The Express. — London, England, 1852-08-24 00:00:00

BARON LIEBIO, on ALLSOPPIS PALE ALF. the petit • mats% tom A o. real *lvor t 0 imp 0 that imusist autism hr. Mmes. Alloapp aail teas have re- pa'. bard 1000 1000 beat to Yr. abeam hi eater.. b all the t ea lily a. wad 0 la ether pawn; sepM. ef onieb tell 0 the very tanner. 104 cootatailly lawWY prokani.o. . •- tierolebi Y Wider el tbrit V•le sad Sitter ale, may to awn. tl • .11 asolliattia at the Itieoety, 8ur...04w Mot ; co at their in k`lini Mrla WAAL taveroeut, IllasehetaK, Mabry. Otailiow, ieitabehoes, mod et•eirtitre. P. I. s:• 1114 evorrog. J CVHAE'PONDINTE. A .a.e..1 'CAM • Ito Ligersis.' nalsimas ISM "OIL • t pshiabal sway Toads) sal Erb,.) • 4 . e Mw post. a...tub:woo A EaPriak" Lam 'se 1 4 1 61 . 5r..% dr treks, to, 2zsesriaelrese. lry Tem '. kale we tto day of pablaolloa. lIIOH WATEII AT LONDON lIRIDOI t.. Dst—Yarstas. 4 4 11. --Anomie. 'AL rm. Tmcsassw—Nescss, lam Ili Atomism, los .) LUXDO.Y, TUESDAY, .4L'GGST " WIRT are Ministers doinff ?" " Watching the barometer. And well they may : for with a continuance of bad harvest weather their last shadow of a chance will vanish. if the crop is so abundant that moderate prices can ensure a fair profit to the farmer, the Protectionists, being kept in good humour, may allow Lord DERBY to shelve the question of Protection, accept as good coin his protestations of grief for being compelled so to do. and wait patiently for the mysterious substi tute which Mr. Di.itet.t.i has promised them. But it there is a short crop. as the influx of corn from without is sure to keep the price of grain moderate, Lord Butes will tind the Protectionists utterly un manageable. Mr. New DIGATE, indeed, vows that he is not tool enough to break up the Conwrva tiie party a second time on the question of Pro tection. But Mr. NEwueutTE is not so much one of the owners or tillers of the English soil, as a tiller of the more productive soil of office. When he whistles Protection down the wind, he is merely a hired advo rate throwing up his biicf. But the bulk of the Protectionist party in the House of Commons are clients as well as council. They will not abandon their darling Protection so easily as Mr. NEW 1 , t.6.it Ministers know right well that. if there is a bad narvest, there is sure to be a mutiny in their camp. A majority of their supporters in Parliament are in • veterate Protectionists. But a minority of them—a minority not contemptible in number, and embracing all the more shrewd heads among them—are con vinced in their own hearts that Protection's day isgone by; and what. is more, they have publicly conf es sed as much, and pledged themselves to the teeth that they will nut be art and part in any attempt to re suscitate Protection. The diversity of opinion in the Derbyite ranks is a subject on which the Ministerial organs take care not to enlarge. No further gone than yesterday the morning organ of the party in the press undertook to demonstrate that it was impossible that Lord Denny should be seeking to postpone unduly the time of the meeting of Parliament, because he bad no need to do so. The journal in question did not indeed go so far as to maintain that Ministers have a majority in the House of Commons; but it asserted that they . have gained some votes by the general election ; it scouted the idea that the Conservative Free Traders can concur in a vote of want of confi dence in Ministers; and hence it inferred that it will not be possible to bring a majority to act against Lord DEttev's Government in the House of Commons. All this verbiage amounts to nothing more than an admission that Ministers are in a minority in the House of Commons. The grounds upon which it is attempted to rear a faint hope that the majority can not be brought to act in concert against them, are scarcely substantial enough to encourage Lord Dears to take the plunge. And the writer en tirely overlooks the still greater difficulty that Lord DERRY is likely to experience in banging his Protectionist supporters and his Free Trade supporter to act in concert. If there is a bad harvest the farmers will insist upon the PREMIEIea fulfilling the pledgee by which he bound himself when out of office to give them back Piotection; if he refuse they will fly off from him ; if he comply, those gentlemen of his following who have so ostentatiously pro- claimed themselves Free Traders most fiy off from him. knowing that matters stand thus, Lord DEIBT is naturally reluctant to meet Parliament before the completion of the harvest shall have given him some inkling of the course it may be expedient for him to steer. Accordingly, he and his colleagues have agreed that Parliament shall not meet until after the last harvest home has been celebrated; and in the mean time their chief occupation is to watch the barometer, u the best indicator of what is " looming in the future." Their chief, not their sole occupation. For there is another reason why they should be so anxious to postpone the meeting of Parliament. They put off the dissolution as long as they could, and they availed themselves of the delay to put out feelers among the constituencies and tamper with them. When their preparations were matured they dis solved at once, hurried over the elections, and thus gained a few additional votes in the House of Com mons. They are at present trying to play . the same game with the House of Commons, now that it has been made, as they played with its manufacturers while they were mak* it. There is apparently a narrow majority of some thirty or forty against Ministers ; bin there are a considerable number of " loose fish" on both sides. Some 203 new members have been returned, and of three 180 are new to public life. The time gained by putting off indefinitely the meeting of Parliament is requisite to enable Minis ters to make sure of the vacillating members on their own side, and to afford them an opportunity of coming to terms with the vacillating in the ranks of their opponents. Ones upon a time an old and wary corrupttonist when told of the money the minister of the day had lavished on a general elec tion, coolly remarked that he could have bought the whole of the Parliament ready made for hair tie sum. Our present Ministers have taken the hint, and to make assurance doubly sure are going to try both plans. This is the reason why the oountry . has a right to complain of the ministesial procrastination in the assembling of Parliament. It is unconstit u ti ona l for a minister who has appealed to the coun try by dissolving Parliament to continue to hold power without seeking to ascertain whether or not its verdict is in his favour. But nobody fears that our Ministers will avail themselves of their evasion of the dissigreeihlF knowledge that they have been beat to upset - The constitution by a coup (Vial. Such strategy would be too bold for them; their sins against the constitution are of a more petty larceny character. But there is too ranch reason to fear that they may avail themselves of the delay to tamper with the persons who have bees chosen by the country to de clare its opinion of the present Government. The electors have returned members to the House of