The Express. — London, England, 1868-02-29 00:00:00

TORN E BROODXHIBITIONEN. FIRST-CLASS SILVER ICIDAL, ISSI. c h RIGINAL GOLD CHAIN MANUFACTORY, V le, HANRIETTA-STRINT, COYEST-GARDEN. ____ JOHN BROODBNI 18-carat GOLD CHAINS. JOHN BROGDENT GOLD GUARD CHAINS. JOHN BROGDENB GOLD ALBERT CHAINB• OHN BROG DEN'S GOLD BROOCH CHAINS. (PRIZE MEDAL AWARDED). ALLEN'S PATENT PORTMANTEAUS and TR NN ELM NO Al lq, with uvliam openin LAD! PA' WARDROBE TRUNKS , DRESSING LAGS, IrlOt ettinga DESPATCH BOXES, WRITING and DEMING CASES, NA WA (Aber articles for bogie or continental travelling. Illustrated setalogues post free. Also Alien's Barrack /knitter. Catalogue of Portable Bed stood, I `rawers, Easy maim Washband•stands. Canteen/. an. tree 3. W. ALLEN. liansfacturer wd Paillgee. 37, Wert 31=4 DAVIES'S beautiful HARD WAX and SPERM t• tNDLE.i. IA. per lb.: Palace Para" candies. 11 . " ; la. 04. awl I i 101.: notarde wax, la. ; cooped* Sd., =nt 0:e beat bal.; mould; tid. : dim ed.: .ello ontp, Me., eat, Fit , and 4Sa. per 112 IS.: mottled, da ; 'Pat C w old al. 40. per Ita,t,n : Inr cub. at M. P. DA V IFM and 4 ITS, wax dawdled and Ita!,..tn Oilmen. 61, St. Martnewlane. W.C.—Llata pod trd. H ENRY BRETT and Co.'s "0. D. V." 11:1.1N DV, lea. pvr Callao, recommetylvt by the medical pr..reutions. In a eme ,r the enuittsT 3 / 0 .. Wang , . of railway Arrhtte —Holborn b.c., awl *lO, It.-gentAtmet. lltt erpreoo. AUVISRTHRUP.STS must be tnrwarted 0 Mean.. J. V. 3..R7- box and au.., E, easteeltreet, Holborn, and sd, Mateo garden th a awe: hilly appointed Agin... FIAVMARRIGT. TITIA EViNfIG. TDR BROKEN-RPARTIM .:VTR—DAVID GARRICK. Mown. thirkstone. Ungers, he.: and Miss Robiartoon.-1 10 X A ` COX. Ur. Itookdono acid }lr. Compton. YAM ILt JAR ,I S. D Mr. Compton. rsurcicsTs. Trtle l'czNlN; ARRAN NA I'OCIUR. Mr. cnd Drs. D. Dm desalt. Mr. Aluinit, Aldan. Dim!nick Murray, Nes , llk, &Shore ; Mlos BarncttSr.. Addle—After which THE , 101 4 ,11.. 31t. mad Dri. J. S ;Luke, Mr. Thing, * Mlai STZAND. Tilts Mt ENING, OLD 84LT. %!esorra ?men% flrlfor4 41; Jame,: Miss Nc'ly —PA litlA . OIL VILE LK %I PRIER & :1,15: . 5. James, ()nine. N,lrwu, ask Yentrm : Met' , lames Swenborough, DarlanJ. fot...tvne. Holt, &c,—tml COAL I:4U WKE. HOLBORN. Tnts . 6,EN1110, THE FLYINI: SCUD. Sltr.gra Mee, Hordes Arther. Welland, url Wilue.tt : Mes.lamct Woodall, l.eve,•, awl Attendee.' —Vonclistle tt VALENTINg All I OIL4ON. Mlle. Wouteru, little H0we:140,4(.4. BRITANNIA. Trim EVENING. ALL Bllr ONE . Me,. Rertot.h, 40.1 Orawford Nle.lanN.3l:,,Grtenay. and Covenvy.—lNlN ISM S. Issue: P•114,1111111i4Ci M yra. Deane. 1...5k, NeWII4M. said the tlchay.-e Family Mdlle •4trioltm. and A:".As Rose Malmo. HIGH WATS& AT LONDON BMWS. Tms DAY —Mnrntair. sh. SDa--..AfterroolL eh. 60m. To-Noitsow —Morning. US. tOsi— ..AtterooseL M. NM. )111Tletet MARII:MILN, and DE...TnA, are received autal Id o'clock to Insertion same eventug. 9a. Od. LONDON, SATURDAY, FEB. 29. DIRECTORS AND DIVIDENDS. DIRCUTORS are on their trial before the public. They have enjoyed a long and pleasant monopoly of power. Indignant and reined shareholders have striven, but with partial success, to tecape from an intolerable yoke. Their grievances would excite more general sympathy were they less free from the charge of culpable negligence of their own intswests. It is their votes which originally gave Ohs: to the ten who have a.•rved them so badly. But, although a despot styled a director, like a despot who takes the name of Emperor, can beset of having been chosen by universal suffrage, yet the voters in either case may allege that they have had little chalet, iu the matter. Practically, the directors of all companies are self-elected in the first instance. When a company is constituted. a bean] of direchas is provided L.r as part of rho • scheme. Sometimes at the first meeting of the shareholders a vote is taken as t., whether or not the men wham, names are printed in the prospectus shall lie continued in the offices they provisioaally bold, hut more frequently it is provided in the article,' of association that these gentlemen shall act as directors for a longer or shorter period. Further- more, it is provided that the men who du the ehare holders the honour of superinten ling their affiars shall lie handsomely remunerated fur their :elf MI /tatted it: delegated lalemis. It is a maxim among the visas of men who aspire to rele a company that once a director always a director. The duties are often very light, and the rewards very precioaa There is patronage as well as jay. It is even possible to win social tiosition by becoming a member of the hoard of an important company. This is true of railway companies in particular. The ruler of a railway is brought into immediate contact alike with the nobility of ethumerce and with the nobility of the land. lie has many opportunities for doing a service to penonvea holding high official ptaitioes. He ean enrich an indigent liver by eatini:.g a a branch line to pass through his properly ; he can raise a contractor from poverty to opulence by entrusting him with the construct:on of stew lines of rail. On his dependents ha am lastaw piates far more valuable and esteemed than imply which were once within the gift of ministers of state. If be desire to enter Parliament, he has special facili ties for gratifying his ambition. It is doebtfal if the doors of the House of Coinoi.:.is do not swing back more readily at the kneel: to' the railway director than at the 301:11.1i.11.5 eltleat awl of an hereditary peer. At length the days tf hays ct me upon those directors to whom fola,.ao lies bif!:erto been so kind. Throughout the a tuntay the ehare holders are in rebellion