The Sun.
London, England, 1859-11-19 00:00:00

ROYAL EN GLISH OPERA,
COVENT-GARDEN.
Under the manazement of Miss L. Pyne and Mr. W. Harrison
THIS EVENING, DIN O R A 11. Messrs. Santley, H.
Corti, St. Albyn, and W. Harrison. Misses Pilling, Thirl-
Wall, and Miss Louisa Fyne.
Conductor, Alfred Mellon.

Ballet,"LA FIANCEE. Messrs. W. H. Payne, H. Payne,
7. Payne, Mdlle. Lequine, Pasquale, Pierron, Mons. Vandris.
Doors open at half-past 7—Commence at 8 o'clock.

THEATRE-ROYAL, HAYMARKET.
Lessee, Mr. J. B. Buckstone.
THIS EVENING the performances will commence with
ILALLOWE'EN.
After which, TIIE BACHELOR OF ARTS. Jasper (his
original character), Mr. C. Mathews.
Followed by a new Comedietf a, entitled THE LATE
LAMENTED.
And MY WIFE'S DAUGIITER.
Commence at 7.

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.-
Lessee, Mr. A. Harris.
THIS EVENING, the uertormances will commenci, with
anew drama, entitled THE MASTER. PASSION. Messrs.
Ryder, G. lifelville, Graham, P. Cathcart, Garden ; Miss C.
Lec.ercq and Mrs. Charles Youre,.

To be followed by A WONDERFUL WOMAN. Mr. A.
Harris, Shore, Frank Matthews, and bliss C. Leciercq.
After which, a new farce, in one act, entitled NURSEY
CHICKWEED. Messrs. Widdicomb, Meadows, H. Saker ;
Miss L. Keeley and Mrs. Weston.

To conclude with the Divertissement from LOVE AND
FOR C UN E.

NF.W THEATRE - ROYAL, ADEIPHI
sole proprietor and Mans.zer, 3fr. Beni. Webster.

THIS EVENING, THE DEAD 'HEART. Illessrs
B. Webster. L. Toole, David Fisher, Paul Bedford. Stuart,
Billinzton, C. J. Smith, Eburne, Moreland; Miss Woolgar,
and Miss K. Kelly.

Followed by the successful piece of extravagance, called
DINORAH UNDER DIFFICULTIES. Messrs. J. L. Toole,
F. Bedford, C. J. Smith, Eburne, and Miss K. Kelly.

Doors open at half-past six—Commence at seven. Box-
Office open from 10 to 5. No charge for securing seats,
nor for bills of performance. All fees to servants of this
establishment are strictly prohibited.
Acting Manager—Mr. Wm. Smith.

ROYAL ST. JAMES'S THEATRE,
King-street, St. James's. Lessee, Mr. T. B. Chatter-
ton. The nearest Theatre to Chelsea, Pimlico, and West-
minster, the Park being open to carriages and foot passen-
gers all hours of the night.
THIS EVENING, a new Comedy, LONDON PRIDE ; or,
Living for Appearances. Messrs. R. Robins, Barrett,
Charles Young; Mesdames Frank Matthews, Murray, and
Nelly Moore.
Atter which (ith time) a new Fairy Extravaganza, entitled
THE SWAN AND EDGAR. Messrs. Barrett, Francis,
Miss Lydia Thompson, Miss Clara St. Casse, and the Corps
de Ballet.

To conclude with A DEAD SHOT. Mr. R. Cockrell.
Reduced Prices—Gallery, 6d ; Pit, is. The Box-office open
from 11 to 5 daily. Doors open at half-past six; perform
ante commences at 7.

ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.
Westminster-road.

Sole Legsee Mr. William Cooke.

Extraordinary prosperous career of the new historical
Dr.ma, in four rafts, by Tom Taylor, Esq., called GARI-
BALDI. New scenery -Magnificent Military Tableux.—
Supported by a Powerful Company—Mr. R. Phillips, Ennis,
Belmore, Raymond, Miss Kate Carson, &c. The Scenes in
the Circle will be sustained by the best and most talented
Equestrians of the day, Mr, John Henry Cooke, Miss Rosina
Ma We. Marguerite, and a host of British, French, and
American talent—Little Menoni, the wonderful Juvenile
Equestrian—Facetious Clowns, Parisian Pierrots, and Ec-
centric Drolls -terminating cac', Night with the comical and
mirth-provoking Ballet entitled LOVE'S VAGARIES.
Stage Manager, Mr. R. Phillips

CANTERBUR HALL CONCERTS.-
EVERY EVENING.—The liusic of Verdi's Opera o.
MACB ET EI (now first made public in England at these Con.
certs).

