LONDON.

(FEOM .OUB Oira 00KEE3I'0KDEST,)

29th January.

More excitement than you would imagine was produced <at lbs news brought by the oterliand mail of the massacre of tiie s«(ittlc«9 at Poverty Bay. Scarcely a leading newspaper in the United Kingdom tat had its I'Jeadop." upon; $ie'eabjefti, arid nearly all of them advocated the doty; that devolved upon the Imperial Government of taking the the war at once in.its own hands, and sending cmfcrafficient troops to'deial " the cruel Maoris " (m Mr Fitzherbert called tHem, atthedinaergiveu tohim on the 27tfi Jantiiry) a cledaed' blow. But fior Majesty's ftlinistsrs have not pronounced upon-the-subject ye<;, and any desire on the part of the Borne Government to deal effectively with the difficulty ha* received a check i»; the improved accounts contained in. ft telegium Kent by yonr Govorlioi■,.to;tfie'<.';Cploalal Office. The nature and iono of too communication have served'to Bom^what check the the cry for vengeance. ..wßiplji ; ',.«a)» rawed upon the. receipt of ihe firatmiawa of the m&ssacra; imd 1 Kav« notiee<l already-in two or three ftuxp&W the adrpclSdy' of tHe Expediency of letting your colony light out the war without any interference. At the same time every opportunity is taken to give yon' strong praise lor yonr selfreliance, Hie Conference upon »he Turko-Greek difficulty has terminated ita labours, and ita decision is now being communicated to the Greek Government. Turkey has pursued a very moderate course ; and, although it conkt easily have crushed its {>igmy rjjVal, bail t preferred, wiasjßly, to cave the matter to the arbitration/of the great European powers. The action of Greece him been unanimously condemned as contrary to international law, and the Turkish Government has issued a circular to its repi^OTisntativea, expressing satisfaction at the result of the Conforence., The. drcular repudiates any aggressive intentions, and declares that Turkey has no desire to humiliate Greece, nor to wage war against her. Greece itself is in a state of great agitation. King George wrote a letter to his father, the King of Denmark, announcing his intention to abdicate in consequence of the disorder ftnd anarchy of his Government ; but he hag. been persuaded to abandon his project for the present. Greece has not yet sent its reply to the Conference. If it disputes the ultimatum, there is some quiet working behind the «cenea The Graeka are a mere iandful if people, and it is impossible to shut me a eyes to the conclusion that, if they eject the ultimatum submitted by the kmference, there ia some strong power «hind ready to .lend them assistance, i'or, left to their own resources, with heir, finances in a thoroughly desperate ondition, the result of a war with Turkey r with any power in Europe, would be . foregone oonclunion. In the meantime somewhat after the fashion of little lersons), they are eager for battle, and •ounce tremendously ; while Turkey almly looks on, and waits, its cannons eady for action. The usual disturbances have taken •lace in Spain. ■ The reports of the results if the elections to tho Cortes are extremely. onflicting—tho Monarchical party claimog a majority of |40j the Republicans neering at the statement One tiling is ertain:; small ox large, tho Monarchista Lave a majority, imd the question ia Who hall be King ? Among the Monarchists hemselvea there is dissension: upon this ioint. The p^ogpectsof the Duke de iontpensier have improved since my last ommunication, General Cabrera has ssued an addres»"to the people pf Navarro" a favour of Don Carlos, in which he says, hat the victory will have to be won on he field of battle. The assassination of he Governor of Burgos has ex«ited hot ndignation. Upwards ofBCI persons have teen arrested on suspicion of complicity, j ndignation meetings against. the JP#pal Nuncio have been held, ani' Sie-imme-[iate removal of the Nuncio has been lemanded of ttie Minister of Public ! iVorsbip, X/opkinjg; upoa the refusal of he lEtomish jCourji to recognise J,he ; Spanish* envoy/ins m insult to Spain, a arge crdwd of people assembled before I ho palace of the Huiicio, and tore, down he Papal arms. The salary paid 0 by spain to the Nuncio has been suppressed, is have