The Express. — London, England, 1851-09-05 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT • Yesterday being the day to which parliament was pro rogued by the Qui - zn at tbe end of lastensioo, the ceremony of a further prorogation took place in the Mouse of Lords, at half-past 3 o'clock. The Lords Cameneemern were, the Lord Chancellor, the Archbisl ow i ri of sad the Duke of Devonshire, who a Webb best Ow throne. Upset monmisoileme taldeg their seats the Lord Clumeeller airated gr. Nimes Dij s lic t V iher of the Black Med, teembertlessfarmisees Gum of Com mons te hew the sepalassemlein nod. Mr. Putman speedy mterned, aesampanied by be Dais Le Merchant, clerk g a ggpylosoo, who represented the Mira Mem en the pie, M member of the Commona t oi tg rai Nt=ee ilid Mr. Shaw Lefeue, the Doputy CI the royal Multati•-ion, (briber proroguing parliament to Tuesday, the 4th of November. After the readieg of the commission ' The LORD CUANCELLOR said, that in obedience to her Majesty's command, and in virtue of the commission now read, the Lords COULlMilibiOllfirt slid, in her Majesty's mune, prorogue the parliament to Tuesday, the 4th of NO• 'Saber, to be th, n and there holden. The Commit.iontrs then withdrew, and the proceedings terminated. A number of ladies were seemmodated with Nate ia the body of the house to witness die ceremony. Cite earoreoo. TO CORRESPONDENTS. ♦ Ikewed Edition .t" [he Y.sptese, ' °mudding the ems eveeleg's " Gantt'," is peitelotad every Tuesday and Friday eight. in Um* far putt. hd vet tin meets intended roe "The tweet," Larlen C•eeime part. t, e t the °Lt.. ttt , UoeuTu• , tta4 k 1 Tire o'clock on the del of pub:loathe.. 111011 WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. —Matsui& 9.1.43 x.. Armors. 10h. 15S. lo.goatow—llorn:sr. Ilk. Toe. Afterasse,llll.4lai. LONDO-V, FBIDAT, SEPTEMBBR 5. Tile passing of the act constituting the new court of appeal in Chancery has been promptly followed up by the appointment of the judges, the " Lord Justices of the Court of Appeal in Chancery;" and the appointments made will meet with general ap proval by the profession and by the public. Tho Vice-Chancellors KNIGHT BRI:Cr. and Lord Ca ts- VoRTII are the judges of the appeal court, it being understood that the former learned person is also to be raised to the peerage. Of the fitness of both for the important . judicial posts they are to fill and the responsible duties they will have to perform, no one can entertain a doubt. And it is more than probable that the two sitting together will constitute a far better tribunal than either of them did when sitting alone. Able as both of them are, they perste" in many respects very opposite character istics of mind and temper. As Yiee-Chancellor, Sir JsMKM Ksu.IIT Been:, to a singular acuteness, which gave his knowledge of the points in cases when being argued before him almost the appearance of intuition, united an energy of purpose . and an in domitable determination to do justice in each ease, which in the great majority of instances worked sub stantial justice to the parties in the readiest mode the nature of the subject matter permitted. lie never willingly allowed the forms of the court to be used oppressively, and he often exercised a bold and vigo rous discretion to prevent parties using such forms and enforcing their strict rights in a manner calcu lated to operate injuriously on their opponents ' which no judge sitting in equity had ever previously ven tured upon. This was mainly accomplished by en forcing consents and concessions from the parties, as the price of some order which it was discretionary with the court to withhold or to postpone. In this way a long and intricate litigation was often nipped in the bud, and many suitors saved from all the miseries and expenses of a pro tracted Chancery suit. Take for instance the following; a man in trade died owing some debts in the way of his business, and )iossessed of consider able landed and house properties, on some of which there were mortgagee ; in short, though his estate was much more than solvent, it was entangled, and required a little time and some forbearance on the part of the few trade creditors to be made the most of. His executors, desirous of preserving the trade, which was a valuable one, and of keeping the other property together, delayed for a short time to prove the will until cited by a creditor to do so, and then they proposed to the two principal and only trade creditors to deposit in their hands ample freehold se curities for the amount of their debts until money to pay them off could be realised without needless sacri fices. This was refused by the creditors' solicitor, and a claim to administer the estate was filed on be half of one creditor. Under such proceeding a decree to administer the estate would have been quite of course, and all the real property of the testator would have been sold, and his complex affairs wound up in the Muster's office, and the plaintiff's (the creditor's) 'elicitor would have bad the carriage of the decree, and, as a consequence, the lions share of the costs incurred. Anxious to avert such &destructive litiga tion, the executors applied to the court to stay pro ceedings on the claim, upon their giving security to pay the plaintiff's debt and coats then incurred within a short time. Vino-Chancellor KNIGHT BRUM thought the ezeouten bad not been quite so prompt as they might have hem in proving the will, and refused to stay proceedings, except on the terms of immediate payment of debt and coda and he al lowed the matter to stand over for a few hours, that the counsel of the executors might confer with their solicitor. When the matter was again mentioned the money was brought in and in open court, by the VICE•CHANCELLOR a direc tion, handed over to the plaintiff's solicitor. In the meantime, however, a second claim by the other trade creditor had been prepared, through the semi counsel and solicitor, and when the matter was mentioned application was made to file a second claim fir administration. This could not be dealt with in the same way, the amount of the debt was hirer, and there was en open account between the creditor and the testator. The executors could only re present to the court that they had offered security, that they were about to raise money on the testator's real estate for payment of his debts, and that each arrangements would probably be defeated should there be a suit pending for the administratimi of his estate. In ordinary cases, the court could scarcely enter into such considerations, and leave to tile a claim would be given to a creditor almost as of course. But the VICE-CHANCELLOR said, I wee there is a desire and intention on the part of these executors to pay the debts, and I must, *a far as I tin, protect this testator's estate from destruc tion,' and he accordingly directed the application