The Express. — London, England, 1847-01-20 00:00:00

', a we of tke various measures he intemled to j apply to Ireland. If the noble lord, the member for Lynn, had any thing more satisfactory, he could them forward, and the house would give them, he was sure, that attention whieh they deserved. lie be• tiered that much in,ury had been done by the language which had ben u•ei with regard to England in Ireland; but be hoped t,at a bctti r s,.irit would prevail, rind ho thought he stw the beginning of it in a meeting of the Irish landlords which had been held in Inland• He trusted the house would come to tunside radian of there mesaurel in a good spirit, and however great the present calamity might be, homer horrible the imagination might paint them, he hoped that for Ireland would he preserved future years of prosperity, and that in her union with England she would present a apes Lode of a country where freedom and civilisa tion mad admirable pruners& (Loud cheers.) Mr. DISRAELI said that it was not likely to lead to a satisfactory condition of Ireland while they had prolonged misconceptions with the powers of the continent. The hon. gentleman then entered into a minute examination of the treaties of Utrecht and Vienna, of which he contended there had been no such violation as was proclaimed to the nation by the noble lord, the Secretary for Foreign affairs. The treaty of Vienna contained 17 other treaties, some of whicheettled the present domestic government of Germany, sod these contained stipulations and promises that had never been acted on or performed. As well then might the noble lord say that the violation of one of these seventeen treaties was equally a violation of the treaty of Vienna, as the recent pre mediugs wilt respect to Cracow. It was not likely that the gentlemen who drew up that treaty could poosibh• have made a settlement haying the effect which was now authoritatively announced in hoe Majesty's speech; but which he feared the noble lord had made out of deference to public clamour. The noble Mid, by so doing, had left the safe path of public law, one of' the principles of which was, that the superior instrument cannot merge in the inferior, and from that principle it was most dangerous to deviate. He would not enter at all into the political consideration connected with these ques tions, but merely say that it was of the greatest import ance, whatever might be their opinions about France and Poland, that their conduct shoull not be founded nor their sentiments expressed upon perverted views of trea ties, and that they should distiuctly comprehend what was the nature and extent of their reciprocal engaegments. It era: of the greatest importance that the great settlement of Vienna should be held sacred—but if the position of the noble lord be correct, that treaty was not only worthless, but had always been so. In considering the question he hoped they would take for their guide the acknowledged prim-mt. s of public law, and it thav did, Vary must doubt that any violation of tne treaty of Vienna had:occurred. It was of great importance at the present moment that we should be upon the best terms not only with France, but with our allies generally. He sometimes heard it said that peace could only ho nitititained by a cordiai understanding between England and France, oaly a secret understanding between Ebgland and Russia. In his opinion, England held the balance in her own handl, and that, conscious of hes own position and influence, she might, by giving with discretion, not only enjoy the blessings of pepee, but hand them down, better secured than by partial alliances with other powers, to future generations• • - -• • • Col. COOLLY protested against the speech of the hen. member fur Bath as insulting to the landlords of Ireland. All the efforts of Irish landlerds were treated by him as the cause of the present distrevs. He entreated the noble lord at the head of the government not to be influenced by such language, but to relax the principles of political economy for the relief of destitution. --- - Sir It PEEL said he was not about to interrupt that unanimity with which it appeared probable the address would be carried, nor to protract the discussion which had been entered into. There was scarcely one of the topics introduced in the speech from the throne which will not be debated with greater advantage when the pro mised inform dims had been hid on the table of the house. The noble lord had stated that the whole of the correspondence with respect to the marriage betw en a son of the King , of the French and the Infanta of Spain shouli be pr and he (Sir R. Pee) trusted that it would include all the documents connected with the part taken by the late government. He should for the present abstain from any reference to the subject beyond confirming the statement of the noble lord, that during the period when the late government was in power, no attempt was made to advance the pretensions of a prince of the house of Coburg to the hand of the Queen of Spain. For his own part he deprecated any such ctnneetion—(hear, heat)—and he thought that the interests of England could not be advanced by it. The probable effect of such an alliance would be to in troduce us more into the domestic concerns of Spun, and he did not be.ievo that the interest either of this country or, of Spain would be advanced by such means. cheat, hear.) Ills beli f was that it was for the interest of Europe that Spain should be really an independent country —(cheers)—that she should attain the high name which she once enjoyed, by the dignified assertion of her own rights— and that she should perform her own functions, and conduct her own administration, without tolerating the right of in terference on the part of any other power. (Hear, hear.) He hoped to see the day when Spain would place herself in the position of a perfectly independent country ; and when enjoying all the rights and privileges of constitutional liberty, she would attain a position somewhat analogous to that which ahejoccupied at a former period. (Hear.) Speaking of the late government, he could with truth assert that not only had there been no direct official act of that government, as he was thoroughly convinced, but no indirect means had been resorted to by any authority for the purpose of advancing the supposed interests of the princes of the house of Coburg. He should say little with respect to the extinc tion of the independence of Cracow; because, with respect also to that transaction, they would hereafter be in pomession of more ample information. But he could not allude to the subject without expressing his deep regret that the extnetion of that independence had taken place. (Hear, hear. t There might be truth in the statements and Meter vations if thej hon. gentleman who had preceded him (Mr. Disraeli) but still he thought a public assurance had been given to Europe at the period when the settle ment of its affairs took place; and when that settleutent was confirmed by the treaty of Vienna—a public assurance which should have been considered no binding (as was understood) as a formal engagement could be—that the last remnant of Polish independence should les main tained,!and that Cracow should not be destined to the fate which had overtaken it. He thought, therefore, that there had been a virtual departure from the engagement entered into ; and he considered the act a most impolitic one. That the three great powers were not able to protect themselves from the danger with which they were threat ened by Cracow in env other way appeared to him a very futile notion—(hear, hear)—and he believed that true police would have led them to maintain Cracow in its rights and privileges. (Hear, hear, hear.) Ile thought that the three powers might have taken effectual security against ao.y future danger from machinations conducted at Cracow ; but if, after the late deplorable events, they had restored Cracow to the possession