The Press. — London, England, 1855-02-24 00:00:00

FEBRUARY 2421855. to the "liberty of the press," and to declare that it was not less precious than " the very air we breathe, without it we die," has strongly animadverted on its mischief in proclaiming the truth, that truth being inimical to the well-being of his Coalition party. This has been severely commented upon and brought forward as substantiating the propriety of a censor ship, and the restriction of intelligence incommo dious to Government. The admission of Lord Lans downe is fatal to any argument with a German Absolutist. Again, Mr. Gladstone, in reply to Mr. Stafford, lectured that gentleman on the mode of performing his parliamentary duties, and distinctly admonished him that it was a sacred obligation, on becoming ac• quainted with Crimean disasters prejudicial to Minis terial welfare, to seek out and lay the intelligence before the Ministers privately, and not to publish it to the House of Commons and the public. Mr. Gladstone is strict, even to prudery, in the ceremo nial observances of duty ; yet, in the case of a con• stituency when personal interest comes into play, the public obligation of a member to the electors is ignored by him altogether. If the business of the country is to be transacted privately out of the house, without the disrelished publicity of the Com mons, the responsibility of members to their consti tuents dwindles to a nullity. Secrecy on one point may generate secrecy in another, and the electors would be deprived of any chance of testing the sin cerity of promises made at the hustings. But insin cerity is the very essence of Peelism ; it is by that they live in the house and have their ministerial being. The telegraph of the Indipendance Beige announces that a compromise has been made with Mr. Roebuck on the committee of inquiry. If a solemn act of the house, one involving the gravest culpability of Ministers towards the country, is to be set at naught and disposed of privately, according to the system of Mr. Gladstone, the constitutional theory is worse than a farce. J. E. L. jortign ad Colonial 3nitiligmte. FRANCE. Paris has been agitated during the past week by rumours that the Emperor Napoleon intended to visit the Crimea in order to be present at the assault and expected capture of Sebastopol. All the preparations, it is said, were made for the imperial journey, and it was even asserted that the Empress would accompany him as far as Constantinople. According to the last accounts, however, the trip is postponed, if not aban doned altogether. This change of determination, it is added, has been brought about by the report which General Niel has given to his Majesty respecting the state of the besieging forces and prospects of the pending campaign. Lord J. Russell arrived in Paris on Tuesday, and on the following day had an interview with M. Drouyn de Lhuys, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Moniteur de l'Artnie announces that the Im perial Guard is to be increased by one regiment of foot artillery, a sixth battery of horse artillery, a third battalion of gendarmerie, and a fourth battalion each to the two regiments of grenadiers and voltigeurs. General de La Marmora, who is to command the Piedmontese expedition, has arrived in Paris. It is understood that the object of his visit is to come to an understanding with the Governments of France and England relative to the organisation of the expe dition. The general will stay but a very short time in the French capital. The new screw steamer La Bretagne has been launched successfully at Brest. This vessel will be mounted with 130 guns and is of 1,200-horse power. The Moniteur of Tuesday publishes a report by M. Magne, the new Minister of Finance. It announces the reimposition of the duties on commercial receipts and obligations as they existed before the law of the 7th August, 1850, and states that with this aid there will be a surplus of 4,000,000 francs. The ad vance of 30,000,000 francs made by the Bank having been reimbursed from the proceeds of the recent 1 lan, the floating debtis at this moment nearly the a ►me as last year, via., 897,1130,400 francs. The bons du (Thor do not exceed 218,000,000 francs, nor the f ,nds des caisses d'epargne 180,000,000 francs. The Prefect of the Seine and municipality of Paris gave their second ball of the season on Monday, at thel Hotel de Ville. T.ie new dogma of the Immaculate Conception has been proclaimed with great pomp by the Arch h'sh'p of I'aris at Notre Dame, the ceremony being rape %Led in all the churches in Paris. GERMANY. Baron Prokesch Osten, formerly Austrian inter nuncio at the Sublime Porte ; will be the Austrian special commissioner at the approaching diplomatic The semi-official Austrian Correspondence con tradicts the statement that an Austrian loan of 15,900,0001., guaranteed byfEngland, is about to be raised. THE PRESS. The Emperor of Austria has addressed a note to the Minister of the Interior requesting that in place of the festivities and illuminations which were designed to commemorate the approaching accouchement of the Empress, the money proposed to be thus spent should be appropriated to works of benevolence and to the relief of the Rom., who were suffering so much distress from the existing dearness of provisions. A fire broke out on Tuesday in the Imperial Palace of Prague. At noon the conflagration was subdued. The upper stories of the palace were greatly damaged. Their ex-Majesties, who resided in the palace, suffered no danger from the accident. ITALY. The following appointments have been confirmed by the Sardinian Minister of War respecting the ex• peditionary force : - - - General Commandiug•in•Chief—Alphonso La Marriora. Head-quarters Staff— Colonels Patin, Avet, Itapallo ; Aidesde•Camp to Commander•in-Chief, Captains Belbo, 2. Generals Commanding Divisions—lst, General John Durand° ; Chief of Staff, Major Casanova. 