The Sun.
London, England, 1851-12-05 00:00:00

the jyges de pair, mayors, and other functionaries,
whose support they cannot rely on—to require from all
these functionaries to give in, in writing, their adhesion
to the great measure adopted by the Government—in-
stantly to arrest every one who should attempt to dis-
turb public tranquillity—and to suspend every journal
whose arguments might be hostile to it." Upon the
obedience or resistance of the civil acd mi-
litary authorities throughout Franco to there
orders depends at this moment the success or
failure of this daring attempt, and the still wider ques-
tion of proscription and civil war. The celebrated
circulars of M. Ledru Rollin were not more despoti-
cally revolutionary, for the language of all Governments
imposed by force is the same. But though nothing has
been respected, and even the Court of Cessation, the
last sanctuary of civil justice, has been intimidated and
dissolved by troops, the uniform obedience of an army of
400,000 men, of a scarcely less numerous host of public
functionaries, and of a nation of 36,000,000, to orders
entirely devoid of a pretence of legality, would be to us
the most astonishing cccurrence which even the French
revolution has brought forth. Such proceedings resem-
ble Mallet's conspiracy more than the deliberate acts of
a great party. They originate with a very small number
of persons, who have not yet secured the positive ad-
herence of any larger class, except the army, which has
acted from discipline and passive obedience. The names
of the persons designated by the President to form a
"consultative commission" are either those of his most
devoted creatures, or of men whose consent to sit on such
a body had not been asked or obtained. One at least of
their number has addressed a letter to Louis Napoleon, in
which he indignantly resents the use thus made of his name,
and declares that the only office he holds is that which
he derives from the people. In fact, thus far, the im
mense military add civil machinery of government in
France, the army and the police, appear to have been
set in motion by an unsubstantial power, and they are
expected to give the strength they can only serve to
transmit. The real claim of Louis Napoleon to the gra-
titude of France and to the confidence of Europe—one
that we have always been ready to admit--was that he
had given tranquillity to a nation still convulsed by a
paroxysm of revolution, and that he had respected the
conditions of peace abroad; and the principal motive for
desiring the prolongation of his power by legal means
was that this seemed the only mode of averting another
revolution. Bat the events of the last few days have
entirely changed his position. His power can only now
be prolonged by a revolution; and, in place
of the fallacious tranquillity in which the na-
tion' hoped to rest, it is plunged into a fresh con-
flict, from which it can only emerge with the sa-
crifice of its liberties to a dictatorial authority, or
the destruction of that authority by the fury of a po-
pular Convulsion. However we may be disposed to
question the ultimate success of such a coup d'etat, the
chief argument in Louis Napoleon's favour seems to be
that it is still more difficult to suggest any other expe-
dient.
The monarchial parties are in a state of total
discomfiture, and the miserable intrigues of the Or-
leanists especially have only served for the pretext of
this conspiracy of the Government against the conditions
of its own existence. The Republic has already lost the
form in which it had been accepted by the nation, and
the man who had been elected in 1848 as a refuge from
its natural tendencies and inconveniences. Even the
Conservative party, which had exercised for a time by
means of the Assembly the power gradually regained
after the revolution of February, is now stricken, divided,
imprisoned, and exhausted. The Republic, re-estab-
blished after such an attack upon it, would have all the
force derived Irons a fresh popular convulsion, and
the triumph of extreme principles. It would, in
tact, to far more intolerant, absolute, and probably
aggressive than it was after 1848, and consequently
even more abhorrent to the mass of the community.
Yet what escape is there left from that last extremity
but to acquiesce in this usurpation? That argument
must bare weight with the mercantile classes and the
more timorous or servile spirits of the country. Bat they
deceive themselves if they imagine that the whole autho-
rity of the law can be restored by the same power which
has just overthrown it for purposes of its own. Even if
such a power be established by the obedience of the army,
it will be encompassed by every species of secret conspi-
racy and open resistance. It will have its Moreau, and
it may have its Duke d'Enghein, for the glory of the
First Consul himself did not save him from an implacable
conflict with enemies whom he crushed even at the cost
of crime. France is entering upon a period of suspicion,
coercion, end suppressed or flagrant anarchy, to which
even the horrors of civil war may be invited to put a
term. From the immense amount of the military re-
sources of government and the stern determination with
which they are employed, it was not to be expected that
any successful effort of popular resistance could be made
in Paris. Nevertheless, from an early hour yesterday
the streets of the capital, and especially the Faubourg.
