The Sun.
London, England, 1856-06-07 00:00:00

spirit of the Public Journals.

(From the Morning Advertiser.)

. .
A LA7 reek 3 ago, when. t.,11 our cont-omporaries 7:
bri.)ito into raptures of adaiiij'ag at the• ',-
dauntless attitude of the Beluian Ministry, on. the.' '
question of the liberty of the Press, this journal,
alone spoke words of caution to the enthusiasts.

We refined to allow our reason to• be led ,captive,
by the c:. patriotic speech " of Count Vilain XITZ
We begged our readers to recollect that the King .
of thO Belgians is,-after all, a Coburg, .and thatlis
act 3, for the last seven years past,half-a been re.
marlable for anything but an energetic resistalice"."'l*
to Bonapartist 'encroachments. We besought the:,
friends of freedom not to indulge in the fond Ler
lief that the danger is over, and warned them- that__
the daring speech of the Belgian Foreign Minister,
which had been received with such thundering ap-
plause, might possibly have been extemporised
more for the sake of the expediency of the moment
than for the assertion of any fixed political charac-
ter or principle. _ _ _

A confirmation of our misgivings has already
made its appearance. The echo of the enthusiastic
scene in the Brussels Chambers bad hardly died
out when, behold, the Moniteur Beige qualified-all-
this patriotic ebullition, by declaring that Count
Vilain only meant to deny any change being con-
templated in the Constitution,—but that, as to the
laws of the Press, " Government fully reserved to
itself the liberty of proposing, at the.epportune,

moment, any modifications ivflich might appear ne-

eessary in the liberty granted to the Pres; -!" This

explanation, by the official organ of King Leopold,
appeared to us foreshadowing evil days. And our
apprehensions were certainly not allayed when it
became known that the communication in ithe
Moniteur Beige had forthwith been " honoured"
_ _

by a letter of Congratulation from Louis Bonaparte.
It is true, it was urged at the time, by certain
wise politicians, that the letter of congratulation
had only been written for the purpose of backing
out of an awkward position, and that, in reality,
the Court of .the Tuileries had nothing to congra-
tulate itself upon in its relations with Belgium.
On our part, our readers will remember, we re-
gretted we could not participate in so hopeful an
opinion. We persisted in making known our ap-
prehension that treachery was lurkingiu the Royal
chateau at Laeken. Unfortunately, if the recent

news given by a contemporary can be relied on,
our foreboding was not without reason ; and the
less cheering view we Lai taken of the cha-
racter of the Belgian King was, after all, the
one nearest the truth. Intelligence comes; ifideed,

from Paris, to the effect that the project of a law
against the press, intended to be laid before the
new Chambers in Belgium, in pursuance of the

engagements given by G6vermilent,. applies to
three things in particular—viz., the stamp, the
signing of the article with the Author's name,
and the power given to the law officers of the
Crown to institute proceedings without the ne-
cesity of a previous demand from a-foreign Go-
vernment."

This short notice, if confirmed and realised, con-
taini the doom of Belgian liberty and independence.
The enforcement of the stamp, or timbre royal,

