FOREIGN NEWS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 95, 30 October 1852, Page 4

FOREIGN NEWS.

FRANCE. It was supposed that Louis Napoleon had in constructing- his Legislative Chamber provided against all possibility of resistance to his will ; but he begins to find that even the very form of popular control is dangerous, and that an .Assembly, with power limited to the most mimite degree, and composed of persons reckoned mere servile tools, vet contains elements dangerous to the continuance of uncontrolled powers. If any subject at all could he supposed within the province of an assembly resembing even remotely a House of Commons, it would be the care of'money voted for public purposes, and the examination of the various items of which the votes are composed. The budget committee of the Corps Legislalif has made this not remarkable mistake, and pointed out various accounts on which important savings could he effected, all the more required that the national expenditure has been continually oflate exceeding the income. Several of the articles of the budget thus pointed out were rejected. This lias been followed by an official intimation from the Prince President, that their conduct in doing so is unconstitutional; but the committee "still persist in the soundness of its decisions, and altogether evince a very decided opinion that the condition of the public finances and the mode of their expenditure should be thoroughly enquired into, a determination which Louis Napoleon will not relish or permit to be carried out. . The French Council of State has had under consideration the "conflict" which has arisen between Louis Napoleon and the law courts on ■ the- subject of the confiscated property of the Orleans Family. It will be recollected, when the decree of confiscation was issued, that the family of Louis Phillipe appealed to the tribunal of the Seine, where they were met by the Attorney-General, who called'upon the court to hold itself incompetent to discuss any act issued by Government; but the judges holding the. matter belore them to be one" of private property not affecting t\ m Government proclamation, declared themselves competent, and fixed a day for the discussion. Tims thwarted, government suspended proceedings in the ordinary tribunal, and laid the question before the Council of State, the members of which have also shown symptoms of spirit. The question of the right of the ordinary tribunals to discuss the legality of the decrees confiscating the Orleans estates, has been decided, as was expected, in favour of the President; but it is known, it appears, that the sixteen Councillors composing the court—though all men appointed to office by Louis Napoleon and holding their salaries at his will—were equally divided on the question, and that the result was only obtained by the casting vote of the chairman, M. Baroche, f a mere tool and creature of the President. The result in these circumstances is of course destitute of all moral weight, and an opinion now prevails that even yet the decree may in consequence be considerably modified. The Count de Chairbord, it is said, has written another letter, dated the 10th of June, in which he again insists that his political friends shall refuse to take the oath of allegiance to the Prince President. Several newspapers having lately relaxed in appending the signatures of the writers to the articles inserted, have received an official intimation that a continuance of such conduct will expose those journals lo the penalties fixed by the law upon that subject. The provincial journals continue to «ive details of considerable damage caused by the overflowing of the rivers. Several bridges'have been washed away, and much apprehension felt with respect to the harvest. The Moniteur announces that from the Ist of J nly it is about to reduce its price to 40f. per annum. The present price is I I2f. This will be a serious blow to the press, and especially to the Government journals. It kis sa ( ( i that " tlie Moniteur will shortly be printed at the Palais B'.yal. The chief editor, .M. Grun, will be placed under the immediate control of three btale functionaries, who are to see that no writer shall be engaged for that journal but who is laviiurable to the existing Government Viscount Edward Walsh, the proprietor of the old chateau of Chaumont, on the Rhone is now restoring the chateau, upon which lie proposes to lay out as much as 150,0001" The Jtimster of jmblic works had .allotted to the

