The Express. — London, England, 1853-08-10 00:00:00

i s a petition which still remains to be decided. At present the cartes of reformation are too few to allow 0 1 oar indulging in ye:ly largo hopes of ►uch a welt. 'foe man wl.o enters a gaol as a convicted b urg tar, ur highway robber, or swindler, or violator of a ny of the chief decencies of life, generally comes cut again without any change in those feelings which induced him to perpetrate the crimes of which he was f oun d guilty. Damaged in character, soured in t o wer, with no honest means of getting a living, it i 4 a nnruele if he does not return to his old courses. Ile has seldom any other resource. Coun tries that have no facilities for transports- Van t xperience the full effects of this. A u rg e proportion of the crimes which come before public tribunals in ehow count:les are committed by returned convicts. Th..e men ate at war with so ciety. Ilia they make society pay the expenses of the wadi ,, or co urse, colonies feel these evils as acutely as the ntuther country ; and hence, and not b um a ny sentimentalistu, arises the deep-grounded iners i o n which has manifested itself in many of our ciao ial puseessions against the reception of convicts. This feeling the mother country is bound to re aped; Lut she may at the taunt time consult her own interests also. And there does not seem any reason ,b y E n . 4 l A nd, which has greater facilities for trans portation titan any other country in the world, should sot be u'. e to devise means for getting rid of her crautur.s without irtlietiug upon the country to which the criminals are transported any discomfort is not countertralanetsl by the benefits the country may receive by the convict labour. At sty rate, as lung rts any colony is willing to rectivv convicts, the Guvernment of the mother country is justified in transporting criminals there. At present, Western Australia is desirous of receiv ing tne benefit of convict labour; and there is no reason why our convicts should not be transported thither in such numbers as the colony is able to abort. Lund I'.sLususr"N's argument against the fuun datam of new penal colonies derived its whole force flew looking exclusively upon the reformation of the criminal as the great er.l of punishment. But society has its own interests to con sul: as well as those of the criminal. Let us do all we can to transform our convicts into honest la bourers ; but, at the same time, let us protect our 0, against the possible misdeeds of the convicts who ntu.•e to be reformed. The use of trausporta tion, according to Lord l'Aust.thsroN, has been that it atforis an opportunity to tho convict to make a grailu-I change in his habit', and thus to prepare the uay for his gradual absorption into the ucw community of which ho be comes a member. If we establish new penal settlements, ho observed, there will be no free community to which the enlarged convict tau attach himself. lie would have to be set free as a freeman in a colony of convicts, which is objec tionable. Probably ; but that is no sufficient reason why he is to be cast loose upon the society which has wisely banished him from its pale. And then Lord VAUD:IO37ON only talks of difficulty of finding new cohnits. But these difficulties are not intim._ mountable. The reformation of a criminal is a most legitimate object, but the protection of society from the criminal's evil practices is a paramount duty. Even then, although the criminal's chance of being re formed in an exclusively penal colony should be shown to be insignificantly small, still this ought not to be set against the safety which the community whine laws he has violated enjoys from his absence. His crimes ought not to invest him with such claims to our consideration, that we should neglect mea sures for our own protection. From oecr.kindliness to the criminal, do not let us injure the honest. Proper treatment of Juvenile Offenders will largely diminish our criminal classes, but for inveterate evil doers we must find penal settlements. The plan of penal servitude which it is proposed to adopt, in lieu of transportation, for all periods less than fourteen years, is, as far as it can be under stood, judiciously contrived, but, for the reasons above stated, it is only to be considered advisable upon the supposition that no more penal colonies can be estab lished satisfactorily—that no more places of trans portation are open to us. If this can be shown, then employment upon public works is as good a method of making use of our criminals as can be devised. It, however, has the one great defect, that the cri minal, after having served his time of imprisonment, is let loose with a brand upon him, in the midst of a society which has punished him, and which is always regarding him with suspicion. He has none of the facilities for meeting with employ ment which he would find in a new country where the labour market is overstocked. His endeavour to become an honest man will be attended with great, and in many eases insuperable, difficulties, and he will be practically necessitated to return, in the majority of cases, to his old courses. If, therefore, our present colonies object, as they have a per fect right to do, to the reception of convicts, oar regard to the criminal u well as respect for ourselves should inditee us to seek for other places of transportation, and not retain in the country those who have shown no respect for its laws. The vast extent of our possessions renders that easy for as which would be difficult or impossible for many other nations, and by a proper selection of such spots we should afford better chances of reformation to our convicts, and of safety to ourselves. IF we are a Natioset f3hopkeepers,—as continental report still occasionally declares us to be,—we do not manage our affairs so skilfully as might be expected. If we are a nation of philosophers,--as some of as are trying to imagine and give ont,—we have marvel lously little to show in the way of theory to account for some of our strange conduct. Bat, looking at the late cab catastrophe in a typical light, and at the present array of strikes, and at the exasperating uncertainty the nation is in about peace or war, and at the way our representatives are managing our and their business in this month of August, it is pretty clear that we neither have our business well in hand, like shopkeepers, nor know where we are, and what we would be at, like philosophers. The fact is, we are living in a transitional age, when, events being