The Express. — London, England, 1852-01-08 00:00:00

Zht Crortgigi. TO CORRESPONDENTS. A•Mold Ultimo tf "TM Tarim; watalntog In' saalo orreolro's ciesette," M In.blbikod way Tva•day sal Mindy Mitt, um@ tat Ito t. lidmuwolosia 1•1001101 " Tho Gwrow," lades Ives*, parr, b• u the )i Two Velma us the ay of olitealow. IMIOR WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. D4T—Xvitilag. 34.3%. %%meg es. 31. Te•mosauw—lllorwes, Si 13 • Artarams,, 1 / 4 . Os. LONDON, THURSDAY, JANUARY 8. POLITICAL people seem unanimous in the opinion that the retirement of Lord PaLmeaarost is but the beginning of extensive changes in the ministry. Indeed, rumours of such changes were very current in town last night, and the names of public. men I were freely named in reference to the offices it is believed they hove been asked to fill. To day a coun cil is to be held, and in all probability the public will Isidore long be enabled to sanction or be culled upon to condemn- -the decisions of the Prime Minister on this subject. There is one period of our history which every one who may be called upon to take an active and in fluential part in the new arrangements ought to keep stead'dy in view. The short-lived and ignomi nious '• chequered and speckled tulministrution run up by Lord CIILTILLY m Mk; is a beacon in history to warn future statesmen of the folly of en deavouring to unite in one government men of in compatible principles. The " idena 81rIdire de re-- pod/done' is the only cement that can consolidate the different member* of a cabinet into an efficient and enduoing whole. This truth cannot be too often or too emphatically repeated at present. Parties are so nearly balanced in parliament and the existing conetituencies, that an administration desirous of prolonging its exist ence is strongly tempted not to be over scrupulous in scanning the tliaracters ut new allies. Again, the official section of the national lilt ml party has been so exclusively recruited from among a few aristo cratic faniilies, intimately connected by intermar riage,, and their dependents, that the ligaments which connect it with the great 111:001 of the liberals are few and fragile in the extreme. The indifiCr ence with which the popular party has thus been brought to regard the minister% wlioin it placed and has kept in office.—and the consequent spirit of dis trust and defiance with which mere officials have learned to regard that party,- hare a tendency to weaken in both the sense of the all-importance of zealous unanimity in great leading principles as the basis of a good and strong government. The non official liberals have contracted a habit of saving to themselves,—" if a man will give us good measures we will not examine too closely into his speculative opinions;" and the officials or saying to themselves—" if people arc thus disposed to tolerate politicians wow avow in part a political creed that was once unpopular, why should we hesitate to strengthen ourselves by an alliauce with these our old adversaries It a obvious that when such a state of opinion,—or more properly of sentiment.-- has come to pervade a community, there is imminent danger of alliances being patched up between statesmen of the most di.curdant principles, on an understanding that cer tain specific measures. popular for the moment. are to be supported,—but that thediscussion of all questions of general principlmon w hichihey are not agreed, is to be evaded. And it is equally obvious that such ulliauccs must either be ephemeral—at the mercy of the chap. ter of' accidents, which may at any moment bring about a state of affairs calling for a practiced decision I I 011 some moot point which it Iris been agreed to ignore or that if they prove lasting, it must be in consequence of sacrifices of principle by one or both parties to the agreement, depriving them—and justly depriving them—of public respect and con tidenee. Whatever new blood, therefore, may be infused into the ministry—whatever extension may be made of the basis on which it tests—and both are urgently needed -it must he made a sine vies so, , n, that the sincerity of the adhesion of the new recruits to those liberal and enlightened principles, hitherto professed b 7 mini-tors, is liable not even to a shadow of sus picion. Ihe old land-marks of party have been pretty nearly obliterated. The principles and cha racter of our public men can no longer belascertained from their hereditary connexions, or even from the professions they made at the commencement of their respectise careers. We have tories who have been filtered, through the school of C visiNG, into libei els ; we hose whigs who have been driven back by their church politics, or their landlord propensities, into torvism ; we have nondescripts, who have migrated more than once between the conservative and progressive camps. The easy tests that a man has always acted with such or such a party, or that his tamily connexions are so and so, are uo longer to be relied upon. The more difficult task of estimaing a man's character by hisown sayings and doings now devolves upon ministers in their selection of new allies, and upon the public in forming its judgment as to whether these new allies are entitled to its con fidence. The nation will be false to itself if it countenances any new ministerial combinations in which men ' of questionable liberalism find • place. It is indispen sable that ministers open their ranks to receive all shades of rational practical liberals,—but it is equally indispensable that none but sincere liberals be ad mitted into them. Ministers are called upon at once to extend and to close up their ranks; to re-construct the party aside practical progress, which has been allowed to fall nearly into utter disorganisation ; to receive all sincere and honest converts ; but to m ake unqualified, uncompromising liberalism the Ala.- It tie of admission. Is a man an admirer of the puerile reneoluanee of medieval priestcraft ?—he is not to be trusted. Does • man demur to • real extension of the suffrage, and a reconstruction of our electoral system ?—hc can only be a clog upon, or detrimental in, the cabinet. has • man a liquorish hankering to sneak back to the protectionist Ifesh-pots of Egypt?—he is to be shunned as if he had the plague. Arc any disposed to shrink from revision of taxation, from searching inquiries into national expenditure, from such im provements in the mode of keeping the public ac counts, and making the annual statements of income and outlay, as are required to enable the country to know what is spent and what services got in return; from re-construction of our judicial, adminis trative, and defensive establishments, with a view to render them more efficient and less costly ?