The Press. — London, England, 1857-02-07 00:00:00

FEBRUARY 7, 1857. Sir J. PAKINGTON asked Lord Palmerston whether he had any objection to alter that portion of the paragraph in the Address relating to China, which expressed an approval of the late measures which had been resorted to against that country, as he (Sir J. Pakington) felt no hesitation in saying that he had the greatest objection to being committed to an ap proval of them? Lord PALMERSTON said he would consent to the in• troduction of such words as should not be open to the objections of the right hon. baronet. The Address was then unanimously agreed to, and the house adjourned at half-past twelve o'clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—WED:u.spiY. On the report upon the Address, Mr. HADFIELD complained of the omissions in the Royal Speech, particularly in respect to the colonies, dwelling upon what he termed the degradation of the people of India. _ _ . Mr. V. SMITH attempted to explain the difficulties which beset all questions concerning land tenure in India. The report was then agreed to, and the Address was ordered to be presented to her Majesty in the usual manner. _ _ _ . . Mr. CRAUFLII7 obtained leave to bring in a bill to render judgments or decrees obtained in certain courts in England, Scotland, and Ireland, respectively, effectual in any other part of the United Kingdom. The house adjourned at half•past one o'clock. HOUSE OF LORDS.—THrnsnAY. Earl SPINCER brought up her Majesty's gracious answer to the Address from their lordships' house. PERSIA AND CHINA. The Earl of ALBEMARLE, in moving for some returns relating to the cost of the Persian embassies from 1799 to the latest year, intimated his intention to bring forward a resolution expressing the opinion that diplomatic relation ship should not be renewed with that country. The Earl of ELT.ENBOROTIOH asked for the production of the despatch to Sir John Bowring, authorising him, should a favourable opportunity occur, to obtain personal access to the city of Canton. The Earl of CLARENDON replied that no specific in structions had been sent on the subject to Sir John Bow ring, but in those instructions with which he was fur nished upon leaving England he was told to bear in mind the desirability of obtaining free access to the cities named in the treaty. and more particularly to Canton. In further reply to the Earl of Derby and the Earl of Ellenborough, Lard Clarendon declined to specify a day for the produc• tion of the papers relative to the Persian war. The Earl of MALMESBURY stated that despatches of 1852.3 from Sir George Bonham were in existence, in which Sir George expressed his belief that it would be inexpedient to press for a right of entry into Canton. The Earl of Clarendon promised to produce these papers. Earl GREY begged especially to hope that" among them would be included a despatch he had himself written, with the concurrence of and after consultation with the late Duke of Wellington, dated November the 2-ith, 1847, and which strictly prohibited offensive operations being under taken by the local authorities without reference to the Go vernment at home." LORD CARDIGAN AND THE " STAFF OFFICER." The Earl of CARDIGAN put a question to the Secretary for War in regard to a recent publication on the Crimean campaign,by an officer of the staff, in which he asserted that his character had been maligned. He wished to know whether au officer who had disgraced himself by publishing false statements was to be permitted to remain on the staff of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Lord PA:OiI:RE admitted that the noble lord had been wantonly attacked, but thought, considering that he had received the thanks of Parliament for his services in the Crimea, he could afford to despise the attacks of one in a subordinate position. It was not the intention of the Commander•in•Chief to bring the officer in question to a court-martial. Returns connected with the proceedings of the Commis- sioners for dissfforesting the New Forest, were ordered on the motion of the Earl of MALMESBURY. Lord BERYERS moved for returns showing the number of tickets of leave issued to convicts in each year since the commencement of that system, specifying their original sentence, their unexpired time, the number reapprehended after release, the fresh charge, and the result of the investigation. _ _ _ The return was ordered, with an amendment proposed by Lord CARS.tRVON, that the number of convicts with tickets of leave reapprehended without having committed any fresh offence should be distinguished in the return. Their lordships