The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-01-24 00:00:00

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

FRANCE.—The Moniteur publishes a decree, which pro-
longs to the 31st of July next the permission granted to
foreign vessels to carry on between France and England the
transport of corn, flour, meal, and other alimentary com-
modities. The armaments are going on with unusual ac-
tivity in the French ports. At Toulon the Marseilles,
Algerie, Suffren 'Dupre, la Fleur, and the frigate Zenobie
are fitted out. The three ships Louis XIV., Turenne, and
Ulm, will shortly be launched at Rochefort. At Brest the
armament of four ships and six frigates is being actively
carried on, while at Cherbourg a levy of 300 shipwrights
has been ordered for the completion of the Tilsit, which,
it is expected, will put to sea on the Ist of April. A letter
from the Duchess of Orleans to the Duke of Nemours,
repudiating the fusion with the Count de Chambord, has
found its way entire into the daily papers, but none of the
French journals ventured to insert the letter, which has
since turned out to be a forgery. Time is still snatched
from the discussion of imminent political events, for the
light gossip of Parisian society. The new manteau de la
Cour is doomed. So far from the original object of this
cumbrous innovation being attained, the effect has been to
keep away from Court the very people whom the Empress
would most desire to receive ; while parvenues are de-
lighted at the opportunity of appearing as Court dames of
the time of Louis Quinze. On the delicate subject of
Court dresses, the Assemblere Nationale has got itself into
trouble. It seems this paper has received a private warn-
ing for having a paragraph about a series of projected fancy
balls at Court stating that the Empress would appear as
une Fill du Regiment. It is a matter of fact. we believe,
that some highly picturesque quadrilles had been pro-
jected, but that, for the present, owing, it may be, to the
pressure of more serious matters, the programme is can-
celled.

Advices have reached Paris from St. Petersburg, of the
12th January, describing the position of affairs as afford-
ing little hope for the maintenance of peace. The Emperor
regards himself as the chosen instrument of God, to drive
the Moslem from Europe, and only regrets that he should
have allowed so many years to pass by without fulfilling
his destiny.
SWITZERLAND.—The Executive Government of Swit-
zerland, in consideration of the probable complications of
the Eastern Question, proposes to station a body of troops
on the German frontier, and is about to demand a grant
from the Federal Assembly with this object.
SPAlN.—There is little of interest in the Madrid journals
of the 13th. The Queen had been able to rise for a short
time, but had not sufficiently recovered to be able to occupy
herself with public business. She had, however, assured the
ministers that on her recovery she was disposed to sanction
the measures they might submit to her. The Duke and
Duchess de Montpensier had left for Seville.—M. Turgot
has sufficiently recovered the effect of his wound, in the
recent duel with Mr. Soule to quit his bed. The ball has
not, however, been extracted, and is supposed to be buried
in a tendon.

AusTßlA.—The Nuremberg Correspondent publishes
a letter from Vienna of the 11th, which says : " We learn
from a source worthy of credit, that Austria intends
waiting for the development of events to select a fitting
moment for making a declaration, in which, after having
made mention of the existing differences, she will state
the policy which she intends pursuing. It is said that
the Great German Powers have already decided on the
policy to be followed, and it is thought that it will be a
conditional neutrality. It is added that the Government
wishes to be ready for every eventuality, and that it is
taking measures in consequence."