The Express. — London, England, 1847-09-11 00:00:00

the continuation of restrictions imposed in the spirit 1 of our navigation laws, after repeated breaches in these laws had shown that parliament was not afraid to acknowledge that once famed bulwark of our naval supremacy untenable. The treaty gave power to German vessels to trade with us from certain ports. By this stipulation other ports were excluded from the permission. The restriction was one-sided, for no restricted stipulation was inserted or presumed on the side of the parties contracting with us. Our ves eels might load for Baltic ports, under that treaty, from any part of the world, and with the produce of any country. To restrict the Prussian flag to German and Dutch porta, for the import trade to this country, would some years back have appeared a meritorious exertion of our influence. The British pediment is, we trust, about to declare that it looks upon all re strictions of the kind as militating against the pros perity of the country. Early in the course of the inquiry respecting the operation of the navigation laws the Daily News pointed out the absurdity of supposing that foreign countries were prevented by these laws from increas ing the number of their vessels. From the port lists of continental harbours it was then shown that one third of the commercial navy of the continent was continually going about empty. As a necessary consequence, there mast have been one-third more ships afloat than, under ordinary circumstances, would be requisite to carry on the trade of Europe. No other conclusion can be drawn from the fact that about one-third of all the vessels belongin g to the continent which visit the ports of the Baltac,the Ger man Ocean, and the Mediterranean, leave the ports at which they have unloaded in ballast. We regret to be obliged to acknowledge the well founded com plaints that foreign countries have recently raised against us, as pretended advocates of free commercial intercourse. Ihe protected list of goods in our tariff is still a long one. Silk wares, copper, and other articles, pay higher duties in England than those levied in the Zollverein states. Arms of all kinds are altogether prohibited. The arbitrary decrees and in terpretations of the Board of Customs have thrown an uncertainty over whole branches of trade that is highly disadvantageous to the commission business of our merchants. The operation of an act of parliament can be delayed, and even counteracted, under pre tence of doubt, by, a resolution of this board. Now free trade is either a benefit or it is not. It has indeed often been advocated on grounds that have not borne examination,' but it by no means follows that it cannot be defended on grounds that defy dis rite. Since the principle has been recognised by the parliament of these realms as the foundation of our commercial policy, there is something doubly invi dious in enforcing any restriction against a neighbour ing country, and especially against one which is so largely a consumer of our manufactures as the Zell- , verem. We have reason to complain of the tariff of duties levied by that league, but their navigation laws have hitherto given no ground for complaint. The simplest mode of renewing the treaty about to expire with the states of the Zollverein would be to adopt the basis of unrestricted access which they grant to heir ports as the rule for the admission of all German - ve noels to our harbours. On such terms Prussia nei the r will nor can refuse to meet us. It is not easy to why we should presume to dictate any other terms t a P i 11.511111. f3ui ' h a recognition of the right to claim parity of tne di n , privileges would come with a good grace from nt as the mer chants of Hamburg have published a snifter', survey of the trading relations of Germany, an d pro , 11 that the foreign trade which exists has b een pre , ?reed and organised by the Hansa towns — that is to my, by the portion of Germany which has never men -ed from the principle of free and unre stricted intei course. On this showing, which is but a counterpart to our own recent le illation, any de viation from t he strictest reciprocity is an absurd con tradiction on our part, which involves an insult towards the country to which we recommend restr i ct i ons t h e .t we have declared to be in jurious to our elves. As matters will stand on the expiration of the treaty, the Prussians re quire to change nothing in their existing code, according to which mir vessels are admitted into the Baltic ports whences ewer they come. We should be truly glad to see an or der in council relieve our Ger man customers from the temptation to impose restric tions on trade, purely because we have chosen to enact such, and to enferoe them on our unresisting neighbours. The approaching conference of the Zollverein states will give us frequent opportunities of recurring to the nature of our relations with those states. We shall avail ourselves of these opportu nities, less in the expectation of swaying the decision of the congress respecting the abandoned treaty, than to proclaim our undiminished confidence in the advan tages which free commercial intercourse promise to confer. We shall thus best record our protest against the insidious deductions drawn by protectionists of this or of other countries, from data furnished by a year of famine ; forgetful that if trade had been un shackled many years since, the famine of 1817 would not have been felt on our shores. That famine may not again be deplored by oar manufacturers, let ua hasten to enlist as many traders as we can in the ne cessarily increased intercourse which , importations of grain cannot fail to produce. It has been said that every pound sterling sent out of the country in payment for grain lays a stone on the wall of a foreign factory. We cannot descend to such a narrow-minded 1 covetousness. Far more cheering is the reflection that every shilling taken by fair trade from the price of a quarter of wheat gladdens the hearts of millions in our factories at home, without the slightest dimi nution of the incomes of landlords, whom as con sumers it would be bad policy to impoverish. lately been brought on the stage iu an imposing manner is, in fact, a mere imposition ; that there rs new ao longer any scope for such a plan to be carried out by state authority— the main outlines of the system being already fixed beyond recall : and that, were there still time for tracing it now, the state, as has been amply proved by past experiments and recent instances, has neither the will, nor would be entrusted by parliament with the power, to undertake it. In such circumstances, two conclusions might be drawn ri priori respecting any new plan of an exten sive interference on the part of the state, viz., that it could only have a restrictive effect; and that its restrictions, if severe or considerable, could not fail to be regarded as oppressive. The bill proposed by Mr. Sraerr, at all events was mainly of a negative, and minatory, if not penal, character. It proposed nothing whatever towards the accomplishment of a " national system," in any sense in which such a system could be nationally or rationally desirable. Its whole efficiency would have expended itself, firstly, in rendering the prosecution of new railways more difficult, tedious, and expensive, without ensuring, in return for those obstacles, any tangible advantage, either to the promoters or to the country, unless indeed the mere obstruction of future progress in this way should be allowed to count as any advantage to the one or the other. It would, secondly, have made the working of