The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-22 00:00:00

RAILWAYS-FOE CASH.

Orleans
Midi
Northern - Western 675
AreerDitto
Lyonsand Med 65 Grand Central
Now Ditto... .. ..... 8521 Sardinian
Geneva 675 Austrian C0rn......, 727

sanction.

A letter from Copenhagen states that the bill
authorising the Minister of the Interior to contract
a loan for Denmark of 300,0001. was adopted on
the third reading by a majority of 66 to 7.

The Minister of War in Belgium has presented
to the Chambers a bill which fixes the contingent
of the army for 1858 at 80,060 men, and enacts
that the maximum of the levy of the militia for the
same year shall be 10,000.

PARTIAL ENFRANCHISEMENT ax' THE

SERFS IN RUSSIA.

An imperial rescript, dated from Tzarskoe Selo,
the 20th Nov. (old style), or Dec. 2of our calendar,
has just been addressed by Alexander IL to the
Military Governor of Vilno and the Governor-
General of Grodno and Kovno, instituting the most
important changes in the relations between the pea-
santry and landed proprietors of the country. The
following is the text of the imperial rescript :
" Special committees established in the govern-
ments of Vilno, Kovno, and Grodno, and composed
of the marshals of the nobility and some otherlanded
proprietors, had been charged with the examina-
tion of the system of inventories which is now in
force throughout those provinces. •
" The Minister of the Interior has now made me
acquainted with the good intentions evinced by
those committees with regard to the peasants of the
three governments.
" Fully approving of the intentions of these re-
presentatives of the nobility of the governments of
Kovno, Vilno, and Grodno, as being agreeable to
my views and my desires, I authorise that nobility
to proceed, from and after this day, to the elabora-
tion of the measures necessary for putting into
execution the plans of the said committees, always
on condition that the work is to be but progres-
sively accomplished, so as not to disturb the eco-
nomic organisation at present operating in the
estates of ihe nobility.
"For this purpose I ordain :
"1. That from and after this day an executive
committee shall be established in each of the three
governments aforesaid ; and afterwards a general
commission for those three governments, the seat of
which shall be at Vilno.
"2. Each committee, presided over by the mar-
shal of the nobility in that government, ahal be
composed of the following members :—One land-
owner from each district, chosen by, and from
amongst, the noble possessors of inhabited lands in
the district ; two members chosen from amongst
the most intelligent landowners of the government,
and nominated directly by the governor of the pro-
vince.
"3. The general commission shall be composed
of the following persons :—Two members of each
of the provincial committees, chosen by the com-
mittee themselves. One intelligent landowner in
each government nominated by the governors from
amongst the most enlightened of the nobility. One
member delegated by the Minister of the Interior.
It is reserved to you (the governors) to choose the
president of the commission from amongst the
noble landowners who shall members of it.
"Immediately after their formation, the pro-
vincial committees will have to proceed, each
separately, and in conformity with the desire ex-
pressed by the representatives of the nobility, to
the drawing up of a detailed scheme with the object
of securing the subsistence and ameliorating the
condition of the peasants of those provinces, taking
for the basis of their plan the following con-
ditions :-
44 1. The proprietor retains his right of property
over all his land, but the peasants retain the enclo-
sures belonging to their habitations, which they have
the right of acquiring as freehold property by means
of a redemption price, payable within a fixed term.
They are to have, moreover, the use of such a
quantity of land as is necessary, according to the
circumstances of the locality, to secure their sub-
sistence, and to (tire them the means of satisfying
their obligations towards the state and towards the
proprietor. As a compensation for the use of this
land, the peasants are bound either to pay a rent
to the proprietor or to work for him.
"2. The private relations of peasants and pro-
prietors between themselves should be regulated in
such a manner as to secure the regular discharge of
the imposts due to the state, and of the provincial
imposts and services.
"The development of these principles, and their
application to the local conditions of each of the
three provinces, are left to the care of the provincial
committees. The Minister of the Interior has com-
municated to you his views upon this subject, and
the committees may refer to them, to guide them in

