The Sun.
London, England, 1858-02-22 00:00:00

THE SCN LONIDON,I MONDAY EVEN I NO, FRBRITARY 22, 1858

distinction between thehard earnings of industry,
and the dividends, interest, and annual produce,
arising from actual property already accumulated
and realised. This was the admission of " the
sharp end of the wedge," and would inevitably
have led to still more important modifications of
that, which, if properly constituted, would be the
best tax for the community, but in the existing
form was nothing but a legalised swindle. There
were many other good points which would have
been brought forward, but for the premature defeat
occasioned by what we then termed, and must still
designate, as the unfair and factious opposition
offered. Let the nation clearly understand what
the Derbyites tender for its acceptance, and what
it may expect from the new Opposition—as well
that of Lord J. RUSSELL as of Lord PALMERSTON.
We shall then be able to arrive at a calm and
deliberate conclusion between the rivals, and to
accept that which promises to be most beneficial,
and accept that which offers the greatest good to
the greatest number.
Lord DERBY has undoubtedly put forward a
strong and promising programme. He will, of
course, himself, occupy the chief position.
He has also secured the services of Mr.
GLADSTONE, the skilful debater, who has been
wooed by every would-be Premier, and without
whose aid, the task of forming a government has
repeatedly been declined. Recognising to the
fullest extent the extraordinary talents of the
Right Hon. Gentleman, we cannot help thinking
that his adhesion will prove a source of weakness
rather than of strength to the DERBY Cabinet.
He is to a certain extent committed on the Bank
Charter question, and from him we can only an-
ticipate fresh restrictions, instead of the liberal
and judicious modifications that might be hoped
for, if Mr. DISRAELI had been placed at the head
of the financial department.
That Right Hon. Gentleman had on a former
occasion consented to waive his powerful, and
almost irresistible claims to the leadership of the
House of Commons, and to'transfer his services to
a different department from that which he had
previously occupied. As Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, he will have most important and
arduous duties to attend to. It is hinted that
the arrangement is but of a temporary character ;
that he is to exchange with Lord STRATFORD DE
LIM/CLIFF; who will become Foreign Minister,
while Mr. DISRAELI goes to Constantinople as
Ambassador. We cannot, however, believe that
the Right Hon. Gentleman would at such a crisis
abandon the position for which he is so pre-emi-
nentlyqualified, and which he has achieved by the
distinguished reputation he now enjoys.
Sir FREDERICK THESIGE; the eminent, the
learned, the graceful advocate, is to be placed at
the head of the profession of which he is now the
most brilliant ornament. Lord ST. LEONARDS
has very handsomely waived his claims to the
Lord Chancellorship in favour of his quondam
Attorney-General. Of the new Lerd Chancellor
we may say, nil tetiget quod non ornavit. There
are some points, however, to which it will be
essential that he conform to the exigencies of the
hour, and materially modify his views on " the
Oaths and the Marriages Affinities Bill."
Mr. WALPOLE has already been tested at the
Home, and Sir JOHN PAKINGTON at the Colonial-
office. Lord ELLENBOROUGH has given ample
proof of the stuff that is in him, and it is needles
t 3 say that great anticipations may reasonably be
entertained of his discharge of the duties attached
to the Minister for War. Sir EDWARD BIILWER
litrrox, the brilliant, the accomplished poet,
novelist, orator, and statesman, has also accepted
a position in the Cabinet, and Lord STANLEY,
as the head of the India Board, adds the
weight of his name, which has generally
been accepted as that of " the coming man,' the
head of future Administrations. Sir FITZROY
Kgr,Tiv, as Attorney-General, gives the soundest
lawyer at the bar his proper position ; and Mr.
HENLEY will make a very respectable President
of the Board of Trade.

