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    frameworkto maintain the grades glorious...

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    THE NEAPOLITAN QUESTION. A most importan...

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    CONTINENTAL NOTES. K11ANCK. A vounci man...

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    Louis Blanc Ox The Fuench Elections. We ...

    their framework , to maintain the grades so gloriously acquired , and support a military force worthy of the ^ greatness of the country . " It is "with this idea that the annual contingent has been , fixed at 100 , 000 men . This number is 20 , 000 higher than that of ordinary- levies in time of peace ; but according to the system which I hare adopted , and to which I attach a great importance , about two-thirds of these conscripts will remain , two years under arms , and will afterwards form , a reserve which , will furnish to the 1 _ ^ - - — - - —* m ¦ *« ^ a ¥ ^ ^ U J * . ~ m 1 I « m * «^ ^ . «> ^ r » J . l « . m ¦ A <* J . ^ . n *~ ^ . .. ¦ — . _*_ T

    country , on the first appearance of danger , an army of 600 , 000 disciplined soldiers . The reduction of the effective force will permit me 1 o increase the pay of the lower grades and of the common soldier- —a measure which the high price of provisions renders indispensableand sets apart a sum of five millions to begin the augmentation of the small salaries of a portion of the subordinates in the civil service , who , in the midst of the severest privation , have displayed a good example of probity and devotion .

    " Nor have I forgotten aeobaidy for the establishment of trans-Atlantic steamers , which hare so long been required . " Notwithstanding this increase of expenditure , I propose to you to suppress , from the 1 st January , 1858 , the new war ' tenth' on the registration duties . This suppression involves a sacrifice of twenty-three millions ; bat in compensation , and in conformity with the wish . several times expressed by the Legislative Body , I have submitted for consideration a tax onmoveable property . "A philanthropic idea had induced the Government to transfer convict establishments to Guyana . Unfortunately yellow fever , for fifty years a stranger to the -country , has stopped the progress of that colonization . A project is being elaborated for the removal of these establishments to Africa ot elsewhere .

    "Algeria , which , in able hands , sees her cultivation and her commerce daily extend , is well worthy of our attention . The recent decree of centralization will aid the efforts of the Administration ; and I . shall not fail to present to you , according to circumstances , the measures most fitting for the development of the colony . " I call your attention to a law -which has for object the fertilization of the plains of Gascony . The progress of agriculture ought to be one of the objects of our constant anxiety , for from its improvement or its decay dates the prosperity or the fall of empires .

    " Another measure , of which the Minister of W ar is the author , will be presented to you . It is a complete military penal code , whici digests , placing them in harmony with our institutions , the scattered and often contradictory laws enacted since 1790 . You will be happy , I do not doubt , to attach your name to a work of this importance . " MM . les Deputes , since this sessicm is the last of the present Legislative Body , allow me to thank you for the devoted and active assistance which you have afforded me since 1852 . You have proclaimed the Empire ; you associated yourselves with all the measures which have re-established order and prosperity in the country ; you have energetically supported me during the war ; you have partaken of my grief in the time of pestilence and of famine ; you . have shared my joy when Heaven

    bestowed on me a glorious peace and a dcaily-beloved son ; your loyal co-operation has permitted me to establish in Prance a rule based on the will and on the interests of the people . It was a task difficult to fulfil , and for which a true patriotism was necessary . To accustom the country to newinstitntions—to replace the licence of the tribune , and the exciting contests winch led to the fall and rise of Ministries , by a free but calm and serious discussion—this waa a signal service rendered to the country and to Liberty herself , fox Liberty has no enemy more redoubtable than the extravagance of passion and the violence of debate . Strong in the assistance of the groat bodies of the State , and in the devotion of the army ; strong , above all , in the support of the people , who know that my every instant is devoted to their interests , I foresee for our country a future full of hope .

    " Trance , without infringing tbc rights of any , has resumed in the world tho rank wMeh becomes her , and may apply herself with security to the grand labours dictated by the Genius of Peace . " May God never intermit His protection , and soon it will be said of our ago , an the words written by an illustrious and national statesman and historian , speaking of tho Consulate : —' Satisfaction was universal ; and whoever had not party passion in hia heart , rejoiced in tho public welfare . ' *

    Frameworkto Maintain The Grades Glorious...

    February 21 , 1857 . ] THE LEAD EE . X 7 $ .

    The Neapolitan Question. A Most Importan...

