The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-02 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, JANUARY 2, 1-69

ciliatory and pacific advances. He can afford to
do this, because his so doing admits, by no
possibility, of misconstruction in the sense of its
indicating any dread on his part of the consequences
of war. He has at this moment at his absolute com-
mand an army, in its numerical strength, and in its
magnificent discipline, and in:its possession (in the
chassepot) of an unrivalled and an unerring
arm of precision, such as no contemporary
monarch in the world possesses. Occasionally
as was very manifest once or twice during the
course of last year, the more ardent of his war-
riors, to use the felicitous phrase of SHAKSPERE,
like greyhounds in the slip, were straining upon
the start. At any moment of that kind the EMPE-
ROR, like our own HARRY the Fifth, had but to cry
havoc and let slip the dogs of war. Ile did not. Ha
does not. Ile holds them in hand, and his other
hand, as but just now said, he extends to the
world on New Year's Day, with a few
but sufficient words, with every reasonable evidence
on his part of sincere and cordial friendship. But—
while so far so good—is this all that is in:any way
desirable, not to say actually requisite on the EM-
PEROR'S part in the interests of Peace, not only here
in Europe, but generally throughout the world ?
While these enormous armaments which are now
weighing so heavily, so crushingly upon the greatest of
the civilised peoples of Christendom, and of which
the paragon armament of all, that of France
herself, is the most portentous illustration—while
these enormous armaments are maintained it would
be simply absurd to say or to think for one mo-
ment that pacific words are alone of themselves suffi-
cient. In the interests of civilization, in the interests
of humanity, in the name of our common Chris-
tianity, something more than this is demanded, not
from the French EMPEROR alone, but from all the
Governments of all the Great Powers of the earth
now in friendly relations with each other, and yet
armed, each of them, or arming to the teeth-- keeping
their powder dry, as the old Puritan had it—horse,
foot, and artillery, so to speak, with foot in stirrup,
bayonet fixed, fuse ready for lighting—prepared for
any emergency, however sudden and unlooked for

yet all the while echoing the angelic chorus, year
after year, about in terra pax hominibus !
Each nation arming like the strong man, in
the parable, keeping his house—as though all the
rest were robbers, who were only watching their op-
portunity to break in and steal ! Something more
than tranquillizing words are needed in the presence
of these stupendous armaments.

