The Sun.
London, England, 1851-10-20 00:00:00

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LONDON, MONDAY, OCrOBER 20, 1851.

Everything betokens in Paris a rapid and impor-
tant change in the political situation. By the dis-
missal of his Ministry, the Prince Louis NAPOLEON
has virtually proclaimed his adhesion to the cause
which is identical with that of the maintenance of
the democratic institutions. An occurrence of this
extraordinary character should not be regarded
lightly ; neither should it be imputed at once to the
paltry motives of administrative intrigue, or to a con-
temptible solicitude for personal aggrandisement.
Hitherto the course pursued by the Chief Magis-
trate of the Republic has been one singularly open
and above-board. From the December of 15348 to
the October of 1851, he has manifested upon all avail-
able occasions his resolve to remain truthful in his
allegiance to the interests of Republicanism. Aware
that to those interests! he was originally indebted
for his supreme position at the bead of the French Go-
vernment, he has explicitly, and in one or two memor-
able instances spontaneously, declared his determination
to act in every way in accordance with the oaths
taken by him on his first election to the Presidency.
Those solemn engagements be has not yet foregone.
_
has broken faith in no one particular with the six
millions of electors who invested him with the glory
out:heir. suffrages. Imputations are, of course, thrown
n
an amilii
against him, to the effect that he still cherishes
on to grasp the baubles of imperial autho-
rity But those imputations are basedt upon no
authentic proofs of such a hankering
saving the after th e diadem
and the sceptre,
strubourg
andtestimonies n
afforded
beg since at.
Boulogne—the
fully of those adventeiree- h;.
e.
evr-ealready been
expiitad by his six years incarceration in the dun-
the prolongation of his subse-
gecn of liam, and by
quent banishment. Guilty as he was of that
" glorious fault" before the 10th of December, since
then he has repeatedly evidenced his readiness to
bow to the will of his countrymen, and to accept
from their hands whatever responsibilities they may
deem it advisable to impose upon him—to exercise
for four years the power appertaining to rt Repub-
lican President, and on the expiration of his tenure
of office to retire again into the privacy from which
he waa summoned, by the almost unanimous
voice of the population. Such, at least,
he has pledged him-elf to do in language
admitting of no "ble misapprehension.
'Whoever questions ; possible
so _.e sincerity of his promises, does
uPon idle t assuredly conjectures—no _ .
be-
cause of any indication
the course of Louis /1' of
double dealing visible in
It is objected, however,pm:eweepportuo 's administration.
magnificent anopportunity
no one ever had so
popularity as the elect of itlle of securing to himself
might have invested
10th of December. It
is argued that he
himself with a
panoply of national enthusiasm elleh as must have
availing
rendered him invulnerable to h)
biinself of that same inestirnaableeneouliesby
installation
and
adopted a certain, distinct- prom
y-hefiltaer
ibtis
impossible
ation in the
ptPl)°drtil°itY, and
is
popular policy immediatewl
Palace of the Elysee.
gainsay the fact that Louis Neroeees possessed an
opportunity of this remarkable character, it must as
assuredly be admitted that the opportunity itself was
surrounded on all hands by a multiplicity of enor-
inoua • difficulties—difficulties, indeed, so gigantic
innumerable that their avoidance was scarcely
practicable without aid from an almost preternatural
amount of forethought. The First President of the
Republic in the winter of 1848-49—no matter who
he might have been—was in this situation, that he had

