Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-09-25 00:00:00

FRANCE.

PARIS, WEDNESDAY EVENING
It is nit very unusual for persons of sanguine and ima
ginative temperament, to dwell upon a hypothesii, until
they fancy it proved ; and proceed to reason upon it as
earnestly as if it were an established and inemtrovertible
fact. An instance of this sort has lately occurred in the
c..se of a portion of the French press, which, while con-
sidering. and Rerhaps exaggerating, the ex'ent cf oar
Indian difficulties, and at the Eame time underrating our,
means of surmounting them, has come to the hakty conelu-

sion that, sooner or later, we shall have to s
aid from France, and has even g so far as to spe
culate on the terns upon which it may be
granted On the part of the legitimist papers, there
was nothing astonishing in this unfriendly haste to
profit by a - neighbour's m sfortunes • to drive a gocd
bargiin, but it may well excite surprise when the friendly
Siec'e out Herods our habiival Les in its desire to make
of England's d fficulty France's opportunity. -The most
rebid of our opponents, viten anticpating, without the
slightest grounds, an applicaticr, from 'England for succour,
stipulated terms usurious enough, and, at one stroke of
its catholic quill, swept us out of the Mediterranean ; but
at least it gave us something in return for Malta, Gibraltar,
and the rest. A French army was to gl and re-establish
us in our Oriental possessions. Of course we felt a proper
amount cf gratitude. We by no means underrate
the value of the proffered aid, nor doubt that in
Hindostan, as in the Crimea and wherever they hare
fought, the French would prove themselves most gallant
and useful soldiers. But these is such a thing as waiting
till you are asked ; and of this we may remind those who
appear to forget the history of the present century, and
the power and resources displayed by Great Britain when
opposed to Europe combined against her by one master
mlnd and seeming y resistless hand. Taey may be quite
sure that the British nation, since then enormously
increased in numbers and wealth, has lost none of its
energy or patriotism, and that by the exertion of these it
is well able, without seeking foreign assistance, to vancieish
even greater difficulties than the very serious ones that
have arisen in the East.

To return, however, to the Siecle. Notwlthstanding the
guarded and friendly terms in which it is couched, Alert is
only one meaning to be attributed to the article I have
referred to, and that is, that now would be a good time,
when England has her handl full, to press for a revision' of
the treaties ot 1815 This article—which is nominally
suggested by the interview of Btuttga dt, taken as a
peg on which to hang an iteration of some of the
leas't sensible and practical of the ideas usu .lly alvocated
by the Siecle—is considerably weakened by the fact
that it starts from suppositions, unsupported •by
proof, and opposed to what is at this moment
generally believed to be the truth. "'The meeting of
the two Err perors," it commences by saying, " puts the
whole political world of Europe in a flutter; it is thought
with reason that these two chiefs of powerful nations do
not quit their dominions merely to shake each other by the
hand. Two Cabinets especially appear greatly pre-occupied
by the interview, and those are the Cabinets of St. James's
and Vienna." That the political world, diplomatic and
jonrnalistic, should find matter for speculation in the inter-
view of the two Emperors, especially at a moment when
scarcely anything of interest is going on in Europe, is nct
very surprising, but the Siccle exaggerates the importance
generally attributed to the Stuttgardt meeting which is
looked upon as a mere amicable demonstration, and not as
a grave political event. Such is certainly the prevailing
impression here. Of course there have been plenty or
coujectunes and reports. It was said that a reduction of
standing armies, would be the principal subject brought
forward, but this bleW over as a more rumour, and the
fact is that the French army is already reduced as low as
is consistent s, ith a proper regard to the internal
tat qeility of the country and the necessary occupa-
tion of Algeria. As to the English Government's being
vivented preoccupe with the interview, it would be rather
interesting to know whence the Siecle got the piece
of iuformation. The intended meeting at Stuttgardt
was known of, alth.outh the period was not fixed,
before the Emperor's visit to Osborne. Neither then nor
since clld it cause the least sensation on your side
of the .Channel, nor does there seem reason to believe
that the English government attaches more importance
to it than the Euglteh public. The assumption, however,
leads off an article with good effect, and gives tie writer
an oppoqunity of informing us why the liritish Cabinet
is thus uneasy. It fears that the friendship engendered
• by the Stuttgardt meeting may be so much deducted from
teat prevailing between Fratice and England; "it fears,
also, perhapq, that by a just requital of things here below,
France may be tempted to profit by the unfortunaie
circumstances in which Great Britain finds itself " Your
Part; cotemporary cannot be supposed, however deserving
of the distinction, to be in the confidence of the English
Government, so that one must take this as its own estimate
of the probabilities. An assurance, however, shortly
follows that the French Government cannot have the wish
to alienate the English alliance, and then succeed some
expressimis of goodwill and of a desire to maintain that
alliance, whose sincerity I do not doubt, although they
are practically inconsistent with the aspirations intimated
in other parts of the article. I extract the next
passages :

