TOPICS OF THE DAY.
COUNT PERSIGNY'S SPEECH AT ST. ETIENNE.
" PnicsaNr qui ante no!" The Count de Persigny has snatched a topic which we had destined for our columns this week; but we will repay the iejury magnanimously,by confessing that the work is better done for having been executed in the chairmanship of the Council-General of the Loire. We do not allude to the comprehen- sive vindication that the Count has made of the Emperor Napoleon's course; we do not allude to his argument, that that course has • sequel to the Bordeaux programme—" been a legitimate s ?ire, c'est la pain." In this respect, De Persigny his not antici- pated us; for our own history of Napeoleon's proceedings—which England shared in Turkey and declined to share in Italy—Las • shown that the wars which he undertook were made in the en- forcement of public law. In Turkey he thwarted the dictation of -a single Power, and established the concurrent jurisdiction of the European Governments. In Italy, he assisted the Italians in their appeal to arms against the lawless encroachment of Austria, com- pelled that Power to retire within her own boundaries, and within the limits of public law; and then he made peace. It is also true that the impulse which is given to the development of French industry and commerce constitutes a pledge of peace by placing France in such a position that war would be a loss of material wealth to the whole nation. It is true, therefore, that whatever .the Emperor Napoleon may think respecting the militant fune- - lions of France, he has entered into a career which binds him to the maintenance of peace. All this we have explained to our readers; but before we dismiss it, let us present this portion of the subject in a larger aspect, with a more searching insight into its bearing upon the international relations of Europe. It may be said that, although the labours of Cobden and Michel Chevalier, under the Governments of Napoleon and Victoria, are at present conducing to the development of commerce in France, and are thus enlarging the reciprocal pledges of peace, still the course of events in Italy, in the East, and in Germany, is such as to threaten the very peace which we so much desire. Thus it may be observed, that while economical statesmen are creating oppor- tunics of industrial progress for France and England, other states- men are coquetting with risks that may break in upon our peace- -ful projects and plunge the whole Continent into war. There is some truth in this view, but not the whole. There is no peaceful enterprise in which we may engage that has not its risks. If we undertake the business of a merchant or a manufacturer, we do to under the risks of foreign invasion, domestic disturbance, and fee. The most that we can do is to make arrangements for pro- viding to meet the risks, either by precautions to check the work- ing of the anticipated evil, or by endurance against the cense- Auences. It is quite true that an obsolete and stupid statesman- Stip may bring about conspiracies for impracticable objects, and may seduce some of the Governments in Europe to venture their all in the attempt to restore arbitrary and oppressive rule. But if any of our readers will take the map of Europe and ex- -amine it, he will find that for the most part those risks concern countries in which the commerce is as yet very imperfectly deve- loped ; while the sympathy which unites us to countries struggling for their freedom extends pretty generally, with one important exception, over countries whose commerce is in a course of rapid development. The most important exception, curiously enough, is presented by that country which is at present trimming, not more in its political policy than in its commercial policy—Germany. The most advanced views, the most practical endeavours for the development of commerce are making in Western Europe; in Italy, we possess allies even in the populations of the countries- that are opposed to us. Now, the bearing of this distribution is very important with reference to the prospects of war. The coun- tries which are allied, which can by their sheer choice and will -keep open the communication with each other, are those in which our commercial relations are the most important, especially with reference to immediate negotiations. The example of that open trade is -most likely to be followed by other countries to the North which have comparatively little interest in the conflicts of the East and South. Hence, the present juncture represents precisely the converse of the situation which is generally indicated in history by the Berlin and Milan decrees. The Western alliance is the key for keeping open the most important and the most promising com- merce of Europe, even should lunatic Sovereigns stake their all in a fresh disturbance of the public peace. . The bearing which the Count de Persigny's address has upon this part of the subject, lies in its showing that the Western Powers have a common de- sire for peace, and that whatever dopbts may visit the minds!of half-sighted statesmen on either side of the Channel, England and France are really at one in the policy which they are actually pursuing and in the material interests which constitute the gage of that policy. It is less, however, in the argument of the French Ambassador that we see the importance of his address, than in the fact that he makes an appeal from secret diplomacy to public opinion. He does not indeed, join with those who have insisted that between the diplomatic agents of different Governments there never should be any Confidential communications: .pretensions of that kind are not only against experience, but against the common sense and manifest rationale of all negotiations whatever. The degree to which communications remain secret or are forced open, rests upon the power which the principals in the case have. If in any \ the Crown exceeds department of the public seiviee the power of' ti, 0...seeret, and that of the Commonwealth, diplomatists will bb4uenee, „r re- sponsible Ministers will not know. If class intiathaitt• rtej,"11, responsible Ministers may, under a general accountlumenqs 4 the representative body, but will be able to keep special they please. If the final power of the representative boi4 de clearly recognized by the community at large, then the account:- ability will be enforced on all great occasions and the secrecy of diplomacy will pass. Even then, however, the agents them- selves, on delicate and imp.)rtant occasions, would necessarily exercise a certain degree of reserve, with a reciprocal trust in each other; a " confluence " which never can, and never ought to be abolished by an arbitrary law. But this reservation is entirely distinct from any attempt to con teal the real position of one Govern- ment towards another ; and, in the present state of European know- ledge, there is no reason why the old theory which made diplo- macy a high art of concealment, circumvention, and chicane, should not be overruled by a more honest, a more practical, and a wiser law. • As we at present construe the actions of the Emperor Napoleon, he is subserving at once the freedom of the Italians, the inde- pendence of nations generally, the peace of Europe, and the public law of the civilized world. The explanations which have been given on the most doubtful points have, as the Count de Persigny says, cleared up the actions of his master, and reconciled those actions to the public opinion even of the most constitutional and critical of countries. With regard to our own Government, either it is acting in accordance with the public opinion of England, or it is not doing so; and if it is thoroughly national, if its actions are precisely such as would command English sympathy and Eng- lish approval, there is no reason why we should not know exactly what it is doing in Italy, Turkey, Au,stria, or Germany. Should the Government of the Emperor Napoleon adopt this startling in- novation, and lay the statement of its motives objects, and actions before -the world, a Government like that of England would be unable to resist the example. But should the Western Powers adopt that Transatlantic method of conducting international re- lations, whether at war or peace, Europe at large would find the example irresistible. It is a principle which would, for the first time in the history of the world, constitute Governments the genuine partners of their peoples—a partnership which the West- ern Powers already profess, each within its own boundaries, and which the other great nations of Europe are already demanding
• from their own Governments.
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