NAPOLEON 111. AND BISMARCK.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 734, 1 October 1870, Page 3

NAPOLEON 111. AND BISMARCK.

NAPOLEON. "When the eye 3 of all the world are turned upon" these two great men, one qf whom is now a prisoner in Berlin, whose combined action has brought about the war between France and Prussia, it may notfbe out of place to give a brief sketch of their career. We condense the following from " Men of the Times" : — Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was born at the Tuilleries on the 20th May, 1808. He is the third son of Louis Bonaparte, 'ex-King of Holland, his mother being Horlense, the daughter of the Empress Josephine by her first marriage. After Napoleon's return from Elba, his young nephew accompanied him to the Champ de Mars. The splendour of this scene left a deep impression on the mind of the boy, then only seven years old. When Napoleon embraced him for the last time, at Malmaison, he was much agitated ; and was only prevented by his mother from accompanying his uncle. After Louis and his mother had lived at Augsburg they proceeded to Switzerland, where he received the rights of citizenship, and entered the army. For a time he studied gunnery, and in one of his excursions amongst the Alpine passes the news of the Revolution in Paris of 1830 reached him. " When Louis Philippe became King he and his mother applied for permission to return to France, but were refused. A request to be allowed to serve in the French army was met by a renewal of the decree of his banishment. In the beginning of 1831, he and his brother removed from Switzerland to Tuscany, and participated in the insurrection at Rome. In March of that year, his elder brother died, and Louis escaped, through Italy and France, to England, where he remained a short time, and afterwards . retired to the Castle of Ahrenonberg, in Thurgau, devoting a part of his leisure to literature. In a book entitled " Reveries Politiques," he declared his belief that France could only be regenerated by one of Napoleon's descendants, as they alone could reconcile republican principles with the military aspirations of the nation. Afterwards he issued two other works, entitled "Considerations Politioues et Militaires sur la Suisse," and " Manuel sur I'Artillerie." In the year 1831-2, a feeling of dissatisfaction iv the army had attracted together sufficient talent and numbers to form in themselves the nucleus of an army. They had declared their intention of acknowledging Napoleon 11. as soon as he should reach the frontier, and even determined, if the Dae de Reichstadt did not appear, to receive his cousin. On the death of the Due de Reichstadt, Louis Napoleon became the legal heir of the Imperial family, and he at once became buoyed up with the hope of obtaining power iv France by the conversion of Chateaubriand imd other notables of the time. His designs upon the throne of France became evident in the early part of 1835, and iv 1836 he made an attempt to seize the fortress of Strasbourg. He gained over Colonel Vaudrey, commander of artillery in the garrison of Strasbourg. Fifteen officers stationed there promised him their cooperation. He appears to have been too wise to risk his own personal safety in the insurrection, but returned to Switzerland, leaving the affair to some of his adherents. The attempt failed miserably ; the Prince himself was captured, and remained as a prisoner at Strasbourg from October 30 to November 9, when he was conducted to Paris, where his mother had been entreating for his life to be spared. This was granted in condition that he should go to the United States, and he was accordingly conveyed thither. Very soon he returned to Switzerland, only to

find his mother on her deathbed. Shortly afterwards the Fre.ich Government, being apprehensive of a new conspiracy, demanded his banishment from Switzerland, and he removed from that country to England. In 1838 ho took up his residence in London, and in the following year published his celebrated work " Des Idees Napoleouiennes." In 1840 he hired a London steamer called the City of Edinburgh, and, embarking with Count Montholon,' General Voisin, and fifty-three associates, landed near Boulogne on August 6. He summoned the troops to join him or surrender, but the only man who did so was a young lieutenant of the 42nd Regiment. As the National Guard beat to arms, Prince Louis retreated with his followers out of the town towards the pillar on the heights above Boulogne, and there he planted a flag with a golden eagle at the top of the staff. Being pressed by numbers he rntreated fco the beach, and wa3 captured with his associates in endeavoring to get on board the steamer. In October the Prince and his followers were tried at Paris, before 160 peers of France, many of whom owed their elevation to his uncle. The Prince was sentenced to perpetual imprisonment in a fortress in France. He was confined for six years in the citadel at Ham, whence he escaped on May 25, 1840, having effected his exit from the castle by assuming as a disguise the dress of a workman. He again sought refuge in England, but in 1848 he was elected a member of the National Assembly, and afterwards President of the French Republic. He c« deceived the Constitutionists as to avert measures to prevent a coup id' e'tat, and ho cajoled the National Assembly, until stimulated by the advice and aid of such men as St. Arnaud and Fleury, early on the morning of December 1, 1851, he imprisoned every statesman in Paris known for his opposition to him, dissolved the Assembly, seized the most distingushed generals suspected of disaffection to his cause, arid proclaimed himself dictator. Having subdued the capital, and possessed himself of every element of power, he offered him self as President. He was elected, and he then proclaimed a Constitution which gave him absolute power. In 1852, the French nation, by a majority of six millions, voted the restoration of the Empire, and in December. 