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FittaticE.—The all-absorbing topic in Paris, and indeed throughout France, has been the murder of the unfortunate Dutchess de Choiseul- Praslin. Instead of allaying the excited curiosity of the public, the addi- tional facts elicited during the progress of the investigation have inflamed the excitement, so that the popular appetite has continued to increase by what it fed on.

Every fresh step in the inquiry has strengthened the suspicion against the Duke de Praslin. The examination was resumed on Thursday; and We compile from various sources an account of the evidence thus elicited. "The first circurnstauces " says the Gazette des Tribunaux, "which attracted the attention of the Magistiates, was that a trace of blood was discovered on the floor from the sleeping-room of the Dutchess to that of the Duke. At the same time, the servant who was alarmed by the screams of the waiting-maid, and who endeavoured to gain admission into the apartment of the Dutchess through the garden, stated that he observed a person of the Duke's size draw back from the window of the Duke's sleeping-mom, which he had just opened as if to make it appear that the murderer had made his escape through that aperture. Amongst the articles found in the sleeping-room, which was in complete disorder, was a pistol loaded with ball and ready primed. This weapon, which was recognized as belonging to the Duke of Prathin, was not only stained with blood, into which it had fallen, but particles of human flesh were attached to the butt-end of it and the mark of the ducal coronet on the pistol was stamped on the head of the victim."

The servant who first entered the chamber of the Duchess has deposed to going to the Duke's room immediately after the discovery of the murder, and to finding him employed in washing his hands, and endeavouring to remove stains of blood from his dressing-gown. Water tinged with blood was afterwards found in a basin.

Following up the search, the Magistrates discovered in the drawer of a desk in the cabinet adjoining the chamber, the broken hilt of a poniard, upon which were fresh stains of blood. The blade was missing; but the silver mountings were found in the garden, as if thrown there from the Duke's window. When ques- tioned, the Duke refused to give any explanation as to the broken weapon. Sub- sequently, a couteau de cheese, said to belong to the Duke, together with several napkins, were found in a cesspoil. In a private chamber were also discovered the remains of paper, linen, and a silk handkerchiefi which appeared to have been recently burnt. Of these the Mike has been unable to give any explanation. He accounted for the loaded pis- tol by-gating that he had brought it to defend his wife from a murderer; but ]den it was objected that there were no signs of the escape of any third person, este hid his face in his hands, and made no answer. When searched, the Duke *as found to have a wound on his hand, and a contusion on the leg- The wound en the hand he attributed to a blow which he received against the step of a rail- road carriage. He was found to have under his braces a cord similar to that used in Minting for suspending the powder-hone from the shoulder. The expla- nations given by the Duke for the possession of the cord, and for carrying it in so extraordinary a fashion, were exceedingly confused. The belief is that he in- tended to strangle the Dutchess with it it he had found her asleep.

It has also been ascertained that the bell near the bed was cat by the murderer, to that it could not be rung; and that the Dutchess, in order to give the alarm, had to make her way to the fire-place, where there was another bell. It must have been in this attempt to reach this latter bell that the fearful death struggle took place of Which the-effects were afterwards discoeered, and in which the vic- tim, though not able to save her life, was able to give the alarm.

M. Orfila has examined the halt found in the lady's chamber. " That found in the hand of the Dutchess, and that which was found stuck to the floor by the coagulated blood, were at first thought to be of different colour; but M. Orfila, having repeatedly washed both, aseelained that all the hair visibly belonged to the same person; a circumstance which negatives the idea of the murder having been perpetrated by two or more people. This hair, besides, as we have already 'Wed, bears a striking resemblance to that of the husband."

The wounds on the person of the Dutchess were very numerous; so much so, that one account sets them down at seventy, and according to the lowest computa- tion they were thirty-five in number.

The Prase Ayricole gives a hypothetical narrative of the murder, founded in part on the ascertained facts, and in part probably on the conjectures of the sagacious police of Paris. It is interesting as setting forth in a con netted view the whole bearing of the evidence-

" On arriving at his hotel, the Duke de Praslin went with his two daughters to pay a visit to Mademoiselle de Luzy; who complained bitterly of having been dis- missed; and, a few days before the catastrophe, she read to the young ladies a letter, in which she stated her feelings of regret at being separated from her dear children, as she called them. " The Dutchess, on hearing of this visit of her husband with her daughters, expressed her high disapprobation. At eleven oclock silence pervaded the hotel, and nothing interrupted it till half-past four in the morning.

" Why did the author of the crime await the dawn? It is explained as follows. It appears that every night a person employed to clean the apartments and keep them in order, a trustworthy person, sleeps in one of the antechambers. A bell of large dimensions is in connexion with this room, large enough to arouse the whole house if sounded. This man used to leave the hotel every day at daybreak. As soon as he was gone, the murderer entered the apartment of the Dutchess. " She was asleep. The first stab was aimed at the heart; but the blow missed, -and struck too low. The Dutchess immediately pulled the bell-rope, which sounded the bell in the sleeping-room of her femme de chambre. The latter, per- ceiving that it was daylight, put on all her clothes before answering the summons. Meanwhile, the murderer was completing the bloody deed. The first movement of the Dutchess was to rush towards a door which opens from her alcove into the other apartments: that door was probably fastened; marks of blood show the efforts made by the Dutchess to burst it open. A little beyond there are marks of blood on some furniture. The Dutchese then, still avoiding the blows of the

