The Sun.
London, England, 1854-05-13 00:00:00

FRANCE.

The Moniteur of this morning contains an lm'
perial decree abrogating entirely the ordinances of
the Bth February, 1826, which prohibited the im-
portation into France of Asiatic, African, or A.me-
rican products loaded from English bonded ports,
and which also prohibited the importation under
an English flag of European products loaded front
any other ports than those of the United Kingdo
or its possessions in Europe.
General Forey will, it is generally said in Pa.rin9,
be appointed to the command of the division on
12,000 men destined for the occupation of Greece'.
However painful it may be to those who really'
love their country to see it occupied by a foreign-
force, the measure is highly approved of by the great
majority, if not the whole of the Greeks in Paris
and this without distinction of party. They are glad
that the country will be thus relieved from the ra'
nceuvres, and perhaps the presence, of Russian in-
triguers, who will not dare to show iemselves when
the French occupy the country ; and it is almost
certain that the Russian Minister at Athens, who is
at the bottom of these plots, will quit the moment'
the French flag floats in the Pirmus. The Empei'or
of the French has declared that lie will never peral.lt.
Greece to stir while France is engaged in so serious:
a matter as a war with Russia ; arid he feels all the'
more indignant at the conduct of the King when he.
calls to mind that France, on account of the injus-.
tice with which it was considered Greece was treated
in the affair of Don Pacifico, went so far as to re-
call her Ambassador from London (the actual
Minister of Foreign Affairs) and to supend
matic relations with the English Government.
There are a good many persons spoken of for the"
mission to Constantinople vacant by the recall or
General Baraguay d'Hilliers ; but of those therw
are but three who are considered as likely to by
named. M. de Bourree, who has left en route for
Athens, and who is the bearer of the Emperor's
letter to King Otho, is not included in that liat•
The parties who have the best chance of a sele 0-
tion being made from them are M. Thouvenel, Di-
rector of Political Affairs in the Foreign Departmen
and who is long known in the diplomatic world 1;
General Daumas ; and General de la Rue. AL
Thouvenel, who held the honorary rank of Minis 4
ter Plenipotentiary of the first class, will veri
probably be the person. Nevertheless, it it i
thought that Marshal St. Arnaud may receive dip-
lomatic powers, and as the Legation at Constant •
nople possesses a most intelligent and active secre-
tary in M. Benedetti, that no other arrangemen!'
will, for the present at least, be concluded.
Applications being every day made directly to
the Minister of War by officers of the army fo- t'
admission into the imperial Guard, the Monitev r
publishes a notice that not only will these applicr
tions not be attended to, but the officers makin
them will run the risk of punishment for an it fr
fraction of hierarchical regulations. The Ministe
of War having prescribed to the generals con
manding the military divisions to send in lists
officers under their command whom they may thin k
deserving of entering the Guard, it is only fror
such lists that the appointments will be made.
We read in the Moniteur :—" At the momen t
when the armies of France and England are unite.
in the East to defend the same cause, the Empero r
is desirous to extend to the English soldiers ;
favour hitherto exclusively reserved to Frencl
soldiers. The Minister of Foreign Affairs has, i]
consequence, informed the Government of hei r
Britannic Majesty that English officers, soldiers, .
and sailors, will enjoy for the transport of their
letters, all the reduced charges granted on our
territory and on board our packets to our of-
ficers, soldiers, and sailors. Lord Cowley has,
already been charged to transmit the cordial ex-
pression of satisfaction, with which his Govern-
ment has received this fresh proof of the friendly ;
sentiments which unite the two countries, and, on ~
its side, the English Postmaster-General has jus
assimilated the charge on letters from our officer 0
and sailors in the Baltic squadron to that on thos
of the English officers and sailors. Thus the sol
diers and sailors of the two countries whether i
the East or in the Baltic, notwithstanding the dim
tance of the scene of war, will have equal advane'
tages for themselves and their families."
The Moniteur publishes the following repork;
from Admiral Hamelin :

" Ville de Paris, Odessa Roads, 25th April.-- Mon-.
sieur le Ministre—l have the honour to inform you that'
the division of three steamers, consisting of the Raz.;
bution, Captain Drummond, the Descartes, Captai a
Darrican, and the Niger, Captain Heath, which wer 3
sent on the 11th inst. from Baltchick to blockade th 3
port of Odessa, have captured 14 Russian merchan t

vessels. After this capture it was agreed upon by thest
cruisers that the prizes should be sent as soon as pos- '
bible to Constantinople, and that Captain Drummond,
the senior officer, should have the direction of the affair
and the custody of the papers of the said prizes, they
baying been made in common by the said cruisers.
When the squadrons anchored of Odessa, where we were
joined by the Retribution and the Descartes, I removed
from the latter on board the Ville de Paris, a part of
the Russian crews of the captured vessels, and Admi-
ral
Dundas had the other part put on board one of
his ships. Yesterday, the 24th, the English Admiral
proposed to the Governor of Odessa to exchange these
men, captured by the right of war, for the English sea-
men belonging to the merchant vessels detained without
any declaration of embargo in the commercial port of
Odessa, which our cannon respected as well as the town
during the 22d. Wishing, as far as we are concerned,
to continue to give to the war which has just been de-
clared the character of justice and humanity, which our
two Governments have in view, we have just decided
that we will place these prisoners at the disposal of the
authorities of Odessa without any conditions. We shall '
only detain a certain number of prisoners in order to
validate the capture of the enemy's merchant vessels.
I am, &c., " HAMELIN.
" Vice-Admiral, Commandant-in-Chief of the
Mediterranean Squadron."
The Pays notices as follows the announcement
by the Bank of France of the reduction of the rate
of discount :

"Public opinion will hail with satisfaction this mea-
sure, which gives a fresh proof of the abundance of capi-
tal in the financial and commercial market, and of the

cessation of the various causes which had led to the ex-

portation of the precious metals in the course of the past
year."

The fact of the reduction must be regarded as a
satisfactory one under existing circumstances. It
proves that there is no scarcity of money, and that
when a country is engaged in war is a very impor-
tant circumstance. But money may be plentiful
from different causes, and a scarcity of it does not
always imply a state of adversity. A country may
be very prosperous even at a time when a very
high rate is paid for the use of money, for that may
arise from the readiness with which capital has
been invested in commercial enterprise.
The Bourse was again very firm yesterday. The
Three per Cents, closed at 66f. 45c. for the end of
the month ; the Four-and-a-Half per Cents. at
92f. 90c. ; and the New Loanat 66f. 15c. ; Orleans
Railway Shares, 1,082 f. 50; Rouen, 905 f. ; Havre,
450 f. ; Great Northern 785 f. ; Strasburg, 730 f. ;
New Shares, 567 f. 50c. ; Paris and Lyons, 866 f.
25c. ; Lyons to the Mediterranean, 710 f. ; Wes-
tern of France, 595 f.: Bordeaux and Cette,
540 f. ; Great Central of France, 462 f. 50c. ; Lyons
to Geneva, 450 f. ; Bank of Credit Mobilier,