Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: been overreached by Prussia. The Constitutional reforms inaugurated by Napoleon’s memorable letter of the 19th of January, 1867, only served to loosen the bonds which held together the. political fabric of the nation. The extended liberty of the press and the right of meeting proved advantageous only to the enemies of the Empire. Conspicuous among the causes of discontent was the ignominious failure of the Mexican Expedition, which brought humiliation to the heart, and heavy financial losses home to the purse, of Paris. That expedition was one of the Emperor’s fatal mistakes; indeed, it may be called the beginning of his downfall. It was undertaken, too, in the darkest hour of our great rebellion, when he believed the union of the States was forever dissolved. Had the attempt been made when our arms were unemployed, it would doubtless have led to instant war, for a republican people, brave and strong as ours, can permit no king or Kaiser to erect a permanent throne upon the soil of North America. The murder of Victor Noir by a Bonaparte prince increased the peril of the situation, and led to dangerous agitation in the capital. Still, by shrewd management, by adroit manipulation of parties, by evoking the Red spectre of revolution to terrify the conservatives, by pointing to the real services of the Empire in maintaining order, in developing the material resources of France, in improving the capital, the seaports and the great cities, in foster.ing commerce, manufactures and agriculture, and in opening new sources of employment for the masses, the Emperor signally triumphed in the plebiscite of May, 1870; and for the third time a majority of millions of votes seemed to assure him the unchallenged occupancy of the throne. But gathering years and infirmities admonished …