—the cabinet in which they find places cannot be relied upon. Immediate, thorough-going reforms are required in all our institutions, and in all departments of administration, and they can only be accomplished by a ministry sincerely unanimous; in the conviction of tutir necessity, acting in con• cert with a reformed parliament. In thus insisting that ascertained, uncompromis ing liberality or sentiment and opinion ought to bo made an indispensable pre-requisite in any near ally ; the Premier may be able or disposed to pick up, it is by no means our intention to undervalue the import ance of looking to the personal efficiency of his col leagues. Sound abstract opinions are of compara tively little value in • minister who, from consti tutional indolence, or lack of intelligence. or deficient experience in public business, or a wayward temper, or moral cowardice, is disqualified for caws mg his principles into effect. We have no wish to I restrict the Premier's choice by a sere party con- eidenitions—(in the narrower and more vulgar sense of the phrsse),—much less by considerations of perms nal or family intimacy. /rut we maintain that a statesman of illiberal or undecided principles is only more dangerous in proportion as he is clever, active, and courageous; and that the mere talent of meeting the administrative exigencies of the day, unwind.- , Mated with sound political opinions, is not a sufficient recommendation for • scat in the cabinet : There can be no doubt that very extensive changes , in the perromel of the ailininistmt• are needed, . in eider to regain for it the pubic confidence, and I induce the liberal party throughout the country to close up their ranks and rally to its rescue. it is easy to show what mischief has been done in one. department by peevish self-will, in another by I. indolence, in a third by incapacity. There is no doubt that new men must have a trial at first, in • great measure, upon trust—that they cannot start in office with all the experience of old stagers. Due allowance will be mule at the out- mot, time and opportunity will bo given to men to I I iW what ia in thorn, provided it be made apparent that both general principle awl pereonal efficiency have been kept in view in the selection of them ; I that this mnn has not been clA sou mere ly b eca use ha 1 is a lord, and that man be:amee he can command a certain number of votes, without to their opi nions or abilities; VA that while re Viarrow limits of personal or trAixty connexion have been over stepped. no unworthy compromise has been made for the purpose of disarming conservative hostility, a conellint'.og back stairs influence at court. The country ought to tolerate no tampering or connivance with obstructive or re-actionary politics, under the pretext of a pseudo-liberal, eclectic selece tion of " available talent from all parties." EVERY new mail from the Cape places in a more unequivocal light the incapacity of Sir Slim. lie has been elevated into a false position. In the war against Unapt, he displayed pers.opid courage. activity, and promptitude—the qualities of a subordinate dime or a partisan chief. .lt Alma ho es inced talent as a general not in supreme com mand. On the strength of these displays he was appointed governor of our South African possessions. Ile flattered himself that his courage and alertness, combined with a dash of melodramatic stage-trick, would enable him to overawe the Kaffirs and guide them as he pleased. lie negotiated with them; he •apuurd and strutted before them ; he made• himself a laughing-stock with some ; he provoked a war with these daring and esufty barbarians in which he finds himself utterly helpless. lie sits still iu King William's Town, while the Kaffir tribes are congre gated in their unassnled, it not unassailable, moun tain fastnesses, make incessant inroads and forays into the adj, g colony, and have stirred up to re volt and associated in their enterprises our good natured and our loyal Ilottentots. There is little, or has, prospect of a spicily termi nation of the Kaffir war now than there was twelve months ago. The circle of Kaffir depredations has been extended. The number of their allies has been increased, and that by men trained to European discipline and modes of war, nod who have kinsmen and eountrvmen in every part of the colony. Trifling and inconclusive advantages over the enmity are pur chased by the lives of brave soldiers and distin guished or promising officers. Some of the best blood of Britain is being spilt in an ignoble squabble, which a very slender allowance of common sense in the governor of the Cape colony could have pre vented. Meanwhile the causer of all the mischief sits helplessly in his headquarters, invoking the aid of levies era 'name from the colonists, and fresh supplies of disciplinol troops from the home government. He cannot get on without reinforcewents, and he has not made it by any means apparent that he knows how to make use of th.ln when he gets them. He has kindled a conflagration in South Africa which defies his power to quench it. And while ho remains thus gazing in bewildered imbecility at the burning of the house he has set on fire, everything in the colony is thrown into confu sion by his absence. The Colonial Minister has sent out a pattern constitution for the adoption of the colonists. The Colonial Secretary gives the utmost latitude to his own emtchets and intriguing dispo sition in his arrangements for having it put into shape and isisecill into a law. The colonists remon strate, but in vain. 'they appeal to the Governor ; he is too much perplexed by his Kaffir engagements to be able to attend to them. They appeal to the home governinent, and are told that their representations must be transmitted through the Governor, who is at a distance, and too busy to mind them. The Colonial Secretary thus left to take his own way without superintendence or control, laughs all opposition to scorn. The colonists protest that they will not regard any arrangement by a mere delegated holder of another's power as binding upon them; and this threat is made by the same men who successfully resisted the landing of the convicts. Anarchy and revolt within the colony, war and devastation on its frontiers, and over an unknown extent of the African continent—this is the state of atfAirs that scents likely to continue so long as Sir litany SMITH is allowed to remain in office in South Africa ;—until some man of average amenity, average firmness and self-posstusion, and more than average common sense and personal vigour, is sent to replace him. The intelligence brought to us from the Cape— mail after mail—is of nothing but disaster on disaster. Strong bodies of ably disciplined troops arc repulsed by a number of Hottentots and Kadin. Yet these same troops have been most successful in the plains of Hindostan against no mean enemies. It is not to them therefore that we are to look for the explanation of this riddle, but :o their chiefs. An army without a head is worse than useless; it is the steam engine without the steam. We wait for some brilliant combination of the large forces at pre sent at the Cape—some successful result to re deem the British character, but we wait in vain. I triving an enemy over rugged mountains is no easy task. but in a war of small posts and detachments, indecision is a death blow, and to remain on the defensive is proclaiming one's weakness. Yet would it perhaps be better to do that than pursue such seemingly ridiculous attacks as the one we now hear of at Waterkloof. A force divided into three columns and six gun. attacked that