ENGLAND.

Press, Volume VII, Issue 803, 26 May 1865, Page 3

ENGLAND.

fntOH OTJB OWK , COKBESPOHDBKT.3 b " Lokdov, March 26,1865. Hie subjects that make up my letter to you are not always such as give any pleasure to your readers. Happily the month of ~ Much has been marked by fewer calamities HffT l any month since I first had the treasure of writing to you. I have to record the , loss of no distinguished of our own country, though France has Jk& in the Duke de Morny, its leading . statesman. The debates in the House of Commons have been the most general subject X of the leaders of newspapers, and even these have not been particularly interesting - or brilliant. The most exciting topic of conversation has been one of a private and personal nature. The is Edmunds , Scandal," as the newspapers call thisextraordinary mess, uamost mysterious business, involving, as it aspersions on the character of such distinguished men as Lords Brougham and Westbury. The name of the former has 'been mixed up in the matter before the Ingestion has been fully investigated, and it is | : /ancerely to be hoped that the noble lord : out of the matter with clean hands. Scotsman has published a statement of the connection of the Brougham family with "--JJr- Edmunds', and, if it be true, goes far to &;-TO&te that the honored name of Lord Brougham will pass this examination unby suspicion. That Mr. W. will pass the same ordeal with ijilje same success, seems extremely doubtful. must wait for the decision of the fMihmittee before offering our own judgSifient. As regards the Lord Chancellor, little he may be to blame in the If iSstter of Mr. Edmunds' resignation, or the IfiMßjiwr in which that act was brought about || (questions of which we cannot at present he has, by the appointment of his U tacceßSors, been guilty of another act of a fault of which so many charges i lawe been laid at his door. It might be said fl-dMifae Bankruptcy Act," that it has been a ftflgantic system of out-door relief to Lord weetbury'e relations," were the words used * tibe other day at a public meeting in : Ipewich. This is a hard accusation, but it = -m- well-founded, and by the appointment of . Mr. S. Betiiel to one of Mr. Edmunds , 'vacant posts, and a son-in-law to the other, the Jiord Chancellor has not done much to titer Kiintgelf from* the charge. I have no inclination, nor would it be interesting to your readers, to go into the „, debate of the various defalcations of which Mir. Edmunds has been accused. It is suffident to say that, if they be true, he has been *]ju3ty of swindling the country, and the mere removal from office ought not to suffice at a punishment. A committee of the Jfijoose of Lords has been appointed to inteeiiuale the matter. Their proceedings wfllfor the present be entirely private, and '". consequently it will be some time before we -' tan their decision. : The following is not a bad story, which I 'C-Jm. in a newspaper the other day. The * jeke ie ascribed to Lord Chelmsford, who could not help betraying his pleasure at see- , ing Hβ great rival roasted. Somebody «aid . Hot during Lord Derby's provoMnely can*t- and uonical speech, v Old Bethel " looked as if he wished himself back in the Commons. " You mean, ,, eaid Lord Westpredecessor to the woolsack, "he - wooldn&e for this session at least, to be loember for Bury St. Edmunds." : : Bie Owl, whose intelligence is generally kV correct, asserts that Government l£az)ily recommend to Parliament a consider- / able increase of the allowance made to the fence of Wales. It was generally felt at : Ufa time when the original grant was made ■ that it would hardly prove sufficient, and £fa» impression has been borne out by the , experience of Hie last two yean. Besides, we are told to expect an additional expense fef Ida in an addition to his fimuhv whica event we are to look for during the approaching; summer. — Jtosiuill remember that X referred last ttontii to Lord Amberly's maiden speech at Leeds. Since I wrote bis Lordship has paid another visit to Leeds, but nas not been recmd with that cordiality with which he . "we greeted on bis first visit. It appears that the young politician had rather modi"fied~m» views on the subject of Eeform ;■ tins change did not meet the views of the enlightened electors of Leeds, and the re■omtions of the meeting were not very ■favorable to the aspiring candidate. The next evening, however, Lord Amberley addressed the non-electors, and told them that Iβ had again changed bis mind, and that his anginal opinion had come upon him with ireeh strength. The consequence was his Lordship wae vociferously cheered, and was «fflmoualy foted tobea proper person to

represent Leeds in Parliament. "Will he change his opinions again before the election comes ? Yet we ought not to be hard on a young man because he holds doubtful I opinions on a point which has puzzled such men as Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Bright. By the death of the Duke de Morny the Emperor of the French has lost his most intimate friend . and most trusted adviser. The Duke, it will be remembered, was the reputed half-brother of the Emperor. Though he was not by any means a great statesman, yet he fulfilled his duties as President of the Corps Legislatif with great success. The worst blot on his character was the want of principle so plainly evident. In money matters he was most entirely devoid of all morality; he thought of nothing but gain and self-gratification. The large fortune which he has left—amounting, it is said, to £600,000—is the result of speculations, the success of which he secured by the use of information which he obtained in his capacity of a public Minister of Erance. This is the man whom the funeral oration would make posterity believe was a pious Christian.

A case of murder has called public attention to the difficulties of always convicting the right man. A man called Harrington died from stabs received in a drunken brawl between some Englishmen and Italians. A jman called Pelizkrai was arrested on suspicion, was identified by the dying man as the striker of the fatal blow, was tried before Baron Martin, and was condemned to death, the Judge asserting his entire concurrence in the verdict of the jury. Another man, Gregino by name, shortly afterwards gave himself up as the real murderer, and is found guilty of manslaughter, though Mr. Justice Byles, before whom the case was tried, thought the verdict inconsistent with the evidence adduced. So there are now lying in prison, two men, (Pelizioni having been respited) found guilty of the same act. This is an unsatsfactory state of things.