the railways already established a task less profitable and more harrowin g than it has hitherto been—without at the same time giving an efficient substitute for the management they now have, or relieving it from the responsibility which, under a vexatious system of official control, it would be both painful to endure and unreasonable to exact. Nor was this to be effected by any fixed code of regu lations ; the service to be done and the rules to be ob. served were left open to arbitrary discretion ; indefi nite powers were to be exercised by the supreme board on the reports of a host of subordinate offioma who were to be quartered upon the companies and paid out of their funds. Besides introducing this new principle, of which it is hard to say whether the inefficacy for good, or the efficiency for evil, the cost or the annoyance to the suffering party would have been the greater; it further claimed powers to revise and reduce charges to any point below the low scale already fixed by the legislature,—powers which were justly apprehended as striking at the root of those mercantile objects to which the nation is indebted for its railways, and which, as secured by previous compacts—to say nothing of their benefit to the nation—it would be a mere injustice to frustrate. Such was, generally, the tendency of the measure brought forward by Mr. Sreurr, and opposed by the railway interest last session. The remonstrant.' objections, especially to the clauses regarding the control of extant lines, were somewhat to the follow ing effect, and we cannot see in what respect they deserve the odious character ascribed to them. " What you propose," they said, to Mr. Srrterr, " is to take from us everything you eau, while you give us no compensation for what we shall loge. We are to be treated as if we had abused the trust confided to us, or deprived the state of its pro perty, instead of having done good service to the country by voluntary exertions. The enterprises we have undertaken and managed to the great profit of the whole kingdom, you will neither take off our hands, nor leave us adequate power to govern, nor allow us even the hope of securely reaping the profits of. This we have not deserved: we have neither so robbed the state as to entitle it to rob us by way of reprisal, nor have we shown ourselves so inca pable of properly conducting the system we have founded as to justify you in letting loose upon us a swarm of official inspectors, informers, and inquisitors, who neither know its duties, nor are responsible for ignorance of them,—but whom we are asked, not only to pay, but also to re spect, under penalties for every act of inattention or disobedience. While the express clauses of the bill already hang over our heads, at every step we are required to take, a multitude of fines, from which it will be next to impossible to escape, there will be new troubles, from the indefinite nature of the control which it is a main object of the bill to establish. This arbitrary character of the measure, indeed, is to us the most objectionable of all its features. We will readily obey whatever positive law the imperial legis lature may choose to enact, if any be still necessary in addition to those now extant, by which our liabilities and duties are strictly enforced already. But we do strongly object to be made liable to occa sional laws issued pro Mc rice by a board of gentle men sitting in George-street, most of whom, we fear, may be quite ignorant of railway matters; and who, at all events, are just as apt to be misled, to be biassed by partial leanings, warped by caprices, or guided by questionable reports, as nay men standing aloof from the business can possibly be. The subjection to some thing beyond the law, new to English practice, un called for by any fault proved to have been committed by us, we thiuk unjust ; and on this, as well as on the other grounds enumerated, we resist the bill. We have further to protest against its introduction, as a breach of the faith distinctly pledged to us by the government in 1844, when the President of the Board of Trade thereby induced us to consent to his regulating act of that year. Mr. LAING, who was secretary at that time, has publicly borne witness to the promise given, that no further concessions should be demanded by the state, to the detriment of the railway proprietors' interests, or the increase of their burdens, provided they would not oppose Mr. GLAD bTONE'S bill, which it was notorious—as Mr. Luse also admits—that oar interest could then have thrown out. The measure now proposed directly violates that promise : to pass it would be not only to inflict un reasonable seventies, but to commit a positive wrong : on this account, also, we are justified in opposing it." We think, as has been already said, that these are just grounds of resistance : and also that on consider ing the practical drift of the measure, its details will be found liable to the objections founded upon them. If so it would clearly appear that it was a mistake to have brought it forward once : and that it would be a greater mistake still to attempt it a second time. WHEN Mr. STRUTT'S bill for there lation of railways was withdrawn in Jane last , we briefly, but plainly, stated our opinion of a measure, the revival of ' which appeared to be neither expedient nor probable. Under all the circumstances of the case, seeing that its necessity had not been proved, and that, even if further control were needed, the manner of it, as pro- posed in that bill, had been shown to be highly ques tionable, it was generally thought unlikely that any attempt would be made to repeat, in a future session, what might be regarded as one of the errors of the last. Still less could it be ex pected that the representations of those whom it concerned, and would have visited with more severity, perhaps, than the framer of the measure intended, would have been made the subject of harsh and inconsiderate charges. We dismissed the matter at the time in aa few words as possible, and had no reason to foresee that it would be requisite to discuss it again. It seems, however, that there are advocates of coercive measures, professing to speak on behalf of the public, who find fault with the dropping of the bill last session ; who demand its reproduction next year ; and who, sin the meantime, are doing all in their power to excite odium against the body it was meant to affect for having tried to avert the danger threatened, and for rejoicing on the escape from it. This, we think, is by no means justified by the facts of the case. The best answer to misrepresentations on this subject will be found on a survey of the general tendencies of this measure—what it was cal culated to have done, and what it could not do, nor even made any pretence of doing. It will then be seen whether the impressions which certain parties have studied to create, as to the nature of the coercion proposed, and of the character of the resistance, if met with, are fair or otherwise. Our view on thin subject, we hope, will have been rendered somewhat clearer already by what has been said in former articles, concerning the relations of the state to the railway system, and the manner in which these relations have arisen. It has already been seen that the companies cannot justly be called un authorised invaders of the province of the former ; that they have made the railways because the state has not chosen that they should be made in any other manner ; that the total result of their private enterprise has been absolutely , and without qualification, to the advantage of the public; that the " monopoly" of