The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-01 00:00:00

ENGLISH AND

'ATERNISATION.

The two nations of England and France are inclined to fra-
ternise cordially towards each other. Their interests are one,
and they seem bent upon showing their belief that such is
the case, whereupon it becomes quite clear that there is ter-
rible jealousy existing in the minds of certain parties lest the
people of the two nations should learn more of each other,
and give up all future quarrels and war. Thus upon a pro-
position being made that a certain number of distinguished
Frenchmen should be invited to Loudon to participate in a
national festival to celebrate the union between England and
France, the Times preaches abstinence, talks gravely of the
disregard of the ccnivenances which would take place should
the two nations be dining together in the West, while they are
fighting side by side against a common enemy in the East, and
recommends that we should dine after-victories are achieved,
and not before. But the. festival, or by whatever more ap-
prOpriate name it may be called, was not proposed in order
to celebrate the fact that war was being waged, but that a peace
of the utmost importance to the salvation of the world existed.
France and England do not dine together to demonstrate
their joy at being opposed to Russia, but to express
their delizbt at the fact of their being united as.aqies. It is
not at all improbable that if one of the temporising Orleanists
had been on the throne of France, the two nations might have
been merely connected together by conventional arrangements.
It is scarcely passible to imagine any Prince of the House of
Orleans joining so heartily in his opposition. to the great
northern missionary of despotism as Louis Bonaparte has
done. Had fate left France in the hands of the Orleauists,
the destiny of Europe would have been entrusted to diplo-
matists, and Russia would have obtained her ends by this
menus, as she has heretofore done. The union of England
and France preserves Europe from the disa.4roui effects of
Itussan diplomacy. The people of England and France know
this, and they very rightly think that this union is a very
proper subject for rejoicing, whether the joy is testified at
fetes, festivals, dinners, or breakfasts. The union of Eng-
land and France for the purpose of saving Europe from be-
coming Cossack, is ono of the events the most pregnant with
good consequences to Europe that has happened in the history
of the two nations, and it is right to make it a subject of re-
joicing.
Yesterday one of our contemporaries fired a volley of small
shot in aid of the attack already made, and again repeated by
the heavier ordnance of the Times. Because the word "ban=
quet" is made use of in the proposition for a national re-
union, the propoSal is stigmatised as an intention to inaugu-
rate the worship and to spread the devotion of the great god
" Gluttony." " Stewing the fat turtles and immolating heca-
tombs of kine" is facetiously stigmatised as a poor method of
cementing international amity. The proposers of the inten-
tion to welcome our French friends are cried down as the
would-be initiators of a series of " national" orgies.• The
" national" is placed, it must be most particularly remarked,
between inverted commas. The -whole animus of the organs
of the dynasties peeps out here. Nothing is" national"-but that
which is inaugurated by Governments. If the Queen had given
a banquet to a certain set of distinguished guests on the oocasion
of the union between England and France that, in the eyes of
the flunkies who care nothing about nations, but pin their faith
on Governments, would have been all very well. But when
honest and respectable citizens of the greatest commercial city
in the world wish to show their hospitality in like manner,
the feast in future is put down as " a guttling and guzzling
of a squad of hardened epicures." " The thing is nothing
more real and true than a vulgar piece of Mansion-house sen-
timentalism." "Is this," we are asked, " a time for listening
to the cheers of hiccupping aldermen and the bad grammar
of civic speecties I" The bad taste as well as the monstrous
unfairness of stigmatising the Corporation of London as
drunken gourmands and men ignorant of their own language,
is so preposterous that there is no need to advert to it. No-
thing could have caused such a display but the most vehement
fear. that the effect of the hospitable meetings between mem-
bers
in
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fvmaalapisnhanheneacriet
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of the two nations would be to unite them in such a
future to set them at
comipcoercnimiale'r'cuianld”er:aokpoinrags.
tions of our great towns have been and are the strongholds of
our nationality. They are a great feature in. the historical life
of the nation. They have been the fortresses of English
liberty. They have educated Englishmen of successive gene-
rations to perform all their duties of citizens with a true
feeling of their rights and privilegeth. It is unworthy of any
Englishman to set down members of these corporations unit-
ing for the purpose of showing hospitality to distinguished
foreigners, as " batches of pursy traders." It may be all
very well for Orleanists or members of other bankrupt dynas-
ties to dread that union between two great nations which will
ensure the peace of the world, and prevent the said dynasties
from taking advantage of the opportunity which would be

given to them in a general scuffle: It may be all very well
for such roving royalties td throw dirt upon national demon-

strations, and sneer at national institutions, but Englishmen

should know and respect what these institutions have done
for the country. The flunkeyism of the sneers against trade
is a miserable exhibition in a country which has become great,

rich, and powerful mainly by trade: We have lived long

enough to take Napoleou'f; reproach that we were " a nation
of shopkeepers" as something of a compliment. The com-
merce of the country is one of the great elements of the power
of the ,nation—the commercial men are those who are en-
trusted with the working of this clement—all attempts to
frustrate the endeavours made to unite in bonds of amity the
French and English representatives of this class must be con-
sidered as playing into the hands of the enemies of peace.—
Daily News.