EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCE.

Otago Witness, Issue 316, 19 December 1857, Page 3

EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCE.

The Columbian, with the September mail, dating to the 16th, arrived at Melbourne on <the 14th November. From the English and Scotch papers we subjoin the following intelligence :— The Session of Parliament was closed by Commission on the 28th August. THE QUEEN'S SPEECH. My Lords and Gentlemen, * "We are commanded by her Majesty to release you Arom further attendance in Parliament, and at the Same time to express to you her Majesty's cordial acknowledgments for the zeal and assiduity with which you have performed your important duties " during a session which, though shorter than usual, has, nevertheless, been unusually laborious. Her Majesty commands us to express to you her satisfaction that the present state of affairs in Europe inspires a well grounded confidence in the continuance of peace. The arrangements connected with the full execution of the stipulations of the Treaty of Paris have, from various causes, not yet been completed; but her Majesty trusts that, by the earnest efforts of the contracting parties to that Treaty, all that remains to be done with reference to its stipulations may ere long be satisfactorily settled. ' Her Majesty commands us to inform you that the extensive mutinies which have broken out among the native troops of the army of Bengal,, followed by serious disturbances in many parts of that presidency, have occasioned to her Majesty extreme concern ; and the barbarities which have been inflicted upon many of her Majesty's subjects in India, and the sufferings which have been endured, have filled her Majesty's heart with the deepest grief; while the conduct of many civil and military ofßcers who have been placed in circumstances of much difficulty, and have been exposed to great danger, has excited her Majesty's warmest admiration. Her Majesty commands us to inform you that she will omit no measure calculated to quell these grave disorders ; and her Majesty is confident that, with the blessing of Providence, the powerful means at her disposal will enable her to accomplish that end. Gentlemen op the House of Commons, Her Majesty commands us to thank you for the liberal supplies which you have voted for the service of the present year ; and for the assurances which you have given her of your readiness to afford her Majesty whatever support may be necessary for the restoration of tranquillity in India. Her Majesty has been gratified to find that you have been enabled to provide the amount required to be paid to Denmark for the redemption of the Sound Dues, without on that account adding to the national debt. My Lords and Gentlemen, Her Majesty commands us to convey to you her heartfelt acknowledgments for the provision which you have made for her beloved daughter the Princess Royal, on her approaching marriage with his Royal Highness Prince Frederick William of Prussia. Her Majesty commands us to inform you that she has seen with satisfaction that, although the present session has been short, you have been able to pass many acts of great importance, and to which her Majesty has given her cordial assent. The Acts for establishing a more efficient jurisdiction for the Proving of Wills in England and Ireland, correct defects which have for many years been complained of. The Act for amending the law relating to Divorce and to Matrimonial Causes will remedy evils which have long been felt. The several Acts for the Punishment of Fraudulent Breaches of Trust ; For amending the Law relating to Secondary Punishments ; For amending the Law concerning Joint Stock Banks ; For consolidating and amending the Law relating to Bankruptcy and Insolvency in Ireland ; For the better care and treatment of Pauper Lunatics in Scotland ; For improving the organisation of the County Police in Scotland ; Together with other Acts of less importance, but likewise tending to the progressive improvement of the law, have met with her Majesty's ready assent. We are commanded by her Majesty to express to you her confidence that on your return to your several counties you will employ that influence which so justly belongs to you to promote the welfare and happiness of her loyal and faithful people ; and she prays that the blessing of Almighty God may attend and prosper your endeavours. A movement which* goes on apace .is the subscription to the fund which the Lord Mayor is collecting for the sufferers in India. The contribution of the Emporor Napoleon stands out with peculiar prominence. Politically, the note accompanying the order for £1000 is of considerably more value than the gold. As a simple expression of good feeling, it is worth much. The fact that he feels impelled to keep on ,so very friendly a footing with the Sovereign and people of this country, his desire to be recognized as " personally" contributing to a national object, and the subscription (£400) the Imperial family which accompanies /his own, are so many tokens of sympathy with countrymen in India; proclaiming to the wther Governments of Europe that France in---^tends to be the friend of England, and cannot, without some changes altogether unforeseen, be either a rival or antagonist in India or in Europe. Queen Victoria gives £1000; the Prince Consort £300 ; Duchess of Kent £100 ; Lord Palmerston £100; Duke of Cambridge £100, as a subscription in favour of the suffering officers and soldiers in India. At a meeting of committee held on 9th Sept., the Lord Mayor slated that he had forwarded a second instalment bf 80,000 rupees to the Governor-General.

