The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-15 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS

TIM Es.—The Emperor Napoleon had yesterday a
most difficult Speech to deliver. Items a confession
of mishaps in his foreign policy ; a profession of in-
tended reforms in his home policy. It would hardly
be generous to dwell too long on his apology for the
past. According to a saying lately attributed to his
Imperial cousin of the Palais-Royal, the Emperor
has been by turns an under-rated and an over-rated
man. We have never thought that he took upon
himself any credit forinfallibility,and we now read in
his Speech a candid acknowledgment that
he has more than once been disappointed
in his expectations. It
is singular to see
how naturally crowned heads, under trying
circumstances, attribute to supernatural agency
the blame of all their failures. With Ger-
man Sovereigns of the North or South the responsi-
bility is invariably laid upon " Almighty Pro-
vidence." The Napoleons look to their " stars" for
success, and in any case of reverse they succumb
to "fate." There was a "fatality," the Emperor
tells us, in the fulfilment of the events which have
lately astonished the world. The captive of St.
Helena had in some manner foreshadowed them,
when the sunset of life gave him preternatural fore-
sight. He had pointed to thS inevitable agglomera-
tion of great nations ; he had divined the rise of
Germany and Italy. The Emperor cannot see why
the formation of those two States should cause dis-
quiet to France. Secure in her strength as a. homoge-
nenous audindestructible body, France could neither
grudge nor fear any result that might possibly arise
from the conflict beyond the Rhine. She never added
one soldier to her formidable army; she never moved
forward a single regiment. She observed a strict
neutrality ; and had yet sufficient influence to dic-
tate her own terms to the conqueror, and to make
him avoid any act which might arouse French sus-
ceptibilities. In Mexico, again, the Emperor's plans
were thwarted by the concurrence of inauspicious
circumstances. Nothing could be loftier than the
ideas which led to that Transatlantic expedition ;
but, rather than incur sacrifices far exceeding
the interests at stake, the Emperor spontaneously
determined to recall his army. Such is the Im-
perial version of two great incidents in modern
history. Proceeding to affairs still pending, the
Emperor of the French stands on the safe ground
of a European concert. In the East he relies on the
joint action of the Great Powers. At Rome he feels
secure ; Europe is equally ready to uphold the Sem-
poral power of the Holy See--all Europe, that is,
England, Prussia, and Russia, no less than Bavaria
and Spain. There was once a time when the Pro-
tectorate of the Papacy was exclusively exercised by
the eldest daughter of the Church, who would have
resented any other interposition. There was once a
time, too, when her patronage was extended to the
Papal Court, on the condition of reforms in its Go-
vernment. Now that Government has entered upon
a fresh phase. It maintains itself by its own strength
—it is above all human help, as it is past mending.
In other respects, the Emperor's relations with
foreign Powers could not be more satisfactory.
Prussia and Russia are of one mind with him upon
the chief European questions. The same perfect ac-
cord exists with Austria, !Spain,
and Italy, while
with England increased intimacy springs from the
harmony of policy and the multiplicity of commer-
cial relations. Having thus disposed of the sore part
of his subject, the Emperor renews his promises of
the 19th January. He lays before Parliament the
bills which offer new guarantees for political liberty.
What it is that induces him to realise the wishes
of his people after 15 years' expectation the Empe-
ror does not tell. But, to those who know how
to read, the second part of the Speech is only a
corollary to the first. France has had enough of
personal government; Mexico, Italy, Germany,
Denmark, and Poland have laid upon the Emperor
an immense weight of responsibility. However
great his genius, it has not in all instances success-
fully grappled with fatality ; it has not risen superior
to an adverse combination of circumstances. He
bad failures to gloze over ; blunders to explain
away. Henceforth the blame of failure shell not
rest on him alone. A Sovereign and his people will
deliberate with greater success than either of them
alone, and will share between them the responsi-
bility. It is impossible not to agree with the
Emperor as to the ephemeral character freedom
has invariably assumed in France. It has been
the constant habir of that nation to run from
liberty of licentiousness, then to shrink back from
disorder, and seek shelter no matter under what
ionlithtafboe rweinmsr.caaphltnoorDi
yssanse
eoti
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ioisoi
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intentions
earnests recover fdtuaowpr
opetFifteen
more:t:
riftmorewsthoeieenet
form of absolutism.
than
iatphenhryraucai enbtnFaayl
ihrrwessaoehanfshe
agociestasbe,kh.
