A portion of the Press of Paris has been accusing
the Marquis de Mohrenheim, Ambassador from Russia, and Count Menabrea, recently Ambassador from Italy, of taking bribes from the Panama Company. Apart from the charac- ters of the gentlemen accused, the imputation seems absurd, as neither of them could by any possibility have helped the Company to float its loans. Count Menabrea, who is out of office, has given a peremptory denial to the charges ; but the Marquis do Mohrenheim necessarily remains silent. The "Monarchical Powers" are, it is said, greatly irritated by the charges, which they regard as outrages ; and the North-German Gazette asserts that if they are repeated, all Ambassadors must be withdrawn until the tempest of calumny be over- passed. Such charges are, of course, wholly opposed to in- ternational courtesy, and might, in conceivable cases, destroy an Ambassador's influence ; but the remedy suggested cannot be a wise one. It would interrupt international business too much. It would be much easier for each State to treat grave libel as it now treats outrage against an Ambassador's house or suite, and prosecute of its own accord, evidence being given in the usual way. If that evidence implicated the accused, he could be recalled by his own Government. Ambassadors, unless history lies, have been bribed occa- sionally,—the allegations against Talleyrand, for instance, are• numerous,—but it has been in the way of gifts from Courts, not from private individuals.
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