The Express. — London, England, 1851-12-19 00:00:00

Site eramegio. TO CORI:UPON 141411. ♦lfter..4 l4l' •I"iM El e rerm,' c.oentalor - he OM! ellnon' , 6:ortto," ir 'Odeon en:cy Tango, an. friday In war lot po.l. athef for **The Faorec . ("orlon parer, snot ,a the ti to, nour•ric.ouret, 'Jj Two o'clock on tit. any o f "Von- Eton WATER VT LONDON BRIDGE Tim —Metruliag.lll , .Aftrrarima. I llt. 391 e. To.w.sear—liorminejts. b MIST SS 13a. Sm. LONDON, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19. --- le the American news we pubished yesterday them is one point requiring very serious consideration. There is, we believe, no rational Englishman who lies paid attention to the proceedings of our diplo matic agents and naval officers in Central America, — whether we the Pacific or Atlantic side, -but feels die posed to blush and change the subject whenever that country is named. A still deeper sense of regret will lse awakened should anything occurring in that scene of our tellies be allowed to interrupt the liclings ut amity which prevail, and ought to prevail, between Great Britain and the United States. We wait, therefure, with considerable anxiety for more full and authentic information respecting the apparently un warrantable and inexplicable conduct of the corn mender of a !Selfish mewed-war in firing upon an American steamer off the harbour of Grey town. Before commenting mote in detail on the transac tion, see far as it is yet known, it may not be amiss to remind our readers of what Central America in general, and the kingdom of Mosquitia, as some afli et to cull it. are. Central America is the designation by which is known the large tract of country at the northern extremity of the great American isthmus, which constituted the viceroyalty of Guatemala under the Spanish demi nien. When the- Spanish American colonies threw alt the yoke o'S the mother country, the provinces in cluded in this viecroyalty attempted to form them selves into a federal re-public. The attempt signally fail( 1, and the cause of failure is sufficiently devious. All dase s of the inhabitants were in a condition of childish ignorance. Systematically excluded from 'Aims under government, they had had no means of acquieeig manly habits or practical skill in basilicas; and editeation being entirely in the hauls of the polo -te, they were, with few exceptions, lett in the grossest ignorance. To sold to the evi', the natives preponderated in the population in the ratio of three to one, and of the so-celled whites, a very considerable numbee were hi reality mixed castes. Oleetever the Mt:lVl.4 of that pmt of America may have been be lire the arrival of the Steed trek they are now ra nges in the strictest acceptation of tlw word -chil dren of a large growth, with the passions and sinews of men, and taw intellects of infants. The history of the provinces since the era of what is called indepen dence has been exactly what might have been ex p. chit from, a society so constituted. One American chary." //./ . /eoitee sent to them, hunted the whole land from Itan to lksershabc for a government, and could nowhere tinil one. A Mlet144:41011 of savage and eon temptildi civil seals; abortive attempts to organise u general government, or a number of provincial go vernmetite ; revolutions as incessant and as puny as the firing of squibs by selioul-boys on the night of a king's birthday in the olden time—such is the history of Central America tar the last $0 years. In this n-gion, on the shores of the Caribbean sea, between the etatee of Iliinclurfue and New Grenada, ie a tenet of sea coast °coupled nimint exelusivtly by Indigos who maintain that they have always heen independent of the Speoliarile, but whose country is claimed by the state of Nicaragua. It certainly dues not dearly appear that emy settled government has ever been established in this territory by Europeans ; or that the old S,innieli governmi lit veer expressly attributed it to any of the adjoining provinces, now called State*. But that Spaiu regarded this territory as part of its doluinionis—just us the government of the United Staters lays similar claims to the Indian hunting grounds within its frontiers, or Great Britain to theme pets of Australia which arc not yet occupied, or even explored, there can he no doubt. It is, therefore, with an exceedingly had grace that Englund, which calls the Orange River sovereignty in South Africa its own, disputes the claims of the Spanish-American republics to the Mosquito coast. And t h e way in which the British government disputes these claims is still more unaccountable. Aloent t h.• middle of the last century it asserted a right to the territory. Some time later it waved its Pre tensions; and again it renewed them iu a modified form. The Mosquito coaet is alleged to belong to a King of the Mosquitos. who is under the protection of (treat Britain. This king is the savage chief of a tribe whose original seats are near Cape Grades do 1).o& The Moekos (so the tribe is called) have, from time immemorial, been in the habit of making piratical excursions along the coasts, and landing and plendering the other Indians. This it pleased the English authorities to call an exercise of the rights of sovereignty, and levying of tribute. The chief of the Moskos was therefore recognised us the king. and the coast, as far as the visits of his pirati cal canoes extended, was called the Mosquito coast. A few irregular stragglers from the neighbouriug British colonies have always been accustomed to trade to this country, and sonic of them have occasionally "squatted" on the comet. Some of the inure shrewd of these have acquired an influence in the king's councils and of late years this has bees carried so far that a clique or coterie of them have actually car ried on the government in the name of the- king. A speculative and ambitious settler at Berbice—the late Mr. \'. %Lk ER —who at onetime- held no less than eight official appointments in that settlement, n-solved to turn this state of affairs to his own account, and con trived to get himself nominated British consul, or protector of trade. in the denwenes of his alosquitian majesty. Since that time the country has been ruled is the name of the king by a knot of English squatters" (persons, at least, calling themselves Brinell subjects), with the English protector of trade at their head. And the British government have been drawn into all the petty broils and contemptible in trigues of this precious government, and obliged to be at the-expense of fighting their battles. It would be wearying the patience of our readers to no purpose, to recapitulate all the costly follies and degrading negotiations into which our rulers have been led in the attempt to make the so-called king dom of Mosquitia au English colony in disguise. Mr. Cievre testis war with the little republic of San Salvador; the occupation of Tiger Island; the expedition up the San Juan River (in which Mr. WALKER, the prime mover of these absurdities, was accidentally drowned). the officer in command on the occasion being re warded with the Order of the Bath ; the compensat ion of a ministerial supporter in par liament (fur his losses in buying a borough, which a t-ummittec took out of his * hands) by the appoint ment of President at the court of Mosquitia ;—ell these may not set be forgotten. The crop of jobs which has sprung up in the fertile soil of this disreputable connexion has cost JOHN BULL a pretty penny. These, however, are topics for another occasion; our present theme is the colli sion between H.M.S. Express and the American stea mer Prometheus; this affair also had its origin in our Central American "policy." One prominent characteristic in the North Ameri can is, that he cannot by any means be brought to submit to, or affect respect for, " shams." 