The Express. — London, England, 1853-01-13 00:00:00

the Orpre !so. I DENTS. a swami Malik. .1 Eapam.. adadaaaaa Lb. ism anadvea • floasiso." I* 9abilabad swan ?cads) sad Mae SOS. la Una - - tor peoL -- ♦ twills , meats isierntod for " The Itipren,'"LaDAlS Boning piper, Sao. he it *AI "See. to, taavarireirnt, by Tw Vont .• Use eat of pebtwataaa. MUHL WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. Igoe DAs—loarmas. 4A.No. .Allrrar. 41. Ha Taws&Aw—lluresag. ..Aftermsk $4. MI6 LONDON, THURSDAY, JANUARY 13. Tuoccii the two circumstances ate matters of very different import, there is, we believe, no doubt that M. DROtIM DC L'IEUTS did last week tender to his new and latest Sovereign his resignation, rather than bee consenting party to NsroLEos 111. receiving from the Casa a recognition in terms inch as that potentate would not have addressed the meanest monarch in Germany. And it is still more certain that Lord Jour ltesszu., in receiving the diplomatic I body the other day at the Foreign-office, frankly told them that he held the seals of that department ad interim only, and that in no great length of time the .administration of our Foreign Affairs would be transferred to the Earl of Ct.satxrios,—a statement the noble lord has since repeated to such of the representatives of Foreign Go- vernments as have transacted business with him. The importance of these circumstances is, as we have said, very different. Nevertheless, at a time when both in France and England strong governments are said to be most indispensable, any provisional or precarious arrangements in their Foreign Offices cannot be regarded as at all a satisfactory state of things. The reasons which have induced Lord JOHN RUSSELL to occupy the Foreign office for so very short a period that in commencing his administration he avows its provisional character to the Foreign Ministers,—and plainly tells them that the other demands on his time precludes the possibility of his conducting that admimatration long after Parliament re-assembles are not very difficult to penetrate. Though once a Prime Minister himself, Lord JOHN'S sense of public duty, perhaps very properly, induced him to accept office under Lord ABERDEEN ;—nevertheless, in such matters there is a personal dignity to be pre served ; the maintenance of which was satisfied by Lord JOHN RUSSELL again assuming the leadership of the House of Commons, with the responsible situation of a Secretary of the State having a great de partment to manage. This manifestation of his im portance to Parliament once over, the Earlof CLAREN DON will then (as Lord JOHN has semi-officially stated to the foreign diplomacy) take the place originally ap propriated to him in the ABERDEEN Cabinet; and WIMP the direction of our foreign affairs, as stated in this journal some time ago. So far there can be little objection to the arrangement in con templation. The only fear is that any unavoidable delay after Parliament has re-assembled shall occur. For, however admirably suited for the administra tion in many respects of our external relations Lord JOHN Itusszu. may be, the country cannot afford to have him so occupied when a new Reform Bill has to be prepared; and the public service will not permit any accumulation or urger of business in a department of Each great importance as the Foreign-office. Nor is it likely that Lord JOHN Hirssr.m., while only temporarily holding the seals, will make those diplomatic changes which public opinion decrees to be so indispensable; and the Earl of CLARENDON may, on the other hand, hesitate, if any long delay takes place before he has the opportunity to remove those whom his prede eessor in the same Cabinet tolerated. On the ground, then, that Lord Jons Russxu.'s first duty in the sew Government is the preparation of a measure of electoral and representative reform ;—that the prepa ration of such a measure requires an amount of leisure such as the active duties of a Secretary of State cannot furnish ;—that now-a-days the conduct of the Government business in the House of Commons is incompatible with the administration of our foreign affairs—and that it is improper, if not uncon stitutional, even for a strong Administration to keep the direction of our foreign affairs in a state of suspense ; an early completion of these arrangements, which have bad their origin in personal rather than in public considerations, becomes desirable. The difference of opinion between the newly elected Emperor of the Fitravca and his Foreign Minister, on the contrary, involved, not the dignity of the servant, but the honour of the master and of the country. In recognising the imperial election, the C'ae, it seems, would only address the heir of him who penetrated to Moscow by the condescending appellation of his " bon ami," instead of the ordinary and co-equal term "mon frets." This northern im pertinence M. Ditouin, like a man of spirit, was for resenting ; but recognition at any price and on any terms was the policy of NAPOLEON and the EMPEROR of the greatest military nation in Europe, though professing to be chosen by the votes and acclamations and " the logic" of eight millions of men, has not the courage to claim equality with the Howse of ROMANOST, on which the dominion of "all the Rustles" fell by a revolution not a whit more connected with divine right or hereditary prin ciple than the coup Altai, by virtue of which France is as effectually coerced as Russia. Thus it is that the Autocrat of • semi-savage people, whose revenues are no greater than three of • second-rate power, whose army is not invin cible, and whose navy out of the Baltic or the Black Sea is of little European value, lords it over the Continent. And why . P Berme his audacity is based on a principle ; a bid principle, no doubt—for it is Absolutism ; bni a principle nevertheless. And Austria, Priads. mad France have nothing to oppose to this elenmed at Russian strength and power. The government at Russia is at least clear and consistent; while the governments of France, Prussia, and Austria are dishonest and inconsistent. The Russian Monarchy, based on an absolute patriarchism, carries with it the support, if not the affections, of its barbarous mil lions. The personal, bureaucratic, and functionary governments of France, Prussia, and Austria are as necessary evils, even by those who Xre a to, or accept them ; and are hated and des pised by the millions who resent such tyrannise. Hence it is that they are in no position to manifest spirit on such occasions as that which provoked for a moment M. Deours's