" THE Right Hon. JOHN BRIGHT also arrived,
and had the honour of dining with the QUEEN and
the Royal Family." So says the Court Circular.
Than this brief announcement nothing is more
significant of the vast change which has come over
the political aspect of the country during the last
three years. Mr. BRIGHT at Osborne means not that
Mr. BRIGHT has turned courtier, but that while he has
been standing still the nation has been progressing
until it has overtaken him. Ten years ago he was a
vox clamantiB in deserto. No one would listen to
him. He warned statesmen that they must alter
their ways ; that if the people were to continue loyal
they must have some share in making the laws which
they were called upon to obey ; that if the country
was to continue prosperous some check must be put
upon its enormous expenditure, wars of annexation
must be absolutely prohibited, and the principle
of non-intervention adopted. Men called him
an enthusiastic fanatic, when they did not use harsher
names, when they did not denounce him as a traitor
who would abolish the Church and the Throne and
"Americanise" our time-honoured institutions. Less
than three years ago the fact that he was supposed to
have assisted in the preparation of a Reform Bill
was fatal to the measure and its responsible authors;
for when it was impossible to persuade men that a
reduction of the franchise from £lO to £7 would
revolutionise the country, it was sufficient to
mention the " hon. member for Birmingham'
in order to frighten those who could not
be convinced. And now we see household suffrage
the law of the land, and the Right Hon. JOIIN
BRIGHT a guest of Royalty. That is, we see the
country loyal and contented, and him, who is the real
author of the change which has made them so,
honoured by the sovereign, who knows that she has
no more faithful servant or loving subject.
There is in this royal dinner party a lesson for the
Conservatives, if they will only learn it. The lesson
is, that they are powerless to prevent the march of
the nation towards democracy, if they choose to call
it by that name—self-government, as we prefer to
call it—and that if they are wise they will seek rather
to guide the movement than to impede it. Conser-
vatism has a proper part to play in the politics of the
country, but that part has not been assumed during
the list three years. The Conservative party are at
the present time in the condition of a buffer
whose spring has been broken. They still stand
out apparently prepared to break the force
of a collision ; but we know, and they know,
that their resisting power is for the present gone;
that if the nation is bent upon any great organic
change there is no force in the Conservative party
to impede, much less to prevent it. This being so, it
would be wise for them seriously to consider their
position with regard to ecclesiastical matters. They
know full well that the Irish Church Establishment
cannot be maintained, but they may delay disesta-
blishment by throwing obstacles in the way of the
work. The obstacles may even prove beyond the
strength of the Government to surmount. In that
case we must prepare to see the Conservative party
called in and maintaining itself in power by proposing
a measure far more sweeping than that which they
have rejected. But is this statesmanship ? Is it
statesmanship to hold office for two years, to do the
work of the Radicals more thoroughly than the
Radicals could have done it, to be driven from place
,by the voice of the nation, and to see the men whom
they have always denounced Ministers of the Crown
and guests of the QUEEN ? Do they want to see the
Right Hon. EDWARD Mum. dining at Osborne, as
they have seen the Right llon. JOHN BRIGHT ? Do
they want the English Church disestablished, as they
will shortly see the Irish Church ? A little more,
and they will achieve a miracle even greater than
that of passing household suffrage by the aid of the
Tory squires—they will have brought about an
alliance between the English Church Union and the
Liberation Society.

A VERY important question has just been argued
before the Irish judges. It involved to a high degree
the liberty of the press. At the general election,
greatly to the surprise of most persons, Belfast, the
headquarters of the Orange party, returned a candidate
favourable to the disestablishment of the Irish Church.
The opposite party subsequently presented a petition
against this member. The Liberal journals in Belfast
denounced this petition in emphatic language. The
petitioners thereupon moved that an attachment
should be issued against the editors for attempting to
prejudge a case pentlente lite. The journalists replied
that the matter was one of public interest, andtherefore
they had a right to comment upon it ; and that, more-
over, no prejudice could arise, because the petition was
going to be tried, not by a jury, but by a judge, and
that it was absurd to suppose that any of the judges
could be influenced by anything that he saw in the
newspapers. After taking time to consider these
arguments the judges delivered their decision.
is usual, the youngest spoke first, and Mr.
Justice LAWSON, who has just been promoted to the
Bench by the present Administration, decided that
such a matter as an election petition ought to be
freely discussed, that the court ought not to lay down
any rule which would fetter that freedom, and that
the articles complained of had not transgressed lawful
limits. Mr. Justice Moult's, who was appointed by
the late Government, thought that the articles

greatly exceeded the limits which the court
ought to allow. Judge li.Eocia, a former
Liberal M.P., concurred with Judge LAWSON.
Chief Justice WHITESIDE, who owes his post to
Lord DERBY, differed from the two Liberal judges,
and held that while an action was pending no one
should enter upon its merits so as to prejudice a fair
trial. He differed as to the right of a journalist, and
held that the articles went beyond anything that was
justifiable. The court being equally divided, there
was no rule, and no costs.

