The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-22 00:00:00

THE EMPIRE OF MEXICO.

(From the Times' Corresponient.)
MEloco, July 10,
On the 28th ult. General Bazaine gave a magnifi-
cent ball in hooour of the Emperor and Empress ;
1,200 people, the elite of Mexico, comprising every
political name, were present. It has been said
" that more is sometimes gained by a ball than a
battle," and such was certainly the case on the
present occasion ; the unostentatious and effable
manner in which their Majesties walked about the
room, entering into conversation with every one,
formed such a marvellous contrast to anything that
had ever been witnessed in the days of a free re-
public, when dusty-coloured Presidents never moved
without being surrounded by a body guard of still
more dusty-coloured aide-de,camps, that on the
following morning the whole city of Mexico re-
sounded with their praises. " The Emperor spoke
to me," said enca he did with me," said
another, which was heard repeated at the corner of
almost every street, showed the value attached to
every word which issued from the Imperial lips ;
and I will venture to assert that of the fifties or
hundreds who Lad the honour of being noticed by
the Emperor or Empress on that eventful evening
there i 4 tot one, be he reactionist or be he republi-
can) 'who has not treasured up in his memory and
who cannot repeat with the most perfect accuracy
every word that was addressed to him. Whether
all this is consistent with the opinion so industri-
ously circulated,
_both here and elsewhere, that
Mexicans were essentially republicans and abhorred
a monarchy, may well be doubted; all I can say is
that never in the same short space of time have I
seen any two individuals attain the same amount of
popularity.

The Emperor, for the present, has taken up his
abode in the castle of Chapultepec, about three
miles from the city ; he drives in every morning in
an open carriage attended by a single outrider, and
returns in the afternoon, after having devoted the
whole of the day to the business of the country. All
the Ministerial departments are confided to sub-
secretaries. His Majesty having very wisely deter-
mined to reserve to himself the direct supervision
until he can find fit persons to fill the various posts,
All the appointments be has yet made seem to meet
with unqualified approbatiou, and it is fair to pre-
sume that, with a little time and patience, he will
succeed in raising up a moderate party that will
more than counterbalance the two extremes which
by turns have ruled and ruined the country.
The commission to report upon the finances of the
country is to meet on the Ist of next month; it is
to be composed of persons inhabitants of the city of
Mexico (foreigners as well as Mexicans, to be named
by the Emperor), auei of delegates from the depart-
ments representieig the differentclasses of the popu-
lation. The commission is to be sub divided into
sections fer sub-commissions, to report on the diffe-
rent Aatters submitted to their consideration. The
re' uties on imports and exports, the value of public
lands, and the best mode of rendering them profit-
able to the State, colonisation, the debts and indeme
nities due to citizens of foreign countries, railroads,
public works, the currency, taxation, weights and
measures, and, in fact, everything having the
slightest reference to the finances of the country,
are all to form subjects of discussion. TheEtnperor,
of course, reserves to himself the right of adopting
or modifying the reports made by the various sec.
tions. The field is a wide one, and it may fairly
be doubted whether there are men competent to
arrive at just conclusions upon subjects s) various
and important; still, much valuable information
must necessarily be elicited, which will servo to
form the groundwork for future legislation.
Hitherto there has been no regular system of tax■
ation in this country, and this is scarcely to be
wondered at, changes of Government having fol-
lowed one another in such rapid succession that any
President who might have been willing or able to
form one would certainly not have had time to carry
it out. The coast quence has been that the revenues
of the ports have generally been seized by the
Governors of the States in which those ports were
situated, and tho Central Government has been
obliged to live as best it could by forced loans and
cintributions levied upon the inhabitants of those
cities which for the time being acknowledged its
sway. Santa Anna (I think it was in the year
1844) proposed a system of taxation which, far from
being excessive, would still have produced about
30,000,000 dols. annually. Such a revenue would be
more than sufficient to meet all the requirements of
the present Government, and I certainly see no rea-
son why, if such a sum could have been raised then,
it should not be raised now. An honest collection
at the ports will at once double, if not treble, the
receipts; from this source of revenue alone the Itia
perial Government may rely upon 16,000,000 dols.
to 18,000,000 dols. annually, leaving only 12,000,000
dole. or 14,000,000 dole., as the case may be, to be
collected by other means. As a remarkable instance
of what an honest collection will effect I may men-
tion that the duties levied in the Customeheuse of
this city alone have during the last six months rea-
lised the enormous sum of 5,000,000 dole.; in ordi-
nery times they produced at the very outside
4,000,000 dole. annually. Of course, the same sys-
tem of robbery and plunder has been going on at
Guadalajara, Guanaxuato, San Luis, and all other
cities of the empire, and it can no longer be a mat-
ter for surprise that each succeeding President,
however short his time of office might have been,
always retired with a princely fortune.
Another commission will shortly bs named to re-
vise the le.we and provide for the proper adminis-
tration of justico. This will be a Herculean task, for
of all the countries in the world there is none in
which justice has been so scandalously administered
as in Mexico. The first thing to be considered now
upon the institution of a suit is, not whether you
have justice on your side, but whether you can
afford to outbid yOur opponent. Venality among
the judges has been universal, and I could give ycu
Instances, and will do so upon some future occasion,
which will make the hair of English lawyers stand
on end. The remedy is clear enough,---pay the
judges well, do away with written pleadings (at
present there is nothing else), examine the witnesses
viva voce, open all courts to the public, have all the
cases accurately reported, end punish most severely
any judge who, from interested or other motives, it.
caught tripping.

The military commission will commence its la
bours in the course of a few days, and a plan of
campaign for the interior has been decided upon;
in fact, everything is going on as well as the moat
sanguine monarchist could desire, and it would
really seem as if a great end glorious future were
about to dawn upon this hitherto unfortunate
country.

From the interior there is nothing of importance.
The most perfect tranquillity:reigns in all towns
occupied by the French. The arrival of their
Imperial Majesties has been bailed in San Luis
Guanazuato, and other towns with the utmost de.
monstration of joy. Gonzales Ortega is said to be
closely pursued by the French, who are not very
likely to catch him; and Uraga is still disposed tc
join the intervention as soon as he can do so with
perfect safety to himself.

DEATII *OF LORD RoDNEY.7Oa Friday Lord
Rodney expired at his seat at Berrington, near Leominster.
Lord Roduey, who was in his 46th year, was the great-
grandson of the famous Rodney. He leaves three children,
one of whom succeeds to the title.

THE POPUL 4R STREET " MOT" IN PARIS-" As
to vu Lambert ?"—Spaaking of this sudden and all
but universal eccentricity of the streets of the French
capital, the spectator of Saturday remarks that during the
Rte Napoleon the Parisians appeared to have invented a
new amusement, which consisted in asking their friends,
and the passengers, and everybody at all conspicuous, " As-
tu vu Lambert ?" The word was repeated everywhere,
the Emperor himself being saluted with "viva Lambert,
viva Madame Lambert, viva le petit Lambert 1" the popu-
lace applying the name with a pertinacity which proved
that they saw a joke somewhere. The police were begin
ning to think of Cayenne or the necessity for calling out
the military, when it was discovered that a farmer's wife
losing he husband, had been going about asking for
"Lambert." The Parisians: struck with the idea of a
woman imagining that everybody must know her particular
lord, took up the cry, and as the Emperor is the only man
known to everybody applied the name to him with appre-
ciative unanimity. The minds of the police gradually
calmed down, and in consideration of the Me, nobody was
so muon as arrested.