niutilautpuo.

The diplomatic conferences at Olmiitz have attracted much attention, speculation, and controversy., The Times of Thursday gives, on "un- doubted authority," a resume of what was said there. It will be observed that the Emperor of Russia is mentioned as one of the interlocutors, but no other is named. First stating that the Porte has declared for open war' the Times continues—

"On the other side, the Emperor of Russia has declared for peace. This announcement may probably appear incredible, after what has been proved respecting the nature of the original aggression ; but we can state, upon un- doubted authority, that the sentiments of the Czar, as expressed at Oltatitz by his own lips, are not only in favour of a pacific settlement, but are recon- cileable to a great extent with the conditions proposed by ourselves. He represented, that as he had accepted the Vienna note at the hands of the Conference in full satisfaction of European demands, and on the terms framed by his opponents, he could not with any regard to his own dignity be now referred to any second proposal. Ile offered, however, to accept a declaration or interpretation which seems to deprive the original Vienna note of the ob- jectionable features since discovered in it ; and stated distinctly, that al- though he could not swerve from the conditions first imposed upon him, he was ready to admit at once such an explanation of those conditions as was conformable to the views of the French and British Governments, provided only that his acknowledged rights were still maintained.

"The reader will perhaps be at some loss to imagine why terms so appa- rently reasonable were not closed with on the spot ; but we think the ob- jections to such a compromise are perfectly maintainable. It was replied to the Czar, that he had deprived himself of the benefit of the expedient in question by the explanation' which he had already issued on his own mere motion, in a sense exactly, contrary to that now proposed. He might inter- pret the Vienna note, as desired by the Western Powers, in a manner favour- able to the security of the Porte ; but, as he had already interpreted it through Count Nesselrode's despatch in a manner totally destructive of the security referred to the only result would be that a note, by which the re- lations of two empires were to be regulated on points of extreme delicacy, would carry with it two conflicting explanations, and thus be neutralized to- gether. When it suited the purposes of Russia to disarm suspicion, she might appeal to one of those explanations; when disposed to aggression' she might quote the other ; so that the original note, or convention, would be of no value at all."

Mr. Davison, Member for Belfast, has addressed Mr. Cardwell respect- ing the position of the Baltic trade, so far as Belfast is concerned. Mr. Davison states that Belfast imports flax-seed to the amount of 70,000/. annually from Riga, whilst the flax imported from the Baltic may be taken at five times that amount. This is the season when the merchants send forward their ships, or order supplies of seed. They are now appre- hensive that in the event of a war the Russians will confiscate their ships and cargoes ; and Mr. Davison points out that there is no British fleet in the Baltic capable of affording them protection. Mr. Cardwell has re- plied that Government will duly and frilly consider the subject. The IVines lately reprinted a portion of an article from the New York Courier and Enquirer, combating a suspicion previously expressed by the Times, that in the event of a war with Russia, American privateers would cut up our commerce under Russian letters of marque. The New York journal, as our readers are aware, strongly denied the imputation. The Times accepted the contradiction, but without sufficient emphasis ; and the New York journalist, General J. Watson Webb, who is now in London, makes a rejoinder. At great length he deprecates the constant attacks by the English press upon American men, institutions, and man- ners, as prejudicial to the maintenance of peace and good feeling between the two countries, and as being in antagonism to the efforts of the Go- vernments. Two passages in General Webb's letter are worth considera- tion. The first relates to the law as regards privateering.

