The Sun. — London, England, 1853-08-16 00:00:00

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE, OXFORD-STREET. Under the Management of Mr. Charles Kean. THIS EVENING, AUGUST 16, Will be performed THE DAY AFTER THE WED DING. Sup ported by Mr. and Mrs. W. Lacy. After which, SARDANAPALUS. Principal characters by Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean. To be followed by CHESTERFIELD THINSKIN. Characters by Messrs. Harley, Meadows, Addison, and Miss Viyash. THEATRE ROYAL ADELPHI. Proprietor, Mr. B. Webster —Directress, Madame Celeste. THIS EVENING, AUGUST 16, Will be performed GENE VIEVE. Characters by Messrs. Parselie, Callenford, Woolgar, Leigh Murray, Hastings, A. Wigan, Paul Bedford, Keeley, 0 . Smi th, and C. J. Smith; Miss Woolgar and bars. Keeley. After which, will be presented SARDANAPALITS. To be followed by THE CAMP AT CHOBUAM. To conclude with WHAT I NO CAB ? ROYAL OLYMPIC THEATRE. Lessee and Manager, Mr. Farren. THIS EVENING, AUGUST 16, Will be performed THE TIMES. Characters by Messrs. T. Farren, T. Mead, William Farren, H. Marston, G. Cooke, and Shalders ; Mesdames Anderton, H. Gordon, E. Turner, and Bartlett. With SHYLOCK, or, THE MERCHANT OF "VENICE PRE SERVED." Shylock. Mr. F. Robson. To conclude with THE WANDERING MINSTREL. Jem Rags, Mr. F. Robson. ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE. Sole Lessee and Manager, Mr. W. Cooke. Important Notice to the Public generally.—The national spectacle of the Battle of Waterloo, which has on its revival been attended with such brilliant success, far beyond any precedent, must neces sarily be withdrawn to make room for a classical novelty, which has been for months in preparation, and will be produced on Sa turday, 27th inst., on a scale of grandeur and extent never before attempted.—Miss EMILY COOKE re-appears at this theatre on the conclusion of her continental engagements. THIS EVENING, AUGUST 16, And during the week, will be presented (51st night) the glorious Spectacle of THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO. To be followed by Mr. W. Cooke's Scenes in the CIRCLE, intro ducing his celebrated Black Charger Raven, whose performances have elicited unbounded applause, and the Great Equestrian, Mr. Alfred Cooke, In one of his principal acts. Concluding with (83d time) THE CHASE ; or, LIFE ON THE TURF, with a real Fox Chase. - " The best ventilated theatre in the world." Box-office open from Eleven till Four. Stage Manager, Mr. W. West. ROYAL SURREY ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. Second Week of Miss POOLE, the eminent English Vocalitt. —First Exhibition of the MARINE AQUA.RIUM, a collection of Sea and Fresh water Fish alive, in five large glass tanks, procured ex pressly for this occasion by P. H. Gosse, EF.q., author of "A Natu ralist's Rambles in Devonshire," &c., forming the most instructive and amusing object ever yet presented to the public. THIS EVENING, AUGUST 16, CHUSAN, Splendid MENAG ERIE, Grand Military Band, Vocal and Instrumental Concert, Two Favourite Songs by Miss Poole, marvellous display of TUE FEAST OF LANTERNS, brilliant FIREWORKS, and EXPLOSION of CHINESE FIRE SHIPS. Admission, is. TO-MORROW, the Boys of the Royal Military Asylum, Chelsea, accompanied by their Military Band, will visit the Gardens. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. Tis DAr --Morning 29 min. afterli I Evening 0 min.aft. 0 T o xo ß ßow—Morning 5 min. a ft er 12 f Evening 38 min.aft. 12 THE WEATHER. --Sus OPTIC!, AUGUST 16. THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE. 67—highest since noon yesterday. 56—lowest this morning and during the night. 65—this day at noon. BAROMETER, 29 . 75—a fall of half an inch since yesterday. WIND, S.S.E.—Fine rain. THE PUBLICATION OF " THE SUN" COMMENCES EVERY AFTERNOON AT THREE O'CLOCK, AND THE LATE OR THIRD EDITION, CONTAINING THE DEBATES IN PARLIAMENT THE SAME EVENING, With all other News arriving up to the hour of Post, AT SEVEN O'CLOCK. EXPRESS EDITIONS will be forwarded after the Post is closed by the Latest Trains. : - ,4;Arft - s', , ak e ll 4Z zvonx, . LONDON, TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1853. The House of Commons has exhibited one more striking proof of its subserviency to the dictates of the Joint-stock Administration in addition to those evinced on many occasions during the ses sion. It has accepted the Lords' amendment on the Government of India Bill, without a division, and almost without a discussion. It has surren dered at the first summons—submitted to the contemptuous and unwarranted invasion of what what was once its most cherished privilege—sanc tioned the interference of the Upper House on a purely fiscal question, and consented to the con tinuance of a vexatious and grinding monopoly, affecting not only the comfort, but the very exist ence of myriads of her Majesty's subjects. Time was when the popular branch of the Legislature would have exhibited greater spirit—when it would have boldly vindicated its independence if so wantonly and unjustifiably assailed. But the drab-coloured mantle of the " excellent ABERDEEN" appears to have descended on the representatives of the people. It only requires that the assumption should be totally unjustifiable, and the demeanour of the aggressor sufficiently insolent to insure unqualified obedience. Verily their Lordships have fully resented the insult offered to them selves by sending up a measure of such vital im portance to their House in the month of August. If they sustained disgrace and humiliation by the virtual ignoring of their existence as a delibera tive body, they exacted ample retribution, and compelled the co-ordinate branch to swallow much dirt when assenting to the amendment (amend ment, forsooth !) by which the 44th clause was totally expunged from the bill, and the Company Was permitted to retain its commercial character as sole manufacturer, exclusive vendor, of salt, the article, par excellence, of primary necessity, on which a heavy, almost a prohibitory) impost is even more cruel than it would be even on rice itself in India, or on potatoes in Ireland, and far worse than a bread -tax in England. We repeat the assertion, startling as it may appear—deliberately and advisedly repeat it— that the tax on S a lt in Indiaisthe most cruel that ever entered into Those who consider sa l t merely as it enter s i n t o human conception. the consumption of thei r own families, used in Europe, can form no or as it is important position it occupies with respect of the Hindoo Ryot. It is not as an articleto the that it must be regarded. It certainly r of luxury the tasteless insipidity of the coarse rice, ere eves chief, indeed the only, food of the half-naked the cul tivator of the soil. But it is as a medi c i ne ti solitary preventive of the loathsome and lin,,er ing disease that cuts off so many thousands o f human beings in each and every year—that molates innumerable victims at the shrine of Mammon without remorse or pity. "NON OLET NUMNUS" m ay be the financier's golden rule, but never was there so ruthless an application of the maxim as in the Salt Tax of India, which tantalises the sufferers by visions of remedies, from which they are excluded no less by the mag nitude of the tax than by the vexatious and unjus tifiable regulations adopted for its enforcement, and which, by the monopoly created, and the consequent adulteration practised, prevent even those who could afford the necessary price from obtaining the wished for-remedy in a pure and wholesome state, which, by a demoniacal refinement of cruelty, makes death a painful, hideous, revolting, and tedious death to th ousands—tlie foundation of a • branch of the natio' al 1, revenue—the means by which its collection vas enforced. N Have we , as Mr. ro ISRAELI pertinently inquired —" H ave we well considered the consequence of keeping an entire Populatio n bad health?" in a chr on i c s t a te of The observation risi bility of the HOUR; but it wasb excited the too truly depicted th e but too well fo un d e d, results of the impost. We keep the great bulk of ne f ar i ous of flindostan in " a chro n i c s the inhabitants state of bad health" by limiting the supply and deteri orat i ng th of the only article that can possibly restoree qua . lity vig our un and health to the sufferers. It is uufort - ately no laughing matter to the miserable victims of the horrible ingenuity that devised so potent an in strument for extracting money from their pockets. Mr. CARNAC BROWN, who