"As to profiting by the embarrasments of Great
Britain, the straightforward, and sometimrss a little
too chivalrous, character of our nation is
.ft sure
guarantee to her that she has not, to fear unhandsome
conduct ; but that in the arrangements that might
take place in Europe the French Government should
a,l{ her assent; and, in case of need, her devoted Co.
operation, to obtain just satisfaction, that mi.& well be
—we will even say, with our liberty, free from all Govern-
mentel r-spingibtlity that ought to be. And the states-
men of England would have too strong a feeling of what is
equitable not to agree that, in 1814 and. 1815, Europe
ain't:el of ,v:c:ory, and that reparation is due to France.
The Sieee said, a few days ago, that this reparation
ought to be the fruit of the alliance, and not the fruit of
war."

With Austria the Siecle deals summ rily enough, as far
as condemnation goes, but does not fix the punishment
to be inflicted on her for her ingratitude to Russia, and
ind,f&rent filth towards France. Nevertheless, it throws
cut a hint :

"If we thought that our wishes miet be heard, oh !
then; we would not hesitate to express them, and we should
be agreed with all those who have patriotism in their
hearts and sincere sympathy for oppressed. nations. We
know how to make allowance for the difficulties which the
firmest will may encounter in such delicate and numerous
questions ; yet France has recovered her influence in the
councils of Europe, and the chief of the govrainent is not
ignorant of what the nation desires."
This evidently po'nta to the liberation of Italy. The
" reparation due to France" can only mean a rectification
of the frontier—in other words territorial aggrandize-
ment, the old object of ambition of the I arty
to which the &eels belongs. It is a pity the

iccle should allow it* to be dine run
away with by its hobbies. Hit really prizes the English
alliance it will not wish France seeking revision of the
treaties of 1815 or aiming at a reconstruction of the map
of Europe. such attempts would only be the signal of
fresh calamities for a country that has certainly had its
full share of them.

The Emperor left Chalons camp for Lunevlle at two this
afternoon. To-morrow he reviews the troops at Luneville,
and proceeds to Strasburg. He will review the garrison
there, and reach Stuttgardt on the 25th, will leave on the
28th, return by Fcrbach and Metz, and be back at the
camp on the 29th. Count Walewski arrived in P trig
yesterday and left early this morning for the camp. The
Russian Ambassador and. suite leave Patis this afternoon
for Stuttgardt, for which place the Minister of Wurtemberg
will leave to morrow morning. The Duke of Cambridge
has returned to Paris.

The brig cf war Bailleur, which has just sailed from
Brest for New Caledonia, had on board several convicts
sentenced to transportation, who are to be landed at the
island of Pines, where a provisional penal settlement has
been established. _ _

Tne french Government has received despatches front
Admiral iiigault de Gerioutlly, dated Hong Kong, the Bth
inst. The Admiral announces that he was about to make
a reconnaissance in the direction of Shanghai.
The French frigate Pomone anchored at the Pi ceu3 on
the Bth inst., coming from Syra. On her arrival the flag
of Admiral Bouet-Villaumcz was saluted by the Russian
frigate Polkau and the Austrian brig of war Hussard
Three Russian screw corvettes were at the Dardanelles on
the 15.11 inst., waiting for a firotaa to enter the Black