of the creditor to stand over for two months, on the executors catering into their personal undertaking to pay the debt, or consent to an administration decree at the end of that time. Before that time had expired, the necessary funds were raised and the debt laid. Here. by the exercise of a firm discretion, the Vier-Cu ‘NCELLOR saved the proprrty of a family from annihilation. It is true he spoiled a " very pretty (legal) quarrel," and prevented the creditor's solicitor h•m getting a very pretty bill of costa out of the entangled estate, but the suitors and the public will probably deem his Honour worthy of high praise for such interference. And so in a multitude of other cases, familiar to practitioners in his court, the Vice- Chancellor KNIGHT BRUCE has rendered his a court of reconcilement to the manifest benefit of all the As a drawback, it mast also be fairly stated suitors and their counsel have mat seldom complained. The court has decided without giving them a full and satisfactory hearing ; sad Math even in such cases the ViemCw.txcer.l.ol weevery agep to be right, he is not mere than other mew . It is unques tionable that many appeals have been rude from his decisions, mainly because all the points in the cases were not hilly argued baba his. Lord CRANWORTII, OM the other hand, has earned the chanter of being esmawhat slow in his deci sions, asset permitter to be persisted in after it has bemoan phin to the judge that such agonise& vas. Maeda tly less bascules!, pi asesials his *suet fhea was ex ile esamains Mid easpislarm et and bowevar, Irks ifves areadaabted, and they sllpationaaandler y acquiesced by sateen As a , the loop a et Lard Citinirnsem from the Courtrri se y whilst using se a coalman law judge, was felt a "have been a disadrantarb Ise alai g th e t t er ria shoes of precise sad aew • wars lad which materially affected tie badense ef the ese;t ; with these the N r ics-Ckanannes add net lave tied eosapiste basity mash evarleist mad ally posies k lbe wart ma alma eves e.a which i 1 mi) essential to the algiall of • 10p part of the duties of the Oneetelf annesfip. rem be nipa i udo , ON PM" et 0 . 118 . 1 7 'All be of ne natnetanee, he there are few appeal w in i n w in* toe some mum or others • fr;ii argument ilitot alcessary, 1 Sid that minute koriaintance wilit details of practise b mot so v o q u ieed on the flirt of an appeal - Mu judge of the first instance. mrAte in which the vacant Vice-Chancellor- IMP Lava been filled, will geo, we believe, afford «pit satisfaction with the appointments to the &p -led ewe- Sir WILLIAM PAGE WOOD, the late soliciber-grend, is a dear-headed man and a vod lawyer, with an eminently judicial mind; and w - hile he is an acute practitioner, and well versed in the principles and practice of the court, he has no predilec tions or prejudices which can interfere with any changes necessary to adapt the Court of Chancery to the ideas and esigencies of modern times. Mr. JAMES PARKER also is a inan of great legal acumen and sound knowledge. His practice in the court has been vast and various, and his opinion on knotty questions of equity law has long been deemed one of the safest, if not the safest, upon which intending litigan ts could act. That be will make an excellent ju dge may be certainly predicted. It is creditable to e govern ment and to the LORD CDANCELLOR as their first legal functionary, that, in completing the judicial force of the Court of Chancery, party politics have been thrown overboard, in order to select the best men for the judgment-seat • for the Vice-Chancellor li:suarr BRCCE and Vice:Chaneellor TURNER, and now Vice-Chancellor PARKER, all belong to parties opposed to the government. - The question now naturally asked, is—" Who is to be the new SOLICITOR-GENERAL ?" That he ought to be selected from the equity bar nobody can doubt, for there is work to be done in the way of Chancery reform which none but an equity lawyer can properly perform. Now, there is ono man to whom the profession and tho public seem by common consent to point—namely, Mr. BETIIELL, who, to his pre-eminence as an advocate, adds an earnestness and throughness in his views of law re form which are at this moment required to satisfy the demands of the public, and to effect such com plete changes as will set at rest certain wild notions which have been broached on this subject. TIIE Morning Chronicle very boldly sets itself to propound and preach a rule of representative govern ment, and a law of constitutional right, which we have before heard murmured from the lips of certain high Whigs, and which, we think, ought to be duly tested, examined, and considered by the English pub lic at large, previous to the great measures and die- cussion which we are led to expect next year for the improvement of the electoral system. It is a generally entertained opinion by most men amongst us, even by those of no extrema views, that Englishmen should not be called on to , pay taxes, unless, by their representatives, they have considered and given assent to the same. The Morning Chronicle gravely assures us that this is a mistake—that no man has any right of the kind, for that political science is a science of experiment. Representative government is itself an experiment, and if every class included in it does not answer the great end of the experiment, or is net likely to answer it, that clam should be eliminated from the franchise forthwith. The propounder of such a theory as this ought to have told us who is to be the judge of whe ther a class or a constituency performs its part fitly in the experiment. Tho Chronic's denounces the metropolitan boroughs. It deems Sir WILLIAM MOLESWORTU, and Mr. WAKLEY, and Mr. SALO moss, and Mr. Dusicomnr, Sir BENJAMIN HALL, and Lord I)uDLET STUART—nay, Lord Joust Itussuil. himself—as .very unworthy selections for the legislature. And it accordingly sets its ban against the formation of such vulgar consti tuencies as failures in the great science of poli tical experiment. But there are doctors, quite as authoritative and as plausible as our contemporary, who might take an equal number of county consti tuencies, might weigh the parts, brains, policy, consistency, and disinterestedness of the represen tatives of these constituencies, and might plead that they really did no credit to the representative sys tem, that they brought no wisdom to parliament, that they were failures in the great science ; and were, in fact, nuisances that ought to be abated. Who is to be judge of his neighbour's fitness for political life? Londoners are very bad judges,. says dm Chronicle. Wilts and Dorset are not specimens et absolute wisdom, opines the Doily News. What is to oome of this mutual ostracism? There can in the nature of things be no proper judge of the fitness or unfitness of constituencies or classes to be represented. And to tell the