The Press. — London, England, 1855-05-12 00:00:00

MAY 12, 1855. TURKEY. Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, with part of his family, left, Constantinople on the 24th ult. for the Crimea on a visit to Lord Raglan. This excursion is said to have no political significance. hlr. Odo Russell, first attache, remained as Chargé d'Affaires. A few days later a Ministerial crisis occurred in Constantinople. Mehemet Ali, brother-in-law of the Sultan, was recalled against the will of Reschid Pacha, who in consequence resigned, and Mehemet Ali, an exile the day before, was made Grand Vizier in his stead. Fued Effendi has been appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Finance Depart ment is intrusted to Monster Bey. The absence o 4 Lord Redcliffe is believed to have much facilitated. the overthrow of Reschid Pacha's Ministry. Advices from Trabisond of the 25th ult. state that the Khan of Khiva, who had been committing seri ous depredations on the Persian territory, was afterwards captured, with nearly thirty of bis adhe rents, who were all beheaded at Teheran. RUSSIA. A. special commission has been instituted at St. Petersburg by the Emperor Alexander to consider all matters relating to the Eastern question. It is composed of the Grand Duke Constantine, M. Nes selrode, Count Orloff, M. Kisseleff, Count Bludoff, and Prince Dolgorouki. The war party has a majo rity in the commission. Russia has been making the most formidable pre- parations for a long and vigorous defensive war along its whole extensive line of frontiers from Samogitia up to St. Petersburg. Magazines of am munition have been formed, stores of provisions laid in, fortresses constructed, the more importar.t places fortified, and cannon mounted. The Post Ampt Gazette contains a letter from Hel singfors, which states that an official notice has been published there, dated April 4th, announcing that a new loan of 650,000 silver roubles is to be contracted, at four per cent., on the account of the Treasury of Finland, to meet the expenses of the war. UNITED STATES. New York dates to the 25th ult. have arrived by the America royal mail steamer. There is no politi cal news, but several accounts of serious accidents leading to fatal results. At Detroit on the Ist ult. the propeller Oregon, Cleveland, exploded, killing ten persons, and severely wounding several others. Another steamer, the William Knox, from Cincinnati for St. Louis, was destroyed by fire on the 23rd ult. below Louisville. The boats were full of passengers, but all were ex pected to be saved by a steamer seen alongside. The Maine liquor and license question caused a sanguinary riot at Chicago on the 21st ult., in which four men were killed and six others dangerously wounded. The rioters were chiefly composed of Germans. Incendiaries were busy at work during the excitement, and nine or ten buildings were set fire to, but were speedily subdued, the authorities being on the alert. In the Supreme Court of New York on the 19th ult. a verdict of 15,234 dollars was returned against Phineas 'l'. Barnum for Crystal Palace shares bought at the time he assumed the presidency. GENERAL PELTSRIER has issued the following general order relative to flags of truce :—" The General in-Chief has decided that the communica tions with the enemy should hereafter take place by sea, and that the flags of truce should meet in boats, off the harbour. Consequently, the general com manding the first corps expressly recommends to the general, major, and superior officers in the trenches, not to admit any Russian flag of truce, either on the right or centre of the attack of the first corps, or near the cemetery, where it, was hitherto usual to exchange messages and communications. Every infraction of the present order will be severely punished." THE benefits which have resulted from the resi dence of the French troops in the Greek capital are pointed out by the Athens journal the Unnerve. Streets formerly almost impassable have, it says, been thoroughly cleared ; squares planted with trees ; pieces of waste ground converted into highly culti vated gardens ; in a word, the town of the Piraeus, by the exertions of the French admiral, has not only been cleared and rendered healthy, but the aspect of it has been completely changed. "If the army re main here some time longer," says the Unnerve," the town will be entirely embellished in the European style, and the Pii fens will resume its ancient splen dour." THE SHIPPING INTEREST is stated to be suffering severely from the great reduction which has recently taken place in freights, while the high cost of victual ling is not only maintained, but bears every prospect of increase. The wages demanded by seamen are beyond what the owner can afford, and the consequence is already showing itself in the laying up of vessels —an alternative some of the principal shipowners are already adopting, THE PRESS. THE WILL OF NAPOLEON I. NEARLY nine columns of the Moniteur of Sunday last are occupied with a report of the commission instituted by the decree of August, 1b54, to take into consideration and execute the will of Napoleon 1. The commission has resolved on the division of eight millions of francs, as proposed by the late Emperor. This sum is disposed of between particular legatees, the bataillon of the island of Elba, the wounded at Ligny and Waterloo, the towns