The Express.
London, England, 1862-05-07 00:00:00

EXPRESS FROM PARIS.

(not ous owir

PARIS. TOZSDAT EVENINu.
The news which I gave you some days ago, that
& diplomatic intervention in the quarrel between
the Northern and Southern Provinces of the United
States had been decided upon, is now confirmed by
two French government journals. The Constittt-
tionuel publishes, at the head of its columns, and
with all the display of type that is calculated to
attract attention, the following article on American
affairs :
If there be at the present time an incontestable fact —one
which unfortunately is beyond the reach of discussion—it
is that the moat experienced eye cannot perceive in a future,
however distant, the termination of the war in America by
mere hostile means. The North, at the outset, s►id that
three months would slate to reduce the South ; it is now
thirteen months since the straggle by means of Lannon
shot commenced, and a perusal of the last despatches
mutt convince anyone that things are not further advanced
than on the lint day. Were it only in the interest of
humanity, all must wish for the pacification of that immense
country ; but there is more thin an interest of humanity
involved, there is the suffering of manufacturing Europe.
In the midst of the painful circumstances which succeed
' each other, and of the accounts which are every day
brought by the despatches from America, the visit of M.
Mercier to Richmond has been interpreted in a favourable
manner, and considered as a ground for hops. We are not
acquainted with the object of that excursion, and we are
not aware whether H. Mercier has been charged with a
mission, but we are willing to hope, with the public, that
the French sinister at Washington may induce the adverse
parties to listen to words of oonciliation and peace. If
those words are uttered and listened to, it will cause greet
joy to all feeling hearts in Europa, and particularly in
Francs.
Although the Constitutionnet, with that affected
retieeoce which becomes a habit with a press accus-
tomed to shrink from truth until fully authorised
to declare it, pretends not to know whether M.
Mercier has a mission or not, the Patric goes a
step further, and not only admits the mission, but
boasts of its success. The P atrie states that very im-
portant conferences have been going on at Richmond
between M. Mercier and the government of the
Southern states, and from the fact of the coutinu-
anoe of the negotiations, it draws the inference
that the " overtures made by our representative
to President Davis must have been favourably
received in principle." We, therefore, clearly
get the length that M. Mercier has an important
political mission to Richmond, and so far the argu-
ment of the Dibatt, that it is absurd to suppose
that the French minister accredited to Washington
can be charged to negotiate with rebels, is over-
ruled by actual fact. But what the nature of M.
Mercier's overtures may be the French journals
throw no light upon whatever. The glorious uncer-
tainty of the last news from America—whether he
is commissioned to recognise the Southern States, or
to advise them to surrender unconditionally, remains
quite unaffected by either of the above semi-official
notes. The Temps, however, says that M. Mercier
went to Richmond in consequence of the repeated
and urgent solicitations of Mr. Jefferson Davis,
who, feeling that the cause of the South is in eztremie,
writes to invoke the good offices of France to nego-
tiate a peace.
The following remarkable paragraph appears in
this evening's Patric :
Several English journals announce that the Holy Father
W asked a European sovereign to place at his disposal a
steam frigate, to remain &whored and ready to put to sea,
in the pert of Civil,' Vecchia. We think it right to men-
tion a fact which is inconsistent with this assertion, sad
which is interesting, under oilman oircirmstancea The