The Press. — London, England, 1855-03-24 00:00:00

cn 1855 The Arcole, screw steamer, of 90 guns, waslaunehed on Tuesday at Cherbourg, being the fortieth steam ship the Emperor Napoleon 111. has given to France. On the 19th the steam corvette Le Volta, of 400- horse power, was launched at L'Orient. The scheme for laying a tax upon paper has been abandoned, in consequence of the great outcry against the project. As money must be bad, the idea of taxing carriages, carriage and saddle horses, has been revived, and a bill on the subject is ex pected to be sent down from the Council of State to the Corps Legislatif almost immediately. It is cal culated that, according to the scale proposed, the owner of a carriage and pair of horses must pay 250 francs a year to the revenue. GERMANY. The Augsburg Gazette and Journal de Franefort contain decisive statements as to the course to be taken by Austria in case the Conferences should be broken off without a pacific solution. The Augsburg Gazette says :—" Austria has declared to the Western Powers (par tine note obligatoire) that if the Con ferences should not result in the re-establishment of peace the situation provided for by Article Five of the treaty of the 2nd of December would be in force;" that is to say, that Austria would declare war against Russia. The Journal de Francfort says : "In fifteen days, or in three weeks at most, the question of peace or war will be decided." The Conetitutionnel adds that the Austrian Envoy at the Diet is already furnished with instructions to enable him at the proper time to claim for Austria the aid of Germany in an offensive war against Russia. The King of Prussia arrived at Dresden on the 16th, as the guest of the King of Saxony, and is ex pected to remain until the 80th instant. The policy of the two Kings is at this time coincident, both acting for Russian interests. DENMARK. The Volksthing has unanimously passed a bill to impeach all the former Ministers, and has directed proceedings to commence immediately. The Cham ber has also definitively rejected the non authorised expenses of the war budget of 1854. Consequently, the ex-Minister of War must pay these expenses out of his own funds. The King is convalescent, and no bulletins have been issued since Sunday last. BELGIUM. The Indipendance Beige announces the formition of a new Belgian Cabinet composed as follows :—MM. Dedecker, Minister of the Interior; Mercier, Foreign Affairs ; A. Damon, Public Works; Smits, Finances ; A. Nuthomb, Justice ; and General Greindl, War. Only three of the number are members of the Cham ber of Representatives, and they are of the party of the Right. Telegraphic despatches state that the Ministry only lived a day. The Chamber is convoked for Monday next. THE PA‘t:ss.t much, and from that period the fever increased every hour, and at last the paraly-is of the lungs came on. A new circular note by Count Nesselrode has been sent to the Russian Ministers at the several Courts of Europe. If the telegraphic accounts of this document are to be relied on, the Chancellor declares the mission of the new Emperor to be " the preservation of the integrity of the empire, and especially the restoration of peace to Russia and the world." The great forced recruiting was effected with ex treme rigour throughout Russian Poland in the night of the 12th and 13th. According to Russian accounts the number of their troops now in the Crimea amounts to 170,000 men. The ammunition waggons which carry stores from Perekop to Baktchi Serai have twice broken up the road which crosses the large marshes of Perekop. The disgrace of Prince Menschikoff is more com plete than was signified in the first accounts from St. Petersburg. An order of the day dated the 4th instant, removes him, under the form of accepting his resignation, not only from the command in the Crimea, but from the post of Chief of the Naval Staff; and from the Governor -Generalship of Finland. He retains only the titular appointments of Aide-de. Camp General and Councillor of State. The Emperor of Russia has addressed the following rescript to the Cossack troops of the Don : To our well-beloved and faithful army of Cossacks of the Don.— The cruel loss which has just fallen on Russia in such an unlooked-for manner will be painfully felt by the grateful hearts of the Cossacks of the Don. In his constant kindness to them, my well-beloved father had granted them an organic regulation which completely secured their wel fare. Only a short time ago, the Emperor Nicholas I. de clared that he loved his valiant children of the Don, and that he was proud of them. In proof of these sentiments his Majesty frequently appeared before the ranks of his faithful army in the uniform of a Cossack of the Don. Wishing to manifest to these troops our gratitude for their faithful and glorious services. we make them a present of the uniform which was worn by the Emperor. Let it be preserved among the insignia of the army of the Cossacks of the Don, and remain in its treasury as a sacred relic and an im perishable souvenir for generations to come. ALEXANDER. A letter from St. Petersburg of the Bth, says : The body of the late Emperor has been for some day