The Press. — London, England, 1858-11-13 00:00:00

1100 jartiga Correspon4enct. PARIS, Thursday. Tim great news of the week is that the Emperor of the French has addressed a letter to his cousin, Prince Napoleon, which, though not in express terms, is virtually an undertaking that the practice of obtaining blacks on the western coast of Africa as "free immigrants" to the French colonies, which has lately been practised by France on a rather large scale, shall cease. This is a new and graceful con cession to England on the part of the Emperor, and I doubt not that it will be duly appreciated by all our right thinking countrymen. I call it a conces sion to England, because I know that the Derby Cabinet represented, both to the Duke de Malakoff at London, and through Lord Cowley to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in this city, that the so-called " free immigration " system is regarded by the great majority of the people of England as nothing less than the slave trade in disguise ; and that so intense is their horr3r of that odious traffic ' that it would be impossible long to maintain a friendly alliance between England and France in the event of the latter persisting in it. This representation, made with that mingle.' frankness and firmness which mark the foreign policy of Lords Derby and Nlalines bury, produced a great impression on the Emperor and his advisers; and—his Majesty's letter is the result. It is generally believed that the prosecution of Count de Montalembert, for the publication of a seditious article in the Correspondant, will be abandoned. The friends of the Government say that it will be so because to the examining magis trates the Count has earnestly protested that he did not mean to " excite the enmity of the Government," or to insult the Emperor, or commit any other of the offences with which be is charged ; his friends, on the contrary, assert that the Government is afraid to go on with it, because to put so important a personage into prison —and M. de Montalembert vows, they say, that if condemned he will go to prison—would create a painful impression in the country. For my part, I suspect that both parties would not be sorry to " declare off" in the affair : the Government to spare itself the odium of prose. cuting a distinguished man; the distinguished man himself to avoid the bore of being deposited, for a given time, in a small cell without either carpet or easy chair, and the still greater bore of figuring in the army of political martyrs, which, truth to tell, has, in these degenerate days, become somewhat ridiculous. People here are in a good deal of perplexity about Lord Palmerston. Has he, or has he not, been on visit to the Emperor and Empress at Compiegne? WWI he that old, old man, who, seated on a big horse, at the last Imperial hunt, was from stiffness in the joints so ill at ease that he made courtiers smile and drew from Imperial Majesty the compassionate inquiry, " Milor, hadn't you better get down ?" or has he remained quietly at home ? Compiegne journals say positively that the noble lord has been with the Emperor, and Parisian journals say the same thing ; whilst a let:er in one of the papers asserts that after leaving Compiegne ho paid a visit to Lord Cowley at Chantilly, where our ambassador (owing to the embassy being under repair) is still residing. Bat, on the other hand, the official Moniteur has not announced his arrival, and it would hardly have left the presence of so distinguished a personage unrecorded ; neither has Gafignani nor any of the correspondents of the London daily news• papers said anything about him. The good public then, you see, knows not what to think, and as Lord Palmerston is naturally the greatest of man- kind in its eyes, its perplexity is painful in the extreme. Very grand ere the hunts and other festivities at the Royal, or, as I suppose it must now be called, Imperial Palace of Compiegne ; very strict, too, say the newspapers, is the etiquette observed—only a select few, even of the invited guests, being allowed places at the Imperial table, or to penetrate into the inner salon in which of an evening Imperial Majesty sits. The expen.e caused the Emperor by his visit to Compiegne is described to be prodigious: all the household is there, and the household is vast in number and dear to keep ; the hunting establish ment is there, and it exceeds in number and magni ficence, and consequently in cost, that which Charles X. used to maintain—and yet dearly did that royal Bourbon love hunting, and right royal was his wenerie ; guests of high degree are Caere, and have troops of lackies with them; and last, but not least, the entire companies of various Paris theatres are taken down twice or thrice a week to amine the dis tinguished party ; and what try, and presents, and feasting, and travelling, " incidental ex penses," those companies absorb a good deal. Nor THE PRE SB, /4ovEmßpl 1, 18_,58. is it only the Emperor's purse that bleeds: the guests themselves have to buy uniforms of green and gold for the hunts, and the ladies are required to appear in two new dresses a day. It is said