Commons to declare (as the ease may be) that their constituents have or have not confidence in Lord Drury's Administration. The electors have a right to insist that these members shall deliver the exact message with which they were charged at the hustings ; and the electors have, theietore, a right tantalise that Lord DERBY . shall not put off the meet ing of Parliament in eider that he may have time to persuade one or the other member to nay the eery reverse of what his constituents instructed him to say. Remonstrance with Lord DERBY and hia colleagues in useless. They are in a position to take advantages, and this being the case it is not in their nature to play on the square. Hut let constituincies keep a sharp look out en their representatives. Is the proposals for great railway amalgamations , and consolidations recently promulgated, there arc' two prominent fallacies ; one e, that the interests of their proprietaries constitute the Niacin° considem !ions for the Legislature ; the other, that those in terests can be best promoted by the provsied unions. No doubt, an unprofitable railway is, in the long run, a great public misfortune, because of the capital it has destro)ed, the individual, it has injured, and the dangers and risks which most nIH. p accompany the traffic conducted by an insolvent conipoily ; but it does not follow that the Legislature is in any way bound to render that profitable which, under the conditions on which the railway was first solicited especially doge, , and constructed, has proved unprofitable, when the only means by which this can be . by such an arrangement as substantially amounts t. toxin,: the public in order to infuse profit into that speculation, the original sEheme of which has proved unprofitable. The Legislature did not, as in France, ask capi talists to construct railways ;it was eapi . a li sts and projectors who sought powers of the Legislature to invest, as they thought profitably, their money in these undertakings. These potters they obtained on certain terms and conditions, and to their fulfil ment and continuance the Legislature has a perfect reeler to bold the companies. Any relaxations or iterations of these terms are a matter of legislative /let and favour : and in grantiur any Parliament karat bound to sec that the public interests will in no degree suffer or be injured. Now, to entitle railways to go to Parliament he any relaxations or alterations in the fundamental con ditions of their present existence, they must go with clean hands ; they must show that, in spite of their exercising all their wen and fulfilling all their obligations in the spir it in which they were granted and imposed, that notwithstanding they have done everything within their statutable provisions to accommodate the public, they hare not realised this profits that were originally anticipated. This, it is very char, railways are not in a position to do. The great lines of which an amalgamation has been proposed arc profitable lines. The North Western pays a dividend of .31 per cent., and the Great Western of 1 per cent. ; and woa their union is proposed, the Chairman of the latter assures Mr. GLYN that at present pecuniary terms of amalga mation could not be fairly arranged, because of the reasonable probability of an increase in the Great Western dividend. The state of the dividends of these two lines is not, therefore, such as entitles them to ask Parliament, on the ground of want of profit, he any release from the terms of incorporation, whisk they themselves originally procured. 'l' hat their profits ate not larger is not the fault of the Legislature or of their statutes,but of their Titan of management. Parliament may be, and is, to blame to permit them to scramble as they do; bet they are themselves responsible for the manner to which they abuse the negligence of the Legislators, It is very discreditable to Parliament not to have settled on public grounds, whether or not there shall be one or two railways to the Alersey. But to propose, as a substitute for two lines, that the cow panics which are now contesting that most important question, one aggressively, and the other defensively —to propose that tlpsy shall form one company, amounts clearly and obviously ton proposition so 'A verse to public policy, as to be quite inadmissible. A proposal to unite all railways under one man agement ; or to place all under sonic central con trol, is, in comparison, an intelligible, useful, and reasonable proposition ; for neither would operate against the public, but in some respects in publie favour. If then, by these injudicious suggestions el railway chairmen, the question be started of goverooi mint assuming the whole direction of railways, so menus of protecting the public against gigantic schemes of exceptional monopoly, and be decided affirmatively, the responsibility will be entirely at the doors of railway hearth', who can find no solution for their own mismanagement but amalga mation hurtful to the rest of the community. It is the fashion to complain grievously of Parlia ment having yielded to the solicitations and entrea ties of capitalists and of companies, and granted too many lines; the consequence, it is asserted, is that they are unprofitable. The want of profit of many of these lines is undeniable ; but it is equally obvious that, in many cases, the absence of profit may be, more or Isis, traced to interference with their origi ;:zrand their natural routes. The Manchester, and Lincolnshire Railway is an illustration the ccs of this sort of interference. On that llso aid ib accompany ing ducks at Grimsby, the enormous sum of nine millions sterling at least have been spent; and in the half-yearly accounts just ren dered, there is only a balance of 1,2411. to meet divi dends on a share capital of more than seven millions sterling. Now, if our readers will look at a railway map, they will find that by means of this line theme ought to be a second direct and through communker tion between London and Manehookm NM there b not. It has been interfered wit\ by abs North. Western Company ; which, giving the. lisaeheotea bbellield, and Lincolnshire Company saws paltry ad vantages in other directions, has hitherto ononsoisil in denying London and Manchester the beadle of railway competition, to the injury of the company with whom it is in alliance. And it is, in like man ner, to prevent competition for the Liverpool bale, that Mr. GLTN proposes another and a amok pester alliance. the great companies, by their alliances, and treaties, and working agreements, have blocked up and arrested the communications intended by the Legislature to be through, direct, and free, in many other directions. And it is with this experience of their policy that the public is invited to come to the conclusion that there is no remedy for their rivalries but submission to an amalgamation that would be tantamount to a great monopoly. This, however, is • total mistake. Some two years ago who so furious and fast in their hostility to each other as the Great Northern and the Eastern Counties? Then the Eastern Counties proprietary went dividendlees away from their half yearly meetings. By the good Reese of their Chairman, however, that extreme and violent hostility has now ceased, and the result of the ac commodation of their differences that has been effected is that the public is better served; that the progress of one company re-acts benellekilly on the other; and that again the Esatera Counties has become • dividend-paying concern. Apply the same spirit to the contests raging in other quarters, and the like results will follow; and not by the withdrawal of all competition, but by the substitution of rational for irrational competition. This is the only right and sound policy; between it and government interference, if not control, directors will hare to choose. Amalgamation is an evil on too large a scale for the public to submit to it. EAsr You( Miterta.