The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-25 00:00:00

THE ORDER OF LEOPOI D.

We read in a Vienna letter of the 18th, published
by the Constitutionnel :
"You are aware that when M. de Laceur quitted
the post of Minister Plenipotentiary of France at the
Court of Vienna to occupy that of Ambassador at Con-
stantinople, the Emperor of Austria conferred on him
the Order of Leopold. That act produced the greater
sensation, that during the whole reign of Louis Philippe
no Austrian decoration had been conferred on;a French
subject. I have to add, that this was occasioned not by
any sentiment of hostility to the French nation, but in
consequence of the difficulty of admitting the exchange
of decorations between the two countries. The Govern-
ment of July having suppressed all the orders existing
under the Restoration, except that of the Legion of
Honour, founded, so to speak, the day after the
battle of Austerlitz, this could not but excite to a
certain point the susceptibility of Austria, on ac-
count of the reminiscences connected with its ori-
gin. That is the reason why the Government of
Napoleon 111., showing much tact, [abstained from
according to any Austrian dignitary the insignia of
the Legion of Honour in exchange for the Grand Cross
conferred on M. de Lacour. However, when on the
occasion of the attempt made in January, 1853, on the
life of the Emperor Francis Joseph, the various friendly
courts sent decorations to Col. Count O'Donnell, whose
courage had saved his august master, Baron de Bour-
queney was charged by the Emperor of the French to
present to Count O'Donnell the Cross of Commander of
the Legion of Honour. An attempt was made, it is
true; at the instigation of the partisans of Russia, to re-
vive the ancient susceptibilities against wearing the de-
coration of the Legion of Honour in Austria, by affirm-
ing that an order tinged with Austrian blood could not
appear on the breast of an aide-de-camp of the Emperor
Francis Joseph. But that chivalrous monarch, remem-
bering that the order of Maria Theresa, although
having been created to perpetuate the victory of
the Austrian troops over the Prussians in 1757,
at Kellin, adorned at present the breast of the
valiant generals of the King of Prussia, not only
authorised Colonel O'Donnell to accept the Cross
of Commander of the Legion of Honour, but in addition
was graciously pleased to order Count O'Donnell to be
present with his insignia, at a grand dinner to which
Baron de Bourqueney had been invited at the house of
Prince de Schwarzenberg, brother of the deceased Pre-
sident of the Council, with the highest nobility of Vienna.
The Emperor of Austria, in offering of his own accord
to Napoleon 111. the Grand Cordon of St. Stephen, de-
sires by a movement of sincere friendship to call forth
between the two sovereigns the exchange of their deco-
rations—an exchange, of which the Emperor of the
French, through a reserve easy to explain, could not
assume the initiative. And what is worthy of note is
that the Emperor of Austria is going to display on his
breast the star of the Legion of Honour at the moment
when he has laid down the cross of St. George which the
Emperor of Russia bad sent him in 1849, after the battle
of Ofen, where the young Emperor had by his bravery
against the Hungarian insurgents electrified the Impe-
rial troops. Francis Joseph, however, valued that order
most highly, since he had gained it on the field of battle."

THE FRENCH TARIFF.

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On the subject of the recent modifications in
the French tariff of Customs we read in the
Pays :
" The Government of the Emperor does not cease to
study with attentive solicitude and to solve with energy
all questions connected with the internal consumption of
the country, and which affect the welfare of the people
and the fundamental interests of commerce and industry.
It is under this inspiration that new decrees have been
published reducing the duties on foreign sugar and oils.
The duties on foreign sugar are generally reduced 4 fr.
per 100 kilogrammes, except those from the French
colonies beyond the eve of Good Hope and in America,
which are maintained at the present duty of 35fr. and
35fr. the metrical quintal. We mentioned a short
time since that the manufacture of home-made sugar
had considerably fallen off in consequence of the
use of beet-root in the distillation of alcohol ; many estab-
lishments have even entirely ceased working, and the
consumption of that article of primary necessity was thus
suddenly threatened with a considerable deficit. In this
case there were only two courses to adopt, either to have
recourse to colonial production in aid of the home con-
sumption, or to foreign produce. The first means would
lead to inevitable delay in consequence of the distance
of our colonies, and several months would elapse before
any operations on a large scale could be realised ; the
second alone was immediately practicable, thanks to the
large supplies in the entrepots of the great commercial
nations of sugar from India, China, or the islands of
Oceania. The Government, with that spirit of decision
which always animates it when theobj ect is to supply food
to the people at the lowest price, has not hesitated to
lower the barriers of the Customs, and to open a way to
foreign importation. At the same time, it has removed
the prohibition which weighed on foreign molasses.
Henceforth it will be imported at the duty of 3fr. and
Mr. by French, and of 13fr. by foreign vessels. This has
been done in order to give to distillers a useful raw mate•
rial for the manufacture of alcohols, and allow them to
struggle against foreign competition. The reduction in
the duty on oils is justified by similar considerations.
The object of the Government has been to combat the
increase in pi ice which has lately taken place in this
article, and which has not been less than 40 per cent.
The interruption of our commercial relations with Rus-
sia has had as a natural consequence the effect of di-
minishing the import of tallow and animal grease, of
which that country exports such a large quantity. The
decree which has just been issued remedies this state of
things by considerably reducing the import duties on
grease, oils, oleaginous seeds, candles, and steario acid.
For the first three productions, the reduction is in gene-
ral more than three-fifths of the present duty by French,
and a half by foreign vessels. The duty on candles is
reduced from 25fr. the 100 kilos. by French vessels, and
271 r. by foreign vessels to the uniform rate of 10fr. For
stearic acid in mass, the duty is only 25fr. instead of
601 r. and 651 r. 50c., according to the nationality of the
vessels. For worked stearic acid it is fixed at 35fr.
instead of 85fr. and 91fr. 70c. These measures are in-
dicated as temporary and until further orders. Such
must be, in fact, the principle and the law of an Ad-
ministration which, not allowing itself to be guided by
abstract theories and absolute systems, studies with good
faith the wants of the people and the interests over
which it presides. These interests change every day,
and it would be a senseless task to seek to subject them
to the yoke of an exclusive principle, which will not
yield either to the experience of facts or to the sovereign
authority of general utility."

A PRIEST PREACHING AGAINST ENLISTMENT.—It is
currently reported about Killenaule that the priest of
that parish has been cautioning his young men parishion-
ers against enlistment, for the sage reason that they
would be placed in battle in front of the English soldiers
for their protection ! We much doubt that the gallant
88th, when fortunate enough to outstrip the Guards or
Highlanders in a charge against the Russians, would
take it as any compliment to their regiment to hear the
new doctrine of "his reverence," that they had been
purposely put forward to save their English and Scotch
comrades at the expense of their own lives. We would like
to know whether the rev, gentleman read in the public
news the description of a charge down a hill at mid-
night, which those same " Connaught Rangers " made
some time since when the Muscovite ranks, hearing
the cheer with which our gallant countrymen were
rushing on, waited not for their bayonets, but beat a
retreat in the best style of "double quick." Perhaps
we might add that " but for these vile guns, he would
himself have been a soldier."—Clonnzel Chronicle.
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