The Press. — London, England, 1856-03-08 00:00:00

226 GREECE. A change of Ministry has occurred at Athens. M. Rizo Rangabe is appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs. M. Skalistires replaces M. Potlis in the Ministry of Justice. WEST INDIES AND AMERICA. Intelligence from New York to the 21st ult. has been received this week. Nothing up to that date had ben heard of the Pacific. The tone of the American press upon the difference with England was very pacific. All idea of a war with England had passed away. Mr. Dallas, the new Minister at London, was to leave for England on the sth inst. Affairs in Mexico were as distracted as ever. The insurrection against Comonfort was gaining ground. INDIA, CHINA, AND EGYPT. The letters and despatches by the late Indian mail give an account of the different preparations made to secure the annexat►on of Oude. Sixteen thousand men were collected at Cawnpore by the 24th January, and in a few days were to march direct on Oude. No real resistance was anticipated. The King was to be dismissed with a pension of one lac of rupees a month (120,0001. a year.) Major-General Outram as Chief Commissioner, will be assisted b 3 Mr. Gubbins and Mr. Ommaney as Finance and Judicial Commis sioners, and Mr. Couper as Secretary. Lord Can ning had arrived at Bombay on the 28th Jan., and would leave for Calcutta in the second week of February. From China the intelligence is of little interest. The rebellion was not making much head. Admiral Stirling bad organised au admirable and efficient system of convoy for traders in the China Seas which promised to destroy piracy. At Alexandria preparations were being pushed on for laying down the land electric telegraph to Suez and the submarine telegraph to Constantinople. In the Red Sea great disturbances had taken place at Jeddah and throughout the whole province of Temen, owing to the suppression of the slave trade by the Sultan. Upwards of 30,000 Arabs were in arms against the Turks, had captured Loheia and other seacoast towns, and in all probability the province of Temen would throw off its allegiance to the Sultan. Two English steamers have been despatched from Bombay to protect English and French interests, and reinforcements were about to be despatched at once to Aden. WEST INDIES. The West Indian mails, with dates from Jamaica to the 11th Feu., arrived on Wednesday. There was no news of importance from the island. Another battle had been fought between the Domini cans and Haytiens, in which the latter were totally beaten. AUSTRALIA. By the arrival of the James Baines we have intelli gence from Melbourne up to the 28th of November. Reports from the gold diggings were satisfactory. Three nuggets of 220, 240, and 730 ounces had been found on the Alma and on Daisy Hill. Quartz crushing was being pushed on with great activity. Sir Chatles Hotham, on the 23rd of November, had opened the Legislative Council, and proclaimed the new Constitution. In his address to the council, Sir Charles, alluding to the financial condition of the colony, said that he trusted he was justified in assuming that the colony at the end of the year would be nearly free from debt. Labour was in fair demand. FOREIGN MISCELLANEA. THE DUKE OF SAXE COEUR°, when presented with a congratulatory address upon a recent occa sion, is said to have remarked, in his reply, that he observed with regret, indifference for consti tutional institutions gaining ground in many States, while every effort was being made to prevent or ob struct the action of the people in public affairs. " For his part (added the duke) he would always act in harmony with the wishes of his subjects, and succeed by their aid consolidating the prosperity and the liberties of his country." THE CARDINALS OF ROME are said to be strenuously opposed to a visit to Paris by the Pope. That the baptismal ceremony of the anticipated heir to the French Emperor's throne should be performed by the Pope in person is known to be desired in high quarters ; but the Pope, it is expected, will get out of the difficulty by sending a cardinal to represent him at the ceremony, and consenting himself to stand godfather. PROFESSOR EHRENBERG'S MicaoscorE, which did such good service in producing undeniable proof of the Simonides' fraud, has been made use of again to detect the thief that stole a barrel of specie, pur loined on one of the Austrian railways. One of a number of barrels, that should all have contained coin, was found on arrival at its destination to have been emptied of its contents, and refilled with sand. On Professor Ehrenberg being consulted, he sent for samples of sand fix= all the stations along the THE PRESS. rent lines of railway that the specie had