The Express.
London, England, 1867-01-18 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, FRIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 18, 1867.::..

of due season. But the /minders of the sect,
with the one illustrious exception just limed,
are all gone, M. TRIERS, Oriesnist Omagh
he was and is, having never belonged to lllse dor-
trinain coterie, nor been :tinged with the doc-
trinaire spirit.
The disappearance of the school marks the close
of a period iu French history—a period of blind
and fatal mistake, in which Liberty was slain in
the house of her friends, and by the weapons of
those who should have been her defenders. But
the political errors of the doctrinaire school ought
not to blind either the nation which suffered,
or the foreign observers who have profited,
by them, to the services and merits of the illus-
trious leaders of the party. They organized a
noble reaction against the materialistic philosophy,
the moral scepticism, and the literary frivolity
which the Empire bequeathed to the restored
monarchy of the elder Bourbons. But when the
revolution of 18:10 placed them in office, they
themselves fell into reaction from their own prin-
ciples—principles to which they still adhered in
the abstract, reverencing them, however, rather
as political counsels of perfection too lofty for
realization in this vulgar world, than as guides of
conduct. The truth is thal. the French doctrin«ill,
never fully understood their own country, and
therefore failed to govern it. Their reaction from
the Empire, and from the Revolution, which they
made accountable for the Empire, the literary in-
tercourse which they cultivated in exile or corre-
spondence with the men of letters of other lands,
and their studies in foreign literature, widened
their own sympathies and enlarged their know-
ledge, and tended to counteract the national
egotism and narrow self-glorification of their
countrymen. But the 'lo trueloe system had not
its root inFrench soil. It wasan aggregate of foreign
influences working for goof on the French mind,
at a critical period of their history, but as a cor-
rective acting from without, rather than as a na-
tive force working from within. The ductriowires
borrowed their politics from England through M.
Gurzor ; their philosophy from Scotland through
Itovea-CottAfto ; their principles of criticism aid
literature from Germany through M. DE BARANTE.
English constitutionalism, Scotch metaphysics, and
German romanticism are good things both apart
and in combination, but they do not form the
basis on which the French people can re-organize
itself. In consequence, the doctrinaires have never
been more than a sect of illuminati, vainly striving
to become a national party, adorning literature and
speculation, but conspicuously and disastrously
failing in politics. Their place was always ;n
the Academy rather than in the Chamber and the
Cabinet. Even in the Academy they belong to
the past ; and M. PREVOST-PA RADOL'S brilliant
perversity will not afford them any future. The
signs of their decadence, though slight, are signifi-
cant. The probable election of M. dotes FAVRE too
the chair of M. nz BARANTE, and the alliance of
the more liberal Orleanista with the moderate
democratic party, indicated in the rumoured sub-
stitution of M. Tli I ERB' house for that of M. MARIE
as the meeting-place of the opposition Deputies,
are symptoms of that reconciliation between the
principles of 1789 and 1830, of which VICTOR
Cot•SIN was the eloquent advocate, and which is
one of the first necessities of French politica, but
which the dvdrinaires fatally resisted.

The Standard rejoices in the judgment, while it mays
that the worldig dames by joining In the indent, have
itegerilbd their property to the amount of millions ster-
ling. finch nasociatkma, it is sow decided, cannot being
civil adieus ; they are outlawed, their members are at
the anew of irregioneible mistime ; their eantracte,
agreements, and engagements are thaty null and void,
and it is quite as well that this formidable truth should be
told peremptorily to the working man. When he enters •
society which professes to unite the priegoiplee of a
friendly club with that of • trades' union, tire money he
subscribes may, without remedy, be made of no more
worth to him than a handful of chips. And it might be
rash to compute how many of our provident artisans are
in such a situation.

• LATEST INTELLIGENCE. •

(REUTER'S TEL EG RA MS.)

ITALY.
THE MINISTERIAL FINANCIAL, .
STATEMENT. 4
FLORENCE, JAN. 17, NVIMING.

In to-day's sitting of the Chamber of Deputies
Signor Scialoja resumed his financial statement.
With reference to the means of covering the deficit
of 185 millions the Minister proposed to effect a
saving of 85 millions by various financial modifi-
cations and a re-organisation of the system of
taxation. One of these measures of financial
reform would be to entrust the payment of state
pensions to the Bank of Deposits, which would
result in a saving to the Treasury of 17 millions,
while a reform of the Registry Tax will effect a
reduction of 10 millions lire. The Minister would
propose a scheme of reforming the tax on landed
and moveable property, and would shortly intro-
duce a bill for taxing certain manufactures which
will yield a revenue of from 15 to 20 millions lire.
Another 30 millions would be produced by taxing

Signor Scialoja then adverted to the progressive
increase of the public revenue and the gradual de-
I crease of the expenditure, which decrease will
amount to 60 millions in 1880, at which period he
showed that the revenue and expenditure of the
lstate will be in equilibrium. At present the
minister declared it to be necessary to have re-
eourse to extraordinary means to make up the de-
ficit of 100 millions still remaining after covering
85 millions bytheabove-mentioned financial reform.
He pointed out that a loan would be impossible
under present circumstances, and that the govern-
ment must therefore have recourse to the ecclesias-
tical property. Respecting the relations between
the state and the church, Signor Scialoja stated
that they would be modified in such a manner as
to restore full liberty to the church and settle the
question of the ecclesiastical property. A bill
would be brought forward taxing the ecclesiastical
property to the amount of 600 millions lire, which
would suffice to cover the annual deficit until the
period at which a financial equilibrium should be
established. The minister trusted that the
clergy would receive this scheme favourably,
and that in entering within the pale of
common law all pending questions between
church and state would be terminated. In
conclusion Signor Scialoja entered into some
considerations relative to the public credit of Italy.
After some observations respecting the order to be
followed in discussing the different financial mea-
sures, the minister stated that he accepted the mo-
tion of Signor Crispi, that the chamber should de-
clare the discussion of the bill upon religious
liberty and for the liquidation of ecclesiastical pro-
perty to be of an urgent character.

FRANCE.
MARSEILLES, J. IR.
The railway communication between Marseilles
and Paris is completely re-established.