The Sun.
London, England, 1852-08-18 00:00:00

WEDNESDAY EVENING,

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris papers of yesterday.
We are happy to read in the Patric a contradiction
of the reported death of the gallant veteran General
PETIT. _

The Council of Arrondissement of Havre has voted
an address to the PRESIDENT of the Republic, thank-
ing him for the services which he has rendered to the
country. Similar resolutions have been voted by the
Councils of Arrondissement of Perthnay, Amiens,
Joigny, Chateauroux, and Dieppe.
A decree in the Illoniteur charges, ad interim,
M. ABBeITUCCI, Minister of Justice, with the de-
partment of Finance, during the temporary absence
of M. BINEAII.

A report from M. DE PERSIGNY is published in the
same journal, pointing out to the notice of the PRE.-
SIDENT of the Republic a number of persons who
acted with devotedness to the Government in the
days of December, and recommending them for
reward. A decree follows, promoting two persons so
named to the rank of officers in the Legion of Honour,
and conferring the cross on thirty others.
Another decree contains 130 promotions or nomi-
nations in the Legion of Honour. Amongst the per-
sons named, General ROGER is made grand officer;
M. PIETRI, the Prefect of Police at Paris, and M.
DELAMANE, proprietor of the Patrie, to the rank of
officers; and M. DE LA GUERONNIERE, the political
writer in the Pays,
to the rank of knight.
We find the following in the Pays:—" M. THIERS
was at Vevay, in Switzerland, when he received the
news of the decree of the 7th inst., authorising his
return to Paris. This news caused him a pleasure
which he loudly expressed. M. THIERS bore the
weight of his exile with great grief, and the moment
he beard of the decree he eagerly commenced prepa-
rations for his departure. For many years past M.
TRIERS has always passed his summer out of Paris,
and this year he had arranged to spend several months
at Vevay. Ile is, however, now so anxious to avail
himself of the authorisation to return to Paris, that
on Wednesday or Thursday he will be at his resi
dence in the Place Saint Georges. The PRINCE
PRESIDENT, who
was happy to sign the document
which re-opened the gates of the country to an illus-
trious citizen, will, we doubt not, b© pleased to learn
with what feeling the act was received, and how
eagerly it was taken advantage of."
General BEDEAU has written to the Independance
of Brussels to state that there is no truth in the report
which has been current that he is about to take
orders in the church.
The PRINCE PRESIDENT of the Republic gave
grand soirée on Monday night, at the Palace of St.
Cloud. The cards of invitation fixed nine o'clock for
the commencement of the reception, and before halt-
past nine at least one thousand persons had arrived.
By ten o'clock at least two thousand were present,
and guests continued to arrive until after midnight.
Among the company were a great number of sena-
tors, members of the Council of State and judges,
the members of the diplomatic corps, all the generals
of the army of Paris, and a considerable number of
colonels and other officers. At a little after ten
o'clock the PRINCE, accompanied by the Princess
MATHILDE and some of his Ministers, went through
the rooms bowing to his guests. On his retiring the
dance commenced in the long gallery, and this was
followed by a splendid supper. A considerable por-
tion of the company remained till a late hour. Some
idea may be formed of the crowded state of the
rooms, by the fact of the file of carriages reaching
beyond the bridge of Surennes.
A letter from Nantes, of the 14th instant, states
that Prince JEROME BONAPARTE had arrived there on
the previous day. The Petri ce, on his way, stopped
at Indret, and devoted part of a day to examining
the works at that place, afterwards coming on to
Nantes in a steamer. He was received on landing
with loud cries of " Vive Napoleon." The PRINCE
afterwards received the civil and military authorities
and the clergy at his hotel, and then proceeded to a
banquet given in his honour.
The PRINCE PRESIDENT of the Republic drove out
yesterday in an open carriage, without escort, to
view the statue of the EMPEROR in the Champs
Elysees.

In January last M. PEOODIION, then in prison, bad
been engaged by M. DE MOUNT to assist the Govern-
ment, by writing in a weekly paper against the
Jesuits. The following curious letter, published in
the Journal de Geneve, confirms in substance the
account of the interview with DE MOUNT, and throws
a curious light upon the motives which led the PRE-
Sp luDbEl Th on fg t h
he iRs
nepowublwiCortko, grant the
ao aps et ro mn
ss
hs permission
all o f
Paris :

"M. Proudhon's book has obtained: an extravagant
amount of success. Imagine to yourself a big venison
pasty arriving unexpectedly in the midst of a starving
family, who for a fortnight before had had nothing but
bread and water. The, reader devours the piquant and
highly-spiced morsels of the celebrated Socialist, but he
is at a lose to explain to himself how, under this regime
of warnings' under which we live, permission can have
been given to publish a book in which all power, indivi-
dually and collectively, is scourged to the marrow, a
book, moreover, in which Christianity is denied, and
Atheism preached with a frightfully logical cynicism.
I can relate an anecdote which perhaps will be to
you. as it was to me, a ray of light. A
little while after the 2nd December, I met one of
my friends upon the Boulevards, who is now the
city, not in the north of France. Do you know the
pnews?'rinci principal e
6
said: editor
r o
What haanElyaean journal in a large
t news?' I replied, 'I am all
car? The Minister of the Interior,'
said my friend,
has sent for Proudhon, who has been allowed to come
out of St. Pelagie to have a private interview.' What
then?' M. Proudhon,' said M. de Morny to the cele-
brated Socialist, wo know your talents, and the Prince
President, who has read your works with interest, pro-
poses to himself the realisation of some of your ideas of
progress; but we are at this moment overruled by the
clergy. The clergy, little grateful for what we have
done for them, want to put the Capuchin's hood upon
us completely, and to put the altar on the top of the
throne. Would you be our auxiliary, and is a journal,
or in one of those pamphlets which you write so well,
todbieverresajosonnian public opinion. The President is
reasonably religious, bat he has no idea of
willing
optelrrcahte a
marching at the tail of the Jesuits. That will suit
me,' said Proudhon, in his off-hand way; ' give me free
use of a printing-office, and I will answer for the rest.' On
leaving the Minister, M. Proudhon met one of his friends,
to whom he narrated what had passed, and said, If they
give me the liberty I have asked for, I will not only
smash the Pope, but I will carry them all a long way,
all, whoever they may be Such as it is, I believe
this anecdote is a ray of light, and that it explains how,
in the midst of the general madam, ono man has ob-
tained permission to say what he pleases. You will,
perhaps, make one objection. How is it, you will say,
if there was an understanding with the Government,
that the Minister of Police prohibited the publication of
the book, and that M. Proudhon was forced to apply to
the President himself to overcome the resistance of his
Minister? But don't you think this interdiction was
!accessary to lull the suspicions of the clergy?"
The Bonne was feeble at tho close of business. The
Four-and-a- Haf per Cents. opened at 105 f. 30c., and
closed at 1051. for the. end of the month; the Three
per Cents. closed at 75f. 95c.; Orleans Railway Shares,
1,4321.; Rouen, 875 f.; Havre, 3701. ; Great Northern,
665 f.; Avignon, 4801.; Basle, 3051. 25c.; Paris and
653 f. 75c.; Paris and Lyons, 767 f. 50c.;
Avignon, 590 f.; St. Maier to Gray, 545 f.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT ME
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, Aim. 17.
• 26 %—Western of Canada Shares, if
5 a —Lux-
East Indian,
7—Northern of France, 26%—Ditto, 204 3 per
embourg,
clan . Bonds, 'VA—Paris and Lyons, 201 A—Paris and Stras-
boutrg, 2554—West Flanders, 3n.
Lstyroanb3uarfd,