The Express.
London, England, 1862-03-20 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 20, 1862.

It was but the other day that we recorded the
melancholy death of Mr. Lout at Oxford, who,
though born of very humble paresis in Scotlad,
was enabled, under the reformed statutes which
opened the colleges, to obtain an entrance into
Christ Church, and to become one of the leading
academical men of his time. Had it not been for
the system of competition he might have been
compelled to remain in his original obscurity, un-
appreciated and unrewarded.
The only extension of the principle of open com-
petition is in the case of the engineer boys and
dockyard apprentices in the several naval yards.
The probability is that the report of the Education
Commissioners made it difficult for the Admiralty
any longer to maintain the monopoly of these ap-
pointments'. And the fact that many of the
nominee boys who were studying mathematics
could neither spell nor write—a fact which was
demonstrated by lithographed fac-similes of their
youthful handiwork—was too conclusive against the
nomination system. The publication of some fac-
similes of the work of some candidates nominated
by ministers and public men would materially
hasten the more rapid application of the competitive
principle. It would show that political patrons are
not more careful about the intellectual merits of
their candidates than they seem to be about their
moral character. Out of 444 rejections last year
as many as 47 were on account of character. Be-
tween 1855 and 1861 the number rejected for
this cause amounts to 154. How long will it be
said that the system of nomination secures even
honesty and good conduct?

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

PRIISSLL
The Voiles Zeitung gives a singular account of
the measures which were taken on Tuesday, the
11th inst., the day on which the Prussian Chamber
was dissolved. Hall-cartridges and hatchets were
distributed in the barracks, and every preparation
made for a street fight.
The Diet of Coburg-Gotha, enlightened as
to the personal sentiments of the King by the
dissolution of the Prussian Chamber, has ad-
journed its vote upon the military °pavan-
don recently concluded between the Duke of
Gotha and the Prussian government—a conven-
tion which requires the sanction of the Diet to
enable it to take effect. A similar resolution is
expected on the part of the states of Saxe Weimar.
These signs of the isolation of Prussia from the
more liberal states have excited some comment
in the Prussian journals.
The leading mind of the new Cabinet is M.
Von der Heydt, who represents the unpopular
traditions of M. ManteuffeL

The Cologne Gazette says that Baron Vincke has
expressed his readiness to enter parliament in the
next session.

EXPRESS FROM PARIS

(no* °us owx

.)

PARIS, WILD/1380AT Rirzwste.

In the Corps Legialatif to-day M. Baroche, in
reply to the violent protectionist speech of M.
Pouyer Quertier, began by saying that he had
heard that speech with the utmost pain—not on
account of the harsh expressions which had been
repeatedly addressed to him personally, but on ac-
count of the effect which that speech (full of enorm-
ous and deplorable exaggeration) was calculated to
produce both in France and abroad. (Numerous
marks of assent.) He hoped to prove to the cham-
ber not only that the treaty of commerce did not
deserve the reproaches which had been addressed
to it, but that France did not deserve to be

described in that discouraged and almost des-
perate condition which K Quertier had depicted.
Franoe and French industry, which had so often
given proofs of courage and energy, would not on
this occasion have to make any such great dis-
play of those qualities as had been supposed to tide
over the present crisis. The cause of the crisis was
to be found in circumstanosa not applicable to
France alone but to other countries.

The Bourse was languid during the greater part
of the day, but became somewhat animated towards
the close. The Rents left off, with a rise of 5c., at
69fr. 55c. and 69fr. 65c. Mobilier rose lfr. 250.,
and the Italian Loan 15c. The Orleans Railway was
in great demand, and rose 201 r. ; Eastern rose
7fr. 50c. ; there was not much change in the other

General Douai dined with the Emperor yester-
day, previous to his departure for Mezioo with re-
inforcements. He had a long private conversation
with his Majesty after dinner. There is already a
rumour that he is destined to supersede General
Loreucez, whose health, it is given out, will not
stand the Mexican climate.

The best known work of the late Henry Scheffer
is the picture of "Charlotte Corday protected by the
section against the fury of the people," which is
admired by all visitors of the Luxembourg, and has
been repeatedly engraved. His portraits of Armand
Carrel, Casimir Delaying., Louis Philippe, Orfila,
Mgr. Sibour, Ary &heifer, and Louis Blanc,
are some of the best of this century. He
leaves two children—the one a painter, who bids
fair to keep up the artistical reputation of his
name, and the other a daughter, the wife of the
eminent professor, M. Ernest Henan.
I am happy to report that the French govern_
ment has prohibited the officers of the army of
occupation from wearing the decorations which
Francis IL took upon himself to give them after
the fall of Gaeta—just as if he had been still King
of Naples.

ITALY.

(now 017 Z ow*

ROME, MARCH 15.

