The Press. — London, England, 1857-01-31 00:00:00

101 Cardinal 111,)rlot beet' appinted Archbishop of Paris. The appeal of Vergi•s for a new trial was heard at the Court of Cassation on Thursday, and rejected. The prisoner therefore remains for execution. The Pope, it is said, has written to the Emperor, en treating the prisoner's pardon on the ground of taanity. Rear-Admiral Eigault de Genouilly has left Paris for Brest, to take command of the naval division to be sent at once to the Chinese waters. Ferouk Khan, the Persian Ambassador, it is believed in Paris, will be in London about the middle of next month, he having an extraordinary mission to the Court of St. James as well as to that of the Tuileries. The Princess Lieven, so long known in the political salons of Europe, died on Monday night from bron chitis. The Princess was in her seventy-fifth year. A deficit in the year's budget is anticipated. Tho Moniteur has officially announced the libera tion of the Swiss prisoners, and congratulates the Helvetic Confederation upon► its resolution. Dr. Kern, the Swiss Envoy at Paris, has been received by the Emperor, and is still at Paris. AUSTRIA. GENERAL AMNESTY IN THE ITALIAN DOMINIONS. The Emperor, on the 25th, signed at Milan an amnesty decreed for the Lombardo. enetian king do:n. _ . _ All persons under sentence for political offences are restored to liberty, the proceedings against them ara abandoned, and the Special Judicial Court of Mantua is dissolved. This act of the Emperor has produced an immense effect. Milan was sponta neously illuminated, and the Emperor has been received with warm enthusiasm. The Imperial stay in Lombardy has, in consequence, been prolonged till the sth of February. A further decree of the Emperor annuls Lombardy trees in arrear to the extent of two millions of f. ancs. PRUSSIA AND SWITZERLAND. Foreign letters and journals agree in affirming that Vie precise object of 1)r. Kern's mission to Paris is to eitablish an accord on the conditicns of arrangement to be come to between the King of Prussia and Swit zerland, so that the bases of the arrangement being agreed on beforehand, no delays or difficulties need be apprehended when once the Conference meets. The Federal Council of Switzerland has published a proclamation to the army, in which it announces that the affair of Neufchatel is in a fair way of arrangement, and they may he sure that that arrangement " will not offend the dignity of Swit zerland." It compliments the troops in warm terms on the patriotism they had displayed in responding to its appeal to take anus, and announces their dis charge. NAPLES. Political arrests in Sicily are on the increase. Commerce is entirely at:a stand ; the theatres are abandoned ; the clubs are closed ; the streets are silent and deserted by all but the police and the military. In Naples, letters to the 21st of January state that the theatres are closed : most of the cafes and hotels, more than half or the printing-offices, and the greater part of the libraries are also closed. Since the explosion of the powder magazine and the arrest of Milano, more than 500 persons have been arrested, and of these certainly not more than 100 have been released. An amnesty was expected on the accouchement of the Queen. GREECE. The German papers confirm the news that the great powers have decided on the evacuation of Greece, and add that the notification of the English Cabinet on the subject has arrived at Vienna. They state further that the Ist of March is fixed for the departure of the troops. TURKEY. The Russians have evacuated the Isle of Serpent, and the English stt amen; are evacuating the Black Sea. The Russian authorities at Bolgrad have received orders to quit the town on the Ist of February. The firman convoking the Divans ad hoc was read on the 13th before the Principality Commis sioner:4. Some slight difference of opinion took place between Sir Henry Bulwer and Lord Stratford. Sir Henry, however, signed the document with the other plenipotentiaries. INDIA. The Indian papers announce, in a very quiet manner, the return of Brigadier Chamberltune's expedition in Alfghantistan. The Madras Atheneettm eays : Post Mohamed according to the latest accounts was ,n the lu►th of the current month to )romiesioner of the l'unjeuh on the 1. In the l'unjeub it is generally iy will be concentrated, within the THE PRESS. next three months, at Peshawur, but whether the force is merely intended for the protection of British interest in the event of " accidents " or for active operations, is of course not known. Twenty-five thousand men, it is reported at Bom bay, were to be sent at once to the Persian Gulf. expected at Peshawnr on confer with the Chief Cot present aspect of affairs. behered that a large