The Press. — London, England, 1858-02-13 00:00:00

MI 140 cal capital play fast and loose with " Reform." At present the third of these classes is the most dangerous, because the most deceitful, and because it is in power. tartign 6 out spoubture. Paus, Feb. 11. THE appointment of General Espinasse to the responsible post of Minister of the Interior is an event of the highest importance. It is not the mere exchange of one statesman for another, nor is it the success of a Party or Court intrigue. It is to a certain extent a complete change of policy. General Espinasse is not only Minister of the Inte rior, but he is Minister of Public Safety. This latter title requires some explanation. It cannot be denied that the Red Republicans have for some time past been actively organising secret societies, not only in France, but in other countries, and that at the meetings of these demagogues it had been resolved to establish one universal republic through. out Europe. To accomplish this, the necessity of destroying several reigning sovereigns was primary and apparent. Desperate fanatics, as we have recently seen, were not wanting to carry out the atrocious resolves of the secret conspirators, and hence the necessity of combating these measures by exceptional means. Ido not mean to-day to enter into minute details of the ramifications of these dangerous societies as at present discovered. On some future occasion, perhaps, I will give you some curious facts ; but at present my object is to point out to you—and here I am supprted by the public opinion of. France—that General Espinasse, as Minister of the Interior and Public Safety, is more capable to coun teract and suppress the plots of not only the Red Republicans, hut of demagogues of every descrip tion, than was plain M. Billault, Minister only of the Interior. Objections have been made, though certainly not in France, to the Minister of the In terior because he is a military man. I might reply, in the emphatic language made use of by M. Dupin, the celebrated lawyer, on the election of Louis Philippe as King of the French, that this nomina tion was not quoique, mail parceque, it etait Gineral. Conspirators will now know with whom they have to deal, and the punishment that awaits them on conviction. But why should a military man be less Minister of the Interior in France than a civilian hold the post of First Lard of the Admiralty In England? But General Espinasse is not the first military officer who has been placed at the head of a civil department. General Carnot was Minister of the Interior in 1815, and General Savary (Duke de Rovigo) during the reign of Napoleon I. was Minister of the General Police of the Empire. Of all men the Republicans have the least right to complain of the general's nomination, for in 1848 they placed M. Arago, an astronomer, at the bead of the army as Minister of War. That General Espinasse is the " right man in the right place " is acknowledged by every one but the turbulent and dissatisfied. He not only possesses the confidence of the Emperor, but from his affability and dignity commands the esteem and respect and good opinion of all those who have had the honour of his acquaintance. He is inflexibly just, is possessed of great determination, and has managed some confidential missions to the marked satisfaction of the Emperor. General Espinasse will be most admirably seconded by M. Cornusu, the Secretaire-General, a gentleman of high adminis trative talent, sound judgment, and conciliatory manners. General Espinasse has also been fortunate in his choice of a private secretary, M. Leopold Montz, a gentleman of great literary talent. M. Billault carries with him into private life the friend. ship of every eminent man in France. He was beloved by all those employed in his office, and, I may say, esteemed by everybody. M. Billault may yet in the Senate render much service to the country by his sound and practical judgment. The violent language of certain members of Par liament in England has created a painful sensation throughout France, and it is believed by many that there exists a desire to break up the alliance between the two countries. Those, however, who have visited England are convinced that neither Mr. Roebuck nor the peaceful Mr. Gilpin represents any great portion of the British nation. They shrug their shoulders, and content themselves by saying " les maladroit.!" All the Frenchmen I have seen capable of reasoning complain bitterly of the con tinual attacks made by the English democratic journals against the Emperor and his Government, and say that they in some measure justify the un reflected ardour of some military officers. It has been said that these papers being seized at the post office are consequently not read in France. This is not so; for almost every article against the Era- Phi PRESS, F I EBRETARV 13, 1858. peror which appears in a London journal is sent to France (translated) in a private letter, and many of these letters are directed to sergeants in the army. These letters invariably begin with the following words :—" I inclose you the opinion of the English nation as to Louis Napoleon," &c. &c. Several of these letters have fallen into the hands of the colonels of regiments. This little fact may go far to account for the warm language recently adopted by many of the gallant officers. The