—A meeting of the East; Riding lieutenancy was held at the Court House, Beverley, on Saturday, the 21st instant, to receive the returns of the constables, from all the parishes and townships in the Hiding, of the number of vo lunteers w►o have offered to enlist in the Militia. The Earl of Carlisle, the lord-lieutenant, was present. The number of men required is about 800; notwith standing the inducements held out by placards, sett ing forth the advantages of enlistment, and circu lated in every parish, it appears that the total num ber of volunteers who have presented themselves is just twenty-seven. Nine of them are from one small town (Cherry Burton), who expect to be made ser geants. Beverley has only furnished one, and be hopes at least to be made corporal Simpson. Through out the whole of North Holdernese, a large agricul tural district, not one volunteer has been found. Volun tary enlistment in the East Hiding has failed. We hear that Mr. Shepherd, the clerk to the lieutenancy, has gone to London, to ascertain whether It is the intention of the government to enforce the ballot. Should such an uttenipt be made, it is said that meetings will be held in every parish to resist it. Von. BY BALl.or.—The Northern it concludes an acute and diapasaionate review of the unfortunate affair at Sea mile-bridge, and the au' sentient transactions arising out of it, with the (..Bowing practical remarks But there is more beyond. It N plain, from the evidence at the inquest, that the electors who were hrogght on can to vote, guarded by a mili•ary escort, were bruught against their will. Their hearts were with two of the candidates. They came under dm threat and frown of landlord and agent to vote for another. They sympathised with the crowd, :11,4 th ey bad no ohjec!ion whatever to he greened. Th e i r I military escort was to them a sign of degradation, and the who looked with anything hut an unfriendly eye on the mob *, .Sorted round their cars. On this there can be no tea coal opinion, whatever we may think about th• other point* of the case. Those men were forced by their land hiEhl to Elt• against their coneriencet They were drives t the poll on cuts raaetly as convicts are conveyed to proms. The rioters knew this, and that the sympathy of the 'guarded' elector. were with them. The knowledge em'..oldened them t , Attack the soldiers ; and here lies the true origin of the ,listatrous riot that has ended in the' death. of several urn, and Cie coramittel of her Majesty's troops and of /*tit , . at peace on • charge of wilful murder. What stronger argument than this could be al +en in favour ot the ballot? Talk a. you will of priestly coercion or coerelo.; ; 1.41, are shameful and disgraceful wh, reser they are .s ri. ilk' fi,r eithee 'Acre is no cue* • 60 1 0 .1 one. erni Ow? one 6: At estabfolivneof of roe. by ' Gatot. AKDINtL WIsEMAN aniced at Amiens on Satin.- dhy, rnd was reeeired by the bishop in his episcopal palm*. Ile 14 at Clunbrai to-day, taking part in the religious fete and proclaim that has ea 1. bow talked of. FRANCE. PaltlB. lionosy Evaxmo. Tho ministers continue to desert Paris. Tester. day Yale Muupss started for Troyes, to preside over the Council-General of the Aube. To-day M. Magne, having settled the concession of the Cette Railway in favour of an amalgamation of the com peting companies, will set out fur Perigiteux N take the chair in the Council-General of the Dordogne. Notwithstanding these extraordinary efforts to give as much weight and solemnity as possible to the sessions of the departmental assemblies, many still entertain doubts as to the timelines or even the design of making just yet a decided move for the empire. 'lo such it ap pears probable that the wishes expressed by t& councils will not generally aim at the hereditary empire, but will simply desire institutions of a more stable and permanent character. Such, for instance, might be the . presidency for life instead of for ten years. This view is rather countenanced by the luke warm tone of the government papers. Neither the Putrie, Pays, nor Conalitistienhet says a word about introducing the imperial form of go vernment; whereas it is evident that, if this were the order of the day, the two first at Last would open full cry upon the scent provided for them. In fact one can hardly interpret tho tame- ness et the addresses of the councils of *trendiest.- meat otherwise than by supposing that no great efforts bare been made to pump out of those munici pal bodies, the majorities in which are passive in dransents of the administration, any vehement ex lon of imperialism. Be this as it may, I understand the Senate will be idled in the course of the next month to examine Thee addresses of the councils of arrondissements and apartments, and to draw up a repo rt with conchs sins as to the dri ft of the national w ish, and the no tare of the changes desired in the constitution. The Senate will at the same time probably report upon as petitions emamating from the people, as well as Mom the bodies by them elected. The activity of the prefects in procuring signatures to such petitions at this moment is perhaps attributable to such a design. Yesterday the President hold a review at Versailles. You are aware that the carabincers and cuirassiers quartered in that city have been, from the first bub oes of the President's fortunes, that portion of the army which has displayed the warmest gratitude for treats of champagne and sausages, and never omitted an opportunity of shouting "Vivo l'Empereur !" as the shortest way to the paradise of inebriation. Yes terday, true to their substantial creed, they cried "Viva rEmpereur !" loader than ever. Six regi ments were reviewed, one of infantry and five al cavalry. The cries of all were the same. The Pro sident was accompanied by General Magnin, General the Marquis de Lawoestine, and Colonel board. Two conventions have been signed within the lost two days between France and Belgium ; the heat, as I mentioned in a previous letter, suppressing the piracy of French literary works; the second is not a renewal of the old treaty, but simply grants a few advantages in the commerce of books to Belgian, which I am given to understand are of no importance. The minister of public works signed yesterday the concession of the Bordeaux to Cetto Railway with two branch-lines, one to Bayonne, and the other to Perpignan, to a company formed of the companies Pereire-Erpeleta, David Salomon', Grimaldi, and others. The duration of the concession is to be 99 years, and the state guarantees a minimum of interest off per cent. The branch-line to Bayonne was adisd to the original project at the pressing solici ted.