of St. Mart:n and St. Antoine, witnessed a renewal of
the scenes cf carnage we have so often had to record and
to deplore. In vain the Minister of War decreed that
every person taken in the act of raising barricades should
suffer accorcing to the most rigorous laws of war, or, in
other words should be instanily shot. The barricades
were raised, and they were defended by the indomitable
courage of the population from midday to five in the
afternoon against the forces of the army supported by
artillery. The insurrection was quelled, it is said; but
we fear this conflict is only the forerunner of more ge-
neral disturbances, which can only be crushed by acts
of unqualifed severity, and how is it possible for
a Government to submit its pretensions to the decision
of the country by universal suffrage, whilst that question
is in reality pending between the cannon of the army
and the barricades of the people? We do not doubt
that Louis Napoleon, who has shown indisputable firm-
ness in the conduct of this revolution, is profouudly de-
sirous to avoid a sanguinary conflict, and he regrets that
the blow aimed chiefly at his rivals in the Assembly
should fall with all its hardships on the people. I!ut
such are the terrible consequences of the responsibility
he has incurred. He has to face a determined Republi-
can party in all the cities of France, and the rural So-
cialism cf many departments. lie has to dispose of a
captive National Assembly and a silenced press. He
will soon have to provide for a population thrown out
of work by this sudden renewal of a period of disorder;
and even admitting that ho be thus invested with dicta-
torial power, he has a task 'to perform from which the
wisest Government in the strongest hands might recoil
with dismay.

ADDRESS OF ME FRENCH EXILES TO
THEIR COUNTRYMEN.
The following proclamation has been sent to Paris
by the French refugees whose names are subscribed
to it :

! Moreover, to exercise the right of the suffrage, you
I' must be free. Let him begin, then, by restoring In e
speech to the journals; let the doors be flung
wide open
' to popular meetings; let ever man speak his mind, and
learn that of others. Why those bayonets? Why those
cannon? To restore universal suffrage with the state of
siege, is to add mock( ry to falsehood. A people pro-
claimed sovereign, is the mantle of slavery which is
thrown over your shoulders, even as the barbarian chief,
II ti nh
et hlet otame
n 'De
rm
Peer ol; s" in
-erpElaincipnigret,htehmreawmtohneg his camp
be dc bast d ? purple over
followers. Du you wish to be enslaved? Do you wish to
Such is the cry
possible to restrain. We, who in our exile can at least i
Wrung from us by an indignation im-
speak, do speak. But we ow, mere than speech to the
Republic—our blood belongs to it. We know it, and
shall not forget it.
Bernard le
iCtoubribni:rtet:
sLuoiureisau, Blanc,
Percy, L
La nydu ozl pßhoon Lyonne,ccuur,
Le
Cadet, Afe_eyer. Colin, Shauby,
Capitaine Fremont,
Paget Lu9sicin, Baron, Mercier Nerzo Cachet,
Philippe, Pathy, Bourn, Subir, notinon,
Languedoc, Florentin, Rosseau, Frossard, BaucT,
Ya:langenet,
Auroy, Daranchi, Michon, 13artholonae, Charles.
December 3, 185].

ARCTICEXPEDITIONS

The report of the committee appointed by the
into Commissioners of the Admiralty to •
into and report on the recent Arctic expeditilonnstuire search of Sir John Franklin, together with minutes
of evidence taken before the committee, and papers
connected with the subject, has just been printed.
The following is a copy of the report :
Admiralty, Arctic Committee, Nov. 20, 1851.