1852, Napoleon assumed the title of "Napoleon 111., Emperor of the French, by the grace of God and the will of the people." He was recognised by the English Government, and afterwards by other Powers. In 1854, war broke out between Russia and France and England. The war was settled after the f alf of Sebastopol. The Emperor married Eugenic Maria de Gusman, Countess de Taba, January 29, 1853, and the only issue of the marriage is the Prince Imperial, Napoleon Eugene Louis Jean Joseph, born March 16, 1865. In the previous year the Emperor, accompanied by the Ems press, visited England, where he was invested with the insignia of a Knight of the Garter. In 1858, an unsuccessful attempt upon the Emperor's life was made by Orsini, who concocted his plans in England, aided by Dr Bernard, a French resident in London. To conciliate the Emperor, Lord Palmerston introduced the "Conspiracy and Murder Bill," the rejection of which led to a temporary suspension of cordial relations between the French and English Governments. Palmerston's own popularity suffered verymuch, the English people regarding his conduct as pusillanimous. Friendly relations were aftewards re-established between England and France. In 1859-60 the French defeated the Austrians at Magenta and Solferino, and dictated to that nation the peace of Villafranca, by which Lombardy and the Duchies were ceded to Sardinia, and Venetia was left under Austrian sway. In return for this service, Savoy and some neutral Swiss territory were ceded to France. In 1860 the Emperor, for the ostensible purpose of protecting the Roman Catholic portion of the population, sent a military force to Rome. In 1860 joint expeditions were fitted out by England and France to punish China, for acts of treachery to the Enropean powers with whom it had entered into commercial treatie-. Pekin was captured, and the Emperor's summer palace destroyed. The Chinese Government made reparation on October 6th of that yeai\ About the same time the Emperor sent an expedition to CochinChina on a similar errand, and it was successful. In 1861 Napoleon organised in conjunction with England and Spain an expedition against Mexico, with the avowed object of enforcing redress for injuries inflicted on subjects of the respective countries, and for the payment of a debt resisted by Mexico. As it appeared that he had other objects in view, Great Britain and Spain seceded from joint action with France, and Napoleon prosecuted the war alone, and, after some sanguinary battles, established an Imperial form of Government in the country, the Archdtike Maximilian, of Austria, being induced to accept the Crown. His unfortunate fate must be fresh in the memory of our readers. Early in 1857, the French troops were withdrawn in accordance with an agreement with the Government of the United States. In 1863 Napoleon proposed a great European conference, theßritishGo/ernmenthaving unceremoniously rejected the proposal as impracticable. In 1864 the Emperor concluded a French-Italian treaty with the Cabinet of Turin, by which the French troops were to be withdrawn from Rome within two years at the latest, or sooner if the Papal Government should be enabled to organise an army sufficiently strong to defend the territory actually in its occupation, and upon the guarantee of the Italian Government that such territory should not be attacked from without. One of the latest acts of this extraordinary man's political life has been to declare himself a partison of the principles of free-trade ; whereupon Mr Cobden was charged by the British Government with a design to effect a treaty of commerce between France and England. The treaty was ultimately concluded, but the effect of the treaty has not been entirely satisfactory to France, though it has no doubt been mutually beneficial to both nations. Very recently the Emperor has published a remarkable work, entitled "Julius Crasar," which was unfavourably reviewed by most of the English journals. The Emperor's health has lately. suffered very much, and it is doubtful whether he will survive great excitement of serious disaster. - His present conduct towards Prussia, according to the last telegrams via Suez, is regarded by the English Press as unjustifable, being merely a daring attempt to gratify the taste of the French for millitary glory, and thus to perpunte the name

of the Napoleon family, to si'cuvo the throno to his son, and to suppress tlio rising tendencies of republioaniiiii, with an utter disregard of human life, and the happiness oi millions of people, BISMARCK. The following we condense from " Men of the Ago" : — Long after most of those who are now leading men in Europe had attained prominent positions, the iimne of Bismarck suddenly became famous ; and in seven or eight years he has risen to a height of political power beyond what any statesman has ever attained in Germany since the days, long past, when the German empire took the lead of Europe. Otho Count Von Bismarck-Schonhausen was born at Brandenburg in 1813 His family connections secured for him the education necessary for public employment, and access to the diplomatic sei vice, in which he displayed much capacity. In 1851 he was despatched, as the representative of the Prussian Government in the German Diet, to Frankfort, and afterwards on a special mission to Vienna. The present King, more