The Express.
London, England, 1867-11-30 00:00:00

EXPRESS FROM PARIS.

(FEo on OWN

PARIS, FRIDAY Emma.

M. Forcade La Roquette, Minister of Commerce,
stated yesterday, in answer to the Marquis d'An-
delarre's interpellation in the Corps Legislatif,
that the government was justified in removing by
decree the differential duty on grain imported in
foreign bottoms, because that duty was not a tax '
upon the merchandise but upon the flag. He ad- •
mated that to have tampered with duties on corn
as such would have been contrary to the law of
11861, which abolished the sliding scale on the
ground principally that it made commercial
operations uncertain. In answer to the objection
that the measure was not so urgent that it need
have taken only five days before the meeting of
parliament, he said that there were very large
Istores of surplus corn in Hungary ; that the East-
' ern Railway Company had sent five hundred car-
Iriages to Vienna and Pesth to fetch grain, and that
inasmuch as there were foreign ships ready at
Trieste to carry corn Frame from the same
grinarrei, siist pre**. sly oisidk
to impoktaillon by. sea.. The govern:DMA * felt
the more justified isr resorting to tlai measure
because the difforeedag. duty stood abolished
within a year and a half from 'the present time.
He was, towevar, quite willing to bring in a bill
to sanction what had been done. The chamber
and the Marquis d'Andelare himself 'were labs-
,' bed with this explanation, and the order of the day:l
I was votod.

The order of the day was also voted on the in-
terpellation of M. des Itotours calling for the aboik
Lion of all dues to government on water carriage
for grain and flour. The minister said the amount
was too small to be worth notice. In 1661, when
these dues had been temporarily suspended, the
amount was onlyloo,ooofr., and now they would not
be more than 50,000 fr. in a year. M. Forted. la
Roquette distinctly declared 'that the giererttnient
was determined to persevere In free trade principles,
and never in any case to set's a corn merchant,
He denied that premiums would he given for im-
portation.
The Prince Imperial suffers frqm the cold foggy
weather. There is still a talk of his going with
tlie Empress to Nice, although it was certainly
decided' a few days ago, that he, was to pass the
. .
whole winter at St. Cloud. ~
. The return of the Court to tie' Tuileries, which
was fixed for December 2, is postponed sine. die.,
There is a rumour of a three days' hunting ez;
cursion to Compibgne.
.
The oourt•of First Instanpe gave 'judgment' to-,
day against the manufactureqs ef. the old beillisiss
who claim to have coal, &c., free ,of oetroi duties.
Bo far M. Hausmann is victorious. 'lt remains to
be seen whether, as has been confidently asserted
of late, the Emperor will come to the aid of M.
Michel Chevalier's clients, and send M. Hausamann
to the right about. There are those who think
the floating debt of the city of Paris and the stale
of its accounts, absolutely uncontrolled by thesis
Iwho find the money, must render it impossible fps
the Emperor and M. Hausmann to part company.,
The Bourse was weaker to-day. The reason
given in most of the money articles of the evening
papers, and which seems to me very plausible, is
that the market being in the hands of a few great
capitalists, and the rise during the past month
having been entirely artificial, the moment of the'
bears closing their accounts has been taken ad-
' vantage of to sell at high quotations for the next
account. Bente fell 25c. for cash and 20c. for
account, closing at 69fr. 95c. and 69fr. 90c. Italian
fell 40c. ; Credit Foncier, 10fr. ; and Mobilier,
12fr. 500. The general meeting so long deferred
of the Credit Mobilier takes place to-morrow, and
it is not supposed that the managers are in a posi-
tion to submit any satisfactory statement.
M. Polo, the editor of the Lune, a publication
in which Gill's inimitable caricatures have ap-
peared for some time, was this day sentenced by
that great Midas of the press, President Delesvaux,
to two months' imprisonment and a fine of 600 fr.
for a sketch published on Nov. 3, representing
diplomacy as a "marked wrestler." The joke,
which not one in a thousand can have understood,
owes its point to the fact that a man of muscle
wearing a mask lately appeared in a horse circus
and challenged all the world to wrestle with him.
The judgment of the court, in addition to fine
and imprisonment, orders that the Lune shall
cease to appear. The Coraaire, a new publication,
which had become very popular, was suppressed
yesterday. It is not pretended that either of these,
prints, so severely treated, contained anything
seditious or libellous. They are condemned solely
because they are held to have treated of " poli-
tical " subjects without being authorised as poli-
tical journals. Nobody can define what is
" politics," and the law comes to this that the go-

vernment is the sole judge. These and many
other prosecutions yet pending are some of the first
fruits of that " energetic repression" which the
Emperor's speech promised should accompany the
coming " liberal" laws.