THE SUN,

to avoid giving dissatisfaction to a thousand different
paries and factions, while at the same time he adontsd
a plain and resolute line of policy. Had an archangel
descended from heaven to assume the government of
France under these most embarrassing circumstances,
he could scarcely have hoped to elude the attacks of
those who were pre-determined to behold in the con-
duct of the First President only serious cause for
reprehension, and for the most violent and virulent
animadversion. Conscious of his very delicate and
even perilous position, LOUIS NAPOLEON: appears from
the first to have acted with a sagacity befitting him
as the chief magistrate of one of the greatest
nations of Christendom. He listened attentively
to the advice of all parties, without exception,
he weighed their arguments in the balance
of his judgment, and in addition to all this appears,
moreover, to have submitted the result, upon all occa-
sions, to the test of his conscience. It is in this man-
ner that we must, in justice, regard every one of the
more important acts of his administration. He
evinced no precipitancy, no passion, no petulance,
but, at the head of his council of Ministers, directed
the affairs of the State with an air of impassible
sobriety and studious deliberation. One who has
analysed his temperament very impartially, and sub-
jected it to a scrutiny more thaa usually profound—
we mean M. GUERRONINRE—has attested as
much through the columns of the journal
conducted by M. DE LAMAIPTINE. Speaking of
the various peculiarities observable in the PEBsiDENT,
that eminently publicist has avowed his implicit cre-
dence in the honesty of LOUIS NAPOLEON. He has
observed, moreover, that in LOUIS NAPOLEON'S cha-
racter are discernible the qualities of all the most requi-
site in an administrator, those of perpetual self-pos-
session, of ever-vigilant prudence, and in addition to
these of dauntless and indomitable resolution. En-
dowed with those capacities and actuated by accor-
dant principles o f truthfulness, LOUIS NAPOLEON has
continued to preside over the administrative councils
of the French Republic in a manner such
as entitles him at the very least to the respect, if
not the confidence, of the population. It is
indisputable, no doubt, that he committed an error in
consenting to any interference whatsoever with the
working of the system of universal suffrage—he not
only committed an error in that instance, he even
went to the length of committing an act of ingrati-
tude. For he should not have forgotten that to universal
suffrage he was indebted for the six millions of votes
which raised him to the supreme post of the Presi-
dency. Yet it must likewise be acknowledged, that
his fault in that particular was traceable in
the first place to the invidious advice of
such men as M. THIERS, the real enemies
not only of Louis NAPOLEON himself, but of the very
institutions of the French Republic. Added to which,
the PRESIDENT appears almost from the outset to
have recognized his error, and the latest act of his au-
thority, the dismissal of his Ministers, is nothing less
than the preliminary step taken by him with a view
to its ulterior rectification. It was a blunder again,
and one which cannot be so ;readily forgiven or so
easily expiated, the refusal of a passage through
France to th© illustrious KOSSUTH and his compa-
triots. But, with these exceptions, the policy of
LOUIS NAPOLEON as chief magistrate of the French
Republic, has been conspicuous throughout for its
combination of candour and consistency. These
things will not be forgotten by the future annalists of
democracy, neither should they he overlooked by the
contemporary historians of civilization.

The truth of the aphorism propounded by the Duke
of IVELLINGTON.—" A great country can never make
a little war," is now in the course of practical de-
monstration at the Cape of Good llope. The accounts
brought by the Birkenhead from the seat of the war
in Kafaria are most disastrous. Our forces have, on
several occasions, been repulsed by the Kafirs, who,
in one action, withstood several desperate charges
made on them by British troops, thus proving that they
have been drilled and disciplined to an extent of which
the British had not previously any idea. Who are the
persons who have so drilled and disciplined them ?
This is a question that must be seriously investi-
gated. Again, we find it stated in a Government
Notice, dated King William's Town, September 1,
that the Commissioners appointed to hold a Court of
Inquiry in Graham's Town, to investigate the causes
that have led to the recent desertion of certain soldiers
of the Cape Corps, have reported " that such deser
tions have been caused by rumours having been
spread amongst the men that they are to be disarmed
and given over to the Fingoes and settlers ;" the
Notice concludes by declaring " that such rumours are
groundless, and if traced to their authors will subject
them to condign punishment." This is scarcely suffi-
cient ; the notice should have gone on to state that
measures had been at once adopted to discover and
arrest the authors of these rumours ; and we
cannot altogether acquit the Commissioners
themselves of the charge of having ex-
hibited great laxity (to make use of the mildest
expression) in having contented themselves with
reporting that such desertions had been caused
,by
these rumours, without at the same time taking steps
to ascertain who were the miscreants who originated
them. It is clear that the originators of these rumours
could not have been mere semi-civilised barbarians,
they must have been men not unus!d to intrigue,
men who understand the art—

