The Express.
London, England, 1852-05-21 00:00:00

FRANCE.

rmus, THCIIDAT
To.day king the festival of the Ascension, every-
body ii- taking holiday. There is a steeplechase at
Ville d*Avraz, and the Bois de Boulogne is crowded
with pie-nies.. No papers will appear to-morrow.
The punbiume of NI urillo's unrivalled "Conception of
lir 'in" for the Louvre has assumed almost the
the
importance ot a political event. I said, yesterday,
that the enormorice—nearly twenty-four thousand
pound. sterling—usp
aid for this beautiful work of art
ill unprecedented in the annals of picture selling.
todoubtedly there are many chefs-trieurre in the
world, hanging, in the museums of Europe, which
an, sults' its national monuments, and, as such,
cannot
be estimated in money. No name-
sEe sum would buy off the walls of the Vatican,
the 1.,•u% re. and the world-famous galleries of Dres-
den and Madrid, their inestimable tressurcs of art,
so hng As the governments in charge of them were
DA bankrupt. A million of francs might be offered
Is sate for the great Paul in the Louvre, or tho Se-
bastian of our own National Gallery. The highest
)!vier. I believe. ever bid fur a picture in a pnvate
guthvtion was 20,000/., offered by Wilford to °an-
al Angerstein for the last mentioned work. Tho ge-
neral insisted on having guineas ; Vathek
&mums' at patting down the additional thou-
sand demanded ; and by this fortunate circumstance
our National Gallery acquired a treasure which is the
rave of the world. The French areas much delighted
at ha‘M3 acquired the pearl of Soult's gallery, as if
they bad won a military victory. It wee not until
etc last moment that Nicuwerkerke, the director of
the Lame. struck in among the bidders and carried
the 1 am informed from the best source that
the wet highest bidder was M. (jailers, who offered
hs..oootr. fhe autiuncer asked him whether he was
Did i g for himself. He replied in the affirmative,
and sa- about to he declared the pmprietor of the
diluted relic, when the director of the French Mu-
mum ~iepped in with an additional thousand franca
It was then seen that he had received a
ore, h,',lnrhe from the President to acquire
the picture. and all further competition ceased. A
high Air aas made for the Czar, but it is interesting
to know that a Spanish capitalist made such a chi-
valrous attempt to redeem from the foreigner a work
'leek ',diets glory on his nation. The first day's
ask produced nearly a million of francs.
mentioned yesterday that M. Grittier de Cause-
saes article on Changarnier and Lamoricitire had
keen publicly ant up at the cab's by officers of the
arm!. In tact, nothing could be more calculated to
ph the army than to underrate the achievements of
their Atriean generals. Louis Napoleon, in his re-
tmapeetiee adoration and glorification of the
empire, is apt to overlook the fact that
the pn, lit army won its laurels in Africa. Ma-
war and Austerlitz undoubkdly sound more glo-
visas to those who only read of battles than the
victory of Illy or the capture of Constantine; but
the Lod military feats are probably associated with
fielingsot greater pride in the breasts of those soldiers
who achieved them, than the grandest victories of
the empire. A sneer at ter and Lamer-
titre. as generals, comparedCh the great captains
of Napoleon, may be as just as a sneer can be ; but
the siigge,ter of such s comparison must be blind to
imszine it can be relished by the army.
The French papers to-day contain several articles
upon the affairs of Piedmont, based upon the as-
samption that M. Itatazzi was to be minister. The
C.,.......tetionsir/ publishes the news which I sent you
yesterday by submarine telegraph, of M. d'Azeglio
baring rece iced the orders of the King to form a
ministry, the resignation of M. Cavour and his col-
leagus having been accepted.
M. de Persigny's marriage with Madlle. de la
Miskowa, which was to have been celebrated to-
morrow, has been postponed in consequence of the
unexpected death of the only son of the Prince de la
Muskowa. About six days ago joung Ney de la
Moskowa, the grandson of the ustnous blarshal
Key, was attacked by the scarlatina. His indisposi-
thin was not considered serious by his physicians,
and the preparations for his sisters marriage were
ordered to go on. On Tuesday evening, however,
the disease became complicated with the measles, and
yesterday he expired, at the age of sixteen, at M.
Loriol's school, hire he was preparing tor the Ecole
de la Marine. This bereavement is a heavy blow to
the widow of Marshal Ney, with whom her grand-
son was in the habit of passing the whole of his
neat ions.

