September 3, 2025 • 19 mins
Join Dr. Lord in this captivating installment of the European Leaders series, where he delves into the lives and legacies of influential figures such as William IV, Sir Robert Peel, Cavour, Czar Nicholas, Louis Napoleon, Prince Bismarck, and William Ewart Gladstone. Discover the pivotal moments that shaped Europe through the stories of these remarkable leaders. (Summary by KHand)
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Section twelve of Beacon Lights of History, Volume ten, European
Leaders by John Lord. This LibriVox recording is in the
public domain. Recording by k Hand Louis Napoleon, Part two.
Louis Napoleon was too thoughtful and observant a man to
not know all this. His residence in England and intercourse
(00:21):
with so many distinguished politicians and philosophers had taught him something.
He feared that, with all his successes, his throne would
be overturned unless he could amuse the people and find
work for turbulent spirits. Consequently, he concluded on the one hands,
to make a change in the foreign policy of France,
and on the other to embellish his capital and undertake
(00:41):
great public works at any expense, both to find work
for artisans and to develop the resources of the country.
When Loui Napoleon made his first attack on the strong
government of Louis Philippe at Strasbourg, he was regarded as
a madman. When he escaped from Ham after his failure
at Bolone, he was looked upon by all Europe as
(01:02):
a mere adventurer. And when he finally left England, which
had sheltered him, to claim his seat in the National
Assembly of Republican France, and even when made President of
the Republic by the suffrages of the nation, he was
regarded as an enigma. Some thought him dull, though bold,
and others looked upon him as astute and long headed.
His heavy look, his leaden eye, his reserved and taciturn ways,
(01:26):
with no marked power, but that of silence and secrecy
disarmed fear. Neither from his conversations nor his writings had
anybody drawn the inference that he was anything remarkable in
genius or character. His executive abilities were entirely unknown. He
was generally regarded as simply fortunate from the name he
bore and the power he usurped, but with no striking
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intellectual gifts, nothing that would warrant his supreme audacity. He
had never distinguished himself in anything, but was admitted to
be a thoughtful man who had written treatises of respectable
literary merit. His social position as the heir and nephew
of the Great Napoleon, of course, secured him many friends
and followers, who were attracted to him by the prestige
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of his name, and who saw in him the means
of making their own fortune. But he was always, except
in a select and chosen circle, silent, noncommittal, heavy, reserved,
and uninteresting. But the President the Emperor had been a
profound student of the history of the First Napoleon and
his government. He understood the French people too, and had
(02:29):
learned to make short speeches with great effect, in which
adroitness in selecting watchwords, especially such as captivated the common people,
was quite remarkable. He professed to liberal sentiments, sympathy with
the people in their privations and labors, and effected beyond
everything a love of peace. In his manifestos of a
policy of universal peace. Few saw that love of war
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by which he intended to rivet the change of despotism.
He was courteous and urbane in his manners, probably kind
in disposition, not bloodthirsty nor cruel, supremely politic and conciliating
in his intercourse with statesmen and diplomatists, and generally simple
and unstilted in his manners. He was also capable of friendship,
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and never forgot those who had rendered him services or
kindness in his wanderings. Nor was he greedy of money
like Louis Philippe. But freely lavished it on his generals.
Like his uncle, he had an antipathy to literary men
when they would not condescend it to flatter him, which
was repaid by uncompromising hostility on their part. How savage
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and unrelenting was the hatred of Victor Hugo, how unsparing
his ridicule and abuse, he called the usurper Napoleon the Little,
Notwithstanding he had outwitted the leading men of the nation
and succeeded in establishing himself on an absolute throne. A
small man could not have shown so much patience, wisdom,
and prudence as Louis Napoleon showed when president, or fought
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so successfully the legislative body when it was arrayed against him.
If the poet had called him Napoleon the Wicked, it
would have been more to the point, for only a
supremely unscrupulous and dishonest man could have meditated and executed
the coup d'etats. His usurpation and treachery were gigantic crimes,
accompanied with violence and murder. Even his crimes, however, were
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condoned in view of the good government which he enforced
and the services he rendered, showing that if he was
dishonest and treacherous, he was also able and enlightened. But
it is not his usurpation of supreme power for which
Louis Napoleon will be most severely judged by his country
and by posterity. Cromwell was a usurper, and yet he
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is regarded as a great benefactor. It was the policy
which Napoleon the Third pursued as a supreme ruler, for
which he will be condemned, and which was totally unlike
that of Cromwell or Augustus. It was his policy to
embroil nations in war and play the role of a conqueror.