    THE NEAPOLITAN QUESTION . A most important correspondence ( says tho Morning Post ) relating to the affairs of Naples , and consisting of a aeries of despatches from tho Karl of Clarendon to tho hate Sir William Temple , and nlao to Mr . Petm ( who , subsequently to the departure of the Minister , from ill hoaltli , on the 31 st of July , was left in charge of tho Neapolitan Mission ) , has juat been presented to both Houaea of Parliament by command of hur Majesty . This correspondence commences on thu 19 th of May in tho past year—little inoro than six weeka after tlie proceedings of tho Conferences held iu I '& rin had been published , tho 22 nd protocol of which must have antecedently

    explained to the Neapolitan Government the anxiety felt by the Congress in regard to the actual state of "the Italian Peninsula . It was this anxiety , shared by the ablest statesmen of European countries , that induced the Cabinet of St . James ' s , in union with that of France , to address to the Government of the King of the Two Sicilies those friendly remonstrances which were ultimately so ill received by King Ferdinand . Well aware of the Eight Divine susceptibility of the Neapolitan Bourbon , the Earl of Clarendon , in his first letter to the late Sir W . Temple , intimated that the Government of her Majesty'" was actuated by friendly feelings , and by the persuasion that not only the stability of the Sicilian monarchy but the general peace of Europe would be enm 1 ? _ - . 3 . J . _ J _ 1— .. Tfc 1 _ 1 * 1 _ . ^"^ 1 — J J- 1 . — _ .. * _ 1 . d * ^ A

    dangered by a perseverance in the system of administration then prevailing . It was , therefore , in a spirit of real friendship and goodwill that the British Government recommended the Neapolitan King , by a general amnesty , to rally round the throne those who had been alienated by distrust or unmerited persecution . " These representations of the two Courts were conveyed , early in June , to M . Carafa , who said— " The King could not , consistently with his dignity , allow any foreign Powers to interfere with , the internal government of his country , but he would always listen with interest to the representations of friendly Powers . " At the time when this answer was given to Sir W . Temple and M . Brennier , Poerio ( whose case has been so eloquently stated by

    Mr . Gladstone ) was suffering , as a political prisoner confined in the castle of Monte : Sarchio , from ophthalmia , which threatened total blindness , from obstinate rheumatic pains and a distressing cough . In addition , he had been attacked by a spinal complaint , and fears- then were entertained of a consumptive tabes . His cliains increased the weakness of his body , and this weakness in its turn rendered tlie chains more difficult to bear . Among the companions of Poerio , political prisoners also , were Sehiavoni , who was deprived , by imprisonment , of the sight of one eye , and was , in June last , on the pointof losing the other ; Sticco , nolonger enabled , from imprisonment , to retain food on his stomach ; and Yincenzo Dono , who had been for five months ' suffering from rheumatic pains . There were also Nisco , once a healthy man , and a writer of great merit , afflicted by a severe cough , and incessant pains in the stomach . Pears

    were also entertained for the life of Pica—another political prisoner , a lawyer of great eminence , and formerly a Member of Parliament ; and also for the life of Alphonso Zeuli , a young man of thirty-four , also a victim to consumption , who , while'dying , continued to wear his chains ! Near the bed of this man lay Pironti , a judge , like a chained corpse—a man of great learning , struck while still in his youth with paralysis , and deprived of all powers cf motion . Pironti bad been recommended the use of mineral baths , but he had not been able to procure them . It was at the very time when the friends and relatives of these unhappy prisoners were sending in numerous memorials to the English Embassy , detailing the fautd we have enumerated , that the King announced , through M . Carafa , that he would answer the joint representations made by the Uritish and French Governments through the Neapolitan Ministers accredited to the Courts of London and Paris '

    M . Carafa , however , condescended to state , on the 22 nd of June , that when circumstances wore more favourable , and the mind of the people more calm , the King would feel inclined to avail himself of the first occasion which he judged opportune to grant such an amnesty as he might think lit . As M . Carafa . was unable to say how long the state of things which prevented concessions being made would continue , or when the amnesty would be granted , the lute Sir W . Temple told him he considered it very possible that the Governments of England and France would consider the answer evasive and unsatisfactory :

    Contemporaneously with these events , a trial was going on in the Grand Criminal Court , -which disclosed the barbarous and illegal treatment both of prisoners and witnesses by tlie agents of tho police . On the lust dity of Juno , and ten days afterwards—namely , on the Oth of July—Prince Carini , tho then Neapolitan Ambassador , communicated to Lord Clarendon that his novereign " could not manifest his sovereign clemency to the obstinate bleed of the enemies of the public peace , and ho cannot have recourse to it ( meaning thereby clamoney ) until tho wel /' are of his states and bin own dignity indicate the occasion , and the propriety of the same , to his royal mind . "

    [ The latter part of tbc corrc » pondcncc has reference to those recent events—such an the Stale trials , the withdrawal of our representatives from Naples , and theweiniapology ofl ' uml by tin ; King for tlie uneourteous note of the 9 th of July—which are atill fresh in tlie public mind . ]

    Continental Notes. K11anck. A Vounci Man...

