The Express.
London, England, 1858-02-08 00:00:00

THE DANISH QUESTION.

BERLIN, Faa. 7.
FRAM:7OIM SATTIRDAY EVZNINO.—An official
despatch announces that the government of Hanover
at the last meeting of the representatives of the
Germanic confederation proposed that the diet im-
mediately after having come to a decision on the
a&ir of Holstein and Lanenbourg, should call upon
the Danish government to abstain from promul-
gating any new laws or taxes until the decision of
the diet shall have been complied with. The Danish
ambassador has declared by a protocol that the
grievances alleged by Lanenbourg are unfounded.

EXPRESS FROM PARIS.

In SIINILLRINI LID 'mum TILIGIAPI.)

PARIS, MONDAY MO/LNINO.
General &pinnace, Aide-de-Camp to the Emperor,
is appointed Minister of the Interior and of Public
Sdety, in the place of M. Bilknit. M. Cornuan,
Prefect of the Landes, is appointed General Secre-
tary to the Minister, in place of M. Manoeanx.

(swam ova oww coasaoroxuray.)

PARIS, BuirDAy livionwo.

The gentlemen at the Ministry of the Interior
who so conscientiously perform their duties as cen-
sors of the English press, are of those who "do
goad by stealth and blush to find it fame." They
seise the English papers, but don't like to see their
achievements recorded. I understand that the publi-
cation in the Daily News of the long list of seizures
of Sunday papers which were effected last week
and the week before, has caused very great annoy-
ance. It is true, that by seizing the Daily News,
which chronicled the seizures, and the journals
which copied its announcement, it may have been
passible to prevent the knowledge of the fact from
being generally diffused in France. Bet then, un-
fortunately, the Daily News is read in Belgium,
Germany, Switzerland, and Spain, in all which
countries such a thing as the confiscation of an
English journal is never heard of. It is, therefore,
extremely disagreeable to the French authorities,
while they have been representing through their
own press, and by means of garbled quotations, that
except the " eternal enemies of order," Scc., all
the English journals support the French government
on the refugee question—it should be made known on
every frontier of France that the English journals
of all shades of politics, and of no politics at all—
tory, whig, radical, economical, courtly, and face-
ticms—had written remarks which the French go-
vernment were afraid to let the French people read.
An extraordinary and ludicrously impotent attempt
has, therefore, been made to prevent the fact of the
seizures of English journals from being stated in
print. Hitherto the first question put by every En-
glish subscriber on entering a reading-room was,
" What journals are seized to-day P" People said
this as naturally as they would say to a waiter at a
tavern, "What is there for dinner to-day?" The
question naturally preceded the request to be sup-
plied with any particular paper, for it is obviously
useless to ask for a thing which is not in the larder.
You will scarcely credit the assertion, bat I enure
you it is true, that the police have ordered
the attendants at the reading rooms not to say what
journals are seized, and of course not to mention
that they have been told not to say so. The
working of this rule is very drolL It makes people
well known for their civility appear rude. To
the common question, " What journals are seized ?"
the answer was to-day, " Sir, I don't know." "Is
the Post in ?" " Yes, sir." " Well, but you must
know whether you have received all your papers P"
"Sir, I really cannot tell you. You must look upon
the table and find what you want." I looked upon
the table this afternoon, and looked in vain, for the
Daily News, Express, Sun, Examiner, Spectator,
Leader, Saturday Review, John Bull, Bell's Lffe in
London, and Punch. If I were to say that all these
journals were seized, and it should turn out
that any one of them had simply been lost in
the post-office, the French government, which does
its utmost to prevent the truth from being known,
would assuredly prosecute the Daily News for
" false news" if (which thank God it cannot) it
could get it within its jurisdiction, and it is disagree..
ably far from clear that your correspondent while
endeavouring to state the truth on this or any other
subject, may not render himself obnoxious to the
new law against " any individual who keeps up
intelligence with foreign countries with a view to
bring the Emperor's government into hatred and
contempt !" I have heard that M. Billault, the late
Minister of the Interior, had nearly brought himself
to the sensible opinion that seizing English
journals was a proceeding which merely served
to bring odium upon the French government
and was worse than useless as a police measure.
But " vested interests " are engaged. The reading
and translation of English journals has come to con-
stitute a department in the state, and if the
censorship were done away with it would be difficult
to know what to do with the employes. " Thus bad
begins and worse remise behind." There have
been moms:lts when the absurd passport system
would have been done away with had it not been
for the numerous functionaries who live by it.
The men composing the guard of Lancers which
escorted the Emperor to the Opera on the fatal
evening of January 14, were this afternoon paraded
in the court of the Tuileries. They dismounted and
were received by the Emperor in his apartments,
where his Majesty personally distributed rewards to
them.

The charming Greek villa of the late Princess
Begration, in the Faubourg St. Honore, was yester-
day sold for 742,000 fr. to a M. Castaignet, who is
understood to be the agent of the Russian ambas-
sador.

The Atrenir of Antwerp states that several of the
clerks of the Custom-house at Ostend are to be exa-
mined as witnesses in the affair of the 14th. It Row
appears to be proved that the bombe were introduced
by Ostend; they weighed 2 kilogrammes 4 hecto-
grammei each, and it is said that an import daty of
2fr. and some centimes was paid on them.

PARIS, SATURDAY Etl
Although the news is not yet official, I am enabled
to announce that M. Billault has resigned the oftlos
of Minister of the Interior. The resignation has been
accepted, and M. Rouland, the Minister of Public
Instruction and Worship, will perform the duties of
the ace ad interim until a dedeitire sucoeswor to
Y. Blllealt shall be selected.

Count do Moray has boa sleeted president and
mortar of the Coaumittse at th• Corps lagialatif