Dovrnto-frrizET, Nov. 28.—The Queen has
boon pleased to appoint Edward Barnett Anderson Tay-
lor, Esq., to be a member of the Executive Council of the
Bahama Islands ; Phineas Eyrie. Req., to be a member of
the Legislative Council of the colony of Hoeg Hong;
Charles Packer, Esq., to be a member of the Coamll of
the Island of Barbados ; and Claude %vaunt' Champion
de Crespry, ESQ., to be member of the Legislative
Council o the Island of Lebusn.—Gasette.

I Tan HURRICANE IN Ms Wear Ironia. —Yes-
I ter& the following subscriptions were neeived at the
IJ -house in aid of the relief fund Mr. Bevis K
Green, 52/. 10s. ; Lord Overtime, 601. ; Messrs. Horrocka,
Milk: and Co., 601.: Messrs. Lucas, Michelle and Co.,
501. • Mr. Charles M'Oarel, 501. ; Messrs. Beeanquet,
Curtis and Co., 501. ; Mr. Themes Walker, 301.: Messrs.
Sharps and Wilkins, 261.; Mir M. Meehan, 211.- Mr.
John Noble, 261. ; 11r. G. 'Vaughan, 101. 10s. ; Maws. I
Scrutton, Bons and Co., 101. 10s. ; Messrs. Dimsdahe,
Fowler and Co., 10/. 10s. ; Mesas. D. d. Bougemeut and
Son, 101. 10a. ; Messrs. Harrison and Son, 101. 10a. ;
Messrs. Claude, Neilsen and Sons, 101. 10e.: Messrs.
Spofforth and Son, 101. ; Lord Egerton of Tattoo. 10/. ;
Mr. D. Dyer Bdwardes, 101. ; Sir William Colebrooke,
101. ; Kies Henrietta &modal% W. The total sum re-
ceived since Tuesday amount, to 3,6401.
MELANCHOLY DEATH 07 AN UNDIRORADI7ATE AT
Oxman.—Mr. Melvyn Prelim an undergraduateof Brame.
nese College, and eldest son of Major Prayer, of Pyrion-
house, neer Swindon, expired on Thursday evening about
nine o'clock, at his rooms in college, from the effects of
a violent blow on the head received in the disterbeness
which took place at Oxford on the 9th last. It seems that
deceased was struck unawares in a most cowardly manner
g osiortzp ruffian, and when down he was violently kicked.
after the occurrence he became insensible, and
remained so with the exeeption of a few minutes on the
22nd inst., till his &Ouse. The cases of death was °onus-
mon of the brain, terminating in malignant fever. Mr.
Prower entered at Bremer* College in October term 1866,
and was universally respected, not only by his fellow un-
dergraduates. but byall who were acquainted with him.
His father, meeker, brother, and sister were with him at
the time of hie death, which has caused a very painful
feeling both in the Infirmity and city.

ROME.

(nox ous arsciAL

ROME, Nov. 23.