position on November tith,—and from the accounts we have received -it would appear that two columns were to seize on the height., whilst Colonel FORDYCE with the 71th, attacked the head of tho ravine in which the enemy were posted. But the 71th. instead of waiting until the other columns had gained the heights to support it, advanced reck lessly into the defile with its colonel at the head. Where were the skirmishers of this latter column? We are left in the dark as to their pro ceedings ;—and though attacking an enemy known to ho concealed behind every clump of bush or rocky eminence, nobody was sent out to reconnoitre, but the regiment marched on much as it would do in Hyde-park. It might be very brave to do this, but it was evidently very injudicious. The consequence was the unhappy loss of four officers and some twelve men—killed on the first volley from the enemy. The aim of the Kaffir' was accurate, and the systematic manner in which they took off the officers—for the proportion of this small action is enormous when we consider there are but three officers to a company— shows they know how to conduct their savage war better than our troops at present do. It seems that these fatal shots are supposed to have been fired by some of the sixty Hottentots of the local corps who deserted to tho enemy on the 6th November. A painful commentary this on the fact that the who'c of that body were disaffected from the beginning of the war; that they were in open communication with the enemy ; and that instead of being disbanded, Sir HARRY Snuff merely ad monished them—a punishment usually. reserved for soldiers who indulge rather freely on a holiday night. We think we have said enough. Were we not talking of a tragedy, we might look upon the whole thing as a pantomime, rehearsed fur the amusement of the Kaffir& Of our six field pieces, not one was brought into action to drive the enemy out of these recesses until this slaughter lead taken place, and then it was suddenly recollected that artillery was at hand ; and, as it is most naively remarked, artillery carried on the firing fur tho re main& rof the day. The line appears to have been regularly daunted, and to have shirked any further intimate communication. This was not to be , wondered at, when their officers led them into sueli traps. And what are these disasters to teach us. One thing must certainly . —the necessity of giving our officers more education, and our soldiers a better chance of beating an enemy—is the field. A more manly, gent Inman ly body ofotlicers thaw ours cannot be found, but they lack judgment, and in this life, that is a want which tells on the welfare of all elas-es— but inure particularly un soldiers. Cool common sense is sometimes a gift of nature, and when added to a quick cuulpreli, nsion, it becomes almost genius, hut, generally eyeaking, 'men are not gifted with in tuitive judgment, and it has to be funned as care folly as any other part Dia ;nail's education. Let the effleers be better educate d. No tuition in so learned us ac arc in the shape of the thakr or the cut of the cwt ; our troops march lust at review order, or advance in close column at a slow pace, like a mass of excellent machinery. And , in many respects they are excellent. But place the British review" soldier in the field in action, and his coat eats him under the arm, he can •of freely raise his musket to hir shoulder, that musket aiii not carry a sufficient distance, and sometimes--even as with the 12th Lancers—the men are scut on ser- THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 8, 1852. vios without their weapons, which follow them some ears, months afterwards. Oise us an active intelligent general a► the Cape, who can make proper arrangemoate, who wiU wisely use his artillery, and who will be allowed to equip hie troops tbr baps warfare. Then, but only then, may we hope for the end of the Kaffir war. to bo regarded as precedents, M. Gaieties organ urges upon the sovereign legislator of 1852 not to pin him self to the traditions of the first year of the century without taking into account the long succeeding period, and the changes of habits, manners, and ideas that have supervened. Since the President professes to recognise the principle of representative government let him permit it bo fairly and reason ably practised. Thu articles concludes as follows : We think that to triumph not only over material but mural anarchy, the wise and moderate practise of reprisen totise govenimunt may n oder precious assistance, and that it is nut fur the interest of anyliody to be di prised of it. In represcntathe government the principle of authority finds solid support fur it may then with dignity, join penuasim to force. It then not only decides and acts, but it ran, when it finds it convenient, give the reason for its decisions and Its acts to the representatives of the country. In the 19th century wise representative institutions art Indispensable to the principle of authority. It is evident that by the wise institutions" so positively asserted to be necessary in the concluding seems?, something very different is meant from what Louis Napoleon has hitherto led people to ex pect. It is notorious that the constitution was ready cut and dried, and about to be published se veral days ago, when a sudden change of purpose in the highest quarter, caused it to be withdrawn front the printer's hands. It has been generally believed, as I have already mentioned, that the motive for this withdrawal was a desire to simplify and shorten the constitution, for which purpose it would be necessary to accompany it with certain adjuncts, to be called organic laws. But, from the free criticism of the article in the AssentWe having been suffered to pass the censure, it may be kneied that the mind of the President is wavering and yet open to advice with regard to fundamental principles. Ilia own especial organs, however, continue to preach pure Bonapartism with as much fervour and more arrogance than ever. The Monitetsr Parisivn says that the eagle that till at Waterloo has now risen like a phoenix. It then gives the following account of what may be expected from the forth coming constitution: Louis Napoleon Bonaparte has come to inaugurate the eagle of universal peace. This universal peace, the aurora of all the progress of the future, which is 111 conduct civili sation towards unknown shores; this peace, which will for ever close the abyss of civil us well as international wars, will le promulg tted in the face of the world by the cotivtis tution, the preparation of which the plebiscite of Deccan 1 ber 2iiil has confided to its elect. The necessity of Europe and the whel:e world is a strong poser, protecting all interests, and assuring universal right—that tight of which our revolutions have scarcely ever been any. thing hat the usurpation. Louis Napoleon has not male any coup d't*lnt. Louis Nateileun has not attempted any, victory by force. He has delivered the people from a con-' ventional dittature the remembrance of which, snare 1848, will he embodied in the negation of ameliorations which the situation of the labouring classes impe riously reclaim. The