The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-09 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, JULY 9, 1863.

Mr. ROEBUCK'S visit to Fountainebleau was, be-
yond all question, a mistake. Of all Englishmen,
he was one of the very last who ought to have
sought an interview with the French EMPEROR.
With hardly one iota more of delicacy could the
member for Sheffield tarry thus in the anti-chamber
of his MAJESTY, uninvited, waiting there the impe-
rial permission to have an audience with that
foreign ruler he had so often reviled, with hardly
one iota more of delicacy could Mr. ROEBUCK act
thus, than could the member for Bridgewater
himself, the scurrilous assailant of NAPOLEON
111, through his so-called History of the
War in the Crimea. If Mr. KINGLAXE

has written disgraceful personalities about
the French EMPEROR, Mr. ROEBUCK has spoken
others quite as disgraceful. Without preparing the
way for his reception by his Imperial Majesty, by
some indication of regret for words. of wrath
breathed against the EMPEROR, very publicly and
very recently, by his Majesty's visitor at Fontaine-
bleau, Mr. ROEBUCK'S appearance there as a
Nis i tor (it is almost needless to say, unasked) was
little less, in one very plain phrase, than an imper-
tinence. The interview itself, therefore, we
would insist, was egregiously and obviously a
mistake. But a still greater mistake was com-
mitted afterwards by Mr. ROEBUCK in the very
tone and manner with which he related the cir-
cumstances of that interview to the British House
of Commons. Her MAJESTY'S Ministers, many of
them, at least, were there listening to him.
Amongst them, upon the Treasury bench, sat the
hon. gentleman, the Under-Secretary of State for,
and, as such, the representative in that House of,
the Foreign Department. Yet, in what tone was
it that Mr. ROEBUCK, the self-appointed envoy,
" most extraordinary," related the particulars of
his eccentric mission to the Palace at Fontainebleau?
With so arrogant an assumption of importance,
that it implied the complete and absolute subor-
dination to himself, both of the Ministers of the
Crown, here in England, and of the noble earl at
Paris, Her MAJESTY'S Ambassador to the Court of
the Tuileries ! Accarding to Mr. ROEBUCK, he was
" authorised" by "the great French ruler'' to say
so-and-so to the House of Commons, in explanation
of the opinions and of the policy of his Majesty, in
reference to the Confederates. Intimating as plainly
as language could possibly intimate anything, that
he was simply repeating the very Words uttered to
himself by the French EMPEROR, Mr. ROEBUCK
said, " Tell them that I think this, that, and the
other ! Tell them that I have said to you such and
such a thing in reference to this delicate and diffa
cult question as to the recognition of the Southern
States." In other words, "Tell them the House
of Commons that I think and speak as I
now explain to you, Mr. ROEBUCK ! that I actually
do think upon this matter, I—the Emperor
of the FRENCH!" Yet scarcely has the mem-
ber for Sheffield given this exceedingly
circumstantial report of the proceedings of
his interview with the French EMPEROR, when his
Majesty the EMPEROR himself puts forth a positive
declaration in the columns of the Moniteur, that
during that intervie es his Majesty never once had
authorised Mr. RGEBUCK to influence the opinions
of the English House of Commons, in his Majesty's
behalf, in any way whatsoever. We look forward
with a certain natural, and surely a very reasonable,
curiosity, to the explanations Mr. ROEBUCK or
Mr. LINDSAY, his companion in the late unhappy
expedition, may be prepared to offer, with a view
to reconcile in some measure the now apparently
quite irreconcilable discrepancies in the statements
made, so very recently, here by Mr. ROEBUCK in the
House of Commons, there by his Majesty the EM-
PEROR in the columns of the Moniteur.

Lord RAYNHAM moved the second reading of
the Casual Poor Metropolis Bill last night, but
unfortunately without success, One advantage
obtained by the discussion was, that Mr. GILPIN
said that the subject was under the consideration of
the Poor Law Board at this moment, and that they
were constantly obtaining additional information
with regard to it. Lord RAYNHAM therefore with-
drew his bill, at the same time expressing an earnest
hope that early next session the Pcor Law Board
would bring forward a bill to effect the object
he
had in view. The principle of Lord RAYN-
ruel,mre
was an admirable one, He truly