The Press. — London, England, 1857-11-21 00:00:00

1136 joniga an &lonia /attliipte. FRANCE. The Moniteur of Tuesday contained an Imperial Decree, by which M. de Royer, Procureur•General of the Court of Cessation, is appointed Keeper of the Seals and Minister of Justice, in the room of M. Abbatucci, deceased. The state funeral of M. Abbatucci took place on Saturday last. The Court returns to Paris on the 20th. RUSSIA. A Vienna letter, alluding to the recent difficulty which has arisen with regard to the closing of some of the Russian ports in the Black Sea, says :—" It has been now agreed that the three Cabinets of Vienna, Constantinople, and London shall address notes to the Cabinet of St. Petersburg, in which they will by common accord demand the free navigation of the Black Sea, as well as communication with all the ports on its coasts." SARDINIA. The elections continue to progress favourably, and in the interest of the Government. Numerous second elections, in cases where the former proved doubtful, took place on the 18th. Among the nominations already known, more than two-thirds belong to the Government. It is expected that there will be in the Chambers a rather strong minority returned by the clerical party, while there will be but a very small fraction of that of the extreme left. AUSTRIA. The commercial crisis at Vienna is unexampled. A Vienna letter of the 14th says :—" The intelligence of late received here of the financial situation of tho great manufacturing centres is exceedingly afflicting. The number of failures announced up to the present time has been enormous. No greater panic has been known at Vienna within the memory of man. The news this day from Bohemia is deplorable. The National Bank is unwilling to raise the rate of discount, through an apprehension of adding to the alarm already existing. The exchange in favour of gold against bank-notes, though guaranteed by the State, is to day from eleven to twelve per cent; and in favour of silver from eight to nine per cent." COPENHAGEN. The Government sent off on Saturday to its agents at foreign Courts a despatch on the financial relations between Holstein and the Danish monarchy. SAXONY. The opening of the session of the Saxon Diet took place at the palace of Dresden on the 16th with the usual ceremonial. His Majesty in the course of his speech alluded to the friendly foreign relations of Saxony, and to the highly satisfactory state of the finances of the kingdom. TURKEY. Intelligence from Constantinople, November 11, relates a peculiar and unsatisfactory state of affairs. The Exchanges continue to rise. The Napoleon of twenty francs is worth 123 piastres. The high price of provisions is unexampled, and, notwithstanding the prohibition, the illicit trade in gunpowder is active. Letters &so confirm the extraordinary pur chases of arms, and especially of revolvers, by the peeple of Turkey. The Mussul mans themselves are very much alarmed about the future of the empire, and there would appear to exist a sort of undefined fear that a war of some sort was imminent. A Vienna letter in the Bourse Gazette of Berlin states that the signing of the navigation act by the members of the commission of the States on the banks of the Danube is only a small part of the labours of that body. That act only solves the diffi culties of principle which might arise in carrying out the Treaty of Paris. There yet remain to be settled all the regulations relative to the police and naviga tion of the river, and that part of the work, which is attended with considerable difficulty, is at present far from being finished. CHINA. Positive intelligence has reached Paris to the effect that the Emperor of China has made known through his officials at the ports a decision not to treat with tho agents of any European powers, either political or religious. It is believed, say the Paris papers, that England and France will find it neces sary to employ large naval and military forces, in order to bring about their views regarding the Celestial Empire. Lord Elgin had arrived at Hong Kong ou his return from 1 Min. Oeneral (larratt had resigned the commend of his ' • tarted for India. THE PRESS, NOVEMBER 21, 1857. gout an ifitgion. her Majesty the Queen and Court remain at Windsor Castle. Her Majesty on Monday held a Court of Privy Council at the Castle. The Court was attended by H.R.H. the Prince Consort and Ministers. • H.R.H. Prince Frederick William of Prussia has arrived on a visit to her Majesty. Her Majesty on Thursday gave a State reception to the Siamese Ambassadors. Their Excellencies were received with great honour in the throne-room, in the presence of a distinguished Court. The chief Ambassador read a complimentary address to her Majesty, and presenting the letters of the Kings of Siam, together with the superb presents sent to the Queen, received from her Majesty a most gracious reply, and the audience shortly terminated. The autograph letters from the Kings were written in gold, and the presents from the two Kings of Siam to her Majesty the Queen comprised an Eastern crown of gold and enamel, enriched with diamonds, emeralds, and rubies ; a gold collar, thickly studded with rubies; a large star; a massive ring, set with diamonds, and a variety of precious stones ; a golden belt, enriched with rubies; a chair of state or throne ; a rare and valuable white shell, having a number of jewels inserted ; a cup and saucer of agate; a state palanquin; a state saddle and bridle ; a number of umbrellas covered with gold embroidery; boxes and cups of solid gold ; silver salvers with gilt embossed edges; a metal drum, and a variety of other artices of rarity and curious workmanship, together with a painting of the Court of the Kings of Siam. Volitttai. MEETING OF PARLIAMENT. A SUPPLEMENT to the London Gazette Extraordinary, issued on Monday, contains the following proclama tion, summoning Parliament to meet for the de spatch of divers urgent and important affairs on Thursday, the 3rd of December next : BY THE QUEEN—A ritocLAMATION. VICTORIA, R. - Whereas Our Parliament stands prorogued to Thursday, the 17th day of December next; and whereas, for divers weighty and urgent reasons, it seems to us expedient that Our said Parliament shall assemble and be holden sooner than the said day, We do, by and with the advice of Oar Privy Council, hereby proclaim and give notice of Our royal intention and pleasure that Our said Parliament, not withstanding the same now stands prorogued, as herein before mentioned, to the said 