The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-08-30 00:00:00

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE

FRANCE.
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, Wednesday, August 29, 1860.
The spoech of the Emperor at Lyons, as a
matter of course, continues to be the staple topic
of conversation and of journalistic discussion;
but it is not improbable that it will speedily have
to divide public interest with a fresh address
from M. de Persigny, who has gone down to his
department to preside at the opening meeting of
its General Council, and who is pretty certain to
avail himself of so good an opportunity of sup-
plementing and explaining anything that has
been found to be defective in the Lyons allocution.

A propos of this last, I hear it confidently
stated that the published version of it is not
altogether conformable to the one originally
drawn up. It is said that instead of the phrase
" the unjust distrusts excited beyond the fron-
tier," the words were in the first instance the
"unjust suspicions of Europe," an expression
which is, perhaps, a little less alarming than
the one employed ; and also, that M. Thouvenel
took advantage of his being president of the
General Council of the Meuse to absent himself
from Lyons at the time the speech was made, in
order that he might not be personally comproj
mised in his relations with the representatives of
the other powers, by any words that might fall
from the Emperor.

It is now positively given out that there will
be no meeting between the Emperor and the
Queen of Spain ; but on the other hand, the
rumour is confirmed that the Bey of Tunis will
come to Algiers, to pay his respects to the Em-
peror on his arrival there—a circumstance which is
considerably:symptomatic of the growing increase
of French influence in Africa.

I am assured that, in spite of all the reports to
the contrary, there is really little or nothing doing
at present in the way of increasing the naval force
of France, so that in this respect, at all events,
the recent pacific assurances of the Emperor are
not contradicted. Some reinforcements have
been, however, sent to China and elsewhere. The
steam frigates Ulloa, and El Dorado, have de-
parted for Alexandria with a number of marines,
700 men, •and 400 tons of ammunition and projec-
tiles, for the army in China ; and two men-of-war
are to leave Toulon on the Ist proximo for the
Pacific, to reinforce the French squadron stationed
there. The Eylau is the only vessel of the squadron
stationed at Naples which has returned to Toulon.
It was intended that four ships belonging to this
squadron should return, to be in attendance on
the Emperor, but the critical state of affairs at
Naples has prevented this arrangement being
carried out. It is stated that the Eylau, which
happened to be not far out of the line of fire when
the Tukery was fired upon by the forts on the occa-
sion of its crew 'trying • to cut out the Menarca,
made a narrow escape, some of the shot in-
tended for the Tukery having pile through her
rigging. If, however, the port of Toulon has been
deprived of the imposing presence of a large naval
squadron on the occasion of the fete it is about to
give to theEraperor, the other great Mediterranean
port of Marseilles will soon be crowded with
vessels of a less warlike description, for a great
movement has already begun to manifest itself in
that place, with a view of profiting by the free im-
portation of corn permitted by the Imperial decree
of the 22nd instant. The price of grain has been
sensibly affected by the suspension of the sliding
scale and by the admission of foreign vessels con-
taining cargoes of corn, without their having to
pay the foreign tonnage duties ; and the various
Greek houses in Marseilles have hastened to give
large orders for grain from the Levant.
Marseilles is also making similar magnificent
preparations with that of Toulon for the reception
m
of their Majesties. The municipality intends to
present to the Empress a diamond-bracelet of the
value of 70,000 francs. This bijou has a large
• medallion, upon which the arms of the city are
engraved. On gently pressing a spring the me-
dallion opens, and discloses a likeness of the
Prince Imperial.

To pass to another subject of quite a different
kind. I see it noticed in the Semaphore, that two
Sisters of Charity who had both come direct from
Damascus, passed through Marseilles the other
day on their way hither, in company with a
Greek priest. They were indebted for their safety
to Abd-el-Kader, and he had also furnished them
with the means of embarking for France. " One
of these holy women," adds this paper, "had had
her right ear cut off by the Druses at the very
time that she was engaged in lavishing attentions
on the wounded Christians who had taken refuge