And a Grand Seeetion from Meyerbeer's new opera 01
DINORAII.

Comic Vocalists -Messrs. Geor,e Unison (the Irish Come-
dian and Mimic), W. T. Critchfleld, and E. W. Hackney.
Several Interesting Pictures are added to the Fine Arts
Gallery. The suite of Halls have been re-decorated and
beautified, and constitute one of tke most unique and brilliant
Bights of the metropolis.
nr)sA BON REHR'S celebrated PICTURE of the ITORSE
FAIR is now added to the already magnificent Collection of
Paintings in the Canterbury Hall Fine Arts Gallery. The
gallery is °pc.' from 9 a.m. till 12 p.m. Admission, Six-
pence.

—TIIEWEA.THER.—SuN OFFICE, NOTE3IBER 19.
THETOCONETER, IN TILE SHADS.
47.—highest since noon yesterday.
42 —lowest this morning and during the night.
48—this day at noon.

BAROMETER-30.34.
WIND, South-Westerly; light, with very fine coo]
weather, and a clear blue sky.

NIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
THIS DAY.—Morning, Bh. 48m.—Afternoon, 9h. 24m
To-Monnow -Morning, 9h. 59m.—Afternoon, 10h. 33m

414' 4
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THE SUN.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1859.

The existing state of affairs between this country
and her nearest neighbsur makes us turn with in-
terest to everything that can throw any light on the
sentiments or political situation of the Parisians.
The appearance of the Revue lndependante* in this
country immediately attracted attention, and when
we consider the independence of its tone, and the
importance of the subjects it discusses, we shall not
be surprised that it found a ready circulation among
English readers. The sketch which it gives of the
state of the press in France is vividly and forcibly
drawn; succinctly setting forth a few of the evils re-
sulting from the legal restrictions and Government
interference which hedge around French journalism.
In giving a brief summary of the law of February,
1852, the writer comments upon the evil influence
of the very first article, which sets forth that no
journal may appear without the authority of the
Government. This introductsry article not only
restricts the number over which surveillance is to
be maintained, but it renders the existing journals
absolute masters of the party they profess to repre-
sent. As the writer jastly observes, it is by no
means indispensable that a journal should be under
the control of traitors and impostors for it to betray
the interests of its party. When we consider that
the publication of the proceedings of the Corps
_Legislatif and the Conseil d'Etat are forbidden,
that the obligation to. insert whatever documents

are sent by any person in authority is imperative ;
that the penalties which attend the infringement of
the law are severe, and include writer, editor, and
printer; that the rules respecting suspensions and
acertissements enabic those in power to terminate
the existence of any journal which displeases them
by a stroke of the pen, one need not marvel that an
independent and outspoken journalist 13 more
easily sought than found.
One great evil resulting from the first article
in La Loi seer la Presse we have referred
to above,—that of the unfair or partial re-

presentation of the views of a party. The writer
in the Revue Indtpendante cites an insfance of this
in le Siecle which originally represented the
party of General CAVAIGNAC, but which for some
• considerable time has ceased to represent him,. and,
at the time of his death, was even at open diffe-
rences with him. The ancient party of CAVAIGNAC
refusing to recognise the existing Government,
would scarcely demand their authority for esta-
blishing a journal. If they did so, they would as-
suredly not obtain the required permission. They
have consequently no means of expressing their
opinions to the world, and are supposed to be re-
presented by the organ which has long forsaken
their principles. As an example, we are told that
the remain of the CAVAIGNAC party were strongly
opposed to the war in Italy, of which Le Sieele
was the vehement promoter. It is rejected by all
the chiefs of its professed party, but it is absolute
master of the field, and the scattered members of
the party in the provinces or in Europe accept its
views as the faithful exponent of the policy of their
leaders. Supposing this to be the case with the
representatives of other parties, we can readily
trace the effect on the public mind. The writer in
the Revue suggests as a hypothesis, that a journal
similarly situated should be secretly allied to the
Government, 7nd the result would be that by a
of art the Government would not
happy stroke
only arrange the tactics of its own party, but dis-
pose of the forces of the opposition. We, in this
country,jire scarcely able fully to appreciate the
difficulties and dangers with which a French jour-
nalist has to contend. If he wishes to criticise an