ap parently desultory, conduct is from hand to mouth. The world's arrangements are provisional; and the behaviour of mankind is of an impromptu character ; and this is the state of things in England as else where. We ought to know by this time, however, that under all appearances of confusion there are great natural laws at work, in society as much as among the stars and in the interior of the globe. The peitical economists tell us this; and, though the truth does not seem to be very fertile in their hands. society is obliged to them for their assertion and proof of the fact. We want now something more than the assertion and proof of the fact. We want to know how we should act in conformity with it. For instance, we need to understand what to expect, and what to do in the present state of the labonr•market, and the present temper of the labouring classes. Here is the Stockport strike—at an end, certainly, for a time and in a manner, but to nobody's satisfaction. The employers are as sure of their ground as ever, but yield to the im position of certain loss, to avoid the greater lees of locking up their machinery nod other capital; while the operatives have forfeited tens of thousands of pounds, and cannot recover the position they held three months since under two years of full work on the advanced terms they have gained: I and, if those terms really impose loss on the employers, of course they are not likely to lust two years. The discomfort and loss caused by the cab strike needs no furthil description. Tiede, which was already audering seriously from the un certainty about peace or war, is farther injured by strikes among dock labourers in London, Liverpool, and elsewhere. Strong bodies of police are neces sary to keep the peace wherever these strikes take place : but, then, the police arc striking. Bodies of these trained guardians of public order are throwing up office, or giving notice of their intention to do so. Miners, shipwrights, carpet-weavers, corkcutters, and many more, have turned out between the Laud's End and the Tweed. The poorly-fed Suffolk farm labourers have got an extra 6d. a week amidst the turmoil, and probably everybody wishes it were ten times as much ; and in the south of Ireland the rail way labourers have 10a. instead of Bs., which is all very well. 1 The formidable part of the case of general disturb ance of this kind is, that the parties most nearly concerned seem quite unconscious of the causes of their own action. All the turn-outs plead the dear ness of provisions; the employers point to a time when provisions were dearer, and men had the same wages, or lower; the men are not ready with a reply, and the employers think they have settled the whole business. This is, however, b 4) far from being the case, that herein lies the chief peril of the mis understanding. The truth of the case lies very much deeper; and there can be no thorough settle ment, no security of harmonious social action, till it is brought to light. And how is this to be done? In a general way, we know and are all saving, that the condition of the labour market is changed, and still changing daily. We are all talking of the blessings of increased commerce, of improving agri culture, of abundance of food, a general ability to buy it—all consequent on Free Trade. We talk of the prodi gious introduction of money, at the precise time when the operation of Free Trude made it most desirable. We talk of the emigration which has lightened the bur den of Ireland to our hearts and our exchequer at once, and which is daily transforming our home labourers into colonial customers. We hear accounts of grumbling workhouse matrons, who have to hire washerwomen and window-cleaners, and bribe old men to pump ; and we see the curious change of manners in villages and country towns, where the gentry, who used to dispense employment as cha rity, have now to wait their turn to get served. Some of us are enjoying the spectacle of this turn ing of the tables; while others point to the evils that are arising from it in the increase of some personal vices and the alarming and disgust ing frequency of offences against the person. There seems to be no doubt that where large bodies of workmen are congregated, drunk enness has much inci eased, and with it crimes of pas sion of all kinds. Mr. Furzaoit's Act for the better protection of women and children from brutal vio lence is a sign of the times, bath in its existence and in its inadequacy. All these things we see because, having eyes, we cannot but see them. The question is whether we sec—even dimly, as those classes themselves feel it—what lies below and behind. We believe our prosperity to be sound, and there fore likely to be permanent—not even at the mercy of war. Under the pall of the last great war, national life was moving and growing, and prepara tion was making for subsequent improvement of every kind; and no war can ever again overtake us at such disadvantage, or so operate on our national welfare. If oar industry could not be destroyed then, it cannot be fatally trammelled now. There will be no surplusage of labour in Great Britain during this century, whether we have peace of war, and the social position of the labouring classes may be re garded as permanently changed. Now, the question is whether we—either as tradesmen or philosophers— have made, or are making, any political provision for this very serious change ? The case of the cab men ought to be full of instruction and warning to us, and the more because the cabbies are so far from being a fair representation of the British journey. men. They find their wages fixed (implicitly) by Act of Parliament, and that they have no represen tation there ; and the restlessness caused by this state of things has extended, and is extending be yond their own body to orders of men who have no other sympathy with them than in the sense of poli tical helplessness. There is, perhaps, no fact at this moment occupying a larger space in the popular mind than this—that the cabmen and.the police have alarmed society by showing what a power of social inconvenience they hold for use in the absence of political rights. The Reform Bill which the Ministers are going to prepare during the recess must not be what it would have been if prepared five years ago. The talk that goes on in political reviews, in clubs and coteries and parties, and even in the House, is much like what it was five years since among the gentry who have finality in their minds, consciously or unconsciously, while