The policy of the restored Bourbones and of Louis Philippe
was undeniably that of peace with other nations and quishment
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of that aggrandizement which is gained by successful war. It
was this policy upheld by such great statesmen as Guiseaux
and Tiers, conflicting with the warlike instincts of the French people,
which made those monarchs unpopular more than their attempts to
suppress the liberty of the press and the license of
popular leaders. And it was the appeal to the military
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vanity of the people, which made Napoleon the third popular
and secured his political ascendancy. The quarrel which was then
going on between the Greek and Latin monks for the
possession of the sacred shrines at Jerusalem, furnished both the
occasion and the pretense for interrupting the peace of Europe.
As has already been stated in the Lecture on the
Crimean War, the French usurper determined to take the side
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of the Latin monks, which would necessarily embroil him with
the great protector of the Greek faith, even that Emperor Nicholas,
who was a bigot in all matters pertaining to his religion.
He would rally the French nation in a crusade, not
merely to get possession of a sacred key and a
silver star, but to come to the assistance of a
power no longer dangerous, the sick man whom Nicholas had
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resolved to crush. Louis Napoleon cared but little for Turkey,
but he did not want Constantinople to fall into the
hands of the Russians and thus make them the masters
of the Black Sea. France, it is true, had but
little to gain, who ever possessed Constantinople. She had no
possessions or colonies in the east to protect, but in
the eye of her emperor, it was necessary to amuse
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her by a war. And what war would be more
popular than this to head off Russia and avenge the
march to Moscow. Russia, moreover, was the one power which
all Western Europe had caused to dread. Ever since the
Empress Catherine the Second, the encroachments and territorial aggrandizement of
this great military empire had been going on. The Emperor
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Nicholas was the most powerful sovereign of the world, having
a million of men under arms, ready to obey his
nod with no check whatever on his imperial will. He
had many fine qualities which commanded esteem, but he was fitful, uncertain, ambitious,
and warlike. If an aggressive war to secure the balance
of power could ever be justified, it would seem to
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have been necessary. In this case, it was an aggressive
war on the part of France, since the four great
powers Austria, Prussia, France and England were already united to
keep the Czar in check and demanded his evacuation of
the Danubian provinces, which he had invaded. Nicholas, seeing this
powerful combination against him, was ready to yield, and peace
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might have been easily secured, and thus the crimean war
being avoided. But Loui Napoleon did not want peace and
intrigued against it, resolved that on war the real disturber
of the peace of Europe, and, goaded on by his counselors,
the conspirators of the Second of December Mornet, Fleury, Malpus,
et cetera, Louen Napoleon turned round to seek an ally.
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For France alone was not strong enough to cope with Russia. Austria,
having so much to lose, did not want war and
was afraid of Nicholas. So was Prussia. It was the
policy of both these powers to keep on good terms
with Nicholas. It always will be the policy of Germany
to avoid a war with Russia, unless supported by England
and France. The great military organization which Bismarck and Moltke affected.
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The immense standing army which Germany groans under arises not
from anticipated dangers on the part of France so much
as from the fear of Russia. Although it is not
the policy of German statesmen to confess it openly. If
France should unite with Russia in a relentless war, Germany
would probably be crushed unless England came to the rescue. Germany,
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placed between two powerful military monarchies, is obliged to keep
up its immense standing army against its will as a
dire necessity. It is Russia she is most anxious to conciliate.
