33liortllautaus.

WATifyyssx's DIMPATC11. The following is the text of the despatch from the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, referred to in the debates in Parliament, and not answered by Lord Clarendon.

" Count Iraleteski to Count Persigny.. " Pans, Jan. 20, 1858. "Monsieur le Comte—The preliminary proceedings instituted on the cri- minal attempt of which the person of the Emperor has been the object, are pursuing their course, and we shall ere long learn the definitive result; but there is one point on which, even at present, we can have no doubt : this attempt, like those which have preceded it, has been projected in England.

"It was hi England that Pianori formed the design of attacking the Em- peror ; it was from London that, in an affair the recollection of which is still fresh, Mazzini, Ledru Rollin, and Campanella, directed the hired bravos whose hands they had armed. It was there aka that the authors of the late conspiracy have prepared at leisure their means of action, studied and fabri- cated the instruments of destruction of which they made use, and it was thence that they started to execute their plan.

"In establishing these facts, I hasten to add how much the Government of the Emperor is penetrated with the sincerity of the sentiments of reproba- tion which they have raised in England. It is equally convinced that, with such proofs of the abuse of hospitality before them, the English Government and people will from the present understand how far we are justified in anxiously considering them. "No one appreciates and respects more than ourselves the liberality with which England loves to practise the right of asylum towards foreigners, victims of political struggles. France has on her part always regarded it a duty of humanity never to close her frontiers to any honourable misfortune, to whatever party it might belong ; and the Government of his Majesty has no intention of complaining that its adversaries can find a refuge on English soil, and live there peaceably,. under the protection of British laws, while remaining faithful to their opinions, even to their passions. "But, Monsieur le Comte, how widely different is the attitude of the

adepts in demagogy established in England. It is no longer the hostility of erring parties manifesting itself by all the excesses of thepress and every violence of language ; it is no longer even the labour of the factious seeking to agitate opinion and to provoke disorder ; it is assassination reduced to a doctrine, preached openly, practised in repeated attempts, the most recent of which has just struck Europe with stupefaction.

"Ought, then, the right of asylum to protect such a state of things ? Is hospitality due to assassins ? Should English legislation serve to favour their designs and their manoeuvres ; and can it continue to protect persons who place themselves by flagrant acts without the pale of common law, and expose themselves to the ban of humanity ?

" In submitting these questions to the Government of her Britannic Majesty, the Government of the Emperor not only discharges a duty to- wards itself; it responds to the sentiment of the country, which demands such a proceeding under the pressure of most legitimate anxieties, and which in a circumstance where joint responsibility between all nations and all governments is so evident, believes that it has the right to count upon the cooperation of England. The recurrence and the perversity of these guilty enterprises subject France to a danger against which we are all bound to provide. The Government of her Britannic Majesty can assist us in averting it, by giving us a guarantee of security, which no state can re- fuse to a neighbouring state, and which we are authorized in expecting from an ally. Full of confidence, moreover, in the exalted reason of the English Cabinet, we abstain from all indication as regards the measures which it may be suitable to take to satisfy this wish. We rely in this matter entirely on them (the English Cabinet) for the care of appreciating the decisions which they shall judge the most proper to lead to this end ; and we congratulate ourselves in the firm persuasion that we shall not have appealed in vain to their conscience and their loyalty.

" You will be so good as to read this despatch to Lord Clarendon, and give him a copy of it.

"Accept, 8cc. A. WALEWSII."

A proclamation was issued on Thursday from the head-quarters of the Metropolitan Police, offering a reward of 2001. for the apprehension of " Thomas Allsop, late of Nuffield, near Reigate, in the county of Surrey, and formerly of No. 1 Royal Exchange Buildings, in the city of London, and a member of the Stock Exchange, charged as accessory to tin, mur- der of divers persons (whose names are unknown) at Paris, in the empire of France."

Several letters have appeared in Times in refutation of Mr. Duncombe's account of what happened at Boulogne when Louis Napoleon landed there. One writer quotes the evidence given before the Chamber of Peers, including that of Louis Napoleon himself, which shows that he did fire his pistol, and at least wounded a grenadier. He fired at the Co- lonel of the regiment who was calling his men to resist; some one struck up his hand ; the ball diverged, and struck the grenadier.

