The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-29 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—M. Emile de Girardin has published the
letter of the Duke of Persigny on the Press, and his
ow n answer to it. In these days of political in-
diffdrence it is rare to meet with a discussion on
first principles, nor is the present system of French
government favourable to repartees between a
Minister and a journalist. Bat the genius of M. de
Girardin and the extraordinary zeal of M. de Per-
signy account for their appearing before the public
as correspondents on the most delicate subject that
could be raised between them. Whatever might
he the temptation thrown out by the experienced
and brilliant writer one would think that the ex.
Minister and first Imperial confidant would have
had the self-control to avoid it. M. de Persigny
might be expected to know that it is impossible
for any public man in France to give an opinion
on the present administration of the Press laws
without offending some one with whom it is advan-
tageous to be on good terms. On the one side there
is the class of men of letters in Paris, who, though
they have lost that undue share of power which
they held under the monarchy of July, and are now
unduly depressed by the reigning Imperialism, yet
have considerable authority among the more intelli-
gent of their countrymen from their talents and their
social qualities. They represent, or are supposed to
represent, the Liberal party, and thus constitute a
power in France which no Minister will care to
alienate. Oa the other hand, it is well known, and
has been proved within the last few days, that there
is nothing which the highest person in France thinks
so necessary to the wellbeing of the country and the
security of his own power as the strict regulation of
political writing. It is an article of faith at the Tui-
leries that journalists are essentially the foes of set-
tled authority ; that the Crowns of the rulers of
France have been struck from their heads by the
liens of those ever dissatisfied theorists ; and that
until the French people have sufficient independence
of judgment to control the press, instead of being
controlled by it, it will be dangerous for any sieve■
reign to let people write and read what they please.
In holding this opinion a ruler of France cannot be
said to be unreasonable. The fall of the Orleans
family might be traced directly to the opposition
press of thatiday ; it was the National and the Siecle
far more than any inherent restlessness in the Parisian
multitude which made the Revolution of February,
and to the same journals might be attributed with
equal certainty the Revolution of July, 1830. Per-
haps the Emperor has sufficient remembrance of his
own former self to know with what pertinacity a
politician who thoroughly hates a Government or
dynasty will labour at its destruction, turning every
incident into a text to preach his own unchanging
creed, and finding means to put a sting into the
most indifferent remark. However that may be, it
is pretty certain that the Emperor Napoleon would
rather see the Legislative Lady half filled with
Radicals, and the Bar more ill-disposed and trouble-
somely eloquent than ever, than allow two or three
Opposition newpapers t? keep up that daily fire
which, though each individual shot seems to do
little, yet in the end is found effectual to batter down
the strongest institutions. Placed between these
two opposing forces, what ought the Duke to have.
done ? A prudent man will at once answer that he
should have held his tongue. An Archbishop who
should allow himself to be entrapped into a theolo-
gical controversy would not showa greater want of
skill than a Minister in the position of M. de Per.

signy who volunteers general opinions on the rela-
tions of the Press to the Imperial system. In fact,
the more a man who has to administer keeps his
personal opinions in the background the better will
it be for his own future comfort and the efficient
performance of his duties. But the Imperialist poli-
tician has one weakness; ho is a little too sensitive
to the censures of the Opposition. Strange as it may
appear, the Duke does in all probability thoroughly,
believe himself to be a good Liberal. He remem-
bers the days of adversity, and wishes to fancy that
he had not changed his opinions. He is, in fact, one
of the Opposition—that is, he is all for liberty and
popular government and the principles of 'B9, and
consequently. among other things, for a free Press.
He cannot enjoy the Empire like some of his friends,
and cares nothing about its principles or its consis•
tency with the doctrines held by its founders some
20 years ago. No ; he loves it and believes in it too
much for that, and his mind is continually directed
to proving that it has really given France that com-
plete freedom, that true equality, that universal
fraternity which the Republic failed to realise.
