The Express. — London, England, 1851-09-23 00:00:00

the •flwelsfs• TO CORRESPONDENTS. ilearull ?Atka of The Itzpres.. essiesAng tbe Niue mid.o • Gusts." i• pabliAlsa nary Tsai., mod rriday Men. is Wm ler peg. 64 , 11 , worsts Istes4•ll for " 'The gess,' Lorics pun, sue e tb• ofist. Ilesveie•sreet, ( Murk es Ise dsy of seta:aim NUM WATID AT LONDON BRIDGE INAVdrsha 416 11. es. s. TM ..--....... •—liaraila Ni. bas...—....armas. lb- M. LONDON, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23. HAD we a new reform bill to discuss or to pro pose, we should certainly make the first clause, article, or point of it the ballot, being confident that all other concessions or extensions to popular desire or of popular franchise, will prove nugatory, unless the elector is protected from the consequences of voting . according to his convictions and desires. There is, undoubtedly, a better and an honester feeling than there used to be on the subject of electoral corruption. It is no longer a joke, a thing that might be condemned, but must be tole rated. All are pretty well agreed upon the neces sity of strengthening the representative system, by investing it with truth and respect and absolute rottenness, though it had its champions twenty years ago, will scarcely be defended even by the most unblushing in 143 . 3. If a borough is shown to be ocorrigibly venal, or confined to numbers which act as a high premium on venality, parliament will condemn it. Nay, we should not be surprised to find certain plans for extending the franchise to classes on whose dependence and subser viency the monopolists of land and wealth might count, abetted by torics, on the un derstanding that voting was still to be oven, and thus under their surveillance and retribu tion. The ballot alone can give verity to these re forms, and mako them other than a 'delusion and a sham. A ministerial paper told ns, not many days since, that the chief aim of the governing classes should be to settle the question of the franchise by a large and satisfactory concession ; because the franchise was a thing which the people at large prized and understood, and would struggle for. Whilst, if in dulged in their desires, and deprived of their com plaint on this point, they could with difficulty be got to interest themselves, to stir, or to agitate for anything more. In other words, the counsel was, Give them a low franchise, and we shall hear no more of the ballot, or short parliaments, and equali sation of districts. The advice should be borne in mind, and the ballot made the keystone of the arch of reform. With respect to the equalisation of districts, that is port and parcel of the question of extending and regulating the franchise. They are, in fact, one and the i.amc question, it being perkedy futile to concede the right of voting, even to multitudes, when you pen off those multi tudes, and give them half-a-dozen members to amuse them, whilst a few hundreds of an oppusite and aria. tocratic interest are endowed with the return of a dozen members to overwhelm them. This is so plain a question, so fair and imperative a demand, that no extension of the franchise in the present ratio, begging the pardon. will ever settle, or ever fling it into the shade. Dealt with it most be; and the' longer the governing classes delay to deal with it, the worse for them in the end. We have heard a great deal of virtuous indigna tion in this country on the narrowness and impoliey of Louts Pitit.teees maintaining the monopoly of a few thousand elector; amidst the disfranchised millions of the French nation. Hut what portion of the French territory under Loris rummer: affords' such examples as we have at home? Take the county of Devon, fur example. It has a popu lation of 572.000, of which, according to the census of 1811, one half is employed in agriculture, one half in commerce, trade, and manufactures. Of this more than half mil- lion. how many electors are there registered for the , county of I Peron ? Just 17,712! Could any depart- , merit of France under 1-,outs Pitibiret: 'display a , greater ninekery of the representative arstem? But some will say. is not this remeuied by the existence of boroughs, cis of which, fur example, in Devonshire, with a united constituency of 1,700 electors, return out of a population of 22,500, ten members to parliament? In our opinion this makes matters far worse, and adds to the delusion. The borough representation of 1 fevonshire ennipriscs a population of 150,4N)0 altogether, of which there are 11,000 borough electors. lf, as the census indicates, one half the population are engaged in trade and commerce. there are some 100,000 of them unrepresented in boroughs, and there fore swamped in the county representation, adding to its already sufficiently grievous mockery. ILm.ohold suffrage, as we yesterday explained it, with a proper grouping of borough representation, offers the fittest remedy for such a mass of anomaly and Rotten constituencies and nomi nation returns should be done away with in country as well as in town ; fur a constituency of 400 in the latter is not more illusory and intolerable than aconstitueney of 3.000 or 4,000 in a county. What more right can ltutlundshire have to two members than Harwich? Or Leicestershire to four members when larger civic populations remain unrepresented? This is a portion of the great question of reform that requires to he considered and discussed at length. The census ationls us all the materials, not only in the amount but in its clamitiention of our numtiers. For, if it be a fixed rule with parliament and with dominant parties to consider the inte rests of town and country apart, the rag should he to strike a fair balance by some known and admitted principle, and not to assume, lazily and coolly, that the present ratio of political power is foe ever to be preserved between changing and conflict ing interests. The next measure that we should urge is that of a self-acting registration, which is an adjunct almost as necessary as the ballot in securing the natural results for which the franchise is required to be ex tended and equalised. To this, however, we shall specially recur. Triennial parliaments form another necessary portion and appendage of reform. The snore popular the representation, the more it is liable to mistakes, the move requisite that speedy correction should be at hand. What constituency could possibly foresee the coming events and requirements of seven years? Let us only look back to lsl7, the date of our last elec tion, and sec what a change has since then come over every country in the world, and every department in politics. The bare idea of an elector in 1817 making a fit choice of a man to steer through the events of Ifl3-1 is enough to expose the preposterous notion of septennial parliaments. The