involve any hesitation as to the
propriety that the Empire shall give
place to something else. Men who can
not agree whether that something shall
be republic or a constitutional mon
archy may work together in getting rid
Of system which is equally incompati-
BILE with the adoption of either. The
considerations apply with even greater
force to the project Of levee en- masse
Supposing, again, that every able-bodied
Frenchman finds his way to the front,
and there, with such arms as he can lay
hands on, does his utmost to revive the
glories of the revolutionary war will he
care to lay them down again in the hour
Of victory at the feet Of Napoleon III?
A levy en- mdsse must include the arti-
sans Of the great townsville best edu-
Gated, the best organized, and the most
destermined of the French working class;
and the battalions formed out of these
materials will be terror to the Empire
even if the peasantry remain true to
their ancient creed, and 90 on worship
ing the savior of society. But why
should they do anything Of the kind?
To the French peasant the Empire
has hitherto been as an exacting but on
the whole benefcent god-taking the
first fruits of his land in the shape Of
taxes, and of his body in the shape Of the
conscription, but securing him in return
protection from every enemy, whether
without or within. Now its character
has suddenly changed. 1t takes every
thing and gives back nothing. If his
home is in the west of France, he has no
help in getting in his crops; If it is in the
east, be has probably left his crops to
ldht care vi tuchistiNcoi VI W oV iSaPcu
by Prussian soldiers. Why should he
care to keep up system which has not
availed to avert these calamities? The
appeals that are made to him refer TO
time when the Empire was still unborn,
and if in its supreme need it is reduced
to resuscitate republican enthusiasms
what right has it to think itself any bet
ter than a republic? There is no hope
for Napoleon Ill to be disoerned in this
line of argument, and that this will be
the light in which the present state of
affairs will present itself TO the French
peasantry, hardly admits of question.
s# .
At length, therefore, Napoleon III has
resigned the position which he has sacri-
feed so much to keep. One great cause
of the reverses which have befalen the
French armies has been the Emperors
determination to have no rival in the
affection of the army To guard against
this danger he has sot at defiance the
warnings of disease and the conscious
ness of military incapacity. a Bona
parte cannot safely know any place but
the camp when the enemy is on French
ground But now the necessities of his
position have been too strong for him,
and the successor of Napoleon submits
to become passive spectator on the
field where French soldiers are fighting
their glorious but desperate battle.
What is there in the affection Of the army
that will enable it to survive such
change as this? They have stood by
III when he led them to acci-
dental victory, or when he petted them
in peace; but the sentiments formed
under this discipline have nothing in
with those enduring ties which |
grow up between great General and |
the troops who kpow and trust him as
much when he retires before ogorwhelm-
ing numbers as when he hprFies furwarl |
10 claim his well-deserved triumph, Per |
haps the statement that the Emperor
will himself take part in the next battle,
Lhoagh no longer as commander, points |
10 despairing consciousness Of this
terrible irqth. If the support Of his army
is irretrieyabiy lost 10 him, Napoleon
III may wish, by dying in the Geld, to
found an ohidipu ciatp, ~, tfc pa0rat