The Express.
London, England, 1847-02-26 00:00:00

. .
THE EXPRESS, FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 26, 1847.

support el* constitutional thrones of the Spanish and
• Portuguese dynasties, absolutely refuses to employ
its force, its influence and treasure, in behalf of
thrones or systems which are destined, like the
Peninsula, to be absorbed in Bourbon domination.
It is impossible to separate view. and cares with
respect to Spanish freedom and independence, from
views respecting the succession to the Spanish throne.
On this latter point, England is now in perfect accord
with Prussia, and in more accord with Austria and
with Russia than with France. Who brought this
change about? Who flung England from its old
identity of feeling with France, into a community of
feelings and interests with the German powers?
LOUIS PHILIPPE, and M. Guizor, and Count
BRF.8110:1, have achieved this; nay, are very proud of it.
They now, however, are beginning to have a glimpse
of some of the consequences. The profit that will
accrue from them, and the honour they will do to M.
Guizor's and Louis PHILIPPE'S sagacity, will be
more apparent in a few years.

OF late years the " private bill business" has been
the plague spot of the legislature. What with rail-
way bills, gas, water, public undertakings, and other
varieties of the genus " private bills," the time of both
houses was threatened to be engrossed to an extent
that precluded all hope of sufficient leisure being left
to attend to the business of the empire. The houses
of parliament seemed on the eve of being transformed
from senates dealing with the interests of a nation to
peddling judges in a petty court deciding on the
squabbles of rival traders. Nut only was the
intellectual tone of their discussions in danger
of being lowered by this narrowing of the range
of thew deliberations ; the moral tone was ex-
to at least equal peril. The loose and vague
ex-
po Turns by which the reception of evidence, and, in-
deed, the transaction of all business relative to private
bills, was regulated, gave ample scope for paltry chi-
cane and " jockeying, both on the part of promoters
and opposers. " Private bills" were regarded as
involving no general principle; the course pursued
upon them by any individual member could not com-
promise him with the political party whose principles
he professed; they were domestic affairs of his own,
and a large latitude was allowed to favoritism and
gratitude. The parties, the agents, and the judges. (for
a committee on a private bill is in some sort • judi-
cial committee) reciprocally corrupted each other.
It is not necessary for our present purpose, and there-
fore we spare ourselves the disagreeable task of re-
calling the abominations of the "private bill business"
in detail.

The gross and palpable nature of the evil has
forced the legislature to attempt a cure, and already,
we may say, symptoms of its progress begin to be
apparent. One of the first important steps taken
with a view to amendment was the passing of the
Companies' Clauses, the Lands Clauses, and the Rail-
ways ClausessCoasolidation Acts. These acts have saved
parliament from the necessity of wasting time, gravely
repeating the self-same process with every private
bill that goes through its hands. The success of this
experiment has led to the introduction this session of
similar "chase consolidation" acts for water-works,
gas-works, markets and fairs, and public under-
takings. These enactments, with those which have
preceded them, will constitute b. code of the general
principles of private bill legislation, by adhering to
which parliament will be able to cut short many per-
plexing and profitless discussions.
Another step in the right direction was the autho-
rising of local commissions of inquiry into certain
matters connected with private bills under the autho-
rity of the Admiralty and the Woods and Forests
department. The conferring a similar power of
issuing commissions for local inquiry upon the Rail-
way Board, will further extend the benefits of this
arrangement for ezonomising time and money.
Next in importance is the introduction of the
Court of Examiners on private bills appointed by the
SPEAKER. Under the scrutiny of this tribunal the
preliminary examinations as to compliance with
. standing orders have been much more expeditiously
despatched ; witnesses have not been kept hanging on
to the same unwarrantable extent ; and much unne-
cessary and improper outlay has thus been pre-
vented. The weightiest fault found with the work-
ing of this court may be traced either to its want of
power to dispense with certain formal standing
orders, or to the legislature's insisting upou com-
pliance with these orders at all. In many eases,
where the Examiners have, in conformity with
their prescribed duty, reported a formidable array
of non-compliances with the standing orders,
the Standing Orders Committee of the Commons has
decided that in none of the instances was compliance
essential. If a dispensing power is necessary to en-
sure substantial justice, might it not as well be en-
trusted to the original judges? Or, if compliance with
the orders is not a matter of any moment, why is it
asked at all' Can there be anything more unworthy
the dignity, of a legislative body than to hamper appli-
cants for its sanction to their enterprises with forma-
lities which it almost uniformly decides to be nimious,
and consequently vexations)?
When the members of the legislature look back
upon the measures for imparting dispatch and
regularity to their " private bill " business, which we
have enumerated, they can scarcely fail to recognise
that the benefit derived from them is commensurate
with the extent to which they have delegated the
transaction of that business to other bands. In pass-
ing enactments containing general principles respecting
the compulsory alienation of lands, the powers and
duties of incorporated companies, Ac., they exercised
the legitimate functions of a legislature. In delegat-
ing to the commissions of local inquiry and a Court of
Examiners the enforcement of compliance with
great part of those acts, they have created courts of
distributive justice for administering the laws they
have made. They have been separating the incom-
patible functions of legislator and judge, hitherto
combined in themselves, in their " private
bill " business. The complete cure of the rank
jobbing and wasteful expenditure which has had
its rise from the private bill business, can only be
effected by completing this separation of the judge
from the legislator. Let parliament confine itself to
creating tribunals for the despatch of " private bill "
business, to the framing of general regulations to be
observed and enforced by these tribunals, and to watch-
ing in its capacity of grand inquest of the nation
over their conduct.