'fhe pinch beck majesty of Mosquitia has in consequence been un object of unmitigated scorn to all Anwrieans fre quenting the coast. And hence bad blood has arisen between most of them on the one side, and such British authorities as have been playing a part in the farce, and the "squatters" for whose benefit it is played. on the other. The dignity of these " viceroys over" the King of Mosquitia has been so offended in the course of such broils, that a detachment of Jamaica police has been placed in garrison at Grey town, and English men-of-war have been stationed off the harbour, to compel saucy Yankees to perform the Ku-too before these magnates and to make them pay their harbour dues. This was a movement pretty certain at nu distant date to lead to collisions between .kmericans and the English policemen or the English naval officers. But the mischief has been accelerated by a new element of discord. Greytown (San Juan deNicaragua) is the terminus on the Caribbean sea of one of the most promising lines for a railway or ship-canal across the Isthmus. It is situated where the territories of Costa Rica border on those claimed by the state of Ni and also by the government of his Mosquitir g r Ma jesty. The canal or railroad, if it is ever formed, must run through the Gaeta Rica territory, or that claimed by the other two "powers." English and American speculators have in all these states been trying to obtain the exclusive privilegeof making the canal or railway. In Nicaragua the Americans have ' obtained the concession; in ('osta Rica the English men; - and in the country, claimed and occupied in the name of the King of the Mosquitos, Englishmen are of course in the ascendant. While the English speculators have been talking, the American specula tors have been doing. They have actually organised a system of transit for goods and passengers across the isthmus on that route, and have placed steamers on the San Juan, and the lake of Nicaragua. Since this has been done, the English couteillors, who act as dry-nurses to the King of Mosquitia, have been sulky and savage, and doing all in their power to thwart the American company. Tic English government has wisely listened to the representations of the cabinet at Washington, and agreed to make Greytown a free port. But the lirmiers yt'w , rtvir of Mosquitia have pleaded for a o.tponement of the carrying of this arrangement Into effect, until their lease of the customs duties shall expire; and in the meantime they have been levying their tolls with a high hand. The exact merits of the case, in which they have been so ‘igorously backed by the Express, are yet un known, - but it is unfortunately but too certain, that a spirit of nationality has rendered the British officers on the station too ready to lend an ear to the interested misrepresentations of the Mosquitian cus- tom-house officers. Now, without any special reference to the case of the Prometheus, we put it to the common sense of our readers—ls it creditable for a great empire like ours to allow itself to be mixed up in such miserable tracasseries ? Is it consistent with the honour of Great Britain, r,s• its reputation for sanity, to place its ships and ,oldiers at the disposal of some dozen of " squatters. who keep a savage chief withing stnngs ? Are we to go to loggerheads our blood-relations,—with the only state to which we can look for sympathy or succour in the event of a quar rel with European despotism, in such a disreputable quarrel ? Were the Mosquito coast our own, it would not be worth the powder and shot it would cost to maintain it ' • but it is not opt my and avow edly ours. Did the duties exacted at Grcytown flow into our national coffers, it would be bad policy to levy them but they arc pocketed by private adventurers, whose title to them is, in the eye of the law of nations, worse than dou'atful. The sooner this country stokes off the Mosjuitian coancxion the better it will be for its reputation. As to the firing upon the American steamer, for which Mr. Wn.tstiat has instructed the American ambassador in this country to demand explanation or rs.sln:44, it would be unfair to an English officer to condemn him before he has had an opportunity . to tell his own story in his own way. But the transaction, as far as at present known, has, it must be contes.sed, ' an ugly look. We will not believe that he really intended to hit the steamer—but even the show of iolence was an insult to the American flag. We have no doubt the story may be found susceptible of a I satisfrtury explanation. And at all events we hope that the communications between our government • and that of Washington on this subject will be con k ducted in such a manner as to prevent even any cool • lass between England and its most natural and most s desirable ally. THE English law of partnership has been long felt to be mesa unsatisfactory. Its stringency in im posing unlimited liability on every partner is un paralleled in the mercantile world. It makes each partner answerable for the debts of the partnership to the whole extent of his fortune; it gives an un paid creditor the right of suing at law each of the partners individually for debts contracted in the name of all ; it holds every one to be a partner who participates in the slightest degree in the profits of the business; it allows every partner to deal with the common property to any extent short of the commission of actual fraud ; and if an un fortunate partner has been forced by an action at law to satisfy the claims of a creditor, or has suffered wrong in the management of the concern, it virtually refuses him redtrss against his fellow partners, hy confining his remedy to a suit in chan cery, to which every partner must be a party. These onerous responsibilities can be escaped by two pro cesses only—act of parliament, and a charter from the