published an able pamphlet on the subject, from which Sir JOHN PAXINGTON quoted largely, in bringing forward the clause—which, in deference to their Lordships, has now been struck out—has placed this matter in the clearest light. The Honourable Gentle man, after referring to a fearful punishment in dicted upon convicted criminals of the worst class, who, by the mere deprivation of salt, 'were " devoured by worms engendered in their own stomachs," says—" Be it noted that this effect was produced upon these persons by confining them to a vegetable diet, uncorrected by salt." A diet wholly vegetable is the diet of numerous classes in India, and a diet almost wholly so is the diet of the rest of the population. A punishment, therefore, the most horrible and loathsome which human barbarity ever devised in the dark ages for the torture of the worst crimi nals, is the fate which the East India Company maintain and defend as one of their principal fis cal revenues, and which they deliberately run the risk of inflicting, in this the nineteenth century, upon the millions of innocent men whom humane England has confided to their governance! Not only do multitudes of natives die annually in the interior, of disease produced by the want of a suffi cient supply of salt to sustain life in a healthy state, but no man wh ohas used his opportunities of observation among them can entertain a doubt that many of those who survive and are met with in every part, v ictims to the most loaths ome an d making them objects miserable diseas es, g raduall y truly horrible to behold, owe the origin and the inveteracy of their sufferings to the same cause, which converts the blood in their bodies int o a ma ss of corruption. These statements ought to be written in characters of fire on the consciences of those who, through carelessness or indifference, have assisted in the perpetuation of this atrocious tax. The Lords, who carried the amendment, in violation of the privileges of the Commons, the representatives who yielded without a struggle to the usurpation, should ponder on the probable consequences of their conduct, and reflect that the sins of omission are as bad as those of com mission. There is but one consolation to be de rived from the proceedings, that, inasmuch as the only redeeming feature of the entire measure has been obliterated, the more speedy and more signal must be the downfall of the Double Government. Rather north of the centre of the Durham coast —about midway between the mouths of the Tyne and the Tees—a flourishing little town has sprung up within the brief interval of the last quarter of a century. The history of the rise of Seaham may be regarded as in every respect characteristic, peculiarly characteristic, at once of this country, and of the present generation. Certainly no other age, and we may ventury to say, no other nation, could have afforded an example compar able in its display of individual enterprise, irre sistible energy, and unflinching determination. It is all very well to hear of a palace like that of ALADDIN, built in a single night out of porphyry, and gold, and jacinth, and onyx, and alabaster. But it is vastly better to witness the construction (within little more than five-and-twenty years), of seven hundred houses—and these houses, more over, clustered together at a spot on the sea shore, where, as recently as 1828, there was visible only the rugged and barren beach, without the sign of human habitation. While the one palace is nothing more than a beautiful dream, these seven hundred houses constitute at this moment an admirable and most substantial reality. A reality, too, of no less marvellous origin than the golden pile conjured up by the imagination of the Arabian Romancist. For in this, as in so many other glorious instances around us, the triumph has been effected at the bidding of the Genii of the Lamp. Those mira culous slaves of civilisation—according to the ex pression of a living author, our great Poet-Novel ist—the Genii of " Skilled Labour," conjured up by the Lamp of Modern Knowledge. Seaham is another testimony of their power, a testimony scarcely less notable than any by which it may have been preceded. Elsewhere will be found in our impression of this evening, a report extracted from the columns of our contemporary the Sunderland News, ac cording to which, it would appear that another epoch has been satisfactorily passed through by the industrious little community, whose recent origin, and rapidly-acquired good fortune, have here been, in a few words, specified. The completion of the Water Works in connection with Seaham Town and Harbour gave occasion, it will be perceived, to a banquet, by which that (to the locality) most important achievement has been duly celebrated. Allowance must, of course, be made as usual for the fervid amiability of the different speeches de livered by the orators of the afternoon under these agreeably postprandial circumstances. After-dinner -eloquence, we all know, is prover bial for its exceeding suavity. Everybody is fami liar with the fact that rhetoricians invariably dis play under those somewhat delightful auspices, a gentleness of tone comparable only to that habitually observable among the charming race of the As-you-likeans. Scarcely a man ever rises after the cloth has been removed but his heart seems melting in his bosom like butter, to employ the delicious expression of the " Hermit of Belly fulle," the redoubtable sage of the Cell of the Cork screw. Under the genial influence of the hour, the veriest curmudgeon becomes, on the instant, metamorphosed into the philanthropist. It is to us, as a peculiarly dinner-giving and dinner receiving race, the commonest of all social pheno mena—this most delectable of transformations. If ever, therefore, compliments are lvished to the right or to the left in the course of an after dinner oration, we are accustomed to swallow the words, as well as the walnuts of the dessert, cum grano salis. We credit the sincerity of the speaker as much as we please, making ample al lowances at the same moment for the exaggera tions which we consider to be inevitable under the circumstances. Nevertheless if ever we might believe the truth of the eulogiums pronounced during the convivial declamations of such an assemblage, we do honestly rest assured that we might in reference to this banquet commemorative of the completion of the Seaham Water Works. It was a festivity in which good feeling and good fellowship must necessarily have been the predominant sentiments. It was an incident, in fact, in the pleasures of which every individual present must, more or less cor dially, have participated. For the kindliest emo tions must have been on all hands to the full reciprocated. It cannot have escaped the notice of the least intelligent among the inhabitants of the place, for example, that for the prosperity of the town, for the very circumstance of its having been calledinto existence, they are all of them indiscriminately indebted to the personal enter prise, energy of LONDONDERRY. and perseverance of P tl r i j e B Nl inhabitants of , Every one of the that truth in Seaham must have remembered connection with others of a kindred nature collecting, f or y et more remarkable re- Nobleman they ins t ance, that to the same of seven hundred owed, the harbour itself, as well as the to wn hund re d h a bit a ti ons . It must likewise, have been borne in mind by those present on the occ as i on of this interesting banquet, that already that town, besides be sides recei v i ng from the Marquis the site of n e rm its national school, obtained in the local and o f a noble benefaction from the Marchioneslsn Infirmary L DOND ERRY. Meanwhile if the people o f SeahamOx could preservesuch remembrances as these in reg ar d to its Founder, the Founder of Seaham could happily bear other facts in recollection, in reference to its industrious and enterprising population. Lord LONDONDERRY himself notified this fact the other day, at the banquet referred to, when he avowed with some emotion and emphasis, that not one of his projects, however daring, and even hopeless it may have appeared at the outset, but commanded from the people of Seaham their earnest and ener getic co-operation. It is attributable to this mutual confidence in each other's sincerity, that the Originator and the Inhabitants of that flourishing little seaport have so conducted matters, since shortly after 1828, that already, in 1853 , Seaham has, through its docks (two wet (1 "kB) one dry dock, and one tidal basin), an an nual shipment of coal to the amount of 273,288 chaldrons—between 2,000 and 3,000 vessels en tering each year for the purpose of taking in car goes-300 ships finding there, at any time, ample accommodation the town itself containing from 4,000 to 5,000 inhabitants, and pos sessing, besides, 700 inhabited houses, a church, as before remarked, four other places of wor ship for Dissenters, one public and several private schools, a news-room, and, as we have moreover already noticed, an infirmary. Added to all these advantages—advantages collected toge ther within the brief interval of a quarter of a cen tury—Seaham is about to possess the vast supple mentary benefit of a railway, connecting it with the neighbouring port of Sunderland. Here again the enterprize is traceable to the founder of the seaport—to the courageous patrician who has already achieved with his single, and, let us add, singular energy, triumphs which have been hither to regarded as the products alone of the toil of many laborious adventurers striving together for years in association. It is by no means discreditable to our States men, that they are, one and all, - unprepared with any complete scheme of secondary punishments. When, through the benign influences of Chris tianity, society generally has advanced beyond regarding legal punishment as merely the just measure of revenge for crime, innumerable con flicting considerations begin to perplex us. DRAES'S plan is the only short and easy one ; but, indeed, that is an easy one only when DRABS himself is prosecutor, constable, judge, and jury in his own person. Civilisation, though not Christian, never yet carried out the theory of legal vengeance. The very next step to it, a theory which regards consequences to society merely, and not the personal guilt of the unfortu nate criminal, the theory of deterring by punish ment, brings with it much to hinder consistent and decisive action. Too lenient sentences will not deter from crime, too severe ones elicit dan gerous sympathy for the guilty ; and, in a coun try where trial by jury is the right of the accused, severity tends to the acquittal of the guilty. The extreme of this theory was tested by the now universally reprobated law of hanging for forgery. The immense consequences at stake, in a commer cial country, if signatures were allowed to be forged i at any risk but that of life, were painted to us in the most appalling colours, with the almost mortal miseries of deceived individuals, and families of widows and orphans ; yet all without avail. Public feeling revolted at rows of men hanging on the gallows for imitating a signature. Juries preferred perjury to what they deemed practical murder, and even those who clung to the unmiti gated theory of deterring by terror for the good of society, were compelled to join the disciples of ROMILLY and MACKINTOSH. It is now found that credit is as good as ever, though forgery is not atoned for with blood, and even shops are as secure as before, though an ELDON held that they would be ruinously plundered if a woman were not to be torn from her infant—given birth to after sentence—and hurried to the gallows for stealing a few pence worth of lace ! We look back now upon such notions amongst London tradesmen and the highest judges with horror. We can hardly believe we are adverting to a generation known to half the present one, and quite possibly those who stand in a like relation to us, may wonder at, what they will deem, our rude and barbarous conceptions on the subject of legal punishments. The truth is, we are, nationally, on the threshold of the last and most benevolent theory of punish ment, that, namely, which feels as deep an inte rest in the reformation of the criminal, as in deli vering society from crimes incompatible with its comfortable existence, or with its existence at all. Nor is this due merely to perceiving the incon venience we suffer from the liberation of unre formed criminals. This has been indeed severely felt, and felt perhaps most painfully by its increasing the difficulty of obtaining employment for those who would gladly return from prison to honest industry. The really reformed have no chance in society, belonging as they do to a class which is generally unreformed. We attribute the new wish of the community, however, to a wider diffusion of genuine Christian sentiments. The unrevengeful, the benevolent moral code of the Gospel, has leavened society during the last fifty years, and especially during the latter half of that period, in a degree unprecedented before. Not withstanding all the jeremiads of sects and cede sia,stics, we believe that at no past period of our history have the current moral views of society approached half so near to the Christian standard. The feeling of universal brotherhood ; the con sciousness that the majority of criminals are fellow-sinners, more tempted, perhaps, from childhood, than ourselves ; the unlawfulness of revenge ; the selfishness of regarding social interests merely ; the duty of seeking to reclaim, as Christianity itself comes to reclaim us. Elevated, manly, and Christian sentiments, such as these, have spread from a few superior minds of literary or legislative reputation, and become the moving principles of the many. Our enlightened legislators, therefore, find now, not only no opposition, but a public asking them to give effect to its wishes. No reasonable expense is grudged which may be required ; the thing wanted is the plan, and the men to carry it out. But here comes the real difficulty. Of all the objects of ' punishment, reformation is the most difficult to secure. In some few cases it is impracticable—in none can it be effected by merely mechanical arrangements. Every father of a large family knows the discretion needed to deal individually with each one of his charge, and almost with each domestic offence. But how is the difficulty increased when the subjects of re formatory discipline are adults, less educated often than our children, never taught in younger days the imperative necessity of self-control, with habits inflexible by many years' growth, it may be, in one direction, and brought possibly for the first time in contact with the voice of Christian kindness and sympathy, when they listen to the chaplain of the gaol, or to some bene volent visitor. Reformation is a moral, a religious 1 business, and small, necessarily, are the means of Government in that department. The means of coercion and restraint are in its power ; military government can awaken sentiments of honour and of courage, but civil government has only very imperfect aptitude for aught but negative good. It can prevent evil, it seldom can create good. This is the fundamental cause of the difficulty be fore our legislators. All who have taken a part in the discussions on transportation we believe to have been actuated by the best motives. Lord PALMERSTON had friendly counsel only, not oppo sition from the usual opponents of Government, and he cordially accepted it as such. He was justified in so doing. All agreed that transporta tion, from the state of our colonies, must cease ; that places of convict detention, if needful, had better be on some island of our coasts which would cost us less to reach than the Falkland Islands. All desired some plan by which the crimi nal, if reformed, could return to society with a prospect of the reception his altered character de manded; and all agreed, almost tacitly , so g eneral is the sentiment, that reformation is the grand ultimatum to be sought by secondary punish ments. Fears were expressed whether the " ticket-of-leave" system at home, in connection with labour first on Government works, could be made to answer the purpose. Lord PALMERSTON hopes that it can. We confess we like the expe riment to be in his hands at present. An expe riment it must b e, b ut t h e N o bl e L or d h as no many pr ac ti ca l reason or in c li na ti on f or per ti nac i ous a dh erence to it should it f a il. Nw o i 1 one n now 0 has a s h suggested a ve the counsels anythingo f preferable, an d he prison reformers, men of benevo lence mat skill a n d in thei r d e p ar t men t. All must be, and we t rus t are i nclined to be, candid on this que s ti on. 0 ug u h s t the all be l sincere th e scholarsetfort sofof varied trials, and We must so many honest and intelligent minds, truth is sure to be reached at last • Hi therto we have had but a few self-taught, supernaturally-gifted prison reformers, but a kind of normal school for them is now virtually forming, and we may hope that ere long we shall have an adequate supply of men THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 16, 1853. qualified at once to train the unhappy culprit during his punishment to better thoughts and habits, and to inspire society with confidence to readmit him to her bosom. COURT CIRCULAR. OSBORNE, AUG. 15. The Queen and Prince, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, and Princess Alice, attended by the Ladies and Gentlemen in Waiting, went to Whipping ham parish church yesterday morning. The service was performed by the Rev. George Pro theroe. Mrs. Chisholm had an interview with the Duke of Newcastle yesterday. Mr. Fitzgerald and Mr. Ball had also an interview with his grace yesterday, at the Colo nial Office. Dispatches were sent yesterday to the Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and to the Governor of the Mauritius, from the Colonial Office. Dispatches were received from the Governors of Hong Kong, Ceylon, and Victoria, yesterday. ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA. The most crowded audience of the whole season as sembled last night to witness the last appearance of Grisi and Mario. Every box and stall was occupied, the gallery was filled to the roof, and there was no stand ing room in the pit very shortly after the doors were opened. The opera was Lucrezia Borgia, of which, having lately spoken, it is unnecessary to say more than that it was admirably executed from beginning to end. At the end of the performance Grisi and Mario were called three times before the curtain, amid enthusiastic cheering, and waving of hats and handkerchiefs from all parts of the house. A. more genuine and flattering ovation was never paid, even to these distinguished public favourites. Ronconi was as fine as usual in Duke Alphonse ; and Madame Nantier Didide, who is continually improving, and was encored in the "Brindisi," which she sang with great spirit, deserves to be mentioned as having taken part in this memorable soirée. The entertainments con cluded with the second act of L'Elisir d'Amore, the principal parts by Madame Bosio, Signors Lucchesi, Tagliafico, and Ronconi. The performance was irre proachable, and Ronconi had the good sense to omit the comic scenes " Udite o Rustici," which, belonging to the first act, is quite out of place in the second. Madame Bosio's execution of the interpolated aria from Bettly, a brilliant display of vocalisation, was rapturously applauded. The Proplthte, on Thursday, and Guglielmo Tell, on Saturday, will bring the seventh season of the Royal Italian Opera to a close. EXTRA-PAROCHIAL ESTATES. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Sin,—Now the Succession Duty Bill has passed into law, it is to be hoped that, next session of Parliament, the " Extra-parochial" privilege will be attached. That the estates of noblemen should be exempted from poor rates is a disgrace to those nobles, and a stain upon the nation. 15th August, 1853. JUSTICE TO ALL. AUSTRALIAN ROYAL MAIL OOMPANY. A special general meeting of the shareholders in the Australian Royal Mail Company was held yesterday, at the London Tavern, for . the purpose of receiving the report of a committee appointed at the last general meeting to investigate thoroughly the affairs of the com pany, with a view to arrive at the causes of the failures which have hitherto characterised almost all its under takings. The committee made a very elaborate report condemnatory of the past management of the affairs of the company, and wound it up by stating— " The committee, in conclusion, earnestly suggest to the consideration of the shareholders that no general principles laid down for the management of their affairs will be suffi cient to recover their property from its present depressed condition, and _secure efficient management for the future, unless the administration be confided to a board conver sant with mercantile and maritime affairs, assisted by one or more persons highly qualified to conduct the business of such a company, and who shall be required to devote their whole time to the discharge of the duties of their office ; and with a view of enabling the shareholders from their own body to make the best choice of directors on all future occasions, the committee recommend that the qua lification for a seat in the direction shall be reduced from 100 to 50 shares. " The committee have abstained from considering the question of amalgamation with the General Screw Com pany, because it was communicated to them shortly after their appointment that the negotiations with that com pany were at an end." The consequence was, that the whole body of directors, immediately tendered their resignations ; and the com mittee were requested by the meeting to nominate a certain number of gentlemen as their successors, and their names will be submitted for the approval of the shareholders at the next meeting. It is proposed that the qualification for a. director is to be in future 50 shares, instead of 100. While referring to the above company, we may mention that the Marco Polo made the passage out from Liverpool to Melbourne in seventy five days, ten or twelve days of which she was nearly becalmed, and that the screw steamer Adelaide had taken 140 days for the voyage from London. HER MAJESTY'S VISIT TO IRELAND.—The route of the Queen from Osborne to Holyhead is, we learn, to be from Southampton to Basingstoke, thence by the Great Western to Leamington, whence, in consequence of the inconvenience of the systems at Birmingham, the Royal party will be transferred to the na rr o w gauge . F rom Leamington her Majesty is to proceed via Coventry and Nuneaton, and on by the Trent Valley to Stafford, Crewe, and Chester. Owing to the breaks of gauge, her Majesty will have to change c arr i ages a t B as i ngs t o k e and again at Leamington. We are informed, also, that the troops returning from Windsor to the north are in future to take the same route, as more convenient than that by Birmingham. THE PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.—We un d ers t an d that the prorogation of parliament is fixed for Saturday next, some important judgments, to be given by the House of Lords, rendering it impossible that it could take place on an earlier day. THE lONIAN ISLANDS AND THE MAILS.—It is re ported that her Majesty's steam-vessels now employed in the Mediterranean in conveying the mails between Malta and the lonian Islands are to be withdrawn, and the work is to be performed by a foreign steam corn pany.—Austrian Lloyd's. POST-OFFICE NOTICE—For the accommodation of the residents in Belgrave and Eaton-squares, in Pimlico, and in the neighbourhood, the Postmaster-General has been pleased to direct that the office at No. 5, Lyall-place, Eaton-square, shall remain open till 7 o'clock a.m., for the receipt of letters to be forwarded by the morning mails. The regulation will be confined to unpaid and stamped letters, and will not include newspapers. ASTURIAN MINING COMPANY.—At the special meet ing of this company yesterday, the report stated that the statutes of the company had been settled by the Spanish Government. In January next a dividend ofll. per share would be declared, equal to 10 per cent., which would be increased by the next financial year ; and as soon as the report arrived it would be open to the inspection of the shareholders. Out of the 16,000 shares, 6,297 would be divided amongst the old share holders. The expenditure exceeded the receipts by 1,070/. 15s. 2d., and the balance at bankers was 3011. 4s. 10d. The report was adopted. MILITARY KNIGHTS OF WINDSOR.—A. vacancy has occurred in this ancient and honourable body by the demise of Ensign John Lamb, of the 2d Royal Veteran Battalion, who died much respected, at his residence in Windsor Castle, on Friday, the 12th inst. Mr. Lamb served with great credit for many years in her Majesty's 29th, or . Worcestershire Regiment of Foot, was in the Peninsula, and present at the battles of Roleia, Vimiera, and Talavera, for which he had the war medal and three clasps. UNIVERSITY AND KING'S COLLEGE, ABERDEEN.