The Sun.
London, England, 1869-12-17 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY, DEC. 17, 1819.

Whenever and however the coup-de-grace shall be
given to the French Ministry, its downfal will not
take its staunchest supporters by surprise. The
Ministerial crisis, as we should call it in England, has
been prolonged for a period which would be impossi-
ble under a constitutional Government. I❑ fact the
administration has typified the poet's idea of the ex-
istence of mankind in general—
" Whose birth is nothing but its death begun,
As tapers wasto the instant they take fire."

It may be said that the Cabinet, of which M. de
FORCADE is now the most prominent member, was
only intended to fill a transitory place, to bridge
over the inevitable gap between M. ROIMER and a
really Liberal administration. In any case it was
very speedily perceptible to the quick witted
Parisians that they had been favoured with a
happy combination of King Log and Kiug
Stork, that in spite of the presence of really
enlightened and capable men, the Administration
was neither strong enough to breast the stream of
popAar excitement, nor wise enough to guide it,
nor prudent enough to go with it. Making conces-
sions which surprised the " Reds" one day, the next
they counteracted the whole effect by some hesitating
display of mistrust. Giving their unqualified sup-
port to an amnesty whose clemency extorted
warm applause from the enemies of the Empire,
they leave uncontradicted the confident assertion
that secret orders have been despatched to the ports
for the arrest of particular individuals. Tolerating
the wildest excesses of the press for many weeks,
they suddenly prosecute an offender for a compara-
tively slight offence. M. DE FORCADE'S excuse for
this arbitrary display of power, when ques-
tioned in the Chambers, was that the Minis-
try were willing to let the public learn
political experience by seeing to what extent
unrestrained liberty would carry political scribes.
They were unwilling to draw the line too tightly
after the amnesty, but they would not permit such
excesses to continue. " Nous n'avons pas voulu"—
words that were quickly shown by an Opposition
member to demonstrate that the days of personal
power were not yet over. "Le Rai le vent," may he
the phrase for a Constitutional Sovereign giving
sanction to the expressed wishes of her Ministers
and the people, but the words " Nous n'avons pas
voulu," gives ominous indication of the spirit which
presides over the FORCADE Administration.

What will be the end of the crisis it is not easy to
foresee. M. E3IILE OLLIVIER'S varying fortunes
threatened a day or two since to take a turn which
should leave him for the present in the cold shade of
opposition, but the latest rumour makes him Minister
of Foreign affairs in a Cabinet in which Count DARU
is Minister of the Interior. In this new administra-
tion, M. M. LOUVET, SEGRIS, and BUFFET, the Mar-
quis de TABHOULT, General LEBCEUF, and Ad-
miral de GENOUILLY find places. It is not a
little singular that M. DARU should be chosen as
Minister, when he has never set foot in the Tuileries
since the coup d'etat. He it was who impeached
LOUTS NAPOLEON for high treason, and was imme-
diately arrested. Time has wrought greater changes
than that of reconciling Count DArx to the Empire,
but nevertheless the fact is singular. No change is
to be made until the verification of the elections is
terminated, so that France has yet a few days of
uncertainty as to whose hands her political destiny
is to be confided.

Another and another still succeeds may well be
said with regard to the inquests at St. Pancras
Workhouse Infirmary. one might have imagined
that *sufficient details had been given as to the want
of comfort and the existence of wretchedne,s that
prevailed, in that dreary locality, and that the subject
would pass may out of notice. It is not so; it seems,
on the contrary, to be for ever before us, and with
mingled amazement and horror the public are con-
strained to dwell over and over again upon the sad
story of mismanagement and misery. Yesterday, in
combination with several other workhouse in-
quest, Dr. LANKESTER held an inquiry on the
body of JOIIN RAY, sho had died in the new