the national commu nication, which has fallen into the companies' hands, has been obtained, not by any exclusive privilege, but by the efficacy of superior usefulness and convenience; that the gain to the promoters has been fairly earned, not by robbing, but by infinitely enriching, their neighbours: that nothing has been found in their management which would give the leant reason to conclude that in other hands it would be better con ducted ; and that, under these circumstances, there is no ground for demanding from them to sacrifice the •••• 3)enefits to be derived from their property merely be • canoe the nation, foe which so much has already been done, at two* to itself whatever, may feel that it wouldbe very agreeable to have still more. Finally, we have seen that the " national system," which has • In print (the pamphlet was published in June, 1847), not in pri vate, an we were made to say, by an error of the pram, on a former mamba. WE are overwhelmed with bills of County Court costs, and requests to explain how they are made up. We beg respectfully to decline the task. The arithmetic of law officers is like that of waiters. Un less you can catch them in the act of calculation, all hope of reconciling items with sums total, must be abandoned. At the same time we acknowledge that we cannot, on consideration of the schedule of fees, at all make out how the coot of a summons for a debt of 61. 17s. can amount to 1 le. Bd., and the costs of hear ing to 14s. 10d. ; unless, indeed, our unhappy corre spondent has met with a case involving every impro bable contingency contemplated on this list, a model debt, in fact, such as the framers of the bill may have bad in their eye while composing their fee table. These complaints, however, we are bound to notice as symptomatic. Suitors exclaim that the fees are too high. Clerks and high bailiffs declare they are too low. The truth is, the system of fees is a vicious one altogether. The suitor measures the scale by his necessities, and the amount of his debt; the official by his professional standing, and the scale of fees he is accustomed to. What is a high fee to a poor working man, is a very petty cheese-paring and candle-end sort of a sum to a thriving attorney, who has tacked a high bailiwick on to his practice, because it only involves the salary of an extra runner or two. We prophesied when the county courts began to work, that the effect of the payment by fees would soon appear. Already the canker is making itself felt. Arithmetic is baffled even now. COCKER is rejected as an authority in the small debts sanctuary. It is no use to point to a fee table, and beg for the items. There is too much business on band to answer impertinent inquiries An over-rigid scrutiny may subject the suitor to the charge of obstructing an officer of the court in his duty, and a committal by the judge for contempt. this step once gained, and the old giant, Costs, is himself again. We flattered ourselves we had fettered him with a schedule, and locked up his club under a Vof clauses in an act of parliament. He is up oted already, a little daunted, perhaps, by even an apparent discomfiture, but whetting on the small game of twenty shilling debts the appetite which he trusts soon to satisfy on twenty pound ones. There is one lesson to be gathered from the history of all courts. Fees have a tendency to multiply them selves, to breed delays, and to burden justice with chicanery and superfluous form. How these have worked in the superior courts will probably be revealed next session, when Mr. WATCORs committee makes its report. What THE EXPRESS, SATURDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 11, 1847. they have dons in higher courts they will do on a ' smaller scale in lower courts. The county court will be a little Westminster, with a similar superabundance of officials and multiplication of needled's formalities, if the system of payment by fees be allowed to con tinue beyond the time required to ascertain the pro bable amount of labour, and arrive at a fair apportionment of salaries. Nor is it only the expense to the suitor that makes payment by salaries better than payment by fees, but the comfort and character of the county-court officials will best be consulted by the change. Respectable men are ti l l:eyed in time higgling for twopences. Their is t for other purposes than explaining to obtuse sus how the charge made for summons or hearing squares to a penny with the scale hung up in the office. All the delay and heart-burning, and squabbling, and disap- pointment which such collisions inevitably produce, would be avoided by paying the officers a fair remu neration for their trouble, and referring the suitor at once to the pay-clerk of the court. Certainly the schedule of fees, as it appears in the act, cannot be complained of. If payment by salaries were adopted, the suitor would have no ground for charging the officers with swelling the fees for their own illegal profit. And if a bill were furnished each suitor, in whieh each item referred to the corresponding item in the schedule hang up in the office, by a number or letter, he would be able to verify his bill of coats on the spot, and all just pretext for complaint would be removed. What we say applies only to cases in which no attorney is employed. Where the suitor risks the luxury of such an :appendage, of course he must be left to the tender mercies of his legal adviser. If he finds his coats excessive, in such a case his complaint, at all events, must in fairness be shifted from the county court, when the temptation to multiply fees which the present system supplies is done away with by the substitution of fixed salaries, alike for judge, clerk, and high bailiff. An outline of the following appeared in pert of our last evening's impression : Our Paris letters of Thursday, with the journals, have arrived. The government officials in Paris are in a curious state of discord, and it appears as though by com mon consent it is insisted on that this violation of the canons of ministerial harmony shall be proclaimed to the world by all the tongues of the press. By the French laws the police authorities have, in certain cases, the power to compel the journals to publish such articles as they shall prescribe. An article ap . - peared in the government official journal, the Mont tear, of the 4th inst., and in the Debate of the sth, directed against M. Delangle, the Procureur Gent , - ral, the highest law officer of the crown, correspond ing in position and consideration to the attorney general in this country. Not only was this done, but on Tuesday last the prefect of police sent an order to several of the Paris journals to copy this article from the 3foniteur, which was of course complied with. Meanwhile, the Procurcur-General publishes, in the same official journals of the government, his defence against the attack made on him by the government itself, whose officer he is, and whose confidence he mast necessarily possess. Abd-el-Kader, who had so long proved a trouble some enemy to the French colony in Africa, has for some time turned his hostility against the empire of Morocco. The Journal des Djbats gave on Tuesday the important intelligence that the French govern ' ment had received advices from Algiers, that the forces of the Emir had taken the city of Tara, in Morocco, and were marching on Fez, the capital. Taza is a city situate about half-way between the frontier of the French colony of Algeria and Fez. It has a population of from six to eight thousand. It is placed at the southern extremity of one of the last links of the Rif, in a strong