speech are silenced, and they avenge themselves with
pistols and grenades. We Englishmen do not under-
stand assassination as a political resource. Our
temperament is against it, and we have better and
safer, and, eventually, more successful weapons.
The very columns of our journal are worth more
than all the daggers and pistols in France and
Italy in the warfare of Liberalism, and it may be
safely predicted that, were the patriots of
those countries permitted to do what we do
every day, they would soon throw aside
the vile weapons to which they resort. But
while we execrate the crime of the exiles for
liberty—while we detest murder for freedom's
sake, or to avenge murdered freedom, yet let us
be just. Temptation, though no excuse for crime,
is yet a mitigation of its enormity ; and if ever
the impulsive natures of Italians and Frenchmen
were provoked to unnatural violence, they are
just now. So far as we can till, such men as
ORSINI and his companions had no selfish object
to serve. They were maddened, literally so we
mean, on one point. ORSINI, so far as we yet
know, was sane otherwise—a man, indeed, of a
kind and even mild temper, but he was in-
sane on his country's wrongs. He saw Italy
ground down to the earth under Austrian
and French armies, He probably regarded the
man who kept the latter on Italian soil, as the
worse of the two oppressors ; the subverter of a
republic by the soldiers of a republic, and indi-
rectly the buttress of Austria. He brooded over
what he had seen and known till on this one point
he was deranged, and till reason was powerless
except to devise cunningly the means to gratify a
diseased mind. Such at least is the picture which
seems a natural one to us ; and it seems the
natural picture of the state of mini of political
assassins.

Of course, such self-generated insanity can nei-
ther be takenaccount of in a court of justice, nor be
allowed for a moment as a moral vindication of the
criminal. We are looking simply at the fact.
We know what human nature is ; we know that
pondering over a wrong, real or supposed, often
converts even an Englishman into a being, in the
view of his neighbours, beside himself ; what then
can be expected when whole countries live under
a perpetual and grievous wrong, and when those
countries are the hot-blooded tribes of Italy. It
would be strange indeed, if among a people of such
mental endowments, such love of liberty, and such
fiery natures some were not from time to time mad-
dened by their oppressors. To us it seems hopeless
to look for the extinction of assassins till the gene-
rating cause is done away. When Monarchs rule
by immense armies alone ; when intelligence far
surpassing that perhaps of the Monarch and his ad-
visers is not allowed to utter any opinion of its own;
when police and spies dog the footsteps of every
man supposed to be something better than a sub-
missive or indifferent slave, men will be driven to
imagine deeds of violence right and honourable,
from which, excepting under such perverting in-
fluences, they would shrink with horror. We, iu
England, revolt from what we feel to be the in-
herent cowardice of the assassination, but the poli-
tical assassin looks at the glory he shall gain
amongst the circle to whom he is known. ile
thinks the cowardice belongs to the man whose
life depends on huge standing armies. Be dwells
on their crimes, as he deems them, against free.
dom ; and regards every soldier around their
thrones as an evidence of the cowardice of a guilty
conscience. He thinks himself the courageous
man for venturing his own life to destroy the life
of the oppressors of liberty.
Perverted as such reasoning and sentiments may
seem to us phlegmatic Englishmen, we believe
them to be a pretty accurate description of what
will be found passing in numerous minds across the
Channel, and still more across the Alps. But, if
so, how foolish both the conduct of the French
EMPEROR and of our own Government. The wise
course with all kinds of insanity, and still more
with a kind of moral insanity like this, is not to
notice and irritate it, not to be put into a fright,
but just to deal with it, as much as possible, like
ordinary crimes of a similar character. As with
the Israelites under the oppression of PILLROA.H,
so of the assassinating class, the more you oppress
them, or rather the more you direct specific laws
against them, the more will they multiply and
grow. Terrific punishments, ingenious and appa=
rently complete repressive laws, and moving all
the adjacent kingdoms to devise measures against
them, such things do not but confer a false glory
on the enterprise and stimulate the invention of the
class who are aimed at. It becomes a battle of the
otherwise obscure and cunning fanatic, with the
greatness and wisdom of Princes and their coun-
sellors. Of course death must be the punishment
for assassins ; yet we verily believe that a good
whipping, and subsequent confinement in a mad-
house, would do infinitely more than bills brought
in by a Premier here, and repressive laws and the
guillotine there, to put an end to such schemes as
those which seem to have confounded the coun-
sellors of two great nations.

Although it is unusual to notice, on such
occasions, any below the rank of a Cabinet Mini-
ster, we cannot refrain from expressing our satis-
faction at the promotion of the amiable, excellent,
and talented Recorder of Hnll to a position more
befitting his talents, and for which he will prove
himself to be eminently qualified.
The Het is unquestionably good, but it is on
the measures brought for ward that the perma-
nency of the new Ministry will depend. The
wexatce questiones have been got rid of. They have
proved themselves to be true conservatives,
so far as the national honour was concerned. Let
them now show that they are also willing and ready
to bring forward the domestic improvements so
urgently required by the nation. The people will
give them fair play, and there should bo perfect
reciprocity. They should also act fairly towards
the people. We still bide our time, and shall
judge of the New Ministry by their acts.

