New-York tribune., 1879-03-15
THE BONAPARTIST CAUSE.

ADHERENTs OF THE EX-EMIRfss EUGENE AMI
HER son.
,rRoM TnE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNE.l
Loxpox. Feb. 27.-Thc interesting young man
who has been living for some years past at ChsIe-
hurst with his mamma is going TO Zululand, ana
has written letter to say Tins letter has been
publishcd in some of the Paris papers, and articles
have been written on it, The author OF 1t signs
himself NapolcOn-a fancy which pieases INN and
does no harm to anybody-but is moIe commonly
known as Prince Louis, or sometimes as the Prlhce
Imperial. NJ. Paul de CaSsagnac styles HIN Mon
seigneur le Prince Imperial. In the more radlca'
papers ne is playfuly referred to as young Chlsie
hurst Ii does not much matter Whatever you
call him. he is the hope and head of the Bona
partists And long he lives there Will be Bona
partist faction in France. and his sayings and
doings will attract attention. They attract all the
more because it is perfectly we'll known that he
acts under the advice Of knot of counseilors IN
cludng his mother, Monsieur Rouher to whom
this letter Is addressed and sundry other Imperial
lists The Prince said to be, personally, decent
sort of fellow. He has been much run after III Lon
don society, which takes its tone from tie Court
The Court has never concealed its Bonaparust
sympathies. The Queen exchanges visits with the
ex-Emprcss, and the Duke of Cambridge made
things pleasant for this boy long as he was at
Woolwich. lie did well IL his studies, and 1t is
the fashion TO speak of him intellectual prod
icy lie is nothing Of the sort but If he were, IL
would not alter the fact that he is in the hands OF
a cabal Of unscrupulous intriguers, and That his
every act is carefully studied IN adyance with
view 10 its doing as much mischief as possible to
the Republic of France. This letter and journey
are of some interest for that reason.
The Princes letter gives various reasons for his
Journey lie has been the guest of England for
eight years, be says. lie has been nothing of the
kind in our sense of the word; but the French have
a way of using the word guest as hotel-keeper
uses IT, The war in South Africa has become n
grave natter lie wants to see how 1t is carried on,
and he was unwilling not to take some part III the
fatieuos and dangers Of the troops among whom he
has So many comrades. 1t is, nevertheless. quite
certain that he will do no fighting. Neither En-
glish nor French law permits HIM TO be anything
more than a spectator. He may get near enough to
the front 10 pick up a sp mt assagai, as he picked
up spent ball at Saarbrick, and so undergo
second baptism of fire. 1he assagai will make
very pretty addition his collection, but 1t is toll
erably certain that the English soldiers will not cry
over this Young man, as sundry French veterans are
said to have done when his father first took him
within sight of a skirmSh
The raj reasons for his going, whatever they
nav he are sure not to be those assigned. His adj
vsers NAV think it desirable he should see some
real campaigning, partly by way OF education,
partly 10 wipe out the rdculc which covered his
first performance in 1S7O-thOugh the fault then
was not his, but his fathers. Perhaps General
Grants example inspired them, and the Princes
Journey like the Generals is meant to prepare the
way for political success on his return. Much de-
pends on when the return is to be- NJ. Paul de Cas-
sagnac saws his Prince Will bo away three months
at most 1t takes month TO 20 and a month to
come So if that be true he will share the taigues
and dangers of his comrades for about thirty days.
Another Imperial organ hints at three years instead
of three months. The Prince is tired says the
writer Of the quarrcls always going on about him
the plots and cOunterplOts of which he is
the object among his par.isans; The efforts
of tins clique and that to get the better OF
each other and to establish themselves i'll his favor;
and so on Above all, he keeps in mind two things
which his father used to to hlm at Chslehurst:
"Do nothing by yourself until you are twenty-five; /;
remember that during the whole of my reign
dragged after me the souvenir Of the Second Decem
Der CONNIE un boulet." The JOule is the ball which
convict wears fastened to his ankle to prevent his
running away. "The Prince Louis" continues this
commentator, will await his twenty fifth year far
from the cOunscllors who beset him and oppress
him; and he will keep his dreams of the future
clear from all thought of a coup d dat." This reads
as NJ Rouher had lately been advising the Prince
to try Boulone or Strasbourg over again, and as If
the Prince had got tired of being bullled and
preached at In any case, if ii be taken literally.
his absence Is an absence of years. for he will not
De twenty-five till 1881.
That his journey is a sign of profound discourage
ment among the BOnapartists is clear enough lhelr
Prince was actually in danger of being forgotten.
Nobody in France much troubled himself abOut the
young man 80 long he resided peacefully at Cam
den House, under police and pettiCOat rule. For
cetfuIness and indifference would be fatal if they
4l,n DrfVa SIn nnl1 In
something TO turn mems eyes once more toward
him. and to get himself talked about. DID not the
Conte de Paris take service III America on General
McClellaus staff also well out of the way of bull
let's but with chance of cheap glOryf Moreover.
the political fortunes of the BOnapartists have
never been at a lower ebb since the Bordeaux AS
sembly proclaimed the dethrOnement of the En-
peror with only some five votes to the contrary.
They were 50 strong IN 1874 that the coalition OF
reactioDaries was all IN their favor and NJ. Ihi rs
stung the Due de Broge with the sarcasm that lie
was the prot6g6 of the Empire. In the last Sena-
torial elections this party had almost sunk out
of sight Their minority III the Chamber OF Depu-
ties is NOISY but pOweTles5 The party Is at Its
wits end and so great a man as Baron H"ussmann
has given his adhesion, more or less qualified TO
the Republic. This condition of things Is what NJ
Paul do Cassagnac whose eflrontery knows no
limits describes as the phase of transition we are
now passing through, phase relatively ummpori-
ant" Still" says Paul, nothing decisive, moth
ing serious even can happen for some tine, so the
Prince rms no risk by his absence of being away at
a critical moment" Paul improves the occasion TO
DISPLAY his knowledge OF English affairs. telling his
reader, (who will believe it implicitly that England
is sending 40 600 men to the Cape, among them the
ARTILLERY of the Royal Guard! More exact perhaps
is the info11natou-at any rate ii is new-that the
Prince strongly desired 10 take part in the war be-