New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1854-11-16
THE SOULE CASE.

Mr. SOule il notOriously an uawelcome vlsitor
At Mairid. His selection as Minister TO tue
Spanish Court was eithera menace or q olunder
about equivalent to the Menchikof's mission to
Constantinople. The Spanish Government woaid
rather not have received him, and would be g'ad
now 10 send him away. And, should it ever see
fit to do 20. in manner not needlessly offensive
we shall stand up for its undoubted right so to do.
But the case is very different with Louis Ma
poleon. Mr.. Soule is not accredited to N, and
he has not au ,hority to determine what sort
of Minister we shall send to Madrid. HIS inter
ference in the premises is the grossest imperh'
nence and insult. 1t means exactly this: zine
"spsnish Government i, weak, and dare not
beard those insolent, rspacious Yankees; bat
In strotg, and will do it in their behalf" IL
ia N fact a reassertion Of Louis XIv's decara-
There are no more Pyrenees" 1t is q
revival of the NapoleoRic protectorate over Spaia
in ,upport of which six hundred thousand French
men laid down their lives, and which was the
real cause of the downfall Of the first Bona
parte.
The Courier and Enquirer quotes from Vsstel
on the rights Of ambassadors az follows:
"'If an innocent passage. and even perfect So
curity are due to private Individual, much more
are they due to the minister Of sovereign, who ID
going TO execute his matters orders, and VINO travels
on the affairs Of nation. / say an innocent pas
sage: for the ministers journey is justly suspected, II
sovereign has reason to apprehsnd thar be will 'ke
an improper of the liberty granted him OF enter
ing bis territories, by plotting against his interests
while in their country or that he Is going to convey
intee his enemies or to stir up Others against
him We have already said p64l that he may IN
such case refuse him passage but he Is not to nal
treat him. uCr suffer any violence to be offered to ais
person. .
ain SG4 referred to in the precedingl it is said
"'SometImes q passage Is refused to saspecfef
tainisters in critical dubious unctures, although
there not exist open war. But this is delicate
procs ediDg which, not JEsted 6y reasons mat are
pertectlg eats taet0ry, produces an acrimony that
easily degenerates into an open rupture.
1t seems to us that nothing could be more
pointedly antagonist to The Eren;sg Posts idea
that Mr.. Soule, out of Spain, is "only plain
Jonathan than this is. No. he is not plain
"Jonsthan:" he is an Envoy of the United States,
on his way to the place where his duties are to
be discharged. when he is stopped and turned
back by Napoleon with every indication of wan
ton and premeditated insult.
We must not overlook this feature Of the case;
for assuredly Europe does not. There is no
pretense as yet that Mr.. sOuIe wasaPprised when
in London that his return to Spain through France
was interdcted. Had he been quietly and cour-
teously requested on Behalf Of Napoleon, not
again to enter France, we should have regretted,
but could not have not have so strongly con-
demned, the indignity which has been put upon
him. But he was in effect decoyed into France
in order to be kicked out, aud in order that
Louis Napoleon might show to Europe that he
dared bully our Government, and could do it with
impunity We trust he is mistaken on that last
point. For this is very clear: if our Government
pocket this insult it will be kicked from one end
of the Continent to the other.