The Express. — London, England, 1867-01-23 00:00:00

LIFEBOAT SERVICES.—During the storms of the past year lscb, the National Lifeboat Institution, by its lifeboats and other means, contributed to the saving of 913 persons from different wrecks on our coasts. The institution also expended g 31.430 in the same period on its lifeboat esta blishments, in addition to granting t 3,17;; for rewards. The Committee of the institution earnestly A PPEAL to the public for .t'-sIST.' SCE to enable them to meet the continued heavy demands on the 172 lifeboat station of the Institution. ontributioug are received by the London and Country Bankers: and by the secretary, RICHARD LEWIS, hag., at the Institution, 14. John-street, Adelphi, London. JOHN BROGDEN'S VALUATION of GOLD. 21 carats line. Is w. , rth C 4 4 113 per .slim canst • . 4 1 11 carats Jtritish standArd 3 17 104 1 , 21 cur. 1.14 . 3 14 4 .20 curuts .. 3 10 9.1 39 carats.. 3 7 3 31auutactory, 10. Nei 14carats..83 S 811 9 sarata £1 11 10 17 carat.. 3 0 2 0 carats 1 8 6} lftettrats.. 214 7! 7 "Inas .. 1 4 9 18 carat.. 2IS 1 6 carats .. 1 I n 14 carets.. 2 9 6} 5 carats .. 0 17 8 13 cants.. 2 6 0 4 carats .. 014 2 12 carats.. 2 2 5} 3 cant.. 010 7} 11 rands.. 1 1% 11 2 ands e 7 1 lOcarnts.. 1 15 4! 1 rand .. 0 3 6 rietta.strect. Covent-garden, London, W.C. BENSONS WATCHES. 68 and 60, Ludgate-hill: t 5, oldflond-street. B ROWN and POLSON'S CORN FLOUR for CHILDREN'S DIET. To obtain ertra profit by the sale other kinds we sometimes offered instead of BROWN and POLSON'S. "John Brown," - John Potion," Is signed by the makers on each packet. Eke erortoo. TO CORREMPONDENTS. Ildvert:stmentv In:ambit for The Express," London Evening Paper. unto tho Office. 10, Bouveric-street, by Two o'clock on the day of publication. DM HY LANE. Tnis PYTNINO, JOll Nlr. 111,111.4. Mew , . Swill. Lnurilt, F. I hello', awl l'At . Mt. MeAlanit 11. 'lezlll. it 11. Vatttivillt,d.— %,1,1 NI: NI ItER NIP tII , IIIRI.E- Qtl\ AND NoNI t; Al \I. OF 1 ,1 1. WAN Mut. NIAIN. ILA Y '4 ARA ET. Tuts RvENING, A Lk.S.sON FOR LIFT. Stermt. s”therr. Rogers. I lurk, C.d.! t..., , % h. I hii p ndplr , %lisM, nit.. Wngld. A:c.—And lIIE XMILV. UMW, lioMe. Kurt., .I‘.; Nltu.re, Burke, PRINCESS'S. TRIe Eve/Ingo, DE11( GPI g ND. Mews. Vining and J.O. shore; Miss Kathvnne IZ.lger,.—And TIIE sTREins OF LoN ;V. Messrs F. Villiers, Flinn, ('alhaem, Forrester, Cath cart, Mellon, and Vining lira. 11. Manton and Miss llcsigers. LWEUM. THIS ETZTMO. THE TP.Lt,. Mr. Wl , ldleamb.—And Wit GE IT Xlll It. Messrs. Fectiter, Emery, (.'wirer. Moreland, Fitzpatrick, DAIGni, Iteynulds, 1.4.111.14 Andrews. Mice, Ac, ; Mrs. L. Murray, awl Misses ileurzele, Grattan, and C. Letlenty, STRAND. ltlrrltllo, .ftei which will be produced a Grand burlesque, GI.Y F. WEES.—AIuI A SUIT VI TWEED'S. ITOLTIORN. THIS ErrNEVE MI T 1 I.X NEXT. Sr. Belmnre: Misses Tnotoand tennoc —And YINING *X U. Messrs. Neville. Bet. more, Elake, 11.54E/zoos F. Josephs, C. Samolers, Bessie FUOit, Elthiss, Wows, Itaymond, Be. BRITANNIA. TrITSI EVININO, THE 1•RINI: TIIE PEARL ISLANDS; OR, TIIE THREE KINOIXAIS OP PEARL, GOLD, AND RILVER. Mr" Cane and Miv,.Licol».—First•rato Pantomimist'. —Anti THE SISELEION CREW. RIOT! WATER AT LONDON BRTDOE Tnll 3n4 -- --- Alternoo --- n, 46 24m. TO-Yonnovr—Morning, 4b. 4. - An Afternoon, sb. 51n, LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23. Is there nothing to be said in favour of our existing Poor-law, or are the oft-repeated charges of harshness, incapacity, and maladministration to be taken as proved, and the misery in which Lon don is now steeped to be accepted as the logicid sequence of blunders made by political economists and philosophers some thirty years ago ? Evi dence or argument to the contrary would be emi nently appropriate at this juncture, for plain thinking people incline to the belief that if central and local boards, and the minutes, orders, and regulations pertaining to each, had been all swept into the sea, the prevailing distress would not be aggravated, while the means adopted for its relief would be more effectual and assured. This is the grave hardship of the situation. With ample means and excellent intentions, we have yet allowed matters to drift to such a pass, that our poorer neighbours are starving at our doors, while we bok on helplessly, or bestow with spasmodic lavishness what we have slender guarantee will be appropriately or beneficially ap plied. It is idle to urge that the pre sent pressure is exceptional, that the legacy left by the couunercial panic of last year, and the distress arising froni the unusual severity of the weather, are sufficient to account fur the pitiable stories with which our columns and those of our contemporaries are tilled. Emergency tests sys tem, and no sooner does it arise with WI than the whole of our Poor-law machinery breaks down. It is the fashion just now to make local guardians responsible for the sufferings of the poor people it is their duty to protect ; and it is undeniable that to the inefficiency and ignorance of the people elected to administer the rates much hardship and injustice is due. We have not been backward in denouncing the paltry evasions and insolent de fiance of the law of which metropolitan boards are habitually guilty, and we have from time to time done justice to the vulgar incompetence of the individual atoms of which they are co n posed. It may be doubted, however, whether the root of the evil does not lie deeper than in mere personal incapacity. Tho corre spondent of a contemporary, in contrast;ag me:re politan with provincial administration in times o: distress, sneeringly doubted yesterday whether it would suit " the gentlemen of Poplar," as be designated the guardians of that paa:sh, to it " all day and every day," as some other game diens in Lancashire meritoriously did during a similar crisis to the one London has succumbed to now. His remark represents a popular fallacy respecting metropolitan guardians, for we have little doubt that if the constitution of the Poplar Board were examined, it would be found to con sist mainly of men to whom sitting " all day " and every day " for the relief of the poor would be either a sheer impossibility or a gross injustice to