_
would degrade Belgian journalism to the position.
of a badge-bearing servant of the Court. The
signing of the article, in abject imitation of Bona-
partist law, would deprive the press of its prestige
as an embodiment of political feeling. The con-
centrated action of the press, which now draws
strength from its large and general character,
would thus be neutralised, and the great ;or-
gans of political bodies be split up into a dis-
jointed collection of individual -opinions.: The
third stipulation, that the Crown officers -ought
to be empowered to act as prosecutors for
foreign Courts, without these latter even officially
asking for it, would definitively convert' the 'Go-
vernment of Belgium into a succursale. for all
the despotisms in the world. In future, the'police
of Louis Bonaparte, Francis Joseph, or Frederick
William would only have to give some secret talis-
manic signal, and the Attorneys-General.of Belgium
would require no further instruction:to propped on
their work of persecution. Every tyrant would be
enabled to gratify his vengeance. through -the me-
dium of the Belgian law, without attracting his
duo share of the odium, or incurring the risk of
defeat. Thus Belgium would constitute Itself the
guardian of the sensitive " honcir'.', of the heroes
of coups d'etat.
We need not say how much the -introduction of
such laws would be contrary to the spirit, of the
fundamental statutes of Belgium. The. Decree of
the Belgian Government of October 16;1830, as
well as the section 18 of the Constitution,_are, in-
deed, in perfect contradiction to the impediments
which, it is alleged, are in preparation against the
freedom of the Press. Unhappily the character of
the King is such that it is difficult to refuse credit
to any rumour merely because it charges him
with anti-constitutional projects. In his perseve-
rance of undermining gradually the liberties of the
people, King Leopold but too much'reserables his
late father-in-law, the worthless .Louis Philippe.
The whole career of the King of Belgium .has been
spent in continual exertions to get-rid of the-
ral party, and to. install the
.party composed of
Conservatives, Jesuits, and noblea, who look to
Austria as the mainstay of politioal-ordek It may
be said that this is a suicidal policy,-not:in accord-
ance with the shrewdness of mind King- Leopold
undoubtedly possesses. Still it is a fact not to be
denied that such has been his course of policy for
twenty-five years. Instead of strengthening the
Liberal principle, on which the national indepen-
dence of Belgium could be firmly based, the King
has rather preferred satisfying his petty absolutis-
tic leanings, even at the risk of the security of his
new-fangled dynasty.
It cannot be alleged as an excuse for him that,
in his chaaacter of a ruler of a weak state, he is
compelle:l to follow in the wake of everyneigh-
boating despotic power. Were this principle of
cowardly submission to be acted upon, the Belgians
might as well have remained under the rule of
the house of Orange ; for very little -their revo-
lution will have benefited them.". -.Having once
established their independence, . it is necessary
they watch ever it, otherwiSe "they. Wilt reduce
it to an empty name, and—proptee:vitamevivendi
verdere causas. Moreover, granting the fuliamount
of the pressure that is brought to bear upon Bel-
gium, it must be borne in mind that the'very mul-
tiplicity of influences from abroad: is • Calctilated to
have a neutralising effect, to a certain degree, upon
each other. Be that, however, as. it may, in any
case the King was not forced by foreign influence
to educate his sons in bigotry the names of
Jesuits ; neither did the force of
.circurnstances
compel him to intermarry his dynasty with the
despotic and encroaching house of Hapsburg, the
arch-enemy of Belgian independenee. Yet, all this
has King Leopold done, and thus introduced the
germ of decay into his kingdom. For him, the
very moderate Ministry of Rogier. was -even too
liberal, and he consequently brought about its fall,
to make way for the extension of the influence of
the Jesuit party—a party in open alliance And con-
spiracy with the Bonapartist tools.
As to the designs the King is said to harbour at
this moment against the liberty of the. Preis, we
have not yet •been able to ascertain how far the in-
telligence given by the Times is founded in fact.
It may be that the short paragraph which is now
going the round, has been set afloat as a feeler,
rather than with the intention of giving the exact
terms of the intended law. And here we'will add,
that the project our contemporary alludes to is,
indeed, so nefarious, so thoroughly imprinted with
the mark of the vilest despotism, and in such open
hostility to the spirit of the Constitution of Bel-
gium, that low as we may estimate the worth of the
Cobourg ruling there, we still cannot bring our
selves to believe that he -holds his. own personal
security so cheap as to exasperate hii.peOple by the
display of this monstrous piece of kingcraft. True,
the character of King Leopold affords nq guarantee.
Perhaps it would be more prudent VA' us to look
alone to his sense of danger for any remnant he
may possess of self-restraint to. .bise absolutistic
policy. It now remains to be seen whether he will
even do away with this also, and thus cut adrift
the last anchor which secures the safety of his
throne. •

MARE'S BANKRUPTCY.—At the Bankruptcy Court,
yesterday, Mr. J. C. Mare, the shipbuilder, passel his
final examination.
WATERLOO-BRIDGE COMPANY.—The half-yearly assem"
bly of the proprietors was held on Thursday at the
Freemasons' Tavern ; Mr. William Anderson in the
chair. The report of the committee to. the general
sembly of proprietors stated that the amount.of tolls
received for the half-year ending the 23d of July last
amounted to 9,545/. Ss. 2d. ; while for the corresponding
year it amounted to 9,1241. 2s. 11d., showing an in-
crease of 4211. ss: 3d. There had been P. further in.
crease both on horse and foot tails since February last
to the extent of 2051. 2s. 2d. At the last general as-
sembly the committee had reported that, after the pay.
went of current charges and expenses, &;e.,
.and the pay .
merit of a dividend of 4s. in the pound, there remained
a balance of 1,690/. Bs. 4d. ; and they had now to report
that, after payment of current disbursements, providing
's bond debts, and mak.
company's bond
in February last,
forfn o. the a
dividendi tere s t o
on f the4s. c
there remained a balance of 1,0941. 10s. 6d. The
statement of accounts showed a cash-balance in reserve,
a balance in favour of the company of 1,0941. 10s. 6d.
The report was unanimously agreed to, after which a
resolution was passel to the effect that .100 guineas
should be contributed by the proprietors towards a sub-
scription for a piece of plate for Mr. Powell, as a mark
of their approbation of his long services as chief clerk
and surveyor. Mr Powell made his acknowledgments,
and a vote of thanks to the chairman and directors was
then carried unanimously.