— The following gentlemen having undergone the necessary examination in the higher branches of medical science, on the Bth, 9th, 10th, 11th inst., at the above univer sity, had the degree of Doctor of Medicine conferred on them, on the 12th inst„ by the "Senatus Academicus"; —Perry Dichen, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire ; Charles C. Hayman, West Mailing, Kent ; Henry Cal laway, London ; E. H. Greenhow ; James Richard Hancorn, 34, Shoreditch, London ; William Smith, Weyhill, Hants ; Alfred Richardson, St. George's-in the-East, London ; William Smart, R.E., R.N. ; John Campbell, H.E.I.C.S. ; John Stopford Taylor, Liver pool ; Joseph Kidd, London ; John Hawkins Vincent, London ; Charles Henry Payne, London ; Joseph Nash, Kingsdown House, Box, Wiltshire ; Charles George Hewson, Topsham, Devon. THE KINGSWOOD COLLIERS.--The differences between the colliers of Kingswood, near Bristol, and their em ployers have been amicably arranged. The men have resumed their labours, and in the course of next week all will go on as usual. THE SINKING OF THE NIOBE.—The Niobe was righted yesterday on the receding of the tide, and reparations at once commenced. The collision must have been very severe, as the whole of the cutwater and part of her beams were carried away. Had any passeng.ers been in the fore cabin at the time of the accident their chance of escape under any circumstances would have been but slight, in consequence of the great influx of water, which, guessing from the gap left, must have filled the cabin in a very few seconds. During the day, London bridge presented a very crowded aspect, from the num ber of persons who came to look at the vessel as she lay off Humphery's-wharf. THE LATE COLONEL HAWKER.—This gallant officer and world-renowned sportsman died do the 7th inst., in the 67th year of his age, at his residence in Dorset-place, after a painful and protracted illness. Few men ever enjoyed a higher reputation in the sporting world than the recently departed veteran, who, after serving in the Peninsular war with the utmost distinction, on his return to this country produced his well known work entitled Instructions to . Young Sportsmen in all that relates to Guns and Shooting. This book had prodigious success, the tenth edition being nearly ready for the press at the time of his decease. To the Colonel also the public improvements i s much in indebted guns, f°rseveral which he sent to the Great Exhibition of 1851, and which he entertained the most sang uine h op es would many valuable sam pe in ventionss of have been adopted by Government, they bein g e q uall y suited to military purposes as to the 3nhancement of the pleasures of the field. At the time of his death he was Lieutenant-Colonel of the North Hants Militia. COURT OF BANKRUPTCY.-(THIS DAY.) Mr. Commissioner Fonblanque was the Commissioner of the day, but all the cases up to two o'clock were private meetings. FAILURE OF A DIRECTOR OF THE COMMERCIAL UNION INSURANCE COMPANY.-IN RE STRICKLAND. This bankrupt was described as a wine merchant, Chancery-lane and Kensington, and was adjudged in the usual form, and will be forthwith gazetted, as the bank ruptcy is not disputed. The failure is attributed to the bankrupt having been one of the directors of the Commercial Union Insurance Company. Mr. Hayes, of Craig's-court, Charing-cross, is solici tor for the petitioning creditor, and Messrs. Robinson and Knowles, Basinghall-street, are the accountants to the estate. At present it is impossible to state the amount of debts or assets. CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT. (THIS DAY.) OLD COURT. (Before the Common Sergeant.) ROBBERY ON THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY. Joseph .Redgrave, 35, carman, and Robert Gooderich, 21, also a carman, were indicted for stealing 2 firkins and 601bs. weight of butter, value 2/. 25., and other goods, the property of the Great Western Railway Com pany. The two prisoners were in the employ of Messrs. Younghusband, the carriers, and were in the habit of conveying goods from the Paddington station to different parts of the metropolis. On Sunday, the 31st of July last, the two firkins of butter and three cheeses were missed from the station, and the prisoners were engaged there during the greater portion of the day ; but they were not seen to take the property, and the robbery was traced to them through the sagacity of a policeman named Middleton, who, early on Monday morning, had his suspicion excited by seeing one of Messrs. Young husband's carts stop at the Feathers public-house, near Tooley-street, and the two prisoners, who were iii it, get out and take the firkins and cheeses inside. lie questioned them as to where they got the property, and as they gave evasive and unsatisfactory answers, he took them both into custody. The learned Judge having summed up the evidence, The jury found the prisoners guilty, and they were sentenced each to six months' imprisonment, with hard labour. NEW COURT. (Before Mr. Russell Gurney, Q.C.) William, Perry, aged 38, was indicted for feloniously making counterfeit coin. Mr. Bodkin prosecuted. The facts proved in evidence by the police were these : —On the Ist of July, from some information, they went to 32, King Edward-street, Mile-end, New Town, and upon proceeding upstairs to a room in the front of the house, they found the prisoner standing over a brisk fire with a ladle in his hand, in which metal had been fuzed. Upon seeing the constables, he threw down a mould, and tried to crush it under his feet. He was, however, instantly secured, and a bad half-crown, quite hot, was found at his feet ; eleven bad half-crowns, just made, were found in the room ; an electro-plate apparatus, and all the usual implements of coining were found in his room. He was found guilty, and transported for 10 years. M.ARLBOROUG.H-STREET.-(THIS DAY.) BEWARE OF THE COMPANY YOU KEEP. - William Symons was brought before Mr. Hardwick charged on suspicion of having been concerned with a woman not in custody with having stolen a watch, the property of William Ford, composition ornament maker, No. 6, Upper Charlton-street, Fitzroy-square. The prosecutor deposed that about twenty minutes to tweve on the previous night he was standing at the cor ner of Wells•street and Castle-street, when a woman came up and accosted him. After some conversation she tapped his waistcoat pockets, in one of which was his watch. She subsequently persuaded him to accompany her down an adjoining mews, and laying hold of both his hands pulled him down the entry, and while they were standing there, the prisoner came up to them, and made use of some filthy expression. The woman then ran off, and prosecutor felt in his pocket and found that his watch was gone, having been severed from the guard. The man walked slowly away, followed by witness, who, suspecting the prisoner to be an accomplice of the woman's, gave him in charge. Witness added that at the station the prisoner was searched, but the watch was not found. Mr. W. H. Howe, solicitor, who attended for the de fendant, cross-examined prosecutor, and elicited that he (prosecutor) and the woman were acting very improperly and criminally when the defendant came up and spoke to them. Mr. Howe contended there was not the least evidence to prove that his client had anything to do with the robbery in question, or was in any way connected with the woman. Defendant was a respectable man, and last night, having occasion to enter the Mews, he saw the prosecutor and the woman in such an indecent position that he severely reprehended them for their immorality. Upon this the woman ran away, and as defendant was leisurely walking up the street, prosecutor came up and gave him into custody on the present charge. Mr. Hardwick said there had been no evidence brought forward to induce him to detain the defendant, and directed him to be discharged. FRIGHTFUL Loss OF LIFE.—An Arab ship, called the Nassree, from Jedda to Bombay, with some 400 pilgrims, returning from Mecca to various parts of India, was wrecked on the 22d June. Only 100 of the poor people succeeded in reaching the shore ; the others were all lost. OCEAN CURRENTS, &c.—A meeting of the mer chants, shipowners, captains, and others, is to be held at Lloyd's, on Thursday next, for the purpose of hear ing the explanations of Lieutenant Maury, of the United States navy, and superintendent of the Obser vatory at Washington, respecting the system adopted by that Government for collecting and disseminating information relative to the direction and force of winds and ocean currents in all parts of the world, and me teorological observations. OCEAN STEAMING.—LIVERPOOL, Monday.