Unless the proverb of " the darkest hour before
the dawn " be true, the prospect would be hope-
less indeed for Europe. We know what is going
on here, but the first glance at the position of
despots and their standing armies abroad, is in
deed a gloomy one. The Peace of Paris was a
peace of despots, and a peace for despotism. Just
at the moment when England was in a position to
outshine all the glory acquired by the casual ex-
ploit at the Malakoff, a glory which our artillery
had prepared for our light-limbered neighbours ; just
as our army was ready to have swept the Crimea,
and our fleet to have enabled us t) occupy or to
demolish Odessa, and every town on the Black
Sea ; just as we might have delivered the Crimea,
Bessarabia, and Circassia, from the grip of the I
bear, and made them the territories of freedom—
just then the Autocrat of the coup (Neat, and the
Autocrat of Spielburg found that a brother Auto-
crat was in dang,er, and we gave up liberty for
the enslaved, and our own national honour, to
please an "illustrious ally," and an anything but
illustrious go-between. One act alone showed the
purport and object of that peace—Lord CLAREN •
DON, the Foreign Secretary and Plenipotentiary
of England, not only did not remonstrate against,
but even signed a clause which was a practical
attack on the Belgian press, and a coercive decree
from the great Powers against a small Power, not
there represented. Count WALEvrsKr, and those
for whom he acted, seem to dread above all thing 1
the daylight of a free press. The Isle of Serpents'
affair, and that of the Danubian Principalities,
show how the French Government has leaned,
since the peace, to a brother despot ; the proposed
R
Terain Code for the Danube shows how all the
theben efit
recusantof th
Austrians,e liberation
of th Ite
never
ei river
dared er is
t coveted
fire
reb ya
gun all the time ; and the present state of the
BofbßekusSaieaa ipneratleigehxt whibiatreththyeorfelgteurerYa:cePvoalsaionnds,
to
g
Count WALEWSRi has quite for
ot.en A
his mother-
land, and the mild EMPEROR. crushes her beneath
his feet without fear of being called to :t reckoning.
All this is bad enough ; but the worst is, that t 1
such is now the state of Continental Europe, that the Our—
contetnporaries the Times and Standard
opposition of enlightened discussion is exclaaanspg,e,td: appear to
ehe to entertain opinions wide as the poles
r
the
for the hideous opposition of the dagger. Despots
1
and assassins divide between them the function; for the abolition-h•uobfjelernt
porfisoLnomrdenßt nfoourondeabmt—'s bthilel
13 Lordship of unfair leniency, and
of Liberals and Conservatives. The pen and the one accusing

It is, indeed, sad to think that half Europe is
now in the condition which makes it a hotbed of
assassins. In Belgium, in Switz3rland, in Sar-
dinia, now, we hear of no such things. Here, of
course, they are unknown—so far as native growth
is concerned. Tyranny, however, exports them
to us, and then charges us with smuggling. We
can hardly account for the fright and flurry into
which the EarrEaoit's Ministers, and probably the
EMPEROR too, have put themselves. At first ho
used to take these incidents to an arbitrary domi-
nion somewhat ♦iolently obtained at least, more
calmly ; but on this occasion all his self-possession
appears to have left him. We can compre-
hend his stretching out Lis arras to Sardinia
and Belgium, and begging a law or two where
they dare not refuse, but how could he forget
himself so far as to let the bullying braggadocio
of his Gascon colonels be heard beyond his own
reception room—how could he let it get into
print and into the Moniteur ; and then how in
the world could he think that an English House
of Commons would stomach the imperious lan-
guage of such men as Counts PERSIGNY and
WALEA3KI. Is there dissatisfaction and danger
that we know not of in France itself T Has tha
entire suppression of all the intellect and libe-
ralism of France in behalf of stock-jobbing medio-
crity and absolutism begun to tell ? Is there
volcanic matter more ready to cause an eruption
than we on this side the water can discover ? We
confess the unusual trepidation of so cool a mind
as Louis NAPOLEON'S has done more to shake our
faith in the present order of things than anything
which has occurred since his acquisition of the
Empire. Can it be that the really elect of eight
millions trembl©s before a few Italians, and must
i❑ consequence cut himself off by a stringent pass-
port system from England, affront her by demands
she would not concede to NAPOLEON 1,, and enact
laws for Franco which place the liberty of every
Frenchman at his mercy ?