indignation; hence it is they follow the example St. Petersburgh sets them; hence it is that the CZAR has dared in these latter days to insult and humiliate the ruler of France. The only a wr , F o h d y or successful opponent of a bad principle is a one ; and it is by rational, tempe rate, wise, nconstitutional liberty and freedom alone that the progress of absolutism and the supre macy of an autocrat can be resisted. When, after the Restoration of 1818, royalty and the elder Boon. DONS regained power in France, and resisted popular pretensions and rights, what followed? Russia and its agents became all powerful in Paris. When, is better days, France had a chance of govern ing herself more popularly Russian influence was at an end. So at Vienna and Berlin after 1848 emancipation from Russian direction followed their revolutions • and all Germany was united as one spinet the Cm& Now royalty there is running soot ; and the destinies of Germany are again at the disposal of Russia. So backed, Russia even dares to degrade the newly-elevated monarchy of France. are some even in the English press—the Noses is one of them—who would have m to believe that against this lamming power and still more rapidly augmenting audacity of Russia there is some piste milieu mode of resistance; that by policy, by arrangements, by alliances, its fatal effects may be averted. The notion is absurd. There is but one break water to Russian ambition, and that is popular freedom on the Continent. With popular institutions at Vienna, Dresden, Munich, Berlin, and Paris alone there is safety to Europe. But so long as in these capitals, Kings and Emperors reign by the sword ; so long as their subjects are dragooned, not governed, Russia is, and must continue to be, master of the 01110 of European politics; and all England can do is to mark, learn, and inwardly digest the fact and defend its own. Wrruirt the last few days we have had English and American speakers—in public meeting assembled —criticising the institutions of their two countries, and thus bringing Joan BULL and Brother JONA THAN into companion the one with the other. The THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 13, 1853. Earl of DUST began this by his elaborate oration on the House of Peers. Let us draw the attention ' of his lordship, and of the public, and of the present Administration, to another point of companion— the diplomatic services of England and thaw of the United States. The expense of our diplomatic &RI esoselar establishments, for the three years 1j150,4851, 1.852, averaged about 328,8401. per annuli; fi re !he first of these years it was 320,9121. •, in t second 329,5921.; in the third, 328,6181. The period is too limited to admit of &positive conclusion as to whether this branch of the national expenditure is perma nently on the increase. The different sums char in the di ff erent years may be the result of accidental circumstances mewing an oscillation from year to year that does not materially affect the average of a longer period. But it is pretty clear that this source of national outlay is not being diminished. If diplomatic and consular establishments are to be regarded as means of pre serving amity among nations, it may be said that the cost of our peace-preserving department of state is managed much more economically than our war making departments. A sum of 330,0001. is a mere flea-bite compared with the huge mouthfuls of mil lions taken out of the public revenue by the army and navy. And yet, if it can be shown that our English diplomatic and consular establishments are inadequate to the purposes for which they are pro feseedly maintained, or that they are even in some cases counteragents to these purposes, it will be ad mitted that they are dear even at the compara tively small amount appended to them in the national accounts. Of the annual expenditure for diplomatic and consular services a small sum--amounting one year with another to about 30,0001.—is incurred for Wits and analogous extras. The great bulk of the outlay is divided pretty equally between the diplomatic and the consular services. The former has, if anything, enjoyed the larger share. Of late years, however, there has been an apparent tendency to increase the portion allotted to the consuls, and diminish that expended on am bassadors. Abstractly considered this is a very laudable tondeecy, but the exact degree of praise due to it can only be ascertained after a narrow scrutiny of the actual character and composition of both services. The utility, the necessity of consuls in all foreign countries with which wo have commercial or other relations is unquestionable. Their functions are clearly defined, and the services they render (or ought to render) obviously useful. The duties of diplomatists are of a more vague character, and their value not so easily appreciable. Scarcely a day passes in which the assistance of a consul is not required by some Englishmen at Hamburg, Marseilles, and other great marts of commerce. Even at less important stations it can never with safety be assumed that a week or a month will pass over without some need for his assistance emerging. With ambassadors, chargé. creative, et hoc genus oinue,—on the contrary, long intervals elapse during which they are absolutely useless. At least it is impossible upon any other assumption to account for the long and frequent leaves of absence obtained by these functionaries. But though consuls are unquestionably of more per manent and unequivocal use than diplomatists, they may, by the mode of selecting them, and other causes, be lowered to their level. For this reason we reserve our judgment on the cost of our consular establishment until we shall have leisure to examine a little more narrowly into the minutia of its actual composition. Our business at present is with an annual diplomatic expenditure—amounting in 1850 to 160,8831.; in 1841 to 159,2851.; and in 18.52 to 152,7981. These sums may not per se seem very exorbitant. But the question remains—does the country get its money's worth in return for them ? Nay, some go so far as to ask whether the services rendered for this money are not in many instances absolutely detri mental to the country ? The first question admits of an easy answer. Let us take, for example, the Earl of WESTMORELAND. About the same time that the Free Kirk missionaries to the Jews at Pesth were expelled from Hungary, an American clergyman, travelling in that country, was arrested by the Aus trian authorities. His arrest was kept secret, but somehow or other rumour of it reached