act of the Government he runs the risk of his jour '
nal being suppressed. He cannot undertake
this risk without the consent of the director, of
the council of surveillance who represent the
shareholders, of the printer whom the law declares
an accomplice, and who exposes himself to com-
plete ruin. A Government employe may bring him
an article which he is obliged to insert with-
out saying whence it comes, even though
it may be directly antagonistic to his own views.
The director, constantly menaced, in his turn warns
the writers. The conseil de surveillance, the share-
holders, the printer, are all in their turn watch-
ing for the preservation of their liberty or their
property. " There is many a journalist whom you
judge to be timid or bought over," says one writer,
" whose articles deprive his coadjutors of sleep."
No wonder that in such a state of things the inde-
pendence of the press is but a name ; that it reserves
the bitter censure which might find a more suitable
vent at home for the doings of its neighbours; that
while the English press forms the great safeguard
of the liberties of the people against the relics of
feudal tyranny in high places, and the stormy
sophistry of democratic demagogues, the coun-
trymen of CARREL and BERANGER can find no
voice to plead for that cause of national freedom
and liberal government which has cost them more
blood and tears than any other nation in Europe.
The writer we have spoken of sums up the four
safeguards against despotism as follows :

ht. Honest elections.
2d. An independent tribunal.
3d. Magisterial integrity.
4th. The liberty of the prosy.

In the spirit of SHERIDAN'S famous apostrophe,
though unfortunately looking at the reverse side
of the picture, he asserts that the three first of
these essentials arc but a dead letter without the last.
With a free press, the merits of candidates for elec-
tion are discussed, the parliamentary and legal
debates are reported and criticised; but with
this powerful enemy removed or silenced, it
is not difficult for those in authority
to influence or falsity the elections. The
debates, unknown to the public, are powerless,
and the magistracy, entirely dependent on Govern-
ment for advancement, are not likely to be incon-
veniently independent. And what results from
these elaborate precautions—this carefully-woven
net—this intricate and infallible political system ?
A thorny and perilous tenure of absolute authority,
an anxious and hazardous occupation of a doubtful
dictatorship ; while the great body of the people,
their eloquence silenced, their energy cramped,
their intelligence insulted by the supervision and
censorship of ignorant officials—are deterred from
the pursuit of any of those honourable political
careers so fascinating to an ambitious and intellec-
tual nation. But the evil reacts upon its xuthors.
If the people are debarred from the free expression
of thought and sentiment, the Government also lose
the vast advantage of testing the temper of the
time, of judging the force of public opinion on
various questions, of measuring the national con-
tent or dissatisfaction. The free circulation of air
is carefully excluded from every crevice. The fresh
breeze is stigmatised as full of danger ; but let
those in power take heed that the vacuum be not
the precursor of a hurricane which shall play its
part the more roughly from its unnatural and for-
cible suppression.

Since writing the above we have received, by the
second edition of the Times, from its Paris corres-
pondent, information which fully confirms the
views expressed above. The correspondent says

—" I have reason to believe that, with the view of
obviating the effect produced in England by the
violent language of a considerable portion of the
French press, a confidential communication of an
important nature has been addressed by the
Minister of the Interior, M. Billault, to: all the
Prefects in France. If lam correctly informed—
and I have reason to believe that I am—the Minister
expresses his regret that such exaggerated language
should be used when speaking of the English
people, as well by reason of the disquietude which
it must excite among them, as that it tends to
destroy the confidence and embitter the feelings of
those of whose opinions the English press is the
channel. The Prefects are reminded how much
greater that unpleasant tact must be when this
violent language is employed by journals usually
supporting the policy of the Imperial Government,'
and which is made responsible abroad for these
excesses. The Prefects arc therefore instructed to
request the journals in question to be more circum-
spect ; and, while they are at liberty to refute errors
and protest against injustice and calumny, and to
defend energetically the rights of the country, they
Might easily avoid offending the susceptibilities of
a great people, and rather promote friendly relations
between the t wo countries."