the other, in terms which we trust -few of its
readers will be found to admire, taxing him with
Eastern severity, and with legislating for selfish
and improper objects. We have looked somewhat
carefully into the bill on which such very oppo-
site sentiments are entertained, and having given
it our beet attention, we cannot refrain from say-
ing we think both our contemporaries are very
decidedly wrong. The subject is undoubtedly a
difficult one, but we think Lord BROUGHAM has
grappled with it, and successfully; for the bill, it,
while altogether abolishing imprisonment in the
case of the honest debtor, yet, at the same
time, ensures the punishment of the dis-
honest one. Under the bill a Judge trying
the question of debt or no debt
also, of trying whether the debt
the h caas u
ts
he
e—ptor
wy ienr , g
was incurred fraudulently, or without the debtor
having at the time of contract the means of pay-
ing it, and this being proved, the judge has
power, and is bound) to order immediate punish-
ment by imprisonment. So again, if a creditor
has obtained a judgment against his debtor, he
may summon him to show cause why he should
not pay or be committed ; and if it appear that
the debt has been contracted by false pretences,
the debtor may be imprisoned. But this bill
does a great deal more ; it proposes to abolish the
distinction between traders and non-traders, and
to extend to the latter the laws in force relating
to bankrupts, with, however, the very proper
reservation, that this shall only have effect as
regards debts and liabilities which shall be con-
tracted subsequent to the passing of the act ; and
by another bill, which his Lordship has since
introduced, viz., the " District Courts of Bank-
ruptcy Abolition Bill," his Lordship proposes to
abolish the present system of first, second, and
third class certificates, and, in lieu of leaving the
assignees and creditors to imprison a fraudulent
bankrupt or not as they may think proper, to give
the Court a direct power of punishment by impri-
sonment. This last bill is quite as important as
the other, and we think the two (for they appear
to us to be parts of a whole) are well calculated
to bring about a more healthy state of things, and
to put a stop to the frightful frauds and most
dishonest and disgraceful practices that are now
daily being brought to light. The bill we have
last referred to distinctly defines the offences on
proof of which punishment by imprisonment is to
be awarded, and it also defines the quantum of
punishment. We annex a copy of the clauses on
this subject, and may
take an early opportunity
of recurring to this bill :

XXXIII. And whereas the powers heretofore vested
in the Commissioners of the Court of Bankruptcy hays
not been found sufficient for the prevention of frauds
or misconduct by bankrupts, and it is expedient to give
powers for that purpose : Be it enacted that section 257
of the Bankrupt Law Consolidation Act shall be, and
the same is hereby repealed ; and that if at the sitting
appointed for the last examination of any bankrupt, or
at any adj ournnaent thereof, or atany sitting or adjourned
sitting for the allowance of his certificate, it shall appear
to the Court that the bankrupt has been guilty of any
of the offences hereinafter in this section mentioned, it
shall be lawful for the Court to adjudge that such bank-
rupt shall be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two
years.

List of Offences within the meaning of this Act, and in

this Section above referred to.
First—lf the bankrupt shall at any time after his
bankruptcy, or within two months next preceding his
bankruptcy, with intent to conceal the state of his
affairs, or to defeat the objects of the law of bankruptcy,
have destroyed any book, paper, deed, writing, or other
document relating to his trade, dealings, or estate.
Second—lf the bankrupt shall, with the like intent,
have kept or caused to be kept false books, or have made
false entries in, or withheld entries from, or wilfully
altered or falsified, any book, paper, deed, writing, or
other document relating to his trade, dealings, or estate.
Third—lf the bankrupt shall have contracted any of
his debts by any manner of fraud or breach of trust, or
by means of false pretences, or without having had any
reasonable or probable expectation, at the time when
contracted, of being able to pay the same ; or shall by
any manner of fraud, or by means of false pretences, have
obtained the forbearance of any of hie debts by any of
his creditors. -

Fourth—lf the bankrupt shall at any time within two
months next precadiig his bankruptcy fratulently, with
intent of diminishing the sum to be dividsd among his
creditors, or of giving an undue preference to any of his
creditors, have paid or satisfied any such creditor,
wholly or in part, or have made away with, mortgaged
or charged any part of his property, of what kind
soever,