their labours.
" When these committees shall have finished
their task, they will have to submit it to the general
commission. The commission, after having weighed
and examined the proposals of the provincial com-
mittees and having combined them with the princi-
ples indicated above, will have to pass a definitive
judgment on the matter, and to draw up the scheme
of a general settlement throughout the three go-
vernments, with the exceptions and variations which
each of them may require.
" In charging you with the superintendence and
general direction of this important work in the three
provinces of Kovno, Yilno, and Grodno entrusted to
your care, I authorise you to give both to the pro-

vincial committees and general commission the

necessary instructions to insure the regular progress
and the success of the task which is confided to

them. The provincial governors will aid you In the
performance of this task. You will have to present
the scheme drawn up by the commission, together
with your observations thereupon, to the Minister

of the Interior, who will submit them to me for my

" In thus offering to the nobility of Kovno,
Vilno, and Grodno, the means of realising their
good intentions conformably to the principles which
I. have jiut indicated, I hope that the nobility will
fully justiy the confidence which I evince towards

_ .
their), by caring them to take part in this important
work ; and that, by the aid of God and the en-
lighted assistance of the noble proprietors, this
work will be crowned with complete success.
" You, and the provincial governors placPd
under your orders, will see that the
main submissive to the proprietors, and,that they
put no faith in the malevolent insinuations ,and the
erroneous rumours which may arise.--I remain, "
with good wislres towards you, peasants re-
ALEXANDER .

ii3rDciclinPnel: some
regßeenhtel gentlemen
the
general ordination
Tenhesßutaaopy)
:ember) in the Chapel Royal,
''osfOPßugb S
of OzionnldNoenTrhoelduivnisTahthu
morning last (the 20th
Whitehall, on which " respectively to the sacred offices of
eloquent discourseY'-School
who
hteedsians,selected by him as a most ap-
propriate deliver,:d a re
whol and 13th vsr.es or the 4th chapter of the
the 11th 12 i, thea..sTe
ililleyi esann-dr;nlist Masterwe iao
to for the occasion. At the close of the ser-
Rev. I.'. Temple,
6 . . (
mon, the . candlda,ea who appeared, however, in op-
po ition to the meaning of the word, in blink gowns
instead of white surplices), were presented to the bishop
by his examining chaplain,
Edi tep°air:)'newatenor 'I
theati En priest,
pt
the Rev. E. Penrhyn Stanley,
and the ordination tervice commenced. The congregation
was a very large one, and several of the laity prosent par-
t lok of the holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supp.r,
which, as usual, was edministered at the end of the
service, Toe whole proceedings occupied a space of fourhe
hours and a quarter, the chapel not being cleared of t
morning congregation till about a quarter or half-past
3 o'clock. The newly-ordained priests and deacons were
afterwards received and entertained at London-house.

them should have Leen deposited, and that proposi..
tion was adopted by a large majority."

LUXEMBURG.
The government of the Grand Duchy of Lux-
emburg has published a memoir, in which it replies
to attacks made on it by certain foreign journals.
This memoir znaintaies—ist, that the King of
Holland, as Grand Duke, has not arbitrarily aug-
mented the civil list which ho receives from the
duchy ; 2d, that the negotiations relative to what
is called the Dutch debt are being carried on by
M. Simons, President of the Council of the Grand
Duchy, and by M. de la Fontaine, ex-governor, so
that the interests of the grand duchy will be duly
defended ; 3d, that the reproaches that the govern-
ment manifests anti-Germanic tendencies, and
labours to prevent the use of the German_languagey
are unfounded ; 4th, that the government has not
been guilty of numerous abuses in the internal
administration, as alleged ; and sth, that it is not
true that discontent and agitation exist in the
country.

SPAIN.
The Madrid Gazette of the 14th contains a royal
decree which relieves the persons who have obtained
the amnesty for political•offences from the necessity
of paying costs on their prosecutions. The Espana,
in a leading article of some length, dwells on the
necessity of Spain having, on account of her
geographical position and her colonial possessions,
a strong navy and large mercantile shipping. The
same journal complains with some bitterness of a
statement made by a semi-official journal to the
effect that England and France are watching with
much interest what is taking place in Spain, and
are agreed as to the policyto be adopted with respect
to that country ; and the Espana asks what right
those two countries have to meddle in the internal
affairs of Spain. The Gazette contains several
columns of congratulatory addresses to the Queen
on the birth of the Prince of tie Asturias.