THE NEWS BY THE MAIL. GENERAL SUMMARY.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 13, Issue 1075, 17 August 1869, Page 3

THE NEWS BY THE MAIL. GENERAL SUMMARY.

(From the "Home News," 'for June.) ■ The House of Lords, while we write; is holding high debate upon the Irish Church Bill. It is possible that the discussion may not be concluded in time for the result of the division to be mentioned by this mail. There is much uncertainty felt as to the issue. While the debates were pending in the House of Commons, it was pretty gene - ■ rally assumed that the Lords, though they would receive the measure with coldness and even hostility, would not go the extreme length of rejecting, en bbc } a bill which had been endorsed by so large a majority of a House elected chiefly to deal with the Irish question, but that they would probably introduce amendments, with which the Commons might have much trouble. But as the time approached for the introduction of the measure into the Upper House, it became known that a large number of Peers, with Ldrd Derby at their head, Had brought themselves to believe that the "sweeping and severe" bill was not that which the country had approved, and that its rejection became a duty. About 140 nobles met at the Duke of - ; Marlborough's, and though .several speakers \\pf distinction, including Lord Salisbury, Lord Stanhope, and Lord Carnarvpn ? urged the acceptance of the: biU, ajod its amendment in committee, the . general . feeling of the assembly was to follow Lord Derby, Lord Harrowby was entrusted with the duty of initiating the hostile movement, and when the bill, had been introduced, he. placed on the paper the motion on which the battle is now raging— that the bill he read a second time/tjhat day three months. Of course, all the Liberal organs at once opened fire, some told the Peers that ihey were preparing the death- warrant of the Upper Chamber, others reprinted the letter in which William the Fourth authorised the. Premier of the time to call up Peers enough to pass the first Reform Bill,. while a third section, more moderate and constitutional, pointed out that the Lords were bound by their own undertaking, when the Suspensory Bill was rejected, to submit to the will of the nation, when it should have been expressed at the general election. The machinery of the 1 " whip," by which a House of Commons division can be predicted to a nicety, is wanting in the august Assembly now at work on the bill, and we can but speculate on the result of the debate. In the House of Lords, debates do, to a certain extent, influence divisions. The impression is that the outspoken sentiment of the electors, the Commons, and the press will have sufficient effect to prevent the rejection of the bill on second reading. His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury has pronounced for a second reading, a fact of considerable importance, although of less party value than it would have possessed had not Dr. Tait been a Liberal. But he has proclaimed his entire disbelief in the voluntary system, and declares it to have failed in Scotland and in Canada. His speech was that of most interest on the opening night. Earl Granville moved the second reading, in an address of much tact, and Lord Harrowby followed with : ; the,.; earnestness of a most respectable,, but. nar-row-minded man, and; the same remark applies to .. the Duke of Rutland. Lords Clarendon and Romilly spoke on the Liberal side, and the Bishop of perry made almost a diverting speech against the bill ; Lords Stratford de Redclifie and Carnarvon urged the reading a second time. On the second night Lord Lytton was to have ' opened the debate, but Sari Qtey insisted on disappointing the crowd of ladies who had come to hear the oration of the brilliant novelist. The Earl, however, made amends with a closely reasoned speech. The triumphs of that night may be adjudged tf> the Bishops of St. David's (Thirl- _ wall) and Peterborough (Magee), the former of whom put forth his old dialectic skill, and " threw" prejudice after prejudice as a practised wrestler flings the neophytes, _ and the latter, on the other side, contended for the Irish Church with such vigour . . and wit that the. galleries -broke .into applause. Lord Penzance, the Divorce judge, made ln's maiden speech, for divorce .of Church- and state, and the Duke of Rich- . mond, detesting the bill, gave frank reasons why it. ought to be read a second time. Lord Maloiesbury adjourned the debate for Lord Derby, that he might open the third night's proceedings. The Lord 3 do not sit on Wednesday, and for. the .account of Thursday night we must refer our readers to our Parliamentary report. We complete . the^history of the bill thus far, whioh our lasfc-despatcb leffc nearly ., at the conclusion of , the, Commons' debate, by. saying that the Conservatives raised a perfunctory discussion on parting with the measure, 1 and though the. two leaders closed the fray, neither put for^h his strength. The final division gave ,363 for the bill and 249 against it, majority ;'.ii4.'v.,'., ";■: .'