The Sun.
London, England, 1852-01-24 00:00:00

ronEors's real friends. The Princess MATBILDE
DEMIDOFF, the Marchioness of DOUGLAS, and
all his relatives besought him in most earnest
terms to abstain from the perpetration of this
gross crime and grosser blunder ; M. DE MORNY,
whose devotion on the 2d of December ought not to
have been forgotten by the PRESIDENT, resigned
rather than have his named mixed up with
such a disgraceful proceeding, and M. FOULD,
whose presence in the Cabinet has always been con-
sidered a guarantee that public faith would be kept
inviolate, accompanied him in his retirement. Treating
with contempt ,the entreaties of his relatives
and the remonstrances of his judicious friends,
LOUIS NAPOLEON has chosen to listen to the
interested suggestions of other parties, and has com-
mitted an act of barefaced plunder, the Church
(which appears to be in France the re-
gular IXEY SOLOMONS of 'all appropriators)
sharing in the proceeds, and, we suppose,
giving her absolution as the consideration.
We have never been supporters of the Orleans fa-
mily, or of the Orleans politics. When Louis PHI-
LIPPE was in the height of his power he had no more
determined opponent than ourselves ; we rejoiced,
and we do rejoice at his ignominious expul-
sion from France, in 1848, and we would
do nothing that should in the least tend to
the restoration of the French crown to any member
of his family. Yet, we cannot forget that whilst the
Emperor NAPOLEON, is violation of the law of na-
tions, seized the Due D'ENGHEIN on neutral territory,
and shot him at midnight in a ditch at. Vincennes,
Louis PHILIPPE, having twice caught the nephew
of the ;murderer of his cousin, flagrante delicto—
having twice acquired an absolute right over the
life of LOUIS NAPOLEON, twice spared that life to
one who now uses it to despoil and ruin the
family of the man who spared him. The
effect of this decree upon the relations of the
PRESIDENT of the French Republic with
those European Powers whose support he has
far years past so assiduously courted, cannot but be
most injurious. Neither Queen CHRISTINA nor the
Duke of MONTPENSIER can look with a very favourable
eye upon the spoliator of the Orleans family ;
nor can the KING of the BELGIANS be expected to
take any very lively interest in the maintenance of
the existing state of things in France ; as to King
BOMBA, the pet of the Holy Alliance, application has,
it is said, already been made to him for the pay-
ment of arrears due to the Murat family—
an application that will probably be enforced, not-
withstanding the protests of the Red EMPEROR. As
to the legal quibble that the property of Louis PHI-
LIPPE became national property on his acceptance of
the crown, it is beneath contempt. Had Louis
PHILIPPE succeeded to the crown, the case might,
perhap! , have admitted of argument, but he
accepted the crown, and before accepting it made a
disposition of his private property, in the same men-
ner as a man in contemplation of marriage makes a
settlement of hii property before the celebration of
his nuptuals ; and the settlement is as legal, as in-
violable, and as sacred in the one case as in the other.

Sir Joss OMMANNEY has at length, even at the
eleventh hour, come forward to deny the accuracy of
the statements respecting his conduct when the loss
of the Amazon became known in the district of which
he was the naval commander. After a protracted
silence he has seen the necessity of offering some ex-
planation on the subject. He finds that En-
inoverlaonoyk a
matterand
rnf a p ahthuy..
ill
the voice of public opinion
Emanin-
glishmen
vce an r ea 1;:s
te
hs not
can no longer be slighted or despi=ed. We cannot,
however, congratulate the Port Admiral on his de-
fence. He bite unquestionably succeeded in showing
that others have merited censure—that the demands
for assistance were not as strenuously urged as they
might have been, or as his dignity required; but we
cannot see that he has in any degree improved his
own position. It may be his opinion that a
public officer is not to take the initiative
in any instance, that his sole duty is to throw impe-
diments and difficulties in the way of any proposition
that may be brought under his notice. For this he
has undoubtedly a precedent, and the Lords Commis-
sioners can scarcely blame one of their officers for
so closely following their own example. We must,
however, be permitted to examine the contents of his
letter (one of the most extraordinary documents that
ever emanated from a British Admiral), and consider
the nature of the defence thereby set up.
The Admiral first assails the veracity of Messrs.
Fox, Sons, and Company. He speaks in good round
terms of the reply of Captain Csareeme being
founded on " a falsehood asserted by Mr. Fox ;" and
1a order to sustain that assertion, he forwards two
letters from Messrs. Fox and Company, the effect o f
which is that the applications were made to the Ad-
miral's secretary and not to himself personally•
These gentlemen admit that when one of their firm
" called at the Admiral's office, lie did not see
Sir JOHN OMMANNEY himself." No, the Gallant
Commander would not make himself so cheap as to
b 3 visible to every person who chose to solicit
an interview. But they distinctly and po-
sitively assert that Mr. SEPTIMUS Fox, junior,
went to the office on the Bth instant, that he saw
Mr. KENT, the Admiral's private secretary, who, in
answer to his application, informed him " that
no steamer had been sent out to seek
for the ' Amazon's' crew, as the Ad-
miral considered it useless ;" and they also
declare that " they considered that answer to be the
same as if they had it from the mouth of the Admiral
himself." We think that the public generally will
agree in that opinion. The blustering denial of
the Port-Admiral that "Messrs. Fox had ever
seen him" or that he had refused to send assistance,
appears then to be a quibble more worthy of an Old
Bailey advocate than of an officer of high
rank in the royal navy. There is, it
may be observed, no denial that Mr.
KENT had stated that " the Admiral con-
sidered it useless to send out a vessel," or that he was
duly authorised to return such an answer, without
even going through the form of consulting his
superior officer. Qui facit per alium
_Tacit per ae, is
an ancient and time-honoured apophthegm, and we
cannot see how Sir JOHN OMMANNEY can improve
his position by trying to shift the blame from his
own shoulders to that of his subordinates.

