The Express.
London, England, 1851-12-30 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 30, 1851.

FRANCE.

PARIS, Mona EVENING.
A report has reached me of so highly important
a tenor that I recommend it to your special atten-
tion. I hear that the Court of Caseation has the in-
tention of quashing the sentences of the court-
martial on the so-called insurgents of tho
days of December who chose to respond to
the appeal of that article of the constitution which
put the fundamental law under tho safeguard of all
Frenchmen.

In connection with the subject, I am informed that
M. de Fortelle, first president of the Court of Casea-
tion, had an interview to-day with the President
at the Elyske.
The consultative commission has not been able to
terminate its labours in the examination of the votes
to-day. Those of Calvados, Mantes Alpcs, Haute
Garonne, Orne, Basses Alpes, and Algeria yet re-
main to be examined.

In the Haute Marne, out of 350 communes, 204
voted yes unanimously, and 114 others voted unani-
mously, with a solitary exception in each.
I noticed to you, the other day, a decree in the
Muniteur, facilitating the payment for the purchase
of the state's lands. The fact is, that purchasers are
let off half the price of their lands. The meaning
of this is to gain the officers of the army, who consti-
tute nearly all the purchasers in question. This is
just what Cesar did with his soldiers, whom he
allowed to settle gratuitously on the confiscated lands
of his opposers in Umbria and other provinces of
Rome.

The following programme of the ceremonies con-
nected with the President's re-election is given by
the Muniteur

On the 31st of December, at half.pust 8 in the
evening, the President of the Republic will receive
at the Palace of the Elysk the Consultative Com-
mission, which will present to hint the minutes of
the reckoning of the votes given by the French
people in tho ballots of the 20th and 21st of
Wmtnbcr.

The President of the Republic will receive the
same evening the diplomatic corps, the clergy, and
consistories.

On January 1, at 10 in the morning, 10 dis-
charges of cannon will be fired at the Invalids for
every million of affirmative votes.
At half-past 11 a Te Dcum will be chaunted at the
Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. The President
of the Republic will assist at this ceremony.
The official receptions of the constituted bodies of
the delegates of departments and arrondissements, of
the civil and military authorities, will take place
after the Tc Deum, at half-past one, at the Palace of
the Tuileries. In tho evening the public edifices
will be illuminated.

The above announcement of the Moniteur (trans-
mitted by telegraph to You yesterday) that after
the Te Deum at Notre Panic the President will repair
to the Tuileries, where he will receive the
conaluted bodies, has made a great sensation.
Perhaps you will remember, d-propes of this
step, a remark which his uncle made to Bour-
rienne, after he had repaired to the same royal
palace, as first consul, for a similar purpose,
" Maintenant gue nuns 841111711e8 ma Tuileries, lion, -
rienne,"saidhe,pinching the ear of his private secretary,
" ilfnut y rester." And remain he did. Perhaps Louis
Napoleon will not deem this incident in the Empe-
ror's career the least worthy of imitation. In the
meantime there is but too much reason to believe
that those rumours which imputed to the President
designs of foreign aggrandisement are not altogether
unfounded. I am aware that in Fngland a deal °bleep-
,' ticism is expressed upon this point. But lam bound
to mould my communications upon facts which I re-
ceive from good and authentic sources, without pay-
ing the least attention to the degree of iro-
•I
liability which may be atttached to such
views on the other side of the Channel. And
first of all let me call your attention to a most ro
markable expression which appears in the iloniteur.
and which has evidently not been put there for
nothing. In the preamble of the decree de-
signating the new military division it is
said, with regard to the limits of the Gth divisions,
whose head-quarters are at Strasbourg, "The 6th
division is that of Strasbourg, destined by its form
and position not to change, so tong ns Me frontier..,
themselres do not change." The words in Italie are
noted by every one as pregnant with meaning,
and may be like the cloud about the size of a man's
hand which overspread the heavens with tempests.
In connection with this subject, the following re-
mark is reported to me, as having recently
dropped from Louis Napoleon The Emperor," he
is represented to have said, " has bequeathed to me
a debt to France, the province of the Rhine. I will 1
discharge it." It is needless to say how little reli-
ance is to be placed upon the most pacific
assurances of a man who went on up to the
last hour before the cony d'etat protesting
his respect for the law, and his religious regard for
his oath. It is clear that, whatever representations
may be made to Prussia and Russia of Louis Na-
poleon's desire to cultivate peaceful relations
with all the word, those powers will not fail
to arm, and put their armaments upon a
war-footing. It is possible that Austria, on
whom the Russian alliance has weighed so heavily,
may be attracted by promises from France to shift
the burthen of her support from the shoulders of the
Czar to those of Louis Napoleon, particularly as
the view of the cabinet of Vienna is to weaken
Prussia, and prevent her effectually from aspiring to
the first place in the German Confederation.
France is at present the chief obstacle to Austria
in Italy; and, by favouring or even countenancing
her designs upon the legations and Piedmont, might
purchase her agreement to the separation of the
Rhine province from Prussia. Prussia also
has views upon Baden and Switzerland, which
might make her not unwilling to exchange
an unruly democratic independence, alienated
from her in feeling, and continually tending to in-
corporation with France, provided that she were
allowed to indemnify herself by encroachments else-
where.

