The Press. — London, England, 1854-07-08 00:00:00

JULY 8, 1854. that this was a question of much importance, and consider ing the lute period of the session, the Government had determined not to proceed with the Testamentary Jurisdic tion Bill this session. (Hear, hear.) With respect to the Divorce Bill he rather believed that the Lord Chancellor proposed to make some alteration in it. The first part of it was founded on the report of the commissioners on the law of divorce ; it was not connected with the other parts of the report which referred to the ecclesiastical courts. It was a separate question, and the Lord Chancellor was of opinion that it m►ght be taken separately ; the Govern. went reserved their opinion on the other parts of the sub. ject." THE BOARD OF HEALTH. - - - The vote of 11,8651. proposed on Thursday for the expenses of the Board of Health was objected to by Sir G. PECHELL. Since 1846, he said, this board had disgusted all the towns with which it had had any dealing. Its proceedings had frequently been unconstitutional; and, in fact, wherever it had inter fered it had caused destruction and dissatisfaction. The bulk of its work seemed to consist of the official registry of the number of letters it bad despatched and received. He proposed to reduce the vote to 6,8551. Lord PALMERSTON, without defending the board or its proceedings, argued for the necessity of providing some machinery by which measures could be devised and enforced for the promotion of health and clean• liness " Nothing was more easy than to get up and say that a thing was useless and a nuisance, and ought to be put an end to. Such language sounded well when there was no danger; but a time of calamity might come, and then the people would ask what the Government were about in abolishing a board whose duty it was to secure the country against the recurrence of such a calamity. After the very sad experience of the past, after the population had been swept away by visitations of cholera, and after the awful warning of last summer, pointing out how defective were our sanitary arrangements, he could not comprehend how it should be seriously proposed to abolish a department of this description. If Brighton was anxious not to be in chided, it should be excluded. But in every town there we two parties, corresponding to Whig and Tory—the clean party and the dirty party. (A laugh.) The nine !inns of these factions were well known. One man said, 'I my dirt, and I object to pay for being made clean .—(laughterj—the clean man shall not touch me.' (Laughter.) If hon. members were to read the accounts which it fell to his lot to peruse, of the condition of some of the towns in this country, even at the present moment, they would be surprised, not that these periodical visita tions recurred, but that the population was not extin guished. The condition of Newcastle in the north, and of Dartmouth in the south, had been such as to make people shudder that such a state of things could exist iu a civilised country. He thought this a most unfortunate period for proposing the breaking up of the board. He admitted that the constitution of the board required altera tion. (Hear.) It was not represented in the house, and no public officer was responsible for its proceedings. The President of the Board of Works hai no controlling power, and therefore had no responsibility. He thought it desirable that in reconstructing the board there should be a limit with respect to time; and he should propose a bill to continue the board, consisting of two paid and unpaid members, for a period of two years from the end of next month, and render the board subject to the instructions and orders of the Secretary of State, who would be re sponsible to Parliament. He thought that it was impossible, with a due regard to the public health, to discontinue these arrangements at the present moment ; but he did not mean to say that there would be any necessity for the fur ther continuance of such a board. It was very possible that when more towns had organised themselves, and made provision for their own security, a central direction might be no longer necessary." Upon the suggestion of Lord SEYMOUR, and after much further debate, the vote was postponed until the promised bill would be laid before the house. CRUELTY TO ANIMALS BILL. The second reading of this bill was moved in the Peers on Tuesday, when Lord ST. LzoNAnn's ex plained its purport. The measure was intended to correct an error in a former bill on this subject, re specting the use of dogs in carts. The existing act restricted the use of dogs drawing carts to London and a circle of fifteen miles round it, and the pre sent bill extended that restriction to the country generally, so as entirely to prevent the practice of having carts drawn by dogs on the public highways. The Earl of EGLINTON pointed out the inexpe diency of "over-legislation," particularly with regard to subjects involving no moral offence : " As to the question of dogs becoming mad when used to draw carts, he never heard of one case on good