The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-16 00:00:00

NAPOLEON is generous, and that mortal is Louis

NAPOLEON himself.

To him, the EMPEROR is even prodigal in his ge-
nerosity. Romans, POPE, Italians, VICTOR EMMA-
NUEL, GARIBALDI of course, England—nothing is
too much to sacrifice or bestow, so far as it lies in
the EMPEROR'S power, on the EMPEROR. He
wants occupation for his vast army, he wants
notoriety for it, he wants Vive l'Empereur to be
heard in all parts of the world if it might be.
Syria and China are convenient for this purpose,
but the display of Zouaves there must have its ter-
mination. Algeria makes little show before the
world, but to be master of Rome is to be heard of
throughout Catholic Christendom. PADDY in Con-
naught hears of him, and subscribes for swords

to his Generals, and sends recruits to preserve their
skins whole for him and his POPE at Spoleto. He ad-
vertises himself all over the world by making Rome
his placard board. It gives also a little importance
to his pretorians who made him what he is, and
whom, therefore, he is obliged to please in all ways
possible.

Europe must see in this persistent occupation

also a great deal of petty spite. " Generous Inter.
vention," he terms it —he should have said, " Mali.
cious Intervention." Italy will not do his bidding,
therefore Italy must be vexed to the last.
Acknowledging in words that the Italians ought
freely to choose their own Government, he is
yet galled beyond measure that they think
they know what is best for themselves. He
told them they were to be a confederation, with a
puppet Pope at their head, and M. PLoN-pLoN was
to be monarch of Tuscany, and some one else, if
possible, was to be installed at Naples. The ungrate-
ful Italians took their liberty but not the advice of
the EMPEROR; hence to this day, by mere brute
force—by the army which, like burglars, without
the shadow of a pretext, broke into a city which
had committed no act of hostility against France—
he crushes the freedom of the great capital of Italy
beneath his dapper regiments. History will know
how to describe the atrocious utterly unprovoked
attack of a French Republican army on a sister
Republic. But if there can be anything which
exacerbates the cruelty of the first outrage, it
is what he is now doing. Gaeta has
surrendered ; with the exception of the
northernmost corner of Italy, no foe to
her union and liberty, but the Frenchman is to be
found south of the Alps. In central Italy union,
harmony, good administration, commercial pros-
perity are all beginning to make themselves
apparent ; a social and politicalras well as a natural
spring is commencing, but in the midst of this
hopeful scene stands the sulky Emperor of the
FRENCH, marring all, blighting all like a pest, and
perfectly unmoved by the groans of the victims of
Papal bondage.
As to the arguments of the pamphlet it is really
impossible to find:them. " The safety of the Holy
Father" is too transparent a hoax, it being well
known that VICTOR EMMANUEL is both politically,
and personally, a far better Catholic than himself,
and that the POPE'S life, property, and spiritual posi-
tion are safer in the hands of a King of ITALY
than they can be in those of an Emperor of FRANCE,
We must say, however, that the pamphlet is ob-
viously intended to supply want of reasons by
mere declamation, and that its sum is—l
will keep at Rome. It suits my military, my
dynastic, my revengeful purposes.
The time is, however, come, we think, when our
Government ought, on behalf of the Italians, to
protest to some purpose. If we are to spend again
£12,000,000 on our navy, it ought not to be that
we should demand non-intervention, and see it
wantonly violated year after year without the
shadow of a pretext. We have precisely the same
right to send an army to Rome as LOUIS NAPO-
LEON has, as much right to intervene one way as he
the other, to intervene for liberty as he for the
worst despotism on earth. Let him be reminded
that we are not any longer disposed to put up
with intervention, if we abstain from it ourselves.

The Secretary of State was certainly determined
last evening to make the best of it in regard to the
late outbreak of the convicts at Chatham Prison.
Mr. Alderman SALOMONS, the member for Green-
wich, having put an inquiry to Sir GEORGE LEWIS
as to the alleged cause and the general character of
these disturbances, the Right Hon. Baronet imme-
diately avails himself of the opportunity to give
the most charming little milk-of-roses account of
a revolt really and truly in itself of the most fright-
ful and formidable description. If one might
listen only in this matter to the mild and dulcifluous
accents of the Home Secretary, all that has taken
place within the last few days at St. Mary's Con-
vict Establishment, down in the neighbourhood of
Chatham, Strood, Brompton, and Rochester,
might be described as nothing more than
a mere momentary tiff between the felons
and their warders. Let us examine for an
instant, statement by statement, Sir GEORGE
LEWIS'S account yesterday of what took place on
the 11th instant, when Captain GAMBIER was down
at the Convict Prison instituting an official inquiry
(into what had already recently occurred there) in
his capacity as the Visiting Director. While this
was taking place, observed Sir GEORGE, " it was
reported to him"—that is to Captain GAMBIER,
then and there invested with the chief responsibility
of maintaining order and discipline in the esta-
blishment—" it was reported," says the Home Se-
cretary "to him," that is to Captain GAMBIER,
" that the men on the parade, returning to their
work, were in a state of insubordination." A long
word, that last, that might mean anything or
everything. We shall see presently what it really
did mean, in spite of the pretty gloss thrown over
the transaction by Sir GEORGE'S milk and
1 water way of giving the narrative anew. " A
number of men," continue the Home Secretary, with
apparently the least possible wish to be explicit
as to what that number really might be when accu-
rately stated, " a number of men began shouting
and throwing up their caps." Surely a very harm-
less amusement. Then follows a much more con-
fused account of what took place thereupon, a very
much more confused account than any that has yet
made its appearance in relation to these disgraceful
proceedings. Listening to what Sir GEORGE
LEWIS said, reading what he said, last evening in
answer to the very natural interrogatories ad-
dressed to him by the hon. member for Greenwich,
one cannot but regard the Secretary of State's ex-
planation as one partaking considerably of the
jumble of these very riotous proceedings them-
selves which it affects to describe with
such extreme lucidity. This explanation, in
fact, of the Secretary of State throws so much
light upon the matter that we suppose the result is
precisely what is described Miltonically, as " dark
with excess of light," or if•neither light nor dark-
ness, just simply " darkness visible" like (not inap-
propriately here) the very atmosphere of Pandemo-
nium. Of the situation of things in the donvict
Pandemonium on the 11th of this present Month of
February, thus spoke last evening in the House of
i Commons, in sentences that read to us uncommonly
i like dust thrown into the eyes of the public, thus
with the most elaborately bewildering perspicuity
\
spoke the Right Hon. Baronet the Hotne Sectetary :