The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-27 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, JUNE 27, 1870.

Supposing the Legislative Body should, as is very
probable, take a favourable view of the appeal re-
cently addressed to its sense of justice by the Princes
of the House of Orleans—who are still, as they have
been for these last twenty-two years, exiles here in
England—the return to France of the Comte de
PARIS, of the Duo de CHARTRES, of the Duc D'Au-
MALE, and of the Prince de JOINVILLE will only more
conspicuously than ever signalise the consolidation of
the Liberalised Empire under Napoleon 111. The law
requiring to be repealed, that of the 26th of May,
1848, was one passed by the Republican Assembly.
Directly or indirectly,; his Majesty had nothing what-
ever to do.with it. By sweeping it aside or allow-
ing it, in the course of things, to be swept aside by
the Legislature of France, now, under his own
regime, the Emperor will in no way be dero-
gating from his own dignity, he will be con-
ceding nothing that can militate against his own in-
terests, he will, in point of fact, be materially
strengthening his dynastic position by an act of sig-
nal and conspicuous magnanimity. Under the elder
branch of the House of BOURBON, the Imperial
family were one and all, without exception, pro-
scribed. Their proscription was continued inexorably
after the accomplishment of the Revolution of July.
And, considering the daring attempts made—only a
little prematurely, as history has long since demon-
strated (the pear simply not being then ripened)—at
Strasburg and at Boulogne, it could be no wonder
to H. I. H. Prince LOUIS NAPOLEON, that the general
or comprehensive proscription of the whole race of
BONAPARTE applied more stringently and more
pointedly than ever during the reign of Louis
PHILIPPE, to the head of the Imperial house, to the
heir of the great EMPEROR. Throughout the whole
of their sojourn as exiles, here, in England, at Clare-
mont and at Twickenham, the Princes of the
House of Orleans have never once acted to-
wards France and the French Government, other-
wise than with loyal impassibility. There has been
no scheming, or plotting, or intriguing of any
kind, with a view to the recovery of their
lost position, any more than there has been
any attempt of that character on the part of the
solitary representative of the other branch of the
House of Bourbon, the Comte DE CHAMBORD, or
HENRI CINQ, as he is called among his adherents.
The Emperor NAPOLEON 111., with honour to him-
self and without running in any way the hazard of
jeopardising the tranquility of France, might very
reasonably, as he will in all human probability, con-
cede both to the chief of the Bourbons and to
the whole of the Orleans Princes, the right
claimed by the latter of entering France
simply as Frenchmen, that is as merely pri-
vate individuals. His Majesty's position is so securely
strengthened, his authority as a constitutional so-
vereign is so firmly consolidated, his dynastic in-
terests have been so recently guaranteed by upwards
of seven million affirmative votes, his personal popu-
larityis so unmistakably assured, that he has nothing
to lose, it will be, on the contrary, wholly and simply
to the good, his once more showing himself,
in another striking instance, resplendent in his
magnanimity. He has done so before now on
memorable occasions. He did so when he re-
leased ABD-EL.KADER from captivity. lie did so
when he had BERANGER interred with full military
honours. Let him show himself yet more signally
magnanimous, now, in the instance of these Princes of
the House of Orleans, by permitting them freely to
take their place among his subjects as only so many,
Frenchmen the more, as so many added units to the
aggregate of the population.

Mn. HARDY'S hint as to what would happen to the
Land Bill in " another place " is being amply
realised. The peers are continuing their huckstering
with the utmost energy. On Thursday the Conserva-
tive majority in the Upper House contrived to reduce
the scale of compensation for arbitrary disturbance
of the tenant in his holding, so that a £2O occu-