The Express. — London, England, 1853-10-21 00:00:00

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Fun a good while now the Lancashire and York shire people have had a gay and pleasant life, —foxd cheap, trade brisk, with the prospect of its continuing so, —through the increase of gold, Free Trade, and undeniable agricultural improvement- Unthr these influencts the lite of the greater number of the people flowed on brightly and prosperously ; all kinds of Friendly Societies were accumulating money ; the poorest wet kers were fed and clothed, and the shabby assumed an appearance of substantial comfort. small tradesmen had good custom, and gut in their motley easily. It was a matter of con cern to see a considerable number of the labourers spending their improved means unwisely, in drink and dissipation : and at that, as at all times, it was a cause of deep regret and patriotic shame to the friend, of all classes, that the education of the operatives, though much improved, was not yet such as to justify any very firm reliance on the continu ance of the popular prosperity. Such misgivings are already only too surely confirmed. A cloud is gathering. The old evil, are How ing back upon us, anti we shall have to endure over again the miseries with which the friends of the English operatives are so mournful). familiar. It is just the old story; only, this time, under circumstances of some aggravation. Here we hare the refusal to work while work is still to be had, to be followed, as we too well know, by the bitter ness of disappointment when work is eagerly craved and is not to be had. We have over again the ancient delusion that the employers could, some how or other, pay any wages they chose if only they would think proper to do so. Here we have over again the enthusiastic promises of support which we know, from the very nature of things, cannot pos sibly be fulfilled. We have already the proposal to draw upon the funds of sick, burial, and other in surance clubs, thus throwing away the only security of tens of thousands against a day of adversity. We have over again the ignorant language of abuse of the employers, which shows how very little is really known of the determining circumstances of the amount of wages. The address of the trades delegates of Preston, on behalf of the factory operatives, is grossly abusive in its tone in regard to the employers, while extremely lavish in its promises of support to the men. The time is at hand when the men who thus denounce and promise will discover their impru dence. As the resources of their customers fail and their own business falls off—when they have to re fuse further credit to those whom they are now mis leading—when bad debts compel them to draw back from their rash promises—and when the quarrels arise which always do ensue upon big eogagements un fulfilled, theso warm-hearted bat thoughtless trades men will deplore, as so many have deplored before, their short-sightedness, and the misuse of their in- fluence over those whom they are encouraging in error at this day. All this we are to have over again ; u if we had not seen often enough the vehement hand-shaking of opera tives and tradesmen at the beginning of a strike, and heard often enough their extravagant mutual compliments and vows of eternal friendship, to be followed in no long time by mutual disappointment, distrust, anger, and alienation—when the customer cannot pay his account, and the tradesman can give no more money or credit. This we are to sce again— and tho wistful countenance of anxiety, and the pale hungry face, and the thin and threadbare clothes, and the empty dwelling, and the full workhouse, and the pawnbrokers' houses filled to the roof, and the sick children whom the doctors cannot cure because the medicine that they want is food. These are the consequences of long and extensive strikes, as we all know ; and there is nothing in the circumstances of the present time to authorise a different expectation The workman has a perfect right to put his owa price upon his own labour, but experience shows that trying to get a higher price by a wholesale strike is Beldam productive of anything but loss to both workman and employer. . . _ . Without looking back to the origin of the dispute, or taking part with either side,—while heartily wish ing well to both,—we can show in a moment that t►e operatives are not likely to grow rich by these proceedings. There was first tho Stockport strike, in which the employed claim the victory. They obtained the wages they milted ; but it was a victory ruinous to themselves, because it cut off the profits of their employers' business, and thus diminished the means of their own future employment—besides which, it would take many months of uninterrupted employment at their advanced wages to make up to them for what they spent and relinquished daring the quarrel. Besides some smaller strikes, which have filled the streets of Manchester and Wi gan with unemployed men, the Wigan colliery strike has thrown 16,000 men out of wages at once, be sides injuring the whole business of the district by stopping the supply of coal, As far an appears, 32,000 tons of coal per week have been cut off for above a month, and 20,0001. worth of wages have ceased to be paid on account of that quarrel alone. Here is fearful loss, so far. The deficiency of the harvest is no longer denied by any body ; and though, through the blaming of Free Trade, we are sure of food as long as we have the means to hay it from foreign countries, the failure c 4 the harvest is so much dead loss, largely influencing the profits of manufacture, and therefore the fund from which wages are paid. Then came the uncer tainty about war—an uncertainty more detrimental to trade than war itself, when once fairly entered upon. While nobody knows whether there will be war, or can conjecture what will be the effect on trade of this particular war, the employers are but too glad to stop producing. It is said, and be lieved, in many districts, that the employers see very willing indeed that their men should strike, because they will We Les by closing their mills than by going on at such a time. They also feel themselves fairly set free from the obligation which they have often fulfilled—ot supporting their men through an adverse season; a service which can cer taioly never be expected of employers who have been stripped of their profits in better times by their men having taken advantage of the difficulties of the capitalists' position. Amidst all this loss, with winter coming on, prices rising rapidly and fearfully, and anything but a good prospect for the next harvest, as far as this autumn's sowing is con cerned, who is gaining by these industrial troubles? None, unless it bee few agitators, who get supported, and in some eases enriched, at the expense of the turn-outs. The employers have lost enormously by the stoppage of labour and of coal at a critical time. The unemployed are losing enormously every week by the stoppage of wages. The season for supplying India with the fabrics of Preston and Wigan is pass ing away; and nobody will wonder if the custom of India paws away too, when orders fail to be ex.