To-day there is no Bourse. In financial circles,
how, e'er. there is a very uneasy feeling. The opi-
nions that ooze out from the members of the com-
mittee of the budget arc more and more unsatisfac-
tory. All sorts of rumours are afloat with reference
to impending financial expedients, and the semi-
elLial contradictions of them, however vehement, do
not command implicit belief. One thing is now
quite eertain, that the reduction of the army, more
than tilt promised sonic time since, is now out of
the question. An augmentation even, of from
s:col.. to 1,1,000 men is talked of. The report is re-
vived that a large increase of pay to officers, and sub-
office,, an addition of 300 f. to the sub-officers and of
Soto. to captains, is said to be in contem-
plation. This alone would amount to 20 millions.
Constikring that the war budget already amounts
to the enormous sum of 324 millions it is not won-
derful that any proposed addition should cause
Selle,iol.,ll. A bill is now in preparation by the
Slinister of Marine, according to which the present
conditions fur advancement and promotion in the
navy will be very materially modified. The term of
service now required before promotion can be ob-
tained will be reduced; the proportion of advance-
ments from selection will be increased, and officers
will arrive at the superior ranks at a much younger
Age than by the existing regulations.
The i'trie observes as follows upon an incident
mentioned in the latest correspondence from Constan-
tinople :
S journals, in publishing their letters from Coastaati-
soar, r, late, as an extraordinary fact, if not as one insulting
to it.,cee, the refusal of the Ottoman Porte to open the pu-
ler' of the Dardanelles to the French line of battle ship the
Char:. T 1144111.. Our correspondent has also related to s•
the tireum•tance, which we did not thin It oar duty
b rose ti the importance of a polities* issldest. The
Port. recently spontaneously authorised as anon
of the cleaner on board of which Adana ho-
Deefiagcs went to Constantinople, sad it
ito thought, in the council of the Sultan, that OD epee the
10-ue to several French vessels would be to 011ie a pre-
ani, at which would compel the Turkish 'assonant a be
r Rra, intl. for other flap which are not regarded 111141.111117-
Ibil ...UM France has a greater interest it., sup *Mr
nu, in the observant* of the treaties white snare as
lavolihility of the Dardanelles. These Moeda, if they
nut rigorously observed, might bestow the same of
ailitical difficulties. Our Madam with the Buttes
sire tic-ers, too friendly for it to he slimed melee es OM
lari,s.ahte int, rpretation to an indent While IMO SO Ma
harm! ,bcr .
Tio committee appointed to examine the bill for
randifying the part of the criminal code which re-
lates to offences committed in foreign emantries by
Free, h wiljects, hes named M. C. Leflitte its pent-
dent. and St. 0141lla its secretary.
The commission appointed to examine the question
of the tight of the poor to vortion of the receipts
alkti• theatres hes, it is said completed it task, and
its iyibion is stated to be entirely in favour of the
'tumors of the theatres, who have solicited a change
is the n gelation, on this subject.
The latest refusals of the oath by councillors-
rne rat are by M. Bureaux de Vary, formerly a
iet,tor of the. Constituent Assembly, and an ex-
mot illor of state; 1)octor Rigid, ex-representative
Itdi partment of the Tarn; M. Callnaud, in the
heeto•; and MM. Yodel Lexeard de la Valerie,
bui,i• efArzentie, and do Kernier, in the Ile-et-
ViLtioe• 1 he Count Ch. de Laferronnays has re-
'.4
the (nth, as a municipal councillor of Bourg
It has lately been amineaeld that the oath
be required even km math amadolly sou-
pAitiml bodies as the coandadm &mum at Girl-
flcveral refusals ea the part at mob= of
tine chambers have already boaa fadualed, sad
ftnav newt, are expected, for it is anon the boded
C.Poprietors that legitimist influence le plated. The
,ant de Chamborcfs letter, although it has un-
doubtedly made a split in the
.party, has produced a
Marked effect among those legitimists who feel that
16114 Ostlience to their hereditary chief is a duty.
Laniediattly on the appearance of this totter,
M.

Decherd, aeon of a former Imitimist representative,
who had sccepted the post ofsub-prefeet frous Louis
Napoleon, resigned his aloe. Bet the most striking
instance of the direct influence of the letter is the
refusal to take the oath by M. Ed. Walsh,
the cousin of M. Walsh.Perrant, who received the
President at his chateau, and is a frequent vitiator at
the Elysee. M. Ed. Walsh himself received IL de
Persigny at dinner not long eine% and has Mimes
been thought to be on excellent terms with the pre-
sent government. Many of the legitimists are
waiting for M. Berryer's return to Paris bane
they decide what course to take. It is
understood that he will have an interview
with the Duke de Levis at Froludorff. The
policy indicated in the Count de Chambord's letter is
believed to have been prompted by the Duke de
Levis principally, and should the interview with M.
Berrycr terminate in a cordial understandiog between
these two leaders, wo may expect to see greater
unity of purpose in the legitimist party generally.
For the first time, a train from Puns to Nancy
ran the whole way directly on Sunday last. The
distance from Commercy to Nancy was gone over in
two hours. There cannot now be any reasonable
doubt that the lino from Paris to Nancy will be de-
finitively opened to the public by the lath of June,
as the company has promised.