The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-01-01


former ministers have resigned, and the re-
signation has been accepted. Nj. Olivier has
been requested to undertake the formation of
a Ministry. The Emperor desires him to
name persons who, associated with him, would
form homogeneous Cabinet faithfully repro
senting the Legislative majority, and resolved
to carry out, in letter and spirit, the l9enatls
C0nSuttum of September last. According to
liberal journals personal government is at an
end, and the Emperors letter is the first
chapter in the history of the liberal empire" +"
AS VIC have said already, this is compare
lively firm ground. We know not what is
the political situation in France. The En-
peror has abandoned his former position-a
position in which he has done so much for
French honor andFrench prosperity. He is
no longer the Caesar, the autocrat, the gov
ernment Between him and France there is
henceforth to be responsible ministry With
some slight notifications the Government of
France will be conducted substantially as is
the Government of Great Britain The Minis
ters will be responsible TO the Corps Leeisla-
tiff, and the members of the Corps Legisatif
will irresponsible to the people. If the new
plan works well France will have reason to be
proud for the Government machine will be
one of the most perfect in existence Nomi-
nally an empire with truly great man at its
head France will in point of fact be re-
public. We must now honestly admit that
Napoleon has come up to the high expectation
of his friends. Less would have been disap-
pointing, more would have been unwise. lie
has redeemed his pledges; and if he has pro-
voked some lmpatience by what seemed de-
lay, we cannot deny, in view of the result,
that the delay has been fully justified. Deeper
than ever is Napoleon S name engraved on the
page of history, and nobler than ever is his
record. If the First Napoleon must in all
time to come be spoken of as the julius Caesar
of France, the Third Napoleon will undoubt-
edly be remembered as the Augustus
Much, however, depends on the French
people themselves 1t is not our belief that
this transition will be got over without trou-
ble To the present race of Frenchmen re-
sponsible government is theory, not an ex-
perience. The people will persist in looking
to the Emperor rather than his Minister'S
The Emperor will for some time to come find
it difficult to restrain himself from dealing
with the people. This double trouble will be
certain to be aggravated by the inexperience
of Ministers, by the inexperience of the
Chamber, and by the stiffness of the new
machine In selecting M. Olivier as his first
Prime Minister the Emperor has fairly con-
formed to the requirements of parliamentary
government N. Olivier is the only man
who in present circumstances can com mand
majority in the Corps Legislatif. He is
the acknowledged chief of the right CENTRE
and the ground he has taken is such that the
party of the Left will fin! it necessary tosfo-
low his lead, unless they make up their minds
to be simply obstructive. TO the En-
peror he is personally attached, and at time
when the idea seemed too preposterous to be
seriously entertained he was bold enough to
conceive the reconciliation of the empire with
liberty When the Left brokelup NJ. Olivier
set himself to work, and the programme of
the right centre-a programme broad enough
to command the support Of the main body of
the moderate liberals and to be satisfactory to
the party of the Left-is the result of his
labors The Cabinet crisis continued at late
hour yesterday evening. The new Ministry
had not been constituted, and Paris was
slightly agltated by speculative comment. If
the Prime Minister designated is successful in
forming strong and acceptable Cabinet he
has fair chance of hopefully launching the
new constitution. For his own sake, for the
Emperors sake, but chiefly for the sake of
liberty, we wish him all success. 1t is a
new era for France. May she prove herself
equal to it,.