The Sun.
London, England, 1856-11-01 00:00:00

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THE FRENCHNGLISH GOVERNME
PRESSNT LTD THE
E.

(prom th,c Illustrated London Yews of this day.)
The French public has been startled, the Eng-
lish public surprised, by the following announce-
ment in the Moniteur :
" For some time past different organs of the English
press have endeavoured to spread calumnies respecting
the French Government, which are the more odious as
they are concealed under an anonymous' mask, and can
only be answered by contempt. We are aware of the re-
spect which is paid to the liberty of the press ot &g-
-land ; and,,in thus pointing out its deviations, we con-
fine ourselves to an appeal to the common sense and good
faith of the English people to warn them against the
dangers of A system which, by destroying the confidence
between the two Governments, wonid tend to disunite
two nations whose alliance is the best guarantee of the

peace of the world."
When it is remembered that the _lfoniteur is the organ
of the French Government, that it is the only journal
in
France which dares to express an opinion, and that it has
no opinions but those of the Emperor, or of the persons
to whom the Imperial authority is supposed to be dele-
gated, the importance of so extraordinary an announce-
ment will at once be appreciated. The first feeline of most
Englishmen will be one of doubt whether the Emperor
himself, who has had so many opportunities of studying
the Englisb character, and who knows and appreciates
the fearless independence of the English press, authorised
such a notification. A careful perusal of the paragraph
will confirm the doubt, and serve to exonerate his Ma-
jesty from participation in a manifesto so offensive and
so useless.
We confess we do not know any English journals
which have spread the calumnies complained of. What
does the Moniteur mean by the French Government ? If
it means the Emperor we can answer for ourselves and for
the great bulk of the English journals, whether metropo-
litan or provincial, that the assertion is gratuitously false.
No calumnies have been uttered against that illustrious
individual by any newspapers of the least note or
credit. On the contrary, his Majesty has been spoken of
with uniform respect. Justice has been done to his un-
rivalled sagacity in peace and in war. To him has been
ungrudgingly accorded the meed of approbation, foi=
having accomplished. what previous monarchs of Rance:
only spoke of, but never realised—a cordial alliance
between the Governments of Great Britain and France ;
and what is, perhaps, of greater value, a no less cordial
alliance between the two peoples. The acts of the French
Government have been freely criticised ; but that cri-
ticism and calumny are the same thing it will take more
logic than is possessed by the Moniteur to convince
any sane Englishman, whether he be a maker, or merely
a reader, of newspapers. Englishmen criticise the acts
of their Own Government. It is one of the safeguards
of their freedom to do so ; and, much as they prize
the French alliance, they would rather stand alone in
Europe than consent to forego the privilege, and to be
reduced, as a necessary consequence. to the political
condition of France or of any other continental State.
If the Emperor of the French set at defiance the laws
of political economy, if he buy bread dear and sell it
cheap, if he arbitrarily attempt to fix the prices of the
necessaries of life to the poor, if he lavish money in
unproduCtive expenditure, if he allow his underlings to
encourage and mix themselves up in enormous jobbery
on the Bourse—the English press, which would criticise
English statesmen if they committed similar errors,
will continue to comment upon his acts. If the alliance
will not stand a sound criticism and a fair judgment on
the part of those competent to form and express an opi-
nion, it is a sham alliance, and not worth perpetuating.
If, however, it be not the Emperor himself who is de-
signated by the words " the French Government," and
if they are to be held, to mean the persons who form the
Court and the Ministry of Napoleon 111., it is likely
enough that some journals—though we are not aware of
the fast—have given currency to statements that redound
but littler to the credit or thehonour of those functionaries.
We will mention names, for all Europe knows the ante-
cedents and the preseut position of some of the men who
sit in the high places of the French Ministry; and all the
best friends of the Emperor and of the stability of his dy-
assay wish that he were well rid of them. Some of these
persons, smarting perhaps from the allusions which have
been made to their rapid fortunes, and to the pr,bability
that at the first breath of evil fortune they would desert
the man who has made them what they are, have taken
advantake of their position to insert in the Moniteur the
warning to the English press on which we have ventured
to offer these few words of comment. These men do not
know England or its press, or they would have spared
themselves the futile attempt to bully and to overawe it.
We believe that the Emperor, with his usual sagacity,
will ere long devise the means of disavowing an an-
nouncement so ill-timed and so injudicious, and of admi-
nistering a rebuke to the busybodies and schemers who
abase his authority when the eye of their master is not
upon them. The English people will not believe that his
Majesty was cognisant of the article in the Moniteur
prior to its publication, that he approved of it afterwards
or that he entertains any alarm of, or displeasure against,
the English press for their comments upon hie domestic
or foreign policy. The writers of the English press ho-
nour him as one of the most remarkable men of his age.
They see in him the elect of the people of France, and
one who has conferred new lustre on the great name he
bears. They recognise to the fullest extent his transcen-
dent abilities, and wish stability to his throne and dy.
nasty, for his own sake, for the sake of the people who
have elected him, for the sake of the Anglo-French alli-
ance, and for the sake of the peace and prosperity of the
world. But, while admitting and feeling all this, and
much more, the English press cannot abdicate its func-
tions, and cease to comment upon the affairs of France
with the same boldness and freedom with which it com-
ments upon those of Great Britain. France is not
Japan, or a remote island in the South Sea. If it were,
the English press might be voluntarily tongue-tied with
regard to its ruler and its affairs. France is a country
within sight of our own shores, and is united with
us in policy as well as commercial intercourse. What
concerns France concerns England. What endangers
the credit of the one imperils the credit of the other. It
is because the alliance is so intimate that public opinion
in this 'country declares itself so freely on all matters of
interest in France ; and if those who stand about the
person of the Emperor would endeavour to understand
the manners, the traditions, the feelings, and the im-
pulses of Englishmen a little better, they would save
themselves and their Imperiel master front such mis-
takes as the article in the Moniteur, and front many
annoyances of more importance. ' What would these
people say it the English Government were to issue an
announcement to the Emperor Napoleon, declaring to
him that the absence of a free press in France was a
source of danger to the alliance ? They would, no doubt,
open their eyes in amazement at the attempted dicta-
tation,- or wonder whether English statesmen had lost
their wits. These people should know us better. Eng-
land is not yet in the position of Belgium ; and no M.
Walewaki has it in his power either to coerce or to bribe
an independent writer in this country. The British
people approve the Anglo-French alliance for what it has
done, and cling to it for what it may yet be expected to
do. But if they approved it a thousand times more cor-
dially and clung to it a thousand times more tenaciously,
they would rather abandon it to-morrow than sacrifice'
the freedom and the independence of the public press to
retain it.
M. de Morny, M. Fould, M. Walewski, and other.,
may not know these things, but the Emperor knows
them.. He knows also how much more valuable to him-
self than to England is the present alliance between the
nation,. For these and many other reasons we are con-
vinced that his Majesty was no party to the threat in the
-3f"iteitr, and for these reasons we expect to hear that
he has either publicly or privately reprimanded the Mar-
plots who have abused his authority, and comprnnised
the character of French statesmanship in the eyes of his
friends in this country.

BE-OPENING OF BED. L'S' WHARF,