The Gallant Admiral is equally unfortunate in
his second plea. He seems to think that if no di-
rect application was made, he should re-
main perfectly careless and indifferent. In
his letter to the Secretary of the Company, he says,
"as the Admiral serving here, AND THE ONLY
PERSON CAPABLE OF AFFORDING ASSISTANCE, I
appeal to you whether some person should
not have come to me to have afforded me information,
and to have solicited assistance, had it been required."
This sentence appears to afford the only reasonable
solution to the problem. We do not suppose
that Sir JOHN OMMANNEY was actuated by any in-
human or malevolent feeling in neglecting to send
out a steamer on the earliest opportunity ; but
his dignity was offended ! He should bare
been enabled to cross. examine the survivors, to have
exercised his own judgment, but, above all, the
humble application should have been prefaced
with " bated breath and deep humility."
The Gallant Admiral seems to have taken a lesson
from the Oxonian who, while seeing a fellow-
student drowning in the Isis, regretted " that he
had not had the honour of being intro-
duced to the gentleman, in order that he
might have taken the liberty of saving his life."
Sir JOHN OMMANNEY, in like manner, thinks that, no
matter how urgent the occasion, even though the lives
of many of her MAIESTI'S subjects should be
at stake, be could not be expected to take any step
in advance, unless the most formal etiquette had been
observed.
We confess that we do not give any ere-
deuce to the statements that have been made,
but we regret to say that the Admiral's own latter
places him •
In a more unfavourable light than any in which we had heretofore regarded him.
And his positionby no means irnaroved by
the assertion of the Rev. Mr.
when he went to apply for aid ected at least
Whe ex ASBURTON, that
to receive kindness p
The question has now
and courtesy, but found none."
,
that
must commend the LEO iSI • attention, and,
ere the first meek
of tha
the interrogatory will be
Is Sir JOHN OAIMANNET 1 sed
assumed
, stringentlysessiona naspecthe exhibited—
" sh i be. i ta
Plymouth ?" still Port-Admiral at

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals of yesterday.
The Moniteur contains the following important
decrees :
" There is established a Iflinister of State, with the fol-
lowing attributions :
" The relaticns of the Government with the Senate, the
Legislative body, and the Council of State;
" The correivondence of the President with the different
Ministries ;
" The count (Isigning the decrees nominating Ministem
Presidents of CI ie • Senate and the Legislative body, the no-
mination of senators, and concession of dotation which may
be made to ther n, and the nomination of the members of the
Council of Stal
The countersigning the decrees of the President in exe-
cution of the powers conferred on him conformably to Arti-
cles 24, 28, 31, 46, and 54 of the Constitution, and those con-
cerning matter which do not specially belong to any other
Ministerial department ;
4, The drawi Jag up and care of the minutes of the Council
of Ministers ;
The exclusive direction of the official part of the Ho-
niteur
"The admi castration of the national palaces and manu-
factures.
" Given at the Tuileries, this 22d Jan., 1852.
" LOUIS NAPOLEON."
Louis NAr DLEON, President of the Republic, de-
creei :
"M. de CE isabianca, ex-Minister of Finance, is named
Minister of S ;ate. "
Given at the Tuileries, this 22d Jan., 1852.

