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

- 14 THE TITLEPAGE AND INDEX TO THE FOURTH VOLI'ME OF " THE PRESS" will be published on SATURDAY NEXT, January 10, as a upplement (gratis) to No. 193. vtx pro* LONDON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 1857. POSTSCRIPT. The Noniteur of yesterday announces that the Senate and Legislative Body are convoked for the lath of February. The latest news received at Vienna from Berne is that the French Government has again offered to intervene, but it is here believed that every one sided attempt to settle such an important question must fail. A letter from Vienna says : A person who is well informed of whet has recently been done by the Paris diplomatists states that the word Hol• grad will hardly appear in the new protocol, although both the places of that name will be ceded by Russia. The assurance has been given me that the evacuation of the Danubian principalities will begin towards the end of this month ; but if the weather is as mild on the Lower Danube as it is here, it will be impossible to move a gun. A ceps is of the population of the different depart ments of France has just been officially published. The total population is returned at 30,039,361 persons. The Offseiel Moniteur of Wurtemburg denies the statement that the Government had refused the passage of Prussian troops through that State ; and, it adds, it it were to do what is prayed for by the ten deputies it would identify it:elf with the revolutionary principle which Switzerland represents in this af►ir. The article proceeds to contend that the act of the deputies in question is an excess of political power, and cannot he granted, as it would violate the terms of Art. 85 of the Constitution. Immense activity prevails in the various offices of the Ministry of War at Berlin, and of the administra tions of the regiments. A letter from Berlin in the Dresden Journal says, " In the Ministry of War and in the general staff, deliberations, in which the officers of provinciai staffs take part, are held on the prepa rations necessary to be mode by the entrance on a campaign of an expeditionary army. The medical organisation in particular is being completely trans formed in consequence of the experience attained in the Eastern war." THE QUEEN has been graciously pleased to give orders for the appointment of his Royal Highness the Prince of Prussia, Colonel• General in the service of his Majesty the King of Prussia, to be an Hono rary Member of the Military Division of the First Class, or Knights Grand Cross, of the Most Honour able Order of the Bath. r SIR COLIN CAMPBELL arrived in Berlin on Wednes day, charged to deliver to the Prince of Prussia the insignia of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. THE PARIS CONFERENCES. TuE lifoniteur of Wednesday publishes the following official announcement : The representatives of the Courts which signed the Treaty of Paris will reassemble this day (Wednesday) in Conference, at the Hotel of the Ministry of Foreign AffeirP, to consult upon the means of putting an end to (nettre its) the difficulties which have interfered with the execution of Article 20 of the treaty of the 30th of March. The plenipotentiaries met at two p.m., the ques• tiou as to whether M. Brunnow should be present at the Conference in order to assist with bis advice Count Kisseleff having been decided in the affirmative. The new Bessarabian frontier line incorporates Bolgrad with Moldavia and the Isle of Serpents, and the delta of the Danube with Turkey, while giving to Rissia, as compensation, a terntory of 140 square miles, with a population of 160,000 souls, out of Bessarabia, to the north of Moldavia. This line was agreed to by Count Kiaseleff on the 27th, and prepa rations for the meeting of the representatives were at once concluded. Intelligence from Paris states that very little of a positive kind is known of the deliberations of the Congress yesterday. It has transpired, however, or rather it is rumoured, that the question of the evacuation of the Black Sea was mooted, and that the English Plenipotentiary, while admitting the THE PRESS. principle of the evacuation, stated that he would refer to his Government before fixing the precise date. LORD PANMURE AT FORFAR. LORD PANMVRE was entertained on Tuesday at a public dinner at Forfar. Upwards of eight hundred gentlemen sat down, Sir John Ogilvy taking the chair. Viscount Melville, the Earl of Kintore, Sir Houston Stewart, and the Lord Advocate, were among those present. In proposing the toast of the evening, the chairman eulogised Lord I'anmure's conduct as Lord Lieutenant of the county and as Minister of War. Lord Panmure had not displaced, but had simply succeeded the Duke of New castle : No political intrigue, such as tco frequently precedes the fall of one Minister and the rise of another, marked