The Express.
London, England, 1848-03-06 00:00:00

THE REPUBLIC OF FRANCE.

Our usual despatches at Saturday, together with
Paris journals, have reached us.
Our corrispoudent, writing on Saturday evening,
says :
The absence of any exciting news is perhaps at this
moment the best intelligence I can send you ; in truth,
the spectacle presented here in Paris on this 4th of
March is wonderful, when the great political catas-
trophe of last week is remembered.
It is a practical demonstration, the force of which
cannot be resisted, how little real effect upon the
course of affairs this or that form of public adminis-
tration produces. Whether Louis Philippe or M.
Dupont de L'Eure preside over the destinies of France
things apparently go on pretty nearly in the same
manner.
Assuredly. no one could discover from the present
aspect of this great capital that any organic change
whatever had taken place in the government.
That this appearance is not merely superficial, and
that little venous importance to the substantial in-
terests of the property and commerce of the country
is attached to the fall of the monarchy sad to the
establishment of a republic, is proved by many cir-
cumstances hourly occurring. The taxes and public
contributions of every sort are being paid with an
unusual promptitude. It has been the eractice of the
government to accept some of the principal direct
contributions payable annually, in eight half-quarterly
instalments. In innumerable cases within the last
week the inhabitants have come forward and liqui-
dated in a single payment the contribution of the en-
tire year. We happen to know that this has espe-
cially occurred in the case of many of the English
residents.
Another preof of the prevalence of the same con-
fidence is presented in a decree of the Provisional
Minister of Financ.: issued to-day, in which it is stated

