The Sun.
London, England, 1851-01-07 00:00:00

DAILY WEATHER TABLE.

State of the Wind and Weather at each of the following
places at Nine o'clock yesterday morning.—The stations
are arranged in order of latitude.

PLYMOUTII—Wind S.E. gentle breeze—rain. •
PORTSNIOUTII—W ind gentle breeze—overcast.
BRIGHTON S.E., calm—overcast.
asTINGs —Wind S.E., gentle breeze—overcast.
tiOUTIIAMPTON—Winti N. W., gentle breeze—partially cloudy.
Fem.:lt:STONE—Wind S., gentle breeze—overcast.
N.W. calm —partially cloudy.
BASINGSTOKE; - Wind gentle breeze—partially cloudy.
GI: E EN 111 le El —Calm—foggy.
SWINDON Wind E., light airs—frosty.
CoLcupt3TErt—Wind gentle breeze—foggy.
C.tmuntmg —Wind S.W., calm—cloudless.
RUGBY—Wind E , gentle breeze—et udless.
YARMOUTET—Wind W., gentle breeze— foggy.
MANcHEsTER.—Wind N. E., light breeze- foggy.
LANCASTER—Wind N., calm—toggy.
WnrraY—Calm—liTgy-
SLIAP—Wind N., calm - frost.
BE.trrocK—Wind S.E., gentle breeze - partially cloudy.
BEnwteK—Wind W.- gentle breeze —overcast.
EDINBURGH—Wind N. W., calm - cloudless.
The returns from tha following places indicate the state of
the wind and weather on Saturday morning at nine
o'clock :

Coatc —Wind S., light breeze—heavy rain.
LtuElam—Wind S., strong breeze—heavy rain.
Caniow—Wind S.W., gentle breeze—rain.
MULLINGAR- • ind E., stiff breeze—overcast.
Pools —Wind S.E , strong breeze—overcast.
BißmiNGfum -Wind S.W., calm—partially cloudy.

world in the highest degree problematic. The stake
is in the hands of the multitude. The competitors
are eagerly awaiting its award the one
sustained by the sense of great constitutional pri-
vileges—the other inspired by a dynastic ambi-
tion and en almost miraculous popularity. The
decisive langusge in which the Prince Louis
NAPOLEON recently expressed himself when (on.
New Year's Day) receiving a deputation from the
House &Legislature, and subsequently the represen-
tatives of judicial authority connected with the
Courts of Cessation—indicates on his part a con-
viction in his own potential influence with the
multitude. Meanwhile the resolute conduct of the
Assembly in passing to the order of the day, when the
Prince NAPOLEON BONAPARTE endeavoured to com-
pass the overthrow of General CHANG ARNIER,
betrays among the antagonists of the PRESIDENT
determination as vigorous as might have been antici-
pated from the representatives of a great democracy.
The resignation of the BAROCHE Ministry im-
mediately afterwards attests the energy of the
Assembly, and the uncompromising conduct of Prince
Louis N APOLEON since that event displays his own
impassable resolve as President. Each of the belli-
gerents imagined for the moment that his antagonist
was checkmated, and both of them in so doing
have been most egregiously deceived. The PRESIDENT
when, authorising the late proceedings of his cousin
and of the Patric, he fancied he had brought about
the effectual discomfiture of CHANGARNIER! The As-
sembly when, in passing to the order of the day, and
thereby necessitating the withdrawal of the Ministers
from office, it imagined it bad utterly broken the
power of the PRESIDENT ! Nothing could !possibly
have been more erroneous or shortsighted in every
way than the line of policy adopted throughout
these transactions. Either no step whatever should
have been taken on one side or the other, or the
effort should at least have been rather more effec-
tive. As it is, the whole proceeding has been
an abortive attempt to bring to a close the anoma-
lous state of things at present surviving the out-
break of the revolution.
Every one recognizes and has long recognized the
impossibility of maintaining the constitution of
the French Republic in its existing form—
where the chief authorities of the Government are
mutually irresponsible, and equally averse to yield
superiority to the other. Until this system is in some
manner modified, until the prominent powers of the
country are placed upon a more secure and inde-
pendent foundation, the people will continue to
be perpetually liable to have their hours of tranquillity
disturbed and their anticipations of political security
disappointed. The urgency of this position is, in
truth, the motive power in which the whole of the
recent events have originated. And the necessity for
,he constitutional improvement alluded to must con

