FRANCE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 95, 6 March 1862, Page 6

FRANCE.

(From the Times' Correspondent.) j Paris, Tuesday, 26th Nov., 7 a.m. It appears that one of tbe Queen of Spain's chaplains, D. Fernando de Castro, in a sermon lately preached in presence of the Court in the Royal Chapel of Madrid, greatly surprised bis | audience by proclaiming his adhesion to the doctrines propounded by Father Passaglia on tlie temporal power of the Pope, and by Advocating with much earnestness tho principle of a united Italy. D. Fernando dc Castro, besides being one of the Royal Chaplains, is Professor of General History at the University. " The sermon," observes one ofthe papers— " AVas an energetic manifesto and an eloquent protest in favor of the cause of Italy, and the sensation which it has produced proves that the public completely sympathise with tbe good cause, which De Castro lias defended with a courage which does him much honour." A letter adds that the Court Chaplain " lias gone far beyond Father Passaglia.'' The name of .De Castro is not unknown to the Madrid public ; he is said to be a man of great erudition, iis well as of considerable talent ; biit one can well fancy the effect of his sermon on the Royal family, the cardinals, the prelates, and, above all, the Archbishop' of Toledo, Father Claret, on hearing such doctrines defended in the he "".ring of the King and Queen, and so soon after the Royal Speech from tbe throne. The Parisians seem to have given up guessing about SI. Fould's financial plan. But the commercial world seem convinced that it is impossible for bim to go on without a loan. Though the efforts to inspire confidence, the funds are slowly and painfully going up, and nothing will be left undone to raise them to the point at which a loan would not be more onerous for tbe Treasury. Tlie minister has still, they say, difficulties to contend with in the Cabinet. The AValewski clique is still strong, and tbe Emperor cannot or will not shake it off. SI. Fould has done his utmost to have tbe ministers allowed to defend their own measures in the Chamber of Deputies; but tbey who bate the light, and have very good reason for doing so, opposed this " invidious" attempt to return to Parliamentary government. The Imperial Commission of the French part of tho Exhibition at London lias issued a new circular, declaring that the central jury of revision and the departmental juries have made such progress in the examination of the objections presented to the first decisions relative to admissions and to the space awarded that a new notification on these points will be published towards the end of the month ; also, that tho Commission hopes, by a new distribution of the space accorded, and by grouping articles ofthe same kind, &c, to find room for a greater number of productions tban was at first thought possible. The Commission, moreover, makes known that the decision to the effect that agricultural productions should not be sent up to Paris for examination previously to transmission to London until the end of winter, has, in compliance with a wish of a number of exhibitors, been revoked, and that such things must be forwarded from the Ist to the 31sfc of December, with, however, the exception of wines, spirits, and other articles which cannot be prepared too soon. The Commission also requires that the works, plans, models, &c , relative to education, shall be sent in the course of the same month, and photograph and photographic apparatus from the 2nd to the 10th January. The Commission adds, that the 10th of Slareh is the latest date for the admission of manufactured articles.

Madrid, 26th November. —Baron Tccco has received his passports, and left Madrid this evening for Barcelona, whence he will proceed to Marseilles. The Secretary, Baron Cavalmini, will remain in Madrid to "conduct the affairs of the Italian legislation. AoEASt, Wednesday.—The general congregation of Croatia has, under certain reservations, ordered military levies to be made in Croatia, and also notified to all the functionaries that all official correspondence is to be couductcd in the Croatian language. Lisbon, Wednesday.—The Portuguese Cortes will assemble on the 22nd Dccc :iber next.

