The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-30 00:00:00

THE FRENCH EMPIRE.

The demonstration of bankers, merchants, and
traders of the city of London in favour of the in-
terests of peace, and improving the relations of
amity between the English and French nations, is
noticed briefly but with great satisfaction by the
Ministerial journals. The Constitutionnel says :
" We are happy to have to record this manifestation
of the feelings of the commerce of the city of London ;
a manifestation, which testifies at the same time the
esteem and the sympathy of the real English people for
France and for Napoleon 111. It is the best reply that
can be given to the hostile articles in the London
journals, which have made attacks as unjust as they
were passionate against the Imperial Government ; it is
also the most solid guarantee of the union of France and
of England on all great questions, on which may depend
the peace and civilisation of the world."
The Pays says :

"A manifestation of high importance has just been
made in the name of the English people in favour of the
union of France and England. This union, which is one
of the most essential guarantees of the peace of the
world, has never been seriously disturbed ; but it is im-
possible not to have seen the efforts which have been
made to change it. Hateful passions, and infamous
calumnies propagated by shameful pamphlets, may have
deceived some credulous minds on the other side the
Channel, but real opinions, which are only formed from
a study of facts and a wholesome appreciation of men,
have not been deceived by these gross falsehoods. They
have unanimously declared themselves in a way to
render full and striking justice to France and to her
Government."

The Siecle expresses as much satisfaction as the
ministerial organs, and observes with great truth,
that the best guarantee for peace lies in the desire
of nations to maintain it. One of the objections
made to the new regime in France has been
that it gives to the executive the power of
going to war without it being possible for pub-
lic opinion to express its desire for peace
through the representatives of the people. It
cannot be denied that as the Legislative body in
France is now constituted, there is not the
same direct means of ascertaining the real state of
public opinion as there is in England ; but, on the
other hand, we must not forget that in France,
under a more free parliamentary regime, peace has
been more frequently endangered than promoted
by parliamentary discussion. It was not so easy
besides, as some persons imagine, for governments
which are not under the direct and absolute
control of a Parliament to plunge into a war for
personal interests and personal ambition. Public
opinion will always manifest itself, and the mani-
festation is the more serious in proportion to the
efforts that may have been made to repress it. No
Government would be rash enough in these days
to declare war against another State without first
being sure that it would find in the nation the
resources that would be necessary for carrying it
on with a reasonable chance of success. The time
when a sovereign could command such resources
without its being necessary first to convince the
nation that it had been attacked in its honour or
its interest has passed. The Siecle does not fail to
comment on the expression of admiration by the
Emperor of the free institutions of England, and
hopes that he will adopt them in this country. The
Seicle should remember that the Emperor has more
than once declared his desire to enlarge the sphere
of public liberties when this can be done with due
regard to the cause of order. Is the Seicle sure
that the people of France as a mass are in a condi-
tion to respect English institutions if they were to
be accorded ? Is it sure that the prudence of tke
press which in England is the guarantee of public
liberty, and, with few exceptions, the guardian of
public order, could exist here at present to the
same extent as it does there, and with the same re-
sults ? Every right-minded man must desire that
this should be the case, and earnestly long for
the time when freedom and order would be syno-
nymous ; but is the time come ? Can it be shown
that the people are ripe for constitutional liberty to
the extent at which it exists in England ? If the
conductors of the liberal press in France wish to
place the government in a position no longer to re-
strain the limits of freedom without proving that it
is opposed to the principle of liberty, let them
earnestly and zealously endeavour to enlighten the
masses and prepare them for the use, without dan-
ger of the abuse, of liberty. We extract as fol-
lows from the article of the Saide