It is easy to foresee what would be the argument
opposed to such a proposal in parliament. To
delegate the transaction of the " private bill "
business to another tribunal would be to de-
nude parliament of one of its prescriptive
privileges or prerogatives, and thereby to diminish its
dignity. Can the legislature lose dignity by dele-
gating its least important functions is less im-
portant functionaries? Among primitive tribes the
chief or his squaws manufacture the family moeas-
sins. Were such a family to reject the offered
merlon of a shoemaker on the ground that by so
doing they would relinquish the prescriptive preroga-
tive of making the coverings for their own feet, and
thereby lessen their power and importance in
the tribe, they would be apt types of the British
Parliament asserting its right to investigate the pre-
tensions of every private and local incorporation,
however unimportant, instead of imposing the task
on subordinate officials.

THE accounts from Ireland, especially from the
south, are still harrowing. We have lost no oppor-
tunity of placing these before our readers, and have
not been wanting in energy of appeal to the manly
and brotherly feelings of the English people. We
published the other day Captain CAFFIN'I3 awful
description of Schell ; and did not shrink from expres-
sing at once the feelings which the perusal of such
horrors naturally excited.
The Cork Examiner is amazed that Englishmen
should pay attention to such a letter, when far
greater horrors were daily reported in the columns
of every Irish newspaper. We grieve much to
inform our contemporary, that accounts merely derived
from Irish newspapers have unfortunately very little
weight; and that if we snatched at Captain CAFIVIN'EI
letter, it was for the sake of holding up so striking a
picture of Irish suffering, drawn by an officer who
was a stranger to the locality, and who could not be
infected by the general excitement, or biassed by
habits of exaggeration.
One of the great diffimlties, found to obstruct the
efforts of thou who undertook to rouse English sym-
pathies towards Irish distress, was precisely the tone
and character of the Irish press, not indeed in its pre-
sent descriptions, but in tho tone which the arguments
and the wordy warfare of years had led it to sasume.
Almost all the arguments of that press, and even the
facts adduced in support of them, have been marked,

and as tar as argument is oonc:rned, are still marked,
by such an extent and perversity of exaggeration,
that everything which emanates from the Irish press
has ceased to have any weight or effect in England.
Irishmen may be amazed that a great English
organ, like the Times, durst, amidst a humane and
christen population, take the inhuman and unekiris-
tiall view of Irish suffering, visiting the starving
Irish with reprobation in lieu of pity, refuatng to
countenance the smallest charitable effort foe tMie
relief, end indulging each day in gibes, and sareaam.
and diatribes, against millions of its fellow country-
men, overwhelmed by the agonies of want.
So monstrous a phenomenon as this, cer-
tainly one of the most disgusting symptoms
of the age, is at once accounted for by the tone of
thought and reasoning adopted, and even at the pre-
sent moment persevered in, by many Irish writers.
Their language and feelings, evinced and addressed to
Englaml and Englishmen, are those of demons, not
men. Never was seed of untruth sown with the
I purpose and prospect of each a crop of hatred. Irish-
men may see through all this, comprehend, aid make
allowance for the exaggeration ; but here, such effu-
sions strike, as the perversity and insanity of heart
and judgment.
e can assure the Cork Examiner that we meet
persons frequently, men of humanity as well as judg-
ment, who though perusing all that has been printed
on the subject, entertain strong doubts as to the exist-
ence of Irish destitution and of those numerous deaths
by famine so strongly attested. They recall what oc-
curred in the time of cholera, when all Ireland was
represented as perishing, but the upshot of which
was, that there were net many more deaths that year
than in ordinary years in Ireland.
We state this merely as a sample of what these
men, who love Ireland, and who believe and sympa-
thise in her sufferings, have to contend with. These
are prejudices of the English mind, if you will; but
they are prejudices begotten by Irish exaggeration,
Irish rancour, Irish irrationalism, and more especially
developed by the Irish press, and by the public men
in Ireland, who, like the press, address themselves to
flatter insular prejudices and passions.

