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as not to injure liis neighbor and let politics alone, and 

 for him the government was nearly perfect. I know w^e 

 are accustomed to decry Napoleon, and some men do so 

 all the more now that he is deposed and powerless. But 

 it is not to be denied, in justice, that he has given to ag- 

 ricultural France the very best government she ever had, 

 whatever may have been the action of his government 

 upon the people of Paris, or whatever the theoretical ob- 

 jections to him as a usurper or personal ruler. 



This is evident from two perfectly cogent series of 

 facts : First, that since 1851 the production of grain 

 in France has been raised from 912 million of bushels 

 to 1006 million in 1868 ; the production of wine from 

 739 million gallons in 1851 to 1661 million in 1868 ; 

 that the exports and imports of France have been raised 

 from 522 million in 1851 to 1625 million in 1868 ; that 

 the inland trade has been brought up from 248 million 

 to 1312 million ; and the value of the personal property 

 from 1152 million to 3733 million, and the commercial 

 marine from 5 million of tons to 12 million tons. And 

 in Paris, too, the A'aluation of the houses is raised, under 

 Napoleon, from 511 million to 1191 million. 



Can a government that works such results have been 

 oppressive to the people ? Have the mass of the French 

 people been satisfied with the government ? Of this 

 there were two very conclusive proofs. It is commonly 

 said that the votes in the several elections in favor of 

 the Empire have been controlled by the army. But in 

 the rural districts where the army was not stationed, the 

 vote in favor of the Empire has been almost unanimous, 

 and the entire vote against it has been in the larger 

 towns and in the city of Paris where soldiers were 

 .stationed. 



