The Press. — London, England, 1854-08-12 00:00:00

AUGUST 12, 1854• EGYPT AND ITS RULERS. A NEW ERA would seem opening for Egypt, under the government of a Viceroy who, unlike any of his predecessors, has received a completely European education. Said Pacha, who is now in his thirty second year, was brought up under the superinten dence of a Frenchman, M. liming, whose memory is still cherished by many who have heretofore travelled in the Levant. The new Viceroy speaks English well, and French, which is his favourite tongue, with perfect fluency. Destined by his father, Mehemet Afi, for the naval service, he was at an early age b rou ght into companionship with M. Houssard, a French officer, who acted as his aide-de-camp, and to whom the creation of the Egyptian fleet is princi pally due. Said Pacha, however, has been very little afloat. When about sixteen he was attacked with a disease in the eyes, which threatened total blindness, and though he recovered his sight has ever since re mained too weak to flt him for much active service. Since the death of Mehemet Ali, also, the jealousy of Abbas Pacha kept his uncle and, treaty-recognised heir aloof from all public affairs. Eagerly oblite rating the great works and improvements set on foot by his grandfather, Abbas Pacha could not pardon the taste for science and for European civilisation displayed by Said Pacha. Abbas was, indeed, very early spoiled by the indul gence of his grandfather, aided by his own natural predisposition co luxury and vice. When, at the age of thirty-eight, he succeeded to the viceroyalty of Egypt he was already blase in every sense of the word, and sought only to obtain, by the exercise of his despotic power, the realisation of impossible pro jects, whose very impracticability too often consti tuted their sole interest in his mind. All the enjoy ments which the fortune, the grandeur, or the glory of his house might have offered to a man by no means old he had already forestalled, or had forgotten when he sunk into the depths of Oriental sensualism. Policy he had none. His neglect of the men who had served his predecessor was but the consequence of a narrow-minded selfishness. He hated men whose advice he would not follow, though unable altogether to blind himself to the error he was thus committing. Nor could it be pleaded in excuse for his conduct that he was prompted by a desire to restore the Mahometan religion to its ancient vigour. A superstitious motive, though much to be regretted, would have been still respectable. But, while dis carding and persecuting the Europeans, Abbas Pacha retained in full vigour the tyrannical contrivances by which Mehemet Ali had wrung the last man and the last pars from the miserable fellah population. Mehemet was a tyrant, doubtless, but his despotism assumed a character of grandeur which has given it a prestige still uneffaced, and the important role he played in the world has done much to lessen the detestation with which his san guinary policy and cruel administration must other wise have been viewed. Of Abbas Pacha, history will record that Egypt under his rule was just as heavily crushed and drained as by his grandfather, but that, instead of leaving works which should excite the admiration of posterity, such as the arse nal of Alexandria, the mosque and citadel of Cairo, or the Mahmoudie canal, Abbas employed all the vigour of his fiscal system to gratify the only passion winch still remained unsatiated—avarice. He wrested the last coins from his subjects in order to put them in his money-chests : his end was accordingly that of a miser and a tyrant. Before they performed the last services to his corpse, the domestics pillaged his palace, and his funeral took place by stealth, in the fear that his remains might be treated with indig- nity. The new reign is welcomed with hope and enthu siasm, alike by the Egyptians and by foreigners. The best hopes are attached to the future career of Said Pacha ; whether they will be realised remains to be seen. The new prince is young, and has been brought up in almost total unacquaintance with the duties of royal or public life. He is known to have excellent dispositions, no little information, and a keen sense of the benefits of civilisation. Will these suffice? He is called upon to raise his country out of the misery into which it has been plunged by sixty years of cruel oppression; and to change all the tra ditions of an administrative system whose sole pur pose has been to absorb the largest possible quantity of men and money. For this task is it enough to possess intelligence and good intentions ? In power Said Pacha may show qualities of energy, activity, and skill which while he remained a mere subject it would have been dangerous to display. Without such it will be difficult for him to make much progress in the gigantic task of raising Egypt out of the degraded position she has so long occupied as a land of bond age and barbarism. SIR JAMES GRAHAM has been suffering from an attack of pleurisy. He was a little better on Thurs day evening, but still confined to his bed. The labour of his office has of late been very severe. MAJOR-GENERAL CEATTERTON, K.H., has received from her Mkjesty the pension for distinguished ser vices in the army. THE PRESS. THE CHOLERA. Ix the week that ended last Saturday the total number of deaths registered in London was 1,456, exhibiting a mortality considerably in excess of the average ; a result arising from cholera, which