The Press.
London, England, 1856-07-12 00:00:00

viiv Tog+

LONDON, SATURDAY, JULY 12, 1856.

POSTSCRIPT.

The Turin correspondent of the Times (second
edition) says :
Our news from other parts of Italy the last few days has
been extremely scanty. The reports of Austrian troops
being collected in considerable masses along the left bank
of the Po, from Pavia to Casalmaggiore, is confirmed, as is
also that of the augmentation of the Austrian garrison at
Piacenza. I believe the Sardinian Government has even
received official information to this effect, but I have not
heard whether it has thought it necessary yet to demand
an explanation of such an imposing force gathering on its
frontier. It has, however, determined on strengthening
the fortifications at Alessandria, by surrounding ihe
whole with detached forts, and the works are to be com-
menced forthwith.

A letter from Parma, of the 2nd, in the Rtacir-
gitrunto of Turin, says :-r

We are told that Marshal Radetzky has officially in-
formed the Duchess Regent that, from strategical motives,
he intends to increase our garrison to 3,000 men, to be
quartered partly in the city and partly in the environs.
Placentia has received an increase of MO chasseurs of the
Imperial regiment ; the citadel has been demolished, the
Austrians have constructed three forts around, armed with
guns; they are called St. Lazarus, Podista, and St. An-
thony. The marshal wants to increase the Austrian army
in Italy to 120,004) men ; the Po is to be furnished with
military bridges at several points, and considerable bodies
of troops are to be stationed along that river and the coasts
of the Romagna.

A despatch from St. Petersburg, July 0, states :
An Imperial ukase extends the amnesty accorded to the
refugees of the Western Governments of Russia to indi-
viduals who took part in the events of 1830 and 1831. No
judicial proceedings can be instituted againt them. They
will merely have to take an oath of fidelity to tithe
Sovereign, and their rights will be !restored to them.
They will be considered capable of exercising Govern-
ment employments after three years' good conduct.

The crops in all parts of the Russian empire are
said to be excellent, and there is every reason to
believe that the yield will be above the average.
Advices from Taganrog and the ports of the Sea of
Azoff state that great quantities of corn are lying
there.

A Vienna letter of the sth, in the Nuremburg
Correspondent, says :

We are assured that in the last few days a new note of
the Austrian Cabinet has been sent to the Neapolitan Go-
vernment, calling its attention to the delicate state of its
relations with the Western powers, and the dangers to
which that state of things may lead. The Austrian
Minister at Naples, General Martini, has been directed to
support this note in the most energetic manner; and the
Neapolitan Minister, Prince Petralla, has been able to
learn, from his conferences with Count Buol, what are the
real views of the Austrian Government on the subject.

The Journal de Constantinople publishes an ac-
count of the hostilities of the Russians against the
Circusiansi—
The Russians of the fortress of Kerkoy killed the women
and children of the places called Sintex and Soma!, made
twenty-one men prisoners, drove off the cattle, and burnt
the houses. They attacked early in the morning a place
called Bahtchekoi, in the district of Natadugh, drove off
the cattle, and burnt all the houses, the inhabitants barely
escaping with their lives. In this affair three of our men
were wounded and two killed. The Russians having come
to lay waste the country of Iki-Labe, the inhabitants, being
forwarned, went out to meet them, and a fierce battle took
place. The number killed and wounded is not known.

Intelligence from Berlin announces that the formal
opening of the conference for the reorganisation of
the principalities is fixed for the 15th of July.

The Globe of yesterday evening states that the
Ministerial Whitebait Dinner, as at present arranged,
will take place on Saturday the 19th at the Trafalgar,
at Greenwich.

THE PRESS:

The health of Lord Hardinge, up to last evening,
was satisfactory. The noble lord was " much
better."

Major General W, G. Cochrane, who has for some
time commanded the Dublin district, is gazetted to
the colonelcy of the 11th Regiment, vacant by the
death of General Sir John Wilson.

CRYSTAL PALACE.—Return of admissions for six
days ending Friday, July 11th, 1856, 43,441.