also the powers {[ranted i<o Mm by ormer .Gttvernrefcnis. C' Tlieimost signifiant result that ha? yet been attained by ;he irevplutiojn waaji^wn^ a lew 'daysago, Then a Proteaiawxt religious service was mblicly -celebraijed for the first .time, in, ihree hundred yeaiai in the capital of %>ain. ,The Provisiional GaTOrnment has ustissued a manifesto, in wbicb/itsays that 'the Admiiiifltra,ion js watchful of the in*rt3Bta of the caose which the revolution las inaugurated j if this were imperilJed, ;he Governmoiit would be first to give the ;ry of alarm, in order that the Liberals night be armed against any attack." A sdmplete amnesty has been granted to all ■spanish>BuJ>jecto implicated in the insurrecßon of the 23 rd of September, at Porto Etico. .On suspicion of being implicated in the assassination, the Archbishop of Burgos is a prisoner in his own palace, by order of the Chief Judge. -' A-Bensation fumed up in the advertising columns of tho Times a few days jgo. A reward of one million sovereigns is offered for a certified copy of tho baptism of Boberj- Jennings, the son of Robert and Ann Jennings. I should think this will act ithe Jennings's all over the world in a state of qv,i vine. The man, Jkfurtitt llrown, who killed the old labourer.' David Baldray, was executed at Lew ea'on the 18fch January. After' swearing amd protesting that he was innocenfc,~ftfrtnado a" f<ill~ confeaolon of his crime, commencing J*i Dark and gloomy waa the nijjht," and said that he intended kill another matt, and not the poor old farm-labourer. ; ,He said, when he discovered that he .had killed the. wrong man, he Celt like a madman. In consequence iot the mildness of the weather soms af the theatres in London have been gathering rich' harvests. The most fortunatebave beenDriiry I^neand Govont Garden Theatres, from whose^ day and night; performances of their pantomimes, hundreds of people,are re-^ gularly turned iiwaiy. 1 have it (torn the, ieraee of Drury Xslne that this year's pan-, tominie " takings" at the doors are larger, than have ever betm known, There were'

not many pantomimes produced this seaaon in London. Many of the theatres found it more' profitable not to change their programmes. At the Strand, for instance, William Brought burlesque of "The Field of the Cloth of Gold 1' haa proved & real field of gold for the lessee, it having "drawn" crowded houses for nearly - 300 nights. The piece o£ «literary piracy.». "After Dark" still occupies the boards of the Princess Theatre, and Mr Boueicaulfc is said to have niade a fortune out of it. In contradistinction to this, drama has given some signs of heaithfulness lately. Byron's "Cyril's Success," certainly the last and most ambitious piece of dramatic writing that prolific author haa attempted, attracts good audiences nightly at the Globe, a pretty and comfortable theatre, newly opened within the last few weeks. Bat the most striking piece that has been produced for many years was played a fortnight ago for the first time at the Prince of Wales Theatre. It is called " School," and is by Mr Bo^ertson, the author of " Society," ', " Caste," and other plays. Mr Robertson has also produced another now play called 'fHomo," in which Mr Sothern has the principal character. I see in a late Australasian, a statement that Miss Julia Mathewß has formed an opera company, > and is travelling with it This ib not so; Miss Mathews has been playing in the provinces in the " Grand Duchess," under the .management of Mr Kusseli Her engagement terminated in December, > and since that time she has not been acting. Mr Clarence Holt has the Theatre Royal, Cork, and has been doing good business, ilia daughter* May Holt, whom Dunedin playgoers will remember, is playing principal burlesque parts. Lady Don has been, , travelling through the provinces with heir, usual success. Mr Charlca Dillon will shortly commence an engagement at Drury Lane. Hia services are secured for twelve months, and he roceives « very large salary. Mr' George "Fawcett Rowo has been playing at a new theatre, ten miles out of London, with great success. In the course of the year ho will probably play/his Air Micawber (with the Bpeciat permission of Mr Charles Dickens) at one of the