they disavow it in words. We hear much the same propositions and controversies as formerly about the basis of representation being numbers or pro perty, or classes, or intelligence,—or some, or all, of these. Whatever theory of representation the Coalition Ministry may decide upon advocating, they must not for a moment lose sight of the altera tions in the state of society even since they pulped their promise of a Reform Bill for next session. They must open their minds wide to the spectacle of a labouring class rising in import ance while lessening in numbers, gathering about them a larger and a larger share of social interests ; accumulating property by millions in Savings Banks, in Freehold Land and other societies; paying taxes more extensively ; and, finally, becoming more inte rested in the theory and facts of political govern ment, and their own relation to it. No one denies that a large share of the intelligence and virtue of the country is found in that class; and what we assert is that we must have all the intelligence and virtue of the country represented in Parliament, and that no Reform measure will now suffice that is not prepared under a deep sense of the improving position of the labouring classes, and of their rights in relation to the National Council. We care not what theoretical controversies may be going on u to the head under which they are to be brought ; whether numbers, collective pro- perty, class or intelligence. If it is fairly granted that their interests are to be represented under some head or another, the mode will be settled by discus sion, as usual. The first thing requisite is that the labouring claims should be as important in the eyes of statesmen as they are in the daily experience of I every other order of men in the country—from the landlord or cotton lord to the humble shopkeeper. Both as shopkeepers and philosophers, we are bound to institute reform in another direction. The new Bill, if worth anything, will introduce new busi ness without, we suppose, an increased number of members to do it ; at any rate, without any considerable augmentation of the na tional council. Yet, we cannot now get our business done; and the present outrageous mis- I management, late hours, and waste of time and strength must be amended. Whether it be done by I more permanent committees, or other distribution of r ' labour—by an additional short session—by a change I in the Parliamentary session—by any or all of these methods, or by any not yet suggested, the thing has to be done, as everybody is saying ; and the time for I doing it seems to be when changes are to be intro duced into the constitution of Parliament, which must involve more or less change in the nature and amount of its busitiesa. As it is, a large part of the nation is affronted by exclusion from a hearing in Parliament; and a larger part by their inability to get their business done when there. Every man of business, and every reasoner in the country, sees that the time is come for both evils to be fairly taken in hand, and that the New Reform Bill offers the fit occasion. THE EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 10, 1853. RUSSIA ANI) TURKEY. The intelligence which wu receive from Vienna, while confirming the pacific announcement of the ..Voniteur, shows the necessity of construing it in the narrowest sense. Several inferences which seemed fairly deducible from the statement of the Moniteur are already destroyed. The " note" accepted by the Czar is not the joint proposition of the four powers, but the Austrian note, containing the project which was to serve as a model in the construction of these propositions. So that, in fact, the Czar has not taken any engagement towards the western powers, but has merely expressed his sentiments with reference to a certain scheme. This is, doubtless, a great point gained in the interest of peace, and augurs well for the favourable progress of the remaining negotia tions, but it is impossible not to regret that the fact was not fairly stated in the first instance either in the Moniteur or by our owe ministers. Our Vienna correspondent writes :—" The question has often been raised whether the propositions of the powers include the immediate evacuation of the prin cipalities by Russia. I believe I may state without liability to correction, that they do not express that condition in a formal manner. A little consideration will suffice to show that such a demand could not be put forward under the circumstances in the first instance, and that its omission is in no way pre judicial to the interests of justice. It is to be remembered that the strife between Russia and Tur key is about a convention to be signed by the Porte, and rights to be gran•ed to the Emperor of Russia. The Emperor said that he would have the convention and the rights which he demanded or occupy the principalities. Upon the refusal of the Porte he kept his word, and pro claimed that he would hold Moldo-Wallachia as a " material guarantee" until he should receive the moral guarantee which ho demanded. The Czar having thus far proved himself a plain man of his word, the negotiators at this capital are compelled to take the quarrel on the ground where he has placed it. In accordance with the Czar's assurance they have assumed that he has only sent his troops there to compel the compliance which the I'orte refused to Prince Menchikoff, and consequently that when he shall have been satisfied by the Porte on the subject of the protection which he seeks to exercise over the Greeks of Turkey, hy will evacuate the territory which his generals now hold. For this reason the evacuation has not figured among the postulata sent to St. Petersburg, but it is not the less a sine qua non with the powers which befriend Turkey, and when once the main question shall have been settled, nothing will hinder the time and circumstance of the retire ment of the Russian troops from becoming the sub ject of diplomatic rcqui ement." A correspondence from Bucharest of the 23rd states that M. de Berthemy, an attache of the French embassy at Constantinople, had arrived there on a special mission to Wallachia. Prince Vogoridis, the representative of the Hospo tlar of Moldavia at Constantinople, left that city, on the 23th, for France. A letter from Bucharest of the 24th ult. states that the consuls of the foreign powers were not to quit the country, as had been reported. They had discontinued official relations with the government of the reigning prince, but kept up friendly rela