This no-decision is much to be regretted. It is
the first of importance under the new Bribery Act,
and it is greatly to be wished that on every point
which may arise there may be a clear and definite
judgment. It is unfortunate, to say the least, that
in a question involving political issues the two Liberal
judges should be upon one side, the two Conservative
judges upon the other. No one will presume to
accuse them of being biassed by their private political
views. Yet it cannot fail to be seen that, while the
Liberal judges were for giving the largest possible
liberty to the press, the Conservative were for restrict-
ing that liberty. This coincidence will, we fear,
somewhat shake popular confidence in our legal
tribunals, which hitherto has always supposed that
a judge is a person without parts or passions. The
circumstance happens, too, contemporaneously with
another event which has not a little discredited
the highest tribunal of all. It is now stated that
the Privy Council was divided in its judgment on the
case MARTIN V. MACKONOCHIE, and that while there
were three for the appellant, two against, and one
neutral, one of the first had previously to the trial
committed himself to the side which he favoured.
However that may be, it is certain, and
the matter is one of great importance, that
the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is
always in danger of becoming a political and party
tribunal, and that decisions of great importance
may depend entirely upon the Prime Minister for
the time being. This is not a satisfactory state of
things, and it is to be devoutly hoped that we, who
have hitherto boasted of the impartiality of our
tribunals, are not about to see them the vehicles of
political partisanship.

LATEST INTELL MENGE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

FRANCE.

PARIS, Jan. 1.
The Emperor received the Diplomatic Body and
the Ministers of State at the Tuileries to-day, at
ten o'clock.

His Majesty is stated to have made the follow-
ing reply to the congratulations of the Diplomatic
Body :

"I receive with pleasure your congratulations,
and I am glad to testify to the conciliatory spirit
which animates the different Foreign Powers, and
which allows difficulties, when they arise, to be
removed.

" I hope that the year 1869, like 1868, will re-
move alarms and consolidate peace, which is so
necessary to the civilised world."

TURKEY AND GREECE.

CONSTANTINOPLE, Jan. 1.

The Turkish Government has published their
reply to the Greek Note, refusing to comply with
the ultimatum.

The reply commences by declaring that no
State would have accepted so long as the Porte a
condition of affairs incompatible with relations of
good neighbourhood. It then examines at length
the various points mentioned in the Greek Note.
In reference to the bands of volunteers the reply
says that the answer of the Greek Govern-
ment to the effect that the Hellenic insti-
tutions did not permit Greece to prevent
their formation, was inadmissable, since in
that case there would be no security between
neighbouring states in time of peace, and it would
be subsersive of the law of nations. Moreover, the
Greek laws would allow the Hellenic Government
to repress these irregularities had the Government
so desire t, since by Article 127 of the Penal Code,
the punishment of death is awarded to those per-
sons enrolling troops without the_ authorisation of
the Government.

The Greek Government boasts of having pro-
tected the insurgents and in granting the Cretans
permission to return to their country. Now it is
known that the departures have only been effected
by stealth, and often been prevented by violence.
The Note refutes the argument of M. Delyanni
complaining of Turkish aggression on the frontier.
The aggression is rather on the part of Greece.
Finally, referring to the subject of the expulsion
of the Greek subjects from Ottoman ports, the
Note declares that this course was necessitated by
the proceedings of those who, while receiving gener-
ous hospitality, took advantage of their position to
form hostile combinations against the Government.
The Note concludes by stating that the Porte only
replies to the Greek Government in order to
place itself right in the eyes of: Europe. Hai it
only to persuade those who. are acquainted with
current events, it would have left them to judge
between the silence of the Porte and the Greek
Note.

AMERICA.

NEW YORK, Jan. 1.

According to Mr. Adam Moffat's report, the
week's receipts of cotton at American ports, exclud-
ing Friday, amount to 80,000 bales. Since the Ist
of September, 1,045,000 bales. Shipments to Eng-
land, 41,000 bales ; to France and the Continent,
3,000 bales. Total export to date, 540,000 bales.
Stock, 300,000 bales. Market steady. Middling
upland, 10 3-16 cost and freight per steamer.

VURBESPONDENOE PROM PARM.

