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Leader (1850-1860), 21st February 1857, Edition 1 of 2, Page 175

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      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 have 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

      country , on the first appearance of danger , an army of GQO , 000 disciplined soldiers . The reduction of the effective force will permit me to 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 a subsidy for the establishment o £ . trans-Atlantic steamers , which , have so Long been required . 41 Notwithstanding this increase of expenditure , I proposes 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 ; but in compensation , and in conformity with the wish several times expressed by the Legislative Body , I have submitted : for consideration a tax on moveable 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 or elsewhere .

      " Algeria ,. which , in able hands , sees her cultivation and her commerce daily extend , is well worthy of our atteation . 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 lias 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 War is the author , will be presented to you . It is a complete military penal code , which 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 session 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 whon Heaven

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

      " France , without infringing the rights of any , Las resumed , in the world the rank which 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 bo said of our age ,, in the words written by an illustrious mid national statesman smd historian , speaking of the Consulate : — ' Satisfaction was universal ; and whoover had not party passion in his heart , rejoiced iu the public welfare ?"

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      plained 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 inducedthe 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 Right Divine susceptibility of tlie ' 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

      endangered by a perseverance in the system of administration then prevailing . It was , therefore , in a spirit of real friendship and goodwill that tie British Government recommended the Neapolitan King , by a general amnesty , to rally round the throne those who had been alienated b j' distrust or unmerited persecution . " These representations of the two Courts were conveyed , early in June , to M . Carafa , ivlio 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 cougli . In addition , he had been attacked by a spinal complaint , andfeax-s then were entertained of a consumptive tabes . His chains increased the weakness of his body , and this weakness in its turn rendered the chains more difficult to bear . Among the companions of Poerio , political prisoners also , were Sehiavoni , who was deprived , b \* imprisonment , of the sight of one eye , and was , in June last , on the pointof losing the other . ; Sticco , no longer enabled , from imprisonment , to retain food on his stomach ; and Vincenzo 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 cougli and incessant pains in the stomach . Fears

      were also entertained for the 15 fe 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 of motion . Pironti had 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 facts we have enumerated , that the King announced , through M . Carafa , that lie would answer the joint representations made by the British and French Governments through the Xeapolitan Ministers accredited to the Courts of London and Paiis !

      3 M . Carafa , however , condescended to state , on the 22 nd of June , that - when circumstances were more favourable , and the mind of the people more calm , the King would feel inclined to avail himself of the first occasion which be judged opportune to grant sucli an amnesty as he might think fit . 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 bo granted , the late 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 the agents of the police . On the last day of June , and ten days afterwards—nuniely , on the 9 th of July—Prince Curmi , * thuthon Ncapolita . il Ambassador , coin nmuicated to Lord Clarendon that his . sovereign " could not manifest hi . s sovereign clemency to ( lie obstinate breed of the eneniicnof tbo public peace-, and ho cannot have recourse ) to it ( meaning thereby elemency ) until the welfare of his . states and hi .-f own

      TILE NEAPOLITAN QUESTION . A most important correspondence ( says the Morning Post ) relating to the affuirs of Naples , and consisting of a series of despatches from the Karl of Clarendon to the late Sir William Temple , and also to 11 r . Petre ( who , subsequently to tho departure of the Minister , from ill health , on the 31 st of July , was left isi charge of the Neapolitan Mission ) , baa jusL been presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of her Majesty . This correspondence commences on tho 191 . 1 * of May in the paat year—littlo more than aix weeks after tho proceedings of the Conferences held in Paris hail buen puLliflhcd , thii 22 nd protocol of which muat havo antecedently

      cx-[ The latter part oH the correspondence lma reference to those recent cvent . s—such as the . Htate triulw , tho withdrawal of our representatives from Naples , and tlio beminpology offered by the King for thu uncourluous note of the 9 th of July—which uro « till fresh in tlio public mind . ]