ambitious and more sagacious than his predecessor, perceived the superior qualifications of Herr Von Bismarck ; and in 1862 placed him at the head of his Cabinet, with the portfolio of Foreign Affairs. Bismarck devoted lu3 abilities to the furtherance of King William's policy, which involved the restriction of the powers of the House of Representatives within limits prescribed by the ideas of (he Sovereign. Bismarck's firm, defiant resistance to the claims of the representatives rendered him unpopular. But he sustained the intevests of Prussia in relation to the rest of Germany and to foreign Powers so wisely, that he won for himself the admiration of those who resented his home policy. The minor States of Germany — yielding to the iuveterate jealousy which has for a thousand years divided the kindred yet distinct races of Teutonic and Scandinavian origin — began in the Diet, where they outnumbered the great powers, Austria and Prussia, to clamor for the deliverance of the Germans in Holstein and Schleswig from the yoke of the Kins; of Denmark. Austria and Prussia yielded to the pressure brought to bear upon them in the Diet, nnd furnished the troops required for the "Federal execution" in Holsteiu. Denmark, acting on the advice of the British Government, withdrew from that Province, having neither legal right nor force sufficient to hold out against the representations of the Diet. The Budget having been rejected by the Deputies, but adopted by the Upper Chamber, M. Bismarck, in the name of the King, dissolved the former after a series of angry altercations. The newspapers which protested against this despotic act were proceeded against with great severity, as "were numerous public officials, magistrates, and others, who openly expressed views hostile to the Government. In January, 1863, he protested against an address which the Deputies presented to the King, in which he was accused of having violated the Constitution. Thus, like Napoleon 111., he appealed from the representalive3 to the whole peop 7 e. At t ! ie beginning of 1864 the minor Sta'es of Germany were clamorous against Austria and Prussia, for their want of national spirit in declining to push on at once, and extend the Hmita of Germany at the expense of Denmark. The British Government warned the German Powers not to violate the treaty of 1852. But for the first time since the creation of the Confederacy, the minor States, insisting on immediate war, outvoted Austria and Prussia in the Diet ; and these two Powers, yielding to the decision, took the opportunity to assert their own supremacy in Germany. They concentrated their forces on the south bank of the river Eider, the boundary between Holstein and Schleswig. Bishop Monrad, the President of the Com oil of Denmark, said:— "The. programme I maintain which we have to follow simply, clearly, and without evasion, is this: Not to allow a single German soldier to pass the Eider, without offering the best resistance in our power, and to use every effort to expel from Schleswig all who shall venture to intrude." But resistance was vain ; Denmark succumbed to overwhelming force, and consented to the dismemberment of the kingdom, and the annexation of Schleswig to Germany. During the interval between the acceptance of the terms of peace at Vienna ar,d the ratification of the treaty. Bismarck, writing to the Prussian Minister in London, said, with characteristic effrontery, in the face of the protest of England and the desolations caused by the Prussian army in Denmark, "The Danish monarchy is not imperilled in its existence ; not a single condition c f its existeuce is damaged ; it has received no wounds which cannot be healed." Earl Russell, in his reply, said, " Her Majesty's Government have, indeed, from time to time, as eve: ts took place, repeatedly declared their opinion that the aggression of Austria and Prussia upon Denmark was unjust; ard that the war as waged by Germany against , Denmark had not for its groundwork , ether that justice or that necessity which i are the only basis ou which war ought to be undertaken. Considering the war, to have been wholly unnecessaiy on the part of Germany, they deeply lament tlu.t the advantages acquired by successful hostilities should have been used by Austria and Prussia to dismember the Danish monarchy, which it was the object of the treaty of 1852 to preserve entire." On the principle, however, that those may laugh who win, Bismarck and his master did not lay to heart the rebuke of England. Bavaria and other German States complained of Austria and Prussia. At the close of the session of 1865, Bismarck, in the King's name, again dismissed the House of Representatives with reproaches, telling them that their only business was " to co-operate in the work commenced by thoir Sovereign — to make Prussia great and happy under future princes." Had King William been as vacillating as Charles 1., and the Prussian House of Representatives as sturdy as the Long Parliament, Bismarck might have lost his head. Before the end of the year 1865 Austria and Prussia each aspired to take the lead of the whole German people. Austria had the greatest hereditary claims ; but Prussia baa gained > the greatest prestige in the recent struggle. Bismarck counselled the King, whose own disposition rendered the counsel acceptable, to insist on terms that would be sure to be refused by Austria, and to emulate the renown of his ancestor Frederick the Groat, by raising Prussia to the head of the German race. The differences between the two Powers grew more and more irreconcilable. Bismarck uttered in Parliament the memorable