that the Emperor and Empress will most likely prolong their stay at Compiegne to the beginning of next month, and that it is not unlikely that they will afterwards spend some little time at St. Cloud before taking up their residence at the Tuileries. As the absence of the Court from the capital at this season checks trade, traders grumble a little against their Imperial Majesties. But the fact is that the Empress does not like the Tuileries as a residence, and that she always comes to Paris with a sinking heart, for, says her Majesty, "It is at Paris only that the Emperor is ever fired at !" The Roman priesthood in this city, and especially the Jesuits, are making more energetic efforts than ever to gain converts ; and they do not disdain worldly temptations as well as spiritual persuasion— in fact, generally speaking, they place greater reliance on the former. To very poor people timely donations of cash, blankets, clothing, food, are powerful incen tives in awakening convictions ; clerks, professors, and such folk are bought by the promise of well-paid employment ; wealthy marriages catch the more ambitious; and the vain are secured by the promise of decorations, or honours, or introductions to Arch bishops and Cardinals. Another plan is also employed : Catholic board and lodging houses are established in various parts of Paris, at which what prospectuses call " excellent accom modation," with reading-rooms stocked with news papers and books, and gay sprightly company, and even billiards, can be had for a very moderate sum per month—sometimes even, when a convert is hoped for, gratis—and in these houses, which for the most part are conducted by priests not in priestly costume, or by men who are devoted to them, the minds of the lodgers are constantly acted on in the most artful manner, until at last the lodgers, either from convic tion, or laziness, or interest, become formal observers of the rites of Catholicism, and, what the Popish clergy prize still more highly, mere dependants and tools of the priests. The Government is about to increase the police force in Paris by about 2,000 men ; but a great por tion of them will be required for the suburbs beyond the octroi walls which ate, in execution of a project long talked of, very shortly to be added to Paris. The Parisian police is now organized on the plan of that of London, and is a well-conducted body. It was the Emperor who caused it to be modelled on our plan. The French Government has received despatches from its admiral in China, stating that lie had sent an ultimatum to the Sovereign of Cochin Chinn, notifying that if his Majesty did not comply with all his demands in a week he would march on the capital. _ _ PS. As I write I learn that the latest chances are that Count de ➢lontalembert will be prosecuted, but on charges much less grave than those originally contemplated; CO that he may escape with only a slight fine. foreign intb colonial latelligente. FRANCS. LETTER OF THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. The Moniteur publishes the following letter ' which the Emperor has addressed to his cousin, Prince Napoleon, Minister of Algeria and of the Colonies : St. Cloud, Oct. 80, 1838. __ _ _ My Dear Coasin,—l have the liveliest desire that—ac the moment when the difference with Portugal, relative to the Charles• Georges, has terminated—the question of the engagement of free labourers on the African coast should be definitively examined and finally settled on the truest principles of humanity and justice. I energetically claimed from Portugal the restitution of the Charles-Georges, because I will always maintain intact the independence of the national flag ; but, in this case even, it was only with the profound conviction of my right that I risked, with the King of Portugal, a rupture of those friendly relations which I am glad to maintain with him. But as to the principle of the engagement of the negroes, my ideas are far from being settled. If, in truth, labourers recrolted on the African coast are not allowed the exercise of their free will, and if this enrolment is only the slave trade in disguise, I will have it on no terms, for it is not I who will anywhere protect enterprizes eon• trary to progress, to humanity, and to civilization. I beg you then to seek out the truth with the zeal and intelligence which you bring to bear on all affairs about which you employ yourself. And as the best method of putting a term to what is a continual cause of dispute would be to substitute the free labour of Indian coolies for that of the negroes, I beg you to come to an understanding with the Minister for Foreign Aff.irs to resume with the English Government the negotiations which were entered upon a few months ago. On this, my dear cousin, I pray God to have you in his holy keeping. NAPOLEON. THE FUNERAL CAR OF NAPOLEON I. The Moniteur publishes the following :—The funeral car of Napoleon arrived on Friday morning in Paris. General Sir J. Burgoyne, charged by Queen of England to proceed with it to the Invalidei, and deliver it up formally, was in attendance. At a quarter to one, General Count d'Ornan