The Express. — London, England, 1853-04-04 00:00:00

titr enrrrOA• Ti.) COKILE9FONDENTS. • ...Cowl Y 'Mon w:" the 11',;•7ro," eeest.utum •ht ram* e.ealr•a'e • I,PI plena...v.3 'Arty TaeadAy ask FTII . ST eta% t. to time fue lee •• The Exprier." WI tea V.,en.sg pwer, ▪ • +•h. t. It. Lottesar•treet. by on ;Le of yatu..tm•r MUM WATKIt AT I.ONPON ItItli)011. rut. Da t —Meraing.ll%. 2 ..... A fterao.L. I .k. on. To-kvimeo.—MatruaA ua we% wa.ats. LONDON. .VO.VDAY. APRIL 4. schools. It is not hazarding too much to assert, that in the vast Lumber of these the funds might be em ployed in a manner far more advantageous to the public than is at present the cue. 'the mode in which this should be effected would doubtless offer some difficulties, in order that on the one side local rights, and on the other public interests, should not be neglected, but none which might not be easily subdued. The word local suggests a final remark. Although it may be granted that all private in terests and the agencies through • inch they aro manifested, should be subordinate iu the execution of a large and comprehensive plan, it must still be held as contrary to the genius and character of the nation. that all kcal rights should merge in a great cen tralising system. Neither of the local plans brought before the public have yet solved the problem of I public education under the conditions which Eng lishmen require. But we do not despair of seeing some plan pat forward to which these objections do not attach. Ratepayers might surely be vested with the power of determining when or where new schools should be founded, and also what alterations in existing schools should be necessary. Towns wouldreadily exercise so useful apowcr if it wcregiven I them, and in rural districts, where the impulse to start a school did not exist, a plan could be devised for administering an useful stimulus from without. Being responsible for the support of schools, it is but just that local bodies should have a voice in deter mining what schools should exist. How far any central council should bo responsible for the whole nation, and whether the mere subjection of the schools to national inspection would be sufficient, is a question that Parliament should decide. The measure which Lord Jolts ItussELL was mainly instrumental in bringing forward fourteen years ago, although productive of some very great results, has nevertheless proved that unless a plan of education can be devised by which lust energies may be excited and assisted and sectarian influences be subdued or disregarded, nothing will be done. We trust that Lord Jolts will not hesitate to meet this great difficulty with the manliness he has often hitherto displayed, and that ere long we shall have a measure of education which shall wipe away from us the reproach of being the only great Anglo- Saxon community in which men are allowed to grow up without the ordinary means of de%elopiug their intellects, or of properly communicating with their brethren. Tu.NltillT the curtain drawn up on the second act of the great 'Nahum. iitary drama of 1:v.13. The programme is varied and long. It contains notice that foretell debates on election abominations, aggras sated assaults, Australian packet irregulatities, and railway accidents. The muster roll of the Militia is to be investigated by Mr. Mot ; the Taxes on Know aro to be again denounced by their iad►lutignblu enemy, Mr. MILNER G;I:JON : the CZ111141:1 l lergy Reserves Bill is to be urged to that point it ought long ago to have reached, whilst the Jew Biil is to bo advanced with nil the speed that slog coach " tho Lords" will allow. A score of other things are set down for Parliamentary discussion and pubhe approval—as the list in another column bears a ituess—but no single item in the whole catalogue can touch in immediate interest the subject that is to-night to be inaugurated, when Lord intim Itussi:hh rises to explain the intentions of het Msjeety's Government on National Education. "In respect of educational efforts," says the lreAniinstie Revives. in its current number, Tahiti can cry shame to England. King KAMEIIANIEUA is richer in educational apparatus than Queen Vic /onto. While the latter can only point to a veiled Committee of Council on Education, with a pally annual sum of 150,000 f., or less than the three hun dredth pill of the national revenue at her disposal, the former has his responsible Minister of l'ublic Instruction, with 3,000 f. a year, or one-third of the national it taut', for his school requirements." Do King KAmEII.%IISIIA and his dark subjects look with more respect than Queen 'VIC-SORIA amid her lieges upon the need of education? Undoubtedly not. We may back any sixth-form boy in an English grammar school to hold forth on the necessity and advantages of education in a manner that would make every Tahitian, from IiAMEUAMLIIA down wards, listen with astonishment. We seldom read an assize report without finding that a judge laments that the prisoners brought before him have had no opportunity of receiving instruction. Clergy men ate for ever pointing out the awful igno- rance which prevails in certain quarters, and the terrible tffccts which of necessity spring from it. Philanthropists look upon the masses of the un educated with pity. Politicians contemplate them with dread—religions persons of all denominations with horror. From the highest to the lowest, we are all Tossed to uphold the cause of education,—to do battle with ignorance. The want of success arises perhaps from our astonishing unanimity ; we are so determined that the nation shall be taught, that we each fight for the exclusive possession of the right to teach. And here lies the whole of the difficulty. In May, 1839, when Lord Jolts ItussEth was ad vocating the measure of public education, which was afterwards adopted, the Bishop of LONDON, at Willis's Rooms,. expressed, in one sentence, the feel ing which, us long as it operates, must utterly crush all hopes of ever obtaining a perfect national system. "I say," were his Lordship of LONDON'S words, "that WE have a right to the exclusive education of those who belong to our own church." The President of the Wesleyan Conference, the Chief Rabbi, the Chief Elder of the Plymouth Brethren, Cardinal Itlst:mart, and the acknowledged heads of all other churches, will make the same assertion, and we can scarcely imagine that the Bishop of LoNnoN would, for a moment, deny their right to do so. Our own simple answer to the claim is, to each and every claimant—Yon claim as a right what you either