The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-01-19 00:00:00

FRANCE

The French Chambers were opened by the King in
person on Monday last. The royal speech commenced
by directing the attention of the Chambers to the dis-
tresses of a part of the people, and expressing a hope that
" by the firm maintenance of order, by the liberty and
security of commercial transactions, by an ample and ju-
dicious application of the public resources efficiently aid-
ing the zeal of private charity," the trials may be mitiga-
ted. The marriage of the Duke de Montpensier is allu-
ded to as " a fresh pledge of those good and intimate
relations which have so long subsisted between France
and Spain, and the maintenance of which is desirable for
the prosperity, as for the reciprocal security, of the two
states." He expresses a hope that the affairs of La Plata
will be soon settled, announces the conclusion of a treaty
of navigation with Russia, and refers to the incorporation
of Cracow as an " unexpected event." The revenue has
continued to improve, and the great public works are to
be " completed with the perseverance which the interests
of the country command, and with the prudence indis-
pensable to the maintenance of public credit."
The Paris papers of Tuesday are, for the most part, oc-
cupied with comments on the speech of the King of the
French. They are, all of thenr, exceedingly- fervent in
regard to the distresses of Ireland, but seem to forget that
the necessities in their own immediate neighbourhood, or
that of the provinces, are nearly as severe. The Chamber
of Deputies met on Tuesday to organise the nine standing
committees ; all the chairmen and secretaries belong to
the Conservative party, and were returned by large majo-
rities. The Chamber of Peers held a, short sitting on
Tuesday, after which it retired into its standing com-
mittee.

Two medals have been struck at the French mint in
commemoration of the generosity with which the French
contributed to the relief of the sufferers from the floods of
the Loire. One is to be preserved in the mint, and the
other is to be distributed to the persons who distinguished
themselves by their activity in rendering assistance to
those who required it.

. -
TIIE DESPATCHES RELATIVE TO THE SPANISH MAR-
RIAGES.—On Tuesday M. Guizot presented to the French
Chambers the official documents relating to the questions
of the Spanish marriages. They are of extreme length,
and have occupied several pages of the daily papers.' In
substance the documents add nothing to what was already
known, as the accounts in the best-informed journals of
London and Paris prove to have been in the main cor-
rect. The Times says, " The impression these despatches
leave upon the mind is, that, although as long as Lord

Aberdeen remained in office, the Frencii. Govern-ment ab-
stained from the direct pursuit of an object incompatible
with the good understanding of the two countries, yet, on

the change of government in the beginning of last July,
M. Guizot was ready, if not eager, to convert the vaguest
suspicion of a tendency in Lord Palmerston to favour the
Coburg prince into a pretext for the direct demand of the
hand of the Infanta or even the Queen for the Duke of
Montpensier. Lord Palmerston, on the other hand, ap-
pears to have been equally unprepared either to promote
the cause of that prince, to whom France was most
strongly opposed, or to resist the pretensions of France iu
favour of a prince of the House of Orleans, when they
were seriously put forward. The consequence was, an

easy and a complete triumph to the Cabinet of the Tuile-
ries ; and, no doubt, Lord Palmerston's presence at the
Foreign-office was a circumstance which afforded an op-

portunity long and ardently desired by the King of the
French." In one of the despatches M. Guizot accuses
Lord Palmerston of garbling. Lord Palmerston is stated
to have quoted from one of M. Guizot's despatches words
respecting an alleged desire on the part of the Spanish
Court for a Coburg alliance which did not appear in it.
Doubtless his lordship will be prepared to explain this
matter satisfactorily at the proper time.