their families. The line of demarcation between the payers of rates and the recipients of relief is so narrow in the parishes most heavily taxed, that one class con 'tartly merges into the other; while the guardians themselves are frequently small el'opkeepera living by the profits gained from the very poor. To expect men in this position to give up the whole of their time to public duty, is to look for more abstract purity and self-denial than would be found among the highly educated classes. The inefficiency of guardians is but the natural fruit of the tree which brings guardians forth, and until some unification of system, and sonic adjustment of the burdens pressing so terribly upon the poor districts of the metropAis be devised, protracted misery and deaths from starvation and neglect may be looked for as regularly as frost in Decem ber or heat iu July. Nor is this the worst. :Matters have been mis managed with such disastrous ingenuity that the flood of private benevolence which wells boun teously up wheLever called upon, is left to disperse itself unaided, while its obviously natural channels are hermetically sealed. Who in their senses would make a board of guardians the almoners of Or guides in their charity ! yet who should be such capable judges of the wants of a district as the legally constituted protectors of its poor ? If the local committees now formed at such places as Bethnal-green and could be made perma nent ; if the administration of public contributions were recognised as an honorary function, and some system of regular and confidential communi cation between the boards of charity and the boards of Poor-law were devised, the objects of both would be furthered, and the poor be enormously benefited. A lack of definite responsibility is the crying evil of both our legal and voluntary relief ; and while contributing liberally from our super fluities is au imperative duty now, we should in sist upon steps being taken hereafter to render a recurrence of existing evils impossible. For there is no lack of sympathy, of leisure, or of means. The raw material is all here, and only wants adapting to its end. The French system of en trusting to the same people the disposal of two distinct poor-funds, the one arising from bequests and the taxes on luxuries, and the other derived from a systematic and periodical appeal from the mairic to the wealthy dwellers in each arrondisse ment, has the signal advantage of dividing what our neighbours call " the shamefaced poor " from , the habitual paupers, and ensures the contribu tions of the benevolent going straight to their destination. The legal dole can be supplemented by a charity which has personal knowledge for its guide, and the benevolent have the satisfaction of knowing thatwhenever a sudden call arises for help, in money or in kind, the appliances for its bestowal are all ready to hand. It is unnecessary to give unqualified admiration to a whole system of relief before recognising the advantage of this ; and our own want of some rule by which law and charity might aid, instead of opposing each other, as they frequently do now, has never been more apparent than at present. Meer while, the properly authenticated local relief societies should be supported generously and promptly. At Bethnal-green the rector, himself a guardian, is chairman of the committee for the distribution of chin itable contributions, and at Poplar a similar organization has the support and services of the leading inhabitants of the parish. Both lack funds sorely, and prompt pecuniary aid is a more pressing, as well as a simpler duty than evolving theories on social improvement. The miserable deaths of the paupers DALY and GiikioN prepared us for the cry for workhouse infirmary reform ; and it may be that the magnitude of the emergency the deserving pour are groaning under now, the wail of the thousands the workhouses are unable to relieve, and the confession on all hands that but for private, and necessarily impulsive and desultory benevolence, deaths by starvation would be more terribly fre quent than they are, will pave the way for an enactment placing the metropolitan poor-law upon a basis which shall be neither ridiculous, inhumaa, nor unjust. THE EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 23, 1867. OUR CONTEMPORARIES. (THIS DAY.) THE C.OTERNM ENT AND REFORM. Assuming that any course the government may pursue as to reform is likely to be fatal to them, the Tious observes that when the practical difference is likely to be small there is s'i the more reason for viewing the question as it may affect the character of a political party. There is to be considered not only what is the must grace ful way of dying, but what political patrimony is to be left to succeeding generations of conservatives, and what esteem in the eyes of England to come. If the conserva tives have no measure, or, what we have said comes to the same thing, can only hold out the vague hope of one some future year, they certainly renounce the right they have always claimed, if not always used, to an equal share with their opponents in all public work. The taunt that they should have pla*ily said last session that they would have no reform would soon be for gotten, but if they met parliament next month without a me sure they would thereby reciogrim that their own office is simply to utter quiet obsti action, which is not the conservatism of the leading members of the cabinet. The liberals, it would then seem, are the party to originate, to act, to form the future England, to be the possessors of that hope which continually fulfils itself. Two other articles in the rim" of this morning relate more or less directly to reform. In one of them the volume of Hr. Disraeli's speeches which has just been published is referred to as proving that the right hon. gentleman is honourably distinguished by his careful study of reform. That he has hitherto failed as a reformer is due to the fact that in advocating simply lateral exten sion he has failed to appreciate and satisfy the popular movement—the tendency to equality which is equally characteristic of our time. The reformer meet face the necessity of reducing the electoral qualifications. So much