tions with him, in the interest of the subjects of their respective governments. A letter from St. Petersburg of the 23th ult. men tions the arrival there of an envoy extraordinary of the Shah of Persia. He was attended by a nume rous suite, and accompanied by a nephew of Prince liolgorouki, the Russian ambassador at' eheran. Accounts from Cronatadt of the 25th ult. state that the 3rd division of the Russian Baltic fleet had just returned into port, and the Commauder Admiral Epanisohin had been summoned to St. Petersburg. The `tad division, which was at Kraisnaiagorke, had also received orders to return. The first division, which had not yet gone to sea, bad citified its preps rations. The 13.000 Egyptian troops are to form the gar rison of Constantinople, in place of the Guards, who are to go to Schumla. The Porte has contracted with Armenian merchants for the subsistence of the new forces. The Russian papers state, that the Emperor, on occasion of the report presented to him stating the rapid advances of the troops into the Principalities, had published an order of the day, expressing his thanks to all the officers concerned, and according a gratuity of two roubles to every private. These pecuniary gratuities, which are so often bestowed on the troops, are never paid down to them, but go to a fund, from which the soldier on quitting the service receives in a lump all that he has become entitled to during the time he served. In case of death it is paid to his heirs. CONSTANTINOPLE, JULY 25. The Hoapodars have been recalled as a matter of principle, but it is difficult to say whether, under the present circumstances, they may be in a position to comply with the orders of the Porte. The French and English Consuls, it is said, have received in structions from Lord Radcliffe and M. de Lacour, to lower their flags, and cease to act officially for the present, but remain till further orders at their posts, for the protection of their national interests. Gen. Oortchakoff has addressed a letter to Res chid Pacha, the same in substance as his proclama tion, but urging, moreover, the necessity of strict military discipline on all sides, and the danger of the slightest collision between the Russian and Turkish forces. The Prince arrived at Jassy in his travelling carriage, and was received by the Hospodar and a deputation of Boyards with "pomp and circum stance," and lodged at the hotel of the Minister of the Interior. The Russian troops, via Skulanie, reached that town in the utmost misery and exhaus tion. They thronged in overwhelming numbers to private dwellings in search of food and shelter, having been exposed during the day's march to a scorching sun, and drenched with rain, which, to wards evening, poured in torrents. Our preparations continue with the utmost vigour and activity. It is really difficult to describe the warlike ardour of the fleet, the army, and of the en tire Mussulman population—all firmly resolved to de fend to the last the national honour. Never at any period, in modern times, has the Porte assumed so formidable an attitude. An intelligent French officer in the government servicce assured me, that in case of war, the Russians will find their enemy in numbers, courage, and discipline, far dif ferent from the 27 raw battalions which so long and at times so effectually resisted them during the last war. The army of the Danube consists at present of above a hundred thousand chosen men, and is quar tered between Schumla, Rustchuk, Sistowa, and Wid diu. A council of war is to be permanently held at Varna; and my advice. of the 21st instant state that Omer Pacha and several other officers of dis tinction were expected there on that day. The same letter confirms the accounts of much sickness and in termittent fever ravaging the Russian forces in con sequence of the inundation of the Danube. Colonel Neale, it appears, is permanently settled at Schumla. Still rumours of a pacific settlement at the eleventh hour will no doubt have reached you. Here, at least, as mentioned in my letter of the 15th inst., they are gaining daily some degree of consistence and proba bility. It appears quite certain that the Russian cabinet has intimated to Austria that her mediation would not be unacceptable. M. de Bruck, the In ternuncia, has consequently received instructions from his government to make in this sense the re quisite overtures to the Porte, after having communicated this matter to his colleagues. Hence the utmost activity has been observable in the diplomatic circle for several days, and they have spared no efforts to impress on the Ottoman minis try an object of such vital importance. The repre sentatives of France and England, moreover, seeing that Russia considers the presence of the combined fleets at Besika as a hostile demonstration, have pro posed to withdraw them as soon as the Russian troops consent to evacuate the provinces and cross the Pruth. This proposition, it is to be hoped, will be favourably received at St. Petersburg. Reschid Pacha, in this instance, manifested the same spirit of conciliation, and deference to the opinions of the ambassadors which has distinguished him through out in these arduous transactions. A first council has been held, and the following resolution adopted, in reference to the proposed Austrian intervention. ' A noto is to be addressed to Count Nessclrode, having for ostensible object to protest evilest the occu pation of the provinces, but evincing at the same time a willingness on the part of the Sultan and his ministry to arrive at any solution of the difficulty, which might eatisfy the Russian . cabinet, without i n f r i ng i ng on t h e r i g h ts an d dig ! nity of the Porte. Mutual concession was to form the basis of this document--a sort of middle term-- . approaching, on the one hand, Prince 31enchikod's last demand, and. on the other, to the reply of the Ottoman government. The draft is to ho sent to Aril Effendi, the Turkish minister at Vienna, who, after having submitted it to the consideration of the Austrian cabinet, was to devise means, jointly with the representatives of England, France, and Russia, for transmitting it without delay to St. Petersburg. The best means of effecting this, it is supposed here, would be to despatch the Turkish Secretary of Lega- ! tion at Vienna, provided a passport can be obtained, and which, perhaps, may be attended with some diffi cultyp. The note, it is said, will be framed immediately by Iteschid Pucha, and if approved in council, and by the Sultan, sent by