dweller in Ilammersmith that he must not be representediu par liament, because the teller does not like the politics or eloquence of metropolitan members ; whilst the same person fully admits the right of the Shropshire hind—this is nothing in the world but sheer imper tinence. _ _ —..... Every Englishman has a right to bo represented; I nor should that right bo restneted or denied, unless 1 it be shown that he cannot exercise that right freely land usefully. It is not given to the young man de pendent on his parents or on the will of a master, nor to a pauper, nor to the undomiciled. How far that lowest class of the population, the daily earner by physical labour, can be admitted remains a question. He has clearly the right, although the majority of society may see reason to suspend, or restrict that right on account of the manifest dependence, un happy ignorance, or political indifferenee, in which live almost necessarily the hewer of wood and drawer of water in every country. But to deny to our great agglomerations of men, the right to be represented in proportion to either their numbers, wealth, or intelligence; and to tell them that all three shall go for nothing, because they dwell near a metropolis—this is a language that we should recommend even tory journals to refrain from ; it is insolent to the verge not merely of the absurd, but of the dangerous. There are many peculiarities necessarily incident to metropolitan constituencies, and they certainly demand candidates of a peculiar temper and tone of mind. The metropolitan boroughs aro for the most part new, the nature of the constituency not gene rally understood, its roughness and exigencies re pugnant certainly to Ow old class of parlia mentary candidates, bat for this very reason likely to produce a new and useful class at representatives, as soon ea the constituencies themselves shall have seen what is requisite to com mand the services of able men, and able men see how they can hope to command the support of such constituencies. it is moreover always forgotten how recently these constituencies have begun to work, and the number of practical men they have returned is not sufficiently kept in account. One of the objections of the Chronicle is the habit of metropolitan electors to ask questions and demand pledges of candidates. But really, when a citizen is called upon to give away his political will and weight to another man for the space of seven years, it is bin too natural for him to be anxious to hear what is to be done with it. In the country, the fanner may trust the squire; in p ovicial towns the elector is fully aware and , i n f orme d of the principles and prospects of the local candidate. But in the metropolis, men aro unknown to each other, and a much severer scrutiny i is inevitable, than .in districts where a man's charac ter, talents, and opinion, are well known, with out being tested for that particular occasion. , The metropolitan boroughs are, we must own, badly organised for the ventilation and development of clear political opinion. And a vague promise to I work wonders, or an enthusiastic profession of ex treme principles, never likely to be called for reali sation are but too apt to carry the day against the practical reformer. There are no districts, however where the middle classes more largelypredeminate ;him in the suburbs of the metropolis. If this clam either does not exert itself at elections, or if it is found to be of a discon tented spirit, eager to support extreme changes and extravagant opinions—this, we confess, is a serious symptom. The evil of eac h' opinion in such a class 1 ought to be remedied, for it bodes danger. But we insist, that the true way to remedy it is not by excluding such portions of the middle class from the franchise, but, on the contrary, giving them a voice and influence, and a responsibility, by the enjoyment d which political error soon work, its own cure. MANIA ANTozitA RAILWAY (Florence).—Tenifie ratans, Augutt lo to 21, 1951: 21 =lee open 222 l 1850 : 11 miles 1351. THE EXPRESS, FRIDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 5, 1851. FRANCE. • PAWS, Tatitena r ElraINQ. ries9 &it Joinvilk's candidature is the all spa on ly em elOrg topic of the day. The Astral& is tbv only levid journal which still Vstrifteueslulftbet iscredality. All the others admit, frith - she and wailing, that after the signal fail. is. of 24. - t's attempt to extract a disavowal, it would ba libido= to. evidence to deny 'th a t t h e. Prince Penienall cnceereftee his enPreortera. The flimsy veil of oourtly language in wh i ch the royalists at first dammed their res%Z r al rrmionstranees with a; prior of the house of bon is gradually dis appearing, and he may soon expect to encounter as much personal abuse as falls to tho lot of the most vulgar hustings candidate. Already he is taxed on one hand for cowardice in not marching upon Paris after February, 1848, when the country to whose wishes he, pretended to defer was represented by a domen usurpers at the Hotel de Ville. Another opponent, taking an opposite view of the matter, tries to deprive him of all credit for his conduct at that period, by demonstrating the impossibility of his having acted otherwise. Some assert that ho was always known to be a red' republican ; others that ho is conspiring to place his nephew on the throne. Some charge him with corrupting the other members of his family •, others with turning a deaf car to their councils. The Cost atitutionnel devotes no less than eight columns to the Prince. Two of these consist of a translation from a London paper of the article prompted by M. Guizot. A long extract is given from the Univers, not a favourite paper with the Constitiiiionnel, bat pressed into the service on this momentous occasion. That veteran Orleanist writer, M. Granicr do Cas sagnae, signs his name to a long and bitter article, the spirit of which you may perceive from the fol. lowing extract : Who does not know that the candidature of the Prince de Joinville is the work of that ambitious, peevish, busy revolutionary group formed of M. de Listeyrie, M. de Mornay, M. de Chambolle, M. Roger (du Nord), N. Duvergier de Hauranne, and some other secondary per soneges—peoplo who are obliged to be lifted up to be seen, and who are like a necklace of bells round 111. Thies' neck ? Who does not know that this candidature, offering no chances of success, reduced to this meagre army, they have rallied to it, by way of en auxiliary corps, a group of the tiers-path, MM. Dufaure, Lamonciere, Changarnier, the hesitating, the envious, and the revengeful ? Fifty-eight councils-general have now pronounced for the revision. The non-revisionist list has now attained the number of five, inclusivo of the council of Swine and Loire, where the proposal, being for total revision, was opposed by M. Lamartine, on the ground that those words involved the principle of the republic, which he would not consent to call in question. M. Lamartine's reasons prevailed by a majority of ono vote only. The following palpably illegal resolution has boon voted by the council-general of the Pyrenees-Ori- I entales : The council, solicitous only for the safety of the country, reiterates its desire 1. For the revision of the constitution. 