17th day of December next, shall assemble and be holden, for the despatch of divers urgent and important affairs, on Thursday, the ;)rd day of December next ; and the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Knights, Citizens, Burgesses, and the Commis sioners for Shires and Burghs of the House of C)unnons, are hereby required and commanded to give their at tendance accordingly, at Westminster, on the said :ird day of December next. Given at Our Court, at Windsor, this 16th day of Novem ber, in tli year of our Lord 1b57, and in the 21st year of Our reign. God save the Queen. CABINET COUNCILS were held on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, at the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury in Downing-street. The Ministers present were—Viscount Palmerston, the Lord Chancellor, Earl Granville, the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Earl of Harrowby, Sir George Grey, the Earl of Clarendon, Mr. Secretary Labouchere, Lord Panmure, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Charles Wood, the Right Hon. It. Vernon Smith, Lore Stanley of Alderley, the Duke of Argyll, and the Right lion. M. T. Baines. NEW MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT.—AIthOIRY,II only three months and three or four days will have elapsed between the last session of Parliament and that which is to commence on Thursday, December 3, there are several new members to be introduced into both houses, and four seats will still be vacant when Parliament reassembles. Five new peers will take their seats in the House of Lords—namely, Viscount Milton, late M.P. for Wicklow, who has become Earl Fitzwilliam ; Lord Robett Grosvenor, late M.P. for Middlesex, who has become Baron F.bury ; the Right Hon. Thomas Babington Macaulay, who has become Baron Macaulay ; Lord Cardross, who has become Earl of Buchan, in the room of the late Earl of Buchan, deceased ; and the Earl of Fife, who has become an English peer, with the title of Baron Skene. Four new members will be entitled to take their seats in the House of Commons—namely, Mr. John Bright, who was elected member for Birmingham, in the room of the late Mr. Muutz, a few days before the expiration of tile IlitA session, but who has not yet been introduced ; the Hon. George Byng, who has been elected member for the county of Middlesex, in the room of Lord Robert Grosvenor, who goes to the House of Lords as Baron Ebury ; Mr. Arthur Russell, who has been elected member for favistock, in the room of Mr. Byng, returned for Middlesex ; and Mr. W. Johnson Fox, who has been returned for the borough of Oldham, in the room of Mr. Platt, deceased. Four seats are still vacant and cannot be filled up before the meeting of Parliament, the Speaker not having in time issued the necessary warrants—namely, Wicklow, in the room of Viscount Milton, who has bezome the Earl Fitzwilliam ; Harwich, in the room of Major Warburton, deceased ; Paisley, in the room of Mr. Archibad Hastie, deceased; and North amptonshire, in the room of Mr. Augustus Stafford, deceased. THE Hor DUTY.—The following is a copy of the answer to the memorial of the hop planters, pre sented to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Friday : Downing-street, Nov. 11. My dear Sir,—l have taken into consideration the me morial from the hop-planters of the county of Sussex, which was left in my hands yesterday, suggesting that upon prompt payment of one-half of the accruing November instalment of hop duty now due, the payment of the re maining moiety may be postponed until May next; and I regret to say that I cannot comply with this request. At the same time I have no objection, under the peculiar cir cumstances of the case, to accept from the memorialists a moiety only of the duty now due, and to grant them until the 16th of February next for payment of the remainder, on the express understanding, however, that the duty on the first moiety of this year's growth, due on the 16th of May next, shall be paid at that period. Instructions to this effect have been issued to the Board of Inland Revenue.— I am, dear sir, yours faithfully, J. G. Dodson, Esq., M.P. G. C. Lawn. It will be seen by the above that Sir George Come; wall Lewis has not granted the prayer of the planters to its full extent. Their request was for a post ponement until May, whereas the Chancellor of the Exchequer has given them till February—that is, an extension of credit for three instead of six months. _ _ Dn. RIGAUD, Head Master of the Grammar School, Ipswich, has been appointed to the vacant Bishopric of Antigua. REAR-ADMIRAL CHARLES GRAHAM died at his re sidence on Wednesday. MR. Ihnius, her Majesty's Consul• General at Venice, expired on the 13th instant of apoplexy. He was grandson to Lord Malmesbury, the celebrated diplomatist, and private secretary to the present earl during his tenure of the Foreign-office in 1852. Remarkable for his attainments as a scholar and a linguist, he had by his tact and judgment secured the respect of both the Austrian and Italian parties in the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, as well as the confidence of his own Government. fflttroDolitan. 'fire VACANT GROUND AT ST. PAUL'S is in danger of being built over. The Metropolitan Board of Works decline to entertain the proposal of purchase, made to them by the Co►nmon Council, and their Improvement. Committee recommend the immediate 0 beneficial occupation" of the ground. Alderman Rose warmly opposed this proposal, and has offered to subscribe to a fund for the purchase of the ground. THE NEW CEMETERY AT ILFORD Was consecrated on Monday by the Bishop of London. The total cost is about 76,0001. THE REGISTRAR•GENERAL'S returns for the past week show a fair state of the public health. Vrebintial. AN EXPLOSION OF FIRE-DAMP took place at the Hollingwood Colliery, Staveley, last Saturday, and twelve men were killed. SIR E. B. I.YrroN, Min.., has been unanimously re elected Lord Rector of Glasgow University. Mn. R. SHIRLEY lIARRIS, nephew of Mr. J. ]). Harris, M.P. for Leicester, accidentally shot himself last week while out shooting alone. llis body was not found till the next morning. SEVERAL SMALL WRECKS occurred last week off the eastern coast. The crews in most instances were happily saved. 3rtlant. A OntAT Paca occurreil among the cambric weavers at Lurgan on Friday week. A reduction of wages and working time has recently taken place, owing to the monetary pressure, among the mills in the north. At Lurgan, on the night in question, ; 1 '