agai.a; Ideir inasteri. There was a time when to dia i.ire an ample dividend was sufficient to insure eethrsiastic - totes of thanks and lizartfelt expresaloas of c. But in these days of open discontent, the declara tion of a large dividend excites smq.icion and arouses opposition. Shareholders complain of confidence abused and property of Treeieted—they clamour for the resignatien of men ahem they once overwhelmed with e9llllll/1!)011tS, :LA ex press bitter regret that they are ateße to inflict a heavier penalty than that of eastuie the directors from their seats and then causing them to forfeit their fats, their patro nage, and their influence. in many cases the punishment is not so severe it. reality ItS in ap pearance. The banished director is capable of bearing with fortitude his exil: :coin the la-,ard. As an ordinary shareholder, he has a beat advival tage ovor those who have Inol n. practical kn•>w- • ledge of the manner in which lnisnl is cond..zted behind the scenes. tied he c v,,e his I:nowledge so as to embarrass and outwit 11; M . ltTellBo7,. At meetings of the shareholder. Ins tar, p a imonve-; nient questions. If lie posses ; , •rdi•tary pr..denm he can play his cards in such a ',a to taisaire his early restoration to 0,1:c... The ordinary Engliahman is only too re.,dy ENt to pardon sold thou deify the director havice, , e lf to 1.0 inorapetent or worse, confo , isoli his mho! teomings, and puts ltin:self forrarl :.t the censorious critic of others with a view to si:rilant and humiliate them. Although the foregoing rentArke apply to !lirec tore in-general, yet they do not apply with olual force to the directors of all joint-stock companies. For instance, were it not for the manual ,efforts of the directors many companies, such as those for banking and other purposes, could hardly be so prosperous as they are. It is seldom that a director can do much to increase the traffic of a railway, but he can easily increase the business of a bank. If the member of a firm having large monetary transactions, he can employ the bank for the purpose, and thereby help to give the shareholders a larger dividend. On the other hand, he can use the bank for his own purposes, and he may do this in such a way as to enrich himself at the expense of others. In all cases, however, directors have a road to wealth open to them which none but the unscrupulous will tread ; yet, as there are a few directors whose consciences are elastic, and whose scruples never interfere with their enrichment, this road is sometimes trodden. A knowledge as to the state of a company is in valuable on the Stock Exchange. When turned to account, it is as sure to lead to fortune as playing with loaded dice. All this is matter of notoriety : the abuses of the system which has done so much for directors and so little for con fiding shareholders are generally admitted. The remedy is less obvious. The simplest and surest one is that which will not be adopted. Vigilance and energy on the part of shareholders would cure the evil; but it is as difficult to get shareholders to do their duties as to get directors who are true to their trusts. The Americans have tried the solution of the problem in a mode which deserves notice. The directorships of their railway com panies are purely honorary poets. The president is well paid, and is held responsible for the effi cient management of the undertaking. Some alteration ought to be made in our system. What ever change be made, we hope it will not take the i form of establishing the minute supervision and I official control of the Government. THE EXPRESS, SATURDAY E ban .become w, and the directors advise that tbs finthcom rftmeetfittsitd dna &dimw t t. and that no resolution sln nit adopied in eeferenoe to the declaration of dividend... In the mean time the " oonsmittee cl consultation," write in cheerful terms of the company's prospects though they feel that until confidence in railway securities is fully restored, the renewal of the debentures will prove a difficult part of the financial business. They approve of the bill already referred to, and think a steady increase of dividend will be ob tained by abstaining from schemes of exten sion and from further guarantee obliga tions. They, however, prudently add, "It " would bejunwise to expect a sudden recovery " from evils so deep-seated as those which oppress " the Great Western Company." The recognition of past errors and of present duty is complete in the reports of these great companies, and we can only hope the sincerity of their repentance and of their promises will be proved by the character of their future policy. OUR CONTEMPORARIES. (THIS DAY.) The whole status of naturalised citizens being under the consideration of the two governments of the United States and Great Britain, the Times suggests whether it would not be better to avoid, exempt under urgent necessity, acting upon the laws as they at present stand ; and thinks that after all it may deserve consideration whether we have • right to punish Nagle for the mere feet of his being • Fenian and conspiring against the Queen. His offence, if any, con slats solely in his acts off the Sligo coast, and these are almost too contemptible for this elaborate trial and for this array of legal and international difficulties. Morally, if not legally, a similar consideration may apply to his I fellow prisoners. We have only too many prisoners as it is, and it is not well to run the risk of damaging the prestige of justice by trying to press its claims too minutely, and failing, it may be, in the attempt. In another article the Times depicts the thirty men at Messrs. Pontifez and Co.'s as driven