    CONTINENTAL NOTES . K 11 ANCK . A vounci man who threw himself on Iuh knees before tho KmpruH . s u low days ago , in the public garden of tlid Tuilcries , lias been arrenLeil and HCiit to tho I'refeeturc . It is Maid tliat licit * iiiHuno . Vory lusavy fjilln of hiiow have covered tho mountains in . tho Var to such an exUsnt , that the wolves , driven by

    hunger , have descended into the plain * and committed great havoc among the sheep . The shepherds hit ; upon a Btrange kind of reprisal . They injected poison into the carcase of an ass , which the wolves devoured , and six were found dead the following day . Tie JProgres du Pas de Calais raises a point of law upon the subject of " warnings , " which has escaped all the Paris journals . It has hitherto . been taken for granted , that after two warnings suspension would followas a matter of course on the commission of a third , offence . _ The Progres , however , contends that although the minister may suspend a journal under those circling stances , there is nothing in the text of the law to prevent him from giving as many warnings as he pleasea . _

    The harshness and uncertainty of the laws against the press provoke more attention just now than they have ever done since their enactment . —Daily Nttvs Pains Cor ~ respondent . —The Moniteur contains the following article on the subject : — " The decree of February , 1852 , in establishing that two judicial convictions of a periodical journal entail its suppression , adds , that the offences or contraventions must have been committed within two years . Some journals have raised the question as to whether the same rule should not by analogy be applied to two administrative warnings , after which suspension for two months at most may be pronounced by a

    Ministerial decree . This assimilation is not in the law , and cannot be admitted in principle . The extreme measure of suppression , which a , second conviction within . a given interval of time entails by full right , is in that respect different from a temporary suspension , which is optional . Even after two warnings , if the factB do not command a more severe decision , a new warning may again be given , and the Government , which uses with great moderation the power conferred on it in matters relating to the press , in the interests of order and public peace , always takes into its very serious consideration the date as ' well as the nature of the acts which have occasioned the previous warnings . "

    The Abbe Chatel , founder of . the Trench Catholic Church ( Eglise Catholique Francaise ) , di « d on Friday week at Paris , in the sixty-second year of his age . In the last years of his life , he was reduced to the necessity of earning a subsistence by giving' lessons to young children . At the Tribunal of Correctional Police , M . Pousaineau , a banker , and M . Monselet , his clerk , have been acquitted of a charge . of spreading false news , to the effect that a M . Mires had absconded with funds belonging to the C ' aisse des Chemins de IVr . It appeared that M . Poussineau was a shareholder in the Caisse , and he and his clerk merely inquired if a rumour to the effect indicated were true or not .

    AUSTRIA . The Hungarian Committee appointed to . make the necessary preparations for the reception of tbc Emperor in their country bad sin interview a few days ago with tlie Archduke Albrcclit , the Governor-General of Hungary , in order to report progress . Having given an evasive answer to the Archduke ' s expression of a hope that the Emperor and Empress would be received with enthusiasm , thvy were desired to tender more explicit information ; to which they replied that the interference vvith tho national schools , inid the attempt to force the German language on the people , had produced fin extremely unfavourable effect on the Hungarians . It is also stated , but this is not so certain , that something was snid about the new marriage laws . This answer , completely astounded tho Archduke , -who appears not to have anticipated such plain sneaking .

    A general amnesty for the whole of the Austrian Empire is sniato be now-in contemplation . The Archduke Ferdinand-Max i . s said to Iiesitate about accepting tlie post of Viceroy of the Lombnrdo-Venctian Kingdom , because he wishes to Ijc invested , with more power than tlio centralizing ; Austrian Government is desirouH of giving him . Tliiw hesitation causes the delay in the Emperor ' s departure from Milan .

    ITALY . An Austrian outrage on a young Italian gentleman is related by the Times Paris correspondent , on the authority of ii letter from Milan , where tho circum stance occurred : " A young man named Bianehi being at the theatre , and not approving the performance ) , begun to hisa . An Austrian officer told Jiiiu that if he did not conne he should turn him out . llianchi retorted , and a discussion ensued , which ended in a challenge . The duel was to have taken place next morning , but in the meantime Hianchi was nrrcsted by the police , and the oilieor , having gone to tho ground , and not finding liin ndvenuiry , withdrew .

    After a day ' s imprisonment Binnehi Mas liberated ; and , having entered a coffee-house , he met the officer , who loaded him with abuse , ftiiuichi replied , nnd the officer attempted to draw his . sword , but the young man knocked him down with hia fist . The rnntter would liavo ended there , but seven otlicr Austrian oflicors wimo to tlio aasistanoo of their comrade . Bianehi anight hold of the officer's snbrft , placed himself ngninnt a wnll , and defended hinriHelf as well as he could , lit ! would eventually have been mnaancrwl , but n . number of civilians rescued him . Th « municipality of Mantua him sent a deputation , to the Emperor to request lii . s Miije « ty to adopt Micamiroa to put an end to tho insolence of the Austrian ofliccra . "

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 21, 1857, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21021857/page/7/