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    ¦CIVIL AND ' ¦RELIGIOUS POLICY OF NAPOLEON III.

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    REFORM.—COlMilTT COST OF KLKCTLOJNS.

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    T > AI { LIA > II : NT . Yin Rclorm , to be complete & in the sight of nil lion : st men , must not only deal with the proper allocation of seals , and the , < lu < s concession of the franchise , l ) iit . with the purity and freedom of elections . Wo inny multiply constituencies and multiply voters , hero a little and there a little , of , what is perhaps mow probable , hero , a great deal too little , a , nd there-a great deal too much . Very large constituencies are , as positive an evil as very small ones ; audit is as manifest a mischief that a i \ 'w voters who may bo bamboozled , bullied or bought , should have the power of naming a 1 member of the senate , because they happen to be householder * in some , miserable mildewed hamlet , its it is thai , hundreds or thousands of intelligent eiti / . ens lit u . populous town should feel themselves utterly powerless to exorcise , any appreciable influenee . in an election , on account of tins multitudinous character of the constituency . It is to be hoped , therefore , that though 1 lie aggregate number of Members of Parliament ought not to ha increased , the aggregate number Of eonstitu <; neioH may be ; thnf , the size of constituencies inny ' he brought within somewhat moru reasonable limits ; and that the values of individual votes may , to n eertain extent , be more equalized , fii like manner we may confidently trust that n large , industrious , mid intelligent gIush , both in town ami country , will be included in th . o bonnlils ol the forthcoming ministerial ( till . Wo hitvo no expectation that it * provisions will go as far ns we 'could wish . We have always advocated t , ho enfrimehirtoment of . every householder , who hIiiiII be resident n # < l bo liablo to the payment of rates . To tki . s . we have . no doubt that we shall ( some at last . Meanwhile we shall not objeet to take any instalment of u substantial kind / such as n fc > or , £ 0 ooeupation franchise . ... . But , whatever may bo done with seats or with votes , it js nwm-

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    Feb . 4 , I 860 . J The Leader and Saturday Analyst . 105

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    Tl lE Ruler of France is said to have turned over a new leaf in the history of the Empire . It is indeed rjnost true ; and : ; as every leaf has two . pages , so 'that which has obeyed the , finger of Napolkon III . presents more sides than one . On ; t . l ) tT first is inscribed Freedom for the National Industry ; on ,-¦¦' other , Freedom for the National Church . Conscience and j ; . ; rade are alike called upon to discard the superstitious awe of i foreign superiority by which they have long been enslaved . French skill , invention * , and perseverance are called upon to rise super ior ' - ' to- the fear of English competition ; while French j Catholicity is reminded of the essential distinction that exists bet-ween , doctrinal communion with Home and unpatriotic subserviency to her political errors . In both these great and vital interests of the people committed to his care , the restorer of the ; Umpire seems to be animated with the ambition of raising their j moral tone , by stimulating in its true and legitimate sense the national pride . As a practical philosopher he well knows the : "inestimable value of self-respect in a nation ; and having re- j vived the national . confidence in its military prowess by the [ triumphs ' of Sebastopol and Solferino , he desires to develop its j civil and ecclesiastical self-respect , by leading it to encounter ; without misgiving the peaceful competition of foreign enter-. [ prise , and to " resist without hesitation the overweening preten- I sioiis of . Ultramontanism . This is indeed -to . imitate a policy \ worthy of a great name-r-worthy of grateful-reinembran . ee . ! ¦ v , eii though it were temporarily to fai-U its author , looking on- i v ,- ; ml through the telescope ' of time , and calmly anticipating the [ , - nturc estimate of history , might , with the poo . t , legitimately ¦ exclaim— " Exegi ¦ monnmeutum a ; m per > -iniins . " Simultaneously to have pronounced the commercial and tlie ecclesiastical eman- ' ipution of a great country , and thereby to have simultaneously i cli ' allenged the resistance of all the elements of seltish hope and ; Uuiv which habits of an opposite kind naturally engender , is . indeed to play , a great historic , part , , and to merit , not the . mere | passj . ng applause' of the hour , _ but- the lasting respect ^ of en-, | ¦ IigiitOi ' xctiopinion . throughout the world . " We have said that . ueli an attempt-to assert for his country ' ' civil and reg ions ..,, i quality with the most pretentious of its . neighbours , is one WQjtliV of a great rulci-j even though for a time it should appear j ( oiaif . But'it ' will , hot fail . The chords / that have been struck j in the national heart , are not . newly strung . Though . long con-. denined to silence they have always been there ; and this is where : ! lie true discernment of statesmanship proves its superiority to the fact and cunning of surface politicians . M . " Wajnev-ski , and the whole-buzzing , swarm of courtiers , bureaucrats , and mercenary buskers in the sunshine of the Empire , would have voted unaui- : i nonary , had they been consulted , against the publication ol' Le Pope | ' Li Coiiyrcv ] or the decree extinguishing prohibitions . "U hy i run any risk of present unpopularity for the mere permanent U ' ocxl of the people ? Why sacrifice administrative ease . for ex- j pi'r iiuenlal 'benefit to the " souls and the bodies of millions of : people ? Why hazard the . interruption of selfish enjoyments ,, capable of being countered and clutched , for the sake of the UTjjtitude that too often proves ephemeral ? Why barter the ylti-d grimace of satisfied sycophants for the inappreciable gratitude of the people ? Why interrupt the , luxury of present quiet for the pursuit of eventual fame ? The logic of such counsellors is , from their point of view , irresistible ; but lumpily for himself , for France , undfor mankind , Xai ' ojjjon III . is accustomed to look upon th , c field of domestic and foreign affairs Tram a wholly different point of view ; and having once decided ' cm his course , lie shows the most unswerving resolution in a ; lliuring to it-It were u great mistake on the part of Englishmen , to eonfound the new , policy of the French Emperor in civil or religious in » i , ter . s , with that which is established in this country . Navolkon I IT ! confesses himself to be n convert neither to Protestantism nor to Pcelism . He is not a Propagandist of new . ttnets , but ^ on the contrary , a careful student of authority , and respecter of deeply . rooted convictions . In his battle with the . Jesuits ami 'Antonklu , ho eschews all appeals to revolutionary doctrines in tl »< i . Church , and repudiates all thought of schism , lie entrenches himself scrupulously within the time-honoured limits of Iho " Oallicun Liberties ; " and quotes the words of Bossukt ^ iiniong French Catholics regarded as the most orthodox of Iwiclicrs . Neither does he commit the error of his uncle , wlio forgot the respect due to the Pope in his impatience of political thwnrtings . Whatever censures Pius IX , may lio ill advised enough to pronounce on the Governnjent of Prance , that " Government will atiU persist in protecting his city , his palneo , find his person from molestation . No otlicr power shall be permitted to shore the honour of boiing his gunrd ; and the most spiteful of sympathizers in the Pone ' s ; perplexities shall . not have an excuse for levying a pennyworth of