position, and surrounded by an ancient wall, half Moorish and half Portuguese, flanked by square towers. M. Onizot arrived in Paris on Thursday evening. The Duke de Broglie was expected to leave Paris for London on Sunday. Another great reform demonstration has taken place at Strasbourg. A banquet, attended by 700 per sons, was given in the Halles-aux-bles, under the pre sidency of M. Liechtenberger, batonier of the avocets and member of the municipal council. The toasts given were, "The National Sovereignty," "The future of France," " Electoral and parhamentary re form," " The French revolutions of 1789 and 1830," ts - .c. The Marseillaiso was occasionally performed during the evening. No mention was made of the king's health on this occasion. The Madrid mails, with the journals and correspond ence of the 4th inst., have arrived. The news of the recall of Espartero, which we have already given, is confirmed. The royal decree, restoring to him his rank and honours, and nominating him Senator, ap peared in the Gazette on the 4th. It will be seen, by reference to the letter of our corre spondent, that it is expected he will be placed at the head of the cabinet. Indeed, it is scarcely pos sible for him to be in Spain without being officially I employed, and it is not likely he would be offered any 1 subordinate position. The Duke de Frias and M. Sotomayor have left Bayonne for Madrid. The Paris National says that all the means necessary foe a coup de-mars with the garrison "have been sent to Narvaez from Paris. The party of reaction, says that journal, sees that it has nothing now to look to except violence, and to that it will resort on the first practicable occasion. If this design fail, and a con stituent Cortes be called, as we have already an nounced to be probable, the question of the sue cession will be taken up with the view of a de claration against the succession of the Duchess of Montpenaier, on the ground of her having married a foreign prince, such a measure being in conformity with the ancient laws of the kingdom. All these plans (says the National) are known at Paris, and Christina drives u far as she can irritation into o vengeance. eudi She ess d eo . considers t u he ie d r ec u lara a ti c o a n u. of t o le w f ar orfeitiz Chef de Famille, who in the face of Europe has entered into engagements so solemn, cannot sustain this outrage upon his race without drawing the sword. In less than • year, a marriage will have been broken, the Infanta sacrificed, and all the magnificent hope' that gilded the horizon of the dynastic policy, entirely dissipated ! This is • degree of insolence too audacious to be endared, with out a general conflagration. In the eyes of Queen Chris tina, it would be a base and cowardly abdication. While the mother is thus exerting all her energies, the daughter is abandoning herself to all the joys of emancipation. That futurity which Christina views as being charged with storms, Isabella embellishes with the sweetest dreams. The walls of her palace resound with songs of joy and with festive glad nness.;,, thfe those light fi pr o is m h en etiquette diel :l n lj n itlM princess in the pas of easy amours—and that solemn soli tude into which the old monarchy was wont to envelop itself 1 is converted into a brilliant boudoir, in which Isabella listens, tae a tae, to the councils of her seventeen years. Nothing can exceed the delirium of enthusiasm produced among the liberal party in Madrid, on the 4th, by the announcement of the Gazette of that day of the recall of Espartoro. The journals which had been published before its appearance, all published supplements reproducing the announcement The Eco del Comercw, a liberal journal, heads the decree with exclamations, in large capitals : " Long live the constitutional Queen ! Long live the angelic Isabella! Long live the generous genius who will cause fn her kingdom the happiness of Spaniards!" When the decree of universal and unqualified amnesty was pre sented for signature to the Queen, she exclaimed, " Thank God ! they have comprehended my heart ! It is the happiest act of my life." M. Ventura de la Vega, the Queen's private secretary, was named as likely to succeed Narvaez in the Paris embassy. The most ardent friends of progress must feel sags hell with the doings of the Italian people. In truth the work goes bravely on. Not a post crosses the Alps which does not bnng a fresh bulletin of the advancement of the great cause of Italian regenera tion. One state after another, Rome, Sardinia, Tus cany, Naples, have sent for th their voices in this cause. The princes have friternised with the people on this grand question. We have now to add Lucca to the roll. Intelligence has arrived that the sovereign prince of that duchy, after long and fruitless resistance, yielding to the imperious law of progress, has granted the liberty of the press, the national guard, and the liberation of the state prisoners! Political, like national evils, have in them the seeds of unlooked-for good, and their agents are the instruments of results as con trary. to their wishes as to their designs. The iniquity of Ferrara will, under Providence, produce the emancipation of Italy. It appears by the advices just received that serious disturbances broke out in the principality of Lucca on the 31st alt., in consequence of some retrograde and arbitrary measures of the authorities, which had caused the arrest of a considerable number of per sons signalised for their liberal opinions. The people assembled in considerable numbers, and with loud cries demanded the liberation of the prisoners. The troops were called out. This only augmented the excitement, and swelled the numbers of the populace, , who ran through the streets , crying " Vica Pie none" and demanding the constitution of the rational guard, and the immediate liberation of the prisoners. At the guard-house of the palace the soldiers were called out, and a threat was made to fire on the crowd. The mass of the people thereupon retired, but five young men remained impassible before the bayonets of the guard. " Fire ! ! said said they to the soldiers, "if yon have the courage to do so ! 'We are here, not to insult our sovereign, but to ask the libe ration of our fellows." The officer on duty, struck with admiration, ordered the soldiers to withdraw, and merely advised the youths to address themselves to the authorities. - - - The Doke of Lucca was at this time absent. The Council of State assembled, and sent a deputation to hiui to inform him of the popular movement. Meanwhile the populace waited on the Piazza, without dispersing, but showing the utmost tran quillity, it having been intimated that the (=well was then in deliberation. The carriages which took the deputation to the country villa where the duke was staying, were escorted by a vast number of the people, by whom they were compelled to proceed at a foot's-pace. The answer of the prince was to the effect that he would follow the example of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, that he would grant the liberty of the press, the national guard, and the liberation of the prisoners. The cortege then, simi larly escorted, returned to Lucca, the people intoxi cated with joy and waving poplar branches. The whole people assembled on the Piazza Grande chaunted a Te Deum to celebrate the new era of liberty which had commenced. The Corriere Liror nese, which in a supplement supplies these particulars, says that nothing could exceed the enthusiasm pro duced on the arrival of the news in Pisa and Leghorn. It is added that the grand duke published imme diately a proprio motu, in which