The old joke about the Nelson monument seems likely to be repeated in the case of the Wellington statue. Mr. Stephens, the architect, has not yet completed his plans. It will be a race as to which is finished first, though Nelson has been dead some 60 years, and Wellington only 12. There are two gloomy events to which, in spite of the congratulations expressed at the beginning of my letter, I ought to refer, and those are the failure of the bank of Messrs. Spooner and Atwood, at Birmingham, and the lock-out in the iron trade. The former event has caused immense consternation and distress in the Midland counties, as the bank has always been looked upon as the type of solidity. The cause of failure has not yet been clearly shown, but it is evident that the affairs have not been in a satisfactory state for some time. Every step is being taken to prevent the bank being put into the Bankruptcy Court. ."We can only hope that a good dividend will shortly be paid. Hie other event, the strike in the iron trade, is also most melancholy. The fault seems to lie not altogether on one side. The distressamong the working men's families by these frequent strikes is incalculable. As a general rule in such cases the men have not altogether the worst of the struggle for a time, as the system of " Trades' Unions" has rendered them to a certain extent independent of their employers. But in this case the masters have completely outflanked and defeated the men by the formation of a "Masters' Union," thus fighting their adversaries with their own weapons. It is time for mc to refer to the proceedings in Parliament. The most interesting debate of-the month has been one on the defence of Canada. The subject was broached by Mr. Seymour Fitzgerald, and the debate was carried on by Mr. Lowe, Mr. Cardwell, Mr. Bright and Mr. Disraeli. The latter spoke for the second time this session, and a remarkably able speech it was. But the most characteristic point in the discussion wae the readily accepted assertion of Mr. Cardwell, as to the peaceful feelings of the North towards England. Taking this as their cue, the majority of the speakers contended,notthat Canada could not be defended, but the more important point that Canada would not be attacked. Thus, Lord Palmerston asserted the friendly relations between the G-overnments, Mr. Disraeli, looking at the question in a philosophical light, thought that the Americans had got too much war already on their hands to wish for any more; and of course Mr. Bright asserted that the Federals were too just and too wise to think of such a thing. Though the House could not agree with the sentiments of the last-named gentleman, yet his peroration was co fine that it was received with the greatest applause from all sides. By the way, I may mention an accident, happily not serious in effect, whichhappened to Lord Paimerston. The Premier was going out of the House when some one on the other side of the door pushed it open, knocking down Lord Paimerston on the stone floor. He was picked up and taken to a seat, where he went fast asleep for the rest of the evening. There is a rumour that Parliament will certainly be dissolved in July, and this too gains ground, in spite of a reported assertion of Lord Paimerston, to the effect that he has no intention of doing anything of the sort The subject of the defence of Canada was again rained on the 23rd, when Lord Hartington moved the vote of £50,000 as one of the items in the war estimate. In spite of the assertions of Government as to the friendly feeling between the two nations, they think it necessary to fortify the frontier in case of accidents, and to show the Canadians that we have no intention of abandoning them. The vote was however opposed by Mr* Bentwick and Mr. Lowe, the latter reiterating the assertion he made in the previous debate that Canada was actually indefensible. But the opinion of engineers and the majority of the House was against him, and tne vote was carried after a division, by a large majority. Mr. Bentwick declined to vote, lor fear of finding

himself in the same lobby as Mr. Bright, and some other members, whose opinions he could not respect. Another question of interest was the fire insurance tax. This motion will be remembered as the subject of the quarrel last year between Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Sheridan. The latter again brought forward the motion, and was opposed by Mr. Gladstone,who moved "theprevious question." He was however defeated by a very large majority. We have also received this month the final decision of the Privy Council in the now celebrated " Colenso Case." They have decided in favor of the appeal made by the Bishop of Natal against the jurisdiction of his.Metropolitan, the Bishop of Cape Town. But this is not all contained in the judgment; the Privy Council go a great deal farther. They say that the Queen's Letters Patent, granted to the Bishops, are of no avail, except in regard to spiritual matters, where a colony has a parliament. Therefore, as a matter of fact, our colonial bishops are simply missionaries, and must depend upon voluntary recognition by their dioceses. The Bishop of Natal will, report says, return at once to his diocese.

The various contests between the two Universities are always watched with great interest, more especially as there is generally on such occasions a large gathering of old members of the Universities. Nothing is ever likely to shake the popularity so long established of the boat race at Putney, or the cricket match at Lords ; but if anything is likely to rival them it will be the latelyestablished jvthletic sports. Last year they were celebrated at Oxford, each University winning four out of eight prizes, though Cambridge had on the whole the best of the running. This year the competition took place at Cambridge, who eclipsed their performance of last year by winning six out of nine events. Unfortunately, the day was most unpropitious, heavy snow falling during the running. The boat race is fixed for Bth April. At present the Oxonians are slightly the favorites, which isto be attributed more to the successive victories of the last four years than to any particular excellence in their rowing. Let us hope for a fine day, a good race, and may the best boat win. About the same day as the boat race, the usual matches at racquetes and billiards will be played. Last year, on the whole, Oxford had far the best of the series of matches, winning the boat race and cricket match, winning one billiard and one racquet match, and half the prizes in the athletic sports.