The Sun.
London, England, 1851-01-24 00:00:00

' _E SUN,

would be forgotten in the splendours of an imperial
coronation. As if to afford the most striking con-
tradiction to this calumny, the Prince LOUIS NAPO-
LEON forthwith desired the attendance at his palace
of the most distinguished member of the Provisional
Government, the hero of February, the statesman
who of all men in France may be regarded as the
most like the visible impersonation of Republicanism.
Much curiosity has of course been excited by the
lengthened interviews between Louis NAPOLEON and
LAMARTIND. Rumours of all kinds have naturally
been afloat in consequence; among which we have
been assured very confidentially that, in answer to
the application made to M. DE LAMARTINE by the
PRESIDENT to the effect that he should undertake
the construction of a Cabinet., the illustrious
statesman replied that he could not undertake to do
so upon any other condition than that a measure should
at once be introduced for the revocation of the elec-
toral law—a proviso most comprehensible, coming as
it does from the lips of the author of that memorable
decree which gave to France the prerogatives of uni-
versal suffrage. 'While assuring the Prince that such
must absolutely be the understanding arrived at be-
tween them, prior to the formation of any Ministry of
the kind proposed,M. DE LAaaAUTINE, with a magnani-
mous self-abnegation singularly characteristic of his
genius, acknowledged that to his mind nothing
,could by possibility be more impolitic than the
selection of himself as the person to be en-
trusted at present with Ministerial responsibilities.
His personal influence he confessed to be so strangely
deteriorated on all hands in the Legislative Assembly
that he could look for little sympathy either from the
Right or the Left, from the Centre or the Mountain
of the Legislature. The avowal, we say, was emi-
nently characteristic of the self-abnegation of LA-.
MARTINE, and, at the same moment, was a sort of
voluntary expiation for what some have regarded as
his diseased vanity and his insatiable thirst for popu-
larity. Fallen from his lofty position as one of the
most influential statesmen on the continent, deprived
of that prestige which at one period invested him with
the irresponsible authority of Dictatorship, LA-
MARTI3III has a patriotism so sound and impartial
that •he comes forward spontaneously to advocate
the interests of Lours NAPOLEON wben the Prince
is being deserted by almost all of his pretended par.
tisans, and a magnanimity so generous and compre-
hensive as to set aside the allurements of office rather
than aid in any manner in multiplying present
embarrassments.

Meanwhile it should not be forgotten that the great
statesman above alluded to has, throughout these
transactions, had to deal with a man as noble in his
temperament as himself, as patriotic in his ambition,
and as magnanimous in his character. Since the
period of his elevation to the supreme rank of Repub-
lican President, Louis Nes. oLisosi has shown
himself in every way worthy of the respect
of the nation by which he has been chosen as its
chief magistrate. His acts have been most consis-
tently in accordance with his professions. His oaths
have been preserved inviolably. His demeanour has
in all respects been befitting the head of a great
democracy, the elected of six millions of Freue.h-
Without any affectation of eloquence
or sententiousness, his speeches upon all
public occasions have been conceived in th•
happiest mood imaginable, sagacious in their style,
moderate in their tendency, and dignified in their
utterance. Many and various, however, as are the
claims possessed by LOUIS NAPOLEON on our admi-
ration for his conduct during upwards of two years
of his Presidency, not one incident as yet recorded
of him throughout the whole of that period can be men-
tioned as at all comparable to his recent treatment of
the Assembly and his noble and heroic reply to M.
Duns?, its President. It will not be speedily lost to
the general remembrance, that when M. DUPIN inti-
mated to LOUIS NAPOLEON the intention of the
Assembly to surround itself with an army of
50,000 men, in the event of the dismissal
of CHANGARNIER, the Prince replied in a tone of
dignity and self-possession—" If the Assembly
ventures upon that act of suspicion, I shall follow it
up by an act of confidence ; if the Assembly sur-
rounds itself with an army of 60,000 men, I will dis-
miss even the sentinels of my palace, the citizens of
the capital shall be my defenders, I will walk through
the streets of Paris in plain clothes and without
attendants !" Noble and chivalric language—language
worthy of having fallen even from the lips of the
EMPEROR. While such continues to be the policy of
the Prince LOUIS NAPOLEON, he may set at open de-

men.