laborious climes, grateful to the' saviour of their country, have confided to him their future fate. Louis Napoleon has understood it. There is his force, because there is to be found the realisation of the enlarged ideas of the Emperor at the epoch of the peace of the world. Europe, shuddering at the prospect of 18d2, has rallied to the act of Dee.:, which has preserved the civilisation of the 19th century from a new invasion of barbarians. France, the eternal advanced guard of great ness of thought, will soon offer to Europe the type of per• manent constitutions—permanent because they are liberal 11 and protective of all rights. Liberty now resides only in tutelary' authority. This authority is well founded. Nu our will raise a hand gigaton it, for it is protected by God. Liberty at the base of society, used up to this time as a mar chine of disorganisation, has disappeared. Liberty at the apes, u light kit by universal suffrage, will recreate har mony in general polities. It would not be worth while to notice such mystic oracular balderdash as the above, had we not been taught my experience that it is part of the system of Louts Napoleon to make his ideas manifest through these channels. A glance at the tiles of the i'atrie and Jleniteur Pao-hurts for some months pest, will show that numerous propositions put forth by obscure writers, devoid alike of ability or reputation —propo sitions thought so absurd at the time that nobody noticed them, have all since been realised. I have no doubt that this article of the Muniteur Parisian represents one phase at least of the presidential mind, and I will venture to add, that the constitution ultimately chosen will be bused —so far us anything intelligible can be based— rather upon these wild ideas than upon any real system of representative government. There is an air of comfortable assurance in the inference to be drawn from the passage about the resuscitated eagle, that he has not revived his claws. Ile is henceilir ward to be the herald of peace. Hut, then, word, as used by Louis Napoleon have not the same significa tion that they have in the mouths of vulgar men. Ile used to call the law of the 31st of May a law regulating universal suffrage, though he afterwards, when it *tilted him, admitted that it was a law de stroying universal suffrage. lie says now that he has . made no coup ((Nut. Ile calls the state of siege, order and tranquillity, and ho calls an election a fair one when people are arrested for can vassing, except on one side. What ho calls the inauguration of peace may . then, very possibly, greatly resemble war. It is curious that the same number of the Moniteur contains an article resenting criticisms that have been made by an English journal upon the restoration of the eagle. " Happily," it ems, " there are two shade s o f opinion in England. that of the government and that of the people." Wkat the opinion of the former may be it does not care to inquire, but the Moniteur professes to know that the English people arc full of sympathy for the President. This really looks aa if, in possible events, an appeal to the English people—another plebiscite, was ono of the means contemplated by Louis Napoleon for inaugurating the reign of peace in Europe. At any rate we are now entitled to look with interest for the appearance of the model consti tution, because we aro fairly told that it is to regene rate not France only, but the world. The &tut Public of Lyons says : The production of silk, which fifteen years ago scarcely reached 11.10,000,000fr. ' exceeded M 0,000,0009.. in 1860. Of this latter sum about 150,000,000 k. were taken by the rib bon and sill; manufactures of France, and the rest was ex- Ported to England, Muria, Germany, and Switserland, notwithstanding there is an export duty on silk of from 2fr. to 3fr. the kilogramme. Of the enormous sum of 190,00d,000fr., which is divided exclusively between eight or ten departments, fanners have a good share; indeed, about 120,000,9001 n are paid them for cocoons. About 411,000,900 ft% terin the profit of the workmen and of the manufacturers. Notwithstanding the rapid progress of our milk production, we import more than 60,000,0009.1'cm dilfereut countries, and priucipally from Piedmont, Lom bardy, Spain, Greece, Syria, Turkey, India, and China. According to a comparative statement of the re ceipts of the custom-house at Ilavre during the years ItiliO mid 1851, the increase for last year was 6M,0001r., principally bearing on navigation dues. The total amount of the receipts fur 1851 was 25,984,172 fr., against 23,916,163 fr. ice 18.10. In 1849 the amount was 29,243,950 fr. On Jan. 3, the dead body of a man, who had blown his brains nut with a pistol, was found on the ram parts of Lille. It has been identified as that of a barrister of the department of Sarthe, whose name and description have been posted among those whom to shelter or feed is a crime. At the Bourne, the Five per Cents. rose :15e., closing closing at 106.50; the Threes rose 60c., closing at 72.25. The Bank of France shares full lOC from the high prices of yesterday. Railways generally ruse, Rouen as much as dofr. FRANCE. WILDNIOIDAT Evesriso. The Mmutcur contains the following letter from the Minister of the Interior to the Prefect of tho Seine : Paris, Jan. 6.—Monsieur le Trefet,—Tho emblems most worthy of respect lose this character when they only meal evil days. Thus these three word*, Liberty, Rquality, Fraternity," form by themselves a touching device ; bur, as they hare been only seen to appear at epochs of troubles and civil war, their coarse inscription upon our public budding* saddens and alarms the passers-hy. 1 therefore beg you to efface them. It would be at the Malt' time pro per to restore to the monuments, places, streets, &c., their popular names, which have been preserved by familiar usage through all changesof ntgions. No historical remembrance, glorious fur France, ought to bo excluded. The Petals- National is to he called anew the Palais-Royal; the Ace ilemie.Nationale de Milano. the Grand Opera; the Theatre de la Nation Thefitre Franyais ; the Rue do la Concorde Rue Royale, &c. I beg you to make to me, in the same spirit, a report upon the goal goes changes which you will think proper to propose to tne.—A. ua MUCNT. It is needless to add that the changes prescribed in the foregoing letter will be effected throughout France in all those departments where the generals and prefects have not already . taken the initiative. A decree appears for opening to the Ministry of the Interior a credit of -1,832,91i7fr. on the budgets of 1ti.12, 18.13, and 1841, fur the completion without delay of several ling of electric telegraph. The mostimportant are as follows Paris to Mar seilles ; the telegraph now stops at Chalons. 2. Paris to Bordeaux, and thence by Toulouse to Celle. 3. Paris to Strasbourg. Last night the President of the Republic went to the opera in state. The front of the house in the Rue Lepelletier was brilliantly illuminated as on the night of a masquerade. The house of M. I tusautoy, the tailor of the President, ut the corner of the street, wits illuminated, and a transparency showing the figures 7,-173,431, surmounted by the letter N, was arranged over the door. There were no other illuminations. The Rue Lepelletier and great part of the Boulevards were occupied during the evening by strong bodies of gendarmerie, cavalry and infantry. 