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      hunger , have descended into the plains and committed great havoc among , the sheep . The- shepherds hife upon a strange : kind of reprisal . They injected , poison ; into the ear case of an ass , which- the wolves devoured , and six were found dead the following day . The Proffres du JPas de . Calais raise * a point of law upon the subject of " warnings , " which , has esoaped all the Paris journals . It has hitherto been taken for granted , that after two warnings suspension would follow as a ma . tter of course on the commission of a third offence . The Propres , however , contends that although the minister may suspend a journal under those circumstances , there is nothing in the text of the law to prevent him from giving as-many warnings as lie pleases

      The harsliness and uncertainty of the laws against tfce press provoke more attention just now than they have ever done since their enactment . — Daily News Pai'is Correspondent . —The Moniteur contains the following article on the subject : — " ¦ The decree of February , 1852 , in establishing that twe 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 . ThLs 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 , liven after two warnings , if the facts 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 takos into its very serious consideration the date as well as the nature of the acts which have occasioned the previous warnings . "

      The Abbe Ghatel , founder of the French . Catholic Church . ( Eglise Catholique Francaise ) , died on Friday week at Paris , in the sixty-second year of his age . In the last years of 3 iis life , he was reduced to the necessity of earning a subsistence by giving lessons- to young children . At the Tribunal of Correctional Police , M . Poussineau , a banker , and M . Monselet , his clerk , have been acquitted of a charge of spreading false news , to the effect that a IM . Mires lad absconded with funds belonging' to the Cuisse des Chemins de Fer . It appeared that M . Poussineau waa a shareholder in the Cuisse , and he and bis clerk merely inquired if a rumour to the effect indicated were true or not . , -, V . ; .. \ t

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

      A general amnesty for the whole of the Austrian Empire is said to be now in contemplation . The Archduke Ferdinand-Max is said to hesitate about accepting the post of Viceroy of the Loinbardo-Venctinn Kingdom , ?> ecause lie wishes to he invested with more power than the centralizing Austrian Governnxent is desirous of giving- him . This Invitation causes tlio delay in the Jiniporor ' s departure from Milan .

      CONTIN K N TA L N O T J 5 S 3 . l ' -JlAJiCK . A young man who threw liimtiulf on hi . s kneos beforo the Empress a fo \ v day . s ago , in thu public garden of tho Tuilei'ics , has boon arrested Jind Bout to tho X ' rcfccturc . It ia Haiti tliut him insane .. Very heavy falls of hiiow Iiiivo covered the mountains in tbo Var to aueh an extent , that tho wolves , driven by

      ITALY , An Austrian outrage on ji young Italian gentleman ia related by tho Thiux Pari . s correspondent , on the authority of a letter from Milan , where tlie circumstance occurred : " A young man named Bianchi being at tho theatre , and not approving tlie performance , began to liisn . An Auhtrinn officer told litm that if he did not eeuse he should turn him out . liianehi retorted , and ii discussion eiioued , which ended in a challenge . Tlie duel waa to have taken place next morning , but in tlio meantime liiunchi was arrested by the police , and tho ofticer , having gouo to the . ground , and not finding hi . s adversary , withdrew .

      Afler a day a imprisonment Uiandii w « h li bora tod ; and , having entered a coffee-hoiiHC , ho met the ofllcer , who loaded him witli abuse . Bianchi replied , and the officer altom pted to rir-nw his sword , but the young man knocked him down with his lint . Tho matter would liavo ended thorn , but seven other Austrian officers unmo to tho as-BiBtnnco of thoir comrade . ttlanchi caught hold of tho ofticer ' a uabrc , placed himself ngainnt a wall , and defended Iiiinflulf n « well as he could . Ho would eventually have been niaBsncrt !)) , but a number of civilians rescued him . The municipality of Mantua haft tierit a deputation to tho Kmporor to request bis Majesty to adopt measures to put an end to tho iiitfolence of the Austrian oillcers . "

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      P ebbttaby 21 , 1857 . ] THE 1 EADEB , 175

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 21, 1857, page 175, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2181/page/7/