The Express. — London, England, 1857-05-02 00:00:00

hOOKINO-GLASSES. —IL COMMERCIAL rwasoulas cox PAST.ar,CTIAILLMIILIaZi Wanrz if t ba y s t=r7:ww l it. :7l c ireltie m. Off • imikapor blab awl 6.0" Iba 1 11•4 1 :V l a gli . arayanne Se i g l e MP. et ..4. 415r1y. ..... 3 .. = . t . au w. .....3............= E7-2-& - =, ,....ll.lwroaammaiaill% Millie Wilk IA ORIGINAL OIL PADMNGI by Old and 7 , PIANOTORTIS DUETS.-BOOSEY I et WILLA in liba Mora in N. K 4 .... .. 7'. . :::-....—..—........-- It t It t t :t Iraq owl Ila:. • ralletriary " . 11.11*.atros‘ INRI LAURENT'S MARGUERITE • I.l==="ttatai=s=2-4—Nuir LAUR/DITS RUSSIAN WALTZ 1At41.4, mss' ullb *WWI d ths v. 1,7 ft, Ismild es =INN% Is gurierril ••••7 on. log Irish dr imani easeim 0 one ria•mi Pomo WO l• 8 .. 14 . HENRI LAVUXTS ARGYLL GALOP, Wee ... A wr.V: 01 Ma l b ee eigit S ri II eft*. 4is arm Mobil . Ilkinalmil 'SALK, sod Co., CIOUPONB or Fairsigs Statical wow gue ere PAID , 1.1 on peraimalsa as Mama WWI trtiLitallll sisi ft* t"IRCULAR NOTES awl FOREIGN MONET. Tama= Po=OM btaw ClirlAt A = Etr e 0r5w004 ""1 5 1 .... Ira sal .amii—• Dan 11 rol is novel Ada 41 la, ZENBERO COHNB : the Managencest, Primaikaosi Caw as be es &OS RIMISILILO Ail ealming br swim • wlldse. wed IVA daille %RS ; a• ow be 4IV VA ran S On, mein baba& .111 .e 1= m 0 ar lie Mame =NI= PI& elbe Oxprictsg. mmerwesse. . — il:7;74;iaii;s7.7.;Ze inabe Mire Imre be se Ow 011•4 10. Deamtombreac by Teo 001ble es Qs dot al publintbob. n•TICALIZIT. Two rocoro, • LlFid ?MAL Yin. Inelotoso, Compton. Taw. TWM.. Inn% Roe" sod Orb bonoido Moo Vbs. -ata L STA , or. TM Tbno Golden .11.70t0 YM IL inn,. •-•M LIKED XS /ITS OUILLINGO-.Commocon T. ?me Ilmins. A GANA OF 10111131 RING RICTIARD SIBOOND. Mt. awl Ms. O. liaa—lkon aA r halt. MIIIIIINT. Tuts Warm saurus. Mown Onomirt. !Mlr Nara mod Clortio; Mb. Mortimer. Mr► M. Ilrookm—OV N MILL. lirmo. MVd Wieldiromb. Poola—Amel ?Mt DOM, SAVO TAID AA Dili MOM W. Mr. Mauna ; Maibmo Aryl.—Opm pat I HIGH WATIA AT LONDON DREDGI. Tao DA.-1/r ay, Ahem" IL P. To.was.—Nusra NIL On.— MlNsus,lllli. LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 2. Int leng-looked-for revision of the Statutes of the Bank of France proves to be nothing more than a thinly disguised loan to the State. The privilege is extended to forty years from the prcbcnt date, and the capital, instead of 3,640,0004, is to be 7,640,0001. This additional 4,000,0001. is to be raised by four quarterly instalments, and lent to the State on the isicarity of Three per Cent. Rcntes, the proceeds Wag employed in taking up a portion of the tasting debt. We apprehend, however, that it is not that portion which is in the hands of the public which will be selected for extinction, and it is, therefore, nothing more than a somewhat round about way of funding, and of borrowing the Iraq of one public establishment to pay off dait contracted with another. The only kmaisaksbe Abet will probably be that, while the oringinn is in programs, a temporary stringency will orealed bon time money market. But the State has afs infrainind dint, in addition to the above, the Bonk aim aim it 3,200,0001., if required, on Teamey blob t **amount now standing to the sblit of tbs Stets in the Bank accounts (2,200,0001.) Wag biehdled is that stun. This debt was to be paid et by annual instalments of 200,0001. ; but UMW the new arrangement there appears to be no ;stipulation of that kind, nor can the interest upon it rinsed 4 per cent. The increase of capital is cer amist, an additional guarantee to the holders of Bank Mimeo notes, but unfortunately the security L of an utterly inconvertible character. The position of the Bank as one of discount and issue is no Iris improved, nor are its resource* isonsed, except so far as Its metallie 11/1/1•1/ 11, be augmented by that portion of the new capital which may be paid in specie. The two most interesting questions, the solution of which hal been long looked for, are com pletely (nodes s.mensely, the making Bank notes a legal tasagompalially for payments to the State i nod the fth Bank to adjust its rate of ilmentort Is a fixed maximum, but essaillse to the ouniat value of money in the folthet. But it is one of the Napoleonic ideas to which the present ruler of France seems to cling with mar vellous pertinacity, that a Oorernment can not only regulate the price of food, but also that of loanable capital. The resuscitated dynasty has learned nothing, and forgotten nothing, as regards the luancial blunders of the first Empire; he the iisaasl failure of the -attempt to msintain the breed of the Parisians at a " plenty* pies, seems to be lost upon Loris NAPOLEOn. MA, there is • Yule class of men in France who bail it r part of their creed that in Er.sed the esker of Baum is is its infancy, owl Ile IMP re Vein le the dark ors of credit. TWIN& tii” She tsar sots, in its character of a reestpt bibs. on ea anomaly in the nineteenth century, mai aninnis that the true basis of national prosprily is le he sought its a return to the system of Law and of the assignor. An extensive "shin plaster" eireddhe is is their eyes a preen for mortary airs tai they wait for the drat et a credit millemalem. whys ties herb of the Cease Coggin et Pillard, le the Wart reposed the Aeon mad Thorsen Ben. way, shell he valid * the dloshorgii of a tame at Vienna or he the parson et Gnowhooos dyes at AzetargeL To tang sea of the Credit Mobilier near of fiance, the preseat mode of solving the Bank onsetion is a sore disappointment. In their eyes it was the first duty of the Government to dip the Bonn into • fountain of youth, and to permit or compel (the words are almost interchangeable nowadays in France) the Bank to lead the bur millirem of new capital . on shares and bonds. A nwee impure would hays born given to speculation. rid prices would hays rieso—until the lucky hikes of stack had blown the bladder to the brealike The remedy for the inevitable conger roil mum notes issued on the security of are