The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-26 00:00:00

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on the part of the people, and sheer neglect on the
part of those in office, whose duty it is to see to
these matters.
We copy an excellent article on this subject
from our acute contemporary the Lancet, which
makes it a peculiar province of its duty to look
after the preservation of the public health. We
recommend that article to the especial consideration
of our readers, as well as to those in authority,
who should not sleep at their post while they
pocket the pay.

On Saturday—says the Moniteur of yesterday—
the Treaty was signed at Turin, the memorable
Treaty whereby his Majesty King VICTOR Em-

MANUEL cedes to France the district of Nice, Savoy

and the Savoyards. The larceny, therefore, so
long talked of and dreaded, may be regarded at
length, wo suppose, as un fait accongili. Perhaps
even Lord JOHN will not at this moment object to

our so regarding it. The noble lord, it will be re-
membered, when first the notion of this rossible
annexation was brought under the consideration
of the House of Commons, said, amongst other
charming little compliments of a like kind, lavished
by him, as England's Foreign Secretary, upon our
Imperial ally across the water said my Lord
JOHN, referring thus to the Question of Saxony,
and to the fair fame of the Emperor NAPOLEON M.

—" I have studied the character of that great man,
and am satisfied in my own mind that he will never
annex Savoy !" My Lord JOHN—Savoy is annexed!
The treaty in which the King of SARDINIA
yields up Savoy and the district of Nice to
his Imperial Majesty the French EMPE-
ROR, was signed at Turin, as we have said (as
the Illoniteur has officially informed Europe), on
Saturday. Perhaps— we venture to hint this to
our sagacious and clearsighted Foreign Secretary
—perhaps it will be just as well in future
if Lord JOHN RUSSELL refrain, at the very
least, from setting up as a judge of charac-
ter. He may take the command of the Chan-
nel Fleet say when Mr. BRIGHT has been
nominated, for the salvation of England, to the
head of the Board of Admiralty. His lordship
may, if he pleases, perform the operation for the
stone—say in some peculiarly perilous and difficult
case beyond the skill of Mr. FERGUSON. But, at
least, in ?leaven's name, after this, let Lord JOHN
RUSSELL refrain, henceforth, from arrogating to
himself any skill whatever as a judge of charac-
ter. He has doubtless, as he tells us, studied
the character of " that great man," the
Emperor NAPOLEON 111. very profoundly. But
at any rate he has not studied it profoundly enough
to escape from the position of having been in the
face of Europe egregiously deceived. What our
Foreign Secretary declared but a few weeks since,
would (he was satisfied) never be done, would
never even be attempted—has not only been at-
tempted, it has actually also and triumphantly
been done. It has been done so completely, so
successfully—that our Foreign Secretary has been
" done," too—England has been " done "—Europe
has been " done " collectively. The Emancipator
of Italy has assumed the position occupied in the
old fable by the low attorney, who swallows the
oyster HIMSELF, and—then hands to the two dis-
putants, to the right and to the left, the empty
oyster-shells. AUSTRIA has—the Treaty of Zurich !
ENGLAND has —the Treaty of Commerce !
FRANCE absorbs Savoy and the Savoyards ! Voila
tout!

But the Savoyards seem to like it—at least those
delightful gentlemen who paid that courtly visit
the other day to the Tuileries. They appear some-
how—those merchants, or rathor hucksters, from the
Liverpool of Savoy—to be pretty much of the same
way of thinking as Maw worm in the Hypocrite,
who says with an unctuous relish and smacking of
the lips—" I likes to be despised !" In the political
storms and tempests recently agitating Italy
their one prayerful ejaculation must surely
have been the same as that of PA-
NURGE in RABELLAIS' wonderful Gargantua—
PANURGE who howls out in the midst of sea-sick-
ness and terror, " 0 that I were on shore Anywhere
with Somebody kicking me !" They have landed
safely at last high and dry within the boun-
daries of France—and their prayer (in the esti-
mation of Europe) has by this time surely been
answered to their heart's content. One of them
—the chief amongst them, their principal spokes-
man—has already, in payment of his sycophancy,
donned the Imperial livery as Senator. There is
another address, too. worthy of the occa-
sion, which has this day also seen the
light. It is actually an Address amount-
ing to a protest from Savoy against the
annexation ; but it is an Address beginning
(in the name of Savoy)—How, 0 English peti-
tioners (to Anybody), do you suppose this crawling
Address begins? Thus,—" Sire ! We venture
humbly to entreat your MAJESTY to deign
to cast your eye upon the following statement,"
and so forth ! Why, absolutely, language like that
is what savages might utter before one of their
idols, with their foreheads in the dust, and
their little children burning beside them on
pyres in sacrifice ! It is not the language of man to
man, of a civilised people addressing themselves to
a Christian Sovereign. There is but one public
solace to us in the midst of this almost universal
stupor of mingled fear and sycophancy. Switzer-
land has manfully uttered her protest against the
lawless seizure of Savoy—she has uttered her pro-
test in words not unworthy of Switzerland.

On Wednesday next a great battle to come .
off. The combatants have been in training for this
last month. They have had one determined set-to
this session, which has only whetted the zeal of
both sides for a more decisive one on the 28th.
Our readers Rill remember that on the second
reading of the Church Rate Abolition Bill, the
maintainers of the rates made a grand and unex-
pected effort. The Abolitionists, considering the
bill as good as carried, had made no special effort :
they had told their friends that they need not
trouble themselves to petition this year, and had also
used their influence with members rather laxly,
not fearing that they should in any case have a
very large majority. But the old axiom of the
folly of despising an enemy was somewhat exem-
plified on this occasion; for, though they lost not
one •of their own supporters, yet the etierny
brought up so many more than he had
ever done before, that the majority of the
Abolition party was much diminished. Besides
which they had been busy for half a yea! getting
up petitions from every petty parish of the king-
dom till the number of small petitions, not aver-
aging more than thirty signatures each, quite
astonished the House, and the Abolitionists them-
selves. Indeed, the petitions had been got up so
quietly that the public did not know of them.

Forthwith the Abolitionists altered their tactics.
Lord MoNTAGUE, the leader of the Rate party, had
compared the host of pro-rate petitions with the
" one miserable petition'' against the rate. His
Opponents, therefore; deferred the committee for
the Bill for a few weeks, . just to see whether
there
would be any considerable number of
petitions sent in from their side against
it ; and, of course, informed all their