The Principality

FKANCE. The Electoral Bill having been read a second time on "Wednesday, will be read a third time on Tuesday, and will therefore be passed before the end of the week. It will be published on the 17th inst., after which forty days are allowed for the registration and the settlement of objections. The election will therefore take place about the 1st of May, and the new Assembly will meet somewhere between the 20th and the 25th. 01 The approaching trial at Bourges of the parties accused of exciting the insurrection of the 15th May, begins to occupy much attention. The number of witnesses are said to be 2,193.. The marriage of General Cavaignac with Madame Bauden, widow of the former Receiver-General and banker of that name, is talked of in the fashionable circles of Paris. Ma- dame Bauden possesses a private fortune of 3,000,000 francs ( £ 120,000), -.iii il the hotel in the Rue de Varennee, which the Goneral occupied when he was chief of the Executive power, belongs to that lady.

RESTORATION OF THE POPE. It is said that the President of the Republic has come to the conclusion that France should take a decided initiative in the restoration of the Pope to his spiritual and temporal authority. In a council held on Saturday evening, it was decided that France should intervene directly, with the con- currence of the other Catholic Powers, on the first appeal of the Sovereign Pontiff. Orders had been given to concentrate troops about Tonlon and Marseilles, to be ready.

PRUSSIA. OPENING OF THE PRUSSIAN CHAMBERS. BERLIN, FEB. 26.—The new Chambers were opened this morning by the King in person. The Patriot says, that the speech of the King, on opening the new Legislative Chambers, is chiefly remarkable for the emphatic reference to the confidence which he reposes in the organisation, bravery, and devotion of the army. His Majesty signifies the willingness of Prussia to make all necessary sacrifices" for "a closer union of the States of Germany irt one federal State;" adding: "The path to- wards an agreement between all the German Princes and the National Assembly at Frankfort has already been en- tered upon, and the efforts of my Government will continue to b8 directed to insure it." A hope is likewise expressed, of a speedy and satisfactory adjustment of the disputes be- tween the Central Government of Germany and Denmark. On the subject of strictly domestic affairs, the royal speech is not communicativc, because, perhaps, there is little certain to communicate but we are told, that the preparatory measures for realising the independence of various religious congregations, as provided by the draught of the Constitu- tion, have been taken, and will be proceeded with as rapidly a the importance of the question will permit." The Cham- bers are scarcely yet in order of battle.

ROME. The Constitntionnel announces as official, that the Pope lias claimed the collective intervention of Austria, Spain, -i-, and France to re-establish the former Government at Home. Count Martini, the Sardinian Minister at Gaeta, has received an official notification of this demand of inter- vention from the Cardinal Secretary of State. The King of Sardinia has been painfully affected at the exclusion of which lie has been the object on the part of the Pope, particularly as he was the first amongst the Catholic powers to off or his mediation, or even his army, to restore the Sovereign Pon- tiu before the proclamation of the Republic at Rome. The Sardinian Cabinet, however, had addressed to all the mem- bers of the corps diplomatique present at Turin a protest against such an intervention. The news of the protest tendered by the Cabinet of Turin to all the European powers, against the intervention of Austria, Sjxain, Naples, and France, for the purpose of rein- suiting the Pope, to the exclusion of the King of Sardinia, is fully confirmed. The Pope took the resolution on the unani- mous and frequently reiterated advice of the members of the Slici-ed College, united in a secret consistory at Gaeta. In that consistory the Cardinals, after submitting to the Pope the imperious necessity of having recourse to foreign inter- vention to put an end to the anarchy existing at Rome, and to the pillage which the revolutionists were committing on the patrimony of the Church, as well as to the pillage of the ga icric-s of the Belvidere and other collections of the works of the ancient masters, laid down as a principle that the po ;e ought to call in the aid of the Catholic powers who exorcise the right of veto on the election of the Sovereign Pontiff, and who are therefore considered as the natural protectors of the Holy See. These powers are France, Austria, Spain, and Portugal; but on account of the great distance of the last of these powers, and the natural commo- tions of which it is the victim, Portugal was omitted, and Names, which has been always considered by the Roman Court as a fief of the Pope's, taken in its stead. Besides these motives, the offer of King Ciiarles Albert was looked upon with the greater jealousy by the Sacred College, because the Sardinian Cabinet only proposed an amicable mediation between the Pope and the Revolutionists of Rome, while the Sacred College demanded assistance with arms. In the sitting of the Assembly of the 18th, the last protes- tation of the Pope was read, and received with a unanimous cry of Iiivc the Republic A deputation of the clubs and secret societies of Paris have left for Rome, together with a certain number of retired oiBeers, who are going to drill the new Republican militias of Central Italy.

