The Express.
London, England, 1853-01-18 00:00:00

FRANCE.

PARIS, /do:inmr ETININO.
There has been considerable fluctuation today
upon the Bourse in the prices of all the securities ;
but at the close very little variation was observable
in the chief stocks from the prices of Saturday last.
The Three per Cents. rose five centimes, and the
Four-and-a-Half per Cents. fell ten centimes; the
former closing at 80f. 40c., and the latter at
103 f. 43e.

Bank Stock advanced slightly, and a rather better
feeling was displayed in regard to railway stock ;
but the market closed in a state that was evidently
far from sound.

The operators for a rise in the Itentes are very
generally believed to lay their account in some indem-
nities on the settlement at the end of the month.
The authorised statements as to the grain trade,
published to-day, show that little actual amines* has
been done during the past week; and at nearly every
market throughout Franco corn is reported as Me.
lower on the average than last week.
In the metal markets great activity prevails, and
at firm prices. Copper, iron, zinc, and brass, have
made great upward progress, and a large business has
been done. _ _ _

The cotton market has also been very active, and
prices remain firm. To-day, however, the demand
has not been quite so brisk as of late.
At Rouen, the number of foreigners has given a
great impulse to business in the linen cloth trade, I
and an active demand exists, with prices ruling
full.
A statement published in to-day's Moniker reports
the quantities of French silk exported through the
Custom-house of Lyons in the year ending December
31,1852, as 4,249 kilogrammes, as compared with
1,810 kiL in the previous year, being an increase of
2,433, or more than 250 per cent.
Public notice has been given in the French
government journal of the completion of a company
for the salvage of ships, with a capital of 240,000 fr.
The concession was originally granted by the Ras-
lean government, sanctioned in France bygthe Senate,
in July and August, 1852, and the company has now
assured the prior right of proceeding to the assis-
tance and rescue of all ships and derelicts in the
Gulf of Finland, or on the coasts of the Baltic Sea.
I am informed that the budget for 1854, just laid
before the Council of State, exhibits a deficit of 52
millions. This sum, exceeding as it does by nearly
12 millions the large deficit of 1853, is, however,
very far indeed from representing the real extent of
the financial chasm. The revenue estimates are en-
ormously exaggerated, it being assumed in nearly
every instance that the receipts will greatly exceed
those of the unusually prosperous year 1852. I
am enabled to state with confidence, upon the
qty
_of a well-known financier, that if the
West bad boa honestly framed, if it had been
I =wpm die principles that any independent
t would expect to see observed, the deficit
1111da not have been leas than from 150 to 200
ngllions. There is an augmentation in the estimates
Id expenditure as compared with 1853, of 57 millions.
The officer selected to succeed General Gemeau as
leammander-in-chief of the army of Rome, is General
Allouvean de Montreal, a general of whom very
little is known.
Prince Jerome Bonaparte has returned to Paris
from Boulogne, in an improved state of health.
A non-commissioned officer belonging to a regi-
ment stationed at Lille, has been arrested at Areas,
upon the charge of attempting to corrupt the poli-
tical opinions of the non-commissioned officers in
garrison there.
There is too much reason to believe that the ob-
ject of the article in the Moniker yesterday is to get
up an ants-English feeling in the population. I did
not like to make this suggestion yesterday, although
it occurred to me, but I lave heard the remark made
by several Frenchmen to-day, and this view is con-
firmed by articles in the Pays and Petrie.
The following paragraph, in • provincial journal,
the Lorientais, has a peculiar interest at the present
moment :
A letter from a personage of high official rank, a loyal
Beaton, announces that the council of ministers has decided,
having regard to the transatlantic packets, not the term,
hat the cm-talon of the railway from Ileums to Lorient
and Brest. The same letter also affirms that the town of
Lerient, besides the telegraphic lines to Nantes and Brest,
ME have a direct line of wire. to Paris.
Tbl/ appointments of M. Ills de Buttenval asFrench
Nightie at Brussels, the Duke de Quiche at Turin,
and Brenier at Constantinople, are said to be
slimed. Out of respect to M. Levalette, who it is
understood will shortly be called to the Senate, M.
Brenier will in the first instance enter upon his func-
tions provisionally, but his appointment will soon be
definitive. M. Brenier is well known to diplomatists
as Secretary-General at the ministry for Foreign
Affairs of Paris. This place, hitherto a very im-
portant one, is now, in consequence of resent modifi-
cations in the office, considered unnecessary, and is
abolished.
Great preparations are making for the ball to be
given to the Emperor by the Senate on the 25th,
which is intended to be the most splendid of the sea-
son. A sum of 80,4100 fr., including 25,000 fr. given
by Prince Jerome, is allotted for the expense, and
it is expected that a further amount will
be called for. Balls are the rage in official quarters.
It would be, however, a mistake to suppose that the
fashionable world of Paris is what is called gay.
the Fauburg St. Germain is exceedingly quiet, and
neither receives largely nor attends the gorgeous
salons where ministers, in obedience to orders, set
the example of lavish expenditure.

PARIS, SUNDAY ETBNING.
Tim first ball at court, and the first panic on the
Bourse, under the Empire, are still the subjects of con-
versation. By daylight the stocks were tumbling down
about the ears of the jobbers, who kept muttering
strange stories about the operations of the Minister
of War. By candlelight, champagne corks were
flying noisily, while the Emperor displayed his
spotless small-clothes and diamond-studded shoe-
buckles in the mazy dance.
The government organs in the press contradict the
aspersions thrown upon the Minister of War. Of
course. But here, as on some other occasions, the
Emperor finds that in his dealings with the press
he has been too clever for himself. Nobody heeds
exculpation.s or panegyrics of the government in