The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-04 00:00:00

SPIRIT 91? THE PtIBLIC JOURNALS.

(From the Times.)

Let orators beware. There is a race of men who
are never so happy as when they.can take a brag-
gart, as they think him at his word. What is poetry
to one man is prose to another, to be interpreted
by the rules of etymology and grammar. Mr. Cob-
den has been guilty of a figure of speech, and finds
himself saddled with a promissory note of enormous
dimensions. Rather unnecessarily, we think, he
doubts the sincerity of those who talk of an invasion ;
so, the other day, at the meeting of the Peace Con-
ference, at Manchester, he proposed to apply a pe-
cuniary test to the sincerity of a gentleman who pro-
fessed to think invasion probable. He was ready,
he said to enter into a bond to pay him 10,0001. in
the event of an invasion, on the other gentleman
undertaking to pay a• shilling a week to the Man-
chester Infirmary till the same date. This was a
mistake. It was not in Mr. Cobden's proper vein.
There was too much of a sporting character about it.
But, wise or unwise, Mr. Cobden offered these odds,
and, though the first gentleman named seems to
have fought shy, Lieutenant-General Brctherton
has jumped at the offer, and nailed the rash man of
peace. Cobden acquiesces with a very good grace,
and takes credit to himself for doing so gratuit-
ously, and out of the letter of the contract. He
only makes a not very important
,modification, on
an alleged ground of delicacy to the feelings and
honour of the.soldier. Should an invasion be
merely attempted, then, by the original terms of
the offer, which speak of an actual and so far suc-
cessful invasion, the gallant General would be dis-
tracted between his duty to keep out the foe and
a natural desire to touch the 10,0001. So this sum
is now to be paid in the event of an invasion being
so much as attempted, and of course before the
General can have been placed in this painful em-
barrassment between his personal interest and his
public duty.

The presumed necessity of this modification
shows that the bet is an improper one ; strictly
speaking, more improper on the part of the General
than that of Mr. Cobden. The former, a man
with her Majesty's commission, and specially
bound to do all for the peace and happiness of his
country, makes a public bet that France will at-
tempt to invade England. It is now the General's
interest to provoke France to the attempt, if he
could be accessible to such a motive, or France
so easily moved to such an act. This antagonism
of interests should never be created wantonly.
George Selwyn and a friend were looking out of
the windows of White's and saw a man fall down
in a fit. The former betted 101. that the man
would not recover, and his friend accepted the bet.
While the man's life and the 101. trembled in the
balance, a doctor came up and proposed to bleed
the sufferer. Selwyn exclaimed that this was un-
fair, as it altered the odds. Cobden, of course, is
under no temptation to such inhumanity ; but he
places himself under another temptation—` iz.,
that of enduring every insult, and conceding every
demand, in order to postpone the forfeiture of his
bond. His friends will smile at the idea of his
being capable of this baseness. Then, why import
the love of money into the question at all ? Why
not leave it
~as it stood—a simple appeal to pa-
triotism ?

But is this really a true statement of the odds ?
Fifty-two shillings a-year for life, or any indefinite
period, may be called fifty pounds, which makes
the supposed 200 to 1 against the attempt of
invasion. Now, we really do not think that this
ratio represents the several probabilities of Na-
poleon 111. abstaining or not abstaining from so
foolish a design. It is confessedly a personal ques-
tion. What will the Emperor do, or not do ? He
may have no wish for war. He may see clearly
that his interest is peace. He may dread being
superseded by a real Bonaparte. He may prefer
other ways of spending the resources of France.
But, the less stable his power, the more is he liable
to be reduced to the last card of war, declared,
.perhaps, by the act of invasion. We II see how
the French allow themselves to be tempted on
from one excitement to another, and how neces-
sary continual novelty is to their existence. We
see how entirely all other considerations are merged
in the stimulus of au agreeable or disagreeable
surprise. Were a war proclaimed, and an in-
vasion attempted, the French, if ever so dissa-
tisfied before with their King Log, would, at all
events, wait for the result, and give him a longer
lease of power. There are Legitimists who
aver that Charles X. might have died King of
France had he found an occasion for war with this
country. There are Orleanists who aver the same
of Louis Philippe. There are Bonapartists who
hold that war is the normal relation of the two
countries, and Napoleon's only real tenure of power.
So absurd an idea may have little influence in
peace and in safety ; but when Napoleon 111. feels
his throne begin to totter he may then remember
the spell which so many false prophets have as-
sured him is the secret of the Empire. Now,
we ask, is it 200 to 1 that he will never, under
any circumstances, feel this necessity, and bow
to it ? We will not give our own estimate of
the odds, nor is it necessary. If the chances
are only 10 to 1, or 20 to 1, that a suspicious
neighbour will not attempt a burglarious invasion
of one's premises the first time that the con-
dition of his own affairs, the darkness of the
night, and the state of the domestic defences con-
spire in favour of the scheme, that comparative
security will be held as little better than insecurity,
and we shall look to our bolts and bars and our
firearms as much as if we had certain information
of an attack this very night. Yet 10 to 1 is, at
least, much nearer the truth than 200 to 1. Of
course, we must respect Mr. Coben's confidence
and sincerity. We are, however, most of us running
very much the same risk. In case of an invasion
all holders of funds and other stocks would suffer a.
great depreciation of their property. Yet we sit
still, only "praying and keeping our powder dry."
The truth is, we do not so much calculate the chances
as shut our eyes to the possible calamity ; and that,
probably, is the true account of the feeling under
which Mr. Cobden has offered these wild odds
against the attempt of invasion.

