The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1819.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1068, 22 September 1879, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1819.

The tragic death of the Prince Imperial of France has few parallels in history. Our cablegrams, ample though they were, conveyed but a faint idea of the profound sensation created by this most melancholy event iu England. To the stoic such sympathy and sorrow—sympathy for the widowed and childless mother, sorrow for the brave and promising youth so ruthlessly and so needlessly cut down—may appear to be both useless and foolish ; but happily the heart of the English nation is not yet educated up to the high standard of such sublime indifference. Our English files inform us of the imposing spectacle of the funeral: the universal sorrow, shared equally by the adherents of the Napoleonic dynasty assembled to witness the last sad rites at the burial of the youthful chief, and the representatives of the English nation, from the Queen to the humblest of her subjects. It may be a proud day for philosophers of a certain sect, but a sad day for humanity at large, j when society becomes les3 sensitive to sorrow, or less liable to weep. There is indeed a time to weep as well as a time to laugh, and unbidden tears, whether they were those of the simple maiden or the mailed warrior, were a fitting tribute to the memory of the brave but unfortunate youth who perished so miserably. The true philosophy is that which harmonises best with such inborn impulses of our better being, and in ihe most important of all senses One touch of nature Makes the whole world ldn.

I Apart altogether from the sympathetic or the sentimental, the death of the young Prince is a matter of European importance. The history of the ruling families i of that great country, France, is indeed a | most melancholy one. The last direct heir of a royal race—the Bourbons—perished ingloriously in a prison, from which hi 3 father, the unfortunate Louis XVT., and his mother, the beautiful Marie Antonette, went forth to a bloody death. The Napoleonic dynasty, which shook the world, seemed to have been extinguished at St. Helena. Years rolled on, and, once more, under Napoleon 111., it a wain shone forth with renewed lustre. The bloody coup d'etat was forgotten or condoned by the victories of Magenta and Solferino. Napoleon HI. was apparently firmly seated on the throne of his uncle. No crowned head of Europe wielded a mightier influence. His undisguised friendship for England—doubtless the result somewhat of old associations durinc,' long years of exile, but probably owing much more to the prestige which the English alliance gave to his reign—his scrupulous adherence to treaty obligations, his solicitude to extinguish ancient animosities and

cement an enduring friendship, were cordially reciprocated, and in the disastrous Crimean campaign the two great nations so long hereditary foes ratified an alliance which, happily for Loth, has never since bcr-n disturbed. I\opoloon's star had reached its zenith, and some prophetic souls—notably Baxter—dazzled by his glory, ascribed to him the predictions of the Apocalypse, and the time was at hand when Napoleon would be proclaimed the monarch of the world, only to perish in the last great battle at the Plains of Armageddon I Then came the fatal quarrel with Prussia—the crumbling to pieces of that mighty and imposing empire which was thought to be invincible. " The monarch of the world " no longer monarch even of France, Napoleon, an exile. Then came the brief history of his illness, death, and burial. The Napoleonic "idea" seemed buried with him. But a son survived, and around him the hopes and aspirations of the "empire 1 ' clustered. Ee embodied the Napoleonic "idea.' 1 But he was much more than all this to the English people ; he was the only son of his mother, and a young man of singular promise. Born amidst the pomps and splendour of his father's Court, his future promised to be a brilliant one. The clouds which darkened his father's fortunes, and amidst too, boy as he was, received his " baptism of fire," blighted and withered his future career. To those who wait, however, everything is possible. The gifted and beautiful Eugenie kept alive in his bosom doubtless the hope of Empire, and carefully qualified her son for the lofty sphere to which fate had apparently destined him. An affectionate and devoted son, a gifted and laborious student, a singularly amiable and virtuous youth, the friend and companion of Royalty in his exile, the hope of a large party in France, to come to such a miserable end! Not a throne not an Empire—but an inglorious and cruel massacre. The contrast is horrible and distressing. That an adventurous youth should desire to aid the British forces in a sanguinary war was, perhaps, natural enough ; but there remains this feeling—that of profound regret —that wiser counsels did not prevail. That he should so uselessly expose himself is still more unaccountable. It is, indeed a dismal and inscrutable story, a cruel and bloody butchery, relieved by no single touch of romance or heroism. No event since the death of the lamented Prince Albert has so appalled the English nation, and we at the uttermost sniis of the earth have shared the profound sympathy. The Prince Imperial sleeps peacefully beside his father in the family mausoleum. And what of France ? Does she mourn the heir to Napoleon's throne 1 That a large and distinguished party do so is undoubted. But sorrow for the bereaved mother and the son's untimely fate, must not blind us to the best interests of France. Under another form of government she is peaceful, prosperous, and happy, and it is devoutly to be wished that that country so long torn by rival factions, and bleeding at every pore, may pursue the even tenor of her way. The brave and promising youth whom we mourn will not have died in vain, if his death should be instrumental in extinguishing the subterraneous fires of discontent and anarchy, and should "La Bdle France" continue, in peace and tranquility, to work out her own destiny under that form of Government which she has chosen for herself.