The Press.
London, England, 1856-11-01 00:00:00

The devotion of his Majesty
affairs, and his presence near
sent time, forbid us to douT

received his sanction. It co
lish public the sentiments
Whatever construction we ml

upon facts, let us recognise
selves. This note in th

before us with the whole weight of the autho-
rity of the Imperial Government of France.
This fact remains constant, let us regard it in
what spirit we may.

In the note itself there is nothing to wound
the susceptibility of this country. It is di-
rected, not against the liberty of the English
press, but against certain abuses of that liberty.
It complains that certain calumnies have been
diffused respecting the French Government ;
and, appealing from these newspaper slanders
to the common sense and good faith of the
English people, it warns them that a continu-
ance of this system must tend to disunite that
alliance of France and England which is the
best guarantee for the peace of the world.
These are solemn words. Nations are but
aggregates of individuals, and the British
people should receive this appeal as a man
would receive the remonstrance of his next
door neighbour against a wrong which he feels
to be most injurious to his peace and his
honour, and which he is conscious he has
never deserved.

We believe that in this note may be traced
something more than the language of official
complaint. It glows with the personality of
grieved and wounded sentiment.

Some of our newspapers affect ignorance of
the grounds on which this remonstrance is
founded. It is difficult to believe in their
sincerity. In our mo,t influential journals—
journals which are emp'rntically supposed to
represent the Engl sh min 1, and which are
not unconnected with of r Go 7ernment—there
have appeared most markcu and insulting in•
sinua Lions against the morality, the honesty,
and the good faith of the Imperial Govern-
ment of France. These insinuations do not
date from yesterday. They extend over
several months past. If this assertion should

forth and to overthrow, not the Government
only, but the whole fabric of social order. It
is against this peril that the Administration
has perpetually to guard; and we can well
understand, since it has found it necessary to
impose restraints on the freedom of its own
press, withiwhat uneasiness it must view the
press of a near and friendly country dis-
seminating the calumnies and fulfilling the
aims of its worst enemies—the disturbers of
social order.

In a country situated as France is at the
present moment, it is impossible to separate
the cause of the Government from the cause
of the nation. I f we wound one we wound
the other. The Emperor is the choice of the
whole people; the Government is the choice of
the Emperor. To insi-t that the Government
is faithless and corrupt is such an offence
against good neighbourhood as must lead to a
dissolution of the friendly alliance between
the two Governments. And it is against this
peril that we are warned.
Undoubtedly our Government is not
answerable for the language of the English
press. It is free ; but is it, therefore, irre-
sponsible? To what is its power owing ?
The answer must be—to the support ac-
corded to it by the people. It is presumed to
represent the popular voice in this country.
And hence, for the very reason that it is free
from Government control, its language, after a
certain limit has been passed, becomes the
more important. The nation is held account-
able for it. The speech of the English press
is taken to be, what it claims to be, the speech
of the English people.
How can it be otherwise? There is no such
thing in the world as irresponsible power.
The instincts of mankind lead them to look
for some tangible representative of insult and

it is impossible to dispute.
We think he bad a right to look for some
better return for his constancy than the slan-
ders by which he has been assailed. We do
nut allude to the detestable calumnies which
have been propagated in obscure prints,
though we have reason to believe that those
are sedulously brought under his notice.
They might be passed over in silence ; but we
cannot wonder that the French Government
should feel indignant when our leading journal,
with an animus too plain to be misunderstood,
puts forward the pretended confessions of
avowed felons to damage that Government in
the estimation of the French people, and in
the eyes of Europe. A continuance in this
course without some decided expression of dis-
approbation on the part of our public, can
have but one result; and in the dissolution
of the French alliance we should unques-
tionably lose, in the words of the Moniteur,
" the best security for the peace of the world."

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No. 183.--VoL.IV. LONDON, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1856.
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UNSTAMPED..FIVEPENCE.
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'be disputed, we shall know how to make it wrong. If a man chooses to keep a ferocious
12 C 'il' I. CS S. good by citations of the exact words used. dog on his premises. it is to the man, not to
We can imagine that the Emperor of the the dog, that the neighbours look for redress
FRENCH would feel equally hurt and indig- of injuries received. Our press is not respon- •,
-:-
mint at the display of this designed and per- sible to the Government. Well. But to
LONDON, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 185(1. sistent malevolency. The condition of French whom, then, is it responsible ? There can be
. •
society as regards politics is peculiar ; it is but one answer :—To the people. This is the •
exceptional. The Government has found it view taken by the Moniteur. It is to the
THE French Government has thought it ne- necessary to restrain that freedom of the English people that an appeal is made. If • .
cessary to protest against the license of a por- press which prevails here. We do not now they decide that the French alliance is not
tion of the English press ; and there are cer- speak of the wisdom of such restriction ; we worth retaining, it is little likely to last long.
tain circumstances connected with the publi- confine ourselves to the fact. Unrestricted This change in the tone of the English
cation of this note in the Moniteur which freedom of the press, and the maintenance of press we can conceive to be a subject of pain-
entitle it to serious consideration. We propose
authority and order, are found to be incon- ful surprise to the Emperor of the Fassen.
sistent with each other. Only eighteen months have passed since he
to enumerate those circumstances with preci- That liberty or license of comment which was received in our metropolis with universal
sion and calmness. seems natural to us, and which we have ac- acclamation. Every newspaper was loud in
Before discussing the note itself, we have to customed ourselves to bear as stalwart swim- his praise. The French alliance was then
inquire what authority attaches to it. The
mers learn to buffet ocean storms, is entirely regarded as an object of supreme importance, foreign to the genius and character of the and the French Emperor was welcomed as our
Moniteur is the recognised organ of the French French people. Attacks on their Government greatest and most faithful friend.
Government. The announcements which ap- are incitements to revolution. Society cannot In the interval that has elapsed there has
pear in it have the same kind of authority as be otherwise than insecure in a nation which been no change in his policy. He has been
the Ministerial announcements in our London has gone through such sudden and violent constant to the English alliance, though we
changes of Government as it has been the can understand what powerful inducements C.
Gazette. They are the formal and approved misfortune of France to experience for the must have been held out to him to break from
declarations of the Government of France ; last sixty or seventy years. We can laugh at it. During the war he held a position which
and of that Government the Emperor Nero- the attacks. from whatever quarter tkey pro- would have enabled him to give a turn to the .
LEON is the head. teed, which are made on England and her in- polities of Europe most perilous to England. )...
The devotion of his Majesty to public stitutions. The Conservative element in this Had he desired to work out that scheme of .
country holds society together with a force policy which we arc accustomed to associate
_.'•-•
affairs, and his presence near Paris at the pre- which neither the shock of domestic dissen- with the name of his uncle, the opportunity
sent time, forbid us to doubt that this nor(' sions nor foreign hostility has been able to was not wanting. His good faith was proof
received his sanction. It conveys to the Eng- overthrow. It is otherwise in France. There 'igiiinst every temptation. He never faltered
lish public the sentiments of our great All 3. mighty forces of disturbance, ever animated to in his course ; the whole resources of the
. , ..
Whatever construction we may choose to put new efforts by the remembrance of success on French empire were unsparingly put forth to - . k 1
upon facts, let us recognise the facts them- former occasions, wait but the slightest bring the contest in the Crimea to a glorious
selves. This note in the Moniteur comes symptom of encouragement again to burst conclusion. This is matter of history which
before us with the whole weight of the audio- forth and to overthrow. not the Government lit is imnossihle to disnute.