The Sun.
London, England, 1869-06-21 00:00:00

TilE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, 'JUNE 21, 1869

sacreligiously despoiling the Catholic Chapels in 1830
and burning Newgate as their predecessors had done
in 1780, the Protestant mobs contented themselves
with setting fire to effigies of the POPE and Cardinal
WISEMAN. The Imperial Legislature, however, in
the middle of the Nineteenth Century showing itself
at the same time anything but as self-possessed and as
unimpassioned ae the Houses of Parliament bad done
towards the close of the Eighteenth Century—seeing
that, so far from repelling and denying the demands
of the fanatical antagonists of "Popery" out of
doors, the Lords and Commons of England nearly
twenty years ago so far responded to it as to
pass into a law the utterly powerless and inope-
rative measure of the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill.
Among other political Letter Writers of our own time,
not the least conspicuous has been during these
twenty years last passed, his Majesty the present
Emperor of the FRENCH. His brief missive at the com-
meneement of the last decade but one, addressed to M.
EDGAR NEY, then at Rome, will long be borne in
recollection as one of the most memorable of his
epistolary communications. At rare aed very
noticeable intervals his MAJESTY has in
a similar way blurted forth, at pecu-
liarly critical junctures, his own, up to that
moment, simply conjectured thoughts in regard to
the policy of his Government. The latest of these
"asides'' has became audible to France, to a'l
Europe, within the past fe ,v days through
the EMPEROR'S note addressed to M. MacKau
Language—said Prince TALLEYRAND, and, before
then wrote Dr. GOLDSMITH—is given to men
to conceal their thoughts. The cyuioal zuggootion
that it is so, seems to come much more naturally as a
Mot from the lips of the French wit, than to fall as
an aphorism from the pen of the gentle-
hearted Irish man-of-letters. However this
may be, it is undeniable that, more than
once, the Emperor of the FRENCH has found
language apparently most frank, so far a conceal-
ment to his thoughts, that the meaning of his words
lias, time and again, been regarded by friend and
foe alike as, to the last, enigmatical. The Imperial
utterances, in other times, have not unfre-
quently been Delphic iu their character—they
h 'ye admitted 'of various, and sometimes, of the
most opposite, interpretation, as to their real signi-
nificance. The letter very recently addreisci by the
Emperor NAPOLEON 111. to MACKAU is being
just now treat .:d by the Parisian journalists, for the
most part, as if it were fl igrantly and unde-
niably an effusion of precisely that description.
And to ourselves, all the while, this communic ition
reads as simply and as comprehensibly as possible.
It means, to our thinking, solely and wholly this,
that, to menace, the Imperial Government will remain
dumb, but that the Empire is always prepared for
the exigencies of the epoab and of the country in
regard to the political modifications that may
from time to time appear desirable. That
it means more this we cannot see, and we
do not believe. That it means the retention
at all hazard of M. ROUHER as the Minister of
State—that it means the maintenance to the last inex
orably of the system of Personal Government, is no--
where legible to us in these calm and unimpassioned
The utterance is, no doubt, the
utterance of a Prince wielding dictatorial or
autocratic power, but it is the utterance of a Prince
wielding that power by a right thrice accorded to him
hrough the Urn of the Ballot by the great mass of
he French Democracy.

sentences.

Mn. GLADSTONE must have been more than human
if he did not contrast June 18, 1869, with June 18,
1806. The unexpectedly large majority of thirty-
three which he obtained in a house containing a
large majority of Conservative peers, could not but
force itself upon him as a gratifying compensation
for the minority of eleven in his own house exactly
three years before. Now all is joy and victory ;
a magnificent triumph at the polling- baoths,
splendid mid united phalanx in one house of the
Legislature, and a success far beyond his brig!' testanti-
cipations in the other. What a change since those
days of trouble and rebuke when he saw his party
divided and disorganised, his Ministry bro!en up,
and the cause of Liberal principles apparently lost.
Yet, even in that hour of sorrow, though not of
shame, even when his own familiar friends had turned
against him, and his foes were of his own political
household, he did not lose faith or hope. No
one can have forgotten the magnificent peroratio
delivered on the very eve of defeat ; no one
can have forgotten the confident prophecy that out
of the ashes of those who then fell the avenger would
arise. Faith and hope have been rewarded far
beyond their most ardent expectation. Household
suffrage has been granted, the Liberal party has been
reunited, and not the Commons only, but the Lords
have affirmed the principle of the disestablishment of
the Irish Church. Truly a wonderful change in the
three short years since Lord DUNKELLIN and Lord
ELCHO were—Heaven save the mark !—the heroes of
the day.