cannot or will not perform as a duty. We say to the Church of England as we say to all other religious denominations in the kingdom, you never have educated all your children, and we do not believe you ever can. It is impossible to point out a single religious denomination in England—with the exception of the Quakers, and the exception here is easily explained—which educates the whole of its children. There will allays bo found in each, a large number of children who from want of means or opportunity have been suffered to grow up with their minds untended sad uncared for. But this is not the whole of the case; not only do we deny that the denominations can educate the children of the nation, we assert that the very subject which forms the groundwork of their claim, is the worst taught. Consult the records of the Inspectors of Schools—a mine of knowledge—and you will find that the Inspectors, whether lay or clerical, whether of church schools, or of schools of other denominations, are almost unanimous in affirming that the examinations on theological subjects are the most unsatisfactory of all—that neither religion nor knowledge has been inculcated—that the soul and the intellect are equally uninstructed. There is no necessary connexion between theological koow ledge and religious feeling, and this is a satisfactory answer to the whole outcry which has palsied the peelers of every statesman who has meddled with the education question for the last twenty years. The church, nut the school, is the place for proper religious teaching. Yet theological squabbles alone deprive us of a National System of Education. No statesman, more particularly a Minister, is likely to risk any portion of his popularity, or his us, by making the reply in terms so as those which we have just stated. It is enough for him to say to the denominations— whether you succeed or not in imparting religious knowledge, or educating religious feeling, is your own affair. If you fail, your failure be on your own head. Remember, however, that all sects merge in a higher unity—The Nation. The nation, with one voice, declares that its units, the men and the women who make up the whole body, must, in order to vindicate their position as members of the whole, prove their acquaintance with a minimum of those branches of knowledge, without which a human being, in the present day, most stand aloof, except as a mere machine, from all the great move ments of society. Reading, writing, arithmetic, some formal instruction in the laws of language, are no longer luxuries—they are necessaries. If our population is not to be degraded below that of any other in Europe, it most possess these. If you, while you are quarrelling about other things, pre vent us from acting in this direction, we must take the law in our own hands, and act without you. It is a shame and a sin that children should be allowed in England to come to years of maturity without those bare elements of knowledge, without which they are as much behind the great majority of their countrymen as if they had been born maimed, or deficient in members necessary to perform the ordinary functions of life. This is what s Minister should, say—whether Lord JOUN RUSSELL will say anything like it to-night we know not. But of one thing we are certain, no propo sition can possibly succeed in conciliating all the various and diff..rent sects, and any attempt to pro- ceed on that principle must foreshadow its own failure. An important subject to be considered when any plan of national education is a subject of debate is that of funds. A minister of education will ever have the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his eye, when ho proposes any plan that may trench upon the ways and means of the latter. Nevertheless , the means for a comprehensive system of national education, are not so completely dependent upos the co-operation of a Chancellor of the Exchequer in England, as in Tahiti. We have vast funds appli cable to any plan which may meet the appro. bation of Parliament. The country is studded with schoolhouses, built by pious founders in ages past, which are as available now as at the time when they were built. There are endowments at tached to these houses which are still bearing fruit, although not in a direction in which the nation has any immediate concern. The houses are, in many eases, used u private re,adences• the endowments received without auy—or very slight —services being rendered in return. Many of these foundations, in short, have degenerated into sinecures. In so common a work as Carlisle's Endowed Grammar Schools, we hare an account of four hundred and seventy-five FRANCE. PARIS, SVNDAT EVENING. The Moniteur of to-day announces the reception by the Emperor of M. de Parra, Envoy Extraordi nary and Minister Plenipotentiary . of the Queen of Portugal, with the reply of her Majesty to the letter of meal of the Count Marescalchi. Despatches from Vienna state that Field Marshal Radetaky had published a decree nullifj log all mort gages made by the Lombard refugees on their landed property since 1847. Despatches from Vienna announce the reception of an official note from the Russian court, disavowing any intention on the part of Prince Menschikoft to disturb the integrity of the Ottoman empire, and stating that the immediate object of his mission was to exact the due fulfilment of a treaty made with Turkey two years ago. With respect to the Holy Places, Russia was equally bound, with the other in terested powers, to a 'settlement of this important question. A telegraphic despatch, dated Madrid, March 20, announces that the Government has presented to the Cortes several projects of law relating to the extinc tion of the floating debt, to the creation of thirty millions of annual renter, in three per cents.; to the acknowledgment of 101 per cent. interest for the non-dinverted coupons; to constitutional reform; to the consecration of the principle of substitution in the transmission of property to the eldest son. Although it is understood that some of the opposi tion journals have lately received a private warning that systematic hostility, however veiled in covert phraseology, and tempered by moderate language, will not be permitted, the Assemblee Nationale seems nothing daunted, for in its leading article to-day it plainly speaks of the empire as no regular govern ment, but a mere expedient, which even its founder must be well aware cannot last long. The occasion for this sortie is the appearance of a pamphlet, which has thrown the Pays into