THE UNITED STATES. LIVERPOOL, SATURDAY.—The ship Wisconsin, Captain Muuford, which arrived to-day, has put us in possession of accounts from Now York to t:ie 14th uit. The accounts from California are exciting, but deplorable. The dates from San Francisco are to the 25th of December. The following extracts contain the pith of the intelligence :— Since I last wrote to you, affairs have been getting worse. We have no government, either civil or military, and the country is full of lawless men, who are committing the most shocking outrages. Murders and robberies are of daily, and I might almost say, of hourly occurrence. Not an account occurs from the north, south, or the interior, but notifies the commu- nity of new acts of villany which go unpunished. Within six weeks more than twenty murders have occurred in a white population of less than 15,000 souls. The people are now acting in self-defence; and four or live days since three men were hung by Lynch law, sixty miles from this place; The United States revenue laws are now in force here, and will yield an income of say 450,000 dollars the ensuing year, and perhaps more, and four-fifths of this amount will be collected at this port. Much dissatisfaction exists at the payment of such a tax on the part of the inhabitants without either a Government or a representation. This feeling is gaining ground from day to day." 0 Z, The gold mines continue to be as rich as before, although the rainy season has caused many to suspend their work. There can be no doubt that at least 4,000,000 dollars of gold, at sixteen dollars per ounce troy, has been taken from the mines."