Sir,-1. The Committee appointed by their Lord-
ships' letter of the 22d October to inquire into and re-
port on the conduct of the officers entrusted with the
command of the late expeditions in search of Sir John
Franklin, and whether everything was done by them to
carry into effect their instructions, and to prosecute the
search for the missing ships, commenced their pro-
ceedings on the 24th ult.; and conceiving that the only
distinct inculpations are those contained in Mr. Penny's
letters to their Lordships of the 15th September and
10th October, we considered it our duty to direct our
attention in.& first instance to this part of the sub-
ject, and we accordingly examined Mr. Penny himself
and all the principal officers of the Lady
Franklin and Sophia, with the view of ascer-
taining satisfactorily every circumstance connected
with the exploration of Wellington Strait and the
channels discovered above it, and how far Mr. Penny's
subsequent statements are in conformity with those he
so distinctly expressed in his letters of the 4th and 11th
August, addressed to Captain Austin; and having ob-
tained all the information in oar power, and most care-
fully considered the whole question, we are of opinion
that Captain Austin could only put one construstion on
Mr. Penny's two letters referred to, and that, having
been thus assured by him that the open water found
above Wellington Straits was (to use his own expres-
sion), from " the fearful rate at which the tide runs (not
less than six knots) through the sounds that divide the
cuhn al
enfins e
cl
edaar nogfe ex
we vhei
enhf of
rroamb oat
its,
mpurceshe
mn
to raep tope
aa
rsahni
cpe,
would not be so that season," impracticable for naviga-
tion at that time, and that the shores and islands on
both sides had been thoroughly examined by the explor-
ing parties, without any traces of the missing ships
being discoverable, we do not think Captain Austin
would have been justified in commencing a fresh search
in a direction concerning which he naturally considered
himself to have received such authentic information.
2. It will be observed that in Mr. Penny's letter of
the 4th August, 1851 (from which we extract the pre-
ceding paragraph), he distinctly acquaints Captain
Austin of his fixed determination to return immediately
to England, and that nothing is to be found in it in
any way expressive of his wish for a further search
in Wellington Strait, and the channels connected
with it. In his journal, also, several remarks occur,
all equally discouraging and fully indicative of his
opinions at that period; and we can only account for his
subsequent change of language on his arrival in England
by his considering (as he himself states in his evidence)
that " he found everybody disappointed;" that it bad
been said, " more might have been done;" and that " he
therefore wished to have the means of going out again;"
but we are bound to state that the evidence brought
before us has not, in our opinion, corroborated the state-
ment that he expressed to Captain Austin at the time
any such sentiments; and it will be seen that Captain
Austin distinctly denies having received any communica-
tion to that effect.
3. Some desultory conversation, however, certainly
appears to have taken place on this subject when Capt.
Austin and Mr. Penny met on the 11th of August, 1851,
and it was for this reason that the former (very prudently
and properly, in our opinion) pressed Mr. Penny so
strongly for his opinion in writing.
4. We ,think, therefore, that Captain Austin could
only form his judgment on Mr. Penny's written com-
munications, which, although very laconic, were suffi-
ciently explicit; and that, under all the circum-
stances of the case, much weight is duo to the feel-
ing expressed by Captain Austin in his evidence,
that as Mr. Penny's expedition was, equally with
his own, equipped at the public expense, and receiving
its orders from the Admiralty, although independent of
his authority, he considered himself bound to abide by
the strongly expressed opinion of the officer who had,
by mutual agreement, undertaken that particular pore
Lion of the search, that " all had been due° which it was
in the power of man to accomplish."
5. Wo beg to remark on this part of the subject, that
although Mr. Penny endeavours to draw a distinction
between Wellington Strait ar.d the channel to the north-
west, which he has since named Queen Victoria's Chan-
nel, no such distinction appears in the track chart deli
voted by him to Captain Austin at the time, and which
we annex to this report; and we therefore think that
Captain Austin could not fairly be expected to recognise
any distinction between the upper and lower part.) of this
channel.
6. It appears to have been under this impression,
which we think Captain Austin fully justified in enter-
taining, that, after finding Wellington Strait closed, the
ice still presenting the same impenetrable barrier it had
done in 1850, he deeidod on occupying the remainder of
the navigable season in the examination of Jones's Sound,
to which inlet his own instructions, as well as Mr. Pen-
ny's, directed attention, but which the latter had been
unable to explore in the preceding season.
