The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1858-01-26 00:00:00

Jortign anb Colonial inttlligence.

FRANCE.
ATTEMPT= AMASKNATION.—The Emperor in his
speech opening the Chambers on Monday, said :—" I
cannot conclude without alluding to the criminal at-
tempt which has just taken place. I thank Heaven for
the visible protection with which it shielded the
Empress and myself, and I deplore that so many victims
should be made when only one life was aimed at. Yet
these plots bring their lessons with them. Firstly, they
prove the weakness and impotence of the parties who
Stave recourse to assassination and such desperate means;
secondly, that no assassination, even if successful, ever
served the cause of those who hired the assassin. Neither
those who slew Caesar nor those who assassinated Henry
IV. derived any advantage from their crime. God
sometimes allows the just to fall, but He never allows
the cause of crime to triumph. These attempts, there-
fore, neither shake my security in the present nor my
faith in the future. If I live the Empire will live with
me, and if I should fall my very death would only tend
to strengthen the empire, for the indignation of the
people and of the army would be an additional support
to the throne of my son. Let us, then, look confidently
towards the future; let us attend calmly to our daily
work for the welfare and greatness of our country. God
protects France."
On Tuesday there were eight Italians in custody; the
examinations are going on, but still with much secrecy,
and anything that may be said of the nature of the
disclosures, if disclosures there be, must necessarily be
conjecture. If Pierri, Orsini, and the others have made
an avowal of their guilt, as has been stated, it will, of
course, greatly abridge the proceedings; if not, the evi-
dence against them will require more time to sift it.
There are not any new facts with reference to the pri-
soners.

The Emperor haa addressed an autograph letter of
thanks to Queen Victoria, Her Majesty having at once
written to him on hearing of the attempt on his life.
The British residents met Wednesday to adopt an
address to the Emperor on his escape from the hands of
amassing.

Few of our readers, we suppose, when they read the
accounts of the brutal and dastardly attempt just made
in Paris, imagined any more than we did ourselves that
the plot was concocted in Birmingham, that one of the
principal actors has been for years a resident of Bir-
iningham, and that it was with a passport signed in
Birmingham that he found his way into France. Yet
finch we know to be the case in some particulars, and
have reason to believe that it is so in all. M. Pierri,
the Colonel Pierri of the French accounts, has resided
for a length of time in Birmingham, formerly in Broad-
street, and latterly in Bath-row. While here he has
been engaged as a teacher of languages—a profession
which political exiles frequently adopt as being at once
honourable and useful—one which men unaccustomed to
labour can readily adopt, and one in which kindly dis-
posed people are always ready to assist them. In the
course of this occupation he was introduced, we believe,
to many respectable families of the town, both profes-
sional and tradespeople. During the time of his resi-
dence here M. Pierri has made more than one visit to
the continent, Prussia being his usual destination.
Whether the passports used on these occasions were
tied in Birmingham or not we cannot say. His ex-
planation of the causes of these visits were that he had
received appointments to teach in noble families. With
respect to another of the principals in the tragedy, it
will be remembered that M. Felice Orsini appeared in
Birmingham in June lest, and delivered a lecture in
the 'Music Hall. This gentleman came to Eng-
land with the highest recommendations. He
had been a sufferer from the tyranny of Aus-
tria, had been incarcerated in, and made a mar-
vellous escape from, an Austrian prison. He was
a person of no mean literary ability, as his narrative of
his adventures proved. Altogether, as a patriot of good
birth and connections, and unexceptionable manners and
appearance, he met here what seemed nothing but his
due—a respectful and kindly reception. That Orsini
and Fiend should be intimate was what was to be ex-
pected. Both were political exiles, and both had suf-
fered in the cause of their country. We need scarcely
say that the M. Felice Orsini of the lecture-room and
the Count Orsini of the Rue Lepelletier are one and the
same person. Thus much for the former connexion of
the conspirators with this town. The first appearance of
sf. Oniini in June was openly and publicly announced;
we have no doubt that most of our readers remember it.
Not so, however, a second visit, which he paid about a
fortnight ago. That was a private one to M. Pierri, and
only a few persons knew of his presence here. The two
men held long conferences together, and shortly after
Mr. G. It. Collis, the French Vice-Consul in Birmingham,
was applied to by Pierri to vise a passport to France.
Having known that the person applying to him had re-
sided in the town for several years, Mr. Collis complied
with the request. He was then asked about performing
the same duty for Prussia, but for some reason declined.
Pierri then wanted the Belgium mark, but this Mr.
Collis was nok in a position to affix, but referred the
inquirer to Mr. A. Everitt, who is the Vice-Consul for
Belgium. By the latter gentleman the passport was
made available for Belgium, and we know that it was
through Belgium that Pierri entered France. It has
been hinted to us that not only did the conspirators
meet here, but that some of the projectiles were also
made here. On this point, however, we cannot speak
with any certainty. It cannot, however, be doubted
that it was in Birmingham that the final arrangements
of the plot were made. This is a distinction of which
if the town itself was in any way implicated, we should
be heartily ashamed, as with the cowardly transaction
itself every Englishman is heartily disgusted.—Birming-
ham Daily Press.
THE CHATEAUX IX FRANCE.—According to a general
survey lately made of all the old castles and country
seats now existing in France, there remained 20,312, of
which 311 are of the 12th and 13th centuries, 894 of the
14th and 15th, and 3,114 of the 16th. The others are of
a later date. More than 2,500 of them have draw-
bridges, turrets, and crenelated battlements.