hems nil shares, and so on until it came to—oprio Mb b Mop. Wow it is quits intelligible how these gentry, with nab warns of finance as they hold, should utter, week disc week, in the public prints of Paris their ogee ~'~ THE EXPRESS, SATURDAY EVENING, MAY 2, 1867. expressions of wonder at the price of Console, and their astonishment at the fact that, in spite of our tight money market, the French Three per Cents. are from 20 to 22 per cent. lower in price than the Eng lish. With this quotation staring them in the face day after day and month after month, they seem as unable to understand the lesson it teaches as though it were some unusual and exceptional phenomenon. The explanation is simple enough. Making all duo allowance for the risk of investing in a security which may be at any time largely added to by the mere will of an individual recklessly improvident of the national resources, the low price of the French funds in comparison with our own is evi dently owing to the excessive quantity of securities of all kinds floating on the mar kct, which is out of all proportion to the amount of capital available for their absorption. And as calls ale made to complete vast enterprises already commenced, that amount of floating capital diminishes ; for, great as the progress of French commerce undoubtedly is, and rapidly as the general profits of the country increase, they by no means keep pace with the schemes devised for their absorp tion, and with the demands made by the Govern ment fur war, extravagance, and unproductive works. Were there any such abundance of floating capital as would warrant this enormous extension of iciataitock enterprise, the prima of the better class of French securities would be much higher end dearer in proportion to our own as regards the rate of interest they yield to investors. The Government is vainly endeavour ing to shut the fiood-gates of speculation which it wee the first to throw open. It looked on with the utmost complacency while the capital of the country was being rapidly swallowed up by enterprises which were to beccesereprodnetive years hence ;and it aggravated the evil by undertaking vast works which were never to produce anything but glory to the name of NAPOLION the THIRD. Cridit Mobi lien, and Napoleon Docks, and similar ingenious devices, were to endow France with fabulous wealth ; —but it was to be paper wealth ; and the Govern ment permitted and encouraged it, until the peril became too evident to remain unchecked. The result of this improvidence and financial blind ness is, that although magnificence and luxury are carried to the highest pitch in Paris, and though the other great cities of France are endeavouring to rival it, the agricultural popula tion of the country is rapidly diminishing, and agriculture itself, deprived both of the arms of the labourer and of the capital which should furnish him with employment, is far from keeping pace with the other sources of the national wealth. It is very probable that, were the Government free to pursue the more prudent course, it would apply this new capital of the Bank of France in a great measure to revivifying agriculture, and to hastening the im provements of which it stands so greatly in need. But it has attached its fortnnea too closely to those of the Bourse to be a free agent, and a monetary crisis, taking the form of a prolonged panic in shares, would be most perilous. The mania for dabbling in speculations has penetrated through the whole population of Paris, from the Palace to the porter's lodge, so there is a necessity for conciliating all interests. The International Bank is to be founded—some day, when foreign capitalists are in the mood ; foreign gold is to be poured into France ; French securities, more especially, are to be those on which loans are to be made; and the egregious scheme of the Napoleon Docks, among others, is to be lifted out of the mud. And then the State can employ the capital and deposits of the Bank of France in aid of agriculture, and all will go on swimmingly again, until, or unless, some calamity, like thaws which have hitherto marked each year of Louts NAPOLEON'S reign, shall arrive, and determine the bursting of the great financial bubble. Tax horrors of the Chinese Coolie Trade appear to have reached their climax in the month of March. That which shocked and disgusted the public in the cases of the John Calvin and the Duchess of Port land, was the kidnapping, the embenleraent of the adnuncs due to the emigrants, the compulsory sail ing, the over-crowding of the ships, and the conse quent mortality. But in the cases of the Peru vian Teasel Carmen, the British ship Gulnare, and the Dutch barque Henrietta Maria, there were added the honors of mutinies and intervening struggler ; the sacrifice by the inveigled and plun dered Coolies of their own lives and the lives of others, to obtain liberty and vengeance. We are not going to repeat in detail the horses we have already given. SuMee it to say that in the ease of the Carmen, the Coolies, baffled in their attempt to gain possession of the ship, fired it, and to the number of 200 perished is the tames. In the case of the Gainers similar attempts were made, incendiarism was again resorted to, and though the vessel was preserved, 27 Chinese were killed and wounded in the fight which aeppeessed the insuneetion. In the ease of the Henrietta Maria, the mutiny was snecessfuL The greater part of the Chinese, after mastering the vessel, went ashore, and the ship having put to sea again, was happily fallen in with by the American vessel Cour de Lion, and with the four seamen and 100 Coolies on board of her, was Ileaned from destruction. The dates and particulars of these occurrences _ _ . _ afford some reliable evidence of the extent and cha racter of this frightful Coolie trade. The Henrietta Maria left Hongkong on the Bth of February, the Carmen sailed from Swatow on the lit of March, and the Golnare on the 11th March. On