—Letters have been received here from the South American Steam-ship Company's steamer Argentina, dated Ma deira, August 5. She ran the distance between Lisbon and Madeira in two days, and continued to give the greatest satisfaction, maintaining the high character she had obtained by her rapid run to Lisbon. The African Steam ship Company's screw steamer Charity was sur veyed on Saturday by Mr. Hughes, the Admiralty en gineer, when her performance gave great satisfaction. Her speed, as ascertained by measured distance, with out reference to tides, and by Massey's patent log, was 9/ knots, having on board at the time 800 tons of coal besides water, provisions, and stores. Considering the tonnage of the Charity (1,200 n. xn.), and her nominal power, no such result has befcre been obtained in screw steaming. After the trial trip the Charity sailed for the Thames. THE MAILS.—SOUTHAMPTON, Monday, August 15. The General Screw Steam-shipping Company's ship Queen of the South, Captain Norman, took her departure to-day for St. Vincent's, the Cape, the Mauritius, Ceylon, Madras, and Calcutta, the mails for which ports will be embarked at Plymouth on Tuesday. The Queen of the South takes out nearly 100 passengers, among whom are Colonel M‘Leod, for Madras ; Captain Den niss and Ensign Clay, for Calcutta; Major Watson, for Ceylon ; Colonel Guy, Lieutenant Carter and Carlisle, for the Mauritius ; Captain Harrington, Ensign Mac pherson, Lieutenants Walker, Irving, and Fitzmaurice, for the Cape, &c. On freight this steamer takes out about 300 tons' measurement of general merchandise, 50 bottles of quicksilver, and specie value 6,0001. sterling. The Hydaspes will take out the next mails for India and China via the Cape, of the 15th of September, and the Lady Jocelyn will be due at Plymouth and Southampton, with the homeward mails, on the 26th instant. The United States' mail steamship Hermann, Lieutenant Higgins, U.S.N., Commander, arrived here yesterday (Sunday) from Bremen, and is receiving cargo from France and the manufadttring districts previous to departing for New York with the usual mails on Wednesday. The Douro, a new iron screw steam ship of 960 tons burden, and 270-horse power, built by Messrs. Tod and M‘Gregor, of Glasgow, for the Peninsular and Oriental Company, arrived here on Sa turday, and will be employed either on the Levant or Peninsular lines. The Douro is in all respects similar to the Cadiz, and her performances during the passage from the Clyde were very favourable. The Rajah, an iron steam collier, belonging to the same company, whose departure on the 3d instant for Singapore, as already announced, has had her destination altered, and is to proceed from Cardiff to Malta with a cargo of coals, and thence to Smyrna and Constantinople, to load a cargo of fruit, for Southampton. 'The Tagus, for Vigo, Oporto, Lisbon, Cadiz, and Gibraltar, and the Royal mail steamer Thames, for the West Indies, are to leave with the mails on Wednesday. The Euxine, Cap tain Meehan, will start on the 20th inst. with the out ward East India, China, and Mediterranean mails. The Royal mail steam-ship Parana, with the next homeward a m m a p il t s a f n ro t m his th d e ay W y a es n t d l m nd a i y es b a e n h d o Pifi hourly ACCIDENT TO A TRAIN ON THE READING AN D REl eCx,piescdteUde. at South- GATE RAILWAY.---The passengers by the " cheap . fast train," which leaves Reading at a quarter past eight o'clock, were much alarmed yesterday morning by a cry t o i f on.l danger n aftera few t h m e o trainment moments i a t d w j a u s s t found the th Chilworth thecry sta was not without foundation, for the t rain was immediately - stopped by the driver, who , on g ettin g about a mile be yond the station, discovered that the left fore-wheel of the engine had got off the line. The passengers instantly jumped out of the train to ascertain the cause of the stoppage, and were informed that the axletree of the engine was broken. A messenger was directly sent to Chilworth station to order a telegraphic despatch to be forwarded to Redhill for another engine, and in the meantime the passengers, delighted at no bodily injury having been received by any one c onnec t e d w ith th e train, lent their aid in pushing the train (which consisted of eight carriages and a horse-box) back to the Chilworth station. A delay of about an hour having taken place, an engine arrived, and the train proceeded on its journey on the down line as far as Gomshall, where it was shifted on to the up line. At Croydon, owing to the repairs being done to the up rails another delay took place, the train being shifted and reshifted between there and Lon don. It ultimately reached its destination at half-past twelve. Great inconvenience by the delay was expe rienced by most of the passengers, particularly by a number of corn-dealers who were coming up to the Mark-lane Corn Exchange. LATEST FOREIGN NEWS. FRANCE. On the occasion of the fete, the Bourse and all the public offices are closed. Yesterday the Emperor received at the Tuileries the clergy of Paris, the Diplomatic Corps, the Mi nisters and high dignitaries of the State, and the veterans of the Imperial army. Many of the latter wearing the now antiquated uniforms of their re spective corps, might be met walking about the Tuileries and the Champs Elysees during the day. Among the Diplomatic Corps was of course Mr. Sanford, the Charge d'Affaires of the United States, who, in compliance with the recent instruc tions of the American Secretary of State, appeared in the simple dress of an American citizen. This unassuming costume, which presented a striking contrast with the glitter of embroidery and the blaze of stars and crosses around, caused much sensation, and is a topic of conversation in all the political circles. Mr. Sanford had previously inti mated to the Grand Chamberlain's department that he should so appear. This is the first occasion that the instructions of the American Government have been carried out, as they were, this day, faithfully to the letter of Mr. Sanford. The reception took place in the throne room, the Emperor standing, with the Ministers and Officers of the Palace. Each person bowed and passed by in turn. The Emperor afterwards walked through the saloons, with the. Empress leaning on his arm, received the salutations, and occasionally saying a few words to those present. E,The illuminations last night went off with the greatest success, and at midnight it was ascertained from all quarters that the day had passed without a single accident. The Moniteur states that, at the reception of Sunday, the Emperor said to the British Ambas sador, " I thank the diplomatic corps for their con gratulations. What delights me most is to see the peace of Europe firmly established—for such at least do I consider it—without any sacrifice of dig nity or self-love on the part of any nation." At 4 o'clock his Majesty, accompanied by the Empress and the King Jerome took a ride in an open carriage along the quays of the Tuileries and of Billy. Their Majesties stopped for a short time in the midst of a dense crowd to view a regatta, and afterwards proceeded to the Champs de Mars where the artistes of the Hippodrome and the Cirque de l'lmperatrice performed the Field of the Cloth of Gold and the Storming of La Ghouat. The greatest order prevailed. The weather, though dull, was favourable. _ _ The Emperor and Empress honoured the Thea tre Francais with their presence on Sunday even ing. Their Majesties were received with loud ac clamations. - Queen Christina and her family have arrived in Paris from Havre, in order to be present at the fête. The banquet given on Sunday by the city of Paris at the Hotel de Ville, on the occasion of the Emperor's fete, was of a most splendid description. Amongst the persons present were M. Fould, Minister of State, M. de Persigny, Minister of the Interior, M. Bineau, Minister of Finance, M. For toul, Minister of Public Instruction, M. Baroche, President of the Council of State, M. Delangle, First President of the Court of Cassation, and a great number of the principal dignitaries of State. The members of the Council General of the Seine, the Councillors of Prefecture, the mayors of Paris, and the members of the Municipal Commission of Paris were all present. After the dinner, M. Haussman, Prefect of the Seine, rose and spoke as follows : "Gentlemen—ln the name of the Municipal Council, and in the name of the city and population of Paris, I propose to you the health of the Emperor Napoleon 111. May his Majesty enjoy long days of the power, security, and happiness that his glorious reign insures