= of the Spanish government, which has on dortaken to have a railway executed from Madrid to the French frontier as far as Iran. The branch-line to Perpignan is to join the Barcelona railway at a point on the frontier of the Pyrint-es-Orientales. It was expected that a decree pursuant to this arrange ment would have appeared in the Moniteur this morning. It is reported in some quarters that the delay is owing to a proposal by another company at the last moment, which may perhaps lead to a foams, I know not whether a restoration of the Called Noir has taken place; but I find the letters which reach me through the post occasionally resealed in 'hi most clumsy manner, and indeed without any stissipt . 4 concealment, as the superadded seal bean dm 'MUM stamp of the poste restanhr. I imams in elf despatch a sample of this unblushing violation of - private correspondence. A decree in the Muniicor fixes the 20th of Sept. u the day on which the councils of arrondissement are to meet for the second part of their sessioo, which is not to exceed five days. Nerciations have been resumed between France and Sardinia for the junctions of the railways of the two eountries. The following circular has just been addressed to the prefects by the Minister of the Interior, Agricul ture, and Commerce : Monsieur le Prefet—The government, as you are aware, considers the establishment of mortgage banks as one of the most powerful means of satiating the agricultural intereste, and it desires to hasten as mesh as possible the moment when the country m .y reap the advantages which that lastitation is intended to enure. That moment can na sew be far distant. At Paris the mortgage bank, the allnlntee of which have been approved of, is about emiememee its operations, and in the departments the nuelvky with which the most influential men occupy thenissives is founding similar establishments; the num ber edembeeribers who unite with them; the amount of egad appears to promise that the institution eibleli France is indebted to the solicitude of the Prince Preideet will naturalise itself sooner than any one could ban dared to hope. It is important, in order to emend • movement which I am happy to point out to yea, to as the banks which an organising themeelves, and several of which are about to enter on their operations. The government has not lost sight of the clause of the decree of Feb. 28, according to the terms of which the state and the departments may take a certain amount of the mortgage notes which will be issued by the banks. It has wished to prepare itself to realise the measure implicitly contained in that article, and to guarantee to the mortgage banks one of the encourage ments best calculated to mean to them at their outset that confident* which is necessary in order that their securities may be accepted without hesitation and considered as one of the surest modes of investing capital. By its article 24, the law of Bth July, 1862, fixes at ten millions the sum which the state may devote in 18,53 to the purchase of mortgage notes. The government has well founded hops that on their aids the representatives of tne departmental interest will seerad with all their efforts tho work which it Lai undertaken. The councils general are about to amenable, and their excellent composition is a esilleket gaarantee that on this occasion, as on others, they will unite in the idea of the government. I request yen, therefore, to consult the council-general of your department on the question as to whether it will not think it desirable to devote a certain sum to the purchase of mortgage notes as soon ma mortgage bank should be formed in your department. The council general will remark that the question is not to alienate any capital, but to give • sure and immediately productive em ployment to the funds which might appear to them disposable. So soon as the council-general shall have come to a decision on the subject, I beg you to transmit it to me ; I sincerely desire that the financial state of your department will permit it to appropriate a certain sum to the useful par pose I have above pointed out. It will, I have no doubt, be happy to contribute its part towards lavouring the esta. blithest at of companies, which, when directed with ink ment, sod in the spirit which dictated the decree of Feb. 28, 1852, cannot fail to become for landed property, sad for agriculture, one of the most active instruments of improve ment and prosperity. The acme official has addressed the following cir cular to the prefects: Monsieur le Prefet—The harvest is already concladed in several parts of the country; in others it is in full activity, and you will soon have to make known to me the idea which is formed in your department of the result of the crops of corn and other farinaceous substances, until you are able to obtain the numerical estimate of the produce and of the presumed wants until the harvest of 1863. The report which you will have to transmit on the results of the crop considered as superior, clue], or inferior to the average year, must according to custom Pe addressed to me in the course of the next month, and it is needles, fee me to recommend to you that it be as exact es preamble. I particularly desire that as in former years you should take the opinion of the council general of your do pertinent on the subject. It is important also to consult the agricultural chainhers established in your department, cud to Annex their opinions to your report. As to the nu merical list, it must reach me at the latest by the end of October. That document is one of the principal elements which concur in forming the opinion of the government cc to the state of the sup! lies of the country and the extent of the wants of .he inhabitsnts, and that consideration will sullies to make you understand the importance at• tached to it. _ • The Frew, in its commercial review for the post week Mates there hake been large purchases of raw 1 materials by the manufacturers generally, and that many of the manufacturers of what are called Pan. articles, have received more orders than they can execute. The retail truck of l'aris has been mate rinlly henefitted by the influx of strangers for the fete of the 15th. It estimates the number of visitors 1 1 on that occasion at 500,00f1. Fears are still ex- 1 pres4ed for the corn and wine harvest, but, it is of opinion, that the rise in prices is more the effect of THE EXPRESS, TUESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 24 1852 speculation than of the real state of the markets. As regards wines, it argues that if there was no reason to fear that the grape disease may exist in 1853, as well as in 1652, there would be nothing to maintain the rise in the prices, as the stock on hand is con siderable. The fears that the grape disease is very general, seem, however, to be too well founded. The Lyons papers of Saturday state that very I heavy rains had fallen in that city and in