The Sun.
London, England, 1869-08-02 00:00:00

PRINCESS'S THEATRE.
Sole Lessee and Manager, Mr. Vining.

This EVENING, at 7, PRESUMPTIVE EVIDENCE. After
which, A'..11.4 A\ D GALATEA : Herr Formes, Mr V. Rigby, Mr
M. Smith, and Miss Blanche Cole. To conclude with A QUIET
FAMILY.

PRINCE OF WALES'S ROYAL THEATRE.
Under the Management of Miss Marie Wilton

MTSEVENING, SCHOOL: Messrs. Hare, IL J. Montague,
Addison, Glover, and Bancroft; Mrs. Buckingham White, Miss
C. Addison, and Miss Marie Wilton. After which, A WINNING
HAZARD. And A LAME EXCUSE.

RISTY MINSTRELS. St. James's Hall, Every Night, a
Wednesdays and Saturdays, at 3 and 8 all the year round.

ROYAL ALHAMBRA PALACE. THREE BALLETS
Promenade Concert. Band of 60. Begin at 8. Is. Box-office
o pen from 11 to 4.

ZOOLOGICAL (L Regent's-park, OPEN daily (ex-
cept Sundays). Admission, Is.; on Mondays, 6d. Children
under twelve, 6d

SUIT.
qTt-
t-3 „.1.,

LONDON, MONDAY, AUG 1i67 2, 1869.

Another fortnight, and it will be exactly one hun-
dred years since the birth of the Great NAPOLEON.
That centenary occurring as it does in the midst of a
political conjuncture so propitious for France, affords
the reigning EMPEROR a magnificent opportunity.
Of this opportunity NAPOLEON 111. will surely avail
himself. He has but very recently prepared the
way for it. A comparatively brief interval has elapsed
since he anticipated whatever adverse decision might
have been preparing through the Corps Legislatif in
reference to the obnoxious system of Personal Go-
vernment, by spontaneously and of his own free
will, substituting for that rigid system of Personal
Government, pure and simple, many of the more im-
portant guarantees or sureties of Responsible, or, as
it is also called, Parliamentary Government. The
elections had hardly been completed, the newly
chosen representatives had not yet commenced their
regular legislative proceedings, when the SOVEREIGN
announced, as we all perfectly well remember, for
the incident, so to speak, is but ono of yesterday, a
series of bold, practical, and comprehensive conces-
sions, the actual carrying out of which will, in the
most effective manner possible, be the Crowning
of the Edifice. Since that new and peace-
ful coup d'etat, which was as startling in its
way as any coup de theatre that could be named,
doubts have sprung up as to the sincerity of the
EMPEROR'S intentions, and as to the solidity of the
boons vouchsafed by him to the forty millions of
France. The abrupt closing of the Corps Legislatif
itself was regarded upon the instant by the more
extreme politicians of the Left, as of itself an
ominous and even sinister incident. For ourselves we
cannot for an instant regard it as having had about
it any such evil significanc. For, we view it as a
blunder rather than as a hostile movement. It was
not a crime—it was a mistake. Then, again, as to
the character of the reconstructed y.
Many of the ultra Democrats, many of those implac-
able foes of the Empire, who would put the worst
possible construction upon anything NAPOLEON 111.
might possibly do, recognised in it at once evidence
of a determination, ou the EMPEROR'S part, to " keep
the word of promise to the ear and break it to the
hope," namely, by replacing the energetically servile
Ministry, as they called it, of the Vice Emperor,
M. RouIIER, with a Ministry of Political Nobodies,
a Alinistry of mere—lnsignificants ! The simple
truth being, here, again, that the EM-
PEROR w 2, s doing the very best be possibly
could do, in the sudden emergency and
ander the actual circuinstance3. It is notorious and
absolutely undeniable, to begin with, that advances
were made to the moderate chiefs of the Tiers Parti
that M. EMILE OLLIVIER and one or two of his
principal associates, were invited to take office in the
newly constructed and thorougly liberalised Govern

rnent. Those advances, as everybody knows, failed
solely because M. OLLwxErt an 1 his friends wished
to have a monopoly of seats in the Cabinet. They
wanted at once to b.:co:no the dolninant influence
in the Administration. That they s'aould possess a

numerical preponderance they made a condition.
Upon that simple stipulation alone, they would con-
sent to accept office in the inner circle of the Go-
As a matter of course, therefore, the
negotiations— brought to this preposterous iisue—fell
through. A condition of that kind, a stipulation so
utterly extravagant is itself, the EMPEROR could

IT is satisfactory to find that the committee to
whom the " battle of the sites " for the New Law
Courts was referred has decided in favour of the
locality first chosen. Our readers will not need to be

vernment.