HOUSE OF LORDS—FRIDAY.
THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH presented and en•
forced a petition from two native landholders of
the Punjaub, complaining of the conduct of the East
India Company in resuming certain grants of land
enjoyed by their predecessors, and held, as the pe-
titioners contended, on terms of perpetuity.
POLAND.
Lord LYNDHURST inquired whether the Govern.
ment had received any official intimation that
the Emperor of Russia had granted an amnesty to
the Polish exiles. Accepting the statement of fact,
and the version of the document as given in the
public journals, the noble and learned lord inveighed
against the cruelty with which the Poles were still
treated by the Czar, and the insufficient tenor of the
so-called amnesty which he had lately promulgated
in their behalf.
The Earl of CLARENDON stated that be bad no
official cognisance of the alleged amnesty, but did not
doubt the correctness of the accounts which had been
published respecting it. After explaining the motives
which had induced the representatives of England
and France, at the late congress, to pretermit all
allusion to Poland, and which were solely out of a
consideration for the interests of the Poles them-
selves, the Foreign Secretary confessed that he
had been much disappointed by the amnesty lately
issued, having had reason to hope that it would have
been far more complete and liberal towards the exiled
natives of Poland. The charge was, he thought,
attributable to the advisers of the Russian Emperor,
whose own dispositions towards all his subjects were
just and generous.
THE CRIMEAN INQUIRY.
In reply to the Earl of Lucan,
Lord PANMURE corrected his previous statement
relative to the Report of the Chelsea Commissioners
of Inquiry. That document, he had since learnt,
was already laid before the Queen, but, not having
been transmitted to her Majesty's Ministers, he
could not produce it to the house.
The Earl of LUCAN therefore gave notice, for
Tuesday next, of a motion for an address to the
Crown, praying that the report might be forthwith
laid on the table of Parliament..
A long list of orders having been gone through,
and progress effected with several bills, their lord-
ships adjourned at half-past eight o'clock.
HOUSE OF COMMONS.—FRIDAY.
NEW MEMBER.
Sir W. Fenwick Williams of Kars took the oaths
and his seat, on election for the borough of Caine.
The hon. and gallant member was introduced by
Lord Goderich and Sir G. I'echell, and his appear-
ance at the table was hailed with enthusiastic
cheering.
COAST DEFENCE.
Mr. HATTER, on behalf of Sir C. Wood, gave notice
that on Monday leave would be asked to introduce a
bill providing for the better defence of our coasts,
and the more effectual manning of the Royal navy.
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND.
Mr. NAPIER, pursuant to notice, and after sundry
appeals to postpone his question, interpellated the
Attorney-General for Ireland "as to the obligations
imposed upon a privy councillor in Ireland by force
of the oath administered on his appointment." This
question, he said, was prompted by an assertion of
the Attorney-General, which contained an allegation
that the Master of the Rolls in Ireland had failed to
perform the duty imposed upon him by his oath as
privy councillor, with regard to the prosecution of
James Sadleir. Utterly repudiating the charge in
the name of the venerable judge in question, Mr.
Napier recapitulated the facts of the case; and,
after drawing the inference that the failure of duty
lay at the door of the Irish Executive, and not of the
Master of the Rolls, challenged Mr. Fitzgerald to
prove the allegation he had hazarded against one of
the chief ornaments of the Irish bench.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL for IRELAND complained
of the course pursued by the hon. and learned mem-
ber in pressing on a premature discussion. A tele-
graphic message bad, as he was aware, been just
received from Dublin, mentioning that the Master of
the Rolls had that morning made an extraordinary
speech in his court, conveying a vehement censure
on the conduct of the Government. Upon this ad-
dress, which he characterised as a desecration of a
court of justice, Ur. Fitzgerald intimated that some
further discussions must take place ; but the sub-

SATURDAY,

ject could not properly be mooted until the full de.
tails had been received, which would not be the case
until Monday next. Meanwhile he denied that he
had charged the Master of the Rolls with having
violated his oath as privy councillor. His only
charge was that some observations of that func-
tionary were irregular in character, and had given
Mr. James Sadleir timely warning to escape. A
counter-charge of dereliction of duty had been thrown
out against the Government, and on the question
thus raised between the Executive and the Master of
the Rolls he was perfectly ready to take the deliberate
sense of the house.
The SECRETARY for IRELAND remarked that the
allegation on either side presented this alternative—,
either the Irish Executive had grossly neglected
their duty, or the Irish Master of the Rolls had pro-
mulgated from the bench a false and scandalous
accusation. The case, he urged, demanded a prompt
and full examination. He called upon Mr. Napier
to bring forward a definite motion on the subject.
Mr. NAPIER having briefly explained, the matter
dropped for the time.

NAWAB OF SURAT.

Sir F. KELLY adverted to the treatment which the
Nawab of Surat had received at the hands of the
British Government and Parliament. He inquired
whether his claims were to be referred for further
investigation to the law officers of the Crown ; and
also whether, if those functionaries decided in his
favour, the East India Company would be directed
to pay the annuity they had withheld.
Mr. V. SMITH observed that the most appropriate
tribunal to adjudicate upon the claim was the Judi-
cial Committee of the Privy Council, provided it
were found to have jurisdiction in the case. He
doubted, as a matter of law, whether the Board of
Control had power to order payment of the money by
the East India Company; but was assured, as a mat-
ter of fact, that the Directors would comply with any
intimation from the Board as to the justice of the
Nawab's claim.

COUNTY COURTS.

On the motion for going into committee on the
County Courts Amendment Bill,
Mr. GLADSTONE moved an amendment, setting
forth the inexpediency of adopting a system which
involved an expenditure of 170,0001. per annum,
without some more deliberate consideration. He
commented at much length upon the principles and
machinery of the County Court jurisdiction, insisting
especially upon the necessity of inquiring more
fully into the grounds for transferring so consider-
able a proportion of the expenses of those tribunals
to the Consolidated Fund.
Sir G. GREY reminded the house that this transfer
had been effected in accordance with the recommen-
dation of the Commissioners. It was decided, as he
believed justly, that the County Courts should be
supported to some extent on the same principle as
the superior tribunals, oat of the public revenues, in-
stead of leaving the whole cost to be defrayed by fees
exacted from the suitors.

Some further discussion took place, but the amend-
ment was ultimately withdrawn, and the house
went into committee on the bill. Many modifications
were proposed in various clauses of the measure, and
considerable discussion ensued. Among others, Sir
J. PAXINGTON proposed that the salaries of the
county court judges should be equalised at 1,500/.,
instead of 1,200/ per annum. This amendment led
to a protracted debate, but was negatived on division
by a majority of 185 to 63-122.
The bill was still unfinished, when the chairman
Was ordered to report progress.
The house then resumed, and adjourned at two
o'clock.

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