question is so plain, that in truth it scarcely needs discussion; it is not one that an extension of the franchise would cause to be forgotten. Just the contrary, it would bring it every day to our memories, till the political entail was cut of. The doing away with the qualification is but the dispensing with a trap for catching honest fools, the prohibition being always evaded by the cunning can-1 didate, be he ever so poor, if any except the people have an interest in returning him. The doing away with the qualification gives to the people at large a privilege already enjoyed by every wealthy man and wealthy party, that of sending to parliament a poor man, whom they may happen to like and to trust. Having thus given our opinion on the chief points of the reform movement, we nifty wait to see what Manchester will say on Wednesday, and not only Manchester, but those who, in these islands, have sedulously turned their attention to the all-important subject. Tue discovery of gold in Australia, if even tually proved to be as considerable as present facts seem to indicate, la a circumstance of no slight im portance in itself, sad will revive in a community so purely commercial se oars those surmises aad specu lations relative to the valor of the praises metals, th e rise of prices, and thotuatics of the Sweign ex elrnges, so prolific OS • 'Wier discos is C l air ol , I nia. On that creessiso we mg raeollect law excited was the iws pr gr per rit s ammltant on tie one part of yid , m sad signs on taw other of falling imams sad ParalYVapcs. Musa way gurus, under no elm& hed a Slam ot li ght thrown upon and mmay projects to be defunct started into a momantary Iliia vitality by this kind of galvanic action. Amidst THE EXPRESS, TUESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 23, 1851. singular phases in the laws which regulate the dis persion of the precious metals, and affect the value of money. And consequent on the discovery of gold mines m Austral', we may have a new mining mania created, great speculafim, a panic, and the usual crash. IT is really difficult to say, whether people in the Levant say more absurd things of England, than people in England say of the things of the Levant. The last news from Athens, which have gone the round of the press, French, German, and English, are that King OTno's ministers have made a clean sweep of all their employes, tax-gatherers, governors, clerks, and even consuls. All have been turned out, from the chef de bureau to the office sweeper; and the reason assigned is, that all these people were in some secret understanding with England to blow up King_Orno, his dynasty, and his government Lord PALMERSTON IS certainly a man of marvellous wealth, activity, and übiquity. He bribes, it seems, all the sub jects of all the despotic powers to be discontented with their masters and conspire against them. Lord PALMERSTON is, it seems, the author of tt Italian Unity." It was his lordship who taught the POPE to turn Ghibelline, mistrust Austria, and ap peal to constitutionalism to support him in the national struggle. The Neapolitan con stitution, tho Sicilian insurrection, the Paris re volutions of 1830 and 1848 were all of his doing. And now this English ALBERONI has suborned all the clerks of all the public offices in Greece to make a bonfire of King Orno's throne, and establish a republic at Athens. What good this republic was to work for England or for Lord PALMERSTON does not appear. It has been prevented and defeated. however, fortunately, not by a charge of cavalry, or a shower of grape, but by turning some thousands of employes out to starve. Heaven knows that England has had no share in the formation or nomination of Grecian 'daemon. From the days of CoLerri , who declared publicly and officially, that he governed Greece in the in terests of France, and during the reign of PlsesToint at Athens, the favour and selection of the Greek court and minister have been as anti-English, that is as anti-constitutional, as possible. For the word Eaylish, in Italian, Austrian, Russian, and Greek dictionaries, means constitutional, and nothing more. If employes, from clerks to consuls, thus selected, do still entertain English, that is, constitu tional leanings, then we fear the evil is past re medy, and that there does exist a spirit in Greece that the tyrannical theories of all the absolutism of Europe cannot put down. We have not the least doubt that every educated Greek is for constitutional government; and that even such men as Mrraxs, and others considered as the Russian party, are as anxious for it as choir nominal opponents. The only . party opposed to constitutional government is, in the hrst place, the King ; then the ignorant PALIKARI, like GRIVAS, whom he trusts. They, and his MAJESTY, are irrevcctably of the same opinion, which is, that constitutional government is a mere system of intimidation and corruption, a holding of bribes to a certain class of the population, and the holding forth of a rod to the other. Unfortunately this was also M. GUIZOT'S idea of constitutional government, and LOUIS PHILIPPE'S too. Fully did they develop, and largely did they employ it in France, with what fruit to the country and results to themselves we know. And this selt same system was introduced into Greece by CoLETTI and PISCATORY. And this system is so rooted in King OTHO'S mind, that when his brother, the pre sent King of BAVARIA, came to warn him that such government would infallibly alienate the Greeks, and destroy every hope of the Bavarian dynasty, OTHO would not listen even to his brother, but de clared that he would go on as ho has ever done. And now this unfortunate King is the victim of his cupidity, his meanness and his terrors. He knows himself detested and despised. He sees that of his subjects there is not ono to give hint a cordial, or even a respectful salute. The press is opposed to him. Public opinion con demns him. And hence ideas of conspiracy haunt his mind. For months he has filled the corridors and halls of his palace nightly with extra guards and battalions of police • and in order to keep his fears in countenance he has invented a con spirac They. Minerra is the oldest journal in Greece. It is the Constitutionnel of Athens, but much more con sistent, liberal, and constitutional than its French prototype. Nothing could be farther from the thoughts of such men than to conspire. Such men are the Pericles and Reeritvssas of Athens. But as is the case at Vienna and at Naples, moderate constitutionalists arc more persecuted and punished than even communists. It is on them that every vengeance is wreaked. So as BATTUYANI was shot and POEIIIO tortured, so is the editor of the Greek Minerra incarcerated: But 02110 has his cupidity as well as his fears to consult. It is well known that