The Press.
London, England, 1857-10-31 00:00:00

joreign earrtsgonttutt.

PARIS, October 29.
THE principal question for discussion at the ap-
proaching reunion here of the plenipotentiaries in
congress will, in all probability, turn on the best
way for carrying out the spirit of the Treaty of Paris
with regard to the Danubian principalities. The
particular views of each power will be duly weighed,
and the decision come to will not be to satisfy the
pretensions of any one party, but the interest of all.
Even the wishes of the Rouman Divans, although
unquestionably they will have great weight, will not
bias beyond a certain extent the votes of the plenipo-
tentiaries. The great point to be maintained in view,
is the equilibrium of European power, and the perma-
nent preservation of peace. Austria may desire that
no impediments shall be offered to her free naviga-
tion of the Danube, that no ungovernable new king.
dom on her frontiers should endanger her inward
tranquillity. England may support Austria, and
Turkey may speak loudly of her sovereignty; but all
this, which will be discussed and examined, will not
decide the question.
Much has been said about the position France is
likely to take in this important matter, and it has
been reported in many quarters that the opinion of
the Emperor has lately undergone a great change.
This is not the fact. The policy of the Emperor has
always been to carry out the wishes of the people,
legally and loyally expressed, so long as the accom-
plishment of such views does not interfere with the
general welfare and tranquillity of Europe. The Rou-
man Divans have expressed the desire to be governed

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by a sovereign chosen from a great Western family.
This is a legitimate pretension, but before arriving at
a conclusion so important, many points will have to
considered, and great precautions taken that no other
power is injured by such a definite result. The
opponents to the Union say " that the new king.
dom will be too weak to protectitself, and that sooner
or later it will become the prey of one or other of its
powerful neighbours." This argument is based on
false grounds. Take for instance Belgium. We all
remember when the British Government determined
with France to erect that country into an indepen-
dent kingdom, the same objections were made by the
opnonenta to the measure. We were then told that
Belgium would sooner or later be again the Depart-
ment of the Dyle, and that we should once more find
the French frontiers pushed out to the Rhine.
Nearly twenty-five years have elapsed, and Belgium
remains unmolested—ay, even more. The formidable
double line of fortresses, about which so much was
said and much more written, remain as they were
previous to l8:11, and are to this day garrisoned by
Belgian troops. The obvious reason for all this is,
that Belgium is a neutral State, placed under the
protection of the European powers. As it is w►th
Belgium, so would it be with Roumania. Can any
one for a moment believe, that had Roumania been
a neutral kingdom, previous to the invasion of Bessa-
rabia by the Russians, the Emperor Nicholas would
ever have crossed the Pruth ? Certainly not.
There can therefore be no objection, on the ground
of the invasion by a powerful neighbour, to the
erection of Roumania into a new kingdom under
the sovereignty of the Porte. But there are many
o'her weighty objections, and those objections will be
duly discussed and considered, before the Emperor
clmes to a final decision. In the opinion of diplo-
rnstists of all ranks now in Paris, Lord Stratford de
R .dcliffe, whether acing with or without instructions,
close an indifferent moment for bringing about a
change in the Ottoman Ministry. It was a sort of
defiance to France, and with any other sovereign not
possessing the strong mind and sound political
views of the Emperor it might have produced an
effect contrary to the hopes of that distinguished
diplomatist or his rush chief.
The arrival of Baron de Bourqueney in Paris has
created a certain sensation, and it is generally sup •
posed that he is the bearer of the views of the Court
of Austria upon the question of the union of the
Danubian provinces.
The situation of the Bank of France is, as coin-
pared with the money market throughout Europe,
far from being unsatisfactory, and it is now certain
that the payments at the end of the year will be
effected without any serious financial crisis. Money
at present is not scarce. Rents for October have
been readily paid, bread has fallen in price, and the
harvest is most abundant.

The Court continues at Compeigne. Our aristo-
cracy, owing to the continuance of fine weather,
remain at their country seats this year longer than
usual, but we have in the capital a great number of
distinguished foreigners.
M. Barthelemy Lasagni, who, although an Italian,
was for nearly forty years a distinguished member
of the French magist?acy, and at one time President
of the Court of Cassation, died at Rome on the 24th
October, aged eighty-four years. When M. Lasagni,
on his arrival in Paris in 1810, was presented to the
Proeureur-General Merlin, Lasagni being then only
thirty-six years of age, a gent'eman present remarked
that he was very young to be named a judge. Merlin
replied, "It is a good fault ; wish I possessed it."
. _ . .

The Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian returned to
Venice on the 20th. His Highness was followed by
four huge frigates and other minor vessels. All
these ships got through without difficulty the Pass
of Malamocco, end anchored in the Lagune at the
month cf the Canal Spignoni. Great credit is due
to the engineers who undertook the arduous work
for facilitating the entrance into the port of Venice.
It is expected that ere long vessels of the heaviest
tonnage will he able to anchor at the point of the
public gardens. When the new canal is finished,
merchant vessels will be able to discharge their
cargoes at the terminus of the Lombardo-Venetian
railway. _ _

„
A new list of refugees who are permitted to return
to the Lombardo•Venetian domains was published
in the official journal of the 22nd October.
A curious pamphlet, under the title of ” Napoleon
the Third in Germany," has just appeared in Paris.
It is a translation from the original German.
The object of the writer is to point out the Emperor
of the French as the person destined to effect a
permanent reconciliation between France and
Germany. It was written shortly before the
Emperor went to Stuttgardt to meet the Emperor
Alexander, and was meant to call upon the Germans
to bid welcome to a sovereign who came among
them, not only to hold an interview with the
Czar of Russia and to make additional ad-
vances towards the maintenance of the general
peace, but "to heal former heartburnings and
jealousies which bad arisen between German