The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-02 00:00:00

FRANCE AND PORTUGAE.

(From the ..ilforiling Chronicle.)
The Horning Herald publishes, and we repro-
duce else Where a " communicated" article on the
subject of the difference which las recently arisen
between the Governments of Portugal and France.
By the wid of the revelations of 01,7 contempo-
rary, and of ink:.rmation we receive from abroad,
we are now enabled to place before our readers, in
their true light, the circumstances which led tO this
deplorable incident.
We need not return to the consideration of the
original question: The facts of the case, undisputed
from the commencement, admit of. no doubt, and.
England; at least, has judged its merits. The
authoritative declarations, put forth during the past:
week by the official organs of the two Govern-
ments, have exhausted the discussion.

But there are two questions connected with this
matter which possess more than a momentary in-
terest, and which well deserve the attention of the
country.
What, it is asked—what, in the midst of these
transactions, has been the policy of England ?
Again—does the decisive course adopted by France
towards this weak State, furnish grounds for any-
inference as to the future foreign policy of the Im-
perial Government ?
With respect to the course adopted by her Ma-
jesty's Government, we must confess; after a care-
ful consideration of the question in all its-bearings,
that we agree neither in the praise nor in the blame
already so freely hazarded by partisans. As far as
We are able to judge, the occasion is one neither
for enthusiasm nor for censure. We have so long:
been accustomed to the dramatic incidents of a
" spirited" foreign policy,that our disappointment
is only natural at hearing of a " difficulty " with .
which we have had nothing to do; and which ap- .
pears likely to be solved before our- Ministers_have
had the opportunity of denouncing any foreign
Power, or of representing English chivalry as the
only safeguard of Europe, menaced by the legions
of a despot. The' policy of the English Government,
in the case before us, may not have been ambitious,
but it certainly has been wise.
England, it is well known, has contracted to-
wards Portugal obligations of a very complicated
character. We have, in fact, guaranteed not
merely Portugal to the Portuguese, but even the
Portuguese to their King. The policy of such
engagements is at least doubtful. They may
impose onerous duties on the protecting Power—
they may render the protected Sovereign a reckless
ruler, and the unprotected people careless of con-
sequences, in their dealing with foreign na-
tions. But, whatever their inconveniencies, Trea-
ties must be respected ; and, as soon as the relations
of Portugal with France assumed a menacing aspect,
it became the obvious duty of her Majesty's Go-
vernment to be prepared for every contingency.
In the presence of imminent danger, they adopted
an expectant attitude.

Ana why, it may be asked, should they have re-
mained thus passive ? Why, it has been asked,
have her Majesty's Government neglected the in-
terests of an ally, menaced by a powerful State ?
We have said that our treaties with that State im-
pose upon as a species of Protectorate, of doubtful
advantage to Portugal and to ourselves. But the
matter would be far worse, if those treaties bound
us to intervention, whether-such intervention were,
or were not, in accordance with the interests of
the Power we desire to befriend. It was not for
England to impose her intervention :- it was far
Portugal to seek it. --
This she did not do, for reasons which it is easy
to appreciate. The King of Portugal and his
Ministers; fully aware of the obligations of Eng-
land, and that she was able and ready to fulfil
them, did not solicit her aid. England was wise
in not imposing, Portugal in not seeking interven-
tion. France, a high-spirited Power, was so far
committed in the affair, that war would have been
the inevitable result of resistance by the one
Power or of interference by the other. The
attitude of England upon this occasion somewhat
resembles that adopted by France in 1849, with
reference to our intimdation of Greece. We owe
it to the moderation of Portugal that we have been
enabled to observe a similar neutrality, which was
no less indispensable to the maintenance of the
peace of Europe.
And here we may express our regret that the
English Cabinet were not informed, at an earlier
date, of the unfortunate measures contemplated by
France. We have reason to believe that their
want of information on the subject is in a great
measure to be attributed to an accidental circum-
stance. At the time when the policy of France was
decided at St. Cloud, Lord Cowley was, we under-
stand, absent from Paris, and was thus precluded
from enjoying that daily and confidential inter-
course with Count Walewski, which is indispen-
sable to the harmonious action of the two Govern-
ments, and which, in the case of the dispute with
Portugal, would in all probability have obviated the
adoption by France of an attitude, from which,
although she might afterwards have found it un-
tenable, she could not with honour recede.
And now we come to the second, and the more
important question. Does the conduct of France
in this matter afford any indication of her future
policy ? Is that policy—as the enemies of the Im-
perial Government would have us infer—to be one
of arrogance, of aggression, of contempt for inter-
national rights ?
England is not completely without experience of
Governments which have been compelled, by the
sterility of their domestic policy, to occupy the at-
tention of the public with the achievements of a
turbulent diplomacy, and therefore she will not
hastily accept the harsh interpretation of which the
Emperor's conduct is perhaps susceptible. The
Palmerstonian and the Napoleon systems have
much in common. The affair of the Charles-et-
Georges is the counterpart to that of Don Pacifico's
claims. But we must not allow ours-elves to be
misled as to the real import of such transactions.
They have no real bearing upon European politics,
and are merely intended, in the one case to facili-
tate the postponement of inconvenient Reforms--
in the other to furnish harmless occupation for the
thoughts of a distrusted population.
Other causes, too, were not wanting. The insulto
recently offered to the Sisters of Charity, at Lisbon,
had irritated the religious feeling of France, which
the present dynasty is ever seeking to conciliate ;
and the Emperor was probably eager for an oppor-
tunity to make amends for an apparent indifference,
which the priestly organs had shown a disposition
to resent. It is possible, too, that the Emperor's
Government was a little stimulated by the criticisms
in the English Parliament and the Press, to which
the scheme of African Immigration had justly
given rise.

