The Express.
London, England, 1851-10-07 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, TUESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 7, 1851.

of the act is simple, and will effectually exclude all
, the difficult and fine drawn distinctions which the
Board of Inland Revenue now raise, and which
render the law itself unintelligible and its adminis-
tration unjust; for, if the definition laid down by the
secretary of the board be correct, it is easy to point
to instances in every paper which are not noticed
by the board, and which consequently render the
tax unequal in its operation. In the full conviction that
we are right, and with the determination to bring
the question to a decision, we shall from this
' day forward act upon our opinion, and in our ad-
vertising columns will be found the first advertise-
ments which upon this principle we have received
from house agents. The properties therein par-
ticularised may be the property of Mr. Cox himself
or may not, but the advertisements are brought to us
as these of one person, and of certain houses which
he desires to sell or to let. It is not possible for any
one to obtain information as to these houses by
means of the advertisements, except through the
party advertising, and there is not, therefore, any
ground to suspect the bona files. of the party ad-
vertising or the unity of the interest; and we conceive
that whether such a party choosiest to insert these
properties in one paragraph—or in two, as in the
present instance, or in many—a duty of Is. 6d. is
payable in respect of each distinct notification sent
for insertion in the newspaper.
The question is, at all events,now fairly launched;
and, until a judicial decision to the contrary be made,
we shall not recede from it, and in so doing we con-
sult not merely the interest of ourselves, the press,
and the public, but also of the government and of
the Hoard of Inland Revenue. We quite acquit
that board of any desire to administer vexatiously an
oppressive law, and doubt not but that they be-
lieve that they are simply performing the duties
which they are bound to discharge, and with refer-
ence to the government it will be very desirable that
the real meaning and effect of the adsertisement duty
act should be satisfactorily and finally determined
and especially when the result of a decision adverse
to that now entertained by the revenue authorities
will probably fully compensate by the increased
number of advertisements lor the less of duty upon
each which it may entail.
It may be remarked, in conclusion, that although
the officers of the Stamp-office were unable to define
to the select committee on newspaper stamps the
meaning of the word "news" and the objects
which it comprehended, the Secretary replied in
answer to a question as to the desire of the board for
more precise legislation, " We do not think any
further legislation necessary, we have never our-
selves experienced any difficulty in determining what
is a newspaper;" and in like manner the same party
doubtless experiences as little difficulty in determin-
ing what is an advertisement, but that which is sport
to him may be death to others. And as the arbitrary
and uncertain meaning which has been affixed to the
word "news " has been attended with severe injus-
tice and harshness so a mistaken interpretation of
the word " advertisement " may be entailing a
heavy pecuniary lose to very many persons, and, if
the cost of such a step be inevitable, we feel that it is
better at once to refer to the judges of the Court of
Exchequer fur a judicial opinion upon the meaning
of the word rather than that the present state of un-
certainty should continue.

