The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-07 00:00:00

his military events and his military glory, they si

added to those all that the warmest enthusiasm could
give. Upon the rising generation all this could not be
lost ; and it appears to me that the seeds which these
men have sown in the provinces of France are now to
be seen, in the fruit of which we have witnessed the
ripening on this occasion. Seeing then this immense
demonstration of feeling on the part of the French
people, it was impossible for he': Majesty's Government,
even if it -had not been our usual policy to sanction
such demonstrations, not to have advised her Majesty
cordially to accept and recognise the empire. There
might have been one, and one only, reason that might
have tempted us to hesitate' before we advised her
Majesty so to proceed; but I rejoice to say that
the good sense of the present- Emperor, foreseeing
the difficulty; met it in advance, and removed from
her - Majesty's Government those difficulties that
might otherwise have intervened. I allude to a
somewhat ambiguous expression which was found
in the report of the Senatus Consnitum, which re-
ferred to the late President of the Republic, and which
was connected with the title he meant to take

—that of Napoleon 111. That expression might have
induced her Majesty's Government, and would naturally
have induced any one, to suppose that the interpretation
to beven to it would have been that of corn mon par-
lancelwgihen it designates sovereigns—that it gave the
bearer of the title an hereditary retrospective right to
the throne, and that he was descended in a straight and
legitimate line, and by right had new ascended the throne
of France. My lords, the advisers of the present Empe-
ror of the French, forseeing this difficulty, frankly took
the initiative, in assuring her Majesty's Government that
it related simply to the historical incident that in France,
and according to French law, two sovereigns of the name
of Bonaparte only had preceded the present Emperor.
Neither of them, as your lordships know, were recognised
by their country, and the French know that :as well as
your lordships—and they therefore adopted the title with
no intention of claiming any hereditary right from the
first Emperor. They have distinctly intimated that,
both to her Majesty's Government, and since in a speech
by the Emperor himself ; he has declared, and his Go-
vernment have also declared it to ours, that h e is sove-
reign only by the voice of the people, not by hereditary
right to the throne—that he distinctly recogni see all the
Governments that have existed since 1814 in France—
that he recognises the acts of those Governments, and
acknowledges the solidarity of those Governments in suc-
ceeding others. With this satisfactory and frank expla-
nation, it was only left to her Majesty's Gomrnment, as
I said before, cordially and with pleasure to acknowledge
the decided will of the French nation ; and to send to
her Majesty's ambassador at Paris new credentials for
the new court. In the notification which the Emperor
has made to her Majesty's Government, he says that
the same policy which influenced the President will
influence the Emperor. And with respect to that policy.
as regal dki England, it is impossible to speak too
highly of the cordial and frank manner in which every
question has been entertained by the Government of '
France—at least since I have had the honour of holding
the seals of office. (Hear, hear.) I have no doubt my
noble friend opposite will say the same thing at the time
he filled my place. I have found nothing but fairness
and fair play in all these transactions—nothing• but as-
surances of good-will and wishes to maintain an -unbroken
friendship with this country. I believe the Emperor
himself, and the great mass of the people, deeply feel the
necessity, for the interests of both countries, that we
should be on a footing of profound peace. And, on the
other hand, they see the great folly and crime which it

_
would be on either side to provoke a war. They must
know that a war, as far as it would lead to the subjuga-
tion of either country by the other, is an absurdity—that
neither country, so great, powerful, and in dependent,
could in any manner subjugate the other; and, there-
fore, war must be as useless as cruel, and as i ()glorious as
absurd. (Hear, hear.)
Viscount CANNING, after making some observations
which were not heard in the gallery, said he would take
the liberty of asking the noble earl to complete his state-
ment as regarded _the form and shape in wlich the as-
surances which he had referred to had been placed in his
hands, and he also wished to know whether the noble earl
would, either now, or at any future, but not very dis-
tant, time, lay them before Parliament and the country ?
(Hear, hear.)

The Earl .of MALMESBURY did not understand
his noble friend on two points. He appeared first to dis-
approve of something which he (the Earl of Malmesbury)
had stated—

Viscount CANNING said it was a feeling which he
had over and over again repeated and constantly main-
tained in that and the other house,of Parliament, and it
was simply this, that in the English Parliament, when,
ever foreign matters were brought under discussion, it
was advisable—and, above all, in the case of a Minister
of the Crown—to abstain from anything approaching to
comment. on the conduct of a neighbouring country,
whether it were the people or the ruling authority.
Then, as to the other point, communications between
friendly states assumed different forms ; some times they
were in the form of a dispatch from the ambassador, and
sometimes in the form of a note from the minister of the
country. He wished to know in which of these forms,
or, if in either form, what form, these assurances had
been received ?

The Earl of MALMESBURY perfectly agreed as to
what the noble lord said with reference to comments,
if they were disagreeable or unfriendly. In that case,
he should be the last man to have made them. He was
not in the habit of expressing his feelings very often to
their lordships, and he might not have made himself
clearly understood. He rose with the most earnest wish
to say for France and the French all that France and
the French would say for themselves. He did not,
therefore, understand why his noble friend found fault
with his comments. The diplomatic nature of the com-
munications which had been made were perfectly official,
and therefore satisfactory to the Government. They
could not be more satisfactory to. him than when made
by the French ambassador verbally, and in words re-
peated by the Emperor himself, in his speech to his
Chambers. He thought that was satisfactory enough.
The Marquis of BREADALBANE hoped the changes
which had taken place in France would be attended with
the best results.

BANK NOTES BILL.
On the motion of the Earl of DERBY, this bill was
read a second time.
Their lordships then adjourned at a quarter past nine
o'clock.

HOUSE OF COMMONS—(YESTERDAY.)
The SPEAXIII took the chair shortly before four
o'clock.

NEW MEMBERS.

Mr. W. J. FOX, for Oldham, Lord NORREYS, for
Abingdon, and Lord A. VANE, for Durham, took the
oaths and their seats.

NEW WRIT.

Mr. HUDSON moved for a new writ for Merthyr
Tydvil, in the room of Sir J.-Guest, Bart.

PETITIONS.

Mr. SCOTT presented a petition from Stirling, against
nunneries.

Sir F. THESIGER presented a petition from a
Sussex newspaper, in favour of the retention of the taxes
on newspaper.
Mr. EWART presented several petitions for the re-
peal of the taxes on knowledge.
Mr. Sergeant SHEE presented a petition against cer-
tain measures introduced by the Irish Attorney-General
respecting tenant right.
Several petitions were -presented against the paper
and newspaper stamp duties.
Mr. F. MACKENZIE presented a petition from a
mechanics' institution praying that Parliamentary papers
be given gratuitously to literary, and scientific institu-
tions.