It is reported universally to-day that an attempt,
either sham or real, will be made on the life of the
President on his way to the ceremony of Notre Dame,
or on his return. It is added that this attempt is an
affair got up by the police. I can only hope
that the careful diffusion of the latter rumour, which
I conceive to be utterly undeserving of credit, is not
made to cloak a real plot for assassination. I drew
your attention yesterday to the ro&ur et rs triplex
wherewith the President was girt, in the shape of
cuirassiers, and I make no doubt that the panels of
his carriage are ball-proof. Whether an attempt be
made or not the chances against its success will be
multiplied by every means which preparation can
devise. For the enormous guard, without which
Louis Napoleon never moves, and the effectual forti-
fication of the cuirasses with which he is surrounded,
indicate distinctly the apprehension of assassination.
Remarkably enough the Patrist of Saturday an-
nounced that the ceremony would not take place
until Friday, the 2nd January; but the Moniteur
announces it for New Year's Day.
The mission of M. de Persigny to Brussels em-
braces three objects. He is to demand: 1. The ex-
tradition of all insurgents (as the government calls
the citizens who rose against the coup &Nat) who
have taken refuge in Belgium. 2. A strictly repres-
Isive law against the press. 3. The sum which the
IBelgian government is indebted to Franco for the
expedition against Antwerp in 1831.
It is said that the secret treaty made with Russia,
by Polignac, in the time of Charles X., has been re-
newed by the present government.
Preparations for the solemn proclamation of the
President are actively going on in Notre Dame.
Notwithstanding the intense cold, 300 men were at
work the whole of last night by the light of lamps
suspended in the nave.
The Prefect of the Seine is going to give a grand
ball on Saturday next, and a banquet of 200 covers
on Sunday to celebrate the re-election of the Presi-
dent. The mayors of the capitals of arrondissements
throughout France will be present at these fetes,
which are intended to be on a scale of great mag-
nificence.

It may be remembered that on the 6th inst. the
Chamber of Commerce at Havre met and passed a
resolution condemning the coup traat of the 2nd,
and was on that account threatened with dissolution
by the military commander of the state of siege. This
extreme measure, which was postponed on account
of the inconvenience resulting to commerce from such
a step, has been now executed by tho government.
A decree appears in the Mosaiteur dissolving the

Chamber of Commerce of Havre, and appointing
a provisional chamber until fresh elections
can take place. The part of the deliberation
of the chamber, relating to the coup (Mat of Decem-
ber 2, is to be annulled and blotted from the registers
of the chamber. The grounds assigned for this
decree are that the Chambers of Commerce have no
right to deliberate on any political question, and that
all interruption of relations between them institu-
tions and the government is of a nature to compromise
the interests of commerce, of industry, andt of the
population.
The members struck out of the municipal council
of Paris are MM. Bixio, Bourdon, Wolowska, Delestre,
Galls, Auguste Moreau, Ramond de la Croisette,
Horace Say, Mortimer Tcrnaux, Vavin, Garnon
(Sceaux), and Ferdinand de Lasteyrie (St. Denis).
You will recognise among these names several of
those representatives who protested against the
coup data.
A decree appears legislating on the subject of tele-
graphs. The first chapter enacts that no telegraphic
line can be established without authorisation by the
government. The second fixes various fines and
terms of imprisonment for the punishment of such as
injure telegraphs, or interrupt their action in any
way. ; and enacts heavy penalties in particular
against those who cut or interrupt telegraphic comma
cations to serve rebellious purposes.
Victor Hugo has been arrested by the Belgian
police at Brussels, where he concealed himself
under the false name of Ganvin (Jacques.). Con-
ducted before the procureur-du-roi, for having its-
gamed a false name, M. Victor Hugo declared that
he had been obliged to fly with a false passport from
Paris, as member of the comitl, de resistance, ap-
pointed in the meeting of the Mountain on Dec. 2.
The following representatives of the late Assembly
arc at Brussels : - MM. Arnaud (de l'Ariege), Aubre
(du Nord), Barthelemy (d'Eure et-Loir), Bruckner,
Canet, Carnot, Victor Chauffour, Lon Cretin, Dontre,
d'Etchegoyen, Fayollc (de la Creuse), Carlos Forel,
Gendricz, Guihot, Victor Hugo, Kcstner, Labrousse,
Malardier, Pelletier (du Rhone), Edgar Quinet,
niers, Versigny,
The Unirers contains a long letter from the Irish
Roman catholic Primate Paul Cullen, returning
thanks for the contribution of 13/. to the Catholic
Asssociation for resisting Anglican proselytism.
A chapter is to be created for the service of the
church of St. Genevieve, late Pantheon. _ _ _

