The Express.
London, England, 1851-08-29 00:00:00

• ' FRANCE. '

PARIS, TIIVISDAT ETIIIIING.
M. Baroehe has returned to Taris. and resumed hie
&tins 11111 Minister for Foreign Atkin.
By a• decree of the President of the Retublie
the electionsv for
vacant respective)
departments of Firstaer; and
f
Diathesis, and 4, by the
decease cf3tlM.
11 are fixed for the 21st of September.
of the opening of most of the Conleils-
General have reached Pans. On the subject of revi- ,
lion the resolutions of two only--Beine-et-Marne and '
Somme—are yet known, and these are both in favour
at revision. The majority in the Seine-et-Marne was, 1
boomer, considerably smaller than last year. The
presidents and secretaries elected by the different
osaiells ere, generally speaking, revisionists. This
fact is not an infallible indication of what the opi-
nions of the counsels may be, because it is nearly a
matter of course to re-elect the President. As an
distance of this, M. Baze the questor of the Assembly, I
one of the most determined opponents of the Flyske, I
has been elected President of the Council-General of
Lot and Garonne, but the majority of this council
will nevertheless vote for revision. In other cases ,
the very reverse of this will happen. A cotstitu- '
tional question, analogous to that which has occa-
sioned so many resignations among officers sf the ,
national guard, has arisen with respect to the Coun-1
cils-General, and will prevent very many members!,
from attending the meetings this year. By virtue
of the provisions of a law of the 22nd of June 1833,
modified by a decree of 1818, by which
the elections of the Councils-General are regdated,
one-third of the members, according to lots drawn
by the prefects, were some time since designate?. to go
out of office. The government, contemplating some
lalteration in the mode of electing the councils, but
not being prepared with a measure, proposed and I
carried, on the 14th of June last, a temporary law I
simply postponing the elections. This law is alleged
by many republicans to be unconstitutional, became!
they say its effect is to extend the power of a man-
datory
beyond the period of his mandate ' • universal
suffrage is the constitutional expression of the will of I
the sovereign people, and no citizen invested with
authority from such a source can lawfully prolong
' his mission for an hour. Upon this theory many
councillors-general have declared that they consider
themselves no longer lawfully authorised to exercise
their functions, and they decline attending accord-
ingly. Others of the same persuasion have contented
themselves with a protest, declaring that they would
not so far play into the hands of their adversaries as
to leave them masters of the field. If the National
Assembly were really the sovereign legislature
which it is sometimes called, it is clear ,
that no such perilous questions as these
could ever arise. But in point of fact, by. the I
French constitution the Assembly is much restricted
as to its right, although there is no practical limit to ,
its powers but civil war. If the Assembly had always I
acted with circumspection, and evinced an anxiety I
not to overstep their powers, a disposition to goes-
tion the legality of any of their proceedings might be
justly stigmatised as factious. But the truth is that
they have passed many laws, like that of the 31st of
May, in an avowed spirit of provocation, confessing
that their object was not so much to obtain any bene-
fit that the law would give, as to prove that they
were not afraid to pass it. It is no wonder then that
ander a constitution which declares that the sove-
reignty resides in the universality of the people, and
contains the fearful clause that it is confided to the
guardianship of all Frenchman, the discussion of
dangerous points of constitutional law should be con-
tinually provoked.
The number of the Patrie of Aug. 24, containing
M. I)clamarre's article, was presented gratis to every
arinneillir-general on his taking his seat.
The Steele publishes a letter from Prince Calli-
machi, the Turkish ambassador, to the editor of that
journal, and a"ppend.s to it some explanations,
" indispensiblo, as it says, "to the understanding
of this question, which now threatens once more to
disturb the friendly relations between France and
England." The prince's letter quotes the terms ofl
the convention of July 15, 18,19, relating to the
paehalic of Egypt. Ily virtue of that convention,
he says it was made hereditary, but in every other
respect the l'acha of Egypt. is jeast like any other
Partin, as Lord Palmerston luiuself admitted in 1840.
The following is the most interesting part of the
letter :