Now all this bespeaks the fear of NAPOLEON,
more than his love for England. Why did he let
loose the angry or bad feelings which he had him-
self excited throughout every part of France, and
then like the incendiary, who found that the fire was
raging beyond his calculation, endeavour to allay
the blaze which had obtained too much ascendancy
for him to smother ? That his fulminations
throughout the Press have awakened a spirit of
patriotic fervour in this country has now alarmed
NAPOLEON, and all his arts will fail to sooth the
irritation which his double dealing has aroused.
We may listen to his declarations of friendship,
but we will continue to arm all the same, for
judging by his past conduct we shall not place
any reliance upon his professions, however bland
or hypocritical. We now know our friend, and
shall deal with him after his own fashion. His
friendship is but a mere flash in the pan, and shall
be dealt with on its merits.

" Thrice is he arm'd who hath his quarrel just,
And ho but naked, thoughcas'd up in steel,
Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted."

There is a dear little borough down in Sussex ;
we quite forgot it was a borough when wo first
drove through it in a chaise, mistaking it for a
largeish agricultural village; and such, indeed, it
is;—but with the assistance of t'ie whole, or parts
of eleven surrounding parishes, it makes up the
Parliamentary borough of Midhurst. Mr. COBDEN
hails from its vicinity, however, and the Hon.
SPENCER HORATIO WALPOLE was long time its
representative; and since then the author of " Ten
Thousand a-Year" enjoyed that honour. And if
we went back to days prior to the Reform Bill,
when it possessed but eighteen real voters, and
one hundred nominal ones, the snug little
borough could boast of giving a voice in
Parliament to Lord Chief Justice Sir JOHN PRATT,
to Lord PLUNKET, and even to the celebrated
CHARLES JAMES Fox himself. It is one of Lord
JOHN'S raral boroughs, a class ho would like to
keep for variety's sake, and to prevent that dull
uniformity of independent constituencies which
larger towns present. The only difficulty is to dis

tinguish it from the county constituency. It is, it._
deed, not so much a borough as a nice little manage-
able county of less than 300 voters, and not more
than about 7,000 men, women, and children, scat-
tered over a district of some 23,000 acres. It is a

pleasant country—no railway comes too near. A
stage coach, however, may yet be seen at Midhurst,

and if you wish to get quite out of the way of
everything like town life, you cannot do better
than get lodgings there for the summer, if, indeed,
you could find th.em.
The place is, however, large enough to maintain
several shopkeepers, and the shopkeepers are, of
course, electors, and for the most part very dutiful
electors, seldom forgetting that Cowdray Hall has
a right to do what it will with its own. In all
families, however, even the best regulated, there will
sometimes be turbulence ; sons and daughters, al-
most out of their teens, will fancy they are as wise
as the paternal authorities, and set up for inde-
pendence of patriarchal control ; and at the last
election even Midhurst tradesmen, some of them at
least, turned unexpectedly wayward. Who was
the proprietor of Cowdray ? Were they to be handed
about, like the congregation of a parish church, to the
nominee now of this patron, now of that? Were they
adscripti glebae, or rather adscripti Coradrayensi
If a Tory they must have, yet could they not have
a Tory of their own selection ; one who should push
aside the nominee of Lord and Lady EGMONT ?
The fit came on strong, came on at the very eve of
the election ; there was no time to bring heavy
artillery to bear upon the refractory, and
Mr. MITFORD, the present member, was installed
by a kind of coup d'etat, in the midst of the con-
sternation and paralysis which had befallen Cow-
dray. When all was over the electors were sur-
prised at themselves ; they could hardly believe in
their own act. The whole eleven parishes won•
dered at their own pranks while their chain had
for a moment snapped ; they are quite sure, how-
ever, that it will soon be mended.
We learn, indeed, from the West Sussex Gazette
that the process of repairing it is commenced
already. Cowdray is asserting its rights. Appro-
priate penalties are in store for the rebellious or the
rampant. Lord and Lady EGMONT may be flouted
by a mob of vassals for the hour, but retribution
speedy and protracted will teach the delinquents
the peril of yielding to impulses of liberty.
" My Lady" is, we are told, the executioner;
Justice is a lady, not blind in Lady EGMONT'S
case, but with eyes wide open to distinguish all the
faithful to the Lord of Cowdray from the audacious
voters for MITFORD. Deep down in the country
as are the electors of Midhurst, they have far ad-
vanced on their painted ancestors, and they do need
clothing. Like all dwellers in agricultural dis-
tricts they need much more than they can get of
it. Very prudently they form therefore clothing
clubs, to which they pay ld. a week. The sum is
easily spared weekly; and th• gown, or petticoat, or
stockings it will purchase at Christmas come almost
like a present then. But to encourage, as was
supposed, this prudence, Lady EGMONT used
philanthopically to add her half-crown to the 4s. 4d.

