The Sun.
London, England, 1825-01-27 00:00:00

FRENCH PAPERS.

( From Ms Xtaik, dated Tuesday. )
NAPLIS, JAN. 6.
,nevitliee de Medici, 1101inister of State,
1 the honour to present to the King an
_ph testament (i.e. a will, all written in the
tegator's own hand) of his august father Ferdi-
mand.l., This paper-is dated Feb. 43, I 822; a
codicill 'slated Nov. 4, 1824, was annexed to it.
These • papers have been read in the Council of
State. We • hope -we shall be able to communi-
cate their contents, confining ourselves at present
to that they breathe throughout the piety
2ha" snitsificence •.which characterized •his .late
Majesty.
By an express order of the King, - all-the-pa-
fers of be late King, .of -every description, and
all the doors of his private cabinet, are put under
seal

The King, desiroutto give himself up entirely
to his grief, has retired with the Queen and all
the Royal Family to the Palace of Capo di
Monte. The Duchess of Florida, widow of Fer-
dinand 1., has been invited by the King to come
and mingle her tears with those of the Royal
Family.
When the body of the late Ring• bad been
watched for 32 hours by all the great Officers of
the Crown, it was opened and embalmed. All
the viscera were found to be in a perfectly healthy
state, but a great quantity of blood upon the
brain showed that his Majesty died of an apo-
plectic fit.
-The guns of ait-the forts and f batteries, and of
the ships of war, fire.every half hour as a sign of
mourning.

'PARIS, JAN. 42.

After the obseqUies of his Majesty, Ferdinand,
King of Naples, which will take place on the
all the Court, the diplomatic body, the
great officers, the foreigners who have been pre-
sented, and in general all persons received at
Court, will repair to Capo di Monte, to be pre-
sent at the kissiug of hands, and the returning of
tke—Staff to the Captain of the Guards, who is to
present it to his Majesty on his knees.
• His'iVlajesty is to return to Naples incognito
the same evening, and the next day all the thea-
tres will be opened again.
The most perfect tranquillity reigns at Naples.
Baron Hyde de Neuville arrived at Paris yes-
terday evening. To-day he has paid a visit to
his Excellency Baron de Damas, Minister for
Foreign Affairs.
We learn that it is Prince Nicholas Esterhazy
3..h0 is to be present at the coronation of his
Majesty Charles X. at Rheims, in the name of
the Emperor of Austria.

VIENNA, JAN. 15.

Count A ppony, who was preparing to set out
for London, where he is to fill the post of Am-
bassador, has just been commissioned to proceed
immediately to Naples, to compliment King
"Francis I. on his accession to the throne.

(From the Journal des Debats.)
PARIS, JAN. 24.
The following paragraph is found iu the Echo
'da Midi, a Ministerial Journal of Toulouse :
" We are informed by a letter from Paris, that the question
of terminating the affairs of Greece, is more than ever agitated
in the Cabinets of Europe : reciprocal overtures have been made
11 the Great Powers. It is demanded, we are assured, that
the Morea, and a portion of the islands of the Archipelago,
should be acknowledged independent. The Grand Seignor
Is to give his full assent to this politic measure, which
'would terminate the misfortunes which at present desolate
those countries, and would leave no chance for the ambition of
certain Cabinets. May this news be realized, for the interests
of religion and hkunanity."
(Front the Constitutionnel of Monday.)
PARIS, J.ts. 24.
A fact is reported in all the commercial circles,
by which one may judge of the inconceivable
-policy of our Ministry. Four individuals of Co-
lombia having arrived in Europe, first went. to
4:ttgland, where they were charged to observe
the mechanism and fabrication of the .steam
machinery, for the purpose of introducing it
.into their country. They had, moreover, a
•credit for two millions five hundred thousand
francs on France, to buy there silks, wines, and
,brandies ; but having demanded passports to
-come here, it is reported that they received
.for answer from our Legation, that being sub-
jects of the King of Spain, they ought to ad-
dress themselves to the Ambassador of that
.Power. What has been the result ? Why that
these traders have exhausted their credit in
-London, and that they have made in England
.those purchases which they ought to have made
in France. Such is for our neighbours the re-
sult of the low policy of the French Ministry,
,aud such is for our country the result of its trait-
scendant or sentimental policy.
A little while ago the Curate of the Assumption
refused to allow a noble Protestant Peer to sign
the deed of the-religions celebration of his niece's
marriage. The curate of Chaillot being informed.
that an honourable Calvinist was to assist at the
:nuptials of two of his parishioners, prevented his
being allowed to subscribe the register. This
measure, which appears to be prescribed by the
superior authorities, will probably be carried on
to baptism, and they will reject a god-father if
- be be not a Catholic. The ecclesiastical registers
having no character either for authenticity ,or for
legal accuracy, this exclusion of course matters
but little, so long as the preelent la\v subsists
upon the civil state ; but if the din state should
be transferred to the Clergy, surely they will
-not be permitted to reject arbitrarily, on account
of their -.religious creed, witnesses otherwise
.-worthpof credit.

