The Sun.
London, England, 1867-06-07 00:00:00

lucky contretemps of yesterday than any one vise

can possibly be.
It must have been a great disappointme it to
them that their guest should have been expo sed to
injury, and indeed to death, while he was in a manner
under their protection. Although it was not a
native of France who made the cowardly assault,
still it was vexatious that it should have been com-
mitted while the Czmt was in Paris. The well-
meaning Parisians must now doubly regret the
exhibitions which have been made against the Em •
PIROR on account of his treatment of the Poles,
for it may have led indirectly to the act of yester-
day. It is always best, in large and small things,
in serious as in trivial mattters, to keep to those rules
of courtesy which custom upholds and good feeling
sanctions. had these been strictly adhered to
during this visit of the Autocrat to the French
capital, the misguided individual whose act has
just been chronicled might not have taken up wild
ideas of the sympathy of the French, and mag-
nified notions of the wrongs of his country. Be-

sides being ill-timed, these manifestations were un-
fair, because the present Emperor has never shown
himself to be exclusively devoted to the main-
tenance of a representative system, and so
far as the stringent laws of his empire allowed
him he has been liberal, and in many instances
merciful towards offenders.
Another guest is at present sojourning in the
capital of France, who is personally far more un-
popular than the Emperor ALEXANDER, and whose
recent policy has been most inimical to the French
ideas of nationality. It behoves all who have the
honour of their country at heart, and all who
rightly estimate the responsibility that devolves
upon them, to keep on the alert that there
may be no repetition of the outrage of
yesterday. These illustrious individuals do not
come to France to proclaim their own views or to
challenge the justice of this or that line of action ;
they came, upou the invitation of the French EM-
PEROR, to share the hospitality and witness the
achievements of a people whose boast it is that they
are the most polished among the nations of the earth.
They must not find out that their entertainers have
forgotten the substance for the shadow, and are con-
tent to let those who have claims upon the nation
take their chance of result and inquiry, while ex-
travagant politicians and ignorant youths give vent
to their real and affected 'indignation upon subjects
that are not now before the public. The reception
of King WILLIAM iu Paris was a cold one, which
circumstance need neither excite astonishment nor
give rise to regret. It would be idle to assume the
likelihood of the Prussian Monarch being a welcome
guest in Paris, and if anything could have made
him more unpopular, it would have been the
presence of the statesman who accompanied him.
At the present moment we should say that Count
BISMARCK is the most unpopular man in France,
and all the more so for the audacity with which he
has acted in pretending to advance the cause of free-
dom. The French have too lively a sense of liberty,
whether they enjoy it themselves or not, to be taken
in by appearance, and they know that the Minister
who new accompanies his Sovereign to France has
done more harm to the cause of real freedom than
any other man living. We see no reason
for requesting that the reception of Wednesday was
a cold one, not that it can be surmised for an in-
stant that those most affected by it will learn any-
thing profitable to themselves or pleasant to
others, but there is no harm in the indication
of a truth, and the condvmnation of many
errors. What we have most to do with now is
that these illustrious visitors should leave Paris in
safety, and that during their stay in the French
capital they sl:oull be treatel in a manner
befitting their exalted position, and worthy of those
who are the guests of France. We hope that the
French themselves will recognise the true from the
false in this instance, and not follow a vision until
it leads them into the presence of a reality they
will regret. This is not the time nor the place to
express their opinions upon the character and
nature of Russian or of Prussian policy, but
it is an occasion which demands from
them the exhibition of good taste and good
feeling.. These Sovereigns are in Paris because they
have been requested to come, and, being there, they
have claims on the honour and good faith of
Frenchmen, and we earnestly hope that there will
be no more vexatious circumstances occurring dur-
ing the period of their stay, for it would be much
to he regretted if there were.

We hear a great deal about Irish grievances, and
are apt, especially so far as the House of Commons
is concerned, to think they are usually made the
most of. The subject which Mr. HERBERT last
night introduced to the notice of the House is one,
however, which well deserves inquiry. It seems
that an order is in force with regard to the regi-
ments of Foot Guards, of which Irishmen have a
good reason to complain. The order relating to
the Scots Fusiliers runs as follows—" Natives of

England and Scotland only are to be enlisted, un-
less special permission be given to the contrary."
The order for the Coldstream Guards is equally
exclusive, though an attempt is given to account for
the exclusion—" Owing to the impossibility of ob-

taining the requisite information respecting age and
character, natives of England and Scotland only
are to be enlisted." It is not very easy
to see why there should be such insuperable
difficulty in obtaining the necessary infor-
mation with respect to Irishmen. Scotchmen
are admissible, though it is quite possible
they may be natives of the far Highlands or of
some of the wild islands off the Scottish coast. It
might be quite as difficult to obtain full particulars
respecting a Welshman from the more remote or
secluded parts of the principality, and yet we do
not find any such wholesale objection taken to the
natives of any other part of the United Kingdom.
There can be no satisfactory reason given for such
an exclusion on account of this supposed difficulty,
because in many instances the character of an Irish-
man must be quite as easily traceable as that of an
Englishman or Scotchman, and if it is not, there is
a quite sufficient reason given for the individual ex-
clusion. The rule of the Grenidier Guards is even
worse than those we have quoted, because it puts
the exclusion on a point of religious difference,
" natives of England and Scotland only are to be
enlisted. Should a man offer himself to be enlisted
who is a Roman Catholic, the sergeant will ask the
permission of the regitner.tal adjutant before lie en-
lists him." It-may be very well to recruit certain
regiments exclusively in cerl alit localities, or to keep
them entirely for the men of one nation. In fact,
competent authorities have pronounced this to be an
excellent method for keeping up an esprit de corps,
and for preserving the reputation of the regiment.
But then if this principle be acted on with regard to
the most favoured regiments of the service, it should
be fairly carried out, and there should, in common
justice, be one regiment of the Guards principally,
if not exclusively, composed of Irishmen. There
can certainly be no objection raised on the score of
their want of military spirit or capacity ; and, in
fact, we find that during the Crimean war, when
Men were difficult to obtain, that. Irishmen were
admitted to some regiments, but that when the war
was over the old rules were a,,ain followed.