Fifth--If the bankrupt shall at any time after his
bankruptcy, and with the like intent as last aforesaid,
have concealed from the Court, or his assignees, any
debt due to or from him, or have concealed or made
away with any part of his property, of what kind aoever.
Sixth—lf the bankrupt shall have contracted any of
his debts by reason of any judgment in any proceeding
for breach of the revenue laws, or in any action fur
breach of promise of marriage, seduction, criminal
conversation, libel, slander, assault, battery, malicious
arrest, malicious prosecution, or malicious trespass.
Seventh—lf the bankrupt shall under his bankruptcy,
or at any meeting of his creditors within three months
next preceding thereto, have attempted to account
for any of his property by fictitious losses or expenses.
XXYLV. If at the sitting appointed for the last
exaiaination of any bankrupt, or at any
oradjourn-
fmoreutthethaeliroewofa,nce of
athi any sitting or adjourned sitting
s certificate, it shall appear to the
court that the bankrupt has been guilty of any of the
yycbie
outer
der h
offences herein-after in this section mentioned, it shall
be lawful for the court to adjudge that such bankrupt
demand d ;cio'ists incurred in any action or
suit vexatiously brought or defended.ur
shall be imprisoned for any term not exceeding one year.
List of Offences
this
Sectionwithin the
abovet inoe
aannyi
referrednsguoi
t fo
f thistor.
First—lf the bankrupt shallei Act, and in
creditors to any unnecessary expense by any vexatious
the recovery
of orany deb
bankruptcy,
yi,
have putis
ba any of
o r
shall
e
indebtede detentem o
a
Second—lt the bankrupt shall at any time after his
bankruptcy, or at any meeting of his creditors holden
within two months next preceding his bankruptcy, have
wilfully prevented or withheld the production of any
book, paper, deed, writing, or other document relating to
his trade, dealings, or estate.
Third—lf the bankrupt shall during his trading, or
for one year at least next preceding his bankruptcy, have
omitted to keep proper books of account, or shall have
kept his books imperfectly, earelosely, and negligently,
and so as not to exhibit at the bankruptcy the real posi•
tion of the bankrupt as to his debts and credits.
Fourth—lf the bankrupt shall have omitted to take
stock, and to enter the same le a book or on paper in
writing, once at least during every two years of hiA
trading.
Fifth—lf the debts, claims and demands proveable
under the bankruptcy shall, from time to time as such
debts, claims, and demands were contracted, have so
greatly exceeded the means of the taekrupt t i provide
for the due payment or sati=factien thereof (regard being
had to his actual and expected property) as to show
gross misconduct in the bankrupt as a trader in con-
tracting the same.
Sixth—lf the bankrupt shall, in his conduct as a
trader, at any time after his bar kruptcy, or within 12
months next preceding his bankruptcy, have wilfully
committed or suffered any art which in the opinion of
the Court shall not amount to any offence above speci-
fied iu this Act, bat which nevertheless shall appear to
the Celia to have been committed or suffered by the
bankrupt in violation cf good faith, or with intent to
defraud or injure some one or more of his creditors.

Ahmednugur, and a gang OTlTheelk in the dis-
trict of Chanelore, on the road to Mallagamur.
Captain Montgomery, three other officers, and 50
men were wounded.

This telegram arrived at Malta and Alexandria
by her Majesty's ship Urgent, on the 20th• Feb., at
11.50 p.m. _ . .

LYONS, Admiral.

THE FRENCH PASSPORT SYSTEM.
PARIS, MONDAY MORNING.

The Constitutionnel publishes the following
"communicated" article :—"The public is warned
that all foreigners coming from abroad will be
admitted to the territory of the Empire only on
the production of passports furnished by the com-
petent authorities of their country, and viedd by a
diplomatic or consular agent of France. The
French visa must be renewed on the occasion of
every journey to France."
The result of the division on the " Conspiracy
to Murder Bill" has produced a great sensa-
tion among all classes of people'. here. The
Ministerial organs evidently did not expect
such a result, and are much taken aback.
Their language has lost something of its vain-
glorious style. In official quarters no trifling
bewilderment is apparent, and eves people who
are not over friendly towards England admit
that matters have been carried too far with her.
There is a pretty general feeling that a series of
unfortunate blunders has been committed. It
is difficult for ordinary men to explain, unless
on suppositions of the strongest kind, mis-
takes which a novice in government could
hardly have committed. M. de Morny's
address, the military addresses, and, what 'is as
great a blunder as either, M. Walewski's famous
despatch. Some certainly regret the fill of Lord
Palmerston, but nearly all concur in condemning
the causes which led to it., Few can recal without
'indignation the language of the colonels ; or with-.
out shame the statement of a French Minister, that
in England the doctrine of assassination is openly
preached.

