The Express.
London, England, 1852-01-22 00:00:00

FRANCE.

ALLEGED ATTEMPT TO
ASSASSINATE TILE PRESIDENT.

PARIS, WEDNESDAY MORNING.
It is said confidently that an attempt was made
yesterday upon the life of the President. It seems
that the wife of an ex-prefect, who has been replaced
in the }Penult by M. Durant do St. Amand, came
to Paris to intercede with tho President in favour of
her husband. She obtained an audience yesterday
morning; but, Louis Napoleon having refused to
grant her petition for his reinstatement, she is said
to have drawn a poniard, and attempted to stab him.
The woman was arrested, and conveyed to the Con-
ciergerie.
Ily a decree dated the 17th, the following ex-re-
presentatives, expelled from the French terri-
tory, M. Charras, lieut.-colonel of infantry; MM.
Cholat and Millotte, captains of artillery; and M. '
Valentin, sub-lieutenant of infantry, are struck from
the rolls of the army.
The decree of the provisional government autho-
' rising ieeruite to rnntruct voluntary engagements in
the army for two years abolished ; and the old
terni of seven years is restored for such 'engagements.
In the report preceding this decree, General
St. Arnaud says, that the decree now repealed has I
been equally prejudicial to the interests of the army
as well as the treasury, as the short duration of such
engagements does not permit the completion of the
soldier's education, and is besides destructive of
discipline. (The substance of these decrees has al-
ready been received by electric telegraph.)
M. de Toulongeon, orderly officer to the President
of the Republic, has just set out for Bayonne to carry
to Marshal floristic the baton of the new dignity
conferred on him by the head of the state.
The operations for verifying the electoral lists are
being continued at the different mairics. It is sup.
posed that the whole will be terminated about the
end of the month.

The Patric contains a notice that the ex-repre-
sentatives not comprised in the decrees of banish-
ment, have just been authorised to return to their
homes.

The Patric states that no official receptions will
take place to-day, on account of the anniversary of
the execution of Louis XVI.

The ifonitcar contains a decree relative to the pro-
mulgation of the convention concluded between
Franee and Hanover for the mutual guarantee of the
property of works of art and literature.
The Court of Accounts held a sitting yesterday,
under the presidency of .l. Harthe, first president,
for the reception of the new councillors and referen-
daries.

Three inhabitants of St. Omer, M. Pierret, a mer-
chant, formerly a member of the Constituent As-
sembly, and MM. Dumeril and Courden, judges of
the Tribunal of Commerce, have been arrested. Their
friends have not been allowed to communicate with
them.

At Ilaguhcs, on the 16th, M. Dubarry, a bar-
rister and ex-member of the Constituent Assembly,
M. Itruzand, a physician, and M. Desplats wero ar-
rested. Many warrants were issued against other
persons, who hare taken flight.
The o,ltrrier de Naney, of the 19th, mentions the
arrests of M. Louis, a barrister, and ex-member of the
council-general of La Wardle; M. 'Atha., barrister,
ex-constituent ; M. Antoine, (wow,: and M. Vallerot,
formerly sub-prefect of Toul.
At Toulon, M. Fubre, formerly carpenter to the
arsenal, and a member of the municipal council, has
been arrested. A convoy of women, arrested on po.
liticnl grounds at Garde, Freinct, and Luc, is ex-
pected at Toulon.
M. James Odicr, father-in-law of General Cavaig-
nac, has written this letter to the Obserrateat Bel ye:
I read in your journal of January 12 an article about M.
de Moray, from which it seems toresult that you attribute the
motive which led him to write to rny wife the letter relative to
the setting General Cavaignac at liberty,:to private and per-
sonal obligations which might have engaged bis gratitude
towards me personally. I owe it to truth to declare that
this fact i. completely false, and that M. de Moray u as hot
townnls me or mine under the weight of any personal obli-
gation.