the ears of the gentleman (a loyal Austrian subject) who sits as American consul at Vienna. Mr. M.CtraDY, the American minister, chanced to be absent at the time, and a remonstrance was addressed to Prince Selman- Wine by the assel. The moment Mr. WCURDY returned, he tookup the question vigorously, although he had received (and could receive) no oommtinication from his countryman. He gave the Austrian government no rest until the Rev. Mr. Banco was tried, acquitted, and set at liberty. And when the Austrian police, on two subsequent occasions, at tempted to lay hold of Mr. BRACE, Mr. M'Cusiov immediately interfered, obtained his liberation on the first, and was only prevented from being equally successful on the second by Mr. BRACE'S having permanently quitted the country. Let us now com pare (or contrast) the conduct of Lord WESTMORE LAND with that of Mr. WCURDIr. Lord was at Vienna when the the Free Kirk Missionaries was rinel bi tie was not left in ignorance of t, a gentleman of high character and inflows proceeded immediately from the some of action to inform him of what had taken But Lord WESTMORELAND declined to inter and the reason assigned for his non-interfe reuse was that the missionaries had not forwarded to him a written statement of their case. The American Minister did not wait to be applied to by his country man; he moved energetically (and successfully) rn his behalf the moment he received a tint vague inti mation from other sources that wrong had been done to him. The British Minister, although fully in formed of the injustice done to his country men by their highly respectable agent, re fused to give himself any trouble in the matter, because it was not brought under his notice in the exact mode he had chosen to prescribe, but had never before that moment inti mated to the public. And in his correspondence on the subject with the British Government, Lord WESTMORELAND took upon him to be the advocate and apologist of the Austrian authorities, repeating, without examination, their false statements regarding the missionaries. Persons unacquainted with the facts might, per haps, imagine that the American Minister had a better case than was submitted to the English Minister. On the contrary, if there be any difference, it is in favour of the English men. In both eases the charges of the Austrian authorities were frivolous and false. But the American had entered Hungary after civil war began ; he had penetrated into districts seldom visited, and thus escaped at times (without seeking to do so) even from the prying eyes of the police. In the circumstances of the time, in his erratic move ments there was some faint semblance of an excuse for suspicion. But the Fine Kirk Missionaries were residing where they had resided for years. They bad settled there not only with the permission but with the erpress approbation and encouragement of the government. It is now established that they had complied rigorously with all the conditions exacted from them. Their case was much more simple, and much more easy to defend, than that of the Ame rican. It is clear, then, that in this one cue Lord WEST MORELAND has served his country and his country men less efficiently than the American Minister, at the same court, has served his under greater difficul ties. Mr. M'CURDT did his duty in a manly and in telligent manner, yet he did no more than kis duty. Lord Wasmonatax phis, therefore, done leak and un fortunately this is not an isolated case of neglect on his part. a MEW of Mr. PRIDRAM and Mr. NEWTON have been made public, but there are others equall y flagrant to which general attention has not yet been drawn. Andin all theceaes that have attained to public notoriety, it is palpable that the Ambassador's contemptuous neglect of his countrymen and qco pliancy to the Austrian Government is the pervading sentiment of his whole bureau ; that the English embassy at Vienna is an anti-English establishment. In this the English embassy at Vienna is not Dre. It is the same at Berlin ;it is the same at sden; until very lately it was the same at Florence, and is still there in the lower official The mass of our English diplomatists resife r e e e l i foreign courts are still affected with the stale, sour, leaven of absolutism and legitimacy. They draw their pensions, and endeavour to make themselves as comfortable as they can. They conform to the prejudices of the courts to which they are accredited in order to secure the entree to all their gaieties exactly as they would in London court the lady pa tronesses of ALIIACI'd. They turn up their miss at eyerythiag plebe*. _They tramisit - hpni9 falne 69d distigtid accouhei of all popular clove tante i they dls:aot 'condescend to seek statistical tin any eschew the coati"' o(!every rg a fflan who hei aot bee ntea .. 4isigt as if bajtad the • the andtdejrig leery casings offered tk - Ei;glishnsea by the deopoledlthe Continent. A diplomatic establishmut amanedalter this Whim is toe deer skaay prise, - - founded news - aids regard to France, have recently spoken of a pretended smash isadilly Colonel Fleury at a banquet. We have several tbssiecalstiened our readers against reports pf *igniters, with which theffireigu press is dail fed, and •we ere in • pudica 4* the puma we vs to this alteration the same denial whidt we have alre y gibes be eau news of the Mau kind hsesesuitly circulated by me hudenes. We kilo* too little about the process of co nco i cie othese semi-ofiloial contradictions to be able to Of their value in any given instance. This m however, is known generally , that consistently with reoeilidofficial mamma, it to quite passible that a thing may be very true, and yet vea a tio be con. tradicted. The famous affair of nac's dis avowed article w as a pregnant example o this. It has been rumoured that, a projected match be tween the Emperor and a princess_ of the house of Hohenzollern has been broken off by the King of Prussia. I hear that this match is, however, yet upon the tapir, the court of the Tuileries professing the greatest indifference to Prussian interference in the matter, and a determination to carry the thing through against all opposers. I am assured that it has been, and perhaps still is, in contemplation to make Prince Napoleon Bona parte, Generalissimo of the Armies of Algeria. It is true he has never been a soldier, _ but then every Bonaparte is born to command. However, Marshal St. Arnaud threatens to resign if this appointment should be insisted upon. The Minister of Police has ordered that no indi vidual under sentence of surveillance