crown—but both arc so ruinously expensive and so uncertain of attainment, that for all practical pur poses, limited liability is excluded by the English law. A co: "ttri of the noose of Comieons investi gated this subject lust session, and resolved, " That the law of partnership, as at present existing, view ing its importance in referenee to the commercial character and rapid increase of the population and property of the country, requires careful and immedi ate revision." It then recommended the appoint ment of "a commission, which should suggest such changes as the altered condition of the country should require." Among the changes most canvassed at the present time, and towards which public favour seems in clining with increasing force, is the adoption of what our neighbour. , call partnership "en cmmandite." I Some very sterling evidence respecting it, given by Dr. PIIILLIMOKE before the committee, appeared a short time ago iu the columns of the Daily News. The subject has acquired fresh interest by the grow ing introduction into the money market of London of the shares of French companies organised on the principle of partnership en amtmandite; and the question naturally occurs, if Englishmen are attracted to such enterprises, when protected by a foreign law only, why their principle should not be adopted by the English law also, and the benefits it is found to confer diffused generally over the country. Partnerships en commandite =carried on by n few managers or 9 . , rons, who alone have the exclusive right of conducting the affairs of the partnership ; but on them also the law imposes the fullest and most unlimited liability. The rest of the partners, or commandifahas, whose numbers arc subject to no restriction, are answerable only to the extent of the capital which they invest in the concern; on the other hand, they arc interdicted from every kind of interference with its management, possessing only a right of access to the records of its proceedings, and to full information on the state of the business. It is obvious that such partnerships offer some very considerable advantages. There is an abun dance of capital seeking investment, which is driven back upon the funds and other fixed securities, be cause its owners, though willing. to stake a part, are not willing to hazard all their tortune on promising commercial enterprises. The en commandite princi ple would open to such capital attractive employ ment, in sums varying from the highest to the lowest amounts, and many a valuable scheme which cannot now be prosecuted from want of funds, because the presumption of success is no equivalent against the risk of total ruin, would quickly find the support of many contribusers, and be carried out with great advantage both to individuals and the community. Many are the possessors of narrow means, who would be eager to procure an enlargement of ease and comfort by sharing in the profit of business; people whose condition is now hopelessly hemmed in between three per cent.consols, anda venture for their whole fortune. The vast extension of savings banks, friendly societies, and other benevolent institutions, shows how large are the sums seeking investment amongst the lower classes, and how difficult it is to obtain anything above the lowest scale of interest. To these classes, partnerships en eoffingandite would open out a large field: and it seems hard to restrain their liberty by the operation of artificial laws. But more urgent still than all these reasons in favour of the proposed alteration of the law, are con siderations derived from the relation now subsisting between capital and labour. The working classes have reached an amount of intelligence unprecedented at any former period of history, whilst their num. hers attach a weight to their sentiments unknown before. Never before have artisans and operatives, in the essential character of their thoughts and feel ings, approached so closely to the upper classes— never before were they less capable of becoming the slaves of routine employment, valuable for their hands and the intelligence which guided them, but undeveloped in understanding, and indifferent to the ; pursuits which characterise intellectual beings. Symptoms of this change abound in every country of Europe ; its effects are sufficiently alarming—it were well to take warning in time. Already in France a fierce war has broken out between capital and labour. England likewise hes felt the shock. Vigorous intellects and vehement passions have been enlisted in the strife. Old insti tutions are powerfully assailed; and who shall say that a new era may not be at hand ? Capital is de nonneed as the tool of selfishness. Its interests are I__ THE EXPRESS, FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 19, 1851. painted as hostile to those of the mass of mankind, and a capitalist is held up to odium as one whom self-seeking must convert into an oppressor. Even men employed in the ministry of the church have I gone so far as to call the condition of a receiver of wages a bondage,—a pure slavery,—equally offensive to reason and religion. These sentiments easily find support in those seasons of adversity to which a trade spread over every region of the globe is inevitably subject. A bad crop of cotton may call a legion of socialists into existence. Mills are worked half time or stopped i altogether—wages sink—the capitalist rapidly loses his property, and yet is charged with being the cause through his selfishness of the misery of the work men, not only by, the men themselves:but by writers also, whose position and education should have taught them better things. What device can be more sea sonable or more salutary than the conversion of the workmen into fellow capitalists with the master? What can possibly . open their f ves so effectually to the vicissitudes of trade as that they should share its profits and its losses 1 What can create so certainly as partnerships a cordial spirit of brotherly fellow-feeling be tween the mind that thinks and plans and the hands that work ;—or consolidate so firmly a community of interest between those whom the tendency of the age is opt to array in direct antagonism to each other? Partnership en emnnunalite seems admirably adapted to bring about these valuable results. The operative is stimulated by it to save, because he is able at once to dispose of his savings advantageously. However small may be his investment, It asso ciates him with the tbrtunes of the factory. If times are bad, he is not tempted to charge the cupidity of the master with the crime of lowering wages : he has access to the books, and can inspect the register of diminished profit or painful loss. Ile learns that if he suffers, the large capitalist suffers still more. When fortune smiles, he not only obtains better wages, but, as a partner, shares