of Brienne and Miry, the provinces of France which suffered most from invasion, and the veterans who served between the periods of 1702 and 1815. The commission call into existence the sums de posited with M. Laffitte, with the interest thereon. The private legatees amount to sixty-six. The labours of the commission appear to have been exceedingly great, as it was necessary to ratify separately the individuality of claimants. Many ap plications it appears have been made and rejected. Thus of the Elba claims 313 were rejected, and 297 admitted. The wounded at Ligny and Waterloo found 3,583 claimants, of whom only 347 were admitted. The towns of Brienne and hiery receive respectively 300,000 f. and 400,000 f., which will be disposed of in gifts to the descendants of the inhabitants who most suffered, and in the construction of public works. One million three hundred thousand francs will be given to the following provinces tdivided amongst the towns of the same) :—Alsace—Bas-Rhin, Haut- Rhin; Lorraine—Meurth, Meuse, Moselle, Vosges; Franche-Comte—Doubs ' Haute SaOne, Jura; Bour gogne—Ain, Cote-d'Or, SaOne et-Loire, Yonne; Chem pagne--Aub, Ardennes, Marne, Haute Marne; Ile de-France Seine, Seine-et-Oise, Seine-et-Marne, Aisne, Oise; Forez —Loire ; Dauphine Isere, DrOme, HautesAlpes. The members of the commission to whom this dif ficult task has been confided are—Le General Comte d'Ornano, gouverneur des Invalides, president; Rouher, ministre de ]'agriculture, du commerce, et des travaux publics, vice•president ; De Parieu, vice president du conseil d'Etat ; Le Baron J. Boulay, president de section au conseil d'Etat; De Royer, conseiller d'Etat, procureur-general 31a cour de ces sation; Le Comte Lehon, and Mesnard, maitres des requetes au conseil d'Etat; Perron, chef do section au ministere d'Etat, secretaire. The report concludes bylsay ing—" Thanks to the pious intentions of your Majesty, thirty-four years after the death of the Emperor, his last will in favour of his faithful servants and glorious companions in arms receives consecration." The document is signed by A. Fould, Minister of Finance, and approved by the present Emperor, May 5, 1855. The date of this paper is the anniversary of the death of Napoleon I. A PLAN for opening a canal communication be tween the Black Sea and the Danube has been pro posed by Mr. T. Wilson, formerly a Dutch merchant. The suggested line of waterway is to run from a point in the Bay of Kostendje to a part of the river between Chernavoda and Rassova, the course fol lowed being nearly identical with that of the remains of Trajan's-wall. The distance to be traversed would be little more than thirty miles, and the mute would effect a saving of about 250 miles of navigation in transporting produce from Servia, Bulgaria, and most parts of Wallachia, while it would also have the advantage of being away from the neighbourhood of Russia. Mr. Wilson is said to have sent out some engineers a few weeks ago to survey the locality ; and it is added that the Turkish authorities in London look favorably upon the project. The idea of con structing a canal at the St. George's mouth of the Danube, to escape the impediments purposely accu mulated by the Russians at the Sulina mouth, has often in past years attracted attention ; but, if the face of the country should be nearly as favorable for such a work at Kostendje, the general . superiority of that point would seem to be very great. A BEAUTIFUL STATUE OF THE POET CAMPBELL has just been erected in " Poets' Corner," and is now open to inspection. It is composed of white marble, and stands on a pedestal of Caen stone. The figure is full length, rather above the natural size, and re presents Campbell in his robes, as Lord Rector of Glasgow University, an office to which he had the unusual honour of being elected on three consecutive occasions. He is represented in a thoughtful mood, with pen in hand, the left arm resting on a short pillar, on the face and at the foot of which some emblems of the poet's inspiration are represented. The work is well executed by Mr. W. C. Marshall. THE GRAPE DISEASE has again made its appearance in many parts of Portugal. The orange and lemon trees, in addition to the black blight with which they have been attacked, were injured in the roots by a worm, which was destroying the trees. In the olive groves a new disease, caused by the settlement of myriads af flies, had presented itself. THE SHIP Creamore arrived in the Mersey on Sunday, with a number of the Newfbundland comp* pies on board. She left St. John's on the sth ult. TRIAL OF FIANORL Tea trial of the culprit who attempted to assasinate the Emperor of the French came on before the Assize Court at Paris, on Monday. No difference was made in any res pect with regard to the proceedings in the case, which was conducted in exactly the same fashion as if the charge had been of the most ordinary kind. The trial was completed in one day, and resulted in the prisoner being found guilty of "Paricide," and sentenced to death. Many minute particulars respecting his former carter were stated during the course of the proceedings, of which the following are the chief points. The real name of the assassin, it seems , is Giovanni Pianori ; it is certain that he was born in the Pontifical States, though he refused to state the precise spot. It does not appear that he is a