shall without a special authorisation from him reside in either of the following localities where there are royal residences: The town and arrondissement of Fontainbleau, the town and arrondissement of Compiegne. and the town and arrondissement of Pan. It is to be inferred from the mention of the latter place that the Em peror contemplates a visit to the old chateau of Henry IV. You will remember that shortly before the Em peror's election the Monastir took every body by surprise, by conspicuously publishing three red re publican proclamations, which till then the police had need every effort to repress. One of these was signed by (amongst others) Victor Hugo. Ano ther was understood to be the composition of Ledru Rollin. But the third signed " the revo lutionary committee," which openly recommended a general massacre of all the adherents of the present government,was indignantly disavowed by ail shades of republican in Farm. The authorship of this san guinary document has now been discovered, and it is satisfactory to know that he is a person of no con sideration, and one, who there is reason to believe, has no followers. Me is aM. Seigneuret, an insur gent of June, 1848, who then took refuge in Jersey, where he has ever since resided. The proclamation was a constant subject of conversation among the Jersey refugees, who suspected it to be a fabrication of the police, and expressed the utmost anxiety to trace out its source, in order to relieve the republican party from the suspicion of harbouring designs which they desired energetically to repudiate. In the course of these conversations Seigneuret at length admitted that he alone was responsible for the pro duction. He had signed it in the name of a sup posed revolutionary committed, of which he was the incarnation, and had printed it himself at a private press. The imperial decree regulates the uniform to be worn by those general officers lately on the retired list who now, by a recent regulation, form a staff re serve, eligible for active service. A distinction is made between the uniform of such general officers as are senators, and those of such as are not senators. The Courrier du Havre states that orders hays been sent front Cherbourg to all the ports not to send any more sailors to that division for the manning of ' the fleet, a sufficient number for the moment having already arrived. The consulting railway commission is now defini tively constituted. It will have to give an opinion on all sutjecta relating to railways, and to cla ssi fy the various lines to be conceded into lit, 2nd, and 3rd classes, according to their importance. The com mission has at present to examine a considerable number of applications sent in for concessions, amounting in all to not less than 70. General Lawcastine, commander-in-chief of the national guard, quitted on Sunday the apartment which he occupied in the Palais Royal; but the guard of honour of the general staff of the national guard still remains there. The report that the gene ral staff was to occupy the hotel Galifet, in the Rue de Chenille, is contradicted. The Marshal Prince Jerome will not take possession of the Paige Royal until the repairs in progress shall be terminated, which will not be for two or three months. The Steele has the following on the causes of the depression at the Bourse : We will now say a word on the fall which certain organs of the press have recorded and which they have sought to explain. We admit the financial causes which they assign for it. The obligation under which the speculators lie of furnishing a guarantee to the Agent de Change; the abun• dance of securities on the market, an abundance which the government has considered it its duty to limit, are, we can not deny, very important remits But let us be candid. Doubtless if the necefaities for the guarantees were di minished, the number of spec ulators would increase, and speculation would !gain acquire activity. But from this very fact, that it is in part released from financial feodality, the Bourne has become if not more wise at least more sincere in its movements. For the last two months the Bourse is like the nation. It has not seen with pleasure the govern ment strengthen itself beyond measure ; it hoped to see a more enlarged political system. It has been mistaken. Very explicit relations, and a Sena:us Consultum not very favourable to the liberties of the country, have shown in the government an idea of preponderance, which Is not very agreeable to every one. In addition to these financial motives, the fall of the last two months has had this power ful cause. A Senates Consultum elevating the legislative power and giving liberty , bringing us back for instance to that which we enjoyed under Louis Philippe, would imme diately have converted this fall into a serious rise, which would only have stopped when it attained proper limits. If the Frame are indifferent to the bad humour of foreign pewee% they tarn much of their attention to what is passing at heats, sad they do so the more as the number of journals has, whether properly or improperly, considerably dimi nished, calls lbw which exist an regarded as putting a damper ea their ideas. Uneasiness is more readily excited la the Amp, of putties and undisputed liberty. This an emias= has needed on the Bourse. The journals which have smitten on the subject have not dared to say it, but we do so, Sealing certain that we are thus rendering an essen tial samba to the government, to commerce, and to the natio& The Minister of Public Worship has appointed a commission, composed of M. Godelle, Councillor of State (section of finances); M. de Mericourt, Inspeo tor-General of Finances; M. Orgier, Referendary of the Court of Accounts; M. Thiac, notary; and M. Roy, Inspector of Finances, to arrange the division of 3e credit allowed for settling with the creditors of=eDupwah, ex-Bishop of Algiers. de Il•anee corrects a statement made is use of the journals, that Count Itscusset Boot ies, who, at the head of a band of adventurers, he. defeated a Mexican general, and declared the pro vine. of Sonora independent, is descended from an ancestor who was a natural son of a prinee of the house of Bourbon, and that, after hav ing been per mitted to assume the name of Bourbon, one of the descendants had been induced, by the offer of • large sum of money from the reigning family et France, to drop that title, which he did, and con. vetted it into Boulbon. The title of Boulbon, says the Gazette, is taken from the village of Boulbos, near Arles, which, in the 16th century, was the