The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1861-01-03 00:00:00

DEATH OF THE TUNG OF PRUSSIA.

PittbEnibk
king of yrussia, has at lengthpassed' away. Ori Monday night Ms state lidatne so
alarming that the Prince Regent and the other Princes
at Berlin repaiied t 6 Sans S.onci, and a telegram now,
arrives informing us of his long7expe4ed death. His
late Majesty vas bOrn Oii the 15th Of dctober; 1795,
being ,the ioil iiffiedeikklndia III: At ti
age he was admitted into the Council of State, Where
the affairs of the nation were discussed prior to the
establishment of a parliamentary system. Called to the
throne by the decease of his father on the 7th of
June, 1840, he distinguished his accession by repair-
ing several of the injuries which had grown out
of his father's repressive system of government.
The aims of Frederick William IV., in behalf of the
German Unity, of which he aspired to make Prussia the
keystone and himself the head, subsequent to the re-
volutionary crisis of 1848 i. Were of a very lofty
character; but when the National Assembly at Frank-
fort passed over his pretensions, and elected the Arch-
di ke John Lieutenant-General of the German empire,
he became convinced to all appearances that,' German
unity,' such as is desired by the enthusiastic students of
Germany, was a game too difficult for him to play; and
that as a king he would better consult the interests of
his kingdom, by giving more of his attention to Prussia,
and less to Germany, than he had been in the habit of
doing. The policy which his Government pursued during
the Crimean war lowered greatly the preBtige to which
his kingdom had attained, and lessened the rank which
Prussia had reached in the councils of the Great Powers.

In the year 1867 symptoms of mental aberration were
observed by the physicians of his Majesty, and them
symptoms continuing to grow stronger, it was at length
deemed necessary to establish a regency ; and on the 9th
October, 1858, the King's brother, Prince Frederick
Louis, the heir'presumptive to the throne, was
inducted into that office, and took the necessary oaths
amid the general satisfaction of the people. The King
was married, on the 29th November, 1823, to Elizabeth
Louisa, daughter of the late Maximilian Joseph, King
of Bavaria. There has been no issue by the marriage,
so that, after the actual Regent, the heir presumptive to
the throne of Prussia is the Prince Frederick William
Nicholas Charles, married on the 25th of February, 1858,
to the Princess Rdyal of England.

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

FRANCE.
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, Jan. 1, 1861.

The Moniteur publishes an Imperial decree,
dated the 22nd ult., declaring that the premium
allowed by the law cf the 6th of May, 1841, to
steam• engines of French make, entered for internal
maritime navigation, shall be paid on the basis
and according to the quota of the duties applicable
to steam-engines used for navigation, of British
origin and manufacture, imported by French
ships.

It is announced that after the first representa-
tion of the new melo-drama at the Cirque, at
which the Emperor attended in state, his Majesty
caused M. Victor Sejour to be sent for to the
Imperial box, and congratulated him on the
success which he had achieved by his new play.
The Patrie of this evening announces that des-
patches have been received from China, stating
that the city of Pekin had been entirely evacuated
by the French troops. The French forces had
been divided into two corps, one of which em-
barked for Shanghai on the 15th of November,
and the other was to remain at Tien-tsin for the
winter. The marines 'forming the garrison at
Shanghai were to be relieved by the troops coming
from the north, and afterwards sent on to the
French establishment at Saigon.
A letter written by a French officer attached
to the expedition gives some extremely curious
details of the richness and magnificence of the
objects found by the allied armies in the summer
palace of the Emperor. In the gardens there were
discovered, among other objects, some elephants in
enamel of the size of naturcit Amidst other objects
of the greatest value is mentioned also, a full suit
of Damascus armour, the helmet ,of which is
surmounted by a pearl of enormous size, and of
the finest quality. This armour is, it is said,
intended for the Emperor. The " looters"• like-
wise came upon a magnificent salon, furnished
in all respects d la Louis Quinze, with portraits of
the ladies of the court of that reign, having
the names of each lady inserted at the bottom of
the frames. Some apartments of immense
size, decorated and furnished with fabulous
luxuriousness, contained some gilded bronzes,
and procelains in considerable quantities; but all
these valuable effects were completely forgotten
and neglected in these magnificent apartments,
and were covered by a thick layer of dust.
The ambulance carriages which accompanied the
army, happily not being required, for the purpose
which they are intended to subserve, were used
to carry away a portion of the plunder ; the low
,depth of water in the canal which connects Tien-
tsin with the capital unfortunately not permitting
the gunboats to come sufficiently far up the river.
After reading the foregoing account, your
readers will, I daresay, be tempted to ask how it.
is possible to reconcile it with the statement of
the Commander-in-Chief himself, when he declares
that the French divided everything fairly with
their allies.