the neigh bourhood, and that very serious disquietude is felt for the crops still standing. The Rhone had risen ' considerably, and some streets of the city were under water. The Jura journals state that the recen t heavy rains have done great damare to the crops.' One of the principal farmers of the Charente-In ferieure, writing to a local newspaper, says that ho " has only very sad news to give," and that the heavy rains and high winds have caused the " com plete loss" of all the wheat, barley, and other crops not got in. lie adds that iu the neighbourhood of Poitiers and Tours the " damage done is frightful." Mr. James Hogg, an Englishman, was tried on Saturday by the Tribunal of Correctional Police, on the charge of having introduced into France the pro hibited political publication called the Nouveau Bulletin I).oncaia, first published in Brussels, but now in London. It was proved that on the 6th of July last the Custom-officers at ltonlogne discovered, in a case containing natural flowers, a false bottom, in which were 500 copies of the Bulletin. The case was addressed to Mr. Thomas, Hotel des trangers, ' Rue 'Vivienne, and the customs' officers allowed it to be forwarded. A few days after, Mr. Hogg claimed the box at the hotel. Ile was called on to say who he was, and a search was made in his re sidence. A list of addresses of different persons to whom, it is supposed, the Bulletin was to be sent was found. The tribunal condemned him to six months' imprisonment and 3,0001 r. fine. The copies of the Bulletin seized were ordered to be con fiscated. At the Bourse, the Four-and-a• Halt per Cents. rose 10c., and closed at 105 c.; the Three per cents. rose 15c., and closed at 713. The St. Germain Railway rose 12.30. Lyons, 8.75; Orleans, and Strasbourg, 7 . 60 each ; Rouen, 6; Havre, 3.73. ITALY. PIEDMONT. TURIN, Auourr 19. The Armonia say. it is authorised to contradict the report of the resignation of Count Corta della Torre. It is his son who has resigned his functions. Commander Caaofari, chargé d'affaires of the King of Naples, has arrived here. Lord Hubert de Burgh, an attaché to the British legation, has also arrived from London. There is a vague talk of Pernati being replaced in the Ministry of the Interior by Count l'onza di San Martino. However, the private correspondence of the o.fficial Gazette denies the troth of all the rumours of a ministerial crisis. The Risorgirnetan of Tune, of the 20th, repeats the rumours of ministerial changes in the Sardinian cabinet. It is believed that Count Cavour will return to power, together with M. Ratazzi, who is now in Paris. Count Monza di S. Martino is spoken of for the interior, Chev. Villamarina for foreign affairs, and the Marquis d'Azeglio, it is believed, will remain in the cabinet without a special portfolio. TUSCANY. FLORENCE, AOOVST 16. The trial of Guerazzi and Romanclli commenced today. Other prisoners of less importance have been purposely included in the same tudictment, in the hope that the ridicule which attaches to the con duct of some of them may prejudice the case against the principal defendants. But little progress in the trial has been made to-day. The court was crowded. Several members of the Corps diplornatique were pre sent. Guerazzi and Romanelli were brought from prison in separate carriages, each escorted by half a troop of gendarmes on horseback. Immediately after the reading of the indictment, which is not yet finished, Guerazzi's counsel will take an objection to the jurisdiction of the court. As many as 370 wit nesses will be examined, although several for the defence have been kept away. The Advocate-General Biechiervi appears as judge-advocate. The court, composed of judges selected for their retrograde principles, is presided over by Nervi. The trial is generally alluded to as " the great scandal." Arrests to the number of 23 have been made at Siena. Some of the prisoners have been taken to Volterra and San Gewignano. Others have been brought to Florence. These arrests, the cause of ' which is unknown, have produced a very painful impression. Lord Westmoreland arrived at Florence on the lith from Vienna. ROMAN STATES. CAOLIAM, Auorer 14. The French squadron left Cagliari on the 9th. Its destination was not known. NAPLES. Acorn 16. Yesterday, in a council of state, his Majesty and his advisers took into consideration the propositions of an English company to construct a railway from Naples to Brindisi. The company is formed, as far as I can learn, and Signor Benedetto Albano, an Italian engineer, who has long resided in London, introduces the offer to the Neapolitan govern ment, through his brother, who is decorated both by the Poppee and the Xing for political services at Gaeta. M. Caress oea , minister of public works, has given his support to the propositions of the Eng lish company, and it may end in their obtaining a concession, and the usual guarantees, provided British capitalists have sufficient faith to bring the speculation into the market at home, for certainly at the present moment few will advance money here. SPAIN. MADRID, A vorsll7. The Council of Ministers has accepted the proposal made by M. Sanchez Mendoza for the construction of the railway from Cadiz to Xeres and thence to Seville. The Madrid journals of the 18th state that the Spanish government has decided on reinforcing the squadron eruizing off the Balearic islands. It will be composed of eight vessels, mounting to get her 201 guns. They are now lying in the Bay of Roses, and the crews are daily exercised in tiring and other ma- TICCUTTeII. GERMANY. BERLIN, Armen. 21. The Zollverein conferences were resumed to-day, the plenipotentiaries from all states, with the excep tion of Baden, having arrived. The result of the sitting has not transpired; nor shall we be able to judge of the position of affairs till we get a verbal copy of the declaration last prepared by the coalition at the Stuttgart conference, and which was probably handed over to Prussia to-day. As far as newspaper notices can be relied upon, it seems that the coalition has dropped the demand of a customs union with Austria, but renewed its demand that a treaty of commerce with Austria be concluded simultaneously with the treaties for renewing the Zollverein. Some people regard this as a great step towards reconcilia tion with Prussia, and expect that the coalition will, '', at the next step, come quite round to the Prussian programme. At present, however, I see no grounds for such supposition. The coalition claimed in the Darmstadt resolutions in favour of the connexion ) with Austria even more than was contemplated at , 1 the Vienna conference. Now, however, the Austrian ambassador, Count Recliberg, seems to have permitted the coalition governments at Stuttganl to abate their demands down to the stipulations of the Vienna protocol. Bat whether Austria will allow them to recede further is the question on which the whole issue of the affair mu-t turn; be , enuhe Prussia can never accept the conditions of that protocol ; and if Austria will not release the southern states from their obligations, the Zollverein must be split. But it is not only the Vienna protocol and the ' Darmstadt