is incumbent upon him. He must further face the necessity of redistributing the seats. A reform bill might be desirable if these things were not wanted, but these are the requirements which make a reform bill inevit►ble. The Cb.umellor of the Exchequer sees what is to be done, but the scheme he has hitherto advanced would fail to accomplish it, and would succeed in provoking the resent ment of those still rnenfranchised. In the third ease regret is expressed that another metro politan demonstration should have been decided upon. The Times meanwhile bep the organisers to spare us the blocking up of the principal west-end thoroughfares. Surely the meeting at the Agricultural-hall, which would hold many more than walked in proceasion in December, would suffice. THE JAIWCA commirrez AND THE ETRE DEFENCE FUND. Referring to the late extraordinary letters of Mr. Hamil ton Hume, secretary of the Eyre Defence Fund, the Daily Neva says it must be ' - uposaible, even for Mr. Eyre's bit terest opponents, not to feel some pity for one whose par tisans gratuitously discredit hie cause by exhibitions of bad taste and bad manners. Mr. Hume's cor respondence is quite in Lieutenant Brand's style —a degree more polished, but by so much less vigorous. A much graver topic, however, is sug gested by the letter of Messrs. Sheen and Rays,— namely, the statement that the defence of the actions against Colonel Nelson has been undertaken by the go vernment, and that this course on the part of govcrnm• nt will indirectly furnish facilities and funds to the defence of Mr. Eyre —as the witnesses are, for the most part, the same. Such a prooeed'sg on the part of the authoritiesdeanands the serious consideration of thepublic. By the report of the royal commission, the subordinate officers were authoritatively impeached, and it is unseemly for the government to defend the authors of the injuries, unless the costs of the plaintiffs are discharged as well. In the Crawley owe the witnesses ou both sides were brought home from ladle at the public expense, and it is the duty of the government in this use also to supply every facility by which the courts may be enabled to do full justice. The presumption is in favour of the prosecutors, not of the accused ; for the Royal Comnrssion report that an immense number of indefen sible barbarities were committed by those in authority. In such circumstances the aid of the public is due rather to the sufferers from, than to the inflictors of, these out rages. By the course which government may take we shall know on which side are its sympathies, and whether it is fit to be the government of a constitutional kingdom or not. MISCZLLA.S7.OLtS TOPICS. The 'Drab( believes that France, and especially the French tress, have obtained by the recent changes a large and real extension of liberties, but at the same time cannot deny that the unfortunate and most unseasonable suppression of the address, which i 4 made to head the list of these new liberties, justifies that coldness and sus picion of the press and the public for which we shall be fore long hear them denounced as ungenerous and un grateful. If the address just famed by the revolutionary junta of Spain is to be accepted, the Daily News says, as a true indication of public feeling in the capital, the next crisis in Spanish politics will be the fall of a dynasty. As to what shall be substi tuted in its place the only remedy is the installation of a government which shall role constitutionally. A liberal and progressive government in possession of office would command a national majority. This it would use for no subversive purpose, though it would not stoop to be the accomplice of illicit influences at the palace, nor consent to be the dupe of bleeding nuns, nor place the tummy st the sommand of favourites. In fast t►e Queen herself is almost the sole cause of the insecure and trouble some state of the county, of its deficit, its disaffection, and it rule of terror. Brain does not want Cresarion, nor Bourbonism, nor Ultramontanism, but a decent and honest constitutional government, and in the palace and the council at least an outward show of respect for morality and law. The Star thinks the Ludgate•hill conference will show the clergy that to win the mama they must lay themselves out for the masses. They must, in the Pauline spirit of being all things to all men, come down from their social dignity as chief philistines of their respective districts, and not only mingle with the people, but learn to view life temporal and eternal from the people's point of view. There is this consolation at least, that if a workman does attend church or chapel it is because he is interested, and not because it is " the thing to do." As yet, however, workmen are not interested. Ititt frintrt. OSBORNE, JAN. 122. The Queen drove out yesterday afternoon, at tended by the Dowager Duchess of Athole ; and her Ma jesty walked and drove this morning, accompanied by Princes■ Louise. Prince Arthur skated in the grounds this morning. Princess Beatrice went out walking. A Cabinet Council was held yesterday at the official residence of the First Lord of the Trea sury, in Downing-street. The ministers pre sent were the Earl of Derby, the Lord Chan cellor, the Duke of Buckingham, the Earl of Malmesbury, the Right Hon. Spencer H. Wal pole, Lord Stanley, General Peel, Viscount Cran borne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir John Pakington, Sir S. Northcote, Lord John Manners, the Right Hon. Gathorne Hardy, and Lord Naas. A Committee of the Lords of her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council sat yesterday at Whitehall on the subject of the cattle plague. The lords present were the Lord President and the Right Hon. H. Cony. 31r- Harrison and Dr. Alexander Williams attended the com mittee. A deputation from the National Society, consisting of Archdeacon Sinclair (treasurer), Sr Thomas Phillips, Mr. J. E. Curet, Mr. F. S. Powell, 31P., Rev. Canon Jennings, M.A., Rev. Robert Gregory, M.A., Rev. Alexander Wilson, M.A. (secretary), and Mr. W. Holgate (secretary of the Church Institution), had an interview with the Right Hon. Gathorne Hardy, at the office of the Poor-law