board the first named ship were 344 Chinese, on board the second 200. The number shipped by the third is not stated; but as the Oulnare is 1,000 tons berthen, she would be entitled by British law to carry 300 emigrants. Let us, however, put her cargo at 400 Coolies. Here we have nearly 1,000 Chinese (all, of course, in the pick and prime of life) carried off in three ships in a single month, all rising against the ship in which they were being conveyed, and in each case bringing disaster on the vessel and on themselves. Two of these ship. took their human cargoes on board at Swatow. Now 6watow is not a port of legal trade for foreign vessels—it is, we believe, an opium smuggling depot ; and the very feet that emigrant ships resort to a port where there is no European supervision or authority, and where their proceedings can only be carried on by corrupting Chinese officials, throws a I deep aignificance and dreadful suspicion over the' trade. At best it has been found, even in the cue of the British colonies, where the demand for Chinese labour was superintended by officers responsible to the Colonial-office, that to procure emigrants consi derable pecuniary advances must be promised to them, and that payments of a corrupt kind to the lower Mandarins were unavoidable. Not a Coolie could I . be shipped fur British Guiana or Trinidad Neitit out an outfit, without advances, and without paying for the violation of Chinese law. Even the presence of British functionaries has proved, in. edema, to cheek this tendency, as is proved by the sem et the Isle Calvin and the Duchess of Port. had in the Iva pests. But at such places as Bwatow sad Names there is eat so mash es the psetence of cheek, sad there is tee mash MIMS to apprehend that the triads trade is is the heeds et odor, who delude the Coolies on board in the hope and expectation that they are about to be conveyed to friends and countrymen in tho gold fields of Australia or California. It may, perhaps, be suggested by our rabid alarmists that the Coolies were sent on board these vessels by Yen himself, with orders to capture them and throw the crews into the sea. Could this ex travagant notion be entertained, it would only show the folly and the danger of resorting to ports where the worst characters can be most easily foisted on the ships. But such an imputation is effectually disposed of by the fact that long before the present unhappy quarrel, these outbreaks on board emigrant ships were not uncommon. That the tendency to violence against Europeans on the part of the Chinese has recently increased, there can be no doubt ; but surely shipowners are called on to exer cise, under the existing state of things, at least ordinary prudence; and no prudent shipowner or shipmaster ought to have gone into the Coolie trade in the month of March last. Chinese emigration is against Chinese law. It may, however, be said that the Chinese cannot call on Europeans to enforce their laws. But the present Coolie trade is illegal in itself, being carried on by Europeans from Chinese ports, where their presence is unlawful. The inference that Coolies see sought from those ports because they cannot be obtained elsewhere, and because they can be illicitly obtained there, is only too reasonable. That there is no indisposition, bat ea the contrary a strong dis position, in tho Chinese Coolies to emigrate for a few years, is certain. But it is to countries whither they can curry the framework of their own society— where they can work in association—where they sea . . rule their own affairs by their own laws—where they can enjoy independence and reap the full benefit of their industry. They go in thousands to Manila, Java, Borneo, Singapore, Australia, and California, where they can enjoy these advantages ; and they go thither without European aid, stimulated solely by their own cupidity. But Chinese emigration to the British colonies, to Cuba, to Peru, to Brazil—under contracts to work for wages a stated number of hours a day for a certain number of years, and to submit themselves to European habits and discipline—has never been voluntary. It has been carried on as a trade by Europeans. Those who carry it on hays been paid by the number of Chinese they landed in porta of labour; and the consequence of undue stimulus in Chinese ports to obtain the Coolies has been disap pointment to the Coolies always, and sometimes also to their employers, in their new homes. In the cases now under consideration the destine, tion of the 1,000 Coolies was either Cuba or Peru. Now, what humane, conscientious, really benevolent man would suggest to an European labourer that he should seek bis fortunes either in Cabs or Peru, even if he spoke Spanish f But an European labourer going to Cuba or Peru would at least have some security for good treatment. He would have the reputation of the power of his country; he would find some one, in all probability, with whom he could communicate; at least he would have the diplomatic or consular representatives of his own nation to fall back on; he would have the sympa thies arising from a common religious faith, similar habits of thought and of life, and to some extent of a common race. But no such security, no such protection, attends the Chinese immigrants to Cuba or Peru. They are not sought as colonists or as settlers ; they are imported simply as labourers, out of whom the largest possible amount of work is to be obtained for the five years of their contracts. If separated, their condition becomes most deplorable; they are without the resources of communication, without the interest or excitement of intercourse with each other. In Cuba they are (there is ample evidence to prove) slaves; and they have no country, no government to vindicate their wrongs or procure them redress. That Chinese labour is destined to play a much greater and more important part in the world than it does at present, there is every reason to hope and believe. But