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NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . The Moon ' s Eotatioit . —W . Kenward ' s communicatiou in The Subscription foe iTAiv . —The lists arrived too late for publication this week . They shall appear in our next , with all others sent in boforo Thursday , and a general statement of propress . "A Lombard . "— -Next week .
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"We do not undertake to return rejected communications . IJo notice can be taken of anonymous correspondence . Whatever is intended for insertion must be authenticated by the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of his cood faith . "
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OPINION IN EN GL INT ) AND - GOVERNMENT IN PRANCE . The Montteur has oiiee more reiterated the complaints of the French . Groverament against the Britisla press . Once more , therefore , some explanations on this subject are due from xisto our readers . ' Our opinions with respect to the French Emperor are well kno-wn . We have never , for a- moment , retreated from them . But while we have been con
sistent , we have sought to be just , nnd if we have sacrificed opportunities of popularity by refusing to flatter the Empire , we have incurred the risk of offence and misconcej ) tion by declining to represent the passions of defeated parties . "When the growth of civilization in France was interrupted . by . the coup d ' etat , when every eminent Frenchman found himself , in his own country , a nullity , and , of necessity , a malcontent , there vceve strong temptations to the liberal journalist to identify himself with exasperated politicians and refugees , eager to breathe their
bitterness against the usurping power . But ¦ we claim not to be reckoned among those who yielded to this temptation . It appeared tons—and we have not once or twice only laid down the principle- —that an English journalist , writing of foreign politics , should Do a critic , not a partial ; and we have always held it to be as irrational to adopt the animosities of parties abroad , as it is unmanly to extol every form of success , by whatever means obtained . " We liave sought , indeed , to represent that great constitutional party which is deprived of representation in
France , and we say , -with not a little pride , that among our readers arc the most distinguished of those men who stand aloof from the disgraceful honours of the Empire . But the sympathy to which they appeal is not that of the libeller . IjOTjis Napoleon became Emperor of the Fjie ^ ch ; Ins government was , dc facto , accepted by the nation ; Prance submitted to bo controlled , for a time , by hia will , and it was not for any Englishman to constitute himself : the
chamfriends and those "who have access to him affect to believe , his will does not actuate all the proceedings of his Ministers , if he be wiser than Walewskt , and more conscious of his dignity than the Monifeur , that is a plea not admissible while the French constitution remains what it is . For the workings of Imperialism in Prance the Emperor is distinctly and directly responsible .
And by the workings of that Imperialism to what condition has France been brought ? We have from time to time pointed out what we conceived to be the inevitable consequences of Lotjis Napoleon ' s policy . "We have said—our . pages are our witness—that the prosperity attributed to the Empire was showy , superficial , and deceptive ; that France was being converted into a universal gambling-table ; that the public works of Paris were constructed at the cost of the provinces
and at the risk of a disastrous collapse ; that trouble , discontent , and fear would ensue as soon as these false appearances began , to vanish ; that the industrious classes would want employment when , the State could not give it to them ; and that the financial system established "by the confederates of the covp d ' etat was a delusion and a danger . If we recal these declarations , made long before the occurrence of the events which have justified them , it is not to claim , the . gift of prophecy , but to prove—may we not say for the honor
of journalism ?—that such statements are riot made at random , or without a sense of responsibilitjr . A calm and impartial study of passing incidents , and- of the sure action of political principles , a determination , to write independently , an honest use of sound information on contemporary affairs—this , indeed , was necessary before we could perceive whither France was drifting ; but this is within the reach of every responsible and conscientious journalist . Within whatever sphere of publicity originated political criticism of such a character has a
recognizable effect upon the public mind . This is our work , and this is our reward . Have we , then , said anything of France , under the coup ¦ d ' etat , which has not been amply justified ? Of the names that make the glory of the living generation of Frenchmen is one to be found among the converts of the Empire ? Does nob the irrefragable logic of his position teach Napoleon III . that he must govern by repression , by artifice , in silence ? What has become of the
eommer-Majesty ' s Government I concurred in . I agreed with them in the recognition of the French republic , and as to the policy of recognizing the Government which , appeared to be most conformable to the will of the IFrenxSh . people . I go further , and say that I think such a recognition ought not to ie a coMf reluctan
t acquiescence in an unavoidable necessity . I believe that , without reference to the' constitution of the Government , the true policj' - is to maintain friendly relations -with , that great people on -fche other side of the Channel , to cultivate a good understanding with them , to show a disposition to place confidence in them . And it is because I
