The Express. — London, England, 1861-01-15 00:00:00

Vet ervreos. .M . CORIFA PON DENTS. leertheateete I iteodetilor - The t.;Prese London gvislag Paper, mutt be at the cedar, 10. aourert•atreet, by Iwo • ri•N ea the day ad pablleatioa. HATILILLIL/T. TviA Fyn ilo • lIL BTOOP4 hl cONtrY.R. Meows. chip -Irn•lak aril Hora.tnee Mao Vanity I 'lino. —A nd QUEEN LA 1)Y KI)AN I) HER CEILDRLN . or, II Idloll.llo and a 110104 on Eva.. Mgr Cult. Thridelercya Wu Y. Wright, Miro E. Worker. rllncratra Ting triPtia. TUB COLNICAN 1010111t1L 4 Stews. A. Yawls And VMu r —And the promfte. called ROM N 4 ON cal +4IC . se. Ilarleyels Friday, sad The Rig of the Carribbes lambda. Mama Espinosa II MAUL IL Doullaire. Mr. A. remit. IT. UMW': r.rHirmtte, .10111NAL—T1111 ULM 01P MT. TRAM Werra A. Illipmied Sam, : Kra Reseklustees Whim. .-Am IN/MON : or : Me Lam leythaterled bran. C. Tema t abatirs : /dem Omese, Herbert, I tamer. samptxtA. Two trewnet TIC PIliarAND THE 0011. E. Isom Pail, Parry. lean bask. Roby. awl Newborn . MID,. C. %maw flys a Lane, Irv . W Crwahat —Awl • lIIIMPAGN YROY THE OF.A. Iteraubla sad aossaiss; Mrs. L Yaruald. SION WATZIII AT WIDOW SAIDA& MIT DAT —tissvilas. Ai Ma—. Aglersome. 4k. Um To-AANAAT—TionAvo *. Um.— Al..is eh. Ala LONDON, ruENDAY, JAN. 15. WHILL the pub& interest in the fated Am era sos is still unabated, the opinion amongst lawyers in his favour strengthens daily. It is curious on looking beck at the debates upon the Ashburton Treaty to find that objections most frivolous were deemed of the highest importance, whilst the effect of the 10th Article, which concerns the extradition of fugitive criminals, was left in comparative obscurity. It is true, indeed, that some anxiety was manifested in both Houses of Parliament as to whether the treaty might not be used for the purpose of demanding back fugitive slaves. But the assurances made by the ministers of the day on this subject were deemed so satisfac tory as to silence all opposition. Thus Lord A nit- Drug, who was Foreign Secretary when the Treaty was made, in discussing the forms of the Act of Parliament by which the 10th Article was carried into effect, distinctly noticed the supposition that a fugitive slave might be given up under the treaty, but declared it to be a most unfounded notion. For, he added, not only was a fugitive slave guilty of no crime in endeavouring to escape from a state of bondage, but ho was entitled to the sympathy and encou ragement of all those who were animated by Christian feelings. He then went on to suppose a slave stealing his master's horse in order to escape, in which case the Foreign Secretary declared that the stipulations of the treaty would not be appli cable. Again, Sir Rosser Put, then Prime Munster, alluding to the same subject, admitted that great care must be taken lest in the applica tion of the principle—the reciprocal delivery of heinous criminals—there should be any interfe rence with the rights of those who became free men by stepping on our soiL And even Lord PA IA zanox, in his elaborate attack upon the Ashburton Treaty, characterised the objections to the extradition article of the treaty as unsound, and said that to restore fugitive slaves under its provisions would be an evasion of its clear intent and obvious meaning. Nor is it unimportant to reosl the fact that both Lord AZZADZIOI and Sir Roams? Pm declared that the 11th Article--which provides that the 10th Article shall continue in force until one or other party shall signify its wish to termi nate it, and no longer —was expressly added for the purpose of preventing any difficulties concern ing the cases of fugitive slaves. Besides which, Lord A 111111DEIN said that, according to the treaty, the Governors in any of our colonies would be able to refer any doubtful case to the Home Government, who would take the advice of the English law officers before rendering up any alleged fugitive. Lastly, it is remarkable that the Act of Parliament by which the 10th Article was carried into effect passed the House of Commons without discussion, so satisfied was everybody that the case of fugitive slaves was amply provided for. As has been observed more than once, the claim of the United States to have ANDEINON restored rests entirely upon the words of the Ashburton Treaty. The terms of that treaty must be con sidered like any other contract, and in construing it the circumstances and the legal principles ac knowledged by the parties to the contract must be considered. It is certainly true that in a court of justice the interpretation put upon the words of an agreement by one of the parties concerned would not be admissible evidence to show the meaning of the words in question. Nevertheless the views expressed by the leading members of the English Goverrunent who negotiated the treaty are of the utmost importance in a national point of view. Their speeches conclusively prove that whatever words may have been used in the 10th Article, and whatever interpretation lawyers may put upon these words, there was every intention to exclude the case of a fugitive slave from the treaty. The term murder in the treaty was used in its ordinary acceptation of one man maliciously kill ing another—each being free agents. But the stipulation never was intended to apply to a clam of beings like slaves who have no rights, and are still capable of committing wrongs. Nor can any foreign minister of this country be called upon to admit that the Ashburton Treaty has bound us to consider that an act of deliberate murder which is but an act of self-defence. Ws English expose ourselves to the just deri sion of foreigners by an affected prudery in the choice of public entertainment. We were borri tied and indignant at an advertisement • year or two mom at a " real Spanish bullfight " at a Cart= in Loiereter.winare, and were infinitely relieved to find that the real Spanish bullfight WM a• impu dent hymbug, in the shape of a very tame horse, in th.