The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-24 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 1853.

Henceforth, his marriage will be ranked amongst
the wisest and noblest acts illustrating the reign
of the Third NAPOLEON. No choice could be
more appropriate to the " situation"—as the
phrase is—the " situation" both in regard to the
age and in regard to the Empire, in reference to
the nineteenth century, and in reference to the
French population. Everything is suitable. As
a great historical occurrence, the event indicates
that his Imperial MAJESTY has rightly appreci-
ated all that is due to his own dignity, and to
the dignity of the illustrious land of which he
has recently become the elected Sovereign. Ab-
horring as we have long abhorred with the force
of reflection ripened into conviction, the folly
of that inexorable code which has hitherto
influenced every royal alliance in Christendom—.
we cannot but exult over an occasion which at once
sets at defiance that old and now obsolete system,
and which does this, moreover, under circumstances
so splendid and extraordinary. The oration in
which the EMPEROR, on Saturday afternoon, an-
nounced his intended nuptials to the dignitaries of
the State, assembled round the steps of his throne
in the Palace of the Tuileries, infallibly constitutes
for the course adopted by his MAJESTY its boldest
and manliest vindication. In that speech NAPO-
LEON 111. acknowledges at once that the alliance
he is about to contract is not in ac-
cordance with the traditions of ancient
policy, but he adds immediately thereupon that in
that very fact lies its advantage. Yes, it is
true. Let the history of the century last gone by
answer in characters of blood, in accents of pathos,
woe, and desolation. Let France witness the
attestation of the truth in those annals of her
career which have surpassed the figments of
romance, and eclipsed the wildest dreams of the
moss distraught and untrammelled imagination.
Everywhere in those annals she will find
the verification of that remark uttered but a few
hours since in the palace of her kings by the repre-
sentative of a house more wonderful than that
of PEPIN or of CHARLEmAGNE—that " for seventy
years foreign princesses have not mounted the
throne but to behold their race dispersed and pro-
scribed by war or by revolution." A glimpse
into that great camera obscwra which is recognised
already as authoritative in the distinct and accu-
rate reproduction of comparatively recent occur-
rences—the camera obscwra of modern literature
—will sufficiently indicate the correctness of this
assertion in there most solemn and most moving
incidents. It will reveal to the recollection of the
more meditative that guillotine erected towards the
close of the last century, on the now gorgeous Place
de la Concorde, where a Queen, born of a foreign
dynasty, perished by the axe not long after the
death of her royal husband under auspices equally
ignominious. It will disclose the flight from
Paris, some years afterwards, of anEmpress, chosen
also in compliance with the laws of that evil
policy, from a foreign, and, therefore, an alien
stock ; it will disclose her escaping from the trrito-
ries of her adopted country in one direction, while
the armies of her house were invading those
dominions at another, with the rest of the banded
soldiers of the European continent. It will display,
yet later on, in our own times, that mother of the
claimant of a Crown, herself selected in obedience
to the same ancient and disastrous traditions—
flYing from the pikes of insurrection into the
bosom of the national chamber of the Legislature,
seeking refuge from a people under the shelter of
their representatives. Are not those incidents,
snrely'most solemn and most moving, as we have
already remarked—are not those incidents suffi-
ciently corroborative of the truth proclaimed on
Saturday by the Emperor NAPOLEON 111 that—
" for seventy years foreign Princesses *have not ,
mounted the throne but to
recr b
and ye d by
war or
behold their
race dispersed and
Ipegisoae
by revolution." Very
was the allusion then made by his very beautiful
MAJESTY,
contrast with occurrences like these, to that In in
o-
dest and good wife of General BONAPARTE, who,
not the issue of Royal blood, alone of all the
women who have sat upon that throne seems to
have brought happiness with her, and to have
lived e
morebe than
nyother in thepeopl memory of the
and beloved JOSEPHINE.
a amiable
h self
featkino
shareg,t
pyorxhilno;
thethronseelecofteNdAb
ewrli,thof
hithme personage
and CHARLEMAGNE; his Imperial MAJESTY avowed

