2 AUGUST 1856, Page 8

OtorrItournuo.

Tun QUEEN AT ALDERSHOT.—The Queen came up to Aldershot, from Osborne, on Wednesday, to review the great body of troops now in camp. There were no fewer than 21,000 men under arms ; many of the regi- ments, especially those of the Light Division, were fresh from the East. A list of the troops will recall many a stury conflict in the late cam- paign-. The infantry consisted of three battalions of Guards, the First and Second Battalions of the Rifle Brigade, the depot of the Third Bat- talion, and the following regiments of the Line-4th, 7th, 19th, 20th,

• 23d, 33d, 38th, 41st, 42d, 44th, 49th, 77th, 88th, 90th, 95th, and 97th. The cavalry consisted of the 1st Dragoon Guards, the 7th, 11th, and 15th Hussars, the 1st and 2d Regiments of German Light Dragoons. There were vo troops of Horse Artillery, and two batteries of Field Artillery. The Queen arrived about four o'clock. She appeared on the field clad, in scarlet and gold, with a military plume in her hat, and mounted on a chestnut horse. Prince Albert rode on one side and the General Commanding-in-chief on the other. The young Princes and Prin- cesses followed in open carriages. As in other reviews so in this : the Queen inspected the troops in line then they marched past her Ma- jesty; and afterwards went through the manceuvres of a mock battle. file reporters in chorus renew, on behalf of themselves and the public, the complaint that General Knollys kept them at such a distance as to preclude the possibility of seeing with distinctness what went on.]

Tin OFFICES.—The Times gives a conspicuous position to the

following paper, as "a summary of the proposals contained in Sir C. E. Trevelyan's evidence relative to the consolidation of the Public Offices." It looks like a summary put forth "on authority."

"That a building be erected between Banqueting House and the river for the War Department, (including the head-quarter offices at the Horse Guards) according to Inigo Jones's designs for Whitehall Palace,. or an adaptation of them, having one face towards the Houses of Parliament, another towards Charing Cross and a third towards the river.

"That the Horse Guards and Lady Dover's house be then removed, in order that Whitehall Palace may be opened to St. James's Park ; and that Et. James's Park may be extended on either side of Whitehall Palace to the Thames.

"That the Somerset House and Whitehall branches of the Admiralty be brought together in a block of buildings to be constructed between the site of the Horse Guards and Charing Cress, in extension of the existing Admi- ralty, having one face towards the street and another towards the Park; and that the houses in Spring Gardens be removed, and an opening made be- tween St. James's Park and Charing Cross.

"That the existing line of the Public Offices be extended from the corner elf Downing Street to the corner of Great George Street ; forming one side -of a spacious square, the other sides of which would be towards the Abbey, the Park, and the Admiralty.

"That the Civil Departments of the Government be accommodated in this square, with their dependent offices grouped around them. Thus, the General Pay-office and the superintending establishments of the different branches of the public revenue would be brought. into immediate connexion with the Treasury ; the Chief Secretary for Ireland, the Lord-Advocate of

Scotland, the Board of Health, the Convict Department, and the Inspectors of Prisons, Mines, and Factories, with the Secretary of State for the Home

DeparDepartment, and so forth. tment, the apace between the line of Civil Offices and the river, and between her Majesty's ancient Palace of Westminster and Whitehall Palace, be then cleared of buildings. "That Somerset House, which would be left tenantless by these arrange- ments, be reappropriated as may be most for the public advantage. If it should be determined to make provision for the Courts of Law (including the Court of Chancery, and the Ecclesiastical, Testamentary, and Admiralty jurisdictions) at Somerset House, it might be done out of the surplus amused Legal Deposit Funds ; and the existing buildings at Somerset House would furnish accommodation for the various legal offices, including the Registries of Wills, Judgments, &e.

