The Express.
London, England, 1851-11-11 00:00:00

FRANCE.

PARIS, TCSSDAY ETZNING.
The committee appointed to examine the electoral
law, after having examined this morning the Minis-
ter of the Interior, heard the reading of M. Daru's
report, which concludes in favour of the rejection,
pure and simple, of the government's bill. The
committee agreed to refer to the committee on the
Nlunicip.il Hill those modifications of which it con-
ceives the present electoral system capable with ad-
vantage to the public.
M. Nlob-, president of the committee on the new
electoral law, informed the Nlinister of the Interior,
at the elms: of the sitting of Saturday, that the com-
mittee had come to their resolutions, and had named
its reporter, and requested that, if the minister wished
to give any explanations, he would do so as soon as
possible. M. de Thorigny r c.,(c com-
mittee that he would at-
tend un the following day yesterday). The
consequently assembly at three o'clock, but
the minister not attending through some misunder.
standing, the meeting, after waiting half an hour,
broke up. The Minister has since sent a letter to
M. NIOIC, expressing his regret at the misunder-
standing winch prevented his attendance, and
stating that he held himself at the orders of the
comm Um
Yesterday was the anniversary of the Ifith Bru-
maire, a revolutionary date, in which the parliament
seems continually to apprehend that Louis Napoleon
seeks a pattern for the completion of his ambitious
policy. The Pith Brumaire of Mil has indeed gone
off without any rwsp djtat ; but it was selected, not
perhaps without design, by the President to receive
the officers of the garrison at the Elysi.e. This cere-
mony, quite conformable fur the rest to official usage,
was distinguished by a very remarkable address
from Louis Napoleon which has excited much sensa-
tion as a political demonstration. The officees having
been introduced by General Magnan, the President
addressed to them the following speech :
Gentlemen,—ln ri ceiving the officers of the different
regiments of the amply who succeed each other in the garri-
son of Paris, I congratulate myself on seeing them animated
with that spirit a hick was our glory, and which now con-
stitotes our security. I will not speak to you, therefore,
either of your duties or of discipline. You ave always
performed your duties with honour, whether in the land of
Africa, or the soil of France ; and you have always maintained
ilkeipline intact in the midst of the most difficult trials. I hope
that these trio:. will not return, but if the gravity of eireeni-
stances should renew thorn, and compel me to make an
I appeal to your devotedness, I am sure that I should not
be disappointed, because you know that I demand no-
thing that is nut iu accord with my right, recognised by
the constitution, with military honour, and with the in-
terest of the country ; because I have placed at your head
I men who hose my entire confidence, and who merit yours ;
i beta..., if ever the day of ' - should arrive, I will not

brought about that investigation into the Customs as . s . slay of danger. . _ , _ ....
----- _ _ as kept
du as th.e.ak. .omens which have precedail me have done
yet only partially finished by a committee of the
I wilt not ray to you, " March. land I will follow you,' -
i higue. At last it was announced that M. c
}louse of ('um butt wat Guy to )uu, " 1 march, follow me." -1 horigny had prohibited the recital of M. Victor
In February loot the first and strongest. of these I lugo's song. Ihe idea of the Parisian democracy
The officer+ presented to the President were to
inforniatioos was tried before the Lord Chief Baron voting for such a minister to be their rt•presentative
the number of five or six hundred. They met at the
and a speeial jum. It consisted of eleven counts ;it • cannot be entertnintal fora moment. On the other
fuileriese and fade heat thence through the Champs
charged the compiny with pilfering 8,0011.15. of sugar ay.,"
to the Elyse':e, and thence to the Ministry hand, one cannot perceive without regret the jacobi-
and 2541 cwt.*. of cocoa from its customers, and , var. Meal style of the socialist poet's later effusions. The
with tainting payment of the duties thereon ; and ''''' song in question ends with the following sinister diss
The most remarkable feature in the above document
after an investigation of eleven days' duration figurement of the popular muse: "Oh tyrants, the
is the ambiguous facility with which the appeal to the
and an expenditure of not leis than 20,4)001. of aziple sings as the lion roars" —a sentiment better
devotion of the army may be construed as referring
the public's and the dock's money on the cane, the tLecuming the mouth of Hinton than that of the poet-
equally with the designs of the parliament and to
ult was a verdict of guilty of not entering two orator of the Peace Society, in the midst of the Kith
those of e seditioua democrats. But no one
boxes of sugar without, however, any intention of century. The government might have put off the
can doubt that the sense of the speech, although
evading the ditty ; and with respect to the cocoa,elections of the Seine until the 15th of January., and
looked under a possible application to insurgent
on nine out of the eleven counts, a verdict passed for
socialism, is in reality pointed against the legislas has been therefore blamed for the gratuitous inter-
the company. Substantially, therefore, the Customs'
tore • and in this light the address must he accepted pulation of a contest, which can only agitate
case entirel'y broke down ;' displaying, however, inpublic opinion. But I believe the secret of the time
as the' counterstroke of the proposition of the quest-
the attempt to support it an exercise of arbitrarytors It is equivalent to a declaration that Louis fixed will be ;found ill this: The elections will take
.