of every right and privilege which it obtained under the treaty, and if there had been another violation, then, after a frank explanation with France, Great Britain, Sweden, and all the other powers who were partiss to the treaty, nubile feeling would have gone with those powers in making some new arrangement. It appeared to him that there was no sufficient justification, on aecount of any eventual danger to the three powers, Cu the act which had been recently committed. That Austria should have consented to disregard the engage ments of the treaty, appeared to him inconsistent with good policy, and calculated to shake the confidence of Europe in the future maintenance of its provisions. He regretted that no allusion had been made to the state of the revenue. He had heard, with satisfaction, that it was the intention of the ( government to call attention to the sanitory condition of the country. With the exception of Ireland he could conceive no subject of deeper importance, none more closely connected with the health, happiness, and permanent wel fare of the masses of the population. He hoped the measure would be an extensive one, and that it would enable the municipal authorities of small towns, as well as those of larger ones, to make those improve ments, the want of which had been so prejudicial to the health of the people. (Hear, hear.) With respect to Ireland, and fully appreciating all the di ffi culties which encompassed thu government in dealing with that subject, he was disposed to make every allowance for the position of those who had to meet the present calamity. Hear, hear, hear.) He well knew in what em• larrassment they might be placed on the one hand by the danger of taking superfluous precautions and -disturbing the ordinary operations of trade ; and on the other, by the danger of not making the requisite provision to prevent famine, and the disease which it occasioned. Not , only, therefore, on account of the recent period at which the , hon. gentlemen opposite had been called upon to administer public affairs, but on account also of the immense difficulties with which any government, whatever the length ofite tenure of office, must have to contend, was he disposed to make every allowance for the existing administration. They were now made wise by the event, and it was easy for them, seeing the extent of the evil which was actually present, to suggest tome better mode of combatting the difficulty than that which bad been resorted to. (Hear, hear) But they ought to place themselves in the position occupied by the government in the month of September last, and to consider whether or not, on ler the circumstances, and with the difficulties which he had stated, they would have been likely to adopt a better course. He del not blame government for not calling par liament tog: ther in the autumn. Hebulieved nothing effectual river would or could be done in Ireland without the active, earnest, unremitting co-operation of the landlords of that country. (Hear, hear, hear.) As events had turned itut, he regretted that the measures now propounded had not been brow/tat forward at an earlier period ; but it would have been most unwise to create alarm by what pos sibly would have been: too early interf rence. The noble lord justly said, that no compact was entere I into • but he was not surprised that he had been unwilling , without a case of proved necessity, to disturb the arrange ment originally made. With respect to the labour Rate in Ireland, he felt that the sooner the right hon. gentleman Mr. Labouchere) restored the ten thousand paid clerks and engineers to their former occupations, the better would it be for the country. The first thing to which they ought to •liruct their attention was their restoring the natural rela tions between the employer and the employed. Four hun 'ired and seventy thousand persona were employed on the public works, at the cost of 148,0001. a week. He hoped that the measures of the noble lord would restore those employed on these public works; first of all, to the cultivation of the soil, in order that they might have the Prospect of a future harvest; and, next, to its permanent improvement. lie hoped, too, that the landed proprietors sad the occupying tenants of Ireland, would feel that it wan of the utmost importance to wrist the government in re-absorbing the labour from the public works, and apply ing it to the rultivation of the soil. The noble lord pro- Postal tae buzpvtuuut os the existing duties use corn, and set the navigation lows, and the admheina of ilialliaoll ie the breweries and distilleries—to ease et which meosuses he (Sir Robert Peel) gave his medial assent, (Hear). though he believed the advantage to be derived from them would have been greater had they been adopted at an earlier period. (Cheers.) Though the eisesesstances were dif ferent now to what they were in November, he felt based to give a cordial assent to every measure calculated in any degree to increase the supply of food to this country, and to direct to our ports some portion of that which, In tconsequence of the scarcity of grain, they had been told existed in France, Germany, and Belgium, and the extraordinary means those countries had adopted to obtain it now want them. He thought also that the temporary sus pension of the navigation laws might have the effect of bringing in corn from Egypt and the Mediter ranean. But this was a subject into the considera tion of which feeling entered as well as reason ; and seeing that a great m►ny deaths—he would not say hun dreds, as some had asserted—had taken place in those coun tries on account of the want of sufficient food ; and seeing an admission in respect to Ireland, that though outrages had undoubtedly taken place in great numbers, yet that the se vere privation and destitution to which the people had been reduced had been sustained with great and exemplary pa tience. Looking, too, at the position of Scotland, and knowing that in the Western Islands there existed the greatest and most pressing want, though it wan scarcely brought under our cognizance even by a murmur from the suffering people---(hear)—he for one could not object (the price of corn barring reached the point at which it now stood) to any temporary measure which those who were responsible for rescuing the country - from the tem porary starvation which threatened it might think it neces sary to propose for meeting the evil. (Cheers.) To the three measures he had alluded to, therefore, he should give a most cordial assent, in the hope that they would ameliorate the condition of the people. With retard to measures of a permanent nature for improv ing the condition of Ireland, he would not then go into them, nor by premature discussion prejudice the course of the noble lord, or by provoking the expression of opinion before hand, prejudice the measures he might have to pro pose. As to emigration, though a well considered scheme, which should select for emigrants tans who were capable of labouring and maintaining themselves in the colony to which they might go, would, if gradually and steadily adopted, be meet useful ; he did not think any such measure would in the present state of dis tress have any other effect than to increase the diffi culty. He was willing to consent that this portion of the empire should bear its fair proportion in the emergency of the pressure upon the other, but it must be evident that any ' grant of money fur that purpose would, in effect, be no other than so much added to the taxation of the people here ; though he was willing, in such an emer gency, so to apportion the burden. yet he could not forget that nothing than ill-judged and misap plied humanity on the part of this country. (Hear, hear, Ireland should be taught to snake exertions herself, and to know that a constant dependence on this country was not only unjust to us, but tended not to the permanent benefit of herself, and that she should not seek to