to. an attitude of hostility against their employers by the terrors of an organ- Batton which two men who came on their ground used against them. While the public pities the men who have thrown away U. 14s. • week because they had not a half holiday also, it will pity much more the millions who bare to do bard work on a third of those wages and never get • holiday at all. The Daily Noss thinks Mr. Disraeli was perfectly justi fied in supplying Lord Chelmsford's place. The suggestien of malice end spite is aboard. Mr. Disraeli is too good a politician to let these feelings sway his public conduct. He deserves credit for the courage with which he has dis regarded the intrusion of personal pretensions into a purely public business. Lord Chelmsford has to thank an indis creet confidant for the disclosure that his retirement is not voluntary, and that his friends' estimate and his own of the relative value of his services and those of Lord Cairns is not that of his party anti the world. Mr. Ward Hunt's nomination is, in its way, a good precedent. The liberal party contains members whose abilities and poli tical standing far transcend Mr. Hunt's, but who have been confined to subordinate offices. The Telegrapk, defending Mr. Disraeli from many of his critics, disputes the view that he has outstripped so many competitors because he was ready to profess any principles that would help him into power. He has often held firmly to unpopular views. He was • eulogist of Louis Napoleon's when few men praised him. He spoke respectfully of the church of Rome when three-fourths of the conservatives reviled it. He was an anti-Italian when nearly all England we. on the other side. He was friendly and fair to the United States when ninety-nine out of every hundred conserva- Cue, and nearly all " good society," were Confederate in tone. The Herald confidently aMrms that the government u it ie , is one of the strongest that has ruled over the country for many years, strong in parliamentary ability, in unity of purpose, and in public confidence. LO.qT IN LONDON. THE diuppearance of the Rev. Mr. SPIKE was considered to be a most unusual and alarm ing circumstance. When the discussion of the subject brought a number of letters to the newspapers relating other cases of mysterious dis appearance, the excitement of the public became intense. Because at one time or other a dozen i persons had been lost in London and never again heard of, a good many people were beginning to think that Loudon was not a fit place to live in. Others were incredulous, and refused to believe half the tales that were told. What will these alarmists and these sceptics say to the return fur nished by the police of persona lost and missing during the years 1841 and 1860 1 Here is the return : Reported lost Restored by or basting. the police. 1441 1812 1441 1414 1.415 l'Hil 1347 144$ 1449 1350 1.151 1,876 1352 1453 1454 1855 13. t 1 1457 1353 1451 1.4) This return was furnished by the pollee to Mr. Hem( Mavnzw, when ho was investigating the condition of the London poor. The figures seem to imply that about 2,000 persons are lost in London every year, and only half of them found again, leaving annually 1,000 disappearances never accounted fur. NE% El: was anything like the complaisance, the apologetic deference, with which Lord STAN LEY notified to his august Majesty of Abyssinia the painful necessity under which he considered his Government to lie, of landing a few thousand troops in that little-known land, and giving the redoubtable THEODORE'S a thrashing. In the despatch from the Foreign Secretary to the African King, dated September 9, 1867, and quoted by us yesterday evening from the newly published Blue Book, Lord STANLEY quite mourns over the bad manners of the descendant of Socomo,.. "The QUEEN would fain hope that, " even in this last hour, your MaJsarr moy be " induced to listen to words of peace. . . It is " the earnest desire of the Quasir that this last " opportunity which her MAJ WIT offers to you " may be taken advantage of by your Hamm " (by the rendering up of the prisoners), " and " that peace may be so preserved between " England and Abyssinia." Thereupon, Lord STANLEY concludes— " I bid your MAJasTY " heartily farewell. —Your sincere friend, STAN " LIT." When two civilised monarchs fall out, they do not proclaim war after this ooinplimentary fashion. The style is quite that of the old Lanes- Lars and Gsveututs, whose skill in hacking and hewing was only equalled by their knightly amenities ; or that of modern prize-fighters, who shako hands before engaging in the fray ; or that of the English and French officers at the battle of Fontenoy, who bowed to each other from the opposing ranks, and mutually declined the honour of firing first. A deceased essayist tells a story of a gentleman of mild manners, but resolute dis position, who one day addressed another gentle man who had offended him after this suave manner, ending in the application of a stick :—" Sir,—l am " extremely sorry—to be obliged to say—that you " appear to have a very erroneous notion of the " manners that become your situation in life ; and "lam compelled, with great reluctance, to add— " that if you do not think fit, upon reflection, to " alter this very extraordinary conduct towards a " gentleman. I shall be under the necessity of— " caning you!" Lord STANLEY addresses THEO PURL'S in much the same fashion, previously to applying the cane. One of the most disagreeable results of unduly meddling in the internal affairs of barbarous countries is the being thus obliged to be o auplimentary to a savage. Tinpm shareholders of the Great Western ' Railway, whose expectations