The Press. — London, England, 1858-08-21 00:00:00

THE PRESS, AUGUST 21, 1858 of her subjects, is a striking testimony of the value which the heads of the British Government attach to friendly relations with France. As to the French Government, the language of the Emperor Napoleon 111. on such a solemn occasion needs no comment, It barrack politicians had already " greased their boots " for the passage across the Channel, ther over-zeal has been decidedly disap pointed. The intelligent and enlightened declarations of the Emperor have completely blotted out what is called in England " the addresses of the colonels." The Revue then proceeds to discuss the practical merits of the Cherbourg fortifications • We shall not presume to offer en opinion on the value of Cherbourg as a naval fortress. We arrived there under the impression of the well-known words of the Emperor Napoleon, comparing the works of Cherbourg to the Pyramids of Egypt to l to Lake Mceris, and of the cla mours of some English journals, which represented that port us a position of attack against England. An itispec ,tion of the place, and the judgments we have heard ex pressed by military and naval men, have, we must avow, singularly modified that impression. Cherbourg is a won derful and admirable work, but as a military position it evidently bears the mark of its artificial origin. When Louis XVI., after the war of American independence, which was so glorious fur the French navy, was present at the sinking of the first cones employed in the construction of the breakwater, the site of that erection was chosen in cor respondence with the means of attack and defence em ployed at that period. Neither the gunboats now con structed, nor the lono.range guns such as are now adopted, were then known. Experience had made but little progress in such matters when the works were resumed and con tinued by Napoleon. The result of this is that whatever may be the strength of the batteries and of the fortifications of Cherbourg, the breakwater, if the present means of attack he taken into account, is at too short a distance from the port and from the dockyard. This circumstance unfortunately deprives Cherhonig of agreat part of its force. It is evident, in the hypothesis of a naval war, that the struggle for the rule of the sea will be conducted on very different terms than in the past. In case that the domi nion of the seas should not be possessed by France, it would be a serious imprudence on her part to concentrate her principal naval resources at Cherbourg. Her squadrons would be in sett). only at Toulon or at Brest. The same reason deprives Cherbourg of that power of aggression against England which has been so loudly denounced by the English press. Before assemhliug at Cherbourg the fleet necessary for embarking an expedition against England, it would be necessary at least to risk an irreparable disaster by solving in the Channel, against the English squadrons, the question of the empire of the seas. Cherbourg is un doubtedly a great defence for France, and no English squadron would attempt to insult it; but there would be so much rashness in collecting there the means for effecting a landing in England, that it can never have the offensive character which has been attributed to it. Such are the conclusions which are left in the minds of those who have seen the place, and it is this opinion which has been car vied back to England by the visitors from that country- We there( ire hope that the alarm recently excited by a portion of the press in England will be soon dispelled. The came reviewer also comments on Mr. Roe buck's speech at Tynemouth, and somewhat ungal lantly endorses the opinion he expressed on the ab sence of personal attractions in the women of Cher bons g Mr. Roebuck did not find the women on the coast of Cherbourg ti his taste; and he, perhaps, was in the right, for it is difficult to meet with a pupulatism less picturesque, or whose features are less attractive than those of the iu habitants of Cotentin. We conclude our extracts from the Revue des Deux Mondes with the following strong reflections on the tribe of pamphleteers which has sprung up lately in Paris. These remarks are especially ap plicable to the latest pamplet published, in which the conquest of England is discussed : We cannot express sufficient contempt for those pam phleteers who speculate on old prejudices, and who choose the very moment when the two Governments so solemnly protest in favour of the alliance to deceive public opinion in the two countries, to excite reciprocal mistrust, and to inspire doubts in the sincerity of the great acts of which we have just been witnesses. The proceedings of the authors of the pamphlets to which we allude aro as re volting as their calculations are disgraceful. They trans form pretended conversatons at St. Helena into a sort of political Koran ; they profane the memory of their pro phet by attributing to him all kinds of absurd and apocry phal divagations, on the faith of domestics who passed themselves off to the world as his posthumous secretaries. They seek to stupify France by an absurd glorification of herself, which