it is not by carrying on a trade in Coolies to Cuba or Peru, or the French West Indian colonies, that we can reasonably expect to associate Chinese labour with Christianity, or with European production. Within the last twenty years there is proof enough that it is not distance or difficulty that can deter voluntary Chinese emigrants from trans ferring themselves to European communities. They have sought and found California and Australia by themselves, as they also did Singapore and Java; and if they are only well used, this disposition will rapidly extend itself. But it must not be forced or coerced, or made the subject of a speculative traffic; for where human cupidity comes into play, we see the result. Mose people have been to look for lodgings or a furnished house. You ring the bell—talk to the middle-aged female with a cold in her head, and a child in her arms, who answers it—traverse the lower floors—go up stairs, look into the bedrooms—put some questions to your companion —and return home, perhaps, to make up your mind. In some houses everything that meets the eye is admirably nest and clean. The superficial observer—the young bride or the verdant youth—is perfectly satis fied. But the shrewd mother and the experienced bachelor of forty are not so easily deceived. The outside won't do for them. They open the cup hoards—poke into out-of-the•way corners—turn up the clothes on the bed—examine the state of the floors—look into the kitchens and cellars. And they have their reasons. It is one thing to sweep a hearth, and another to carry away the ashes. In some out-of-the-way corner—setae unostentatious cupboard—these shrewd investigators will come upon the most nauseous treasures, the accumulated filth of months swept into some dark corner—pots and pans, bowls and basins half filled with the refuse of culinary art. These things are disagreeable enough to think of, but when the unfortunate inmate of a house is made conscious of their presence by the aroma which will disturb even his dreams, they be come not only intolerable, but unwholesome. Most people have experienced these annoyances; and, unless their senses prove impervious to such horrors, most people leave the lodgings at once, and warn their friends not to have anything to do with them. In short, if a house is to be comfortable or healthy, the filth and dirt must not be put out of sight—it must be put out of the way. To keep it up in a 1 1 dark corner produces —not cleanliness, but corrup. ' tion. The whited-sepulchre system does neither in the religious nor in the physical world. There is hypocrisy in household as there is in higher matters. These familiar principles have a wide bearing. If a good housewife sees that the dust and filth is not • merely concealed, but removed in her private house, I the good administrator ought to do the same thing • in the populous city. &ales are asneeessary now as t they were in ancient Rome. The mad and abomitunions of such a city as London must not merely be swept • into some common receptacle out of sight and there left to breed a pestilence, they must be removed • altogether. But whilst so much trouble is bestowed • upon the mad and offal of mankind, what is done with ; that mass of human beings which constitute the poorer t classes of the metropolis? By force of our present aysteta—particularly that of our poor-rato—we ado. ally convert this living mass into a heap of human corruption, and then, instead of removing it, we simply put it a little out of sight. How is this accomplished? The lower classes of London migrate to the eastern districts, and are collected there in masses which arc both inconvenient to themselves, and dangerous to their fellow-citizens There is inconvenience, because the poor people are compelled to make long journeys to reach their work; there is danger, because overcrowding is both de moralising to the people themselves and certain to generate disease. And yet these evils are not with out remedy, for they are due in great measure to the present poor law. The inequality of the poor rate in various parishes has the effect of overburdening the poorer parishes of the metropolis with poor and with rates, and of preventing selfish proprietors in rich parishes from building inferior houses for the accommodation of the lower classes. By our abse , xl laws we compel the poorer classes to huddle toge ther; we blind their moral sense; we destroy the possibility of domestic comfort, or ordinary decency ; we create a mass of human corruption, and then, instead of removing it, we attempt to conceal it— to put it out of sight. But it will not do. The public are beginning to see the magnitude of the evil, and to demand a remedy. We have long advo cated the necessity of doing something. There was , a public expression of opinion on the subject a few weeks ago in Camberwell ; and we are glad to observe that on Wednesday last a meet ing of the ratepayers of St. George's-in-the-East and the adjoining parishes was held to consider the proprietyof petitioning Parliament for an equali sation of the poor rate throughout the metropolis. _ _ _ The Rev. G. H. M'Giu.was in the chair, and although there was some difference of opinion as to details, the evils complained of were generally admitted. It seems that Mr. HANBURY and Lord R. GROSVENOR have promised their aid to carry the remedy into effect, by introducing a Bill for equalising the poor rate throughout the metropolis; and indeed the case for this reform, as stated in the petition which was adopted at the meeting, seems overpoweringly strong. It is admitted that vast masses of the poor of London are either already located in the suburbs, or are being driven from the West-end and the City by various causes totakc up their residence in the Eastern parishes. In consequence of this the ratepayers of these distressed districts are daily becoming more and more impoverished—the poor rates having during the last twenty years been doubled