passed, and by means of his microscope identified the station from which tae interpolated sand must have been taken. The station once fixed upon, it was not diffi cult to bit upon the culprit in the small number of employes on duty these. PRINCE PASKIEWITCH has left a fortune of seventy millions of Polish florins, of which he bequeathed thirty millions, principally landed property, to his son Theodore, and twenty millions to each of his daughters, the Princess Wolkonska and the Princess Lebanon Rotowoska. He has left nothing to his widow, as, in addition to her own private fortune, she will enjoy a pension for her life of 30,000 silver roubles as the widow of a governor of Poland. THE AUSTRIAN ARMY has just received special orders from its commander. in -chief, "not to eat meat on Fridays, nor on the last three days of Passion Week, strictly to keep the ordinances of the Church as to diet, and to attend confession." This result of the Concordat has produced the greatest sensation in the army, which the avowed intention of the Vienna Horse Guards to establish monthly certificates of confession for each officer and his men has not contributed to allay. THE MEMBERS OF THE CONFERENCES were present at the opening of the French Legislative Session on Monday. Generals Canrobert and Bosquet took the oath. The former wore the uniform of a general ; the latter the dress of a senator. When the name of Marshal Pelissier was called, a voice replied, "Absent on the service of the Emperor." A SERIOUS DISTURBANCE, threatening the safety of the Jews in Constantinople, lately took place at Stain houl. A woman lost her child, and for some reason or other a Jew was suspected of stealing the infant. All the old bigoted hatred of the race broke out in a moment; their quarter was besieged, they were hunted down, hooted, pelted, and their lives threatened for,a short time, when the authorities interfered. A ItuzisiAN COMMISSION, now sitting at St. Peters. burg, has lately had several new war discoveries and inventions brought before it. Amongst others a Mr. Pahl produced a liquid substance capable of burning on the surface of the water, and with which he pro poses to set an enemy's ships on fire, and another which ignites of itself by being set free in the open air if the temperature be above 15 deg. (66 deg. of Fahrenheit). Both were declared as not practical. being easily put out by wind or waves. Then there were several projects for building ships to sail under water, a new invention for destroying enemy's ships submitted by a Dutchman of the name of Tetterode, and finally a plan for fixing submarine palisades by a Mr. Dade. Some of these were rejected as im practicable, and others ordered to be further con sidered. tout ano las Own. Her Majesty during the week has paid visits to the National Gallery, and Haymarket Theatre. On Thursday the Queen inspected the ruins of the Royal Italian Opera -house. The Duchess of Kent visited her Majesty on Tues day. The Duke of Cambridge, and the Duke and Duchess of d'Aumale, visited the Queen on Wednes day. His Majesty the King of the Belgians is expected to arrive at Windsor Castle on the 17th, on a visit to the Queen. The King will remain at the Castle till the 24th. The confirmation of the Princess Royal will take place shortly after the King's arrival. A grand naval review, at Spithead, it is reported, will be witnessed by the King before his departure for Belgium. The Countess Persigny had a reception on Tues• day evening. Previous to the reception his Excel lency and the Countess entertained a select circle at dinner, the guests including the Marquis and Mar chioness of Salisbury, the Earl and Countess Craven and Lady Elizabeth Craven, the Earl and Countess Somers, Lord Henry Gordon Lennox, M.P., Right Hon. Benjamin Disraeli, M.P., and Mrs. Disraeli. The Duke of Buccleuch has left Montagu-house for Dalkeith. The Earl of Eglinton left town on Monday, for Bath, but will return to St. James's-square early next week. Sir Robert Peel, Bart., M.P., and Lady Jane I'eel have left Own on a continental tour, until after the East holiday-s. The marriage of the Lady Margaret Anne de Burgh, fourth daughter of the Marquis of Clanri carde, with Mr. Wentworth Blackett-Beaumont, M.P., took place on Thursday, at St. James's Church, Piccadilly, in the presence of a select circle of the aristocracy, amongst whom were the Earl and Countess of Desart, the Countess of Derby and Lady Emma Stanley, Lord and Lady Dungarvan, the Marquis and Marchioness of Clanricarde, and the Misses Beaumont. Lord Claud Hamilton his left town for Ireland. SATURDAY, Ulttrogolitan. TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE. THE complete destruction of this magnificent