continues to make progress in the metropolis. The deaths ascribed to the zymotic or epidemic class of diseases rose from 422 in the previous week to 731 in the last. Cholera, which was fatal in the last three weeks of July in 5, 20, and 133 cases, destroyed last week 399 lives ; viz., 145 children under 15 years of age, 213 persons be tween 15 and 60 years, and 41 who had reached 60 years of age and upwards. The dilease had made greater progress at the same date in 1840, for in the week that ended 4th August of that year the number who died of it was 926. From diarrhoea and dysen tery the deaths in the last four week, have been 51, 68, 87, and 146. Of the 399 deaths from cholera last week, 23 occurred in the west districts, 12 in the north, 14 in the central, 60 in the east, and no less than 290 on the south side of the river. A deputation from the Westminster Hospital waited upon Mr. Broderip, on Tuesday, for the pur pose of obtaining his advice in consequence of the prevalence of diarrhoea and cholera in that neighbour hood, and of the numerous applications for relief by the sufferers at that institution : Dr. ROE stated that, during the last few days, diarrhea and cholera had made such an alarming progress in Westminster, that the committee thought it necessary to make an application to the magistrates of that office, as, if the diseases extended, the medical staff of the hospital would not be able to meet the de mands made upon them. He believed that the Board of Health was extinct, and he was sorry to say that the funds of the insti tution were not sufficient to increase the number of the medical officers. Mr. BRODERIP stated that the Board of Health still continued to do their duties, and would do so until the new board was formed. He would be happy to assist them, but lie had no power. Dr. HOE said it 118.1, moat important that some course should be promptly taken, as there had been a rapid increase of cases in the course of the last twenty-four hours. During that time above seventy applications fur relief from persons attacked with diarrhoea had been made at the hospital, and at twelve o'clock that day a woman suffering from Asiatic cholera was admitted who died at two o'clock. Mr. BRODERIP: The Board of Health should be applied to, and I have no doubt but they will afford you all the assistance you require. Unfortunately the cholera is all over the world. Mr. GILBERT : The hospital establishment is unequal to the labour it has now to do. There may be to-morrow 120 cases, and, if so, there ought to be au increase of the medical officers at the hospital. Mr. KNOX : The present staff is overworked, and in all pro bability the disease is only beginning. The committee are willing to meet every case, even though such a course would be to add to their liabilities. If diarrhea and cholera extend the staff must be increased. Mr. BRODERIP observed that he was sorry to hear that the hospital was so poor, and that their staff was overworked, but he had no powor to assist them. If they came before him to com plain against any nuisance he could go to work at once. The deputation withdrew, thanking the magistrate for his attention to their application, and stating that they would attend at the Board of Health. Three deaths have occurred at Plymouth on board the hospital-ship Andromeda since Friday—namely, two children named Elizabeth Murphy and Edward Barnsley, and James Joseline, 60th Regiment. There were sixteen sick cases remaining on Wednesday ; twelve of these were cholera cases, of which four were almost hopeless—viz., two soldiers, one woman, and one sailor. Five cases of diarrhcea were under treatment on board the receiving-ship Endymion. The ship Dirigo, which lately returned to the Mersey with cholera on board, sailed again on Wed nesday for Australia. She has been thoroughly cleansed and fumigated, and takes out 420 passenger emigrants, 250 of whom were among the number originally embarked in her. One of the medical journals of Paris gives what professes to be an authentic report of the state of the cholera in France up to the 6th inst. The malady had invaded nearly half of the departments, but the average number of deaths for the whole in the first week of the month was only 500 per day. In Paris, from the 2nd to the 6th, the deaths in the hos pitals were only twenty per day, and in private prac tice about the same number; so that the total upon a population of more than a million was only forty per day. For the cholera to exist at all, it would hardly be lower in amount than this. According to the last advices from Genoa, the total number of cases of cholera there since the outbreak has been 1,588; deaths, 656. The municipality are unremitting in their efforts to mitigate the evils arising from the pestilence. Several convents have been placed at its disposal for the patients ; bread, wine, and meat are distributed among the poor, and work is being provided for the labouring classes. The number of persons who bad left Genoa on ac count of the cholera amounted, up to the 2nd, to 30,684. At Marseilles the epidemic has assumed a more favourable form, and the mortality is fifty per cent. less than during the last week. The recoveries, moreover, are more numerous, and the sudden deaths 765 less frequent. The Mayor has made an appeal to the generosity of his fellow-citizens to open a subscrip tion to relieve the immense suffering occasioned by the prevailing epidemy. The appeal has been very liberally responded