The Sun.
London, England, 1850-10-08 00:00:00

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[PRICE SD.

P sought and won—in the honest performance of the
duties which it entails, the President has to encounter
at every step difficulties which he would strive in vain
to meet by the ordinary routine of constitutional ac-
tion. Attacked by the unceasing hostility of a press,
hitter, powerful, habitually intolerant of steady go-
vernment, and thirsting for change—menaced, as the
type of the law and the source of restraint, by those
dangerous classes whose enmity is the fiercer and
more uncompromising from their recent discomfi-
ture—embarrassed by the doubtful support and
constant intrigues of parties who cannot advance,
yet will not resign their hopes of power—
how, under all these circumstances, can Louis Napo-
leon be expected by the Assembly to sustain his cause
and their own by the limit of his exertions to the
quiet exercise of official functions at the bureau and
in the Cabinet ? Could the work of years be done in
a day, this might be—could the masses of industry in
France be brought at once to such a state of orga-
nisation and intelligence that their just weight and
influence )ight be commanded and relied on by the
governing power, there might be no need to seek
for other defences of constituted authority ; but cir-
cumstances must be dealt with, not on theoretical
possibilities, but in their actual existence, and the As-
sembly its&l has recognised openly enough, by its
recent laws on the franchise and the press, the utter
imcompatibility of the revolutionary system with the
authority required to hold a revolutionised
state together—the constant necessity of un-
doing the very work to which the Govern-
ment itself ewes its existence and its position.
The matter which is said to have excited the jealousy
of the Assembly, and to have given rise to the
meeting of 'which we have spoken, is, after all, a very
slight one in itself; but this renders more remarkable
and more important the weight which has been at-
tached to th.e exaggerated rumours of its consequences
—the reported dissensions—where a good understand-
ing is of most consequence—and the proceedings
which appear actually to have been taken by the
committee of the Assembly. The President, feeling
how much of his power, as head of the Government,
must at !present depend on personal prestige, has
been active Ay exerting himself in canvassing for the
good will of all classes. To the provinces, the mu-
nicipalities,. the working men, the navy, the chief
whom the nation has elected presented himself in
turn: was it necessary, or would it have been wise,
to neglect the army ? The worst part of the charge,
however, is, that, in his interview with the troops,
too great an amount of largess end favour was
shown to the private soldiers—that champagne was
allowed to reach lips which, in strict discipline,
should have been moistened by nothing better than
viii ordin,zire—and that the strictness of military
etiquette was violated in order to win the favour of
the rank and file. Such reports we believe to have
been, to say the least, grossly exaggerated, and still
less credence, we are persuaded, is due to the story of
the disseasion between the President and General
Changarn ler, said to have been occasioned by these
alleged occurrences. The simple fact appears to be
that Louie Napoleon, having no military glory where-
with to tale by storm the heart of the army, and
being (thE.nk Heaven !) not likely to be in a position
thus to conquer their attachment, has sought to
please the soldier by that liberality and cordial kind-
ness which no man prize more in their superiors than
they. Tb.at a course so natural should have excited
such discussion, and have given rise to such scandal,
is only a siesh proof, amongst the many daily occur-
ring, of how uncertain is the state of the French
political world ; that the committee of the As-
sembly should have taken up the subject in the
spirit attributed to them will, if conilrined, be a
source of sincere regret to us, persuaded as we
are that, for the sake of their own cause—for the
good of France, and for the maintenance of good
government—it is essential that the chosen head of
the nation should be able to count on the steady con-
fidence and firm support of the Legislative Assembly.
An irritable and unfounded jealousy on their part,
crippling his every movement, would indeed be a
terrible addition to the many obstacles in his path.
Louis Napoleon, whatever his ultimate personal views
may be, has been as yet, and is at present, engaged
in a task as great and worthy as ever occupied the
mind of man—in establishing the foundations at least
of such an organised Government as may take the
place of that shifting sand in which the best part of
the happiness and prosperity of his country sinks
year by year. 'We earnestly hope that to him, or to
any other power or intelligence to which the nation
may entrust the task, fair ground for his work,
honest assistance, and wise confidence may be granted
by the people and their delegates, as long as the task
shall be wrought with good will, the work done With
competence and energy.