eeiepFrndit rriNEt;ae
se
hsnmasecp
ohpteomeoefl gavermeioonohrabdnis_s,
people too much as his own property, to give or to
take away according to his own good will and
pleasure; and it is felt that so long as he in-
sists upon being his own Minister there is an
end to all hope of responsible Government. The
systematic breach of the secrecy of private cor-
respondence at the Post-office throughout France
in quest of so paltry a document as the letter of the
Count of Chambord, is also a somewhat sinister
prelude to the new laws which are to emancipate
the Tribune of the Chamber, and secure the free
utterance of opinion through the Press. There is
no doubt in our mind, however, that the Emperor
is ready to give up
as much as the French are able
and willing to ask for. His confidence in himself
is evidently shaken, and there is hardly anything
he would not grant for the sake of free,
warm, hearty
support. There is hardly a mea-
sure connected 'with either home or foreign
policy about which the Emperor has not lately
given symptoms of uncertainty and vacillation.
Take, for example, the scheme for the reorgani-
zation of the army, which is now reduced to such
modest proportions as tQ " lighten the burden of
the conscription in time of peace." Any approach
to the Prussian military system would doubtless
combine strength with economy,
lay the burden on
the people in just proportions, and satisfy the prin-
ciples of equality. But the Emperor is aware of
the difficulties his original scheme would have to
contend with, and he abandons it. We regret,
however, to see him asserting that " the influence of
a nation depends upon the number of men it ie able
to put under arms."
Happily, the claims of France
to the respect and even the gratitude of foreign
nations need no longer rest on her " big battalions."
What renders her invulnerable is not her power to
overstep' her borders and to carry slaughter and
desolation across the Rhine, the Alps, or the
Pyrenees ; it is the perfect assimilation and ardent
. .
patriotism of her people. The Emperor invites
them "to march 'with him with a firm step on the
path of civilisation." But peace, progress, and huge
armies will not easily be made to flourish toge-
ther. The first condition of European advance-
ment lies in the reduction of our excessive military
forces. It is a necessity for ns all, but one which
France is free to obey sooner than any other, inas-
much as her Sovereign well knows how " homoge-
neous and indestructible" a body his country is, and
what strong conviction he has every reason to en-
tertain that "peace will not be disturbed."
HERALD.—The ardent, not to say intemperate,
thirst for knowledge which has possessed itself of
Lord Robert Montagu and Mr. Bernal Osborne
will hardly, we apprehend, have been even tempo-
rarily appeased by the answers they received last
night from the Chancellor of the Exchequer. But
although the noble lord and the honourable gentle-
man took nothing by their motions, the public is
decidedly a gainer by them. Mr. Disraeli had
the opportunity, of which he happily availed him-
self, of re-stating emphatically the object of the Go-
vernment in proceeding by way of resolution, and
athnudsofdispelling a good deal of the confusion
misconception
which have clouded the un-
derstandingsany
well-meaning people. No
thanks, however, to either of his questioners.
Their purpo3e can hardly have been friendly. At
all events, if they meant well they did not show
it. That Mr. Bernal Osborne should try to put
a spoke in the wheel of the. Government machine
is
sn
theatur honourablealenoug and, expecting nothing better
from gentleman, we will not quarrel
with him for not disappointing us. But Lord
Robert Montagu is nominally a supporter of the
Government, and the question from him 'whether
the Government is acting sincerely and ho.lestly
came with a very bad grace. Lord Robert may be
animated by a warm regard for the Ministry, buthe
certainly managed last night to dissemble his love,
and even threatened that he would do his best to
kick them down stairs. Lord Robert Montagu's
question, as it stood upon the order book, and with-
out the elucidation he afterwards gave it, was
neither very important nor very offensive. His
lordship wanted to know whether the Government
would endeavour to bring in, as early as possible
in the session, a Reform Bill to carry out what-
ever resolutions the house may vote. Mr. Osborne
asked what was to be the exact amount of the
reductions in the occupying franchise, and what
the character of the new franchises. Mr. Disraeli,
answering the two questions together, observed

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that Mr. Osborne's waselvdta
shhsnteiinlee,,uteegostt: t
oettriai
chodeocnabaohlepo assent
id consortre
ginoina based
unsatisfactory
saiomeh.
