GENERAL SUMMARY.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXII, Issue 2711, 26 March 1866, Page 5

GENERAL SUMMARY.

London, January 26. The Australian November mails were delivered in London on the 13th and 19th January. The Queen resides at Osborne in enjoyment of good health. Her Majesty distributed her usual Christmas gifts to the poor. The Princess Helena's marriage is fixed for June. £6,000, independent of the Princess's annual income, is asked for the marriage expenses. Great dissensions in the Ministry about manhood suffrage, &c. Earl Russell declares that the Cabinet will stand or fall by the Reform Bill. Grave changes in the Ministry are expected. The Baptist and negro party in Jamaica are using every exertion to damage Governor Eyre's reputation, especially in Gordon's case. The commissioners' report on capital punish*ment recommends dividing murder into two degrees: First, should the jury find malice, penalty death; second, without malice, penal servitude from seven years to life. 200 convicts left France for New Caledonia. Ratifications of the treaty of commerce between .England and Austria were exchanged at Vienna. Major Gray has been appointed Aide-de-Camp to the Governor of New Zealand. A national decoration— called the Albert Medal— has been instituted by the Queen for gallantry in cases of shipwreck. New Zealand affairs occupy a prominent position. The war is considered a mistake, the question should have been settled by legislation, and the troops should not have marched into the centre of Waikato. On the 1st February the British registration fee on letters will be reduced from 6d. to 4d. Respecting the Ministerial crisis in Victoria, the Times observes, where one Chamber represents numbers, and the other property, collision is inevitable. It says the only remedy is in the reform of the Constitution, and characterises the conduct of Sir C. Darling as being as gross a case of public delinquency as has for many years come under observation. The Daily News supports Governor Darling. It is reported that Sir Richard Macdonnell, Governor of Hongkong, is detained in London two months, in readiness to supersede Governor Darling. Many more Fenians have been sentenced to penal servitude. The American Fenians are quarrelling furiously, but the leaders are making money fast. Fletcher — charged, on his own confession, with robbing the Union Bank of Melbourne of £10,000 securities — has been discharged. There have been numerous accidents, as usual, from railway collisions, colliery explosions, and crinoline, A serious fire occurred at St. Xatherine's Dock. Two millions sterling worth of property was destroyed. - Crewhall, in Cheshire, has been burnt, damage £10.000. Terrific gales, commencing on the 28th December, swept along the English coast until the 27th January. Great snow storms and inundations. Four thousand (P) ships wrecked. Great loss of life. The ' Amelia' steamer

foundered on the 20th January in the Bay of Biscay: value of cargo, £250,000. The 'Hannah Moore/ Black Ball Liner, lost. Six out of twenty-four saved. Another consignment of salmon trout and ova for Australia is preparing. Mr. Edward Wilson, of the Argus, is residing at Croydon, and still suffering from ophthalmia. Jefferson's " Eip Van Winkle" reached the 136fch night of performance to crowded houses. A lifeboat institution is to be formed in memory of G. V. Brooke. Lord Napier has been appointed Governor of Madras. A royal proclamation authorises the circulation of Sydney sovereigns in Great Britain. It is stated that the British Government has resolved upon a very considerable decrease in the army, amounting in the aggregate to 850 officers, and 16,000 non-commissioned officers and men. The New Zealand Trust Loan Company's dividend was ten per cent, per annum. New Zealand securities — six per cent., 100 to 102.