"Napoleon M., the founder of liberty," expresses
the political creed of M. de Persigny, and to gain a
consent to it he is capable of committing an indis-
cretion. M. de Girardia was worth converting, and
accordingly M. de Presigny, while lamenting that
opinion is not advanced enough for a perfectly free
press, yet makes the imprudent admission that he
desires to see a change which will somewhat loosen
its bonds. But it was useless to hope that the logical
journalist would accept such a compromise, or admit
that, with less frequent warnings and less ruthless
confiscations, a condition of things might be produced
tolerable to the politicals writers of France. The
defenders of free discussion can no more conceive a
press almost free than a woman almost chaste, or a
bank-note almost good. if a millionth part of re-
pression remains, the friends of freedom must con-
tinue to cry out until that millionth is relinquished,

Ira a well-Written and earnest letter M. de Girardin
pleads the cause of perfect liberty, and brings for•
ward arguments which we suspect the heart of his
correspondent must have sympathised with, though
his understanding may have rejected them. M. de
Girardin declares that a press ceases to be dangerous
directly it becomes free, and cites the examples of
England, America, and Belgium to show that out of
France newspapers are read only for their news,
while in France, under a rigid supervision, they are
read chiefly for the opinion of their conductors.
Though we cannot entirely agree with this state.,
meat, which seems to deny that the press in a free
countryexereises anypolitical influence—an assertion
untrue—yet M. do Girardin is right in thinking
that seditious and scurrilous writings are far less
dangerous when they are known to be disre-
garded by Government than when their composers
are believed to be always engaged in a struggle
with the Censor and the Public Prosecutor. We
cannot but think that the formidable power of the
press under King Louis Philippe, for instance, was
in a high degree owing to the continual prosecue
tions, which were sufficient to exasperate but not
to destroy, to give importance to every malcontent
who contributed to a review or newspaper, and yet
powerless to conciliate or crush him. It seems
reasonable to suppose that the French Press would
not be more dangerous to the present Government
if known to be disregarded and to a great extent
unread by the Powers attacked than now, when
every sentence becomes within a few hours the sub-
ject of close examination by suspicions and nervous
officials. Nor does M. de Girardin fail to refute the
argument that press regulations are necessary to
protect private character from unscrupulous writers.
It is sufficient for him to point out that a class of
publications does exist in France which are not
political, and therefore are almost entirely exempt
from Government interference, and which yet are
more free in their remarks on individuals and more
given to satire and scandal than is proper in a decent
community. He might have added that in the freest
State the laws for the protection of private character
may be, as in England, made strict to excess with-
out any permanent interference of the Executive.
In all these things it may be that the opinion of
France is against M. de Girardin. Perhaps M. de
Persigny is right in saying that people aro not pre-
pared for the entire liberation of the press; but, as
his correspondent justly remarks, opinion must yield
to demonstration, and if reason and the experience
of other nations tend to prove that the present sys-
tem is unnecessarily rigid, the Imperial advisers
may profit by the advice of the veteran journalist.
POST.—Although the President of the Northern
Qkiktoa -rrill net ont.or upon hio occond term of offioe
before March next, that term may, for all practical
purposes, be considered as dating from the present
time. He possesses the same supreme power now
which he will enjoy during the forthcoming year,
and the intervening period between his election and
admission to office may be employed in maturing
such designs as he may subsequently desire to carry
into execution. In one respect, then, the Northern
population may be regarded as benefiting by the
re.election of their President. The policy of which
they approve will meet with no check, and the an-
tagonism of interests, which proved so fatal to the
State during the last four months of the presidency
of Mr, Lincoln's predecessor, will be avoided. The
future historian of the decline and fall of the great
American Republic will therefore, in criticising the
conduct of Mr Lincoln's second administration. look
rather to the position of affairs in November, 1864,
than in March, 1864, and, with the former date as
a starting-point, will determine what ought to have
been the policy pursued by the Government. The
chief, if not the only duty which the Northern Fe-
deration has set to itself is that of re.establishing
at all hazards the original Union, and the means by
which this end is to be attained is almost univer-
sally admitted to be the vigorous prosecution of
the war. The Southern Confederacy has declared
that it will not negotiate on the basis of amalga-
mation with the North, and as the latter, with
equal persistency, makes union a necessary condi-
tion of peace, no alternative remains but to con-
throe hostilities until one of the belligerents is
content or compelled to cede the point on 'which fit
present it lays so much stress. As, however, in the
nature of things the time must come sooner or
later when the Union will be restored or the South
will establish its independence, it behoves both
sides constantly to note the progress they have made
with the view of determining at the earliest possi-
ble period the attest time for Avoiding linlaCcOary

1: ~..*

bloodshed by making an inevitable coecessiota
Having now for nearly four years pursued an 117.;
compromising policy, and having waged a NV u_
which, for the gigantic scale on which it ha. s beelt
conducted and the vastness of the expenditure
it
has entailed, is without a parallel in the historyet .a othe world, the President of the Federal States, b
.%
entering on a new lease of office, may reasonably be
expected to take stock of the results of that courss
of action which, at the bidding of the people, be has
hitherto pursued. Should he do so, however, the
results of his investigation will hardly encourag
him to continue in the path which, until e
has followed with such unhesitating confidence. Iv!:
have lately had occasion to notice the financial pos!
