The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-09 00:00:00

STATE OF PIEDMONT.

A letter from Turin, dated May 4, says :—" Since
yesterday afternoon a heavy, soaking rain has been
falling with little intermission—excellent for the
crops, but most disastrous for the camps and their
occupants. The Austrians, who are in the low
grounds, must suffer the most ; on the other hand,
the passage of the Alps must be rendered very
fatiguing and painful to the French troops coming
to Piedmont by land. The road over Mont Cenis
is described to me as in an extremely bad state ;
even in fine weather it is not a model of well-
kept highways, and now the soldiers have to wade
through a lake of mud and melted snow. The
mail from Paris was nearly 12 hours late yester-
day, and to-day it was some hours after its time.
May is frequently a moist month here, and is the
more likely to be so in 1859 that, during the first
four months of the year, we have had no rain to
speak of, and latterly everything had got as dusty
and dried up as in the height of summer. If the
present weather continues it must seriously impede
military operations in the heavy plains of Piedmont,
intersected as they are in many parts by streams,
watercourses, and irrigation canals. Every gully
must by this time have become a rushing torrent,
and the lowlands can be little better than swamps.
There is some appearance of a clearing up this after-
noon, but the Collina, the range of low hills to the
east of Turin, is still heavily cloud-laden, and affords
small hope of a permanent improvement."

FRANCE.

PARIS, SUNDAY.

The Ministerial combination will probably remain
as it is, though as the moment for the Emperor's
departure draws nearer private influence is at work,
and may, at any moment, be successful. The
camarilla, which has thought to be the appen-
dage of old dynasties, apparently flourishes under
new ones. In spite of the relatively unimportant
position which a Minister fills in the present
system, in the eye of the public, yet attention
has to a certain degree been excited, and some
curiosity felt as to who was to be the official ad-
visers of the Lieutenant of the Empire during the
absence of the chief. On Tuesday morning the
Emperor sent for M. Laity, former Prefect of the
Basses Pyrenees, and a devoted Bonapartist. his
Majesty informed him that in consequence of a
conversation some days before with M. de
Persigny, he had made up his mind to dismiss
his advisers, and before setting out for the
army, to construct his Cabinet anew, with M.
de Persigny, M. Laity, and Marshal Randon for
his principal Ministers. M. Fould was not to be
included in the new Cabinet. The Emperor
handed to M. Laity a list of the Ministry drawn
up with his own hand, which he directed him to
communicate to M. de Persigny, and to return with
him in the evening to the Tuileries in order to de-
cide definitively as to the Ministers. Before, how-
ever, the hour came the scene had changed. One
of the Ministers menaced with exclusion turned
his influence with the Court party to good account.

That influence, which is too great, we are told, for
any thing, or any one, to resist successfully, once
more prevailed ; and, much to their surprise,
the organisers of the new Cabinet were in-
formed, when they came to receive the Emperor's
orders that his Majesty considered that it was too
late before his departure to think of making any
radical changes in the Cabinet. M. Fould and M.
Walewski, whose position is said to be now impreg-
nable, remain at their posts. M. de Persigny was
asked to go to London as Marshal Pelissier's suc-
cessor, which he accepted. M. Laity was offered a
Portfolio; but he declared that without M. de Per-
signy, and with M. Fould, he would not sit in the
Cabinet.

AMERICA.

(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)

SOUTHAMPTON, MONDAY Monmxs.

The paddle steamer Peiho, Capt. Harris, which
left New York on the 24th ult., has just arrived
here for orders. She brings no news ; has neither
passengers nor freight.

AUSTRALIA.

LIVERPOOL, MAY 8.