. ■„ ; ' •. '.-., ■ ■ ... .It is not necessary to occupy much space, p_ t .^o|i ; c. onsideration, of the future of the bill. . Should, the Lords reject it, Parliament will probably adjourn fpr.ashoTtpenOd to enable r Mir. Gladstone formally to consider! his course, though he Jias doubtless made ' up his mind upon it. A second session, might * bejnade to succeed rapidly to a prorogation, and the bill might be again-tendered to the Lords. The country would not forgive a second dissolution, because it is needless, though, were it to take place, the issue could . not, be doubtful. If, on the other hand, tb§_Lprdf ; amend the bijl, as they. assuredly will do if they entertain it at all, we . may have a long struggle, but the present disposition of the Government is not to yield anything of importance, in spite, of some most respectful , jj^mises made by Earl Granville that. atf, amendments should receive earnest attention. . Eventually, it is far from im- . possible that the intervention of a Dea ex machina may - be invoked to cut a knot which is worthy ot such treatment. We briefly note that agitation upon a. grand scale has been got up in opposition to the bill, and, thai; both in Ireland and in Lancashire enormous .meetings have been held .J for the purpose of encouraging the Lords toireject it, but, large as these gatherings have been, they are chiefly of an Orange character, and Lancashire, having already pronounced, against Mr. Gladstone, by the elections, cannot, be said to add any new element to the, conflict. The speakers Jiavierbeeh persons of no note, with a few . exceptions, and at all the meetings the ; ...vftbu^^wh^h-jba's' ,been lay'ahed on the; I . .Pr^er*;nafe exceeded th« bounds of ; poll- ■' ti cat hostility, hjjs very countenance haVing

been made the subject of ribaldry, and this not by the lower type of orator, socially speaking. Lord Claud J. Hamilton was not ashamed to talk of Mr. Gladstone's grim and horrible countenance, and the sinister expression that came over it when he spoke of our Protestant institutions. It is due to the artisan class here to say that during the agitation of the Reform time no such language was. tolerated as has been used by clergymen and noblemen. Of the miscellaneous Parliamentary topics few require, mention. A committee has been appointed to inquire into the reasons of the frightful increase of the cost of the Abyssinian war over the estimate — we began at three and a half millions and paid about eight and a half. Sir S. Northcote exculpates the Indian Government from blame in the matter. The acquisition, by the Dominion of Canada, of the enormous territories of Hudson's Bay has occasioned a debate, and some members hare thought it necessary to express fears about the treatment, of the Indians there, whom every schoolboy who learns geography (there are not too many who learn it) knows to be among the most savage and intractable savages in the world. The Life Peers' Bill bas made progress, and the debate was rather curiously marked by shadows of the contest which is now pending. The Bankruptcy Bill is getting on slowly. The public is interested to hear that the, bill for the Government acquisition of th& telegraphs is ready— we learn that some of the bargains with existing interests have been concluded. Reuter's company, for instance, | gets about three quarters of a million. With the telegraph in Government hands, and with the proposed reduction in the postage of printed matter, the means of domestic communication will be complete. But we stiil want ocean postage. A much more important subject than the Irish Church Bill, because a subject of vital interest to all Europe, has been the French General Election. It has been an exceedingly remarkable one, and the result is full, we do not say of disaster, but of menace to Imperialism. One half of France, and the half which contains her intellect, has declared itself hostile to the Government. The members in the Chamber, of course, do not reflect this expression. There are 290 members, of whom 213 are Imperialist, and 77 Opposition. The latter are divided into two parts ; 42 will oppose, but only as the anti-ministerialists here do so, that it is with argument, and amendment,, and an endeavour to obtain as much as possible by legitimate means. But the remaining 35 call themselves "Irreconcileables," they declare war upon the Emperor, and will have nothing at his hands but abdication. The two classes have been elected by Paris, Marseilles, and other great cities, and so fierce has been the feeling in the capital against the Tuileriea that such men as Thiers and Jules Favre were nearly rejected in favour of comparatively unknown, or too well-known men, whose sole recommendation was their hatred of Napoleon. But on the second ballot there was some reconsideration, and the tried Liberals were chosen. Then, for nearly a week, there were riots in Paris, and much damage was done, besides the incalculably greater damage of frightening away thousands of sojourners, and