were pleasantly raised by the preliminary statement of the balance available for the payment of dividends, will to-day find their hopes considerably chilled by the expres sion of regret in the directors' report that it is not possible to pay those dividends in cub. The report throws the blame upon the recent proceedings in Chancery, which have prevented the acceptance of • a good deal of stock in lieu of dividend, by othc. . ; proprietors desirous of tak:ag the same. Under] any circumstances, some weeks must elapse before the bill introduced into parliament for legalising I the lama of stock already mode, and snob further issue as inay by voluntarily aocaptai THE WEEKLY PRESS. The judgment exercised by Lord Derby in re commending the Queen to entrust the task of forming a ministry to Mr. Disraeli is spoken of generally by the weekly press as sound. The most powerful member of • cabinet, says the Saturday Review, ought always, if pos sible, to be also its bead. Mr. Disraeli's enemies complain that he has no deep convictions; but there are many qualities which the House of Commons prefers to anxious and painful earnestness. The conduct of the Reform Bull of last year through the house was proved, by many just criticisms on its morality and policy, to have been • marvel of dexterous management. Par liamentary skill is not the most exalted of human gifts, but it is extremely useful to a minister. Mr. Hunt sometimes treated serious questions with ill judged levity, and it is not known whether lie has mas tered the higher principles of finance. Of the respec table peers who belong to the cabinet, the Duke of Rich ' mond alone possesses even the most elementary qualifies tient of a parliamentary leader. Only unforeseen eircum- I stances can cause • change of ministry in the present year, I and it is improbable that the government will survive the first session of the reformed parliament. Independently lof all special subjects of controversy, the coostituencies will almost certainly return • liberal majority, and there will be no difficulty in finding a reason or a pretext for ejecting the conservative government The Examiner says the future policy of the Tory party is inextricable. They don't know whither they are going, and they don't venture to ask the only man who does know, for It is a part of his policy that beforehand they should not he told. They have been taught at last to remember during the week what they say on Sunday, of their having long " left undone what they ought to have done, nod done what they ought not to have done ;" and when they look at their master and manager they are forced to exclaim— "there is no health in us." It way not be a pleasant plight for a great historical party to find itself in ; but there is no denying the facts : Kr. Disraeli has made the party what it is ; and has not the maker a right to do what he will with his own The Spectator remarks that one of the curious features of the reconstruction ministry will be ita concentration of force In the COIIIIIIOIIB. For the first time for many years, the Prime Minister, the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary for the Home Department, the Secretary at War, the First Lord of the Admiralty, the Secretary for India, the Sec retary for 'reined, will all sit in the House of Commons. In the Lords there will be only the Lord Clianoelkw, the President of the Board of Trade, the President of the Council, the Lord Privy Seal, and the Colonial Secretary, all of these officers of emend-rate political importance, ex cept, indeed, in an educational session, that of the Prod. dent of the Council. And it is • pity that Mr. Disraeli has not been able to get rid of • little of the " proud Bath " about the late government, which gave it neither strength nor ocesideration. The Duke of Marlborough and the Earl of Malmaibury are almost to be esteemed negative quantities in estimating the weight of the new ministry. Mr. Walpole, instead of retiring altogether, might at taut have succeeded the in competent head of the Board of Education, who will do whatever • silly duke may, to neutralise the impression of talent which, on the whole. the ministry present*. But, after all, both the strength and weakness of the ethane bailee are concentrated In Mr. Disraeli. Fonsion-onto, Nov. 16,1867.—The Queen has been graaionaly pleased to appoint William Francis degraye, Esq., to be her Majesty'. consul in th e Island of Reumon.—fgatene. ----- A Cutworm COINCIDENT%.—A rather curious coincident, disarm to be rear ..td in connection with the recent changes in the composition of the Cabinet. General Gray, who, on Monday last wee the bearer of the queen's commissios to Mr. Dimseli to form a government, was, at the drat dissolution after the Reform Bill, the liberal candidate for the borough of High Wycombe, and bed for his 1, pa extreme radical principles, th e new saw sorra vs premier. Gener,l Grey, at the lime private eseestary to his father, the late Bail Grey, w as snee sief u l at the poll,—Bircke Adtertiger. p, FEBRUARY , -.pip\ 1 ...otiAtrTtrt. .. o f OSBORNE, Tais. fl& The Queen, mom ed by Princess Louis* and Princess Beatrice, warn t driving yesterday afternoon, and was present at earn sports which her Hallisb hid been! pleased to McColl amornat the detealtmentOf Soots Fusilier Guards doing duty as Osborne. 