- I cuted. In Bradford, 3,000 looms wen standing still last week ; and, while the men of Yorkshire and Lancashire are at public meetings listening to orators who tell them they will be buying mills before Christmas, their wives are wondering at home —not what they shall have for dinner at Christmas, but bow they shall get a crust of bread for every child. Already the grocers find the difference. The money which has, for a long while past, bought coffee and sugar, is now all wanted for meal and the loaf ; and the bakers know that one of those hateful winters is coming when they most either ruin them selves with giving hopeless credit, or turn the hungry out of their shops. And nearly all this distress is wilfully or igno rantly caused ! If every man of us had been sensible, intelligent, and reasonable, we might have got over the bad harvest, and weathered, with little injury, the disturbance about a possible war. With Free Trade for the firm basis of oar national prosperity, we might, by some concession all round, have sus tained our industry and the independence of every class. But some of us have shown themselves igno- rant ; and, through ignorance, rapacious; and we see the consequence in the tens of thousands who are idling away the day in the streets, while watchers are wide awake daring the hours of the night in the mills. We need not draw more pictures; for the story is an old one, and only too familiar. The grief is that its pictures should have been shown, and its moral disclosed so often in vain. TIM model villain in many modern French ro ' mances is the returned or the escaped convict. Even the writers who delight in strong effects hesitate to make any one responsible for a hitherto unheard-of accumulation of crime,-except the malefactor who has added to his experimental knowledge of iniquity that gained by intercourse with hundreds as bad as himself! We have hitherto been spared the unplea sant effects which the presence of returned convicts in our society would doubtless occasion here, as well as in France. We hare got rid of our malefactors by a process which, while it is productive of the best effects to ourselves, is the only one which stand' much chance of doing good to them. We have sent our convicts to colonies where their powers of evil are repressed, and a door is opened to them of reaching a position in which they will be free from temptation to crime. We are, however, about to change all that. The patriots, who in BARRINGTON'S time wisely Left their country for their country's pod, are to be retained at home, and let loose upon the society which they had formerly made their prey. The Times yesterday, in an apologetic article, introduced to the English public eight of these in teresting gentlemen, just arrived from the Warrior convict ship. They bring, it is supposed, a clean bill of health with them, and are to have free leave to wander about her MAJESTY'S dominion. " The world is all before them where to choose," with the slight qualification of having a policeman as • kind of " providence " for their guide. These eight purified specimens of criminal humanity are turned into the paradise which they once forfeited for their crimes,' with "no other restriction" than this, that if they be found consorting with thieves, or frequenting the haunts of persons of bad character, they are to be sent back again to the hulks without trial. There is something like mockery in this. Where on earth are these miserable beings, branded with crime, to hide their heads if not with their frierds ? And who are their friends likely to be? Do convicts generally come from the "first families" in Bel gravia? Are their "disconsolate friends" weeping their absence in Mayfair or Tyburnia ? Are these Mends likely to be aristocrats or merchant princes, or shopkeepers " well to do " in the world ? Has the criminal, in fact, come from amidst a society which is in the main rigidly moral and incapable of brutality, or has he not come most likely from the very universities where men graduate in crime—from the crowded alley or [ choked-up lane where filth, moral and physical, fills the soul and the body with disease? It was from here he emerged whea he made war upon society ; it was in the depth of these multitudinous purlieus that he returned, to spend in debauchery what was pur chased with crime. Where can he go to, if not here, when he has expiated his crime by receiving punishment? What will society have to do with one who hos violated its laws and suffered its vengeance? The convict must return to his old haunts or to others like them. He mast live, and it is not likely that his friends will keep him in idle ness. No one, or at least very few, will offer em ployment to a returned convict. There will be but one opening for him,—that with which he was familiar before conviction. The fear of starvation will hurry him into the only course left. Despair will embitter his feelings, and the chance is greatly in favour of his exceeding his former measure of crime. This is the sort of person who is to be set loose upon English society : men who have taken high degrees in crime—who have had their brutal natures pro bably enough made more brutal by the punishment they have received—who would be glad of some opportunity of paying back to society some of the pain that society has inflicted on them—who will be looked upon with suspicion by honest men—who will be able to give no references by which they may obtain honest employment, and who, as a matter of imperious necessity, must break the very condition under which they received their liberty,by returning to their old haunts from the sheer impossi bility of finding shelter anywhere else. The legend, " Take care of your pockets," which now meets the eye occasionally in public places, may have to be attend into " Take care of your throats." We shall be in constant