The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-12-25 00:00:00

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

FRANCE.
The Moniteur announces that the Imperial Guard and the
regiments of infantry of the line, returned from the Crimea,
will make a solemn entry into Paris on the 29th. At the
Bastille they will be harangued by the Emperor, who will
then precede them to the Place Vendome, where the defile will
take place.

BELGIUM.-At the commencement of the sitting of the
Belgian Chamber of Representatives, on Saturday,. the
Minister of Foreign Affairs announced that the Dutch Go-
vernment, by a despatch received that morning, had intimated
that the treaty between Holland and Belgium, which was to
expire on the Ist of January, would not be renewed.
SPAIN.—Thp discussion on the constitution terminated on
the 14th. The motion made for interpellations against
Marshal O'Donnel has been rejected. The Madrid Gazette
of the 12th contains a royal decree, sanctioning the bill
adopted by the Cortes, which declares Spain an inviolable
'asylum for foreigners, and that the giving up of political re-
fugees shall never be consented to in any treaty for the extra-
dition of criminals. A smart shock of an earthquake was
felt at Barcelona at seven p.m. on the 4th. The church bells
rang by its violence, chairs and tables were moved and in
some cases overthrown, and great alarm was excited ; but it
does not appear that any serious damage took place. There
was a slight shock at St. Sebastian, which passed almost un-
perceived. _

AUSTRIA.—It is stated, in a despatch from Berlin, that the
English government has demanded from the Court of Vienna
an explanation of the motives which have induced it to reduce
the Austrian army. The organisation of the militia will be
extended in the spring to the Polish provinces. The same
despatch states that the publication of a fresh convention be-
tween the Allied Powers and Austria, is expected at Vienna,
and it adds :—" The attempts towards negociation made by
Austria and Prussia are not concerted or coincident in terms.
It is rumoured that Austria is ready to become actively belli-
gerent, in case of need, if the allies will consent to erect the
Danubian Principalities into an independent state, with a
Prince of the Austrian imperial family as their chief."
Paussm—Another illustration of Prussian neutrality is
afforded by a despatch dated Tilsit (East Prussia), December
12th. The statement is as follows :—Within the last ten days
several large caravans of horses—numbering in all about
I,soo—have passed through this city for Russia. They are
fine strong animals, equally serviceable for cavalry and artil-
lery, and were purchased by the Russian government in the
kingdom of Hanover, under the superintendence of a Russian
general officer, who also personally accompanies the transport.
GREECE.—We hear from Athens, under date of the 12th :
"The new ministry is consolidating itself. The new Minister
of Public Instruction, M. Christopoulos, enjoyed the confidence
of the King, and had become popular. He had succeeded in
removing the coolness which had existed between the Greek
Government and the Allies. The Morning Post has a con-
tradiction of this latter assertion.

Russr.t.—A private letter from Moscow at the end of No-
vember speaks of the confidence of the petty tradesmen in the
Russian paper currency being much shaken. Cases are said
frequently to occur, more particularly in Moscow, Nichni, and
Astrakhan, of their refusing to take it, whilst; on the other
hand, they keep back and hide their silver money. Silver
continues to rise there in price, a great deal of it being
smuggled out of the country, then melted down, and brought
back at an advance.—A correspondent of the Times says:—
The " patriotic contributions ' to the war fund are made for
the most part in kind,consistingof manufactured goods, produce
of the soil, pictures of saints, the paper money issued by
various monetary institutions or their coupons, so that the
Treasury itself is not much the richer for them. Exactly the
same I read in a letter from St. Petersburg now before me ;
the preference which the Russian at all times entertains
for specie increases in the same proportion as the paper money
increases. For all trade with Asia paper money is, of course,
useless ; silver becomes every day dearer, and, in spite of every
prohibition, disappears more and more from circulation. The
public offices pay out little or no silver, and it is expected
that very shortly it will be made obligatory for a portion at
least of the taxes to be paid in coin.
THE lONIAN IsLANDS.—Advices from Corfu of December
3, state that the energetic measures of the civil and military
authorities have prevented the cholera from increasing in ex-
tent and malignity in that island. Since October 4, when the
epidemic first appeared, there had been in all 812 cases, that
is, little more than an average of 12 per diem, in a population
of 70,000. There had been only about 50 cases in the garri-
son, chiefly in the Berks Militia, recently arrived. The mor-
tality had averaged about 50 per cent of those attacked in
Corfu, but had been greater in Zante, where the epidemic
broke out at the same period, and has raged with greater viru-
lence. The Ist Lancanshire Militia, quartered at Zante, have_
suffered severely ; but now that the cold weather has com-
menced, and that the snow has fallen on the mountains of
Epirus, the epidemic is rapidly disappearing. There have
been only a few cases of cholera in Cephalonia, and none in
the smaller islands. The garrison of Corfu now consists of
four regiments of militia and three companies of artillery.
There are two other regiments of militia in the Southern Is-
lands. Perfect tranquillity prevails, though the failure of the
crops has occasioned great distress.
WEST COAST OP AFRICA.—The mail steampacket Candace,
which arrived at Plymouth on Tuesday, reports the following
vessels on the coast :—At Cameroons, November 5, the barks
Lydia and Guildford, and brigs Arab and Idas. The bark
Arabian had sailed for Lagos. At Bonny, November 7, the
ships Martha, Sarah, Sea, Magnolia, Ferozepore, and Fanny,
of Liverpool; barks Crown, Bombay Packet, Belle, Custos,
and Cumberland, and brig Tremor, of Liverpool. At Accra,
November 12, bark Costorelli, of Salem. At Sierra Leone,
entered November 1, ship Lisbon, from Carerah ; 2nd, South-
erner, from Boston ; 3rd, Nancy, from Sherbro, and Bangah
from Mellicouri; sth, Bella, from Sherbro, and Zouloucouna,
from Rio Pongas. Cleared, schooner James, for Scarcies ;
brigs, George, for New York ; Harriet, for Lagos ; Emily for
Moribrali ; bark Orion, for Mellicouri; and steamvessel Dane,
for French Guiana. At Teneriffe, December 3, ship Salazes,
of Havre. The New Era, published at Sierra Leone, Novem-
ber 10, says :—" The great mortality on board English vessels,
when compared with French, is inexplicable. Up to this date
there have been no less than 19 deaths on board four English
ships • and from the united crews of 13 French ships there
has been but one death."
NEW ZEALAND.—The native disturbances in the district of
New Plymouth are a serious affair, and will require the
utmost caution and forbearance on the part of the European
settlers to avoid being drawn into the conflict. We learn
that the troops for Taranaki had embarked at Auckland on
the Bth August. The division consisted of 250 rank and file
of the 68th Regiment, ten officers, thirteen non-commissioned
officers and three drummers, under the command of Major
Nugent. The detachment was accompanied to the place of
embarkation by numbers of the citizens. The men embarked
in high spirits and in admirable order. It is nine years and
a half since any similar embarkation took place. On that
occ ion it was on a much more extensive scale—two frigates,
Castor and Caliope, one steam sloop, Driver, and two trans-
ports Slains Castle and Victoria, being employed for the
conveyance of a large force to put down the aggressions of
the natives of the south. Happily this time the troops
depart on no hostile mission. They are dispatched far more
in the character of an armed police to preserve peace and
good order. And as they are to be assisted by an equal
force of the 65th Regiment from the province of Wellington,
we trust they may be enabled to carry out their peaceful
purpose in a satisfactory manner, and speedily return to
their head-quarters crowned with honourable but bloodless
laurels.—Australian and New Zealand Gazette.