The Press. — London, England, 1855-05-19 00:00:00

MAY 19, 1855. John Russell, and the significant resignation of M. de Drouyn de Lhnys, have acted in a sense sinister to the allies in Germany. The utter in efficiency and want of governmental assurance of the English Ministry, and the attempted assassina tion of the Emperor, Russianises them still more. It must not be supposed that this emanates from a high political feeling, but from the most grovelling motives of selfishness and dependence ; a selfish ness that would sanction the sale of father, mother, wife, and mistress for a mess of pottage, and a dependence generated by the long practices of the helot. J. E. L. pap anti Colonial 3nttiligutte. FRANCE. The Emperor and the Empress will again spend a part of the summer at Biarritz. The health of her Majesty was so much benefited by her residence there last year that sea bathing has been again con sidered advisable. The works at the Villa Eugenie have been urged on so rapidly that in the month of July the building will be ready to receive its illus thous occupants. Owing to the great number of English now in Paris, a new Evangelical chapel is to be opened to morrow in the Cour des Coches, No. 30, Rue du Faubourg St. Honore. Divine service is to com mence at twelve o'clock. The rumours which have lately been in circula tion in Paris that an appeal would be made for 250,000 more men, and a new loan, are formally con tradicted. Workmen are at present employed in Netting out the orange trees in the garden of the Tuileries. They are about two hundred in number, and were planted in the reign of Louis XIV. GERMANY. Count Coronini, Commander-in-Chief of the Aus trian army of occupation in the Danubian Principali ties, has proclaimed martial law. SARDINIA. The amendment to the Convents Suppression Bill, accepted by the Sardinian Government, and passed by the senate, declares that those convents, the mem bers of which are not devoted to the work of preaching, teaching, or ministering to the sick, shall no longer exist in Piedmont as ecclesiastical corpo rations ; the estates of such religious houses will be appropriated to the ecclesiastical fund, from which the cures receive a portion of their salaries. Member., of existing religious communities will receive an al lowance. As these articles change the nature of the bill materially, the President of the Chamber has appointed three new members in the committee, to which the consideration of the modifications, which had become necessary in consequence of the approval of the three new articles, was referred. SWEDEN. The Faedrelandet of Copenhagen contains news from Stockholm, confirming the statements that an ultimatum had !peen offered to Sweden by the allies. Orders have been given for the immediate mobilisa tion of the militia ; a step taken, it is supposed, in consequence of the above transaction. TURKEY. Advices from Constantinople to the 10th instant state that what is called the Haradech Paleky (the poll tax) for Christians has been abolished in Turkey. The Rayahs are ordered to render military service, divided into four separate corps, their promo tion being unrestricted. Redschid Pasha intended to leave the Turkish capital for Vienna on the 12th instant. From Kalarasch we learn that 12,000 Bulgarians are now employed in the fortifications of Silistria. English agents have applied for 1,000 oxen of the first quality, and 540,000 okay of barley, to be deli vered in the ports of Mange.lia, Baltschick, and Varna, fur the English army. RUSS lA. An Imperial manifesto, dated St. Petersburg, the nth of May, declares that it is indispensable to main tain the full complement of the army and navy, and orders a fresh levy of 12 men per 1,000 in 17 of the western Governments, to commence in June and end in July. Jews are excluded. The Invalide Russe says, that from the commence ment of the war in the Crimea, up to March 1, the Russian loss in wounded (without reckoning the dead) has amounted to 15,123. The disturbance in the Ukraine is calmed, but not crushed. The Czas, Polish paper, states that "with the assistance of military, acting up to the very sharp orders they had, the disturbance was quieted ; forty of the rioters lost their lives, and about two hundred of the more prominent were taken prisoners and sent to Siberia ; the less piominent got off with a plentiful dose of the knout. The villages in question remain ?coupled by soldiery, and the whole state of feeling in Lesser Russia is described as sultry and. threatening." Russia has addressed a circular note to the German Courts, praying them to sustain the policy THE PRESS. which has hitherto been pursued by the majority. The despatch reminds those to whom it is addressed that Russia had accepted the two first points enter tained at the Conferences of Vienna. Letters from Abo of