The Express.
London, England, 1862-11-20 00:00:00

INDIA.

CALCUTTA, OCT. 30.
Exchange on London, 21. Old.*
• In the adostai toilworn published on Monday last, the
rate et exchange wee erroneously talegraphed so Is. PO.

At a meeting of the Chamber of Commecee, New
York, the following letter was read :
Department of State, Washington, Oct. 27.
To the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York.
—I 'have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of the
loyal, patriotic, and humane resolutions of the Chamber of
Commerce of the State of New York, concerning the recent
destruction of American vessels, near the 'Azores, by pirates
whe went out from the shores of a friendly nation, in viola-
tion of the restrictions prescribed by the municipal as well
as international laws. By authority of the President the
subject has been already commended to the attention of the
representative of the United States at London. The views
of the Chamber of Commerce concerning the same will,
with pleasure, be promptly made known to him and to the
other diplomatic as well as the consular agents of the United
States residing in maritime countries. —I have the honour to
be your obedient servant, Wm. H. SEWARD.
General Wetmore thought that the Chamber
should take decided action. He called the Alabama
a " pirate," because it had never been denied that
she is a fugitive from the laws of a foreign country,
having left a port iu England ostensibly to
make a trial trip, and under bonds, but never re-
turned. He had no doubt that the Navy Depart-
ment had taken some action, but they were not
aware of the fact. He finally moved that a corn.
mittee of shipowners be appointed to inquire what
steps bad been taken to capture the vessel. (Ap-
plause.)
T. D. Bloodgood referred to the rumoured pre-
sence of the Alabama outside of the harbour of
New York, and the perils which might ensue.
' Richard Lathers spoke of the great importance of
the question. It would be far better that a ship or
' two should run the blockade than that the harbour
of New York and other Northern ports should re-
' main unprotected. He moved the appointment of
' a special committee to examine and report on the
defences of the harbour.

Captain C. H. Marshall mentioned the number
of guns which he understood would be necessary to
arm the fort at Sandy Hook. _ .

Mr. Sturges then read some extracts from the
memorial of the National War Committee to Go-
vernor Morgan, on the harbour defences of New
York, the substance of which has been already pub-
lished. He concluded by moving that the Com-
mittee on Harbour Defences, previously appointed,
be instructed to examine and report on the harbour
defences of New York.—Adopted.
Mr. Wetmore's resolution was then adopted, and
the following committee appointed : Messrs. Mar-
shall, Miuturn, Tileston, Lathers, Aspinwall, Nye,
Perrit, and Low.
Mr. Stevens then read the following from Mayor
Opdyke, in relation to a proposition to send provi-
sions to the labourers of England who were suffer-
ing from the American war :
Mayor's-office, New York, Oct. 18.

Dear sir,—l enclose a letter received by me yester-
day containing • proposition, which commends itself to
my feelings sad judgment. I have not, however, the
time required to inaugurate such a movement, and
must leave the duty to those who have the time and oppor-
tunity to attend to it, if there be such among those to whom
the project will commend itself. May I ask of you to call
the attention of the members of the Chamber to this letter,
with a view to find some cue or more gentlemen who will
take hold of this humane and really patriotic enterprise !
Very truly yours, GEORGE OPDYKE.
J. A. Stevens, Fag.

WEATHER REPORT.-(THIS DAY.)

THUMDAT. NOTIXIII 10. S A.N.