to. Several of the minor public functionaries, such as policemen and custom-house officers, have fled from the town since the appearance of the disease, and consequently forfeited their situa tions. A functionary of a higher order, namely, M. Roussin, deputy-mayor of the city, having exhibited symptoms of similar moral cowardice, the department has suspended him from his functions. One baker has been deprived of his licence for having closed his shop and fled. Since the decline in the malady the Prefect has published a decree recommending the emigrants not to return too soon to the town, as their return may cause a revival of the disease, as it did at Arles, and occasion a further calamity. RAILROADS IN THE UNITED STATES. THE following summary of the value of shares, &e., in the various railroads of the United States, with the accruing revenues and prospective value as pro perty, has been collected by the Philadelphia corre spondent of the Morning Chronicle : The Pennsylvanian Railroad, which has only been in operation about two jeers, forms the chief portion of the great system between Philadelphia. Pittsburg, and the West. This road has 12,000,000 dollars of capital paid in, out of 18,000,000 dollars agreed for. The portion of its stock held in England is 1,100,000 dollars. It has issued bonds for 3,000,000 dollars, of which 2,500,000 dollars are held in England. Up to the present time, interest at the rate of 8 per cent. per annum has been regularly paid by the company on their stock, and a similar interest regu larly on their bonds. This road is more than prosperous, in proof of which an official statement exhibits the earnings of the railroad, and the expenses of the management, during the half year ending June 30, 1854 : Earnings, 1,880,324 dollars ; expenses, 988,048 dollars ; net profits, 893,375 dollars. Same month in 1853 -- Earnings, 1,459,133 dollars; expenses, 797,777 dollars; net profits, 001,350 dollars. From this it appears that the net profits of the company have been 893,372 dollars fur the first halt' of the present year—equal to the interest of U per cent. per annum on 29,779,107 dollars. The Camden and Amboy Company own two railroads and a canal. The Camden and Amboy Railroad, between Phila delphia and New York, has no competition, having been chartered by the Legislature of New Jersey for a certain number of years. It has a paid-in capital of 3,000,06') Jul. lam none of the stock being held by foreigners. But it has issued bouds to the extent of 7,784,000 dollars, of which 2,411,750 dollars we held in England. This road pays 12 per cent. on its stock annually, also 0 per cent. on its bonds, with scrupulous regularity. It also pays transit and passenger duties to the State of New Jersey, last year amounting to 150,545 dollars. The Belvidere and Delaware Railroad has issued bonds for 1,000,000 dollars, all held by foreigners, mainly in Eng land. This line has only been in operation fur a few months, but is a favourite. No official statistics can be obtained of the Delaware and Raritan Canal, further than the statement that a large amount of its stock and bonds is held in England. This canal is the inland navigation between New York and Phi ladelphia, and so great is its success that it pays 12 per cent. per annum to its stockholders. The above two roads and canal are owned by the Cam den and Amboy Company. The Philadelphia anti Reading Railroad, commonly known as the Reading Railroad, is empowered by charter to have an unlimited capital. Its paid-in capital is 7,310,000 dollars, of which 2,000,000 dollars are held by foreigners. Its outstanding bonds amount to 9,353,0U0 dollars, of which 0,000,000 dollars are held by foreigners. All the stock and bonds owned abroad are probably held in Eng land. This company passed over their last dividend un stock, but the interest on the Reading bonds is regularly paid. The committee of directors engaged in investigating the Schuyler over-issues of New York and Newhaven have not yet finished their labours, but have made no further frau dulent discoveries. The directors of the New York Central Railroad have just issued a statement of its business attain to the stock holders, from which it appears that the receipts fur fifteen months ending on the Ist of July were :—Passengers, 3,994,000 dollars; freight, 2,780,000 dollars; spacial re ceipts, 54,000 dollars. Total, 0,809,000 dollars. The dis bursements for the same time were 3,557,000 dollars. Interest on debt and sinking fund, 883,000 dollars, leaving a balance of profit of 2,371,000 dollars, out of which 2,007,000 dollars had been paid for dividends. THE ABERDEEN ELECTION is ordered to commence on the 22nd inst. The vacancy is caused by the re tirement of Admiral Gordon, brother to the Premier, who has accepted a command. Lord Haddo, eldest son of the Premier, has addressed the electors as a candidate. There are reports that his return will be contested by Lord March, eldest son of the Duke of Richmond. - A STROK.a or Goon Fusion was announced a few ittil since to a labouring man of the name of Mitchell, w e working in a hedge-bottom, near Oainsborough, and who was called from his employment to hear the interesting in- formation that a relative had left him persona and other property to the value of something like 29,0001. Mitchell had only seen his benefactor once or twice in his life, and hat not the slightest intimation of the good fortune that awaited him. lie is a married man with a large family