All the speeches of Bismarck show this. In view of
this policy, Louis Napoleon turned his eyes to England as
his ally in the meditated war with Russia, notwithstanding the
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secret hostilities and jealous between these nations for five hundred years. Moreover,
the countries were entirely dissimilar. England was governed by a
parliament based on free institutions. France was a military despotism
in all who sought to establish parliamentary liberties and government
were banished when their efforts became dangerous or revolutionary. Louis
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Napoleon showed great ability for intrigue in forcing the English
cabinet to adopt his warlike policy when its own policy
was pacific. It was a great triumph to the usurper
to see England drifting into war against the combined influence
of the Premier of Gladstone, of the Quakers, and of
the whole Manchester school of political economists. And as stated
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in an a lecture on the Crimean War, it was
an astounding surprise to Nicholas. But this misfortune would not
have happened had it not been for the genius and
intrigues of a statesman who exercised a commanding influence over
English politics. And this was Lord Palmerston, who had spent
his life in the Foreign Office, although at that time
Home Secretary. But he was the ruling spirit of the cabinet,
(10:03):
a man versatile, practical, amiable, witty and intensely English in
all his prejudices. Whatever office he held, he was always
in harmony with public opinion. He was not a man
of great ideas or original genius, but was a ready debater,
understood the temper of the English people and led them
by adopting their cause, whatever it was. Hence he was
(10:23):
the most popular statesman of the day, but according to Cobden,
the worst Prime Minister that England ever had, since he
was always keeping England in hot water and stirring up
strife on the continent. His supreme policy, with an eye
to English interests on the Mediterranean and in Asia, was
to cripple Russia. Such a man, warlike, restless and interfering
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in his foreign policy, having in viewed the military aggrantizement
of his country, eagerly adopted the schemes of the French Emperor,
And little by little, these two men brought the English
cabinet into a warlike attitude with Russia. In spite of
all that Lord Aberdeen could do. Slight concessions would have
left to peace, but neither Louis Napoleon nor Palmerston would
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allow concessions, since both were resolved on war. Never was
a war more popular in England than that which Louis
Napoleon and Palmerston resolved to have. This explains the leniency
of public opinion in England toward a man who had
stolen a scepter. He was united with Great Britain in
a popular war. The French Emperor, however, had other reasons
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for seeking the alliance of England in his war with Russia.
It would give him a social prestige. He would enter
more easily into the family of European sovereigns. He would
be called Montfrere by the Queen of England, which royal
named Nicholas in his disdain, refused to give him. If
the Queen of England was his friend and ally, all
other sovereigns must welcome him into the royal fraternity in
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spite of his political crimes, which were universally detested. It
is singular that England, after exhausting her resources by a
war of twenty years to throne Napoleon the First, should
become the firmest ally and friend of Napoleon the Third,
who trampled on all constitutional liberty. But mutual interests brought
them together. For when has England turned her back on
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her interests or what she supposed to be her interests,
So war became inevitable. Napoleon the Third triumphed. His cooperation
with England was sincere and hearty. Yea, so gratified and
elated was he at this stroke of good fortune that
he was ready to promise anything to his ally, even
to the taking a subordinate part in the war. He
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would follow the dictation of the English ministers and the
English generals. It was the general opinion that the war
would be short and glorious At first, it was contemplated
only to fight the Russians in Bulgaria and prevent their
march across the Balkans, and thence to Constantinople. The war
was undertaken to assist the Turks in the defense of
their capital and territories. For this a large army was
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not indispensable. Hence the forces which were sent to Bulgaria
were comparatively small. When Nicholas discovered that he could not
force his way to Constantinople over the Balkans and had
withdrawn his forces from the Danubian principalities, peace then might
have been honorably declared by all parties. But England had
not only been entangled in the war by the French Alliance,
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but was now resolved on taking Sebastopol to destroy the
power of Russia on the Euxine, and France was compelled
to complete what she had undertaken, although she had nothing
to gain beyond what she had already secured. To the
credit of Louis Napoleon, he proved a chivalrous and faithful
ally in continuing a disastrous and expensive war for the
glory of France and the interests of England alone. Although
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he made a separate peace as soon as he could
do so with honor. It is not my purpose to
repeat what I have already written on the Crimean War,
although the more I read and think about it, the
stronger is my disapproval, on both moral and political grounds,
of that needless and unfortunate conflict. Unfortunate alike to all
parties concerned. It is a marvel that it did not,
in the end weaken the power and prestige of both
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Palmersten and Napoleon the Third. It strengthened the hands of both,
as was foreseen by these astute states Napoleon the Third,
after the war was regarded as a far seeing statesman
as well as an able administrator. People no longer regarded
him as a fool or even a knave. Success had
shut the mouths of his enemies, except of a few
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obdurate ones like Tiers and Victor Hugo, the latter of whom,
in his voluntary exile in Guernsey and Jersey, still persisted
in calling him Napoleon. The little Tiers generally called him
selu Ci that fellow, this illustrious statesman, in his restless
ambition and desire of power, probably would have taken office
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under the man whom he both despised and hated. But
he dared not go against his antecedents, and was unwilling
to be a mere clerk, as all Louis Napoleon's ministers were,
whatever their abilities. He was supported by the army and
the people, and therefore was master of the situation. This
was a fact which everybody was compelled to acknowledge. It
was easy to call him usurper, tyrant, and fool anything,
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but he both reigned and governed. When peace was finally restored,
the Empire presented the aspect of a stable government resting
solidly upon the approval of a contented and thriving people.
