The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-20 00:00:00

FRANCE.

The Emperor and the Empress were present on
Saturday evening at the representation of the
Bijou Perdu at the Theatre Lyrique.

The Prefect of the Bouches-du-Rhone has com-
municated to the merchants of Marseilles a memo-
randum which the Porte has given to the French
Ambassador at Constantinople. In this document
it is stated that the provinces of Silistria, Varna,
Widdin, Belgrade, Nissa, Sophia, Scutari, Albania,
Bosnia, Herzegovina, Trebizond, and Adrianople
being considered as military positions which must
supply food to the troops that are concentrated in
those localities, it has been resolved that the ex-
port of corn from the said provinces shall cease on
the 13th inst., and until after the next harvest.
The contracts which have been made previous to
the above date are to remain in full force. Corn
may still be exported from Roumelia and Arabia.
The Gazette du Midi says :—" We have an-
nounced that the son of the Duke de Casigliano,
Minister of Foreign Affairs 'of Tuscany, was to
marry the eldest daughter of Queen Christina by
her marriage with the Duke de Rianzares. The
bride's fortune was fixed at 3,000,000 f., and Prince
Cossini, the bridegroom's grandfather, aged 85,
assured to the younger prince all his fortune,
amounting to 10 or 12 millions of francs. The
Duke de Casigliano and his son have lately passed
through Marseilles on their way to Italy."

The Presse announces that the Duke de Casig-
iiano has just expired at Florence, and the Consti-
tutionnel confirms the news that the young prince,
Chriatin"ll2llah--
ter, has just been carried off by typhus fever.

The cholera, in Paris, which, since its breaking
out in the autumn, has never been very virulent
or widely spread, has sensibly diminished within
the last few days.

M. Arnold Scheffer, the brother of the celebrated
painter, Ary Scheffer, and a well-known writer in
the National, under the management of Armand
Carrel, is jUst dead.

Orders have lately been given to the French war
steamers surveying the fisheries in the Channel to
lend their assistance in towing merchant ships
laden with grain when detained by contrary winds.
Similar orders were some time since sent to the
French ships at the Tagus station, and in the Dar-
danelles and Bosphorus.

The Moniteur contains a decree directing that in
future supernumerary attaches to the department
of foreign affairs and unpaid attaches to the foreign
embassies and legations will he required to have
obtained the degree of licentiate in law. Aspirants
for diplomatic honours must therefore begin by
showing at least a moderate aptitude for work.
The Emperor has given 25,000 francs from his
private purse to establish four new markets in
Paris for the retail sale of meat by auction. The
auction at the Central Halle, although to a certain
extent a blow to the butchers' monopoly, has contri-
buted but in a very limited degree to the relief of
private families from excessive prices. Restaurants
and establishments consuming large quantities of
meat have no doubt found a considerable benefit,
but the distance and loss of time have prevented
the general public from any extensive participation
in the advantages of the innovation. The now
auction markets are to be in the populous quarters
of the Place Beauveau (Faubourg St. Antoine),
the Carre St. Martin, the Carre des Cannes (Place
Maubert), and the Rue de Sevres.
A decree in'the Moniteur authorises the admis-
sion into France, duty free, of China crape shawls,
when introduced for the purpose of being embroi-
dered, and exported within a delay of six months.
The Bourse was heavy yesterday, with little
business doing. The Three per Cents. opened at
74f. 80c., but on a report that the English Ministry
had resigned en masse they fell to 74. f. 60c. They
closed at 74f. 70c. for the end of the month. The
Four-and-a-Half per Cents. closed at 101 f. 10c.;
Orleans Railway shares, I,lBBf. 75c. ; Rouen,
1,060 f.; Havre, 500 f.; Great Northers, 882 f- 50c.;
Paris and Strasburg, 832 f. 50c.; l'aris and Nyasa,

920 f.; Lyons to the Mediterranean, 782 f. 50c. ;
Great Western, 696 f. 25c.; Bordeaux and Cette,
628 f. 75c. ; Great Central, 520 f.; Lyons and Ge-
neva, 520 f.; Shares of the Bank of Credit Mobi-
lier, 760 f.