extacies, entitled "Speeches and Messages of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte from his return to France to December 2, 1832." This pam phlet has been distributed gratuitously to ever member of the Senate and Corps Legisiatif, and is of course understood to be a direct emanation from the head of the government. It com prises the famous electioneering address of 1848, in which Louis Napoleon, disclaiming the character of an "ambitious man," dreaming some times of the " Empire and war," sometimes of putting "subversive theories "into practice,said he would hold hie " honour pledged to leave to his successor at the end of four years power strengthened, liberty intact, a real progress established "—the speech in the Con stituent Assembly, after his election, when he swore the solemn oath to the republic and tho constitution —the celebrated letter to Edgar Ney, in which he sod, " the French republic did not send an army to Rome to crash Italian liberty; I thus understand the reestablishment of the temporal power of the Pope, a general amnesty, the secularisation of the administration, the Code Napoleon, and a liberal government." The pointed-out and oft-repeated disclaimers of any intention to make a coup tretat, including the allusion to his oath which disarmed the suspicions of the Assembly in November, 1830— the speech on opening the Senate and Corps Legis latif, on March 29th, 1832, when he said, "Let us by the republic, it threatens no one, and may re- Moue everybody "—the affected doubts and hesita tion about the empire, expressed at Lyons so recently milleptember 20th, 1832—the decidedy Imperial tone emesal in less than a month later at Bordeaux— sad, finally, the speech at St. Cloud on December 1, 1832, when he said, I assume to-day with the crown the name of Napoleon 111., because the logic of the people has already given it me by their accla mations." The reperusal of all these documents with the attention they deserve, convinces the Assembles more and more of the exceptional and revolutionary character of the present epoch. Since the language and acts of the President of the Republic, now Emperor of the French, have hem so dissimilar within the space of a few days, it is be be presumed that the situation was continually and that his impressions, apparently so con were rapid adaptations to the "ever varying hose Such is the substance of the Assembles's appreciatima of the collection. And lest it should be answered that although while the republic lasted it was neces sary for the head of the state frequently to chan ge the apparent course of his policy , .yet this necessity cannot recur now that the empire is established, pas sages are quoted from the pamphlet to show, out of Louis Napoleon's own month, that his uncle fell be cause, pressed by the necessities of war, he assumed too much personal power, and that measures of " public safety" can only remain in operation for a short time. The Asumbla, in conclusion, says ironically in its article : _ . Ihe impression produced by the pamphlet is that the author of these pages considers himself in an especial man ner as invested with an exceptional and extraordinary mis sion. We cannot contradict such a sentiment which is our own in more pants of view than one. We have often in sisted upon this exceptional character, the inevitable con sequence of a revolutionary epoch, a character which ap pears in the strongest possible light when contrasted with all that constitutes the regular and permanent condition of governments sad societies. According to a Constantinople correspondent of the Union, Colonel Rose, after he had sent for the English fleet, changed his mind, in consequence of what passed at an interview with Prince Mensehi koff, and sent despatches by a French steamer to Adm. Dnndas, begging him not to stir from Malta. I have not seen this stated anywhere else. The English squadron was at anchor at Malta on the 27th ult., and it was said they had orders to remain in port until further instructions. The grand ball given by the city of Paris to the Emperor and Empress last night in the splendid rooms of the Hotel-de-Ville, passed without any in cident worthy of note. About 4,000 invitations were issued. M. de Saint Cheron, who for the last four years has conducted the well-known legitimist corres pondence called " Lettres Parisiennes," renounced the undertaking on April 1, and the correspondence will no longer be carried on. I The Cturrier de Mariodlo announces that the bank THE EXPRESS, MONDAY EVENING, APRIL 4, ,853. lof exchange of that city has voted the creation of a central bank of exchange in Paris: A shock of an earthquake wee distinctly felt at Havre at 11 o'clock on Friday last. It lasted two minutes. I understand that at the Odeon on Friday even ing_ during the performance of M. Foulard's " Honneur et Argent" in the presence of the Ent- purer, the audience indulged in a political tnanifesta uon, almost amounting to an emeute. This piece, after being refused at the Francais has ' obtained extraordinary success on the opposite bank of the Seine. The hero of the drama is placed in a variety of trying situations, but throughout the five acts steadily withstands the temptations of " Money," and adopts "Honour" as his guiding star. The pit caught at several sentences, written doubtless with- out the least political purpose, and applauded them in such a marked way as to show lunmistakeably, that in their opinion the principal spectator of the play had need of the mural lesson conveyed by it. The manager of the theatre was so frightened that ho left the house, and when the Em peror sent for him was not to be found. This is the first demonstration of the kind which Louis Napoleon has encountered since his accession to absolute power. At the Bourse, yesterday, ltentes and Batik Stuck were active, and generally advancing. The Three per Cents., for cash, advanced 30c., while, for the ac count, they fell oe. The Four-and-a-Half per Cents., for cash, rose 30c., and for the account, 70e. Bank Stock further advanced lof. At the close of business prices stood thus quoted :—For cash, Three per Cents. 79f. 70e.; Four-and-a-Half per Cent. 103 f. 30c. For the account, Three per Cents. 79f. 63e.; Four-and-a- Half per Cents. 103 f. 60c.; Bank Stock, 2,671 Ihe following are the latest quotations from other continental bounce :—Antwerp.—Loan, Four-and-a- Half per Cents., 1814, 981; Spanish Deferred, 241, 1; ditto, Interior, 43 7-16; Austrian Metal., 83i. Frankfort.