The Express.
London, England, 1853-01-21 00:00:00

TO COLLRESPON DENTS.

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LONDON, FRIDAY. JANUARY 21.

Lord NAroi.eos is—it appears—about to give
his hand in marriage to a :vanish lady of Irish
descent, whose name has of late been frequently
mentioned as among the favourite guests at St.
Cloud. The idlers of the gay world of London
will readily remember the graceful form and
piquant features of )IONTLIO, who last
year was constantly seen among the gay and
fashionable frequenters of our public places. More
recently her family have resided in Paris, and
under the title of the Countess DE TEBA, she has
been received with peculiar favour at the court of the
•ewly elected I.:stet:Ron. In all the festivities by
which his recent elevation to the throne have
beim celebrated the Spanish stranger has occu-
pied a conspicuous place, and the marked
attentions of the phlegmatic man of the
rap if ogiat have given rise to an infinite variety. of
rumours and surmises among the members of the im-
perial circle. To the amazement of all an announce-
meet appears in Tuesday's Maniteur, to the effect
that on Saturday next a formal communication will
be made to the Senate and Council of State on the
subject of the EMPY.ROK'S approaching marriage, and
no secret is made of the intended object of his MA-
JIMSI'T'S unexpected choice. Mdlle. DE MONTUO is
likely to become Iler Majesty the Empress of the
?Work. Talk of the nineteenth century being a
rusk and literal age after this! Since the days of
(RAZ PETER and the Empress CATHERINE, there
has been nothing so like a chapter of the
Arabian Nights transacted in Royal Europe,—for
the marriage of NAPOLEON with 'osmium&
had iu it little unusual or startling. The Toung
General of Division became fascinated by the wit and
grace of the widow of But:tun:tots, and the alli-
ance could on neither side be regarded as one of am-
bition. JOSEPHINE rose with her hero husband to
the dignities of the Consulate and the Empire, and
was then discarded by the ambitious egotist, in rder
that he might gratify his vain desire to link his
family with the haughty House of HArinrimi. The
marriage of hie nephew, should it take place, with
the Countess DP. TEBA, is wholly different in its cha-
racter,—will be ascribed to wholly different motives,
aad—will be regarded u likely_ to be productive of
very dissimilar consequences. Had LOUIS NAPOLEON
sever sought to ally himself by. marriage with the
established dynasties of the Continent;—and had he
never been rejected as a quasi Imperial suitor, the
world would be better prepared to believe that his
present choice war the natural and epontaneoes-act
of a disinterested affection, which hesitated not to
make great political sacrifices at the shrine of love.
But Louts NAPOLEON is neither young nor impul-
sive. He is as little likely to be carried away by
.a
sentimental caprice as any man living. And it
seems incredible that he should precipitately confer a
participation in a throne he has so perilously won
upon the blonde beauty of the South, who now stands
high in his favour, if he still cherished dreams of
dynastic alliance, or believed it to be his destiny to
engraft the stock of BONAPARTE upon the legitimacy
of Europe.
We may read this strange and startling act of the
sew Ruler of France far otherwise. Passion may have
had its share in hastening his resolution, but it is
hud to believe that personal pique and political re-
sentment have not greatly contributed to prepare
the way. Who will venture accurately to tell what
mingled feelings of pride and of resentment, of self-
assurance and of mortified vanity, have filled the
bosom of such a man during the recent weeks of
his new reign ? Being at the same moment the no-
kaowledged equal of all the Sovereigns of Europe
save one, and the suitor rejected by nearly
all of them in turn, for causes all the
more humiliating, because in terms unassigned,
—has the hardy thought never crossed the
brooding brow of the self-nominated Emperor,
that by some signal act ho would proclaim to
the hereditary monarchies of Christendom that he
would wager his tide, such as it is, against theirs,
and bid insolent defiance to all their vaunted
claims of legitimacy ? Hu his marriage with a
Spanish lady of very third-rate claims to nobility. no
meaning in it beyond the mere dictates of admira-
tion or pinion ? Would it have happened, had the
Court of St. Petersburgh consented to recognise its
western rival in the terms of friendship and equa-
Wwhich Loris NAPOLEON anxiously craved?
Wuld the Andalusian Countess have triumphed
as easily over the " used up" hero of the
lad of December had a German Princess, with

high cheek-bones, plain mouth, and light grey
eyes, been sitting for her miniature, at the special
request of his Alsiesry ? History, we suspect, will
dsabt it, or perhaps in her own pragmatical way
will peremptorily decide in the negative; and the
future may yet confirm the conjecture which is irre-
mistably raised in many doubting minds, that should
the contemplated marriage
.actually take place, the
gauntlet. will have been virtually thrown down by
the new despotism to the old, and a signal of no
small insignificance will have been made to the
armed nations of the Continent, that Bonapartism,
as a system, is to be understood u resting on posi-
tive and palpable force, and is in no respect to be
regarded as identical with dynastic sovereignty.
moment for making this singular &manna.-
meat Is certainly strange. Franco has been strug-
gling with a mastery crisis. The public securi-
ties are reported to have fallen two per cent., and the
value of shares even more during the day previous
to the appearance in the Armoires, of the Imperial
matrimonial paragraph. Is Louis NAPOLZON un-
sonemions or indifferent to what is going on around
him ? Are his eyes becoming dazzled with the novel
splendour in which he dwells 10 Or has the haze of
fattery which rises up on every side about him
already become too dense and impervious for his
• crafty glance to see through P It may be otherwise.
And it is possible to conceive that in the plotting
brain of this silent man it seems more neessaary that
he should endeavour to keep confidence to his ad-
herents by a step which leaves him no resource but
in their fidelity.