he renewed formally his verbal promises, and exhorted the people to rely on the word of their sovereign. Advices from the Calabrias represent the state of the province as more and more alarming. Letters quoted by the Semaphore of Marseilles represent the insurgent forces as greatly increased. It is not only in the ranks of the people that they are recruited. The highest classes of society have also joined them. This army already amounts to 2,700, of which 700 are cavalry. They have an artillery of 17 guns, which are borne on mules, the character of the coun try net admitting of other transport. Advices from Rome say that a circular has been sent by the government to the commanders of all the garrisons, containing detailed instructions as to the measures they are to take in the event of a foreign invasion. They are ordered to repulse any troops which may enter the Roman territory, if their numbers and force be not so superior as to render that impracticable; that if they are compelled to retreat before a superior force, they are then to yield the ground foot by foot, and only under an irresistible pressure; and that in doing so they are to bring under their guard the friends of the government, the civil volun teers, the bishops, and the archives of the state. That if in such cases sufficient reinforcements shall arrive, they are then to take the offensive. The journals of the German states continue to sup ply odvices from Rome, which, although they are not more recent than those received directly, are im portant, inasmuch as they present the Austrian ver sion of events. The Augsburg Gazette, under the date of Rome, the 28th ult., says that the pontifical government had received an answer from the cabinet of Vienna to the protest of Cardinal Ciaechi. In this answer the cabinet of Vienna is said to assert its right of garrison under the treaty of 1815, but to ex press nevertheless regret that the measure was taken. This appears not quite consistent with the article we quoted some days since from the Austrian . 08- serrer, yet it is strange that the discrepancy is not noticed by the Augsburg Gazette, which also re-pub lished the same semi-official article from the Vienna journal. The German Journal de Frankfort gives, under the date of Rome, the 27th ult., that the Pope had not I only demanded the evacuation of the city of Ferrara, but also of the fortresses of Ferrara and Comachio, and has appealed to the protest of Cardinal Gonsalvi and the ancient rights of the holy see. The Weser Gazette, quoted by the Journal de Frank fort, gives the following curious communication under the date of the frontier of Italy, 28th Aug. : er Majesty the Duchess of Parma, now at Schott brunn, wishes to abdicate, and to pass the remainder of her life with the imperial family. On the other hand, the Duke of Lucca waits to give up hie little duchy, and will receive in compensation the duchies of Puma, Pia centia, and Guastalla. This arrangement would put an end to the pecuniary embarrassments of the house of Lucca, and would, considering the state of agitation now existing in the duchies of Parma and Lucca, relieve the sovereigns of these two duchies from a very heavy load. MADRID, Sim% 4. The ministerial Orchestra, of whom Salamanca is the real InHien, not caring to wait for their fictitious leader, and unable any longer to keep in their itching fiddle-bows, have all at once struck up a tremendous overture, Salamanca in his white gloves waving majestically the paper truncheon, symbol of his com mand, tool of his function. The drums beat, the goagsclash, and at least attention is roused, although the epicurean dilettante may sit sceptically curling his I lip, in the conviction that no finer tones await hisearin the after music. But no one can deny that the crash is meritorious : and if the ministry were to be broken up to-morrow it wouldatleastleave to the museum of his tory a fine rude torso. A n ample and complete amnesty —only think of that ! Even Cabrera may come back. When he lands I doubt if, in the face of this noble decree of Isabel, he will have the heart to give a shout for "El Itey y la Religion." No : all to whom this generous pardon has been presented, all who will have, by its conditions, taken the oaths of loyalty to the trustful, the young, and fearless heiress of the throne of Castile, will and must, like true Spanish caballeros, respect that oath. Let Cabrera come. But a greater far than he is coming. D. Baldomeso Espartero, Use conqueror at Luchana, the pacificator at Bergara, is, by decree in this day's Gazette, created senator. Is the same decree all his titles, his mili tary rank—Duque de la Victoria y de 7ilorella, capitan-genersl (oar field marshal of the army) are acknowledged. Already this illustrious man, having expunged the first syllable of the " Ingrate patria," which he had assumed for the device of his suspended shield, stands ready to plant his foot on the threshold of his native land, the country from whose humblest ranks he mung, and whose grandest nobles he outtopped. Nor will Espartero return to Madrid to assume a pri vate and obscure fortune. The meaning of his recall from exile is to place his services at the disposal of Spain, and that in the highest official rank which he can hold. No doubt, for Espartero is re served this empty chair in the ministerial coun cil, this presidency which they say has been offered to Ayllon and the Duke of Frias. The good and brave man will not shrink at such a moment from the duty of a true caballero. He will respond to the call of his young Queen, and advance his veteran shield before the throne. The ugly rout of the Afranoesado conspirators at the first shout which welcomes back the Pater Patrice will shrink into their holes, While the loud cock with echoing din, Scatters the rear of darkness thin. I fear this big vein with which the coffee-house enthusiasm of Madrid and the lyrical articles of the nnfactious portion of the Spanish press have infested me will not be in mach keeping with the sober irony of your articles de fonds. Bat one is lifted off one's legs in the present whirl-windy state of the political at mosphere, despite of one's honest attempts to foot it in the plainest prose ; and the [Faseous expansion which has siezed upon all loyal minds buoys up the most homely pen into dithyrambic paragraphs. Another decree of great importance appears in the Gazette, which I here give you : 1. The printing and publication of every writing in which the private life of the Queen or King, or the marriage of their majesties, is handled is hereby prohibited.-2. The newspaper which infringes the preceding article shall be suppressed, forfeiting the deposit necessary for its publica tion. It a pamphlet breaks the said rule, it shall be seized, and the editor or printer shall Moir a fine of 60,000 reale. Two other decrees name Concha captain-general of Catalonia, and General Blaser director-general of infantry. FRANCE.—'I`IIE " INFERNAL MACHINE" NOll ousel IN PARM.