The Sun.
London, England, 1852-04-26 00:00:00

11!\ tltnilita i n

LONDON, MONDAY, APRIL 26, 1852.

An ingenious proposition has recently been sub-
mitted to the French Academy by one of the most
eminent, though, at the:same,time, one of the youngest
iof its members, the eloquent and enthusiastic
Count DE MONTALEMBEET. To this proposition we are
induced to refer, because we recognise in it the deve-
lopment of that noble and generous idea which was
originative of the Great Industrial Exhibition. It is
intended that a prize of 4,000 francs shall be given
for the best historical and literary essay on the
" Political Eloquence of England"—the conditions
submitted to each competitor being that he shall in
his paper present a narrative of its rise in the seven-
teenth century, and its development under the aus-
pices of the House of Hanover, with illustrations of
the excellence it attained from the days of CHATHAM
to the days of CANNING. There is something espe-
cially graceful in this proposal, coming, as it does,
from our rivals in the arts as well as in arms, and
suggested, as it has been, by one of their most distin-
guished orators. Among the other projects submitted to
the aspirants for the honour of success in the intended
enterprise are those of—explaining the twofold influ-
ence of the study of the ancients and of the national
character on English oratory, together with the indica-
tions of the most prominent characteristics distinguish-
ing the speeches of the great ,orators of England as
compared with the monuments of ancient oratory, and
the eloquence of the French Tribune, the essayist
indicating and defining, moreover, the nature of the
services rendered by political eloquence to the genius
and the power of the British population. What-
ever compositions are penned in accordance'
with these suggested conditions are to be
transmitted with sealed packets, containing the names
and addresses of the respective competitors, before the
Ist of March, 1854, when the essays will be exa-
Mined by a committee appointed by the Academy, the
sealed packets not being opened until after the judg-
ment has been pronounced.

From the particulars already given, as well as from
the nature of the very theme selected by the Count
DE MONTALEMBERT, it is at once obvious that
the most probable winner of the prize will be an
Englishman. A capacity for expressing his ideas
idiomatically in the French language is more likely to
be found among the lettered natives of the United
Kingdom than an adequate acquaintance with the
political eloquence of England, even among the most
gifted class of Frenchmen. So manifest is this pro-
bability, that it may at once be reasonably presumed
that the attainment of the 'proposed prize by a
subject of VICTORIA was directly intended from the
outset by the originator, being accepted with corre-
spondent cordiality by his brethren of the Academy.
A more graceful response on the part of the men of
science and of letters in the French Republic could
scarcely have been contrived in return for the magni-
ficent arena opened last year in Hyde-park for the
display of the artistic and industrial products of all
nations in. immediate juxta- position with those
of the United Kingdom and its colonies. Some
scheme more remarkable for munificence might, of
course, have been readily propounded,
.but however
distinguished by grandeur of design or magnitude in
execution—not one, we rest perfectly satisfied,
could have indicated a more graceful, or indeed a
more permanent recognition of the probable results
of the Exposition. By the projected prize, not
only will a valuable essay be contributed to French
literature, but that very essay. will be illus-
trative in a peculiar manner of one of the
most resplendent departments in the litera-
ture of Great Britain. To a nation as appreciative
of eloquence as France, the theme, moreover, will be
peculiar attractiveness. Whether
fraught with a
from the mouths of pulpit orators, such as Bossurr
OT RAT/GNAN, as BOURDALOUR or LACOR-.
DAME, or from the mouths of political orators,
such as MIRABEAU Or MONTALEMBERT, as
VERGNIADD Or LAMARTINE---the people of France
have learnt, more particularly during the last two
centuries, the power for good or for evil of that sub-
lime capacity which revealed itself under its most al-
luring aspect in the days of antiquity, in what GRAT..
TAN picturesquely termed the " splendid conflagra-
tions" of CICERO, and the " rolling torrents"
of DEMOSTHENES. From her own famili-

arity with the force of eloquence ever
admirable as a gift, but ever still more
admirable as an acquisition—France is in a special
manner qualified to appreciate the glories of British
oratory, for which our literature is indebted to the
impassioned genius of CHATHAM ; to the genius less
impassioned but more majestic of his son, the
heaven-born Minister;" to the florid beauties of
BURKE , and to various and distinguishing
merits by which the eloquence of such
men RS SHERIDAN, Fox, CURRAN, GRAT.
TAN, PLUNKETT, ERSKINE, WHITBREAD, CANNING,
and BROUGHAM were characterised. From the nature
of the prize which is thus generously and magnani-
mously offered by the Academy, at the suggestion
of the Count DE MONTALEMBERT, a masterpiece may
with some degree of confidence be anticipated, pro-
bably not unworthy of being ranked with the more
celebrated among the Bridgewater Treatises, and
certain to reflect honour simultaneously both upon
French and English literature.

When the Select Committee of the House of Come
mons made their second report on steam communi-
cation with India and China, &e., after emphatically
stating the serious objections to " any arrangement
which might tend to promote an exclusive traffic on
the Indian lines in the hands of one company," and
that " the only security to the public for the
full advantage of these communications must
consist in open and fair competition," they
concluded with these remarkable words :—" On the
Government must rest the responsibility of car-
rying out that principle with honesty and fair-
ness to the public, and it can only be effected by
ample notice and full particulars of the terms
and conditions required being given, so as to enable
all parties to enter the field who may be desirous of
tendering for the service." There is an appearance
of distrust and suspicion apparent about this pars-
graph that could nut at the time of publication be easily
accounted for. It would almost seem as if, notwith-
standing the cheerful assent of the three members of
the
Government, who participated in their labours,
Vi^
ee the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secre-
tary of the Board of Control, and one of the Lords
of the Admiralty, the remainder of the Committee
had experienced
creditable dodge a
wpremonitory feeling that some dis-
onl dbe resorted to. The matter
lay between the Treasury'Ron.\\ and the Board of Admi-
ralty. The
Le COWPER would neces-
sarily have considerable influence
on a subject which he •with "my Lords'
might be supposed to have
in his own
in-
vestigated in all its branches,
WOOD had the ultimate decision remainingwhile Sir CHARLES
hands. The Committee nevertheless
desired to give
additional strength and validity to their recommen-
dations, and to impose the strongest •
possible oblige-
tions on their Ministerial colleagues.
Subsequent events have shown that the precaution
was a wise and salutary one. It proved fruitless, but
it will have its due effect upon public opinion, and in
exposing the parties really guilty to the censure
which they have so justly merited. It must be ascer-
tained how these things are managed in Downing-
street, and what are the secret influences that call
into unwonted activity Right Honourable and Ho-
nourable Gentlemen, and produce reports and obtain
the confirmation of these reports, with a degree of
speed and promptitude which we believe to be per-
fectly naprecedented. The necessity for the inquiry
so loudly demanded at the meeting of the share-
holders of the Eastern Steam Navigation Company,
in the early part of this month, has been fully estab-
lished by the publication of the return ordered by
the House of Commons on the motion of the Hon.
Gentleman the Member for Bristol. We have now
before us not only the tenders, but also all letters and
statements accompanying those tenders, and the
Admiralty reports: and we must say, that a much