eiNneiiuservnedi: d upon a miscon-
ception of the object of the Government. " The
o
i
r
main object of introducing these resolutions
is, that we should obtain the sanction of the house
to the principles upon which the bill whiCh we hope
we may introduce should be based ;" the purpose
of this procedure being to render impossible a reso-
lution of censure founded upon an attack of some
particular principle in the. bill. That to say, the
Government wants, first of all, to come to an under-
standing with the house as to the principles of the
bill. That arrived at, it will propose such an appli-
cation of those principles in a bill to be immediately
e
h
o
itveltehcAi
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which
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toioifeehtitvpi
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franchises
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t
f
the event of its declining AO do so for the Holm of
Commons to determine what steps it will take for
the enforcement of its wishes. Directly the reso-
lutions are passed. the Government will introduce,
in the shape of a bill, its adaptation of the princi-
ples embodied in them. That was Mr. Disraeli's
answer to Lord Robert Montagu. his lordship,
however, was not satisfied; he sprang to his feet,
declared that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had
not understood his question—as the Chancellor of
the Exchequer might well be excused for not doing
—it being impossible to suppose that the noble lord
meant to be as offensive as he now explained had
all along been his intention —and asked whether
Government wished honestly and sincerely to gather
the opinions and wishes of the house, and embody
them in a bill, or meant only to bring in a bill. to
carry out certain foregone conclusions of its own.
In other words, the noble lord said to Mr. Disraeli,
" Are you playing a farce or not? Do you wish to
settle this question, and consequently intend to
bring in a bill which will conciliate the support of
a majority in parliament. Or are you merely trying
to gain time, intending, after all the palaver over the
resolutions, to bring in a bill which, not:regarding
the wishes and opinions of the house, will inevitably
be rejected ?" The reply of Mr. Disraeli was con-
clusive—" So long," he said, " as we are allowed to
conduct the committee in which the resolutions are
to be moved it will be our duty to act upon them,
whether we propose them or any inemb-r of the
house ; but we reserve to ourselves the privilege of
free men, that if resolutions are carried which we
cannot carry out, we may decline to do so, and not
act upon resolutions which we do not approve. We
do not suppose that in passing these resolutions we-
pass a reform bill. The reform bill must depend on
its merits, but what we supposed, was that by this
means we should obtain a fair hearing for our mea-
sure." Mr. Osborne now was, in his turn, irregular.
He wanted to know when the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer would name the precise sum at which he in-
tended to fix the franchise. Mr. Disraeli answered
in substance, as soon as the resolutions, among which
is one affirming the desirability of lowering the fran-
chise, are carried. The bill will come on as soon a the
resolutions are passed, the particular franchises by
which the principles affirmed in these resolutions arc
carried out are details to be settled in committee.
The house and the country cannot now pretend not
to understand the intentions of the Government.
The Government has invited the house to affirm cer-
tain principles as the bases of a bill which is to be
au adaptation of those principles. If, therefore,
the House of Commons will affirm the expediency
of reducing the franchise, of establishing new fran-
chises, of partly disfranchising certain boroughs,
and giving the members taken from them to popu-
lous towns, or groups of towns, at present unrepre-
sented, of revising borough bouudarics, &c., the
Government will bring in a bill proposing such
reduction of the occupying franchise, such new
franchises, ani such a redistribution of sea's as it
may consider a fair and prudent expression of the
principles of the resolutions. The more or less of
these reductions, the expediency of the particular
new franchise, the justice and wisdom of the redis-
tribution, will all be questions upon which the
House of Commons will have ample opportunities
for forming and expressing its opinion. If the
Liberalte alf
apnaeryt party
franchises,oec to
to
the
reduction
partial
inent of small boroughs and the appropriation of
the seats taken from them to new towns, to better
provisions against bribery, and so on, they will, of
oftdhiesffrraaiincelhiiiss:
ee
course, be quite right to oppose the particular reso-
lutions affirming those principles. But unless they
do object to these principles they will be acting a
dishonest part in opposing the resolutions of the
Government by a cunningly framed resolution of
their own. They give up in no respect their control
n
of the G ooenni vs:
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majority
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must,
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wpht theherie ex-
pression
sbspbeiiaeel;lratoadi
of course, bow to the force they now, fancying it
clear that a
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session if
take
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a Conservative Ministry.
question
u
THE WESTMINSTER GAZETTE ON PERSONALITIES.