FATAL ACCIDENT IN THE
BRISTOL CHANNEL.
BRISTOL, OCT. 7.—We have to record a most dis-
tressing accident, which occurred in our channel yes-
terday afternoon, whereby four highly respectable
tradesmen of this city lost their lives, and three more
still remain in a very precarious condition. The fol-
lowing are the particulars of this melancholy occur-
rence :—lt seems that yesterday morning, notwith-
standing the unfavourable appearance of the weather,
a party of 11 persons hired a substantially built sloop-
rigged boat, belonging to Mr. Luff, for the purpose of
making a trip down the channel ; the boat had an
orlop deck, and was what would be termed a good
sea-boat. The wind at the time they started was
S.S.W., with a very heavy sea on. Notwithstanding
a pretty stiff gale blowing, the person (Mr. Lodge)
who had the conduct of the boat having formerly
been the captain of a merchantman, the party had
every confidence in his skill, and decided on proceed-
ing down channel. They arrived as far as the
Holmes in safety, a distance of about 21 miles. Oa
their return, when they neared the lightship, which
is situated between some dangerous sands, known as
the English and Welsh grounds, on making a tack
with all sail set, they shipped a large quantity of
water. They then endeavoured to go about on the
other tack, but all of them, not knowing much about
nautical matters, retaining their seats to wind-
ward, when she went about, the windward side of
course became the leeward one, the boat heeled over
and shipped more water, making altogether about a
ton, which, of course, found its way into the cockpit.
The boat was then properly put before the wind, but
still injudiciously, with all sail set, and they stood for
the mouth of the river. In crossing that dangerous
spot, commonly called the " S wash, Mr. W. Lodge,
who was steering, luffed up in the very eye of the
wind ; the boat would not wear, she heeled over, cap-
sized, and went down stern foremost, plunging the
whole of the unfortunate passengers into the water.
Fortunately at the time a Custom-house boat was
passing, and went to their assistance ' • the sloop Mary
Ann, which was near, also lowered a boat and sent it
to their rescue. They managed to pick up seven, but
four unfortunately were drowned. The survivors
were conveyed to Pill, where medical assistance was
promptly procured, and the usual restorative remedies I
were administered. These, however, from excite-
merit and prostration of bodily strength consequent
on their having been some time in the water, are still
in a very precarious condition. One of the bodies
(that of Evan Jefferies) has been recovered, and an
inquest will be held on it this evening. The names
of the deceased are Evan Jefferies, Thomas Rich,
George Packer, and William Lodge. We should have
stated that the pump of the boat would not work,
being out of order.

TERRIBLE STORM AT NOTTINGHAM.
NOTTINGHAM, MONDAY, FOUR P.M.—A fearful
gale of wind which has been blowing in this district
during the last sixteen hours, has caused a great
number of accidents, and at least one fatal casualty.
Shortly before one o'clock this afternoon, whilst a
number of people were standing in the market-place,
looking at the exterior of Wombwell's menagerie a
tall chimney at the top of the house occupied by
Messrs. Hopkinson and Welsh, grocers, was blown
down, and in falling carried along with it the greater
portion of the roof, the front cornice, and a large
quantity of lead, altogether weighing from two to
three tons, which, with scarcely a moment's warn-
ing, fell heavily upon the pavement, knocking several
people down, burying two persons, a youth and a
young woman, among the debris, and very narrowly
missing the roofs of Mr. Wombwell's caravans. The
consternation of the bystanders at the suddenness of
the accident having subsided, those who bad been
knocked down were assisted to places of security and
had their wounds and bruises attended to. The two
persons more seriously injured were removed to the
General Hospital. They proved to be Wm. Morrell,
affed 10 years, dead, having been crushed by a large
sheet of lead falling upon him ; and a woman named
Ellis, aged about 34, whose head is so severely lacerated
that it is considered impossible she can recover.
She i 3, moreover, suffering from concussion of the
brain. The poor lad, Morrell, had hold of his father's
hand at the tinge he was killed; and an elder brother
stood on the other side of him. Both of them had
their clothes and boots torn, and were bruised severely
on various parts of the body. Numbers of other per-
sons have been similarly hurt, but none, except the
two named, are likely to noose their lives.. This
morning early Morris Ingle, aged 39, woolstapler,
was conveyed to the hospital from Costock, having re-
ceived a badly contused wound on the right shoulder

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