The Press.
London, England, 1853-08-06 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

The house accordingly went into► committee.
On the first clause, which pr►vided that any mem-
ber who should employ a band during his election
should forfeit the seat, Mr. Cowemt urged a com-
plaint of its extreme severity, and moved an amend-
ment modifying the penalty to a tine of 100/. This
amendment was carried by a majority of 73 to 4s.
In the course of a desultory discussion on the suc-
cessive clauses, Sir J. tiItAHAN expressed an opinion
that, on the whole, it was better not to proceed with
the bill:—
"He acknowledged that very great abuses arose from
the system of flagmen at elections, and that this was our of
those modes of exercising an influence which constantly
led to breaches of the peace and open violence. But the
question of Monett was altogether distinct from that of
allowing parties to have bands of music. ( Hear, heur.)
He should be sorry to are a prohibition of bell•ringing and
bands of music, and he thought that in legislating on such
subjects they were descending to very small matters indeed
—(h ear, hear)—but, if there should be a measure dealing
with the larger question of the representation of the people
generally, it would be impossible to overlook the question
of flagmen. As the principle of constructive agency had
been carried so far by eommittees of that house, the gene.
rid doctrine of agency would certainly be applied to this
clause, and under it he hardly knew how any candidate
would be safe ; for it would not be always possible for him
to prevent that which wall a Matter of loeal triumph from
being celebrated as such. (Hear, heur.)"

Several divisions were taken uposipamendments,
and on motions for reporting progress, which were
several times made and negatived. AClength one of
them, proposed by Mr. W. F. Must:, was carried, and
Colonel SIBTHORP congratulated the country upon the
good riddance that had been made of such trash as
the bill just thrown out.

BRIBERY AT CANTERBURY.

The commissioners (Messrs. Slade, Chisholm
Anstey, and Burcham) appointed to inquire into the
corrupt practices prevalent at the late and fo►mer
elections for the borough of Canterbury have pre-
sented a voluminous report, extending over 470 pages,
and embracing a mass of curious evidence. Their
conclusions from this accumulation of testimony may
be summed up as follows :

"We Bud that at the general election which took place in 147
Lord Albert Conytigham and the lion. George 1,. S. !Smythe
were returned members to nerve in Parliament for the city of
Canterbury, and that their return was obtained by direct money
bribery to a large extent having been practised in their Windt
We find also that such direct bribery was practiried with the
knowledge and consent of the said lion. P. S. Smythe, hut
we have no evidence of the wine having been done with the
knowledge and contain of Lord Albert Conyngliam.
" tind that at the general election which took place in 1517
direct money bribery to a large extent was ptaetised and had re.
"or" to by the agents of Lord Thome% Pelham Clinton and
Mr. John Vance, for the purpose of securing the return of those
gentlemen to serve in Parlitunent for the city of Canterbury ;
but that no evidence was adduced before 1111 to show that such
bribery was practised with the knowledge or consent of lord T.
I'. Clinton or of Mr. Vance, or of either of them.

" We find that at the election which took place in 1850, in con-
sequence of the elevation of Lord A. I►. Conyngloun to the peer-
age, a aunt of 371. los. was paid by Aldennim Brent to Charles
Goodwin, for the purpose of corruptly inducing bins to give his
vote and influence, in the event of a eutitest, to Col .1 Hominy;
but which was done without the knowledge or comicial of Colonel
Hominy.
" We find that at the general election which took place in 1854
Henry P. Hipps, Esq., and the Hon. Henry 11. JIOIIIII4iIIIIN were
returned members to serve in Parliament for the city of Canter-
bury, and that their return was obtained by direct money bribery
to a large extent having been practised upon their behalf. We
also Hod that such direct money bribery was practised with the
knowledge and consent of the said H. P. Gipps but we have no
evidence of the same having been dune with the knowledge or
consent of the said lion. 11. lt. Johnstone. •

" And, finally, we find that corrupt praetiees have extensively
prevailed in the city of Canterbury at the host election of meur
berg to Nerve ht Parliament fur the raid city, and at proiuuu
elections."

GE(X;RAPHICAL SOCIETY.

Mr. HUME on Tuesday called attention to a peti-
tion from this society praying for some Government
provision of rooms, &c., for its accommodation.
Eulogising the objects and services of the society,
and declaring that geography was the science of
most importance to Englishmen, but of which they
were generally and remarkably ignorant, the hon.
member supported the petition, and recommended
the Ministry to aid, by every official assistance in
their power, an association whose agency promised
to be so beneficial.
The CHANctaikii of the ExcitEguEn admitted the
merits of the society, and, while promising careful
consideration to their request, observed that the
chief obstacle to granting it lay in the difficulty of
separating the claims of the Ge.waphical from those
of other cognate societies, organised for scientific
purposes.
11 AC U.( 'ABS.

