The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-08 00:00:00

TilE FEENCLI GO VERN Ai P.N.V.

(From the Times.)
The uneasiness and apprehension which the pre.
sent position of the French Government inspires
are not likely to be lessened by the series ofidemsnde
winch it seems to be making oa foreign states.
Ever since the establisinnent of the Second Empire
the press of Belgium and the asylum of Switzerland
have been the objects of repeated renennstrancee en
the part of the French authorities. lirfeknow- that
into so solemn a document as the Treaty of Paris a
condemnation of Belgian free speech was it) trodueed,
and for some time Switzerland has been forced to
require that refugees from France shall resi-le
Cantons remote from the French frontier. But
since the 14th of January the Government at Paris
ser,ms to have lost all temper and discretion.
What has astonished the world most during the
last few weeks is the singular agitation which the
attempt of a few Italian outcasts has produced
among those who bear sway in France. It is prevail
beyond a doubt that this crime was tbe'vrork of four
or five desperate fanatics ; that it was unconnected
with any French party or fiction or secret society,
and that no Government cr police could be chaeged
with negligence in the matter except those of the
Emperor himself. But whether the attempt be the
cause, or only the pretext, it is ceitain that it has
been followed by a behaviour towards foreign
States which is hardly in accordance with the inter-
national traditions of Europe. We need not refer
at length to what has passed between the French
authorities and this country. If any State hr.d 4
right to be addressed with courtesy and respect
by the French Government it was England. I*
the frequent changes which the French people hate
thought fit to make in their institutions during the
last 30 years, they have always had in England ea
well-disposed and. considerate neighbour. Although
we are unable to see the grandeur or the heroism
of these revolutions, we have always accepted
them, and, by proclaiming the principle of non.
interference with the internal changes of Franc%
we have led the other Con'inental Powers to ab-
stain from any display of ill-will. One Ambassador
has come and another _Ambassador has gone, and
there has been nothing in their reception by the
English Government and people to remind thew
that they represented two hostile dynasties or two
diverse constitutions,. We will net urge that shelter
has always been afforded to the fallen of all parties,
for it is this very asylum once enjoyed by them-
selves that the present favourites of fortune wish
in their elation to destroy. But it may be s lid
that for five years the two countries have been
engaged in the common enterprise of defending
and rehabilitatine- the East, and that their alli-
ance and friendship have been loudly proclaimed
as necessary to the peace of the world. On our
side there has been done nothing inconsistent
with the fairness of our old policy, or the good
feeling which ought to result from our later alli-
ance. The English people have paid duo tribute
to the Emperor's character, and. though the prin-
ciples of his domestic government cannot meet tl eir
approbation, they have made every allowance for
the situwion in which ho found his country, and
the difficulties which attend his aimiuistrati,n.
Nowhere, we may add, was the late attempt at
assassination more heartily and universally con-
demned.

