ri. They indicate the forces which
controlled the policy of the Third Napoleon, and obliged him constantly
to pick quarrels with his neighbours for the double purpose of employing
his army and of keeping the attention of his restless subjects and
quondam acquaintances distracted from himself. As the advisers upon
whom he depended were removed by death, the absence of military capacity
which his habitual reticence had concealed was manifested by his
extraordinary ignorance of the weakness of the force which he had at his
disposal, and the utter rottenness of its organization. Meanwhile
Italian assassins warned Louis's advisers of the desperate insecurity of
the tenure by which they held their own position, and of the necessity
of distracting the attention of the restless spirits who made it their
business to inquire into their master's title. Within a year, therefore,
of the execution of Orsini and his friend, a quarrel was fastened on the
Austrian ambassador, which reminded us of the first Emperor's insult to
our own Lord Whitworth, and the Imperial word went forth that Italy was
to be freed "from the Alps to the Adriatic."[153] Although Louis was
unable to accomplish this programme, he was enabled by great good
fortune, the aid of Sardinia, the execrably bad generalship of the
Austrians, and the military _prestige_ which still attached to the
French name, to pave the way for this result; and Austria was not only
humbled, but had moreover to surrender Venetia to Sardinia. No sooner
was the war over, than Louis was suspected of casting longing eyes at
the territories of his brave little ally,[154] and in _A Scene from the
New Pantomime_, he figures as clown, holding a revolver in his hand,
with a goose marked "Italy" in his capacious pocket, assuring Britannia
(a stout elderly woman who looks suspiciously on) that his intentions
were of the most honourable description.

In the sketch entitled _The Next Invasion, Landing of the French (Light
Wines), and Discomfiture of Old General Beer_ (vol. xxxviii.), we have a
pictorial prophecy which has not borne fulfilment. Although the
so-called _vin ordinaire_ made some progress among us for a time, it was
soon discovered that a low class of wine, which the French themselves
would not drink, was being manufactured for the English market, and that
good sound claret remained (as might have been anticipated) as dear, if
not dearer, than ever. The climate and constitution of John Bull