'the President took his scat in the centre compartment of the state box prepared . for the occasion. The two compart ments on either side were filled with general officers, and officers of the President's house hold. The delegates from tlw departments occupied the pit stalls. The corps diplomatique in court dresses sat in the largo boxes on the right and left of the stage. 'the general officers of the garrison of Paris were in the second tier of boxes. The balcony stalls were chiefly fillei with mayors and their ladies. The Princess Nlathilde sat in the box usually occupied by the President. There were not many ladies present, but among the few were the Princess Callemaki and Countess Nlolke. The pit was entirely filled with officers, non-commissioned officers, and private sol diets. Besides the gilt bronze' cage over the Presi dent's canopy, there was an immense eagle painted on the proscenium, living in a blue sky, its eyes turned towards the sun. the drop scene between the acts (painted expressly for the occasion) represented an allegorical figure of France, with the motto, " Vox populi, vox hi." When the Emperor went to the opera it was customary to play on his entrance "La Victoire est a nous," and the march of " The Caravane de Caire." 'These airs were played on the present occasion. The opera was the " Proplu'ie," and the ballet " Vert-Vert." The President stayed till nearly the end of the bullet. On leaving the house a crowd aSBCMI , !Cd in front shouted loudly " Vire Napoleon," but his carriage afterwards pro ceeded along the Rue lApelleticr, and along the boulevards amidst a dead silence. The head of the Piesident's private cabinet gives notice that he is expressly ordered not to occupy himself with the great number of demands for au diences and places which he receives daily, with re quests to submit the same to Prince Louis Napo leon. The demands for audiences ought to be ad dressed to Oeneral Roguet, the President's aide-de camp; those for places to the competent ministers. Moveable columns still scour the Herault in every direction. bringing in prisoners. 300 have taken, refuge in the mountains, where, having neither food nor shelter, their suffering is extreme. Nuthiug could prove more distinctly that the triumph of Louis Napoleon is not a subject of na tional joy or thanksgiving than tho nature of the state show at the Opera last night. Instead of being cheered by a free public, the President could only dare to taste the pompous gratification of his ambi tion to assume a regal state, in the midst of armed satellites. Nut a soul was admitted to the spectacle of this pageant with the exception of the diplomatic corps, who are not in the employment of the state. As for the splendour of the decorations and costumes, where the whole representation was so entirely des titute of moral dignity, the royal pageantry on the top of any twelfth night cake that was cut up the same evening was quite as edifying a spectacle. The general meeting of the Consultative Commis sion to hear the reading of the constitution, has been put off To-day the 30 members of the administra tive section of the commission met, under the presi dency of M. Baruch° ; but the business of the sitting presented no public interest. The necessity of playing off one party against another, in order to get rid of the pressing solicita tions and greedy importunities of each in turn, drives the government to have recourse to instruments of the most opposite nature. Thus I am positively assured, from a quarter in which I place perfect re liance, that the pen of M. Proudhon hashes:li enlisted by M. do Moray, to write a series of articles against the (fairest and the party of 3fontalenbert, who are found to b• insatiable in their appetite for power. I pointed out some time ago the necessary decline of the influence of the Jesuit, as soon as the new power was sufficiently consolidated to dispense with those . partisans whose fanaticism was a puissant lever f or elevation, but is now found a pestilent obstacle to its action. Thus, as the Assembh'e Nationale is encouraged to attack the exorbitant pretensions of the army, laid to extol the superior claims of civilians, the fertile dialectics of the former editor of the People will bo brought into action to curb the arrogance of sanctimonous hypocrisy. Louis Napoleon mu tates his uncle in no feature more than in his shifting choice of diverse instruments • but he is much more embarrassed in dealing with their claims, because hecanspeak tonono as a master, but must be the slave of all, as a wizard of the spirits ho raises. M. Proudhon is at present a prisoner in St. Pelagic. His new publication is to appear in the form of a weekly review. There is an article in the Opinion Publique on the late decrees of the Emperor of Austria, which pre sents tlw novel feature of an immense blank space, from which we are to infer that certain portions had been objected to by a censorship. The censure has allowed the AssemblAc to publish another of those articles, written with a certain appearance of freedom, which are supposed to be inspired by %I. Guizot. With an earnestness worthy of a cause not altogether hopeless, it does battle on behalf of representative institutions, and argues that the constitutions of the consulate and the empire can not be accepted as models for France in 1 1 452. It ventures to remind the Peed& lit that Napoleon did not despise the assistance of tho creative ability of the patient end laborious Skye.; in the formation of a constitution. 'flue ingenious mechanism of si e y,... s pr o v e d a failure, in very many respects, and chiefly bemuse it tended to render useless the genius of Napoleon. Rut, after the first consul ent rgetically threw off so much of Sieyes week as fettered his own energies, there still remained in the complex machinery of a " tribunal," a senate, and a legislative ! assembly, an idea, though feebly expressed, of a re presentative goverunient, opposed alike to despotism and to demagogy. The people, fresh front the hot , ' rem of the convention, were not then displeased with this illusory constitution. They saw that the first consul had restonsl the executive power, and re formed the administration, and were for the moment satisfied. Hut this state of things was essentially provisional, and Napoleon, while he admitted in principle the necessity of representative government, never attempted, and would have been inconsistent , 1 with hinewlf; had he attempted, to have established !I it with all its conditions. Having thus disposed of the pretensions of the constitution of 1802 an d 1804 I I SPAIN. MADRID, JAR. 2. The report that the Mininter of Wur war about to retire from the cabinet has not been confirmed. The Queen wisher no change to take place in the ministry. ARRIVAL OF TOE PENINSULAR MAIL STEAMER MONTROSE. The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company's ship Montrose, C:aptnin John Bowen, arrived ut Southampton at 8 o'clock lavt evening, from Cadiz, having come home thence with only one !addle-wheel, propelled by both engines, assivted hv her canvass. the day nth r len%ing Cadiz the Montmve experienced very heavy weather. She brings neither mail., pnvvengerv, nor rargo, and did not toll nt Lisbon, Oporto, or Vigo. She telt Cadiz on the :11:d of lkvcniber. DEPARTURE tW THE ARPTIP.