" LOUIS NAPOLEON.
(Countersigned) " X. DX CASABLANCA,
" Minister of State."
Louis Nei iolizoN,
President of the Republic, de-
crees
Art. 1. 'Where is created a Ministry under the title of
Ministry of ithe General Police.
" Art. 2. l 'ne Minister of Police shall have the following
attributions:
"The exec ution of the laws relative to the general police,
and to the as fety and internal tranquillity of the Republic;
thesurve
o i a :
e of theatrical pieces, and pub-
licationsjrnt°haepaoislice of the prisons, and other
kinds;ofthe
n; thet personnel of the Prefects of Police
departments, and the agents of the general
of
f places
Paris
and con .fi
theu e me
police of evi lry kind ; the commercial, sanitary, and indus-
trial police; , and the repression of mendicity and vaga-
bondage.
"Art. 3. '.17h0 Ministry of Police will correspond with the
different con .stituted authorities for all which concerns the
safety of the Republic.
" Art. 4. An ulterior decree will regulate the central or-
ganization a nd the active services of the new Ministry.
" Art. 5. The Ministers will be charged, each as far as
' concerns with the e.orecution of the present decree.
" Given e kt the Palace
of the Tuileries, this 22d January
1852. " LOWS NAPOLEON.
(Countersigned) "X. DM CASABLANCA."
Louis i cAPOLEON, President of the Republic,
decrees
Art. 1. M. de Manilas, Prefect of Police of the Seine,
is named llnister of the General Police.
" Art. 2. Our Minister of State is charged with the exe-
cution of t 1 Le present decree.
" Given a.t the Palace of the Tuileries, this 22d January,
1852. " LOUIS NAPOLXON.

ounteraigned) " X. DE CASABIANCA."
LOUIS IN. ►FOLSON, President of the .Republic, de-
crees :

M. Ab' latucci, honorary councillor of the Court of
LB named Keeper of the Seals and Minister of
C onasE
Justice,atiin,
the room of M. Rouher, whose resignation is
accepted.

,‘ Given I,t the Palace of the Tuileries, this 22(1 January,
1852. .‘ LOUIS NAPOLEON.

liroLEo
(CounteraiBnedl
Louis 1V pi, "b• Dlo: CASABIANCA."
I.6re.sident of the Republic, de-
crees :

named,,,lose
rMe
si
i,n .:,
ns taetri
oonf ti hs ea
clenetpetr ie odr. , in the room of M. de Moray,
" M. Fia lin de Persigny, ex-Minister Plenipotentiary, is
" Given ,it the Tuileries, this 22d January, 1852.
" Louis NAPOLEON.
(( 3ountersigned) "IC. DE CASA/314\11CA."
Louis N APOLEON, President of the Republic, de-
crees :

"M. Bin.eau, ex-Minister, is named Minister of Finance,
in the root].t of M. Fould, whose re3ignation is accepted.
Given :It the Tuileries, this 22d January, 1852.
" LOUIS NAPOLEON.
((kuntersigned) X. PE CASABIANCA."
The PRE* lIDENT of the Republic,
" Consio ering that all the Governments which have suc-
ceeded eacli other have judged it indispensable to oblige the
family which ceased to reign to sell the real and personal
property which it
possessed in France; that in this manner,
on the 12 th January, 1816, Louis .VIIIconstrained the
.
lumbers o f the family of the Emperor Napoleon to sell their
personal pi operty
within a delay of six months, and that on
the 10th April, 1832, Louis Philippe acted in the same
manner with regard to the princes of the elder branch of the
Bourbons;
" Consit fering that such measures are for the interests of
order an. the public; that now more than ever high poli-
tical considerations imperiously command the diminution of
the influee, ,ce which the pcssession of nearly three hundred
millions of 'property in France gives to the Orleans family ;
" D ecrees:
" Art. 1 . The members of the Orleans family, their hus-
bands, wit.re3, and descendants, cannot possess any real or
personal property in France; they shall be bound to sell, in
a definitiv a manner, all the property which belongs to them
througho t.t the whole extent of the territory of the Republic.
" Art.::;. This sale shall be effected within the delay, for
free property, of one year from the date of the promulgation
of the pr ,esent decree, and for property liable to liquidation
or dispute from the date at which the property shall have
become in :evocably their own.
" Art. 3 . In the event of the sale not having been effected
within the above prescribed delays, the Administration of
Domains shall proceed therewith, in the forms prescribed
by the la .w of the 10th April, 1832.

" The, proceeds of the sale shall be handed over to the
proprietors or to those having a right thereto.
" G,ivezi at the Palace of the Tuileries, the 22d January.
" Loom NAPOLIDON.
" X. DE CASIBIANCA,
" Minister of State."