assassin, rushed towards the chimney-piece; where she pulled the bell for her waiting-woman, as also the bell communicating with the antechamber. The latter bell aroused one of the men-servants; who, hastily slipping on some of his clothes, rushed towards the sleeping-room of the Dutchess and heard her cries. The waiting-woman every night before retiring to rest used to hang up the key of the bedroom in a place appointed for that purpose: this key had been removed. The cries of the Dutchess had now nearly ceased, and were replaced by groans. The man-servant then made for the garden, in the hope of getting a view of the assassins. He saw no one; but he thought he beheld the Duke retiring precipi- tately from the window, which he was about to open. He now returned to the bedroom-door, where he was joined by the waiting-woman. The obstacle which had impeded his entrance before had been removed. By whom? The chamber was in the deepest obscurity. The night-lamp had been removed to an adjacent room leading to the Duke's apartment. It was only on procuring lights that they discovered their unfortunate mistress weltering in her blood, which was flowing from many wounds. Their first impulse was to call for help into the yard, which brought up the concierge and another servant. The Duke came last. His first move-

ment was not, as has been reported, to throw himself on the body Of his wife: on the contrary, he feigned the most singular astonishment. But how could this have oc-

curred ? ' he said: 'his inoredible—it is horrible ! ' He then assisted the servants in

raising the body of the Dutchess. Meanwhile, the servants had given information to justice; and a niessenger was sent to inform General Tiburce Sebastiani of the

horrible event. The General was preparing to attend a review at the Champ de Mars: he immediately threw off his regimentals, took a cab, and proceeded to the hotel. On beholding the mutilated body of his niece, the General fainted, and was some time before he came to himself again. The Duke remained apparently unmoved. The first step taken by the police on arriving was to guard every issue from the hotel, and allow no one to leave it, and to examine how the assassins had effected an entrance. No traces could be discovered; everything was closed as usual. M. Allard, an etperieneed police-officer, declared at once that the blows were not given by the experienced hand of an ordinary assassin. A pistol loaded with ball was found on the floor, with fragments of flesh adhering to the butt-end: the Duke acknowledged the pistol to be his, and said that he had brought it when he heard the cries of the Datchess: but the fragments of flesh induced the officer to cross-question the Duke. He first appeared offended at being questioned, but

without asserting his innocence. He had on gloves: he was told to take them off, and the skin on his left hand was considerably lacerated; the thumb bore the

marks of teeth. He was told to undress; and his thigh bore the mark as if from. the violent pressure of a.hand; there were also marks upon his legs, which might have been caused by stumbling against the furniture. On examining his apart- ment, some smouldering ashes were discovered, in which the silver chasings of a dagger-hilt and part of a handkerchief were found. Them were also some arti- cles still wee from being recently washed. When stripping, a cord, such as used to suspend powder-horns round the neck, fell from under his waistcoat: it had a

noose at the end. On being questioned, he said he could not say why he carried it an his person; and, biding his face in his hands, exclaimed, ' I cannot surely declare that I have killed -my wife! ' On examining the room, it was found that the handle of the door in the alcove was unscrewed. It was by this door that the Dutchess endeavoured to escape. The Procureur at once placed the Duke in charge of a garde de serete." An ordinance convoking the Chamber of Peers for the trial of the murderer was issued by the King on Friday, and published in the Montleues of Saturday. By it the Court of Peers was convoked, to as- semble at once and to proceed immediately with the trial. Accordingly, the Chamber met on Saturday ; about severity Peers being present.

After the preliminary forms were gone through, the Peers adjourned

to the Council Chamber, and deliberated some time. The Procureur- General du Rol delivered a requisition to the Court, bearing the ac-

cusation against Charles Laure Hughes Theobold, Duo de Choiseul- Praslin Peer of Prance, and against his accomplices should there be any. The following Peers were named as a Committee of Instruction—the Duke Decazes. the Count Pontecoulant, Count de Sainte-Aulaire, M. Cousin, M. La Plagne-Barres, and M. Vincente Saint-Laurent. This Committee, with the Chancellor Pasquier and the Chief-Registrar, repaired, immediately after the secret sitting of the Court, to the Luxembourg prison, and pro- ceeded to interrogate the Duke de Praslin.

The proceedings, however, were impeded by the state of the Duke do Praslin's health. As we stated last week, the Duke at first remained at the hotel Sebastiani confined to his chamber, under the strict surveillance of the police. During the progress of the preliminary examinations, his manner presented a singular contrast to his general demeanour. The subjoined extracts are from the Gazette des Tribunaux.

"Of small stature, nervous, energetic, proud and of extreme irascibility, he never could support a contradiction, and would have regarded a question as an insult. During the inquiry, he appeared to be completely prostrated; nor could he find a single word to protest against the horrible suspicion attached to nine.

" Oa the day on which he was arrested, he was heard to say, whilst lying in bed with his face turned towards the wall, 'Ali, if I had some poison !' For some time he refused to eat, notwithstanding his favourite dishes, galandine de whiffle and jelly, were offered to him. He at first only drank." On Friday it appeared that the Duke had attempted suicide, by taking poison : a strong emetic was promptly administered, and it arrested the action of the poison. As early as four o'clock on Saturday morning, the prisoner was removed from the hotel to the prison of the Luxembourg, He was then in such a state of mental and bodily prostration, that it was found necessary to support him from his room to the carriage, and to carry him from his carriage into the prison. The officer charged with the execu- tion of the Chancellor's warrant was accompanied by Dr. Andrei, Physician to the Chamber of Peers; who has been frequently instructed to visit the Duke and ascertain the state of his health-

" The usher having been admitted into the room where the Duke de Praslin was in bed, and Dr. Andral having made sure that a material improvement had

taken place, and that the vomiting, which had been abundant, had ceased, and that he might be removed without danger from his residence, the warrant was notified toM, with the King's ordonnance convoking the Peers as a court of

justice. The bake heard the notification without uttering a word: he only made an effort to sit up, as if to denote that he was ready to comply with the injunc- tions of justice. The vomiting returned several times on the short journey; and on ar- riving at the prison the Duke was immediately put to bed. The carriage

which conveyed the Duke was very strongly guarded; less, perhaps, to prevent the escape of the prisoner than an attack upon him by the populace, even at that early hour. In prison the symptoms fluctuated: on Satur- day the Duke was better; on Sunday worse; on Monday better again.

