The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-01 00:00:00

nib SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, AUGUST 1, 1863,

cordant between natural science and nature herself.
They are, after all, natural forces which are to be
turned to man's service, and the discrepancy is not
readily perceptible. On the principle that he is a
public benefactor who makes two blades of grass to
grow where one grew before, the landowner who
shows his neighbours how that result may be ob-
tained is still more praiseworthy, for he is extending
and perpetuating the capacity. Happily, we are
this year less dependent on artificial aid. Thanks
to the glowing sunshine and the seasonable rains,
the harvest prospects are most promising. The
accounts from all parts of the country are favour-
able, and the present year is expected to excel ell
its immediate predecessors. The last two or three
seasons have been scarcely above mediocrity, but
this autumn we may hope to celebrate that great
and substantial blessing—a good harvest.

M. CHARLES DE FRANQUEVILLE, Auditor to the

Council of State, and late Secretary-General to the
Imperial Commission of the Great Exhibition of
London, has just brought out a volume which will
excite great interest. He has displayed a singular
appreciation of the English character, which is the
more satisfactory, since it is seldom seen among his
countrymen, or if seen rarely acknowledged ; indeed
the occasion of this very Exhibition was the theme
of abuse against the English in some letters that
were written by foreign visitors last year. It is
the more grateful, then, to turn to the consideration
of one who speaks out frankly and fairly, who at
the same time awards due praise, and bestows just
acknowledgments for any merits he has perceived
during hie stay in the country. It is to be hoped
that this volume will be extensively circulated
throughout the writer's own country, and efface
some of the disagreeable impressions that unfortu•
nately exist in many quarters regarding the habits
and general demeanour of the inhabitants of this
commercial country. M. DE FRANQUEVILLE
is at pains to contradict some errors into
which his countrymen have fallen with regard to
the existing state of things in England. He refutes
the assertion so often made that over here there is
liberty but not equality, and demonstrates that
in some respects there is more equality than in
France. For instance, in the eye of the law
there is not equality among the French ; many
classes are exempted from the ordinary form of
prosecution, and can only be proceeded against with
the authorisation of the Council of State. Also,
administrative tribunals and other arrangements
prevent the courts from taking a decided lead in the
conduct of legal affairs. 31.. DE FRANQUEUVILLE
explains that in England it is not so ; the peers
and the army are amenable to their own House or
to courts martial for certain offences, otherwise
there is no restriction. Every citizen, whatever
his title or his quality, may bo proceeded against
in the same form before the same tribunals, and ac-
cording to the same laws. Also in public taxation
he informs his readers that they are under a mistake,
and in public employments he proves that in
England, as in France, every man is admissible,
and that the peerage opens its ranks to all capa-
cities. He gives the aristocracy a high character
of which, he says, honour is at once the parent
and the child. He explains that the word
" parvenue" is unknown on this side of the Channel
—there is no difference between a newly-created
peer and one whose nobility is of ancient date.
He gives it as his opinion that in France there
could not be an aristocracy like what there is in
England, and if there were a Senate of nobi-
lity, dukes, cornets, &c., the social rela-
tions of the country would not be altered.
thereby. M. DE FRANQUEVILLE does not admire
the foreign poliey of England, but with the domes-
tic he is charmed :—" The Englishman acts more
from reason than from impulse; he is, if not less
impassioned, at least more under self-control. Be-
cause the British mind is less graceful and less
prompt, it is less mocking and less aggressive; and,
being less unsteady, is more conservative. By the
union of these qualities with patriotism, which is
the salient point of the national character, the Eng-,
lishman has the political spirit which unites, but
not the revolutionary spirit which divides." This
is a very correct definition of the national charac-
ter, and could not have been better drawn and more
accurately described. Some may consider it as
unimportant that these things should be set down
and conned over, but it is not so in reality. Al-
though they are familiar in all mouths as household
words, they are quite strange and foreign to those
to whom they are addressed. Constant communi-
cation goes on between the countries, but an inti-
mate knowledge of the inner arrangements of the
two States is very rarely attained. M. DE FRANQUE
VILLE speaks what he knows, and when he sets
down these several items of information he presents
them not only as facts, but as facts contradicting
fallacies that have obtained ground in the opinion
of the majority of his countrymen. Nothing, a
foreigner said and wrote, could ever efface the im-
pression or remove the idea ; it must be one of
themselves that does it, and hence great are the
obligations of both countries to this independent
and straightforward observer. He is not afraid to
speak the truth, whether its words are pleasing or dis-
pleasing; he fairly states his impressions,and it is well
known that the impressions of an educated stranger
are of first-rate importance in taking an estimate of
the manners and customs of a people. He starts
unbiassed and unprejudiced, with no trammels of
self-interest to fetter him, and no gradual inculca-
tion of ideas to weaken the effect of the first appre-
ciation of the new state of things and style of
manners• before him. M. DE FRANQTJEVILLE has a
high opinion of English liberty, which he describes
as fair and impartial. "The Press and the Parlia-
ment, and even the citizens, comprehend that true
liberalism consists in respecting the opinions of all,
and those of an adversary even more than of a par-
tisan." When the writer states that an English-
man does not abuse his liberty but firmly maintains
i e
it, ho declares the whole secret of our national
strength and individual greatness. It is this senti-
ment put into action that prevents any encroach-
ments on our rights, and yet preserves us from con-
stantly falling a prey to revolutionists, as is the fate
of so many nations who ardently desire liberty
but had not learned to deserve it by mode-
ration on one side and deeermination on
the other. It is most probable that this
volume will impress and influence many of its
readers, and the more the better, since mutual in-
terchange of good opinions, and a right under-
standing of each other, is of essential advantage both
to Franca and England. Neither can benefit by
f civilisation,opposition, bu t
and tl blessingsthe sp reoadoof peace,
von all fel-
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M. ASSOLANT might take a hint from the. Paris
correspondent of the Times, who relates that when
an ambassador of Prussia to the English Court was asked
his opinion about the country to which he had been accre-
dited, he replied, "After three weeks' residence in England,
Wasl b quite ready to write a book on it ; after three months
I now egan. to think that the task was somewhat difficult ; and
t I have lived there three years I find it im-
possible.":
4411'41 O'Donnell has left Berlin for Dresden.:

6 per cent.; upon 100,000 florins, 2 per cent.; upon
50,000 florins, 1 per cent.; and upon upon 25,000
florins, f-, per cent. This tax is to be levied after
the lst of Ja'y, 1863, by the accredited agents of
the National Government from the individuals
liable 3n exchange for a receipt, and the amount to
be immediately transmitted to the Central Trea-
sury, in the manner pointed out in our confidential
circular of the 21st April, 1863. (Date, seal, and
signature follow.)"