Iforegn an (Colortfal.

FRANCE.—The all-absorbing trials of General Cubieres, Messieurs Teste, Parmentier, and Pellapra, commenced before the Court of Peers, in the Palace of the Luxembourg, on Thursday the 8th instant. All the accused answered to their names with the exception of M. Pellapra; for whose arrest the Court issued an order, on the application of the Preen- reur-GeneraL

The accused were then interrogated. When it came to his turn, M. Tote rose and said—" My names are Jean Baptiste Teste; I was born at Bagnols, and am now sixty-seven years of age. As to my profession, being exposed to an accusation which so seriously affects my honour, I deemed it my duty to divest myself of all my dignities and titles; which I deposited yesterday in the hands of the King." There were several charges in the indictment. General Cubieres, M. Parmentier, and M. Pellapra, were charged with having in 1842 corrupted "by offers, gifts, and presents," the Minister of Public Works, in order to obtain the concession of the Gouhenans mines. M. Teste, then Minister of Public Works, was charged with having corruptly received such offers, gifts, and presents.

The indictment also sets forth at great length the history of the trans- actions. The Gouhenans mine was originally conceded to M. Parmentier in 1825. In 1839, General Cubieres purchased an interest in the mines to the extent of 25,000 francs; and during 1841 and 1842, he increased his property in shares to the amount of 159,000 francs. In June 1840, the Government monopoly of the salt-works was abolished, and the mines were in future to be let by public auction. In November 1841, M. Par- mentier came to Paris to settle with General Cubieres the means of securing to themselves the concession of the mines. On the 14th January 1842, the General wrote to his associate, apprising him of a conversation with M. Legrand, Director-General of the Department of Public Works, and urging the appropriation of the means necessary to secure an "interested support" in the Council of Ministers- " I can," he said, "obtain that indispensable support; and it behoves you to devise the means of propitiating him. This subject is not easy to treat by cor- respondence; your presence is necessary, indispensable in Paris. You must dis- pose to that effect of a certain number of shares. When we meet we will talk over the affair; but you must contrive that you and I should have those shares in our possession, in order to carry our point with as little delay as possible. Re- member, my dear Sir, that the Government is placed in greedy and corrupt hands; that the liberty of the press runs great risk of being suppressed without noise one of these days, and that right never stood more in need of protection than at this moment."

M. Parmentier concurred in this arrangement; and it was agreed that the original 100 shares should be converted into 525; of which 25 should be placed at the absolute disposal of the associates, to be employed as they thought proper, and without any accountability to the Com- pany. General Cubieres subsequently demanded 50 shares, the 25 not being sufficient. These shares were ultimately offered to M. Pellapra; who lent 100,000 francs on them. Another 100,000 francs was sub- sequently raised by the sale of 25 other shares belonging to M. Parmen- tier; and the united produce, 200,000 francs, was placed in the hands of the General, to be employed as he thought fit to insure the grant of the concession. General Cubieres immediately went to work with M. Tests, through M. Legrand. Between the months of July and September, General Cubieres was absent from Paris; M. Pellapra taking charge of the negotiation in the interval. M. Pellapra saw ht. Teste on the 18th July; and was assured by him that be would exert himself to procure for the company 14 kilometres of land, to which it had limited its claim. The various steps were reported to M. Parmentier by M. Pellapra; who told him that the delzands of certain rival applicants had been set aside by the Minister, but that the Minister being outvoted, could only procure the con- cession of 6 kilometres instead of 14. The object, however, was attained by a side-wind; M. Teste having procured an insertion to be made in the resolution of Council to the effect that no decision should be taken as to the destination of the unconceded portion. M. Teste likewise exerted him- self successfully with the Minister of Finance to obtain for AL Parmentier a reduction of a fine to which he had been sentenced. Of the 200,000 francs in the hands of General Cubieres, 115,000 francs appear to have been paid to certain parties in February 1845. Shortly afterwards, General Cubieres and M. Parmentier quarrelled; the latter threatening the publication of the General's letters if he did not re- ceive back his 25 shares. Subsequently, M. Parmentier accused Genera/ Cubieres of using the most culpable means to monopolize the mines, and ultimately offered to give up his interest in them for 2,000,000 francs. The disagreement continued, with more or less activity in the demands of M. Parmentier, until 1847; when a civil snit against General Cubieres brought the whole matter before the public. The secret negotiations with M. Teste were conducted by M. Pellapra; who also acted as the banker. On Friday morning, the trial took a new turn: the accused parties, who had before been at large on bail, appeared as prisoners; and at the opening of the Court the Chancellor announced that they had been arrested the previous night, according to the demand of the Committee of the Court ap- pointed to watch the trial. They had passed the night in the prison of the Conciergerie. The cause of the arrest was the discovery of some important correspondence. M. Marrast, the principal editor of the National, became possessed of copies of certain letters, which he gave to M. Leon de Mello- yule, a member of the Chamber of Deputies; and M. de Malleville handed them into the Court at the commencement of the proceedings. When interrogated, M. Marrast declined to mention the source from which he procured the documents, as it would involve, he said, a breach of con- fidence ;lie vouched, however, for the accuracy of the copies. General Cubieres admitted the general accuracy of the documents: and he subse- quently produced the originals. They are fragmentary; consisting of ex- tracts from correspondence between General Cubieres and M. Pellapra, extending from 1843 to 1846. The first, undated, is as follows-

