The Press. — London, England, 1855-03-24 00:00:00

272 of the Day of Humiliation. The country is pledged to secure peace if it can be obtained safely and honourably. War for the sake of war is emphatically to be deprecated. If this country should exhibit itself intoxicated with the lust of military ambition, it would be invoking a chastisement from Providence after having made solemn professions in favour of our love of peace. We should be called a nation of Pharisees, appointing days for humiliation, and carrying on a policy favorable to strife — a people whose deeds would belie their words. We cannot close these remarks without ex pressing our heartfelt sympathy with the be reaved sufferers from this mismanaged war. Should we not all be humbled at the calami ties into which we have rushed without calmly considering our public hazards? A few months sinbe, if we had expressed our .serious doubts as to the incapacity of our rulers, we would have been told of "party," and that we saw things through a disturbed medium. Even when in these columns it was first distinctly announced that " the Commis " sariat had broken down," our positive state ments were denied. It is no consolation to us to feel that our assertions have been proved to be too lamentably true. PARIS CORRESPONDENCE. PARIS, Thursday. So many contradictory reports are in circu lation as to the departure of the Emperor for the Crimea, that, in the absence of definite in formation, it is impossible to know what to believe. On Tuesday the Emperor reviewed the Imperial Guards and Guides a Cheval destined for the Crimea, and the impression prevailed among some of the officers that the Emperor would embark with them, but now it is generally thought that his Majesty will first visit England Much excitement prevails here upon the subject of a pamphlet published a day or two since from the pen of M. EMILE GIRARDIN, and entitled "La Paix." The publication is im portant, as the author is the intimate friend and constant companion of Prince NAPOLEON ; and it is remarkable that in this production the celebrated suppressed pamphlet which was attributed to the " inspiration " of Prince NAPOLEON is denounced and ridiculed. For another reason this pamphlet must at_ tract more attention than its intrinsic import auce merits. Here no pamphlet is permitted to appear that has not been inspected and re ceived the imprimatur of the Government. There are, says M. GIRARDIN, three alterna tives:- Ist. An ignominiou.s, and therefore an insecure peace. 2nd. The subjugation of Russia by transferring hos tilities to the vulnerable part of Russia, namely, the banks of the Vistula and thence to the Black Sea. 3rd. The insistance by France and Austria of the mutual and simultaneous disarming of Sebastopol and GIBBALTAB by Russia and England, " premier acte de l'affranchissement universal de toutes les mers, de tons les detroits, de tons les fleuves, et du percement • successif de toils les Isthmes." After reviewing these different alternatives M. Girardin coolly decides positively in favour of the latter as the only practicable and just one, and adds that this would be " plus qu'une victoire remportee, ce serait une progrei accompli." Remem ber this pamphlet, or rather its sale, is authorised by the Government, and its author is the dear and inti mate friend, adviser and companion, of the heir pre sumptive to the Throne Imperial. The sanitary commissioners, Dr. Gavin, Dr. Sutherland, and Mr. Rawlinson, arrived at Scutari on the 7th instant, after a quick passage from Mar seilles. They were about to make a rapid survey of the condition of the Scutari and Kuleli hospitals, and then proceed as speedily as possible to the seat of war. No one perished in the fire at the French hospital. THE PRESS. BY CONTINENTAL TELEGRAI)H. THE CONFERENCES. VIENNA, Friday, March 23. The Wanderer reports that the Second Point, namely, the free navigation of the Danube, had been agreed to by Russia. A mixed commission of surveillence would be instituted. The possession of the Quarantine Forts has been claimed by Russia. It is supposed that the solution of this question would not moet with much obstruction. PARIS, Friday. The Emperor has presented the Regiment of Guides with 35,000 francs out of his private purse, in consideration of their approaching departure fur the Crimea. The furniture considered necessary for the Em peror and Empress on their journey has been sent to Havre to be put on board the Heine Hortense. MARSEILLES, Friday. The mail steamer ram ise brings the following fur• tier news from Sebastopol, March 10th : The state of the English army has much improved, and the effective strength is from 16,000 to 18,000 men. THE FRENCH PAPER TRADE. A PROPOSAL to raise a new tax on paper in France, which was abandoned after causing much alarm and excitement among the classes interested in the manu facture, has elicited