SOUTH WALES RAILWAY. We gave last week a short notice of the half-yearly meeting ,if the above company, held on the 28th ultimo, together with the engineer's, report. We now conclude the report of the meeting, which will be found interesting to must of our readers.] The Chairman (Mr. C. Itusaell) observed, that during the period a railway was under construction the most important subject wast:i\)gress of the works and proprietors looked rather to the c, "f the engineer than to that of the directors for information, It was, however, the duty of the directors to explain the general principles by which they were guided, to tell the proprietors in what way their enterprise could most successfully and rapidly be accomplished and, above all things in these days, to consider how their capital could be most eco- nomically and effectively applied. When the South Wales Railway was first proposed, money for railway purposes was abundant, and confidence in railway enterprises high. The course then thought expedient was to accomplish the entire line, from one extremity to the other, in the least practicable time and simultaneously. By that means they hoped the ap- plication of any considerable portion of their capital to pay- ment of interest and other incidental charges so that they might preserve the great bulk of it to be applied to the works themselves, and so render those works profitable at the earliest possible period. In the circumstances, he believed that course was the most judicious and that course they adopted. After- wards, however, circumstances materially changed; money could be obtained only with great difficulty; the calls were paid slowly, reluctantly, and frequently not without remon- strance. On many shares they were unable to obtain any pay- ment at all; and the consequence was that the directors would apply that day for the sanction of the proprietors to the for- feiture of a certain portion of those shares. The course which then seemed expedient was to complete the line by successive portions and they determined to apply themselves first to the completion of a portion whioKlay between Newport and (Swan- sea,—to complete it so that communication by railway might almost simultaneously be opened from Grange Court toNewport, and then apply themselves to the western extremity. The directors looked forward with anxiety to the time when they should have it in their power to open the line between Newport and Swan- sea, because they believed they would be enabled thereby to afford a most incontrovertible proof of the value of the line, and would find in the profits an offsett against the interest, which necessarily increased as the sums expended on the line became larger. To estimate tneir position and prospects, it would be well to look back beyond the gloomy vears 1847 and 1818—be- yond the years of excitement, 1845 'and 1846—to remember that the line had not its origin in the days of railway insanity, but in 1843 and 1844. Those were sober, calculating years. The traffic was most carefully taken. In estimating the pas- senger traffic recourse was had to the incontrovertible proof of the existing tratlic to be found in the returns to the Stamp- office. The rest of the traffic was ascertained by the fullest in- quiry. Nor had anything happened since to alter the views and prospects of 1JJ43-4-4. South Wales was gradually deve- loping its resources. From an interesting paper which had been read before the Society of Civil Engineers, it appeared that there was a supply of coal varying in quality from the most bituminous up to pure anthracite—that its evaporating strength was equal to that of the northern coal—that it was to be found in inexhaustible quantities. They knew that this coal was peculiarly applicable to the purposes of steam naviga- tion and they had their own experience to guide them as to its excellence for locomotive purposes. Could there, under these circumstances, be any doubt, with such a harbour as Mil- ford-haven at one extremity and the railway passing through the the country, that South Wales must become one of the great seats of manufacturing industry ? It might be said that the expectations of traffic in some cases lately had been disap- pointed but those were cases in which districts had been al- ready sufficiently supplied with railway communication. What were the causes that had depreciated railway stock? Next to that state of commercial matters which had affected all invest- ments, he believed it had been the too rapid extension of rail- ways, the attempt to form them before companies were rich enough to make them, and the country through which they might pass rich enough to support them. With respect to branches, the South Wales line could not have any except those running up valleys-hives of that industry and sources of that mineral wealth to which they looked for traffic. They had only to rely on their own resources for a prosperous result.. They were not proceeding rashly, but by successive. stages and they were anxious to make good one position before they attempted to gain another. Circumstances had become pecu- liarly favourable for the undertaking-a beneficial change had taken place in commercial affairs. They had met the period of adversity as well as any of their neighbours, if not better. Railway property had generally improved, and of that general improvement their own shares had partaken. Money had be- come plentiful. He was assured by persons acquainted with the subject, that there was every indication of its becoming still more abundant. Several railways had been refusing to borrow at 4 per cent. and if the directors were able to obtain money at a moderate rate under the debentures they were authorised to issue, they hoped to be able to relieve thetro- prietors for a considerable time from the pressure of further calls, and to accelerate the progress of the works, to which they ought to look for a return in the first place, on the completion of that portion of the line which ran from Newport to Swansea (cheers). The Secretary then read the following

REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS. The Directors have been steadily occupied during the last half- year in giving effect to the determination adopted at the August meeting to proceed with the construction of the South Wales Rail- way by successive portions, beginning in the first instance with the section which lies between Newport and Swansea, so that that part of the line may be brought into operation a.t the earliest practicable period. c, With that view the Directors 1 ave entered into engagements with ',me the several contractors employed to the west of Swansea, in the manner recommended by the engineer, by which they have con- sented entirely to suspend their works for the present, placing them, however, in such a condition that they may suffer very little injury from the delay, and that they may be again resumed when such a course shall be considered expedient. They hope also that the landholders with whom agreements have been made will be induced to afford every facility for postponing the completion of the pur- chase of their land as the most certain means of enabling the Com- pany to complete an important portion of their line in the first in- stance, and afterwards to carry forward the works, as soon as prac- ticable, to the western extremity of the Principality. The Directors have thus concentrated for the present all their exertions and resources on the works between Newport and Swan- sea and though the pressure of the times has prevented their pro- secuting them with all the rapidity that could be desired, the pro- prietors will perceive by the Report of Mr. Brunei that not only considerable progress has been made in all the heavier works, but that various detached portions, amounting in the whole to about twenty miles out of the entire distance of sixty miles, are ready for the reception of the permanent way and the rails, the laying at which will be commenced without delay. Simultaneously with these operations, the works on this side of Newport are proceeding satisfactorily, and a communication -has been held with the Directors of the Gloucester and Forest of Dean Railway respecting the eight miles of the line between Gloucester and Grange Court, which are to be executed by that Company. It would be obviously unnecessary, as far as the interests of the South Wales Company are concerned, to complete this part of the line till the portion beyond it is ready, and Mr. Brunei, who is also the engineer of the Gloucester and Forest of Dean Railway Company, is regulating his progress on their line by the progress he is able to make on our own works. The Directors look to the opening of the line to Swansea as an object of the deepest importance, because, though they have been gratified to observe the great improvement which has recently taken place in the value of the shares, demonstrating as it does conclu- sively that the depression proceeded from general and not from peculiar causes, yet they feel satisfied that nothing can so effectually restore the public confidence, and can so certainly and permanently improve the just value of your property, as the incontrovertible proof which will be afforded by actual experience of that traffic which you are justified in expecting on your line. The Directors did not think it just or reasonable to the Proprie- tors who had embarked their property in the undertaking, but who, under the recent pressure, have found a difficulty in paying up their calls, to exercise against them the powers conferred by the Act, while that course could by possibility be avoided; but they think the time is now arrived to carry into effect the determination p-vnressed in their last Report, by forfeiting those shares at least on whicll tilC su i and L1I1l'll liifaaluivjuto Ku-vo *\ot bvtrii paIet. They therefore proceeded to forfeit them at a Board of Directors held on the 24th of January, and a resolution will be submitted to you, in conformity with the provisions of the Act, for confirming that forfeiture. Their number is 1,261, and the amount which has been received on them is Z4,137 10s. The Directors propose that those shares should not be re-issued until the improvement in the money-market shall be so confirmed that they may either submit some general scheme for re-allotting them among the shareholders at an advantage to them, or that they may be then gradually absorbed, so as not to produce any sensible effect on the value of your property. The forfeiture of these shares does not involve the consequent abandonments the claim which the Company possesses over the proprietors to whom they belonged, for the calls previously in ar- rear. On the contrary, it is the fixed purpose of the Directors to proceed to the recovery of these sums in every case which affords prospect of success, and now that an improvement has taken place in the money market, they feel that the performance of their duty to those proprietors who have paid with regularity prescribes the adoption of active measures againstt hose who may be in arrear on more recent calls. The half of the South Wales Capital having now been called up and received, the Directors recommended that at the present meet- ing, an authority should be given to borrow money on bond or mortgage. They hope that in the improved state of the money market, they shall find no difficulty in obtaining sufficient resour- ces by loans, in which case they will be enabled not only to suspend for a time further calls on the proprietors, but to proceed with greater rapidity with their works, during the summer months which are now approaching. The Directors consider that they have been fortunate in inducing C. R. M. TALBOT, Esq., M. P., of Margam Park, to accept a seat at the Board, in the place of Colonel Owen, who resigned, as they feel that his large interest in the undertaking, and his great local knowledge and influence, will render him a most important and valuable acquisition in the management of your affairs. The following Directors retire by rotation on the present occasion, but oflerthemselves for re-election JAJIES ALSTON, Esq. Sir J. J. GUEST, Bart., M.P. STEPHEN LEWIS, Esq. C. R. M. TALBOT, Esq., M.P. B. Dobree, Esq., has, to the regret of the Directors, tendered his resignation as one of the Auditors of the Company. It therefore becomes the duty of the Proprietors to appoint another gentleman as Auditor in his place. CHARLES RUSSELL, Chairman. The Chairman then moved that the report be adopted, printed, and circulated among the proprietors. Mr. Chapman had heard with much pleasure the lucid state- ment of the chairman, and thought the directors deserved the thanks of the proprietors for the manner in which they had conducted the affairs of the company under circumstances of very great difficulty. But he wished to know whether the work hitherto executed had been so within the estimates ? Mr. Brunei stated that the works had been continued on the original sums in the estimates, and nothing had occurred to increase the cost of consuuuilun (Hear, how). The delays in construction involved some payments to enable them to sus- pend the works. In reply to Mr. Chapman, Mr. Ridgway, and Mr. Turner, The Chairman said that hitherto the proprietors of the South Wales Railway had never contemplated the abandonment of the line beyond Swansea. There were obligations of public faith which required them to accomplish that line. The ques- tion was left open by their present mode of proceeding but his conviction was that they were bound to complete it. The time was not yet come to move for having Miltord-haven the station for foreign packets; they must first have the railway completed. The directors contemplated the forfeiture of shares on which the fourth, fifth, and sixth instalments had not been paid. Mr. Turner inquired why Mr. Brunei, who had stated in the report of August that the works between Newport and Swan- sea would be finished in 12 months, now said it would be 12 months at least before they were completed ? Mr. Brunei referred to the context as explaining his mean- ing. In August he had said if the works were prosecuted as speedily as such woiks could be prosecuted, they might be completed within 12 months. They were moving on more ra- pidly now than before, yet not so rapidly as they might if the means at disposal were not limited. The works were prose- cuted at the rate at which the directors informed him they were able to give the money to carry them on. Mr. Field observed that no mention was made of any com- munication between the directors and the Great Western Rail- way Company with respect to the money which the South Wales Company was about to raise. It w&s the interest of the Great Western Company to bring the South Wales line into