no appointment to any office, even the smallest, in Greece, is made by any one save the King person ally. The Greek ministers are a mere string of MARIONNErrEs, who durst not even nominate an offi cial scavenger without the sign manual. Ills MA JESTY, therefore, has to indulge in a rich feast of what the French call tripotage, by cashiering every public servant who could be suspected of con stitutionalism. Their successors will be nominated at the royal pleasure, and at the suggestion of such fellows as Gaiv.ts. And thousands of drachmas will thus grease the itching palms of royalty and its ad visers. For nothing, not even royal favour, is gra tuitous in Greece. Corruption and intimidation, thus, are the prin ciples, the two pillars of the edifice of mock consti tutionalism—a species of government which has flourished certainly more in France than in any other country, and which is even more rampant and luxuriant, transplanted into Greece. FRANCE. PARIS, MONDAY EYZNINO. The event of the day is an extraordinary rise in the funds, which is attributed to the following as surance contained in the Patrie:— The journals of this morning make mention of the ru mours which yesterday produced so much agitation at the Bonne. We have already said what opinion ought to be formed of the insinuations respecting coups &Etat which is mixed up with these rumours, and what character ought to be attributed to these manoeuvres, the object of which is no longer a mystery. A change in the ministry was also spoken of, in consequence, it is said, of a diference of opinion existing in the cabinet, relative to the law of May_3l ? after deliberations on that measure in the council of Ministers. We are authorised to declare that as deliberation has taken place in the council of Ministers ea that law, as the subject was never brought forward ; that, consequently, no disaccord could manifest itself there Om the point, and that all the reports disseminated on the matter are without foundation. The Fives rose If. 20c., closing at 91.90; and the Threes closed at 68.45, with a rise of if. 10e. The ministry takes a great deal of pain to deny which nobody believes, in protesting continually Sfainst the rumours of a violent attempt at military revolution to install Louis Napoleon permanently. Not only have leading parliamentarians, such as M. Daze and General Changarnier publicly proclaimed the utter futility of all such attempts, and promoted a feeling of public security by their declarations, but Louis Napoleon, in his messages and speeches, and the ministers in the Assembly, have constantly dis avowed any such ambitious aims. One cannot, therefore, discover any . sincere motive for the repeated assertions of the Patric in official style that no coup d'etat is contemplated; for the oaths of the President and the engagements of his ministers assuredly do not need the endorsement of MM. De Lamarre or Cesena. On the other hand, it seems that the go vernment is anxious to attribute the recent fall in the funds to reports of coups dYtat rather than to the generally assigned cause, which is the flagrant abuse of power in persecuting the opposition press. This ' , subject has seriously occupied the public mind, and his been handled by most of the leading organs. According to the De , buts, the press is unpopular, and condemned by public opinion, which is said to be faithfully and exactly represented by the Seine juries. In describing to you recently the composition of these juries, I believe that I made it clear that i they represented nothing but the spirit of the government by which they are exclusively ap•- , pointed. The responsibility of the prosecutions rests immediately with the government, the first step • of seizure and accusation being taken by the pro cureur of the republic, an officer removable at will, Who must therefore be the servant of the ministry. Hence the persecution of the press is wholly trace able to the authorities, and is not in the least to be attributed to public opinion, by which, indeed, such rigour is loudly condemned. The charge of exciting to civil war has been brought against the Arenemerst, as the establishment of that head of accusation enables the court to pronounce at once the suspension of the paper. Such acts exhibit a systematic merci less intolerance of the free expression of public opinion in a country where such an intolerance has never been successfully maintained even under the rule of greatly more able and important men than are now at the head of affairs. Such a course must therefore be regarded as a proof of blind presump tion which will lead rapidly to the fall of the ministry. The Prase has been prosecuted for the single word " gloriously." It said that "the flag of the young republic had been gloriously pierced by the balls of two condemnations." For this expression it was deemed, by the ingenious lawyer whose duty it is to pick some hole in opposition articles for plant ing. a prosecution, indictable on the charge of apolo gising for an act qualified as an offence by the penal law. M. de Girardin, in withdrawing the expression, justly remarks, that a man may die gloriously in a wrong cause, and asks whether M. de Genoucic, the editor of the Gazette de France, who endured fines, persecution, and imprisonment during 18 years, from the government of 1830, did not struggle " gloriously" in the cause of legitimate monarchy, making no doubt that the monarchic party who now bear sway will answer in the affirmative. the Pays takes it for granted that application will be made to the Assembly for leave to prosecute MM. Victor Hugo and E. do Girardin, and indeed, according to the letter of the law, the government is bound to follow up a seizure of a journal by a prose cution against the writer of the article incriminated. But in the case of an article signed by M. Lamen nais, proceedings were taken against the responsible editor only, and this was sanctioned by the Assembly, after a warm debate, and a violent protest by the Mountain. The government is acting upon this pre cedent by prosecuting the editors of the Arenentent and the Presse as rapidly as possible, and they will probably . follow it also by abstaining feom any molestation of MM. Hugo and de Girardin. The Assize Court of the Two Sevres has sentenced M. Ginestel, the editor of the Wit do People, to six months' imprisonment and a fine of 2,000 tr., for an incorrect report of the sittings in which the case against the "A B C Democratique " was tried. The responsible editor was sentenced to 100 fr. fine. A new Bonapartist paper, to be called the Oniser rateur, is shortly to come out. It is reported , that M. de la Guerroniere will be the editor. The statement of the Pattie, that the council of ministers has not been occupied with the discussion of the law of May, does not