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Leader (1850-1860), 23rd October 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 21, No. MS, October 23.1858.1 THE IUDEB. 113...

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    • 0KIGINAI CORRESPONDENCE. *
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      No. Ms, October 23.1858.1 The Iudeb. 113...

      No . MS , October 23 . 1858 . 1 THE IUDEB . 1133

      0kiginai Correspondence. *

      ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE .

      France. (From Our Own Correspondent.) Pa...

      FRANCE . ( From our own Correspondent . ) Pabis , Thursday , 6 j p . m . Contbaby to all expectation , the French Government have not yet announced their decision with respect to the admission of foreign iron for ship-building purposes , and to the Francisation of foreign-bunt vessels on the payment of moderate duties , moderate at least in comparison to what . they formerly were . De facto France has relapsed to a state of prohibition , and trade is completely paralysed . Still I cannot think , the relapse will be allowed to continue , and what confirms me in the belief that we are on the eve of progress towards free trade isthe silence of the Moniteur and all the public

      , journals , including the organs of the prohibitionists . Had it been intended that the decrees should not be extended , the ' 3 fortiteur would have announced the fact for the information of commerce , and the prohibitionists , under the leadership of Messieurs Burat , Duboi 3 , Veuillot , and Charles de Lesseps , alias , —well , I will not tell his secret—would have shouted Io pseans ! in discordant chorus . They would have deadened our ears with songs of triumph . As it is , they never so much as allude to the decree , and if they keep silence it is because they have secured the orders of the Government not ta touch upon the subject , or because they are ignorant of the real determination of their rulers , or I should speak in the singular number , and say Emperor . They in ay he

      afraid to scream to-day * lest to-morrow should prove their ignorance of what passes in the upper regions , and change tlieir notes of joy into grievous lamentations . Or it may be that the Emperor hesitates to encounter the unscrupulous and unfair opposition of the pi-ohibitionists to his government . They have threatened him directly and indirectly with the withdrawal of their support , and have all but " gone to offer service to his enemies . " The Legitimist party was never so rampant and withal so insolent as to-day , since they have received into their ranks certain great manufacturers . It may perhaps be going too far to say that actual

      desertion has taken place , but in reply to overtures it has been stated that the prohibitionists would not behold with displeasure the return of the son of St . Louis if he carried out the commercial and economical policy of Colbert , and confided the direction of public affairs to anti-English statesmen . The policy of the Restoration , and that in particular of M . de Chateaubriand , are in particular favour with the prohibitionists , and probably white cockades are not altogether unknown . If such be the case , you can better imagine than I can describe how jubilant are the absolutists , ul tramontanes—owls and bats of French Society .

      Contradictory aa it may appear to say , it is nevertheless true , that the Emperor , although occasionally possessed of great firmness , has long intervals of indecision . He is decided , quick to reflect , and prompt to act by fits and starts ; and then comes a long spell when ho will neither go one way nor the other . It was this alternating decision and indecision which , during the presidency , drove some ministers to despair , and induced others to imagine they might lend him as they willed ; and if such was his characer then , he is not likely to have improved when nearly two lustra have gathered on

      his head , and the gout has made a lodgment in his nether person . But after making every allowance for personal character , the present uncertainty is as inexcusable as it is deplorable . It would be unpardonable presumption in any individual to tell the Government of a foreign state to do this or to leave that undone , but at the same time it may be permitted to point out the evils which flow from the present uncertain state . Importers of English iron into France can now neither accept nor refuse orders , and I am continually applied to for advice to enable them to obtain accurate information .

      Manufacturers of goods in which iron enters are In precisely the snino position . They cannot take new orders , and are obliged to allow their stocks to become gradually exhausted , without daring to renew them , Shipbuilders and cngine-malccrs at Havre , Nantes , and other ports are in a like predicament , and trade generally is brought into a state of complete dead-lock . The same applies with equal force to shippers of goods , either outwards or inwards . But the strangest part of the whole affair is that the prohibitionist ironmasters are the worst off . Their customers do not know whether iron will bo allowed to oomo in or not on old terms , or whether it may bo shortly admitted much

      on more favourable conditions . The consequenco is , they do not purchase moro than they absolutely roquiro from day to day . Instead of the nonextension of tho deoreo last Sunday bringing high prices and largo orders , the vory reverse has ensued . Prices have fallen , orders almost entirely ceased , and stock accumulated . Meanwhile , I know that tho ironmasters are preparing for active competition with Belgian and English iron . Whatever thoy may Bay or affect to think , tlioy know that prohibition will shortly bo interred unti , that protection will soon follow . I do not moan , to saj that iron will ontor froo , but that it will

      not pay protective dues ; and that this is the belief of all can be proved by the fact that many are now here making arrangements to find capital to enable them to increase their works and produce on more economical conditions . . . , Paris is . just entering upon the gestation of speculation . Old familiar faces that had disappeared from the Bourse and Alley ( Passage de l'OpeYa ) are to be met with now , smirking and happy in illusion , as formerly . Mires , the Jew donor of Madonnas to Christian churches , is moving heaven and earth—I believe his faith does not extend to the existence of another place—to put himself in readiness Jto profit by the revived worship of the Golden Calf . Unfortunately , he paid a very heavy