o , t h e governor, and his staff, descended into the cou r t yar d , to meet , Marshal Valliant, Minister of War. In a few minnie, after, the English general and Prince Napoleon, who had come from Compiegne expressly for the art a. sion, arrived, and the ceremony of reception took place in front of the church, where the car had been placed. Sir J. Burgoyne delivered the following address:— Her Majesty the Queen of England being desirous of offering to his Imperial Majesty a relic which she knows to be interesting to France, has charged me to bring to Paris, and place at the disposal of the Emperor, theft:men' car on which were conveyed to his first tomb the mortal remains of the illustrious founder of the Napoleonien dynasty. The almiration which I feel as a soldier for the exalted genius andlexploits of that great warrior has cause,' me to feel the greater pleasure at the choice which my gracious Sovereign has made of me for the accomplishment of this honourable mission. Prince Napoleon replied : General,—l receive, in the name of the Emperor, the precious relic which the Queen of Englund has sent to him. I receive it as a testimony of her desire to efface the poignant remembrances of St. Helena, u a pledge of the friendship which united the two Sovereigns, and as a proof of the alliance which exists between the two nations. May this alliance long continue for the happiness of the human race. May it reserve for the future u great results as those which it has already produced! I am charged by the Emperor to inform you, genet al, that he particularly appre. ciates the choice which the Queen has made of yon for this mission. We are happy to have to thank one of those glorious chiefs of the English army, by the side of whom we have fought, and for whom we have retained such a high esteem. The short ceremonial then terminated. The car is to be placed in the Chapel St. Jerome, by the side of the mortal remains of the great man which had been conveyed on it to the tomb. M. DE MONTALEXBERT'S PROSECUTION. It is reported that the magistrate appointed to ex. amine the charge against M. de Montalembert has decided that the incriminated article does not bear out the charge, and that he will consequently issue a declaration that there aro not sufficient grounds for a prosecution. THE FRENCH PRESS. Since the accession to office of M. Delangle, Minister of the Interior, the French press enjoys a greater degree of freedom than it did previously, as is manifest from the independence with which seversl of the journals have lately treated important matters of internal policy without having been interfered with in any way or visited with avertissements. MIRACLES AND SUPERSTITION. The Prase contains an article, written by M. Gueralt, in which he speaks of the gross superstition which the French clergy have of late been endeavour ing to encourage among the ignorant peasantry in the rural districts by means of pretended miracles such as those at Lourdes and La Satette. A TEMPITSG OFFER. It appears that agents are in Paris beating up for female recruits for our Australian colonies. Large premiums and promises of husbands are offered to obtain young damsels, and the agents have succeeded in inducing about 100 to accept the terms. They must be under thirty years of age. BELGIUM. OPENING OP THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION. On Tuesday afternoon the Belgian legislative session of 1858.59 was opened at Brussels by the King in person. His Majesty, the Duke of Brabant, and the Count of Flanders rode to the Assembly on horseback, and were received with much enthusiasm. The speech, which was delivered by the King from the throne, congratulates the Assembly upon the state of the internal and external a ff airs of the country, and notices the approaching introduction of certain measures by the Government. Among the latter is a law securing a more efficacious copyright in literary and artistic works ; a vote towards estab lishing additional primary schools in various com• manes ; a bill relative to the administration of public charities, and various projects tending to favour the expansion of home commerce and the r elief of local industry. The last census has shown an increase in the population of the country, of which one of the consequences will be an addition to the number of members in the Legislative Assembly. The state of the national treasury is satisfactory ; and the ordi nary receipts show a balance over expenditttre , has been applied to the reduction of the floa tin g debt. The speech concluded with an exp ression of his Majesty's confidence in the patr iotism of die Assembly, and his full expectation that , b y Its loyal and active support, it will enable the Gove rnment to effectually promote the national welfare. wh!ch to the eat ies rho ca- wk een ing I of ixs to era' rtal tian the reel My tent the him. mint ship the this race. hose the )pre• for hose horn eh a ir is le of been ex. has bear end nor a igle, le I F 9 " rent tters with • M. ition tour y in zies uP urge to eded must itive the ants on 3111. rom the the of the fight tab• gket...A7 :. I K7- . ..