Lion of the Federal Government, and do not no;
intend to consider in detail the astonishing result
of a system of finance which, whilst permitting a!,
expenditure to be almost limitless, creates no otter
provision for the outlay than the simple acknowe
ledgment of the debt which is created. Suffice it t°
say that the Northern Republic can now, at the
of Mr Lincoln's first presidentship, boast of a DaA
tional debt so large that even well-informed Pe"
sons cannot estimate the amount within 100 nailli"11
sterling. At the commencement of the civil war the
debt of the United States was practically nil,where!!
at the end of the present year it is believed ityil.ll
fall but little short of that which took Great Britain
more than a century to accumulate. But the n e
President will not only find himself called upon 1°
administer the affairs of a State heavily indebted;
but one which has not yet learned to discharge
of
most irksome of all duties, namely, the payment cl,
debts. Taxation in America is almost unknown
and it is a significant fact, which has not failed th
attract the attention of the Old World, that the
Federal Government have never yet ventured t.°
overcome the constitutional antipathy which theirt
fellowecitizens entertain to a practice so repugnsr.l
to their ideas of absolute liberty. The new Mc°
nistration will succeed to a war which has bees
carried on on credit,and which at this late hour they
will find it impossible to conduct on any other sYs"
tem. Whether Mr Lincoln or General M.Cleliall
secured the suffrages of the people at the recent
election, but one course lay open to the Government
in respect to the mode of covering the expenditure
occasioned by the war. Financial reforms might
be made, but, with a people obstinately determin.ea
„
either on repudiating their engagements or leavll4
them to be fulfilled by posterity, no choice remains
to the Administration but to add day by day to the
national debt. Bat, turning from the financial t°.
the military aspect of affairs, the new Gevernniso
will find equally little ground for selfecongratniv
lion. The armies of the Northern Republic tir°
well appointed and tolerably efficient, and their,
combined numerical strength is truly immense, bli"
somehow or other they do very little work. Ti. 116,
largest of the armies despatched to the field by tu"
Federal Government is undoubtedly that which 18
;
at present encamped on the banks of the Jame,
River. But that army, although in the field upward"
of three years, has never gained a single vietsrti
nor secured for its employers a tangible success*.,,,,
has never actei on the offensive without being sill
nally repulsed, and the only occasions on which'
can advance the shadow of a claim to having beers
victorious were those on which at Antietam
Maryland, and at Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, 1,0
succeeded in preventing the Confederate foren`g
marching on Washington. Beyond the limits ti
Northern Virginia the grand army of the Nsr„'s
has never been able to penetrate, and at the press;
moment the outposts of a Southern army are
ported to have made their appearance on the hal!no
of the Potomac. Nor elsewhere is the sittlere
of the Federal armies more encouraging.
are grave reasons for doubting whether Sherlii;es
can retain his position in Georgia, and Tenne,,,ti
though overrun, is certainly not subjugated. .1.`"0
Orleans and the surrounding country for s°,:o
miles are in the occupation of Federal troops, "to
the pretensions of the Northern Government .0
having once more brought Louisiana beneath :be
sway were practically disposed of a few Ealr'se
since, by the disastrous defeat inflicted on Bang t,
army in the interior of that State. On the °"tii,
skirts of the Confederacy the armies of the Nianfoe
have done but little; in its heart they have no
nothing. at all. Considered simply in relation sr
its present results, and its ultimate object, the
ell
waged by the North might be described as scarcia
begun. These are the facts of which posterity ;c0
expect that Mr. Lincoln on his reacession to 0e(
ought to have taken notice and made the basiso
his future policy. The lesson they convey is Pell
pable enough to us, but whether it will be cello
apparent to the Northern President and his -
visers remains to be seen.