concur in that policy , because I am favourable to the cultivation of a good understanding with France , that I now ask you , the G over nment , to give an account of your French relations , and to tell me how rt is that such a correspondence has taken place as that which is laid upon the table of the House , and why it is that you have had these altercations with the people of France , who have shown a disposition to place in you a cordial and unlimited coiifidejiee "
Well , the British Government has displayed " a cordial and unlimited confidence , " but nofc in France . I / ord P ^ iiMERsroF ' s confidence dates from December , 1851 . We have trusted Louis l ^ APOiiEON , have "been led by him , have conferred upon him position and prestige . We have lent him our power , and he has used it to work out his own adventures . For , be it remembered , they who are most warmly attached to the idea of a French alliance are now forced
to question the advantages and to count the costs of Imperial friendship . What has it gained for England ? It has dragged her into a costly , ill-conducted , unsatisfactory war . It has forced her to sign an abortive and discreditable peace . It bus made her subserviency to the Empire of DecenVber the common sneer of Europe . On the other hand , what has it done for Louis 1 ST ajpole on ? His situation , which was at least ambiguous , has been made respectable . He has been , launched into the company of ' legitimate * rulers . He has been allowed to show himself at the head of the British Government , and the worst suspicion arising from the cavillings of the Jfoniteur- is , that having played out the hand of the English alliance , he desires to secure new S 3 mpatbies by following another course of policy . But , if Loins Napoleon really meditated a withdrawal from Great Britain—which is scarcely eredible—it would be difficult to indicate anypositive evil that could ensue to the British nation . Wo do not yet feel ourselves weak enough to solicit Imperial protection . Even , the free trade which we have invited is postponed to a time when the Empire itself
cm and industrial prosperity which was heralded last year by officious adulation ? Does any serious man believe that the Empire rests upon a surer foundation than uncertainty and the dread of change ? The English press is awakening to a perception of these truths , and publishes criticism instead of flattery . Whereupon the French Government takes alarmand
in-, dites ^ an ignoble paragraph endeavouring to criminate our Liberal contemporaries and ourselves as enemies of the alliance . If the accusation were not false , if we were not better friends of tho alliance than the flatterers who conceal its real necessities , not another lino should appear in our columns directed against the system of the Emperor . 7 Vc have asked for an alliance with France
may have ceased . Supposing , however , that the Empire exists until the law of nature destroys it—that is , until the death of Louis Napoleon- —for beyond that the most rabid Bonapartist does not look—are we sure that we have reared the foundations of a durable alliance ? Have we cultivated the sympathy of the French people ? Have we respected their aspirations , or' given them credit for probity and intelligence ? Have we not stung them by congratulations to their political conqueror ? Let us bo suro of this : —loyal as Napoleon III . may be , were he to vacate the throne to-morrow we should find that
when our Ministers have not been so ready to ratify it as they were when Louis Napoleon became Emperor by an act which proved hia oaths and professions worthless . When France changed her form of government in 1848 , the Republic sacrificed its foreign policy for the sako of a British alliance . What was the response of tho British Cabinet ? SirKotvetit Peel plainly implied what it was in his lust memorable speech on the 28 th of . Tune , 1850 t— " , the most important point in tho foreign policy of IIeh
our Government had not made a friend in France . Our policy towards tho French people has been one of alienation ; our policy towards the Emperor , so far from conciliating tliB TSonapartists , has disappointed them ; for they cannot comprehend the necessity of a , sentimental intimacy with England , in prefcrenco to more congenial oilers . They
pion of the Emperor ' s personal enemies . We have not consented , therefore , to authenticate iiauendoes or lampoons on tho personal habits of Napoleoh III . But he ia a public man , and , beyond most public men , liable to criticism . Ho is not inclined we suppose , to disavow tho responsibilities of his position . He is the State ; he has undertaken to regulate every public transaction in ¦ t rance ; by his own choice , by his own pretensions , ho is answerable for all and everything that results from an official act within the hm . ts of the Empire , or of its diplomatic influence abroad . Consequently , if , as his
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November 1 , 1856 Q THE LEADER . 1043
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SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 1 , 1856 .
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There is : nothing so revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and . convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed when all the world is by thevery law of its creation in eternal progress . —Dii . Akuoij > .
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 1, 1856, page 1043, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2165/page/11/
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