some valuable information regarding the extent and condition of the various branches of industry concerned in the fabric of "pa peterie " in its different shapes. The Dibat publishes the following article on the subject:— In 1852 the paper manufacturers declared, in a memoir addressed to the legislative body, that the quantity made in France was forty-five millions of kilogrammes, of which thirty millions were white, and fifteen of other kinds. M. Didot thinks that the production has since increased fifteen or sixteen per cent., and that the quantity may now be cal culated at fifty-two millions of kilogrammes. We may re mark, en passant, that in 1854 the quantity of paper which came under the inspection of the Englii-h excise was 80,587,(X)0 kilos., out of which quantity 7,299,000 kilos. were exported, and 73;488,000 kilos. consumed in the country. Taking into account the difference of the population, Eng land, therefore, manufactures twice as much paper as France. It is well known that the daily press consumes an enormous quantity in that classic land of political and industrial liberty. Out of the above fifty-two millions, Paris, the national centre of literary works, absorbs, or rather employs, for its own consumption and for exporta tion, about twenty-five millions of kilogrammes—namely, writing-paper five and a half millions, printing-paper nine and one-sixth, packing-paper three, card-paper and other sorts four and five-sixths, and paper-hangings two and a half millions. It is impossible to state precisely the value of the production, but it certainly is very considerable. The official statistics of M. Moreau de Jonnes (1850) only es timate it at 38,841,000 f., and the number of workmen at 16,620. This calculation, however, only relates to those employed directly on the raw material. In order to judge of the importance of the paper manufactory, it is necessary to look at the numerous other branches of business con nected with and dependent on it . , such as typography, en graving, lithography, bookselling, bookbinding, and more particularly that of paper-hangings, which is a branch of business that, thanks to our national taste, has obtained for us unrivalled success abroad. M. Jean Zuber, one of our most important producers, estimated in 1847 the value given by all these branches at nearly one hundred millions of francs, and giving rise to an export trade of twenty-five millions; and we consider this calculation to be rather under than over the truth. The export of paper alone in 1853 was 12,313,317 f., one-third of which was in paper hangings. At Paris the only branch of the paper trade of any importance is fancy papers, and those of the supe rior kind. According to a statement made to the Cham ber of Commerce, there are in the capital 105 establish ments, occupying 849 workmen, and producing a value of 8,060,006 fr. Paris, as we have above stated, absorbs, or rather receives, 25 millions of kilogrammes. This is a large quantity, but out of this the Parisian consumption takes scarcely one-third, and even in that third must be com prised what is used at the Imperial Printing-office, 1,780,000 kilos., and at the Ministries and the Stamp-office 750,000 kilos. Paris re-exports 17,700,000 kilos., namely, 15,592,000 kilos. to the departments, and 2,108,000 kilos. abroad, so that if the paper thus sent away again, either before or after it has been worked on in Paris, were ad mitted to the benefit of the drawback, the duty would scarcely be applied to more than 4.800,000 kilos. This would afford but a very small revenue ; and if, on the other hand, the duty affected paper under all forms and destina tions, it would meet with serious difficulties in its applica tion, in addition to being in contradiction with the principles which have traditionally regulated the manufacture of paper in this country. Letters from Erzetuum, of the 20th of February, mention the state of the roads as very bad, from heavy snow and subsequent thaws. MAYNOOTH. Two enormous blue•booka have just been issued from the parliamentary printing.o ; ce, containing the report of the Maynooth Commissioners appointed in ItiO3, with vols. minous appendices, and a portion of the minutes of evi. deuce. _ _ The report itself, which is dated the Ist of March, occti. pies some sixty pages, and refers to the origin and history of the College of Maynooth, its government and manag e . ment, its discipline, its studies, the effects of the increased grant, and the means of effecting proposed changes. The opinions of the commissioners on the present state of the college, and their recommendations, present the fol lowing salient points : The commissioners suggest a change in the constitution of the board of trustees (viz., that a certain number of trustees should vacate their places in rotation and be sec. seeded by others) as likely to infuse greater energy bit s