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row us round tire headland | of . Montposon into the much talked of bay of VUla-ITranca , and there We arrived at one conclusion , which we offer with more confidence than we feel in the justice of most of bur . observations , and that is , that if p ur patriotic pamphleteers , and publicspirfted correspondents had expended , a like moderate amount of money on the same shbrt ( expedition , a great deal of idle declamation would have been spared , and a good deal of very absurd invective against Russian aggression , ' .. kept for a more appropriate season . In former years this bay— -the most perfect gem of a small bay on the favourite
coast of the Mediterranean—used to be a haunt of ours , not only for its beauty , but its wondrous calm and silence . We were thankful to find that our fears of beholding this lovely spot desecrated with forts , and warehouses , and docks ., were i m aginary . One small Russian frigate ,, very dirty , as all Russian vessels look , lay there blistering in the noontide sim ; on the other side c > f the bay there rode at anchor an American brig , the black flag flying from whose mast warned iis to beware of the yellow fever ,, and the quarantine ; a few fishing and coasting smacks completed the arrangement . The docks , and warehouses , ¦¦ ' and forts of our imagination were reduced to One low , long
shed , about the size of the bazaar at Ramsgate . The old -battery , in'the little town of Villa-Franca that lays above the bay , had been brightened and burnished up ; and beneath the national ' tricolour you COUld see the figure of one Sardinian sentry , who represented in his single person the military element in the seene . For the consolation of any Russb-phobia-haunted victim , we would add the three ; following remarks :- ^ -The outlet to the bay can be blockaded by a single vessel ; every ship
ia the harbour , and every shed and outwork could be demolished in five minutes by the guiis ofFortMontbosOn overhead ; and if the surrounding heights . Avere manned , an army landed on the shore would have as niuch chance of crossing into the open country as if they were placed at the bottom of a well . There is a little j ' reneh fort and harbour some six miles or so on the other side of Nice , by name Antibes , on wliich , if we were king of Sardinia , we should look with feelings of flu * greater appi'ehension .
As for 2 ^ optilar excitement , we must own that , till we reached Genoa , " and what you may term Italy projjer , we saw but little sign of it . We doubt , however , whether anyone could have passed through Genoa , at the . time we did , without having his attention called to an unusual state of things . Prince Napoleon and his young bride had just made their parting visit ; the remnants of the decorations and illuminations still hung about the , walls ; The sale of cheap newspapers about the streets , was enormous ; indeed , our Star and Telegraph boys are completely distanced in pertinacity and vehemence by these Genoese newsvendors . The papers are thrust into your hands with a sort r »« . i ¦ ¦ «•¦ . i m i ' ¦ "l , 1 ' "W _ . "I . of standanddeliver airwhich the late
-- , even Joseph Hxune could never have resisted . We happened to be at Genoa the evening that the speeoh 9 ** ! EVench Emperor , at the opening of the Chambers , was received by telegraph . There were mobs of people collected , reading it at every corner ; and in the cries of perambulating newsmen , the ear of a stranger was atrac'Ic by the constant Repetition of the wox'ds " gucrrn , gucrra . " Anything about the war was sure to sell . Upon the walls patriotic scribblers were continually writing such sentences as , " Viva il se d' Italia , " Morte ai Tedeschi , " and the symbolic ¦ " Viva Verdi . " Lampoons and pasquinades , imaginary speeches of the Austrian JEmpcror and tlie
ArclKtukc , in broken German , dog-Italian—vieions of Radetslcy ' s ghost—wore hawked about everywhere , or distributed gratis . Curious enough , of complimentary allusions to the Emperor Napoleon or his Imperial cousin—or , indeed , to the li renoh nWiancc—there wqro but few . Indeed , it was universally reported to us that all attempts to get up a display of popular enthusiasm on the ocoasion of the Fringe ' s visit to Genoa had been a signal failure . The garrisoning regiments had all left the town fov the ' 'frontier , and the sentry boxes and watches wore filled by oitiaons . It was a curious and , indeed , tv pleasing sight to aeo those worthy , amateur ¦ soldiers ' , with , their plain clothes , distinguished only by a red badge on the arm , perform * ing thoiv military duties with quite un-miljtary ardour . Gi-oups of admiring and ( sympathising friends , often of the female box , stood at a
respectful distance from tliein , and -enlivened the tedium of duty by the charms of their co / nversation . What their soldierlike merits may have been we had no means of jud ging ; but still the tjontrast between a city guarded hy its own citizens , and the * towns of Italy , where the Goverment , supported on foreign bayonets , are afraid even to trust their own subjects with arms of self defence , was too striking not to make one overlook much that is theatrical and bombastic about the cause of Italian independence .
