The Sun.
London, England, 1850-05-20 00:00:00

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~~

LONDON, MONDAY, MAY 20, 1850.

Our very facetious contemporaries, the apologists
of continental reaction, appear to have been bitten
within the last few days by a sort of political taren-
tella. They have been dancing their own and their
readers' wits into that state of complete obfuscation,
that, like the owl in DICKENS'S Happy Family,
blinking itself into a condition of dense stupidity,
they have rendered themselves incapable of even the ,
most ordinary discrimination. Thus a mere momen-
tary " tiff" on the part of the French Ambassador is
transformed in their eyes into something very little
short of an actual declaration of war between France
and England. The Lord President of the Council
might protest with the most ilase air imaginable
that there was " nothing in it." The First Lord of
the Treasury might corroborate that statement in the
most emphatic terms in the language. They knew
better than that, these omniscient wiseacres : all as-
sertions to the contrary indicated nothing but dupli-
city and prevarication. So, setting their heads
together like the wise men in the fable, they must
needs go and make a discovery—pointing, in proof of
their assurance, to the dark mystery of the late
diplomatic correspondence. Up to the present mo-
ment but a few scattered and glimmering lights have
been thrown upon the darkness of this state mystery,
and yet lo ! already it is possible to discern quite
enough to show:that this same grand discovery, blown
abroad so noisily by almost all the trumpets of the
press, is only a mare's nest of the meanest and most
microscopic description.
After all the panic inspired by the departure of M.
DROUIN DE L'HUYS, it turns out, as we anticipated
from the first (and this our readers will well have
noted), that there is no occasion for any anxiety
whatever. Every one of the principal organs in
Paris, of all sEades of political opinion, say as much
with the utmost distinctness. The National declares
the whole of the excitement to be fudge ! The
Presse, so far from viewing the relation of its own
Government with the Court of St. James's as
plunged into any precarious predicament, passes
an earnest and even eloquent panegyric
upon the good faith evinced by England ever since
the Revolution of February. The Journal des Debuts
sees throughout the proceedings referred to only the
grossest exaggeration on the part of those who have
endeavoured to represent the affair as one threatening
to interrupt the tranquillity of the European Conti-
nent. Even the Constitutionnel, the organ of that
very party which, in the first flush of the announce-
ment, congregated round General LA HITTE as he
descended from the tribune for the purpose of offering
him their felicitations, now, in its cooler senses,
acknowledges that there is no cause, not even the
slightest, for any degree of trepidation.
The best of the joke is, moreover, that the matter
out of which all this squabbling and anxiety has
originated is finished—is brought to a definitive
concluSion—is, to use the phrase of our neigh-
bours across the water, no fait accompli. In
short, the Greek question is so entirely terminated
that Mr. Wyse has very comfortably settled down
again in his Athenian embassage, and Admiral PARKER
has conducted his squadron back from the Piraeus to
Malta, according to the latest news from the Mediter-
ranean. All that now remains to be done by the
Powers who have been negotiating of late in
reference to these transactions is to offer each
other explicitly their respective explanations. Mean.
while M. DROUYN DE L'HUTS has returned
to the French capital, and the Cabinet of Prince
Louis NAPOLEON awaits with all calmness and se-
renity the explanations about to be given by Lord
PALMERSTON. Simple and natural as these events
are, they seem to have been altogether beyond the
comprehension of the Absolutists and their friends in
this country. Thelatter, indeed, have been wholly
bewildered by a monomaniacal hatred to
her MAJESTY'S Foreign Secretary, quite as
extravagant as that cherished by Mr. URQUHART.
They appear to look upon him as a kind of cousin-
german to the Gentleman in Black, capable of all
atrocities, insolences, duplicities, and eccentricities.
Hence, in their first agitation on discovering the de-
parture of M. Demme DE L'HUYS from London,
they cry out with horror that the national honour
has been compromised, that the peace of Christendom
has been jeopardized by that arch-traitor Viscount
PALMERSTON. A. little sober reflection tells them
that in so speaking they have gone rather toofar, seeing
that even the organs of the French reactionists de-
clare our national honour to remain as' yet in this
matter untouched, and seeing, moreover, that
by r_
hatthee
peace of Europe is anything but jeopardized
cent occurrences. Now, therefore, discovering that their
previous accusation against her MAJESTY'S Foreign
Secretary proves to be only so much bosh, these most
amusing publicists "tackle" him after, the fashion of
Joule WILLETT, upon another plea. And this time it
is upon a plea yet more extravagantly prepos-
terous—the plea of poltroonery. We must acknow-
ledge that we should have been somewhat astounded
on finding Lord PseasiasToe, of all men in the world,
at: iel ua
sr
ehd of ca
u e io
nw
a a
tir
od
ni
c
s eo, had w
f judgment,
nn
to,t
ad alreadyw e not witnessed
for
instance
sneoencolrioenues,
ingenioust essayist accuse RUDENS of being
and another, yet more Quixotic, charge
NAPOLEON with want of
generalship. To
lengths, however, have these assailants of the Foreign
n
Secretary permitted themselves to be carried by their
terrors and their antipathies, that we
ashsouurldd sicnatricmelay.
appears
• be surprised to find an equally b
tion made in reference to our Am
dor to the French Government. It
that the Noble Marquis, almost simultaneously with
the occurrence of these events, fell from his horse
while riding dower the Boulevards, and thereby sus-
tained an injury so serious as to necessitate his tem-
porary retirement to Versailles. A coincidence so pe-
culiarly opportune may inspire these ingenious foes Of
th- Foreign Secretary with the notion that
Lord PALMERSTON has been tampering with
our Ambassador. Whatever
maythe be
erosoam of
id,
cahowever,otrstiof hibinsy regwarildl
bet paidthe
to tForeign
heir
these purblind and
blundering Secretary
policy, we can scarcely
anticipate that much attentionicl
accusations after the deplorable flaws recently dis-
closed in their collective judgment.

It has recently been our painful duty on many oc-
casions to complain of the obstructions and delays to
the dispatch of public business through the atuse of

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