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FRANCE.—The President of the Republic has made another provincial excursion, and has delivered another speech. His progress did not cal/ forth such very marked enthusiasm as on the recent occasion, and his speech will not generate a new Parliamentary crisis : yet the journey is meant to assist his personal claims, and the speech has at least one curi- ous allusion. The late journey was to Dijon in " Old Burgundy " the present one was through Orleans and Tours, to Poitiers, the capital of the historical province of Poitou. The first was made to inaugurate a further portion of the railway system formed to connect Paris with Lyons, Marseilles, and the Mediterranean coast ; the present journey was made- to open a further link in the railway communication between Paris and Bordeaux, on the shores of the Atlantic. The President left Paris on Tuesday, and travelled to Orleans and Tours, where large masses of the inhabitants gave him a warm reception : he quitted the train, reviewed troops, took a hasty repast, and complimented the ladies, at each town, and then hurried to Poitiers. The approaches to the railway sta- tion there were crowded by the townsmen and country-people, but not to the extent which elicited general remark on the late visit to- Dijon. The railway company had made very sumptuous prepara- tions; the Bishop of Poitiers and his clergy were forward in their ac- knowledgments—the Bishop is an eloquent man, who delivered a long address with tact and emphasis; and the authorities of the town tendered their homage. The great number of ladies, and the fervour of their ad- miration for Louis Napoleon, as a man who is at once President of the Republic, a graceful horseman, and a bachelor, is again a natural feature of the accounts. The President rode to the IlOtel-de-ville, and received the addresses of the various public bodies ; promenaded on the Blossac- a public walk named after a citizen of the middle-age times ; and in the evening was present at a grand banquet. His friend M. Boulay de la Meurthe, Vice-President of the Republic, and the two Ministers M. Leon Faucher and M. Baroche, were very near to him in the feast. The speech of the Mayor was of no particular interest. The reply of Presi- dent Napoleon was as follows.

" Monsieur le Maire—Please to be my interpreter to your fellow citizens- in thanking them for their very warm and cordial reception.

Like you, I regard the future prospects of the country without appre- hension, for its salvation must ever proceed from the will of the people, freely expressed and religiously respected. For that reason, I hail with all my heart the solemn moment when the powerful voice of the nation will prevail over all opposition, and reconcile all rivalry; for it is painful to see revolutions shaking society, covering the country with ruins, and always leaving erect the same passions, the same exigencies, and the same elements of discord.

" When we traverse France, and behold the varied richness of her soil, the marvellous productions of industry,—when we admire her rivers, roads, canals, railways, and her harbours washed by two seas,—we cannot but be struck with the degree of prosperity she would attain, if a durable tranquillity enabled her inhabitants to cooperate with all their means to thO general welfare, instead of giving themselves up to intestine dissensions.

" When, in another point of view, we consider that territorial unity, the result of the persevering efforts of Royalty,—that political, judiciary, ad- ministrative, and commercial unity, bequeathed to us by the Revolution — when we contemplate that intelligent and laborious population, animated almost entirely by the same faith, and speaking the same language; that venerable clergy, which teaches morality and virtue; that body of legal functionaries, which commands respect for justice; that valiant and disci- plined army, which knows nothing but honour and duty ; finally, when we behold that multitude of eminent men, capable of guiding the government, and casting a lustre on public assemblies, well as on the arts,—we anxious- ly seek to discover what are the reasons that prevent that nation already. so• great from becoming still greater; and we wonder that a society containing so many elements of power and prosperity should so often expose itself to fall to ruin.

"Can it be true, as the Emperor remarked, that the Old World has con- cluded its career, and that the New World is not yet consolidated ? With- out knowing what may be the consequence, let us perform our duty today, by preparing a solid foundation for it. "I am happy to address to you these words in a province renowned at all times for its patriotism. We must not forget that your city, under Charles the Seventh, was the centre of an heroic resistance, and during fourteen years the refuge of nationality, in France invaded. Let us hope that it will again be the first to set the example of devotedness to civilization and to the, country.

"I propose a toast to the city of Poitiers."

i

The speech was frequently interrupted, by "enthusiastic demonstra- tions," and was followed by cries of "Vive Napoleon ! Vive le Presi- dent !" No cries of " Vive la Republique !" are mentioned : but it may be remembered that this cry has been emphatically appropriated by those who wish to insult Louis Napoleon. The President returned to Paris on Wednesday night. In the Assembly, there has been a set debate on free trade. M. de Sainte Beuve brought forward propositions for the reform of the Customs tariff, founded ostensibly on the practical advances in the same direction which England made under the late Sir Robert Peel. M. de Sainte Beuve occupied the Assembly during the whole sitting of Thursday and a portion of Friday's in an extensive review of the matter. Ho proposed to abolish prohibition altogether, and to limit the duties levied, within the same general bounds, ad valorem, that the British Parliament has adopted.