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: ¦ ¦ ^ . FRANCE . Paris , Thursday , G £ p . m . THE RESIGNATION OF PKINCE NArOLEON . The withdrawal of the Prince-minister from the direction of Algeria and the Colonies , has been hailed as a Concession to the policy of honourable peace , and as a rebuke to those who have sought to convulse Europe with war , that they might gratify their personal whims and fancies . But it is no more than ji » t to"add ; that it is not sO much the resignation of the Prince that has given satisfaction and restored confidence , as it is that his retirement will necessitate the dismissal of M . Einile de Girardin and other political charlatans from power . There is little doubt but that theexVeditor of the Presse , and a certain other personage who ; for the present , shall be nameless , have succeeded in doing ; with Prince Napoleon what Epsencrantz and Gilderstern sought to accomplish with another prince—he cf Denmark—¦ I mean , in " playing upon hiui . "
And as the two . gentlemen referred to—not the Danish courtiers—are held to stand below zero when gauged by the political and financial barometer , the exigencies of public opinion , arc satisfied by their disappearance into Dock directors . I may also add that it is _ believed the Prince admitted thesei individuals tohis councils , not from any sympathy with their principles , nor admiration of their characters ; but chiefly in obedience to the policy announced at Limoges , ¦ " to ask no man whence he came , but simply for his assistance to deyelope the future prosperity , of France . " To carry out , this' conciliatory policy , to induce men of character and capacity , who , from previous
political tendencies , wow . stand aloof , to come oy £ r to the Imperial camp , to obliterate the traces of party Conflicts , and to enlist all men in the service of their common country , hasbeen the ambition of the Prince , and I believe you will concede it to tie a very noble one . Tliat the object was praiseworthy and honourable—especially when , it avowedly had another ulterior purpose ; namely , the introduction ^ of never so small a . modicum of liberty into Prance—few will deny , although the means to the end have turned out to be violent and impolitic . The Prince not only resembles his uncle in physical appearance , but also in many moral qualities . He ia passionate , hasty , and obstinate ;
suspicious of persons around him , abrupt in manner , and not over courteous in speech . Being constantly haunted by suspicions of the sincerity of his advisers and courtiers , he lias fallen into doubts , delays and hesitations . Lord Eldon , even , is said to have been more prompt in deciding questions than his Imperial Highness , and , more easily induceH to make up his mind . But what ' people complin of is , that if , Prince Napoleon tajkes on © view of a question to day to-morrow it is altogether unsettled , if not changed ; and this vacillation is imputed to the influence of certain parties which is paraded about Paris as having a monetary value . That the Prince has no notion of this I feel convinced , —
that he would soon . put . a stop to any attempt ; to make a profit out of him , is positive . Nevertheless , it is notorious that persons have been stating that one individual in particular had complete innuenco over the Prince , to obtain 'this or that concession , if it were made worth his while to do so . Although the purity of official administration may not be immaculate here , you in , ay readily imagine what dismay and disgust have been created by tlie avowal of jobbery and corruption in high places . The elaborate defence of Prince Napoleon ' s policy which has been circulated here after its
publication in the 7 Vww * lias had its source easily recognised , and has created some surprise . The allusion to the existence of personal cnemity of M . Walewski to the Prince has caused much merriment ; , and people speculate on " what groat things from Kittle things arise , " since , the rivalry of thpso two Illustrious personages in love should break out afresh in the shape of'political antagonism . The difference between M . Fould and the Princb arose from discussion relative to the Algerian railways . The Algerian commissions , appointed by the Prince , desired the Government to give a guarantee of 0 per cent , on the capital offered to bo embarked in
constructing the line from Algiers to Oran , but the Minister of Finance , inspired by M . Fpuld , the Minister of State , is opposed to the guarantee , — wishing to reduce it to 4 § .. Consequently the question is ; reduced to a state of dead lock ; , and the Prince is unable to proceed with a project in which he has taken great interest , and with which he was desirous to associate his name . Moreover , the Prince especially patronised a scheme in connexion with the railway which had for object to enlarge the townofAlgiers bylevelling a mountain over which the railway was to be brought into the city , — -casting the rubbish into the sea so as to obtain deep water frontage , arid at the same time to bring a supply of