7. We think that considerable benefit might have
arisen, especially in reference to future operations in
Wellington Strait, if ono of the expeditions had re-
mained near the entrance about a fortnight longer, in
order to obtain the latest information of the state of the
ice in that direction, and therefore the probable prac-
ticability of the navigation of this strait, and we think
this might have been accomplished by Mr. Penny, with-
out involving any serious risk of being detained during
the winter; but we aro clearly of opinion that as no
certain traces of Sir John Franklin's ships had been met
with in any direction beyond their wintering place at
Beechey Island in 1845.6, and no record of the route in-
tended to bo pursued by them could he discovered, after
the most diligent and repeated search (thus leaving this
question a mere matter of conjecture), both Captain
Austin and Mr. Penny were fully justified by the tenor
of their Lordships' instructions in not risking their de-
tention in the ice during another winter; and we beg to
add that all the most experienced Arctic officers in both
expeditions appear to have unanimously concurred in
opinion as to the expediency of returning to England.
8. With respect to the conduct of the officers en-
trusted with the command of the expeditions and several
exploring parties, we most gladly express our highest
and most unqualified admiration of the zeal, energy, in.
trepidity, and perseverance with which every individual
amongst them performed their respective duties. They
appear to have been animated by a common feeling of
determination to endure every hardship, and brave every
danger, in their endeavours to obtain some traces of
their missing countrymen. The journeys accomplished
under the most difficult and trying circumstances, far
exceed, both in distance and duration, any to be found
in the previous records of Arctic exploration in those
parallels of latitude; and the arrangements made by
Captain Austin and Mr. Penny were so well considered
and so complete that all their parties returned (with
only one exception) in perfect health, and without
having experienced any sufferings beyond those which
were inseparable from severe fatigue in such inclement
regions.

9. With respect to the results of the late expedition,
as regards the search for the missing ships, on which
their Lordships desire our opinion, we may remark that,
in the first place, it is a matter of no small interest and
importance to have ascertained with certainty the exact
position in which they passed the winter of 1845-6,
while the careful and minute exploration of the coast to
the southward and westward by Captain Ommaney and
Lieutenant M'Clintock without discovering any traces
whatever of Sir John Franklin, would seem to afford a
very strong presumption that ho did not pass that way;
and conjecture, therefore, naturally Wel-
lingtonturnisiatsoßwagaerdstothe
Strait, to which it is well known he had often
inr
ee
le, accounttdirection.
looked, as affording one chance of a
north-west, and which we see by Mr. Pennyta'dna
opfeahrise
teox afemrimnaatitolne
aosft. tah eupp
possiblee rpeaur
ttleotf
itnhethch
10. It is not without considetreabtlehe bleaassittaptieoinatanedn
your opinion, namely,
cc
uaptlanxietyealdb..,ol
vt that aft we proceed
requestreply
yhiefhu'rtthheerrye-
which their Lordships
sewarhcaht,bweinthefitthsecanlnesbnes
andel diredctions inawn
com-
mittee are of opinion that expected
sefarrocrah should be
shouldprose-
cuted."
treating
coldnessgrieve at being considered
praiseworthycertain
nstaillurwalithanoudt feelings or indifference the
nearest and dearest relatives,.'infertnation of the fate of their
e .gains
c(laisn gto
mighth ohpee
e"xeuveeen. no of those who are
hope,"
whope ,
,i.
,n
andthi s
whose state naturally
thoughts
direction; but we have
efexlpt,loraattitohnes, in
any
and turn
ev eagerly towards further
seine time, wheirlyo considering
calmly and
carefully this difficult question, that we have an equally
important duty to perform towards those brave and
meritorious men whose lives must be risked in this
arduous and perilous search, and to reflect in what
manner it may be best conducted with a due regard to
their safety.
12. Taking, therefore, all these circumstances into
consideration, we have, after a most careful and anxious
deliberation, decided on recommending to their Lord-
ships that an expedition should be dispatched next year
to Barrow's Strait, consisting of the same ships which
composed Captain Austin's division, namely, two sailing
ships and two steamers, with others to proceed direct
to Beeehey Island, and to consider that harbour—be-
yond which we think one sailing ship and one steamer
should on no account be taken—as the base of future
operations.
13.
We consider any further exploration in the direc-
tion of Melville Island or to the south-west of Cape
Walker wholly waneeepaaryi and we Would therefore