It is said that the defence intended to be set up
by Perri during his trial is, that though he entered
into the conspiracy for the assassination of the
Emperor, yet he was suddenly struck with remorse,
or perhaps fear, a few minutes before the time ap-
pointed for the commission of the deed, and that
under this impulse he did not throw his grenade.
Orsini, who it appears avows all, corroborates
Pierri in that respect. It is certain that the
grenade was found on Pierri, and what he says
about remorse may be true.

PARIS, Feb. 19.—The Legislative Body sat yes-
terday, Count de Morny in the chair. The order
of the day was the adjourned discussion on the bill
relative to Measures of Public Safety, Article 1
being under consideration. The following is the
official summary of the proceedings :
M. Legrand (du Nord) had to remark that this article
did not belong to the political, bet to the judicial and
permantat parC of the measure, supposing, as bad been
affirmed, that the bill was to apply only to the ill-dis-
posed, he could not see that was a reason why the
guarantees which were the right of the accused should
be suppressed ; at all events, the bill onaht to be clear
and preci-e. Now, he could not see that Art. 1 po fl-
amed that character, a,nd consequently, he must ask
for explanations on the point In particular, he should
like to know if the article applied both to orioles at d
misdemeanours provided for by Art. 86 of the Petal
Code, or to crimes only.
M. Adolphe Debelleyme spoke in favour of the article.
He thought that the bill ought not to be separated from
the facts which had led to its presentation. The great
character of the measure was one of imperative neces-
sity, and its object was the security of society—it wag,
in a word, a bill brought forward for the present eon.,
junctnre.
Count de Pierre must oppose the bill. He felt astonish-
ment that the Government of the Emperor—that Go-
vernment so well established and so strong—was power-
less to maintain order in the country. He was also
surprised that some persons should haVe asked them-
selves what would have become of the country if the
Emperor had perished. on the 14th of January: For
his own part, he did not entertain the slight.-st doubt
that the general cry would have been—" L'Em-
pereur est wort I Vive l'Empereur I " A great
mistake, in his opinion, was made in representing tie
present Government as one which was now establishing
itself. The Government was perfectly established, and
was so from the day on wbich the popular will acclaimed
the name of Napoleon. Replying more particularly t o
M. Granter de Cassageac..to whom ha thought he could
reproach a warlike burnout of too persevering a charac-
ter, ho thought that in mentioning fthe number of
imprisonments effected by the Committee of Public
Safety that hon. gentleman k.eemed to imply that, with
such an example before it, the present Government
would have an ample margin to act in an arbitrary
manner. Adverting to what had been said relative to
secret societies, be could not admit that they existed ;
but he was of opinion that the measures now proposed
were not sufficient to annihilate them, while the enact-
ments of the Penal Code were powerful enough to
fender them innocuous.
Art. 1 was then put to the vote and adopted.
The Marquis de Talheet wished to learn what persons
could,be affected by Art. 2, for he could not see that
there was a just proportion between the acts mentioned
and the penalties to be applied.
M. Baroche, President of the Council of State, must
maintain that no reproach of want of preciliiou could be
alleged against the articles spoken of. The words
"manceuvres and understandings" employed in the article
already existegd in several of the French laws. The
manoeuvres wiaich Article 2 could punish were not of au
indeterminate character, but acts clearly pointed out
by the object which they aimed at. They should
have for object either to trouble the public peace or
to excite 'to hatred or contempt of the Government
The Bill had not in view to punish either regrets or
reminiscences, or even hopes. He could declare that
opinions expressed with more or less warmth of language
—epigrams or allusions—were not what the bill desired
to reach.
M. Emile 011ivier would wish to have some explana-
tion given of the real meaning of the article. It spoke
of intelligence kept up either with the interior or with
foreign countries ; he would like to know whether it
permitted a blame of the acts of the Government to be
expressed in a letter written to a friend in the interior.
He acknowledged that he telt uneasy at the vagueness of
the labguag used, and in his opinion abject and means
remained alike at the tnerey of arbitrary decisions. What,
in his opinion, it was designed to reach and punish, was the
opposition which was to be found in the bosom of family
circles. Having such opinions, he must call oh the Go-
vernment Commissioners to assign a precise meaning
to the language of the article.
M. BABOCIIE said that the whole quastion was this—
ought it to be permitted to excite to hatred and contempt
of the Government, or to trouble public tranquillity, or,
on the other hand, ought the Government to endeavour
to punish the manoeuvres whic't aimed at that object.
Nothing inquisitorial was intended by the article, and the
words of jetted to were not more vague in the bill now
under consideration than in the penal code. The fact of
having written a letter which might have been seized,
did not constitute a manceuvre,!and,for his part, he could
not conceive an extreme case which might never occur,
being brought forward as a sufficient reason for opposing
measure intended to defend such grave interests as those
at at stake.

