THE WEEK ABROAD.

FRANCE.—The week has been almost devoid- of political news, its only incident having been the sixth birthday of the Prince Imperial, and the consequent bestowal of the Legion of Honour on a great number of officers, and on the'mayors of no less than sixty-four rural communes. As this 'class of officials has been much neglected, their unexpertod recognition will, it is imagined, greatly smooth the path of the Government in the elections, which a large party still believe to be imminent. The principal topics of conversation have been the attitude of the .Emperor:towards Italy, and several pamphlets, among them one by the Baron de Brennier, who argues that Piedmont is as much hated in Naples as ever the Bourbons were, and that the unity of Italy is a menace for France. The Emperor, it is explained, despite the frequent acts of clerical repression, is by no means inclined to break finally with the Church, and is determined to wait events, and not precipitate the question of Rome. He has not yet sent the new Montauban Bill down to the Corps Legislatif, nor has M. Fould pro- duced his Budget, sod the members are still discussing the last one. M. Devinck, member for a divison of Paris, has made a courageous speech, in which he affirms that M. Fould's plans are plans of taxa- tion and not of reform, and urges eetrenchment and the reduction of the army ; but the debate generally has been of little interest, and the Address was carried entire on Thursday by 244 to 9 votes.

A MERICL—We have intelligence down to the 8th March, much of which is important. On the 6th of March the President transmitted to Congress a message upon the future of slavery. He recommends the Houses to pass a joint resolution affirming " that the United States ought to co-operate with any State which may adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such State in its discretion to compensate for the inconveniences, public and private, produced by such change of system." He argues that " the leaders of the existing insurrection entertain the hope that the Government will ultimately be forced to acknowledge the inde- pendence of some part of the disaffected region, and that all the Slave States north of such parts will then say, The Union for which we have struggled being already gone, we now choose to go with t Southern section. To deprive them of this hope substantially ends the rebellion, and the initiation of emancipation completely deprives them of it as to all the States initiating it. The point is not that all the States tolerating slavery would very soon, if at all, initiate eman- cipation, but that., while the offer is equally made to all, the more Northern shall, by such initiation, make it more certain to the more Southern that in. no event will the former ever join the latter in their proposed Confederacy." He believes that the expense will be less than the current expenditure of this war, and while leaving each State free to decide for itself he adds, " the Union must be pre- served. . . If resistance continues the war must continue also, and it is impossible to foresee all the incidents which may attend and all the ruin which may follow it. Such as may seem indispensable or may obviously promise great efficiency toward ending the struggle must and will come." The message is very short, and was received with profound attention. Its effect upon the people is not yet known, Radicals and Conservatives both' claiming it as a triumph; but it is said the great border slave-owners are willing to accept it, and the Republicans, through the Tribune, consider it a concession. It will. probably irritate the ultra-democratic party who still hope for compromise with the South, and who intend, it would seem, to resist the plan upon the ground of expense. It is, however, one of those questions which in. America are beyond politieans, and are practically settled by the country population, A whose decision cannot be known for a week or two. 11 the journals acknowledge that the message initiates a policy of emancipation.

The Committee of Ways and Means have reported their tax-bill to the House of Representatives. We here reduce the proposed taxes to a table. Two general direct taxes are proposed, one of 7id, in the pound on all incomes, and another of three per cent. upon all manufactures whatsoever. Then there are duties :

Flour, per barrel, 10 cents. Carriages, 1. to 10 dollars a. year.

Leaf tobacco, per lb., 3 cents. Gold plate, per oz.. fr dol. Manufactured tobacco, per lb., 5 cents. Silver plate, per oz., 3 cents. Cigars, per lb., from 5 to 20 .cents. Billiard tables, 20 dole. per annum. Oils, per gallon, 5 cents. Bankers' license, 100 do. Gas, per 1000 feet, 25 cents. Auctioneers', 20 do. Bank-note paper, per lb., 5 cents. Dealers, 50 do. Printing paper, per lb., 3 mils. Liquor dealers, 20 da. Soap, per lb., 5 mils. Retail dealers in goods, 10 do. Salt, per 100 lbs., 4 cents. Spirit rectifiers, I00 da.

Sole leather, per lb., cent. Taverns, from 5 to 200 do.

Upper leather, per lb., # cent, Commercial brokers, 50 do. Railroad passengers, per mile, 2 mils. Other do., 10 do. Steamboats, 1 mil. Theatres, 100 de.

Omnibusses, do., 3 per cent. of gross Circuses, 50 do.

receipts. Bowling alleys, per alley, 5 do. Advertisements, 5 per cent. on gross Pedlars, from 5 to 50 do. receipts.

Stamp duties are also imposed on all commercial transactions, all legal papers, all patent medicines, all telegraphic messages, and all goods sent by express ; and a legacy duty is added, varying from 1 to 5 per cent., according to relationship. It is difficult to ascertain the sentiment of the people on this bill; it is received by the papers almost without remark, but there is an under current visible of great annoyance and alarm.

