The Sun.
London, England, 1862-10-07 00:00:00

711 E GRAND DUKE CONSTANIINES

ADDRESS,

The following speech was made by the Grand
Duke Constantine at the opening of the session of
the General Assembly of the Council of State on
October 1. The speech was delivered in the Polish
language :
Gentlemen—ln addressing you for the first time in this
assembly, I wish above all things to assure you that the
painful circumstances which prevented me from taking part
in the proceedings of your last session have not chilled my
good intentions towards the country. Full of faith in the
protection of Providence, I reckon on the loyal sentiments
and attachment of good citizens, of which the Council of
State has already given proof. In fulfilling the duties
which the will of my august brother, our gracious sovereign,
has devolved upon me, I shall never cease to look forward
to the welfare of the kingdom of Poland. The Government
of which I am the head will never deviate from the legal
path and will never permit any departure from it with int •
punity. I shall consider myself happy in being
able to
exercise liberally the noblest of the prerogatives with which
lam invested—the prerogative of mercy ; but in its ewer'
cise I cannot allow myself to lose sight of public justice,
the interests and the security of the community. Out of
499 persons who have been condemned since the state of
siege, 134 have undergone their punishment, 289 have been
pardoned, 7 have fled, and 69 are still undergoing their sen-
tence. The institutions which were granted last year are
everywhere about to come into operation. The district
councils in the greater part of the country have concluded
their first session. The delegations which have issued from
them will commence their important labours regarding taxa°
tion, and will, no doubt, justify the confidence which the
legislature has reposed in them. The municipal councils are
performing their duties with advantage. The petitions of
17 towns, recently presented, for the establishment Of
similar councils in them, are a new proof that the utility
of this institution is fully appreciated by the country'.
Simultaneously with your deliberations the opening of a
superior school and of a polytechnic school has taken place,
as well as those other educational establishments which you
considered to be required by the wants of the country, when
you last year voted the law on public education, the elabo-
ration of which forms one of the great merits of my col-
league, the chief of the civil power. Since your last deli-
berations, his Majesty, in his paternal solicitude, has
deigned to give new guarantees to the administrative au.
tonomy of the country, by decreeing the independence of
several branches of service, such as those of the post-office
and public highways. The reforms effected last year will
require some change in our financial system. The abolitiorl
of the corvee, which obliges the proprietors of the land to
employ hired labour, has exhibited the inconvenience of the
tax to which the tillers of the soil and other agricultural
servants are exposed. The koszerne tax, inasmuch as it is
exclusively religious, is not in harmony with the spirit of
recent legislation as regards the equality of the civil rights
of the Jews, in the introduction of which the Government
of his Majesty has received from you such active co-opera-
tion. The abolition of both those taxes is projected, and, in
order to replace the deficit which will be occasioned tlaerebY,
it is proposed to increase the duty on the manufacture of
spirits. Moral considerations and the true interest of the
proprietors, as of the cultivators, equally require theso al"
terations. Besides those projects, you will have to examine
the budget of the receipts and expenditure of the kingdom
for the year 1863, as well as the reports of the officials for
the year just past. A bill on forced expropriation, on the
payment of taxes and Treasury rents, on the establishment
of a court of appeal in the Council of State for business re-
lating to the taxes, and, lastly, a bill for the internal or-
ganisation of the Council of State, will be submitted to your
deliberation. I now declare the session to be open.