" The improvement in the state of the Duke appeared likely to continue on Monday; but in the afternoon the symptoms of the poisoning reappeared with fresh intensity, and all the resources of science remained powerless. In the night the danger made new progress; horrible sufferings tortured the Duke, and all the characteristics of death declared themselves. On Tuesday morning the Cure of St. Jacques du Haut-Pas was called to the Duke, and conversed with him. Soon after, the sufferings returned with greater violence, and the last agony commenced?' On Wednesday it was announced that the Duke was dead!

A new burst of indignant doubt followed this announcement. There had already been suspicions. As soon as it was known that the Duke had taken poison, the universal question was, How had he got it? how had he found an opportunisty of swallowing it without hinderanc,e by the police set to watch him? None of the accounts satisfy these suspi- cions questions; and hints are unsparingly thrown out, that the official authorities not only connived at the suicide but purposely caused the re- ports to be confused. At first it was said that the poison was laudanum, and that the efforts of the physicians were directed against that drug; next, that it was arsenic; lastly, that it was both. The authenticated ac- counts supply no solution to the mystery. The hostile conjectures may be summed up as follows. It is hinted that the Duke must have taken arsenic, but that a phial which had contained laudanum was introduced to put the physicians on a wrong scent; that the eminent and highly ex- perienced physicians, though not deceived, connived at the fraud, and pre- scribed for a patient under the influence of laudanum; and that to shield them the third story was got up—that the Duke had taken both lauda- num and arsenic; the effect of the mineral being disguised to the physi- cians by the emetic which they had directed against the narcotic. " The treatment of the malady," says the National, " which appeared to vary every hour, was most strange. One day the invalid was given broth and wine. i The following day he was made to swallow a quantity of ice; and in that state he was surrendered to the Court of Peers. He reached the prison on Saturday; and a remarkable improvement in his condition was announced. On Sunday the symptoms reappeared. He was interrogated on Monday, and be could scarcely answer. At hve o'clock on Tuesday he slept the sleep of the just! Only then the cause was ascertained: it was no longer laudanum—it was arsenic." Again and again it is asked, Whatever the poison was, how did he get hold of it? Further inquiry only thickens the obscurity. After the death it became doubtful even when the poison had been taken. It now appears that the discovery took place on the 19th, Thursday, while the police were searching for the poniard: in a room above the Duke's bedchamber they found three phials, on a table; two of them contained nitric acid, the third laudanum; and a fourth phial found in the pocket of a dressing-gown con- tained a very small quantity of a white substance, mixed with laudanum; and this is what the Duke is now said to have swallowed. But when? Possibly, says the Gazette des Tribunaux at the very first, immediately after the murder; but most probably on Thursday; for when the phials were discovered the Duke was already in a state of agony, though his suf- ferings bad till that moment been ascribed " only to the moral emotions by which he was agitated."

-It was announced that a post mortem examination would be instituted on Thursday.

The arrest of Mademoiselle de Luzy, formerly governess to the Duke's children, was effected by a Commissary of Police, at the house of a friend of hers in the Chaussee d'Antin. After having undergone a long examina- tion, Mademoiselle de Luzy was committed to the Conciergerie, where she remains in solitary confinement. She herself continues to deny with firm- ness the allegation of improper intimacy with the Duke de Praslin. She was at first described as an English lady: this was soon contradicted; but each new account in turn was questioned. We subjoin successive versions, with further reports concerning the same person, and her relation with the Praslin family. She is French, and is granddaughter to the Baron de residing in the Chaussee d'Antin; her father and mother are both dead. Her name is Mademoi- selle Henriette de Lucy, or Luzy; and her age is from thirty-three to thirty-five. Until the age of about twenty, she studied painting under M. Delorme; when, finding she did not shine as a painter, she accepted a situation as governess in an English or Seetch family in England; where she resided six or seven years. She returned in 1842 or 1848, and was recommended by a lady to the Dutchess de Praslin; and resided in the family as governess until about five or six weeks ago, when she went to live in the Rae da Harley. When Mademoiselle de Lucy en- tered the family there was an Englishwoman, named Smith, who left shortly after she came, (but she was not a governess); and this has given rise to the error."

