IN WHAT CONSISTS '1 , 1W DIFFERENCE BETWEEN M. GUIZOT AND M.

THIERS?

[mom A CORRESPONDENT.] IT is not perhaps a needless task to inquire into the difference between the political tendencies of the late French Ministry and the present, in reftrence to the Eastern question ; seeing that, whatever that difference is, it has caused the overthrow of one and the installation of the other. We apprehend, in the first place, that the wish of M. 'l'imeaus in favour of peace was to the full as ardent and sincere as that of i4I. Citazor. In fact. we are possessed of information wl.ich leaves us no doubt upon this head. Both these statesmen considered that France had reason to complain of the abandonment of her alliance by England, as well as of the

design of reducing the refractory Pasha by force ; and both entertained a hope of persuading the combined Powers to relax in their exigent de- mands on behalf of the Porte. For whatever mystification and verbiage

may operate in veiling truth, it must appear evident to all intelligent look- ers-on, that the Sultan has no more a will of his own than a king on the chess-board. Now, M. THIERS held that, in order to obtain any con- cessions, France should assume a vigorous attitude. He accordingly made every disposition towards equipping an effective army and navy,

to be ready in case of need ; whilst his diplomatic communications con-

tinued temperate, :guarded, and even, as many think, over conciliatory. But it happened that the King felt so poignant a dread of hostilities. in

any form, and with any foreign nation, that he resisted the will of his Mi-

nister, and flatly refused to associate himself with the firm policy of which M. THIERS was the advocate ; and in which the public voice loudly pronounced itself concurrent. Matters having reached this point, and neither party yielding an inch, the Cabinet at once resigned ; and LOUIS PHILIPPE had recourse to M. GtazoT to form another in its stead.

Now, since this personage had been connected with the THIERS Cabinet from its formation, had acted under its instructions, and was understood to be in perfect accordance with his friends in office at Paris, it certainly strikes an Englishman as somewhat strange that their Ambassador at London should at once sever himself from them, and eagerly accept the post which his colleague had vacated. It would have

been more in accordance with the prevalent notions of party obligation, if he, as well as all the other functionaries created by the changes of the 1st of Marcia, had declined to assume office upon this occasion.

Had M. C UIZOT held fast by his colleagues, and thus reduced Louts PHILIPPE to the necessity of taking a Mod: Ministry, the phalanx awaiting him in opposition, formed by a junction of "Doctrinaires" and "Gauche," must have thrown the Parliamentary balance entirely on that side, and at length proved to that clever ratan-manager, that he had ceased to profit by playing upon the weakness of public men, But the obvious avidity of M. GUIZOT for the portefeuille allowed of no such farsighted calculation. He readily undertakes to solve the

pending difficulty, and instructs his organs to announce that the English

Government would feel no hesitation in making concessions to him, since it was the personal dislike of M. THIERS which had rendered Lord PALMERSTON intractable and determined to enforce the treaty of the 15th

July at all risks. This explanation wears a complexion of a most mortify- ing kind ; for the idea of the French nation abandoning a Minister in

order to please the English Foreign Secretary, is humiliating and insulting to the last degree. We do not think this a valid reason, therefore, for his supplanting his associate, M. THIERS. The other reason (for nobody assigns more than two) was, that M. GUIZOT was so resolved to avert the horrors of war, that he would purchase peace at all costs. Again, this extravagant, Qitalterish love of peace, does not strike us as becoming

on the part of a great and powerful nation, which has grounds for con- sidering itself slighted and trifled with, and towards which the Govern- ment organs of the press of London permit themselves a systematic tone of impertinence and irritating sarcasm during a period of ninny months, whilst the correspondence and negotiations on this particular subject are carrying forward.

It would seem, then, that the two points of difference which may be predicated of the two Cabinets, consist, first, in M. GUIZOT'S being

pleasing in the sight of England, and second, in his dogged resolution

to avoid war. How far these are likely to recommend him to the French nation, we confess it is not so easy to foretell ; but it is manifest that, to avoid war, M. GUIZOT will submit to greater humiliation from foreign powers than M. THIERS was disposed to put up with, and that he holds the amour proprc of the French people far cheaper than his less patient predecessor.

These deplorable fluctuations in the administration of our neighbours public affairs are by many well-minded but commonplace persons set down to the capricious, unsettled character of the people, which is amo- rous of change, fickle in its esteem for leading men, and amused by the ex- citement afforded by political struggles. These conclusions, however, are among the most rash and baseless which can be resorted to in explanation of the pluenomena in question. The continual changes are referable to the individual disposition of the Monarch ; whose craving appetite for power and for the predominance of his own will in the Cabinet, renders it im-

possible for any but a subservient set of Ministers to remain long in office: and this class of Ministers he would always have there if lie

could, but the vigorous and talented character of a number of the De- puties enables the Chamber to put a limit upon Louis PHILIPPE'S personal ascendancy. Ills Majesty's genius, partially coerced, accord-

ingly manifests itself in the mischievous way we see it employed in— namely, in playing off one section of the Chamber against another, and breaking up till combinations having a tendency to counteract his supremacy. M. CUIZOT, for instance, in accepting office now, has

alienated many of his Doctrinaire allies ; M. DE 111:musxr, one of the most honourable and instructed of public men, among the rest. This makes for the King's advantage : every time a new Cabinet is formed, some sort of jumble and displacement of party attachments

is operated, amid the various clusters into which the Chamber is divided, to the destruction of mutual confidence among the respective members. As to the public will, it really has no more to do with these changes than Commissioner LIN of Culdon. If it had, such is the bellicose tem- per of the whole nation at this juncture, that a man like M. Tnigns would not have been su&red to abnegate his function in favour of one whose djcise seems to be understood to be peace at all costs.

The public of England has even less concern with what is going for-

ward, or it would interpose, for the sake of all that is holy and valuable in civilized times, between Lord PALMERSTON'S insane purposes and

their fulfilment. But popular control rarely cones at the right moment.

In conclusion, we must observe, that the brief resume given by N. Timms, in the Chamber, of the facts connected with his retirement, was singularly intelligible, frank, and statesmanlike. We wish it may not turn out to have been a fatal day for French honour which saw lima quit the "Hotel des Affaires Etrangeres."