The Sun.
London, England, 1859-02-25 00:00:00

- M. FELIX PYAT accordingly ascended the
tribune, and was greeted with cordial and long-
continued cheering. Silence having been restored,
-he proceeded to deliver a discourse, the subject
which was Le Bonaparte et L' Italie, and which,
for upwards of an hour, was listened to with
breathless attention. It would be impossible,
of course, to attempt. to do more than offer our
readers a general sketch of a speech which
embraced such an infinitude of political
pants, and entered into anticipations of the
future on almost all possible hypotheses; but it was
upon the great European question which now stands
for solution, that the orator made the deliverance
of the French nation to depend. He opened by
pointing out at once forcibly and grandly, that it
is idle to look to Louis Napoleon as the future de-
liverer of Italy. To the Italians he would be just
what he had been to the French—a master. The
French nation were, in fact, on the eve of another
2d of December ; but it was a European 2d of
December, which had been foreseen and predicted
ever since the former one, as they had in vain
sounded in every ear. In France the coup (IWO
cost them a republic ; in Europe it might cost them
more—their country. Bonaparte would not free
Italy, but would expose France. That was not
exactly a prophecy. Alas ! it was a souvenir. At
the rate at which the Empire was going, if France
did not stop the Emperor, Europe would. M. Pyat
then proceeded to examine the leading points of
the understood aims of the French Government in
Italy—the suppression of revolution, the evacuation
of the Austrians, the secularisation of the Roman
Government, and the federation of Italy under the
presidency of the Pope. These he soon showed
would not remove the permanent causes of discon-
tent which rankled in that unfortunate country,
and which nothing short of a national restoration
could effect. He looked upon war as a result not
to be questioned, and contemplated its consequences
thus, in the concluding words of his speech :—" Ah!
if there be a mortal pain in exile it is to foresee the
misfortune which we cannot prevent ; it is to have
no other means of warding it off than to foretel it ;
it is that in the moment when France has need of
all her children and of her most faithful citizens,
we shall be unable to make a vow of our lives to
serve her, or of our deaths to save her. May our
eyes close far away from her rather than look upon
the horror of such a day. It is a last word, a word
of affliction deep as is our love. For if once the
sword be drawn, we have only to gather in silence,
and to await in anguish worse than death the
event of a war which must be mournful in
either case : victory, and the oppression of Italy
by France ; defeat, and the invasion of France by
the kings. Orsini was right on the 14th Jan."

This speech was loudly and repeatedly applauded;
and for graphic power, the judicious and telling use
of ridicule and satire, and lofty and touching elo-
quence, has probably seldom been exceeded.
Mr. JonsoN, who described himself as tho author
of a history of the French language, then moved a
vote of thanks to M. Pyat, which was seconded and
supported by M. Picquet, M. Becker (a German),
and M. Bonnin, and carried amidst loud applause.

We must not omit to mention that the trium-
phant return of Mr. Edwin James for Marylebone
was mentioned by Mr. Bonnin, in connection with
his spirited defence of Dr. Bernard, and elicited a
perfect hurricane of applause.
The " Marseillaise' was then sung, and the pro-
ceedings closed at midnight, with a vote of thanks
to the chairman.