• coffume of an impossible bull, feebly tormented by a few absurdly disguised grooms of the Ring. tin the other band, it is notorious to all tht, world that English 'misty was stirred from top to bottom only last spring by the grand international conflict between a couple of professional bruiser*, who pounded each other's I I chests und face• into jellies and piecrust, and endre bi a cunfasiAl attempt at straileh ng wivas the ropes. For nearly ten days a hundred native Homan and PINDAJI3 hymned the praises of the Champion ; and it was pretty generally agreed is the best society that the moral effects of an en counter in which all the indestructible character istics of the Anglo-Saxon nature had been brought out before an attentive Universe, must act like a "revival " upon the great nun of musculin religion. Unhappily, the gentlemen of the Prin ting, intoxicated it may be by success, threw away this immense prestige soon after by some myste rious transactions connected with the distribution of the Grand Cordon of the Order, and by a dis graceful riot on the occasion of the next great "mill." Within a month the British public was heartily ashamed of its enthusiasm, and no longer disposed to condemn an imperfect sympathy for prize fights as the mark of " milksops." We know not whether we incur the charge of a mawkish effeminacy of taste if we denounce as barba rous and brutalizing, worthy only of a wild or a worn-out people, the indulgence in spectacles and entertainments of which the public attraction con sists, not in skill, or grace, or even in the display of temper and nerve, but in the reckless and wan ton risk of human life. It is no exaggeration to say that every one who goes to • theatre to see a performer " play " with lions or tigers is quite as " eccentric " as the individual who spent his life in expecting to 000 VAN AMBI:10'11 head eaten off. It is an eccentricity in which the two extremes of savage races and races exhausted meet —the Court of Dahomey and the Coliseum. It is an " eccentricity " that belongs to the deca dence of a people which, like a palsied sensualist, flies to unnatural stimulants for a sensation. The sacredness of human life is a popular phrase among professional philanthropists as often as a murderer is going to be hanged. And, though a popular phrase, it expresses • truth which we should do well to remember on behalf of many poor fellows who have not committed murder, but who risk their lives for the public amusement. We are proud of having been the first to legislate against cruelty to animals ; yet we encourage and applaud a mountebank who, for • pittance, habitually dallies with the meet horrible of deaths on a public stage. Life itself is so difficult a business in our crowded communities that the mere risk of life becomes a trade. A BLONDIN, walking • tight-rope on stilts over Niagara, and pausing halfway to cook an omelette, is • fabled Hzarutzli to thousands of aspiring acrobats and tumblers. " Macy o:ow," the hero of that " terrific conflict with a tigress " at Liverpool which was reported in our paper yesterday, is • legitimate successor of VAN AY Beau. The public appetite for "terrific struggles" of this sort—so pleasant to contemplate from a seat in a dress circle—is a disease which grows by what it feeds on. It is not enough that a VAN Amami puts' his head into the lion's mouth ; a Mamma° may feel it his duty to put as much of his body as he can spare down the tiger's jaws ; or • Mr. Can( KITT may consider it • capital notion to allow himself to be carried about in the lion's mouth, and shaken like a rat, in order to make the ladies faint and to draw the town to the theatre. It is only when • catastrophe occurs behind the scenes, and • lion, quite irregularly, kills and worries a poor stableman, and is found sitting over him "like a dog over a bone," but with no spectators to applaud him, that the public begins to feel what it has lost. The horrible affair at Astley's Theatre gives the public a taste of some thing far more tragic than any Lion Tamer's exploits. The picture of poor "Jerrie" in the lion's mouth should be as severe a warning to the grown up public as the picture of the bad boy in • similar situation, which we all remember to have shuddered over in our early days. For it is the public taste, we insist, that is in the last resort responsible for a catastrophe which, according to the evidence pro duced at the Inquest yesterday, appears to have occurred in spite of all the usual precautions for the safe custody of lions engaged in dramatic per formances. We say " the usual precautions," be cause we entirely concur with the opinion of the jury, that the cage in which the lions were confined cannot have been of sufficient strength for the safe keeping of such animals. We are far from feeling surprise or regret that the jury should have ab solved Mr. Caoceser (" the Lion Tamer ") or the proprietors of the animals from any criminal neglect. But we consider it a public duty to express astonishment and disgust at the fact—(which the I I jury seem to have passed over)—that on the evening of the day on which the poor stable man was torn to death, the lion, which had only been prevented from making a meal I • of this poor servant of the theatre, took part in the usual performance —no doubt with an added interest and klat. We cannot be persuaded to attribute this inconceivable indecency to want of feeling ; we willingly ascribe it to want of thought. But on this account it is all the more important that the conductors of public opinion should pro tent with the utmost severity against • recklessness which these barbarous exhibitions are only too likely to encourage behind and before the curtain. Arid, after all, what is the secret of the courage of thee, renowned lion tamers? The feeders at the Zoological Gardens are quite as brave ; only as it is not their business to bully the animals, they are not armed with heavy iron whips. The " Lion tamers" secure the affection of the beasts by feeding them, and their obedience by never being without the