pro perty of the family of Raouseet, one of the most noble and ancient in the country. The sale of modern pictures which had belonged to King Louis Philippe took place _yesterday, M. do Bonnefons de Lavialle being the auctioneer, and in general brought good prices. There were in all 68 pictures to be sold, some of which were dreadfully mutilated by the swords and bayonets of the insur gents in 1848. The following were some prime given :—" Sea-view with figures," by Poitevin, 1,310 fr.; " An Episode of 1830," by Leon Ceigniet, 1,200 k. This was a small roughly done picture, crowded with figures, every one of which was full of life and expression. The head and bust of a young woman," by the same artist, something in the style of Greiner, 1,105 fr.; " Scene of the Carnival at Paris, " by 13oilly, a very clever composition, 1,410 k. ; and the great picture of the sale, " A Neapolitan woman bewailing her cottage overturned by an earthquake," by tho late Leopold Robert, brought 16,050 k. FRANCE. (race[ ova owa C0111111PONDIIIIT.) PARIS, THusiDAY 1110111INO. The conditional amnesty of December tat is ex tended to Algeria. The modern artists exhibition will open on May lst, at the Garde Meuble, Faubourg Poissosakre. PARIS, WZDINISDAT Ey:lrmo. The bourse to-day has been again exceedingly heavy and depressed. Sales of all kinds of govern ment and railway stocks have been effected with dif ficulty. Quotations . are considerably below those which have ruled for some time past. From the other continental bounni, the reports today show little variation in the rates of anyortht leading securities. Belgian stock continues in good demand, and many transactions have taken place on English account. The Ottoman Ambassador, accompanied by the whole body of the Legation, presented to-day his credentials to the Emperor. The fact of the Austrian and Prussian ministers having presented their credentials is announced in the Momteur in the following form: The Emperor received yesterday, in private audience, at the Tuileries, M. de Oerthbng, resident Minister of H.R.H. the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, to present his new letters of credence to his Imperial Majesty. Count de Hatzfeld presented, in public audience, the letters which accredit him as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipo tentiary of the King of Prussia. The Emperor also received, in public audienee,M.Thabner, to present his letterses Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Empe ror of Austria. The Austrian and Prussian Ministers were conveyed to the audience in a carriage of the Imperial Court. Subsequently another wring' of the Court con veyed to and from a public audience his his Grand Ducal Highness Prince Frederick of Hesse to present, on the part of his nephew, the Grand Duke of Haste, a private letter of omgratulation to the Emperor. It is said that the reception of MM. Hatrfeld and Hubner has been intentionally delayed by way of rebuking Prussia and Austria for their hesitation in recognising the Empire, and to intimate that they are held in no _greater consideration than small German states. I know not whether the order in which these two great powers are mentioned in the 3/miaow may be considered as confirmatory of this view. There are infinite shades of distinction in diplomatic etiquette, which puzzle people not a little. In the above note it will be seen that the Prussian and Austrian ministers Appear to have been merely taken to the Tuileries in court carrlages,while Prince Frederick of Hew had the honour of riding in one there and back. The other day it was insinuated by the Peens that the omission to send a court carriage for the Bavarian minister was a slight, intended ass retaliation for a certain paragraph in the Stntgart Monitore, but the fact was that the representative of Wurtemburg being merely a "resident" minister, was not entitled to the compliment according to diplomatic titagni. The title of a new book just out is considered highly characteristic of the age of Napoleon 111. It ice called " The Art of Choosing Liveries in the Nineteenth Century." The itoniteur says that by an imperial decree, dated yesterday, a sum of 5,403,150 fr., allowed in the budget of 1853 for keeping up the imperial palaces and manufactures, has been struck of the budget, and that these expence's will now be supported by his majesty's civil list. Lest it should be supposed that this five millions is a present to the nation, it is necessary to explain that the decree is &mere matter of form, consequential upon the terms of the settle men of the crown domains by the recent senates consultum. Another decree extends to Algeria the benefit of the decrees published in France for the remission of fines and imprisonments for offences of the press, of penalties pronounced by the councils of discipline, of the National Guards, of those for offences against the fishery laws, and those committed against the laws regulating the circulation of carriages, &e. By another decree the salary of the Secretary- General of the Prefecture of Police is increased from 8,000 fr., to which it had been reduced in 1618, to 12,000 per annum. Baron d'Andre, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Emperor of the French in the Netherlands, has been raised to the grade of Commander in the Order of the Legion of Honour. Some days since I informed you that it had been resolved to collect the direct taxes three months sooner than usual. This determination was first officially announced in Marseilles and Lyons. But now the prefect of the Seine has issued the necessary orders foe enforcing the measure in Paris. In a day or two the tax-gatherer will be knocking at everydoor, and following so quickly and unexpectedly after the calls of the new year, he will be, to many, a doubly unwelcome visitor. The government will find a two fold advantage in the arrangement. In the first place, a large Foment sum of money in the treasury, and in the next, because the tax payer, relieved by this premature pressure &lin his :must April troubles, will then be able to give his undivided attention to the means of meeting the new taxes, which will assuredly be laid on before that time. The new sepple-ensage is selling in the Weeds to-day at a premium. A hawker occasioned conside rable amusement on the Boulevard Montmartre, by crying, "a new two sous piece of Napoleon 111. for one woe." When buyers came forward, astonished at the apparent opportunity of exchanging old cop per for new of a higher denomination, the vendor ex plained that he sold them for