The Moniteur of the army now contains a me-
morandum from authority in the following terms:
The minister at war only knew through the newspapers
of the order of the day of Colonel de Garderens on leaving
Diets. The formal expression of his dissetisfaction with it
has not been delayed. According to this order it might be
thought that the movements of troops were decided upon
independently of the minister at war, in pusuance of pre-
knaves for which there can be no motive • it might be
tkot‘ht that the government attributed a particular value
to certain corps in particular. These are two errors. The
interests of the service always influence the movement of
troops, and the minister at war knows that he can rely with
equal confidence upon all the corps of the army for the
defence of order and the laws.
This is well as far as it goes, but you will observe
that the tone of the reproach seems dictated by a
desire to allay the jealous susceptibilities of other
regiments, and in nowise blames the practice of
familiarising the army with the idea of civil war as
an occasion for distinguishing themselves. It is to
be lamented, after the speeches breathing a similar
spirit of General ()raison and the general command-
ing at Saumur, to which I lately called your atten-
tion, that the well-timed censure of the minister at
war did not go a little further.
In the letter of Lord Londonderry to the Morning
Post, relative to Abd-el-Kader, he observed that he
had been aided in his efforts by a noble personage of
Paris. The Patric, which is opposed to the libera-
tion of the ex-Emir, in noticing this observation,
asked Lord Londonderry if he was sure that the
noble personage of whom he had spoken was° a
Frenchman. This question has produced the follow-
ing letter from Count d'Orsay, addressed to the
editor of the Patrie :
Sir,—Your curiosity shall be satisfied. lam the person
who so warmly interested myself fur the prisoner of Am-
!wise. I have always considered that his captivity was a
stigma on France, and my only fear hiss been that the Emir,
being in ill-health, might die before we had wiped it away
from us. At the time of the accession of H. Louis Napoleon
to the Presidency of the Republic my first idea was to
request from him the release of Abd-el-Kaeler. lie felt
with me that " the honour of France was engaged in it,"
and lamented to find in his cabinet of that time the same
opposition that he meets with at present. Lord London-
derry, sir, is sure that I am a Frenchman ; he has seen me
at work for nineteen years in England seeking to oblige
my countrymen; and it is precisely because I sin a good
Frenchman that I blush at teeing the national honour sa-
crificed to puerile considerations. France has loudly ex-
claimed against England fur keeping the Emperor Napo-
leon captive at St. Helena, and yet she dares to detain Ahd-
el-Kader a prisoner of war, forgetting that Napoleon was
kept prisoner by the whole of Europe, and that the ex-
Emir is detained by Entice alone, to whom he surrendered
himself relying on her honour." _ _

A funeral uservice in memory of Quecu lfortense
was celebrated in the church of linen today. The
President of the Republic and all his ministers were
present.
At the Bourse the Five per Cents. fell 3c., closing
at !11-85; the Three per Cents. fell 20c., and closed
at 56.10. Hallways were generally firm.

OcvmEn 5.
The fact which most strikes the traveller who re-
mains sonic time in France and at l'arisis, a certain
shaMelcss brutality, with which anti-liberal and anti-
social principles, such as a few years ago were feund
revolting alike to French sentiment, generosity, and
good taste, are to-day confessed and even proclaimed.
And here, let me not bo understood as speaking
merely of the lower classes, of democrats and so-
cialists no, I speak of the hco+neles yeas, of the " good
citizens" of the middle clashes, the readers of the
attlititationnel and lijbats. But yesterday the jour-
nals reported a process before the Conseil de Guerre at
Paris which places in a very clear light the social
position of Paris and of France. A soldier in garri-
son at Paris went to visit his brother, a workman,
ten years his senior. The soldier was invited to
dine with his industrious brothir,eat of his bread,
drink of his innocent wine, and when he left was
offered a trifle of money to pay for his cabriolet to
the barracks. Now the young soldier taking it into
his head that he was degraded by this offer of
money, to square the account commences fighting
with his kinsman. A neighbour of the latter, who
knew him as an honest and industrious man,
vexed to see him ill-used, threw himself between
the brothers, and administered to the soldier a box
of the ear. The latter drew his bayonet, plunged it
into the mouth of him who dealt the blow, and
killed hint on the spot.
The court-martial has just terminated the investi-
gation by simply acquitting the soldier-murderer.
The same journal which yesterday contained an
account of these proceedings and their detementent—
a tale which, a few years ago, would have revolted
the whole nation—to-day reprints with satisfaction
an order of the day issued by a colonel to his regi-
ment, on its departure from Mote to go into garri-
son at Paris. This officer exclaims to his men :

