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

" THE MINISTER OF-FRANCE."

(Prom the Freeman.)
Whatever our opinions respecting the Imperial alliance,
or respecting what our Legislature should do in the
predicament in which it has been placed, there can, we
imagine, be but one opinion respecting Lord Palmer-
sten f,r pettino ns in a false position. To him we ewe
it that either Louis Napuleoe aed the ?Stapol-noi,fs of
France may be, or pretend to be, affronted, or that
England must be humiliated. Somehow, when Lord
Palmerston was Foreign Minister, he obtained the
reputation of being an Englishman—an Englishman to
the backbone ; bnt since he became the Chief Home
Minister he has well-nigh gained the reputation of hav-
ing become a foreigner. The man who was to enable
every Englishman to parallel everywhere the old "Ciris
Romanus sum," has himself become in turn the minister
of Austria, or of Prussia, or of France, and the
humble waiter, in behalf of our Cives Romani at Salerno,
on the good providence of King Bombe. He reserves
all his resistance to European despots for American
presidents, or Cantonese viceroys. Unless the public
are strangely mistaken, he has become as polite and
deferential to the despots of the Continent-, as if he had
himself married into one of the petty royal families of
Germany.
There can be no doubt that Lords Campbell and
Brougham in the Lords, and Mr. Roebuck in the Com-
mons, have expressed the feeling of this country. As little
doubt that Lord Palmerston has deeply mortified English-
men, and lowered the dignity of England. He had no
occesion to put before us the alternative of rejecting a law
proposed at the dictation of Frarce, or abasing ourselves
before the Emperor of the coup cretat. In the most
courtly phraseology he chose to select, he might have
informed Persigay and Waleweki, that our laws did
provide an appropriate punishment for conspiracy,
if proved,—but that the English Parliament could
never be induced by any consideration to legislate
against persona merely suspected. There the matter
most have ended. Walewski must have accepted as
true the steement of the English Government about
its own !awe, and the course of its own legislation.
As the case now stands, every Englishman must feel
that Lord Palmerston has made our legislature the foot-
ball cf France. Even granting that our criminal legislation
might, in the Attorney-General's hands, have of itself
reached the desired point before the end of the session,
we yet cannot endure to be kicked to that point by
the Emperor of the French, or rather by the unprin-
cipled minions and needy adventurers who constitute
his Ministry. In 1802, Lord Hawkesbury could hold
very different language to the first of the Cureican
dynasty. He could tell him, on receipt of a similar
application, in language which must compel our
Liberal Ministry to blush, that our Government
" never can consent to new model their laws or to change
their constitution to gratify the wi-hes of any foreign
power; and that it is not his Majesty's intention to inter-
fere in the manner in which the people or territories
of France should be governed ; but he expects on the
other hand that the French Government will not inter-
fere in the manner in which the government of his
dominions is conducted, or call for a change in his laws
with which his people are perfectly satisfied."
Considering the whole question as dispassionately as
we can, we must give our vote for the dignity of our
country. We admit that it may be justly said that
there is dignity in doing right, even if rigiA be
insultingly demanded of us. It is dignified to hold
on our way unmoved by bullying or by reproaches.
But what we are asked to do is to go out of our way,
and to go out of it just that our deviation may
seem to be a concession to sycophant colonels eager for
promotion, and to a brace or so of ministers whom Na-
poleon, in hie heart, must despise as much as all Europe
does. Here, we have a Reform Bill anxiously expected,
which we are now told must be postponed till after
Easter; yet precious time must be spent in legislating
at the bidding of the Wale wskis and the Persignys 1
We have criminal law reforms announced by the
Attorney-General, and if the law of conspiracy wanted
improvement it might naturally have been considered
with the kindred measures. But no ; the Prime
Minister as the proposer, and not the Attorney-
General—an isolated short bill, and not one forming part
of a promised series —are the selected means of showing
that we go out of our way to bow to the empire and its
tno!s. This cannot be dignity. It is not even self-respect.
We were very busy on the weightiest matters—we stop
in obedience to a rude demand. We were about amend-
ing a certain part of our laws—we select a fraction of that
part, and amend it at once, if amendment it be, because
a foreign Power hotly demands it.
We certainly should not modify our course in the least
degree for all the lecturing to which the Corporation of
London submitted (let us hope, as Mr. Roebuck said, in a
language they did not understand), nor for all the venal
bul ying of utterly insignificant regimental colonel, nor
for the rhodoneontade of a French Foreign Minister.
At the same time, we must own that their case is
utterly bad in point of argument, and the indignation
of Mr. Roebuck more than justified, when he sees
the house of which he is a member about to be hum
bled at their feet. True, the bill is, as its ministerial
advocates allege, the least thing that could possibly
be done, a perfectly useless thing in itself, and if it
were a penny to get rid of a beggar e e should say
give him it—but it is, however small in itself—it is
nothing more nor lies than a concession to get rid of a
bragging bully ; it is of no more value than the earth
and water demanded by Xerxes of the Greeks, but it
means in the eyes of civilised Europe almost as much.
For any practical utility in cases of conspiracy, it is not
worth the parchment it is written on, but it is worth
everything to the vanity of the Gascons who ask it.
They know the use they will make of it. They
know tk st each of the gallant colonels will read
it on parade to his regiment as a proof of the terror
they inspire ; they know that in every despotio court
in Europe there will be ill-suppressed joy that Louis
Napoleon has been strong enough to compel England t
begin legislation against the victims of their tyranny.
Napoleon, the warrior, they will say, could wrest
nothing from England, but the Napoleon of peace has
vanquished her by his colonels, his Monilitur, and his
despatches.
We refrain from ppeculesing on where the French
Emperor would now be had there formerly been a law
here making conspiracy against a foreign ruler punish-
able with penal servitude for life ; or where the murderer
of scores of innocent men and women in the Boule-
vards, to secure a throne for himself, deserves to be.
Those profound judges of law, and those enlightened
moralists, the French Praetorians, have settled those
points ; they have always, as Mr. Roebuck observed,
been loyal to every ruling poser in France. Still, it is
impossible not to feel that Lord Palneereton's quotation,
applied so unjustly to Mr. Roebuck, might be applied
with perfect truth to the Emperor of the French de-
manding laws against conspiracy—
" Quis tuleiit Gracchos de seditione querentes ?"