SEVERAL of our contemporaries, both metropolitan
and provincial, eagerly give publicity to the opinions of
correspondents upon what is commonly called the Bank
Restriction Act. If the general discussion of the subject
be an index of a pressure felt by the trader, and result-
ing from the operation of that act, the unanimity of the
opinions hitherto proffered leads to the inference that
a powerful move will at no distant time be made with
a view to its abrogation. No one has hitherto taken
up the pen to defend a system which dictates to mer-
cantile men the extent to which their transactions
shall be carried, and which measures out their power of
competing with rivals abroad. The act is quite in the
spirit of the Ten Hours Labour Bill. It substitutes the
authority of parliament fur that vigorous exertion of
intellect which created trade before parliaments were
thought of, and which has raised the commerce of
this country to its present flourishing state, in defi-
ance of the absurd mass of legislation which has been
overthrown within the last five years. In this, as in
every other case, we must protest against the inter-
ference of authority to restrict the exercise of one of
the undoubted rights of the citizen—which is, to
make the use of his credit that he is now allowed
to do of his skill and his industry, to carry it to the
best market, whether for buying or for selling.
In all rude countries there is a disposition to impose
a government certificate of genuineness upon pro-
ductions of all kinds. As trade advances, and its
principles begin to be understood, it is discovered
that such precautions are worse than useless. In
many cases they allow persons able to secure the
marks by surreptitious means, to exclude a fairer
dealer from the market, and it is to the discovery of
such practices that the abolition of this unnecessary
interference is usually owing. The existence of this
custom may serve as an index of the state of 'intelli-
gence amongst the class preserving it. We want no
inspection of cotton cloths similar to that to which
linen has long been subjected. The butter of Devon-
shire and of Buckinghamshire comes up to London
without the brand, which is, perhaps, no libel on
the Irish farmer. The efficacy of a private
mark on printed goods, or on cutlery, depends upon
its serving as a check upon the firm that issues such
a mark. Their whole success in trade depends upon
the confidence which it inspires, and which a single
bad article sold through its recommendation often
suffices to destroy. The stamp gives a security to the
dealer that goes beyond a certificate of genuineness
for the single piece of goods that bears it. The
buyer reads, in the impression, that he is dealing with
men whose characters deserve the trust which he
reposes. He buys the goods and sells them unseen
upon this trust. To this mode of conducting business,
the foundation of which would be sought in vain in
any act of parliament, is England indebted for the
extent of her commerce.

In a case like this, where the national prosperity is
so clearly, and inseparably interwoven with the rights
of the citizen, it is reasonable to expect that some I
arguments which will bear the test of logical analysis
should be offered to justify an infringement of those
rights. By this test no argument that has been
advanced by the advocates of a restricted use of credit
can bear to be tried. Notes, it is said, must all be con-
vertible into gold. But why must they be so con-
vertible ? Is gold all that any body wishes
to obtain? Would Europe be the richer if the
sixty millions of pounds sterling now circulating
in the shape of notes in Great Britain, France, Prus-
sia, Austria, and Russia, could be replaced by so
much gold? Assuredly not ; fur gold, in that case,
would become a drug upon the market, as an article
of use, while all the inconvenience of metallic ore,
its liability to deteriorate from friction, the expense
and risk of carrying it about, the incentive it offers to
robbers and defrauders to purloin or to debase it,
would take from it all value as money, in the proper
sense of the word. That sense, as its Latin original
implies, is the nominal value of the circulating me-
dium, whatever it may be ; and this value is clearly
cal maintained in the case of notes convertible into
, as long as gold will purchase land, houses, cattle,
, meat, and clothing, at the relative price which
these objects bear towards one another. That gold
may be ale to purchase these things, when offered
as payment, let us take care not to have too much
of it. When gold becomes a drug, it will no more
purchase them than will copper, iron, or waste paper.
Why, then, will notes purchase these objects of
our desires? We reply that notes will purchase
them under all changes of markets, as long as
those notes represent a created value existing some-
where. But whether that value consists in any or all
of the objects we have named, and especially whether
it exists at all, is the business of the person taking
a note to ascertain. This responsibility can neither
be taken from him by an act of parliament, nor, as
we have seen, by the substitution of gold for credit.
Were there as much gold in the world as there is now
currency of all kinds, gold would have little intrinsic
value, and can therefore offer no guarantee. A small
portion of the sandy plain at the foot of the Ural
mountains furnished last year, under imperfect ma-
nagement, thirty tons of gold to trade. From this
experiment it is easy to calculate what application of
capital and time would rake to produce enough to
reduce the price of gold to half its present value. The
same calculation shows creditors the kind of security
which gold affords.
The fluctuating value of metals has given rise to
the practice adopted in all large trading communities
of reckoning by money of account. The sum found
in English pounds, in French francs, in Hamburg
marks, or in Spanish dollars, is afterwards reckoned
in any medium parties trading agree upon. It may
be turned into gold or silver in Mexico and Peru, as
it would in China be turned into tee, silk, or sycee
ingots, at the market price. In large foreign tran-
sactions all coins are but ingots, of which the current
exchange indicates the market price. Indeed that
what are called the precious metals have their present
high value is mainly owing to the necessity imposed
by the nations of Europe upon themselves to use
them as coin.
But since the value of these metals, the quality
which really makes them precious, depends upon
their expressing the ratio which the great objects of
consumption and production in all countries bear to
each other, it is clear that if we can express this ratio
without their intervention, they occasion more
trouble than is necessary in trade. This discovery
has long since been made by merchants, and was
acted upon in England at the tune the bill for restrict-
ing the use of notes was proposed to the extent (as Mr.
TOOKE has told us) of rune-tenths of all trading
transactions. The use of credit, amongst those who
then chanced to exert it, was not diminished, and
may be supposed to be still at least equally

extensive. But we have since then obtained leave
to trade as may best suit the interests of the
adventurer. We have, moreover, obtained a power of
locomotion that did not exist ten years ago. With
these stimulants trade ought both to increase and to
grow more profitable than before, without subjecting
the new tradesman, or the old merchant who extends
his business, to the penalty of having to use a metallic
currency. For, we repeat, that it is a penalty to
hamper a man, who has devoted his time and capital
to the production of corn or of cotton goods, with the
results of the labour of Russian serfs or of Brazilian
negroes. No one has a right to fetter the power he'
possesses of exchanging his wares to the presence or
absence of a metal over which he has no control. If
inch a right be maintained on the part of the legisla-
ture, we contend that it ought to be supported by at
least logical argument
_ _

