The Express.
London, England, 1860-12-11 00:00:00

THE FRENCH PAPERS ON THE PRESS LAWS.

The circular by Count de Persigny, which we
published yesterday, is variously commented on by the Pa.
risan journals. The Debate hamens to acknowledge the
importance of the declarations contained in the circular,
which it contrasts favourably with other interpretations of
the decree of the 94th of November, bat must be permitted
to remark that them guarantor are purely
" The laws which regulate the press in Crall'idelaris very
rigorous, se we know • bat laws, however severe they may
be, are laws after angantd.meowe2lo not think that a fair com-
panion ma be portanablisbal between a system founded
upon a law, however its character, and a system
founded, as M. de Persigny himself admits, upon a dines-
= power.apew, writer, er effaences p
gnanntse irnovided for and
the tribunals
entrusted with the sdminisation of the law. flan they
expect to meet with such a guarantee at the hands of go-
vernment ?'

lieitLek criticises the circular very vigorously :
"In our opinion (says 11. Bevis) the comparison esta-
blished between England and France is not a fair one.
Nothing can be more widely different than England in the
17th and 18th centuries and France in 1860. It may be
conceded that the penalties by the decree of 1852 do not ins
chide whipping at the art's tail, the pillory, or cutting off
the ears of the offender ; but in • material sense they an
just as vigorous, perhaps more so than any ever labeled by
law in England. Civilization in France in 1860 is in a
more forward state than it was in England in 1688 ; parties
in France at the present day are very different from the
Papists and Jacobites in England 200 years since; no pre-
tender has invaded our territory with an army, and we have
no Charles Edward or Culloden to anticipate."
The ',dependance Beige complains that new changes
contain little genuine improvement :
" According to the new circular, all the severity of the
law will be reserved for attacks against the State and the
Crowe. This distinction is a progress, no doubt : but it has
alreadybeen made by M. Billanit on his last biking °flee,
and we regret not to find anything in M. de Persiipay's
circular that announces his intention to do away with the
arbitrary code of arertioements and their consequences,
even as regards those points which the minister now tells ns
may be freely discussed."
The Paw and the Conelitutionnel alone sprees satis-
faction with the new document. The latter paper writs :
" ' Bear in mind,' says M. de Persigny, that it is in the
interest of the State, and not of the administratiou, that
this power has been delegated to my ministry.' As a jour-
nalist and as a devoted defender of the government and of
the State, we loudly applaud these words. The application
of the law thus regulated changes the law itself. It is not
that constant threat against us of which we have before
spoken ; it is a real protection of the State and of the
national institutions. It is not caprice, it is reason ;it is
not arbitrary power, it is equity."
The Journal des Pi le, d Catapagnes sums up the cir-
cular thus:—" To prepare the country for the noble and
peaceful exercise of its frenehises, ►nd complete the work
of conciliating parties." Then it adds :-" We are happy
at recording the first of these ideas, which appears to us the
sole mode of realising the second. The Constitutional and
the semi.official journals, in endeavouring to restrict the
full force of the decree of November 24, have rendered
more necessary the sincere adoption of theme liberties, the
noble and peaceful exercise of which constitutes national

The Mored,e lap ea emphatic dna; au the end of the
circular:

—;" 144 will doubtlese find that the mod important part
of this circular is it. last phrase :—' For the met,' says M.
de Peraigny, ' you will soon receive instructions on impmt-
ant points of policy and administration, and I shall hays
occasion to mab an appeal to your seal and devotedness.'
Certainly this last phrase will form the subject of common-
tare!. in political circles.
The And de In Religion points out the general rule of
conduct that has just been indicated, and says :
" Every honest person, without distinction of party, will
applaud the groat propriety of this language. Its secret
appeared to be disclosed, and administrative ears will find
at first some difficulty in catching it. Be that as it may, this
circular, far less by its tolerably vague injunctions than by
the general tone pervading it, ilia asuredly the most serious
commentary bestowed as yet on the circular of Novem-
ber 24."

The Gazette de Pram! says :
"For some days past the entering upon office by the Mi-
nister of the Interior, M. de Pendpy, has been expected
with more or leas satiety, as it was hoped that this mates-
man would mark his accession to his important post by
some measures of freedom. The circular to the prefects,
published this morning in the ifonitner, puts an end to this
hope. The new Minister of the Interior passes in it •
brilliant eulagium on the empire for its pest and present
acts, but to legislative reforms touching the press and free.
door of writings there is not an allusion.
The Prflee expresses itself thus :
" It is thus that a government ought to speak of fiver-
saris it esteems, and we have no doubt whatever, on the
one hand, that the abstentions will be greatly diminished at
the next general election ; on the other band, that the
Coiteritutionet/ and Pays will take care in future to speak
In a more qualified tone about ' evicted malcontents, and
' journals filled with pretentious and the advocates at pro-
Widen. For the rest the minister 11132011111018 to the pre.
forts instructions before keg 'itetaimportant points of
policy and administration." EverytWe *het authorines us
to expect new and speedy mamma is the aeon of the
decree of November N."