On the 18th, M. Quinettc, envoy extraordinary
and minister plenipotentiary of the Preach republic,
had a private audience with the King of the Bel-
gians to deliver a letter from the President of the
Republic, notifying the new powers conferred upon
him by the vote of I kcember 20 and 21.
A woman, named I'ichon, was guillotined yester-
day, for the murder of her child, aged ten years.
This is the first execution of a woman that has oc-
curred in Paris since 1828.

M. Baune, ex-representative, has just taken his
departure for Belgium.
It appears certain that the remains of the Duke de
Reiehstadt will be removed to France. The applica-
tion of the President of the Republic on this subject
has been favourably received by the Austrian cabinet.

IVEDNEsimy EVENINO.
- .

The uppermost topic is still the scheme for contis-
eating the property of the Orleans family. Five of
the ministers, do horny,Feuld, Mather, Nlagne, and
St. Arnaud, are said to be opposed to this atrocious
spoliation, which is chiefly instigated by the extra-
official influences of l'ersigny and ltomieux, and
' Maupas, the prefect of police. The ministerial crisis
occasioned by this question is now at its height,
and must be speedily resolved. The decree
has been prevented for the moment from ap-
pearing in the Moniteur not only by the
causes which I have already reported to you,
but I understand that the Marchioness of Douglas
and the Princess Matilde have implored the Presi-
dent with the moat vehement supplications, even
upon their knees, not to consent to a measure which
must stigmatise his chararcter in the eyes of all
Europe. Notwithstanding these impa.ssionel appeals to
his better feelings, Louis Napoleon is said to remain
sternly bent upon this inexorable decree. Meanwhile,
the highest tow authorities, M. Portalis,the head pre-
sident of the Court of Caseation, and M. Trop-
long, the president of the Court of Appeal,
I and even the notorious M. Toile, whose skill
us a jurisconsult is as well known as his de-
plorable trial, have been called to the cabinet of
the President end consulted on the law of the matter.
' It seems that the decree of confiscation would be
based mainly upon the illegality of the donation
made by Louis Philippe of his private property to I
his family, on the tith of August, 14:10, three days
previous to his accession to the French throne, in
order to avoid the absorption of his estates into the do-
', main of the crown. Thisconveyance is said to beeontrary
to the usage of the French kings. It was at first
suggested that that the property of the Duke d'Au-
I male should bo spared. I believe that this amounts
to about sa,ooot. a-year. But it was afterwards ob-
jected that such an exception would not find devour
in the eyes of the legitimists, whose creed about the
mysterious end of the Prince de am& is ineradicably
opposed to the validity of thewill of the Duchess de
Feucheres. I may mention, by the way, that among
the avenues which are kept open to induce the Ic-
gitimists
to make their adhesion to Louis Napoleon
the reserve of the vacant places in the Senate, which
I is the most prudent, seems as yet to have been nn-
' attended by the least success. Thu whole party
holds aloof with obstinate coldness. To-day it was
announced in the Monaco?. that no reception would
take place, because the 21st is the anniversary of the
execution of Louis XVI. Thu meaning of this
ostentatious homage to the memory of the decapitated
king is as transparent as the omission of all legiti-
mist names from the lists of proscription. Hut the
bait is spurned.
It is said that the Spanish minister has already
' put in a protest against the confiscation of the pro-
party of the Duke de Nlontpensier.
It is rorted that the Presidents of the Senate
and the Corps Lryislotif and the Vice-President of
the thuseil if Elot are to receive a salary of ltM,ooof.
a year.
MM. llillault and Chaise dlist Ange have refused
seats in the Collard el'Etat.

The terror in the provinces goes on increasing
daily. In many parts of the country the troops go
out and beat the woods for men, as if they were
hunting game. A detachment of the 35th regiment.
after a long chase, lately caught 17 in a forest at St.
Thibery, in the Iles:Lull, at the unsportsmanlike
hour of two o'clock in the morning. In the same
ticigilhourhond the papers of to-day speak of arrests
by the dozen, and by the score as having been made
by the military at Itonjan Puisalieon, Caux. Nef-
Ws and Permit's. At Clermont, Canet, St. Andrili
Aspiron, and several communes of Lodilve, etas