The Express. — 1862-09-30 (London, England)

SMUG.  Letters from Italy continue to speak most hopefully of the Roman question. It is reported that Prince Napoleon took his seat side by side with K Rattazzi in a ministerial council, an event which I should not have thought calcuLited to strengthen the failing confidence of the Italians in the " nationality " of that minister. It has been remarked that the Conditutionnel, while professing to see in the Moniker's disclosures a complete triumph for its own "line of policy," carefully abstains from stating which of the many lines of policy which its editor, M. Paulin Limayrac, has suppor;.ed at short intervals, is the one now officially ooufirmed. Not a word about the evacuation of Rome can M. Limayrac now be provoked to utter—he deals only iu adulation and generalities. The France puts the issue between the rivals for official favour very fairly. It says, " The Constitutionael argued lately that the French army should leave Rome ; our doctrine was that it should stay. The Constitetionne/ says that we are repudiated by the Monsieur. if the occupation shall be abandoned, we will admit the Gonstitutionners victory ; but at present our troops remain in Rome, and our position is that they will remain there." In furtherance of its own interpretation of the Moniker, the Prance calls attention to the great importance of those words at the head of the Moniker which I have already twice remarked upon, " Conciliation has not ceased to be (u'a pas cease) the object of the Emperor's policy." The too sanguine friends of the Italian cause would do well to ponder upon the fact that these words formed the prominent feature of the short telegraphic despatch which K de Persigny sent to all the prefects as the key to their action upon public opinion in the provinces. The approach (I do not mean the immediate approach) of the general elections is indicated less by any positive information than by little anecdotes of the prefects, who are preparing to take the field with their usual zeal and their usual disregard of legality and fair play in favour of the government candidates. Already they are doing their utmost to prevent those members of the Corps Legislatif who are intended to be thrown out from holding any communication with the electors, even were it only about rain or fine weather. The Union Franc Constoiee gives a striking anecdote on this subject, The Marquis d'Andelarre, deputy of the Haute&bee, was, like all his fellow-deputies except five, sent to represent the people on the nomination of the Emperor. He lately presided at an agricultural meeting at Vesoul, where he made a purely bucolic speech, containing not the slightest political allusion unless, indeed, the expression of an opinion that "to serve agriculture was at the same time to serve one' country and the Emperor" may be called one. But inasmuch as he is not to be a government candidate next time, the prefect put his speech in the "index," and the semiofficial paper, the Journal de la Haute-Saone, was prohibited from inserting it. It was feared that the eloquence of the marquis, however inoffensive in itself, might have some effect upon the mind of the peasant elector, and that the safest thing was to keep him from reading it. Such is the system. I am, of course, not sorry for the Marquis d'Andelarre, who, owing his seat to government patronage, cannot be beard to complain of that patronage being transferred to other. But I cannot believe in the permanence of a system of universal suffrage which assumes that the sovereign elector is not competent to choose between rival candidates, if they are all allowed to communicate with him freely. The Correctional Tribunal gave judgment this morning in the affair of the twenty-two printers prosecuted for a coalition to raise their wages. Three were acquitted, hut the remaining nineteen were found guilty, and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, varying from one month to ten days. The conviction, as the law stands, was almost a matter of course, though from their great respectability, sad an impression that they have, been ill-used, public sympathy was on the side of the men. M. Berryer, who defended them, dwelt forcibly upon the harshness of the present laws, which have found no substitute for the trades corporations abolished by the great revolution, and now leave the workmen absolutely powerless against the permanent coalition of the masters. A suicide was committed yesterday (Sunday) evening at the Bal Mabille while the dancing was going on. A young man blew his brains out with a pistol and fell down dead. Two eergenta de villa forthwith produced a stretcher, kept ready in case of accident, and took the corpse away. The Bourse continues very firm. Rent. rose 10c. for cash and 20c. for account, closing at 70fr. 10c. and 70fr. 30c. Mobilier rose 25fr. The Italian Loan is without change. The Southern Railway rose 6fr. 25c. ; in other lines there is little alteration.