The opponent of M. Sainte Beuve was M. Thiers ; who delivered an oration combining in a remarkable degree the opinions of the modern Frenchman with those of the antique political economist. He felt the greatest admiration for the great ability of Sir Robert Peel; but even that statesman's warmest admirers now admit that the change. which he effected so abruptly was one of immense risk, and that the country only supported it, first, by the excessive caution with which the system was carried out, and next, by the establishment of an income-tax which brings in a large return to the treasury. The possessors of land in England and in France are very dissimilar: the former are a rich class, being in fact the aristocracy ; they are able to support the change in England. But in France the people are the landowners, and they cannot support the sacrifices consented to in England by her powerful aristocracy. " The aristocracy in England," continued M. Thiers, "knew how to make sacrifices, for that body is essentially liberal ; it is the mother and the guardian of liberty in Eng- land, and I think that if the aristocracy of England were to perish, liberty would fall with it. (Agitation.) I think I do you honour, gentlemen of the Left, in saying this ; for it proves that you can bear the truth; and the truth is, that the English aristocracy is essentially liberal, and that if we do not commit very serious faults we are sure of having England as a friend and a support under circumstances which I foresee, but which I hope never to see take place in Europe. (Renewed agitation.) I am not at all deceived as to the result of free trade in corn in England. God grant that the English people may remain calm before the eventualities of the future. I hope that all will end well, but I would not wish to intro- duce into France what I consider to have been an imprudence in England, iu spite of all that it may support with the speciality of its manufactures.

. . . I am far from wishing to foretell a disastrous destiny for England, but I say that she requires to be very powerful abroad. Suppose, however, that any change should take place in her political position, what would be- come of that influence abroad ? I prefer, for my part, a good existence at home. In America they now make for 24 cents what costs the English 29 cents. America is also becoming acquainted with manufactures on a large scale. With regard to France, she has her market secured to her; we do not depend on a reaction in favour of cheap articles. I should be very proud to be an Englishman, but I am not unhappy at being a Frenchman.'

M. Fould, the Minister of Finance, declared that the Government re- sists the principle of the motion, as opposed to the security and independ- ence of a great nation. The motion was rejected by more than two to one —428 to 199 : but so many as 199 votes fbr a Free-trade policy is more than was to be expected in the French Assembly.

INDIA. —The overland mail brings news from Bombay to the 26th May. Letters repeat more explicitly, and with more marked emphasis, that " the Governor-General is by no means popular in India." The corre- spondent of the Times condenses the rumours of dissatisfaction— It is complained that, though extremely fond of display and magnifi- cence (new silver state howdahs, and so on) at the expense of the Company, he is himself by no means to hospitality to the extent expected from a Governor-General. Lord Dalhousie, too, is accused of unduly favouring his fellow countrymen and personal friends in the dispensation of his patronage. He has recently occasioned much dissatisfaction in the Nizam's army, by appointing a young officer of his own staff to a brigade in it over the beads of many much his seniors, who had served in the Nizam's army for many years, and were, consequently, generally considered entitled to succeed to its brigade commands."

But the same writer gives Lord Dalhousie his deserts on the other side-

" It cannot, however, be denied that Lord Dalhousie is one of the most able men of business that have ever come to India ; and that, with the as- sistance of the Lahore Board, he has succeeded in settling and organizing the Punjaub better and with more enlarged views than any newly-acquired Indian province was ever settled before.' A series of hurricanes had swept Ceylon and the Eastern coast of India ; occasioning, as far as yet known, the loss of sixteen vessels ; among them were the ship Colombo at Ceylon, and the bark Emily at Madras. Se- rious apprehensions were entertained for the safety of the steamer Bom- bay, six days overdue, from Ceylon. Among the losses caused in a secondary mode by these hurricanes, is that of the Falkland, a large iron steamer built at Bombay by the East India Company for the navigation of the river Indus. She was proceeding to the mouth of the Indus in company with the Berenice, which was deeply laden and had the Napier in tow : the continual stopping which her superior speed rendered neces- sary much tried her peculiar shape, which was immensely long and shal- low, suitable for the Indus, but by no means intended for the heavy strains of open sea navigation. The hurricanes in the South made an enormous swell, which traversed the whole Indian coast and reached the In'lus; and this swell proved the destruction of the long slender Falk- land. Her plates opened gradually, and at last she broke clean in two, and went down in about eighty feet of water, while still some score miles from the mouth of the Indus. The boats of her consorts took off all the people on board except one man, whose death was accidental. Her loss would cost the Company 20,0001. Another steamer, on very much the same model, which has the same destination as the Falkland, is laid up till November for her voyage to the Indus.