"That, in order to bring the Houses of Parliament and the Public Offices into immediate connexion with the Courts and Inns of Law and with the City, and to relieve the existing overcrowded thoroughfares, a railway be constructed, according to the most approved arrangements, along the river- bank from Westminster to the City, in connexion with the works for purify- ing and embanking the Thames ; and that the most ready means of commu- nication by electric telegraph be established between the Courts of Law and the Inns of Law and Houses of Parliament.

"That a Committee be appointed, consisting of persons carefully selected, as best qualified on account of their experience and ability, to advise the First Commissioner of Works and the Government in respect to- " 1. The relative situation of the different offices ; "2. The order of time in which they should be built ; the precedence being given to the War Department and the Foreign Office ; "3. The most convenient interior arrangements for the several offices. And "That the following steps be taken in reference to all the new build-

ings-

1. That general specifications of the several buildings be published, and the architects of every country be invited to send in plans and elevations.

"2. That, when received, these designs be exposed for a sufficient time to public view., and that the selection be made after full discussion and mar tore deliberation.

"3. That, when the plans and elevations have been resolved upon de- tailed specifications and working-drawings be prepared, in order that the' construction of the buildings may be put up to competition in imitable. portions ,• and

" Lastly, that everything connected with this undertaking be done upon the sole personal responsibility of the First Commissioner of Works acting under the Executive Government ; early and full information relating to every important step being submitted to Parliament."

Tam SOUND Durs.-It has been stated that the question of the Sound Dues is likely to be settled on the basis of the scheme of redemption put forward by Denmark, the United States having consented to contribute her share.

The Select Committee of the House of Commons, in their report, lean towards a settlement on the foundation of the DEnish proposals, espe- cially as the dues are, they think, paid by the consumer; and as we have acquiesced in their payment for some centuries, and that at the present time they are paid. under a treaty. The dues levied on ships are applied to the maintenance of lights, buoys, &c. ; the dues levied on goods-1 per cent ad valorem-are avowedly for the purpose of revenue. The mischiefs that attend the payment of the dues arise more from the mode of collection, which costs far more than the dues themselves, and from the detention of vessels at Elsinore. Although 70,0001. is the sum received by the Danish Government from English traders, yet the actual burden on British commerce is not less than from 200,0001. to 300,000/.

per =RUM "The Sound dues," say the Committee, "as they are levied at present, combine in them what is most objectionable in taxes that fall upon trade ; they are unequal in their operation, and they- occasion great loss of tim and much needless expenditure in the collection of a comparatively small revenue, and, as far as the cargoes are concerned, without professing to be raised for any service rendered in return, tend to impede and burden an important branch of trade. Under these circumstances, your Committee have no hesitation in declaring that these dues are the cause of annoyance and injury to British commerce, and that they deem it therefore highly de- sirable that they should be abolished." The Committee remark that the transit-dues are a protection of the Sound revenue; and they are strongly of opinion that "in any- negotia- tion that may take place for the abolition of the Sound dues' the fullest consideration should be given to the means of securing a like freedom for trade in the transit through any part of the Danish territory."

Will some one of the Ministerial organs state whether or not the Rus- sians are carrying out the treaty of Paris ? Every week come sinister rumours. From Constantinople we hear, first, that Reni and Ismail are dismantled ; next, that the Russians have taken possession of the Isle of Serpents, off the mouth of the Danube ; thirdly, that instead of evacu- ating Kars, they have thrown 4000, some say 12,000 men, into that city. From Sweden comes the news that, in spite of the tripartite treaty se. curing the integrity of that country, the Russians are crossing the fron- tiers of Norway at pleasure, and incessantly harassing the Laps and Fins

What do these things mean ?

The .Dublin _Evening Mail looks upon Mr. Disraeli's display at the end of the session as a "funeral oration over his own leadership" ; as "a palinode upon his own departed greatness, including a panegyric upon his successful rival."

"We recollect the story of an extremely bashful lover, who having em- ployed his brother to announce his designs to the object of hie passion, him- self confirmed the negotiation by uttering the simple formula, I will de what Peter said.' According to the oration, it was by Palmerston doing what Disraeli said that the artful Minister secured to himself those tri- umphant majorities which have left the leader of Opposition without a fol- lower."

