The Press. — London, England, 1856-03-01 00:00:00

MARCH 1, 1856. THE CONFERENCES. MONDAY was the opening day of the great Conference Paris. E ar ly in the morning, writes one correspon dent, Baron Brunow was stirring. Soon after eight a.m . M. de Seebach was seen to issue from the Baron's house, and proceed at once to the residence of Count Orloff. For some hours the three remained closeted together. At half-past one p.m. the plenipotentiaries were to assemble in the Salon des Ambassadeurs, at the Hotel of the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The room is separated from the Minister's cabinet by another fine room, called the Salon des Attaches de Service. The Salon des Ambassadeurs receives its light from three large windows opening on the north, and look ing towards the Seine. Opposite the windows are bung two full-length portraits of the Emperor and Empress, with a portrait of the first Napoleon. The table at which the diplomatists sit is circular and covered with a green cloth, twelve arm-chairs being around it. Before eaeh seat is arranged a supply of paper of various sizes, sealing-wax, pens, etc. Four wax tapers are also on the table, in case of being required to seal letters. Between the win dows are disposed two other tables, one for the two gentlemen who are to act as secretaries, and the other for the use of any of the plenipotentiaries who may wish to write in private. The table of the secre tares can be moved close to the round table in the centre, it' necessary : Soon after one p.m. (says a Paris letter) a modest looking brougham, scarcely remarked till it was within a few yards of the Ministry, drove into the front gate, and halted at the toot of the grand staircase. The carriage contained the Sardinian Plenipotentiaries, Count Cavour and the Marquis Villacuarina, in plain morning costume. A single chasseur was their only attendant. As they ascended the staircase, a squadron of M. Walewski's foot men, who were on the look out, threw wide open the glass doors, and the Piedmontese representatives entered the hotel the first. A few minutes afterwards came Turkey—Aali Pacha, the Grand Vizier, and Mehemet Bey, were dressed just like Europeans, except that they wore of course the inevitable red fez. The Grand Vizier wore a Talmo, that might have been bought in Regent street. England and Austria followed very shortly afterwards, in remarkably unpretending carriages. There was then a pause of several minutes. People began to ask whether Russia would not find some excuse not to come. But at a quarter past one a handsome carriage, with two chasseurs behind, drove up at a rapid pace, containing the Russian Plenipo tentiaries. Count Orloff stepped out first, and although he is seventy years of age, ran up the steps like a boy. I had an opportunity of seeing him well, for when he arrived oa the top landing he took off his hat as if to return the salute of the servants in waiting, and then turned round to see what had become of his colleague. Baron de Brunow got out of the carriage very slowly. His face was en velope I in an ample comforter ; he walked up the stairs with a somewhat faltering step, and his spare and bent form presented a striking contrast to that of his coadjutor. Count Orloff is a wonderful-looking man for his age. He is of large size, very erect, and his countenance denotes robust health and great resolution. He has a very large head, covered with iron grey hair, cropped close. The expression of his features is quite Calmuck, but as he smiled at Baron Brunow slowly mounting the stairs after him, he had a good-natured look. The plenipotentiaries having met, they placed themselves according to precedence, France in the centre, England on the right, Austria on the left, then Turkey, then Sardinia, and lastly Russia. According to diplomatic usages, the first thing to be done was to elect a president. M. Walewski was, of course, nominated. The verification of the powers of the plenipotentiaries was next gone through, when M. Walewski delivered an address, pointing out the object of the meeting, and suggesting the order in which the deliberations should proceed. The Conference was then definitively opened. At this stage Count Orloff is reported to have risen and spoken for some time upon the policy which actuated Russia. The question of an armistice was then pro posed and discussod, Count Orloff remarking upon the terms of the armistice, particularly with reference to the transport of stores and troops. Count Buol, the Paris correspondent of Le Nord, declares, on authority, raised the question of the rectification of the frontier on the side of Bessa rabia, upon which Count Orloff observed that the new frontier which it was proposed to establish behind the mountains was impossible to be settled, as no mountains existed in the vicinity. The pleni potentiaries, adds the correspondent, not possessing any precise information of the locale, were a little embarrassed by the observation of Count Orloff. At half past four p.m. the Conference concluded. The sitting was raised, and the Plenipotentiaries walked for a short time in the garden of the hotel, conversing freely in separate groups. At five p.m. they left the hotel and returned to their respective quarters, in the same unostentatious manner as they 44 arrived. On