The Law Gazettes contain a copy of a deed of
partnership prolonging the partnership of the house
Rothschild Brothers, of Naples, Frankfort, Vienna,
and Paris, to June 30, 1852. _ _

On Saturday the installation of the new judges
of commercial tribunals recently elected gave occa-
sion for a complimentary allusion to Lord Granville
by the president, M. Moinery, who commenced his
speech in the following words : During his stay in
Paris, one of the most distinguished men of a
neighbouring country, Lord Granville, the Vice-Pre
sident of the Board of Trade of Great Britain, came
to pay us a visit. You witnessed the interest with
which he imformed himself of all that could con-
cern your jurisdiction ; this solicitude is sufficient to
point out to you all the importance of an institu-
tion so liberal and useful, which engages in foreign
countries the attention of the most eminent minds:'

Dr. Veron is represented as in high dudgeon, be-
cause he is not appointed on the Consultative Com-
mission, or promised to be made a senator. He has
had an interview with M. do Morny, at the Ministry
of the Interior, in which he made bold to tell the
minister that it was high time to let the press breath
a little, for even the Comititeitiontael can hardly hope
to live under such a strangulation of all thought. M.
de Morny having replied that there was no thought
of relaxing the restnetions on newspapers, the doctor
said, emphatically, "On vous forcera.' He has to-
day an article, which does not, however, throw much
light on his relations with the Elysee. He says at
the end, that he, for his part, shall continue to write
his opinions in the C'onstientiromel.
MM. de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont
have received permission to visit General Beduin at
Ham.

The President of the Republic has sent the Cross
of the Legion of Honour to Lieut. Bilk, son of Count
Bilk-Brahe, the Danish minister, for having taken
part in tho French expedition against the forts of
Sale and Rabat, on the coast of Morocco.

In the absence of newspaper information an abun-
dance of wild "canards" are in circulation, such as
the presence in Paris of 20 Italian emissaries of
Nlazzini, who destine for Louis Napoleon the end of
Rossi; designs of the Orleanist princes upon Algeria,
&c., tee., 6:e.

M. Guizot has been occupied for several weeks
with the composition of a speech in answer to M. de
Montalembert, who is expected to be admitted to
take his scat as a member of the Academy.
The hopes that were entertained last week of an
improvement in the retail trade of Paris before the
new year, have been to a considerable extent realised.
Many of the manufacturers of fancy articles in the
faulty ergs arc in full work, and very few of them
arc idle.

There is a fair average business doing in jtrenneg,
so far as the middle and lower classes are concerned.
But the sale of costly articles, such as the rich are
expected to buy at this season, continues to bo ex-
ceedingly limited. The private balls and soirees
usually given at Christmas are very rare indeed.
This is not to be wondered at, considering how many
families of the hall-giving class have to lament the
exile or imprisonment of friends or relatives. In the
provinces raw wools, cottons, and silks are in fully as
much request as last week. At Lyons, particularly,
it is understood that extensive purchases of raw silk
have been made in the London market. Certain
special industries which have long been suffering arc
showing symptoms of revival. For instance, exten-
sive orders have been given for lace and linens in the
Pas de Calais. The prices of corn, cattle, and wine
continue to rise, to the great contentment of the
agriculturists. Immense numbers of turkeys have
been exported to England. The trade in metals
continues to languish, but the iron masters are look-
ing forward with interest to the stimulus that will
shortly be given to their industry if the completion
of the railways shall be carried on with the activity
promised.
Mr. Alderman Salomans, M.P., and Mr. B. Oh-
veira, have been in Paris for some days, with the
object of endeavouring to obtain some arrangement
by which the Bordeaux and Cette, and Lyons and
Avignon caution-money may be either returned or
taken into consideration in the concession of any of
the great lines of railway still remaining to be con-
structed.