We are afraid that Mr. Disraeli is not yet what he once said Mr. Roe- buck was, "the sentinel of a solitary camp " • not even so strong as that famous German army which consisted of a drummer and a field-marshaL Intelligence has been received of Dr. Livingstone the African traveller. He was at Tette, the furthest inland station of the Portuguese in Faders Africa, on the 3d March. He had lost all his cattle by the fly "tsetse," and had to " rough it " ; but he was in good health, although "pretty tired out." The Portuguese had been very kind "everywhere."

Lord John Russell has left town to join his family at Antwerp ; whence they proceed to Switzerland and Italy, for a lengthened stay. Lord Panmure left town for Brechin Castle on Tuesday. This is his first holiday since he became Minister for War.

Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer arrived on Monday evening at Paris, on his route to the East as one of the Commissioners to arrange the government of the Walachian and Moldavian Provinces. Ile was attended by Captain Leicester Vernon M.P.

The marriage of Lord Raglan to Lady Georgians Lygon, daughter of the Earl of Beane p, is among the announcements of things shortly to take place.

Sir Charles Napier arrived at St. Petersburg on the 22d of last month. Count Chreptowiteh, the new Russian Minister to England, is reported to be on his way hither.

Unhappily, the attack of ophthalmia. from which Lord Ebrington has been suffering has caused the loss of the sight of one eye, and there is danger that the other will suffer from sympathy.

Count de Lowenhjelm has not long enjoyed his retirement from diploma- tic labours at Paris—he died at Stockholm a few days since, from apoplexy.

The Sultan has transmitted through the Ottoman Bank 10001. as a con- tribution to the Nightingale Fund.

The American trick of calling immense ships "frigates," is to be met by the construction of similar British frigates. The Diadem, now far advanced at Pembroke, is the first of these new frigates. Though only to carry 32 g,uns, her length and tonnage are equal to a ship of the line. Her length is 240 feet, and her tonnage will be upwards of 2500 tons. The armament of this ship will be enormous, being 32 68-pounders or 8-inch shells, with one pivot-gun of 95 hundredweight and 10 feet in length. Her engines are to be of 1000-horse power ; and as her model is exceedingly good, it is ex- pected she will sail very fast.

General von Berg has lately returned from a visit to the Aland Isles. It is presumed that this visit was not quite foreign to professional purposes, and stands in connexion with an approaching military occupation of those islands. It is distinctly pointed out by Russians, that, although their country has engaged not to fortify those islands, it has by no means under- taken not to occupy them with a military force.--Berlin Correspondent of the Times.

Prince Napoleon and his scientific companions in the Reine Hortense have been foiled in their attempt to explore the island of Jean Mayor, which contains a volcano the nearest existing to the Pole. The island was com- pletely blockaded by a barrier of ice. The steamer was compelled to return to Iceland.

The Russian Government intend to despatch two corvettes in September, from Cronstadt, to perform a scientific voyage round the world—the thirty- ninth Russian expedition of the kind since 1803.

An electric cable has been laid across the Gulf of St. Lawrence, from Cape Bay Cove, Newfoundland, to Ashby Bay, Cape Breton, eighty-five miles : this is a link in the proposed telegraph between Ireland, Newfoundland, and New York.

The aged Dr. Scoresby went out to Melbourne in the Royal Charter, and is to return home in the same ship : the voyage was for scientific purposes, chiefly connected with magnetism and the state of the compasses in iron ships.

A specimen of legislation. The new Joint-Stock Companies Act does not apply to insurance associations, yet it repeals the act of 7th and 8th Victoria regulating them : thus for a time there is no special law affecting the esta- blishment of new companies, and it has been said that a new insurance association not having a special act, would be in the same position as a private partnership. There is reason, however, to doubt this construction of the new act; which was intended to except insurance-companies from its operation, and does so, after a fashion.

From 1846 to 1852 the average amount of gold annually coined in the Royal Mint was 4,108,3001.; from 1853 to 1856 the average rose to 8,371,000/. In the ten years the gold coinage was of the value of 53,871,0631.; the silver, 2,284,409!.; the copper, 138,7951.

