The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-17 00:00:00

FRANCE.

The greatest importance, says the Times Paris
correspondent in his letter, dated yesterday, con-
tinues to be attached to the adherence of Austrira
to the alliance of the four Powers, even after the
1 entry of the combined fleets into the Black Sea ;
and on that fact are founded the hopes that a
general war will be avoided, as very few indeed of
the many who discus the question think that the
Emperor of Russia will persist in his opposition
to the rest of Europe, unsupported as he is by any
Government. The partisans of Russia do not
relax in their efforts to create suspicion and
jealousy between France and England. For a
long time it was England that meditated aban-
doning France ; now it is, according to them,
the Emperor of the French who is about to
yield to the tempting offers of Russia, and quit
his ally. They go so far as to say that at this mo-
meat many thousand copies of a pamphlet, announc-
ing and explaining the cause of the separation, are
already prepared for publication. These and other
absurd stories are propagated with a zeal and an
energy worthy of a better cause, but, it must be
added, without producing conviction in the mind
of any one. This is so little the case, that lam
assured everything is ready for an expedition
should circumstances require it, and those " cir-
cumstances" would probably be the defeat of the
Turks on the Danube, and the passage of the river
by the Russians. In spite of these rumours public
opinion is to-day more in favour of the maintenance
of the peace than for some days past ; and the Em-
peror himself is said to share in that opinion.
On the same subject the Paris correspondent of
the Morning Chronicte writing yesterday says
Although it is now known that no news has been
received from St. Petersburgh that in any way jus-
tifies the increased confidence in the re-establish-
ment of peace, which suddenly seized on the public
on Saturday last; there are many who still hope
that the Czar will reconsider the matter before
plunging the world into all the horrors of war. This
hope is founded not so much on any information
rceived from St. Petersburgh, as on the more than
moderate terms of the negotiation lately agreed to
by the Sultan, and on the belief that the unanimity
with which the four Powers have recommended the
acceptance of those terms to the Czar will not be
without its weight. I find, however, that these
considerations have not much value among the
political men whose judgment on such subjects
is most deserving of attention. They still think
that the Emperor Nicholas has gone too far to
recede, and that after the recent acts and declara-
tions of the English and French Governments he
will be less disposed to yield than before. They
consider it probable, to be sure, that in pursuance
of that suaviter in mode pOlicy which has hitherto
been his rule, he will probably agree to send
a plenipotentiary 1 o the conference, who will
be empowered to discuss the questions pending
with Turkey ; but as it is understood that he still
persists in reserving the religious question (which
is, in fact, the whole question), and settling" it by
direct negotiation with the Porte, it is evident
that the affair will be as far from being arranged
after the discussions of the conference as it was
before. Russia has everything to gain by this
temporising policy, and she makes an able use of
it. She has still reason to hope that by agreeing
to send a plenipotentiary she may delay the active
hostility of England and France ; while she on her
side will continue to strengthen herself in the po-
sitions she has already gained, and concentrate the
enormous forces at her command, but at present
spread over immense territories, in the seat of war.
• There was a full Council of Ministers at the
Tuileries yesterday (Monday), at which the Empe-
ror presided. Nothing transpired as to what reso-
lutions had been adopted, but it was known that
the subject under deliberation was the Eastern
question, and the question of sending troops at
once to Constantinople. In principle it has long
since been decided to send an auxiliary force to the
Sultan, but the details of the expedition are not
yet settled.
The price of corn continues to rise in Paris, and
in all the departments of France. 'The high price
of bread, combined with the stagnation of trade and
the inclemency of the season, creates great suffer-
ing among the people, and it is feared that some
disturbances will take place. Several of the manu-
factories in the provincial towns have partially sus-
pended their operations, and are only working short
time.

Judgment was delivered in the Police Court of
Paris yesterday in the case of the individuals accused
of having formed a secret society for the purpose of
overthrowing the Government. Three were ac-
quitted, and the remainder wore found guilty. Of
these 21 had already been found guilty of con-
spiring for the death of the Emperor, and had been
already sentenced by the Court of Assize, conse-
quently no further sentence was passed on them.
Watteau, Furet, Francois, Bratiano, and Alavoine,
declared by the Court to have been the founders of
the secret society, were sentenced each to impri-
sonment for five years, and to pay a fine of 500 f. ;
15 others were sentenced each to imprisonment for
one year, and to pay a fine of 100 f.
The answer of the Emperor of Russia—if it should
arrive at all, which is doubtful—cannot be known
in Paris before the 20th of January. In the mean-
time, so far kora the idea of men in official situ-
ations being of opinion that the Czar7will give way,
they think precisely the reverse. It is well
known that he is making preparations on the
most gigantic scale for the prosecution of the
spring campaign, and that his orders to his
generals is to cross the Danube, and to carry
the war into Bulgaria as speedily as possible.
From all this it is evident that the rise in the funds,
both in Paris and Vienna, does not proceed fromt
any real improvement in the position of
the
Eastern ct thate
question ; but simply from th
the speculators for the fall know that ea
one word
from the Czar might bring ruin upon them, and
that they are consequently alarmehdaswrileesnolevveedr to
ports are spread that his Ma jesty
abandon schemes of ambition which threaten him-
self as well as the rest of the world with years of
misfortune
and probable ruin. It is statedtbe thatsub
boners of the
the feeling of the French Governmentmem
ject of peace or war is this—the
Cabinet consider the maintenance of peace is hope-
less ; and feeling satisfied that delay is injurious
to the cause of the Sultan (which is the cause of
Europe), while it is profitable to the Czar alone,
they are prepared to carry on the war with promp-
titude and energy. The chief of the State also
considers war inevitable ; and he sees it with deep
regret, on account of the wide-spread mischief and
misery it has created and is creating among the
mercantile portion of his subjects. On this ac-
count, Louis Napoleon would be glad to see an
opportunity of settling the question • but as he
does not see that it would be possible io do so with
honour, he also is prepared to join his Ministers
in resisting Russia to the utmost. From this it is
clear that the attitude of France is precisely what
we could wish—showing at the same time modera-
tion and firmness.
The Moniteur publishes the official returns of
the receipts of the direct and indirect taxes for the
' past year. From this account it appears that the
receipts for the year from these sources amounted
to 846,804,000 f., being an increase of 42,470,000 f.,
as compared with 1852, and of 108,991,000 f. over
1851. As compared with last year, the increase
bears principally on the following heads of re-