" Has Pellapra given money to Teste? Answer: 1. In the letter to Baroche, Cubieres says, M. Pellapra affirms that he has paid M. —; whose name you will easily divine." The earliest in date is the 12th July 1843, from M. Pellapra; who asks of General Cubieres-

" Will you tell me, upon your responsibility, the part I ought to take in this unpleasant affair; which keeps me a dicouvert, without knowing how it will end

with these continual advances. PELLAPICA."

Then comes General Cnbieres's narrative of the disagreement with M. Parmentier about his 25 shares: it is dated the 29th August 1844. M. Parmentier affected to disbelieve that any service had been rendered by the "intermediary " in obtaining the concession; and spoke of " occult " transactions, of which he disapproved. General Cubieres concludes as follows— "We have fallen into a nest of wasps. The company is in the hands of P—; who will make it vote whatever he pleases and will not shrink before any process, however scandalous it may be. The cession of the 25 new shares' however pos- sible or available with honest men, may cover some new snare. In this state of things, 1 see but one way for your disentangling yourself; and I do not hesitate to propose it to you, although it will throw upon me the whole weight of the sa- crifice and cause me a very severe loss. I have left 19 free shares or 19-525th share; of the capital I offer you the 19 free shares with a receipt. With the 8 you hold from me you will still be the holder of twenty-seven, instead of 33, it is true; but you will be covered, and I shall have done what friendship and honour diatate: On the 9th October, M. Pellapra writes—

"If you can sell for me the shares I hold, [this means 8 shares granted gm- tuitously,1 you will render me a great service by so far lessening my losses. My desire above all things is to have nothing more to do with this execrable affair." The next letter, from General Cubieres to M. Pellapra, dated 18th April 1846, shows signs of disagreement-

" I reply to your letter of the 15th, which demands from me the completion of 40,000 franca. Until this day, by an excess of condescension and abaegation I have committed the fault, gravely prejudicial to the interests of my family, sacrificing myself too lightly, of paying as easily and as promptly as my means have permitted. I have already paid you 20,000 francs in two payments; al- though in equity the sum that I have paid, as well as the remainder of that which remains to be paid, was due to you by another; which it would be superfluous to demonstrate here. But there is a term to sacrifices, as to abnegation: I have arrived at it, and declare it to you. • * * You have advanced me no sum, although 'shave mentioned the contrary; and it was only, in fact, to satisfy the shameful exigencies of M. —, who desired to realize a profit at my expense, and, without doubt, at yours also, in a circumstance in which ordinary probity commands him to abandon it. I ought, I confess, to have felt revolted sooner against ese shameful exigencies. I could have rejected them at the moment at which they were produced; and if I did not determine to do so, it was because I ceded to considerations personal to you, and which took their source in the very old attachment Ihave ever entertained for you. At present I will no longer be the dupe and victim of M. —. I have determined to allow actions to be brought against me, to escape if it be possible from his rapacity, in order not to pay what I never owed, and by consequence to obtain back the money which I was not obliged to pay. I will make known all the facts under the sanctity of an oath; and if, which seems impossible, I should be condemned to pay from the want of sufficient documents, I shall at least have the consolation of having enlightened the public as to the morality of M. —, by forcing him to perjure himself:" In the last letter of the series dated the 5th May, General Cubieres says to M. Pellapra- "I expose to you anew, that I cannot and ought not pay alone the price which it has pleased yen to put on your services in the affair of Goubenans. I expose to you, that equity requires that I should be relieved from what I do not owe; what I only took on me at your pressing solicitation by excess of confidence and abnegation, and in belief that part of the extra 25 shares which were created might sooner or later make up the deficiency. * * • I believe that it would be but little honourable to exact a salary when it is from me and not the company that you really exact it. If; however, you persist in the sentiments you expressed yesterday, I shall see myself obliged to have recourse to arbitrators or judges in order that they may fix the amount which ought equitably to be paid to you for your intervention in the affair of Gouhenans, and the part of the payment to you which ought to fall on me."

