The Express.
London, England, 1862-01-02 00:00:00

The Emperor replied to the following effect :

The year jtut expired has been melancholy. owing to
commotion. in various quarters and to calamities in royal
families. I hope that the new year will be happier both for
princee and peoples.

There is no rumour of the Emperor having said
anything to-day of greater importance than the
above, and it is asserted that he did not speak to
any member of the corps diplomatique separately.
The independent journals, in their reviews of the
past year, dwell particularly upon the inexplicable
harshness of M. de Peraigny towards the press, and
the inconsistency of his many frivolous warnings
and prosecutions with the Emperor's decrees of Nov.
24, 1860, and Nov, 14, 1861, and with his own
speeches and writings. My attention to these cam-
plaiute is all the more lively on account of the nu-
merous delicate attentions which M. de Persigny's
subordinates have lately paid to the Daily News.
The French subscribers have been deprived of their
journal every day this week.
I adopt entirely the following observations in
the leading column of the independence Beige about
the Petrie and the "black man," and the disquisi-
tions on the limits of liberty going on between
the Guerronnieres and Grandguillots :

The public is greatly amend by them qaarrela between
kaarnals, omciel, seiniudleml, offisioue, and non-offielou
but devoted, bowies them quarrels moat effectually throw
discredit upon the whole system of press rerdatiame—a
system infinitely wane than the lams of September, and
worse even than the censure of the - restoratios.

lee?.

As to taking pert will, my or either of the
combatants, the pnWic, kr very sufficient mamas,
abrades. It reel littL Mamas between the vim
of the Patrie and thine gibe Peps. IL de Lamar's, who
le of opinion that thing. are not absolutely so well as they
sight be, and Y. Grandville°, who approves everything,
peek prime. end future, both brims to the same ramp—
they are both fertisans of administrative restrictions upon
the free axprimsioa of thought. The shed' of difference in
their opinion resells solely from their respective positions,
the one aurelsieg powered the other hoping to exercise it,
sad relying spa the Mee& ef liberal Wen to achieve his
object. We know the vales of such liberalism ; and chain
for chain are not at all whet/air use be a little shorter or a
little longer than the other.
•

A Pans correspondent of the Indi;pendalwe, who
signs the letter " Y," says :
1 greatly regret to state that a war between England and
America would be looked upon with pleasure hese, far
reasons connected with the march of affairs on the ciontinant
of &trope.

M. Benedetti, the French minister at Turin, had
a bad fall from his horse a few days ago, from the
results of which he is confined to the house. It is
hoped, however, that a few days' rest will restore
him to his usual health.

A terrible accident, caused by explosion of gas,
occurred yesterday evening, at the new and splendid
dancing rooms called the Canino in the Rue Cadet.
On Monday evening M. Peregalla, the director of
the establishment, hoard a strange hissing noise in
the gas-pipes, and spoke of it to an employe, who
directed a workman named Basta, belonging to the
Portable Gas Company, which supplied the Casino,
to make an examination. He came to the con-
clusion that some of the apparatus required
cleaning, and yesterday morning he set about the
work. About half-past 4, while Basta was still
cleaning the pipes, a tremendous explosion took
place, which was quickly followed by a second. The
roof fell in, and several neighbouring shops were in-
jured ; the counter of a wine merchant, next door,
was blown away to the distance of upwards of a
yard, and killed a man who was standing before it
drinking a glass of wine. Basta, the gasman, is dead ;
his body was found this morning burnt to a cinder.
A M. Desmarest, a clerk in the Bank of France,
was dangerously wounded, and 16 or 17 other
people are more or less injured. The Casino is
now a heap of ruins. Had the accident occurred a
few hours later, when the rooms are full, the loss
of life must have been tremendous.