Let ail that pans. Let us put the best construc'ion on
all the Emperor's act•.. Let us admit that having beard
the infamous addresses of the colonels, he forgot to
write acr• as them, "These not to appear in the
Moniieur." Let us admit that Count de Morny, and
Count de Persigny, and Count Wa'emil, all fl:4g-
rantly abused their master's confidence. Let us
admit that he does not chuckle over, but really re•
grate, the appearance of the mi:itary threats in the 111 one
*cur. We still feel the same repugnacce against an
alteration in our criminal law, so made that Louis Na-
poleon will have all the credit of suzerainty, and we all
the humiliation of paying tribute. And what a tribute
Better far pay him at once a million per annum than al-
low it to remain for heavy on the pages of history and on
the sacred recordsof (=Legislation that " this law was en-
acted because demanded by the autocrat of France." We
value as highly as any man can do the friendship of
France. We would not say a word or do the least thing
to imperil it. But honestly, we believe that Louis
Napoleon is not France, still less are his present officials
France. We wish to be allied to the intelligence, the
patriotism, and the manliness which yet survive in
France ; and, assuredly, by acting worthily of our native
love of liberty, and of our self•respect, we shall cement
the only alliance creditable to both nations.

INCOMBUSTIBLE STUFFS.—PuIIic attection fer
some time past, been dirt cted to various processes for
rendering clothes, and especially female attire, incombus-
tible k and we some time ago gave an a-count of certain
experiments made which were quite conclusive as
regarded the possibility of the matter. But the process
is not new, fur M. Wohler many years ago announced
that if acetate of lime and chloride of calcium were dis-
solved in liquid ammonia, any stuff; steeped into the
solution, and then allowed to dry, wool I become fire-
proof, that is, if txposed to a flame, they would not
catch fire, but only glimmer and waste away into ashes.
As such a contrivance is easily applicable to all kinds
of dreese,, we cannot do better than inform our fair
readers that they may effectually avoid the risk of
catching fire, and of dying a horrible death, or at
least being disfigured for life, by merely using
the above solution with the starch to be ap-
plied to petticoats, curtains, &c. It might, perhaps,
be difficult to do so to a silk gown without spoiling it ;
but the under-garments are those chiefly to be defended ;
for, if subjected to the preparation in question, the silk
gown, if it catch fire, will burn away without commu-
nicating the flames to the petticoats ; and if the person
in danger have but the presence of mind to lie down in
order to prevent any injury to the face and arms, she
will have suffioient time either to stifle the flames herself
by using a rug, or to wait for assistance.
CRYSTAL PALACE.--With a view to reduce the
capital of this company, it appears the directors are now
prep-tred to receive applications for tie surrender of
shares in exchange for tickets of admission. For each
original share surrendered a ticket be given autborisi
ing 60 admissions to the building and grounds
i on al
ordinary (le.) days. The ticket is not to remain n fcrce
lurger than three years from its date. For each prefer-
ence share surrendered, two similar tickets of a 'mission.
It is intended to charge a fee of 2 . 6d. on each share
surrendered, to cover registration and expense of
issue
of tic'tete. Tt.e directors have passed a resolution
authorising almiesion by there tickets to the palace and
grounds oa Sunday afternoons.
DEATHS OB CENTENARIANS.--The Banfratire Journal
records the death of Mrs. Mitchell, Midtown of Baden-
epink, Fordyce, at the age of 101 years. The deceased
lady, it is stated, was accustomed to tell bow she reeol.
lected when the wages of, a woman servant were about
nine pounds Scats (15,.), when eggs were sold at
per dczan, and butter at 3d. per lb. In those days our
northern farmers, from the want of roads, did not use
carts, but the corn was brought from the fields on the
backs of horses, on something like creels. Mrs. Mitchell
enjoyed the most of her faculties, both mental and phy-
sical, almost till the day of her death. The Nairn
Telegraph announces the death of a woman named Janet
Macdonald, at Gongs, pensh of Cawdor, in her 11211
71111;,