means of knocking them down. A lion hunter is a very different character from this, as the fine old Nubian in the Regent's-perk, who died of the frost last week, could have testified. In any country enjoying the protection of a paternal government, in France or Bavaria for example, such an accident as this at Astley's would have been prevented by the moat stringent police regulations, or, if it had occurred, most severely vizited upon the theatre. Administrative law-making is happily not the English preventive, an the remedy for dangers and catastrophes for which the public itself is to blame. It is the gamed duty, then, of those who assist in the direc tion of public opinion to exercise in all such cases the severest censorship. A Ratty who teaches ne to subdue the noblest of animals to man's use by kindness is a public benefactor. Of " Lion Tamers," the hest that can be said is that they are worthy of any theatre that exhibits, and of any public that applauds them. THE XIMORIAL TO LORD PALIERRSTON. The letter to Lord Palmerston on the reduction of the National Expenditure, which we published on Friday, has already received the signatures of between fifty and sixty members of parliament, and many additions are confidently expected. The gentlemen who promoted that letter have written to us exprea.d.ng their surprise at ita publication, as it was intended to be a private communication, and not for the public eye. It is duo to them to state this. At the same time, the difficulty of treating as private a document which fifty or sixty members of the House of Common, have signed is self-apparent rbe court, WINDSOR CASTLE, JAN. la. The Queen, with Princess Helena, walked in the grounds of the Cutle this morning. The Priors Consort, accompanied by the Prince of Wales and Priam Alfred, went out shooting, attended by Lord Carney; Colonel Ponsonby, and Major Teesdale. The Duchess of Kent visited her Majesty and took luncheon. Lord de Tabley and Major Teesdale have left the CLvtle. Despatches were received at the Colonishoffice yesterday from the Governors of Canada, the Bahamas, the Mauritius, Watt Coast al Africa, sad Gibraltar, and from the Lord High Cosansaner of the lonian Islands. Despatches wen seat to the Governors of Canada sod Newfouedhod. The Marquis and Marchioness of Londonderry arrived in Groevesorequare a few days since from visiting the Duke sad Doeb red Marlborough, at Blenheim Palace. Viscount Grey de Wilton left town yesterday to ions her ladyship, who is passing the season at Melton Mow bray. Lady William Russell hm returned to town from visstiog Viscount and Vimounteas Palmerston, at Broad lands. The mortal remains of the late Hon. Edmond Pery, son of the Earl of Limerick, were brought from Germany to London yesterday morning. They will be con veyed to-day to Ireland, for interment in the Pery chapel in Limerick Cathedral. Mr. K 8. Holton!, M.P., and Mrs. Holford have lei town es a visit to Lord sad Lady Herbert of Lea, at Wilton House, near Salisbury._ According to the Epwa, Sir J. Crampton, the new English minister, in expected at Madrid about tbo end of February. The Time+, announces that the project of convert lag the Tipperary Militia into s brigade of the Royal Artillery has been definitively abandoned. We hear that it is the intention of government to level thefortificatious forming the northern and eastern boun dary of Portsmouth garrison, from the Quay-gate to the eastern bastion adjoining Fore-house Barracks, near the King William-gate. These fortifications, for defensive purposes, have long been pronounced to be entirely useless, and their removal will provide increased barrack accommodation, and it is said will also effect a local improvement, by permitting of a more direct communication between Portsmouth and Bonthees. It is reported that the terms proposed by the London and North Western and Great Northern Companies jointly to the Manchester, Sheffield, and Liecoleshire Com pany are as follows : A guarantee of la per cent. per an num, increasing a per cent. per annum up to 3} per cent. in perpetuity, and the privilege of exchanging every 1001. absilekl Stock into to!. (or 70/.1 London end North- Wade= stock. Three Sheffield directors have been ap pointed to confer and negotiate with directors similarly appointed by the other boards. The resignation of the Marquis of Chandos of the chairmanship of the London and North Western Company occurred, it is said, in consequence of his opposition to the guventee. Mr. Ralph Farnham, the last survivor of the own who took part in the battle of Bunker Hill, in 1716, died, on the 26th of December, at his son's residence, in Ardou (Mare), at the age of upwards of 104 year. He was la Boston when the Prince of Wales was there, sad saw his royal highness, and had some conversation with the Duke of Newcastle. Ho wrote some autographs the day before he died in a very good hand. " I suspect," rys • Boston correspondent, " that him recent tour hastened his wad, far not only did it cause a charge in his modes of life, bat he was disappointed in its results, as he received neither so mach money nor so much notice as ho was told would fall to his lot." Much interest is excited in Paris by the report that M. Jules Fevre, the distinguished orator and advocate, intends to speak on an early day, in his place in the Legis• lative Corps, on the tripotageo, the jobbing at the Bourse, the pots de rive, and douceurs of various kinds and for various objects, which for some time past have been the fertile theme of scandal to the public, and which, from the alleged connexion of well-known characters with same of these transactions, have brought even the government into souse diacredit. The grant of large salaries and of splendid midmost to the speaking ministers—the ministers pork. rain, u they are called—will also be treated by M. Fevre. Paris to-day (says a letter of Sunday) might be St. Petersburg, so intensely cold is the wind, which now and Ursa beings us of showers of hard, fronts snow. During