checking trade. But the Parisians themselves had nothing to do with these disturbances, and aided in and rejoiced at their suppression, and cheered the Emperor's troops as they swept the Boulevard, and sent the canaille flying. Some believe that the riots were permitted, with a subsequent purpose. The military were ordered to show great forbearance, and though they rode at and charged the insurgents, no blood was shed. After the evening of the chief entente, the Emperor, accompanied by the Empress drove slowly in his curricle along the scene of riot, and was loudly cheered. It was said that he was entirely without guards, but those who know facts are aware that he is never, left unprotected, and that were were there a sign of outrage directed against his person he would be surrounded by a picked band of determined and well armed men, in plain clothes, who are paid enough to make them very dangerous to assailants, But we believe that the display of Imperial courage did please . the Parisians. . We now find the Emperor fairly confronted with a real danger, the openly expressed hostility of one half of France, and we must all watch with the utmost interest, the course, which he will adopt. He may give liberal institutions, he may go to war, he may retrench existing liberties, or he may let things go on as they are. The last alternative may ensure peace for a time, and must ensure, the termination of the dynasty when he ceases to reign. Spain, after long deliberation, completed her Constitution. The numbers were 214 <to 55. The Opposition declared that they would not accept a monarchical arrangement, but would not resist it. So the Constitution has been duly signed. Eyes are again cast upon Don Fernando, of Portugal, who may or may not have been qualifying himself for a throne by marrying a lady who has for many years been content with his 'heart only. ' The "Cuban rebellion is held to have failed, the Americans refuse recognition until the insurgents shall have driven away the Spanish troops, and this is the less likely to be achieved that the weak, or as some say only half well-affected, General ■Dulce has resigned, and the stern De Rodas, who crushed the rebels at Cadiz, has gone forth to rule the Queen of the Antilles. Mr. Motley, the historian, and the new envoy from the United States, has arrived in England. He began by a very friendly speech, which has had the good fortune to be approved by his countrymen, and it is understood that the President is desirous of a peaceful arrangement of the questions between the countries, and has given up the idea of calling us to account for the neutrality proclamation. Mr. Motley was invited by Lord Clarendon to lose no time in visiting him, and therefore avoided hospitalities which would otherwise have gladly been extended. He has been with Mr. Charles Dickens, in whose company, and that of Mr. Wilkie Collins, he went to Chatham, and was entertained by the military authorities. It is probable that some ; time will occur before the public on this side hear of the progress of negotiation and the organs of opinion across the Atlantic have become very much more moderate since English opinion was delivered on the subject of Mr, Summer's outrageous oration, which indeed we are now reproached for having taken au serieux. But though absence of seriousness is a characteristic; of the ag<, when a politican of Mr. Sumner's position makes a speech, which Congress

est pococurante must be excused for supposing that it demands notice.. We believe, however, that had England been less firm, Mr. Sumner might not have been discarded quite so early. The Queen held her 50th birthday in the Highlands, but has now returned to Windsor. Court duties are performed for her Majesty in a most satisfactory manner by the Prince and Princess of Walesj who also live a good deal among us all. ■■ The Prince .attended the great Irish debate. We mentioned in January, that his rpyal highness had been made a mason in Stockholm, and that this had not pleased some English masons, who alleged that the lodge, founded by Charles XIII, was not orthodox. All scruples, however, must now be forgotten [probably there never was cause for any], for Grand Master Lord Zetland has announced, in Grand Lodge, that the ceremony was duly performed by the King of Sweden, and that the Prince will join an English Lodge, and is to be made Grand Past Master. : < : : Epsom and Ascot have had their great days. The attendance at the Derby was ■ not by any means so large as usual, and there was a marked absence of carriage company. The Blue Ribbon of 1869 was won by Mr. Jardine or Johnstone, 1 with Pretender, but only by ashort'headi'Pero'Gonlez being second. The i , Oaks wetifc •to Brigahtine, . daughter of ;BucQanecir. ' England lost the Paris Grand Prize, . Drummer- being second to Glaneur; aiid..at. Ascot Brigantjne beat Blue Gown, winner of last year's Derby, for the.GoldCup. At the latter races the attendance was exceedingly brilliant. In connection with the subject we would refer our readers to our law