It is said that orders have been given for a colos-
sal car in bronze to be placed upon the triumphal
arch at the Derriere de l'Etoile. A statue of the
Emperor in the imperial mantle, and crowned with
victory will be in the car.
A great many bishops and high dignitaries of the
church are at present at Paris. They have all been
received by the Archbishop of Paris, at his palace.
The grand review, by the President of the Re-
public, of 80,000 or 90,000 men, in the Champ-de.
Mars, which has been spoken of, will, it is said, take
place after the official proclamation of the vote.
All the busts, statues, and pictures, which orna-
mented the staircase, salons, and principal apart.
ments of the palace of the Luxembourg, when it was
occupied by the House of Peers, have been restored
to their places, of course with the view of preparing
for the reception of the new Senate, which may be
'alertly expected to sit there.
Among the symptoms of the hour are to be noticed
the care with which the Elysean writers collect—
supposing them not to invent—certain anecdotes of
the election, tending to prove that France is already
sighing for the empire. One of the wine-growing
electors of Aloze is said to have dropped a drawing
of the little three-cornered hat into the box. Ano-
ther elector adds to his " Yes" that he wishes to
abdicate his share of the national sovereignty into
the hands of Louis Napoleon. Another wishes him
to exercise royal authority, and to be invested with
the pomp of royalty. Many scraps of verses are
cited setting forth how much the writers desire to
be governed by one man, who knows better than
themselves what is good for them. These straws
have their significance just now.
M. Carnet, the ex-representative, who was Minis-
ter of Public Instruction under the previsional go-
vernment, is said to have passed through Brussels,
and to be on his wry to England.
At the Bourse the Five per Cents. rose 50e., closing
at 101 85; the Three per Cents. rose 83c., and closed
at 66.80. Railways were remarkably well supported.
Northern rose 31fr. 23c., and Strasbourg 23f. The
Vieille Montagne mine rose 50fr.

PROW AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT.
PARIS, Dec. 28.
In the letters of congratulation which have been
forwarded to Louis Napoleon by the governments of
Russia, Prussia, and Austria, it is plainly intimated
that the article in the treaty of Vienna, according to
which no member of the Napoleon family can again
come to the throne of France, must be strictly ad-
hered to. This " unkindest cut of all" so alarmed
and embarrassed the President, that he at once en-
Toyed his most intimate friend and confidant,
M. de Persigny, to St. Petensburg,Berlin, and Vienna,
to represent, in the strongest possible manner,
in the first place, that the safety of every throne in
Europe depends upon the speedy establishment of
an empire in France ; and in the second place, that
the only person who can found that empire is Louis
Napoleon Bonaparte.
On M. de Persigny's return from this mission he
is to be appointed Secretary of State under the new
constitution; M. Turgot, the present Minister of
Foreign Affairs (which office is to be abolished)
being considered utterly incompetent for any such
position. As a retainer, however, M. Turgot is to be
a member of the proposed senate.
Another envoy, M. de Flahaut, has been sent to
London, to feel the political pulse of England. The
President is exceedingly annoyed at the resignation
of Lord Palmerston. He had hoped for an opportu-
nity to render service to Russia, Prussia, and Aus.
trig—his private allies—by uniting with them against
your late cabinet in the matter at issue touching its
hospitality to political refugees; and thus securing
to himself the continued support of those powers in
his designs upon France. In this he has been sadly
disappointed, and M. do Flahaut is now moving
about the court of St. James's, to report as soon as
may be every. particular which can affect Louis
Napoleon's intrigues.
While these things are going on, the saloons of
Paris are in a state of the utmost excitement.
Tranquillity there is out of the question. They are
not even terrified. Party spirit runs higher and
higher every. day, and has already engendered much
personal animosity. The Napoleonists and the
Assemblists are at sword's points. Reconcilia-
tion, is impossible. The new constitution, which
is already completed, and will be published
in a few days, will please nobody. It will
aim especially to conciliate Thiers's " vile multi-
tude ;" in fact, it will be a concentration and deve-
lopment of what is now called " Napolconistic demo-
cracv." The legitimists will bite their lips over it
until they are too sore for speech. The t'resident's
cant word now-a-days is k potpie. He is to be the
father of his people, the shepherd of his sheep, and
will follow, fold, and fleece them to the death.