FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

Wellington Independent, Volume VI, Issue 477, 8 May 1850, Page 4

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

.FRANCE. More serious interruption to trade, and great impoverishment, are likely to result from the adherence to the antiquated systems of finance by which the Continent is now ground down. A commercial league between Prussia and Austria is talked of, aud a new tariff, with slight modifications of the duties, is preparing by the Minister of Commerce. But the real evil—the taxation of the land, and the consequent repression of the growth of capital, which would allow the people to leavethe land—is not touched.

• It is our firm belief that partial political troubles, as long as any liberal leaders of talent and character are left to guide -such, will now not affect the price of the i funds or course of trade in Europe. The sailing of .the French fleet, in conjunction with , that of England, to the 'Levant seems to refute the insinuations of some parties, that the President was willing to accept of a crown from Russia Anything which shows a reliance on the power of France to maintain herself independently is sure to be popular; and this defiance of the unnecessarily dreaded Autonraty will ho deservedly so, because not likely to lead to war. An accident has thrown M. Pierre Bonaparte, one of the candidates for a future presidentship, into disgrace. Holding the command of a corps in active • service in Algeria, he quitted his post without leave, and returned to Paris to • pursue his functions as deputy. The moment wasitempting to crush a rival. Impartiality seemed to require more than usual rigour in the case of a relation. The fact of a French officer retiring in .the midst of arduous duties from au exposed point could not be overlooked. In short, M. Pierre Bonaparte has been summarily dismissed the service, and will, in all probability, have to vacato his seat in the Assembly. Russia. ' St. Petersburg, Nov. 16.—'1 he divisions of tho army under the cumraan'd of Prince Argutins Ri-Dolgoruki, has totally destroyed the town of Teshoch, in the Caucasus, after bombarding it for several days. Tho Russians are said to '•have lost only 50 men, while the loss of their enemy is reported to -reach 3,000 VJcilldd and wounded. The Russian Scientific x\cademy "has announced that, in obedience to the directions of the Emperor, a committee • has been appointed to report on the project of the French chemist, M. Archerot, for lighting St. Petersburg with electricity. Experiments are to be made on a large scale in several parts of the city. Prussia. : The elections for the German parliament are beginning to occupy serious attention. Tho different fractions of the • conservative party have appointed a central committee for the direction of the ■elections. The democratic party, it is -understood, will refrain from votine -at all. 8 _ There has been a great demand from England for some time past for shares in the Prussian State Lotteries. Saxony. . Letters from Dresden of the 26th ult in the Berlin papers state that the Saxon Chambers were opened on that day by vthe King of Saxony. In the Royal Speech His Majesty, after allufling sto the last Dresden insurrection, protests <that although the standard of German unity was disgraced in the hands of those who seized it for the promotion of their criminal purposes, yet he {the King) felt it was the duty of his Government to abide 'by that banner, and he, therefore joined a league of German Governments which promised to give the German nation a common and practical Constitution. 'But •rfdda the King,' 'though I still propose to devote my enegies to that high object, I cannot be satisfied until I have a sufficient guarantee that: the law remains inviolate, and that our country will rise ■united and strong, and not torn asunder :arid weakened from the labors of its regeneration; that our own Saxony will find its reward for the sacrifices it is ready to make, in having its place in a German —but not in any other empire.' Tuscant. ; A general amnesty has 'been granted by thelmperial Prince of Austria to all parties guilty of high treason or political offences; the past is to be buried in oblivion. Crimes committed against the religion oft the estate, including those committed by the press, alone excepted. CANADA. On the subject of the removal of the eeat of government, and its effects on the prosperity of the,place, the Montreal Gazette observes: *■ Were Montreal a country village, or a mere watering place, or place of summer residence, dependent for support on transient money spenders, the removal of the seat of government, with its band of overpaid idlers, might fee felt, but in a city of our magnitude it Is merely seen. .-.• • . People are constantly harping about canals, railroads, and dozens of other things under the name of public improvements, as the great things wanted ;"i tut these things we do not want. Whntj

we do want is, large well assorted stocks of goods next spring, well laid in. Let them he landed and put into our war - houses, and country merchants will flock to us. The country which wants them and can pay for them will give us a trade which will go on progressing, and, in the continued acquisition of wealth, soon, make us forget the gloom of the past two years. Nor are the means wanting, nor, we trust, the spirit ready to seize upon this advent of good things. Our merchants, well naid of late, can now breathe freely, and our banks have abundance of capital to facilitate every operation of trade, when they see it moving with a healthy impulse, and the merchant at work cheerily.

