The Sun.
London, England, 1849-01-17 00:00:00

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

The reactionaries will, it is probable, be caught in
their own trap. The friends of the Republic are now
exerting themselves to get up petitions against the
dissolution of the Assembly, and these petitions have
already received more signatures than 6,500, which
is the whole number of the signatures attached
to all the petitions praying for the dissolution.
On Monday the Members of the Assembly met in
their Bureaux to appoint the Committee to examine
the proposition of M. RATEAU, for the dissolution of
the Assembly. The Members named were Mn
Roux-Lavergne, Billault, Dupont (de Bussac), St.
Gandens Jules Fevre, Havin, Marie, Degous‘e, Pierre
Bonaparte, Sarrans, Grevy, Lignier, Lichtenberger,
Combarel de Leyval, and Regnard. About two only
are favourable to the dissolution.

The discussion which preceded this nomination was
of a very animated character. MM. MOLE and LA-
MARTINE spoke in favour of immediate dissolution,
and M. MARIE against it. M. MARIE laid it down
as a principle that the sitting of the Assembly was
only to be limited by the safety of the Republic.
It is generally supposed that no day will be fixed
for the dissolution, but that the number of organic
laws to be passed will be limited to three—viz., the
Law on the organization of the Council of State, the
Law settling the responsibility of the President of the
Republic, and the Electoral Law, after the passing
of which the Assembly will be dissolved. These
laws will probably all be passed before the middle of
April, in which case the new Assembly would meet
in the beginning of May.
The Marquis DE BARBANCOIS, a Legitimatist, has
been returned for the department of Indre. He was
supported by the Red Republicans and the Socialists.
The Presse has the following on the subject of the
naval expedition now fitting out at Toulon
The news circulated yesterday relative to an order
given by the Government for the departure of a corps
of 8,000 or 10,000 men for Civita Vecchia was prema-
ture. The Minister of Marine had only sent a dispatch
to Toulon to prepare the national steam-boats, in order
that they should be provisioned in case of necessity.
Nothing further had been commanded last evening. As
to the expedition, several members of the Cabinet desire
it, and there is certainly question of it."
We read the following in the Siecle :—" Certain
journals have not only exaggerated the measures pre-
scribed at Toulon by the Marine Department, but
have represented them in an incorrect point of view.
The Minister, having called for an account of the con-
dition of all the vessels, steamers, and others, at the
disposal of the Government in the port of Toulon, found
that they were not in the state required by the re-
gulations of the service. He, in consequence, gave
orders that these ships should be put in a state to go to
sea, by completing the number of their crews, the
quantity of their coals and provisions, &c. It
appears that this order has been executed with a
certain éclat, and hence have arisen conjectures
in the local journals and among the sailors, who
are naturally impatient to find an occasion
for signalising their devotedness to France.
In reality, no orders have been given which go be-
yond the ordinary prescriptions of the budget. The
Government is desirous of not remaining unprovided
under the events which are being precipitated in
Italy. The Austrians may invade the legations,
and thus oblige France to undertake an expedition.
Beyond this eventuality, all that has been said at the
Bourse and elsewhere is without foundation.

Letters from Rochefort state that the ship-of-the-
line Dugueselin and the frigates Virginie and Algerie
are being armed. The steam-boats Crocodile and
Voyageur are preparing to sail for the West Indies.

A letter from E'Orint mentions that 130 of the
insurgents of June, confined in that harbour, have
been set at liberty.
The trial of the assassins of General BREA and his
aid-de-camp, MARGIN, commenced on Monday be-
fore the Second Council of War, under the Presi-
dency of Colonel CORNEMUSE. The accused were
25 in number. On the table placed in front of the
tribunal were deposited an epaulet of General
BREA, the epaulets, uniform, and flannel waistcoat
of Captain MANGIN, and the epaulets of M. GOBERT,
chief of battalion of the National Guard, who, with
Commander DESMARETS, accompanied the unfortu-
nate General in his mission of peace. The first sitting
presented no interesting incident, and was entirely
taken up with the reading of the bill of indictment,
and the interrogatories of the accused.
The Ttfonitcur publishes the returns of the direct
and indirect taxes for 1848. The four direct taxes
which had been estimated in the budget at
431,503,000 E, have yielded only 365,470,000 f., being
a deficit of nearly 66,000,000 f. ; the 45 centimes
additional tax, which had been estimated at
192,000,000 f., has produced only 172,000,000 f., or
indeed less, for a large sum has been remitted; the
indirect taxes have yielded 680,769,000 f., being
140,000,000 f. less than in the year 1847. The re-
turns of the last quarter of 1848 show a diminution
of 11,314,000 f. for October, as compared with the
same month in 1847 • of 12,731,000 f. for November;
and of 17,446,000 f. for December.

It is said that a serious personal difference exists
between M. PIERRE BONAPARTE and the PRESIDENT
of the Republic. _ _

The Three per Cents. closed on the Paris Bourse yes-
terday at 45f. 40c.; the Five per Cents. at 74f. 95c.; the
New Loan at 74f. 50c.; Orleans Railroad Shares, 7021.
50c.; Rouen, 4351.; Havre, 2401.; Great Northern, 390 f.;
Avignon, 1800; Vierzon, 2521. 50c.; Basle, 831. 75c.;
Bordeaux, 376 f. 25c. ;:Paris and Strasburg, 331 f. 25c.;
Tours and Nantes, 315 f.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK-EXCHANGE, JAN. 16.
Boulogne and Amiens, B—Northern of France, B—Paris
and Strasbourg, 2.