But while it was inevitable that such thoughts
should have crowded upon the mind of the PREMIEIt
on Waterloo Day—now for the third time made
memorable in British annals—to those of us who are

independent of party, the chief source of satisfaction
in connection with this division is that it has taken
the Irish Church question out of the region of
party. The Liberals carried the measure through
the House of Commons, but it is the Con-
servatives who have carried it through the
House of Lords. It was evident from the first that
if the Opposition peers chose they could for the
time throw out the bill. But they wisely reckoned
the cost, and nearly all the most able of them, quite
all the most farseeing of them, declined to commit
themselves to a policy which could not possibly
prevail in the long run, and which, while it
would not save the Irish Church Establishment,
would imperil the existence of the House of Lords.
They had a perfect right totake this consideration into
account. But this was not the only one that influenced
them. They recognised the great fact embodied in
the last Reform Bill—the political revolution which it
had brought about—namely, that power having first
passed from the Crown to the Peers, had now finally
passed from the Peers to the People. The very men
who opposed the Reform Bill because it would in-
volve this change, were actually the very men to
recognise it after it had taken place. It was
the rash followers of that most rash of all
leaders, Lord DERBY, who, having taken a
leap in the dark, refused to see that they
had alighted on far other ground than that
whereon they used to stand ; it was these who
would have upheld the Irish Church at the risk of a
forcible revolution in England, and a civil war in
Ireland. We have commented upon and condemned
Mr. BRIGHT'S indiscreet letter, because it assumed as
certain that which has not taken place ; but his words
would have been more than justified if this party had
prevailed, and offensive though they were, they would
have been as butter and honey compared with the
gall and vinegar that would have been forthcoming
if Mr. BP:At.Es and his friends had reappeared in llyde
Park. As it is, there is no single action of the
House of Lords during the whole of the present
century which reflects so much credit upon them as
this debate and this division. The debate shews that,
for calm statesmanship and for oratorical power, our
hereditary are more than a match for our elected
legislators. The division shews that there is a large
number of the Lords whom no considerations of
party will induce to adopt a course which they
believe to be opposed to the national will, and there-
fore fraught with injury to the Constitution. The
Liberal party in the Commons voted en masse, as
they were bound to do if they would represent
the opinion of their constituents ; the Conservative

party in the Lords refused to do so, because they
would not fly in the face of that opinion. It is not
too much to say that the unanimity of the Minis-
terialists in the Lower House has led to the disrup-
tion of the Oppositionists in the Upper. Had the
first shewn the slightest sign of wavering, there
would have been none in the Upper.
A word or two as to the future. The bill has now
to pass through the ordeal of committee, and there
can be no doubt that this will be a formidable ordeal.
There is one proposal that would unite a large num-
ber of peers on both sides of the house, peers of
great weight and very varied sentiments—a proposal
for a concurrent endowment of the Roman Church.
That proposal will not be made even though it has
the support of Earl RUSSELL, the Duke of DEVON-
SHIRE, Lord KIMBERLEY, and the Bishop of St.
DAVID'S on the one side, and probably one-half of
the Conservative peers on the other. It will not be
made for the same reason that the bill has been read a
second time, in order that the Lords may not set
themselves in opposition to the nation. But other
amendments will be made, and we have not the
smallest doubt that such of these as are carried will be
accepted by Mr. GLADSTONE on behalf of the House
of Commons, provided always that they are not con-
trary to the principle of the, bill which both Houses
have now affirmed. So much for the immediate
result of this important division. The more
remote result must be the reorganisation of
the Conservative party, and the appointment
of new leaders. Lord DERBY has lived to
see power pass out of his hands. It is no longer
those who resist moderate changes to the very last,
and then take leaps in the dark by way of avoiding
them, to lead a party which numbers among its ranks
some of the most able statesmen, orators, and
administrators of the day. No one knows this better
than Lord DERBY'S son. Henceforth it is to peers
like Lord SALISBURY, Lord CARNARVON, and the
Lord DERBY of the future that the Conservatives
will look for guidance. We are moving fast ;
great social forces are at work, great and violent
changes are possible. Moderate men of all
parties, and the men who belong to no party,
may therefore well rejoice that there now exist
Conservative statesmen who have renounced the old,
bad policy of resisting until the verge of revolution,
only in order to capitulate ignominiously ; who have,
instead, adopted the new and wise policy of yielding
gracefully and in time.