married man. His business is, according to his own account, that of a shoe maker. In the year 1849 he belonged to the insurrectionary army of Rome, and served as a volunteer under the orders, it is supposed, of Garabaldi, though he declined giving the name of his chief. At the conclusion of that struggle he quitted the Roman territory, and proceeded, in company with many others in a similar condition, to Piedmont, where he resided till the beginning of 1804. About that time he went to Marseilles, where he lived several months under the name of Livereni. He subsequently visited several other towns of France, and remained some time at Lyons and Chalons, and then came to Paris, where he took out a pt rmis de srjour under the same false designation . He was recommended to a muster shoemaker named Mallet, who gave him work. Owing to negligence or to want of proper skill he was before long discharged. Be soon after proceeded to London, where he remained about four months, but it does not appear that it was want of work which forced hint to quit Paris. He arrived in London in December last, and after a very short period of idleness he was put in a situation to earn ftom 50s. to fifts. a week ; but refused to state from whom he derived that income, what kind of work he was employed on, and in what part of London lie resided or was employed. Out of these earnings he states that he was enabled to save about Via. per week, and thus endeavoured to account for the sum of money (bOO francs) which was found upon him when he was arrested. He quitted London on the 2(lth of March last, and again returned to Paris, where he took up his lodging in a house on the external Boulevard Pigale ; and his landlord states that during this period he did not appear to be occupied in any way. He was remarked by those who occasionally saw him to be quite different from what lie had been previously; that he was silent, re• served, and avoided associating with any one. The large amount of his earnings in London is a matter of surprise, inasmach as be had been discharged by his Parisian em ployer as an unskilfuliworktean who hardly knew anything of his craft. It is concluded, therefore, that he was a shoemaker little more than in name, and that his means of subsistence never (lid proceed from that source. It was during the latter part of hie residence in London that ho purchased for ttl. the double-barrelled pistol which he em ployed against the Emperor, and also two other pistols with single barrels, which were found in his pockets at the moment of his arrest. The reason he gave for possessing these firearms was, that he received the two single-barrelled pistols from a servant for whom he had worked, and wbo, having no money to give him, offered him those articles in lieu of payment when he was about to embark for America. In Paris he spent an entire month in idleness, and probably in debauchery, for on the eve of his arrest two prostitutes called on him at his lodging. During that month he took care to conceal his movements and proceed ings, and acted with so much care that he eluded all sur• veillance. On the 28th of April he left his lodging early In the morning, fully armed. His double-barrelled loaded and primed, was suspended to his belt. His two single•barelled pistols, also loaded and primed, were concealed in his trousers pocket. His poniard knife was likewise available, and next to it was a very sharp razor. Under his coat was found a cap which would have served as a disgu;se after the perpctra-, tion of the crime and favored his i scope. Thus prepared Pianora repaired to the Champs Elysees. He knew that the Emperor generally rode out in that direction. He knew also that his Majesty dispensed with an escort, and showed no want of confidence in those who surrounded him. The opportunity was the more favorable to the assassin, who placed himself in ambuscade, and awaited his intended victim. The incidents which attended and followed his criminal, and happily unsuccessful attempt, have already been detailed. AN account issued from the Treasury on Saturday shows the estimated gross revenue for the year end ing the 31st March, 1850, to amount to 91,024,951/., and the estimated net revenue to 80,630,000/. The items of the estimated net revenue are as follows— viz., Customs, 22,600,0001.; Excise, 18,071,0001.; stamps, 7,015,0001.; land and assessed taxes, 2,920,0001.; property and income tax, 14,535,000/., Post-office (including the sum of '288,00 for news paper), 1,438,0001.; Crown lands, 200,000/.; mis cellaneous, 800,0001.; money to be raised by loan, 16,000,000/. ; and by Exchequer-bills, 3,000M001. The items of expenditure (including the cost of col lecting revenue) are as follows—viz.:—Cost of the funded and unfunded debt, 27,974,000/.; permanent charges on the Consolidated Fund, 1,750,000.. ; the army (including the militia and commissariat), 16,214,0001.; the navy (including transports and packet service), 10,053,00(/.; the Ordnance, 7,808,0001.; the vote of credit for extraordinary ex penses of the war, 3,000,000/. ; miscellaneous civil services, 0,500,0001. ; the loan to Sardinia, 1,000,0001. ; the cost of collecting the revenue, 4,385,9511. ; the ways and means bills issued in 1844 45, remaining to be paid off, 1,000,000/., thus leaving • margin of 4,740,0001. for contingencies out Of the prospeetiie receipts of the financial year.