The Express.
London, England, 1863-01-14 00:00:00

EXPRESS FROM PARIS.

(nom ous OWN

PARA TuasnAy linarnia.

At the opening of the Corps Legielatif this
afternoon the Duke do Monty, as president, deli-
vered the following speech :
fifeesieum—The Emperor's speech leaves me very little
to say to you, and I should even hilt to weaken the effect
of his noble words if I were to make any comment upon
them. You were all, lam sure, profoundly touched and
grateful when you heard the sentiments expressed by the
Sovereign to the Corps Legialatif. The Emperor's trust in
you will not be misplaced. You will not forget during this
esesioe that your attitude and your language will have a
coosiderable influence upon the mind and tendeecies of the
electors. During the last five years you have supported the
government in the way that a sensible political body ought
to do ; you have given it a devoted but not subservient aid.
Every impartial person who compares your right" and pee•
rogatives as they existed when the present chamber was first
Bled together with what they're at this day ; everybody
who adds up the number of laws which have been either
altered or withdrawn by your loyal influence, and that
without any crisis or shock, must admit that the part you
have played has been all the more efficacious and useful

because it was conciliatory and moderate—(Several voices :
" Bravo, bravo !")—and that this mutual confidence, these
mutual concessions between you and the Sovereign, conduce
to the honour and glory of both powers, and are beneficial
to all the great intonate of the country. Let us, more-
over, hope that the country in (its prudence will continue
this situation which makes the constitution an impregnable
work, because it is susceptible of improvement, and because
by encouraging the gradual establishment of liberty it
places the imperial dynasty upon imperishable foundations.

. . .
This speech, as it seems to me, exposes but small
surface for censure. Like the Emperor, M. de Morny
abstains from saying a word to fulfil the confident
predictions of La France that the Pope's "reforms"
would be prominently acknowledged at the opening
of the session. It is satisfactory to find the
Duke de Morny echoing the Emperor's declara-
tion that the constitution requires improvement.
His exhortations to "prudence," and his anxious
injunctions to the deputies to use all their influence
with the electors to get as loyal a Chamber as the
present one returned, are nothing more than might
be fairly expected from a man so closely connected
with the dynasty. It is a pity, however, that the fair
promises held out from the throne and the chair of
the (amber should be stained by such paltry but
too eignificant acts as the recent warning to
the Courtier du Dinanche, and more seri-
ously still, discredited by the glaring un-
fairness exhibited in the recent apportionment
of the electoral districts, which has manifestly
been so made as to aid the many other devices to
render the elections a mockery.
There is in the French army of Africa a
"Foreign Legion" numbering about 5,000 men,
and composed of a great variety of individuals of
different nationalities who have nothing better to
do than to go soldiering. It was lately contem-
plated to send the greater part of this legion to
Mexico, but it having been ascertained that this
service was most unpopular in the force, and that
most of the men, if told off for it, would lake the
earliest opportunity of deserting, the ultimate reso-
lution is to send only two battalions of picked
men, and even these are to be mixed with Chas-
seurs d'Afrique. You may read in the Paris go-
vernment journals that the enthusiasm of the Fo-
reign Legion for Mexican service is very great, and
that the men not accepted express bitter disap-
pointment. The statement may be true so far as
regards those who hoped to get a chance to desert,
but it is not so farther or otherwise.

A very important judgment in one of the many
actions pending against Mires has been pronounced
to-day by the Court of First Instance. Mires has
been decreed to pay to Colonel Danner, one
of the numerous depositors of the shares which
formed the subject of the famous "executions,"
the difference between the fictitious sale in-
voiced to him in 1859 and the real proceeds
of his shares, which had in point of fact been
sold long before. The damages are calculated at
40,745 fr., and Mires is further ordered to restore
within a fortnight 100 shares, the numbers of which
cannot be found. This judgment is in direct con-
flict with that of the Court of Douai, which, in
acquitting Mires of the criminal charge, adopted
the theory in which he has always persisted—
namely, that his clients well knew that shame depo-
sited with him were not nantissements (i.e., that he
did not undertake to hold the identical numbers
deposited in trust), but were of the nature of
bank notes on a current account, and that be was
only liable to find shares of the like denomination
►t call. The tribunal, however, is of opinion
that the judgment of the Court of Douai being
delivered is a criminal and not a civil matter,
and moreover, not having been rendered in a suit
between the same parties, does not conclude the
present action ; and it takes a different view of the
law from that upheld by the above court. Should
this decision (which it is to be observed is in har-
mony with the expressed opinion of the Court of
Caseation) be upheld on appeal a great many
claimants for large amounts may be expected to
come forward against Mires.

General Bedeau 13 dangerously ill. His malady
is said to be a decomposition of the blood, and no
hopes are entertained of his recovery.
At the Bourse the Rente remains nearly as yes-
terday, but Mobilier and railway shares have
improved.
M. Horace Vernet, we are sorry to say, has had
a relapse. Inflainmation has made fresh progress,
and his medical attendants appear to despair of his
recovery.
A Paris letter in the Indepcndance says :

The Marquise de Clermont.Tonnerre, the lady of honour
to the Princess Clothilde, has resigned her post. The sepa-
ration of the marquise from the princess has taken place
by common accord, and has been caused by the delicate
situation in which the marquise found herself placed in
consequence of the opinions expressed by her husband being
no decidedly opposed to the ideas entertained by Prince
Napoleon. But the marquise and the princess remain on
terms of the highest esteem.

THE Vacarr Taaons or Gasses.—We read in
the Mottiteur of yesterday :—" The news is con-
firmed, that H. Devaur., the private secretary of
King Leopold, has been to Lisbon with • letter
from his sovereign, urging King Ferdinand to with-
draw his refusal and to become a candidate for the
throne of Greece. This step has met with no better
success than those previously taken. King Perth-
nand has determined not to accept the crown offered
to him." . _ .

Tea FRENCH Eicruson's SPEECH.—The Monikur
of yesterday says in its bulletin :—" His Majesty's
speech is destined to meet throughout the country
with the approbation and unanimous sympathy it
received not only from the great Bodies of the State,
but froth the numerous audience present at the
ceremony."

THURSDAY. FRIDAY.
D.W. to N., fresh to SCOTLAND. N.E to N.W. and to
strong, some rain or 8. W., strong, un-
snow. settled.
N.N.W. to W.S.W., IRQ.AID. N.W. to S. W., fresh to
strong, unsettled. strong, with rain.
N.N.S. to W. N. W., W. ennui. As neat above.
fresh to strong.
N.E. to N. W. and to N.W.Fautcr. N.N.W., to W.R.W