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

LONDON, TUESDLY, FEB. 2, 1858.

There is such
a thincr as riding
a hobby to
death—of abusing a gold;
properly applied, would opportunity—which,
The EMPEROR of the pe peculiarly valuable.
rench being !) has fallen into (for the ti
He seems to think that the attemptedsgrave mistake.
tion of the 14th January is a aufati ISSA"ina-
ustification
for any extravagance—that it autho-i
hna
trample out the attenuated remains of nationalito
liberty in France, and to insist on a total change
in the constitutional laws of independent king_
d.oms. He is no longer contented with being the
ally of Great Britain. He aims at being the
suzentine, whose ukcc3es we are bound to register
"with bated breath and deep humility." He
is not satisfied with diplomatic remon-
strances, but causes the insolent blu;ter of
toadying soldiers to be inserted in th 3 of
journal, as if he thought these vapouring and
contemptible productions would " fright our isle
from its propriety t" He should have known
better. He had ample opportunities for learning
the nature of public opinion in this coantry. 11.3
own everience might have taught him that,
though we may be cajoled, we cannot be bulliel ;
though we may be led, we cannot be driven.
After the military addresses that have appeared
ii the ifoitildur, no English Minister could afford
to concede a single point, however trvial. The
mere attempt would be the signal for his downfall.
We Yalu° the honour and independence of our

country too highly to permit either to be dragged
through the dirt, at the tail of the EMPEROR'S
chariot.

The truth seems to be that the EmFEROR is
losing head, that he is throwing away the trump
card which the infamous attempt of the would-be
regicides and actual assassins of the Rue Lepelle-
tier placed in his hand. The abortive attempt of
a few miscreants, in which, with all the tried inge-
nuity of the police, they have been unable to
implicate a single Frenchman or a single English-
man, is made a pretext for estaLlishing a despo-
tism more grinding even than that of the Russian
Autocrat—a despotism by which the Press is not
only to be completely muzzled, but to be held
responsible for acts of omission as well as of com-
mission—for what it does not say as well as for
what it says—that enables the authorities to seize
any obnoxious person and send him into banishment.
The sufferings of innocent persons are regarded
as of no importance. When the detectives utter
the magic words, " a measure of precaution,"
that is sufficient to cover a multitude of sins—an
excuse for any atrocity provided it received the
Imperial sanction, or rather that of subordinates,
who could proceed to any extremities, under that
convenient cloak.

But it is for the People of France to decide for
themselves, if they choose to surrender themselves
bound hand and foot, to be spurned and coerced
by any man it is their own business, and we can
only wonder at their taste ! But we can at
least speak for 'ourselves anti repudiate the folly
and: ingratitude that attempt to make Britons
the serfs of a foreign potentate bowing submis-
sively to his high behests, and ready to abolish
our aneient and time-honoured institutions to do
him pleasure. We tell the Emperor boldly—we
tell his insolent and audacious myrmidons, who
have dared to speak of Great Britain as " a den
of assassins," and to fulminate their absurd
threats—that there is not one, the ♦ery humblest
of the refugees, whom we would not protect, so
long as he merited protection, against all that
they could attempt, and all they could do, just as
we protected °the Emperor himself. How dare
they speak of England as the encourager of assassi-
nation. Did we ever reward a foiled assassin
Did any English authority ever pay a sum of
money to one wbo had fruitlessly tried to murder
in cold blood one of the most distinguished of our
opponents. Let Louis NAPOLEON lay his hand
on his heart, and, recollecting the legacy bequeathed
to the infamous CANTILLON, and the payment of
that legacy with large arrears of interest, honestly
declare who is the encourager of assassination, the
" accessory after the fact," to a wilful and deli-
berate act of homicide

But what can he say respecting his own filibus-
tering expedition against Boulogne ? That was
an act of aggression against a friendly power—a
decided breach of the English law. He could not
have hoped that the effort would have been blood-
less—at least it was not his own fault or that of
M. PERSIGNY that it was so. The ono with lead,
the other with cold steel, endeavoured to make it
otherwise. Fortunately for themselves, they
fotally failed, and saved their heads, that
would ctherwise have been forfeited to the
offended laws of their country. But when
Lours NAPOLEON escaped from the fortress of
Ham, did we surrender him to the then Govern-
ment of France, or even expel him from our
shores? Far from it. He found au asylum
when he wanted one. He was treated with
kindness and consideration, received into society,
and the violation of our laws was forgotten in the
suffering he had endured. We sheltered him in
the dark h mrs of adversity, until he gathered
sufficient strength to strive to sting the pro-
tecting hand.

Wo regard with profound indifference all the
threats that have been hurled at our devoted
heads ; whether they come from Minister, Senator,
or soldier, they are equally despicable and equally
futile. If any effect could be thereby produced, it
would be one totally adverse to the objec t for the ad-
vancement whereof theYwere fulminated. We may
he engaged in war both in India and China, but
we have men and money sufficient to protect our-
selves and our country against any aggression, no
matter from what quarter it may proceed.