From Toronto we learn that Mr. Mendell was still occupied with his inquiries into the delinquencies in the custom-house at that port. S. far it has been found to be not a mere defalcation, but monies received are said to have been systematically abstracted, and the revenue to the extent of some 5,000/. or more since 1817. These frauds appear to have been badly managed. No entries were made of considerable sums of money, and the merchants have been called upon to furnish statements of cash pukl by them for duties, in order to check the entries and aid the inquiry. Mr. Stanton, it is said, has kept no regular cash book, although furnished with one by the department. It is further stated, that suspicion attaches more to Mr. Roy, the surveyor of the port, than to the collector, whose principal fault is said to consist in gross negligence. However it is understood that they will both be dismissed. West India Mail.—The Royal West India mail packet Teviot, Capt. Hewett, arrived at Southampton yesterday, and landed her mails under the charge of Lieut. R. Percival, R.N., Admiralty agent. The Teviot's freight consists of 419,451 dollars from Mexico, 112,000 .of which are on account Of Mexicftii dividends), 16 02s. gold dust; £467 7s. 6d. British coin ; 164 serous of cochineal; 140 bales tobacco ;65 cases cigars; 17 casks arrowroot ; 13 packages succades ; 41 packages sundries. There were 31 passengers on board the Teviot on the homeward voyage. The Teviot experienced terrific weather in the Gulf. She was unable to communicate with the shore during three days that was off Vera Cruz, on account of the tempestuous state of the weather. She was obliged to call at Tampico the second time for mails, also on account of the weather. Disease had almost decimated the inhabitants of Vera Cruz. It is expected that a very large remittance will be sent home next month for the Mexican dividends : not less than' half a million of dollars. Her Majesty's ship Trincomalee had been sent round from Halifax to Havanna to watch the movements of the Americans in the Cuba affair. TRINADAD. Order appears to have been restored. The flank companies of the 72nd Highlanders, 150 strong, arrived at Port-of-Spain on the 12th of October. A long list is published in the Gazette, of the 10th Oct., of the parties who came voluntarily forward to be sworn in as special constables. A notice appeared in the Gazette, on the 3rd of October, to the effect that parties having memorials or petitions to present to the governor were required, in the first instance, to forward copies to the colonial secretary. The special commissioner sent to investigate the circumstances connected with the burning of Mr. Smith's house at Orapouche, had reported that the squatters on the crown lands had nothing to do with the affair. It appears ; to have been an act of private malice on the part of some ejected tenants. The following is an account of the new gaol regulations which appeared in the Port of Spain Gazette, of the 19th October.-.—

"The prisoners are divided into sx classes, and the sixth of these classes is —" Insolvent debtors committed under the 55th clause of the ordinance for the relief of insolvent debtors." As regards this sixth class, it is required that they shall -wear a prison dress of Osnaburg, with the words " Royal Gaol" and a number marked thereon, and a red worsted cap; and, by the 11 th clause of the general regulations, it appears that it is contemplated to make them work, and that they may be worked with felons and prisoners under sentence of transportation—'they are to receive no other food than the gaol allowance, nor any description of spirituous or fermented liquors, unless specially ordered by the physician, and cannot be permitted to see their Mends, save by an order of the visiting committee, which indulgence is only to ; be granted to those whose conduct shall appear by the report of the superintendent to entitle them to favour —and the interview can only take place in the presence of an officer of the prison and in the room appointed for that purpose. , The sixth class, as defined by the 55th clause includes fraudulent debtors, debtors seeking relief from any judgment in any proceeding for breach of promise of

marriage, seduction, criminal conversation I bel, slander, assault, battery, malicious nrrest, or malicious trespass, insolvents not making a full discovery of his estate, debts, and credits, or have fraudulently, with intent of diminishing the sum to be divided among his creditors or of giving an undue preference to any of the said creditors, discharged or concealed any debt due to or from the said insolvent, or made away with, charged, mortgaged, or concealed any part of his property of what kind soever, either before or after the filing of his petition or the commencement of imprisonment or the adjudication of his insolvency, or that the insolvent being a trader and having debts to the amount of 200/. sterling or upwards has not kept such books of account as to enable the official assignee to obtain a full and correct knowledge of the insolvent's affairs, then it shall be lawful for the court by such final order to adjudge that such insolvent shall be entitled toj such protection of his person so soon as he shall have been in custody for such period or periods n )t exceeding two years in the whole to be computed from the making such- final order as .to the court .shall seem fit, and the court shall thereupon make order for the immediate committal of such insolvent to the royal gaol."