1 The Duchess of Athol, and the Hon. (Mosel a. Roe , were in attendance. Prinoe Leopold walked out, attended by Mr. Duckworth. and was present at the games. The Right Hon. Benjamin Disraeli arrived and had an audience of her Majsatyand kissed bands upon his appoint- ment as First Lord of the Treasury.. Mr. Disraeli and the Hon. General and Mrs. Grey had the honour of dining with her Majesty. The Queen drove out this morning accompanied by. Princess Louise. Prince Leopold also drove out. The Prince of Wales, attended by Lieutenant-Colonel Keppel, returned to Marlborough-house yesterday after- noon from Badminton. Tho rrincem of Wales drove out, accompanied by Prig• oess Mary of Teak. The Queen will hold a Council at Osborne at half-put one o'clock to-day (Saturday). Prince Christian dined with the officers of the 2nd Life •Guards at Windsor on Thursday evening. The Prince of Tech went to Fromm. on Thursday, and dined with the officers of the lit Battalion Grenadier Guards in the evening. Despatches were sent from the Colonial-office yesterday to the Governors of Gibraltar, Malta, Ceylon, Hang Kong, Lsbuan, and the Straits Settlements. His Royal Highness the Field-Marshal Corn msailiarin-Citief will hold a levee at 1 o'clock on Thurs day nest, the sth proximo. Lord Derby does not, it is said, contemplate resigning the Chancellorship of the Univers:ty of Oxford, which his lordship has held since the death of the Duke of Wellington in 1852. M. and Madame Van de Weyer entertained at dinner, on Thursday evening, at their residence in Arling ton-street—the Earl of Abingdon, the Earl Orey, Frances Countess of Waldegrave and the Right Hon. Chichester Fortescue, M.P., the Bishop of Oxford, the Marquis d'Azeglio, Mrs. Humphrey St. John Mildomy and the Misses Mildruay, Mr. Hayward, and W. Donny de Castean. A marriage (says the Surrey Standard) between Colonel Barttelot, M.P., and Mies Boldero, only child of Mr. Bolden, of South - lodge , Bonham, is to take plasm early in April. LORD PORTSMOUTH OH EDUCATION. Lord Portsmouth has addressed the following letter to the Western Tines: " Eggesford House, Feb 26, 1868. '' Dear sir,—Having seen in the North Demo Anneal a report of the lecture given before the Barnstaple F►rmers' Club, in which the system of religious instruction pursued at my schools at Huretbourne Priors, and at the middle-class school at North Tudor', is commented upon, I feel it my duty to state openly what ate my views on education, and I shall feel much obliged to you if you would give them a space in your columns. I oonsider that education is a great blessing, which should be extended to all classes, freely and ungrudgingly. While Christian ministers are unabblim, ignorance and irreligion are growing and bearing fruit in crime and the need for repressive measures ; therefore a system of religious teaching which inculcates the great truths of Christianity, without touching on controversial subjects, would be advantageous. My system of religions instruction in village schools has the experience of fourtelin years to prove that such a compromise is aceeptable to reasonable persons on both sides. It is patent to all that the state of eds. cation in small rural parishes in England and Wales is moat unsatisfactory, and I coasider that it is as much the duty of landowners to promote education on their estates as it is to educate their own children. It is no matter of favour—l rejoice in the prospect of the legislature insisting on that duty being performed. The object of Messrs. Foster and Bruce's bill is not to ' interfere where good and efficient echools now exist, but to extend the blessing of education to districts where there are no schools, or where they are insufficient. It appears to me by joining small parishes that the cost of education need not press heavily on the ratepayers, and that both landlord and tenant should share the burthen between them. Education and culture convert the savage into a civilised member of society. It is the duty of all holding Metal opinions to advance education, regardless of the bigotry of those who look upon it as a net:awry nil, and only to be met as such. "Xagna est veritu, et prevalebit."—l remain, dear sir, yours faithfully, " PORTSMOUTH." PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS. The following business stands in the order book of the House of COMMIES for Thursday and Friday text: Thursday, Horeb °ROM OY THE DAY. Capital Punishment within Prisons Bill—second read ing ; Public Schools Bill—eommittee; Supply—com mittee ; Ways and means—committee ; Election Petitions and Corrupt Practices at Elections Bill—second read ing ; Finns and Fees (Ireland) Bill -second read ing ; Railways (Extension of Time) Bill—committee Representation of the People (Scotland) Bill—secon d reeding; Sea Fisheries Bill—second reading; London Coal and Wine Duties Continuance Bill—second reading ; Artisan's and Labourers' Dwellings Bill—second reading ; Judgments Extension Bill—second reading; Sunday Trading Bill—second reading ; Sale of Liquors on Sunday (Ireland) Bill—second reading ; Mines Armament Bill— second reading ; Railway and Gas Shares Bill—second reading. Nevem or Morrow. Mr. C. Foster—Divorce and Matrimonial CAUPCS Court —Bill to amend the law relating to appeals from the Court of Divorce and Matrimonial Causes tdAieml.md. Mr. Morrison—Metropolig Gas— Bill to amend "The Metropolis Gag Aet, 1800." and to make further provision for regulating the supply of tpui to the metropolis ; and for other purposes. Mr. Lehouehero—On second reading of London Coal end Wins Duties Continnsnes Bill, to move that it be reed a mooed time upon this day gig months. Friday, March C. NOTICEN OF MOTIONS. - Sir W. Gall —County Financial Boarils -Bill to es tablish county financial boards. . . Major Ansiin—Anny (India and the colonies )— Select committee to inquire into the duties performed by the British army in India and the colonies, and also how far it might be desirable to employ certain portions of her