Almost every cause has its traitors, and the
Roman liberals attach great importance to the fact II
of their betrayal when excusing themselves for not
supporting Garibaldi's movement with suitable
vigour. It is said that a member of the secret
committee sold his information to Cardinal Auto-
nelli, and that arrests were made in consequence
which hindered any possible rising. The bolder
spirits amongst the liberals—who panted for some-
thing better than stray throwing of bombs and un-
dermining of barracks—were wretchedly betrayed,
and there was not sufficient unanimity of public
Whig to produce an unprepared outburst of the
people. Moreover, such outburst should be
favoured by a certain degree of lukewarmness
amongst the soldiers whose duty it is to keep order,
and nothing could be hoped on that score from the
Papal Zonaves, the Antibes legionaries, or the
Swiss halberdiers. With • force of Italian
Bentwaista against him, Garibaldi might have
=earl
on finding Mundt -is the oppoming
no matter !hour • Gloat they had
teen sifted, but walk kreigners it was dif-
ferent. I hale beard. en good authority that
the only part athe Pontifical army which had not
*predominating foreign element was suspected of
this very lukewarmness ; an there was doubt and
:pOrplexity ow either side. A war and a state of
' siege, a secret committee betrayed to the Cardinal
and a sympathy with Italy under the Pontifical
I lag. The events of last month may well furnish
anterials for any amount of mystery and romance
lien time shall have mellowed their outline. and
Aiwa the French• bugle notes shall strike lees
'sharply on the ear. We need not be discouraged
al the denial of 'the story that a nephew of Pius
st. fell as a Garibaldian at Montana, for without
illei startling incident there is a goodly roll of ad-
venture and many a brave deed to be _recorded.
*ere are Frenchmen of high birth among the
Erh
y.-trousered•Zottirres, whllit some of the best
'es in Italy are mourning for those who wore
ed shirt of the revolution.
From Rome to Montana is a pleasant two hours'
drive at moderate speed. There is so fine a view
of the mountains behind Tivoli, and•the Campagus
swells so broadly away to right and left--like a.,
Wretch of western prairie more than anything in
the old world—that it would be a pity to htnTy
over the drive. But as Mentane is only fourteen

piles beyond the city gates you will perceive that
I have allowed ample time for doing the distance
leisurely. We set forth in a little Boman hack-
_carriage with a capital horse to do honour to the
becasion, and a coachman all agog to see the battle
lield. My companion had fixed on the chilly hour
bf six &m. as our starting time, that we aright
eve the day before, us.; and as we pulsed through
Porta Pta to take the Nomentana-road there

47re; sharp biting wind, which made our cloaks and
fags very necessary furniture.
k We found few traces of oonikt remaialltg span
Enbatgo-field, am hare and there the paper of
d packets, sad gape broken the -beam-
rows. All round Mentana the gleaners of relies
had been at work, and there had not been troops
enough engaged to trample everything to a dead
level, as I remember was the case on some other
battle-fields which I have seen. Round Montana,
or rather south of Montana, on the road to Rome,
there were tracer just sufficiently clear to make is
passer-by think that something had happened, and
this was all. The victims of the Chamepoi lay
buried here and there, in vineyards and corn fields,
buried where they had fallen—three in one pleas, '
four in another. The wounded had long since been
removed, and the slight damage done to the
town by artillery fire had been in part repaired.
Then was a garrison of French Cheamurs keeping
guard over the quaint, old pile of building which
has given its name to the struggle, but Mentan•
seemed very unlikely to rise against even a solitary
gendarme. Its poverty-stricken houses clustering
round the Borghese palace, with narrow streets and
tiny public square, look at a distance like a feudal
castle rather than a village. Seen from the road
where the battle began, Mentana is as high as it
is broad, and overhangs the ravine to its western
side in • threatening manner. On the other aids
the position is not so strong, indeed it is somewhat
open for a hill, easy of ascent, runs parallel to the
road, and oommands the town. At a moderate
rifle-shot from Montana to the left of the road,
looking southward, is the vineyard of Santucci,
with a white wall and gateway that bear marks of
the fusilsde. In front of the vineyard is another
hillock, much trodden in all directions, and
covered with scraps of cartridge paper, or
the envelopes in which packets of cartridges
have been served out to the men. These
two hillocks, Santucci and its neighbour, were the
very centre of the battle. Garibaldi himself was
on Santucci early in the fight, but afterwards re-
treated towards Mentana, and as the French
pressed round closer and closer, by their right
flank, to gain the slope which commands the road
to Monte Rotondo, he withdrew beyond their reach
to avoid being cut off altogether. There seems to
be no ground for the assertion that the brave old
man left his post one moment too soon, for be could
not hope to slip away across country, as many
of his followers managed to do later in the evening,
and it would have been a very different thing for
him to remain in the town and capitulate next
morning than it was for less famous volunteers.
The thing, alas I is only too fresh and real, for
here are sorrowing ladies who drive from grave to
grave to find their dead relations, and who ask so
anxiously of the peasants what such a one and such
another was like when they buried him. The
peasants tell us that many ladies have come like
these we see, and that some have found their dead
and taken them away. Some day there will be •
monument at Santucci raised by Italy to the
nameless graves of the fallen volunteer. What-
ever foreign critics may say of rashness or over-
zeal, Italy has no reason to be ashamed of
Montana.