The screw steamship Great Britain, Commander
Gray, of the Black Ball and Eagle line, has arrived
with advices from Melbourne to the 2d of March,
32,000 ounces of goldrlust on freight, 55 saloon, 32
second cabin, and 239 intermediate and steerage
passengers.
Markets of all descriptions were without im-
provement. Flour for consumption had moved off
steadily, but prices were without change. At
public sale low to good Mauritius sugar brought
£37" lOs to £3B lOs fine yellow crystals, £3B 17s
6d, and good white 'ditto, £44 per ton ; Patras cur-
rants, 6d per lb. ; Price's Belmont candles, is
I.ld per lb. •, 4-tins sardines, 6s 4d; salmon, is
5d ; 2-lb. salmon, Std ; Bally's salad oil, half-
pints, Gs. 11d. • Whyhous pints, lOs 6d per dozen ;
Cross and Blackwell's pint pickles, lOs 3d.; bottled
fruits, 14s 6d, 1:111 jars;. iu tins, 13s 3d; 21b jars,
26s ; Manilla rope, 2 to 3 inches, £4O per ton.
The only report of the Melbourne market is as
follows :—" There has not been any improvement
in the markets of any description. Flour for con-
sumption has moved off steadily, and prices have
continued unchanged. Low to good yellow sugar,
£37 lOs to £3B 103; fineyellow crystals, £3B 17s 6d;
Patras currants, 6d per lb ; Price's Belmont candles,
131 d per lb ; 1-tins sardines, 6s 4d."
The traffic returns for the Victoria railways for
the week ending Feb. 24 exhibited the following
results :—Passengers (11,882), £962; parcels and
live stock. £29 ; merchandise, £6OO ; total, £1,592,
being a very considerable advance upon previous
weeks.
An extraordinary amount of activity prevailed
among the miners. Prospecting parties without
number were being rewarded by the discovery of
most promising fields.
Mining associations were on the increase.
Destructive fires had occurred at Melbourne and
Ballarat. _ _ _

At the Ballarat diggings general dulness pre-
vailed in trading circles.
In prices there was little alteration. In the flour-
market some stir had been caused by the appearance
of a considerable quantity of American flour in
barrel, which was selling at lOs a ton higher than
Victoria. The prices for. Adelaide were £23. Vic-
toria, £23 10s.
Rice had reached £26 to £27 per ton..
At Castlemain mill flour was quoted at £23 10s.
At Kilmore fine flour was.£2l.
At Melbourne sugar was selling by auction at
£37 lOs to £3B lOs for low to good yellow; fine
yellow crystals, £3B 17s 6d.
At Adelaide the produce market was steady—
flour, £l5 15s to £l6; wheat, Gs 6d. Copper, £9B
per ton.
At Sydney Bank of New South Wales shares
were quoted at from £47 ; Commercial Bank, £45
10s. ' • Australian Joint-stock Bank, £l2 7s. 6d. to
£l2 lOs.
Government Debentures firm.

Martell's brandy, 9s. 6d. to 10s.; rum, 30 over
proof, 4s. to 4s. 4d. ; over proof, 3s. Gd. to 3s. 9d. ;
Geneva steady, at.l4s. Gd. for first-class brands;
bulk ale firm ; sugar firm, at £3O 10s. to £3l.
For oilmen's stores and dried fruits there was a
moderate inquiry, without alteration 'in price.
Dairy salt, £5 ss. to £5 10s.
Wool was not quoted so firm, owing to the buyers
not being inclined to operate, except at reduced
prices. Inferior and low wools, more particularly,
hal slightly declined. Holders, however, of first-
class clips did not seem disposed to submit to any
reduction, and in the meantime prefer shipping to
selling.
The following were the auction rates :-Fleece,
174 d. to 231 d. Grease, 10:1d. to 14d. Clippings,
11d. ; scoured, 20d. to 221 d. ; mixed, 7d. to 11d.
Sheep skins, 31,d, to 101 d. per lb.
Tallow not quoted so firm, owing to lack of de-
mand. Quotations, 435. 3d. to 555. 6d. per cwt.
Hides firm ; heavy, 14s. to 14s. 3d. each. Horns,
21s. 9d. to 28s. 6d. per cwt.
Advices from Adelaide at Melbourne to the 26th
report the produce markets steady, with the excep-
tion of wheat, which was less firm than flour. Teas
and sugars had gone off at satisfactory prices.
Advices from Sydney to the same date report the
receipt during the week ended the 25th February
at 2.799 ounces of gold into the Sydney branch of
the Royal Mint. The Western escort had taken
down 1,917 ounces. Brandy was without material
change, but low rums, which are getting scarce,
were in demand. Geneva was steady. In wines
there was a little more doing, and a few inquiries
for small parcels of middle and better class sherries,
Bulk ale was firmer; bottled ale and porter un-
changed. Drapery goods, in the face of heavy
shipments, were tolerably firm. Good assorted
boots and shoes from first houses were worth from
sto 10 per cent. advance on invoice prices. Gro-
ceries were in good demand by the wholesale
houses, but the demand from dealers was inactive.
Tea was in good demand, small lots having changed
hands at £8 ss. to £8 103. Sugar was in large
demand, and holders firm.