The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-31 00:00:00

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LONDON, MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 1853.

It is seldom that intelligence so remarkable is
recorded in our columns as that which will be
perused this evening with so much interest, in
reference to the French Emperor's marriage. It
may be observed, moreover, that the intelligence
is not only, as we have said, remarkable—but in
every
way propitious in its character.
istherey b
afforded of
like a substantial guarantee
the sincerity of the pacific policy foreshadowed in
the famous speech addressed to the citizens of
Bordeaux. United now to the object of his af-
fections, not merely by those ties of the civil con-
tract, formally entered into on Saturday,
yesterday, through a more solemn and ma?'
the e
mayt
ohlioehl
his political
b o n ds
intentions,
NAPOLEONmost
of religion--.
st suspiciousceremonialbl yI. deemed, even by those
to have given something like a reasonable
pledge that he does in his heart and in his con-
science propose to found the glory of
his empire
on the encouragement of industry, on the extinc-
tion of pauperism, on the establishment of
order, and on the maintenance of interna-
tional tranquillity. Before the last appeal to
universal suffrage among our neighbours, when
the Chief of the State was traversing the southern
provinces in the midst of the popular acclama-
tions, he said, in reference to the Imperial •
regime
about to be established, that its meaning
was
Peace. Previously there had been a series of re-
ductions inthe army of France, beginning, indeed,
with the retirement of General CAVAIGNAC from
the Dictatorship. Afterwards when the
6,000,000 of 1848, and the 7,000,000 of 1851,
had been confirmed by the 8,000,000-of 1852
yet larger reductions were made in the military
armaments. Again, in regard to the French
navy, while enormous war-steamers, like the
Napoleon, are being constructed in their dock-
yards, just as we are fitting out similar vessels in
our dockyards, like that one which it is esti-
mated will be the largest in the world,_ called the
Welling-ton—an examination of the maritime esti-
mates for the last few years in France proves to
us by the simple logic of statistics, that
the present ruler of that great country
has reduced the annual cost of its ma-
rine establishment by no less! an amount than
2,000,000 f. Meanwhile, as some say, under the
influence of a dread of invasion, but as we assert
with a rational view to secure our insular stability,
the rulers of England have called out an enor-
mous militia; they have materially increased the
amount of the naval estimates, and they now talk
of enlarging the military
forces in the United
Kingdom, through a resolution about to be sub-
mitted to the House of Commons by Viscount
PALMERSTON. Those are the facts. They are
facts, it must be allowed, somewhat strangely con-
trasting with each other. England declaring
through many of her public organs, that the
French EMPEROR means War. NAPOLEON 111.
declaring that his Empire means Peace. England
esbtll. ct
increasing her navy, proposing to increase her
army, and submitting her militia to a vigorous
and admirable reorganisation. NAPOLEON 111.
decreasing the French army by 30,000 or 40,000
men, decreasing the French navy by 2,000,000
of francs, and declaring, as if in explana-
tion of this, " L'Empire c'est la Paix." What-
ever may be thought upon this question in
regard to past occurrences, there can be no doubt
of any kind that a tranquilising influence must be
exercised upon the Councils of the Tuileries by the
Imperial nuptials which were yesterday cele-
brated.
EUGENIE must now fulfil the hopes of her Im-
perial husband, by emulating the virtues of the
beloved and revered JOSEPHINE. It is gratifying
to remark already that the youthful Empress has
given auguries even now of rivalling in beneficence
the .popularity of her illustrious predecessor. No
nobler incident, in illustration of her good heart
and of her royal nature, could possibly have been
afforded than that which meets the eye of the pub-
lic simultaneously with the account of the gor-
geous and stately pomp of her Imperial marriage.
We question very much whether the incident
here alluded to will not be admitted on all hands,