in the least invalidate the report generally credited, that great discrepancy of opinion exists between the ministers on this head. In the meantime no change has taken place in the po litical situation. The Berryer-legitimists obstinately refuse to entertain the question of agreeing on a can didate for the presidency. which is continually urged on them by the party of the Opinion Publigue, and are generally thought to be a shade more favourable during the last day or two to Louis Napoleon. The military Mendenr contains an official account of the transposition of regiments to various garrisons. There is nothing important in these, although mali cious paragraphs appear in the Ordre, animadvert ing on the removal to a gre .ter distance from the metropolis of those regiments which preserved a de corous silence on the field of Sutory. The new regi ments of the garrison of Paris will be reviewed shortly in the Champ de Mars. A great deal of pretentious gossip circulates about the results of the late interview between the Orleans princes on the arrival of the Duke d'Aumale, sonic affecting to know that the Prince de Joinvillc has be come shyer in consequence on the subject of his candi dature, and others, on the contrary, that he is confirmed in his intention by the adhesion of his brother. All such gossip is as destitute of importance as of authenti city. The Joinville candidature has been deliberately put forward by a serious party. The progress of that candidature in France is the grand point in question. That M. Thiers and his friends are ex erting themselves during tke recess to push the Orleauist canvass as actively as possible there is no doubt; and upon their ultimate success must depend the Prince de Joinville's definitive recognition of the flag for which they seek adherents. M. Thiers is actively engaged in gaining over the republicans to vote the proposition of M. Croton, for the repeal of the laws of banishment against the House of Bourbon, which is a necessary accompani ment of the Joinville candidature. He is said to have met with considerable success in this task. M. Leon Faucher is gone to Rheims, to spend a few day in the department of the Marne, which de partment he represents in the assembly. At Rheims he was received by the authorities, who gave him a grand breakfast. lie then took his departure for Chalon. The Chancellor of the Legion of Honour is said to have demur red to register the appointment of M. Leon Faucher, as commander of the order, that mi nister not having passed through the intermediate grades of chevalier and officer. This, at least, is the reason assigned fur the appointment not yet having appeared in the Moniteur, which has published the promotion of MM. earlier and Berger to the same rank. The Constitutionnel and other ministerial papers yesterday took occasion of the reported murder of three gendarmes in the commune of Grigny, near Lyons, to make a more declamatory onslaught than usual against the machinations of the seditious. But according to the Mositeur there seems to be no authentic foundation for the story at all, whereby the attacks in question become so much windy noise. The revisionist movement continues in the councils )of arrondissement. About thirty of the councils which had abstained in the first part of their senior from expressing any opinion, have now passed reso lutions in favour of revision. In several reports, addressed by the prefects to the Minister of the Interior, there is talk of the forma tion in several localities of bands of ruffians, for set ting fire to farm buildings, and to stacks of hay and corn. These reports are confirmed by the news hese various parts of France. Everywhere, however, the authorities arc preparing to make an energetic re pression, and the farmers themselves have already made more than one example. But the forces et which the departments can dispose are not always sufficient ; and the prompt creation of new battalions of the gendarmerie mobile are considered indis. pensable. The communists have proposed to bring forward M. Cabot as a candidate for the presidency ; but he declares, in the periodical journal which is the organ of his party, that he declines the proposition. M. Caylus, the principal editor of the National, now in the department of the Dordogne, writes that people in Paris have no conception of t hei mistime annoyances to which citizens in the provinces are exposed who are suspected, not only of professing, but even of entertaining privately, republican opinions. He declares that he has often thrown aaide,as exaggerated,complaints from correspondents which he now knows to have fallen short of the truth. He describes society as poisoned by informers, to whom every functionary, from the prefect to the private gendarme, is ever eager to lend an ear. The slightest word or misunderstood sign suffices to throw a man into prison. Letters are broken open, and portentous accusations of conspiracy are built up out of some few ambiguous phrases. Even the priest sometimes opens the gaol doors for his flock. Some coal-merchants were lately clanking toge ther in a wine-shop, to bind a bargain just con cluded, and over their wine they sang a well-known song, the burden of which is " Aux armes! courons aux frontitlres." The parish priest passing by, thought he heard the words "Aux acmes ! couroas ma fonctionsairea." The timorous priest denounced them as conspirators against functionaries, and they were actually tried upon the conveniently vague and now most common accusation, of " exciting hatred in citizens towards each other." Fortunately, in the country accusation and conviction are not, as in Paris, synonymous terms, and they were acquitted. At the same u.ssizes a man was tried and acquitted upon a charge of persuading electors to abstain from voting at the election which, owing to the absten• tation of the whole republican party, sent M. Magne to the Assembly. Several mayors have ibeen sus pended because the electors of their communes re fused to vote. The national guard of Mussidan has been dissolved, without any other plausible motive than the abstention of its members from voting. A coffee - house keeper was threatened with an order to shut up his house for having some portraits of refugee representatives hung upon his walls. At the same time the police made a domiciliary visit to his brother-in-law, a cutler by trade, and were with difficulty prevent:4 from seizing, as unlawful arms, a parcel of knives which had been ordered for the colonies. M. Quilts represents the inhabitants of the districts that he has visited as determined to bear all patiently till 1832, which period they confidently believe will inaupvat a sew system. Dy a decree of the President of the Republic, M. Henri Welter, mayor of Resume, has been dismissed from his office. many