1 I The reducho ad absurdum of the problem respecting
the value of bank notes was worked out during the
course of the last war. Great Britain had but a cur-
• reacy of notes at home, and yet triumphed over the
whole power of continental Europe, that at one time
• was leagued against her, and where a metallic cur-
rency alone could circulate. The true nature of a note
was at that time made evident, and, at the same time,
the impotency of parliament in currency matters.
The famous act of 1791 which released the Bank
of England from the obligation to pay cash for its
notes, was a dead letter until the meeting held by a
I number of patriotic merchants and bankers ensured
those notes circulation. If an act of parliament could
have given credit to notes, a decree of the French
Directory, or of the Senate of Hamburg, could have j
done the same, and England would have had no ad-
vantage over her rivals. It was the confidence placed
by ourigreat merchants in the respectability of the
Bank management, and in the integrity of ministers,
that obtained circulation for notes, and showed that
for internal traffic gold is superfluous. For foreign
trade gold was required, because the state of credit
abroad was so bad, that only a metallic currency was
tolerated.
We trust that we shall not soon have to show the
world once more that England is well aware of her
moral and intellectual superiority in this respect, and
that she can afford to see other nations accumulating
gold while she trusts to the resources in the credit of
her citizens. Her ascendancy at sea secures her at
least the trade with her own colonies. This trade she
has only to set free, in order to be more than indem-
nified for the loin of the trade of the world besides.
It would, however, be too abetted to maintain that
what is so efficacious in time of war may not be used
for the purpose of accumulating wealth in time of
peace. And yet to this conclusion the advocates for
restricting the use of private credit come. Instead
of preparing the way for an accidental crisis of the
kind by the exercise of this intellectual source of power,
and for a gradual spreading of sound views of credit
and of currency from the mother country to the colo-
nies, thus preparing an alliance of so powerful a
kind that it must strike oar enemies with awe and
with admiration, we find persons desirous of
striking home at the root of all our moral strength
and commercial preponderance. The credit of a man
is like a woman's chastity. Both are in the safe
keeping only of the persons who possess them.
Neither can be effectually preserved from insidious
attack or from self-debasement by other defences than
by moral exertion. The sooner, therefore, all parties
are taught to rely upon themselves alone, the better
will it be for them and for the community.

The Paris journals of Wednesday are devoid of in-
telligence of general interest. The ministerial organs
maintain a silence on the subject of the anomalous
position in which the British embassy has been placed,
and the evident embarassment which the circum-
stance has occasioned to the government The fol-
lowing paragraph from the Sic'ele of Wednesday
expresses sentiments which are generally entertained
on the present situation :
If the ministry meant to face boldly the exigencies of the
British cabinet, it should declare so openly, and not disei-
mutate. But it is so fully aware of its own weakness, that
it deceives its party by way of encouraging it. As regards
ourselves, what we wish to do above all things is to apprize
the public of the true state of things, and to dissipate the
illusions which M. Guizot conjures up in the minds of his
friends to engage them in his quarrel, though he will after-
wards compromise them by some shameful capitulation.
They were first of all promised Lord Pal eterston's fall. Nothing
seems to justify that hope. 'l6e English journals loudly declare
" that there is not the shadow of an appearance of a change of
ministry in England." It was then said that Sir R. Peel
would oppose the head of the Foreign-other.. Sir Robert,
on the contrary, has supported him not only with words, bet
with his vote on a ministerial question, " taking into eon.
sideration the events which might arise from the rresent
state of the relation, between France and England." It
was said that Lord Palmerston's colleagues did not share
his opinions respecting the Spanish marriages. Different
members expressed their opinions before the parliament and
hold the same language as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Obliged to put up with the ministry, they flattered them-
selves to get rid of the ambassador, but the Morning
Chroniek dissipates this hope by stating that Lord Nor-
manby will not be recalled.

The Madrid mail, with advices to Feb. 18,.wu re-
ceived in Paris on Wednesday.
The session of the Chamber of Deputies held on
that day excited the highest interest, and was attended
by a large number of persons. The discussion u..n
the address was commenced; the speakers inacri ...
in opposition were the Marquis de loreorgaz Lugan,
Madoz, Cortina, and Sagasti ; in support of it, MM.
Sartorius and Pidal. Numerous amendments were
to be proposed ; at the time of the departure or the
mail the Marquis de Toreorgas had commenced his
speech.
The Minister of the Interior had despatched a cir-
cular to the provincial authorities, demanding infor-
mation respecting the state of subsistence, with a view
to guard against the possible consequences of a
scarcity.
A royal commission had been appointed, to inquire
into the question of railways, and particularly as to the
policy of executing them at the charge of the state.
An ordonnance had also been published, permitting
the importation of machinery for lighting the city of
Malaga with gas at an ad ralorem duty of 5 per cent.

