The Sun.
London, England, 1840-11-05 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE FRENCH JOURNALS OF

TUESDAY.
(From the Courrier Francais.) •
We have ate aye looked upon the treaty of the 15th of
July as a treaty of partition, which puts even the existence
of the Citternan empire in peril. The events which have
recently taken plane in Syria justify us in our idea. The
English filitg floats over Saida and lileyrout. The Emir
Be it is at Malta, and the insurrection in Syria spreading
is every direction. eland already exercises a real pro-
tectorce over that country. When once Ibrahim has
beet( drives out of it, it will be nothing more than an Eng-
11e4 province, as the lonian Islands and Portugal.
The telegraphic del,patch which announces the submie-
:ion of the Erair appears to us to be couched in very am-
biguous terms. What are the circumstances that have
brought about the submission of the Prince? Has he
been vanquished or taken by surprise? Has he surren-
dered himself voluntarily, and as desperate causes are
usualls abandoned in the East? These are points on
which ;he Minieterial deepatch does not enlighten us.
Does the Emir proceed to England because his example
has only found a few followers in the mountains, or is he
sent there as a hostage for the good behaviour of the tribes
of the Libanus? This point deserves elucidation.
However this may be, it will not escape the observation
of any one that England is the least suitable place of re-
treat for the Ersir. If it were_only to secure his fidelity,
he should have been sent to Constantinople, to remain
under the guardianship of the Sultan. The English Go-
vernment, in having him taken to England, would seem
to wish to possess themselves of a guarantee against the
policy of the Divan. It does for the Emir Bechir what it
has done for the petty Indian Princes; it is the real sove-
reignty of the Libanus which passes from the hands of the
Emir into those of Lord Palmerston. From this moment
every clear-sighted person can see the result of the treaty
of Londetre. England, mistress of Syria by the same
title that Russia rules over Moldavia and Wallachia. Who
will no-.v say that the equilibrium of Europe is not dis-
turbed? The new Cabinet apparently proposes to tolerate
the changes which are taking place in the East. It will
Le pail with words ; it will be told that the sovereignty of
the Sultan is re-established ; that the English are only
acting the part of disinterested allies;—and it will declare
itself satisfied. France will have raised her voice only to
make a eowardly submission, and we shall be held up a
fable to all nations.
It is to be feared, morever, that the disasters which we
have announced will not be the last. When Mehemet
Ali shall become acquainted with the resignation of M.
Thieve from office, can we think that he will any longer
folios the counsels of prudence which have been given
him ? Ids wiil either allow Ibrahim the liberty of march-
ing on Constantinople, and thus sanction the calling of
the Russians to Scutari, or he will find his courage fail,

and will talk of submitting. •
By adopting the first plan (and we almcst wish be may
adopt it) the flame which is lighted in the East will not be
long in reaching Europe ; in the second, the shame is no
longer with Mehemet Ali, it is with France, who abandons
him, although he has religiously followed her counsels.
A year since the Journal des Debats itself declared that
France should oppose by force every attempt made by the
Allied Powers to take away Syria from the Vioeroy. Now,
when the sacrifice is half completed, the Government does
not disturb itself l Do you know what we shall gain by this
conduct ? It will not be said that France has changed her
policy ; it will be said, that we have the wish and the inch-
nation .o save Mehemet Ali, and that we have not the
strength to do it ; it is our weakness which will be pro-
claimed to the world. There are things which a great
state is not at liberty to tolerate. The monarchy of Louis
XV. was dishonoured for baying witnessed, without oppo-
sition, the partition of Poland. The monarchy of Louis
Philipppeannot witness the destruction of the power of the
Pacha without the world doubting its strength and its cou-
rage. The people must esteem a Government for that
Government to be durable. God preserve us from sub-
mitting to such a great disgrace I for the country would
not pardon those who had brought it on as.
(From the Journal des Debate.)
We could not have anticipated the line of defence which
the Coustitutionnel has adopted on behalf of the Ministry
of the Ist of March. It was more modest than we expected
from the pen of M. Thiers, but less loyal than we could
have wished on the part of one of his Majesty's formtr Mi-