power, ot reliance on the evidence of dismissed tier- place according to the law of May, and therefore
Napoleon will not allow the parliament to appoint a
yants, of unjuatitiable suspicion, and of libellous and the great bulk of the democratic party will abstain.
commander to the troop; which it is entitled to de-
seatielaloux clumps against a great company whose Hence the contest will lie merely between the par.
mind for its protection a declaration which may be
existence was a huge profit to the revenue, quite un- liament and the President, who wishes, probably, to
made all the more safeiy at the present moment as
Ileled in our courts of justice. The result of this elicit a decisive demonstration of public opinion
there ap ,in spite of the adhesion of MM. Ber-
trial rendered the demand for a parliamentary in- inst his adversaries. It is only unfortunate that
ryer and Mola to the opposition policy of M. Thiers, a;rl
quiry irresistible ; and how in the inquiry the Cu,- very N . Billault was not selected for the candidate of the
little chance of its being carried, even with the
tone. fared is hot too well known. In ats counie thegovernment instead of M. de Thorigny, who seems .
ohiectionable and unconstitutional clause withdrawn ;
chairman and secretary of the London Docks were hitherto in no degree above the common stamp of
in mil every probability of the motion not bet/
examined:
taken into eon.uueratioa, and therefore not referr
yellemetice they protested their innocence of all theinto its old tone of bitter opposition to Louis Nn lo-
a committee. Much noise is made about the
Custoina' charges, and enlisted the sympathy of the loon, and disclaims all concession to a government
omission of the words " recognised by the con-
,a, .' .
committee. as they hail pies Musty done that of thetrreacemably committed to repressive principles.
stitution," which follow the mention made by
',oldie, fur the peraccution they were suffering.ln noticing one feature of the message, the allusion,
the President of his "right" in the copies
When parliament rose, the reputation of the Cus- namely, to the necessity of referring the presidential
of the address delivered yesterday to the Balkan de
toms sits at zero; and from its ill repute the Tree- election to the parliament, in the event of the first
Paris and ifonitenr de Soir, while that qualifying
sums also auttired. Both departments were at issue candidate not obtaining two millions of votes, the
expreaaion is inserted in the Paten.. The AssentbVe .
with the mercantile community; and that comma- Valletta! draws attentian to a point which seems to
thus accounts for M. do Thorigny's absence from the
nity was represented by the two dock companies.l have escaped a due degree of public attention, and
1,.., committee on the electoral law, be which he
Au attempt to recover the ground they for" - was lis certainly slurred over iu the message. The first
had .--- engaged to appear. Immediately after the delive
wens., however, to have been resolved on; and, on 1..3' candidate must, according to the .17th article of the
of the speech, a cabinet counsel assembled, wherein
pretence of understanding what it was their duty toconstitution, obtain the absolute majority. of votes
it was resolved to urge the l'resident to insert those
have been perfect itiaaters of before, viz., the dock and at least two millions of suffrages. It is well to
words as a propitiatory concession to the Assembly;
system, the Chairman of Customs and one of thebear this in mind, as the number thus required is
and, in the meantitne, a message was sent to delay
Secretaries. of the Treasury began to visit and exas nearer four millions than two, even according to the
the publication of the Pntrie. But the fact is, that
mine the London Dta.k... 'There they met and were present electoral lists.
the words arc by no means material, as the President
thrown into intercourse with the chief officers of the. I If I am to trust the Constittitionoci, a very ire
I can have no right but that which he receives by the
docks; regret was expressed at what had occurrred, portant schism has occurred between the clubs of the
: constitution. It is, however, provided by the 50th i
and hopes of accommodotion were held out if the tue des Pramides and Rue de ltivoli. A deputa-
article of that charter, that the President "disposes
docks would only admit that the Customs had a legal lion of time former, consisting of Odilon Barret,
of the armed have, without ever being able to com-
right to make the seizures litigated. With a mar- Nlontalembert, de Broglie, and Daru was appointed
mend it in person." Hence the concluding sentence
vellotui disregard of se hat was due to their own elm- by the former club to treat with the board of the Rue
of the address, •• 1 march ; follow me," is
=tier ru Maki upulou,ly assailed, of what was due de ltivoli, in order to moderate the ardour of the oppo-I,
held to be in contradiction watt the constitution.
to the mershants whose property was in their cus- sition evinced by M. Berryer and his adherents.