Board, Whitehall, yesterday. The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P., and Mrs. Gladstone and daughters, arrived in Paris on Mon day from Florence. The right bon. gentleman is expected to arrive in London on Tuesday, the 29th instant, for the meeting of parliament " Earl Russell," says the Courrier da Gard, "alighted at the Hotel du Luxembourg, at Simms, on Saturday last, where the noble lord will remain some days, one of his children being ill." The Herald is authorised to state that the rumour of preparations for an expedition against the Em. peror of Abyssinia is entirely without foundation. The Times thinks that in the republication of Mr. Disraeli's speeches on parliamentary reform few would have complained if last year's blunder of import ing Mr. Gladstone's boyish essapodes at the Oxford Union into the final speech of the great parlia. mentary debate bad been quietly effaced, but it is reproduced without an attempt to soften the outrage on good taste. Some future readers, again, may be puzzled to understand why Mr. Disraeli should have spoken of himself in 1860 as the leader of the opposition, " the Quarterly Reline notwithstanding ;" for though Mr. Disraeli's editor, Mr. Corry, faithfully reproduces the phrase, he adds no note to explain its meaning. The Emperor Napoleon has sent to the Prefect of Police a sum of 50,000 fr. to be distributed among the moat necessitous families in the capital. WHITEHALL, JAN. 21. —The Queen has been to present the Rev. Frederic Thomas William pleased i te, M.A., to the recto): of Maker, in the county of , Cornwall, and diocese of Exeter, void by the death of the Rev. Edward Trelawny. The Queen has also been pleased to present the Rev. George Huntington, M.A., to the united rectory and vicarage of St. Mary, Tenby, in the county of Pembroke, and diocese of St. David's, void by the resignation of the Rev. George Clark. The Queen has also been pleased to present the Rev. John Darroeh to the church and pariah of Parties, in the presbytery and Isle of Skye, vacant by the death of the Rev. Hugh M'Arthur, late minister thereof.—Gazehe. _ REPRZSENTATION OP NORTH NORTHAMPTON muRE.—There is every appearance of a keen contest for the seat for the rortbern division of Northamptonshire, vacant by the elevation of Lord Burghley to the p Mr. Shekellle Stopford will be the conservative, and Mr. FitrWrick Vernon, eldest son of Lord Lyveden, the liberal candidate. Viscount &union, the eldest son of the Earl of Harrowby, and brother-in-law to the present Marquis of Exeter, is also spoken of as a candidate on liberal conserva tive principles. At the last general election Lord Burghley and Mr. s:ard Hunt, both conservatives, were returned " FIE se gtATE OF THE LIBERAL PARTY.—When Mr. Lowe and his friends threatened to defeat last year's Re form Bill it was clear to us that their success would break up the organisation hitherto known as the liberal party. They did succeed, and the liberal party is broken up. A very large majority of the party, almost one half of the Roues of Commons, stood by their leader and their principles, indeed, but a section of the party large enough to tuin the division seceded and left the liberal party broken into two unequal fragments. The great bulk of the party remained staunch to the principles that are necessary to form • liber al p arty , and the seceding section re pudiated those ciples not openly or frankly indeed, but in a perfec tly uninistekesbls manner. These seceders now begin to feel the discomfort of their new position. They have left one party and have not joined another, and by themselves they are perfectly impotent, except for mischief. They desire again to form part of the liberal party ; but instead of going to the party they ask the party to come to them. Relying upon their ability to keep their ancient comrades from power, they have the audacity to propose that the great bulk of the liberal party shall sacri fice their distinctive principles and submit to be governed by those who so recently betrayed them. This we take to be the real meaning of an attempt to displace Mr. Gladstone in the leader akin of the party. Those who desire to get rid of Mr. Gladstone desire still more to get rid of his reform policy. Indeed, there is ration to believe that they would waive the personal dislike if he would only give up the obnoxious policy. It is, therefore, • question of prin ciple—a question of whether the great majoi:ty of the party shall or shall not surrender their distinctive and necessary principle in order to secure the adhesion of a small number of members of the House of Commons whose principles are on this point those of the opposite party. There is no doubt great love of power in the liberal ranks—a love of power that is in some eases selfish, and in some asses patriotic— but we should be surprised indeed to and any willing. ness to purchase power at such a price. A firm resistance to the attempt of • small minority to dictate to the majority of a great party—a firm adhesion to principle, even if it should be at the expense of a temporary exclusion from power — is the course which we may expect the liberal members to adopt. It is the only course that can preserve the liberal party as • great political organisation. The course of the Aduliamites may be left to their own good pleasure. They will soon find their preeent position neither honourable nor profitable, and then they may perhaps become willing to rejoin their old colleagues on more reasonable terms. —L•eds ilereurg. _ _ THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE POOR LAW. Last evening, at the usual weekly meeting of the Strand Union guardians, as many as 400 persona mule applications for relief. /Some of the applicants were "frozen out" labourers, whom a few days' frost had brought to the ranks of pauperism. Not • few of the cues would have been well met by the offer of the " bowie," but the house is now a largo hospital, and therefore has not room to apply the labour test tithe improvident. The majority of the cases, however, were really deserving, and the people were thank ful to receive relief to the extent of a shilling and two lovres, and in some cases the supplement of • little meat. Whet, the applicant had several children, • liUlo addi tional relief in money and kind was given. Altogether it was apparent that the guardians, in the discharge of the onerous duty of paying away the ratepayers' money, gave no relief but in cases which had been thoroughly investi gated. The increase of out-door pauperism in this central union of parishes is shown in the statement th►t at this time last year there were 1,432 names on the books as re ceiving out-door relief, while nowthere are 2,252 recipients of relief. The relief given in money and kind this week amounts to 184/. 