The Press. — London, England, 1855-01-27 00:00:00

THE PRESS. effected, the hat was removed, and *Mr. Bright put on one of Lord Aberdeen's best cotton nightcaps as his official costume. Lord Clan ricarde, as the proxy for the Noble Earl's sponsor and patron, was in ducted to the post of honour, and the programme, which had been specially arranged by Lord Aberdeen himself, was then followed out. The Noble Earl retired into his washing-closet, and was fetched out by the Earl of Carlisle, who brought him up to the proxy of the Russian Knight. He was ordered to kneel, which he did with great alacrity, and the following questions and answers wore put and given:— Q. Who are you ? A. George Hamilton Gordon—Viscount Gordon in the peerage of the United Kingdom, Earl of Aberdeen in that of Scotland, and Keeper of Greenwich-Park. Q. What do you want? A. To be made a Knight of the Garter. Q. What for ? A. From motives of friendship. Q. Explain yourself, will you ? A. A valued friend of mine, of forty years' standing, belongs to the Order, and I. desire to become his sworn brother. Q. Any other reason? A. Yes ; I am just leaving office, and am not likely to have another chance of getting anything of the kind. Q. Any other reason . A. Yes ; I am excessively unpopular out of doors, and I desire to make the public believe that I am in high favour at the Court. Q. Any other reason ? A. Yes ; Several men not half so deserving as myself have got the Blue Ribbon, and I don't see why I should not have it. Q. Any other reason? A. Yes ; I desire to annoy one John Russell, who is going to get me turned out of office. Q. Any other reason ? A. Yes; I am a Scotchmaa, and naturally wish to get everything I can. TERMS OR tOR gbe e 0 : Per Annum .. Half-Yearly Quarterly .. ,C 1 6 0 0 13 0 0 6 6 Payable in advance. Subscribers are requested to send their Orders t hrou g h their News Arnt if direct to the ()dice, accompanied by a Remit anCe. Money Orders to be made payable to Mr. ALTRYD 110, Strand, London. Letters from Athens, of the 11th, state that Prince Napoleon, after a short stay there, had set out for Malta, where he would also make a brief sojourn. It is reported and believed in Paris that the mili tary convention between Austria, France, and England will be signed at Vienna within the next forty-eight hours. It is already understood that by one of the clauses of this convention an auxiliary French army will be allowed to march across Loin bardy and the Austrian States, to take part in the war on the Danube. If the Austrian proposal to mobilise the armies of the States of Germany, and to appoint a commander in-chief of the Federal forces, is carried at the Frankfort diet, it is confidently expected that the Emperor of Austria will be named as commander. Prince Oscar, the second son of the King, is ap pointed commander-in-chief of the Swedish and Norwegian navy ; and Prince Nicholas Augustus, his younger brother, captain of the Norwegian Rifle Corps. The army and naval (gun-boat) force of Norway are to be considerably augmented. Orders have been given to raise 1,000 sailors. Senor Sevillano, the Spanish Minister of Finance, resigned office on the 22nd inst. He will be re• placed by Senor Madoz. The Duke and Duchess of Brabant arrived at Milan on the 16th, under the incognito of Viscount and Viscountess of Ardenne4They will, alter a short stay, proceed on their way to Greece and Egypt. The Earl of Lincoln, the Duke of Newcastle's eldest eon, attained his majority on Wednesday, when the event was celebrated by public rejoicing among his grace's tenants at Worksop, Newark, Retford, and Clumber. FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE. Tuesday, January 23. BANKBUPTS—Jour STEVENS, letter-lane, City, cheese monger—EDWAßD MURU as. Maidstone, licensed victualler — WILLIAM PEARCE, Clerkenwell-green, gastitter—HlNßY BINNILL HARMS, Shrewsbury, draper—Hrmax SPENCSR, Boss, Here fordshire, linendraper—Jklurs LucAs, Stroud, Gloucestershire, cheese factor—Jorr WARD, Penistone, Yorkshire, surgeon— Jour Coxosr, Macclesfield, Cheshire, butoher—TuouAs ESCOLASTICO PEARSON, Seaton Carew and West Hartlepool, Durham, merchant. Friday. January 2 11 . BANKRUPTS.