" The governess is of Italian origin, and belongs to a noble family. Her name is De Luzzi, (Laure,) and not De Luzy. She is still kept apart at the Concier- gerie. She allows that she was much moved and annoyed at being obliged to quit the Duke's family, and separate from the young lathes whose education she had superintended. She explains in this way the language of a letter written by her to the Dake de Praslin, and seized amongst his papers. What is certain is, that the Dutchess took offence at the intercourse subsisting between the governess and the Duke, and without a high intervention would have demanded a regular separation. The Duke, yielding to prudent advice, consented to the governess being sent away; and the Datchess, in acknowledgment of this concession, settled on her a pension for life." "It is by mistake that several journals have represented her to be an English- woman. She was born at Paris; and the name of Luzy, which has been the cause of some papers giving her a noble Corsican or Italian origin, would appear not to be her real or at least only name. Mademoiselle de Lazy's real name is Laure Desportes. She is twenty-nine years old: her figure is most elegant and distingue; and her magnificent light hair adds to the sweetness of her features, which are remarkably beautiful. Her cultivated mind, her character, and her superiority as a governess, painter, and musician, had, it is said, yielded her in the Praslin family quite a confidential position, at the same time that they had secured the affection of the young persons whose education she was intrusted with. In her several examinations she has constantly answered with great clearness and propriety." The Paris correspondent of the Times adds some reports concerning the lady. "Her arrest and close imprisonment in the Conciergerie at this early stage of the affair forbid the idea that the only charge against her is that of improper inti- macy with the Duke. It is reported that evidence has been given that a person (a man, or a woman in man's clothing) was seen to issue from the garden of the hotel at four o'clock on the morning of the murder, and that person—the public will have it—was present at the crime. It is added—for prejudice against this n runs high—that the Duke, on arriving at the terminus of the (Corbel!) with his unfortunate lady and family, proceeded to visit Mademoiselle de Luzzi, accompanied by three of his children, before going home." On Monday a box was discovered at her lodging: it is said to be that in which Mademoiselle de Luzy placed all her correspondence. " The regulation of keepingprisoners au secret," says the Constitutionnel of Wednesday, "is rigorously enforced in her case. She is allowed to walk every day for two hours in the inner court, when every one else is shut up. In her times of exercise she appears sad and pensive. The description given of her in the journals is not altogether correct. She is dressed simply, but is not wanting in distinction and grace. Her figure has lost the sappleness and elegance of youth; her eyes, which are encircled with a dark ring, have an intelligent expres- sion; her complexion is pale, and denotes fatigue; her hair, of dark brown, is arranged with taste. She wore yesterday a nankin dress, a black scarf, and straw bonnet with a lilac ruche. She was walking slowly, the arms crossed on the breast, and her head bent down."

"It is said that some of the Royal Family interfered recently to reconcile the Duke and Dutchess. The King, the Queen, and particularly Madame Adelaide, had a great affection for the Dutchess. The Duke, who had been an intimate friend of the Duke of Orleans, was intimate also with the Duke de Neinours, who invited him to all his hunting excursions. They thought the Duke and Datchess reconciled since Mademoiselle de Luzzi's departure. Marshal Sebastiani, it is said, intended to set out for Corsica only when assured that his daughter was reconciled to her husband. The rumour prevails that letters have been seized at Mademoiselle de Luzzi's which prove her influence over the Duke and their illicit intercourse. It is difficult to suppose that she is not compromised in the dreadful charge hanging over the Duke. It is also said that a warrant was issued against another mistress of the Duke's, residing in the Rue de Varennes, but who was not found at her residence."

" The domestics speak of stormy scenes which took place, and a sad presenti- ment appeared to agitate Madame de Praslin, who was always in low spirits. A femme de chambre states that the Dutchess was walking in the park a month back, when the Duke came to ask her to visit the family vault at the chateau, which had been just prepared. ' For what purpose?' said she; shall I not soon descend there for ever?' The official search has brought to light in the Dutchess's chamber a number of papers sealed with black wax; on the envelope of which is written in her hand, For my husband—to be opened after my death.' These papers have not been yet opened, this mission being left to Duke Pasquier. A bulky manuscript was also discovered, containing private memoirs which the Dutchess had written, and in which she gives an ace mut of the happy years of her marriage, with her subsequent chagrins. In the Duke's appartmeut the search was for a long time fruitless; but at last, in the secret drawers of a cabinet, was found a great number of letters, said to be from Mademoiselle de Luzy, signed 'Azelee,' and all commencing with these words, 'Mon cher Theobald: Other im- portant letters were found in the same place. It would appear that a long cor- respondence had taken place lately between the Duke and Dutchess, referring principally to the misunderstanding subsisting between them. Some letters of Marshal Sebastiani, sometimes relating to mousy matters, and at others repri- manding in pretty sharp terms his son-in-law for his conduct to his wife, are also in the bands of justice."

It was erroneously stated in last week's accounts that Marshal Sebas- tiani was in Corsica. The delicate state of his health had prevented him from preceding thither, and on the recommendation of his physicians he had stopped at Geneva.

Some particulars respecting the families follow, selected from the ac- counts which teem in all quarters.

"The Duke de Choiseul-Praslin, whose name at this moment excites so sad a sensation, is the chief of the third branch of the ducal house of Choiseul, and the only member of it remaining; the last Duke de Choiseul of the second branch, who died when Goverpor of the Louvre, having left no male issue. The Duke de Praslin was born in 1804, and he is consequently in his forty-third year. In 1825 he married Fanny, daughter of Horace Sebastiani, now Marshal of France, and of Antoinette-Franeoise-Jeanne de Coigny, who died young, and who was the cousin of the jeune captive immortalized by the poet Andre Chenier. By this marriage there are nine children, viz. six daughters and three sons. The sixth child who is a boy, is named Gaston-Louis-Philippe de Praslin. The Duke de Praslin is grandson of the Dake de Praslin who was a member of the States-Ge- neral and joined the minority of the nobility in the cause of moderate reform, and a son of the Duke de Praslin who was Chamberlain of the Empress and Colonel of the First Legion of the National Guard in 1814, in which position his name figured honourably in the resistance of the city of Paris to the invaders. This Duke was created a Peer daring the Hundred Days, and was exiled at the second Restoration. In 1819 he was recalled by M. Decazes. He died in June 1841. The estate of Praslin was erected into a duche-pairie in 1762. The present Duke has a brother, Count Edgard de Praslin, who was born in 1806, and who mar- ried Mademoiselle ShicIder. He has also three sisters, who are married to persons of the highest nobility of the old monarchy. He is the owner of the chateau and grounds of Vaux near Melvin; where he is said to have expended two millions of francs in repairs and embellishments, restoring it to its magnifi- cence in the time of its former owner, Fonquet. The late Dateless was cherished by the poor of the environs of Wax for her active and extensive benevolence."