—Austrian Five per Cents., 961; Two and-a-Half per Cents. ' 441; Bank Shares, 1,538; Spanish Three per Cents., 441 ; One per Cent., 24 13-16; Exchange on London, short, 1191; United States Six per Cents., 1171. Berlin.—Four per Cents., New, 99 ; Four-and-a-Half per Cents, 103; Bank Shares, 109. Brussels.—Loan, Five per Cent., 1832, 1002; ditto, Four-and-a-11'dr per Cents., 1844, 981 ; ditto, Four-and-a-Half per Cents. Con., 1832, 981; ditto, Three per Cents., 1838, 741 ; ditto, Two and-a-Half per Cents., 1844, 551; Austrian Metal., 841 ; Spanish Deferre, 241; Roman Loan, Five per Cents., 981; National Bank Shares, 1,700; Belgian Bank Shares, 901; Exchange on London, 23.03. Madrid.—One per Cent., 24 11-16; Three per Cents., 431; Certificates Amortisable Debt, 2nd class, 61. nous, SATURDAY EVININO. _ _ The following telegraphic despatch, dated Vienna, April 1, has been received to-day : " We learn from Constantinople, 22nd ult, that, in a circular addressed to the Ambassadors to announce his nomination, Prince Menschikoff expresses the hope of a good understanding between Russia and the other powers." M. de Kelkin, an attache of M. de Nesselrode, has just arrived in Paris from London. M. de Kelkin travelled from St. Petersburg to London in six days and eight hours. The ambassador of the Bcy of Tunis, with a suite of six persons, has arrived in Paris. The last despatches from Algeria announce that the expeditionary column of Colonel Devaux and several other detachments were actir.g in the south, where a certain degree of agitation, but without any serious importance, had recently manifested itself. The Paine says it was generally reported that the grand expedition to Kabilia bad been postponed. About a month since I informed you that Colonel de Sercey, an officer on the staff, had been put under arrest by Marshal Magnan, iu consequence of a com plaint made by M. Achille bionsseau, formerly of the Assemble Nationale, that the colonel had swindled him out of a large sum of money. A court martial is now sitting in Paris to try Colonel de Sercey upon this charge. The nature of the case is this. Some years since it was suggested to M. Morisaeau, by a common friend, that if he were to employ some part of the fortune he bad then lately inherited from his family in aiding Osissel de Sercy to carry on a tobacco plantation in Corsica he would at once assist a worthy man and make a good investment. M. Morisaeau bad met Colonel de Sercey at Marshal Gerard's, and knew him as a man moving in excellent society. Upon the strength of representations made to him he opened a credit for Colonel de Sercey at his bankers to the extent of 100,000 f. In a very short time nearly the whole money was drawn out, and M. l'iloriaseau could get no satisfactory explanation of the way in which it had been expended. To allay his uneasiness certain securities were given him, which it is alleged y ere counterfeit. One of the charges is, that Colonel de Sercey professed to assign, by way of security a sum of money represented to be owing to him by Marshal Jerome Boaaparte, which in point of fact was not due. Colonel de Sercey indignantly denies all the charges affecting his hon our, and it is represented on his behalf that M. Mo rireau's advance was not a loan, but in the nature of a partnership speculation. The proceedings, which are expected to last several days, are not yet sufficiently advanced to make it possible to enter into details without the risk of misrepresentation. The case excites intense interest, owing to the rank of the prisoner, and to an expectation, possibly very ill founded, that some extraordinary disclosures, having a political bearing, will be made in the course of the trial. The court is as crowded as the presiding officer will allow it to be. The eccentric Marquis de Below, the husband of Byron's Countess de Guic cioli, interrupted the proceedings yesterday for a long time by refusing to obey the order of the Pre sident to leave the court, he being subpcenied as a witness. Ultimately the Marquis de Boissy was turned out, but on leaving he threatened to argue his right to remain when ho should be re-admitted to give his evidence. The Moniteur publishes the average price of wheat in the principal markets of France for the last month. The highest price was 19fr. 38c. per hectolitre in the markets of Toulouse, Gray, Lyons, and Marseilles, and the lowest ltifr. 94e. in those of Metz, Verdno, Charleville, and Soissons. The average for the whole of France is 18fr. 2c. The Court of Caseation yesterday rejected the appeal of Mercadier, Delpeche, Denis Bathes, Tnadorr, Carrier, Galzy, and Gordy, condemned to death by the council of war of Montpellier for having taken part in the affair of Bedarieux. PARIS, FIIDAT Evateme. The Auenab.'ee, in noticing a statement in a govern ment correspondence that the Pope's journey to Paris had been postponed till August, says it feels authorised to add, according to private letters from Rome, that at the present the Pope has no thought of coming to France at all. The political arrests of the 6th of February last are after all to lead to a trial, although it has not been possible to frame an indictgnent for a conspiracy. Out of forty or fifty persons arrested, only eleven have been selected for prosecution upon various charges depending upon the success of the police in raking up incriminatory matter of some kind or other against persons suddenly dragged from their beds to a prison, upon the allegation that a dangerous plot had been discovered. The Duko de ltovigo and M. de Lapierre are to bo tried for unlawfully distributing printed works (col portage). The Count de Coetlogon, M. Anatole de Coetlogon, M. Virmaitre, M. de Planhol, formerly an editor of the Gauge de France, and Dr. Flandia, brother of the advocate-general of that name, are ac cused of belonging to a secret society. I understand the Duke de Rivigo was interrogated with the view of framing a charge against him of the unlawful pos session of "arms and muniments of war." He had in his house two swords, one belonging to his de ceased father (Marshal Savary), and another which was his own when a captain of national guards. I am not aware whether this charge will be proceeded with. The trial is fixed for Tuesday week, before the Tribunal of Correctional Police. The Russian General Ogareff, nide-de-camp to the Czar, has lately been visiting the dock-yards and port of Lorient, accompanied by M. de Itayncval, a French naval officer. He made the most minute inquiries concerning the question of the transatlantic packets. The Afoniteur says : The receip3 