—NZHEMIAIt WILLIAM PARSON, SMIBIWArk, millwright and engineer—Gronom HALL, BILAWII, upholsterer --ArcturALD NEvISON, Darlington, hosier—WILLIAM LuDLovr PALIN, Putney, licensed victualler--fiartuaL GLOVER FAlR saoTurn, Bow-street, printer—Jour RICHARD WEST, Sun Saw Mills, Canal-road, Kingsland, Middlesex, dealer in hard wood— DAvin ENocH DAVIES, Pontypridd, Glamorganshire, grocer— GEORGE SMITH, Southwark, hat and cap manufacturer—Groftor WARD, Bristol, victualler—HENßY PHILLIPS, liethnal-green road, Middlesex, corn chandler and corn deaIer—RICHARD Timex, Blackman-street, Southwark, watch and clock maker — Josion BRADFORD, Coventry, licensed victualler—WlLLlAM GANY and GEORGIC GANDY York, merchants—Jour WAIDSON, Mont D gomery, innkeeper —RICHARD COLLARD, Devonport, coach proprietor—JOHN WILLIAM SHAW, Liverpool, passenger broker —SAMUEL GARRETT and HZERY BUCKLEY, Saud Mill, MEW Mottram in Longendale, Chester, innkeeper. Silt HENRY WAsp, now Lord High Commissioner of the lonian Islands, according to the Herald, has been selected by his old friends, the Ministers, to relieve Sir George Anderson in the government of that valuable colony, Ceylon. Q. Any other reason ? A. None that I desire to state. Q. Your reasons are satisfactory. Take that ! Lord Clanricarde here dealt the Earl the usual honour-bestowing blow, with a little extra emphasis. Lord Clarendon then tied on the garter, after a smart squabble as to which leg it belonged to, and Lord Carlisle delivered an eloquent and flowery address to the new Knight. He reminded him that the Order was one of chivalry, and that its members were bound to assail the strong in defence of the weak, a principle which Lord Aberdeen had not perhaps exactly carried out in his dealings with Turkey and Russia. but of which he could now see the beauty and fitness. He apprised him that candour and sincerity were the characteristics of a Knight, and that henceforth he must aban don that system of deceit and double-dealing which had brought us into the present war; and he added that the vows enjoined the utmost loyalty to one's Monarch, and courtesy to woman, hinting, delicately, that the avowal of cordial friendship for one's Sovereign's enemy was scarcely compatible with the first obligation—(Here Lord Clanricarde rushed out, under pretence of asking what o'clock it was)—and that the exacting a decoration of honour from a quarter whence it must have been granted reluctantly, would have been decidedly an infraction of the second had it been previously taken. But he added a hope that the new Knight would polish up his old shield, and in future keep it clear of spots and splashes. Mr. Bright then delivered, as was supposed, a series of appro priate prayers, but as, in Quaker fashion, he remained perfectly silent until, suddenly pulling off his nightcap, he demanded refreshment, this can be only matter of surmise. The new Knight and his com panions then proceeded to the banquet, and the first toast (Lord Cla rendon dissenting) was the health of Nicholas of Russia, with the sentiment, " May differences of opinion never alter friendship." Mr. Bright sang " He's a jolly good fellow," and when the new Knight's health had been drunk, the interesting ceremony was brought to a close. CRYSTAL PALACE COMPANY. THE Crystal Palace Company have issued a report prepara tory to their meeting on the Bth of February, in which they recommend a dividend of 4s. per share, or at the rate of 8 per cent. per annum, for the half-year ending the 81st of December. The amount expended up to the present time is stated at 1,143381., consisting of the share capital of 1,000,0001. (less 14,2251. remaining unissued), 61,5501. borrowed on debentures, and certain sums from loans and current receipts. The revenue of the twenty-nine weeks from the opening on the 10th of June to the 81st of I)e -cember has been 113,5861., and the expenditure 38,7961., including about 10,01101. incidental to the opening cere mony. The balance nominally available is therefore 74,7881.; and as the proposed dividend will absorb only 39,4311., a surplus will remain of 35,3571. to the credit of revenue account for the present year. The. general receipts have comprised—payments at the doors by 956,232 visitors, 55,7901.; season-tickets, 36,7 . 