"The Dutchess of Praslin was born at Constantinople, while her father was Ambassador there from the Court of France. Her mother died of her acconche- meat; and her remains were conveyed for interment to Olmeta, in Curaica, the family-seat of her husband, and where probably the late Dutchesa will be interred. At the same time that the body of the mother was conveyed to Corsica, the infant was sent to France in charge of a nurse."

"Mademoiselle Sebastian had brought to her husband in marriage upwards of 100,000 francs a year, from the mother's side. She afterwards obtained ts much more by the death of an aunt. hi. de Praslin, on his side, possess( !bout as

great a fortune. They had in addition to expect all the fortune of Ma .1 Sebas-

tian' and of General Tiburce Sebastiani, the uncle, who has no childr aid their share of the fortune of the Dowager Dutchesa de Praslin." " At the time of the marriage of the Duke de Praslin, he was twenty-one years of age, and Mademoiselle Sebastiani only eighteen. Her hand had been promised to the Duke de Fitzjames; but a difference upon questions of interest unfortuntely put a stop to a union which in all respects was most desirable."

"Of the nine children of the unfortunate Dutchess de Praslin, the eldest daugh- ter is alone married. She is the wife of a rich Piedmontese gentleman, with whom she lives usually at Turin. The second daughter, aged eighteen, set out on the day of the murder to meet her grandfather the Marshal. The fear others have been taken to their grandmother, Madame de Praslin."

It was necessary to communicate the event to the Duke's mother mist cau- tiously. " The Dutchess Dowager de Praslin is nearly blind, and most tenderly loved her daughter-in-law. She was at first informed that her unfortunate daughter had been murdered by robbers. Upon this she desired that her sun might come to her and they would mourn together. Expressing her extreme surprise that he did not come to her, it became necessary to make her gradually and cautiously acquainted with the truth. Upon this she sank into a state of complete despair.

After being embalmed by M. Gaunal, the body of the murdered Dutch- ess lay in state in the drawingroom of the Hotel Sebastiani, which was converted into a "chapelle ardente." At six o'clook on Sunday morning the remains were deposited in the vaults of the Madeleine; where they will remain until taken for final interment to Corsica. The funeral service was performed early on Monday morning. The Abbe Gallard said a low mass without music. The attendants at this mournful ceremony were Viscount Sebastiani, the General in command of the First Military Division; the Duke de Coigny, Officer of Honour to the Dutchess of Orleans, uncles of the de- ceased; the Prefect of the Seine, the Prefect of Police, the Commandant of Paris, several Ministers and Peers of France, some of the King's Aides-de- camp, and other personages attached to the Court; in all about 150 persons.

The affair is felt by all persons in France to be likely to prove most as- riot's in its consequences.

" Among the lower classes," says the Times correspondent, writing on Sstardy "the crime has produced a profound and lamentable sensation; ex lamentable, because of the reflections on the Peerage with which their referees, to it are accompanied. Although perfectly distinct, the mention of this murder by the people is always connected with an allusion to the affaire Testa' and

other alleged corruption by persons in high places: thus giving to it, however erroneously, a political character. The middle classes regard with horror and with gloomy anticipations the new blow given to the respectability of the Aris- tocracy and thePeerage." " The King and Royal Family," says the same writer, "the Ministers, and everybody in superior life, are sorely afflicted by this terrible occurrence, and seriously alarmed for its consequences. The promptitude with which his Majesty yesterday directed, by Royal ordinance, that the Court of Peers be assembled and the Duke de Praslin sent before it for trial, proves how necessary it was deemed to anticipate the demand of the public for the trial of the alleged murderer."

According to the Morning Chronicle," the Queen fainted when she heard of the dreadful fate of the Dutchess of Praslin; and she has several times since been affected with hysterics. The Datchess of Orleans, of whom both the Dutchess of Praslin and the Duke were intimate friends, was also deeply affected." When it was known that the Duke had not been " arrested " in the usual way, but-only placed under a garde de sfirete, the National bitterly sneered at the privilege of the Peerage- " M. Pasquier himself, in ordering yesterday that this Chevalier d'Honneur should be thrown into .prison, openly violated the Charter. The Droit showed this yesterday morning in a very remarkable article. The text of Art. 29 is

formal—' No Peer can be arrested without the authority of the Chamber, and can only be tried by it in a criminal matter.' For the Deputies an exception is ad-

added in the case of flagrante delicto; for the Peer of France the flagrante de- 1 a° does not exist. He may kill, steal, assassinate, be surprised at the very mo- ment, and say to the authorities who arrest him, If you have not a vote of the Chamber of Peers, you commit an illegality in touching me.' It is consequently necessary that the Peerage should be assembled; that it should deliberate; that it should authorize the arrest : till then, all that is done against a Peer, even if he be the most atrocious of assassins, is illegal, null, contrary to the most indis- putable text of the fundamental law. M. Pasquier, not authorized by the Peer- age has no more right than the first Commissary of Police who may arrive; and M Praslin, armed with Art. 29, may attack the Procurenr du Roi, the Procurear- General, the Juge d'Instruction, and M. Pasquier himself, for the illegal constraint exercised on his inviolable person." " The Deputies are subjected to the rules of the common law in all times in cases of flagrante delicto • the Peers are at all times above the common law. Why? The illustrious Mahal [a Deputy and law-commentator] will tell us. 'It would not have been becoming, this learned writer affirms, 'to unite the supposi- tion of jlagrante delicto committed by members of that body of the state which is the most eminent in dignity.' Thus, a Deputy is surprised with his band in the money-bag, and he is arrested; that is becoming': but a Peer during the night cuts the throat of the mother of nine children, and the Charter will not suppose in a member so eminent in dignity' a case of flagrante delicto; that ' would not be becoming.'