We are not about to preach, but there is a
paisage in one of the most valuable books in the
Bible—one so much overlooked in the din of
doctrinal controversy that we hear little of it—of
which we are forcibly reminded by Lord GREY'S
essay on Reform " Surely in vain is the met
spreaad in the sight of any bird," said the Jewish
SoLoMoN. Now none can be more ready than we are
to do justice to Lord GREY'® ability, especially his
ability minus his crotchets, nor would we deny the
ability with which the present essay is written ;
but its drift is too obvious to deceive any one.
The net is spread in the sight of the birds, and
very silly birds indeed must we be if we allow
ourselves to be caught in it. His object is to
keep us out of all Reform this year, and perhaps
for another, and another, possibly till the 3.1 Earl
GIi,EY shall occupy the place filled by the 2d Earl
GREY in 1832—and then what are we to have as
a Reform Bill? Why, avowedly one which shall
be a compromise between the two great parties
to keep out the people to the end of the chapter.
Demagogues and democracy are the rocks ahead.
A attong people and weak Governments are the
great danger. That a Ministry should be able to
override popular delusions, is one principal end
to be arrived at ; that it should be able to pro
pose and carry what it thinks right, is the
corrollary.

Stand aside democracy, let Whigs and Tories
fight it out between them—this is the kernel of
Lord Gnwv's pamphlet. We have no doubt that
he considers this to be the perfection of Repre-
sentative Government in England. What have
the Tribunes of the people to do on the Treasury
benches f The hereditary aristocracy of our
country, its two divisions rather, are the poles cf
good government—popular power is the :nue
uniufluential part between them—tbe mere curved
part of the magnet, just serving to enable the
two extremes to combine their strength, and exert
all their energy for their common objects. It is
almost impossible, of ceurse, for a. thoroughbred
Whig to believe in the people. Ile can believe
in
power
bidding one or two per cent. more for their
favour_
t. than a Tory would do ; they may safely
be offered
what will give them the shadow of
white
the substance remains with the class
which
give
no
moreivinfe
ttiolagtosvuebrnzt,a
jab::
ift hGe Re:: has a er •
will
of the regular 3or
avoid it, than a Bea:
Houses of Lords and Comold
an ELLENBOROUGH, or
obstructions in the
than any
avowslll
wtasbattct.hpoenliolde scope and object
of LthoerditGefauErlm l
ruption and the more insufferable monopolies glaring ear-
that small boroughs were kept, anda t
he counties
cooked to render the constituencies
of 'lige'''.
tion for landlord influence ; and that, though in
the fracas an increase of popular power was inevi-

table, yet good care was taken that the people
should not be alt-powerful. Of course not. Lord
JOHN RUSSELL very soon told us that ; and the
PAL3IERSTON atbinet, with ita aristocratic titles,
and the PALMERSION Appointment* and promo-

tions, and the PALMERSTON non-promotions too,
are the existing and glaring proofs that, in living
under the Reform Act of 1832, we live neither
under the Crown nor under the Commons, but
under au aristocracy. The defects of the old
Reform Act are, according to Lord GREY,
that the Lords and Right Honourables
who govern us have not enough power ; that
Members cannot be put in to suit the
convenience of Cabinets, as they could prior to
the Reform Bill ; that some corruption—the cor-
ruption of bribery, not of landlord intimidation,
is that on which stress is laid—does still exist ;
and that we have made so much progress that
some of the anomalies left by the Act of 1832
may now be removed—and this is all ; and, of
course, in rectifying such trivial defects as these,
due care must be taken that no more strength be
added to the dreaded democracy.

Lord GREY, indeed, thinks the Reform move-
ment premature. We want, he tells us, further
inquiry ! and by whom is the inquiry to be con-
ducted ? By, if practicable, a weld selected com-
mittee of Privy Council ! And what is their
task to be ? To prepare recommendations which
all parties—that is, all Whigs and Tories—could
accept as the basis of, a bill—a bill which would,
therefore, be sure to pass both Houses of Parlia•
ment. We have no doubt that it would.
Indeed, we hardly believe it possible to select a
committee from the Privy Council which would
propose a measure unacceptable to the two great
parties. Her MAJESTY'S Opposition might feel
quite sure that, like the old Reform Bill, it would
be Liberal in appearance, Conservative in reality.
Lord GREY deprecates a little Reform Bill, because
we cannot afford to be always tampering with the
Constitution—a great one, because we have not
yet had inquiry enough for that. Respecting his
last reason, we should ask—when shall we have
had inquiry enough ? Respecting his first, we
deny that correcting evils, as they become odious,
is tampering with the Constitution., if Lord
GREY can tell us what it is ; only giving it
wholesome medicine and exercise. We must have
another glince, however, at Lord Grey and his
essay.

Till THEATRES.

DRIIRY•LANE THEATRE.

A new comic drama, in une act, was produced at this
theatre last night, under the title of " A Lucky Sit.''
The time is during the reign of the Grande Monarque,
the scene Versailles, and the interest centres in the
stratagems of a certain boasting Captain Gascon 1 s Tour
(Mr. Robert Roxby) to retrieve his lost fortune, which he
is successful in doing, though unaccountably being hit by a
lady's bouquet. Miss Oliver has a very pretty character
in the piece, and the author has also fitted Mr. Tilbury,
who was evidently pleased with his part. Roxby's acting
was admirably sustained throughout.
The pantomime has lost none of its attractions, and
the Spirited lessee, Mr. E. T. Smith, was vociferously
demanded by the audience, and cheered to his heart's
content, when he bowed his thanks.