The Express.
London, England, 1846-12-23 00:00:00

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

THIS DAY. Four o'clock.
The Paris journals and correspondence of Monday,
which arrived this morning, contain no intelligence of
general interest. The communication between the capi-
tal and the provinces continued to be obstructed, and a
largo proportion of the mails from every direction
were still due. The snow was reported, on many
of the great routes, to be front four to six feet
deep. The London mails, due at seven a.m., did not
reach Paris for several days before the evening. A
favourable change, however, suddenly took place ou
Saturday night, when the thermometer rose to 10 deg.,
at which it continued on Sunday and Monday. A
rapid thaw, accompanied by rain, caused a total disap-
pearance of the snow in Paris, on Monday, and it was
hoped this change would I e general, and thatthe regu-
lar communication through mho country would be re-
established.
Meanwhile, the severity of the weather has aggra-
vated the public distress. The provision markets by
which Paris is supplied continue to rise. The price
of wheat per hectolitre now varies from 301. to
33f. 60c., which is equivalent to &is. to 735. per
quarter. Flour has risen in the same proportion.
The bakers of Paris, notwithstanding the smallness
of their stocks, venture to make their purchases only
from day to day. They lose upon the present price I
of bread. It is probable that for the first fortnight in
January the price of bread in Paris will be 4Sc. the
kilogramme, or very nearly 241. per lb.
The following analysis of the Chamber of Deputies,
as it will stand in the approaching session, has been
circulated in certain circles. We give it without
guaranteeing its accuracy, although it probably re-
presents pretty nearly what the situation of the Cham-
ber will be :—The ministerial party, led by M. Guizot,
210; the Independent Conservative party, headed by
M. Delessert, 32. A section of the Conservatives dis-
senting from the Ministerialists, represented by
Count Mole and Emile do Girardin, &c., '23. The
Left and Left Centre, led by Tillers, Dupin, and
Barrat, 129. The Extreme Left and Republicans
(Garnier-Pages, Arago, Ledru-Rollin, &c.), 31.
Legitimists (lterryer, Laroche-Jacquelin, &c.),
Total, 439.
Ou matters of internal policy, it is not doubtfuli,
that the ministry will lam a considerable majority;
but on questions of their foreign policy, such as the
rupture with England, the Spanish marriages, the
Cracow business, Switzerland, &c., their position will
be exceedingly precarious.
The France, alluding to M. Guizot's note on the
Cracow affair, addressed to the French representatives
at foreign'courts, maintains the authenticity of the
document, notwithstanding the official denial in the
Moniteur Parisien. It admits some trifling inaccu-
racies, and the omission of a short sentence or two,
owing to the haste with which the document was
transcribed ; but it positively maintains the general
accuracy of what it has published, and denies that
anything; is left out which can in the least affect the
spirit and meaning of this diplomatic paper.
It is said that the Bey of Tunis intends establish-
ing a consul-general at Algiers, and consular agents
at Oran, Baugia, and other ports in the French pos-
sessions on the African shores. The Commerce thus
insists on the Bey'B claim to the position of an inde-
pendent sovereign:
Great Britain refuses to recognise the independence of
Tunis, which she regards as placed under the guardianship
of the Porte: and it appears that the greater number of the
other powers of Euror, with respect to this barbaric state,
share the opinion of Great Britain, if we are to judge by the
absence of the diplomatic corps from the concert given to the
prince at the hotel of fureiun affairs. The independence of
the Bey of Tunis, however, does not appear to us contestable
either as a matter of right or as a matter of fact. The family
now reigning has I.smn on the throne since 1705, when it
succeeded that of Mural. No intervention of the Porte
took place at its secession. The succession to the throne,
which remains amongst the members of thiss family,lifetim is not
regulated by any fixed law; the Bey uing his e
designates as his successor one of his near relatives who
appears to him most adapted for the task of gavernment.
Ahmed, the present Bey, has in this way named as his suc-
cessor Sidi-liamda, one of his cousins. The Bey of Tunis pays
no tribute to the Sultan ; he merely sends him present!, as
a sort of homage rendered to a supremacy purely religious.
The regency is governed its own law!, emanating from
its own authority, and not by the legislation of the Divan.
The Prince coins money, and consuls of foreign nations are
t
fo accredted diecly at this court. It IP, no doubt, allowable
r thee Porter to regard us proof of the dependence, tho an-
nual presents sent by the Bey of Tunis; but in p
the inter-
course between him and the European powers, it appears to
us that this species of feudal homage ought to be com-
pletely overlooked, and to lose all si n
gniticatton, in face of
the wry positive and very real political idependenre of
Ahmed-Bey. In the point of view of International right,