express to Vienna. Naha ex-Minister of Finance, in conse quence of connivance with Migurdijth,: the notorious Armenian banker, has been condemned by the tri bunals to pay tour millions and a half into the' Treasury. The Ajaino, war steamer, arrived here on the 22nd instant, with despatches for the French and English Ambassadors, and laden with 15,0q0 muskets fur the Turkish government. Five and thirty thousand more are on the way. The Egyptian fleet and army are not yet come, but hourly expected. Another French Post steamer arrived yesterday with 13.000 muskets more, and several French ()di cers, it is said, to join the army. On Saturda y , 11 p.m., the Chapt a l s t ar t e d w i t h despatches for France, England, and St. Petersburg. TESTIMONIAL TO ' MRS. CHISHOLM. Mrs. Chisholm, whose practical beneficence has often been recorded in our columns, is about to leave England, to resume in Australia the work of family colonisation. After thirteen years of hard, unre quited, most useful, successful labour on behalf of the humblest classes of the community, and in the pro motion of the soundest principles of colonisation, her zeal has not slackened—she is not wearied with doing good. With undiminished energy and cou rage, she has determined to apply her talents and experience to the difficulties which have arisen cut of the golden discoveries of Australia. Whru in 1817 Mrs. Chisholm brought to this country the results of the seven years she passed iu colonising New South Wales, our workhouses were crowded, employment was scarce, and the owners of property were filled with a vague dread of an inva sion of devouring pauperism. At that time,although a vague notion was prevalent that emigration sl as the true remedy for removing the distress of the country, no one dreamed of so distant a field as Aus tralia being available for that purpose; and, indeed, no one propounded any practical plan for carrying o u t the emigration which all admired in the abstract. Mrs. Chisholm, whose peculiar characteristic it is to patronise no hobbies, to learn as she lives, and neither to sacrifice her friends nor her protfye•s to any empirical system, soon gave up the favourite colonial notion—which has been misnamed a National. but which meant a Government, a bureaucratic, system —of colonisation. She saw that it was essential that to render Australian colonisation continuous it should be self-supporting and independent of govern ment aid. So rapid, so excited has been the progress of affairs, during the last six years, that we are likely to forget the very great difficulties which Mrs. Chis holm had to overcome in her imposed task of esta blishing self-supporting family colonisation. She had to gain the confidence of the working classes ; in that she was assisted by many hundred commissions with which she was charged for discovering wives, children, and other more distant relatives of free and prisoner colonists, anxious to share their prosperous employments with their townsfolk. She bad to make the advantages of Australia as an emigration field known among those whose education and reading were alike limited. In this task she was able to draw up and circulate a rich store of evidence from the many hundred statements which she had taken down word for word from the mouths of humble thriving settlers during her journeys through the" Bush" of Australia. She had to reform the system of packing poor emigrants with less comfort and not more decency than pigs in a sty, and to devise a plan which should in effect reduce the cost of passage within the means of the labouring classes. In spite of bitter interested opposition, the discouragement of neglect and ridicule, she succeeded in establish ing her Family Colonisation Loan Society, which showed the emigrating classes the power of small savings and mutual association as applied to emigra tion,—and which, for the first time, set an example of anxious care for the preservation of the modesty and decent feelings of humble emigrants as well as for their health and comfort. After seven years—during which her door, ever open to all who came for advice, assistance, comfort, and encouragement—day and night engaged in re ceiving and answering thousands of letters—often travelling the length and breadth of the kingdom without fee or reward to meet those anxious for her guiding presence—Mrs. Chisholm returns to Australia to pursue, under very different circum stances, the work she commenced in 1839. Australian emigration no longer needs a stimulus —rather the reverse. The wee of a society like the Familiy Colonisation Loan Society have passed away. We may now trust to the competition of shipowners, the increased knowledge of emigrants, and the pressure of public opinion for the steady im provement of emigrant ships. Perfect ventilation, enclosed cabins, washhouses and baths, will soon, by the rule of self-interest, be as much the rule as they are now the praiseworthy exceptions in emigrant ships. Loans from the chari table wealthy are no more required now than premiums for making deposits in savings banks. The working classes fully understand the principles of Mrs. Chisholm's plan, and will, doubt less, whenever needed, work it out as they have worked out other benefit associations. But in Aus. tralia there still remains a wide field of usefulness for the exercise of Mrs. Chisholm's influence and vigorous common sense. Among the successful gold diggers there are thou sands who have left their wives and children in this country dependent on public or private charity. There are others who only need her well-earned in fluence to divert them from the waste and debauchery of towns to the cultivation of the soil, and the civilis ing influences of domestic life. Others, again, who have failed at gold digging, for which they were never fit, require to be directed and encouraged by Mrs. Chisholm to other more suitable employments. In 1844, it was her task to show the colonial government and the colonists how some thousand unemployed emi grants could be profitably and happily distributed through the interior. In 1854 her mission will be to reunite the helpless at home with their successful kinsfolk in the colony, and to turn the stream of gold from the purchase of imported wines to the cultivation of Australian vineyards, from the tavern to the freehold homestead. The meeting held in the City yesterday, and re ported in another column, was held for the purpose of raising a testimonial of the sense the British public entertain of Mrs. Chisholm's great services in the cause of national colonisation, and partly to raise a fond which will enable her to pursue without check from straitened means those useful labours to which she has devoted her life. It is certain that this movement to do honour to a lady, who unites with zealous disinterested unsec tarian philanthropy a degree of common sense and plain practical wisdom honourable to her sex, will be met in a manner worthy a great commercial, reli gious, and charitable country. SUBMARINE AND EUROPEAN TELEORAPII COMPA NIRS.