B. cs,. w. P. x. C. t. .s. s.
-----
N.., . ... 30.43 33 8.8.W.41 o
lasibliii W43 36 B.W. BUt
Lane 30.40 45 S. 4 0
MILIIIiteL 30.41 44 BL 7 SU
AMMONIA,— 30.35 40. v.. 7 lit
2011041 39 R. 9 0
Gww42 30.30 31 N.K 7 o
Y 31364174 30.26 42 /LICK 1 b
414113320 Wk• 30 40 43 KICK 4 a
tioLx HELD 30.23 45 E. 4 o
LffirawooL 30.34 32 KN.& I 4 St
21991101.3 30.24 36 N.IL I 1 b
Pwar..4.69 30.16 LT N.E. 1 b
SU rours 30.15 40' N.R. T 0
JUR= . 30.10 Se N.B. I 6 a
WITS .aTi 30.11 37 E. 1 b -
WwwwwW .N 37 K 6 la 1 0.
DoTza 30.1930 1.8.1. 2 b -
LONDON 30.4136, N.K 5 m -
MAitiloCTII ....20.12 42 E. 3 0 -
804R1001014. 30.36 44: E. 4 0 -
154444.14 —.. 30.37 41 R.N.L 1 St -
liRLIOOLAND -

PILOILUILL

SATULDAY.
~ light BOOTLILAD. N.E. to &Z., fresh, Cue.

FarDAY.
K. to S., and 8.1
to fresh, fine.
N. to E. and S.E., fresh HOLM. E. to S., moderate, fine.
to moderate, nue.
N. E. to S. E., fresh to W. COIXTLAL. IN.L to 8.8. E., mode-
moderate, line. rate, fine.
As nett above. &W.ENowarD. As next above.
Similar. &L Erfal.AaD. E. to a., moderate, fine.
E. N.E. t01.8.E., strong It. Maar. &N.& to fI&W., fresh
to fresh, fine. to light, fine.

An extraordinary case has just occurred at the
assizes of Somme, in France. 11 appears that nearly a year
ago a woman was tried on the charge of killing her father.
She pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to the galleys for
life. Her confession now proves to have been false. The true
murderers—for there are two—have been discovered, and
condemned to death. In her examination at the new trial
the woman mid that she was confined in a close cell foe six
or seven weeks, being allowed to leave it only twice daring
the whole of that time. Accustomed to outdoor life, and
being at the same time pregnant, she suffered dreadfully and
asked daily for air. The reply always was, "Confer and you
shall come out." She did confess, and the liberty she
inquired was granted. She Qom seems to have feared that
her husband might be suspected, and also that her confine-
ment might take place in the cell she eo much dreaded, if
she retracted her statement ; so that, relying upon the
chances of a verdict with "extenuating circumstances,"
. . . .

-
she repeated her confession at the trial.
The tone taken by the Home and Foreign &titan
(a Roman catholic organ) has been lately instanced as an
iodination that the intelligent Roman catholic 1 ay were not
willing to be identified with the Ultramootane policy. The
denunciations hurled by Cardinal Wiseman at the publi-
cation have also been alluded to. We have
now to add to the condemnation of the Cardinal
the protest of Bishop Ullathorne, of Riming-
ham, the concluding portion of which is se follows:
"It is now my duty to write moat pairdul yet needful
words, and todeclare that in the Rambler, of which the
Home and Foreign Review is • continuation, there are con-
tained propositions which are respectively subversive of
the faith, heretical, approachioq to heresy, erroneous, de-
rogatory to the teaching church, and offensive to pious earn.
And I have to fulfil my office further, my rev. brethren,
by reminding you of the duty of guarding the faithful, ever
whose souls you watch, lest, by reading those productions,
they imbibe their un-cetholic sentiment' and their errors."
The students of the Ecole de Medicine at Paris
reads a "demonstration" on Monday against their new
lecturer, Dr. Royer. It appears there are two reasons for
the ebullition of feeling ; the first is, he is one of the phy-
sicians in ordinary to the Emperor, and the second, that his
appointment was considered by the student& as en
act of flagrant favouritism. The moment the lee.
Wirer 'opened his lips a storm of hisses nod cries
were raised. The only words of the lecture
heard was the opening sentence La ,olemniff qui
now assemble, but beyond this hardly a word could be
caught even by persons close to him. The sergens de villa
bad to interfere ; but their appearance did not at once calm
the storm. The bust of the Emperor, which stood on •
pedestal opposite the chair, was thrown down ; a few say
intentionally, others allege by occident. The bargees de
ville tried to lay hold of the rioters, and after much re-
sistance on their part anceiveded in carrying off the ring-
leaders in custody.
A letter from Rome of the 13th says :—" Al-
though King Francis IL has quitted the Quirinal, and re.
moved with his ministers to the Farness Palace, the Count
sad Countess de Trani, who recently arrived here, alighted
at the first-named residence. The return of the Queen is
no longer looked for."