of each contributor, and with 6s. 10d. to go mar-
keting with to the draper, the rustic dames and
damsels might almost metamorphose themselves in
the eyes of their lords and their sweethearts—there

might be a new bonnet as well as a new gown, as
things now go; and perhaps a little for warmth
besides. The bonnet, now at least, ought not to cost
much. So a ticket, by the help of Lady EGMONT'S
liberality, was given to each depositor of the penny
a week, which ticket was good to any tradesman

who presented it to Miss WISDOM for the full six
and tenpence.
So at least it was understood. No limitation of
tradesmen was in the bond ; but limitation it seems
there was in the mind of my lady of Cowdray. The
tradesmen dealt with must be those who had been
faithful to their lord. If any shopkeeper had voted
for MITFORD he must not gain any profit from the
half-crown of Lady EGMONT and the accompanying
four and fourpence being spent at his shop. Our

tradesman, from whom the West Sussex Gazette

had this information, NVaS told by some of his old
club customers that if they dealt with tradesmen
who had voted for MITFORD, as he had done, they
could not have the ticket. Not a little surprised, ho

sent an assistant to ask an explanation of Miss
WISDOM, the secretary of the club ; he was told
" That the report was true, that the interdict was
put on his shop by order of Lady EGMONT, on ae•

count of the election ;" and, it was added (by Miss
WISDOM, we presume), " that he ought to have

thought of the consequences of supporting Mr.
NIITFORD against the interest of Lord and Lady
EGMONT; and it was understood that Mr. MITFORD'S
supporters were not to expect any support from
Cowdray." The result was that instead of supplying
about half the number of the club for six and ten-
pence each, he only supplied those who refused to
submit to Cowdray restrictions, and who demanded

the return of their simple four and fourpence.
Sometimes we are told that exclusive dealing is
all a fancy ; that tradesmen cry out before they arc
hurt ; that if a customer resorts to another shop
because the goods are cheaper or better, directly
there are exclamations about loss of custom for the
sake of a vote and so forth. SYDNEY SMITII could
easily enough draw ludicrous pictures of this kind.
We have little doubt that the intimidation of this
sort is in substance very extensive. But it is
rarely, indeed, we can catch a Lady EGMONT in
the very fact. There is seldom need of the
intimidator of the shopkeeper committing himself
or herself. Clothing clubs, and " half-crowns addi-
tional," are but rarely in the hands of one lady, or
indeed of one set of politicians. It is the fact, we
believe, that in smaller towns, and in the country,
the shopkeepers are amongst the most timid of the
electors. Most frequently they have customers on
both sides. The minority Liberals, probably; yet
too important to them to be lost. The majority,
including se'reral of the neighbouring gentry, they
dare not offend, so they remain neutral. Yet
these men have an opinion—only, for their business'
sake they dare not utter it. We have known them
give one vote for each side, or one partner vote one
way, and one the other ; or, as we have said, remain
neutral. Nothing but the Ballot can pretend to
offer protection for this kind of corruption.
We may see here, too, how those who hate
bribery may be drawn into what may become
eventually corrupt practices. Who would
have blamed Mr. MITFORD if he had said
—I will add three and sixpence, instead of Lady
EGMONT'S half-crown, to the four and fourpence
of those who deal with the punished trades-
men ? Or who would have not been ready to sub-
scribe to augment the four and fourpences of those
who dealt with the tradesmen excluded from the
custom of Lady EGMONT'S club ? Then the two
clubs might have gone on bidding against each
other, till the highest bidder became the buyer of
the election, and the final result might have been
a House of Commons fishing out the curious fact

that the electors of Midhurbt were managed through
clothing clubs, and that Lady EGMONT and her
MissWispom had originated the clever contrivance.