Majesty's Native Indian Army in our colonial and mili tary dependencies, or to orgsuiae a force of Asiatic troop for general service in suitable climates. On going into committee of supply, Mr. Shaw Lefevre—To call attention to the failure of the negotiations with the United States government for arbitration of the Alabama claims ; mil to move an address for l a r. P F,d ri Ward Hamilton—To call the attention of the house to the hardship initiated on small occupiers in mug parliamentary boroughs through the abolition of compo sition of eaten under the Reform Act of Ifkr. Mr. Monk—To call the attention of the house to the correspondence respecting the disturbances In Crete. pre sented to parliament by command of her Majesty, in November, 1867, and to move for papers. Mr. Gaze, the oriental excursionist, has been heard of in Egypt. He and hie party left Sonthamptca on the 6th inst., and Paris on the 7th. They stopped at Macon, Sum, Bologna, Ancona, and Brindisi, reaching the latter place on the 13th. They hada magnificent moonlight ride over the Alps. For 25 miles they travelled on sledges drawn by mules, and were drawn at great speed by this mode down the Mont Canis Pass. They telegraph to rail way companies and hotel companies as they go along, and every preparation is made for them. Not a hitch had occurred, and the exonrsianis' ta were in high spirits. It is expected that the Peninsular and Oriental Company will run a weekly line of steamers between Marseilles and Malts, and this will, it is believed, enable the mail communication between England and,Maltivia Mar seilles, which is abolished by the aew India mail ocetraot, to be carried on. The communication between London and Malta vlt Southampton occupies tea days, and vid Mat wallies live days. It is stated in a Southampton paper that there is no ohm& living in the city of Winchester worth 2001. a year, and this precludes curates there from getting ashistenoe from the recently eetablislied ('orates' Augmen tation Fund, bemuse Do aaviatanes is given to a corat• solar be receives 100/. a year from hit incumbent ; and so inowabent can afford to give his curate 100'. a year oat of FOR cox-orrice, FEB. 26. —Tho Queen has been pleased to approve of Mr. Ferdinand Seketa ea annul at Gibraltar far hie Royal Hielaneee eke Grand Duke of t. REIGN NEWS. MILS /MY.) SUDDEN ILLNESS OF THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. Our Paris correspondent, writing last evening, says: " On Wednesday evening, at about 5 o'clock, the Emperor was suddenly seized with a violent asthmatic attack. His difficulty of breathing was so great that it was thought desirable to take him to an open window looking on the Tuileries. The crisis passed off, and his Majesty is now in his usual health." EASTERN AFFAIRS. It is quite a hopeless task to arrive at any cer tainty with regard to the situation of affairs in the east of Europe. Two days ago there was one of those occasional disturbances on the Paris Bourse which give rise to various rumours. It was sup posed that something unpleasant had occurred in the relations between Russia and Prussia on the one band, and France on the other. No sooner, however, has this report been set up than it is knocked down by La France, which attributes this monetary disturbance to the action of speculators. But the aniAtitufiunnel, which at least is as well inspired as La France, makes use of the following language, which shows that there are intrigues going on which are not consistent with the established order of things. It says : Roumania and Servi► have not reached their present state by their own initiative and action, but by the tree- ties which the great powers made for them sad for their interests. The parties to those conventions cannot allow such arrangements to be overthrown at the instance of revolutionists, nor permit the peace of Europe to depend on the good will of a few leaders of armed bends, and therefore they have warned the governments of Prince Charles and Prince Michael, reminding them in a friendly manner of the dangers to which they expose themselves by intrigues against the established order of things. The Romanuf, a ministerial journal of Bucha rest, replies to the warning thus given : Whoa= prevent us from proclaiming our independence? Will Turkey. Austria, or even France do so! In that cue would not Russia take advantage of so favocrable an op portunity to interfere and bring about a final solution of the eastern question? No one can seek to stay us, for any intervention would give rise to a general confla gration, which is just what everyone wishes to avoid. And if we succeed, who can prevent the Servians from fol lowing our example ? In that case the Greeks would not resign themselves to remain as spectators, with folded arms, of the fortune which favours the bold en the banks of the lower Danube. What the French and Austrian press put forward one day is denied by Russian press of the fol lowing, and the governments of Bucharest and Belgrade give force to the denials of Russia. It is stated that M. de Moustier at his usual weekly reception this week gave strong assurances of the maintenance of peace, whilst we learn from the same source that brings this information that the utmost activity prevails throughout all the de partments of France in the organisation of the Garde Nationale Mobile, and that the Emperor learned with satisfaction that his Chassepots could fire eleven shots to five from the Prussian needle guns. Truth seems to be just now a shuttlecock, which is tossed from Paris to St. Petersburg, from Berlin to Vienna, and not allowed to f►ll near the ground, so as to be seen by ordinary mortals. NEWS