in the gain, and learns to look on the common business with affection, —with a feeling that it is his own. On the other hand, the master obtains correspond ing advantages. Ile gets guarantees for peace. and harmony such as nothing but partnership can bestow. Ile commands increased capital. Ile ceases to be an object of jealousy to his men ; they know the state of the business ; they rise and fall with him. Can the growing disposition to look upou the master as the enemy of his workmen be met more directly or with a better promise of success ? As managing partner, liable for the whole of his fortune, the master has the strongest iaducemats for the exercise of prudence, activity, and calf: ; as associated with "special partners," who are forbid den to interfere, he is exempted from trouble. And he gains one very clear advantage above those he now enjoys. His workmen have now the most powerful motives to practise economy and industry. f hey work as masters—nut as hirelings ; their sav ings and their energy reward, not an employer, but themselves. No reasons of equal weight can be assigned for re fusing a fair trial to such a system. Complete publi city gives the public all the security they require. It' the names of the partners and the sums they have invested in the business are publicly proclaimed, every one who gives them credit will know w hat he has to trust to. And there is in this very publicity an as of the possession of capital by the con cern, which is not to be had as the law now stands. The evidence before the committee moreover asserts that in those countries where the law of partnerships en cennwandite prevails, such concerns, when bankrupt, pay beyond the aver age rate of dividend. If men of straw are ap pointed managers, the sums placed against their names will give the public warning of the fact. And it is hardly a justifiable policy to forfeit great advan tages fur the sake of protecting those whom their folly alone exposes to danger. Mere may be pleaded regarding the risk en countered by the poor and ignorant, of entrusting their savings to crafty and fraudulent men. Under no system can this evil be averted. Experienced persons declare that the sums lost by the "foor through injudicious loans every year is in credible. Partnerships en col/ow:n(lde admit of effective precautions being made for investors. They , may have publicity, full access to the books, and espo cially an extension of the machinery already at work in friendly societies, for providing cheap and immediate redress to partners against each other. This is a very vital point; one of the law reforms most urAently needed. English merchants are proverbially a conservative lace. Custom is their ruler, and beyond most mortals they dislike the hazards that attend innovations. 'This feeling is often salutary: in the present case they have no reasonable ground for alarm in trying. in England an experiment which is at work, without producing ruin, in France, America, Belgium, and elsewhere. FRANCE. PARIS, TIII'IIWAT EVINING. Decrees appear placing the Jura ix a state of siege, and approving the subjection of Algeria to a state of siege by General Pelissier. The government has got in readiness a regular fleet for transporting the unfortunate people %horn the police denounces as agitators of society. The Minister of Marine has ordered the following vessels to be fitted out for the transportation to Cayenne of convicts who have broken their ban, and of persons affiliated to secret societies: the Mogador, steam-frigate of 6,50-horse power, at Rochefort ; the Canada, of 430-horse power, at Cherbourg ; the Christophe Colomb, of 450-horse power, at Brest ; the Dugueselin of 90 tons; and the Allier, corvette, of SIX ) tons. These vessels, we are assured, will in 15 or 20 days be able to transport to Cayenne 2,000 men. Another fleet is equipped in the Mediterranean for the transportation of trench citizens to Lambessa, in Algeria. MM. (remieux, Leo do Laborde, and Croton, have been released from the fort of Vincennes, and set at liberty. The other prisoners at Vincennes, namely, MM. Duvergier do Hauranne, Bixio, General Lar dot, Jovet, Darrien, and Teilhard-Latorissc, have been transferred to Ste. Pelagic. NI. Placatory has been set at liberty to-day. The only member of the party of order, with the excep tion of the prisoners of Ham, who now remains in confinement, is M. Duvergier de Hauranne. All the representatives who remained in the casemates of Monte Valerien and the towers of Vincennes, were conveyed yesterday to the gaol of St. Pelagic. With the exception of M. Duvergier de Hauranne all thee, were members of the Mountain. M. Duvergier was put during this severe weather into a brick-paved cell without a fire. Upon complaining of this he was accommodated with a stove, which, however, it was impossible to turn to any use, on account of the smoke which tilled the narrow room. A wretched pallet, which had been pressed by a series of felons, was the only bed ac corded to this distinguished statesman. His wife was not permitted to visit his cell ; and he could only speak to her at the parlour across a double grating, in the presence of prison servants and con victs. All these facts I can guarantee to you as coming from an unquestionable source. No sooner was General Oudinot released from the fort of Mont Valerien than the first use be made of his liberty was to write to the President an emphatic protest against the slur thrown upon his military re putation by the language used in the decree creating General Valliant marshal of France, which, as you may remember, attributed to the latter officer the capture of Rome. This protest is couched in the most energetic terms. The Courtitutionnel contains a remarkable article _ by NI. Granier de Cassagnac on the political results of late events. "The President's coup cretat," says this writer, "gives to political minorities the coun terpoise of agricultural majorities; and makes of Assemblies the counsellors, not the tyrants, of the executive power. Louis Napoleon has built the durable edifice in which after him, and like him, all serious powers may be safe, by whatever name they go, republic or monarchy. And if ever the Count de Chambord, or the Comte de Paris, came to reign in France, they would owe their crown to the coup detat of December 2." This article of M. Granier de Cusagnac is an au dacious tissue of misrepresentations. Ile starts with professing to correct the erroneous notions of foreign countries with regard to France. His very first as sertion bears evident marks of how little M. Grainier is fitted to correct the mistakes of others, when he contradicts all that he wrote under the monarchy of July, of which he was the energetic defender and the loudest eulogist. M. Grimier declares now that ' during the last sixty years France has