2. For the prorogation of the powers of Louis Napoleon, or for the abrogation of the Art. 45. 3. That in case the minority of the Assembly should per sist in refusing the revision, then that the Assembly by • simple majority should appeal to the nation to vote either for the maintenance or the rejection of the constitution. To this plain speaking the Pressc calls tho atten tion of the Minister of the Interior. A vote of the arrondissement of Limoges, affirming by implication that tho constitution hitherto had not always been observed, was quashed for illegality. It remains to be seen whether the government consider it legal to ask openly that the constitution may be violated. The council of the Loire Inferieure has distin guished itself above all its legitimist contemporaries by the following unambiguous expression of its sen timents : Tho council-general of the Loire Infiiricure, consider. ing that the safety of France lies in the return to traditionid, hereditary, and legitimate monarchy—considering that this return can only be effected by the total revision of the con stitution—empresses a wish that the constitution should be revised in its totality, and that France, represented by a consrituent assembly, freely elected, may return to tradi tional and hereditary monarchy. This reads curiously under the government of a republic; but if it be lawful and right that such bo dies as the councils-general should exercise a pressure Ira the legislature at all in political matters, the reedution is neither illegal nor unreasonable. As their opinions to be valuable, the more can illudtiley speak their minds the better. If this example had been set sooner, it would probably have found many imitators among those who when they say total revision—mean the very same thing which the councillors of the Loire inferieure have more esnatessasly expressed. Aa absurd opinion prevails in many parts of /Woo that the potato disease is owing to the vapour of gas works and steam-engines. Tho Constitution/set attributes this prejudice to tho agency of the red republicans, who propagate the error in order to induce the ignorant populace to destroy machinery. M. Brenier, the principal secretary at tho Ministry for Foreign Affairs, has gone to Berne upon a special mission. According to the latest information received by the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce from the wine-growing district*, the Italian grape disease has not spread to any material extent m France. A report will shortly be published, of a nature to dis pel the alarm which has been felt. The Moniteur contains a decree fixing the legal tax upon all sugars imported in casks at 13 per cent., and upon sugars in cases at 12 per cent. The distinction formerly existing between raw and whitened sugars is abolished. The Committee of Permanence met to-clay. Twenty two members were present, among whom were M. Las= (in tho chair), Generals Changsrnier, Bai lie/es, de Bar, Grouchy, and Admiral Cecile. They resolved not to communicate their deliberations to any one. It is understood that they have adjourned MI venal for a fortnight. The other committee call * themselves the committee of surveillance, find it so difficult to look each other in the face without laughing, that they will very probably dissolve themselves. The " Plot of Paris," as it is already called, has occasioned, as you will see, no uneasiness at the Bourse, where the funds have risen considerably. Many more arrests have been made. The total num ber is now 125. Among the persons most recently arrested is M. Marchaix, formerly a commissioner of the provisional government in the Indre and Loire. The most prominent among the persons whose ar rest I announced yesterday are 31. Dalieau, the director of the Voir du Proscrit, and M. Maillard, the advocate. The rest are obscure individiek principally journeymen, tradesmen, and mothball's. One of them named J. J. Cherval, a lithographer, described as an " Irish subject." Last night, at about 9 o'clock, 60 " sergens de ville" marched to the Café do la Haute-Saone, Ras Grenclle St. Honore, where they arrested a dozen persons. Several brigades of police were sent in the night to different quarters of Paris, with instruc tions to execute warrants of arrest. As many as 80 prisoners have already been sent to the .11h.sas prison. It is mid at the Palais de Justice that meet important papers, emanating from the London com mittees, have been seized. Paris is absolutely quiet, and no alarm or even excitement has been produced in the public mind. The Lyons prisoners are expected to be removed temporarily to the fort of Vincennes, to await the result of their appeal. At the Bourse to-day the Five per Cents. rose 25c., closing at 94c. The Three per Cents, rose 20c., and closed at Mc. BELGIUM. The Belgian Chambers have just been somewhat suddenly. It may be recolleo P t2r short time since the ministry resigned office, in con sequence of the Chamber refining to sanction a new tax on sitoocssions. After upwards of a fortnight spent in negotiation with the heads of divas parties, the King found it impossible to bring a cabinet into existence; the old ministers were induced to resume their seats, and the obnoxious law passed with some slight changes. The opposition did not, however, give up the game, and have suoceeded in defeating the ministry ou the Suocession Tax Bill in the Senate. The result has been the prorogation of the Chambers. The Senate will be dissolved. _••-• I \ ITALY. 121.11 EARTHQUAKE AT MELFL NAPLES, Aro. 27. hat communication I gave you a brief no tice of Oa terrible earthquake which took place at Mehl and the surrounding country on the 14th. Since that date the official journal has published a report of the loss of life and property from various villages surrounding the nearly destroyed town of Melfi; but I find the official narrative so incomplete and falling so short of tho actual extent of the cala mity, that I prefer sending you information from persons who have arrived in Naples from the scene of the disaster, and more particularly the account I have received from a medical gentleman, which I hero translate: " Near Melfi, Aug. 20.