THE GRAND TRUNK RAILWAY AND THE
CANADIAN LEGISLATURE. •

Annexed is a communication regarding the
bearing of the proceedings of the Canadian
Legislature on the interests of the debenture
holders of the Grand Trunk Railway :
Sir,—A perusal of a recent publication in London,
termed " The Acts Incorporating the Grand Trunk
Railway of Canada," if not attractive, cannot fail to
instruct and alarm the holders of any Canadian security
held and issued under authority of a Canadian Act of
Parliametit.
The embarrassments or that railway form no part of
the causes of alarm I refer to. `
whToh directors
me
were
eno of that railway,dhythoc asniaxdioaant
Gefo
vtwelve
not f,
by exhibiting a Canadian Act of Parliament, dated
December, 1854, issued upwards of £2,000,000 deben-
tures in this country, and, while it is obviously, impos-
sible here to enumerate all, the following describes some
of the conditions, privileges, and foundations on which
they were to rest:—£2oo in shares was to be issued for
every £lOO debentures; that proportion was to be main-
tained, and the total issue was .strictly limited to
£4,864,800 stock, and £2,090,700 debentures. As a
first lien over both, the Canadian Government were to
advance a loan amount not exceeding £2,211,500, and
no more bonds were to be issued interfering with the
rights and privilesei of the said debentures, without
the written permission from each holder of the said
debentures,

A series of five acts, the last dated 1858, of the intro-
duction and passage of all of which, until the present
Publication, not one of the debenture holders was aware,
have produced such organic changes in everything
relating to these debentures, that one looks in vain in
the pale, attenaated, robbed, and ruined debenture of
1858, for one feature that calls to mind the hearty and
substantial debenture of 1854.

By these five acts the directors were, on their petition,
permitted to bring about the following results :—ln
addition to £3,115,000 provincial aid, £9,115,000 pre-
ference have been issued above the debentures, with
unlimited power to issue more ; and in place of
£4,864,800 shares there are only £2,781,000 issued, and
in place of £2,090,700 debentures there are now
£2,403,987, if not more. The permission in writing
has never been asked, and the government directors,
after passing most of the said confiscatory acts, are
withdrawn. Much more injustice could be pointed out,.
but I respect your space.
The questions inevitably arise, are all bonds and
securities issued in this country under Canadian Acts of
Parliament, whether by government, municipal, railway,
or bodies corporate, subject to a similar process of secret
legislation and legislative obliteration, and how far the
practice has been carried on ? Can and have any other
bodies of Canadian directors presented themselves in this
country with a Canadian Act of Parliament, issued bonds,
and then returned to Canada, and petitioned the govern-
ment to alter, weaken, reduce, or obliterate the Act on
which they had raised money ?
The evil and danger are so imminent that I trust you
will consider them of sufficient importance to call public
atsention to them. Your obedient servant,

YELRAH•

The weather has again changed : on Tuesday night a
hard black frost set in. It was fortunate that the foot-
ways had been thoroughly cleaned after the previous
thaw; and but for that pedestrians would have had a
poor chance of getting along. The heaps of snow that
had most unaccountably been left in the streets have
become quite hard and slippery. It is the wonder of
everyone that some effort had not been made by the
proper authorities to remove the snow from the streets.
There was a good deal sun out yesterday, but towards
evening the atmosphere bocame thick and gloomy. Per-
haps another fall of snow not unlikely. It was not,
however, very cold yesterday evening.