THE debate and the division in the House of
Commons on the Treaty of Commerce with France
are highly significant. The battle between Protec-
tion and Free Trade has been so long decided, the
victory has remained so complete, that the supporters
of the sounder doctrine have ceased to dream of
danger. But when two-fifths of a House of 250
members vote in favour of a covert attack upon Free
Trade, the time has evidently arrived for those
who fear Protection to guard against it.
Mr. STAVELF.Y HILL, who moved on Friday for a
select committee to inquire into the operation of the
French Treaty, with special reference to the silk
manufacture, did, indeed, disclaim the idea of
returning to a protective system. He desired
nothing more than such a revision of the French
Treaty as would place English and French manufac-
tures upon the same terms, the bargain being
at present, he urged, very one-sided. But it
is very easy to shew that his proposition amounts
to a declaration against free trade or to nothing.
The people of England have long been painfully
aware of the distressed condition of the Coventry
silk-weavers. A fivefold increase of the sum
required for outdoor relief, in addition to the
national subscription of £40,000, is sufficient evi-
dence that the palmy days of the Coventry district
have passed, at least for the time being. Mr.
STAVELEY HILL charges the French Treaty
with being the cause of this depression. The
terms agreed upon between the two countries
are decidedly unequal ; for France agreed that
the duties on silks imported from England should
not exceed 30 per cent., whilst the English Govern-
ment abolished the duties on auk catog.ther. Pure
silk is admitted into France free of duty, the French
manufacturer having less fear of competition in that
branch ; but slllis mixed with cotton, in the manu-
fac:ure cif which the English are most expert,

are met with a duty of 10 or 15 per cent. The two
nations, Dlr. II:LL argues, have not concluded a
reciprocal bargain, and the effect has been most dis-
astrous. co!: ly wages at Coventry have fallen
from £12,000 to £3,000, and trade-rAurns in the
same proportion.
It is wearisome to be obliged to return to the old
formulas of this well-worn subject. If the Coventry
people lose, the nation at large gains. If labour and
capital do not find remunerative employment
in one branch of industry they will do so in another;
and the care of the Government must be not to
artificially buoy up isolated manufactures, but to
procure the cheapest goods for the great mass of the
people. This is the fundamental principle of Free
Trade, and it applies to the case of Coventry as well as
to any other case. But Mr. limes position may be met
by more specific arguments. It is more than doubt-
ful how far the distress at Coventry is owing to the
commercial arrangements with France. The silk
trade, as Mr. MuNrz, a high authority,
shewed, has always fluctuated. There were periods
of distress and periods of prosperity before the
French Treaty. Moreover, the American War and
the great change of fashion—though the represen-
tative of Coventry denied that anything was owing
to these causes—have really done much to bring
about the sufferings of his constituents. But,
admitting that the Treaty has had some
ill-effect, that the duties are unequal and
the bargain unfair, what then ? We have no
means of amending the terms. The power of further
reducing the duties lies with the French Govern-
ment, which at present is not disposed to
make any alteration. There is a very strong
Protective party in France—much more formidable
than that which apparently exists in England—and
it is doubtful how far the EMPEROR could venture
to make further changes. He favours the principle
of Free Trade, but many considerations hamper
him in carrying it out to the full in
practice. The English Government, on its side,
made the best possible bargain, and is now on the
look-out to improve it. What could a select com-
mittee do to further the end in view? The only
remedy which lies in our power is to decline a renewal
of the Treaty, which expires this year, and return to
protective principles. But Mr. STAVELEY HILL does
not advocate this course. He wants reciprocity ;
but reciprocity implies the consent of two parties,
which cannot be had. To return to protection would
be little short of madness, for to the nation at large
the treaty has been of the most extensive benefit. We
have recently given the figures, and it would be needless
to repeat them. Suffice it to say that our total
annual imports from France have at least doubled in
eight years, and our total exports to France have far
more than doubled. To abandon a system of
this kind is out of the
select committee would. only raise hopes which might
never be realised. The only resource is to await the
revival of trade, of which the hope is great, and the
further advance of Free Trade principles in France,
of which the hope, we are sorry to say, is. just now
but small.