—The Rue St. Rewire was again annoyed some nights since, not by an emits*, but by two infernal machines, which went off pretty nearly at the same instant, one at the entrance of the Rue du Roule, the other near the Rue do Coq. Fortunately no one was injured. The broken pieces of these machines have been picked up and examined, and present a combination very different from those already ' let off, and which we have before described. These, the detonation of whisk %Mier to that of • blunderbuss , are composed of a kind otioillf leaden shell, or rather of a essioe of hemispheric form, hollow, and of the size of a large wal nut. In the flat part is a bole in which to fix the match, the top of the shell is covered with a cowl of zinc, fastened with a piece of wire, and perforated with holes, so as to afford a free passage of air, and to p the match from being extinguished. At the extremity of this covering is a hook, to which is fastened a piece of twine, by means of which the person whom busineas it is to place these dange rope things on the public road, can let them down without appearing to move. At a quarter before nine one of these was let otf in the Palais Royal, under the peristyle of the Galeria de Valois. No other inconvenience ensued than a moment of alarm for the persons passing through it. A fourth infernal machine, similar to those we have just de scribed, was also placed on the Boulevart Poimannfere, near the Restaurant Vachette. On going off, it threw about seve ral small bits of paper.—Dedars. CURIOUS RESURRECTION. A person, named Piffady, died lately at St. Martin-do-Mont (Ain), aged 91, whose early life was marked by a curious circumstance. When about 30 years of age, and in the army, he was taken ill at Lille, and to all appearance expired in the hospital of that town. lie was taken to the burial j/ronad in the usual way, and was on the point of being consigned to the grave, when the volley fired by his comrades over his coffin roused him all at once from his lethargy, and caused him to strike against the wood loud enough to attract notice. The lid was raised at once, and Piffady stood forth on the burial ground, before the eyes of his astonished comrades. What was also curious is that be found himself cured of his illness, by the sudden shock his system had received. WARNING TO SPORTSMEN.—The carelessness with which fire-arms are sometimes bandied is certainly unaccountable; inexperienced sportsmen would appear to think that all precaution is unnecessary. A young advo cate of the Lyons bar, a few days back, presented himself ready equipped, for shooting, at one of the diligence offices, and took his place for a property near Roanne, which was to be the scene of his amusement. He got up into the imperiale, leaving his gun below, and then stretched out his left hand to take it from the conductor. The man, never supposing that it could have been left loaded, took hold of it by the lock, when the piece went off, lodging the whole charge in the young man's arm. The wound is a very severe one, and it is doubtful whether the um can be saved. MURDER OP MADAME DALES.—At the Court of Assizes of tne Seine, on Wednesday last, the persons im plicated in the murder of Madame Dalke, whose case excited so much attention in Paris in December last, were brought to trial. One of the accused having hung himself in prison, the number was reduced to six. Their victim was 70 years of age and had an income of between four and five thousand francs, but did not spend more than 2,000 L, thus laying by • considerable sum annually. The woman Belannoy, who had been in her service for nine years knew that her mistress had money in reserve, and also that as a recompense for the zeal and devotion she affected in her ser vice, her mistress had in her will bequeathed her a sum of 10,000 francs. For fear the influence she had acquired over her mistress should be diminished, Delannoy gradually sepa rated her from her few friends, which separation greatly affected Mme. Dalke, who had often been heard to complain of the treatment she received at the hands of Delannoy, whose influence, nevertheless, she was unable to cast off. On the 21st of Dec. the deceased was found dead in her bed, all the money which it was known she had by her having disap peared. Suspicion was attached to Delannoy, and it was shown by a woman named Dubois, one of the accused, that Delannoy had told her, on the day following the murder, that she had suffocated her mistress. The statements and evidence implicated the other accused partite chiefly as re ceivers of the money stolen. After a lengthened inquiry the trial was adjourned till the next day (Thursday). ITALY. SCIENTIFIC CONGRESS AT VENICE.— The annual congress of naturalists is &beat to meet at Venice. Count Gioranelli, .President of the Venetian Society of Naturalists, has, it is said, disbursed 1,000,000 f. in making the necessary preparations in his palace for the sit tings. A great number of savant from different parts of Earope, and upwards of 10,000 foreigners, have already arrived at Venice. BELGIUM.—THE TRIPLE MURDER.—The woman arrested at Brussels for the murder of Mlle. Evenpoel and her two servant girls, has been set at liberty, it having been shown that she had been merely endeavouring to turn the event to account, by going from house to house, and representing herself as the mother of one of the girls. As yet everything relative to this crime is involved in mystery. RAILWAY MA NAG EMENT.—A travelling friend writes from Brussels; —" Trains take their time in this country. Conductors, not content with the regular stations every fine or ten minutes, make a few supplementary ones of their own, at some hedge ' public,' where good beer or gin, I suppose, is to be had." GERMANY.—PRUSSIA.—BERLIN, SEPT. 7. — Innumerable rumours about ministerial changes are in circu lation. Almest all of them, however, have their origin in the approaching gazetting of M. von Eltidelschwing, as chancel lor, and imply belief in petty personal jealousies among his colleagues at the promotion. Whether there be any founda tion for these reports must anon appear. One story will have it that Muses. Thile and Bother have given in their resignations. Another announces the appointment of M. von Schaper, director-genera; of the post-office, to be bead of a centralised department having control over the posts, com merce, manufactures, public works, and railways. A writer in the ETherfeldt Gazette affirms that the ministry of finance had been offered to. M. Hanemann, but declined. TRIAL OF THE POLES, SEPT. 4.—This day the connect for the crown, all the witnesses having been ex amined, summed up in the case of Dr. Liebelt and his asso ciate', Mielzynaki and Lacki. He admitted that there was no case against Ostrowski. The - counsel for the prisoners having been heard in reply, the court adjourned. BADEN.—A Heidelberg student of the name of Blind, and a lady belonging to Mannheim, named Cohen, have been arrested. They were on a visit to the baths at Durekheire, and were in the habit of driving out, and throwing from the carriage, as they passed along, copies of a pamphlet, said to be of an incendiary character, entitled, "The Hunger of the German People and the German Princes." - BAVARIA.—MuNtert, SEPT. 3.—The Discount and Mortgage Bank of Munich bas just made the French govern. ment the offer of lending the sum requisite for the completion of all the projected railways, at a very low rate, but with the condition of being authorised to augment the sum of the bills emitted by this hank. This proposal is to be the object of a project of law, which will be presented to the Chambers at the opening of the ensuing session of the Diet. The King has commissioned Schwanthaler, the sculptor, to cut a bust of Lather, and another of the late Archduke Charles of Austria, which are to be placed in the Walhalls.—Dehatr. DENMARK.— COPENIIAOEN,_ c SEPT. 4.—ABOLI TION OF SLesERY IN Th e DANISH OLONIES.