      price to Madame Mufioz for the concession of the Roman railways ; and , like most Papal commodities , they prove very unmarketable . Somehow or another people do not seem to care for them at all ; and all the pufiing in his twin papers , the Constitutlonnel and the Pays , cannot make the shares float . Down they go—down , down . What makes the ponderability of the Roman railway shares so very annoying just now to M . Mires is , that there is an expectation of the concession of railways in Algeria being shortly accorded . As a waiter for good things , he ha 3 put himself forward , and oners , I hear , to deposit two millions sterling as caution-money , Where it is to come from is a wonder . Of course , I have no doubt of the gentleman's perfect solvency and extraordinary

      command of capital . He is , I believe , a Croesus ; but let him be never so rich , I doubt his power to produce two millions sterling in a week . The Austrian guarantee of 7 per cent , has swept Paris clear of all disposable funds . In addition to M . Mir & s there is _ M . Isaac Pereire competing for the Algerian concession , and between them there is war to the knife ; and above these two financiers hovers far aloft the great God of Money , M . de Rothschild , between whom and the other two there are unpardoned injuries and bitter blood . " When Greek meets Greek , then comes the tug of war ;" but no poet seems to have imagined the deadly strife that must ensue when Jew contends with Jew .

      Whatever the upshot of the struggle may be , the public will probably be amused and instructed . But it would be an unfortunate conclusion if the concession were granted to mere speculators , to be made the object of gambling transactions on'Change . France and Algeria would both suffer . I should mention as a favourable circumstance to M . de Rothschild , that , he is stated to be associated with M . Talabot , the most eminent engineer in France . I see by the Times , arrived to-day , that Prince Napoleon is announced to start next March . Nothing , I believe , is positively fixed . The Reine Hortense is being fitted up for his reception , and there is every probability of his going next month to visit the province confided to his care .

      To return to the marriage case at Pau , which I was obliged to interrupt in my last letter at the point where Cheri posted off , after the receipt of the communication of the English girl , in hot haste to secure her supposed dower of 4000 ? . CheVi was accompanied by a friend , Adrien , both ignorant of the English language , and both bent on securing English portions . These twin Ccclebs in search of wives , or rather of marriage portions , proceed to that most respectable portion of London , Pantonstreet , where they take mine host , an individual of the name of Brunier , into confidence . Brunier professed to have an intimate and complete knowledge of English society , and he it was who wrote the dastardly slander upon English maidens referred to in a preceding letter :

      — " For the last sixteen years I have learned to know the English father and tho English maiden ; you cannot imagine what these two creatures are capable of doing , the one to avoid giving money , and the other to catch a husband . " This slanderous experience has probably beeiv gathered from what takes place in tho neighbourhood of tho Haymarkct , maybe nearer home , so that his more intimate acquaintance with tho officers of the Society for tho Protection of Females might possibly bo attended with public good . However , Brunior ' s advice to Chtfri to bo cautious , if it wore given , proved unavailing , and off tho latter started for Ledbury ; and here I lot the advocate of Chcri speak , in order that tho reader may seo how improbable is the story : — - " Tho reception

      presented that her 4000 / . was lodged with Coutts , anc that her luggage , including a piano and two horses , had been sent to the Paddington station en route for Pau After the marriage was celebrated , tie wedding feeSj amounting to 61 . 18 s ., had to be paid , and this souschef in a prefecture , this nobleman , this CheVi , had not even so much as-a ten-pound note , but was compelled to have recourse to the wife ' s fortune , like the neediest pauper adventurer that ever figured in a police-court . A cheque was drawn on Coutts , returned , and represented by Alice Ellen , according to the statement of CheVi ' s advocate , to want the noble autograph , of her husband . Somehow or another the money was probably paid by the girl ' s family . Next , the three proceeded to Beaucbamp

      Hotel , Malvern , kept by a Mr . Gibbson . In the course of time the bill , about 50 / ., was presented , and another cheque given on Coutts , which was returned with no effects , and Cheri was cast into Worcester gaol . Then Cheri ' sfriend , Adrien deT * * *—fornobles appear to be as plentiful in Pau as blowflies on carrion—was despatched to London to set matters right . He went with Brunier , the French hotel-keeper , to Coutts , where the pair ran the risk of being given in charge , if Bxunier , according to his letter , had not been known to Mr . Coutts Cmoi qui etais connu de M . Coutts ) . To have this acquaintance Brunier must evidently be a spirit-rapper . And this is only one of the many examples of boasting and lying which abound in the prosecution .