" Spargere votes in vulgns Ambiguas,"
men also who have an interest in promoting the pur-
poses of the rebels, and in fanning the flames of dis-
cord between the Hottentots composing the Cape
Corps and the white settlers. The colonists them-
selves do not hesitate to accuse certain parties of a
desire to destroy the white settlers, in order to
establish a sort of theocracy of which they
themselves shall be ministers. It surely can
be no difficult matter to discover from the
soldiers of the Cape Corps themselves who are the
traitors who spread these false reports, and when
discovered they should at once be brought before a
court-martial, and if found guilty, no matter what
may be their station, speedy execution should follow
the sentence, let the sentence be what it may. The
Boers, too, we are informed are not inclined to exert
themselves very effectively in support of the British
rule. At this we are not surprised. The Boers have
been shamefully ill-used by successive Colonial
Secretaries, from Lord GLENELG downwards, who have
managed to raise feelings of active hatred in the
minds of a race naturally the most phlegmatic and
most obedient in the world. The origin of all the
Kafir wars which have happened since Lord GLE-
NELG held the seals of the. Colonial-office may be
traced to the unfortunate refusal of that nobleman
to ratify the treaty entered into by Sir B. URBAN
with the Kaki's, which would have secured to us
a military frontier, and have rendered future Kafir
wars impossible. The Noble Lord, however, chose
rather to be guided by the mistaken views of certain
very well-meaning but weak-minded persons at home,
who could not have any practical knowledge of the
subject, than by the representation of the Governor
of the Cape Colony, and the lives of some of our
bravestdevotd troops, the loyalty of some of our
subjects,most-
p
wex
d st
of
fe propertyfive m i
ui
millions
o
f British
thousands of
mcolo-
nists, and upwards
have been sacrificed,
because
natepertinacity Lord
of Earl GREY
GLENELG chose to
indulge in a crotch
in refusing to give to the
crotchet instead of being guided by com-
mon sense. The 'Asti
Cape colonists the entire
management of their own
affairs has also tended ma-
Le among the colonists,
and has tended indirectly to
terially to produce discontent
p
ved the present war.
Had the colonists been permitted to xriaavne age their
own affairs they would long since h
driven
the Kafirs into the interior, and have rear
tiered any future barbarian eruption impossible. As
it is, however, it is a bounden duty of the
mother country, having, by the mismanagement of
successive Colonial Secretaries produced the present
state of affairs, to take effectual measures to remedy
it; and having driven the Kafirs out of the colony,
to hand it over to the government of the colonists
themselves, leaving them to deal hereafter with the
Kafirs as to them may seem most fitting. Sir
Elea
" SMITH demands 10,000 men. We
hope that, i
a sufficient forre..e,
drivingou etvbeercoßnatry, and
tow war
rt
boynwei
ell send him
of 10,000, the Govern-
mentat least 15,000 men, as
thayt
lwinithout reference to numbers,
warn Earl GRIM it will
across the frontier. We
put an end to the
send out any more jeewill be worse than useless to
ELLS""Ovon told ..Mrnissioners. The Earl of
1144 Bo in May lay Pt, when he