Emperor having heard that the compositors formerly employed on the suppressed paper Le Speetateur were in great distress, sent them Io,ooof. The following is a copy of the letter of thanks sent by these honest workmen : Sire,—The undersigned compositors of Le Spectateur take leave to express to your Majesty their sentiments of profound gratitude for the act of generosity by which your Majesty has come to their zelief. They are happy on this occasion to present to your Majesty their warmest felicita• Lions at the providential escape from danger of the Em- peror and Empress, and to express their indignation which the detestable act inspires in the breast of every Frenchman. M. de Rayneval, who was to have gone to St. Petersburg as Ambassador, and of whose severe ill ness I informed you some weeks since, died last night. He will be buried to-morrow. There are various reports about respecting changes in the Ministry, and even amongst the ambassadors, but I have every reason to believe that they are without foundation. When the Paris Congress will meet is not yet known, but I am most credibly informed that on the Danubian Riverain Question all the European powers have agreed to oppose the pretensions of Austria. Paris is more gay this Carnival than it has been for many years, and were I to notice all the splendid balls that are nightly given I should fill your columns. It is expected that the Bal Costume of the Minister of State (M. Fould) on the 15th or 10th will be most brilliant. The day is not yet fixed for the trial of Orsini and his accomplices ; fresh exposures, which require serious investigations, are daily unravelled. It now appears that a great number of persons are com promised, some of whom are now, or were very lately, residing in England. The following is an extract from a letter received this morning : Berlin, February 9th. The King received the Prince and Princess Frederick William at Bellevue without the least ceremony, but with heartfelt cordiality. The King embraced the Princess most affectionately several times, and expressed to her how happy he was to see her. The Prince and Princess were most enthusiastically greeted by the people on their tra►ersing the streets yester day evening in a carnage to see the illuminations, which were the most brilliant ever before witnessed in Berlin. The hereditary Prince of Reuss was married on the 7th at Carisruhe (Silesia) with the Princess Pauline of Wur temburg. News received by telegraph from Constantinople to the 3rd of February, says that Mehemet Bey, who defended the Fort Yesera, besieged by the Her zegovines, had been obliged to capitulate. It was said that the Governor of the lonian Islands had ordered Corfu and Zante to be strongly fortified. Cardinal Fieschi died at Rome on the sth inst. There are now no less than eleven new cardinals to be made to complete the Sacred College. THE FRENCH DESPATCHES. THE following is a translation of the despatch from the French Minister for Foreign Affairs which Lord Paimerston laid on the table of the House of Com mons on Saturday . COUNT WILEWSKI TO COUNT PERSIONT. Paris, Jan. 20, 1858. Monsieur le Comte,—The preliminary proceedings in stituted on the criminal attempt of which the person of the Emperor has been the object are pursuing their course, and we shall ere long learn the definite result ; but there is one point on which, even at present, we can have no doubt; this attempt, like those which have preceded it, has been projected iu England. It was in England that Pianori formed the design of attacking the Emperor; it was from L)ndon that, in an affair the recollection of which is still fresh, Mazzini, Ledru Rollin, and Campanella hrected the hired bravos (sicaires) whose hands they had armed. It was there also that the authors of the late consniracy have prepared at leisure their means of action, studied and fabricated the instruments of destruction of which they made use, and it was thence that they started to execute their plan. In establishing these facts, I hasten to aid how much the Government of the Emperor is penetrated with the sin cerity of the sentiments of reprobation which they have raised in England. It is equally convinced that, with such proofs of the abuse of hospitality before them, the English Government and people will from the present understand how far we are justified in anxiously considering them (fondes a nons en preoceuper). No oue appreciates and respects more than ourselves the liberality with which England loves to practise the right of asylum towards foreigners, victims of political struggles. France has on her part always regarded it as duty of humanity never to close her frontiers to an honourable misfortune, to whatever party it mi g h t b elong and the klovernrnent of his Majesty has no intention of complaining that its adversaries can find a refuge on English soil and live there peaceably, under the protection of British laws, while remaining faithful to their opinions, even to their passions. But, Monsieur le Comte, how widely different is the attitude of the adepts in demagogy established in Engl an d! It is no longer the hostility of erring parties manifesting itself by all the excesses of the press and every violence of language ; it is no longer even the labour of the factious seeking to agitate opinion and to provoke disorder; it is assassination