-agniamo‘Ai

venue :—" Registration dues, 18,555, 000 f. ; pre.
duce of tobacco sales, 7,972,000 f. ; postage,
2,396,000 f. • duty on manufacture of beetroot
sugar, 3,68,000 f. • potable liquors, 3,829 ,Qoof. ;
stamp duties, 2,050,000 f. ; salt duties,•2,o7l ;000f. ;
corn, 1,170,000 f. ; sugar from the French co lonies,
1,004,000 f. • foreign sugar, 1,362,000 f.
A letter from Toulon of the 11th in st. observes
that if the writer is to judge from the fact that the
Vauban, the Cacique, and several other steam-
frigates are being fitted for sea with all possible
despatch, the last phasis of the Eastern question
has arrived. The writer adds, that provisions are
prepared for an army of 40,000 men, which co uld
be embarked at Toulon without delay.
A despatch has been received at Cherbourg com-
manding the completion as quickly as possible of
I the ship of the line Tilsir, of 90 guns. The carpen-
ters are required to work on Sundays.
A further despatch commands an extraordinary
levy of seamen in the port.
A memorandum has been communicated to the
diplomatic corps by the Ott.oman Government, in
forming them that, in consequence of the scarcity
of gram, all the corn in the provinces of Widdin,
Silistria, Scutari, Albania, Bosnia, Erzeromn, and
Trebizond is reserved for the use of the Turkish
armies in Roumelia and Antolia.
A letter from St. Malo says :—" An order has
arrived to make a levy of all the seamen of from
20 to 40 years of age, who have not passed through
four years of service. The only exception to this
measure is to be such men as have been dismissed
from the service within the space of a year. It
may be conceived that a great disquietude has been
spread through the country at this news. The same
will be the case at Granville and in the Bay of St.
Brieuc. The Chambers of Commerce are about to
make a representation to the Minister of the de-
plorable state in which all the district of the coasts
of France, which is engaged in the cod-fishery at
Newfoundland, will be placed, should a sufficient
number of men not be reserved for these expedi-
tions, which constitute the very existence of this
part of the country."
A letter from St. Valery-sur-Somme, in the
Courrier du Havre, states that this measure has
spread consternation among the boatmen who carry
goods from St. Valery into the interior. They are
mostly married men, and with their savings have
purchased the boats in which they.carry on their
business, and in which they reside with all their
families like the mariners of the north. These
families, deprived of their chiefs, will be thrown
into great distress for want of being able to turn
their boats to account during the absence
_of their
owners in the service.

' The Algiers journals of the 10th contain an
account of an engagement between some Arab forces
in the service of France, under the orders of Kha-
lifs Si Hanna, and the forces of the cheriff Moham-
med ben Abdallah, at some distance from Ouergla,
in one of the southern provinces. The result of it
was that Mohammed's troops were routed with
considerable loss, that he took to flight to the south,
and that several of his chiefs and. some of those of
the neighbouring tribes made their submission.
The Bourse was heavy yesterday in the absence
of any political news calculated to influence the
speculators. The Three per Cents. opened at 71f.
90c., rose to 72f. 5c., fell subsequently to 71f. 50c.,
and closed at 71f. 60c. for the end of the month.
The Four-and-a-Half per Cents. closed at 99f. 50c.
Orleans Railway Shares, 1,130 f. ; Rouen, 990 f. ;
Havre, 475 f. ; Great Northern, 815 f. ; Paris and
Strasburg, 767 f. 50c. ; Paris and Lyons, 870 f. j;
Lyons to the Mediterranean, 712 f. 50c. ; Western
of Franc; 625 f. ; Bordeaux and Cette, 580 f. ;
Great Central, 485 f. ; Lyons and Geneva, 490 f. ;
Shares of the Bank of Credit Mobilier, 675 f.