then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—TnrusnAr. Among the petitions presented to the house was a remarkable one by Mr. ROTNIDELL PALMER from an Essex farm labourer, one Charles Attwood, who complained that having left the service of his master upon some dispute, he was on that account arrested by a magi,- trate'. warrant, and condemned by the magistrate to twenty-one days' imprisonment. The petitioner complained that the laws which allowed such proceedings were harsh and unequal, prayed that they might be amended, and that such arbitrary power should no longer be rested in a magis trate. Mr. SPOONER gare notice of his annual Ilaynooth motion for the 19th. Mr. HADFIELD, in the absence of Mr. A. Pellatt, obtained leave to bring in a bill to amend the law of imprisonment for debt, to extend the remcdies of creditors, and to punish fraudulent debtors. The bill was afterwards brought up and read a first Urns. THE PRESS. I I- THE HUDSON'S DAY COMPANY. Mr. LABOVCHERE moved for a select committee "to consider the state of those British possessions in North America which are under the administration of the Hudson's Bay Company, over which they possess a licence to trade " The licence under which the ccmpany held their monopoly over a vast area of country in North America would expire in Via ; and, before any decision was formed, or any pledge given respecting the course that should be pursued with regard to renewing or refusing the licence, the Colcnial Secretary submitted that it would be advisable to obtain further information than was at present accessible respecting the condition of the territories in question. Mr. ROEBUCK and Mr. ADDERLEY considered the time had now arrived for abolishing the company's charter. Mr. GLADSTONE approved of referring the whole question to a select committee. The motion was agreed to. Mr. LkIIOI;CHERE also obtained leave to bring in two bills—one to enable subjects of the lonian States to hold military and naval commissions under the Crown, and the other to alter the existing provisions relating to the eccle. siastical government of Norfolk Island, and the house shortly after adjourned. fortign Correspontente. BRUSSELS, February 3. THE crime of Verger has led to a singular discussion in the Chamber. It may be said to have been important in more than one sense. Attention was directed by M. Ver haegen to an article in the Journal de Bruxelles asserting that information of the murder of the Archbishop of Paris had been given at the Prefecture of Police five hours before the deed was perpetrated, and which was explained by the fact of the assassin, when at Brussels, having intimated, in secret conclave, his intention to commit the crime. The Journal de Bruxelles is the organ of the priest party. M. Vilain XIV. repudiated the existence of secret societies in Belgium ; and, although centemning the source from whence the report emanated, mentioned having re quested the Minister of Justice to take cogni sance of the matter. It was aptly pointed out by M. Vilain XIV. that where open discussions are allowed by the laws of the country, secret societies lose their calling. The conduct of this Minister towards political refugees in Belgium has been characterised by its usual frank solidarity. He assured them, on ac cepting office, that any attempt at conspiracy against foreign countries would be punished by exile ; and, being a man of determination, his caution had its due weight. But there is one word to be said on this matter. There are two secret societies that have extensive ramifications throughout Europe—the Repub lican and the Jesuit. They are based upon opposing principles with a unity of object— the subversion of the existing order of things. Unlicensed communism on the one hand, and on the other spiritual despotism, each being equally adverse to constitutional monarchy. The committee of the Republican Triumvirate in London has subcommittees or agents at Brussels and Geneva; that of Rome has its secret alliances at Vienna, Paris, Madrid, and Malines. For example :—When the Emperor of the French visited the Queen of England, a person at the Bricklayers' Arms Station advanced and presented a petition to the Emperor. His sudden movement, with extended arm, having the appearance of an hostile attempt, he was arrested. At seven o'clock of the same evening telegraphic intel ligence of this supposed attack upon the Emperor reached a secret society in Brussels, and the servant of a foreign Minister, in inti mate relation with the conspirators, imme diately conveyed the report to his master. This is a known fact. It was related by THE PRESS at the time. Under truly free Govern ments, such as