THE SPENDTHRIFT. A TALE OF THE LAST CENTURY. PAGE BY 331 BY THE JOINT-STOCK BANKER. A TALE OF THE DAY. EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH A NIGHT OR TWO IN PARIS THE NEW SIMONIDES. BY CAPTAIN MEDWIN MISERIES OF A WET DAY IN THE COUNTRY. BY MATER FAMILIAS RAIKES'S JOURNAL 346 366 376 383 384 387 BY-WAYS OF HISTORY. THE MOURNFUL MARRIAGE OF SIR PROSINGS BY MONKSHOOD ABOUT THE ESSAYISTS AND RE- 430 PRINTED BY CHARLES WHITING, BEAUFORT HOUSE, STRand. All communications intended for this Magazine must be addressed to the Editor of Bentley's Miscellany, to the care of Mr. Bentley, 8, New Burlington-street. vitri ve ya h Rejected articles cannot be returned. Di% s-out of tallariz eɔjod of yai, le gbod 974 81291 5'I 91′to da I9vivo709 1958 yaived 29 lis no bз195.5 70° Te voet diem et 920 t v w of en Do.29332 bosilor tea bo pre wood Forigen: moier 90 eint noqua 619% " PEACE AND THE IMPERIAL DYNASTY. THE proclamation of peace has, through the good fortune of the Emperor of the French, been heralded by an event still more auspicious to the existing Government of France than even the proximate close of hostilities. The same good fortune which has raised Louis Napoleon from an exile to a sovereign has presented him with an heir on whom may devolve his vast acquisitions, and who will, at any rate, have as good a claim as any other Frenchman to the throne of the first nation of the Continent. For upwards of two centuries in no one of the dynasties to which France has been subjected has the son succeeded to the throne of the father. That the child now born should live to fulfil the bright anticipations indulged in at its birth, is a blessing almost too unprecedented to be entertained without misgiving; but it is in that very circumstance, in the misfortunes of the French throne and the French nation, in those defaults of lineage which have conspired so long and so miserably with the characteristic caprice of that excitable people, that now lies the reality and the earnest of the prayers addressed by all the different bodies of the State, and re-echoed by so many in this country, for the welfare and prosperity of the Imperial Prince, The Legislative Body, alluding to hopes similar to those which are now entertained on all sides having been conceived at other periods and not realised, attested as to why those to which they so cordially gave vent upon this occasion inspired them with so much confidence: "It is, sire, because the two dangers which have upset thrones-revolutions at home and coalition abroad-have been averted by you; you overcame revolution by force, diverted it by labour, calmed it by clemency; you have conciliated foreign states with France, because your armies have only reaped glory in the maintenance of justice and of right, and because you have known how to add to the greatness of France without humiliating Europe." The Emperor acknowledged that the unanimous acclamations which have hailed the birth of a son have not prevented him from reflecting upon the fate of those born in the same place, and under similar circumstances. But he added: "If I hope that his fate may be a happier one, it is that, first of all, confiding in Providence, I cannot doubt of its protection when I see it restore again by an extraordinary combination of circumstances what it was pleased to overthrow forty years since, as if it wished to mature by martyrdom and misfortune a new dynasty issuing from the ranks of the people. History has, moreover, lessons which I shall not forget. It tells me, on the one hand, that we should never abuse the favours of fortune; on the other, that a dynasty has only then a chance of stability when it remains faithful to its origin, and when it occupies itself solely with the popular interests for which it was created." The European Congress, by a happy coincidence, assembled in the very palace where the event took place, also attested, in the name of Europe, to the sentiments, the hopes, the joy inspired on all sides by the happy event with which it had pleased Providence to bless the Emperor, and which, by assuring and consolidating the Napoleon dynasty, becomes a new pledge of safety and confidence to the whole world. The Emperor's answer to this European expression of sympathy and of confidence will be for ever memorable-as much so as the words spoken on his advent in one of the first commercial cities of France. "I thank the Congress," he replied, " for the well-wishes and congratulations addressed to me through you. I am happy that Providence has granted me a son at a moment when era of general reconciliation dawns upon Europe. I will bring him up imbued with the idea that nations must not be egotistical, and that the peace of Europe depends upon the prosperity of each nation." new Such a reply, deeply marked with the lesson of a hard-earned experience, presents in its tone a striking contrast to that adopted by a great Transatlantic state, which in its youth and vigour, in the vastness of its territory, the increase of its population, and, above all, its unbounded egotism, defies fate to do its worst, and dares friend and foe alike. The imperial father gravely and wisely undertakes to imbue his son with the idea that nations must not exist for themselves alone, and that the peace of the world depends upon the prosperity of each nation. What a contrast to the doctrines entertained in the United States of an intangible sovereignty of a people which is above all law and all reason, to which the world must bow as Indians do to the great unseen spirit, which none must approach or hold communion with on terms of international sympathy or equality, and which abrogates to itself the right of usurp ing the New World to the utter and contemptuous exclusion of the Old! As the system of international jealousies, and of religious, commercial, and philosophical differences, seems to be dying away in the Old World-at a time when an Emperor is placing himself at the head of the crusaders against old national prejudices-the New World appears to be concentrating its whole vigour and energies into one great centre of human arrogance and national egotism. The Senate having testified to the apparent fact that Providence has gifts in store for those princes who devote themselves to the greatness and prosperity of their people, the Emperor, in answer, declared, that when an heir is born destined to perpetuate a national system, that child is not only the offspring of a family, an Imperial Prince, but he is truly, also, the son of the whole country-a child of France. The Council of State also stated, with equal truth, that "Divine Providence, which since the accession of your Majesty has showered so many blessings upon this Empire, which after crowning our arms with victory, seems to be preparing so many glorious results to your policy, could not have given you, sire, a more striking proof of its protection than by granting to your wishes and to ours the birth of an Imperial Prince." The Imperial Court of Orleans likewise observed, that it would appear that Providence wished this happy event should precede the signature of peace in order to teach attentive Europe that the best guarantee of that peace is the consolidation on the throne of the family of him whom France has placed on it. Lyons declared that during nearly a century it has never been completely exempt from civil disturbances except when under the shield of a Napoleon. That great manufacturing city, therefore, accepts as a blessing from Heaven everything that consolidates and perpetuates the power of the family. Bordeaux declares that the Emperor has saved France. He has directed her strength towards industry, commerce, and the arts-he has added by war a noble gem to a crown of glory, and the wisdom of his policy, by removing old national prejudices, will have re-established the balance of power in Europe. Providence, in giving to the Emperor a son, rewards him for all the good he has effected. Indeed, in the pæans sung from one extremity of France to another, peace abroad and tranquillity at home were unanimously associated with the idea of the perpetuation of the Napoleon dynasty. And the European Congress expressed with rare felicity the sentiments entertained by most other governments and peoples, when they declared that in the stability of that dynasty all united to see a pledge given to the security and to the confidence of the whole world. Peace will in all probability be proclaimed ere these pages meet the public eye. It was not only that the birth of an Imperial Prince had to be suitably inaugurated, but the armistice in the Crimea would expire on the 31st, and it was desirable to avoid the necessity of a renewal. The official announcement that war is at an end comes at an opportune moment for France. Russia, it is reported, concedes almost everything that has been asked of her -the neutralisation of the Black Sea, the disarmament of forts (even to Nicholaief), the independence of the Principalities, and territorial rectification to a certain extent. Peace is made, but whether in the meaning of the mot attributed to one of the plenipotentiaries-" Une paix, et non la paix!"-time alone can tell. |