tinue to exercise an irresistible influence over the course
of occurrences in France until the period shall have
arrived which shall witness the settlement of this
enormous difficulty. It is not in reality a question
about M. YON or about M. CARLIBR, about M. BA.•
nocuz or about General CEIANGARNIER, about
N. DUPIN or about the Prince NAPOLEON
BONAPARTE—but it is a questio❑ as to whether the
legislative and administrative powers of the Republic
shall be reconciled and woven amicably together ; whe •
ther, in short, the Assembly and the PRESIDENT shall
afford each other mutual support and encouragement,
instead of remaining always at "daggers drawn,"
ready at any moment to foment the passions engem.
dering insurrection. Supposing this desired recon-
ciliation had actually taken place, the poisonous sting
would have been extracted from intrigue—the bond
of union would have been bound round the now
scattered authorities of the Democracy—and that
strength would have been at length secured to the
Govcrnment which was once so admirably typified in
the fable of the separate sticks and the faggot.
Happy for France would it be if this modification
of her Republican Constitution could be brought
about without the necessity for those preliminary
disputations which may result in all sorts of as yet
unimagined disasters. To the records of the Assem-
bly and the official columns of the Moniteur public at-
tention must continue to be for some considerable
time directed for some hints of the probable
issue of the pending struggle. From the utter-
ances of the gauche and the droit, or from the decrees
dated at the Palace of the Elyse., we can, yet awhile,
alone obtain some glimmering notion of the relative
proportion of the force of the belligerents. Thither,
consequently, our observations must continue to tend
until some more decisive end is attained by one or
other of the disputants than the passing to the order
of the day, or the change of an Administration.

We are told that there is
" A tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the thod, teals oat 3 fortune,"
and there have been, alas! but too many cases in which
the misery and wretchedness of an entire life have
been occasioned by the thoughtless folly of an hour.
There are, we believe, few individuals who cannot
from their own personal experience detail in-

stances of
" Great events from little causes springing."
As with individuals so it is with communities. The
elder DISRAELI has shown us how the
destinies of nations have teen altered, and
dynasties overthrown, owing to matters apparently
of the most trivial importance; and there can be but
little doubt that many striking illustrations escaped
the notice of that talented author, and some may
perhaps have occurred even since his day. Indeed, if
matters were all referred back to their fountain and
origin, we might find bow insignificant was the
source from whence issued the streamlet that
ultimately grew into a mighty river, bearing the
comeaerce of nations on its ample bosom.
In like manner a case of inebriety that was heard at
a police-court on the day after Christmas- day, and
the appeal of a prisoner to the magistrate to escape
the iofliction of a fine of 5s the usual punishment
of the offence of which he had been guilty, may
hive the effect of directing the public attention to
the entire system of imprisonment for contempt of
court, or for debt, and procuring a large and com-
prehensive measure of reform that will no longer
permit exasperated and perhaps vindictive creditors
to become the sole judges in their own cases.
In the case now under notice, a man named
TAYLOR was taken into custody vino graoatus, or, in
plain English, very considerably drunk. He exhi-
bited the usual independence of persons in that
happy condition, snapped his fingers in the face of
the police, and was finally locked up for the
night, as much for his own protection as
for the puni,hment of an offence that was
regarded with some degree of leniency during the
Saturnalia. When brought under the terrors of the
magisterial power, and called upon to show cause why
he should not pay the additional sum of ss. for his
night's lodging, Mr. TAYLOR brought forward a
very unusual plea, but one of irresistible force.
He had, it appeared, been only just released from
imprisonment, and had been celebrating his liberation
after an uninterrupted incarceration for seventeen
years under a contempt order from the Court
of Chancery. And it would appear, from
what fell from Lord CRANWORTH when ordering his
discharge (for it appeared that his excuse was per-
fectly authentic), that he might have obtained his
liberty at any time during the last fourteen
Yaars, if be chose to have applied for it, or to
have availed himself of the copportunities that
were within his reach, at any time during that
1436°1 He was, of course, at once discharged, for
he had too large a balance is his favour to be punished
for any offence that could be expiated by mere impri-
sonment ; but his defence sunk deep into the public
mofinsd;mapnadthyexfocrit
system under which
tehdeastutffheeresarine time a strong feeling
con-
finement c-,uld possibly
such a case of protracted
ha
vs
occurred,
d
apt
hp e•
e
pears, however, from the evidence of
thraranet unimpeachable
fooTAYLOR'Srt
dhbscot
aottu ar iit
nm-
os
tf
witness, Sir EDWARD Sronsic,
Cprhissonnemereyn,thwatatshnatotthalerteogweathaeardoewtaiinagert
have had to
otherwise
h,,ipmurgdsuarinegf thhise
cgshretaetmerpt,p”arhteowf
othualdt
st itmil
let,
appeal to the Insolvent Court, and were i
he seemed desirous of continuing in custody, avoiding
the visitors who might have obtained his release—
that he was, in fact, to all intents and purposes, a vo-
luntary prisoner, who would not accept the freedom
which would readily have been granted at any moment.
Although this statement may to a certain extent di-
vainiskt the pity we entertained for IdirLoA 14 Ant