a sons, in this mute, that he gained • eons by each one he sold, but that of course the intrinsic value must be paid besides. I did not observe that he succeeded in doing much business upon these terms. The pieces are very neat, but exceedingly light as compared with the old coinage. M. Roche, lucifer-match manufacturer, at Mar seilles, at whose house a clandestine printing press was lately discovered, has just been tried and ten , tenced to six months' imprisonment and a fine of 10,000 fr., besides confiscation of the press. The severity of the gale which has prevailed in the English channel for the last two days had not abated at 8 p.m., and the express steam packet was for the third time in socoassion compelled to seek shelter in Oalais harbour, being linable to make the English coast. PARIS. TIIIIIDAY APTIDNOON. To-day . Count Hatzfeld, Minister Plenipotentiary of Prussia, and M. Hubner, Minister Plenipotentiary of Austria, were conducted to the presence of the Emperor with the usual ceremony, and presented their credentials. The official journal sontains the following memo randum:—" In order to regulate the precedence of the Princes and Princesses, relations of the Emperor, but not forming part of the imperial family, his ma jesty has decided that they shall take place diately after the corps diplomatique when assembled in a body, and also after ambassadors when not so assembled." The Emperor, accompanied by M. Wald, minister of state, and Colonels Fie and de Seville, went yesterday to the Clos St. Lazar. to examine the rough models for the silver centre piece of a dinner warms which he had lately ordered. His Majesty afterwards visited the Hospice Lariboissiere and after having heard what progress had been m ade in the building, promised that a greater number of workmen should be shortly put on. The Emperor then returned to the Tuileries. A few days since it was stated in the dozelte de Co logne that at the mess table of the regiment of guides Colonel Fleury made the following extraordinary SWITZERLAND. speech : " The Emperor has said, L'Empire c'est Paix,' but I tell you, gentlemen, that the Empire is Letters from Bellineiona and Vienna state that the war, and that your h o rses shall soon drink the waters Austrian government is disposed to pick a quarrel of the Vistula . This story ham been circulating in with Switzerland, on the ground of the expulsion of Paris for some days, and the Presse, in a covert Obi. the capuchins from the canton of Ticino. Austria mien lately expressed a hope that it would be MB. claims these monks as her subjects, and has addressed cially contradicted. A contradiction does now ap. a domineering note to the confederation, threatening pear i n the Pattie, in the following shape : to resort to extreme measures unless t he capuchins Certain journals which habitually publish the most an- are restored. GERMANY. Letterl Van Vienna, of the 7th, state that the re ductions in the Austrian army, announced with so much circumstance in the German press, and so eagerly repeated in the Paris Monikur, are (as we we showed on their or:ginal publication), alto gether illusory. Secret orders are given which compensate every apparent reduction intended for the while eye. Austria is at this moment moving down troops both into Italy and into Croatia, and Dalmatia. In the latter kingdom that power never had so large an army as at present. On the military borders, where every man carries arms, regiments of the line, mainly German, are stationed, obvious far less to guard the frontier which is not menaced than to keep in check the Sclavish ten dencies which are there manifested, and to which many who wear the imperial uniform are no strangers. Great dissatisfaction is felt at the recent order which makes the border militia general instead of local, thus giving the commander power to remove corps from their homes to a dis tact field. The court of Vienna is at this moment distrustful of all parties, of Russia, which it believes nourishes Sclavia tendencies in the south Austrian provinces, no less than of England, which it suspects of bringing the Turkish fleet into the Adriatic. The religious question, that is to say, the increasing ants goniam of the Roman catholic and Greek churches, is another obstacle to the entente cordials of Russia and Austria; but whatever may hereafter grow out of these differences, it is not to be supposed that in all affairs of western politico the young Emperor and the Czar will not act in concert. Letters from Hungary complain of the insecurity of the country caused by the numerous bands of men compelled by their outlawed condition—having taken a national part in the late civil war—to live in the forests and mountains, and lead a Robin Hood kind of life at the expense of their neighbours. Gnats martial and execu tions are powerless against this evil ; the gendarmes are harassed to despair, and never en counter the outlaws without having to enter on a combat of life and death. The Austrians imagine that the object of these poor men is to get together money for a new insurrection, and never seem to think that an honest amnesty, such as would permit the men to quit their wild way of life, might restore them to quiet homes. On the last day of the old year one of these men was hanged at Perth. Previous to the execution he was taken about in a procession for two hours, during which he sang patriotic songs and displayed a supreme contempt for death. At the foot of the gallows an officer read a prolix state ment of his crimes and sentence. The name of Kos suth occurred in this document, and had no sooner escaped the lips of the officer than the prisoner took off his hat and reverently inclined his head. As the fatal rope was slipped over his head, he gathered up his strength and. cried, " Magyars, keep up your pluck; we'll give it them yet," and died. The Oldenburg government issued to the general staff on the 3rd an order of the day releasing the soldiers from their oath to the constitution. Ac cording to the revised constitution the soldiery will only have to swear to be faithful to the sovereign. Two of the German translations of M. Montalem bert's " Catholic Interests in the Nineteenth Cen tury" have just been seized at Munich. The rock of offence is found in a passage relating to Bavaria. A third translation executed by Professor Schmitz, from which the obnoxious sentences were eliminated is sold in Munich without difficulty. ITALY. The news of an augmentation of the Austrian army in Italy is confirmed. Orders have been issued to provide for the accommodation