had only one government which represented the wishes of the vast majority of the country, namely the government of the empire. After this abject 'election of a sys tem of military despotism, the writer proceeds to administer contemptible flatteries to the rural popu lations at the expense of all that tie country con tains of free, enlightened, and eminent. lie winds up, after an attack upon representative institutions, with declaring that if the Count of Chambord or the Count de Paris ever accede to the French throne, they will owe the crown to the coup treble of the 2nd of December. M. Delamarre continues in the Patric to declaim against parliamentary government, which seems, ac cording to this wealthy proprietor, to be the root of all political evil. It is not in this moment to its wealthy proprietors that France must look for the salvation of her liberties. General Cavaignao refused, I understand, to make any conditions for the recovery of his freedom. M. Other, the uncle of the general's bride, would only accept the post assigned to him in the consultative commission on condition of Cavaignac being libe rated. In an interview with M. de Monty, M. IlarM, the flAraist of the Sieck, in order to pismire the with drawal of the order suspending the paper, pro mised that, until the appearance of a law regulat ing the press, the Sierle would abstain from all oppo sition of whatever kind. M. de Monty replied that if he waited until the appearance of such a law he would wait a long time —a warning sufficiently ' significant. A circular of the Minister of the Interior has au thorised the prefects to expel nt once front the French teriitory any foreigners whose presence may appear 'to theta dangerous in a political point of view. Tile usual formalities which might have retarded the execution of this measure are done away with, and all that is required is that the prefects should give notice of expulsions to the minister. M. de Fulloux has written a letter protesting against the misrepresentation of his sentiments that has appeared in the government journals. The only section of the legitimists who have ad hered to Louis Napoleon arc the Due de Valmy and his friends. These always constituted a lukewarm and suspected fraction, and the great mass of the le- gitimist party are glad to have got rid of them. General Itulhicres has written a letter protesting against the insertion of his name in the first list of the consultative commission. Three-quarters of the -10th regiment of the line have voted against Louis Napoleon. In consequence, there is talk of disbanding this regiment. Much surprise has been caused by the official re turns of the votes of the navy, which represent the President as having gained 0,000 votes out of 10,000. No one can comprehend this result, as Louts Napo leon is known to be less popular with the navy than with the army. Besides, it is known that in some ships of the squadron the President hardly obtained a single vote. Thus, on board the Jena, among a crew of MOO. I am told that b only voted in favour of Louis Napoleon. The following paragraph, which appears in the Journal de Rosen, is destined, if not contradicted, to excite very great interest : _ . . We spoke yesterday of a committee of five generals that had been recently formed by the President of the Repub lic. This committee has, indeed, been formed, but it is not yet called upon to net. It is only intended to assemble in the event of the President's death. The conduct that in such en event it would have to pursue and the measures which it would take to maintain order and to make a new appeal to the people arc all laid down in a written memorandum, a sort of political testament which the President has made, and which is not to be opened unless in the event of his death. All nccr.sary• precautions I are taken to ensure the instant amembling of the council in the event alluded to, and that the paper in question should at once reach their hands. The five generals forming the council am Generals Magoon, llsraguay d'lfil hers, Correia, and St. Arnaud, wlio have all promised to execute the President's wishes. The Archbishop of Paris, Monseigneur Sibour, has, I understand, expressed some scruples against receiv ing from the hands of the President the keys of the Pantheon, and consecrating this temple once more to the wet . .. 4 ,4 of Ste. Genevieve. The Duke de Guiche has received the reward of his adhesion to Louis Napoleon in au insignificant diplomatic employ. lie is made French minister at Ilesse Cassel. But, on the other hand, he has for feited the respect of his father, the Duke de Gram mont, who refuses, I hear, to hold any communica tion with him. A well-informed friend writes to me from Bor deaux that political feeling runs very strong there. Ho says : A compact mass of electors besiege the doors of the Hotel de Ville every day to get their voting tickets. The look of patient determination with ?Thiele they wait for the tura, coupled with the weil-known state of public feeling in the city betokens anything but good to the presidential cause. Complaints arc made of the slowness with which the tickets are distributed. It is evident that the govern• ' meat is afraid of the election here. So great is the terror felt of political discussion that the authorities, after exhausting all ordinary modes of preventing the interchange of thought, have closed all the masonic lodges. Every barber in Bordeaux has been sent for to the police oilier and told that his shop will be shut up if a word of politics should be spoken in it. The pioeureur of the republic has had the shameless effrontery to tell M. Lrsparre, nu influential man in his quarter, that if he votes in his canton he shall be sent to prison M. de Crngy, the editor of the legitimist journal the courrier de to Gironde, has been sent for by General Bourjolly, and roughly told that his paper will be suspended if he , s rites a word of poli tics. Public indignation, however, finds means to break out with vigour oceasiomilly. A journal of Rochelle, on the 11th, ventured to publish a most vehement protest against the coup Waal. This example has been followed• by another newspaper in the llautes Pyrenees, which eon eludes its article with the words, " Shame to the army." Seventy-two political prisoners from the Lot and Garonne have been brought to Bordeaux in irons. They are treated with much severity. So far from being the assassins and robbers that the government represent, they almost all of them belong to the bourgeoisie. It is certain that the majority of the legitimists at Bordeaux will vote against Louis Napoleon ; some will abstain, and some few will vote fur him. I learn by, letters from Marseilles that many men of respectability and property took part in the rising.; in the Var and Basses The Moniteur contains the official despatches