The Sun. — 1868-07-18 (London, England)

OWN CORRESPONDENT.) PARIS, FRIDAY, July IT. The debate on the Budget yesterday relapsed to that Darren subject, Algeria. Except that the colony was an .ixtremely convenient means for swelling the Budget and ;raining soldiers at the same time, and that France would not have lost a great deal if Algeria had been left to its unfortunate natives, the discussion did not produce much. The Opposition speakers endea' voured to shew that all the calamities which have befallen the country are the direct result of the military Pegime. It would certainly not be easy to prove that military rule has done much good. Many public works, inthe shape of railways, canals, and ports, have been:constructed, but the money would have been better employed in reducing the annual deficit. At the same time it would be difficult to estimate at present the exact effect of the civil government demanded by the Left. The country has been subjected lo an unheard-of series of calamities. In 1864 a formidable insurrection, dictated by religious influence, required all the resources of the Government to quell it. In 1866 an invasion of locusts left the colony a desert. In 1867 the winter was unusually severe, and great part of the flocks in one district perished. Lastly came the famine, which has resulted—in cannibalism. No Government can fairly be criticised under such circuna stances. All that the Opposition cduld prove was that Algeria was never likely to do much credit to France. The Progres de l'Algerie reports a trial for cannibalism. An Arab was charged with having dug up the body of a child, and roasted and eaten it. The poor wretch pleaded guilty, adding that it was such bad fare that he left it for a jackal to finish. The counsel for the prisoner read a letter from the Governor-General to the Archbishop of Algiers, in which it was maintained that man-eating wa► the result of an affection of the brain. It stated that in Ireland (the point disputed by Cardinal Cullen), as well us in Algeria, cannibals have invariably proved to have been under the influence of insanity. The prisoner was acquitted.  The marked manner in which Baron Offenburg, the Prussian representative at Bucharest, avoided meeting with Prince Napoleon has given rise to some comments here. Baron Offenburg was Cr only consular representative who did not visit tho prince. Ho was likewise absent from the official reception which Prince Charles gave in honour of his illustrious guest. On his part, Prince Napoleon declined to receive M. Rosetti, the chief of the Reds, who is on intimate terms with Mazzini. M. Rosetti did all ho could to obtain an interview, but in vain. The Duke de Gramont has sent Baron Beust another protest against the taxation of Austrian bonds. The note does not this time confine itself to bonds taken up in France, but applies to all foreign holders. The titles of newspapers are every day—for they are thoroughly ephemeral—becoming more extravagant. The Lanterne alone has lighted a host of minor lights. The Mandelle, the Lampion, the Congre, the Quinquet are all paling their ineffectual fires at present, and a few more would complete the whole possible circle of illumination. The Luxemburg Washerwoman and a few notable English papers are nowhere in the race. Eccentricity has led to extravagance, and extravagance has led to absurdity. The walls of Paris are just now covered with a placard in huge letters, announcing a new paper to appear once a week. The most imaginative man—lL Dumas himself—could never guess the title, or explain the object of this print. Its name is to be the Bug in Butter.  Here, however, people love singularity in everything, from newspapers to suicide, No other country could ' produce such an array of methods by which those weary of existence contrive to rid themselves of it. Suffocation is the favourite mode, but after charcoal there seems to be no preference. If a Frenchman shoots himself or takes poison, he surrounds the simple action with dramatic accompaniments in the shape of amorous notes, dying speeches and confessions, and mysterious warnings. He is, however, fertile in expedients altogether new. Not long ago a man knocked a hole in the bottom of a barge, got thoroughly drunk, and went with his craft to the bottom of the Seine. Another, in the South, blew himself up, together with a stable, by means of gunpowder. We may even look for the application of nitro-glycerine. Its effect would be so novel and astounding that it cannot long remain unemployed. The redeeming feature of French fel° de se is that the principals very often repent before it is too late. This, however, was not the case with a girl who yesterday swallowed a solution of phosphorus which she Lad obtained from the ends of some chemical matches. She was discovered in the most horrible agony, and medical assistance was procured and the effect of the poison arrested, but the girl's life is still despaired of,