The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-12 00:00:00

We have received the Paris papers of Thursday.

The most interesting article in them is the follow-
ing from the Presse, on the subject of the opening
the trade to Japan :
" The voyage of Rear-Admiral Cecille to Japan, and
the reception which the French squadron there me
with, is, in part, explained by a very remarkable fact, of
which we had heard before the arrival of the last maid
from the Red Sea, but which appeared to us to need con
firmation. It is now averred that a short time before
the conclusion of the peace between England and China.
in 1843, the King of the Netherlands addressed to tht
:anperor of Japan a friendly letter, having for ohjece
the abolition, in that distant kingdom, of the exclusivt
system practised for the last three centuries with respect
to foreigners. his Majesty enumerated with much de-
Lail the events which have forced the Chinese empire to
multiply in spite of itself its points of contact with all tht
nations of the world ; and inferred from this new state o'
things that, as Japan, from the vicinity of llong-Kong and
Chusan, could not escape a similar fate, it would be pm-
:lent to anticipate a crisis by means of concessions which
would satisfy Europeans and prevent all unfriendly col
lision with them. As a natural consequence of thi,
prudent course, the King of the Netherlands engaged his
cousin, the Emperor of Japan, to extend to all foreign
Hags the faculty, hitherto enjoyed by the Dutch exclu-
sively, of trading with Nangasaki, and further to opei
on the same general footing two or three other ports
either the great island of Niphon, or an island of Yesso'
tfhe forcmo,or in
t. hlatviinsg very it conveyed to
The letter was sent in the original to M. Beck, the chief
of the Dutch factory at Nangasaki, who succeeded, after
rare for the
.communications of the Dutch to be placed under the
eyes of the Emperor ; they are regarded as too unim-
portant for the leisure of so great a potentate ; on this
Vemd de o ,the difficulties
sent
of
o
occasion, however, the question appeared to be of toe
;rave a nature fur the Ministers to take upon them
selves the responsibility- of a solution, and M. Beck ob
mined the certitude that the letter of his Sovereign liar
reached the Japanese monarch. Two years passed
without any reply being given. It had been remarked
that on several points of the coast the most open to e.
'ending more activity than formerly was displayed ie
the works of fortification ; but this was generally attri-
buted to a belief of the Japanese that several English
vessels, which had been driven into these latitudes bo
storms, were come to invade the country. At lengtli,
however, the Emperor of Japan has sent to the King o'
the Netherlands a reply, of which the following is the
substance:--' I have watched with attention the events
which have brought about a fundamental change in the
policy of the Chinese empire, and these very events.
upon which you base the advice which you give to me,
are for me the most evident proof that a kingdom can
never enjoy a durable peace without the rigorous exclu
sion of all foreigners. If China had never permitted the
English to establish themselves on a large scale at Canton
and to take root there, either the quarrels which caused
the war would not have taken place, or the English would
have found themselves so weak that they would have at
once sunk in the conflict. But from the moment when
China allowed herself to be touched on one point she
rendered herself vulnerable on others. This was the
reasoning of my great ancestor when he granted you the
faculty of trading with Japan, and, but for the proofs of
friendship which you had frequently given to our coun-
try, it is certain that you would have been excluded, as
dll the nations of the west have been. Now that you
are in possession of this privilege, I am willing that you
should continue to enjoy it ; but I will take care not to
extend it to any other nation, for it is easier to maintain
a dyke in good preservation than to prevent the enlarge-
ment of the breaches which are permitted in it. I have
given orders to my officers in consequence, and the future
will prove to you that our.poiicy is wiser than that of the
Chinese empire."
We do not place implicit reliance on this statement
of the Presse, which, be it remembered, is the organ
of the Russian autocrat, who is closely connected by
intermarriages with the King of HoLLAND. Holland
has always been jealous of any attempts at interfering
with her monopoly of the Japan trade, and we doubt
much whether the representations were made to the
Japanese Government in the manner stated. It is
no reason, because the French and Dutch have failed,
that the English should not succeed, and we hope
that no time will be lost in sending a proper Embassy
to Jeddo.