informed that it is in contemplation to build a vast
Palace of Justic in London, so as to unite under one roof
all the tribunals now scattered about in different
parts of the metropolis. For this great national work
a site was purchased on the north side of the Strand,
just outside Temple Bar. The existing buildings were
demolished, and about £BOO,OOO spent, when the
British mind, with its customary astuteness, began
to awake to the fact that a better place than this
Carey-street site might be found. Why not construct
the courts on the south side of the Strand, on the
space adjoining the Thames Embankment? On the
Carey-street site, it was said, the Palace would be
lost in obscurity ; on the Embankment it would
be a great national monument, equal to any-
thing to be found by the waters of the
Seine. True, the original ground had been
bought and cleared, but it might be sold again at an
advantage or utilised for some other purpose. For
a long time the battle raged furiou- ly, the
" artists " supporting the Embankment site, the
lawyers urging that the original ground should be
retained, and the general public gradually becoming
convinced that the Courts would never be constructed
anywhere. When the Liberal Ministry came into
office the question was speedily put, Did they
intend to adopt the suggestion as to the
Thames Embankment, or to go on with the
building on the ground already cleared ? To the
amazement of everybody, Mr. LOWE declared that
he would have neither one locality nor the other.
The Embankment was too costly, and so was the
Carey-street site; for though £BOO,OOO had been
expended the ground was not large enough, and
more would be needed. The CHANCELLOR of the
EXCHEQUER decided in favour of a third site, to be
on the Embankment, but very different from the ori-
ginal Embankment site. Some back streets were to be
cleared away, and there the " Palace" was to La reared
on a reduced plan, without a frontage to the Strand.
The suggestion was monstrous. Never was public
outcry more legitimately raised. For the first
Embankment site there was something to be said.
There the Palace would be very costly, but it would
be a magnificent national ornament. On
Mr. LOWE'S site the Courts would be no orna-
ment whatever, and it is by no means certain
that any great sum would be saved. For we
know what we have to pay for the ground adjoining
Carey-street; it is already purchased; but Mr.
LowE's calculations might turn out to be widely
short of the mark. It is true that the Carey-street
ground will not be large enough for the original
scheme ; but it is amply sufficient for Mr. LowE's
reduced plan, and why not, therefore, adopt it ? The
outcry produced by the CHANCELLOR of the Ex-
cuEquEn's decision led to the appointment of a
committee which has decided in favour of the ori-
ginal site. The result is satisfactory from more than
one reason, not the least of which is that when
hundreds of men are waiting for employment, it is
highly inexpedient that public works be needlessly
deferred.

❑ot, in reason, be expected for an instant seriously to
entertain. His MAJESTY had to do the best he
could, and he has decided as he has decided. Tran-
sition Ministry, you may call it if, you will, but,
under the urgency of the case, it was the best that
could in any way have been constructed. M. ROUHER
was gone as Minister of State. He was relegated to
the Presidency of the Senate. He had played his
part, and had played it splendidly, so long as the order
of the day in France, under the Second Empire, was
Personal Government. As administrator, as de-
bater, as orator, as Vice-Emperor, if you will—for
the sneer almost amounts to an eulogium—he was
not simply first and foreunst among the Ministers of
NAPOLEON 111. He stood alone—there was no one

who could came _near him—in his Office, in
the Chamber, in the Tribune, he was facile
princeps, he was simply unapproachable. Any
Ministry of France, succeeding an Administra-
tion, at the head of which had been such a Minister
of State as M. ROUHER, must, perforce, appear intel-
lectually to a disadvantage, with M. R.OUIIER swept
out of the way, and the Ministry of State itself abo-
lished. But the fact that it was so—the fact that so
prominent a statesman was swept out of the way,
and that the very office he had so long held was thus
summarily abolished—while it might, as it undoubt-
edly did, make the newly - installed Ministry
look insignificant by comparison, was of it-
self a guarantee of the EMPEROR'S sincerity in
the reforms upon which his MAJESTY had adven-
tured. Constructing the new Cabinet out of the
best materials ready to his hand, that Cabinet, such
as it is -in the fact that it is without M. ROURER,
and even without M. ROUIIER'S office—is distinctly

to the credit and honour of the ex-Minister of State's
imperial master, NAPOLEON 111. Whatever doubts
have been awakened, however, by purely inadvertent,
or as it might be said by simply fortuitous circum-
stances over which the EMPEROR had, comparatively
speaking, little or no controI—NAPOLEON 111. may
now before the close of another fortnight, or
immediately upon the close of another fortnight,
that is, upon the return of the anniversary of the
birth of the glorious Founder of his Dynasty exactly
One Century ago, by one supplementary act, by, so to
speak, one additional stroke of the pen utterly and
resplendently dissipate. Conscious of this, recognis-
ing this, as a magnificent opportunity now imme-
diately within the EMPEROR'S grasp, we are in no
way surprised to note now the happy auguries in the
news from Paris as to the probable character of the
Senatus Consultum now in active preparation, or to
hear, coupled with those, rumours of a General
Amnesty as in readiness, as a fitting act of grace,
for the celebration of the Napoleonic Centenary.