in amount, whilst the number of paupers has increased threefold. The oessequence of this is, that whilst the eastern parishes are paying 4s. in the pound, the richer and mss favourably situated parishes arc not paying more than one-sixth of that sum. It is a fact, how ever, that if the rate were equalised on one uniform assessment throughout London, it would nut exceed ono shilling in the pound per annum for all ; and if every description of property from which pauperism may incidentally arise were equally rated, it would be considerably less than that amount. The desire, therefore, is that an act may be pained to equalise the rate and the assessment throughout the metropolis. No demand can be fairer. The chairman reminded the meeting that when the Bishop of LONDON and Mr. GLADSTONE, some time since, visited the eastern part of the metropolis they expressed it as their opinion that the residents in the west end et London ought to contribute towards supporting the poor in the east end, in order to relieve the unequal pressure to which the inhabitants of that part of the metropolis arc subjected. We agree with this on all grounds. These poor people who live in hovels and garrets in the east, aro abso lutely necessary to the rich nobleman and merchant who live in their spacious palaces in the west end. The rich ought to pay for the poor—the master ought to pay for his servant when he is worn out—the west end of London ought to pay for the poor of the east end. There is another consideration which may come home to some, whom motives of humanity and right feeling are powerless to touch. In that great eastern district you are rearing a separate people, the inhabitants of a separate city. Is this safe? Let any man look from the Blackwell or the Shoreditek Railway over those wide wildernesses et mean red-tiled tenements which spread on every side around him, and ask himself whether it is safe that such a city of labour and pauperism should grow up in close neighbourhood, but absolute estrangement, side by side with this Western city of luxury, and wealth. If London ever rose in insurrection, what would St. Antoine or St. Marceau be to the Dock% Spitaldelds, and Poplar? We must do sossatlsiag to bridge over the gulf that separates dose tw cities. We must fuse wealth and poverty by sone kind of relation or other, by the obligations if lIIIITO ash payment," if no better bond of union sac be devised. In some way or other the rich of London and the poor of London must be brought into a slate of interdependence the one on the other. No better first step can be taken towards this object than by passing some such law as the petitioners of St. . . . _ MR. I)ISRAELI, it appears, was after all not so far wrong when he told the electors of Buckingham shire that nothing of importance would be done in the first short session of the New Parliament. Does anybody believe that anything of importance will be dose between the ith of May and the beginning of August in Parliamentary Reform, in Law Re form—in any other description of reform? In the language of the Chancery Court, many measures of importance may perhaps be " spoken to," but few indeed will be set down for a serious hearing, and fewer still can be matured into law. There is, however, one measure which, as we are informed, Lord PALMERSTON has wisely resolved to urge for ward at any rate. It is an isolated measure. It re quires no preliminary research ; it connects itself with no long train of doubtful consequences. All that can be said upon it has been said. Action is required—action, and nothing else. The abuse it seeks to remedy is one whose perpetuated existence is the infamy of our age. When all elsehas yielded in this country to the civilising tendencies of the time, there stands the insolent obstruction of Jewish exclusion—the one foul remnant of mediaeval bigotry which is still suffered to disgrace the practice of a liberal and tolerant age. Seven words in an oath, intended as a shield against the unscrupulous evasions of the Jesuit, are converted into a fence of exclusion against the conscien tious scruples of the Jew ; an oath devised when not a single Jew existed within the limits of the four seas, is wrested from its original use to keep the Jew out of Parliament, in an age when he is per mitted to exercise every other civil office to which an Englishman can aspire. Lord PALMERSTON, we believe, has determined to lose no time in putting an end to this state of things. The country has given him a Liberal majority. A more legitimate employ. meat for such a majority than the admission of the Jew to Parliament it is impossible to conceive. Let this popular and powerful Prime Minister strike home, once and for all, at this miserable solecism, this wretched mockery of a con vientious conviction—this bass anachronism that seeks to perpetuate in an age of light a spirit only worthy of the worst day. of darkness. U this first session of the Parliament is to be signalised by nothing else, at all events let it earn the credit of having finally trampled under foot that execrable mummery wjlich perpetuates the abjura tion of an extinct family, in order to persecute a living creed, and preserves the rusty touchstone of the Jesuit as au exclusive shibboleth to detect and oppress the Jew. The election for the vacant poetry professorship at Oxford is fixed for Tuesday next, the tith inst. It is understood that Mr. Matthew Arnold and Mr. Bode are now the only candidates in the field. The contest is expected to be a very sharp one. int Court. Yesterday wu the birthday of Prince Arthur. TLe Queen received vimite at Buckingham Niue during the day from the Ducker of Kent, the Ludlow of Cambridge, the Hereditary Grand Ductless of Mecklenburgh Streik., and the Primer Mary of Cambridge. Major-General Buckley and Lieut.