JAN. 13.

I t has been reported here that there has been
great agitation in Lisbon. Our letters, however,
. are quite silent on any such business. This, how-
ever, may arise from prudence, for letters from
• Spanish towns, on the frontiers of Portugal, an-
- bounce that there has been so Inuch disturbance
both in Oporto and in •Lishon, that the Govern—
ment had thought it necessary to disembark the
knglish troops.

FRENCH FUNDS.
PAUIC JAN. 24—Five per Cents. opened at 1.02 f. 25e., and
clo4ed at 103 f.; Bank Stock, 1,970 f.; Neapolitan Five per
'Cents. (Falcnnnet's Certificates), Silf. 35c. ; Royal Spanish
Loan, 1823,
EXCHANGE ON taNDow.---One Month, 24f. 95e; Three
"Months, 24f. Nc.--( Cour: Atuthentique.)

I MR. SECRETARY CANNING.

ON THE RECOGNITICrN OF THE SOUTH AME-

RICAN -REPUBLICS.
(From. the Journal dss Debuts.)

Fhere is so much-ignorance in the articles of the 31iniste-
-64 Journals, that we blush to employ ourselves in refuting
them ; but, as ignorance is the lowest stage from which men
caa start to ascend to knowledge, the Ministerial Journals offer
the most certain point which could be chosen to start from in
search of truth. In this respect they are useful.
They ask—" what has Mr. CANNING done to merit the
praises which are lavished on him ? He is proclaimed the greatest
Statesman that ever existed, for having seeured to his coun-
try the gain of some millions."

Men who occupy themselves seriously with political studies
have never formed their jtidgment, from a single fact, of the
power and talent of those who are placed-in a situation to in-
fluence the destiny of a nation ; for, in so doing, they do not
'comprehend even the value of the fact on which they would
ground their judgment. Nothing is insulated" in politics.
The following is the way in which such studies are pur-
sued

Ten years ago, Mr. Canning offered himself ass candi-
date at the Liverpool election ; England was then led astray
from her true policy by the "dazzling effects of the prodigious
success which she had obtained, in common with those viho-have
since been called the Rory Alliance ; and the English Ariato-
, cracy, for the first time since -the establishment of liberty in
that country, seemed disposed toforget those principles, which,
' in justifying its pre-eminence, have always constituted its glory
and its safety.
In England a candidate must speak to the electors whose
suffrages he solicits. If this usage be attended with some in-
conveniencies, it has also its advantages, since it compels a de-
claration of principles which cannot be violated, and it furnishes
a pledge that the mediocrity of the candidates shall not extend
to the most complete nullity.
In the then state of England, what speech did Mr: Canning
address to the electors of Liverpool ?
" I know", said the Honourable Gentleman, " that the
Opposition Members who wish to concentrate the Ministry
in certain great families, and who, while mocking legiti-
macy with respect to thrones, :pretend to hereditary poli-
tical talents, treat me as an adventurer. I do not under.
stand what such a reproach can mean tit a country where all
the highest offices of the State are open to every one, but I ac-
cept this denomination, if it designate a man, who, as a repre-
sentative, wishes but to depend upon the nation, and who, to
serve his country, conceives that he has no occasion for the sup-
port of a hundred generations of illustrious ancestors."
Never was a declaration conceived in dearer terms; yet, it
was but a simple candidate who dared thus to express his
thoughts and his sentiments.
The man who, in his silence, gives himself up closely to
political studies, transcribes this avowal into his collection of
public statements, which he deems it necessary to refer to, and
puts as a note, under it, the following :—" This speech is either
mere rhodomontade, or an act of the most splendid justice which
a man, conscious of his own powers, can render to himself. In
any case, there is prodigious greatness of mind in thus declaring
war against the loftiest pretensions, before even being secure of
entering the lists."
Mr. Canning was chosen by the electors of Liverpool.
Through difficulties, insurmountable in • t conittry where talent
was not the greatest power known, he rt2-dies the Ministry, not
ignorant that England is entangled in flit' az,,,intels of the Holy
Alliance; he withdraws her, places her on ono side, and finally,
in opposition, giving always-to his continct that appearance of
frankness which enables him coolly to say_to.:hose whom itilis-
concerts—" I forewarned you of it." And this boces so directly
to the object, that the French Ministry, who cried out that war
would be rekindled in Europe, if England recognized the In-
dependence of South America, says, two days after the public
declaration of that independence—" Nothing new has hap-
pened—we were forewarned of it !"
It is not, therefore, for having secured the gain of several
millions to his country, that Mr. Canning takes his place in
the first rank of Statesmen, but because, having a system, he
at once avowed it in the face of those who could counteract it,
and before he was himself in a position which enabled him to
put that system in operation ; because, having publicly pro-
fessed certain principles, he has never swerved from them :
and, above all, because there were formidable obstacles to
overcome before he could accomplish what he now has acconi-
plished; and that he surmounted those obstacles, without, for a
moment, balancing between the resignation of the seals of
office and the dishonour of acting contrary to his own prin-
ciples. His strength did not consist in his ministerial posi-
tion, but in his personal character and in the wisdom of his
opinions. His antagonists, England, and the Opposition al-
ways so respectful towart:s him, are equally convinced of this
truth.