" Yes, soldiers ! we march as one man, and your
colonel swears to lead the way, to unfurl the flag of
order on the barricade of anarchy, as before we
have unfurled it, surrounded by the dead and
dying, in a storm of balls and grape, at the breach
of Constantine, each man burning to avenge his
brother, should he fall by the lead of the parricides
of our beloved country." Such is the salutation
with which a French colonel announces his arrival
to the Parisians. The barricade of anarchy, the breach
of Constantine, the demi-savages of the African desert,
the workmen and thecitizens of Paris,itisall the same
to this French officer. In his impatience he sees
beforehand "the dead and dying, the showers of
ball and grape," in the streets of Paris. This is
horrible ; but what is yet more horrible is, that a
large portion of French society is dead to the ter-
rible signs of social decadence and moral anarchy
presented by an order of the day such as this.
Anarchy is this and nothing else—the appeal to
material force, to the musket and bayonet, as the
sole arbiter of society. The thing remains just the
same, whichever class of society resorts to this ma-
terial force; if the power of the state is compelled
to rest on this alone, it is because it is desti-
tute of moral force, it is unable to role over the
minds of the people, and for this reason it seeks to
dominate by " hall; and grape," as says the coloneL
But the self-same journal brings us yet another
sign of the times in this same number of
.yesterday.
It is the statistics of the gendarmerie An France.
This body of military police reckons no less than
23,134 men. Add to these the gendarmerie mobile,
the republican guard, and tho sergents do ville, and
you will have a military police for France amounting
to nearly 50,000 men.
And even the largeness of this force does not pre-
vent incessant affrays between the populace and the
gendarmerie. On the contrary, these encounters
were never so much the order of the day as now.
And we find the very reason of this in the timid
mood of the bourgeomee, with its representatives, and
organs,who, without, perhaps, intending or even be-
ing conscious of what they do, excite soldiers and
gendarmes against the workmen, and these in turn
against the military. If a party of highwaymen rob
some stray traveller, you may be sure to read in the
Dthats and Constitufamnel of the day following that

a citizen has been waylaid and robbid by democrats
or socialists. Thus, is one half of society irritated
against the other, and gendarmes and soldiery are
taught to see in the workmen who favour democratic
ideas nothing but vagabonds, robbers, and assassins.
I think this observation of great importance with
reference to the solution of next spring. I believe
that from this cause the government will be able to
count on the army in any case, should the blouses
descend into the streets. I have great fears that this
conviction, which seems to take possession of all
who come into power, may lead N. eonFaucher
and his friends to brave all France. They will say,
" If there are clineutes so much the better, we shall
have one chance the more, for every emeuk will find
the soldier implacable, and after a victory in the
streets of Paris, the government will have no more
to fear."

From all this I infer that very much will be dared,'
for certainly in the present disposition of the citizens
and the army those in power may venture more
than ever government has ventured yet. There will ,
probably be attempts at resistance, which will end
but in facilitating the projects of the actual govern-
ment. There is no position which may not be spoiled
by measures precipitate and too bold ; it is, therefore,
conceivable that the very favourable situation in
I which those in power find themselves at this moment
may lead them into mistakes. There is no minister
more likely than M. Leon Faucher to make a too
hasty advance ; but a man must take a deal of trouble
to go so far wrong as to lose the advantages which
the state of public feeling in France gives to Prince
Louis Napoleon and his projects.

Mrs. SHERWOOD, the anthorear , died rather sud-
denly at her residence, Yelecrtonilace, Twickenham, on
Monday, the 22nd alt. This Teller, ole lady was in the 77th
year of her age.

GERMANY.
FRANKFORT.
Another leading and apparently semi-official arti-
cle, published in the Frankfort Journal of the sth
inst., makes known the important fact that the
Austrian cabinet has determined no longer to press
at this time the desired incorporation of its non-
German provinces into the confederation. The
article runs as follows:

The question of incorporation of all the provinces of the
Austrian monarchy into the Germanic confederation has
been discussed in diplomatic notes. We have published the
communications of the envoys of France and Great Britain
to the confederation, addressed to Count Thun, President
of the Diet, and to which that assembly has not hitherto
replied. This leads us to suppose that the confederation
considers this affair in the same light as the attempts at in.
tervention on the part of the governments of Great Britain
and France when in 13:14 they protested against the
occupation of the free city of Frankfort by Austrian and
Prussian troops. These troops, in spite of the protests of
the two powers guaranteeing the treaty of Vienna, remained
at Frankfort until the confederation thought proper to