theatre by fire, on Wednesday morning, must excite great regret throughout the country. The associations connected with it as a theatre—the recollection fresh in every mind of its recent glory as the first of ftalian Opera. houses in Europe—the scene of the triumphs of Kemble, Kean, and Macready, on the one hand, and of the superb successes of Mario, Grisi, and Viardot, on the other, the beauties of the Tempest, the glories of the Huguenots, the splendours of the Prophite, the magnificence of L'Etoile dic Nord, are now only remembered to leave painful impressions as you look upon the bare, bulging, blistered walls, or survey the vast amphitheatrical area of smouldering dust. Of the splendid proper ties of the theatre, accumulated at an incredible expense, the exquisite scenery, the noble armoury, the costly wardrobes, the valuable dramatic and musical library, containing many origival ope rat i c scores, nearly all have perished in this lamentable fire. As to the origin of the fire nothing yet is known. The precautions against fire in the house were admirable in principle: in the roof was a vast tank of eighteen tons of water, with double mains leading to every floor, kept always charged ; but on this occasion the firemen, whose duty it was to watch and guard the theatre, appear to have preferred a visit to the stage to attending to their duty on the roof. Mr. Gye, with a species of p resen ti ment o f evil, when the intelligence was conveyed to him of Mr. Anderson's desire to give a Bal M asqu e, put a decided veto on the proposal, but at length was induced, unhappily, to reconsider his opinion, and give permission for the entertainment to take place. The Bal Masque had gone off with the ordinary dulness and stupidity of such exhibitions in Lon don. It was nearly daylight—about a quarter to five a.m. Most of the people had left the theatre. About 200 of the most noisy remained : among them, it is reported, Castles, a fireman, who woe talking to a companion, on the stage. His com panion happening to look upwards, observ e d a bright light shining through the chinks and crevices of the flooring to a carpenter's shop high overhead. He called Castles' attention to this, and the latter, with that instinctive fear which neglect of duty usually sharpens, instantly replied in a low voice, " Why, good God! the house is on tire !" hi an instant both left the stage, and hastened up towards the point of danger. Their departure, of course, was scarcely noticed. Mr. Anderson had just given the order for "God save the Queen " to be played, and the chorus was being sung with great energy. The two men soon reached the carpenter's shop, which lay between the ornamental ceiling and the roof of the building. When they entered this place they were nearly suffocated by dense black smoke. Castles threw himself on his hands and knees, and endeavoured to crawl towards a smouldering heap which he observed near the centre of the workshop The smoke was, however, too much for him, and he was compelled to make a speedy retreat, with. out being able to open the fire-mains on this floor. Descending to the lower " flies," he succeeded in turning on the mains, but before he could fix the hose the descending fire from the workshop above overtook him, and drove him further down to the next " flies." The destruction of the house was now evident to him. He saw that the fire had obtained a mastery which could not be controlled, but be hoped by unhitching and cutting away those part of the scenery likely to be first affected by the in creasing fire to check it at least for a time. The or chestra bad net ceased when the sudden fall upon the stage of one of the beams round which these can vases were rolled gave the first intimation of danger to the assemblage below. Mr. Anderson hi m selt saw the beam fall; a gentleman exclaimed, "My God! the house is burning !" Mr. Anderson was incredu lous, but looking up saw enough to convince him. He shouted out, " The house is on fire !" For the moment it was disbelieved, and looked upon as n ruse to clear the house, but a shower of falling sparks set all doubts at rest. Then came the rush, the crush, and struggle for escaPe• Men and women, masquers and musicians, frantic with fright—each for himself—fought sr"l strove to get out first. The police seized the doe, ways, and kept them clear. To add to the horror of all, the gas was suddenly turned off, and for a moment the theatre was dark : but in a few seconds bright flames curled out from under the proscenium into the body of the house : the wooden bridges, the forest of scenery over the stage, crackled a nd caught one after the other ; another second, the flames roared out underneath—darted round the