OF THE ABYSSINIAN CAPTIVES. The special correspondent of the Times with the Abyssinian expedition telegraphs, under date of of the 12th of February : " King Theodore has placed all the prisoners in Magdala. " The British advanced guard has arrived within two marches of Antalo. " The Tigrii people are very friendly." OUR PARIS LETTER. REPORTED ALLIANCE BETWEEN ENG- LAND, FRANCE, AND AUSTRIA. (FROM OUR OWN CORIZSPONIANT.) PARIS, FRIDAY EVINTRO. The Liberti says that Mr. Disraeli's ministry, not relieved from the scrupulous caution of Lord Derby, is about to conclude an alliance offensive and defensive with France and Austria, to counterbalance the alliance supposed to exist between Russia, Prussia, and the United States. A great combination of this kind, supposing it to exist, must depend upon a variety of considerations out of the purview of common mortals. Neverthless I cannot help raising my small voice—first to express incredulity, and next to say that if the tory government really contemplates such an alliance the country should lose no time in turning it out. Austria and France are at this moment defeated political adventurers in Europe. They have no settled policy but that of patching up their own damaged prestige by any means that may turn up. If England is to renounce the (unless in very excep tional cases) wholesome policy of non-interven tion in European affairs she could not interfere in worse company. From the bottom of my heart and soul I trust the news is not true ; nevertheless, I hear from a respectable source that a proposal has reached Paris from London to send a joint com minatory note to Russia, Servia, and Roumania echoing the paragraphs which have appeared in the Conetitutionnet and Patrie, about • conspiracy to effect a rising in Bulgaria, and calling upon the Russian government to put a stop to the maiseuvres at once ; otherwise France and Eng lund will break off diplomatic relations with Russia, Servia, and Roumania If this news is true it can scarcely be anything but the prelude to a war. All wars are preceded by political rumbles of this kind, and in modern times the notice is very short. I trust in God—(forgive me, if for getting Talleyrand's maxim, I speak with warmth)—that no antiquated traditional notions about the necessity of maintaining the Turkish empire at all hazards will betray the English government into another war partnership with the reckless man who was defeated in Mexico and jockeyed at Sadowa. He wants war, is raising an army to make war, and must have war to put down constantly growing dissatisfaction at home. But let England keep out of it, and not expose herself to be made a cat's paw of, which she surely will be if she en gages herself under the circumstances suggested. I am credibly informed that although, for the con venience of the French Emperor, the initiative of the note now spoken of was apparently taken in London, it was in reality prompted from Paris. Anxiety for the pesos of the world is the excuse. Prince Napoleon—and this is a clincher for those who said he was going to speak in the Senate on the Press Bill—has left Paris for a tour of several weeks in Germany. Does he go, as some say, on an important mission, or is he banished from France for a time I I incline to the latter supposi tion. A circular of the Minister of War calls up Al soldiers of the Imperial Guard on furlough 0,,, the ranks by the 31st of March, and ann.no.* that no further leave of absence trill be except in a very special cases. There was a further fall at the Bourse P t II! e fell 20c. for cash, and 121 c for account, e. , Ai ng at eefr. 80c., and 88fr. 824 c. Italian fell 3;, c. . Credit Fonder, 17fr. 50c. ; Dlobilier , 3fr 75, Comptoir d'Xsoompte, sfr. Great uncertunzr re. vails as to the result of the st rugg l e betron.the " bulls" and " bears" to-morrow. DETAILS OF THE REVOLUTION 'N JAPAN. NEW YoBK. r ,,. The Neer York Herald publishes the details of the revolution in Japan received 1,, !e l e . graph via San Francisco : Yokoh ono., .'an. There hu been a serious outbreak between th e and the D►irnioa. The Mikado had been seized by Saharan, A noble, and the Shagoon was in his castle at t. 05.,;:,, the protection of the fleets of hia allies. The Foreign Ministers were at Osaka and t4t Shagoon they would not interfere in the peudin.; ties. One of the Shagoon's palace. at Joists) 5..„ down by Satsuma's men, who af terw.sra 1,4 s own. There was A severe fight, and the official rrpart cite" 300 killed and wounded of Satsuma's nice, 4a..1 •, of the government troops. The contending parties afterwards Irol a nay.:l 4541.• meat in sight of Yokohama, when Sataum..'l wiped. The Mikado is a prisoner in his palace guarded by Satsuma's men. The Tycoonate Stole-bsahi, the Shagnon. has had all hi. from him. He will neither resign nor fight. 11-• i, • palace at Osaka. Satsuma, Cochin, and Tom have surrendete.*: with their troops. The Tycoon's and Satsuma's troops are now the streets of Jeddo. Satsuma's Palace was burned on the nigl:• 20th of January, and 400 men were burned up in The native town was on fire in four places in th lof the 20th of January. The fire was f..prtun it guinhed, but with serious damage. Foreigners have been ordered by their •: • outside the settlement. Terrible mortality exists among foreign.?ri 24 having died in as mut) , days. Everything is quiet at Osaka. MUSIC. SACRED HARMONIC SOCIETY. Mdlle. Carols made her fourth public ince at the concert of last night, whin iliz n-t and Mendelssohn's Hymn of Praise w, re formed—two works which have before been given in • ciation by the Sacred Harmonic Society. ou u , alone, however, in an inverted order, side!' was effective than the present anangenient, by comparative brightness of Blendelssohn. woe, Man. good contrast and climax to the sombre grm,b.o• Mosart'a service for the dead. This grand con,p.,sin‘c combines, in a degree scarce paralleled elbes here. s,,blia.iii and learned science with the more modern fon...