Death of t;ib Dowaobu Countess Grey. —The venerable widow of the Lttc Ear! Grey expired yesterday forenoon at her residence in Eaton Square. She lisul been ill only a few days. The late Dowager Countess. Alary Elizabeth, who was the only daughter of William B.iabazon, first Lord Ponsonby, was horn on the 3rd of March, 1777. She married November 18, 1794, Charles, the second and late Earl Grey, by whom she had a family of 16 children, of whom the following survive their mother—namely, Earl Grey, Major General the Hon. Charles Grey, C. 8., Secretary to His Royal Highness the Prince Consort, Hear-Admiral the Hon. Sir Frederick W. Grey, X.C.8., Lord of the Admiralty ; the Hon. and Key. John, the Hon. and Rev. F. R., the Hon. Harry Cavandish, and the Hon. William George Grey, and daughters : Lady Elizabeth Bulteel, widow of Mr. J. C. Bulteel; Lady Caroline Barrington, widow of Captain, the Hon. George Barrington ; Lady Georgiana, unmarried, and Lady Mary, married to the Right Hon. Sir Charles' Wood, M.P. Information of the Countess's death I had been sent by telegraph to Florence, where the Earl and Countess Grey are at present residing.— Times, Nov. 20, Australia. —Plymouth, Tuesday.—The details of the passage home of the two gold-ships just arrived in the Thames from Melbourne, are as follows •. —The Roxburgh Castle, 1,200 tons, Captain M. 11. Smith, belonging to Messrs. Green, loft 29th August, rounded Cape Horn on the 29th September, and crossed the Line 23rd October. She brought 51,0000z. of gold dust valued at £204,000, and a cargo of wool, tallow, and copper. Among the passengers.were Mr. and Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Lynch, Miss Clapburn, Messrs. Britten, Shirwin, Ross and Oldham, and Lieutenant Rees, 40th Regiment, and 40 invalided soldiers from New Zealand ; also, above 150 'tween-deck and steerage passengers. She spoke, 19th October, lat. 11 S., long. 28 W., the Rose of England, 50 days out from Chili, for Swansea ; 31st October, lat. 12 S., long. 25 TV., the English