ROME, FEB. 18.
The Carnival, thank heaven, is over at last, and ten
days of this uproarious tomfoolery, which has forcibly
superseded every rational sort of occupation, have
come to a close. You will not expect me to describe
the nondescript varieties of folly thus exhibited,
though it would be easy to transcribe for that pur-
pose several pages of Alexander Dumas' " Count of
Monte Christo, in which rhodomontizing romance
the whole scene is graphically pourtrayed. To that
work refer such of your readers as desire it; the
frivolous to the flimsy.
Among all kinds of outlandish costumes repro-
ducing the semblance of every foreign garb and ga-
berdine, people took no notice of something really
striking and strange, viz., the entrance into Rome of
the new Turkish ambassador and his suite of genuine
oriental,. Most spectators took the solemn pageant
for part of the general farce, and applauded the Sul-
tan's envoy as a well got up buffoonery, to the utter
amazement of the grave Ottoman. His Highness
Shekib Effendi, amidst showers of confectionery and
groups of dancing harlequins, proceeded with diplo-
matic gravity to his appointed residence, and there
having spread his carpet and performed his ablutions,
lit his pipe. and duly pondered on his reception in
this holy city. What his musings were may be left
to the imagination.
The day after his arrival being Shrove Tuesday,
was the culminating point of the previous day's fun ;
and rumour having acquainted the Romans with the
real nature of the distinguished infidel's visit, crowds
of maskers and gaily-filled chariots thronged under
the windows of the turbaned plenipotentiary . There
sat Shekib Effendi, plying his chibonk with imper-
turbable composure, having learnt from his attendants
that the Christians were celebrating their " ramazan,"
and having sufficiently imbibed principles of tolera-
tion to look calmly on the devotional exercises of the
Giaours. Reports were rife as to the costly presents
which he was commissioned to offer the Pope on his
reception, though different versions prevailed as to the
precise nature of the gifts; some maintaining the value
of a splendid jewelled pipe, others holding out for a
priceless blade from Damascus, while the learned ad-
vocated an illuminated MS. of the Karen: shawls
ruled highest with the fair Romans.
Meantime, in endless succession, carriage after car-
riage rolled under the balconies of the envoy.; each
brilliant equipage of gay masquers vieing with the
other in polite manifestations ; flinging flowers and
saccharine projectiles in token of recognition ; to all
which the Sublime Porte's representative " made no
sign." It is related in Homer that, seated on the walls
of Troy, old Priam got Helen to point out the dis-
tinguished Greeks as they fought in the distance

round the beleaguered town. Had some devil on
two sticks" been at tie Turk's elbow on the present
occasion he might have performed a similar office in
respect of some remarkable characters.
" Yonder respectable middle-aged gentleman, with a
party of English ladies, 0 Shekib, is the Saib
Robert el Gordon, brother of Aberdeen Effendi, both
of which personages thou hest heard of in diplomacy.
Seib Robert has been British Envoy in Germany,
whither thou guest ; but he now disports him-
self with the rest after the manner of the
Romans. In the next chariot seest thou a
young nobleman of flash appearance with a
black eye, got by a blow from an orange? That
is one of the hereditary legislators of England, Ward
Bey. Following him, driveth past in a dashing
vehicle, the Prince of Syracuse, brother to the King
of Naples, to Christina Munoz of Spain, to Caroline
Lucchese Palli, and to Penelope Capita Smith. He
appeareth to be, what I fear he is, a very snob of
royalty. Next, in a hackney conveyance, sitteth a
tall gaunt personage, alone, with a quid of tobacco
inside his cheek ; that, 0 Shekib, is Ben l'olk of
Naples, brother of " Jeames,” the great sultana of the
Yan-kees. He always leaves his embassy and the
laxsaroni for Rome during Itamaxan. Not very gifted
is he in diplomatic accomplishments, but a true con-
noisseur in the famous transatlantic sherbet, sherry
cobbler. Anon, cometh a striking figure, rather short,
but manly, with a bushy beard and square forehead:
'tis the only clever remnant of the Buonaparte race,
the intelligent Prince of Canino : profouni as a sage,
sportive as a boy. Dost thou notice the splendid
equipage, with ruuning footmen and tricolor cockades?
"his Count Rossi, envoy of the Feriogees, the only na-
tion ably represented here. Yonder carriage, with
the royal arms of Portagal, carries a masked person-
age. He would fain pass for Don Miguel, f irmerly
King of Lisbon : he is only the Don's valet, but very
like his master. He can't impose on the public here,
for we know that the real Miguel secretly left Rome
on his way to Oporto, ten days ago."
Stich would be the indications furnished to the
inquiring Ottoman by a dispassionate eye-witness,
who might also enter into details of many less known,
but not lees curiously interesting, private individuals ;
but as none but avowedly public characters --appear-
ing as such in public—are legitimate subjects of com-
ment, non ragionam di torn, ma guards e passe.
The proceeds of the Irish relief ball, given on Mon-
day last, eliminated, after all expenses, to 3001. The
attendance was most brilliant—over 800.

The last news is the interview of the senior cap-
tain (Cacciari) of the Roman Civic Guard with the
Pope, on the occasion of electing a new colonel of
that corps. After some discussion his holiness asked
whether there would be any objection to his becoming
a candidate for that office? Of course none; and
consequently, to the great delight of the Romans,
Pius IX. is gazetted to-day Colonel of La Guardia