of General d'Autist, commanding in the liautes and Basses Alpes and Vauclusc, and of General Levail lant, commanding in the Var, of the disturbances in those provinces. The contain little not already known, but they both fully confirm the great extent of the disaffection existing in those departments. General d'Autist gives no returns of killed and wounded. lie says loosely that one of his officers killed some :men at Cavaillon, and caused two or three persons who fell into his h inds to be shot. In another part, he says he . gave orders to shoot every man taken with arms in his hands. In the Var, General Levaillant speaks of 80 or 90 having been killed in ono tight. The latest government despatches from the depart ment state that General Pate has gone to Mazanct (Tarn), where the disturbances are not at an end. The insurgents have encamped upon the heights of the Black Mountain. One hundred and fifty-four more prisoners from the Basses Alpes were brought to Marseilles on the 16th. They are to he sent to the Chateau d'lf. The accounts generally from the departments are said to be very favourable. The anxiety felt by the family of M. Victor Hugo, against whom an order of arrest had been issued, has been relieved by information of safe arri val in Brussels. A liberated convict, who had broken his ban, was yesterday arrested, being the first that has come under the operation of the new decree condemning such offenders to transportation. It appears from government accounts that persons canvassing for votes of " No" in the provinces are being arrested. The crime that they are charged with is that of "exciting peaceable persons not to vote for order on the 20th and 21st instant." Several masonic lodges having been closed by the government throughout France, and particularly on the Swiss frontiers, the grand master of France has thought right, by a general order, to prohibit any masonic meeting before Jan. 1, 1852. A decree appears remodelling the whole organisa tion of the administration of the ministry of the interior. The number of empfu . yr7B is reduced, but the pay of those who remain is increased. The plan of the Secretary-General is abolished. One bureau out of 21 is suppressed, its functions being distributed among the others. The total num ber of clerks is fixed at I4S, their subdivisions into various categories abolished, and their only distinc tion of denomination made to consist in the amount of pay received, which varies from 3,000 f. to half that sum, The pay of the chef de cabinet is fixed at 7,000 E ; that of chef de dichtion of the Ist elass,l2,ooof. a ccounts to be rendered by the ministers for the g ex as am m in e a m ti he on rs o e f f the year P 351, MM. Gouin (president) , Louvet , Manue l, com A m d i ec ttee rce , chargedappears, l a y ' : t p : i t n h t l e n Marchard, Quentin Beechen!, Picard, Lebas de Courmont, Grandet, and Itaynaud de L'arbarin. The President will not receive on Monday next. It appears that M. Dupin drew upon his head the lecture administeted to him by M. do Valour by paying a visit to the latter. It was agreed among the conservative members of the Assembly that who ever first came across the President of the Assembly should depict to him in the severest language the base desertion of which he had been guilty. It ap pears now certain that the te,iology for the coup dt , tat inserted yesterday in the COnAtiiltitoMlCl was written by Dapin, and that this is the price which he has paid for being allowed to retain his place of Procurenr-general to the Court of Cassation. M. Thiers is at Brussels. Urgent solicitations, mixed with serious admonitions, have been made at the Belgian court by the French minister, either to expel M. Thiess, or to subject him to a rigorous sur veillanee. But the spirit of Leopold is too loyal for him to act the jailer towards the head counsellor of the exiled house, to which he himself is so nearly bound. The journals of Switzerland are excluded. The Erho de Mont Blanc, of Savoy, is also interdicted. The l'otme appears without any lending article today. %IM. Pelletau and Peyrat, two well-known writers in that journal, announce that their cornice titm with it has ceased. The (':otentin'ls a we! of yesterday contained an elaborate article upon the nature and extent of secret societies in France, the object el which is to prove that the ramifications of a vast socialist plot were ea extensive, and its organisation so complete, that nothing but the sw ims° of the President's coup deist could have pre served society from being destroyed by communists in 1852. You cannot fail to obsCrve that the Presi- I dent ha's two totally distinct sets of arguments to justify the act of the 2nd of December, which he ad dresses with much tact and cleverness to ditfereut classes of society. To the masses he says the Assembly had become a mere knot of conspirators ; they wanted to imprison me—l dissolved the Assembly in my own defence—l have full confidence in the sovereign people ; I appeal to the free judgment of universal suffrage to decide between me and the Assembly. To the people of property he says, don't be angry with me, if I had not taken the people by surprise they would have returned a socialist majority in 1852, see what I have saved you from, and be thankful; bear the temporary imprison ment of your friends with resignation, and share my final victory over democracy. The article of today is addressed to the latter class of readers. It enters into very long details of the facts that came out upon the trial of the famous Lyons plot, and which have since been discovered by the police, and alleges that the results which are well and fully proved, as far as regards secret societies, may be thus summed up : 1. A very great part of France, almost the whole of the country, sits covered, as with a net work, with an immense number of secret societies, some cone:tiling themselves in the shade, others usurping the mask of benevolent societies. —2. These societies were connected together, or in corre spondence with each other through secret agents, and by travelling clerk traversing every part of the coun try, carrying instructions fur maintaining unity of views and keeping up a perp,tual agitation. The societies were established by sigas and means of recognition, by seals, by oaths and farms of initiation and by uniPirm mots d'or,bs'. —3. The secret societies established in France are subject to the direction of central committees edablisheel in Paris, Lyons, and London, and arc in correspondence with the political refugees established in Switzerland.