English and Foreign.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 357, 5 April 1856, Page 4

English and Foreign.

THE SALIC LAW IN FRANCE

Napoi.eox the Third must be content with half a chance in tbe mailer of the succession. There is no doubt that an heir born to him might have a great- effect in subduing many impatiences and many feelings of uncertainty in the French people. At present the Empire •lands too conspicuously dependent upon a isle tenure, and the heirship that presumptively presents itself is not such as to reconcile the people to the dynastic succession. Could a " Napoleon the Fourth* be presented to the Trench people even in his cradle, many calculations that will iemp».agitators against the present Napoleon would be extinguished. la England, •we should consider it of liule matter whether ihe child that is pioniised should be a boy or a «-irl ; but in France, for the dynastic succession a <rir! is'" un lien"; and the Emperor must at the best be content to wait five weary months before ascertaining whether a princess is added to the char-re of his family, or a prince becomes prospectively the perpetuatnr of his line. It mifflit be thought that a powerful military leader, who lias seized the throne, who has abolished one constitution and decreed another, oouid settle this matter of the succession autocratically, and with a stroke of his pen substitute i!>e general law of Europe for the Salic law. Napoleon could perform any acts less consonant with sound sense than that, and yet any such stroke of policy would, we imagine, be absolutely beyond even his absolute power. He might, it is true, plead the example of other states, and show that they had not lost either in power or in stability by accepting the female succession. The Prankish lands are indeed die exception on this point. The state which is contesting the lead in Europe with the Western Powers, Ttussia, has in the days of his most rapid progress been under the sway of female sovereigns. Austria. w»° 'ias oftener than once held the 'balance of power, has been under the sway of Maria Theresa. Spain has reverted to the national law, after the assumption on tbe part of tbe Bourbons that they were to carry with them into the peninsnla tbe rule of succession 'that has prevailed in their own family; and, neated on the united thrones of Isabella and Ferdinand ihe Seventh restored the succession to his daughter the Second Isabella. It is a mere party attachment, without any question of male or female succession, save as a. technical preiext, that luis created any hope that ever r-xisted for the Carlist faction. At.this moment F;ance i> proud to be the ally of England ; and there i« not a class in the country but must attest the fmn state of our succession, and the orderly condition of the country under a female sovereign. But we believe that mit all these precedents would enable the Emperor Napoleon ti> sel avide the ancient usage of Fiance and cieuvee by anticipation thut his child should succeed, be it boy or girl.

Oi'.r opinion «miy coincides v.i;h that of Frpiuiniieii, :ni(*l it is live snore curious ihat lliis troTici-isiiiii should almost instinctively he settled ; since hi Fiance woman plays ami has always played a j>;irt ;»L uisire more conspicuous and ■n;o;e "-ener-illy iveiijiuize-i than in this country. Noiwiilisiii:.".!,:)^ our female succession, no Q;ieen, rv!i;i:uii. or onsort, could imitate Catherine <le ?ili-ili<.-is in active or tyrannical administration. In hi»h socieiv of France, iliestaleswnTM.in lias as often ruled as the ."-talesinan, and 3»iadiji«)c tie M.iinieuon cxerctsfd an influence ir.or« jMS'-tive ti:un tiial nf Mrs Mar-liinan. In tlr- middle chtss of France, woman is tlie man o!' hii-i:i.'ss: in the humblest class she is the bilmhiiiii; m.tii. It is not only iV.at she does tlis }jar«i w>>;k r.l't. r \\a fashion of l).:rharous or Mfiiye fiimitrif?, as aiminj; ike Hussians or N'tUi AiD'^r'c.ui ludi his, hat she cmiiUines Tiiih thai jiriiK.-sj'ie shiirf ol' ilie liiisincis of life nllcas." a full share oi'social or p-r-onal iiiflij<-nce. ]l sjii »=;: it ii' 2 «'x:!t-cted jfhat in li'ra\ic(-, tlieivfoie, u-iiiiia:; Wiioiil he c n -idered ;is having ;l risjiii lo thaic the succession than in ilii- i:oinj'i v. Nor is ii tii:tt our neij>lil»'>'irs rejr.trd the laws of Kncces.M-''!! as ahsoliiiciy sacred atiain^l iuter/trfiicc. li i-< wisiiiti tlie niemorv ofliviiifr man ih.ii the !a»v »'■ ' iithcriiiince in Fimucc; has uinierp»ue liv: must s»vcf|)J!i<«i and Aindauietiiai cijan^es. J'r.sjifriy, wiiic-li used to <>'o lo the eldest kop, f-iii'-'y-itl vi rhar^es \\liii-h have I>ceii cooitniin in :jm.-i cotiiif'rie-i, and even f-inm^cr r-ssev.li-re tiiun in Fnnu.-c, is now divided »{flu:i^t all ihe children ; and France lia.s