This was the general opinion of those who were well
acquainted with French affairs, and of those who visited Paris,
which was then exceedingly prosperous. The city was filled with
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travelers who came to see the glory of success. Great
architectural improvements were then in progress, which gave employment to
a vast number of men, theretofore leading a precarious life.
The chief of these were the new boulevards, constructed with
immense expense. Those magnificent but gloomy streets, which lined with
palaces and hotels, excited universal admiration. A wise expenditure on
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the whole which promoted both beauty and convenience, although to
construct them a quarter of the city was demolished. The
Grand Opera House arose over the debris of the demolished houses,
the most magnificent theater erected in modern times. Paris presented
a spectacle of perpetual fetes, reviews of troops and aloosations,
which both amused and distracted the people. The Louver was
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joined to the Toulliers by a grand gallery devoted chiefly
to works of art. The Champs Elise and the Bois
de Bolon were ornamented with new avenues, fountains, gardens, flowers
and trees where the people could pursue their pleasure unobstructed.
The number of beautiful equipages was vastly increased, and everything
indicated wealth and prosperity. The military was wisely kept out
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of sight except on great occasions, so that the people
should not be reminded of their loss of liberties. The
police were courteous and obliging, and interfered with no pleasures
and no ordinary pursuits. The shops blazed with every conceivable attraction.
The fashionable churches were crowded with worshippers and strangers to
hear music which rivaled that of the opera. The priests,
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in their ecclesiastical uniform were seen in every street with
cheerful and beaming faces, for the government sought their support
and influence. The papers were filled with the movements of
the Imperial court at races, in hunting parties, and visits
to the chateau of the great. The whole city seemed
to be absorbed in pleasure or gain, and crowds swarmed
at all places of amusement with contented faces. There was
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no outward sign of despotism or unhappiness, since everybody found employment.
Even the idlers who frequented the crowded cafes of the
boulevards seemed to take unusual pleasure at their games of
dominoes and at their tables of beer and wine. Visitors
wondered at the apparent absence of all restraint from government,
and at the personal liberty which everybody seemed practically to enjoy.
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For ten years after they coup deed Ha. It was
the general impression that the government of Louis Napoleon was
a success. In spite of the predictions and hostile criticisms
of famous statesmen. It was to all appearance at least stable,
and the nation was prosperous. The enemies that the Emperor
had the most cause to dread were these famous statesmen themselves. Tieres, Guisaux, Broglis, Odeon,
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Beaux had all been prime ministers, and most of the
rest had won their laurels under Louis Felippe. They either
declined to serve under Napoleon the Third, or had been
neglected by him. Their political power had passed away. They
gave vent whenever they could, with personal safety, to their spleen,
to their disappointment, to their secret hostility, they all alike
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prophesied evil. They all professed to believe that the Emperor
could not maintain his position two years, that he would
be carried off by assassination or revolution. And joined with
them in bitter hatred was the whole literary class, like
Victor Hugo, Lamartine and cousin, who hurled curses and defiance
from their retreats or from the fashionable salons and clubs
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which they frequented the old noblesse stood aloof Saint Germain
was like a foreign city rather than a part of Paris.
All the traitors among the Legitimists and Orleanists continued in
a state of secret hostility and through all the impediments
they could against the government. End of Section House
Section twelve of Beacon Lights of History, Volume ten, European
Leaders by John Lord. This LibriVox recording is in the
public domain. Recording by k Hand Louis Napoleon, Part two.