the board. They also object to the present constitution of the college council, and advise the appointment of two councils—one of discipline and one of studies. As regards the discipline of the college, the system has been complained of as being defective in many respects— viz., that there is no effectual supervision—that there is too marked and wide a separation between the superiors and the students—and that larger and better regulated spiritual instruction is needed. The commissioners, referring to the mode of training 0 St. Sulpice and All-Hallows, and its applicability to Ireland, reserve the point, and have contented themselves with supplying the trustees with the best means of coming to a practical conclusion, by circu lating questions among foreign colleges for ecclesiastics. As regards the studies of the college a chief defect is noticed in the entrance examination—viz., the want of an adequate test of the candidates' knowledge of English, and a remedy is suggested fur it. The general course of study embraces the classics, English literature, the exazt sciences, bible history, logic, ethics, metaphysics, natural philosophy, and divinity. The opinion formed by the commissioners upon the efficiency of the studies in the humanity and rhetoric classes under the present system is, on the whole, unfavorable. The tutorial system is much required ; as it is, there appears to be a vast amount of cramming by means of lectures, the students being gene- rally very ill-prepared by previous education to appreciate them, while there is no stimulus to private study. It is recommended that the tutorial system be introduced into the lower classes, and that elementary instruction in Greek and Latin (translating and parsing) should be afforded by two assistant professors. The time allotted to physical science is pronounced to be too short. A biennial course of logic and physics is suggested, as also instruction in agricultural chymistry. As regards the divinity classes, the commissioners go commend the rejection of the existing text-books as in many parts unsuited to this country, and the substitution of a complete series of text-books prepared by the pro fessors and sanctioned by the college, adapted to the pre sent condition and :nstitutions of the country. The want of specific instruction in preaching is also noticed. And as regards the bearing of the teaching of the divinity classes upon questions affecting the interests of the State and general morality, the commissioners refer to the evidence, which they leave to produce its own impression, although, as they observe, it is mainly that of the heads and professors of the college, and, so far, ex perle. From the evidence of other parties, however—ex-students of Maynooth, since converted to the Established Church — combined with that of the officers of the college—in short, as the general result of their inquiry, the commissioners "see no reason to believe that there has been any dis loyalty in the teaching of the college, or any disposition to impair the obligations of an unreserved allegiance to her Majesty." The parties connected with the college fully admit that a portion of the course of moral theology is occupied with the discussion of " sins against chastity," and that such discussion is not devoid of danger. But they urge in defence that such study is necessary for the proper discharge of the duties of the confessional ; that the study is deferred till the latest possible period ; that it is confined to about a week or so ; and that the subject is treated of briefly and in a learned language, and every security taken to check pruriency and licentious curiosity. The commissioners " are bound to say that they have no reason to believe that these studies have had, practically, an injurious effect upon the mind and character of the students." A telegraphic despatch, dated on Thursday, states the Tamise, which left Constantinople on the 12th of March, has arrived. Colonel de Beville had arrived at Constantinople, to select a spot for the encampment of 40,000 French troops. Captain Maberly, of the Royal Artillery, is in Ma drid, purchasing mules and horses for service in the East. He is last from Valencia, where he effected some purchases. Advices from Poland state that that kingdom is now filled with troops, every village having its gar rison. A number of dragoon and lancer regiments are leaving for Courland to augment the army of the Baltic under General Sievers. Russian writers pre tend that this general will shortly have 140,000 men under his command. Letters from Odessa of the 14th inst. bring a report that Prince Menschikoff has died of typhus fever. The report requires confirmation. General Lord Seaton, accompanied by his staff, visited the Curragh en Monday and Tuesday, for the purpose of inspecting the ground selected for the encampment of the militia force. SATURDAY,