MOSUL, JAN. 9.
That Tayar Pecha, whose death I mentioned and com-
mented on in my last, did not interpote effectually to prevent
the late massacre of the Nestorians arose not, I am per-
suaded, from any want of good-will upon hie part (for he
was by no means a bigot), but from sheer inability to work
with the wretched tools about Lim. With regard to that
horrible business, I have learned some details which I shall
proceed to give you. Some of the fugitives are employed in
the excavations at Nimrond, twenty miles lower down on the
left bank of the river ; and it was from the months of these
that I obtained yesterday the following account of the
massacre.
The deputation which the people of Tchoma sent to Tayar
Pasha, desiring his intervention against the declared design
of Bederhan Bey to invade their territory, and destroy them,
returned with promises of protection. Meantime Nurulleh,
Bey of Hakiori (the district which, According to the adminis-
trative arrangements of tie Porte, should include Tehoma),
sent to them, offering to take care of their families and flocks
if they would come and-place themselves under his guard.
But, understanding from the emissaries of the Bey that his
real intention woe to murder and plunder them, they de-
clined accepting his invitation. Soon after, they received a
message from Sheikh Taker, whom Tayar Pasha had sent
to mediate in their behalf with Bederhan Bey, and who was
then at Tchal, warning them of their approaching fate, but
offering to avert it if they would only send 700 sheep to
bribe the Pasha and. the English consul. Such
were hie words. The 700 sheep were sent, and
of course kept by Sheikh Tayar. Two days after, Bederhan
Bey came. The melleks, or chiefs of the tribe, were assembled
at Tahoma-serai, the principal village, when news came
that Bederhan Bey and his Kurds, were entering their ter-
ritory. Presently a message came from the Bey, promising
to spare their lives if they would yield up their arms, provi-
sions, and pay down 25 piastres a head. Having experienced
already the treachery of Bederhan Bey, in ha former at-
tack upon the Christians, they rejected at once a proposal
which would place them entirely at hie mercy.
Meantime, some Kurds of Pinianshi came in with offers of
assistance front their tribe. But the Kurds drove off many
of their sheep during the night. Bederhan Bey hearing of
this, pursued the Pinianshi men, took the sheep from them,
and plundered them. The Kurds of Tchal also sent a strong
escort to bring away their women, children, and flocks to a
safe place of refuge in the Tchal district. Many took ad-
s vantage of this occasion to send away their families and
'flocks. But Bederhan Bey being informed of the way they
took, through the treachery of the guides, sent Zeinar Bey,
governor of Digesia under him, against them to cut them off.
Zeinar Bey enure up with them in • pass of the mountain., fell
upon them with his Kurd I, and slew 300 women. Many others
were wounded in their flight. Two girls alone swiped. At
length the Kurds appeared at either end of the valley of
Tchoma, inclosing the doomed inhabitants. The latter,
however, prepared themselves for battle. The fight lasted
two hours. The Christians were slain or put to flight. Two
days Meer, on a Friday, their own Sabbath, the Kurds
plundered all the villages, burned the houses, cut
down the trees, and destroyed the cultivation. As
Zeinar Bey and Tshyar Agha were sitting together
at Tchoma soon after the fight, 3.5 women, 12 children
under seven years of age, and 16 girls, were brought captive
before them. Then Tahysr Agha said, " We want no
slaves; we will take no captives for the Bohm (Consul) to
release. Thereupon the captives were ell murdered, with
the exception of three girls, who were saved on account
of their remarkable beauty. It is not known whether
these three girls have been shire killed, or whether
they remain as slaves in the hands of Bederhan Bey.
Some of the fugitive* returned to Tchoma after Seder-
ben-bey had retired. Then Nurallehbey came and fell upon
them, killing some and putting others to divers tortures, to
force them to confess where they had concealed their pro-
perty. After this, all that could tied into Persia ; and now
there is scarcely a christien soul left in the district. 99
bodies were found at Gaza, 20 at BirigM, and 260 at Tchoma
serai, not including those slain in fight. The Kurds plun-
dered all the furniture of the churches, destroyed the build-
ings, and murdered the priests. Three priests were killed at
Mardi, among whom was Kraho Bodeka, a man of eminent
piety, and greatly reverenced among the people.
Such is the relation of the fugitives of Tchoma, and it has
the simple air of truth about it. The total number massa-
cred ie not knows, but it is estimated et 2,000. Bederhan-
bey is collecting all his strength against the threatened ex-
pedition of the Porte. I have heard his force stated at
100,000 flints (to use the Kurdish phrase.) This estimate
was given at Bagdad, whither he has been called
by the intrigues of Nijib Pasha, by the celebrated
eluik of the Shimmer, Moog, who has been sheltered some
yeses past with Bederhan-bey. But there is reason to think
that this statement is an exaggeration, and that 13ederhan-
bey's force does not amount to more than 40,000. I have,
in a preceding letter, estimated his amount of territory at
about 5,000 square miles. A population of 25 per square
mile, which is a large one for Asia, would give 125,000f10r the
number of his subjects ; and perhaps 20,000 for those capa-
ble of bearing arms. Kurdish refugees and allies might,
perhaps, double this amount. Whatever be their number,
which cannot be known accurately, for the present remains
a mere matter of speculation, he has had them all sum-
moned through their various petty chiefs to his castle at
' Derghileh, there to swear as oath of allegiance to him, to
light with him against the Turks nnto the death ; and never
to abandon him or his family. The married man swears by
the Koran and by the heads of their wives, and the unmar-
ried by the Koran only.
On the other hand, the Porte is not idle in making pre-
parations. Two regiment+, under the command of Numik
i Pasha, and forming part of the army of Syria have received
orders to march to Mosel. At Mosul there are already 1400
soldiers of the same army, and 400 artillery. There are
12,000 in the camp at Erserourn ; and the rest of the main
force of the army of Anatolia will be concentrated at IC has-
; pont. Of these combined forces Ismail Pasha, a young man
of great vigour and promise, is to have the chief command.
, Omar Pasha will be at his elbow to supply his want,
, of experience. The command in chief would, en fact, in all
probability have been given to Omar Pasha, who is by far
! the ablest officer in the service of the Porte, but for the feet
• of his being a renegade. Omar Pasha was a captain in the
; Austrian army. He has done the Turks excellent service in
Albania and Syria; and when the late rebellion broke out
in Adjora, was the man immediately selected to quell it.
Notwithstanding such an imposing show of force, it is
by no mesas necessary to believe that the Porte is tho-
I roughly in earnest as to undertaking war wind Bederban-
hey. It is not even certain whether Bederhan-bey was very
, far mistaken when he asserted that the massacre of the
Nestorian would be a popular measure among good Mus-
eulmans ; and that a considerable party at the Porte would
espouse his muse. Be this as it may, a phenomenon
• has appeared at Mond, which gives rise to very strange coa-
-1 Effendi,
A Turkish gentleman, of the name of Nazim
Effendi, appointed four month back on a mission to the
Kurds, is just COON to Mosul, after paying a visit of some
weeks to Bederhan Bey at Derghileh. Not only does this
emissary of the Porte speak in very high terms of the Kurd-
! ish chief; but with the coolest and most incredible as-
surance he undertakes to defend and justify the massacre.
I All Christians he affects to regard with the most ineffabl
, disdain; and hie deportment towards the French and Eng-
lish consuls has been so extremely insolent, that no doubt a
I would have drawn upon him communications beyond those
' of a diplomatic nature, had he been anything but a Turk.
Synie ascribe this midi-Christian tone, and applause of the