13s. 4d., while last year in the correspond ing week it amounted to 113/. 16s. lOd. The statement firing the numbers of in-door poor shows that of 507 adults in the house only 88 are able-bodied. In addition there are 17 children in the house and 243 at Edmonton, the guardians having t iken the excellent advice given by the late metropolitan inspector, and separated the children from conta:t with alult l superiam. LATEST INTELLIGENCE. THE UNITED STATES. THE PRESIDENT'S VETO OF THE DIS TRICT NEGRO SUFFRAGE BILL. THE PROPOSED 'IMPEACHMENT. A heavy batch of New York papers, some of which were long overdue, owing to the bad we Cher, came to hand this morning. In those of the latest dates the chief subjects discussed are the Presi dent's veto of the bill passed by Congress in De cember last " to regulate the elective franchise in the district of Columbia," and the proposed im peachment of the President. Under the bill re ferred to all male persons of the age of 21 years and upwards, without regard to race or colour, who have been residents of the district for one year, are entitled to vote. Against this the President, in a lengthy message, submits his objections, con tending that in a population like that of Washington, composed of about one hundred thousand whites and some thirty thousand negroes, with the great body of the latter just relieved from the ignorance and barbarisms of Southern slavery, this experiment of universal suffrage is calculated to bo mischievous in its consequences. From this view of the subject the President diverges to a general argument on the constitutional powers of Congress, the executive, and the Supreme Court. The New York Herald holds the veto to be well grounded upon the question of the propriety and expediency of the measure ; but " beyond this we think the President, notwithstanding the earnest, respectful, and dignified tone of his message, has entered into a tilt with Congress which contributes nothing to strengthen his case. The bill will doubtless be passed into a law over his veto [this has been done], and then from its practical work_ ing we may. expect soon some convincing evidence of the necessity for its modification. It is only in this view that this bold experiment may be turned to a good account in the general settlement of this negro suffrage question." The New York Times says that the argument with which President Johnson supports his veto will not convert Congress or the country to his views. His denial of the right of Congress to legislate for the district is so flatly opposed to the terms of the constitution, and the ground upon which aid for district projects has always been invoked, that it amounts to little. To the .Tribune the message seems the least plausible veto message it has ever read. " Can it have been intended to aid the measure of radical justice it seems to oppose and deprecate I" In the House of Representatives on the morning of the 7th an impeachment resolution from Mr. Loan, of Missouri, was turned over to the Recon struction Committee, andreproduced in a new shape by Mr. Kelso, also of Missouri, when a motion to lay it upon the table was rejected—yeas, 40 ; nays, 103. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. brought forward a resolu tion, the preamble declaring, that " I do impeach Andrew Johnson, Vice-President and Acting President of the United States, of high 'crimes and misdemeanours. I charge him with usurpa tion of power and violation of law, in that he has corruptly abused the appointing power ; in that he has corruptly used the pardoning power ; in that he has corruptly disposed of the public pro perty of the United States ; in that ho has corruptly interfered in elections and committed acts and con spired with others to commit acts which in the con templation of the constitution are high crimes and misdemeanours. Therefore be'it resolved, that the committee on the judiciary be, and they are hereby, authorised to inquire into the official con duct of Andrew Johnson, Vice-President and dim_ charging the duties and powers of the President of the United States, and to report to the house" whether in their opinion he has been guilty of crimes and misdemeanours requiring the interpo sition of the constitutional power of the house, and that the maid committee have power to send for per sons and papers and to take the oaths of witnesses. This proposed the initial step to an impeach ment, and the question recur:lug, Shall the reso lution be adopted ?--Mr. Spalding, of Ohio, a re publican, interposed with a motion to lay it on the table. Upon this preliminary test question the call of the roll resulted—yeas, 39 ; nays, 105; the republicans, radicals, and conservatives, with a few exceptions, standingtogether for the resolution, which was next adopted. The New York Herald and the New York Times condemn the impeachment. The former says, if it be followed up to its legal conclusion it will bo productive of a serious panic and derangement in financial affairs, and needless and damaging delays of those practical measures of legislation de manded to meet the general interests and wants of the country. It thinks it probable, how ever, that the Judiciary Committee of the house will be occupied to the end of the present Congress in their preliminary investigations, and that with the meeting of the now Congress in March the intervening chapter of events may serve to bring a treaty of peace and co-operation between the two houses and the President. The New York Times says that nearly all the charges would be dismissed at once by any court, and " if they ever come before such a body as the Senate, we have no doubt of the