the 20th April mention the activity of the Russians in preparing for the defence of the country, and give particulars of the corps that have arrived there from the interior. The Grand Duke Constantine is indefatigable in his exertions to organise the navy, and has drawn up a plan by which all the line-of-battle ships are to be fitted with steam machinery, and ulteriorly the screw. PERSIA. Intelligence has been received in Constantinople from Persia, confirming the death of the Khan of Khiva. These accounts state that at the instigation of Russia he was marching against Persia at the head of an army of 30,000 men, and was threatening Meshed, when he was killed with his two sons and his brother by a party of Turcomans who formed a por tion of his force. Several other of his chiefs under went the same fate, and the result was the disper sion of his army. The date of this event is fixed about the 10th of April. UNITED STATES. The mail steam-ship Pacific has brought New York news to the 2nd inst. The New York Herald says that the recruiting for the Foreign Legion of the British army was proceeding most vigorously at Boston, and that the American authorities had not interfered further. A terrible fire broke ont in Boston on the 27th ult., by which property to the extent of half a million or dollars was destroyed. The ship Pharsalia was entirely consumed, and the Diana, just arrived from New Orleans, was burnt to the water's edge. Havana advices to the 25th ult. had been received, and are generally of a pacific character. Hopes were entertained that in a short time the blockade of the island would be raised, and martial law suspended. Mexican advices report some skirmishes between the Government and insurgent troops, the former being generally victorious. _ _ THE CAPE. Advices from the Cape of Good Hope of the 17th of March, respecting the Namaqualand Copper Mines is still favorable with regard to their ultimate prospects, although the bubbles got up during the recent excitement continued rapidly to burst. During the height of speculation more than 1,600 " centres," as the specific localities selected for mining rights are termed, had been applied for, the rent of which would have added 32,0001. to the revenue of the colony, but the probability now was that scarcely a third of them would be retained. On the 17th of March, the Governor, Sir George Grey, had opened the Colonial Parliament with a long .speech, which appears to have been well received. One of his pro positions, however, was of a nature calculated to be more popular in the colony than at home—namely, to colonise British Kaffraria with military pensioners at the expense of Great Britain. INDIA. An overland mail reached Trieste on Tuesday morning. - The dates are from Calcutta of the 10th, and Bombay of the 17th of April. A treaty was signed with Hyder Khan at Peshawur on the 30th of March by Mr. Lawrence, containing three articles : 1. Perpetual peace between Dost 31ahomed and the English. 2. The English to respect the territories of Dost Mahomed. 3. Dost Mahomed to recognise the territories of the East India Company. There are rumours of hostile preparations at Ava against the English. There has been fighting between Gholab Singh and his nephew. The Afredees have been chastised by Colonel Cragie. Lord Dalhonsie's health has greatly improved at The Five per Cent. Loan makes slow progress, owing to the scarcity of money. lON lAN ISLANDS. The lonian Parliament was opened on the Ist inst. by the New High Commissioner, Sir John Young. His excellency referred in language of congratulation to the tranquillity prevailing in the islands, notwith ...tending distress consequent upon the failure of the crops. He also announced the intention of the British Government to waive a portion of its rights, and allow the payment of 5,0001. of the military contribution to be deterred, with the view of aiding the distressed. THE FIRST FETE 05' THE HURTICULTUUAL SOCIETY for this year was held on Wednesday in the grounds of Gore house, which were appropriately prepared for the occasion. Owing to the late inclemency of the weather the floral exhibition was somewhat shorn of its expe , Aed beauties; nevertheless the show VMS on the whole considered successful, and many of the plants and flowers Jere in superb condition. The Queen and Prince Albert visited the grounds early, while a large and fashionable company assembled during the course of the afternoon. OPENING OF THE PARIS EXHIBITION. ACCORDING to the adjoined programme the Universal Exhibition of the Palace of Industry was inaugurated at cite o'clock on Tuesday by the Emperor Napoleon and the Empress Eugenie in the presence of about 8,000 persons. The weather was heavy. The cere mony much resembled that at the opening of the Hyde-park Exhibition of 1841. Prince Napoleon, President of the