transfer to us a burden which properly belonged to her. He assured the noble lord that he should approach these questions free from all party feeling and all party considerations. Ireland could not suffer without England suffering in an equal degree. The legislature had the deepest interest in promoting the welfare, and conducing to the prosperity of Ireland; and though they might not be able to produce any immediate effects from their legislation, still, by securing the rights of property and of labour, he, for one, should ever feel grateful if they should be enabled to lay the foundation of a permanent system, which should conduce to tke comfort and welfare of the people. (Cheers.) Viscount PALMERSTON—Though, se the papers on the subject were not on the table, he was aware this was not the proper opportunity to enter into any discussion of the conduct of the government in reference to their foreign policy, he could not submit in silence to the interpetation of the treaty of Vienna which had been given by the hon. member fur Shrewsbury, because if that interpretation was just, that treaty was, in fact, no treaty at all. The honourable gentleman had so mixed up stipulations and details that it was difficult to sty what part of the treaty he considered binding. The parties to the treaty entered into no guarantee to take active measures, as the lion. gentleman asserted, they were merely authorised to do so. The hon. member was mistaken as to the bearing of the treaty of Vienna, as regarded Cracow. He seemed to consider that the stipulation to make Cracow a free state was confined to the three powers immediately interested ; but the 6rh,itle,Bthand St hartic)es of the treaty,which were general, also related to the indspendeace of Cracow, and were as much articles of the general treaty as any other. But the hon. member contended that, if so, the free navigation of the rivers, and other minor details, as to diplomatic pre cedents, &c., were, in the lISMO way, parts of the treaty, and so they were. The hon. member for Bath stated that the renunciation respecting the royal marriage in the treaty of Utrecht was rot retained in subsequent treaties. But the ground taken by her Majesty's government was not that there was anything in the treaty of Utrecht which would prejudice a marriage between the two helm a of Spain and Orleans, but that it went to pre , vent the descendants of the Orleans family from being the summers to the crown of Spain. The address was then apreed to, and_ a committee ap pointed to draw it up. The house adjourned at a quarter past one. MIDDLESEX ELECTION.—At a meeting of I.IBERAL ELECTORS at thy covey of MickLege:, held at the British Coffee-home, Cockspor.strect, Jan. 19, 1847, SAMUEL CHARLES WHITBREAD, Eeq., in the Chair, RriplikilliODNlllMl nrimerouely and respectably signed by electors of the county of Middlesex, haring been presented to Lord Robert Grosvenor, and ho having signified his aceeptanir thereof, and basing agreed to become a candidate for the representatum in parliament of the county of Middlesex, vacant by the lamented death of George rtyng, FN. Resolved unanimously : That Lord Hubert Grosvenor is i the electors of Middlesex, and that to secure his return. That the following gentlemen election Sir Er !ward North Buxton, Bart. John Drcwett, Esq. J. G. Ilamraark, Esq. 11. J. Prescott, Esq. George Offer, Eeq. Gilbert Pommy, E. Peter Martineau, Esq. Thomas Piaui, Esq. William Lawrence, Eq. Henry Nibbs Brown, Esq. llenry Hull, Esq. John Ashton later, Esq. William Hull, Esq. Henry Weymouth, Esq. Robert Watson, Esq. Samuel Amory, Req. Henry Hammond, req. Robert Amory, Esq. stephen Bird, Esq. James Cunliffe, Esq. Sir William Chattertom Bart. P. A. Taylor, Esq. William Nicholson, Esq. T. C. watson, EN ! . Ito. Frederick Byng John Morley, Esq. William leaf, Esq. Thomas Itidpray, Esq. Josh. Phelps, EN. David Wins. Wire, Lop John Baeshaw, Lop David Caldwell. Ear). Martin Thackery, kil. Chin lea Iti.hardison, Req. C. S. Butler, Req. Sir Walter Stirling, Bart. Thomas Gibson, Esq. Ceorge Wilson, Eq. John Simpson, beq. W. IL Hodges, Req. John Ingram Travers, Esq. Robert J. Bagthaw, Esq. Sir Edward Colebrooke, Bart. Charles Finch, EMI. sir George Larpent, Bart. Frederick Ashly, Esq. J. G. Itamsden, k sq. Apoiley Pellatt, Esq. J. B. Rowe, Esq. Franco Sherboni, Esq. James Montgomery, Esq. Lionel de Rothschild, Eaq. It. J. Arrnetrong, Esq. James Hutchinson, Esq. Jame. Pattiman, Eeq., M.P. John M. Parsons, Erq. !Matthew Doter, Esq., M.P. Henry Perkins, EN. Thomas Fowler, Esq. Tomas 11. Riches, Esq. That Samuel Charles Whitbread, bag., he chairman of the central committee. That the Hon. Edward Bouverie, M.P.; Abraham Wilday Roberts, Esq.; Sir Willem Cloy, Bart.; James Andertan, Esq.; Sir Edward Codringion, Hart.; and Robert Banbury, Eaq., he deputy.chau , men of the central committee. That the central committee sit daily at the British Coffee-house, Cockspur-street. S. C. WHITBREAD, Chairman. recommended by this meeting to immediate arrangement. be made be a committee to conduct the 74 hit Opprzoo. MAILS. ---• Thy overland mails for Gibraltar, Malta, Greece. the lonian Wanda, Egypt, Aden, Ceylon, India, llong.liong, and China, via Southampton, will be made up on the evening of the 20th January. The overland chased mails, yin Marseilles, to the Nlediterrarman, Egypt, Aden, Cevion, India, Hong Kong, Sm., will he made up on the evening of the 2.{tb January. The mails for Vigo, Oporto, Lisbon. Madeira, Cadiz, and Gibraltar, will be mode up on the morning of the 27th January. The midis for New South Wales. Von Diemen's Land, and New Zealand will be made up on the evening of the 31 , 1 January. The West India inails, including those for Mexico, Honduras, and :be Havannah, will be made up on the morning of the 2nd February. The mails for British North America, Bermuda, and the United States, will be made up on the evening of the 3rd February. The mail, for the Brazils, the River Plate, Monte Fides, Pernam buco, Bahia, Ma Mira, and Buenos Ayres, will be dispatched on the evening of the Ith February. THE EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 20, 1847. which the Premier and his policy were offered up to appease the anger of the Irish landlords. Lord STANLEY was by no means so severe. He, too, was affected with the amiable epidcmy that is in vogue. He made few reproaches for the failure of the late legislative measures for Ireland; admitting that it was a country so impracticable and ex traordinary, that to fail in dealing with it was inevi table. To throw away one session in providing for Irish evils, and have to begin another do awl. with Irish remedies, was something co natural and inevi- table to a man of Lord STANLEY'S experience, that he forgave it. He would not indulge in one ungracious remark, much less in a hostile amendment. The only exception we shall refer to by and bye. Then, if we adjourn from the Ilouse of Lords to the House of Commons, we find Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN. that speei il organ of Irish grievances, " roaring' . with unwonted gentleness. Instead of denouncing the Whigs, and proclaiming his mistrust of them, Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN avowed his preference of them to all parties in the state. They had done wrong, but the wrong was venial. Neither did the honour able gentleman show any of his old inveteracy to the Saxon. When he spoke of the Union, as a thing of which the whole burden fell upon Ireland, and the whole profit and enjoyment to England, the assertion excited a loud laugh, which might have stirred the bile of a Milesian. But Mr. O'BRIEN bore it like an angel. Nor was Lord GEORGE BENTINCE less Wbonnaire. He expressed a parental fondness for the govern ment, and having had some share in putting the reins of Irish government into their hands, he would not severely criticise the mode in which they used them. His anger, like Lord STANLEY'S, was reserved for the millers and for Lord PaLatEßwroN, who seem likely to be the scapegoats of Irish ill and foreign en mity. Even the four shilling duty was flung overboard by Lord GEORGE, as much as by Lord BROUGRAII. 