But in phraseology of this sort it is impossible to say,
Cody. and of what was due to the entire trading These peace-makers experienced so dry and harsh a!
what is literal and what is figurative. Taken broadly,
nitamunity which had risen in their defence reception on the part of the legitimist committee,'
the arose need not haply the President's presence on
ats one man against the Customs tyranny, that they could not even explain the ulterior objects
the field at the head of the troops, but simply
the dock officers were weak enough to listen to the
continuing to his jof their mission, but broke up the conference, and
" dispose of theta "according to
voice of the charmer; it was arranged that a letter "s'l retired in disgust. In the meeting which took place
his constitutional prerogative, and not flying ;
of a penitential character should be written, that on Thursday night, at M. Darn's, the deputatiou ex-
from Paris in a post-chaise to leave a clear field to
• minimal line of s'. should be submitted to, and lained the nature of the rebuff they had met with
the dictatorship of General Changarnier. The .18-
Heat there own the pr.ssecution should be quashed;' fn attempting to negotiate for the reconstruction of
sentbVe contains an article headed "The Proclaina-
and this asieidal abandonment of the public eaum the old club of the conseil &Mat on the basis of a
Son of the lath Brumaire," in which it attacks the
was actually sanctioned by the directors: notwith- common conservative polies. They proposed Leon
President with a violence worthy of the days
standing their chairman had repeatedly pledged him- Faucher for vice-president, but were told that after
of the Napole.n and the Peuruir. The Ordre
self nut to ;accommodate or compromise these *condo- . the ex-minister's Bonapartist display at Rheims it
reechoes the same arguments. The D'Aitts and
lons prosecution*. was impossible to support him. No better
rano; gives the address without remark, reserving
Well -towards the close of October, withoutsuccess attended their recommendation of l'eupin
f fire
i ther re possibly or to -morrow. The almost identity !
taking any external advice, without giving a hint and Berard as secretaries. Be Kcrdrel and Gri-
ef the articles of' the principal organs of the parka-
the other duck company, without consulting molt were the candidates of the coalesced parties
merit at present indicates the close understanding
their parliamentary friends, this letter was written; of Thiers and Berryer. The divisions of the party
which prevails between Thiers, Mole, and Berryer.
cautiously and skilfully. It contained, however, of order were seen in the moult—Faucher was thrown
De Broglie fights shy of the extreme opposition
the requited aulmission, only too plainly expressed,out on one side and Kerdrel on the other. The pro-
of this triumvirate; and the Ds,bots does ROL hesitate
that, iu respect of some of the goods, ihere might position of the questors was condemned by the meet-
to cull the proposition of the questors a measure of _.
have existed legal grounds of seizure on the in g and a resolution was taken to vote against it.
the most deplorable unseasonableness.
ground of irregularity. 'that was enough, and far , I The POse contains a long article by M. Lamar-
morebrought
than enough for the Customs and the Treasury. tine, headed •• itettections on the Message," intro-
round in favour of Louis Napoleon by this aggressive
't lie latter seized like an eagle on the expression
art of the parliament, which must either be the pro - lucid by the following affecting letter to M. de la
irregularities; held it to admit and include every. Gut nicre:
thing. to be a complete justification for all tha log" eto revolution or a humiliating defeat of the
Chained by illness to my bed, without moviment,
aggressors. The commercial dosses
charges and imputations made against the Dock arc always ta- without sleep, and for nineteen days and nights without
vourable to an energetic assertion of an undivided
Company. tor the harshness with which rho prose-
_tarn. food, I have Just had read t.? me the message and the sitting.
adieu lead been conducted; to be • proof of the "'''' ; 1 end, savour to dictate the myna-mss that I have received
" necessity'. of the poccedings: and that the objects I The Ordre defends the proposition of the questors. ,
I. .
n....
Irons them. Give them to your readers fur what they are.
Oa the 11th of May, 1:418, the Constituent Assembly ;
those proceedings aimed at had been attained. So iI V aYri
whi
the 'n features of M. La rtine's
a decree, which contains the following itu... , give you .
irate mein it, • - t
' my lords" read the unhappy eons ,
portent awe:i " Ilefleettons :
pony, whore honour lead thus been betray . ed. •• sting- I Pun.
i In order to provide fur the internal sail external security! The article begins by an enthusiastic eulefty of Louis Na.
nig lecture, raised Sir THOMAS FasmaNTLE a r.- of the Natiooet Assembly, the president of the Assortshl y . pol eons in hisl
character of the restorer of universal suffrage.
named Ise of id. to 100 L, required all the goods seised ha. the sighs to s„tisse the armed force, and the concur- Luciaapo eon, says .At Lamartiue, has deserved wet both