Louis Napoleon was too thoughtful and observant a man to
not know all this. His residence in England and intercourse
(00:21):
with so many distinguished politicians and philosophers had taught him something.
He feared that, with all his successes, his throne would
be overturned unless he could amuse the people and find
work for turbulent spirits. Consequently, he concluded on the one hands,
to make a change in the foreign policy of France,
and on the other to embellish his capital and undertake
(00:41):
great public works at any expense, both to find work
for artisans and to develop the resources of the country.
When Loui Napoleon made his first attack on the strong
government of Louis Philippe at Strasbourg, he was regarded as
a madman. When he escaped from Ham after his failure
at Bolone, he was looked upon by all Europe as
(01:02):
a mere adventurer. And when he finally left England, which
had sheltered him, to claim his seat in the National
Assembly of Republican France, and even when made President of
the Republic by the suffrages of the nation, he was
regarded as an enigma. Some thought him dull, though bold,
and others looked upon him as astute and long headed.
His heavy look, his leaden eye, his reserved and taciturn ways,
(01:26):
with no marked power, but that of silence and secrecy
disarmed fear. Neither from his conversations nor his writings had
anybody drawn the inference that he was anything remarkable in
genius or character. His executive abilities were entirely unknown. He
was generally regarded as simply fortunate from the name he
bore and the power he usurped, but with no striking
(01:47):
intellectual gifts, nothing that would warrant his supreme audacity. He
had never distinguished himself in anything, but was admitted to
be a thoughtful man who had written treatises of respectable
literary merit. His social position as the heir and nephew
of the Great Napoleon, of course, secured him many friends
and followers, who were attracted to him by the prestige
(02:07):
of his name, and who saw in him the means
of making their own fortune. But he was always, except
in a select and chosen circle, silent, noncommittal, heavy, reserved,
and uninteresting. But the President the Emperor had been a
profound student of the history of the First Napoleon and
his government. He understood the French people too, and had
(02:29):
learned to make short speeches with great effect, in which
adroitness in selecting watchwords, especially such as captivated the common people,
was quite remarkable. He professed to liberal sentiments, sympathy with
the people in their privations and labors, and effected beyond
everything a love of peace. In his manifestos of a
policy of universal peace. Few saw that love of war
(02:52):
by which he intended to rivet the change of despotism.
He was courteous and urbane in his manners, probably kind
in disposition, not bloodthirsty nor cruel, supremely politic and conciliating
in his intercourse with statesmen and diplomatists, and generally simple
and unstilted in his manners. He was also capable of friendship,
(03:12):
and never forgot those who had rendered him services or
kindness in his wanderings. Nor was he greedy of money
like Louis Philippe. But freely lavished it on his generals.
Like his uncle, he had an antipathy to literary men
when they would not condescend it to flatter him, which
was repaid by uncompromising hostility on their part. How savage
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and unrelenting was the hatred of Victor Hugo, how unsparing
his ridicule and abuse, he called the usurper Napoleon the Little,
Notwithstanding he had outwitted the leading men of the nation
and succeeded in establishing himself on an absolute throne. A
small man could not have shown so much patience, wisdom,
and prudence as Louis Napoleon showed when president, or fought
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so successfully the legislative body when it was arrayed against him.
If the poet had called him Napoleon the Wicked, it
would have been more to the point, for only a
supremely unscrupulous and dishonest man could have meditated and executed
the coup d'etats. His usurpation and treachery were gigantic crimes,
accompanied with violence and murder. Even his crimes, however, were
(04:17):
condoned in view of the good government which he enforced
and the services he rendered, showing that if he was
dishonest and treacherous, he was also able and enlightened. But
it is not his usurpation of supreme power for which
Louis Napoleon will be most severely judged by his country
and by posterity. Cromwell was a usurper, and yet he
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is regarded as a great benefactor. It was the policy
which Napoleon the Third pursued as a supreme ruler, for
which he will be condemned, and which was totally unlike
that of Cromwell or Augustus. It was his policy to
embroil nations in war and play the role of a conqueror.