Poor Mr. WILLIAM MILLER, we are very sorry,
:ndeed, to see it, is not yet " ont of the wood " in

his relations with his constituency. It may be
remembered that the hon. gentleman was reported
some time back to have made certain specific and
explicit statements in respect to some mys-
terious paper said to have been drawn up, if we
recollect rightly, by himself, and to have been
afterwards countersigned by the Earl of DERBY,
when the fortunes of that noble lord's Cabinet were

trembling in the balance of a momentous division
in the House of Commons—a division then fast
approaching. The document in question, of course,
was understood to contain within it nothing less
important than a series of categorical stipulations as
to a Reform Bill promised thus in writing by the
noble Earl as Chief of the DERBY Government. It
may also be borne in recollection that more recently
Lord DERBY—as recently, by the way, this was
as the 29th of this last October—namely, upon the
occasion of the grand Tory demonstration at Liver-
pool—availed himself of the opportunity of a public
speech to state distinctly and emphatically, that no
such papar had been countersigned by him for the
satisfaction of the qualms of conscience of Mr.
MILLER, M.P. for Lei:h. And Lord DERBY added
to this explicit and absolute counter-statement of
his own, as to this apocryphal, or rather purely
supposititious, document, that in answer to an
inquiry addressed by his lordship to Mr. MILLER,
he (Lord DERBY) had received a communication
from Mr. MILLER, stating, in so many words, that
that gentleman had been " wholly misrepresented.',
Hereupon, on the 12th inst., certain of the
electors of the borough of Leith address to the
ex-Premier, we cannot but think rather unneces-
sarily under the circumstances (for Lord DERBY'S
explanation was, to all intents and purposes, suffi-
ciently positive and sufficiently comprehensible)—
a long letter putting the case all over again, re-
counting every circumstance of it ab initio, and
then demanding from Lord DERBY a plain Yes or
No, after the approved fashion of Sir CULLING
EARDLEY, Bart. Having recapitulated these parti-
culars the letter goes on to say—"lt is the general opi
nien here that the gentleman your lordship referred
to is Mr. WILLIAM MILLER, M.P. for this district of
burghs ; and, supposing such to be the case, we beg
to state that we were present at Mr. MILLER'S meet-
ing held here on the evening of the 14th of /Mo-
lter last, and that we heard him distinctly say in
his speech that the document in question had been
signed by your lordship." And as if this were not
sufficiently plain-speaking as to the incident, the elec-
tors add, in their letter to Lord DERBY, that " On
Mr. MILLER making this assertion one of the elec-
tors interrupted him, asking how it happened that
your lordship had signed a letter which was ad-
dressed to yourself, and Mr. MILLER then explained
that it had been signed by you in acceptance of the
terms contained therein." Having said which the
electors of Leith content themselves with observing
to the ox-Premier, in conclusion, " We consider it
our duty, without comment, to make your lordship
acquainted with the real state of the case, and we
have thought it right to send Mr. MILLER a copy
of this letter." The noble lard's reply is sufficiently
curt and characteristic to be given here in its
entirety :

" Knowsley, Nov. 15.

" Gentlemen,—l have had the honour of receiving this
morning your letter of the 12th inst. Having received some
time ago a statement in writing from Mr. Miller, which, as
far as I am concerned, was perfectly satisfactory to me, I
must beg to decline any furtherinterferonco with a matter with
which I have no concern, and in which there appears to be
some misunderstanding between that gentleman and his
constituents.—l am, gentlemen, your obedient servant,

"Mr. D. M'Lareu and others. "DERBY."
The sequel to all which now devolves, of
course, upon Mr. WILLIAM MlLLER—supposing
that gentleman, that is to ;ay, to care one straw for
the good opinion of his own constituency.

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