—The above companies' land line to Birmingham having been connected with the offices, No. 30, Cornhill, and UM, New-street, the company commenced transmitting despatches on Monday lest. The communication between the respective termini was found to be more than usually perfect, and the transmitting media apparently without flaw. There was no public ceremony upon the occasion ; and the only causes which render the event remarkable arc the great reduction in the tariff—the former amount of 2s. 6d. being reduced to 19., the Is. 3d. additional charge for each 10 words above the minimum of 20 having been changed to a tariff of 6d. for each additional 10 words, or fraction of 10 words; and the somewhat grati fying circumstance that the great link lines of Europe are now continued in one unbroken chain of communication front the continent through London and northwards as far as Birmingham. The companies' line to Manchester and Liverpool is to be rapidly proceeded with. FRANCE. PARIS, TUESDAY Evaxixo. We arc without anything new relative to the Eastern question. The rise at the Bourse is main tained. The telegraphic accounts of the proceedings in both houses of parliament last night were consi dered very favourable. I must observe, however, that while Lord Clarendon is reported to have said, amidst loud cheers, that "lie considered the imme diate and complete evacuation of the Principalities as the sine qua non condition of all negotiations," I cannot find that the most sanguine here venture to profess a belief that the proposition accepted by the Emperor of Russia contains any stipulation on the subject. A very curious explanation is given of the unexpected rapidily with which what all the world is for the present agreed to call the acceptance of the proposition of the four powers was received from St. Petersburg. M. de Meyendorff, the Russian ambassador at Vienna, was, as is aheady known, invited by the tho representatives of the four powers there to attend their conf, rences. This he declined to do, but they communicated to him their resolutions before they had put them into a formal shape. He was thus enabled, as early as July 28, or perhaps 27, to scud the substance of them to St. Petersburg, and there is every reason to suppose that the Emperor's acceptance, telegraphed from St. Petersburg on Aug. 3, is based, not upon the prepositions themselves, but upon his own minister's report of what they would be. It is very possible, then, it is said (and I am now quoting a Russian version) that the terms of evacuation of the Princi palities may not have been precisely stated to the Emperor Nicholas by M. de Meyendorft: This sug gestion lets in light upon a wide field for equivoca tion and intrigue. Mr. Tucker left Marseilles on Saturday night, in the Caradoc, with despatches for Lord Stratford de Redcliffe. The Moniteur publishes a further list of presidents, vice-presidents, and secretaries of the councils ap pointed by the Emperor. The following are some of the most remarkable names included in it: M. de Maupas, ex-Minister of Police ; Marshal St. Arnaud, Ministe r a t W ar ;M. Baroc h e , President of the Council of State ; General Itegnault de Saint Jean d'Angely, Vice President of the Senate ; M. Ill lank, President of the Corps Legislatif; the Marquis de la Rochi•jaquelin, Senator; Count do Montlaur, a writer in the Bulletin de Paris; Prince Lucien iMurat, Prince de Wagram, M. Magne, Minister of Agriculture, Commerce, and Public W or k s; G e n era l Count Itoguet, Aide-d e-Camp to the Emperor ; Ge neral Penton ; M. Michel Chevalier, Councillor of State; M. Sallandrouze de Lamornaix, Deputy ; and M. Adam, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Boulogne. The passport system, which some people at one time hoped Napoleon 111. would abolish altogether, continues to be enforced with more rigour than ever. It was till lately most unusual for travellers of res pectable appearance to be asked for their passports in the interior of France, much less to arrest them in default. It appears from the following paragraph in the Courrier de l'Eure, that it is now "usual" for a commissary of police to demand passports from tra vellers by diligence, and that two eminent personages, MM. Carnot and Goudchaux, were actually subjected to the indignity and inconvenience of an arrest, be cause they were uoprovidcd with these useless pieces of per : When the diligence from Berney to St. Pierre-Louviers arrived on the 2nd at Neubourg, two persons coming from Rouge-Terriers in the private carriage of M. Dupont (de l'Eure), took their seat s i n th e public vehicle. When the commissary of police came forward, in the usual way, to examine the passports of the passengers, the new comers were found to be without any. The commissary of po lice, in consequence, declared them to be under ar rest. They stated themselves to be M. Carnot and M. Goudchatix, formerly ministers under the previsional go vernment, and declared that they were returning to Paris, after a short excursion in the department of the Eure. They were, however, kept in custody until some persons of Neabourg came forward, and affirmed that they were the persons whom they represented themselves to be. They were then allowed to depart. The Imperial Court of Paris yesterday adjudged that a contract between a manager of a theatre and an entrepeneur de susses dranzatigue was null and void, as contrary to public policy and morality. It consequently held that no action could grow out of such a contract, and that a party who had paid money to another in consideration of his undertak ing to procure applause at a theatre could not re cover it back, although the contract should not be performed. This is another blow to the disgraceful claque system, which, however, is so deeply rooted in French habits that M. de Manpas, after having put it down for a few days, was induced to withdraw the prohibition at the request of actors and ma were, who felt wretchedly low-spirited when de prived of their accustomed