The Press.
London, England, 1857-11-21 00:00:00

THE PRESS, NOVEMBER 21, 1857.

gout an ifitgion.

her Majesty the Queen and Court remain at
Windsor Castle.

Her Majesty on Monday held a Court of Privy
Council at the Castle. The Court was attended by
H.R.H. the Prince Consort and Ministers. •
H.R.H. Prince Frederick William of Prussia has
arrived on a visit to her Majesty.

Her Majesty on Thursday gave a State reception
to the Siamese Ambassadors. Their Excellencies
were received with great honour in the throne-room,
in the presence of a distinguished Court. The chief
Ambassador read a complimentary address to her
Majesty, and presenting the letters of the Kings of
Siam, together with the superb presents sent to the
Queen, received from her Majesty a most gracious
reply, and the audience shortly terminated. The
autograph letters from the Kings were written in
gold, and the presents from the two Kings of Siam
to her Majesty the Queen comprised an Eastern
crown of gold and enamel, enriched with diamonds,
emeralds, and rubies ; a gold collar, thickly studded
with rubies; a large star; a massive ring, set with
diamonds, and a variety of precious stones ; a golden
belt, enriched with rubies; a chair of state or
throne ; a rare and valuable white shell, having a
number of jewels inserted ; a cup and saucer of
agate; a state palanquin; a state saddle and bridle ;
a number of umbrellas covered with gold embroidery;
boxes and cups of solid gold ; silver salvers with gilt
embossed edges; a metal drum, and a variety of
other artices of rarity and curious workmanship,
together with a painting of the Court of the Kings of
Siam.

Volitttai.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

A SUPPLEMENT to the London Gazette Extraordinary,
issued on Monday, contains the following proclama-
tion, summoning Parliament to meet for the de-
spatch of divers urgent and important affairs on
Thursday, the 3rd of December next :
BY THE QUEEN—A ritocLAMATION.

VICTORIA, R. -
Whereas Our Parliament stands prorogued to Thursday,
the 17th day of December next; and whereas, for divers
weighty and urgent reasons, it seems to us expedient that
Our said Parliament shall assemble and be holden sooner
than the said day, We do, by and with the advice of Oar
Privy Council, hereby proclaim and give notice of Our
royal intention and pleasure that Our said Parliament, not-
withstanding the same now stands prorogued, as herein
before mentioned, to the said 17th day of December next,
shall assemble and be holden, for the despatch of divers
urgent and important affairs, on Thursday, the ;)rd day
of December next ; and the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
and the Knights, Citizens, Burgesses, and the Commis-
sioners for Shires and Burghs of the House of C)unnons,
are hereby required and commanded to give their at-
tendance accordingly, at Westminster, on the said :ird day
of December next.
Given at Our Court, at Windsor, this 16th day of Novem-
ber, in tli year of our Lord 1b57, and in the 21st
year of Our reign.
God save the Queen.

CABINET COUNCILS were held on Saturday, Monday,
Tuesday, and Friday, at the official residence of the
First Lord of the Treasury in Downing-street. The
Ministers present were—Viscount Palmerston, the
Lord Chancellor, Earl Granville, the Marquis of
Lansdowne, the Earl of Harrowby, Sir George Grey,
the Earl of Clarendon, Mr. Secretary Labouchere,
Lord Panmure, the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
Sir Charles Wood, the Right Hon. It. Vernon Smith,
Lore Stanley of Alderley, the Duke of Argyll, and
the Right lion. M. T. Baines.

NEW MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT.—AIthOIRY,II only
three months and three or four days will have
elapsed between the last session of Parliament and
that which is to commence on Thursday, December
3, there are several new members to be introduced
into both houses, and four seats will still be vacant
when Parliament reassembles. Five new peers will
take their seats in the House of Lords—namely,
Viscount Milton, late M.P. for Wicklow, who has
become Earl Fitzwilliam ; Lord Robett Grosvenor,
late M.P. for Middlesex, who has become Baron
F.bury ; the Right Hon. Thomas Babington
Macaulay, who has become Baron Macaulay ; Lord
Cardross, who has become Earl of Buchan, in the
room of the late Earl of Buchan, deceased ; and the
Earl of Fife, who has become an English peer, with
the title of Baron Skene. Four new members will
be entitled to take their seats in the House of
Commons—namely, Mr. John Bright, who was elected
member for Birmingham, in the room of the late Mr.
Muutz, a few days before the expiration of tile IlitA

session, but who has not yet been introduced ; the
Hon. George Byng, who has been elected member
for the county of Middlesex, in the room of Lord
Robert Grosvenor, who goes to the House of Lords
as Baron Ebury ; Mr. Arthur Russell, who has been
elected member for favistock, in the room of Mr.
Byng, returned for Middlesex ; and Mr. W. Johnson
Fox, who has been returned for the borough of
Oldham, in the room of Mr. Platt, deceased. Four
seats are still vacant and cannot be filled up before
the meeting of Parliament, the Speaker not having
in time issued the necessary warrants—namely,
Wicklow, in the room of Viscount Milton, who has
bezome the Earl Fitzwilliam ; Harwich, in the room
of Major Warburton, deceased ; Paisley, in the
room of Mr. Archibad Hastie, deceased; and North-
amptonshire, in the room of Mr. Augustus Stafford,
deceased.

THE Hor DUTY.—The following is a copy of the
answer to the memorial of the hop planters, pre-
sented to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on
Friday :
Downing-street, Nov. 11.
My dear Sir,—l have taken into consideration the me-
morial from the hop-planters of the county of Sussex, which
was left in my hands yesterday, suggesting that upon
prompt payment of one-half of the accruing November
instalment of hop duty now due, the payment of the re-
maining moiety may be postponed until May next; and I
regret to say that I cannot comply with this request. At
the same time I have no objection, under the peculiar cir-
cumstances of the case, to accept from the memorialists a
moiety only of the duty now due, and to grant them until
the 16th of February next for payment of the remainder,
on the express understanding, however, that the duty on
the first moiety of this year's growth, due on the 16th of
May next, shall be paid at that period. Instructions to this
effect have been issued to the Board of Inland Revenue.—
I am, dear sir, yours faithfully,
J. G. Dodson, Esq., M.P. G. C. Lawn.
It will be seen by the above that Sir George Come;
wall Lewis has not granted the prayer of the planters
to its full extent. Their request was for a post-
ponement until May, whereas the Chancellor of the
Exchequer has given them till February—that is,
an extension of credit for three instead of six
months. _ _

Dn. RIGAUD, Head Master of the Grammar School,
Ipswich, has been appointed to the vacant Bishopric
of Antigua.
REAR-ADMIRAL CHARLES GRAHAM died at his re-
sidence on Wednesday.
MR. Ihnius, her Majesty's Consul• General at
Venice, expired on the 13th instant of apoplexy. He
was grandson to Lord Malmesbury, the celebrated
diplomatist, and private secretary to the present earl
during his tenure of the Foreign-office in 1852.
Remarkable for his attainments as a scholar and a
linguist, he had by his tact and judgment secured
the respect of both the Austrian and Italian parties
in the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, as well as the
confidence of his own Government.