of the octroi to the 22nd ult. inclusively, i amounted to 81 millions, if they continue in the same pro portion they will reach 38,300,000 fr. for tho year, or 3,800,000(r. more than was set down in the calculati o n of the budget of 1853. The above paper also observes : Several of the claims made by Frenchmen on the Ame r rican government, on account of vessels seized at California, have just bees settled, and the amount of compensation granted has been paid into the Calm des Depots et Con signations for distribution among the claimants. From the 25th ult., the charge for despatches by the electric telegraph between Paris and London has been reduced from 221 r. 81c. the 20 words to 18fr. 72c. I The telegraph to 'Montpellier, distance 837 kilometres (about .50) miles), was opened on the 28th ult. The I charge is 13fr. Sc. for 20 words, and 3fr. 27c. for every additional 10 words. SWITZERLAND. A most unjustifiable, as well as unwise step, has just been takes by the government of Prussia. The 'Prince of Neufchatel (the King of Prussia) has in• structed his envoy in Switzerland, that when "a regular government"—that is to say, a government of which he shall be again the head—shall havz been restored in that canton, he will not hold himself bound by the engagements which the present popu. lur government is making in respect of railways passing over its sail. This declaration, which seems to mark the distinction between royal and popular interests, can only irritate the susceptibilities of the Neutchatelois, while it can neither hasten their re turn to kingly rule, nor affect their determination to proceed with the much needed railways. The Basle Gazette, of the 31st ult., says it is fissured that the protocol of London (the work of Lord Malmesbury) relative to Neufchatel, has been completed by an additional article, declaring that the King of Prussia may assert his rights according to the law of nations, and by the force of arms. The Nor Zurich Gazette contains a letter from 11:rne of the 30ih ult. which rays:—"The federal commissioner in the canton of Ticino has announced to the federal council that no new troubles need now be apprehended, and that consequently the three companies quartered at Locarno had been or dered away. He adds, that numerous desertions had taken place from the Austrian aervicc,whieh had been a source of expense to the canton of Ticino. The council has given orders to the commissioner to guard, as much as possible, against the inconvenience in question. That will be difficult, inasmuch as the commissioner has no direct relations with the Aus trian authorities. This week the government of Ticino received the first delivery of salt from the Lombard stores of Maragno." GERMANY. M. 'Weiss von Starkenfels, police director at Vi enna, the hero of the notable attempt to keep up prices at tho Vienna Bourse by the terrors of the police, has been removed from his office, and ap pointed to an inferior post, an inspectorship of prisons. M. Weiss was a functionary of the Hay nail type, and like that hero finds himself disgraced the moment he has ceased to be necessary. The Grand fluke of Tuscany has given 5,000 flo rins to the fund for building a church at Vienna in commemoration of the escape of his imperial cousin. SPAIN. A Madrid letter of the 29th, received by express says :—" The government presented to-day to the Cortes several bills, relating to the extinction of the floating debt, to the creation of 30 millions of annual rents in Three per Cent. stock, to the recognition of 10; per cent. on the unconverted coupons, to consti tutional reform, and to the consecration of the prin ciple of substitution in the transmission of family estates to the eldest ion." ITALY. It will be remembered that aM. Montanari was one of the last party executed at Mantua. Directly after the execution (says the Go:eters del Popolo), the government called upon his surviving brother, Count Montanari, to pay within 24 hours the sum of 27 thousand lire, the cost of seizing, trying, and hang ing his brother, although the government had pre viously confiscated the estates of its victim. The Parlamento of Twin announces that on the 27th ult. the Sardinian corvette San Giovanni, 28 guns, Captain Juccia, arrived at Villafranca, to take the refugees on board who are to be conveyed to America. They are 82 in all. The Piedmontese government gives thorn free board and passage, and ,Ofr. per head on landing. ROME, Miatcx 24. Rome is jest now so full of sight-seeing foreigners, flocked together from all quarters of the world to witness the Easter ceremonies, that houses cannot be found sufficient to lodge them, nor carriages sufficient to convey them through the drenching rain to St. Peter's and the Vatican. The benediction of to-day wee a failure, on account of the unpropitious state of the weather, the vast piazza being comparatively un tenanted by spectators, and the troops looking sadly bedrizzled; but the in-door ceremonies have been crowded to a frightful excess by ladies in black chows and veils and gentlemen in dress coats, from all parts of the globe save Rome, the Romans them selves singing " Sic yes non vobis" on the occasion, and qbtaining with the greatest difficulty tickets of admission to the reserved seats. The great attraction today has been the blessing of the oils, the washing et twelve priests' feet by his Holiness and his subse quent serving them at dinner, in imitation of the humility of Our Lord in performing those offices for the Apostles. The ifiserere, chanted by the Papal choir this evening and to-morrow, draws suffocating weds to the Siztiue Chapel. The Sacred Consults tribunal has published a list cl individuals condemned to death and the galleys chiefly for homicide through party spirit, being a continuation of the judicial proceedings against the terrorists of the legations in 1848 and 18111. The predictions so frequently made in the Roman correspondence of the Express with respect to , the effect which the Austrian occupation of Ancona,l Leghorn, and other ports of the Mediterranean and Adriatic not within the limits of the imperial domi nions would have upon British commerce, have lately been fully verified by the endeavours of Austria to exclude us from Turkish ports in the Adriatic ; net will that exclusive system stop there if not at once checked by the presence of a strong British fleet. The idea of a rupture between Austria and Great Britain fills the government of his Holiness, as well as that of the King of Naples, with apprehension lest one of the first