Yet, without cause, suddenly and violently a
flood of vituperation is directed against this come
try. The President of the Senate, the President
of the Legislative Body, the Minister of Fore'gn
Affairs, the Ambassador in London, and 'he
Colonels of Regiments scattered over France un to
iu addressing England in language which has Lot
been heard since the days when the courtiers of
the first Bonaparte dwelt on the speedy destruction
of " Carthage" and its empire. That there was
any overpowering national indignation against us
on account of Orsini's crime—an indignation which
the Government dared not to withstan—we cannot
believe. The members of the Government wore
the leaders in all that was done ; M. Troplong's
and M. do Morny's addresses gave the note for the
Colonels, nor is it consistent with what we know of
the French army that its officers should have used.
such language without having cause to believe that
that the ad.
it would be well received in the quarter where
advancement and favour are to be sought. We
Ne.ai
snelrl Os to
rbut the arrive
Emperora we
at the
r e either
conclusion
blinded by a fear
of the downfall of their power, or that they took
advantage of the opportunity to endeavour to ex-
tort concessions from England, thinking that the
glory of the achievement would give them popu-
larity in the eyes of the French people. It is natu-
ral for a Government so little studious of constita•
tional forms to catch at the favour of the multitude
by such expedients, and from the manner in which
every transaction was represented in the official
journals it is impossible to doubt that, while hold-
ing in private converse the language of moderation,
the French authorities were willing to appear to
their own people and to European nations as having
extorted from the fears of England a great innova-
tion on her legal and political system.
It is not our part to advise foreign nations as to
their conduct at any conjuncture, and therefore
we shall express no opinion as to the answers
which the continental States in the neighbourhood
of France should return to the similar demands
which the Emperor's Government seems to persist
in making. It is, however, past all doubt that
the requisitions of France are beyond what the
comity of nations would seem to justify. Belgium
and Switzerland have already yielded as far as
is possible for States which have a regard for
their own independence ; Sardinia, has not
only brought in a bill against conspiring to kill
or dethrone a foreign sovereign, but is making
changes in her jury system, apparently lest a liberal
jury should by its decision imperil the friendship of
the Emperor. But it is with Austria that an in-
terference of the most novel kind is attempted. The
forms of courtesy have certainly not been disre-
garded, as in the case of England, for the official
indignation of Paris is sufficiently under restraint
to avoid an assault on two first-rate Powers at once.
But the demands of the French Emperor's Govei a-
ment on the Cabinet of Vienna go far beyond any-
thing which has been attempted in our own case.
We learn that M. de Bourqueney has actually de-
manded that the Austrian newspapers shall not
be allowed to comment unfavourably on the state
of France or the proceedings of the French Govern-
ment. The recent appointment of Gen. Espina.se
to the Ministry of the Interior is an event which
naturally caused great surprise in Paris, and could
hardly be uninteresting to the gossip-loving Vien-
nese. A newspaper published some correspondence
on the subject, and M. de Bourqueney was in-
structed to demand the " warning" in the Parisian
style of the offending journal. There is certainly
something most revolting in the spectacle of French-
men, after 70 years of continual boasting about
the propagation of their ideas and the spread
of their enlightenment, thus seeking not only
to cruAt all liberty of speech and writing at homes
but to strangle it in a country where it has just
been born, and where it is still weak, timid,
aud, one would think, inoffensive. Again, Austria,
much to her credit, has lately relaxed her passport
system. The quiet of the Italian Provinces and
the general prosperity of the Empire have encour-
aged the statesmen of Vienna to remove most of
the restrictions which our countrynien found so
onerous even two years ago. But will it be believed
that the French Government demands the re-esta-
blishment of the old system in more than all its
former severity ? M. de Bourqueney desires that
every traveller from the Italian Provinces shall
obtain his passport at Milan or Venice instead of
from the authorities of the place where he resides.
Generally, too, as the organ of the French Govern•
trout, he demands that the movements of the
Italians should be more narrowly watched. Such
requirements show how far the present French
authorities are disposed to carry their system.
They seem to us to be far beyond what one State
has a right to demand of another, and we cannot
but think that Count Buol has shown a just sense
of what is due to his Sovereign's dignity in reject-
ing them. No one can accuse Austria of harbour-
ing democrats or of encouraging libellers, and to
pretend that any real danger threatens France from
the present institutions her neighbour is more
than the credulity of mankind can accept.
It seems likely that the Continental States will
do all that the French Government may fairly
demand of them. Although a nation has no
right to expect that every time it overthrows
its own institutions other States should make legal
changes iu order to give security to the new system,
still we think it would be well for Austria, and the
minor Powers to remove every just cause of offence.
They should not be influenced by the ignoble fiat
of being thought afraid. We can well believe that
any concessions will be paraded in French official
newspapers, and that Austria, after being appea'ad
to in private in the most friendly tone, will be
afterwards ironic illy complimented on her good
sense in yielding to the wishes of France and its
Emperor, who will be declared to have imposed hie
wishes on the universe. But such language spring-
ing from the national habit of untruthfUlnesettsll7
unworthy of serious notice. The Cotntei
ir
States may without any derogation from tin
their
I 1
respect take measures to check conepr
which they
territories, but there is a point beyond t® what is ma-
cannot safely venture. Concessions
demand. We,
reasonable can only lead fresh
htaore little direct part in
from our insular position,
a every reason to believe
the matter, but we have navel old reputation for
that Austria will yin
d er the guidance of
an ,
d courage,
dignity an
able statesmen, setapowerful mmunities.
and re
e (do