the allocations of the Pope or the assaults of the Brigands are more mischievous, it would be difficult to say.
Meanwhile, a miracle has been got up at Rimini. A picture of the Madonna opens and shuts its eyes,
whereat bishops and canons are in ecstasy, infidel Austrians and Romans are converted, cripples and blind
people are cured, and "the Virgin by one glance of ineffable expression" is bringing back a most recalcitrant
population into the Pope-loving ranks of the Faithful. The poor Pope has ordered a "judicial enquiry" to
be made into this affair!
The Electoral Law was passed in the French Assembly
on the 31st of May, after a long debate, but without
a single alteration of any importance. On the 3rd inst.
it was officially published in the Moniteur.
On the 4th a bill was presented by the Ministry to the
Assembly for increasing the Salary of the President to
3,600,000 francs (£144,000 sterling) a year. The funds
instantly fell from 96.15 to 94.25.
The President went on the 9th with several of his
ministers to inaugurate the Opening of the Railway
from Creil to St. Quentin. He made some telling
speeches, and was received with a great show of popular
enthusiasm.
M. Emile Girardin, the eminent proprietor of the
Presse, has been elected by the Department of the Lower
Rhine, in opposition to the government candidate, by a
majority of 30,000 votes to 20,000.
A Dinner Party given by the President at St. Cloud
on the 15th had nearly been attended with a terrible
disaster. The Count and Countess de Gouy d'Arcy were
arriving in a carriage, when the President, who was
riding in the grounds, galloped forward to meet them.
Having chatted with them for a moment at the carriage
window, he put spurs to his horse to meet some other
guests. The Count's horse took fright, and dashed off
at full speed along the edge of a ravine. In a few
seconds the side wheels got off the path, and the
carriage, to the horror of the spectators, was precipitated
down the slope. Louis Napoleon was the first to reach
the spot, and found the carriage smashed to pieces, the
horse lying on his side, the young Countess with her
bonnet in her hand arranging her hair, and her husband
with equal composure shaking the dust out of his dress-
coat. Neither had received the least injury, and during
the evening they were the gayest of the party.
Several persons were arrested in Paris on the 18th
and 19th, charged with the clandestine Manufacture of
Gunpowder. A number of socialist agents have been
sentenced by the Court of Assize of the Loire Inferieure
to various terms of imprisonment, for having uttered
blasphemous and atrocious cries in the streets, such as
"A bas Dieu!" "Vive I'Enfer!" "A bas la Religion!"
"Vive le Pillage!" "Vive la Guillotine!" and others
equally infamous.
The committee on the bill for Increasing the
President's Salary made a report, which was read to the
assembly on the 21st. It rejects the ministerial measure,
and proposes "that a credit of 1,600,000 francs be opened
in favour of the Minister of Finance for the expenses
incurred in 1849 and 1850, in consequence of the installation
of the President of the Republic."
The subject was disposed of by the Assembly on the
24th. The question discussed was between the above-
mentioned amendment on the bill, proposed by the
majority of the committee, and another amendment
which had been proposed by the minority and adopted
by the government, viz., "That an extraordinary credit
of 2,160,000 francs for the expenses of the President of
the Republic be opened in the Ministry of Finance for
1850." And this last amendment was carried by 351
against 308, a majority of 46 for the government.
General Lahitte announced to the Assembly on the
21st, that the question between the English and French
governments was arranged; the English government
having agreed to abide by the provisions agreed to at
Loudon, instead of those which had been arranged at
Athens.
M. Thiers Arrived from Paris on the 13th. The
same evening he visited the House of Lords, where he
was cordially greeted by the Marquis of Lansdowne,
Lord Brougham, Lord Palmerston, and several members
of both Houses, with whom he remained a short time in
animated conversation. He paid a visit to the ex-king
of the French at St. Leonard's, and immediately
afterwards returned to Paris.
A conspiracy on an extensive scale has been discovered
in Oran, Algeria. The plan of the conspirators was to
seize the Fort La Monne and the Treasury, and to
establish a Provisional Government. Two Municipal
councillers of Oran, a lieutenant of the 68th regiment
of the line, and several soldiers have been arrested.
The Arab village of Ouldja has been burnt down, the
inhabitants dispersed, and thirty people killed by the
French troops, in consequence of their refusal to give
up some Arabs who had killed a French soldier and
wounded another.
The Settlement of the German Constitution makes
little or no apparent progress. The Saxon chambers
were suddenly dissolved on the 1st instant, to evade a
discussion in the second chamber on an address to the
sovereign, expressing dissatisfaction with the conduct of
the government on the German question; and the second
chamber broke up in solemn silence, withholding the
usual cheers for the king. The Wurtemburg Diet, for
a similar reason, was prorogued on the 4th instant.
The King of Hanover entered his eightieth year on
the 5th instant.
The 1050th Anniversary of the Arrival of a Fragment
of the True Cross was celebrated at Coesfeld on the
25th of May by a solemn mass in the cathedral. The
city was visited during the days of the fête by 50,000
pilgrims.
The King of Prussia has Recovered from the Wound
inflicted by the assassin Sefeloge. On the 9th he
attended divine worship in the chapel of the palace of
Charlottenburg; and on the morning of the 10th he was
greeted with a grand musical performance under his
window, as a congratulation on his full recovery.
A royal decree has been published at Berlin,
curtailing still further the Freedom of the Press. The
system of "caution-money" is re-established, with the
government powers of cancelling the licence to sell
newspapers, and of refusing conveyance by post to obnoxious
journals; and certain offences against the press laws are
"withdrawn from the competency of a jury."
Among the journals affected by the above decree is
our own Punch, which has been proscribed in the city
of Konigsberg and its province, and placed on the list of
journals that are no longer permitted to pass through
the Post Office.
There are accounts from Madrid to the 20th. The
Queen's accouchement was expected to take place in a
few days. The daughter of the Duchess of Montpensier
has received, by a royal decree, the rank and honours
attached to the title of Infanta of Spain. It appears
that the Duke and Duchess of Montpensier are not
popular in Madrid. The feeling of the multitude was
strongly expressed at a bull-fight a few days ago. The
Duke and Duchess were present, and, according to the
custom which prevails when any member of the Royal
family assists at the spectacle, the chief of the Toreadors
requested their permission to commence the fight on his
bended knee. At this proceeding the entire assembly
hooted and hissed. When the second bull was about to
be led forth, the same ceremony was repeated with the
same result, although the famous Montes, the conqueror
in all his battles, was one of the Toreadors. On the
third bull-fight being about to commence, the Toreador
merely saluted the Duke and Duchess, without bending
his knee. A shout of applause was immediately raised
by the entire mob. The royal party, visibly affected,
quitted their box after the death of the third bull. This
manifestation, so spontaneous and so unanimously
produced, surprised everybody, even those who took part
in it. It is regarded as a political event of considerable
importance.—It is said that some serious differences
have arisen between the Minister of War and General
Dickens Journals Online