the kat week crowd, have flocked to the Bois de Boulogne—foot psaisengers by thousands, carriages by hundreds ; all the fashionable world of Paris, including the Emperor and Empress, have visited the artificial waters of our perks, the Emperor occasionally skating. It is the fashion here for asters to drive before them an iron chair or sledge, in which reposer a lady in solemn grandeur, richly muffled up, according to the Russian fashion. These swiftly propelled freights of fashion's favourites, of diverse colours, produce a pleasing, living, and very animated contrast to the cold, silent, wintry white s'sss of the waters, now skirted by skeleton trees which stand only in strong relief from the dead leaden sky, and look as if they were hung with lace. The Seine threatens to be frozen over ere long; already the ice on either aide ap proaches visibly every day." . _ . - In Belgium a subscription hail been opened for the relief of the sufferers from inundations in Holland. The Dutch consul.general at Antwerp, in a letter to the Bel gian journal., state* that assistance is greatly needed, inasmuch as thousands of unfortunate creatures In different provinces have had their houses swept away or invaded by the waters, and are now wandering cm the dykes without a roof to shelter them, and suffering dread- fully from cold and hunger. The Dutch journals are filled with report. of the ravages caused by inundations. - . General de Gerlach, aide-de-camp of the late Kiss et Prussia, and one of his Majesty's most intimate friends, has quickly followed his sovereign to the grave. He eansbt a violent cold at the royal funeral, which brought ea erysjpehui in the bead, and he died at Potsdam in the evening of the 10th. He was 71 years of age. The Grand Duke of To/loony has left Berlin for Dreeleo The Dresden Journal ammo' ita readers with • story of the concessioa by Italy to England of s Sicilian poet, Syracuse. The arrangements, it age, have been made at Turin by Sir Jame, Hudson ! ALL TEAs at iiiRcHANTS' PROFITS. sa no mein sovescoto. oast Irjb• MOM unfrins awl Co., 3S. Loollorboldirk DARMAN PAP'S HANGINGS, at the wawa aye.— d. Y. CIULYTES. nod N. 011010. MM. doss MMe Selsemi• Tisatee. _ _ pems FIRST CLASS And LONDON PRIZE =DAL& WOUSITuS awl snooper. possoomnr .D 4 JO/ILLUS. Mama factor/. lirsrlseis/Irml 01//islordss. W. 1.. Disks Nlt 1 tu. r•tobffil *sr II la dr svisles, ss SatemLtp It 1 **do& H•RMON1171 1 15-NEW MODIL.- CRAM. abi Co.. 101. Yarret-etreet Tr a . a. Zlll lB 'S HALL InTAIIRANT, IlignAdoeilk Plusidlay. DirimA Wire. Wawa. Da, ter IhnOles, Ladies, .14 ari.ea DONALD, hog/doe. THE EXPRESS, TUESDAY EVRNING, JANUARY 16, MIL THE EMPEROR OP THE FRENCH AND THE BHIPPINO DUTIZS. The Shipping Gazette et last evening aye :—" Our readers will net he surprised to learn that Mr. W. S. Lindsay ban had a most satisfactory ipterview with the French Emperor on the subject of theFreneli differential duties, and their incidence on British shipping, and that the way is fairly opened for negotiations to give effect to the resolution of the House of Common. of last March, for the conclusion of • treaty 'for the reciprocal abrogation of all discriminating duties levied upon the vessels and their cargoes of either of the two nations in the porta of the other.' We say our readers will not be surprised at this intelligence, because they have loog since been made aware that the head of the French government was prepared to go into the question of the revision of the Navigation Laws of Fresco aa mom ma the fiscal details of the commercial treaty were finally adjusted. Mr. Lindsay ha. had little difficulty in convincing a man of the seipcity and information of the Emperor, that the pre. mint enclnive system of differential duties in favour of French shipping is not only inmesistent with the com mercial policy which the French government has de finitively adopted, but that It cannot be main tained if the recent commercial treaty with this country is to produce it. natural result.. It was, perhaps, needless to point out to his Majesty that, during the pest twenty years, the French tonnage, sailing and steam, taken together, has only increased 420,000 toms, while during the same period British tonnage has increaned 3,900,000 tons ; and that the differential duties, while they afford little or no revenue, have not answered the end for which they have been designed, namely, that of fostering the French mer cantile marine in order to uphold the maritime power of France. This unsatisfactory result of • policy to which Femme has clung with characteristic tenacity has been asso ciated with an increase in the over-am trade of France. Her producing power has been effectively stimulated, and her special commerce has largely expanded : but for the car riage of that trade she ha. been indebted meanly to the LATEST INTELLIGENCE. FRANCE. PARIS, TUNSDAT MOINDIO. The Moniteur publishes a decree convoking the Senate and the Corps Legislatif for the 4th of February. The Moniteur also publishes a comparative table of the revenue derived from indirect taxes, which shows a decrease in 1860, as compared with 1859, of 21 millions of francs. AUSTRIA. The Austrian Gazette , observes: Sardinia has neither men nor money enough to commence • war on her own account. Everything depends on the decision of France, and we feel certain that France will not, under present circumstances, make war in favour of Sardinia. France looks with no favourable eye on the domination of Sar dinia inSouthern Italy. Cavouris • strong supporter of Italian unity. France has never desired any such result, and does not desire it now. The difficulties which Sardinia encounters and hopes to surmount in the kingdom of Naples are not at all displeasing to France. U Piedmont begins the war, France will dead aloof, and if the Piedmonteee aggression fails she will fall back on the treaty of Vfilafranca. Au attack on the part of France would be so impolitic that we see no reason to fear it, except as an indirect means of