to France, and of the unexampled prosperity which the city of Paris owes to him. Vive l'Empereur !' " Loud shouts of approval greeted these words of the Prefect, who, when silence was somewhat restored, continued as follows : "In the expression of our wishes, gentlemen, we cannot but associate with the Emperor his august con sort. Witness as I constantly am of the incessant soli citude of the Empress for all that can lessen human suffering, I less than any one can forget the exceedingly large share which comes to her Majesty in the benedic tions of the population of Paris : Vive l'lmp4ratrice !" " Renewed cheers greeted this latter part of the Prefect's address, and the toast was drunk with enthusiasm. At nine o'clock the guests rose from table and promenaded for a while through the magnificent rooms of the Hotel de Ville. They then took their departure. The Sentinelle of Toulon states that the Orenoque steam-frigate, which has been fitting out in that port, is to take on board a detachment composed of two companies of Marines, and 60 of the Marine Artillery, for the purpose of proceeding to the Gulf of Guinea, to obtain satisfaction for some acts of violence on the part of the people of the Grand Bassam. The Piedmontese Gazette of the 12th contains a notice from the French charge d'affaires at Turin, informing the French residents there of a solemn service to be performed on the 15th in the church, of St. Philip, to celebrate the anniversary of Napo leon. The official account of the operations of the Sinking-fund and the Caisse des Depots et Consig nations during the second quarter of 1853 has just been published. Of late years the Sinking-fund has ceased to be actively employed towards lessen ing the burden of the State debt, the financial situation of the country not permitting it to act. It is, however, worthy of note, that the receipts of the second quarter of the present year, added to the surplus existing on the 31st of March last, amount to 40,023,054 f. Henceforward the fact of the funds of the Caisse des Retraites for the aged being entrusted to the Sinking-fund will give this latter somewhat greater animation, in consequence of a certain sum of perpetual rente being each year con verted into life annuities. The rente belonging to the Caisse des Retraites, now held by the Sinking fund, amounts to 323,565 f., representing a capital of 7,166,825 f. 10c. Its expenses, reimbursements, and outlay of all kinds within that period amount ing to 55,781,955 f. 79c., there remains in hand a sum of 518,023,970 f. 31c. The purchases of rente for the depositors in the Savings' Bank amount for this second quarter of the year to 147,437 f., repre senting a capital of 3,507,259 f. 40c., of which sum 788,036 f. 30c. were employed in purchases ex officio ; previously, from August 1, 1845, to March 31, 1853, the amount of rente purchased reached the figure of 2,174,569 f. for a capital of 46,627,572 f. Sc. TURKEY AND RUSSIA. As the day approaches on which the reply of the Porte to the collective note is expected, apprehen sions begin to be felt that the Turkish Cabinet may prove less docile than was at first expected. As to the all-important question of the evacuation of the principalities, those who profess to know something of the matter assert that it has been implied" to Russia that it is expected she will not raise any objections. Even if the Russians should promise to quit Moldavia and Wallachia at once—which is hardly to be - eipected—so many difficulties would infallibly present themselves that the greater part of the intruders would be necessitated to pass the winter cm the right bank of the Pruth. A proclamation has been lately issued, of which the following is a translation from the Turkish original. The present proclamation showeth the state of affairs at Constantinople, and it is his Majesty's wish that it should be promulgated in the provinces of the Empire : "The Sublime Porte and Russia having disagreed on certain points, the latter has suspended her relations, and recalled her embassy from Constantinople, and moreover, has made great m ilit ar y preparations by sea and land ; consequently, the Sublime Porte also has prepared herself for war, as has been already made known. The reason assigned by Russia for her dissatisfaction is the refusal of the Porte to accord by treaty certain religious privileges to the Greek Church. But th ese p r i v il eges were granted by his Majesty Sultan Mehemed the Conqueror, and observed during the reigns of the late Sultans, and were also con firmed by his present Majesty the Sultan, of all benevo lence, as well as by his p r edecessors. When his present Majesty and his Government of their own free will granted and confirmed these ancient immunities, who ever thought that they would be annulled ? When a Government wishes to undertake the protectorate of several millions of a neighbouring empire, it menaces its independence and interferes with its domestic affairs. The impropriety of such an act has been declared, but Russia would not forego her claim, and has even occup ied Wallachia and Moldavia, crossing the Pruth with her troops, thus greatly annoying the Sublime Porte. Such a violation of treaties has called forth on the part of the Su blime Porte a protest, which has been communi cated to the different European Po wers, in which it is contr declared that such an act, y to treaty, will not be accepted by the Sublime Porte. AVhen a question imp ortance of such grave arises, affecting the indepen dence of the Empire, it ought to be arranged by nego tiations and friendly mediation. It is not Russia's in tention to make war on the Sublime Porte, but she has occupied the Provinces as a guarantee until her demands are complied with. The Porte has received from the different European Powers friendly advice, especially from the maritime nations of England and France, upon whose friendship and good faith the Porte can rely, and it is certain that she will not accept anything that will affect her integrity and independence. Until it is seen what turn affairs will take, it has been deemed advisable to assume the defensive on the banks of the Danube and the frontiers of Anadolia. " Such is the dispute and the present state of affairs as regards Russia, On the part of the Government troops and the munitions of war have been prepared. The Sublime Porte has tranquillised all her subjects, and has enjoined them to remain quiet in their several occu pations of agriculture and commerce, and she requires of her subjects to obey all her commands. As has been already mentioned, the claims of Russia relate to the religious privileges of the Greeks. The Greek sect and their chiefs have personally nothing to do with th i s affair, but have, on the contrary, expressed their grati tude and thanks to their Government, and are sorry that such a question has ever been mooted ; they must not, therefore, be looked upon as enemies. Armenians,_ Catholics, Protestants, and Jews are also the true and faithful subjects of our Lord and Padishah ; the Greeks are so also, and they must therefore live in peace with each other. " In short, Moslems and all other subjects of the Porte must dwell together in harmony, and not sp eak of things which do not concern them, nor do that which is not lawful, but each must look to his own affairs. " This present arrangement, proclamation, and order (tembi) has been prepared in the presence of the Sheik il-Islam and all the learned of the Empire, of the Seras kier, and all the officers of the army and viziers who were at the Council of the Grand Vizier. Finally this proclamation has been sanctioned by his Majesty the Sultan, and all those who are not pleased with the ar rangement, and shall act contrary to it, shall be con sidered as insubordinate, and severely punished." Here follow the signatures of all the principal office of the Empire, civil, military, and religious. The most important domestic event in Constan tinople is the death of Hafiz Pasha, late Minister, of Finance. He was a man of about 70 years °I age, and was more than once called to the Ministry, when the financial affairs of the Empire were at their worst. He never, we believe, was the author of any large scheme of finance, but by en forcing economy in several branches of the public service he generally contrived to leave the Ex chequer in a better state than he found it. Like most Turkish officials he contrived to pay himself, and has left behind him a large amount of wealth. A large encampment