principal theatres in London; but in the meantime he may pay a short visit to America (where he is a great favourite), having received tempting offers from managers there. Apropos of Charles Dickens, yoti are aware he is giving his farewell course of readings. He receives LIOO a night, and he reads sometimes four and five nights a week To obtain a seat it ia necessary to apply . three or four weeks before tho night. A new form of advertisement is adopted at the Gaiety Theatre, opened a month ago, [ at the corner of Wellington street, Strand. The electric light is shown eveiy night from the top of the building. > It sends a glare of light along the busy thoroughfare, and can be seen for miles. A shell has been thrown into the campaof theatrical managers, in tho form of a circular addressed to them by the Lord Chamberlain. The costume of many of the ladies engaged in spectacle and burlesque, has for some time past been the subject of quiet common! The great deaire appears to have been to dispense with clothing ; it was growing to be looked upon as a superfluity in burlesque and extravaganza. What little of it was compelled for decency's sake to be worn, was so cut and disposed as to display the limbs to the fullest advantage. At one of tho finest and grandest places of amusement in? tli eworld,; the Alhambra, in Leicester Square, tho vast interior of which is crowded every night, the dancers and ballet girla are most outrageously dressed—or undressed —and no pains are spared to show the female form with as little clothing upon it as dare be worn in public. Now the Lord Chamberlain presents his compliments to the managers, and learns with regret that there is much reason to complain of the impropriety of costume of the ladies in the pantomimes, burlesques, &c., which are now being performed in some of the metropolitan theatres. He says he has* no'iced for some time past ihat this evil has been gradually on the increase, and trusts he may confidently appeal to the managers to assist in remedying what threatens to become a public scandaL The circular in mild in its tone, and has only this day (the 29 ih January) been issued. Many of the theatrical managers roust be in dismay, for there is no doubt that numbers of those who crowd their theatres every night are attracted by what has been called " the delightful improprieties of the ballet. 1' On the other hand, those who wish to see the drama flourish, and hot t degraded, will be pleased at the very proper and aenaible stop, taken by the Lord Chamberlain.'.- Mapleson and Gye Itave combined forces^ and the forthcoming opera season will be' under their joint management. The .first appearance of ftfadame Patti in Husaia reads like a romance. The stalls were 300 francs each. Fifteen times was she recalled upon the stage after oveiy act. During the evening she was "presented with seventy bouquet* of camellias, valued at 20,000 I francs, and between the acts she sat in the Imperial box with the Emperor, Empress, aW Jjtoyal family, y v ■-'• . j The prijjctpalieatnxeß of interest in the sporting world ai© the forthcoming races for the Chester Cup, the Liverpool Grand National Steeplechase, the Two Thousand, akd the Derby. T^p. the surprice ofj jnost pkople, Bluegownji who was ahofc favourite for the Cup, has not accepted, 1 and Paul Jpnes now stands first favourite. A great deal of money wai laid upon Bhiegown, who is regarded as the almost< ; certain of man/ of this year's cups, and i the withdrawal Of the horse bySir tfpseph Hawley has given much dissatisfaction to his backers. For thet 'Two Thousand, WildOata^ and Belladrflm have tHe call, the former being at the short bdds-'of stwo W onel' THe Colonel and Fan are first and. second favourites for the Liverpool Grand National, , Belladiiiunv and Pero 'Gomez share tie Kononra of first fevbarifefor; the Derby, and Wild Oai» wid.v Pretender tae JfmotaAblj xegardedi«A great deal^of niphey is beiag ptifcton^Bthwa, who- Iras "afc5 50, bui who ispowal2otoL A great^matoh at billiards has been playedat Manchester between Roberta:;,pißte v>"and^Boiw»rts- fils--The"ycliampion -gave < his; son 20% out of lOpoif but the lad won easily, the score at^ the terminatjpa ofothe rgame beia# 1000