recovering the frontier of the Rhine. There will be no war between France ►nd Austria unless there is war between France and Germany ; but the French have no wish for any such war at present, and we therefore have confidence in the duration of peace. VIENNA, JAN. 14. The general meeting of the shareholders of the National Bank, which was held to-day, was lees excited than had been expected. The proposals of the opposition were not adopted. A dividend of 32 florins was proposed. The meeting was finally adjourned to await the decision of the government, which is expected to-morrow. The Vienna journals publish a despatch, dated Trieste, Jan. 14, asserting that the Count and Countess Montemolin died yesterday. No con firmation of this news has been received. HUNGARY. A letter from Vienna, in the Augsburg Gazette, says :—" The decree convoking the Hungarian Diet was signed by the Emperor on the Bth. It will be published on the 18th, and as the law of Hungary requires an interval of 73 days between the date of convocation and the meeting of the diet, it will not open before the 2nd of April. The diet will meet at Ofen, as Perth has no convenient building for the purpose." HESSE CASSICL. A Berlin letter of the 11th says :—" There has been some question here of a letter from the Grand Duke of Baden to the Elector of Heise, advising him to re-establish the constitution of 1831. It is said that this communication is connected with one written by the Prince Regent of Prussia at the time the Hessian Chambers met, in which the prince seriously advised the Elector to restore peace to his country by re-establishing that consti tution." HESSE DARMf3TADT. We read in the Kreetz Zeitung :—" The National Association replies to the government censure by a more vigorous agitation. The commune of Lanter bach has addressed a petition to the Grand Duke, demanding the withdrawal of the ordon name of 1850, and the retirement of the ministers. A petition from Giessen demands a central power, the abolition of the concordat, a cessation of prosecutions against the National Association, and a new organisation of the Legislative Chambers." POLAND. A letter from Cracow announces that the uni versity of that city has been closed in consequence of the students having declared that they would not attend the lectures of professors unless they were delivered in the Polish language. A letter from Warsaw in the Polish Journal of Poeen Rays : The young men of the city have interdicted all balls as unbecoming ander present circumstances, and inconsequence the two principal clubs have abstained from giving their cus tomary annual balls. In the province the example has been followed. At Kaliach, the nobles made preparations for giving a grand ball as usual at this season, but on the very day on which it was to take place many of them re ceived anonymous letters from Warsaw, representing that they would do wrong to engage in festivity at a moment at which so many Poles are pining in dungeons or in the mince of Siberia, and th►t, besides, the money which rejoicings oast had better be reserved for the expenses of the war, which in the spring is to be waged °tithe enemies of Poland. In consequence of these letters the ball wasabandoned. THE DEPARTURE OF THE FRENCH FLEET FROM OAETA. BERLIN, JAN. 14. The French Ambassador at this court, a few days since, made a communication to Baron von &thief nits concerning the early departure of the French fleet from Gaeta, similar to that made by the French Ambassador at Vienna to Count Rechberg. TURIN, TLIPDAT MOILNIXO. The Opinions publishes a despatch announcing that a part of the French fleet left Gaeta on the 14th instant, and that hostilities had been sus pended on both sides. ITALY. NAPLES, JAN. 12. A proclamation of King Victor Immanuel to the inhabitants of the Neapolitan provinces has been published. The King says :—"The affairs of the State compel me to separate myself from you. A domestic affliction has caused the retirement of Parini. Prince Carignan will govern the Neapoli tan provinces in my name. Show that you allays fervently desire the unity of Italy." TUltri, JAN. 14. The ambassador of the Shah of Persia to the French court was received to-day by the King, and presented to his Majesty the decorations of the orders of Persia. OPENING OF THE PRUSSIAN CHAMBERS. BERLIN, MOYDAY. The Chambers were opened to-day. His Majesty in his speech lamented the death of the late King. The Kin; then made mention of the new organi sation of the army, which he said had become ne cessary, the defence of the integrity of the German territory being his first duty. His Majesty said that negotiations were imminent between France and the Zollverein in reference to their mutual commercial relations. His Majesty continued thus :—"The relations between the great Powers have become still more friendly by the personal meetings which have taken place. It is therefore to be regretted that the steps taken by Germany for the settlement of the ques tion of the constitution of the German Duchies placed under Danish rule have remained without any result. Prussia, as well as the rest of Ger many, recognises it ar a natural duty to finally bring about the proper solution of this question." The King energetically stated that it was his in tention to remain faithful to the principles of go vernment which he imposed on himself on assuming the Regency, as he found in those principles a safe guarantee against the revolutionary spirit spread abroad in Europe. EXPRESS FROM PARIS. (110 K 0111 OEI PARIS, MoNDaY Drum. A very unreliable telegram, dated this day, " Rome, Jan. 14," and served up by the Prase as " latest news," states that the King of Naples has, out of deference to the Emperor, accepted the propositions of Frame relative to the armistice without any reserve, and that General Cialdini replied that be must refer to his sovereign, but that he refused to discontinue the siege works during the armistice. Why does this news—if it mean anything—not reach Paris ty a