The sum subscribed up to that date amounted t0" 06,716: X ' An order from the Horse Guards announces that any young gentleman who will show the Commander-in-chief that he is fit to enter the Army, and shall raise 100 recruits, shall have a commission. ' • The Earl of Dalhouse has forwarded to the Lord Mayor, not a transfer of his pension of £5000 per, annum, as currently stated, but a check for £500 towards the subscription for the sufferers in India. The London Gazette contains the official announcement of the Peerage-creation of Lord Robert Grosvenor and Mr. Macaulay. Lord Robert Grosvenor is to be a Baron of the United Kingdom, with the name, style, and title of Baron Ebury of Ebury Manor, in the county of Middlesex. Mr. Macaulay is to be a Baron of the United Kingdom, with the name, style, and title of Baron Macaulay, of Rothley, in the county of Leicester. Lord Macaulay is the eldest son of the late Zachary Macaulay, the early friend and associate of Wilberforce, and the veteran labourer in the cause of the abolition of Negro slavery. His grandfather was a Presbyterian clergyman in the Highlands of Scotland, and, we believe, was a native of the remote and romantic island of Lewes. — Times. The most perfect understanding exists between the French and English Governments on the subject of China. If the Court of Pekin does not give immediate satisfaction to Lord Elgin, war against the Celestial Empire will be declared simultaneously by the two Governments. The European and American Steam Company have offered their fleet of eight powerful screw-steamers to the East India Company, to keep up a stream of military reinforcements to India by way of Suez. The sth of October has been definitively decided upon for launching the Great Eastern, the spring tides being highest then. The submarine telegraph to connect Europe and Africa was successfully laid on the 9th between Bona and Cape Teulada, a distance of 145 miles. An order was received at Woolwich for an additional artillery force to prepare for embarkation to India. The force under orders amounts to 1350 gunners, drivers, and artificers, exclusive of officers and non-commission-ed officers. The 4th, 11th, and 21st companies of Royal Engineers are under ordei*s. The number of persons now receiving relief from the Patriotic Fund are — widows, 3704 ; children, 3900; orphans, 156. The present rate of expenditure is £80,000 per annum. A British force of 5400 men remains at Bushire, in Peisia. Great sickness is said to prevail in the Persian Camp, and the General was desirous of breaking it up. The Syrian provinces of the Porte are threatened by an outburst of Mahometan fanaticism, combined with the natural propensities of $he population to plunder. Robberies on the highroads from Damascus seem to have been frequent. A telegraphic message from Trieste says that disorder is increasing in' Palestine. " At Jerusalem, .the Latin Patriarch was so menaced that he had tendered his resignation. The Consul of France had interfered. Throughout Syria nothing was heard but threats against the Christians." Another Ministerial crisis in Constantinople marks the difficulty of the attempt to settle the question of the Principalities. According to some reports the question is not even yet settled; for the Austrian Commissioner is said to have protested against the course which Turkey has recently taken, under the advice of England, as well as the four Powers — France, Russia, Prussia, and Sardinia. A letter from Si. Petersburg of the 25th August, in the Hamburg News, states that the commission entrusted with the administration of that part of Besserabia which has been ceded to Moldavia has just been dissolved. The Emperor has prohibited Jews from inhabiting Sebastopol. They are not even allowed to go thither in order to embark in a steamer for foreign parts; for that purpose they must go to Eupatoria. The exchange of the ratifications of the treaty between Denmark and Russia, for the redemption of the Sound dues, has just taken place. Russia engages to pay to Denmark the sum of 27,055,525fr. in forty half-yearly instalments.