--Yeaterdity the United States mail steamatiip Arctic., Captain L.,. oiled from the MI ru y, about eleven o'clock, with II passengers and n full and tAbilble eArgn. NIARIA ANTONIA lt.ttLwAv.—Truffie for the week ending Dec. 2.3, 1851, 1611. ; 1800, 1031. ITALY. TUSCANY. OUTRAGE ON AN ENGLISHMAN AT FLORENCE• The °pislione of Turin, publishing a letter, dated Florence, ike. 30th, 1811, which states that on the previous morning a young Englishmen, named Maysher, who had only been a short [tine in Florence, after standing to listen to the band of an Austrian regiment, was quietly proceed ing along one of the narrow streets which issue from the Plana del Duonio. Ile had not gone far, when he perceived a hinorint, advancing towards him with all the speed at which these country Ur , are usually driven. To aruid the danger, he jumped suddenly bads, and in doing IQ came in contact with a young Austrian officer, who was at the same moment coming up at the head of his guard. A smart blow from the flat of a sabre on the hack was the mild re buke for this purely iiecidental collision. The Englishman, very naturally indignant, demanded in his imperfect Italian the meaning of the outrage. A few angry words were In• terchanged on either Wheal another officer, who ac companied the party, stepped forward and cut the young Englishman down, laying his head open by a sabre wound of fully a finger's length. This done, the party proceeded on its way, and Mr. Maystier, whose bloud cover,,) considerable space in the street, was conveyed to the City Hospital, where he was visited by Mr. Scarlett, the tem porary charge d'afftires of England in Tuscany, who sub mini Tilly addressed energetic remonstrances to the govern ment against the too frequent abuse of brutal fore. on the part of the imperial troops. It Is said that a comini.sion of Austrian officers waited upon the young man, and offered him an apology. GERMANY. The Prussian Chambers assembled on the sth, fur the first time after the Christmas holidays. The only business Of impionnce in either house, was the elec tion of presidents. In the First Chamber, Quint Itittburg was re-elected president by NH votes out of 121. In the &mud Chamber, Count Schwerin. After being closely opposed by M. von Ilislel sehwingh, was elected by a majority of 6, M. Goppert being elected first vice pre:ode:it. The question whether income deri‘ed from pro perty held out of Prussia by P russ i an su bj ec t s , or by foreigners, is liable to the Prussian income-tax, has been decided by the minister of finance in a circular to the district assessors, published in the Gazette of Jan. 5. By this document it appears that income of landed property is alone exempted, on proof that it has already paid the same tux in the state in which it is situated. Income from nil other sources, for the " &e." attache d to the specili- I cations is capable of a wide interpretation, must pay in Prussia, even though it may have paid once before in Englund or elsewhere. The following is its text : According to the 17th article of the law of the lot of May, 18.51, Prussian subjects are exempted from income tax, in respect of any property in land they may hold in other countries, it they can produce proofs that the anid property is in those countries, subjected to a similar tax. Accenting to the 2d paragraph of the same article, foreigners are as-essed to the classified income tax, if they have resided in Prussia for more than oae year, or if they are resident in it for p urposes of gain. In respect to such foreigners the law his not specifically repented the general principle of the lith article; but there is no doubt that foreigners who may be assessed to the income tax on account only of their residence in the Prussian State, arc not to lie more unfavourably treated than Prussian subjects, and therefore the other pro vision of the lith Article is al so to be applied to them. But neither hir Prussian subjects nor for foreigners can the ex emption be extended to any income beyond that derived from landed property possessed out of Prussia. The interest on capital invested in other countries, the profits of commercial undertakings, &c., cannot be exempted from the Prussian income tax because the possessors are already liable to the same tax in other states—England Austria, Bavaria. Tut Stimmt or Fttrasiee. The New Priluniii Ga:ctle gives a summary of the treaty betwct u the Netherlands and the Zoll verein states represented by Prussia; and which, having ken adopted by all the governments of the German Union, was ratified at the Hague on the 31st ult. The chief points gained by I'russia are a reduction of the tolls levied on the Lower Rhine and its navigable tributaries. The drat Are on the Lower Rhine, and all duties on the Maas and Tssel, are abolished. The pilot dues in Holland are reduced one-half; for the transit through Holland and to Bel gium the reduced rate of tolls, after the abolitionof the drat fire, will alone be levied. Prussia assures to Hol land a continua:we of the advantages it had obbuned by former treaties. Traffic will be facilitated by the loss of time in unloadinf and weighing goods being no longer necessary. !le transit cargoes will be sealed and accompanied by a Uustonehouse ofticiaL Holland and the Zollvercin accord each other, for their respective produce, the advantages allowed, or that may be allowed, by them to the most favoured nations with whom they have commercial treaties. Thus the wines of the &liven:in will be admitted into Holland on the same terms as those of France. A variety of articles of German manufacture are allowed to be exported to the Dutch East Dalian possessions on the most favourable terms of the colonial tarilf, or at about half the general rates ; among them line,wouds, drugs, soap, Nuremberg toys, electro-plated goods, watches from the Black Forest, leather, fancy goods, silks, velvets, and mineral waters. The Augsburg Gine tic has a letter from Vienna, which says: "There is talk of miring a new loan, and it is believed that this circumstance was the principal cause of the resignation of M. de Krauss." Another letter states that the Ottoman Porte has ratified the Austru•Turkish treaty of commerce, con taining a new tariff, in which both powers have made concessions. A letter from Hanover in the New Prussian Ga zette states that M. de Loch, the celebrated German oculist, had expressed great hopes that the King of lluuover's sight would be restored. VIENNA, DEC. 31. Baron Krauss w ill lay down his arduous and thank less office, with a reputation unhappily rare among • continental statesmen. His private character is completely beyond reproach. He was, however, unequal to his position, and though his severe appli cation to business was notorious, he was too