England and Belgium, it is almost impossible to prevent secret associa tions. The liberty that encourages virtue cannot extinguish vice. Every means of pre vention, however, that just laws, an en lightened Government, and an able Minister can offer will surely be employed by Belgium. And they are necessary, for both the Republi can and the Jesuit, in their work of darkness, have no scruple in outraging the benevolences of hospitality, moral propriet►es, or the laws of God. The triumvirate of sacerdotal assassins, Moreno, Verger, and the later Neapolitan, 129 march " pari passu " with Pianori, Melano, and the murderer of Rossi. It is well to know that Mazzini and the General of the Order of Jesus have a weapon in common The Neufchatel difficulty, which threatened to bring about open war, has subsided into comparative nothingness. On their part the Swiss continue to show a reluctance to disarm. An indulgence of republican bravado has stimulated their pugnacity, so that a vent thereof is necessary ; and, having argued them selves into an insane state of self-importance, it is not improbable that the more inflammable of the mountaineers will join any revolu tionary movement that may break forth in Europe. At Geneva " Mort aux Rois " is the spirit of the political effervescence. Since the subsidence of the Neufchatel dis pute, the questions of the Danubian princi palities and that of Italy have become more prominent. Redschid Pacha, after the convo cation of the Divan "ad hoc " had been arranged, gave a fête at his palace of Emir ghian to the Ministers of France, England, Austria, Russia, Prussia, and Sardinia. There were also present the European Commis sioners, MM. de Talleyrand, Perigord, Sir H. Bulwer, Baron Koller, M. Basin. the Baron de Richtofen, and the Chevalier Benti. On the 30th of March the Principalities are to be free from the presence of a single Austrian soldier ; and on the Ist 'of April the plenipo tentiaries will take up their official residence in the country, and the elections will com mence. Every precaution has been taken to prevent the action of sinister influences. The boyards, the landed proprietors, the farmers, and the higher peasantry elected as repre sentatives, are to vote in classes and in equal numbers. The Roumains occupying Moldavia and Wallachia, and numbering four (millions, have the same language, the same religion, the same history, the same locality, and the same interests. A union, therefore, of the two provinces, with an established indepen dence under a European protectorate, is all that is necessary to develope the agrarian and riverain advantages that they possess. This union and independence existed under the ad ministration of General Kisselef, in 1829 and 1834; and the organic arrangement of 1832, guaranteed by the Porte as Suzerain, and by Russia as ally and protector, remains in force at the present time, no other law having ever been promulgated to nullify this constituted agreement. Under the later government of Prince Bibesco, in 1846, the system worked advantageously for the united provinces. Political justice and political interest are equally interested in the furtherance of this union. The state of Naples is frightful and alarm ing. This general inquietude and consterna tion has been increased by an officiating priest attempting to murder the Archbishop of Matera whilst giving the benediction. The prelate was saved by a canon, who arrested the blow; whereupon the assassin priest drew out a Dist oi and shot the canon in the head. When the Archbishop found himself safe, he tucked up his robes and, with the mitre on his head, ran through the streets "up wind '' to his palace. He was followed by a crowd of lazzaroni, shouting and laughing, who were ignorant of the cause of this strange race. Upon an average there are a hundred arrests daily. As the prisons are incapable of con taining the number, some of the deserted palaces of the nobles have been hired for the purpose. To get rid of this supernumerary cargo, a contract has been entered into, and signed on the 13th of this month, with M de Buschental, Minister of the Argentine Repub lic, whereby the King of Naples undertakes to supply the Republic with a colony of Neapo litan rebels, so called: and the sail colony is to be enlarged from time to time with fresh recruits from the prisons of Procida, Ischia, Capri, and St. Elmo, a3cording to convenience. It is said that no prisoner is to be expatriated without his consent. The intelligence of the warm reception given to the King of Sardinia at Nice and Genoa, and throughout his dominions, offers a plea sant contrast to the Neapolitan news. C. 4. it