" The authority of M. Mahal is immense; but this great genius has not dis- covered the true reason. In a Democratic society like ours, the Peerage is an in- stitution so useful that the inviolability of its members is an affair of public order; and especially in the time in which we live, each of the Peers has the virtue of the wife of Ciesar, which suspicions cannot reach. Suspicions must appear absurd to everybody after what we have recently seen. Suspect M. Teste, Peer of France, and a President of the Court of Cessation, of having made a traffic of his functions for 100,000 francs I—that is abominable. Pretend that M. Cubi4es, Peer of France, gave all, or part of those 100,000 francs I—that also is shamefuL No. Nesse oblige; and the new knights think on this point like the old ones. What a pity that the Prince de Berghes gave himself up in his youth to a little fantasy for forgery And why was M. Gudin in such a hurry ?—with a little more skill, his fortune would have progressed rapidly. We have at present only two Minis- ters condemned for corruption; an Meier d'Ordonnance, a Chevalier d'Honneur, stealing at play; a Chevalier d'Honneur accused of assassination: these are trifles for persona eminent in dignity.' From this we conclude that article 29 of the Charter makes a very useful exception to the common law to good sense, to pub - lic morality; and that in violating it M. Pasquier has been guilty of an evident illegality and of an unconstitutional act. We demand, therefore, that until the vote of the Chamber be given, the Duke de Praslin, Peer of France and Chevalier d'Honneur to the Court, shall be permitted to be at large." After the death of the Duke, the indignation took a still graver turn; the National still keeping the lead-s-

" Well, he is dead, tranquilly, after having confessed to the chaplain of the Cham- ber of Peers. He is dead; and you as well as we are bound to regard him as inno- cent, and the honours due to a Peer of France and to a Chevalier d'Honneur of the Court are due to him. In vain may you invoke overwhelming presumptions. They di:rpear, inasmuch as the judicial proceedings have not been continued to convicti There remains but a single legal presumption, which is, that the

Duke de ,slin was not guilty. We do not believe in a suicide. A man who

committeti horrible crime of which he is accused would never kill himself. The office os.justice must have been deceived by false appearances, and he, over- whelmed with grief at the mere ides of a disgraceful accusation, died of anguish, and was the victim of calumny. We see no other plausible explanation of the event. To imagine that the Duke de Praslin, watched by such practised eyes as those of M. Alla i rd and his agents, could mix arsenic with his food without having been perciived and prevented, is simply impossible. • * *

Nobody could have had either the intention or the desire to save a Peer of France, even thosugh he was a Chevalier d'Honneur, from the punishment which the law awards to an atrocious crime. We must not, therefore, accuse anybody. There was neither suicide, nor laudanum, nor destructive treatment. The only .4ssattion of that death which occurred so timely is, that the physical force was destroyests, the terrific moral crush, caused by the accusation of an honourable and virtuous man of having first intended to strangle his wife, and of having subsequently cut her throat, and mutilated and bruised her with the rage of a wild and savage beast. The facts which were collected, the judicial investigation commenced, the details known and published, would perhaps authorize us to de- Tote the memory of that assassin to execration; but the silence imposed on justice by his death commands us toproclaim that he departed from this world covered with the robe of innocence. If we had the misfortune to write the contrary, the most distant of his relatives might prosecute us before the Court of Correctional Police, where we should be inevitably condemned as infamous slanderers."

M. Warnery, the Delegate from Bona, who had preferred grave charges of corruption in the conduct of Algerian affairs against official persons, was called upon by the Univers to make a formal denunciation. To this chal- lenge he replies briefly, in a letter published by the Courrier Francais- "I am about to put forth a summary of all my revelations up to the present lay. To this summary I shall add four letters, which I yesterday addressed to he Minister of War. These letters enumerate more than eighty instances of pe- nlation and plunder, with the names of the persons; all of whom are public • nctionaries, for I know what it costs to denounce as immoral men those who are

• t invested with a public character. This summary shall be addressed by me to Wangle,. the Procureur-General, with a letter of denunciation in legal form. several printers had not refused me their concurrence, being in fear of the laws September, my denunciation would have been already sent and published."

The Gazette des Tribunaus states, that in consequence of a complaint reused by the Minister of War to the Keeper of the Seals, seriously

affecting the conduct of M. Lasalle, a functionary attached to the office of the Secretary in the War Department, that gentleman was arrested on Tuesday in a maison de sante:.

Meanwhile, the " laws of September" are worked by the officials with uncommon activity: the repeated seizure of newspapers excites the most contemptuous comments-

" Threejournals," says the Constitutionnel, " the Gazette de France, the Cha- rivari, and the Reform, have just been seized; we cannot say for what motive. Whilst waiting until the public shall be informed of it, we shall only make one ob- servation—that within a month a great number of journals have been proceeded against: the Democratic Paci,fique, for a fenilleton, which in narrating the love of two young persons certainly did not in the vivacity of its colouring reach the ener- gy which the censorship permits every day on the stage; the Journal du Rosen,, and the Reforme, for having published some hours in advance, and in a form the most respectful possible for justice, an analysis more or less exact of the judgment rendered by the Court of Peers against Messrs. Teste, Cubieres, and Parmentier; the Gazette, the Charivari, and the Reforme, for we know not what cause."

