fortign sub Colonial.

$roIM—The Conference of Paris held a preliminary meeting on Saturday, and assembled again on Wednesday. With the exception of Count Walewski, the president, none of the first plenipotentiaries who met on the memorable occasion of the termination of the Crimean war were present on that day. Austria was represented by Baron Hubner, Eng- land by Lord Cowley, Sardinia by the Marquis de Villamarina, Prussia by Count Ilatzfeldt, Russia by Count Kisselef (in the place of Baron Brunnow), and Turkey by Fuad Pacha (instead of Djemil Bey) General Espinasse, the Minister of the Interior, has startled France by a circular to the Prefects, setting forth the advantage that would result from the conversion of landed property possessed by charitable institu- tions into public stock. He estimates the value of these lands at 500,000,000 francs. At present they only yield 24 per cent. "By the sale of this landed property and the investment of the proceeds in the public funds the managers of those charitable establishments would be relieved from all the trouble and expense of looking after their possessions, and would avoid the losses to which they are exposed, at the same time that their revenue would be increased." The General requests the Prefects to use their influence, and in case of need their authority, to induce the directors of those establishments whose revenues might be thus improved to adopt the measure recommended ; and, as a further means of enforcing the adoption of his advice, he con-

eludes by saying that he has resolved on not making any subventions to such charitable establishments as may possess landed property, the sale and conversion of which would so materially add to their resources. •

This measure is regarded as a means of giving a lift to the public funds, now greatly depressed. The circular has excited great opposition, except in socialist and republican quarters. The Commission des Hospices is preparing a very strong protest against the measure for the sale, either voluntary or forced, of the property belonging to charitable foundations ; and, as the members are not the salaried officers of the Government and do not depend on it, but perform their duties gratuitously, it is expected they will resign, and that their example will be followed by many others in the provinces.

It seems now to be generally admitted that Prince Napoleon will go out to Algeria as the Lieutenant of the Emperor.

The following letter, describing the " Hyena" duel, has been inserted in the Industrial of St. Germain, at the request of the officers of the 1st Cuirassiers of the Guard, who went to the office of the journal in a body and in uniform, ready " in case of need to require its insertion." The publishers remonstrated ; the officers considered that evidence of a " case of need."

" Abbeville, May 20.

" Gentlemen—Figaro, in its number of May 6, inserted an article which was an insult to all the officers of the army. In giving an account of soirée this journal said, ' Remarkable improvement—the inevitable sub- lieutenant was not there,' &c. On reading this article, M. Courtiel, a sub- lieutenant of the 9th Chasseurs, in garrison at Amiens, addressed a letter to M. de Pane, (the ' Nemo' of Figaro,) the author of the article, calling upon him for satisfaction for the insult. Almost simultaneously M. Hyenne, an officer of the same regiment, in garrison at Abbeville, also sent a challenge to M. de Ilene. No answer was sent to either of these letters, but Figaro, of the 13th, contained a second article, replying, in coarse terms, to M. Courtiers letter. Thereupon this officer came to Paris, accompanied by his two seconds, MM. Hyenne and Hoge. The meeting between M. de Pene and M. Courtiel took place in Vesinet wood. M. Courtiel having received a wound in the fore-part of his arm was compelled to renounce the combat which had been of very short duration (one minute.) M. Hyenne, then approaching M. de Pene, addressed him with the most perfect coolness, and the following dialogue occurred—' I also, sir, wrote to you on the subject of your article, and I signed my name to my letter. Do you remember it?' Yes, sir, I do.' Then you owe me satisfaction, and I demand it of you.' But it would be very difficult for me to fight with all the offi3ers of the army.' 'You have insulted them all, and they have all the right to force you to draw the sword.' I refer to my seconds.' In this state of things the seconds having intimated their intention to leave the ground, M. Hyenne urgently repeated his demand to fight. Ho told these gentlemen that he was determined to fight M. de Pene, and that if a meeting were refused he should be under the painful necessity of insulting him. M. de Pene and his seconds continuing to refuse, M. Hyenne, after a last entreaty, which produced no effect, used an insulting gesture (a ehiquenaud) towards his ad- versary, who thereupon asked his seconds what he should do. They replied You must fight.' But one of them objected that M. Hyenne ought not to be allowed to measure swords with an adversary whose method of fighting he had just had an opportunity of studying. M. Hyenne, who had pistols about him, insisted that M. de Pene should choose the arm which he preferred. The sword was chosen, and M. de Pene received two wounds. We think it necessary. to give you all the details of this double meeting, in order that your opinion may not be misled by reading the contradictory and malicious comments of certain journals. For instance, in the Industriel of St. Ger- main, which first gave an account of the duel, it was stated that after M. Courtiel VHS wounded M. Hyenne thought fit to take up the affair. This way of telling the story is insulting and incorrect, for M. Hyenne did not avenge M. Courtiel, but the entire army. This is the proper place to assert in the most unequivocal manner that M. de Pene was responsible for his article, not only to an individual but to a class. In the Figaro Programme of the 17th, M. de Villemessant, in allusion to the energetic and calm inter- vention of M. Hyenne, calls it an indescribable scene.' He takes care to notice only the provocation, and passes over the entirely proper conduct of that officer. The army, which is such a good judge in affairs of honour, will appreciate the facts. The officers of the cavalry and artillery of the guard, as well as those of the 84th Regiment, have spontaneously assured me of their entire sympathy. Gentlemen, my desire is that the army, to whom the original insult was addressed, should know precisely in what way it was avenged.(Signed) Rook', one of the seconds."

