The Press. — London, England, 1857-01-03 00:00:00

Viceroy of Lombardy, and General Count Gunnlay will have the command of the forces. Orders have been sent from the King of Naples not to carry into execution the sentences against the Sicilian insurgents. The usual severity, however, is exercised on those who have been lately incarcerated in Calabria. A suspicion that the late explosion was a concerted affair in connection with the Calabrian conspiracy, has caused fresh arrests. Among others is a judge named Christo, a man of character and consideration, who has been imprisoned for the crime of having been a fellow-student with Melano, when both were being educated for the Franciscan " Sottana." C. A. H. Sortign a 0 Qtataniat alnittligetta. FRANCE. The reopening of the Conferences, so long anti cipated, took place on Wednesday last, when the representatives proceeded to arrange the difficulties which had arisen in connection with Article 20 of the Treaty of Paris. A report from M. BiHaut, published in the Moniteur of Tuesday, demands a credit for 3,000,001)1. (120,000/.1 for public works in the provinces. The report is followed by an Imperial decree approving the report and granting the money. With respect to the Neufchatel question, the French papers generally assert that a pacific solu tion of the affair is certain. Lord and Lady Cowley gave a grand dinner on Christmas•day at the British Embassy, at which Viscount Canterbury, Lord and Lady Poltimore, Viscount Wellesley, Mr. and Mrs. Disraeli, Baron and Baroness de Lanken, and Lord George Paulet were present. A Council of Ministers was held on Wednesday. The Emperor presided. An American merchant, a prisoner for debt in Clichy, was shot (lead on Tuesday by a sentinel who fired upon him in consequence of his remaining at a window after being ordered to withdraw. This sad affair has created an extraordinary sensation, and is in course of investigation. AUSTRIA. The Austrian Government is much impressed with the threatening aspect of the Swiss ques tion, and will leave no means untried to avert a war. With this object in view several long and serious conferences have been held within the last day or two between the Imperial Minister, Count Buol, and Count Arnim, the Prussian Ambassador at Vienna. It is believed that Austria proposes a con ference to be held at London, in which Switzerland is to be represented. A division of 10,000 troops has been ordered up to the frontier at Bregentz on Lake Constance. The Emperor has decided upon visiting Milan. His Majesty was expected there by the 7th. Field- Marshal Itadetzky, it is believed, has been relieved of his arduous duties as commander-in-chief by the Archduke Ferdinand. PRUSSIA AND SWITZERLAND. The mobilisation of the Prussian army has been postponed from the 2nd to the sth, and is believed will be further postponed until the 15th, the day originally fixed as the extreme term the Prussian Government will wait for compliance with its demands on the part of Switzerland. Meanwhile, every preparation for a campaign is being made. The demand for a passage for the Prussian army through Wurtemburg had not been refused by the Govern ment of Wurtemburg, on the ground of its being a " political intrusion." A recommendation to that effect was made by the Deputies to the Government, but was not complied with, though petitions are pouring in in support of the recommendation. It is generally believed that, should Prussia invade Switzerland, Austria and France would immediately occupy their neighbouring cantons. A letter from Frankfort of the 28th of December, in the Prase of Brussels, says : It is positive that Prussia has signified an ultimatum to Switzerland, according to which, if by the 2nd of January the prisoners of Neufchatel are not released without trial, the Cabinet of Berlin will not receive any further proposi• Lion for an arrangement, but will trust the decision to the fate of arms, and exact from Switzerland the payment of the expenses of the war from the day when the definitive order for mobilisation shall have been given. The Oesterreichische Correspcndenz of the 28th Dec. contained the following semi-official article upon the state of the question and the views of Prussia:— _ . The English newspapers sky that the endeavours of the British and North American Ministers at Berne to arrange the Neufchatel difference failed, because the representatives of the other States were not empowered to agree to their proposition. In order that things may be properly under. stood, some explanation of the foregoing intelligence will now be given. The Imperial Royal Cabinet fully shares the wish of the other powers to prevent the conflict which seems so close at hand. The present state of things has, however, been THE PRESS. brought about by the contempt shown to the rights of a closely allied sovereign, which rights are secured by