in terms of befitting pride, that, in choosing her,
he had remembered his own origin—he had pre-
served his own character—he had adopted frankly
in the presence of Europe the position of parvenu—
*. a glorious title," lie exclaimed, "when one obtains
it by the free suffrages of a great people "—a title
conferred thrice by those free suffrages, by
6,000,000, by 7,000,000, and lastly by 8,000,000
of the adult male population. Nevertheless,
continued NAPOLEON 111., " She who has been
the object of my preference, is of distinguished
birth." He reminded the army of the " blood
shed by her father in the cause of the empire"—
the educated classes that " endowed by all the
qualities of the mind, she would be the ornament
of the throne"—the middle ranks that being
a Spaniard, she possesses " the advantage of not
having in France a family to whom it might be
necessary to give honours and fortune"—the
patriots, that "in the day of danger she would be
one of the State's courageous supporters." Having
avowedly from the outset founded his Empire upon
the broad and holy basis of religion, NAPOLEON
111. closed his panegyric upon his future wife in
language thus impressive and elevated :—" A Ca-
tholic, she will address to Heaven the same
prayers with me for the happiness of France :
in fine, by her grace and her good-
ness she will, I have the firm hope, en-
deavour to revive, in the same position, the vir-
tues of the Empress JOSEPHINE." Language surely
wise and politic, not to say eloquent and persua-
sive. " Soon proceeding to Notre Dame," said
his MAJESTY, " I shall present the EMPRESS to
my people and to my army," when, let us hope,
let England hope, let Europe hope, with NAPO-
LEON 111., that, "on this occasion also," he has
been inspired by PROVIDENCE I

Will persons evor profit by experience Will
the " flats " ever be warned against the wiles of
the " sharps ?" We fear not. There has ever
been a large amount of gullibility in human
nature. And neither the improved knowledge of
the nineteenth century, nor the highest education
that can be afforded at the national seats of learn-
ing, have in any degree abated the innate cre-
dulity which induces us to yield ourselves up as
willing victims to any pretender who chooses to
seize the easy prey. We wonder at the ignorance
and folly of the Irish maid-of-all-work who hands
over not only her money, but her clothes to the
gipsy fortune-teller, who is enabled to offer her two
or three husbands, all " tall, dark spade men,
with large whiskers," and other corresponding
personal attractions. We smile at the ver-
dant softness of the " yokel," who, fresh
from his native soil, hands over his
money to the sagacious friend who wisely
cautions him against the tricks of the swell-mob,
and is desirous of securing the gold and silver,
and haply the country bank notes, from the threat-
ened abstraction. Even the returned Australian
or Californian who produces, to a casual acquaint-
ance formed in some gin-palace, the results of his
indefatigable toil at " the diggings," does not
escape our ridicule, although the undue confi-
dence of the moment blasts all his prospects in
life, and he suffers himself to be defrauded, under
the very stalest of stale pretexts, of the means by
which he had hoped to have realised all his juve-
nile aspirations, to have gained the consent of the
object of his early choice, and to found or
purchase an extensive and prosperous busi-
ness in his .native village. Fearful as may be
the result of his error—bitterly as he must
expiate the mistake—we still scarcely sym-
pathise with his sufferings. He should have
known better"—"such folly is perfectly unaccount-
able, and its consequences must be endured.".
We find occasionally, however, that it is not
the " mere vulgar " who suffer by such transac-
tions. There are occasionally—more frequently,
we believe, than meets the public eye—dupes of
a higher class, men who have graduated at one of
the Universities, and who are members of " a
learned profession." Of course, the bait must be
suited to the quarry. Sportsmen do not go deer-
stalking with guns charged with small shot only.
Nor is it by " ring-dropping" or ringing the
changes that clergymen, country gentlemen, aye,
" by'r ladye," or even barristers themselves, are
taken in. The pretext of " bill-discount-
ing," however, still succeeds ; and notwith-
standing the repeated cautions given through
the public journals, and in the records of
our national tribunals, the advertisements of
" money instantly at command," or " loans to
any amount, and for any period, at the most
moderate rate of interest "—something not much
exceeding the minimum tate of the Bank of
England, when the Directors are in a flurry—will
command instant attention.

