English and Foreign.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 363, 26 April 1856, Page 7

English and Foreign.

SWEDEN. The ratifications of the treaty between this countryand the Western Powers were exchanged at Stockholm, on the 17th December, and the treaty has since been officially published in the Moniteur and London Gazette. The preamble sets forth :— " Her Majesty tie Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, his Majesty the Emperor of the French, and his Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway, being anxious to avert any complication which might disturb the existing balance of power in Europe, have resolved to come to an understanding with a view to secure the integrity of the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, and have named sis their plenipoteniiaries to conclude a treaty for that purpose —[Here follows the full description of the three plenipotentiaries, whose names appear at the bottom, with the verification of their power*.] ♦ " Article I. Hi?! Majesty the Kino1 of Sweden and Norway engages not to cede to nor exchange with Russia, nor to permit her to occupy, any part of the territories belonging to the Crown of Sweden and Norway. His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway engnges, further, not to code to Russia any right of pasturage, of fishery, or "f any other nature whatsoever, either on the sai'i territories or upon the coast of Sweden and Norway, and to res:st any pretension which may be put forward by Russia with a view to establish the existence of any of the rights aforesaid. " Article 11. In case Russia should make to his Majesty the King of S veden and Norway any proposal or demand, having for its object to obtain either the cession or the exchange of any part whatsoever of the territories belonging to the Crowns of Sweden and Norway, or the power of occupying certain points of the said territories, or the cession of rights of ilshtry, of pasturage, or of any other right upon the said territories and upon the coasts of Sweden and Norway, his Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway engages forthwith to communicate such proposal or demand to her Britannic Majesty and his Mnje«tv the Emperor of the French ; and their said Majesties, on their part, engage to furnish to his Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway sufficient naval and military forces to cooperate with the.naval and military forces of his said Majesty for the purpose of Resisting the pretensions ov aggressions of ihissia. The description, number, and destination of such forces shall, if occasion should arise, be determined by common agreement between the three

powers. " Article TIL The present treaty shall he ratified, and the ratifies!ions shall he exchanged at Stockholm as soon as possible. "In witness whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seal of their amis. '• Done at Stockholm, the 21st of November, in the year of our Lord .IS;'>s. "Arthur C. Magems. "V. I.onsTErx. " Stikknkt.d." The Guardian of the 2iith December makes the following remarks on this treaty :—" The treaty which has been concluded between En<rhmd," France, and Sweden, and now takes Europe by surprise, hinds the latter power to cede no territory to Russia—to grant her no " casement"' even", no uMiin»- or p:razii.tr licence, which fraud or force could convert into possession—and, should any such proposal be made, not to keep it a secret ; whilst we, for our parts, undertake to defend her, in case ot need, again-i our enemy and her dangerous neighbour. The <jround of this convention is explained to X; That there are certain harbours in Lapland which arc free from ice in winter, and which Kussia (whose northern ports are all locked np for half the year) lonsjs, naturally iM!ou»-h, to make her own. The value of it is not so much for the promises it contains —fora promise is but pap or , useless generally if it cannot h« enforced, u lu j

needless if it can—as in the close union it creates between the three powers. Be we friends or foes of Russia, the Scandinavian States clearly are our natural allies. Per contra, it saddles us with that most objectionable of international engagements, a territorial guarantee of a not very definite kind. A " particular" guarantee, as it is called, not a general one, since it provides against aggression from one quarter only, but without limit apparently in point of time. The transaction amounts in substance to no more than this—we engage to protect Sweden against Russia, and Sweden accepts our protection, and makes common cause with us to an extent which, if the war lasts, will probably oblige her to go farther.'1

Denmark.—Sound Dues.—The question of the Sound dues intrudes itself, itmust be owned rathev unseasonably, and there is something eccentric in the idea of a general Congress on th.it or any subject in which Russia is to bear a part. Traced to their oriuin, these dues differ not much from-those which every owner of a peltv fortalice perched on a convenient crag used formerly to exact from the wayfarers on road or river." But Denmark now claims title to them by prescription, by virtue of the treaties in which they have been recognised, and as compensation for her services in lighting and clearing the Channel. The European States are disposed to treat it as a question of amount; hut America t-.kes higher ground ; refuses to be bound by prescription, or by the treaties and political institutions of Europe; and insists on a free pass.itre, paying only a just equivalent for services performed. And if she will not pay, it can hardly be expected that others should. The objection is an ungracious one, for what are the United States but an oftVnoot of Europe—young folks who have set up for themselves on the other side of the Atlantic ?—but in principle there can be little doubt that no lapse of time and no acquiescence can entitle any power to make a mare clauium of blue water. The dues however are a customary payment; they form so important a part of the public revenue of Denmark that the abolition of them would almost touch her political existence; and it is clear that any proposal she may make ought to receive fair and liberal consideration. Be this as it may, can the question be settled whilst a fierce quarrel is raging between the principal parties interested, whose aim it must be on every occasion to thwart and cross each other.—Guardian, Dec. 2(5. Davidson and Gordon, the fraudulent colonial merchants, who have already escaped the consequences of not surrendering when declared bankrupts, by the technical objection that only one notice was served upon the two partners, were indicted at the Central Criminal Court, in December for having, after they had been adjudged bankrupts, feloniously embezzled and secreted a portion of their estate over the value of £10—to wit, three bank-notes of the value of£soo each—with intent thereby to defraud their creditors. In another count the prisoners were charged with embezzling money to the amount 0f"£2,600 with the like intent. The count charging the embezzlement uf "banknotes" broke down for v,-ant of any clear evidence that the prisoners ever had these notes^in their possession ; they were then charged with embezzling "money!" The latter count also failed upon a miserable technicality ; the prisoners got out of the country before they 'were declared bankrupts, therefore the secretion of these notes, "aftev they had been adjudged bankrupts," took place beyond the jurisdiction^ of the court. On this ground a verdict of " Not guilty '' was taken. During the trial, it came (Hit that two notices in bankruptcy had • nee;i le.'t—oiu: for each partner—at use prisoners' counting house, the messenger of the court stating thaAn his former affidavit the statement that lie had left but one was a mistake. The next dayfihe prisoners were tried for fraudulently obtaining goods after they ft.uud himself insolvevent, and on this indictment a verdict ot "(JuiUy " was found. Mr. Justice tV.evkige snd in "the present case he saw no circumstance ! of mili'Mtion to call upon him not to pass th« extreme sentence under the Act of Parliament unmi which indictments were framed and it wU therefore his duty to p^s u^n them the full sentence of the law, which mat they ■| ho imprisoned ami kept to har-i •^'-■r for two ! y''\LM. Lnsieux «n«l Fmrc, > -!• -'"rev «ra I preparing for publication v; -.-....--en l<ugc ! inajs, an atlas of subterranean iV---

The Post states that the Queen has been pleased to mark her warm appreciation of the !«unparalleled self-devotion of the Good Miss Nightingale," by presenting her with "a jewelled ornament" of great beauty, which may be worn as a decoration^ and has accompanied it with an autograph letter—such a letter as Queen Victoria has ere now proved she can write—a letter not merely of graceful acknowledgment, but full of that deep feeling which speaks from heart to heart, and at once ennobles the sovereign and the subject.— Guardian.