The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-01 00:00:00

The Warning to the Presse,

A letter from Paris says ;—m, Emile de Girardin's
irrepressible audacity has at length drawn upon the
Presse the warning which, as we were informed
yesterday, had been kept for some days in pickle.
The Government fixes as a justification of the warn-
ing upon some passages in an article of his in the
Presse of yesterday evening, which are, after all,
infinitely less strong than the things which he wrote
before, and which it was thought expedient to pass
over. The crime as set forth in the warning is as
follows :

Considering that the author of the article repre-
sents the conduct of foreign affairs as being dis-
quieting for the country and compromising for
public credit ; and that he thus seriously distorts
the policy of the Government.
The only passages in the incriminated article
which can possibly be cited as bearing out the con-
demnation are the following :—.
If the minister had conducted the negotiations
with prudence, would France be asking, as she
now does every morning when she wakes up, wbe
ther she is to fix bayonets, sell her Rents, and hoard
her gold ?
We ask of all those in France whose interests are
suffering from this insoluble question of Poland, and
of all those who have read M. Drouyn de Lhuys'
numerous despatches, whether he has acted in
accordance with M. Billault's speech of March 19,
1863. We ask whether the " execntion"—to use
the words of the Itloniteur—has responded to the
" direction ?''

We think that the means of execution of the
Government idea adopted by M. Drouyn de Lhuys
were the worst possible, because (amongst other
reasons), in case of failure, which it is always pru-
dent and necessary to provide for, there was no other
prospect than war, or at least a rupture with Russia,
the only sincere and useful ally of France, and,
moreover, a situation for the country relatively
weaker than the admirable situation which France
had attained at the congress of Paris.
It is a truly miserable thing to think of that at
a great European crisis like the present the French
Government should thick to make a diversion by a
warning to a newspaper. And such a warning too !
What becomes of the admitted principle that the
sets of ministers are open to discussion if it is not
permissible to hazard the opinion that a particular
line of conduct by a minister is calculated to alarm
the country and compromise credit? According to
the doctrine of the warning the Minister whose
conduct is criticised is entitled to say authorita-
tively that this criticism is a libel upon the Govern-
ment—and there an end.

M. de Girardin to-night abstains from all com-
ment upon the warning, but, with his actual acute.
ness, contrives to embody in a few words some con-
siderations which show the follow of the Minister
who plumes himself upon diplomatic success.
Quoting a few apt words from Lord Russell's
speech, reiterating the determination of England
not to go to war at the beck of France on behalf of
the Poles, be defies the Constigutionnel, Pays,
France, and _Memorial Diplomatique to talk any
more about the " European understanding and the
accord between the three powers."
The Pays, however, does this very evening per-
sist that the accord between the three powers has
not been sterile, and it founds its observation upon
the fact that Lord Russell declares that Russia, not
having fulfilled the obligations of the treaties of
1815, has forfeited her title to Poland under them.
Notwithstanding the pacific accompaniments of this
declaration, the Pays holds it up as one of great
;nor tunce.