30 ORIGIN OF THE WAR OF 1853 CHAP, by their authority, or, in last resort, by force of IL arms ; but it was not at all incumbent upon France to place herself in the van ; and it was not consistent with the welfare of her people that she should take upon herself a share of the European burthen disproportionate to her interest in the state of Eastern Europe. Nor was there at this time any reason to imagine that the country could be brought into strife, or engaged in warlike enterprises, without sufficient cause ; for the in- stitutions of France had not then shrivelled up into a system which subordinated the vast inter- ests of the State to the mere safety and welfare of its ruler. The legislative power and the control of the supplies were in the hands of an Assembly freely elected ; and both in the Chamber and in print men enjoyed the right of free speech. Also the executive power rested lawfully in the hands of ministers responsible to Parliament ; and there- fore, although the President, as will be seen, could do acts leading to mischief and danger, he could not bring France to a rupture with a foreign State unless war were really demanded by the interests or by the honour, or at least by the passions, of the country. And the people being peacefully in- clined, and the interests and the honour of the country being carefully respected by all foreign States, France was not at that time a source of disturbance to Europe. or England. Next to Austria, England was of all the great Powers the one most accustomed to insist upon the maintenance of the Ottoman Empire. It