-4. The mili tant democracy were arranged into sections of secret socie ties, and provided with arms and ammunition, in order to secure the success of its pi ojects. Yon will observe that after all this "resume" merely proves the existence of secret societies, and that it is a gratuitous assumption that the object of all of them was communism; or, as the favourite government phraseology now runs, " pillage, murder, and violation." There is, however, an admission in this article pregnaitt with instruction for French statesmen, if they could be brought to profit by it. "The re-organisation and multiplication of secret societies dates front the presentation to the Assembly in April, 1819, of the law interdicting clubs. People then became desirous of carrying on in the dark the work that they were no longer permitted to do in the face of day." What wonder? Here is an ad mission that the people to whom it is uow reproached as so groat a crime, that they belong to secret societies, do not hive darkness rather than light, but have been driven to conspire by the folly of government in put ting down all public discussion of political atthirss It is from this forced secrecy that socialism derives its principal terrors, but the absurd doctrines which may find favour in secret conclaves could never face the common sense of the public. It is curious that this article, showing the immense number of the members of secret societies, should appear upon the same day when M. de Morny's letter in the Moniteue recommends the severe execution of the recent decree for transporting , without trial, any man who may "have belonged" to a secret society. If it were possible to act up to this decree to any great extent, it would indeed thin the number of electors at the poll next Saturday. The annual banquet of the old officers of the Im perial Guard took place on Dec. 15, at the "'frois Frilres Provenoux. Marshal Excelmans presided; and among the other officers present were Generals Petit, Schramm, Magnan, Gentil, Lafontaine, Mont marie, litigation, Chatry-Lafosse, &e. After the usual first toast. "To the memory of the Emperor," had been drunk, Marshal Excelmans warmly ex patiated upon the merits of the President of the Re public, whom he ridiculously described as the worthy heir of the great character and eminent qualities of the emperor. He was confident that as l'rince Louis Napoleon had saved France from the evils which h‘fo,oe7 .l,d nfrommi n continued threatened aennyta.lyl h el e EL 1.8 r e , to proposeds o harmt protectofh o e r c o Nt:tellilllfid. theuur France, future. He et reihi3ioNteg:h:ethuotio. hoped and gratitude to Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, the saviour of the country and of civilisation." This toast was received with the greatest enthusiasm, amidst repeated cries of " Vivo le President de la Repub lique!" " Vice to Prince Louis Napoleon !" General Petit, the vice-president, then gave "The Army," which he introduced by a eulogistic notice of their services on the recent occasioe, in which he said the army had saved France from the greatest danger that she had ever encountered. This toast was drunk amidst loud cries of " Vire l'Armee!" " %lee lc General Magnan !" In reply to this com pliment, General Magnan said, " No, my comrades, I have done nothing . more than my duty ; it is not to mo that these praises arc due, but to the bravo soldiers, who have supported so much fatigue, and who by their devotedness to the cause of order have deserved well of their country." The 2nd of Deecm her was fixed on for the day of meeting next year. And having thus determined to celebrate in future the anniversary of the imprisonment of seven of their most distinguished generals, this military fes tivity terminated. The Bourse was dull to-day. The Fives fell 75c., and closed at 100.50. The Threes fell 80c., closing at 64fr. The Orleans railway rose 17.50. Rouen fell 15fr. The other lines varied but slightly. Prince's suffer i ,e re , tehsael preserve her -ierf, (PROM AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT.) PARIS, WEDNESDAY. The President's great battue of French journals having ceased for the present, the newspaper readers are now employed in endeavouring to form some estimate of the number of killed and wounded. The Nationd, the /V . publique, and the Arenenicnt no longer answer to their names in the rap and reading rooms, and must be considered dead. The Semaine, a weekly newspaper which never indulged in very violent political opinions of any shade, has been sup pressed, and the prohibition of the President was even extended to a little journal the name of which was unknown except to a few private readers; but the editor of the Voix de la Vilriti• (the name of the little journal in question) having represented to the Minister of the Interior that he had no bias to wards one side more than another he was allowed to continue his publication, which was never more dangerous to the cause of order than a journal of family r The Illustration suffered • ‘itly , receipts. but slightly, and in fact escaped with a delay of three days in its appearance; but not one drawing of any of the scenes of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or .sth of De cember was given; nor did the paper contain a single line either of information or commentary with regard to the events of those days. When the Sleek made its re-appearance after the order for its suspension had been removed, an an_ nouncement was made in its first column that a, its writers continued to hold the opinions W hi c h they had supported for so many years, it would be h ues :. sible for them to publish any remarks on th e I, oe occurrences in Paris, and that the political part of the newspaper would consist merely of such sta,e merits of facts as they were allowed to print. ti t , Monday and Tuesday the Sic& was not seen, but it has come out to-day, without. ever, giving any explanation of the pearance of its two previous number , . I t is at the sane time generally known that this days suspension took place in consequeme of the Siede having refused to give a plate in its columns to an article which had been ~ en: it for insertion by the authorities. This new. ; is now- the only one of republieun princi des :s 1.44 ; is allowed to exist, and as its existence de-. n tirely upon its not advocating those priacill., republican press may be said to have been r destroyed. Many of the legitimist jouni..!. we been accommodating enough to give their support to Louis Napoleon. The rnie , -rs has been won over by the Presides is piety in tort:. ing the Pantheon iuto a church, and the France no doubt admires him in the fulness of it, feudal recollections for the kingly manlier in v. 11: the indiscriminate firing among the people in !..c Boulevards was conducted. 