WR hear more just now of foreign than of domes-
tic invasion. Yet it is quite clear that there is per-
manently established in London a body of undisci-
plined troops, who war upon society with • perse-
ammo' that never flags, and with a emcees that has
lbw checks. The ravages made by this hostile force
soy sot be equal to those which would be effected by
s French army; but they are so extensive, so
saceseing, that it seems strange that per-
ilss who are so keenly sensitive to a pos-
sible danger, should have had their attention
no little aroused by one with which they are con-
stantly threatened. " City Arabs" is the designation
given to these hostile depredators, who, when re- I
poached that their bands are against every man,
reply with some truth that every man's hand is
against them. A report, just published, of the evi-
dence brought before the " Committee on Criminal
and Destitute Juveniles," contains • mass of informa-
tion relative to these modern English representatives
of the tribe of Itouset. " They have all the vices
sad some of the virtues of savages," mys Mr.
MATTURW DAVENPORT Hut, in his evidence
before the committee. He tells us also that
the City Arab is indolent, averse from any settled or
steady employment, averse from restraint of any
kind ; on the other hand he is patient of hunger and
thirst, and cold ; and as to dirt, he rather delights in
it than otherwise. It is by no means an evil in hi
estimation, and he would much rather be permitted
to roam about at large, even suffering at times great
privations, than be at school or at work under the I
restraints which belong to civilised moiety. This
class is composed of the children of criminals, ille-
gitimate children, orphans, foundlings, and step-
children. They have no houses, and would not have
homes if they could. They subsist by plunder, and
as it has been cilculated from tolerably good data
that not one offence in two /eared is discovered, we

may form some idea of the looses of the inhabitants
of London during the year.
Society of course makes war upon the "City
Arab." It captures him when possible--endeavours
to convince him of his sin by flogging Dim, putting
him in dark cells, scntencing.hint to silence, trans-
porting him, and other contrivances. for moral
enlightenment. These methods do not exactly pro-
duce the effect intended, u the punishments indi-
cated are generally taken in the light of payment by
the class upon whom they are inflicted. They have
been heard to express their belief, for instance, that
the misery suffered by a criminal condemned to Nor-
folk Island was not only sufficient to wipe off all
scores here, but to leave a balance to be made use
of in the next world. A prisoner once told Captain
MAcosocutx that if he had done nothing but com-
mit murder all his life, he should consider the
punishment inflicted upon him at Norfolk Island
a sufficient atonement.

It is clear, then, that society must change its tao-
tics. The law as it stands affords us but little pro-
I tection against these City Arabs. So evident has
this appeared to the authorities of one city—Aber-
deen—that they commenced their operations against
their juvenile enemies by a violation of the law
itself. Determined to put an end to the incursions
of the Arabs, the magistrates ordered every juvenile
beggar to be taken up and committed—not to pri-
son, but to school, on a certain day. " I have no
doubt," said Mr. Tuomsoft, one of the originators of
the plan, " that the proceeding was highly illegal,
but at the same time it was highly expedient." The
result of the coup (fetid against the Arabs was cer-
tainly. satisfactory. They were informed in the evening
after having had three substantial meals of food,
that they might return the next day or not, as they
chose, but that if they were again caught begging,
they would be sent not to school, but to prison. Out
of 75 who were taken, 72 returned, and the school
has gone on ever since. We have spoken of this
experiment before, but it cannot be called to mind
too often.
Other experiments have been mado with distin-
guished success, and the issue in every case has esta-
blished the fact that the City Arab is so far different
from his Asiatic and African prototype that he is
susceptible of civilisation. The evidence brought to
bear upon this point in the blue book, to which allu-
sion has been made, is overwhelming. The com-
mittee, interrupted in their labours in June by the
approaching prorogation of Parliament, were
unable to offer any definite opinion to the house
on the subject of reformatory establishments for
juvenile criminals, and limited themselves to print-
ing the evidence. This, however, is so complete,
even in its present state, that. there ought to be no
reasonable doubt but the legislature will feel bound
to provide largely in future for the prevention of
crime, as well as its punishment.
The two facts that may be considered as the most
important of those established by the evidence are
these, that our present method of dealing with cri-
minal and destitute juveniles by punishment is the
worst possible, and that different methods adapted to
produce reformation in this class have been discovered
and applied by individuals having no communication
with each other. The effects produced by the pre-
sent system may be conjectured from the expression
of Sir PETER LAURIE, who said that he would walk
20 miles to see a reformed thief. Sir Peres may
convince himself, by walking merely to Aibany-
street, that what the present prison discipline can-
not effect, judicious teaching and kindness can. Mr.
JOHN ELLIS, a shoemaker, who lives at No. 117 in
the street mentioned, out of mere pity for the condi-
tion of the " Arabs," selected three of them to begin
with, as objects for some plans of tuition. The
specimens chosen were as unpromising as Sir PETER
himself could have wished. One of them had been