The war intelligence is not of much moment. Nashville has been evacuated by the Confederates, and it is reported Murfreesboro, but the latter is not yet certain. The special correspondent of the Times says the reports of strong Union feeling in Tennessee are dying out and that the Confederates have called out twenty-two regiments within the State itself. Movements on the Potomac have been pre. vented by a fall of snow, but General Ranks has crossed the Upper Potomac in. safety, and established himself at Winchester. A minim- a his defeat seems to require confirmation. All kinds of stories are afloat about Fort Donnelson, the Southerners declaring Gen. Backner treacherous, and his men asserting that they were prepared to fight, but were deceived by their officers. An expedition is about to pro-

ceed down the Mississippi. The Confederate Congress has resolved that it will accept no terms which involve the surrender of any portion of the Confederacy, and recommend compensation to planters who destroy their tobacco and cotton on the approach of the enemy.

Paussia.—Repeated Cabinet Councils, ending in a violent dif- ference of opinion, the King accepted the resignation of the Liberals, MM. Schwerin, von Auerswald and Bermuth, and formed a reactionary Ministry, having the Prince Hohenlohe for Presi- dent, Count Bernstorff for Foreign Affairs, M. von Jagow, Pre- sident of Police, for Minister of the Interior, M. de bliilikr, for Public Worship, and Count Itzenpflitz, for Agriculture. The Ca- binet is distinctly reactionary, and its appointment has been followed by a remarkable proclamation, dated March 20th, and signed by all the Ministers. In it the King reaffirms his fidelity to the principles stated in November, 1858, and makes this curious confession of faith : "It is my duty and my earnest wish to insure the complete effective- ness of the Constitution to which I have taken an oath, and of the representative rights of the country, but also in the same measure to maintain the rights of the Crown, and to maintain them in that un- diminished strength which is necessary to Prussia for the execution of her mission. The weakening of the Crown would be greatly in- jurious to the Fatherland. This conviction also lives in the hearts of my subjects. It is only necessary far me to explain clearly and openly to them my real thoughts for their welfare. As regards my foreign policy, especially towards Germany, I maintain without any change the policy which I have followed up to the present time." The words we have italicised are, as it were, an unconscious "aside" highly dramatic in its effect. The " Constitutional," or third party, have issued their programme, which is distinctly liberal, and demands the reconstruction of the House of Lords. They have been received everywhere with " ovations," whatever that may mean.

Atrwrare.—The Finance Minister, M. von Plener, has introduced a Bill into the Reichsrath proposing additional taxation to the amount of 1,800,0001. a year. This sum is obtained by increasing the taxes on land, business profits, buildings, and income, the latter being raised from six to seven per cent., or fifteen pence in the pound. The Bill will not, it is expected, pass in its present form. The Emperor is still at Verona, reviewing the troops, and, as Italians think, mass- ing them towards the frontier.

GILFXCE.—We publish elsewhere a full account of the origin and meaning of the Greek Revolution. According to the latest telegrams (March 15) the outworks of Nauplia have been carried by the King's troops, and the insurgents have asked for an amnesty, which, in pre- sence of the universal feeling in Greece, they must obtain, till an opportunity offers for punishing them with safety. All this requires confirmation.

Ininr.—The Italian Parliament, though annoyed at the intrigues which have ended in the dissolution of the Ricasoli Ministry, appears disposed to allow the Ministry a fair trial. At a meeting held by a section of the old majority a resolution was offered that "this meeting declare that they have no confidence in the present Ministry," and was rejected in favour of a more moderate one, "the meeting have no confidence in the Ministry as at present composed." A second meeting, comprising nearly a hundred members, resolved, "to wait for the acts of the Ministry, and support it in the execution of its programme." Rattazzi, it is said, leans for support on the Conserva- tives, and has proposed to introduce a bill defining, which is another word for limiting, the right of association. The Pope is reported ill, and the receptions have been sus- ,pended. The telegram announcing the fact bears date Rome, March 18, and seems to be official, a dangerous symptom, as the Cardinals

take steady precautions to prevent dangerous

state of his Holiness's health being a subject of public discussion.

INDIA.—We have intelligence from Bengal to the 10th February, and from Bombay to 17th February. The tribes of the Eastern frontier are exceedingly troublesome, and as Sir J. P. Grant has not organized the military police ordered a year ago, it has been neces- sary to send a regiment against them. It must not be forgotten that these people have no political motives, but only want plunder and human heads. They are only important in a political sense, as interfering with the tea cultivation, which is spreading so rapidly in. Assam, Cachar, Silehar, and Sylliet.

TIJEXEY.—On Friday last Mr. Layard gave in the House of Com- mons a very valuable sketch of the financial condition of Turkey. The British Government had sent two gentlemen, Mr. Foster, of the Pay:office, and Lord Hobart, of the Board of Trade, and had re- ported that the difficulties arose entirely from mismanagement, and with a very little common sense and good-will could be got over. The debt was only 11,000,000', its interest only one-eighth of the revenue, and the taxation only about one-sixth of the English aver- age. The system of farming the revenue, the great source of finan- cial mischief, was to be abolished, tobacco and salt had becu made monopolies, and all the accounts were to be reformed. The truth is the Turkish Government is not in any difficulties at all, but it always anticipates its revenue, and consequently never has any cash at the moment it wants it.