arm **. AUSTRALIA. Intelligence to the 31st of October announces an increase in the yield of gold. Sheep, and consequently the expert of wool, were on the decline. A terrible event occurred at Melbourne in her Majesty's 40th Regiment. Ensign Pennefather, in a fit of insanity, had shot three of the officers of his regiment, and then blew out his own brains. Dr. M'Cauley was dead ; Ensigns Lucas and Keith, though severely wounded, were both expected to recover. Cout atto las4ton. Her Majesty the Queen remains at Windsor. The French and Russian Ambassadors and the Earl of Clarendon arrived on Tuesday together upon a visit to her Majesty. Her Serene Highness the Princess of Hohenlohe has also visited the Queen during the week. Lord John Russell arr;ved in Paris on Thursday. IN lordship leaves for London to•morrow. Sir James Graham is expected in town this day. Earl St. Germans, on Saturday last, received from the hands of the Queen the honour of knighthood, and the insignia of a (Civil) Knight Grand Cross of the Bath. Volittrai. A CABINET COUNCIL was held on Monday afternoon 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 Earl of Harrowby, Sir George Grey, the Earl of Clarendon, Mr. Secretary Labou chere, Lord Pantnure, the Chancellor of the Ex chequer, Sir Charles Wood, the Right Hon. R. Vernon Smith, Lord Stanley of Alderley, the Right Hon. M. T. Baines, and the Duke of Argyll. A SECOND CABINET COUNCIL was held on Tuesday, at which the Marquis of Lansdowne was also present. HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN has intimated her in tention not to open Parliament in person. The speech from the throne upon the reassembling of Parliament will, therefore, be delivered by Lords Commissioners on Tuesday next. The address, in answer to the speech from the throne, will be moved in the Lords by the Earl of Cork, and, we believe, will be seconded by Earl Cowper. Both these young noblemen have but lately succeeded, at an early age, to their family honours. The address of the Commons will be moved by Sir John Rams den, member for the borough of Taunton, and seconded by Sir Andrew Agnew, member for Wigton shire. THE MINISTERIAL PARLIAMENTARY DINNERS on the opening of the session will be given by Viscount Palmerston and Earl Granville to the supporters of Government in either house. Both banquets will be state dinners, and will take place on Monday, Feb. 2, Lord l'almerston's at Cambridge-house, Piccadilly, and Lord Granville's at his residence, in Bruton street. THE RIGHT Hon. B. DISRAELI will receive a party of the members of the House of Commons to dinner on M onday next. THE Wen COMMITTEE met on Thursday afternoon, at the office of the Secretary of State for War in Pall mall. Present—his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, Viscount Palmerston, Lord Panmure, Sir George Grey, and Sir Charles Wood. MR. C. J. BAYLEY, lately Colonial Secretary at the Mauritius, has been appointed to the Govern ment of the B ahamas, in succession to Sir Alexander Bannerman. Mr. Price, late Treasurer of Antigua, has been appointed President of the Virgin Islands. THE MANCHESTER FREETRADERS held their annual meeting on Thursday evening at the Free trade Hall. It was a numerous, but not a crowded, gathering. Mr. George Wilson presided ; and there were present Messrs. Heywood, Cheetham, and Had field, members of the Legislature. The CHAIRMAN, in opening the proceedings, passed a high eulogium upon Mr. Bright,aud adverted to his long parliamentary services. A letter of Mr. Bright, dated Rochdale, Novem ber 5, 1850, was theu read to the meeting. Mr. Bright, in this letter, alluding to the delicate state of his health, offered to retire from the representation of the city, as be should not be able "to attend the House of Commons during the next session of Par liament." In conclusion, Mr. Bright observed, as to the future:— I hope I am not too sanguine in believing that a few months more of rest—rest of the faculties which have had SATURDAY, almost no rest during ibe past fi fteen years—will restor e to me the power, as still have the will, to labour in that field in which so much of my life has been spent. If 1 am permitted to recover my former strength before the occurrence of a general election, I shall then hope for R continuance of the confidence which the electors of Manchester have so long placed in me ; if renewed health be not granted to me, I shall then withdraw from publio life, remembering, as long as I live, how much I owe to the kindness and forbearance of those in whose name, and on whose behalf, I have acted for nine years past in the House of Commons. A resolution recognising Mr. Bright's great ser vices, and, "while cheerfully conceding to him tho interval of repose which may