M. OLLIVIER trust insist that the bill reached every
provocation made in a public place or In the prese. That
he perfec.ly well understood ; but what he could not
understand was -that it should he dedred•to reach the
remarks exchanged between friends.
M. GRANIER DE CASSAGNAO desired to reply t, It. do
Pierri on a matter which concerned himself personal:y.
He wished to observe that. for five a d twenty years ho
had been defending the cause of order and socety ; an I
when he looked at the s ate of the country, he was
apprehensive that the moment had not arrived for him
to retire from action.
Ar's. 2,3, 4, and 5 were successively put to the vete
and carried.
M. AYME must oppose Art. 6 Having voted for Arts.
1 and 2, he had net thought it right to oppose Art. 5;
which rendered persons condemned in virtue of the ,e
provisions sunjec• to the measures of publ e safety, but
he could not admit that that enactment be applied to
persons condemned for other crimes or misdemeanours.
It appeared to him. that, as far as relatio,ltosurciiierosi
there ex steel a sufficient guarantee, 0 Art. 22 the
Penal Code, which permits the judges, in ex:rk In, case:,
to t übj,,ct them to the surv, iliance of the Hiee.
Art. 6 was adopted, at were Art,. 7,8, arpi 9.
M. GAREAU, in speaking on Art. 10, observed that at
the moment of voting this most important measure, be
felt an indescribable sadness in coming forward to declare
that he could not accede t) the bill. It was because he
was more anxious than any other to behold the firm
maintenance of the empire, that he felt unable to vote a
bill designated unfortunate by its supoor..ers, and dis-
astrous by its opponents.
Art. 10 was adopted,
The Whole bill in its ensemble was put to the vote,
and adopted by 227 votes to 24
The Hitting was then brought to a close.

A number of arrests of Italian, refugees have
been made at Genoa. Also that ofan Ent;lishman,
who wea takcn at the inn called the Hotel de la
Vile. A report was spread that it was Al!sop who
had been arrested ; but the prisoner is a younger
man—his name is Durrell Hodges. It is said that
some at least of these arrests are in cousequence o
the persons being implicated in the Paris attempt.

We regret to record the df-ath of Mr. Alexande•
Blank, the emine❑t archit,ct, c f Edinburgh. Mr. Back
expired on Friday morning last, at 1 alf-rant one o'clock,
bayieg just completed his 6003 year.

AMERICA.

-cro
(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)
ARRIVAL OF THE CANADA.

LIVERPOOL, MONDAY MORNING.

The Royal Mail steamship Canada, Lang, Com-
mander, bas arrived from Boston, via Halifax, with
dates from New York to the 9th inst., 208,000
dols. and 1.0,4001. in specie on freight, and about
60 passengers.

The House of Representatives had adopted a
proposition to refer the Lecompton Constitution
question. to a special committee of 15 members.
During the debate, which was continued up to 7
o'clock on the moiling of the 6th, a fight occurred
between Mr. Grow, of Pensylvania, and Mr.
Keitt, Democrat., of South Carolina. Subsequently
Mr. Keitt apologised, as did also. Mr. Glow.
The Navy Department had appointed the officers
to the steamship Nilgara. Captain W. L. Hudson
is again in command.
In the New York money market on the 9th theie
was more activity, but the rate of interest was de-
clining. Money was freely offered. Foreign ex-
change was in good demand. On London at sight
1101 to 1101. Cotton, under the influence of the
Arabia's advices, advanced to 114 for middling up-
lands. Breadstuffs were inactive, buyers waiting
for lower prices. Crude turpentine iu demand.
Potashes very firm. Scotch pig and bar iron very
quiet. Railroad qualities in demand. Sugar more
active, at steady prices ; molasses firm. Freights
unsettled.