treaty, andj inattention to the well•meant counsels given to the Swiss authorities by the different Governments. Austria is convinced of the conciliatory intentions of his Majesty the King of Prussia, and she does all that is in her power to confirm him in them ; but she does not consider that she has any legal right to enter into engagements or to snake promises—either singly or collectively—by which the legal Sovereign would be induced to renounce his sovereign rights over Neufchatel. If the Swiss Federal authorities should listen to the well•meant demand and counsel of the powers, and quash the indictments against those persons concerned in the recent occurrences in the canton of Neufchatel, King Frederick William IV. may, if he should please so to do, take into consideration the situation of his Neufchatel subjects and the general situation of affairs in Europe, and give a proof of his benevolence and political wisdom by a magnanimous act of high policy. From her point of view Austria is not at liberty to enter into any moral engagements which could influence another power to renounce its legal rights. This consideration was the determining (entschiedend) cause of the refusal of the representative of the Imperial Royal Government at Berne to share in the project for effecting a compromise. Letters from Ludwigshafen on the Rhine, state that the Prussian Government has been making inquiries from the directors of the Rhine Steam Navigation Company as to how many steamers they could place at its disposal. The number available is eighteen. On the part of Switzerland the Federal Council has addressed to the National Assembly a message communicating the entire details of the origin and present position of the dispute. The ground the Federal council takes in defending its conduct is, that it has never unconditionally refused the release of the prisoners, but had offered it on condition of the simultaneous recognition of the independence of Neufchatel. The Federal Council further declares it would be content with a simple guarantee that the independence of Neufchatel should be the result of the negotiations on which Prussia declares she is willing to enter, if the prisoners be released. A committee intrusted by the Assembly with the duty to report on the message of the Council re. commended the adoption of the report and the recognition of the policy hitherto pursued. The report was unanimously adopted, further defen sive preparations authorised, the organisation of the landwehr ordered, and the appointment of General Dufour as :ommander-in-chief at once made. _ . Colonel Barman, Swiss Charge d'Affaires at Paris, left for Berne on Saturday, after an interview with the Emperor of the French ; while M. Farrer left Berne on the :2 9th on a mission to Frankfort and Southern Germany ; and M. Fay, the United States Representative at Berne, had left for Berlin. The French mediatory proposition about to be placed before the Federal Assembly, is reported to demand—first, thtt the prisoners shall be set at liberty, but at once required by the Executive to leave the country ',expulsion par ordre de police); secondly, recognition of the King's rights to the sovereignty of Neufchatel ; and, thirdly, negotiations with a view to his cession of them, on receiving an indemnification. ........ The speech of M. DUIPS, President of the Council of States, on opening the Federal Assembly, was, on the whole, pacific. He declared Switzerland would accept peace if compatible with her honour. SPAIN. The position of Narvaez is considered insecure, and further Ministerial changes are anticipated. The Marquis do Constantia has been created Minister of War. AMERICA. The mails from New York to the 20th December, by the Atlantic, bring no intelligence of importance. Very little was doing in Congress. The fear in the south of a negro insurrection still continues. From Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas, the local papers are more or less filled with notes of alarm. Even in Virginia, and in the very neighbourhood of the na tional Capital, negroes [have been arrested and whipped upon suspicion. From all quarters, Christ• mas holidays are pointed out as the time for the supposed insurrection, and masters are urged to see well that their slaves are at home at night. Twenty five of the iron furnaces in Tennessee have been closed in apprehension of the rising. There is no concealing the fact that a very wide-spread conspiracy exists among the slaves throughout the south western States, and its discovery was by the merest accident. A strict investigation is going on in different parts of the country, and executions have already taken place. Nineteen blacks have been hanged, several severely flogged, and as many im prisoned. The origin of this conspiracy is traced to the violent speeches of the slaveowners during the recent election. The slaves