saying that more "steel and blood" were m-edod for tho settlement of Germany. Bis narck proposed the alliance of Italy / with Prussia, and succeeded in his scheme. Prussia claimed such authority in the Government of the Duchies separated from Denmark as Austria would not consent to, and the dispute jrrew more and more threatening. Meanwhile a large party in the Prussian House of Representatives opposed the proceedings of the Government ; and, to prevent disunion in the face of an approaching conflict with Austria, Bismarck, on the 23rd February, in the name of the -King, abruptly closed the session of the Diet. In March he had a decree published in Sohleswig, declaring that any Schleswiger who signed an address, or delivered a speech, in favor of the Duke of Augustenbnrg would be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years. On the 24th of this month he sent a circular to the minor German States, pointing out the necessity of their coming to an immediate decision as to which of the two Powers they would side with, so that Prussia might defend them or deal with • them as foes. Before the end of March, a secret treaty was entered into between Prussia and Italy, by which Italy agreed to declare war against Austria as soon as Prussia had declared war, or committed an act of hostility; Prussia engaged to carry on the war until Venetia (with the exception of the fortresses and the city of Venice) waa in the hands of the King of Italy, or until Austria declared herself ready to cede it to him ; and the King of Italy engaged not to lay down his arms until the Prussians were in legal possession of the Elbe Duchies. After all, a disarmament was proposed in April. Each Power proposed its desire to reduce the armies ; but neither was satisfied with the extent to which the other consented to disarm. Bismarck insisted that Austria should withdraw all

the troops sent into Bohemia, Moravia, and Austrian Silesia, and j)laee them on a peace footing. This demand, as he doubtless expected, was resisted. Early in May both Powers put their forces on a war footing. Still, England, France, and Russia attempted to avert such a calamity, and in June it was proposed that a conference should meet in Paris for that purpose. But Austria refused to send a representative to the conference, unless it was stipulated that the negotiations should exclude all pretensions of any one of the Powers — Austria, Prussia, and Italy -to obtain an aggrandisement of territory. Prussia, determined not to be shut out from the Duchies, declined this stipulation, and the conference w; s not held. It was about this time that M. Thiers, commenting in the Parliament o? France, with great eloquence, on the course taken by Prussia, charged the Government of France with connivance in the scheme of Bismarck ; and thns spoke of that Minister—" Is it, then, astonishing thatM. Bismarck counts in certain eventualities on France, when he 9ays that Italy unites with him 1 Is he very imprudent in that I I ought to say that I, who accuse him of temerity, recognise his courage ; for I have the honor to know him. lam not his enemy, nor the foe of his glory, if he does not become the enemy of my country, and of Europe. I say, then, however imprudent he may be, I do not say that, since Italy is with him. to-day* it is probable that France will be with him pome day." Lord Stratford de Redcliffe said they were on the eve of one of the most expensive and bloody wars ever known, and regretted that Britain should be condemned to inaction. On the 15th June the Prussian troops entered Saxony, and the war between Prussia and Austria was . begun. Five batt'es decided the question in favor of Prussia. In the battle of Sadowa, which sealed the fate of the Austrians, the 27th Regiment of the Prussian army entered a wood with 3000 men and 90 officers ; they came out on the other side victorious, but with only two officers and less than 400 men standing, the rest having been all killed or wounded. The Austr&Yns prepared to defend Vienna, but further issue of bloodshed was stayed. France gained Venetia, which she handed over to Italy. Prussia gained Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, Hesse- Homburg, Nassau, the Duchies of Schleswig-Holstein and Lauenburg, Hesse-Darmstadt, North of the Main, and Hohenzollern. On the 12th September Bismarck's electoral bill for the election of members to serve for Prussia in the new Parliament of Northern Germany was passed. By this measure every Prussian over twenty-five years is an elector, one deputy is given to every 100,000 souls, the right of election is exercised by the elector depositing an unsigned voting paper in a box prepared for the purpose. The Parliament also enacted that the Prussian Constitutional Charter should become law in Hanover, Nassau, Hesae-Cassel, and Frankfort on the first day of October, 1867. Thus with astonishing rapidity North Germany has been consolidated into a compact monarchical republic, with the most thoroughly democratic institutions in Europe. The King, who in his old age loves to be almost always on horseback with his army and hia people, trusts Bismarck with the most unreserved confidence. The chief part of Germany is united in a strong nation, the cause of religious liberty is firmly established in central Europe, the people of Venetia are delivered from the galling yoke of a foreign government and united to their kindred Italians,a great democracy has been founded on the most ample basis, an equipoise has been secured against any possible aggression on the part of either of the mighty empires to the east and west of Germany; and even the conquered people of Austria and Hungary have derived from their defeat th« blessings of constitutional freedom.