the following day the Moniteur announced the opening of the conferences, and the Bret result : THE PRESS. AN ARMISTICE. The first meeting of the Congress took place yesterday (Monday), at the hotel of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, at one o'clock. The sitting lasted until halt•past four o'clock. It was resolved that AN ARMISTICE shall be concluded between the belligerent armies, and that the armistice shall cease of full right on the 31st of March next. This armistice will not affect the blockades established, nor those which are yet to be established. M. NValewski gave a banquet at seven p.m. on Monday evening, to the Plenipotentaries, and drank to a speedy peace. At ten o'clock he threw open his magnificent salons to upwards of seven hundred of the lite of French and toreign society in Paris, and entertained them with a grand concert, at which Mariu, Frezzclini, and the first singers of Europe performed. The Union gives some pleasant gossip on the occasion : Some details have been communicated to us concerning the concert of Count Walewaki, at which all the plenipo tentiaries were present. Count Orloff, with the ease of a grand Russian nobleman, and with that elegance of manner which seems so charming when allied with mili tary bearing, conversed readily with the various groups which in succession collected around him. After the count, one of the high personages who most attracted notice was the Grand 'Vizier, Aali niche, the Turkish representative. He is a man of delic; t* appearance, and apparently in not very strong health presented a striking contrast with the tall, manly, and animated figure of the Russian envoy. But his intelligent and keen glance, his strongly-marked features, and his severe phy siognomy, give evidence of a resolute and energetic cha racter. Count de Cavour also attracted much attention. He is a man of middle stature, rather stout, with features remarkable for their frankness and openness, and over which a smile loves to play. Turning to another class of guests, we may state that Generals Canrobert and Bosquet were much observed. The concert took place in the gallery in which the statue of Napoleon 111. stands, and from that apartment the guests could enter freely into the other rooms of the long suite thrown open on the occa sion. Every one examined with curiosity the Salon des Ambassadeurs, in which the sittings of the Congress take place. The crowd circulated round the centre table, reading the names of the several powers written in pencil on a sheet of paper, placed before the seat which each representative occupies. It was then easy to see that the accounts given in some of the public journals of tbe posi tion of the powers were incorrect. The real place of each is this :—The French Pleniputentiaries are in the centre, the English representatives on the right, and the Austrian on the left; next to the English are the Russian envoys, and next to the Austrian the Turks ; the Sardinians are between the Turks and the Russians. At the concert, although not a word was spoken by the plenipotentiaries to infringe the secrecy which they are bound to observe, the features of all of them bore that look of satisfaction which would imply that all was going on smoothly towards the reestablishment of peace. On Thnrsday the second Conference was held. Of the result nothing official has yet appeared. It is believed to have turned upon the fifth point, and rumour strongly asserts that Count Orloff' had de manded a Congress for the solution of the question. FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE. Tuesday, Feb. 26. BANKRUPTS.— SIMON COHEN and JOSEPH LUBLINER, Hatton garden, manufacturing goldsmiths—HENßY DENTON, Dunstable, straw-hat manufacturer—JOHN KING GURNEY, Uxbridge, COOK—'SARAH BREWIN, Wisbeach St. Peter, miller— THomAs KNOWLES, Seymour-street, Euston-square, chemist— LOUIS BI EN stimoL, Broad.street.buildings,mercliant—WlLLlAlt SMITH SL►TER, Birkenhead and Liverpool, Umber merchant— GEORGE GOODRICH, DUISIey,GIOLICSSISCSIIICS, chemist—SAMUEL HARVEY, Cardiff, outfitter—GEOßGE CLARK MEDD, Leeds, grocer—GEORGE UNWIN, Sheffield, scale presser—JOHN TRAVIS, Crompton, Lancashire, cotton spinner—JOHN SMITH, }Wend ale, grocer—HENßY and WILLIAM Coop, Chequerbent, near West• houghton, Lancashire, silk wanufacturers—JoHN OWEN, Salford, baker. . -- SCOTCH SEQUESTRATIONS.—J. M'LEon, Glasgow, book. seller—D. G. F. MACDONALD, Edinburgh, civil engineer—J. M'F. SMITH, Glasgow, merohant—R CAIIPBNLL, Dowd('ld, Hen• frewehi.re, bleacher. Friday, February 29. BANKRUPTCIES ANNULLED.—Enwtx Wittscom, Croy don, pianoforte dealer—Tuomes WHITEHEAD and JOSEPH LASSEY, York, dyers. BANKRUPTS.