" Every one will comprehend the importance of a
manifestation of this nature. Whatever draws nations
together and tends to efface the traces of old differences
is entitled to the sympathy of every patriot. In that re-
spect, we may be certain that the proceeding of the Eng-
lish merchants will find an echo amongst us. All these
wishes and manifestations will be always without value
as long as Europe remains in arms, as long as the sword
shall be in the balance, as long as a new principle shall
not have been substituted for the principle of war, which
is amongst nations what was formerly the judgment of
God amongst individuals. The French Government has
just given with prudence to Europe a good example by
reducing the army 50,000 men, but that example ought
to be followed by others. Then peace will be solidly
established, and commerce and manufactures can give
a large development to their operations. Another es-
sential condition for the maintenance of peace is that
nations should be placed in possession of their rights
and liberties. England is placed, in this relpect, in
an exceptional condition, as she possesses liberal institu-
tions, has no army, and her fleets during peace are the
simple protectors of her colonies and merchant vessels.
France has institutions, but they are not crowned ; liberty
has not yet been placed on their summit. We have
heard with pleasure the language of the Emperor to the
English deputation. The bead of the State admires the
liberty enjoyed in Great Britain. We recommend the
adversaries of the representative government--of parlia-
mentaryism, as it is called in the present day—to ponder
over that reply. It is not from lips which can be sus-
pected that the eulogium of free institutions proceeds ;
and since the Emperor admires them amongst our neigh-
bours, we cannot but hope that he will not be averse to
restore them in France, where they existed for nearly
forty years. To determine in favour of peace at present
is, therefore, to determine in favour of liberty, and it is
for that reason that we attach much importance to the
manifestation which has just taken place."

The Union, whilst it admits the importance of
the manifestation per se, says it would be better
pleased if it had been accompanied by some proof
of the friendly feeling of the British Government.
We really cannot see any reason for this expression.
The relations between the two governments are
carried on and manifested by diplomatic communi-
cations, and any interference in the demonstration
of a portion of the citizens of London would be out
of place, and perfectly useless. The wish for the
maintenance of peace and for improving the rela-
tions of friendship between the two countries has
not been confined to the Cabinet of England; it has
been strongly expressed in both houses of Parlia-
ment. Where, then, was the necessity for mixing
up the Government with the declaration of bankers,
merchants, and bodies of the City of London ? The
Union says :
" We have no need to call the attention of our readers
to the reply of the Emperor ; meditated on with care,
it will appear in its true signification, and in enlighten-
ing the past will cast a useful light on the future. As
to the manifestation in itself, we will not pause to remark
on its being altogether of an unusual character. As-
suredly, nothing is more honourable than the names of
the persons forming the delegation ; nothing represents
interests more considerable than the 4,000 signatures to
the address ; and nothing is more desirable than the ob-
ject of international concord and general peace which
they have in view. Besides, it may easily be imagined,
how much, independently of the question of humanity,
the great merchants of England ought to be anxious for
a period of peace which is so favourable to the develop-
ment of their wealth. But we may be permitted to
observe to the signers of the address that they have
taken alarm somewhat quickly ; that no one here would
ever have suspected in them any warlike propensities; and
that, in fact, their proceeding, very significant, no doubt,
as the expression of an imposing fraction of the English
nation, is, however, only the act of private persons, and
one of which they should take care not to exaggerate to
themselves either the importance or the consequences.
The exclusively individual character of this step is parti-
cularly apparent in the care which the English Govern-
ment appears to have taken to keep completely aloof
from the manifestation, even to the point of the English
ambassador having neither presented nor accompanied
his countrymen to the audience. We have no intention,
by these observations, to lessen the value of the English
address, nor
sodoi
nzoi
tnn ioss
rhh
atprheree
pretend
no
dtvhe
emt
sheeant
sentiments
etonhfteiompcei
annbitoisnn; e
to
butf
owf h
the
chthe.
iJtamisest'hse
more assurances of peace are precious between great
nations, the more they ought to emanate from above.
Speeches from the Throne, declarations of Parliament,'
diplomatic notes, and, more than all, reciprocal acts of
the Governments, are the true and best guarantees.
The wealthy merchants of London are too much imbued
by national spirit to be displeased at our paying more
attention to such official acts than to their own manifes-
toes, however considerable they may be."

