The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-31 00:00:00

TIIE SUN,

that were brought forward in the brilliant oration of
the talented reviewer of the session. Seeing the un-
exampled difficulties that have been encountered, we
may well rejoice that, although we have not to congra-
tulate ourselves upon any great progress that has
been made, we have not to deplore any serious
or formidable retrogression.

The forms of the House that compel a large and
overwhelming majority to yield to the opposition of a
turbulent and factious minority should be mndified,
and means should be taken to prevent licensed bores
from unduly trespassing on the patience of the
House, so that we should not at the end of the session
hear of two Members having consumed no less than
five• weeks of the session--a statistical fact, which
was put forward by the Honourable Member for
Middlesex amid the applauding cheers of the wearied
Members who had such painful eiperience of the
loquacious powers of the gentlemen in question.
Let this be effected early in the ensuing session,
and we shall then have less discussion, and more per-
formance, and not again have to complain of a
wasted session, neglected opportunities, and mis-
spent time.

Is the liberty of the Press to be abolished in France?
This is a question which just now agitates the public
mind at Paris, and it is a question which interests
Europe. Yes, insignificant as it may be considered
by the members of the Assembly, it is a question of
European interest. Should that momentous question
be answered in the affirmative— should it be decided
that the liberty of the press is to be abolished, as
surely as France has just been shaken by one revolu-
tion will she, ere long, be agitated by another. Is it
likely—is it within the limits of possibility—that a
nation who, to acquire a' full exercise of their
national liberties, have exposed themselves to all the
horrors of tumult and insurrection, who have deposed
their King—their own chosen King, because he
attempted to play the tyrant—who have changed
their form of government, and disorganized their
whole political system, because it imposed too many
fetters on their freedom—is it possible that that nation
will, on the field of victory, surrender all the fruits
of their labours, and give-up the prize so hardly
struggled for, and so dearly purchased ? Can any sane
man credit such a preposterous idea for a moment ?
When the revolution commenced in Paris, spread
over Europe, and kings shook on their thrones, and
nations clamoured for their national rights, what was
the first evidence of the triumph of the Revolution—
what was the first boon voluntarily conceded by pru-
dent monarchs as the best token of their liberation—
what
was first and most imperatively demanded by
every people inspired with a new-born independence
—what gloriously signalised the progress of liberalism
as it established itself in the strongholds of despotism ?
The emancipation of the press ! Throughout the
continent, wherever a whisper of national rights was
heard, wherever a breath of freedom found its way,
there the liberty of the press was established forthwith,
and its establishment was a significant, a
gloriously significant—fact. We hailed it as
such at the time. At the time when our
eolumns were daily filled with some new
tidings of revolution, and when those tidings,
from whatever quarter they arrived, never failed to
declare, among the first and most important intelli-
gence, " the liberty of the press has been established in
such a state"—we hailed it with sentiments of the
most profound exultation, as a conclusive evidence of
the triumph of the popular cause. When the liberty
of the press was conceded to the Italians—when the
land of GUTTEMBERG for the first time obtained the
free enjoyment of his glorious invention—when in
Austria—even in Austria—such a recognition
of the popular existence was tolerated, we felt, indeed
that we had cause to rejoice. We rejoiced over the

new life infused into hitherto dormant members of

the family of nations ; for the press is, as we have
continually repeated, the Voice of the People. If that
be silenced, the voiceless nation almost ceases to exist.
It can no longer declare its wants and wishes—it can
no longer expose its grievances or denounce its
wrongs. Unable to care for itself, it ceases to
be cared for. Unable to protect itself, it is
trampled on and bound down in fetters, and,
being dumb, it cannot cry for succour.
Knowing as we did, and appreciating as we did, the
power and the privileges of those people who were
enabled to make themselves heard, we rejoiced in
witnessing the great extensions of that national
faculty occasioned by the recent revolution. But
now, now, when the triumph is so far complete, we
are told, and we can scarcely credit the evidence of
our ears, that in France—in France /—the liberty of
the press is to be virtually abolished ! In France
—in the very theatre of the triumphs of

liberty—in Republican France ! That such a thing
should ever really come to pass we do not for a mo-
ment entertain the slightest fear, but the bare enun-

ciation of such a project fills us with astonishment.
Abolish the liberty of the press in France, when
Italy, and Germany, and Austria are possessed of it I