more direct way than through Rome 1 The French government must surely have had the earliest intelligence of an answer to a proposition emanating directly from itself. Why then was the Moniteur silent on the subject this morning ? Moreover, what is the French proposition that Francis IL accepts? The Moniteur told us the other day that the King of Sardinia had agreed to suspend hostilities till the 19th, and that if Francis H. accepted an armistice the French fleet would come away immediately. Now the telegram from Rome, piling darkness upon obscurity, represents the King of Naples as a consenting, and General Cialdini as a recalcitrant, party ! A further observation show ing how perversely this telegram refuses to dove tail with the meagre and ambiguous revelation vouchsafed by the Moniteur, is that Cialdini is represented as referring to his sovereign on one point and taking upon himself a refusal as to an other. Upon the whole lam disposed to regard this telegram as not a bona fide one, but a concoc tion made up of scraps of heterogeneous news. It has been already said that Sardinia would hesitate to discontinue her siege works, and that Francis 11. would consent to all sorts of armistices, and, of course, for him the longer the better, but that he would not take himself away. The fatal date of the 19th is now fast approaching, and there is nothing yet known to contradict the received impression that on that day the French fleet will leave him to his fate. The Pcdrie's " latest news" is that on the morning of the 12th there was " nothing new in the situation at Gaeta, where the French squadron is still at anchor." M. Fould was at Marseilles on Saturday, on his way to Nice, " for the benefit of his health," as the prefectoral journals of the south say ; but as the late Minister of State was in excellent health when he left Paris, and as, moreover, his own chOteau in the Pyrenees is not a bad retreat for change of air, it will be only' excusable if the public sees in the above announcement a confirmation of the rumour that M. Fould was to be sent to Italy on a political mission, and more especially when it is known that the Requin, government steamer, has been placed at his disposal to convey him from Toulon to Nice. The government papers deny that the departure of Captain Ronciere Le Nonry for his ship in the Pirseus has anything to do with the state of Greece, which they say is altogether satisfactory. One of the reasons given by the Pays is that the captain requires a few months' active service to qualify him for Rear-Admiral. The Emperor, accompanied by Count de Morny and General de Fleury, left the Tuileries at 8 o'clock this morning to have • day's spurting of some kind or other at Marty. I say "sporting," because the French word chasm is equally appli cable to hunting or shooting. English sportsmen would think the present hard frost alike incom patible with either diversion. - It is announced that Brigadier-General de Bran don, a brother of Colonel de Brancion who was killed at the Mameion Vert in the Crimea, will be appointed resident governor of the Invalides, in the place of General Tatareau, who retires on the ground of his advanced age. The Bourse was without any peculiar feature. The Rente closed at Saturday's price, 67fr. 15c. for account, and fell sc. for cash. Mobilier fell Mr. 75e. Thera was little change in railways. HUNGARY. We read iu a letter from Vienna, Jan. 9 : Daring a sitting held yesterday at Path it was resolved that the Diet should meet without delay. The only change —it is a mat important one--made by the Hungarians in the electoral law of 1848 is, that persons who arc ignorant of the Hungarian language an be returned to tho Diet. All the dependencies of the Hungarian crown have been invited to send representatives to the Diet, but it in not yet known whether Croatia will do so. _ _ No further details have been received relative to the recent conflict at done ; but we learn from Peeth that the excitement in that city was very great when the news of t'ie collision between the troops and the peasants was first received. As is not unfrequently the owe on such occa sions the dye person@ killed were idle lookeretin. By advioesi from Galata we learn that two of the Sar dinian ships actually did get their cargoes on shore. Dining three whole days the crew . of the vessels were employed in landing cannon, rides, powder, end ammuni tion, which weir immediately carried into the interior of the country. HER MAJESTY'S SHIP CAMILLA. ADMIRALTY, JAN. 14. From the amounts received at the Admiralty by the hat China mail, there seems to be little doubt that her Majesty's ship Csmilla must have foundered at sea. It appears that she left Hakodadi on the Ist of September, for Kanagawa, the port of Yeddo, and that between that day and the 9th of Sept., the day on which the heavy gale passed over Yeddo, light southerly winds prevailed, so that she had not probably made much progress to the south when lost. Her Majesty's steam vessel Berenice, of the Indian navy, proceeded along the cosat from Kanagawa to Hakodadi and back, between the 24th of September and 11th of October, but failed in procuring any intelligence of the Camilla from the numerous fishing-boats, or in discovering any por tion of the wreck. A report had reached Vice- Admiral Hope that the unfortunate vessel was seen from a Prussian vessel of war to strike on a ruck in a fresh breeze and go down. This report would be traced to its source ; but the admiral is firmly convinced that she foundered at sea in the typhoon which prevailed on the Japanese coast on the 9th of September. Prince Joachim Murat has returned to Paris from hie mission of condolence to Berlin. Thr Lombardia announces that King Victor Emmanuel will go to Milan on the 11th of next mouth, and stay there a week. A Turin letter in the Indipendance affirms that the French nod, on leaving Gaeta, will go to ermine in the Adriatic, "in order to relieve the Malkin fleet of the pain ful duty of acting against