By telegraph we have advices, via Boston, from
New York to the bveuing of the 9th. Ihe following
Were the latest quota'ions for Stocks :—Virginia
Sixes, 911 ; Missouri Sixes, 83i ; Indiana Fives,
85 ; North Carolina Sixes, 931 ; Tennessee
Sixes, 88i ; New York Central Sixes, 88k;
Illinois Central Bonds, 951 ; Cumberland; 21:q ;
Pacific Mail Company, 60 ; Erie Railroad, 24i ;
Milwaukie and Mississippi, 32 ; Harlem Railroad,
11k ' • ditto preferred, 20 ; Reading, 56 ; La Crosse
and Milwaukie, 11 ; Michagan Central, 52 ; Micha-
gan Southern, 21i ; Panama, 98k; Galena and
Chicago, 81 ; Cleveland and Toledo, 43 ; Chicago
and Rock Island, 70g. Cotton firuter, at 11Ac. for
middling upland ; State and western flour firm ;
southern quiet ; wheat firm ; molass, s improved
Fi eights to Liverpooi dull and unsettled.
The Arabia, steamer, from Liverpool, at New
York, 7th inst.

LATEST VIA HALIFAX.
The steamer Indian arrived at Portland on the
10th ixst.

The City of Baltimore, steamer, arrived at New
York on the 11th inst:

The news by these steamers had further excited
the cotton market ; and the la•est despatches from
New Orleans and Mobile quote middling cotton
at 111 cents.

ARRIVAL OF THE FULTON.
The United States mail packet Fulton, Captain
Wotton, arrived yesterday at Cowes, on her way to
Havre. She 1-ft New York on the 6th inst. She
brought over 88 passengers-76 of which were for
Havre. Amongst her cargo was specie to the value
of 300,000 dollars for England and 394,565 dollars
for France. She passed what was believed to be the
City of Baltimore on the Bth inst., steering west.
The news from the United States is two days
later than we had previously received, but it is not
of any importance or interest, except the following,
which lacks confirmation :

Chicago, Feb. 5.
A rumour comes to us' from Fayetteville, Arkansas,
that a fearful insurrection had occurred near that place,
said to have been incited by two white men. The
negroes are represented to have attacked two settlements,
burning houses and killing cattle. The insurrection wag
finally subdued by the organisation of a force of volen-
trers, who killed seven and captured eighteen of the in-
surretionist.. The truth of the rumour was doubted.
General Walker, Colonel Frank Anderson, and
several other filibusters, have been indicted at New
Orleans for violation or the neutrality laws.

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.
NEW YORK, FEB. 6.
The cotton market was quite active yesterday,
at firmer rates. The prices obtained were on the
basis of 10ic. to 11c. fur middling uplands, closing
at the latter figure. -
Flour was without change of moment in prices,
and sales were somewhat less active, the demand
for export being tight, and the chief sales being
made to the local trade and for the eastward.
Wheat was firm and rather more active, with sales
of prime Southern red at 1 dol. 22c. and common
Western white at 1 dol. 18c. Corn was lower,
and at 65c. to 66c. for all grades.
Pork easier ; mess at 15 dols. 50e. to 15 v.
62e. Freights to Liverpool were more active, and
in flour and dead weight firmer. To London and
Glasgow they were quiet and unchanged. The
heaviest engagement to Liverpool consisted of
10,000 bbls. flour at ls. 10d. to 2s.
EXCUAN E.—The rates for choice bills continue
firm, and quite up to the specie point.* On Lon-
don, 1091 to 110; on France, 5.16 f to 5.131 The
market for money keeps easy. Both banks and pri-
vate lenders'are disposed to extend their loans at
call at a moderate interest where the stock collate-
rale are unexceptionable. We quote demand loins
6 to 7 per (lent. ; discount, 7 to 8 per cent. for
short, and 7i to 9 per cent. for long date paper of
the best class.