be necessary fur the complete restoration of his health, requesting him to continue his parliamentary connection with the city," was proposed and carried unanimously. The Right Hon. THOS. MILNER Gmsom, M.P., then addressed the meeting. Adverting to the late war, he said that opinions differed as to whether the results of that war were glorious or disgraceful to this country; but he knew with certainty that an in creased expenditure and increased taxation were among its consequences : He trusted that we should now return to a peace ex penditure. He did not join in the cry now raised against the income tax. The indirect taxes were nearly forty-two millions sterling, levied upon the great mass of consumers, or nine•tenths of the people ; and as these taxes were paid before the articles reached the consumer, ten trillions more might be added as the cost of collection, and as deducted from the profit and interest upon capital em ployed in trade. He did not deny that there was an injustice in the mode of levying the income tax; but it was the only means of fairly reaching the fnndholder and the landowner, and it ought not to be wholly abandoned. He moved:— That in the opinion of this meeting the re-establishment of peace renders it the imperative duty of the Govern- ment to diminish at once the existing load of taxation, which, by injuriously affecting the industrial interests of the country, is seriously detrimental to tile material well. being and social happiness of all classes of the commu• nity ; and that while pledging itself to relax none of its exertions to produce a wise, efficient, and economical ex penditure of the national resources, it looks to a just and comprehensive measure of parliamentary reform, as the only adequate means by which the nets of the Legislature may be brought into permanent harmony with the con victions and interests of the people. Mr. Jolts CIIEETHAM seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously. Mr. GEORGE HADFIELD, M.P., moved a third reso lution,:— _ _ _ That in the opinion of this meeting, the requirements of our national industry, and the welfare of numerous classes of British subjects, call for the immediate removal of the obstacles which, in our colonies and posessions— especially in India—impede the application of skill and capital to the development of their resources. Mr. JAMES I - Irvwoon, M.l'., seconded the motion. The thin resolution was also unanimously adopted. X deputation from the Ballot Society was next in troduced, and a revolution in favour of the ballot was moved, seconded, and adopted. Mn. MLtLL, in the course of an address delivered last week to his constituents at llochtialp, protested .trongly against Lord Pahnerstdn's policy of foreign interference:— If we were to be continually involved in disputes with distant countries, our domestic legislation would soon go to the dogs. We were an insular people ; then why should we be continually interfering with the affairs of our neigh. boors? Look at our I'almerstoniun policy. We had h4tl two wars, two occupations, and one unsuccessful armed demonstration. We had already taken possession of the port of Itushire, and had sent an army of .s,otXt strong, beyond the northwest, to penetrate into the central regions of Asia, for the purpose of driving the Persians out of Herat. There were some wars they could understand ; and he had no doubt it would be said this war would con duce to open up to the commercial market the central parts of Asia. He would ask men of commerce if they wanted cannon to make markets for them, or whether they would not rather depend upon their own commercial en terprise? He trusted there would be sufficient manliness in the representatives of this country to let the Govern. ment know they would have none of this meddling with the 'rifting of other nations. Then there was another subject—the bombardment of Canton : Be believed a quarrel had been sought with the Chinese in order that force might be resorted to, because all the force was prepared before the incident occurred which had been seized hold of, and they found at last that the pretext would not avail them. It appeared now that they intended to bombard the city itself. He protested against it, not only in the name of Christianity, but in the name of humanity, and for the sake of vur good name over the world. They must not for a moment allow these prat• tices, worthy only of the old buccaneers of the fifteenth century. Mr. Miall further expressed an opinion in favour of the reduction and revision of the income tax—for his own part he preferred a property and not an income tax—the reduction also of our naval and military expenditure within necessary limits, and for some comprehenaivemeaattres of electoral reform.