(Countersigned)

The PRESIDENT of the Republic,
ousidering that, without encroaching on the right of
property in the person of the Princes of the Orleans family,
the President of the Republic would not justify the confi-
dence of the French people, if he permitted properties which
ought to belong to the nation to be abstracted from the do-
mains of the State ;
" Considering that, according to the ancient public law of
France, rnaintained by the decree of the 21st September,
1790, and by the law of the Bth -November, 1814, all the
property which belonged to the Princes on their accession to
the throne was of full right, and at the very instant united to
the domain of the Crown ;
"That thus the decree of the 21st September, 1790, and
the law of the Bth November, 1814, enact : The private
property of the prince who cornea to the throne, and that
which he possessed during his
reign, on whatever title it
may be, are of full right and at the very instant united to the
dornaiu of the nition, and the effect of this union is perpetual
and irrevocable
"That the consecration of this principle ascends to very
distant times of the monarchy that amongst others may be
cited the example of Henry IT. ; that prince having wished
by letters patent of the 16th April 1590, to prevent the
union of his properties with the domain of the Crown, the
Parliament of Paris refused to enregister those letters patent
by a judgment of the 15th July, 1591, and Henry IV., sub-
sequently applauding this firmness, issued in the month of
July, 1607, a decree revoking his irst letters patent;
" Considering that this fundamental rule of the monarchy
was applied under the reign of Louis XVIII. and Charles
X., and reproduced in the law of the 15th January, 1825 ;
•"lhat no legislative act had revoked it on the 9th August,
1630, when Louis Philippe accepted the Crown ; that thus
by the fact of that acceptation all the property which he
possessed at that period became the indisputable property of
the State ;
" Considering that the general donation, subject to a life
interest, consented to by Louis Philippe for the advantage of
his children, to the exclusion of his eldest son, on the 7th
August, 1830, the very dal"
en which the throne was offered
him, and before his acceptation which took place on the 9th
of the same month, had only for its object to prevent the
union to the domain of the State of the large estates pos-
y sessed by the prince called to the throne;
"That at a later period, when it became known this act
excited public disapprobation
(souleve la consciencepublique) ;
" That, if the annulling of it was not pronounced, it was
because there did not exist, as under the ancient monarchy,
to an authority competent -- repress the violation of the prin-
ciples of public law, the
protection of which was formerly
confided to the Parliaments;
" That, in reserving the life interest of the property com-
prised in the donation, Louis Philipp
e de rived himself of
nothing, and wished only to assure to his family a patrimony
become that of the State;
" That the donation
itself, not less than the exclusion of
the eldest son, in the ezpectation of the accession to the
throne of that sJisi, was on the part of the King Louis Philippe,
the most formal recognition of that fundamental rule, since
it required so many precautions to elude it ;
" That it would be Vain to allege that the union to the
properties of
public domain of the
prince could only result
the
from the acceptation of the crown by him,
acceptation only took
A st the donation
and that as such
place on the 9t ugn
consented on the 7th of the same month should produce its
effect ;

" Considering
that at the latter date Louis Philippe was no
longer a private DPI.
King of the - - 8", since the two Chambers declared him
oath to the Charter ;
French, under the sole condition of taking an
the
7th August,
in consequence of his acceptation, he was King on
.fested b BIIICO on that day the national will was ma-
n;
übl. y the two Chambers, and that the fraud on the law
of a public order does not exist less when it is concerted in
certain fact which is immediately about to be
realised f ;
" Considering that the property comprised in the donation
August being irrevocably incorporated in the do-
main of the State, could not be detached by the clauses of
Art.
Tt,._2h2aof the law of the 2d March, 1832 ;
That it would be contrary to all principles ascribing a
retroactive
effect to that law, to cause it to render valid an
act radically null, according to the legislation existing at the
time at which the act was consummated ;
influence of
" That, besides that law dictated by privat 3 interest, under
the
Political events, cannot prevail against the
Permanent rights of the State, and the immutable rules of
public law;
" Considering, besides, that the rights of the State thus
claimed, there still
one hundred pillions,remainse
to the Orleans family more than
which they can support their
rank abroa
with
" Considering also that it is right to continue the annual
allowance of 300,000 f. inscribed in the budget for the dowry
of the Duchess of
Orleans;
" Decrees—
" Art. 1. The real and personal property which is the ob-
ject of the donation made on the 7th August, 1830, by the
e i is
King Louis Philipprestored to the domain of the State.
"Art. 2.
The State remains charged with the payment of
the debts of the Civil List of the last reign.
" Art. 3. The dowry of 300,000 f. awarded to the Duchess
d'Orleans is Maintained.
" Art. 4. The property returning to the State in virtue of
Art. 1 shall be Partly suld ( tesdus en partie) by the Ad-
ministration des Demaines, and the proceeds shall be divided
as follows :
" Art. 5. Ten millions are allowed to the Sociites de Se-
cours Mutuels authorised by the law of the 15th July, 1850.
"Art. 6. Teo
the dwellings millions shall b© employed in ameliorating
of
workmen in the great manufacturing to.ins,
" Art. 7. Tea millions shall be devoted to the establish-
ment of institutions for making loans on mortgage (institu-
tions de credit Aucicw) in the departments which may de-
mand that measure on submitting to the conditions con-
sidered necessary.