his accession to office My lords and gentlemen, Lord Panmure succeeded, he did not displace, the Duke of Newcastle. No one regretted the necessity fur t , e change more than Lord Panmure ; and so far from courting office, I believe I am correct in saying that he assumed it with much reluctance, and that it was only after urgent and repeated solicitations from his Sovereign, and his col leagues, backed as they were by the voice of the whole country, that he was induced to give way. Referring to his management of the War Department, Sir J. Ogilvy alluded especially to" the quiet, busi• ness.like, clock-work regulatity" with which all was performed proved that a master mind presided over the whole. Lord PANMURE, in reply, first acknowledged the compliment in his capacity as Lord Lieutenant of the county, particularly alluding to the prosperity of the county. He then came to his public services. Now, he had simply done his duty. He did not seek the office, but when offered, from the circumstances of the times, he never hesitated a moment from accepting it I saw, as others did, the state into which, from circum stances over which no man had any control, the army in the Crimea had unfortunately fallen ; but I saw, too, that that army was rallying from those circumstances. And I had such reliance on the British soldiery, and on the intelligence and the energy of the officers of the British army, that I was quite sure any responsibility I might have with regard to the army itself would be light, if I would only trust to the army and those who composed it. There were some circumstances, however, which called for immediate and active measures : There were circumstances certainly connected with the army in the Crimea which called for immediate and active measures. I have stated to yoa, and Sir John Ogilvy has repeated it, that that army in the winter of 18-54.55 had fallen into a condition which aroused the in dignation and excited the deepest sympathy of the British nation. No man seemed well to know to what circum stances to attribute so heavy a disaster; and I made it my duty, with the consent of my colleagues, to send out two gentlemen to inquire into the nature of these circom• stances—not for the purpose of seeking victims fur public indignation to punish—for I think that has been some what misconstrued as to the intention of the appointment of Sir John M`Neill and Colonel Tulloch—but to gain information, so that we might know the errors which had been committed, and be able to avoid them on all future occasions. He trusted, now that the circumstances of that period has passed away, that justice would be done to the officers of the army : I trust that justice will be done, for I believe that every one of the disasters in the Crimea arose from circumstances over which no man bad control ; and I do hope, now that they have passed, and that we have read the lesson, and studied the lesson, the people of England will let the matter drop asleep, and not avenge on a single individual that which was the result of a system rather than the fault of any single individual. The noble lord begged to express publicly the appro bation of the Government of the Crimean Commis sioners' report : The information in the report was accumulated under many difficulties, made with great fidelity, made not with the intention of injuring the feelings of any British officer, but of telling the truth. And neither Sir John BPNeill nor Colonel Tulloch, in placing the statements in my hands, and before the British public, had the slightest in tention of injuring the feelings of any one. Lord Panmure then briefly alluded in general terms to the origin and conduct of the war, and admitted the inefficiency of the old War-o'fice system. He would give one word in regard to the future : Peace has now returned ; but although peace has re tained, she is like a bird flying back at present to her tree, and although she may have alighted on the branch her wings are not yet fairly settled to her side. I would hope and trust that this country will not be in too great a hurry to insist upon returning to what are called peace establishments, and not only to clean the sword, but to insist upon hanging it up to rust against the wall. There is a medium in all things, and I believe we may study economy and at the same time preserve efficiency. I believe we may look forward to the maintenance of good efficient forces both in the army and in the navy, but at the same time consideratle relief from the taxation of the war. But I believe at the same time that it would be the i most ll•timed economy suddenly to cut down that which you have so efficiently raised up, and to bring back the SATURDAY, country into a state from which, when war lately occurred it cost millions to rescue it. When my hon. friend who represented me in the House of Commons moved last