The Press.
London, England, 1858-12-25 00:00:00

1254 THE PRESS, DECEMBER 25, 1858.

a fair degree of talent, independence, and dignity are
deserving of all honour.
Decidedly, the situation of commercial matters in
this country, and especially in this city, is not
satisfactory. The Customs' returns show a decline,
both in imports and exports, compared with the cor.
responding month of the previous years. The
Bourse, in spite of the efforts made by speculators,
continues to be greatly depressed, and I hear that
in various branches of trade work is so scarce that
many bands are out of employ, and o hers are working
short time. All this is more serious in France than
it would be elsewhere, because here commercial
distress always causes political discontent, arid not
unfrequently tumult and barricades.

jortign 110 Colonial latttligtut.

FRANCE.
COI7NT DIONTALEMBERT'S APPEAL.

The appeal of Count de Montalembert against the
judgment of the Court of Police Correctionnel, which
sentenced him on the 25th of November to imprison-
ment for six months and a fine of 3,000 f., was heard
on Tuesday in the Appeal Court of the imperial
Court of Paris. The charges of which Count de
Montalembert was pronounced guilty by the Police
Court are-1. Of having excited hatred and contempt
against the Government. 2. Of an attack against
the principle of universal suffrage and against the
right and authority the Chief of the State holds from
the Constitution. 3. Of an attack against the respect
due to the laws and to the inviolability of the rights
which they have consecrate I ;—offences contained in
an article entitled " A Debate on India in the English
Parliament." As early as nine o'clock the entrance
to the court was thronged with an immense crowd,
and the persons provided with tickets had great
difficulty in procuring seats. The doors were opened
at ten, and the Court sat at half-past eleven. M.
Dafaure commenced in support of the appeal, and
M. Chaix d'Est-Ange, on the part of the prosecution,
replied to M. Dufaure amidst signs of disapprobation
which were immediately checked.

THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECH.

The passage in the American President's speech
regarding Spain has excited much attention in Paris,
and hes given occasion for rumours of a warlike
tendency.

and pre-emption system be extended to the people of Utah
by the establishment of a land office in that territory.

THE CHINESE TREATY.

M. Berryer then rose on behalf of M. de Monta-
lembert. He said it was useless to try to impose
silence on his client, as you could not impose it on
the rest of mankind, or prevent them by the most
stringent laws from expressing their love of liberal
institutions. He denied that the debate in the
English Parliament was the vain and sterile contest
the Procurenr-General described. It was not merely
the struggle for piece and power—nut the hunt after
portfolios ; it was something of a high and a noble
character. He eulogized Lord Ellenborough for
having given up his place in the Cabinet when he
found that his despatch to Lord Canning was con-
demned in Parliament. lle alluded to the grace
accorded to M. de Montalembert, as announced in
the Moniteur, and said it was couched in a form offen-
sive to M. de Montalembert. He described the
conduct of his client on the 2nd of December. M.
de Montalembert, as President of the Electoral Com-
mittee of the Rue des Pyramids, had signed a protest
against the forcible dissolution of the National
Assembly, and he read portions of his letter of the
12th of December. M. Berryer defended his client
for not having accepted the grace of the Emperor.
In this he only imitated the Emperor himself, who
declared to M. Berryer, when visiting him in the
fortress of Ham, in 1545, that he should not ask for
an amnesty from the Government of Louis Philippe.
M. Berryer spoke for two hours and a half, and in
the course of his speech was more than once
applauded by the auditory.
At five o'clock the judges retired to deliberate.
They remained in deliberation full two hours and a
half. On again taking their seats the President, M.
Perrot de Chezelles, delivered the judgment of the
Court, which reduced to thrae months, instead of six,
the term of imprisonment imposed by the Police
Court ; maintained the :I.ooof. fine, but by the with-
drawal of one of the counts in the indictment com-
pletely freed M. de Montalembert from the effects of
the law of the 27th of February, 1858, under which,
even after completing his punishment, he was liable
to be transported to Algeria or be exiled. As this was
one of the principal objects of the appeal against the
sentence of the Police Court the judgment of the
Cour Imperiale is regarded as a triumph over the
Government. The decision, which was pronounced
at half-past seven o'clock, was received by all present
with the greatest satisfaction, and M. de Montalem-
bert was warmly congratulated by his friends. M.
Villemain, M. de Falloux, and many other literary
and political celebrities were present. After the
judgment of the Court was announced the crowd
retired peaceably.

The relations of the United States and China are
thus mentioned :

I have occasion, also, to congratulate you on the result
of our negotiations with China. You were informed by
my last annual message, that our Minister had been in-
structed to occupy a neutral position in the hostilities con-
ducted by Great Britain and France against Canton. Ile
was, however, at the same time directed to co-operate cor-
dially with the British and French Ministers, in all peace-
ful measures, to secure by treaty those just concessions to
foreign commerce which the nations of the world had a
right to demand. It was impossible for me to proceed
further than this on my own authority, without usurping
the war-making power, which, under the Constitution,
belongs exclusively to Congress. Besides, after a careful
examination of the nature and extent of our griemees, I
diit not believe they were of such a pressing and aggravated
character as would have justified Congress in declaring
war against the Chinese empire, without first making
another earliest attempt to adjust Clem by peaceful nego-
tiation. I was the more inclined to this opinion, because
of the severe chastisement which had then but recently
been inflicted upon the Chinese by our squadron, in the
capture and destruction of the Barrier Forts, to avenge an
alleged insult to our flag. The event has proved the wisdom
of our neutrality. Our Minister has executed his instruc-
firma with eminent skill and ability. In conjunction with
the Russian Plenipotentiary, he has peacefully, but effec•
tually, co-operated with the English and French Plenipo-
tentiaries, and each of the four powers has concluded la
separate treaty with China, of • highly satisfacOry cha-
racter. The treaty concluded by our own Plempoteutiary
will Immediately be submitted to the Senate.

JAPAN.

The treaty with Japan is briefly referred to, and is
to be submitted to the Senate.

THE GRAND DUKE CONSTANTINE.

RELATIONS WITH GREAT BRITAIN.

On the important subjects of the Right of Search
and the Clayton•Bulwer Treaty the President says:--
I am truly sorry that I cannot also inform you that the
complications between Great Britain and the United
States, arising out. of the Clayton and Bulwer Treaty of
April, 1850, have been filially adjusted. At the zommence-
ment of your last session I had reason to hope that, eman-
cipating themselves from farther unavailing discussions,
the two Governments would proceed to settle the Central
American question in a practical manner, alike honour-
able and satisfactory to both ; and this hope I have not
yet abandoned. In my last annual message I stated that
overtures had been made by the British Government for
this purpose, in a friendly spirit, which I cordially reci•
procated. Their proposal was to withdraw these questions
from direct negotiation between the two Governments ;
but to accomplish the same object, by a negotiation
between the British Government and each of the Central
American republics whose territorial interests are imme•
diately involved. The settlement was to be made in ac-
cordance with the general tenor of the interpretation
placed upon the Clayton and Bulwer Treaty by the United
States, with certain modifications. As negotiations are
still pending upon this basis, it would not be proper for me
now to communicate their present condition. A final
settlement of these questions is greatly to be desired, as
this would wipe out the last remaining subject of dispute
between the two countries. Our relations with the great
empires of France and Russia, as well as with all other
Governments on the continent of Europe, except that of
Spain, continue to be of the most friendly character.

His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke Constan-
tine of Russia, travelling incog., as the "Grand
Admiral Romanoff," has visited Paris, which city he
left on Wednesday es route to his flotilla at Villa-
franca.