much • attached to forms not to waste much time in useless labours. But his great fault as a minister of finance was the easy manner in which he con stantly complied with the demands of the court and the cabinet, and to this may be attri buted in a great measure the present desperate , state of the finances of this country. At length, however, he seems to have unacratood that this compliance must come to an end, and a few months ago he strenuously opposed the enormous amount of the army estimates, and positively re quired them to be diminished by 15,000,1 N of florins, as the only condition on which he could possibly re tain office. It is needless to add that this suggestion was not attended to, but it is understood to have hopelessly alienated both the court and his col leagues. The 25,000,000 florins also, recently sent to Louis Napoleon, could not hut meet with the strong disapprobation of a minis ter so well acquainted with the poverty of the treasury. But there is yet another reason which has been for a long time silently at work for his downfall. Baron Krauss was rash enough to en gage in a war with the private interests of power ful men, and to do this in a country where there was neither a free prem.; nor public discussion to defend the purity of his motives might have been honest, hut it was not prudent. In the last loan which he effected in October (B 351) he announced that sub scriptions might be paid as low as 1,000 florins, and would be received at the imperial treasury from any private persons who wished to lend their savings to , the state. In consequence of this the great N'ienna bankers, the Rothsehilds and Arnstcin and Eskeles, who had generally been accustomed to divide the pretty pickings of state loans between them, and re tail them to the public in their own way, saw their occupation was gone, and Baron Krauss soon found himself in the position of a man in debt, who begins to economise and affronts his creditors. The press attacked him, and his colleagues did not defend, till wearied out with a contest so hopeless, he ten dead his resignatien on the 20th inst., and it was accepted. his successor, M. de Baumgartner, though a man advanced in life, is young us a minister, having been only called to the cabinet during the present year, on the resignation by Baron Briick of the porthdio of Coininerce and Public W o rks. M. d e de Bautngurtner is still to retain his present pest as Minister of Commerce and Public 11 arks, together with the parilhlio of finance, but it is no secret among political circles that his name is only put fur-; ward to cover that of B a t on KiPieek, foimerly Nlinister of Finance and now President of the ('outwit of the Empire. So long, therefore, as M. do Baumgartner fills his present la borious position Baron Kubeck will, in reality, di. net the financial affairs of Austria ; but it i, believed upon good authority that gm - crime. ut have already begun negotiations with the able and en. lightened ex•muustcr Bruck, to induce litu to re. enter the cabinet as Minister of Finance. Should these negotiations succeed, as it is prob,bl e th ey will, Austrian securities will immediately rise in value, and before long we may expect a very mate rial improvement in the resources of the country. The lhanitth envoys, M. de Bilk and M. tl Bulow, have left Vienna for London; but it is helicved that their mission has been attended with Jay s ac . errs, the courts of both Austria and l'ru. la being now strongly opposed to the wishes of tlu• King a Denmark. An issue of six kreuzer pieces (about 2d.; has just been made in siker, and it is said the six kreuzer bank notes are to be called in. A Seoteh missionary ut Lemberg has just been sr. rested, fur holding meetings under the pr. , 'lterian form of Nr orohi p. Either with or without he gssl man's knowledge, iiersons assembletl cal purposes, or the authorities chins. to sup ose that sueli was their object. The name of the missionary is not given. A railway has been begun from Oren opposite Perth, in Hungary), to ninth. The heinous ilieresianum is to be cluing into sn institution for the education of army sump as , and all its fonds, library, &c., aro to be approp .seed to the same purpose. There has hero no business done on 'Char v l tap three (Lys, so that there can be no quotatio 'flee excising° on London is, however, said to 1411:11 to H. THE AUSTRALIAN DIG(i NGS. We give further extracts from the Pot Philip paters brought by the Honduras. The following communication in from Clunia gold diggings, under date of 16th August : The present ell:itmotniration will, perhaps, b.- the mo , t interes.ing and Mtn ,rtatit that I have been vital, .1 a., you, inasmuch WO l can now give definite Worn, . ion a • the actual gains of the digg , rs. The first !sal., go:d hoer limn ma 1..: today, and front tlet subjoito-I . Artie Mars of the several transactions the public can judge . the true nature of these diggioga, and the prvvvects , ' , lila they afford. 1 hare just returned from the hell r, company with Mr. Clapperton, of Burn Bank, who has it n buying some of the gold, and although from the rheum-. ores that there is yet no market thoroughly opened, the e annereol value of the dust has hardly been established. • II the re turns of which 1 ant po,seased, having been pr.- at at, and in some degree instrumental in the tram.. ~on, will he interesting, and may be depended tot. . at, whole quantity sold to-day is about a pound and t ro c quar ters, in lots as follows : -Mr. Donald** par of live men, who have Keen at work a week, 2 r. for 61. 41., or about 57.. 6d. per oz.; Parker's it, 'y of four, 14 or 10 dwte. 11 grains, at 13, :yielding 131. I I , got in about a fortnight; Warren's mob of four, II ,r 6 grains, at 31. I, per oz., amounting to 35'. 55., the work of seven teen days; Vickerman's mob, 2 oz. 12 dwts. 7, rain , , col lected an about ten days. it must be remelt, • r 11, that although these periods are stated as the time in which the several results were attained, yet most of the p t•ons biro been much longer on the ground, and as far a , “tdividual gain is to be considered the whole time must he %tires into the estimate, and some allowance must be mole i., all cao.t, as several days usually elapse before everythin.: t• got into working order, and the men get their han-ls ream. espy .• in" to the work. Several dissolutions are taking o tin among the parties, and some are leaving fur Bunninyoor on .pee; the more prudent, however, are despatching I, e of each party to ihitp. - et and report. One or two p.rti. • have odd off and left the ground. A party just arrived has com menced blasting the rock, with what enema, however, can not yet be pronounced. The following account of the 13uoniuyong diggings ie dated 111th Atigumt : I have been on the fie!il, and have spoken to /I -irly every one there without finding a single party that is dog good. Several are only just cuinniencing, and of them not hint defi nite can be stated ; one party M two had pruou, el about a quarter of an uuucc since friday last, iI:CIU4V •, and this was the largest quantity which I saw. The' udd is eery dense and pure, tar more so than any other n ice gold I have seen, and it will the rehire fetch a hi,tht r price in pro portion to its purity ; but the people about here kayo most inordinate ideas of its value, and imagine that they will get a price equal to the rate current in London, and some stab:, variously that they have been offered 723.. 