The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-22 00:00:00

bit any extraordinary subserviency either to
France as a nation, or Louis NAPOLEON as a
man ? He at least could put forward no shadow
of right. To use a legal phrase in hyegone days,
when special pleading prevailed, his claim

"wanted colour." There was not a single scin-
tilla jurtis. He was a mere volunteer, and should
recollect the fate of those who intrude into matters
where their aid is not required.
" They who in quarrels interpose,
Must ofttimes wipe a bloody nose."
Louts NAPOLEON should profit by the lesson con-
veyed by the old English satirist, and avoid a
dispute, in which he is in no way concerned.
If we are to judge from the article in the Moni-
teur, he would, had the Swiss duly bowed before
the Imperial will, and declared that " to hear was
to obey," have felt it "an obligation on the
part of France to prevent any armed conflict,
and exert itself to obtain from the King of PRLIS-
siA a final settlement of the question, conform-
able to the wishes of Switzerland."

The " rage of the cruel JvNo," the insult to
her " despised beauty," was nothing to this.
Because there was " a complete indifference to
French counsels," "Switzerland must not be
astonished if, in the course of events, she should
no longer find that good-will which she might so
easily have obtained at a trifling sacrifice !"
For this truth and justice are to be dis-
regarded, and the " might " of France cast
into the scale with those who strive to overcome
the " right" of Helvetia Never was there so
grievous a blunder committed by a public man.
Never was the flimsy disguise, usually assumed,
so unhesitatingly cast aside. He sees what is
just and right, but unhesitatingly casts it aside.
" Video meliora proboque deteriora sequor."
He could restore peace, but in place of
so doing he fans the flame and aggravates
the difficulty. This is neither wise nor generous.
It is the wrath of a petty squire rather than that
of a great monarch. It shows where " the
lamentable obstinacy, the exaggerated susceptibi-
lity really exist."
" Oh wad some power the gif tie g;:e us,
To see ourselves as others see us,
It wad frae moray a trouble free us,
And foolish notion."
Louis NAPOLEON might have learned prudence
from the Scottish bard. Honest Ron BURNS
would have proved his best counsellor in the case
—would, if attended to, have prevented an ex-

plosion of petty spite that renders the term,
"NAPOLEON the Little," once applied, not alto-
gether inappropriate. If, however, the approach-
ing Conferences, to which we must submit with
the best possible grace, be good for anything
they will appease this " storm in a washing-tub,"

and prevent the effusion of blood in a quarrel so
paltry and contemptible on the part of Prussia
and France, so just and righteous on that of the
Swiss Confederation.

There is no alternative, so far ss the Swiss are
concerned. They must manfully assert their
rights, or for ever relinquish their cher-
ished independence. If any discontented citip
zen can with impunity set the laws at de-
fiance and raise the standard of revolt, there
can no longer be peace or order in their territories.
FREDERICK WILLIAM tacitly assented to the
existing state of affairs. He cannot be permitted
to enforce vi et armis the liberation, without trial,
of the offenders.

Admiral Sir HOUSTON STEWART—honourably
known of late by his conduct in connection with
the Black Sea Fleet, and famous once upon a
time as the Captain HomsTox STEWART of the
Benbow—was glorified on Friday last by the
citizens of Greenock through the medium of a
grand public banquet given at their town-hall in
his honour, in recognition of his services, and in
felicitation to him upon his new and very respons-
ible appointment. The occasion passed off
precisely in the way that might have been anti-
cipated. With numerous Toasts; plentifully
"buttered ;" with a great deal of enthusiasm ;
and a vast amount of Compliment, the gallant
guest of the evening received on all hands what
he very well deserved—the heartiest applause in
allusion to the past—in reference to the present
the sincerest congratulations—and in regard to the
future the most affectionate good wishes and the
most fervent God-speed ! It was not forgotten that
Captain HOUSTON STEWART took a conspicuous
part in the ever-memorable destruction of St.
Jean d'Aere by Sir ROBERT STOPFORD--aDy more
than it was lost to remembrance how effectually
and energetically, during the course of the late
war with Russia, Admiral HOUSTON STEWART
presided at Malta over the interests of the trans-
port-service facilitating the passage eastwards,
from day to day, of thousands of troops, with
their baggage and ammunition. It was observed,
moreover, in explanation of the somewhat inglo-
rious maritime campaign subsequently made by
Sir H. STEWART under Sir EDMUND LYONS, that
their immense fleet had unfortunately one want—
"the want of a foe"—the great Russian fleet
having been sunk, at the first outbreak of the
war, in the impregnable harbour of Sebastopol.
Apart entirely from the very comprehensible,
and also in a great measure, be it said, the really
justifiable compliments lavished upon their gallant
Guest of Friday, the 19th instant, by the Citizens
of Greenock, through the speeches of the after-
dinner orators, and the plaudits with which those
speeches were received—flowery eulogiums were
squandered about by the Chairman and his asso-
ciates with the most prodigal evidence of an egre-
gious want of discrimination. Not merely were the
" Memories of the Heroes who fell in the
last War" duly honoured, and the " Services of
Miss FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE, and. the Lady
Nurses " gracefully recognised—but all sorts of
personages, great and small, all sorts of events,
successful and the reverse, all sorts of achieve-
inents, honourable and dishonourable, were
raunted to the skies and greeted with acclama-
tiions. In proposing the toast of her MAJESTY'S
Ministers, for example, the Chairman of the night
—Provost HUNTER, of Greenock—declared amidst
g eneral applause, that " the present Government
d eserved the thanks of the country for the energy
they displayed in bringing the late War to a suc-
cessful termination !" M'CALLUM MORE—other-
-arise his Grace the Duke of ARGYLL---ill re-
t urning thanks on behalf of himself
a nd his colleagues, alluded to the acceptance of
t hat peace by the English people and the English
Parliament in these terms—" Let me tell you
indeed we needed to be informed of the fact] that
never in this country was there so much of the
good sense and public spirit of its people so nobly
put forth." Nay, while Sir ARCHIBALD ALISON
—always fond of the heroics, and having an
e: ;pedal talent at all times for describing things
hr. superlatives—while Sir A.RCIIIBALD ALISON
spoke on Friday night of the names of Bala-
kl ava and Sebastopol taking their place with
farathon and Thermopylae in the annals
of military glory ! he added that the
navy, at the same time, had discharged the duty
committed to it with a prudence, courage, and
magnanimity that "had never been exceeded," and
which, said he, " History would place beside the
•glories of the Nile and Trafalgar I" Pretty " tall
talking" that, as Brother Jonathan would say—a
piling of it up rather rao-uutaiuously More, to