Omens of the coming Empire multiply in France. Already the
language of the officials is 5nite monarchical. General Espinasse, despatched on a special mission to Algiers, assures the colonists that "the Prince who sent him desires to make their prosperity one of the principal glories of "his reign." The most fulsome flattery is thankfully received at Court. At the late festival of Saint Napoleon, the Prefeet of the Dordogne exhibited at Peri- gueux a transparency with the inscription, God made Napoleon and then rested ! A few days later, appeared a decree authoriz- ing the inhabitants of the Dordogne to present a sword of honour to their Prefect.
The nation makes no show of opposition to this insidious usurpa- tion of dignity; yet the success of the would-be Emperor's attempts to make the nation accomplice in the usurpation are equivocal. It will be recollected with what difficulty the legal number of elec- tors were induced in many departments to take part in the farce of electing the Councils of Arrondissement and the General Coun- cils. It has been contrived that most of the Ministers have been chosen Presidents of some Council-General or other, and those who have be chosen have left Paris to act in this capacity. After all
this preparation and packing, of the thirty-four Councils-General(out of eighty-three) which have voted addresses to Louis Napo- leon' less than one-fourth have been persuaded to express a wish for the establishment of an hereditary dynasty in his person. From the more numerous Councils of Arrondissement rather more numerous Imperialist addresses have been sent in; even among them, however, such addresses constitute a minority, and emanate from scattered localities widely distant from each other. The dynasty of the coup d'etat will at best be tolerated. The prin- cipal recommendation of an hereditary monarchy is that the exist- ence of recognized heirs prevents aspiring ambitions from aiming at sovereigny at the risk of public repose. But, in addition to the questionable nature of Louis Napoleon's title, he has no child, no wife, no great prospect of longevity : as hopeless a case for the founding of a dynasty as can be imagined. Of all European coun- tries, indeed, France is the one in which the stability resulting from any fixed law of occupancy or succession is least secure. The dynast), of the-great Emperor Napoleon himself lasted but a dozen years. The dynasty of the restored Bourbons, and the dynasty of Orleans, have passed away since many of our still active political observers reached manhood. The Republic, the Dictator, the Con- stitution of 1848, where are they in 1852?