1 may here that no return of the number of killed and w,timi.tl on the part either of the soldiers iw ,; • people has been made. Pai tial such as one to the effect that bodies were picked up between the 800 , - Montmartre and the Boulevard des Bailees, ha „ peered, but in this case the cep-es were th - passers-by alone. It is impassible to ascertain many of the actual insurgents were destroyed. i.e is certain that the number very far exec.:. which the government journals would le.' I n. imagine, while, on the other hand, many to , diets haveperished than the same papers :sit readers to hear of. I believe it is not g. known in London, that the bodies of those Is who were shot by the random discharges soldiers in the Boulevards were in no ease up to their friends. The unfortunate known to have taken no part in the ins but it was derided that the corpses sitould he taken possession of by the authorities, and I.u: sed by them in order teprevent their falling int) the hi,i of tiro red republicans, and being displayed by them with the object of inflaming the people. To return to the Paris journals, the Pet •t , is no longer edited by Giraalin, and several of its late political writers have left it. It has bran stated that Girardin is going to the United titates, but 1. find this to be incorrert,as he intends starting are p iii licnn journal at Brussels. All tile Belgian tt-wsl the politics of which are at all disagreeable President, arc forbidden in Paris, but RIM' I will doubtless be discovered for introthwing din's paper secretly among the staunch r, pal and at all events he will be enabled to main character as a democrat until the next get at I change takes place. ThcOwsaire and Charirari have been allow, d v. continue their existence with the unact,tatitiiii4 that <<•d nr:sc: I I they are to contain nothing which 3.ltail direct or indirect reference to ir3lities. the C'orsaire and Charintri hayu been rib doll a , „:,.4 be expected since their re-appearanf-:.. It appc.o•i that Mk the theatrical journals aro not sad• one of them has been already fined for a Inca. Wu sion to the effect of political excitement on the tunes of a theatre); ain't the J;net,, , d eau only be considered safe from the rut of out its principal writers being the welt-known t pieura and politician, Dr. VC Ton, now ;dl-paw...rful at Ow editor of the Coneitatbotnch As the last piece of news regarding the press in Paris I may mention tint even a writer in the Patric, that peacetul organ of the government, whose every word was said to be written at the dictation of the government, has been imprisoned. The cul prit is M. Jules Serret, and his offence was the publication of news relative to some disturbances in the departments, in which he represented the insur gents as hating gained the upper hand. This seve rity on the part of the government towards the press applies to the publication of books as well as of news papers. Several pamphlets have lately appeared in favour of Louis Napoleon's election, but permission is refused to any person wishing to print the nunv,t hint of an objection as to the mode in which the election is to be managed. SPAIN. MADRID, Dtc. M. Xavier de Isturitz has arrived in Madrid, where ho has received several visits. It appears that the session of the Cortes will not be renewed atter the deliverance of the Queen. The Gazette pub lishes a decree proroguing until the end of Marvh, 1852 the delay appointed by the Bth article of the law of August 1, 1851, for the presentation of bonds of the home and foreign debt, whose owners aspic' to the benefits of the said article. GERMANY. In consequence of the alarm felt by the Austrian government on receipt of the news from Paris, it was thought timeshare to impress the Viennese with tll.l high state of efficiency in which the garrison of the city is maintained. On the morning of the :ird ac cordingly, orders having been previously given, the troops were alarmed and the drums beat to arms. In less than an hour the inner town was completely sur rounded and the artillery pointed. Thu Emperor now appeared on horseback surrounded by a nume rous staff, and rode along the lines, after which the immense army returned with bands playing to their various barracks in the suburbs. The fact has been carefully reported in all the papers. The troops re ceived three days extra pay for the fatigue. An order was issued upon the sth, by the military governor, that the possession of any kind of likral paper or written letters advocating piiuciples hostile to government would be considered treasonable, and punished by immediate arrest and imprisonment. I'he order was to apply to strangers as well as to I the Viennese, and it was added that the police had orders to search the houses of any persons who might incur their suspicion. These rigorous proceedings are stated to arise from the state of siege. Some difficulties have arisen bet seen the Austrian and Bavarian governments, respecting the military roads for the passage of federal troops. A new Austrian police station is to be established at Olmutz, on account of the increased number of travellers who begin to pass through there. English men who coutemplaty entering any part of tho Austrian dominions cannot bo too strongly impressed with the necessity of not only fulfilling all the pass port regulations, but of being also provided with sonic reference to an established Vienna hanker; for if they are not armed to the teeth in this manner, they run something more than a chance of annoyance. The directors of the land indemnity fund (for the abolition of scignorial rights, &c.) will make known the results of their labours in a few days. It is a curious fact, that in spite of all the outcry which has been made by landholders on this subject, they are actually gainers by the abolition of forced labour. Work now really is to be obtained by paying for it and formerly it was not, which makes a sensible dit ference in harvest time. Prince Windischgratz had a long audience with the Emperor, previous to his departure from Vienna, and is supposed to have been earnestly solicited to accept the Statthalterate of Bohemia, but to have steadily refused it. A compact has been recently entered into between Austria, Bavaria, Wurtemberg, Saxony, and several of tho smaller governments of Germany, by which the consuls or other public functionaries of any or either of them accredited abroad, shall in future ex tend their protection, in case of necessity, to the sub jects of all these powers alike. This seems to be a step on the part of Austria to the accomplishment of a project which is supposed to have been for some time in embryo, viz., that of being entrusted with the representation of the smaller German courts abroad. The recent abolition of the diplomatic esta blishment of Tuscany would also seem to let it ap pear that sho had similar views in Italy. • The most clear and unequivocal demnl, however, i of any intention of incorporating Tuseauy kis been industriously circulated in the Austrian nal'er 3 ' though it is scarcely possible to doubt that she 15 IIMOrr" -- fie Con for Pec thi alit of I dal hal 618