without one solitary exception, to eclipse altogether
in splendour the pride of that sumptuous
ceremonial. Even the frivolous will turn, we
doubt not, from the dazzling record. of the jewels
woia by her Imperial Ma.,T.EsTY—the parure of
white pearls and rubies of a beautiful design, con-
sisting of a small covered crown placed on the
back of the head, and of bracelets and a necklace
with pearls pendant, together with a diamond
tiara of surpassing magnificence—to that letter
written by her previously in her maiden name as
the Countess of TEBA, and addressed to the Pre-
fect of the Seine—the letter requesting that the
sum of 600,000 francs voted by the Municipal
Council of Paris for the purchase of a diamond
necklace, to be presented to the EMPRESS should,
instead of being so applied, be dedicated for the
good of the suffering classes, to purposes of cha-
rity. The manner in which this request is made
to the chief magistrate of the French capital,
might almost have induced us, without regard to
dates, to look towards the close of the epistle for

the signature of JOSEPHINE. But instead of that
signature, we have the autograph of her congenial
successor the Empress EUGENIE. After gracefully
addressing the Prefectof the Seine in those words—
" I feel deeply the generous decision come to by
the Municipal Council of Paris, which thus mani-
fests its sympathetic adhesion to the union which
the EMPEROR contracts," EUGENIE adds—" I
nevertheless experience a painful feeling at think-
ing that the first public acts attached to my name
at the moment of my marriage should be a con-
siderable expense for the city of Paris." Upon
which the bride elect offers the suggestion already
My desire is that my mar-
mriaegnetionesd, g— ‘
shall
naddinnot
b‘e the occasion of any
fresh charge to the country to which I
henceforth belong ; and the only thing
of which I am ambitious is to share with
the EMPEROR the love and esteem of the French
people." Thereupon it appears that in conformity
with those benevolent intentions, and " deeply
affected by the ' sentiments expressed" by the
choice of the third NAPOLEON, the Council decided
unanimously that the 600,000 f. which it had de-
voted to the purchase of jewellery for the Ez-
. PRESS should be employed in founding an esta-
blishment (bearing the name and under the
patronage of her Imperial MAJESTY) in which po.:r
girls shall be maintained until they can be suitably
placed, after receiving a professional education..
Such are a few among the interesting circum-
stances inaugurating the reign of NAPOLEON aid
EUGENIE. No incident has so beneficially affected
the public mind of England in regard to the
French Emperor as that of his recent marriage.
A chord of sympathy has been struck in the
hearts of our countrymen by that contempt for
traditional interests when contrasted with the
simple dictates of affection. It is well. Pre-
cisely at this moment, moreover, is it that some
of the most liberal-minded men in England, some
of the most popular of our representatives,
some of our mos.; keen-sighted and independent
statesmen have insisted upon the insensate folly
of those who have been long endeavouring to foster
ill-will between France and England, apparently
with the evil hope of ultimately embroiling them
in another contest. To dissipate, these atrocious
tendencies, the Peace Congress is beginning
really to do• some good service to the population.
It is! submitting the records of modern history to
the calm and impartial scrutiny of the multitude. It
is proclaiming the infamy of thatlast war of 22 years
against France, under the Republic and the Great
NAPOLEON—a war in which, from the beginning
to the end, England has the infamy of having been
the aggressor. As Mr. COBDEN has reminded his
fellow-citizens, they have as a nation really some-
thing to expiate in regard to their former most
criminal attacks against their French neighbours.
How we can best expiate our past conduct in this
particular, it requires no very great shrewdness to
perceive—namely, by ourselves inaugurating at
last an era of conciliation.

The very clear and convincing judgment pro-
nounced on Wednesday by Lord CAMPBELL, in
discharging the rule for a new trial, in the case
of the QUEEN v. NEWMAN, and unanimously as-
sented to by his judicial brethren, affords the
strongest illustration of the practical operation of
the law of libe‘l, and the serious defects still

