The Sun.
London, England, 1859-01-08 00:00:00

FRANCE AND A,I7STRIrA.

(From thy- Daily New./
Thore's something wrong in this &A world a
GUIS when our peace is at the mercy of one man's
morning headache or after-dinner indigestion, and
when the arbiter of our destinies from.. day'to day
is an abSolute potentate and a silent fa talist. The
nineteenth century may well speak i aodestly of
political•progress when, in the sixtieth
.year of its
existence, a Court poet may, without ii ony, com-
pare the frown of the Sovereign of France to the
nod of Olympian Jove— •
Annuit et totum nutu tremefeeit Olympum.

Louis Napoleon, at the diplomatic,reeeption on
New Year's-day, addresses a few words, of common-
place civility to the Austrian Ambassador with a
little more animation than usual, and straightway all,
the wires of all the telegraphs in Europe are charged.
with currents of disaster and dismay, and all the Ex-
changes in Europe are convulsed with panic, and.
convinced that the Deluge is come. The gigantio
struggle of what is called the French Revolution
against privilege and prejudice of every kind has
attained this magnificent result—the creation of an
absolute form of Personal Government in which all
the forces and all the responsibilities of a great
military Power and an enlightened nation are con-
centrated in the will of a secretive individual, who
was an adventurer in hisyouth, a prisoner in middle
life, and a ruler at.an age when contempt for one's
fellow-creatures is not -easily unlearned. We put it
to the large class of practical and business-like men
aniong our neighbours, who have outgrown the
follies' of ' freedom, and who prefer tranquillity
under the shadow- of an Imperial Throne to the
turmoil and distraction of 'Parliamentary' Institu-
tions—are they completely satisfied with the change
after ten years' triumphant experience ? The
bavardage of tre Tribune and the Press is lapsing
into a tradition which only a few veteran incurables
• and a few young enthusiasts care to. cherish ; but
..thernimist be men: on the Bourse who remember
that' when in other days war • seemed imminent, it
was averted by a timely change of Ministry, con-
fidence was restored by explanations' in the Cham-
beis, and public feeling was appeased by discussions
in the press. It was not left to. any one man to
feed fat an ancient grudge or to satiate an exor-
bitant ambition at the cost of civilisation and.
humanity. But now all this is changed. Consti-
tutional pedantries and Parliamentary checks have
been exchanged for the vigorous unity of a demo-
cratic despotism, and, on New Year's-day, 1859, we
have arrived at the Apotheosis of Irresponsibility.
An. Emperor raises his voice a note or two, and
Europe quakes. Surely this is enough to put us
out 'or conceit with the safe and slow formalities of
self-government.
How admirable are the guarantees of international
security presented by 'an empire, 'in- which no.
dogs bark without permission. On Saturday, the
Ist of January, the Emperor of .the French ex-
presses his regret that " our relations" with Austria
are not so good as they haVe been, and requests M.
de Hubner to wish his Imperial brother a happy
new year. Some say this. compliment or this me-
nace
was emphasised by a cold and distant manner ;,
some say by a warmth and vivacity of gesture.
In any case, down go the funds, and the hun-
dred tongues of rumour wag ominously wherever
men of money congregate. On Tuesday a semi-
official journal comes out with the textual words
as they issued fresh from the Imperial lipS, hut
rumour will have it that they have undergone a
cooling process in the passage; and another semi-
official journal interprets them as neither a compli-
ment nor a menace, but something of both ; and,
in short, whichever you please. This is not Very -
re-assuring, and down go the funds deeper and
deeper still. Journals published at Brussels, but
supposed to be " inspired" from Pari, take up the
solemn theme and decide it in a most pacific sense:
they tell us that the true meaning of the imperial
phrase is to be discovered in the context, and the
context is the phrase addressed to the Papal Nuncio,
than which nothing could be more friendly, or more
harmless in sound and sense. Unfortunatelv, the
words addressed to the Nuncio were not officially
recorded. It is not until Friday, the 7th instant,
that the Itioniteur itself deigns to come to the rescue
of the mass of speculators, and to relieve the anx-
ieties of governments and nations by the foll.ew-
ing oracular paragraph:—" For some days public
opinion has been agitated by alarming reports, to
which it is the duty of the Government to put an
end, in declaring that nothing in our diplomatic
affairs; authorises the fears which these rumours
tend to create."