waterin to Algiers . The cost of the plan was set down at 800 * 000 ? ., but , as soon as a fourth had been spent , it was '' estimated that the sale of land for building , and wharfage would repay the contractors a-nd leave large profits . The Prince , I believe , had determined to give tlie railway concession to the company that w . ould execute this work , but the economical views of the Minister of State defeated his intentionsiiideira . I may add that there is no dissension between the Emperor and the Prince , for they both were . present at tlielast Council of Ministers ; and , it is believed , iris Imperial Highness will return to the Ministry of Algeria and the Colonies when the dread of war has passed , and a thorough purge has been administered to his ministryv
NICARAGUA CANAL . " vVars and rumours of vwars appear to exercise no disastrous influence upon" the scheme patronised fcy French speculators for uniting the two oceans . The French papers which eke out a precarious existence by puffing all projects , are filled with the most mysterious allusions to tlie sayings and doings of the projectors . Great reliance appears to be placed upon the capital and credulity of Englishmen ; and the witrni imaginations of certain cadets de Gascoigne are fired by tlie prospects of how these two possessions may be worked ; certainly with more profit and less risk than the inexhaustible . gold and silver mines of South America . Not many days since , the
Mohiteur announced , with all the " . honours of large type , and at the head of its non-official portion , that an agreement had been entered into between tlie projectors of the canal and " Sir Rodney Croskey , the colossus of British maritime enterprise' ^ - although I fancy the gentleman to be an American , and therefore hardly likely to wear a Juindle to his name . Tlie agreement is said to be for the establishment of four lines of twelve steamers of 3 , 000 tons each , in both oceans . The Inde . pcndance Bctyc also announces that so beset has been M . Thohie . de Gnmond , the author of the scheme for carrying a railway tunnel under the Straits of Dover , ¦ ¦ with ofFura of money
from your capitalists during his visit to London , as to have been sorely perplexed at boing obliged to refuse them . One firm of -English contractors , the veracious journal gravely relates , oftbred to take shares for the full cost of the entire works , to the amount of five millions sterling , but although their solvability was undoubted , the receipt of r > , 000 , 000 ( . was refused , lest it should give the contractors an absolute preponderance in the management of the company . Nevertheless , vanquished by the prayers and solicitations of the contractors , he allowed them to subscribe for two millions sterling of si uires . Cun it oe wondered at that the invasion and pillage : of England should excite the cupidity of tlie adventurous spjrus and empty purses of the Continent when they hear ol sovereigns being tossed about like IJirininglmin tokens , n , nd of English men of business supplicating millions
Fronch speculators to accept their —rcnevo them from the cmbarressite lew ridioms ! Moreover , we are informed thftfc the Foreign Office , . under t « o direction of Lord Malmesbury , perplexed by thelaoc that'the Panama railway belonged to the Americans , and driven thereby to contomplato the necessity pt constructing a Honduras line , hailed the Nicaragua canal scheme as a ? godsend—a means of escape from the aimculties of the situation . Consequently , and as a small return , Lord Malmesbury is going to | jive the carringo of tlio I ' aoHlo nittiis to " Sir Croskoy , * ' for which the Foroiyn Secretary intends breaking all previous contracts , moans-to send the West Indja Mail Company to the nglit about , and to entreat the canal projuctors and tnoir aqsociates to accept I hardly like to any . \ v >\ r ninny millions . To provide the ways and moans , tno Foreign Ofllce wjill insist on the Clmnoollor ¦ of tlio Exchonuor doublinff tho income-tax ; and shouia is
that prove insumoiont , tlio nmjunt- w w raised by new duties on tho olraulation or uw-Punch . Your i-oaders will huvo lournoil tiac last month tho first departure of engineers ana workmen took place in tho Panama , « n « e . n w ® conduct of M . JTolix Bolly , Avhoso ambition » to carry out an enternriso on whloh ( | op *{ J the commercial nrosporJty of tho whole world . u » tho 2 nd of this month a convoy was to loavo oouwr ampton , in tho Plata , undop tlio condnot oi M , Vltnl-Roux , fonnorly airoctor of works at tno
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Untitled Article
. ¦ ' ; . ¦ f' ' . .. ¦' : ¦ ¦¦ ¦ ¦ ' ¦ . . ' ¦¦ ' ¦ . • • • ¦ ' ¦ , : ¦ . ' . ¦ ¦¦ ¦ "¦ ¦ . ¦ .. ¦ '' . • , ' .. ¦' ' ' ' ¦ : ¦ ¦ ... ¦ ¦ . .. ¦ - ¦ . - . ¦ . '¦ ¦ : ' . ¦ 340 • V ^\^ : y : H ; E /;/ L EA- ; t > E ; B-.-. [ No . 468 , March 12 , 1859 .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 12, 1859, page 340, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2285/page/20/
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