dread in railroad carriages, in solitary places, in any situation where facilities to the com mission of crime are afforded, of meeting with speci mens of a race of men who have their natural instincts sharpened by the terrible necesaities produced by their isolation. We are about to make London as mush as Paris. What is the whole amount of the plea that is offered in excuse for the introduction of the ticket-of leave system in England ? That some of the colo nies refuse to receive convicts. That this refusal is a valid ground for not sending convicts to the colonies in question cannot be denied. No colony should be bound to receive felons against its will. But some colonies are not in a condition to refuse. Some colonies are anxiously desirous of having the assistance of convicts in the work of pioneering the road to prosperity. Labour to them is too valua ble to be rejected, even although it comes clothed in a felon's garb. Has it been proved that full ad vantage has been taken of the wishes expressed by these colonies? Has there been any attempt made to prove that in the wide surface of territory which is under British rule there are no other spots adapted for penal purposes than the few colonies which are ready to receive convicts ? Other countries of Europe might plead the want of places beyond their boundaries fitted to receive con victs, but this can never be asserted of Great Britain. There are openings in numberless places which have never yet been tried, and the Government will not be justified in pouring upon us a flood of moral pestilence from the hulks unless it has exhausted endeavours to save us from the evil. 1 Among the attendant evils which the persistence in the carrying out the new scheme will produce, is the introduction of a system of police surveillance utterly inconsistent with the laws under which we have THE EXPRESS, FRIDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 21, 1853. hitherto lived. Houses may be searched on suspicion of being the retreat of a ticket-of-leave convict who has trangreseed the rules to which he has made him sat subject. Innocent persons may be taken up on account of their resemblance to men who have re turned from the husks. The inquisitorial powers that will be given to the police, in order that their surveillance shall be effectual, may be exercised, in short, in a manner that may occasion the most serious inconvenience to unoffending persons. The ticket-of-leave system, applied to England, sins against the two great principles which should be the foundation of all criminal legislation—the re formation of the criminal and the safety of society. In a colony where the demand for labour is in excess, the ticket-of-leave convict is sure of finding employment, and the reward fur his labour will, in ull probability, remove the temptation to crime. In England, where many honest labourers have to struggle to get employ ment, a returned convict has no chance. The danger of the system to society has been already discussed above. Is there any reason fcr sinning against these principles ? Unless the Government can produce such reasons, it will be burdened with the heavy responsibility of increasing the evils which society sutlers from criminals, and giving the criminals themselves increased motives for crime. LATEST FROM TIIE CONTINENT. -+- AUSTRIA. VIENNA, WEDNESDAY. The Metaßias are rather better, but the exchange on London does not exhibit any favourable reaction. Five per Cent. Metallic', 913. Exchange on Lon don, 11.2 (offered). Bank shorn, 1,297. THURSDAY, 1 I'.Y. Five per Cent. Metalliques, 91!. Exchange on London, 11.4. Bank Shares, 2,800. RUSSIA. KALISCH, Ocr. 13. The Hereditary Grand Duke Alexander has ar rived at Lief, the centre of the armaments against Turkey. FRANCE. PARIS, WEDNESDAY EVENING. Only one of the Paris journals (the Pays) com ments at any length on the manifesto of tho Porte, and a great portion of the article is only a repetition of what had been said on other occasions. The Pays sa : We do not thick we are mistaken in affirming that the manifesto of the Porte will produce a profound impression on the cabinets of Europe and on public opinion. Persons might have expected to find in it the echo of the popu- , lar passions which are in agitation around the Turkish government, and which called for war with loud cries ; fears might have been felt of finding in it the traces of that religious exaltation with which the klumulman populations are animated, and which is after all only a reply to the fanaticism so imprudently lit up by the Em peror Nicholas amongst the Ituuian populations. The Porte, however, has shown more prudence and modera tion than the court of St. Petersburg. The reap& stoes of the Czar sad of his ministers appeared written for a period of the crusades. They aroused popular passions, and ex cited a terrible enthusiasm, to make them the stepping stone of a political ambition. It is not on such dangerous ground that the Turkish government hell placed itself. It has not spoken in the name of the old hostility which for so long a period engaged the followers of the Conn and the defenders of the creme in a gigantic struggle. It has re mained within the limits of a difference purely political be tween two governments, avoiding carefully everything that could take away that character from this grave question to cause it to degenerate int, a religious struggle. This is an eloquent lesson which the Mussulnian manifesto gives to Russia, and of which it is to be hoped she will perceive all the bearing. In addition, dignity of language is united in this remarkable document to logical reasoning and mo deration of thought. Turkey who, notwithstanding the fallacious representations that were m adei of her decadence, proved so well by her acts that she exists powerfully as a nationality and • government, has just shown that her diplomatic agents are on a level with the abbot statesmen in Europe. Rarely has a document of such importance been drawn up with more precision, sincerity, and tem perance. A despatch has been received in Paris from Vienna giving the following u the reply of Prince Gortscha eit' to the summons of Omer Pacha to evacuate the Danubian Principalities: "My master is not at war with Turkey, but I have orders not to leave the Principalities until the Porte shall have given to the Emperor the moral satisfaction he demands. When this point has been obtained I will evacuate the Principalities immediately, whatever the time or the season. If lam attacked by the Turkish army I will confine myself to the defensive." The Pattie takes notice of the Russian despatches announcing victories in the Caucasus, and states that it knows them to be utterly unfounded. The Presse states that a domiciliary visit wee made at the house of M. Victor Mangle. son of M. Margin, of Nantes, but no arrest took place. The Pattie states that among the recent arrests in Paris is that of M. Delescluze, the intimate friend of Ledru Rollin, who had come over to Paris as the delegate of Ledru Rollin and the central democratic committee. All his papers were seized, and it ap pears that he is still in custody. The Bourse was heavy to day, with little business doing, and no political news current. The Three pet Cents, opened at 72f. 20c. fell to 721. 