The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-09 00:00:00

irtOritit 1 :14 gritit

LONDON, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1847.

On Thursday, M. Tisians pronounced from the
tribune of the Chamber of Deputies his opinions
upon the character of the French Administration,
and upon the consequences of its criminal duplicity.
In length and bitterness, if neither in sublimity or
enthusiasm, this remarkable oration has only found a
parallel among the masterpieces of MIEABEAU. Nor
can we feel astonished that a bold and original orator
like M. THIERS should deliver sentences very far re-
moved from mediocrity upon an occasion so pecu-
liarly calculated to elicit all his intellectual energies.
What, let us ask, is the position, what are the
dangers, what are the difficulties into which his
native country has been drawn, by the unprincipled
audacity of his political antagonists? Why, those
men are found to have abused the authority reposed
in their hands by a generous and confiding people—
by their odious dereliction of their most sacred duties
they have surrounded France with enemies—by
their execrable abandonment of truth they
have placed that great empire in a perilous
and ominous isolation. "La France," exclaimed
M. Tunas at the very commencement of his bar-
rangue, "La France, par l' evenment deplorable de
Cracovie, est separee des puissances du continent ; par
les mariages Espugnols elle est separee de l' Angle-
terre." Those are the external miseries entailed
upon that country through the proceedings of the
existing Cabinet. Internally the involvements of the
exchequer and the impoverishment visible in several
of the provinces can only be attributed to a similar
mal-administration. Such were the materials which
furnished M. TIIIERS with those crushing missiles of
sarcasm, vituperation, scorn, and impassioned apos-
trophe which he hurled in such overwhelming abun-
dance upon the heads of his adversaries.
On Friday M. GuizoT replied to the ac-
cusations of his opponent, but his lan-
guage was no longer that of an unimpeachable
politician, of a dignified statesman, of a candid
and credible debater. No epithet is superlative
' enough to express the depth of his present debate-
• meat. Only the elegiac tautology of DRYDEN will
. suffice : he has
"Fallen, fallen, fallen, fallen,
Fallen from his high estate."
•
•

The very efforts made by M. GUIZOT to conciliate
his fellow-countrymen only lead to his further crimi-
nation. Instead of
_excusing his hypocrisy en the
plea of an extraordinary emergency, or for the pur-
pose of ensuring to France an enormous and rightful
extension of territory, M. GLIZOT exults in that hy-
pocrisy for its own sake—for the tact it ex-
hibits—for the wiliness it evinces. Ho has done
a clever thing, and he loudly rejoices in its
cleverness. He cares not the splitting of a straw
fur inasmuch that it is dishonourable. What is honesty,
what is probity,what is the value ofthe most immaculate
reputation when compared with the performance of a
diplomatic trick like that of the Montpensier mar-
riage? The Balearic Islands would be splendid in-
sular pickings for the colonial Minister, no doubt of
it: the actual incorporation of the Spanish Peninsula
with France would have been a magnificent revival
of the Imperial system of annexation, it cannot be de-
nied : the acquisition of a snug harbour or so on the
Mediterranean would have been not altogether unac-

ceptable to the nation, we admit ;—but what are these
achievements, what is the most stupendous deed of
political spoliation or of territorial aggrandisement
in comparison with the exhibition of the talent of
Monsieur le Ministre des Affaires Etrangeres ? What
are the holiest rights of a friendly nation, what are
the most solemn engagements, the most implicit
assurances, the most distinct and reiterated avowals,
when weighed in the balance with that ? Nothing—
nothing. Clothe his remarks as he may, in all the
masquerade of Ministerial generalities, and in all the
glitter of conventional terms, that is literally the basis
of M. GuszoT's harangue. Anything more vile
cannot be adduced from the most shameful chapters
of the most odious histories of the most abandoned
Governments. M. GUIZOT has diced awry one of the
fairest names and one of the most enviable
reputations that can be found in the records
of modern statesmanship. He has hazarded the
respect accumulated by years of honourable toil
in the most eminent of all professions upon
one casting of the die. He has plainly cheated in
so doing, and his dishonesty has been disclosed to the
world. With the true recklessness of a ruined
gambler, he throws to the winds all show of repug-
nance at the contemptible vice of which he has been
proved guilty, and has the impudence—the impudence
TO BOAST of his diplomatic knavery ! Quonne
tandem abutere patientia nostra ? The aspersions of
M. GUIZOT upon the characters of Lord PALMERSTON
and the Marquis of NORMANDY form their highest
encomiums.

Whenever the defenders of our country are called
into action, either by sea or land, and gain the
victory over the enemy as they generally do, even
under most untoward circumstances, the English de-
light in both aiding and prompting the Crown to
evince the feelings of national gratitude by some
signal marks of favour, general and special. But
inasmuch as the end and object of all civilised Go-
vernments is to preserve peace, as far as they can,
consistently with the maintenance of their national
honour, it happily results that, with the spread of
civilisation, the occasions for testing the prowess of
our military and maritime forces become less fre-
quent.
It is, however, a political :-.2xiom that peace is
best preserved by nations being best prepared for
war; and, it must be reluctantly conceded that years
will roll on before the social aspect of the difierent
enlightened kingdoms, both in the old and the new
world, will be sufficiently improved to warreat
a safe reliance upon the continuance of
peace, independent of warlike preparation Seeing,
then,
how much we are indebted for the blessings of
peace to the efficient discharge of many arduous
duties which nece •
Neptunsesar'lly devolve upon the sons of
Mars and
provident
n or their
of. tranquillity, we
ought to be
lotting liberally and
generously recompepsed for the valuable, though it
theirmay services,beeouunntorsytrtlavtieouhsalefor
whichyearsi perpetually depre-
catedaristocratical in-
fluences and prejudices have been suffered ffthered to close u
the avenues of distinction against
p
e filling the
s
the unjust manner in
humbler ranks in the navy and army,who
( not to be possessed of the adventitious advantages de.
L rivable from wealth or powerful connexions. The