The Express.
London, England, 1856-04-25 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY, APRIL 26.

WE invite the attention of our readers to a speeeh
delivered by Count Wail:welt, in the meeting of
Conference held on the Bth met., of which a report,
will be found in another column. Count WALIWSII
appears, in his character of President, to have in-
vited the members of Conference to extend their
views beyond the special question which they were
deputed by their respective Governments to diocese
and settle. The topics he wished them to embrace in
their deliberating are of a twofold character. He
directed their attention to the abnormal oonditioo of
the Government of Greece, and of at least two Govern-
ments—the Papal and the Neapolitan—in the Italian
Peninsula : these are special question of temporary
Miens,. He further proposed " that the Courses
should crown its labours by a declaration which
would constitute a real progress in international
jurisprndence,and would be gratefully accepted by the
ent ire world." " The Congress of Westphalia," he went
oo to say, " had declared for liberty of moseleocie I the
Cowes. of Vienna, for the abolition of the slave trade
and the free navigation of rivers. It would be worthy
of the Congress of Paris to put an end to loos standing
diaerosion■ by laying down the bens of a uniform
maritime code in time of war." This is a problem
which interests all nations, and its solution would be
of permanent benefit.
With regard to the whole three questions, it is
only necessary to remark at present that they
were ultra ',lra of the assembled Plenipotentiaries.
Had they consented to enter into a discussion
of them they would have been liable to be taken by
surprise. It may be added, that the competence of
the Ministers present to devise a maritime code for
times of war may fairly be questioned. On the whole,
we are disposed to concur io the principles enunciated
under this head by Count WALEWBII ; but we MI
extremely sceptical 2/ to the competency of WA-
Liwoms or °atone to legislate on such an impor-
tant subject. With regard to the views indicated by
the President of the Conferences remedies the affairs
of Naples sod the Papacy, and the occupation of
Rome by French and of the Legation by Austrian
troops, we can only say that they infirm
as in the opinion we expressed when it
was first reported that the Italian question had been
mooted in the Conferences. We are fully alive to
the threatening aspect of Italian affairs; but we are
convinced that for the English Government to engage
to interfere in them, in concert with any oontinental
Power except Sardinia, would be to expose itself to
imminent danger of being compromised—of being
involved in measures which could not possibly benefit
Italy, and would probably entail embarrassment, if
not dishonour, upon itself.

Of this subject hereafter. Some things haws tran-
spired of late which show that it may be neocesay to
watch closely the policy pursued by the French
Oustrnment, not oily with regard to Italy bat to
Spain. But our immediate object is to pro-
test, in the most measured language, but at
the same time most emphatically, against the extra-
ordinary menaces held out by Count WAteweri to
Belgium. Count WALEWBKI attempted to give to
this part of his speech the appearance of a topic
which he regarded u concerning rather Franco aloes
than Europe generally, and to which he only alluded
casually. Neverthelim, it is difficult to read his
speech without coming to the conclusion that this
parenthetical passage—like the postscript of a lady's
letter—contains what the Minister of NAPOLEON
111. was most anxious to impress upon the minds of
those he addressed.

Count WALLWBKI complained that " in Belgium,
publications were printed every day which con-
tained the moot hostile and insulting attacks
upon Fr ince and her Government." He represented
these publications as being directed sgainst the in-
ternal tranquillity of France, and as "enjoying im-
punity under the shelter of Belem Legislation." He
protested that the French Government "had every
reason to be satisfied with the Cabinet of Brussels,
which had done its best to mitigate a state of things
which it was not in its power to change, because the
laws of Belgium did not empower it to repress the
excesses of the press, nor to take the initiative in a
reform which had become absolutely indispensable."
He hinted at the possibility that "the Belgian
Government, relying upon the great majority of the
country, might find itself in a position to put an end
to a state of things which eannot fail to prodeos
difficulties and even clingers, which it is for the
interest of Belgium to avoid." Count WALIWIKI
took care that there should be no mistake as to the
nature of the "dangers" to which he alluded ; for he
said, " Any remonstrances on the pert of a stronger
power mimed so much resemble a threat that we na-
turally end by every possible means to avoid
having recourse to them."

This is plain speaking. In Belgium, se is Rag-
land, delicts of the press can only be paniahed ac-
cording to law. The Government has not the
power, as in From*, to declare in every special ease
what is a della, and to punish it without
recourse to the Courts of Justice. This has, for
the French Government, the disagreeable code_
quince that its actions are freely canvassed and
criticised by the Belgian press, and that it east only
attempt to suppress such inconvenient discussion by
appealing to the Belgian cautteof law, of whose scrutiny
itentertaine well-grounded fears. The French Govesn-
went, therefore, modestly proposes that the easstitu-
tioaal liberties of the Belgians shall be 'appraised
eoldy to ►nit its convenience. It affects to believe
that the Belgian Government is willing to gratify it
in this matter, bat is afraid to do so ; and it therefore
exhorts the Cabinet of Brussels to put down the
liberty of the press by a coup d'etat ("relying upon
the great majority of the people," as LOUIS NAPO-
:LEON professes to have done on the 2nd of December),
and stimulates the Cabinet of Brussels to act thus by
urea's of dangers which are anything but obscurely
or equivocally indicated.

Each language on the part of a French Minister is
simply tentative. What he says of Belgium and Its
press now he may say of England and its press Imam
after. The menace held out to the Belgian Govern,
mew, sad the levitation given to it to sure s&
span the constitutional liberties of the Belgian
people, ere so pees violation, of the rights of an in-
dependent people as were the MENTCHOZOTT pea
seals to the SULTAN which gave occasion to the
late war. The people of Franc* may, if they shoats,
submit to have their press gagged : that is a natter
to be settled by them and their Government, to
which no foreigners have any title to interfere.
But the peoples of Belgium and England We
determined to maintain the liberty of the praise

sad that is $ nutter which mut be left to be
settled by each of them with its own Goverment
reopeetivelyorithowt foreign Inteeferense. We seedily
admit that, ass free pees is a peat power, so is it,
like all groat powers, liable to obese; but jades
and expediently main that such abase should be
repressed by regular proems of taw, publicly sant.
Watered, not by the übitrary sad clandeetiao =W-
eiss of irreepealible power.

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