hearing the case, it will naturally lead to other in ►
-
quiries, which, if we are not greatly mistaken, will
elicit answers by no means favourable to the system.
What, we ask, could have induced such
a state of mind as to render a person desirous of
continuing the inmate of gaol for fourteen consecu-
tive years, when at a single word his fetters would
have been burst and the bolts at d bars stricken off
the gates of his prison-house ? No person in the en-
joyment of liberty would remain a voluntary
prisoner for so long a period. But TAYLOR,
had been detained for three years previously.
During that time a total change had arisen in his
thoughts and feelings. He had become accustomed
to confinement and unfitted for an active out-door life
by the pernicious indolence engendered by a prison life.
He could no longer hope to earn a livelihood by his
own exertions. Better to continue to dwell in the
prison, where he had a shelter provided gratuitously,
where an income of 3s. 61. a week might be relied
on, and where he had, perhaps, a further source of
income by " letting lodgings," acting as keeper of
the racket-ground, or by a variety of ways and
means known to the inmates of "the Bench." In
fact, he clung to his cell and resisted eviction
as resolutely as an Irish peasant would an ejectment
from his scrap of potato ground, held at a rent three
times the amount of the actual value, and we should
not feel greatly surprised if, like an emancipated
canary bird, he again sought the cage which, how-
ever repugnant it might appear to those fitted for
freedom, was yet a place of refuge and shelter for

the victim of imprisonment.
But why should a system be tolerated that pro-
duces such results? There is a❑ existing prejudice
in favour of the right of imprisonment
for debt at the mere will and pleasure of the creditor•
At the other side of the Atlantic it is thought a
gross invasion of the liberty of the subject if he is not
permitted to wallop his own nigger, and here there
would probably be an equal outcry at any interfe-
rence with the privilege of the creditor of " impri-
soning his own debtor, if he thought proper." He
may be certain that the debtor cannot pay, that it is
poverty and not his will prevents him ; and
yet, though a kind hearted man in othe
respects, he will incur heavy expenses in order to
have the satisfaction of locking him up, and there de-
taining him until he is discharged in due course.
This may not be so very easy as it is supposed. We
believe that there are many men detained simply be-
cause they are too poor to be insolvents!!—because
they have not funds sufficient to meet the expenses
of passing through the court. The system must be
changed—the public mini must be brought into a
healthier tone. We have but little doubt that
such will be the case in some few years, and that
the present practice of imprisonment without a
special order of a judge will be regarded with as
great horror as that of retaining property in the
flesh and blood of our fellow-creatures is at present
regarded ; and perhaps that time may be expedited by
the fortunate temptation to which Mr. TAYLOII
yielded on the evening of his emancipation from his
incarceration of seventeen years' duration.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals of yesterday.

The Ministerial crisis still continues. The Paine
sacs—

---.;‘‘Ncthing is as yet decided; propositions have been
made by the President of the Republic to several poli-
tical personages, but the difficulties which stand in the
way of composing a Ministry which shall be sure of a
majority in the Assembly have hitherto prevented these
propositions from being brought to bear practically.
The negotiations still continue."
The same journal states that the Club of the Rue
des Pyramides had determined to support the PRESI-
DENT of the Republic.
Among other rumours current it was stated that
MM. BAROCHE and FOULD would retain their port-
folios.
We find the following in the Constitutionnel on the
subject of the Ministerial crisis:—
" The Journal des Debats asks itself, why the Minis-
try should have considered it its duty to resign because
the Chamber re'usel to postpone the interpellations of
Napoleon Bonaparte ? It pretends that such a
severe resolution on a question of so little importance
has caused a general movement of surprise, in which
it unites. We will reply to the Dibats what we &Lid

