FRANCE. 



275 



law and the subsidies granted by your patriotism 

 have contributed to strengthen the confidence of the 

 country, and in the just consciousness of its pride it 

 experienced a real satisfaction the moment it learned 

 that it was in a position to confront every eventuality. 

 The land and sea forces, strongly constituted, are upon 

 a peace footing. The effective strength of the active 

 army does not . exceed that which existed under for- 

 mer systems, but our armament rendered perfect, our 

 arsenals and our magazines filled, our reserves well 

 trained, the National Garde Mobile in course of or- 

 ganization, our fleet reconstructed, and our strong- 

 holds in good condition, give to our power a devel- 

 opment which was indispensable. 



The constant object of my efforts is attained, and 

 the military resources of France are henceforward on 

 a level with its destiny in the world. In this posi- 

 tion we can loudly proclaim our desire to maintain 

 peace. There is no weakness in our saying so when 

 we are ready to defend the honor and the indepen- 

 dence of our country. 



Our relations with foreign powers are most 

 friendly. The revolution which has broken out be- 

 yond the Pyrenees has not altered our good relations 

 with Spain, and the Conference, to stifle a threaten- 

 ing conflict in the East, is a great act of which we 

 should appreciate the importance. This Conference 

 approaches its termination, and all the plenipoten- 

 tiaries have agreed upon the principles calculated to 

 bring about a reconciliation between Greece and 

 Turkey. If, therefore, as I firmly hope, nothing shall 

 arise to disturb general harmony, it will be our for- 

 tune to realize many projected improvements, and we 

 shall endeavor to solve all the practical questions 

 raised by the agricultural investigations. 



Public works have been sufficiently endowed; 

 parochial roads are being constructed. Education 

 of all classes continues to be successfully developed, 

 and, thanks to the periodical increase of the revenue, 

 we shall soon be able to devote all our solicitude to 

 the diminution of public burdens. The moment 

 is drawing nigh when, for the third time since the 

 establishment of the empire, the Legislative Body 

 will be constituted afresh by a general election, and 

 each time it will have attained the limit of its legal 

 duration a thing hitherto unknown. This regular- 

 ity is due to the harmony which has always existed 

 between us, and to the confidence which I feel in the 

 sincere exercise of universal suffrage. The popular 

 masses are stanch in their faith as in their affections, 

 and, if noble passions are able to rouse them, sophism 

 and calumny scarce ruffle the surface. Sustained by 

 your approbation and your concurrence, I am thor- 

 oughly resolved to persevere in the course which I 

 have laid down that is to say, to adopt all real prog- 

 ress, but also to maintain, without discussionj the 

 essential bases of the Constitution which the national 

 vote has placed under shelter from all attacks. ' A 

 good tree is known by the fruits it bears,' says the 

 Gospel. 



Well, if we cast a glance at the past, which is the 

 Government that has given to France seventeen years 

 of ever-increasing quiet and prosperity ? Certainly, 

 every government is liable to error, and Fortune does 

 not smile upon all enterprises ; but that which con- 

 stitutes my strength is the fact that the nation does not 

 ignore that for twenty years I have not had a single 

 thought, I have not done a single deed, of which the 

 motive was other than the interest and greatness of 

 France. Nor is it ignorant of the circumstance that 

 I was the first to desire a rigorous control over the 

 conduct of affairs ; that I with this object increased 

 the powers of the deliberative Assemblies, per- 

 suaded that the real support of a government is to 

 be found in the independence and patriotism of the 

 great bodies of the state. This session will add fresh 

 services to those you have already rendered to the 

 country. Soon the nation, called together in its 

 comitia, will sanction the policy which we have pur- 

 sued. It will once more proclaim by its votes that it 



does not desire revolution, but wishes to rest the 

 destinies of France upon the intimate alliance of power 

 with liberty. 



The session of the Legislative Body was ter- 

 minated on April 26th by President Schneider, 

 who thanked the Chamber for its sympathetic 

 cooperation, and praised its enlightened and 

 patriotic devotion. He added : 



The legislation of this session will make its mark 

 in history. We have advanced with a firm step in 

 the liberal development of our institutions, asserting 

 our control without impeding the progress of legisla- 

 tion, and constantly seconding, at the same time, the 

 initiative of the sovereign in the development of our 

 public liberties under a pow_er which gives effectual 

 protection to order and security. In concert with the 

 sovereign we have realized a solid and durable prog- 

 ress favorable to the moral and material prosperity 

 of France. I hope that the next Chamber will mani- 

 fest similar sentiments of duty toward the country, 

 and of respect and gratitude toward the Emperor. 



Among the changes in the administration 

 which were effected in the beginning of the 

 year, was the abolition of the livrets or ser- 

 vice-hooks of working-men. The Emperor, on 

 the 24th of February, delivered on this sub- 

 ject the following address in the Council of 

 State : 



GENTLEMEN : I have felt anxious to preside this day 

 over the Council of State, in order to explain to you 

 in what order of ideas I had placed myself in invit- 

 ing the ministers to submit to you a bill relative to 

 the suppression of workmen's livrets. 



Society in our time, all must admit, comprises 

 many; opposite elements. Do we not see, in fact, on 

 one side, certain legitimate aspirations and just de- 

 sires of improvement, and on the other subversive 

 theories and blamable cupidities ? The duty of the 

 Government is to resolutely satisfy the first, and to 

 firmly repudiate the second. 



Wnen the present state of the greatest number is 

 compared with what it was in the last century, there 

 can be only congratulation on the progress obtained, 

 on the abuses destroyed, and on the improvement in 

 public manners. NeverthelesSj if the social plagues 

 of the most flourishing populations be probed, there 

 will be discovered, under the appearances or pros- 

 perity, many unmerited grievances which call for the 

 sympathies of all generous hearts, and many unsolved 

 problems which solicit the cooperation of all intelli- 

 gent minds. 



It is with such feelings that laws have been elabo- 

 rated by you and adopted by the Legislative Body, 

 some entirely philanthropical, like those of public 

 assistance, mutual aid and insurance in case of acci- 

 dent or death ; others authorizing the workmen to 

 unite their savings, to oppose the solidarity of wages 

 to that of capital, allowing them at the same time to 

 discuss their own interests at public meetings, and. 

 in fine, accrediting their testimony in the courts of 

 justice. 



The suppression of the livrets an act demanded 

 above all as a moral satisfaction in order to relieve 

 the workmen from vexatious formalities will com- 

 plete the series of measures which place such persons 

 within the sphere of the common right, and exalt 

 them in their own estimation. 



I do not suppose that in following that policy I 

 shall dissipate all prejudices, disarm all animosities, 

 or augment my own popularity. But of one thing I 

 am well convinced that I shall derive from it a fresh 

 energy for resisting evil passions. 



When all useful ameliorations have been accepted, 

 when every thing that is right and just has been done, 

 order is maintained with the more authority, that 