extravagant anticipations, harmless because imaginary, most of na foresaw, in the abundance of gold to be drained from the valley of the Sacra mento, a buoyant money market, a revival of enter prise, and the bank coffers overflowing to repletion. As a proof of the troth of the general vatimnation, Hol'and was supposed to meet the evil in time by withdrawing her gold currency, and it was gravely debated in the councils of France whether she should not follow the same example. At the same time a sort of gold panic spread rapidly over the Continent, and while our bank-note commanded a premium, the sovereign sank to a discount. And calculations were put forward to show the injury that would accrue to the Bank of England, by a de cline in the price of gold, so plausible and probable, , that for some time the stock of that great establish- ment was affected thereby. So much for the simple theory of supply and demand. The supply of gold was no doubt over stated, but it has been great notwithstanding, and so far speculative ideas have been realised and con firmed; but the demand appears to have kept pace with the supply, and so far the surmises and calcu lations of some economists have proved erroneous, because the demand has come from sources evidently not conjectured when the spirit of prophecy was at its zenith. And we think, therefore, in such cases prediction is somewhat hazardous, because though the doctrine of supply and demand in regulating prices be incontrovertible, and correct even to com monplace, still there arc often elements at work to defeat our most confident calculations. Nature, in her unseen operations, makes light of our dogmatic theories. In her laws, especially connected with this great subject, she is silent, profound and mysterious. Site does not overturn the principles we lay down in our closets ; she only neutra lises them by other laws or agencies. And when she appears to act inconsistently with herself, and thereby refutes our dogmas, we may be sure that she acts always in strict obedience to her own decrees. Her deviations resemble the aberrations of the fixed stars, which philosophers in their ignorance supposed to indicate some slight imperfections in the economy of the heavens, but which astronomers, in their better knowledge, now prove to depend on uniform and regular causes. Those deviations are often very various and complex; but they must be studied and understood before we can comprehend the subject, so as to enable us to explain those surprising and un expected results which embarrass our well-spun ar gumentation, and prove us to be but false prophets. Cause and effect, as in the material world, arc the agencies which determine the dispersion of the pre cious metals; but we know how prone we are to mistake the one for the other, and thus fall into fal- lucious reasoning. In confirmation of these remarks we perceive what appears to many a strange anomaly, that the Bank of England has not increased its treasure, not withstanding the enormous supply of gold that has recently been added to the stock of the precious metals in the world: on the contrary, its stock of bullion is, we are informed, less by about two' , millions sterling. So that it is manifest that while it has been receiving through one channel, it has been drained to a greater extent through another. We can easily understand why the vast amount of silver that comes to England goes immediately else where, to the continent or to India, where there is a ready market for it: but the diminution of the gold bullion is a circumstance not so easily explained. At all events the explanation, as in the other case, is not to be discovered on the surface; particularly when we consider that London is the greatest market in the world for gold, where at the Bank an importer may sell any amount, at a fixed price, and by the facilities offered in such trans actions escape the delay, hazard, and inconvenience of coining his gold. In reality it can scarcely be said that any advantage is derived from coining over selling, because the difference between the Mint and market price can do little more than cover the interest of money lost in the operation. The drain on the Bank for gold, indicated by the diminishing returns, and in face of large supplies tram different parts of the world, naturally excited some surprise at first amongst those who narrowly watch every variation of the bullion market. Merchants and stockbrokers in such cases usually point to the exchanges as the immediate cause ; but the exchanges I could not in this instance afford a satisfactory explana tion. Because, while our sovereigns were being sent to France in large amounts, the sovereign itself, as indicated by the exchange, was actually at a dis count in Paris. And it now appears that while we were receiving bullion from California, sold to the Bank, our sovereigns were going abroad, not to equalise the exchange, but to be coined into French gold pieces. The high price of silver rendered such 1 a transaction profitable. And it is well known that fur a considerable period the Mint here was kept in 1 active employment to supply this "exhausting re ceiver." By the fall in the price of silver, the cause has ceased to operate for the present ; bat in all pro bability a confirmation of a new supply of gold from Australia will again excite apprehension in conti nental countries, and lead to a renewal of the same event; and we must be prepared to see a further re duction of the Bank stores. We have mentioned these facts, now well known, in order to show inferentially how any fresh supply of gold from California or Australia may be absorbed in the circulation of continental countncs, either by a rise in the price of silver, or by displacing paper money. In those countries possessing a double standard of gold and silver, as for example the United States and France, we may, by a deviation of the relative values of the two metals to a small ex tent, anticipate a considerable increase of the gold currency of these two countries. That such has al reedy taken place in some degree is obvious by the activity of the mints in the United States and France; and thus we can satisfactorily explain why, OR the one hand, the greater part of the gold pro duced from California has remained in the former country, and, on the other, why the Bank has been insensibly drained of its bullion. Had there not existed an absorbing power in the United States equivalent to the supply of bullion, it is manifest that the price of gold would have fallen to that point which would have rendered its exportation profitable. The superabundance of it in relation to the wants of the people, as well as a restricted market for its sale, would necessarily have forced it to find a market in England. But the simple action of supply and