reduced to a doctrine, preached openly, prac- tised in repeated attempts, the most recent of which has just struck Europe with stupefaction (vient de trapper l'Europe de stupeur). Ought, then, the right of as)lnm to protect such a state of things? Is hospitality due to assassins? Should English legislation serve to favour their designs and their manceuvres, and can it continue to protect persons who place themselves by flagrant acts outside the pale of the common law, and expose themselves to the ban of humanity? In submitting these questions to the Government of her Britannic Majesty the Government of the Emperor not only discharges a duty towards itself, it responds to the sentiment of the country, which demands such a pro ceeding under the pressure of most legitimate anxieties (qui l'y invite sous l'empire des plus legitinies pre occupations ), and which, in a circumstance where joint responsibility (solidarite) between all nations and all Go vernments is so evident, believes that it has the right to count upon the co-operation of England. The recurrence and the perversity of these guilty enterprises subject France to a danger against which we are all hound to provide. The Government of her Britannic Majesty can assist us in averting it by giving us a guarantee of security, which no State can refuse to a neighbouring State, and which we are authorised in expecting from an ally. Full of con fidence, moreover, in the exalted reason of the English Cabinet, we abstain from all indication as regards the measures which it may be suitable to take to satisfy this wish. We rely in this matter entirely on them (the English Cabinet) for the care of appreciating the decisions which they shall judge the most proper to lead to this end, and we flatter ourselves (nous nous complaisons) with the firm belief that we shall not have appealed in vain to their conscience and their loyalty. You will be so good as to read this despatch to Lord Clarendon, and give him a copy of it.—Accept, &c., A. WALIWSEL The following is a translation of the despatch Sir George Grey read before the house on Tuesday night : M. le Comte,—The account you give me of the effect produced in England by the insertion in the Voniteur of certain addresses from the army has not escaped my atten tion, and I have made a report of it to the Emperor. You are aware of the sentiments by which we have been in fluenced in the steps we have adopted with her Britannia Majesty's Government on the occasion of the attack of the 14th of January, and of the care we have taken, in apply. ing for its concurrence, to avoid everything that could bear the appearance of pressure on our part. All our com munications manifest our confidence in its sincerity [loyaute], and our deference for the initiative being taken by it ; and if, in the enthusiastic manifestations of the devotion of the army, words have pos4ibly been inserted which have seemed in England to be characterised by a different sentiment, they are too much opposed to the language which the Emperor's Government has not ceased to hold to that of her Britannic Majesty for it to be pee sible to attribute them to anything else than inadvertence caused by the number of those addresses. The Emperor enjoins you to say to Lord Clarendon how much he regrets it. (Loud cheers from both sides of the house.) I authorise you to give a copy of this despatch to the Princi pal Secretary of State fur Foreign Affairs. CDNSPIRACY TO MURDER BILL. 1. Any person who shall, within the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or the islands of Jersey, Guern • sey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, conspire with any other person or persons, being either within or without the said united kingdom and said islands, to commit murder either within or without the dominions of her Majesty, shall be guilty of felony, and upon being convicted shall be liable to be sentenced to penal servitude for life, or for any term not less than five years, or to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for any term not exceeding three years. 2. That any person within the said united kingdom, or said islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, who shall persuade, instigate, or solicit any other person, being either within or without the said united kingdom or the said islands, to commit mnrder, either within or without her Majesty's dominions, shall be guilty of felony, and shall be bible upon conviction to be sen tenced to penal servitude for life, or for any term not less than See years, or to imprisonment, with or without bard labour, for any term not exceeding three years. 3. Any person charged with felony under the provisions of this act may be apprehended or punished, or otherwis(i dealt with in all respects, in any county or place within the united kingdom in which he may be found, in the same manner as if the felony with which he is charged had been committed in such county or place. 4. In any proceeding under this act in which the murder shall be alleged to have been intended to be com mitted in any foreign country or countries, murder shall be construed to mean the killing of any person, whether a subject of her Majesty or not, under such circumstances as would, if the person were so killed in the united king dom, make such killing murder by the laws of the saii. united kingdom