The Express.
London, England, 1867-09-12 00:00:00

EXPRESS FROM PARIS.

fliON 001 OWN

PARIS, WIDNISDAT EVENING.

I am informed that the French government has
intimated to the Geneva authorities that it regards
the " Peace Congress" as a meeting of conspirators
against France, and as an infraction of that neu-
trality which is the condition of the existence of
the Swiss republic. This is the explanation of the
excuses sent by M. Jules Fevre and other French-
men for their non-attendance, and also of M.
James nay's resignation of the vice-presidency of
the meeting. The Swiss were unfeignedly delighted
to see Garibaldi, and are sincere lovers of liberty
in the abstract all over the world, but they natu-
rally wish to lead a quiet life at home, and are by
no means inclined to be the first to pay the piper
if the tocsin of a universal war were sounded.

Although M. Rouher, in the sitting of June 22,
repeatedly, and in a most solemn manner, assured
the Corps Legislatif that it was from no hostility
to the promised liberal laws, but only on account
of the lute period of the session, that the govern-
ment prorogued the house, and that an extra
session would most certainly be held in November
for the express purpose of passing them, I believe,
incredible as it may seem, that an excuse will be
found for having no autumnal session, and that
parliament will not meet till next year. This re-
solution is said to have been taken at the minis-
terial council held immediately before the Em-
peror's departure for Biarritz..
M. Monnier, the dismissed tutor of the Prince
Imperial, is now at Bourges. The object of
his visit is to inspect the battle field on which
Julius Caesar fought Vercingetorix. No doubt the
Emperor will utilise his researches for his third
volume of "Julius Caesar." Notwithstanding the
bitter tone in which M. Monnier has publicly
spoken of his dismissal, the Emperor has
warmly recommended him to the Minister of
Public Instruction for promotion as a pro-
fessor. M. Durny is much embarrassed by
the imperial command, because M. Monnier's
hierarchical standing is so low, that no place worth
his acceptance could be given without injustice
to others.

The title of Excellency—obnoxious to republi-
cans—which was revived by the empire in rare
cases, was confined to ministers and the three pre-
sidents of the great bodies of the State. By way
of extraordinary exception it has just been con-
ferred by decree upon Mgr. Lsndriot, the arch-
bishop of Rheims. It is wonderful indeed that a
prelate of the humble ndi episcopari class should
consent to excite the envy of his ecclesiastical
subordinates by accepting a purely profane title.
The senior criminal in the French prisons, a man
named Decarnin, has just died in the Central Gaol
at Loos, near Lille, at the advanced age of 92
years. He might have been as celebrated as
Dickens's " Father of the Marshalsea," were he not
among those many heroes who pass away unsung,
=rent gxia vale saero. This venerable scoundrel
passed forty-five years of his long life in various
prisons. In 1815 he dressed himself up in the

~.

uttlfo-rm of Marshal Brune, whose livery servant he
was, and had the impudence to personate the
Marshal at a review at Valenciennes. Since that
time there is scarcely a crime or misdemeanour de-
signated in the 'penal code that he has not cotnmitted.
He was a great favourite with his gaolers, as he
always scrupulously obeyed the regulations and
kept a civil tongue in his head. His history
would be a hard nut to crack for those whose
hobby is that a prison is only a moral hospi-
tal, and that the duration of imprisonment
should be measured not by the enormity of
the crime, but by the certificates of moral phy-
sicians [gaol inspectors] whose duty it was to re-
port whether criminal propensities were "cured."
On this system Decarnin, who was convicted forty-
five times, would have suffered very little punish-
ment fur his numerous offences because he was a
model prisoner and had nothing but "good
marks." On his death bed he confessed with great
fervour, and in a most touching manner begged
pardon of God and man for his manifold sins.

The Bourse was inclined to regard the King of
Prussia's speech as peaceable, although, if closely
scrutinised, it certainly contains not a word incon-
sistent with that of the Grand Duke of Baden, which
the Moniteur ignores and which was considered as
warlike. Rents closed with much firmness, at 70fr.
Sc. and 70fr. 211 c., with a rise of Sc. for cash and
12}c. for account. Mobilier, after many fluctu-
ations, closed with a fall of 3fr. 75c. A ministe-
rial council is to consider to-morrow whether the
Bank of France shall not be " recommended " to
lend a sum of money which, according to report,
varies from 35 to 70 millions. It will be most
iniquitous if the taxpayers who had no part in
the enormous fortunes made by the founders of
this society shall be made to pay its losses.

~~

F. &Irmo
Ito
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