BELGIUM.

Nov. 18.
Since the liberal party obtained a great majority
in the Chambers, matters have taken about the
same direction here as elsewhere. The liberal
party is divided into moderates and radicals, the
principal object of the latter being to oppose the
increase of military expenditure.
Now you in England know—or more probably do
not know—that about four years ago the Belgian
parliament voted about two millions sterling to
enlarge the city of Antwerp, and to transfer the
ramparts of the town to the distance of nearly
three miles from the actual encloeure. The
Antwerp tradesmen themselves had many years since
insisted upon the enlargement of their town.
When the two houses of parliament in 1819 had,
after a long debate, approved their wishes, and
adopted the bill proposed by the government, our
commercial metropolis gave unmistakeable proofs
of its joy and enthusiasm ; fireworks were let off,
and commemorative medals offered to the repre-
sentatives of the town, who by their votes had
seconded what they thought at that time would
benefit the interests of their constituents. How-
ever, two years later a sudden change took place,
and a tremendous opposition broke out in Antwerp.
The people assembled in the must noisy meetings
ever witnessed, violent speeches were delivered
against the government, the Chambers, the
King, and British influence. It was said that
a secret compact existed between King Leopold
and Lord Palmerston to fortify Antwerp with
English money against a French invasion.
It was added by the speakers that the new citadel
now in course of construction on the right bank of
the Scheldt was intended to receive an English gar-
rison, and that its guns were to bombard on some
unlucky day the city of Rubens, already held by a
French army.
Another grievance was put forward by the
Antwerpians. I suppose that iu England, as in
France and elsewhere, it is forbidden to build
within a certain radius of the fortifications, in order
to allow a military commander to operate freely in
(awe of a siege. Now, the old ramparts erected by
the Spaniards in the sixteenth century being pulled
down, the grounds on which falls the prohibition
against building at any future time lay at a con-
siderable distance from the town, and consisted
of nothing more than bare fields, upon which
no one ever thought of constructing any house,
unless it were a shed for cattle or a pigstye.
Notwithstanding this, the leaders of the anti-forti-
fication movement urged that an indemnity should
be paid on behalf of the owners of the lands thus
injured, and thousands of peasants, with drums
and flags, resorted to the meetings, where they
made plenty of noise.
Thus urged by the public excitement, obeying
a little faction composed of catholics (that is to
say, ultra-conservatives), radicals, and perhaps even
anti-Belgians, the local magistrates gave way, and
encouraged, rather than stopped, the insurrectional
movement. They voted add resses to the ministers and
petitions to the Chambers, which were all regularly
rejected. Then they went to the King himself, for-
getting that in a representative country the sore-
reign holds an irresponsible position, and cannot
decide anything against parliament, nor without
his cabinet. His Majesty, who was confined
to his room by a serious illness when the ad-
dress was voted, in the month of July, gave a very
dry reception and a very brief answer to the depu-
tation of the Antwerp common council, on their
being admitted to the royal audience last week.
The language held by the Antwerp newspapers
the day after this reception was violent to the
extreme. The King was represented as a decided
enemy of the people, and of the Antwerpians espe-
cially. This attitude of the press would, however,
have been of little importance had not the local
power supported the opponents. In the greatest
hurry the magistrates resigned their offices, as had
already done a few months ago one of the Antwerp
representatives in the Belgian Senate. The burgo-
master alone, M. Loos, a must praiseworthy man and
of the greatest abilities, courageously kept by his
duty, and in leaving the Town-hall was assaulted
by the mob iu the most shameful manner. A
meeting will assemble on Monday, and most pro-
bably will leave the exaggerations of the former
gatherings far behind.
What will be the issue of this movement 1
Neither the government nor the Chambers can
yield to an agitation of this kind, and most pro-
bably the only result the Antwerpians will come to
is the nomination of five catholic members instead
of five liberals in the general election, which is to
take place in a few months. The citadel will cer-
tainly not be e3molishetl, nor will the King or the
country condescend to choose their counsellors from
amosg those whothink Belgium sufficiently protected
by her neutrality against any foreign aggression.
I merely say, every sound mind and sincere patriot
in Belgium pro:;ests against these ideas, and when,
a few months ago, &newspaper in Brussels published
a letter of Mr. Cobden, in which the honourable
free-trader advised the King to reckon upon our
weakness as our real and only strength, a most
powerful pamphlet was issued against him by au
anonymous author, who is said to be no less than
M. Van de Weyer, our ambassador in London.
I should certainly have some difficulty in proving
that a commercial town has a great interest in being
at the same time a military stronghold ; but we
cannot deny that Antwerp, by its geographical posi-
tion, is our real strength in a strategical point of
view, and the only feasible defence of our existerce
as an independent nation. It is easy enough to
assert that Liverpool, Havre, and Marseilles are
not fortified towns, but we possess neither a Tou-
lon nor a Cherbourg, nor a powerful navy, to pro-
tect our shores, and a town as well ae a people must
accept its traditional duties.
But all this being admitted, nevertheless the cir-
cumstances in Antwerp are very serious ; and this
crisis, so unexpected after thirty-two years of tran-
quillity and peace at home, certainly deserves the
notice of foreign readers.