)esterday. The refusal of the po.tpcnement was not
the cause, but the occasion of the resignation. The
Cabinet was, in fact, after the sitting of Friday, to
use the expression of the Dtbaig, what it was a month
since. That is precisely why it retires, and those
who are to-day astonished at seeing it adopt that mea-
sure, would feel more surprise, in a few days hence, if
they had not done so. The Ministry, in fact, as certain
journals say, should have retired sooner. The reason
why they did ❑ot do so was, that we were at a period of
the year when commerce had acquired extraordinary
act vity—when business transactions were in course of
settlement, and when calm and confidence were more
than ever indispensable. We may aid that it was on
the eve of contracting a loan. Would it have been
preferred that the Ministry, in order to withdraw itself
from the systematic attacks of which it was the object,
should have compromised so many public and private in-
terests ? The Ministry mist not, therefore, be re-
proached with its precipitate retirement. It should, on
the contrary, be praised for having delayed it, in order
not to check the great movement of business and the
negotiations for another loan."
We read in the Pays :—" According to the ru-
mours in circulation yesterday, nothing has been yet
decided for the formation of a Ministry. The follow-
ing list appears to have the greatest chance of suc-
cesss :—MM. Leon Faucher, Interior ; de Flavigny,
Foreign Affairs; General Magnan, War; Fremy,
Public Works; Fortoul, Public Instruction; Michel
Chevalier, Commerce; Fould, Finance; Baroche,
Justice; A. Daru, Marine. According to another
version, M. Abbuttucci is to be appointed to Foreign
Affairs, M. 0. Barrot to Justice, and M. de Germiny
to Finance."
- - - -

The Debats says :—" From information which we
have received, we believe we can state that M. 0.
BARROT, being sent for yesterday to the Elyse,•, made
hip appearance there in the evening. The conversi
tion between the PRESIDENT and that representative

turned solely on the general features of the situation.
No offer of a portfolio has been positively made to M.
ODILON BARROT." _ _ _

It was reported that Count MOLE had been sent for
by the PRESIDENT.
The Assembly met yesterday, but none of the
Ministers were present.
The following is one of the many lists of the pro-
posed Ministry handed about in political circles :
Foreign Affairs—The Duke of Bassano.
Interior—M. Leon de Malleyllle.
Finance—M. Behie. •
'War—General Carrelet.
Marine—Admiral Leblanc.
Public Instruction—M. Fourtoul.
Commerce— M. Greterin.
Prefecture of Police —M. St. George.
Commander-in-Chief of the Army of Paris—

General Magnan, vice General Changarnier.
The Journal des Dibals publishes the following as
the " Instructions to the troops in case of combat,"

issued by General CHANGARNIEII, and which the
General was prepared to read from the tribune :
" Paris, May 4, 1850.
"In case of insurrection, the troops will not take up
arms or be put in movement except to engage in
combat.
" If the troops have not received orders before hand,
such of each corps as may bo disposable will be imme-
diately assembled, and will march to the place of combat,
leaving behind the number of officers and sub-officers
necessary to bring up the absent as they may come in.
" One or several detachments shall afterwards be
formed, which shall be directed on their respective posi-
tions, in good order, and with all the precautions which

circumstances may require.
" At the moment when they shall arrive at their posi-
tions, the troops will be reminded that no one must
leave the ranks; that the law punishes with death any
soldier who, during action, absents himself out of con-
sideration for his personal safety, and that severe
punishment also hangs over those who commit acts of
pillage.
" The corps will go to their posts in military order,
without drums or band; they will be preceded by an ad-
vanced guard, and followed by a rear guard; they will
not allow any person to walk on their flanks, and still
less to penetrate into their columns.
" The corps or detachments will march very rapidly
and without paying any attention to mu►ket shots
which may be fired at them. When at their post, and
have leisure to attend to them, they may send small
detachments, energetically commanded, who, when
they shall have executed prompt and severe justice
on the wretches who shall have dared to fire on the
troops, will return at double quick time. The troops,
when arrived at their positions, will not permit any
one to approach them; a lino of sentinels will keep at
the distance of at least 160 yards, not only agitators,
but those attracted by curiosity; they will not allow any
groups to form, however inoffensive they may apparently
be; any attempt to break the line of the troops is to be
opposed by force. Posts will be established in tte neigh-
, bouring houses situated at the corners of the streets, and
more particularly in those from whence a view to a dis-
tance may be obtained, and particularly in the direction
of important points of communication.
" The troops beieg in position, or even engaged, fre-
quent beats of the drum are to be made, and the greatest
attention is to be paid to prevent any man from leaving
his ranks to enter a wine shop.
" From their respective positions the troops must en-
deavour to place themselves in communication with
the detachments stationed near them. This is to be

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