intelligence, • which will 4tSord some information as to the mode in: which the turf has treated the Duke of Newcastle, and how bailiffs have stormed the ancestral halls of Clumber, and were resisted by Mr. Gladstone. We may add that Earl Derby urged the Jockey Club to do its. utmost to put down the system of racing with two-year-olds, but it had not the courage to do much against a vicious practice that uses a horse up before he is mature, and destroys the plea for horseracing, that it maintained a noble breed. It is not impossible, however, that Parliament may; have something to say upon the subject, of Queen's Plates, and cause them to be withheld where the destructive system ia carried on. A rumour that the nominator of the Derby winner had died before the race, was accepted by the losers rather too eagerly, and payment of bets was stopped, but, the story was shown to be a hoax — the individual in question saw the horse win. Our obituary for the month contains but a > single name of interest, that of Lord Broughton, better known as Sir John Cam Hobhouse, in other days a violent Radical, and a friend of Lord Byron, who has immortalised him in comic song. Later Sir John became much more moderate, and ob-' tamed a peerage. Of late he had ceased to be a personage, except in his. own household, where he was ever " masterful." . So the loss of single lives is noted. Sixty were extinguished in a few seconds, some mornings back, by a coal pit explosion in Sputh Wales — the Ferndale pit, where, as we had the painful duty of recording, one hundred and seventy five perished by a similar disaster in 1867. Since that time every precaution has been taken. The mine was divided into three portions, any one of which might explode without damage to' the rest, and the ventilation, .conducted by admirable machinery, was thought to be perfect. But nothing can save a pit from the consequences of the wilfulness of miners, add there is every reason to believe (an Open lamp has been found) that, rather than forego tobacco, some poor fellow has ' destroyed himself and 59 of . his mates. With this misfortune may naturally be connected another of a different kind; but in which colliers were principally concerned. Near a little town in Flintshire, called Mold, are many collieries, and the manager of one of these became unpopular with the Welshmen. Not to dwell on detail, prisoners^ for outrage were sought to be liberated by a mob of their fellows, who stoned , the police and soldiers, until the latter were obliged in self-defence, to fire. Three of the rioters, one a woman who supplied stones, fell, but the unfortunate practice of firing over the head of a crowd was resorted to, and an unoffending girl was also shot dead. Further violence was apprehended, but the terrible lesson seems to have produced its effect. A Welsh gentleman, of wealth, a keen sportsman, named Powell, went off some time ago to Abyssinia for sport, taking with him his wife and child, and several servants. All have been murdered. by the savages of Bazen, but we are without any trustworthy information as to the cause of the slaughter. Bazen is not, we believe, in Abyssinia proper, but nominally belongs to Egypt, and we learn that the Viceroy has offered to two relatives of the family, gentlemen who have at once set forth to the spot, so powerful a force of troops as will-proba-bly enable them to recover the. remains of their friends, and possibly to avenge the crime. , At' (nV'same" time it is impossible to justify the hardihood that permitted a husband and, father to take his wife and son. into such perils. Sir Samuel Baker, now Pasha, by favour of the Sultan, set an example which none without his exceptional advantages should dare to follow. Baker Pasha, At the head of a strong force, is about to move down upon the slave-dealers, and may be able to advise Mr. Powell's friends as to their best course. He was unknown, except to his own circle, but the tragedy has excited a very strong sensation, one which unhappily there is ho need to in-, dicate to some who will read these lines — for the terrible hews from Mohaka has just reached English households. Mr. Bright seems fated to do un-Minis-terial things. His undertaking to settle the Irish land question will be in. remembrance. The President of the Board of £!rade, just at the moment when a conciliatory tone towards the House of Lords is adopted by all other Liberals, by common consent, writes a letter to Birmingham in which he implies that the Lords are fools, and that they are in danger of wakening up qangerous questions which might have been dormant for some time to come. Amid loud cheers, Lord Cairns announced that he should demand of the Cabinet whether the letter were genuine, and whether the rest of the Ministers endorsed its sentiments. " The reply will be found in another column. Earl Granville has not been able to indoctrinate the " young Minister " with I;hat reticence the absence of which the ijjarl had, 'tp regret, when apologising for Mr. Bright's last independent utterances.