THE ATLANTIC CABLE EXPEDITION,

A special correspondent of the Times writes his first
letter on the Atlantic Cable Expedition from Brest. It
is dated June 17, and the writer commences by saying:
" The first step towards laying down the line of subma-
rine telegraph between this harbour and Boston was made
yesterday. Nothing could be done before, and very
little has yet been done at all, for the weather
has been, on the whole, rather unfavourable,
and the swell of the Atlantic, which rolls
before a westerly wind into the little creek
called Minon Bay, has been so heavy on the beach that
boating has been out of the question. The close of to-day,
however, if the weather still holds fair, ought to see the
shore end laid and buoyed, when all will have to wait till
the Great Eastern arrives. If the weather has affected
her coaling as much as it did our passage, she is not likely
to be here much before Tuesday, nor away with the cable
before Wednesday, the 23rd."
The correspondent describes some difficulty with the
Great Eastern's paddles :—" These paddles are so deep in
the water as, in nautical parlance, to be almost drowned.
Before she started on Saturday, therefore, it was necessary
to reduce every alternate float on each, and thus bring
their number down from thirty-six to eighteen. In
addition to this alteration, every float has been
reefed in as near the centre of the wheel as pos-
sible ; but even with all reductions the power of the
paddles was so great that their use had to be dis•
continued whenever the channels were shoal or
winding, and they were always one thing or the other,
and not seldom both. With the additional 2,000 tons of
coal at Portland, the wheels will be immersed to the
lowest depth at which they can be of any service, and
probably it is not till the vessel is half across the Atlantic
' that they will be doing full work at all, while, at the end
of the voyage, as the vessel lightens, they will be doing
absolutely nothing. To meet this drawback to a return
passage, the Great Eastern takes an entirely new set of
floats with her, which will be bolted on at St. Pierre, and
enable her to return to England at full speed."
The correspondent goes on to say: " Tho good
people at Brest evinced the most profound indifference to
all connected with cable matters. They knew, of course,
that one was to be laid, and were in a sort of way
anxious to see the Great Eastern again, but this was all.
As to the probabilities of success, the manner in which
it was to be done, or the course over which the line would
have to be taken, they knew little and cared less. The
French authorities, however, were quite alive to the
importance of the occasion, and gave every facility
and assistance to Captain Osborn. The Admiral of the
port, Admiral Reynaud, placed the Soufflet steamer
at his service, and gave a hundred dockyard seamen,
with a large raft and a large lighter, to assist in landing
the shore end. This work was commenced at 4 a.m. to-
day. The weather was beautifully calm, though in the
gray light of early dawn the cliffs looked more repellent
and inhospitable than ever. But there was hardly any
surf beating against them, and that was all that was
wanted, let them look as ug:y as they liked. The
Hawk went first, and the Chiltern with the shore
end followed. Soon after six the massive coil was
paid out through the machinery over the stern of the
Chiltern, and stowed away fore and aft in coils on
board the raft. This was then towed in to the
shore by a little steam pinnace, which brought it within a
few feet of the laud. The crew then, both French and

English, were in a twinkling overboard up to their necks

in the surf, and almost in as short a time as it takes to tell
it the shore end was landed and dragged by main force to
the cable house, about 100 yards or so up the little ravine.

Here the end was secured, tested, and, of course,
found perfect, and, in less than half an hour after, it was
laid in the little trench which bad been dug in the sand
and cut in the rock to a depth of about two feet,
and in this it was buried. At seven the Chiltern steamed

slowly out to sea, following the track of the Hawk and
the line of buoys laid down, paying out the cable slowly as

she went. Everything was done in the coolest and most
businesslike manner, without noise, bustle, or enthusiasm

of any kind. About half•past ten o'clock the Chiltern
buoyed her end and fired a gun to shew that the
first part of the work was completed, and then
steamed back to the harbour, while the Hawk went
to and fro to pick up the buoys• again. Between eleven
and twelve o'clock there was a little influx of lady and
gentlemen visitors from Brest, who had driven out to see
the shore end laid. Great was their astonishment and
chagrin to find the little creek empty, the shore end laid,
and nothing whatever to tell of it beyond the marks of
the fresh-turned earth of the trench in which it was buried.
It is, on the whole, very fortunate that the work of land.
ing and laying this massive portion of the line has been
got over so ea-ily and well, for the glass is falling again,
and there is every prospect of wind.•'

rn-R AMERICAN PRESS AND EXCLISII

ACTORS.