10c., rose 1 subsequently to 72f. 40c., and closed at 72f. 30e. for the end of the month. The Four-and-a Half per Cents. closed at 99f. 50c. ; Orleans Railway shares, 1,150 f.; Rouen, 1,002 f. 50c.; Havre, 4801. ; Great Northern, 8351. ; Paris and Strasburg, 9061. 25c.; Paris and Lyons, 887 f. 50c.; Western of France, 692 f 50c.• ' Bordeaux and Cette, 580 f.• Great Cen tral, 5121.50 c.; Lyons and Geneva, '545 ; Shares of the Bank of Credit Mobilier, 692 f. 50c. The Credit Foncier de France opened at 385 E, and closed at 525 f. PARIS. TRUZSDAT EVIIIII2IO. A telegraphic despatch from Trieste, dated ye , ter day, says :—" We have news from Constantinople to the 10th. The Sultan has demanded the entrance of the English and French fleets into the Dardanelles. The Ambassadors have promised to give orders to that effect." I belie,. I am able to announce upon sure grounds that the Emperor's hopes of a direct heir to his throne are revived. Since the court has been at Compiegne the Empress, when taking a carriage airing, sits on the right of the Emperor. You will remember that this return to traditional etiquette was observed when the Empress was enceinte for the first time. The Mondeur contains a report from M. Duces, Minister of Marine, relative to the results already obtained under the imperial government in increasing the naval fore. of the country. The budget for the navy, it states, was :fixed for 1832 at 117,225,778 fr., and for 1853 at 117,181,001 fr., being less by 40 millions than the budgets of 1847 and 1848. The following are some of the advantageous results obtained :-Istly, the provisions of thebudget only applied for 1852 and 1853 to 130 armed vessels, but 160 have been'kept at sea. 2ndly, these same provi sions only applied to 30,745 able-bodied seamen for 1852, and to 27,249 for 1853, whereas the average number has been 33,675. 3rdly, France possessed only one squadron of 8 line-of-battle ships, whereas at present she possesses two squadrons composed of 14 ships of the line, exclusive of a proportionate aug- mentation in the number of frigates and steam cor vettes. 4thly, the French navy did not comprise any steam line-of-battle ship, completely terminated, but the Napoleon has been finished, and for the last year has formed part of the Mediterranean squadron. sthly, the navy possessed no mixed line-of-battle ship, whereas at present it has four completely finished, and nine others in the course of transformation, and the engines of which are on the point of being de livered. These nine vessels can be put to sea at the end of the year. 6thly, six new steamers on the model of the Napoleon have been laid on the stocks; by the end of the present year they will be urged on to the 12-24ths of their completion, and will be launched at the end of next year. 7thly, the greater number of the steam-frigates which were disarmed have been placed in commission de port. Bthl7, the penal settlements of Guyana have received their first establishment, and nearly 3,000 convicts have been sent there. 9thly, the works in the port of Cher bourg have been urged on with great activity, a bum of 4,000,000 fr. having been accorded to them front the present budget. 10thly, the works at Cu tigneau, which are to complete the port of Toulon, have been undertaken with the ordinary, resources of the year, and have already received a first sum of 1,000,000 fr. 1 lthly, a careening-dock was wanted at Itochelort ; it has been commenced, and has already received a first credit of 200,000 fr.; and 12thly, a number of matters connected with the navy have been undertaken without any extra re sources, such as the reconstitution of the reserve, the augmentation of the pay of the non-commissioned officers, the amelioration in the quality of the bread for the navy, &c. The expenses of all these improve ments have been defrayed from the ordinary resources of the budget, and far from the sum appropriated to the purchase of stereo having been augmented they have left a sum of 10 millions disposable from 18.52. That sum arises from three principal causes ; lstly, from the postponement of several important con tracts, delayed by circumstances of force naafi' ur. Steam-engines, tools, and large supply of stores, to the value of 3,800,000 fr., which were to have been delivered in the last six months of 1832, were cot sent in until 1633. 2ndly, from reductions effected in various branches of the service ; and 3rdly, by the rigorous surveillance exercised by the ministers at all moments, and over the minutest details of every department of the navy. The report then proposes to dispose of the 10 millions by restoring .5 millions to the treasury, and carrying over the other 3 mil lions to the budget of 1833. By means of this latter sum, the report declares Al the engagements alluded to above, amounting to 3,800,000 fr., will be defrayed ; also the increase in the price of various stores, such as corn, flour, wines, brandy, &c., to the extent of 1,400,000 fr. ; whilst the other. 