disposition that will be made of them." Even the New York Tribunc fears that in endea vouring thus to remove the evils of the President's administration the comity may fly to others it knows not of. " May sie not," it says, " put a prece dent upon our statute-books which will give any de mocratic majority of the Senate and house in future years the right to revolutionise the government in thu interest of slavery ? Let us walk slowly, and survey the ground as we go. Let us not lay violent hands upon the Executive-office until we find that no other course remains for the honour of the nation. Perhaps we are wrong ; but it does not seem to us that the time for the sterner alternative has come." AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA. It is reported from Vienna that the Prussian ambassador has received orders from his govern ment to demand explanations from the Austrian government respecting the concentration of troops in Galicia. On the other hand letters from Prague state that the Prussians have interdicted the passage of the frontiers at Nachod, between Bohemia and Silesia. The cattle plague is assigned as the ground of this order, but the people of Bohemia say there is no cattle plague. AUSTRIA AND ITALY. The Libcrte, in its correspondence from Vienna, states that a commission is to be appointed for the purpose of making a more desirable delimitation of frontiers between Austria and Italy than was effected by the recent treaty. SPAIN. The Liberti of to-day 'aye : ♦ report is abroad today ;hat a modification of the Spanish ministry has taken place: llamas' woo to remain in power, but his colleagues were to be replaced by General Fraud& and hie friends, who are far more re• actionary than Nerraez himself. An outbreak is appre hended at Madrid. Workmen were assembled on the Place Major asking for bread. The Madrid Gazette contains the following order, signed by Brigadier-General de Souza, chief of the staff: His Excellency the Captain-General has condemned the journal La Reforms to a fine of thirty crowns, obliging it moreover to retract a calumnioui note published in its columns relative to supposed innovations which it falsely stated were made in the Artillery College of Segovia. All the other imam's which h►ve inserted this scandalous accusation against a military establishment which is every day making progress in organisation, order, respect, edu cation, and discipline, have likewise been forced to retract. (REUTZIeS TZLZGRAMB.) FRANCE. PARIS, J,ue. 21. Imperial decrees have been issued appointing M. Ferdinand Barret to the dignity of grand refer endary of the Senate, and MM. Chain d'Estange, Quentin, Banchard, and the Marquis of Lisle de Sivry to the rank of senators. M. Chair d'Estange is also appointed secretary to the Senate. FINLAND. HELSINGFORS, JAIL 22. The Diet of Finland was declared open to-day by a proclamation in the Swedish and Finnish lan guage. The names of the deputies elected will first be registered by the secretary of the Diet. The marshal, the archbishop, the president of the citizens, and the peasantry will take their oaths of allegiance, and on Saturday nest the formal opening of the Diet will take place by a speech from the throne. PORTUGAL. LISBON, JAN. 22. The King and Queen of Portugal and suite are 031 a shooting excursion at Villa Vicoza. A fire occurred to-day in the Ministry of the Interior, but little damage was done. Excessive rains have caused the Tagus to over flow its banks. OVERLAND MAILS. CALCUTTA AND CHINA MAILS. ALEXANDRIA, J. 21. The China left at 7 a.m. to-day for Marseilles, where she may be expected on the 27th inst. The Tanjore left at 5 p.m. yesterday for South ampton, where she may be expected about the 2nd February. BOMBAY (HEAVY) MAIL GIBRALTAR, J.N. 20. The Ripon leaves at 5 p.m. to-day for 'South ampton, where she may be expected on the 25th inst. EXPRESS FROM PARIS. PUBLIC OPINION ON THE NEW REFORMS. (nON OUR OWN OORTNISPONDINT.) PARIS. TUMMY ETRYING. Almost the only remark I have to add to-day to those of my last two letters on the constitutional reforms of January 19 is that, out of a desire not to speak of them in a systematically hostile spirit, and to seek fairly what good might be found in them, I under-estimated the diapason of the dis appointment and irritation which I now find they ' have occasioned in France. There was a talk to day—and the rumour led to transactions in the Rente after hours at figures lower than the last official quotations—of an intention on the part of the opposition deputies to resign their seats en masse as a protest against the abolition by imperial decree of a privilege granted with much ado six years ago, and the exercise of which, so far from having hitherto been publicly blamed by the Emperor, or any of his most trusty counsellors, has been over and over again vaunted by such imperialists as M. de Moray, M. do Schneider, and M. Walewski, as a proof of the progress of imperial institutions, and one of the " most shining glories of modern France." The loss of time occasioned by long speeches, although it struck foreign correspondents (myself among others) was never officially complained of ; the Munitevr, it has been proved, exaggerates the time which the address took up in one ease, by con founding with it the many days occupied in the verification of powers. Moreover, it is remem bered that French debates on the address in Louis Philippe's time often took as long, and were never conducted on the Eng,lish model. The two great p .ints of hostile criticism are the monstrous pretension to " finality" in the changes absurdly called " the crowning of the edifice," and the implied admis sion in the announcement that government will this year " accept" interpellations on foreign affairs, that another time and on any other ques tion the bureaux, acting under the orders of go vernment, might reduce the minority to silence. While doubts are expressed as to the value of the political changes of Jan. 19, the inclination of opinion being that a valuable privilege, that of discussing an address, is clearly taken away, while it is by no means clear that any thing worth having is given in exchange, there can be no difference of opinion, at least while this bitter weather lasts, as to the policy of a measure just taken by the Emperor for relieving the sufferings of the poorer classes in the most populous quarters of the capital. His Majesty has ordered the immediate opening of several soup kitchens, in which portions of nourish ing hot provisions are to be supplied to all corners. 