Some of our contemporaries have augured. ill
for the suppression of the Slave Trade from these
occurrences ' • but we see no reason to fear this re-
sult. War between France and England would
be much more likely to lead to an increase in that
traffic, as was even the case when our means of local
repression were weakened during the war with
Russia. Encouraged by the approval of Europe,
Portugal will persevere in her honourable efforts ;
and we are confident that Frar.ce, yielding to the
unanimous expression of public opinion, will aban-
don a scheme which, even if it be legal, is at least
of doubtful morality. " C'est, en definitif," said
the Emperor in a remarkable speech on a memo-
rable occasion, " C'est, en definitif, l'opinio,n publi-
que, qui remporte toujours la derniere victoire!"

THE AUSTRALIAN MAIL CONTRACT.—The Penin-
sular and Oriental Company's steam-ships Northam, Cap-
tain Shead, and Salsette, Captairi Brown, left Southampton
yesterday for Melbourne, for the conveyance of the Aus-
tralian Mails from thence to Suez. The Salsette will bring
on the first mail under the new contract. Neither vessel.
took cargo, specie, or passengers. The Salsette took out
large quantity of stores and a heavy ship mail for the Aus-
tralian colonies and. New Zealand. The first mail under the
near contract will be due in Southampton on the 11th of
April next from Australia, and the first mail for Australia
will leave Southampton on the 12th of next March.
DEATH OF IDA PFEIFFER.—We regret to hear of
the death of this clever and enterprising lady. Madame
Ida Pfeiffer expired at Vienna on Wednesday last, never
haring recovered the effects of her severe fever attack in
Madagascar. Her books of travel will long be a popular
memorial of that spirited and intelligent ambition to see for
herself the wonders of the wide earth, and to describe what
she had seen to others, by which she won an honourable
distinction through achirmements not easy to her sex.
REPORTED DEATH OF THE REV. S. SMITH.--'
It was reported in Bristol on Saturday, upon what is consi-
dered to be good authority, that the Rev. Samuel Smith,
whose trial and conviction for the attack on Mr. John
Leach, of Croydon, created so much sensation at the
Glocester Spring Assizes, had died at Lewes, to which place
he was removed prior to being,sent to Bermuda, where it
was intended he should complete the remainder of his sen-
tence of four years' penal servitude. It will be remem-
bered that at the time of his conviction Mr. Smith was pro-
noUnced to be in a precarious state of health, and showing
simptoms of pulmonary disease, but these representations
were negatived by the reports of the medical officers of the
gapl in which he was confined. The wife and children of
the unhappy man are being provided for by the friends of '
her husband.

ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS.—The following
gentlemen having undergone the necessary examinations for
the diploma were admitted members of the College at a
meeting of. the Court of-Examiners on the 29th ult.:—viz.,
Messrs. Henry Gervis, Tiverton, Devon ; John Lycett,
Minchinhampton, Gloucester., Richard Gibbon Davey, Wa
rner, Kent ; George John Parker, Bristol ; Robert Sage
Ellis, Swavesey, Cambridgeshire ; Wilberforce Arnold, Bel-
fast; Joseph Brooks Shepherd, Skidhill, Kent; Charles
P4rsons, Wells, Somerset ; John Vivian Faull, Probus,
Cornwall; Philip Sydney Jones Sydney, New South Wales;
Arthur Samuels, Dublin ; John Keville Smallhorn,
Francis Thomas Bayntun, Bath ; and Henry Horsford
Prins, Ceylon.

SUDDEN DEATIT.---.411 untoward event occurred
at. Drury-laneTheatre list evening. Mr. Wm. Blagrove,
a violinist, one of the band, fell down dead at the stage.
door, as it is conjectured, of a disease of the heart. Ills
death was instantaneous, and- it is -conjectured he had
hurrjed to be in time at the theatre. Of course a post
niptteaingiiiBition will be held. -