mummy of the (Thiamin, to a profound dissimulation,
intended ma • trap for Bederhaa-bey, whom he would
fain have in his hands, end send to Stambol.
This, I confess, appears to me rather a foroed solution of the
extraordinary and indecent conduct of the envoy in question.
At all events, any diehimulation of which openly abusing and
contemning living Christians, and applauding the
murderers of dead, forms an essential part, calls for
suppression I, therefore, trust that the Christian
powers will lose no time in demanding an explanation, and
insist, not only on the recall, but aloe on the punishment of
Harem Effendi ; the perpetrator of this scandal. Others,
whose opinion I consider more probable, regard this offensive
style as an indication of the awimus of the Porte, and a bad
omen for the stability of Reshid Paella's tenure of office.

BELGIUM.—BRussELR, FEB. 23.—1 n the year,
1345 • number of commercial house' in the Rhenish pro-
vinces entertained the idea of forming a company for carry-
ing
on trade with the provinces tyljacent to the mouths of
the Danube. Having no convenient seaport' of their own,
the heads of those firms turned their thoughts towards Ant-
werp, between which city end Cologne an unbroken line of
railway exists ; and laid their plan before the leading mer-
chants of the former place, as well as before the Chamber of
Comtneree. The idea was judged an excellent one by the
citizeias of Antwerp, and the German company received as-
surance* of active co-operation. The next step was to secure,
if possible, the support and encouragement of the Prussian
government, but, for some cause or other hitherto unex-
plained, or at least unpublished, that aid and that counte-
nance were not obtained. The idea, however, was not
abandoned on that account. The leading originator of the
plan set to work more actively than ever, and the
result is, that they have succeeded in bringing the project to
maturity. In a short time, several vessels will commence
sailing between Antwerp and Gelds, touching at Smyrna.
It will be seen, therefore, that if the plan be fully and
spiritedly carried out it will raise no contemptible commer-
cial rivals in a quarter where England has had almost •
monopoly of trade.—A remarkable trial will take place
in a few days at Mons. A young widow is charged with
having poisoned her husband, who was nearly an octoge-
narian, and her paramour, her father, and her medical at-
tendant are amused of being her aosomplices.—The bill for
reclaiming waste lands has pawed the Chamber of Re-
presentatives.
ITALT.—Rome.—Pope Pius IX. presided at a
cabinet council for the first time on the 30th ult. On the
2nd February he also presided at a congregation of cardinals,
Cardinals Giinti, Lambraschini, Polidori, and Corboli-Buffi
bring present. On the 10th inst. a banquet was given to
Mr. Cobden in the Chamber of Commerce, at which the
Marquis Pontensiani presided. The Pope is taking the
most efficient and prompt measures for the advancement of
the agricultural interests of his states. Besides the activity
which is now manifeetcd is draining the Pontine marshes,
Pius IX. has ordered the culture of rice to be commenced
immediately, and a number of engineers are alreadyoccupied
with carrying out his plans. His Holiness has also ordered
all the convents and religious establishments to send in an
exact return of their receipts and expenses. In cases where
the receipts are greater than the expenses the surplus is to
be applied to paying off the public debt to the profit of the
state. Many of there religious houses possess great wealth.
His Holiness, on his part, engages to provide for these esta-
blishments in all extraordinary eases of emergency.
A correspondent of the Semaphore de Marseille has
addressed the following letter to that journal from Rome,
which contains a fact most significant for those who take an
interest in the progress of French policy in the Roman
states : " Owing to an ancient custom, the Austrian and
French Ambassadors have the exclusive privilege, during
the files of the carnival, and on a day appointed for each,
to traverse the Corso in grand gala after the cannon has
sounded, which is a sigma] lor the carriages to disperse. On
the 11th inst. Count Rossi, wishing to keep up this ancient I
privilege, made the promenade in question, accompanied by
a brilliant cortige of carriages and persons attached to the •
embassy. As soon as the carriage of the French Ambassador 1
made its appearance on the Corso.which was crowded with all •
the population of Rome, it was hailed with bursts of applause
from one end of the Corso to the other. Count Rossi, touched