authority of a dog becoming mad from overwork. With regard to the danger of horses being frightened by those dogcarts, he believed that also was an exaggerated apprehension. No doubt there were horses that were frightened at dog. Carts ; but then there were horses that were frightened at other things also. He once had a horse which no power on earth could induce to pass a wheelbarrow ; but it would be very hard if, on that account, her Majesty's subjects should be prevented from using wheelbarrows. (Hear, hear.) He moved that the bill be read a second time that day three months." Lord BROUGHAM approved of the bill, remarking that nature had not designed the dog as an animal for draughtt. THE PRESS. The Marquis of WESTMINSTER argued on the same side : " The formation of the dog unfitted him for such work as this bill referred to. The natural position of the dog was to stand upright upon his toes, but the moment he was made to draw a heavy weight his foot was drawn down, and the sole of the foot became liable to lacera- tion. There was no reason why, in this matter, there should be one law for one part of the country and a dif ferent law for another. In the other House of Parliament the measure had been carried by a large majority, and it had never been rejected by a majority in that house. The only time it was brought to a division the votes were ex actly even." The Earl of llifaxmzsetney observed that in Sussex and Hampshire alone fifteen hundred persons gained their livelihood by aid of dog-carts, which would be immediately liable to confiscation if the bill passed. The Earl of CHICHESTER was assured from inquiry that the dog-cart owners in Sussex were generally men of bad character, who used dogs for draught merely out of laziness. Finally the opposition was withdrawn, and the bill passed the second reading. Lord EGLINTON declared, however, that he should move the omission of the clause when it came up in committee. c lortign ant dalanial FRANCE. General Baraguay d'Hilliers was expected to leave Paris yesterday (Friday), in order to embark with the division of the army under his command for the Baltic. England will provide vessels for transport. The French Government has decided on forming a sixth division of the army of the East. The regi ments are already named, but the name of the com mander has not yet been announced. The Emperor, it is now said, has abandoned his intention of form ing a camp in the south, as all the troops intended for that purpose are to embark immediately for the East. The Henri IV. sailed from Marseilles on Tuesday, having on board General Levaillant, with his staff and two colonels, for Gallipoli. The vessel had also on board several detachments belonging to various corps. The steam-frigate Uloa left Toulon on Monday for Yarns, with 1,065 rank and file and twenty eight horses. Orders have been received at Toulon to put the roads of that arsenal in a state of complete defence. In conformity to instructions from Paris, the en gineers have visited the coast, laid out new fortifica tions, and armed others. Great quantities of shot and ammunition are being sent into all the forts. The French Government has renewed the Regle ment Maritime of 1778. Hereby all vessels of the enemy bought by neutral subjects since the declara tion of war will be captured as illegally transferred, and will be declared good prizes. The object is to put an entire stop to pro forma sales, and will strike a heavy blow at the trade carried on under neutral flags. Preparations for the departure of the Empress for the baths of Biaritz are going on with activity. The imperial yacht the Bettie Hortense is already at Cherbourg, where the Empress will embark for Bayonne. The yacht will remain at that port during the stay of the Empress at the seaside. Cholera is spreading rapidly in several parts of France, and especially at Soissons, at Chateau- Thierry, and in the Vendee. The epidemic has also committed heavy ravages at Arles, and a few cases have occurred at Marseilles. It is said that, if the disease should continue to spread, the camp of Bou logne may probably be postponed. The Princess de la Moskowa, widow of Marshal Ney, died on Monday in Paris, at an advanced age, and after a long illness. GERMANY. Prince Gortschakoff arrived in Vienna on Wednes day as bearer of the official reply of the St. Peters burg Cabinet. It has not transpired what this answer is. The prince is also bearer of an auto graph letter from the Emperor Nicholas to the Emperor of Austria, the tenor of which is said to be, that by evacuating Wallachia, and leaving the Danube free, the Emperor considers that he satisfies the reasonable demands of Austria. Moldavia will not be evacuated, as the occupation of this princi pality is a necessary guarantee for the conditions of a future treaty of peace. If this be correct, a war between Austria and Russia is considered in evitable. The Oat Deutsche Post of the 4th inst. announces that the entrance of the Austrians into Wallachia is now a fait accompli. General Coronini on that day is stated to have en