TES limn( or SHE SULTAN.—The Ottoman
Embassy, in consequence of official news received
from Constantinople, consider it their duty to give
a public denial to the false reports spread by
intentioned persons respecting the health of the
Sultan. His Imperial Majesty enjoys perfect
health.
The intelligence of the premature death of her
Majesty's godson, the youthful heir of Kamehameha, King of
the Sandwich Islands, has just arrived. The first duty of
Bishop Staley on his arrival at Honolulu was to be to baptise
into the Anglican faith the heir to the crown ; the bishop
was to be the tutor to the boy for a few years, after which
time he was to receive the noblest education of a gentleman
at Eton School. He was taken ill of brain fever on the
19th of August, and on the 24th it was deemed expedient
not to delay the performance of the ceremony of baptism.
In the absence of a clergyman, a Dissenting minister, Mr.
E. W. Clarke, performed the rite, using strictly the
church's baptismal service. Mr. Commissioner and Mrs.
. .
•

Synge repreeented the Queen and Prince of Wales, and the
other sponsor was Prince Kamehanieha ; the names given
being " Albert Edward Kanikeenli Leiopupa a Kerne-
hameha." On the following Wednesday, the 27th, the
priooe died.
The Archbishop of Tours has been making him-
self the subject of sarcastic articles in the Paris journals by
his efforts to arouse the devout spirit of the middle ages.
Monseigneur, • year ego, at the cost of several million
francs, bad a biunique erected in honour of Saint Marti..
The fund/ to build it were chiefly mined by ssa•desrents
and muralists, and the town of Tows contributed the
rest. This new church was last week consecrated, and
the consecration celebrated by • religious pageant,
in which several bishops joined. A procession was at the
end of a neuraine made through Tours. A great many
young girls, dressed in what three centuries ago were called
biblical costumes, took part in it. One was the Queen of
Sheba, another Saint Veronica holding the traditional
towel, • third the penitent Magdalen, a fourth Salome, and
the fifth nobs carrying a bag of letters from St. Paul to
the brethren. There was then a cluster of angels with
wings of crimped muslin, and • St John the Baptist, with
a lamb and cross. This saint was personified by a boy
about eight years old, who wore • crimson tunic, • cord
round his waist, and a crown of thorns.