"Our laws not only guard against the fitting out in our ports of privateers against the commerce of neutrals with whom we are at peace, by compelling a suspected vessel to give bonds in double the value of vessel and cargo, but they also punish all proved to have been guilty of any such intention by fine and imprisonment. The late Chancellor Kent, in his Commentaries, page 122, vol. I. of the edition of 1840, thus describes the laws of the Union in re- lation to privateering- 'It is declared (by statute) to be a misdemeanour for any citizen of the United States, within the territory or jurisdiction thereof, to accept and exercise a commis- sion to serve a foreign prince, state, colony, district, or people, with whom the United States are at peace; or for any person, except a subject or citizen of any foreign prince, state, colony, district, or people, transiently within the United States, or any foreign armed vessel within the jurisdiction of the United States, to enlist or enter himself, or hire, or retain another person to enlist or enter himself, or to go beyond the limits or jurisdiction of the United States with intent to be enlisted or entered in the service of any foreign prince, state, colony, district, or people, as a soldier, or mariner, or seaman ; or to fit out and arm or to increase or augment the force of any armed vessel, with intent that such vessel be employed in the service of any. foreign power at war with another power with whom we are at peace; or to began, or set on foot, or provide or prepare the means for any military expedition or enterprise, to be carried on thence against the territory or dominions of any foreign prince or state, or of any colony, district, or people, with whom we are at peace, or to hire or enlist troops or seamen for foreign military or naval service ; or to he con- cerned in fitting out any vessel, to cruise or commit hostilities against a nation at peace with us ; and the vessel in this latter case is made subject of forfeiture.

• • • • In the case of the Santissima Trinidad:it was decided "that captures made by a vessel no illegally fitted out, whether a public or private armed ship, were torts, and that the original owner was entitled to restitution if the property was brought within our jurisdiction."'

"It may be well to add, that the laws of which Chancellor Kent gives the preceding synopsis expressly punish by fine and imprisonment any citizen of the United States found on board of letters of marque cruising against the commerce of a neutral power, or who shall leave our jurisdiction with the intent of being so employed ; and if these enactments are not sufficient to demonstrate to you and to your readers the public opinion of my country- men in relation to privateering against the commerce of a neutral, I beg leave to refer you to the very able exposition of the law of nations upon this subject, and the duties of neutrals and the rights of belligerents under it, contained in a report of Mr. Buchanan to Congress, while he was the Secre- tary of State of the United States pending our war with Mexico. That letter, and the doctrines it set forth, in relation to privateering upon the commerce of neutrals, was an able exposition of the whole question, ac- quiesced in and sustained by all parties of the United States ; and the com- ments of my own, which you copied on Monday from the Courier and En- quirer, were but a reflex of public opinion throughout our entire country, which is too frequently outraged by the reckless manner in which the Eng- lish press, with very few exceptions, habitually comments upon American affairs, in regard to which its conductors are profoundly ignorant. Mr. Buchanan, the author of the report referred to, is now the representative of our country at this Court, and although at home for twenty years politi- cally opposed to him, I have no hesitation in saying that we have never had a representative of our country abroad who is better qualified for the duties of his station, or one more jealous of our right-doing as a nation, as well as of our rights ; and he will, I doubt not, if requested by this Government, very cheerfully furnish from the archives of our Legation here his own official exposition of the doctrine of the Government of the United States in relation to privateering by the citizens of neutral nations upon the com- merce of belligerents."

The second passage gives an American view of the Eastern question— "Aside from all kindly feeling among us towards England, our people per- ceive in this question a political bearing in which we have a deep interest. Notwithstanding the claptrap indulged in by certain journals in the United States to inculcate the propriety of our interfering in European affairs, I ant quite safe in saying that but one contingency can arise in which the conser- vatives of our country, who constitute four-fifths of each of the two great po- litical parties in.whkh we are divided, would assent to such a proceeding— and that contingency is, a combination of the great European Powers against England, as a constitutional and representative government, because of its moral influence upon public opinion upon the Continent. I have repeatedly said, through the columns of the Courier and Enquirer, that in such a con- tingency the United States, in support of the great principle upon which its government is based, if not in self-defence, would be compelled to fight the battle for constitutional liberty side by side with England ; and this senti- ment, Sir, has been cordially reechoed through our whole country, and is the only species of intervention in European affairs which will be tolerated in our day.

'Now, we believe that so long as the balance of power in Europe is man- tauig4, so long there can be no danger of a Continental combination against Englid, or rather against constitutional liberty, which would be aimed equally at the United States through England ; but once permit Russia to absorb Turkey, and she would become so powerful that in a quarter of a century she could, and most probably would, compel a Continental alliance against England, as the representative of constitutional liberty in this he- misphere.

