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Show RETROSPECTIVE, The lato terrible war in Europe has passed; and, ag one feels after a storm, wo can look round asking ourselves, what good it has done, "Kider nnd horse in ono ivd burial blotit'.'"1 The glittering steel has pricked a N throne, proving that the French Em pire was but a bubble ! Xinglakc, the Crimean historian, said Napoleon III was a charlatau yet a great actor, lor he amused the people of France, as an actor enlists the sympathy and attention atten-tion of his audience; but let the horrid sound of tiro resound within the walls of the theatre, and how quick tho actor and people separate ! So If wna witli Napoleon III and tlie people of France. Ho was pushed forward, even upon the pinnacle of greatness, by designing de-signing and ambitious ineu, using the recollection of the meteor name of tho First Napoleon. One by one, these men have passed away. A few years ago C'ouut d' Jlorney, with all the pomp of Empire, was laid in the tcinb. He seemed to he the only link that connected tho survivors of the coup d' tint, and his death lell Napoleon Napo-leon III virtually alone! Pageantry and folly do not make a throne; idleness and tVivoity are not the playthings for a people. His dictatorial course intermeddling with other people met a cheek; and the Germanic race, who were never conquered or subdued, although sep-erated sep-erated and ruu over by the great Na-poleou, Na-poleou, aroie to meet the invader of Fatherland. 1.1 reat battles were fought, aud what was left of the l-'reneh army, as well as their Emperor, became: prisoners to the Herman iegious, even j upon the soil of France." The people! of France, then re-accepted sovereignty. I and the first blood was their own! Out f of chaos they are re-habilitating them-: selves, and from sorrow and bitter hu-' miiiatioa may gather the experience of toleration and advancement. '.' France is .great; and with her almost inexhaustible resources her destiny may be, as it has been, among the first. Uuithe "gallic bird" must keep within his own yard, and let "other people's" alone. In redeeming her-elf she can devote her energy and power to the arts and acts of peace; and in the great strides of Fran. -e for ;.o pa.-t quarter of a century, she never. iu aic of her former sUy, accomplished' so much as she did wheu she re-built and re-adorned her beautiful tovrns aud cities. ci-ties. This was the mkv.m of Napoleon .III; but the "lire of glory," a.s the! J French would say, lit by his early! I teachings ami his uncle's L'reatnc--, led him to the pit into which he has lallen! ; ime, a.s hi.- eu.-uiie a-sen. In, .,rir-jruundinc .,rir-jruundinc were corrupt : so all humanity are endangered vvh.n we : I confront va,t supplies and contracts; : I hilt l-'r,,,,.,. 1 nr., .... - . ... .. u-.uuLiucu iur peace,, not lor war. And the rude blows ofthe Northerners merely showed that their : syiicm ol attack and defence was the embodiment of all the warlike experi ence known to educated man. Out ol it should come peace, and tho world would hail with pleasure the advance-ment advance-ment of France; for her lertile and ingenious braiu might weava the I beauties and textures thru clothe the) world. (Jut of it should come the steady progress of liberty, the disin-thralitnent disin-thralitnent of her arti-uius and the education of the people. Out of it should come the progress which brings gentler counsels, prudent measures and peace to struggling humanity. Will this be the future of France ? Or will she again be made the plaything play-thing of battling factions and ambitious leaders .' Will she control her own destinies, or leave them in the hands ot some man, who, when surrounded with the tinselled and fading glitter of a name, may seek to snatch power at the expense ofthe liberties of a people? Time will show. |