'For one halfpenny a working man may get a basin of soup ; for another halfpenny, 60 grammes— rather more than two ounces—of meat ; and for another, a small plate of vegetables—either kidney beans, rice, or split peas. No later than to-morrow (Wednesday) six of these kitchens are to be opened. I regret that they are all so far off from the quarter of the town I frequent that I shall probably not have an opportunity of inspecting them at once. But I give the addresses in the belief that English philanthropists who study the condition and wants of the poor could scarcely pay a more interesting visit. The six kitchens at once to be opened—[several snore are promised)--may be found at No. 19, Passage des Gravilliers ; N 0.5, Rue Lacroix ; Rue des Anglaises Gobelins, Rue Vaudamme 44, Rue Polonceau 21 (La Chapelle), Rue des Amandier U (Menil montant. ) The Bourse was very heavy. Rente fell 15c. Mobilier, despite immense efforts in the way of 1 " discounting," failed to maintain yesterday's rise. A Paris correspondent in the latlipendance says :—"The Queen of Spain has ordered the Duke and Duchess of Montpeneier to leave that kingdom before the end of the mouth. They are making preparations to go, mid intend fixing their residence in England. The Spanish ministry make it a crime on the part of the sister and brother-in-law of her Majesty to have given an asylum to a few honourable men, and to have aided with their puree persons without means to escape from the persecution of Names." Another accident occurred two evenings back to Miss fienken at the G&W Theatre, Paris, daring the per. formulae of the Pirates de Is Barone. Her horse again fell. but this time the lady did net escape unhurt ; are had en ear eat and en arm and leg severely bruised, and was not able to appear again that evening. NATIONAL DISCOUNT COMPANY , (THIS DAP). %,• • .Jj The half-yearly meeting of the proprkurs held at noon, at the London Tavern; Mr. F. 1 !, ILP., in the chair. The Eaceseem read the following report and sheet: " The directors have to report, that by the pay rett . the lit September last, of the second inetoh et „:", 2/. 10s. per share on the new shares created in Feb 1866, the psld.up capital on the 31st December na r .,,,',;71 to 698,9401., and the reserve fund to 4 ,7 The account. which the directors have the plesecre r • Kt. sent herewith—notwithstanding the very d .eresie•l µr. 4 over which they extend—show results wh ich cain ut i be gratifying to the shareholders, the gross profit amounted to 130,232/. Os. IL, and after provoling for t 4; currentexpenditure . , directors' and auditors' remuner r ` =ngample provision for bad and doubtful d e bt s ,:l 1361.. 17s. 3d. towards redemption of miles ' and 42,174/. 21. sd. for rebate of inter est ' bills not yet due, there remains, with the roc,:i 3,6331. la. ld. brought forward from the pr,,, balf.year an available balance of 77,7721. los. 1,. This enables the directors to declare a dividend s . rate of 20 per cent. per annum, free of income", • upon both old and new capital, and to aory for. 9,5271. 108. 11.1. to the next account. The director, retire b rotation on this occasion are N. H. elnyto r , r, A. Bp., W. J. Thompson, Eoq., end Thomecn, Esq., all of whom being elieible, o ff er . th v pelves for re-election. The shareholders will have t o point auditors for the current year The dividend Z: be , payable on mad after . the 3 Lst Febr uary 190,000 shares of 23/. each, W. per ;hare o pairl, 39,376 shares of 251. each, 2/. 10s. per share u„. 95,9101. ; together, 698,9401. To reserve balance 30th June, 1866, 349,470/. • preminci new shares, 49,470/.—together, 398,9{01. To tire on deposits, loans, &c. 7, 553, 836/. Ba. 7 , 1.. is premises redemption fund, 1 , 05. tn. sd. ; to . at credit of profit and loss account, as shown on sweat:. B, 77,772/. 10.. 11d. ; total, 8,732,567/. 4.. 11d. C, . By cash, government, and other securities, 11.. ld. ; by kill= at call and short date, 297,986/. 12,. • by bills discounted, &c., 7,894.311/. 18s. ; by prey„ 44,2431..2n ltd. ; total, 8,732,5671. 4s. 11d. • Profit and Less Aociatinh 2 -Dr. : To current ewer., including rent, taxes, income tax, salaries, and all wt., charges, 7,3041. 17s. 11d. ; to directors' and audits:l muneratioa, 2,650/. ; to premises redemption fund, ! 17s. 3d.; to amount reserved to meet doubtful 401. 3,826/. 12s. 10d. ; to rebate of interest on bilis s% due, carried to new account, 42,174!. 2s, to dividend at the rate of 20 per cent. per Infra on the paidu.i capital of 698,9407., ; To balsam carrie d forward to profit and loan new sawn; 9,5271. 10e. 11d. ,• together, 77,7727. 10s. ltd —;o!.!, 133,863/. Is. 4d. Cr.: balance brought forward from 30th June, 1866, 3,633/. Is. ld. By gross profits dnru4 the half year, 130,=. Os. 3d. ;—total, 133,863/. Is. 4.i. The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the trier. and accounts, observed that there were no extreordim 7 features in the report, except that it referred to one of tLa most extraordinary crises that ever occurred. From effeeta of that crisis the county hail not yet recovered: but the progress of that company had nevertheless been sanw factory, and new openings had been made for it by rte disappearance of other companies . Their business was ma that required great skill and knowledge on the ;Q:1 of the management, but from the commencement ;!..t average amount of loss did not exceed ILL per 1001. Even that amount of loss had not teen it. curred recently ; latterly it had not exteela! 