IIiirrEn STATES. —The American towns maintain their sad eminence for gigantic fires. The frequent conflagrations in San Francisco have been now exceeded by one that has left only a third part of the city standing ; while of Stockton " one-half of the city is in ashes." The description of the Alta California—the only paper whose establishment escaped de- struction—at once conveys to the English reader the great magnitude of the city which has sprung up in four years, and gives the exact measure of destruction which has befallen it. The fire broke out on the 3d of May, in a paint-shop on the West side of Portsmouth Square. " It was but a slight blaze when first seen, but in five minutes the whole upper storey was full of flames. Before the engines could get upon the ground and commence playing, the American on one side, and a store occu- pied by Messrs. Rhodes as a furnishing establishment, were in flames. The buildings in the vicinity being all of wood, and extremely combustible, the fire spread up Clay Street, back towards Sacramento, and down Clay Street to Kearney Street, with frightful rapidity. It soon had full command, and the fire department could only work upon the borders, and endeavour to check its progress. By anticipating it in this way, they succeeded on the North side before it reached Du Pont Street ; but in every other direction in which it could spread, it took its own course. There was but little chance to save much of the moveables. To the South it spread to Bush Street, and to the East passed Jackson Street, sweeping everything from East of Du Pont Street to the Wharfs. The blocks between Du Pont and Kearney Street and West of Portsmouth Square, as far as Bush Street, three in number, are in ashes. Between Bush and Jackson, Kearney and Montgomery Streets, five in number, all are burned down. Between Montgomery and Hansom, Bush and Jackson Streets, five in number' all down. Besides these thirteen blocks, almost every building of which is destroyed, there are many others. It is impossible even to guess at the number of buildings or the amount of pro- perty destroyed. A thousand buildings is within the range of truth. We udge that ten millions of dollars could not replace the terrible destruction. Some place it at three times as high. It is sufficient to say that more than

three-fourths of the business part of the city is nothing bt cinders?'

A letter in the New York Herald describes the scene, and adds some particulars of the results.

"Frame-buildings burned like tinder ; iron-houses curled up like sheets . of paper before a fire ; brick buildings, with iron shutters and, doors, gave way, and crumbled into ruins. Of scores of buildings supposed to be tire- proof, within the limits of the burnt district, not a dozen remain, and it seems as if they were preserved by a miracle. Such was the fiereeneator Y, the flames, that they leaped across streets a hundred feet wide, and -tpk4 e

the buildings as if they were made of touchwood. And, when the of the flames was exhausted, they were extinguished in as improbable a meaner

as they had ravaged. They destroyed one end of a wooden building and went

out, leaving the remainder standing. To tear down buildings was useless. They might begin a block, but before the first building was demolished the

flames had reached them. To blow them up seemed equally unserviceable—

the flames crossed the gap thus made as if it were nothing. Hundreds of persona who were rich on Saturday night had nothing but the clothes in which they stood on Sunday morning. Multitudes of persons did not save a paper; and, alas ! numbers lost their lives. In one store, at the corner of Montgomery and Sacramento Streets, no less than six met a fiery death. Some four or five, whose names are unknown, are known to have perished in the burning streets; and some are believed to have perished in burning buildings, whose fate will never be known on earth save by conjecture, when they are never heard of again. " But the most wonderful part of the history of this fire is the energy and perseverance displayed by the citizens since. The language does not con- tain words sufficient to describe or commend their courage and determination.

Four times destroyed by fire, and four times rebuilt, this the filth catastro- phe is as far from disheartening them as the first. In forty-eight hours after the fire, buildings were erected and business was transacted over the still smoking ruins. On this the eleventh. day since the fire, (including two Sundays,) there are nearly four hundred buildings erected or in progress of erection in the burnt district, most of them being completed and occupied. I hazard nothing in saying that in sixty days the whole district will be again covered with buildings. Nearly all of these buildings, it is true, aro of wood; but wherever there was a brick building previously preparations are made to rebuild with such additional securities against fire as they have learned by the recent calamity, and in some cases larger buildings than the previous ones are being erected. Including the buildings being erected out- side the boundaries of the fire, fully six hundred buildings are erected or be- ing built since the fire. It is perfectly astounding. It must be seen to be be- lieved. I had no conception of what could or would be done prior to this. My experience has been very varied. I have been in difkrent countries, cli- mates, states, and cities, but have never seen anything like what I have seen here. New York has suffered by fires, but nothing in comparison to San

Francisco. A fire in New York which should compare in proportion to the extent and population of that city with this last in Sall Francisco would

sweep away the whole city below Broome Street, from North to East River.

And what would be thought, even in the great metropolis, with all its vast population, capital, skill, and resources, of him who should prophecy that so

much would be rebuilt (in any manner) in sixty days ? The prophecy here is a matter of course. And yet this is the fifth great fire in twelve months." Of the great fire at Stockton we learn little more than the date, the ge- neral result, and the common opinion that it was due to incendiary efforts. "Every mercantile house on Levee Street except six, all on Main Street, all on El Dorado Street except two, and all on Hunter Street except three," were destroyed ; and the damage was estimated at a million of dollars.