AUSTRIA. A correspondent of the Christian Times expresses a fear that there will be before long a general rising, as the aris- tocratic party now in power demand that the redemption of the feudal burdens shall be paid with twenty years', pur- chase. Another great source of present discontent is the re- cruiting. In many places, the people will not give their children to become soldiers, and they are then taken by mi- litary force from the houses of their parents. The Austrian army numbers, at present, 550,000, and 80,000 more are now to be called to keep down every public movement in favour of liberty. There is naturally no quieter people than the Austrians, but a great change is taking place. They see that the promises made them are not kept; instead of the liberty of the press, its editors are imprisoned, and, in opposition to all law, they are put in regiments as common soldiers. The German Catholics are prohibited, and the old laws against them put in force. The decrees of the Austrian Parliament are not regarded; they may determine a point but the of- ficers of the Government refuse to execute it. The Ministry is nearly powerless, for the military act as they please. The Jesuits are the rulers. The young Emperor had the Jesuit Bombelles as tutor, and as he is under the influence of his mother, the Archduchess Sophia, the worst of all women, and the tool of the Jesuits. Scarcely a tenth part is true of what the German newspapers write on Hungary.

HUNGARY. The Russians, whose force, conformable to the official Ga- zette, numbered but 10,000 men, have already increased it to 20,000, and 20,000 more are about to enter in case of need. Established and married men, under twenty-nine years of age, are now forced to march against the Magyars and the Italians. In Brunn, the inhabitants, by force of arms, have refused to give recruits. The day before yesterday, a man was sentenced and shot for having one old sword in his pos- session. General Schlick has joined the main Austrian army. On the other hand, the insurgent general, Gorgey, has effected a junction with General Dembinsky, who has arrived at Hat- van, about thirty English miles from Pesth. The troops under Gorgey are 9,000 strong, with 30 pieces of cannon and 12 howitzers. The insurgents are now stronger than ever, z5 cl and are flushed with their recent successes at Siebenbergen —sucesses which compelled the Austrian generals to invoke the aid of the Russians. Windischgratz was preparing, ac- cording to the latest accounts, to march against Hatvan. On the 10th, there were further arrivals of Russian troops (Uhlans) at Cronstadt. The Szeklers (partisans of the Mag- yars) had retreated to Marienburg.