adopted that law of gavelkind which we are gradually abolishing even in Kent. Il is easier, then, to'change the law of succession fur every family in the country than for the throne; although the experience of other states the position of women in France, and every reason oi practical sense, as it would be called, dictates a reversal of the Salic law. Could such matters be settled on pure reason, the edict <>f Napoleon the Third could be framed in five minutes, and the proclamation of it in the " Mouiteur" would confer the succession on his child, he it boy or girl. But it is 100 late | for a coup detat of that kind. It might have been possible, perhaps, wlien the First Napoleon founded the Empire upon the ruins left by the Republic. But, willing to employ the theatrical monertips of antiquity, Napoleon the First went back to tradition, restored Charlemagne in all his legendary supremacy, sewed the drapery of his own state with tbe golden bees, and left the Salic law undisturbed.' It-was Napoleon, therefore, who clinched that half-prohibitory rule, and confirmed the efrnal prejudice of the French people against a female monarch. France has oftener than once considered what ruler she should have •, she has substituted one branch of the Bourbon family (or another, one dvnaMy for another; she has changed King for Emperor, Emperor for King, and King for President ; she has heen content to do without a monarch at all ; hut to set aside the Salic law — the meat fundamental rule for French dynasties before the Revolution —would be a breach of etiquette which French m'Miners could not sanction ; and we feel that all the absolute power of Napoleon the Third would dash itself to pieces in the attempt to modify thai liule regulation. No doubt there is reason for the prejudice, although probably reason dops not consciously assist in establishing or maintaining it. We know .veil enough in this country, that a female sovereign can do at least as well as a man upon the throne. The kind of business which a monarch has to exercise in modern times does not in general belong exclusively to either sex. There is a certain fidelity to established rules, nrs appreciation of character in the selection of public servants, a reduction of state questions to the simplest elements—-functions in which

woman, wiih her simpler and more instinctive mind, is better even than man. If a female sovereign fjaes riiiht, she exercises orer the uvjn lh:»t serve her a species of influence which lends an air of chivalry to their zeal, and calls forth a arvpiUer power in the administration of the state —a higher personal zest in its servants, and a vigour of mind such as none hut a genius with a crown on enu'.d hope to realise if he were a man. As to the pageantries that (ill up the intervals of state business, is it possible to conduct them half so well or so gracefully as when the supreme head is a lady ? ' Nor have female sovereigns failed to call forth in different times the most warlike powers of the stale. From the days of a S«-niiramis to our own, we have examples ready lo onr hand. The servants of Elizabeth beu ran those chivalrous enterprises abroad, by sea and land, which eommenred the naval if j not tli2 iniUtaiy history of England. The i Ilunjrariitn was ready to draw his sword and use it unto the dentil for his " King ..Maria Theresa," Russia was not le^s warlike under Catherine than under her Emperors. And the warlike spirit of England has revived the more readily, no doubt, because a female sovereign can again call out the spirit of chivalry. France, however, is not only warlike as a slate —not only possesses within her confines military traditions—but the whole organisation of the country tends to the military. Her frictions, not content with the '■ b.ittle of the registration court,''appeal airainst each other lo ami«. The very epiciers of middle class society are "National Guards," and claim to determine the balance of power in times of civil confl'ct. The political state of Fiance is one of chronic civil war, kept down by that parly which happens to constitute the garrison in power. France not. only possesses :ui army or a military order, hut she is an army, or more than one; and instead of requiring a sovereign to giwj the mval command for her military movements, she. needs a captain of the gani-on, to defend the citadel against the factions that are continually besieging it. It is this thoroughly military ogani-aiiou, this constant antagonism of oiii! military party against another, which probably renders it neces-arv for France to have a man on the throne, and that man, if possible, a gicat captain. — Spectator,