'the former declared he had been no party to any compact, and he denied the existence of any " settle ment ;' so that, really, what excuse ministers can have for only suspending what they might abrogate, does not appear. As to scarcity, we may consider that it has fixed itself in Ireland, inevitably, for more than one season. And if merchants in corn are to be induced to supply it, they must be released, at once and tbr ever, from the uncertainties of a sliding-scale. To return, however, to the speech of the night, or at least of that early portion of the debates on which we have an opportunity of commenting, Lord STAN LEY did indulge in a fence at ministers. He accused them of being far too much wedded to political eco nomy. The ministry, to which Lord STANLEY had lately belonged, was far above such strait-laced principles. Where there was famine, thither they sent corn to be sold, and thousands of letters of con gratulation showered upon them in return for having forced the merchants and forestallers of grain to bring their hoards to market at a cheaper rate. Lord STANLEY gloried in this triumph over the corn-merchant. And he is echoed by S. O'BRIEN, and, indeed, by most of the Irish journals, who use pretty much the same language prevalent in France in the famine of the great revolution, against millers and factors, whose stores were broken up, and them selves hoisted up to lamp-posts. The French gentle men, who hanged the millers, had an equal contempt with Lord STANLEY for political economy, and his reasonings are precisely theirs. We must leave these preposterous doctrines of Lord STANLEY to the able replies of Lord LANSDOWNE, and Mr. LABOUCIIERE who refuted them in the Lower House. The PEEL Cabinet had to deal, in 1845, with distress of far less magnitude than at present. And yet, even their interference with trade in that year would have annihilated it in 1846, had not govern ment entered into public engagements which it would have been most impolitic as well as unjust to break. But, indeed, we do not wonder at Lord STANLEY'S abstinence from reproach to the government, from mo dest feeling, when we consider his own recommenda tion towards the close of his set and studied speech. His nostrum for Ireland is the introduction of capital, and the consequent compulsion of Irishmen to live by ' wages, not land. Very desirable, indeed: but as a' practical recommendation in the present state of Ire land, it is a mere mouthful of moonshine. if the pro tectionist chief have nothing beyond this to suggest, he is wise indeed in not objecting to the burden of relieving the existing difficulties still resting on the shoulders of a liberal ministry. The debate on the address having closed in both houses, we must reserve our comments on Lord JouN RUSSELL'S, and the concluding speeches, for to morrow. A CIRCUMSTANCE that excited very little attention at Westminster, but which would have been an awful affair in Paris, was the absence of the ambassadors of the Three Eastern Courts from the ceremony of open ing parliament. Count ST. AULAIRE was there mingling his red riband with the blue ribands of our grandees, a proof that our quarrels with France are mere quercllea de 'anew, and that the two countries are forcibly driven together by enmile of a more serious kind. Our Queen's speech, indeed, touched as lightly as could be done, on the matter of the Spanish marriages. It could not approve, but it refused to blame ; whilst the sentence upon Cracow was decidedly condem natory. The Spanish marriages occupied as small a share of the debate, as of the speech. Lord STANLEY alone thought fit to infringe upon a subject, of which it required ample and uncurtailed information to judge. Yet we cannot say that we differ much from Lord STANLEY'S views. He refused to adopt Lord PALMERSTON'S interpretation of the treaty of Utrecht; and few, - we believe, will be found to support it. Lord STANLEY admitted the manner of bringing about the marriage to be a " slight and a discourtesy" to England. And these terms become more strong, by his lordship applying the self-same ones to the absorption of Cracow, an act of something more than discourtesy, one should think. Lord BROUGHAM'S and Lord GEORGE BENTINCR'S views of the marriages are singular and convenient. In the opinion of both these statesmen, the English public do not care or know a button about these mar riages ; and, consequently, parliament need not care for them. This is, certainly, a new and easy road to atatemanship : viz., to care for nothing, discuss and examine nothing, that the people at large are not fully cognisant of and interested in. If such be the rule of policy, what a dreadful mis take was our interfering in China, or opening its trade? How monstrously absurd are our sympathies for Mexico ; our jealousy of Nepaul ; or our quarrels with the Sikhs ! What care the ma jority of the English public for these things ? 'What did the mass of the English people care for the revolution of 1688 ? Was not the mass of the English people indifferent, or worse than indifferent, to the succession and the _prevalence of the House of Hanover? If Lord BROUGHAM and Lord GEORGE BENTINCK insist, that nothing but what interests the mass of the English people should be debated in parlia ment, then they must begin with themselves, contract their speeches, and suppress their motions ; for the people of England care lea and know less about the subject matter of them, than they do about the Spanish marriages. The question is not whether the people of England care about these marriages or not ; but whether they ought to care about them ; whether these marriages or their results affect the future interests of England? At all events, they were supposed by statesmen to do PO; and they became the subject of negotiation and of joint action between the governments of France and England. It is necessary, independent of our interests or hopes in Spain, to know how we stand with France, how we have been treated by France. We must know whether France has behaved perfidiously or not. Perhaps we wrong her. if so, let the matter be examined, and set right. Let our suspicions be removed, if possible. If they cannot be removed, and if they be proved to be founded, let us place our future alliance and pro ceedings on other bases. For an alliance cannot continue, wherein one party is not only duped, but consents to be duped. If friendship is to be pre served between individuals or countries, it may be preserved by mutual tolerance, hut not by slurring over mutual acts of treachery. A c %SE of no great importance in itself, but curious in respect of the coincidence that brought it under the jurisdiction of Alderman GIBb,, and of some conse quence as promising ultimately to elicit some infor mation respecting the state and prospects of Belgian railways in general, and of the Great Luxembourg in particular, was called at the Mansion-house on IHonday. Mr. ittsos, solicitor to the Great Luxembourg TO CORRESPONDENTS. We cannot notice, I;an;;;;,anycorninunica tton that to pent to no anonyinowly ; but those whochcow to odder. u.• in confidence will find du...confidence reapected. NEITHER CAN WE CNDERTAKE TJ RETCRN ANY SIAN USCRI PTS WIIATEVER. • Ativertivernenta Intended for Tar Brace's, London evening paper, must be at the Ofilee by Two o'clock on the day of publication. 