M. de Pene is still in a dangerous state, but hopes of his recovery are entertained. The ifdmorial d'Antiene states that M. Courtiel and M. Hyenne, principals in the two duels with M. de Pane, and M. Roge, second to these gentlemen, all three officers in the 9th Regiment of Chas- seurs, in garrison at Abbeville, have been summoned by the Juge d'In- struction of Versailles to appear before him and undergo an interrogatory. The proprietor of the Figaro has also been required to attend." The Minister of War, wishing to stop the consequences of the duel be- tween M. de Pene and Lieutenant Hyenne, has addressed a circular to the Colonels commanding regiments to forbid the writing of letters by officers to the directors of newspapers ; adding that the "honour" of the army stands too high in the estimation of the French people and of the whole world to be affected by the ill-timed pleasantry of an obscure journal. There was nothing against the " honour" of the army in the Figaro; the paragraph had merely reference to their demeanour in society.

Sta111.—The debate on the loan in the Piedmontese Commons, gave Count Cavour an opportunity of reviewing the financial policy of his and preceding Governments. The complaint was, that the country was too heavily taxed, and that the taxes fell upon the poor. Count Cavour's object was to show that the taxes imposed since 1848 were conformable to sound principles, and did not press upon the poor. Thus the labourer does not pay the personal tax • the salt-duties, and all the customs- duties, have been enormously ;educed, so that food and clothing are cheaper than heretofore. Wages were never so high as they are now. The labourer, therefore, earns more and buys cheaper than he ever did before. He showed that silk manufactures have made great progress, that railways have given the manufacturers larger profits by cheapening the cost of transit, and wine-growers in like manner. He declared him- self in favour of the income-tax.

"I constantly hear speak of studying to establish a general system ; if there were a country in which a general system existed I would have gone there to study it, and then return here and propose it. We have direct and indirect taxes, as in almost all the countries of Europe. It would have been an imprudence to try to improvise a system here. We have thought it more advisable to impose some new taxes which should have the smallest defects possible. Good taxes, allow me to say, do not exist. (Laughter.) They must always have the effect of imposing a burden upon the citizen, and of diverting a portion of capital from production. But there are con- ditions which must be observed if we would not have very bad taxes—that is to say, that the sacrifice of the tax-payers be not greater than the benefit to the State ; that the expenses of collection should not be heavy ; that they should not bear injuriously upon one class of citizens to the benefit of another class ; that they should not press upon instruments of production, or (as far as can be possibly avoided) upon raw material ; that the taxes should be distributed as far as possible proportionally."

During the debate it had been proposed that the property of the church should be appropriated and the clergy paid by the state. To this Count Cavour objected.

" I think," said he, "the measure would have for certain effect either to render the clergy of our country servile, or quite to alienate them from the material interests of society, and to Leave them animated only by a spirit of caste. I do not think the former result would come to pass, because I too highly esteem our clergy to believe that they will over sacrifice their in- dependence and the duties of their ministry to pecuniary interests. But if this were to be, should we have conferred a benefit on society, or liberty ? We should have done, I think, the greatest possible harm to liberty, we should have constituted an administrative despotism. It has been my lot, little to be envied, to be Minister for several years, and I will say that, if to the means of action possessed by the Government there were to be joined a means of action on the clergy, the Government would be rendered too powerful for the interests of liberty. If the clergy were to be made de- pendent on the civil power, our institutions would be vitiated from the root ; we should have an appearance of liberty, but substantially, a tremendous administrative despotism. If the administration of the Roman States has its inconveniences, it is because the civil power is in the hands of ecclesi- astics; and if with us the clergy were made dependent on the civil power, we should arrive at analogous, and perhaps still more pernicious results. But I think the ineameramento would produce the contrary effect, would increase in the clergy the spirit of caste, world detach them still more from civil society. I speak in the purely social point of view. The organiza- tion of the Catholic clergy has the defect of having few ties with civil so- ciety. Separated from his family, not permitted to aspire to create himself another, the priest concentrates his affections on his caste. But if he has property, that constitutes a tie to civil society and neutralizes the tendency to separation. In this I am supported by one of the greatest of modern publicists, De Tocqueville. In his last work he, also, manifests the opinion that to deprive the clergy of their vested property is to render a service to the Holy See. Subject to a foreign authority and without families, the clergy's sole link with society is their property. In France and in Bel- gium a perfect ineameramento was made. What were the consequences ? I admit that the French clergy are now more zealous and moral than under the old regime ; but they are also less national and less liberal. Under the old regime they had a greater spirit of independence with respect to Rome, and more attachment to certain national maxims and to liberty. Many members of the clergy promoted classical and philosophical studies ;

now the French clergy are more ultramontane than ours I have no reason to be pleased with the clerical press, but a spirit of impartiality makes me declare that, however exaggerated and devoted to Rome it may be, it is less so than the journals of the bishops of Bruges and Ghent. Were we to allow the clergy to be paid by their flocks, we should augment their fanaticism. Look at Ireland, whose clergy is still more ultramontane than that of France, and went so far as to praise Nana Sahib and the Sepoys."