The policy of the restored Bourbones and of Louis Philippe
was undeniably that of peace with other nations and quishment
(05:00):
of that aggrandizement which is gained by successful war. It
was this policy upheld by such great statesmen as Guiseaux
and Tiers, conflicting with the warlike instincts of the French people,
which made those monarchs unpopular more than their attempts to
suppress the liberty of the press and the license of
popular leaders. And it was the appeal to the military
(05:21):
vanity of the people, which made Napoleon the third popular
and secured his political ascendancy. The quarrel which was then
going on between the Greek and Latin monks for the
possession of the sacred shrines at Jerusalem, furnished both the
occasion and the pretense for interrupting the peace of Europe.
As has already been stated in the Lecture on the
Crimean War, the French usurper determined to take the side
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of the Latin monks, which would necessarily embroil him with
the great protector of the Greek faith, even that Emperor Nicholas,
who was a bigot in all matters pertaining to his religion.
He would rally the French nation in a crusade, not
merely to get possession of a sacred key and a
silver star, but to come to the assistance of a
power no longer dangerous, the sick man whom Nicholas had
(06:06):
resolved to crush. Louis Napoleon cared but little for Turkey,
but he did not want Constantinople to fall into the
hands of the Russians and thus make them the masters
of the Black Sea. France, it is true, had but
little to gain, who ever possessed Constantinople. She had no
possessions or colonies in the east to protect, but in
the eye of her emperor, it was necessary to amuse
(06:28):
her by a war. And what war would be more
popular than this to head off Russia and avenge the
march to Moscow. Russia, moreover, was the one power which
all Western Europe had caused to dread. Ever since the
Empress Catherine the Second, the encroachments and territorial aggrandizement of
this great military empire had been going on. The Emperor
(06:50):
Nicholas was the most powerful sovereign of the world, having
a million of men under arms, ready to obey his
nod with no check whatever on his imperial will. He
had many fine qualities which commanded esteem, but he was fitful, uncertain, ambitious,
and warlike. If an aggressive war to secure the balance
of power could ever be justified, it would seem to
(07:10):
have been necessary. In this case, it was an aggressive
war on the part of France, since the four great
powers Austria, Prussia, France and England were already united to
keep the Czar in check and demanded his evacuation of
the Danubian provinces, which he had invaded. Nicholas, seeing this
powerful combination against him, was ready to yield, and peace
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might have been easily secured, and thus the crimean war
being avoided. But Loui Napoleon did not want peace and
intrigued against it, resolved that on war the real disturber
of the peace of Europe, and, goaded on by his counselors,
the conspirators of the Second of December Mornet, Fleury, Malpus,
et cetera, Louen Napoleon turned round to seek an ally.
(07:53):
For France alone was not strong enough to cope with Russia. Austria,
having so much to lose, did not want war and
was afraid of Nicholas. So was Prussia. It was the
policy of both these powers to keep on good terms
with Nicholas. It always will be the policy of Germany
to avoid a war with Russia, unless supported by England
and France. The great military organization which Bismarck and Moltke affected.
(08:16):
The immense standing army which Germany groans under arises not
from anticipated dangers on the part of France so much
as from the fear of Russia. Although it is not
the policy of German statesmen to confess it openly. If
France should unite with Russia in a relentless war, Germany
would probably be crushed unless England came to the rescue. Germany,
(08:36):
placed between two powerful military monarchies, is obliged to keep
up its immense standing army against its will as a
dire necessity. It is Russia she is most anxious to conciliate.
