The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-20 00:00:00

THE FRENCH EMPIRE.

The Emperor left Paris on Saturday by rail-
way for Corapeigne, where, as we learn by tele-
graph, he was received with great enthusiasm, the
town being generally illuminated. Before he en-
tered the palace, his. Majesty first repaired to the
church, where he was met by the Bishop of Beau-
vais, at the head of his clergy. Several distin-
guished personages have been honoured with invi-
tations to share the festivities at the Chateau of
Compiegne, amongst whom are Lord and Lady
Cowley, with the Belgian Ambassador and Madame

Roper.
The Moniteur states that the rumour respecting
a projected conversion of the Four-and-a-Half per
Cents. is erroneous.
A decree revives the Imperial decree of 1806, by
'which persons desiring to appeal directly to the
authority of the Emperor for sake of justice, will
have their petitions referred to a committee to re-
port on them each week to his Majesty. The com-
mittee is to be formed of members of the Council
of State. M. de Troplong, who drew up the con-
stitution, is appointed Chief President of the Court

of Cassation.
The',revenue returns for November are published,
and support the financial statement which appeared
a couple of days ago in the Morviteur as to the im-
provement in receipts. The returns give 10,944,497 f. ,
while for the corresponding period of last year they

are 9,191,781 f.
The Union says :
"M. Druyn de l'Huys has received notice of the approach-
ing transmission of the letters of credence of Russia, Aus-
tria, and Prussia. These letters will be brought to Paris
simultaneously in the name of the three powers."
The Cirque of the Champs Elysees, with its well
trained horses, Auriol, its inimital clowns, and last,
but not least, its graceful and intrepid: amazons,
have abandoned their summer quarters for a
new and more substantial building on the
Boulevard Beaumarchais. The new circus, an
edifice of some architectural pretensions, the exte-
rior being adorned with statues equestrian and
otherwise, while the interior decoration is a gor-
geous agglomeration of gold and purple, is at once
splendid and tasteful. As for the performance, it
consists of the usual feats of horsemanship and agi-
lity for which Franconi's theatre has always been
celebrated.
Private letters from Marseilles announce the ar-
rival of Abd-el-Kader in the evening of the 14th.
From an early hour of the morning of the 15th, a
considerable crowd collected round the entrance to
the Hotel de l'Empereur, where the Emir took up
his quarters, and police agents had to be stationed
to keep the passage clear. Abd-el-Kader received
the visits of a good many who were on their way
from the pilgrimage to Mecca. The pilgrims long
waited for ,the hour of seeing the Emir. They
prostrated themselves in respectful silence at his
feet, and appeared to treasure up the words that
fell from his lips, and which have such power over
the Arab imagination. As all, however, could not
be introduced to the holy man, a deputation was
chosen to convey to him the esteem and the prayers
of his countrymen. The Emir was to have left
Marseilles on the 16th, on board the Labrador.
It is stated that no modifications of an important
kind have been, or will be, made by the Emperor in
the project of the SenatusConsultum on the reform
of the Constitution. The clauses on which the de-
liberations of the Commission especially turned are
the 3d, 4th, and sth. In the 3d Article no change
has been, it is believed, consented to. It gives to
the Emperor the right of modifying the tariffs
of the commercial treaties. The 4th Article, giving
the right of concession of all public works, and
stipulating that the Legislative Corps shall not vote
the credits until after the concessions, has, I am in-
formed, been remodelled so far that the Emperor
has still the right of indicating the parties to whom
the concession shall be granted, but is to submit. the
amount of credits to the Legislative Corps previous
to the commencement of the works. The 12th
clause is to be maintained entire with the excep-
tion, however, that the Legislative Corps shall,
during the discussion, but not in the vote, ex-
amine the various ministerial services chapter by
chapter, and not ministry by ministry. If this in-
formation be correct, as we are assured it is, the
Emperor will still remain invested with powers of
the most extensive kind ; and the modifications the
project has received are rather imaginary than real.
It is rumoured that the Senate will be convoked
to-day (Saturday), for the purpose of voting the
consultum definitively. M. Troplong is charged
with presenting the report in the name of the Com-
mission.
Marshal de Castelane arrived in Paris on Thurs-
day, from Lyons, and will no doubt take his seat
n the Senate at its next meeting.