The Tribune of July 15th says :—" Mons. Cite-
Stromn the famous New Zealander, after he has valier, so far as we know, Las not yet set out on his
completed his sketch of the ruins of St. Paul's, balloon voyage hence to Europe. lle is probably awaiting
choose to survey the provincial relics of the British
(as iv prudent) the arrival of the aerial ship Avitor from
San Francisco direct. It cannot be the lack of gas that
Empire, what will he think of the PALMERSTON detains him."
Fortification scheme ? Were it not for printed DuzivlLLE and Co., Belfast, are the largest
records, the traces of that amazing monument of holders of Whisky in the world. Their Old Irish Whisky is re-
wttional folly must prove a greater mystery than commended
Brandy.
s.
Supplied
itehde
inm casksedicAl andc professionesfionr phroemfeereusncee :roe French.po
rts
the traces of pre-historic man. The visitor would be
mution Quotations on application to Messrs. Danville and Co
utterly unable to appreciate the feelings,
,Belfast; or 4, Besarombvudings,stranci,
_Lyuctp Tir , ,c,—[ad
mucks less 0 Tertissezent;

to weigh the wisdom, which suggested such a
system of defence against foreign invaders, But
British literature will probably survive the British
nation, and accordingly the New Zealander may
find in " Hansard " the key to a problem which
would be otherwise less soluble than the inscriptions
at Nineveh. He will learn that about A.D. 1859 a
few French colonels threw the whole of this then
powerful people into a fright by a little bluster about
invasion. He will find that, in consequence of that
panic, and not as the result of calm conviction, we
decided to protect ourselves against these belligerent
French officers by heaping up impregnable works
along our shores, that we were soon ashamed of our
fears, and still more ashamed of the means by which
we sought to pacify them; but that having commenced
the Folly, we were constrained to incur the lesser
ridicule of completing it in order to escape the greater
ridicule of leaving it half unfinished. All hope that
the fortifications will prove of any real service has
long since been abandoned. That certain
strong places may be of great utility in
war no one doubts ; but that the principle
of fortifications can be so extended as to
include all the salient points of a country is perfectly
impracticable. No such system of defence could be
rendered complete; and the nearer it approached
completion the greater would be the difficulty of

finding men to man the works. It is even doubtfu:

whether the defences already made would not prove
of greater service to the enemy than to ourselves.
The forces required to garrison the defences of
Plymouth, for instance, are estimated at about
25,000 men. In case of invasion, these works
cannot be left unmanned, lest they should be seized,
and prove a protection, instead of an annoyance, to
the foe. If, on the other hand, an effective
garrison were provided, the scene of operations
might be selected in another quarter, and thus a
powerful detachment would be rendered hors de
combat. The fortification scheme, in short, instead
of being a defence, is opposed to the most approved
principle of defence. If the danger of invasion must
be guarded against, it is now generally admitted
that a powerful concentrated force, capable of rapid
movement from post to post, is the best protection.
The scheme which was the offspring of the panic is
devised on precisely the opposite principle. It splits
the defending force into fragmentary garrisons,
incapable of rapid and effective concentration.
Nobody, however, now defends the fortifications.
The smallest measure of censure accorded to the
scheme is that its utility will in no wise be equal to its
cost. Considering that the works will require an
enormous sum to keep them in repair, as well as to
construct them, this is very mild blame indeed.
Unfortunately, it is too late for repentance. Four-
fifths of the scheme has been carried out. Of the
eight millions originally thought of, six have been
sunk, and half a million has been cut off from the
estimate. As to the remaining million and a half,
there seems no help for it—it must be spent. These
defences will not in any case be regarded by succeed-
ing generations as a monument of British wisdom.
But we should appear still more ridiculous if we left
them to crumble to dust half finished. Complete,
they may probably serve as barracks or warehouses,
or be utilised in some way so es to conceal
the absurdity of their original conception; to
have them mouldering about us like the
Pyramids would be intolerable. Captain BEAUMONT,
on Friday, brought forward a proposition to reduce
the size of two forts, so as to save a sum of £225,000,
but it is by no means clear that it would have been
wise to accept his proposition. Had it referred to
inland forts, the proposed retrenchment would be
gratifying indeed; but the works referred to are at
Spithead, and if we are to have defences at all we
cannot do without them at the entrance to our leading
naval station. The protection of our harbours is
just the purpose for which the fortifications may be
useful. No, the unfortunate business must now go
on. The seven millions and a half must be thrown
away entire. What such a sum would have done in
the cause of education, science, or religion,
how great the reforms it might have secured
us, and what a blessing it might have proved
to suffering humanity, it is now useless to lament.
Costing millions; to make, millions more to maintain,
never perhaps being needed in the space of genera-
tions, and, if needed, proving utterly useless—such
is likely to be the history of the Fortification Folly.