All the speeches of Bismarck show this. In view of
this policy, Louis Napoleon turned his eyes to England as
his ally in the meditated war with Russia, notwithstanding the
(08:58):
secret hostilities and jealous between these nations for five hundred years. Moreover,
the countries were entirely dissimilar. England was governed by a
parliament based on free institutions. France was a military despotism
in all who sought to establish parliamentary liberties and government
were banished when their efforts became dangerous or revolutionary. Louis
(09:19):
Napoleon showed great ability for intrigue in forcing the English
cabinet to adopt his warlike policy when its own policy
was pacific. It was a great triumph to the usurper
to see England drifting into war against the combined influence
of the Premier of Gladstone, of the Quakers, and of
the whole Manchester school of political economists. And as stated
(09:40):
in an a lecture on the Crimean War, it was
an astounding surprise to Nicholas. But this misfortune would not
have happened had it not been for the genius and
intrigues of a statesman who exercised a commanding influence over
English politics. And this was Lord Palmerston, who had spent
his life in the Foreign Office, although at that time
Home Secretary. But he was the ruling spirit of the cabinet,
(10:03):
a man versatile, practical, amiable, witty and intensely English in
all his prejudices. Whatever office he held, he was always
in harmony with public opinion. He was not a man
of great ideas or original genius, but was a ready debater,
understood the temper of the English people and led them
by adopting their cause, whatever it was. Hence he was
(10:23):
the most popular statesman of the day, but according to Cobden,
the worst Prime Minister that England ever had, since he
was always keeping England in hot water and stirring up
strife on the continent. His supreme policy, with an eye
to English interests on the Mediterranean and in Asia, was
to cripple Russia. Such a man, warlike, restless and interfering
(10:43):
in his foreign policy, having in viewed the military aggrantizement
of his country, eagerly adopted the schemes of the French Emperor,
And little by little, these two men brought the English
cabinet into a warlike attitude with Russia. In spite of
all that Lord Aberdeen could do. Slight concessions would have
left to peace, but neither Louis Napoleon nor Palmerston would
(11:03):
allow concessions, since both were resolved on war. Never was
a war more popular in England than that which Louis
Napoleon and Palmerston resolved to have. This explains the leniency
of public opinion in England toward a man who had
stolen a scepter. He was united with Great Britain in
a popular war. The French Emperor, however, had other reasons
(11:24):
for seeking the alliance of England in his war with Russia.
It would give him a social prestige. He would enter
more easily into the family of European sovereigns. He would
be called Montfrere by the Queen of England, which royal
named Nicholas in his disdain, refused to give him. If
the Queen of England was his friend and ally, all
other sovereigns must welcome him into the royal fraternity in
(11:45):
spite of his political crimes, which were universally detested. It
is singular that England, after exhausting her resources by a
war of twenty years to throne Napoleon the First, should
become the firmest ally and friend of Napoleon the Third,
who trampled on all constitutional liberty. But mutual interests brought
them together. For when has England turned her back on
(12:07):
her interests or what she supposed to be her interests,
So war became inevitable. Napoleon the Third triumphed. His cooperation
with England was sincere and hearty. Yea, so gratified and
elated was he at this stroke of good fortune that
he was ready to promise anything to his ally, even
to the taking a subordinate part in the war. He
(12:27):
would follow the dictation of the English ministers and the
English generals. It was the general opinion that the war
would be short and glorious At first, it was contemplated
only to fight the Russians in Bulgaria and prevent their
march across the Balkans, and thence to Constantinople. The war
was undertaken to assist the Turks in the defense of
their capital and territories. For this a large army was
(12:49):
not indispensable. Hence the forces which were sent to Bulgaria
were comparatively small. When Nicholas discovered that he could not
force his way to Constantinople over the Balkans and had
withdrawn his forces from the Danubian principalities, peace then might
have been honorably declared by all parties. But England had
not only been entangled in the war by the French Alliance,
(13:10):
but was now resolved on taking Sebastopol to destroy the
power of Russia on the Euxine, and France was compelled
to complete what she had undertaken, although she had nothing
to gain beyond what she had already secured. To the
credit of Louis Napoleon, he proved a chivalrous and faithful
ally in continuing a disastrous and expensive war for the
glory of France and the interests of England alone. Although
(13:31):
he made a separate peace as soon as he could
do so with honor. It is not my purpose to
repeat what I have already written on the Crimean War,
although the more I read and think about it, the
stronger is my disapproval, on both moral and political grounds,
of that needless and unfortunate conflict. Unfortunate alike to all
parties concerned. It is a marvel that it did not,
in the end weaken the power and prestige of both
(13:53):
Palmersten and Napoleon the Third. It strengthened the hands of both,
as was foreseen by these astute states Napoleon the Third,
after the war was regarded as a far seeing statesman
as well as an able administrator. People no longer regarded
him as a fool or even a knave. Success had
shut the mouths of his enemies, except of a few
(14:13):
obdurate ones like Tiers and Victor Hugo, the latter of whom,
in his voluntary exile in Guernsey and Jersey, still persisted
in calling him Napoleon. The little Tiers generally called him
selu Ci that fellow, this illustrious statesman, in his restless
ambition and desire of power, probably would have taken office
(14:34):
under the man whom he both despised and hated. But
he dared not go against his antecedents, and was unwilling
to be a mere clerk, as all Louis Napoleon's ministers were,
whatever their abilities. He was supported by the army and
the people, and therefore was master of the situation. This
was a fact which everybody was compelled to acknowledge. It
was easy to call him usurper, tyrant, and fool anything,
(14:57):
but he both reigned and governed. When peace was finally restored,
the Empire presented the aspect of a stable government resting
solidly upon the approval of a contented and thriving people.