—JamEs Tommx, City, shipowner—RoßEßY DuLLam, Tipton, chemist, druggist, and grocer—HENßY Sturm, Sedgeley, Staffordshire, farmer—GEOßOE DAVIS, Wigmore-street, Cavendish-square, cabinet maker—Jacos Wm. HENRY SolarEa and Wm. HENRY BROWN, Fenchurch-street. City, merchants— THOMAS JOHN NICKS, Coleman-street, City, rope maker — RICHARD JENKIN POLOLASE, Borough-road, millwright and engineer—Wit. IiicKEcHNEY, Broadway, Plaistiw, Essex, mer chant JAMES MECHIE, Battersea•tields, engineer JOHN DOUGLAS, York, hosier—CHARLES Fox, Scarborough, merchant —Wm. SOTHERN, Liverpool, glass dealer—TßoMAS BURNET , Blaydon, Durham, glass-bottle manufacturer—Wm. CARTER, jun., Leamington Priors, Warwickshire, ironmonger—THOMAS SMITH, Nottingham, lace _ Old GRIDDLE, —HENRY Bristol, ). Market, , baker and flour dealer—mica...nu I'ilton, Devon, carpenter and builder—Tacomas Emansorr, Milton street, City, builder—iki.razn Joint Gulls, rievecut, Lambeth, brusbmaker. T.; - 207 SWEDEN AND THE LATE TREATY. M. BE Lallenstaedt, a Swedish diplomatist is about to publish a pamphlet on the relations between Sweden and the Western powers, which is calculated t‘) throw much new light on the negotiations which pre ceded and led to the treaty of November. Accord ing to this authority both the King and the Crown Prince Charles were from the very beginning of the Oriental complication of affairs perfectly aware of the necessity of abandoning the traditional policy of King Charles John, and making an alliance with the Western powers, although such a step must natu rally be only taken with the greatest caution, to evade the attacks of the opposition press, which would not fail to cry out at seeing the traditions of 1812 abandoned : It is true that the offer of the Aland Islands was rejected by Sweden in the autumn of 1854, after the capture and destruction of Bomarsund ; but it was for the same reason that France and England abandoned them, namely, that they were considered untenable without the possession of Finland. The treaty of the 2nd of December, 1854, had the effect of inducing King Oscar to come forward more boldly than he had hitherto done, being led to believe that Austria was going to take an active part in the war. In the month of March last year the negotiations were opened at Paris by Count Tascher (the grand master of the house hold of the Empress Eugenie), who is alike related to the present dynasties of France and Sweden. King Oscar demanded a guarantee for the continued possession of his territory and a powerful material support. In consequence of this a lively correspondence took place between the Emperor of the French and the King and the Crown Prince of Sweden. and a detailed report of the resources of Sweden was transmitted to Paris. The King demanded pecuniary subsidies and an army of a hundred thousand men, the operations of whom should be shared and sup ported by sixty thousand Swedes. If they succeeded in conquering Finland, it was to be given again to Sweden. In the meantime, when the negotiations had proceeded thus far, the allies decided on confining their operations for the year ISM to the Crimea, with merely a demonstration in the Baltic. The real bond fide Baltic campaign was adjourned, and it was only after the fall of Sebastopol that the negotiations with Sweden were renewed by the me morable mission of General Canrobert to Stockholm, which led to the conclusion of the treaty of November. gaini AO Pilitarg nttiligentt. The Royal Warrant appointing a board of general officers to inquire into the statements contained in the report of Sir John M'Neill and Colonel Tulloch, has this week been published. It is dated Buck ingham palace, 25th of February, and appoints General Lord Seaton, General Sir Thomas McMahon, General Earl Beauchamp, Lieutenant-General Sir John Bell, Lieut.-General Sir William Rowan, Major- General Knollys, and Major-General Jonathan Peel as the Board, with Lord Seaton as President, to conduct the inquiry demanded by the general officers whose conduct has been animadverted upon by the report. The necessary witnesses cost to be sum moned immediately, and the report of the hoard to be forwarded through the Field-Marshal Com manding-in-Chief to the Queen. The advanced squadron of the Baltic fleet, in cluding H.M. ships Impirieuse, Pylacles, and Falcon, under the command of Captain Watson, C.B. left the Downs on Saturday last, and Deal on Monday, for Kiel. Lieut.-General Sir H. Littler, G.C.8., after a brilliant military career in India, died last week at his residence in Devonshire. General Sir John Grey, K.C.8., formerly Corn mander-in-Chief at Bombay, died last week at Nor wich, Northumberland. The death of the gallant general leaves vacant the colonelcy of the sth Fusiliers. Orders have been this week sent to Southampton, to prepare for the conveyance to the Crimea of de tachments of the Royal Artillery, of 487 men and 580 horses, besides stores. To embark on the 4th, oth, and Bth inst. Colonel Prosser contradicts a rumour that he is about to retire from his post at the Royal Military College. He is absent from ill-health for the first time for eighteen years, and his medical attendant hopes that he will be able to resume his duties in a short period. The third and fourth divisions of gun-boats are now assembling in Portland Roads. . _ An Admiralty circular has been issued, stating that " it is their lordships' desire that officers of the navy should not wear beards or moustaches on board her Majesty's ships. By the regulations of the service, meu are expected to be properly shaved, and it is essential that a good example on this point should be set by their officers." Another augmentation to the Royal Regiment of Artillery is now decided upon, and the addition to the establishment of the Royal Horse Artillery will be—one captain, two lieutenants, and 272 men to the regiment. The augmentation to the establishment of the battalions of Foot Artillery will be 125 men.