The Sun.
London, England, 1861-12-24 00:00:00

art his influence has been profoundly felt, and those who
might set their judgments in opposition to his could not
fail to acknowledge the importance of his example in attach-
ing weight to the details of decoration. His interest in ag
riculture was exhibited in his farms, and in the zeal with
which he contended for the prizes at Agricultural Shows. In
manufactures he took an equal interest, and was always
ready to do his part in any great a üblic undertaking—the
opening of a bridge, the commencement of a railway, the
laying of the foundation stone of docks or of a museum.
One of the points in his career wi,h which he was most
satisfied was his Presidency of the British Association ;
and on assuming that office he made one of his best speeches.
His speeches on public occasions were collected together
same years ago, and form a remarkable testimony to his
powers. The thought is always good, oftenoriginal, and the
moral tone throughout is pitched high, although every-
thing is in good taste. The only weak part is the style,
which, while manly and quite correct, is sometimes rather
involved and on the borders of a haze. If, however, we
complain of any deficiency of terseness and lucidity, we
do not forget that the author is a German who had a Ger-
man education, and from that point of view cannot praise
the writing too much, as the triumph of a strong mind.
Sometimes, indeed, his words rose into eloquence of no
mean order. His voice is now hushed for ever. How
sadly he will be missed in the coming time—in many a
scientific gathering, in many an artistic meeting I Notably,
how will his presence be wanting to that Great Exhibi-
tion springing up under his auspices at Kensington I
Ho will be the more thought of because of his absence,
and he will live more in our hearts because he is dead to
our eyes.—Times.

IMPORTANT FRENCH DESPATCH TO

IVASEINGTON.

The following highly important diplomatic des-
patch has been addressed by the French Minister
of Foreign Affairs to the representative of France
at Washington :

" THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS TO THE
FRENCH MINISTER AT WASHINGTON.
" Paris, Dec. 3, 1861
" Monsieur,—The arrest of MM. Mason and
Slidell on board the English packet Trent by an
American cruiser has produced in France, if not
the same emotion as in England, at least great
astonishment and an extreme sensation.

" Public opinion at once inquired, with anxiety
for the consequences, whether such an act could
possibly be legitimate, and there cannot be the
slightest doubt of the general impression. The act
seems to the public so entirely at variance ,A ith the
ordinary rules of international law that it throws
the responsibility exclusively upon the commander
of the San Jacinto.

" We cannot know yet whether this supposition
is well founded, and the Emperor's Government has
therefore felt called upon to consider the question
raised by the capture of the two passengers on
board the Trent. The desire to contribute to pre-
vent a conflict,which is, perhaps, imminent, between

two powers towards whom it is animated by equally
friendly sentiments, and the duty of maintaining
with a view to put the rights of its own flag
beyond the danger of attack—certain princi-
ples essential to the security of neutrals, have, after
mature reflection, convinced the French Govern-
ment that it cannot remain completely silent under
existing circumstances.
" If, to our great regret, the Washington Cabinet
should be disposed to approve the conduct of the
commander of the San Jacinto, they must consider
MM. Slidell and Mason either as enemies or as
rebels. In either case there would be an extremely
regrettable forgetfulness of principle, on which we
have always found the United States agreed with
us.

" On what ground, in the first supposed case, can
the American cruiser have arrested MM. Mason
and Slidell ? The United States have admitted,
with us, in treaties concluded between the two
countries, that the freedom of the flag extends to
persons found on board, even though they be ene-
mies, except in the case of military men actually
in the service of the enemy. MM. Mason and
Slidell were, therefore, by virtue of this principle,
which we have never found any difficulty in getting
inserted in our treaties of friendship and commerce,
perfectly free under the neutral flag of England.
" It wiji,not, doubtless, be pretended that they
could be considered as contraband of war. What
constitutes contraband of war is not, it is true,
precisely settled; the limits are not absolutely the
same for all powers, but, as far as regards persons,
the stipulations found in treaties relative to mili-
tary persons clearly define the character of the in-
dividuals who alone are liable to be captured by
belligerents.
" Now it cannot be necessary to demonstrate that
MM. Mason and Slidell can in no way be assimi-
lated to persons in this category. There would,
therefore, remain no ground to explain their cap-
ture but the pretext that they were bearers of
official despatches from the enemy. But this is the
place to call to mind a circumstance which overrides
the whole case, and shows the conduct of the Ame-
rican cruiser to have been unjustifiable.
" The Trent was not bound to a point belonging
to either of the belligerents. It was carrying its
cargo and passengers to a neutral country, and,
moreover, it was at a neutral port it had taken them
up. If it were admissible that under such circum-
stances the neutral flag did not completely cover the
persons and goods transported under it, the immu-
nity of that flag would be a vain word; the com-
merce and navigation of third powers would be liable
to suffer at any moment for their innocent, or even
indirect, relations with either of the belligerents.
The latter would not only have a right to require
from neutrals the most complete impartiality, and to
interdict him from being mixed up in any way with
acts of hostility, but they would inflict restrictions
upon the liberty of commerce and navigation which
modern international law refuses to acknowledge
as legitimate. There would be a return in a word
to those vexatious practiees against which in former
times no power protested more energetically than
the United States.
" If the Washington Cabinet should regard the
two persons arrested as rebels, whom it has always
a right to seize, the question, though shifting its
ground, could not be more resolved in a sense
favourable to the commander of the San Jacinto.
In such a case there would be a contempt of the
principle in virtue of which a ship is held to be a
portion of the territory whose flag it bears, and
there would be a violation of the immunity which
forbids a foreign sovereign to exercise jurisdiction
on that territory. It cannot doubtless be necessary
to call to mind the energy with which the United
States has, on every occasion, defended this immu-
nity, and the right of asylum, which is a copse-

quence of it.
"Without wishing to enter upon a more thorough
discussion of the question raised by the capture of
MM. Mason .and .Slidell, I have said enough, I
think, to show that the Cabinet of Washington can-
not, without infringing those principles which all
neutral powers are alike interested in maintaining,
nor without putting itself in contradiction with its
own conduet up to the present time, give its appro-
bation of the conduct of the San Jacinto. In this
state of things the Cabinet of Washington cannot,
in our opinion, hesitate as to the course to be taken.

" Lord Lyons is already charged to present the
demand for satisfaction which the English Cabinet
is under the necessity of making, and which con-
sists in the immediate release of the persons taken
from the Trent, and explanations which shall relieve
the act of the captain of the San Jacinto of his offen-
sive character to the British flag. The Federal Go-
vernment would be inspired by a just and elevated
sentiment in yielding to these demands. It is im-
possible to conceive any object or any interest that
it could have to run the risk of provoking a rupture
with Great Britain by assuming a different attitude.

" For ourselves who would see in such a rupture
a complication in every way deplorable of the
difficulties with which the Cabinet at Washington
has already to struggle, and a proceeding calculated
to occasion serious uneasiness to all the powers not
parties to the present conflict, we think we are
giving a testimony of loyal friendship to the cabi-
net of Washington in not coircealing from it our

opinion.
" I request you, sir, to take the first opportunity
of speaking frankly with Mr. Seward, and, if he
should desire it, to leave him a copy of this despatch.
—Reeeive, &c., " THOUVENEL."

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