The Hackney-Carriages Duties Bill was recom-
mitted on Monday, in order to discuss and introduce
the new clauses designed to settle the great " cab
question."
_ _

The first of these was brought up by the CHAN-
cEmon of the I.:mitt:Qum and consisted of a clause
preventing common informers from suing for penalties
under the act. This was added to the bill.

Mr. LowE brought up a clause at the desire, as he
believed, of the cabowners themselves, and also for
the benefit of the public. It provided that, where a
cab was hired for time, after the first hour the cab-

319

man should only charge Od. for a quarter of an hour,
instead of 25., as at present.
The clause was agreed to.
Mr. F. Scums moved a clause authorising the
commissioners of pollee to withdraw the licence of
sucl► hackney-carriage proprietors as should abstain
from sending out their carriages for two consecutivo
days, with the addition of a fine.
After some discussion the consideration of this►
clause was postponed..

Mr. FuE -ed an amendment designed to
get rid of the radius proposed by the bill, and to
make the limit of the parliamentary boroughs that
of the sixpenny fare. This amendment tilts nega-
tived, but

Mr. LOWE consented to substitute Temple-bar for
Charing-eross as the centre of the radius.
This was agreed to.
Mr. FitEwEN proposed that a person using a cab
should have his servant carried on the box without
extra charge. . . _

This clause, being opposed by Mr. Lover., was
negatived with t a division.
The report was then received.

DIVISIoNs.
The SPEAKER, on Monday evening, intimated to
the house that he had prepared the following series
of regulations with regard to the new mode of taking
divisions, which he hoped would be satisfactory
When the house is shunt to proceed to • division, the Speaker
will three!. • strangers to withdraw upon Which the sergeant
will see that the Nests below the gallery, and In the front gallery,
are clear; and the clerk will turn the sanil.glass. AN POOH as the
sand is nth out, the clerk will inform the Speaker, who will call
'Order' preparatory to putting the question. The eregemat will,upon the van of order, half OWN, OW 11111,r, and keep it half e 10144,11
KM long as there are ineintwrs in sight, appsstehing the door of
the house. When ineinlwrs are no longer in sight, the sergeant
will close the door, end will lock it upon the Speaker puttlug the
question."
The rules were agreed to.
1•111.: SPEAKER.

Sir It. H. 'MIL'S, ml Thitraday, moved a aeries of resolutions
enabling the Chairman of Wiwi and Means to preside over the
dlw'llNNletla of the house whenever the Speaker might be un-
avoidably absent.
lu the course of conversation on the Nubject, Mr. lima and
Sir Jolts l'itatsovos strongly urged the lICCOIMit) of romadering
1101110 means of improving the nuale of conducting the bulginess
of the houw•. The limner denounced tho hum 'saunas, and the
latter was in favour of a different arrangement of the neraion,
and the mappointment of the committer on puddle toughie'. to
take the question into emiableratiosi.
The resolutions were agreed to.
Till: ELECTION LAW.

Mr. T. Itt•Ncoutts, on •Tuesday, eallett the attention of the
I 1111 l se to the defective state or the law for the trial of rootro•
vorteil election petttions, and entered into s long eo •u 1 Igwal
the circumstances connected with the withdrawal of the Norwich
electhot petitions.
Lord .1. Ituses3.l. admitted that the system of altltdrawing
petitions was ellillt)101111111, with great abuses, and ttetdertook that
It should receive the attention of limo-muffin, and that a mea-
sure should be introduced on the subJeet nest session.

Tin.: futurist! musEum.

A vote of :ifi,s4ol. being 'reposed, ou Thursday, for the British
Museum.

Sir It. 11. Inoue explained that the MIINeIIIII had no space for
the accession of Issoks it was constantly receiving, awl that It was
physical') insissosible to increase the accousuesiation for readers.
'Else object slow In view was to snake such ample provision as
would suffice for the neat I 'red years.
Sir W. Mot.►:Mwoaru slated that a plan fur this purpose was
under the consideration "ftloven iiiii ost.
The vote was agreed to.

(foreign an Colonial llntelligence.

[From our own Correspondent.]
Ems, August 4.

A grand dinner was given by their Imperial Ma-
jesties at St. Cloud on Saturday last ; after which
the actors of Le Francais° performed the play of
Le Mari el /a rompagne, in the theatre of the palace,
before the distinguished audience. All the ministers
of state and high public functionaries assisted. M.
Drouyn de although suffering from ophthal-
mia, and Marshal St. Arnaud, still in a state of con•
valeseence, though his energy enables him to con-
tinue his inspections of the troops in the provinces,
were present. The places were filled as billows :
The Emperor had on his right hand the Queen
Christina, and next to her Spanish Majesty sat the
Prince Napoleon; the Princess blathilde was next
to the Empress and the ex-King Jerome Bonaparte.
The Duchess d'Albe was placed with the l'riuce of
Hesse, and then came the beautiful and graceful
daughters of Christina. The Duke d'Albe wore the
grand cordon of the Legion of Honour given him by
Napoleon 111. The star of the order in brilliants
VMS the gift of the Emperor to the brother-in-law of
the Empress. Many remarks were made as to the ru-
moured journey of the Queen Christina to Claremont,
on a visit to her royal aunt, ex-Queen of the French.
A supper-room was thrown open after the play, and
many presentat. took elare. There was an afflu-
ence of foreigners, especially of English. We re-
marked the Comtesse de Kalerdji, niece of M. le
Comte de Nesselrode, the Duke de Itianzares, Gene-
ral Minim, all the corps diplometique, including