that,
Considering that the news which hu arrived from all parts
of the republic proves that the collection of the taxes is regu-
larly made, end that the treasury has at its disposal the
funds nee, surs Mr tin payment of the half-yt ar'sintereet, to
be due on the Vet: instant, on the Fill I,er Cents., the Four-
and-a-Half per Cents., and the Four per Cents.; and consi-
dering that the expenses of all departments of the public
service are coveren by receipts, the realisation of which i,
secured by the return of order and confidence, it is decreed
that the half. year's inter. at on the above-mentioned stocks
shall be paid in Paris on Monday next, the 6th instant, and
in the depeirrmen,s on the 15th.
The M inis'er of Finance has further announced that
from this day, until further orders, the interest on
Treasury Bonds is fixed at 4) per cent. for those pay-
able at from three to five months, and at 5 per cent.
for those running from six to twelve months.
It has been further decided that the stamps on jour-
nals will be enforced until the law afficting that im-
post
shall be modified or repealed by a regularly con-
stituted legislature, subject, however, to a suspension
for ten days before the convocation of the electoral
assemblies, in order to give to the elections the
greatest possible publicity.
The nomenclature which connected the family of
the fallen sovereign with various objects and institu-
tions is being modified. The names of streets,
bridges, and places are being changed. The epithet
" Royal" is declared obsolete, and is generally
changed to " National." Thus the grand opera is no
longer " L'Academie Royale de Nltisique," but " Le
Theatre de la Nation;" the " Rue Royale" is the
" Rue de la Republique," &c.
A decree of the Minister of Marine, published to-
day, changes the names of several vessels of the navy.
Thus " La Conronne " becomes " La Barricade" " La
Duchene d'Orleans" is transformed into " La Vic-
toire," " La Charte" is replaced by " La Constitution,"
" La Refine Amelie " gives place to " La l'arisienne "
and the steamer " Le Compte d'Eu " is transmuted
into " I.e l'atriote."
This was a day of great excitement among the
Parisians. They had one of those magnificent spec-
tacles, in the getting up of which they are such
adepts, and which they enjoy with so keen a zest.
There was a magnificent funeral solemnity on the oc-
casion of depositing the remains of the victims of last
week in the vaults, which are ander the column of
July, erected on the Place de la Bastille. Happening
to pass last night at eleven o'clock acroes the Place de
la 'Madeleine, I observed in front of that edifice an
extraordinary bustle, and a vast number of sombre-
looking fouryons. Waiting to observe what was going
on,l saw the coffins of 80 bodies br.ught into the church,
where a grand funeral service was performed to day.
The procession left the Madeleine and followed the
line of the Boulevards to the Place de la Bastille.
Fortunately for the effect of this romp de Th.:alre,
the day turned out to be magnificent ; the sun shone
with splendour, and the pavement and aide walks of
the Boulevards, so lately stained with blood, were as
clean as a drawing-room carpet.
The solemnity passed off without any sinister move-
ment, and, at the time I write these lines (Saturday
evening) the Place de la Madeleine has resumed its
usual appearance.
Some bankers and merchants waited on Friday on
the Minister of Commerce to request the support and
participation of the state in the proposed establish-
ment of a special discount-bank of twenty millions for
the relief of the wants that may be experienced in
the money market of Paris. The minister, we under-
stand, did not hold out any promise to these ;gentle-
men, but requested them to wait upon the Provisional
Government this day.
The Conetitutiannel publishes the following letter
from St. Cloud, respecting the events which occurred
in the afternoon of the 24th ult. :
Citizens,— For some days put the journals have spoken
of the passage of the ex-King by St. Cloud, and all have
been in error. Whatever may be my repugnance to make
myself talked about, I believe myself obliged to rectify
tuts, both a. regards myself and history. When the King
arrived at St. Cioud, part of the national guard was under
arms, and the rappel was being beaten in the streets to cul-
lett the rest. I advanced towards an aide-de-camp who pre-
ceded the escort, and he said to me, " The Kil,g has abdi-
wed, and he cdnes to the Palace of St. Cloud." I was re-
quested to tec. nd to the palace with the captain commanding
the national guard ; the King was still on the steps when we
arrived. I asked the King what he desired. and he replied,
' I beg of you, Mr. Deputy-Ma) or, to cause the palace to be
guarded by the national guard; I shall only remain here a
few moments.' The Duke de Montpenaier then asked me
for carriages and horses. You will find no horses at St.
Cloud, I replied, ' and we have nothing here but public =-
Ana.' I was requested to send some, which I hastened to
do. The carriages arrived ; I again presented myself at the
palace, and I was told that I was thanked, and was requested
to thank the national guard. Some instants after the
royal family left in two carriages of the establishment of
&MM. This is the truth. 0. TAHERE, Deputy-Mayor."
In the Rue de la Victoire, on Friday, one of those
malefactors who interpret the return to public liber-
ties to their own advantage, and have spread them-
selves over the capital and the suburbs, was pursued
by some workmen who had surprised him in the act
of committing a robbery. Alter a long chase, the
thief sought refuge in a private house, where he was
soon discovered. He was killed on the spot by stabs
from bayonets. In the moment of trouble which fol-
lowed the revolution, at that time of inevitable dis-
order, when the authority of the law was suspended,
it was necessary to applaud those acts of summary
justice which at the same time caused a useful terror,
and redeemed the people from the absurd calumnies
with which the vanquished never fail to defame
them. But to-day order is re-established, the differ-
ent powers are reconstituted, and legal authority has
resumed its course. Thus the beet example to give is
to cause public repose to be respected, and to give
force to the law ; therefore, slay not culprits, but
arrest them. -

On -Friday the post of national guards on duty at
the Palide de Justice crested a scan droned so a na-

tiring guard in the act of abstracting the money
which had been put into the box placed at the gate cf
the palais for receiving contributions for the relief of
the wounded and their families, and the workmen who
are out of employ. The national guards, in the first
impulse of their indignation at the disgrace brought
upon their uniform, were about at once to shoot the
thief, and he was already on his knees to receive the
fatal volley, when some other citizens interposed, and
induced them to leave the culprit to the regular and
severe flat of the law. He was thereupon conducted
to the Prefecture of Police.
The Archbishop of Paris has nominated the Abbe
Lacordeire Vicar-General of Paris.
The reports which arrive from the provinces still
continue to bring the adhesion of all places in the
departments, great and small, to the republic. To
this there is as yet no exception. Every day also a
batch of generals of division, generals of brigade,
peers, and other functionaries, send in their adhesion.
The committees appointed to transfer to the
museums and the treasury, the various objects
of art and of value in the Tuileries and at Neu.ily,
have terminated their labours, and these places have
been closed with sealed doors.
Sixty-six paintings from the gallery at Neuilly
have been deposited in the museum of the Louvre.
The legitimist, as well as the catholic party, has
evinced its desire to rally round the Provisional
Government.
'