•f we. lodic beauty. While in the opening " Kyrie '• tbv rbot.a "Doming Jean," and in other illfltilllCeS, we examples of contrapuntal skill worthy of 1:„i. Handel, the quartet " itecordare " combines thi , power with a continuous melodic flow beton, : ; to , later development of vocal expression, the lovely '• : dictus" and the pathetic " Lacrymostt," being ~ •, embodiments of deep human sentiment, such a, any other composer besides Mozart has real4k , i. L. 4 night's performance of the Roiteirm as. in G....! respects a fine one; the choruses were givenv ;:b tLe power and effect usually realised by the gignnti, assembled at these concerts. Occasionally a subdued tome and refinement might bare been ,:, , tro!, as in the passages for sopranos and altos in the futatis," and in several portions of the " Lacey, but the grander choral points were given with Ow sive volume of tone only to be procured from la: ben. The solo passages were efficiently rendered bl Mdlle. Carols, Madame Sainton-Dolby, Ilr blontet:, and Mr. Lewis Thomas. NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLP:I:.V.' PORTSMOUTH, E. - 'We learn that the ships fortning the 'wow: squadron are to be out of the binds of the dock. ...I ...• partments by the let April ; and that an order rewired directing that all the new clear of gun to be ready for sea by the same date. It is rumoured that during the ensuing financi.d there will be a considerable reduction i 4 the nuc.1. , ..f men employed in the various departments of the dock) The Himalaya, screw transport, is expected to ;alive ec the sth proximo with the 2nd battalion of the ,th meat from Malta. On disembarking the troops a:d toed to Aldershot. The Seraglio, iron screw troopship, is also expect. •1 to arrive with the 42nd Regiment (Highlanders), which .ill be transferred to the Urgent and conveyed to lithiN,J;E. ADMIRALTY, FBB. 25.—William Ileum Parker, Esq., has this day been promoted to the rank 9f staff-commander in her Majesty's fleet .— rht:t n. ADMIRALTY, FEB. 'X.—John William Esq., has been this day promoted to the rank of commander in her Majesty's Heet ; Mr. Edwara ct has this day been promoted to the rank of engineer in br Majesty's Boot, with seniority of 18th February, l'' , . - Omette. The Army and Nary Gazette states that a commission is about to be appointed to inquire into tic whole system of courts-martial. We learn from tit: sat! , source that the pension of 100/. a year, recant h, t, appointment of Lord George Paget to the coloneley of rK 7th Dragoon Guards, has been given to Colonel A. W. Murray, C. 8., late of the let West India Regin.o.a. Colonel Murray has been for nearly thirty-live fall-pay, principally between the West ludioaud ft. West Coast of Africa, where he was on one or tau dons in the field against the natives. A. good-service pension is vacant by the ap;• • I . ' went of Major-General K Rowley Hill to the c , A0 1 .4 of the sth Fusiliers. - The following promotions will take place r nom" quint upon the death of Lieutenant-General W. L on the Mb inst. Major-General S. Braybrooke, co:ouel the 9th Regiment, to be lieutenant-general ; Colonel 1.).,A!..i Maekirdy, from the 69th Regiment, to be major -es.' • Major S. A. Lapel , Staff O ffi cer of Pensioners, ci ips! , • ,ll . to be lieutenant-colonel ; and Captain George ‘ 0 •". Royal Marines, to be major in the army. Major-General Randal Rumley will se. , e^ Major-General Hamilton, C. 8., in the cotunutrul of troops in Scotland. TILE NEW CHANCELLOR OP TES EXCHEVaIt It was formally announced in the House t.: Commons last evening that Mr. George Ward Hunt offi been offered and had accepted the important ce of Chancellor of the Exchequer. So rapid • rise 0 1 comparatively young • man, without " family ia,.a• mos," is, we believe, unprecedented. Hr. Wart Hunt is but forty-three years of age, and has ocif been ten years in parliament. The son of a Farc• shire clergyman, by the daughter of an tkfa l shire 'quire, of easy means, but no political Witt. enoe Mr. Ward Hunt was educated at Eta. and Christ Church, Oxford, at which latter Ono? be achieved • second cases in classics in 184 , 1, graduated M.A. in 1851. On leaving college, be sst his terms, and wee milled to the bar m 1851, going the Oxford circuit for • time, but not practising mucL. In 1852, and again in 1851, he unsucoesefully cot. toned Northampton borough ; and in 1858 hi. maxi foe the northern division of the county, where he had property, and was elected. lie box held bit seat there unintermittently until now. A stea d y adherent of the conservative party during his whokl career, and an uneomp supporter of the Disraeli tidier during the debates on the Russell. Gladstone Reform Bill, he was, on the secession of Lord Derby to power, in 1886, appointed to the Mho of Financial letary to the Treasury, with of 2,0001. Having supported Mr. Durraeli when out of office, he faith stuck to him during t he whole of his shifting policy in office, and has now reaped his reward in an appointment to an aloe which is gene' rally i tiven to men of greater age and more expeditor. Mr. ant has some of the qualities requisite for such an appointment—as oleo-headedness snd a talent fcr . Swine—but there can be little doubt that kis budilet, 'F'll be Diaraelian, and he is merely for the present the dele gate of his more able cihisf.—BersteniA•N, Pest. R r