—My dear Friend,—l will endeavour to give you a narrative of what I have seen in my journey from Naples to the scenes of the awful events of the 14th. When I reached the table-land of Terra de Lavoro I learnt the earthquake had been felt there much more distinctly than in the city of Naples; indeed the vibration lasted thirty seconds; several persons were thrown on the ground, and a few houses are split, that is the walls are cracked, but fortunately no life was lost as far as I can learn. Continuing my journey I found Avellino had suffered slightly, without low of life. At Monteverde six persons were buried in the ruins of a house, and many others wounded. The inha bitants of this district are in a most excited state, as other slight shocks have been felt. Many have fled from the villages, and I saw groups of people living in huts outside the towns. still more pronounced was the effect of the earthquake at Boyne) and As- coli, where many houses are in a dangerous I state, and must be pulled down. Here use I found the people greatly excited. I was continually asked, " Did earthquakes follow one another ? Was it safe to remain in the houses!" The whole of the district of Bari has suffered for miles round ; scarcely a house in any of the villages in that direction may be said not to be injured. The terror and misery is beyond my powers of descrip tion. Basilicata has suffered throughout the whole district. The town of Venosa is nearly destroyed ; the market-place is one heap of ruins, and you see houses here and there threatening to fall. In more than one place I observed the earth torn up and showing ragged fissures. In this district the earth quake assumed its most terrible phenomena—viz., first a perpendicular action and then an oscillatory. ltapola is in ruins • the cathedral no longer exists. An inhabitant Of this town told me the falling of the buildings produced such a consternation that for more than half an hour after the event he could find no one who could give a coherent an swer to a question. Day and night, women, men, and children were tearing away the ruins to find their friends and relatives. At Itionero, the inhabi tants were employed when I arrived in digging at the ruins ; halt this town is destroyed. I saw seve ral of the wounded (not less than 120); they wero wanting surgical aid very much, bat I feared to dis cover my profession, as I could not remain, being, as you know, sent to :Witt. I think I never could wit ness a more painful picture, and I need not remind you I have attended the wounded after more than one battle, and that is bad enough; but here with the horrors of the very worst of wounds—the crush— you see a mother lamenting a child under a mass of fallen rubbish ; a father wildly asking where is my family—my wife?—children without parents ; some lamenting over the dying, some weeping over the dead. Gran Du)! (Iran Die ! The village of Basile has actually disappeared. I found all about this district large fissures, partly filled up with houses. A man who escaped told me it appeared to him that for a minute he was being tossed about in the air ; the earth appeared, as it were, with a breathing power, and then came a different move ment—a shaking to and fro. Here some mi litary had arrived to excavate. There was a strong stench of decomposing bodies. This place was really deserted by the inhabitants, at least I saw very few. How shill I give you an idea of what was once the town of Meld? The ca thedral is down, as are the college, the churches, the military depot, and 163 houses-98 are in a falling state, and 180 pronounced as dangerous. The mili tary have arrived, and are working away. Our medical staff is by no means strong enough. More than a thousand bodies have already been dug up. I need not add, all dead. The wounded are over 64)0, and present every variety of flesh wounds and frac ture. The town offers a strange and awful appear ance. Many have fled, others linger about the ruins, as fond friends about the tombs of all they loved best in this world. "I have no time to give you any notice of the various phenomena; indeed, IL have learnt little as yet. It appears however certain that the convulsing current was strongest at Melfl, and took a direction in the centre of the peninsula towards Sicily. The water is still warm, and repeated slight shocks have been felt in several places. Some suppose a volcano will break out, as there is evidently much subterranean action going on. The whole district, I observe, pre sents many traces of volcanic creation in past times. Etna and Vesuvius have been quiet for some time past, a fact worth remembering when speculating on causes. The earthquake was followed by hurricanes which have also done much injury. To tell you the truth, I am by no means quiet in my , mind whilst living hero; the elements of destruction are below us.—l will let you know more as soon as possible. "P.S. I should have told you the village of Ascoii has also suffered immensely : 32 houses have fallen in. I do not know how many lives are lost ; I should imagine altogether the loss of life cannot be leas than 3,000, including all the sufferers in all the towns." Such is the account given by the writer of this letter of a calamity which has produced a profound sensation throughout the kingdom. I have seen other letters which are still more alarming, and contain more horrible details ; but as they were written in a moment of excitement, I hope they are exag gerated. On inquiry at the chief pohce office at Naples, I am told, up to this day " the returns of dead bodies dug out of the rains from all towns and villages, is 857, but tho excavations have only com menced." I am told the town of Molfl and other places have suffered much from plunder—even in this awful moment some wretched examples of humanity were found who occupied themselves in sack -1 in g the deserted houses. One gentleman told me his brother wrote stating ho had lost 170 piastres and many valuable articles of furni ture, after the earthquake when all the family in town had left the house. Sixty-five boys of the college of Melfi are supposed to have perished. The calamity took place when most of the population were sleeping, as is the custom in Italy, after din ner. I have heard in one place a lake has appeared. It may be observed Melfi is the site of an old volcano. In 1783 an equally terrible earthquake occurred in Calabria, and from that period up to the present (indeed almost annually) slight shocks have been felt, but happily without much damage or loss of life. Sicily . has ever suffered more than the continent—the city of Catania alone has more than once been entirely destroyed. The government has sent soldiers and medical men to assist the suffering districts. Yesterday (24th) Vesuvius threw out boiling water. This morning, at day-break, I observe a little smoke was issuing from the crater. VENICE. The Oficial Venice Gazette of the 30th states that the priest Pietro Dalloca, a native of Venice, has been condemned to 3 years' imprisonment, for having sent two numbers of the Italia del Popolo of Muslin to a friend of his at Ferrara. LOMBARDY. MILAN, Ann. 30. The Gaulle announces