stimulus. The Echo Agrkok publishes details of the state of the harvest throughout France, and sums them up in these terms :—" On the whole, we may say that the harvest is below the usual average, and that the importation of foreign corn will be necessary." The deficiency is estimated as fully one-third below an average crop. Yesterday evening the Emperor and Em press _ were present at the representation of the " Consulat et l'Empire," at the Cirque. Their Majesties left at half-past eleven for St. Cloud. The great rise that took place in Routes yesterday has been well sustained today, with a firm market at the close of business. The Three per Cents. for cash have advanced 5c., and for the account 35c.; the Four-and-s-Half per Cents. for cash remain un changed, but are steady ; and for the account they have gained 30c. Bank Stock has improved 15f. The closing prices are :—For cash : Three per Cents., 79f. 75c. ; Four-and-a-Half per Cents., 104 f. 40c. For the account : Three per Cents., 80f. 10c. ; Four-and-a-Half per Cents., 104 f. 40c. Bank Stock, 2,835 f. . _ Northerns, 8841. 50c. ; Paris and Orleans, 1,21914 Paris and Strasbourg, 9561.; Paris and Lyons, 945 f. 75e.; Paris and Rouen, 1,1071. ; Lyon. to the Mediterranean, 780 f.; Western of France, 7671. SPAIN. The Madrid Gazette of the 3rd contains the royal decrees excepting the resignation of M. Moyano, as Minister of Public Works, "offered on account of the bad state of his health," and appointing M. Esteban Collantes, Director of the Post-office, his successor. The Diario says on the subject: On the arrival of General Lersundi at ban Ildefonso a Cabinet Council was held, in which the question of the con cessions of railways, and especially that of the Northern line, was discussed. M. Moyano, in accord with the royal council, proposed that the primitive concession should not be approved of, and that the whole matter should be re , lerred to the Cortes ; but his colleagues were of a contrary opinion, and no decision was come to. Two days ago M. ?doyen waited on the Queen with a paper which he had drawn up on the affair, and read some paragraphs to her Majesty. He returned to the palace at eleven o'clock in the evening, and when he left at midnight sent in his resigna tion to (Racal Lernandi. - I SWITZERLAND, ----- : The Berne Geheite statt a that on Thursday last 1 the Swiss Xederal Council met, and came to a rcsolu i tion to make no concessions to Austria. PERSIA. The Petrie says the mission of the Envoy Extra ordinary from the Shah of Persia, now at St. Peters burg, is to conclude a treaty relative to tho cession to Russia of a province belonging to Persia, on the banks of the Caspian Sea. MALTA, AeocaT 2. We have received accounts from the fleet at Bcsika. Everything is looking pacific Commander Wotrig', of H.M.S. Indelible, is dead, and the vacancy given to Lieut. Poppleweil, of H.M.S. Britannia, Mr. Henderson, mate of the al true ship, getting the lieutenant's vacancy. Licut. Bent, invalided train 11. M &Vengeance, died yes terday at Malta Hossital. Dr.D.Stew..rt, of the 3rd Buts, for some days war despaired of; he is now imeroveug, but to save his life must lease Malta for England. A medical board will sit on Lien as soon as he is able to be examined. Captain Goodeueugh, of the Royal Artillery, on hive this day. The Waep, Lord John Ilay, strained t,ff for Corfu yesterday, cones) ing the moils, but will not vturu, being stationed there. Mr. Criyhe, Lieutenant, Royal Engineers, took a passage is her. 't he American corvette, L tuts, will leave Malta for Spersia to•n:orrow, liavie.g refitted here. When Captain Ingraham, of the United States corvette St. Louis, w ilt on board the Austrian brig to dent end hosts, the Ist lieut. declared that he was not on board, or the captain ; but on his going to the Austrian consul it was found they were both on board, tl.e lieutenant having told a falsehood. When the American anchored close to the Austrian brig to force them to give up Kota, there were three Austrian steamers e•:ch with 6 guns, and a schooner of 10 guns commanded by an Englishman, which kept sailing round the Ann iu beautiful style, and hail force been re sorted to it must have lit en a desperate tight. The Americans would no doubt have conquered but they had fearful odds agaiust them. They Icy so close to the Austrian that the Americans could see the grate ful expression in Kosta'e eyes when he came on deck to be given up. Ile was manacled, hut lurked firm, and was landed in the Austrian boat, closely 101 l ivied, to watch proete dings and see that there was no shuffling, brthe Americus boats sod crew, who never lost sight of him till he was safely delivered to the French consul. At h net 10,000 people wt re at the landing place at Smyrna (.11 his landing. On being handed to the French consul, the latter insisted on his Jeri:melee being taken off before be received him. This oecasioned sonic detention, the key being on board of the Austrian, but it was obtained, and Koala delivered tree. (3 rent enthusiasm prevailed at Smyrna. Deputations from ill the most in fluential houses waited on Captain Ingraham. The American commoder.t, 1. 11. Stringent, Out cam mander-is•chief in the Mediterranean, will not salute the French admiral sinless the same respect is shown to him. gut court. The Queen and Prince Albert, with the Prince of Welts, the Prince's RGyal, l'rince Alfred, the Princesses Alice, Helena and Louisa, Prince Arthur and Prince Leopold, left Buckingham Palace yesterday afternoon for Osborne, Isle of IA fight. The Royal State consisted of the Countess of Gainshort ugh, the 11011. Mary Seymour, Col. Boaverie, Captain the lion. Dudley de Rue, the Master of the Household, and Mr. Gibbs. her Mujestp and Prince Albert were conducted to their carriage by the Marquis of Breadalhanc. Lcrd Chamber lain; the Marquis of Abercorn, Groom of the Stole to Prince Aiher, ; Lord :truest Bruce, Vice Chnnalwrlain; the Marquis of Ormonde, Lori George Lennox, Lieut.- Colonel the Mon. Rood, and Colonel the lion. Charles Grey. 