existing notwith&tanding the great improvements

introduced under the auspices of the Noble and
Learned LORD CHIEF JUSTICE, and embodied in
the 6th and 7th Vic., c. 96, commonly called Lord
CAMPBELL'S Act. From that judgment, it now
appeals that even if the Jury had credited every
witness for the defence, if they believed that Df.
ACHILLI had been guilty of the gross and habitual
profligacy laid to his charge, it still would have
been their duty to have convicted the defendant--
whereby the prosecutor would have become entitled
ex debito justitice, as a matter of right, to recove
from the defendant the costs of the protrac
ed and enormously expensive investigation.
The verdict might have been substantially
in favour of the defendant, bet in point of form
it must necessarily have been given agairst him,
carrying with it a ruinous pecuniary liability.
We do not wish to be understood as expre.sin:,
any opinion for or against Dr. ACHILLI. The
public have had the evidence fully and distinctly
placed before them, and can judge for themselves
whether the Reverend Gentleman was a person of
unblemished character, of pure and unimpeach-
able morality as asserted ; or whether, on the
other hand, there was any and what foundation
for the charges respecting ELENA VAIENTE MARIA
PRINCIPE, and the wives of GARAMONI the
tailor, and of CORIBONI the chorus singer ; and
of the English servants, HARRIET HARRIS, JANA
LEGGE, SARAH WOOD, and CATHERINE GORMAN.
Our only object is to point out the great practical
injustice that may be inflicted under the existing
enactments, and to demand an adequate remedy at
the hands of the Legislature. The tendency of recent
legislation has been to obtain judgment in accord-
ance with the substantial merits of every case. For
this purpose special demurrers have been abolished,
and substance is looked to rather than form. But
we still find that, under the libel law, the form
must prevail, and that, though the substance of
the plea be proved, the verdict must still be
against the defendant, carrying with it certain
pains and penalties from which the presiding
Judge carrot possibly relieve the sufferer. It is
true, that, in the exercise of his discretion, he
may render the punishment merely nominal, sen-
tencing the defendant to pay as a fine the smallest
coin of the realm ; but that farthing " will carry
costs," and the defendant may be mulcted of
thousands of pounds sterling in consequence of a
verdict which, although essential from the techni-
calities of the case, was still contrary to the feel-
ings of the presiding Judge and Jury. Can
any person say that this is just or proper ?
or that a suitable and speedy remedy is not ur-
gently requited ? We think not. All will agree
in the hardship that may be inflicted under these
provisions, and we trust that every legal reformer
will lend his strenuous assistance to abate the
nuisance.

Let us, for example, suppose that the charge Was
that a party had stolen a jar of pickles, and that
on the trial it turned out that he had merely pur-
loined a pot of French mustard or preserved meat.
There should be a verdict against the defendant,
although the gravamen of the accusation was that
he had committed a felony, and the Jury were
convinced of the fact. So far as the character of
the plaintiff was concerned, it would not be much
benefited by the discovery that it was mustard
he had stolen in place of pickles, or vice versci.
Now, if six distinct acts of felony were charged,
and only four or five established, it could not be
asserted that ho had much claim on the sympa-
thies of the Court or of the community. And
yet, on the failure of proof of one out of twenty
distinct charges, though it would scarcely increase
the general condemnation, he would be certain, of
obtaining a verdict ; and if the defendant were
solvent, his full costs of the proceedings of the
chaiges that were established as well as of those
that failed.

In the present instance the substance of the ac-
cusation preferred against Dr. ACHILLI was, that
he had been a man of depraved and immoral cha-
racter—who, while yet a member of the Roman
Catholic Church, had violated his VOWS of chastity;

seducing certain persons under circumstances of
great atrocity—and that, subsequent to his change
of creed, and after he had become a married man,
he had been guilty of other acts of profligacy.
That accusation he denied, averring that it was a
false, scandalous, and malicious libel against him ;
the defendant pleaded a justification, and issue was
joined on no less than twenty-three distinct points.
On some of these points little, if any, evidence
was tendered ; but the real struggle took place
respecting the cases to which we have already re-
ferred. Now it is quite palpable that Dr.
AcHima's character would not have been vindicated
if the Jury believed the evidence respecting ELENA
VALENTE MARIA PRINCIPE, and of the wives of
GARAMONI and CORIBONI, and of the English ser-
vants, although no sufficient proof had been ad-
duced of his criminality with ROSA DE ALLES-
SA.NDRIS, or a certain other woman, whose name
was unknown to the defendant. The substance of
the charge would have been established in one case
as well as the other; and, accordingly, we find that
the entire struggle between the eminent and dis-
tinguished Counsel on either side was to establish or
rebut these charges, and that the time of the Court
was so long occupied for that purpose—although it
now appears that the defendant must have been
found guilty under any circumstances ; and not
only bound to pay the enormous expenses of bringing
over the different witnesses to this country, main-
taining them here, and giving them compensation
for their loss of time, but also the heavy bill of
costs of the prosecutor, and that on a mere for-
mality, not in any degree affecting the substantial
merits of the case.