nisters.
The Ministry of the latof March would have it believed tha,
the mistakes in the exterior policy cannot be laid to its
account. The Treaty of July 15, or the abdication of the
Queen Regent of Spain ought not to be made the subject
of imputation against that Cabinet, as the cause of these
events originated previously to the formation of the Minis-
try of March 1. It was not M. Thiers who brought
abaut the present serious state of affairs. This situation
was left to him as a legacy, and he was obliged to receive
it as he found it. In other words, the doctor, seeing the
patient in imminent danger, declared that he was called
in too late. Such is the apology of M. Thiers.
There is something humiliating in this apology. Thus
the Ministry of March 1, notwithstanding its boasted talents
and the stq,port of England, on which it prided itself so
much, has not been able to do anything, and is obliged to
confess its inability to. effect a change in the', situation of
the country. Fatality is also called in aid as au excuse,
and it is said that everything that occurred was inevitable.
This apology well bespeaks the fatalist historian of the
French Revolution, but certainly not the sentiments of a
statesman.
Whiat a mass of accusations is contained in this apology
of M. Thiers ! Every one has been in fault ; all have
done wrong, with the exception of M. Thiers himself ; but
when it comes to his turn to repair the mischief, he can't
succeed, and says it is too late. Such is the language re-
lied upon by men retiring from office: but a very different
tone was assumed at the end of the first two or three
months, and when that Cabinet still counted upon retain-
ing the slirection of affairs upon a long lease. This re-
minds us of an article in the Constitutiennel, in which M.
Thiers' "succesfful foreign policy" was lauded in the su-
perlative.
The Eastern question was to be settled under the aus-
pisa- and according to the views of France. Spain would
be freed from Carlists, and placed in a flourishing state
under a constitutional monarchy, by the influence of the
firm bat moderate counsel of the new French Ambassador.
Everything bore a smiling aspect to M. Thiers' eyes.
Evils were not then deemed inevitable; there was no ex-
pression of despair as to remedying the political malady,
nor exclamation that it was too late.
M. Thiers pretends that the position he inherited is
incapable of being improved. What will he say if, in
our turn, we assert, that under the Ministry of the Ist of
March and the support it relied on, it must inevitably have
become worse ? What will he say if we consider the Mi-
nistry of the Ist of March afflicted by the same fatality
which he recognised in the preceding Administrations,
and which was to carry everything before it—if we say
that M. Thiers, coming into power with his retinue (in-
voluntarily or not) of revolutionary ideas and passions,
roust necessarily have isolated France from all Europe
by the distrusts and anxieties which he created in the
diErent States ; if, in tine, we maintained that the mo-
ment France appeared to adopt a policy of revolutionary
agitation, at that very moment to lose ground in the
negotiations and the resolutions of European policy, and
that she could no longer exercise an influence, except
by the dread of arms, a terror great indeed, but to neu-
tralize which Europe will have recouree to coalitions of
the many against the one ? How dreadful does M. Thicrs
make the state of affairs appear in saying that it is beyond
remedy, anet that the consequences are inevitable ! We in
our turn declare, that it is M. Thiers who was incapable of
supplying Vac remedy, and that he could only make mat-
ters worse ; not that M. Thiers is wanting in ability, but
because by his most recent acts, his avowed connexions,
his direct and indirect language, be proved himself the
man of all others the most likely to prevent Europe yield-
ing us a jot on the Eastern question, and for this reason—
that whatever Europe might concede to us would appear
to have been forced by a revolutionary spirit.
Revolutionary spirit ! Let it be well understood by the
Opposition Journals that their pompous but gross interpre-
tation of revolutionary spirit, as that of the revolution of
1.!!30, cannot deceive any one, and that we shall meet them
( n the political ground taken up by M. Thiers in 1'832 and
1833. That was certainly not a revolutionary policy; it
was, nevertheless, the policy of 1830, the good and sound
policy of that revolution.
Our answer to the system of defence chosen by the Con-
stltutionnel is, that the policy adopted by France is an
Egyptian Trolley : that is to say, that it is for the advan.
tage of France to obtain for the Pacha of Egypt a territo-
rial state which may be sufficiently powerful and sufficiently
permanent.
France during the negotiations always demanded to the
above effect, and she was right. Marshal Soult demanded
the hereditary right to Syria, but that was whilst the ne-
gotiations were pending, but not at the period of the reiti-
matins.
The Cipito/e sums up its opinions to the following ef
tags ;_s .•7•,. . . . _ -
Ns. 111,5 t anticipating a riot which would furnish
the creature of the intimidation system with a pretext for
a spiteful attack
receive the news upon the
principles of 1789 and 1830, we
the treason of the Emir Bechir, which
will give an oonortunity_ of paying the Allies for the debt
contracted at GhOes:t.sholluiddhthe advantdge been on the side
eaf the Viceroy,
occasion for our assistance, invaeatihdb:s'anmteolvidatyhaata htehehactihencko
he has just sustained will be touljuoosettb justify the non-inter-
ference of the Cabinet of the
"4th
e from t
Syria Ali
announced by ~,
."
IS to return to Toulon, as it i's all up with Mehemet
Our fleet
eeleie
The Constituti .nne/ considers the ',. elligen
the telegraphic us...tch may KaThis journal considersy
endsiids
sasr-
Wits results for Mehemet. Ali.
that En,!•!..h gold was the principal agent in producing thee
events. - The Emir Bechir, the old chief of tht mountain,
was seduced, but the French heart of Solirnan Pacha was,
found to be incorruptible. It was by corruption first, and
by force of arms afterwards, that England subjugated India.
It is certain that the Emir's defection will cause Ibrahim
Pacha serious inconvenience, because the mountains which
protected the interior of Syria are now open to the
invaders. However, it must not be concluded that
the Viceroy's affairs are desperate. The Allies
o ?
9ay advance ; but will they dare to do s
Because it is not with tic fow thousand troops which
they landed in Syria that they can dare to attack
Ibrahim Pacha. The inactivity of the latter appears
inexplicable ; but when his military skill is considered,
it is evident that his motives are not yet understood,
end that he is no doubt },repaving to take ample satisfac-
lion. The late favourable to the policy
news from Syria is
of the present Ministry. The success of the English is
a ece,sary for the -
Igence has ceased painful emotions amongst the public.
It has increased the
of M. Thiers' Ad regret which was felt at the secession
aistratlon. The national sentiment
v. ould hare suffered lmaintain possession of Syria, ess
if the Pacha had been able to
gt aranteed to him by the honour
that possession which was
and fidelity of France, to
e, e t:l)sk_wFjs of the Journal des Deb
---. ' A i ghslal:P*:-
`unable to resist the alliednts. But if Mehemet
as
' et erythingseu us to fear,
tthe
Mini forces, and if, as
tosthri remainss
inactive
at d abandtkok Trotege of France
istry will no fate,at the object
of the presefo, 11 doul.t. be
limeors will be riolouadly wounded. i_
her
,_.....,..
..i......,.4.
1.,, honour.
NrZ-,11-_:. IV

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