The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-12 00:00:00

LON DO', 7 UESDAY, JANUARY 12, 1869.

The manner in which the Press is conducted in
France has long been a subject of anxiety to all
lovers of freedom, and as the successive pro-
mises made on its behalf have been broken a feeling

of indignation has arisen in many quarters. Pru-
dent in almost everything else relating to public
affairs, in this important respect the EMPEROR has
made a great mistake, and materially injured his in-
fluence, to say nothing of the danger to his repu-
' tation. Some interest will be felt in the disclo-
sures that have just taken place in regard to the
retirement of M. SEGUIER, the Procureur-Imperial
of Toulouse from his high official position. The cause
of his resignation is as creditable to himself as it is
disaparaging to those above him. The reasons which
he gives may not be exactly new in substance, but it
is certainly unusual to meet with an explanation of
this kind from one well versed in the details. M.
SEGUIER'S letter is a peep behind the scenes that
will attract attention, and let us hope awaken con-
science in certain quarters. He informs the Minis-
ter of Justice that he gives up his post in con-
sequence of his being unable to endure any
longer the reproaches of his superiors, for
his moderation in conducting the press pro-
secutions. In firm and decided language, forcible
from its very reticence, the Baron goes on to say
that " to address the Coart, under the surveillance of
a secret police, and to press for judgment dictated
beforehand in Paris by the Minister of Justice, are
things which do not suit me." Further on he de-
clares that he cannot any longer endure the bitter
reproaches that have been heaped upon him for
some time past on account of his conduct in Press
affairs. Here is the testimony of a valid witness, one
who speaks what he does know and testfies of matters
in which he has been deeply concerned. What a
revelation of the system which has prevailed in
France do we not meet with in the brief but impres-
sive sentences of the letter of the ex-Procureur.
Wtll may it be said of M. SEGUIER that, nothing
which occurred during his appointment became him
so well as his mode of quitting it. lle stands forth
in a character rather unusual among his countrymen,
that of a thorour,bly independent man. The French
are proverbial for their professions of attach-
ment to liberty, but they do not often act
up to the standard of their faith, and
verify their statements by the sacrifice of their
interests and the forfeiture of their position.
While we honour and respect this patriotic .man, let
us hope that his private loss may be a pnWie gain,
and that the scandal and reproach which wilj attach

itself to this affair may penetrate to the innermost
recesses. The voice of public opinion is hushed, the
press is gagged, but the words of an ex-official, the
language of one who denounces the system which
has made a mockery of justice, cannot be put aside
or overlooked. The words of M. SEGUIER'S letter are
trumpet-tongued, their sound is gone out into many
lands, and legions of police cannot stop their pro-
gress nor the decrees of the most arbitrary Minister
of Justice effect the unjust work of their suppression.
Only one way remains for the authorities, and if they
really wish to obliterate the effect of this handwriting
on the walls of their Senates and their Courts of
Justice, let them lose no time in undoing the evil
work and redeeming past errors by present acts of
grace and magnanimity. It bas been prophesied
that the EMPEROR will in his speech on the 18th
put the finishing touch to his grand work of building
up the national edifice. It is quite impossible to say
with certainty if this is likely to be the case or not,
but of one thing we may be perfectly assured, that
the only way in which he can attain the end will be
by setting the French Press at liberty. Let him but
speak the magic word of deliverance, and the emanci-
pation of the exponents of national truth and justice
will be the crowning act of his career and the
sign- manual of his good faith and sincerity. It
has been said that the French Press is not
worthy of the trust that has been so long reposed
in that of other lands, but confidence begets confi-
dence, and as no life is so unsafe as that of the
autocrat whose every movement is watched by
armed guards, so no thrones and governments are
so insecure as those which will not brook a word
of criticism, or allow the whisper of reproach to be
heard. The best that can be hoped for the French
and their Imperial ruler is that he will at last see
the importance of making this great change. The
elections that come on in May will take a very diffe-

rent turn if the policy of the Government with
respect to the Press be well defined in its liberative
tendency, but there are two sides to every question,
and the kings and potentates of the world must suc-
cumb to the same rules as those which regulate the
meaner classes of humanity. The Emperor NAPO-
LEON has now a glorious chance before him, and a
golden opportunity awaits him ; but if he miss them,
through neglect or wilfulness, he must take the con-
sequences, and reap what he has sown. The world
is now expecting his decision, and will ratify the
wisdom of an enlightened choice, but he must not
hesitate, for he will have no power of restitution in
the future, and can put no finishing touches to his
work in those distant days, when the historian shall
track his footsteps on the sands of time, and when
what is left undone or imperfect now shall remain
undone and imperfect still.

