The Press. — London, England, 1856-11-22 00:00:00

1108 Sortipt C,orrcspalOtate. BRUSSELS, Nov. 20. BRUSSELS is as a city of the dead. Nu pulse extra ordinary stirs the phlegmatic Belgian—semi- Flemish, semi-Brabancon—save the irritation con sequent on the sight of an Englishman. It is passing strange that the country which upholds, singly and solely, the representative systems of Belgium and Sardinia, should iu the case of the former meet at its hands abuse from the public journals, social discourtesies by word and deed from the higher classes, and unbounded insolence from the bigot exclusives of the "part pretre." So it is. Without diving far into the histories of human motives, it may not be inapt to quote the words of a German convert to Roman Catholicism, Frederic Schlegel, reiterated in his " Philosophy of Life and Philosophy of History," and say, " that it is sad to re cord the fact that hatred too often follows obligation." In his comparison of man with brutes, the distin guished philosopher observes, that the abuses of reason often degrade man beneath the honest instinct of animals. In high contrast to these underbred crudities is the personal attention and kindness of the King and the Royal Family towards the subjects of her Majesty of England. Uniform and gracious have been their courtesies. It is pleasing, therefore, to witness their satisfaction at the approaching marriage of the Princess Charlotte with the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria. There is a lingering sympathy for the house of Austria in Belgium that will make this union ex remely popular. . The priest party has met with a serious rebut in the Belgian Chambers. M. Dedecker, Minister of the Interior, proposed a slight alteration of tht, address in answer to the King's speech. It was adopted by the left, and not opposed by the priest party of the right. One of the leaders of the latter placing a Jesuitical construction on the proposed words, a member of the left instantly denominated this prevarication to be a shop policy, " pensie de boutique" ; whereupon a shurp discussion ensued, in which the bigots were utterly discomfited. The Ministers MM. Dedecker and Vilain XIV. are pursuing a straightforward and upright course of conduct. Any other would imperil the Constitution. The Emperor and Empress of Austria, with their Court, accompanied by Sir Ham;lton Seymour, were to leave Vienna for Milan on the 17th. As a mark of conciliation the Emperor has re established the central congregations of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom. In each of the nine provinces —Milan, Como, Sondrio, Pavia, Lodi, Bergamo, Brescia, Cremona, and Mantua—there are to be three repre sentatives,—the first for the landed territories of the nobility, as it were a county member; the second for the small towns to which titles are annexed ; and the third for the chief town of the district. As these members of the congregations are ' chosen by the Emperor without any reference to popular election, the principle of representation be comes a farce. The eight Venetian provinces— Venice, Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Rovigo, Treviso, I3elluno, and Udino—have similar privileges. The members have been chosen by the Emperor en tirely from the nobility who hitherto have been per sonally adverse to him on all occasions. It may have the effect of conciliating a few, but these will become mere recipients of imperial favour, and pas sive agents of Government. A sign of greater promise consists in the engage ment entered into by the Sardinian Government with Austria to continue the railroad from Turin to Butfalora, within a short distance of &Man. Either it must be construed as the herald of a new era of conciliation on which the Emperor relies with confi• dence, or it may contain a still deeper meaning. The Sardinian Ministry is not free from disunion. The pattisatv; of M. Cavour are violent in their attacks on MM. Ratazzi and Lanza, but without in terfering with the general policy of the Ministry. M. Gallenga has been pardoned by the King—an act of policy which ought to be generally acceptable. Lord John Russell and Mr. Bright are busy ing themselves in ascertaining the true state of Italian affairs, and perhaps Lord Tinto may be in duced to afford the advantage of his experience. I'io Norm has reviewed his troops in person. Whilst some large detachments were going through the usual miluary evolutions in the open ground near the Ponte Molle the Pope suddenly a pp eare d i n th e m id s t o f them. His coming was perfectly u ne xp ec t e d, a n d ire was received with great enthusiasm. They de• *led before him, and were complimented with an especial benediction. C. A. H. THE PRESS. $o reign and Colonial ,(nttiligenre. FRANCE. A Council of Ministers was held on Wednesday at St. Cloud. The Emperor presided in person. The Marquis Antonini, the Neapolitan Ambas• sador, leaves Paris this day. M. Walewski has in timated to his Excellency that his passports are at his disposal during the " interruption" of the official relations between the two Governments. The Moniteur of Wednesday contained a detailed account of the arrival and reception at Rome of General Goyon, the new commander in-chief of the French division. General Montreal has returned to Paris. The Emperor gave an audience on Sunday to the Baron de Holmfeld, who presented to his Majesty letters accrediting him as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the King of Denmark. The Constitutionnel of the 17th contained a curious article upon the foreign policy of France. After protesting against the attacks of the English press, the Constitutionnel praises the disinterested modera tion of the Emperor throughout the war, and concludes:— These things should not be forgotten; and if they were not forgotten, if people did not forget the manifest proofs of the energy and loyalty of a policy which, while feeling itself strong enough to be calm and moderate, has never failed in any real duty, in any honourable engagement, or in any really serious matter, they would no more fear its weakness in the East than its violence in Italy, and its adversaries of all camps and of all countries might have spared Europe the afflicting spectacle of these po'enriics, as foolish, as irritating, which agitate public opinion for nothing. General Dufour, the Swiss Envoy, has had several conferences with Count Walewski on the affairs of Neufchatel. Prince Frederick William of Prussia is expected shortly in Paris. The IndiTendance Belge says that M. de Morny has been recalled from St. Petersburg; some of the count's horses, carriages, and furniture have already a. rived at Havre. The official returns of the customs revenue for October show an increase of 3,033,404 f. on the corresponding month of last year. AUSTRIA. The Emperor and Empress, accompanied by a numerous suite, left Vienna on the 17th for Gratz, Laybach, Trieste, Verona, and Milan. The Court will be absent for three months. Baron Bach does not accompany the Emperor. A liberal amnesty will, it is said, mark the Imperial visit to Lombardy. The official Vienna Gazette has announced the ap proaching marriage between his Imperial Highness Archduke Maximilian, brother of the Emperor, with her Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte, daughter of his Majesty the King of the Belgians. The German journals generally declare that Russia has addressed a circular despatch to all the powers represented in the treaty of Paris, on the Serpents' Island and Bolgrad questions. Le Nord states that the Czar withdraws his claims. A letter in the Cologne Gazette says : A second proposition hos been made by the Russian Government, and is favorably received here, with reference to the reopening of the conferences. It is hoped that the concessions which Russia appears willing to make will in. fluence the Governments which have hitherto opposed the reopening of the Congress. The Germanic Diet met for the second time this session on the 13th. The business transacted was of a secondary interest. The Ost Deutsche Post (of Vienna) enumerates the services rendered by Austria to Prussia in the Schleswig-Holstein affair for the purpose of insisting on the duty of Prussia to support the Eastern policy of Austria, " called by destiny to be the sole guardian of the liberty of the Danube." Upon the Neufchatel question Austria is en plein accord with Prussia. A new recruitment is said to have been ordered throughout the Austrian monarchy. PRUSSIA. The Correspondance Prussienne of Sunday pub lishes an article directed against the Swiss press, in which it gives ground for believing that Prussia will exercise her direct authority over the Canton of Neuf chatel, and that the Government of Berlin will exact a recognition of its sovereignty. The Nouvelliste de Hamboury states that M. de Savigny (Sydow!), the Prussian Envoy, will shortly request the liberation of the prisoners : In the event of the diplomatic steps taken at Berne not being successful (continues the Nouvelliste), the Prussian Government intends marching three corps of the army against the frontier cantons, and occupying Schaffhausen by wa, of guarantee; and Switzerland will be called upon to pay the expenses of the expedition. A letter from Berlin, in the Nord of Brussels, says : General Dufour has had several conferences with the Emperor on the subject of the Neufchatel question, and it Is believed here that an arrangement will be come to he- SATURDAY, tween the