3,000,080 fr. will serve to meet the expense caused by the creation of a second squadron, which has been rendered necessary by the complication of events in the Etst. By this appro priation of the 10 millions remaining over from 1852, the minister declares that he will be able to met u'! the expenses, ordinary and extraordintry, of I s de partment, without making any new demand on the public treasury. This report is followed by an im perial decree) carrying out the suggestions of the minister. A piece of news has been received, and is believed by some of the leading legitimists here, which, if iccnfirmed, willlmako a great sensation. It is said Ithat the Duke de Nemours has been to Froyadorf, has seen the Count de Chambord, and that the long- talked-of " fusion" between the two branches of the house of Bourbon has at length been effected. Very great importance is attached to this intelligence by the parties to whom it has been communicated. I must confess that the probabilities against the news being true to the full extent are, to my mind, very great. But, although the Duke de Nemours has lately been at Sebum's, and, according to several newspapers, was going incognito to Constantinople, and, although the date of his alleged visit to Froysdorf is not mentioned in the account given to me, the main fact is certified from such a respectable source, that, assuming the over sanguine partisans of the fusion to be mistaken in their belief that it is definitively a fait accompli, I cannot doubt that some convention of an important nature hes been made between the families repre senting the respective principles of pure hereditary, and limited constitutional, monarchy. The chances , of any proximate restoration of either branch of the Bout bons are apparently so small, that to a super ficial observer the fusion may appear to afford the only prospect of the elevation of a royal race from their present condition of poverty and obscurity. It might be thought that the house of Orleans, proscribed, despoiled of its property, resting its claims to the crown upon the barricades of 1830, would be only too happy, after its overthrow by the barricades of 1848, to resume its place as a "cadet" of the descendants of Charle magne. The opinion would be theoretically reason able that the fusion would unite every man not a republican or Bonapartist in support of the sole pretender to legitimacy. But an intimate acquaint ance with Frenchmen has forced urn me, ugaicat preconceived opinions, the conviction that the Orleanists will never merge in the legitimists. However illogical, however fraudulent if you will, the creation of the monarchy of July, I have no hesitation in saying that it has at this momenta fur greater hold upon France than the dynasty of Hugh Capet. I hear it constantly asserted that there must be a " branch° cadette, and I believe that if the fusion now said to be effected has really been made, the attempt to make the Count de Chambord the undisputed head of the royal house will signally fail, and that tho persons now called Orleanists will put forward some member of the family to represent the principle embodied by William lIL of England, of a monarchy carved out of an ancient race by an anomalous species of popular election. The Emperor has granted a pension of 2,000 fr. from his privy purse to the father and mother of the late L;eutenant Bellot, the pension, after their deaths, to revert to M. Bellot's brothers and sisters. Another dreadful accident occurred last night on the Orleans railway. About half-put eight o'clock the Bordeaux up-train ran into a luggage-train at Beaugency. The engineer and stoker of the pas senger train were killed, and several passengers, some say as many as fifty, more or less hurt. The company has issued a notice, stating that the signals were regularly given, and the collision cannot at present be accounted for. Colonel Ragani is definitively appointed manager of the Italian Opera. The Emperor and Empress, on Monday, being un able to leave the palace of Compiegne, on account of the bad weather, received all the public functionaries Of the town, who were presented by the sub-prefect. In the evening their Majesties went to the theatre, where the company of the Gymnase performed Phi liberte. Tho principal boxes were occupied by ladies 'in grand toilette, and by the public functionaries, the members of the municipal council, &c. When their Majesties entered all the spectators rose, and remained standing until they were seated. They were accompanied by the Princess Mathilde and the Prince Napoleon, and were attended by Marshal St. Arnaud, M. de Persigny, M. Fould, Marshal Magnan, M. Abatucci, the Duke de Cambaceres, several great dignitaries of the state, and a number of ladies. Marshal Nurses was amongst the invited. The Emperor and Empress appeared pleased with the performances, and the former frequently gave the signal of applause. On leaving their Majesties were greeted with enthusiastic cries of " Vice rEmpereur ; Vive l'lmpemtrice!" The Emperor on Monday, with some of his guests, went out shooting for amhort time in the reserved park. The Boone was exceedingly dull to-day. So little business was doing that the smallest purchase or sale was sufficient to influence the market. After unim portant fluctuations the Threes closed at 72fr. 40c., being a rise of 10c., but the Four and-a-Half per Cents fell 30c. In railways there was but little variation. Orleans was depressed by the report of the serious accident, and fell 7fr. 50c. RUSSIA AND TURKEY. _.- It is stated that the Turkish government has asked the French Emperor to allow two general officers and about a dozen staff officers to attach themselves to his army. Letters from Beyrout state that the Syrian con tingent to the Turkish army of Asia will number near 18,000 men, thus supplied—The Pashalic of Aleppo, 10,000 men ; Damascus, 1,000; Hamas, 500; Moms, 600 ; Jerusalem, 600; the Pachalie of Tripoli, 500 ; Latakia, 200; Beyrout, Saida, Soor, and Acre, 000: Nablous and Jenntn, 400; the other pieces and the mountainous districts, 4,000. Letters from Erzeroum state that the army collected there already amounts to 50,000. _ _ The Impartial of Smyrna states that the Prince of Servia has informed Omer Pacha that 30,000 men are on the frontier ready to repulse the troops of Austria should they attempt to enter the Prin cipality. The Trieste Gaulle notices a difference which distinguishes the present Turkish declaration of war from those which have preceded it. Formerly every act of this kind was preceded by a fetvah by the Sheik ul Islam, as chief of the Sahommedan reli gion, and which declared the war to be commanded by the church. This time, out of regard for the Christians, the custom has been broken ; and the de claration of war is exclusively a political act. The fetvah given merely states that the projected war was not contrary to religion. The intelligence received from Trieste that a canal is to be made from Rama& to Kustendje is most important if true. The distance from the extreme points is, only thirty miles, but the canal would shorten the navigation of the Danube between ' Vienna and Constantinople by 250 miles, and bring the mouth of the river 150 miles nearer to Constan tinople. ITALY. A telegraphic despatch, dated Turin, the 19th inst., says :—" A slight disturbance treks out here yesterday evening in consequence of the high price of corn, and some arrests were made. Order was promptly re-established." The Voce delta Liberia, of the IGth inst., states, that 15 or 20 of the refugees, lately arrested at Genoa, were to be conveyed to Malta. Several others, who had evinced a desire to quit Piedmont, had obtained a delay of three or four days, and were to receive passports for uny destination they chose. TheiGenoa Corriere Mercantile, of the 15th, men tions that the general elections were to be advanced by several months, and that the Chamber of Depu ties would be dissolved next spring, after the adop tion of the budget. HOLLAND. .