111611 WATER AT LONDON-BRIDGE. Tots DAT. —Mornin, 13 min. pion 4; Aftetnoon, 37 min poet 4. To-lloasow—Morning, 0 mi. peat 3; Afternoon, 23 min. past 5. LONDON, IVEDNESDAY, JAN. 20 . Tile session of 1811 does not come in, as March is said to do, like a lion, but, on the contrary, like a lamb. It is all softness. Instead of attacking foes, each statesman and party seem to prefer confessing faults; such practice of mutual forbearance and in dulgence was never witnessed. First in the rank of the mild and humble,are ministers , themselves. The Queen's speech is, to be sure, in general deprecatory of opposition or of argument. Its aim is ' never to provoke retort, amendment, or discussion. The brevity of its remarks, and the absence of , assumption in them, is nothing extraordinary. But what really is extraordinary, is the length to which this self-denying or self-upbraiding spirit was carried by the mover of the address in the House of Lords. He is selected by the minister, and is considered to support if not to echo him. What, then, must the house have thought of Lord HAVIERTON'S wholesale condemnation of all the ministerial measures in Ireland? Never was Prime Minister more completely thrown overboard by a subordinate, than Lord JOHN ReSSELL by Lord HATIIERTON. We really thought we were assisting Ist a sacrifice, such as )he bet prepared us /Coons, ia l Company, appeared npin a summons issued on the application of Mr. W. SMITH, of No. 30, Poultry, to answer for an assault alleged to have been committed on Mr. SMITH. The circumstances were as follows: —Mr. SMITH, a shareholder in the Great Luxembourg, presented himself at the Belgian Railways Amalga mation meeting, held on Saturday last. Mr. TIMM took upon him to prevent Mr. SMITH from entering the room where the meeting was held, although the advertisement calling the meeting was addressed to the shareholders in the Great Luxembourg, along with others. This was the assault eomplamel of : a gentlemanly friendly assault, performed on the one side and submitted to on the other simply for the purpose of enabling Mr. SMITH to raise at the Man sion-house the question of Mr. TILSON'S right to keep him out. Mr. Tu.sos did not deny his assault d reau'de rose, but justified it on the ground that it was necessary to keep Mr. SMITH out of the meeting in order;to prevent a breach of the peace. In corroboration of this statement he handed two letters to the presiding alderman—Alderman Glass. The precise tenor of the letters did rot transpire, but they appear to have been addressed by Mr. SMITH to Mr. MASTERMAN, jun., who presided at the meeting, and to have con tained expressions tending to provoke a breach of the pmce. Alderman GIBBS, after perusing them, and hearing Mr. SMITH acknowledge the authorship, dis missed the summons. Alderman Glans is doubtless a great authority in such a case. He has had considerable experience as to the annoyance that may be occasioned to men in office by angry men calling upon them to tender their accounts, and the tendency of such applications when urged in nncourtly language to provoke to a breach of the peace. His view of the case, too, is corrobo rated by Lord DENMAN'S decision in the case of ISNES and WILEY, that a policeman was justified in preventing a person from entering a room in which a public meeting was held, from the belief that a breach of the peace would ensue in consequence of his ad mission. Notwithstanding, however, the apparent unanimity of those two great authorities we are still inclined to question the soundness of the decision. "A public meeting" is a very . vague term. The meeting of Saturday was a meeting of shareholders in the Belgiin railways, convened to deliberate on a proposal affecting their pecuniary interests. Mr. Salem is a shareholder in one of these railways. It must be a very strong case of necessity, indeed, that can warrant the chairman and solicitor of one of these concerns to exclude a shareholder from par ticipating in a discussion where the value, perhaps the existence, of his property, is at stake. No such necessity is established in the present instance. Even assuming that the language in Mr. SMITH'S letters was calculated and intended to provoke a hostile rencontre, there must be two parties to a duel, and in Mr. MASTERMAN'S official position he would have been quite safe in taking no notice of any intemperate lan guage. A meeting . of men of business ta, discusa matters of business, is not so easily converted into a ehaude nu , lge as a large promiscuous assembly : Mr. MASTERMAN, under the protection of the gentlemen present, and of a police officer, who is said to have been in attendance, would have been quite safe from any assault, even on the assumption that Mr. SmITII intended to commit one. The hazard incurred by ad mitting this terrible Mr. SMITH does not appear to have been by any means so great as to warrant the extreme step of shutting out a man from a meet ing at which measures were to be adopted for the future management of his property. If every railway shareholder who has written an angry letter to a director or chairman is to be excluded from the meetings of his company, there will be but a scanty attendance in some cases. But whatever doubt we may entertain as to the law of the case, we have not a shadow of a doubt as to the injudicious character of the course that has been adopted by Messrs. MASTERMAN and TILSON. Mr. Small stated on Monday that his intention was to " state his opinion of the Luxembourg Rail way Company, in which (he says) he has lost money, and will lose more before he is done with it." lle afterwards admitted that his object was " to blow up the company." Mr. SMITH is evidently very angry, and may be for aught we know very un reasonable, but the credit of the Luxembourg Com pany is not likely to be improved by the directors shrinking from confronting him face to face at a public meeting. Notwithstanding the exclusion of Mr. SMITH, the voice of discontent was not altogether stifled on Saturday. One gentleman called for "a financial statement of the affairs of each company, together with a return of the works that had been finished ( adding that " before this was done it was impossible to judge of the propriety of amalgamation." An other, in terms that we do not choose to repeat, inti mated that one, at least, of the other Belgian com panies looked upon the amalgamation movement as originating in a desire on the part of the Great Luxembourg Company to improve its not very prosperous financial condition by the in corporation of more flourishing, concerns. Looking to the estimation in which the Belgian railways, as investments, appear to be held in the London market, there does not appear to be much to choose between any of them. Here is a view of their position on Monday last, extracted from the official share list : Paid. 21 Belgian Eastern Junction (no quotation.) 4 Dcndre Valley (no quotation.) 0 Louvain ula Sambre 41 41 die. 6 Luxembourg 3/ 3) di., 8 Namur and Liege 4' 41 dis. 10 Sambre and Meuse 51 51 dis. 8 Tournay, Jurbise, &c. (no quotation.) G West 1• lenders 3l 3 dis. For the depressed state in which Belgian railway sham are, and have been, there must be some reason. The industry and wealth, the dense population of the country, the general absence of engineering difficul ties, are all favourable to railway enterprise : how comes it that these concerns are one and all so indif- ferentiv esteemed in the London money market ? We 'believe the truth to be, that the vaunted system of coupling conditions for the public advantage with the concession of incorporate privileges to railway companies, has been carried to such an excess in Bel gium, that doubts prevail whether the Belgian rail ways, under the load of obligations to government contracted by their projectors, can be made to' pay. A large, we believe the largest, portion of !Belgian railway shares is held in England. The Belgian government recognises only the directors; negotiates with them alone. Do the English share holders in these railways know exactly the position of their respective companies? The proposal to amal gamate—originating with a body of directors —is a confession that an entirely new mode of management must be adopted. Such a confession, coupled with the rather strong measures adopted to exclude a re fractory member from the meeting of Saturday, ought to