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT A BOOKSELLER'S.—Wednesday
morning, about two, the families of Messrs. Barthes
and Lowell, foreign booksellers, No. 14, Great Marl-
borough-street, were alarmed by an outbreak of fire. It
was discovered raging in the counting-house on the
ground floor by one of the firm, who was unable to sleep
from a strong smell of burning wood. Constables and
neighbours instantly repaired to King-street brigade
station, when speedily Mr. Staples, the C foreman, with
two engines and several firemen, attended. By this
time the contents of the counting-house were destroyed,
and frightful ravage had been made among piles of valu-
able foreign books. Water was abundantly supplied
from the mains, and with other assistance and great
exertion the flames were arrested in their progress, but
not until several hundred valuable books had been de-
stroyed and damaged, and the building had sustained
serious injury. The firm is insured in the Sun and 'other
offices. The cause of the fire could not be ascertained.

A MODERN CLOCK MAKER.—Some time ago, a man
took up his residence in an hotel of the quarter of the
Rue Montorgueil, and from the liberality with which he
spent his money, as well as from always paying in gold,
he was considered immensely rich. He talked little, but
caused it to be understood that his wealth arose from
his having discovered the great secret of perpetual move-
ment, and applied it to clocks and watches, whereby an
immense saving in the making of those articles was ef-
fected. A few days ago he disappeared, and it then
turned out that he had been in the habit of making very
large purchases of watches and clocks of different makers,
for which he offered to pay in cash, but as he always
took care beforehand to make known that he was enor-
mously rich, and had still larger purchases to make, the
confiding tradesmen insisted on sending the goods with-
out payment. The moment the man got them, he sold
them for what they would fetch. No sooner had: he dis-
appeared than numerous complaints were laid against
him. The police have ascertained that this discoverer
of the perpetual movement is a noted and most danger-
ous thief, who has been in the hands of justice, but they
have not yet been able to find out his retreat.
ART-EDUCATION AT HOME AND ABROAD. By G. W.
Yapp.—Mr. Yapp has here brought together into one
view the state of Art-education both at home and abroad
—and the state of public opinion and of the Press in
reference to this important subject. The pamphlet is
very properly dedicated to the Council of the Society of
Arts ; which has so essentially contributed to awaken and
enlighten the public as to the necessity, in the present
state of the world, of uniting Science and Art with our
old manufacturing skill,—and as to the advantages that
would result from such union. All the topics with which
Mr. Yapp deals are familiar to the readers of the
Atheneum,—and indeed Mr. Yapp has drawn on its
columns as one source of his materials. But there will
be a convenience to the public in having the entire sub-
ject here as it were brought together and indexed. Mr.
Yapp has one suggestion of detail which may be quoted
as an item in the general scheme not elsewhere, we
believe, enforced in connexion with this subject. In ad-
ditionlptec
eahxl taspo teteoins:sees
arti
amveno
sedia; hyev eocli
feco larger provisions making for the popular
teaching, he says :—" If the education of the people in
Art is to be seriously considered and earnestly pursued,
describeds
ao aenr ttas
something
eu.
oktl(mlhtyhi
anenaggydno
doanKdbe
loeeeumdngtni
obntidnlhoyegetl,
them,
ibze
arranged.s
Kennington-common
oeh rnauymtplargeoainnl
wsuti
working man,hoct
whohhre
his wife, and his children, •ht then ac-
custom their eyes to beauty of form, insensibly
almost acquire a taste for the arts. A few of Paxton's
fpoirmllarsa,,a)onidldtitngrelh
evoloifour hundred feet of glass, would
and inexpensive
that t
pe
eople,"-4t4
flowering
vc e furnishedn
plants,
few
be goodone casts,ftie
least
ceeotliseet most effective means of creating
Government could possibly provide for
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