The Sun.
London, England, 1839-12-07 00:00:00

cVENING EDITION.

. -
All others, from the same quarter—namely, that of ,
being extremely bulky and voluminous. This is the
budget of the French Ministry of Marine and Colonies
for the ensuing year of' 1840, containing the report,
Admiral Rosamel to the King, followed by a cepii4ss 1
appendix, comprehending the most minute and elabcriste
details of expenditure, and forming both togethtst a
volume in large quarto of not less than 36U pages. Are
publish to-day Admiral Rosamel's report. We can'hdt
say that it derives any adventitious interest from the mans--1
Her in which it has been executed by the gallant and abblik'
Admiral. Witu the exception of some half dozen f
common-place remarks upon the uses, commercial and ‘\
scientific, as well as warlike, to which a military marine
may be made subservient, the work of the French
Minister is nothing more than an enumeration of details, i
essential, doubtless, to •the clear exposition off his im-
portant
subject, methodically classed, and, wnen requi- i
site, successfully, though briefly, defended ; but it is 1
obvious to us that none but professional nr official per- /
sons on either side the Channel will take the trouble to -i
read it. through ; and it unquestionably demands a cox- 1
siderable previous krwowledge of the practice and technis .)
calities of the French marine to catch, in a greab
number of passages, the meaning of the Minister
There are, nevertheless, some leading and simple
facts which are open to all men's understandings, and
which possess a peculiar interest and significancy for
an Englishman. The natural relations of Great Bri-
tain being a maritime, and France a great territorial,
..,
power, in respect of the means of self-defence, arid GSA
mutual aggression, are, that France would have the fa - N
culty of invading and oppressing England had she a
superior fleet ; whilst England would have a similar
ascendancy over France, if England had a superior
army. So long as England has the stronger fices,
and France the more numerous army, neither state
can, by mere force of arms, inflict any vital injury ~,.
upon the other—that i;?, by attacking her at home.
This, then, we call the reciprocal position in 'Web
nature herself has planted those two Powers-.teach
armed with abundant means of self-defence, and
each, therefore, incurring the certainty of defeat,
should she venture upon aggressive measures against
the body of her rival. When England, besides her in- 1
herent superiority at sea, attempts to raise an army
capable of warring with that of France on French ter-
ritory, or when France aims at the creation of a feet
superior, or even equal to that of England in a battle oh
the ocean, the Power so acting places herself in a
false position towards her neighbour. She affects a
two fold advantage—seeks to fabricate for herself an
aggressive instrument which nature had not be-
stowed upon her, and to deprive the other party of
the means of self-defence. She thus betrays designs
of a threatening and offensive character, sushi as
justly to excite the jealousy and provoke Ike anger
of the neighbouring nation. We ask, then.sehether
England can be accused of enlisting a single soldier
beyond what is absolutely necessary for even the scan-
tiest and slenderest system of internal police for herself
and her colonies ! We ask, further, if France mar
not be fairly reproached with such persevering schemes
of naval aggrandizement and of aggressive maritime
means, that Englafid cannot, unless she has lost her
senses, look on and wait with submissive patience the de-
velopennent of this French programme of preparatory
warfare ? The principle of defensive equilibrium is -
destroyed the moment that either Franee or England ac-
quires the means of successfully invading the other. The
safety of England hitherto has lain in these words :
" You, France, dare not attack an English seaport,
because your invading fleet will be captured." The ,
counter security of France is this :—" You Engiand
will not venture to disembark an army on my ter-
ritory, because I with more numerous forces will not
let a man of yours escape." Now, this is the true
equilibrium between the Powers—she who strives to
alter it to her own advantage means aggression and no-
thing else. We have watched for years, and with
much distrust too, the systematic and persevering ef-
forts of the French Government to raise its feet to a
footing of even more than equality with that of Eng-
land ; nor have we been able to behold without in-
dignation the seeming complaisance of the Whig,
Cabinet of this country in facilitating by a negative
and servile policy the audacious encroachmeats et
France—blockades along the whole Atlantic coast-'
of South America, and spreading north to the latitude
and near neighbourhood of Jamaica, to the toted
paralysis of British commerce, without a syllable et
complaint or breath denoting the possibility of resistance
—territorial conquests along the entire coast of North**
Africa, supported by vast naval armaments, from Tunip ,
westward even to Morocco and the shores of the Atlas' ,
tic, whereby the whole face of the Mediterranean ie
changed, and England barely tolerated by France as is
passenger on the road from her own ancient rick est
Gibraltar to Malta ; whilst by Russia she is frowne4
upon as an intruder, who dares not visit with her hums L
bled flag the ports of her own ally, the Tusks ,
or the beleaguered billows of the Euxine. In
connection with these views of the French, ws e
longer covert, hostilities against this empire, we el
present to our readers the report of Admiral terse-
mel. The first five paragraphs embrace the views of
the reporter, touching the general uses of war and free
to which a strong navy is convertible—a cot gratelatiee
to the Crown on the spirit and energy with which the
French Chambers have supported the policy of the
Cabinet in the extension of the maritime establishments
—on the favour shown to the principle of a registration
of seamen, which Admiral Rosamel considers the " nur-
sery of true seamen," and on the adoption of" stabittly
of armament," or, in other words, a "standing fleet" alt
ways afloat, as well as a standing army always ready far
service. According to a Royal Order of February. 1837,
the peace establishment of France is 40 sail of the I*,
50 frigates, and 220 inferior vessels, 40 war steamers
included. This is a mighty pleasant hearing for Lord
Minto, Sir John Barrow, and the rest of them, no doubt,
Yellow Admiral Fleming will swear that they are
" pasteboard," and we recommend his Yeliowship by ati
means to use that word in Admiral Rosamel's pre:
sence 1 It is added, as a blind to English inquisitive-
ness, that only half the ships of the line, and half "the
frigates—that is, 20 of the line and 25 frigates, many
of the latter carrying 60 guns—are to be afloat during
peace ; but the entire amount of the smaller vessels, 40
heavy steamers included, are afloat, he says, at this mo-
ment. The remainder of this long document treats of
details which may re-pay the attention of such of our
readers as can boast any knowledge upon naval affairs.
We are satisfied with having drawn public notice to the
state of another maritime, and we fear not friendly,
power. It is the duty of others to turn the informa-
tion to use.