Tan LAIII BULMINGIHAM Mueccst iharrrosu—
The audited balsam-sheet of this festival wee laid before
the weekly board of the Birmingham Genera Hospital
yesterday. From this it appears that the total amount
received at the festival and in subsequent deitatiom was
14,397 i. lls. 11d. The net amount left for the therity is
5,h411. 4e. 2.1., which is the largest sum ever realized tithe
the festivals were held in the Nws-hall. The number of
persons who attended rose from 10,687 is 1868 to 14,972 a
the resent occestos. The amount paid to the priasipid
performers, erelestra, sad shores, was 5,81.41. There is s
great prehabilitg that Mr. J. (Him Masse, who hes
during the last twisty yeses bad the masegemest of the
festivals, will cease to have any further ethasalea with
than. Duke his " direetorate "of stem foottosis, tle
mai al 111,8311 t ha• boa paid to the EMS,.

THE CASE OF MR. CALVERT.

One of her Majesty's ex-consuls in the Levant
has got into very serious trouble. He is described
by most of our contemporaries as the Honourable
Mr. Calvert ; but he is not the Honourable Mr.
Calvert. He belongs, however, to a respect-
able family of Levantine consuls, and his trouble
is therefore of a nature which must not only cause
deep sorrow to himself, but which has occasioned a
great deal of pain to many who had no personal
concern with it. Mr. Calvert was formerly British
consul at the Dardanelles, and to his consular
functions were added the duties, resporufibilities,
and emoluments of agent for the underwriters of
marine insurances at Lloyd's. Not very long ago
Lloyd's Agency at the Dardanelles may have
been worth from 1,5001. to 2,0001. a year ;
but more recently the fete have dammed consi-
derably, owing to the progress of steam navigation
and other causes. Nevertheless, • few years ago
Mr. Calvert was a prosperous and respected man.
Hi, salary was a fair one. His fees were still con-
siderable, and he was one .of the few remaining
toenails in the Queen's service who had the privilege
t otreetg, and the intelligence to make use of it
ly. He waa one of those beneficent po-
tentates of the East who recalled the pleasant times
Ittakde,l.erreot Company.. He he 4 hunt himself
t • tiahee-ff effierliwilffi Aber wands'
to e
Dezt=ect simple, who
without .fou
ng ritecirgeom
pitality of its courteous and open-handed master.
. Calvert was particelerly the friend of the
tiah officer during the rnean waf,. and made
simply acquaintances among the sea cePtains of the
allied fleets as they rode nt anchor alined within
ba.l of his windows. It might have seemed
almost impossihle teny heavy misfortuneor die-
pea should reach • man apperentlx removed a.
fag out of the way of trouble. Be jostled no Psi
mlthe race of life, for he was immeasurably sup,-
rich in social position and 'foittifth 'to his neigh-
'baths. No man envied him, for although his in-
terne was large and his rank-moveable, both had
been fairly and honoursbly operated. He was
himself an officer who .had seen considerable
,estvioe, and the public busbies entrusted to
kin he had done so well that it was gene-
admitted his promotion was rather due
to merit than to influence. With his' superiors at
the Fo.reign-office he was peculiarly atfavourite, not
in an invidious sense of themord, .but because no
teesonable fault could be found with him. lie
wile upon intimate terms of friendship with the
members of her Majesty's Ethbasay at Constanti-
nople, and he was connected either by birth or
miirriige with most of the • principal English
=wand merchants. established in
, even the agency of Lloyd's, always an
object of keen competition among the British mer-
cantile community abroad, both for As emolument*
and the dignity it confers, wars left to him without
grudge. No shipowner could be unaware that
it was better for his intereeta •that her Majesty's
cease should be Llorfe ' igent• instead of
anyone else ; while the sapposed fortune and
reputed integrity of Mr.- tilvedt ostensibly
offered the best possible guarantee that this respon-
sible office would be adminiatered with scrupulous
honour. Indeed, it is better that commis gene-
rally should hold the agencies of Lloyd's ram;
than other people, in the first place, because when
the consul is agent only half the fees leviable
from wrecks by Titivate agents are paid ; andln the
next place, because the slightest, misconauct of •
government official is easily eleporied and punished.
It is far from our intention to pronounce any opi-