The Americans are scandalised, or the American Press
affects to be shocked, at the doings of English actors in
the United States ; and some very strong criticisms have
been passed on some of the performances which have
taken place in New York and elsewhere. The followine
letter on the subject, front Mr. Henderson, who took out
the first burlesque troupe to New York, with Lydia
Thompson as the chief, appears in the Era :—" A very
strange and unwarrantable outrage having been per-
petrated upon me, and knowing, under the cir-
cumstances, that very garbled accounts will be
sent to England, I think it a duty I owe, not
only to myself, but the troupe who are now in
this country under my management, to briefly state the
following facts :—The Press, upon the advent of the Lydia
Thompson troupe, were unanimous in their laudations of
the company, the praise almost amounting to fulsome puff.
It, however, emanated spontaneously from the Press.
The great pecuniary success which attended the Lydia
Thompson troupe created no small excitement in England,
resulting in a perfect emigration of burlesquers, and now
the country is swarming with troupes who are, I believe,
scarcely playing to their expenses. This may or may not
have been brought about by the unaccountable change
that has come over certain portions of the Press, who
denounce, in the most unmeasured terms, the influx of
English artistes, who, they assert, are a disgrace to the
country. By degrees some of the leading journals have
taken up the war against the Henglish,' as they call us,
and what they oncepronounced a charming and delightful
entertainment, i.e., burlesque,' they now stigmatise as
demoralising and wicked. So far as my troupe is con-
cerned, notwithstanding these sledge-hammer attacks, I
am pleased to say they have had no effect on our con-
tinned success. One journal in particular, Wilkes's Spirit of
the Times, has, however, gone far beyond all bounds in
its bitter animosity to the Henglish.' An article emanat-
ing from the pen of a Mr. E. H., denounced the English
in terms of the greatest bitterness, and asserted that there
was a regular clique formed among the managersto crush
every American artiste who attempted to go to England.
At a supper given on the 100th night of " The
Forty Thieves," when there were some 80 or
100 of the profession present, I took occasion to
express my sentiments on the erroneous statements
made by 1-I,' and stated that American artistes of
position and talent would receive a most cordial welcome
in England. The remarks made by me were carried to
the writer of the article, and in the following week the
most outrageous personal attack was made upon me in
the columns of that paper. The libel it contained was
most bitter and malicious, and I caused my solicitor to
formally demand the writer of the article. This met
with no other response than a second article of a
character similar to the first. On the day upon
which the last article was published, after the
performance had concluded, and when the house
was in darkness, I was accosted by a Mr. George B.
Butler, who desired to speak to me, and asked me to ac-
company him, so that what he had to say might he heard
by some witnesses. I consented, and when in the dark
with two accomplices, he announced himself as the writer
of the article in the Spirit of the Times, at the
same time striking me a blow on my temple which com-
pletely stunned me, and whilst in that state again struck
me a second blow on the cheekbone, which has penalised
a portion of my face and teeth. Some interference
about this time was about to be made in my favour by
Mr. Palmer and • the servants of the theatre, when
the man (Butler) drew a pistol and threatened to shoot
the first person that interfered. Since the assault I
obtained a warrant and had him arrested, and a trial will
shortly be heard upon the double charge of assault with
intent to kill, and libel. I am proud to say that the public
sympathy and feeling for me is very great, and I am fain
to hope that this anti-English sort of criticism and bitter
psrsonal animosity, which at rresent is assuminc, an
appearance of positive intimidation, will receive a check."

The maEoLs' strike at Halifax has termivatel
Thu men will retmn to their work to-day at the old
terms.

Lord Napier, of Magdala, has resigned his post as
Commander-in-Chief at Bombay; and Lieut.-General the
Hon. Sir Augustus Spencer, K.C.8., has been appointed to
the chief command of the Presidency. Sir Augustus
Spencer served throughout the Eastern campaign of
1854-5; be commanded the 44th Regiment at the battles
of Alma and ltikermann, and throughout the siege of Sel as-
topol. He w::s wounded on the ISth of Juue, during the
occupation of the cemetery ; bu►, recovetinn be was soon
again in active service. Recently, Sir Augustus has ken
employed at the Horse Guards as President of the Com-
mittee appointed to revise and reform the authorised evo:n-
tine tat Ow igautry. •

CORRESPONDETTE From PARIS,

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS. SIINDAT, Jute 20.