Imperial Com mission of the Exhibition, received their Majesties at the chief entrance of the building, and afterwards read an address setting forth the origin, progress, and character of the undertaking. The Emperor, after some complimentary words, said—" In inviting all nations hither I have desired to open here a temple of Concord." Their Majesties afterwards, followed by Prince Napoleon and the Princess Matliilde, placed them selves at the head of the procession and walked through the building. The applause was consider able. The Empress wore a low green ball dress of surpassing beauty. The ceremony lasted only an hour. Their Majes ties left the Palace, the baud playing " Partaut pour la Syrie." There was an immense crowd in the Champs Elysees. The Imperial cortege was magni ficent. The Emperor's carriage, which contained, besides his Majesty and the Empress, Prince Jerome and the I'rineess Mathilde, was quite new, and was drawn by eight horses. The Gaieties des Arts were opened at two o'clock. During the month of May the price of a single admission will be five francs. Season tickets are issued at the dike of the company of the Palace de l'lndustrie, Avenue des Champs Elysees. Price of each ticket, fifty francs. EXECUTION OF PIANORI. PIANORI was guillotined at five o'clock on Monday morning, at the new place of execution, in front of the prison of La Roquette, near Pere la Chaise. Although the morning was wet and cold, and, ac cording to laudable custom, no public announcement of the day of execution had been made, a large number of people were assembled. The spectators were kept at a distance from the guillotine by a square of troops. Up to a lace hour on the previous night the authorities repeated to hint an oiler which has been frequently made, that his hie should be spared if he would discover his confederates. His only answer was, that he had no revelation to make. The Abbe Hugon, the chaplain, was with him during the night, to afford him spiritual consolation. When the fatal toilette was made, he cried in a firm voice " Vive la Republique !" at the moment when the executioner threw over him the thick black veil ap propriated to the last moments of a parricide. He walked barefoot to the scafrold with a firm step, and mounted the ladder without a moment's hesitation. When the veil was taken otl, he looked calmly round upon the crowd, and at the moment when the execu tioner and his assistants seized him, to bind him to the plank, he cried " Viva l'ltalie!" A moment after the knife fell, and all was over. The crowd then dispersed in silence. ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS. IN a Naples letter of the sth inst. we read:— Viewed from a distance, the fiery mountain presents somewhat the same appearance as on the occasion of former eruptions—that is, volumes of smoke, ever varying in form and tint, issue from the mountain, and darken the bright sky above. Occasionally huge red-hot stones are thrown up, and at night a red glare tints the huge volume of smoke, producing a grand effect. but on the present occasion the lava streams from the exhausted and hitherto long-tranquil Somme, which is the detached portion, almost coequal in height with the circular old cone, from whence all the modem eruptions have issued. The por tion of the mountain at present called Somme was originally united, in all probability, with * the existing cone, and hitherto active. The grand eruption of 79, narrated by Pliny, no doubt materially altered the form of Vesuvius. From that period history records a series of convulsions up to the present time, numbering nearly forty, the most im portant of which are those of 79, 2tAi, 472, 502, 1036, 1149, 1500, 1031, 1794, 1834, and 1849; the latter having all issued from the same cone or black crater, which forms a circuit of 5,800 feet. This portion of the mountain is now perfectly tranquil. The King and the Royal Family have visited the eruption, and hundreds of persons ascend the mountain night mod day My impression, from the past experiences, is, that you see more from the sea shore of the Villa Reale than wbe4 on the mountain itself. Nevertheless, I was tempted to approach the fiery mouths of the eruption. There appear to be two or three streams of lava slowly creeping on from apertures which vomit fire and smoke continually—ever changing in aspect, according to the violence of the tinbter raucous action. Hut it is the capricious forms which the smoke assumes that most amuses the spectator, win at lighted up by the reflected red of the fire. The eruption will, in all probability, last some days, until as on former occasions, the accumu lated volcanic action of the mountain has exhausted itself. THE RENFREW ELECTION tool• place on Monday, when Sir Michael Shaw Stewart,.of Ardgowan, Batt, was returned without opposition. _ .~... ~~