    pity on the score of St . Pete it ' s successor being threatened or driven from his palace-home . True wisdom this , and true loyalty to the feelings and instincts of the community lie governs . The French wish well to the Italians , but they wish no ill to the . ' . Pope . They would like to see Italy free from , the yoke of th « Hapsburgs and the Bourbons , but they would not like to sec the head of their Church a captive or an exile . Their sagacious sovereign understands their sentiments , and ' ¦ ¦ courageously seeks to realize them . They do not want reaction in Central Italy , and iii their name he has told Europe it shall not be . They do not want the subversion of the Vatican , and he has -undertaken to sentinel its safety . The obligations are indeed onerous , and the responsibility is great ; but were : he to evade cither one oithe other half ofthem , he would not be the Imperial , impersonation . of the mind of France . . . ¦ , ' ¦'¦ So , likewise , with . regard to emancipated industry . lie iscontent to walk in the ways of Tl'uoot , and to act in conformity with the reasoning of IIl'skisson and of To mi ens , rather than aftect-to be an eleventh hour labourer in the field of our present Free Trade doctrinaire * . He thinks it wiser to conduct tlie community he governs gradually through-the bypaths of modified protection * -than to chuck them violently and suddenly into unqualified free trade . It is ¦ ' not-necessary for . us to arg-ue the comparative . results ¦ of . the two- methods economically . Then : may be . ' -differences of opinion ' . amongst theorists on the point ; but this much all , , we think , must own , namely , that the more cautious course is that which promises the least , amount , of-immediate popularity , and prolongs to the greatest extent the ' echoes of dissatisfaction and complaint : Were the products of Sheffield , Leeds , and Stoke , by a wave of the fiscal wnnd / pe-r-. ' mit-ted'to-be'brought into . the . great towns of the empire froiu and . after a certain day ,- -the wonderment--and applause of'themultitude who . would thus be enabled to purchase cutlery , pottery , and woollen stuffs .-at fabulously cheap rates , would be-raised to the- greatest conceivable ^ height . . - The vested interests ; on- tliii other , hand , would have less time to cabal and to complain . ; ^ -and their real or supposed injuries would , have less chance olbeing heard amid 1 he ' clamour of popular joy . Tlie jvmpcror ' ¦ disdains , however , to avail -himself of the adventitious-aid-in ¦ question ! . lh ; is content to abolish prohibitions , and to . begin , bv flje admission of raw materials only free of duty . . ( ) . n all manufactured goods he proposes io preserve' . protecting duties ; find not even his anxiety . to ' conclude-a commercial Uvm'vj .- .-.. ; England has led him into consenting to lcsyer . those duties beyond thirty per cent-. Instead of rcn- 'ing in this circumspection . evidences of a wavering policy , wo confess we sec . in it ¦ the proofs of a settled and stable purpose . . ' ji is tlii . it ol' a mail whose reasons have , been convinced of the worth of great 'principles , and who has the moral courage to work them out not i | i the most madcap tandem , but in the securest , way . Truly itmay be ' . said ' of-him as . it was said of M i k . ujk . w , —// ira loin , it croif !

    ¦Civil And ' ¦Religious Policy Of Napoleon Iii.

    • CIVIL AND IIELIGIOUS POLICY OF NAPOLEON III .

    Reform.—Colmiltt Cost Of Klkctlojns.

    REFOlt . M . —COIMRTT COST OF KLKCTIOXS .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 4, 1860, page 105, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2332/page/5/