LONDON,

advised him to send out two regiments instead of two
c9Thrnis9ionp.r4, it Would havn b.^en well th 9
colony and well for the country had the Culunial
Secretary condescended to profit by that advice.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals of Saturday
and of yesterday.
The PRESIDENT of the Republic sent on Friday for
M. BILLAULT and asked him to undertake the office
of forming a Ministry. M. BILLAULT replied that
he would with pleasure present s Bill to the Assem-
bly for the repeal of the law of the 31st of May, but
he laid down as an absolute condition of his accep-
tance of office that LOUIS NAPOLEON should abandon
the idea of starting as an unconstitutional candidate
in 1852. This brought the negotiations to a sudden
termination, and M. BILLAULT returned on Satur-
day to Nantes.
The Bulletin de Paris states that M. CARLIER, the
Prefect of Police, had a long conference with the
PRESIDENT of the Republic at St. Cloud on Thursday.
The Gazette de France says :—" A curious fact in
the present state of affairs has presented itself. M.
CARLIER, it is known, will no longer remain at the
Prefecture of Police. The PRESIDENT was, there-
fore, compelled to fill up this vacancy, and he cast his
eyes on M. DE MAUPAS, who has arrived in Paris for
that purpose. It has so happened that M. FAUCHER,
fearing that his interim may be prolonged, has re-
fused to countersign the nomination of M. DE
MaurAs, not wishing, he says, to have the responsi-
bility of a prefect of police who is not of his
choosing."
The Siir7,e has the following on the subject of the
Ministerial crisis :—" The fallen Ministers loudly
testify their discontent ; M. LEON FAUCHER in par-
ticular vents the most bitter complaints. Our readers
may remember the expression which he let fall after
the Council held on Saturday last at St, Cloud. The
PRESIDENT reiflechira et flechira: We have re-
ceived the following interesting details of that sitting.
The Ministry at the meeting on Saturday had hoped
to remove the obstacle by consenting to vague modi-
fications of the law of May 31, although that law was
perfect in its eyes. But if Paris was formerly well
worth a mass, a portfolio is well worth something else.
In doing a little violence to their conscience, the
Ministers went so far as to consent to indetermi-
nate modifications. I will reflect on it,' said M.
Louis NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, with his usual cool-
ness, on dismissing the Council, and begging the
Ministers to come and breakfast at St. Cloud at eleven
o'clock on the following Tuesday. They were punc-
tual in their attendance. The breakfast was served
at the hour fixed ; it is even said that it was excellent,
and that the party remained at table until noon. The
Amphitryon was grave and smilibg. M. LEON Kul-
CLIEIt was quasi-amiable, M. BAROCHE was excited,
end M. FOULD had that little air of raillery which so
well becomes him. Not a word of politics was spoken.
After breakfast the doors of the Council-chamber
opened, and the party took their seats round the Go•
yernmental green cloth, and there the PRESIDENT of
the Republic announced with that rare coolness of
expression which forms one of his strong points, that
he was firmly decided to propose the complete and
absolute repeal of the law of May 31, and that in
consequence the resignations of the Ministers were ac-
cepted, and that while waiting for the choice of their
successors they would be relied on to transact the
current affairs of the country. After saying this much,
the PRESIDENT rose, and after courteously saluting hie
guests, retired to the saloon, leaving them in a state of
stupefaction. Such a dismissal was, we must allow, suf-
ficient to justify the ill-humour and even the anger
which has shown for the last few days. And now
who will be the successors of these vanquished heroes?
Can it be believed, as the Constitutionnel affirms, that
the PRESIDENT, exclusively engaged with drawing up
his message, does not even think of the reconstitu-
tion of the new Cabinet ? We have, however, the
assurance given us that M. BILLAULT has received
on this subject a written overture, to which he re-
plied that he would only accept office on one
condition : that the excellent measure of the abro-
gration of the law of May 31 should not be
spoiled by any personal arriire pensie, and that
the question of the revision should be set
aside. M. BILLAULT will doubtless persist
in this wise resolution. On the other hand
Generals ins BOURIOLLY and SAINT ARNAUD,
the two possible aspirants for the portfolio of war, are
said to have declared that their devotedness to the
person and the fortune of M. Louis NAPOLBON BONA•
PARTE would never exceed the bounds of legality.
If these reports are true it may be conceived that
the Ministerial crisis may be prolonged for some time,
and that the Elysee may be embarrassed to put an
end to it. The PRESIDENT of the Republic has taken

a first step. Let him persevere in it. The enemies
of the Republic had loudly declared that the law of
May 31 was their standard, their instrument, and
their buckler. What has been taken from them with
one hand must not be restored to them with the other.
It is now a question of honour."
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Madrid journals of the 14th have arrived. Their
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