2nd, General Alexander La Mamom ; Chief of Staff, Porrino. Reserve—General James I)urando. Commandants of Brigades Colonels Guistiniani, Monteveochio, Mollard, Cialdini. Commandant of Cavalry—Colonel Savoirous. TURKEY. Letters from Constantinople of the 15th state that Baron Koller, the new Austrian Minister, had not yet arrived. Baron Bruck was still in Constantinople. Some Sardinian companies had arrived in that city. Omer Pacha embarked at Varna on the 7th for the Crimea, whither the principal part of his force hail preceded him. Muhlis Pacha (Prince Stourdza), remains at Varna as Omer's lieutenant. A large quantity of wires for the telegraph with the Crimea was landed at Varna on the 6th, and the telegraphic communication with Schumla was ex pected to be complete by the end of the present month. . RUSSIA. The ukase ordering a levy en masse for the army throughout Russia has been followed by two supple- mental edicts. One contains a fresh appeal for sub. scriptions and voluntary offerings. The second orders a forced extraordinary contribution throughout the extent of the Russian empire. This contribution comprises a forced loan and fourfold requisition for provisions. Every " hide " of land in Toland is to pay fifteen roubles. According to the manifesto published on the 10th by the Czar, he says that he had endeavoured to uphold the rights of Christendom in the East without a contest, and had therefore consented to negotia tions, but that the hostile armaments of other States had obliged him to increase his means of defence ; and that, trusting in the grace of God and the love of his people, he had commanded the general organi sation throughout the country of the militia. The wear and tear of human life in the Russian army during the last two years has been enormous, so much so thatthe constantly repeated conscriptions and calling out of reserves have scarcely sufficed to keep up the battalions of the six active corps at their original effective amount of 750. - - • The Vienna paper, the Oat. Deutsche Post, publishes a letter from St. Petersburg, in which it is stated that:— The Emperor is much irritated against the officers of the ittaff, who declared last year that the disembarkation of more than 40,000 men in the Crimea was impossible ; and hence it was deemed sufficient to augment the Russian army by a third. It has been raised to 100,000 men now, and pos sesses an excellent body of cavalry, ; but a large portion of the latter has been necessarily withdrawn, on account of the scarcity of fodder and the great difficulties in the way of the commissariat—difficulties which prevent a larger number I of troops being sent thither. From Simferopol to Sebes , bastopol the way lies across salt steppes devoid of vegeta• tan, and you are obliged to carry water with you for man and beast. Nearly 7,000 draught horses have already died along that route, and they now use oxen instead. It is, therefore, impossible to support an army in the Crimea, unless one has the sea ; and if the allies succeed in cutting off the communications of the Russian army by land, albeit for a very short period, the fate of Sebastopol will be soon decided. Unheard .of efforts are making for the spring campaign, and every day we expect extraordinary measures. No one desires a peace prejudicial to Russia, and more es pecially because the war is considered over all the empire as a holy one. They will cheerfully give up to Austria the protectorate of the principalities, because they feel sure of getting it back again before long, provided Russia's power remains intact. We consider the free navigation of the Danube a mere verbal order with which Russia will wil lingly comply. The main point is the domination of the Black Sea. This domination was the first case of the war, and it will be defended to the very last. The Black Sea lost, all is lost ; but the Black Sea saved, all is saved. Such is the rallying cry of Russian policy. IN the week that ended on Saturday last the deaths of 1,475 persons, namely, 741 males and 734 females, were registered in London. There died last week, in addition to what is usual in the middle of Febru ary, 280 persons, whose lives have been shortened by the sharp and long-oontinued frost. 