The Union Monarchique announces its own addition to the list— "The Union Monarchique is prosecuted for an article on honesty, and for the reproduction of a few lines from the Charivari on the overwhelming flood of crimes with which society has been afflicted. To prosecute journals for making moral reflections on scandalous transactions, on extravagance and waste, and on murders, is to us inconceivable. Is a man culpable because he thinks that so- ciety is fallen into sickness, when such symptoms of immorality and decomposi- tion are evident in its bosom? No one dare venture to maintain this seriously. The Ministry, by seizing the journals, has fancied that it can put a stop to these redoubtable accusations. It will not allow of the imputation that it has thrown France into a frightful condition, both materially and morally; and to escape from the responsibility it has incurred, it relies upon intimidation. It hopes to impose silence upon the press, thinking that the public would not of itself draw conclusions from the sad events which have put all social principle and public integrity in peril. The Ministers who have had M. Teste for a colleague will not have peculation, forfeiture, dilapidations, and other scandalous acts and deeds, any longer talked of. For ourselves, we have obeyed the dictates of conscience, and we will persevere in the mission we have undertaken. Strong in our inten- tions, we will appear with confidence before the judges given to us by the law; and we shall see whether a jury can be found to punish us for having spoken honestly, for having invoked honest men, and for uttering a cry of alarm, not against society as it is, but to preserve its safety, by protecting it from new crises."

Later in the week, yet another paper was seized, the Estafette: its offence is not stated.

In the case of the Democratic Pacifique, the Cour d'Assis sentenced M. Cartagne the gerant, and M.Meray the redacteur, to the punishment appli- cable to the crime of outraging public morals; namely, six months' impri- sonment each, and a fine of 300 francs, together with the expenses of the triaL

It is asserted that the loan of 350,000,000 francs will be negotiated on the 10th November, and that the contractors will have the facility of pay- ing up the whole in thirty-eight months or at the rate of about 9,000,000 francs for a month. The idea of dividing the loan into fractions appears. to have been abandoned.—Presse.

SwirzEittawn.—The various accounts received from Berne show that so late as the 20th instant the military preparations were going on with in- creased activity on both sides.

According to the correspondent of the Journal des Debate, M. Ochsen- bein had asked Mr. Peel to furnish him with a copy of Lord Palmerston's friendly despatch; but the British representative declined to do so.

A Zurich paper, the Federal Gazette, published on the 18th the proses verbal relating to the stoppage of the convoy of munitions in Tessin. The convoy, it appears, had come from the citadel of Milan; was escorted by a detachment of Austrian cavalry, commanded by an officer of Austrian ar- tillery in passing through Lombardy; and on the barrels of powder was the symbol of the Austrian eagle, but other marks had been effaced.

ITALY.—Intelligence from Rome, to the 17th instant, brings evidence of the deep impression which the conduct of Austria at Ferrara was making in the capitaL With a view to allay the excitement, an extraordinary number of the Diario di Roma had been published, containing an article which set forth the views of the Government in reference to the recent hos- tile demonstration, and recommending the people to observe moderation. while the proper representations were made to the Austrian Government.

Meanwhile, Ferrara had been subjected to a further outrage, the particu- lars of which are to be gathered from private letters printed in the Correo Livornese of the 16th instant. On the 13th, the Austrian troops issued from their quarters in the citadel, and took possession of all the guard-houses of the city, as well as of the four gates. The only exceptions to this occupa- tion were the palace of Cardinal Ciacchi and the prisons. Cannon was drawn up in the public squares, and the guns of the citadel were pointed on the city, the gunners being at their posts with lighted matches. One of the letters states that this operation was preceded by a personal demand. made on the Legate by four Austrian officers, that he should issue a pro- clamation to tranquillize the people, telling them that the troops were merely executing a military manoeuvre. On the Cardinal's refusal, the officers are described as quitting him " with menaces."

The Cardinal Legate lost no time in resorting to his only course, a se- cond protest; copies of which were forwarded immediately to Bologna and Rome.

Advises from Bologna, of the 16th instant, state that 20,000 Austrians were concentrated on the banks of the Po, ready to cross that river at a moment's notice. The Municipal Councillors of Bologna voted, on the 16th, an address to Cardinal Amati, protesting against the occupation of Ferrara, and declaring that they were prepared to defend with their lives and property the independence of the dominions of the Church. Of course these events have created a great excitement throughout Italy; and in the few places from which accounts have been received this is known to be the case. At Perugia the National Guards were fully organized; and the Capuchin friars had issued a stirring manifesto, all but promising to take up arms. In Tuscany, it is said that an " Italian legion " is or- - ganizing.

As soon as the additional outrage became known in Rome, with the offer of the youth of Bologna to advance on Ferrara, lists were opened for the enrolment of all who would volunteer on a similar service. In three hours 3,000 names were put down at one place. The project was, however, abandoned, at the earnest entreaty of Cardinal Ferretti, who begged the promoters to desist; saying that, " strong in the dignity and justice of the Pope's cause, he looked with scorn on the ferocity of his adversaries, and would bide the result." News has been received at Marseilles, that the Austrians, alarmed by the energetic protests of the Pope and the threatening aspect of the popu- lation in the Pontifical states, had withdrawn their troops from Ferrara: but letters from that town, of the 16th instant, state that the Austrians Continued to pour additional troops into the Roman territory.