This was the general opinion of those who were well
acquainted with French affairs, and of those who visited Paris,
which was then exceedingly prosperous. The city was filled with
(15:18):
travelers who came to see the glory of success. Great
architectural improvements were then in progress, which gave employment to
a vast number of men, theretofore leading a precarious life.
The chief of these were the new boulevards, constructed with
immense expense. Those magnificent but gloomy streets, which lined with
palaces and hotels, excited universal admiration. A wise expenditure on
(15:42):
the whole which promoted both beauty and convenience, although to
construct them a quarter of the city was demolished. The
Grand Opera House arose over the debris of the demolished houses,
the most magnificent theater erected in modern times. Paris presented
a spectacle of perpetual fetes, reviews of troops and aloosations,
which both amused and distracted the people. The Louver was
(16:04):
joined to the Toulliers by a grand gallery devoted chiefly
to works of art. The Champs Elise and the Bois
de Bolon were ornamented with new avenues, fountains, gardens, flowers
and trees where the people could pursue their pleasure unobstructed.
The number of beautiful equipages was vastly increased, and everything
indicated wealth and prosperity. The military was wisely kept out
(16:28):
of sight except on great occasions, so that the people
should not be reminded of their loss of liberties. The
police were courteous and obliging, and interfered with no pleasures
and no ordinary pursuits. The shops blazed with every conceivable attraction.
The fashionable churches were crowded with worshippers and strangers to
hear music which rivaled that of the opera. The priests,
(16:48):
in their ecclesiastical uniform were seen in every street with
cheerful and beaming faces, for the government sought their support
and influence. The papers were filled with the movements of
the Imperial court at races, in hunting parties, and visits
to the chateau of the great. The whole city seemed
to be absorbed in pleasure or gain, and crowds swarmed
at all places of amusement with contented faces. There was
(17:11):
no outward sign of despotism or unhappiness, since everybody found employment.
Even the idlers who frequented the crowded cafes of the
boulevards seemed to take unusual pleasure at their games of
dominoes and at their tables of beer and wine. Visitors
wondered at the apparent absence of all restraint from government,
and at the personal liberty which everybody seemed practically to enjoy.
(17:33):
For ten years after they coup deed Ha. It was
the general impression that the government of Louis Napoleon was
a success. In spite of the predictions and hostile criticisms
of famous statesmen. It was to all appearance at least stable,
and the nation was prosperous. The enemies that the Emperor
had the most cause to dread were these famous statesmen themselves. Tieres, Guisaux, Broglis, Odeon,
(17:58):
Beaux had all been prime ministers, and most of the
rest had won their laurels under Louis Felippe. They either
declined to serve under Napoleon the Third, or had been
neglected by him. Their political power had passed away. They
gave vent whenever they could, with personal safety, to their spleen,
to their disappointment, to their secret hostility, they all alike
(18:19):
prophesied evil. They all professed to believe that the Emperor
could not maintain his position two years, that he would
be carried off by assassination or revolution. And joined with
them in bitter hatred was the whole literary class, like
Victor Hugo, Lamartine and cousin, who hurled curses and defiance
from their retreats or from the fashionable salons and clubs
(18:40):
which they frequented the old noblesse stood aloof Saint Germain
was like a foreign city rather than a part of Paris.
All the traitors among the Legitimists and Orleanists continued in
a state of secret hostility and through all the impediments
they could against the government. End of Section House
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