year the army and navy estimates, they amounted to no less a sum than thirty-four millions ; but to give you some idea that I am not exactly talking without book, when I am saying that great efficiency may be maintained and yet relief from taxation achieved, I can promise you that these estimates this year will not come within twenty millions of what they did las: year. And all I ask, arid all I hope for is, that this country will well consider the ne cessity of maintaining is these unsettled times a navy sufficient to defend our coasts at home, and our posses sions abroad, and an army fitted to send troops to the field, as well as perform the duties of those vast and exten sive foreign possession , . His lordship concluded by again returning thanks for the honour done him, and assuring the meeting that he should never cease to remember this occasion as the greatest and the highest compliment which during his life he had been fated to receive, and he could not conceive that it was in the power of man to pay to him a higher compliment. Among the remaining toasts were, " Our Allies in the Field," proposed by the Earl of Kintore ; "Those who have fallen in the war," "The United States of America and permanence to the friendly relations between the two countries," " The Health of the Lord Advocate," "The House of Lords," "The House of Commons," and several other toasts of a local and personal character. election lintelligenct. GuEENwicm—Lieutenant General Sir William Codrington commenced his canvas; on Monday. MERTHYR.-Mr. John Frost, the Chartist, has announced his intention of becoming a candidate for the representation of Merthyr at the next election. -•- LANARK.—The nomination of a candidate to repre sent Lanarkshire, in the room of the late Mr. Lock hart, is fixed for Monday, the sth of January. NEWPORT (ISLE OF WIGHT).—It is reported that upon the reassembling of Parliament, on the 3rd of February next, a new writ will be issued for the election of a member for the borough of Newport, isle of Wight, to serve in the place of Mr. William Biggs, who is prepared to resign his seat in the House of Commons as early as the netessnry matters can be arranged for that purpose. Charles Seeley, Esq., who sat for Lincoln in the year 1847, has been mentioned as Mr. Biggs's successor. BUTESHIRE.—TIIO representation of this county has been declared vacant by the elevation of Mr. James Stuart Wortley to the office of Solicitor- General, and a writ will be issued for the election of a member immediately on the assembling of Parlia ment. Mr. Wortley has in consequence addressed the constituency, soliciting a renewal of that trust to which he has now been four times elected, and with which he has been honoured for fourteen years. The hon. gentleman says:— The step which I have now taken implies no change of sentiment or action. When Lord Palmerston, in a moment of national trial, formed his Government on no exclusive basis of party, and mustered all the resources of the country in support of the war by prompt and ener getic action, 1 gave him my independent support. The peace that followed met with the general approval of Par liament, and since its consummation no great question of national policy has arisen on which I have differed from the present Prime Minister. In joining Lord Palmerston's Administration I hope for opportunities of being service able to my country. I hope to bear my share in fur ther and extensive improvements in the law, in the pro motion of liberal but religious education, in the adjust ment and fair distribution as well of the honours as of the burdens of our great and necessary establishments, and in the assertion of the honour of our country in the pre sence of all the nations of the world. I adhere to all that I have said of my determination to resist the encroach ments of the power of Rome, whether open or insidious, as injurious to religion and subversive of the truest and most precious freedom. SOUTHAMPTON. Considerable excitement was caused in Southampton on Wednesday in cr.nse quence of Mr. T. Falvey, stamp distributor of that town, having been suspended from his office by the Board of Inland Revenue for interfering in the Southampton election, by speaking at public meet ings in favour of Mr. Richard Andrews, one of the candidates for the representation of the borough. Mr. Falvey had acted under the advice of eminent counsel, who declared that he had a perfect right to do so previous to the issue of the writ to fill up the vacancy in the representation caused by the eleva tion to the Chief Justiceship of Sir Alexander Cock burn. THE NORTHERN BT:RGHS.—It is rumoured in Wick that Mr. J. G. Sinclair, of Ulbster, intends to contest these burghs. There is some possibility of Mr. R. Hartley Kennedy, who had to retire from the contest at the last election in Inverness, again coming forward.