nion as to the guilt of Mr. Oal4rt. It appears to
ea that a gentleugn ae Ortmtelff ani so honoured
could have little temptation to crime, so that how-
ever appearances and experts statements may be
against him, we are bound to give him the benefit
of the doubt. The charge brought against him, how-
ever, is one of the most extraordinary in commer-
cial annals. It is alleged that Mr. Calvert
insured for the large sum of fourteen
thousand pounds sterling a vessel which had no
existence ; and that in order to obtain possession
of the money, he invented an elaborate fiction
with respect to the loss of this imaginary vessel.
Every part of this fanciful narrative is said to have
been supported by forged documenth which his
consulate and agency enabled him to invest with
all the requisite formality. He is stated first to
have invented a man who was supposed to have
insured this shadowy ship and then to have dis-
appeared from off the face of the earth. Well, the
man was a Turk : perhaps he may have gone to
Meom, and may turn up again some day a solid
man after all. But Mr. Calvert's accusers assert
that even if this cautious Mussulman shipowne-
should be discovered there remain many other
things to be accounted for. The imaginary
ship belonging to the imaginary man is
said to have had an imaginary cargo,
and to have been burnt in an imaginary
place, by an imaginary fire so completely that
nothing whatever remained of it. Persons were,
however, found ready to swear that all these parti-
culars were facts and not fancies, but the whole
story appeared so astounding to the Committee of
Lloyd's, in London, that they determined to institute
some inquiry ; and then Mr. Calvert is understood
to have expressed some doubts upon the subject
himself. His suspicions, however, appeared to
have fallen entirely on the Turkish gentleman
who could not be found, and upon this point there
was so strong a difference of opinion between Mr.
Calvert and the Committee of Lloyds that • spe-
cial commissioner was despatched to in
the whole affair. A panic fear seems to have
Mr. Calvert at this stage of the proceedings. He
fled from his consulate, and has remained in con-
cealment ever since till within this last few weeks.
Various reasons are alleged by his friends for this
rash step, and we trust that due consideration will
be given to them. When Mr. Calvert returned to
the Dardanelles to confront his accusers he was at
once apprehended on • warrant issued by direction
of the Foreign-office, and has already undergone
several examinations at the supreme court of Con-
stantinople. The prosecution is ordered by the
British government, and Mr. Harper, secretary of
Lloyds' Salvage Association, has arrived out there
to produce the legal documents. Up to the last
advice, the came was still proceeding, the acting
consular judge refusing to release the accused on
bail. We have carefully refrained from expressing
any opinion whatever on the merits of this singular
case, but we very much doubt if • similar one
could by_ any possibility have occurred in Eng-
land. Untruthfulness is so well known a charm-
teristio of the Levant, and uncharitable stories
are so commonly current about everyone,
that suspicion attaches often not unnaturally to
the simplest record of common events. People
indulge habitually in fanciful stories, and become
accustomed to import romance with all its startling
incidents into their daily lives. The experiment is
not a happy one, and tends much to the confusion
and complication of serious business. A great
deal of mischievous gossip and • great deal of
still more mischievous letter-writing occasions in-
finite scandal and disquiet to many worthy persons.
Ventilation and light thrown upon these things
does all the good in the world, and at once dispels
the fog of slander which clouds over the reputations
of deserving people. With respect to the consular'
service generally in these districts, where the
British representative exercises jurisdiction over
his fellow-countrymen and enjoys a power and
authority quite exceptional, we consider that two
important changes should be made. It would be
for the good of the service and the public that an
inspector-general of consuls in the Levant and the
Barbary States should be appointed to inquire
from time to time into the state of every oonsairr
office, and it would tend very much indeed to the
mental health and utility of the consuls thonsibms
if they only passed one-half of their tine MOS