With respect to the economical decline, he referred to the results of the cen- sus, showing an increased population. According to the censustaken on the 31st of December 1857, the population of the Sardinian States is 5,056,672. An exact comparison with the census of 1848 cannot yet be made, because another system had been followed ; in 1848 Sardinian subjects absent from the coun- try had been included. Even with this difference the increase is 177,000, which would be 250,000 were allowance made for the absentees ; and be- tween 1848 and 1857 there were wars and epidemics. In France, from 1846 to 1851 the increase was only 281,000; from 1851 to 1856, 257,000. The increase of population in Sardinia had been concurrent with a rise in the prices of labour. This fact furnished a demonstration with respect to the increase of the public riches which he thought incontestable. "Certain Deputies have said that their vote was uncertain by reason of the political considerations involved in a change of Ministry. I had occasion, not long since, clearly to explain the direction of the foreign policy of this Govern- ment. I declared that our policy abroad was and must be purely national ; our policy at home liberal and reformatory.. I know that some, while ad- mitting our foreign policy to be national, have doubts respecting our home policy. Those are in an error, which we might dispel by merely indicating the facts of our Parliamentary life is, ; but what we will say is that those per- sons hint at an impossibility. It is my absolute conviction that, in the ac- tual condition of Piedmont, it is impossible to have a national and Italian policy abroad if the internal policy be not liberal and reforming ; as it would also be impossible to follow a liberal and reforming policy at home without having a national and Italian policy abroad. If you think that we have a national and Italian policy abroad, you must believe also that our internal policy is liberal and reforming. ("Bravo, bravo !") You can have no doubt about that. We intend to continue in the path of reform and of liberty. We cannot say whether we shall proceed more or less ra- pidly, because, if there be no doubt as to the tendency and the aim, there is as to the manner. Although the present Ministers have been many years in power, they love liberty and desire progress as much as any member of this Chamber; but those who sit in the seat of office see more clearly the obsta- cles and the difficulties that strew the path, and they know that perchance, by too great hurry, they would augment the dangers to liberty, the impedi- ments to reform, and even imperil what has already been won." Queen Maria Christina was at Porto d'Anzio on the 10th May. The Xing of Naples, her brother, arrived there the same day to meet the Pope. The worthy brother and sister did not meet. As soon as the Xing arrived the Queen departed. The King and the Pope passed some time together; after which both returned to their homes.

firtagal.—The Queen of Portugal landed at Lisbon on the 18th May. The King went on board ship to meet her. There were great re- joicings. On the 19th they were married with much ceremony in the Church of San Domingo. An immense crowd assembled, and made general holiday.

XIIIIi2Itt§r11.—It seems now to be admitted on all sides that the recent " battle" at Grahovo was a treacherous massacre. An armistice had been concluded at the time the Turks were attacked in their camp. The Montenegrins, as usual, hastened back to their mountains with their booty.

There are now two large French men-of-war off the Montenegrin coast. Lord Lyons, with the Mediterranean squadron, entered the Adriatic early in the, week. Two Austrian frigates, carrying soldiers, were on the 16th under orders for Cattaro. In Paris the question is said to have been arranged. The Porte has accepted the status quo of 1856.

;lit P h Ibtatts.—The Arabia arrived at Liverpool on Sunday with advices from New York to the 12th May.

An attempt had been made by the Democrats to pass a resolution in the House of Representatives abrogating the Clayton-Bulwer treaty ; but it was defeated by 99 to 66. This movement is regarded in con- nexion with a treaty concluded between tho United States and Ni- caragua, whereby the latter constitutes the former Protector of the transit route, permits United States troops to be landed in its defence, and places United States citizens settling in the country on a footing of equality with the natives. This is regarded as an attempt to steal a march upon European influences. The bill admitting Minnesota as a State has passed Congress by large majorities. A new state is to be founded in New Mexico, to be called Arizonia.

The New York papers contain complaints of outrages perpetrated by English cruisers upon American ships off the Cuban coast. The out- rages are searches. The Senate has called for information respecting these allegations.

It of fnnit Munn.—Advices from Cape Town to the 20th April

have come to hand.

A furious war is raging between the Boers of the Orange Free States and the Chief of the Basutos, Moehesh. The contest is likely to be a protracted one. Sir George Grey intends maintaining strict neutrality. Large numbers of Kaffirs are still being admitted into the colony under the recent law.

The harvest and vintage have been good. Flocks are healthy, and the material prosperity of the colony is rapidly increasing. The colonist are anxiously looking forward to the stream of immigration which would soon set in towards the colony. The refusal of her Majesty's Govern- ment to assist in constructing a harbour in Table Bay has been felt as a severe disappointment.