Garibaldi, in ease he should persist in making an expedition against Venetia." " The religious question," s ays a correspondent of the Independance Beige, "beocsoes every day MOM en venomed in France. I am told that in a central depart ment on the borders of La Vendie the bishop, instead of paying a New Year's visit to the prefect, as the custom is, contented himself with sending hie card. The prefect wish ing to shut his eyes to the slight, called upon the bishop shortly afterwards, and, in the oourse of conversation said he regretted not to have been at home when the latter did him the honour to come to the prefecture. Thereupon the bishop told him plainly that he had merely sent his card because he did not wish to see him. The prefect asked the reason, but the sturdy prelate refused to give soy exP l46B- tions, leaving the civil functionary to put his own inter pretation upon the conduct complained of. .A few days later the bishop gave a grand official dinner to which be did not ask the prefect ; and thereupon the latter ass met fur to Paris by telq-raph, to confer with ministers upcn the event." CITY BANd.—(THIS DAY.) The half-yearly meeting of the shareholders wee held at noon at the London Tavern ; Sir R. W. CARDEN in the chair. secretary (Mr. C. J. Wolin) read the report and balance-sheet as follows : "The director; have satisfaction in presenting to the pro prietors the annexed statements of account, which show that the gross profits realised during the past six months —together with the balance brought forward from the previous half.year--ansoant to 36,736/. les. 4d. ; of this sum they have apprepnated—To the payment cd the current *Apnoea of the establishment, and a full allowance for bad and doubtful debts, 24,6481. ' • and for re bate on bills discounted, no t ye t d ue , 4,5631. 68., which enables them to declare a dividend at the rate of 6/. per cent. per annum, free of income tax, and to carry 6231. as. 4d. to the credit of the profit and lose account of the current halt-year. At the last meeting of shareholders, the chairman stated that the bank would sustain • considerable Ins by the failure of MOMS. Pareatleild, Laurence, and CO., which had then just previ ously occurred. The directors have carefully estimated the value of the bills and other securities held by the beak on account of that firm, and have written off the full amount of the deficiency in .the balance sheet now presented. The dividend will be payable on and after the len d instant. " Liabilities and amen, 31st December, 1860 .—Dr.: To capital paid-up, via., 501. per share on 6,000 shares, 300,0001.; to amount of reserved fund, 33,0001.; to amount due by the bank on current end deposit account., bills payable, letters of credit, do., 2,468,5601. 14s. 5d.; to profit and loss, for the balance of that account, via.:— Surplus profit brought forward from last half-year, 8,0371. 17s. 9d. ; :MOO added, 30,894/. 12s. 7d.-38,736/. 10.. 4d. East,Total 2,840,2971. 4s. 9d. Cr.: By Exchequer bills and Wis. Bonds, 211,8071. Os. 2d. ; by other securities, by bu og bills discounted and loans, 2,389,1121. Ida. 101; iiWiog, furniture and fixtures, 27,4901. 7.. Id.; by cash in 3s. Bd.—T otal, 2, 8 840,2971. 4a. 9d.t Bank ot England and at call, 211,8871. " Profit and Loss Account. —Dr. : To current expenses, including salaries, rent, stationery, director' rem proportion of building expenses, allowance ford: T : 4 M doubtful debt., income-tax, fr.c., 24,5481. ; amount car ried to profit and loss, new acco unt, being re bate on bill. discounted, not yet due, 4,5631. ss. - to dividend account, for the payment of a dividend at the rate of 6/. per cent. per annum on 300,0001., amount of paid-up capital upon 6,000 shares, 9,0001. ; to un divided profit transferred to profit and loss new account, 623/. ss. 4d.: total, 38,7361. 10e. 41— : Cr. : By balance brought down, viz., surplus profit brought from last half-year, 8,071. 17.. 9d. ; since added, 30,6241. 12s. 7d. Total, 38,7381. 101. 4d. We base examined, and do approve, the above accounts.—Wit. ANIOING and Owen LEWIS, Auditors." The CHAIRMAN. in moving the adoption of the report and balance-sheet, said the account. showed a continuous pros. porous condition of the hank. The profits of the last half year exceeded by several thousand pounds those of any previous half-year. The item of 24,548/. for current expenses, bad debts, he., included the loss occasioned by the failure of Messrs Streatfeild and Mortimer.. At the last meeting he said it was calculated the loss would be about eight or nine thousand pounds. But at that time the directors thought they were dealing with honourable and unfortunate traders. They had no idea that they were dealing with unscrupulous trader,' • he might almost say reckless and dishonest, becau se what had taken place showed that they were indeed both recklese and die. honest. (Hear.) Happily for the character of the English merchant, such conduct was very rare. When the failure at Messrs. Streatfeild and Mortimere took place, the directors, having bills with not only their names, but several others, indorsedupoc them, all thought that they would have fair and honest dividend out of the estate. But when they found that men issued bills with indorsements and acceptances while they well knew that they were themselves the only parties answerable for those bill; the acceptances and indorsements being mere mattem of accom modation, he must say such conduct was so dishonest that the directors could not suppose that they had such men to deal with. (Hear, bear.) He said this to account for there being a much larger loss than they bad expected. That loss the board now estimated at 17,0001., and the bad debt. of the half year, including that amount, were only 17,2501. Except this there was nothing that was not matter for congratulation. The conduct of these men had been so bad that he hoped this session of parliament would not pas—sod, indeed, he did not think it would—without that which was now only a