-Colonel Poneenby have relieved Lord Alfrid Paget and Captain Du Plat in their duties as the Equerries in Waiting to the Queen and the Prince. The Duchess of Cambridge, the Princess Mary, and the Hereditary Grand Durham of blorkienburgh Strohm, arrived in town yeehnday from Kew, visited the Duchess of Kent at Clarence limo., St. Jaraves, sad called at Gloucester House. A Cabinet Council wiu held yesterday at the offi cial residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, in Downing-street. The Ministers pr sent were Viscount Palmerston, the Lord Chancellor, Earl Granville, the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Earl of liarrowby, Sir George Grey, the Earl of Clarendon, Mr. Secretary Laboucltere, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Charles Wood, the Eight /lon. H. Vernon Smith, Lord Stanley of Alderlcy, the Duke of ArgyU, and the Hight lion. M. T. Bames. A deputation of coalwhippers had en interview with Lord Stanley of Alderley and the Right lion. Robert Lowe, yes terday, at the Board of Trade. The deputation coma/dad of the lUsi. Canon Champneys, Mr. Thomas T. Flynn, the Rev. Robert U. Atherton, and John Foley, John Cronin, and Patrick Powell (cealwhippers). The Royal Conn:m.4on for determining the site of the new Nations' Gallery met on Thursday, at 17, Great Queen street, Westminster. Present, Lord Broughton (chairman), the Dean of St. Paul's, Prokimor Faraday, Mr. Cookeryll, and Mr. Richmond. _ . _ 'kapott hele were cent from the Colonial•office, yesterday, to the Governor of Canada and the Governors of the Watt India anda. COURT MOURNING. (num LAST NIORT'S OSZI.TT6.) LORD CHAMBERLAIN'S OFFICE, MAY 1. Orders for the Court's going into mourning on Sunday next, the 3rd inst., for her late Royal High ness the Duchess of Gloucester, aunt to her Majesty, viz. : The ladies to wear black silk, fringed or plain linen, white gloves, necklaces, and car-rings, black or white shoes, fans and tippets. The gentlemen to wear black full-trimmed, fringed or plain linen, black swords and buckles. The Court to change. the mourning on Sunday, the 17th inst., : The ladies to wear black silk or velvet, coloured ribbons, fans and tippets, or plain white, or white and gold, or white and silver stuffs, with black ribbons. The gentlemen to wear black coats and black or plain white, or white and gold, or White and silver Muff waistcoats, full-trimmed, coloured swords and buckles. And on Sunday, the 24th inst., the Court to go out of mourning. COLLEGE OF ARMS, MAT 1. THE EARL MARSHAL'S ORDER FOR A GENERAL MOURNING FOR HER LATE ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUCHRAS OF GLOUCESTER.-111 pursuance of her Majesty's commands, these are to give public notice, that upon the melancholy occasion of the death of her late Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester, her Majesty's aunt, it is expected that all persons do put themselves into decent mourning for ten days, to commence from Thursday next, the 7th May.— NORFOLK, Earl Marshal. THE BISHOPRIC OP NORWICH. (1 , 1011 LAST NIGHT'S Gnome.) WRIPEIIALL, APRIL 30.—The Queen has been pleased to order a eoofd tr *Jiro to pies the great seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, empowering the Dean and Chapter of the cathedral church of Norwich to elect a Bishop of that see, the same being void by the resig nation tithe Right Reverend Father ia God Doctor Samuel Hinds, late bishop thereof ; and her Majesty has also been pleased to recommend to the said Dean and Chapter the Hon. end Rev. John Thomas Pelham, M.A., to be by them elected Bishop of the said See of Norwich. Prince Alfred of England arrived at Gotha on the 25th ult., and was received at the railway station by the duke and by the resident minister. The visit of the young prime will be but short. Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Cam bridge, the Prisons Mary, and Hereditary Grand Ductless of Meeklenburgh-Strelits, arrived in town yesterday, frum Key, visited her Royal Highness the Dothan of Kent, at Clarence Hones, H. Jawed., and called at Gloucester House. The Earl and Countess of I'ortarlington have arrived at Clarides Hotel, from Emu Park, Ireland. The Earl and Countess of Lisburne and Lady Elizabeth and Lady Gertrude Vaughan have arrived at their residence in Chaada•etreet, Cavendish-square, for the WOOL The Earl and Countess of Fife have arrived at Claridge's Hotel, from Dud Haw, Aberdeenshire. Lady Laura Grattan has arrived in Eaton•place, from Ireland. Lord and Lady Clermont have arrived at Cla ridge's Hotel, from Clifton. Mrs. W. E. Gladstone's party to the members of the Royal Academy, which was azed for this evening, is put off. The Countess of Jersey and Lady Clementine Villiers have closed their visit to Earl Bathurst, at Oakley Park, Cirencester, and have gone on a visit to Lord William Powlett, at Bath. The noble earl has been entertaining a sureeesion of distinguished visitors at his 71/1114011. On Thursday Mr. Jones, M.P., and Mrs. Jones, of Pantaiss, and family arrived at their aest Paatglas, wluas they intend pawing the summer. Wo (11 ; akeie - ld Eransiner) regret to hear that our late respected member. G. Sanders, Esq., haa felt it n.messary, by the advice of Sir B. Brodie and Mr. Fergus. eon, to submit to a further severe surgical operation, with the sanguine expectation of thaw melanin that it will lead to his ultimate recovery. The medical reports so far of Mr. Sanders's progress are most favounble. --- The Earl Forteecne, R.W. Provincial Grand Mas ezr of Devon, has named Thursday, 2Ath of May, for a meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge, at Torquay, for the purpose of laying the foundation stone of a Lodge, to be erected est a piece of ground presented to Lodge No. ell, by Lammas Palk, lam , M.P. We (Yorkshire Gazette) understand that some person or persons entered Raby Castle, the scat of his Grace the Duke of Cleveland, during Friday night last, the 24th of April, and stole about 1001. or 1501., in gold and ether, from a drawer in the office of the house steward ; but a number of notes deposited in the same drawer