—Two royal proclamations of the 28th of July have just been published, by which the decrees of the States of Denmark in 1346, for the emancipation of slaves in the Danish West India islands, are brought into force. Both proclamations are addressed to Major-Oen. Von ficholten, governor of the Danish West India islands. The first states—" That from motives of justice and humanity, as well as considerations of the welfare of the West Indio colonies, and the interest of the planters, the reculations (Raadighed) respecting the slaves, in the possession of which the proprietors of the slaves now are, shall cease : in such a manner, however, that the compkte emancipation shall not take place till after the lapse of Itwelce years, so that meanwhile the proper measures may be taken for making the necessary arrangements for the con solidation of the necessary changes. On the other hand, all children of slaves who shall be horn after date of the decree shall be free. The second proclamation commands the governor.general to constitute a commission which shall make proposals relative to the necessary administrative and legislative arrangements consequent upon the procliusiations. ' RUSSIA.—ST. PETERSBURG, AUO. 31.—Mr. Cob den has been here for the last two or three days. The cri minal code for Poland has already been received at Warsaw. It is divided into 12 parts, 68 chapters, and 1,221 paragraphs, to which is subjoined an appendix, containing the laws far those persons who are not liable to corporal pu nishment. It is expressly stated in the introductory law of this new code, that its fundamental principles are especially to make the law of Poland as nearly as possible conformable to that of the empire. AFFAIRS OF THE RIVER PLATE. Snt,—ln reserving, as you do, any expression of : your own opinion upon the statement relative to this subject which appeared in your journal of the Bth inst., you appear to me not merely to wish to act in consistency with your well earned character for impartiality and caution, and with • the line you have always taken on this question, but slue to invite these who dissent from the tendency of that statement ' to lay their views before you. Under this impression I ven ture to make a few remarks, which, I trust, will help your readers to form a more correct notion of the question than • that statement wilL The writer of this document, whilst admitting that Gen. Oribe had *greed to an armistice for six months, but that the party in Monte Video would not, goes on to say. that " of the particular motives which may have led Lord How den" (on this refusal being notified to him) "to remove the blockade of Buenos Ayres we cannot pretend even to con jecture." Extraordinary simplicity on the part of this, in other respects, not very simple gentleman! Why, air, it is well known that one of the main objects of Lord Howden's mission to the River Plate was to remove this blockade. It had been nearly two years in operation. It pressed with cruel severity upon the British interests and property concerned in the trade. Memorials (which you thought of sufficient importance to transfer to your columns) from London, Liverpool, Manchester, Glas gow, Derby, Nottingham, and other manufacturing towns, urged its removal. Lord Palmerston himself bad said it was high time it should be put sit end to. His predecessor. Lord Aberdeen, a year before had sent out Mr. Hood in a first-class steamer for that especial purpose. And yet, in the face of all these facts, the writer of the statement cannot " even conjecture" why Lord Howien should be anxious to remove it. As a reason for the blockade being maintained, the writer of the statement alleges that the terms of the armistice were inadmissible ; but he neither states in whet respect they were so, nor what was wanting to make them otherwise, nor, in. deed, what they were. Who would dream after this that they were simply—l, that there should be an atmistice for six months, each party retaining It.' respectire positions • and 2, that General Oribe should supply the town wit h 1,500 head of cattle per month to relieve it from its . present state of destitution 7 And who can divine wist it is iu these apparently very inoffensive propositions that could mak e them so obnoxious to the party which your correspondent advocates? Still, sir, there was a very good reason for their not being admitted, which I can explain ; but, to do so, I must crave permission to make use of a familiar illustration. Suppose that, in a country town where hitherto there have been two grocery or drapery establishments, one of them be shut up, the other will doubtless get all the business. Or suppose (which it is difficult to do) that the Times could have put you down, it would then have had its own readers and yours too. So, in like manner, so long as Monte Video can manage to keep Buenos Ayres blockaded, and shut out from trade with Europe and North America, will it monopoles the whole trade of the River Plate to itself, and continue to regard any terms as " inadmisaible " which lead to th e raising of the blockade. Lord Hoyden appears to have thought that as this blockade had lasted nearly two years, the Monte Videaus had enjoyed their monopoly of the trade long enough, and that it was time to raise it. Thereupon the writer of the state ment (not very patriotically if he is a British subject) con trasts his conduct with that of the French agent, from whom he says " as assurance has been obtained " (by whom)," that ho will continue the blockade," and" whoaeconduct " there fore " has the appearance, at least, of " greater consistency." M. Walewski no doubt knows the views of the muter he serves; but I must confess, air, that it rather goes against the grain with me to see an agent of King Louis Philippe ex alted in your columns for endeavouring to ruin British interests in the Plate, and a representative of Queen Victoria reviled for upholding them. Whether M. Walewski will fulfil the "assurance " which the writer of the statement, or his principals, had " obtained " from him, is not so certain, I think, as the writer affects to imagine; but the animist which prompted his remarks remains the same, whether his French friend prove true to him or false. Following le Conte-Amiral le Predour (French authori ties all !) the writer of the statement pretends to regard Lord Ifowden's negotiations with Gem ral Rosa as utterly fruit less ; whereas, in fact, everything was arranged, excepting one point, respecting which it was thought necessary to re fer to Europe for further instructions or explanations. With out saying, or, for aught that appears, even knowing, what the point of difference was, the writer lays all the blame of the delay upon General gnus. This free and easy way of disposing of matters so as best to suit his ease is a good cri terion of the amount of dependence that ought to be placed on his other statements. It would occupy too much of your valuable space to go thoroughly into this part of the subject; but thus much I will say, namely, that if H. Walewski had been as desirous of eettlir.g matters as Lord Hewden was, there is little doubt everything would have been settled. If you will refer, air, to your own leading article of the 16th of February last, in which you alluded to • similar defeat of Mr. Hood's mission by the then agent of France in the Plate (Baron I/ ffaudis), you will be reminded that, not only were you fully alive to the working of French intrigue in this matter, but that you even prognosticated with great exactuess the course it would take. Matters have come now to the pass you predicted, and we must trust that your influence will still be exerted, much as it may disap point the writer of the statement, to combat the evident views of Louis l'hilippe upon Monte Video for a French colony, or au addition to the appanage of the Princess de Joinville.—A MEacutarr. Cbt Court. ARDTERIKIE, SEPT. 7.