THE EMPEROR'S LETTER TO COUNT PERSIGNY.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 4, Issue 164, 10 November 1860, Page 2

THE EMPEROR'S LETTER TO COUNT PERSIGNY.

(From the Times, August 1.)

The Emperor's letter will be read with interest by all, with satisfaction by those who can forget the logic of facts. The style is the full Boman hand, familiar td the man who has won an empire, who has more recently annexed^ two provinces, and is master of a hundred legions. With the argument of success, nothing is so easy as self-justi-fication. It must be observed, however, that it is no excuse for the annexation of Savoy and Nice, that it was conditional on Tuscany and the Duchies declaring for Piedmont. A steam navy may be far above the real wants of a nation, and be far short of the previous number of sailing vessels. : France may have only 400,000 men actually "under arms;" but when, for our own security, we measure men against men, it is necessary to take into account the immense addition she can make with a single fortnight's notice. But why are all these topics to he brought up, when we are only invited to a common policy in the affairs of Southern Italy and the East ? Certainly, there is a case for interference of some sort in Syria ; and, as neither the British Parliament nor the British Press have given the least countenance to the suspicions and rumours which are current respecting the origin of the civil war, the prejudice against which the Emperor seems to defend himself can only arise from the actual operations of French diplomacy in the East. . They may or may not have contributed to the present deplorable results, and the consequent appeal for European intervention; but English statesmen and writers have expressed no opinion on that question. We are, however, glad of any occasion which has elicited the profession of such friendly sentiments, and trust that they may foreshadow a policy under which we may enjoy peace without being compelled any longer to support all the burdens of war.