would load us, if we were to tolerate it, to the infatuation which has led the Turks and the Chinese to persuade themselves that they are the first people in the world. Under favour of these gasconadea, they preach to France a sort of Islamism against England. The Govern ment has many singular and compromising friends. For want of sufficient liherty of the press, men of business, so prompt to take alarm, foreigners who are ignorant of the origin of these warlike inspirations, regard these shameful pamphlets in a serious :ight. The latter would not issue from their obscurity, and would not even give the Govern ment the trouble of a disavowal, were the currents of serious opinion left with open confidence to their natural movement. The Journal des Actionnaires contains the fol lowing : We entertain the firm hope that under the influence of the Cherbourg meeting the movement of commercial and manufacturing infairs, which were for a moment paralyzed by fear, and by the hostile passions to which the Emperor alluded, will soon be actively developed. We ham slrekt, escaped from the depression to . which our pu b lic fonds seemed to be fatally contletnneu. The Three per emus have risen to Ifl f. A reactionary movement has, it is tru e . caused them to decline, but the circumstancesin themidt t of which we live, the absence or abstention of specul ator , and the situation of the market, explai n t hi s movement: which, moreover, was the inevitable conseq uence of a rapid rise. But the signal has been given ; the cloud s co i keted on the political horizon have been dissipated by thebrilliast consecration which the alliance o f the two great Wester n nations has just received, and we may anticipate that ics. nufactures, commerce, and all great and serious eater. prizes, will know hew to pro fi t by the impulsion. CIVIL SERVICE OF INDIA. The following are the selectal candidates out of sixty-seven competitor, at the recent e xam i nat i on for appointments in the civil service of India, held under the superintendence of the Civil Service Coto. missioners J. Geoghegan Trinity College, Dublin. T. F. W. Sniith W. Tyrrell H. L. P. Wynne. Oriel College, Oxford. Hugh Morris Edinburgh University. D. Fitzpatrick Trinity College, Dublin. C. W. P. Watts University College. Oxford. C. G. Sperling Merton College, Oxford. D. M. Gardner Brasenose College, Oxford. C. J. Powlett E. H. Whinfield W. C. Eadea Trinity College, Dublin, J. Ward Caius College, Cambridge. A. Brown Queen's College, Oxford. J. S. Armstrong Trinit College, Dublin. H. J. Macdonald Corpus Christi College, WTI H. M. Birilwood A. M. Macregor Trinity Hall, Cambridge. F. Jones . King's College, London. J. F. K. Hewitt Christ Church, Oxford. Civil Service Commission, Aug. 19. SECOND EDITION. SATURDAY AFTERNOON. LATEST INTELLIGENCE. THE PARIS CONFERENCES. The Moniteur of yesterday publishes the follow ing : The Plenipotentiaries of France, Austria, Great Britain, Prussia, Russia, Sardinia, and Turkey met on Thursday at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to sign the Convention relative to the organization of the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. The exchange of the ratifications of the said Convention will take place at Paris within five weeks, or earlier, if possible. I t is only after the accomplishment of this formality that the text of the Convention can be made public. THE IMPERIAL PROGRESS IN FRANCE. HENNES, Aug. V. This morning took place the grand Breton enter tainment, given to their Majes•ies by all the Maims of the Department of Ille et Vilaine. There were 340 persons present. The Emperor delivered a speech, which was re ceived with the warmest acclamations. He promised his best assistance in developing all the resources of Brittany. His Majesty is at this moment passing in revies the whole of the troops in garrison at Rennes. To-morrow, at ten o'clock, their 'Majesties will set out for Pails, where they will arrive at six in the atternoon. The report of the Metropolitan Board of Works for the year ended June 30, 1838, appeared yesterday in print. The board refer to their former proceedings in connection with the main drainage of London. They say it is obvious, from the wide range and re condite character of the inquiries connected with the main drainage question, that a large share of the time and attention of the board and their officers must have been devoted to the subject, and that the conduct of the elaborate investigations incident to the successive plans which the hoard have been required to prepare must have occasioned a very considerable expen diture. The surveys, plans, awl estimates connected with improvements in the thoroughfares and commu - nications of the metropolis have also been attended with great labour and expense. From the unsettled state of the main drainage question, and the uncer tainty which has hitherto prevailed as to the lines of sewers which might eventually be approved by that departmeilt of the Uovernment charged by the statute with the ultimate determination of the plan, the board have been obliged to defer the execution of extensive sewerave works until the question shall have