      I think it will be apparent to every impartial reader that the girl told a falsehood in the first instance—suggested by the lies in Cheri ' s letter—to preserve her honour and induce the individual to fulfil the promise of marriage under which she had been seduced . The first falsehood led to others , - and upon the face of the report of the trial I unhesitatingly acquit her of any intention to concoct conspiracy or fraud . Even after the imprisonment which she knew must inevitably lead to the discovery of her deception , she appears to have been fondly attached to her unmanly seducer and mercenary husband . In one letter she wrote , " Pardon me , in the name of Heaven ! pardon me , I beg upon my knees ! " and in another , " All the morning I have waited for a letter

      from you ; I now know that you will not write to me . O Cheri ! I beg of 3 'ou to forgive me . Tell me that you love me . I have no one to console me . In the name of Heaven , write ! forgive me , I pray on bended knee . I would go to see you if you would . let me ; I am ill , but that is nothing . " And yet a girl who could write bo touchingly in her remorse , the thing GheYi did not hesitate to allow his friend Brunier and bis advocate to call . " an abominable woman , " a " horrible woman . " Nor did falsehood arid slander stay here ; for the family of Churi circulated the report in Pau that the girl was enceinte by the curate of Ledbury , who had celebrated the marriage . Cheri appears to have been liberated from prison by the generosity of the Malvern

      hotelkeeper , who , when he discovered this nobleman Bearnais , withdrew his claim , and made a present to CheVi and bis noble family of the debt which they , although moving in the high society of Pau , could not discharge , I should say ,. from the letter of Mr . Gibbsori ' s lawyers , the girl was one of three daughters of a small farmer , and is entitled to a legacy of 30 L , so that her pecuniary prospects were bettor than those of Cueri ' s by that amount , since he had nothing but debts ; even if an English yeoman ' s daughter , if of pure life , were not too good to espouse a trumpery , penniless Count from tho Lower Pyrenees , who was withal a liar , though his grandmother boasted " his grandfather was a king ' s doctor , and his uncle officer in the body-guard of

      Charles X ., then Monsieur , brother to Louis XVIII . ' I should be sorry for the reader to suppose that the conduct of CheVi and fumily has met with general approbation or sympathy . Some there ate , like the weeklynonsense-writer for tho Sidcle , who affect to think it vory hard that Che ' ri should havfe missed the dower . Uut there arc plenty of men in France , and women- — whom I take to bo the most manly portion of the popula « tion—who look down with loathing contempt upon the dowor-huntor from Pau , and pity the unfortunate girl . Even in court , Cue ' ri and family were exposed and hold up to public scorn by tho unfee'd advocate of the girl . This gentleman , and I am happy to bo able to give his name , in hope that it will bo remembered elsewhere—M . Dauzon— -said j— " Cudri do X . went to England in tho hope of finding there a brilliant fortune , and marriod . He found nothing but misery , and then ho abandoned

      which awaited thorn ( ClicM and friend ) fulfilled tho hopes which tho lottors gave . Che ' ri was presented to Iris now family , tho sister of his affianced , who was said to bo married to a doctor , condescended to coino from hor country-sont and convoy in a carriage , with rich livery servants , tho young couple , which tho simple formalities of tho English law wore to unite for ever . " After CIhM ' b advocate , lot us hoar how ChoYi ' a friend describes tho poor girl ' s fumily : — "Tho most abjoct povorty oxiats in her family , hor sister ia under servant in a pothouse at Worcoster . " It ia impossible to reconcile

      his wife , and now seeks through his father tho dissolution of his marriage . I plead for tho unborn child rather than for tho mother . Tho fathor ( of ChoVi ) know nil , ho gave his eonsont . What grief inspires a similar position , in which are reflected all tho meanness of our age ! Hero is n young man belonging to a rospootnble family ( honnuta but not noble ) , he has already achieved by himself , by his labour , a modest position , but rospeafcablo , and suddonly , to grow tho sooner rich , to onjoy directly , ho tramples under foot all eonvonancOB , ana marries a servant . Ho lias Inifllolcod for u few crowns . Don't lot any ono oast shaino and Infamy upon my client ( the girl ) , ChCri is Jior equal—thoy nro worthy of ono another : . . Either tho father did not give his consent ( it bolnff stated ho had In ono of CWns otters ) , and then you ( Chdri ) havo Hod in afllnntaff tlint tho conaont was given , or it wasgivon , and thenithuru » an ond of tho cauo . What do you ( Cl . tfri ) do horo ,

      statements so contradictory—ono or other must bo falso —and it does not say much for tho Pau socioty in which ChoYl and friond moved , that thoy could mistake a pothouso wench for a curriago lady . Another proof of falsehood ia apparent : How could tho povorty bo concealed , and whoro coiiM tho carriage and livory servants bo procured ? Wo now come to tho most mysterious part of tho affair . According to tho statement of Chdrl ' s advocate , after tho marriage ceremony was completed , Alice Ellen , with ChCri und friond , went to pass tho honeymoon at Malvorn , and the wife had previously re-

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 23, 1858, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23101858/page/21/