stimulate the shareholders in all Belgian railways to insist upon immediate, comprehensive, and distinct explanations from their directors. It appears from the French journals of Monday, that the question of subsistence assumes every day a more serious aspect. Further accounts of disturbances throughout the provinces, owing, not only to the dearness but to the actual deficiency ot grain in the market, were received in Paris. This state of things is not local; the public disquietude is general. Popular disturbances have spread over the northern, western, and central departments of France. The transport of grain has been interrupted ; ware houses pillaged ; proprietors assailed, in Mayenne, Sarthe, Vendee, Ile-et-Vilaine, Mee du Nord, Pas de Calais, Nord. Cher, Nievre, Dordogne, Indre, and various other department+. Two boats laden with corn have been pillaged at Tours. The acts of violence and crime which have been copa -1 miffed have in many cases the appearance of being perpetrated by those malefactors, who trade upon the ignorant and blind passions of the crowd. Thus acts of wanton destruction are committed, which to the most vulgar apprehension must have the effect of aug menting the evil. Houses are pillaged, while the pro prietors who dare to defend them are assassinated chateaux are devastated, mills destroyed. and work-; shops pulled to pieces. The department of Indre is the theatre of some of the most violent disturbances. On the 12th and 13th, at Levroax, Chateauroux, and Buzanzais grave disorders broke out, the authori -1 ties were resisted, and the entire military force avail able found insufficient. Waggons of corn were stopped and seized, and the owners compelled to sell their contents at 3 francs, the actual price being 7 francs. On the 14th, a body of 1,500 assembled at Brizanzais, when frightful scenes of pillage and blood took place. One proprietor, M. Chambert, who resisted the aggressions ot the mob, was immediately 1 strink down I)), kilo ,vs of dull. an:. Vilur.i.lly litaLu iu pieces. The work of pillage at Ville-Dieu was only suspended by the mayor ordering his own grain to be gratuitously distributed among the people. Government has, as stated in our correspondence of yesterday, sent military reinforcements to the theatres of the most formidable Enterites, but it is not easy to exercise measures of repression upon disturbances which spread over twelve or fourteen departments of the kingdom. A note of Lord Palmerston's, dated 9th instant, addressed to Lord Normanby, alluded to in our for mer correspondence, was delivered to M. Guizot by the latter, on the 12th. It is said in Paris that this note, consisting of eighty-four pages of manuscript, refers chiefly, if not exclusively, to the manner in which the marriage negotiations have been conducted, but does not revive the discussion on the treaty of Utrecht. A ministerial journal of Sunday says that although the Minister of Foreign Affairs is not bound by any diplomatic etiquette to reply to this note, addressed not to himself, but to Lord Normanby, the cabinet has nevertheless resolved that M. Guizot shall answer it. The committee on the address have received from M. Guizot a complete copy of the note of Lord Pal mer-ton of July 19, a paragraph of which only was given in the printed documents. This step is under stood to have been taken in consequence of a peremp tory demand made on the part of the British cabinet by Lord Normanby, accompanied by an intimation that, if not complied with, the whole note would be published in the Paris journals. The departure of the King of the Belgians for England has been adjourned for the present. The ministerial journals say that His Majesty being apprised that the English Cabinet were about to address a new despatch to M. Guizot on the subject of the marriage of the Duke of Montpensier, has con sidered it more proper to postpone his visit to England until the French government shall have answered the despatch of Lerd Palmerston. The opposition jour nals, however, maintain that the visit is indefinitely postponed, inconsequence of assurances received from England, that the professed object of the proceeding could not under existing circumstances be attained. The provincial banks in France are following the example of the National bank. Those of Rouen and Orleans have already raised the rate of discount to i per cent. The session of the Chamber of Peers was opened on Monday. 'The Duke of Nemours, the Prince of Joinville, and the Duke d'Aumale were introduced by the Grand Referendary. The Duke d'Aumale took the usual oath, this being the first time he took his seat in the Chamber. _ . . —.—.—.. M. Ilarthe read the project of the address, which, being a mere echo of the King's speech, we do not think it necessary to print. M. Guizot Mid three documents relative to the Spanish marriages before the Chamber, documents Which had been demanded. They were ordered to be published and distributed. The only swakers were M. Dupin, Vicomtes de Villiers du Terrage, and de Flangay , and M. Duchatel, Minister of the I Interior. The note presented by the representatives of the three northern powers to the Swiss Vorort, which we gave in our correspondence yesterday, has excited strong expressions of resentment among the liberal party in Switzerland, who will make a proposition, in the directory at Berne, to return an energetic answer to it, reminding the powers how ill it becomes them to exhort others to respect international obligation, considering the unscrupulous manner in which they have themselves trodden under foot the treaties of Vienna. The steps which the French government will take in the present attitude of the canton, are regarded with extreme solicitude, and not without many misgivings. It is believed in Switzerland that the real leanings of M. Guizot are in favour of the absolutist powers and the Jesuitical party, and that if he is not influenced by a fear of opposition in the Chambers, he will either openly or implicdly favour the northern powers in their intervernion by diplo macy or by arms. Mr. Peel, Cigarp , tr.ifairM of England, at Berne, has, it is said, formally expressed his disapproval of, and dissent from, the note ad dressed to the Vorort by the three powers. The Spanish mail was received in Paris on Monday, with letters and journals from Madrid of the 12th instant. The congress had not yet been constituted ; the question of the presidency of the representative chamber was still unsettled. The meeting of mode rado deputies which, had been convoked for the evening of the 11th, bad been adjourned. The ministry was desirous of suspending the definitive constitution of ( ongress, and all other active measures, until the arrival of M. Martinez de la Rosa, wLom they intended to propose as ministerial candidate for the presidency of the representative chamber. The address, in answer to the royal speech, was read in the senate on the 11th. The Bureaux of the Chamber of Deputies at Paris were engaged on Monday with the examination of the report of the finances of 1846-7, in which an excess of expenditure, amounting to sixty-six millions of franca, has been incurred. FRANCE.