fiance the trickeries of THIERS, the treason of BER•
RYER, and the arrogant ambition of CFIANGARNIHR,
relying upon those generous impulses of the
French character which create the national
sympathy for whatever is heroic in its bearing or
tendency. Especially may such be his reliance on
the future, while among the list of the contemporary
statesmen of the Republic can be recognised the
name of such an one as the poet administrator,
LAMARTINII.

We had hoped that the theological portion of the
marriages affinity question had been finally disposed
of. The discussion had been already carried on both
in and out of Parliament usque ad nauseam, and the
stale and unfounded pretext of " a Scriptural prohi-
bition" had been long since formally abandoned by the
most strenuous advocates for the continuance of the
existing restriction. During the debates last session
the case was argued simply on the point of " social
inexpediency." It was really too absurd fur any per-
son possessing the slightest knowledge of the prin-
ciples relating to the correct interpretation of disputed
passages to affirm that there was any prohibition,
express or implied, against such connexions con-
tained in the Mosaic law. The lath chap-
ter of Leviticus is the portion of the
Pentateuch chiefly relating to the subject—we say
chiefly, because it is from it that the objectors endea-
vour to support their singularly distorted views.
They rely on the 16th and liii verses. Some persons
have had the folly and audacity to assert that the 18th
verse contains a direct commandment on the sub-
ject. Never was there a greater piece of absur-
dity ; the text is, indeed, decisive, but it
is a powerful and unequivocal authority
on the other side, and conclusive as to the propriety
of such marriages. It enacts a certain law for a
limited period, and it gives the very reason why that
provision is made. In that it differs from almost
every other rule laid down in the code of laws deli-
vered by Moses to the Jewish nation. The rule,
whatever it may be, is generally laid down
broadly, but no cause is assigned to sa-
tisfy the people as to its policy or
expediency. It is, however, different in the present
instance. And we may easily believe that it appeared
necessary to the inspired lawgiver to show why it is
that he forbids a practice that had been adopted even
by ISRAEL himself, the patriarch and founder, and
common progenitor of the whole nation. " Neither
shall thou take a wife to her sister to vex her
- • , besides the other in her lifetime." Here
there is the time during which the prohibition is
continued, the lifetime of the first wife. A clearer
permission to marry after that time could not be
produced. If a penalty or civil disability were im-
posed upon a party during the existence of particular
circumstances the moment these circumstances
were changed the prohibition falls to the
ground, and the party is remitted to his original
and natuosl rights, whatever they might be. Be-
fore this law a party might marry his wife's sister at
any period, for polygamy was sanctioned and tole-
rated. JACOB did so, and it was found to be incon-
venient and attended with evil ; therefore, in order to
prevent similar annoyance, it was forbidden by the
great great-grandson of that very JACOB, the de-
scendant of the neglected LEA", who might
be supposed to have sympathised with the
sufferings and heartburnings of his afflicted ances-
tress. " Neither shalt thou take a wile to her sister
to vex her." If the first wife were removed by death,
if her worldly cares and sorrows had for ever termi-
nted, how could she " be vexed" by any subsequent
act of her quondam partner? There is a legal
maxim, the accuracy of which has never been
impugned, which is conclusive on this point—
" Ces.sat ratio, cessat lex." When the cause fur
which
a law is enacted terminates, the law itself ceases also.
Here the cause, the vexation of the first wife, is re-.
moved by her death, and therefore there is a virtual
remove 1 of the prohibition founded, and this would be
amply sufficient, even if there was not the subsequent
limitation, "besides the other in her lifetime."
Dr. rIJOST) whose Traoterian followers—the