The Emperor on Tuesday gave an audience at
the Tuileries to a deputation of the English Com-
pany for the junction of the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans. The deputation consisted of the following
gentlemen—of whom the three first have obtained
a concession of the enterprise ; Sir C. Fox, Bart.,
chief of the firm of Fox, Henderson, and Co. ; Mr.
T. Brassey, contractor for the works • Dr. Cullen,
who discovered the route adopted • Gisboriie,
chief-engineer of the company ; Mr. Forde, as-
sistant-engineer ; Mr. Brownell, merchant of
Liverpool; Mr. W. Hamilton, ex-M.P., and mem-
ber of the Royal Geographical Society ; Captain
Mackinnon, R.N. ; M. de Rivero, Charge d'Affaires
of Peru in France ;.M. Rojas, Charge d'Affaires of
New Grenada in France ; Mr. J. R. Crampton,
engineer of the submarine telegraph ; Mr. C. S.
Stokes, director of the Western Railway in France;
Mr. Melville Wilson, merchant of London, and Dr.
Black, secretary of the company. Sir C. Fox, pre-

i sident of the deputation, addressed the Emperor as
1 follows :

approaching your august throne, my first
duty is to tender to your Imperial Majesty the cordial
expression of the respectful gratitude of the directors of
the Atlantic and Pacific Junction Company for the
prompt kindness with which your Majesty has conde-
scended to grant an audience to their deputation. The
rapid increase of commercial navigation round Cape
Horn has now for some years attracted the practical at-
tention of men of business to that which had previously
been considered a merely speculative object of scientific
inquiry. I mean the necessity for a direct passage for
ships between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the
Isthmus which unites North and South America.
In the year 1851, my attention was directed by Dr.
Cull€., who had himself traversed the Isthmus to the
route across Darien, between Port Escoses and San
Miguel, whieh his experience has led him to consider the
best. On examining the Admiralty charts, which, as your
Imperial Majesty is well aware, are very detailed and ac-
curate, I was able to ascertain that the line proposed to me
was the only one which could enjoy the advantage of a suf-
ficient natural harbour at each end—that the length of
the passage would not exceed 60 kilometres, and that
the only question to be decided was whether the engi-
neering difficulties of the ground were such as to prevent
within a reasonable expenditure the construction of a
channel of sufficient width and depth to satisfy the re-
quirements of all nations. In conjunction, therefore,
with Mr. Brassey and several friends I commissioned
Mr. Gisborne and Mr. Forde, civil engineers, to examine
the Isthmus, and I have had the satisfaction to ascer-
tain from their report that it is perfectly possible to cut
a channel, 160 feet wide and 30 feet deep, without locks,
between the two harbours which I have mentioned, at an
expense by no means out of proportion to the object to be
attained and to the revenue which may reasonably be ex-
pected. We have accordingly formed a company to carry
out this object. At the outset of our investigations and
as soon as we had obtained the necessary concession
from the local authority of New Granada, we deemed
it right as a matter of courtesy to offer to the United
States a share in the undertaking. We have throughout
received the cordial approbation of her Britannic Ma-
jesty's Government. Our next step is, with the full con-
sent of that Government, to solicit the patronage and
support of your Imperial Majesty. France, as one of
the great maritime powers, has an evident interest in
this great question of a junction between the two oceans.
France, who owes so much to your Imperial Majesty,
will, we believe, be grateful to you, Sire, for granting
your Imperial countenance and support to our under-
taking. And in the name of this deputation, and of the
company whom we have the honour to represent, I ven-
ture to hope for this support with perfect confidence, be-
cause we know that your Imperial Majesty, not only as
the chief of this great nation, but also by your personal
knowledge of the subject, is pre-eminently qualified to
appreciate the object which we have in view, and the
means which we have adopted."