It may be said that, to a certain extent, the
matter rests in the hands of the Judge, on whom
the duty of apportioning the punishment and
fixing the sentence devolves ; and that, as the
LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE well remarked, " In the dis-
charge of that sacred duty, full consideration will
be given to the point, as to whether the guilt of
the defendant was aggravated or mitigated by
the plea, and the evidence given to prove or dis-
prove it." Such is, undoubtedly, the fact ; and
we have every confidence in, and respect for, each
and every one of those eminent men who orna-
ment the Judicial Bench, and who have elevated
the English name among surrounding nations for
the pure and incorruptible administration of jus-
tice. But the relief can only be partial. Al-
though the penalty should be merely nominal,
the costs must fall on the defendant, and thepayment
thereof will amount to no inconsiderable punish-
ment. A fortune has, in fact, been lavished, and
that without any needless outlay in endeavouring
to prove that the accusations were not put forward
on light or insufficient grounds ; and that the de-
fendant believed that, in preferring them, he was
not violating the truth in any particular, but
merely exposing the infamy of a hypocrite, whom
it was his bounden duty to deprive of the mantle
of purity in which he had undeservedly arrayed
himself.
There is another evil. The functions of the
Jury are practically abrogated, and it devolves
upon the Judge to decide upon the fact as well
as the law. This, and we say it with profound
respect, is a serious grievance —a direct violation
of one of an Englishman's proudest privileges, of
the Palladium of national freedom, the great
Charter of our liberties. Any invasion of Trial
by Jury must naturally be regarded with the great-
est jealousy, and by no person more than the
Learned Judge who tried the case. Lord CAMP-
BELL has already acquired bright laurels by the
amelioration of the law of libel. Let him com-
plete bis work by the introduction of a remedial
measure adequate to meet the evils to which we
have above alluded.