tered Little Wallachia, from Omova, with •4,000 men; a brigade from Transylvania also passed through the Tomiisch Pass into Great Wallachia. General Hess, the Austrian Commander-in-Chief, issued an order to the 3rd and 4th divisions sta tioned near the frontier, in which he speaks highly 631 of their well-known discipline and bravery, and of his confidence in their obedience to superior autho rity; but studiously abstains from all allusion to the conduct of Russia which has caused such a move ment to be made. It is stated that, at a dinner given by the Em peror of Austria to his newly-appointed Generals Hess, Schlick, Clam, &c., his ➢lajesty proposed one single toast—" The health of his Majesty the Sultan." The Archduke Albrecht has joined the army. General Leiningen, as Adlatus, acts as Governor of Hungary. Notification of the convention between Austria and the Porte have been sent to St. Petersburg. Baron Meyendorff is permitted to go to Gastein, but must then retire to his estates in Finland. The Austrian General Meyerhoffer having re quired that a Prussian corps d'armie should be ordered to the Austrian frontier, the question was, it is stated, to be submitted to a Council of Ministers, presided over by the King. . _ - The Berlin dovernment has received notifications from the British and French Foreign offices stating that their respective admirals in the Black and Baltic Seas have declared the Danube, with all Rus sian ports in the latter sea, contiguous gulfs, S:e., to be in an effective state of strict blockade. ITALY. A letter from Rome, in the Mesaagere di Modena, states that at this prevent moment there are seven cardinals hats at the disposal of the Pope, and that an eighth is likely to be soon vacant by the death, which is daily expected, of the Archbishop of Braga (Portugal), Cardinal of Figaredo. TURKEY. It is asserted in Paris that the prospects of the new Turkish loan are very favourable. M. Durand has left for London. The Turks do not occupy the positions which the Russians abandon. This, it is understood, is a con cession to Austria, which is very jealous of any exer cise of the Sultan's authority north of the Danube. Inquiries are making what is to become of the Rus sian flotilla when its owners shall be driven from the Danube, seeing that the mouths of the river are blockaded by the French and English. This force consists of ten armed steamers and 100 gun-boats. The loss of these, whether they fall into the hands of the allies, or are voluntarily destroyed by the Rus sians, would be severely felt by the enemy. The allied troops had all left Scutari and Gallipoli on the 20th ult. J'he last regiment to embark was the 49th, which left on the 19th. On the 17th there was a splendid review of Prince Napoleon's division, the Sultan, Prince Napoleon, and ➢larshal SL Arnaud being severally on the ground, accompanied each by a glittering staff. The Chasseurs de Vincennes showed the Turks their pas yymnastique, which others as well as the Turks admired. The marshal presented his lady to the Sultan. Before the review his Imperial Highness Prince Napoleon caused the following order of the day to be read to the troops of his division:— " Officers, under-officers, and soldiers of the 3rd division of the army of the East— " You are the first French soldiers that have entered Constantinople since the Crusades. " The appearance of our eagles in this capital will remain a great fact in history, and will be a great remembrance for each of you. " By your discipline, by your respect for the manners and usages of a friendly people, whose hearths you come to defend against unjust aggression, you will du ourselves honour. " Europe has its eyes on you. You will know how to render yourselves worthy of the high mission which the Emperor has confided to you." RUSSIA. The Vienna papers contain reports from Lemberg to the effect that the Czar has resorted to a levy en masse, and is marching the Russo-Polish army on the Austrian frontier. Letters from Riga state that sixteen gun-boats have been built in the vicinity of that place, which are in tended to protect the coast of Livonia. They are to be manned by the officers and crews of the condemned Navarin, and 900 militia, collected from the neigh bouring coast towns and villages. These vessels, after being duly blessed and christened, were launched on the 13th of June. Advices from Warsaw of the Ist inst. state that all the houses in the streets near the citadel were to be demolished for the immediate enlargement of the fortifications. Prince Gortschakoff on the 30th ult. ordered Gene ral Budberg, with the chancery, to leave Bucharest for k'okschani within forty-eight hours. The Warsaw Courier, of the 25th, contains the fol lowing :—" The Prince Field Marshal I'askiewitsch has so far recovered from his contusions that hopes are entertained of his being able to remount his horse in eight or ten days, when he will doubtless lead our valiant warriors to renewed triumphs." A large Russian ship, with seventy men on board, from China, with furs and a cargo valued above a