The clouds which for a moment were lifted seem
gathering again over this unhappy land. From Turin
and from Paris the news is equally gloomy, and
all things here have resumed the leaden aspect they
wore before the Carnival. It is not when the
government of Italy seems inclined to leave them to
their fate, and when the Emperor is declaring he
will not withdraw his troops, that the Roman
liberals can or ought to force on the crisis. If it
come, it will be more the doing of the Pontifical
government than their own. From the proceedings
of Friday in the Corso, it would seem as if the
Holy Father were not unwilling to try the favourite
Italian remedy of a little blood-letting on his well-
beloved children.
Di Angelis has been released. Venenzio and
about thirty others are stall in prison, and will pro-
bably there continue. To give you an idea of the
manner in which domiciliary visite are managed by
the officials here, I may say that having forced their
way into the apartments of one gentleman during
his absence, they proceeded so diligently to
search for proofs of his revolutionary principles as
to take some studs in his dressing-case bearing the
Savoy cross (the commonest ornament in Florence)
as evidence against him. Proceeding further to
search his photographic album they arrived at por-
traits of Victor Emmanuel and Cavour, and the
filthy wretches entrusted with the execution of
Pontifical justice actually spat on the photographs
till they were ruined. Ou the whole the disco-
veries of the abirri have been of less importance
than at first was feared. The list of names ob-
tained was only of subscribers to Cavour's
monument, and even this criminal conspi-
racy was mainly concealed in cipher. Driv-
ing over the Ponte Mammolo (four or five
miles from Rome) the other day, I saw some of
the new strong gates they have been putting up at
all points of escape from the city. It seems they
have been rendered necessary by the endless de-
sertions of the French soldiers, and also of some of
the Pope's own troops. The wretched remains of
the Irish brigade still linger, and on the Pincian
and everywhere through the town they may be
seen by twos and threes lounging about iu their
spinach-aud-eggs Zouave uniforms, their good-
humoured red Irish faces making a curious contrast
to the sallow and dark-eyed Italians. They must
be unhappy enough, poor fellows, if they have come
to their senses and discovered what sort of a govern-
ment it is they have coins to support, and what
service they have preferred to that of Queen Victoria.
The doctrines preached so lately by one of their own
priests in the Rotundo, in Dublin, on the duty of
resisting "tyranny" (like that of England), would
sound rather curious over here. Though the holy
church claims to be one and unchangeable, I
strongly suspect that such ethics preached in Roaer
would bring the moralist into the prisons of San
Micheli the same afternoon.
" The peace of Europe must not bedisturbed for
Rome," says Ratazzi. The case is very much as if
a patient were lying helpless and suffering from a
disease of the heart ; a new physician is called in,
who hears the old one was trying various remedies.
Superbly he decides, " What ! disturb the rest of
the system for the sake of the heart I Perfectly
out of question. Draw out the disease by phlebo-
tomy, blisters, sudorifica 1 Do you think I will
allow my patient's stomach to be unsettled, and
his cuticle injured, for the sake of such an unim-
portant organ as his heart I I would not allow the
heel of his boot to get into hot water on such an
account. Let the heart stop as it does. We shall
get the patient through without it, I dare say."
It is rather amusing to find some of the English
papers asserting that "the Romans held an indig-
nation meeting in the Forum ou Thursday, when
20,000 people met to protest against the interference
(of Goyun) with the Carnival." From my letters
of last week you will have seen, first, that the meet-
ing in the Forum on Thursday preceded the seizure
of the Corso by Guyon, which took place on Friday;
secondly, that Friday . being no carnival day, no
interference with carnival doings was in question ;
thirdly, that it was anything but a protest against
interference with the Carnival for which those
20,000 patriots assembled in the Forum, since their
own noble address was itself a protest against any
carnival being held at such a period of national
disgrace, and their rendezvous was given at the
Forum to prove their contempt for the scene in the

A letter from Rome of the 15th says :—" Father
ilreseiani, of the Company at Jesus, the principal editor of
He Cieilid Candice, died yesterday. He was reputed to
be tise best living writer of pure Italian. His strong reit,
elm %snap did not prevent him from writing several
neva. wbkilk are remarkable for their style, sod but for
bis being a Jesuit be would have been elected a member of
the Qin= asedsmr."

AMERICA.

PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S PROPOSITIONS
ON THE SLAVERY QUESTION.
NEW YORK, Hawn 7, Moanuro.
(Per Hibernian, rid Londonderry.)

