The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-14 00:00:00

FRANCE.

The following is the text of the letter from the
Emperor to M. Ducos, which accompanied his
appointment as Grand Officer of the Legion of
Honour :

" Palace of the Tuileries, Jan. 9, 1854.

" Monsieur le Ministre—The report, whicli at my
order you have
_addressed to me, shows in so favourable
a manner the considerable resources of our navy, that I
hasten to testify to you my satisfaction at it ; and to
give you an unequivocal proof of it, I appoint you Grand
Officer of the Legion of Honour. I know not how to
thank you sufficiently for having with a budget so re-
duced provided resources which will allow me from one
day to another to double or triple our squadrons. I
pray God to have you in his holy keeping.

"NAPOLEON."

The letter is followed by a decree making the
appointment above mentioned. This nomination,
at the present moment, when the French navy is on
the point of being called into active requisition,
cannot but be looked on as highly significant, par-
ticularly as M. Ducos is remarkable amongst the
members of the Ministry for his determined oppo-
sition to the ambition of Russia.

The Empress drove out on Wednesday at two
o'clock to the Bois de Boulogne, in an open caleche
and four. The Emperor accompanied her Majesty
on horseback, attended by General Espinasse, his
aide-de-camp, and M. de Puysegur, the equerry on
service. The Imperial party returned to the Tui-
leries at half-past four. In the evening there was
a grand ball at the palace. The invitations, which
were limited to from 500 to 600 persons, were given
in the name of the Empress.
It appears that M. Armand Bertin, proprietor
and editor-in-chief of the well-known organ of the
French press the Journal des Daats was found
dead in his bed. His valet, knowing that his master
had entered late last night, did not proceed to his
room to call him until nine o'clock, and at that
hour M. Bertin was already cold, having been, to
all appearace, dead for some hours. The deceased,
who was nephew of the original founder of that
journal, in the time of the Empire, was a man of
great talent, and, above all, remarkable for his sa-
gacity and knowledge of business. His loss will be
deeply felt by his family, and by an immense circle
of friends, including the principal personages in
politics, literature, science, and art, in Paris.
A telegraphic despatch has been received at
L'Orient, ordering four new steam-frigates to be
immediately put into commission in that port.
Similar orders have been sent to other seaports.
All this activity in the navy has reference to the
organisation of a third naval squadron, to be called
the reserve. It is to consist of seven line-of-battle
ships and six steam-frigates. The four frigates to
be fitted out at L'Orient are the SemiHaute, the
Andromaque, the Poursuivante, and the Vengeance.
A letter from Brest announces that the four fol-
lowing ships of the line are being prepared for sea
by command of the Minister of Marine—the Tage
and Jemmappes, ships of the line of the second
class ; and the Breslau and Inflexible, ships of the
third class.

The French artillery corps are undergoing a new
organisation, and it is said that, instead of 14
mixed regiments, including horse and foot corps of
26 batteries each, there are to be 16 regiments-12
of mounted batteries (four of eight and eight of 12)
and four foot of eight batteries. The Minister of
War is to have a credit of 10,000,0001. allotted for
these augmentations. The probability of Marshal
St. Arnaud's retirement, owing to ill-health, is
again spoken of, and the same person is mentioned
as his successor—namely, General Canrobert.
The Paris papers of yesterday evening had not
reached us at the hour of going to press. By tele-
graph we learn the Bourse was firm yesterday,
with a tendency to a rise. The Three per Cents.
closed at 70f. 70c. for the end of the month ; the
Four-and-a-Half per Cents. closed at 99f. Orleans
Railway Shares, 1,105 f. ; Rouen, 980 f. ; Havre,
470 f. ; Great Northern, 807 f. 50c. ; Paris and
Strasburg, 760 f. ; Paris and Lyons, 865 f. ; Lyons
to the Mediterranean, 695 f.; Western of France,
622 f. 50c. ; Bordeaux and Cette, 575 f. ; Great Cen-
tral, 480 f. • Lyons and Geneva, 480 f. ; Shares of
the Bank Of Credit Mobilier, 660 f.
ITALY.

The Ticino Gazette publishes an account of the
contributions received for the relief of the inhabi-
tants of the canton expelled by Austria. The
total, received up to November 30, was 284,207 f. ;
and the sums expended, 207,594 f.
In the sitting of the 7th of the Piedmontese
Senate, a bill was brought in for the introduction
of the Piedmontese Customs tariff into the com-
munes of Menton and Roccabruna (principality of
Monaco) with the rest of the kingdom. The
Chamber of Deputies passed the Army Promotions
Bill, and another bill, modifying the sanitary tariff
for vessels entering the royal ports.
We read in the Giornale di Roma that on New
Year's-day, Cardinal Altieri, president of Rome,
held a grand reception, at which Prince William of
Prussia, the diplomatic corps, the officers of the
French garrison the prelates, and the most dis-
tinguished nobility of Rome were remarked.

The cold is of -unexampled severity at Mantua.
On the 3d the thermometer fell to 11 degrees of
Reaumur below zero (7 deg. Fahr.) The highest
degree of cold experienced before that was in 1830,
when the thermometer marked 10 degrees.