The affair of the French Consul in the Mauri-
tius is the subject of
comment in most of these papers.
The National Says, after quoting the account
which we gave yesterday—
" Such are the facts as they are reported. Hitherto
the offence appears evidently to have been given by an
English agent to a nprese -itative of France, and yet
England has been the first to complain; for we are
assured that M. Guizot has received from London a
dispatch, couched in very strong terms, demanding the
recal of M. Barbet de Jouy,
and threatening, in case of
delay, to withdraw his exematur,
which is saying, in
fact, that he shall be turned out of this land. It is thus
shown that Lord Palmerston eagerly seizes all oppor-
tunities, good or bad, to exc'.to misunderstanding and
create a quarrel. But this time neither a marriage nor
a dower is in question, and, though he spends his ill-
humour upon another affair, he is convinced that he will

DECE

Itri 13 Flit 12,

find M. Guizot as yielding, mid accommodating as he
was hatiu:hty, stiff, and tenacious in the matter of
30,000,000 f."

The Quotidienne which, like all the Legitimatist
organs, is of course but too happy to have an oppor-
tunity of finding fault with English officials, com-
ments upon this occurrence in the same strain, and
lauds the French Consul to the skies. In remarking
on the demand of Lord PALMERSTON for the recal of
M. BARRET DE JOUY, the Quotidienne says—
" The answer to this imperious demand would he easy
for other men. Has not England a consul at Algiers
without any regular exequatur, and whose residence
the re has been for sixteen years a living protest against
the glorious conquest of the Restoration, an insult sub-
-mated to with marvellous patience ? But it is fnu.th
mu re in conformity with the temperament of the systeme
to recal M. Barhet de Jouy. His name will be inscribed
on the long and honourable list of the disavowed, which
was opened with the name of Admiral Dupetit Thouars."
The Dgbats has a long article on the affairs of
America, in the course of which it rejoices at the fall
of Mr. POLE, which it anticipates cannot be much
longer delayed. It speaks, indeed, of his defeat as of
un fait accompli, and adds :
‘• Mr. Polk has been beaten because he deserved to be
so, for entering upon an unjust war, perilous not only
for the honour of the American arms, but for the very
institutions of his country, and for carrying on this im-
politic war with great rashness and great want of finan-
cial foresight."

Almost all the journals comment on the wording of
M. GUIZOT'S protest against the annexation of
Cracow, which we gave yesterday from the Presse.
The Opposition papers all consider it as a very tame
affair, utterly deficient in that energy which it wa s
said it would exhibit, and concerning which the
organs of the Ministry have recently made such a
flourish.

It was rumoured on the Bourse on Thursday that
the Spanish Ministry had resigned.
COURS AUTIIENTIQUE..—PARISt DEC.lo.—French Five per
Cents., 118 f. sc. 10c.; Four per Cents., 103 f. 60c. Three per
Cents., 80f. 80c. 83c. 80c. 85c. 90c. 85c. ; Bank Actions,
3,195 E; Rente de Naples (Rothschild's), 102 f. 50e. ; Romans,
00 ; Belgian Five Per Cents. (1840), 100 k a ; Five per
Cents. (1842), 101; Spanish, 83. Exchange on London—
one month, money, 25f. 45c. ; three months, money, 25f. 30c.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, DECEMBER 11.
Anglo-Belgian, 3—Dutch Rhenish, 47i—East Indian, 5/4
—Jamaica South Midland Junction, Ik—Luxembourg, 3,1
—Orleans and Bordeaux, B—Paris and Lyons Constituted,
s—Paris and Strasbourg Constituted, 4—Sambre and Meuse,
41/2—Tournay, Jurbise, Landen, and Hasselt, 614—West
Flanders, 27i.