modes of annoyance resorted to' by England should be the capture of Italian ports on the Adriatic and the arming and rousing of the populace against the unwelcome imperial garrisons. populace against the unwelcome imperial gerrisoss. fo encounter such a storm in the present exasperated state of Hungary, Lombardy, Tuscany, and the Le gations, without reckoning Switzerland, would some what try the recently restored military strength of the empire. An Engli ;h traveller has given umbrage to the Roman police, and is in iminent danger of being sent out pf Rome, without having time to obtain his Holiness's blessing on Easter Sunday. This is the Rev. George Nelson, who arrived hero from Corfu, via Ancona, three days ago, and has from some motive or other been so unlucky as to arouse the suspicions of the secret police. The authorities have been courteous enoughtto report the case to the British Consul, who will look into it, and not object of course to the ex pulsion of any one who may have given just cause for so unceremonious an act, at the same time that he will remonstrate against any such measures being adopted against a British subjet, either from caprice or calumny. Rothschild is no in Rome, and his visit is, as usual, connected with new loan negotiations. Mr Lyons, the new British Charg6 d'Affaires, has not yet arrived. POLAND. The shattered fabric of Polish nationality has just snstaiued another shock from ita arch-enemy the Czar. By an imperial ukase just issued, all persons claiming to belong to the nobility of Poland aro to send in the evidence on which they base their preten sions, when those who shall be recognised as of noble URA will bo incorporated into the Russian peerage, while those who fail to make good their claims, will be lei - bidden to assume noble Wks. EGYPT. ALEXANDRIA, M.tncu. Since the last mail little new has taken place in our commercial affairs. No new failures have oc curred, although the prospects of the British market for some of the large holders of grain have not much improved, and as the Baltic ports will soon now be open, any material rise in the price of grain can scarcely be looked for. The Nile subsides rather more rapidly than usual, and consequently it is anticipated that in the course of another month or six weeks the navigation of the river and canal will become very difficult. This cir cumstance, of course, leads us to a:mreciate the im portance of a speedy completion of the railway. The progress of this and other works, and indeed of industrial occupation generally, is considerably impeded at present by the levying of recruits fur the army, ocensioned by the furnishim , of the quota of 10,000 men which the Pacha is bound by treaty to supply every three years to serve at Constantinople. This is done by ballot, something like the drawing for the militia in England. Each village has to furnish its quota according to its population anti a registry is kept of all the men liable to serve. Those who are absent from their native villages in other parts of Eypt, as a great many of them are in various em ployments, are also registered, and can be found by the police wherever they may be. Under such a system of registration, it would be au easy thing to make the drawing either at the village or elsewhere, and to take the men on whom the lot might fall wherever they might be. This is, however, not the case. The whole male population liable to serve. no matter in what distant parts of Egypt they may be, arc required to proceed to their native villages, to be present at the bal loting. The consequence is that numbers of men employed on the railway, in the transit, &e., are withdrawn from their work to pro ceed hundreds of miles, in order to be present at this drawing for recruits. Their labour is thus lost to the public and themselves, and the object itself, in a great measure, defeated. For, dreading the service of the army, the greater number, instead of proceed ing to their owe villages, desert on the road, and conceal themselves either by wandering in the desert, or otherwise, until the levy ing is concluded. This illustrates a general remark here, that if there be a right and a wrong way of doing a thing the government is sure to hit on the wrong. Connected with this subject, a case of oppression in regard to the Copt population has recently arisen. Hitherto the Copts and Jews, as well as other inhabitants not being of the Moslem faith, have been exempt from serving in the army, it being the law of the Koran, as asserted, that no Christian or Jew should be a soldier. Lately, however, the Copts have been sul4cted to serve in the army, and instead of being formed into separate corps, they are mixed with the Maliontedan troops, from whom, on account of the difl;:rence of their faith, they receive all kinds of indignities and insult. It is understood that the French consul has interfered for the protection of the catholic Copts— that is these who acknowledge the Pope, but those— and they are the greater number—who only acknow ledge their own patriarch, have as yet received no protection from any representatives of European powers. There is a good deal of talk here at present about the projected removal of Cleopatra's Needle to Eng land for exhibition in the new Crystal Palace. Mr. Anderson, who, it appears, is a director of that con cern as well as of the Peninsular and Oriental Company, has been inspecting it. But it is said he has come to the conclusion which every one here acquainted with it has formed, namely, that it is not worth the trouble and expense, as it is so thoroughly def‘ced that its exhibition would only cause disap pointment. The Obelisk at Luxor, which also was presented by Mehemet Ali to the British govern ment, is in a perfect state—vastly superior to the Needle, and Mr. Anderson, it is understood, intends to take some steps for obtaining it for the Crystal Palace. PENINSULAR MAILS. SOUTHAMPTON. The Oriental Company's steam-packet Madrid, Captain Weeks, has arrived. Her dates are: Gib raltar, March 21; Cadiz, 23; Lisbon, 29 ; Vigo, 30. The Madrid brings the following passengers: Messrs. Duffield, Turner, Richards, and Loffr, from Gibraltar; Messrs. Knowles, Hodges, and Reis, from Cadiz ; Messrs. Pratt, Rumball, Galle, Fiquero, Mar ques, Mendes, Noquicr, Heming, and French, and Mr. and Mrs. Lacey, from Lisbon ; Captain APDo nald (the master) and six of the crew of the barque Lad Rowena, burnt at sea. The steamer Antelope, of Liverpool, was at Ma deira on the 22nd, having smashed her air pump and bent her side rods, and would