PROPOSED SURREY COUNTY HOSPITAL.—The
pfoject of establishing a hospital at Guildford, for the
benefit of the rural portions of the county of Surrey, at
present wholly without hospital accommodation, is pro-
gressing as favourably as could have been anticipated.
Although the subject had for some time occupied the atten-
tion of earnest and zealous men, it was not until the end of
last April that it was brought prominently before the pub-
lic. A county meeting was then held under the presidenei
of Mr. S. Gurney, M.P,, and the undertaking met WO
liberal encouragement. A committee was formed, including
the names of most of the aristocracy of the county, and the
Earl of Onslow generously presented an eligible site on the
slope of the far-famed Hog's Back, close to the railway sta-
tion, and overlooking the town. Already donations towards
the object have been promised to the extent of £5,580, but
it is estimated that at least £lO,OOO is required to erect such
a building as would be worthy of the county and of ills
illustrious individual whose memory it is intended to corn'
memorate, for it was unanimously determined at the public
meeting that the hospital should be specially associated
with the name of their late Prince Consort. In order to
facilitate the raising of the money, one or two munificent
conditional offers have been made of £5OO, on five other pore
sons subscribing a like amount. One of these conditional
offers will be withdrawn on the 14th inst. if the terms ha'
volved in the offer be not complied with by that date ; ancl
::0;
and as two sums of £5OO yet remain to be subscribed in
owrhdaetr
anxiousto complete
uponth e
thissix head:
It
is committee
feltare
to naturally
b a a
rep a r
, the
upon Surrey, with her growing population, that whilst
Sussex has three hospitals, Kent three, and Hants tsvo,
she has none, except the strictly metropolitan hospitals 0f
Guy's and St. Thomas's. Guildford, being the most cen-
tral portion of the county, the point for convergence 111'
several lines of railway, an unusually healthy locality,
withal, the county town of Surrey, seems to be peculier!a:
well adapted for the site of the Surrey County raoriae
Hospital, the first stone of which we hope to see laid earl
in the ensuing year.
MR. GLADSTONE IN THE NORTH.—SO rng°ll
attention is directed to the approaching visit of the Chau-
cellor of the Exchequer to our neighbourhood, that our
readers will probably be interested in the following pro-
gramme of next week'r, proceedings, which we believe rose
be relied on as correct .—The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstond
de
and Mrs. Gladstone, who are at present staying with L
Brougham, at Brougham-hall, will arrive among us fora
Carlisle on Monday afternoon, and proceed immediately on
a visit to Mr, and Mrs. Hutt, at Gibside, where they will.join a large party of distinguished guests already
eveningassembl
assembled
h
at that splendid and hospitable abode, and in
will join a large party of neighbours invited b y Mrs. Hutt'
on the occasion. Among the visitors
will be, we believe, the Right Hon. l.• staying at Gibside
and Mrs. Headlam, Sir Walter C. James and Lady James:
Sir John Hanmer, Mr. Ingham, M.P., and other ladies and
gentlemen, all of whom we may
expect to see at the banquet
E. Headlam,
ozeTuesday. On Tuesday morning Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone,
accompanied by
Mr.Hutt and others, will visit Newcastle,
and inspect the m 111
ore striking objects of • terest in
that town. In the afternoon the grand entertainment svio
be given to the Chancellor in the Town-hall of Newcastl.ei
From what has transpired, we think that this dinner $lll
be among the most striking and interesting demonstratioos
which have been witnessed in the North of England. Ora
Wednesday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with
other distinguished guests at Gibside, ladies and gentlemen,
will, in compliance with the invitation of the Commissioner
of the Tyne, accompany the chairman in an excursion down
the river. They will embark at Gateshead, and will ill"
spect the improvements in the channel of the 'lre;
examine the piers
~run out at the mouth of :the rive,.
Tyne, visit North and Soul Shields, where address::
v ill be presented to Mr. Gladstone, and then, returning
Newcastle, will proceed to Gibside to dinner. Olllhstirdi e,
day morning Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone will leave ,-,
Sun-
and proceed by Sunderland to Middlesborough. At _i,
dorland they will lunch with ihe Mayor of the borouro_
who will show them over the town. They will then
P
teed to Middlesborough, where the Mayor and Corporationianer.
will entertain the right hon. gentleman at a public d
—Gateshead Observer.
.re
A SENTIMENTAL HANGMAN.—The n_„,s,
weekly illustrated journal, says :—" The first of the
,Siants:has
the grandfather of that dynasty of executioners of
reigned for so many years in Paris, was really ,
137-`e was
good birth; his name was Sanson de Longal, undo _0 a
an officer in the army. He one day fell in 1 a
0137
_ox,
young girl, the daughter of the executioner of It_o_un-,t
tied her, and succeeded to his father-in-law. WI!
_oh a
jest for a drama that incident would furnish, with
ero
title as The Young Aobleman, or the Execution '
,h9V9