NEW SOUTH WALES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XII, Issue 736, 26 November 1859, Page 3

NEW SOUTH WALES.

The following 'Notes of the Week' from the ' Sydney Morning Herald' give the prominent news of the period comprised in the papers just received, from the 21st October to the 10th November:—

Saturday, Nov. 5. The Ministerial crisis has, at all events for the present, passed. New South Wales has another new set of rulers. .

. Mr. Hay aud Mr. Jones having tried their hands at Cabinet-making without success, Mr. Eorster— the glorious minority of one on the " want of confidence " division—was sent for. He undertook the task of forming a Government, and he has succeeded. ' .

Keeping the office of Colonial Secretary and Premier to himself, he has Mr. Samuel for his Finance Minister, Mr. Black as Minister of Lands, and Mr. Eager as Minister of/Works, the latter being in the Upper House. These four constitute the cabinet. Mr. Wise has been appointed Attor-ney-General, but without being made a Cabinet Minister, and it is understood that Mr. Hargrave is to retain the Solicitor-Generalship. As to the two latter offices, Mr. Forster is adhering to the policy which he has so frequently advocated as a member of the Opposition—that of making them nonpolitical.

An adjournment for a month has been granted in both Houses of Parliament, although some opposition was offered in the Upper House, upon the ground that there were matters to be disposed of— such as the resolutions against the separation of Moreton Bay—to which delay would be fatal. In the meantime, the three Ministers who have seats in the Assembly are going before their constituents, and one of them at least (Mr. Black), will be strongly opposed.

Mr. Forster has declared, in his address to the electors, that he only intends, during the present session, to get through the Estimates and to pass a bill for making the Upper House elective. All greater measures, including a purgation of the magistracy, are to be left for the recess. It remains to be seen what the Assembly will say to this. It is most likely, however, that they will accede, so as to give the present Government a fair trial.

But the most unexpected result of the late events is, that Mr. Cowper has not only retired from the Ministry, but from Parliament. In his valedictory address to the electors he declares his intention to retire, for a time, if not wholly, from political life. It is reported that efforts are to be made to bring him again forward for East Sydney, but it is scarcely probable, we should imagine, that he will consent to this. ,

Sir Daniel Cooper intends, ifc is understood, to resign tho Speakership. It has been,a trying situation for him, and lie has stood the trial well. The long and windy debates for which tho Assembly, has become celebrated are not only exceedingly trying to the mental endurance of the Speaker for the time being, but to his physical strength also. Other members can escape from the wordy war and breathe the fresh air, or swallow something more sub'stan-

■tial. Ihe Speaker.is fastened to bis chair. It was observed that on recent occasions, when debates were unreasonably protracted, Sir Daniel suffered greatly.

Saturday, 29th October. Our report in la3t week's notes as to the re-ap-pointment of Mr. Hargrave to the Solicitor-Gene-ralship Was contradicted, and as Mr. Hargrave was only gazetted yesterday, it was plainly so far in error that the appointment had not been actually made. It is manifest, however, that we made v good guess as to probabilities. Touching this appointment, a little matter has transpired which will do more to damage the : Forster Ministry than any thing which has yet been said or done respecting it. A correspondent of the' Herald,' calling himself "A Poor Disciple," made an assault upon Mr. Eorster and his colleagues for having taken Mr. John Nicholas" Beit as a dry-nurse. This gentleman had, it was intimated, been admitted as a species of extra Cabinet Minister without office, without responsibility, or ! without even a seat in Parliament. He was, at ! that time, it was stated, engaged in searching for : a bohcitor-Greneral. This might have passed off-as ia mere squib, but it was enforced next day by a letter from Mr. W. C. Windeyer, embodying a mote which Mr. Beit had left at his chambers ■! wherein this very matter was dealt with in a semiMinisterial tone. Mr. Beit professed, in this note, .to state on authority, not only that there had been jno_ Solicitor-General appointed, but that the appointment would not be made for a month. This | he requested Mr. Windeyer to " make known." ;His request was, as we have seen, acceded to in a manner he had probably never dreamt of, by publication in the columns of the 'Herald'; but in ; other respects Mr. Windeyer treated the communication with the contempt it merited. What was ; meant, we presume, was that Mr. Windeyer should ;make the thing known among his professional and political friends. Perhaps this was intended as a {feeler for Mr. Windeyer himself, which, if it did ! not secure him as a partisan, would, at all events, compromise him. If so, the bait was riot taken.

: Now those who know Mr. Beit! (and who in ■ Sydney does not?) might very well have supposed that he had thrust his finger into the Ministerial fire without invitation. But neither, by the Premier or by either of his colleagues has their semiofficial association with this meddlesome.old gentleman been disclaimed. •

To those at a distance who do not know Mr. J. M. Beit, it will suffice to say that he is a gentleman *who has contrived to mix himself up in nearly : every' public question, without commanding confidence, or even serious attention, upon any; that he was superseded from the Commission of the Peace on account of his singular vagaries on the Bench at the Water Police Court; that he managed for a long time to keep the. Chamber of Commerce in, a state of ferment; and that he has been engaged in a great variety of legal and other contests. There ■is a' very natural horror, therefore, at the idea of ;any such person acting as irresponsible dry nurse to the Government. There was a rumour, indeed, iof an intention to place him in the "Upper House, tut we cannot credit it.

ji._ Electioneering is going actively on. Mr. Black, it would seem, is the only member of the Cabinet .to be opposed. His seat was for East Sydney, and, ; the resignation of Mr. Cowper has created a second ivacancy in the representation of this constituency. r|To supply these two vacancies, there are four.canjf didates—Mr. Black, Mr. Cowper, Mr. Driver, and Mr. F&ucett. .■ The; selection, is to come off next week. The contest will be a sharp one. jp The members of the Land. League have held a ' mgeting,.andjbaye_decided upon;calling^for^aplexj^planatiori from Mr. KlackTwho is their president/ /of the policy which it is his intention, as Minister of Lands, to pursue* Some leading members of the League, however, have already announced their determination to support him. .

; There has been a terrific amount of growling in various quarters relative to many of the recent :appointments"to the magistracy. At Mudgee, however, there has been quite a little revolution. Among the newly-proclaimed Justices of the Peace was one who had formerly been attached to the Mudgee Bench as an ordinary constable. The dignity of the local magistracy was'fearfully outraged by this nomination. They presented a formal protest against it, therefore, as one which had been made in reward of electioneering services only, and they resigned in a body. The protest and resignation, .although evidently intended for Mr. Cowper, did not reach the Government until the present Chief Secretary had taken the reigns in hand. ■ *--