The Sun.
London, England, 1830-07-27 00:00:00

PUBLIC OPINION IN FRANCE.

Public opinion in France has no sort of re-
semblance to public opinion in this country, and
is influenced by machinery almost exactly the
reverse. In Great Britain the influential men
are not confined to ono spot. The habits of
judging, speaking, and writing of all matters

which concern us are diffused generally over the
country ; and the provinces do not, in any re-
spect, take their tone from that of London, ex-
cepting in as far as the capital, being the seat of
government, is generally the first to gain infor-
mation, and becomes, from this and other causes,

the bead-quarters of knowledge and of talent
during a certain portion of each yeer. But there
is no deference paid to London in other respects;
and, indeed, for six months out of twelve, the
elements of influence are scattered more widely
over the British islands, than, perhaps, in any
other empire of the same extent. All over this
country, also, it may be truly said that the news-
papers arc merely the organs or mouthpieces of
the general will, out of which no observant per-
son can fail to deduce what is, essentially, the
real state of public opinion. He may be wrong,
perhaps, in his conclusion at any given moment ;
but, in the long run, he will be sure to arrive at

- - -
the right sense of the reflecting part of the com-
munity. Our newspapers do not dictate to the
nation—they are merely the servants, not the
masters or leaders, of the public. They take
their cue from the opinions of those persons in
society who, from superior talents, knowledge,
or station, not only possess the best means of
judging, but are, practically, most in the habit
of influencing the thoughts and conduct of those
about them. The newspapers, therefore, (and
we might say the same thing of the other pe-
' riodical publications,) do no more than give more
general currency to these opinions, and thus help
to extend the operation of the influences alluded
to ; and as there are papers suited to every party,
nay, to every conceivable shade of opinion,
there comes to be
.put abroad, daily, a just ex-
pression of what is thought and fa over the
whole country, from whence an average judg-
ment may easily be deduced. The conse-
quence is, that with us, nothing that is either
vicious or absurd, whether in high or in low
station, can stand, for any length of time, against
this most searching of all scrutinies ; and there
is rarely, very rarely, the slightest real danger—
whatever some people may say or feel—that any
measure, seriously detrimental, can be long per-
severed in by any British Government. Among
our neighbours, the press has a totally different
office to perform. In that country the journal-
ists direct the public opinion. 'I he leaders in
political life in France are sometimes the actual
editors of the Parisian Papers, and they almost
all write in them. This will, in some measure,
account for the style of the composition, gene-
rally speaking, of the principal articles to be
found in those columns, as well as for their in-
tolerable length. The mass of the people, both
in Paris and in the country, take their tone from
these metropolitan journals a very few active
men lead the whole nation, and have, in fact, a
monopoly of the manufacture of public seuti-
ment. They arc the virtual despots of the
country for the, time being ; and what is now
going on in France differs in degree, not in
kind, from what has occurred there at any given
period during the last forty years. A small
number of busy persons—whether gentlemen of
the guillotine, gentlemen of the drum-head, or
gentemen of the press—have contrived to ma-

nage /a belle France, and to dictate to la granule
nation how it should feel, think, and act. In
England, no mortal ever looks at a newspaper to
learn what its editor thinks on any given clues,
tion ; indeed, no one ever knows or cares who
or what the editor is. The print is read solely
to learn what is thought by the best•informed
men of that particular party, of which it hap-
pens, for the time being, to be considered as the
organ. It is the express business of the editor
to find out what are generally held to be the
soundest opinions of the sensible men of that
party to which his subscribers are attached, and
to nit their actual views in a distinct and for-
cible shape before the public. This is the whole
task of an English newspaper. But, in France,
it assumes a far different office ; and, as we have
said, dictates Opinion, instead of echoing it.—
Cluarteriy Review.

in to»sequelice of the stormy weather (luring
the last three months, upwards of seven bridges have been
destroyed in the county of Derby, and several others
seriously damaged. The estimated expenditure to re-
4tore these bridges 6 10,000/. The county rate is route-
"tit/7 I"ll"tiaaahly bterviuted,fielton Chronicle.