The weakest Ministers in point of talent, always know
and believe some things. •If,they are conscientiously misled,
the public feel it, and attribute the mischief they do, not so
much to the men themselves, as to the institutions of the coun-
try, which prohibit the application of general knowledge, and
the:force of ptiblic opinion, in opposition to individual inca-
pacity. But the Minister who belies his conscience, who
acts. against his conviction, who. giving way constantly to a
party whom he neither respects nor esteems, and the dupe
of his own artifices, more and more involves himself in a
false policy, with the frivolous hope of regaining by subter-
fuge the ground which he yields without honour : such a
Minister would be judged by the public as he deserved, and
more severely than a Minister who errs with good intentions.
They would say of the latter, " be has been deceived ;" of the
former, " he has not eveniknown how to deceive, and yet that
was all he aimed at:"

In thus contrasting the end now attained by Mr. Can.
ning with-the point from which ha set out ten years ago, we
have been anxious to demonstrate that it ix not upon insulated
facts that enlightened men form their judgments. The Ses-
sion of the English Parliament being about to open, the sim-
plicity a-Lich Mr. Canning will adopt in his language will form
a fresh subject of political study. The bold and uncompro-
mising candidate for Liverpool will be foand very unassuming;
hut he has nothing now to brave, though he knows very well
that there may he a great deal with which he may have to
contend. Hence, it was not, without -a reason, that he preced-
ed the opening of Parliament with the recognition of the-inde-
pendence of South-America. As soon as it shall be well un-
derstood that this measure has the approbation of a country
which thoroughly comprehends its own interests, all the Cabi-
nets of Europe may send Notes and Counter-notes, without
any other result than that of opposing phrases to facts.
In the way of a political study, Frenehmen may remark,
that the most important affairs are decided in England, while
the London Journals regularly announce, •that the Ministers
are gone into the country, to the watering-places, or to parties
of pleasure of long duration. In considering our system of
Administration, we might be led to suppose-that Ministers are
like artificers—that they work only with their arms, and on
the spot where they are placed. It is not.thusln England
there they work with the profound knowledge which prevails,
-with the mind and with reflection ; and these can be trans-
ported any where. Therels nothing more calculated to ener-
vate the moral facilities, than the supposed necessity of con-
stantly affixing signatures,—of distracting attention by giving
trivial audiences, which are incessantly repented,_of passing
continually from the details of one affair to those of ano-
ther wholly different. It would he impossible to find an able
man in England who could and would discharge the office
of-a Minister in the way it is discharged in France. M edio-
crity may easily. conceal itself behind that mass of papers
--
created by the concentration of affairs, but talent would find in
them its tomb; -and the-custom of England having proved that
talent is more necessary to the prosperity of States than sign-
ing machines, the Government and the -general Administration
take especial charge of those matters oily which the citizens
cannot execute for themselves. It is t that the nation hus-
bands a strength which it imparts, when ere is occasion, -to
'those who govern it-well, and which it wit , lds from others.
-But in justifying the impartiality of th who consider
-Mr. Canning as one of the greatest Ministers of England, our
principal object has been to show to those who iio not seem to
be aware of the fact, that the France of 11.125 has no resem-
blance to the France of 1738. At the latter period we could not
have reckoned as many Frenchmen who merely knew the
names of the Ministers at Versailles, as we could now reckon
those who understand perfectly well the men, the
,public in-
terests, the policy, and the administration of the States of the
Old and the New World.