During the past year the United States mints coined no less than 11,260,0001.-2,000,0001. in excess of the English coinage during 1855.

The total amount of gold exported from the two great Australian Colonies from 1851 to 1855 was 41,830,6961.-7,032,1411. from New South Wales, and 34,830,6961. from Victoria.

The total of capital and loans authorized for the construction of Railways up to December 1855 amounted to 374,971,965/.

The visitors to the apartments at Hampton Court last year were 141,420 —49,780 on Sundays. To Kew Gardens the visitors were 313,816-178,194 on Sundays.

The Commission appointed to try the persons criminated in the late out- rage near Giurgevo, when a French soldier was murdered, has sentenced the Austrian Lieutenant Czack to the loss of his commission and five years' imprisonment. The corporal who actually fired the shot will be tried by a higher tribunal, the one that condemned his officer not being competent to pass so severe a sentence as it is expected his crime will be found to deserve.

The Spanish Government has decided on establishing a place of trans- portation for convicts. The point chosen is St. Joseph, one of the Marianne or Ladrone Islands, in the North Pacific Ocean. The individuals arrested for having formed part of the band of Pucheta, and those who had been re- leased by. him from the different prisons will be sent to Ferrol, there to await their embarkation for the new penafcolony.

The Sacramento Union gives this description of a murderer's coffin. "The coffin of Cora, who was executed at San Francisco by the Vigilance Committee, was of solid mahogany and lined with rich white satin. The sides were covered with gilt scroll work, and the edges bound with gold lace, studded with silver nails. A silver plate, bearing his name, age,. and the time of his death, was placed upon the lid. The coffin was furnished by Bella Cora, to whom the unfortunate man was married a few moments before his death."

A Naval Court-martial sitting in Hamoaze have attributed blame to Commander James Hosken, and Mr. Hutchings the Master of the troop- ship Belleisle, for the grounding of that vessel in the Bosphorus on the 12th June : the Commander is to be admonished, and the Master to bo severely reprimanded.

The sanatory condition of the Metropolis is very satisfactory at present. The last report of the Registrar-General shows, that while the average of the corresponding week in the last ten 3-ears was 1103-2, the actual number of deaths last week was 995; which, allowing for the increase of population, is above 200 below the average.-

Mr. James P. Id`Clune, second master commanding the Queen's brigan- tine Dart, Lieutenant Woodruff, R.M., four seamen of the Castor, and a Black boy, have been drowned by the upsetting of a cutter off Quillimain river, on the East coast of Africa.

The Moluccas have suffered a terrible calamity—a sort of combined eruption and earthquake—from the active volcano on tho island of Great Saner. "Between seven and eight o'clock on ths evening of the 25 of March, a sudden and altogether indescribable crashing noise was heard, which, indicating to the Sangirese an eruption of the volcano, filled them with consternation. Simultaneously with this, the glowing lava streamed downwards with irresistible force in different directions, beating with it whatever it encountered on its destructive course, and causing the sea to boil wherever they came in contact. The hot springs opened up, and cast out a flood of boiling water, which destroyed and carried away what the fire had spared. The sea, obedient to an unusual impulse, lashed the rocks with, frightful violence, dashed upon the shore, and heaved itself with a wild haste against the land, as if it strove to overmaster the fire-stream. This frightful picture of destruction, the horror of which was increased by the shrieks of men and beasts, the wild roaring of the tempest, and the crashing of thousands of trees torn up and carried away, was followed about an hour later by peals of thunder, whieh she* the ground and deafened the ear. A number of other districts and places have been some wholly destroyed, others greatly injured by the fire. The loss of life has been great ; nearly 3000 persons have perished. The greater number met their deaths in the gardens. They fled in all directions, but were overtaken and swallowed up by the fatal fire-stream. Many who had reached the shore and thought themselves safe became a prey to the furious waves, and many died from sheer despair and agony."