"Hem, then, you have the secret of the real feeling which pervades all classes in the United States, in relation to the settlement of this Eastern question. It is one of far deeper interest to us than would appear upon its surface, and that not from a propagandist feeling. On no one subject is the press of England so entirely mistaken as to the feelings and wishes of our keople, as in supposing that we desire to see a republic anywhere in Europe. There are, it is true, faoatics and fanatical newspapers in the United States; and these fanatics are such, socially, r.riae usly, and politically ; but the great mass of our people are too well in'orne d to believe that there exists a people in Europe capable of governing them elves through our Republican institutions."

The Queen has granted a pension of 100/. to Sir Francis Head, and 100/. to Mrs. Moir, the widow of" Delta."

Sir James Graham landed at Holyhead on Friday, from Dublin. He was accompanied by the Lords of the Admiralty ; and they inspected the works of the new harbour, Sand witnessed the blasting of the rock with gunpowder.

The Countess of Neuilly and the Prince and Princess de Joinville have at length crossed the Channel. They arrived at Ostend on Thursday sennight, and dined next day with King Leopold and his family at the Lacken.

The Grand Duchess of Leuehtenberg, with her children, left Torquay on Monday, and visited Plymouth. She was received and attended by the flag-lieutenant of the Port-Admiral, and conveyed in the Admiral's barge to Mount Edgecumbe. In the afternoon she returned to Torquay. It is stated that the Grand Duchess will leave England at the end of the present month.

The Turin Gazette of the-29th September states that Sir Robert Inglis had arrived at the Piedmontese capital.

An English traveller, writing from Naples on the 16th September, states that a copy of the Times which he had in his portmanteau was seized by the Police at the Customhouse.

We now hear that Lord Carlisle has vanquished the smallpox ; but the letter comes from Smyrna, and speaks of Rhodes as his abiding place, not Buyukdere.

Sir Henry Ward and Mr. Wyse recently had an interview at Zante. The Phillielenists at Athens profess to be alarmed at this conjuncture.

It is now announced that Baron de Bourquency, the French Minister, did not go to ()blintz after all ; and that Lord Westmoreland went in his military and not in his diplomatic capacity.

A letter from Bucharest states that the Prince of Coburg and the Duke de Nemours were in that town on the 19th September, and that they set out for Jassy on the 21st.

The Queen of Portugal has conferred the Grand Cross of the order of the Tower and Sword upon the Duke of Brabant.

The Crystal Palace and its contents are now protected by a body of fire- men, who were temporarily lodged in a house near the building on Monday. The firemen were selected from the London Fire Brigade.

Extracts from a correspondence between the East India Court of Directors and its agents in Scindc, transmitted by the former to Mr. Hugh Fleming for the information and use of the Manchester Commer- cial Association, have been published. They give an interesting account of the beginnings of a trade with Central Asia on the part of the Americans. It appears that American ships carry to the Mekran cargoes of low-priced cotton manufactures, coarse, but according with the wants of Asiatic com- munities; and exchange these goods chiefly for wool, dollars being plen- tiful when required. The Americans also trade with Muscat and Bushir ; taking dates in large quantities from the former. The cotton cloth which forms the staple of the American trade is unbleached, and of a kind which cannot be produced in England : it consists of a heavy weight of low- priced cotton, with comparatively little labour bestowed upon it. There were fifteen ships at Muscat in 1850-'51, and four at Guader in 1851. The cotton goods come into competition with ours when imported from Muscat to Kurrachee. The customs returns at Bombay show, however, that the total of importations from the Mekran coast to Bombay had increased 95,423 rupees in five years ; having sprung from 24,528 rupees in 1846 to 119,951 rupees in 1851. It is suggested by the collector at Kurrachee, that the way to meet this competitien is for the merchants to make the most of the Indus, and ship direct to Kurrachee ; while the Government should improve that port, the navigation of the Indus, and the roads of Seinde.