that, pursuant to a decision of the council of the Helvetic confederation, the old Swiss money will be withdrawn from circulation after Sept. 1, to be replaced by a new coinage. In consequence, from and after Oct. 1, that money will only be taken at the public offices, and, from and after Nov. 1, it will no longer he in any way current in Lombardy. PIEDMONT. TURFS, SEPT. 1. The King has gone to Cuneo with the Duke of Genoa. The minister Poleecapa has gone on before to wait for his Majesty, who will lay the first stone of the bridge over the Stuns. The Costitu:ionale says: We read in the German papers that a lesmae of princi les is about to be renewed I. Italy; that the King of • led away by the King of Saxony, will take part in it, and that Austria, making use of the nominal pre sidency of the Pope, will be st the head of the confiders- tion, nishe b at this head of that in Germany. On the face of this statement the question presents Wulf, with what Mates will Austria cuter into the Italian confederation? Awarding to Prince Schwartsenberg's system, she ought to enter u the would do in Germany with all her states ; from this it would follow either that she desires to create a Ger many or an Italy, extending from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, or, which is more probable, that the whole pretended combination is a joke. TUSCANY._ FLORENCE, Arc. 29. Yesterday, at two o'clock, the Grand Duke, his sons, and the Archduke Maximilian of Austria, arrived from Lucca. They were received at the rail way by the commandant and the Austrian staff officers. _ ROME. A letter from Rome, in the Uneven, states that the city was thrown into great excitement on the 29th ult., by the apartments of Signor Alcssandroni, ono of the superior officials of the Secretariat of State, being broken open by the police, and minutely searched. As Signor Alessandroni inhabited some rooms in the palace of the Quirinal, the police could not have ventured upon such an act without a spe cial permission from the Pope himself. All this seemed to indicate that suspicions of a very serious nature rested upon Signor Alessandroni, who was in the country at the time; and public rumour adds that the discoveries made by the police among his papers were so important, as to induce the govern ment to send off the French packet two days sooner. The same correspondent states that an attempt at as sassination was committed on the 28th upon Count Dandini, an assessor of the Direction of the Police ; but that the stiletto struck the hip-bone, and thus caused but a slight wound. next week. The invaders of Cuba, under Lopez, landed within forty miles of Havana, suppoNing no doubt that the troops were withdrawn front that part of the island. A bloody battle has been fought, the absolute result of which we do not know. One thing, however, we do know—that a party of fifty Americans, who had taken to boats either to escape, or to operate with the other portion of the invaders, has been captured, taken to Havana, and there shot. Of course these personsknew the fate they had to meet. ' The manner in which they met their 'death was in the most heroic style ; they never uttered a murmur or a groan, and the brutality with which their re mains were treated has raised a spirit in this country which will but too unfortunately fur the peace oT nations never be appeased till Cuba becomes inde pendent. In the eastern part of the island the re volt is far from being quelled. But I can only at this moment give you extracts from the letters which were brought this morning by the Cherokee, with dates from Ilavana to the 17th inst. You will notice that three shots were fired by a Spanish steamer upon the United States steamer Falcon, and that when the latter lay to, the officers of the Spanish vessel cheered in honour of the exploit. There will be trouble about this affair, unless the Spanish authorities apologive amply. The following is the news brought by the Cherokee from Havana : After the landing of General Lopez and his party, near Bahia Honda, fighting with the Spanish troops commenced; and a frightful slaughter took place. The main body of the patriots, or invaders, were driven to the mountains, and the remainder took to boats and put to sea. These men were captured off Bahia Honda, forty miles west of Havana, by the steamer Habanero. 'tho patriots were in four boats, unarmed, and, report says, were steering for New Orleans. They were brought to Havana by the Habanero, on Saturday morning, the 16th 1n a, at 1 a.m., and placed on bowl' a Spanish frigate, lying in port, and executed at 11.5 a.m. of the same morn ing. After they were shot, they were dragged by the feet, by negroes, and then left to the mob, who commenced stripping them of their clothes and car rying them on sticks through the streets, yelling like so many wild demons. Annexed is a list of the names of those men who were shot on the public road, in Havana. It is esti mated that there were '20,000 spectators : Colonel \V. S. Clendennin ; Captains F. S. Sewer, victor Kerr, T. B. Veacey ; Lieutenants James Brandt, J. 0. Bryce, Thomas C. James; Doctors John Fisher, K. A. Tourniquet; Sergeants J. Whitereus, A. M. Cotchett; Adjutant It. C. Stanford; Lieutenant M. 11. Homes; Pri vates Samuel Mills, Edward Rittman, Geo. A. Arnold, B. J. Wregy, Wm. Niseman, Anselmo Torres Hernandez, Patrick Dillon Thomas Hearsey, Samuel Reed, 11. T. Vinne, M. Philips, James L. Manville, G. M. Green, J. Salmon, Napoleon Collins, N. H. Fisher, Wm. Chilling, G. A. Cook, S. 0. Jones, M. 11. Ball, James Dulcet, Robert Caldwell, C. C. Wm. Smith, A. Rose, P. Brourae, John Christdcs, Win. B. Little, Robert Cantley, John G. Sauka James Stanton, homas Harnett, Alex. ISPlleer, John Stub's, James Ellis, Wm. llogan,Chas. A. Itubinson. This list embraces forty-nine; there were fifty two shot. Many of the Cherokee's passengers, who were on the spot of the execution, were pointed at with a sneer of contempt, and many stopped in the streets and insulted—culled Americans, and that they were ono and all of the same party, that one of these days they would be served in the same way. It was dangerous for an American to be in the streets alone at night. The Falcon steamship, while on her way up tho coast of Cuba from Chtigres, was fired at three times by the war steamer Habanero ' and was obliged to heave to, and was boarded by the officers of the Habanero. After the Falcon stopped, the officers of the Habanero cheered, as if they had gained a glo : rious victory. This is the third time the Falcon has been served the same trick. The following is the report of a passenger on board the mail steamship Falcon : Steamship Falcon, Havana, Aug. 16. We arrived at Chagres, and left on the United States mail steamship Falcon, on the eve of the 11th August. On the morning of the 16th inst., about 10 o'clock, was shot at THE KIND OP PRINIIIIA AND PRINCE METTER- three times by the small Spanish war steamer Ilabanero, mg.