—We have become accustomed to the phrase
"-Extra-Parliamentary utterances," and we are now
bpeacrolimanainegnteaqruyalply cuserasecnalittoimese.d
the In the fact
House of extra
mem-
bers are restrained by certain rules from attacking
each other beyond due limits. But when among
their constituents, or when glowing with pose-
prandial exultation among admiring followers,
they are not so fettered, and can speak more
freely of the absent enemy. Yet these person-
alities will not be forgotten in the House, and may
seriously affect proper and requisite deliberation, as
well as the progress of business. In all disputes,
to lose one's temper is to give an immediate ad-
vantage to the other side, and makes it more
difficult to come to a right or a peaceable conclu-
sion. When two boys disagree, arguments heat
their blood, and with the quickening of the pulse,
the flow of words increases and grows more
angry, and the rights of either side are less likely
to prevail. At last it comes to personalities • ugly
names and abusive epithets are bandied ;bout ;
faults in the disposition and character of the other
are thrown in his teeth, or some ugliness in his
features described to him in the most disagreeable
language, and personalities lead to threats. The
epithet personal " you big fool," is met with the
retort personal " you great ass," and language
like this will be all that is left in the way of argu-
ment ; fists are doubled and displayed in a
threatening manner, until one or the other ven-
tures on a blow, and so the disagreement has to
be decided by who- can inflict most punishment
upon the face and features of the other. It may
be said boys are boys, but men are men, and do
not act like this ; still less do members of Parli-
ament. We think they very often do. Fists may
not be as often resorted to, but when two men, or
women either, engaged in dispute or argument,
get as far as personalities, they may be restrained
by circumstances from inflicting bodily injury on
each other, but there is not much chance left of
the truth or right at issue being settled between
them. Or, if we watch the progress of an interna-
tional dispute, we shall find very much the same
state of things. If the courtesy and politeness
of diplomacy does not settle the matter, the
despatches of the respective governments become_
more curt and cutting. Insinuations of the lie
oblique are met with the lie direct ; the respec-
tive pulses of the two national bodies beat
doubles up its
quicker and quicker, each
nation
fist, and at last the matter is settled, and the right
&alie pposed to on the side of whichever can kill,
maim, and destroy most
on the opposite side,
and can inflict most misery and injury on the
enemy. And when
this has been effectually done,
the matter in dispute will probably be found
to remain exactly where it was when person-
alities and threats took the place of
argument and
diplomacy. It is true that men in hot dispute do
not,
as a rule, end in taking
off their coats and
proceeding to the infliction and reception of black
eyes and bloody noses
• and if they do proceed to
extremities which cannot be otherwise settled, they
can always resort to the quieting climate of the
courts of law. It is not probable that Mr. Bright
and his faithful brother, Jacob, will, settle by fists
the quarrels they have on hand with Mr. Lowe,
AIL Garth, and others, and which have tuidoubt-

I edly reached the length of personalities. It might
be a - good thing for the nation if they would.
But what we contend is, that when gentlemen who
are members of Parliament get beyond the grave
argument and discussion which really seeks to
arrive at the truth, and . come to personalities,
there is very little chance left of any useful de-
bating, or of the desired end or. purpose being
arrived at. Parliament is about to rears einble,
and there is an immense quantity of matters which
require its most urgent attention. The Govern-
ment is holding out hopes of doing a great deal.
The terrible and increasing extent of poverty is
to be grappled with, and the administration of the
poor-law looked to ; the scandalous bankruptcy
laws are to be reconstructed; Irish tenants are to
be put :in a better position with their landlords ;
the disastrous break up of companies limited is to
lead to an amendment in the law of joint-stock
companies, and other things are promised, :all
of which are urgently required by the country at
large. But the Reform Bill blocks up the way,
and may be the' cause of next session being as
useless as the last. The country
.is sorely in
need of ttie legislation which looks solely to the
country's good. It wants a strong Executive which
will take matters in hand and slope them accord-
ing to the country's
f•equirement. But if mem-
bers oppose whatever the opposite party pro-
poses, and simply oh that ground; if their vaca-
tioa personalities cause, them to -oppose. and vote
against the measures of particular persons, chiefly
from personal antipathy, there cannot be much
chance of true argument, or just rights and neces-
side.i prevailing. nefJ:,lll x:371. tile occasion
of gross and most improper and undignified person-
alities from members of both sides of the House,
and is becoming a perfect bugbear and nuisance to
the country. And if members allow their personal
and party antipathies to prevail where there
should be nothing but fair argument and earnest
deliberation for the practical good of the people,
and not for the advancement of a party, in that
case we fear there will be little more chance of
any
.satisfactory conclusion to our approaching'
parliamentary struggles .than to the. fisticuffs o -
our pugilistic boys.