40. (Cheers.) Some captious persons had imm;ia.l that the profits shown in the report were swop! by the anticipation of profits receivable from intr..; not due; but that was quite a mistake; no prom were announced which had not been actually realm/. (Cheers.) In conclusion he remarked that the management had received one third of the amount which hat been locked up in joint stock companies on bills, and (spent/ to receive the remainder very soon. (Cheers.) A shareho'der dwelt on the return of dep0t,.... , , after the withdrawal occasioned by the panic, u L tt7 favourable feature in relation to the future. The CHAIRMAN stated, in reply to a questiot, that rte company had no securities which were not convert:We, and that there was no lock-up of capital except th..; bills of joint stock oomeanies, which would shortly br. and the interest of which would come into the prof , J another half year. After a short discusaion, the motion was adopted..,..i dividend at the rate of 20 per cent- per annum h 4 been declared, the proceedings terminated in tt manner. INDIAN CARRYING? COMPANY (LIMITEL,. (THIS DAY.) The annual ordinary general meeting of this . r• pany was held this afternoon, at the aims of tl.O • pany, South-street, Finsbury-square ; Sir MA. ; STEPHISNWIN in the chair. The report was taken se r,.." The eI4AIRNA24, in moving its adoption, sail that common with almost every other industrial euteriew the Indian Carrying Company had suffered, but , to the extent of a reduction of dividend to cent., instead of the I; per cent., which had previo . . , been declared without interruption. The reduction . ..I caused by the heavy losses in the Bombay agtucy. recurrence of disaster in that presidency, was, liowe , ( not apprehended, and the refits from the other dencies were very gratifying. It was to he 1,;, for the interest of the East Indian Railway Coml ani... well as themselves, that mutual co-operation w 0 ,4 for the future be more earnest than he-eteftse. inasmuch as both the concerns had common istert•ts. The short credits that had been of late almost i.opera tive in India would entail the necessity of blew.; larger antennae of floating capital in the of the managers, and it might ho...come advisable to act 14.1 the existing authority to snake some small addition to capital, to meet the requirement. Should such a step necessary due notice of course would be given to the pa prietors. It wax expected that the wide Tread se -- ing spoken of at the last meeting bad tememated the half-year, and that with a revival of trade had o . increased confidence in the undertakings entitled to it. Mr. J. WALLER seconded the adoption of the report. The CHAIRMAN, in reply to questions, midi the corn had experienced such losses in Bombsy that they mLA not think at present of re-openiug track thoe, but as it was likely the port of Bombay would hecena t chief in India, the interest was retained, and the b00n.. , could be resumed at any moment. Mr. HattraiuGe (one of the directors) said the board wisely resolved to confine their chief efforts 4. :iladras Calcutta, both having yielded a remunerative trade. Mr. PH 11.1. POTS, a shareholder, su&gested that as t1..0 was a further call due on the shares- a demand he 5h0..1 cheerfully pay—he doubted the wisdom of contemph.t...; any increase upon the 100,000'. share capital until nt, .; could be shown much more commensurate than with the risks in the East Indies. The report was then unanimously passed, and ,'- B. Hadow and Mr..l. Walker were re-elected direct and Mr. J. K Colman and Mr. C. Eustroni auditor, The usual complimentary vote to the Chairman op-directors was passed at the close. BitUTAL HoSIIcIDE Blils . sensation was produced at Bristol yesterday. in consolat• of a man named Henry Ware, a shoemaker. mono t: Churchill's-court, Lower Castlestreet. being chaigol s • having murdered a hawker named Samuel Sinnott. al , ' sided at the Balmoral C..stle beerhuuse, in the BMOC St , It would appear from the facts which have transpa, d. • on the evening of Monday the deceased and his i'c a••• to the residence of his wife's mother, Mrs. Mom... place, and spent the evening there. Mrs. Moo, • • parried them borne as far as the bottom of •• and left them there about 12 o'clock. The dee... , his wife turned down Lower Castle-street, and Mt, went up 01.1 Market.street. The deceased w e n. to residence and knocked to obtain admission, and a hit , • was waiting, a man named Henry Ware, a shoen . came up to him and said, " Oh, is it you, you -- - • have had a spite against you ; I have been waitit.... you," and then struck him with a gun which he was mg. Mrs. Sinnott, seeing her husband thus assault.l terfered and tried to defend him. Ware remarked, •• li• were a man I would kill you," and struck her with : weapon in the eye and on the elbow. intlictin4 wounds. He continue.' Lis assault on sinnott, :ma Is • him frightfully about the head and body. The poor • . managed to escape from his savage assailant. a tol the street till he met with a gentleman, whom he to assist him. The gentleman came np to whc re the sault took place, and a policeman also made Lis opts ance at this time. Ware retreated into his Louse, but a• speedily apprehended, end conveyed to the central Isl. , • station. Sinnott was also taken there. and afters - snit the infirmary, but the poor fellow tiled shortly after r : admission. It is stated that about two months :.go deceased lied a quarrel with Ware. and they had tad 1 0 1 good friends since. The Coroner's ineneat won opened, but the coroner only took evidence as to th, fay of the body. The prisoner was also chargol Lf the magistrates, but one witness having bees esaeoncl 9 justify the holding of the prisoner in custody, be ass` I • mantel for further examination. REAPPEARANCE or CHOLERA. ClicaCEl denly reappeared in a very malignant form bi the rin!••• The pit villages of Cochoe, Kelloe. and Tarrin4tonsi , - in the neighbourhood of the city of Durham, have hero - a somewhat unhealthy eon lition of late, and List ms cholera appeared in a malignant form at euxhoe. ''- Satunlay last Zt persons were attacked by the dise.oe. , -' several have Sind) succumbed to it. Every precaution Iv' been adopted to stop the ravages of the &scale, hut !: is likely to spread. As has been the ease with all nett; outbreaks of cholera in the north, impure water is blame , as the cause. door. SPORT. —Never were wild fowl nior'' plentiful in Cornwall than but week, when there * aecortlidg to careful estimation, shout 1, 000 out". goo wonlcocks, 200 ducks, and a large quantity of teal, and widgeon. Telt% fad alai She sai