were left. We have not heard the particulars of the robbery, but every exertion is being made to discover the burglars. A St. Petersburg letter, of the 23rd ult., hi the Neu, Gaulle of Prusiiia, says :—" When the Emperor Nichols visited England in 184 t, he announced his inten tion of giving annually a sum of 500/, sterling, to purchase a silver cup to be run for at the Ascot races, and the sum was given each year up to 1853. The Emperor Alexander hag now decided that it shall no longer be given, and that the cup intended for the year 1834 shall be run foe at the races which are to take plain this year at Moscow." The Giornale di Roma states that on the 25th the Emperor Dowager of Russia paid a visit to the Pope. Mgr. , major-domo of kts holiness, received her at the bottom of the grand staircase of the Fatima. Mgr. Pam* announced her Majoity to the Pope, who ad vaned, to the threshold of the drawing-room to receive her, After a long convenation, her Mat,t7 Peommiled the lethal end gentlemen of her smite io his holiness, arid then took lave. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF COMIIONS.—(THIS I)AY.) To-day, at 12 o'clock, the Speaker, attired in his full robes of oder, entered the house, preceded by the Serjcant-at- Arnie bearing the mace, and attended by hia chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Gamier. After prayers bad been reed, the Speaker took the chair, and the swearing in of members was resumed, commencing with the county of Southampton. Among the members sworn to-d.iy were Mr. Bonham-Car ter, Mr. Thurnely, Mr. C. P. Villiers (the Judge Advocate General), Lord Henniker, Earl Jernirn, Mr. William Wil llama, Mr. Monts, Mr. Spooner, Mr. Bolton King, Mr. John Locke (City Pkaider), Mr. Alcoa:, Mr. Watson Taylor, Major-General Sir W. F. Williams, Alderman Copeland, Mr. AtMerley, Mr. Willcox, Mr. G. C. Glyn, Mr. John Neeld, Mr. W. If. Foster, Mr. J. B. East, Mr. It. D. Mangles, Mr. 11. S. Waddington, Mr. Newdegatc, General Bulkrley, Major-General P. Thompson, Mr. Edward Ak royd, Mr. J. 0. Smith, Mr. B. O►born (Secretary to the Admiralty), Sir J. W. Itamadon, Hart., Sir R. Peel, Bait., Sir Frederic Thesiger, Mr. Frank Crossley, Mr. William Woud, Sir William Rumen, Mr. An tithes, Mr. Whitmore, Sir John Hammer, Bart., Sir Edw. Antrobus, Mr. F. W. Knight, Mr. llodgetts Foley, Sir H. Willoughby, Mr. 0. Ricardo, Lord Bottum, Viscount Goderich, Mr. James Brown, Sir John Johnstone, Bart., Earl of Iduagravo, Mr. Rich, Mr. J. A. Roebuck, Sir. Hadfield, and Mr. H. W. Wickham. The swearing in was continued up to 4 o'clock. THE WESLEYAN MISSION TO CHINA. This morning the annual breakfast in connexion with the Wesleyan mission to China took place at the Lon don Tavern. C. BUXTON, Esq., M.P., presided. Among the company, which was very numerous, were, the Presi dent of the Conference, T. Farmer, Esq., Major-General Alexander, the lion. F. Thome (from Madras), Reek Dr. Hoole, Drs. Hannah and Rule, Mr. T. Gurney, Mr. E. Corduroy, &e.; together with a mat number of ladies. It appears that previous to the breaking out of hostilities at Canton, the Wcaleyan Missionary Society had fire agents at that port, four of whom afterwards removed to Macao, and the other to Singapore. Confidence was exper,sed in the illeCen of tho mission if renewed under more peaceful circumstances, and the speakers generally expressed their conviction that nothing but the introduction of Christianity would raise the eharocter of the Chinese nation and place its intercourse with tho European countries on a satisfactory footing. The opium trade was referred to at some length and declared to be one of the main causes of the estrangrmont of the Chinese from the English. The Rev. Mr. Welton, from Full-Chow-Tex, who seems to combine the medical with the clerksl charms hr, drew an affecting picture of the horrors and degradation resetting from the use of thin drug. A collection was made on behalf of the Chinese Mission fund, and the following subscriptions were announced;— Mr. H. Reed, not. ; Mr. T. Farmer, 1001.; Mr. F. Lys cell, 1001. ; " A,Thanks-offering for thesafety of the Oneida," An Austrian sailor was recently wounded at Corfu whilst serving a saluting gun. lie was taken to the English hospital in the town, and there cured. The Atmtri►n consul thereupon wrote to the medical alms in charge, inytdring what sum was owing by the Austrian government. The surgeon replied that her Majesty's government was always willing to receive into the hospital wounded men of any foreign nation, but never made any charge for so doing. The archduke commending the feet gracefully expressed his thanks for the attention bestowed, and sent to the surgeon • handsome diamond ring. _ _ _ A letter from Munich, in the Augsburg Ga:ette, says •—" Professor LieLig has analysed the bread sent to him from Hong Kong, and Las found it to contain a quarter gramme of arsenic for every fifty grammes of broad, or more than sufficient to aurae death. Tho arsenic was spread over the whole surface of the bread, which proved that the poison had been mined up with the dough." . ' ' An English gentleman recently incurred a fine of 60Kr. and the ensure of his cigars for attempting to pass 80 cigars without declaring them at the gates of Turin, and the authorities were with some difficulty induced to reduce the line to 50fr., on satisfactory proof being given that the gentleman had no fraudulent intentions, end that he was in complete ignorance of the law. of Sardinia on this head. It should be mentioned, also, that all travellers are liable to have their baggage searched on tanning Turin, and the presence of cigars and tobacco therein which have not paid duty will bring the proprietor within the action of the law, although he may himself have pur chased the articles within the Sardinian States, the only security against which is to buy always at the registered shops foe the sale of such government monopolise, and net from waiters or ether vendors of smuggled goods. TUE GRAND DIRE CONSTANTINE.