be obliged to re main until new ones were sent from England. The captain of the Pasha of Egypt's yacht (Long ridge) was drowned at Lisbon on the 22nd ultimo, by the upsetting of his boat in attempting to cross the bows of a vessel at anchor in the Tagus. The barque Lady Rowena, of London, was burnt at sea, off Cape St. Vincent, on the 16th March. Finding no chance of g"tting the fire under she was run towards St. Vincent, close off which they fell in with two French coasting vessels, who took the crew on board,one of them landed thecaptain , ind six of the crew at Lagos, from which place they were brought to Lisbon by H.M. steamer Firebrand; the remainder of the crew were taken on to Rouen, where the vessel was bound which had them on board. The Lady Rowena had a fall cargo of beans and cotton, and was from Alexandria. THE WEST INDIA MAILS We add the following to our summary of Saturday SOUTHAMPTON, Arau. 2. JAMAICA. The House of Assemblage in Jamaica had sanc tioned the abolition of tonnage dues, with tho excep tion of 3d. per ton, retained as a lighthouse tax. The island was healt hy. In St. Lucia the weather had been unsettled, and a good deal of rain had fallen. Two smart shocks of an earthquake had been expe rienced. The island was healthy. Gold was reported to have been discovered on the windward side of the island of St. Lucia. The yellow fever had abated at St. Vincent ; at Tobago also the scourge was disappearing. Barbadoes was quite healthy. lIRITISH GUIANA. The Royal Gazette of March 10 says, in its review for home readers: Since the compilation of our last summary of news for the home reader the Combined Court has been in session, and has progressed with the public business with a rapidity and unanimity lately unexampled. The depression which for so many years hung as a mourning pall over the colony, has removed under the influence of favourable seasons and returning hope; and the determination scents to have been arrived at by men of all parties to put the institutions f the colony in efficient practical working order. The weather has been very dry, and notwithstanding a alight shower this morning, gives promise of continuing so. The planters complain; but the crops of the colony do not yet appear to suffer much from that cause.— An extraordinary plague, however, has made its appear ance in the shape of rats, which are doing an enormous amount of injury to the standing canes. They have ap peared on the east coast of this county, and in a similar district in the county of Bethke. The animal appears to be of a peculiar species and most destructive in its tastes— rarely taking more than one bite cut of tho cane, which then withers and dies, both stalk and stool. Dogs and head money appear both of them to be ineffectual in stopping the spread of this destructive nuisance; which, if not stopped in some way or another, will tell sadly upon the year's crop of several of the best estates. Provisions of every kind are scarce and dear, and trade dull. TAMPICO. Improvements were in progress both with regard to the town and navigation of the river. New build ings were continually erecting, the centre of the town fast filling up, the city council (called the Junta de Fomento) having shown more zeal of late years, causing the principal streets to be paved, side-walks are completing all over the town. Commerce has suf fered much in consequence of the extensive trade in smuggling carried on at Matamoras, and the whole of the northern frontier, principally induced and supported by the prohibitory Mexican tariff, which the late revolution, in a measure, has abolished. Hopes are entertained that smuggling will cease, and commerce resume its natural channel—the port of Tampico. The great abuses of the former pilot establishment at Tampico liar have already been done away with, and the Junta have taken the management entirely in their own hands, and esta blished an efficient number of bia!s, well maimed at a low charge, and have also ordered (st nt the money) a small steamer from England to act as a tow boat, At present the communication with the interior is most imperfect: the roads are only suited for mule traffic, goods from Tampico to San Luis Potosi hays ing to be conveyed on mules' backs, expAttl to sun and rain for '2'l or 30 days. The Junta of San Luis Potosi have in contemplation the formation of a cart road down a branch of the river Panaco called Famina, where steamboats can arrive from Tampico in 20 hours, by which means goods will reach San Luis from Tampico in eight days. The most int. portant of an is the erection of a light on the north side of the entrance at Tampico Bar : it can be seen, 10 or 12 miles off in fine weather. GREY TOWN. When the Trent left (on the nth of March) preps. rations were being made for the demolition of several houses built by the Americans on land belonging to the governmect of Musquito. Notice had been given to the occupiers that if not vacated and given up by the 11th, the work of destruction would ensue, the agent:of the Vanderbelt Company having been heard to express his determination to shoot the first man who landed on the disputed territory. lie has been brought before the magistrates, and compelled to give security to the amount of 7,000 doll. fur his good behaviour. A corps of artillery was being or ganised, and guns mounted, to carry out the pro ceedings of the eventful 11th, and there is every expectation of a regular row. It. M. Steamer Geyser was said to be muising in the neighbourhood, and would in all probability arrive in time to watch the proceedings. The railway from Navy Bay towards Panama is progressing as well as can be expected. The brid ge or viaduct across the Chagrcs from Barbems will be finished about the beginning of May; and Ili a great portion of rail is already completed on the Panama side, the affair may be considered as a fait accompli, and a magnificent undertaking it certainly is. The difficulties have been enormous: through twelve miles of jungle and swamp. lour feet deed, runs the line, and 'tis said that this portion of the structure has cost a human life for every foot of line. The buildings in Navy Bay, or Colon City, as it is called, are increasing, and iu time, when the surrounding swamps are filled in, it will be inure healthy. MEXICO. When the 1)oe left Vera Cruz the revolution had taken a positive direCtion. General Santa Anna bad secured the votes of a large majority of the states as President of the Republic, with unlimited powers, fur one year, and was expected by the April packet. The