The Perth Gazette, a West Australian journal, reports a singular inci- dent in the history- of the convict establishment at Fremantle. It appears that, on the 27th June, the Governor visited the convicts for the purpose of hearing one of them lecture on mineralogy. The lecturer thought fit to preface his discourse by an adulatory address to the Governor, of in- ordinate length, expressing the homage of "the outcasts of society" be- fore him, for that "proof of his interest in our engagements and our wel- fare." In the name of the gentlemen in chains, his Excellency was as- sured that the excessively humble and oppressively modest sentiments of the speaker were not the " expression of fictitious feelings, or of vapid compliments, to obtain an adventitious approbation, but the genuine im- pulses of our souls." For the Governor they had but one sentiment- " esteem for his person and gratitude for his philanthropy."

In the past month, 24,331 emigrants left Liverpool in ships under Go- vernment inspection-1051 more than in September last year.

Cholera is diminishing in Norway and Sweden. The number of daily deaths in Christiania had fallen to 22 on the 21st September. The total of deaths from the visitation has been 1369, out of 2141 cases. In 1833 the deaths were 817, and in 1850 only 87. In Stockholm, 56 died on the 22d September : here the mortality has been very great—out of 3774 cases, 2219 have been fatal.

Mademoiselle Rachel positively quits Paris for St. Petersbnrg ; having, it is stated, made an amicable arrangement with the Theatre Francais, by which she is to remain absent a year and a half, and then resume her post. Her salary in Russia is to be 16,000!.; and an additional sum of 40001. is to be allowed for the troupe which generally accompanies the great tragedian, chiefly, we believe, composed of her own relations. Mademoiselle Rachel's return is fixed at present for the commencement of 1855. Id. Lablache leaves town for St. Petersburg in the course of a few days ; and Mademoiselle Carlotta Grisi also leaves for St. Petersburg, where she is engaged for the winter season, in the course of next week. She returns at the close of the season, and proceeds direct to London, where she has an engagement.— Galignani's Messenger. The Exeter Gazette reports an instance of Romanist dictation. A Roman Catholic and a Protestant were about to be married ; Dr. Errington, Roman Catholic "Bishop of Plymouth," announced that the marriage could receive his sanction only on condition that, after it had been performed in the Roman Catholic chapel it should not be repeated in any Protestant church within his "diocese." The parties to be married are rich ; so they were married by a Roman Catholic priest in Exeter, and were then conveyed out of the " diocese " by special train to Wellington, and married in the Farish-ehurch. A poor couple would have been sadly hampered by the Bishop s restriction. A great crime in the estimation of Spaniards has been committed at Com- postella—a nun has escaped from a convent. She isyoung, beautiful, clever, and high-born. She descended from a window of the Carmelite convent by means of a rope made of towels and napkins sewed together ; she is supposed to have reached Corunna, and sailed thence in a foreign vessel.

Two priests of the little town of Cabo-Currubeda, province of Galicia, in Spain, long entertained a mortal hatred of each other, gight nights sifo, the younger of the two went out with his domestic, and waited at the corner of a street until the other priest appeared. They then stabbed him with a poniard until he fell dead. The two criminals were immediately arrested. It was not difficult to discover them, as the priest had by mistake left his own umbrella by the side of the corpse and taken that of the victim. The domestic when arrested had his hands bloody, and the poniard with which the crime was committed was found in his pocket. On the tonsure of the murdered man the letters "M. J." were cut. They are the initials of "Mary and Jesus" ; and it is a common belief in the province that if a priest be suddenly killed, the cutting of these letters on his tonsure will save him from damnation. It is believed that they were cut by the priest from a feeling of c]iarity.— Galignani 's Messenger.

Meetings of the gas companies, it is understood, have been held with the view of increasing the price of gas consequent on the increased price of coals and the strikes of colliers in the North.

A woman has been sent to prison at Paris for " vagabondage." She ap- peared before the Tribunal of Correctional Police in male clothing, and said she was a chimney-sweeper. The President was surprised. "Why not ? said the prisoner; "there are men who make shirts, so a woman may be allowed to sweep chimnies." She said she was not a "lazy fellow "—in sum- mer she does harvest-work, and labours harder than the men. On the 18th of April last there was a small army of 20,143 persons in the gaols and houses of correction of England.