of soldiers, and, more than elsewhere, in the provinces of Milan and Como. The correspondent of the Opinions writes from Milan, that Radetzky had ordered each of the various lieutenant-governors to present him, within a week, with a list of the two hundred most wealthy inha bitants of his province, together with a statement of •their incomes. This strange kind of return has given birth to a variety of conjectures, but nothing positive can be ascertained. ?EARFUL CONDITION OF AUSTRIAN ITALY. (From the Italia e Popolo.) Bawls, Dsc. 28, 1862. We are in a fearful state ; arrests continue, and every person arrested has immediately to undergo an examination, which generally takes place at night. If he do not confess his love for his country he un dergoes the torture of repeated floggings. At the very sight of the instruments of torture, some prefer being condemned to irons or to death—for to Italian minds the punishment of flogging is more horrible and ignominious than any other penalty. Those who do not flinch at the flogging are put to the secrete, that is, are placed in a narrow, damp cell underground, where daylight scarcely penetrates, and where they are kept on the sparest diet of bread and water. But no sooner are the bleeding cats, made by the lash on their bodies, closed, than they are again submitted to the same torture, and thus they are taken from the rack to the 'secrete, and from the secrete to the rack, until they con fess in the sense that their inquisitors desire. No one, however bold in spirit and strong in body, can resist the reasoning of Benedek's rod, for he knows that the torture will cease only by confession, or by an agonised death—and their ferocious judges remind them of this at every moment. To confess or to die in torture—no other alternative is left to these unhappy men. And these confessions—good God! —in what do they consist? In manifestations of opinions and thoughts common to all Italians. If the Emperor would condemn all who hate his arbitrary rdle, and who wish for the independence of Italy, he has only to put aside the few monsters that he keeps on Ins register of confidants, and then make ono dungeon of all Venetian Lombardy, and a gallows of every tree. Well does ho know this ; and despairing of ever being able to inspire these people with, I will not say love, but only tolerance, he seeks to at least inti. initiate them by massacres, and leaves no means untried to disable them materially, and render them impotent for action. Can a rule established on this basis be lasting ? • • It can have but a life of agony, and render its own fall more bloody. In my letter of the 23rd ult. I mentioned the per crisition practised in all the churches of La Vattel him, of Bergamo, and of Brescia, with the object of detecting hidden arms. The measure, as I foresaw, was made general throughout all Venetian Lom bardy. They assume nothing less than that they will find a deposit of a hundred thousand muskets. Under the same impulse, they have forbidden all matinal ceremonies, as also the ringing of bells. The striking of Lombard Venetian bells is a great antidote to their slumbers. And what says the Pope to such infraction of his ecclesiastical powers? SPAIN. At a meeting of the Moderate Electoral Committee, held on the 3th inst., it was resolved that the candi dates for Madrid should be half of the progressist and half of the moderate party. M. Martinez de la Roses was at once chosen as one of them, and the others are to be selected by the electors of the different districts. The committee has caused an address to the electors of all the country to be litho graphed, and extensively circulated; it calls on them not to vote for candidates in favour of the reform of the constitution. The committee has received a com munication from the Minister of the Interior, inti mating, in reply to its petition for the removal of the prohibition on electoral meetings, that the govern ment is disposed to allow the local authorities to authorise such meetings where they present no dan ger to the public tranquillity. A Madrid letter of the 6th says: "The new law, as given in the royal decree, retains some of the bad features of that which it replaces, particularly in the arbitrary power of imprisoning the publisher of a journal as soon as the denunciation made by the public prosecutor has received the sanction of the competent authorities, and keeping him in prison until the jury on the press shall have decided as to his guilt or innocence. This power may not be abused by the present ministry, but it will be a frightful weapon in the hands of an unconstitutional geverament, and would render illusory the conces sions that are made in favour of free discussion ; for preventive imprisonment, in most cases, if frequently repeated, would have the effect of destroyin g th e property of a journal. There are, however, in the new law, changes in the mode of organising the jury, which imld out additional protection to persons who fall under the lash of the public prosecutor. The penalties again3t persons found guilty of atta c k s upon religion or its ministers, with a view of bring. ing them into discredit, or upon any of the institu tions of the country, if made with a criminal motive, are severe. The circular of the Minister of the In terior is a remarkable document, for, while he desires the public functionaries in the provinces to exercise the most severe control for the repression of all violent discussion, having for object to weaken respect for the laws and institutions, he enjoins them to place the most liberal construction possible upon the motives and intentions of writers, and to abstain from every attempt to check the freedom of safe and reasonable discussion upon the acts of the govern. ment, and on all subjects in which discussion would be useful to the public interests." PORTUGAL. The new Cortes met on the 2nd. Very few de puties appeared, and to the 6th a sufficient numbor to form a house had not arrived. Marshal Saldanha's speech was in no respect im portant, containing little more than allusions to the settlement of the Armstrong claim, and the rccogai. Lion of Louis Napoleon. In the exercise of dictatorial power the government had abolished the supplemcn , tel tenth per cent. on articles imported. In future ' 10 per cent. will be levied for the bank-note tax, and 3 per cent. for emoluments. The government an nounced that the tariff will be considered a subject for annual revision. The public funds were still suf fering from the shock of Dec. 18. Five per Cents. are quoted at 37 ; shares