To bring back in 1848 a tyranny which was intole-
rable in 1830—to establish under the auspices of a Re-
public a system so iniquitous that crowned despots
hare abandoned it 1— the bare idea fills us with
overwhelming astonishment, and moreover with un-
utterable indignation.

Francais pour roue, ah quel outrage! Quel transport
cela duit exciter,
C'est roue qu'on ose mediter de rendre a l'antique es.
clavage."

Notwithstanding the ominous proceedings of the
Legislature, proceedings which have called forth the
indignant remonstrances of the Parisian journalists,
we cannot believe that the project will ever really be
put in practice. If it be, it can be only for a very
brief period. The people will not long sub-
mit, if they submit at all, to such an in-
fringement of their rights. No Provisional
Government, no National Assembly, no General
CAvAIGNAc even can enforce such an act of tyranny.
We again repeat it seriously and solemnly. If the
liberty of the press be abrogated in France—if the

object of the revolution be thus originally defeated—
if the Republic be thus disgraced, and the name of
Liberty thus insulted, the Republic, or at all events
the Republic as at present constituted, will not endure

another revolution, or it will speedily efface the traces

of the (in that case )fruitless Revolution of February,

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

The Paris journals of yesterday have arrived.
General CAYAIGNAC has returned a peremptory
refusal to the request of the King of SARDINIA, that
Marshal BUGEAUD should take command of the army
of Piedmont.

As yet no definite reply has been received from
the Austrian Government in reference to the joint
mediation of France and England, at which silence
the newspapers of Paris are beginning to evince
annoyance.

Later intelligence from Paris brings the following
mportant announcement :

6" The answer to the offer of their mediation made to
Austria by England and France reached the Marquis of
Normanby yesterday by a courier of Lord Ponsonby,
who subsequently went on to London. Austria does not
refuse the proferred mediation. She merely expresses
a hope that, through the intervention of the Central
German Power at Frankfort, peace may be directly
concluded between Marshal Radetaky and King Charles
Albert.*

The Moniteur du 'Voir says it was not the Prince
DE BEAUYEAU who was killed by a deplorable acci-
dent near the chateau, but M. DE SAINTS ALDIP-

GONDI.

The Moniteur publishes the usual returns of the
importations and exportations of France for the
mppth of July, and also for the first seven months
of 1848, with a comparative table for the corre-
sponding periods of 1846 and 1847. From this table
it appears that the exports, though considerably
greater than in June, are still deplorably low. The
duties received on importations for July, 1846, were
to the amount of 12,957,914 f. ; for July, 1847,
11,507,483 f.; and for July, 1848, only 7,285,570 f. For
the first seven months of 1846 the duties received
amounted to 87,634,664 C ; for the same period of
1847 to 77,464,158 f. ; and of 1848 to 45,446,4241.
The exportations, especially French manufactured
articles, show a similar falling otr. The erdrepots
are still gorged with merchandise, for which there is
no outlet.

In addition to the intelligence already given in
The Sun respecting the escape of Louts BLANC, we
may transcribe the following paragraph from the
Spectateur Republicain of yesterday :
" After the sitting of the National Assembly on
Saturday morning, M. Louis Blanc, accompanied by a
friend, got into a hackney carriage, and went direct to
St. Denis, where he arrived at halt past seven. The
train for Brussels had just passed, and M. Louis Blanc
had to wait two hours for the next train. On its
Arrival he separated from his friend, and started for
Belgium, with the sole object of avoiding the rigours of
imprisonment before trid."