demand has been dearly counteracted by the facilities afforded at the Mint in the United States to convert the bullion into coin. And so must that happen as long as the law is in force with regard to the legal tender. In truth it is quite rational to suppose that the appre ciation of silver, which would affect the value of the currency in America and France, may by de grees force silver out of circulation, its place being supplied by gold; and silver in the market being thus rendered more abundant, the relative vales d the two metals might be maintained. At adherents it seems by no means improbable that this imam to the gold currency of such countries as lam placed restrictions upon it, first by a co-equal silver standard, and secondly by a premium on gold coin, may present au effectual bar to any endue seg mentation of gold, arising from new supplies. And if such opinion be verified, we can have no expecta tion of any large increase to our stock of bullion. For as to gold coming from one of our own colonies, that will no more secure it to us permanently than if it came from Asia, Africa, or America. 'the tendency of these arguments, if well-founded, is clearly to banish any immediate prospect of hav ing mon. y cheap. The past is an indication of the future ; and we have seen how all the predio tions relative to an increase to our stock el gold base been falsified by the event. This has arisen from the causes pointed out; fir in no other maim r eon we give even a plausible explanation et a Gust so little expected, as a diminution of bullies in the face of such apparently, encouraging circum stances as the opening up new sources of supply. The mere state of foreign exchange cannot now, as hem tofore, weigh so much with us in determining prospects of supplies of the precious metal. are now other more influential causes at work to demand our most vigilant attention. Not only may our bullion disappear from the Bank, but our new coined sovereigns also, as has been the case for some time put, causing embarrassment in the money market, and expense to the country. And we may add, that, in consequence of recent changes in the Mint, nearer allied to revolution than reform, we may find impediments in the way of a rapid supply of coined money, should the French mint be again employed in destroying and reconverting our sove reigns. Bo that as it may, we fully anticipate some SPAIN. MADRID, SErr. 17. The news from Cuba continues to occupy public attention, and every . scrap of news furnished by foreign papers is anxiously commented upon. The public, so much accustomed to see in the bulletins of the last civil war " Cabrera killed, and the Carlists routed," three or four times a week, are exceedingly slow at believing intelligence furnished from govern ment sources. Great activity prevails in the war de partment, and the cabinet has determined upon sending an additional force of 8,000 men to the Spanish Antilles. The Spanish press is unanimous in condemning the conduct of the American govern ment; the liberal papers avail themselves of the fact that partial movements have taken place in the island to hint that there exists dissatisfaction to a certain extent, and that sweeping reforms arc neces sary to prevent such dissatisfaction from spreading it se lf. Th e ci a n i er pubfi c ,i, while recommending that additional forces be sent to the Isle of Cuba, hints that this will bean excellent opportunity to make amends to those officers of the army who have been unjustly put on the retired list on account of political arid party grudges. It is not, however, very probable that the government will avail itself of the advice thus ingenuously given; for it is not forgotten that the liberal officers who had commands in the forces that were to be sent to the revolted Spanish colonies in 1810, instead of proceeding to their destination, proclaimed the constitution in the Isle of Leon, and marched their troops to Madrid. Senor San Martin, the courageous editor of the Owlet; a Spanish newspaper published at New York, under the protection of the Cuban autho rities, had arrived in Madrid with despatches from the Spanish plenipotentiary in the United States. lie has had several long conferences with the ministers, and urges the necessity of sending con siderable reinforcements, both naval and military. The Minister of Foreign Affairs has sent a circular note to the different governments of Europe, calling on them to afford their moral support in the present crisis. _ _ _ The discussion among the members of the liberal party concerning the ill-concealed apostacy of Senor Cortina has caused a change in the editorship of the Nocion. This journal, which has been the organ of the more moderate among the liberal party, such as, Espartero, Olozaga, and Madoz, has distinguished itself from its colleagues by a trimming line of cor duct, that has caused much dissatisfaction among its supporters. The new editors are men of somewhat more advanced opinions than the former ones. The articles on financial questions arc furnished by Don Felix do Bona, a well-known writer on free-trade questions, and lately editor of tho Clamor Publien. Letters from Logrono say that General Espartcro complains bitterly of the neighbourhood of his house being haunted by police agents, who are set to watch his motions and those of his household, by order of the governor of the province, a sort of Jus tice Shallow, whose self-esteem the veteran has offended. . _ Letters from Tarragona mention that the works for the canalization of the Ebro arc being actively carried on. A French vessel, laden with the iron work, had arrived at San Carlos de la Rapita. Mon sieur Bourgoing, the late ambassador of the French republic to this court, and other Frenchmen of rank, went on board the vessel, the first which the Ebro Canal Company has sent. This great undertaking, conceived by Charles 111., will, after so many delays, be executed in the reign of Queen Isabella. Queen Christina and her husband, the Duke of Rianzares, arc staying at Tarancon, the birth-place of the latter. The wealthy financier, Carriquiry, who has immense possessions in that neighbourhood, had organised a bull-fight in honour of the illustrious lady. the local paper is in ecstacies at the brilliancy of the enter tainment, as no fewer than twenty-two horses were killed, and one of the taureadorea disabled. The Barcelona papers state that the English ship-of-the line the Trafalgar had anchored in the roads, and that the officers had been invited to a ball. ITALY. NAPLES, SEPT. 14. As the Neapolitan government, at the present mo ment, is about defending its acts and policy in the form of a reply to Mr. Gladstone, I will occupy the present letter with a few facts (carefully notified) which arc calculated to show the value of statements emanating