—As l'rince :Metternich is about to return to his villa and of course brought to. We were then boarded, and the on the Rennweg, in Vienna, it may be interesting to make demand made of what ship we were, where from, to where known that lie is now in favour not only at home with the bound, &c. On bringing to, the officers of the Spanish go- Emperor, but at Johannisberg with the King of Prussia. verument took the lead in taking off their hats, shouting, As King Frederick William was on his way to Mayence, hallooing, &c., at their success in stopping a Visited States he sent a letter to Prince Metternich, saying that lie could mail steamship, with her en.ign and mail flag aloft. A not think of passing by;his residence without seeing him, request was made for Captain Rodgers to return with tho and he proposed therefore to pay him a visit. Accordingly, officers on board the Habanero, which ho very coolly do when the steamer approached the landing to Johannisberg dined, stating that he was going into Havana. Wo the Princess Metternich appeared at the landing, and ac- arrived at Havana the same evening, about 3 o'clock, awl oompanied the King up to the Castle. There the Prince, were boarded by the usual officers. We were Mame whose bodily ailings had rendered him unable to meet the diately Informed that fifty-two men were shot at 12' Bing at the landing, met the King, and they spent a con- o'clock en that day (forty of whom were represented siderable time in conversation in the garden, until a shower as Americans), who had been run down upon the high. mine on and put an end to the meeting. The Prince of seas, 25 or 30 miles from land, by the same steamer; Prwaia remained on board the steamer pretending illness. the survivors taken into 1i , and in a few hours coa- ROYAL DISPENSARY FOR DISEASES OF TUE EAR, veyed to the place of execution, insulted on their way re- DILLN-STMIET, 30110-BQUAILE.—The half-yearly meeting of peatedly by both officers and men, and then butchered in a this institution, founded for the relief of indigent persons most inhuman manner, several having been shut at from labouring under deafness and other diseases of the ear, was 10 to 15 times, and then only relieved from their misery by held yesterday at the dispensary ; Richard John Cole, Esq., the use of the butts of the muskets in the hands of the in the chair. The secretary read the report, and the amount Spanish soldiers; thence dragged out like dogs by the heels of subscriptions received during the last six menthe, f r om and thrown together, their clothes being divided as spoils which it appeared that the institution had been aided by among the soldiers. the contributions of his Majesty the King of the Belgians, The United States sloop-of-war Albany was at the trustees of the Cholmondeley charities, the Earls of Havana. The steamer Empire City was seen going Effingham and Darnley, Lord Leigh, &c. Mr. Hirvey, in on the 17th inst surgeon to the institution, stated to the committee that the . numbers admitted of the various diseases of the The following letter from Havana, August 16, will ear amounted to 527 during the last six months. The be read with interest: committee, therefore, solicited the aid of the affluent for Intelligence reached Havana, last week, that 400 • poked this useful institution, which was dependent upon the yo-- men had been sent out into the mountain of Cuscoro by luntary subscriptions of the benevolent. A vote of thanks being passed to Mr. Harvey, and to the chairman, the Generil Leme7, who was made to believe that a very meeting separated. small number o the insurgents remained, and could be ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OP LONDON. —At the easily captured. The result was, that the troops were led into 'ambush, when a large force of the patriots,' under Dr. Monthly General Meeting, held yesterday, at the society's Augustin Aguero Agnero, rushed upon them and killed house In Hanover-square, E. J. nudge, Esq., in the chair, some 50 on the spot. The rest of the Spaniards retroatedto Richard Gibbons, lieet., was elected a Fellow, and Proles- Principe, as well as they could, in the greatest disorder. son E. Forbes, and W. O. Lamond, Esq., were proposed as candidates for the Fellowship. The report of the council Scarcely had the government recovered from this shock, when their attention was called to the still more serious stated that at the previous meeting Messrs. W. Graham, 11, fact, that a large number of sympathisers under General Wilson, F. H. Gabriel, J. Blyth, J. Lubbock, C. S. a few miles t Crow- Lopez, had ley, 11. Heane, G. L. Conyngham, the Marquis d'Areglio, il effected a landing at Playitasto the westward of Bahia Honda, which took place at 1 a.m Lord Burghley, M.P., W. Milner, M.P. ' and Dr. Percy, on the 13th inst. were elected fellows. The number of visitors to the gardens during August was 145,025. The number of visitors during It appears that, close into the entrance of this harbour, Lopez fell in with a schooner, from which he took out the year has been 489,679. Among the donations to the Menagerie during the month of August, one of the most the captain and mate, to serve him as pilots on the coast remarkable is a Syrian bear, presented by Mr. Alderman of Bahia Honda, the navigation of which is very intricate. Finnic But by far the most important are a male and They arrived off Bahia Honda about 9 p.m., when they female tiger, which have just been received from Bombay, immediately commenced making signals to the shore by and arc a giftl from his highness the Guicowar of Baroda. means of rockets, &cc , which probably had been previ- The support of this prince, who is one of the most power- ously agreed upon between the liberators and those on fulof Western India is to be regardedas another most Lorin- shore. Gen. Lopez did not effect a landing with his men nate incident in the 'history of the society, and has already ter' , anti 4 . a.m.; but the debarkation was done in so mas a style, that before sunrise he had not only landed added one of the most considerable desiderata in the collec- his men, with all their munitions of war, but was on hie tion of carnivore. The society is greatly indebted to Col. march to Las POlO9 a town a few miles distant from tho Outram, Resident at the court of Baroda, to Mr. Davie, coast, whore he immediately commenced intrenching him and to Mr. A. N. Shaw, P.Z.S., for the valuable services um which they have rendered in conciliating the favour of his In the meanwhile.here, in Havana, reigned the greatest hiesness. , excitemeut. The Pizarro, laden with troops under the EPISCOPAL AND CAPITULAR ESTATES ACT.