The Express.
London, England, 1852-08-19 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, AUGUST 19.

PAattssiEer is to be prorogued till the 21st of
October; and, as the Order in Council for issuing
writs to this effect is silent respecting "the dis-
patch of business," it is certain that l'arliament
will not meet even then. This is exactly what
was expected. The undue postponement of the
meeting of Parliament has excited universal
indignation—an indignation which was endured
for a time by Ministers and their supporters in
profound silence. 'this was not impolitic. No-
thing satisfactory could be said in defence of the
postponement, and insufficient palliat?ry statements
could only have rendered the discussion more keen
and general. But there are cases so very bad that
theindignation they excite continues to menace even
when unehafed by controversy. So the Ministerial-
ists, finding they gained nothing by silence, have
made a virtue of necessity, put a bold face on it, and
begin to defend, or at least extenuate, the reluctance
of their patrons to undergo the judgment of the
House of Commons, which they called upon the
country to return, to decide on their claims to public
confidence.

The line of defence adopted is characteristic, or
(what is the same thing expressed in different
words; amusing for its impudence. The evening
organ of the DERBY 'Ministry affects utter astonish-
ment at being told that any person can object to the
delay in the meeting of Parliament. It vows that
for a new parliament to meet before the customary
time of opening the annual session is a thing unheard
of. It expatiates on the hardship of calling wearied
and jaded members together so soon after the close of
a toilsome session. It affects to laugh at the demand
for a speedy convocation of Parliament, as the
crotchet of a few individuals to which no one pays
attention.

The matter is not to be got rid of in this off-hand,
jocose manner. The attempt of Ministers to stave
of to the last moment the meeting of the new Par-
liament is at once a violation of constitutional prac-
tice and a breach of personal faith. It is • grave
offence on the part of Ministers both in their of
and individual capacities.
We need not now remind our readers that ever
since the Reform Bill Government came into office in
le3o, it has been the invariable practice of every
Ministry which, after being left in a minority in the
House of Commons, has, instead of resigning, ap-
pealed to the ordeal of a general election, to meet the
new Parliament, if possible, on the very day on
which the writs were returnable, or if not, as soon
after as possible. We have shown on former occa-
sions that this was the coarse pursued in such cir-
cumstances by Earl Gary, Sr ROBERT Pen., and
Lord NISLBOURNE. The concurrent practice of these
statesmen is sufficient to establish the maxim, that a
new Parliament, elected in consequence of a dissolu•
tion provoked by the Ministers of the day having
been outvoted in the House of Commons, ought to
meet on the very day for which it is summoned, as
part and parcel of the common law of the reformed
Parliament.

Even the flimsy sophists of the Derbyite ministry
will not venture to affirm, that this maxim is in-
applicable in their case, inasmuch as they were not
placed in a minority last session. That a formal vote
of want of confidence was not carried against them,
was owing solely to their confessing that they were
in a minority, and bringing forward no measures of
their own. " I know I em in a minority," said Lord
Deitity, and begged that the majority would not put
themselves to the trouble of proving it by a vote.
To rewerd them for their forbearance, he promised
to dissolve—to " go to the country"—u soon as the
necessary business of the session was concluded.
He did more, he introduced—at least he in-
sisted upon carrying—no measures that had
not been prepared to his hand by his
predecessors in office. He adopted their bud-
get; his measures of law reform hs found cut
and dry in the pigeon holes of the official desks ; even
his precious Militia Bill was little more than an
ingenious compound of the worst features of the
Pauseesron and Resent. plans. After dodging
about the House of Commons to gain time—like the
highwayman in the ballad who "traversed the cart,"
to put off the evil hour of his being suspended—
Lord Deane dissolved Parliament, because he was
in a minority, on the desperate chance of being able
to better his position.
The indefinite postponement of the meeting of
tlif new Parliament is, therefore, a violation of con-
stitutional practice. It is another illustration of
the reckless manner in which the present Ministers
set law and decorum alike atdefianoe when they fancy
they can gain anything by it. But, in addition to
this, the indefinite postponement of the meeting of
Parliament is a breech of promise on the part of
Lord DERBY. An English nobleman has broken his
plighted word. This is a stain on his scutcheon that
he will not find iteasy to wipe off.
The promise which Lord Deane has broken was
lastingly impressed on the public memory by the
reluctance with which he gave it. One night he
declared that there should be a short session in
autumn for the purpose of taking the opinion of the
new Parliament on the claim of Ministers to its
eonfidence. Next night Lord DERBY attempted to
explain away his words and wriggle out of his rash
promise. But the Duke of NEWCASTLE
painful
him
down, and after a discreditable and some of
ministerial shuffling, Lord DERBY stated, that
though be would not Freesias to hold a short session
in July or August, yet he gave his word of honour
that Parliament should be assembled to die
cuss the ministerial policy, and recognise or
reject the claims of Ministers to the country's
confidence, time enough to admit of the ordinary
business of the ordinary
_ session being set about
at the usual time. The indefinite postponement
of the Meeting of Parliament betrays the determi-
nation of Lord DERBY to break his pledge.
The position of the present Government is unpre-
cedented in the annals of this country, since the
House of Commons pawned an effective voice on
the retention of office by Ministers. For six months
have they been in office, and yet no one has been
able to elicit from them a distinct and intelligible
account of the principles upon which they intend to
act, or the measures they intend to promote. No
man can say with certainty whether they are Free-
traders or Protectionists--assertors of a non.
intervention or of a warlike and meddling po-
licy—friends of unsectarian education or abettor,
of clerical usurpation. They have " scattered ambi-
guous voices" to win the support or disarm the dis-
trust of all, but they have not uttered one clear un-
mistakeable expression of opinion or purpose. And
to enable them to maintain with greater ease this
mysterious silence, they wheedled the old Parliament
into abstention from all discussions of general prin-
ciples or policy, and they take are to keep the new
one from meeting. For six months have they held
office in defiance of the constitutional principle, that ,
no Ministry shall continue in power without the
sanction of the Commons of England in Parliament
assembled. Their principles, their contemplated
policy (assuming that they have either), are un-
known ; all that Is known of them is, that they
have, during their brief tenure of office,
contrived to commit more (and more dangerous)
blunders, and to job their appointments more grossly
than any other ministry—even than the corrupt
ministry of WALPoLE or the blundering ministry of
BUTE—in mix times the space of time.
Their supporters evaded as long as possible the
discretion of these damaging topics. And now that
they feel this controversy can be no longer evaded
what appearance do they present? Not that of a