— BALL AT THE TUILERIES. —On Tuesday last a court ball was given at the Tuileries; about three thousand persons were present at this file, which was more noisy than royal. The sen'.ing of the invitations was neglected to such a degree, that several persons received teal. Madame la Duchesse de Montpeusier is an indefatigable dancer, Since her arrival in France, she has made rapid progress in the Terp-ichorean art, and the masters of the young princess are very well satisfied with her. The in teresting state she is now in has not in the least diminished her vivacity end her native Spanish ardour. The diplo matists danced little, but played much. The card tables were placed in the Salle du Trone, and the Salon Blanc. Lord Norm inby a great amateur of whist, and one of the finest players of the three kingdoms, was sated at ono of these tables; he had for partner M. de Brignolles, the ambassador of Sardinia, against SerraCapriols, ambassador of Naples, and Comte d'Appony, who like Prince Metternich, his master in everything, likes playing high. At about 1 o'clock the king and queen, followed by the !meets and princesses and the most iiistinguiehed persons, went to the Salle do Tlieatre to supper. The service was badly attended to. The ser vants of the court are not sufficiently numerous to suffice for reception days and fates. A few clumsy maitre, d'hotel that were hired, spread confusion every where. Mdme. de Mont pensier ate with a good appetite ; the ball had put her in excellent humour. She did not cease questioning the Duke do Montpensier. Everything appeared to surprise her ; and the duke was pleased to perceive that at the court of Madrid things were not conducted as at the Tuileries, and that Marie Christine had not familiarised her daughters with an embarrassing etiquette. Only twenty-four tables were laid out for the supper, end each one could only accommodate ten persons at a time. And, while the ladies and privileged persons were seated, the dancers that arrived too late took all they could, and ate standing. The deputies returned again and again to the tables, giving us a high opinion of parliamentary gormandising. The left centre is well disposed to taste the sweets of power. The supper did not end till five o'clock ; the dances continued till about seven o'clock. The file would have been brilliant, had not the peat number of , persons caused so much inconvenience and confusion. But times are difficult. We must render ourselves agreeable to all vanities; they have shown their patriotism in words, they seek to re-establish their popularity ; it appeared thee I expedient to send out a numerous list of invitations. It is a favour which may flatter self-love, but affords but little pleasure.—Esprit Public. Sl'ALN.—Mannin.—The preens rerhal of the elec tion of M. Pedro Gomez de la Serma has already been presented to the Congrees. It is known that this d. puty was expatriated, in virtue of a decree rendered by the temporary government of 1843, against General Espartero, end his associates who . accompanied him in his flight. This exposition, as it would appear, will be referred to en examination (neing a serious I , question), alter the constitution of the Congress. It is sup posed that the same course will he taken relatively to the • I election of a few alcaldes, councillors, and provincial depu ties. lesi deputies are already adnitted. 40 or 80 proiris rerbal still remain to be examined. ' , he Congress may, perhaps, he constituted this week.—M Tiempo, Jan. 12. BASK OP ISABELLA IL—The directors of the Bank of Isabella 11. have decided that the capital of the hank shall be increased 10,000,000 of reels (ioo,noot.), and that i the shareholders are to pay an increase of 10 per cent. on their nominal value, or 500 reels (.51.) per share. To this • effect, the directors of the bank have dekignated a delay of 15 days, expiring Jan. 2h. SWITZERLANI).—The union journal had an nounced that the French Ambassador had threatened to station French troops at Porentini, in case iterne should send troops against Friburg. The Berne (ta.:ette says that this assertion is false. The Gazette states that although this declaration might have been made, if was useless; for it is evident to all persons a little acquainted with Switzerland, • that any invasion of one state by another, with hostile inten tions would be followed by the immediate entry of foreign troops. The answers of the Austrian, Russian and l'eusaign ! ambassadors, which caused so much pleaiure to the Anti de la Constitution and to the Berne Gazette, are comprehended in the same terms, ani contain besides a significant phrase these journals did not mention. In fact, they will only give their usual assurance of sincere friendship to the Vorort, as long as the base on which his power rests will have re mained untouched in its essence, and not vitiated in its spirit. —Onretre de Berne. Jan. 15. CZyni. CaZogi'.. of the 16th. .totes that i: has been favoured with x sielot of the pneest of the Swedish government against the incorporation of Cracow. It state, that the note is short, and MI scarcely be looked upon as a procestation ; for at the same time that it reedoires the necessity of the act, it expreeses i.s regret at this nectewite, and the hope that this set will be the last in fra 'Son of the treaty of Vienna. However mild the note is, it caused great displeasure at Vienna and St. Petersburg, for if they did not count on the adhesion of Sweden, they had at least reckoned on its silence. POLAND.—Correspondence received from the frontiers of Poland informs us that the disturbances caused by the discontent of' the peasants of Gallicia have re-corn menedd, and threaten to spread throughout the kingdom. It is for this reason that a body ..r Russian troops, under the command of General Rudiger, wa , stationed on the Gallician fmother. Austria had assembled some thousand men, who occupy the frontier of Cracow. Landholders are in great anxiety, not knowing what meaworee w ill be taken by the two government.; to prevent new &nesters. The Augsburg Gazette contradicts the statement of the Nuremberg Correspondent. that the definitive ir corpora tion of the kingdom of Poland with Rusda had taken place on the Ist January, and states that it had received letters from Posen up to the oth, which mane no mention of the fact. We have Prussian papers up to the I ith, which how ever state the fact em likely to take place soon. GREECE.—We read in a letter from ligribas (Greece), of the lith ult. :—" 'fhere is in the whole of Greece only one guillotine. Who river an execution is to take place, therefore, the guillotine mu,t be taken to the place. For some time past this inostrunsent had been sta tionary at Atheas, as there were so many brigands to deca pitate who had been taken in th- environs. The guillotine Is now making the tour of the provinces, and is at this mo ment at Egribos, where it has just served to cut off the heads of eleven persons, one of them a priest, who were condemned to death some time ago for piracy. Although a great por tion of our population do not reg.ord piracy as a crime, and have a profoend veneration for prie-ts in general, whatever their private conduct may be, there was no manifestation at the place of execution in favour of the curio.ity. The number of persons present to seduces the execution was about 12,000." gte Noun. The Queen went in state yesterday to tl.e House of Lord* ' to open the sessiona of parliament with a speech front the throne. Her Majesty and Prince Albert left the state saloons at a quarter before ico o'clock, prt ceded by the great officers of state and the principal officers of the house held, and followed by the Ladies iu IVaitieg, her Majesty's train being borne by the Pages of Honour in Waiting. Her Majesty and the Prince descended the grand staircase, and passed through the library, and throagh a tempo: ary corridor, hung with handsome crimson draperiti., and richly •rpeted, which had been erected Inc the ore ision across the terrace in the garden front of the palace. Her Majesty and bin Royal Highness were conducted throneh the corridor to the state coach by the Lord Chamberlain. The Queen's guard, composed of the Fuot Guards, with the band of the regiment, stationed in the royal garden, received the Sove reign with the usual hollows. The State Procession left the palace by the garden entrance in the following order :—A carriage drawn by six bays conveying the Gentlemen Ushers, the Hon. Frederick Byng, Captain Courtenay Boyle, It. N., and Colonel !'son the lon in Waiting of the Yeoman Guard, Sir Samuel Hancock, and a Page of Honour. A carriage drawn by a , et of bays, conveying the Groom of the Robes, Lieut. Colonel Seymour; the Groom in Waiting, Colonel Berkeley