The Belgian railway affair, after subsiding into a very
iesirable obscurity during the election campaign, has again
appeared as a prominent part of the politics of the day.
It appears, from the accounts of the proceedings given by
the official journals, that the business is not making very
satisfactory progress. Indeed, judging by the statement
in the Public, the difficulty is precisely where it was when
the official papers first commenced blustering several
months ago. According to the Public, the later delibera-
tions of the Commission have been devoted to a
project submitted by the Belgian Government
in some sort, an ultimatum. The French
Commissioners, however, declared that they could

accept the terms offered by the Cabinet of Brussels, and
the Belgian Commissioners were equally positive that they
could make no further concessions. In this state of
affairs, M. Cornudet, the president of the Commission,
proposed that they should draw up a prods verbal,
or common note, setting forth their proceedings, and
declaring that as they could not come to an agree-
ment they had considered their business terminated.
The suggestion was acted upon, and a note of this kind
was drawn up and addressed to the Governments. But at
this point the Belgian Ministry got frightened. It did
not like this_ peremptory closing of the negotiation.
Acting on the sate principle that "it is better to bear the
ills we have than to fly to others that we know not of,"
the " ultimatum" was modified, and new propositions put
forth. It is upon this fresh scheme that the commission is
now going to work, and the Public hopes that this dis-
agreeable question will soon be disposed of.
Such, however, is not the expectation of the Brussels cor-
respondent of the Temps, who conceives that this railway
business now begins to wear a very ugly aspect. M. de
Lavalette, fearing a diplomatic falure as the result of
this dispute, speedily washed his hands of it, and turned
it over to the Minister of Commerce. The commission has
been nominated for more than a month, and it has done
absolutely nothing. In the meantime, M. Frere-Orba,n,
the head of the Belgian Ministry, has been in communica-
tion with Lord Clarendon, and relying, this writer thinks,
upon the support of the British Foreign Office, the pro-
posals made by one of the leading men of the interested
railway companies—proposals which were accepted by
France and Holland—have been rejected by Belgium.
The difficulty, so simple at first, has grown so complicated
by delay that it is only by some very disagreeable con-
cessions on the one side or the other that it can 'be
settled.

The fort at Bleetre has been completely cleared of the
numerous lodgers who have occupied it with such unvvil-
lingness during the last few days. More than 800 have
been set at liberty, and the remaining 200, or more, have
beenremoved to the Prison de la Sant6, in Paris. Two
juges d'instruction are actively employed in collecting and
considering the information relative to the destruction of
property—seats, kiosks, bill columns and the like—on the
boulevards. It was at first thought that a charge of
plotting against the State would be substantiated against
certain individuals, including, very likely, M. Rochefort,
but some high authorities express the opinion that the
evidence will not warrant this accusation. The rioters will
be proceeded against simply as rioters. A preliminary
batch of them were brought up yesterday before the Seventh
Chamber. These were some of the minor culprits. They
had not smashed any windows, nor knocked down kiosks,
nor indulged in any other heroic triumphs of the kind. The
charge against them was that of raising seditious cries,
and they nearly all pleaded that they were drunk. Sen-
tences of imprisonment, varying from five days to six
months, were inflicted.
Some of the English papers have published, I see,
accounts of a projected balloon enterprise to the North
Pete I The aeronauts wit be exceedingly astonished and
Ittle gratified, I should imagine, if they perform such a
feat. All they propose to do is to remain in the air fa
twenty-four hours, if possible.
The Beauffremont divorce case has terminated for the
present in the Court ordering the Princess to prove
by witnesses some of the facts alleged in her evidence.
These facts, if proved, will justify the separation. Amongst
the scandalous scenes described was a party given by the
Princess to which the Prince came and ordered all the
guests to leave if they did not wish to be turned out of
loors.

By Imperial decree M. Schneider is again nominated

President of the Corps Ltgislatif, and MM. Leroux,
Terome David, and Du Miral are re-assigned the functions
A Vice-Presidents, which they exercised in the last
chamber. M. J. David is made Grand Officer of the
Legion of Honour. This is a fact of some im-
portance, at least the Liberal journals here put
a signifteant interpretation upon it. They regard this
fresh distinction conferred upon the most uncompromising
of Imperialists as a confirmation of the Mackau letter,
as a further indication -of the Emperor's resolve to main
tain the status quo. M. de Persigny, however, continues
his contest against the Sovereign's present councillors
with undiminished zeal. His letter seems to have
pleased nobody ; but he writes again to the Con-
gitutionnel supporting the epistle, and expressing his
ntention of maintaining the policy laid down in it.
The situation, then, is not a little perplexing. The
Emperor's letter to M. Mackau is Plainly enough against
reform ; but M. de Persigny writes advocating liberal
-;oncessions, and it is hardly likely that he would reiterate
,his advice if disagreeable to the Emperor.