The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-17 00:00:00

PUBLIC OPIATIOY.

The mischievous article published by the Times,
on the Queen's visit to Cherbourg, has produced a
great and it may be said a painful sensation inParis.
In the ignorance which prevails in France of Eng-
lish affairs, the public here, judging of the Times
by its farmer reputation, fancy that the opinion of
England is faithfully represented by that most dis-
hoeest and fickle of journals. They are not aware
that ever since the Clitnean war the Times is ab-
solutely drunk with vanity, and that its absurd
pretensions to be the eupreme arbiter of the des-
tinies_ of policy of England are not worthy of more
consideration than the bombast of a man suffer-
ing om delirium tremens. The very small
minority of Frenchtnen who have a real know-
ledge of the state of affairs in England, however,
are well aware of the motive which leads your
ex-leading contemporary to lose no opportunity
to excite the two nations against each other—Cher-
bourg is only a pretext. The real cause is the bitter
disappoinment of the chief Palmetatonian organ in
being compelled to witness that the present Minis-
try, notwithstanding the many difficulties which
beset them on their coming into office, have suc-
ceeded in doing that which Lord Palmerston, with
all his old experience and all his finessing, was un-
able to accomplish—establishing the alliance ,with
France upon a broad and solid basis—that of mutual
esteem and confidence, not of concessiona of national
dignity and self-respect. As to the threat which
your contemporary pretends to sea in the opening
of an additional dock at Cherbourg, it is too ridi-
culous to be replied tc seriou-ly. Even before the
opening of this new dock, and the completion
of the railway which places Cherbourg in direct
communication with the capital, its defences
entitled it to be c. ns'clered as the Sebastopol of
combined fleets of Europe France. might have
found a shelter behind
it sea wall any time during
the last ten years, and, though the new dock will
afford additional capabilities for the repair of ships
and the embarkation of troops, before the new dock
was com'nenced Cherbourg was more formidably
fortified than Poitsmcutle This is a fact which is
not, I believe, generally known ; but I can vouch
for its authority, riot ouly from personal inspection,
but ou the authority of competent military and
naval judges. What has created a very bad ine-
is the insolent preeti„n here, hoa!eyer,
miscon-
struction put upon the invitation addressed by
the Emperor to her most gracious Majesty.
After the ill-feeling and the apprehensions of a
rupture created both here and in England by
the indiscreet language of the press on both sides
of the Channel, what better plan could possibly be
adopted to show that all these sinister reports were
wholly without foundation, than that the two sove-
reigns should protest against them by a cordial and
friendly meeting? It is, moreover, pointed out
hero that the clamour of the Times for a Channel
fleet seems hardly barite out by the announcement
which it publishes in its number of yesterday, from
which it appears that the squadron of honour ap-
pointed to escort her Majesty—a squadron collected
without the least effort on our part, and, as it were,
at a moment's notice, mounts no less\ than 78G guns
—a number which I have reason to believe will
though. it may possibly ba
not be surpassed,
equalled, by the French squadron which has been
under orders for this inauguration tor the last four
months ! and which is formed with the elite of the
Toulon, Brest, and Cherbourg fleets.. These few
facts way possibly be useful in dispelling the effect
produced by the vapid dot:lunation of t`le Times.
Standard.