Intimidated by this threat, M. Pellapra intimated, on the following day, that at noon on the 9th his note would be placed in the hands of Belen the huissier, &c. During the early part of examination, General Cubieres was reserved in his answers. He refused to accuse any one; but admitted that he had used means liable to reproach. Among those means, he mentioned the procuring for influential persons of shares at moderate price. He did not touch the sum of 100,000 francs- for which, indeed, Id. Pellapra was re- sponsible. And when closely pressed, he admitted that M. Pellapra told him he had given this money to AL Teste.

At this point the Chancellor invited M. Testa to explain himself. The ex-Minister, however, contented himself with an energetic denial of the charge; stating that he would reserve his defence. He declared the whole matter to be a machination against him.

The next examin' ation was that of M. Parmentier; who said that he had never believed in corruption: "no one believed in corruption." General Cubieres was to employ the funds at his disposal for " the interests of the Company "; not, however, by that term meaning corruption.

M. Taste was examined on Saturday. He complained of the embarrass- ment to his case caused by the absence of M. Pellapra. He would not, however, be an accuser: it was for the Procureur-General to prove the corruption if it existed.

The Chancellor inquired the reason of the sudden solicitude for the Company Parmentier shown by M. Teste in the Council, after appearing so little anxious about it? M. Teste answered, that at first the Company Parmentier was in an unfavourable position; but having afterwards ob- tained an accession of capital, it became worthy of the attention of the Government. It was at that period that he had deemed it his duty to support the demand. He maintained that he was not responsible for the allegations contained in letters not written by himself, but by persons who had combined to extract money from other parties.

The proceedings took another turn on Monday. It had been rumoured that M. Pellapra would appear to answer his accusers- but instead of that,

communication was read from Madame Pellapra, forwarding a mass of papers, letters, and accounts, which she gave up at the special desire of her husband. He declared his absence to be caused by bad health, and his de- sire not to be an accuser. By an account and banker's book it clearly ap- peared that a payment of 95,000 francs had passed from M. Pellapra to M. Teste. The correctness of the entries was attested on oath by M. Roqueberg, M. Pellapra's agent de change. Speaking of the effect of this disclosure upon M. Teste, a correspondent of the Times, writing in court during the trial, says—" The details of the payment of the 95,000 francs so completely established his criminality in his own opinion, that he lite- rally withered, and from being an erect powerful man shrunk in a moment in the view of the spectator into a miserable cowering attitude." And it is reported that on leaving the Court that evening, M. Teste was heard to exclaim, " Je suis un homme perdu."

The excitement reached its climax when' at the opening of the Court on Tuesday, it became known that M. Teste had on the previous evening at- tempted suicide. The proceedings commenced with the reading of the proces verbal of the Commissary of Police, and the various depositions. From these it appeared, that about half-past eight in the evening, shortly after his servant had left him, M. Testa placed a pistol to his mouth, but it missed fire: he then discharged a second close to his breast; so close that the ball did not penetrate the flesh, but fell to the ground, leaving a black mark on the waistcoat and skin. M. Teste admitted that he had attempted to commit suicide, because he held honour more dear than life. He de- clared that he would not name the person who had supplied him with the pistols; that it was not his son; but that if it were he would regard it as an act of filial piety. The declaration of the physician, that of the officers of the prison, and that of those who had first run to the chamber on the report being heard, agreed in proving that M. Testa was calm and firm, that his physiognomy indicated no agitation, and that his pulse was not increased. A letter was then read, addressed by M. Teste to the Chancellor, to the effect that he would refuse to present himself in the court on that day. " The incidents," said he, "which have occurred in the court yesterday, leave no room for contradiction. So far as regards me the debate is closed; my presence is useless; the Court will not wish to constrain me nor to triumph by force over a resistance which would be desperate." All officer was then sent to summon him to attend; but he refused,—protesting, at the same time, his respect for the Court, and de- clarins.' that, in the face of the evidence of the only act of weakness with which he had to reproach himself in his whole professional life, and which he must expiate so cruelly, his attendance would be useless. The Chan- cellor then ordered that the trial should proceed notwithstanding the ab- sence of M. Teste.

M. Delangle urged the accusation, and demanded the condemnation of all the accused. M. Baroche spoke in defence of General Cubieres; endea- vouring to throw all the responsibility of the attempts at corruption upon M. Parmentier and M. Pellapra. M. Dehont spoke a few words on the part of M .Teste; the object of which was to protest against theglitality

which mixed up in this sole act of weakness the name of an inn o son, who was ignorant of the whole proceeding. The advocate terminated in adjuring the Court to lean towards mercy. M. Benoit spoke for M. Par- mentier; whom he sought to justify without throwing blame on the other parties accused, except perhaps M. Pellapra. The Court would deliberate on its judgment with closed doors.

The Mayor of Thionville's secretary poisoned himself on the 9th in- stant, to escape the exposure which he dreaded as the result of a prosecu- tion for corruption in the exercise of his functions.