—A letter front Marseilles gins some particulars concerning the Grand Duke Constantine's proceedings in that city. It says:—" On Tuesday morning the prince, accompanied by the authorities and by his suite, went to the now port, where they embarked on beard the Hermes steamer, and took an excursion in the roadstead. After having proceeded as far as opposite the Prole, the steamer turned round and steered towards the new port. When the steamer was passing between the Isles, a signal was given, and the largo mine of the Frioul was made to explode. The detonation was exceedingly loud, and a column of smoke was thrown up, which for several minutes completely enveloped the part of the De de Itatonneau situate below the fort. This difficult operation was attended with perfect success, and it is calculated that the part of the hill detached was not less than IA,OOO cubic metres. An insmence number of persons had embarked in steamers and boats to witness the operation. The Grand Duke afterwards proceeded to the port of La Joliette, and after having visited the new docks returned to the Hotel dVrient. A little after 3 o'clock, his imperial Highness went to Mempenti, to visit the extensive foundry at that place. Ile was received by the director and other members of the company, and visited in detail the different parts of the estabWhatent. In the evening the Prince and hie melte visited the theatre." CHARITABLE INSTITVTIONS Or PARIS. The .• • Constitittioanel devotee a loader to the charitable inetitutions of Paris, from which we extract the following "The =lrule is not to attend the poor who are euffering from in their own houses, but to admit them into the hospi tals. There are eight hospitals in Perils for ordinary caere, and seven for 'pedal diseases. The eight hospitals are rHotel-Dieu, 810 beds; la Fitie, 624 ;• la Chants, 494; St. Antoine, 352; Necker , 403; Cochin, 12'5; Beau- Tu, 440; 1' MOM Lakboiseidre. 612; together, 3,860 b e d s . hese figures refer to 1853, during which year 62,840 patients were attended to. The special hospitals are St. le Midi, Leureine,lcs Enfana M slados, S a i n t e E ug 6 n i e , the lying-in hospital, lea Cliniques. To these may be added the oilmen de ,ante of Dr. Dubois. These establiehmente contain 3,384 bode, and in 1855 they attended to 28,969 cases. It is unnecemary to say that the most skil ful physicians, the most fatuous surgeons, feel it an honour to direct the service of the hospitals. Whoever has passed through tho wards of the latter cannot fail to have been struck with the order end cleanliness which reign there. The poor, on quitting the hospital after bring cured, obtain relief from the Monthyon fund; according to the intention of the donor they obtain pecuniary amistanee, whielipermits them to seek for work without experiencing want. For the treatment of insane, of incurable diseases, there exist twelve institutions, including certain private establishments, which ere placed under official di rection. There exist 2,175 beds for the insane of both sexes, 4,919 beds of the aged poor, 1,133 beds for incur able dieeeses. For thb aged and the infirm, seylume exist, such sa St. P6rine, Larochefoucauld, les Minagee, where semi-poverty meets, in return for a very small payment, • tranquil refuge and constant attention. The total popula tion of these 'nal itutione and asyltune, deducting foundlings. amounted in 185.5 to 12,132 individuels. We find that above 200,000 persons receive annual &selenium from public charity. There exists a commission charged with the examination of unhealthy dwellings, which does not permit that thousands of men and women should congregate, to the Flume of huma. nity, in rol area which would be, deemed too nnwholcammo for cattle ; it is not possible in France to meet with the melan choly scenes ',Sneered in England according to a recent re po!t on the dwellings of a portion of the English popu lation. STOCK ENTYRTRIgE IN AESTRI.t.—A des p•teb from Vienna Flees that the imperial government ba• just issued a decree by which en investigation into the reuses of the present monetary crisis in Austria is ordered to be made, with a view of determining aa to the expedi ency of suspending for • time aU new joint stock en terprises to be carried into effect by the creation of share capital, AN ELECTOR'S STORY.—It is said that the electors of a parish ten miles the other side of Crediton met, when they heard there was to be a contest in the Northern Division, and consulted :together as to what they should do, for they area united pariah, and like to act in concert. Whom should they vote for Y They were rather at a loss to say, till one suggested they should go to the parson, and mak how be intended to vote. A deputation Immediately waited upon his reverence. and returned with the news that the parson would vete for Sir Stafford Notthcote. " Oh, if that be so," said the farmers, " we know what we should do—we mutt plump for Boller." And plump for Buller they did— to a man. Thim is a plea si ng instance a the correct encodes of masoning powers amongst our agricultural friestds..... I WaSorm The S The I puisengi • The Sound, Arrh. len i e t to : d dross urn th etiqw s of : ught t party *Len the 't to thilde. ht m il ii The ria *ntaim it w .to: to 01 k plus e m Ioe. I . 40c. tion, 11 nod In to, i lock, I torn 1 ean, rthern the Ite Londca ket tl At tin y Com de It the Grcl awake :Z• as hu' ilarea 1 iiprefers the a a loan art. inte &awing :I rcl" `ilegel I made capi aids a. aridend 'stereo., 'The E *day. to Mein 'done lin e Ci entice runt e A ed in gre groat ma w rthe Is den 1 I 1 I The, majorit by (TSI is the' 1.H.0 Colonic Public Crown Genera' give tiT Trade arrivab by coca 169,730 Sydney. "Woo] 46, treii The f 128,000 LJ New 23rd ul 39th, b gold. : 33; Ki The She bn of Car repeire 22. A Europe This up Cai ith thi At MI the , eraie, I Last rith It Puget bout 1,1 This z Berri, pope mber