ENGLAND. " Salting" Ixvoicks. —!» nn action.recently tried in the conn of the Kxeheqiivr, the custom of Salting" invoices came under consideration. The parties in llie ci^c were Puike v. Young. Il was an action to recover tl»e sum of £2664 under those circumstances. The p'junlin* who had heen a traveller to the house of Messrs. llojfer.*, ho wry, & Co.* desired in 1853 to go to Australia with the view of establishing himself there, and with this view he applied to Messrs. Gator and three other large drapers and mercers to supply him with goods for the purposes of merchandise. They agreed to do this on the terms that lie should pay them the cost price of the goods, and give them half thejprofit which should be realised, and furnished him with drapery articles to the value of £1623 2s. lid. The defendant is a general merchant and insurance broker, carrying on busine.tsat the Royal Exchange buildings, and in the year 1853 was a partner in the firm of Young, Dix & Co., wholesale drapers, in Walling-slreet, to whom the plaintiff obtained an introduction, and it was arranged according to the pi ainiifTs statement, thai the defendant should act as his broker, and that the goods should be sent to .Sydney through the hands of Messrs. How,. Waller, & Co., tie correspondents of the defendant, the plaintiff, however, retaining the entire control over them and a-Treeing to piv the usual commission. In September, 1853, the plaintiff started on his voyage, and on his arrival at Sydney made preparations to dispose of his wares, when it appeared that Messrs. How had received private instructions frouijthe defendant, in obedience to which they refused to let the plaintiff have the goods, except on the lermt that he should remit the whole nn ceed* thruuuh their hands to the defendant. This he at once refused to accede to, and, being thus doprived of l.is saleable property, and haviuy no funds at his disposal, he relumed to England in the following September. On the part of tbe defendant it was said that the agreement was that contained in the instruction in Messrs. How, and a considerable quantity of documentary evidence was produced to support this view. On mentioning one of the invoices the defendant alluded to the custom of "salting" invoices as very prevalent at that i time iiAhe Australian trade. Mr. B run well:

What do you me.vi by 'Sailing : * an invoice ? Witness: The price inserted in the invoice is not tlie true juice given 'or t-he goods, it is a larger one, and the goods in Australia, are sold upon an advance upon the ii,y.>i< c price. Mr. Binniwel! : The invoice then is bhewn to the customer, and he believes the sum mentioned in it id i.c the veal price? The Chief Baron ; Is lhai S'? A juryman: Yes, my Lord; it wa» very common, I know.—The Chief Baron : I think that in most Criminal courts that I am acqiiainied with that would he obtaining money under false pretences. The witness : My Lord, the buyer has the goods to examine. It wa« the general custom. The Chief Baron : I think it my duty to say such a practice illegal and criminal, and I hops it will not be persisted in. 11 appeared that in 1854 there was a great depression in the Sydney mdrket, and the goods were eventually sold by auction lor £\ 145, and it was to recover for his loss of profit and the useless expense to which he had been put to by the breach of the engagement, that the plaintiff brought the present action. The jury after a short deliberation, returned a verdict for the plaintiff— Damages £2000.

Turkky.—Omer Pacha is said to have reached Kutais, but no authentic account has been n Cdivetl. Major Simm ms, the English Commissioner attached to Omer Pacha's army in Asia, has sent home to Lord Clarendon a despatch «f s" eribing the passage of the Ingour. The M;ljt>r was himself intrusted with tie command flf one detachment and his aide-de-camp, Capt»»> Dvmoek, of the 95the, was wounded by his^u.e, aiid cied soon after. Lieut.-Colonel lial^ril conducted the advanced guard at the principal ford ; Captain Gid.iel! also rendered good service as second senior Aitiliery officer. _ }" c Turkish General has expressed the liiirHcst satisfaction at the conduct of the British ofiicevw. The loss of the Turks was 310, of whom *>» only were killed ; 347 Russians had been buried up to noon of the 7th November, including the officers, of whom 2 were said to l>» colonels. The priMtneis report there was v force of'eight batLlions of Russians, besides .Vfingrdian militia, opposite the main ford.