.-
President Lincoln, in his /damage to Congress,
urging the passing of a joint resolution for co-ope-
ration with the Slave States by means of pecuniary
aid for the gradual emancipation of slaves, says :
If the proposition does not meet with the approval of
Congress and the country it is at an end ; but if it does com-
mand approval, it in important that the States and the
people interested should be at once notified, so that they
may consider whether to accept or reject the proposaL
The Federal government would find its highest interest in
such a measure 'Leone of the most efficient of self-preserva-
tion. The leaders of the insurrection hope that the govern-
ment will be ultimately forced to acknowledge the inde-
pendence of some part of the disaffected region, and that
then all Slave States north of each parte will say, "The
Union for which we have struggled being already gone, we
now choose to go with the Southern section."
To deprive them of this hope substantially ends the rebel-
lion ; the initiation of emancipation completely deprives
them of it.
The point is not that all State' tolerating slavery would
very soon, if at all, initiate emancipation, but that while the
offer is squally made to all, the more Northern States shall
by such initiation make it certain to the more Southern
that in no event will the former ever join the latter in their
proposed Confederacy. I say initiation because, in my
judgment, a gradual and not sudden emancipation is better
for all.
The current expenditure of the was would very soon pur-
chase all the slaves in any named State.
Such a proposal
.does not claim for the Federal govern-
ment a nght to interfere with slavery within the State
limits, it being left a matter of free choice with the States
to acospt or reject the prepped..
The war continues to be an indispeaseble means for the
restoration of the union.
The practical acknowledgment of the nations] authority
would render war unnecessary, and it would at once cease.
U resistance continues war must continue, and it is impos-
sible to foresee all the incidents which may follow it. Such
means as may seem iodispensable, or may obviously promise
great efficiency towards ending the struggle, must and will
come. In the proposition now made, though only an offer,
I ask whether the pecuniary aid tendered would not be of
more value to the States and private persons concerned than
are the institution and property in it in the present aspect
of affairs. While it is true the adoption of the proposed
resolution would be merely initiatory, and not within itself
' a practical measure, it is recommended in hope that it
would soon lead to important results In full view of my
pest responsibility to God sad to the country, I earnestly
beg the attention of Coagrer sad the people to the subject.
The New York Times thinks that President Lin-
coln's plan will not achieve the end proposed. It
will not induce any Slave State to dismrd slavery.
It will be attended with expense too overwhelming
to be regarded favourably by people having upon
their shoulders a present and prospective debt of
several thousand millions. The New York World
approves the message. The New York Herold
thinks the message will be well received by the
conservative element both in the North and in the
South. The New York Tribune strongly approves
the message, and thinks it seals the fate of the re-
bellion in every Christian land. No civilised nation
will ally itself with the South, knowing that the
Union and liberty are one and inseparable.
The Washington correspondent of the New York
Times says that Mr. Seward is preparing a de-
spatch! on Mexican affairs, in which the determi-
nation of America to resist all European designs of
establishing a monarchy upon the American conti-
nent will be energetically set forth.

LATEST BY TELEGRAPH TO PORTLAND.
NEW YORK, MAIM 8.
The Washington correspondent of the New York
Herald mays :
The excitement in regard to President Lincoln's message
increases. The message has taken all parties by surprise.
The majority of the escudos sad representatives are asps-
pared to express themselves upon it. All are afraid of it,
and all are afraid to oppose it. The Radish look blank,
and while they claim there is in it • ooneession to them,
they are prepared cautiously to oppose it. The Con-
servatives are anxious to sustain the policy commu-
nicated by the President, but fear they majtailke
..trapped into some departure from their
position. In this predicament the Preeidentb message
must sleep in the committee-room until the gentlemen have
made up their minds in reprd to the matter.
It is reported that a flag of truce has arrived at
Fortress Monroe, from Norfolk, with the com-
mander of • French steamer, who represents that
great excitemend prevailed in Norfolk. The hotels
were swarming with officers, mostly from the Gulf
States, the Virginia troops having been all sent
away. People dreaded the destruction of the city
in case of an attack.
A strong force was concentrating at Suffolk, to
check the advance of General Burnside, who was
reported to have occupied Winton in force, and
to be moving on Suffolk.
The reason given by the Confederates for not re-
turning Colonel Corcoran is, that maps and draw-
ings were found on his person.
The Richmond papers mention the arrest of a
number of Union men, principally Germans.
Detectives had broken into the room of some
German turners, and found two American flags,
and the goddess of liberty painted on the wall. The
Union colours and paintings were seized and con-
fiscated.
The Confederate House of Representatives has
passed a resolution by 71 to 77, recommending the
military commanders to destroy all tobacco and
cotton, to prevent its falling into the enemy's
hands. A resolution was also passed asking
the President to inform the house what foreign
vessels are doing in Hampton Roads.
The Richmond Dispatch says :—" A vessel draw-
ing 16 feet of water recently pealed out of
Charleston Harbour.iSpeoie is quoted intißishmond
at 40 to 50 per cent, premium."
A despatch from Atalata, Georgia, says that the
Federals have taken possession of Murfreesboro',
and that General Sidney Johnson has retreated to
Decatur, Alabama.
The Confederate steamer Merrimac was lying
near the Norfolk Navy-yard, with flag flying and
crew on board. She draws 23 feet of water, and is
described as looking like tho roof of a sunken house,
with the smoke-chimney protruding from the water.
The St. Louis Democrat says that the Confe-
derates have from 5,000 to 10,000 men at New
Madrid, and four gunboats.