maxim of French politics that happen what may, a man seeking to be a ruler of France must not be ridiculous."[1]
To proceed now to the second part of the process as stated in the passage I have quoted from Mr. Cobden, I will repeat the words used by Mr. Cobden. They are these:—
"With what view did the French people elect him Emperor? To maintain, in the first place, as he is pledged to do, the principles of 1789; and, in the next, to preserve order, keep the peace, and enable them to prosper."
Mr. Cobden does not say that the election was conducted with perfect fairness, as that for the presidency had been; but his words taken with those he uses in the preceding page—"public opinion by which alone he reigns"—unquestionably lead to such an inference. What really took place I will give in the words of Mr. Kinglake:—
"At length the time came for the operation of what was called the Plebiscite. The arrangements of the plotters had been of such a kind as to allow France no hope of escape from anarchy, except by submitting herself to the dictatorship of Louis Bonaparte; for although the President in his proclamation had declared that if the country did not like his Presidency they might choose some other in his place, no such alternative was really offered. According to the wording of the plebiscite, a vote given for any candidate other than
- ↑ Kinglake, Invasion of the Crimea, 5th edit, vol. i;, pp. 286-289 (Wm. Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London, 1874).