The King of the Belgians has just completed
his 701,11 year.

King Victor Emmanuel will return to Turin for
the Christmas festivities.

Letters Mate that the mass of the population of
RONDO W now suffering great privations, owing to the high
price of breed, and that expedients of all kinds are being
adopted by public and private charity to supply food for
the poor,

TAR BISHOP OF LORETTO AND HIS PRIESTS.
The following reply has been sent by the Bishop of Loretto
and Recanati to the letter of certain priests of La Santa
Cam, who had protested against his having interdicted
them from officiating. It in addressed to Antonio Vanetti,
Canon :—" Sir.—l reply to you personally, because I found
your name the first at the foot of a letter which I yesterday
received, written in common by von and the Canon Pichi,
Don Pasquali, Don Petrolini. sod Don Polveregiani. Ac-
cording to moon laws, the bishop may ex inforwata con-
acientia declare suspended d dirinis a priest or •
clerk, whatever may be hie position. See the
11600Ent of the Council of Trent. Sem. XIV., a
1, De Reform ;'and Beo., XIV. in his book'lt
Synod° Dioccesano.' I was obliged, es informaas CDR-
re yo I, and your abowanacesd milsegues
suspended • diri nis. however, repeat to yea thee swish
a measure does not come from myself ; it is enforced by the
ecclesiastical laws, so that it is not I, but the Sovereign
Pontiff, who' aloe, ema absolve von ; ooatinuing to ad-
minister the sacraments, you will enter into the category
01 irregular priests. Please communicate the present to
the other eccleeisatice whom it concerns, and accept the
testimonies of esteem which are doe to you.—Jux Fuser.
—Racanati, Nov. 17."


11, 1860.
+--
ME. MEDEA' ON THE FRENCH TREATY.
The usual ikonthly meeting of the council of the
Huddersfield Ch•mbß. of Commerce was held yesterday
afternoon, Mr. T. DIA LIIICSON, president, in the chair,when
two letters were read—one being • communication from
the president of the chamber, conveying to Mr. Richard
Cobden the thanks of the chamber for his services in con.
nezion with the French treaty, and the other being Mr.
Cobden's reply to the same. The following was Mr.
Cobden's letter :

"Paris, 4th Deoember, 1860.

" My clear sir,—Flay offer my warmest acknowledgments
to the Chamber of Commerce over which yon preside, for
their kind approval of my services in connexion with the
French commercial treaty.

"There could really never have been any difference of
opinion respecting the treaty among those who desire the
extension of free trade principles, if the very mom of
treaty had not furnished a ready means of misrepresenta-
tion. Taken with the traditional meaning, a treaty of
commerce implies exclusive dealing and bargaining between
the two countries; but I need hardly assure you,srith whom
I struggled for seven years for the principle of uncondi-
tional freedom of commerce, that I should be the last man to
indentify myself with so retrograde a policy. All that En-
gland has dorm in thiamin has been tocarry oat in practice
towards all the world, in respect of some remaining items
of our tariff, that principle of free trade which we have so
loudly professed, and which we had previously applied to
our important articles of production.
" If we have done this in the form of a treaty, it was
solely to enable the Emperor of the French, by • dMlo-
matic act, and in accordance with the powers vested in him
by the constitution, to make some simultaneous reduction
in the tariff of this country ; and to have objected to this
proceeding, on the ground of form, must have been mere
pedantry, and not principle.
" But viewed on Be own merits, and apart altogether
from the treaty with France, Mr. Gladstone's last reform
of our tariff, by which the whole of the remaining duties
on manufactures has been swept away, is, in a mercantile
point of view, one of the most important in our commercial
annals. It has made England a free port for manufactures,
just es she was previously the poet for wool, indigo, and
other raw materials, and It will be followed by similar
results. I have 'heady heard of Canadian buyers, who
Were accustomed to pay annual visits to the continent of
Europe, having intimated their intention of making all
their future purchases in England, being convinced that,
under the present free rigitne, every article of continental
manufacture which can be produced cheaper and better than
•in England will be found in the warehouses of London and
Manchester. Yet,. strange to add, there are still people to
be found who, believing that foreigners, and not English-
men, pay our customs duties, blame the Chancellor of the
Exchequer for having made the great reform in the interest
of France. It were useless any longer to argue this ques-
tion. Time will, in this, uin other matters, demonstrate
the advantages of freedom.
" Let me assure you bow highly I appreciate all the
friendly expressions contained in your letter, which en-
closed • copy of the resolution of your chamber.---I am,
my dear sir, yours truly, RICHARD Connie.
" To Mr. T. Mallinson."
Acknowledgments were also read from Mr. R. A. Ogilvie
and B. Louis Mallet, Mr. Cobden's coadjutors. Mr. Ogilvie
expressed his sincere hope that the negotiations just com-
pleted may tend to increase the prosperity of the district,
and prove • lasting bond of peace and friendship between
the people of the two Datums.