181 THE BOUNDARY MAP OF EUROPE. IN the current number of the Dublin University Magazine there is an article on the settlement of Europe at the Congress of Vienna, which is worthy of notice from certain strong points being put forward in it which just now require attention. Not entirely concurring with the writer in several of his opinions, we shall offer a brief analysis of his detailed views of the last settlement of the European boundaries. Reverting to the circumstances under which the Congress of Vienna met, the reviewer directs atten- tion on the fatal prominence given to the Pope at that important time. England was represented by Lord Castlereagh, and France by M. Talleyrand ; while Spain, Portugal, Murat ( King of NapleC, Sicily, Holland, Saxony, Switzerland, Genoa, and Venice, had plenipotentiaries present. Besides these important functionaries there were present in person the Emperors of Austria and Russia, the Kings of Prussia, Bavaria, Denmark, and Wurtemburg, along with a host of lesser princes. In such an extraor dinary assembly, with such prodigious pretensions and conflicting interests, regularity of business was a great difficulty, and dissension was almost in evitable. It is singular enough that it should have been the Emperor of Russia who suggested the course for regulating the precedency of the various States. He proposed that they should en that one and exceptional occasion rank according to the letters of the alphabet. A new difficulty, however, then intervened:— lint was the entire of this mob of purple•born or purple invested beggars to join in the discussion of their own claims and counter-claims ? The idea was manifestly absurd ; and at length, after much disputation, a committee of business was nominated, to which all questions before the Congress should be submitted. In accordance with this arrangement, the actual work was done by the Ministers of England, Russia, Austria, Prussia, France, Spain, Portugal, and Sweden, with whom was associated, upon the special intercession of the Prince Regent of Eng land, Cardinal Gonsalvi, as the representative of Pope Pius VII. The influence thus given to the Pope by the Protestant powers has appeared to many publicists to have been a blunder of the first magnitude. It can only be attributed to the strong reactionary spirit against all that savoured of the infidelity of the French Revolution ; and the error of Napoleon the First in imprisoning the Pope (after having made an elaborate concordat with the Papacy) had undoubt edly contributed to excite some tenderness of feeling towards the Vatican inconsistent with Protestant opinions. It was trying to cure the frenzy of infi delity by the benumbing opiate of superstition, which is always sure in the course of events to re produce infidelity again. Turning from the Pope to the Czar, the reviewer then proceeds to show the barriers attempted to be raised against the ambition of Russia. In doing so the reviewer does some justice to the memory of Lord Castlereagh, whose character was for years the target for every foul calumny that political malignity could devise. Lord Castlereagh saw the necessity of checking the designs of Russia, and he attempted to do 80 : The great evil of modern Europe (Lord Castlereagh then said), which has hitherto led to such frequent want of am• bition by the greater powers, has been the number of lesser states with which they are surrounded, at once a geld for their hostility, and a prey to their cupidity. It is our wisdom, therefore, so to strengthen the second-rate powers as may render the balance inure even, and prevent their dominions from becoming, as heretofore, the mere battle field in which the greater powers find an arena for their contests, and the prize of their hostility. And after recounting the artful diplomacy employed by Russia, the reviewer then proceeds to show the indifference of England, quoting authentic proofs : Thus, evidence enough was before our Ministers of the nature of the designs entertained by the Czar, and we have now before us abundant proof that it was not lost upon them. Their letters are filled with expressions that leave no donht upon this point. " It is quite astonishing ( wrote Lord Liverpool to the Duke of Wellington) how little in terest is taken [in England] in what is going on at Vienna." Again, warnings are given by various Ministers and diplo matic agents not to " assist the credit of a caltivick prince to overrun Europe ;" " not to suffer Russia to acquire any establishment in the lonian islands, to the hazard of the internal tranquility of timece and Hungary ;" and so on throughout. These facts are remarkable, that in English popular opinion at that time the great bugbear should have been Imperial France, and not Russia. But, self-protected by its insular situation, England does not in ordinary cases pay strenuous attention to foreign affairs. It can "sympathise" no n line w and again ; but it has never pursued a steady foreign politics. Even on the question of . Poland , i how wavering has been the sentiment in England. The reviewer shows that L ord Caetlerengh was decidedly favorable to the erection of an indepen dent State in Pr.land as a bar rier against Russian am bition, and he quotes parliamentary evidence prove it, and hints that after Lord Castlereagh was to obliged to leave the Congress in order to attend his