1

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320

SWITZERLAND.

the Turkish Ambassador, Veli Pacha. Yesterday the
Emperor went a /a ehasse in the forest of St. Ger-
maine. A dinner was served on this occasion in the
Pavillon de la Matte, at which the guests invited to
the sport were admitted.
The inspectors-general sent into the departments
have given umbrage, by their official attributes, to
the prefects. M. de Persigny has a difficult task to
manage their susceptibilities, and smooth down their
offended dignity. The Conseil d'Etat have taken
their holidays till the Ist October. On Sunday the
members took leave of their Majesties, headed by
M. Rouher, their vice-president, in the absence of
M. Baroche. M. Falloux, formerly minister of Louis
Napoleon during the Republic, has been sought after,
no one knows why, by the gensdarmes and police of
Rennes, which city he passed through on the 2nd of
this month, on his way to the town d'lre, where he
was to be present at a religions ceremony to be per-
formed by Monseigneur Charhonneaux, bishop mis-
sionary of India.
Trianon, the favourite residence of the unfortunate
Marie Antoinette, is preparing for their Majesties at
Versailles. The crops are getting in under better
auspices than was expected; the corn is heavy in ear,
and the farmers do not grumble much more than
usual. The vines look very green, and promise an
unusual quantity of nice sour light wine, given to the
British public under the enticing name of claret, 2ris.
only per dozen.
M. KisselefT having demanded an explanation
from the French Government, touching some state-
ment of the Cenetitutionnel on the Turkish ques-
tion, received for reply, " that once more it was
explicitly declared that the Government was net
responsible, directly or indirectly, for any statement
appearing in the Moniteur." This disavowal of a
journal considered av semi-official puts 1111 end to its
authority as a Ministerial paper. It will be on
Thursday, the 12th of this month, that the trial of
the affair called " des Correspondanees" will take
place before the Chamber of Appeal of the Correc-
tional Police, sent before it by the Court of Cessa-
tion. MM. Berryer, Odillon Barrot, Dufattre, and
Hebert, of the bar of Paris, will plead in this case.
Two splendid boats, destined for the imperial yacht
La Reine Hortense, have arrived at Cherbourg from
London, said to be a present from the Queen of
England to the Empress of the French.

The I'refect of the Basses Pyrinees has been offi-
cially informed that the journey of the Emperor and
Empress to Pau has been postponed, and will not
take place this season.
Their Majesties have sent six thousand francs to
Cherbourg for distribution among the families of the
workmen who were killed by the late explosion in
the dockyard at that port.
The Marquis de Viluma, at an audience with the
Emperor on Tuesday, presented his credentials as
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of
Spain and Parma at his Majesty's Court.
Monday's Constitutionnel announces positively that
the conditions of arrangement brought by the Caradoc
have not been admitted by the Cabinets of Paris,
London, and Vienna.
The explanations made on Tuesday to the two
Houses of Parliament by the British Ministers
seriously alarmed the speculators on the Paris Ex-
change, and all the funds closed with a decline.
The Prefect of l'olicc has published an onion-
nance commanding that all servants residing in
Paris shall, within three months, under the l►enalty
of imprisonment, provide themselves with a lieret at
the Prefecture of Police. Any person not provided
with such a nivel, or certificate, shall be expelled
from Paris, after an imprisonment of from eight days
to three months.
It is said that the Municipal Council of Paris is
about to contract a new loan of 400,000.000 f., to be ex-
pended in executing various public works, among
which are several public markets, according to plans
suggested by the Emperor.
Letters from Brest of the 29th ult. state that much
activity is displayed in the arming of vessels. Rear-
Admiral Charnor was to hoist his flag on board the
Hercule. The French Government have instructed
their Consul-General at Bucharest to remove his
flag.
In several of the departments the prefects have
fixed an average tariff for the sale of grain, with the
♦iew of keeping down the price of bread. In Alsace,
proceedings having been taken against some peasants
for having sold at a higher price than the tariff;
several farmers refused to send their corn to market.

The price of bread at Paris is not to vary during
the first fortnight of August.
DENMARK.

The cholera continues to make lamentable ad-
vance in Copenhagen. 340 new cases and 184
deaths have occurred in one day. The total number
of eases reported on the 20th ttit. amounted to 4,759,
and the deaths to 2,508.

The National Council h adopted by sixty-five to
twenty-nine votes the proposition of the commission