--. • The Dutch government has just published returns of the commerce and navigation of the Netherlands daring the year 1852. They show considerable in crease under the several heads of imports, exports, and transit. The total v..lue of the imports was more than 322,000,000 fluting, or 19,000,000 more than that of the previous year ; and the total value of exports in 1852 was 272,000,000 florins, 30,000,000 more than iu 1851. The total value of the transit trade It represented by 115,000,000 florins, being an augmentation of 17,000,000 florins compared with the former year. LONDON AND COUNTY JOINT STOCK BANK. TESTIMONIAL TO MR. HENRY LUARD, THE CHIEF M•NAOEIt. _ _ _ On Wednesday, a meeting of the managers of the above establishment took place at the London Tavern, Bishopagate-street, for the purpo►e of presenting a testi monial, consisting of three massive and elegant salvers, to Mr. Henry Luard, the general manager, as a token of respect for his personal qualities u chief officer of the establishment. Captain STRONG, manager of the Oxford Branch, took the chair, and read several letters of apology for unavoidable absence. 'hero were present some of the directors, about thirty managers, and nineteen principal o ffi cers and clerks of the head office. The CHAIIIMAN having expressed his regret at tho ab sence of Mr. Knocker, from a great dome-tic calamity, read to the meeting the inscription on the testimonial, which was as follows—" Presented by the resuagers of the Lon. don and County Joint Stock Banking Company to Henry Luard, Esq., its general manager, in grateful recol lection of his undeviating kindness and courtesy, a token of regard and respect for a superior, to whose gnsocial ability and assiduous exertions the existing high standard and gratifying prosperity of the establishment may be mainly aserib.d, 19th October, 1553." _ ,The Chairman then presented the testimo nisl to Mr. Laud, and wished he might live long :in the enjoyment of that feeling of respect, now so cordially ex pressed, of every officer of the establishment. (Applause.) Mr. 'ATARI), who was much affected at the degree of per sonal respect shown to him on the occasion, briefly expressed his thanks. Mr. GREEN, manager of the Maidstone branch, moved a vote of thanks to the chairman for presiding. Mr. LAW, manager of the Knightsbridge branch, se eonded the motion, which wu passed by acclamation. The party then retired to an adjoining room, at the in vitation of Mr. Luard, to partake of a collation laid out in the ttcherchd style peculiar to the firm of Bathe and Breach, the proprbizon of the London Tavern. SOUTH LASTERN AND CONTINENTAL STEAM PACKET COMPANY. An extraordinary general meeting of the share holders of this company was held at the Bridge Meuse Hotel, London•bridge yesterday, for the purpose of re solving en the expediency of a dissolution of this company, if the shareholders, or such competent and requisite number I and proportion of them as ri quired by the deed of settle ment of the company, should so lowan. James MACG ILEG JR, Esq., the chairmae of the directors, on taking the chair, said the business which the directors had to submit to Ws meeting was very short in its des cription. It amounted simply to the proposal of a resolu tion that a dissolution of the company, such dissolution having been recommended by the directors, was expedient. It appeared that the capital of the company could not be divided amongst tke proprietors except at the dissolution of the company. The present meeting, and a subse quent extraordinary general meeting, would be re quired to bring about the result. If the pro prietors pleased to accept this resolution it would be the duty of the directors to summon another extraordinary ge neral meeting, to be held on the 3rd of November, and if the proceedings of this meetiog wore then confirmed the assets would he divided on the 4th of November. At the last half-yearly meeting it was stated that the assets of the company amounted to somewhat above 121. a share. He now moved that a dissolution of the company is expedient. The motion having been seconded, Mr. HAMILTON rose, and was about to read a speech from a printed paper, when The CHAIRMAN said the hon. proprietor was out of order. Mr. HAMILTON said, then he would use the speech as notes, and he proceeded to read the speech, which consisted principally of complaints about the description of engines in the boats, and personal attacks on the chairman and directors. The CHAIRMAN vindicated the engine -makers from the attacks made on them and the directors from any improper conduct in reference thereto. The engines, he said, had done their work as well and at as little expense, according to the mileage, as the engines of any other company. lie did not think the hon, proprietor had much reason to com plain, seeing that ever since the company had been catch bliahed they had divided about six per cent., and were now going to divide all their capital with an addition of 20 per cent. The resolution was then put and carried nem. dis., and the meeting thereupon separated. ARRIVAL OF THE RIPON.—This vessel has arrived at Southampton, with the heavy pertion of the India mail. Her dates are: Alexandria, October 6; Malts, 10; Gib raltar, 15. Captain Fitzgerald, Hon. East India Cempany's Service, died on the 'morning of the 17th, on board the Ripon. He was returning to England after en absence of eighteen years, for the beacfit of his health. Ile was one of the most pliant *Meets in the Indian army. His funeral rites took place on board, in the presence of the majority of his fellow passengers, who, some in full uniform, and others in their plain black suits, thus paid the last tribute of respect to this gallant man, and a gloom hung over every one on board, and a feeling of regret that it was not possible to convey his mortal remains to Eaglsnd. ATEEMPEED POISONING OP SIR CHILDREN AT LIVAILPOOL.