Star.
London, England, 1831-07-30 00:00:00

FRANCE.

The mouvement party wish M. Laffite President,
in order to overthrow the Ministry of M. Casimir
Perier, and prepare the way for the Ministry of
Odilon Barrot and Lafayette. For it cannot be
disguised, the Ministry of Lafitte is only demanded
as the stepping-stone to Odillon Barret. It may
be remarked, that Odillon Barrot, who, in the elec-
tions of the National Guard of Paris, was only
named Captain, has been named Deputy in five
Departments. If all the National Guards of the
kingdom had nominated the Chamber, the men of,
the opinions of Odilon Barrot would have been
named nowhere. From this fact may be drawn this
other consequence, that the Chamber will necessa-
rily be in the spirit of its election, and consequently
in a spirit different from the National Guard.-
-What matters, in fact, to France, whether M.
Casimir Perier or M. Lafitte be President of the
Council ? M. Casimir Perier is prime minister for
these four months and a half, and the evils of
France appear aggravated. M. Lafitte was prime
minister also, and it was he who presented a civil
list of 18 millions, who left us in tumults, and
without a budget. It is not, then, such changes
of men that can save us. One measure alone
would accomplish the salvation of France : it is the
admission of all the National Guards to the enjoy-
ment of the electoral rights; for the National
Guards wish, independent of the opinions of indi-
viduals, all that which can preserve us from terror
and from invasion,_ and render to us public order
and prosperity.—Gazette de France.
ais, JULY 27.—The Courrier Francais,
after referring to the opposition offered by M.
Casimir Perier to the election of M. Lafitte to the
Presidency of the Chamber of Deputies, and the
advantage taken of his pecuniary 'misfortunes to
exclude him from public affairs, adds, a report has
been spread that the finances of M. Lafitte are in
such a low state, that he is unable to pay into the
Treasury a sum of 5000 f. of Rentes which be
owes as a guarantee for the fulfilment of contracts
with the Hotel des Invalides. Every body knows
full well that M. Lafitte embarked himself and the
whole of his fortune in the revolution ; upwards
of 500 families owe the salvation of their honour
and their existence to him. One of the first houses
in Paris was on the brink of ruin. In order to save
it the house of M. Lafitte made advances to the
amount of 100,000 f. and gave guarantees to the
amount of 15,000 f. of rentes for the performance
of contracts for the Invalids. M. Lafitte was never
inclined to enter into any such contracts, and, hav-
ing become minister, he considered such engage-
ments as the more inconsistent, and requested Mar-
shal Soult to make fresh contracts, he, M. Lafitte,
engaging to indemnify the Government if it sus-
tained any loss. The Marshal agreed to take the
subject into consideration, and M. Lafitte con-
ceived that the affair was thus concluded. No man
in France can be ignorant that M. Lafitte gave up
all the advantages he derived from his establish-'
ment to devote himself to the cares of the Presi-
dency of the council, which he was forced to under-
take against his wishes. A trustee was appointed for
the settlement of his private affairs, and he no longer
interfered in the business of his house. What was
his surprise when last evening he received a letter
from the Minister of War, giving him notice that
DO part of the advances he made in the mouth of
June would be repaid him until he had made the
deposit of 5,000 f. of Rentes. This letter threw a
light upon the rumours that had been circulated
with respect to his situation. He also received,
in the course of the day, confidential communi-
cations from his colleagues in the Chamber. He
did not lose a moment, but immediately wrote to
Marshal Soult a letter called for by the circum-
stances. We applied for a copy of this letter, but
were at first refused it, though a readiness was
expressed to give the purport of it. We persisted,
and M. Latitte. on learning that the occurrence
with regard to the 5,000 f. of Rentes had been no-
ticed by a journal; consented to our having and pub-
lishing a copy of it. It is as follows :

PARIS, JULY 26.

