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

FRANCE AND PORTUGAE.

(From the lforTaing Chronicle.)
The Morning Herald publishes, and we repro-
duce elsewhere a " communicated" article on the
subject of the difference which has recently arisen
between the Governments of Portugal and France.
By the aid of the revelations of our contempo-
rary, and of information 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.

Whit, 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 povernment ?

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.
And 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 ns 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 for
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 w 5
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 atoidental 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
idoption 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 P

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 net
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 ourselves 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 Reforme.---
in the other to furnish harmless occupation for the
thoughts of a distrusted population.
Other causes, too, were not wanting. The insults
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 opper'
tunity to make amends for an apparent indifferenee,
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 lu
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 France, yielding to the
unanimous expression of public opinion,
will aban-
don a scheme which, even if it be legal, is at lesst
of doubtful morality. " C'est, en definitif," said
the Emperor in a remarkable speech on a memo-
rable occasion, " C'est, en definitif, l'opinion publi-
que, qui remporte toujours la derriere victoffe!"

THE AUSTRALIAN MAIL CONTRACT.—The Penin-
, miler and Oriental Company's steam-ships Northam, Cap-
tain Shead, and Salsette, Captain Brown, left Southampton
yesterday for Melbourne, for the conveyance of the Aus-
tralian Mails from thence to Suez, The Salsette will brinK
on the first mail under the new contract. Neither vessel
took cargo, specie, or passengers. The Salsette took out a
large quantity of stores and a heavy ship mail for the Aus
tralian colonies and New Zealand. The first mail under thl
new contract will be due in Southampton on tha 11th
April next from Australia, and the first mail for Australis
will leave Southampton on the 12th of next March.
DEATH OF IDA PFEIFFER.—We reg,ret to hear of
the death of this clever and enterprising lady. Madame
Ida Pfeiffer expired at Vienna on 'Wednesday last, never
having 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 achievements 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 Smiths
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 pla.(
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
flounced to be in a precarious state of health, and showing
(symptoms of pulmonary disease, but these representations
'were negatived by the reports of the medical °fibers of the
gaol in which he was confined. The wife and children of.
the unhappy man are being provided for by the friends 01
her husband.

ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS.—ThO following
gentlemen having undergone the necessary examinations for
the diploma were admitted members of the College at 0
Meeting of the Court of Examiners on the 29th ult. :—viz.,
Messrs. Henry Gervis, Tiverton, Devon ; John Lycett,
Minchinhampton, Gloucester; Richard Gibbon Davey, Wats
iner, Kent ; George John Parker, Bristol ; Robert 'Sue
Ellis; Swavesey, Cambridgeshire; Wilberforce Arnold, Be
fast; Joseph Brooks Shepherrl, Skidhill, Kent; Charles
Parsons, Wells, Somerset; John Vivian Faull, Prohash
Cornwall; Philip ,sydney Jones, Sydney, New South Wales;
Arthur Samuels, Dublin ; John Keville Smallborn Dublin;
Francis Thomas Bayntun, Bath ; and Henry Horsford
Prins Ceylon.

SUDDEN DEATH..--.An untoward event (lee-arisea
at Drury-lane Theatre last evening:. Mr. Wm. BlegOv°'.
a violinist, one of the band, fell down dead at the Stagg
door, as it is conjectured of a disease of the heart.
death was instantaneous, and it is. :cojectured he hacl
harried to be in time at the theatre. Of
,„urse a post
mortera inquisition will be held.

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