—At College-street Police-office, on Monday, Margaret Mullen was brought up in custody of Police-con stable 174 13, ch4rged with attempt to poison sin children, under the circumstances which appear in evidence. Con stable 37 B deposed that, being on duty in Trinity-street, on Sunday lest, between two and three o'clock, be was informed that sin children , had been poi soned in the house No. l, St. Andrew-street. Proceeding immediately to the house, be found the chil dren, wham names were Edward, Charlotte, and George Graham, Edward Reilly, John bf'Dermott, and If. M`Der mott, some in bed and some on the floor, but all retching; they were immediately conveyed by him to Mercer's Hos pital, where they were put under the treatment of Dr. Butcher and the resident apothecary. Police-constable 174 B deposed that, being called on by 37 B, be arrested the prisoner on the lobby of the house. She appeared some what excited ; she stated she had given the children the contents of • bottle of sugar of lead, for the purpose of making them merry, telling them that it was whisky. One of the children, however, said it was not whisky. The prisoner, baying been duly cautioned, made a state ment similar to that mentioned by 174 B, adding that the "medicine" had been given to her in ac hotpitsl, but that her only motive in giving it to the c►ildren was to make merry The children were, at the time when the poises was administered, playing together in an empty room of the house. In the absence of Dr. Butcher and the resident apothecary of the hospital, the prisoner was remanded until Tnetday.—Northern Daily Times. TILE NEW PENAL SERVITUDE SYSTEM.—OR Tllea day a convict was discharged from the convict prison at Portsmouth with a ticket-of-leave, under the new act. As he was going to Plymouth, a keeper was sent with him to (see him on board the steamer for chat port ; a sum of money having been supplied to meet his expenses. It appears that both convict and convict keeper repaired to a public house on the Hard, Potties, where they both got tho roughly intoxicated, and where they were fuund the fol lowing morning in a thoroughly incapable state. The keeper has been discharged from his situation, end the eon vict has been re-transferred to prison, and is to have, we are informed, an addition of three earr to kis original sentence. COMMITTAL OF TWO PERSONS FOR MAN SLAIJORTIIIL—Yesterday an inquest was held by Mr. Payne, at the Globe Tavern, Borough-road, on the body of Richard Ryan, an infant, who had been entrusted to Caro line Nash to nurse, who waa living with Jam. a Birch. It appeared from the evidence that the child had been beaten, and otherwise illtrcatcd, and it was the opinion of the jury that this had brought on death. Their verdict was, there fore, one of manslaughter, and Birch and Nosh were bath committed to take their trial on that charge. ARCTIC EXPEDITION. THE NORTH-WEST I'ASSAGE. CAPTAIN m'euran's DFSPAIt HE.;, lier Majesty's Discovery Ship Investigator, off Point Warren, Pilir SJa, Au,z. 21 1850, in lat. 69 4 N , long. 131 57 NV, have the honour to report to you, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that we arrived oft the Mackenzie upon the 21st inst. The letters that 1 forwarded by ber Majesty's ship liaald, from whom I parted company upon the 30th ult., oil' Cape L,. burne, will have put you in possession of tLy ediogs up to that date. After parting with the Herald I steed to the N.N.W. I with a fresh breeze from the N E , with the intention of making the ice, which was accomplished te.ou the tuoreing of the '2nd of August, in let. 72 1 N. ; long. listi 12 W., and at 11 a.m. stood into the hose ice for the purpose et ex amining the peck; the wind, however, felling befute we got tar in, I was induced to run out to avoid bc.ng bract, having ascertained that the pack was very clots and heavy, extending fromE. at E. toW. atW.,and,seeing no hope of get- Sag thruugh,vrerked along its edgein soundings from 2i to 26 fathoms (mud) ; the number of walruses that were lying upon the icc, thickly huddled together like sheep in a fold, was most astonishing. We continued working along the ice, occasionally getting drifted in until the sth, wheu the weather, which had been previously cle ir and misty, cleated a little, and, no ice being in sight, I shaped a coarse for Waiewright's Inlet, with the intention et getting between the park and shore; in running exchanged numbers with her Majesty's ship Plover, and, at 11.30 a.m , observed • low beach, apparently shingle, distant about two miles. The weather again having become thick, we went entirely by our soundings, which varied from 14 to . 73 fathoms, in which latter we rounded Point Barrow at 11.30 g ene without, however, observing the land, and steered I. the eastward, direct for Banks' Land, finding that the ice was loose and practicable for sailing through. These hopes were sonn, however, dissipated ; for, upon the fore noon of the 6th it suddenly cleared, when I tumid that we had been running directly into the pule, which was very heavy and impenetrable, extending from S.E. to B.W (by the north), in Ist. 71.3.5 N., and len. 115.12 W., and te e sea through which we had sailed looking nearly as white as the ice ahead, except that lanes of water were sham. able. We instantly hauled to the wind, and c ome menced working out. During the night the bretee freakened considerably, bringing showers of rein with thick weather, while, being compelled to carry a press of canvas through very heavy and close sailing ice, rendered the navigation extremely critical. The vessel occasionally struck with seine viols see. This continued till the afternoon of the 7th, when char water was reported front the crow', nest. The wind ,:most im mediately failing, the boats were all massed, and towing commenced amid songs and cheers, which continued with unabated goed humour for six hours, when their laborious work WAS brought to a successful termination, h.ing in per fectly clear water in Smith's Bey; a lightair spriteging up,we worked to the outward. At 2 a.m. of the Bth, being off Point Dew, sent Mr. Court )sccund master) on shore to erect a cairn, and bury a notice of our having passed. Upon Ind ing they were met by three natives, who at tits'. we very timid, but upon exchanging signs of friendship, which CCM.. Sibted of raising the grins three times over the head, they approached the boat, and, atter the pleastent eteutetion of