moral fraud beingmade a criminal fraud, so that men who had been guilty of such improprieties and each dishonesty aught find themselves in their proper plies—namely, at Newgate. (Cheers.) As regarded the of the mot year it was remarkable L e r= had been no less than 11 fl uctuations in the Bank of England rate of interest, to which be might add that during that period this country had paid 22,800,0001. for food imported from abroad. That was, he might remark, the only intditock bank which had no branch, and per haps this was an advantage, inasmuch as it enabled the direetom to devote their whole time and energies to the development of the business in a central position. (Hear, bear.) The motion having been seconded by Mr. Btu., was, without any discussion, unanimously agreed to, after which the dividend recommended was declared. On the motion of Mr. Aldermen ABIIIIIB, thanks Were then toted to the dilarDIAUl and directors. A similar compliment was also paid to the manager, Mr. White, and to tue auditors, after which the meeting sopa. wad. COMMERCIAL BANK OF LONDON. (THIS DAY.) Tlic half-yearly meeting of the shareholder. was held at I o'clock, at the Beak, Lothbury ; Mr. ettowk is the chair. The MANAGER (Mr. Cutbill) read the following report and balance-sheet : "The directors present the balance.ebeet for the half yew but passed, which the proprietora will see exhibite a uet unappropriated profit of 17,101/. I Is. Id., alter provid ing for bad and doubtful debt', and paying all the charm of management. This enables the board to declare • dividend at the rate of Si. per cent. per annum, on the paid-up capital of the company for the six months ending on the 3lst of last December, free of WOMBS* tax. The balance of 5171. se. 5cL will then remain, after allowing 4,59'21. ss. &I. for rebate on bills not yet due, to be earned to the credit of the current half year. The dividend will be in course of payment on and after the 28th instant. " lialancecheet to 31st Dec., 1860.—Dr.: Capital sub- scribed, 1,500,000!. ; capital paid-up, 201. each, on 13,000 shares, 300,000/. ; guarantee fund, 75, 000 w. ; ba lance due to the customeni of the bank, 908,0241. Its. 4d. ; balance on undivided profit, 31st Dec., 1839, 5511. 25.; net profit for the half-year ending 31st December, 1860. after paying income tax and deducting all 1 charges and expenses, and making provision for bad and doubtful debts, 16,558/. 9s. Id.; balance carried down, 17.10 W. lls. Id. —Total, 1,300,7341. tic. lid. Cr.: Cash in the bank and at call, at the Bank of Engl . :stri a Exchequer Bills. India Bonds, and Government Securitim. 191,13 W. 18s. Ild. ; bile discounted, loans on stock, asd other securities, 1,106,5951. 9s. 6d. ; strong-room fittisp. and furniture (premises held on lease), 3,oool.—Total. 1,300,7341. ss. i , d. ' Dr. : Dividend at the rate of 81 per cent per annum. for the half-year ending 31st December, IMO, 12,0001. ; re- bate of interest on current bills carried to probt and loss new account, 4,51021. ss. Bd. ; balance carried to next ball. year, 5171. Cl.. bd. Total, 17,1091. lls. Id.—Cr.: Balance brought down, 17,1091. Ile. Id." The ettantmatt, in moving the adoption of the report and accounts, congratulated the proprietors that, notwith standing the difficulties of the /net half-year, they were enabled to divide the same amount as before, and to carry forward • balance. Mr. Homenisox seconded the motion. Mr. FISHER could not understand why it was that a bank which had been so long established, and whose stability was so undoubted, obtained no increase of dividend, though ether banks had made great progress. He bad been told that there was a want of adequate accommodation. The CHAIRMAN said be really could not understand why 4 the bank had not progressed more. All he could say was. I that they had been more subjected to the consequences of mischief and angry feeling than some other banks. lbe directors did all in their power to augment the business; and he could not help thinking that if the shareholders exerted themselves more, the result would be better. Mr. Jattita CLAY, LP., a director, was certain the bank mold not suffer from the most open discussion. It had • been amused that the bank did not get on, but that was not the fad. Two years ago it paid ally 8 per sent. ; it then paid 7 per cent., and it now paid 8 par cent. ; and he thought it possible that the dividend would continue to increase. A SHAINHOLDER said the bon. gentleman bail torgotton to mention that the bank at one time paid 11 per cent. Mr. FISHER had nut intended to complain of the system of management ; what be wanted was, that the public should be convinced of the stability of the bank, and appre ciate its merits. _ _ The motion wa. then adopted, and a dividen I at t'a• rate of 8 per cent. per annum declared. Thanks were then voted to the director*, t., the manager, Mr. (MIMI, and the meeting terminated. A SILATINt; TRlP.—About thirty skaters belong ing to Chelmsford undertook to skate to NAMon by the Navigation Causal on ffatarday morning. Notwithstsuiding that a partial thaw had set in, they kept their resolution of attempting the journey, and 15 of the party, we hear, overarne all obstacles in their progress, and effeetod their object, though the ice was by no means in a satisfactory auk, the eater being occasionally two or three inched d"p. U - -r ;altasiote exliend at AN tS Vlsrroa.—A few (lays slate, as Mr. R. Woodland and =bon were in a wool at Mr. Duke's, Honk's Horton Pricey, Et e ni uge, they heard a main among some old w oo d ne a r them. du looking amongst the wood, they found that the noise proceeded fres° the movements of • large adder, or Britith viper. Although surrounded Fy snow and ice, the reptile appeared to have hot none of its energy, and Kai not easily de spotched. Ultimately, the adder was dezapir!iited ; but what is very remarkable, though the headless trunk lay ex posed to the cold during the whole of the e,y, is the snow% it was ithearmitii awe about.- J r..e t.