The present Parliament and the present Go-
vernment are not likely to stagnate ecclesiasti-
cally. There is diversity enough of tendency to
begin with in the Cabinet itself. There we find
the advocates of Church independency, of State
control, and of equal treatment by the State. If
we name the systems in the good old con-
troversial fashion after their most distinguished
advocates—there is Gladstone-ism, and Russell-
ism, and Molesworth-ism. If we indulge our-
selves, however, in this nomenclature amongst
Hon. Members of the House of Commons, the list
of " isms" might be largely increased ; every one
will be thinking immediately of Horsman-ism,
and Blandford-ism, and last, certainly not least,
of Spooner-ism, formerly kept in check by Anstey-
ism ; but now, much more creditably for this par-
ticular "ism," its brief is placed in the hands of
Mr. WM. SCHOIEFIELD, the liberal and consistent
member for Birmingham. The novices already on
the peper for the Session pro.nise to bring these
various motions a little into collision ; indeed, it
seems hardly possib'e, by any good understanding
between the parties, to avoid now and then spon-
taneous combus-1-:on, especially when, what is so
commonly the fire-annihilator—her MAJESTY'S
Government to wi:i—fs (Mr. PHILLIPS will bear
with us) so likely itself to take fire. Mr. GLAD-
STONE, for instance, is enamoured of Church in-
dependence, for that last spring he was prepared,
according to Mr. WALPOLE'S view of his Colonial
Church Bill, to give up the supremacy of the
Crown itself. In defence of religious free-
dom he wrote so nobly to Bishop SKINNER
last summer, no only r- the advocate of
Church independence, but of the equal claims of
all sects, that he was compel ed to declare, for the
satisfaction (if possible) of Oxford, that he still
held the doctrine of State connexion. Still it
was Church independence that he demanded as
the sine qua non. Lord Joins-, on the contrary,
would fight for that supremacy ?4ke a true Malay
bantam, till la's spars and comb were torn from
him, rather than surrenCer an iota of it. Wit-
ness his conflict with the clergy ard the bishops in
Dr. HAMPMN'S case. Sir WM. MOLESWORTH,
again, though naturally at tl-e veil antipodes of
Mr. GLADSTONE, would probe bly fo half way with
him, and half way with Lord JOHN. With many
other of the older and staunch Ladicals, his most
emphatic demand is for no Government favourit-
ism of sects. Right nobly did he reply to a
hustings' question at Leeds, " If you ask me what
I will do, I will tell you. If you ask me what I be-
lieve, I reply, that is an affair between me and my
GoD." He, therefore, would treat alike all
who, in the eye of the Government, do alike,
and if it must neods be that tl-y endowed sect
retains its present endowments, he would endow
all other sects satisfactorily. Either by clisendow-
ment or endowment, he would place all on an
equality ; probably, he would much prefer the
latter, for the old country at least; as binding the
clergy of all sorts over to good Eillaviour. As to
the Colonies, his speech on the Kafir War, last
April, showed that his desire remained unabated
to entrust colonial aff&xs to the colonists them-
selves ; and no doubt, therefore, he would still
leave it with them to support religion with Go-
vernment grants, or not, as they themselves
deemed best. In him, therefore, we have a
Cabinet Minister, who, like Mr. GLADSTONE, does
not object to State connexion, but who, unlike
him, would then insist on State control,—who,
like Lord JOHN, strongly leans to equality of the
various Churches, so far as Government suppor'3
is concerned, for the sake of the Government con-
trol guaranteed by it ; but who, unlike him, takes
no interest in manufacturing colonial bishoprics,
nor English bishoprics either; who desires as much
as Mr. GLADSTONE the independency of the Colo-
nial Churches, but desires it as a part of colonial
independence, and would probably advocate their
emancipation by the simple process of breaking the
golden Government fetters. It would be edifying
to be permitted to hear the debates ecclesiastical
of the Thirteen Secret Voters, ere they decided
-what the compromise, or what the sacrifices of
opinion of each, should be on points like these.
But no ; twelve aristocrats to one may talk self-
ishness and folly, and vote for class interests
in a style which they would dread should see
daylight in the public journals; but the poor
honest elector must be snubbed with the mean..
uess of " secrecy," if he would conceal a conscien- ;
tious vote, not from an impartial public, but from
a rapacious and tyrannical oppressor.
Kept out of Cabinet secrets, however, we are
duly favoured with its collective wisdom in Par-
liament. Much of that wisdom will be, we suppose,
the wisdom of silence. They will adopt the judi- I

cious advice recently tendered them, to refuse to

discuss what would set them at variance. But
will they be let off so easily ? Will Mr. COLLIER
forego his motion respecting the jurisdiction of
the Ecclesiastical Courts in the case of Wills ? or,
should the Government itself undertake the subject,
will he and others let them off without a thorough
clearance of the whole thing from the purlieus
of Episcopacy ? If they have to do this, it will
certainly be a rather bitter pill for the Cabinet
believers in Episcopal aggrandisement. Mr. CLAY,
also, we hope, will press his motion for the aboli-
tion of Church Rates. On this point we are
bound to profess our conviction that he has rather
encouragement to do so than otherwise. The
large Puseyite section of the Ministry, from whom
alone we might anticipate opposition, are men of
sense, men of personal liberality in support of
their own creed ; and they would, we fully hope,
be inclined to unite in removing such a cause of
daily reproach and ill-will from the Church to
which they belong. Whether Sir BENJAMIN HALL
Will be afraid of embarrassing the Ministry, by
keeping up his fire on Episcopal avarice, we can-
not tell. Assuredly he ought not to rest till
every penny of Episcopal property is in the hands
of responsible commissioners, who should make
their Lordships such annual payments, and such
only, as Parliament has really allowed them. If,
however, Sir BENJAMIN wishes to spare those in
office, the Marquis of BLANDFORD will feel no such
delicacy. He gave up his Church Extension Bill
to the late Government, and they will now have
ample time to work its principle, and details, too,
should it go so far, in Opposition. Mr. TRELAW-
NEY'S friends want the money, however, to repair
churches; we ourselves, as we have not long ago
stated, want it for the purpose of national educa-
tion.