Swam—The Ministerial crisis which, according to the tenon of the ad- vices, has been impending for many days, forms the staple of the accounts from Madrid. The difficulties of the Palace question remain insolvable; and the resignation of the Cabinet, or at least of Senor Pacheco, was viewed as inevitable, though he manifested no design of complying with the pre- sumed necessity. The last attempt at reconciling the Queen and King Consort was made on the 18th instant. On that day Senor Benavides went to the Pardo by appointment, and had a long interview with Don Francisco; the rumoured result of which is, that the King Consort de- manded, as the condition of his return to the Palace, the removal from Madrid of General Serrano, of Don Ventura de la Vega the Queen's pri- vate secretary, and of General Ros de Olano. He would then require four months to elapse; his return even at the end of that period being made dependent on a certain contingency. In this matter the King is fully be- lieved to be acting as the unconscious tool of foreign intriguers for getting the Queen declared incompetent to reign, and for illegitimizing her possible offspring. Official accounts from Madrid, to the 22d instant, were received in Paris on Wednesday. They announce the arrival in that city of General Narvaez ; who had, by direction of the Queen, undertaken the formation of a new Cabinet. Narvaez is himself to be President of the Council, and, it is thought, Minister of Foreign Affairs. The names of his colleagues were not known at the time the courier left Madrid. • PORTUGAL.—There are accounts from Lisbon to the 19th instant. The Ministry had resigned on the 13th; and the Queen exhibited so great an unwillingness to form a new Cabinet, that the three Ministers of the Allied Powers had threatened to demand their passports unless her Majesty sent a satisfactory answer to their conjoint note calling on her to observe the fourth article of the protocol of May 21st. This threat appears to have been partially effectual, for Senor Fonseca was then charged to form a Minis- try; although his free action was crippled with conditions that would in all probability render the attempt abortive. An alarming fire had taken place at the Boa Vista in Lisbon, at which our squadron had rendered such effective services as to call forth a letter of thanks from the Queen. Mr. Wilson, a young midshipman seventeen years of age, belonging to the Jackal, had, unhappily, perished in the flames, the victim of his excessive intrepidty. His funeral was attended by Vice-Admiral Sir W. Parker, the British Minister, Sir Hamilton Seymour, the Captains and other officers of the English squadron, and the officers of the French and Spanish ships of war in the port.

GREECE.—King Otho formally opened the Legislative Chambers on the 9th instant, and delivered a "gracious " speech from the throne. The speech contains the usual number of words; but the only facts distinctly stated in it are that the differences with Turkey are not.settled; and that, a although very awkwardly situated," "my Government" "has been com- pelled to satisfy the persevering demands of one of the three Protecting Powers," by paying the interest on the loans due in March last. The last paragraph admits that " our task is a great and difficult one." It is said that although the Chambers had been thus convoked, the elections were not over, and that not more than half the proper number of Deputies were on the spot. Private letters from Athens represent the position of M. Coletti as infinitely less promising for him than his friends represented. That he has a majority in the new Chamber seems to be admitted on all hands; but it is affirmed that it was secured by fraud and violence, and that it might be expected to desert him at the moment when he should least expect it.

INDIA.—The usual express from Marseilles has brought intelligence from Calcutta to the 2d, and from Bombay to the 8th July. As was to be expected, the plan devised by the Nizam's Minister for establishing a joint stock bank had entirely failed; and the already disorganized Deccan was in extremis.

Disturbances continued in the province of Goomsoor; and the barbarous custom of human sacrifices was about to be renewed.

The Bengal Harken& describes another revolution in Nepaul.

"The Maharajah had come to Benares. After staying at Benares some time he left that city, ostensibly for the purpose of returning to his capitaL But he never got further than to a place called Segowlee, in the British territories, but near the frontier of Nepaul. Thence he sent messengers to Katmandoo, called on the army and the principal men of the country to imprison or kill the Minister Jung Bahadoor and all his family. On this the chiefs assembled, and after con- sultation came to the conclusion that his Majesty was not of right mind. They accordingly determined to depose him and to place the heir apparent on the throne. This resolution was immediately carried into effect; and a letter was sent to the old King, signed by all the principal men, informing him of what had been done, recounting his misdeeds, censuring him for his withdrawal from his people and country, and reprobating his order for the destruction of a worthy man and his ancient family."

Great apprehension was felt respecting the fate of the Cleopatra steamer, which left Bombay on the 14th of April, bound for Singapore: she en- countered the frightful hurricane of the 17th, 18th, and 19th of April, and had not since beeen heard of.

Cu:mt.—There is no mail from China. The cause for the delay is not known; nor is the original authority for the subjoined " notice " which has been posted up in the Underwriters' Room at Liverpool. The intelligence which it professes to give is said to have been brought to Colombo by the Haddington steamer, and to have been conveyed to that ship by the captain of a vessel who had been despatched to Calcutta for troops to reinforce the garrison of Hong-kong- " A Colombo Times extra, (Isle of Ceylon,) of the 15th July contains a very alarming rumour with regard to the relations of this country with China, and one which derives considerable probability from the recent rash conduct of Sir John Davis, the Governor of Hong-kong. The report is, that the attack on the Bogue forts ad roused a desperate spirit of hostility against all foreigners, but es- pecially the English, and had led to a general rising of the people of Canton against them. The report further states that the Consuls had been compelled to leave Canton, and that the Europeans were preparing to follow them."

UNITED STATES.—The advises by the Sarah Sands from New York, to the 3d instant, are of no particular moment. The reported appointment of Peace Commissioners by Mexico was not confirmed, and its truth was doubted by many. Santa Anna still remained at the head of affairs; and General Scott had made no advance towards the capital.

The Morning Chronicle's correspondent " Publicus " writes as follows on repudiation-

" Quite a flame has been ignited in the columns of most of the American journals by the speech of Lord Palmerston on Lord G. Bentiuck's motion in the House of Commons, on the 6th July, in relation to the repudiation of national debts, or the non-payment of interest on national debts by different states and governments, endorsed as his Lordship's remarks were by Mr. Hume. The editorial comments on this speech have been warm, and in some instances rather of an angry character; though I am gratified to observe, in all cases, the writers so far agree with his Lordship as to uphold national faith, and to express a hope and belief that in a very few years the example set by Pennsylvania will be followed, and the payment of State interest be punctually resumed. Nay, peo- ple speak with hope even of repudiating Mississippi. Yesterday and today the payment of the August interest in this state has been progressing at the Pennsyl- vania Bank; and I am informed that one half of each sum is paid in specie. Maryland expects to fully redeem her credit within a few months. Illinois is making efforts; and it is to be hoped that present prosperity and a sense of justice and national honour will enable and stimulate even Mississippi and Arkansas to effect an early resumption. But the latter States must certainly be considered as among the doubtful.'