'the Royal Party left the Palace at ten mii.utes to two o'clock, in five of the (lueen'ec;lriagec,sad , ,aeorted by a detachment of the 17th ',moos, PIMA C:ted to the Nine Elms Station of the South Wtsttro Railway, whore a upecial train was in readiness to convey her Majesty to Gosport. THE SPITHEAD FLEET. POILTSMOUTEL, AUG. 9. The fleet returned to their anchorage at Spithead by about 8 o'clock last night, leaving the sailing vessels, Queen, 116; Prince Regent, 90; and London, 90, at St. Helens. The evolutions that were gone through were siw ply for the purpose of exercising the different ships and their crews, though they were still of an interesting and effective character. With the exception of the Blenheim, 60, and Edinburgh, 58, screw ships, getting their um chinery deranged once or twice, and the Amphion, 34, ecrew frigate, being unable to keep her position with the faster shies, they all answered extremely well under steam. No casualty occurred, with the exception of a man falling overboard from the Edinburgh, 58, screw ship, but who was picked up. This morning the larboard division of the squadron were unexpectedly ordered out to sea by the Com mander-in-Chief at an early hour ; so early that seine of the officers of the ships in that division who had come on shore last night were left behind. This division consisted of the Agamemnon, 91, screw (flag of Lear-Ad miral Corry); Hogue, 60, screw ; Ajax, 60, screw ; Arro gant, 46, screw; Tribune, 30, screw; Encounter, 14, screw; Desperate, 8, screw ; Sidon, 22, paddle ; barracouta, 6, paddle ; and Vesuvius, 6, paddle. At 7 a.m. they weighed from Spithead, all under steam, and proceeded in one line to the eastward, standing out in that direction till they were hull down, then shaping their course for the back of the Isle of Wight. After some four hours exercise at the back of the island, they returned to Spithead, where they anchored at about three o'clock this afternoon, coming up in the following order: Agamemnon (Hug), Hogue, Ajax, Arrogant, Tribune, Sidon, Desperate, Barracouta, and Vesuvius. The heavy ships cow took up their positions facing to the eastward, the Duke of Wellington and Agamemnon being still the headmost ships of the two divisions. The Driver, ateam•sloop, and the Lizard, steam-vessel, came up today from Sheerness, and the Vivid, steam-vc.iel, from Woolwich, to be available for service in attendance on the fleet at the review on Thursday, and the Heels, steam- I sloop, has been brought down the harbour to be commis sioned pro fern, for the Dame service, by the efficers and crew of the Bobo, steam-tug. The following government steamers are to be pressed into service for the accommodation of the members of both houses of parliament the members of the government, the officials of the Admiralty, &c.:—tee Conflict, Stromboli, Gorgon, Budder, Heels, lack Eaglr, Banshee, Fire Queen, Lucifer, Undine, Driver, Lizard, Vivid, and Sprightly, be sides one or two other vessels. A large number of private vessels are also engaged for excursions for the general public. Vast numbers of sailing-yachts, smacks, and boats of all classes and sizes, are also engaged, and the greatest care will have to be exercised to avoid their getting into collision with one another, without reference to the ships of the fleet. The admiral has issued a notice cautioning the captains and masters of private vessels to keep to ,leeward of the fleet during the review, and informing them thit they alone will be responsible for any accident that may occur front their approaching too near the line of evolutions. It kJ not eapootod that all the visitors to the port will be able to find acoommodation afloat on this occasion, but • fine spectacle, it is understood, will be open to persons uhore, in an attack, at the conclusion of the evolutions at sea, on South Sea Castle, by the fleet and ships' boats. This will probably be the most attractive portion of the proceedings of the day. Nothing is at present known of the exact evolutions to be gone through at the review. The orders are secret, a signal being made this after noon to the captains of the fleet to " open secret orders." At one o'clock this afternoon the ships in har bour and those of the fleet remaining at an chor at Spithead, dressed in colours in anticipation of her Majesty's arrival from London, en route to the Isle of Wight. Her Majesty was expected at 4 p.m., a guard of honour, furnished by the Rifle Brigade, going over to the Royal Clarence Yard, by the three o'clock floating-bridg), to be in attendance on her Majesty, toge ther with the band of that corps. The Commander-in- Chief, Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas J. Cochranre, K.C.8.; Admiral-Superintendent Faashawe, C.B. ; Major-General Simpson, lieutenant-governor ; Commodore Lord A. Fitz elarence, G.C.H.; Captain Courtenay, superintendent of Haslar Hospital ; the flag and staff officers of the port and garrison; Mtwara. Davies and ?inborn, of Clarence-yard, and Mr. Stevens, of the Gosport terminus, were also in attendance at the station in waiting for her Majesty. At 18 minutes past four the royal train arrived in Clarence-yard, when the standard was hoisted there, and which was saluted by the Victory, flag ship, and the Neptune, 120, flag ship of Rear-Admiral Fiashawe, the crews of those vessels manning yards. Rer Majesty, his Royal Highness Prince Albert, and suite, immediately pro ceeded on board the Fairy, which was lying in readiness alongside the jetty. In a few minutes the Fairy was under weigh and running out of the harbour. The royal standard was then saluted by the garrison from the Platform. battery and in a few minutes afterwards by the (Mips at Spithead. Passing by the fleet, the Fairy made a very pleasant run to East Cowes, her Majesty reaching o)borne by half-past five this evening. PROGRAMME OF TO-MORROWS PROCEEDINGS. Her Majesty will leave Osborne to-morrow, at ten o'clock, and proceed in the royal yacht to Spia heed, where she will arrive at quarter before eleven o'clock, and be received with a Royal salute from the whole fleet. tier Majesty will then proceed on board her Majesty's ship Duke of Wellington, on board of which ship the Board of Admiralty will have previously embarked - . After inspecting this ship her Majesty will return to the royal yacht, and the fleet will then be desired by aimial to weigh, and proceed out to the Nab in two column,. Having there altered course so as to obtain en offing char of the shoals, the fleet will form the line abreast, afterwards lie line-of-battle, on seeing a squadron of three Jill - Rea thc line and three steamers coming down to reconnoitre ;,they will then open fire, and the whole fleet will oommenee a general engagement, followed by a general CiIMS , of the retreating ships of the line and steamers. The fleet will then be di rected by signal to form the line-of-battle veldt their heads to the N.E., and afterwards to bear up and pass the royal yacht, then to form two celumus and pmeecd le Spitheal.