convicted several times and whipped. Mr. ELLts's
success with these outcasts of society was so remark-
able that some persons came forward to assist him, and
he was enabled to take twelve more boys under his
care. He has restored these boys to society, and has
put them into a position to earn their bread honestly.
His belief in the possibility of reforming even
hardened criminals is unshaken. In answer to a
question from Mr. MILNES as to the probable
existence of an irreclaimable boy, he says, " I have
never seen sloth a case, and I have confidence that if
I had any boy who had his right senses about him I
could reform him. Give me mind, and I will be
bound to convince the mind." The examinations
of Miss CARPENTER, Mr. WRIOHT, of Manchester,
and others, all tended to the same point.
These results are cheering to those who are en-
gaged in solving the question—" What are we to do
with our criminals?" While Governments have done
little hitherto but look about for the most efficient
mode of punishing crime, individuals, influenced
only by humane motives, have set themselves to
work to purify the criminal,—and have succeeded.
In the report of the evidence there are accounts of
establishments in operation, both in England and on
the Continent, and all bear witness to the possibility
defecting a change in our criminal population by
means of reformatory institutions. This fact has
been proved just at the time that it was wanted.
Our colonies will not have our criminals, our prisons
turn them out again upon society more dangerous
than before. The only resource left is to teach them ;
and good and wise, and heroic men and women tell
us that they can be taught. The gaoler and the
executioner have done little, it remains to be seen
what the schoolmaster can effect.

FRANCE.
MARRIAGE OF THE EMPEROR.
PARIS, TIMISDAT EVIIIIIIIO.
The bureau of the Senate, that of the Legislative
Body, and the Council of State, will meet on Satur-
day, at naon, at the Tuileries, in order to receive
from the Emperor a communication respecting his
mar
Triage.
here has been much less excitement to-day as to
the reported changes in the ministry, since the Em-
proem settled determination on the subject of his
marriage was thus officially announced in this morn-
ing's oniletsr. The general apprehension of a
desire on the part of the government to take all the
railways under its control, Is however farfrotn allayed,
and has indeed been rather strengthened by the pub-
&Mies of an official article, comparing the pregame
do British and French lines during the re
rair.
The Bourse opened to-day with a slightly it!-11
Levaspect; and after a few trifling transactions
ed
been effected at the closing quotations of yester-
day, the rates of the principal securities gradually
advanced until they had recovered about one-half of
the previous day's decline—the Three per Cents.
closing at 78L 90c., and the Fonr-and-s-Half per
Cents. at 104 f. 65c. Very little comparative im-
provement was observable in Bank stock or other
securities. A great amount of the stock recently
sold out has undoubtedly been, as alleged by the
Constifutionnel, on English account, anti much of it
has been re-invested in the Belgian Four-and-a-Half
per Cents., which have materially improved, and are
now at 991.
The latest prices of the other Continental Bourses
were thus reported to-day :
Amsterdam : Four per Cents., 961; Two-antler
Half ditto, BM,.
Antwerp : Five per Cents., 991; Threes, 741.
Berlin : New Four-and-a-Half per Cents., 1021, I._
Brussels : Five per Cents., 991 ; Four-and a-Half
ditto, G

o, 90.
Madrid : Three per Cents., 41; ; redeemable
Bonds, Ist class, 10 ; 2nd class, Si.
Vienna : Five per Cents., 931, ; ; Bank Stock,
1,372.
The incredible news is true. The Emperor is
about to be married to Madlle. Montijo. He will
formally announce his determination to the Senate,
the Corps Legielatif, and the Council of State, on
Saturday next, and on the Saturday following, as I
am informed, the marriage ceremocy will be eels.
brated at Notre Dame.
It has long been felt that the insuflbrable dulness
of Parisian politics could not last much Mager.
Paris has been, so to speak, on the look out for a sur-
prise. The " startling novelty" now providel by the
great theatrical caterer of the Tuileries is well worthy
the reputation of the man who sent an army to Rome,
dismissed Odillon °Barret, superseded Cliangaroler,
proposed the abolition of the law of May 31,
accomplished the coup dWet, confiscated the
Orleans property, released Abd-el-Kader, and made
himself Napoleon 111. Beyond the limited circle of
, courtiers who have had opportunities of observing
the marked attention lately paid by the Emperor to