treaty, by which the southern states are bound ; the Austrian diplomacy endeavours to make the existing Zollverein's treaty a handle on them. There is a clause in this treaty to the effect that it shall become binding, with all its provisions, for a further term of 12 yam from 1864 on all members rof the Zullverein who shall not notify their secession before thu end of 1851. Prussia alone hes given due notice. The southern states have not done so. Therefore, it is argued they are bound together till ltt by their old Zollverein treaty, in which they can alter nothing without unanimous consent. Con sequently it is in the power of any one of the south ern states to interpose its veto against the re-admis sion of Prussia, whereby a conflict would arise, which can be settled only by referring the whole affair to the Frankfort Diet, and placing commercial relations in Germany under the decision of federal authority ; which is Austria's grand aim, and the very thing which Prussia will avoid at uny price. It is not improbable that Prussia, seeing, as it soon must, that it has no alternative but to suffer federal interference or to split the Zollverein, will resolutely take the latter course, if it can make sure of keeping llanovcr, which, however, is shy of a union with Prussia alone. M. von der I'fordtcn has resumed the duties of his office. The accounts about the steps taken against him during his leave of absence seem to have been exaggerated. General von ltadowitz, who has been living, since his retirement from the ministry, in a private capa city at Erfurt, has been appointed director of the establishments for military instruction in Prussia. The Princess of Wasa, with her daughter, Princess Carole, had arrived at Stuttgard, on their way to Vienna. The Emperor of Austria arrived at Ischl on the 17th inst. While the ministry is externally engaged in re conciling its commercial policy with the conflicting demands of Prussia end Austria, it is internally at strife with the chamber on a question of finance. The sitting of the Second Chamber on the 16th was consumed in hot debates which terminated in the declaration made by the government commissary that upon the ground taken up by the chamber an un derstanding between it and the cabinet was impossi ble. Upon this M. Seeger, leader of the opposition, promp replied that the right of granting supplies belonged to the chamber; if the government was dissatisfied with what the chamber deemed it right to vote, no budget could be sanctioned ; an adminis tration without means must then resign, when men in whom the chamber could confide would be found to fill their places. The Camel Gazelle of the 20th states that the Wurtcmberg proposal for composing the Zollverein differences tends to the prolongation of the union for a short series of years, the admission of the Steuer verein on equitable terms, and the conclusion of a commercial treaty with Austria far the same term, upon the basis of the project marked A in the pub lished protocol of the Vienna conferences. TURKEY. The Mediterroneo of Genoa, of August 18, contains correspondence from Constantinople, brought by the French mail•packet Orontes. On the departure of this vessel from the Bosphorus a fire, which lasted several days, was still raging in Constantinople. It was estimated that in the quarters of Ocluta, Pera, and others no less than 4,000 houses had been consumed. This correspondence also speaks of the discovery of a plot against the life of the Sultan, organised by his brother, with a view of usurping the throne. The Turkish fleet sailed from Smyrna on the 9th, for Rhodes. PORTUGAL. The Peninsular and Oriental Company's mail packet Tagus, Captain Russell, from the Peninsular, arrived at Southampton last night, and landed her mails under the charge of Lieut. Hay, R.N., Admiralty agent. Her dates of sailing are : Gibral tar, August 15; Cadiz, 16; Lisbon, 19 ; Oporto, 20 ; and Vigo, 20. The Tagus . brings 37 passengers, and eight packages of specie. A mongst h er passen gers is M r. a Hislop, who has been declared by the Portuguese government the successful competitor, on behalf of the Central Peninsular Railway Company of Portugal. In Portugal the crops of grain will be good, but that of grapes has to some extent failed, and heavy prices are demanded. Exchange, M. Discount on Lisbon Bank notes, 21 per cent. Our correspondent writes as follows: LISBON, Ammer 9. Dictatorial legislation goes on by @team, but never mind if it go in the right way. The ministers appear certainly to entertain new ideas of commerce, and are therefore beginning to reduce the tariff on many articles, and give greater facilities to it. A decree permits the steamers touching here, going to Breed, to take in any portion of cargo, paying only a tonnage duty upon the merchandise they receive on board , but specie or bullion remains sub jeet to the until duties levied on its owner. It is expected that the recently improved policy of the ministry in relieving and encouraging commerce will almost immediately be extended to the abolition of the odious soap monopoly, which exacta from the pockets of the needy a seat sum for a beastly commodity, for which the public are obliged to pay the enormous sum of 124. sterling per lb. ; while the passenger coming to Lisbon is liable to have his shaving box riled of even half an ounce of good shaving sup, should he have it. It is time such legal plunder should be put a stop to. The position of the ministry seems somewhat inexplicable. It is still rumoured that a strong desire exists to form a Ca bralists union in order to keep down the Progresaistes ; the article in the Diario, says "all parties hostilise the ministry, but it is determined to proceed in the line of conduct it has wetted ;" it is, however, evident that if all parties are atone to it, it can only maintain its position by force ; and as the Cabrelista journals are extolling its conduct and policy, there is some reason to think that that party is de• sirons of drawing it into a snare, and then ousting it alto gether. The Progresaistas certainly keep the marshal on the horse, and he may yet see the necessity of drawing the ties closer with them ; they are not ambitious, and even dislike office; but I am persuaded they will not sit down quietly under a permanent dictatorship, for the only legislation now acquired under it is the framing of an electoral law, so as to carry out the reform of the charter, by prescribing in what way the " direct election " therein guaranteed is to be carried into effect, The much respected president of the English college in this city. The Rev. Edmund Winstanley, D.D., died on the 14th last, aged 82. The Medusa sailed on the 9th. Rio de Janeiro is declared " suspected" from the Ist July, and Parahiba from the 17th. Tnz CHOLERA.