The Express.
London, England, 1855-04-06 00:00:00

THE NORTH OF EUROPE.

HAMBURG, Aria 2.
At the general meeting of the Hamburg and
American Packet Company the directors laid bsinra
the shareholders the balance-sheet of the last year,
from which it appears that the affairs of the COM*
pony are in a very satisfactory condition, and a diet.
dead of 28 per oent. was declared. This company
are now building two splendid and powerful steam=
in England to run between this port and New York.
They may be expected to arrive here in the course of
next month, and the patriotic disinterested's= of
the company deserves nonce, that they have declined
loffers of purchase made to them with a very consi-
derable profit on the part of the British government,
to put into execution the long-felt desideratum of a
Iregular steam communication between this port and
New York, in order the better to compete with
Bremen. During the past year the company has
had a fair share of the emigration to. America,
having forwarded direct upwards of 9,000 passengers
out of the 31,000 shipped at this port. The average
length of the passage of the oompany's vowels was
42 days out to New York, and 29 days on the return.
No accidents had occurred either to ships or poem-
gets.
Another Hamburg Company, but for a very dif-
ferent purpose, has just been obliged to declare itself
insolvent, though it started with a capital of 200,000
marks beano. It is tee Company of the City Theatre.
The state has declared Wolf ready to purchase the
building and the inventory, for the amount of the
mortgages. In the meantime the house elated an
Itstorday sight, sad will regalia so for, at lout, three
ssoadte, to slim thee kw natty the seematy

arraopments and finding a technical dinette *MM.
to undertake the management, under certain stipZ
laced conditions.
I am sorry to say that the liberty of the pees is
abolished, practically, in oar neighblouring tows al
Altona, by the despotic conduct of the new director
of the police, who acquires a copy of cash journal
to be brought to him for his sanction and oensorship
before being put in circulation. In consequence of
this the old-estab'ished Altona newspaper, limns ag
the Address-Comptoir-IVachrichten has been wit
I up, and other journals must follow, unities this •
land totally unjustifiable conduct of the head of
police be stopped.
The first swallows of the Baltic fleet have arrived
at Elsinore, bat there they must remain for the pre.
sent, for all the Baltic ports are still perfectly ice.bouod.
Even at Kiel, where I was yesterday, nothing is to be
seen as far as the eye can reach but ice. It ia true
the weather is mild, but it will take a long time to
dissipate the ice now in the Baltic. This time last
year the British fleet was at Kiel, and even the
French ships were beginning to make their apmr.
anoe. The Austerlitz had already passed the Bett,
and was lying in Kioge Bay. The main body of
the fleet will therefore do much wiser to remsae at
Spithead till the end of April, where they will it
least not be exposed to have their copper scraped off
by the ice.

THE BALTIC.

A letter from Elsinore states that the Sound, 'hick
had been closed by ice for nearly two months, is sow
completely open. The violent tempest from the
north-west, which took place about the middle*:
last month, first broke up the icy covering, and at
present all appes since of it has vanished. The maw
letter states that the passage of the Belts is completely
open.