Not all the hackneyed writing on the subject of King
Victor Emmanuel's visit, nor all the studied flattery addressed to him personally, can swamp the remarkable character of the event. It has become a commonplace almost before we have been able to estimate its full value. The King of Sardinia has departed, and we have no authentic account of what he has really done, not even a shadow of it : but he cannot have passed five days under the roof of Queen Victoria, have assisted at conferences between her Ministers and his own, have seen our people and our condi- tion, without carrying home a more positive idea of the ally whom he has joined.
In many respects he would be impelled to form a strong con- trast between this country and that through which he mine to it. In France, everything must rest upon the life and settled purpose of one man, possessing great power, natural and acquired, but still in many respects isolated from the state which he rules and even from the councillors that surround him. The Emperor Napoleon decrees a vast expenditure, which French industry may perhaps not be able to make good ; discloses so much of his purpose as he pleases; and reserves the rest; sometimes unexpectedly consults advisers, whom he changes at pleasure; often acts without con- sultation; always pursues his own intent through all changes of conduct. This autocracy is nearly as striking a contrast as the world could furnish to a country in which the Sovereign reigns, and may advise, but does not rule; in which the Ministers are obliged to govern according to the purpose of the people—when the people has a purpose ; and in which the manifestation of opinion, through addresses from bodies corporate, whether public or private, consti- tutes a real influence not to be gainsaid by the Government. Both are Victor Emmanuers allies, both profess one object ; yet how ap- parently incompatible in their nature !