A grand "Reform banquet" took place on Friday week, at the Chateau Rouge. The chair was occupied by M. de Lasteyrie; the company num- bered 1,080. Some dispute has arisen as to the number of Deputies pre- sent: the Debate, which sneers at the demonstration, limits their number to 40; while the Opposition claim as many as 77 or 78. Neither M. Thiers, M. de Remusat, M. Arago, nor M. Ledru-Rollin, was present. The most energetic speaker was M. Duvergier de Hauranne; who, after con- demning all the acts of the Government since 1830, declared that he was devoted soul and body to the cause of Reform. M. Odilon Barrot, M. Re- mit, Ai. de Lasteyrie, and M. Gustave de Beaumont, also spoke with great energy in the same sense. All passed in perfect order. The company did not break up till a very late hour. The "Marseillaise" was played and sung several times during the meeting.

SwitrzERLAND.—The French Cabinet has ratified the representation made by M. Bois-le-Compte, in a despatch which the French Ambassador read to M. Ochsenbein on the 7th instant. The President at first refused a copy of the despatch, but afterwards consented to accept one in his pri- vate capacity.

ITALY.—Letters from Rome of the 29th June, quoted in the Augsburg Gazette and the Siècle, mention that the Pope had resolved not only to re- nounce his reforms, but to abdicate; and that he bad sent for his brother, Count Mastai Ferretti, from Sinigaglia, to make the necessary arrange- ments. The Roman papers of the 3d instant make no allusion to any such event. The arrival of Count Mastai is otherwise accounted for: he was to be appointed commander of the National Guard.

It is stated that the Cardinals had demanded the banishment of one hundred individuals; but that the Pope had refused; and that his refusal had tranquillized a commotion which was assuming an alarming character.

PORTUGAL—By the usual mail, intelligence is received from Lisbon to the 9th, from Oporto to the 10th July. It recounts how the final termi- nation of the rebellion, which was already known, had been brought about.

The skirmish of the 25th at Villa Nova was succeeded by an occasional cannonading for the three following days, between Saldanha's troops and the city; the Oporto Junta being determined to defend itself rather than sur-

render to the troops of the Queen. At the same time it signified its wil- lingness to surrender to the Allied Powers; and on the 29th of June, the

representatives of France, Great Britain, and Spain, met the representatives of the Junta to arrange the surrender. In the convention signed by the four parties, it is declared, that "the military honour of the army of the Junta, and of the ancient, very noble, and always loyal and unconquered city of Oporto, was completely safe." As soon as the act of surrender had been signed, the Junta published it, and liberated the Duke of Terceira and other political prisoners, from the Castle of Foz.

At Lisbon all was tranquil. The Government, however, had given rise to some doubts, by issuing a decree suspending the publication of news- papers and political pamphlets, and the personal guarantees, until the end of July; and also by suspending the liberation of Das Antas, S da Ban- deira, and other officers confined in Fort St. Julian.

GREECE.—The Levant mail has brought accounts from Athens to the 30th of June. The elections had terminated: intimidation, bribery, and violence, had given Coletti a large majority. General Grivas, to whom in part Coletti owes his present position, had raised an insurrection in Acarnania. He had started as an Opposition candidate; and, being afraid of arrest, he seized two forts, intending to defend himself. Troops were sent against him; but, without fighting, he took refuge in Santa Maura, one of the islands under British protection.

UNITED STATES AND MEXIC0.—The amounts brought from America by the Cambria possess little interest. President Polk was making a tour of

the Northern States. From the seat of war the news is very meagre. The invading troops had not reached the capital. General Scott was at Puebla, with a force of 6,000 men waiting reinforcements. He had broken up the garrison as Jalapa, and sent the sick and stores to Perote. Although there was a force of 20,000 men, the wreck of all the armies, gathered between Mexico and Rio Jario, the Mexicans seemed to have given up field opera- tions, and to be applying themselves with vigour to guerilla warfare. A United States convoy passing from Puebla to Vera Cruz, was attacked near the National Bridge by a large body of guerillas; from whom it escaped with great difficulty, and with the loss of some waggons. A larger force under General Cadwallader passing by the same road, attacked the Gueril- las in the heights, dislodged, and defeated them.

Santa Anna still remained at the head of affairs. Ho had made a second- tender of his resignation both of the Presidency and the military command; but it had not been accepted by the Congress. An attempted pronuncia- mento on the part of some of Gomez Farias's friends was easily quelled by Bustamente.

RIO DE LA PLATA.—Accounts from Monte Video, to the 18th of May, mention the arrival of Lord Howden, in the Rattler war-steamer, on the

9th. He proceeded at once to Buenos Ayres; where, in conjunction with Count Walewski, matters were rapidly advancing towards a settlement. A private letter mentions that an armistice had actually been concluded.