—Mr. Macpherson, of Onny, and Mr. Popham, who joined the Prince's shooting party to. day, had the honour of joining the royal dinner party this evening.--Serr. B.—The Prince started early thie morning to see the psr.llel roads at Glen Roy. The Marquis and Marchioness of Abercom are expected to arrive on a visit to her Majesty this evening. The Duchess of Gloucester arrived in town yester day from her residence at Richmond. Rear-Admiral Shirred' had an interview with Sir George Grey yesterday. Mr. Temple and Mr. Noyes had also interviews yesterday with the right bon. baronet, at the Home-office. DOVER, SEPT. 10.—The Prince of Leiningen ar rived at Birmingham's Ship Hotel last night, and this morn ing embarked on board her Majesty's packet, Onyx, for Ostend. The Count Chreptowitch and Mr. Craven sailed in the same packet. Don Manuel de Moreno with his son landed here on a mission to our court. The Earl of Dalhousie, the newly-appointed Governor-General of India, has gone to visit his estates in Scotland preparatory to his departure for India to enter on the duties of his high appointment. The noble earl is expected to leave England in about a month. , Count Flabault, the French ambassador at the court of Vienna, returns to London in the course of the ensuing week from the countess's (Baroness Keith and Naive) seat in Scotland, his excellency having received commands from his government to proceed forthwith to the Austrian capital. The Earl of Durham has arrived at Montreal on a visit to his Excellency the Governor-General and the Colla tes' of Elgin. The noble earl returns from North America in the spring of next year. The Countess of Elgin's health was greatly improved when the last accounts were received from Canada. The Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel has returned to Drayton Manor, Staffordshire, from 'Lilting in the north. Lady Peel and Miss Peel have also returned to the family seat from a visit to Mrs. H. hating at Cromer Hall, Norfolk. In consequence of the lamented demise of Lady Jane Yates Peel, the right hen. baronet and Lady Peel have declined all invitations, and will not receive company at Drayton until Christmas. Count Chreptowitch, who after acting four years as the Russian chargé d'affaires at Naples, has just been appointed minister plenipotentiary by the Emperor of Russia to that court. The countess, daughter of Count Neaselrode, is at Ostend. His excellency leaves Mivart's Hetet for Naples next week, to eater on his diplomatic duties. The Duke and Duchess of Argyll have arrived at Dunrohin Castle, on a visit to the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, from Inverary Castle, Argyleahire. The Earl Grosvenor has also joined the family circle assembled at Dunrobin. (From last night's Gazette.) WHITEHALL, SEPT. B.—The Queen has been pleased to appoint the Right Hon. Lord Wrottesley ; Pro fessor R, Willis, M.A. ; Capt. H. James, R.E.; G. Rennie, Esq. ; W. Cubitt, Esq. ; and E. Hodgkinson, Esq., commis• sioners for inquiring into the conditions to be observed by engineers in the application of iron in railway structures. The Queen has also been pleased to appoint Lieut. D. Oat ton, R.E., to be secretary to the said commission. DOWNING-STREET, SEPT. 10.—The Queen has been pleased to appoint fdsjor-Gen. Sr H. G. W. Smith, Bart., K.G.C. ((having the local rink of Lieut.-Oen. in South Africa), to be Governor and Commander-in• Chief of the Cape of Good Hope, with its territories and dependencies, and to be her Majesty's High Commissioner for the settling and ad justment of the affairs of the territories adjacent or con tiguous to the eastern and north-eastern frontier of the . said settlement. WAR-OFFICE, Seer. 10. 4th Lt. Drage.—Lieut. T. Hutton, from 13th F., to be lieut., Montgomery, who exc. 6th F.--Capt. W. F. Vincount Chewton, from 3rd W. I. Beg., to be alPts vice (trilby, who exc. 15th F.—Lieu.. C. Montgomery, from 4th Lt. Drop., to be limit, rice Hutton, who our. 62nd F.-Berj.-Mnior T. Boyd to be quaz..enast., rice W. Guy, who retires on balf.pay. 67th F.—CapL D. Campbell, tram 11:p.11th F.. to be capt., repay ing the cliff., rice Derrell, prom. Lieut. W. H. Homey to be cap?, hy Puri, rice Campbell, who rrt. R. Rlakesey, to be bent., by par., vice b y ; Gent. Cadet V.A. Webbe from the Roy. 1111. Col, to be em., by pnr., vice Blakeney. Gent. Cadet J. T. N. O'Brien frail the Boy. MIL Cot, to be ens.„ without put., Tice An, Epp. wij• 3rd W. I. Reig.—Capt. D. F. Ogilhy, 6th F., to be ca D. ,10e Vim. Cbewton, who TINATTACHIMA—To exch. be opt., without par. -Lieut. P. Bolton, of the 16th F.: Lieut. A. With, from the St. Helena Regt. Honorer,.. STAPT.-I'. H. Roe, gent., to he aaaint..nurg. 0 the knee. Bawer.—Melor.Gen. Sir H. G.W. Smith, Bart., 0.C.8., to boon the local rank of lieut..gen. at the Cape of Good Hope and its dependence. Major D. Campbell, of 67th F., to be lieut..-coL in the army; Capt. D. Campbell, 67th P., to be major in the array. OFFICE OP ORDNANCE, Sees. 7. Roy. ArtiL-2nd iLleuL H. T. Boultbee to be lot lieut., vice Burrell deceased. The &dee of the commissions of the under-mentioned caters him been altered IS fOLIOW6, vin.: Capt. F. B. Hamilton, July I, lot?; 2nd Capt. IL Lempriere, July 1, 1817 ; Liellt. W. IL Mara 22, 1447; Lieut. L. Martineau, April 9, 1847 ; Lieut. C. Hunter, April 22, 1047; Lieut. A. J. kbeDougall, May 7, 180 ; Lieut. J. Bpuriray, May 26, 1847; Lieut. G. It. C. Young, July 1, 1647. COMMERCIAL TREATY WITH TUSCANY. Last night's Gazelle announces that the provisions of " An Act for granting Duties on Customs," passed in the 9th and 9th years of her Majesty's reign, has been extended by an order of Privy Council to the grand duchy of Tuscany. MEETING OF MIDDLESEX MAGISTRATES. Yesterday a special court of the Middlesex magis trates was holden at Ilicks'ehall, Clerkenwell, for the pm- Nee of taking iato consideration a code of rule*, pro pmed to be adopted for the government of the new county house of detention, preparatory to their being laid before the Secre tary of State for approval and confirmation, Mr. Palma presided. Mr. H. Rose handed in 27 rules which he pm posed should be read to the conrt.—Mr. Mande, the clerk of the peace, read the rules, but they disclosed no new principle of prison discipline. One of the rules was is re gard to the cleanliness of the prisoners, and it imposed upon the surgeon of the prison the power of ordering the dodo s of any prisoner on admission to be burnt, fueugated, or re' placed by others, should he consider them to be in a state likely to contaminate the cleanliness of other prisoners — kir. Rotch said this rule could not be made too stringent, and he hoped the powers placed in the surgeon.' hands would remove a reproach which be was 'Mg to say had been cast upon the NVestminster Bndewsii. —a reproach, he was sorry to find on inquiry, merited -1 ' alluded to the state of untried prisoners, when they wee transferred from Wentminsterßridewell to Newgate. (Sem) He had been over the last named prison the previous day. and he had been told that the prisoners from Westminster were often tuna covered with vermin. He considered Met this court could not be too anxious in or adopt too impera tive measures to remove so great an evil, and he hoped that the proposed rule would be an effectual remedy, Some 40- cussion arm and the rule received the unanimous eancum of the court. SIiAM derroawars.—The 24th role was in reference to the admiasion of " legal advisers" into the prison to consulting the prisoners. It ordered that at any reasonable hour a . prr Goner's " legal adviser" might be admitted to WI his chmt, and if necessary to confer with him (or her) in private. Do \ .