-Nearl y command of General Enna (who is next in command to the the last set of the late session was one to facilitate the captain-general), and with him the admiral, lett about 8 management and improvement of episcopal and capitular a.m., for Bahia Honda, one thousand men having previously estates in England. The act is limited to three years. The been sent by the railway cars. object of the act is to facilitate dealings between ecclesias- It must be borne in mind that such was the state of con. tical corporations and their lessees, which it is declared fusion and alarm into which the government were thrown, would tend to the improvement of episcopal and capitular that they had no distinct idea as to whether Bahia Honda estates. By the act ecclesiastical corporations arc em- or Mariel were the points to which the Americans had come. powered, with the approval of the Church Estate Commis- However, the following morning we are informed that Gen. sinners, to sell, enfranchise, or exchange church lands, or to Enna had come up with the pirates, as they are termed by purchase the interests of their lessees, either in part sr in the government, and has fought with them at Las Poses, in whole. The interest of leaseholders is not to be purchased which ho regrets tho loss of some of his men and others without the consent of the sub-lessees who have covenants wounded. of renewals. The money to arise from the sale, or exchange, In this engagement the Spaniards were commanded by or enfranchisement, of church property, is to be paid into General Enna in person, who had his horse shot from under the Bank of England or to be laid out in the purchase of him. Colonel Halal and seven officers and about 7$ men other lan& The Church Estate Commissioners are re- were killed. gulled to make a general report of their proceedings to the So unerring and deadly was the fire of tho Americans, Secretery of State, with a s c h e d u l e of all applications for that General Enna was three times repulsed with leas. At enfranchisement or the purchase of the Interest of lessees this moment the Lieutenant-Governor of Mariel, Colonel of church property, and annually such reports are to be laid Gurrea, came up, with about 200 men more, when the before parliament. The act is now in force. colonel received a shot through the leg, and his men such DEATEI OF SIR WILLIAM PARKE.—Sir William a check, that General Enna (as he states in his official coin- I Parke, D L., and J.P. for the county of Sligo, Ireland, and munication to theCaptain-General,dated half-past 3 o'clock formerly lieut.-colonel of the 65th Rest, expired after a on the 14th), saw the uselessness of attempting anything painful illness at his wet, Dunally, county Sligo, on the Ist further against the pirates without more artillery, as ft( inst. aged 73 years, deeply regretted. He obtained a gold would be only exposing his men to certain death, without ' medal for his military services au Egypt, in 1801, and the any result; consequently, he demanded further reinforce war medal with three clasps, bearing the names of " Co- meats. Accordingly, two steamers, the Habanero and the' runs," " Vinsiera," and " Egypt," for his services in the Almendarcs, left that day with more troops, to the number great peninsular campaign. Ile was also in the expedition of 1,400; so that, according to their own account, with to Walcheren (Holland), in 1799 ; and with his regiment those who have been concentrating from the other districts, at St. Helena during Napoleon Bonaparte's exile there. they have got upwards of 5,000 men, including cavalry, and He married, in 1813, Louisa, daughter of Charles John- up to this moment they have only made three captives, stone, Esq., of Ludlow, Salop, and had issue three sons who, as they say in the official bulletin, they instantly and one daughter. put to death. Two of these persons were sailors belong- GERMANY. AUSTRIA. The Preis's:ltch( Zeitung says that Austria has just obtained by negotiation an _Owen Straw, or mili tary right of way through Bavaria for the passage of troops to the federal fortress of Mayence. A telegraphic despatch from Isehl, received in Vienna on the 31st, announces that the Emperor of Austria will prolong his stay in that watering place 1 until the Gth inst. Nothing has transpired relative to the interview between him and the King of Prussia. - ----- It is well known that in the Lombardo-Venctian kingdom the Austrian paper money is at such a dis count that no payment in them will be taken. Even at the Custom-house frontiers of Au- strian Italy no goods arc allowed to pass unless the duty is paid in hard cash. At the other frontiers of the empire payments for customs arc taken in paper money. The consequence has been that a sort of smuggling has been carried on by Lom bardo-Venetian merchants, who found a profit in bringing round foreign merchandise through Austro- German frontiers, and thus paying in notes instead of cash. The Lombardo-Venetian authorities have, therefore, decided that the custom-houses on the coast and those of Tyrol and Vorarlberg shall cease to levy duties on merchandise destined to the Austro- Italian states, a consumption duty in cash being levied instead on the arrival of the merchandise at its destination. PRUSSIA. The provincial diets are beginning to meet. That of Brandenburg and Lusatia met on the 31st ult., sixty members bein6 , present, under the presidency of M. Von Flottwell, who made a speech in his ca pacity of royal commissioner. Count Arnim Boitz enberg, Marshal of the Diet, and chief of the party of the extreme right in the Second Chamber of Prus sia, replied to M. Von Flottwell. FRANKFORT. The Frankfort Dict hoe Laken its first resolution, says the Augsburg Gazette, in commercial affairs. It has adopted us the basis of deliberation in these mat ters the resolutions of the Dresden conferences. The Au ;Aug/ Gazette says that the Diet has again called special men together, to give it special infor motion on the subject. The same journal affirms that the Diet have come to the formal resolution, that it has authority to establish a common principle on which to act in regulating the constitutions of the divers states. SWITZERLAND. According to letters from Berne of the 29th ult., the damages caused in the canton by recent inunda tions are valued at 2,400.000 fr., or about 96,000/. Subscriptions arc open all over Switzerland to cover the losses of the inundation. The city of Berne has already subscribed 12,000 fr. UNITED STATES. EXECUTION OF AMERICAN SYMPATHISERS IN CUBA. The American ocean-steamer Humboldt: arrived at Southampton yesterday, when a summary of the important news brought by her appeared in tho Express. NEW YORK, At o. 23. Tho Humboldt sails to-day, and I suppose that though she is not more than a twelve day steamer, yet that she will be in before the Cunard steamer, which leaves us on Wednesday neat. I therefore com municate most important intelli,ence by her, which otherwise I should have reserved for the steamer of