The Express.
London, England, 1852-07-30 00:00:00

FRANCE.

PARIS, THURSDAY Evaazao.
The Muniteur gives at last the official announce•
ment of those chum in the ministry, which
were reported by the Debata as likely to take place
on the President's return from Strasbourg. M.
I)rouyn de Lhuys, vice-president of the Senate, is ap-
pointed ministerlof foreign affairs, in the place of the
Marquis Target, whose resignation is accepted. M.
Magne, presiden t of the section of public works,agricu I-
ture and commerce in the Council of State, is appointed
minister of public works in the place of M. Lefebvre-Da-
rage, who is created a senator. The three decrees
settling these appointments are succeeded by an an-
nouncement that the President has decided that M.
Baroche, vice-president of the Council of State, shall
take part in the labours of the Council of Ministers.
The Debats also (fires out that M. Casablanca would
be replaced by M. f urgot in the ministry of state. This
change is not yet confirmed by tho Monitmr. But it
may be noticed that no provision is made in the official
journal for the dismissed minister of foreign affairs.
lam assured that the resignation of Cuabianca is
quite certain, notwithstanding the silence of the
Mositesdr. Only the official notice is postponed in
consequence of the dissatisfaction of the minister of
state with the place offered him in the Council of
State u a compensation. It is said that he looks for
a seat in the Senate with the full dotation of 30,000 f.,
a full two-hundred a-year more than he would get se
councillor of state.

Last night M. de Persigny, on returning to the
ministry of:the interior, in the Rue de Grenelle,
found his apartments on fire. His first feelings of
alarm were naturally for his newly married bride.
Having found her, to his great joy, quite unharmed,
although in a state of extreme terror, he proceeded
to summon Resistance and to take the most energetic
means of extinguishing the flame. After some time
these were found perfectly successful ; and the amount
of damage sustained is happily limited to some arti-
cles of furniture easily replaced.
The cause of the fire was one which has been often
followed by more serious consequences. Madame de
Persigny was going to bed, when her maid went into
her dressing-room, and lit one of the candles on
the toilet-table. Instead of carefully extinguish.
ing the match the servant threw it on the floor,
where it continued to burn, and set fire to a coquettish
piece of muslin, in which the whole shrine of female
adornment was draped, d /a Pompadour. In an
instant, and with the rapidity of gun-cotton,
the mirror in which the young wife of the minister
of the interior is accustomed to behold her charms
was set in terrible flames, and cracked in fifty frag-
ments by the heat. Fortunately, the presence of mind
of M. de Persigny prevented the fire from spreading,
and restored order to his alarmed household. The en-
gine of the ministry was brought out and plied by
the soldiers of the neighbouring post, who formed
immediately a chain with buckets to the nearest
borne-fontame. The furniture of the bedroom, and
of the next miori was wholly consumed, and the '
walls calcined. The valuable trinkets of Madame de
Persigny and some pictures of worth were destroyed.
M. de /*teepee, whose hotel is opposite, having seen
the glare from his rooms, instantly repaired to the
spot, and lent a helpful hand to Ids rival.
The distribution of the Independewe Beige has
been stopped to-day at the post by an order of the
minister of police. I understand that the reason of
this proceeding is the appearance in the Belgian
journal of a letter of M. Odilon Barred to the elec-
tors of the department of the Aisne, in which he ex-
plains to them his motives for declining to come
forward as a candidate for • seat in the council-
general.