—Tho accounts received to-day (Monday) of the devastations of this dreadful scourge in portions of central Europe, are sufficient to put our unitary authorities on the qui rive. By the last accounts from Warsaw the cholera is rapidly spreading, and the disease increasing in intensity, the police report of t h e 13 t h i nst. shows ME nearly half of the cases ended fatally. On the above date there were 660 persons attacked, of whom 244 died, 263 were recovered, end there remained under treat ment 1,483. The alarm among the population of the city is excessive. The Breslau papers contain an appeal to the public for contributions fur the relief of the population of Landsberg in Upper Silesia, where the cholera is ruing. The official report confirmed by the chief president of the province, states that there had been up to the 17th instant 246 cases, which is nearly 25 per cent. of the whole popula tion ; of these 109 cases, or 10 per cent. of the inhabitants, had died from the disease, 62 had recovered, and 7.5 were still under treatment. In the village of Krusaw zewitx, two miles from the town, the proportion has been still greater, as 40 per cent. of the population had been at tacked; but the returns :or the last three days showed that the eases were rapidly decreasing, and it is believed that the disease had exhausted itself. There is no intelligence of its further advance further westward. M. von Schlcinitz, the Chief President of Silesia, when the disease was in creasing to an alarming extent, went to Landatierg, with Dr. Eitner, a member of the sanitary council, to afford as sistance. They found the state of aflkire most deplorable. The only medical man in the place had died of the pest— the apothecaries establishments had been shut for some days from the same cause—all who had the means had fled the place ; while the neighbouring communes had cut off the communications for fear of infection. The minds cf the people had become depressed, and terror operated to • great degree to spread the (Becalm. With the assistance that was finally sent the people took courage, and it is hoped that the next returns will show a decreasing number of cases.— Keening paper. THE StIRIEVALTY.—To the great surprise of the City authorities, Mr. Chandler, who was elected sheriff at last Common Hall, has not only signified his intention not 'to serve the office, but has already paid the 6001. penalty. The reason which Mr. Chandler has assigned to the friends who proposed him to the Livery is, that the large business of the house to which he beloage will require his peculiar attention, in consequence of the delicate state of his father's ' health, which has been for some time on the decline. It Is este cted that • Common Hall will lie summoned in the course of the week. As the fees of under-sheriff have been by recent changes in professional charges considerably diminished, one great element in sheriff making has been almost completely dissolved, and it is believed that vigorous measures will be adopted to destroy every part of the system. bOUTH EASTERN RAILWAY.—IteItten of traffic for the week ending August 21,1852 :-18,887/. Ifs. 6,1. ; corre sponding week, 185 1 , 20,0841. 10s. 61 Decrease iu 1662, 1,1964. 18s. 114. THE GOLD FIELDS OF AUSTILai Adelaide papers to the 7th of May base con ! , to hand, and afford a much more cheermg pictur e of the prospects of that colony than the accounts pre viously received. A very beneficial effect nppears tq have been produced by the establishment of the monthly escort for the conveyance of gold from the Mount Alexander diggings. Un the sth, this esc ort came in with no less than 75,000/. worth of gold, and a striking account is given of the receipti on this large amount of treasure at Addable, where no less than 0,000 or 10,000 persons assembled to wit- MSS its entry, including the wives, children, and oiler relatives of many of the successful diggers. An tion of 75,000 L to the capital of the colony in a sit•it day and arising from the hard earnings of its inhabit. ants was thought an event worthy of bcisg recorded, and ',regnant with a , tufactor,yy antics. pationa. It was recommended that a resident com missioner at the diggings should he at once appointtA, and that a fortnightly instead of a monthly escort. , should be established. With a view to thoroughly examining the various districts of South Australia presumed to be aurikrous, a subscription list had been opened and a party, ten in number, consisting of old and successful diggers, had started for the scene of their explorations. They intend communi cating weekly with the honorary treasurer, who was accordingly expected to keep the subscribers in formed of the progress of their adventure. With reference to the operations of the gold assay office it is stated that the number of deposits was 1,121, and the value of the metal, at 3/. I Is. per ox., 411.519 f. The Portland (Australia) Guardian states, that some beautiful specimens of copper ore have been brought into town from the vicinity of the Wootton. One piece had been tested, and estimated to conthin 73 per cent of copper. The other specimen was of almost pure metal. " This item of cheering news,' states the journal in question, " has count to us from such an unquestionable source, that no suspicion can be attached to the truth of the report. With the present low, uncertain state of the labour market, nothing of course could be done with the richest lod e ever discovered; but there it is, the future fortune of hundreds, and one of the numerous resources of the district, which only requires labour to develop:: MOUNT ALEXANDER. Mom the Special Commimioner or the To give any accurate idea of the appearance of the d n .!. gings would he next to impossible. Situated in the heart of a rather densely timbered country, the town resident would on his arrival naturally anticipate seviag lung mac. of snow-white tents crowded toot ther, or picturesquily grouped in a scene of delightful verdure, the long -tang ed grass forming a living carpet under his feet, and cool um brageous shrubs interspersed around. Hoe different, how. ever, is the reality from the picture thus drawn by fancy t The road which winds along the creek through the nigglers, is, from the constant traffic, ten times more dusty than even dusty Melbourne, and the heavy gusts of wind which pour through the valleys with great violence, whirl it up in clouds, and scatter it far and near upon everything around. The newly.crected tent does not therefore long retain its brilliant whiteness, a few blasts powder it ethmtually, and give it the same sombre, indescribable, dusty hue that dis tinguishes its neighbours, and won take off its freshness. In the a 1020 way, such trees as have escaped the ale are dusted to an unnatural brownness, and look more like the desperate attempts at vegetation made by the striated shrubs of a Hackney roadside villa, than the giant growth of an Australian forest. Even off the road, the earth is so trodden and worn by the thousands of feet that are tan stonily passing and re-pawing, that not the faintest sign of verdure remains upon the ground, all being bare and dusty; while on the southern side of the creek, the hills are so pierced, and the subsoil so tossed and tumbled about %you their face, that they look like nothing but grave.: or chalk pits and stone quarries. When to this is also added the constant feeding of the innumerable home which throng the digging'', eating off the gran on the few hills that have nut been ransacked, and even cropping the shoots of the few shrubs that grow