The Emperor and Empress of the French have given a very gracious re- ception to Prince Ottajone, a Neapolitan envoy, sent with congratulations on the recent escape of the Imperial pair.

Mr. Horsley Palmer has not long survived his withdrawal from business : he died on the 7th instant, at the ripe age of seventy-eight. For many years a Director of the Bank of England, thrice its Governor, for fifty years engaged in commerce, he has left a character as a British merchant of the highest and most honourable kind.

According to news from Persia in the Paris Pays, Mr. Murray was suf- fering from chrouic dysentery at Teheran at the end of December, and his physicians had recommended him to quit the country as soon as ho could bear the fatigue of travelling. [Mr. Henry A. Murray writes to the Times that at the end of December Mr. Murray was " steadily recovering.") We understand Sir Joseph Paxton M.P. has tendered his resignation of the offices he held under the late Duke of Devonshire to the present Duke. Sir Joseph wished to retire some time ago, during the life of the late Duke, who dissuaded him from his intention. It is rumoured that a policy of assurance for 60,0001. on the late Duke's life was effected by Sir Joseph Paxton.—Shefield Independent.

The Corporation of Liverpool has given a silver cradle to Mrs. Shand, wife of the late Mayor, she having presented her husband with a child du- ring his year of office.

It is said that Ferukh Khan, the Persian Ambassador, previous to his de- parture for Italy, acting on a special authority from his Government, signed a treaty with a Paris merchant for the exclusive spinning by machinery during twenty-five years of all the silk produced in Persia. The conditions of the treaty, it is added, will enable the French merchants to save a por- tion of the 20,000,000 francs they pay annually for foreign silk.

The standing Committee of Trustees of the British Museum have resolved that there is a want of space to display the national collections, and that it is advisable to obtain land to the North of the present buildings, on Mr. Smirke's plan. The resolutions have been laid before the Ministers.

Under the direction of the Commissioners of Works, Mr. Hunt, the sur- veyor, has made an estimate of the expense of enlarging the present Na- tional Gallery. He puts the cost at the round sum of 600,0001. This estimate includes the expense of a new building, the reinstatement else- where of the Barracks, St. Martin's Workhouse, and St. Martin's Baths, and the erection of a suitable building for the Royal Academy.

Iron safes'are no protection against the predatory geniuses of our day. A machine has been found in the possession of a returned convict in Manches- ter which in an hour or two will cut out of the door of a safe, made of iron half an inch thick, a piece sufficiently large to allow the thief's hand to be thrust into the safe.

The fishermen of Tenby are catching immense numbers of cod on a bank off the town : this bank was formerly productive, was then lost, and has now become repeopled with fish. Wholesale, fish weighing thirty pounds have been sold for a shilling.

Whatever coal-consumers may think of the present winter, it proves a very " hard " one for the coal-trade of the Tyne. Coal-freights in that river are at almost unprecedentedly low rates for the winter months.

The public income for the year 1857 was 70,390,3431. ; the expenditure a little less-70,354,2451. Parliament granted 16,568,6141. for the Naval services in 1856-'7; but only 14,664,5131. was expended. In 1857 there were 43,432 occupanta of land in Scotland ; the tettl acre- age under crops was 3,556,572—an increase of 11,381 acres on 1856.

The return of the Registrar-General shows a slight decrease in the num- ber of deaths. Last week, the mortality amounted to 1314 ; in the preceding week, it was 1363. But the former number approximates very closely to the corrected average. Nine nonagenarians died last week ; the youngest was ninety-one, the eldest ninety-eight.

Dr. Parole, of Turin, has been prescribing ergot of rye as a remedy, for consumption ; and he reports that he has cured sixteen cases out of thirty- tone of confirmed consumption in an advanced stage.

The approach of the steamer North America to our shores from America on Thursday was signalized by a painful accident. At half-past one o'clock in the morning, between Tuskar and Holyhead, she came into col- lision with the American barque Leander, which sailed from Liverpool for New Orleans a few days ago, striking her on the starboard side : the barque went down in about fire minutes afterwards ; nine men and the captain's wife were drowned ; seven men jumped on board the steamer, and five were picked up by her boats. The North America lost bowsprit, &c.