We hope -the most nervous of our readers will
sleep soundly after thia_ frp4.. and _explicit
assurande from an author diainguished for its
frankness and veracity. erhaps a few restless
and ill-disposed people will ail to gather from the
T
word. we have italicised all the comfort they were
doubtless designed to convey. In November, '5l,
when rumours of a coup d'etat were disturbing men's
minds, a paragraph might have appeared in the
Monacar to the following effect :—" For some day s
public opinion' has been agitated by alarming- re-
ports, to which it is the duty of the Government to
put an end, in declaring that nothing in our legis-
lative affairs authorises the fears which these
rumours tend to create." Whether such a para-
graph would have been considered satisfactory we
will not take upon ourselves to decide at this date ;
but-what degree of truth it would have expressed
we are now at no doss to determine. 'ln a Govern-
ment of silente' and' secrecy—absolute personal,
irresponsible—it matters little Whether, in
"our diplomatic affairs" there can be moreor'less to
justify apprehension. The real danger lies else-
where, in councils less amenable to correction, be-
cause practically inaccessible.
The only supposition by which "the fears which
these rumours tend to create" can be removed is
one which aggravates rather than diminishes the
gravity of the offence with which the Imperial Go-
vernment stands charged by all the political and
commercial interests of Europe. Were it not the
common talk of Paris, and what is worse, almost as
probable as it is discreditable, we should hesitate
even to admit as a rumour the explanation which
has reached us of the recent war-panic and its tardy. •
alleviation. Personal Government is at best a ques-
tionable evil, but the present government of gam-
blers is an unquestionable curse. It is bad enough
that a European war should be lightly spoken of
as a trump card which may one day be played, but
that the Council-table 2f a power like France should'
descend to the morality of rouge et noir, is an
alarming phenomenon indeed. It may be the mis-
fortune rather than the fault of a parvenu poten-
tate that. he is surrounded by adventurers, some of
whom are.needy, and all extravagant. But- that
the peace of Europe should be placed in jeopardy
and its commerce paralysed, and thonsands of
ignorant and innocent people ruined, in order that
a near relation may. "pot" a trifle of solnething
like £BO,OOO, and that a "book" may be made up
at the Tuileries, is a public crime so unpardonable,
a condition of affairs so intolerable, that only the
antecedents of the Imperial Government can excuse
the existence of the rumour to which we have
alluded. That such a rumour should be possible
. is, we fear, no matter for surprise ; but we cannot,

_ .
of course, for a moment accept it as an adequate
explanation of the angry address to the Ambas-
sador, or the long-delayed eclaircissonent in the
Moniteur.

THE CREW OF THE SHANNON.—The arrival of
the. Shannon at this port lait week has given new life to •
Portsea, which in a great measure is dependent on the
navy for • its trade. The Sailors' Home—that excellent,
well-conducted, and secure retreat fur our gallant tars—has
exhibited new signs of its usefulness, from the fact that most
of the crew of the Shannon have taken up their quarters at
the " Home." About 150 of her original crew have returned
in her, and but for the fact of the captain having a taste for
eudea,hisadgcsffieracttolerated by the flogging, which we regret to state has been prevalent on her
cutolieles as have been
returned to receive the award of- their hard-earned laurels.
homeward voyage, a united, and happy ctratehswkismtso'ectomirldea,nhaanovile
navyfv
,Drioet iflsa are
dsweueoct jzic can learn
treatmentealxre dpa
thsseiit expressions
Shannondl bfs
Ad-
miralty. She has returned what is called "a rich ship,"
most of the men having secured trophies in their career,
especially from Lucknow. Valuables of all kinds are said
to be possessed by them. One Ynan has secured riches
enough to provide for his remaining days ; another has a
broken sword, taken in combat, fort
Atilnite
Ldhivaacnlnkdnolneomdo.sf.hNev hAfionicuhognhhget
thhaossbeeelaon offeredscacatepdtaaitntohlf2eoth,"eitHinraniiinnetog"rsei.s a tall black man, who
lsieirsvedoun with such rapidity, and placed it in such a com-
manding position, that the noble Captain Peel placed his
hand on his shoulders and applauded hint ftz it, and said,
Well done ; there is the order of valour for you from our
gracious Queen." After entering Lucknow this same man
slew numbers with his cutlass in single combat, and the
whole of the crew of the Shannon are unanimous in award-
ing him the honour of being the bravest man of their crew,
or, to use their own words, " the bravest man we ever did
see."—Wcst Sussex Gazette.

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