The section of the Quinzc-Vingts, so celebrated in our
first revolution, has again been formed, and carries on its
sittings is the Bth arrondiesement. Its mission is that of pre-
parbsg the forthcoming elections and watching the new govern
meet, which it wishes to support. The government, which
bears the present weight, requires all support the assistance
wanted by the HJtel de Ville must be given, but it must be
' that of freemen.—Reffornse.
M. Cottu, formerly councillor of the Cour Royale
of Paris, and who played a conspicuous part
under the ministry of M. de Villa', has had an inter-
view with the mayor of Versailles, where he resides,
to declare, in the name of all the legitimists of that
place, that they would sincerely support the Provi-
sional Government.
- -•

---
Letters received from Lyons mention serious dis-
orders which have broken out in that city. The
workmen have broken the machinery in several of
the factories of the fanbourg and in the tobacco
works. It was with great difficulty that the railway
to St. Etienne was saved from destruction.
Great disquietude prevails in the department of the
Lower Rhine. In the arrondissement of Marmontier
twenty-five houses, inhabited by Jews, were sacked
and pillaged in spite of the presence of twenty-five
hussars. Reinforcements were sent for.
Violent proceedings against the Jews and foreigners
were also feared at Strasbourg.
It is reported that the financial state of the de-
partment of the North, the most important of the
provinces, is deplorable. The Bank of Lille has raised
its rate of discount to 6 per cent.

The advices which arrive from every. part of
Northern Italy represent the country to be in a most
deplorable state. From Modena letters say that the
oppression is extreme, that, in fact, the Modenese are
subjected to the military despotism of Austria. The
population of Massa and Carrara groan under the
Austrian yoke. Since the departure of the Duke of
Modena for Vienna a decree of regency under the
Archduke Ferdinand was daily expected.
Letters from Ancona of the 23rd nit. say that a
large British war steamer entered that port on the
22nd, and the commander demanded whether the
place was occupied by the Austrians, in which case
he would have sailed for a reinforcement. As all wi.s
tranquil ho left.
Letters from Piacenza of the Nth say that that
town is occupied with Croate troops, who act in thou
most brutal manner, compelling hotel keepers to sup.
ply them, and refuse payment, saying that the
Emperor wit pay. for all.
Parma is likewise occ ipied by the Austrians. The
native troops of this duchy, as well as Modena, are
about to be sent to Austria and to be replaced by
Austrian troops.
A letter from Milan, of the 22d nit., quoted by the
Italia of Pisa, says :—" After having promulgated the
police-law, the government is making an imposiug dis-
play of armed force. At every point are sentinels with
their muskets ready loaded to fire, and cannon planted.
The streets are deserted, the shops closed, all business
stopped,and grief and rage are painted in every coun-
tenance. This sad state of things cannot last long. Cir-
culars have been sent to all the clergy, rendering
them responsible for all that may ensue from sounding
the tocsin."

From Brunswick, under the date of 'March I, we
learn that the troops have been placed upon a war
tooting, and arrangements have been made by the
railway authorities to convey 25,000 (some say
45,000) Prussian troopeto the Rhine.
Numerous copies of an inflammatory pamphlet urg-
ing the people of Frankfort to a revolution have been
seized in that free city.
The people of Leipsic are agitating for liberty of
the press and for juries.

By advices from Malta we have dates from Naples
of the 24th ult. Fighting had taken place at,Mes-
sins, and the grand assault was to take place on the
23rd. Admiral Parker was at Palermo, and Lord
Minto was there also. The last constitution given to
the Sicilians, and granting them a separate parlia-
ment, was announced to be suitable to the Sicilians,
and the parliament of Palermo was to have been
opened on the Ist of March. From Catania we learn
that Fort Ferdinand, which was held by 500 Neapo-
litan troops, had surrendered.

By the Levant mail we have received advices from
Constantinople to the 17th, with news of the ratifica-
tion of the treaty between Turkey and Persia. Great
praise is given to M. Titoff, the Russian minister at
the Porte, for the share he has had in bringing
this negotiation to a conclusion. A charge of smug-
gling, made against the foreign consuls in some of the
Turkish ports, bad produced some sensation.
The cholera had net absolutely disappeared, but
was quite disregarded.

EFFECT OF THE FRENCH
REVOLUTION IN GERMANY.