been finally decided, and proper outlets provided. At the Hammersmith police-court, yesterday, Lieut. Clavering was placed at the bar, having sat' rendered in discharge of his bail, charg ed, on his own confession, with h a ving caused the de ath Of John (iate!.., »ear Acton ; aud, after a repetition )f the evidence already given, was disabarged• TO CORRESPONDENTS. It is impossible to aoknowle.lge the mass of letters we receive. Their iusertion is often delayed owing to a press of matter, and when omitted, it is frequently from reasons quite inde• pendent of the merits of the communication. Zbx Vrvgg+ LONDON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 1858. POSTSCRIPT. THE FIRST NEWS MESSAGE BY THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. COLLISION IN THE ATLANTIC BETWEEN THE "EUROPA" AND "ARABIA." BY ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH FROM NEWFOUNDLAND. THE directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company having received from Newfoundland the following intelligence, have felt it their duty to publish it with a view to allay the anxiety of the friends of the pas• sengers by the Europa and Arabia : " The Europa and Arabia have had a collision. One of them has put into St. John's, Newfoundland. No lives lost. All well." GEORGE SAWARD, Secretary. Chief Offices, 22, Old Broad-street. FURTHER PARTICULAR?. The message, asking Newfoundland for further particulars, was despatched from London at 5 p.m. last evening (Friday) and the following reply was received back from Newfoundland at 7.70 p.m. GEORGE SAWARD, Secretary. 22, Old Broad•street, London, Aug. 20, 1858. "Arabia in collision with Europa off Cape Race on Saturday last. Arabia on her way to New York, slightly injured. Europa lost her bowsprit and cutwater ; stem sprung. Will remain in St. John's, Newfoundland, ten days from the 10th. Persia calls at St. John's for mails and passengers. No loss of life or limb." The following letter has been addressed to the Times by the Secretary of the Atlantic Telegraph Company : Sir,—l have the pleasure to inform you that the line from Valentia to Newfoundland is now working satisfac torily both ways. The following message was despatched )eaterday evening front the directors iu England to the directors in America:— " Europe and America are united by telegraph. Glory to God in the Highest ; ou earth, peace, good will towards men." This message, including the addresses of senders, and receivers, occupied thirty five minutes in transmission, aud consisted of thirty-one words. Immediately afterwards a message from her Majesty the Queen to his Excellency the President of the United States, consisting of ninety-nine words, was received by Newfoundland in sixty-seven minutes . Both messages were repeated back to Velem ia, to test their accuracy, and were found to have been taken with great exactness. Of course, unless permission be given, the contents of her Majesty's despatch cannot be made public. This morning we have the following message, the last thirty-eight words of which were received iu twenty-two minutes, from Mr. Cyrus W. Field, who is at Newfound land : " Cyrus W. Field, Newfoundland, to Directors Atlantic Telegraph Company, London.—Newfoundland, Monday.— Entered Trinity Bay, noon of toe 3th. Landed cable on the 6th. On Thursday morning ship at once to St. John's. Two miles of shore cable, with end ready for splicing. " When was cable landed at Valenti& ? Answer by telegraph, and forward my letters to New York." It will thus be seen that the line is now capable of being worked with perfect accuracy, and the company will now proceed, as rapidly as is consistent with th:: establishment or a proper systetn, to make the necessary arrrangetnents for opening the communication to the public, in doing which, however, some delay must necessarily occur.— Yours truly, GEOROF. SAWARD, Secretary and Manager. Chief•office, °•d, Old Broad street, London. FRENCH COMMENTS ON THE ENGLISH VISIT TO CHERBOURG. Tut; collowing remarks on Cherbourg are extracted from the political review of the fortuight contained in tho current number of the Revue des Deux Moudes We cordially approve of the great political act which has just been accomplished at Cherbourg. We are sincere partiz'ens of the English alliance. We witneased with sorrow the want of tact and the painful incidents which shook that alliance at the commencement of the present year, and we remark with delight the generous effort which has just been made at Cherbourg to re-establish in the face of the world the good relationst.ip between two nations who may be powertul without having to make any mutual sacrifice of independence. We consider this effort to have been perfec tly sincere on both s id es . " Faets," according to the just remark in the Imperial toast, "speak for themselves.... 'I he presence al one o f Queen Victoria at Clierbour4, i n spite of the murmurs which the jouniey of her Majesty ucited among a portion I itrif Toi at are un l E do thi wa fin be , cal co au es WI ar se of eI UI IS a C tl 1 It a is a if at r- is re et te ks Lts a. e• 10 18 ye of ye re D• Ia id ir- of at to 3e of dl J. 115 of ■ 1