The Express.
London, England, 1866-02-07 00:00:00

EXPRESS FROM PARIS.

(non ma ow

PARIS. TUMIDLY Emma.

The diplomatic correspondence published in
Madrid contains a far clearer exposition of the
views of the French government in regard to
Rome than is to be found in the French yellow-
book. This correspondence throws a valuable
light upon the omission of the word " temporal"
in the Emperor's speech, and shows that the do-
llars of France to maintain " two sovereignties" in
Italy must not be understood in too absolute a
sense. The convention of September 15 leaves the
Pope as a temporal sovereign responsible for his
actions, and if he remains as obstinately opposed
to all reform as heretofore be may destroy his
temporal power, and then France will not set it up
again for him. This has never before been so
clearly stated. Neither M. Billault nor K
Rouber ever said so much in parliament.
The Petite Gazette, a journal published at
Bagnbree-de-Bigorre, in the Pyrenees, states that
the eight columns of9ampeninarbls, whloh ore tio.
he placed in front of the imperial box, at the new
Opera, left the workshop of M. Cantet on the Slst
ult. for their destination. Each column is of a
single block, nearly two metres in diameter and
four in height. As to colours, one half are light
red and the others green. They come from the
same quarries that were worked under Louis XIV.,
for Versailles and Trianon. To obtain these
eoltitana entire they were sawed out of the solid
rock. " Last summer," says the writer, " I saw
thole immense columns while in the lathe which
was rounding them under the impulse of a water.l
wheel turned by the Adour."
The above paragraph reminds me that some two
years ago it was stated by the Moniteur that .the
Emperor had resolved to suspend the works of the
new Opera, in order that the palace of pleasure for
the rich might only be finished at the same time
as that palace for the poor, the Hotel Dien Hos-
pital. The semi-official journals went into positive
fits of enthusiasm at his Majesty's tender thought-
fulness for the poorer classes of his subjects.
There were cold-blooded people who thought
there was no connexity between an opera and
an hospital, and that the question of the ex-
pediency of building each should be considered
on its own separate grounds, but their ungenerous
voices were drowned in the general chorus of ad-
miration for his Majesty's noble sentiments. It
has happened, however, in this instance, as in many
others, that sensational promises are not redeemed
by subsequent fact. The Opera, now a stately build-
ing, is rapidly approaching completion, while not a
single stone of the new Hotel Dieu is yet laid. The
Moniteur two days ago mentioned the number of
houses that had been pulled down to make
room for the site of it, and said that a great many
more houses were going to be demolished, until a
certain number of square yards of clear ground
should be obtained. lam far from saying that
more haste with regard to these demolitions would
have been good speed. It is very likely that what
has been done has been wisely done. The only
moral of the story is the inanity of the original
puff, and of all court puffs of the like kind.
A letter from Lisbon says that General Prim,
instead of going to London as was rumoured, has
asked permission to stay a year in Portugal, and
that his wife has left Madrid to join him.
Quotations at the Bourse are better, but the
money articles of the evening papers speak of a
complete atonic in business. Route rose 10c. for
cash, and sc. for account, closing at 68fr. 75c., and
82le. Mibilier rose 12fr. 50c.