Helvetic Confederation and Prussia. The Federal Council is disposed, as I have already stated, to release the royalist prisoners of Neufchatel, provided the King relinquish his pretensions. The Prussian Government have selected Jasmund as the site of a great naval-military arsenal in the Baltic. BELGIUM. The Senate have presented their address in reply to the King's speech on opening the Chambers. A paragraph, implying censure. of the Protestant pro lessors of the universities, for controversial remarks on the Papal religion, was struck out on the motion of the Government ; it being held that the Chamber could not take cognisance of things done by the pro fessors in their private capacity as authors. The news of the projected marriage between Fer dinand Maximilian of Austria and the Princess Charlotte, daughter of King Leopold, is confirmed. It is stated that the marriage will be celebrated in the month of July next. SPAIN. The state of siege was raised on the 13th. A liberal political amnesty is spoken of at Madrid. The appointment of M. Gonzales Bravo to the Embassy at London is said to be confirmed. The following diplomatic appointments have also been made :—M. d'Aguillon to be Spanish Minister at Lisbon ; M. Bermudas de Castro at Vienna ; M. de Souza at Constantinople ; M. Alexander de Castro at Turin ; the Marquis de Rivera at Berlin ; t'nd M. Layo Quinoniez in Switzerland. Many conflicting rumours are about. A great sensation has been created at Madrid by the news of the conference held at St. Cloud on the affairs of Spain by the Emperor, Lord Howden, and M. Turgot. RUSSIA. Many conflicting rumours are about concerning the intentions of Russia with respect to the execution of the treaty of Paris. The Nbats this week states that a courier from the Russian Government has passed through Berlin, ca►rying to M. Kisseleff at Paris a note formally demanding of the French Cabinet the convocation of a congress at Paris to definitively settle the difficulties which have arisen in the interpretation of the treaty of the 30th of March. The Nouvelle Gazette de Prusse, according to a telegraphic despatch, dated Berlin, Nov. 18, affirms that Russia is ready to give up the Isle of Serpents, but that she means to retain Bolgrad. This is con firmed by the Wurtemburg Moniteur, a journal often well informed, which, speaking of the report that Russia has made up her mind to yield both the points in controversy, says it has reason to believe the news is true, "at least so far as regards the Isle of Serpents." On the other hand, a recent corre spondence from Berlin states very confidently that Russia will give up Bolgrad as well, on condition that the whole matter shall be quickly decided, so as t o leave England no pretext forremaining in the Black Sea. The Park Patrie doubts that Russia is prepared to concede the point relative to the Isle of Serpents. It argues that Russia was wr..ng as to that point, but not so wrong abou► Bolgrad. lt, however, recommends Oat powcr to give way, in order to avoid the difficulties that would result from a post ponement of the complete execution of the treaty. While the Indipendance Belge states that Russia demands the neutralisation of the Isle of Serpents, and the establishment there of a commission com posed of representatives of the various powers ; in return she will abandon her preteneions to Bolgrad. Le Nord of Saturday, in reply to some articles which have recently appeared in some of the London morning papers on the subject of the great railway scheme of Russia, says : Russia neither demands from England her iron, her capital, nor the aid of her experience. When a Government, strong and powerful, which is at the head of 70,000,000 inhabitants, has recognised the necessity of proceeding with the creation of active means of communication by steam. there will be no want of any. thing necessary for the attainment of its object. SWEDEN AND DENMARK. The abdication of the King of Denmark, and his retirement from political life, is daily anticipated. His uncle Prince Ferdinand will succeed to the throne. The " central defensive system " of Sweden is to be at once completed, the chitin of forresses put upon a war footing, and the troops armed with the Minie rifle. NAPLES AND ITALY. Naples is perfectly tranquil. A royal decree of the 12th authorises the con struction of a railway between Naples and the Gulf of Tarento. It is also stated that the Neapolitan Government has resolved to make Naples a free port. From Piedmont we learn that "a Russian war frigate entered the port of Villafranca on the 11th. The usual salutes weze exchanged with the fort and the Sardinian steamer Governolo." A letter from Turin, of the 14th, mentions that tho Marquis de Villamarina, Sardinian Minister