241.: rental of space, 18,8201.'; and miscellaneous items, '2,245/., including the refresh ment department, the profits of which have exceeded its cost of 50,035/. only by 8341., and which is henceforth to he let to Messrs. Staples, of the Albion, Aldersgate-street, who are to pay a penny per head on the number of daily visitors. On the whole the results thus far attained must be regarded as satisfactory, since severe drawbacks have been encountered, from the war and other causes, which could not originally be calculated upon. With regard to future prospects, the directors look to the completion of the waterworks, which will be effected early in the summer, as an extraordinary source of attraction, as well as to the opening of the West-end Railway, and they consider that from pest experience they may fully rely that the estimate of 1,0001. per week furnished by Sir Joseph Paxton will prove ample to cover every expense except that for the band. This, they remark, can be retained or discontinued, as found advisable ; but, inasmuch as in its present state of efficiency, under Mr. Schallehn, it is among the princi ple attractions of the place, especially to the season•ticket holders, any diminution of its force is likely to he accom panied by a more than proportionate falling off in the per manent receipts. As respects the funds yet to be raised for the entire completion of the undertaking, it is announced that the 300,0001. mentioned at the meeting in July as the requisite sum, in addition to the 1,000,0001. of share capital, will not be exceeded. Of this 61,5501. has already been obtained by the issue of debentures, and 60,000/. more is expected from the same source. To supply such of the re mainder as is absolutely necessary, a preference stock of 150,0001., at 7 per cent., in 51. shares, is proposed to be offered pro raid among the existing proprietors. TEE WOODEN HUTS.—The last of the 2,362 houses made by Mr. Essie, for the French and English Go vernments, was finished on Wednesday night last, and despatched on the following day. The whole have been completed within the time specified in the contract, and was sent away latterly at the rate of lOti per day. So enormous is the quantity of boards and timbers consumed in the whole of these orders, that, if they were laid close together upon the ground, they would extend over more than 114 square acres of land. The strips of wood alone, two inches broad, which ' were provided in every case to cover the joints of the boards when erected, to keep out the wet, would ex tend, if put together in a line, over 563 miles, while the hoop iron used in the packing would, if put end to end in a similar way, reach over fifty-three miles, and weigh more than thirty-two tons of beaten iron, ex clusive of nails. The entire surface of wood over which the various saws in use travelled during their work, greatly exceeds 2,700,000 square feet. TO CORIMPONDENTS. • SUDSCII3IIR, n, is that the Tige and Index to Vol. ll. Bolto of the PRESS informed re we published as tl e-pa a gratuitous Supplement to No. 68, and ought to have been delivered by his Newsman. It is Impassible to acknowledge the mass of letters we receive. Their insertion is often delayed, owing to a press of matter, and when omitted, it is frequently from reasons quite inde- pendent of the merits of the commuio._ We cannot undertake to return communicatiou_ not avail ourselves. Commnications should always be legibly written, and on one aide u of the paper only. If loug it increases the difficulty of finding space for them. Whatever is intended for insertion must be authenticated by the name and address of the writer, not necessarily for publica tion, but as a guarantee of his good faith. Advertisements sent from the country must be accompanied by a remittance or a reference for payment in town. of which we do _ 4 4 lit 21' Tirgg+ LONDON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 1855. POSTSCRIPT. Letters from the Crimea of the 12th state that the Flagstaff Battery had been mined by the French, who only waited a favourable opportunity to blow it up. The works of the besiegers had advanced to within 45 yards of those of the besieged. Sickness was on the increase in the camps. A correspondent of the Cologne Gazette, at Odessa, writes that Prince Menschikoff, having received con siderable reinforcements, estimated at 25,000 men, in cluding the Bth division, 3rd c 'rps, has determined to resume the offensive, and make another general attack on the Anglo-French lines, immediately after the re turn of the two Grand Dukes, for whose special edifi cation this spectacle is reserved. An Imperial ukase was issued In St. Petersburg on the 113th inst., ordering an emission of assignats to the amount of twelve millions of silver roubles. The Duke of Cambridge and Admiral Dundas arrived at Marseilles on Thursday from Malta. The Duke left at once for Paris by express train. The 43rd French battallion embarked on Wednes day for the Crimea from Toulon. Thursday's Moniteur publishes the bill adopted by the Legislative Corps for calling out 140,000 men of the class of 1854. iiMim SATURDAY,