amongst the roots, baring them of every particle of ver dure, and the rude rough look of the jagged mks which protrude from the bare surface, anything hut a refreshing picture meets the eye. In fact , the very fi rs t s i g h t o f the Forest Creek gives to the traveller a very distinct impres sion of the parching aridity which now prevails. I have said that the ranges were heavily timbered; but in this I wish to be understood to allude to the quantity rather than to the size of the timber, there being hut very few trees of more than three feet diameter, and these only on the data of the creek, being principally spotted guns and bastard box. The majority of the stiingy bark, which is the pre railing timber of the hills, range from ten to fourteen inches through, and having their outside bark blackened by the action of frequent tires, form a sombre bockgrosed to what is now anything but a lively picture. You have heard of the failure of the water on the ground, and doubtless almost daily paragraphs from one source or another have reached you respecting the diminished yield of gold on this account; but few have yet adverted to the many evils which this want of one of the first necessaries of life is causing ; none have told of the seeds of mortal disease that have been sowed, and are now sowing. Scarcely any have mentioned, except casually, the name of the demon Dysentery, that is now stalking abroad through the air gings, breaking down with ruthless arm the stout and sturdy, and bending the weak and puny to the dust, giving them graves amidst the soil, charged with the golden dews they so much coveted, and in search of which they base loot their lives. Yet all these are evils attendant on tie lightly talked of scarcity. The political economist touches c or gorily ow the subject in accounting for the falling off in whet has become an article of large exportatiou ; bat so thought enters into hie calculations of the bees that are bMng sacrificed, of the wive* that are beset made widows, or the children that are being Mad, father less. All this, however, is daily occurring. Death toll.,we death in quick succession, until the humble little bursa: place of four graves, to which one of your correspondetta has alluded, his gradually assumed the appearance of a town cemetery. Leaving this sombre topic, let me Blame at the political and the social evils that the want of rain is causing, though, even politically, I doubt much if that which affects so largely the lives of a great portion of the community is not a matter worthy the consideration of the statesman as well u the philanthropist. In this I am borne out by the precedent shown by the South Austrahan go yernment. Their first step towards forming a road to Mount Alexander was to send out a party of sappers to sink wells. Too careful of the lives of their p etiolation to mark them out a road on which they might perish by the way, by that worst of causes thirst, their fore thought provided against any such casualty. Woh us how different has been the ease! Truly may it be said, like master like man ; the apathy of the hi officers of the government his been transmitted to those lower in the scale, and our gold commissioners have thought only of themselves, leavin g the population to get water or sot, as they beet could. With every prospect of a long continued drought, the most shameful improvideece of water has been manifested; yet, whilst the men in office have jealously preserved the waterhule in /heir own imme diate locality for their own use, by means of au armed sentry, ao effort has been made, either by indirect mean: or otherwise, to secure a good supply of water for the people. In various parts of the creek there were, some few weeks back, several excellent wells, from which a pure and whole' some supply could be obtained; but as the water tailed is the creek, these wells were looked upon with jealous eye by many of the diggers, who, thinking more of personal gain than of the health or comfort of their fellows, gradually sank cells around these spots, leaving scarcely any eight feet square of spare unpierced. The water thus procured, at first m atimailience, was not used for domestic purposes, but was applied, long u it lasted, for gold washing; and the result has been, that the heavy demand thus made upon the springs, added to the continued draught and the great evaporation. from so many holes being open, has at last exhausts-I ti , m_ Now, this could not have been done without the knowledge of the commissioners, and yet they remained inactive and quiescent, although they had every power in their hands to have prevented this shameful waste. One of the first elleati from this cause has been the dimmest, and anon/than already alluded to, both of which might have b een p revente d b y th e ordinary f o rethought which we have a ri g h t to expect from intelligent men. The other effects lie beyond human con trol, for nothing but the clouds of Heaven could have ever furnished such a quantity of water as our diggers would daily demand. As it is, hundreds are now walking about idle, knowing of spots where gold exists in abundance, but yet without the means of washing it out from the earth ; these are such as have brought up a good supply of provision, and are thus berm,' the necessity of providing for existence, and consequently have 110 inclination to labour for a very pour remuneration. Very many there are, however, whose daily aunts compel them to toil for subsistence, and hard indeed is their labour, confined as their remuneration is to such gold as they can pick out dry from the soil. Even amongst thew. eases of luck sometimes occur, and I have several times heard of lucky finds. There is a third din again, who continue toiling despite all personal discomfort, milieus only to in crease the store of gold, for which alone they have ought our shores. Under this state of things then it is not at a ll surprising that the sound most pleasing to the diggers ear—the rattle of the cradle as it rocks—is no longer Mini Here and there only will you see some desperate individual baling a pea-soupy liquid, if that may be called hqual which is of the consistency of batter, into his cradle. reek; ing frantically the while, but, as may be expected. loom" el. the finer and more valuable portion of his gold. Thew. bb , they a ff e ct the quantity of the produce of gold, I 'hall t the political evils of the drought ; the nodal evils I she enter upon in my next. The following letter, written by a gentleman who resided some months at the " diggi ngs ," t reats o f th e . prospects of the mines, to the exclusion of other less law° • mg local topics . All theil th at e s y al h o a drained along g ve d Foni ne t d eachth Cretk hav e hem reli t :l ' 4 16 d ' dry wells walk that i the only available water for washing, w it!, the ex, e ptioe ot a few wells near the post-Alec, is at the distance of three miles, near the commissioneea, where the " rush left little elbow room for those win`, nre lucky enou.:l. finding plateee for their tubs suet cradle*. The Neer t" , 4 lied and. White Hills, and the Adelaide Gully Flat fast hod *WI its " rash," awl many of the holes hare rod WC4