It is a matter of but little moment that even
the name of the party is unknown—that it is con-
cealed under the convenient A. B. C., or X. Y. Z.,
or the more classical "Alpha," or " Omega."
Implicit confidence will be reposed in the un-
known, who is regarded as a kind of benefactor of
his species, actuated by the purest motives, the
most kindly and benevolent feelings, in
inviting the victims of impecuniosity to avail them-
selves of his almost unlimited resources, whence
anything not exceeding 10,0001. can be obtained
on the most reasonable terms, and without a mo-
ment's delay. It would be sacrilege to doubt an
individual so amiable, or to hurt his sensitive
feelings by a request for a reference or some cer-
tain information as to who he is, or what is his
position in society.
The latest of these cases occupied the attention
of the Court of Exchequer on Saturday. A cler-
gyman, named ARDEN, was sued by a Mr. THO-
MAS CASEY, jun., of 17, Barkham-terrace, for a
promissory note of 1501., made in favour of a
Mr. A. GRAHAM, but for which the Rev. De-
fendant had received no consideration whatsoever.
Whatever weakness Mr. ARDEN might have exhi-
bited in the first instance, was, however, amply
redeemed by the zeal and energy with which he
traced out and exposed the nefarious system under
which he had been taken in, and by means whereof,
we trust, that the parties concerned in the transac-
tion may be brought to condign punishment.
According to the usual course, Mr. ARDEN'S
attention was attracted oy an advertisement in. a
Cambridge journal, requiring a temporary advance
of money. He answered this to " Zeta," 12,
Duke-street, Portland-place, London, and was fa-
vouredwith a reply in due course. "Zeta"announed
himself as a Mr. GRAHAM, but it appears that
he was neither more nor less than the notorious
" J A yrs WHALLEY GARDrNER," who was not very
long since tried and convicted at the Central Cri-
minal Court. "A. GRAHAM," however, induced
Mr. ARDEN, after the usual amount of tickling, to
send up his promissory note for 1501., which
" should be drawn at three months," although a
guarantee would be given to renew it
for twelve months on receipt of the stipulated
interest. Of course, the money was not returned
according to promise, but in place thereof a new
correspondence was opened up by a Mr. R.
THOMPSON, who, " ex abundante cautela," wished
to make assurance doubly sure, and to ascertain,
from Mr. ARDEN, that it was a perfectly legiti-
mate transaction. This was drawing the bow a
"leetle" too tight, and, as it afterwards
turned out, defeated the notable project. Mr.
ARDEN returned a faithful account of the
entire proceeding,
correspondent
t inanswerlearned from his
precise that he paid the bill over
to a Mr. THOMAS CASEY. To him accordingly
the reverend gentleman wrote, but his remon-
strance was received with the greatest astonish-
ment. Mr. THOMAS CASEY could not compre-
hend his meaning.

It subsequently turned out that the letters
of "R. THOMPSON " were in the hand-
writing of "T. CASEY, " who had been
a defaulting collector of the Income Tax,
a discharged collector to the Lambeth Water-
works Company, an attorney's clerk, a bill
discounter, and a betting office keeper. He had
been whitewashed in the Insolvent Debtor's Court in
May, 1851, and been in trouble since respecting
some 5/. notes, which " were reported not to be
over good !"

The Jury, without hesitation, found a 'verdict for
the defendant, and the learned Judge who pre-
sided ordered the note to be impounded, in order
to be forthcoming on the promised indictment. If