The Sublime Porte, although in no way. hostile to rail-
ways, will not permit the hereditary administrator of one
of its prosiness to enter into onerous engagements with a
foreign power—engagements for which Turkey would in
the end be responsible. If Abbas Pacha, without referring
to his sovereign, will involve the resources of the province
confided to him, he evidently cancels the compact which
confers on him an hereditary title. If he will nut intro-
duce those laws which are in vigour in the empire,
ha himself renounces the advantages stipulated by
the treaties of 1840. If England were to encourage
the conduct of Abbas Pacha under existing circum-
stances, she would deserve the reproach which you address
to the government of the republic, that of not having
studied the treaties; and it' your friend and fellow-labourer,
M. Jounlain, has not in his pamphlet thrown any light, as
shouldyou wished that he
expression
do,
in uponi8t11(1)e
which distinctionhave
between
Lord Palmerstoa's cited,
and the intervening treaties, it is because no such distinc-
tion exists.
The Sieele explains that the reason why the Pacha
of Egypt is not like an ordinary paella, is that when
the convention of July 15, 1844), was proposed to
Mehemet Ali, it was nut accepted by him until after
the armed interference of the allies of Turkey ; that,
as the result of that interference, by a firman of 1841,
Mehemet Ali was invested with the hereditary pa-
chalic under the conditions of the above convention;
that there was in this state of things an implied con-
dition that the four great powers, England, Russia,
Prussia, and Austria, who had enforced the firman
should watch over its execution ; that it wee, there-
, fore, not MAY hereditary title, but a certain liberty
of action which was granted to Mehemet Ali and his
descendants; and that if the viceroy finds himself
aggrieved by his suzerain he has a right to appeal
to five great European powers, since France ratified
what had been done when she signed the convention
of July 13, 1)441. The article of the Sieee concludes:
That reason and moderation are on the side of the Si-77sin
we have never contested; but a grave question of tact
arise., which must be seriously considered. England loudly
demands a rapid communication with India. Lord Palmer-
ston has resolved to attach his name to the creation of this
rapid communication. Is Turkey strong enough to defeat
the English project by merely leaning upon M. Louis Bona-
parte? There is only one way to preserve the suzerainty
of the Sultan, and that is to bring the question of the neu-
trality of the Isthmus of Sues before Europe. Upon this
ground France, speaking not by the voice of her feeble
government, but by all the organs. of publicity, England
will be obliged to limit her pretensions to the furtherance
of a universal interest. And in truth this would neither
be a misfortune for Great Britain nor any very severe
checks for her foreign office.
The resolution of the advocates at Lyons to aban-
don the defence of their clients, of which I informed
yoll by electric telegraph, was very unexpected.
They had, to all appearance, been preparing seri-
ously for the defence up to the last moment, and
seeing the tainted quality of much of the principal
evidence against the prisoners, it was thought that
their case was exceedingly promising. It is said to
have been by the advice of M. Cremieux that the
resolution was finally taken. On the occasion of a
similar proceeding before the High Court of Ver-
sailles, to which M. Michel (de Bourges) was a party,
the Council of the Order of Advocates in Paris
passed a formal vote of censure on the counsel who
abandoned their clients in the middle of a trial.
The following is the letter to Colonel Couston, the
president of the court martial at Lyons, by which the
advocates for the prisoners informed the court that
they should withdraw from the defence :--
"Monsieur le President—After haring maturely reflected
upon what has taken place, both within and without the
court, during the last .10 days, is the affair of the Lyon's
plot ; convinced as we are that neither the dignity nor
liberty of the defence exists, the undersigned declare,
with the unanimous assent of their clients, that they with-
draw from the discussion. Accept, Monsieur le President,
the horn ige of our distinguished consideration. Lyons,
August 25, 1851. Mouillaud, A. Audemard, Jules Cayot,
Emile Olivier, Saner), Combier, Willaume, Ch. Bessat,
E. JOUVRAIIIIC, Prosper V,llemain, Louis Boulot, Kauffman,
Smarmier, Michel (de Bourges), Muller de Meagan."
Colonel Couston, on reading this letter to
the Court on Tuesday, expressed his regret and
astonishment at the course taken, after the coun-
sel laid so repeatedly borne witness to the cour-
tesy and consideration with which they had
been treated by the President and the members of
the court. He should persevere in his duty to the
last, and should appoint counsel officially to defend
the prisoners. It would be necessary to enable him
to do this that he should confer with the baton tier