The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-21 00:00:00

Zbirbe WrtitiAn

LINCOLN RACES

(THIS DAY.)

(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)
THE TRIAL STAKES.

King David
Chilton

Five ran

THE FRENCH EMPIRE.

We find the following in the Union on the in-
teresting and always popular subject of liberty :
" What is the use of disputing about liberty ? Liberty
—we speak of oivil or political liberty—is something
relative, and cannot be either judged or defined without
taking into consideration the habits and wants of each
people and each period. How, therefore, can the liberty
of one period be compared to the liberty of another ?
Liberty is not an abstraction, is not an absolute idea,
and is not subordinate to inflexible conditions or forms.
Was France in 1789 free ? Certainly not, if liberty is
what was seen in 1791 or 1793, and afterwards in 1797,
and again in 1801, •r in 1804, or in 1851, or, if one likes
it better, in 1848, or, in fine, in 1851. Still more, has
France ever been free ? No, if her liberty be compared
to that of all other States, from Greece to the United
States. But ask the same question of any people what-
ever, and you will inevitably have the same reply. The
liberty of Sparta was not that of Athens ; far from it !
The liberty of the Cretans had nothing in common
with that of the Sicilians or Carthagenians. And what
was the liberty of Rome ? A dominating Senate, patri-
cians masters of the people, a perpetuity of empire
under the name of customs of their ancestors, and
then 30,000 or 40,000 citizens with 300,000 slaves.
Is that the veritable and unchangeable type of
liberty ? For a century, English liberty has been made
the universal model of all constitutions to be established.
What is that liberty ? Could we support the most feeble
imitation of it ? The Charter of 1814 was at most a
parody of it. English liberty is a classification of society
with a landed aristocracy at the top armed with political
privileges. Just attempt to propose something similar
to that in France, broken up as it is into little morsels
of land, to that scattered democracy, ricketty but
haughty, extenuated but sovereign. It would break
everything to pieces rather than subject itself to a pri-
vileged class of that kind. How chimerical, therefore,
is it to attempt to render liberty subordinate to certain
typical and preconceived forms, according to which per-
sons would deem themselves entitled to affirm that one
people is free, and that another is not ! At most it can
be declared that there are institutions in themselves
more in conformity with the natural right of defence
or of protection in a political society ; but in that
nothing is absolute. The institutions of the middle
age were not without connection with that right of
defence, but they were themselves of very different
kinds. The communal constitution of France was
not the same as that in Italy, or in Flanders, or in
Spain ; and yet it was everywhere the real basis of
liberty. To speak only of France, it is an historical
truth that her liberty followed infinite variations with-
out any one being able to affirm that it ceased to exist.
The establishments of St. Louis were establishments of
liberty, and the ordonnances of Louis XIV., even in
their despotic form, were a new modification of enfran-
chisement. To deny this would be to fall into the
ignorance and silliness of liberalism ; parties, since 1825,•
have had time to learn a little history. Does it follow
that the new times ought to bring back the old forms of
liberty ? To all appearance no one has any such idea in
his mind. It is sufficient to know that each period, in
spite of constraints or resistances, produces its liberty
with its most natural forms. And it is of no use abus-
ing the old liberty, for no one can say if the new will be
better. Posterity alone has a right to decide the point.
Let us then leave aside 'B9, and let us not be proud !
We would not certainly support what then remained of
feudal right ; let us not boast to have supported the
amount of revolutionary impost levied on us. Each
society has its acts of servitude even in liberty, and the
best established society is that which in submission is
always the most certain of its dignity."
Lord Stratford de Ratcliffe, English Ambas-
sador at Constantinople, who has been passing
some days at Paris, has left for Vienna, on his way
to his post. From Vienna he will proceed to
Trieste, where a steam-frigate is waiting to receive
him. M. de Bourquency, and M. Delacour, French
Ambassadors at Vienna and Constantinople, have
also left for their respective destinations.
The Moniteur contains the official promulgation
of the treaty of commerce and navigation concluded
between France and. Tuscany, and which will come
into operation on the 10th of April next.
A commission has just been appointed to exa-
mine whether the special exercises of the Chasseurs
of Vincennes cannot be applied to the French in-
fantry in general.
Senate met yesterday for the reception of
the senators nominated by the decrees of the 9th
of February and the 4th and Bth of March. They
took the oaths, and the Senate then occupied itself
with the 23 bills adopted by the Legislative Body.
The Moniteur publishes a decree by which ores
of all kiwis except sulphur are exempt from duty
when imported by French vessels, and subject to
the payment of lfr. per 100 kilos. by foreign ves-
sels. Liquorice root, imported by French vesselloo
s,
is also exempt from duty, and charged 2fr. per
kilos. by foreign vessels or by land.
The cold on Saturday was severe. The thermo-
meter of M. Chevalier stood, at six o'clock in the
morning, at 4 deg. 9-10ths centigrade (23f
Fahren-
heit), and at noon at 1 deg. 4-10ths centigrade (29±.
Fahrenheit) below the freezing point.
Yesterday the Emperor gave private audiences to
Monseigneur Garribaldi, the Pope's Nuncio, and
to M. de Hubner, the Austrian Minister, when
they presented the answers to the notification of the
Emperor's marriage.
The Debats declares that the English fleet Was
sent for by Colonel Rose spontaneously, and not a
the request of the Porte.
Madame de Montijo left Paris for Madrid.
A leading Nantes journal, the Union Bretann,e,
states that it is the resolve of the Pope to com-
mence his journey to France early in May, where
he intends remaining for about two months.
The Emperor has ordered an opera to be pre-
pared in honour of his approaching coronation,
to be called The Coronation of Charles the Seventh.
The conflicting reports which have agitated the
Bourse for the last few days, have not tended to
raise the drooping prices of our late quotations.
The Three per Cents. have experienced a decline
of 50c. for cash, and 95c. for the account ; the
Four-and-a-Half per Cents. (cash), sc. lower, and
60c. ditto for the account. The depreciation of
Bank Stock amounts to 25f. The following are the
latest quotations :—Three per Cents. (cash), 79f.
50c. ; ditto, for the account, 79f. 40c. ; Four-an
a Half per Cents. (cash), 103 f. 25c. ; ditto, for the
account, 103 f. ; Bank Stock, 2,700.
At the Casino yesterday the French Three per
Cents. were at first constantly offered, and declined
to 76f. 70c. Afterwards, some purchases having
been made, a reaction took place, and the last price
was 77f. 80c.