has been prepared opposite Therapia, on the Asiatic coast, for the daily ex pected Egyptian troops. Th e t en t s will contain about 15,000 men. Nothing new has arrived from the Danubian provinces ; and as much of the gossip con cerning the movements of the Russians there has ceased of late, we presume that the Post-office has already began to feel the effects of Russian surveil- - mice. Much has of late been said concerning a victory supposed to have been gained over the Rus sian troops by Schamyl. The battle is said to have taken place on the 27th and 28th of the Raniazan t , when the Circassians took by assault the fortress (31 Toprak Kale, containing 220 pieces of artillery' This news we have received by way of Trebizoncly and, though generally believed here, cannot be ini" plicitly relied on. The Wanderer contains highly important news, of the Ist from Constantinople. Th e Pasha 0 ' Bosnia has informed the Porte that General Mayer hoffer, Inspector of the Austrian Consulates, coin' municated to him the information that the Aus trians were ready to cross the frontier if the peace and order of the provinces of Bosnia and the Her zegovine should be disturbed either by a native or foreign enemy. The Pasha of Belgrade tells nearly the same story, the only difference being that the Austrian troops will enter Service if the Russians cross the Danube. On Saturday evening, July 3 0 , the Dragoman of the Austrian Embassy at Cou stantinople was asked f or an exp l ana ti on . It appears that he denied the correctness of the news, but at the same time spoke of the little reliance which could be placed on the Servians. All this has led to most exaggerated reports, and it is even asserted that Austria is prepared to commence hostilities at the same time as Russia. Extra messengers have been dispatched to Bosnia and the Herzegovine, with fresh instructions for the Turkish authorities. ITALY. The Parma Gazette, of the 9th, states that Baron Ward, Prime Minister to the Duke of Parma, has just made an excursion into the mountains of the Duchy, in company with Professor Piroli, of Per" ma, and three eminent English engineers, for the purpose of ascertaining the mineral wealth of those districts ; and that the result has been most satin" factory, showing the existence of coal, copper, ana iron in sufficient abundance to be profitably el tracted. SPAIN. Our accounts from Madrid are of the 10th inst. The Gazette publishes a circular from M. Esteban Collantes, the Minister of Public Works, to the governors of provinces, demanding of them a full and complete report of the various works of public utility commenced in their departments, of those that are under consideration, and of those that have been commenced or interrupted. The governors of provinces are urged to stimulate the zeal O f the municipalities and to see that the engineer s . employed in publi c wor k s carry them on with energy and activity. The thermometer at Madrid marked upwards of 34 degrees Reaumur. The Three per Cents. were done at 43a cash ; Deferred, 231. AUSTRALIA. (BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.) PLYMOUTH, TUESDAY, 9 A.M. The barque Henry Tanner, Captain Vaggar , from Adelaide 19th Ma rc h, i s off the port, and 11 0 landed here nine passengers, among whom is CaPt' Sturt, Colonial Secretary at Adelaide, and falai,' The Henry Tanner ha s 17,000 ounces o f gold, 1,000 bales of wool, and 250 tons of Burra Bur 1 "1, copper. She left her M a j es ty' s s hi p Britomart 311 St. Helena on the Bth of June, and north of th e line spoke the Sir William Jardine, from Jamaica' with returned Coolies for Calcutta. THE VON BECK CASE.—Mr. Hayes (of the 3fidluV i ,, Circuit), instructed by Mr. Griffith s , a tt orne y for t a a defendants in the case of Derra against Dawson, others, appeared on Saturd a y b e f ore M r . J us ti ce ..:. Hams, in chambers, in support o f a summons calif: upon M. Derra de Moroda to show cause why all P L " n i ceedings should not stand over until the fifth dal ; next trm, the defendants undertaking to pay in 3ll/ " - diately into court the whole of the damages and ctsi — , ; . The learned counsel said the object of the present aPP' - n : cation was to enable the defendants to argue the exu e ra tions to the ruling of Mr. Justice Maule, which they ec ul „ t not do until Michaelmas Term. Mr. Hayes then wen through all those exceptions, and commented fully nP ° l them, as well as on every other point raised upon the I of the case. Mr. Sergeant Miller, instructed by Mr . „, Harding and Mr. John Po we ll, a t torneys for Mr. Derl,l appeared on behalf of the pl a i n tiff , an d contended t hat 1 application of Mr. Hayes must be refused, and that the exceptions and objections were utterly untenable in point of law ; furthermore that the plaintiff was e le t i rly entitled to require immediate payment of the daraubc„. and costs. The learned judge heard the different a c h e , cates for upwards o f t wo h ours and a half, and then livered his judgme n t, b y w hi c h h e refused the aPr f b o e tion of Mr. Hay es a lt oget h er, an d declared tha"the certainly should no t s t ay th e execut i on to re cover o r, damages and costs. He thought the summing uP or . his learned brother (M r . J ust i ce M au l e ) was quite cthe rect, and that there was abundant evidence to go,tf a il jury. " I most assuredly," added his lordshiP, sould not interfere to stay the proceedings, and I feel it ss w ill be indecent of me to do so." The defendant s _ith, therefore have to pay th e d amages an d c ost forthw eseut including the costs of the plai n tiff o f o pp o sing the P r Bit.- application for staying the proceedings.--Aril 3 mingham Gazette. , ri , Gre elc ' THE GREEK CATHOLICS IN SYRIA.— aree l‘. Catholics in Syria are deserters from the Orthodox g ala Church; the harvest of a most profuse sowing c ' o e the by emissaries from Rome, abouf the beginning, foot eighteenth century. They retain all the prayers 3 ! l _" ctr iveo days of their former Church, with such additional ow .„ the ir b as were unnecessarily entailed upon them e o f the allegiance to the Pope. They can boast of so lve es in best built and best endowed convents and nunt'' uie of f this P the Lebanon, and, from whatever cause arising , se er the most respectable merchants in Syria are 0 d it „, f iy suasion. The ductility of gold is proverbial, id Nov perhaps not unjustly be surmised that the sp. le neestors mencement of the Papal connexion by the,g ne itbof laid the foundation of a worldly prosperity scry? e , ol' their position, their talent 3, nor opportuniti (probably) have enabled them to attain.—Col• Mount Lebanon, &c. wont tablis WHAT RUSSIA GAINED IN 1827.—The es roteetlep of the kingdom of Greece in 1827, under the p itb no of England, France, and Russia, was regardesdr,w_ w ith favourable eye by Austria ; but she did not int e ,ie_J r ; o py the proceedings of the other powers, nor was the of between her and Russia disturbed until the v.r n 1 0, Churchill's Turkey by the latter had excited her alarm ; A. ,," - nre vent, England and Austria peremptorily intervened_b`ecrnresseu the impending fall of Constantinople. Fran?! ee l _ her readiness to unite with Russia, and tu_ ins t the Austrian rear in case troops were sentar 7 0 9 • Russians. Prussia, however, presented herself,7_ 1 52 9 , to . r'; diator, and a treaty was concluded at Adriatnioeptlitou'e by which Russia, though compelled for 1 eerald the most store the booty already seized, gained some advantages, being granted possession of se 0 , Asi , important mountain fastnesses and passes o , b t Y a right to occupy and fortify the mouths c , au tio so important to Austria, and a prot, , e L° Continuatem, over Moldavia and Wallachia. —Kelly 3 Leicester, COXe' 3 Austria. At Le' -- iv ROMAN WATER-PIPES ON POTTERY• er. _ ipes st e here they are opening the roads to lay wat v South the street near to the old spot called Sou ,Irth `wife6 considerabsit Roman red e. ' , o at 1 have been found in two places Rom very 1 33 ru 02 ., as lengths are w hite i p n i e p h e e s, s, o a f n a d bo t u h t e l o -i i n n e ts h bore. The adTehew.lietnhg arse wort to e• -- tion ro hard as stone, and the direction cement. The pipes are encased with cowrie dry and cleanAlioniee the insides of course, are quiteto us by Mr- I : ec tioa specimen obligingly forwarded a proi, Lahee, the end of each pipe ismade ."_ e " Ll a nd • to the next pipe or shoulder, and passes in a quarter.—The .Builder. W . est in bi Ai I,