lying on a state bed at the Winter Palace, and the public have been admitted at certain hours to see it. The body is in the room of the Grand Duchess Olga. The embalmment took place under the direction of Professors Schultz and Gruber, members of the Academy of Medicine and Surgery. Since Tuesday the body of the Emperor has been covered with a large pall, edged with gold, which envelopes the whole and covers the face. The decoration of the room is very simple. Three priests stand near the bed, and say mass alternately. The crowd who go to see the body is immense. They are only allowed to stop a few minutes in the room, and then pass on. Every Russian kneels near the coffin, makes the sign of the cross, and kisses the covering over the body. ITALY. SCHAMI AND HIS SON. The writer of a letter from the Caucasus states that within the last few weeks Schamyl has been re joiced by the return of his son, who, eleven years ago, when of tender age, had the misfortune to be taken prisoner by the Russians. Since then Schamyl had not heard of the boy, and long ago gave him up for lost. It appears, however, that when he was captured the Russian general, Prince Woronzoff, sent him to St. Petersburg, where the late Emperor took a liking to the lad, and had him educated in the SPAIN. Military Academy. It happened last year t hat Sammy', in some sudden surprise, took several Rus- The inauguration of the railway from Madrid to sian ladies prisoners, amongst whom was the Princess Albacete, a distance of 276 kilometres (1721 English TQcharawaddy. They were conducted to one of miles), took place on Monday last. Scbamyl's mountain fastnesses and confined there as The Spanish Government continues sending rein- prisoners of war, hut treated with the respect and forcements to Cuba. TURKEY. decorum due to their rank and sex. The Governor- General of Tithe sent a flag of truce to Schamyl to Advices from Constantinople of the 12th of March demand the release of the captured ladies, offering a state that the shocks of earthquake continued. large sum of money and the liber t y of several The sulphurous springs of Broussa had been dried Circassian ladies who had been made prisoners by up. Mount Olympus vomits smoke like a volcano. the Russians. But Schamyl replied that if his son The French hospital of Grand-Champ is reported were alive, and the Russians would restore him, he to have been destroyed by fire, with the loss of about would release all the lady captives. The Emperor lon lives. Other accounts, however, declare that Nicholas sent for young Schamyl, gave him his it was only some wooden barracks near the hospital liberty, and fitted him out with the needful equip alluded to that caught fire and were destroyed ; ment to undertake the long journey. The exchange making no mention of any persons having perished took place in the end of January. Young Schainyl, in the conflagration. The Emperor Napoleon was who when at St. Petersburg was not required to eh expected in that city, where every preparation had jure the Moslem creed, has profited by his involun been made for his reception. tarsj seour at the Russian capital , and has now The death of the Emperor Nic holas was received. returned to his overjoyed father an accomplished at Constantinople on the 7th instant. cavalier, with a comparatively civilised education. RUSSIA. It is said that he entertains "great gratitude to the The official report of the progress of the malady Emperor for his personal treatment, and it is not of the Emperor Nicholas confirms in some degree impossible that his return to his native mountains the opinion entertained that the news of the affair may have an effect on the future mode of Circassian of Eupatoria accelerated, if it did not cause, the warfare, and the introduction of more civilised man death of the Emperor. It was precisely on the 24th ners and customs generally amongst his countrymen. February that an improvement in his system took place, and a favorable crisis wa s ex p ected. At that INDIA AND CHINA. We announced mo ment the despatch concerning Eupatoria was the arrival of the overland ma il handed him, which appeared to disturb bim very ' from India and the Eastin our late edition last week. The Opinione of Turin states that two companies ' of the Piedmontese corps of Engineers are to embark on the 31st instant, on board the Carlo Alberto steamer, for the Crimea. Five hundred oxen have been bought by the Piedmontese Government for slaughter, in order to furnish the expeditionary troops with salt beef. A separate treaty will be concluded between Sar• dinia and the Porte, and all the diplomatic difficulties which retarded the embarkation of the Piedmontese contingent will be thus removed. The expedition, commanded by General La Marmora, will proceed on the 12th of April. The letters and papers have since been duly re ceived. The following is from the summary of the Bombay Times : Perfect tranquillity reigns throughout India, and there is every prospect of its lung continuing to du so. Some time since it was stated that 'fagsliund, in the Kokan, had been occupied by the Russians ; whereas we are now assured that l'agshund hail not been occupied by them, and