Viscount 22,000f. in aid of the restoration, from a large fund at his disposal for the purpose of restoring historical monuments. The chum of Cbaumont to he so considered consists in its having belonged to Catherine de Medicis and Diana of Poictiers. It having, however, heen supposed in certain quarters that this 22.000K, was the price of Viscount Walsh's adhesion to the present Government, he has written to refuse the money, and to say that he is, as ever, a stanch Legitimist. Count d'Orsay has been appointed superintendantof the fine arts to the Elysee, with a salary of £1000 a. year. The President has placed at the Count's disposal £12,000 from his private purse, to make purchases with. The first hatch of convicts sent to Cayenne arrived there on thel3ih May, in the Aider corvette. During their voyage they conducted themselves with great propriety, and expressed a determination, for the future, to lead a reformed life. The message of the President, addressed to the Corps Legidattf, was most conciliatory, thanking them for their loyal co-operation, and promising to lav before them, on re-opening, some projects tending to diminish the national expenses. The following is the Message :— " Elysee National, June 28, 1852. " Messteubs,— "At the moment when the Session of 1852 is about to close. I desire to thank you for your co-operation, and the loyal support you have given our new institutions. You resisted that feeling which is the most dangerous amongst men assembled together, the seductions of esprit, de corps ; and, laying aside all susceptibilities, you have occupied yourselves with the great interests of the country, well understanding that the time for passionate and barren speeches had gone by, and that for doing business arrived. "The application of a new system always encounters difficulties, for which you have made due allowances. If your first sittings were not fully employed, you have comprehended that the desire which I felt to abridge my Dictatorship, and to call you around me, was the cause, by depriving my government of the time necessary for the preparation of laws to be submitted to you. " The natural consequence of this exceptional state of things was an accumulation of work at the end of the session. Nevertheless the first trial of a constitution of an origin altogether trench, must have sewed to convince you that we possess the conditions of a strong and free government^ Power is no longer the fixed aim against which the diverse oppositions direct their shafts with impunity. It can resist their attacks, and henceforward follow a system without having recourse to arbitrary conduct or to ruse. On the other hand, the control of assemblies is grave, for discussion is free, and the vote of tlu supplies serious. " As to the imperfections which experience will have made known, our common love of the public good will tend unceasingly to soften their inconvenience until the Senate" shall have pronounced upon them. "In the interval'of the session I will apply all my care to search out the wants of the country, and to prepare plans which will permit me to diminish the expenses of the State without in any manner compromising the public service. On your return I will communicate to you the result of my labours and the general state of affairs, by the Message which the Constitution compels me to address to you every year. » !\ l" ret»r»inj? to your department, be the faithful echo of the sentiment which reigns here —confidence in conciliation and peace. Tell your constituents that in Paris, the heart of France, that revolutionary centre which sheds in turn through the world li«rht or a conflagration—you have seen an immense populatioirapplymg themselves witli pleasure to labour with perfect security as to the future. He who lately in his delirium was impatient in every restraint, you have seen him hail with acclamation the return of our eagles—symbols of authority and glory. "At the imposing spectacle, at which relioion consecrated, with iis benedictions, a event national fete, you remarked this respectful attitude. You saw that army to proud, which saved the country, rise again in the esteem of men, whilst Kneeling with devotion before the image of God presented from the altar. ''The meaning of that is, that there is in

France a government animated with faith and the Jove of virtue ; which relies on the people, the source of all power—on the army, the source of all force—on religion, the source 'of all justice. " Receive the assurance of my good wishes. " Louis Napoleon." A strange trial has taken place before the Tribunal of Correctional Police. A dealer in second hand books, named Gervais, was charged at the suit of a person of the same trade^named -Mathieu, with having inflicted serious injury on the plaintiff. The statement of Mathieu! was to the following effect ;—The book stalls of the plaintiff and defendant adjoined each other and there was consequently a rivalry in trade,' but the defendant, nevertheless, pretended at times to he very friendly with the plaintiff. One day, the plaintiff being suffering severely from a griping in the bowels, mentioned the circumstance to Gervais, who, in pretended commiseration, but, as Mathieu now firmly believes, with the intention of laying him up in order that he might have all the book trade to himself, told him that he had a recipe for the cure of such a malady, which had been left to him by hi« mother, and which was infallible. He advised Mathieu to procure some young elder leaves, and to dress them as a salad and eat them! Mathieu having then no suspicion of the abominable motive which prompted this advice, procured the leaves and ate the salad. At this part of the statement of the plaintiff the defendant asked whether the salad had not cured the griping of the bowels—" Yes,'' said the plaintiff, "but it made me sick and confined me to my bed for three days, which was just what you wanted, in order'to get hold of my customers." The defendant replied that it was not his fault if the defendant had made himself ill. Instead of using the remedy in moderation, lie had made salad enough for four persons, and had eaten it all himself, and this assertion of the defendant was not denied by Mathieu, The plaintiff and the defendant having been fully heard by the Court, the proeureur of the Republic delivered his opinion on the case. He began by stating that he did not consider the charge 'of wilful injury to have been established, and should leave that point to the discretion of the tribunal. The defendant smiled, and regarded his cause as gained, when, unfortunately for him, the Proeureur of the Republic went on to say that although no criminal intention could be proved against M. Gervais, he was still an offender against the law, for he had assumed the functions of a doc'or without being qualified, and although he had taken no direct fee for his prescription, he had profited in his trade during- the absence of the plaintiff from illness. The Court acquitted the defendant on the charge brought against him by the plaintiff, but fined him 25 fr. for the illegal practice of medicine.— 'Galigriani.