gallant stag turning to stand at bay, but of a mangy
lox, skulking through grata and weeds, dragging its
brush in the dirt. They have not one word to say is
defence of their patrons conduct; 'they can only
assume a gawky air and affect not to understand this
charger brought against them.

FRANCE.

WITNESPAT EVLNIMO.

The adjourned ball of the dames de la hale came
off last night, and has had uo better luck than the
illuminations and other features of the fetes of
August. The President, to the cruel disappointment
of his friends the market ladies, did not make his
appearance at all. Between 10 and 11, just at the
outset of the entertainment, a violent thunder-
shower fell, which soon made its way through the
canvass roof, and mingled with the waters spouted
from the gilded lions of Jean Goujon's fountain. The
immense reserved tribunes, which were to have been
filled by the elite of Parisian society, and whose
slopes of benches were capable of accommodating as
many spectators as the ball-room would hold of
dancers, contained hardly any person of distiuction,
even among the President's friends. Of refresh-
ments none were to be had for love or
money, if I except some trays of biscuits that
were curried under military escort to some ladies
in a reserved tribune. In fact, the enormous pro-
vision that had been made for the departmeut of the
Douche on Sunday night had to be
.given away,
while they were eatable, to the soldiers in the various
barracks and to the Bureaux de Bienfaisance. All
these united disasters produced a general chorus of
complaint, which in the midst of so splendid a spec-
tacle as the ball-room presented would have seemed
unreasonable to a stranger. The absence of the Pre-
sident can be only attributed to the nature of the
reports which he received from Pictri, the prefect of
police. Even on Saturday the wildest stories were
rife among all classes of Guy Fawkes plots, infernal
machines, daggers, pistols, and what not ; but not
much attention was paid to these rumours„
the usual concomitants of the President's ap-
pearance on solemn occasion., until the ball
was put off on Sunday night. The motive of
the adjournment was evidently not fully explained
in the prefect a placard ; and the fact of forty arrests
having been made on the same night clearly proves
the existence of some more satisfactory cause for the
postponement of the ball than a high wind, and tho
responsibility of exposing the workmen's lives in re-
placing the canvass blown off. The Parisians say :
Autrefois la hallo faisait sauter le gouvernemont;
aujourd hui c'est le gouvernement quo fait tauter la
halle," but if we are to believe the reports circulated
there was a plot "pour faire sauter le gouvernement
et la hale" together. Be this as it may, of the ar-
rests there exists no doubt, and the abrupt and fierce
demeanour of the police on duty in that quarter, the
immense numbers of sergens de ville, and even sen-
tries with their knapsacks, who were pacing up and
down in the midst of the ball-room, together
with the early disappearance of the greater
part of the company, countenance the sup-
position that there was some sinister design on
foot. With the ladies of the halle, who profess incre-
dulity oe the subject of plot, perhaps to give a freer
vent to their disappointment, the President has lost
much of his popularity by showing this singular mi.- I
treat. They are not wanting in pride, and consider
it an unpardonable affront in the head of the state to
have broken his engagement with them. It was •
great sacrifice to those whose stalls were in the
Marche des Innoeeas to bo swept away for a week
and more from the place of their usual trade, so that
their customers could not find them, while the ex-
pensive theatrical structure was forming about that
beautiful piece of risque cento art the fountain of
Jean Goon. The presence of M. Persigny was the
lesssatisfactory to them as a substitute for the Pro-
sident, as they complained of the immense number
of ticket' winch had been reserved by the minister
of the interior for personages entirely strange
to the classes for whom the fate was given.
The dame de la Halle, who was selected for the
honour of dancing with the President of the Re-
public paid 35,000 fr. for • set of diamonds in the
form of an eagle. But this is a small matter com li
-
pared with the loss of her partner, which is irrepa-
rable, while no doubt the Prince would have no
objection to indemnify the lady for her loss in making
such a spirited demonstration of imperialism.
. . .