by so honourable a demonstration for the nation which be
represents thanked the people as well as he could by bowing
from his carriage. This fact has become the topic of con-
versatioa in all the salons of Rome. People were curious to
sea if the Austrain ambassador would make use of his privi-
lege. The affair of Cracow, the late disturbances at Ferrara
and at Cesenatico, and above all, the bad will shown by
Austria towards the reforms of the present Pope, have so
excited the public mind against that power which seeks to
dominate in Italy, that it was not thought likely that the
Austrian ambassador would provide the people of Rome
with an occasion for manifesting their sentiments.
GERNIANY.—TIII: PRUSSIAN CONSTITUTION,—
The plan of the United Diet, which is regarded by some in
England as having little or no meaning, is considered in •
very different point of view by many of the German jivers.
In some places it is said to have been received with surprise,
in others with applause. The German papers regard it as a
measure that must have serious consequences an a country
hitherto remarkable for the extreme contrast of an almost
absolute form of government, and a population in which libe-
ral and even revolutionary theories have been widely spread.
A letter from Vienna says the news that the King of Prussia
had granted a constitution to his people caused • great sen-
sation in that city. Although the state of things founded
by Frederick William differs widely from the representative
system as it is understood in other countries, vet it is
• step in advance, and no one can foretell how far
the liberal tendencies once awakened may not pro-
ceed. It is not denied that the concession made to the
prayers of the people is based on the wants of the country.
In some quarters it is feared that the purely monarchical
system of Prussia may be dragged into strange results.
Austria would not regret what has taken place
at Berlin if it had the certitude that the move-
ment of the public mind would settle down. Nothing,
however, is more difficult than to keep a just equilibrium
between two elements diametrically opposed. No one
misinterprets the good intentions and the enlightened views
of the Pruden monarch, who, whilst he gives liberally with
one hand, knows how with the other to keep in check the
radical and communist ideas of his people.
THE PRUSSIAN CABINET AND THE SPANISH
Qc EBTION.—The Cologne Gazette of the 22nd inst. contains
a Berlin correspondence under date Feb. 17, in which con-
siderable doubt is expressed with regard to the statement
made by the Persia and Onutitutionnel, to the effect that
the Prussian cabinet had acceded to the wishes of England,
and bad protested against the eventual inheritance of the
throne of Spain by the Duchess of Montpensier or her chil-
dren. It is positively asserted also, in the name article, that
Austria and Russia have refused to take any part in the
quarrel; and it is contended that Prussia ought also to re-
main neutral, inasmuch as she still entertains the same
opinions with regard to the present state of the Spanish
monarchy that are expressed by the two Rowers just named.
It is asserted, however, that the true Interests of Prussia
would lead that kingdom to acknowledge Queen Isabella, a
step (it is urged) which could not well be preceded, or ae•
companied, by • protestation against the hereditary rights of
her sister. - -

—•
VIENNA.—The phrase inserted in the address of
the French Chamber of Deputies, and which says, " that
no power can put aside the obligations of treaties, with-
out at the same time enfranchising all the others,"
caused a great impression at Vienna. The commentaries of
M. Guiset were looked upon as so?hi•ms. It is probable
that categorical explanations will be demanded by the
cabinets of the three powers on this important and delicate
point.
TELEGRAPHS IN A lISTRIA.—The Austrian Observer,
of the 12th inst., announces that the Emperor, taking into
consideration the importance of telegraphic communications
for the public administration, has ordained, by a cabinet
letter, dated 16th Jan. last, that no private individual or
society whatsoever may for the future establish a line of
telegraphs without a previous sancion from the govern-
ment. In case of contra., ntion, the works are to be de-
stroyed by the government at the expense of the proprietors
nab et they prefer destroying them themselves.
RUSSIA and POLAND.—The movement of troops
in the kingdom of Poland is stated by some German papers
to be a simple measure of precaution, and not to be regarded
as having a hostile tendency against Germany, Austria, or
Prussia. On the other hand, a letter from Breslau, of the
13th instant, in the Frankfort Gazette, says: "The report
that the 2nd and sth divisions of the army are to be imme-
diately placed on a war footing is all but confirmed. The
high staff officers of both divisions are at Berlin, where it is
said the greatest activity prevails at the ministry of war.
The working companies of both divisions are constantly em-
ployed, and to this must be added that the diet has been
convoked for the 11th of April next to contract a new loan.
The rumours, repeated in different journals, of the advance
of large bodies of Russian troops towards the Russian-Prus-
sian frontier, and the passage of considerable detachments
through Warsaw, seem correct. A traveller recently arrived
from that city states that he saw one detachment at least
18,000 strong. It is rumoured that Russia intends carrying
out her views on Moldavia, and to indemnify Prussia by
some Polish districts." Letters from Vienna and Berlin say
that Cracow and Breslau are to be fortified.