(From the Morning Post.)

There is a good deal of ludicrous pomposity in the
mutterings of certain journalists about the execution
which the Sheriff of London is to levy upon the goods
of Messrs. Hansard, in consequence of a verdict ob-
tained against them in the Court of Queen's Bench, for
libel. Our readers are aware that the-remarkable point
in this matter is the plea of the defendants that the
House of Commons had authorised them to publish th
libel for which damages have been awarded. The
Court has tot admitted the plea, on the simple ground
that it is hound to administer the law, and that the
House of Commons can give no man authority to do
with impunity that which is unlawful. The invio-
lability of the law is the safety of the subject! If
one branch of the Parliament may overLear' the
law, on the ground of privilege, why not another ?
If the House of Commons may absolve a man
from the consequences of committing what the
Judges construe to be an unlawful injury, vily
may not the Sovereign, who is another branch of
the Parliament, do the very same thing ? And if
this were admitted, how would we be better of
than those who live under a despotism ? Is not the rule
plain enough, that it requires the consent of Crown,
Lords, and Commons, either to make a law, or to un-
make it ? Surely it is better to adhere to that rule
than, by making an exception to it in favour of the
House of Commons, to open the way for-its violation by
other powers on a similar ground of privilege. Ant
yet we find persons who affect to be great patrons el
" Reform," and great friends of public liberty, using
out as though it were a heinous thing not to allow the
House of Commons a transferable dispensing power id
respect of the established law of the land. Not only
are Members of the House of Commons to be palei-
leged in their own persons, but they are to have the
power of clothing others with a similar privilege. Every
one of common sense must see that such a trans-
ferable dispensing power cannot co-exist with pub-
lic liberty and individual security. A great elk-
mour was set up against the administration of
the law in this case by the Queen's Judges.
That clamour was disregarded. Another clamour is
now set up, infinitely more ludicrous, against the sheriffs,
the bailiffs, the auctioneers, and of course their aprone'd
attendants, who are about to execute the judgment of
the Court. The pomposity of the threats directed
against these worthy functionaries is most laughable.
But we suppose they will mind their business, fulfil tbe
decrees of the Court of Queen's Bench, and make
merry at their leisure with the impotent airs of power
affected by those who think the will of the House elf
Commons more worthy of respect than the law of the
land. We ourselves have the most prelpued respect
for the House of Commons and its privilles, and it ii
for that very reason that we wish it may tint 'enter into
conflict with the law as expounderly the Queen's
Judges. Nothing could be 'more • likely to lessen the
national respect for the House of Commons than soh
a' course. Our Contempoiary the Chronic/e, which,
however profound, astute, and polite it may be on other
matters, is undoubtedly very silly on this privilege ques-
ti in, exclaims— . _
" The House of Commons can never suffer to be seized
with impunity, at the time it is nOtsittippr,l, thetegot,o..idtss
sean for acts done in pursuance of its-4 rs f9T, were it
to overlook such an infringement of its
pri-
vileges would be at an end."
The grandeur of this logic is immense i,tut etssbei_
the selling of Messrs. Hansards' goods be ,4'4au'in..
fringetnent of the privileges of the House
_of C•'...thens,
what becomes of the logic then? Now, the pAint
which the Judges have .decided is, that the ea sV of
Messrs. Hansard, which will lead to the selling of their