that no Russians are within two hundred miles of the place. A force has certainly arrived within some days' march of Khiva, but no RWISIAII agent has been within reach of that town. The Shah of Persia is unremitting in his endeavours to effect an alliance with Dost hi &twined. The latter some time since sent one of his courtiers on a secret political mission to Persia ; he lately returned to Cabul with costly presents from the Shah to the Dost, and a gracious and flattering letter, in which, among other things, the Aweer promises to restore all the territory wrested from Cabul by Persia. The kleeranzaie expedi tion has not lett Peshawur, but arrangements are in pro gress for its departure. The mountain train bad been warned for service, as well as a company of European artillery. Our advice' from Burmah are to the ilfirti ult. Orders have been issued by the commissioner for two ves sels to he in readiness in June next to proceed to Ma, whither the ambassadors have already tone. The North China Herald of January 6th gives an account of an unsuccessful attack on the city of Shanghee. It says The renewal of an. assault on the city of Shanghae has been daily expected since Saturday last, when a few shots were tired into it by the French, whereby it was reported that about twenty insurgents were lined. This morning, at about half-past six, a cannonade was commenced from the French battery in front of the French consulate, and within an hour a practicable breach was made in the north city will, below the Jose-house that was destroyed by the bombardment on the 9th ult. At this place we hear that 1.600 Imperialists and :.:60 French marines and sailors ascended the breach and scaled the walls, when a furious contest ensued—the French frigate La Janine d'Arc, and steamer Colbert, also firing into the city to protect the at tacking column. The insurgents maintained their ground with great determination, and burled the imperialists num the walls as they ascended for some time. The French behaved with great coolness and bravery, but Lieut. Duran was killed, and Ensign Discry wounded, on the first attack. The combat was maintained with great spirit from half past seven till about eleven am., when the insurgents drove the Imperialists back with much slaughter; and the French, finding their Chinese allies worse than useless, were compelled to retire within their lines A few shots were fired subsequently from the Fren:h ships.ofwar, but about noon it seemed that the contest was euncluded for the day, and the insurgents were left masters of the city. We are informed that the French have had two officers killed, four wounded, and thirteen privates killed and thirty-three wounded. WEST INDIES. The West India mail packet Panama arrived at Southampton on Tuesday. Besides forty•eight pas sengers, and specie to the value of 1,169,000 dole., she brings a large and beautiful collection of woods from the Jamaica Society of Arts for the Paris Exhibition. The West India islands were generally healthy. A serious disturbance took place at Kingston on the 27th of January, originating in a misunderstanding between the Baptists and their minister (Mr. Ough ton) about the proprietorship of their large chapel. So great was the tumult that the authorities were obliged to call out the aid of the military. The result was not known when the packet left nee t day. In Demerara an inundation, supposed to he con nected with some subterranean perturbation, bad done considerable damage. ?deteorological pheno mena, unusual in February, have also manifested themselves. Houses (says the Royal Gazette) have " toppled down" before extraordinary winds ; forest trees have also been levelled or dismembered ; and such a sea has broken upon the coast as to destroy the seaward defences, break kokers to pieces, and create an amount of destruction unprecedented in man's memory occurring within so short a time. During one or two days the rain fell incessantly and in torrents ; but, although back dams were endan gered by the pressure of the accumulating savannah waters, no great damage could be effected from this cause—it only kept estates' draining-engines in con stant employment. The sea has thoroughly satu rated Kingston (part of George Town) with silt, killing, as a matter of course, trees and shrubs, and fruit and flower, with which it was ornamented, and which cost both time and money in the raising. There is also a mud deposit upon the land—in this • the certain cause of disease. The Executive s weet rain- wa ter with which of c overed the ground simultaneously with tohe outbreok aeawardly. 'I country the certain eause of alsease. a ny and the Court of Policy have agreed to get out a Dutch engineer, accustomed to sea defences oil the coastof Holland. A visitation such as thjs would, under ordinary circumstances, have been ruinous to a very large amount of property on the east coast to windward of the town. are informed, however, that although strong k W ok e ers, or draining sluices, were shivered as if they had been reeds, and many estates put under water, the mischievous influence of the salt was to a large extent counteracted by the a.stst• with which the torrents of rain II