Drum mond; the Groom in Waiting to Prince Albe, t, Captain Francis Seymour, and a Page of Honour, Mr. Forbes. A carriage drawn by a set of hays, conveying the Comptroller of the Household, Lord Marcus Hill; the Master of the Household, Major General Bowles; the Silver Stick in Waiting, Colonel Buuverie, and the Field Officer in Waiting, Colonel flame. A carriage drawn by a set of bays, conveying the Captain of the Yeoman Guard, Viscount Falkland, O. C. H. ; the Clerk Marshal, Lord Alfred Paget; the Treasurer of the Household, Lord Robert Grosvenor; and the Equerry in Waiting to the Prince, Captain the Hun. A. H. Gordon. A carriage, drawn by a set of black horses, conveying the Lord St ward, Earl Fortescue; the Gold Stick in NV.iitirg, Via count Combermere ' G.C.8.; the Lord in Waiting, Earl Ducie ; and the Loral in Waitiug to the Prince, Viscount Ciifdeo. The Queen', Marobalmen, two and two. The Queen's footmen, in state liveries, two and two. Yeomen of the Guard. The State Couch, drawn by eight cream er:loured horses, conveying her Majesty the Queen; H.R.H. Prince Albert ; the Mistress of the Rolm., the Duchess of Sutherland; and the Lady in Waiting, the Marchionen of Douro. The Crown was conveyed to the House of Lords by Sir William Martins, Gentleman Usher. The State Procession returael to Buckingham Palace at five minutes past three o'clock. The Lord Cham berlain received her Majesty and her Royal Consort , on alighting from their carriage, and conducted them to the state rooms. The Yeoman Guard lined the lower rooms. The Queen and Prince Albert honoured the Hay market Theatre with their presence yesterday evening. he royal suite consisted of the tilvrelitonts< of Douro, Earl Diode, Lord Alfred Paget, and Col -nel Seymour. Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal walked yesterday moving, with her august parents. in tho royal gardens of Buckingham Palace. Despatches were sent off last evening from the Colonial-office for the Lord High Commissioner of the lonian Islands, and fur the Governors of Malta ;and Gibraltar. The Conde de Montemolin having been invited to be present in the House of Lords at the opening of parlia ment, the Prince entered the houses soon after one o cluck, and was conducted to the seat in the gallery gen. rally occu pied by visitors of his high rank. The Conde attended tha ceremony in the court dress of a private English gentleman, and was accompanied by his Excellency th Marquis of Villafranea, and Colonel Merry, who were similarly attired. Neither the Austrian, Prussian, or 'Russian ambassadors were present. Their absence is sufficiently accounted for by that passage in her Majesty's speech which relates to Cracow. (From last night's Castle.) Her Majesty in Council was this day pleased, upon the representation of the right honourable the lords of the committee of council on education, to appoint the Rev. Alex ander Thurtell, M.A., fellow and tutor of t.'aius College, Cambridge; the Rev. J. J. Blandliird ; the Rev. Edward Douglas Tinling, M.A.; and the Rev. Muirhcad Mitchell, M.A., to be four of her hfajest's inspettors of schools. WHITEHALL, JAN. 18.—The Queen has presented the Rev. J. Russell, M.A., to the rectsry of L!andrinio, is the county of Montgomery, cum Melverley, in the county of Salop, and diocese of St. Asaph, void by the death of Dr. W. Carey, late bishop of that see. Also the Rev. M. Camp bell to the church and parish of Salen, in the p.esbytery and isle of Mull, vacant by the transportation of the Rev. J. Dewar, late minister thereof, to the parish of Kilehoman. OFFICE OF ORDNANCE, Fan. 19. Royal Rept. Artillerp.—See. Lteut C. W. Etre to be fled Beat, vice Ilug dec. sroaa sot re.—The dates of promotion or the under-mentioned °therm are to be altered o, knout.: -First Lieut. Olt B. Woobeey. Nov. 26, 1886; Vint Lieut. A. W. Drayage, Now. 28, 1816. WRECK OF THE SIRIUS STEAMER. The information which we gave yesterday of the wreck of the Sirius has been fully confirmed. The Cork Southern Reporter states that between three and four o'clock on eaturday morning the vessel, having made an excellent passage from Dublin to the offing of Cork harbour, struck, in a dense fog, on a reef of rocks in Ball cotton Bay. and instantly a scene of consternation, not to be described, prevailed among the passengers. Captain Moffett, the commander, then deemed it advisable to buck the ship off the reef, and by much exertion with the engines and otherwise. succeeded in doing so; hut they were only a very short time clear of the rocks when it became evident that the vessel would not much longer remain afloat, as she was making water fast, and had received serious injuries in her bottom and sides. She was, accordingly, again turned towards the land, and very soon after began to strike on a ledge, called Smith's Rorke, about half a mile to the west of Ballycotton, with the certainty of going to pieces in • few hours. The total loss of the vessel being thus inevitable, the attention of all on board was directed to the preemies lion of the crew and passengers. and amidst the confusion and alarm that prevailed, the life-boat, which is usually carried over the paddletboe, was attached to the davits and lowered, though unfortunately on the wrong side of the ship. This boat, we understand, was not equal to accom modate more than eight, but immediately she was launched twenty crowded into her, principally deck pale sengers, and before she was well clear of the steamer, raelan cludy to relate, she was swamped, and all in her meta watery grave lave Captain Cameron, of the Prince, river steamer, who was a passenger from Dublin in the vessel. Retaining his presence of mind at such an awful and trying morn. nt, hts managed to keep himself afloat, and grasped • rope, by means of which he was hauled on board. Means bile the steamer continued to thump heavily on the rocks, while the screams of alarm from the affrighted passengers, and the heavy surf breaking on her ?ides, and on the deck, rendered the scene one of awful danger and sees- anxiety. Soon after the Coast Guard boat from Ballycotton wation, under command of Mr. Coghlan, chief officer, came alongside, and the ship's boats having by this time been also launched, the remaining passengers were got into them, and safely landed though with the loss of every portion of their luggage. The deck passengers who were drowned were princi pally policemen, some who had gone up in the Vanguard in charge of convicts, and some reinforcements from the constabulary depot in the Phenix l'ark ; some soldiers, and sailors—one of the latter, a man who was coming as mate to one of Mr. Scott's vessels, having been shipwrecked three times within the last year. The commander of the vessel, Captain Moffett, who had the reputation of being a skilful and experienced seaman, is described as being almost out of his naiad at the occurrence, but, of course, we cannot at present form any opinion with reference to his proceedings. It is, however, next to a cer tainty that to the want of a lighthouse on Cable Island, which the shipping interests of this city have been so long contending for, one of the main causes of this dreadful catastrophe may be traced. Up to the last accounts the ship was fast going to pieces, and probably after another tide tot re will not be a vestige of her left. None of the bodies are as yet found, but it was thought that in the course of Sunday washed ashore. The number of passengers and Sirius was, as near as can be e seveaty-one of whom have been ta.. large and valuable cargo from Glasgow cipally bale goods, groceries, musical furniture, packages, dm., and amoug oases of theatrical wardrobes belonging Dar. Wilde, of the Olympic Theatre, 1, the is iast.l.,l, SunThesy they Wool and crew o; Wig 1 A ascertained, t ahre4 , saved. Stile a • litaagow and tkilblit , • tusical instrumintp, - "botow. moug . them itla Imid,,fis l a— I elonging to thlrairetlol4.. ' ..f) eatre, London. isrt „ J e thoudh , )•• :•I