Should all other ruffling breezes be restrained
by the Runs of our strong Government, there
yet remains the utterly uncontrollable Spooner-
ism. That is a House-of-Commons " evil which
no man hath tamed, nor can tame." It is too
kindred with an ancient " ism," so continually
rebuked in the Gospels, to decline displaying itself.
It is more the offspring of the heart than of the
head, except as a bitter pride in one's own religious
formulas and ceremonies seems to have more than
a casual connexion with very contracted mental
vision. Hence, never seeing but its one little
favourite object, on it must go towards it alone.
The righteous contempt of superior minds is un-
perceived or uncared for, perhaps set down to
worldly blindness and indifference ; its own little
puddle are the only waters of eternal life, and,
with Tuscan consistency, the only well-spring of
temporal and national prosperity also. Spooner-
ism, therefore, must have its say out, at the cost
of sleepy Honourable Members, fagged reporters,
angry newspaper proprietors, and readers cheated
of their quantum of news.
No evil is, however, without its compensatory ad-
vantage. When one Brummagem merchant moves
for the repeal of the money clauses of the May-
nooth Act, another Birmingham merchant is to
move, to leave out every part of Mr. SPOONER'S
proposition after the word " consider," and to sub-
stitute " all enactments now in force whereby the
State is charged in aid of any ecclesiastical or re-
ligious purposes whatsoever, with a view to the
repeal of such, enactments ! " A pretty debate this
will be, assuredly. The question of equality by
disendowment, broadly mooted in the House of
Commons ;—the Oxford School, the Anti-State-
Church School, the Manchester School, the St.
JARLATH'S School, and every intermediate school,
all ready with their dignified contempt, their
Puritan logic, their business calculations, their
fiery indignation, and their quiddities ecclesiastical
of every shade. Hence it may be that the broader
views member, may convert into a
spirited of
debatethecounty stolidity would have
o r
rendered an intolerable bore. North Warwick-
shire and its SPOONER will be forgotten in Bir-
mingham and SCROLEFIELD. Anyhow, we wish
the strong Government a prosperous voyage
through the ecclesiastical tempests looming ahead.
One thing is certain,---the public will learn by dis-
cussion how to shape its own course, even if such
a quarter-deck full of first-rate officers should
now and then be at their wits' end. A good
ecclesiastical brangle in the House of Commons
may set many honest minds a-thinking, and may
moderate ultraism in the country in proportion as
its follies are displayed in St. Stephen's.

COURT CIRCULAI.

WINDSOR, JAN. 29,

His Royal Highness Prince Albert went out hunting
this morning, attended by Lieutenant-Colonel F. H.

Seymour.

Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of
Nemours arrived to-day on a visit to her Majesty.
The Hon. Charles A. Murray arrived at the Castle

this afternoon.

The whole of the visiting company:left the Castle this

forenoon.

The following had the honour of dining with her Ma-
jesty this day :—Her Royal Highness the Duchess of
Kent, their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of
Nemours, her Serene Highness the Princess Adelaide; of
Hohenlohe, the Lady in Waiting to the Duchess of
Kent, the Hon. Charles A. Murray, Colonel the Hon.
Charles and Mrs. Grey, and Mr. and Lady Emily Caven-
dish.

The band of the 2nd Life Guards was in attendance
during the dinner, and played the following pieces :
March
Overture, " Oberon,"
Waltz, Jubel Kiange
German Song 5 Derr Wanderer
Ophiclide Solo 5
Grand Selection, " Bondman"
Quadrille, Le Chevalresque
Immergran
God save the Queen.
Her Majesty's private band afterwards attended in
the Castle, and performed the following selections
Overture, "Stradella," Flotow.
Selection, " Marguerite d'Anjou," Meyerbcer,
March, Henry IV Martini.
Sinfonia (No. 2). Haydn.

Weber.
Labitzky.
Schubert.
C. Erlatn.
Balfe.
B. Saureau
Labitzky.