'PRIM ern OWN' CORRESPONDENT:)\

PARIS, FRIDAY, • ...mazy 1.
This is All Fools' Day in Paris. The universal practice
of distributing etrennes, or New Year's gifts, long ago
became a mania, and, finally, ripened into a hard and in-
flexible custom, which is a nuisance to all and a benefit
to none. For many days past the shops on the boulevards
have been crowded with customers making purchases for
etrepnes, and yesterday Paris, in the neighbourhood of the
vertu and bonbon establishments, resembled a fair. The
gifts embrace almost every description of object, and the
givers and receivers include everybody. Toys are pre-
sented to children, and sugar-plums, in fancyboxes, to lady
friends. Bouquets of flowers, inkstands, writing-desks, velo-
cipedes, books (not many), lace, silks, velvet, diamonds, and
jewellery are all distributed according to the means of the
giver and the importance of the recipient. The practice
has been attended with its infallible result. The first day
of the year is the most dismal of the 365. The custom is
a nuisance to the vast majority, but nobody dares to
oppose it. The young men of the day might as well attempt
to introduce a costume of the tenth century. The practice is
universal, and it is gaining ground, so that the New Year's
gifts have come to he prized in exact proportion to their
money's worth ; a trifling present is treated with contempt.
Many a gift which is thrown aside as worthless has cost
the donor weeks of privation. The fashion needs changing,
but there is nobody to take the first plunge. France,
unfortunately, is not endowed with a ruler who is inclined
to discourage the extravagance of his people ; the Emperor
and the Empress follow or lead the general custom, and
tie flock of Parisian sheep have no alternative but to do
the same. The Empress might, I fancy, put a stop to this
useless folly ; but her Majesty is not the enemy of extrava-
gance.

The Constitutionnel, stung by the ridicule of the Opposi-
tion journals, has returned to the charge on the Louvre and
Luxembourg picture question. Its argument is merely a
repetition of its previous note, and does nothing to justify
the fact that many paintings belonging to the Louvre
collection are now hanging upon the walls of the Imperial
Club and other private establishments of high func-
tionaries.

There is every reason to believe that M. Emile Leno'a,
advocate at the Imperial Court, will succeed M. Ravin,
the late proprietor of the Siecle, in the Corps-L4gislatif.
The first number of the Journal Officiel de l'Empire
Francais has made it appearance. It does not contain
anything about the Conference, as was expected, and is
altogetheras little remarkable as the Moniteur,
The Budget preparation is ended. Only a few insigni-
ficant reductions, I hear, have been made
M. Haussmann, though the best abused of Government
officials, is but a scapegoat, after all. His raids upon the
city of Paris, his continual pulling down and rebuilding,
his obliteration of all that is ancient in Paris, and the sub-
stitution of a capital which reminds one of nothing but
the Second Empire are, after all, not his own work. He is
merely the agent who acts for the Emperor. Not only does
the head of the Government inspire the rebuilding of
Paris, but he arranges all the details. The present trans-
formation of Paris is merely the execution of a plan which
was drawn up by the Emperor so long ago as 1852.
111. Victorien Sardou has brought out a new piece at
the Gymnase. It is entitled " Sdraphine," and deals very
roughly with hypocrisy and sham religion, of which the
heroine is the impersonification. This piece has given
great offence to the religious societies. It was very suc-
cessful the first night, but on the second a great uproar
was made by some of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
The performance was, however, carried through. The
interruptions, it is said, are to be renewed.
The inhabitants of Bordeaux have signed a petition
praying for the expulsion of the Jesuits from France.
The Memorial de la Loire tells a story of a dog with a
wooden leg. A short time ago, a shepherd's dog was
assailed by a large wolf, and before he could be rescued
by his master sustained such injuries that amputation was
found necessary. Of course it was deemed impossible that
the animal could recover, but his master so greatly valued
his canine friend that the experiment of a wooden leg--
which is not altogether new—was tried, and the dog is
still alive and active.

THE WEATHER TABLE.-THIS DAY,