The Sun.
London, England, 1825-02-02 00:00:00

NLCEURS .FitANC.II4ES.

R
FRENCH CANDOUR.

FOR THE SUN.
Under the head of " illteurs Anglaises,"
lheurs Britatiniques," &c. the French Papers
,-gale us, from tune to time., with selections from
of bad that occurs or exists in this kingdom.
Lt is scarcely possible to suppose that in a great
'1 (I erilietteued country there-cast be many igno-
rant enough to believe that these are fair pictures
cc English society, and yet it is difficult to con-
otherwise, when we see these-same impar-
t:A specimens of English manners perpetually
w.troded on. the French public. The Etoile is
very conspicuous among his brethren in this
laudable work. One of his late specimens is
tAken from the case of Mr. KEAN, which Ave
catty notice to exhibit his-singular candour, and
as it will also afford us an opportunity of glancing
at .what are not insulated instances of individual
conduct, but what are really and truly national
peculiarities—Maws Francaises.
The case of Mr.KEAN, rich as it is in intrinsic
merit., seems to have beets selected for astimad ver-
Sim', by the Etoile only in subserviency to some-
thing still more suitable to the purposes of 'the
Editor. Vilifying the English nation is Away-6
with him an inferior object, so long as he can
-vilify the English Church. It is on this ground
e ere intend to meet him. We will analyze,
therefore,:the following passage :--
"Among the curious circumstances of this case, we ought
not to omit ajmtruey, .or-rather a dramatic tour, which Mr.
.1;.1:AN undertook in .company with Mr. Cox, his wife, and a
t'krgyruan of the Church.of England !"
The object here plainly is, to connect a Cler•-
•tzyman with the guilty proceedings, and, through
him, to degrade the Church of which -he wa-s.a
member. Let us see how far this has been at-
tained. _ _

First of all, THE rAcT IS NOT Tatc; for the
Clergyman did not make the tour with the par-
but only met them on one occasion.
But the inference is, that the Clergy of Eng.
1:1nd are either of equal rank with strolling
i,layers, or, if not, they scruple not to demean
themselves by entering such society. In investi-
gating this inference we shall be able to throw
the whole weight of the odium which the Etude
would excite against the English Clergy, on
" French manners."
The French make no distinctions between a
Ell 13 I. F. or a TALMA and any stage-struck Jack
Mince, who makes the circuit of all the barns
and wooden theatres in his country. This is
about as wise as it would be to class the Masters
of Eton or Winchester with every:petty village
schoolmaster ; or, to refer to the same rank in
society, Sir AsTLEY Cooeca and Dr. :EAny. A
'French Clergyman, therefore, cannot, as a gen-
tleman, associate with an actor. But there is yet
a graver cause why these characters can never meet,
a:lid this is a cause which would puzzle many a
4.vise bead, did not THE IN F.U.I.IBILITY or THE
CHU cif conveniently step in, as it often does in
tlialculties and dilemmas, to satisfy us. That the
Church must he right is certain, and it is not for
bcnighted Heretics like ourselves to explain why

--but thus stands the difficulty.
The profession of an Actor is held in France
ithOUt the pale of Christianity : his very body
.is pollution to a Church ; what his soul must be,
and what lit►ally becomes of it, may be concluded
filo/lion. Yet the French are passionately fond
Gt. dramatic entertainments, and the Church does
not refw.e them, although they are inevitable de-
struction to thousands who were once her chil-
dren. This may he 1NF...U.1.M YOMIt it is not
CONSISTI:NCY. If actors in this country were per-
sons UN:WORTHY CHRISTIAN burial, -such a class
of society would soon be suppressed by the Go-
vernment.
These, therefore, are the-“ tour s Franchises
Ihey are not the sentlinents of individuals,

but the national fetilings; and if they pre-
vailed in England, as happily they do not,
then the attack of the F.:toile on a Clergy-
man for associating with an Actor might
have some basis. As matters stand, there is no
such ground, for we neither exclude Actors from
.earth nor from heaven ; and if an Actor chooses
to take the ground of a gentleman, which he al-
-vidys may do where he has a gentleman's educa-
tion, there is no reason why gentlemen of any
profession should abjure his company. This edu-
t ation is almost necessary to a Player who aspires
to professional excellence ; be is, indeed, a kind
of literary character ; he is a critic, who is ex-
pP.cted minutely to feel the scope of every pass-
age in his part ; and he must be a student of Na-
tore to delineate successfully what he feels.
Diost impolitic, therefore, is it to discourage by
arbitrary and illiberal customs education where
it is almost indispensable, and thus degrade and
4Pbase instruction in one of its most popular, ex-
tensive, and pleasing sources : and, Heretics as
we are, we cannot divest ourselves altogether of
a.secret satisfaction when we contrast the obse-
quies •of PHILIPPE with the monument of
GARRICK.

ItormEny OF THE RECORD OFT ICE., WESTMINSTER...—
Yesterday a man of the name of Edward Tuckey, a boot-
closer, was charged at Marlborough-street Office on suspicion
of robbing the Record Office of certain valuable manuscript
works relating to Greenwich Hospital and the Custom House
also some parchments relating to the Port of London.—Re-
i-nanded for further examination.

Instruction, when conveyed through the me-
,eium of fiction, seldom fails to make a deep im-
pression on the youthful mind. The truth of
this position has been happily instanced in the
salutary effects produced by " Telemachus,"
4' The Travels of Cyrus," and other works of a
similar description ; and we much mistake, if the
recently published Egyptian Tale of " Itanieses;*
illustrated as it is With copious historical and
descriptive notes of the era of the Pharoahs, do
.:lot prove one of the most popular and most effec-
tive of its class. In that well-constructed story;
.all that can be learned respecting the religious
superstitions, rites, and ceremonies of Egypt—
tile gorgeous magnificence of her Monarchs—the
overpowering grandeur of her public buildings-
-is developed with the most imposing effect. It
is impossible, indeed, to estimate too highly the
,labour and research to %Well the author, in the
.progress of his work, must have been subjected.