" MARSHAL—I bare this moment received your letter
of the 24th instant, in answer, you say, to mine of the 21st.
Not having had the honour of writing to you on the 21st, 1
was completely ignorant that my trustees had done it in
my stead. It grieves me, Marshal, that they could have
supposed that a litigious point would be explained in my
favour by the Administration. As soon as I heard of the
matter in question, I ordered the payment you demanded,
without examining whether the claim was well-founded
or not. Unfortunately for my enemies, I am not so
low in circumstances as not to be able to furnish five
thousand francs in Reines. Your letter, Marshal, greatly
surprised me. The sacrifice I have made of my house was
too well known in your office, for the signature of my true-
tee to be taken for my own. My house, Marshal, lent to
the commercial interest above 211 millions of boons with a
view to carry it through the difficulties wetted by the Rem.
lotion of July. Were I to We all that has not yet been
repaid to me, I should, thank God, not be reduced to the

necessity of impiorlng the pity of any person. You know,
Marshal, that I never would seek to compromise the respon•
sibility of any one. At present you will consider it but
just that I should seek to remove every pretext for ca-
lumny. It has been spread every where, in the Chamber,
on the Exchange, and in the Journals. I accuse no one,
but I fear no Investigation. I shall always be ready to
present myself with my conscience to the judgment of my
country. Believe me, &e. "J. LAFITTE."
On obtaining this letter we learnt that the de-
mand of the 5,000 f. of rentes was made in conse-
quence of an interpretation of a clause in the con-
tract, that the deposit by way of guarantee should
be 15,000 f. of rentes in the three per cents. and
the administration chose to determine that the
stock should be taken at 75 per cent. which re
quired the investment of a further sum of 5,000 f.
in rentes. The trustees of the house, without
the knowledge of M. Lafitte, disputed this demand,
as being evidently not founded in justice. This,
in fact, is the whole of the transaction.— Galig-
nani's Messager.
LITTER FROM PARIS, JULY 27.—The ides of
March, or rather the three days, are come. Those
three days that were to have been, according to the
alarmists, celebrated by another revolution. They
will pass off without disturbance of any kind ; fetes
are too agreeable to he abused ; we shall, therefore,
abandon ourselves to pleasure. Nothing can ex-
ceed the brilliancy of Paris to-day, notwithstanding
that every man—and most of the women you meet—
(and all Paris is out of doors)— wear a crape in me-
mory of the dead. The royal procession to the Place
de la Bastille was truly splendid. The king had at his
right Don Pedro (the model of resignation, as one of
the Farceens terms him); the Duc d'Orleans on his
left. Marshals Soult, Mortier, Gerard, M'Donald,
Molitor, and I believe Jourdan, and nearly a legion
of Generals and Colonels,with their respective aides-
de-camp, followed, and presented a spectacle of the
most superb description. The ceremonies at the
Place de la Bastille and at the Pantheon will be ill-
posing, no doubt, but not more delightful than the
homage every moment rendered bybodies of citizens,
and by individuals at the several depositories of the
glorious dead. At the Place du Louvre, Champs
de Mars, Rue Froidmanteau, Marche des Inno-
cens, &c. parties arrived every instant, laden with
flags, banners, garlands, chaplets of living and
dead flowers, and other offerings to the manes of
the men of July, while the churches of every re-
ligion celebrate their anniversary with unusual
pomp and circumstance.
The preparations for the day* orrejoicing (to-
morrow and Friday) are on a magnificent scale—
those for the illuminations and fireworks exceed any
thing seen hero since the birth of the ci-devant
Ring of Rome. In these matters the French excel
you in a degree which those who have not witnessed
both would hardly credit. Conceive, with respect
to the illuminations, every public building in Paris
lighted up with magnificence equal to that of the re-
sidence of the French envoy in London (M. Otto, I
believe) on the occasion of the peace of Amiens, and
you will not arrive at the reality. A bracket bearing
an earthen burner filled with tallow and a wick, is
nailed to every tree in the Champs Elysees—those
fronting the grand avenue have two ; while from
tree to tree on each side throughout the whole ex-
tent of that avenue, from the Place de la Revolt'.
tiou to the triumphal arch at the Barriere de
l'Etoile, is suspended a festoon of lamps. The
whole distance, immediately within the first path-
way in the left of the avenue, is occupied by booths
of every description that is to be seen at Conti-
nental fairs. The grand square is reserved for
theatres, orchestras, the Mats de Cocagne, &c.—
but, as a description of the entertainments by anti-
ciption would be necessarily cold and incomplete,
I reserve it for my next.—Herald.