gathered from these that a great movement was being made in their favour, and they resolved to help it themselves on the first opportunity. Conflicting reports continue to be received of the actual position of Walker in Central America. On SATURDAY, the whole, it is believed that the Costa Ricans will succeed in expelling him the country. INDIA, CHINA, AND AUSTRALIA. Disturbances have broken out with the Chinese authorities upon the plea of an alleged insult to the British flag. Canton has been bombarded, and up to the 15th November no reparation had been offered by the Viceroy of the province. India is tranquil, with the exception of some slight disturbance at Madras. In the north-west provinces preparations were silently making for a campaign in Affghanistan con cerning Herat, in support of the demonstration in the Persian Gulf against Persia. From Australia the news is unimportant. PRESIDENT BUCHANAN. PHYSICALLY he is a large, powerfully built man ; indeed, neither physically, morally, nor politically, is there any thing little about him. He is above six feet high, large limbed and of fair complexion, and, although past sixty years of age, still shows that he was in earlier days what the other sex, who must be allowed to decide in such matters, call a handsomer man. He has the habit (that historians attribute to Alexander the Great) of holding his head somewhat inclined to one side, and sometimes partially closing one eye, as if to prove, what was undoubtedly the case during his mission in this country, that he could see a vast deal more with half an eye, than all our Ministers when they opened both theirs to the fullest extent, as they had to do more than once, if all tales be true, during the course of their " transaction of business" with Mr. Buchanan. He is hale and vigorous, of regular and active habits, and unexcep tionable moral conduct ; concientiously religious, a Presbyterian, with more indulgence for those of other creeds than is sometimes found in persons of that persuasion ; kind-hearted, generous, and charitable, as many instances reported by those who know him will prove ; much beloved by relations and depen dants; distinguished for great prudenee and sagacity in making his decisions, and for firmness in their execution when taken. He has forethought and coot self-possession :—conservative in opinion and policy, and proves the soundness of his judgment by being, favourable to the Conservative party in England. He has been heard to say more than once—" It is remarkable that the Conservative leaders and party in England have always been more inclined to be friendly with the United States than the Whigs." (In this, by the way, he is not singular ; for we have ourselves heard a similar opinion expressed by other distinguished Americans). He has been from early life a successful lawyer in extensive practice. He has for years most ably fille,l the highest posts in his Government next to that of President, having been senator, secretary of state envoy to St. Petersburg, Sze., Scc. He never was married .—an early and mutua attachment is spoken of by his friends, whose objet; was, by one of those terrible dispensations which certain steadfast natures never can forget, snatched from him. Like another distinguished American, Washington Irving, who suffered a similar bereave ment, lie has remained faithful to the memory of her whom he has lost. Although the private lives of men in high stations are considered as belonging to the public domain, it would not, we think, be delicate to allude more particularly, than by this slight notice, to the romantic circumstances attendant on this deep affliction in the outset of the career of Mr. Buchanan. What we have said suffices to show that no cold in sensibility of character condemned him to celibacy. In manner Mr. Buchanan is courteous, and in conversation mild and deliberate, with a smack of the formality of the old school. His bearing is calm and dignified, his temper and language under com plete control :—although on occasions, when he has conceived that personal or official slight was intended, he has: shown that though his parents were Irish, he can vindicate the claim of his family to a Scotch origin, by acting up to the motto, "Nemo me impure kzeessit." The opinion formed of Mr. Buchanan, in certain Ministerial circles in this country, was not favourable. Some of those high in office considered him as a sort of diplomatic hedgehog—violently prejudiced against England, hostile to her Government and people, and a thorough Philo-Russian. Those who saw most of him when here do not share in this opinion, and are far from anticipating the adoption of any such violent and explosive measures as may possibly be predicated from the tenor of the Ostend manifesto. But the marked courtesies and flattering attentions showered upon him in St. Petersburg, not only within the pre.