THE FBENCH EMPIRE

Lyttelton Times, Volume III, Issue 124, 21 May 1853, Page 4

THE FBENCH EMPIRE

[From the " Guardian."]

The topmost round in the ladder is at length reached, and December the 2nd, which hist year witnessed the assumption of dictatorial power by the present ruler of France, will this year behold him solemnly invested, by the. presumed voice of the nation, with the imperial dignity. Eight millions of votes, we are told, have conferred on Louis Napoleon Bonaparte the absolute mastery of the French people, under the name and style of Emperor. On Thursday next, it is understood, the Proclamation is to be made; and amid the blast of trumpets and the roar of artillery, France will" learn that Napoleon 111. sits upon the throne of his ancestors.

This event has been too long expected to cause any great sensation, either in or out of France. Europe has become familiarized with the idea of a new French Empire by four years of perpetual anticipation, and having learnt to view the matter as a necessity, looks calmly on while the last steps are being accomplished. It is a relief to have that done, which we have long known was certainly to be done. It is pleasant to have the expectation off our minds. Hence the general satisfaction with which men see the progress of events in France, and the rapid approach of the existing state of things to that determination which has so long been seen to be impending. In this state of feeling there is clanger lest the importance and significancy of the change should be insufficiently appreciated. Men imagine, and even argue, that the change, as respects Foreign Powers, is absolutely nothing —that it is a mere matter of internal French politics. To us it does not appear in that light. The change is primarily internal, for the name of Emperor is understood not to imply a claim to dominion over any other countries besides France ; but the internal alterations likely to be produced by it have important foreign bearings, and may—we had almost sa'uf r/ittst— lead to collision between France and other States.

) " L'Empire, c'est la paix .'"—" L'Empire cest la (/hire .'"—these are the two cries which ■resound through France at the present moment, and produce the general acquiescence (for we do not believe it amounts to anything more) in the assumption by Louis Napoleon of his new dignity. These cries, addressed to two different portions of the population, satisfy the public mind, holding- out to the bourgeoisie the hope of trade flourishing and profits increasing—to the army and to all restless spirits an indefinite prospect of employment, promotion, and plunder. The great difficulty, the problem which the present ruler of France will have to solve, is how to reconcile these two expectations—how to keep in good humour these two classes—how to give bis subjects glory enough to content their cravings, without involving Fiance in war with her immediate neighbours.

We believe Louis Napoleon to be sincerely desirous of maintaining peace with the great powers of Europe. We believe this, not because we consider that, he has any preference in the abstract for peace rather than war much less that he has any regard for the existing treaties between France and other countries but simply because we think it plainly for his interest to maintain peace. A European war, whether France were successful or unsuccessful in it, would singularly imperil him. 11l success would turn all France against him as one man, and by losing- him the support of the army would deprive his authority of the chief basis on which it has hitherto rested. A series of victories would be still more dangerous, byraising up formidable competitors • in the persons of those Generals on whom fortune spe-

ciaUy smiled, who would probably re-enact the part of the Galbas, Vespasians, and Pertinaxes, of ancient times. Louis Napoleon is well aware of this, and will probably avoid, if he can, a collision with any of the great Continental Powers.

But the k' glory" must be found somewhere. Our lively and volatile neighbours exist upon excitement, and when the Empire —on the anticipation of which they have lived for the last twelvemonth—is a "fait accompli" a dull present fact, instead of a romantic prospect, fresh objects must be found for their imaginations and ambitious longings to rest on, or they will create such objects for themselves, without much regard to the wishes or interests of their present idol. We suspect he will take care to provide them with the needful materiel by turning their minds to schemes of conquest, which may be pursued to a great extent without necessarily giving umbrage to any Continental Power. Africa is temptingly open to French invasion, and Algeria is a point d'appui, invaluable in a military point, of view, for further operations. Morocco on the one side, and Tunis on the other, are rich enough ,to tempt cupidity, and weak enough to make their conquest, in due course of time, a matter of certainty. Like Algeria, they would occupy the arms of France for a long term of years; and while failure in military operations against them would be almost impossible, they would afford little room for such brilliant successes as would raise the General gaining them into the position of a rival to the Emperor. Add to this, that Louis Napoleon, who seems never to betra} r an intention until he is altogether determined on executing it, and never to lay aside a design which he has once-resolved upon, has formally declared his adhesion to that maxim of his uncle's—" the Mediterranean ought to be a French lake." Such, are the grounds on which we hazard a conjecture that Africa will be maile by Louis Napoleon, as it was by Louis Philippe, the safety-valve for the escape of that excess of vital power which, if it were not to find a vent abroad, would explode and destroy his Government. It is almost superfluous to remark that the prosecution of this object, while it would probably be unopposed by the great Continental Powers, could scarcely fail to bring Franca into collision with England. Our own general interests, our treaties with the Barbary States, the necessity which exists for our maintaining the command of the main route to India, would compel us to resist to the utmost the extension of the French dominion over the whole of Northern Africa. It is here, far more than in the British Channel, that we fear the rupture of that peace which, has now continued for more that seven-and-thirty years between the two great Powers of the world—France and England. At such a time, therefore, we hail as a move in the right direction the proposed addition of 5000 men to the British navy, as well as of 2000 to the artillery. Louis Napoleon is straining every nerve to increase the efficiency of the French fleet and army. It behoves us to prepare ourselves for that encounter which we are the last to wish for, yet which, we fear, cannot very long be delayed, between the forces of a country now foremost in the van of absolutism, and those of our own free England, the last bulwark of the world's liberties in Europe.