from such sources. It will be clearly seen too, the King is alone responsible for such in human persecution and injustice as I am about to narrate, since it were idle to suppose that the ad visers of the crown—the judges of the criminal courts and the lower officers—could carry on a syste matic violation, not only of law, but of civilisation, unless they were inspired to do so by tho highest authority of the state. The president of the grand criminal court, Novara, who conducted the:illegal trial of Pocrio and his com panions, and is now playing the Judge Jeffreys with the victim of royal vengeance, has been rewarded by having his son appointed keeper of public records in the Abruzzi; one of the most valuable gifts of the crown. The same gentleman is also made a cavalier. His Majesty thus rewards the violation of the courts of justice. After the publication of Mr. Gladstone's letters, 17 compositors were thrown into prison, and some printing offices shut up, because it was supposed Mr. Gladstone's revelations would be reprinted in Naples. And yet the government is preparing an answer to the very accusations which the public are not to read. On a late occasion the Minister of Police, l'ecche neda, wrote to the sub-mayor of Melti (the scene of the late earthquake) for information as to two gentle men whose political opinions were supposed to be hostile to the government. These unhappy men bad lost mother, wife, child—every relative, in the ruins of their dwellings; and yet, with sueh an accumula tion of misery around them, they were arrested on suspicion. The government is now employed in confiscating the property of absent members of the Neapolitan parhament. I withhold the names only for the sales of not injuring the relatives of the exiles. This act, prohibited by the old law as well as the new, is performed without any trial or regard to families, whose ruin the government systematically contem plates. Since Mr. Gladstone's letters have appeared none but the near relatives of prisoners are allowed t o visit either the accused or the condemned. On a late occasion an aunt took her niece to visit a pri soner confined in Santa Maria Apparente. The turn key said the young girl could not pass, but that she might remain in his room. No sooner had the aunt moved on than this scoundrel made improper ad vances to the unprotected girl, who, by violent screaming, saved herself. The governor of the Layne, at' Ischia (where Poerio is chained in a cave below the level of the sea), livea publicly with a mistress, and to this woman the mother, the wife, the child must apply when they visit the father and the husband. 1 he woman, it appears, has so much influence over her innamorato that she actually threatens the prisoners with flogging. All this is known to the government— probably known to Prince Luigi, who, as grand admiral, has fall control over the island prisons; and yet we hear so much about religion and morality in high quarters. M. Fortunate, the prime minister of his Sicilian Majesty, is to defend all this. The Neapolitan police press (and there is none other) reprints Mr. Macfarlane's letter, the articles from the Unirers, and the productions of one or two other agents. So that here, where there is no free dom of the press, we find a license to abuse of the most unlimited nature. Mr. Gladstone's crime is ' that of being an Englishman and a protestant. Lord Palmerston figures in these prints like the evil . spirit of a ballet. He has only to wavo his magic wand, and all sorts of disasters take place— thrones tremble, and revolution jumps out of those trap-doors with which it is supposed every political stage is so plentifully provided. The terror of the Neapolitan government can only be measured by its dishonesty. I must now turn to the affairs of the Roman church. The good King Ferdinand is entering into new arrangements with the "benevolent Pope." i The church has prayed for certain powers, only a few of which the King has granted, and that with a liberal return. Pio Pono has given the pious Ferdi- nand power to appoint his own Archbishop of Naj( : instead of submitting, as formerly, three names for the approval of his Holiness. The abbe is no longer to be elected by his brother monks, but the King is to appoint him, by which means his Majesty can re vise the political opinions of the congregations. In fact, his Holiness has so much confidence in him who has violated his oath to God and ' man, and persecuted thousands of his sub: jects for believing in his sincerity, as to make Ferdinand a little Pope in his own dominions. The Jesuits call the King "Il prinangenito della elsiexa." 1 1 This good understanding, not with the Roman Ca tholic Church, but its enemy, the papacy, is part of 'the European policy of despotism at the present moment, when perjured Kings and dishonest go vernments can only exist in strict alliance with the very worst features of a corrupt church. IYis Majesty has left Naples with a body of troops for Melti, from which district we hear of fresh vol canic action having caused some damage on the Gth. PIEDMONT. The Conatitntionnel, in an article relating to the gold diggings of California and Australia, incidentally states that gold has been found by some Piednion tese engineers in the valley of Aosta, and that one half of Piedmont has actually run mad at the news. . It is true that gold has been found in several parts of Piedmont, but not sufficient to repay the cost of searching for it ; as for the discovery of a very rich mine of that metal, we can find no trace of it ►n the Italian papers. LOMISAIWY. The Emperor of Austria is a most übiquitous per son. On the 18th inst. we left him at Peschiera. Oa the same day ho made his appearance in Innsbruch, and started next morning for the Lake of Garda, where he was present at some small naval MA. noeuvres. At o clock ou the 19th his Imperial Ma jesty had arrived at Brescia. GERMANY. BERLIN, SEPT. 20. By Thursday neat (says the Promsisehe Zeittrny) the labours of the Brandenburg Diet will have come to a close. Of that which has happened in the meetings of this assembly very little is known. But so much has transpired —that the late protest of M. Hollweg has produced so much effect on the Diet itself, that in the full sitting of the 19th doubts were expressed by many members with respect to the competency of a mere provincialassembly to deliver any judgment on a subject of general legislation, and specifically on the communal law. The Kretd: Zeitung attributes the " had spirit " shown by this incident to "pressure from without." " Within the Diet "it is anxious to have it un derstood the " best spirit " prevails, and of this " best spirit" an example was given in the very sitting already alluded to by a member, who declared the Diet should stand up tor and maintain " its good old sworn-to and chartered rights, and should be content with nothing less." It maybe that inspiration from without has also prompted this outbreak; for the /heat: dung has often said as much, and, no later than two days ago, declared, alluding to those who deny the legal existence of the provincial Diets at all, that this institution had been terribly maltreated by the revolution ; . that it was like a man who had fallen among rubbers (the Chambers), who had first stripped Wall his ornaments and outer garments, and then disputed with hint his right to keep his shirt ,n 1 his back, or even to exist. But there is evidently a minority in this Assembly who arc not prepared to go all lengths; and the ministerial print confesses that the question, wh - ther the abolition of the communal law of the 11th March should be recommended to the government, provoked a most " animated debate," and that there were finally nine votes recorded against the recommendation. The Customs convention between Prussia and Hanover continues to provoke discussion. Because England has been hitherto adverse to a commer cial union between these two countries, it is inferred by some papers that this treaty will be offensive to English merchants. But the reason of England's unwillingn. , s to see Hanover enter the Zollverein, has been hitherto this:— She has feared that thereby Hanover might be drawn in to adopting the protective tendency of the southern states and the Rhine provinces. But this danger at present is barred out by the limit of 10 per cent., which is placed on the Prussian Zollverein tariff; and although, according to this scale of duty, the imposts in Hanover will be raised, the counterbalancing general advantages by the general freer circulation of outward bound and foreign commerce (the ports of Hamburg!' and the north being opened to all the Zollverein) make this drawback of comparatively slight importance. Another objection, quite of • temporary, if not of a local nature, has been made against that article of the convention which provides that all Hano verian merchandise which in January, 18.11, is in depot, ready for sale, shall not pay any back duty—the duty at present levied. This duty for coffee, wine, tobacco, cigars, sugar, &c., is in Prussia and the Zollverein more than double what the Steuerverein states pay, and will be raised to the Zollverein amount fur Hanover only after she has entered Into the Union. So that Hanoverian mer chants may begin now laying in large stocks of goods, paying a duty of three dollars Steuerverein, which of course will drive goods paying six dollars Zollverein out of the market, and, what ts the same thing nearly, subject them to a heavy loss. Thus, Hanoverian merchants may become millionaires by taking advantage of the provision of the treaty alluded to; whilst Zollverein merchants may sutler a proportionate injury. In the provincial Diet of Posen on the 18th, in a fie; sitting, when the question of the clam and classification in come tax was under discussion, Prince Sulkowski, a great magnate among the Poles, rose and said " Gentlenten, I wished to speak at our first sitting. I wished then to efface the first impression of the speech of the president by an swering it. As a Pole, and true subject of his Majesty, I feel that, without wounding my conscience, I can unite these two characters. With astonishment, ierefore, did I hear the president say that from this time forward we aro tote Prussians only. I know no law which lays upon me this duty, and solemnly protest against being called Prussian. Tho revolutionary system that would change nationalities by ukases (royal decrees) will ever find in me, et a Pule and as a conservative, an earnest opponent. Gen tlemen, allow me one word more. My sentiments towards the throne have been keenly wounded by the expressions of the president, inasmuch as he makes that which law and justice commands dependent on conditions. I believe that , in this he has not duly expressed the mind of his Majesty. Our monarch punishes falsehood and treason, but he does • not make justice conditional." A deputy, Browdowaki, proposed, that the whole 1 Diet should at once give their assent to the sentiments , expressed by Prince Sulkowski, but the marshal resisted this proposition, on the plea that there was a regulation to C the effect that no question should be determined on the same day in which it might be moved. The sitting was • closed by a short speech from the Deputy Niegolewiski, as follows : " Allow me to add a few words. I hope that the feeling which the honoursblo deputy Prince Sulkowsla has given utterance to, will sink deep into and glow in the hearts of all the inhabitants of Posen, especially in ours who sit in this assembly as deputies and as Poles; for as subjects of his Majesty the King of Prussia we have not ceased to be Poles; the national mark (merkiiial) which God has stamped on our race cannot be effaced by the band of man. Besides, this right of nationality has been secured to us by law.'' This scene in the Posen Diet is first published in the Kreutz &dung. LATEST FOREIGN EXCHANGES. I For Amount. PARIS, Bern IL For : Money. , °peeing Rights' Lowest Clang. 3 per Cents. ..... ...... 38 40 . 113 83 18 45 33 83 58 43 5 per Cents. 4 per Cents. 46 do. New Loan .. i .. ... ... ... 3 per Cents. Eiebange on Lowden : at sight, 23 20; 93 daye,2s 91. Belgian, 3, 1910 lol6llooey. Naples Rented Ito. 3, 184 — ... Roman Loan, 1831 .. ~. Do. 46 Do. 26 Piedmont 3 o. Cents. en 10 ... Bank shar es PARR!, SEPT. 22.—Versailles (let bank), 211 2s. Parts and Orkans, 860 ; Peels and Bowen, 373 73; Rouen and Ham, 130; Mantilla and Aslgeon. 205; 9410 11 53011 and Pale. 13 °1 Celte, 456 23; Boulogne and Andens, MO ; Oritami sad Bordeaux. 3; Northern, 460; Paris and Strasbourg, 333 73 ; Tours and Nantes, 262 30; Montertan and Troyes, 97 30. MADRID, SEPT. 17.—Three per Cents., 35 • after Bolsa, 33. Four per Cents., —; after Bo lsa, —. Five per Cents., 16: ; after Boise, 18i. Coupons, 8; after Bolsa, 8 c. Passives, 6/ ; after Bolas, si. Bank of St. Ferdinand, 98 c. Exchange on London, 51. [By EISCOIC Telegraph. ANTWERP, SEPT. 22.—Five per Cent. AfetaLliques, 781; ditto Ardoins, 13; . Three per Cent. Interior, 341. Russian Four-and-a-Half per Cents., —. Ex change on London, 25.25. BRUSSELS, SEPT. 22.—Belgian Five per Cents., 99;; ditto Four-and-a-Half per Cents., 92;; Ex change on London, 25.25. AMSTERDAM, SEPT. 20.—Five per Cent. Metal- Rpm 75; ; Five per Cent. Ardoins, 14 5-16 ; Three per Cents. Interior, ; Russian Four-and-a- Half per Cents., 991 ; Two-and-a-Half per Cent. In tegra 57 10-16. Exchange on London, 11.90. ir' I The has se train. end is before Thc refcrr Adv Mario descril of A* spPolli that rk Island lives lc build L. N holt , and carer 131,ai scve, HS %I eve lit, mei SOU