rubbing noses, became very cornmunicetive ; e een, by the allowance of our invaluable interpreter, Mr. M.ertsching (the selection of this gentleman tor this impeteent cetera does infinite credit to the discernment of those who sent him), we found the tribe consisted of ten teats (this being the only approach to their numbers he could obtain), bad arrived only three days previous, and that they hold com munication with a party inland, who trade with the Rus sian Fur Company. The evening before they had observed us, but could not imagine what large trees they were move ing about (our masts), and that all the tribes had assembled on the beach to look at them, when they eerten that it was something very extraordinary, and left the three men who met the boat to watch. They also gave the pleating intel e ligence that we should find open water along the coast from about three to five miles distance during the summer ; that the heavy ice very seldom came in, or never yeti the land further than at present ; that they did not know if there were any islands further north, as they fouud it impassible to go in their kyacks, when in pursuit of seals, further than one day's journey to the main ice, and then the lanes of water allowed of their proceeding three-quarters of a day further, which brought them to very large and high with not space enough in any part of it to allow their kyacks to eater; the probable distance Mr. :sliertsching, therefore, estimates, from his knowledge of the Esquimau habits, to be about 40 miles off shore, and, (rein what I have seen of the pack, I am inclined to thirk this is per fectly correct, fur a more unbroken mass I never witnessed; they also mentioned seeing the boats with white men going eastward last year (which I supposed was Lieutenant Pullen), but had not 'CCU any other white persins or any thing like this vessel before ; they had, the refers, no acme of sufficient grandeur to give the great " omi we' so they called her the "fast moving island." Seven al of them came off to the vessel, but had little to barter, as all their hunters were away, but immediately we bad been observed, they were sent for, and would soon arrive. Then said they, " You will be gone, and how disappointed they will be," They appear a simple, kind pcuple, very poor, very filthy, and, to us, looked exceedingly wn tehed. The time of oar return was repeatedly inquired for by them. They would have a quantity of skins ; they were anxious for to to wait a little, that they might send off a supply of reindeer; but the boat returning, and the wind fair, I made them a few presents, and gave them a letter to be for warded to the Russian Fur Company, and made sail to the eastward, the wind being light as we ran close along shore, in from four to six fathoms ; we had a great many visitors; many of them had been their whole lives between the Coppermine and Feint Barrow. These could give no information of the missing expedition. lam certain that had any of them reached these shores we lined heve heard of it. The coast is inhabited throughout, and the natives are, to all appearance, a kind and merry race, end when we gave them presents, through the medium of the interpreter, we told them that we were looking for our lout brothers, and if they saw any white men in distress they were to be very kind, to which they assented, by ssy ing they would, and give them plenty of "deep' flesh." While running along the land, which is exceedingly low, observed upon Point Pitt two conical mounds ; thinking they might have some communication buried beneath, ran in to examine them. 'While in stays the vessel took the ground, but was hove off almost immediately without any damage, the bottom being soft clay. The boat sent to examine the mounds reported them old Esquimau do chies, where they deposit their venison. They left a bottle containing a notice of our passing. Upon rounding Cape Halkett, upon the morning of the 9th, bound the ice was set close to the shore, which rendered it a patens: of much anxiety, great labour, and imminent risk, as the wind was strong with thick fog, and the sea closing around us fast, so that we had barely space to work in, tacking frequently in five, and never beyond 10minutes, standing upon one tack into three and a half fathoms, and upon the other to four and a half and six fathoms. This operation was continued the greater part of the middle and all the morning watch. A 9 cm. the weather cleared a little, and open water was observed in Smith's Bay. Our soundings gradually increased, the reaches became longer as we rounded the cape, end all apprehension of being forced on shore was over. Aug. 10.—In Crossing Ilerrisan's Bay found the influence of the Colville to extend 12 or 14 nodes, the surface of the water being of a dirty mud colour, and scarcely salt. The weather, thick and foggy, prevented any land being seen. The soundings were very regular on one tack ; the ice allowed of our standing off to 8 fathom', and on the other, the land to 31 fathoms, black mud. Aug. 11.--• lie the morning the weather cleared a little, and air I covered to us Jones's Island. An erect piece of wood on the shore attracted the attention of the officer of the watch; a boat was sent to examine, when it appeared to be a piece of drift wood, which had been squeezed up by the ice. The shore was strewed with it, and one piece was as large as our mainmast, and 45 feet in Tenth. We erected a tans and left a notice. In the forenoon about thirty natives came off in two insiders, from whom we obtained some fish and ducks, in exchange fora little tobacco. Trey had been about two months on the coast, and trade with the Russian Fur Company. Their surprise, of course, was very great, particularly at the size of our handkerchiefs (the eerie) ; the whale boats attracted their attention, and they asked if trees grew in our country suf f iciently large to make them. The head man possessed a gun, with " Barnett, 1e40," upon the lock ; this he obtained from the Russians. As a fair specimen of the observation of these people and their apu titude for trade, the following may be taken :—Seeine that we cut the tobacco into pieces to give in exchange for their fish (salmon trout), they began to do the game with the fish. i This, however, we would not admit, so they were obliged to come to our terms. During the afternoon, while stand iegelieneegx p a rs l esib ewel l e e) uponisla n d, e s a lo we observed pole.eveda fl oe ( ' nntt ' eu e a ise t e ) skin tiae: we and (tyi boa VP' we ini Po a.' 11,,