ship Antigua, from Glasgow for Bahia ; and the Swedish barque Fanny, 44 days from Glasgowj for Batavia; 2nd November, lat. 10 N., long, i 26 W., the Walmcr Castle for Calcutta ; and l:ith Nov., hit. 37 N., long. 29 W., the Dutch ship Noach, from Batavia for Rotterdam. The Roxburgh Castle met quantities of ice and; expei'ieiics d very rough weather between Nov." Zealand and Cape Horn, after which nothing but light breezes, chiefly from the eastward. The j barque' Juntos Wilson, 3G3 tons, Captain William B. Sheppard, of Liverpool, left 13th July,l rounded the Cape 31st August, and crossed the line 12th October. She brought 19,0.50 oz. of, gold dust and a cargo of hides and wool. Her, passengers are Mr. and Mrs. William Gaskill and! Mr. Henry Gaskill. On Monday, 22nd July,; Henry Allmark, ordinary seaman, fell overboard; and was drowned, the ship at the time going ten! knots. She spoke, 13th October, latitude 2 N.,l longitude 26.12 W., the Anne Chester and barque Flour de la Plata ; 25th October, latitude 18.11 i N T., longitude 21.12 W., the barque Trogan, 43; days from Greenock, for Demcrara; and 12th; October, latitude 2.16 N., longitude 2G.15, the Hamburgh ship Dragoon, bound south. On the1 17th, IStli, and 19th August, in latitude 50 5.,! longitude 136 W. to 122 VV., she encountered a large number of icebergs. i The Catastrophe at Edinrukcit: —On Monday four bodies were rescued from the ruins of the house which fell on Sunday morn-; ing, and three more at three o'clock on Tuesday| morning, in all 29 lives ascertained to be lost. It is quite certain that others are still beneath the rubbish. When the work of excavation was discontinued on Sunday night, it was resolved to: pull down the back wall and tall gables before continuing the search for those entombed. Nearly all Monday was spent in dragging down the back wall with ropes, and in attempting to pull down the eastern gable the pile of chimneys of this gable, rising nearly forty feet above the adjoining building, and to the extreme height of1 eighty-five feet, was only partially brought down,! when,.shortly before five o'clock it was found necessary to suspend operations, owing to the darkness. At intervals in the afternoon the labour of exhumation was proceeded with, and all nijrht| it was carried on. Only two of the bodies found] had been identified—namly Mrs. Mackay, aged 30, and John Sutherland, her grandchild, who were found in bed together. The bodies were all mutilated, and some of them were so much crushed that death seemed to have been imme-j diate. A dog and a cat were rescued alive, and! a linnet in its cage, which had been left upon the wall as the house fell, was saved by si fireman,! who mounted a long ladder to reach it From the| testimony of survivors it would seem that the! noise of cicaking timbers was heard for' six or eight' minutes before the house fell en masse. One man describes it as like the rumbling of gravel ; another like a railway engine passing through the house. A whole family of.nine, named Baxter, escaped, the father driving them before him iuto the staircise almost naked, and himself, coming last, had to jump over the opening chasm. The staircase was common both to the front and back tenement, and did not fall. Another family, named Maedonald, of seven, lost two from their number, boys, who were forgotten in one of the first moments of flight, and could not be afterwards rescued ; they are still in the ruins. A family named Irwin were all lost except one child, who was afterwards rescued by the firemen. Several other families had a divided fate, some bt-ing preserved, others crushed in the ruins. Nearly all the bodies extricated had been persons found in bed, indicating that most of those awake escaped. In one or two cases, persons who, after the first moment of alarm, went back to recover property, perished. An investigation is in progress as to the cause of the accident, Hit according to the custom followed in Scotland, it is privately conducted.— Times, 27th Nov. . ; Tub Debtors' Prisons.—The Registrars of; the Court of Bankruptcy have finished their labors. From Whitecross-street Prison, 33 had been released by the Registrars, and about 20 from Horscmonger-lane Gaol, and some from the Queen's Prison. On Monday there were only 10:"i in Whitecross-streot Prison, of which 90 were " sheriffs ;" and in Horsemonger-lane Gaol only 18, and of that number six were County Court commitments. The next return of the keepers, on the Ist of December, will show the state of the prisons contrusted with the first return. Creditors wish to know how the parties are to he recommitted after leaving. ' One of the benefits ofj the new law is that persons can gut themselves; " friendly" arrested, and by declaring themselves) "paupers," be relieved from all fees, even the| jailer's fee, and for a small amount to an attorneyi he declared bankrupt, and for another small sum] have their case completed. The present object isi to make a " cloarauco of the prisons," and to cou-! sider the creditors on the hearing. Tub Mooltas* Steamkk.— Southampton, Tuesday.—-This vessel, respecting the performances of which on aa ocean, voyage great interest! has buen felt in nnutical and engineering circles,] returned to this port last night from Alexandria. | At the time of the Mooltan's launch and runj round to Southampton, and also on the occasion of: her official trial at Stokes Bay, full descriptions of the improvements and mechanical peculiarities introduced in the machinery department, and of the results of her performances!, as" far as they could then be tested, were published in the Times.' One of the most novel features is the smallncss of her horse power as compared with her image, and the reduced size ot her boilers, which arc constructed on Mr. A. Lamb's patent, and which arc only about half the size of the tubular boilers employed in ships of the Royal Navy for the supply of steam to engines of the same nominal horse power. The effect of the principal adopted in the Mooltan, if successful, will be to materially reduce the consumption of coal, and hence to lessen the expenses and difficulties attendant upon ocean steam navigation. It appears that the most remarkable and successful results have been accomplished in this respect during the recent voyage of the Mooltan to and from Alexandria. On the outward voyage she was 268.} hoars under way, running 2951 miles, with an actual consumption of 365 tons of coal, and coming home she was •JBG hours under way, consuming 32S tons of coal. The total quantity of coal consumed, therefore, during a voyage of nearly 0000 miles, has been G3O tons, against an expenditure of about 1200 tons in other ships of the same tonnage employed on this line. This is a saving of very nearly half;- while an average speed has been maintained out and home of IO'M knots The average expenditure of coal per hour was 25 cwt. 4lb, and the average power taken by the indicator every watch 1230 horses. During the voyage the Mooltan's draught of water was 19 feet 4 inches ; average midship section at this draught, 558 feet : and average displacement at same 3335 tons. The boilers snpplicd abundance of steam, at 20lb ; surface condensers, average vacuum, 27i inches. The result must be very satisfactory to her engine-builders, Messrs. Humphry's and Tennant, and to the patentee of her boilers, and all others concerned, while they are of vast importance to every one connected with steamships. It is important to observe- that these results have boon obtained over a rim of nearly GOOO miles, with the ordinary coal used, by all the company's steamers, and with the ship's own stokers ; and hence they should not be compared with those obtained at the trial of a ship at the measured mile, or on n l few hours' working of her engines at moorings, I because those short trials are always made under the most favorable circumstances, with picked coals of tha best quality, clean fires, and stokers of t.lin un.nt.st skill