in the Bank of Portugal are Rs. 230,000. TURKEY. A private letter from Berlin states that the Ottoman Porte has again requested the King of Prussia to send engineers to Constantinople, for the purpose of carrying out trigonometric operations on the Turkish territory. MONTENEGRO. Telegraphic dispatches from Cattaro state, that Massan Petrowitch and his son, two relatives of Prince Daniel, of Montenegro, have been so severely wounded in recent engagements that they lie in the greatest danger. Letters from Bosnia state, that Omer Pacha's force includes 8,000 Arnauts. These troops are of a race hardy as the Montenegrins them selves, and bold as lions, uneasy when not fighting, and fitted for nothing so much as irregular guerilla warfare. As the Pacha of Scutari's recent brush with the enemy has been represented by two of our daily con temporaries as Omer Pacha's defeat, it may be well to state that the Pacha of Scutari and the well. known Omer Pacha are distinct xersonages, and that the two commanders are operating on oppoeite sites of Montenegro. SCHLESWIG. On the 2nd inst. a riot broke out at Holm between the fishermen of that place, a courageous race of men, and the Danish soldiery quartered there. The soldiers had demanded that the people among whom they were billeted, should give them the feast cue. tomary at that season, the latter refused, remarking that their children (Schleswig conscripts) had not been well used at Copenhagen since the pacification of the Duchy. In the midst of the conflict which followed, the authorities intervened, and having restored quiet sent the soldiers away to Eckenforde. THE AUSTRALIAN. This vessel, notwithstanding the duration of her voyage, and the disadvantageous circumstances under which a portion of it was made, looked in excellent condition on arrival at Plymouth on Tuesday. She has an excellent commander and a first-rate set of officers, and has proved herself during the voyage a capital sea boat. It should always be borne in mind in reference to the long period over which her voyage has extended, that she has been the pioneer of a new route—that in respect to coaling and other arrangements connected with the forwarding of large steam vessels, she has had to contend with difficulties and to sur mount obstacles which will not in all probability be so ope rative in any succeeding voyage. Again, the difficulty arising from the gold fever amongst the crew was the cause of very considerable delay after her arrival in the colony—and for that the vessel is in no way charge able—it being purely the result of the circumstances of the country into the harbours of which she had arrived. Of the 9'.) days occupied in her outward voyage she was detained at various ports 161; and during the 84 days, besides the loss of time by her deviation to call at the Mauritius to re pair her engines, and for fuel, she was 15 days at canoes ports. Although, therefore, her voyages have not been so speedy as was desired or expected, there are, independent of speed and the adverse weather she has experienced, many exculpatory and mitigatory circumstances. The cargo brought home by the Australian was an immensely rich One, and the mails about the largest ever brought to England in one bottom. They consisted of ne less than 160 bags and boxes. The mails were deli vered up by Capt. E. Barnard, R.N., the Admiralty agent, to Mr. Marken, the postmaster, at Plymouth, at about half-put one on Tuesday : but in consequence of their great bulk it would have been impossible after 2 o'clock, at which time they were placed is the peat-office, to have sorted them before the departure of the London mail; they were, therefore, forwarded unsorted. The conse quence of this is, that the delivery of the letters and papers in the north is delayed a post, and those for the west two posts. (DT ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.) PLYMOUI If, WEDNESDAY, 7.40 P.N. The Australian did not pail this morning, u was ex pected, but is now under orders for London, and will pro. cad as soon as the weather moderates. Captain Barnard, R.N., left by the mail train this even lug with the nugget of Australian gold for her Majesty. - COLONIAL PENNY POSTAGE. The Council of the Colonial and International Postage Association, upon the important question of our colonial postage, have resolved :—" Diet the first object of the emaciation is to extend the system of uniform penny P already in operation between the United Kingdom amlCOMmikel Islands, to the whole of the British cola ales sad perseedons. The total amount of postal revenue ' derived from all the colonies does not exceed 200,0001. a year. The whale, obviously, could not be sacrificed by the massare proposal; but it would be sound national policy ileabandon even the whole to promote in so eminent a de• gree the commerce, education, freedom of communication, and friendly relations between the colonies and the mother country." The amount of revenue derived from our colonies is ex tracted irom a MS. obligingly furnished by the Postmaster- General, at the request of the council of the above associa tion. In this return the income from Transmariae Colo nial Postage, by each line of packets, stands as follows: French mail Belgian Prussian 1,636 • Dutch Hamburg 1,548 American 33,237 West Indian Cape 5,115 Peainaular Indian Ditto via MuniUm 36,413 ' Sydney, Btc. African . - 383 Interoolonial /Led Sea L 193,011 AUSTRALASIAN LEAGUE. On September 14, the legislative council of Van Diemen's Laud adopted the following petition to the Queen. All the elected members, and several government officers. voted for it—only the Attorney-General and three of this governor's nominees against it: " TO THE QEEEN . ii MOST EXCELLENT MkJESTT. " We, your Majesty's loyal and dutiful subjects, the I members of the legislative council of Van Diemen's Land in council assembled, beg leave to approach your Majesty with the assurance of our attachment to your Majesty'll person and government. "We beg leave humbly to represent to your Majesty that on the 4th September, 1848, your Majesty, with the advice of your Privy Council, was pleased to order that the colony of New South Wales (which then included Port Phillip, sine called Victoria), the colony of Van Diemen's Land, and the Cape of Good Hope, should be the places to which felons and other offenders in the United Kingdom, then being or thereafter to be under sentence or order of transportation, should be conveyed, under the provisions of the act of parliament of the sth year el the reign of his late bigjesty King George the Fourth.