The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-14 00:00:00

reserve the first duty of his political conduct, did not allow
us to hear that voice which eminent successes at the bar
seemed to have destined for Parliamentary contests. But
if his presence amongst us was not made known:by his par-
ticipation in our debates, it had none the less a great signi-
ficance. This dignity of a senator, which the Emperor ac-
corded to him when public opinion had already marked
him out for it, was not only the consummation of a career
which, before it was devoted to the service of die State,had
been so deeply shaken by all the agitations of our c,;ntem-
porary events; it was also the consecration of quite an orcii:r
of ideas and sentiments which characterise him whose loss
we deplore. What, in fact, does M. Mocquiird represent in
the diverse phases of this long lifa which has ended too
quickly ? He represents, gentlemen, three great things :
devotion to a noble cause, patriotism of which it is the in-
spiration, and political spirit of which it is the moderator.
At an epoch still near to us in point of time, although it is
already far removed by events, when the First Empire was
only an heroic souvenir, end when the Second seemed only
a generous illusion, M. Mocquard was one of that small
group of men who had preserved their political faith as a
religion. All was against them—facts, opinion, fortune,
and that future, which we have seen to develop since in a
manner so sudden and so providential, did not even appear
on the horizon as a hope, They had the honour to be the
'first, almost the only ones, and, through all trials, with a
confidence which nothing could shake, they waited the day
when they saw themselves supported by eight millions of
suffrages. Amidst this isolation, of which men like M.
Mocquard have so nobly accepted the disgrace, there was,
however, a latent force which sustained them, and which
connected them with an entire change of opinion, the source
of which was in the patriotic impulse of a great people, but
the final result of which. was hidden behind the veil of the
suture. What was Bonapartism before it became a Go-
vernment ? It was the memory of our glory, and the
protest of the national conscience against the hum liation
of our disasters. It was an :aspiration ill•defined, but ac-

ive, powerful, auxins, irresistible towards a political

situAtion more worthy of our history of fourteen centu-
ries, and of the greatness which unceasingly nourishes
and enlarges the magnificent movement of civilisation
and progress of which the imperishable date 1788 gave
the signal. These aspirations are realised, and it
was reserved to M. Mocquard to be associated more
intimately than any other person with the acts of this
policy, the triumph of which ha had foreseen. Here his
part changed, and his militant habits gave way to very dif-
ferent duties. The companion of the exile, the man of
action, he, who had quitted an official position the more
freely to convey his homage and his counsels to misfor tune,
became the intimate .confidant of the prince to whom the
will of France gave the throne which foreign force alone
had wrested from the founder of his dynasty. It does not
behove me to retrace here all the tact, propriety, persover•
ance, enlightened devotion, modest discretion, and active
vigilance which the chief of the Emperor's cabinet hag
displayed in this mission so difficult and important, which
placed him so near to the mind of the Sovereign, an which
could cause his legitimate influence to be felt in the councils
of the Government from so high a position. He pretended
nothing. He effaced himself systematically, his devotion
absorbed his personality. He was one of those who possess
the privilege of penetrating into the imperial intimacy, open
to him at all times; more than any person he lived in that
elevated region on which the regards of the world are fixed,
and from which proceed SD many decisive impulses. Well,
when he left this region it was to resume his simple and
affable manners. Casting from him all importance, he did
not assume superiority over any pers )n, in order to be more
on a level with all those whose wishes he listened to, and
who confided to him their ideas, their interests, end even
their ambitions. A distinctive trait of his nature, and which
characterises the manner in which he fulfilled his duties,
is that he never took up the subject without the de-
sin of doing good. When he could be useful he was anxious
and ardent; but if it was necessary to speak ill of any per-
son, if he had to make his sovereign acquainted with those
studied malevolences, those veiled calumnies, those envious
disparagements which seek to surprise or to deceive the
good faith of Powers he was dumb, and his cold and digni-
fied attitude disconcerted those intrigues, which he never
favoured. Such is the man, gentlemen, whom the Empe-
ror placed amongst us as a personification of that patriotism
which honours public life, and of that moderation which
restrains its impulses. Nature had endowed him with her
most amiable gifts. She had bestowed on him personal
graces, a great power of expression, an exquisite taste in

literary matters, and that temperance which, in imposing
moderation on the mind, imparts to it more vigour. His
intelligence, formed and nourished in the study of the in-
comparable models of the true and the good, was not
applied to those conceptions which reflect literary re-
nown on a name. He concentrated it, he meditated
on it, and in order that he might more completely devote
himself, he in some sort renounced his personal elevation.
What more striking example can there be of all that is
noble in a devotion so loyally inspired, and in an ambition
governed by duty ? M. Mocquard lived more happily, more
satisfied, than if he had been more powerful; and at this
supreme moment he is as much honoured as if he had filled
the highest offices of the State. This procession, this
numerous attendance, this homage, this emotion by which
we are all oppressed—the presence of these illustrious per-
sons, the eloquent voice of the Minister of the Emperor
which we have heard—does not all this tell you that which
most elevates a man is his character, and not his official
position? That which best concludes such a life would
have been wanting if he had not been attached to those
sublime truths which purify the soul in raising it to God.
Yes, I say it with a deep feeling of consolation and hope—
in this nature, the graceful and frivolous outward part of
which seemed apparently to cover a sort of scepticism, there
was yet that rpark of sacred fire which never permits spiri-
tual beliefs to extinguish themselves. This was well seen
at that last hour when an Illustrious priest went to receive
his last confidential communications. His first word, ut-
tered before his family, was a protest against this odious
materialism,: which vainly tries to overtake in us the
Divine principle of immortality. This was an act of faith
which fortified him against death, and which he has left as
a consolation to his family. And when the venerable
curate of the Madeleine administered to him the last con-
solations of religion his mind still recovered its energy
amidst agonising sufferings, and applauded this grand
thought of the greatest of Christian orators, of the writer
whom he admired the most, perhaps—of Bossuet, thus
branding the believers in Atheism They see nothing,
they understand nothing; they even have not the incaus
of establishing the nullity which they hope for after this
life, and this miserable portion is not assured to them. M.
Mocquard has understood this, gentlemen,—there is some.
thing grander than living as a philosopher : it is to die as
a Christian."

PRIVATE BILLS FOR NEIT SESSIO .h.. Tomorrow
(Thursday) is the last day for serving notices on the
owners, lessees, and occupiers of property required by the
promoters of private bills. Monday, however, was the
latest day for posting letters to the persons referred to, and
the number of registered letters stnt on that day is said to
have been very large. Each letter cost 7d, and contained a
form to be filled up and returned, stating whether the per-
son addressed assents or dissents, or is merely " neuter."
A. list of the forms returned will be aftorwarde made up, and
submitted to the House of Commons.