7.";•., and 775. per on. for it ; of rourse, I advised them to take the first opportunity of selling at either of these rat. , which aro very far beyond the real value. In the first plelte at least 10s. must be deducted by the buyer to cover the various captures of transmission, freight, insurance, oke. ' and tho cost of reduction and assay, for I may stat e , f or th e benefit of the uniuitiated, that gold is rarely if ever found in a state of actual purity, bring always in combination with some other metal, u silver, iron, tellurium, &c.; a. that the terms pun or impure us cotuaionly used are merely relative. I bear a great deal on the spot of men who have collected large quantities of gold, but have not yet been able to meet with any instances, so that I feel strongly imbued to t' ig nore the bill." At present but little grouno has been turned up, and although persons have been marching in various directions, gold has hitherto only !wen found in the one limited spot. Flour is selling at Bunninyong for lid. per pound, and tobacco fur 101. lid. Stores generally are at present scarce. . _ . The following is from the .Ifelkittrne --tryits of the 29th August: Sviimev.—The R. 1,1 fever still continues, and increases. Day after day the " glowing story" comeeto us of new gold fields, and ainongit the latest the report of a perfect field of gold on the property of William Charles Wentworth, Esq. The gold found on this gentleman's propertysliffers from all that has yet been found, being in fibres, and not scales or nuggets, as is usual. The :irrivals by the mail and through the post-office yesterday, were over 10,0001. in value. It is scarcely credible the number that have left and ore about to leave Sydney for the Tuna, diggings. By the hest accounts there are about four thousand tIOW at the mines, and that number will be doubled, if not quadrupled, within a mouth. I see, too, that many arc leaving Port Philip. and their both on the road and on their arrival at the dig gings, is pitiable ; in fact, it cannot be other than wretched with tbo roads in the miserable state they are in. Fears are expressed by many parties that the deposit., are not the inexhaustible ones they have been represented to be, and that very soon we shall have as great a rush twin the dig gings as we now have to them. REPORTED NEW GOLI) DIDOINOB.—A report haireached Maitland that a new gold-held has been desensered, the locality being on Wyong Creek, which rises on the Wol loinsi !tills, and flows towards the coast. It is said that about fourteen persons were digging there mine days since, and had found some gold and taken it to Sydney ; and it is also stated that sixty or seventy persons are digging tbero now. The spot is towards the bead of Wynne Creek, and about fourteen miles from the township of Wullouthi, scrum the mountains; but the merest practicable township is Gaston!, Brisbane Water, which is some twenty-live mike of The distance from Maitland is said to be some sixty miles, and from Sydney about the same. Quarts of a com pact kind is said to be plentiful on the creek, and the dig iters are working principally in the bed of the creek ; water is found there all the year round, and the plate is very mountainous and rough. Wyong Creek is crossed, we un derstand, on the road from Maitland to Sydney, soma twelve miles this side of Gosford, but the diggings are many miles up the creek. We have no authentic laGiraistion that gold has really been found there. The Geelong Advertiser says : Considerable cacitemeut has been created at Bacchus' Marsh, occasioned by the finding of some speeinems of gold. I enclose a piece of the quartz which I brought yesterday. The inhabitants do not wish to create any particular atten tion at present; but several persons went to work at the time I left, and no doubt you will anon hear more about the m otter. Should gold be found here, it will no doubt be one of the best li,alities in Victoria. The mountain ranges aro connected with Mount Macedon, and the dry Italics, which attuned in the neighbourhood, some of them awfully deep, present a moat romantic appearance, with nume rous hills of quartz, which indicate that gold is there to be tumid. The distance from Geelong is only 33 rode' north—a tine level country without a hill, or anything like a boggy place. The direct way is to cross Cowte's Cwek, then strike between the Anulties and Station Peak, keep ing the distant Sugar-loaf hill to the left. There is • hue steant mill; there ate two rivers which were well supplied all last summer, and ull the well water you like by digging six or actin feet. There are the Ikautiful Pentland Rills, which must he brought into the market, and which will bring gold by agricultural labour. This place is only 3$ miles front Melbourne, *lid only 33 from (Aching. Nature has made a stone bridge limns the Little River, without a dissent or ascent, across which you could drive a cartiAgo and four with the lived perfect safety. We do not doubt the correctness of this information, hut we arc bound to state that there is no gold in the specimen of quartz sent to us. MIGRATING BUTTERFISIN.—A morning paper coa -1 taiia a letter datawl Barithim, Burke, January ii, in which we find Um following curious statement :- 4 . I scarcely need remind you that the atumsphsre o.i Sunday last was son si.k rahly freely, and very cold winds .mailed more ~r less during the entire day, but it was particularly stormy shout WI-p..4 two o'clock (afternooti), at which period I was in !company with a friend standing at nty sitting•room window, 1 when to our great surprise we observed a namerous c.d.'s] of larg • "sawn butterflies mierating in a body (~ , nilsi.• to a ' PlV.lrin of heist on wit,g) Iron south-west to north east. SAIOC of them were momentarily driven by the 1'...r,.... of the storm no near to the window at which myself and friend were standing, that lintli of us had ample time and a good I opportunity of well observing them, but they pres,itly gained a considerable nititit Ic, and in a few minutes ware entirely lost to our view. Now, sir, if wo take into cot sicleration the teaser of the year, and the peculiar mule of flight adopted by the ins, eh. in thin instance (going in • body), the tact must at leant be viewed as something wo4t unusual and singular." Touring lay from seen rusl arms, se tact it ft , both. I the ship the sum,' flames a he sum fihe plu mercy 01 with wa whu ix courage, the tra officer. WAN stir boat bah fell in AV panionb the corn until 811 human I party w hourb in of them relieved, hunger. of whiel to hope, be yet ti Of th 4 account that it a point ble conj by fricti ts street rimen tu pu oundrpose f passage purpose, tire. If responsi vessel 01 such a without ginable working hardly There v room, at and othi generale of hay, followed A cou offices, i the fol Recount perceive being st spoetfyin, .World of DES