The Express.
London, England, 1866-09-18 00:00:00

THE COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE BELGIAN

PRESS.

The Bien Public of Ghent writes on this subject
as follow. : . _

"Our semi-offi :lel press shows itself much pre-occup4ed
with the remonstrances addressed to it by the organs of '
Count de Bismarck, and particularly by the Norddeutsch
Atigemeine Zcitung. Each strives to be the first to defend
itself, as from a charge of high treason, from the impute-
tion of the slightest irreverence towards Prussia. `We
adversaries of the policy of annexation !' exclaim in chorus
our ministerial journalists : ` Never.' What can any one
dream of pitying the Hessians, the Nassoviana, the Hano-
verian., so voraciously annexed by Prussia? Who could
ever think of blaming Count de Bismarck for his excellent
appetite ?

Vona Few Sites, Seigneur,
En les croqttant, beaucoup d'honneur.

And then the inclipenclanee hails Prussia as the 'Messiah
of German regeneration.' And the Bela du Parlament
protests that it 'cores very little for the petty states of
Germany.' If our testimony could have any cred't
with the Prusean annexaaonists, we should
hasten io reassure them completely as to the
tendencies of our liberal prees. It has always ranged
itself on the side of the strong furainst the weak,
of the annexer against the annexed. We blush for the
Belgian press in respect to the disgraceful attitude of the
matadors of our semi-official journals. We do not think
we have less patriotism than these gentlemen ; but we are
persuaded that patriotism may be perfectly consistent with
a feeling of honour and with a legitimate pride. No news.
paper article, not Count de Bismarck himself, will make
us desert unfortunate but just causes, and proclaim the
infallibility of the needle-gun. Let others become the
worshippers of force and the flatterers of success ; we
prefer to remain, whatever may happen, faithful to our
principles, and to repeat with the unfortunate Hanove_
rians, Itecht muss doch Recht bleiben' (right is stilt
right for all that.)"

Count DuchAtel, who was the last Minister of
the Interior of Louis Philippe, and who is suffering under
an affection of the spine, still manages to go out shooting
in the preserves of Chantilly, which he rents every year
at 30,000 fr. for three months. The count is wheeled about
in a Bath chair, and enjoys very fair sport.
The Rhenish Gazette learns from Hesse that the
troops of the Grand Duchy are still on a war footing,
which entails an expense daily to Rhenish Hesse which
exceeds the ordinary receipts, both direct and indirect.
The General Correspondence of Vienna states that
General Gablentz, commander of the second corps d'armee,
has been placed on half-pay at his own request.
The Kings of Saxony and Hanover have each
bought an estate in Austria. The former has purchased
for 230,000 florins the property of Rodaun, of about 320
acres ; the latter for 59,000 florins that of the " Nene
Welt," at Hietzing.
The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia arrived at
Paris on Monday last from Carlsruhe, and took up her re-
sidence at the Grand Hotel. Sbe was accompanied by her
daughter. the young Countess 9trogonoff. On the follow-
ing day the princess was present at a religious ceremony,
celebrated with great pomp at the Russian chapel, on the
occasion of the fete of the Emperor of Russia. The Rus-
sian ambassador and the whole of the personnel of the
embassy were present in official costume. The Emperor
of the French was npreeented by General Marquis de
Toulongeon. Her imperial highness left Paris on Wednes-
day for Biarritz. The Grand Duchess of Baden arrived
in Paris on the 10th, and left on the following day.
The King of Prussia is expected about the end of
the month in the duchies of Holstein and Schleswig. His
Majesty intends to spend some days at Altona, Kiel,
Flensburg, Cottorp. and Schleswig. The municipality of
Alton& is making great preparations to receive the King.
The Queen of Prussia arrived a few days ago at Haden.
A letter from Venice to the Corriere della
Yew:ea asserts that the pUbiseite will be a mockery. The
lists are to be compiled by parish priests, who will avoid
the houses of these not in the p►le of the Roman
catholic church. " Does liberal and progressive France
count non-catholics as excommunicated dogs, to whom
civil rights are to be denied !"
A German correspondent writes :—" The King
of Prussia, though now " threeeeore years and ten," is as
energetic and active as most men at fifty, but there is
nevertheless in many quarters an indication of a desire to
worship the ` Rising Sun,' but it is satisfactory to know
that in any intrigues of that kind which may be taking
place the Crown Prince keeps most steadily aloof. His
royalhighness is rarely seen or heard of except in oonnexion
with his military duties, in the performance of which he
has given evidence of his ability, while he and his royal
consort, following the dictates of their own good sense, ap-
pear to be more disposed to enjoy domestic felicity than to
intermeddle with the politics of the court, both deriving
great satisfaction from the constant and affectionate inter-
course kept up with Windsor and Balmoral, which ever
meets with a cordial return, proving in many endearing
ways to the Princess Royal that, though no longer present,
her royal highness is seldom absent from a mother's
thoughts."
An Austrian engineer, M. Stempf, has invented
a kind of balloon designed for the purpose of watching the
strategic movements of an enemy. Experiments were
made with this aerostatic machine in the presence of a
committee of superior officers, as well se the Archduke
Albert, generalissimo of the imperial army. The appara_
tus, which consists of five balloons attached to each other,
is said to have acted in a manner surpassing the expecta-
tions of the committee.
Some interesting experiments, says Goligetani,
will take place on Wednesday next on the site of the
Trocadero, opposite the Champs de Mars, to teat the
quality of a new soft of gunpowder invented by a German
chemist, H. Adolphus Neaaeyer, provided with introduc-
tions from Dr. Klein, of Leipzig. This powder does not
explode in the open air, it carries further than common
gunpowder, is *heaps, sad is so easily made that it may
be manufactured on board ship.
The publication of a Tasmanian Peach has been
commenced is Hebert Town.