country is in other respects pretty quiet. Money, it is believed, would soon be safely conveyed to the coast, where it was much wanted. At pre sent there were above 4,00J,000 dols. ready that has been detained from time to time owing to the lawless state of the country. A new twin' had been ' published at Vera Cruz and Tampico, which was, in every respect, more ftvourable to all cotton manufactures, and which, it was believed, would force itself on whatever government succeeded to that of the present temporary ruler, General Lotn hardiner. The finances of Mexico were of course in a most lamentable state, and the position of General Santa Anna on arriving at the presidency will be on that account very embarrassiug; but nearly the whole of the most respectable class of Mexicans de rived great hope trout the abolition of the federal sys tem of government, which was considered as certain. It was some satisfaction to know that in the midst of such an outbreak, the parties who took the lead in the revolution have most scrupulously reap( cted part of the custom-house revenue, which is allotted to the British creditors at Vera Cruz and Tampico. PANAMA. The Pacific Mail Steam-ship Company's steamer Panama arrived here on the Ist March, with :100 passengers and 800,000 dollars in gold dust front San Francisco. The Pacific Mail Steam-ship Companv's steamer California arrived from San Francisco-led inst.,with mails for United States, 400 passengers, and 2,169,457 dols. 59c. in gold dust. The Pacific Steam Navigation Company's steamer Lima arrived on sth inst. from Valparaiso, &c., with her Majesty's mails for Europe, &e.,20 pas sengers, and 194,72 J, dols.l)3c. is specie and bullion for England. Senor G. Paz. Soldau, the promised minister ft om Lima to Bogota, has not yet come; neither has Senor Tabara, whom the former is to supersede, arrived from Bogota. Affairs are still in an unsoiled state between the republics of New Granada, Ecuador, and Peru. A great number of foreigners, who arrived on tho Isthmus during the last three months, have been carried off by the yellow fever, amongst them I may mention Mr. Floresi, an Italian traveller; Captain J. D. Wilson, commander of Sierra Nevada (U. S. steamer); Captain A. 0. Tellagen, of the Dutch ship Anna, and his mate, Mr. Lewis Ellis; and Mr. Richard Bottrell, of England. lam happy to be able to say that this fearful scourge has disappeared, I hope altogether, not a single ease having been known for ten or fifteen days. The remittances by present steamer are—from California, 426,462 dols. 94c. ; front South 1101,725 duls.; and from resident merchants here, 33,681 dohs. 40e. ; in all GG2,070 dols. 27c. The house of Messrs. Page, Bacon, and Co., of San Francisco, shipped alone, per California, 1,000,00 dols. in gold dust. SPANISH MAIN. There is nothing of political importance on the Main. On the 12th March General Santa Anna and family embarked on board the Royal Mail Packet Trent for Mexico. Ho is accompanied by a deputation, consisting, of Don Salvador Batres and Doctor Hegewisch, who were sent to invite the general to take command of the Mexican army, and to establish, if possible, tranquillity throughout the country ; and as this offer has been accepted, the happiest results are hoped for from the well known energy and a»tur petrire of Santa Anna. Should discretional power emanate from the go vernment, he is of opinion that the aforesaid ob jects are easily attainable ; there is, however, the more than slight drawback of want ot• finance; and creditors to the Mexican Government will in all probability have to wait some time before much disbursement can be made. CUBA. The importation of slaves was still in crieration along this extensive line of coast (except Havanna). The Vestal and Buzzard were actively employed for the suppression of the trade ; but, on so wide a field, they can do comparatively nothing. When the Dec communicated with the Buzzard off Matanzas on the 14th March she was hove to, waiting to intercept the Lady Suffolk, fitting out at Havanna for the coast of Africa. EXECUTION OF GEORGE Sr.tnKEs.—Friday being the day fixed for the execution of the murderer Sparkes, a vast multitude of people were attracted to Exeter to see the awful spectacle. The scaffold was en cted on the roof of the great prison gate, bctw"en the houses of the chap lain and the governor. Exactly at 13 minute& past 12 o'clock the wretched man was brought out and placed under the fatal beam by the hangman. llis face was ruddy, and his gait appeared to be firm. Ile had time to take one glance at the crowd before and beneath him, when the hangman drew the usual white cotton cap over his eyes and face, and proceeded to bind the fatal cord around his neck. Ills arms were pinioned, and he held his baads , tog,ther in the attitude of prayer. After an interval of ' four minutes, a suppressed gasp from the multitude, and a buzz of momentary astonishment, told that t he bolt had been slrawn, and that the law had satisfied itself on the culprit. • EMIGRATION TO VAN DIEMEN'S LAND.—.—C s hip Coromandel left Southampton on Saturday, with nearly 300 emigrants, for Van Diemen's Land ; she alio took out a ship mail, which contained nearly 7,000 new6paperk - • _ - - FOUR CHILDREN POISoNED. --NoTTINGRAY , TIII:itSDAT.-11cr.terday, a singular and fatal accident occurred at a house in Barker gate, in this town. It ap pears that last night, two children, named Elizabeh Shaw and Jane Shaw, of Monnt-street, were visiting with two other children named Leinder Warner and Elisabeth Warner, and during the absence of the senior inmates of the dwelling, the girls contrived to poesese them selves of a pot containing arsenic and honey, w:deh had been obtained by the family for the purpose of destroying mice. As soots as it became known what the girls bid ' been eating they were taken to the General hospital, and every means used to save their lives ; one of them how ever died from the effects of the poison ; tho oilers are pro gressing gr favourably. THE LATE DUKE OF WELLINGTON.—OR I. decease of the late Duke of Wellington, there rems:ned in the possession of his family three Ribands of the order of the Garter. The latest worn by the lamented hero has re' cently been presented to, and graciously accepted by. her Majesty. A second, of very old and historical interest, is retained in the family ; and the third Ins just been sent by the present Duke of Wellington to the Marquis of London' derry, upon whom, it will be remembered, the Garter of the great duke was conferred by the Queen.