Madame Peraigny did her best to appease the
company, by dancing with the lusty husband of one
of the market ladies, one Page. The national guards
complained that they had to stand two hours in the
drenching. rain, which spoiled their bran-new uni-
forms, waiting for the Prince; and, after this heavy
service,could obtain no creature comforts in the shape
of wine or viand".

The Mfmtkur publishes a list of the presidents,
vice-presidents, and secretaries of the councils-gene.
ral appointed by the President of the Republic.
The Minister of Foreign Atkin., on tho occasion of
the file of the 15th, gave a grand dinner to his col-
leagues and the members of the Fs diplomatique.
Monseigneur Garibaldi, the Pa nuncio, Lord
Cowley, and the the ministers an charge d'affaires
of Austria, Baden, Bavaria, Belgium, Brazil, Den-
mark, Two SiciliesSpain, Greece, Hanover, Hand.
Portugal, Prussia, Russia, Sardinia, Saxony, Sweden,
Norway, Tuscany, Turkey, Uruguay, and Warbles-
berg, were present. The Papal nuncio, ■in the mom
of the corps, proposed the health of the Priam Peed-
dent, to which M. Drouyn de Lhuys replied by a
toast, "To the sovereigns and governments whose
repreeentativeshehadthe honour to see around him."
The Constilutionnel says it has received very im-
portant intelligence from Lisbon relative to a con-
vention on the point of being concluded between
the French, Spanish, and Portuguese governments
for the construction of a railway. It is intended to
connect the three capitals of France, Spain, and
Portugal by a line of railway. For this purpose
each government will engage to favour the forma-
tion of companies commanding the funds a
for the execution of this great undertakinge,ce=
government as far as it is concerned will guarantee
to the companies the execution of the arrangements
which may be stipulated for in the convention, and
thereby give a really serious, and, in some measure,
dada character to the execution of this international
line. The railway would unite Paris to Madrid,
from whence it would be carried to Lie-
bon. The Spanish government has already
in some measure anticipated the execution of
this convention, by undertaking to execute the sec-
tion of the railway from Madrid to Bidassoa. As
far as regards France it remains for her to authorise
the execution of the line from Bordeaux to Bayonne,
which is already, it is said, the object of several
applications for concession.
- M. Vieyra, the ex-colonel of the staff of national
guard, recently dismissed for reasons with which you
are acquainted, has not waited long for a testimony
in the highest quarter of that confidence which his
comrades withheld from him. He has been appointed
superintendent of the tobacco dealers in the district
of the Chatunee d'An tin, with a salary of 3001. a year.
The Sieck, with the evident object of calling to mind
recent proceedings in a court of justice, observes that
this post is one of the throe most important of the
kind in Paris, and that 240,0001. a year will pass
through M. Vieyra's hands.
The Archbishop of Paris, who has not leR the me-
tropolis since his appointment four years ago, is about
to make a tour in Germany. On his way to the
Rhine he proposes to visit several French bishops in
their dioceses.

Marshal Jeriane Bonaparte returned to Paris at
four o'clock yesterday morning.

BELGIUM.

A letter from Brussels states that the ultra-liberal
➢arty are using great effbrts to get up an excitement
in the Chamber of Representatives, which will ren-
der it difficult if not absolutely impossible for the
Belgian government to carry the proposed measure
against literary piracy, which has been stipulated foe
by the French government as one of the oonditions
of the new international treaty. Large bile have
been posted up in Brussels and all the principal
towns of Belgium in the form of an address from the
Typographic Committee to all persons interested in
the printing trade, and indeed to the public generally, 1
calling upon them to protest loudly against a measure
which, if adopted, would destroy an important branch
of industry in Belgium, and expressing a hope that
the example of the representatives of llolland on the
same subject will be followed by the Belgian Chamber
of Representatives.

ITALY.
EnitoNT.
'The CWO:frIV Mercantile of Genoa quotes a letter
from Turin, of the 13th, iu which it is stated that the
resignation of the Minister of the Interior, M.Pcrnati,
is spoken of u certain. The reason of this step is
believed to be this: that M. Pernati having proposed
to his colleagues to prosecute Count Cardenas for his
attack in the Arntonia upon the ministerial circular
relative to the petitions against the Civil Marriage
Bill, and the council of ministers having decided the
matter in the negative, M. Pernati had sought an op-
portunity of resigning.