TIIE shame with which we read the letter from
Shanghai, just published in the Times, is mitigated
only by the satisfaction which we feel at seeing that
this shame is shared by the Times itself. There is
nothing particularly novel in the story told by the
correspondent ; it is, in fact, but a tame repetition of
a tale too often told before. There was no
grand scenic effect of red-hot cannon balls
falling into a densely peopled city, nor British
ships of war steaming triumphantly past wooden
batteries and painted guns. It is just such a tale as
a dozen years ago would have excited the leading
journal into transports of indignation against
Chinese treachery and insolence, into transports of
satisfaction at British energy and pluck. But,
happily, the times are changed, and so are we.
Civis Roman us no longer controls the fleets
and armies of Britain ; and instead of the
Minister who bullied the weak and offered his cheek
to the strong, wehave one whounderstands that justice
and courtesy are as much due from nation to nation
as from man to man. So the leading journal, follow-
ing, as is its wont, the change of popular sentiment,
now condemns conduct exactly similar to that which
it used to commend, and " confesses some shame" at
" this victorious episode in our Asiatic history,"
which is, nevertheless, very much less shameful than
that other episode, which was thought so glorious,
exactly a dozen years ago.
The facts are briefly told. Certain British mis-
sionaries took to preaching in the streets of Yang-
' chow, and with the usual British contempt for every- i
thing that is foreign, they attacked the Chinese
religion. It was not ST. PAUL'S way of making
converts, and if the missionaries had studied that
inimitable missionary discourse on Mars Hill,
i they might have made more converts, and
would certainly have avoided the occurrence of
incidents that are difficult to reconcile with Christian I
teaching. The Chinese, hearing their religion
abused, took to insulting and attacking the mis-
sionaries. One of them lost an eye, another lost some
property. For this outrage our Consul at Shanghai,
Mr. MEDHURST, demanded compensation. Yangchow
is not one of the Treaty ports, and it may therefore
be questioned if Mr. MEDHURST had any right to
interfere. But, assuming that he had, the mode in
which he enforced his demand was most culpable,
though, unhappily, not at allextraordinary. First of all,
instead of referring the matter to Sir RUTHERFORD
ALCOCK, our properly-accredited Minister at the
Chinese capital, he undertook to conduct the affair
himself ; that is, he did the very thing which the
admission of a Minister to Pekin (a hard-won con-
cession) was intended to prevent. Mr. MEDHURST
went to Nankin with a gunboat, and obtained a
promise of compensation, which, in Chinese fashion,
was attempted to be evaded so soon as the gunboat
was withdrawn. Probably he expected no otherwise,
and he then—still without consulting Sir RUTIIER-
FORD ALCOCK—ordered up Admiral KEPPEL'S
flagship, the Rodney, , a DO-gun ship, in order
to enforce compliance. Of course, if China were any-
thing like a match for England this would be nothing
less than a declaration of war—made, be it remem-
bered, by an English subordinate official, without the
smallest authority. As it was, the Chinese were only
too well used to this style of argument the
logic of the strong hand, the syllogism of the
shell. So Mr. MEDHURST, accompanied by several
officers and a guard of marines, went to the Viceroy at
Nankin, TSENG-KWO-FAN. Mr. MEDHURST was
received with every honour. Redress was promised,
but he refused to accept the promise without a
material guarantee. So, by way of humiliating the
Chinese to the uttermost, he demanded that a certain
gunboat should be handed over to him. Now this
was the first of the new gunboats which the Chinese
had received. It was, morever, the vessel fixed
upon by the Viceroy to proceed to the seat
of his new government. Nor was this all.
This " spirited"- British Consul, who was thus making
war on his own authority, insisted that the Chinese
authorities should erect a stone pillar at Yangchow,
detailing the circumstances of the outrage and of the
reparation. As regards the surrender of the gun-
boat, the Viceroy and his colleagues " alternately
stormed and entreated." He felt that instead of
leaving Nankin triumphant, he should have to drift
out ignominiously, humbled and defeated in
his first collision with the foreigners, his guns
powerless, the first of his new gunboats at
the mercy of our fleet. It was the more
intolerable because he had arranged that an immense
procession of Mandarins should escort him, and
that his departure should be a high festival. His
counsellors denounced the demand as impossible.
They asked, as well they might, if it was of the
amicable nature which these negotiations were said
to be. " TSENG," says the correspondent, " turned
in his agony to the subordinate consular officers of
the party, and begged them to intercede with their
chief." Of course we can anticipate the rest. " Mr.
MEnurnsr was firm, and the gunboat was given up."
How could it be otherwise when the " spirited "
British Consul was pointing significantly to the
Rodney and her ninety guns, and the fate of Canton
was seen to be in store for Nankin but not even